The Upset

The Upset
The Upset

The Upset

Jack Fleck's Incredible Victory over Ben Hogan at the U.S. Open
By Al Barkow

SPORTS & RECREATION

240 Pages, 5.5 x 8.5

Formats: Cloth, PDF, Mobipocket, EPUB

Cloth, $24.95 (CA $27.95) (US $24.95)

ISBN 9781613740750

Rights: WOR

Chicago Review Press (Jun 2012)

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Overview

The compelling story of one of golf's greatest upsets
A thrilling play-by-play, shot-by-shot recounting of one of the most famous golf games of all time, this book brings back to life the look and feel of the entire three days of regular play and the fourth-day playoff of the 1955 U.S. Open at the Olympic Golf Club in San Francisco. Jack Fleck had the slimmest of resumes as a professional tournament golfer: he had never even come close to winning on the PGA Tour. Yet Fleck got himself into a playoff with Ben Hogan—one of the greatest players in golf history—for the game's most prestigious title; and when Fleck defeated Hogan, it was not just surprising, it was incredible. Relying on firsthand sources, this insightful study of a poignant moment in golf history reveals the players’ mental processes as they strategized their game and handled their emotions and offers a fascinating look at two different approaches to competing for a golf championship: Hogan, who employed a stoic, no-nonsense approach to the game and Fleck, a practitioner of hatha yoga. The book presents a critical view of Hogan’s inexplicable defeat and a convincing explanation for Fleck’s mind-boggling victory, which was considered at the time and remains to this day one of the most unexpected outcomes in all sports history.

Reviews

“Al Barkow knows more about golf than any man alive.” —Rick Reilly, author of Who’s Your Caddy? and The Life of Reilly

“From Getting to the Dance Floor in ’86 to this piece of great non-fiction writing and reporting, Barkow has emerged as the pre-eminent golf historian of the past quarter century.” —Tim Rosaforte, GolfWorld and Golf Channel

“Fleck beat Hogan. Fleck beat Hogan? Huh? In the 1955 U.S. Open, no less. That's fact. It's golf history. But the story behind that win! It's never been told in the way Al Barkow tells it [. . .] It's some tale.”  Lorne Rubinstein, author of A Disorderly Compendium of Golf and A Season in Dornoch



“Al Barkow, golf’s leading historian and storyteller, unfolds the improbable Ben Hogan–Jack Fleck tale, and the results are as wondrous as the golf itself. Al knows exactly what we really want to know and he gives it to us with rich detail and a light, sure touch. Nobody evokes time and place in golf like Al Barkow.” —Peter Kessler, host of Making the Turn on the PGA Tour Network, Sirius XM

 “If Al Barkow hit the golf ball as straight as he writes about the game he’d be playing the Tour.” —Lee Trevino

“Golf is rarely more delicious than when a hero and an underdog square off. In his thorough and engaging account of the 1955 U.S. Open, Al Barkow skillfully dissects the showdown between Ben Hogan and Jack Fleck, delving deeply not only into the play but the personalities of the two men, which were as different as their stations in the sport when they arrived at Olympic that fateful week.” —Bill Fields, GolfWorld

Author Biography

Al Barkow is a veteran golf reporter, formerly editor in chief of both Golf and Golf Illustrated magazines, and recipient of the 2005 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. His books include The Best of Barkow, Gene Sarazen and Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf, The Golden Era of Golf: How America Rose to Dominate the Old Scots Game, Golf’s Golden Grind: The History of the Tour, The History of the PGA, Sam: The One and Only Sam Snead, and That’s Golf. He lives in Albany, California.