By Seametrus Battle
Every sport has a player that is the face of their league, but sooner or later that player will be replaced by another player once his or her performance falls short of expectations. For example, in the NBA it was Kobe Bryant to LeBron James, and in the NFL it was Peyton Manning to Tom Brady. In the PGA, that one person was Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, Woods dominated golf for entire decade and everyone else playing against him were just guys who couldn’t compare. However, Woods off the course issues forced him to depart from the game in 2010. Although Woods made a comeback, it was clear he wasn’t the same Tiger from years past, and his body wasn’t either leading to Woods having back surgery in 2014. As the PGA was exiting the “Woods Era” they began to see success out of more young golfers. With these young golfers rising in the shadows of a legend, Shane Ryan provides the ultimate look at the future PGA and what the future looks like. In this book review, I will be breaking down the writer’s purpose, summarizing, and evaluating Shane Ryan’s Slaying the Tiger: A Year inside the Ropes.
Ten years ago, when you heard about the PGA, the first thing that would come to mind would be Tiger Woods. During that time, Woods was the definition of dominant as he won a total of 12 major championships, winning the PGA player of the year every year but 2004, and 2008 and also holding the number one ranking in Golf from August 1999 to September 2004 then regaining it again June 2005 ending October 2010. Fast forward five years later, things are most certainly different and Shane Ryan gives us all the information about what’s next for the PGA. In this book, the author goal was to give the reader a dynamic look at a moment in the game as the PGA transitions from one era to the next. As a result, Ryan spent time with Jorden Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and Rory Mcllroy. The author took the audience on a basic tour of the PGAs youngest and some older stars that you wither have heard about or will hear about sooner or later.
Over the course of the book, the writer gave the basic info of the golf that he followed. From what their play style to their personality, the writer makes sure the reader knows the player as if they were about to do an essay on each golfer. The flow the author used was very smooth as he guided the reader into the next chapter not just jumping from pages to page with details that didn’t matter. Ryan painted a picture of the PGA during a time where there was basically no superstar that everyone was just dying to see, showing you how much variety and youth that is in the tour today. Although, these players have just stepped foot into the professional field of gold each person that Ryan followed was pushing to become the next face of the game.
Slaying of The Tiger is a different book, it’s not your typical sports book focusing on one player or no players at all. This book gives you many different perspective on several players cross the PGA making this book one of the best books I’ve read. Although, this book was very long, it was very interesting throughout the entire book as Ryan gave details that I never knew before reading this book.
The PGA is on the rise with it young stars like Rory Mcllroy, and Jordan Speith making an impact on the game that was unexpected. With Tiger Woods still aiming to make a comeback to the game of golf, it clear the PGA has turned the page on the Woods era and trying to start something new with more than one player as the fac
Seametrus Battle Jr. 