The Magnificent Masters

Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf, and the 1975 Cliffhanger at Augusta

By: Gil Capps

Narrated by: Joel Richards

The 1975 Masters Tournament always seemed destined for the record books. A veritable Hall of Fame list of competitors had gathered that spring in Augusta, Georgia, for the game's most famous event, including Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Billy Casper, and Sam Snead. The lead-up had been dominated by Lee Elder, the first black golfer ever invited to the exclusive club's tourney. But by the weekend, the tournament turned into a showdown between the three heavyweights of the time: Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, and Tom Weiskopf. Never before had golf's top three players of the moment summoned the best golf of their lives in the same major championship. Their back-and-forth battle would rivet the sporting world and dramatically culminate in one of the greatest finishes in golf history.

In The Magnificent Masters, Gil Capps, a 22-year veteran of the golf industry with NBC Sports and Golf Channel, recaptures hole-by-hole the thrilling drama of this singular event during golf’s golden era, from the media-crazed build-up and intertwined careers of the three combatants to the tournament's final dramatic putts that would change the game of golf forever.

©2014 Gil Capps (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Awesome Journey

Awesome road back to the. 1975 Masters, Nicklaus is the best, was the beat #1!

Good history of the Masters,but distracting reader

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would hire someone who knows golf ro read it. The mis-pronounciations of golf terms, names and places are very distracting

What did you like best about this story?

Great history, but the book jumps around a lot

Would you be willing to try another one of Joel Richards’s performances?

if it isn't about golf

Was The Magnificent Masters worth the listening time?

not really

Great story, but needs a better reader

Any additional comments?

This is a very good golf book. Nicklaus may be the greatest of all time, but there have not been that many interesting books featuring him. Hogan, Palmer and Jones have had theirs. Even Tiger recently. So it's nice to have a good one featuring the Bear at a time when he was at the top of his game. It has also been rare to have a golf book featuring a young Johnny Miller, so that was an added bonus. The 1975 Masters is considered one of the best of all time. So it made for a great backdrop to explore some of the best golfers of the 1970's.

The reader, however, will be a distraction for any golfer. He mispronounces many golf terms. He also shows a total lack of golf knowledge on others. For example, he reads -3 as negative 3 instead of 3 under as any golfer would. Despite those distractions I enjoyed the book.

Loved It!

Well written. Good info on the three lead characters. Builds tension even though I knew who was going to win! Narrator mispronounced a word or two like hosel and Doral but then again, English is super tough. (I am not being sarcastic. It is tough.)

Great book! I grew up a golfer and got into golf right after this Masters so I didn’t watch it live. It was always the Masters that had legendary status. Great to have the backstory and know of all the other big things that happened during the 1975 tournament.

Great Story but

Great story, but the narrator obviously does not know very much about golf and the correct pronunciation of names of golf courses and players. Was a little bit annoyed, but in general, it’s a really good story.

Great Background to an Epic Masters

Must listen for any Masters/Golf fan. Narrator had many mispronunciations, but does not distract from the business of the tale.

Pretty good, needs a more educated reader

Would you try another book from Gil Capps and/or Joel Richards?

I thought the book was a bit up and down. Should have focused more on the actual tournament, instead of page after page of Johnny Millers life in California, or Weiskopfs in Ohio. Just too much time spent on them, and not enough on other golfers involved in the tournament.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I liked the descriptions of the actual rounds in the Masters. I was bored with so much back story that really didnt matter.

How could the performance have been better?

Poor Joel Richards has obviously never even seen a golf tournament or club or ball. He had a tough time with pronunciations of even the simplest golf term. (Hosel becomes Hose El.....The Doral Tournament becomes the Durel.etc etc) I liked his voice otherwise, except when he felt compelled to try a British accent. That was painful. Leave the accents out, and learn more about the terminology of the subject matter, and Richards would be fine with any readings.

Do you think The Magnificent Masters needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No...it told the entire story. It was about the 1975 Masters and that was covered completely.

Any additional comments?

I wish that there had been more information on all the other great golfers in this tournament. Tom Watson was playing in the final round with Nicklaus, yet we barely hear about him. There is a lot of talk about Lee Trevino going into the tournament, and even though this year marked his best showing in the Masters, we dont get much information on his feelings on how the tournament finished. Should have spent more time on the four rounds of the event, and less on the life lessons learned by Miller and Weiskopf.

Great Story But Next Time Get a Golfer to Read It!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book but not the audio version. It was full of incredible mispronunciations and reading errors that almost ruined the story. I was keeping a list but there got to be so many I gave up. Anyone with even a remote knowledge of the history of the game would have required it to be redone.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Magnificent Masters?

Unfortunately the most memorable moments were the reading mistakes (Tree Shots, Three-pooting, repeated references to the Dorel (vs. Doral), Jim Colbair (vs. Jim Colbert) and Tommy Armour pronounced like the piece of bedroom furniture.

How could the performance have been better?

Letting author listen to the performance before selling it. Get someone that has an inkling of an interest in the game read it. It was a magnificent Masters - listening to the book should have been as well.

Do you think The Magnificent Masters needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No

Any additional comments?

It was a disservice to the author of the book to put this out there. I would be very surprised if he was not upset by this performance.

Great account of a momentous day

This is a thorough account of one of golf's greatest days. It is rare when the two best players in the world are in form at the same time, let alone in a major. What would happen if the top THREE were peaking at the Masters? Here is the answer...

Horrible narrator

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The reader knew nothing about golf. He mis-pronounced so many names, terms, etc. that it ruined a great book.

What didn’t you like about Joel Richards’s performance?

He should have asked anyone who had knowledge of the game of golf how to pronounce words and/or names in the book. An example is his pronunciation of the hosel (the part of the golf club between the shaft and the clubface) as HOSEl.