# 15. Brian Viner: The best Open prank & golf’s greats up-close

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016/brian-viner-the-greatest-open-prank-golf-s-greats-up-close
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016/brian-viner-the-greatest-open-prank-golf-s-greats-up-close.md
Podcast: [This Golfing Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016)
Published: 2026-06-25T23:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR9070085844.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR9070085844.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-golfing-life-7773016/episodes/brian-viner-the-greatest-open-prank-golf-s-greats-up-close
Duration seconds: 4106

## Resource

Respected sports journalist and author Brian Viner joins Dan Davies to discuss a lifetime spent covering sport, his love affair with golf, and the remarkable characters he's encountered along the way. From growing up in Southport among some of the world's greatest links courses to interviewing legends such as Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, George Foreman, Richie Benaud and John McEnroe, Brian shares unforgettable stories from both inside and outside the ropes. The conversation ranges from following a teenage Seve at Royal Birkdale in 1976, to studying at St Andrews, witnessing Jack Nicklaus's legendary 1986 Masters victory, and pulling off one of the greatest golfing pranks in Open Championship history. Brian also reflects on golf's biggest personalities, the changing landscape of televised golf, the enduring magic of links golf, and why St Andrews and Southport will always hold a special place in his heart. Key themes Growing up in Southport's golfing heartland Watching Nicklaus, Watson and Seve in the 1970s Following Seve Ballesteros at Royal Birkdale in 1976 Interviewing Seve in Spain and discussing his views on modern golf Brian’s legendary St Andrews Open prank Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and golf's greatest rivalries Witnessing Nicklaus's 1986 Masters triumph The art of interviewing sporting legends The challenges of golf on television LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy and the future of the game Why Tom Watson at Turnberry remains one of golf's greatest stories Brian's favourite courses and golfing happy places Chapters/timestamps 00:00 Introduction to Brian Viner 02:00 Growing up in Southport's golfing culture 04:30 The Open Championship heroes of the 1970s 07:10 Following Seve Ballesteros at Royal Birkdale in 1976 08:50 Interviewing Seve Ballesteros in Spain 10:20 Seve…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-golfing-life-7773016/episodes/brian-viner-the-greatest-open-prank-golf-s-greats-up-close/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016/brian-viner-the-greatest-open-prank-golf-s-greats-up-close.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.