CNN
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Tiger Woods has made so many comebacks in his extraordinary golfing career that they have become an integral part of his legend.
But after his 2021 high-speed, single-car accident in the Los Angeles suburbs, even Woods must have known that a serious comeback was unlikely. His right leg had been smashed to pieces, and he was lucky that it was still attached to the rest of his body.
What the 15-time major champion needed now wasn’t so much a comeback in a competitive sense but rather a way back onto the course. Renowned golf writer Alan Shipnuck believes that the emergence of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour provided Woods with the most unlikely of pathways.
“This battle for the soul of professional golf gave Tiger a purpose,” Shipnuck told CNN Sport. “It gave him a rallying cry. He was this galvanizing figure for the PGA Tour, fighting for its legacy.”
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Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey of Crushers GC shake hands as they celebrate with teammate Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri on the 18th green after the finals of the LIV Golf Team Championship Miami, October 22, 2023.
‘Haves and have-mores’
In the spring and summer of 2022, men’s professional golf had been plunged into a crisis. As the game’s biggest stars were being tempted by guaranteed salaries well into eight figures, the game was cleaved into a world of “haves and have-mores,” as Shipnuck described it.
As the battlelines were drawn and the rhetoric became increasingly heated, Woods arrived on the scene as the game’s elder statesman, eager to make a stand for golfing heritage.
Fighting back from injury, divorce, and scandal, Woods’ headlines had been less about golf for those who weren’t around for his golden years. He won the Masters in 2019, but that was 11 years after his previous major win.
“Tiger’s always been a loner,” Shipnuck explained. “He’s always been an introvert, and there’s entire generations that don’t know him at all because he’s been injured for so long.”
But that began to change after Woods flew into Delaware to head up an impromptu players’ meeting, at which they all thrashed out a new direction for the PGA Tour.
“I really think it’s been a crucial part of Tiger’s road back from that accident, to have more human connection and to feel the love and the warm embrace of his colleagues. I don’t think you can overstate how important that that this has been for Tiger.
“We may ultimately have to thank LIV Golf for giving us a new, improved, and more engaged Tiger Woods!”
Shipnuck’s new book, “LIV And Let Die,” chronicles the tumultuous emergence of the breakaway tour.
Australian two-time major champion Greg Norman emerges as the chief provocateur in the book, whose long-standing desire to shake up the game was re-energized by the seemingly limitless reserves of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
It’s a compelling read, littered with so much profanity that it sometimes reads more like a screenplay for a Quentin Tarantino movie than a book about a traditionally genteel sport.
Two of the 62 f**ks in the book come from five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who joined the LIV Tour in the summer of June, 2022.
“F**k all of those country club kids who talk sh*t about me,” Koepka is quoted as saying, “You think I give a f**k what they think about me? You think I care what people say about me? I had three surgeries and I’m supposed to turn down $130 million? I grew up with nothing.”
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Tiger Woods reacts after winning the Masters golf tournament in April 2019. It was his 15th major title and
his first since 2008.
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Woods had his first brush with fame when he was just 2 years old. The young golfing prodigy appeared on "The Mike Douglas Show" in 1978, winning a putting contest with comedian Bob Hope.
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Woods, 6, sizes up a putt in Los Alamitos, California, in 1982. His real name is Eldrick, but his father nicknamed him "Tiger" after a South Vietnamese soldier he fought alongside with during the Vietnam War.
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Woods and his father, Earl, celebrate after a 15-year-old Tiger won the US Junior Amateur Championship in 1991. He won the event in 1992 and 1993 as well.
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Woods, 16, tees off at the Los Angeles Open in 1992. That was his first taste of PGA Tour competition, albeit as an amateur. He missed the 36-hole cut.
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Woods played for the United States during the World Amateur Team Cup, which took place in France in 1994.
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Woods hits a tee shot during the 1995 Walker Cup, an international team event.
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Woods talks to the media after winning his third-straight US Amateur in 1996. Throughout his life, Woods has worn red on the final day of a big tournament.
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Woods played two years of college golf at Stanford University. He won the NCAA individual golf title in 1996.
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Woods turned professional in August 1996, and it didn't take long for him to win his first tournament. Six weeks after he announced he was going pro — with a famous "Hello, world" ad campaign for Nike — Woods won the Las Vegas Invitational. That earned him this big check, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a spot in the following year's Masters tournament.
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Woods made history at the 1997 Masters, blowing away the field by 12 strokes to win his first major. At the time, it was also a record-low Masters score of 18 under par.
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Woods hugs his father, Earl, after winning the 1997 Masters. Earl, a former Green Beret, was widely credited with developing his son's prodigious talent and pushing him to be the ultimate competitor.
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Woods arrives at an airport in Hamburg, Germany, in May 2000.
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Woods plays a shot from the ninth fairway during the 2000 US Open in Pebble Beach, California. Woods won the tournament by 15 shots, a record for any major. It was Woods' third major title by this point; he had also won the 1999 PGA Championship.
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A month after the US Open, Woods won the 2000 British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. That gave him the career Grand Slam — a win in each of the four different majors — at the age of 24.
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Woods chips out of the rough at the 2000 PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. Throughout his career, Woods has always had the largest galleries, with thousands of people flocking from hole to hole to watch him play. He's also been credited with bringing in millions of new fans to the sport.
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Woods reacts as he sinks a putt during a playoff at the 2000 PGA Championship. Woods defeated Bob May in the playoff to win his third straight major.
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Fans watch Woods tee off on the 18th hole at the 2001 Masters. Woods went on to win the event and complete what's now called the Tiger Slam — four consecutive major titles.
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Woods chats with golf legend Jack Nicklaus at the Memorial tournament in June 2001. The two are widely considered to be the two greatest golfers in history, and only Nicklaus has won more major titles than Woods.
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Woods arrives in a military vehicle before a golf exhibition in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2004. Woods spent the week training with Army troops before hosting a junior golf clinic for his Tiger Woods Foundation. Woods' father, Earl, was stationed at the base in the 1960s.
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Woods and Phil Mickelson line up their putts during the final round of the Ford Championship in March 2005. For much of Woods' career, Mickelson was considered his biggest rival.
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Woods celebrates with his caddie, Steve Williams, after his famous chip-in at the 2005 Masters. Woods went on to win his fourth green jacket.
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Woods hugs Williams after winning the British Open in Hoylake, England in 2006. It was Woods' first major win since the death of his father just a couple of months earlier.
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Woods stands with his mother, Kultida, and his daughter, Sam, as a statue of him and his father is unveiled at the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, California, in January 2008.
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Woods had a fractured tibia and a torn ligament in his knee, but he gutted out a playoff win over Rocco Mediate at the 2008 US Open. It was his third US Open win and his 14th major title.
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President Barack Obama hosted Woods in the White House Oval Office in April 2009.
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Woods hits a shot during a PGA Championship practice round in August 2009.
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Woods holds his daughter, Sam, as he and his wife, Elin, attend a Stanford football game in November 2009. Woods married Elin, a model, in 2004. The couple also have a son, Charlie.
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Woods approaches a lectern before giving a televised statement in February 2010.
Woods apologized for being unfaithful to his wife and letting down both fans and family. "I had affairs, I cheated," he said. "What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame." It was his first public appearance since being hospitalized a couple months earlier following a car crash outside his home. Woods said he was in therapy for "issues," which he did not explain. He and his wife divorced in August 2010.
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Woods plays virtual golf with talk-show host Jimmy Fallon in 2011.
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Woods jokes with golf great Arnold Palmer after winning the Bay Hill Invitational in March 2013 and regaining his spot as the world's top-ranked golfer.
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Woods falls to the ground in pain after hitting a shot at The Barclays in August 2013. A few months later, he would undergo back surgery for a pinched nerve.
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From left, Woods, Jason Dufner and Mickelson hang out at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, where the Presidents Cup was taking place in Dublin, Ohio, in October 2013.
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Woods kisses his then-girlfriend, skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn, at an event in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in 2015. The two dated for a couple of years.
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In 2017,
Woods was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Woods, who was rehabbing from another back surgery, said in a statement that he had "an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications" and that alcohol was not involved. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and went on probation.
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President Donald Trump presents Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in May 2019. It was just a month after Woods won his fifth Masters and 15th major.
Trump hailed Woods as a "global symbol of American excellence" and congratulated him on his "amazing comeback."
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Woods captained the US team to a Presidents Cup win in December 2019.
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Woods putts during the second round of the Masters in November 2020.
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Woods and his son, Charlie, warm up before the final round of the PNC Championship in December 2020. Videos of Charlie's impressive swing, a swing that looks much like his father's,
went viral on social media.
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Law enforcement officers investigate the scene of Woods' rollover crash in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in February 2021. Woods
suffered serious leg injuries in the one-car accident and had to be pulled from his vehicle by emergency responders.
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Woods plays a shot at the PNC Championship as his son, Charlie, watches in December 2021. It was Tiger's first time competing since the car crash, and he used a golf cart to get around the course. He and Charlie
finished in second place. "I'm a long way away from playing tournament golf," Tiger said. "This is hit, hop in a cart."
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Woods attends the trophy ceremony for the Genesis Invitational, which he hosted in Pacific Palisades, California, in February 2022. A year after his crash, he said he still hoped for a return to the PGA Tour but
said he was "frustrated" with the timeline of his recovery. He spoke of his intention to return to competitive golf while conceding he won't be able to play a full tour schedule.
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Woods and his mother, Kultida, pose for photos during
his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in March 2022. "I had unbelievable parents, mentors, friends who supported me in the darkest of times and celebrated the highest of times," he said in his acceptance speech. "All of you allowed me to get here, and I want to say thank you very much from the bottom of my heart."
Shipnuck accepts that the colorful language speaks to the highly charged emotions on both sides.
“I never think it’s my job to edit someone’s language, if they’re fired up and if they have something that they want to say forcefully, then I just let it go,” adds Shipnuck.
“The passions were so inflamed, it became very personal to the players, to the executives, and to the money guys behind the scenes. It took some time to get people to really talk honestly like they did, including those four-letter words!”
Shipnuck says that he spoke with players, caddies, CEOs, agents, financiers, lawyers, fans and wives for his book, but it has not been well received by everybody.
Writing on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, two-time major champion Justin Thomas said: “I’d like to speak on behalf of a lot of tour players and say we’re sick of @AlanShipnuck doing what he does.
“Bring positivity and good stories to help grow the game of golf, not try and make money bashing guys, earning zero trust, with a lot of incorrect information. Ridiculous.”
Shipnuck has defended his work, telling CNN that he’s not a “publicist, I’m a journalist.”
“My obligation’s to the reader, not to the players,” Shipnuck adds. “They count on me to give them the truth and tell them what’s really happening behind the scenes.
“When you do that, you offer this counter-narrative for what the players want to believe, what they’ve been told by their leadership, what’s in their best interest; they sometimes get upset about it. I feel that it’s really their problem, not mine.”
Shipnuck describes the overarching themes of the narrative are loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and greed, but there’s much more nuance than might have seemed apparent at the time.
Rory McIlroy, whose full-throated and principled defense of the PGA Tour earned him a badge of honor in the esteem of many, was seen as “the moral conscience of golf.” But Shipnuck hints that perhaps it wasn’t quite so black-and-white.
“Rory also emerged as the leading troll,” Shipnuck tells CNN. “Rory was a great ambassador for the tour, but he made it very personal.
“And the LIV players rolled their eyes about Rory being held up as this white knight because Rory has tremendous business interests through the PGA Tour that he’s also fighting to protect.”
Equally, perhaps there was more to the so-called villains than first met the eye.
“It misses all the nuance to say they just sold out and took the money,” says Shipnuck. “I mean, obviously, the money was an inducement. Everybody understands that. But there were more things going on.”
Shipnuck explains that 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, a young man in his prime, was one of the more surprising players to join LIV.
In the book, a narrative emerges that indicates the American player felt undervalued by his peers on the PGA Tour. Shipnuck told CNN of the pain in DeChambeu’s voice as he spoke about it, writing:
“He told me that, six years in a row, he tried to get elected to the player Advisory Council on the PGA Tour. It’s like running for president when you’re in high school, but for six years in a row, his peers rejected him. He had real pain in his voice when he told me, ‘I guess they just don’t like me.’”
Once he’d joined the LIV Tour, DeChambeau assumed a leadership position as a team captain.
“Patrick Reed and Sergio García had worn out their welcome on the PGA Tour. They were disliked by their peers; they were feuding with the leadership. LIV was just a fresh start, a new organization that caters to the players and has a different mentality.
“Phil Mickelson needed to be validated as the smartest guy in the room. All of them wanted the money, clearly, but there’s a lot more at play. The ‘good guys’ always have a little shadow, and with the ‘bad guys,’ there’s usually a redeeming quality or two.”
Ultimately, for all the bitterness and acrimony, it could be that all the players will end up on the same side.
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Phil Mickelson of HyFlyers GC in action during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational at Sentosa Golf Club on April 28, 2023 in Singapore.
Almost exactly a year to the day since LIV played its inaugural tournament in London, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan revealed that they had brokered a surprise truce and settled their lawsuits.
While the full details have yet to be hammered out, the pair announced that, along with the European Tour, they would join up to create an entity that would unify the game.
“They all doubled and tripled their salaries,” Shipnuck explained. “One of Phil Mickelson’s primary complaints was that the PGA Tour was sitting on a lot of money that belonged to the players. You could say he was vindicated in that regard.”
The fans could also win, as a result.
“If they can create a schedule where you take maybe the best dozen PGA Tour events, the best five or six on the European tour, and two or three LIV events and you put this together in a way that makes sense geographically and throughout the year – and all the best players will always show up – that would be a huge win for golf fans,” according to Shipnuck.
Assuming the Saudis remain involved with the project, it would also be a win for them.
To take a seat at the table of a major international sport and walk the corridors of power and influence in the western world after emerging from the shadow of their alleged involvement in 9/11, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and a poor human rights record would be a significant coup.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously said he doesn’t “care” about the country’s investment in sport being described as sportswashing.
“Well if sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by one percent, then I will continue doing sportswashing,” MBS said in an interview with Fox News which aired in September.
The LIV episode is proof, Shipnuck argues, that sportswashing works.
“In the first year of LIV, the players were pounded with questions about Khashoggi, about [Crown Prince] Mohammad Bin Salman, about the human rights abuses of the Saudi government against its own citizens. And by year two, those questions started to disappear because fatigue sets in.
“That’s why sportswashing is so popular among certain bad actors because it does have that effect over time. You normalize these countries.
“Over time, the resistance starts to fade away and there does become this acceptance that they’re part of professional sports or part of the global economy. And, maybe, they are our allies.”
CNN has reached out to Woods, McIroy, Reed and Garcia for comment.