A Slice of Golfing Literature: Part nine - Gary Moran on the latest in a long list of books on Tiger Woods

If Tiger Woods were so inclined, he could spend an awfully long time reading about himself. Within months of turning professional in August 1996 he had won a couple of PGA Tour events and there were a couple of new books about him on the shelves. The wins and the books have accumulated at a similar rate ever since, with both now approaching 40.

Those first two differed in title by only a single letter. Tim Rosaforte wrote a straightforward biography, Tiger Woods: The Makings of a Champion, while Sports Illustrated published a collection of their existing articles in Tiger Woods: The Making of a Champion. Now there are also Tiger Woods, Heart of a Champion; Tiger Woods, Reflections on a Champion; and Tiger Woods, Tribute to a Champion. Spot the theme.

John Andrisiani was first on the instruction side with Play Golf the Tiger Woods Way long before Woods remodelled his swing and produced Tiger Woods: How I Play Golf. If Woods forgets any of the records he is breaking, he can consult The Ultimate Tiger Woods Trivia Book, and while he is renowned for saying very little of substance in his innumerable press conferences, there are a few gems in Quotable Tiger, described as a grand slam of compelling quotes by and about Tiger Woods. A lengthy one-on-one interview with Tiger is about as rare as a missed cut and his press conferences often have the quality of candyfloss - a lot of fluff and little substance.

In efforts to uncover the "real" Tiger, Vartan Kupelian has written Stalking the Tiger, Curt Sampson has Chasing the Tiger and most recently Tom Callahan has completed In Search of Tiger. Callahan is a sharp observer of golf and its characters, and his research is as diligent as Woods's practice.

In this book, he describes the nose of Arnold Palmer's former caddy, Tip Anderson, as a "veiny purple masterpiece"; he recalls how David Duval went into the Road Hole bunker on the final day of the 2000 British Open and "didn't reappear until he had spent about $300,000" (i.e. four shots later); he hears Woods hitting two-irons at an exhibition "so solidly that they chime like tuning forks on crystal goblets".

The book is liberally sprinkled not only with such bons mots but also with some genuinely funny golfing vignettes such as that which unfolded in the Augusta press room when Bernard Hunt's five-iron was knocked from his hand during an electric storm at the Masters back in the 60s.

To point up Woods's frugal press-conference style, Callahan recounts how Hunt rattled through the details of his round that day to the media. "Fourteenth, driver, five-iron, 20 feet, two putts" "Tell them what happened at 14, Bernard," interrupted playing partner Neil Coles. "Oh, driver, five-iron, hit by lightning, 20 feet, two putts," said Hunt, before moving quickly on to the 15th.

It is from such press conferences and a few snatched conversations that Callahan gets most of his material about Woods and a lot of the book's value comes from his conversations with others around Tiger, from parents Earl and Tida to rivals Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson. Especially interesting are the thoughts of Jack Nicklaus, who terms the Tiger Slam "the most amazing feat in the history of golf".

Callahan weaves all the material seamlessly together. He might admit that having gone In Search of Tiger he didn't get as close as he would have liked but he certainly wrote a decent book for anyone interested in contemporary golf.