No, we’re not talking about Tiger Woods, but rather Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy. It turns out one of the most famous golf movie characters hit theaters less than two weeks before Tiger turned pro in August of 1996. But while Woods sparked a golf boom, sadly, the driving range pro from West Texas didn’t usher in an era of (other) great golf movies.

“Tin Cup,” however, still holds up, as evidenced by how often it gets referenced by golfers and by the countless re-airings of it on Golf Channel. And the biggest reason for the cult following that’s developed over the past quarter-century is the character of McAvoy, a West Texas driving range pro talented enough to be on the PGA Tour, but pigheaded enough to always get in his own way.

“The fact that year after year after year, not only on the Golf Channel or on cable or in life, like when Jean van de Velde blew the British Open and they said on TV, ‘Oh my god it’s ‘Tin Cup,'” producer Gary Foster said. “Every time I play golf with someone I don’t know . . . I say, ‘Oh, I did this movie Tin Cup.’ (They say) ‘Oh, my god!’ Of course, it feels amazing. Because most movies don’t last, and this is a classic.”

So to honour “Tin Cup’s” silver anniversary, we went behind the scenes—literally—with some of the people involved with the film, including Tin Cup himself. From how the film came together, to funny tales from the set, to why Kevin Costner almost didn’t take the role, here’s more on what is, for our money, the most authentic golf movie ever made. And why there hasn’t been another one quite like it.

BELOW: LISTEN TO THE LOCAL KNOWLEDGE PODCAST ON “TIN CUP”

• • • • •

In the fall of 1994, the writer and director Ron Shelton, writer John Norville, and producer Gary Foster got together for a round of golf at Ojai Valley Inn that proved to be an important step in the creation of what would become “Tin Cup.” Golf buddies and fellow screenwriters Shelton and Norville had discussed doing a movie about the game for years, but looping in Foster, whose long list of producing credits include “Sleepless in Seattle” and the TV show “Community,” was an important next step.

“So we had a fun round of golf and then we were sitting at the bar afterwards and (said) something to the effect of, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could do this every day, get paid for it?” Foster said. “Is there a movie? Is there an idea?”

That idea had actually first taken shape during the final round of the 1993 Masters. That’s when Chip Beck infamously laid up on the par-5 15th hole during the final round when he trailed eventual winner Bernhard Langer by three shots. It was the closest Beck ever came to winning a major, but in a weird way he helped create the character who would eventually become known as Roy McAvoy.

Chip Beck plays third shot to the 15th green after laying up during the final round of the 1993 Masters. David Cannon

“And we got on the phone immediately and said, OK, the guy’s flaw is that he can’t lay up. He’s incapable of laying up,” Shelton said. “What about a guy who keeps going for it on the last hole? And his hubris, what’s great about him is also what his flaw is. He has to go for it. Even if it’s going to kill him. And there’s something that I admire about that. And there’s something that’s childlike. And we all have a self-destructive streak, probably. We actually started with the ending.”

We’ll get into that famed ending more in a little bit, but first, let’s address why making a golf movie requires the same type of daring attitude as going for a par 5 in two with a tournament on the line. Seriously, think about how few great golf movies have been made. Then think about how few golf movies have been made at all in the past 25 years.

If anyone could pull it off, though, it was Shelton, who had already written and directed a couple classic sports movies, “Bull Durham” and “White Men Can’t Jump.” But Shelton says golf was by far the most difficult sport he’s ever shot.

“We had a number of concerns. One of them was that it’s not a dynamic game in the way basketball, football and boxing are. Even baseball. It’s a mental game mostly,” Shelton said. “A golf course is 150 acres and a tournament is 150 guys doing basically the same thing over and over.”

Writer and director Ron Shelton flanked by “Tin Cup’s” two star golfers. Evan Agostini

Finding a place to shoot was also an issue. The driving range where Tin Cup works was built from scratch in a remote area about an hour south of Tucson, but even a major motion picture’s budget doesn’t cover building an entire golf course to host a fictional major championship. After a search across Florida, Myrtle Beach and San Francisco, they settled on Kingwood Country Club just outside of Houston, shooting most of those tournament scenes on the Forest and Deerwood courses there. Arizona’s Tubac Golf Club was also used for some of the film’s earlier scenes.

But there’s are also an economic reason for the lack of golf movies—and sports movies in general. As Foster explained, there are many foreign distributors who explicitly have it written in their contracts that they won’t deal with the sports genre.

“In America, yes, sports genre films can work. You know, Bull Durham and Tin Cup and all those films Ron makes, they work here. But they don’t travel as well,” Shelton said. “We thought with Tin Cup and golf, especially in Japan and other parts of Asia since golf is such a big sport, we might have another result. We did OK initially and overtime it’s continued to have an audience around the world, but it didn’t break out the way we had hoped it would.”

That’s not to say it didn’t do well. Very well, in fact. Despite being moved to a less-than-desirable late August release due to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, “Tin Cup” opened number one in the box office. And it wound up taking in nearly $76 million, exceeding the movie’s reported budget by some $30 million.

Obviously, having one of the biggest movie stars on the planet attached to your script certainly helps get it into theaters. But even with Shelton and Norville targeting Costner for the role right away, he was initially reluctant.

“I wasn’t going to do Tin Cup. Not because I didn’t think it was good, not because I didn’t think it was great. It was, I could see it,” Costner said. “But I was going through a divorce and I had just finished the longest movie in history. The average movie films for 40-60 days and I had just done 157 days on Waterworld. And I was really low. . . . I was down, my heart was on the ground.”

Plus, there was the fact that at point, Costner wasn’t really a seasoned golfer.

“And then, something in me, what was being said to me made sense,” said Costner, who credits then CAA agent Jane Sindell for finally convincing him. “And I agreed to go do it. And it was literally one of the best things I ever did in my life, was to go off with Ron and make Tin Cup.”

Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, and Don Johnson at the movie premiere of “Tin Cup.” Albert Ortega

The rest of the cast came together much easier. Well, except for the part of David Simms. Alec Baldwin had originally accepted the role as Tin Cup’s smarmy PGA Tour star rival, but he called Shelton to pull out just three weeks before shooting because then wife Kim Basinger was having some pregnancy issues.

That caused a bit of a scramble to fill the role and Shelton narrowed in on two other candidates: Tom Selleck and Don Johnson. But when Selleck couldn’t meet, he offered Johnson the part within five minutes.

But there was another job that proved to be just as important. And it didn’t go to an actor.

• • • • •

How do you make a golf movie authentic? You start by hiring an authentic golfer.

It certainly helped that Shelton, Foser, and Norville, who played college golf at Stanford, were avid players, but they knew they needed an actual tour pro to properly bring the tournament-related scenes to life. Gary McCord became that guy, and he was officially brought aboard as a consultant. Never a winner on the PGA Tour and already transitioning into his broadcasting career, McCord also fit the irreverent vibe Shelton craved.

“We wanted to make a golf movie, not for the elite golf audience, but for everyone. Blue collar component of golf was important for this story and us, part of the thematic of the film. Gary represented that. Never won a golf tournament, hilarious,” Foster said. “And at the time he was partnered with Peter Kostis and they had those golf schools and obviously Peter is an incredible teacher. And we thought between those two we had a base of knowledge and a network we could utilize to reach out.”

Not that he was doing it for blue-collar wages. McCord took a mighty swing himself with a salary demand of a quarter million dollars—and couldn’t believe it when he got what he asked for. A quarter century later he still gets a kick out of telling people he was the highest-paid movie consultant in Hollywood at the time.

“I said, ‘Why me?’” McCord said of his initial chat with Shelton. “He goes, ‘Well, No. 1, you got kicked out of Augusta. No. 2, I just like your bullshit.’”

But Shelton also liked McCord’s stories. So much so that he took two things that happened during McCord’s career—a par-5 meltdown and a bar bet involving a pelican—and turned them into two of the movie’s pivotal parts. And McCord earned that consultant money by also playing the role of a producer, actor, and even babysitter.

“(Former Masters champion Craig) Stadler got arrested once in Tucson for driving his golf cart and three guys to go down to the 7/11 and get a case of beer and they’re not really supposed to be driving drunker than hell,” McCord recalls. “So it was like that.”

McCord was also the mastermind behind all those PGA Tour cameos, from Stadler to Phil Mickelson. When the film’s budget wouldn’t cover the appearance fees they were asking, he set up a dinner with Costner and Don Johnson with the players’ significant others and they quickly agreed to do it for scale.

Gary McCord, who Jim Nantz calls “the lynchpin” that brought the movie and CBS crews together for “Tin Cup.” Stan Badz

There was plenty more that went into making the film feel authentic, from signing sponsors for the fictional golfers to building out a TV tower that replicated the one at actual PGA Tour events to even bringing in the USGA to help get the courses in U.S. Open shape. And again, there were a lot of tales from the tour woven throughout.

“In essence, all the stuff was real that we did based on idiots like myself,” McCord said. “You had a lot of Trevino in there. A lot of Titanic Thompson with the hitting the ball down the road, stuff like that. So it was based on real stuff that golfers did, and it was just a fun movie.”

Is “Tin Cup” a perfect movie? Of course not. Are there unrealistic parts? Of course there are—from McAvoy’s 3-wood spinning so much to Peter Jacobsen winning a major. Sorry, Jake. But Shelton has a message for those nitpicking.

“Relax, folks. This is the most authentic golf movie you’ll ever see, whether you like it or not,” he said. “I mean, it is. We really looked hard at that. How do you stand, how do you put a tee in the ground. How do you stand. To Kevin, how do you stand when another guy is putting? There are ways. He’d make a long putt and he’d tend to raise the putter with his right hand and McCord would go, ‘No! Nobody raises it with their right hand!’ Things like that were very important.”

McCord and Kostis also put a lot of work into making sure Kevin had a swing that would hold up under scrutiny from golfers watching. At the time, the actor estimated he had only played about a dozen rounds in his life, and he wasn’t particularly keen on completely changing his swing at first.

To cover his bases, Shelton wrote Costner’s new three-quarter swing into the script. And it was easier to speed up in post production than the actor’s longer, more languid original move. Costner made clear from the beginning that he didn’t want a stunt double and that he intended to hit all the shots. And that he did, even pulling off a bunker shot with a garden hoe that McCord couldn’t do with hours of attempts.

McCord praised Costner’s athletic ability and called him a “parrot” for how quickly he was able to mimic various moves. That included hitting a flop shot, and even being able to shank a golf ball on cue. But the actor also practiced a lot and it showed. According to McCord, Costner improved enough to shoot even par a couple times during filming.

Jim Nantz, who played himself in the movie, wrote a Golf Digest column last year chronicling his involvement with the film. He remembers a special week in Akron, Ohio for the 1995 World Series of Golf, a year before the movie came out. If “Tin Cup” had been born on a golf course, its development began in earnest at a golf tournament.

“It was kind of a boot camp scenario for Kevin,” Nantz recalls. “He was being trained by two brilliant teachers in Kostis and McCord. And in the afternoons, they were coming over to Firestone and watching a really high quality tour event with a gathering of the world’s best. And at night, of course, there were team dinners and all of us were going out and having a big time of it. And the excitement was beginning to build about this movie that somehow we all were able to contribute in a few small ways to making a great film.”

• • • • •

But Nantz and the rest of the CBS Golf crew wound up having a major impact on how “Tin Cup’s” U.S. Open story is told. Although Shelton says he did less tinkering to this script than perhaps any other in his career, that big alteration was made after he spent time in the CBS production truck and saw the network’s legendary golf producer, Frank Chirkinian, at work.

Which leads us back to that final big tournament scene that has polarized audiences for more than a quarter century. The hero of the movie has a chance to win the U.S. Open and . . . he makes a 12?

Of course, it’s not just the score, but the way Roy McAvoy makes it. As we discussed, being bold is part of the character’s DNA, but not taking advantage of the rules by going to the drop area is downright reckless.

But once again, it was based on something that actually happened. At the 1986 FedEx St. Jude Classic, McCord dumped five balls in the water in a row on Colonial Country Club’s par-5 16th hole. Like McAvoy, McCord refused to listen to his caddie about going up to the drop area or changing clubs until finally switching from a 4-iron to a 3-iron after being informed he was down to his last golf ball. McCord finally hit the green and then drained a 25-foot putt for a crowd-pleasing 16, which is still one of the highest recorded scores in PGA Tour history.

Of course, that’s a bit different than being on the final hole of a major with a chance to win. And Shelton says he even had to fight to keep that scene as is because there were Hollywood execs who wanted a more, well, Hollywood ending. But he pointed to “Casablanca” as an example of a movie that’s more memorable because the audience doesn’t get what it wants. And he’s had to debate it with many people since—including future U.S. President Donald Trump after an early New York screening of the film.

“He didn’t say, ‘How are you? Nice job,’ he said, ‘Let me tell you how you could have made a better movie.’ Honest to God, this is what he said,” Shelton says. “‘You can go into the editing room where they do those things, I know all about those things, and you can redo it so it goes in the hole and he wins. You make a lot more money, it’s a bigger hit.’ And I start to say my speech for all those people who say that. I say, ‘If Humphrey Bogart walks away with Ingrid Bergman,’ he turns around and he walks away with Marla and I never even got to Casablanca. That’s my Donald Trump moment.”

Thankfully, Shelton wouldn’t be swayed on this, and the world got its Tin Cup moment. One that he compares to the ending of another classic sports movie to further convey his point.

“If Rocky Balboa beats Carl Weathers, nobody believes it,” Shelton said. “He goes 15 rounds and it makes the movie work. It’s a fairytale about survival. And in that, it’s a triumph. These are important to me. You can’t win the game and win the girl. You can have one, you can’t have both—which is true in all my movies.”

But none of his other movies involves a climactic scene in which the protagonist does the same thing over and over—and over and over—and over and over again. To pull that off required some cinematic magic—from different viewpoints to different perspectives of other characters witnessing the action.

“You make it interesting in a number of ways,” Shelton explains. “First of all, you shoot the hell out of it. In other words, there are so many camera angles so that you’re never repeating what you saw exactly. And the ball flies into the water in different ways, it rolls back, it does this and it does that. . . . So you have these little things going on to keep it not repetitive.”

That’s not to say it didn’t get repetitive for Costner and those extras in the gallery—most of whom had no clue about the unexpected plot twist.

“I had enough of that hole after a day shooting there,” said Costner Deerwood’s 13th hole, which is actually a long par 4. “You know, because there are some people who don’t know the storyline and they go, ‘He’s just not going to get it across there!’ ‘That’s the script, lady. Just stick around and I’m going to hole this thing.’”

• • • • •

A surplus of athletic star power doesn’t guarantee a great movie. Just ask anyone who saw “Space Jam 2.” You still need a great script, and that’s where longtime golf buddies Shelton and Norville came in. They didn’t only nail those big tournament scenes, but also what makes regular hackers come back to the course every weekend. Just listen to Roy describe the golf swing in a lesson with Molly early in the movie.

It’s moments like those that perfectly capture the average golfer’s obsession with the game. After all, what golfer hasn’t had moments of brilliance when it feels like everything’s clicking only to completely lose it by the next hole? Even Roy McAvoy, a character who openly declares himself a “legendary ball-striker” can become so desperate that he needs to turn to a collection of infomercial swing aids at one point. And to a sports psychologist, for that matter.

So where has it gone wrong for other golf movies? For starters, there’s a lack of authenticity and attention to detail. But Foster believes other films have also remained too loyal to the game instead of focusing on a great story or compelling characters.

He and Shelton consider “Caddyshack” a classic because it was less about golf and more about poking fun at the country club scene. “Tin Cup” aims to be a more balanced portrayal of golf and the PGA Tour, but it’s about much more than that. There are loyal friendships, fierce rivalries, and, yes, a love story.

Let’s be honest, if it was just a movie about a golf pro and not a romantic comedy, the film never would have been No. 1 in the box office. And while “Tin Cup’s” characters aren’t as outrageous as Ty Webb and Judge Smails, they resonate with audiences in their own ways.

“I don’t see Tin Cup as a golf movie. I see Tin Cup as a story about Roy McAvoy and Romeo and David Simms and Molly,” Foster says. “Golf is part of it, and we committed ourselves to be as accurate and authentic as we could with the golf. But I would say audiences like it not just for how authentic the golf is, but for the storytelling, the characters, the thematics.”

After all, how realistic is it that a middle-age man working at a driving range could suddenly decide to give serious golf one more try and nearly win a major championship just a few months later? And that he would do something no one in golf history at the time had ever done: Shoot 62 in a major.

But it seems believable because of how everything is framed—and, yes, in part because of a familiar voice telling that underdog story.

Incredibly, Jim Nantz’s memorable monologue describing McAvoy making history was actually delivered far, far away from the cameras months after filming had ended.

“We did not have a sound-proof booth so I sat in the backseat of my rental car near the CBS truck,” Nantz said. “Gary Foster showed me a clip of McAvoy shooting 62 and said, ‘How would you handle that? What would you say if you were sitting on that moment?’ And basically I just gave him 20 seconds with the historical perspective that, ‘No one had shot 62 in a major, but now the record belongs to Roy McAvoy.’”

• • • • •

Releasing a movie is kind of like hitting a golf shot. A lot of preparation goes into it, but once it leaves your hands, it’s out of your control. Like Foster said, “Tin Cup” did well. But a slightly different timing could have turned it into a true blockbuster.

Although Shelton says the film benefitted a bit from the Tiger effect once it was released internationally, he estimates the box office take would have doubled had the movie been released in August of 1997 instead of 1996. You know, after Woods had won the Masters and set off that golf boom. It so happens “Happy Gilmore,” which was released in February of 1996 and only made about half what “Tin Cup” did, just missed the Tiger bump as well.

That being said, money isn’t the only way a movie’s success is measured by—especially one that came out a quarter-century ago. For those, there’s a more important question: Does it stand up over time?

While “Tin Cup” never quite reached Oscar-level status with critics, I was happy to find it just as watchable when I was prepping for this project as it was when I was in high school. And I can confirm it even checks the box for a movie night with the wife. Although, I had to hide that I was getting choked up when McAvoy finally holes that 3-wood, the crowd goes crazy, and the CBS crew is in disbelief, all to the stirring score by William Ross cranks up. Gets me every time.

Yes, there’s a part of me that always wants McAvoy to play it safe on that final hole, but that’s not the point. And perhaps no one understands that better than someone who has played golf at the highest level.

“I think there’s a lot of us on the tour that saw us in him,” McCord said. “We didn’t try to make fun of the game or anything, we made fun of ourselves and our ability to withstand this bombardment of negative reaction for our whole entire life and try to produce something positive. I mean, it’s a perfect movie for that. Because you knew at the end he was going to screw up. He always screwed up. And we all know we’ve screwed up and we’re going to do it at the end when it counts the most.”

McCord’s own Tin Cup moment a decade before wound up being one of the most memorable sports scenes in cinematic history. But obviously those involved with the movie, including the Hollywood star it helped heal, will remember a lot more than that.

“It was a lot of fun . . . And Don (Johnson) made it fun for me. I’ll never forget him, because he made it fun for me,” Costner said. “And he’s a protective guy and therefore, I was protective of him. And the guy who made it all work was Shelton, because he’s protective of both of us. . . . He loves his players like a manager loves his players. He’ll get thrown out of a game to raise my game.”

Nantz recalls Costner trying to raise his game as an actor. And he says the team effort helped create many lasting friendships—in addition to a lasting movie.

“You know, it’s been 25 years, but in many ways, the memories are so vivid it feels like it was a couple weeks ago,” Nantz said. “It was easily one of the five favorite things I’ve ever experienced in my career—if you call it part of my job or business. It wasn’t anything like work, obviously. This was just a group of friends getting together, trying to contribute to a film that we knew going in had tremendous potential. And coming out of it, we found out the world loved it—and the world still loves it 25 years later.”

But the world never got to see a “Tin Cup” sequel. Not that one wasn’t discussed. And even written. Shelton and Norville’s “Cup at Q School” would have followed Roy McAvoy as he tried to earn his PGA Tour card. Costner was in, and things got serious enough for Shelton to spend a week at the final stage of the tour’s 2006 qualifying event. But, alas, it never came to fruition. At least, not yet.

“There are moments, there are people you get to work with and you know you’re never going to forget it. And all you do is look for that moment to have it come back again,” Costner said. “And you know when that the moment that the writing matches up with what you believe the most, I can’t wait to get back with Ron again when it all matches up.”

Regardless of whether it happens, the two made an indelible mark on an entire sport. How many movies can say that?

If you’re a golfer, it’s impossible not to know what it means to pull a “Tin Cup.” Heck, you don’t even have to have seen the movie to get some of its references. “Tin Cup” has been a Jeopardy clue multiple times, and has been referenced in TV shows from “Friends” to “Parks & Rec” to “Billions.”

And then there are the more obvious connections. In a video that went viral of Bryson DeChambeau trying to drive the green at the 2021 Ryder Cup, a fan at Whistling Straits shouts, “Let the big dog eat!” It’s just one line Costner uttered in “Tin Cup” 25 years ago—and just one of the movie’s many moments that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

“Revenue aside, and I’m sure Warner’s made some good money, it’s part of the lexicon,” Foster said. “When you talk about golf movies, whether it’s “Caddyshack” or “Tin Cup,” those are really the two and they’re two different kinds of movies. And as long as golf is being played, “Tin Cup” will always be talked about. You can’t ask for any more than that.”

The post The inside story of how ‘Tin Cup’ became a classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

No deal is imminent, he said, but the former CBS announcer has had two meetings with LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, and a third meeting, via Zoom, is on his docket this week.

“You always have to listen to what someone has to say when they are interested in offering you a job, especially at my age,” McCord, who turned 74 in May, said by phone from his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. “I’m basically rounding third here, career-wise, and it’s kind of nice to have the phone ring.”

A former PGA Tour player and three-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions, McCord used his wry humor and irreverence to carve out a successful broadcasting career with CBS Sports over four decades starting in 1986. CBS opted to not renew his contract after the 2019 season. He currently co-hosts a weekly programme on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio called “The Dry Heave” with former CBS colleague David Feherty and Drew Stoltz.

LIV Golf made official on Friday what had been rumored for days when it announced that Feherty, who had been working for NBC, has joined its broadcast team. It is not yet known if Feherty can continue on the PGA Tour’s radio programme. The tour has banned all players who have moved to the Saudi-backed series that will stage its third event in the coming week at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.

McCord did not disclose any potential financial terms being offered because he doesn’t know and doesn’t want to know. “I told my agent not to mention any numbers because I don’t want to make a decision just based on money,” he said. “You know me. There are all sorts of things going on in my head.”

What intrigues him, he said, is the potential for reuniting on air with Feherty, who has remained a close friend after the native of Northern Ireland left for NBC in 2016, and perhaps also working more closely with Charles Barkley, the popular NBA analyst for TNT. McCord and Barkley have previously teamed up as broadcast partners for a couple of editions of ‘The Match’, a series of made-for TV golf showdowns that have aired on TNT.

Barkley recently confirmed that he also has had discussions with LIV Golf.

“Yeah, I think it would be fun to ride in that clown car with those two,” McCord said, laughing. “There’s a lot of potential there for some entertaining ways of doing this. Right now, I’m just listening and taking it all in and seeing where this thing goes. Whatever your feelings right now about LIV — and everyone has their opinions — you can’t deny it’s the biggest thing going as far as what people are talking about, and it will be interesting to see what golf looks like in the next five years.”

You may also like:
Henderson hanging on at Evian Championship
Top agents still calling me: LIV Golf’s Greg Norman
Brooke leads the way at Amundi Evian Championship
Rory returns to BMW PGA at Wentworth
LIV Golf Bedminster: Ready for Round 3
WATCH: Matsuyama dumps three in lake on way to quadruple-bogey
Charley Hull and Nelly Korda in the mix at Amundi Evian Championship
Local lad Waring leads at Hillside
LPGA commissioner willing to talk to LIV Golf
LOOK: Home with ridiculous replica of Sawgrass’ 17th hole on market
Qatar’s Education City is perfect for golf and footy fans at World Cup
R&A gets greener at The Open
Remembering the greatest finish in golf — 30 years on
McGinley refuses to slate Ryder Cup mates for joining LIV Golf
Kokrak and Howell III join Stenson at LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster
Henrik Stenson removed as Ryder Cup captain
LOOK: Golf bag chaos at Scottish airport after The Open
Casey confirmed as LIV Golf Bedimster field revealed
Bryson back to ’97-98 per cent fitness’
LOOK: Then and now — The Old Course at St Andrews
Parting thoughts from the 150th Open Championship
Ryder Cup captain Stenson set for LIV Golf switch
2022 major winners accomplish historic first
Rory’s grim record at The Open
Cameron Smith’s awkward answer when asked about LIV Golf interests

The post Broadcaster Gary McCord in job talks with LIV as Feherty gears up for commentary debut at Bedminster appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
Having been out of the broadcasting game for more than a year, Gary McCord can be excused for not knowing some of the finer details of his latest assignment as an on-course reporter for “Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change” this Friday on TNT. For instance, he wasn’t quite sure if the third iteration of the franchise was to be played over nine or 18 holes.

Then he decided it didn’t really matter. “What the hell, you know me. I’ll talk for as long as they want me to talk,” the always-engaging septuagenarian said via phone from his home in Scottsdale.

Twitter would not find this fact in dispute.

For 35 years McCord was a wise-cracking one-liner machine for CBS Sports’ golf coverage until the network decided late last year to not renew his contract (or that of colleague and Scottsdale sidekick Peter Kostis). It was a sensational run for the former PGA Tour player who won twice on the PGA Tour Champions but truly found his calling once he stepped up to a microphone.

“The Match III” features five-time major champion Phil Mickelson teamed with TNT NBA commentator and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley against three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner. Proceeds primarily will benefit Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The first edition of “The Match” was staged the day after Thanksgiving two years ago when Mickelson defeated longtime rival Tiger Woods at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in a $9 million winner-take-all event. In May, Woods and Manning teamed up in a second edition, beating Mickelson and Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady at Medalist Club in Florida that raised money for COVID-19 relief.

McCord, 72, said the offer to work this event, which will be held within driving distance of his home at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Ariz., “came way out of left field.” He agreed to participate for one simple reason. “Well, I’m doing OK, I’m not dead, but I am kind of bored,” he said. “I’ve had a year off, so … you know that whole deal. This should be entertaining.”

McCord still plays plenty of golf, mainly at Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, a haven for tour players and current and former athletes. But he can’t help but think his gift for gab should be the gift he keeps giving. McCord will co-host a one-hour program next year on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. He also is teaming with Kostis and a few others on another entertainment project that he is not yet at liberty to disclose. His role, naturally, is to be “the creative guy.”

Well, of course. And he will try to be as creative as possible on Friday when Mickelson and crew are not trash talking to one another.

“That’s what we’re waiting to hear,” McCord said. “You know Phil is going to be in the middle of it. I was texting Charles during the telecast in May [Barkley was part of the broadcast crew] and told him he nailed it when he said, ‘We all have that friend who’s annoying; that’s Phil.’ So my deal is to prompt Phil when Charles drives into the desert and then just let him go.

“I’m not there to tell you, ‘Wow, he’s got an 8-iron from 180 yards.’ I’m there to step into the chaos and keep it going. I can still do that. I can do that all day.”

The post Gary McCord knows his role as he returns to golf broadcasting: ‘I’m there to step into the chaos and keep it going’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WE’RE BUYING

Tiger Woods: Remember when people were writing Tiger’s career obituary after that ugly first round at the Open in July? Even though he had won THE MASTERS just three months before? Whoops. Don’t underestimate this guy. Ever.

Ben Jared

Even after bogeying his first three holes on Thursday, he shot 64. Even after eating and getting stranded at a Domino’s on Friday, he shot 64 on Saturday. And even having to play 29 holes on Sunday, he maintained his lead and closed the deal on Monday for his 82nd career PGA Tour title, tying the great man he met when he was just a young Tiger cub drinking soda and already wearing red:

Aww, that’s adorable. But Tiger is now undefeated in official PGA Tour events since another special encounter:

Just saying …

Tiger Woods with a 54-hole lead: Viewers were more saturated with these stats than Narashino Golf Course after six inches of rain, but they can’t be pointed out enough. Woods is now 46 of 48 when it comes to closing out tournaments in which he holds at least a share of the 54-hole lead. That’s 96 per cent. And his conversion rate is a perfect 25 of 25 when entering the final round at least three shots in the lead. Amazing.

Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images

There are so many staggering stats surrounding Woods’ 82 wins (Here, I made you a handy guide), but his ability to hold a lead might be the most remarkable. Speaking of stats, Woods’ career winning percentage is an absurd 22.8. With three wins in his past 14 starts, though, his winning percentage during that span is 21.4. In other words, he’s still winning at a ridiculous rate, so be careful when writing him off next time.

Narashino Country Club’s drainage system: This was the golf course on Friday:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4CVArrBhWs/?utm_source=ig_embed

And they played the next day! Sure, the par-4 10th was shortened to a par-3 distance, but even Augusta National and its fancy subair system had to be impressed. Like all winners, Woods thanked the grounds crew during the trophy ceremony, but this time, he really meant it. Those guys were miracle workers.

WE’RE SELLING

McCord and Kostis: In a surprising shakeup, CBS didn’t renew the contracts of either Gary McCord and Peter Kostis, letting two longtime broadcasters go (McCord had worked with the network since 1986, Kostis since 1992) rather unceremoniously. “Bottom line, they fired me,” McCord told Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski. I’m sad to see them go, especially in this manner. Gary once signed a golf ball for me in a parking lot when I was in high school. And Peter, well, just look at him lugging all that equipment around!

He might be the hardest-working man in the golf biz(hub). But seriously, they will be missed.

Trying this Bubba Watson tee shot: To be clear, I’m fine with Bubba going for this. In fact, it’s one of the most creative and impressive shots of the PGA Tour season. Seriously, I can’t stop watching:

This is the CRAZIEST golf shot I have ever seen in my life!! Wait till the end!!!! @bubbawatson giving a new meaning to cutting the corner on the par 5 @zozochamp ? ? pic.twitter.com/UTHf0nfGl6

— Seb Carmichael-Brown (@sebcbrown4) October 27, 2019

But think of the copycats out there doing this at their own munis? Golf courses all over the world should probably think about adding internal out-of-bounds signs to prevent injuries.

Tiger’s win total: As cool as it was to watch Woods tie this longstanding record, in reality, he passed it long ago. As I’ve pointed out before, using the same criteria for Snead’s total (including team wins!), Tiger should now have 96 wins—meaning golf fans should be charged up about him CHASING 100 (sounds cooler, right?) than 82.

Toshifumi Kitamura

Hopefully, someday, a panel of golf historians will gather to comb through Woods’ record and make this adjustment like those assembled in the late 1980s to officially establish Snead’s mark. And if/when they do, I’ll be happy to help.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Shanghai for the WGC-HSBC Champions, AKA that tournament with a lot of letters in the title. Those not fortunate enough to qualify for the event will be playing in the inaugural Bermuda Championship (or taking the week off altogether like Tiger).

Random tournament fact: Carlos Franco, Joey Sindelar and Paul Stankowski are among those in the Bermuda Championship field. Yes, it’s still 2019.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Bubba would try something like that at Augusta National (Maybe on No. 18?): 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Tiger Woods is picking himself for the Presidents Cup team: LOCK

—No one in Shanghai or Bermuda will ever threaten Tiger’s 82 wins: Also a LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The bizarre scene caused by no spectators allowed on the grounds for Round 2 Saturday in Japan was a no-brainer:

Tiger on the 1st tee with no fans in the grandstands is not something you see often… pic.twitter.com/tufJnEopTB

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) October 26, 2019

Although, this spectator shot is pretty good too …

Interesting gallery East Lake. pic.twitter.com/4cS9ic82xE

— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) October 28, 2019

Go Deacs!

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

We’ve seen plenty of Tiger golf clinic videos before, but probably never quite the reactions he drew from these Japanese fans:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4C_WV-lqhZ/?utm_source=ig_embed

And how about this video of Tiger nearly being taken out by a microphone?!

Mic check. Testing 1, 2. pic.twitter.com/cm4UHN5xHS

— Skratch (@Skratch) October 24, 2019

To think, he might still be “Chasing 82” if that had hit him a bit harder. Scary stuff. Let’s all promise to handle this guy with a little more care, OK?

QUOTE(S) OF THE WEEK

“I think the player definitely got the captain’s attention.” —Tiger Woods on the prospects of making himself a playing captain. Good answer, but Gary Woodland might have topped it when asked if Tiger should pick himself for Team USA. “If he doesn’t, that’s … dumb.” Good call, Gary.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

https://twitter.com/golf_strange/status/1188906036238999553

A classy, sharp, and self-deprecating tweet from the guy who has been ridiculed through the years for saying “You’ll learn” to a young Tiger Woods during an infamous interview. Well played, Curtis. Of course, I’d expect nothing less from a fellow Wake Forest alum.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Golden Tate showed his love of Golf—and Golf Digest!—on his cleats:

Bringing my love for golf to the football field! ? made by: @MACHE275 #gamedaycleats #cleatheat #custom pic.twitter.com/VwIlhnHZDk

— Golden Tate (@ShowtimeTate) October 27, 2019

As if I needed another reason to like this New York Giants wide receiver.

THIS WEEK IN PGA TOUR-WAG PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (AND HALLOWEEN SPIRIT)

While Woods was winning in Japan, golf’s injured superstars were hanging out at quite the Halloween bash in Jupiter, Fla. Here’s Brooks Koepka invoking a classic Justin Timberlake “SNL” sketch and Jena Sims going with the classic “devil” look (What percentage of women dress as devils or cats? 80? 90? Tiger with a 54-hole lead?):

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Gvu8BBO3T/?utm_source=ig_embed

And how about Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky with a nod to “Semi-Pro”?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Ky6D9nf_w/?utm_source=ig_embed

Austin Johnson and Sam Maddox went as cops:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4LBIrCptyO/?utm_source=ig_embed

And not to be outdone, Tori Slater, went as Julia Roberts from “Pretty Woman” while boyfriend Daniel Berger played in Japan:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4K_UJrg700/?utm_source=ig_embed

Too bad, because Daniel could have pulled off a good Richard Gere:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOnglU7jCZK/?utm_source=ig_embed

I hope that didn’t cost the couple the party’s best costume prize! Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I’m not wearing a Halloween costume for about the 20th consecutive year, but my 19-month-old daughter is dressing up as a dog because she’s obsessed with dogs. So check back next week for photos.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Wait … this can’t be right … Phil hasn’t posted anything on social media in more than a week? Has anyone checked on him lately?

THIS WEEK IN EDDIE BEING EDDIE

Eddie Pepperell is doing everything he can to find Martin Kaymer a girlfriend, including signing him up to appear on a British reality TV show called “First Dates.”

It’s now my life goal to find our Dear Martin the love of his life ? https://t.co/FhdCkgxrjw

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) October 25, 2019

What a great friend.

THIS AND THAT

The United States Postal Service will honour Arnold Palmer with a commemorative stamp in 2020. Considering how much money on postage he is said to have spent responding to fans, no one has ever been more deserving of such an honour. … Congrats to Ha Na Jang, who made a rare LPGA cameo in her home country and won the BMW Ladies Championship. She’s still got it after leaving the LPGA Tour two years ago. Then again, she’s only 27 so her still having “it” isn’t too surprising. … Congrats to Steven Brown, who was on his way to Q School for the seventh time in eight years before stunning the field at the Portugal Masters for his first career European Tour title. But has he done anything to help Martin Kaymer’s love life? … And a special congrats to the 30 PGA Tour pros who made Golf Digest’s latest Nice Guys list. With a top three of Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, and Jordan Spieth, who says nice guys finish last?

Stan Badz

Well, Spieth finished pretty far down the board in Japan, but you get the point. …

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Will I ever wear a Halloween costume again?

Who will inherit the Konica Minolta Bizhub Swing Vision Camera?

Seriously, is Phil Mickelson OK?

The post Tiger Woods’ record-tying win, Brooks Koepka’s bold Halloween costume, and the craziest tee shot in PGA Tour history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
On Tuesday, CBS Sports announced that it has hired Davis Love III as one of its golf analysts, beginning in 2020, with Love’s debut coming at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January. He’ll also work the Masters, the PGA Championship and a number of other PGA Tour events. The news comes after the network parted ways with analysts Peter Kostis and Gary McCord.

That Love was hired is hardly a surprise, given his close friendship with CBS golf producer Lance Barrow, whom he has known for decades. But what will Love’s role at the network look like? Will he be in the booth, or on the course? Will he continue to play? What kind of analyst will he be?

Love, 55, said that his playing days aren’t over yet—the 21-time tour winner and 1997 PGA Championship winner is teeing it up at this week’s inaugural Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour and is expected to play in other events as the schedule allows—but noted that his focus has “fully shifted” to doing television.

“I don’t know what my role is going to be yet; we’re going to figure it out,” Love told Golf Digest. “I thought at first that sitting in the tower would be easier, but maybe it’s walking. I won’t know until we practice.”

Which is exactly what Love and CBS will do over the next couple of months before his debut. Much like it did with Tony Romo for its football telecasts, the network will put Love through a boot camp of sorts, Love says, between now and the end of the year, with he and other members of the broadcast team watching tape, practicing and familiarizing themselves with working together and the mechanics of calling golf on television.

“I’m excited about that,” Love said. “They’re not just going to throw me to the wolves.”

As quickly as the news was announced that Love would be joining CBS after the contracts of Kostis and McCord weren’t renewed over the weekend, getting the Hall of Famer and two-time Ryder Cup captain on the team was something that had been in the works for years.

An admitted “TV geek,” Love has long been someone who has enjoyed hanging out at the production truck whenever he could during his years on tour. He’s also had what he figures are “hundreds” of dinners with Barrow. The two are so close that one person from another network said they weren’t even going to bother approaching Love about doing TV because it was assumed he was going to work with Barrow if and when the time came.

They were right.

When Love needed season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip in 2016, he started talking more seriously with Barrow about doing television. Then came a hip-replacement surgery in 2017. Love had also done work for CBS’ digital property at the Masters in recent years when he wasn’t playing in the tournament, and in the last few years, he said he has been watching the on-course television reporters and what they were doing, looking at how they positioned themselves while he was playing in tournaments.

“I knew that eventually I wanted to do it,” Love said. “I just didn’t know when. We’d been in talks for the last three years. It was just a matter of if I was ready to slow down [playing] and were they ready to make changes.”

During that time, Love began watching golf differently, too, analyzing what announcers and analysts were—and sometimes weren’t—saying, and when. He did the same with other sports, particularly football and baseball, taking mental notes on how Romo transitioned from the field to the booth alongside his now soon-to-be partner Jim Nantz, and how former pitcher John Smoltz, another friend who went from playing games to analyzing them, applied his knowledge of baseball and its players to the telecast.

So what kind of analyst will Love be?

“That’s one of the first questions that came up,” he said. “I have opinions. I just have to learn when to say things. [Retired NBC analyst] Johnny [Miller] was really good at [what to say and when to say it]. I learned a lot by watching him. My only problem is that I have to get my thoughts more concise.”

Don’t expect Love to be another Miller, though. Johnny was one of a kind.

That doesn’t mean Love won’t be critical when a moment warrants it, though.

“Even watching Tiger this past weekend [at the Zozo Championship], I was wondering why someone maybe didn’t say certain things,” he said. “And there have been times when I’ve called the truck when they missed something.”

It should help, too, that Love has relationships with many of today’s young players, through his two stints as Ryder Cup captain, the tour’s RSM Classic, which he is host of at Sea Island Golf Club, and through his 25-year-old son, Dru.

“I know the courses and the players, and there might be a situation when I might have played with a guy the week before and saw he was struggling with his chips, so I’ll be able to convey that,” Love said. “I’ll know what’s going on. That’s why Romo is so good. He went right from playing to the booth, and I’m going to talk to him about how I transfer that knowledge to the fans. He’s one of the best at it.”

To CBS, so is Love.

“Davis is one of the most accomplished and respected players in the game of golf,” Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, said in a statement. “With his playing experience, reputation and relationships across the golf community, he brings a unique perspective and insight that will enhance our broadcasts. Davis is the perfect fit for CBS, and we look forward to him making the best broadcast team in golf even better.”

The post TV boot camp awaits Davis Love III as he explains why he decided to join CBS and get into broadcasting appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
CBS Sports is seeking to shake up its golf presentation. Days after news broke that it was not renewing the contracts of analysts Peter Kostis and Gary McCord, the network has added a new voice to its lineup.

On Tuesday, CBS announced that Davis Love III is joining as a full-time analyst for the Masters, PGA Championship and PGA Tour coverage. Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski broke the news on Monday that Love, who is close friends with CBS golf producer Lance Barrow, was in the mix for a position.

“I have long considered CBS Sports the gold standard in golf coverage,” Love said in a statement. “Whether playing or coaching, I have always loved the team aspect of golf, and I am thrilled to now be a member of the best team in television.”

Love is one of the more respected personalities in the sport. A 21-time tour winner and 1997 PGA champ, Love has served as captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team twice and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

Love said his playing days are not necessarily over—he’s in the field at this week’s alternate-event Bermuda Championship—but while he will play selective tournaments, his focus is “fully shifted” to broadcasting. Love, 55, will make his CBS debut at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open in January.

“Davis is one of the most accomplished and respected players in the game of golf,” said Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, in a statement. “With his playing experience, reputation and relationships across the golf community, he brings a unique perspective and insight that will enhance our broadcasts. Davis is the perfect fit for CBS, and we look forward to him making the best broadcast team in golf even better.”

The post Davis Love III to join CBS Sports golf team in wake of Peter Kostis, Gary McCord departures appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/episode-100-gary-mccord

The post Golf Digest Podcast: Gary McCord puts Spieth’s success in context, explains the origin of his legendary mustache and reflects on his TV career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.