Jeff Benedict

Armen Keteyian

Instant New York Times Bestseller “Irresistible…Immensely readable…The authors have laid out a saga that is part myth, part Shakespeare, part Jackie Collins….A whirlwind of a biography that reads honest and true.” —The Wall Street Journal “A confident and substantial book…It has torque and velocity…It makes a sweet sound, like a well-struck golf ball. I found it exhilarating, depressing, tawdry, and moving in almost equal measure. It’s a big American story.” —The New York Times Based on years of reporting and interviews with more than 250 people from every corner of Tiger Woods’s life—many of whom have never spoken about him on the record before—a sweeping, revelatory, and defining biography of an American icon. In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life. Married to a Swedish beauty and the father of two young children, he was the winner of fourteen major golf championships and earning more than $100 million annually. But it was all a carefully crafted illusion. As it turned out, Woods had been living a double life for years—one that unraveled in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving-night car crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional lives over a cliff. Still, the world has always wondered: Who is Tiger Woods, really? In Tiger Woods, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, the team behind the New York Times bestseller The System, look deep behind the headlines to produce a richly reported answer to that question. To find out, they conducted hundreds of interviews with people from every facet of Woods’s life—friends, family members, teachers, romantic partners, coaches, business associates, physicians, Tour pros, and members of Woods’s inner circle. From those interviews, and extensive, carefully sourced research, they have uncovered new, intimate, and surprising details about the man behind the myth. We read an inside account of Tiger’s relationship with his first love, Dina Gravell, and their excruciating breakup at the hands of his parents. We learn that Tiger’s longtime sports agency, International Management Group (IMG), made $50,000 annual payments to Tiger’s father, Earl Woods, as a “talent scout”—years before Tiger was their client. We discover startling new details about Earl, who died in 2006 and to this day lies in an unmarked grave. We come along as Tiger plunges into the Las Vegas and New York nightclub worlds alongside fellow superstars Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. We are whisked behind the scenes during the National Enquirer’s globetrotting hunt to expose Tiger’s infidelity, and we get a rare look inside his subsequent sex-addiction treatment at the Pine Grove facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. But the portrait of Woods that emerges in Tiger Woods is far more rewarding than revelations alone. By tracing his life from its origins as the mixed-race son of an attention-seeking father and the original Tiger Mom—who programmed him to be “the chosen one,” tasked with changing not just the game of golf but the world as well—the authors provide a wealth of new insight into the human being trapped inside his parents’ creation. We meet the lonely, introverted child prodigy who has trouble connecting with other kids because of his stutter and unusual lifestyle. We experience the thrill and confusion of his meteoric rise to stardom. And we come to understand the grown man’s obsession with extreme training and deep sea diving—despite their potential for injury—as a rare source of the solitude he craves. Most of all, we are reminded, time and time again, of Woods’s singular greatness and the exhilaration we felt watching an athletic genius dominate his sport for nearly twenty years. But at what cost? Benedict and Keteyian provide the answers in an extraordinary biography that is destined to become the defining book about an authentic American legend—and to linger in the minds of readers for years to come.

Tiger Woods

A revelatory account based on the authors' unprecedented access to the NCAA's highest-level programs throughout the 2012 season describes its high-powered system of billion-dollar television deals, high-priced coaches, football "hostessing," castoff athlete-students and paid test takers.

The Glory and Scandal of Big-time College Football

The System

Packed with groundbreaking, behind-the-scenes details, this major biography of Tiger Woods tells the explosive full story behind the rise, fall and rise again of a global icon. 'A rattling read . . . Superbly written.' Daily Mail In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a sporting star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life - professionally and personally. Winner of fourteen major golf championships and seventy-nine PGA Tour events, Woods was the first billion-dollar athlete, earning more than $100 million a year in endorsements from the likes of Nike, Gillette, AT&T and Gatorade. But it was all a carefully crafted illusion. Woods had been living a double life for years - one that exploded in the aftermath of a late-night crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional life off a cliff. Drawing on more than four hundred interviews with people from every corner of Woods’s life, acclaimed investigative journalists Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian dig deep behind the headlines to produce a richly researched answer to the question that has mystified millions of sports fans: who is Tiger Woods? Based on three years of extensive research and reporting, two of today’s most acclaimed investigative journalists, Jeff Benedict of Sports Illustrated and eleven-time Emmy Award winner Armen Keteyian, deliver the first major biography of Tiger Woods.

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2018

A look at the life and career of football's Mike Ditka chronicles his childhood, education, budding football career, his tenure as coach, his troubled relationship with his own children, and his controversial spats with reporters, players, and colleagues.

Monster of the Midway

Ditka

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 WINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR 2019 THE FULL STORY BEHIND THE RISE, FALL AND RISE AGAIN OF TIGER WOODS 'A rattling read... Superbly written' Daily Mail 'Arguably the most serious attempt ever made to get behind golf's great enigma' Guardian 'Exhilarating, depressing, tawdry and moving... perfectly pitched biography' New York Times Based on three years of extensive research and reporting, two of today's most acclaimed investigative journalists, Jeff Benedict of Sports Illustrated and eleven-time Emmy Award winner Armen Keteyian, deliver the first major biography of Tiger Woods - sweeping in scope and packed with groundbreaking, behind-the-scenes details of the Shakespearean rise and epic fall of a global icon. In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life - married to a Swedish beauty and the father of two young children. Winner of fourteen major golf championships and seventy-nine PGA Tour events, Woods was the first billion-dollar athlete, earning more than $100 million a year in endorsements from the likes of Nike, Gillette, AT&T and Gatorade. But it was all a carefully crafted illusion. As it turned out, Woods had been living a double life for years - one that exploded in the aftermath of a late-night crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional life off a cliff. In Tiger Woods, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian dig deep behind the headlines to produce a richly reported answer to the question that has mystified millions of sports fans for nearly a decade: who is Tiger Woods? Drawing on more than four hundred interviews with people from every corner of Woods's life - friends, family members, teachers, romantic partners, swing coaches, business associates, Tour pros and members of Woods's inner circle - Benedict and Keteyian construct a captivating psychological profile of an African-American child programmed by an attention-grabbing father and the original Tiger Mom to be the 'chosen one', to change not just the game of golf, but the world as well. But at what cost? Benedict and Keteyian provide the startling answers in a biography, updated for this edition, destined to make headlines and linger in the minds of readers for years to come.

Goes behind the scenes of the most successful college football team of the 1980's to expose the big-time money corruption, and unremitting pressure to win that comes with being on top

Inside Nebraska Football

Big Red Confidential

Alexander Wolff

Exposes the high-stakes, big-money world of college basketball recruiting, detailing specific violations at UCLA, Missouri, Syracuse, and other institutions

Raw Recruits

Harvey Araton

Martin F. Dardis

Criticizes modern professional basketball, arguing it is threatened by scandals, and suggests top players have been corrupted by their huge salaries

Armen Keteyian

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