Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 - Ann Liguori

In the male-dominated world of golf, Ann Liguori of Westhampton is a powerhouse of unstoppable female energy. Having teed off on international greens with the world's best golfers, from Tiger Woods to Arnold Palmer, started her own TV production company, and written a book on celebrities who play golf, Liguori has continued to share her passion for this and other sports, and to inspire others with her knowledge and enthusiasm.

And because of her complete immersion in sports and media, if you want to talk to Ann Liguori, you have to catch her on the run. I finally caught up with her as she took time out for a quick manicure in Hampton Bays one Saturday afternoon. On her way to San Diego to cover the U.S. Open for WFAN Sports Radio, she was keeping up her vivacious good looks, which she knows is a must for all her media endeavors.

"Well, let's talk now, while my nails are drying" she laughs, handing me a copy of her book, A Passion for Golf, Celebrity Musings About the Game, which is in its second printing. She is excited about having recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of WFAN/660 AM radio station in New York, which she claimed was the "first radio station in the country to go to an all-sports format."

"After hosting my weekly call-in sports talk show on this station for 20 years, called, 'Hey Liguori-What's the Story?' I'm now continuing to cover the major golf events and U.S. Open Tennis," she said. "I just got back from Torrey Pines where I covered the U.S. Open, and I will also be covering the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup and the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament."

In addition, she is also celebrating the one-year anniversary of her show on WLIU 88.3 FM at Stony Brook Southampton. Every Saturday morning from 9-10 a.m., she hosts and produces "Sports Innerview with Ann Liguori." This show, on which she interviews top names in golf and all other sports, has become the source of sports information for audiences in the Hamptons, the Gold Coast of Long Island, southern Connecticut and Westchester County. Throughout the year, Liguori travels to golf courses around the world, in Ireland, Jamaica, Kiawah Island and Seabrook, as well as to The Masters and U.S. Open, to broadcast this show live.

Over the years, she has covered six Olympic Games, starting in 1984, when she was hired by ABC Radio Sports Network to broadcast the Los Angeles Summer Games. In 1992, she covered women's alpine events in Albertville, France, and in 1994 she covered the Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway (where she interviewed figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding after their controversial competition), both for CBS Radio Network. In 1998, Ligouri was at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, again for CBS Radio Network, and covered the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy for Westwood One Radio Network.

In 1989, Liguori decided to create her own sports television company, Ann Liguori Productions, Inc., and claims she was the first woman to host, executive produce, and own her own syndicated sports series, the aforementioned, "Sports Innerview with Ann Liguori."

"I always wanted to interview different sports personalities," she said. "In the late 1980s, women were not being hired to host or produce sports shows, so I decided that to be on the air I had to do it myself. I went to sponsors to underwrite the show, and I got several, including Sharp Electronics, Dunkin' Donuts and Federal Express. I maintained the rights to all my shows."

With such an active schedule and so much success, Liguori has found time to give back. After 10 years of hosting the annual Ann Liguori American Cancer Society Golf Classic, she recently created the Ann Liguori Foundation with a mission of raising funds for organizations that work in the fields of cancer prevention and research. "I lost both my father and brother to cancer, and I want to contribute to these worthwhile cancer organizations," she said. Her next event is the Annual Outback Steakhouse Charity Dinner Dance at Duck Walk Vineyards.

Liguori has won numerous sports awards for her shows, and has interviewed practically every sports personality there is - including Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Jim Brown, Brett Favre, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Annika Sorenstam, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. "People call me the Barbara Walters of the country club set," she said.

She also hosted and produced a prime time weekly celebrity series for The Golf Channel, where she interviewed celebrities who have a passion for golf about their successes with the sport, and also with life.

"I've always done radio and TV shows simultaneously," said Liguori, who also ventured into the writing area, when she took many of these celebrity interviews and put them into A Passion for Golf, Celebrity Musings About the Game. The book includes interviews with celebs who love golf, like Celine Dion, Dan Quayle, Charles Schulz, Joe Pesci, Amy Grant, Pete Sampras, Susan Anton, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

"Matthew McConaughey was adorable, charming and passionate about golf," Liguori recalled. "We flew his two brothers in from Texas to Desert Mountain in Carefree, Arizona, and while we were all golfing, they were razzing him about being the 'pretty boy' in the family. It was very entertaining."

Of Alice Cooper she said, "He has been a golf fanatic for years. He told me the day he got out of rehab he played 36 holes of golf and never looked back."

While golfing with Yogi Berra, she noticed that he tees up the ball with his right hand, and putts with his left. "When I told him he was ambidextrous, he quipped, 'No, Ann, I'm amphibious,' which is a typical Yogi-ism."

When asked how a girl from outside Cleveland made it to the big-time in New York, Liguori shrugged and said, "I think being an athlete taught me many skills that I have used throughout my broadcasting and business career. I learned how to compete, how to win, how to handle losing, how to be a good sport, how to play fair, and how to play on a team." Liguori played on the high school boy's tennis team because there was no girl's team at her school. During her senior year, she was the top singles player on the boy's team, and got varsity letters in volleyball, basketball, track and tennis all four years - she didn't even take up golf until after college.

Ann Liguori's Annual Outback Steakhouse Charity Dinner Dance at Duck Walk Vineyards in Southampton will be held on June 29 from 6:30 p.m. to midnight. Funds raised will benefit "Healthy Directions" and the "Clinical Nutrition Research Program" of the Weill Cornell Medical College, Donations are $100 per person, and checks can be sent to: Ann Liguori Foundation, P.O. Box 605, Westhampton, N.Y., 11977.