Driven: The Definitive Biography of Nick Faldo

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Dale Concannon

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Pages: 353 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 185227946X

Pub: Virgin Books

Pub date: 2001-06-07

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 299552

Editorial Review:

In Driven, author and journalist Dale Concannon examines the life and career of six-time Major winner, Nick Faldo--the greatest British golfer of the modern era, but a man whose achievements have been overshadowed by a public persona that would make a cod fillet look like a warm and engaging companion. A quiet, obsessional boy, Faldo's focus on the largely solitary occupation of golf helped to nurture both the extraordinary powers of determination that made him a great champion, and the insular, apparently surly character that so often fell victim to the gleeful exploitation of the press. Faldo made good copy when he was successful, but has been a goldmine when a "failure", on the course or in his turbulent private life. Driven doesn't shy away from examining this element of his career, nor from identifying Faldo as the coarchitect of his own bad press. As a biographer who one suspects got a little less directly from his subject than he had hoped, Concannon does an excellent job of weaving this "background" around a well-executed chronicle of Faldo's golfing exploits, and is strong too on some of the pivotal relationships that have shaped his career. His sections on Faldo's famous, and famously stormy association with golf guru David Leadbetter are particularly interesting.
You develop certain neurological patterns that are very hard to break. But he worked his rear off. I'd say conservatively, when we were together he hit five to eight hundred balls a day, every day, and that was in the heat and summer of Florida. Which was not pleasant, that's for sure. (Leadbetter on the early sessions remodelling Faldo's swing.)
The author has an easy, journalistic style, but while he marshals a great deal of information skilfully, and delivers it in a very readable way, there are passages--for example Greg Norman's disintegration at the 1996 Masters that delivered Faldo the title-where one might wish for a writer of greater eloquence and more acute insight. That said, Driven succeeds in matching an authoritative account of a hugely significant career with some genuinely revealing and rewarding reflection on what it is about Nick Faldo that made it all happen. --Alex Hankin

Reader Reviews:

The agony and the reality (2/2 people found this helpful)

What a great book. It shows the level of determination and the single minded attitude required to be the best.

As the greatest UK golfer of all time, Faldo has never received the aclaim that his exploits deserved. Many golfers have been more readily accepted than Faldo, but never acheived a fraction of his total title haul.

The book helps the reader to gain an insight into the life of a man who was the bridge between the generation of the 1970's and 80's to the Tiger Woods generation of today. The fitness regime, the hours of practice, the remodelling of his swing - all these were things that Falso did first.

Perhaps it is time we all began to understand this and to give Nick his due.

shows the real NICK FALDO (2/2 people found this helpful)

as an admirer of faldos steely determination and
focus this book gives you an insight to faldo the golfer and faldo the much maligned man.

Great book, great read. (2/2 people found this helpful)

As a Faldo fan I enjoyed this book enormously. His story read like a film script with all the highs and lows of his career. Perhaps some Hollywood producer should think of making it.

Absolutely brilliant!! (2/2 people found this helpful)

As a Nick Faldo fan I found this book a fascinating run through his life and career. I recommend it to anyone.