Raising the Bar : The Championship Years of Tiger Woods [Hardcover]

Tim Rosaforte (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

The Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, the PGA Championship.

The Career Grand Slam.

At age 24.

He could very well be the greatest golfer to ever play the game.

Raising the Bar is the story of how Tiger Woods changed his life, his game, and the way America views golf. There have been many biographies written about Tiger's life and early days with the PGA, but each ends with his triumphant victory in the 1997 Masters Championship. In the last three years Tiger has endured a lifetime of experiences. Critically acclaimed golf writer and commentator Tim Rosaforte has watched Tiger since he burst onto the golfing scene and been an up-close observer of the Tiger's life both on and off the course. In Raising the Bar, we learn about:

Growing Pains
After the Masters, Woods won the GTE Byron Nelson Classic and the Motorola Western Open, but he also lost the Colonial and never factored in the three remaining major championships of the year because of his impatience and distance control problems. It was still a landmark year, but Tiger knew he had a long way to go to seriously challenge the legacy of Jack Nicklaus. That was proven at the Ryder Cup, where he airmailed greens, went 1-3-1, and lost in his singles match to Italy's Costantino Rocca.
The Slump
The 1998 season did not measure up to Tiger's standards. He won once overseas, beating Ernie Els with a final-round comeback (eight shots over Ernie Els) in the Johnnie Walker Asian Classic, and only once in America, the BellSouth Classic. Woods kept telling everyone he was playing much better than his four-victory debut, but nobody would believe him. In his mind, 1998 was a transition between the old Tiger Woods and the new Tiger Woods, a Tiger Woods that was being rebuilt to stand the test of time.
The Reinvention
How Tiger changed agents, caddies, and his image.
A new beginning - and a new swing
The scene begins with Tiger on the driving range at Isleworth, just before the GTE Byron Nelson Classic in 1999. The swing change that he's been working on with Butch Harmon takes hold, and he has an epiphany. He goes on to win three tournaments and then triumphs at the PGA Championship. Tiger's definitely back, and with a roar.
The Streak
Starting at Walt Disney World in October 1999, and ending at San Diego in 2000, Tiger was virtually unbeatable. He won six straight times on the PGA Tour and was close to winning a seventh until the back nine on Sunday at Torrey Pines. It all started with the Ryder Cup in September, where Tiger led his team to a thrilling Sunday comeback against the Europeans.
The Career Grand Slam
Without question his greatest accomplishment to date. Rosaforte gives everyone a seat inside the ropes as he chronicles Tiger's triumphant run through the last U.S. Open and British Open. We also watch as Tiger defends his PGA Championship in what many are calling the one of the greatest rounds of golf - ever.

Raising the Bar will last as a fitting tribute to Tiger's remarkable assault on the record books.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Since storming onto the PGA Tour in 1996 and winning the Masters in 1997, Tiger Woods has topped golf's leader boards in most of the important categories, including ink. No golfer--indeed, no athlete, except maybe Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali--has been the subject of so many words in such a short time. In Raising the Bar, Tim Rosaforte adds to the flow, focusing on how Woods rebuilt himself and his game after the 1997 Masters and the slump of 1998. What's happened since, of course, is history.

And Rosaforte is there for every part of it. The conquests. The struggles. The endorsements, the contracts, the commercials. Tigermania. The horrible performance in the 1997 Ryder Cup matches. The doubts. The questions. The reassessment and reformulation of his game under the guidance of Butch Harmon. The weightlifting and fitness routine. The streak. The majors. The Grand Slam. It's a riveting triumph of will and focus, hard work and raw talent.

If Woods's game raises the bar--and there's no doubt that it has--Rosaforte's chronicle can't quite match the standards set by his subject. Yes, the book is well reported and certainly readable, but it seems rushed, a recapitulation churned out to be timely, rather than an analysis of a phenomenon that might be timeless in itself. Perhaps it's just too soon to expect that in a book, but if Tiger can raise the bar on the course, there's no reason the scribes who have him in their sights can't raise it some, as well. --Jeff Silverman

About the Author

TIM ROSAFORTE is a Senior Writer for Golf World magazine. He is a frequent contributor to The Golf Channel and is a past president of the Golf Writers Association of America. He has written two books: Heartbreak Hill, and Tiger Woods: The Makings of a Champion. He has covered golf for Sports Illustrated, The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and The St. Petersburg Times, and his work has appeared in Golf Digest, Golf, Golf Illustrated, and Links magazines. His television work includes commentaries on Inside the PGA Tour, co-hosting The PGA Tour Florida Style, reports on the Golf Channel's Golf Central, and analysis on the Golf Channel's Viewers Forum.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1ST edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031227212X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312272128
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,877,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Even Tiger Junkies Will Be Disappointed, April 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Raising the Bar : The Championship Years of Tiger Woods (Hardcover)

I have seen Tim Rosaforte on the Golf Channel and read an excerpt in Golf Digest so I was looking forward to this book. There were so many errors and typos--misspellings, wrong words, one whole section out of place--that it was hard to concentrate on the text. Many of the quotes were simply taken from Golf Channel interviews and shows. There was little evidence of research. It was clear that this book was designed to make money by capitalizing on Tiger's celebrity and was rushed to print while we were still talking about the 2000 season. Do publishers have editors and proofreaders any more? Save your money.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hats off to Rosaforte, January 2, 2001

By 

T.J. Auclair (Narragansett, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising the Bar : The Championship Years of Tiger Woods (Hardcover)

Raising the Bar was an excellent and easy read, but I didn't expect anything less from Tim Rosaforte.

People who follow the game of golf extremely closely may not find out much more about Woods than they already know by reading Raising the Bar. However, Rosaforte takes a different approach to his work, which makes it very enjoyable. Rather than spit out strictly facts about Woods, Rosaforte's book goes in-depth with people, besides himself, who have chronicled Woods' career by sharing anecdotes with people like Mark Steinberg (Woods' agent), Butch Harmon (Woods' coach), Scott Van Pelt (The Golf Channel field reporter and Golf Central anchor), Jeff Rude (Golf Week columnist) and various touring professionals, including Mark O'Meara.

Perhaps my favorite anecdote involved the Golf Channel's Peter Kessler, a noted golf historian. At the beginning of the book, Kessler talked about what it was like to follow Tiger around Pebble Beach during the 2000 U.S. Open:

"I was just keenly aware of what I was witnessing," he said. "I missed Bobby Jones in his prime, and I never saw Hogan, but I did see Arnie, Gary, Jack, Lee, Tom, Seve, Greg, Nick and Nick. It was my sense after following him 50 holes in the U.S. Open, that this was the best that anybody had ever played golf, and I got to see it. I felt so lucky and honored, and because I had an appreciation for what it meant historically, I started to cry. His mom hugged me and comforted me like I was two years old and then Joanna started crying because I was crying, then Kultida started crying because Joanna was crying, and then Tiger emerges from the scoring tent. Tiger looks at both of them and looks at me and says, `It's Peter's fault, he was crying first,' as we were sharing my handkerchief. Tiger hugged the girls and hugged me, and laughed at me, and went out to get his U.S. Open trophy."

The entire book was enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the sport of golf at any level and is mesmerized by the unparalleled success of Woods. For those who haven't followed Tiger's career closely, don't worry; you'll be at the edge of your seat. Rosaforte makes Raising the Bar an easy and interesting read, by catching the golf-novice up to date. For those avid golf followers who already know about Tiger's career, Rosaforte's use of anecdotes will leave you unable to put the book down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Raising The Bar, April 11, 2001

By 

Robert Bladen "avidreader" (Newport Beach, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising the Bar : The Championship Years of Tiger Woods (Hardcover)

Boring. Boring. Boring.

I almost gave up on the book after about 30 pages, but it was given to me as a gift and I like to finish that which I start.

If this book had to be written (?) then it should have been written by someone who could at least hold your attention, if not excite.

Tim Rosaforte shows little writing talent and one wonders what he is doing to raise his own bar. His readers and Tiger deserve better.

Having read John Feinstein and having grown up with the writings of Jim Murray perhaps my bar is set too high.

To anyone who wants to take a chance on this book I recommend the public library.