The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the Business of Modern Golf [Paperback]

Howard Sounes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2005

Golf is sometimes referred to as "the wicked game" because it is fiendishly difficult to play well. Yet in the parlance of the Tiger Woods generation, it's also a wickedly good game -- rich, glamorous, and more popular than ever.

A penetrating forty-year history of men's professional golf, The Wicked Game shows how Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus inspired and laid the business foundation for Tiger Woods's career. Based on two years of research and more than one hundred and fifty interviews, Howard Sounes unfolds the story of the modern game through the lives of three of its greatest icons. With unprecedented access to players and their closest associates, he reveals the personal lives, rivalries, wealth, and business dealings of these remarkable champions who changed the face of golf.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sounes approaches a journalistic exposé of the modern business of golf from a biographical perspective. Through riveting portraits of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, the author of biographies on Charles Bukowski and Bob Dylan turns the spotlight on the game's evolution, from country club pastime to a multibillion-dollar business, with multimillionaire players holing out and cashing in. The "wicked" in this game is in its documented history of discrimination against minorities, women and the less-than-rich who can't afford the country club dues. (The "Caucasian clause" existed in the rules of the PGA of America from 1934 until 1961.) In modern parlance, it also refers to being wickedly difficult to play and wickedly fun. With the advent of charismatic players such as Palmer and Woods, and the rise of sports marketing pioneered by the late Mark McCormack and IMG management, golf became accessible to the average player and attractive to big business by way of endorsements. McCormack realized that "most people who follow golf also play the game." He figured they would pay to own equipment and clothing endorsed by their favorite players, pay to get advice from them and pay to watch demonstrations. With his handsome, folksy charm, Palmer created a new type of golf image and, with McCormack calling the shots, readily cashed in. Nicklaus's prodigious talent and latent appeal upped the odds and the purses. Now Woods has run with the ball further than anyone could have imagined. Sounes, who lives in London, chastises the PGA and the players for not being more politically active or correct; he chastises Woods for being the only player not to give him a personal interview. A slightly sensational style can be forgiven in light of the thoroughness of the research. For those tired of the numerous golf books written by players and coaches, or of those written by sports magazine journalists (many of whom depend on their good relationships with the players to get a story), this no-holds-barred history will be a breath of wickedly fresh air.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Howard Sounes was born in 1965. He is the author of five works of nonfiction, published in thirteen languages, addressing diverse subjects. Each book is based on a huge amount of research and exclusive interviews conducted over a number of years, revealing a great deal of new information. Sounes's recent books include a celebrated biography of the American poet Charles Bukowski and Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. Sounes lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006051387X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060513870
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,812,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( N ) > Nicklaus, Jack

More About the Author

My books are the stories of interesting lives - including biographies of Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and the writer Charles Bukowski.

More information at www.howardsounes.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page-turning history of golf that stays with you, July 1, 2004

By 

Snook (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the Story of Modern Golf (Hardcover)

The story of men's professional golf since the 1950s is laid out in an easy-to-read, highly enjoyable style. The chapters are well-crafted, and lively and fun. The stories of the classic major tournaments are re-told in a fresh way, based on new interviews. But the heart of the book is what we don't usually learn about the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods (also Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Byron Nelson et al): the business deals, the politics, the personal lives. And some of these golfing heroes have feet of clay. Criticism is well-balanced and fair-minded, however, unless you happen to think pro' golf already has an open-handed attitude to women and ethnic minorities. Sounes obviously has a low opinion of the golf establishment, bodies like the PGA and PGA of America. But at the same time there is real affection here for the great tournaments and genuine appreciation of big characters like Arnie Palmer who are, whatever their faults, interesting men who have lived rich lives. Now I know exactly how rich.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good overview of a socially stratified pastime, July 23, 2005

By 

Rich Grace (Guerneville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the Story of Modern Golf (Hardcover)

Tartly written, well researched, and consistently entertaining, I can't believe this book ranks so low on Amazon's list right now. I've been a casual golf fan for a very long time and played golf as a kid on the course Tiger Woods grew up on (Meadowlark, in Huntington Beach), and I found Sounes' book well worth the read. As a Tiger "fan" myself, being almost a hometown boy, I found the book to have a great deal of verisimilitude and accuracy. In fact, I have a lot less respect for Tiger now than I did before. Then again, I can't imagine what it's like to have such celebrity thrust upon you before you've even had a chance to mature as a person.

Sounes really has the tart, dry British reporting style mastered. He is blunt and direct (humorous at times - check out the "heavily bosomed" comment about Phil Mickelson) and holds consistently to a theme in this book, which is that golf is truly a hidebound cultural phenomenon marked by a grimly maintained tradition of racism and elitism - and not just in America. Sounes marshals a large battery of evidence to buttress this view, and some of the information he unearths about golf clubs in the American South is just astounding. He also manages to cover pretty much every key golf event in the last 50 years in a compelling and entertaining manner. This is a remarkable achievement in his limited page count.

The book focuses on three primary personalities - Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger. The first two made themselves very available during the course of the book; in some ways they may regret having done so, as Sounes is not unsparing in his analysis and criticism. But surprisingly enough, Sounes saves his most stinging commentary for Tiger, and to some extent for his father, Earl Woods. Palmer and Nicklaus, despite their credentials as rock-ribbed Republicans, still come off as human beings. Tiger decidedly does not.

I won't go much further to avoid spoiling the book, but any open-minded golf fan really must read it. It's a minor classic. I feel that it's one of the few of its kind that actually comes from the real world, instead of being a hagiography. He sounds a little bit like Edward Gibbon, another English writer with a tart tongue regarding his subjects.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, June 19, 2004

By 

richard (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the Story of Modern Golf (Hardcover)

I bought this book after reading a rave review and it is a tremendously engrossing read: the whole story of modern golf in its glory, and the skeletons in its closet. Many surprises. Finely written. Often funny, and a new take on Tiger Woods for sure.