The firebrand former NBA coach and player recounts his career in this candid memoir.During his three-decade career as a head coach in the NBA, George Karl has amassed more victories (1,175) than all but four men in league history, including Phil Jackson. While Jackson may have earned his iconic status by morphing into the Zen master, Karl has succeeded in the opposite manner—as an excitable firebrand who never backed down from a confrontation on or off the court.

An unlikely champion. An unprecedented accomplishment. A powerful story of a man on the verge of becoming a legend—at a time when the nation needed every hero it could get. In the 1930s, Bobby Jones did what no golfer had done before—and what no golfer has done since—he won all four major championships in one year. This dominant performance earned him untold riches and the adoration of the public. He had two tickertape parades to commemorate his achievement. He dated starlets. He became on...

The incredible true story of Tiger Woods's dramatic comeback following his humbling and very public personal, physical, and professional setbacks.One publicly imploded marriage. Two car accidents. Eight surgeries. And now, a miracle of hard work and storied talent: five Masters wins. Once hailed as "the greatest closer in history" before he fell further than any beloved athlete in America's memory, Tiger swung at the world's wildest expectations and beat the skeptic...

The Masters golf tournament weaves a hypnotic spell. It is the toughest ticket in sports, with black-market tickets selling for $10,000 and more. Success at Augusta National breeds legends, while failure can overshadow even the most brilliant of careers. But as Curt Sampson, author of the bestselling Hogan, reveals in The Masters, a cold heart beats behind the warm antebellum façade of this famous Augusta course. And that heart belongs to the man who killed himself on the grounds ...

The most outspoken and combative coach in NBA history—and one of the most successful, amassing more than 1,175 victories, the sixth best winning record ever—reflects on his life, his career, and his battles on and off the basketball court in this no-holds-barred memoir.A man of deep passion and intensity, George Karl earned his bad boy reputation while playing at the University of North Carolina, a rap that continued through the five years he spent with the San Antonio Spurs—and lo...

Was there ever a year in golf like 1960?It was the year that the sport and its vivid personalities exploded on the consciousness of the nation, when the past, present, and future of the sport collided. Here was Arnold Palmer, the workingman’s hero, “sweating, chain-smoking, shirt-tail flying”; Ben Hogan, the greatest player of the fifties, a perfectionist battling twin demons of age and nerves; and, making his big-time debut, a crew-cut college kid who seemed to have the makings of...

Of all the games ever played in a sporting competition, never has an event been so bizarre and yet so fitting for its historical moment: the 1968 Masters.Anger gripped America's heart in April 1968. Vietnam and a bitter presidential contest sharpened the divides between races and generations, while protests and violence poisened the air. Then an assassin's bullet took the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Cities burned.The smoke had barely cleared when the...

This updated edition of a NEW YORK TIMES best seller includes a final chapter, which chronicles the last years of his life and examines his enduring legacy. Included are quotes and tributes from many of golf's greats such as Byron Nelson and a perceptive assessment of the life and legend of the man who may have been the greatest golfer ever-Ben Hogan.

The true story of the dramatic 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island, which changed the competition in golf forever.The 1991 Ryder Cup began in 1985. Up to then, the biennial match between all-star teams of golf professionals from America and Europe was more ceremonial exhibition than real competition, with the Americans consistently beating the Europeans. That all changed in 1985, when the Europeans wrested it away at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England. The Europea...

For a century and a half, the best golf players in the world have, once a year, attempted to beat the weather, the pressure, and one of the toughest courses in the world at the British Open. In Royal and Ancient, Curt Sampson, the bestselling author of Hogan and The Masters, draws a definitive and affectionate portrait of this legendary tournament, with a fascinating narrative of both its rich history and its exciting present.The thread of Royal and Ancient is the 1999 cham-pionshi...

All eat from the bowl of life. Tiger Woods just has a bigger spoon.So writes Curt Sampson in his ground-breaking account of the current state of golf. Tiger Woods has changed golf forever. His mix of power and skill combines with his extraordinary business savvy to make Woods the biggest global sports figure since Michael Jordan. Like Jordan, Woods' competitive signature is equal parts inspiration and intimidation.But what about the other guys? It's either ca...

Was there ever a year in golf like 1960? It was the year that the sport and its vivid personalities exploded on the consciousness of the nation, when the past, present, and future of the game collided. Television, still a new medium, provided a fresh window to the show and enabled this "rich man's sport" to win over millions of new fans.Here was Arnold Palmer, the working man's hero, "sweating, chain-smoking, shirt-tail flying," and winning, it seemed, every tournament with a last-...