A V A I L A B L E N O W
In Ryder Cup Rivals, veteran journalist and author Hank Gola takes readers on a tour of the most consequential clashes in the history of the biennial matches. Since the first meeting between the United States and Great Britain in 1927, the Ryder Cup has become the most passionate of golf’s professional events with the combatants playing for country rather than themselves.
Gola brings readers inside the ropes and behind the scenes from the most memorable shots and momentous putts to the craftiest machinations and most contentious confrontations. He recalls iconic moments and figures including Walter Hagen and his gamesmanship, Dai Reese and Britain’ s 1957 upset, Jack Nicklaus, Tony Jacklin and The Concession, Seve Ballesteros and the arrival of the Europeans, Bernhard Langer’ s agony at the War at the Shore and Paul Azinger’s stunning captaincy at Valhalla.
Hank
Gola
Award-Winning Sports Journalist & Author
Hank Gola has spent over four decades as a journalist, primarily covering professional football and golf for the New York Daily News and New York Post after starting his career at The Herald-News of Passaic, NJ, and the Daily Record of Morris County, NJ, where he covered the Cosmos of the North American Soccer League and the New York Giants of the National Football League.
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A native of Garfield, NJ, Gola graduated with a BA in history from Montclair State College in 1976. He has previously authored two books, Hard Nose, (HBJ, 1987) with Jim Burt, the inside story of the Giants’ 1986 Super Bowl season and Tiger Woods, (Courage Books, 1998) an illustrated biography of the then-young superstar golfer.
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Gola has collected several writing awards from the Golf Writers Association of America and was most recently named the 2018 recipient of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association's Lincoln Werden Award for golf journalism. He lives in Parsippany, N.J., with his wife, Lillian. He has two children, Henry and Julianne, and four grandchildren, Rose, Ruby, Elliot and Iris.
Hank on The Road to the Ryder Cup
September 18, 2025
In this episode, veteran sportswriter and author Hank Gola joins us to dive into Ryder Cup history, unforgettable moments, and the event’s rise into today’s global spectacle. Hank shares stories from the Ryder Cup’s early days in 1927, insights from his book Ryder Cup Rivals, and his perspective on Brookline ’99, team chemistry, and gamesmanship.
For Ryder Cup Rivals publishing inquiries:
Chris Sulavik
4 Park Trail
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520
P: 646-644-6236
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