Playing Through

The game of golf has been witness to dramatic change since the early 1980s. Technology has relegated polished wooden drivers and wound balls covered with balata to the dustbin of history. The world’s great courses have been stretched unfathomable lengths to counter the game’s modern champions and the distances they hit the ball. In the end, though, it still comes down to the players.   Jim Moriarty has focused his attention on the glory, sacrifice, success, and despair of these champions. In Playing Through, he captures the essence of this most recent, most transformative chapter in golf’s long history. He writes of the last great rivalry: Jack Nicklaus versus Tom Watson; the rise of the European juggernaut with Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo; the Ryder Cup spectacles of 1999 and 2012 and the romance of team golf; the tragic loss of Payne Stewart and Ballesteros, both gone too soon; the emergence of the Australians, South Africans, South Americans, and Pacific Rim players in the Presidents Cup; and the man who ruled golf, Tiger Woods.   Golf may have changed in the last thirty-five years, but Moriarty’s words show that no matter how far the ball flies, it still pits players against themselves, the elements, and their opponents to remain the game we all know and love.

“Jim Moriarty and I traveled this same trail covering these golf legends. These excellent essays indicate that he must have paid more attention than I did. This book is a feast for golf fans.”—Dan Jenkins, author of Unplayable Lies and Semi-Tough and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame    , “Jim Moriarty has amassed a beautiful composition of essays that will delight his readers and make me proud that he is my friend.”—Gary McCord, CBS commentator, “Any collection of Jim Moriarty's writings on golf is reason to celebrate for any true fan of the game. He writes effortlessly about players' trials and triumphs in a full-bodied manner that recalls the finest storytellers of the past century. Here’s one for your reading chair and library, a true perennial.”—James Dodson, author of Final Rounds and American Triumvirate  

Jim Moriarty was a contributing writer and photographer for Golf Digest magazine from 1985 to 2001, a contributing writer for Golf World magazine from 2001 to 2015, and is currently a freelance golf writer.