Mike Weir, who won the Masters, had been a comparative journeyman up to that point. He was happy to have made it into the tournament, ecstatic to have made the cut, and on no one's radar to end up wearing the green jacket. The same is true of Ben Curtis who had never won a pro tournament prior to his win in the British Open and Shaun Micheel who took the last tourney of the year, the PGA. Only Jim Furyk, the US Open winner, who many thought of as one of the better golfers never to have won a major, was someone who might have been thought of as a potential winner. It was, as Feinstein's sub-title declares, "the year of the underdog."
Each of the tournaments had its moments of drama and Feinstein makes the most of them. There is the unlikely duel between Weir and Len Mattiace. There is Peter Bjorn's sand trap debacle in the British Open. There is Tom Watson's emotional first round at the US Open. There is Shaun Micheel's agony while checking over his score card. These are the moments of glory in these men's lives; they are moments that may never be repeated.
But they are not the only moments. Feinstein is careful to show the human side of these athletes. Furyk discovers that it is up to the golfer to get his name engraved on the US Open trophy. Curtis refuses to postpone his wedding plans after winning the British. Weir's wife breaks Augusta's rules by running out on the course to congratulate him. Micheel celebrates his victory at Wendy's drive-thru. Moment of Glory is filled with this kind of human interest detail. It is the kind of detail that makes Feinstein's work palatable to the general reader who has little interest in slices and pitching wedges.
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