By Gary Van Sickle
What we now call the Silly Season, an endless parade of made-for-TV golf events, began with one not-so-silly event. That was the Skins Game in 1983, pitting the games greatest legends — Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson — against each other for what was then big money. And it was played on Thanksgiving weekend, a time normally reserved for football.
Imitation and inflation have done the rest. While the Skins Game has lost much of its appeal, it remains a guilty pleasure for golf addicts. Here, then, are the 10 most memorable Skins Game moments.
10. Rocky Six: The 1990 Skins game at PGA West came down to a tense, four-hole playoff between former U.S. Open playoff adversaries Curtis Strange and Nick Faldo. At No. 10, the first playoff hole, Strange hit an errant drive to the edge of a lake. To play his risky 125-yard approach shot, Strange removed his shoes and socks and balanced on the rocks, hitting a wedge shot that deflected off a large rock at impact but nonetheless landed on the green, six feet from the cup. Faldo sank a birdie putt from 12 feet and Strange sank his unlikely birdie putt for a halve. On the fourth extra hole, Faldo pulled his iron shot into the water and Strange claimed the final $70,000 with a routine par.
Credit: Chris Odom/WireImage.com
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