Neil, Soly and D.J. are back for the second edition of our week by week review of a historical season on the PGA Tour. This time we flash back to 1995 and learn just how much time is truly a flat circle, with many familiar themes emerging that sound an awful lot like the current state of the game in 2026.
I was the standard bearer for Corey Pavin’s group in the first round and got to witness his 66 in the 1995 The Players Championship (shout out old name)I was a Junior in HS and had just moved to Florida from Cleveland, and this was the first time I’d ever seen a PGA Tour player in person. The group also included Mark McCumber and Vijay Singh.
Other than Corey’s 66, the thing I distinctly remember is falling on the moguls to the right of the 14th green and getting a standing ovation. 
I was wearing my golf shoes, but I had removed the metal spikes because I didn’t want to be a poser.
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I know @MerchCzar has issued plenty of mea culpas over the years for name mispronunciations, but I do remember watching Ed Dougherty in his prime, and the broadcasters at the time pronounced his name as “doc-urty,” for whatever that’s worth. But this one, I totally understand how the alternate pronunciation could occur.
We didn’t hear much out of Payne at this time because he was in the midst of his failed experiment with cavity backs.
He switched back to blades and he was back in business.
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@djpie Quick mea culpa on the Geiberger 59. It was at the original home of the FESJC
Soly corrected him about a minute later. According to reports, Geiberger putted his face off that day, made like 10 20 ft putts or something like that.
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Two other quick stories from the 1995 Players
1 - Saw Phil make a HIO on 13 - this was no hat Phil era - Slicked back hair - Yonex Staff Bag. THE DUDE
2 - I had a stand bearer partner over the weekend and Russ Cochran’s caddie forgot his SW on the 3rd green and paid my buddy $20 to run back from the 4th fairway to go get it.
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Oh and our volunteer shirts were made by Cross Creek
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@soly @MerchCzar and @djpie loved hearing you talk about Kenny Perry’s Country Creek. Can confirm that it is still around, still a great course, and still extremely affordable. It has also been the host of multiple HCC roost events with the early season Barn Burner tournament.
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Yeah, but he did call the members of TLC: “T-Boyz, Left Eye, and Chilli.”
Classic verbal typo from our guy.
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@djpie I’m in on a Mac O Grady deep dive.
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This should whet your appetite until DJ get this published.
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Very nice. Thank you !
Mac O’Grady was just wild. Hard to believe he existed in relatively modern times.
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I was very tuned into pro golf in 1995 as a sports-obsessed 15 y.o. who hadn’t yet learned how to talk to a girl. I have absolutely zero memory of the Anderson Consulting event. But it sounds sick and it should come back.
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Yes it is. That pod was a very good listen. What a menace.
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It was like the WGC Match Play, but much better. 64 players divided into 4 regions played in 4 different locations. The 4 winners met at Grayhawk in Scottsdale later in the year to determine a champ. IIRC, it was the event where Phil used a wedge to chip a 5 ft putt because the green was covered in hail.
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The deep dive on '95 was great. Actually spent that year traveling the country and caddying on the Nike Tour for a guy, like Ed Doc, that won the Deposit Guarantee. Larry Silveira won the 1989 Depo. G but because it was played as a “secondary event” against THE OPEN he didn’t get the two year tour exemption. Soly referenced the money difference between the PGA Tour and Senior Tour…take a look at how LITTLE the Nike Tour guys were playing for back then. And they had to pay $275 entry fees while i think PGA Tour guys were paying $100 per event. Crazy! Great year, great way to see the country, and see all sorts of minor league baseball. Even saw Dennis Oil Can Boyd pitch in Iowa for an Independent League team. David Toms, Jerry Kelly, and a young rookie Tim Herron played a lot on that tour that year. Thanks for the flashback!!!
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