Quick Read From plot to bottom line, all you need to know about the most recent wave of books about the game
TITLE/AUTHOR
THE WICKED GAME
By Howard Sounes
PLOT
How Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Mark McCormack laid the
groundwork for Tiger Woods
CRUCIAL SHOT
At the 1959 Carling Open, Arnold Palmer struck up a friendship
with a young lawyer named Mark McCormack
TELLING DETAIL
When Jack heard that Toro hired Palmer as a spokesman, he stopped
using the company's irrigation systems
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We got more girls for knowing Tiger Woods than he did for being
Tiger Woods." --Stanford teammate Jack Poe
FEMALE FACTOR
Arnie's roving eye comes into focus via Bob Rosburg's telling
anecdote
STRING PULLER
IMG founder McCormack
ON THE MENU
Fuzzy Zoeller's request that Tiger not feed past champions fried
chicken and collard greens
FASHION STATEMENT
Logos--particularly umbrellas, golden bears and swooshes
NEWS
According to California law, Earl Woods wasn't legally divorced
from his first wife when he married Kultida
SHOCKING REVELATION
President Nixon asked Palmer about Vietnam. Arnie's metaphoric
suggestion: "Why not go for the green?"
BOTTOM LINE
A lot of retread, but at least Sounes names names, tells tales
and delivers a few maliciously spicy low blows
[TITLE/AUTHOR]
THE BATTLE FOR AUGUSTA NATIONAL
By Alan Shipnuck
[PLOT]
Unstoppable Force (Martha Burk) meets Immovable Object (Hootie
Johnson); the impact isn't pretty
[CRUCIAL SHOT]
Hootie's initial reply to Martha, unsheathing the "point of a
bayonet," and ensuring a public scuffle
[TELLING DETAIL]
Growing up in Houston, Martha urged her mother to demand better
tee times for women
[QUOTE OF NOTE]
"If more people in the past had taken a position of not speaking
out, Tiger Woods might be a caddie at Augusta and not a
player."--Martha
[FEMALE FACTOR]
Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em and definitely can't let 'em
assemble at the front gate
[STRING PULLER]
Washington p.r. crisis manager Jim McCarthy
[ON THE MENU]
Dinner with J.J. Harper, Imperial Wizard of the American White
Knights of the KKK
[FASHION STATEMENT]
Green burkas
[NEWS]
The story behind how the media rooted out Augusta's top-secret
membership list
[SHOCKING REVELATION]
Planned Parenthood was a main beneficiary in Augusta National's
cofounder Cliff Roberts's will
[BOTTOM LINE]
A thorough--at times too thorough--replay of how a culture clash
can devolve into a carnival sideshow
[TITLE/AUTHOR]
IN SEARCH OF BURNINGBUSH
By Michael Konik
[PLOT]
The author and bud Don Naifeh go to Scotland seeking the mystical
truths of Michael Murphy's Golf in the Kingdom
[CRUCIAL SHOT]
Shivas Irons's inspired shillelagh to the daunting par-3 dubbed
Lucifer's Rug in Golf in the Kingdom
[TELLING DETAIL]
To connect with his homies, Naifeh inscribes their names on new
Titleists and then drives them into the sea
[QUOTE OF NOTE]
"[Casey Martin's] done for guys like me what Ellen DeGeneres has
done for lesbos." --Don Naifeh
[FEMALE FACTOR]
Konik moons over his ex, while Naifeh's game melts after each
call to his bad gal back home
[STRING PULLER]
Golf in the Kingdom guru Michael Murphy
[ON THE MENU]
Breakfasts of porridge and pig entrails
[FASHION STATEMENT]
Rain gear
[NEWS]
Robert Louis Stevenson's inspiration for Treasure Island was a
rock formation in the waters off North Berwick
[SHOCKING REVELATION]
Hardly anyone in Scotland has even heard of Golf in the Kingdom,
let alone read it
[BOTTOM LINE]
Self-important and self-absorbed, the travelogue of these
Brigadudes is Brigadopey
[TITLE/AUTHOR]
BEN HOGAN: AN AMERICAN LIFE
By James Dodson
[PLOT]
The Wee Ice Mon cometh, collideth and cometh back, defrosting
along the way. Or: He came, he thawed, he conquered
[CRUCIAL SHOT]
Chester Hogan's self-inflicted .38 to the heart in front of his
nine-year-old son. It was Ben's ultimate secret
[TELLING DETAIL]
When members of Shady Oaks complained about the bunkers Hogan
designed, he gave each a specially designed sand wedge
[QUOTE OF NOTE]
"I've seen Nicklaus watch Hogan practice. I've never seen Hogan
watch Nicklaus practice." --Tommy Bolt
[FEMALE FACTOR]
During occasional separations from wife Valerie, Ben found
"comfort" elsewhere
[STRING PULLER]
His father's ghost
[ON THE MENU]
Hogan the control freak mixed the martinis and grilled the
steaks--at others' houses
[FASHION STATEMENT]
White linen caps and custom-made Maxwell golf shoes with a 13th
spike added for traction
[NEWS]
In the end Valerie tried to kill Ben's spirit by banishing his
memorabilia and not allowing him to smoke or see friends
[SHOCKING REVELATION]
Despite Valerie's aversion Ben so loved cutting a rug that he
took ballroom dancing lessons
[BOTTOM LINE]
Begins as a thrilling psychobiography but too often detours into
tedious tournament recaps
[TITLE/AUTHOR]
CADDY FOR LIFE
By John Feinstein
[PLOT]
Bruce Edwards earns respect for elevating the caddie's craft and
affection for his courage in the face of ALS
[CRUCIAL SHOT]
Watson's miracle chip on the 71st hole of the 1982 U.S. Open at
Pebble Beach. Edwards urged him to knock it close
[TELLING DETAIL]
In contention at the '89 British Open with Greg Norman, Edwards
thinks about being there with Watson
[QUOTE OF NOTE]
"O.K., we'll try it for a week and see what happens." --Watson to
Edwards, 1973
[FEMALE FACTOR]
A hot romance ends in flames: Edwards's first wife burns down his
house in Florida
[STRING PULLER]
Tom Watson
[ON THE MENU]
162 pills a day
[FASHION STATEMENT]
Bibs and, once annually, white coveralls
[NEWS]
Watson considered asking Hootie to let Edwards work the 2004
Masters from a cart
[SHOCKING REVELATION]
Like most caddies, Edwards had no health insurance
[BOTTOM LINE]
A heartfelt love story with a tear-jerking last act makes for a
first-rate tribute, but this is second-rate Feinstein
COLOR PHOTO: WILLIAM MORROW (WICKED GAME)
COLOR PHOTO: SIMON & SCHUSTER (AUGUSTA)
COLOR PHOTO: MCGRAW-HILL (BURNINGBUSH)
COLOR PHOTO: DOUBLEDAY (HOGAN)
COLOR PHOTO: LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY (CADDY)