THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN PRINT ON THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OF GOLF This is the ninth book by Alun Evans on Golf's four biggest events - the Masters, The US Open, The Open Championship and the PGA of America Championship since the original, now comparatively scratchy, survey saw the light of day in 1998. In order to make the review as close to an annual update as possible, much material form older editions has been omitted to save space and to keep costs down. For those readers who want to know about the first 150 years of Majors in detail, ie from 1860 to 2010, you are pointed to the jam-packed 750 pages of the author's From Old Tom to the Tiger, which was nominated in 2012 for the British Sports Book of the Year. The years 2011 and 2012 are covered in depth in the author's year books of 2012 and 2013, now suitably discounted, of course. Alun Evans' Golf Majors Book, 2014 does exactly as it says on the tin. It covers in detail the Majors of 2013, when Adam Scott deservedly won his first Major at the Masters; Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970; Phil Mickelson at last added the Old Claret Jug to his portfolio; and super-cool Jason Dufner mugged everyone at Oak Hill to collect the PGA Championship - and, like Scott and Rose, became a Major Champion for the first time. Details can be found in this edition of the golf courses to be used in the 2014 round of Majors, based on first-hand information gleaned from the host sites and/or the organizing committees of each. Particularly of interest in 2014 will be the back-to-basic topography of Donald Ross' Pinehurst No2 in the US Open after the Coore and Crenshaw overhaul. And of course, there are the Records. Fully updated stats and full players' records are to be found for those appearing in the 21st Century; plus the expected CVs of those greats of golf who became Major Champions before the change in millennium and the Hall of Fame compiles for comparison the records of the top 100 performers in Majors.

This is the story of golf's Major Championships which began in the mid-19th century, before the formation of almost all international sport as we know it today. The (British) Open Championship was born, as an afterthought really, in 1860 when just eight odd-bods played the Prestwick links. It tells the tale of golf's struggle to grow in Scotland; of the proto-professional eking out a living from playing (and wagering) and doubling as a caddie, or greenkeeping and repairing equipment. It marks the early supremacy of 'Old Tom' Morris and then the Englishmen, Harry Vardon and JH Taylor, before recounting the evangelical enthusiasm by which America converted itself to golf. It tells of an inaugural US Open as early as 1895, within a decade of the first Club being formed, and the (US) PGA Championship following in 1916. With the Great War over, the story of Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones, one the slick pro, the other the classy amateur, is recalled as they carved up the 1920s between them, before an invitational sideshow by Jones for his chums developed into the 'The Masters Tournament'. It relates how Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead fought for hegemony through the global tumult of the 1940s to segue seamlessly into the next generation, and modern times. It shows us how 'The Big Three' Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player - then assumed the mantle; how Palmer, possessing all the pizzazz made for such an age, was generally attributed with coining the term 'Majors', just as golf became big in the booming TV age around the turn of the 1960s. It goes on to tell how Arnie and his cohorts delivered golf to the world as a major sport; and through them, the Golf Majors of The Open, US Open, PGA Championship and Masters Tournament, as an entity, became real. The story is brought up to date, after introducing new superstars like Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Seve Ballesteros, with the Golf Majors hitting the 21st century and the wonder that is (maybe was?) 'Tiger' Woods. Here, 150 years of the phenomenon that is golf is encapsulated through its greatest events. Alun Evans' consummate one volume chronicle of golf's greatest Championships - the so-called MAJORS - is an encyclopedic package on the subject: indeed, it has no peers. From Old Tom to the Tiger is a deliberate retrospective to celebrate 150 years of Majors golf, not just a stat pack for the nerdy and needy. It is unique in its scope; nothing can compare with it in golf, indeed in sport, for its detail and accuracy. But it is as much about storytelling as facts and figures; yet it's statistically more detailed than anything seen before. The author tells the story through an engaging, lively narrative, and, not forsaking the anoraks, backs it up with complete results; a results CV for every player who started a Major; and enough records to shake a stick at. Even jam-packed with anecdotes and facts, it is still portable enough to tote around the fairways and greens of Major Championships - and just as much a stand-by in the home, next to the TV, of course.

This is Alun Evans' eighth GOLF MAJORS book. Critically acclaimed as the definitive, ongoing record of golf's premier Championships, the 2013 edition has been further extended by some 30 pages to provide more sections and greater depth to the most recent Majors, whilst still retaining the fullest historical record of these events. The natural progression and extension of the awesome From Old Tom to the Tiger (2011), Alun Evans' The Golf Majors Book, 2013 continues the story, comprehensively recounting the 2012 Championships and looking forward to those of 2013. It tells of the new American breed: the breath of fresh air that is new Masters Champion Bubba Watson; and the young star Webb Simpson, who collected the US Open title, only his third success on Tour, all coming within a 10-month period. It recalls, too, the return of the glory days for Ernie Els, an Open Champion again after a ten year period without any Majors success; and the feats of a genuine contender for the crown of Tiger Woods, Ulster's Rory McIlroy, who picked up the year's final Major, the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, his second Major title in as many years. Packed with facts and stats, yet highly readable, this is the only book anyone would need on THE GOLF MAJORS