Betsy King - Part 2 (1987 & 1990 Dinah Shore and the 1989 and 1990 Women’s U.S. Open)

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Four. Straight down the middle.

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It went straight down the middle. Then it started to...

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Well, there are a whole lot of Hall of Famers you were competing with in this era. You know, as we get in the 80s and the prize money is up substantially from the previous decade. Thanks in large part to Colgate Palmolive, David Foster PERSON, the whole thing with the Dinah Shore beginning in 1972. So the game had really changed. And then, you know, Nancy Lopez, who many kind of describe as the LPJ ORG's Arnold Palmerat the time emerges. But you've got Pat Bradley, Amy, Beth, Julie, Patty Shee, and Hollis-Stacey PERSON. You've got some great players you're up against every week.

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Yeah, yeah. I had somebody email me one time and said that the 1980s was the golden age of the LPGA ORG, only from the standpoint that there were more Hall of Famers playing in that decade than in any other decade in history of the tour. Yeah.

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And so it was fun to be a part of that.

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And when I look at all those players, they were all athletes, not just great golfers. They all were athletes in other sports. And it was almost like because golf or tennis were the only two avenues at the time that you could play professionally, it was these athletic women choosing, well, I'm going to try to make it in golf or tennis

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because those are my only options. So I really think that was one of the reasons that they performed at such a high level

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was because they weren't just golfers, they were athletes.

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So, Bruce, we go from 1984 where Betsy was player of the year and the leading money winner with three wins, three wins in 85, two wins in 86, which finished up with her going back to back at the rail with that closing 63. And now we get into 1987, a Verre trophy winner and four more wins that year.

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Yeah, what a year. And started off at the Circle K in Tucson at Randolph, Golf. winner and four more wins that year. Yeah, what a year. And started off at the Circle K and Tucson at Randolph Golf Club, where you beat Jan Stevenson by two. I do remember that.

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The last day it hailed when we were playing. Nice.

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You know, this hail storm came through

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And I think I made On one hole I made about a 45 foot or literally You know, cross the green when it was hailing But yeah, that was always a fun event I had the couple that I used to stay with down there I still keep in touch with them to this dayAnd it was, you know, it was a we played on a public golf course

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Good one too. Randolph Park FAC was a nice course.

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Guys played on that at one time. Yeah.

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And so it was fun.

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And it was kind of right in the middle of town. And it was a fun event to play.

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Let's talk about major number one, Bruce PERSON.

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That's right. Six of them. But the first one comes at the Nabisco Dinosaur FAC.

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Guess what? In another playoff. Okay. Okay. Right. Panny Shee PERSON. Yeah, I, again, I mean, I just have had a

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couple times that it's just ended up in the playoff. And I believe on the 16th hole in the regulation,

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I hold it from the bunker.

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I had hit it right into the bunker and I hit a really nice bunker shot.

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It was going to be close if it didn't go in. It was just trickling and it trickled right into the hole for Bertie PERSON. And I wasn't paired with Patty PERSON, but then, of course, we started the playoff and we started it on 15, which was a par four, tight par four. And I actually drove it to the right in the trees where I just had to pitch it back to the fairway. And I know I had like 90 yards to the flag.I get it up and down for par.

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And then end up winning with a par on the 16th hole the next hole in the

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playoff i think patty three putted and i made par to win yeah she three putted from 15 feet

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and bruce if i recall that might have been her mulligan that uh and you'll have

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remember us well we'll ask you this later betsy one of our questions will be you can you got

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plenty time to think about that.

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But that might have been, that might have been her Mulligan PERSON, was that put on that hole.

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But, yeah, you were the 54-hole leader with Pat Bradley, who finished solo third, one back.

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And then Patty closes with a 65 to kind of get into the playoff with you.

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So, but you held your own,

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opened with three straight birdies at that last round

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before holding that shot on 16.

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Okay.

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Yeah, I didn't remember that.

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You remember what Laura Davies PERSON did that tournament?

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Probably not.

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I do not.

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She led and opened with the 66.

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Of course, nobody really knew her at the time, right?

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Okay, yeah.

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She then went on to win the Women's U.S. Open later that year.

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I was going to say she won the open in New Jersey GPE.

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And I think that was her.

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And I think we ended up changing the rules so that she could become a full member of the tour.

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You know, if anyone won on tour, they could automatically become a member.

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Become a member, yeah.

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Before that, that rule didn't exist.

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Yeah, that's exactly right.

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Well, anyway, how did that first major feel?

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Did that change anything for you?

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Yeah, no, obviously winning that, yeah, it just kept momentum going.

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And as I say, you know, what I remember was just the hole in the bunker shot

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and then the turnaround in the playoff where it looked, again, like Patty PERSON was going to win.

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I mean, I'm 90 yards from the hole in two, and she's, you know, 20 feet from the hole in two and she's 20 feet from the hole in two.

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So, and it just turned around.

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Well, that wasn't the last time you guys were going to meet.

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Yeah, I think we were paired together in the open that I won. We were paired in the last round together.

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Yeah, we'll talk about that. So finishing up in 87, Bruce, we got the McDonald's championship at DuPont ORG.

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And DuPont was the site, as some people recall, of 11 straight LPGA ORG championship.

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So if you like DuPont Country Club, you might have been able to bag a few LPGAs WORK_OF_ART there.

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Yeah, that was a, again, I would say I would sometimes drive back and forth from Reading GPE, depending on my tea time.

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And then other times I stayed with a family friend, you know, close by if I had an early time.

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And so it was a fun event for me because my parents would always come to watch that event. I did like the golf course there. McDonald's ORG, that was, it wasn't a major for a while. It became a major later on. But at the time, even though it wasn't a major, for a number of years, it was our largest purse on the tour.It was kind of a fight between the Dinosaur and the Biscoe Dinosaur and McDonald's ORG as to which was the largest purse. So it definitely was a great event to win. And it was a lot of fun for me to play. And just because I always had a lot of support there from not only friends and family that came down from Reading GPE, but also, you know,because I was quote kind of local, I had a lot of fan support too.

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So you finished the year off that year, in 87 at the Atlantic City LPGA Classic EVENT, or commonly known as ShopRite at Sea View Marriott Resort FAC, where you beat Nancy Lopez by three shots. Okay.

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Yeah, that was another course that I liked a lot. And Sea View, it's an old Donald Ross ORG course. It's not particularly long, but you have to keep the ball in play. It has very small green. So I always felt as though if you were a good iron player, that you'd be rewarded that week.And it was just one of my favorite courses to play on tour. And I won that event three times, twice at Sea View and once when we played at another course called Great Bay FAC. But it was, it was a fun event again to play. And the course that we played, the Donna Ross FAC course there,

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it's a little bit lengthy, which I like to. to. Yeah. Yeah. We go to 88 now and three more wins. You open up again, the second one at the Women's Kempter Open, this time at Princeville

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on Kauai by one over Beth Daniel PERSON. And you're not afraid to go low, are you? I don't know. Did I play? That might have been the year. We had so much rain.I don't know that the first round got canceled entirely. And then the next round, we could only play 16 of the 18 holes. Because one hole was still, you know, too waterlogged. And then the other hole that was beside it, it would have been logistically hard to get down there. So we just played a 16-hole round of golf.

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So there's only 16 holes.

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And then, of course, the last two rounds were then, you know, 18 holes each. So it was a 52-hole event instead of 72 holes.

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So that might be why the score is so low there, Mike.

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Yeah, maybe that's why you opened with a 63, huh?

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Yeah, yeah.

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There's minus two holes.

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One was a par three and one was a par four that we skip the first day.

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Yeah, okay.

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I should try that trying to break 80 sometime.

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Yeah, yeah, I like that idea.

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And in fact, I think because of that, Kemper moved the tournament back to Maui the next year.

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Because the pro-am had gotten canceled.

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We had to go put in the lobby of the hotel.

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They put together a putting course that we played.

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Is that right?

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Yeah, yeah.

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So we went back to Maui the next year at Wai'eia GPE at that end of the island.

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Yeah.

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Well, you come back to Illinois GPE.

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You must have liked the rail.

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Third time, this time over Margaret Ward, three wins and four years there.

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Okay, okay.

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Yeah, you know, again, you know, when you're comfortable, you know, I was staying in housing right on the course by that time that people that, you know, as I said it.

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And I also represented the rail for a little bit.

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And so we had a party afterwards.

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That was one that my parents often came to to watch.

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I believe they saw all my wins there. So that was fun to do.

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Hear that? That's the sound of a walk-off albatross, a two on a par five to win a two-day

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golf tournament. That shot happened to me. One in 600 million odds. Since then, people call me Albi PERSON. Now, I've told this story so often, my friends can't take it. I'm pretty sure my wife next time I tell her she's going to leave me. So I decided to start a podcast to tell the entire world about it. Because it deserves it. It's the craziest shot you've never heard of. And guess what?There's tons more stories like this all around golf. And that's what our podcast is all about. Join me and my fellow degenerates, Panda and Shepherd as we dive into them. Insane vets, crazy what-if scenarios and all that you had to be there type moments in golf. Find us wherever you get your podcast. Did I tell you about Malbatross PERSON?Yeah, yeah.

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And then you finish up in 1988, the Cellular One Ping Golf Championship, and that was a win by one over Colleen Walker PERSON.

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Okay.

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Yeah, I think I had a chip in coming down the stretch. One of the last

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two or three holes that maybe gave me the lead, and then I ended up winning. And that

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year we played at Riverside. At one point, we used to go back and forth between Columbia

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Edgewater and Riverside. And both of those courses were really nice. I always enjoyed playing in Portland. The courses that we got to play there were really good and I enjoyed being there. Yeah. Well, you know, Bruce PERSON and I talk a

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lot with our guests about what's going on inside the ropes. Occasionally we'll see gaps in careers and ask people what happened and the answer always is, well, life was happening. But for you,

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no breaks. I mean, you're just on a 10-year role here. But describe, life was happening. Oh, okay. But for you, no breaks.

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I mean, you're just on a 10-year role here. But describe what life was like. You're now a major winner. You've got several wins in your belt. You're over a million dollars in career earnings at this point. So what was life like on tour right then?

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You know, golf's interesting because even when you're playing well,

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you still feel like there's ups and downs. You feel like you're struggling, you know, at times. Um, you know, my best year was the year we're going to talk about next 1989. And, um, you still, even at the top of your game, you, you, you don't feel like you play well all the time and kind of feel like you're always

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battling it. I mean, golf's such a challenging game that way. And for me, I often felt that way.

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I mean, there are a few days where you start on the range and your timing just happens to work out

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really well and you think, gosh, I'm going to play really well. But then I've had it opposite where I've hit it horribly on the range and then, you know,

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got to the course and it just turned around somehow.

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Anyway, it's golf.

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That's why we love the game.

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I was playing golf this week with the guy that, you know, he'd hit a good shot and he'd go,

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great game we fell in love with.

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Yeah, but it can turn on you quite quickly.

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Oh, certainly can.

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I mean, I've seen players that, I mean, even today, there's been a couple players that Yanni

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sang that seemed unbeatable.

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And then next thing you know, she can't, isn't playing well.

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I think that happened maybe with Ian Baker-Finch PERSON, where he played so well.

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Sure did.

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And then it just went down the tubes quickly.

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You just never know.

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You just never know.

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Yep.

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And we covered that in great detail with Ian PERSON on an earlier show, you know.

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Yeah.

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He found himself chasing distance, which a lot of people are trying to do these days.

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Very much so.

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Very much so.

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So you mentioned that 89 was your best year.

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Six wins in 1989, Jamaica Classic, Women's Camper, USX, McDonald's, Nestle, and, of course, your second major at the Women's U.S. Open EVENT.

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But what a way to start.

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You go down to trial golf club down in Jamaica and you beat Nancy Lopez by one there.

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Yeah, that was kind of one of the ones where I was

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felt like I was struggling on the range. And I remember distinctly standing over the put on the first hole and the way they had it, they changed the way that we played the holes. And so the first hole was a par three. And I didn't hit a particularly good shot. And I had about a 40 foot put. And I remember thinking to myself, I wonder what kind of year this is going to be. And I made it for birdie, shot 63 and, you know, won the tournament. And I didn't feel very confident going in. I felt like I wasn't hitting it very well.I was kind of questioning. I remember praying, Lord, if you want me to do something else, let me know.

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Yeah, really?

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That's amazing. And I also remember standing over that putt and saying what kind of years is going to be, and I made it. And I do remember being paired with Nancy. And actually actually Ray, you know, Knight PERSON was cadding for that week. So it was, it was a great win for me, certainly. Yeah, it was going to be a player of

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the year year is what it was going to be. Yeah. Meeting money winner and winning six

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times. So not a bad year. Interesting thought though early on. Yeah, yeah, very much so.

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But, yeah, and I was hot at the beginning.

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I think I won three out of the first eight events on the tour.

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And I said, gosh, I'm doing better than most of the baseball players in terms of my batting average.

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I'm three for eight, you know?

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Yeah, that's right.

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That's pretty good. You had the second win was your third at the Wimpsi Kempropra FAC. And this again in Princeville, and this was by two over Jane Geddes PERSON. So you went back to back there. Okay.

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Yeah. And again, you know, once you play well on a course, you certainly have confidence. But, you know, Princeville had at that time, there were three nine-hole courses. And I think we didn't necessarily play the same two nines each time. We switched, I believe, one of the years.

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But it was, you know, how can you get upset when you go to Hawaii?

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It was always a great place to go.

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And because it was telecast on NBC, we had like a one o'clock finish time on the weekend.

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So we played really early, you know, so we could finish by, you know, six o'clock East Coast time, right?

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So, you know, so we're done playing.

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And I remember, you know, going on a rafting trip, you know, in the afternoon.

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And because you have time, you know, because you were done so early.

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I mean, even as a leader, you're teeing off at 8 o'clock in the morning, you know, just because of the early finish for TV.

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Wouldn't you both prefer that to just to get out of the box early in the morning rather than sitting around as a leader for seven, eight hours?

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Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely.

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Yeah.

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So the next win was down in Florida, Pasadena Golf Club ORG.

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This was the USX Golf Classic in a playoff with Lynn Adams PERSON, another playoff win.

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Right, right.

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And we actually had played at Pasadena when I first was on tour.

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And so that was one of the courses that the LPGA had played for years and years.

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It's a nice old golf course. I think it's been redone since we were there. But I remember playing Lynn PERSON in the playoff. They had actually redone one or two of the holes. And I believe the playoff was on one of the holes that they had redone at the time. And my brother at that time was going to law school at Stetson ORG, which was right there.And he actually was renting an apartment that was on the golf course at Pasadena GPE.

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It was right across from the law school.

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So I stayed with my brother that week. And it was fun.

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It worked out pretty good. Then you win uh win the mcdonalds again for the second time at dupon country club beat pat bradley and shirley furlong by two

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shots and i what i remember from the last round was that shirley had a a pretty quick start i think she birded two of the first four holes and was leading. And then I was just trying to hang in there. And then as the round went on, you know, Shirley PERSON faltered a little bit. And I had a couple birdies somewhere along the way and managed to win.

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So you liked the DuPont Country Club. You must have had some close finishes in the LPJ ORG. I would have thought you might have had a couple of wins there in the LPJ Championship, having been contested there 11 years in a row. Did you have some close calls there?

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You mean when it became the LPGA championship? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, they ended up moved, well, no, I guess I didn't. And then right at the end of my career, they moved the event to a course in Maryland GPE called

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Bully Rock. And so I played there like just one year at the end of my career. Yeah, I think they played,

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let's see, they played at DuPont beginning in 94. I think Laura Davies won the first time there, and it was there through 2004.

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Okay.

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Yeah, and then went to Bully Rock the following year.

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Right.

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I only played a bully.

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Like 2005 was the last year I played, so I did play bully rock that year.

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And then I think they played there maybe a couple more years,

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and then McDonald's

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left as a sponsor for the LPGA ORG.

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Okay. All right. Well, you want to talk about the 1989 Women's U.S. Open EVENT at Indianwood Golf

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and Country Club? Sure. I love the golf course. It's, they have two courses at Indianwood FAC,

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and we played the first,

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which was a classical course. Very well defined. They had some of the tall grass or heather. So,

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you know, you had to hit it offline to get it in there,

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but it could happen. I remember the 18th green was huge. I mean, I think it was 52 yards deep. And I, you know, had a good first round. I think I shot 67 maybe the first round and was leading or close to the lead.

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And then I know Patty PERSON and I were paired together going for the last round.

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And I can't remember if she was leading by a stroke or I was,

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but we were paired together the last day.

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And I played pretty well. But it really wasn't over in my mind until I hit my second shot on the green on number 18. Because I think, you know, I could have bogeyed the last hole and still won.

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And once when I was on the green in regulation, I knew I won.

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Again, I remember my parents were there at that one, so that made it special. And the Open EVENT, I don't know about you guys, but as a kid, I always said, okay, here's the put to win the U.S. O. To win the Open. And everybody does it. You know, maybe Bruce PERSON for you, it as a kid, I always said, okay, here's the putt to win the U.S. O.

Speaker 61365.44s - 1366.12s

To win the open.

Speaker 21366.5s - 1367.92s

And everybody does it.

Speaker 61368.04s - 1371.9s

You know, maybe Bruce for you, it was a British Open EVENT. I don't know. British Open EVENT, yeah.

Speaker 21372.06s - 1380.72s

Yeah, yeah. So that's probably the neatest part about winning a U.S. Open EVENT is, okay, I dreamed about doing this as a kid, and here I am actually.

Speaker 41380.88s - 1381.48s

Here I am.

Speaker 21381.58s - 1383.08s

So that made it fun.

Speaker 41383.66s - 1385.7s

So a question, was there water on the last hole?

Speaker 21386.32s - 1388.34s

I don't remember there being water.

Speaker 41388.6s - 1404.4s

Is there water there? I don't think so. I don't know. Okay. See, you had a four-shot lead, or I'm sorry, you won by four over Nancy Lopez PERSON, but we've asked a lot of guess this.How big a lead do you need without water on the last hole to be fairly comfortable coming in?

Speaker 21404.92s - 1407.62s

How big of a lead? If there's water, is that what you said?

Speaker 41407.62s - 1409.06s

No, no, if there's no water.

Speaker 21409.22s - 1410.16s

If there's no water.

Speaker 41410.44s - 1412.56s

Oh. I don't know.

Speaker 21412.72s - 1414.24s

I mean, well.

Speaker 31414.6s - 1415.58s

Two, three?

Speaker 41415.8s - 1416.1s

Yeah.

Speaker 31417.1s - 1421.88s

I mean, I think once you get on the green of regulation, you know, if you have a two-shot lead

Speaker 21421.88s - 1423.34s

or whatever, you figure out.

Speaker 31423.38s - 1423.96s

You're okay.

Speaker 41424.18s - 1429.06s

Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. You're okay. Yeah, yeah. So. Yeah, you were the co-leader with Patty after 54.

Speaker 21429.28s - 1462.98s

You led wire to wire, but you kind of fault a little bit at the end of your Saturday round, which probably frustrated you bit. Yeah, I think I remember that. I believe I bogeed 17 was a par three, and I think I might have made a bogey there. And then I can't remember if I bogeed 16 was a pretty good par four, I believe. And then 18 was the par four that just had a huge green, as I mentioned, with a lot of undulations.But, yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 11463.06s - 1465.44s

You kind of try to put that out of your mind.

Speaker 41465.82s - 1474s

It's tough that you do wrong. Well, you did because you lost four shots to par on the final four holes on Saturday.

Speaker 11474.1s - 1474.54s

Okay.

Speaker 41475.14s - 1484.14s

So now you're teamed up with Patty PERSON. You're tied in the opening round. And you go birdie par, birdie, birdie, birdie to start the round.

Speaker 11484.4s - 1484.92s

Okay.

Speaker 41486.5s - 1488.02s

If you say so.

Speaker 11490.56s - 1492.12s

You remember how much about the crowds?

Speaker 41492.26s - 1495.34s

Because this was the largest Sunday crowd ever in a U.S. Open EVENT at the time.

Speaker 11495.34s - 1495.44s

Was it really?

Speaker 41495.76s - 1496.16s

Okay.

Speaker 21496.7s - 1496.9s

Yeah.

Speaker 41497.12s - 1499.7s

You know, I mean, it seemed like it was well attended.

Speaker 21499.7s - 1505.88s

And then we went back there not too long after that because I believe Patty PERSON won it when we went back there.

Speaker 41506.08s - 1507.62s

She got her second open win there.

Speaker 21507.62s - 1513.6s

So it was kind of poetic justice really. And that's what I thought at the time when she did win it. Yeah.

Speaker 31513.88s - 1516.76s

And I think it was 1993 that we went back.

Speaker 41516.84s - 1518.54s

So that was just like four years later.

Speaker 31518.62s - 1523.08s

And I think one of the reasons that they went back was because it had been so successful in 80.

Speaker 21523.08s - 1523.28s

Right.

Speaker 41523.8s - 1524.04s

Yeah.

Speaker 31524.44s - 1524.64s

Yeah.

Speaker 41524.64s - 1531.18s

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You became the first in the LPGA to win $500,000 in a season coming out of that tournament.

Speaker 11531.42s - 1534.72s

Okay. I mean, it was a lot of money at the time.

Speaker 41534.82s - 1537.84s

It doesn't seem like much by today's standards, does it?

Speaker 11537.96s - 1538.26s

No.

Speaker 21538.4s - 1539.54s

It was a lot of money then.

Speaker 11539.72s - 1539.9s

Yeah.

Speaker 21539.98s - 1547.72s

And I think I was first to $5 million and $6 million, you know, for career earnings, I believe.

Speaker 41548.48s - 1548.88s

Yeah.

Speaker 21549s - 1551.08s

And maybe seven, but I'm not positive.

Speaker 41551.8s - 1559.08s

Well, as I mentioned, Nancy Lopez finishing second. This was her third runner-up finish at the U.S. Open EVENT, an event that she never won.

Speaker 21559.38s - 1573.9s

Yep, yep. And, you know, I remember her finish to Alice and Nicholas PERSON. That was, you know, in Portland where she was really close in that. And then she all, she finished second as an amateur in Atlantic City, I believe, to Sandra Palmer PERSON.

Speaker 01574.06s - 1577.34s

And that was the first U.S. Open EVENT that I'd ever played in.

Speaker 11577.42s - 1578.42s

I played as an amateur.

Speaker 01578.62s - 1580.9s

In fact, my real name is Mary Beth PERSON.

Speaker 21581.36s - 1588.88s

And I was listed on the, you know, the leader board, well, not leaderboard, but the scoring board is Mary Beth King PERSON.

Speaker 41589.06s - 1589.56s

Oh, okay.

Speaker 21590s - 1591.56s

All right. Yeah.

Speaker 41591.84s - 1595.66s

Yeah. Well, Bruce, she wasn't done winning yet in this year. No.

Speaker 61595.66s - 1598s

No, no.

Speaker 41598.22s - 1598.9s

It was not.

Speaker 61599s - 1606.52s

Nestle World Championship at the Stouffer Pine All Resort FAC by won over Pat Bradley and Patty Sheehan PERSON.

Speaker 21606.76s - 1609.66s

That's a good way to finish with your sixth victory.

Speaker 61609.88s - 1610.92s

Yeah, very much so.

Speaker 21610.98s - 1613.92s

And that one does have water on the last hole. I remember that.

Speaker 61614.84s - 1618.64s

It's, you know, you hit your approach shot over the water, par four.

Speaker 31619.2s - 1624.36s

It was, that was a good golf course, very hilly and challenging.

Speaker 61624.58s - 1627.3s

And the Nestle's World Championship EVENT, it had a limited field.

Speaker 21627.52s - 1630.24s

It's right on, the course was right on Lake Lanier LOC.

Speaker 31631.66s - 1642.5s

And so it was nice to play. In fact, I just played with two gentlemen from Atlanta this past week, and I found out they said that course doesn't exist anymore. Oh, okay.

Speaker 21642.94s - 1648.36s

Yeah, it was developed, and so it doesn't exist. Because it was pretty. Yeah, but it's, it was developed and so it doesn't exist because it was pretty because

Speaker 31648.36s - 1651.56s

it had a few holes that ran right along the lake.

Speaker 41652.06s - 1657.36s

So it was very, well, actually a few years ago, Lake Lanier LOC almost didn't exist.

Speaker 21657.84s - 1660.02s

Because it just got so low, right?

Speaker 41660.24s - 1661.48s

It just dried up?

Speaker 21661.74s - 1662.58s

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 41662.58s - 1663.6s

It was virtually amazing.

Speaker 61663.9s - 1666.28s

I think it's come back a little bit now, but anyway.

Speaker 21666.98s - 1668.28s

Well, let's go on in 1993.

Speaker 41668.28s - 1671.36s

Three wins, two of them majors. Yeah.

Speaker 61671.66s - 1672.52s

How about that?

Speaker 41672.84s - 1675.84s

Started off at Nabisco Dinosaur

Speaker 61675.84s - 1680.52s

where you won by two over Shirley Furlong and Kathy Postal PERSON weight.

Speaker 41680.64s - 1681.12s

Okay.

Speaker 11682.18s - 1686.04s

And I think that, I don't think I played particularly well the last day.

Speaker 61686.18s - 1689.38s

I think I might have shut 74 or something in the last round.

Speaker 21689.46s - 1690.86s

I don't know what it says, but.

Speaker 61691.86s - 1692.9s

75, actually.

Speaker 21692.9s - 1693.96s

95, okay.

Speaker 61694.52s - 1696.98s

Yeah, yeah. So at least I kind of remember that.

Speaker 21697.28s - 1714.18s

But, and I believe it might have been on Easter Sunday as well, which would have made it special. But, you know, just to win is to win, right? They never usually look at the scores unless you, you Bruce or you Mike.

Speaker 61714.76s - 1721.78s

Yeah. Well, you started off that last, you know, you led by five after 54 holes.

Speaker 21721.86s - 1726.34s

So you had a little bit of room there to play not so good and still win, which you did.

Speaker 11726.58s - 1726.92s

Okay.

Speaker 21727.78s - 1733.4s

And, you know, at that tournament, the wind was such a factor, too.

Speaker 11735.02s - 1738.9s

More of the first two days, because usually on the weekend, the tea times again,

Speaker 21738.9s - 1741.48s

because the TV were earlier. Earlier.

Speaker 11741.78s - 1746.22s

It was a two or three o'clock finish in the afternoon. But, you know, if the

Speaker 21746.22s - 1760.88s

wind came up, that often determined how the scoring went. And the predominant win, it played into your face on 17 and 18, always on the finish there. So that made it a challenge.

Speaker 41761.76s - 1770.24s

Yeah. You know, as we talked to some of the earlier pioneers on the LPGA ORG tour, those that played in the 50s, the title holders was their masters.

Speaker 21770.5s - 1770.9s

Okay.

Speaker 41771.1s - 1772.62s

This sort of became your master's.

Speaker 21772.72s - 1776.36s

Very much so, because, you know, we're on the same course every year.

Speaker 41776.36s - 1783.18s

It probably was the most well-known course that we played on, like that the fans were aware

Speaker 11783.18s - 1783.66s

of.

Speaker 21783.94s - 1808.36s

And, you know, early on with Dinah LOC's name attached to it, it kind of, you know, everybody just said the Dinah or the Dinah Shore LOC. And in fact, when I came on tour to qualify for that event, you had to finish in the top three of a tournament was how you got in. And it didn't matter what number you were on the money list or whatever it was. You had to finish in the top three of a tournament to get in. And it didn't matter what number you were on the money list or whatever it was. You had to finish in the top three of a tournament to get in.

Speaker 61808.92s - 1814.62s

So, I mean, people would kind of choke coming down the stretch when they had a chance. Yeah, I bet.

Speaker 21814.62s - 1820.42s

In the top three. Or if somebody did it, it was always like, hey, you're in Dinah LOC. Congratulations.

Speaker 61821.3s - 1846.12s

So it was definitely a very special event to get into. Yeah. The next victory for you had to be really, really something very special. You played very consistent golf. The U.S. Women's Open in 1990. But Patty Sheehan jumped out in that tournament and led by nine shots over you, yet you come back and win the tournament.

Speaker 21846.42s - 1846.58s

Yeah.

Speaker 61846.66s - 1847.46s

Fond memories.

Speaker 21847.62s - 1853.5s

Yeah, I don't know if she, well, the circumstances were the most unusual that I played in on the tour.

Speaker 61854.18s - 1861.32s

And I'm sure she mentioned this, but we played 36 holes the last day because of all the weather delays.

Speaker 21861.32s - 1868.06s

I actually finished my second round Friday night late because there were

Speaker 31868.06s - 1875.66s

rain delays, but half the field had not finished their second round. So Saturday, I didn't play at all,

Speaker 21876.3s - 1890.64s

and the other half of the field finished their second round. And then Sunday, we teed it up for 36 holes. And because we did that, they didn't repair between rounds. They didn't have time to do it. I mean, you came off course.

Speaker 31890.7s - 1894.6s

You had about 40 minutes between your third and fourth round.

Speaker 21895.36s - 1928.32s

And so I finished probably close to an hour before Patty PERSON's group came in. And, you know, looking back at it, had that been a normal event where she had just played the third round, you know, she didn't finish well, she could have gone home, slept on it, regrouped, and come back for the fourth round. But because of the circumstances, she didn't have the opportunity to do that, but just had to go back out and keep playing.I'm sure that was a big factor in how it worked out with me winning.

Speaker 41929.68s - 1935.16s

Yeah, it was a crushing defeat at the time for her because of the circumstances.

Speaker 21935.16s - 1950.82s

I think you were 11 back with 15 to play. But by her telling, given the circumstances the day, the heat, and everything else, she just wasn't to a point yet where she was as focused on how to take care of your body,

Speaker 41951.12s - 1955.32s

you know, throughout a long day like that and just literally ran out of gas.

Speaker 21955.74s - 1959.4s

Yeah, and then plus the other thing is, as I say, if you have a bad round,

Speaker 41959.4s - 1964.24s

and then normally you can go practice, recoup, and come back the next day.

Speaker 21964.74s - 1967s

And, you know, she didn't have that opportunity.

Speaker 11967.56s - 1971s

So it was a very unusual circumstance.

Speaker 21971s - 1976.28s

And it's the only time in my 28 years on tour that I played 36 holes in one day,

Speaker 41976.5s - 1977.82s

competitively.

Speaker 21979.18s - 1984.28s

Well, Bruce, Betsy PERSON, joined some pretty heady company there and going back-to-back

Speaker 41984.28s - 1985.7s

in the women's open.

Speaker 61986.78s - 2001.94s

Yeah. Joined many World Golf Hall of Fame and members, Stacy, Burning, Caponi PERSON, and Wright PERSON, who had won two yearsopens consecutively at the time. So one of only five people to do that.

Speaker 22002.18s - 2014.82s

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. You know, well, what that brings is the next year, which was, you know, you just get a lot of attention because of the opportunity to do the three in a row.

Speaker 32015.06s - 2018.44s

And unfortunately, you know, I didn't do that.

Speaker 22018.5s - 2034.52s

In fact, I almost missed the cut. But I came back and had two good rounds on the weekend and finished well. But Meg won the next year in Texas GPE. So that's a hard thing to do. I mean, Hollis winning three times period is a great record to say.

Speaker 32035.24s - 2039.28s

And I was paired with her and one of her wins the last day.

Speaker 22039.28s - 2053.42s

And, you know, the open courses are always challenging. When I look at that, I think if I were to tell someone one word to live by the week of the U.S. Open EVENT, it would be patience. Yeah.

Speaker 62054.46s - 2067.82s

Very good. Well, you finish the year off at the J.A.L. Big Apple Classic at Wicago Country Club, where you won by one of Ayako Okamoto PERSON.

Speaker 22068.72s - 2101.46s

Yep, that was one of my favorite courses that we played was Waikigal Country Club and New Rochelle GPE. And I won twice there. And that it just had a really great set of par threes. It's an old Tillinghast FAC course, I believe, and, you know, a little bit up and down. And small greens, I just really love the golf course.And so when you have that going, you know, you're going to play well.

Speaker 42102.9s - 2108.8s

Yako Akamoto had a birthday yesterday, and you got her by one the next year too there. Okay.

Speaker 22109.02s - 2114.28s

Well, one of those years, I shot 63 on Saturday, and I don't know.

Speaker 62114.28s - 2116.08s

That was 90.

Speaker 22116.32s - 2116.58s

Yeah,

Speaker 62116.68s - 2118s

that was the first year you won.

Speaker 22118s - 2163.9s

And that was probably the best round of golf that I played on the tour. I mean, I shot 63 at the rail, but the Waikigil was a much more challenging course. And then I was paired the last day there with Beth, Daniel, and we were kind of going neck and neck. And then Beth bogeyed 17 and 18 was a par five where you teed off. I hit three wood and you lay up just short of a huge hill.And then the second shot's a blind shot over the hill. I remember I had 247 to the hole, hit five wood to make sure I got it up over the hill. And it caught the downslope. I mean, I can't see this. But it goes on the green seven feet from the hole and I make it for Eagle ORG.

Speaker 32164.52s - 2165.5s

Oh, my.

Speaker 22165.82s - 2174.48s

And so that course really had the best round of my career and probably the best shot of my career, the five wood that, you know, went 247.

Speaker 32174.96s - 2174.98s

So.

Speaker 22175.38s - 2175.42s

Yeah.

Speaker 42176.42s - 2176.74s

Anyway.

Speaker 22176.78s - 2179.22s

I think we've heard a lot about that hill on the show.

Speaker 42179.8s - 2180.06s

Yeah.

Speaker 22180.38s - 2198.86s

Yeah. You know, it's hard to line up because you literally can only see the sky. So you're kind of trying to figure out, okay, where am I starting this? And it's a really good course. It's had a redo since we've been there at Crenshaw FAC redo. And actually, I went back.We had a golf for Africa LOC event there, so I've seen it.

Speaker 02198.86s - 2200.14s

And they did a nice job.

Speaker 32200.3s - 2201.64s

They cleared out a lot of things.

Speaker 02201.94s - 2205.42s

But as I say, it was one of my favorite courses on tour.

Speaker 32206.42s - 2210.08s

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game ORG.

Speaker 52210.98s - 2214.64s

And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify ORG,

Speaker 22214.84s - 2218.3s

if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word,

Speaker 42219.4s - 2220.44s

and tell your friends.

Speaker 22221.5s - 2224.52s

Until we tee it up again, for the good of the game.

Speaker 42225.9s - 2227.78s

So long, everybody.

Speaker 32237s - 2244.06s

Whacked down to fairway, it went smack down to fairway. Then it started to slice just smidge off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My caddy says long as

Speaker 42244.06s - 2245.46s

you're still in the state

Speaker 52245.46s - 2253.86s

You're okay Yes it went straight down the middle Quite a way