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Six things I learned from Ian Baker-Finch's new biography
Ian Baker-Finch signed off from CBS after 19 years at 'The Eye' and 30 years as a TV broadcaster. The send-off from his team on August 3 was next level. But Baker-Finch's story from the rugged courses of Queensland, Australia, to his triumphant Open win at Royal Birkdale in 1991 and his downfall – 'one of the cruelest and swiftest collapses the game has witnessed,' according to the dust jacket of his new, authorized biography – is under-appreciated and has been under-told until now.
'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.'
