Search results for ""Author Al Barkow""

The sound when Sam Snead hit an iron shot was like the sound of a Rolls Royce door slamming shut. The contact with the ball and the turf - which was absolutely simultaneous - had a rich sound unmatched in his day, or perhaps any other. With the driver, the sound was different; it had more of an explosive quality, the brisk but definitive report of a rifle shot. Even today, 68 years after bursting onto the national scene, he remains the standard. The man with the most admired golf swing in the history of the game? Forget Woods, forget Hogan, forget Jones. Even today, the vote is almost always unanimous: Sam Snead, of course. Slammin' Sam. The PGA Tour's all-time victory leader with 82 wins. The oldest winner on the PGA Tour at age 52. Winner of seven major championships (3 Masters, 3 PGAs, 1 British Open). Seven-time member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Eight-time winner of the Greater Greensboro Open. Six-time winner of the Miami Open. Original member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (1974). Golf partner of presidents, royalty, and celebrities. Idol of millions of golf fans for over fifty years. Until today, though, few people could truly say they knew this man. His fears, his secrets, his dark side. Until today, there has never been a definitive biography of one of the greatest golfers of all time. Sam: The One and Only Sam Snead-by award-winning golf writer Al Barkow-is not only a peek behind the mask, but an arresting look into the life of one of the game's most engaging yet enigmatic figures. Until today, millions of golf fans thought they knew who Sam Snead was. They were wrong.

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Here is the ultimate golf reference book, meant to feed golfers’ insatiable hunger for the statistics and trivia of their game. This book answers such burning questions as who broke the most clubs during a single temper tantrum (Lefty Stackhouse, 14) and the rationale behind 18 holes (it was completely arbitrary). From the sublime to the ridiculous, these fun facts will thoroughly entertain from tee to green.

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Jack Fleck had the slimmest of resumes as a professional tournament golfer. He had never come close to winning on the PGA Tour, and was in the mere qualifier category when it came time for the 1955 U.S. Open at the Olympic Golf Club in San Francisco. A qualifier, in the parlance, is not even a contender; he just fills out the field. Yet Fleck got himself into a playoff with Ben Hogan, one of the greatest players in golf history, for the game’s most prestigious title. And when Fleck defeated Hogan, it was not just surprising, it was incredible. How could a nondescript journeyman pro defeat a golfer who was revered as the ultimate champion golfer? Especially after Hogan had won it four times already? This book presents a thrilling play-by-play, shot-by-shot recounting that brings back to life the look and feel of the entire three days of regular play and, most tellingly, the fourth-day playoff itself. Relying on first-hand sources, The Upset reveals the players’ mental processes as they strategized their game and handled their emotions. And it finally offers a convincing explanation for Fleck’s mind-boggling victory, which was considered at the time and remains to this day one of the most unexpected outcomes in all sports history.

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In this book Tom Crow, the founder of Cobra Golf and former Australian Amateur Golf Champion, shares his insights and views on golf, its growth as a sport and its development as an industry.

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