May
28
2007

Book Review: The Scorecard Always Lies

Posted by Double Eagle in Book Reviews

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The Scorecard Always Lies by Chris LewisThe Scorecard Always Lies: A Year Behind the Scenes on the PGA Tour was written by Sports Illustrated golf correspondent Chris Lewis after spending nearly a full season traveling with the Tour.

I know I said up front that this blog isn’t intended to be a fan blog because there are already so many good ones out there. Plus my mission is a little different. However, being that I’m on a quest to be a golf pro, a book that delves into the most prominent facet of professional golf is of great interest to me. I’m also a golf fan so this book piques my interest on two fronts.

Chris Lewis spent 30 weeks on tour in 2006 and this book is the result of those 30 weeks. It covers a lot of things that were well publicized and some things that were not so well known (at least to me). It shows a side of the players that we don’t see in front of the cameras. It brings us the good, the bad, and the ugly from life on the PGA Tour.

The chapters are organized chronologically and cover the highlights including the majors and the Ryder Cup, but each delves deeper into the player’s lives, covering up and coming players, Tiger Woods’ struggle with his father’s illness and eventual death, Phil Mickelson’s U.S. Open meltdown, the ongoing Michelle Wie saga, and the latest Ryder Cup disappointment for the U.S. Team. These big stories are interesting but equally compelling are the small stories. The stuff that you’ve probably never heard, in some cases involving figures whose names you might not even recognize.

Chapter List

  1. The Men Who Weren’t There: Hawaii
  2. Phil in Full: The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
  3. Tiger, Distracted: The Buick Invitational
  4. Cinderella Stories: The FBR Open, Phoenix
  5. Coast to Coast: The West Coast and Florida Swings
  6. Augusta Remastered: The Masters
  7. The Katrina Classic: The Zurich Classic, New Orleans
  8. Playing Through: The Wachovia Championship
  9. The Dog Days of Not-Quite-Summer: The Colonial
  10. Of Fathers, Sons, and a Daughter: The Memorial
  11. Lefty Agonistes: The U.S. Open
  12. “This One’s for Pops”: The British Open
  13. Tiger Mach Three: The PGA Championship
  14. Eire’s Mud in Your Eye: The Ryder Cup
  15. Epilogue: The Fall That Wouldn’t Finish

The Good

  • As a fan, I can’t get enough detail about the tour. This book delivered.
  • It was well written. It kept me interested and flowed well.
  • The book gave a glimpse of what it’s really like to be a player on tour. Lots of information ranging from the elite down to the guys who are just scraping by.
  • I liked how this book added to what I knew about some of the bigger stories, while presenting me with a ton of stuff I had never heard about.

The Bad

  • At times, the detail was somewhat mundane. However, I think this is to be expected. PGA Tour life isn’t all glamour and glitz. A realistic picture has to include some of this minutiae. It wasn’t overdone, though. At the same time, I recognize that some readers will say, “why do I care that so and so took his kids to the pool?”

Conclusion

I’m definitely recommending this book. If you’re a fan of the PGA Tour and crave detail about what goes on behind the scenes then I think you’re going to like it.

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There are currently 5 responses to “Book Review: The Scorecard Always Lies”

  1. 1

    Dave said:

    Considering your quest to play on tour, have you read the book Paper Tiger by Tom Coyne? He is a former high school player who didn’t make his college team and then stepped away from the game and eventually became a writing instructor at St. Joseph’s University. The book chronicles his quest to play on tour, which consisted of taking a year off from work and going all out to earn his card, no expenses spared. It’s a good read. He obviously loves golf, and that comes out in the writing. From a practical point of view, the book also contains a lot of details regarding what is actually required to earn a tour card (e.g. you can’t just sign up for Q-school, you have to send in an application complete with references and tournament results from sanctioned events).

    Posted on June 1st, 2007 at 4:36 pm

  2. 2

    Double Eagle said:

    I think I vaguely recall hearing about that book a while back. I looks great, though. I ordered it from Amazon and it should be here Tuesday.

    Thanks for the recommendation!

    One thing I want to mention about my overall goal is that I’m not putting all my emphasis on just playing on tour. That would be great, but teaching and the like is appealing to me too. Playing on the mini-tours would even be great.

    But I’m definitely not going to risk financial ruin if I don’t think I have the game. I’m going to continue to work as hard as I can, but I’m also not going to chase a goal where I won’t know whether it’s even attainable for me until I get much further along.

    From reading the blurb about the book, it looks like getting on Tour was his whole purpose, and he gave himself a year to do it. For me, that would be icing on the cake not the only measure of success, and I also don’t have a time line. I feel like any other way, and I’m lining myself up for failure.

    Posted on June 1st, 2007 at 4:54 pm

  3. 3

    Dave said:

    Your plan sounds like a great one; aim high but keep your feet on the ground. Earning a tour card is a very lofty goal. But playing in a Monday qualifier for a Hooters Tour event? That’s totally reasonable. In fact, you could probably sign up to do it next week. In fact, if you get your handicap below 1.4, you can enter a US Open qualifying tournament (a la Michelle Wie).

    I don’t want to give away anything in the book, but I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts after you’ve read it.

    Posted on June 4th, 2007 at 9:26 am

  4. 4

    Double Eagle said:

    I’m really looking forward to reading it. A review will definitely follow shortly after I finish it.

    Posted on June 4th, 2007 at 9:52 am

  5. 5

    The Stack & Tilt? » Life in the Rough said:

    [...] a rock). It was developed by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer (you might recall reading about them in The Scorecard Always Lies) and is being used by around 20 tour pros, including Aaron Baddeley who has won twice since making [...]

    Posted on June 12th, 2007 at 8:43 am

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