JM: You have a record that will probably never be broken [most cuts on the PGA Tour at 591]. You’ve captained a Presidents Cup Team. Is there a single thing that you are most proud of? JH: Well, I have been blessed for sure. I can remember thinking when I started on Tour at 23 that if I could play for 20 years that would be a great career. I could put some money away and then figure it out. To think it’s nearly 45 years later and I still get to play tournament golf is more than a dream. The Champions Tour is a blessing for all of us at this age. I talked to Ernie and he loves it. Jim is starting to embrace it. It’s not too bad being in the hunt again.
is more out there for me. But I don’t want to play great and shoot 75 just to be out there. If I play poorly and shoot 75, I am okay with that. There is room for improvement. The truth is that my game is not suited to a lot of the courses that we play now. I laugh when people think that we are playing golf courses on the Champions Tour at 6,500 yards. I don’t remember the last tournament we played under 7,000 yards. Some of the guys that are playing still hit it a long way. Ernie [Els] and of course Phil [Mickelson] when he plays, bombs it out there; Jim Furyk still moves it as well. So there are fewer and fewer courses on which I feel like I can compete. If halfway through the season next year I don’t have a top 10 or a top 5, I might just fade away. No big announcement, just head off to Pawley’s Island and hang out at The Reserve.
Watching [my sons] Bill play and Jay teach is amazing, then being the captain of that Presidents Cup Team when Bill won the deciding point. It doesn’t get much better than that. That was the thrill of a lifetime to be able to be there and share that, and for him to accomplish that. Any parent would much rather see their children succeed than themselves. So, as far as golf goes, those are the big things. JM: In 2010, you showed up in Palm Springs when Bill had a chance to win the former Bob Hope Classic. What do you remember? JH: Believe it or not, that was a Monday finish in Palm Springs because of weather so I flew in from Hawaii where we were playing [on the Champions Tour]. I caught him with about six holes left to go. Jay Jr. was caddying for me in Hawaii and when Bill knocked it on 18 in two, needing a birdie to win, I borrowed Jay Jr.’s phone to call [my wife] Jan. She answered, “Hey Jay,” thinking it was Jay Jr. I couldn’t say anything. I was so choked up and emotional knowing that he was about to get his first win. It’s so difficult to win out there and it’s such a big deal, I
just couldn’t talk. I knew how hard he had worked and how much he wanted it, and knowing how difficult it is I just couldn’t talk. Finally, I must have made some sort of sound into the phone and Jan said, “Oh, this is my husband Jay.” And yeah, that was really incredible. I remember my first win like it was yesterday and the sense of accomplishment to know that you can do it is amazing. JM: Why the desert? You and Bill are from the Southeast. Why all the success, particularly in Palm Springs? JH: Yeah, I guess it’s because when you are on the east coast and you go west for the start of the year, you are ready to go. Bill has won twice there and lost in a playoff. I don’t know what it is. Back in the old days it was a five-round event, a nice way to play your way into the year. But other than the fact that there are 18 holes on a golf course, there aren’t too many similarities between Greenville, South Carolina, and Palm Springs. JM: Before we let you go, you played on what is considered the greatest college golf team of all time at Wake Forest (I didn’t finish the question when he said)… JH: I spoke with one of my teammates this morning. Curtis [Strange] called while he was driving down to Florida. He just called to say hello. We had a very good team, no question about it. We won the NCAA Tournament by the most strokes ever and all that. But you can never compare eras against each other. I hear Curtis say all the time that college golf was the most fun he ever had in his life. And it’s fun, I still keep in touch with quite a few guys. John Maginnes is a former PGA Tour player; the current co-host of “Katrek and Maginnes on Tap” on Sirius XM as part of the PGA Tour Radio; and an analyst for “PGA Tour Live.”
www.mcconnellgolf.com
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