The Thing About Golf Podcast

He might not be the best-known name in golf, but England’s Howard Clark was a stalwart of the European Tour in a time of major changes for the professional game in the 1980s and '90s. John Huggan caught up with the former Ryder Cupper at his home in England to talk life, golf and a life in golf.

A stalwart of the European Tour during the boom years of the 1980s and '90s, Mark James had a ringside seat to some of the most exciting times the men’s professional game has known. In the era of Seve, Faldo, Lyle and Langer, the Englishman managed to amass 18 victories (32 globally) before going on to captain the 1999 Ryder Cup in one of the most infamous matches in history. In this fascinat...

There are few writers in golf whose words have appeared in as many publications and on as many different “new media” platforms as the prolific Geoff Shackelford. In this episode he tells Rod Morri what the future holds for the game’s media landscape.  

There might not be a more polarising voice in modern golf media than Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee and he doesn't disappoint in this wide-ranging chat with John Huggan. From why he thinks a brutal US Open is a good thing, to a breakdown of the type of player who wins at Augusta, this one is heaven for golf nerds.

He is known as one of the nicest people in golf, but he might also be one of the most thoughtful. Ian Baker-Finch, 1991 Open champion, sat down with John Huggan at Augusta National this week to talk the Masters, his career in both golf and television and his thoughts on the modern state of the game. 

Two-time Masters winner Ben Crenshaw is as much a part of Augusta folklore as any past champion. Now one of the game’s leading course designers, Crenshaw sat down with John Huggan to talk all things Masters — and everything else to do with golf.

Three-time DP World Tour winner turned Sky Sports commentator Nick Dougherty is a firm believer in golf as metaphor for life and the 41-year-old has had his share of ups and downs in both.  John Huggan recently caught up with the Englishman to talk about a lifetime in the game, highlighted by playing with Tiger Woods at his peak in the third round of the 2007 U.S Open.  Dougherty also talks openly...

From the humble courses of southern Sydney to the top levels of the game, Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley has been in and around the game of golf for more than 50 years. Having started at the age of seven, he became a six-time winner at the professional level including one of the most iconic Australian Open victories of the modern era. Riley now spends his time analysing and critiquing the world’s best on tel...

Anyone who spends a lifetime in golf will have gathered plenty of knowledge and insight which simply can’t be learned from a book.  Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort’s Head Professional, Evan Droop, is one such golfer. Evan’s father was the head professional at Yarrawonga before him and he has two sons, both PGA of Australia members, who may well take the job after him.  In between, he managed f...

From child prodigy to multiple European Tour winner, Ronan Rafferty has seen just about everything in golf.  Popular wherever he went, Rafferty has a particular fondness for Australia — where he won five times between 1987 and 1992 — and credits his years spent Down Under as a crucial element in his international success.  In this delightful chat with John Huggan, Rafferty reflects on his amateur...

Not every great amateur turns professional but that doesn’t mean they can’t make a living out of the game.  Vinny Giles is one of the game’s great amateurs having won the U.S and British Amateur titles as well as the U.S Senior Amateur. He also represented the United States four times at the Walker Cup, winning three times.  What is less well known is his long-time business role as a player manage...

Some people have never known a life that didn't include golf and while they may not have a high profile those people are almost invariably among the most interesting and thoughtful in the game. Henry Cussell is just such a person.  Head professional at Yarra Yarra Golf Club at the age of 20 and one of the earliest employees at The National Golf Club on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, Cu...

Nine wins from 15 starts including all six Australian state titles and the national championship as well … If somebody told you a golfer had achieved all this in a single year you wouldn't believe them, but a golfer has and, ironically, that golfer struggles to believe it themselves.  Nadene Gole has, not surprisingly, risen to the top of the Senior Women’s Amateur world ranking and the forme...

In many ways Matt Fitzpatrick is an unlikely major champion. His game isn’t as flashy as some but he works hard — and smart — to get everything out of his talent.  In this revealing chat with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan, the Englishman looks back on his remarkable U.S Amateur/U.S Open double at Brookline, shares thoughts on the Ryder and Walker Cups, explains how he added 20 yards to his...

Few in Australian golf have seen as much of the game as Andrew Langford-Jones. From hanging with Tiger Woods to advocating for halving field sizes in Australia, he has been an integral — and active — part of the local professional scene for almost 35 years.  As his career winds down ‘Langers’ sat down with Rod Morri to reflect on an extraordinary life in the game.  

We like to complain about them but those who commentate golf on TV create the soundtrack of the game’s history.  Gary Koch, the 2023 Payne Stewart Award recipient, will likely be best remembered for his iconic ’better than most’ line at the 2001 Players’ Championship. But there is much more to his story than that shot, or even his more than 30-year TV career.  A standout amateur and six-time PGA T...

Professional golf can be a roller coaster but even by those standards England’s Oliver Wilson has been on an epic journey.  From leading amateur to successful professional to twice losing his game almost completely, the affable 43-year-old has seen and done just about everything golf has to offer. In this episode, Wilson sits down with John Huggan for a fascinating chat about life, golf and everyt...

Search ‘Ryder Cup’ on the internet and it won’t take long before you find an image of Sam Torrance, arms raised to the sky after holing the winning putt at The Belfry at the 1985 matches.  The Scot is the son of one of the game’s greatest coaches. Bob, but also a pivotal figure in both the Ryder Cup as we know it today and the European Tour.  On the eve of the 44th matches between Europe and the U...

Some names are synonymous with the Ryder Cup and on the European side Bernard Gallacher is one.  Eight times a player and three times a Captain, Gallacher oversaw a time of great change in the matches from before European players became part of the team to the height of hostilities at Kiawah Island in 1991.  His chat here with The Thing About Golf host John Huggan is as compelling as you would exp...

There are few more thoughtful or interesting voices in the game than Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell. In this wide-ranging chat with The Thing About Golf host, John Huggan, the 2010 U.S Open champion talks Ryder Cup, Pebble Beach, the move to LIV and why he doesn't think he deserves a voice on the DP World Tour.  Agree with him or not there is one thing guaranteed with McDowell: you’ll be...

It's been just over five years since Australian golf lost one of its most popular players in Jarrod Lyle. On episode 100 of The Thing About Golf podcast, host Rod Morri catches up with Jarrod’s wife, Briony, to talk about how the couple met, the realities of living on the road, Jarrod’s legacy and what life is like as a non-golfer in a golfer’s world.

Her voice is familiar to golf fans the world over but there is much more to Dottie Pepper than what we see in the televised golf coverage.  A world class player, major champion, and passionate advocate for all forms of the game, Pepper is an intelligent, articulate speaker and thinker about the game.  These attributes are on full display in this broad ranging discussion with The Thing About Golf h...

One of golf’s greatest assets, especially when compared to other sports, is the range of people who can enjoy it. Age, gender and even disability can all be accounted for in golf and in that last category one of the best in the world is recent inaugural G4D Open winner Brendan Lawlor. The Irishman captured the title at Woburn in May and in this wide ranging chat with Rod Morri delves into the fasc...

It's not often you get an insider’s perspective on one of the game’s most important championships but that’s exactly what David Begg, former press officer for The Open Championship, gives us in this lengthy chat with John Huggan. From Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino to Greg Norman and Nick Faldo, Begg had a front row seat for some of golf’s most memorable moments.

Rare is the person who swings from indifference, or even dislike of the game, to becoming a committed and passionate golfer but that has been the journey for our guest Dr Hannah Brown. An accomplished and highly regarded scientist, Hannah found the game later in life and brings a perspective that we in golf rarely get to hear. From what makes the game so addictive to the things we do that look so...