Moment of Glory: The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf

by John Feinstein

After winning 6 of the 12 Majors from 2000 to 2002, Tiger Woods struggled in 2003. Four unknown players would seize the day, rising to become champions in his wake.
Mike Weir--considered a good golfer but not a great one--triumphed in The Masters, becoming the first Canadian to win a Major. Jim Furyk emerged victorious in the U.S. Open. In the British Open, Ben Curtis became the only player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to prevail on his first time out, and Shaun Micheel came from nowhere to prevail at the PGA Championship. How does one moment of glory affect the unsung underdog for years to follow?
Feinstein chronicles the champions' ups and downs, giving readers an insider's look into how victory (and defeat) can change players' lives.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

John Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator.

Reviews

[John Buchanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you look at my list of books read this year, you may see a trend of John Feinstein. What can I say, I'm a lover of sports, especially golf. A particular delight of John's writing is the humanity he brings to sports figures that we otherwise enshrine as more than mortal. Also, since I know the careers that some of the main characters have since had in the years after the publishing of this book, it's comforting to know there are humble beginnings for even the biggest names of the sport. The only downside to "Moment of Glory" is a bit of redundancy towards the end, but nonetheless it is a comforting and exciting read for the everyday golf lover.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and in depth look at four golf players who went from being virtually unknown to overnight big winners by winning the four majors in one year. Tiger Woods was out of the picture as he tinkered with his swing and tried to "improve," his changes pretty much removed him from the competition and allowed rookies to step up to the plate and have remarkable years with him out of the picture. John Feinstein highlights these four player's back-stories as well as documents the year leading up to their big years. It was really fascinating and interesting to learn about how four players were able to get at the top of their game and take home the biggest golf prizes in the world. Feinstein also covers how the players dealt with their newfound fame and how it ultimately affected their golf game. Interesting, but VERY detail focused and a bit overwhelming at times. Recommended only for big time golf lovers and not the average Joe.

[Rick Zinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2003, Tiger Woods was changing his swing and the door was open for four first time Major Winners, this is their story.

Backgrounds on the players in contention, extensive chapters on how the tournaments unfolded and chapters about the paths their careers took after the big,career defining victory. In a lot of ways the chapters at the end are the best, a couple of the plays struggled with maintaining exempt status, another with injury. Some of the stories about the ones who came in are the most interesting.

John Feinstein is at his best taking about the traditions of sports and the human stories. If you like Golf books or sports books, this is the book for you. I am having a great year rediscovering a love of sports books.

[Jon Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feinstein is consistently very good/excellent in his oeuvre- writing/researching sports stories. This one is no exception. A compelling tale of one year(not the only year) where Tiger Woods decided to undergo swing changes and a bunch of no-names claimed Major titles. Feinstein recycles(as he does in many books) inside tales from book-to-book, now that I've read a few of his titles, but he ties it together in compelling fashion, and what sets Feinstein apart is his inside sources. I just reserved another book, a golf book, from him at the library so he must be doing something right;)

[Russ Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another satisfying volume in John Feinstein's chronicles of golf. What I enjoyed most was the detailed focus on the demanding path golfers follow in the quest for a season of professional greatness. Feinstein's pathos is for the underdog players, appreciating how long and difficult the journey is and how often short-lived is the glory. This book could inspire golfers like me who will never make any money at golf to believe that some measure of greatness still awaits us -- breaking 80 (just 2% do it) or shooting one's age (9 out of every million).

[Michael Stoudt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another superb effort by one of my favorite authors, John Feinstein. What I most liked about this book (above everything) was how at the end (spoiler alert!) he followed up with four champions and let the reader know what they had done since their 2003 championships. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in reading Mr. Feinstein's works.

[Adam Fearnall · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to relive Mike Weir's masters win and/or the tournaments from that year this is a fun read. This isn't the deepest dive into the thoughts and feelings of each player, but for a sports fan, it gives you a little bit more than you get from mainstream coverage. This is a book that you can read while you've got something else on the go.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many people call Feinstein the best “sportswriter” around. And he probably is, but totally misses the real talent. He’s an incredible writer. He tells stories about people and stories about life.

It just so happens that the people he writes stories about are athletes. Several of the best books I’ve read about sports and the people who play have his name on the cover.

This one especially.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy all of Feinstein's books. This one tells the story of some lesser known golfers who managed to peak when Tiger Woods, though in his prime, was in a slump for one year.

[Paul McCormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love everything he writes

[Steven Beningo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent well-written book on a year when all of the winners of golf’s major championships were upset winners.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read until the final three chapters which seem to repeat.

[Clark Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

84/100 (a)

[David M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book.

[Brendan Crowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moment of Glory recounts the story of golf’s major championships in 2003 – a year with four first-time major champions. From the vantage point of 2010, Feinstein looks back at the 2003 season and chronicles the careers of the those 4 champions – Ben Curtis, Mike Weir, Jim Furyk and Shaun Micheel.

In 2003, Tiger Woods began work on a complete remodelling of his swing resulting in a dip in performance to the extent that he didn’t seriously compete in any of that year’s majors. This left a vacuum which was filled by 4 first time winners whose lives would all change.

The most fascinating part of the book was the focus on what major victories meant for the 4 and the comparison with how the runners up fared after the tournaments. Feinstein also pays close attention to the nearly-men who came so close to winning those 4 majors – none of whom had won a major and all who would be heavily impacted by the experience of coming so close but missing out. The insight into how a single putt could change two different golfers’ lives really helped to put the stakes at play into perspective.

For me the book suffers from the fact I have already read, and really enjoyed, two of Feinstein’s other golf books – A Good Walk Spoiled and Q School. In a lot of ways this felt overly similar in chronicling the challenges of professional golfers outside the very very top rung. The book is well written and a very enjoyable easy read that benefits from Feinstein’s accessible writing and clear ability to put to interviewees at ease. I just feel like I’d already read the book before in some ways.

Overall, I’d recommend it. I think it actually works even better reading it now in 2018 when we have more info at our fingertips on how the players careers have progressed since 2010 as well. Amazingly, after this book was published, both 2011 and 2016 also saw 4 different first time major winners crowned.

While it isn’t Feinstein’s best book, it’s well worth picking up as the long wait for next season’s Masters begins post Ryder Cup.

You can read all of my sports book reviews at http://allsportsbooks.reviews

[Richard Koppy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Feinstein book... thorough and detailed... golf was foremost in the description...

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read for an avid golf fan. Too Tiger centric for me. I love the underdog.

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

In lieu of this being an audiobook, I will first state that the narrator was easy to hear, easy to listen to, and it was smooth.
The story itself starts right out with Tiger Woods and his career. I really liked that, since he is the one I am most familiar with.
Who knew Tiger was sooooo competitive. I mean, I knew he was, but not to the degree at which you learn in this book. He actually thinks of the next tournament 15 minutes or so after winning the last. The "awesome" feeling doesn't linger long. That is really something, if you ask me. It shows why he is so good at the sport and was able to popularize it more.
This book was more interesting that I had initially thought it would be. I had no idea it would hold my attention like it did. I learned a lot from this book, and I thought I already knew much about the sport, and the four key players in the story. I was wrong. I knew very little.
The one thing I didn't like is how the author felt the need to tell us that Mike Weir, the Canadian, cheered for an American hockey team. If you know anything about us Canadians, and our love of hockey, you would know why I felt this was a slight towards us. I found it highly unnecessary, and it added nothing to the story he was already telling. It was actually redundant, if not a slight.
With that said, only sports or golf lovers will enjoy this. Don't think that because Tiger Woods is in it, you learn about his personal tabloid drama. That is not what this is about. It's about the career, good and bad, not so much the man.

[Chuck Kierpiec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this to help feed my golf addiction -- I liked a couple of other books Feinstein wrote about the PGA Tour. However, if you've read his book about Q-School I don't think you're missing much if you skip this one. It basically covers the roller-coaster careers of a handful of pro golfers that contended for major championships in a year (2003) where Tiger Woods was implementing a swing change and mostly out of contention in those tournaments. Most of these guys were not expected to win and haven't been terribly successful since.

I really enjoy reading about the struggles of the rank and file members of the PGA Tour -- it's not an easy line of work to get into and it definitely puts my own personal difficulties in perspective. But Feinstein has already explored this story in two previous books. Neither the additional tidbits about Tour life nor his prose warrant reading this if you've already read those (more interesting) books. For golfheads only.

[Scott Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of John Feinstein. I have devoured all of his nonfiction titles and anxiously await his latest book. "Moment of Glory" is his latest Golf title and one that does not disappoint. The subtitle, The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf, is an indicator of what this book is about: in 2003 Tiger Woods did not win a major. Not only that, all four major winners were first-timers.

Feinstein does a masterful job of looking at the lives of each winner, the ones who just missed, and how that moment of glory changed their lives. What makes the story truly poignant is the inability of these winners to regain that level of success. When Feinstein tackles the aftermath of those tournaments, the book really lifts off. I'm not that big of a golf fan but once again Feinstein makes me wish I was more of one. That is the highest praise I can give.

[Tom Gase · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Feinstein is one of my favorite writers of all time but I may be donw with his golf books for a while. I don't know why I can read about golf so easily. I never really watch the sport but I can read about it. Anyways, I feel he has basically just written about every angle in golf that he can. This book is basically the same book as the Majors, only in 2003 with a bunch of underdogs profiled. But the underdog profile he already exhausted with Tales from Q School which was already written about in A Good Walk Spoiled. This book is well written and the research is great. It almost feels as if you are there on the course with the golfers. I just feel like I've read this book before. Still, it did take me back to the 2003, which was nice. In summary, Feinstein has done better, he has done worse. Not as good as A Good Walk Spoiled or Open, but better than Tales from Q School.

[Jennifer Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Received this from First Reads contest - reading now.*
So far, a bit off from other well-liked Feinstein golf books - more like a recitation of hole-by-hole play of the tournaments of 2003. Hope it gets more to the changes these wins brought to players' lives, and more of the behind the scenes detail he's shown in other golf books.

Alas - this was not one of Feinstein's best works, and certainly not up to the power, drama and storytelling of "Open". It had the details, the nitty-gritty, and play-by-play style of other works. And the bouncy back-and-forth in time bits too. Not a bad book, just drier and a bit less engaging than other works.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of how some golfers rose to the top of their game despite personal challenges. This book underscores how difficult it is to win a major as well as how finally winning turns the golfer's life from private to the spotlight forever. The author chronicles the golfing lives of Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis and Shaun Michael.

This is not sportswriter John Feinstein best work. If is interesting and certainly does deserve to be read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feinstein is probably the preeminent golf writer of our time. His A Good Walk Spoiled is a classic. Even if you're not a golfer, his writings are enjoyable, taking you behind the scenes of the big money world of pro golf.

He always comes up with an interesting slant and the subtitle tells you what it is in Moment of Glory; four relative unknowns took the major tourneys in 2003 and John gives you the nuts and bolts of each victory..

[John Schachter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biggest criticism of John Feinstein's books is that he goes it way too much detail on his topics. But for me, if it's a topic I love then that's not a problem. Fortunately, pro golf is one of those topics. So I have really enjoyed his various books on the subject. This one is no exception. He weaves a fun and detailed story about the 2003 PGA season, primarily the four major tournaments. It was quite a year and Feinstein more than does it justice.

[Phil Kamphuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moment of Glory is a great read for anyone who enjoys golf or just the good story telling. John Feinstein is very good at taking seemingly ordinary stories and finding memorable aspects within them. The writing in Moment of Glory is top notch and you will not be able to put it down.
Moment of Glory comes highly recommended. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading a book about golf, at times, can be as boring as watching golf, but for the most part this was a good book and gave interesting insight into the game of golf and the four majors played each year. John Fienstein is a good story teller describing how four young golfers won their first major in 2003. Fury, Weir, Curtis and Micheel.

[Tom Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful look into the world of professional golf and the psyche of the players whose livlihood depends solely on their personal performance and how lives can be impacted by a single misplayed shot. A must read for any sports fan.

[Gina]

Looks like a great book! Can't wait to read it!!

[Bahir]

Won this in the First Reads giveaway, can't wait to read it! Will definitely post a review!