During the winter of 2008, sitcom writer Bob Smiley decided to join his fellow writers and walk the picket line in support of the Writers Guild of America. A golf junkie since boyhood, Smiley reached out to ESPN and got a freelance gig writing golf humour columns from the point of view of the average 18+ handicapper. When he realised the writers' strike was going to last longer than he'd anticipated, he decided to attempt a feat many sports fans fantasize about: to follow Tiger Woods from the gallery for every hole of an entire season. So with a wife and two small children at home, Smiley hit the PGA trail, travelling on the cheap for months on end. His adventures took him from San Diego to the deserts of Dubai, through the gates of Augusta National, and to, arguably, the greatest U.S. Open of all time at Torrey Pines, where in June of 2008 Tiger defeated the opposition on only one leg. (His other one was debilitated by a torn ACL and fractured tibia.) Following his inspiring victory at the U.S. Open, Tiger announced that he was going straight into surgery and would sit out the rest of the 2008 season. Although this turn of events eliminated the possibility of a Grand Slam (winning all four Majors in a single calendar year), Tiger's strength and courage in the face of golf mortality add a whole new dimension to his story - and to Smiley's.
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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
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Tiger Woods book yet,
By Jon (Lexington, KY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season (Hardcover)
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.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
About golf, major disappointment,
By
This review is from: Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season (Hardcover)
Be warned: "Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes" is about golf. The review "Tiger Woods and his swinging club" was very misleading.
I'm giving this a 3 and not a 1 because the book itself is actually well written, albeit on a subject I'm not interested in at all.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Read,
By
This review is from: Follow the Roar (Kindle Edition)
This book is a must for the golf fan - or any dedicated sports fan for that matter. Yes, the book is about Tiger's season, but the real story is the entertaining, season long adventures of the ultimate golf fan - Bob Smiley! Read this and prepare to laugh. The book is entertaining, educational, and a keeper.
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