Jenkins at the Majors: Sixty Years of the World's Best Golf Writing, from Hogan to Tiger

by Dan Jenkins

Six decades of classic stories on the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship by the legendary Dan Jenkins

Dan Jenkins has long been considered one of the premier sportswriters in America. Honored and imitated by generations of his peers, Jenkins’s wit, fearlessness, and inimitable style set the tone for Sports Illustrated during his years there and are in full display in classic novels like Semi-Tough and Dead Solid Perfect . But it is his golf journalism—for the Fort Worth Press , Dallas Times-Herald , Sports Illustrated, and in recent years, Golf Digest —that sets him above and apart.

In this masterful collection, Jenkins has selected the best of his original dispatches from the past sixty years—from Ben Hogan’s great final-round 67 to win the 1951 U.S. Open at torturous Oakland Hills to Tiger Woods's grimacing playoff win against Rocco Mediate fifty-eight years later—all written with his colorful humor and unmatched insight. His wry reportage on golf's most iconic players, thrilling finishes, historic moments, and heartbreaking collapses have brought legions of fans intimately close to the action and the larger-than-life personalities of the game. The stories in Jenkins at the Majors remain as vivid and thrilling as the days he wrote them,
• Ben Hogan besting Sam Snead in an epic battle in the 1953 U.S. Open at Oakmont
• The legendary 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, where three eras clashed as Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus battled it out in the final round
• Greg Norman’s cringe-worthy collapse at the 1996 Masters
• Tiger Woods’s record-shattering victory in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach

Jenkins was there, immortalizing these and many other great moments in golf history—under deadline, no less—with his signature style and encyclopedic knowledge of the game in this nostalgic and highly entertaining ride. A must-read for every golf fan.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dan Jenkins was an American author and sportswriter, most notably for Sports Illustrated.

Jenkins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended R.L. Paschal High School and Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played on the varsity golf team. Jenkins worked for many publications including the Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Playboy, and Sports Illustrated. In 1985 he retired from Sports Illustrated and began writing books full-time and maintained a monthly column in Golf Digest magazine.

Larry King called Jenkins "the quintessential Sports Illustrated writer" and "the best sportswriter in America." Jenkins authored numerous works and over 500 articles for Sports Illustrated. In 1972, Jenkins wrote his first novel, Semi-Tough.

His daughter, Sally Jenkins, is a sports columnist for the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Bill Fairchild · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a golfer this is a must. The stories are great and the words he uses to describe the action are even better. Best book I have read in quite awhile.

[Duncan Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenkins is hilarious and is so good at describing the majors in his own unique way.

[Michael Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much what the title suggests-a collecton of Dan Jenkins' writing on golf's major championships. Jenkins is a fine writer, and his account of many of the sport's greatest moments makes for good reading.

However...

During an account of the 1985 US Open, in which Andy North defeated TC Chen at Oakland Hills Country Club, Jenkins writes the following phrases:

"Does anything made in Taiwan last more than three days?"

"Confucius say, 'Bad head give Andy North Open.'"

"..just when he was threatening to turn Oakland Hills into so much Moo Goo Gai Pan."

"He was the Orient Express. He had taken this Open to the cleaners. He was the Bridges of Toko Chen. He was Fu's Rush In. Until finally he became No Tickee, No Trophy."

"Mr. Chen, however, didn't look all that outwardly perturbed, being inscrutable."

Really? Seriously? In 1985, that was acceptable speech? I can't believe that got printed, never mind reprinted.

If those words were written in 1945, I would give them a pass. Maybe even 1955.

But in 1985, and especially to be reprinted in 2009? And to be read and reviewed by supposedly intelligent people like David Halberstam, Larry King, Mike Lupica, and Roy Blount Jr.?

Sorry, that's racist. And it spoiled an otherwise enjoyable book.

[Mahlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Jenkins is the dean of American golf writers, by his count he's covered 197 Major Championships over 60 years for various publications, beginning with the 1951 U. S. Open. He has selected 94 of the best for our perusal. What lifts this book above the usual collections of columns by sportswriters is it's superb organization. It's organized chronologically so that it's easy for the reader to follow the march of golf history forward. It's a fast, fun read, the columns are short so the pages really fly by, this could also be seen as a negative however, as the medium of a column rarely offers one the space to give an in-depth, hole-by hole account of who won and how. Jenkins is usually limited to who won, by how much, and the general impression the tournament left him with. Luckily for us, thanks to his considerable skills, this feels like more than enough in most cases.

Jenkins at the Majors is absolutely essential reading for those who love the game, especially for those fans whose golf consciousness began in the Tiger era.

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't give a hoot about golf, but I give several hoots about Dan Jenkins. (Though I might have to take one of 'em away for the Chinaman and Mexican jokes in a few of the articles.)
What an exercise. A glimpse into the sportswriter grind. How is one report on a Major going to differ from another other than including different names?
He pulls it off, mostly because he transmits the way that he cares about golf.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any admirer of Dan Jenkins and first-class golf reporting should own this book. Probably the best recent compilation of his outstanding lifetime of work.

[Ray Charbonneau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitious. The stories all blur together.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

60 years of Majors - written by one of the funniest and unique sportswriters ever. A must have for true golf fans - he captures the greatest moments - and usually has you laughing the whole time

[Robert Arndt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting takes on winners of the majors.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew a few of the stories, but it was still an interesting read

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kind of book. Read a few pages at a time. Learn a history of PGA majors golf.