OH How I Miss the Skins Game!

Every year around Thanksgiving I yearn for the excitement of watching The Skins Game. For 23 years I watched the greats of golf.. like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus… playing one-on-one Skins. The Skins to me..and millions of other avid golfers…was Real Golf.

Over time the likes of Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Mark Omeara battled it out as a foursome.

But, there was never…ever…anyone who could play The Skins the way Mr. Couples couples could play The Skins. Even the great Annika Sörenstam, who attempted to beat the boys during The Skins Game, couldn’t get past Fred Couple’s dominance.

Oh the good ol’ days, From 1983 to 2008, those were awesome days for golf on TV. They started playing The Skins around the Palm Springs area starting in 1985.

So what happened to The Skins Game?

Larry Bohannan of the Desert Sun wrote, in a recent article, the history of The Skins game; Skins Game golf was a major part of Thanksgiving in the desert.

There seems to always be talk about bringing The Skins back, but would it be the same? No, but if someone could raise enough money to get the Professional Golfers attention, the fans would certainly follow. And where there are fans there are sponsors who would foot the bill. Golf fans today seem to be interested in the One Shot reward game of golf. Take the Birds News at the Phoneix Open…nowhere…not even in Football…is there any place that gets louder…per square foot of area…than the 16th Hole of the TPC of Scottsdale during the winter time classic, The Phoneix Open. That environment of excitement gets close to how each hole of The Skins Game felt.

Guess one can dream that The Skins Game would come back…I know I certainly do.

Great Experience

Having just returned from my pilgrimage to the Coachella Valley of California I got to play a couple of the golf courses used for The Skins Games. For 23 years The Skins, as it was fondly called around my parts, were played at a large number of the golf courses in Palm Springs area. These courses are still proud of that event.

Past Winners

Year	Winner	Country	Winnings	Runner(s)-up
LG Skins Game
2008	K. J. Choi	South Korea	$415,000	Stephen Ames
2007	Stephen Ames (2)	Canada	$675,000	Fred Couples
2006	Stephen Ames	Canada	$590,000	Fred Couples
Merrill Lynch Skins Game
2005	Fred Funk	United States	$925,000	Tiger Woods
2004	Fred Couples (5)	United States	$640,000	Tiger Woods
The ConAgra Foods Skins Game
2003	Fred Couples (4)	United States	$605,000	Annika Sörenstam
Skins Game
2002	Mark O’Meara (2)	United States	$405,000	Phil Mickelson
2001	Greg Norman	Australia	$1,000,000	Tiger Woods, Jesper Parnevik, Colin Montgomerie
2000	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland	$415,000	Vijay Singh
1999	Fred Couples (3)	United States	$635,000	Mark O’Meara
1998	Mark O’Meara	United States	$430,000	Tom Lehman
1997	Tom Lehman	United States	$300,000	Mark O’Meara
1996	Fred Couples (2)	United States	$280,000	Tom Watson
1995	Fred Couples	United States	$270,000	Corey Pavin
1994	Tom Watson	United States	$210,000	Fred Couples
1993	Payne Stewart (3)	United States	$280,000	Fred Couples
1992	Payne Stewart (2)	United States	$220,000	Fred Couples
1991	Payne Stewart	United States	$260,000	John Daly
1990	Curtis Strange (2)	United States	$225,000	Greg Norman
1989	Curtis Strange	United States	$265,000	Jack Nicklaus
1988	Raymond Floyd	United States	$290,000	Jack Nicklaus
1987	Lee Trevino	United States	$310,000	Jack Nicklaus, Fuzzy Zoeller
1986	Fuzzy Zoeller (2)	United States	$370,000	Lee Trevino
1985	Fuzzy Zoeller	United States	$255,000	Tom Watson
1984	Jack Nicklaus	United States	$240,000	Tom Watson
1983	Gary Player	South Africa	$170,000	Arnold Palmer