Golf is sometimes referred to as "the wicked game" because it is fiendishly difficult to play well. Yet in the parlance of the Tiger Woods generation, it's also a wickedly good game -- rich, glamorous, and more popular than ever.

A penetrating forty-year history of men's professional golf, The Wicked Game shows how Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus inspired and laid the business foundation for Tiger Woods's career. Based on two years of research and more than one hundred and fifty interviews, Howard Sounes unfolds the story of the modern game through the lives of three of its greatest icons. With unprecedented access to players and their closest associates, he reveals the personal lives, rivalries, wealth, and business dealings of these remarkable champions who changed the face of golf.