By Andrew Gamble
Sam Torrance is a golf legend but the Scotsman suffered a brutal experience when laughter swiftly followed his embarrassing meeting with the ‘ world ’s most beautiful woman’.
Torrance enjoyed a tremendous run during his career, establishing himself as one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. He secured 21 Tour wins, but truly cemented his legacy in the Ryder Cup.
He represented Europe eight times as a player, famously sinking the winning putt at the 18th green at The Belfry in 1985. Torrance held his nerve to deny the Americans the iconic trophy for the first time in 28 years.
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Torrance was also part of the victorious teams in 1987, 1989, and 1995 before captaining the side to glory back at The Belfry in 2002. The win 22 years ago ensured he became just the second European player to both sink the winning putt and captain his team to victory.
However, an infamous Torrance tale came at the Lancome event in France during the 1980s. Torrance had suffered a frustrating week aside from his scorching second-round score of 62, which saw him land a Rolex watch as a reward for shooting the lowest score of the week.
In an interview with aceodds.com, Torrance spoke of his joy at learning that the luxury watch would be presented to him by Isabella Rossellini, once voted the most beautiful woman in the world - but the moment was ruined by travel partner David Feherty. After a few glasses of wine, Torrance was excited when Feherty suddenly approached him.
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“I look up at him and he's just got this huge grin on his face and he brings from behind his back a pint of water and he throws it all over my crotch and I've gone, ‘What the f***?’” Torrance recalled. “And I've looked up and he's gone. Like a rat in a sinking ship running away, laughing like a bloody hyena.
“And I'm looking down at my trousers, and it's ridiculous. My whole crotch is just saturated. And within 30 seconds, the announcement: 'and the low round of the week, Sam Torrance. Sam, please come up and collect your award from the beautiful Isabella Rossellini’.”
Upon rising and crossing over with a ‘sodden crotch’, the now-70-year-old was pleased to see Rossellini was understanding over the incident. He added: “I got there and I told the beautiful lady immediately what my best friend had just done to me, and she had a wee giggle. So I kind of got away with it with her, but he didn't get away with it with me.”
Nearly 40 years on, Torrance is yet to get his payback on Feherty. But he vows to, jokingly claiming: “I still haven't had revenge yet, but I will come up with something before we pass.”
