In Search of the Tiger: How a Chance Taxi Conversation Leads to a Golfing Odyssey

Sports writer Ian Stafford sat in a taxi on the way to Heathrow listening to the cab driver relate his near death experience on a golf course. Lightning had struck the ground near him, shocking him through the grip of his golf club and knocking him to the ground. Yet so obsessed with the game, the cabbie was angry with the Gods for ruining his following shots and forcing a triple-bogey. At that point, Stafford decides he must learn to play gold and understand this world-wide obsession. What follows is an around-the-world golf tour on a quest to learn the game and eventually play alongside Tiger Woods. From Australia, to Japan, Scotland, Denmark, the frozen wastelands of Greenland (I'm not kidding) Ian meets other famous golfers: Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Isao Aoki, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer, and many more. Eventually Tiger Woods enters the picture. Along with the wit and the laughs are keen observations about the game and the players who flock to the greens. He looks for the golfer in all of us. Memorable laughs--the temporary rules issued by the English Richmond Golf Club in 1940 during the London Blitz: 1. Players are asked to collect Bomb and Shrapnel splinters to save these causing damage to the Mowing Machines. 2. In Competitions, during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take cover without penalty for ceasing play. 3. The position of known delayed action bombs are marked by red flags at a reasonable, but not guaranteed, safe distance there-from. 4. Shrapnel and/or bomb splinters on the Fairways or in Bunkers within a club's length of the ball may be moved without penalty, and no penalty shall be incurred if a ball is caused to be moved accidentally. (etc.) And on the "green" in Greenland: "By anyone's standards it was a difficult shot. The ball was still some distance from the flag, the group of golfers behind were growing impatient with my slow play and the round, which had started reasonable well, was beginning to disintegrate. The main problem, though, was the iceberg." From the Times of London: "Stafford's indomitability, his chutzpah, his lunatic hubris, inspires a kind of incredulous sympathy."