Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 5:19AM | 
MENU
Advertisement

A Pittsburgh link: Director stays out of the rough in making 'Stroke of Genius'

A Pittsburgh link: Director stays out of the rough in making 'Stroke of Genius'

Typical golfer, that Rowdy Herrington. I asked the Pittsburgh-born director of "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius" to divulge his handicap. Naturally, he dodged the question and cribbed golf legend Walter Hagen's answer: "Drink and debauchery."

But seriously, folks ...

"I play in the 90s, usually. But I've broken 80 a number of times. I can't explain it. I just don't hit the ball good. But I do love the game very much."

Advertisement

And Herrington loved the fact that "Stroke of Genius," an authorized biopic of a golfing icon -- Jones is the only man to win four major tournaments in the same year -- gave him entree to shoot at golf's foremost shrine, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.

He became the first director permitted to shoot a movie there. And he took the opportunity to shoot a few rounds as well.

"I've got to tell you, it was a thrill. As a golfer, it's sort of hallowed ground. I get emotional just talking about it." Herrington said over the phone. He stayed in a hotel overlooking the 18th green. "I woke up at 4 a.m. and it was already getting light. I walked out on the balcony as the sun was coming up. It was phenomenal. It was the history of golf right there, with the sun coming up."

So was the fact that the sun shined for the entire three weeks the crew spent at the notoriously windswept links course.

Advertisement

Working on "Stroke of Genius," he said, "We had a great time. I think we broke the world record for the number of rounds of golf a film crew played."

The movie also shot at another course in Scotland, at layouts in Atlanta and Los Angeles and at Augusta National, the course Jones founded that hosts the Masters tournament, which he also created.

He didn't enjoy himself so much on what should have been his dream project, the action film "Striking Distance," set and shot in his hometown of Pittsburgh in 1992 and starring Bruce Willis. It originally was titled "Three Rivers," but that was one of the lesser changes made against his wishes, as he tells it.

"I didn't get along with Bruce Willis. He had the same agent I did and the same lawyer I did, so I didn't have any place to turn. And the studio regime had changed," he said. "I was in the Bermuda Triangle of moviemaking. I had no studio support, I had no agent support, I had no lawyer support and I had a very difficult actor.

Although he has fond memories of working in his hometown, "It's not my favorite movie," Herrington said.

"You have to correct mistakes early. I wouldn't cast Bruce Willis in a movie because he's a difficult character, in spite of the fact he's a big movie star and he gets things made. Life's too short to work with people who are jerks."

Herrington enjoyed working with Jim Caviezel, who portrays Bobby Jones, but not without some initial moments of doubt. The producers originally offered him the role of Walter Hagen. Caviezel said he wanted the lead, and Herrington agreed.

"I asked him about his golf game and he said, 'I will do Bobby Jones' swing.' And I said, 'Okay, but do you play a lot or a little?' He said, 'I will do Bobby Jones' swing. I learned how to do the swordfighting and the fencing in "Count of Monte Cristo" in two weeks. I'm a very good athlete.' And it started to become clear to me that Jim wasn't a golfer."

Also, unlike Jones, the actor is left-handed.

"I said, 'You're going to play the greatest golfer in the world, and every golfer in the country is going to look at your swing. If they don't think you look real, they're going to hate our movie. He said, 'I understand that, Rowdy, and I will deliver. I promise.'

"They sent him to golf school and he worked like a dog to get that swing down. And he did a really phenomenal job."

Herrington got the gig through his friend Tim Moore, who used to be a key grip when Herrington was working as a gaffer. The two men previously had worked together on three movies and when Moore, now a line producer, was hired for "Stroke of Genius," he urged the production company to meet with Herrington.

The project had been germinating for about a decade, but still needed a workable script, Herrington said.

"When I got the job I was really excited but then the fear set in. When you have a guy who is as honorable, and there was no controversy around his life, it was a lot of work to try to find a way to keep the movie compelling because conflict is really what makes drama.

"We tried to show his demons, his temper, and how the pressure and the stress of winning -- and then to keep winning -- took its toll on him."

Herrington also brought in conflict through Jones' grandfather, a religious man who disdained what he considered frivolous pursuits like sports. He also used the brash, worldly Hagen as counterpoint.

When he finished the screenplay, it had to pass muster with the Jones family, which had script approval. The lawyer for the estate questioned a scene in which Jones has an emotional breakdown from stress. Herrington explained that Jones himself had written about the scene in a book. Finally, Bob Jones IV said, "My grandfather was a very emotional man." And that was that.

The family's approval is "one of the things I'm happiest about," Herrington said. He understands that he will get accused of trying to deify Jones.

"On some level we may catch some criticism that we were tiptoeing. I don't really think we were. We show him cussing and throwing clubs and his lowest moments -- when he quit at St. Andrews, when he threw a club and hit a woman. This is as much as you can find on the guy. He really was an exemplary person."

In his prime, Jones didn't shoot too many bogeys on the course, either.

First Published: May 1, 2004, 4:00 a.m.

RELATED
Comments Disabled For This Story
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields (2) slides after making a first down and is hit by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith (0) and safety Ar'Darius Washington (29) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
1
sports
Gerry Dulac: Steelers might not have to run far to find next year's QB
Sen. John Fetterman arrives for the inauguration ceremony where Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th  President in the United States on Jan. 20, 2025.
2
news
'Democracy for sale' or a 'Golden Age': Pa. lawmakers respond to President Donald Trump's inauguration
As a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus was lifted to be towed, smoke started to billow as a fire restarted on 5Th ave on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Oakland.
3
news
Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus catches fire in Oakland
A City of Pittsburgh River Rescue boat navigates through ice on the Allegheny River Downtown on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Pittsburgh is under a cold weather advisory until Wednesday.
4
news
Pittsburgh's deep freeze has arrived — but the coldest temps are still to come
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium announced the death of a 17-year-old Masai giraffe named Sox. The zoo said Sox was euthanized on Jan. 17, 2025.
5
local
Pittsburgh zoo announces death of 17-year-old giraffe Sox
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story