As Seen on CBS Sports Network: The Charlie Rymer Golf Show Season 1, Episode 10 with Sir Nick Faldo & Joe Namath

Join “The Big Timer” as his special guest, Sir Nick Faldo, is “Ridin’ with Rymer” at TPC Myrtle Beach to talk Ryder Cup, Sir Nick’s flirtation with playing college golf, the golf media’s portrayal of him at the peak of his PGA TOUR career and more.

Charlie’s also joined on his podcast by NFL great and Super Bowl III champion Joe Namath to talk golf and, among other topics, his tutelage at Alabama under legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

“The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” has aired on CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports that is available through all major cable, satellite and telco distributors as well as via OTT streaming service providers YouTube TV, fuboTV, DirecTV and Hulu.

Transcript:

The Charlie Rymer Golf Show, starring Charlie Rymer.

Charlie Rymer:

Hey okay, let’s pick up the tempo!

Charlie Rymer here and welcome to my new show where we do things my way! As a former golf pro and media personality I know golf, but this isn’t going to be your grandfather’s golf show. I’m bringing you conversations with celebs and golf greats. Getting off the course and out on the water, then even getting into some good eats.

This is the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Keep it in the fairway folks!

Today at TPC Myrtle Beach, sir Nick Faldo, world golf hall of fame member is riding with Rymer. Well, Sir Nick, you’ve won the masters three times. You’ve won the open championship three times, but you’ve never gone riding with Rymer. Are you ready?

Sir Nick Faldo:

I’m ready and I’m willing, Sir. My goodness, take me forth.

Charlie Rymer:

I want to talk to you about your ties to South Carolina. Your first PGA TOUR win came to South Carolina, just down the road, 1984 in Harbour Town. You got to like South Carolina. What do you remember about that first win?

Sir Nick Faldo:

So we drove down to Hilton Head and I said to myself, this is Monte Carlo or bust [inaudible 00:01:29]. I’m either going to win, I said, or I’m going to miss the cut. And that’s how I played. Because we knew we were going home after that anyway. So it’s like it was the last tournament to run. You now going to fly back to England. So I held a on won and so it was a great feeling.

Charlie Rymer:

Well, let’s stay in South Carolina as we go down memory lane and skip forward a few years in 1991, the “War by the Shore” at Kiawah. But I want to talk about that. The European team didn’t win that year, but that’s when everything changed because since then the record is nine-four, Europe over US. When you look back to 1991, did everything change?

Sir Nick Faldo:

Yeah, it was a rough week. We’d just, we’d won obviously 85, 87, halved 89. So America’s now gone, what’s that, six years without. And then obviously it was the first time we’d ever played when the fans were really pulling and we’d go on the green and people be going miss three putt, three putt, three putt, three putt, trying to sew some seeds in your head. So it got pretty intense. And then we went for the famous opening dinner and your, I guess, is it he’s the Senator or something. He walked past our table to go and welcome the two tables, American teams and walk backs past us and doesn’t welcome us. You see? And then they showed now we’re going to show you a film of past Ryder Cup. I think, oh, this is going to be good. And then we’re watching, watching, watching, watching it.

Sir Nick Faldo:

And the only Brit they show was Tony putting his arm around Jack, from the famous concession. They didn’t show one, then now Europeans, didn’t show one shot, not one shot. So we are like, so we were livid. I mean, Gallagher had to literally nail us to our chairs because it was like, you imagine serving. We were at with it.

Charlie Rymer:

He’s ready to take off.

Sir Nick Faldo:

We were half a second away from down tools, down knives and forks and heading out. So it was the first one that really added a bit of off course-

Charlie Rymer:

Spice.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Spice, antics, whatever you called it. But the golf was amazing. I had a horrendous time because I was now I was playing lousy that week. And so yeah, the Ryder Cup was fantastic if you’re playing great. You can’t wait to get a partner and go and play nothing better. If you’re playing badly, oh, it’s the worst week of your life.

Sir Nick Faldo:

And you’ve got to go out there and play and you’re knowing, oh God, you can’t let the team down. All you can give is a hundred percent. But even your hundred percent, golfing wise is not good enough. So I said, look, don’t play me. And I went and practiced all afternoon, Saturday afternoon, the best I could. David Leadbetter was there. Of course I got slated for that because I wasn’t out supporting the team. You go to win or lose and it doesn’t matter how close it is. Boy does it hurt. That’s the long winded version of how it got started. Are we still on the same course?

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah, we’re doing great.

Sir Nick Faldo:

So I remember it so well just like it was yesterday in 1986. We played together at Torrey Pines.

Charlie Rymer:

96, 96.

Sir Nick Faldo:

I remember it really, really well from 96. Oh, was it really 96? So that was early. Oh spring season. Okay.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah.

Sir Nick Faldo:

You hit it in the left hand bunker number 12 and you hit a dreadful bunker shot. I have to say. So I’m going to give you a lesson 25 years later. If you’re new to golf and you want to learn how bunker shots, put a line in the sand, right? And put it somewhere on your left, somewhere in your left foot. Just get comfortable. Open the face into and get the thing pointing at your belly. Really important. Let the face open first and then grip it. So even if your grips a bit funky, least your face is open. Okay. And then you learn really simple, right shoulders to the sky, gives you that. And then right thumb to the sky, gives you a bit of that. Sky sky.

Sir Nick Faldo:

And then you learn to find the line. Yeah, you’ve got to strike the sand at the same place, haven’t you, in a bunker shot.

Charlie Rymer:

Practice with the line. No ball.

Sir Nick Faldo:

No ball. The to, I call it, find the line. So you look. I’m whacking line quite nicely. So that gives you the confidence that I’m winding to my chest and arms correctly. You get nervous, you go fast with your arms, don’t you? So alignment on a bunker shot is again very important. So I was doing this the other day, and so how simple. So I was drawing, just drew a line for the ball at the flag. Okay. As my target line, that’s pointing at the flag. So of course, when you come stand here and look, that line is six feet right.

Sir Nick Faldo:

So you see how we’ve already messed up. Because we’re standing here it doesn’t well, you know it’s correct. Come back and go, it is absolutely correct. I’m literally within six inches of, quick here go. So I know that is straight. Now I’ve got to open up the face. Now you can actually see what open really is because that’s a tough thing when you look at that and say open it, people cannot believe how much we open the club face. So crank it’s open. Look, I can see it’s going right to the lines. It must be correct. Same deal, shoulder up, thumb up, thump it. Now. Guess what? It’s-

Charlie Rymer:

Dead on line.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Simple as that.

Charlie Rymer:

Okay. So let me tell you a story.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Okay.

Charlie Rymer:

So people sometimes will say, hey, you spend a little time with Nick Faldo. You’ve worked with him. How is he? Because he’s like the Iceman and fierce and Ben Hogan and never talked to anybody. And I said, let me tell you about Nick Faldo. When I moved to Orlando, my wife and I did with my kids. And you might not even remember this.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Oh yeah. I remember. [inaudible 00:07:27] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

And you ran into me and we’re coming in and you go, hey, welcome to Golf Channel. I live here in Orlando and I know you’re new to the area. I’m having 10 days at Christmas party. Won’t you and your wife pop by.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

But the stories that I hear about Nick Faldo versus my time that I’ve spent with you, it’s 180. So my question is for you, when you were busy winning your six majors, did you just have to turn into somebody else? Is that what you had to do to go out and win?

Sir Nick Faldo:

No, not totally. Growing up in Britain in the seventies and eighties, the media was really pretty harsh. And nothing could be checked. So the good and bad thing about modern time now is media comes out on your phone and you can see what’s written about you and you can literally correct it right there and then. And so way back, you couldn’t do that.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah.

Sir Nick Faldo:

It would be in the paper, it’d be in the Northern addition of something. Somebody would write something about me. And hey, the bottom line I think with the media was, it was a good guy with Sandy Lyle and they wanted a bad guy and I became the bad guy. And I strongly feel that there’s two sides to every story and you can write, you can make somebody look good and you can make somebody look bad. And so they intentionally wanted to make me look bad.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Hey, I’m not going to defend myself. I’m sure at times I was an ass and said and did the wrong thing. I was extremely motivated or dedicated. I wasn’t one of the lads. So that got me a black mark straight away. All the guys would play on tour, go to the bar. I went to the practice.

Charlie Rymer:

Right. And you have a lot of success too.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Well, I stayed as an individual. So again, it’s the things that influence to. I’m an only child, as I said. I left school, I stood on the practice ground, beat balls on my own. And I was happy as a sand boy. So all those things influence you and you have a vision of what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. And so yes, I had a focus and some people can misconstrue your focus to be arrogant or rude or cold.

Charlie Rymer:

They don’t get the whole story.

Sir Nick Faldo:

But if you write that and nothing gets checked because back in those days, they used to say, there ain’t no smoke without fire. Even my dad said, I said, Dad, that did not happen. And he said, and even my dad didn’t believe me. I didn’t do that, Dad. I never forget. So we went through an era that seventies and eighties where the media would make stuff up with the knowledge I had then I played with blinkers on, head down as I describe it. And I’m driven. So hey, if I offended people along the way, hey, I apologize. But it was the only way knew how to be a professional golfer and try and get the job done each week. And if I played badly, I was pissed off at myself. And that can come across, people can take it-

Charlie Rymer:

Don’t you think that your style of play, which was relentless perfection was this intense focus and you would let your competitors fold. That seems to me like that sort of feeds the whole narrative that maybe the media had about you, your style of play.

Sir Nick Faldo:

I said to myself, I’m going to commit a hundred, I’m an athlete with a window. A window of opportunity, aren’t you? And I said to myself, I am not going to get to 45 and regret that I didn’t give it my best. So that was my way of giving my best. I mean, so hey, if I trod on people’s toes, I’m sorry. I’m actually a silly ass. I love being a silly ass. My biggest, I get all emotional because my biggest thrill has been a silly ass with my daughters. I just want them to think what a stupid fun dad have I got so.

Charlie Rymer:

To them, you’re not Sir Nick the World Golf Hall of Fame member, six-time major champion. You’re Dad, and Dad likes to have a lot of fun.

Sir Nick Faldo:

I just, I like to make them laugh so hard they can’t breathe. That’s my best treat.

Charlie Rymer:

Hearing you talk and get emotional, that reminds me, that to me, golf is played from the heart.

Sir Nick Faldo:

A hundred percent.

Charlie Rymer:

And professionals aren’t robots. And we laugh and we cry and we feel, and it’s not a video game.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Why do all the guys cry when they win? I mean, look at them all. Because you give your life to it. I have the greatest admiration. And look at all these scientists through COVID. That takes real courage. It’s not doing something and instantly pick the fricking cherry off the bloody tree. Isn’t it? It’s the people that do something and fail and learn.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah.

Sir Nick Faldo:

And it’s a great example of learning to fail to succeed.

Charlie Rymer:

We got a head to break, but when we come back, I got a little surprise for Sir Nick. So Nick, from one thing that you have to deal with a lot of failure with, golf, to something else that you and I both love, fly fishing.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Oh yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

I got a seven weight in here. You want to see if we can catch a bass over here?

Sir Nick Faldo:

Well, we got to catch him.

Charlie Rymer:

This is special rod for me. Actually inherited this from my dad. And I was going to see if you’d cast it for me a little bit.

Sir Nick Faldo:

What is it? Seven weight, you said.

Charlie Rymer:

Seven weight. Hopefully we’ll get something [inaudible 00:13:11] seven weight on.

Sir Nick Faldo:

So did your dad have a lot of rods?

Charlie Rymer:

He did. Yeah. I probably maybe 10 or 12 rods I inherited from him. [inaudible 00:13:22] give them to my kids.

Sir Nick Faldo:

I still have, I think I was 10. Was I 10 when I started fishing? I still have the rod my dad bought me. I got the two rods that-

Charlie Rymer:

Oh wow.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

I mean, there’s something about fishing and golf and dads and special time things you remember your whole life.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Got to stop at the top. There you go.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah. That’s a great cast right there. Sir Nick, I appreciate your time. Thank you for Riding with Rymer.

Sir Nick Faldo:

Good to be with you, my friend.

Charlie Rymer:

We’re going to take a quick break from the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Stick around folks.

Welcome back to the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Let’s get back to business folks. Hi and welcome into the Charlie Rymer podcast, where we talk golf, life and pretty much anything I want to talk because, hey, it’s my show. Today we’re going to the top folks. We’ve got Super Bowl III MVP, Pro Football Hall of Fame member, and one of the most popular athletes in the history of the world, Joe Namath. Joe, were thrilled to have you on the Charlie Rymer podcast. Thanks for taking time out of your schedule to make some time for us.

Joe Namath:

Well, Charlie, it’s an honor. I thank you for having me, man. I have watched your show. I’ve seen a couple of them and I get tickled and I’m enthused to work with you.

Charlie Rymer:

Oh, well, we really, really appreciate it. And I got to get to the most important question first. How’s your golf game right now, Joe?

Joe Namath:

At its worst.

Charlie Rymer:

No way.

Joe Namath:

At its worst that I’ve ever played. Yes. It’s frustrating. I’m disappointed. I could blame some of it on some minor details like wrists, fingers, hands. But it’s the swing. I stink.

Charlie Rymer:

Are you still having fun playing?

Joe Namath:

I love it. I love golf. It’s been a passion. I started out Charlie as a caddie back home in Pennsylvania. And our caddie master was the first caddie master at Latrobe for Arnold Palmer.

Charlie Rymer:

Oh wow.

Joe Namath:

There too. But my older brother’s caddied and I ended up caddying and that’s how I learned the etiquette and the rules of golf.

Charlie Rymer:

How much did you charge for a loop, Joe? What was your fee?

Joe Namath:

Nine holes was $1.50.

Charlie Rymer:

But talk to me a little bit about going to high school, just outside of Pittsburgh, the cultural change of where you grew up to go on to Tuscaloosa to play football, that had to be a shocker for you.

Joe Namath:

Yeah. All I knew was Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, maybe a little bit of Pittsburgh, and didn’t get much thought about the rest of the world. It was football, basketball, baseball, and golf and some swimming. So if it was for Coach (Bear) Bryant, it would’ve been much more difficult. Coach Bryant had respect for everybody and showed it. And that carried over to the team. Coach Bryant made the world a difference.

Charlie Rymer:

Do you have any good Bear Bryant’s stories? I know the respect is there, but getting out and playing some golf with him.

Joe Namath:

It’s awful. We had Steve Sloan and I got challenged by Coach Bryant and Gene Stallings. Well, we went out to Indian Hills Country Club in Tuscaloosa and we’re coming up the 18th hole E. We get on the 18th green and the country club is just swarming with people to see Coach Bryant, man this is something. We get up there on 18th green. He’s got a towel with some ice wrapped around his neck, got a couple guys helping he and his caddie out. Gets on the green, his ball’s 70 feet from the whole, 50 feet from in hole, whatever it was. And you can imagine what happened. He rolled that darn thing in, it took about 10 seconds or eight seconds to get, and made it. And made it and won the match right there.

Joe Namath:

He and I played in a couple of charity events over the years and well, Arnold Palmer, we played with Arnold down in Montgomery. It was Coach Bryant. Coach Shug Jordan from Auburn, Arnold Palmer. And I was there.

Charlie Rymer:

Wow.

Joe Namath:

And from the tee all the way down to fairway all the way behind the green that we played, there were 10,000, I mean, people just jammed up to see Coach Bryant, Jordan and Arnold out there, man. And I was, you talking about scared to death? See, I knew I couldn’t play golf. It wasn’t football. It wasn’t rehearsing a lot of things. It was golf man. And I was… But it was joyful.

Charlie Rymer:

Well, I know you’re proud to be an alum of Alabama. I know you went back within about the last 12 or 15 years and got your degree. That’s how much you respect the University of Alabama. When you look at some of their other sports programs, golf, Coach, JC, the men’s golf coach there winning national champ in 13 and 14. The women won a national championship in 2012. The likes of Justin Thomas have come out of Alabama. Do you ever spend any time around any of the Alabama golfers and talk shop?

Joe Namath:

We have a lot of fundraisers over at the University of Alabama and we’ve had some golf outings and the guys have come back to play. Justin and a lot of the players from Alabama. JC Well, he’s a buddy and he taught Nick Saban how to play that game pretty good. Nick [inaudible 00:19:25] I might add.

Charlie Rymer:

So hard to teach Coach Saban anything I would think.

Joe Namath:

It’s remarkable. He’s a remarkable, man. Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

Joe, hopefully next time I see you, it’ll be in person. I’d love to hang out a little bit more. Maybe we can get out and play a few holes sometime.

Joe Namath:

Well, I don’t know about that. I know you have to give me a lot of shots.

Charlie Rymer:

Come on. Come on. I’ve heard that talk before Joe.

Joe Namath:

I will be open to some tips. You can give me some tips on what I can do there. I’m looking to learn Charlie.

Charlie Rymer:

All right, you got it. Ladies and gentlemen, the amazing Joe Namath. He’s the best. Thank you so much, Joe.

Joe Namath:

Thank you, buddy. Take care.

Charlie Rymer:

For more of this great conversation with Joe Namath, tune into the Charlie Rymer Golf Show next week on CBS Sports Network or to listen the entire interview, go to playgolfmyrtlebeach.com.

Charlie Rymer:

Life isn’t always an easy stroll down the middle of the fairway. You have to work at it. Sometimes you find victory. Sometimes you get kicked in the gut. Don’t over celebrate the birdies and don’t beat yourself up too much over the double bogies. The key is to be focused when you get to the next tee. That’s it for the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Keep it in the fairway folks.

Charlie Rymer:

You know that’s a frog. It’s got some legs on it. Now, if we catch anything, if we catch anything, it’s either going to be a tiger headed minnow or this time of year, we get a lot of great white guppies here. You probably never caught a great white guppie have you?

Sir Nick Faldo:

Great white guppie.

Charlie Rymer:

We’re going to take a quick break from the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Stick around folks. How about that for a high pitch, [inaudible 00:21:25] infested voice. We’re going to take a quick break from the Charlie Rymer Show, Golf Show. Today I’m at TPC Myrtle Beach with our sound guy, Eddie. And we have Sir Nick Faldo, world golf hall of fame member, riding with Rymer. Isn’t that right Eddie? Say something. The sound guy. Doesn’t say anything.