FORE the Good of the Game

Winner of five major championships, Amy Alcott continues with stories of playing with Mickey Wright, JoAnne Carner and many other greats of their time. Amy takes us back to her first three major wins and regales us with her impersonations of Ed Sullivan and Howard Cosell before breaking out in song (something you don't want to miss). She wraps up this episode by looking back on the fun she ha...

World Golf Hall of Fame member, Amy Alcott, begins her life story growing up in Brentwood, California and playing "Yard Golf" with makeshift holes and a chopped off 8-iron. Alcott Golf & CC they called it, and there she played until introduced to Walter Keller, America's self-proclaimed first golf discounter, where she took lessons and learned the game. Amy had much success as a...

In this closing episode with Ireland's finest golfer, Padraig Harrington, we look back on how he found joy in the game again and his involvement with the return of golf to the Olympic Games in 2016. Padraig recalls his start on the Senior Tour in 2021 and, later that year, captaining the European side in the COVID-delayed 2021 Ryder Cup. We wrap up with him reflecting on his legacy, the work...

6-time Ryder Cup player Padraig Harrington recalls the preparation required to position himself to contend and ultimately win major championships. Much of this episode is devoted to Padraig recounting his three major championships that came in quick succession beginning with the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie where he changed drivers after 36 holes and prevailed over Sergio Garcia in a 4-hol...

World Golf Hall of Fame member Padraig Harrington takes us back through his early years (1995 - 2005) as a professional  including the influence of his teacher, Bob Torrance. Padraig recalls winning the 1997 World Cup with Paul McGinley and competing in his first Ryder Cup in 1999 at Brookline. He takes us through his early pro wins and his "quick" transition to the PGA Tour, winning his...

Get ready for an engaging conversation with the winner of 37 professional events (so far) Padraig Harrington, a golfing great whose amateur record is as impressive as his professional career. We'll kick off this episode reminiscing about Padraig's early golf influences, particularly his admiration for Christy O'Connor Sr. and his 'perfect golf swing'. Listen in as he recou...

2024 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee and winner of three major championships, Padraig Harrington, takes us back to the days of his youth growing up in Rathfarnham, Ireland during the time of "The Troubles" in the North. Coming from a sporting family, Padraig competed in Gaelic football, soccer  and hurling but was drawn to golf while growing up on the course his father and mates built i...

We conclude our visit with Shaun Micheel, 2003 PGA Championship winner, with a look back at this second-place finish to Tiger Woods in the 2006 PGA at Medinah CC and making it to the final match in the World Match Play at Wentworth GC that same year. Shaun reminisces about making a rare albatross at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the 2nd player ever to accomplish this feat. He remembers the e...

Shaun Micheel begins this episode by recounting his breakthrough win at the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill CC which featured a closing 7-iron shot for the ages to within inches on the hole. Ironically, this triumph only added to the self-induced pressures caused by unmet expectations and unrealized potential for Shaun. While he had another chance at glory with his second place finish to Tiger W...

The winner of the 2003 PGA Championship Shaun Micheel continues his story with a look back on his early professional days traveling the globe. Shaun first headed to the Sunshine Tour in South Africa and then the mini-tours in the U.S. before making his way to Asia where he broke through for a win at the 1998 Ericsson Open in Singapore. He shares his struggles with international travel and the pres...

Major championship winner Shaun Micheel begins his life story by recounting his childhood and early interest in aviation instilled by his father Buck, one of FedEx's original pilots. After a family relocation near a golf course in Memphis, Shaun picked up golf and was essentially self-taught. After winning two state golf titles in high school and Big Ten  team and individual championships, he...

Major Champion Helen Alfredsson wraps up her life story by painfully recalling several close calls in the U.S. Women's Open with real chances to prevail in 1993, 1994 and 2008. Helen was a participant in the inaugural Solheim Cup at Lake Nona in 1990 and participated as a player 8 times and as Captain once, in 2007. Interestingly, Helen qualified to play for the European side in 2009 after se...

The winner of four tournaments before they were considered LPGA major championships, Helen Alfredsson continues her life story recounting her individual accomplishments in the world of women's golf  from 1994 forward. Coming off her major win at the Diana Shore the previous year, Helen began 1994 with the first of her three career wins at the Evian Masters, destined to be considered a major b...

Helen Alfredsson, winner of 29 professional events including 7 on the LPGA Tour, takes us back to her early days starting out on the Ladies European Tour where she began as its Rookie of the Year in 1989. A bit ahead of her time, Helen won four events that were destined to become majors including her first pro win, the 1990 Women's British Open. Seven more wins would come in rapid succession...

Helen Alfredsson, winner of the 1993 Dinah Shore, joins Bruce and Mike and begins her story as a child in Gothenburg, Sweden. A multi-sport athlete in her youth, Helen was introduced to golf by her father, himself an accomplished athlete, at age 11. She showed a natural ability that earned her a spot on Sweden's National Junior and Amateur teams, the youngest ever at age 14. Helen won several...

Major Championship winner, Steve Elkington, reflects on how a close call at the Open Championship at St. Andrews in 1995 prepared him to win the PGA at Riviera weeks later. He talks about his two Tournament Players Championship victories, his President’s Cup experiences and his memories of Tiger Woods and some of the other greats in the game. Steve Elkington shares the rest of his story  “FORE the...

Victorious at the 1995 PGA Championship and two-time winner of the Players Championship, Steve Elkington remembers his early days of golf in Wagga Wagga, Australia and those who influenced and mentored him including Alex Mercer, Jackie Burke, Jr. and Bruce Devlin. Included with Elk's recollections of his collegiate successes and PGA Tour wins are terrific stories (Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson...

In this final episode of our visit with former R&A Secretary Peter Dawson we explore the history of the Claret Jug  and its' engraver as he recalls some of his favorite Open Championship moments. Peter served the game in a variety of other roles including an 11-year stint as President of the International Golf Federation and as current Chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking Board. He...

In this third of a four-part interview with Peter Dawson, listen in as he recounts his early days as Secretary of the R&A. Peter gives us insights into the private club that is the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and how it differs in purpose and mission from the R&A Companies, formed in 2004, as the world-wide counterpoint to the USGA, which governs golf in the United States...

Peter Dawson, long-serving Secretary of the R&A who played an instrumental role in the return of golf to the Olympic Games, recounts his days in the commercial world in various leadership positions with industrial companies. Becoming a member of the R&A in 1994, Peter soon became involved with the Rules of Golf Committee, serving as an official in several major championships. He share a fe...

Former Secretary of the R&A, Peter Dawson joins us to relate his life story that began in Aberdeen Scotland. Born to non-golfing parents, Peter found his way to golf at age 11, paying the princely sum of one pound sterling for his annual subscription at Lothianburn Golf Club. A family move to Essex took him to Thorpe Hall Golf Club, the home course to famous English amateur Sir Michael Bonalla...

Mark Brooks, winner of the 1996 PGA Championship, takes us through that win at Valhalla in a playoff with Kenny Perry, the last time the sudden death format was used in that event. Mark recounts his experiences in the other majors, the intimidation he felt at Augusta, the Texas-like conditions of playing in the Open Championship and the gut punches you were bound to take at the U.S. Open. We wind...

Winner of the PGA Championship in 1996, Mark Brooks takes us through each of his PGA Tour victories beginning with the "Greater Slam", winning the Greater Hartford Open, the Greater Greensboro Open and the Greater Milwaukee Open in succession. He remembers when a $35,000 year in winnings kept him exempt in the top 125 and finding a Ray Cook putter in a garage that led to a win at the Bob...

Major Championship winner Mark Brooks recalls being introduced to golf by his grandfather and  his first golf experiences playing on a 6-hole sand green course in rural Oklahoma. He looks back on his collegiate career at the University of Texas where he was a 3-time All-American and remembers the difficulties of making it on the Tour and staying on the Tour as he went in and out of Tour Qualifying...

Join us for the captivating conclusion of our four-part interview with World Golf Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley on "FORE the Good of the Game." In this episode, we delve deep into Pat's illustrious career, exploring her journey beyond the pinnacle of success to her profound impact on women's golf. Pat Bradley reflects on the evolution of her career, particularly the transitio...