The Caddies' Stories

How We Won the Ryder Cup

Wonderfully exciting and delightfully indiscreet

Adds entertainingly to the legend that is the Ryder Cup

Norman Dabell is also the author of Winning the Open and Natural Hazard. He is a radio broadcaster and writes for the Daily Telegraph and Reuters international news agency.

The Ryder Cup battle between Europe and the USA is one of the biggest events in the golfing calendar and in 2006, the former underdogs showed they are now the dominant force in the biennial matches. It was another marvellous example of teamwork, and the caddies have played no small part in Europe overcoming the odds. The players hit the shots; their trusty caddies share the hopes, the glory and, occasionally, the misery. 
 
What was it like being beside Sam Torrance when he holed the winning putt and shed his tears on that historic moment at The Belfry in 1985? Fast forward to 2006 and a highly emotional appearance by Darren Clarke. What was it like being by his side? What was the story behind Colin Montgomerie's right-hand-man returning to his bag to help lay to rest the ghost of 1999? How do you cope when Seve Ballesteros is in full cry against the 'old enemy', especially when you are an American yourself? In 1991, a spike mark cost Europe the tournament, but what really happened behind the ropes? Who knew his man had had a vision he would beat Tiger Woods in 1997 - and saw it come true? What was it like witnessing those awful scenes at Brookline up close and personal in 1999? Who knew exactly which line to take when Paul McGinley sank his memorable winning putt in 2002? 
 
How We Won the Ryder Cup covers all the drama that has unfolded in the competition over the years and includes the action from the 2006 tournament at The K Club, County Kildare in Ireland, which saw Europe storm to a third successive victory.

How They Nearly Won the Open

One Hand on the Claret Jug

A collection of the best disaster stories from the Open. Exclusive interviews alone make this worthwhile ****

Brilliant . . . a fresh insight into the world's best tournament (Book of the Month)

Norman Dabell, a member of the Association of Golf Writers, has been covering golf since 1979. A former deputy editor of Golf Illustrated, he has been a freelance journalist and broadcaster since 1989. He was BBC Radio Five Live's reporter for ten years and currently writes for Reuters news agency and the Daily Telegraph, and broadcasts for BBC Radio Ulster.

Everyone remembers a winner, especially when victory comes in the oldest major golf championship in the world. But what about the players who got to the brink and then let the ancient trophy slip through their fingers? The Open has always featured triumph and disaster since it began in 1860 and this book is all about the latter of those 'two impostors'. From Doug Sanders' missed three-footer in 1970 to Monty's brave bid to finally end his major wait in 2005, at last the Open's hard-luck stories can be told. 
 
 What happened when the chips were down for Tony Jacklin and how did it affect his major chances from then on? 
 Whose 'air-shot' possibly cost him the Open? 
 Why did Tom Watson hit a two-iron at the Road Hole? 
 How could a marshal have cost Bernhard Langer his best chance of winning an Open? 
 Why didn't Jesper Parnevik check the leaderboard in 1994? 
 Who had a vision he was going to sink one of the most famous putts in Open history? 
 Why did Jean Van de Velde have such a nightmare at the Barry Burn at Carnoustie in 1999? 
 
Read about those who had one hand on the Claret Jug but, in the end, didn't lift it in triumph.

The Diary of an Accident-Prone Golf Watcher

Natural Hazard

Broadcasting for BBC Radio Five Live, the World Service and News 24, and writing for the Daily Telegraph and Reuters, has provided its fair share of hazards for Norman Dabell. Somehow he has soldiered on, occasionally escaping from the golfing menagerie to pen two successful books: How We Won the Ryder Cup and Winning the Open.

Norman Dabell, journalist, broadcaster and notorious jinx, has been covering the European golf circuit for over 20 years, though after reading this hilarious account of his mishaps, you may well come to wonder how he has managed to survive for so long. 
 
Join Norman as he retraces his pursuit of the travelling circus of the golf world from St Andrews to Sun City, Malaga to Morocco, encountering all the great faces of the modern game. Woods, Ballesteros, Faldo, Montgomerie, Westwood, Lyle, Woosnam, Langer, Olazabal, Garcia... they have all made the headlines. Dabell is there to make sure they do - while also trying to survive another day. 
 
Golf isn't really meant to be fun, they say, and sometimes it can be toture. But Danbell's rib-tickling (and his have been more than tickled) account will have even the most serious enthusiast in stitches. Fate has caused him many a tumble, broken bone and on-air gaffe, and Dabell's presence inside the ropes has been known to make even the toughest tour professional blanche. However, he is a favourite of Major-winner Vijay Singh, who might have never have got his career on the road if his ball had plummeted out of bounds instead of ricocheting onto the fairway off Dabell's head in Spain in 1990. Singh made a birdie instead of a possible double-bogey, won the tournament and ten years later went on to beat the world at Augusta. Just one of a thousand escapades which happened to a living, breathing Natural Hazard.

Norman Dabell

Ernie Els' dramatic victory at Muirfield 2002 made it one of the most memorable British Open competitions in years and served to reaffirm how gloriously entertaining the annual quest for the coveted Auld Claret Jug is. 2000 Open winner Tiger Woods' failure to battle against the elements resulted in his unexpected early exit from the competition, finishing 10 over par for the first time since turning professional in 1996. This left him 11 strokes adrift of Els, who clinched the title after a four-man, four-hole play-off and an extra hole in sudden death against Thomas Levet. In Winning the Open, Els' caddie Ricci Roberts absorbingly recounts the drama as it unfolded out on the weatherbeaten course, adding to a compelling and informative selection of untold stories spanning four decades, as told by the caddies of previous Open champions. Roberts also discusses his long-standing career as Els' caddie, covering the triumphs of two US Open wins and the Open disappointments that preceded the latest victory. Elsewhere, we learn how Paul Lawrie decided on the shot that won the 1999 Open at Carnoustie, who provided the calming influence for 'Wild Thing' John Daly at St Andrews in 1995, and just what Greg Norman learned from his right-hand-man in 1986 which helped him lift the trophy in 1993.

Norman Dabell

Books by Norman Dabell

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