Drive: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods

Sports Illustrated journalist Harig (Tiger & Phil) tees up an adulatory account of Tiger Woods’s late-2010s comeback. Starting in 2013, Woods suffered from debilitating back pain that left him barely able to walk by the time he withdrew from a 2017 European Tour event “after just three full rounds.” In private, Woods signaled his pro career might be over, but following a successful spinal fusion, he was back on the green and contending in major competitions by 2018. Harig lauds Woods’s resolve to return to professional golf, noting that despite some clunky playing during his early return appearances (he slammed his arm on a pine tree while following through on a swing at the 2018 Valspar Championship), Woods persisted and in 2019 clinched a surprise fifth Masters Tournament victory. Harig’s determination to shape his narrative as an uplifting comeback story leads him to treat less positive developments with kid gloves. He frames Woods’s 2017 arrest for driving under the influence and his near-fatal car crash in 2021 (a police report indicated he was driving at almost double the 45 mph speed limit) as setbacks for him to overcome rather than indications of irresponsible tendencies. Additionally, Harig provides few new insights into Woods’s life and psychology, relying largely on public appearances to trace the athlete’s trajectory since 2017. Readers will wish for a more balanced take. Agent: Susan Canavan, Waxman Literary. (Mar.)