A retired widower wanders away from his daughter's home, hooks up with a free-spirited young woman, and goes on a cross-country odyssey to look up an old flame he's recently heard from after 55 years.

Failed hockey player-turned-golf whiz Happy Gilmore -- whose unconventional approach and antics on the grass courts the ire of rival Shooter McGavin -- is determined to win a PGA tournament so he can save his granny's house with the prize money. Meanwhile, an attractive tour publicist tries to soften Happy's image.

A scrupulously honest judge finds he's a pawn in a federal sting to ferret out corrupt members of the bench, many of whom are his friends.