2008 marks the 50th anniversary of Arnold Palmer’s first ever Masters win, as well as the 50th anniversary of the first time Palmer and Jack Nicklaus took the fairway together (in an exhibition game in Ohio). Five decades after this first encounter, an enormous amount of ink has been spilled on these two golf giants individually, but no one has ever examined their relationship the way that award-winning sports columnist Ian O’Connor does in "ARNIE & JACK: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf’s Greatest Rivalry."
Exploring this heated professional and personal battle in fascinating, intimate, and revelatory detail, O’Connor unravels the rivalry that put golf on the map for mainstream America, propelling it to the heights and popularity it enjoys today.
Drawing on unique and exclusive access to Palmer and Nicklaus, and informed by some two hundred new interviews, O’Connor illuminates the two men’s extreme differences and sprawling influence from the clubhouse to the boardroom. Arnie was the cowboy, with rugged good looks, Popeye-like forearms, a flailing swing, and Everyman likeability enough to win fans worldwide, on both ends of the economic spectrum. Jack was scientific, precise, conservative, aloof, even fat and awkward, the man-child who dared to challenge the people’s champ. Ultimately, Nicklaus got the better of Palmer on the course, beating him in major victories, 18-7. But Palmer bested Nicklaus almost everywhere else, especially in the hearts of the adoring public and in endorsement dollars — Palmer was the top-grossing athlete for thirty years, until Michael Jordan surpassed him. O’Connor examines their early involvement with marketing and a small agency called IMG, and their intense duel for golf-course designs in their later years. Ferocious competitors, Palmer and Nicklaus kept score on trophies collected, money won, commercials made, equipment manufactured, sportswear sold, courses designed, and licensing deals cut.
By the end of this page-turning narrative spanning fifty remarkable years, we see that each man wanted what the other had: Arnold had the adoring fans but wanted the trophies. Jack had the trophies but wanted the love. And we see, surprisingly, that one of sport’s most contentious, complex, and defining clashes played out not in the boxing ring or at the line of scrimmage but on the genteel green fairways of the world’s finest golf courses.
ABOUT IAN O'CONNOR
Ian O’Connor is a nationally recognized sports columnist, twice named the number-one sports columnist in America in his circulation category by the Associated Press sports editors. He currently writes for Foxsports.com and the Record of New Jersey. Previously he penned columns for USA Today and the New York Daily News. He is also the author of The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High-Stakes Business of High School Ball.
Advance Praise for ARNIE & JACK
“Arnold and Jack had in common an uncommon will to win. First at each other’s throat, in time they embraced as brothers-in-arms. Now comes Ian O’Connor, reporting in rich detail on an extraordinary relationship that helped shape the Palmer and Nicklaus legends while lifting golf to the big leagues of American sports.” — Dave Kindred, author of Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship
“It used to be you were either an Arnie guy or a Jack guy. But thanks to Ian O’Connor and THE definitive book on their often complicated but honorable relationship, you can now be both.” — Gene Wojciechowski, author of The Bus (with Jerome Bettis)
“Until now, the lifelong duel between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus has been the greatest, yet most misunderstood, rivalry in sports history. Ian O’Connor examines it, analyzes it, and ultimately unravels it. O’Connor explains the most complicated of human relationships in the simplest of terms. Arnie wanted to be Jack, and Jack wanted to be Arnie. Found on these pages, the fascinating journey to this conclusion should not be missed.” — Bill Plaschke, author of I Live for This! (with Tommy Lasorda)
“A classic work on the classic rivalry that hauls you right into the most riveting personal moments of Palmer vs. Nicklaus . . . Arnie and Jack is the best thing I’ve read in a long while.” - Edwin Pope, author of The Edwin Pope Collection
“For all the talk about the greatness of Tiger Woods, there might not have been a Tiger Woods if not for Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus . . . Ian O’Connor’s chronicle of these two golf greats gives readers a picture-perfect view of how they made the sport what it is today.” - John Feinstein, author of A Good Walk Spoiled and Tales from Q School
“Fascinating . . . [O’Connor] brings into focus some of golf’s most dramatic years . . . A nice mix of golf history and interpersonal dynamics.” — Booklist
“O’Connor offers thrillingly dramatic depictions of each on-course encounter, and his comprehensive interviews humanize the two legends while contextualizing their roles in the game’s history . . . Exemplary sports history.” — Kirkus Reviews
AUTHOR APPEARANCES
GEORGIA
Barnes & Noble, Augusta
April 11, 7:30 p.m.
NEW JERSEY
Bookends, Ridgewood
April 15, 7:00 p.m.
NEW YORK
Barnes & Noble, Nanuet
April 19, 2:00 p.m.
ARNIE & JACK: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf’s Greatest Rivalry by Ian O’Connor
Publication Date: April 11, 2008
$26.00 hardcover
ISBN 978-0-618-75446-5
