Craig Stadler - Part 3 (The Later Wins and the Ryder Cup)

Bruce Devlin 0:16

So we're talking about that seven-year gap, Craig. Uh barely lost. Your next win on the tour was the Tour Championship, which is a big win as well in 1991.

Craig Stadler 0:27

It was. Piners number two. I barely got in. I got in as number 29, I believe, out of the 30, and ended up finishing second on the money list. Which is kind of weird. Shows you how how distorted the money was back then.

Bruce Devlin 0:46

Yeah.

Craig Stadler 0:46

But uh no, it was a good event. Uh stayed at Pine Needles with Pat and Bonnie McGowan. Good good friends of mine, always have been, and and uh went out and and got going there. And and uh I that was you know from one of the things that did disrupt all this was from 88 to 88 to like 91 or two, uh I just I had putting issues. And it wasn't the wasn't the yips, I didn't have any problem with one or two footers, but from that four to ten foot range, it just seemed like I could, you know, I'd I'd get over it and I'd look at it, and you know, I I couldn't make up my mind. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to miss it left or right. And that doesn't bode too well for making a putt when you know you're gonna miss it before you hit it. Yeah, not for not very good. No, and uh, you know, I hung in there at Pinehurst and and was tied with Russ Cochran going into 18. He'd already finished, and I drove it the right rough, and I chopped it out about 10 yards short of the green or so, chipped it up, left my chip about seven, eight feet short, and I was lining it up, and here we go again, same thing. And I just I looked at it and I said, you know what? Just and I'm talking to myself while I'm looking at the putt. And I'm like, you know, just don't don't give this this guy in a silver platter, come on, and got over it and just cold cocked it, dead center, and I actually, under my breath, I said, How in the world did you do that? I mean, I really expected to miss it. Yeah, so you know, he went out and we did had a playoff on 16. We both hit the green and two, two putting for birdies, and then 17. Uh I don't know, Mike, if you watched that little replay anywhere, but I hit first, I hit about 15 feet, and Russ got up, and right at the top of the backswing, somebody went boom on the bleachers behind the T. They just were walking down and hit it too hard. And he laid the sod over it about 20 yards short of the green. Oh and then he chipped it about, hit a great little third, little second shot, chipped it about four feet past the hole. And uh I went ahead uh 15 to 20 feet was no problem for me. It was just that six to eight feet range, but I went ahead and cold cocked it from 15 feet. And uh so that one that one was history, but uh again, what a what a another I would call it a feather in your cap winning it winning at Piners number two, as well as Riviera, you know, congressional stuff like that. It just classic, classic, old famous golf courses.

Mike Gonzalez 3:41

Bruce, I I remember you making this comment about Dave Stockton when we talked to him about the classic venues that he was able to win tournaments at.

Bruce Devlin 3:50

Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of uh well Craig's Craig had a pretty good history of uh winning on some great golf courses. No doubt about that, Torrey Pines and Riviera.

Craig Stadler 4:04

I was fortunate, very fortunate.

Bruce Devlin 4:06

Well, the one interesting part about the whole thing is if you look at it, the reason why he won so many times is because he was a damn good player. It's that simple.

Craig Stadler 4:18

I was we all were at times, put it that way. Uh you know, it's sometimes or most times we're a lot harder than the others. I always I always love to say, you know, golf is golf is a pretty amazing game when and when you can and to explain in total layman's terms to people that have no idea how hard it might be, uh if you can go a couple majors, 35 wins and 1100 losses, you're in the Hall of Fame.

Bruce Devlin 4:51

Yeah, isn't that funny? Yeah, that's true.

Mike Gonzalez 4:54

Yep. Exactly. Yeah, you you you uh you were able to win the Buick Invitational uh at Tory Pines. Uh did you play Tory a lot growing up?

Craig Stadler 5:03

I did. I played my high school all my high school golf there. Yep. And uh just loved the place. Absolutely love the place. But that was obviously that and LA both were very, very special wins for me. Uh growing up in San Diego, going to school in LA, living in LA for quite a while. Uh really I was I was as proud of those wins as I was anywhere else, because it's it's hard to win at home. It really is. And uh, you know, San Diego was was fortunate. Uh beat Steve Lowry there, who just kind of hit two shots on 15 and 16 that he shouldn't have. But um laid it up on 18 and Sunday, the front left pin, and hit it about a foot behind the hole and had one shot lead, and I just I was probably two feet behind the hole. Left it short. But I didn't I could care, I'd have cared less about missing it. I just, you know, if you put anything on it that's a little too much, you could end up down in the water. I just kind of waffled down the trickled down about three inches short and tapped it in. But uh, you know, that was that was a really, really nice win. And then Riviera two years later was awesome as well, which uh one of my all-time favorite golf courses. Just loved playing. It ranks high with everybody, doesn't it? It does. Yep. It really does. It always has. And uh I don't think it's honestly, I don't think it's a good as good a golf course of what they did to to number eight with the split fairway right now, but uh still it's it's always been one of my favorites. And I say living in LA for that long. Uh I actually finished I actually finished third there when I was in college. Back in back in 74 or something. I think uh Really? It was either the year Stockton one or the year that Pat Fitzsimons won. I finished third or fourth as an amateur. And uh the pin uh the only thing I remember is that Pim was back left on 18. I hit driver and the driver driver straight into the pin's coming the other way. On the front right, I was about 60 feet from the hole, and I dunked it. Oh hello. The striped shirt, the bucket hat, the the plaid seersucker pants looked like something out of you know Caddyshack and Roddy Dangerfield or something, but it was uh it was always a great guy. I love playing there. That's and back then they back in the uh 70s they had a qualifying at Hill Crest Country Club for the amateurs every year. They gave away, they had you qualify for three amateur spots, which was very cool.

Mike Gonzalez 8:00

You beat some good guys there that year you won at at Riviera.

Craig Stadler 8:04

Was that stock Stockton that year?

Mike Gonzalez 8:08

Couples in '96, uh, when you won, you beat uh Mark Brooks, Fred Couples, Scott Simpson, and Mark Weeby.

Craig Stadler 8:15

Yep. Fred Couples was two shots back, going in 18, I think, and he he melted like a seven-iron right over the left edge. Like, God, really? That kind of brought back memories of the hope with Pertzer. Like, I know he's gonna make it.

SPEAKER_04 8:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Craig Stadler 8:33

But Scott hit a real Scott had a really nice butt that didn't go in. He had a chance to tie two. But I got yeah, I got to watch all four of those guys come in standing up top behind the green there. It was a little nerve-wracking, but it all worked out.

Mike Gonzalez 8:49

Bruce, why don't you uh take us home with the uh the BC Open?

Bruce Devlin 8:55

Yeah, I last uh last victory in uh 2003, and that was a very, very interesting year from one, Mr. Craig Stadler. Uh not too many people win on the regular tour and the senior tour. You uh you actually won a couple of weeks uh prior when you won on the champions tour before winning at the BC Open. And I might say that in the final round at the BC Open, you shot 63 and you came from eight shots back.

Craig Stadler 9:25

Yeah, I'd uh yeah, the week before or two weeks before I won at Detroit in the in the senior players, beat uh beat Watson playing at Tucson Hill on Sunday. Actually, somewhat handily. I think I won by three, but uh you know, I I as I alluded to earlier when I won the the World Series in '92, it took me through 2002, and I turned 50 in June of 03. So I I uh took my career top 50 for the first half of 03 and just played horrid. And I ended up I end up I I won't admit it, but it I was hurt a little bit, but I probably could have played, but I withdrew the second day at Hilton Head because I was just playing so bad. And I didn't play again until uh the senior PGA was my first week as uh as a 50-year-old. So I I took two months off and just said, you know, I'm just gonna wait till I get out there in new venues and new courses I haven't played before and get back to the old guys I used to, you know, occasionally beat up on when I was on tour, which kind of gives you a little confidence. But uh I mean I was just rotten. I never made a cut on the West Coast. I played probably eight events and and missed cutting every single one of them badly. It was just horrible. And uh I got back to Ronnemick and and teed off there. I uh was standing on the putting green on Thursday. Tea time was 1010. I got up there about 5 till 10. I was putting under umbrella, it was just downpour. And there's a Marshall sitting on the tee or on the green, putting green, which you've been to Ronemick, the putting green's up above, and it's like 25 feet above the first tee. It's right there. But already's got the umbrellas up and whatever, what have you, and it's not a very big putting green. I was just sitting there hitting six and eight footers. My cousin George was catting for me because Dolphie was sick, and he's holding the umbrella over me. I'm just hitting putts. There's a Marshall standing five feet from me the whole time. And you know, it's raining pretty good. You can you could hear the metal of the metalwood going off the first T. And uh about a minute and a half later, Marshall standing there. He said, Mr. Stadler, your group just teed off. So, excuse me? He's they just teed off, they're walking down, walking down the cart path towards the first sharp way. Like my first thought was why don't you tell me that five minutes ago? He said I sat there watching you five.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

Yeah.

Craig Stadler 12:03

So obviously now I got plenty of time to get down there and tee off with a two-shot penalty, and that's a nice way to start your new career. But uh, I ended up finishing fifth there, and I I hadn't I hadn't made a cut in you know eight months. And uh, like, yeah, maybe I maybe I knew new mindset, new venues, back the same old guys. Maybe I can do this again. And actually, John Jacobs won that week, which is pretty cool. It was good to see him win. But yeah, a couple weeks later at uh Ford Players, and then two weeks later at BC Open, uh Alex Alexander used to run the BC Open back in uh the end of April. Uh I just I called him and Kevin had just turned pro a little bit ago, my oldest son, and I got him on the phone. I said, So I got a dumb question for you, but because I had I had played the BC Open a lot, and as you know, they never had a title sponsor. Uh it was all local, but um, you know, I I'd supported them quite a bit. I love the tournament, love the course, love the people, just the friendliest place in the world. But uh I called Alex and I said, So I got a dumb question for you. Would you would you would you have any interest in entertaining giving Kevin a spot in the in the turn in your tournament this year? He goes, Yeah, we can do that. I said, That'd be awesome. That would be awesome. And they gave him a spot. And uh so, you know, that was great, and he he was gonna play there, and then he's gonna try to Monday qualify at Hartford the next week. And in the meantime, I was gonna go play the uh senior open at Turnbury, uh, the week after Endicott, which I was just gonna fly there, you know, probably five days before and just run around, maybe play Western Gales or Trune or a couple little places before, and and it got around like mid-June, and and uh my caddy Dolphy called me, he says, You're not you're not going to Endicott, right? I said, No. It's all right, because I'm at Caddy for Calcavecchia over in uh the British Open at at uh um St. George. I said, Absolutely, go on. You know, I'm just I'll come over on probably Saturday and whatever. And then about a week later, I just sit there at home and have this little fleeting thought, like, you know, they're giving him a spot. I should, I should probably go play. Just because they gave him the spot. So Dolphin called again about something. I said, Yeah, I'm gonna go play in the cop, but just just go with it. You know, I've I haven't played with the damn there in ten years, and you know, don't worry about it. Go have fun with Calc and I'll see you at Turnbury. So we got there, well, we before he got there, about a week. This is actually a pretty good little story. Uh I'll embarrass if my favorite hears this, but that's okay. But uh about a week before, now I need a caddy. So I called my youngest son, Chris, who does not play golf. And he was up and up four collins. He's he's hey, what's going on? I said, I don't know. What are you doing in like in a week and a half? Oh why? I said, You want to come caddy for me back in New York at the BC Open? And there was a pause in the phone, and all I heard on the other end was, why? Like, well, I need a caddy. Dolphy's caddying in uh in uh you know down in Dover at St. George's, and I need something to caddy for me. And again, a little pause. He's like, You gonna pay me? I said, Yeah, I'll pay the same thing I play Dolph. He said, What's that? I said, depends how I play. Okay. I said, you'll make you'll make twelve hundred bucks at least. He's like, Yeah, dad, I'll be there. Well, no, no, that didn't come yet either.

unknown 16:16

No.

Craig Stadler 16:16

He's like, so do you gonna pay for my my plane ticket? Like, yeah. Actually, you can come to Boston. Because we're uh I think we were going to the Eagles concert fleet center. I said, you come to Boston and then we'll just fly in private from there into Endicott when I was zipping around on a citation. And uh sold. He's like, so you are gonna pay me? Yes. And you are gonna pay for my plane ticket, yes. He says, I don't know how to caddy. I said, it's not rocket science. He's like, Carry the bag. He's like, okay. So anyway, he shows up. We uh we're starting, we fly in Tuesday night late after the concert, and we're off Wednesday noontime on 10, a little tiny bar for it in the cot. So he's out there, and you know, we walk off the team, he's carrying the bag like this, you know, just the hand through the loop, not over the shoulder. I just stopped and I said, Hey, stand the bag up, put it on your shoulder. So, why'd I have to do that? I said, just the way you do it. It's just it's like it, it's like kind of just just pretend like this is like professional stuff out here. He's like, that's not very comfortable. Tough. So anyway, we go down and we get our second shots to 10. One of my amateurs flails it over right of the bunker in the rough. We're over there looking for it. And I wandered around, I look up, and I just went, Chris, he goes, What? I said, grab the bag, man. He laid the laid the god, laid the tour bag right smack in the middle of the green. I'm not kidding. And I'm like, what are you doing? He goes, What do you mean, what am I doing? You don't put it in the green, you put it in the long grass over there or the fringe or somewhere. And he's like, why? I said, Don't ask why, you just do it. Never put it down on the green. So that was that was Wednesday, Thursday, playing with O'Mira and somebody else in the fourth holes. Part three is kind of an hourglass green, and pins in the front middle, and O'Mira hits his on the fringe, pin high right, about 25 feet. I was past the whole, I walked back, I turn around, here comes boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. He gets right smacked between Omer and the pin. Pin high, both of them. I stop, stop, stop. He's like, What? I said he does his dance. I'm like, oh my god. He says, What? I said, Your bright was lying. Who's lying? I said, Mark, right there. And O'Meary's sitting there, like, what in the hell is this kid doing? And he goes, No, I'm not. He's down on the green. I said, it doesn't matter. He's got a putt right where you're standing. Just back up, just back up. Don't come forward anymore. So that was the next day. Anyway, we go out on we go out on Sunday and and uh we come around to 17 and and I've just chipped in three times and made a couple bombs and whatever, what have you, and all of a sudden I've got like a one-shot lead on 17. The leaders are back on eight and nine still. So I was an hour and a half ahead of him. And uh fanned an iron in the right bunker, came out about six feet and missed the putt. And he's standing there, you know, with the bag upright, hand in the bag, and I came out as usually do walking oranges into the bag with the putter, and you know, like got his hand out just in time, and uh came up and looking at just hot. I turned around, he's like right here in my face. I'm like, no, I said, what? He says, What in the hell is your problem? I said, Well, it wasn't the most opportune time to make a bogey, dude. He goes, You birdied 18 yesterday, just birdie 18 again today. See what happens. I'm like, I just kind of laugh, like he's right. Well, exactly. You know, I I would have gone up the cart path, Dolphie would have gone around the thing to the 18th T got up there. I'd have I'd have flailed a driver in the right trees, chipped out, you know, maybe hit in there 10 feet, made it for par and finished tight for second or third. And yeah, pretty awesome week for an old man. Whatever, blah, blah, blah. But uh, I just kind of chuckled and walked up there and drove it right in the middle of the fairway, hit a wedge about six feet right of the hole and made that one. And and uh so you've been have you been to Endicott? I'm sure you have. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:58

Uh-huh.

Craig Stadler 20:59

No TVs there, there's no clubhouse, there's no nothing, it's just a public golf course. And so I was on the cell phone with Kevin. He was back in Hartford, he's watching it on TV. We got no TVs there. So he's saying, uh, you know, I still had a I still had a one-shot lead with like 40 minutes to go. And uh Alex Chucka made a birdie somewhere, so we were tied. He was on 18th T. And I'm just sitting there on the phone, you know, he's well, he's he's taking out driver. Like, all right. He goes, No, actually he's hitting three wood. He's posing on it because he's watching the TV. Yeah, he's posing on it, he says, Oh my god, he hit it in the frickin' water. Those pawns had left over there. I really dropped it, hit it 20 feet, and then missed it. And I'm just sitting there like, how did that happen? And uh Chris was there and I put the phone down. I said, dude, just one. It was how much am I getting paid? The first thing came out of his mouth. How much am I getting paid? I said, Well, unless you don't, unless it's too much for you, you're getting a check for like$58,000. And he looked at me and he goes, Excuse me? What? Not any more than that. Oh no, that's just fine. But uh how things turn out and how they work. It was just it was phenomenal. But uh, you know, two tournaments a row, a 50-year-old tournament and a regular event was was very fancy, very cool. It was uh something that I uh not proud not real proud of a whole lot of things that I've done in my career, but that one was that one was one of them, especially. But uh just fun stuff. And I've been very fortunate to just have a lot of fun with with you know, youngest on the bag there, that just a lot of things that Kevin and I had done together that are just really special. We both won the World Junior, the only father, son, and Augusta had ever played together. We both won on the same day. I won in Boston, he went in Erie, and just just all kinds of stuff like that that's happened. It's been very cool. Very cool.

Mike Gonzalez 23:11

What a great what a great story. My my cheeks are hurting from just listening to that story. That was such a good story.

Craig Stadler 23:19

The best part of the whole thing, you want a caddy for me back in New York? Why? Like you're gonna go miss a cut by 10. What do I want to be part of that for? Oh my, my I lured him in with a 1200.

Mike Gonzalez 23:34

Yeah, I guess. I guess. I thought maybe the Eagles concert would sell him.

Craig Stadler 23:38

Nah, I don't think so. It was a good one, though.

Mike Gonzalez 23:43

Yeah. Well, maybe we can just briefly touch on uh some of the majors. We've kind of covered the the masters. You're going back this year for, I guess, what would be your 40th master's dinner. Does it seem like that long?

Craig Stadler 23:58

Uh yeah, it does. Yeah, it does. Uh you know, I've I've always, for some reason, I've always thought that the 70s were a million years ago, but the 80s just weren't that long ago. But uh yeah, look at my lack of hair and what's there is white. Yeah, it's been a long time. But it's I I so much look forward to that tournament every year. And I haven't played since 14, which you know, I just hounded my oldest son for about four years to win a tournament. And he finally got on me, like, what do you keep saying that for? It'll be your first, and I'm tired of shooting 80 there, and it'll be my last. So get it done sooner than later, would you please? And when he won Phoenix, it's just like, yeah, finally. But uh, I still I love going back every year. I'll go back this year and usually get there on Sunday or some Monday and come back on Saturday, something like that, Sunday, watch the final on the on Sunday on TV. But uh just uh wonderful times. Tuesday night's incredible. It's just such a cool dinner to be a part of. So just so lucky to have that happen in your life. And and Wednesday night I go to the Members Cocktail party, which is just no no pros ever go. Never used to. And uh when I got we got there in 2010 or 2009, it was the first tournament that my wife Jan had been to. And got the packet, went to the house, and and um Yeah, she was there and going through all this stuff. She says, What's the Wednesday night cocktail party? I said, I have no idea. Well, you're invited, I said I've never even heard of it. So don't you read the stuff in your packet? I said, No. I just get the badges out and the tickets and whatever, and we go from there, give them out, and off we go. So what's Wednesday night under the oak tree? And I want to go. Like, okay. And it's been one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done there. And the coolest thing is, you know, it's a it's all the officials from RNA and USGA and Japan and South America and Lazie and wherever else. And then uh a selected probably 50 to 60 couples that are members. And I have met so many people that night now that we've we had gone for we went for probably six years in a row or seven years in a row. But uh the one thing I will say, everybody, all you guys, people, guys and girls out there listening, you know, Augusta has got this reputation of being so secret, so stuffy. Everybody's got their noses up here, and and I will tell you, it is it is the best, most enjoyable set of members at a private club I think I've ever been around. I mean, top to bottom. The guys that are mid-90s, the guys that are in their 40s, they're just uh just quality, quality people. And you know, some of them are just work 24-7, some of them have more money than God, but you would never know anything about any of them. They're just wonderful, friendliest people I've ever been around.

Mike Gonzalez 27:20

You probably wouldn't trade that master's win for anything, would you?

Craig Stadler 27:25

Can't think of anything right off the top of my head.

Mike Gonzalez 27:30

Hey, we'd we'd be remiss if we didn't touch on your Ryder Cup experience for just a couple of minutes. Uh you know, you you were competing back at a time when the Ryder Cup was really changing. Uh Tony Jacklin came in as a as a captain a number of years and really uh helped the Europeans step up their game course uh just before 83. Your first one, I think uh they were just had let the European uh continent players play. But the tide was starting to change, and your first Ryder Cup in '83 was sort of the beginning of that, with Lanny stuffing that last shot, but it was a pretty good competition down at PJ National.

Craig Stadler 28:06

It was. It was uh hotter, but Jesus that week. God, it was hot. But uh no, it's uh it's a uh the Ryder Cup holds a really, really special place in my heart. It always has. Uh as the Walker Cup does, you know, going out there and and putting your colors on and playing for your country. It's just uh it was it was one of the more special things I've ever done. But uh fortunately I was uh fortunately I made it on two of them. Uh there were two of them I didn't make it on because I had one in the fall, and the fall after the Ryder Cup, between there and the end of the year, you didn't get any points for any events until like the mid-90s. And uh so I I probably definitely would have made it in ninety one, '91 or two, whenever, after the tour championship, but I got no points for that. But uh, you know, I'm fortunate enough to play in two and and uh had an okay record. I I did get Woozy's number in the singles both times, which he wasn't real happy about, but uh I enjoyed beating him. But you know, we we had so many rookies on the team at Belfry. There were probably, I don't know, seven of them, maybe six at least. Jacobson and Andy North and uh whoever would have Curtis maybe. Uh but uh and they struggled a bit, Hal Sutton. Hal Sutton and I played with the first day, Alder's shot, and I drove it down on two. And that's the the green solar, and it's got that big high bunker on the right. And uh I drove it left side of the fairway, and he fanned it in the right in that bunker, and everybody started screaming and applauding for him. And he looked at me with this just look in his eye like, are they clapping for me? I said, Yeah, get used to it, dude. It's gonna happen. He says, Why would they do that? And just real serious, I'm just I'm thinking to myself, oh my, this is not gonna go well. And he it took him, it took him six holes to quasi-get over it. He just couldn't believe that you'd fan a shot off in a bunker and they'd they'd applaud and scream and yell and carry on for it. But uh, it took him a long time to get over that one. But uh, you know, it was it was a fun, we got we got pretty much everything handed us to us there at the Belfry, which kind of started their role a little bit, as you said. But um two just phenomenal experiences in my life.

Mike Gonzalez 30:49

Lanny describes the eighty three Ryder Cup as his favorite, and he was uh referring more to the off-the-course activities. You know, Jack Nicholas captaining and all the you know the the events you had at Jack's home. He had dinner there, I think. Uh nice party after the win where people got a little wound up.

Craig Stadler 31:08

Oh, the party after was phenomenal. But uh I tell you, I will say one thing, Jack as a captain was phenomenal. He's he had a Cushman card, he had shirts in it because it was it was like 95 degrees and 98% humidity. Just miserable, sweaty days. But uh he was running around with waters and towels and new clothes and whatever. And I mean, there had to be, I thought there were like three of them there. He had two twins somewhere because he was everywhere, and he didn't stop. I mean, like the energizer buddy just kept going here, here, here, here, here, here. And he was he was amazing. Totally into it. And Lanny and I got paired together a couple times uh in best ball and all our shot. And uh you know, we we played a lot of that together. We played shark shootout maybe five or six times together. And uh, you know, kind of a kind of a mutt and Jeff pairing, really, when you think about it. Yeah. Uh and the times we played the shark shootout at Sherwood, it was it was fairly trying because two years in a row it was, and we were both getting older, but uh two years in a row really wet at Sherwood. And he'd get up and you know, we'd be playing Alner's shot the one time, and he'd get up and hit this little dive bomber that you know flew like 205 and it plugged. Like, dude, what are you doing to me? Please get this thing in the air. And we'd we had we had a really good banner together. It uh it was it was fun times, a lot of fun times.

Mike Gonzalez 32:44

Quickly on the on the senior tour, you you you uh you joined the senior tour at age 50, and uh you're the leading money winner. That was probably your second year out, 2004.

Craig Stadler 32:55

Yeah, three and four were three and four were were really fun. I mean, I uh I think I went eight times in three and four out of my nine. The next one came when I was sixty.

Bruce Devlin 33:09

But uh you had a habit of doing that, sir. You had a habit of doing that.

Craig Stadler 33:15

And that that one was pretty special too. But uh yeah, it just I I got so comfortable out there right out of the box. And I said I played so just horrifically bad the first half of of oh three. And then again, I just I got a couple things done and just felt comfortable winning again and and uh you know I I got a lot accomplished in those two years and then another nine-year hiatus for some reason. Or ten years almost. And then uh, you know, showed up at uh at uh short country club. And uh played a practice round on Tuesda on Tuesday and played the Pro Am or Praxis Round on Wednesday and the Pro Am on Thursday and just really felt comfortable in the golf course. I love the golf course and uh you know I I went out and got built an ISO lead on Sunday, and then I started just leaking oil coming in with the putter. Uh I had a I had a four-shot lead, I think, and came down to eighteen with a one-shot lead. Drove it in the fairway, and and uh one-shot lead over couples and drove it in the fairway, and I walked up and I saw him over the range hitting balls. And and uh my second shot I found it in the right bunker, really deep bunker, and just didn't have much of a shot, but a really nice shot out there about 12 feet past the hole, and and all the putts, I'd missed like four putts coming in on the back nine and just shoved every one of them. So it was it was I actually while I was waiting for Slumman to putt, and whoever else we played with, uh I actually had a little learn by your mistakes moment because I had about 12 feet to make it to win, and it was a left-edge putt. I just said, well, you know what? I aimed it about a half an inch outside the left, and I pushed it just a little bit, and it it just center cut. And it was just it was one of the coolest wins ever. Um, you know, and and I say you talk about being fortunate, you know. I I want to want to tour vent my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. Pretty fancy. Pretty fancy. Very, very, very, very cool, very, very fortunate. Absolutely. But just so as you like new golf, how long you can play.

Mike Gonzalez 35:44

Yeah, Bruce, there's a couple of questions we generally like to ask our guests. Do you want to start?

Bruce Devlin 35:51

Yeah, so Stanz, if you if you could take a shot over today, where would it be?

Craig Stadler 36:05

Take a shot over today.

Bruce Devlin 36:11

You get to replay one shot? That's a good question.

Craig Stadler 36:14

Uh I don't know. Um I don't think there's any one shot that Well, there is. I would I would take uh a putt at Hawaii uh about a 12-footer that I just melted over the edge to win, and then I got in a five-hole playoff with Paven. And would have been would have been nice to get that one down. I always love the Hawaiian Open. I always played well there, but never won there, and uh that would have been really nice. And Mike, you have one?

Mike Gonzalez 36:51

Sure, Craig, you if you knew at age twenty what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Craig Stadler 36:59

Uh I probably wouldn't have done much differently, but uh the only thing that I absolutely do not regret at all, but it probably would have was probably fairly important to my career, which most likely will probably be why I will not get in the Hall of Fame. But my number one priority was never golf. It was always family and the kids. And you know, that that cut a lot of practice, a lot of work time out of my out of my regiment in the late eighties, early nineties. And if I could have figured out how to do those two things a little more efficiently, uh probably would have helped. Because, you know, in in my mind I knew how to win. And I had a lot of chances that I probably could have or maybe should have, but didn't. But uh I think if I I might have somehow been able to put a little more importance on golf and practice and just get everything honed better than I did, you know, just like we explained about Tucson. I I didn't play golf for 40 days before I went over and practiced for two days and then won by three. I mean, how does that happen?

SPEAKER_04 38:19

Yeah.

Craig Stadler 38:20

That's Bruce Liskey's twin right there. But uh yeah, the only thing I I don't regret it because I did I did everything the way I wanted to do it. But uh I did take a lot of time off, especially later in my career. I I hardly ever played more than 20 events because I had I too much, I wanted to spend time with the family. They weren't coming out, and I hated traveling, I hated being alone out in the road, but you know, you're really not because you're all having dinner with your buddies and seeing them all the next five days in the golf course. But if I could have figured that out a little better, a little better program for that, that probably is the one thing I regret that I know now. I've known it for quite a while, but I didn't really know it back then.

Bruce Devlin 39:04

Well, we've learned a lot about Craig Stadler today. And Craig, we want to we want to say thank you so much for you for all your time today. It's been a it's been a joy having you with us as a guest on For Good of the Game, and uh uh we wish you all the best in uh in everything you plan to do in the future.

Craig Stadler 39:22

Well, I'll tell you, I've thoroughly enjoyed the time with you guys and uh fun stuff, yeah. Something that you can start doing at age four and you still do it age seventy and you make a living out of it. I mean, how fortunate are we anyway, and you know that as well as I do. So great spending time with you guys, and uh good luck on your next hundred or however many you got coming up. Thanks a lot, buddy. Take care.

Mike Gonzalez 39:49

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

SPEAKER_04 39:52

That's when McCoy.

Mike Gonzalez 39:53

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 teat up again for the good of the game.