Todd Hamilton - Part 4 (The 2004 Open Championship Final Round and Beyond)

Mike Gonzalez 0:18

Now, in some cases, uh a player's highlights may not be the ones that you read about in the press the next day. Some things happened that just turned your game around that may not have been that sensational, but was there anything like that, or was it kind of the standard, okay, I chipped in on 14, I made this butt here, you know?

Todd Hamilton 0:35

I don't, to be honest, I don't remember a lot that happened on the front nine. Uh I know I think I made a bogey early, maybe the second hole. Uh maybe got it back with a birdie on number six was a par five, I believe.

Mike Gonzalez 0:50

So yeah, you you birdied four and five.

Todd Hamilton 0:53

Oh, I five, five, four, yeah, was a par five. Five was a good birdie. Par three. Remember hitting a good four iron, just cleared the bunker, and probably made, I don't know, a 10, 12 footer there. That was a good birdie. Uh a lot of stuff on the back, I can remember. Uh, number 11, I birdied 11, the hole we talked about earlier.

unknown 1:13

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 1:14

Hit a good drive with my hybrid. And that was a hole that Ernie had pushed his drive out to the right. His ball was stuck in the gorse bush about two and a half, three feet in the air. And I ended up burning that hole. I hit a good eight iron in there, probably made a 15-foot putt. He made par on that hole. And I always tell people his par was way better than my birdie because he he hit that ball out of the gorse. Who knows where that ball could have gone? He hit it out there, was able to knock it on the green. I don't know what he hit for his third, but he ended up saving par from that situation. And he couldn't have been more than 15 or 20 yards from that wall that runs all the way down the right-hand side. And, you know, all it took was a little miscue, and the ball could have stayed in the gorse, could have hit it over that wall, could have hit it left of the fairway in the other gorse, and really could have ruined his chance. But uh his four was was spectacular there. Uh 14 was probably the hole you just the hole you just mentioned, the part three. That was probably when I thought that I had a real good shot to win. I'd hit a good shot in there, just trickled over the back edge of the green. I couldn't have been more than 30 feet from the hole, maybe. And I chose, I believe, a nine-iron little bump and run shot, and it rolled in just like a putt, came off perfectly, rolled in just like a putt. And I remember thinking, well, you know, you've done a lot of good up to this point. This might be the one thing that takes you over the top. And I knew I had, uh, as my buddy would put it, one more hour to play with four holes left if every hole's 15 minutes. So uh I knew I couldn't let my mind wander and uh had to get back to focusing uh for those last four holes. But once I pitched in on that hole, I had a feeling that something good might or could happen.

Mike Gonzalez 3:24

Yeah, Birdie's 16, but Ernie's not done making birdies either, is he?

Todd Hamilton 3:28

No, he made his birdie was a lot easier than mine. I I don't hit it very or didn't hit it very far back then, and I still don't hit it very far now for sure. But uh I laid up with a two-iron off the tee. There's a little canal out there that I I couldn't carry. Uh Ernie hit driver and carried that canal and and knocked a three-wood up around the green. I don't remember if he was in the bunker, but he was around the green. And uh I hit a two-iron off the tee, laid up with a four-iron. Wind was kind of in our face. I hit a chippy little nine-iron just to keep it out of the wind and end up making a 10 or 12 footer there. I think he had a five or six-footer that he made for Birdie. So we ended up having that hole with Birdie. I believe I was was I two up then?

Mike Gonzalez 4:20

Yeah, you were two up then.

Todd Hamilton 4:21

Yep. Yeah, two up at the time. Get to 17, really good par three. It's probably 215 yards, I think. He made a great birdie there. He hit a four-airn to about 12 feet. I hit a pretty good four-and on the green, two putted for par, so I've got a one-shot lead going the last hole. He's got the honors. Uh the hole back then was a little bit shorter than it is now. I know I played uh in 2016, they'd moved the T back further. Uh, but we were hitting irons off the T in 04 to stay clear of the bunkers out there.

Bruce Devlin 5:02

Right.

Todd Hamilton 5:02

He hit a beautiful high towering draw two-iron. I think he ended up hitting a seven-iron in. My two-iron, I didn't hit very well. Kind of got in some of the longish rough out to the right. Uh, I one of those where I probably didn't have my belt buckle in the right place. So I aired out to the right. Uh I I thought I had a pretty good lie that I could get, I think it was a five-iron on it and get it up around the green. Uh, but that that wispy grass just caught the cut the shaft, caught the the heel of the club, turned the face over, and I basically pulled the shot uh left of the fairway into the not really into the bleachers, but they had a little retaining metal fence that separated the uh left side of the fairway from the bleachers. It was kind of in the middle, and he hit his seven iron to about 15, 20 feet or so. So I go over there and and when I I have a really good lie that I didn't want to, I wanted to keep that lie, but when I took my swing back, I'm probably 40 yards from the hole, 35 yards. When I took the swing back, there's a chance I might hit that little retaining fence. And I didn't want to be the guy, like I say, that lie was really good for the predicament I was in.

Mike Gonzalez 6:41

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 6:42

But I didn't want to be the guy that whiffed because he on his practice swings he didn't hit the fence, but when he went to hit the shot, he hit the fence and whiffed. I didn't want to be that guy. So I dropped the ball, the lie wasn't too bad, but not as good as it was. Uh I pitched it up there. There was a bunker I had to carry. Wanted to make sure I got over that. I think I ended up about 15 feet away. And I actually think that I put it first, if I remember correctly. I missed my putt, ended up making bogey, and I remember taking my hat off because I thought for sure that Ernie would make that. Well, I mentioned that I woke up early and watched some of the broadcast on TV. Well, I saw a number of putts from that same, virtually same spot hit that nobody made, and it was a very difficult putt. 15, 20 feet, uh, but it had about six, seven inches of break from right to left. You had to match the speed up perfectly because it you had to go up a little bit of a rise, and uh I don't think he hit a very good putt, if I remember correctly, and he looked dejected. Uh, we ended up signed our cards, went to the playoff. First hole, it's it's one if you get downwind. It was a little bit downwind. You the long hitters can get really close to the green. I don't remember who had the honor, but I hit foreign off the T, which I had done the whole week. He hit driver, of course, hit it way by me. And I remember that there was a guy on the PA system as we walked off the T. He says, Mr. Ells has outdriven Mr. Hamilton by 80 yards. And I kind of got my caddy's attention. I got my caddy's attention. I said, Well, heck, you should have. You know, I only hit a four-iron. So the first hole, he had a great, great opportunity at Birdie, better than my look. The second hole, I had a better look at Birdie than he did. Uh, then we were doing four-hole aggregate score. We did kind of a candy cane loop, went back to 17 and 18. And I remember hitting a four-iron. I didn't hit it great, but it was online. Landed short of the green, bounced up. It's one of those, if you play a lot of golf, you know that it's hard to distinguish how far you are when the ball is kind of in line with your target from the from the pin. And I couldn't tell how close it was. It looked like it was very close, but it ended up being 15, 20 feet away. And he had pulled his forearm left of the green, which uh left him with a difficult up and down. He hit a pretty good pitch to about 10 or 12 feet. Almost the same putt that he made in regulation on that hole for Birdie. And he missed it. I two putted mine. I didn't hit a very good putt, but I made par, so I went to the final playoff hole with the shot lead. Uh I hit kind of the same shot I hit in regulation, kind of swiped it out to the right, but I didn't hit this one very solidly, and it didn't get to the higher rough. Uh, I believe it was in the crosswalk. He hit another great super high draw, towering two-iron, probably very close to his divot in regulation.

Mike Gonzalez 10:21

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 10:21

Uh I pulled out a five-iron. I thought I had the right club to there's a bunker probably 10 yards short of the green that you had to get over. And then you had to be careful because if you catch a flyer and go too far, there's out of bounds right behind that green. So I had a five-iron, I thought I could get it over the front bunker, and if I did happen to catch it really good, it wasn't going far enough to get out of bounds. So I hit it, and as the ball's coming down to to land on the the ground, right about when it's getting ready to hit, I hear all the people go, oh, and I never saw it bounce. So to me, that made me think, man, I didn't I didn't clear that bunker. Now I've got a 10-yard bunker shot to the front of the green. I think the pin was on about 21, 22 steps. So I've got about a 30-yard bunker shot. OB over the green, final hole, maybe, of uh a major event. You don't, this is not a shot you really want to have. Well, I got up there and it must have hit where a bunch of people had hit sand out of that bunker. And the reason I didn't see it bounce is because it hit in all that sand and just kind of hit dead and just hit and rolled over the edge of it. Okay. So I was out of the bunker, I don't know, nine steps short of the green. He'd hit it to basically the same shot or the same spot in regulation that he'd hit it 15, 20 feet short. Again, difficult putt, but uh he's probably in the driver's seat. So I remember taking this hybrid, which I'd used to chip slash putt with uh, I don't know, 12 times during the week, and I think the only time I did not get it up and down up until that point was one time, and I missed a five-foot putt because of it. Uh so I I took the head cover off, and the guy that made the club for me, his nickname was Sticky. And I kind of said to my caddy, I said, All right, Sticky, this is for you. And I took it back. I didn't think I hit it hard enough.

Bruce Devlin 12:51

Okay. We understand, pal.

Todd Hamilton 13:00

I thought twenty years I'd be over it.

Bruce Devlin 13:03

No, you cannot get over it.

Todd Hamilton 13:05

Didn't think I hit it hard enough, it kept rolling and rolling and rolling, it got up that little rise, and it finished about two feet away. So Ernie basically, unless I, you know, whiff on this putt, he's gotta make that putt to keep it going. Well, he missed. And I I tell everyone, if if you had timed all the two-foot putts I had uh during the year, this one seemed like it went really fast. Even though I took my time and I did everything I would, and all those other two-foot putts, it just seemed like it was in half the time or even less than that. It went real fast. I knocked it in, I took one step toward the hole. I remember reaching down about halfway, and then it hit me. Hey, it's over with. You don't even have to get the ball. Caddy came over, bear hugged me. Uh you know, I I felt bad for Ernie because he was meant to win those.

Bruce Devlin 14:08

Not me. He won.

Todd Hamilton 14:18

But that's golf.

Mike Gonzalez 14:20

Yes, it is. And he won his. He got his he got his wins in, absolutely.

Todd Hamilton 14:29

I remember saying it in my speech after, I said, Ernie, I know it didn't turn out the way you wanted, but I guarantee you'll win. You'll win another one. And he did about two, three years later, I think.

Bruce Devlin 14:41

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 14:42

So it's a great event. If you'd asked me if I could ever win a major, what would you want to win? I probably would have said US Open because it's so difficult, or Masters because it's you know recognized everywhere. But having seen uh how the open is treated worldwide, that's the best one. Not because I've won it, but just how it's treated around the world.

Mike Gonzalez 15:14

Yeah, yeah. You won't get any arguments from Mr.

Bruce Devlin 15:17

Devlin on that one. No way. And you got you received a wonderful, I think a wonderful uh honorary membership there to Trune as well from for being the victor.

Todd Hamilton 15:28

Yes, that was a very nice gesture. Yeah, Kalkovecchia, Justin Leonard, and myself, we were given honorary memberships. Very nice gesture.

Mike Gonzalez 15:38

I don't know how many times I'll take advantage of it, but so at the prize giving, was Peter Dawson the secretary of the RNA at the time? And if so, then uh he must have delivered those famous words. Take us to that moment. How did that feel? That was it sinking in yet?

Todd Hamilton 15:58

Uh not really. He was still there, yeah. He was the the guy that gave the speech after. Uh you know, it's a very unique saying that they use, and uh pretty cool to have your name associated with that. Uh my my buddy gave me the nickname uh BOC, uh British Open Champion is what he calls man. My wife had some license plates made with that on it, but uh uh you know you I when I'm in the States, I use British Open. But if you're ever over there as a former, I don't, yes, I don't I don't put British on the front of it. And it makes sense because they play in Scotland, they play in Ireland, Britain, so it makes sense, but but we don't we don't know it at the open championship.

Mike Gonzalez 16:52

But yeah, yeah. So you had frequented, I think, uh during the week at least a couple times an Italian restaurant there, maybe in Troon. Um you were probably figuring out where are we gonna what are we gonna do tonight?

Todd Hamilton 17:05

What are we gonna do? What what happened? Yeah, I think we went there on a Wednesday, maybe Tuesday before the tournament actually started. Uh the owner came around, introduced himself, and saw we we were not locals, and asked us if we were there for the golf, and we said yes, and my caddy said, Yeah, we're we're playing in it, and when we win, we're gonna bring the trophy back Sunday night. Well, lo and behold, it actually happened. So uh obviously had to do a lot of media stuff after. Uh went back to the house we were staying at, showered. My wife and I, my caddy, uh we went down to the place, it was probably 11:30, lights were on, but the the blinds were closed on the door. So I've got this, looks like a photographer's case, hard-sided case, got the trophy in it. I knock on the door loud enough. Somebody, you could see the blinds kind of open like this, and two eyes look out. And I held the trophy up like this, and the blind went down. Another person came, the blinds opened, two more eyes look, and I lift the trophy up again. Well, the second time it was the owner. So he let us in. We stayed there probably four hours or so. He was having a party for the workers for their hard week, hard work during the week, and uh he let us join in on that. We I think that was the first time I drank champagne out of it. Uh real good pasta food and uh just a cool night, didn't get much sleep that night. I mean, how could you? So I went back back to back nights. You can always sleep on the airplane, I thought. So it was it was a great night, got a lot of good stories. Uh my I wish my kids were a little bit older so they they could have realized what happened. Uh, but my my oldest son, he loves to watch old videos of golf tournaments and things like that. So he's always watching that. He catches a glimpse of himself on there and can't believe that he looked like he looked, you know, at six years old.

Mike Gonzalez 19:24

Yeah. Well, what a what a bunch of great memories. Winning the major, winning the open championship in Trun 2004. Uh it's probably fair to say that uh golf didn't come easy after that major win.

Todd Hamilton 19:38

No, I really didn't I expected that you know to play better than I did. Uh it was almost like that was the pinnacle, and you couldn't do any better. Although, yes, you could win more majors, but uh it was like is that it? You know, I had I had fun winning it and you know, great stories uh to tell about it and relive, but it didn't change me as a person. Uh it it didn't make me a better golfer by winning that, as uh proof by my record after that. My caddy said I got about two inches taller and a little bit better looking and a little bit smarter because everybody wanted to talk to you after that, but you know, it didn't. I I was lucky that it happened. I was 38 years old, although technically a rookie on tour, not really a rookie as far as professional golf. So I was very fortunate that it happened then rather than if I was 23, 24, right out of college. Uh I probably would have been tough to be around at 23 or 24, but uh at 38, I'd seen a lot of stuff in golf, good and bad. Good for me, bad for me. Uh, so it really didn't change me as a person. Uh it just allowed me to be in a great club.

Mike Gonzalez 21:13

Yeah. Yeah, I remember Bruce and I talking to a woman golf hall of famer, famous, famous golfer, won a lot of majors. She achieved her her goal. I mean, she she was always a good goal setter, but she had an ultimate goal in mind, which was to make the LPG Hall of Fame. Right. Once achieving that goal, uh, that was sort of it. And she looks back on that and says, you know what? I needed to set new goals for myself, and I didn't.

Todd Hamilton 21:45

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's that's I didn't look at it that way, but the way my career went after that, you someone might think that that's the way I thought. As well. But I I still continue to try to do as best as I could. I don't like playing poorly. I don't mind getting beat, you know, but I don't like playing poorly and getting beat. I want I root for good golf. I don't care if I get beat. I root for good golf. I've seen the the lows uh personally, and I I don't wish that on anybody. Uh but the way that my career went after that, one might think that, hey, once he reached that, and that that really wasn't a goal. I just want to be a pro golfer and play on the tour. Yeah, that wasn't wasn't really a goal. You know, I I made 10-foot putts as a 12-year-old on the putting green to win those types of tournaments, but it really wasn't a goal that I needed to check off.

Mike Gonzalez 22:57

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 22:58

I was just that my dream was realized.

Mike Gonzalez 23:02

I hope that the good people of Oquaka, Illinois fully appreciate what you were able to accomplish.

Todd Hamilton 23:09

We didn't have too many golfers there. Our our actual claim to fame for our town, I think I mentioned to you the other day, Mike, is we have an elephant buried in our town square. Norma Jean was her name. We had a circus in town. The elephant was chained to a tree, storm came through, lightning hit the tree, went right through that chain and killed it on the spot. They didn't know what to do with it. They just buried it right in the town square.

Mike Gonzalez 23:37

So that's the second biggest thing that ever happened in that town.

Todd Hamilton 23:43

I'd like to think I would be one and Norma Jean would be one A, but it might be the other way around.

Mike Gonzalez 23:48

There you go. Who knows? So did you play your way into some senior golf? Uh, did you take a little time off uh in late 40s? How'd you do that?

Todd Hamilton 23:59

I actually uh they had a category on the what would have been the gosh, what was it then? The web.com tour back then. Once you turned 48, they had I think they had three spots from 48 to 50 years old for those guys only. They had three spots every week for guys that were preparing, so to speak, for the champions tour. And as long as your career money was big enough or you had enough to get one of those three spots, you could play in the uh web.com event.

unknown 24:37

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 24:37

I I did that a little bit for a couple years, didn't really have any success, really. Uh but as a dual winner winning the Honda in the Open, when I turned 50, I got a two-year exemption to the champions tour. So from my 50th birthday to my 52nd, I was eligible for virtually every tournament. None, although not like the U.S. Senior Open, things like that. Uh so I played for a couple years. Uh the second year I did well enough to get one more year exemption, and then I didn't play very well. And you know, once you get off that tour, the fields are so small. I think there's only 78 guys. Yeah. You have guys like I didn't have much career money because I played a lot overseas. So my my career money wasn't uh the amount that it was for some of the other guys. And there's always some guy that's turning 50 that has more career money than you. More money. That has more wins than you, more points. So it seems like if if you get knocked out of that champions tour, uh, it's very difficult to get back on, unless, you know, unless you go through the tour school. They used to have five spots. Now there's only four spots in their qualifying school. Uh so I I tried to tour school once for the champions tour, but uh I've only done it that one time. And uh I wrote for uh some exemptions. One of them was to a first-year tournament that was at a course 25 minutes from where I used to live in Texas, and I didn't didn't get an invite to it, so I didn't write them back. I figured if I couldn't get one living 25 minutes away, yeah, another year of age is not gonna help me. Yeah, uh, I wrote uh wrote to Tournament in Des Moines. I grew up about four hours from there. I didn't get one there, uh, so I didn't even didn't even write them back. So uh I've tried some Monday qualifiers. I think I've only made it through one of those. I haven't tried a bunch of them, but yeah, I didn't really have any success doing that. So although I still play golf all the time, roughly every day, weather dependent. Uh it's not any competitive other than trying to shoot the best score I can shoot. I don't play for money against the guys I play with, uh, mostly because of them. They don't they don't do it. But I still play golf all the time. I'm actually in the senior PGA championship next week, but uh when you're only playing one tournament a year, that's one I get in every year. If you're playing one tournament a year, it's kind of difficult to stay competitive, at least to the the level you need to to have success. Yeah. Right, yeah. But I still still like the game. I play all the time. Uh seems like every hole gets a foot longer every every day I play it.

Bruce Devlin 28:00

Wait until you're 86.

Todd Hamilton 28:04

I just want to want to be on this earth long enough to shoot my age. How many times have you done that, Bruce?

Bruce Devlin 28:10

Oh god. You probably I don't know a lot. A lot since I think I first first started doing it when I was 70, I think. So it's been pretty darn had quite a quite a few of them. You're you know something I think is interesting to and you you are you you probably haven't had the opportunity to do what I did, but when I was 70 years old, I could hit the ball further than when I was 25. Because of all the technology and the golf balls. I could go back to courses I played on the tour, and at 70 I could hit it as far or further, which is remarkable, really, when you think about it. And what's happened to the game since then, you know, the last 20 years, what's happened to it? You know, kids hitting five aunts, 230 yards. I mean, it's crazy.

Todd Hamilton 29:08

I think driving distance, obviously, money stat is the most important, but driving distance probably combined with greens and regulation, and they go hand in hand because if you hit it far, you're going to hit a lot of greens. You should. Uh, but that's you catch you catch lightning in a bottle where you're hitting it far one week and you're driving it straight, you should kill them.

Mike Gonzalez 29:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now we didn't we we didn't, as we talked here uh uh throughout your career, we didn't really hear much about injuries. Were you able to stay healthy pretty much uh all the time?

Todd Hamilton 29:45

Yeah, I really never had any problems. Uh there was one one day when I was a I don't know how old I was, but uh my back was not feeling very good, and I didn't didn't feel like I could play that day. And uh went to the chiropractor, he pushed me around for about 30 minutes and actually played golf that afternoon. But uh I've been fortunate. I haven't had any any real problems other than you know aches and pains just from getting older and hitting a lot of balls for a number of years.

Mike Gonzalez 30:19

Yeah.

Todd Hamilton 30:20

Nothing, nothing outlandish.

Mike Gonzalez 30:22

Not gonna you're helping the you're helping the local boys team a little bit. You're playing a lot of golf. What else are you up to these days?

Todd Hamilton 30:30

Uh, we got three dogs, and I am I'm probably their number one person that pets them the most. So they all hang out by me. Uh I get up early to play golf, eight o'clock in the morning to play at eight. So I'm the one that takes them out in the morning for a little uh walk in the yard and little bathroom duty. I usually get them fed, and then my wife, she's kind of a night owl, so she takes over at night while I go to bed a little earlier than she does, so I can get up and play golf in the morning.

Mike Gonzalez 31:09

Yeah, any any grandkids yet?

Todd Hamilton 31:12

No, no, not at all. Uh, our oldest kid is 26. Uh he's got a girlfriend not married. We have a daughter that will be 24 in June. She's actually getting married in August, and then our youngest is 21, and he's the reason that we moved to Norman, Oklahoma, as he goes to school at the university here. And he's he's got one more year next year. So one more year, everybody's out of the house.

Mike Gonzalez 31:43

Yeah, we had to get all them them in because they're gonna be listening this episode. So uh uh shout out to Tyler, Cayley, and Drake. They got to get in this episode, and you might as well mention your wife's name too, because she's gonna feel bad if uh wife's name is Jackie.

Todd Hamilton 31:59

We uh we start we started dating about a month before our 16th birthdays in high school. We didn't go to the same grade school, but we went to the same junior high. Uh started dating in high school. Our birthdays are two days apart, same year, October 18, for me. Hers is the 20th. And uh we got our license, driver's license together, and we dated for gosh, nine years before we got married, and we've been married since 1990, so this year will be quick math 2034 years this December.

Mike Gonzalez 32:46

Yeah, you know, nine years uh dating. Some some would call that proper due diligence. Yes.

Todd Hamilton 32:54

I was getting harassed if if that's what you mean.

Mike Gonzalez 32:58

Uh well, anyway, listen, this has been great. And uh uh as we put a bow on your life story, uh there's always uh, and if you've listened to any podcast, you'd know, but there's there's always three questions we like to finish with. And I always let the senior member of our team uh have the tea first. So, Mr. Devil.

Bruce Devlin 33:18

Okay, Todd, if you knew what you know now when you first went to the tour, what would you do different?

Todd Hamilton 33:34

What would I do differently? Uh I would probably be a little more patient. Uh try not to force things, let the game come to you, so to speak. Uh that's probably it. You know, uh it's I think we make this game harder than it is. It is difficult, but the pro golfers that have spent the hours that have done a lot, a lot of work, I think they really make it harder than it is. They're trying maybe trying to be too perfect. Uh a lot of times it's if you're playing for five hours, you don't have to concentrate for five hours. You have to concentrate for really probably 30 minutes, you know, 70 swings for probably not even that long. 70 swings, and i I guess if you count your yardage, getting your yardages and reading the win, maybe 30 minutes, not even that much. But uh I think sometimes we take it too serious and we get in our own way by uh grinding too much. So just let the game come to you. Do what you know how to do best. Don't don't try to do things you're not good at that could cause a little angst or anxiety, and usually that's when you you do poorly or or hit a bad shot.

Mike Gonzalez 35:13

Yeah. Okay. We're gonna give you one one career mulligan, one shot, do over. Where do you take it?

Todd Hamilton 35:22

One shot. Uh I don't know if it would be one shot, but there was a tournament in Japan. Uh I don't think I'd played well for a few years. This particular tournament, my caddy had quit. It quit, I don't know, a week or two before. So I just had a local caddy in Japan. I had the two lowest scores of the day in the four days. Okay. I think a 63 and maybe a 64. So two of the four days, my score was the lowest, and I did not win the tournament. Uh I don't remember if it was a playoff, uh, but I was very, very disappointed in not winning that tournament, especially because I was trying to stick it to my caddy because he quit. But but more more so because I had the two two low rounds, and I was probably 15 under for two rounds, maybe, and didn't win the tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 36:29

Yeah. Yeah. All right, we'll count, we'll count that.

Todd Hamilton 36:32

Yeah, I felt like I let one slip. To answer your question for one shot. So I'm playing a junior tournament in Streeter, Illinois.

Mike Gonzalez 36:41

Streeter, yeah.

Todd Hamilton 36:42

Streeter, Illinois. I shot eight under on the front nine. Uh, I come to the back nine, the last hole. It was a nine-hole course. You played the ninth hole, one set of T's, it was a par four. The next time around, you played a further back T, it made it a par five. So I came around the second time around that nine holes. If I make birdie, I shoot 59. So I hit a really kind of wide open hole, hit a hard drive, didn't really care where it went. I just wanted to get it out there far. So I hit it good, was in the rough, and I'm about 175, 180. I figured this is pre-laser, uh, pre-yardage book. It was just eyeball. So I'm guessing 175, 180, and I just smoked this 7 iron right out of the middle, but I'm coming out of the rough. So it jumps a little bit, lands on the back of the green, rolls over the green, rolls through a bunch of pine trees, and I'm on the cart path. But the pine trees are in between my ball and the green. I have no chance. I obviously get a drop off the path, but I have no chance to get it through the pine trees. So that tournament had a local rule. If that situation arose, you can take a one-shot penalty and you can drop it on the other side of the pine trees. Okay? Just on that hole. So I chose to do that because I could have made nine trying to get through there. So now I've got to chip this in. I'm probably 35, 40 feet from the hole, but I've got to chip it in for my birdie, which lets me shoot 59. Hit a good chip, it's going right at it, catches the lip on the high side, and goes by about five feet. So I'm kind of dejected because I had it just right here in my hands. You know, an iron into a par five butt, you got it. Well, I missed the five-foot putt because I'm I'm so distraught of not shooting 59. And uh it was funny because I made a hole in one that day. I made a bunch of birdies. Uh the putter felt like I was born with it in my hands. And uh here it comes comes down to one hole, and I don't I don't make the birdie to to shoot 59. But one of the kids in my group that day, his name was Tom Watson. It's not the Tom Watson, but it was a kid named Tom Watson.

Bruce Devlin 39:15

So I'll be darn.

Todd Hamilton 39:18

It would have been a good story if I'd have knocked it on and two putted, but yeah. That's that's my one shot.

Mike Gonzalez 39:26

All right, Bruce, how about that final question?

Bruce Devlin 39:31

How would Todd Hamilton like to be remembered?

Todd Hamilton 39:42

I would say a guy that overachieved. He did a lot with what he had. And he rooted for good golf.

Bruce Devlin 40:00

No matter who he rooted for for you to come on this show, you know that. And we uh we really appreciate your time, Todd. It's been fun fun having you with us today. And uh I know Mike would uh Mike agrees with me, and he'll probably want to say something before you leave.

Mike Gonzalez 40:17

Yeah, well, uh I'll add my thanks to Bruce's Todd. Uh it's a delight to be able to add your story to all the golf greats that we've been able to chronicle their life stories. And uh, as we told you, uh this story along all the others will be archived in perpetuity by the USGA for the enjoyment of, I hope, uh golf fans and particularly kids for generations to come. So we appreciate the all the time you spent in sharing your story with us.

Todd Hamilton 40:46

Well, I thank you for the opportunity to tell the story, and uh I hope you guys achieve your goal of getting all the rest of the Hall of Famers and uh major winners. I know that'll be a tough task, but you get the two right men on the job, I think.

Mike Gonzalez 41:05

Thanks so much for being with us.

Todd Hamilton 41:07

All right, take care.

Mike Gonzalez 41:09

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.

Intro Music 41:27

So long, everybody just spent off to still stay with