Ryder Cup Rivals: The Fiercest Battles for Golf's Holy Grail - Hardcover

by Hank Gola (Author)

Veteran journalist and author Hank Gola takes readers on a tour of the most consequential clashes in the history of the biennial matches. Since the first meeting between the United States and Great Britain in 1927, the Ryder Cup has become the most passionate of golf's professional events with the combatants playing for country rather than themselves. Gola brings readers inside the ropes and behind the scenes from the most memorable shots to the most momentous putts to the craftiest machinations and most contentious confrontations. He recalls iconic moments and figures including Walter Hagen and his gamesmanship, Dai Reese and Britain's 1957 upset, Jack Nicklaus, Tony Jacklin and The Concession, Seve Ballesteros and the arrival of the Europeans, Bernhard Langer's agony at the War at the Shore and Paul Azinger's stunning captaincy at Valhalla.

Author Biography

Hank Gola is a veteran sports journalist (New York Post and New York Daily News) and has covered 95 major championships and eight Ryder Cups. He has collected several writing awards from the Golf Writers Association of America and was the 2018 recipient of Lincoln Werden Award for golf journalism from the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association, of which he was named president in 2024. Gola graduated from Montclair State College and lives in Parsippany, NJ, with his wife, Lillian. He has two children, Henry and Julianne, and four grandchildren, Rose, Ruby, Elliot and Iris.