CANR
WORK TITLE: The Golf 100
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CA 148
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born September 15, 1958, in Albany, NY; son of Samuel (in business) and Celia (a homemaker; maiden name, Wiseman) Arkush; married Pauletta Walsh (an actor), June 18, 1992; children: Jade Shipman (stepdaughter).
EDUCATION:University of Michigan, B.A., 1980.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, reporter, 1988—; writer.
AWARDS:“Best Sports Books of 2025” list, Barnes & Noble, 2025, for The Golf 100.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Golf.
SIDELIGHTS
Michael Arkush is a Los Angeles Times reporter who has written Sixty Years of USC-UCLA Football and Rush!: An Up-Close Look at Rush Limbaugh. The latter volume, a biography of the controversial, right-wing broadcaster, is the result of research and personal interviews. Arkush was not able to interview Limbaugh, however. In the book, Limbaugh is characterized as a performer who embellishes his opinions for dramatic or comedic effect. A Chicago Tribune Books contributor found Rush! to be a “balanced” portrayal of Limbaugh, who “exaggerates his own beliefs because it makes for entertaining radio.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Tribune Books (Chicago), September 26, 1993, p. 8.
ONLINE
Forbes, https://www.forbes.com (June 03, 2025), review of The Golf 100
Bookreporter.com, https://admin.bookreporter.com (April 12, 2025), review of The Golf 100
Chicago Golf Report, https://www.chicagogolfreport.com (March 30, 2025), review of The Golf 100
Michael Arkush
Recent and archived work by Michael Arkush for The New York Times
Michael Arkush is an award-winning sportswriter who has written over 12 books, including The Last Season with Phil Jackson, The Big Fight with Sugar Ray Leonard, Rush!, the bestselling unauthorized biography of Rush Limbaugh, and Fairways and Dreams. Arkush lives in Oak View, California, with his wife, Pauletta.
The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring
Sugar Ray Leonard with Michael Arkush.
Viking, $26.95 (314p) ISBN 978-0-670-02272-4
In this moving memoir, boxing legend Leonard tells his story of growing up as a ghetto kid whose athletic skills lifted him into a world of fame for which he was ill-prepared. Born in 1956, Ray Charles Leonard grew up near Washington, D.C., in an African-American suburb.. A shy boy, Ray was goaded by an older brother to enter the ring, where he discovered a talent for the sport. Ray's meteoric rise through the amateur ranks led to a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics. With a flashy style and a media-ready persona, "Sugar Ray" became a big draw as a pro and fought in some of the most lucrative boxing matches of his era. Leonard frames his memoir around the most important event of his career his middleweight title fight with Marvin Hagler in 1987. Leonard hadn't fought since 1984 yet he managed to win a split decision. The true focus of the book, however, is Leonard's struggles with celebrity. He writes honestly of the many affairs he had while married, as well as his addiction to alcohol and cocaine. Few of our cultural icons look at themselves so clearly, and it's a tribute to Leonard's insightfulness that he makes his story such a gripping one. (June)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring." Publishers Weekly, vol. 258, no. 15, 11 Apr. 2011, p. 43. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A254483395/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0c854cba. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Leonard, Sugar Ray with Michael Arkush. The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring. Viking. Jun. 2011. c.314p. index. ISBN 9780670022724. $26.95. SPORTS
Innumerable athletes are masters at hitting 100 mph fastballs or throwing left hooks that would floor a rhino but fare badly when they shed their gear and are confronted with something much more difficult--life. So it was with boxing champ Leonard, winner of a 1976 Olympic gold medal and of world championships in five weight divisions. He was considered the successor to Muhammad Ali as the charismatic face of his sport. Much of The Big Fight is a standard sports autobiography, cataloging Leonard's early years and his big matches, but he breaks with tradition in his "out of the ring" disclosures. He introduces us to the man behind the lightning-fast hands and feet and radiant smile. Insecure and hurting from childhood psychic injuries, he was an alcoholic, cocaine abuser, and serial womanizer who failed as both husband and father. Now retired, substance free, and remarried, he relates what it was like to stand with one leg on the mountaintop and the other in the deepest valley.
Verdict Ordinary in many ways, but a must, and possibly a cautionary tale, for boxing fans. [See Prepub Alert, 12/13/10.]--Jim Burns, Jacksonville P.L., FL
Burns, Jim
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 Library Journals, LLC
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Burns, Jim. "Leonard, Sugar Ray with Michael Arkush. The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring." Xpress Reviews, 13 May 2011. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A257352796/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=beba9e71. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.
By Sugar Ray Leonard and Michael Arkush.
June 2011. 288p. Viking, $26.95 (9780670022724). 796.83092.
Sugar Ray Leonard won an Olympic boxing gold medal in 1976. He quickly entered the pro ranks and held several championship belts throughout his career before retiring in 1997. His public image was carefully and successfully crafted. He was and is intelligent, articulate, and charming, a natural in front of the camera. For most of the eighties, he was the face of boxing. But as he recounts in this painfully honest autobiography, he was at various times alcoholic, drug addicted, obsessed by fame and money, and an abusive, unfaithful husband. He came from a Washington, D.C., two-parent home, but Dad was a philanderer, and Morn was a mean drinker. Not a happy home. Leonard fathered his first child as a teenager but never considered being faithful to his partner. In addition to the personal struggles, Leonard deftly re-creates the atmosphere and excitement surrounding some of his biggest fights. In the end, this is a good boxing memoir carried by a cathartic personal confession.--Wes Lukowsky
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Lukowsky, Wes. "The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring." Booklist, vol. 107, no. 18, 15 May 2011, pp. 10+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A257511656/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=de4219ce. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
The Agent: My 40-Year Career Making Deals and Changing the Game. By Leigh Steinberg and Michael Arkush. Jan. 2014. 304p. illus. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $25.99 (9781250030429); e-book (9781250030436). 338.47796092.
A memoir by the arguably most influential agent in NFL history--Steinberg has represented the likes of icons Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Warren Moon, and Ben Roethlisberger and served as the model for the movie character Jerry McGuire--should never have been this much work to read, but fortunately the pedestrian writing and relentless, if tempered, self-promotion are trumped by the insights that, aided by coauthor Arkush, Steinberg shares on the hugely important NFL agent-player-owner relationship. There's the delicate protocol Steinberg developed with his clients--postgame, for example, he'd visit his clients in the losing locker room first, then those in the winning locker room--war stories of negotiating with many of the NFL's most colorful team owners, and, of course, (discreet) tales of the players themselves. Weak presentation notwithstanding, the star power of Steinberg and his clients should create a healthy demand for this title.--Alan Moores
Moores, Alan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Moores, Alan. "The Agent: My 40-Year Career Making Deals and Changing the Game." Booklist, vol. 110, no. 7, 1 Dec. 2013, p. 9. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A353751673/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6a830ca0. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Losing Isn't Everything: The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History
Curt Menefee, with Michael Arkush. Dey Street, $29.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-244007-5
Winning is often considered all that matters in sports, but the aftermath of defeat can be equally important according to Menefee, host of Fox's NFL Sunday, and sportswriter Arkush. Menefee stresses the various aspects of losing and examines the moment when a life or a career unravels, often played out on a big stage with the unfortunate loser unable to recover from the event. He expertly interviews a group of former players and coaches on the critical outcomes of competition, including the 1986 World Series, in which the Boston Red Sox lifted the Bambino curse; the defenseless Cleveland Cavaliers' Craig Ehlo facing Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan in the 1989 NBA finals; Colts kicker Lou Michaels's missed kicks against Namath's Jets in the 1969 Super Bowl; the cocaine scandal faced by Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington in 2009; and track favorite Mary Decker taking a spill at the 1984 Olympics. Richly illustrated, Menefee's thoughtful account of loss in sports mirrors the real world. (Nov.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Losing Isn't Everything: The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History." Publishers Weekly, vol. 263, no. 39, 26 Sept. 2016, p. 79. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A465558248/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b75ab929. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Menefee, Curt & Michael Arkush. Losing Isn't Everything: The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History. Dey St: HarperCollins. Nov. 2016.272p. ISBN 9780062440075. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062440082. SPORTS
Noted sports broadcaster Menefee here teams with Arkush (The Fight of the Century) to survey the other side of the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, in 15 of the most harrowing losses over the last 50 years of sports history. Four of the selected devastating defeats came in football, three in baseball, three in basketball, three in the Olympics, and one each in tennis and golf. The narrative pattern of every chapter is consistent; each opens with the protagonist on the brink of a big win. Then, the backstory of how the athlete got to this point is related, before the tale of the big game resumes with its sad denouement. With a "where are they now approach," chapters often focus on the participant deemed most responsible for the loss. Finally, the authors examine the personal aftermath of public downfall: the pain, the price paid, and the lessons learned. Ultimately, the book concludes that "losing is a big deal, but losing isn't everything." VERDICT Although a bit formulaic, this book offers a provocative look at both the good and bad sides of the competitive spirit. For all readers.--John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Maxymuk, John. "Menefee, Curt & Michael Arkush. Losing Isn't Everything: The Untold Stories and Hidden Lessons Behind the Toughest Losses in Sports History." Library Journal, vol. 141, no. 16, 1 Oct. 2016, p. 86. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A464982269/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=079499db. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
From the Outside: My Journey through Life and the Game I Love.
By Ray Allen and Michael Arkush.
Mar. 2018. 288p. illus. Morrow/Dey St., $27.99 (9780062675477); e-book, $14.99 (9780062675491). 796.323.
"And then we played ..."--too often those four words are the refrain that drives sports biographies, as star players recount their careers, game by game, the stunning shots or touchdown runs eventually blurring into one another like a highlight reel on ESPN. There are plenty of game recaps and certainly a wealth of stunning shots in this autobiography of Ray Allen--after all, he's the NBA's leader in career three-pointers--but there's much more than that. With the help of coauthor Arkush, Allen goes behind the box scores to offer an insightful and notably introspective look at his life in basketball, including 18 years in the NBA and two championships, one with Boston in 2008 and another in Miami in 2013. Fans will relish the inside look at Allen's difficult relationships with his coach in Milwaukee, George Karl, and, later, with fellow Celtic Rajon Rondo, but Allen never dishes just for the fun of it. He's often contrite about his missteps on and off the court, and, throughout the book, he looks at the game and his part in it with a refreshing, always thoughtful candor.--Bill Ott
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Ott, Bill. "From the Outside: My Journey through Life and the Game I Love." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2018, p. 14. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A531171493/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6de3e552. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
From the Outside: My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love
Ray Allen, with Michael Arkush. Dey Street, $27.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-267547-7
Former NBA star Allen recalls his bumpy path to glory in this steady, thoughtful effort. The son of an Air Force metal technician, Allen hop-scotched the globe before becoming a high school basketball star in Dalzell, S.C., where his team-mates viewed him as someone who would "do something good with [his] life, and they most likely would not." He was recruited by the University of Connecticut, where he learned what's required to go from being a good athlete to a great one: "It is not enough just to arrive early," he writes. "You also must stick around until your work is done." In the NBA, Allen got a different education, that basketball is a business. He was traded twice--from the Milwaukee Bucks, whose coach George Karl didn't bother to tell Allen, and from the Seattle SuperSonics, even after general manager Sam Presti told him he was part of the team's future. He eventually played for the Boston Celtics, where he thrived, but was overlooked in favor of LeBron James for the MVP award in the 2008 season. While Allen highlights his professional accomplishments, details of his personal life are scant: he shares little of his childhood; his parents' stormy relationship and their divorce; or how he handled being a young father as an NBA newcomer. Still, Allen's astute telling provides a bracing reminder that athletes' success comes from the right attitude, the right skills, and the right set of circumstances. (Apr.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"From the Outside: My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love." Publishers Weekly, vol. 265, no. 8, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 67. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A529357559/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8c7afa0e. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Unguarded. By Scottie Pippen and Michael Arkush. Nov. 2021.320p. illus. Atria, $28 (9781982165192); e-book, $14.99 (9781982165215). 796.323.
Six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen made headlines by expressing his disappointment with The Last Dance, the docuseries that focused on the Chicago Bulls' last championship season in 1998. The furor that followed his critical sound bites on Michael Jordan and the team's coach, Phil Jackson, set the table for this memoir, which isn't quite the tell-all account it's been purported to be. Yes, Pippin is unequivocal in his disdain for the "sidekick" label so often assigned to him by the media, but he also lavishes praise on Jordan's talents (even calling him "basketball's Baryshniknov"). He also fully credits Jackson for transforming the Bulls from a one-trick-pony show (give the ball to Jordan and clear the side) into a multifaceted team emphasizing ball movement. His true ire, however, is saved for the Bulls' egomaniacal general manager, the late Jerry Krause, and tightfisted owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Along the way, Pippen and coauthor Arkush capably reprise Pippen's youth as the youngest of 12 children in a family ripped by tragedy and follow his unlikely ascent to basketball greatness. There's some whining here, to be sure, but all in all, Pippen offers an intriguing take on one of the NBA's greatest dynasties.--Bill Ott
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Expect all the sports talking heads to be in full cry when this much-hyped memoir hits the shelves.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Ott, Bill. "Unguarded." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2021, p. 8. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A696451843/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6326d881. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Pippen, Scottie & Michael Arkush. Unguarded. Atria. Dec. 2021.320p. ISBN 9781982165192. $28. SPORTS
In this autobiography, former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen telegraphs his pass--in this case a takedown of Michael Jordan, he of the carefully cultivated perfect image and the man in whose shadow Pippen played during the Bulls' dynasty. He acknowledges Jordan's greatness, but there is always a but. Jordan scored 50 points in this game or that one, but he needed 40 shots to do it. Jordan demanded perfection from his "supporting cast," but often crossed into harshness in doing so. While Jordan is his focal point, Pippen writes about many others with the same passive aggressive approach. For instance, he writes that coach Doug Collins excelled at X's and O's, but couldn't unite a team; Phil Jackson was a great coach, but his new-age ideas were too out there for Pippen; and on and on, as Pippen tries to settle every score. All this is valuable insider information, but a shame in a potentially heart-warming tale of a hometown hero. VERDICT Basketball fans might disagree with Pippen's aggrieved tone but will want to give reading time to this story of a smalltown hero and a big-time team.--Jim Burns, formerly at Jacksonville P.L., FL
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Burns, Jim. "Pippen, Scottie & Michael Arkush. Unguarded." Library Journal, vol. 146, no. 12, Dec. 2021, p. 88. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559395/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5c5ff101. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Arkush, Michael THE GOLF 100 Doubleday (NonFiction None) $30.00 4, 1 ISBN: 9780385549691
One man's crazy attempt to judge golfing greatness.
Prolific sportswriter Arkush admits early on that ranking the 100 best male and female golfers was an "impossible task" but does it anyway. He first sets up some basic criteria. Those winning majors get 2,000 points and additional points for finishing second to fifth and points for British or American Amateur wins. Winners of each tour's regular competitions get 300 points. There are bonus points for players who quit early like Byron Nelson (No. 9) or Mexico's Lorena Ochoa (No. 85). He picks 15 women, with Mickey Wright at an impressive No. 6. Arkush provides colorful, entertaining profiles of each player in numerical order. The little-known golf phenom John McDermott, youngest to win the U.S. Open, is No. 100, followed by Argentina's Roberto De Vicenzo, with 231 wins. Bernhard Langer (No. 94) was "as tough mentally as any golfer not named Jack or Tiger." South Korean Se Ri Pak, at No. 90, "transformed golf globally." Jim Ferrier (No. 83) was the first Australian to win a major. Popular Nancy Lopez (No. 65) was the "Arnold Palmer of the LPGA tour." But "no one was more competitive than Hale Irwin," at No. 54. Two players who sulked to the LIV tour, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka--"He looks like he wants to punch you in the mouth," said Steve Stricker--are at No. 44 and No. 43. Annika Sorenstam (No. 26) was the "top female golfer of the last half century." Young Tom Morris (No. 21) was the "Tiger Woods of his time." Billy Casper (No. 16) was "buried in his green jacket"--the family got special permission. Phil Mickelson (No. 13) was a "trapeze artist. Without a net." The final five are Arnie, Ben, Bobby, Tiger, and Jack--the "greatest golfer ever."
A fine primer for all those upcoming arguments about who was better than who.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Arkush, Michael: THE GOLF 100." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A832991602/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f0f1cdbd. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.
Book Review: All-Time Golf Greats Via Michael Arkush’s ‘The Golf 100’
ByJohn Tamny,Contributor.
Follow Author
Jun 03, 2025, 10:00am EDT
The 151st Open Championship Media Day - Royal Liverpool
HOYLAKE, ENGLAND - APRIL 19: A view of the Claret Jug in front of the clubhouse at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on April 19, 2023 in Hoylake, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Getty Images
In Men at Work, George Will observed that “The history of baseball is littered with stories of failures by players who thought that their natural physical endowments would be sufficient.” The previous assertion was what made Will’s book such a fascinating read. It never occurred to me that the most interesting aspects of baseball were often the unseen strategies at work, and that were crafted by savants in the dugout and on the field. Baseball was so cerebral, and knowing this made it so much more fun.
Will’s classic came to mind quite a lot while reading Michael Arkush’s excellent new book, The Golf 100: A Spirited Ranking of the Greatest Players of All Time. Hale Irwin (#54 on the list), whom Arkush describes as more competitive than Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, and even Pete Rose, confirms a la Will with baseball that golf has intensely cerebral qualities. As he put it, “At this level, it’s not about hitting the golf ball. Everyone can do that. It’s about the conversation between your mind and your heart.”
Which brings up arguably the most interesting aspect of a book that would still be interesting without it: “promise unfulfilled.” So many players that could do so many remarkable things with clubs in their hands, but who seemingly lost their magical powers on the grandest of stages. Really, how did Fred Couples (#88), described by Arkush as “007 in spikes,” by University of Houston teammate (and CBS announcer) Jim Nantz as someone who had “no bad side to him,” win but one golf major, the Masters in 1992?
It couldn’t have been for a lack of talent, but maybe it was for a lack of the proper mind necessary to win the biggest tournaments. Think about what Nantz has observed about Couples, while also contemplating Gary McCord’s view that “you have to have a lot of nasty in you to win the majors.” McCord was talking about Davis Love (#76) who “only” has one major victory on his resume (the 1997 PGA Championship), but one senses McCord would say the same about Couples.
Arkush is plainly apologetic with his routine what-might-have-been comments about golf’s greatest players, but realistically they’re a feature of the book exactly because they help the reader understand just how mentally challenging golf is, arguably quite a bit more than baseball. The bet is that Will would agree. Baseball is about occasional errors on the field, along with misses and outs at bat, but baseball players have backups, they have relievers, they have other players who can essentially bail them out. Not so in golf. There’s no one to fix the seemingly inevitable mental lapses. And rest assured they’re inevitable exactly because other than one’s caddie (Steve Williams’s autobiography was clear that caddies are mathematicians to the players in addition to psychologists), golfers are alone. Every mistake is their own, and this trite truth means few have the consistency of mind to match with their talent.
MORE FOR YOU
The 9 Best Crossbody Bags, From Bucket Shapes To Chic, Woven Styles
Microsoft Updates Windows ‘To Stop Users From Downloading Google Chrome’
Season 2 Of ‘Fallout’ Set 3 Rotten Tomatoes Records
We know this because so many can’t-miss golfers missed. About Sergio Garcia (#86), Arkush writes that “there will always be a feeling that Garcia should have achieved more.” Garcia, like Couples, like Love, has one golf major to his name, the Masters in 2017, but when he was all of 15-years-old, he was part of an exhibition that included Seve Ballesteros (#17) and Jose Maria-Olazabal (seven majors between the two), and it was apparent even then that he hit the ball better than they did.
Johnny Miller (#47) is to this day thought by those in the know to have played the best round of golf ever (the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open), Lanny Wadkins (#56) describes him as “the best player I ever saw,” but he finished with two major wins. Still, in Miller we perhaps find clues as to why greatness isn’t always sustained, nor does it keep repeating itself in ways that it at times does in team sports. In Miller’s words to Arkush, “I was just content.”
Forbes Daily: Join over 1 million Forbes Daily subscribers and get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.
Email Address
Sign Up
By signing up, you agree to receive this newsletter, other updates about Forbes and its affiliates’ offerings, our Terms of Service (including resolving disputes on an individual basis via arbitration), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Forbes is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Does success beget relative mediocrity in golf? The question just leads to more questions. It wasn’t too long ago that Jordan Spieth (#59) was seemingly unbeatable as the 2nd youngest person (after Jack Nicklaus, no less) to win three different majors before the age of 24. No doubt there have been injuries, but it seems even by Spieth’s own admission to come back to the mind. As he explained his fall from the top of the PGA perch to Arkush, “Once you reach your end goal of something, maybe there’s a little bit of a letdown.”
symbol
00:01
03:12
Read More
It seems like a reasonable explanation, that reaching the top drives the very satisfaction that knocks you back down, but the explanation is unsatisfactory. That’s because the work required to get to the top points to the kind of person who wouldn’t suddenly rest on laurels. In other words, the reason you (you being the typical person) will never be Garcia, Spieth, or Rory McIlroy (#25) is because you would never put in the effort to become any of the three. About McIlroy, Arkush writes that “no twenty-first-century golfer, however much it kills me to admit it, has been a bigger disappointment.”
Once again, so many disappointments among the 100 greatest golfers of all time. How could that be in a sport populated by players who revere the players of the past more than in any other sport, and who for venerating them, understand intimately the constant about golf’s greats that is “promise unfulfilled”? To be clear, this review doesn’t presume to answer the question, and Arkush doesn’t himself. That’s not a knock, it’s just a comment that’s pregnant with questions. What is it about a sport that, in Arkush’s words, “promises nothing and often delivers a lot less”? Well, what?
To read about how so many of the greats should have won more, but also how some of the greats nearly finished without a major (Couples, 1992, Masters), is to keep searching and wondering. Professional golfers are said to lean Republican. Is that because golf is golf, or is it because golf is golf? As in does golf generally attract a more “conservative” kind of person comfortable in golf clubs, or precisely because golf promises nothings does it unearth in its professional a conservative mindset that decries handouts from the Commanding Heights exactly because golfers get none?
Dustin Johnson (#44) told Arkush that he hopes to be fishing “with a gold beer” when he’s 64. Too laid back, too unlike the greats? Ok, but he’s also got two majors to his name. And as readers no doubt know by virtue of clicking on a review about a golf book, Johnson could have had so many more. Promise unfulfilled? Yet he won two majors. You see the paradox? Johnson seemingly lacked the anger of a Michael Jordan, notably told family members after a U.S. Open loss (Chambers Bay) he plainly should have won that “it’s just a golf tournament,” but could someone seemingly that easygoing ever win two majors as is, and contend for so many more?
If they’re all great ball strikers, but not all of them have the mind or the mental fortitude, they still had it enough to win some majors while nearly winning others. The more that’s read about the players, and the more that’s written about the players in search of better understanding, the more confused it all becomes, albeit in a good way.
Which is a long digression. Writing about the presumed mentally crippling aspects of golf (including satisfaction), it’s easy to get away from the purpose of the book. Arkush’s ranking is “spirited,” which is an explicit admission from him that his Top 100 wouldn’t resemble that of others. Take Scottie Scheffler alone. He’s not listed in the Top 100.
Which requires another digression. Explaining how he ranked the players, Arkush is clear that “one aspect of a player’s career would be valued more than any other: how he or she performed in the game’s biggest events.” Arkush explains further that the “majors feature the strongest fields and, more often than not, are staged on the most demanding courses.” Arkush awarded 2,000 points for each major win, 500 for second, 250 for third, etc.
Back to Scheffler, major #3 happened just last Sunday. From this, the seemingly obvious explanation for the omission was the latter. Except that before the book went to print Scheffler could already lay claim to two majors (the Masters in 2022 and 2024), along with twelve other PGA Tour wins. Many of the ranked had less of a resume (majors and total tournament wins) than Scheffler even before last Sunday, yet as mentioned, they were ranked.
So, while the lack of Scheffler was puzzling (to be clear, Arkush acknowledges the Scheffler omission, and explains it at book's end), the points system was comforting if only because it lent some objectivity to a ranking that surely begs for endless debate. And this presumption about debate comes from a reviewer who hasn’t played golf in decades, but who finds the sport and its majors more than interesting. Arkush’s book does nothing to dampen interest, while doing a lot to increase it.
The rising interest is rooted in the happy fact that while Arkush’s rankings have a numeric quality to them, his discussion of each player in the top 100 is anything but numeric. In roughly three pages per golfer, Arkush brings them to life.
In 1971, and long after John McDermott (#100) had won two U.S. Opens, he was kicked out of the clubhouse at Merion Golf Club (where the U.S. Open was taking place no less!) after no one noticed who the poorly dressed old man was. Arnold Palmer luckily did, and proceeded to right the wrong. Ken Venturi (#93) was increasingly drowning himself in drink until a bartender told him he was “wasting his life.” Venture told him “I will not have another drink until I win again.” Venturi won the 1964 U.S. Open.
Larry Nelson (#89) won two PGAs and one U.S. Open despite having never played a round of golf as of age 21. Julius Boros (#53) was an accountant for a Connecticut trucking company before he found his way onto the Tour. On the other hand, Ray Floyd (#29) seemed to enjoy betting on horses more than golf. Luckily his wife Maria let him have it: “If golf isn’t what you want to do for a living, now is the time to get out and think about doing something else. You’re not giving it your best.” Sometimes the best people in our lives tell us what we least want to hear…
Paul Runyan (#50) had a father who did not approve of his son playing golf, but his son couldn’t not do what won him beatings from his father: “Dad, you can whip me if you want, but it won’t do you any good, because I’m going over to the golf course and I’m going to become a golf professional.” In Bernhard Langer’s (#94) case, he went to a job placement center outside of Munich in the 1960s as a teen and told them “I want to be a golf professional.” They must have looked at him like he had one eyebrow while responding, “We have no documents on golf professional being a recognized job in Germany.”
It all speaks to the beauty of the here and now. Runyan’s father never saw his son play, while nowadays there aren’t just golf professionals, there are golf swing coaches, putting coaches, shrinks, nutritionists, and all manner of other professions associated with the sport’s prosperity. According to Arkush, swing coach David Leadbetter was paid a six-figure salary to work with LPGA great Se Ri Pak (#90) on her game. I’m sorry, but prosperity loves people yearning to work outside traditional life norms more than anyone else, and it doesn’t come close.
Thinking about Runyan some more, it’s no reach to say that most readers haven’t heard of him, most have heard of Langer, and everyone’s heard of players like Crenshaw, Garcia, Couples, etc. This rates mention because readers of the book might be tempted to skip the many ancient names in the book, first half of the twentieth century names, along with the females. It’s understandable, but it would be a mistake. There’s rewarding, interesting information about each player, male or female. Harold Hilton (#30) smoked as many as 50 cigarettes on days he played golf, Peter Thomson (#55) would supplement his golf income by writing about the tournaments played in for newspapers, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias (#18) was in the estimation of Arkush the greatest athlete of the 20th century.
What of Phil Mickelson? He’s in so many ways a riddle wrapped in an enigma, or however Churchill put it. Six majors and over fifty PGA wins, but to Arkush he was, and realistically is, “another all-time great who underachieved.” The list of professionals who can lay claim to six majors is vanishingly small, not to mention no less than six second place U.S. Open finishes. What a resume?! Yet what’s strange and understandable at the same time is that if the oddities that took place at the various U.S. Opens (Winged Foot most notably) can be forgotten, what Arkush most seems to be saying is that even forgetting those, someone with Mickelson’s talent still should have won many more.
Except for what keeps coming up in this most interesting of books. Leaving aside #1 and #2, there’s realistically no one in this most mysterious of sports that shouldn’t have done better. And that of course includes #1 and #2. Mickelson was the definition of “can’t miss,” but at #13 it should be said he was “can’t miss” who didn’t miss. This would especially be true with other rankings not compiled by Arkush and that might grade on a curve of sorts. Figure that Mickelson starred, and starred for a long time in a sport that’s so globalized, so well-funded, and that has so many flash-in-the-pan stars who, perhaps due to contentedness, can’t maintain the greatness. Yet Mickelson did. It’s not just six majors, but six majors beginning in 2004, and ending (?) in 2021.
No doubt Arkush understands all of the above, and much better than this reviewer. Which means my one critique of his analysis of both Ernie Els (#27) and Mickelson is that he notes how both unfortunately were at their best when Tiger Woods was at his, hence the fewer majors. This didn’t nor does it ring true. For one, we have the can’t miss potential of so many other top 100 golfers who somehow didn’t reach ten, eight or even three majors, not to mention the arguably more compelling truth that Woods lifted everyone. In other words, absent Woods Mickelson and Els would arguably have won even fewer majors. Arkush at least implicitly acknowledges the possibility of the latter being true when writing about Mickelson, and how he managed to achieve just three top 10 finishes during a ten major stretch when “Woods retooled his swing and went winless.” The simple truth is that Woods made those he beat so very much better. Mickelson should be so grateful for Woods, so should all who starred at a time when Woods dominated.
Arkush’s book is a great read for golf fans, mere followers, sports fans in general, or even people solely interested in the human condition. There’s so much learning to be had from reading a book that’s about golf, but that is truly about so much more.
The Golf 100: A Spirited Ranking of the Greatest Players of All Time
by Michael Arkush
Buy this book at IndieBound
Buy this book at Amazon
Buy this book at Barnes and Noble
The easiest sports argument to start is to ask your friends to rank the best players of their favorite sport. It is a simple question to pose, but it can lead to long and heated discussions.
In the last few years, some of our finest sportswriters took it upon themselves to put their rankings on paper in the form of books. Joe Posnanski's THE BASEBALL 100, which came out in 2021, ranked the top 100 baseball players and weighed in at 869 pages. Football fans had their turn with the 2023 publication of The Athletic’s THE FOOTBALL 100, which was a slim 672 pages. Last year, The Athletic released THE BASKETBALL 100, which was 752 pages of basketball lore. All three of these books were major contributions to their respective sports. More than a ranking of players, they were loaded with history and biographical details of the world’s greatest athletes.
"If golf is your game, or if you know a golfer and are searching for a gift, THE GOLF 100 should be at the top of your list. If you just want to immerse yourself in some golf history, you could not pick a better book to read."
Now, award-winning sportswriter Michael Arkush has taken a swing at ranking the greats of golf in THE GOLF 100. He manages to accomplish this in only 357 pages, including an Afterword. Additionally, he has expanded the potential roster to include amateurs, women and international golfers. This is appropriate because amateurs and professionals often compete against each other. Men and women have gone head-to-head before, although such contests are rare.
Those who wrote the books mentioned above were completely subjective in their methodology. But Arkush chose a more objective process, awarding golfers points for winning major championships --- including The Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, the British Open, the Women’s PGA Championship, the Amateur Championship, and other prestigious events. It is not as simple as one might think, and while point totals were certainly used, Arkush acknowledges in his introduction that quite a few other factors were applied to his calculations.
Each of the 100 articles discussing great careers offers enjoyable insights into golf legends and history. #100 is John McDermott, who may be the finest golfer you have never heard of. McDermott was the first American-born golfer to win the U.S. Open, but he had a tortured life that removed him from the public eye. Arkush tells the sad story of McDermott attending the U.S. Open in 1971 but being asked to leave the clubhouse. Arnold Palmer recognized him and brought him back.
Of course, many who rank highly in THE GOLF 100 are familiar names. You would expect to find Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones in the top 10. But you might be surprised to discover that Mickey Wright, perhaps the greatest female golfer of all time, is there as well. Wright won more golf tournaments and majors than any woman. Arkush includes three female golfers in his top 20 and places Annika Sörenstam at 26th.
I was most fascinated by those golfers from the early days. Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris appear in the top 100, even though their careers took place in the 19th century. The younger Morris had an unintended major impact on the world of golf. In 1870, he won his third consecutive British Open and was awarded a belt, which he was allowed to keep. So they had to come up with a new trophy to give the winners. They chose a silver claret jug, which is now the sport's oldest prize.
If golf is your game, or if you know a golfer and are searching for a gift, THE GOLF 100 should be at the top of your list. If you just want to immerse yourself in some golf history, you could not pick a better book to read.
Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman on April 12, 2025
Book Review: The Golf 100 by Michael Arkush
Greg Miles
March 30, 2025
THE-GOLF-100
Historically, for decades, sports opinions and discussions (arguments) have been the topics over drinks in neighborhood bars, around corporate water coolers and lunchrooms, at tailgate parties, and most recently on cable TV, podcasts and chatrooms. Debates as to better teams and dynasties, often blinded by hometown loyalties, have raged and brought forth the New York Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Celtics, and the New England Patriots.
The Golf 100
The Golf 100
Personal statistics often bolster the position as to who is the better individual athlete: Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron; Muhammed Ali or Rocky Marciano; Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Willie Mosconi or Minnesota Fats; Wayne Gretzky or Alexander Ovechkin?
Which leads golf fans to debate: ‘Is the G.O.A.T. Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods?’. Or perhaps any one of 98 other golfers?
Michael Arkush is a sports journalist who is a former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. With a focus on the American sports scene, Arkush has written or co-written sixteen best selling books; he has also contributed articles to The New York Times and The Washington Post. Turning his attention to the history of golf, in March of 2022 Arkush was struck with the idea of ranking the 100 best golfers of all time. 2003 U.S. Open champion, Jim Furyk called this idea a “tough task”, but for Arkush it became a nearly impossible task.
Creating his own ranking system that places a heavy emphasis on golf’s major championships, Arkush analyzes the men and women, the well-known and barely-known, who have been the most accomplished and impactful golfers ever.
Crafted from hundreds of interviews and relationships developed over a quarter century, The Golf 100 boasts a subtitle of ‘A Spirited Ranking of the Greatest Players of All Time’ and is Arkush’s defined compilation of this five-score number of great golfers.
Michael ArkushTwo, three, four or more pages are dedicated to each of the 100 golfers on the list; the pages for each golfer tell their biography and accomplishments, with an occasional personal life episode included. If one or more of your favorite golfers appear on the list in Arkush’s book, it is likely that you’ll discover something new about them.
Fifty-six acknowledgments to books used as reference material are enumerated in the bibliography appendix of The Golf 100. For avid readers interested in the history of golf, look no further than the titles given here as a near total summation of several centuries of golf.