My Shot Interview Series

GIMME YOUR BEST SHOT

Actors, athletes and daredevils. Inventors, pioneers and teachers. Golfers of every kind: young and old, famous and obscure, pro and amateur. In the long history of Golf Digest—we celebrate our 65th anniversary this year—no feature has brought to life the people in and around golf more distinctively than the My Shot series. Beginning in 2002, when we visited 89-year-old Sam Snead at his home in Virginia, we've invited the game's most compelling characters to provide a first-person telling of who they are, not just as golfers but as people. From each has come opinion, wisdom, humor, hope, regret and ruminations on what Bobby Jones called the greatest game of all.Take in the revealing passages and portraits: Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson on their golf nightmares, Jack Nicklaus on his "helicopter rule," the late Evel Knievel on getting airborne in a golf cart, Bubba Watson on why he won't change a light bulb, and Boo Weekley on his on-course fistfight. Life lessons from many of the personalities we've encountered, more than 25 of whom are Hall of Famers. If the all-new edition from Jordan Spieth's teacher, Cameron McCormick (pictured), tells us anything, it's that the greatest profundities are still to come.

Photo by Dom Furore

TAKING ON TIGER

Sam Snead / 04.02
My Shot's DebutCould I have whipped Tiger Woods? Hell, yes. In my prime I could do anything with a golf ball I wanted. No man scared me on the golf course.Read More →

Chi Chi Rodriguez / 12.03The sword dance is drama. I am a matador. The hole is a bull.

TWO BAD BETS

Gary McCord / 01.05In Valdosta, Ga., during a mini-tour event, a player named James Black bet me $20 he could put five golf balls in his mouth and then close his mouth all the way. I tried it but could get only two in there. James put all five balls in, which was amazing, but then he said, "I'll give you a chance to get even. I bet I can fit a whole loaf of bread in my mouth." There's no way a human can do this! So I went out, got one of those extra-long loaves of Wonder Bread and took it back. James just smiled. He started compressing the bread—squeezed it, sat on it, stomped on it—and then began shoving it in his mouth. It took awhile, but he got it all in there and closed his mouth. It was the damnedest thing I've ever seen, a bargain for the $40 it cost me.Read More→

PLANET JIMMY

Jimmy Walker / 02.15The origins of the universe are simply unknowable.Read More→

REMEMBERING A REAL JOB

Curtis Strange / 02.05The day I turned pro, I was $10,000 in debt. My father had passed away when I was 14, and by the time I left college, money was an issue. I'd borrowed the money to play my last year of amateur golf, and when I turned pro I was living hand to mouth, trying like hell to pay off that loan. There was a lot of pressure, but a lot of guys from that era were used to that and rolled with it. I'd had a job in high school, and I figured if golf didn't work out I'd just get another job, hopefully in the golf business. I'm not saying my values are any better than pro athletes you see today, but for better or worse, most of them have never had a real job.Read More→

DRAWING THE LINE

Jason Dufner / 08.14When I leave the course, the golf bag stays there. I'm not a take-your-putter-back-to-the-hotel kind of guy.Read More→

THE GENERAL

Frank Chirkinian / 09.03Like Patton, when I wanted to get my message across [as a producer at CBS], I gave it to them loud and dirty. In rehearsals I was profane as could be. I ripped everybody. We had seven announcers all wanting air time, and it was important they remember I was the boss. I treated my crew almost like children, and let's face it, sometimes children need to be spanked.It was a form of tough love. As a result, I had a very loyal group of individuals working for me, and the loyalty was returned in kind.Read More→

SHARKS & OTHER ANIMALS

Greg Norman / 03.04Don't piss off a kangaroo. He'll stand on his tail and kick hell out of you with his big feet, which have huge toenails. Don't fool with a koala bear, either. You look at one and want to put him next to your pillow, but climb a tree and mess with him and you've got a problem. Sharks you already know about.Read More→

SIZE DOESN'T MATTER

Bob Toski / 08.02My best year on the PGA Tour was 1954. I won four tournaments and was the leading money-winner. I weighed 118 pounds. The moral is, if you're good enough, you're big enough.Read More→

GOLF PERVERTS

Chubby Chandler / 10.11I call them "golf perverts." We've all met them. They're the people so engrossed in the game they rarely talk about anything else. Golf is their great love and only hobby. Golf perverts assume that everyone shares their level of enthusiasm at all times. They're important because they love the game and help drive it. But people who work in the game or play it professionally all day often don't want to be consumed by it at breakfast and dinner.Read More→

AN ACTOR BOMBS

Samuel L. Jackson / 12.05I love to sign autographs for kids but insist they say "please." At the AT&T this year, I found myself near the ropes by a large group of kids, all of them waving their programs for me to sign. But I don't hear "please," so I figure it's time to enforce the rules. I announce loudly, so the whole gallery can hear, "What are you supposed to say?" The kids don't answer, they just continue waving the programs. I repeat myself, this time more sternly: "What's the magic word?" Still no answer. I'm ready to walk away when one of the bigger kids, with a look of total frustration on his face, starts mumbling loudly. Then it hits me: These kids were from a local school for the deaf. They're on their annual field trip. As the adults shot me looks, I started signing and didn't stop until our group fell a hole behind.Read More→

PLAYING WITH THE COLONEL

Laura Baugh / 01.04I've been around. I played with Colonel Sanders once. The Colonel Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy. I was only 17, and what a weird experience that was. Talking to him was like talking to a Disney character. He looked odd in a golf shirt. I just couldn't get over it. What shocked me was, the Colonel could flat hit it. He told me he loved golf more than chicken.Read More→

LAND-MINE ARCHITECTURE

Tom Doak / 10.05Imagine a hole on which you've buried three land mines. The better player has been informed the land mines are there, but the hacker hasn't been told anything. Now, the poor player will traipse down the fairway without a thought. Given the laws of chance, he'll probably avoid the mines. The better player won't be able to take a step without fear. That's how I approach course design. My objective is to make it difficult for the better golfer by incorporating challenging but subtle features only the trained eye can see, while allowing the hacker to play his usual game. An example would be the collection areas around the greens at Pinehurst No. 2. The hacker might have only one way to play onto the green—maybe with a putter. The better player has the options of putting, flopping or pitching into the bank. He chooses knowing that option can blow up in his face.Read More→

BIG CAT MEETS A BIG DOG

Hank Haney / 05.05I have a dog named Chunk. He's a Bouvier and weighs 100 pounds. When people come to my house, they see Chunk and immediately take a step backward. When Chunk senses their fear, he starts growling. I always have to be there to make sure there's no disaster. I'd told Tiger I had a dog named Chunk and that he was size large—that was all I told him—and the first time he met him, I heard the door open from another room and thought, Oh my God, Tiger's going to be torn apart. I bolted into the room just as Tiger was saying "Hi, Chunk" and patting him on the head. Tiger doesn't have a lot of fear about anything. My dog licked Tiger's hand and went back to sleep.Read More→

RULING WISDOM

Tom Meeks / 06.04Charlie Yates at Augusta National tells of Bob Jones' dad being pressed into service as a rules official in one of the early years of the Masters. It had rained hard the night before the final round, and at the 12th hole a player requested relief from casual water. The Colonel asked him where he stood in the tournament. "Eighteen over," the player says. The Colonel says, "Hell, do anything you want," and walks away.Read More→

FEAR OF LOSING CONTROL

Jack Nicklaus / 04.04When I fly in a helicopter, I insist there be two sets of controls, one for me in case something happens to the pilot. I'm no expert, but I know enough to at least get the thing on the ground. Nothing scares me like the thought of not being in control.Read More→

RAISING TIGER

Earl Woods / 02.04Tiger and I were in our motel at a junior tournament. He was 11. Out of the blue he asked, "What's male menopause?" We talked about it for an hour. Then he asked, "What's the immigration policy of Australia?" That took another hour. Tiger then said, "Dad, what's ... " I didn't let him finish. I put his butt in bed.Read More→

THE DAREDEVIL

Lydia Ko / 03.14I tried bungee jumping in Queensland. There was water about 40 meters below. I'm terrified of heights, but I told myself, Forty meters is nothing. It's a lob wedge. They fastened me into the harness. I looked down, and the distance suddenly appeared more like a driver. But I worked up my courage, and I did it. Some time later, in Auckland, we visited the Sky Tower. It's the tallest structure in New Zealand. And what did they have there but bungee jumping. From almost 200 meters. That time, I passed. There's a big difference between 40 meters and 200 meters. There's also a big difference between water below and concrete.Read More→

DEALING WITH PRESSURE

Stacy Lewis / 07.13When you're under pressure in golf, your heart will pound, you'll sweat and maybe even shake. That's OK. Don't fight that. The trick—and I say trick because it took me years to learn—is to slow down your brain. All the physical things can race like mad, but as long as you think slowly, you'll be OK. Once you learn to control your thinking, you'll welcome the adrenaline.Read More→

MISSING YOUTH

Doug Sanders / 08.03If I could jump in a time machine and go back 30 years, I'd do it in a second. Golden years, my ass.Read More→

Michelle Wie / 08.04By the time I’m old, golfers will be shooting 54s. you probably won’t live to see it, but I will.Read More→

Lee Trevino / 05.02I know people in Dallas. Trust me, Oswald didn't act alone.Read More→

Hale Irwin, in a Colorado replica uniform / 06.03Playing golf beats having your bell rung.

Tommy Bolt / 11.02Here's irony for you: The driver goes the shortest distance when you throw it. The putter flies the farthest.Read More→

Fuzzy Zoeller / 08.06I'm glad I don't have to make a living farming. Too much hard work.Read More→

Tom Weiskopf / 06.02When I was little, 'The Lone Ranger' dominated by life.Read More→

Photo by Chip Simons

My Shot Interview Series

By Guy Yocom

To celebrate Golf Digest's 65th anniversary, enjoy the lessons from our classic My Shot interview series.