Before the scandal, the world knew very little about Tiger Woods. After the scandal, they knew him even less. He was born to a father who described him as the Chosen One, with the power to shape the fate of nations. His mother called him the Universal Child, with the ability to hold the races together. Selecting the unlikely avenue of golf, they groomed their son for the fame and influence that they always believed was his destiny. At age twenty, Tiger Woods made his debut in a Nike commercial. "Hello, World," he said. "Are you ready for me?" The world was ready.

For the next thirteen years, Tiger nearly lived up to his parents' outsize expectations. He conquered the world of golf with skills the sport had never before seen. He became a global icon and a Madison Avenue darling, earning more for his squeaky clean persona than he earned for his sport. He settled down with a beautiful Swedish model and started a family. His net worth approached a billion dollars. Everything was going according to plan - until the scandal hit. As the media breathlessly mixed news with speculation, Tiger became the poster boy for self-destruction. Corporate America exercised its fickle option and Tiger Woods was suddenly transformed from a commercial spokesman into a tabloid King.

But for all the media reports on this or that revelation, Tiger's true character remains a mystery. Steve Helling, a People magazine staff writer who has long covered Tiger Woods, draws on intimate sources, many speaking out for the first time, to create a never-before-seen portrait of the golfer - not the carefully groomed handlers' image, not the media-maintained facade, but Tiger as he really is. Helling shows how the people closest to Tiger - an ambitious father, a fiercely protective mother, and a star-struck wife - have shaped him into a singularly complex and conflicted man. At the heart of the story is Tiger himself, an insecure and socially inept adolescent thrust into the spotlight, whose later sudden fall from grace has nearly destroyed his personal and professional life. Where does he go from here?.