![Rick Reilly - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000AQ53T2.jpg)
So Help Me Golf: Why We Love the Game
A beloved New York Times bestselling author and golf aficionado shares his insatiable curiosity, trademark sense of humor, and vast knowledge of the game in this cavalcade of original pieces about why we love the sport, now featuring three additional new pieces.
This is the book Rick Reilly has been writing in the back of his head since he fell in love with the game of golf at eleven years old. He unpacks and explores all of the wonderful, maddening, heart-melting, heart-breaking, cool, and captivating things about golf that make the game so utterly addictive. We meet the PGA Tour player who robbed banks by night to pay his motel bills, the golf club maker who takes weekly psychedelic trips, and the caddy who kept his loop even after an 11-year prison stint. We learn how a man on his third heart nearly won the U.S. Open, how a Vietnam POW saved his life playing 18 holes a day in his tiny cell, and about the course that's absolutely free.
Reilly mines all of the game's quirky traditions-from the shot of bourbon you take before you tee off at Peyton Manning's course, to the way the starter at St. Andrews announces to your group (and the hundreds of tourists watching), "You're on the first tee, gentlemen." He means that quite literally: St. Andrews has the first tee ever invented. We'll visit the eighteen most unforgettable holes around the world (Reilly has played them all), including the hole in Indonesia where the biggest hazard is monkeys, the one in the Caribbean that's underwater, and the one in South Africa that requires a shot over a pit of alligators; not to mention Reilly's attempt to play the most mini-golf holes in one day.
Reilly expounds on all the great figures in the game, from Phil Mickelson to Bobby Jones to the simple reason Jack Nicklaus is better than Tiger Woods. He explains why we should stop hating Bryson DeChambeau unless we hate genius, the greatest upset in women's golf history, and why Ernie Els throws away every ball that makes a birdie. Plus all the Greg Norman stories Reilly has never been able to tell before, and the great fun of being Jim Nantz. Connecting it all will be the story of Reilly's own personal journey through the game, especially as it connects to his tumultuous relationship with his father, and how the two eventually reconciled through golf. This is Reilly's valentine to golf, a cornucopia of stories that no golfer will want to be without.
**The Sports Librarian's Best of 2022 – Sports Books**
This is the book Rick Reilly has been writing in the back of his head since he fell in love with the game of golf at eleven years old. He unpacks and explores all of the wonderful, maddening, heart-melting, heart-breaking, cool, and captivating things about golf that make the game so utterly addictive. We meet the PGA Tour player who robbed banks by night to pay his motel bills, the golf club maker who takes weekly psychedelic trips, and the caddy who kept his loop even after an 11-year prison stint. We learn how a man on his third heart nearly won the U.S. Open, how a Vietnam POW saved his life playing 18 holes a day in his tiny cell, and about the course that's absolutely free.
Reilly mines all of the game's quirky traditions-from the shot of bourbon you take before you tee off at Peyton Manning's course, to the way the starter at St. Andrews announces to your group (and the hundreds of tourists watching), "You're on the first tee, gentlemen." He means that quite literally: St. Andrews has the first tee ever invented. We'll visit the eighteen most unforgettable holes around the world (Reilly has played them all), including the hole in Indonesia where the biggest hazard is monkeys, the one in the Caribbean that's underwater, and the one in South Africa that requires a shot over a pit of alligators; not to mention Reilly's attempt to play the most mini-golf holes in one day.
Reilly expounds on all the great figures in the game, from Phil Mickelson to Bobby Jones to the simple reason Jack Nicklaus is better than Tiger Woods. He explains why we should stop hating Bryson DeChambeau unless we hate genius, the greatest upset in women's golf history, and why Ernie Els throws away every ball that makes a birdie. Plus all the Greg Norman stories Reilly has never been able to tell before, and the great fun of being Jim Nantz. Connecting it all will be the story of Reilly's own personal journey through the game, especially as it connects to his tumultuous relationship with his father, and how the two eventually reconciled through golf. This is Reilly's valentine to golf, a cornucopia of stories that no golfer will want to be without.
**The Sports Librarian's Best of 2022 – Sports Books**
Editorial Reviews
The Sunday Times International Sports Book of the Year
"[So Help Me Golf]features Reilly's usual hilarious story-telling with a kinder, gentler, more grateful tone….It feels like Rick Reilly's greatest hits."―Sports Illustrated Morning Read
"Reilly, the longtime Sports Illustrated and ESPN writer, has an infectious voice (2.5 funny things per page, I counted) and loves the game of golf beyond all reason….The chapters that pack the most punch focus on unheralded triumphs and everyday players…For Mr. Reilly, golf is many things, but at its best it's a way for people to show and share their love. This book is his thank you."―The Wall Street Journal
"Rick Reilly's So Help Me Golf is a love note to the game that will make you laugh and cry….Reilly channels his insatiable curiosity, trademark sense of humor, and vast knowledge of the game in what amounts to a collection of 80 new columns that is a love letter to the game he clearly loves so much….Reilly's lost nothing off his fastball. He's still in a league of his own at making readers laugh at one moment and tear up the next."―Golfweek / USA Today
"New York Times bestselling author of Who's Your Caddy? brings his keen observation prowess and sense of humor to the often frustrating yet addictive game of golf….Any golfer will want to pull up a chair in the clubhouse to listen to Rick Reilly."―Katie Couric Media
"American sportswriter and golf aficionado Reilly writes the ultimate love letter to his favorite sport, expounding on its star players (Phil Mickelson, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus) and quirkiest characters (the PGA Tour player who robbed banks to pay his motel bills). He also gets personal, sharing the story of his tumultuous relationship with his father and how the two reconciled through golf."―USA Today
"Former Sports Illustrated and ESPN man Reilly has always had the knack of unearthing great anecdotes that reveal the golfer and of also putting those tales together in fast-paced and funny narratives - So Help Me Golf is a romp that maintains all those trends."―
"[So Help Me Golf]features Reilly's usual hilarious story-telling with a kinder, gentler, more grateful tone….It feels like Rick Reilly's greatest hits."―Sports Illustrated Morning Read
"Reilly, the longtime Sports Illustrated and ESPN writer, has an infectious voice (2.5 funny things per page, I counted) and loves the game of golf beyond all reason….The chapters that pack the most punch focus on unheralded triumphs and everyday players…For Mr. Reilly, golf is many things, but at its best it's a way for people to show and share their love. This book is his thank you."―The Wall Street Journal
"Rick Reilly's So Help Me Golf is a love note to the game that will make you laugh and cry….Reilly channels his insatiable curiosity, trademark sense of humor, and vast knowledge of the game in what amounts to a collection of 80 new columns that is a love letter to the game he clearly loves so much….Reilly's lost nothing off his fastball. He's still in a league of his own at making readers laugh at one moment and tear up the next."―Golfweek / USA Today
"New York Times bestselling author of Who's Your Caddy? brings his keen observation prowess and sense of humor to the often frustrating yet addictive game of golf….Any golfer will want to pull up a chair in the clubhouse to listen to Rick Reilly."―Katie Couric Media
"American sportswriter and golf aficionado Reilly writes the ultimate love letter to his favorite sport, expounding on its star players (Phil Mickelson, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus) and quirkiest characters (the PGA Tour player who robbed banks to pay his motel bills). He also gets personal, sharing the story of his tumultuous relationship with his father and how the two reconciled through golf."―USA Today
"Former Sports Illustrated and ESPN man Reilly has always had the knack of unearthing great anecdotes that reveal the golfer and of also putting those tales together in fast-paced and funny narratives - So Help Me Golf is a romp that maintains all those trends."―
Readers Top Reviews
Kirk MichieJack M
Reilly is a terrific and distinctive writer and maybe an even better storyteller. At the peak of his craft here. The book is a wonderful distillation of wit, experience, humor, and reflection on what makes golf so hard to fully understand or appreciate unless you love it like he does. And like so many of the rest of us do too. Thanks, Riles!
ChantalKirk Michi
I have followed this author for years. Even people who don’t love golf will enjoy reading his essays.
barbara donzantiS
It was a Christmas gift for my husband. He is an avid reader and loves playing golf, but he didn't particularly enjoy this book.
Russell D. Vilhau
Very touching and entertaining. Rick Reilly has a magical way with words. A great book about both life and golf.
