OUR
REGULAR GAME NO. 20
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Last week, we revealed for the first
time that Charley Hunter had discovered, in the basement of the Bragg’s
Point Golf Club, a secret journal that had been kept by none other than
Bobby Jones. Of course,
everyone presumably knows who Bobby Jones was, but for those of you who
have just returned from the planet Saturn, let it suffice to say that
Bobby Jones was arguably the greatest golfer ever to play the game.
There is no stronger evidence of Jones’s greatness than the
recent celebrations that took place throughout the sporting media on the
100th anniversary last month of the great man’s birth.
We’re not talking about a commentator or two merely noting the
date in passing; unless your television was on the fritz, you couldn’t
have missed the numerous features devoted to Jones’s life and times that
appeared on virtually every major network, not to mention the articles
published in the print media.
That’s why Charley Hunter’s discovery of Jones’s secret
journal is of such historical significance.
The journal contains Jones’s innermost thoughts on how to make
the difficult game of golf easy. And
it’s not just Jones’s own ideas; he maintained this journal long after
his playing career was over to include what he learned in his private
conversations with the other greats of the game.
So the book contains the collected wisdom not just of Jones, but
also of Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer,
and Jack Nicklaus.
Jones’s journal entries reveal that the greats of golf have been
privy to secrets about the game that they have never shared with us mere
mortals. Hard to believe,
perhaps, but true. Despite
the reams of instructional books authored by these greats of the game, the
truth is that they’ve been holding out on us, and it’s time to expose
this conspiracy.
Our early investigation reveals that this conspiracy even reaches
Tiger Woods. From what
Charley has told me, we suspect that Claude Harmon, the 1948 Masters
champion, may have been privy to the secret journal.
Jones bore a special affection for the early winners of his
invitational tournament, and he and Harmon were known to be close.
As many of you know, the teaching pro who has served as Tiger
Woods’s guru since his early days is none other than Butch Harmon —
the son of Claude Harmon. Given
Woods’s performance in golf’s major championships, the evidence is
clear that Claude Harmon must have shared the contents of Jones’s
journal with his son Butch and that Butch then passed on the secrets to
easy golf to his star pupil.
This has been a remarkably effective conspiracy.
Those involved have never failed to maintain its code of silence.
For instance, despite the avalanche of interviews that await him at
each tournament, not once has Tiger Woods betrayed Harmon and his
co-conspirators and revealed that the reason he’s so much better than
his contemporaries is because he learned the secrets of easy golf from
Bobby Jones’s secret journal.
Of course, why would he? If
he let the secret slip, then Retief Goosen, David Duval, Davis Love, Vijay
Singh, and Phil Mickelson might be able to beat him once in awhile.
As things stand now, it seems pretty clear that Tiger only lets
them win often enough to throw off suspicion.
There’ll be more on this unbelievable story in the weeks to come.
In the meantime, don’t drink from the ball washer.
About the Author
J. Michael Veron is the acclaimed author of The
Greatest Player Who Never Lived and The
Greatest Course That Never Was. His third novel, tentatively titled
The Caddie, is scheduled for release in the spring of 2002.
Mike's work has earned him the title of "master
of fiction" from USA Today, and Travel and Leisure Golf Magazine
has called him "The
John Grisham of Golf." In addition, the New York Times hailed The
Greatest Player as "Golf's
Literary Rookie of the Year," and the Seattle Times ranked The
Greatest Player as second on its all-time list of "Five Wonderful
Golf Books." At one time,
The Greatest Player and The
Greatest Course were the first and third best-selling sports fiction
in the country.
Please contact us
for more information on Mike and his work.
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