17. Matthew Southgate: “My Dad, The Open and Me”

Six Open Championships. Countless battles. One unforgettable story.

This week on This Golfing Life, you're about to hear one of the most candid, emotional and inspiring conversations we've ever recorded.

In a few days, Matthew Southgate will tee it up in The Open Championship for the seventh time after once again battling his way through Final Qualifying. But this story is about so much more than golf.

It's the story of a little boy who fell in love with The Open because of his father. A father who taught him to shape golf shots in the woods before school, who drove him hundreds of miles to Carnoustie because he believed it was the greatest golf course on earth, and who passed on a lifelong obsession with links golf and the Open Championship itself.

Matthew speaks with extraordinary honesty about surviving cancer, losing that father far too soon, the grief that followed, and the battle with alcohol that almost consumed him.

He relives the unforgettable Open moments that have defined his career, explains why he believes links golf still brings out the very best in him, and reveals why, as he heads to Royal Birkdale, he genuinely believes he can remind the golfing world exactly what he's capable of.

This isn't just the story of one of Britain's finest links golfers. It's a story about family, loss, resilience — and a lifelong love affair with The Open Championship.

Welcome to This Golfing Life with Matthew Southgate.

Key topics

Why The Open Championship means more to Matthew Southgate than any other tournament

How his father shaped his love of links golf — and the remarkable Carnoustie connection

The story behind six successful Open Final Qualifying campaigns