Having read many books over the years of “the greatest” whatever, I found this one a little different, mainly due to avoiding saying how one era was better than another. This is explained in my review of this book, “The Golf 100”
Title/Author: “The Golf 100: A Spirited Ranking of the Greatest Players of All Time ” by Michael Arkush
Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review: Anytime a book will try to list the greatest athletes or teams in any sport, it will generate debate by readers. Many will disagree with the author and many will argue amongst themselves about who should be ranked where. This book by Michael Arkush, an accomplished golf writer, is one of the better ones that takes on this task.
What I like best about this book is that Arkush bases his rankings and opinions on how each golfer fared against their competitors during their era and their gender. He didn’t try to compare Tiger Woods against Bobby Jones or Anika Sorenstam against Babe Diedrikson. If the golfer was great during their time and won major tournaments (this was Arkush’s main measuring stick) they would make these rankings.
Why he used this logic in grading these legendary golfers was best said by one of the all time greats, Bobby Jones: “I think we must agree that all a man can do is beat the people who are around at the same time he is. He cannot win from those who came before any more than he can from those who may come afterward.”
Of course, this book would not be as good as it was without the excellent stories told about each golfer. Whether it was about Old Tom Morris and the early days of the sport, Mickey Wright’s swing that many consider to be the most pure one ever, or some of the biggest errors of judgement made that cost some of these great players even more major victories. Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson both rank fairly high on this list but Arkush would often refer to their bad moments, especially Norman. He also would mention when he felt golfers actually were underachieving despite all the wins they racked up.
Even with these criticisms of golfers, this was one of the best books on ranking athletes I have read. Between the avoidance of comparing different eras, the excellent stories on eac one and the conversational style of the writing, it is one that is recommended for any golf reader.
I wish to thank Doubleday Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Golf-100-Spirited-Ranking-Greatest-ebook/dp/B0D8KBRHHR/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
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