Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season (Hardcover)

by Bob Smiley (Author)
Key Phrases: match play, tiger cup, national travesty, Tiger Woods, Bay Hill, Augusta National (more...)

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Amazon.com Review
Book Description

With his career at a standstill and his golf game a shadow of its former mediocrity, TV writer and ESPN.com contributor Bob Smiley decided the time had come to turn to the one person who might be able to help: Tiger Woods. So, in January of 2008, Smiley set out to follow the game's greatest player from the gallery for every hole of an entire season and to absorb all that he could.

Smiley traveled from the seaside cliffs of San Diego to the deserts of Dubai, through the hallowed gates of Augusta National, and on to arguably the greatest U.S. Open of all time back at Torrey Pines, where, in a legendary duel with charismatic journeyman Rocco Mediate, Woods won his fourteenth major—on one leg.

Smiley chronicles every dramatic and often hysterical moment of his journey with Tiger, including his off-course run-ins with Arabian sandstorms, ex-con ticket scalpers, and the motley assortment of strangers who became friends along the way.

Told from the perspective of a true golf fan, Follow the Roar is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure through the most spectacular and inspiring season in Tiger Woods's celebrated career. In addition to the thrill of witnessing all 604 holes Woods played in '08, Smiley found in Tiger both inspiration and the gutsy embodiment of what it really means to be an athlete--and a man.

Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Bob Smiley

At the risk of receiving hate mail from every PGA Tour sponsor, I need to be honest with you: attending a professional golf tournament is pretty risky. After all, it is the only sport where you can buy a ticket, walk through the gates and, in all likelihood, miss every noteworthy moment. While you're proudly perched above the 18th green, the most electrifying shots of the week are just as likely to be taking place on any one of 17 other holes. But as I learned in 2008, there is one way to hedge your bets: follow Tiger Woods.

Of course even this isn't so easy. You'll find yourself walking for miles and miles under oppressive heat, pressing up against strangers whom you might not want to press up against, and losing your voice for weeks at a time. Now that I think about it, you're really better off just buying my book instead of attempting any of this madness yourself.

Follow the Roar is the definitive account of Tiger's dominating 2008 season. From the are-you-kidding-me highlights everyone saw on TV to the off-camera moments that no other writer witnessed, the book brings the year to life and unravels the mystery of who Tiger Woods really is and how he makes the most frustrating sport in the world look terrifyingly simple.

It's the perfect way to make golf's long off-season just a little bit shorter. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. I'll be on my couch, soaking my feet.

--Bob Smiley

From Booklist
You’re an unemployed writer with an idea: you want to follow Tiger Woods throughout his 2008 season, every hole in every tournament, from San Diego to Dubai to Augusta to wherever he chooses to play. Thanks to an understanding wife, Smiley did just that, but he had no way of knowing two things in advance: it would prove to be the shortest season in Woods’ career, thanks to a disabling knee injury, but it would also be perhaps his most memorable year ever, beginning with four consecutive victories and culminating with a herculean effort in the U.S. Open, playing in excruciating pain but still outlasting Rocco Mediate over 91 holes. And, yes, Smiley was there, somewhere in the gallery, for all 604 holes of Tiger’s year, and he has a book to prove it—a good book, too, both as a fan’s perspective on a stunning display of athletic prowess and as a sterling example of a growing sports-book subgenre: the crazy fan’s extreme travelogue. Give this both to Tiger fans and to anyone who loves demented road trips (Andre Tolme’s I Golfed across Mongolia, 2006). --Bill Ott

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper (November 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061690252
• ISBN-13: 978-0061690259
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #199,661 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Tiger Woods book yet, November 13, 2008

By	Jon (Lexington, KY) - See all my reviews

I am a golf book collector with over three hundred golf books in my home and many of those are about Tiger Woods. I can honestly say Follow The Roar is the best book i have ever read on the man and gives you a great perspective of the fans that love and admire Tiger Woods so much. It also recaps one of the greatest seasons Tiger Woods has ever had including his unbelievable victory at the US Open from a fans stand point inside the ropes. From Torrey Pines, to Dubai, to Arizona, to Florida, to Georgia and ending at Torrey Pines this book takes you along for Tigers entire 2008 season which included 5 worldwide wins. Great book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three equal parts: Incredible Season, Intriguing Athlete, Adventurous Travelogue, November 18, 2008

By	M. Forrest (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a nominal golf fan, I picked up this book with skepticism: could 300 pages of hole-by-hole coverage capture my attention? To my surprise Bob Smiley's international escapades not only kept me reading, but Follow the Roar is quite the page turner. The story is not just Tiger but a traveling memoir in celebration of fandom. At the centerpiece of this great story is one of the greatest seasons of the best golfer ever. Smiley's perspective and Tiger's greatness through adversity create a great read for any sports fan. I've already purchased copies as gifts for my dad and the president of the organization I work for, both avid golfers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, November 21, 2008

By	D. Smolarek (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Follow the Roar chronicles Tiger's every move and gives the reader a unique perspective on golf's most famous current player, Tiger Woods. Easy to read and full of details, this is a great book to add to your golf collection.