Hughes Norton isn’t holding back on his decades-long grudge against Tiger Woods any longer.
The former golf superagent has a new book, “Rainmaker,” which details his career and his relationship with Woods.
Norton was Woods’ first agent and helped broker the burgeoning star’s original deals with Nike and Titleist in 1996 worth $60 million.
Two years later, Woods fired him.
According to the Daily Mail, Norton claims in the bombshell book that Woods was “expressionless” and had “zombie-like” eyes during the firing confrontation.
“It was betrayal with a capital B,” Norton told the Daily Mail in an interview promoting the book, which came out Tuesday.
“On a professional level, because I thought I’d done my job in spades. And on a personal level, because it was such a rejection of a relationship that we had built together for 10 years.”
It adds another chapter to Woods’ off-the-course drama, which has included numerous scandals throughout his 30 years as one of the most prominent athletes in the world.
“The solace I can take, which doesn’t provide much, is this: He was an equal opportunity zombie with relationships, his swing coaches, his lawyer, the guy negotiated the IMG representation deal, with caddies. When it’s over, it’s over,” Norton writes in the book, per the Mail.
“It is the way he terminates relationships with everyone. Whether it’s girlfriends, whether it’s his former golf coaches. It’s ironic, really. In a way he’s so good at confrontation on the golf course. If he’s playing you, he will beat your brains out every single time. But when it comes to confronting things like me and other people that are in his life, he has no social skills whatsoever. It’s maddening, actually.”
Norton, who also represented Greg Norman, was fired by his agency, IMG, two months after Woods dumped him.
Woods replaced Norton with Excel Sports’ Mark Steinberg, who has represented him ever since.
The 48-year-old Woods has been through multiple caddies throughout a career that has included 15 major victories.
He has had highly publicized breakups, including with ex-wife Elin Nordegren in 2009, after it was discovered he was having multiple affairs.
In his recent breakup with Erica Herman, she alleged that Woods tricked her into leaving the home they shared so he could move her things out before ending the relationship.
Herman sued Woods for $30 million but dropped the suit after numerous defeats in court.
Woods is expected to play in next month’s Masters after pulling out of The Genesis Invitational with the flu.
