Slaying the Tiger

By: Shane Ryan

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

For more than a decade, golf was dominated by one galvanizing figure: Eldrick "Tiger" Woods. But as his star has fallen, a new, ambitious generation has stepped up to claim the crown. Once the domain of veterans, golf saw a youth revolution in 2014. In Slaying the Tiger, Shane Ryan introduces us to the volatile, colorful crop of heirs apparent who are storming the barricades of this traditionally old-fashioned sport.

As the golf writer for Bill Simmons' Grantland, Shane Ryan is the perfect herald for the sport's new age. In Slaying the Tiger, he embeds himself for a season on the PGA Tour, where he finds the game far removed from the genteel rhythms of yesteryear. Instead he discovers a group of mercurial talents driven to greatness by their fear of failure and their relentless perfectionism. From Augusta to Scotland, with an irreverent and energetic voice, Ryan documents every transcendent moment, every press tent tirade, and every controversy that made the 2014 tour one of the most exciting and unpredictable in recent memory.

©2015 Shane Ryan (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"[R]ecommended for anyone who wants to get real insights on the players and the sport." ( Publishers Weekly)

Not worth it

A few of the stories are entertaining, however the majority are told by an author that would rather bash each player in an attempt to gain a name, than to actually provide thought out critique.
Couple that with a narrator that pronounced multiple golfers names and courses so absurdly wrong that it made the listening cringe worthy.

I didn’t even finish the book it was so bad.

Many other golf books out there that will provide better experiences.

OK stories, very bad presentation.

I have read most every book that discusses golf in its current form. This book sounded like an outsider who knows nothing about the game but had a press pass for a year and loved finding the worst in people. The stories are ok at best. The fact the reader of the audio book mispronounced countless names made me realize the book was a joke.

Pretty good I guess

For the life of me I cannot understand why so much time was spent on Victor DeBuisson. The guy wasn’t that important when he was playing somewhat decent. Never had been and never will be worth the time he was given in this book. Other than that, was an ok listen.

Interesting

This book is interesting, it shows how the professional golf is not as innocent as one may think. Enjoyed listening to it but I couldn’t help but think on the Pros side on how annoying reporters can be . But overall it was a very entertaining book.
If you are interested in the touring pros personal life then this is the book to listen to!!!

Reader knows no golf

Great and well-investigated book, but the reading was poor. Reader says "Roy" McIlroy throughout. Cmon.

Poorly narrated

I found it very annoying as the narrator frequently mispronounced the names of some of the most famous golf courses and golfers in the world. The author should consider "slaying the narrator".

The content is good but the reader isnt

Would you consider the audio edition of Slaying the Tiger to be better than the print version?

How can you have someone read a book about golf who cannot pronounce Rory's name. For hours I cringed as he called him Roy! He also can't pronounce Medina correctly. Never grating.

Narration needs editing

Hard to listen to the narrator as he butchers the pronunciation of many names and courses.

Biased

the narrator struggles to pronounce names. Calls Rory Roy and slaughters most of the European players names. The author has some sort of axe to grid with several subjects. His attack on Bubba Watson focuses on Bubba's religious views going go so far as to call him a hypocrite. The author says that he was rebuffed by Watson several times, which might explain his dislike of him. The author also delights in pointing out all the negative aspects of Augusta National. He does speak highly of Matt Every and Dustin Johnson, who both had run ins with the law. The book has some good parts it is just hard to listen to the sarcastic remarks and the mispronounced names.

Names mispronounced

Overall performance by the narrator was pretty good, but I couldn't stand how he kept mispronouncing Rory McIlroy's name. Instead of Rory, he kept saying "Roy." Rory was such a prominent character in the story that it was annoying to the point of distraction. There were a few others but ones not mentioned as often so not worth mentioning here.

Don't skip the book because of it. The story is fantastic. Loved the book.