When he threw his blazing fastball by batters, Roger Clemens had the reputation for being one of the most intimidating pitchers in baseball. But in retirement, Rocket Roger’s game has become golf and in his life on the celebrity am circuit, he often reveals his softer side — singing love songs at the after party.
He’s a regular on the pro-am circuit, which includes the World Wide Technology Championship at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico, a place that is close to his heart, and where he is scheduled to be next week for the latest edition. He counts real estate developer and Diamante founder Ken Jowdy as his favorite golf partner and they've been known to tee off at the crack of dawn.
When Clemens signed with the New York Yankees, he moved into a Manhattan apartment next to Jowdy, who began joining him on road trips to tee it up when Clemens had an off day. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner wouldn’t allow golf clubs on the team charter so Jowdy was responsible for bringing Clemens’s sticks wherever they would go.
Clemens remembers visiting Diamante when it was just a vision in Jowdy’s eye.
“I tip my hat to KJ. I was here when there was nothing, when it was sand and the only thing here was a jagged fence post over there from the movie “Troy,” Clemens recalled. “There used to be a big sand hill when Kenny and I were a few years younger and I was still active. I'd have him run that sand hill with me, and it take your breath away. We’d do about 10 of those. It's about 80 yards uphill. I tell him all the time, especially when he has a professional tournament here now, I said, 'in our game and in my world, I preach it when I do my motivational speaking, the only time I look back is to see how far I've come.' I tell him your vision that you had is really amazing.”
Diamante became such a special place to Clemens and his family that his son Kody got married there in 2023, just days after Jowdy finished hosting the PGA Tour’s WWT Championship at El Cardonal.
“I said, ‘Hey, I know you got a big PGA Tour event, but you better not screw up anything (with the wedding), you’ll never hear the end of it,’ ” Clemens recounted. “Ken goes, ‘Oh no, the PGA is going to be a piece of cake compared to that.’ ”
Here's more from Clemens in this Golfweek Q&A:
GWK: How did you get into golf?
RC: My wife, Deb, got me my first set of clubs, I think I was 21, 22. She’s the player. All four of my boys play. Yeah, my wife teases me that she's got 10 club championships, I've got none. She rubs it in, put all my Cy Young's in the attic and got all her crystal out. But I love golf. I've met more cool people through the game of golf and business opportunities than in my 24 years in the majors, absolutely.
GWK: Is it true that you played golf before you struck out a MLB record 20 batters against the Seattle Mariners in 1986?
RC: Yeah, everybody says you get tired. You know, you're in a golf cart. You drive up to your ball. But the day before, I played with some of my buddies that were in the minor leagues. We played 27 holes that day. Then the next morning, I got up and Deb and I went out and played tennis a little bit, just messing around.
Normally I would have something real light early, maybe a banana or a granola bar. And then I usually ate about two o'clock some type of pasta. But here’s the thing, I almost missed the game. I got stuck in traffic, didn't realize the Celtics had a playoff game at that time, and there was something going on at the Boston Commons, the symphony was performing. So we were sitting in traffic for a long time, to the point where I had my boots and jeans on and a golf shirt, and I told Deb, “Scoot over.” She goes, “What are you doing?” We only had our one car. We were in a one-bedroom apartment in Walden, Mass, and I could see the Citgo sign. I was about a mile from the ballpark, and the clock was ticking. I liked to get to the stadium about an hour and a half before game time. I'm still sitting in traffic and I was only moving about a car length every five minutes.
I had running shoes in the trunk and I told her I'm going to run to the stadium, and I popped the trunk. I start putting my tennis shoes on and I hear a siren, turn around and some motorcycle police officer looks at me, goes, “Aren't you supposed to be pitching tonight?” So he parted the sea for us. I got to the parking lot, ran inside and my manager and pitching coach tell me they are going to scratch me from the start. They already had a long (reliever) up. And now it's 7:10, games starting in 20 minutes. And I go, “Heck no.” I said, “You're not scratching me. I'm not answering any questions (from the media about why I didn’t pitch).” After this, I sprinted back down, got to my locker, threw my uniform on and ran to the bullpen. I didn't throw a strike warming up. I was all over the place. Got two minutes of quiet standing still for the anthem. That was my only breather. Then went out there and punched out 20 to set the Major League record. I had no idea there was (Tom) Seaver and (Nolan) Ryan and all of them had 19 (K’s) or there was a Red Sox team record of 17. Yeah, that was a crazy night, but that was the steppingstone for my career.
GWK: How much did you play on the road as a player?
RC: So three of the four teams I played for allowed us to bring clubs. Mr. Steinbrenner and the Yankees didn’t want people seeing us with our clubs. But our manager and our coaches all played too. So if we were going somewhere, say playing The Olympic Club or Pebble Beach or somewhere where we had an off day, everybody would ship their clubs. It was before Ship Sticks. We would just pack our shoes and balls and stuff like that. I always liked getting out of the hotel room.
GWK: How many aces have you made?
RC: I have six. Actually, I have three in competition. I got one at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am when Poppy Hills was in the rotation. My pros that day were Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade. Billy was one of the main guys that took my golf game to the next level. He called me one day and said, 'What are you doing this week of January?' Couldn’t have been more than a year or two after I picked up the game. And he goes, 'I want you to be my playing partner at AT&T.' He asks me my handicap and I didn’t really have one and said probably like a 22. He goes, 'No, you’re not.' I go, 'Billy, I’m gonna shoot at least 90 even if I grind.' He says, 'You’re not a 22, you’re an 18. Because you can’t play if you’re above 18. Tell everybody you’re an 18.'
I was hitting this 10-yard banana and grinded so hard but I was pretty certain we had missed the Saturday cut. I was in my room, I’m packed up, I’m gassed, I feel like I got pneumonia, and I had a cell phone back then that was the size of a shoe and it starts ringing. It’s Billy. I thank him for a great week but my feet are killing me and I’m going to get on a plane and get out of there. He says, 'Go unpack, we made the cut. You just made me a little extra money.' That’s kind of how it all started.
As for the hole-in-one, Faxon and Billy hit from the back tee and I had 147 and they went into porta-potties to take a leak, I guess. Then they heard the screaming. We had a bunch of Red Sox fans following us, about 50-60 people. Hit past the hole and spun in. It was shocking. Everyone went crazy. Fax and Billy, they didn’t even see it. They come walking out, what happened?
Another time, it was the first year of the Classic Course at the Bob Hope Desert Classic, I was paired with Jesper Parnevik and Matthew McConaughey and Mike Eruzione. We were four shots back of Marshall Faulk’s group. Eruzione makes a 4 for 3 on the first hole so we’re three back. Second hole, 148-yard downhill par 3, I stuck a pitching wedge in for an ace. Raised my arms, had white pants on, dressed for TV, McConaughey blind sides me right in the rib cage, tackles me and I’ve got grass stains. Parnevik birdies three and we’re one off the lead. Marshall Faulk is screaming at us watching the scoreboard. Matthew birdies a par 5 where he had a pop for a net eagle and we’re in the lead and Jesper says, 'You boys are serious!' We end up winning that one. I also got an ace at Cypress Point No. 7 with two LPGA pros in my group. Still have $100 bills framed by both of them.
GWK: Among those who play the celebrity circuit of tournaments, you've got a rep for being the life of the 'after party.' What's this I hear about you being a DJ?
RC: I’m Deejay No Request. I’ve got 1,600 songs. It’s better than karaoke. I’ve got a music room at home, too.
People that only have seen me locked in on the mound and focused at my job are surprised. I tell them my Pops died when I was age 9. I was raised by two strong women, my mother and my grandmother, and they instilled great values. And you know, my mom worked her butt off at three jobs in Houston. She was an accountant by day and I helped her stock coolers when I was in high school at a convenience store, and then we cleaned buildings at night so we could have extra money so I always had a bad-ass glove and a new pair of cleats every year. My mom always said, 'You take pride in what you do,' and my granny said, 'if you're gonna be a ditch digger, you damn well better be the best ditch digger there is.' So that's where I got my work ethic and my drive. People see me DJ-ing, and I wait for all the crowd to leave, and once there's only about three or four left then I can sing love songs and show my soft side.
GWK: What team do people associate you with most?
RC: My political answer is the Longhorns. I’ll wear my national championship ring when I’m talking to the team and they’re chasing one and wear my Yankees and Astros World Series rings whenever I’m doing something for them.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Roger Clemens Q&A on his love of golf, clubs on road, singing love songs
