Larry Mize - Part 1 (The Early Years and the Masters Dinners)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Mike Gonzalez 0:13

Then it started to Welcome to another edition of FORE the Good of the Game and Bruce Devlin, we've got a repeat guest here this morning, and uh you talk about uh uh hometown boy made good. Uh that's what this guy's all about.

Bruce Devlin 0:29

Isn't that the truth? Living in Augusta born right around the masters, and then to win it in 1987, Larry Mize. That was some effort, and uh, I know a lot of people around Augusta, Georgia, uh, were happy to see you win that year. Thanks for joining us again.

Larry Mize 0:48

Well, Bruce, Mike, thanks. It's great to be with you all. It was very special, and the fans were great, and uh, it's so great to go back there every year, and it's still hard to believe that I actually did win it.

Mike Gonzalez 1:02

Thirty-five years this year. Of course, uh, we're probably gonna confuse our listeners because uh we will label this as part one, uh, even though this is our second time getting together, but that's okay. We had a chance in our first visit to talk about uh uh your experience at the Masters, particularly your your your great win in in 1987, but we thought we we would get back to uh to you and cover a lot of the uh the neat stuff that we didn't get a chance to cover our first set down. And so the the first thing I think we want to do is just take our listeners back to uh the early days of of Larry Myes growing up in Augusta, Georgia, and and learning the game and and and so forth. So, but before we do, Lawrence Hogan Mys, where'd that middle name come from?

Larry Mize 1:49

Well, believe it or not, it's it's a family name. Um when I was born, I was the I was the third, I was the youngest. I've got an older brother and then a sister is between us. Nobody played golf in my family. My uh my great-grandmother, her married name was Hogan. She was a Bentley and married a Hogan, so it it came from her. And nobody played golf at all. My dad started playing when he was about 35 and became a uh one handicap, became a very good player. He was a good athlete, and you know, he was the one that really got me into golf. My mother played as well, so give her a little credit too. But you know, dad was the one that really got me interested. And uh growing up in Augusta, you can imagine how with the Masters being such a huge tournament and tremendously huge for the city of Augusta, that had a lot to do with it as well. But uh, it's a family name, Hogan. It's uh I don't know if the press always believed me when I told them that, but it's uh has nothing to do with golf, it's just an amazing coincidence.

Mike Gonzalez 2:45

Yeah, I can imagine you getting a lot of questions about that uh over the course of your life, and I'm sure most people like us probably assumed that had uh uh its roots in golf somewhere.

Larry Mize 2:56

Yeah, I mean it makes perfect sense, but no connection with golf just happened to be a family name, and they gave it to me as my middle name, and it's been fun. You know, I've carried it. Uh my youngest son gave it to him as his middle name. So we've tried to carry that on uh with my children as well.

Mike Gonzalez 3:13

Oh, that's terrific. Well, tell us a little bit about the early days growing up. What was it like uh back in the late 50s, early 60s in Augusta, Georgia?

Larry Mize 3:21

Well, you know, I had a great childhood. Um, it was wonderful. You know, I my parents were wonderful. They were very supportive of me playing golf. And as I said, I took it up when I was about, I guess I went to the golf course when I was five or six for the first time. I don't remember very much there. The I really started playing a lot when I was about nine years old in Augusta, Georgia. They had a great junior program at Augusta Country Club with Frank Carney, who was the professional there, and a lot of great players. Uh the Mulheron family had a lot of good players that I played and competed against, and wonderful time to for me. I have nothing but great memories looking back, playing Augusta Country Club. I was very fortunate to play a really good golf course, an old Donald Ross course that uh it sits right behind Augusta National, as we talked about earlier. So it was a wonderful time for me, and I just I love the game. I fell in love with it as an early age. My brother and sister didn't take to it. I was the only one that took to it, and it was it was wonderful. I have great memories of my childhood playing golf with dad and and friends, and I was I was consumed with golf.

Bruce Devlin 4:30

Who was who who would you think is the the guy that influenced your game the most?

Larry Mize 4:37

I really think it was my dad. I I can't think of anybody else. Uh my dad was a good player. We would we would go out in the front yard. We had a a U-shaped driveway, you know, just a big U. Can't you could come in and circle, go right back out. And then from that driveway, it was a walkway straight into the front door. And dad and I would get in the front yard and see who could land it over the walkway the closest and keep it there. So we would do a lot of chipping back and forth, and he really, you know, he really pressed for me to get my short game good. He had a good short game. He wanted me to get you know good with the putter and the wedge, so we did a lot of short game work with him in the house at in the front yard. And believe it or not, I did not let my kids do this, but they allowed me to hit wedges from the front yard to the back over the house. So I would hit it over the house and go to the back yard and get it back over the house the other way. And I didn't break any windows, thank goodness. But I had a lot of fun doing that. So dad was a big influence in my life to get me going and a lot of great memories of playing golf when I was younger with him.

Mike Gonzalez 5:38

We broke a lot of windows with playing baseball, but I don't think they ever got good balls over the house.

Larry Mize 5:44

I I still can't believe they let me do it. Looking back, I'm thinking, what were they thinking?

Mike Gonzalez 5:49

Yeah. So tell us a little bit about uh other ways you learned the game. Were you watching some of your heroes on television? Were you reading some of the famous golf books, reading magazines? How did you pick up various aspects of the game uh besides uh working with your father?

Larry Mize 6:06

You know, I don't remember reading a lot of books. As I got older, you know, I enjoyed a lot of books, Hogan's Five Fundamentals, uh Nick, some of Nicholas's books. I I enjoyed those. But growing up, I just I just played. Uh people used to say, you know, Mr. Carney said he's got a natural swing, just kind of let him swing. I I did some junior clinics, but really it wasn't a lot of instruction. It was just going out and playing and learning how to play the game and learn how to score. And that was what I did. I just uh I was a I was a golf club rat. I stayed out there and just every time I could, I was out there golf course playing and practicing and no real major influence. Obviously, Jack Nicholas being the great player that he was, he became my favorite golfer. Uh so I was always pulling and uh pulling for Jack and watching him, but I I couldn't swing like Jack Nicholas. So I think people that influenced my swing, Sam Sneed and Gene Littler, those swings more so. Two beauties. Yeah, two great swings. And I I think I used to look at them and watch them and try and copy their rhythm and tempo, and and that that seemed to fit me better. I couldn't do the grind it and vomit like Jack did.

Bruce Devlin 7:15

So one one question. How many hours did you spend on the practice behind the practice tea at Augusta watching all the guys each year? I'm sure you spend a lot of time there.

Larry Mize 7:26

Well, Bruce, you're right on. I it was my favorite spot. I used to love to get in the bleachers behind the thing behind the uh range and watch them hit, see what I could learn. I remember going from, you know, back then they hit on the left side and both sides. Yeah. I'd go either side and watch them hit, and I was just amazed how good they were, how well they hit it. I I can remember watching uh Ed Sneed when I was older, now I was in high school when Ed Sneed played so well and he was just hitting these fairway woods, and his caddy was hardly moving. And it was just amazing to watch them and try and learn from what they do, what they did, watching Trevino warm up, and it was uh it was just I was I was loving it. That was uh my dream to get out there and to get there and watch those guys. It was so much fun.

Bruce Devlin 8:11

And then to turn around and win it. That put that was the icing on the cake, wasn't it?

Larry Mize 8:15

Well, it really was. I you know, I'll never forget and you know, winning Memphis in '83, getting in the tournament in '84 was my first year. And I was I was so nervous teeing it up. Monday it rained, so I didn't really get to play much on Monday. Tuesday I teed it up. I could barely keep the ball on the T on the first T. I was so nervous just in the practice level. So I was so nervous Tuesday and Wednesday that Thursday, I was actually still very nervous, but actually a little better because I was getting a little used to being there. But so exciting to get there and play in that golf tournament. And, you know, my first year was great. I tied for 11th, my first year there in 90 in 84, and that automatically got me back. So got off to a really good start there in the Masters my first year, which was really just wonderful memories.

Mike Gonzalez 9:01

Yeah, well, Ben Crenshaw won that first Masters you played in, and uh your friend Ben just turned 70 yesterday.

Larry Mize 9:08

Yeah, my wife was showing me, she was watching on Instagram or whatever it is. They had some pictures and videos of Ben singing happy birthday to Ben. So, yeah, I got to see that. So hard to believe. It time flies. Yeah, it sure is.

Mike Gonzalez 9:21

I want to go back to something that I think some of our older listeners would have picked up on when you guys talked about hitting balls and practicing at Augusta, hitting from both sides. I assume you guys were hitting out toward Washington Road, right? Correct. And uh it's unlikely that you guys were bombing it out into the street back then.

Larry Mize 9:41

That's I never did bomb it in the street, never. I was if I hit one really, really, really, really good, I could fly it to the bottom of the net.

Mike Gonzalez 9:52

But but something you said uh uh you know is interesting, and then some people are gonna miss this, but but you said talking about Ed Sneed and watching him hit, what did you say, four wood?

Larry Mize 10:02

Three wood.

Mike Gonzalez 10:02

Three wood?

Larry Mize 10:03

Yes, four wood, yes.

Mike Gonzalez 10:05

And what you said was that his caddy barely moved. And some of the younger people can't relate to that because this might have been back when you guys uh, well, at least at some tournaments, were using your own shag bag and your caddies were out there shagging your balls. You were hitting toward your caddy.

Larry Mize 10:21

Well, that that's exactly right. And by the time I got there, and by the time I got on tour, that was it was over with. We were hitting uh we were using practice balls. Um, and you know, we had we were we could use our own caddy in '84, but I think it was somewhere 80 to 82 where they allowed you to bring your own own caddy. Prior to that, you had to use a master's caddy, and you would hit your practice balls, and your caddy would be out there. And, you know, I know it could be dangerous for some caddies, different balls out there, but that was uh different uh, you know, it was already passed when I got there. The one thing that I do remember that is kind of funny, when I first got on the PGA tour, you actually had to pay for your practice for your range balls, and they'd be stripers. I remember hitting yellow stripers on the range, and I had to pay, you know, like two dollars for a bucket of balls. And you also had to pay for lunch. You know, you you didn't have the food wasn't free. You had to go buy the little book of little coupons and go buy your get your hot dog or whatever. So uh things have changed a lot. But it was the old days of where you would hit your balls to your caddy, and uh, I'm sorry I didn't get to do that a little bit because I uh I think there's a lot of positive to that. I mean you would need to be really focused when you're practicing, but when there your caddies out there and you got other caddies, I think that just helps you zero in even a little bit more to really try and focus and hit your target. So I think it was uh it was a good thing.

Bruce Devlin 11:43

Not sure that the caddies would agree with you, Mr. Mize.

Larry Mize 11:49

I agree with that. I would not want to be a caddy out there, I'd want to have a hard hat on it, definitely.

Intro Music 11:54

Uh yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 11:55

Yeah, those those were the days I I can remember two players talking about um either they had turned pro or maybe it was still when they were still amateurs, but uh they had their own shag bag, but more importantly, they had to mark their balls somehow so that as they were mixed in with other balls out there, they knew which balls were theirs. And some guys had paint them, some guys had used fingernail polish. There's a lot of methods, I guess.

Larry Mize 12:18

Yeah, that's exactly right. I I remember um one time I went to buy uh it was 9-11, I got stuck in Dallas when the towers went down, and David Frost took me out to Preston Trails, and we practiced a little bit that day. And I believe I used Miller Barber's balls, and he had them marked certain ways so that we could remember that which ones were his, because I was able to use his practice uh practice balls. And uh you had to do something because, like I said, we're not always gonna knock the caddy down, they're gonna go a little sideways sometimes.

Mike Gonzalez 12:49

Well, let's talk about the first time you remember uh stepping foot onto the Augusta National Grounds. I know you worked there as a youngster, but uh you remember that first time?

Larry Mize 13:00

I I can't vividly remember the first time. I I do remember, you know, going there as a spectator. The tickets were a lot easier to come by back then. My dad was able to get tickets, so when we lived in Augusta, we went to the masters every year. You know, it was the spring break, so there was no school, so everybody was out. So I'd go out there and spectate and get autographs, and I remember getting Lionel T's from guys, and Lionel Abear had his name on his T, you know, and so with Lionel and J. A. Bear and getting autographs, and I just wish I'd have kept all that stuff. I don't know where any of it is now, but I really wish I'd have kept it because it was a lot of fun being out there as a young kid, getting the autographs to those great players and seeing them and everything, and and then getting to uh you know watch them on the practice range, like Bruce said. And then once you became a teenager, so once I turned 13, uh I maybe my dad had some impact. I don't know, but I was able to get a job out there on working on the scoreboard. So for two years, when I was 13 and 14, before we moved to Columbus, Georgia, I worked on the scoreboard on number three. And it was a lot of fun going up and down, putting the numbers up and peeking through the, you know, you pulled the little thing back and put the number there. We peeked through there to see what was going on. And what I liked about working on the third hole was, you know, you had an early and late shift, and when I had the early shift, I got through and half the field had to pay off. So I could go watch them practice and play. And then even when I had the late shift, once we had the got the numbers down and put them back in the box, the leaders were still on four or five, so I still had a lot of golf I could go watch. So it was a great time. They gave me a little ticket for a free lunch, and I was I was in uh I was in heaven out there.

Mike Gonzalez 14:41

Yeah, I bet you were. And uh, you know, thinking about that time spent on number three, were there any learnings you took away from playing the golf course later that you picked up, like when that pin was left, or how you might attack that hole?

Larry Mize 14:56

You know, that's that's a good question. I don't think so. I I don't I think I was too young to really pick up on anything like that. I I think I learned that as I started playing as I got older. But um, yeah, I didn't I didn't didn't really pick up anything. I was just loving being out there watching it and uh and soaking it all in.

Mike Gonzalez 15:14

So you must have played in high school?

Larry Mize 15:16

Did played in high school uh uh two years in uh Columbus, Georgia, and then back my senior year in Augusta, late in high school, and it was uh it was great, you know, played uh played around, didn't uh wasn't anything. I was a good player, nothing really special, never won the state, uh, state uh any more state tournaments or anything, but still love playing and still dreamed of playing the tour.

Mike Gonzalez 15:39

So when did your game really make a step change where you thought, ah, this may be something I I could do for a living?

Larry Mize 15:45

Well, you know, I always dreamed that, and I I never lost sight of that dream and that and that hope. Uh after high school, I went to Georgia Tech and played golf there. And it was after Georgia Tech I we book back in Columbus and I decided to give it a shot. And so I turned pro, which a lot of people say, how do you turn pro? And I'm thinking, you just turn pro, there's nothing you have to do. And so I applied for the tour school and went down to Disney World, and we played the Magnolia Golf course for uh first stage of tour school, and I found out I was not near as good as I hoped or thought I was. I barely made the 36-hole cut, didn't make it past the first stage, and that's when I said, I've got to really get my game going. I don't think I had the greatest work ethic prior to that. I enjoyed playing and I was, you know, a decent player, but I was never an all-American, never won any tournaments in college, didn't play in a bunch of big amateur tournaments. Did play in the U.S. amateur once, didn't make it to match play. So when I came back after that uh fall tour school of 1980, or excuse me, spring tour school of 1980, that's when I said, I got to get to work. So George Cliff was the pro out at the Thorpe Benning Golf Club out at the base here, and I said, Could I come pick up the range balls and hit all the balls I wanted? So I got a job picking up the range, and I'd get out there early in the morning, and I got one of those big old buckets of balls, and I just started beating balls to get better. And that summer I really improved a great deal where I qualified for the Southern Open there at Green Island and made the cut and was actually on the leaderboard with nine holes to play, and I saw that leaderboard and that noose looked on my back. I backed up to about 37th place or something. And uh but what I what I did do, and I don't know whether it was a mistake or not, but I thought, well, I'm gonna try and play my way on tours. So I withdrew from tour school, uh, went to Pensacola, because if you you as we talked before, if you make the cut, you can keep playing. Yeah, I had the chance to plan another tour event and I just wasn't gonna pass that up. So went to Pensacola and I missed the cut by one shot. So that was the last term of the year, so that ended it. So I had to wait till the spring of 81 to go back to tour school again.

Mike Gonzalez 18:04

Yep, and as we talked about last time, uh success from there, but it was a tough grind for a few years. Uh uh going to Japan, uh playing uh in some of the tour events in the U.S. finally, and uh and then breaking through with that first win, which we talked about in our earlier visit uh at the Danny Thomas in 1983. Why don't we uh uh and and the other thing I guess I picked up on that you said, Larry, you know, back when you decided you were gonna become a pro, all it took back then is just saying I'm a pro, right?

Larry Mize 18:36

Right. And I think it's the same thing now. I mean, you can just turn pro and just start playing and accepting money instead of being an amateur. So unless something's changed, it's still the same. So everybody says, how do you do this? Now, being a pro is one thing. Being a PGA tour pro is a whole different ballgame. Now you've got to go through the tour school and explaining to people that it's actually not a school, it's it's a series of tournaments that you have to play your way on. And you know, back when I did it, there was a first stage and a final. That was it. A 72 whole first stage and a 72 whole final. Now you've got pre-qualifier, first stage, second stage, and then a final. I think you've got four stages now, and it's uh it's a grind. I mean, I think everybody that's gone through a tour school says that's something I don't ever want to have to do again.

Bruce Devlin 19:19

Yeah, then you gotta then you gotta go out on the uh on the what what a lot of people call the mini tour before you can get on the PGA tour.

Larry Mize 19:28

So that's that's right. And uh, you know, they didn't have the like the Corn Ferry tour back then, so I went down and played the JC JC Goosey mini tour down in Florida.

Bruce Devlin 19:38

Down Florida.

Larry Mize 19:39

I did it uh the summer of 80, I did it, and it was only two-day tournaments, which I thought this is this is not enough golf two days, so I didn't think I'd ever go back. But after missing tour school in the spring of 81, I went back again because I made it three days, and I thought three days was much better because I remember one time after two days I'm not in the money, and then after the third day I played a good round, I got and I got in the money, so I lost money in 80, and 81 I broke even. So I was you know happy with that. But once again, just gaining experience because I like to tell young players, what do you need to do? Well, you gotta play, you gotta get in tournament golf, you gotta get experience and learn how to play and score and learn how to win. And uh that's what I was doing back then, and uh, it was a grind, but you know, I was I was loving it because I was getting to do what I wanted to do.

Mike Gonzalez 20:28

One thing you mentioned in our first visit that I wanted to come back to with you, and uh it was you talking about developing and learning and so forth as a young pro. And and and the words you used were one of the things I had to do was learn to control my anger. Now, I don't remember ever seeing in the same sentence Larry Mise and anger. That's right.

Larry Mize 20:55

Well, I I I guess I guess I hit it well, but you know, to to be successful out on the PGA tour, you've got to be very competitive. Yeah, and I I'm very competitive. So I do have an anger. I mean, people always I'll never forget they you know, Tiger came along and everybody said nobody hates to make bogeys as much as Tiger, and I want to say, I do.

Bruce Devlin 21:14

Yeah, I do.

Larry Mize 21:16

Everybody needs to make bogeys. So um, but I I really did. I had to learn to control it because you can't, it's very easy to let the anger ex affect the next shot and then the next shot. You've got to learn to get the anger out some way to release it, to vent it somehow, and to control it so it doesn't affect the next shot because it's not doing you any good. And so had to learn to control that. I just didn't show it outwardly as much as some guys do, I guess. But it's something I think everybody has a face to control that anger. Um, you know, like Fuzzy Zellers is a great example. I think Fuzzy, his whistling is a way that he kind of controls his anger and stays calm out there. And uh, I think that was the thing I enjoy playing with Fuzzy. Fuzzy's a great guy and a great player. And uh he was a good partner for me uh in tournaments. So I really enjoyed playing with him and had a lot of success with it. So but I did have to learn to control that, no doubt.

Mike Gonzalez 22:10

Well, let's come back if we can. We talked about your master's experience first time we got together, and uh one thing we didn't establish was that playing with the PowerBelt citation driver.

Larry Mize 22:21

Yes, I did. I uh you know, Power Belt was famous for great forged irons and great persimmon woods, and it took a while to work it in there. I used to play with an old Tommy Armour uh, I think it was a 695 driver. It was a beautiful driver with a red, white, red insert. I just loved it. And PowerBelt, uh, they did finally get me a great driver, uh, Power Belt that I was able to put in the bag, and I still have that driver, and it it's a sweet piece of wood, and I was able to get that in there, and uh it was uh it was fun because you once you get a good piece of wood in your bag, you don't change like you know nowadays we're changing woods every year, maybe every six months we're changing drivers. Back then, you got a good piece of wood, you may use that thing for five, ten years.

Bruce Devlin 23:04

We even used to look for the guys that were trying to sell them outside of the gate at golf tournaments where guys would go pick up all the old McGregor clubs and stand there and charge you two or three hundred dollars for a for a really good-looking driver.

Larry Mize 23:20

Exactly. You know, we did that with the drivers, you know, we did it with the putters too. You know, I put it with that 8802 for many years, and you know, guys would be collecting those and selling them. So it was it was uh sometimes you'd hit a driver and it just the wood wasn't solid. You didn't the density wasn't there and it was not good, but you get one that's good, and you could tell it, and like Bruce said, you'd you'd pay, you'd pay whatever for it to hang on to it.

Mike Gonzalez 23:42

Well, you've played in uh in several masters to date. You had some a couple of other good finishes uh back in the 90s. You may recall uh your tournament back in '92. I think that's the year Freddie Couples won. You finished tied sixth. Uh pretty good leaderboard back then. What do you remember about that tournament?

Larry Mize 24:01

You know, one of the first things that I remember is I made a really nice 15 to 20 footer on the last hole for Birdie. Things that you remember. Uh it was Pen was on the back left, and I made this right to lefter, and it's kind of funny, it just popped in my head out of the blue. And I remember making that putt for Bertie and had a really good week. I had a new caddy uh that year, Chuck Moore, who did a great job for me. And that was a that was a fun week. You know, anytime you get in contention at Augusta, it's just it's a blast. Uh, you know, obviously I'm partial to Augusta of all the majors, they're all special, but playing getting contention there was a lot of fun, and I remember having a great week that year.

Bruce Devlin 24:40

Well, then you you even got closer a couple of years later, and you finished third in uh 94.

Larry Mize 24:48

Yeah, you know, it's funny, and uh Bruce, I don't know if you ever feel this way. I remember after 94, I told I thought to myself, I might have played better in '94 than I did '87, but I just didn't win. Yeah. I mean, I played so good. Uh with the scores were lower, you know, in 87 the course was hard and fast. We only shot three under. This year the scores were lower, and I was uh battling with, I think I played with Tom Kite. He was in it in the heat, and you know, Olaf Abel won, and Tom Lehman finished second. We were battling it, and I just couldn't get the putts to go in. I played really well. I remember 15, I was, you know, I said I got to go for it. I pulled out a two-iron, which I don't carry a two-iron anymore, yeah, and I hit a really good shot, but I knocked it over the green, didn't get up and down, which kind of hurt, and just didn't quite get it done. And uh, you know, the way it goes, Olathabel made the putts, and he won the golf tournament. But playing third and really contending again in '94 was uh it was just a lot of fun. I have great memories of that year.

Mike Gonzalez 25:42

Yeah, looking back, I'm sure you're you keep pinching yourself. That's one you could have won.

Larry Mize 25:48

Yeah, it is, but you know, hey, Olafabel played great. Uh, you know, I just didn't quite get the job done. And you got to make the putts, you got to get the ball in the hole, and I didn't that year, but I I played really well and great memories. I the one thing I did do, and uh I don't know if this ever happened to you, Bruce, but I on the 18th hole, I I I was out of it. I could, you know, it was far enough back where I couldn't couldn't win, and the disappointment hit me, and I kind of lost focus and I bogeyed the last hole, which cost me tying for second, and I finished third, and that was really really aggravating. Did not keep my focus once I couldn't win, you know, it was a little bit of a left down, and I made a made a bad bogey. And uh so Tom Tom finished second by himself and I finished third. So disappointing to do that. Uh, I still remember that, unfortunately, but it was a lot of fun week. I remember uh somebody yelling to me as I went off the 18th T, you know, hey Larry, thanks for a great week. And you know, comments like that are very special, pretty nice, yeah. You know, thanking me for you know giving them some fun to pull for, being in contention again. It was uh very special comment that I have not forgotten.

Bruce Devlin 26:50

So listen, tell us tell us a little bit about the fact that uh the winners of the masters get to go back and have dinner with all the champions each year. That's gotta be a lot of fun.

Larry Mize 27:02

I tell you, Bruce, that's that's a day I look forward to every year, and I'm looking forward to it this year to get to go back and see all those champions and meet some I didn't know. You know, like I didn't know Henry Pickard, Herman Kaiser, some of the guys that I didn't know. I don't know if I knew Sam Sneed at the time and Gene Sarazen. You know, I'd I'd met you know Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer, uh, but to get to go have dinner with them uh is just so, so special. Um I it's hard to put into words. That is one of my favorite nights of the year. And it's a great camaraderie with those guys, get to listen to their stories. Um, you know, Jackie Burke uh he isn't able to come back, but I remember the few times Jackie Burke came, it was just unbelievable to listen to Jackie Burke tell stories. It was one of my favorite things, sitting and listening to him and Sam Sneed talking and just soaking it up. It's a very special night where it's uh a camaraderie and to be with those guys. I'll never forget um a few years after I won, you know, they're saying, Does anybody got any comments? And I shaking in my boots, I stood up, you know, I was about 30 years old. I stood up, and I wanted to say one thing. I just want to thank everybody for coming back for those guys to come back every year. It was so special for me as a young player to get to be with these guys to come back, and it's just very special. And I'll never forget one time we're we're leaving the dinner, it's over, and somebody said, uh, Gene Sarazen needs to ride back to his hotel. I said, I'll take him, I'll drive him. I got to drive the squire back to his hotel. And uh it's just uh, you know, I I've been very blessed to come along at a time that I've gotten to be with a lot of great players from from those guys all the way up to Tiger Woods. And it's it's very uh I feel very blessed and fortunate.

Mike Gonzalez 28:47

Well, what a great experience. You know, we we uh released on on Ben's 70th birthday yesterday a short track excerpt from our interview with him, uh, and it featured him talking about his experience hosting. Uh evidently years ago, Byron Nelson sort of passed the torch to Ben. He carries it nicely now. Uh really uh really something special for him to be able to do that at the Masters.

Larry Mize 29:15

Well, and Ben was the perfect choice. He he you know he knows so much history and he does a phenomenal job. You know, Mr. Nelson did a great job with it, and now Ben, I don't know who's gonna take Ben's place. I just gonna be it's gonna be a tough act to follow because Ben is just so special of a guy to handle that up because of the the connection that he has with the Masters, two-time champion and the historian that he is. He's gonna be a tough act to follow, but he does a wonderful job and it's fun. I I sit next to Ben's at the end, and I'm the first one going down the side. I always sit next to Ben, and Langer sits next to me. We're good friends, so it's a special night to be between those two guys and just get to be with all the other guys there and uh you know sit across from to so many great great champions.

Mike Gonzalez 30:01

So in 1988 at the Masters Dinner, which would have been your first as the defending champion, were you able to set the menu or was this still back when you had to order off the club menu?

Larry Mize 30:13

No, I set the menu and I I thought they had to eat what I had, what I chose, but they they didn't have to. They could have chosen, you know, a steak, a fish, or a chicken. Uh, and I I guess you can still do that. You know, it used to be at the bottom of the menu you could have something else, but now it's just the they don't have that on there. But you know, when someone has a special diet, I know that they'll fix something for them if they need to. So I kept it pretty simple, and I'm kind of a meat and potatoes guy anyway. So I had steak uh and potatoes, green beans, just a real simple dinner. And uh then I I did have peach cobbler being from the peach state of Georgia. I had peach cobbler trying to get a little Georgia, Georgia feel in there with uh, I sure hope I had it with ice cream. I like ice cream with my pie. So it was that was my menu, and it was you know a great night. I still have the pictures that they uh, you know, the photographer comes in there during the cocktail hour beforehand and takes pictures of the champions and got me some pictures with you know Arnold Palmer and Byron Nelson and the pictures with those guys uh to commemorate my my champions' dinner was uh was very, very special, and it was a great night, and it still is. And I I was probably too nervous that night. I I like to tell the young champions, if I if I know them well, that hey, enjoy the dinner, relax, you deserve to be there because it's a little intimidating being up there. You know, do I really belong up here? I was 29 at the time. I won when I was 28, so a little intimidating, but it was still a great night, and I I can't wait for this year.

Mike Gonzalez 31:44

So um I remember Charlie Cootie, Bruce, telling us that he didn't want any part of Sandy Lyle's Haggis. That's right.

Larry Mize 31:56

Yeah, you know, and that is true. That is the only time I did not have the champions dinner. I've had the champions dinner every year, but I could not go for it, huh? Couldn't go for it. And I I was I'm much more adventurous now, and I still don't know if I could go for the haggis. I don't know. But uh yeah, that was uh that was one where I definitely ordered something else.

Mike Gonzalez 32:17

He said, Bring me a steak. Well, you got sushi coming maybe this year.

Larry Mize 32:25

Yeah, maybe. I hope so. I I love sushi. I I went to Japan 10 years before I finally tried it. This little Georgia boy said, raw fish, I'm not eating that stuff. And after 10 years, I said, okay, let me try it. And you know, they had the sushi on the bed of rice, and it's no, just pop it in your mouth. You don't bite it, and I popped it in there, and I loved it. So it's been uh I look forward to it. And I know it'll be Gusta National will be some really good sushi too.

Mike Gonzalez 32:51

Thank you for listening to another episode of 4 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. Till we tee it up again, the good of the game, so everybody in the fairway.

Intro Music 33:13

It went smack down the fairway. It is a flight, it is too much of a fly.