{"id":655986,"date":"2026-03-14T21:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/655986\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T21:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T21:56:13","slug":"the-high-price-a-young-tiger-woods-paid-to-win-and-the-love-he-lost-along-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/655986\/","title":{"rendered":"The high price a young Tiger Woods paid to win \u2014 and the love he lost along the way"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his new book, \u201cProject Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness<\/a>,\u201d Gavin Newsham<\/strong> zeroes in on the golf legend\u2019s early years to understand both his athletic accomplishments and personal turmoil<\/a>. \u201cTiger\u2019s complex and painful trade-offs in the pursuit of greatness helped him rise to unparalleled achievement,\u201d he writes, but \u201chis success somehow dehumanized and, ultimately, immiserated him,\u201d Here, an excerpt.<\/p>\n

Amidst the rising tide of his college golf career at Stanford, Tiger Woods\u2019s personal life took a dramatic turn with the abrupt end of his four-year relationship with his first true love, Dina Gravell, one of the few people outside his immediate family whom he genuinely trusted.<\/p>\n

Their sudden break-up came at the 1995 US Intercollegiate Golf Tournament Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. Tiger\u2019s parents pointedly ignored Dina as they all arrived to support Tiger, but she thought nothing of it, assuming Earl and Tida Woods had been arguing.<\/p>\n

On the second day of the tournament, Tiger was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury, and while he went to the hospital for an MRI scan, Dina headed back to her hotel to await news of the extent of his injury. Five hours later, and with no update, the phone in her room rang. It was reception. There was a delivery for her. It was a case with all of her belongings that she had left in Tiger\u2019s room the previous day.<\/p>\n

A new book zeroes in on Tiger Woods\u2019 early years. <\/p>\n

There was also a letter. \u201cDina,\u201d it read, \u201cthe reason for writing this letter is to inform you [that] my parents and myself never want to talk or hear from you again . . . Reflecting back over this relationship, I feel used and manipulated by you and your family . . . I hope the rest of your life runs well for you. I know this is sudden and a surprise, but it is, in my opinion, much warranted. Sincerely, Tiger.<\/p>\n

\u201cPS Please mail my necklace I gave you to me when you get back home. Don\u2019t show up at the tournament tomorrow because you are just not welcomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dina was shocked. It was like being \u201cpunched in the stomach,\u201d she would recall years later. It was clear by the tone of the letter and the reference to \u201cmy parents\u201d as to who had made the decision to end it.<\/p>\n

In 2002, in an interview with Lawrence Donegan of the UK newspaper\u00a0The Observer, Earl Woods reflected on young Tiger\u2019s love life, a topic that within a decade, would dominate the headlines globally<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had one girlfriend in school and one in college,\u201d he said, and he was wary of her family\u2019s intentions. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey had determined that Tiger was going to make a lot of money,\u201d Earl told Donegan. \u201cThey were meaning to make the relationship a permanent relationship. I could see this, but Tiger couldn\u2019t. As a parent I could do one of two things: I could forbid him to see her, or I could counsel him and then wait for him to grow and determine what was right for himself. I chose the latter. And that\u2019s what happened to that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book portrays Woods brutally breaking up from his first love, Dina Gravell, seemingly because he was pressured to do so by his parents. \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

The key word here, of course, is \u201ccounsel.\u201d While it implies offering fatherly advice and handing autonomy to their son, it is clear that it was anything but. <\/p>\n

Rather, the episodes demonstrates just how controlling Woods\u2019 parents were, and how, even as a19-year-old, just how cold, ruthless and calculating Tiger could be. It was hardly the only time he behaved in such a manner.<\/p>\n

After turning pro at the Greater Milwaukee Open in August 1996, Woods returned to the family home in Cypress, Calif. <\/p>\n

Hearing that he was back in town, Joe\u00a0Grohman, the young pro who had taken him under his wing at the Navy Golf Club when he was a kid, decided to drop by to see how he was doing.<\/p>\n

He arrived at the Woods house to find Tiger surrounded by 20 or 30 men in suits.<\/p>\n

The manner in which he dumped Gravell demonstrated \u201chow, even as a 19-year-old, just how cold, ruthless and calculating Tiger could be,\u201d writes Gavin Newsham. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sensing Tiger was just a little busy, Grohman told Tida he\u2019d come back tomorrow.<\/p>\n

But, when he returned the next day, Tiger wasn\u2019t there. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Champ?\u201d he asked his parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s moved,\u201d replied Tida. \u201cHe\u2019s gone to Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grohman was perplexed. <\/p>\n

Woods\u2019 parents, Tida and Earl, were notoriously controlling of their son. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was here last night? Nobody said you had better say your goodbyes to Tiger,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

To his dismay, Grohman, like many others in Tiger\u2019s life, was now, without a word of thanks or a forwarding address, surplus to requirements in the world of Project Tiger. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he said. \u201cMy spirit was broken. Just walked right out of my life and that was that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caddies, friends, girlfriends, even the man who made millions for him \u2014 IMG\u00a0super agent Hughes Norton \u2014 eventually found themselves out in the cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woods was furious at his agent, Hughes Norton (center), for participating in a \u201cGolf World\u201d cover story about him. <\/p>\n

In early 1998, Norton agreed to be interviewed and photographed for a\u00a0Golf World\u00a0cover story about Woods\u2019s huge commercial success. When it came out, Tiger was incensed by the article, viewing it as a betrayal of confidence.<\/p>\n

Summoning him to Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Woods met Norton outside the clubhouse where the \u201cexpressionless\u201d and \u201czombielike\u201d golfer confirmed he was firing him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a shock, especially when you feel like you\u2019ve done a great job,\u201d Norton said. \u201cBut that\u2019s how Tiger operates. One minute you\u2019re on the inside, the next you\u2019re out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adapted from \u201cProject Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness,\u201d published by Diversion Books, out March 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his new book, \u201cProject Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness,\u201d Gavin Newsham zeroes…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":655987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1022,1430,32681,62,10130,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-655986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-postscript","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tiger-woods","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116229766189174983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}