Corey Pavin - Part 2 (The Tour Wins)

Mike Gonzalez 0:00

Just a quick disclaimer before we start this episode, we weren't able to achieve the typical audio quality that we'd like to achieve with our episodes. I think you'll find that this is listenable, but just wanted to give you a heads up.

Intro Music 0:27

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

Mike Gonzalez 0:33

So let's talk about win number one, which I believe uh came at the Houston Coca-Cola Open at Woodlands Country Club in 1984.

Corey Pavin 0:42

That is correct. Um, you know, it's uh you know your first win on tour is obviously pretty special. Buddy Gardner finished second uh to me there. I ended up winning by two. Uh you know, I still like going down to the woodlands. You know, we have a champions event down there, uh, I'm sure, as Bruce knows. Uh I believe somebody may have designed that golf course, right?

Bruce Devlin 1:07

Yeah, I wonder who that was. Is that right?

Corey Pavin 1:09

Did you do that one, partner? The TPC, the TPC course. Yeah, yeah. I didn't win on that course, but actually the next year that we played that golf course in 1985. I think they figured since I won there that you know it's producing bad champions, so they need to move it to a different golf course. So I don't think that's true, but but you know, I I you know it's funny the things that you remember. I I I um I played the first two rounds there with uh Gary McCord and Buddy Gardner, right? Two kind of uh somewhat different guys, right? Yeah, certainly Gary is, we all know that.

Bruce Devlin 1:46

Right.

Corey Pavin 1:47

Um but I I remember playing it was it, I can't remember if it was the first or second round, but Buddy went in to use the bathroom, right? You know, the Portigon. And and Gary turned to me and he goes, watch this. And he took a golf ball and threw it at the Portigon while Buddy was in there doing whatever he was doing. Oh and it, you know, those things made so much noise, right? And you know, Buddy sticks his head out the door and his eyes are this big, and and I'm like, so this is the PGA tour, huh? This is what what it's like out here. And it was kind of funny because Buddy ended up finishing second, and I think Gary played really well too. I think he may have been in the top five as well. But um, you know, I remember being paired with them, and and I played with John Mahaffey the last round there too, who was you know, he lived in the woodlands. So yeah, so yeah, so he was you know the the crowd favorite, and we're playing the last round together, and you know, I beat the crowd favorites, so they probably everybody was mad at me for beating them, but um, but it was special, you know. That first win is tough to come by, and uh sometimes the second one's harder, but you know, the the first one was fantastic. Uh the tournament of champions was the next week back then. So I had to change my plans uh and go play in that, which is a good way to good reason to change plans for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 3:09

By the time you started, uh Corey, I don't recall exactly when this changed. Was it was it top 125 or was it still the lower number and you had to qualify every week uh if you didn't make the cut?

Corey Pavin 3:20

No, I was a top 125 guy. So um the change I I believe was for the 1983 season was the first year that they did a top 125. So I just missed the Monday qualifying category, which I can't imagine how hard that is uh to do that. Um, you know, it that system was very difficult, that it's hard to you know play freely and and go for things. So it was a bit advantage for the veterans, but uh I think we've seen a change and there's more turnover now uh than there there was back in that other system.

Mike Gonzalez 3:58

Bruce, you can relate to that pressure back then under that system because you played under that system, didn't you?

Bruce Devlin 4:02

Yeah, well, I I was I was very lucky though, you know. I I got a couple of exemptions early on in the piece, and then uh in uh I I sort of went broke on on my first five uh uh invites to play, and then the next year when I come back in uh in uh in 64 I I won my first tournament at St. Pete, so then you know, like Corey said, you know, it's your life changes uh drastically in one week.

Corey Pavin 4:34

It does, yeah. Did that lock you in for two years? Is that what that was?

Bruce Devlin 4:37

No, it was it was only one year then. Only one year. And you know the guy that you played with in Houston uh was the loudest voice for the change to go to 125 was Gary McCurry. Yeah. He he's the one that sort of drove that vehicle to make the change from 60 to 125.

Corey Pavin 4:57

And I I think it was a good I thought it was a good change, actually, you know, looking back on it, I think. Anyway, everybody has their opinion.

Mike Gonzalez 5:07

Let's move along to uh the following year. Uh and this is a tournament uh Bruce is familiar with as well, Colonial National Invitational. This is your first of a couple of victories there, I think, by four over Bob Murphy.

Corey Pavin 5:20

Yeah, the Murph. Um yeah, that tournament, uh I I just say it outright, that's my favorite tournament on tour. Um I'm sure some of the reason is that I've had a lot of success there. But I remember when I first played there, I just loved the golf course. I just thought it was a golf course built for me, uh, for a player like me. And uh obviously Hogan, you know, it's Hogan Zale, it's his place. Um, and you know, he's the only one. I mean, he's won five times there. He won five times there. And uh I just loved it from the get-go. You know, the hospitality there was is amazing. Uh it was kind of the first tournament on tour that had the family hospitality. You know, it they had you know dinners. Yeah, they had every meal that we wanted there. Uh, you know, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Uh they had uh the first, I'm sure it was the first uh yeah, babysitting, yeah, uh nursery, whatever you want to call it. Uh they had that there. Uh I mean it was an incredibly well-run tournament and really catered uh to us. I mean, they spoiled us rotten. Yes, and everybody loves to be spoiled rotten. Yeah, as long as you know you're being spoiled, it's okay. But uh so I I love the tournament from the get-go, and uh I think it's just a fantastic golf course. And uh, you know, having you know, I won there, I think I might have, I'm not sure if I was the youngest to win at that time. I think Stockton had won. He was, I don't know if I beat his record or I was second, but you know, I was fairly young to have won that tournament. And and I played so well that week. I mean, I just I just couldn't play much better. And and and at that time that was one of the biggest events on the PJ Tour. So uh it was a huge win for me. Uh it meant a lot. Um, and you know, maybe it got other people's attention, you know, some peers' attention, but I uh I can't think of a better place to win than there. And yeah, I was pretty fortunate to do it again. Uh, and I've had a couple second place finishes there too. I lost a playoff to Bruce Litsky one one year there as well. So uh it's a course that suits my game and suits my eye. And uh I wish every tournament was there. Every week there would be great.

Mike Gonzalez 7:36

Well, 14 under uh that year, 1985. I think you set a scoring record uh with that uh performance.

Corey Pavin 7:44

Yeah, yeah, it was at that time. It's it's since been beaten. But um uh yeah, I think it beat by a I think it I beat it by a couple. I think Trevino may have had the record uh before that, I believe. But um it's always nice to beat records, but records are always gonna get beat, uh, or it seems like they will. So it I I knew it would be short-lived, but it at least it was living for a little bit.

Mike Gonzalez 8:09

I don't know what it is about the colonial, but we've talked to 12 winners of the colonial over our time doing the podcast so far.

Bruce Devlin 8:17

Well, now, Mike, you know, we've talked to a lot of very, very good players.

Corey Pavin 8:24

I mean uh Well, there there is a a bit of a correlation between Colonial and U.S. Opens as well, I think. I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah, there's there's something to be said for that. I there's there is some history there, or at least with major wins, but I think there's a closer connection to U.S. Opens, I believe.

Bruce Devlin 8:42

Yeah, and then next year they're gonna change the golf course again.

Corey Pavin 8:46

Yeah, I heard they're gonna redo it. I'm not sure they're gonna change too much, but yeah, I heard you know, the part three, I think uh 13, I think they may restore to the way it was before my time. I'm not sure what it was when you played, Bruce. It was it over the water or like that?

Bruce Devlin 9:05

No, not originally it wasn't.

Corey Pavin 9:06

Yeah, it was it was off to the right and behind the twelfth green, right? The T and you hit along the water, kind of.

Bruce Devlin 9:12

Yeah, the most the most difficult hole there uh in the early days was was actually the uh eighth hole, the par three. It used to it used to sit up in the air right on the Trinity Bank there, and and it was I mean it was a brutal par three, and then of course they changed all that.

Corey Pavin 9:31

Yeah, I think when the river uh over overflowed and you know flooded the whole area, I think they made some changes there.

Bruce Devlin 9:38

Yeah, yeah, that's what that's what uh made the change, I think, the fact that it used to flood.

Corey Pavin 9:43

Yeah, yeah, that's a wonderful golf course. I recommend it to anybody to go out there and play there.

Mike Gonzalez 9:48

Let's jump ahead to 1986. Uh the first of your Hawaiian Open wins came at Wild Light Country Club by two over Paul Aisinger.

Corey Pavin 9:57

Yep, yep. Um I love playing in Hawaii too. Uh I've had a lot of success over in Hawaii. Um, you know, the the probably the greatest thing about the tournament back then is that United Airlines was sponsoring it. And it was the best perk of a win that you get. And it was free first class travel for yourself and and your immediate family for a year. It was a nice perk, you know, really nice perk. And uh and I I like that perk so much I decided to win it again the next year or so. So I had I had two straight years of of free first class flights on United. Yeah, it's a good deal.

Mike Gonzalez 10:38

Yeah, you can kind of get used to that, can't you?

Corey Pavin 10:41

Yeah, maybe too used to it, actually.

Mike Gonzalez 10:43

Yeah. Well, same year that you got your first win at Hawaii, you then uh came to Milwaukee and won the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1986 at Tuckaway Country Club, and that came in a playoff with Dave Barr.

Corey Pavin 10:55

Yeah, uh it was uh one, two, I don't know, four-hole playoff, maybe I think four holes.

Mike Gonzalez 11:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corey Pavin 11:03

The uh yeah, the neat thing, uh what I remember liking about that win the most, it was the the first time I won multiple tournaments in a year. So uh, you know, it it's certainly not easy to win one, but it sure seems very hard to win two. And I was really pleased that I had won two tournaments in a single calendar year on the PJ tour. Uh I was very, very proud of that uh second win there, uh, you know, to get two in a calendar year. It was it meant a lot to me.

Bruce Devlin 11:37

And then next year you did the same thing. Two of you. I did, I liked it. I liked it so much I did it again.

Corey Pavin 11:43

Why not? And uh I think I was trying for more because I got those two wins, you know, before the West Coast ended. Uh, you know, I had those wins before March 1st hit. So um I really wanted to win more than two, and I know it didn't happen, but and I never have actually on the PGA tour. But uh yeah, it was nice to win Hawaii again and and win the Hope. Uh it was a pretty good start to the year, that's for sure.

Bruce Devlin 12:10

You had the habit of beating a lot of very, very good players, too. You beat Langer at the Hope, and then you beat Standler at uh in Hawaii.

Corey Pavin 12:18

Yeah, yeah. It's more fun for me to play against you know great players players. Um and you know, it's you know, I think anybody who loves to compete enjoys the the challenge of being somebody who's really good. Uh uh you know, whether it's you know any sport you're playing, uh, whether it's a team sport, individual sport, uh it means a lot to me to beat players that are you know that have a an excellent record.

Mike Gonzalez 12:49

So that birdie putt at the last at the hope. I didn't know what your position was at the time. Did you know that was for the win when you made it?

Corey Pavin 12:56

Oh yeah. Yeah, we were actually we're Bernhard, Bernhard and I were playing together uh the last round. Yeah, and and we're we're pretty good friends, and and we were very very good friends then uh as well. And uh we were actually tied playing the last hole. Um, and you know, it's the last hole, there's a dog leg left, and there's water all down the left side. Um, so I got up there and aimed at the water and hit a cut right off the water uh back into the fairway, which a lot of people go, Oh my gosh, I can't believe you did that. And I went, I there was no way I was gonna hit a left. You know, it just wasn't gonna happen. You know, that was my shot. Uh the hard shot was my second shot. I hit a four-air and drew it into the pin uh with water left. Uh that was that was a very good shot I hit there. And uh you know, Bernhard ended up with about a he had about a five, six footer for Parr, and I had maybe about a 22, three-footer for Birdie, and uh I just knocked it right in. Um you know, you don't get putts to win a tournament very often, and when you do get it and you make it, um, that's it's unique. It just doesn't happen much. Uh you know, you win tournaments, but you might win by one or two, and maybe you you par the last hole and you tap it in. But to make a putt to win, uh, that was really cool. I enjoyed that a lot. Yeah, and Bernhard was fantastic. He was, you know, if you ever watch the tape of it, you know, I knock it in and and they kind of cut to Bernhardt, and he's just got this huge grin on his face, you know, like he he's just an amazing guy, right? Yeah, he was just like smiling like like wow, that was amazing, you know. So it was fun.

Bruce Devlin 14:38

What a play. Oh man, what a great play he's been.

Mike Gonzalez 14:42

Well, win number two in 1987, as you mentioned, was the back-to-back uh at Wileye. So that came in a playoff uh with uh Craig Stadler.

Corey Pavin 14:51

Yep. Um I was very fortunate there because um uh I'd finished earlier in the in the day, so to speak. Um I I played a really good last round, and and Stads had about a I don't know, it wasn't a long putt on a last hole for Bertie to to win, and he missed it. So I got in the playoff, and uh I think there it was a second playoff hole. I made another nice putt to win there. I it wasn't to win actually when I made it, but it I made about a 25-footer, and he had you know maybe about a 12-15-footer to tie and go an extra hole in a playoff, and he missed it, and I won. So uh again, a nice putt. You know, I made a nice putt in a clutch situation. And uh when you win playoffs, they're fun. When you lose them, it's not as much fun.

Mike Gonzalez 15:40

Ask Ben Crunchell.

Corey Pavin 15:42

Yeah, yeah, he's Ofer, isn't he?

Mike Gonzalez 15:44

Yeah, he was an Opher. Yeah, he was good. He was real good about that when we talked to him about it, but uh uh you'd rather those be eight and oh instead of oh and eight.

Corey Pavin 15:54

Oh, is that what it was? 0-8? Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 15:56

Uh that's not fun. So uh moving on, we you win another tournament down in Texas, this time uh the following year, 1988, in the Texas Open at Oak Hills Country Club. Um, that must have been a uh leisurely walk up that final fairway with the lead you had.

Corey Pavin 16:12

Yeah, it was, uh that's for sure. Um, you know, the lead into that tournament uh was interesting. From uh kind of the the after great start in 87, I actually did not play that well uh until the Texas Open. I had, you know, it was I'd say the win was in the middle of a slump, actually. Um I wasn't playing well. Um it was a pretty bad year, actually. And I I remember calling up uh Bruce, you know, the other Bruce, not you, but uh Bruce, Bruce Hamilton, my teacher, and he flew out to the Texas Open there, and we worked for a couple days and he flew home, and I felt a lot better after he left. And I just played so well. It was like everything just clicked. Um it was really amazing. Uh I I I don't even remember missing a shot. Um, I made a lot of putts. You know, I I I don't even know how much I ended up winning by. Was it eight? I was gonna say seven, I couldn't remember. You know, and the funny thing, I you say leisurely walking the last hole. I did not relax or felt kind of at ease until I teed off on 17. That that's when I after I hit that T shot, I was like, I think I got this now, you know. Yeah, um, and I whatever I had an eight-shot lead or whatever it was at the time. So, you know, it's you know, I never really let my guard down until the very end. And uh and I did enjoy the last two holes. Uh so it's uh it's nice to win by that many. It doesn't happen often. Uh I've had a couple opportunities like that, but uh um I'm not uh overpowering player. Um I can't just destroy golf courses. Um when everything's on, I I can do well, but uh it doesn't happen that often. And you know, the guys that are strong long hitters and you know beat up the par fives and you know hit long drives and flips into par fours, you know, they can beat up a golf course and win by a lot. Uh never never I've never fit into that category of long-knocking, overpowering guy. So it was fun.

Bruce Devlin 18:21

Uh after the uh 88 season there, you you sort of got lost there for a while in 80 and then 90 and didn't sort of win a tournament after, you know, after winning five in three years, you had to be feeling a little had to be feeling a little tough.

Corey Pavin 18:39

It it was, uh you know, from kind of the middle of 87 or maybe even earlier uh through the middle of 90. It was very trying times for for my patience and and uh my certainly for my confidence. Uh like I said, 88 was like an anomaly. I just out of nowhere I won, but then I went right back to playing poorly. Um and you know, the the big change for me uh in 1990, uh it came at at the Byron Nelson. Uh I remember I was watching, I think it was on ESPN, they had a special about Payne Stewart. And Payne Stewart was working with this guy named uh Dr. Richard Coop, and you know, as a sports psychologist, and turned Payne's game around. You know, Payne was constantly in the hunt, but never could finish it off and was messing up. And then all of a sudden Payne started playing well and winning tournaments, and and Dr. Coop was in the forefront of that change. So I was thinking, well, you know, if it worked for Pain, you know, it's got to be a piece of cake for me, right? Um, so I actually had a meeting with with Dr. Coop, set it up at the Byron Nelson. Of course, I miss the cut and I'm depressed, and I'm I'm just in the biggest funk of my career, right? Payne wins the tournament. And and Dr. Coop's there. And he goes to Payne's press conference, everybody's happy, and everything's great. And I'm staying at the four seasons there at the hotel right at the golf course. And uh after Dr. Coop's done there, he comes up to my room and he walks into my room, and you know, it's five o'clock in the afternoon, six o'clock, you know, the sun's up, and I have the the the curtains drawn, I mean, and the room's pitch dark, you know, just like you'd expect someone who doesn't feel really good about themselves. And he w so he went from from celebration to you know the top to the bottom, and and we had a very long conversation and we talked and we did some work, uh, I think the next day. And I remember the next week was memorial. They'd actually split up uh the Nelson and Colonial. We went to Memorial, I worked on the stuff, you know, I that he was that we were working on, and played better. You know, basically what I got into this horrible habit of looking up. Yeah, Bruce, you know this, everybody knows this, right? Every golfer can relate to this. You get a shot, you look up, and instead of looking at the green or the pin, you see the bunker, you see the water, you see the trees. You just don't focus on where you want to hit it. You're just focused on where you don't want to hit it. And and I'd gotten into that habit, really, you know, a very bad habit. And Dr. Coop said, All right, this is what we're gonna do. You're gonna pick a spot in front of your ball, kind of like what Nicholas does. Uh, you know, whatever it could be two yards in front, it could be five yards, whatever. And there's no trouble between you know that spot and your ball, right? So I mean, I didn't even have to look up, right? So, you know, I could just get over the shot, look at my spot, look back at my ball, look at my spot, look back at my ball, and hit. Because I had lined up that spot to where I wanted to hit my shot. So that's what we did. And so I never had that visual of looking at anything bad. And I just concentrated on the process of hitting the shot I was trying to hit. And because of where my spot was, that was where I was aiming. So I never had to look up. And it changed everything for me at that point. And I remember at the end of the year I was playing in Las Vegas. I think it was the second to the last tournament. I think I qualified for the tour championship by shooting 64 or 3 the last round at Las Vegas. And I remember I was at the airport. This is how long ago it was. I got on a payphone. Oh wow. There's no cell phones back then. And I got on a payphone and I called Dr. Coop and I said, I said, Dick, I've got it. I'm going to have a great year next year. I know it. And next year was 91. And I won the money title. And as you said, you know, player of the year, too. So I owe a lot to Dick Coop. He he uh turned my game around in weeks, actually.

Bruce Devlin 23:12

For those listening to this podcast, I'll also uh come away from the fact that you had a habit of winning at the same location a couple of times. Because you went right back in '91 won in the Bob Hope classic again.

Corey Pavin 23:27

Yep. Yeah, there's certain places I guess I liked. Um yeah, I went at the Hope again, those are good courses for me. They're kind of short, tight, uh, require more accuracy than than power. Um, it was a heck of a tournament. Uh it was a I played so well there, and I'm trying to remember what we I went in a playoff over uh Mo Mark O'Mara, right? And I think we were both 30 under, I believe, when we finished the 90 poles, which is a big yeah, I would never think I was capable of that kind of a clip, you know, averaging birding one out of every three holes.

Mike Gonzalez 24:06

Yeah.

Corey Pavin 24:07

Um and and we tied, and Tim Simpson was one shot back. So uh, you know, those courses can get ripped up, you know, back then. Uh we went in a playoff, and another fortunate thing for me, I chipped in on the first hole uh to beat Mark. And uh you know Mark and I have known each other, gosh, since uh I guess college. We probably we might have known before known each other before that. Um we played a lot of college golf against each other. Um so he wasn't he said later he wasn't very surprised that I chipped in, but uh but I was glad I did. Uh so that was a that was a nice win there, too. That was fun.

Mike Gonzalez 24:47

Yeah, we we had Mark on the show just a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact, and I don't remember if this came up or not. It we probably didn't bring it up.

Corey Pavin 24:54

I almost made a hole in one on 15, I think it was. I I hit it up there. It was about actually the ball was in the air. And I said, go in, go in, and it rolled up about like that far short of the hole.

Mike Gonzalez 25:08

Oh my god.

Corey Pavin 25:09

I'm sure that that probably made made Marco, what's what's up with this guy?

Mike Gonzalez 25:16

Let's continue on with your player of the year year, which was 1991. You went down to Atlanta, won the Bell South Golf Classic at Atlanta Country Club, and this time again in a playoff with Steve Pate.

Corey Pavin 25:27

Yeah, my teammate, yeah. We played golf together at UCLA. Uh that was one long day. Uh the old Atlanta Country Club, very hilly golf course. Uh Saturday it poured down rain. And uh I think I was on the I believe the third green when the heavens opened up. And so we came back Sunday morning, and so I had to play whatever that is, you know, yeah, you know, 33 holes. Um and you know, Steve had to play a lot of holes too. And uh at the end of that we were tied, so we had to go play more holes. Um and on the second playoff hole, uh, you know, I managed to get the better of Steve. Yeah, I think he pulled his shot into a bunker and it buried, and he was he was dead where he hit it on the par three. Uh but it was nice. It was nice when it was uh uh again, a playoff. You know, playoffs uh are so pressure-packed. Uh it's it's the same thing as playing the last old tide, you know. So it's uh just mono and mono, or unless there's more, more, unless it's three guys or four guys, but uh I I enjoy playoffs, I like that head-to-head stuff.

Bruce Devlin 26:40

You were pretty good at it.

Corey Pavin 26:41

Well, it's fun. Maybe we're right back where we started. It's fun because I've done okay in it, you know. I just I just love match play. I love I love that head-to-head stuff.

Mike Gonzalez 26:52

Well, speaking of playoffs, Bruce, you came close here 22 years before.

Bruce Devlin 26:57

I did. I rem yes I did. I tied Bert Yancey. Bert Yancey, wow. Bert Yancey beat me on the 16th hole. I bet you're still bad. Uh no, I'm not too bad. No. I was then though.

Corey Pavin 27:16

Oh, of course. Why wouldn't you be?

Bruce Devlin 27:17

Yeah, I was not happy then, anyhow.

Corey Pavin 27:20

He was a heck of a player, wasn't he?

Bruce Devlin 27:22

He was uh it's funny because uh when when my wife and I moved over to the United States, we we we had an uh an arrangement with a golf club in in Florida, and uh Bert and Linda Yancey lived in a little villa right next to where we lived at the same club. So yeah, we knew one another very well, but uh I still wasn't happy with him.

Corey Pavin 27:46

Well, there's nothing better than beating a friend, is there?

Mike Gonzalez 27:52

Uh well let's move on to the 1992 Honda Classic at Weston Hills Golf and Country Club uh once again in a playoff with Mr. Couples.

Corey Pavin 28:02

Yep. Um, that was an interesting tournament. Uh there's a lot of stuff that happened in that tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 28:08

Uh there sure was.

Corey Pavin 28:12

I uh I remember I I think I double bogeyed 16, and I thought, oh, there goes the tournament. I'm out of it. Uh 17 is super hard part three. I think I parted, I believe. Uh, but I still thought I was done. You know, I was uh, I don't know, maybe two or three groups in front of uh uh Freddie, and I got an 18 par 5, a three-shot par 5, and uh decided to hit an iron iron for my third shot and slam dunked it right into the hole for Eagle. It just flew in and stayed right there. And I was I was playing with Raymond Floyd, and he was excited uh that I made it. Uh, but I still didn't think I had a chance to win. You know, I it didn't even dawn on me. Um you know, I'd finished the hole, you know, and kind of looked at the board and I was like, oh, you know, I'm I think I had a one-shot lead actually after that. Uh I think Freddie had probably messed up somewhere back there. And um Freddie got up to 18 and hit a wedge or whatever he hit in there, and he almost holed it. It ended up like a you know a tap-in, uh, two inches. So we went into a playoff. And uh it was getting pretty late. Uh we played 10, we tied on 10, and then we played 18 again. And he had maybe a 25-footer for Birdie, and he just missed. And I had about a 20-footer for Birdie, and it was pretty dark. It was definitely the last hole. You know, if we tied that hole, we were spending the night there. Um, so there was some more impetus to make it. And uh, I knocked it right in the middle, and uh, you know, Freddie in his old, you know, his nonchalant way was like he was just sort of watching it out of the corner of his eye and went in and he just kind of like, whatever, you know. And uh, but it it was uh one of my better putts again. I had a putt to win. It was always fun, and uh at least I got to drive home that night. I lived in Orlando at the time, so I just uh drove up home and uh remember getting home and my son Ryan, so that was uh 92, so he was six, five or six at the time, and he was there to meet me at the door when I pulled in at like 11 at night because you know it was a three-hour drive or so. Uh and he was so excited. Uh, and we watched the tape. Uh Eric and I drove up, oh my caddy. We drove up together, got to the house, and and we all sat around and watched the the VHS tape of the tournament. Uh, it was fun. Yeah, yeah, it was fun to relive it uh right away.

Mike Gonzalez 30:41

Yeah, and and you and Freddie's had a bit of a rivalry in '92, didn't you?

Corey Pavin 30:47

Yeah, we've had some events where we've competed against each other over the years.

Mike Gonzalez 30:51

Yeah, I mean, but he was he he had, I think at this tournament, he had just been selected the um, if I'm not mistaken, was he had he had he already been selected the player of the year uh by you? Maybe by one of the 91, yeah.

Corey Pavin 31:06

Well, he was in 91 he was the PGA tour player of the year.

Mike Gonzalez 31:11

Yeah, okay.

Corey Pavin 31:11

And in 91 I was PG of America player of the year.

Mike Gonzalez 31:14

Yeah, okay. And I I think it was just by one vote over you two for that one.

Corey Pavin 31:18

It was. It was by one vote, and you know, next time I'm voting for me and not him.

Mike Gonzalez 31:25

The truth comes out here finally after all these years, huh?

Bruce Devlin 31:29

Oh well. 93 was uh uh a blanket year for you two. Didn't no no wins in 93, and then you then you got a little bit of revenge on Mr. Couples again, right?

Corey Pavin 31:42

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, 94. Yeah, I I I'll let I'm gonna revisit 93 a little bit. Uh okay. Um, you know, I didn't win on the tour, on the PJ tour, but I I won the world match play that year um over at Wentworth. Um and to this day, in my my own mind, uh that was one of the most satisfying wins I've ever had. Um you know, as you know, it's match play. You play 36 whole matches. Um my first match was against Peter Baker, who had beat me in the singles in the Ryder Cup uh maybe the month before. Uh so that was nice to get a little revenge for that.

Bruce Devlin 32:23

Um that was just the start of it, though.

Corey Pavin 32:26

Yeah, that was the start. Uh that was like like the the smallest one. Uh my next match was Nick Price, uh, who was number one or two in the world at the time. Uh and I beat him two and one or three and two or whatever it was. Uh my next match was against Colin Montgomery, who was very highly ranked at the time as well. Uh obviously I beat him in 37 holes. And then the finals was against Nick Faldo, uh, who was he might have been number one. He was right there too. So uh and I beat him on the 36th hole. I won that one up. So uh the people I went through to win that tournament uh was pretty special.

Bruce Devlin 33:12

No wonder you felt great.

Corey Pavin 33:14

I felt really good about it, and I played a lot of golf. Uh that's uh a beast of the tournament back then. You know, they don't play the same format anymore, but uh four or thirty-six whole matches in a row uh on at Wentworth, which which was a pretty long horse for me then. Uh uh, and it was really cold too. It was I was wearing a stocking cap the whole time. Uh it was a very cold week, and I'm not a big fan of cold weather, so to do that well in cold weather was was nice as well. So that was a win I was very, very pleased with.

Mike Gonzalez 33:48

Yeah, always a great field. They took good care of you too. It was were they still chauffeuring you around in Rolls-Royces back then?

Corey Pavin 33:55

Well, I don't know if it was Rolls-Royce's, but um you know, they they put us up in houses. You know, there was, I guess then there were 12 players, I believe, in the tournament. Uh four players had a buy and I did not. So it was 12 in the match play. But they put us in these beautiful houses. They had to cook for us. Uh, so every night we just ordered dinner and they'd make it, whoever was there cooking for us. And they had a car service. You know, there was always someone driving us around if we wanted to go around. It was a pretty special tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 34:26

Yeah. Anything else you wanted to mention about 1993?

Corey Pavin 34:30

No. Nothing else I can remember. I just I just remember that tournament. Oh, I don't blame you for remembering that. I think I played okay in '93. I just didn't win. That's all.

Mike Gonzalez 34:43

Now you go to Riviera and win by two over Fred couples, as uh as uh Bruce was beginning to mention.

Corey Pavin 34:50

Yeah, Riviera, another one of my favorite golf courses. Um I love the golf course. I like the small well, there used to be smaller greens, but um I like small greens and and accuracy is very important at Riviera. Uh but it was a nice win. Yeah, I uh it's always nice to be a guy like Freddie. Um he's tough. You know, it everybody looks at him and sees this, you know, happy-go-lucky guy, but you know, underneath all that, he's uh a tremendous competitor. Uh and he he wants to win as bad as anybody else, even though it doesn't appear that way sometimes. But uh so it's nice. It's nice to beat a guy like that.

Mike Gonzalez 35:32

And you came right back and and uh and um and won it again uh the following year, didn't you?

Corey Pavin 35:39

I did, yeah, back to backers there. Um again, you know, it's it's it's a great golf course to win on. Um you know, to to you know, for for me and and every golfer, every professional golfer, it's great to win, but when you win on a on a wonderful golf course, it it means more. Uh and be able to win there back to back, kind of in my backyard. Uh, I didn't really grow up there, but you know, I grew up 50 miles north, and I really never played Riviera, even when I was at UCLA, which is only a few miles away. Uh, I think I was only on the golf course twice uh before I played on the PGA tour. Well, I should I played twice as an amateur there uh in the tournament. But other than that, I only play I was only on the golf course twice besides um you know the Los Angeles Open.

Mike Gonzalez 36:29

Yeah, yeah. That second time you um you won by three over J Don Blake and and and Kenny Perry. I think uh uh Kenny had won the hope the week before, and uh you were one back to him after 54 holes. But uh that was the first uh back-to-back win there since uh Mr. Palmer did it back in the 60s.

Corey Pavin 36:50

Yeah, I remember hearing something about that when I did it. But uh yeah, it's been done since then, but uh, it'd been a big gap. Um yeah, anytime you know you're in the same sentence as Arnold Palmer, that's uh that's a good thing.

Mike Gonzalez 37:05

Yeah, and then uh Steve Elkington, who by the way, uh turns 59 years old today, he's the birthday boy. Uh he won uh he won there in the PJ later that year, didn't he?

Corey Pavin 37:14

He did. You know, I uh I remember going into that PJ feeling pretty good. Uh you know, I uh yeah, I was certainly one of the favorites going in there, and and I felt so good about myself I decided that I would just miss the cut and and not make it to the weekend. So uh sometimes expectations are difficult to deal with, and um I just played poorly there, and you know, it was a tough week, uh very disappointing uh for me. Uh you know, obviously Steve was very happy. Um Colin Colin was not happy, Montgomery. He lost a playoff to Steve, but uh yeah, it was a disappointing week for that regard because I I've had a lot of good tournaments at at Riviera and uh you know it happens. You know, I've I've missed the cut at colonial too. Actually, the year I won the US Open, I missed the cut at Colonial, which was a very strange thing, but it did happen.

Mike Gonzalez 38:11

Yeah. You you look at Marco Mara's success at Pebble Beach, you almost expected him to win a US Open there.

Corey Pavin 38:16

Yeah. Yeah, I mean uh what he win five times there or six times, I don't know what it was. Yeah, that's that's amazing.

Mike Gonzalez 38:24

Yeah, exactly. Uh Colonial number two, nineteen ninety-six, uh, by two over Mr. Slumman.

Corey Pavin 38:33

Yeah, little Jeffrey. He was my assistant captain uh in the Ryder Cup in 2010. But I won in 85 and I lost a playoff, I think, in I guarantee it was 1990, and I I I finished second, or maybe no, I'm sorry, maybe it was ninety one I lost a playoff. In 90 I I uh finished second to Nick Price there. Uh so I was close a couple a couple times, and you know it there's nobody that's won Colonial more than two times, except Mr. Hogan. He won at five. So to get that second win there and to be in a pretty select group of of guys is was was special as well. Um yeah, I remember playing the last toll, I had a one-shot lead and you know, hit a nice drive right down the middle and knocked my shot kind of in the middle of the green, like you're supposed to. Um I had two shot or I had one shot lead and 20-foot uphill putt, and you know, I made it uh to kind of cap it off. It was a nice way to finish off the tournament, you know, making a birdie on the last toll.

Mike Gonzalez 39:37

Yeah.

Corey Pavin 39:38

Um, but you know, Colonial again, it's just one of my favorite places to play and and uh to get another win there, yeah, another kind of feather in the cap, I guess. Um but it's again favorite place. I love it.

Mike Gonzalez 39:53

Bruce, we got one more regular tour win to talk about.

Bruce Devlin 39:58

That came uh that came quite an extended period after the after the previous one. Ten years later, Corey.

Corey Pavin 40:08

Yeah, more than a decade later.

Bruce Devlin 40:10

Isn't that amazing? Tell us about you and you did create a uh very significant scoring record at uh Brown Deer Park, right? Yep. 46 years old, and you shoot 26 on the way to the 61. That's pretty fantastic.

Corey Pavin 40:32

Yeah, it's a good way to open a tournament, isn't it? Isn't it? Yeah, right. Oh boy, oh boy. You know, the the the lead up, the 10-year period after I won Colonial um was rough. Uh it it again, it was a a slump of all slumps. You know, the one the one I had, you know, from middle of 87 to to the middle of 90 was a miniature slump compared to this one. So um this one was was brutal. Um many times I was thinking, you know, maybe I should just quit, um, do something else. Uh you know, missed a lot of cuts, uh, just had some really bad years. Um thank God I won the US Open because that at that time it gave me a 10-year exemption on tour. So I was able to use that. Um, but I would not have qualified uh multiple years uh under the system if I hadn't had that exemption. It was a rough time, uh, a time I had to really work hard to try to figure out how to get my game back. And so that's why that win there meant so much to me. Um it was a long battle, um, you know, demons and all that kind of stuff. Uh it was tough to start that tournament off like that. Uh about as good a start as you can have, pretty much. Uh you know, I birdied eight of the first nine holes. Uh I didn't realize at the time it was a 26. Uh, Eric knew it because Eric knows stuff like that. He he just gets it. Uh I didn't realize it was a par 34. Uh I was thinking more, you know, I was eight under and I had a shot to to break 60. Uh, I was thinking more on those lines. Um and I had the eagle the last hole to do so, and I kind of went for it and ended up it was a par five, and I took a big chance and I ended up with about a five-footer for par, uh, which I made. Um and so afterwards I went in the press room and they told me it was a 26, and I went, what? What are you talking about? I didn't even know. And uh and and I kind of when they said it, I thought that that sounds like a record, right? You know, I I'd heard of guys shooting 27, you know, I knew there was a lot of guys that did that, but I didn't know that 26 had been shot so uh ever. And and so it's still a standalone record, nobody's ever done it since. Uh, you know, the the joke that Eric and I have about it is that uh the seventh hole is a par three, and it's the only hole I didn't birdie on the front nine. And uh I can't remember the yardage exactly, but he wanted me to hit a five-iron, and and the pin was in the front, and I didn't like it. Um, so I hit a four iron and I hit it about 30 feet past the hole. So a five-iron would have been perfect, and I two-putted and made par, and he goes, Well, if you would have listened to me, yeah, you know, you would have birdied every hole on the front nine. So uh that's kind of our little joke that we have amongst uh the two of us, but now everybody knows. Um so but it was fun, it was nice to win there. Um after 10 years of struggling, uh wondering if I'd ever even play well again, let alone win again, uh, at the age of 46. It was it was very cool to win there. And and uh it was actually, you know, my wife Lisa, it was the first time she ever saw me win. Uh so she was there, and I just kind of I'm gonna lose it now, but I I lost it then. Um when she came out and we hugged, and uh I remember David Faraday was trying to get an interview with me. And I just pushed him away because I just wanted to hug Lisa. So and you know, David, you know, David just like turned to the camera and goes, Oh well, I guess I'm not gonna interview him. And then he just went up to the top. So uh back to the booth. But uh I just pushed him away because I was not interested in David, I was interested in Lisa.

Mike Gonzalez 44:19

And that that win came 20 years after your first win in Milwaukee. Uh of course that tournament uh 20 years later was sponsored by US Bank, uh, who had the sponsorship for a few years. You also uh tied the 36 hole scoring record with 125, so that's a pretty good start. Um I know the 26 beat a few guys. Uh one of the 27s I remember is Andy North, a Wisconsinite, uh, who did it at the BC Open, as I remember, Bruce.

Bruce Devlin 44:46

Yes, I think so.

Corey Pavin 44:48

That's right. Yeah, I saw Andy the next day, actually. And he had a few words to say to me about it. Yeah, all in chess, but he was like, you know, pretending to be mad and all that stuff. I'm sure he probably was a little mad in a way, but uh it was all joking. And he's a great guy.

Mike Gonzalez 45:06

Yeah, I think he took a lot of pride in that 27.

Corey Pavin 45:09

Yeah, he takes a lot of pride in a lot of things. He's he's one of the best storytellers in the history of the world, let alone golf.

Mike Gonzalez 45:17

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 45:39

It went smack down the fairway, and it started to slice just smidge off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My caddy says long as you're still in the state, you're okay.