A book that takes you where you want to go

Golf books are everywhere and most of them, like John Daly's pants, aren't very appealing.

But 'Sports Illustrated: The Golf Book,' ($29.95) which arrives in bookstores today is worth your time and money if for nothing more than the great photo of a young Jack Nicklaus at the front of the book, Wayfarers on, cigarette dangling from his lips and a hint of Jack Nicholson in his look.

The big, coffee-table style book delivers what SI has done so well through the years -- terrific photos and outstanding writing. I'm partial, obviously, but I subscribe to the George Plimpton theory on sports writing -- the smaller the ball, the better the writing.

That's why good golf writing -- and this book is filled with it -- is distinguished.

This book isn't about golf tips. It's about the glory of the game. It's about the people and the places that have made it special over the centuries.

From Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods, from St. Andrews to Pebble Beach with photos of Fidel Castro and W.C. Fields thrown in, this is a book that reminds golfers why the game means so much to them.