The Sports Bookshelf

Organisers of the British Sports Book Awards have revealed a longlist for the autobiography category for the 2015 awards . It is a 10-book selection that somewhat bows towards the market, with the pre-Christmas bestsellers well represented, among them the controversial autumn blockbusters from former Manchester United captain Roy Keane and exiled England cricketer Kevin Pietersen. The hugely popular autobiography of motorcyclist Guy Martin and the just-released life story of Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar also make the list, along with those of cyclists Nicola Cooke and Chris Froome, footballer Rio Ferdinand and golfer Ian Poulter. From the world of rugby, the autobiographies of former Ireland and Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll and Welsh star Gareth Thomas , whose life story Proud is also on the shortlist for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year , to be announced later this month. Proud was ghosted by Michael Calvin, who won last year's overall Book

The history of the US Masters is a catalogue of great sporting moments. Think of Gary Player's victory from eight shots off the pace going into the final day in 1978, the great Jack Nicklaus charge to win in 1986, Augusta's own Larry Hogan Mize winning a sudden-death play-off in 1987, Tiger Woods announcing himself to the world with a stunning victory by 12 shots in 1997; or, more recently, Bubba Watson's amazing shot out of the trees on to the green at the second extra hole in 2012, setting up an extraordinary win.  There are many more. But none, perhaps, to match the drama of 1996, the year of what was labelled as one of the greatest chokes in the history of sport, let alone golf, when Greg Norman, The Great White Shark, had a six-shot lead going into the final round, bigger than anyone had enjoyed since the Masters was first contested, yet somehow contrived to let it slip away. As disaster stalked him through every step, Norman shot a 78 against Nick Faldo's 6

Bobby’s Open: Mr Jones and the Golf Shot that Defined a Legend by Steven Reid has won The Times Sports Book of the Year in association with The British Sports Book Awards following a public online vote. Reid’s book, published by Icon Books , won the Best Golf Book award category at the recent British Sports Book Awards and with the winners from eight other categories formed a shortlist for the overall Sports Book of the Year.  Around 3,400 public votes were registered, with Reid’s book receiving over 45% of the total votes. Bobby’s Open tells the compelling story of one of golf’s most celebrated players, Bobby Jones, with specific focus on The Open Championship in 1926 when he took on Walter Hagen and Harry Vardon in one of the all-time classic sporting encounters. John Hopkins, former Golf Correspondent of The Times and head of the golf judges, said: “Bobby Jones in golf is a bit like Richard Wagner in music, an heroic figure about whom a great deal has been written down

Congratulations to Rick Broadbent, Gideon Haigh, David Walsh, Julian Muscat, Graham Hunter, Adharanand Finn, Steven Reid and Stephen Cooper -- eight fine authors who scooped the writing prizes at the British Sports Book Awards. Broadbent, best known as the athletics correspondent of The Times (and the ghost of Jessica Ennis's autobiography), won the motorsports category for That Near-Death Thing , his excellent work on the Isle of Man TT Races seen through the eyes of four riders.  Murray Walker's accolade says it all: "Nobody has succeeded in capturing the spirit of the greatest Motor Sport event with a fraction of the success that Broadbent has." No surprise that the Australian writer Haigh claimed the cricket category prize for On Warne, his analysis of Australia's great leg spinner as a cricketer and a person.  Haigh rarely seems to write a duff sentence, let alone an ordinary book.  This one is a series of beautifully crafted essays examining Warne&#

Did you love the Ryder Cup? Are you already a committed golf fan, or did the great comeback in Medinah open up a new dimension to your sporting fascinations? Golf has traditionally been a source of good reading for sports fans, and no sport offers a greater proliferation of instructional guides for the enthusiastic amateur. Here is The Sports Bookshelf's potted guide to 10 of today's most popular golf books . Click on the picture or text links for more information and to buy. Out of Bounds: Legendary Tales From the 19th Hole , by Sam Torrance (Simon & Schuster) Sam Torrance, Scottish golfing legend, veteran of eight Ryder Cups, sank the winning put as Europe ended 28 years of US dominance at The Belfry in 1985 and returned to the Midlands course as winning captain in 2002. A natural raconteur, Sam has a fund of insights and anecdotes, some hilarious, some eyebrow-raising. In this new book, he divulges tall tales from the great, the good and the not-so-g