Short game
BEST FRIEND ON TOUR
A close call between Johan Edfors and Mikko Ilonen – they are both great fun!
FUNNIEST ON TOUR
Niclas Fasth for sure. What’s best is he doesn’t know just how funny he is.
WORST SHOT YOU’VE SEEN
A chip shank that almost killed someone at a very rainy Loch Lomond. Amazing to get that speed of a shank when chipping – I was impressed.
ONE CD, ONE BOOK AND A DVD FOR A DESERT ISLAND
I would read Andre Agassi’s ‘Open’ again, listen to a greatest hits CD with Elvis, just because it sounds very original to do so, and I would bring a DVD box set if I may with a season of ‘24’.
FAVOURITE FOOD Steak with salad. So easy to make and it’s healthy.
FIRST CAR
A Ford Thuderbird V8-97 (the one with the big engine). I had to pour Coca Cola on the battery every time to start it – there was no way it started without it! It’s good that they have re-fills in America!
LAST TIME YOU CRIED
The other day. Life is tough sometimes and great most of the time.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST JOB YOU HAD?
I was a junior reporter at the leading golf magazine in Sweden. I interviewed Justin Rose at the Scandinavian Masters in 1998, the week after he finished fourth at the Open. That felt huge. I remember he looked at me after he hit a great flop shot. Now, I often talk to him. He is a very nice person.
A few people think I look like Fernando Torres, which feels great! Maybe they are just trying to be nice. ONE COURSE FOR REST OF YOUR LIFE
Sunningdale Old Course and I’d play it with my dog.
I don’t have a dog but if you are a member there, you have to have a dog.
YOU’RE LEADING GOING INTO LAST ROUND OF A MAJOR, WHO DO YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH?
Tiger Woods. No doubt about it. To have the chance down the stretch would be awesome.
MOST EXPENSIVE PURCHASE
That Thunderbird including its gas. I had to fill it up every other day! You could actually see the gas-indicator moving towards the bottom as you drove.
BEST SWING TIP YOU’VE RECEIVED Hit the ball on the way down with irons and take a divot.
BEST TIP TO DEAL WITH NERVES Be angry. Ben Hogan said that if you are angry, you will not be afraid.
WHICH FAMOUS PERSON DO YOU MOST LOOK LIKE? A few people think I look like Fernando Torres, which feels great! Maybe they are just trying to be nice.
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.