The Battle for Augusta National

The controversy began with a seemingly innocuous private letter, and spiraled into the biggest media event in golf history. the augusta national membership dispute dominated headlines and watercooler conversation for nearly a year, propelled by twenty-first-century hot-button issues and a pair of perfectly drawn foils in hootie johnson and martha burk. but a year after burk's messy masters week protest, the meaning of the membership controversy remains elusive. in the battle for augusta national, alan shipnuck -who reinvented the pga tour narrative with the rollicking bud, sweat, and explores the southern politics that led to burk's masters week banishment, drawing on senate confirmation hearings and campaign contribution documents to link local politicians and a federal judge to augusta national. from tiger woods to jack welch, sandra day o'connor to bryant gumbel, treasury secretary snow to jesse jackson, the gang's all here in this withering look at a story that never stopped churning. along the way, many of the membership controversy's mysteries are revealed. how did augusta national's top-secret membership roll become public? who was the shadowy protester identified by hoodwinked reporters as heywood jablome? di