Just two weeks following the DUI arrest of golf icon Tiger Woods, the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia is hosting the revered Masters Tournament.
This globally acclaimed event, often associated with elegance and sophistication, sees some of the sport’s top athletes competing for a substantial prize pool of approximately $25 million. Yet, many of these elite golfers have faced significant personal challenges, ranging from substance abuse to gambling and infidelity.
These controversies are explored in depth in my latest book, “Project Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness,” which draws from decades of experience covering Woods and other leading golfers.
It’s a side of their lives that many would rather keep under wraps…
Tiger Woods
According to a source familiar with Woods during his teenage years and early adulthood, his life began to unravel after the passing of his father, Earl, in 2006.
Earl was a serial philanderer whose cheating was so well–known that he and Tiger’s mother, Tida — while never actually divorcing — lived separate lives.
Tida even had a nickname for Earl: Old Man Bulls**t.
Barely two weeks after golf legend Tiger Woods’ DUI arrest, golf’s great and good descended on the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia for the Masters
A source who knew Woods as a teen and young adult, told me that Tiger began to go off the rails after his father, Earl (right in 1991), died in 2006
‘Tiger hated the fact that his father cheated on his mother, and yet, guess what? He turned around and did exactly the same thing.’
Indeed, what began with details of Woods romancing nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel soon evolved into reports in the New York Post of as many as 120 extra–marital trysts with women ranging from porn stars and cocktail waitresses to models and moms.
No one in professional golf – not his caddie, his agent, nor any of the players – admitted to knowing about Woods’ bad behavior. But Woods, now a five–time Masters champion – admitted that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
‘I felt I deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me — I felt entitled,’ said Woods in 2010, in an emotional public address as he entered sex addiction therapy.
Phil Mickelson
A three–time winner of the coveted Green Jacket, Mickelson may be one of golf’s most recognizable players. His gambling issues are perhaps less well known.
In his 2023 biography, Phil – The Rip–Roaring Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar, author Alan Shipnuck pegs Mickelson’s gambling losses at more than $40million between 2010 and 2014 alone.
Some, like longtime Mickelson gambling partner Billy Walters, suggest the real losses could be more than twice as much.
‘In all, he wagered a total of more than $1billion during the past three decades,’ wrote Walters in his 2023 book Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk.
A three–time winner of the coveted Green Jacket, Phil Mickelson may be one golf’s most recognizable players. His gambling issues are perhaps less well known
Some of the bets Walters revealed were truly jaw–dropping.
In 2011, for instance, Mickelson allegedly made a total of 3,154 bets, including 43 on a single day on Major League Baseball, the latter wagers resulting in losses of nearly $150,000.
Mickelson’s gambling bordered on the obsessive: He bet $110,000 to win $100,000 on 1,115 separate occasions — as well as $220,000 to win $200,000 in another 858 wagers.
To his credit, Mickelson sought help, engaging in hundreds of hours of therapy. ‘My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing,’ Mickelson said. ‘I had to address it.’
Angel Cabrera
When Angel Cabrera won the Masters in 2009, he became the first Argentine and South American to win the Green Jacket — repeating his win at the US Open two years earlier.
But while superstardom beckoned, life for the man nicknamed ‘El Pato’ (‘The Duck,’ in Spanish) took a turn for the worse.
Throughout the 2020s, Cabrera faced multiple legal issues, including a 2021 arrest in Brazil — and subsequent extradition to Argentina — for domestic violence, harassment and theft charges.
When Angel Cabrera won the Masters in 2009, he became first Argentine and South American to win the Green Jacket — repeating his win at the US Open two years earlier
One ex–girlfriend accused Cabrera of physically abusing and intimidating her, as well as stealing her mobile phone, behaviour echoed by ex–wife and other former flames.
In July 2021, Cabrera was convicted of assaulting, threatening, and harassing his ex–partner, Cecilia Torres Mana and sentenced to over four years in prison by an Argentine court. Cabrera wa released in 2023 and came in last at this year’s Master’s, failing to make the cut for 2026’s final pair of rounds,
El Pato, however, is determined to make a comeback. ‘Life has given me another opportunity,’ he said last year. ‘I just have to keep doing what I know I can do right.’
Dustin Johnson
Along with a $14million, 10,134 sq ft house in Jupiter Island’s ultra–exclusive Admirals Cove that he shares with wife Paulina Gretzky (daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky), Dustin Johnson also own a pair of $4million sports yachts, 15 Hublot watches and a collection of over 30 bespoke suits costing over $5,000 each.
The couple regularly share — if not overshare — their picture–perfect life across social media.
In 2015, for instance, Johnson commented on one of Gretzky’s posts, writing: ‘I love you so much and I miss you and I can’t wait to see you @paulinagretzky,’ quickly followed by: ‘Actually I can’t wait to get you in bed…’
But in September 2018, Paulina removed nearly every photo of Johnson from her account, sparking breakup rumors.
Dustin Johnson shares a $14 million, 10,134 sq ft house in Jupiter Island’s ultra–exclusive Admirals Cove that he shares with wife Paulina Gretzky (daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky)
While no reason was given, Johnson had been linked to a woman called Yassie Safai, a socialite and golfer from California. Although Safai denied a tryst, Johnson didn’t address the rumors but conceded ‘every relationship goes through its ups and downs.’
Stories of Johnson’s bad–boy behavior were nothing new on the Tour.
In 2014, GolfChannel.com reported that Johnson ‘had sexual indiscretions with at least two wives of PGA Tour players,’ while Fox Sports claimed one of the affairs led to the demise of the other player’s marriage. Johnson has strenuously denied this.
Still, Johnson announced he was bowing out of the rest of the 2014 golf season to seek professional help for what he called ‘personal challenges.’
Amid a rapidly churning rumor mill, Golf magazine reported that ‘DJ’ had actually been suspended by the PGA Tour after testing positive for cocaine, marking the third time drugs had been found in his system. Johnson denied the charges, which were never confirmed.
Nick Faldo
He might be England’s greatest–ever golfer but Nick Faldo has had more wives than Masters titles.
After his first marriage ended in the mid–1980s, Faldo wed Gill Bennett in 1986 with whom he had three children. They split in 1995 when Faldo, then 38, began a relationship with 20–year–old college golfer Brenna Cepalek who he met at a tournament in Arizona.
He might be England’s greatest–ever golfer but Nick Faldo (with current spouse Lindsay) has had more wives than Masters titles
‘Socially, he was a 24–handicapper,’ quipped Bennett after their split.
Faldo and Cepalek dated for three years but the relationship ended when Faldo moved on to Valerie Bercher, who worked for sports agency IMG.
Cepalek smashed Faldo’s prized Porsche 959 with a golf club in revenge, according to The Guardian.
‘It was a nine–iron or a wedge,’ three–time Masters champion Faldo later recalled.
Now 68, Faldo lives on a ranch in Montana with his fourth wife, Lindsay.
John Daly
The ‘Wild Thing’ might not be a Masters champion and hasn’t played at Augusta since 2006, but he still turns up most years, hawking merchandise from his giant RV at a nearby outpost of Hooters.
In 2024, ESPN reported that Daly made over $750,000 during that year’s Master’s week — money he might well have needed.
John Daly might not be a Masters champion and hasn’t played at Augusta since 2006, but he still turns up most years, hawking merchandise from his giant RV outside of Hooters
In his autobiography, My Life In and Out of the Rough, Daly admitted to losing between $50million to $60million to gambling over his career, including a seven–figure sum in just a few hours in Vegas.
But gambling was hardly Daly’s only demon.
‘I used to do everything like I was on a mission,’ he said in 2006. ‘If it was alcohol, I wanted to drink till I couldn’t see straight. If it was golf, I wanted to beat everybody’s brains out. If it was driving, I can get there faster than you can.’
Daly’s drinking — which began during his school days — almost killed him. Along with multiple hospitalisations, booze once caused Daly to deliberately run 17 red lights in what Sports Illustrated called ‘the record for failed suicide attempts.’
On another occasion, Daly crashed his car into a ditch, hitting a cement post at 80mph. Somehow, he walked away unscathed.
The Masters is about much more than its fabled 72 holes. The Masters is where legends are born, egos are indulged and secrets are kept safe.
Project Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness by Gavin Newsham is out now, published by Diversion Books.
