Bob Smiley

From Geoff Shackelford's interview with Bob Smiley about the latter's recent book, Follow The Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season:

GEOFF: The idea for Follow The Roar really started with an email from an ESPN.com reader?

BOB: It really did. During the 2nd round of last year's Target (now Chevron) World Challenge, I decided to dive into Tiger's mob for the day and write about the experience. I'd seen Tiger play at Riviera a couple times, but never from start to finish. I stuck with him from the second he stepped out of his beige Buick Enclave until he signed his card for a tournament-record 62. The piece triggered a wave of response from golf fans who had braved crowds to see Tiger and loved reliving the experience or those who had never seen him in person and wished they'd been there. Buried in the emails was a woman who asked me whether I would be following Tiger the whole year. It was a ridiculous idea. Until I realized it was a brilliant idea.

GEOFF: And when did the book deal come into play?

BOB: Twenty-four hours before Tiger began his season. I was up early and starting to pack for the trip to the Buick Invitational in January when the news came through that HarperCollins had made an offer on my book proposal to help me do this. I would have gone to San Diego with or without a deal and chronicled the tournament. But the following week Tiger would be in Dubai, and that would have been a little tough without some outside help.

Read the complete Q & A.

Visit Bob Smiley's Fore Right blog.

The Page 99 Test: Follow the Roar.

--Marshal Zeringue