First Sunday in April: The Masters A Collection of Stories and Insights from Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Rick Reilly, Ken Venturi, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, and Many More About the Quest for the Famed Green Jacket

by Faxon, Brad; Wade, Don

• ISBN13: 9781402746925
• ISBN10: 140274692X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-01
• Publisher: Sterling

Summary

Forget the birds, the flowers, and April showers: in golf, you know spring has sprung when the Masters rolls around. Held on the hallowed grounds of the Augusta National Golf Club, and widely broadcast on TV, it's one of the world's most-watched sporting events each year. This collection celebrates that famed tournament, as some of America's best known sports writerssuch as Grantland Rice and Jim Murraypraise the event's illustrious history and traditions. The Masters has provided the stage for golf's most prominent names, and they're all represented on these pages, from Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan to Arnold Palmer and Jack Niklaus to Tiger Woods. Fans (many of whom dream of playing it themselves) will take a ride down memory and Magnolia Lane, as they recall great moments in golf, and find out about some of the quirkier, behind-the-scenes happenings, both touching and humorous. MASTERS' FACTS AND FIGURES: 43 million Americans watched Tiger Woods win his first of four green jacketsIt's the number one televised golf tournament in the world.You cannot apply for membership; you must be invited.The tradition of wearing green jackets began in 1937. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the only president to have been a club member.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The Traditions	p. 7
"The Men of the Masters": from A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour	p. 9
"My First Time at Augusta": from A Golfer's Life	p. 33
"The Masters Its Ownself": from Fairways and Greens: The Best Golf Writing of Dan Jenkins	p. 39
"The Wearing of the Green Masters Jacket"	p. 49
"Masters Sets the Standard for Civility"	p. 53
The Personalities	p. 55
"Charles de Clifford Roberts, Jr.": from the Introduction to The Masters: Golf, Money, and Power in Augusta, Georgia	p. 57
"The 1942 Masters": from Byron Nelson: An Autobiography	p. 65
"Call It Sam's Place, Augusta"	p. 71
"Thanks, Arnie"	p. 75
"Augusta": from Jack Nicklaus: My Story	p. 89
"A Master Feat"	p. 105
"'Did I Tell You the One About...'"	p. 113
The Course	p. 139
"The World's Wonder Inland Golf Course": from The Making of the Masters	p. 141
"The Other Side: For Starters, Champion Must Master Augusta's Unheralded Front Nine"	p. 151
"The Fateful Corner-Amen Corner"	p. 157
"The 12th"	p. 165
"The Masters Look"	p. 179
"Bentgrass Greens Hit Milestone"	p. 185
"A Crack in the Code"	p. 189
The Background	p. 197
"Masters Hardly Defines Augusta"	p. 199
"What's It Like to Be a Member?"	p. 205
"Before the Masters There's the Madness"	p. 215
"The Masters: Toughest Ticket in Sports"	p. 219
The Caddies	p. 225
"Tales from the Caddyshack"	p. 227
"Those New Masters Caddies"	p. 237
"The Masters: Get Your Mouth Off My Ball!": from Who's Your Caddy?	p. 241
The Moments	p. 261
"War Comes to Augusta": from When War Played Through: Golf During World War II	p. 263
"The Day When Burke Roared"	p. 275
"Strokes of Genius"	p. 281
"The Tournament Begins on the Back Nine on Sunday": from The Majors	p. 289
"Holly, Par 4, 465 Yards, Dogleg Right": from One Magical Sunday (But Winning Isn't Everything)	p. 315
The Controversies	p. 325
"More Agony at Augusta": from Getting Up & Down: My 60 Years in Golf	p. 327
"A Ridiculous Rule"	p. 337
"Mopping Up": from The Snake in the Sandtrap (and Other Misadventures on the Golf Tour)	p. 341
"Off Course in Augusta"	p. 345
"Masters of Their Domain"	p. 357
The History	p. 363
The Champions	p. 367
The Records	p. 371
Credits	p. 373
Index	p. 375
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