For the first time in 27 years the Skins Game won’t be part of Thanksgiving weekend. Blame the cancellation on poor ratings, a bad economy and a crowded Silly, er, “Challenge” Season.
Here’s a solution to bring it back next year: turn it over to the ladies, who are just as compelling, if not more so, as the men these days, with Michelle Wie, Suzann Pettersen, Lorena Ochoa and Paul Creamer as participants. Heck, bring Annika Sorenstam (left) out of retirement and make it a fivesome.
Whatever happens, it was a pretty good run that led to some phenomenal ratings and fond memories. Here are some of the highlights:
1983: In the parking lot afterward, Tom Watson accuses winner Gary Player of cheating when he plucked a small weed out of the ground near his ball at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Ariz.
1984: Nicklaus wins $240,000 and the tournament at Desert Highlands when he holes a 10-foot putt on the 18th for all the skins on the second day.
1987: Lee Trevino pockets $175,000 with a hole-in-one on the Stadium course’s island-green 17th at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.
1990: Curtis Strange takes off his shoes and socks, balances himself on rocks and gets up-and-down from 125 yards to extend a playoff with Nick Faldo that he went on to win at PGA West.
1994: Tom Watson returns for the first time in nine years and wins one of the most exciting Skins Games when he sinks a 20-foot birdie putt for four skins and $160,00 on the first playoff hole at Bighorn in Palm Desert, Calif., with Payne Stewart, Paul Azinger and Fred Couples.
1996: Tiger Woods makes the first of three straight winless appearances, losing to “Mr. Skins,” Fred Couples, at Rancho La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, Calif.
1999: Playing in place of the late Payne Stewart, who died a few weeks earlier, an emotional Fred Couples sets a number of records when he makes a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Lankmark Golf Club in Indio, Calif., including most money earned on one hole, $410,000, until…
2001: Greg Norman holes a short birdie putt on the 17th hole at Landmark GC for $800,000 and 17 skins, the most money ever won on one hole. He also wins the last skin in a playoff, becoming the first and only person to win all 18.
2003: Annika Sorenstam, the only female participant ever, holes out a bunker shot from 39 yards for eagle on the par-5 9th at Trilogy Golf Club in La Quinta, Calif., to win four skins and take the first-day lead.
2005: Fred Funk puts on a pink floral skirt (above) after Sorenstam out drives him and plays the rest of the hole with it on at Trilogy GC. When he asks Tiger for help reading his putt, Tiger sarcastically tells him it’s “two balls out.”
2007: Though he winds up second to Stephen Ames, Fred Couples' six skins and $325,000 push his record total to 92 skins and $4,225,000.
Photo courtesy of Steve Grayson/WireImage
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