A sports journalist who first met Tiger Woods as a teenager has branded the golfing legend a 'pathological narcissist' in a bombshell new book.

John Garrity, who has worked for Sports Illustrated since the 1980s, unleashes in Curt Sampson's biography Roaring Back: The Fall and Rise of Tiger Woods, released this week.

While Garrity says Woods was unassuming when they first crossed paths in 1992, the golfer's persona had significantly changed by 2007.

'All of his human relationships were transactional,' Garrity alleges.

'If you couldn't help him achieve his goals, he had no use for you. He'd walk past and look right through you.'

Sampson further paints an unflattering portrait of Woods in his new tome by alleging the golfer was a tight with money - known for being a bad tipper and underpaying one of his coaches, even at the height of his career.

Several people interview in Curt Sampson's new biography Roaring Back: The Fall and Rise of Tiger Woods paint an unflattering portrait of the golfing legend

One Country Club owner who twice hosted Woods and his father, Earl, is quoted in Samson's biography as saying: 'They assumed we'd buy them breakfast, lunch and dinner... which we did, But they were most unappreciative. They never once said thank you'.

Roaring Back also alleges that Hank Haney, who coached Woods from 2004 until 2010, was paid just $50,000 a year.

Haney would even have to use money out of his salary to cover his own accommodation while travelling with the golfer, according to biography - parts of which were excerpted in The New York Post on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Woods made more than $700 million in the years between 2004 and 2010, Golf Digest reports.

'They were most unappreciative- they never once said thank you': One Country Club owner says Woods and his father were entitled. The pair are pictured in the early 1990s

Roaring Back also alleges that Hank Haney, who coached Woods from 2004 until 2010, was paid just $50,000 a year. Tiger was making up to 2000 times that amount each year, according to Golf Digest

That sum includes money from endorsement deals, investments, and licensing fees, in addition to prize money.

Roaring Back also references Woods' aspirations to become a Navy SEAL.

The golfer began training with a special ops unit in 2007, participating in combat drills, parachute jumps and diving exercises.

But by that year, Woods was aged 31 , and SEAL recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 28. However, the book asserts that Woods told one of his caddies that he believed the military would make a special exception just for him.

Haney would even have to use money out of his salary to cover his own accommodation while travelling with the golfer, according to biography. The pair are pictured together in 2008

However, Woods' world came crashing down two years later when it was revealed that he had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs.

His game suffered immensely in the wake of the scandal and he lost multiple endorsements deals - a spectacular fall from grace for one of America's biggest-ever sporting stars.

Samson writes in his book: 'He fell from such a high place that he was halfway to earth before we mere mortals even recognized him as one of us'.

Woods suffered a spectacular fall from grace following revelations he was cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren. His game suffered immensely in the wake of the scandal and he lost multiple endorsements deals. Woods and Nordegren are pictured in 2006

However, Woods has managed to rehabilitate both his game and his image in recent months - winning his fifth Masters title in Augusta back in April.

In May, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump during a ceremony at the White House.

A decade after his fall from grace, Samson asserts that Woods is now more measured, and quotes friends who claim the golfer's personality has significantly changed.

Michael Jordan, who has been a close friend of the golfer across the years, told Samson: 'It's the greatest comeback I've ever seen.'

In May, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump during a ceremony at the White House