Duel in the Sun: Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in the Battle of Turnberry

by Michael Corcoran

On its 25th anniversary comes a riveting book that sweeps readers back to what has been called the most exciting and important moment in modern golf history: the 1977 British Open, where a young talent named Tom Watson stared down and defeated the legendary Jack Nicklaus.Among those who know the game, the Open is generally regarded as golf's ultimate test of mettle, focus and skill; and in 1977, it became the site of one of the most dramatic events in sports history. The torch of supremacy was passed that year, when Tom Watson laid siege to Jack Nicklaus's air of invincibility, defeating the original Great One by a stroke in a ferocious duel spanning the Open's final 36 holes. Shaping the natural drama of this seminal moment into sharp, expertly paced writing that crackles like the best adventure fiction, author Michael Corcoran charts a rich history of the Open before moving on to a fascinating pair of in-depth, colourful portraits of Nicklaus and Watson. Duel in the Sun draws on a wide range of interviews with the stars' fellow competitors, caddies, commentators and spectators to tell a magnificent story of the rise of a fiercely driven new hero - and the poignant grace of a wise champion welcoming him to the summit of the game.

Genres: Sports

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

There is more than one author in the Goodreads catalog with this name. This entry is for Michael ^ Corcoran.

Michael Corcoran has written seven previous books, including Duel in the Sun, an account of the 1977 British Open, and For Which It Stands: An Anecdotal Biography of the American Flag. He's written for numerous magazines and been the editor of a few. He lives with his wife and their children in Springtown, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually don't have too many books that I complete but rate below three stars - if I'm not enjoying it, I stop reading. Life is too short. But that's the thing - I DID enjoy this book, but it was under false pretenses. No matter the title, it's truly hard to consider this a book about Tom Watson vs Jack Nicklaus in the 1977 Open Championship. And that's because the author spends AT MOST 25% of the book talking about the 1977 Open itself, and only part of that was about Watson vs Nicklaus.

Certainly a shot-by-shot book of a final round wouldn't even be interesting to a golf nut like me, but when the majority of the book is about the history of the golf course, some bio about Nicklaus and Watson (all which I knew already) and then plenty of what I have to call "filler" info the author undoubtedly learned in his research, it's a disappointment. It's all interesting which is why I kept reading, but it is decidedly NOT about the Duel in the Sun.

[Geoffrey Gammell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Play through this one.

Meandering tangents of irrelevance with some poor writing about golf. The first 2/3s of this book add very little. It’s an essay disguised as a book.

[Dan Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember watching this as a kid and being riveted to the screen on Sat and Sunday (only two days it was telecast back then). Great golf, high drama, and pure sportsmanship was on display at Turnberry that weekend. Corcoran does a commendable job in recreating the tension between an aging dominant lion (Nicklaus) and a younger lion on the rise. He gets plenty of dialogue and strategy into the narrative to build suspense and pull back the curtain for the non-golfer and golfer alike. I am putting today's date on this but read it several years ago and still have the book.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read about Nicklaus and Watson but barely even discussed their final round at the Open.