25 Years Ago, Happy Gilmore Defeated Shooter McGavin To Win The Tour Championship

Golf sensation Happy Gilmore produced a stunning comeback to beat arch-rival Shooter McGavin and win the tour championship.

That's right, the fan-favourite Adam Sandler-starring film hit cinemas 25 years ago this month.

Golf was never the same again after Happy, who failed to break into ice hockey, stepped up with his very unorthodox style and mind-blowing ability to drive the ball 400 yards.

The wheels were all set in motion when Happy realised that he could exploit his unbelievable powerful slapshot ability to pay off Grandma Gilmore's $270,000 taxes to the IRS and save her house.

We can't talk about Happy's eventual victory over Shooter without paying tribute to the legend that is Chubbs Peterson.

The one-handed former pro club player took the hot-headed Happy under his wings and taught him some very valuable lessons, including how he needs to 'ease the tension' and to remember that it is "all in the hips."

However, Happy's decision-making ability will forever be questioned after he decided to present Chubbs with the head of the alligator that bit off his hand, ultimately leading to his shocked mentor falling out of the window to his death.

When it came to the biggest stage, Happy dominated the underhanded Shooter early into the final tour championship and was en course to a comfortable victory.

But Shooter called on the services of Donald to run Happy down and, luckily, avoided facing any manslaughter charges with this absurd decision.

Happy lost his incredible long-drive ability thanks to Donald's hit-and-run attack, allowing Shooter to eventually pull himself back into the competition.

Grandma Gilmore returned and reminded Happy to be happy, which handed Sandler's character a fighting chance.

Happy eventually managed to pull off a miraculous trick shot to win the competition, navigating the ball around and through a series of obstacles caused by a collapsed television tower and Donald's car.

A desperate Shooter stole Happy's gold jacket, but we all know how well that turned out, didn't we?

Seeing that memorable shot of Mr Larson and a mob of fans chasing after Shooter, eventually catching up to him and beating the hell out of him is etched in the back of our minds.

SPORTbible, Chubbs, Abraham Lincoln and the alligator commend Happy on his brilliant victory.

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Featured Image Credit: Universal Pictures/YouTube

Topics: Golf

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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