It’s fair to say that Tiger Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg isn’t a fan of the new HBO documentary ‘Tiger’, a two-part series that saw episode one aired on Sunday.
‘Tiger’ has been billed as a film looking at the life, success and scandals of golf legend Tiger Woods, however, true to the form of modern media, it focusses far more on the scandals and less on the 15-time Major winner’s success inside the ropes.
Steinberg describes the film as “salacious”, though as it directly impacts the all-important brand of his client, and was made without any input from Woods, he was hardly going to review it any other way.
“Just like the book it is based off of, the upcoming HBO documentary is just another unauthorized and salacious outsider attempt to paint an incomplete portrait of one of the greatest athletes of all-time,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg references a biography of the same name – Tiger – penned by Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict in 2018 with Keteyian an executive producer for the two-part documentary. Yet Steinberg isn’t alone in criticising this latest take on golf’s GOAT, with many observers disappointed that Tiger’s achievements, mainly his comeback win at the 2018 Tour Championship after spinal fusion surgery, didn’t feature, with the focus instead largely wrapped up in Woods’ infamous fall from grace and his relationship with his father, Earl.
ESPN broadcaster Ashley Brewer was amongst the journalists also disappointed by how Tiger was depicted in the film. She took to twitter saying: “Just finished the Tiger Woods documentary, which will air on HBO Sunday. It left me sad for Tiger. The vicious attack on him, his character & his father was unfair. It failed to highlight his work as a humanitarian. And it failed to extend grace to an imperfect person, like us all.”
It’s no surprise that this particular portrayal of Woods hasn’t been too kind given that those featuring in the documentary are people Tiger has fallen out with on his way back to the top of the game. The two-part series is well worth a watch, if only to attempt to make your own minds up on the subject. However, one can’t help but think that until Woods tells his side of the story, the truth will never be known. That’s Tiger’s truth to tell, but for a man who’s lived so much of his life in the blinding eye of the spotlight, why would Woods willingly welcome any more attention?
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