Spanning nearly a century of golf, John Riley’s golf biographies tell the story of the amateur game in America through the eyes of two legendary champions from Philadelphia, as well as the early days of the PGA Tour, as experienced by a man Sports Illustrated called “the most popular man on the circuit.” Ed “Porky” Oliver, Bill Hyndman, and Jay Sigel stand out today as Philadelphia’s version of the “Great Triumvirate.” 

Oliver and Hyndman were born in the same year, only a few miles and weeks apart, yet it would be over 40 years before their paths crossed at the U.S. Open and the Masters. In the year Oliver lost his battle with cancer, Hyndman captured amateur golf’s prestigious North & South Championship, and the 17-year-old Sigel won the International Jaycee Championship, the first of his many national titles. 

One measure of greatness in golf is being selected to represent one’s country in international competition. Oliver, Hyndman, and Sigel represented the United States on 33 teams, with Sigel serving twice as playing captain of the Walker Cup team, Hyndman led an America’s Cup team, and Oliver was named Honorary Captain of the 1961 Ryder Cup team. 

In How He Played the Game, you will learn what it was like to face the great Ben Hogan time and again. After their playoff at the 1947 Western Open, Hogan said, “I love you, Porky, you inspire me.”

Hyndman and Sigel were two of the last career amateurs who could hold their own against the very best. Discussing his loss to Hyndman in the British Amateur, Jack Nicklaus said, “Bill beat me pretty good…and I usually only remember the ones I won.”

Sigel received the first Arnold Palmer scholarship to attend Wake Forest University. He was so dominant as an amateur that Augusta National GC chairman and former U.S. Amateur champion Fred Ridley said, “Amateur golf will never see his like again.” His words helped inspire the book title, The Last Amateur.