Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy is a former golf prodigy who lost his chance to become a professional golfer when he attempted a risky shot for the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament rather than taking a safer shot. He owns a ramshackle driving range in West Texas, where he drinks and hangs out with his pal Romeo Posar and their friends.
One day Dr. Molly Griswold, a clinical psychologist, arrives looking for a golf lesson. She has been dating David Simms, a top professional golfer who played with Roy at the University of Houston. Roy is attracted to Molly.
The next day, Simms shows up at Roy's trailer ahead of a local benefit tournament. Roy thinks he is being invited to play, but Simms actually wants to hire him as a caddie. During the round, Roy needles Simms about laying up instead of having the nerve to take a 230-yard shot over a water hazard. A bet among the other players is made, and Simms fires Roy after he makes the long shot.
To get even with Simms and prove his worth to Molly, Roy decides to try to qualify for the U.S. Open. He makes a play for Molly. She turns him down but offers to be his sports psychologist in exchange for golf lessons.
In the first qualifying round, with Romeo as his caddie, Roy's game is excellent, but he insists on playing recklessly. They fight, and Romeo quits. Despite breaking most of his clubs in a tantrum, Roy advances to the final qualifying round. Without Romeo, he barely succeeds at the sectional qualifying round, earning a spot in the U.S. Open. Romeo returns and helps Roy with some swing problems.
On the first day of the U.S. Open, Roy, playing hungover, shoots a horrendous 83. Meanwhile, Molly sees Simms' unpleasant side and decides she wants to be with Roy. With renewed confidence, he shocks the golf world by making the cut with a round record at 10 under par. Roy's third round is also excellent and moves him into contention.
On the last day of the tournament, Roy is in a three-way battle to win. For the fourth day in a row, he takes a shot that repeatedly fails to keep the ball out of the water hazard. On his twelfth and final shot, facing disqualification, he reaches the green and gets the ball into the hole. Roy has blown a shot at winning the U.S. Open, but Molly reassures him that people will always remember his amazing shot.
Back in Texas, Molly tells Roy that he automatically qualified for next year's Open. They kiss passionately as the movie ends.
Tin Cup was based on a story by Ron Shelton and Tim Norville inspired by the vulgar expression, "He's (She's) not worth a fart in a tin cup." It was scripted by Norville and received a rewrite from Shelton. Costner joined the project in June 1995, having previously worked with Shelton on Bull Durham. Filming was due to start on September 15, 1995.[4]
Kevin Costner trained extensively with Gary McCord to learn how to play golf, as stated in the foreword Costner wrote for McCord's book, Golf For Dummies. McCord helped Costner develop a swing and pre-shot routine, is listed in the end credits as a golf consultant and has a cameo appearance in the film.[5]
The film's climactic scenes take place at a fictional U.S. Open tournament set in North Carolina. Some of the film was shot in Kingwood, Texas, and some was shot at Tubac GC in Tubac, Arizona. The movie's 18th hole is actually the 13th hole on Kingwood's Deerwood course; the lake that guards the front of the green on this beautiful and difficult par-5, actually a par 4 in real life, was built by Ray Ramirez who played the course with friends while working for Friendswood Development Company in 1988. What is now a famous lake used to be an unsightly waste bunker distracting from the beautiful hole and course. He decided to implement the change not knowing almost a decade later it would play a role in one of the most iconic scenes in golf cinema history.
Many of the golf shots by Costner's character Roy McAvoy were made by Costner himself.[6]
The scene at the end of the movie in which Roy McAvoy repeatedly reaches the water hazard is based on a true incident. Gary McCord, an actual commentator and pro on the Champions Tour, needed a birdie to win.[citation needed] He kept reaching the hazard and it took him 15 strokes to reach the green, then just one putt, from 25 feet, to complete the par-4 hole.[7] In the movie, McAvoy holes out the shot in 12.
The ball of Costner's that knocked a pelican off its perch is also based upon a true incident involving McCord.[citation needed]
The film included product placement from Taylor Made. Don Johnson's character David Simms uses a Taylor Made golf bag and clubs. Costner also used Taylor Made, but the prop department repainted and sanded the clubs to make them look suitably rough.[8]
Legacy
An annual golf tournament located in Charlotte, NC that benefits the American Cancer Society is named the "Tin Cup Tournament". It is the American Cancer Society's largest single-day golf event in the Carolinas. Play is always on the second Monday of August. The 2004 REMAX World Long Drive Champion, David Mobley, is an annual celebrity guest. Most recently, the location is at Ballantyne Resort Golf Course. A yearly golf outing in Appleton, WI is called the Tin Cup Open and players are able to play with only a 7-iron club, inspired by McAvoy's qualifying meltdown. The outing raises funds for the local Early Intervention Program of Outagamie and Winnebago Counties and is a yearly big draw.
In a 1998 tournament, members of the gallery watching John Daly started shouting “Tin Cup” as he hit ball after ball in the water on his way to scoring 18 on a par-5 hole.[7]
After carding a quadruple bogey and a double bogey on the 17th and 18th holes of the 2013 Players Championship, "Tin Cup" became a nickname for professional golfer Sergio García.[9]
Eddie Pepperell was disqualified from a tournament in 2019 after running out of balls in a moment that was compared to the movie.[10][11]
Reception
Box office
The movie debuted at No. 1.[12] In its opening weekend the film earned $10.1 million and went on to earn $54 million at the US box office, and a worldwide total of $75.8 million against a budget of $45 million.[2]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 53 critics. The site's consensus states: "Breezy and predictable, Tin Cup is a likeable sports comedy that benefits greatly from Kevin Costner's amiable lead performance."[13] On Metacritic the film has a score of 60 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics.[14] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.[15]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 and wrote: "Well written. The dialogue is smart and fresh."[16]Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine wrote: "Amiable and constantly amusing rather than uproarious, this mangy tale of a ne'er-do-well's fitful assault on personal and professional respectability benefits greatly from Kevin Costner's ingratiatingly comic star turn, his most appealing work in years."[17]
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