Stephen Proctor

Giving Young Tom His Due

At least on social media these days most GOAT discussions—who’s the Greatest of All Time?--assume it’s a two-man race in the world of golf between Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Dissenting opinionators soberly submit the names of Ben Hogan or Bobby Jones, not without some reason. An oddball Canadian might shout out the name of Moe Norman.

Stephen Proctor, a former newspaper editor, goes back even further in his brief, "Monarch of the Green: Young Tom Morris, show more Pioneer of Modern Golf" (Arena Sport, $28.95). He makes a pretty sound case that Young Tom may have been the best of them all, though his career was all too brief with his shocking death on Christmas morning, 1875, at age 24.

The story of the two Morris men, Young and Old Tom, is not exactly shrouded in dusty history. And, indeed, anyone who has visited St. Andrews and wandered over to the cemetery on the grounds of the St. Andrews Cathedral ruins cannot help but be struck by the memorial there to Tommy, erected through contributions from sixty golfing societies of the day. Such was the impact he had.

[The rest of the review can be read at my website, here: http://theaposition.com/tombedell/golf/personalities/8387/giving-young-tom-his-d... show less