TIGER WOODS, JACK NICKLAUS, JEFF BENEDICT AND ARMEN KETEYIAN
There are so many who had it and lost it. And there are fewer of those who have had it, lost it and somehow gotten it back.
The essence of subjectivity would be to define, “it.”
To some, love is the answer. To others, good health. Money, for better or for worse is the be-all end-all (to perhaps too many).
And all of these typical responses to what “it” may be are understandable to a degree.
For the purpose(s) of this piece, the “it” in question encompasses the golfing elite, fame, fortune, upbringing and reputation.
Tiger Woods had it, lost it and maybe, just maybe could get some of it back.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.”
“Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.”
“While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.”
“What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.”
— -Helen Keller
“Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity.”
— -Earl Woods, Tiger Woods’ late father
“I’m Tiger Woods, king of the world, go eff yourself.”
“I got a second chance on life, I am a walking miracle.”
— -Eldrick Tont ‘Tiger’ Woods
“I felt sorry for the child because he wanted to interact with others.”
— -Maureen Decker, Tiger Woods’ kindergarten teacher — Cypress, CA.
“[His] inability to show gratitude, apologise or express appreciation was rooted in his warped upbringing. His mother pampered him like a prince and his father rarely uttered the words ‘thank you’ or ‘I’m sorry.’”
— -Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian in the newly released biography, “Tiger Woods”
New York Times best-selling author Jeff Benedict and CBS correspondent Armen Keteyian (he of the notable tenures at ABC, HBO and Sports Illustrated in a stellar journalistic career) have collaborated on an unauthorized — and somewhat controversial — biography of Tiger Woods. Woods’ representatives/handlers have challenged the reporting, alleging that the book is “littered with egregious errors” and that the authors “can’t even manage basic truth and accuracy.”
To which Benedict and Keteyian fired back in part that they had conducted interviews with more than 250 people “from every walk of Woods’s life.”
The book received glowing reviews from the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek and The New York Times and as of March 30 — release date, March 27 — was №7 on Amazon’s top new releases and №17 overall.
Added the co-authors:
“Between January 2016 and February 2018, we made repeated attempts to interview Tiger himself through his representatives, Glenn Greenspan and Mark Steinberg. As we write in our book, they imposed conditions for Tiger’s cooperation that no serious journalist would accept. As for our sourcing and research, as responsible biographers we are very open in our book about the use of Tiger’s own extensive written and public statements as a crucial source of insights, facts, and reflections. We credit these and other previously written books and articles about Tiger Woods for providing valuable reference and verification for our narrative. If we have made any inadvertent typographical or factual errors, we will correct them in future printings of the book.
But let us be clear: We stand by the accuracy of our reporting and are proud to have produced a critically acclaimed book that answers a question many have asked for many years:
Who is Tiger Woods?”
When Greenspan and Steinberg returned the volley thrice, claiming that the book was nothing other than a “rehash” of previous Woods biographies; that Benedict and Keteyian “did zero fact checking with us of any kind”; and that the attempt to project Woods’ thoughts rather than gather first-hand information undermined the veracity of the text, Keteyian summarily rebuffed the criticism citing his own background as a fact-checker and remarking that the aforementioned “egregious errors” are minor compared to the scale of the book.
Further as Keteyian noted, they ultimately were denied access to either Woods or his mother among others unless they were willing to acquiesce to what they considered unrealistic demands and conditions.
Said Benedict:
“What Greenspan and Steinberg have just done here — they’ve just illustrated what we just wrote about. Mark Steinberg is showing Mark Steinberg here. This is what he’s been doing for a long time.” [I.e. protecting Tiger].
Greenspan and Steinberg detail several “careless mistakes” they found in the book, specifically the assertion that “Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer [were] applauding at a dinner they never attended; [the authors] quoting a broadcaster who wasn’t present at an event; and [their] inventing a press gathering that didn’t occur.”
They also contend that the authors inaccurately characterized Woods’ demeanor during a round of golf with President Bill Clinton, an anecdotal nugget supported by Clinton aide Doug Band as well.
Keteyian naturally took umbrage stating, “[They] cited nine errors, and these are errors we could debate. There are tens of thousands of facts in this book. I fact-checked the book myself…we hired our own fact-checker, we had copy editors that fact-checked. There’s an enormous volume of information. So they found nine [errors] out of 404 pages?”
Benedict and Keteyian, acknowledging the inherent difficulty in covering Woods noted simply that he is “the most mysterious athlete of all time, an enigma obsessed with privacy who mastered the art of being invisible in plain sight, of saying something while revealing virtually nothing.”
Jack Nicklaus is the only man who stands between Tiger Woods and true golf immortality. The Golden Bear is widely regarded as the greatest golfer ever, capturing a record 18 career major championships (along with 19 second-place and 9 third-place finishes) over a 25-year span. Despite focusing on the majors and playing a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events, Nicklaus managed to compile 73 victories, third on the all-time list trailing only Sam Snead (82) and Woods (79).
But it’s all about the 18 majors, a plateau thought to be beyond the reach of anyone — at any time or of any era.
Along with his two great rivals comprising golf’s “Big Three,” Gary Player and Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus transformed the game in the early 1960s from a country club dalliance to a thriving global enterprise replete with an overflowing reservoir of sponsors and enormous prize money.
Billionaire banker and investor Howard Milstein who bought a 49% stake in the Nicklaus Companies group for $145 million in 2007 and whose family company and foundations have donated more than $3 million to survivors of and first responders to Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy is convinced that the ethos of giving has helped the pair build a mutual trust and respect. “We believe in stepping up when you can and doing the right things,” Milstein said.
As for Nicklaus, apart from serving a number of worthy causes through business, he donates millions of dollars to a children’s hospital and other charities through the leading PGA Tour tournament he hosts, The Memorial which he founded forty-two years ago in 1976.
In recognition of his sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy he received Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy award in 2015, the cherry on the sundae of a year in which he also received the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, only the seventh sportsman to be so honored.
Remarked Milstein, “Jack is the most genuine and most wholesome and straightforward and successful American that you will find.”
Wow; is there any higher praise to be bestowed on a human being?
With respect to golf circa 2018, Nicklaus believes that the game is in good hands referring to the likes of Rory Mcllroy and Jordan Spieth and he also could very well represent a minority of one in his thinking about Woods.
Tiger’s recent spate of injuries and other assorted travails notwithstanding, Nicklaus feels that with 14 majors to his credit — the 2008 U.S. Open being his last — Woods could still catch him.
Heading into this week’s Masters the world’s first billion dollar athlete, the professional golfer who spent 281 consecutive weeks at #1 and 683 weeks overall atop that lofty perch, is on a modest roll.
This part of the story is still being written.
And in the interest of fairness and impartiality Woods is philanthropic himself, involved in no fewer than five charities and generously supporting many causes.
Regardless there seems to be a big difference between Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
As journalist and political commentator Bill Moyers has so keenly observed, “the distinction between the celebrity and the hero is that one lives only for himself while the other acts to redeem society.”
Another victory or two can never change that.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in April 2018.]
Addendum: In 2019 Woods broke an 11-year major winless streak, winning the Masters for the fifth time and raising his total of major championships to 15, 3 behind Nicklaus.
