Beth Daniel - Part 2 (The 1990 LPGA Championship)

Winner of 33 LPGA tournaments, Beth Daniel recalls what life was like traveling the country as a tour rookie. Beth recounts her first wins, first in Japan and then in the U.S. at the 1979 Patty Berg Classic. She shares her experiences with some of the early greats in the game like Kathy Whitworth, Judy Rankin and others. Beth talks about her first bout of the yips, what she did to overcome this and the “Zone” she was in winning 11 events over a span of 13 months in 1989 & 1990. She won her only major at the 1990 LPGA Championship by 1 shot over Rosie Jones and continued her winning ways into the ’90’s. Beth Daniel continues her life story, “FORE the Good of the Game.”

Transcript

Bruce Devlin 0:16

So, Beth, we've got to get into your professional career. What a career, huh? I mean, forty-one professional wins, 33 on the LPGA, one major, which we will cover later, and we have a couple of questions about why only one, because of your wonderful career. We look up your record and see, boy, she could have won eight or nine of them.

Beth Daniel 0:41

Yeah, I I have I have a pretty good record in the majors, but just didn't win them.

Bruce Devlin 0:46

Sure.

Beth Daniel 0:47

I did not win them.

Bruce Devlin 0:49

So you turned professional in 78 at the age of 22. And tell us about the first win that you got.

Beth Daniel 0:59

Um well 78, it I I actually turned pro at a USGA event when it was over with. I played the world amateur uh team event in Fiji. And actually in the women's part, Australia won that year. There you go. So that's where I met Jane Crafter and um but uh the US team we didn't play that well over there, but um yeah, the last day when it was over with, I informed the USGA. I'm like, I'm turning pro. So I turned pro and I was working at Seabrook Island, and I made enough money to go down to Florida and play the mini tours, drove the car down, uh, played two mini tour events to warm up for the Q school, and I won them both. And the second one that I won, I holed out uh uh Fairway bunker shot for an Eagle on the Last Hold of Win by one.

Bruce Devlin 2:08

Yeah.

Beth Daniel 2:09

So then I went on to Q school, and actually my first win was in Japan. Um, I got an invite to the World Ladies in Japan because I was a U.S. amateur champion, and um, you know, they paid pretty good appearance fees at the time. I got a thousand dollars to go.

Bruce Devlin 2:36

Yeah, and big money.

Beth Daniel 2:37

Yeah, big money. And I went over there, and that was in May, and I won the World Ladies, which um really helped me because then I ended up going to Japan twice a year for a good portion of my early career. I would go over there and play in tournaments, I'd get invited. Um, but then I came back and I actually was a little frustrated with my game. And like in June, and I talked to my parents and I said, Maybe I'm not cut out for this travel. I I hated the travel and that sort of stuff. And I said, Maybe I'm not cut out for this, maybe I should, you know, my degree was in athletic administration and coaching. And I said, maybe I should look for a job. And my parents said, play one more month and see how you feel. So within that month, I played in the Patty Bird Classic in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and um, you know, I was I was my game was starting to come around, I was getting a little more comfortable with being out on tour. And after three rounds, I was leading, and the fourth round got rained out. I mean, we had just torrential rains, the golf course was underwater. And Betsy Rawls was the tournament um director for the LPGA at the time. She was head of the rules committee and everything, and we were all sitting in the locker room, and Betsy Rawls came up to me and she said, We're we've decided to wash the final round, so congratulations, you've won. And I remember Hollis Stacey finished second. Hollis was not happy about it, and I don't blame her for not being happy because she wanted a chance to kind of go after a rookie in the final round. But that's how I won my first tournament in a rain out, and it meant a lot to me that it it I heard it from Betsy Rawls because she's a South Carolina native, and uh Betsy Rawls would go on to be a huge influence in my career. Um, and she was always there when when I had my down times, it seemed like Betsy was always there for me. Um, and I'm very appreciative of that. But that's how I won my first tournament. So in my rookie year, I actually won twice Japan and and the Patty Bird Classic. But I'll I'll tell you a story at the Patty Bird Classic on the third the third day. I hit I was on the right side of the 18th Fairway, it was a reachable par five. And Patty was in the booth, so um Patty I I was going for it in two, so I pulled out my three wood and I hit this hard screaming three wood down the right side, and it was like slow motion. I see this Marshall, this Marshall's head came out to see where you know if I was hitting or not, boom, hit her right in the forehead, knocked her out. Um, my plane partners are like, do not go over there, you don't want to see this. Just finish the hole. And I'm like, no, no, no, I gotta I have to see if this person's okay. Well, this woman was completely knocked out, blood everywhere. Um, of course, the paramedics come and everything, they take her away. I go on to bogey the last the last hole. And you know, I'm afterwards I'm trying to check and see if this woman's okay. She was hospitalized for like two or three days. Um, she ended up being okay, thank goodness. Um, but Patty came up to me, and Patty goes, that was a bad break, Beth. That was a bad break. You would have hit the green in two and made an easy birdie instead. You made a body. And I'm like, oh my gosh, Patty, I wiped this woman out. But that was Patty Berg.

Mike Gonzalez 7:04

I mean, uh Patty Berg says, No, you should have won by six. Exactly. Well, let's talk about the next one because uh, you know, with the win in Japan and then this first LPGA win, was this first win at the Paddy Berg validation or was the 1980 win at Golden Lights validation?

Beth Daniel 7:25

Um, well, the Paddy Burg win was pretty sweet, but as far as I, you know, it is true that your second one is always harder to win. And um at the Golden Lights, it was I was head to head with Nancy Lopez, so that was really sweet. Yeah, I mean, Nancy, you have to understand Nancy and I played junior golf together, we played um amateur golf, college golf, and a professional career against each other. I mean, everywhere I had I went, I had Nancy Lopez, and she was like the darling. Everybody loved Nancy, and you know, I had this temper, and I, you know, I I wore my emotions on my sleeve, and so I was like the anti-Nancy. So, you know, my whole career, and so it was always really sweet to be Nancy. Always.

Mike Gonzalez 8:30

Yeah. So I remember a quote from Kathy Whitworth, and she said something along the lines of if Mickey Wright was our Ben Hogan, Nancy Lopez was our Arnold Palmer. Yeah.

Beth Daniel 8:44

Yep. It's very, very true. I mean, Nancy, Nancy was willing to do anything and everything to grow the tour. And all of us in our era, uh, I mean, we wanted to beat her badly, but we were also very appreciative that we had Nancy Lopez at the time. I don't think the LPJ tour would be what it is today had it not been for Nancy Lopez.

Bruce Devlin 9:13

That's very nice of you.

Mike Gonzalez 9:14

Well, my question for you then is who was Beth Daniel?

Beth Daniel 9:20

I always kind of looked at Nancy and myself as she was Arnold Palmer and I was the Jack Nicholas. Now, granted, my career didn't it my career wasn't as good as Jack's, but it was kind of how people felt about Arnold versus Jack, personality-wise. And um, well, Judy Rankin knows this story because she was paired with Nancy and myself in Sarasota um early in our care early in mine and Nancy's careers. And on this part three, the wind was blowing like 30, 40 miles an hour this day. It was really a tough day to play. And on this part three, Nancy hits first, and she hits it over the green, it's going over the green, and all of a sudden you see this big white purse comes up in the air and boom, hits the ball back on the green. And so then Judy and I kind of look at each other, and Judy's neck, she tees off, and she hits it on the green, and then I'm the third one to hit, and I'm I hit too much club, just like Nancy did, and I'm going over the green, and it's like the parting of the Red Sea. My ball goes over the green and into a hazard behind the green.

Bruce Devlin 10:49

There you go.

Beth Daniel 10:50

So that in a nutshell describes how the fans felt about me versus Nancy Lopez.

Bruce Devlin 10:56

Yeah, that's interesting.

Mike Gonzalez 10:58

Well, you can help us sort of set the scene uh as we look at this era of the women's tour, because uh you know you're coming on the scene in the late 90s. Of course, it was during the 90s that uh corporate sponsorship uh begins to emerge with the Colgate Palm Olive uh support of the Dinosaur. Uh purses in 1970, in the year 1970, were only 435,000, but players like Judy Rankin came on the scene, Amy Alcott, Joanne Carner, Jane Blaylock, Sandra Palmer, Susie Maxwell Burning, uh, Jan Stevenson. Um and uh and then you get into the 80s, and boom, in 1980, purses were up to five million dollars. Um LPGA starts exploding in popularity, attracting more international players. So as you come on the scene, you mentioned Nancy, also Pat Bradley, Julie Inkster, your teammate Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Hollis Stacey, and international players like Laura Davies, uh Akamoto, and uh Lizalette Newman. So it was a it was really changing, wasn't it, back then?

Beth Daniel 12:02

It was changing a lot. And um yeah, I think because of the jump in the purses, then we got the international players were like, it's worth it to go over there. Um and players that were remaining amateur for their whole career were deciding, you know, there's enough money there for me to turn pro. So we were getting truly all of the best players. And that was when the tour was, I think it was really hard to win, um, but the tour was popular. I mean, the galleries at those times were just enormous. Um, I mean, we played in front of some very, very large galleries. Um and yeah, I mean, the tour was great during that time. I I think um the the era that I played early on, I got to play with you know, even Louise Suggs, Patty Berg was still playing a little bit, Mickey Wright. I play I was paired with Mickey Wright um four times, um which was just amazing. And you know, Whitworth, uh Carol Mann, those players were still playing, they hadn't retired yet. Um Carner, you know, Carner was one of those players that stayed, she was gonna stay amateur, and then all of a sudden she's like, okay, I'll turn pro. And you know, thank goodness we had Carner on tour because what a great personality she was.

Bruce Devlin 13:41

Yeah.

Beth Daniel 13:41

Um, so we had, you know, and then when you say when it, you know, the 80s came, it was it was crazy how many good players there were at the time. Um so I always hate it when I hear commentators now saying, Oh, these players are so good, it's the best that we've ever seen. I'm like, I don't, I don't agree with that. I really don't agree with it. Um and you know, it's harder to win now. They always say that. And yeah, boy, in my era, it was hard to win. It was really hard to win. And I think that, you know, the players that did win stood out, and that's how I I kind of look at history, you know, whether that's the men's tour or the women's tour, I look at history as you know, who did this person play against, and and how did they how did they fare?

Bruce Devlin 14:42

So with your four victories in 1980, listen to this. Hollis Stacy, Nancy Lopez, Hollis Stacy, Jane Blaylock, and Nancy Lopez. You beat, you continue to beat them all. I mean, come on.

Beth Daniel 15:04

Well, in 80, you know, I kind of came into my own on 80. I finally had more of a comfort zone on, well, I had a comfort zone of the travel, I knew where to go. Um, you know, I knew that kind of stuff. I knew where the laundromats were, I knew the hotels to stay in, the restaurants to eat in. There's a lot to that that you know people don't people don't realize when you're traveling the first year for a rookie, you know, all these things, you don't know where they are, you don't know, you know, plus I had seen some of these golf courses for the second time. So there's a comfort zone in that. And um so then I could focus more on my golf instead of focusing on you know the travel and everything that goes with that. Um and you know, I my career was very up and down based on confidence. And so when I had confidence, watch out. When I didn't, I you know, I I wouldn't do anything. Was that all related to putting, or were there other areas of your game where sometimes you didn't feel as strong about I you know I was fortunate that my long game rarely had a lot of trouble, but when it did, um like with my driver, if if I didn't have confidence in my driver, I hit it short and crooked. That's a bad combination. That's like the worst combination you can have. And I really think that's I think that's why I didn't win more majors, is it's important to drive it well and putt well. And those were probably the two weakest parts of my game. Um and and you have to remember in 1980, I'm I'm using a wood driver, I'm using a persimmon driver, and uh, you know, I had a heck of a time hitting it straight. I could hit it long, but it but I had a heck of a time hitting it straight. Like I hit the ball really straight now off the T compared to when I was on tour.

Bruce Devlin 17:21

So do you think it's a little easier with the equipment today?

Beth Daniel 17:25

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I mean, you Bruce, you remember this. I mean, with the wood, with the wood clubs, you had a you had bulge and roll. And if that wasn't perfect, then you were gonna be, you weren't gonna hit it perfect. And I had a heck of a time matching up bulge and roll to get maximum distance and accuracy in the wood drivers.

Bruce Devlin 17:54

Well, I look at some of the uh drivers that I still have from the from the golden years, the 60s and 70s. Yeah, and I I look down at them and I think, how the hell did you ever play golf with that when you see the equipment that they have today? It's it's quite remarkable, really.

Beth Daniel 18:12

It is, it really is. I mean, even the wedges were so different then.

Mike Gonzalez 18:18

I want to ask big old bounces.

Beth Daniel 18:20

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 18:20

Yeah, I'll I'll ask both of you this question then about this technology. If you had today's technology back when you both played in your prime, how much faster do you think you'd swing the golf club than you did back with the wooden clubs?

Bruce Devlin 18:38

I'd say uh I'd say I'd swing it at least 15% quicker.

(Cont.) Beth Daniel - Part 2 (The 1990 LPGA Championship)

Beth Daniel 18:45

Yeah, I I mean it has to be faster. It just has to be because the equipment is lighter and the shafts are lighter. And you know, I think just what the technology and shafts alone is you know, you had you had basically what two or three shafts to choose from back in the 70s. And now look how many shafts you have to choose from.

Bruce Devlin 19:13

That's true.

Beth Daniel 19:14

It you know, and you have you, you know, the shafts now, you have a a low flex point, a mid flex point, a high flex point to choose from. In those days you had a low flex point. That was it. Yeah, that's it.

Bruce Devlin 19:28

Well, d you know, give you some numbers. The best driving that I ever did to drive, I know the specs on that driver. It was 43 and three quarter inches long, okay, which is short. D6, D6, and it weighed 14.1 ounces.

Beth Daniel 19:48

Man. Man.

Bruce Devlin 19:50

That's like, I mean, compared to today's clubs, that's you know, it's hard to believe. Yeah.

Beth Daniel 19:57

Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, you had to use hands then. You had to use your hands. Now you don't. Um you know, and there are there are players that if you put them back then, they wouldn't play well at all. And they're they're good players now. Um I always say, like Mickey Wright, if you she played well in that era, she would also play well in this era. Um because she was a ball striker, she was a field player. I mean, Mickey Wright didn't play by yardage. She would tell her her caddy had the easiest job in the world. She'd say, I want a 200 marker, a 150 marker, and a 100 marker on every hole. It could be a tree over here or whatever. So that caddy, when he looked at the golf course, he had to do those three things on each hole. Now you have yardage from every sprinkler head there is. Um it yeah, but she would play well in today's era because she was a field player. Um and then your fellow Aussie Kari Webb, I think Kari Webb could go back and be good. Yeah, as good as she is now, because she's a field player, she's uh she's a shot maker. And you know, there were more shot makers back in the you know, 60s, 70s, whatever, because you you had to you kind of had to be. You know, now there are swingers of the club.

Mike Gonzalez 21:46

Yeah, yeah. Yep, yeah. We could do a whole podcast just on the case. Yeah, we could just on the changes of the game, or or you know, you a few minutes ago you were talking about traveling as a rookie, and I don't know how many times that's come up. With all the other players we've talked to. And you're right. I mean, people today don't understand that that first year, as you said, everything's new. You don't know where to stay. I mean, you're doing this all without GPS, too.

Beth Daniel 22:12

All without GPS. I mean, the first thing I would do is, you know, go to the rental car place and grab a map in Baggage Claim. That's always the first thing I would do so that I could look on that map and I could get a visual of where's the golf course, where is the hotel, um, you know, where's downtown? Blah, blah, blah.

Bruce Devlin 22:35

Who likes to eat where?

Beth Daniel 22:36

Yeah. Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 22:38

Find a nice restaurant.

Beth Daniel 22:39

You you would you'd register and you'd ask the volunteers, what are the best restaurants in town?

Bruce Devlin 22:46

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 22:48

Yeah. Well, we we talked about you sort of coming into your own in the in in 1980 with the four wins. Um, and then uh a couple of wins in 81. And and you know, obviously, we don't have time to talk about every one of your 41 professional wins, or we'd go on all day. But uh there had to be some that's during that era that sort of jumped out at you. Uh 81, for example, you win the world championship women's golf uh over Jan Stevenson. You also won at Bent Tree in the Bentry Ladies Classic. Uh you won uh you won the Florida Citrus, uh, Florida Ladies Citrus uh in a in a what looks to be a five-way playoff.

Beth Daniel 23:25

Five-way playoff. Yeah. Five-way playoff. Yeah, that was crazy.

Mike Gonzalez 23:31

Are the memories all vivid for you with each of those, or does some sort of just fade?

Beth Daniel 23:37

Some some sort of fade away. I mean, the five-way playoff was kind of a big thing.

Mike Gonzalez 23:42

Oh, yeah.

Beth Daniel 23:43

Um that was big. The world championships were always big, and that first world championship, I tripled the very first hole I played, and I came back and won the tournament. Um that was in Cleveland.

Bruce Devlin 23:59

And um the Shaker Heights, right?

Beth Daniel 24:02

Yeah. Um, the the first one was played at the country club in Cleveland, and then Shaker Heights was after that. I thought maybe I'm maybe I'm wrong about that.

Mike Gonzalez 24:17

I think it was 1981 was in Shaker Heights. That's when you beat uh Jan by uh by one shot. Yep.

Beth Daniel 24:22

Okay, so then it was after that that um when I tripled the first hole.

Mike Gonzalez 24:28

Yeah, your first one was 1980 that you won. That was at uh the country club by one over Nancy Lopez, right?

Beth Daniel 24:34

Yeah, that's the one where I tripled the first hole. I always remember that. And I told myself, I walked off the green, I said, well, it's better to do it on the first hole than the last hole.

Bruce Devlin 24:44

Than the last.

Beth Daniel 24:45

Um so you know, I'm giving my giving myself a pep talk.

Mike Gonzalez 24:49

You still shot 71 that round, so you must have had it going besides.

Beth Daniel 24:53

Yeah, yeah. Well, there was a lot of motivation to come back, but I think the you know, the the special tournaments, if I look back on my entire career, you know, the the first women's aim, because it it just opened a world to me that I wouldn't have had. The world championships were also always special because you know, that was the top players that year. You had to play your way into it, even though it was a small field, it was always a tough tournament to win. Um, and then of course, you know, the 1990 was a special year in general, but to win the LPJ Championship there was really special. And then my last win, which was in Canada in a playoff with the Inkster. Um and that was my last win. Because I was using the long putter then, and it was kind of like everyone's like, oh, she'll never win again because she's got a long putter. And so that was that was really uh that was a cool week.

Mike Gonzalez 26:01

So how long how long did you use a long putter?

Beth Daniel 26:04

I used a long putter from uh 2000 till when I retired in 2007. Yeah, and then they took it away. Then the USGA took it away. I couldn't I couldn't putt with it non-anchored. I just couldn't do it. I tried, so now I'm sh you know, I'm a short putter and I I use the claw. Um but um it yeah, I couldn't do it. I couldn't hold it because you know the long putters are heavy and bulky. So you know, you almost have to anchor them to keep them stable. And so when I tried to non-anchor, it would just kind of waver in the back stroke. Okay, and I'm like, that's not good, can't do that anymore.

Mike Gonzalez 26:56

Did you ever try did you ever try the claw with the long one?

Beth Daniel 27:01

No. Well, I kind of clawed it in my grip, like I held it up here, you know, with my thumb over the top of the grip, and yeah, I kind of clawed the bot. I I sort of had a claw grip with my right hand.

Mike Gonzalez 27:17

I had the same affliction, and I've used a long putter for 30 years. Like you, I probably tried every conceivable method known to known to man in terms of how to hold a golf club. And uh, but uh I I just I for years I was a claw grip with a long one, but now I'm just kind of a conventional.

Beth Daniel 27:36

Yeah, I mean, I think you know what with the yips, you have to kind of try and trick your brain, and that's why I tell people, I'm like, you have to change something, you have to change the way you grip it, you have to change something because your brain has a history with how you do it, and your brain goes back to that history every time. So you just have to do something different. Like I tried to put left-handed for a while, because I'm actually left-eye dominant, even though I'm I do everything right-handed. Um, but that I just never put it well enough. And with the long putter, Mike McGetrick is the one that talked me into going to the long putter, and I ended up putting well with the long putter. Um, I liked it, and it was easy on my back, which I've had back problems. It was really easy on my back.

Mike Gonzalez 28:34

Yeah, you can practice longer, right?

Beth Daniel 28:37

You can practice longer, and then the USGA took it away from me.

Mike Gonzalez 28:42

Well, let's talk, let's talk about some of these years because uh you know, you see five wins in '82, you see four wins in '89 in between uh single win in '83 at the McDonald's, single win in '85 at the Keocero.

Beth Daniel 28:54

Was that one of those uh confidence uh gaps or lapses that you it was a confidence gap in uh in uh the first the first showing of the yips. So I was fighting through the years. So that's when it started, huh? It started in the mid-80s, and um yeah, I had to try and play my way through it, which you talk about something that's hard. Um you know, the yips are they're no fun. And I it the closer a pin was to the gallery, the more chances I had of having the yips, because I just felt like I had all these eyes on me and it would get me, you know, very tensed up, and then I'd end up with the yips, and you know, my poor caddies that had to watch me go through the yips. I mean, you could talk to Davis Love about it playing the mixed team with him. I there were certain mixed teams that you know he wasn't sure if I was gonna make a one-footer, and yet he still played with me, and you know, and it you know, that's gotta be hard to watch when your partner's going through that. And there were many, many a day where I would walk off the golf course and go home and in tears because it's just like you know, your your mind and your body just won't let you do it. It's just and and I I got to the point at times where I would black out. Like I people would say, How did you miss it? I'm like, I don't know. I don't even remember hitting the putt.

Bruce Devlin 30:39

Oh my goodness.

Beth Daniel 30:40

Yeah, I tried all kinds of things, counting. Um you know, I went left hand low, that would work for a while. Um, I did all kinds of things. I looked at the hole, which incidentally I think is a great way to putt short putts. You know, people are embarrassed to do it. Yeah, it it makes so much more sense because what it does is it gets you out of your stroke and it gets you into your target.

Mike Gonzalez 31:09

Eyes closed. Try eyes closed.

Beth Daniel 31:11

Eyes closed, I did that.

Mike Gonzalez 31:12

Yeah, you try watching your putter going back.

Beth Daniel 31:16

Well, I think that was part of the problem for me is that I did that for a while, and then I started watching it going, oh no, it's not in the right place. And then I you know, so that didn't that didn't work too well for me.

Mike Gonzalez 31:29

All right, let's let's get off this topic. It's making the joke.

Bruce Devlin 31:34

It's a bad one, isn't it?

Mike Gonzalez 31:35

Uh so what a stretch 8990, 11 wins. I mean, Yips number one is all in the past right now.

Beth Daniel 31:44

Yeah, it was in the past. Um, and uh what happened to me in 1990 is I came out with a ton of confidence because the winter of 89, I started a workout program, and I was stronger physically, which and I was in the best shape of my life, um, you know, cardio and everything, and I just went into 90 thinking that I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. Something at that point I was working with Jack Lumpkin a little bit, and we discovered something in my backswing that clicked. And 1990 I had the best swing thoughts, and I was so confident. And I in 1990 I actually felt like I could win every tournament I teeded up in.

Mike Gonzalez 32:45

Well, you know, in 8990, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think those 11 wins came over a span of about 13 months.

Beth Daniel 32:52

I think I think you're right. Yeah, I mean it was yeah, it was uh I just didn't feel like I should lose during that time. And that's the kind of confident that's the kind of confidence you want.

Bruce Devlin 33:08

Isn't that the truth?

Mike Gonzalez 33:10

And so it uh how fleeting is that? Because uh did you have that many times in your career, or was it that one?

Beth Daniel 33:16

No, I think it was pretty much that that was the longest stretch that I ever felt that way. I had I had the that feeling at times during my career for like a couple of months or whatever, but I never had it for that long. And um yeah, that was I mean, that's where you that's where you want to be. I was I was in the zone during that time.

Bruce Devlin 33:42

Um let's look at that 1990. You win the Hawaiian tournament, right? And you beat Patty Sheehan and Amy Benz there, and then you won Kemper at Wild Eye Blue Course, one over Rosie Jones, and another player by the name of Laura Davies, who had some thoughts about Beth Daniel.

Mike Gonzalez 34:04

Who'd you most fear when you were head to head with him?

Laura Davies 34:07

No question, Beth Daniel. She was uh she was a steely competitor, she was a brilliant, she was the best ball striker on the tour. Um, I always think I'm a really good ball striker too, but Beth was the one that you know, a lot of the girls haven't got the power of the guys, but Beth always just the way she hit it, and you knew that if if you're going down the stretch with Beth Daniel, you had your hands full, she beat me in White Plains, New York one year when I was playing some of the best golf of my life, and I think we I think it eventually went to a playoff, but I lost to her, and and she was tough, but great competitor. Love, you know, love Beth. She she really is uh a nice lady, but yeah, you didn't want her name. If you were at the top of the board, you did not need to see Daniel come on the board.

Bruce Devlin 34:48

So there you go, Beth. That's pretty good.

Beth Daniel 34:50

I actually listened to that podcast, and that and I was surprised when I heard Laura say that.

Bruce Devlin 34:57

Oh, so you've already heard that.

Beth Daniel 34:58

I had heard it, yeah.

Bruce Devlin 34:59

And we thought we were gonna sneak one in on the podcast.

Beth Daniel 35:03

I listened to your podcast. I'm I'm a fan of your podcast, but um, but yeah, I was surprised to hear her say that because you talk about top competitors, Laura. Oh Laura's a tough competitor. The thing about Laura, though, is that when you were playing against Laura because she was so aggressive, you always knew that she was gonna make one or two mistakes, that something, her aggressiveness wasn't gonna pay off. So she was gonna give you a shot or two. In match play, you figured she's gonna give you a couple of holes. But then the rest of the rest of the time, she was she was just unbelievable. I mean, you she could she could do anything, I mean, you know, in all parts of her game. But yeah, it was a very, very gratifying to beat her at White Plains in that playoff. That was big. And then, and then, you know, anytime you beat Laura, you know you had played some good golf, but that was that was quite a compliment she gave me.

Bruce Devlin 36:09

Yeah, it sure was. That and that that tournament that Kemper opened at Wai there, you bootied the last two holes and came back from a seven-stroke deficit, the last 36 holes. That's pretty fancy.

Beth Daniel 36:21

Yeah. Yeah. That was uh, and that's kind of my game in a nutshell that you know, when I got hot, I could go really low and I could play really, really good golf. And then, you know, if not, I didn't.

Mike Gonzalez 36:39

Yeah, that was your 20th win and uh and and the sixth win in your last 11 start. So you're right in the middle of this hot streak.

Beth Daniel 36:45

Yeah, how about that? Yeah, and Hawaii was never one of my favorite places to play because you know the greens are so grainy. And I had a problem putting grainy greens. Like I putted much better in the Northeast or Midwest, where you had like bent greens that you know rolled really fast. And anytime I got on slow greens or grainy greens where I really had to hit the ball, is when I had more of a problem putting. And you know, so for me to win that many times in Hawaii, I had, you know, I had to be clicking on all cylinders.

Mike Gonzalez 37:26

Yeah, yeah. Well, let's go ahead and talk about that 1990 major. That was the LPGA championship at Bethesda Country Club by one over Rosie Jones with rounds of 71, 73, 70, a closing 66, four under.

Beth Daniel 37:42

Yeah, um, I had going into that tournament, I won the week before in Youngstown. So I was coming in feeling pretty good again about my game. But I, if you look back on my career, I won either before or after a major quite a few times and didn't win the major. Um, but I did win the week before, and then I had also won the year before on that golf course. It was not a major, and that happened to me a few times in my career too, where I won the year before and then they made it a major on the same golf course. Um so I went in with a lot of confidence and you know, obviously was playing well, and um the last day I just you know, I started out, I was driving it really well because Bethesda's a very tight golf course, and I you know, I have to drive it well. So I was dry started out driving well, and I'm like, I have a chance to catch up here, so let's just keep this going, and started making some birdies, and then you know, I made the turn and I was kind of in the hunt, and you know, made up a couple more birdies, and the last few holes the the galleries were giving me standing ovations as I got to the green, and it was like it became very emotional for me because you know the gallery I felt like the galleries were cheering for me to win. And so I had to really, really concentrate hard. And the 16th hole was a long uphill par three, and I I hit a three-iron, I think, to the front of the green and um made par there, which I'm like, that's good. Um 17 was a short par four, um, and then 18, I drove it left in the rough, and I had to try and hit a hook onto the green, and I hit this great shot out of the rough and hooked it around a tree, um, like onto the right side of the green. I had a long putt and I left myself, and it, you know, when you have putting problems, you're always gonna do this. I left myself like a four-footer. And you know, and so it's like, God, why, you know, just hit it a little harder. But I mean, it was a pretty long putt, and and I missed it. I three-putted the last hole. So I kind of walked off. I had to lead, but I was disappointed because I, you know, had I two putted, I kind of would have wrapped it up. So then I had to sweat it out watching Rosie, and Rosie had about a probably 50-footer on the last hole, which she almost made to send it to a playoff. Um, and then after that it was just relief because you know, finally I had won a major. Um, because everybody had been talking about it for all these years. Why hasn't Beth Daniel won a major? Um but you look at the last hole, I drove it in the rough and I three-potted. And to me, those are the two things you have to do well to win majors. And and you know, I I really when I look back on my career, I I really feel like that's why I never I only won one major, because you know, I would have one day where I drove it pretty crooked. Um and I always struggled that day. And it particularly on certain golf courses like um Mission Hills, I'd always have one day where I just really didn't drive it well. And I would struggle that one day, and that was enough not to be able to win there.

Mike Gonzalez 41:55

Well, if you look at 1990, which uh I mean, if you're not on the top of your game in 90, I don't know when you were. And and uh, you know, during that year you were T6 uh at Mission Hills, you were T6 at uh Atlanta Athletic Club in the in the U.S. Open, and then uh finished third in the DeMaurier, I think, uh that year. So pretty solid with four top tens, uh including the one win. So uh what does it feel like getting that monkey off your back?

Beth Daniel 42:21

Oh, it was such relief because I was just tired of hearing everybody ask me, you know, why haven't you won a major? Best player to not win a major, blah, blah, blah. And um, you know, so as that goes along, you build more and more pressure on yourself going into major championships. And believe me, at the end of that, I felt the pressure to try and win there. I I definitely felt it. Um and I think my next, you know, my next best chance to win came in the LPGA championship when Say Rip won the last day, and I was right in it. And I I think I was leading every day going into last day, and once again, the last day, I missed too many fairways, and I you know, I got myself in trouble, and it was like it was a struggle.

Mike Gonzalez 43:19

That was at night in 1998, I think, at DuPont. Does that sound familiar?

Bruce Devlin 43:22

Mm-hmm.

Mike Gonzalez 43:24

Yeah. Absolutely. So you you look at some of the wins coming out of the LPJ again. Uh I won't tick them all off, but you you won the rail down by my whole home hometown. Uh I I grew up next to Springfield, Illinois. So you probably played the rail quite a bit.

Beth Daniel 43:39

I played the rail quite a bit. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 43:41

Yeah. Uh but uh 1990 Centel, Nancy Lopez, 1991 Farm Or Nancy Lopez.

Bruce Devlin 43:49

Nancy Lopez.

Beth Daniel 43:52

You could say I got you could say I got inspiration when Lopez was in the hotel.

Mike Gonzalez 43:58

It just sort of jumps off the page.

Bruce Devlin 44:00

Yeah, it does. Yeah, it does.

Mike Gonzalez 44:03

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends straight down until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Outro Music 44:24

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairway. Then it started to slice, just smidge off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My caddy says long as you're still in the state, you're okay. Yes, it went straight down the middle, quite away.