#RinkersGolfTips Sunday Show on SiriusXM w Rudy Gatlin

Had a great show yesterday, Sunday February 2nd with Rudy Gatlin as my guest on Rinker's Golf Tips SiriusXMPGATour. I opened with a story about Payne Stewart on Super Bowl Sunday 15 years ago. Payne had invited me to fly privately with him in 1999 (the year he passed away in a private plane) from Scottsdale (Phoenix Open) to Pebble Beach (AT&T.) We landed at Million Air at the Monterey Peninsula Airport and got to where I was staying in Pebble Beach before halftime. The phone rang and Payne answered it. The caller said, "Who is this?" Payne said, "Who is this?" The caller said, "This is Geoff Couch and you're at my house." Payne responded with, "If this is your house you'd better hurry up and get home because we're drinking all your beer and smoking your cigars!" Geoff came home, we went to Spanish Bay, and we had a great evening after the Super Bowl. We got together again on Tuesday night with Payne at the Sardine Factory with Geoff and Harvey Mason, drummer for the jazz group Fourplay. After dinner we came back to Geoff's played some music and had a great time. Payne went on to win that week and it was only the second win since his victory at the U.S. Open in 1991 at Hazeltine. (Other was 1995 Shell Houston Open) Four months later, Payne would win his second U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and on October 25, 1999 we lost Payne with five other people who were on the plane. Many of you probably remember where you were when you heard the news. I certainly do and I still miss my friend, Payne Stewart, every day...

Rudy told a great story about playing golf with Jack Nicklaus in Palm Springs during a Pro-Am at the Skins Game. Rudy hit his second shot on a par five, with a driver off the deck from 265 yards. As the ball continued to roll and get closer and closer to the hole, the crowd kept getting louder until there was an ahh. Rudy's ball had stopped on the front lip for a double eagle. Rudy turned to Jack and said, Don't need you!" Rudy commented that he didn't think anyone had ever said that to the great Jack Nicklaus.

We talked about all the fun times at Pebble Beach we had with the wind, weather, pros, and musicians that we played with at the Clambake on Wednesday night of the "Crosby" or as it's now known, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. We talked about guitars, and the best  D28 Martin Rudy had ever played, that Marty Stuart had at a gig that used to belong to Hank Williams. I told the story of trading three MacGregor persimmon blonde woods for a Takamine acoustic guitar with Stephen Stills back in the late 1980's.

We talked about music and golf and the Celebrity Players tour where "you have to count them all!" Also, how some of us are frustrated musicians who played golf for a living, while there were frustrated golfers like Vince Gill who had to play music for a living. It was a lot of fun having Rudy on and talking golf with someone that I have known for over 30 years.We had some callers call in for tips on their golf game. Tune in on Sundays 9:00-10:00 am EST for more of Rinker's Golf Tips on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio Sirius 208 and XM 93. Call in number is 866-469-0026.