Ian Baker-Finch on Winning the Open Championship and Its Legacy

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00:00I knew when I played well, I could win, but the style of player I was, was more, I was just happy

00:06to play the best I could play. And that's really all I ever wanted from myself. If I finished second

00:13because I bogeyed the last and Davis Love beat me a couple of times by playing better the last

00:19couple of holes than I did, I would just say to myself, Hey, I did the best I could do.

00:23I'd still do my interview for running second with a smile on my face. I wasn't, I didn't have that

00:28killer instinct. So to win the open, the way I did, um, was special to me because obviously it was

00:38my goal in life to, to win the open championship. So I achieved that, but I proved to myself that I

00:44could, uh, win at that level, even though I was always happy just to, you know, do the best I

00:50could. And, um, Royal Birkdale is a great golf course to win on. I love going back there each

00:55time. It's held there. And it's next year, right? We go to next year. I'll be there for sure.

01:00Oh gosh. Yeah. Special moment. And, uh, great memories. Obviously my little daughter Haley was

01:06two at the time and she had the, I've got this thing here on my mantle. I don't know. Oh, look at

01:13you there. That just came out of nowhere. There's a little thing that, that opens up and she was so

01:23enamored with this thing, this, this little thing at the top. I don't know if you can see it,

01:27but it opens up and she was all the time playing with it sort of, and looking in there, like what's

01:32in this thing, you know? So I had, it's got some great photos and some great memories.

01:36Look at that beauty.

01:38Is that the best trophy, uh, in, in all of the golf?

01:42Gotta be right.

01:44I think the guys that win the masters have a really nice trophy as well.

01:47That's a good trophy. Yeah.

01:48That's right.

01:49This one since, uh, uh, the open started in 1860 and they played for a belt for the first,

01:56uh, 12 years. And the winner, uh, young Tom Morris, he'd won three in a row. So in those

02:01days when you won something three years in a row, you got to keep it. So he got to keep

02:05the belt and then they commissioned this claret jug from 1872. So that jug, well, that's mine.

02:11That's a replica obviously, but the jug's been around since 1872. It's, it's a pretty cool

02:16trophy. God, the title fight belt came from old Tom Morris. Who knew? I had no idea that

02:21boxing was taken from the open championship. That is so good.

02:27That's the tradition.

02:29Wow. Wow. Unbelievable.

02:30Well, that was a special moment, mate. Thanks for bringing that up. It really means a lot.

02:34Still does. I take the trophy up to the club each year and in open week, if I'm home, uh,

02:39let everyone take photos and we, we pour some, some good clarity in there and drink out of

02:44it.