26. Richard Finch: Just don't shank it!

From Walker Cup heartbreak and Q-School pressure to European Tour glory, Richard Finch reflects on the highs, lows and near-misses of a life in elite amateur and professional golf. Plus the famous Irish Open plunge, Rory McIlroy at 15, Chubby Chandler, and rediscovering the fun of the game at RNGC.

Richard Finch’s route to the European Tour began on a municipal course in Hull, where an obsession with getting better once led him to spend the night in the junior room practising his putting. He became one of England’s leading amateurs, winning the Spanish Amateur, English Amateur and St Andrews Links Trophy, but his amateur career ended with the bitter disappointment of missing out on a Walker Cup place at Ganton.

Turning professional at 25, Finch initially came under the wing of a young Eddie Hearn before earning his European Tour card in dramatic fashion at Q-School. But by 2007 his career was in serious danger. In this episode, Richard revisits the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship where he first met Dan, the extraordinary final round in Mallorca that saved his card, and the remarkable transformation that followed when he won in New Zealand just weeks later.

Five months after that first victory came the moment for which he may always be best remembered: winning the Irish Open at Adare Manor despite falling waist-deep into the water beside the 18th fairway. Richard also recalls playing with a 15-year-old Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods renaming him “Robert Finch”, the difficulties that eventually brought his Tour career to an end, and the joy of rediscovering uncomplicated, competitive golf at this summer’s RNGC Invitational.

00:00 — Introducing Richard Finch

01:49 — Growing up in Hull

03:52 — The junior who slept at the golf club

06:48 — Scratch golf and Yorkshire county days

08:16 — Deciding to become a Tour professional

09:26 — Family, expectation and Richard’s mum

11:17 — Dave Jagger, Pete Cowen and golfing mentors

14:01 — England golf and winning the Spanish Amateur