"Top-10 Sports Book [2014]" - Booklist
Sports Best Seller (Baker & Taylor)
Praise for THE MAGNIFICENT MASTERS:
“A terrific book … fascinating” – Mike Francesa, WFAN New York
"It's 1975 in Augusta, with Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf trading blows over the back nine on Sunday. Tense, detailed, fun." – Sports Illustrated
“You could write a book about this tournament and luckily, someone finally did ... It has a thrilling, one-of-a-kind finish; a behind-the-scenes look at three superstars with tales you've never heard ... You can wade into the nostalgia in The Magnificent Masters because Capps makes you want to live there.” – Gary Van Sickle, SI Golf Plus
“This extensively researched book is one for all golf fans” – Augusta Chronicle
"At times the action leaves the reader breathless....Like the Golden Bear himself, this book comes out a winner." – The Met Golfer
“Captures [the] suspense perfectly… an absorbing, informative book” – Tampa Tribune
“An unforgettable Masters recreated in all its glory” – New England Sports & Leisure
“There’s really no question—Capps truly knows golf” – New York Journal of Books
“There have been several similar tournament histories written over the last decade or so—beginning with Mark Frost’s The Greatest Game Ever Played (2002), about Francis Ouimet’s unlikely triumph at the 1913 U.S. Open—but Capps' recounting of perhaps the most memorable Masters ever stands shoulder to shoulder with all of them” – Booklist (starred review)
“Plenty will be written a year from now about the 1975 Masters when the 40th anniversary arguably the most dramatic edition of the tournament rolls around. Any story, though, will struggle to improve on Gil Capps' work" – GolfDigest.com
Here's just about all you need to know when it comes to Gil Capps: When so many of us who've come to be accepted as expert in matters concerning golf need answers and counsel ... we call on Gil. He is the "Google of Golf", and "The Magnificent Masters" is an absolute reflection of a man who not only has the deepest understanding of the significance of that stunning 1975 tournament, but the perspective to tell the story in a way that makes us all understand too.
–Jimmy Roberts, NBC Sports, host of Golf Channel’s In Play with Jimmy Roberts, author of Breaking the Slump
One doesn’t spill out great details onto paper with anymore ease then one walks into a gym and lifts the heaviest weight, so much effort precedes the lift. In the world of details, Gil Capps is golf’s strongest man and those strengths make The Magnificent Masters as potent for the reader today as they were for the viewer in 1975. The only thing missing in my view, is one word from the title of the book. “Most” should go between The and Magnificent, such was the exquisiteness of that year’s event.
–Brandel Chamblee, Golf Chanel analyst and former PGA Tour winner and Masters participant
For many those not old enough to remember the 1975 Masters, Gil Capps helps us understand why many believe this was the greatest golf tournament of all time. Beautifully researched and presented, The Magnificent Masters reveals why this was a transformative week for the epic springtime tournament we never tire of reading about and in many ways, for the sport of golf. A must read for any fan of the Masters and golf.
–Geoff Shackelford, geoffshackelford.com, contributing writer GolfWorld, contributing editor Golf Digest
Gil Capps is the best golf researcher in the game. He takes that attention to detail in his reporting to craft a classic on a classic, the '75 Masters.
–Tim Rosaforte, senior writer GolfWorld and Golf Digest, Golf Channel contributor
You wouldn't know it, but Johnny and I have long known that the NBC 18th tower has really been a three-man booth for all these years. That's because Gil Capps is the real brains behind not just the key stats we've shared with our TV audience but more importantly much of the perspective. And now everyone is able to get the full and unparalleled "Capps treatment" on one of the greatest golf tournaments ever played. Gil's signature attention to detail springs the '75 Masters back to life like never before… OR just like you're sitting right next to him in the TV tower watching it all unfold!
–Dan Hicks, NBC Sports golf anchor
The argument can be made that golf has never had a more extraordinary day than Sunday at the 1975 Masters. Two majors champions--Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf--dueled with the game's greatest player in golf's most dramatic setting. Gil Capps has recreated that day and that week in detail that makes the reader feel as if he's been transported back in time to that remarkable April afternoon.