Larry Nelson - Part 3 (The Ryder Cup and Senior Tour)
The major champion who didn't learn the game until age 22, Larry Nelson looks back on his trips over the pond for the Open Championship before taking us back into the transformative years of the Ryder Cup. His first was in 1979, the year the GB&I squad added continental European players for the first time including Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle. Larry and his partner Lanny Wadkins took down Seve three times in team play and then prevailed against Seve in singles going 4-0. He went 5-0 in the 1981 Ryder Cup joining what might have been the greatest U.S. side ever assembled. Finally, Larry recounts the 1987 matches where the U.S. lost for the first time on its soil at Muirfield Village under Captain Jack Nicklaus. It was clear the Ryder Cup momentum was shifting. Listen in as Larry shares his experiences on the Senior Tour where he won 19 times in a span of six years. Larry Nelson, proud veteran and champion golfer, concludes his life story. "FORE the Good of the Game."
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About
"FORE the Good of the Game” is a golf podcast featuring interviews with World Golf Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around the game of golf. Highlighting the positive aspects of the game, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by PGA Tour star Bruce Devlin, our podcast focuses on telling their life stories, in their voices. Join Bruce and Mike Gonzalez “FORE the Good of the Game.”
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Nelson, Larry
Professional Golfer
To golf fans, Larry Nelson’s quiet, unassuming demeanor belies his burning desire to win. But there is much more more to this three-time Major Champion.
Nelson grew up in Acworth, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta, and had little interest in golf. Instead Nelson, a two-sport star in high school, was focused on baseball and basketball.
A 20-year-old newlywed when he was drafted into the United States Army at the height of the Vietnam War, Nelson trained for 18 months before spending another three months fighting in southeast Asia.
In addition to some of life’s more difficult lessons, while in Vietnam, Nelson also learned about golf for the first time – namely that one could make a living playing it.
“Up to that point I really thought it was a sissy sport,” Nelson said. “But the guy (Ken Hummel) that told me hadn’t shaved for about two weeks and he hadn’t bathed in longer than that and he had an M-16 and I didn’t want to tell him what I thought about golf.”
Nelson did, however, make a mental note that he would try the game when he returned home.
“I started playing golf and I got better every day and just fell in love with it.”
It wasn’t until after he left the Army in 1968 that he really swung a club with any seriousness. Following his military service, Nelson returned to college full-time and also worked 7 days a week for a year. When he got to the point where he had just one subject remaining, Nelson found he had a lot of spare time on his hands waiting for his wife to get home from work.
So Nelson joined Pinetree C… Read More
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