The Immortal Bobby: Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf - Hardcover

Yet beneath the easy grace he exhibited on and off the golf course, there was another Bobby Jones—one who through the years battled his volatile temper; the pressure of competition that grew so unbearable he was often left near tears and unable to take any pleasure in winning; and, in the final decades of his life, an agonizing physical decline that robbed him of everything but his dignity.

Now, drawing upon scores of interviews, a careful reconstruction of contemporary accounts, and Jones's voluminous correspondence, award-winning sportswriter Ron Rapoport reveals the man behind the legend. The Immortal Bobby shows that on the golf course, Jones was capable of some of the most brilliant shots ever struck—and of sensational blunders and unthinking lapses that were never more evident than during his quest for the Grand Slam. It shows the gracious champion who set the standard for sportsmanship and fair play—and the bearer of an implacable grudge against another great golfer who had wronged him.

Rapoport also re-creates an era when golf rose from an unfamiliar game born in Scotland to one of America's most popular pastimes. He depicts Jones's colorful and so-often frustrated opponents, visits each of the Grand Slam courses—they are all still in play today—and shows that while Jones was admired in his own country, he was adored in Great Britain. But for all his international fame, Jones remained a true son of Atlanta, and The Immortal Bobby demonstrates how that fact affected his views on politics and race. The book also offers compelling new evidence that much of what has been widely believed about the spinal condition that made Jones's final years so tragic is incomplete and incorrect.

Capturing the story of this towering figure with a depth and richness never before achieved, The Immortal Bobby is a both a penetrating profile and a moving depiction of a long-gone sporting age.