The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World's Worst Golfer by Murray, Scott (2011) Paperback

by Scott Murray

The hilarious, heartwarming and - unbelievably - true story of Maurice Flitcroft, the World's Worst Golfer."I have been insulted, abused, pelted with stones, held up to ridicule, manhandled by police, prosecuted, fined, threatened with violence, and finally physically assaulted. In spite of it all I shall try to succeed as a professional golfer, because that is what I have chosen to do, and no amount of sabre rattling is going to stop me"When 46-year-old crane driver and former comedy stunt-diver Maurice Flitcroft chanced his way into the Open - having never before played a round of golf in his life - he ran up a record-worst score of 121. The sport's ruling classes went nuclear, and banned him sine die.Maurice didn't take it lying down. In a hilarious game of cat-and-mouse with The Man, he entered tournaments again - and again, and again - using increasingly ludicrous pseudonyms such as Gene Pacecki, Arnold Palmtree and Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel (more often than not disguised by a Zapata moustache soaked in food dye).In doing so, he sent the authorities into apoplexy, and won the hearts of hackers from Muirfield to Michigan, becoming arguably the most popular - but certainly the bravest - sporting underdog the world has ever known.

Genres: Sports, Biography, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published June 24, 2010

Reviews

[Bo Schutte · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great read, even if I knew nothing of golf before this.
The way Maurice approaches the battles with the Officials who organize all the tournaments is just so refreshing and it is honestly a book about chasing your dreams and Golf is just also there to accompany the story.
His way of life is just so inspiring and I just hope I can be half as brave as Maurice in chasing my own dreams!

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned golfers will probably like this bio best due to the insider lingo used. I appreciated Maurice's resilience and indomitable spirit. The book had a totally different mood (slapstick and bittersweet), but Maurice's repeated survival after countless injuries and career changes was reminiscent of the biography "Unbroken".

[Dale Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after reading a couple of excellent pieces about Flitcroft in The Guardian. It's a great story, but I didn't get much more out of the book than I got out of the articles.

[Gavin Rihoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maurice Flitcroft The Phantom Of The Open
I didn’t enjoy this book for a number of reasons: the writing style is bland and repetitive, story content is funny but the author didn’t capitalise sufficiently on the it. More problematic for me was the main character Maurice Flitcroft. This book is a true story about a looser with a thick skin and a contrary nature given to challenging everything. Against all odds he tried continually to qualify for Open golf competitions, but his approach was that of a fool. He never gave himself a chance, winding people up and wasting his own life following a dream he could never achieve given his idiotic practise routines and lack of coaching. By this account Maurice had an irritating personality I’m glad I never had to meet. His lack of achievement is essentially what the book is about, his war with the R&A an interesting distraction. I’m most surprised I got to the end of it! I won’t bother watching the movie unless friends tell me it’s funny; the book wasn’t !

[Miss JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at random and I'm really glad I did. As I'm not a golf fan I didn't think it would appeal to me but this book is a humorous take of one man taking on "the man". The first half of the book is a full of farcical japes and tall tales from the young Maurice which are a delight to read. Once we get to the golfing years the pace slows and the japes become rather repetitive, however as this is a true story I'd say most people's lives become repetitive in middle age. Overall I enjoyed the book and I'm looking forward to watching the film too.

[Lindsay Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific and touching

I've been a golf nut for more than 60 years. I must have heard about Maurice but like so many other things I can't recall it. Thanks for telling his story and telling it so we'll.
I hope the R&A will put a portrait of Maurice in the space vacated by Prince Andrew's.

[Adam Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, but I wouldn't call it funny. Maurice, for all his "sticking it to the man" antics, was a unemployable bum who couldn't get along with anybody. I'm sure the class struggle was part of it, but I think the biography was far to sympathetic to that antisocial jerk.

[Richard Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

[Paul McCormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff. Despite a relatively flimsy body of material, made the book a very interesting read overall

[James Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read! Hilarious and unbelievable that it’s a true story - it reads as if fiction. Maurice is a wonderful character and has inspired me to enter the Open at the next possible opportunity.