Golfweek’s best 2023 interviews: Lucas Glover, Colin Montgomerie, Morgan Pressel, Stewart Cink, Harold Varner III and more
Between COVID, advances in technology and myriad other factors, golf beat reporting just isn’t what it once was. Media centers have fewer and fewer members, Zoom calls and transcripts make it easier to keep tabs on players and tournaments from afar and player availability has become increasingly more difficult to secure as many pros (and some college players) are being pulled in numerous directions by sponsors and other responsibilities.
At Golfweek, we continue to send live bodies on the road at events throughout the year — on the PGA Tour, LPGA, LIV, USGA championships, amateur and college events, as well as silly-season tournaments.
Through the hard work of reporters like Adam Schupak, Beth Ann Nichols, Adam Woodard and Cameron Jourdan, we secured a number of great Q&As in 2023 away from the media scrums and online pressers, getting a deeper look at some of the most fascinating personalities that make this game great.
Here’s a look at some of our favorites, in no particular order:
Colin Montgomerie Q&A: Why LIV players should be out as Ryder Cup captains, merit title fun and the Hall of Fame NFL coach he gets mistaken for
Colin Montgomerie turned 60 this year.
Remarkably, this already is the 10th year on the senior circuit for Monty, who joined the World Golf Hall of Fame a decade ago too, and after years of being Europe’s most devoted star to the home circuit has developed quite the crush on life in America.
Monty is many things —a Ryder Cup hero, Scotland’s finest player since Sandy Lyle, a European Tour stalwart who won eight Order of Merit titles but also never won a major, never won on the PGA Tour, and could throw a tantrum with the best of them.
Here’s what Monty had to say to our Adam Schupak.
Q&A: Inside the PGA Tour board room with Peter Malnati
Peter Malnati was in a Residence Inn at the Toronto Airport on Tuesday morning, June 6, when his phone rang at 7:36 a.m., informing him of the PGA Tour’s blockbuster agreement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Malnati, 36, whose lone win came at the 2016 Sanderson Farms Championship, is in his first year on the PGA Tour policy board. Hhe and the nine other board members met for approximately eight hours in person. (Lunch was served at noon, there were two five-minute breaks and the meeting wrapped around 8 p.m.)
Malnati spoke to Golfweek about the meeting and shed some new light on the task ahead, including how the Tour must earn back player trust, Commissioner Jay Monahan’s health, the formation of player committees to dole out discipline to LIV defectors and reward loyalty for those who stayed.
Read the wide-ranging conversation between Malnati and Adam Schupak here.
Laura Davies Q&A: Europe's recent Solheim success, future plans and Lexi Thompson's potential
Laura Davies returned to the Solheim Cup for a third time in the role of vice captain. The winningest player in the history of the biennial event with a record 25 points, Davies was part of every European team from the inaugural event in 1990 to 2011.
A 20-time winner on the LPGA, Davies owns 87 professional titles worldwide. She entered four LPGA events this year as well as the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which she won in 2018.
Q&A: Lucas Glover unplugged on Ryder Cup snub, why signature events are 'terrible' and whether LIV players should be allowed back
The PGA Tour retired its Comeback Player of the Year award after Steve Stricker won it twice in a row, but Lucas Glover would be the hands-down winner in 2023 after he overcame his demons with the putter and won twice in a row, including a FedEx Cup Playoff event.
Always one of the Tour’s more introspective and reflective pros, Glover is never shy with his opinions, and he touched on a wide range of topics such as the selection process for the U.S. team events — he thinks Keegan Bradley deserved to be picked —whether the Tour’s signature events are still a terrible idea now that he’s exempt for them all and if LIV players should be allowed back on the Tour.
Here’s the entire conversation with our Adam Schupak.
Harold Varner III Q&A: Thoughts on LIV Golf, player movement back to the PGA Tour and more
Harold Varner III is unapologetically himself at all times.
For that very reason, the 32-year-old was a fan favorite on the PGA Tour over the last few years and a prime target for LIV Golf. It’s been just three weeks shy of a year since HV3 took his talents to the upstart circuit with a refreshingly honest announcement, and over 16 starts he’s earned seven top-10 finishes, including his first win at LIV Golf Washington, D.C., back in May.
Golfweek caught up with Varner during his pro-am ahead of this week’s 2023 LIV Golf Bedminster event at Trump National in New Jersey and discussed everything from his time with LIV to the framework agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and more.
Here’s what he had to say to our Adam Woodard.
Q&A: Golf Channel's Morgan Pressel played U.S. Open courses Los Angeles CC and Pebble Beach in back-to-back days. What did she think?
Morgan Pressel made history when she first qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at the tender age of 12. Her appearance at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club back in 2001 led to a significant increase in teens and pre-teens signing up for Women’s Open qualifying, forever changing the makeup of the championship.
Pressel, of course, went on to clinch a major championship title at age 18 when she won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco (now the Chevron). After 16 seasons on the LPGA, the former prodigy shifted focus to her work in television. She’s now lead analyst for LPGA coverage on Golf Channel/NBC.
The USGA held back-to-back media days for the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens, and Pressel participated in both, teeing it up at LACC for the first time as well as Pebble Beach Golf Links, which hosted the Women’s Open for the first time in July. It was also the first U.S. Open for the North Course at LACC.
Our Beth Ann Nichols was on hand for both media days and caught up with Pressel to talk about the significance of both venues and her key takeaways.
Here are excerpts from those conversations.
Q&A: Stewart Cink on his tattoo (who knew!), being an airplane snob and whether he's ever gone to a tanning salon for his bald head
Who knew Stewart Cink had a tattoo?
Cink is one of the most underrated thinkers and talkers on golf and life. The winner of the 2009 British Open, also talks about how he developed a game plan for the playoff with Tom Watson at Turnberry, knowing full well only his wife and family would be rooting for him.
Cink, who played on five Ryder Cup teams (2002, ‘04, ‘06, ‘08, ‘10), made his first appearance as a U.S. Ryder Cup vice captain for his good friend Zach Johnson, and he recounted how Johnson asked him to be his final vice captain for the 44th Ryder Cup.
Here’s the conversation he had with our Adam Schupak.
Q&A: Nathan Smith on 2025 Walker Cup captaincy, host course Cypress Point and more
Nathan Smith was able to get some early scouting this fall.
Smith was in California at the Cypress Point Classic. Famed Cypress Point is hosting the 2025 Walker Cup, the 50th edition of the Ryder Cup-style battle between the best amateurs from the United States and Great Britain and Ireland.
Smith has played in three Walker Cups as a part of a decorated amateur career that included four U.S. Mid-Amateur victories. He’s also set to lead the squad at Cypress Point, No. 2 on Golfweek’s Best 2023 for top Classic Courses in the United States, in two years.
Golfweek caught up with Smith recently to talk Walker Cup, Cypress Point and amateur golf.
Here’s what he said to our Cameron Jourdan.
Full Swing Q&A: Executive producer Chad Mumm on breakout stars, storylines from the Netflix series
The vision for an immersive series on the lives of professional golfers goes back half a decade, but it came to fruition at a 2021 dinner at Soho House in Los Angeles.
That’s where Chad Mumm met Paul Martin and James Gay-Rees for the first time. The latter co-founded Box to Box Films in 2016 – known for the highly touted Formula 1: Drive to Survive series – and listened to Mumm pitch his project.
“Five minutes into the dinner they’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re in. Let’s go,’” Mumm said of the meeting.
The immediate interest stemmed from a stereotypical perspective: people outside the game have a picture in their heads of what pro golf is. The trio of producers were intrigued by the rare opportunity to totally subvert people’s expectations.
“You just don’t get those kinds of opportunities,” said Mumm.
The result? Full Swing, the eight-episode series that dropped in February on Netflix. Our Adam Woodard caught up with Mumm to discuss the show and explain just how they pulled it off.
Q&A: Architect Peter Flory goes deep on the Lido, the classic but lost Long Island course he helped redevelop at Sand Valley
One of the most anticipated courses openings of recent years didn’t start with a golf architect’s vision or a developer’s financial plan. This project started with a video game created by a Chicago-based financial consultant and eager golf historian who dabbles at length in no-longer-existing golf courses as a hobby.
Peter Flory had never built a golf course, but he’s played plenty – his list of courses played is enough to send even a golf travel writer into fits of envy.
The Lido, designed by Golden Age architects C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor on Long Island in New York and opened in 1917. The course, reputed to be the toughest and among the best in the world at the time, was plowed under by the U.S. Navy in World War II. Including an 18th hole inspired by Alister MacKenzie’s entry in a course-design contest, the Lido featured many of the classic template holes such as the Redan, Biarritz and Punchbowl that are still in use today.
Flory researched the Lido at length, discovering photos and historical narratives that provided insight not only to how it was built, but how it played. His goal was to re-create the course in a video game for his kids and friends to play.
Flory – who now serves as a panelist and ambassador for the Golfweek’s Best course-rating program – shared more insight in a Q&A with our travel editor Jason Lusk.
Suzy Whaley Q&A: Lexi Thompson playing on the PGA Tour generated more buzz than months of Solheim Cup buildup
It’s been 20 years since Suzy Whaley teed it up on the PGA Tour in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open. Now a groundbreaking past president of the PGA of America, Whaley became the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event since the great Babe Zaharias in 1945.
Whaley, of course, earned her spot by winning the 2002 Connecticut PGA Championship.
This year it was announced that Lexi Thompson had accepted a sponsor invitation to the Shiners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, which made her the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event.
The field and the scene next week in Vegas was much different for Thompson than it was for Whaley, who laughed out loud when David Duval introduced himself on the putting green. (“I know who you are!”) Whaley credits much of her success that week to a chip shot Peter Jacobsen taught her during a practice round.
Golfweek recently caught up with Whaley to reminisce on her time playing against the men and talk about the challenges Lexi faced.
Here’s what she said to our Beth Ann Nichols.
Scott Simpson Q&A: How he ended up in Hawaii coaching the men's golf team, why nice guys don't finish last and what happened to his Magnum P.I. mustache
Scott Simpson has enjoyed success at nearly every stage of a golf career that spans six decades.
He won consecutive NCAA men’s golf titles (1976, 1977), was the recipient of the 1977 Fred Haskins Award as the best male collegiate golfer, played on a Walker Cup team (1977), won seven times on the PGA Tour, including the 1987 U.S. Open (in exactly 600 career starts), represented the Stars and Stripes in the Ryder Cup (1987) and picked a pretty good spot — Pebble Beach — for his one and only PGA Tour Champions triumph.
Simpson last played more than a handful of senior events in 2016 and called it quits in 2020 but as he told Golfweek during an interview at the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii, he wasn’t the type to sit around in retirement and watch the grass grow.
Here’s more from a riveting conversation with Simpson, who discusses among other things how he ended up in Hawaii coaching the men’s golf team, why nice guys don’t finish last and what happened to his Magnum P.I. mustache.
His lengthy chat with our Adam Schupak is linked here.
Lanny Wadkins Q&A: Phil Mickelson would be 'gambling in a ditch somewhere' without golf
Lanny Wadkins knows plenty about what it takes to succeed at the Ryder Cup. The 1977 PGA Championship winner has been a part of nine of them in his storied career, eight as a player and one as a captain.
The Wake Forest product has amassed as many Ryder Cup points as any living American — he’s tied with Phil Mickelson at 21½ — and his 18 total overall match victories are the most by any living player on the U.S. side.
And although he’s 73, Wadkins is showing no signs of slowing down. He still dabbles in PGA Tour Champions TV commentary and his Lanny Wadkins Design firm continues to help with new designs (his BlackJack’s Crossing at Lajitas Golf Club in Texas is Golfweek’s Best Course you can play in the state) as well as redesigns.
Judy Rankin Q&A: LPGA legend laments that this year's Solheim Cup has been almost ignored
Golf’s beloved television pioneer Judy Rankin returned to the booth for the 18th edition of the Solheim Cup. A 26-time winner on the LPGA, Rankin’s work schedule slowed down considerably in recent years, opening the door for Morgan Pressel to take over as lead analyst on LPGA coverage.
But with Pressel serving as an assistant captain for Stacy Lewis in Spain, Rankin happily agreed to fill in and sat alongside good friends Terry Gannon and Juli Inkster for the Golf Channel broadcast.
Rankin twice captained Team USA to victory in 1996 and 1998. Golfweek caught up with the 78-year-old World Golf Hall of Fame member before she headed overseas.
Here’s what she said to our Beth Ann Nichols.
Gary McCord talks PGA Tour vs. LIV, Ryder Cup road woes for the U.S. and good buddy Peter Kostis in this Q&A
Gary McCord has opinions. Not breaking any news here, but the long-time golf commentator is one of those guys that if you can get a microphone in front of, chances are you’re going to get a few gems.
The recent Arizona Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the Class of 2023 at Paradise Valley Country Club was a chance for many decision-makers, influencers, players past and present and more to mingle, and McCord was among the attendees.
Here’s the discussion he had with Golfweek assistant editor Todd Kelly.
Q&A: Why is France's Jean Van de Velde, who nearly won the 1999 British Open, teaching golf in Mexico?
Jean Van de Velde, the affable golfer who once nearly had both hands on the Claret Jug but let it slip away in dramatic fashion is living and working these days, heading up the Jean Van de Velde Golf Academy at Punta Minta, located on the southernmost point of the Riviera Nayarit, 30 miles northwest of the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
Who can forget the way he squandered a three-stroke lead on the last hole of the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie and lost to Scotland’s Paul Lawrie in a three-man playoff?
Could Geoff Ogilvy be his generation's Ben Crenshaw as a course architect? That and more in this architecture-heavy Q&A with the former U.S. Open champ
Geoff Ogilvy turned pro in 1998, just as Tiger Woods was beginning to rule the game, and Ogilvy did well to win eight times on the PGA Tour (plus another four times on the DP World Tour), including the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He was a member of the International Team for the Presidents Cup three times and has been a vice captain on the last three teams. It seems inevitable that he will get his turn at the captaincy (and when he does the U.S. may finally have met its match in that event).
Ogilvy has reduced his play in recent years, including moving back to his native Australia for a time, and is starting to make a name for himself in the design world with work done at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, back home in Melbourne at Peninsula-Kingswood and is in the process of completing a significant re-do of Medinah No. 3 near Chicago, which will host the 2026 Presidents Cup. (He also mentioned a course the firm is building in Georgia but wouldn’t disclose the name.)
A couple hours in the car flew by and the discussion continued over lunch and in between his site visit. Here are some of the highlights of what he said while spending an afternoon with our Adam Schupak.
Q&A: Roger Maltbie dishes on Tiger Woods, says the way NBC reduced his role was 'pretty (expletive)'
Roger Maltbie has led a charmed life.
He’s the first to admit that winning 12 professional tournaments, including the first Memorial Tournament at Jack’s Place and the old World Series of Golf at Firestone, exceeded his expectations and made for a pretty respectable playing career. Then he made a seamless transition into television, working for more than three decades for NBC/Golf Channel, and becoming a fan favorite.
As he discusses in a Q&A with Golfweek, Maltbie may have been making his final appearance behind the mic at the Shriners Children’s Open.
