John Feinstein is a master sportswriter. This book is yet another demonstration of that. Clearly, golf is one of his (many) specialties, the way he portrays these tournaments and tour players. I came into this book as a golf fan already, but with little knowledge of the Ryder Cup. I was surprised by how passionate the players and (European) fans get around this tournament, that I always took as being more or less 'for fun.' Feinstein expertly takes the reader through the history of the Ryder Cup, about which I knew almost nothing. He then brings us to the subject of this book, the 2016 Cup, and explains why it was so important to the American side. I came away from the book eagerly anticipating the 2018 tournament, and I even studied up on this year's Presidents. If you are a fan of Feinstein's previous work or you have any appreciation for golf, you will definitely enjoy this book and probably learn something new about the sport.

What started as a relatively friendly competition between groups of professional golfers in the United States and Europe, the Ryder Cup, has become one of the most emotional and pressure-packed events in golf. The 2016 edition was no different and the entire competition, as well as the history of the event, is captured in this book written by best-selling author John Feinstein, who is a very respected author on the sport.

Having read every book for an adult audience that Feinstein has written, I opened the book with very high expectations. The first half of the book was very informative as it gave a very good account of the history of the Ryder Cup as many legendary golfers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have competed in the competition. Some golfers have performed better on this stage than the tourneys in which a golfer’s own individual score is his only concern, not that of a team. An example of a player with this reputation is Colin Montgomery, an outstanding European Ryder Cup player. Feinstein shares the story of the Ryder Cup through descriptions of stories of Montgomery and many others who have gone through the joy and the agony of the tourney.

As a reader, I found this part of the book a little difficult to follow. One reason is that when something takes place at a past Ryder Cup, the year isn’t given but instead the location such as Gleneagles (2014) or Medinah (2012). Until I got used to this, I had to frequently look back to find out what year that particular incident took place. Also, the pace of these stories, while fascinating and entertaining (especially the Phil Mickelson press conference at Gleneagles), was fairly slow.

However, once the book shifted from the history of the competition to the actual 2016 Ryder Cup played at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota, then the writing was pure Feinstein magic that his fans like me have come to know and love about his books. Even though I knew who won the tournament, it read like a gripping drama, complete with great golf, emotional speeches by the players, unruly fans and eventually a championship won in which the winners were elated and the spirits of the losers were deflated. I look at this ending like a round for a golfer who struggled on the front nine, but once he or she made the turn, the shots were going straight and the putts were finding the cup. The writing about the actual tournament was so good, if it were the golf round described above, Feinstein would have been threatening to shoot under 30 on the back nine.

Golf fans and fans of Feinstein’s work will want to add this book to their libraries as it is another work in the long line of excellent golf books by the author. If the reader has not heard of Feinstein, this is an excellent introduction to his writing.

I wish to thank Doubleday Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes, the golfing gods are with you. Sometimes, they are against you.

Sometimes, the ball kicks off a hill in the rough, and puts your ball firmly in the fairway. Sometimes, your reward for a perfect drive is a landing spot right in the middle of a big, ugly divot.

John Feinstein knows all about the golfing gods, having written about the sport for several years. When he decided to write a book about the 2016 Ryder Cup, he certainly had hopes of a close or at least memorable finish. After all, the book figured to be released about a year after the competition between the United States and Europe was finished.

Feinstein didn't catch a break in terms of the match. You probably remember that the United States won convincingly in the 2016 version of the biannual match. But that only takes a little away from "The First Major," an always interesting book on the Ryder Cup and the qualities that make it a unique sporting event.

The Ryder Cup used to be a nice little event featuring the best of the United States and Great Britain/Ireland. The problem was that the United States almost always won. So in 1979, the GB/I team became the European team - and it was more than competitive. Europe had had the upper hand in the matches overall leading up to the 2016 clash in Hazeltine - winning six of the previous seven events. Meanwhile, the fans on both sides took the enthusiasm level to another level, making seem more like a Michigan-Ohio State football game than a pleasant golf match among gentlemen.

And what does that mean? Pressure on all concerned. Golfers usually play for themselves and their bank accounts. They are used to that, and we see great performances all the time during the year. (Those who don't measure up almost never appear on the Sunday television broadcasts.) But the Ryder Cup adds the team concept to the equation for one of the few times on the golfing calendar. When the golfers have a bad day, they go home early and practice for the next week. But golfers in the Ryder Cup are playing for their country. Everything becomes magnified in such a setting - good shots and bad ones, which come up at a surprisingly high rate.

That history and intensity received much of the focus in the book. Feinstein does a good job of tracking down everyone involved, including those who had taken part in events in the years leading up to the 2016 matches. No one does too much ducking when it comes to questions about controversial events from the past. Even better, there are some good and unexpected stories about the players and captains. Who knew that Matt Kuchar was so funny?

Feinstein's books are always thorough, and that reporting skill certainly shows up here. There are plenty of times when he describes events that were private or that happened behind closed doors - such as deliberations over pairings, thoughts at key moments in particular matches, team gatherings, etc. As usual - I've read about all of Feinstein's work for adult audiences (he has written some for kids) - it's a fun, easy read. The longtime author seems very comfortable writing about this subject.

It's a little tough to decide if this book is very good or exceptional. Perhaps it can be best summed up this way - it's tough to picture a treatment of the Ryder Cup done any better. Golf fans, then, probably will call "The First Major" exceptional, and zip through it while enjoying almost every page.