Dan Jenkins - a legendary sports writer - Golf feature
Dan Jenkins, a legendary golf writer, dedicated more than 60 years of his life to sports covering thousands of events all over the world.
Larry King, an American television and radio host, called Jenkins "the quintessential Sports Illustrated writer" and " the best sportswriter in America."
He is the only writer that most of the golf readers have ever followed. For the last few decades, he was the man on whom people can rely on for the news that television and newspaper could not tell them.
He started writing when players like Ben Hogan used to play on the golf course and still writing and covering the stars like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald.
He covered US Open in 1951 for the first time in his career when Hogan shot 67 to finish the final round at Oakland Hills to win the major event.
Jenkins’s career goes from a manual typewriter to Twitter. He started working for Golf Digest n 1985 and still writes for it. He has also written 20 books during his writing career including best sellers Baja Oklahoma, Dead Solid Perfect, and Semi-Tough.
While working for the Golf Digest, Jenkins played 18-hole course with President Bush Sr. Following that, Hord Hardin, president of Augusta National Golf Club, invited him to stay for few days at the course, which he accepted wholeheartedly.
His way of golf writing is admired by many as he always tried to integrate informality, insight and humour all together to make it more interesting to read.
However, for the sake of a good joke, he never neglected the significance of accuracy.
"Even though I was making a stab at humour, I do not think I ever wrote a line I did not believe," he said. "When something great happens, you do not have to be funny; you just have to be accurate.”
Jenkins’s service to the game of golf has finally paid him off in form of induction of his name in the World Golf Hall of Fame next year. He will be the sixth media member to be selected for the Hall of Fame. Other five media members include writers Bernard
Darwin, Bob Harlow, Herb Graffis, Herbert Warren Wind and television producer Frank Chirkinian and were inducted posthumously.
"Being from Fort Worth, I would follow Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson anywhere," Jenkins said after his selection through Lifetime Achievement category. "Since they are in there, I am happy to be the third guy from Fort Worth so included.
"I am delighted to be in such good company with the people who are already in there, especially the players."
Jenkins has already been inducted in the National Sportscasters and Sports Writers Hall of Fame and Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Moreover, Memorial Journalism Award and PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism are his other achievements.
For the last 16 years at Golf Digest, he has spent most of his time making fun and parodying selfish tour players, unexciting sports psychologists and some silly tournament sponsors. Golf is something more than just a game for Jenkins and he has enjoyed
writing and speaking about it more than anyone around the world. He is among the people who have made this game interesting and lovable to watch. It is time now that someone else needs to take his position and entertain the golf fans as he did for 60 years.
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