Rainmaker

Superagent Hughes Norton and the Money Grab Explosion of Golf from Tiger to LIV and Beyond

By: Hughes Norton, George Peper

Narrated by: Hughes Norton

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A rollicking tell-all from golf super-agent, Hughes Norton, detailing everything from his life-changing work with Tiger Woods and Greg Norman to his thoughts on golf’s current money-grab era. The ultimate book for fans of Alan Shipnuck, Bob Harig, and Michael Bamberger.

When twenty-one-year-old Tiger Woods stunned the world by winning The Masters by a mind-blowing twelve strokes, the first thing he did was embrace the three most important people in his life: his father, his mother, and Hughes Norton.

At the peak of his career, agent Norton earned a million-dollar salary, flew to all corners of the world in first class, and enjoyed a lifestyle nearly as lavish as his A-list clients. That dizzying success, however, came at a high price. The seventy-hour work weeks, constant travel, and intense pressure—both from his players and their corporate partners—took Norton away from his family and ultimately led to divorce. At the same time, in an effort to protect his players and his career, he found himself making ethical and moral choices he would later regret. Soon, he realized he had made as many enemies as friends.

Now, in Rainmaker, Norton draws back the curtain on his meteoric rise and abrupt fall. With never-before-told stories and exclusive insights, he discusses what it was like being Tiger’s first agent, his time representing the narcissistic Greg Norman, and shining a bright light on his sudden—and controversial—ouster as the head of IMG’s Golf Division—a juggernaut he helped build. This is an engaging and unforgettable memoir that explores golf as never before.

©2024 Hughes Norton and George Peper (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Norton!

A transparent, behind-the-scenes insight into the world of the business of professional golf. Norton presents an intricate portrayal of the mechanisms and duality of being an agent at the highest level. His story is one of hubris and humility. Highly recommend.

Awesome read if you like golf or money

If you like to play or watch golf this is a great read. I started listening to this book on March 26 and finished early on the 27th. I have followed golf for 50 years and had no idea of all the money behind the scenes which was made possible by the agents working for the players. Hughes Norton was a top agent and represented clients such as Curtis Strange, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods as well as multiple others. The money that Hughes made for these players through appearance fees and endorsements is beyond belief. Hughes is the narrator and does a tremendous job. You will love this book.

Excellent read for business and golf

Great book, so much history specific to IMG, Norman and Tiger. I thought Hughes lended an air of credibility admitting his own mistakes versus simply being critical of others. Loved it!

Great read for any golfer!

A lot of great insight on IMG, Norman, and Tiger in addition to the telling of Norton’s career. Any golfer who follows professional golf will enjoy this book and find this an interesting read!

Norton represented all the big names in golf

Hughes Norton was a sports agent. For years he headed up the golf division at Mark McCormack’s company, IMG. McCormack started the company in the 1960s. His first three clients were Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. At the time they were the top 3 players in the world. Norton began with the company in the early days and would remain with them until the mid 1990s. In that time he would go from representing Palmer to Greg Norman to Tiger Woods as well as most of the game’s other top stars.

This is a very interesting book if you are into golf or money. It has inside information about the good and the bad of all the players. It’s widely reported that Tiger is a great player but not that good of a person. From this book it sounds like Norman falls into the same category. It is obvious that Norton can’t stand Norman as a person. One thing that was very interesting, but concerning at the same time was the amount of financial details he tells about each player. As a lawyer, I’m used to not revealing that to anyone about my clients. Norton is not a lawyer and evidently felt no obligation to keep such things confidential. On a few things Norton is not very self aware and makes himself sound worse than he intends, even though it is supposed to be a warts and all book. Overall, I’d highly recommend it to golfers.