Product Description

Over the half millennium and more that golf has existed, very few players have come within even sighting distance of Jack Nicklaus's incredible achievements. Counting his two US Amateur Championships, Nicklaus was the winner of twenty major championships and more than one hundred professional tournaments around the world. He was named "Golfer of the Century" in 1988 by the PGA.

Jack Nicklaus: My Story, now with a new afterword, is Jack Nicklaus's compelling, personal account of his legendary majors triumphs, along with many other competition highlights -- and some lowlights, too -- of one of the greatest sports careers of all time. Revealed with the unfailing candor and intensity that are his most distinctive personality traits, here is the Jack Nicklaus his legions of admirers, and even some of those close to him, have never known.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #265187 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Amazon.com Review
As "The Golfer of the Century," Jack Nicklaus is a recognized authority on the game's history and direction, and in his 13th book, My Story, he shares the details of his most impressive victories. With 20 major championships under his belt, he has plenty of highlights to share, including shot-by-shot analyses of his classic battles with fellow legends Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. Indeed, Nicklaus seems to recall every shot of his illustrious career, and he is able to infuse his discussions of final round action with suspense, even though we've known the outcomes all these years. To this erudite study of golf the Golden Bear adds personal elements that reveal the man behind the one-iron. Nicklaus describes his business dealings--both successes and failures--his love of golf course design, the effects of celebrity status, and his childhood. Written with his longtime collaborator Ken Bowden, My Story is another eagle for the man whose name fills the record books.

From Library Journal
Nicklaus, winner of the Professional Golfer's Association's Golfer of the Century award in 1988, covers some of the same ground with longtime associate Bowden that he did with renowned golf historian Herbert Warren Wind in The Greatest Game of All (1969). Here, Nicklaus focuses on his Hall of Fame career, beginning with his victory in the 1959 U.S. Amateur Championship and concluding with his dramatic win in The Masters in 1986 at the age of 46. Shot-by-shot, hole-by-hole descriptions of many of his record championships are included along with his notions on the present condition of professional golf. With a graciousness and humility rarely found in sports biographies today, the Golden Bear relates his feelings about rivals (Arnold Palmer and more), heroes (Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan), and family. But it's when he describes what he considers the key mental requirements for winning consistently and his own approach to getting ready for a tournament that Nicklaus reveals the temperament of a tenacious competitor driven by the absolute need to win. Recommended for all sports collections.?Peter Ward, Lindenhurst Memorial Lib., West Islip, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Jack Nicklaus has written numerous golf instructionals, but this volume represents his first swing at pure autobiography. It's a clean hit, like a Nicklaus tee shot. Structuring his story around the 20 major championships he won from 1959 through 1986, Nicklaus and coauthor Bowden deliver an indispensable survey of modern golf history. Remarkably, the shot-by-shot accounts of the crucial holes of those 20 tournaments never turn dull, as happens so often when sports stars recount their heroics. Rather, we see the action anew, through the ever-analytical and remarkably humble eyes of the best golfer ever to swing a club. Nicklaus' comments never fail to add depth and context to the reader's own recollection of these signature moments in golf's past, most often by allowing us inside his head, where we find, surprisingly, a large measure of self-doubt. What comes across most forcibly in this fine book is Nicklaus' respect for the complexity of golf and the never-ending challenges it affords players at every level. The chapter in which Nicklaus discusses being forced to entirely remake his swing in 1979 in order to stay competitive is perhaps the greatest testament possible to the rigors of golf. Discussion of his family life and business career round out the volume, but Nicklaus rarely drifts too far from the fairway. Golf fans won't mind that a bit; most of them are more interested in golf than real life anyway. Bill Ott

Customer Reviews

If you like Jack, this ones for you
Having been a golfer for 26 years and taught by my Dad, I can relate well to this book. Jack is one of my top 2 favorite players, the other being Tiger Woods. This book tracks Jacks career from kid to Senior Tour. To look back at it, he was a tremendous player. Tiger has his work cut out to surpass Jacks career achievements. Good stuff about his family, mentors and fellow players. A must for Jack fans.

GOOD SOLID WORK - ENJOYABLE AND INFORMATIVE
Certainly one of the leading sports figures of our times and beyond a doubt one of the best golfers of all times, this autobiography of Jack Nicklaus is both interesting and informative. Nicklaus, like Palmer, Jones, Player, et al, are a passing breed. Not only are they great atheletes, but they are gentlemen in every sense of the word. Mr. Nicklaus' approach to the game and to life reflects this at every turn. This is a work that can be enjoyed by both golfers and non-golfers equally. I have probably ran into better writers that Ken Bowden, but hey, he did an adequate job and certainly got Jack's story across. Enjoyed this one a lot and very much recommend it.

One of the greatest tells his story
Insights into this champion and our time in golf will be read by the future generations through the Bear's eyes. Humble yet intense, this guy never quits. Especially enjoyed his sharing of what was going on inside with his famous finish at Turnberry in 1977. He's a guy you respect for his game and his person.