By Joel Beall
The best documentaries tell a story, or a side of a story, that hasn’t been told. Either that or they lean hard into a spectacle. It helps to explain why those who have followed Tiger Woods’ career can expect to find an upcoming special on the 15-time major winner entertaining, but also somewhat familiar.

“Tiger,” a two-part HBO documentary that airs this Sunday, is based on the 2018 book “Tiger Woods” by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian. Their work explored Woods’ career arc, particularly how it was shaped by his upbringing and the influence of Earl Woods. It was diligently researched and ambitious in scope, and though Woods did not participate in the project it was generally well-received. Unfortunately, the film seldom wanders from its pages, at times feeling like a prisoner to the source material’s more sensational claims. When it does venture outside those confines, it offers nothing new or revelatory (Disclosure: Woods has a content partnership with Discovery Golf, the parent company of Golf Digest).

RELATED: Where Tiger Woods will likely compete in 2021

Few individuals have been extensively covered and discussed like Woods. The good and the bad; as a National Enquirer editor mentions in the film, Woods’ trials surpassed 9/11 for most consecutive days as New York Post cover stories. However, therein lies the rub with Tiger and his past: Any psychoanalysis or observation or opinion, in some iteration, has already been made and repeated to the point where its impact is dulled.

What does matter is who is making those assertions. Like the book, Woods is not affiliated with the film. A subject’s participation is far from imperative; plenty of documentaries have been compromised by surrendering final cut to its protagonist. Still, the absence of Woods and his competitors, save for the occasional Rocco Mediate cameo, is noticeable. A handful of writers who have covered Woods are featured, but “Tiger”—especially Episode 2—relies heavily on those who were on the periphery of Woods’ life or are no longer in it.

It’s not that those voices and vignettes are inconsequential. (Dina Parr, Woods’ high school girlfriend, is a high point as she reveals homemade films of a teenage Tiger, footage showing a side of Woods rarely seen.) But when they’re the only voices, their piece of the puzzle is made out to be the entire picture. That a good number of them are not on good terms with Woods consequently infers a specific agenda.

However, the biggest obstacle “Tiger” faces is time. Mentioned above, nostalgia is often weaponized in documentaries, but objects of sentimentality require distance to acquire their full patina. This is problematic for “Tiger” since most of what it covers feels fresh. It is fresh. Though he recently turned 45 Woods remains the fulcrum this game revolves around, yet at moments it feels like the film is trying to eulogize a career that is very much alive. It should be noted the book came out before Woods’ successful comeback, which may explain why his 2018 season and first win in five years at the Tour Championship is ignored save for a few seconds of footage, and his 2019 Masters triumph is shoehorned into the finale.

“Tiger” does not fail to amuse. Woods as a subject matter is inherently magnetic, and a carousel of highlights serve their intended purpose. Commentaries on race, what this country demands of its celebrities and the thirst to deconstruct them go deeper than surface level. Those foreign to Woods outside tournament broadcasts or are new to the sport will not be disappointed, and viewers, no matter their station, will get an appreciation of the weight of expectations Woods’ carried, and still does.

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By Sam Weinman
There is a small moment in the new Tiger Woods biography, one of many, that illustrates how a man so graceful on a golf course could be so clumsy off it. In 1998, Woods had been staying at Mark O’Meara’s rental house during the Masters when he met Peggy Lewis, the Augusta school teacher whose house they had been renting. As the authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian describe, Woods had knocked on a neighbouring door in search of O’Meara’s wife, Alicia, when Lewis rose to greet the superstar.

Proudly telling Woods that he was staying in her house next door, Lewis extended her hand. But Woods didn’t even look at Lewis, ignoring her hand and turning to Alicia O’Meara to ask a question.

“Humiliated, Lewis quietly sat down as Woods walked out, never acknowledging her,” the authors write.

There are vignettes like this dotted throughout Tiger Woods, perhaps what you’d expect from an ambitious 360-degree portrait of golf’s most scrutinized figure. Culled from more than 400 interviews, including over 250 people from in and around Woods’ life—although tellingly not directly with the title subject—it is a book brimming with revealing details about Woods’ unique background, his rise to superstardom and the myriad character flaws that contributed to his well-publicized fall. But remember, we’re talking about an athlete who has likely inspired more coverage than any in history, so the real achievement in Tiger Woods is not in detailing what has happened in the golfer’s 42 years. Instead, it is in describing how Woods became who he is—uniquely gifted, widely admired, but also emotionally stunted by his parents.

“Tiger’s inability to show gratitude, apologize, or express appreciation was rooted in his warped upbringing,” Benedict and Keteyian write. “His mother pampered him like a prince, and his father rarely uttered the words thank you or I’m sorry. Tiger learned early and often that his needs were all that mattered. His unapologetically self-centered attitude was critical to his success in golf, but it had an utterly devastating impact on the way people perceived him.”

Related: A Q&A with the authors about the juicy details in the new Tiger book

More than two decades after Earl Woods published Training A Tiger, his guide to “raising a winner in golf and life,” Tiger Woods might stand as an unintentional counterweight, a guide on how to raise a socially maladjusted child whose issues will carry into adulthood. Harsh? In Benedict and Keteyian’s portrayal, the Earl Woods influence in particular extends far beyond awkward exchanges with rental homeowners. It helps explain Woods’ serial philandering, his repeated excommunication of employees who disappointed him, not to mention his compulsive competitiveness. Other books have endeavored to explain Earl Woods’ influence on his son’s life, most notably Tom Callahan’s His Father’s Son. But perhaps no book has detailed just how extensively Earl factored into the full arc of Tiger’s career, how he shaped not only the golfer’s beginnings in the game on a military course in Orange County, but his complicated existence as competitor, as the head of a global brand, and as a person.

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Earl Woods’ influence is felt throughout Tiger Woods, the new biography of the 14-time major champion.

That’s not to say Earl’s influence was only negative, nor is it to suggest that Woods should be absolved of blame for his own missteps. The book features fresh reporting on almost every significant element of Woods’ story, from his decision to turn pro to the extensive network of women outside his marriage, to even the specifics of his sex-addiction rehab program in Mississippi (including details of a painful hour-long session with then-wife Elin in which he confessed the extent of his cheating). To read the book is to see an athlete imprisoned by circumstances in some instances, but plain bullheaded in others.

Potentially the most provocative passage in the book is in new details around Woods’ dealings with Dr. Anthony Galea, in which a source with knowledge of the doctor’s treatment of Woods claims human growth hormone was used as part of his recovery from 2008 knee surgery, perhaps without Woods’ knowledge. The Woods camp, meanwhile, issued a strong denial through another doctor, Mark Lindsay, who also tended to Woods during his rehabilitation.

Related: Book excerpt: President Clinton-Tiger Woods: ‘A Major Breach of Golf Etiquette’

As the authors write, although most of Woods’ injuries have come in the years since Earl’s 2006 death, the emotional challenges of being unable to compete underscored how Woods still derived his self worth from golf and little else.

“He didn’t know how to love and be loved as a human being,” they write. “The adoration he experienced was always tied to golf and performance.”

Although the book is being released in the midst of Woods’ most dramatic comeback, reading it now offers a new appreciation for the golfer we’ve seen on the course in recent weeks, one who has been quicker to smile and who has forged an easier connection with the public. That connection might be a result of no longer viewing Woods through the singular prism of greatness. Instead, he’s seen as a guy trying to navigate out of the darkness of the last years, and whose been forced to overcome all sorts of bad decisions in his life—some of which were even made by him.

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By Joel Beall
The new Tiger Woods biography hit shelves on Tuesday. It won’t be much longer before the story hits your television screen.

Variety is reporting that producer and director Alex Gibney is developing the book, promoted as a thorough portrayal of the 14-time major winner, into a documentary series. Gibney hopes to tell the story of Tiger’s rise from fledgling golfer to global icon, while sprinkling in his struggles with fame and its inherent vices.

Gibney is known as one of the most-acclaimed documentarians of his era, creating such titles as, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” “The Armstrong Lie,” “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” and “Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief.” He won an Oscar for “Taxi to the Dark Side.” The biography’s authors, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, are also attached to the project. On Tuesday, Doug Band, a former deputy assistant and counselor to President Bill Clinton, called the writers’ work into question regarding their account of a meeting between Clinton and Woods.

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Guys, congratulations on the book. Plenty of new revelations, and incredible additional detail and insight into Tiger’s professional and personal life. To start, describe the cooperation of Team Tiger—rather, the lack of it—and how you worked around it by doing more than 400 interviews.

Understandably, Tiger chose not to talk with us for the book. However, he did authorize one of his doctors—Mark Lindsay, who served as his longtime chiropractor—to speak with us on the record. In addition to being interviewed, Lindsay provided us with a written explanation—technically, a legal declaration—that is the most comprehensive statement to date on whether Tiger used performance-enhancing drugs. At the same time, we analyzed the transcripts from over 300 Tiger Woods press conferences and read virtually everything Tiger has said in print and on television. We spent a year constructing a 120-page timeline of his life. And we did most of that before we interviewed more than 250 individuals from Tiger’s life. That was part of what we did to understand Tiger’s mind-set and incredibly eventful life.

There’s been a lot of anticipation about whether you would tackle the issue of PEDs in golf, and the treatments Tiger received from Dr. Anthony Galea as he rehabbed from one of his many surgeries almost a decade ago. Beyond what you’ve said above, what can you tell us about that in advance of the book’s publication date?

Not much. We’d like to keep what’s in the “Miracle Workers” chapter for the book.

Related: Read an excerpt from Tiger Woods on Tiger’s round with Bill Clinton

You’ve reported and written a far-reaching portrait of Tiger on and off the golf course. If someone ran into you at a party today and asked, “What do you think of Tiger Woods?” how would you respond?

First, we might both answer that question differently. But we are in agreement that we think highly of him. His professional achievements are unparalleled. We see him in the same vein as Shakespeare. Someone no one had ever seen or will ever see again. What’s much less understood about him—and much more compelling—is his upbringing and his personal habits, which combine to make him one of the most complicated, misunderstood athletes of our time.

Tiger Woods is the second book authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian have written together.

And how does that compare with some of the other high-profile people you’ve written about?

It’s difficult to compare Tiger to other high-profile athletes. Arguably, there hasn’t been another athlete in the past 50 years who has been more high-profile than Tiger. Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan are obviously right there. But they came along before the Internet, cellphones, social media and the TMZ mentality. Everything Tiger did—from the jaw-dropping heroics on the golf course to the personal problems outside the ropes—were amplified and magnified beyond anything that any athlete had previously experienced.

The NCAA famously demanded that Tiger, then at Stanford, pay back the cost of a $25 meal with Arnold Palmer. You report that before Tiger went to college, IMG had been paying his father, Earl, an estimated $50,000 a year as a talent scout on the junior-golf circuit, and that IMG ended that during Tiger’s time at Stanford to avoid compromising his NCAA and USGA eligibility. You also report that in January 1996, Tiger’s final year at Stanford, Earl Woods put together a budget of $27,170 for travel to events, and you quote John Merchant—a longtime attorney for the family later fired by Earl Woods—laying out how an individual offered to finance it: “I saw to it that my guy gave me the money,” Merchant says. “And I got it to Earl. And Tiger participated in the tournaments.” You add that no one other than Merchant was to know who had given money to Tiger. Not even Tiger. Describe how it worked.

John Merchant played a pivotal, albeit largely invisible role in Tiger’s teenage years through his transition to becoming a pro. One of Merchant’s most important functions was helping to finance Tiger’s amateur career. As a lawyer and a member of the USGA’s executive committee, he knew the restrictions and limitations on paying amateurs. So he helped organize clinics and speeches where Tiger and Earl would appear at private clubs, particularly in Merchant’s home state, Connecticut. There, Tiger would put on an exhibition and Earl would give a speech. With money provided by individual club members, Earl would receive a speaking fee. That money—and we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars—was used to finance Tiger’s travel expenses, tournament-entrance fees, etc.

You describe how Tiger, while at Stanford, sent a break-up letter to a bewildered hometown girlfriend, the first real love of his life, that ended, Sincerely, Tiger, and eight months later apologized in another letter, which concluded, Warmest regards, Tiger. Do you think he wrote either letter? How much of that do you think came from his parents?

The letters were written by Tiger. That’s clear from the handwriting. The real question is whether Tiger’s parents influenced the content of the letters. In the case of the break-up letter, Tiger’s ex-girlfriend believes strongly that the letter was the result of Tiger’s parents. The apology letter, which is much more heartfelt, seems like it was clearly and exclusively the result of Tiger’s thoughts. The second letter also had the benefit of being written after sufficient time had passed, allowing for more measured and thoughtful words, whereas the break-up letter was written in a moment of haste.

In the 1996 U.S. Amateur final, Tiger was 2 down with three holes to play and had a six-footer to win the 34th hole. (Tiger had moved his ball marker on the green to accommodate his opponent, Steve Scott, who had made a tough par putt.) You report that as Tiger prepared to putt for birdie to cut the lead to 1 up, Scott stopped him and asked if he’d replaced his mark to its previous spot. (“Woods immediately paused, stood up, and reset his ball to the correct spot.”) If Tiger had putted without doing so, he would have lost the hole and the match. Tiger made the birdie putt and went on to win the title, but you report that he didn’t thank Scott or acknowledge his action. What did Scott think of that, then and now?

It’s fair to say that Steve Scott was deeply disappointed at the time. So was his caddie, Kristi Hommel, who is now his wife. It was a pretty bruising loss for Scott, and the lack of acknowledgment from Tiger was hurtful. However, when Tiger complimented Steve for his sportsmanship on the 20th anniversary of the match, his words went a long way to mending the past.

You quote a former nightclub owner in Las Vegas who said, “When Tiger got famous, he got mean.” How so?

At that time, Tiger was spending time with Michael Jordan. The two of them had a reputation for coming across as entitled and for being stingy when it came to tipping.

And do you see a “new” Tiger today?

Without a doubt. But that’s also not all that surprising. Like anyone who reaches his 40s, Tiger has changed. His body is different. His perspective has changed. There are new priorities. Plus, in Tiger’s case, there is the fact that he has gone through some very difficult personal challenges. His long battle with pain has perhaps been the biggest factor in changing his outlook. Immobility has a way making a person more acutely aware of and appreciative for the simple things in life. Then consider that Tiger was the best in the world at one thing. To suddenly be unable to do that one thing is devastating. But to regain that ability is no doubt exhilarating and gratifying and, to a certain degree, humbling. Tiger’s greatest achievement to date may be the fact that he has crawled out of a deep, dark hole and climbed back into contention. He’s given everyone—golf fans and everyday people—a reason to root for him

You report that at one point, Tiger was one of about 100 people in the country who had a $1 million line of credit with the MGM Grand in Vegas, and that at blackjack he would “routinely play $20,000 a hand, often two or more hands at a time.” What kind of a gambler was he?

A very good one. Competitive, with a mind for numbers. A “sharp,” in Las Vegas parlance, meaning he won more than he lost. It wasn’t unusual for him to walk away with $500,000 in winnings. And he rarely if ever chased big losses. Gamblers are rarely described as “disciplined,” but that fits Tiger.

We can’t skip the sex scandal. You quote one individual with direct knowledge of the promiscuous atmosphere at Earl’s home after his separation from Tiger’s mother, Tida, describing it as a “f—— rodeo.” And after Tiger’s 1995 U.S. Amateur victory, you describe a scene of Earl hitting on a young woman in a convenience store and Tiger saying, “Pop, c’mon. You can do better than that.” How did Tiger’s knowledge of his father’s womanizing weigh on him through the years? Do you think it played a role in Tiger’s later scandal? 

We won’t weigh in on all of the particulars. Suffice it to say that Earl had an enormous influence on many aspects of Tiger’s life, including his attitudes toward women. But it’s also important to keep in mind that Tiger and his father were very different in some important ways. Most notably, by age 21, Tiger was a multimillionaire whose name recognition was known throughout the world. Before he was old enough to buy a drink, he had more power and influence than most Fortune 500 CEOs and high-ranking politicians. These factors can’t be overlooked when looking for answers to the scandal that engulfed him in 2009.

Shortly after the Tiger scandal became public, you report that his teacher at the time, Hank Haney, ran into Charles Barkley and asked him if he’d had any idea that Tiger had been seeing so many women. “Hank,” you quote Barkley replying, “let me ask you a question. I spent 10 to 15 days a year with Tiger. You spent 200 days a year with Tiger. If you didn’t f—— know, how in the f— am I going to know?” After your reporting for the book, how many people do you think really knew what was going on?

Very few. His mother and his wife were in the dark. Members of his inner circle were unaware. His high school friend Bryon Bell was helping arrange rendezvous with women. [Agent] Mark Steinberg was certainly aware of allegations involving Tiger and other women. But it’s likely that no one other than Tiger “really knew what was going on.”

Do you think Tiger is happy today? Do you think he’ll win another major?

We think this is the happiest Tiger has been in his life. He has a girlfriend. He spends quality time with his kids. But most of all, he’s finally living a life without constant, debilitating pain. In terms of whether he’ll win another major, we certainly hope so. And given what we’ve witnessed in the past few weeks, we think he has an excellent chance.

One word to describe Tiger?

It’s hard to sum up Tiger in one word. How about four? One of a kind.

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After his early success, the only thing that seemed to be a consistent source of inspiration to Tiger Woods was his foundation and a new education initiative. Back on 9/11, when he was in St. Louis preparing to play in the WGC–American Express Championship, the tournament was abruptly canceled. With flights grounded, Woods rounded up a rental car and started driving toward Orlando and home. Alone on the highway for 15 hours, he had a lot of time to contemplate what mattered in his life. With the country reeling in the immediate aftermath of the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, Tiger felt inspired to do something more in the world. He didn’t have a clear vision, but he knew he wanted to focus his efforts on helping young people, and he began to see that the Tiger Woods Foundation, as then constructed, was not the best vehicle. A phone call to his father led to a brainstorming session. By the time Woods reached home, he had decided to change the focus of his foundation from golf clinics—which had become something of a circus act and had little lasting impact—and grants to community groups to something more meaningful and lasting: education. The result was a four-year effort to fund and construct the Tiger Woods Learning Center, a state-of-the-art facility focused on teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to underprivileged children. The 35,000-square-foot flagship building was constructed near his childhood home in Anaheim, Calif., a city with a high percentage of minority and low-income students.

Tiger Woods, by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, will publish March 27, 2018.

With the grand opening scheduled for February 2006, Woods was looking to generate publicity. His foundation requested that former first lady Barbara Bush attend as a guest of honour, but after initially accepting the invitation, she had to cancel. Tiger’s team then approached California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he was unable to fit the event into his schedule. His wife, television correspondent Maria Shriver, was suggested instead, but she was not quite what the foundation was looking for in terms of star power. With time running out, executive director Greg McLaughlin called Casey Wasserman, a prominent entertainment and sports-industry executive based in Los Angeles and the grandson of legendary Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman. Casey, in turn, reached out to attorney Doug Band, Bill Clinton’s longtime counsellor. Band couldn’t help seeing the irony in Tiger’s asking Clinton for a favour.

Related: A Q&A with Tiger Woods authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian

“Did they tell you the story?” Band asked Wasserman.

The story, of course, involved Woods declining to attend a 1997 ceremony honoring the late Jackie Robinson, sparking a schism between Clinton and Woods that was later widened by a subsequent Ryder Cup incident in which Clinton walked into the U.S. team’s locker room only to see Tiger walk out. Later, Woods refused to have his picture taken with Clinton when the victorious American team visited the White House. For these reasons, Tiger was sure Clinton would never go for it. The ex-president, he insisted, hated him. Woods never let a slight go, and he assumed Clinton operated the same way.

However, after much wrangling, the former president’s people came back and said Clinton would be amenable to an appearance under certain conditions: Tiger had to personally call and make the request; as an ice-breaker, Clinton wanted to play a round of golf with Woods in Orange County when he came out for the event; and he needed a private plane to travel to the West Coast.

After several moments of whining, Tiger got over his reluctance and made the call. A gracious Clinton put him at ease, and the event and golf game were scheduled. Wasserman had already agreed to provide a private plane, so the deal was done.

“Wow, that was easy,” Woods told everyone after hanging up.

On the day before the official opening of the learning center, Woods met Clinton, Doug Band, sports agent Arn Tellum and Wasserman for the promised round of golf at Shady Canyon Country Club in Irvine. Tiger was having breakfast with McLaughlin in the clubhouse when Tellum and Wasserman approached. At that point, Woods had never met either man. Dispensing with introductions, Tiger wanted to know if the president had arrived. When told Clinton was on his way, Woods replied with a straight face, “I can’t wait to talk about p—-.”

The situation got even more awkward after Clinton arrived. Tiger’s behaviour did nothing to bridge the gap between him and Clinton. At the outset, Clinton started carrying on, monopolising the conversation, as he was known to do, before Woods interrupted and said, “How do you remember all that shit?” Once they got onto the course, Tiger acted completely indifferent to the entire group, mostly riding alone in his cart and spending an inordinate amount of time on his phone. After finishing a hole, he would routinely exit the green while others were still putting, a major breach of golf etiquette. When the president hit a wayward drive, Woods snickered. He also told a series of off-color jokes.

“He was really obnoxious,” said one observer. “It was so clear to me that day who Tiger really was. I’ve never seen the president more put off by a person than that experience.”

To make matters worse, about a week later, Clinton’s office sent a picture of Clinton and Woods on the course together and asked Tiger to personalise it and send it back to the president for framing. Whether Tiger forgot or simply ignored the request remains unclear. Many months later, a staffer for Clinton called Tiger’s office in exasperation and asked, essentially, what the f— was going on. At that point, Tiger scribbled his name on the photograph and sent it back. Years later, a longtime Clinton staffer had unpleasant memories of the entire situation. “Clinton hauled his ass out West, and you can’t sign a picture? The whole experience was a lot of ‘I’m Tiger Woods, king of the world, go f—yourself.’ ”

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