After reading this article why would anyone buy the book?
https://nypost.com/2019/11/02/how-tiger-woods-became-a-narcissistic-cheapskate-whod-look-right-through-you/
Good question. Amusing that those who accuse him of being cheap, a bad tipper rode his coat tails and benefited greatly by association (Tiger's coach, caddie, subject of books, etc.). It's all relative, right? (I was once denounced in front of several people as a "bad tipper" by someone in this DG because I "only" gave his hired bartender a $10 bill for getting me one beer and a small bowl of gumbo, an amount that I would have thought as a former bartender as extremely generous.)
As someone who knows a bit about Messrs. Haney and Sampson, both with strong north Texas connections, I suspect that they know intimately about transactional relationships. In fact, such is human nature; songs have been written about it (e.g. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"). I've seen it often at GCA.com events.
Niall,
Ok, I will bite. It is my opinion that a nurturing, stable, supportive upbringing is more conducive to well-functioning adults. I am sure that JN has had some dysfunction in his life, most of us have. But TW in addition to fighting the racial prejudices of his time, had an overbearing, philandering father and a mother who though may have provided some normalcy, could not have been happy with the situation at home. Add the financial pressures he faced vs. JN's Scioto Country Club lifestyle to the mix.
As to support from others, I knew of some in JN's inner circle- took two lessons from Jack Grout at MV before moving to TX- and none that I can think of depended on JN for their commercial success (Grout probably got as much notoriety and commercial value late in his career for helping Ray Floyd with hitting his 5-wood en-route to winning the Masters as he did rearing JN). Angelo and Stevie were very different animals; the former much more of a bag carrier than an advisor; the latter, just like Haney, obviously seeking to be credited substantially for their principal's success.
What better mentoring could one have than loving, nurturing parents who didn't push their son in a single direction? JN played multiple sports well into college. Woody Hayes even looked at him for football and encouraged him to pursue golf. Supposedly he was a good basketball and tennis player.
TW is a phenomenal athlete with a great golf mind. We don't know what he would have accomplished if he had a different, stable upbringing, but my bet is that much of the turmoil at the peak of his career would have been avoided. Against all odds, his story continues, not only as a golfer, but as an engaged human being. I think that he is more important to golf today than JN ever was and his work with the First Tee Program is extremely important.
P.S.- I fell couple degrees short in the subject discipline, but you may address me as Carnac if you like.