Part 1 of HBO’s Tiger Woods documentary, “Tiger,” hooked 639,000 total viewers across all platforms on Sunday.
It’s not great, but it’s better than equivalent to the course. The 639,000 total viewers is the best performance for an HBO sports documentary since Bill Simmons’ “Andre the Giant” ran through the curtain in 2018.
The “Tiger” count contains all platforms – so yes, streaming is counted here – and a TV encore. According to a spokesperson for HBO, there were between the two documents ‘about 15’ HBO sports titles in the genre.
Part 2 of “Tiger” is this coming Sunday on HBO and HBO Max. Just like the debut in Part 1, the competition will be about as stiff as in the form of the NFL Playoffs.
Also read: ‘Tiger’ directors on Documentary’s powerful opening scene that almost never happened
HBO’s two-part “Tiger” documentary is powered (it’s a golf game, do you get it?) Through never-before-seen footage and revealing interviews with those who were once near Woods, including his ex-boyfriend and good friend Steve Williams; father Earl Woods’ friend and biographer, Pete McDaniel; Tiger’s first love, Dina Parr; and Rachel Uchitel, the woman at the center of the sex scandal that changed Woods’ world forever.
“Tiger” is from HBO Sports and Jigsaw Productions in collaboration with Our Time Projects and boasts Uchitel’s first ever sit-down interview about her relationship with Woods. Alex Gibney’s CEO co-produced ‘Tiger’ with Sam Pollard, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict. Matthew Heineman and Matt Hamachek directed the documentary.
Read TheWrap’s preview interview with Heineman and Hamachek here.
In our conversation, the guys broke down part 1’s excellent opening scene in which Eldrick “Tiger” Woods’ father, Earl, talks glowingly about his little boy during the Haskins Collegiate Awards banquet. That VHS-captured moment is mixed with even older footage, because a childhood makes sure ‘daddy’ only sees his brilliant iron shot from the fairway. Earl’s sound then continues about a distinctive Woods victory at The Masters, and is finally laid on top of footage from the police station of Tiger’s DUI arrest in 2017.
“Tiger: Part 2” is coming up this Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.