Books: Greens aren't golfers' only reading material

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The old axiom "The smaller the ball, the better the writing" seems true again this year, with plenty of golf books worth reading.

The book that can launch 1,000 golf conversations is "I Call the Shots," by Johnny Miller with Guy Yocum (Gotham Books, $26).

Miller, the winner of 24 PGA tournaments, including the 1973 U.S. Open when he shot a final-round 63 at Oakmont, has been NBC's lead analyst for 14 years. He proclaims in the book that "My career has brought me to a time and place where I can sit back and assess the whole of golf as it is today."

He then unloads his opinions on dozens of topics, including:

• Why Tiger Woods won't break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships. Among the reasons: 1) Tiger suffers a recurring problem when his timing isn't perfect — his body unwinds during his swing faster than his arms and the driver can't keep up; 2) Tiger is competitively older "than" his age of 28 because child prodigies age faster. Miller maintains that the best years for a golfer are 26 to 29; 3) Getting married and having a family may interfere with Tiger's golf career; 4) He might get bored, injured or just worn down by the media spotlight and having to answer the same questions repeatedly.

• Weightlifting for golfers. Miller doesn't advocate it: "The problem with weights is that they put your body out of balance."

• Examples of three stages of "choking" and how to fight off choking. Suggestions include "getting angry," switching to anti-choke shots such as the "punch shot" off the tee, "listening to your hunches" and adopting the philosophy that the course "owes me" a good round.

• Rules suggestions, including making all "drops" — in penalty and non-penalty situations — two club lengths.

• The Presidents Cup (U.S. vs. The World except Europe) should be folded into the Ryder Cup (U.S. vs. Europe) competition.

• Using an extra-long putter is a "superior method" because of its true pendulum motion. A player is destined to come along who has used it all his life and "will make every putt he looks at."

• How teaching "gurus" sometimes do more harm than good.

• How the PGA Tour and Champions Tour make it too easy for average players to hang onto their cards and deny talented newcomers a chance to compete.

Miller isn't afraid to name names. He cites Jay Don Blake as an example of a pro who is allowed to hang onto his Tour card under existing rules. Choking? The worst examples Miller said he witnessed from the broadcast booth were Jay Haas in the 1991 Ryder Cup and Mark Calcavecchia in the 1995 Ryder Cup.

This is a readable and entertaining page-turner that includes Miller's insightful analysis of the personalities and games of the top current players and 12 from his golf generation that spanned the late 1960s into the 1990s.

Other winners

• "Breaking 100, 90, 80" — subtitled "Taking Your Game to the Next Level with the Best Teachers in Golf" by Golf Digest (Doubleday, $29.95). A useful, well-organized, well-illustrated book with tips and advice on how to crack the three most sought-after breakthroughs in the game. So good it might earn a reputation as one of the best "how-to" golf books of all-time.

• "Ben Hogan, An American Life," by James Dodson (Doubleday, $27.50). One of the biggest names in sports journalism peels back the layers and family secrets of the greatest shot-maker of all time and scores an ace. Dodson conducted more than 150 interviews in writing this authorized biography that explains one of the most enigmatic and driven competitors of the 20th Century.

Dodson explains how the suicide of Hogan's father shaped his life and his desire for perfection and privacy. He explores Hogan's marriage, which provided him with comfort and loyal support while he was playing but later proved difficult and almost ended in divorce.

Also covered in depth are the near-fatal bus crash of 1949 followed by the historic victory in the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion and the incredible year of 1953, when Hogan won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.

• "The Battle for Augusta National," subtitled "Hootie, Martha and the Masters of the Universe," by Alan Shipnuck (Simon & Schuster, $25).The talented author of "Bud, Sweat & Tees" deals with the blowup last year when Martha Burk tried to pressure Augusta National into accepting female members.

• "Caddy for Life," subtitled "The Bruce Edwards Story," by John Feinstein (Little Brown & Co., $25.95). This book by one of America's best sportswriters came out before Edwards died April 8 from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease.) Edwards carried for Tom Watson for nearly 30 years and was one of the shrewdest observers of Tour life.

• "Drawn to Golf," by Roger Schillerstrom (Clock Tower Press, $19.95). Amusing, topical golf cartoons by Golfweek cartoonist Schillerstrom.

• "The Rules of Golf in Plain English," by Jeffrey S. Kuhn and Bryan A. Garner (University of Chicago Press, $11). It's a shame that this book is even necessary, but it sure beats reading the official rules of golf.

• "Getting Up & Down, My 60 Years in Golf," by Ken Venturi with Michael Arkbush (Triumph Books, $27.95). There is much more to this book than the well-publicized assertion that Arnold Palmer may have violated a rule on his way to winning the 1958 Masters.

Venturi's triumph while fighting heat prostration in the 1964 U.S. Open is historic and he has plenty of stories from his 35 years covering golf at CBS.