2024: A banner year for golf books
The sport — and Tiger Woods — continued to be the subject for numerous well-written titles that unearthed compelling nuggets and retold some worthy tales.
Golf produces more good literature than any other sport. By far. Sorry, bowling fans.
Other brainiacs can attempt to explain why golf is the subject of so many books and that’s not even counting the endless production of golf instruction books.
Last year was a banner year for golf books. There was quantity. There was quality. And there was a lot of Tiger Woods. Well, why not? He’s the GOAT.
Here is my list of the most notable golf books from 2024. I did not include instruction books, although I did make one major exception.
Let’s just say that 2024 was a very good year to read.
“Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons” | Ben Hogan with Herbert Warren Wind
No, this book wasn’t new in 2024. This is the 1957 instruction classic by Ben Hogan and Herbert Warren Wind, refurbished with additional comment by writers such as Dave Anderson and John Garrity, and a new foreward by Lee Trevino. Hogan’s instruction has never gone out of date and this book is worth the price of admission just for Trevino’s personal foreword that reveals some little-known details of Trevino’s childhood, Marine tour of duty, his relationship with Hogan and how this instruction book he found by accident changed his life. “What I’m saying is, Ben Hogan is the reason I developed my game,” Trevino wrote.
Order: “Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons”
“Better Than Lifting Things” | Glenn Sheeley
This is actually a two-sport book. Glenn Sheeley got his start working at the Pittsburgh Press newspaper during the 1970s and covered Terry Bradshaw and the rise of the Steelers dynasty. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. He then moved on to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ended up on the golf beat just in time for Tiger Woods’ arriving on the scene. Sheeley covered 32 straight majors, 10 of them won by Woods, and was one of the few writers who managed to build a slight relationship with him. Light reading, good memories, good inside intel.
Order: “Better Than Lifting Things”
“Drive” | Bob Harig
This is pretty much the peak of wall-to-wall coverage of Woods’ career. He changed the world in 1997 with that Masters win. He won the so-called Tiger Slam; he dominated golf; he had the famous driving-his-car-into-a-hydrant episode that led to a marital scandal; a spinal fusion surgery in 2017 that figured to end his career; a stunning Masters encore win in 2019; the nasty car crash in 2021 that figured to be another career-ender — and yet Woods keeps trying. The book’s title, “Drive,” says it all. Harig shows how Woods is driven by golf and competition and how the sport patterns his life.
Order: “Drive”
“Life on the Green” | Ann Liguori
Long-time radio veteran Liguori is an expert at coaxing interview subjects to be candid and tell little-known, revealing stories about their lives. Her lineup here features Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez, Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer and more. Nicklaus tells a story about his grandson, Jack, then 32, holed an 8-iron shot for a double eagle at Augusta National’s 15th hole, the site of Gene Sarazen’s famed shot. “We call him Three Sticks,” Nicklaus says. “He birdied 14 and double-eagled 15. And I said, ‘That’s pretty good.’ That propelled him to a 76.
Order: “Life on the Green”
“My Golf Journey” | Binod (Ben) Thapa
You’re wondering, how does anyone play golf in Antarctica? With great difficulty and planning. Binod “Ben” Thapa, who grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, only made a few swings and chipped a ball along the ice, enough to say he “golfed” in Antarctica, which few (if any) humans can claim. This is a travelogue by an avid golfer and consummate traveler, and no one wields Marriott points better than Thapa. Come for the Antarctica trip, stay for the golf in 50 states and all the golf hosts and people he meets.
Order: “My Golf Journey”
“Playing from the Rough” | Jimmie James
This book is only ostensibly about playing every course on Golf Digest’s Top 100 List. It’s actually the story of growing up Black and poor in hardscrabble East Texas, overcoming racial obstacles, being the first in his family to graduate from high school and earn a college degree (Prairie View A&M) and going on to become a successful executive at ExxonMobil. He’s also a pretty decent golfer, too.
Order: “Playing from the Rough”
“Rainmaker” | Hughes Norton and George Peper
This was the book of the year and the surprise return of the year. Nobody had heard from Hughes Norton in a quarter-century, which was odd because he was a so-called superagent for IMG, the management group that grew so big under Mark McCormack that it practically had a hand in running the PGA Tour. Norton once repped Tiger Woods and Greg Norman and he clears the decks with behind-the-scenes tales of both. For instance, why on Earth would Woods fire Norton just two years after landing Woods the two biggest sponsorship deals in golf history at the time — $40 million from Nike, $20 million from Titleist, and bonus incentives for winning majors, which Woods cashed in on? The unexpected reason, according to Norton? Former Woods friend Mark O’Meara. Meanwhile, Norton paints a less-than-flattering portrait of Norman as a would-be business leader for whom money was a way to keep score since the winning-majors-thing didn’t turn out so well for him. Norton dishes the dirty details, even on himself, thus recording some important moments in golf history (i.e. Tiger Woods history).
Order: “Rainmaker”
“Searching in St. Andrews” | Sean Zak
It’s not a new idea, relocating to a foreign country and writing about life and golf there— notably Lorne Rubenstein’s epic “A Season in Dornoch” — but being a fish out of water in Scotland at an iconic place like St. Andrews is a slam dunk waiting to happen for a good young writer.
Order: “Searching in St. Andrews”
“The Ball in the Air” | Michael Bamberger
If there is a Charles Kuralt of golf writing, it is probably Michael Bamberger, a long-time colleague of mine at Sports Illustrated. He ranks among the smartest and most observant writers I know and he uses those attributes skillfully in all of his books. Here, the characters are average golfers with compelling stories, including a pair of U.S. Army soldiers and a Nepalese girl who took up the game using a stick whittled by her father. Photographers know that people’s faces make the most compelling pictures. Bamberger’s focus is similar except he tells their stories with expert reporting and words.
Order: “The Ball in the Air”
“The Hogan Edge” | Jerry Austry
There is no such thing as too many Ben Hogan stories. Austry, who worked as a president at Ben Hogan Golf when the famed Edge clubs were produced, delivers memories of the old days at the Hogan Golf factory in Fort Worth, Texas, and some great nuggets, like the time Hogan was convinced to film a couple of commercials showing him hitting shots at Riviera Country Club. Priceless stuff.
Order: “The Hogan Edge”
“The Tiger Slam” | Kevin Cook
Hmm, how about a book retelling the greatest year of golf ever played by the greatest golfer of all-time? Yeah, that can’t miss. Cook slam-dunks stunning anecdotes in the first 15 pages that will keep you reading. Like when Woods hosted the Masters champions dinner for the first time in 1998, his idea of a good menu (because it’s what he ate) was cheeseburgers, fries and milk shakes. “Who ever heard of a cheeseburger dinner?” griped 1935 champ Gene Sarazen. Woods told Sarazen he would do better if he won another Masters. Another one: Tiger’s father, Earl Woods, discussing Woods’ unique heritage — Black and Cherokee on Earl’s side, Thai, Chinese and Dutch on his mother Tida’s side. “The boy only has about two drops of Black blood in him but in this country, there are only two colors, white and non-white. And he ain’t white.” Also, Woods asked his pal Mark O’Meara after his ’97 Masters win if the Grand Slam was possible and when O’Meara, who had never finished better than third in a major at that point, called it “unrealistic,” Tiger answered, “I think it could be done.” Yes, all that in the first 15 pages. Read on …
Order: ”The Tiger Slam”
“The Shot” | Chris Millard
Picking a great topic is the key to turning out a great book. Well, how does Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and golf’s most famous shot sound? Watson’s chip-in at Pebble Beach’s 17th hole always finishes first in any ranking of great shots in major championships. Millard researched the bejeezus out of everyone and everything related to that stirring 1982 U.S. Open, from USGA czar David Fay blurting out an expletive when Watson’s shot went in the hole to Howard Cosell stunning the guests at ABC director Terry Jastrow’s wedding when the minister instructed Jastrow to kiss the bride (actress Anne Archer). Cosell said loudly, “Lay one hand on that lady and I’ll break your arm.” If you thought you knew everything about that famous chip-in, Millard’s book will prove you wrong.
Order: ”The Shot”
“Tiger, Tiger” | James Patterson
What does best-selling novelist James Patterson know about Tiger Woods that you don’t? If you have been around to see all of Woods’ career, not much. Patterson has morphed from author to brand name, using collaborators and researchers to turn his story ideas into books and he has said it takes him “10 to 12 hours” to write a book. “Tiger, Tiger” reads like Patterson’s research team scoured the Internet for all things Woods, but it doesn’t capture the feel of Woods’ incredible career. Also, a lot of important things were written about Woods in the 1990s in weekly magazines by writers who covered him regularly. Those stories aren’t findable on the Internet and it reads like Patterson’s investigators missed a lot. As for the Woods scandal, it gets short treatment without salacious detail. If you know nothing of Woods, though, this might be a good starter.
Order: ”Tiger, Tiger”
MORE FROM GARY VAN SICKLE
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thx. i missed the wee ice mon book. so many books published outta mainstream that it's hard to even know about them. a brave new world...
Didn't hear about it. Just looked it up, it's limited edition, only 300 copies available. not exactly a book readers would even be able to get. but thx for the tip!--vans