Six things I learned from Ian Baker-Finch's new biography
'Ian Baker-Finch: To Hell and Back,' (Hardie Grant, $35) by Geoff Saunders debuted this week and is a riveting read about one of the good guys in golf. Baker-Finch's life well lived in the game is documented – both the highs and the lows – and he shares so many fun and memorable anecdotes along the way. Here are the Schupak Six-Pack of things I learned:
The story of the hyphen
I always wonder the backstory on how and why a last name gets hyphenated. It turns out Baker-Finch's father, Tony, had a paternal grandfather named Baker, who was killed in the Boer War in 1899. His widow remarried a man named Finch, and Tony's father grew up as Anthony Finch. But when Anthony emigrated to Australia, he added Baker to his surname in memory of his birth father.
Hatless, no matter the price at 1984 Open
When Baker-Finch grabbed the 36-hole lead at the 1984 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Manufacturers Hanover Trust approached his agent, and the American bank offered Baker-Finch 5,000 pounds to wear a cap with its company logo for the final two rounds. Baker-Finch wasn't a hat guy and so turned it down, not wanting anything to get in the way of his chance at winning. Eventually, they came to a compromise: 2,500 to wear a logoed patch on the sleeves of his shirt and sweater. Baker-Finch's wife sewed it on for him. 'It was a funny little deal and an early form of ambush marketing that often occurred at these majors,' he said.
Nicklaus is a gas
One year later, at the 1985 Open at Royal St. George's, Baker-Finch was invited to play a practice round with Jack Nicklaus, the man whose book he'd received as a birthday present at age 12 and had become his golf instructional bible. Baker-Finch recounts a story from that day of how Nicklaus put him at ease that is a ripper – literally!
"We were walking up the hill past the big bunker on the right side of the third when he let one go! He looked back at me and said, 'Can you believe they have the South African barking spider in this place?' I replied to him, 'And I thought you had just cut the cheese.' He replied, 'No, that was definitely a South African barking spider!'
"Jack was trying to relax me, and it worked."
Broken driver? No problem
In 1986, Steve Williams, who would work the bag for 13 of Tiger's 15 major victories, was caddying for Baker-Finch at the PLM Open at Falsterbo GC in Sweden. After the third round, a bunch of caddies hightailed it to a nearby driving range and Williams absconded with Baker-Finch's bag to use.
'Unfortunately, during our session, the head came off the driver," Williams recalled. "We all banded together to try and find another driver for Ian to use in the final round, and amazingly enough, we found an identical Dunlop driver another player carried with him as a spare. The next day, Ian did not even notice the change and he played well with it.'
Funny enough, Baker-Finch never heard this story until it was recounted to him in 2023 for this book.
Aussie beer, shiraz and bolognese
It's always interesting to hear how a player celebrates his crowning achievement. After Baker-Finch won the 1991 Open, he retired to the house he'd been renting and his friends tracked down Australian beer – Victoria Bitter and Foster's.
'I gave the Australian boys 200 pounds to go and buy as much Australian beer and wine as they could find. It was a good night, not a riotous one. Jennie put Hayley to bed and made a big pot of spaghetti Bolognese to feed everyone, and a few of the Australian press turned up as well," Baker-Finch recalled. 'At midnight, we put a nice bottle of Aussie shiraz in the jug and went back to the club – Jennie and Steve Bann and me. The security guard let us in after I showed the Jug to him. Jennie stayed at the green while Steve and I walked back up the last hole in the dark and I showed him where I had hit my second shot from.'
Advice from his adoring fans
When Baker-Finch lost his game – he missed 15 consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour in 1995 – he received a torrent of unsolicited advice from his loving fans. Carol from New South Wales wrote: 'Sleep with this Indian stone under your pillow. It resonates with your spirit. You have given away your own power. You have forgotten the beauty of your own soul.'
Baker-Finch went through a slew of coaches and reflects, 'I had become almost an object of pity, and a potential case study for every coach. I would exhaust three or four coaches at a time. There was always someone coming along and saying, 'I have the answer for you.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Diddy considering comeback at Madison Square Garden: Attorney
(NewsNation) —Sean 'Diddy' Combs' attorney said the producer is mulling over a potential musical comeback at New York's Madison Square Garden after his release from jail for prostitution-related charges. Marc Agnifilo, Combs' lead attorney, told CBS News that the music artist is 'going to be back at Madison Square Garden — and I said I'll be there.' When asked in what capacity Combs would be at the arena, Agnifilo answered, 'I guess being on stage, you know?' Combs' team did not immediately return a request from NewsNation confirming the performance. A jury convicted Combs last month on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act, which has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 3, and a judge ruled he would remain in jail until then. 'I think he's someone who's always going to strive to do something, you know, exceptional, and probably demanding and challenging,' Agnifilo told CBS. 'But I think the most demanding and challenging thing in front of him right now is to get back with his kids and get back with his mother, and the people who love him and miss him,' the attorney added.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Byron Allen's media group sells 10 local TV stations in $171M deal
Aspiring media mogul Byron Allen sold off 10 local TV stations for $171 million as his struggling company unwinds its portfolio. Allen Media Group — which owns The Weather Channel — sold its ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates based in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana to Gray Media, which has 180 local stations in 113 markets in the South and Midwest. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, pending FCC approvals, according to Gray. 3 Byron Allen at a Tribeca Festival event on media. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival Allen Media Group – which also owns affiliates in Honolulu, Hawaii and California – put 28 local TV stations across 21 local markets up for sale in June with help from Moelis & Company. The comedian-turned-entrepreneur's company has suffered as media ad spending has steadily declined across the industry and interest rates have remained stubbornly high, pushing the firm to order mass layoffs last year, The Post previously reported. Earlier this year, local meteorologists at Allen Media stations were forced to give tearful goodbyes after the company replaced them with a feed from The Weather Channel. Allen Media planned to lay off or reassign at least 50 meteorologists across all of its local stations as it built a new Atlanta hub to lead coverage at The Weather Channel, which the company acquired for $300 million in 2018. The Weather Channel also trimmed its workforce last October, and shut down its Spanish-language version as part of 'extensive cost-cutting measures.' In February, the company refinanced its $100 million revolving credit facility in its latest attempt to cut costs and give itself time to sell off the stations. 3 Byron Allen at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March. Getty Images Allen, meanwhile, has continued to snap up new deals, taking over the 12:30 a.m. slot on CBS with 'Comics Unleashed,' a half-hour comedy show that he will host. Allen has led a handful of unsuccessful bids for media giants over the past few years, last year offering to take over Paramount for $30 billion. The FCC recently greenlit the long-awaited $8.4 billion deal between CBS owner Paramount and David Ellison's Skydance Media. 3 Gray Media is taking over 10 local TV stations from Allen Media Group. Facebook/Gray Media In 2023, Allen reportedly offered Disney $10 billion for ABC and some of its cable networks. He also reportedly considered making an offer for E.W. Scripps.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
CBS TV chief breaks public silence on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' cancellation
The CBS television chief broke his public silence about the decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," echoing company talking points Thursday that the program will be shuttered for purely economic reasons. Paramount Chair of TV Media George Cheeks spoke about canceling Colbert's show during a press conference following the close of a long-planned merger that put CBS' parent company under new ownership. Cheeks, one of the few executives from the previous regime to stick around after the Skydance Media merger, oversaw all of CBS when the decision was made to cancel the program. "We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show. Unfortunately, the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going," Cheeks told reporters in his first public remarks about Colbert since it was revealed the program would end in May 2026 and the "Late Night" brand would be retired. "The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline," Cheeks continued. CBS said it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night" when announcing the surprising plans last month. "The Late Show," which Colbert took over from David Letterman in 2015, famously leaned into liberal politics in the Trump era and became a major platform for Democratic politicians. Colbert had been outspoken with his criticism of Paramount settling President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the company over CBS' handling of the "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the run-up to the election. Paramount settled the lawsuit last month, and the FCC approved the long-planned, $8 billion merger with Skydance shortly after. Many have questioned the decision, suggesting that it was done to appease Trump and the FCC, but everyone involved has pointed directly to the show's bottom line from the start. "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount," the network said when first announcing the "Late Show" would be canceled. Puck News' Matt Belloni has reported the late-night show "has been losing more than $40 million a year" for CBS and that it had a budget of "more than $100 million per season." When breaking his public silence, Cheeks did not confirm the exact amount but acknowledged the "Late Show" was losing significant cash. "At the end of the day, it just wasn't sustainable to continue," he said.
