February 17th, 1996. The Pro Golf Tour Championship. At arguably his highest moment, Happy Gilmore faced insurmountable odds. He needed to overturn a four-stroke deficit on the back nine against the circuit’s top star and key rival, Shooter McGavin, for his maiden gold jacket.
This had all come so fast.
Just a year prior, Gilmore was nothing more than a failed hockey player with an unprecedented slapshot – something inherited from his late father, and would translate into an unorthodox yet effective golfing style. His introduction to the beautiful game only occurred when he began hustling fellow amateurs at the driving range just to make ends meet.
Under the careful tutelage of legendary former pro – the eccentric one-handed Chubbs Peterson – Happy Gilmore would storm the local circuit; eventually notching a crucial victory at the Waterbury Open to secure an automatic spot in the PGA Tour. He was now running with the big dogs. Though this wasn’t without its fair share of controversies, setbacks, or turmoil…
In the grand tradition of talented maverick athletes like John McEnroe (or indeed Australia’s very own Nick Kyrgios), deviations from professional etiquette threatened Gilmore’s career. So much so that PGA Tour Commissioner Doug Thompson attempted to eject him from the tour altogether.
It reached a boiling point when Happy Gilmore found himself on the losing end of a fistfight with beloved TV presenter Bob Barker during a celebrity pro-am tournament, effectively landing him a one-month playing suspension and US$25,000 fine. Gilmore would later accuse Shooter McGavin of hiring a heckler to instigate the hostilities. The claim was never publicly verified.
There was also the matter of personal tragedy. The passing of Chubbs Peterson would contribute to an unfortunate stain in this chapter of Gilmore’s rise (the ghost of the alligator which took his mentor’s hand poetically returned to finish the job); while the foreclosure and subsequent sale of his grandmother’s home due to US$270,000 worth of back taxes added financial strain into the mix.
Happy Gilmore’s saving grace would appear in the form of the tour’s public relations head Virginia Venit, who championed the firebrand golfer. Leveraging his incredible TV ratings, attendance, and influx of sponsorships to keep him on board, Venit went as far as to broker Gilmore a deal with sandwich shop franchise Subway.
Which brings us back to the 1996 Championship in question…
After a masterful opening three rounds, Happy Gilmore had edged out Shooter McGavin in a decisive manner before an on-course injury impaired his long-drive ability. To make conditions even more challenging, a tower had somehow fallen in the final minutes, thereby obstructing the green.
It all came down to this single moment. A four-stroke deficit on the back nine. Make or break. Live or die. This is, of course, how sporting legend is forged: in the flames of adversity and near-impossible statistics. Gilmore swung. The crowd held its breath. In a miraculous turn, he drained it clean.Â
Happy Gilmore had just become the new Pro Golf Tour champion.Â
The epilogue to this memorable win, however, left an unsavoury taste in the golf world’s mouth.
In an act of exceedingly poor sportsmanship, McGavin refused to concede and had the brazen and legacy-destroying temerity to make a grab for Gilmore’s golden jacket. He quickly drew the ire of the crowd that day, inciting an all-out brawl wherein he became the sole target.
It turns out Shooter McGavin did indeed eat pieces of s**t for breakfast.
The star-studded Happy Gilmore 2 with Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, and Christopher McDonald hits Netflix on July 25th, 2025.
