For more than three decades now, Jim Moriarty has enjoyed a ringside seat on golf played by the game’s elite players and in the most dramatic tournaments and team competitions. In “Playing Through,” this longtime golf journalist shares his insider’s perspective on the Nicklaus-Watson rivalry, the emergence of overseas stars like Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo, the awe-inspiring run by Tiger Woods, and the Ryder Cup dramas of 1999 and 2012.
Here’s an excerpt from Playing Through:
“Born two years apart on opposite sides of the world, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo seemed to have destinies governed by different planets altogether. One was a blond, charismatic Australian who lost major championships in every conceivable way – and some no one would or could have imagined – while the other was a dark-haired, aloof Englishman who seemed to stand on golf’s toniest street corners gracefully accepting major titles as others blithely cast them off like wadded-up candy wrappers. Faldo won three Open Championships and three Masters, the most titles of consequence of any of his contemporaries. Norman won two Open Championships but will be remembered more for losing all four in playoffs and whiffing on a handful of others when he had them in his sights. They were the dominant players of their generation, with Faldo spending 97 weeks as the world number one, while Norman, who won more but not as importantly, spent 331 weeks in the top spot, second only to Tiger Woods since the ranking system began.”
