OB Sports Golf & Leisure

OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE x SUMMER 2015 x obsports.com l Q&A like our viewers deserve to know the why. They deserve to know what's not obvious. I dig really deep to find that. I read broadly to find that. I also try to put things in a historical con- text. I know the swing of every player from the last 100 years, so when I'm trying to make sense of what people are doing today, it's within the context of history. Who is your favorite player on the PGA Tour and why? I love the players who play with a lot of free- dom. Golfers have a tendency to get very technical, which can then turn into a lot of over-analysis and rigidity in play. I love Angel Cabrera, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. They play with a lot of freedom and a lot of con- fidence, and they make it look easy when they play. I see a lot of players on the Tour who score well, but they make the game look hard. These three play the game the way I want to play it. What is your fondest memory on the golf course? When I was just out of college, I didn't have a Tour card yet, and I didn't have access to any professional tours. I flew over to Scot- land to qualify for the Open champi- onship. I didn't know anybody, I didn't have access to anything and I didn't have any money. I stayed in a little bed-and-breakfast near Muir- field. I remember the 18th hole on the second day being a particularly hard par 4, and I knew I needed to hit a good drive. It was all on the line, and I did it. There was such a sense of ac- complishment in that, and I remem- ber thinking very clearly, "All right, I can do this professional golf thing." That was the year I got my Tour card. What is your role with the Scotts- dale Convention & Visitors Bureau? I'm meant to promote Scottsdale and promote golf. To me that's like pro- moting a Ferrari! I mean if you see it, you want it. I'm happy to promote it, but the city really sells itself. There's just a feeling in Scottsdale that you can't find anywhere else, from the dining and the sports vibe in this town – with a professional football, basketball, baseball and hockey team here there's athletes everywhere – to the fact that there aren't any bugs or wind on the golf course. Just sun! What is your favorite thing about living in Scottsdale? Well, there's plenty to do. And great restaurants. And a nonstop flight anywhere I want in the world. And that's before the golf. What makes Scottsdale so great as a golf destination is the quality and quantity of the courses. There are so many golf options here, and they're all fabulous. A good friend of mine is best friends with Jack Nicholson, so we were all playing golf one day in Los Angeles. I was riding in the cart with him, and he asked where I was from. When I said Scottsdale, he kind of smirked and said, "Rome … Paris … New York … LA … They ain't got sh** on Scottsdale." He didn't even need an explanation from me for why I lived there or loved it. Scottsdale is an invigorating place. You can bike in the mountains, jump in the pool and golf all year round. It's absolute paradise. What advice do you have for someone planning a golf trip to the Scottsdale region? I would tell them to go online early so they can play the courses they want to play. And I would tell them to play a different course every day — in a different part of the city every day. There's not nec- essarily one golf course that's the best – they might be surprised which one ends up being their favorite. McDowell Mountain is just one of many top Scottsdale courses. ©Dick Durrance, All Rights Reserved

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