To write your autobiography at the age of 24 normally takes a lot of hubris. Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. – a.k.a. Bobby Jones – did it, but with great effect and humility. Originally published in 1927, his Down the Fairway has become what Sports Illustrated calls "an incontestable classic."
Part memoir, part golf instructional, part golf history, it's a must read for all who care about this most fascinating sport. His thinking was that, having just become the first golfer ever to win both U.S. and British Open titles in one year (1926), he would never perform at such a high level again. It seemed a good time, then, to tell his story.
In an age of big money, lucrative endorsements, TV contracts, and pouting millionaires, this ernest volume comes as a breath of fresh air. Infused with Jones's deep knowledge of and pure passion for the game, it evokes a long-ago time when an amateur could be the best in the world.
But what makes this autobiography so moving is the wisdom he acquired through numerous drubbings, hot-headed meltdowns, and runner-up finishes. “I never learned anything from a match that I won,” he wrote. (Publisher's Description)
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