The Mysterious Montague

Publicity material says, "He was a 1930s golf legend and Hollywood trickster who adamantly refused to be photographed. He never played professionally, yet sports-writing legend Grantland Rice still heralded him as 'the greatest golfer in the world.' Then, in 1937, the secrets of John Montague's past were exposed, leading to a sensational trial that captivated the nation. John Montague was a boisterous enigma. He had a bagful of golf tricks, on and off the course. He could chip a ball across a room into a highball glass, and knock a bird off a wire from 170 yards - and when the big man arrived in Hollywood in the early 1930s, he quickly became a celebrity among celebrities. He lived for a time with Oliver Hardy and played golf with everyone from Howard Hughes and WC Fields to Babe Ruth and his close friend Bing Crosby, whom he famously beat while playing only with a rake, a shovel, and a bat. Yet strangely Montague never entered a professional tournament and, in a town that thrived on publicity, he never allowed his image to be captured on film." However, John de Santo writes to us saying, "I watched a sports documentary on TV on The Mysterious Montague. They interviewed biographers of his story and acted out his life as a poor boy of a working class steel mill father. They said that he learned golf early and resorted to scams to earn a living. "When the $700 robbery took place by four masked people, he fled from New Jersey to LA where he befriended Bing  Crosby, Ollie, and others, including Babe Ruth. "The book review is wrong about there being no photos. After Grantland Rice interviewed him a story and picture about his golf prowess appeared in Look magazine and the authorities arrested him in 1937 for a famous trial. A lawyer who defended criminals defended him. "Montague's many famous friends like Bing and Ollie were there and some testified on his behalf, and so influenced the jury to find him not guilty. After that he did enter two PGA tournaments, but he was 35 and his score barely qualified for one round. Babe Ruth even beat him by six strokes at this time. John adds, "Watch for the TV programme on BBC." A much anticipated book, The Mysterious Montague by Leigh Montville, has arrived in the USA. It is described as "A true tale of Hollywood, golf and armed robbery." Hardcover, 320 pages. Price: $26.00. ISBN: 978-0-385-52033-1 (0-385-52033-6). Published by Doubleday.