A Feel For the Game: To Brookline and Back

Book Synopsis: "I'm going to leave y'all with one thought. I'm a big believer in fate. I have a good feeling about this."--Ben Crenshaw, Saturday September 25, 1999, twenty-four hours before the most stunning Ryder Cup comeback victory in history

A uniquely compelling work that transcends traditional autobiography, A Feel for the Game is an anecdotal and personal portrait of a man and a game that were made for each other. With two Masters Championships, nineteen career PGA victories, three NCAA championships, and millions in earnings, Ben Crenshaw is without question one of the most successful golfers of the century. But Crenshaw's relationship to his sport goes beyond his individual performances. As captain of the 1999 Ryder Cup team, confronting the largest deficit in tournament history, Crenshaw believed in his players and was confident enough in his study of golf history to trust his feel for the game. In a hard-fought competition that kept viewers glued to their televisions, he brilliantly marshaled a team of diverse personalities and brought the Ryder Cup back to American soil. And he did it his way with grace, honor, dedication, and an encyclopedic knowledge of how the game should be played.

A Feel for the Game is Crenshaw's warm and heartfelt ode to the traditions and spirit of golf through the prism of his own life. He describes his early years learning the game from the legend Harvey Penick, and takes readers through his career as an outstanding amateur to his glorious years on the PGA Tour. Who can forget Ben's tribute to Harvey throughout his inspirational 1995 Masters championship run? Crenshaw sees his success as an extension of his interest in the game's greatest players and teachers Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jackie Burke, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, and Tiger Woods. Every person that crosses Ben's path, and every golf course that he has had the pleasure to play or design, inspires him. Crenshaw's reminiscences, his fascinating glimpses into golf history, and his unparalleled understanding of the nuances of play make this a must-have book for every serious fan of the world's most popular pastime.