Shipnuck provides all the necessary drama of life on the course, but the real fun of Bud, Sweat, & Tees is life beyond it, how Beem and Duplantis survive the highs and lows the game provides. At his best, Shipnuck manages to bring together their shared existence within the ropes and beyond, nowhere better than in Memphis the week after Beem's victory. He and Duplantis, who first caddied for him at the Kemper, have gone to Tennessee to try qualifying for the 1999 U.S. Open. That Beem misses is but a sidelight of the tour de force sequence that sees their relationship form against the backdrop of Duplantis cheating on his ex-fiancee Shannon--recalled by both Duplantis and Shannon, who's nannying Duplantis's daughter--as Beem is trying to focus on his game.

It begins in a bar, the three of them together, with Beem ogling Shannon as she walks to the ladies' room, and Duplantis calling him on it. "The player-caddie dynamic is always delicate," writes Shipnuck, "to the point that it is often discussed in the nomenclature of a courtship. For Beem and Duplantis, then, winning their first tournament together was like sleeping together on a first date--fun, to be sure, but complicated. If they were going to have a meaningful long-term relationship they would need a few more nights like this, getting to know each other." The nights--and days--that follow are as fun to read as the greens at Augusta. --Jeff Silverman

Product Description
The PGA Tour is home to rowdy, randy young men, often drunk with money and fame; fuelled by alcohol and adrenaline, they barnstorm from town to town like rock stars, with all attendant excesses. The PGA Tour offers fabulous rewards, but its good life does not come without a price. A no-holds-barred look at modern professional golf. Through the partnership of Rick Beem and his caddie Steve Duplantis, Shipnuck shows all the highs and lows, temptations and pitfalls that await players on the PGA Tour.

This is a great book first and foremost because it is superbly written. Alan Shipnuck has a relaxed and well-organized structure to his writing. Shipnuck, who writes for Sports Illustrated, took a gamble on writing this book, at the time Rich Beem hadnyt won a major, and stories of colorful, yet still second rate professional golfers donyt float amongst the bestseller lists all that often.

At a PG-13 level we see Rich and Steve live their lives in tour, under the microscope, and learn about events that neither would be proud of. Thereys an intimacy here you donyt normally get in biographies. Rich wins a PGA tour event in his rookie year on the tour, Steve Duplantis has a good job with Rich, but do they hold it together for an entire season? The book will leave you interested in finding out more about Beem and Co. Maybe a sequel Mr. Shipnuck?

Itys a need to read for those interested in golf, and itys an quick and entertaining story for those who really donyt care about golf.


Can't live with 'em & you can't live without 'em   February 26, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

A terrific read. The story of two guys each with his own hangups, or shall I say self descructive traits, who find each other only to end up like the divorced couple that can't find true happiness apart. Great insight into the pressures of the tour showing how easy it is to fall from grace overnight. Fast paced and tough to put down.