The Tiger Slam

The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played (Tiger Woods in 2000–2001)

By: Kevin Cook

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Twenty-five years ago, Tiger Woods achieved the greatest feat in golf history: the “Tiger Slam.” Now, for the first time, the award-winning author of Tommy’s Honor delivers a riveting account of Tiger at his most brilliant—dominating the game in a way we will never see again.

In 1997, as every schoolchild knows, Tiger Woods won the Masters by the largest margin in history, becoming the first Black player to win a major championship. Four years later, the world watches with breathless anticipation as he returns to Augusta National, aiming for a milestone no other golfer has ever achieved: four professional Grand Slam triumphs in a row.

In The Tiger Slam, Kevin Cook delivers a gripping, inside-the-ropes account of an astonishing streak of victories that left Woods’s rivals scrambling to keep up. Listeners will hear from many of golf ’s biggest names—Tiger’s caddie, his coach, his opponents, his idols, and others, all offering fresh insight into the electrifying highs of his victories and the obstacles on and off the course that threatened his relentless pursuit of perfection.

We join Tiger at the beginning of his Slam: the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach. In a notoriously grueling tournament designed to bring golfers to their knees, who could even dream of winning by a record margin of fifteen strokes? Tiger could. We follow him to the hallowed grounds of St. Andrews a few weeks later for the 2000 Open Championship, where he transforms his game to meet the singular demands of the links. Still only twenty-four, he leaves the Old Course as the youngest player ever to complete a career Grand Slam.

We proceed with Tiger to the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he fights a spectacular Sunday duel with a player he grew up idolizing, ending with a playoff that changes the course of golf history. Finally, we return to legendary Augusta National, site of his record-breaking first major championship, to see if he can be the first to sweep all four majors. Dogged by reports of an early-season slump, facing a supposedly “Tiger-proofed” course, golf’s superstar tees off against his two fiercest adversaries in an unforgettable final round.

The Tiger Slam is the epitome of greatness in sport, a feat as exhilarating today as it was twenty-five years ago. In fact, it’s even more so, now that we know we’ll never see its like again—such dominance is unthinkable in modern golf’s era of parity. Kevin Cook invites us to close our eyes and remember a young champion at the peak of his powers: unmatched raw strength, single-minded focus, strategic genius, and utter fearlessness. The Tiger Slam takes listeners behind the scenes in the thrilling months when Tiger Woods took an ancient game to new heights.

©2024 Kevin Cook (P)2024 Simon & Schuster

Great Story…If Only The Speaker Knew Anything About Golf

A wonderful walk through the best golf we’ve seen in the last 40 years, bludgeoned by the speaker that sounded like an AI with a monotone voice. The mispronunciations of golfers was epically laughable and truly detracted from the story. Kevin, it might be a good idea to vet your speaker or at least fix the problems. A real shame.

Great revisit of the Tiger days

As a golfer who lived through this era, it was great to relive it and, with hindsight, understand just how historic Tiger’s golf was. We may never see such dominance in a single sport that way again. As others have mentioned the narrator is laughably bad but it didn’t get in my way of enjoying the ride. He totally sounds like an AI voice who struggles to pronounce all of the greatest Spanish golfers (except Sergio he got right).

Must Read for Golf Fans!

Kevin Cook does a great job bringing you back to the most dominant stretch by the most dominant golfer of our era. He gives amazing nuances to the run Tiger had in 2000-2001 while drawing from the rich history of the game and those that came before him.

Good Review of Tiger ‘00-01

A good, thorough review of the 2000 Majors and 2001 Masters. Perhaps the best piece of the story was the detail behind the Ball change, ie Bridgestone-Nike ball.