History Film / TinCup

* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle: At the beginning of the film, Roy stumps his pals on the famous "Doctor's Son" puzzle, before Molly waltzes in and gives the correct answer.[[note]]Molly knows it as a stock riddle to show gender stereotypes. None of the others even consider that the doctor would be a woman.[[/note]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Roy [[spoiler: after holing out the impossible approach at the 18th but voluntarily threw away the U.S. Open in the process. Molly praises him, saying no one will remember who won years from now, but everyone will remember his infamous 12 and that his top ten finish qualified him for the next tournament automatically.]]

Co-written and directed by Ron Shelton, who helmed sports classics ''Film/BullDurham'' and ''Film/WhiteMenCantJump''; like those two films, ''Tin Cup'' was applauded for its intelligent and hilarious take on athletic egos, its well-drawn characters and romance, and wonderfully turning formulaic sports tropes on its head.

* DownToTheLastPlay: Roy, David, and real-life pro Peter Jacobsen (of future ''Golden Tee'' fame) are all in the mix for the championship heading to the 72nd and final hole of the U.S. Open. [[spoiler: Roy shoots himself almost out of contention by trying to once again hit an impossible approach to the green instead of laying up, and goes down to his last ball before finally nailing it. Dave, who ''needs'' a birdie to win, decides to lay up, giving up on winning just so he doesn't look bad]].

* MeaninglessVillainVictory: After Roy takes 13 or 14 attempts to sink a difficult hole, putting him out of a victory at the US Open, SmugSnake [[TheRival Rival]] David laughingly comments Roy really knows how to go down in flames. Roy simply replies, "Nice ''par'', Dave." In short, [[LoserGetsTheGirl "faint heart never won fair lady."]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Roy [[spoiler: after holing out the impossible approach at the 18th but voluntarily threw away the U.S. Open in the process. Molly praises him, saying no one will remember who won years from now, but everyone will remember his infamous 12.]]

* TimeMarchesOn: Roy blows his chance at the Open by trying to get a record 10 under par, stating that not even Jack Nicklaus had done that (true). Since the movie's release, four golfers have beaten that: Tiger Woods (12 under), Rory [=McIlroy=] and Brooks Koepka (both 16 under), and Gary Woodland (13 under). [[note]]Those are just the winning scores from 2000, 2011, 2017, and 2019 respectively; Koepka's 2017 title would feature seven total players at least 10 under, and Koepka also finished 10 under as runner up to Woodland.[[/note]]

* DownToTheLastPlay: Roy, David, and real-life pro Peter Jacobsen (of future ''Golden Tee'' fame) are all in the mix for the championship heading to the 72nd and final hole of the U.S. Open. [[spoiler: Roy shoots himself almost out of contention by trying to once again hit an impossible approach to the green instead of laying up, and goes down to his last ball before finally nailing it]].

* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle: At the beginning of the film, Roy stumps his pals on the famous "Doctor's Son" puzzle, before Molly waltzes in and gives the correct answer.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Roy has a knack for this; when he's on, he can hit shots that even the best pros think are impossible. Of course, they think that way for a reason, and [[RealityEnsues Roy has learned the hard way in the past that low-percentage shots tend to fail more often than not.]]

* SelfImposedChallenge: During the Open qualifying tournament, Roy gets in a heated argument with Romeo and proceeds to snap all his clubs out of spite except for his 7 iron. He still ends up winning despite this -- even ''putting'' with the 7.

* SelfImposedChallenge: During the Open qualifying tournament, Roy gets in a heated argument with Romeo and proceeds to snap all his clubs out of spite except for his 7 iron. He still ends up winning despite this.

* DownToTheLastPlay: Roy, David, and real-life pro Peter Jacobsen (of future ''Golden Tee'' fame) are all in the mix for the championship heading to the 72nd and final hole of the U.S. Open. [[spoiler: Roy shoots himself out of contention by trying to once again hit an impossible approach to the green instead of laying up, and goes down to his last ball before finally nailing it]].

* TimeMarchesOn: Roy blows his chance at the Open by trying to get a record 10 under par, stating that not even Jack Nicklaus had done that (true). Since the movie's release, three golfers have beaten that: Tiger Woods (12 under) and Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka (both 16 under).

* NeverLiveItDown: In-universe; Romeo likes to bring up how Roy blew a chance at becoming a pro golfer when Roy needs to be humbled.

* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle: At the beginning of the film, Roy stumps his pals on the famous "Doctor's Son" puzzle, before Molly waltzes in and gives the correct answer.

''Tin Cup'' is a 1996 [[SportsStories sports]]-themed RomCom starring Creator/KevinCostner, Creator/ReneRusso, Don Johnson, and [[Creator/CheechAndChong Cheech Marin]].

''Tin Cup'' is a 1996 [[SportsStories sports]]-themed RomCom starring Creator/KevinCostner, Creator/ReneRusso, Don Johnson, and [[CheechAndChong Cheech Marin]].

''Tin Cup'' is a 1996 [[SportsStories sports]]-themed RomCom starring Creator/KevinCostner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson, and [[CheechAndChong Cheech Marin]].

->''When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.''

[[quoteright:242:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tin_cup_9617.jpg]]
-->''When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.''

Tin Cup is a 1996 [[SportsStories sports]] RomCom starring KevinCostner, Rene Russo, [[Series/NashBridges Don Johnson, and Cheech Marin]]. Costner plays Roy [=McAvoy=], known as "Tin Cup" in his golfing circle, who is a former golf prodigy [[TheSlacker content to spend his days with his pals, drinking and hitting golf balls at the rinky-dink Texas driving range he owns]]. Years ago, Roy burned his chances at qualifying for the PGA Tour because of his ChallengeSeeker tendencies, forgoing safe shots in critical moments for near-impossible ones, trying to set record scores, and flaming out in spectacular fashion.

* SelfImposedChallenge: During the Open qualifying tournament, Roy gets in a heated argument with Romeo and proceeds to snap all his clubs out of spite except for one. He still ends up winning despite this.

Co-written and directed by Ron Shelton, who helmed sports classics ''BullDurham'' and ''Film/WhiteMenCantJump''; like those two films, ''Tin Cup'' was applauded for its intelligent and hilarious take on athletic egos, its well-drawn characters and romance, and wonderfully turning formulaic sports tropes on its head.

Tin Cup is a 1996 [[SportsStories sports]] RomCom starring KevinCostner, Rene Russo, [[NashBridges Don Johnson, and Cheech Marin]]. Costner plays Roy [=McAvoy=], known as "Tin Cup" in his golfing circle, who is a former golf prodigy [[TheSlacker content to spend his days with his pals, drinking and hitting golf balls at the rinky-dink Texas driving range he owns]]. Years ago, Roy burned his chances at qualifying for the PGA Tour because of his ChallengeSeeker tendencies, forgoing safe shots in critical moments for near-impossible ones, trying to set record scores, and flaming out in spectacular fashion.

* ParalysisByAnalysis: Heading into the Open, Roy is suddenly unable to hit a straight shot ("My swing feels like an unfolding chair!"). On the practice range with golf pros staring at him in amusement, Roy continues to shank his shots until Romeo makes him do ridiculous things like putting a tee on his ear and wear his hat backwards. This straightens out Roy's shot; Romeo tells him this is because now Roy's only thinking about ridiculous he looks, but not about what was paralyzing him, his falling for Molly and worrying about how he will do.

* NiceCharacterMeanActor: David has a PR-friendly figure in front of the cameras, but is a complete asshole away from it.

Roy's easy-going life is turned around when beautiful psychologist Molly Griswold (Russo) comes in looking for golf lessons. Roy attempts to put the moves on her until he finds out she's already dating his long-time hated rival from college, David Simms (Johnson), a top PGA golfer. When Roy embarrasses Simms at a local tournament by effortlessly hitting a difficult shot that David wouldn't attempt, he sees an opportunity to topple his old foe and capture the doctor's heart: qualify -- and win -- for the upcoming U.S. Open. As Roy starts to carve out an incredible comeback to golfing prominence with best friend/caddy Romeo (Marin) at his side, and begins to win over Molly (working as his sports psychologist), he may finally have a shot at a true defining moment that once escaped him.