“The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” with Nancy Lopez, Part 2

In the second of a two-part episode, Charlie and World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez discuss memories of her career – including the responsibilities she felt as an LPGA Tour headliner to help the circuit grow, competing with such golfing legends as JoAnne Carner, and her competing for and captaincy of the U.S. team in the Solheim Cup.

Charlie Rymer:
I’m Charlie Rymer and this is the Charlie Rymer Golf Show powered by PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com.

So we’re back on the Charlie Rymer Golf Show with World Golf Hall of Fame member Nancy Lopez. And Nancy, you’re not much of a slow starter. Your rookie year you won nine events. Your second year you won eight events. Now, math isn’t my strong point but that’s 17 wins, I believe, in a pretty short amount of time. That’s just … you won all of the accolades, not only in golf, but for female athlete of the year, magazine covers, all of that. When you think back on that time period, what really stands out the most for you?

Nancy Lopez:
It was just the neatest time to be able to, for me as an amateur player, I wanted to be ranked number one in the United States. And I set that as a goal and I worked hard for that. I love practicing. I love hitting a good shot. And when I turned professional, I felt like I was back down at the bottom of the totem pole, that I had to work my way back up. My goal my rookie year was to maybe win one tournament. I had no money. I signed with IMG, Mark McCormack, and Mr. McCormack was so kind to me because I didn’t want my Dad to spend any more money on my career, my life, whatever. And Mr. McCormack said, “Well, Nancy,” he says, “We’ll help you. And whenever you start making some money, you just pay us back.” So I said, “Great deal.”

So I ended up finishing second in the Women’s U.S. Open in Hazeltine the week before I went to qualifying school. I had finished second behind Hollis Stacy. I might’ve told you this story. I finished a second four times, never won a Women’s U.S. Open and I think this U.S. Open should have been mine because I’m playing golf. I didn’t have a lot of pressure because I was really a declared professional. I’d sent in my application. So I’m going to qualifying school the next week. I’m playing on Sunday with Hollis in the final match and I went to bend down to read a putt and my zipper on my pants opened up and back then we had zippers that were plastic. You could zip it down and zip it back up and it kind of repaired it. Well, every time I went down to read a putt, my zipper would start to open.

And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m on national TV.” I mean, I was young. And I was, oh, freaking out. Everybody’s handing me safety pins. And there was no focus on winning the U.S. Open. It was horror about not showing everyone my underwear.

Charlie Rymer:
Oh my.

Nancy Lopez:
So I ended up finishing second. I really feel like that could have been the U.S. Open I should have won.

Charlie Rymer:
If it wasn’t for a bad zipper.

Nancy Lopez:
Yeah, for a bad zipper.

Charlie Rymer:
I busted a few zippers, but for a different reason.

Nancy Lopez:
So I finished second in that U.S. Open and I remember when I got my first check, $7,500, second place. And when I got that check, I carried it with me for a couple of months. And I would take it out of my wallet in the mornings before I went to play. And I’m like, “Man, am I rich! $7,500!” I just felt like I owned the world. So I carry that check with me for a little bit. And then I finish second again later on that year. I got my card July of ’77. So I started making money pretty quickly. It was great because I didn’t have to worry about getting to the next tournament and paying my bills. And Mr. McCormack called me. He says, “Nancy, you need to send that check because we need to pay your bills.”

Charlie Rymer:
Oh no, this is my check.

Nancy Lopez:
Yeah. Yeah. So it was just such an exciting time as a young person to be able to accomplish what I was accomplishing at that young age and not until January of ’78 did I win my first tournament and I ended up winning five in a row, and the five in the row happened where I went four in a row. I took off a week and then I’d played the next week and I won the fifth in a row. Won nine that year. I was, I think, the first player to win $200,000, which was like a fortune back in those days. And because of my winning, my daily rate went from $500 to thousands of dollars. And I remember my agent called me because I did outings every Monday with IMG for $500 just so I could keep playing. And I remember my agent calling me and he said, “Nancy, you’re not going to play any more outings for $500.” I’m like, “Why? I need to.”

He goes, “Well, now that you’ve won three in a row, whatever, they’re going to pay,” I think it was 25,000. “They’re going to pay you $25,000 a day.” And I’m like, “Are they crazy? I’m just going to be playing golf. And I’m going to make $25,000 on a Monday?” I was just in heaven. So, with that I was hoping to buy my Mom and Dad a house one day and be able to pay them back for whatever they did. And unfortunately, I lost my mom in September of ’77 so she never got to see me win. My Dad, fortunately, was able to travel with me and go with me. It was a great time in my life but yet a sad time my rookie year because my mom never got to see me win.

Charlie Rymer:
Hmm. Well, clearly you kept perspective because even though the money was flowing, you kept winning golf tournaments. But in particular thinking about that time period, what was the easiest part of the game for you? Was it everything? Was it driving? Was it iron play? I know the putter was really hot for a long time, but what was the part that you just let it rip and didn’t think about it.

Nancy Lopez:
Charlie, when I was playing really well, the fairways got wider, the greens got bigger, the holes got bigger. Everything was really positive. I just felt like I could do anything on the golf course. And that was fun. I mean, when you can go out on the golf course and feel like you can just make everything happen in a positive way, it was great. And there were days that I didn’t play well, but my bad days were like 74, not 78. And that was because of the positive attitude. I wasn’t going to get every shot perfect, like my Dad said, and I wasn’t going to win every tournament either. That’s what my Dad told me then was, “You’ve got to get used to it. You’ve got to be a good winner. You’ve got to be good loser.” And so I just always try to give a hundred percent and that’s what my Dad taught me.

And if somebody beats you, it just wasn’t your time. So there are a lot of things that my Dad taught me that I could accept on the golf course, but it was a great time for me on the LPGA Tour. There was a lot of pressure. And then I felt like I was carrying the Tour on my shoulders a little bit because when I was winning, the press wanted to talk to me. I had to do more outings, more press conferences. When we won back in those days, you’d go back the next year and go as defending champion, do a press conference. So I had to do nine that second year. So there was a lot of pressure. But I knew that the Tour was trying to grow and I knew that if I had to do an interview, I had to do the interview. It wasn’t for Nancy Lopez. It was for my Tour. I knew that if I could bring attention to our Tour, then hopefully our purses would grow and we can make more money on the LPGA Tour at that time.

Charlie Rymer:
Lot of characters on tour, in particular from that era. As I was getting ready for our conversation today, I was looking at your list of 48 wins. I noticed JoAnne Carner, runner-up quite a few times to you. She got her fair share, 43 wins in her career. Also a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. I’ve admired her from afar because to me she’s one of the greatest characters in golf, not just ladies golf, but in golf. And I’ve never had a chance really to sit down and talk to her. Is there a story that you can share maybe about JoAnne Carner or just talk to us a little bit about her personality? Because she’s very, very much a one-and-only.

Nancy Lopez:
Yes, she is. JoAnne Carner was my idol. As an amateur, I watched her. Whenever they were on television, I would watch her. And she had the attitude, Charlie, that you really didn’t know how she was playing. You didn’t know if she was playing good or bad. She always had such great expressions when she made putts, when she missed them. She was just fun to watch. And when I played on the LPGA Tour, she was always very kind to me. She lifted me up as a next generation that was going to carry the torch for the LPGA Tour. I’d play with her. She beat me, I beat her. It was back and forth a lot but there was one tournament, it was at Wykagyl in New Rochelle and on Saturday … Because we had a banter. She and I did with the press. And on Saturday after that round, I was hoping that I’d be in the final group on Sunday because I’d be playing with her. But I didn’t make it.

I ended up in the group in front of her. And on Saturday she told the press that she was going to leave me in the dust.

Charlie Rymer:
Oh.

Nancy Lopez:
But she said it as she knew that that would charge me up and it charged her up and it was not to be vicious or anything. It was just more like, “Let’s see what we can do.” So she said she was going to leave me in the dust so that night I was thinking, “Okay, I’m going to use this as something that’s going to really drive me tomorrow. She’s going to leave me in the dust? She’s not going to leave me in the dust.” So on Sunday at Wykagyl, which was a really good golf course, it was not easy. The par 3s were long. And on the first hole, I birdied it. And the crowds were really rooting for her and me. And so I birdied the first hole and the crowd goes crazy and I turned around and see if she saw it.

Charlie Rymer:
And I’m sure she did.

Nancy Lopez:
Yeah. And I knew because when she made birdies behind me, I knew it was JoAnne because the crowd would go crazy. So every time I made a birdie and the crowd went crazy, I turned around and see if she saw it.

Charlie Rymer:
Yeah. And who won that day?

Nancy Lopez:
So I ended up shooting 65 on Sunday and I beat JoAnne.

Charlie Rymer:
Oh.

Nancy Lopez:
And she was so nice. She came up to me, congratulated me and she says, “I guess I’m never going to tell you I’m going to leave you in the dust again.”

Charlie Rymer:
What a character.

Nancy Lopez:
She was a character. And I still think the world of her. She plays on the Legends Tour still. And I remember, too, another story. We were playing at the Dinah Shore back in the days when I was at the end of my career and she still was playing good, but we played together and we both made the cut and we were rooting for each other to make the cut. And so unfortunately though on Friday, I had such knee issues. I could not play. I started trying to walk and hit a shot. And for some reason my knee was killing me. And so I played two holes.

And even though I made the cut, we played the backside first at that time, I had to quit and I was devastated because playing with JoAnne was just fun anyway, but for us to both make the cut. And what was funny about JoAnne, we were both really long hitters. And back when we played in that Dinah Shore event for my really, my last time, we would get up to shots and I grunt, right on impact. And so she started doing it too. So we started trying to see who could outhit each other. And we were grunting. I mean, we were really grunting.

Charlie Rymer:
Oh my.

Nancy Lopez:
And I swear, if you grunt at the right time, you can probably hit it five to 10 yards further.

Charlie Rymer:
Oh. I’m going to go grunt, hit some balls this afternoon. See if I can pick up a few yards. Nancy, let’s … And we could talk all day, but I’d like to finish up and spin it forward a little bit and talk about the Solheim Cup because you were a part of the initial Solheim Cup in 1990 at Lake Nona, winning team. You were a captain in 2005, a winning captain. I know the competitor part of you had to enjoy 1990 and being a part of kicking off what’s become an incredible match. But I get the feeling that you really enjoyed your captaincy more than being a competitor. And I know every other year you go to the Solheim Cup and it’s something that you really get fired up about and give a lot of advice about. So tell me your feelings towards that Solheim Cup.

Nancy Lopez:
Well, the Solheim Cup – and thanks to the Solheim Family for starting this event – but in 1990, it was overwhelming kind of because you’re playing for your country. You want to win and you want to play great. And at that time, my captain was Kathy Whitworth and she put me and Pat Bradley in the first group of alternate shot. And Pat and I had already won probably 13, 14 tournaments apiece. And now we’re teeing it up 1990. We’re nervous. We’re on the first tee. I think we’re playing Alison Nicholas and Laura Davies and we’re standing on at first tee. I’m nervous. Pat looks over at me. She goes, “How’re you feeling?” I said, “I feel nervous.” I said, “How’re you feeling?” She goes, “I feel nervous.” And there’s strategy involved now in Solheim. Back then, we didn’t have any strategy.

I don’t know why we didn’t figure that out. But I looked at her and I said … She said, “Are you nervous?” I said, “Yes. Are you nervous?” She goes, “Yes.” I go, “Do you want to hit first?” “No, you hit first.” “No, you hit first.” That was our strategy.

Charlie Rymer:
Uh-huh (affirmative).

Nancy Lopez:
So Pat hit first and I was so glad because I was so nervous. But we ended up winning. Back then the Europeans, they just didn’t have strong players. They were good players, but not strong with, I think we only had eight players in that Solheim. I can’t remember the number, but it was a small amount of players and we beat them by a lot. So then 2005 comes along and I’ve watched the Solheim Cup now for years and how it grew. The thousands of people that come to watch, the Europeans that come over to watch and support their country and then being captain in 2005 … 2005, it was an honor for me to be the captain. Winning that event was bigger and better than any tournament that I won.

To be able to be the captain of a great team for two years, because when you’re a captain, you watch these players, you’ve got to pick at the end who’s going to finish off the team. But I had Beth Daniel. I had Meg Mallon, Rosie Jones, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Michelle Redman. Gosh, a whole bunch of great players. I hate to miss anybody, but I have already. But to watch them and to be their captain and make them a team, because as a golfer, you’re all individuals. And so for two years I brought these ladies together so that they could be together and really grow as a team because you’re going to always have a feeling about a player that you may not like as much as another player. But when you’re put together in the same room for two years and you go to dinners and you enjoy each other’s company, now you realize how much you do like that person because you never really took the time to know them because you’re an individual as a professional golfer.

And the story I always tell and it was cute and funny, but I remember Paula and Natalie, this was their first Solheim Cup and I kept telling them, “You’re going to be nervous. I mean, it’s not just like playing in an LPGA event.” I said, “So you really have to think about it and get used to it.” And both of them were like, “Oh yeah, we’ll get it. We know.” And they didn’t. So on the first day alternate shot, I put Beth Daniel and Paula Creamer together and I kept telling them they’re going to be nervous because you’re on that first tee and everybody’s yelling for the USA and everybody’s yelling for Europe. And I said, “You’re going to really nervous. So you have a helper walking with each group.”

And my helper that was walking with Beth and Paula was Myra Blackwelder. So Donna Caponi was my assistant captain. We’re sitting on the first tee at Crooked Stick and it’s a teeny weeny tee surrounded by stands and screaming people. And I’m on the first tee and Donna says, “Where’s Beth and Paula?” I’m like, “Wow, I don’t know. It’s getting close to tee time.” So I radio Myra. And she says, “Well, Paula’s on the practice green and she can’t move.”

“She can’t move? What do you mean she can’t move?”

Well, she wants Beth to come and get her. Well, the driving range is all the way to the left and the putting green was all the way to the right, all these hundreds of people. And so we’re waiting.

And so Beth makes it to Paula. They come walking up the path where everybody’s separated. And I look at Beth and Beth’s played in a lot of Solheim Cups but I saw nervousness in her face. She walked up. I always kind of grab my players by the arms like this. And I looked at her. I said, “You know what to do, Beth. Go get ’em.” She says, “Yes, Captain.” So then here comes Paula and Paula is walking like a little robot. You could see her face was pale. She was scared, nervous. She walks up. I put my arms around her or my hands around her arms. I said, “Paula, take a lot of deep breaths. And about the third hole, you’ll be fine.” I said, “And you’re my birdie-making machine so you go get ’em.”

“Yes, Captain.”

So she walks up on the tee and Colin, who is a very famous caddie that caddied for Annika and for Se Ri Pak, they start arguing because they were really close. They’re like brother and sister. They got nose-to-nose on this small tee and Paula’s arguing with them. I couldn’t figure out what happened. She tries to walk away from him and there’s nowhere for her to go. And I walked up to Colin and I looked at him face to face and I said, “Colin, she’s a woman. She’s nervous. And if you need to kiss her butt, you kiss it.”

“Yes, Captain,” he says.

So anyway, we start. Everybody’s nervous and I’m so glad Beth hit the first shot because I don’t know if Paula could’ve. Paula played great by the way, too, that week. But that first start was tough for her. So Beth hits a great drive. On the first hole at Crooked Stick there’s an overhanging tree on the right. You’ve got to hit it straight down the left side. And she had a beautiful tee shot. So Donna and I have to wait for the next group to come up and they start walking to her shot.

Well, I was talking about strategy. I would have thought they already figured this out, but that night in the captain’s room, they told us the rest of the story and here’s Beth. They’re walking to her tee shot and she looks over at Paula and says, “What yardage do you not want?” Into the green. I couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t already figured that out. So Paula says, “I don’t like 79,” and Beth says, “Okay. 79.” So they get up to her second shot. Paula’s got to hit it and the caddie gets the yardage and the caddie walks up to Paula and says, “78.”

Well Paula proceeds is to skull that shot over the green. We can watch it from the tee. We’re watching what’s happening. And then Beth hits it up there close. She makes the par and they halve the hole. So they go on. They ended up winning but things like that happen and it was great and it was fun. The pressure, I know what the pressure was like in 1990. And unfortunately, I didn’t get to play two other times. I had a chance to and didn’t make it. But it’s such a great event. And when you can play for your country, there’s so much pride involved. And when you can be the captain there’s even more pride involved. So it was a great time for me to be able to do that.

And now the last three years I was assistant captain to Juli Inkster. We won twice, lost once, which is devastating for me. I’ve been captain or been a part of teams and never lost. So I didn’t know what that feeling was and I was just, even though I didn’t play, I was devastated for our players. But it was great time. I think it was time for the Europeans to win. It was good for them to win. It makes it exciting because we’ll be back in Toledo next year for the Solheim Cup. Pat Hurst will be the captain. I would love to be a part of it again. It’s just so much fun to be able to help these players be the great players that they were and that they are.

And I know Juli, she had the pod group and I was the leader for the quarter sisters, which was really fun, and Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson. So it was really fun being a part of those players. Brittany Altomare. She was awesome. So it was really a lot of fun and Cristie didn’t make that team. Sorry. I was on another pod with Cristie but it was so much fun to be in these girls’ lives and to watch them play. They’re such great players which is really, really a thrill for me.

Charlie Rymer:
Hmm. Well, Nancy, we very much appreciate your time. It’s been a great time for us. It’s really important, I think, for everyone to hear from our heroes in these troubled times, and I’m starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. We’re hoping to see you out on a golf course soon and hopefully golf courses will start filling up and we’ll get this nasty virus thing behind us as soon as possible.

Nancy Lopez:
Absolutely, Charlie, and we just need to take care of each other and use good judgment and we’ll be back out there before you know it.

Charlie Rymer:
All right, Nancy. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Nancy Lopez:
Thanks, Charlie.

Charlie Rymer:
Thanks for joining us. I’m Charlie Rymer. We’ll see you next time on the Charlie Rymer Golf Show powered by PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com!