Tiger Woods branded ‘Prince Harry of sport’ in jibe at Duke of Sussex*

Tiger Woods’ biographer James Patterson offered a controversial comparison of the legendary golfer to British Royal Family figure Prince Harry in a recent interview
Hoàng tử Harry đã đào tẩu khỏi Hoàng gia Anh

Prince Harry has defected from the British Royal Family (Image: Getty Images)

With his biographical release of “Tiger, Tiger: His Life, As It’s Never Been Told Before” in July, world-famous American author James Patterson penned the latest exploration of Tiger Woods’ legendary golf career.

But in an interview with the Daily Mail on Saturday, Patterson made a controversial comparison in promoting his book, likening the five-time Masters champion to British Royal Family defector Prince Harry.

“There’s a little parallel with the Royal Family,” Patterson said. “They’re not allowed to be real people, to be out in the world. I think that’s probably a little bit [of the problem] with Harry. [He’s] just got to go out there and be a real person, you know?”

Woods was guided toward golf stardom from nearly the moment he was born, introduced to the sport before age two by his father Earl. The prodigious golfer became the first three-time U.S. Junior Amateur Champion in a slew of historic accomplishments to begin his career, electing to remain in his home state of California for college to attend Stanford.

After two years and one NCAA Championship in Palo Alto, Woods opted out of his final two years of collegiate eligibility and joined the PGA Tour. Woods achieved unprecedented early success on the circuit, becoming the youngest Masters winner and No. 1 ranked player while earning record financial sponsorships with Nike and Titleist, newfound wealth that Patterson claimed left Woods delegating many of his major interpersonal responsibilities.

Tiger Woods became the youngest Masters winner
Tiger Woods became the youngest Masters winner ( Image: Getty Images)
“That’s the way he’s lived his life,” says Patterson. “Whatever Woods needed, whether it was room service or a wife, his first instinct was to say: “Let’s get a manager to do that.’”
While Woods emerged from a relatively unassuming background, Prince Harry’s upbringing personified privilege as he grew up into the Royal Family. Still, Patterson contends that both men felt trapped by their fame and faced disaster after attempting to escape their “gilded cages.”

Harry was the second son of Charles, now King Charles III, and Princess Diana, who passed away when he was 12. After capping off his prestigious educational track at Eton College, Harry spent a combined 30 weeks during two separate military deployments to Afghanistan, removed both times after concerns that he would attract outsized enemy attention.

The royal would later begin a relationship with actress Meghan Markle, with the couple married in 2018 and drawing criticism over the American’s fit within the royal family. He suffered similar interpersonal rifts within the royal family, and both Harry and Meghan elected to step down as senior royals in 2020 and are no longer addressed as his-and-her Highness.

With the interests of their son Archie in mind, the couple moved to California the following year and vacated the Frogmore Cottage.