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Review by Peter Ward
For some golf is more than just a game; it is something to be mastered. For many young hopefuls the golf course beckons them to greatness. And for a very few, golf becomes a way of life, one that offers wealth and glory. The seeker of fairway fame is part dreamer, and part of the dream lies in the process of developing the skills essential to dominating the competition.
In Training a Tiger: A Father's Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life Earl Woods details the instructional process he perfected teaching the game to his son Eldrick "Tiger" Woods, winner of three consecutive United States Amateur Championships and the biggest thing to hit the Professional Golfers' Association Tour since a guy named Nicklaus made his tour debut 35 years ago.
Before Tiger could even walk, Earl began to lay the foundation for golf greatness with a deliberate training program. In this guide his basic philosophy is plainly stated as are the drills and practice plans he recommends. Included are plenty of drawings and pictures featuring who else but Tiger himself demonstrating his near-flawless stroke.
Davis Love III is the player Tiger Woods defeated in a dramatic playoff to win his first pro tournament at the Las Vegas Invitational earlier this year. In Every Shot I Take: Lessons Learned About Golf, Life, and a Father's Love, Love recounts his own golf career to date -- particularly the influence of his father, a renowned Golf Digest instructor who died in a plane crash in 1988.
Much of the instructional material presented here has been culled from previously unpublished material that the elder Love had written over the years and packed away. Besides the basics, Love thinks back on the guidance and support his father provided for him as he pursued his goal of becoming a professional golfer. Careful not to push his son to play the game, Davis Love, Jr. waited until his son asked him for help before assuming control of his son's golf education. The impressions of family and friends round out this account.
Gary McCord's road to golf celebrity began in 1973, but despite playing professionally for almost 15 years McCord never won a title. Then in 1986, after playing in a tournament, in an airplane carrying the CBS golf broadcast crew, he approached producer Frank Chirkinian and offered to look at CBS's approach to golf coverage. A few days later he was doing color commentary for the network.
McCord exhibits his trademark irreverence in Just a Range Ball in a Box of Titleists: On and Off the Tour with Gary McCord. He covers a lot of ground in this collection of 38 entertaining essays: a chronicle of the author's own elusive quest for respectability on the pro tour, recollections of the bizarre antics of the zanies at the semi-mythical San Luis Rey Downs Golf and Country Club, and his own unconventional ideas about professional golf and all that is associated with it.
Peter Ward often reviews sports books. He lives in West Islip, NY.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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