Justin Thomas On Bouncing Back, Links Golf and More | NLU Pod, Ep 877

ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the no Lang up Podcast Sol here got an interview coming shortly with Justin Thomas our annual interview uh here on the no Lang up Podcast we greatly appreciate JT's time we talked a lot of stuff the Ridder cut pick last year how was depicted in full swing his dipping his game getting his game back Royal trun his uh you know a lot of other stuff that's overarching stuff that's going on in the golf world greatly appreciate JT's time and perspective on all these things some good stories and uh some good Insight throughout all this uh you will see I've got my roback crew neck on you know I'm rocking rowack I'm wearing it pretty much every day there's a reason why you always see us in it the reason why we're always talking about it they just make so much incredible stuff I love putting it on I'm comfortable to wear out in public or just wear around the house I'm always rocking the hoodies they're extremely comfortable uh you know there's a reason why I I cycle through the same hoodies uh on repeat because I just can't take them off they're the best they're the my favorite thing to wear both uh inside the house and outside the house they make great shorts the everyday shorts are fantastic the Looper shorts are great for the golf course and a more formal look they got great vests polos you know Q Zips the the entire they got the whole gamn it they got the whole thing joggers I cannot wait for jogger season to come back uh if you haven't already time to load up on some roback for yourself and for others code NL rack.com gets you a generous 20% off your first order through the end of this week that's spelled RH bac.com 20% off bottoms qzip hoodies and more with code nlu summer isn't the same without rowack without any further delay here's our podcast with Justin Thomas so how many rounds of golf did you play overseas that were not practice rounds for the two tournaments you played in not competitive rounds for the tournaments that you played in how many other extra rounds of golf did you play in the UK and Ireland uh I played five total uh so yeah I played um what played at North baric on Monday of the Scottish open and then after the open went on a a little trip to Ireland and played played four four rounds in three days there so yeah I'm a psychopath play a lot of golf this is new this is not something you guys have done after Majors or after open is it no it's it's not I I think we I mean it was it it was myself and and Jordan and smiley were the only golfers there uh the rest were just kind of our buddies that I mean it was it was more you know obviously them on their time off they want to play golf and I knew this was going to happen Jordan the whole time's like dude there's no way I'm playing every day like it's just going to be too like we have 13 people anyway so like that someone needs to sit out like I'll happily sit out and watch and I told Smiley I'm like there's no chance he skips I guarantee you and he played every single round like I knew I knew it was gonna happen but it's just yeah I mean I like I I've always Lov ly's golf but I think after explaining and showing our buddies like it's just I I there's not very many places where I would want to go take a golf trip like that and I'm obviously not in the UK ever unless I'm for there and I love golf but I'm not gonna go it doesn't really make much sense TimeWise to take time out of the season to go there and with this amount of time off it was perfect that's what was surprising is that you know I could see kind of you know you play a few on the way over and and you know getting ready for tournaments on the back half man you guys had to be exhausted one but uh I don't that warms my heart man it's cool to see guys out playing some cool golf course experiencing different parts of golf culture you know that helps drive your profession and all that stuff but I just I find it interesting you seem to have a a decent appreciation for some of the quirky golf courses over there in that style play for sure and I think it's like I told all of us were kind of telling the the our other guys the I guess amateur players if you will is like you it's not at least to me and and you've played way more than I have but like it's it's not like America where like you pull up to immun and like it can be bad but like I I have a hard time believing there's really any places over there that where you walk away and you're like wow that was terrible like they're all fun and some even if it's you know 5700 yards from the back te like there's a reason it's 5700 like there's some wild stuff going on but uh yeah I think you know if there's a scenario um like if the Scottish isn't when it was like if I was going over I would probably you know go early before the open you know maybe you can go play some places but um yeah I mean looking back I would have preferred the trip on the you know on the beginning uh as opposed to the end and my interest level in golf but it was still fun uh what what does playing that style of golf do for you I mean terms of can you Freewheel it a little bit better do you do you find something in your game in there like I the the efforts are so different obviously in just playing casual golf versus competitive golf like you know are you able to think less about your swing and and do you find anything that would help you in competition next week next month next year I'm just curious kind of how how that part of the process works yeah I think uh this year this I feel like leaving the open this year I mean I've always had plenty of confidence and I've always loved lyns golf but this is truly I think the first time where I very legitimately feel like okay like I'm ready to win an open like I can do I feel like I can do all the things that I need to do to win an Open championship and I think I've I've struggled um as much as I love Links Golf my record is not very good at it other than you know the Scottish I've played well a couple times and one open but I just it's it's the it's the adjusting and and the hard part for me is it's which is essentially what happens on like a trip like in land where it's not competition like I can't hit a normal shot like my caddies I feel I actually kind of feel bad but like I just when it doesn't mean anything like I mean I'm literally hitting eight iron from like 90 100 like I'm just like okay is there anything in the way like I'm just gonna run it because it's my score does not mean anything and I made so many pars of just because it's stupid but it's also like I can't do you know you can't do that in the states so it's but the reason I say that is tying that into like the competitive or helping side is like I have a very artistic creative mind and I think sometimes I've struggled with knowing when to feed that and when to not feed that and and um you know there's just a lot of times like if I step up on a hole the first shot I see is what I see and it's it's very different than probably everybody else and how they're hitting it there or or or what they're doing but it's just it's it's what at my mind initially sees so that's likely what I need to do the most and there's a time and a place for it but so little things like that I think can be helpful not just in links tournaments but also just regular golf uh in general well it's an interesting I wanted to ask about this too because I I hear this a ton I see this a ton you know we we you know on rounds like I'm thinking back to like Saturday 2022 Players Championship the wind I think you hit seven or six iron on 17 and I remember being like like J like everybody says JT has all the shots he has all the sh he can hit it high he can cut it he can draw it he can do all these things and it was like that day called for hey man you better have all the shots but I think a lot of pro golf when you stand up on a lot of holes it doesn't ask the question of do you have all the shots a lot and I see guys like John ROM Dustin Johnson that consistently hit the same golf shot on repeat have a ton of success in pro golf so I'm kind of curious it really does seem like you have a very unique skill set in terms of uh you know what you can Channel and I we've messed around with trackman and stuff on the ranges all the cuts and all the stuff you can do with it do it sounded like from what you were saying there that that can maybe potentially have a a in some ways a negative effect on how you are coming up with a plan for golf shots on in competitive golf events is that fair I would say so and I think a lot of it too is is the head space I'm in at that current time and and and also um you know I mean like rev is now getting comfortable enough where he's seeing enough of these shots that you know if I pull out a club on some holes he in the beginning maybe was like what are you doing whereas now has seen it enough to kind of understand and um I mean an example I immediately just thought of like at the Canadian open like 20 2022 when Rory won there was a par three I think it was like the the eighth hole maybe um but the it was like seven or eight but the green kind of sat at like a 45 degree angle right to left and it just was kind of a bull more on the left but kind of a bow and like the back pin you know would be like 230 yards or something and it's like as soon as I step on that te I just see like aiming 30 yards right of the green and hooding a six iron and it the ball just feeding up the green I'm like it just like look it's right there and you know then I would I'd like heal it or M hit it and I just you know at the time with bones I was like I feel like I made that shot a lot harder than it needed to be so that is but at the same time like that's it's also 230 yards right so like if I don't pull it off but it's a situation where I still very easily make three then like that's the right shot you know I think it's why Bubba has was so successful or has had the amount of success he's had I think on certain courses and um because yeah there's just plenty of weeks where that creativity Works in certain um you know conditions from fness whatever you call it but yeah you know if you go to a a super soft Place big Fairways flat like you don't have that same reason to hit all of those shots so I think there is a reason why um you know you don't have to be as one-dimensional or whatever anymore but I do think that it at least helps knowing that you can go to a course and you feel like you have the shots it might not visually be comfortable to you but you know that you can't hit them if that makes sense yeah and I think it and we're getting really in the weeds with this but I think it can be you know let's just throw this out let's say 50% of the time you're hitting a stock shot 50% you're kind of working against whatever stock shot that is the best maybe let's say you know somebody that's on a different slide of that scale might be 802 80% of the time I'm going to hit my stock shot 20% of the time it's worth it to go against my stock shot and go after a draw right have you trended in any direction on that like do you do you see do you do you have you identified like hey I'm I need more stock shot I'm going to hit more more stock shots in on PGA Tour I would say not necessarily I mean I think I I predominantly always still like to hit a cut I like to I feel like when I'm hitting it my best it starts a little left it falls a little right I would say that with my irons I Pro I work it more right to left than I used to um but it's more so I feel like I can kind of change clubs to fit certain shot shapes if it's needed but I think I did get away from that a little bit and I got too much into like this is the shot I need to hit versus what's the shot that's most comfortable to hit um and and little things like that and I I think it's very situational of course but also kind of how how I'm playing I think if you know if I'm not swinging it well um me going out and hitting shots and kind of on the Range maybe going back and forth of hitting a draw a cut and then maybe a bigger draw a bigger cut a huge slice a big hook and then it's like then I may we accidentally kind of start figuring out where the club face is and and and making sure I'm missing on the right side and then it's kind of next thing you know you end up playing yourself into like a little bit of a Groove so um you know it doesn't really answer your question at all it does it does more stuck shot but well it's yeah it's a it's a sliding scale for every single week too you know it uh it depends on what kind of your feels are and all that but what do you what do you make of your week at the open at trun you start with 68 of course that's fantastic your opening nine in the second round didn't go great if I'm if I'm being honest I it wasn't it was wasn't great uh but shoot 33 on the back nine you know you have a good Saturday bad Sunday do you walk away from that week saying you know it sound like you you had a positive takeaway of saying I can win one of these I can do it but kind of what uh what What's your reaction here you know five days after after the open it is it's definitely way way more good than bad I think the um my good is you know is extremely extremely good right now which is great but at the same time I mean I've always said this the the differentiator of the top players in the world and the people the 20s and 30s in the world is how good their great is or I'm sorry how good their bad is and um my bad has just not been good enough lately that's just the the fact that's hand hands down um but some of it is you know putting too much pressure on myself or kind of getting in those moments and feeling like I have to do something versus just trusting it and letting it happen um it is uh it is funny you said about Saturday I told Jordan and he was making fun of me um I I feel bad I don't want to put put the guy on blast but it's more of the funny story of uh the guy I think from Japan on Friday did you see like I think he shot 52 on the back he shot like 90 he made back to back nines I know at one point yeah yes so I I just was curious I'm like you know I saw it looked at his scorecard and I'm like oh like he he clipped Me by six on the front and I was like I got to look and see how this match play would have gone we went to 18 all [Laughter] square but I beat him one up one up on 18 and uh Jordan had a field day with that once he found that out but it's um it's just golf over there is wild man I think the bad days are very very hard to rain it in when things are not going well in those brutal conditions I think if you're not playing well and it's calm like yeah might be harder but like the ball's still G to kind of do what you think but it's just when it's that windy um it's just it's so hard to get the ball where you need to get it to like make a par and Salvage pars and I just kept missing greens and it's just like you could hit so many good chips to four to 10 feet four to eight feet and then that kind of win that's just unrealistic asking to make all of those so it was uh it was definitely more positive than negative but uh still had some a nice nice negative in there well you could tell too kind of how you're playing of once you flip and the wind is less uncomfortable direction if you will you know you shoot 200 under on the back or three under on the back I forget which side which was what but like uh and you surrounded it by so much good golf that's why I'm just curious you know one really bad nine and uh otherwise you're right there in it for sure I mean I was I was honestly really proud of myself for Friday that back n Friday too I think I mean I'd had you know I had a terrible finish U terrible back nine at Augusta last year to miss the cut I had a literally a four hole stretch at Augusta this year on Friday that took me from In Contention in the golf tournament to missing the cut which I never have had happen so it's like there's a little bit there that is like oh [ __ ] like we don't need to like this can't be happening again type situation and like I was saying it's not like it's easy to just like okay you know we're good let's just do whatever but I um I was proud of myself for that because I I did I I battled really hard and very very tough conditions on a very very tough nine holes there and and then played myself into contention on Saturday so um obviously Sunday I didn't go how I wanted but it would have never been available if I didn't uh hang in there on Friday do you think this is maybe uh of course me projecting but I'm just looking at how golf has evolved in you know basically you've been coming on this podcast which is almost a decade now but it it it's which is insane but like looking at like you were the number one player in the data golf rankings as of May 23d 2022 right which you were around like a two-strokes gain level and I'm getting in the weeds here but like now that like number one player is at three and the number two player is like at 2.5 and like the It just seems to me like the level of play on the PJ tour at the highest level has changed so much it's it's it's incredible we get it some some of those factors at all but do you is there any level of like pressing that has come from like how competitive the highest level of competitive golf has gotten and that you you know I don't know how to ask this other than like hey if I'm slightly less than perfect today I might not be in contention at all and that causes a a dip all the way back into just being around average which is you know instead of hanging in competing for top 10 top 15s top 20s you're trying a little bit too hard to be perfect and it can have negative effect have you felt any of that like internally in terms of where some of the game is trending I've I've felt it I felt it a little bit but probably not as much in that the way you said of like a like I haven't gone into a tournament um definitely this year I mean I I had plenty of of wild array of thoughts last year but this year I felt like once I started uh you know after Napa and then and and hero it was like I went two Palms Springs and I was I I I haven't played this year even in the elevated events feeling like I can't win the golf tournament like right I I don't feel like I have to be perfect to win but on the other side of that the probably the way I'm most similar or the that I feel to that the most similar way is that I feel like I've played quite a bit better this year there's definitely little things here and there that I I would always want to be better I haven't finished off tournaments as much as I wanted but and then I look at things like a world ranking or or dat of golf whatever you want to call it and I'm like I feel like I'm playing really good and I've done a lot of great things and I've I've moved down from where I was last year in the world ranking and then it that's so that's the part to me and you know constantly being reminded of like when are you g to win again when you do this again it's like well it's I'm trying it's not it's not from that but it um it also kind of put into reality a little bit and also made me feel good about myself of like in order to be in the top there you know the top couple like you you have to you have to be winning because you can't finish second third fourth every single week um you have to be winning and like as consistently as I was in the top five in the world I would say or 10 in the world like I'd won a lot so not winning I realized how hard it is to be in that upper s Shalon if you will ranking wise in the top handful without having those victories and you know that's what I haven't had the last two years so um it's hard to expect that with without having it kind of thing well it's just hard it sounds like you feel like you've played you haven't gotten as much out of your good golf as you might have thought this this past year 100 perc I I I think a lot of people that have either played with me or watched me play or or you know rev or myself like they know that I'm playing exponentially better than the results are showing um and that's just a part of it and staying patient on my end no Lup is brought to you by FanDuel whether you're playing golf or betting on it there's nothing worse than first tea Jitters but with FanDuel you can crush your first bet off the tea right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed with any $5 bet that's 150 bucks win or lose there's a lot of great action to be had on the upcoming men's golf side on the Olympics there's a lot of other Olympics offers they have out there of course women's Olympics uh golf event is next week as uh the following week as well check out their markets go for the green all PGA Tour season along with bets like longest drive closest to the pin outright winners and more visit fanduel.com nlu hit your first BET right down the middle of the Fairway with FanDuel America's number one sports book FanDuel official betting operator of the PGA Tour must be 21 and older 18 and older in DC and president select States gambling problem call- 1800 Gambler or visit rg- help.com first online real money wager only $10 first deposit required bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after restri restrict after restrictions apply see terms sportsbook.com back to the Pod what uh you mentioned some of the struggles you had last year we can get into some of that but I I wanted to start that part of the convo with with asking I mean you have incredibly consistent run basically from 2017 through 20122 2023 is your first kind of subpar Year bye standards out on tour you've gotten things back on track that you've bounced back from that year though it's it's still not quite to the level that you you'd like do you what are you looking for in 23 are you like searching for something do you know what you need to be doing to improve on it and are you trying to get back or you trying to figure out A New Path forward I don't know if that makes sense at all but like bodies Chang lives Chang everything going back and trying to do whatever you're doing in 2019 might not be the answer I'm curious kind of your journey towards get finding what is going to work for you at the highest level yeah now that's a great question and I think it's also um just a great Point like it's I that's something you know like Julie who I work with and on kind of the mental side of things who you know I as rightfully so I I don't want to say blown up but has become a bigger name with the past you know couple years of people she's worked with but of like you know don't don't try to go back to an old me try to become a new me you know every anything that's happened in the past yeah I can obviously build on it and want to use it as a learning experience but there's no reason I can't and do think that I can be better than I have been in past so why there's there's going to be little things here and there but I think that's a that's a that's a trap and easy to get into of looking at videos comparing things here and there like I think I I have these couple characteristics of my swing that I will always have to some extent but there's maybe little tiny things here and there that like you said you know you things change like my body it changes it's wild but it's just the reality and um but I think the quicker I realize that or did realize that uh the better off it was for me because it's it is it's you can go down some dark holes of putting things side by side and trying to okay I got to do this and do this but like look at here and how is that and it's like I mean okay what does a c camera angle like you know how does that change how does this it's like there's so many things that um you can just drive yourself mad and did you you're you help me understand did your dad is your swing coach completely he's been your swing coach since you were a kid is that in total did you seek any other opinions during any of this is that a a thought process of how you're trying to figure things out as well yeah yeah there was uh there was a couple coaches I I talked to like at the end of last year and just um I mean my our big thing is is I didn't I never wanted to go to anybody or do anything that was going to make it more complicated it just was like you know maybe maybe this person could say a thing or two that like we're missing because because I think we my dad and I would both admit that like we were really really really good at fixing the issues that I had for that certain amount or the certain period of time and I was very fortunate that I basically had kind of like four or five things that I just rotated through that like you know I my setup would get a little this way and like my right arm would get high then it's like I would get the club shut going back okay I would get too long I would get stuck underneath and going down so it's like okay check that out check this out maybe grip thing here and there but and then I think both of us like I just ran into or got to a place where it was completely different than everything that we had worked on or looked for that neither one of us really knew how to fix it and and it's stupid like that shouldn't be the you know you should be fixing what you're seeing not but I think we both got so comfortable of like all right yeah look it's a little inside here so like let's just take it outside today and then so that's we were so used to looking for those things that all of those things seem right but then like it's one of those things when you go back and look at it like I look at a video of my swing last year in a video my swing like four years ago I'm like how the hell could either one of us not see how drastically different this was as it's going on so yeah it just was uh obviously would have rather not happened and and not got to that place but you know you learn from it kind of thing well that we've seen I mean I can't I'm trying to think of somebody we haven't seen go through this at some point on course where I mean I'm sure you're working on things and then in this time period correct me if I'm wrong you're probably thinking more golf swing than you want to be thinking when you're out there playing and you know the journey back you know when you're in the midst of trying to so and there's a difference too when you're arriving at the golf course every day thinking about how to solve something versus like ready to go compete and go play and find out how good you are instead of fixing the bad I think what where are you at in that Journey now as you're you know comparing like how you're playing right now versus a year ago are you thinking less about the golf swing on it do you feel like you're back in a in a total competitive mode yeah I feel I feel in a great place I really do and kind of like I said earlier truly to me is about just getting just cleaning things up you know just just making get getting rid of those bad mistakes those um maybe those couple mental errors here and there there's always little things here and there that I can that I can improve on swing wise but a lot of these swing thoughts that I've been able to kind of get back into this year are all familiar I feel like I got back into my fun my DNA and my fundamentals that kind of have made me a really good iron player and a really good ball Striker that I got away from um so getting back into those just gets brings back some some memory some muscle memory some feel some thoughts to where I like having one or two things to think about while I'm playing um but that being said yeah it definitely is something where you I can't be going to the course every day like all right yeah how am I going to fix this or what's going to happen and I think it's it is it like last year it was more of I had good enough hands this kind I've explained I feel like I had good enough hands to make it work for a day or two but over the course of a week over the course of like a year it's just there's no way what I had going on as a cutter of the golf ball there's just it was not it it couldn't hold up so um I feel I I know and feel that I'm in a place that I can it's just more of executing it and doing it what is that like in a in a ryer cup year obviously you were a subject of of full swing zoomed in on the the possibility of being selected were you genuinely concerned about not being selected was there any indication you know from know captains along any point of the path to kind of try to ease your stress in the I'm curious kind of your view on that process and did that contribute to you know some of uh some of the struggles you had last year I I think it had a lot to do with it I I felt extremely similar to uh to 2016 I remember PR like trying so hard to make that rder Cup team and I wanted to do so bad and it it literally just it took over my life like it's all I could think I was out playing tournament rounds and instead of trying to birdie 18 to finish you know third instead of seventh I'm like I really want to birdie 18 so I can get more Ridder cut points and set and then be on and it's just like those things are obviously reality and you know it but like you can't me thinking that um and last year was that was on steroids like I was I was thinking about it so much and I truly it's it's hard to say because I feel like yeah if I got in the playoffs I was kind of starting to hit a little a little bit of Rhythm and going to a place that I really like that I I felt like my competitiveness could have maybe got me through but you know if I would choose right now if I um you know would have done what I did and and then and made the playoff or and made the ryer Cup team or not get picked for the rider Cup team and gone to Memphis and you know finished 60th and finished 68th in the FedEx Cup like I'm taking the rider cup all day like so it was um it definitely was something that took took over and and is something I don't need to have you know do again kind of thing what did you think of how that was portrayed in full swing it was kind of a little bit to me like it was It was kind of painting you as campaigning for a spot a little bit were you campaigning first spot one and and how did you think of how that was portrayed I definitely wasn't campaigning first spot um I I did I joked I was like we got done I watched it with with Jill and I was like I kind of find myself rooting for Keegan after watching this he came it's it's tough but I mean it's also like it's the reality like hean he if you put our years against each other like he deserved to be on that team more than I did and I think um it's it's not a secret or it's it's not anything hidden of why I probably end up getting a pick and he didn't and I and that that was probably the biggest thing to me is that um you know it made it seem like it was like the only captain pick it's like you know there's there's there's six Captain picks here and um obviously there was a I would say three four that were shoin and and very obvious but I feel like that last spot if you will could have easily kind of three or four names could have been thrown around but it's TV it's it's what kind of wanted to create and um but yeah I I jokingly I was like yeah I watching this I don't really feel like should have made this team and kind of rooting for Keegan to get this pick but um how how did that did that have any effect on on how you approached the Ridder cup how you felt you know kind of uh in in the team room how did you feel any extra pressure on your play and kind of how would you evaluate how your person your week personally went I mean I felt like I let the team down I felt like I played terrible like I I I I was gutted to not you know win more points I was gutted to not be playing that first morning like there was a lot I was it was the first time I've fortunately ever had to rely on a pick to make a team and um you know like I I obviously had many conversations with Zach throughout the year like he does with everybody I mean communication was big to him and and you know the I just remember feeling like telling the last thing that I told him talking to him whenever it was however many weeks before is it was just like look like if the guys in that on that team and the captains and and you like if you guys think I am not a better addition to the team then you 100% should not pick me like that I I've been in those conversations of guys in the team and we've picked people that maybe are ranked lower than others but we feel like it's what's better for the team and you know it's so that was kind of what I wanted to tell him is I was like I don't want you to feel like there's any pressure on this situation to feel like I have to be that person because of you know I've played well in the past like if you think that there's people that are going to play better on this team and the other guys on the team do then that's 100 times out of 100 what you have to do and um but everybody on the team made me feel like I deserve to be there you know although my year may not have said that but there's a part of me that said I did deserve there's a reason I was there and um how they kind of uh relayed that to me if you will just it made me feel like there was no other way which is you know what's good teammates do let's say you would not have been picked would you have wanted to go over be an assistant captain of some kind would you have wanted have been part of the process or would that have been too difficult yeah I definitely would have I I 100% would have um I would have done anything that I could do to make a team better I mean the first I would say again the the first thing I tell any Captain that is named captain at that time or whenever it is is like just let me know if I can ever do anything to help you or make this team better whether and I I say whether I'm on the team or not like it's it I just they're they're such a special week and it's such a special feeling and there if there's anything that can be done to make uh others whether be more comfortable or or enjoy the week more like I I I would have happily done that it would have been weird yeah but I would have happily done it well I I want to get and things are obviously going to be changing we'll get into kind of some of the reaction with with Keegan being named captain of of the next team but I'm sitting here of course this is my job though to pontificate on a lot of golf stuff I have point maybe 0.1% of the information necessary to come to a conclusion like this but I'm going to come to it anyways but it doesn't seem like as a as a whole the United States Ryder Cup team in general like gets it like the talent is there you Americans have won seven straight Majors like it's obvious Europe has talent but like statistically the US is a you know more talented group they were more talented going into Rome it's been seven straight times going over to Europe and it hasn't worked out right despite having some good teams right so we hear a lot of they just played better they made more putts and I I I as a fan watching it I I feel like I'm watching two completely different processes in terms of how players and teams uh you know are getting ready to potentially play their best golf right like I feel like and this is a broad General stroke I'm painting it you guys are very confident in your talents and you will say we are the best players in the world and we're going to show up and we're going to play our best golf and a lot of times you don't whereas Europe seems to get the most out of everyone contributing and yeah it seems like the Rory's and the ROMs and all those guys like take their name plate before the week starts and they slap it outside the locker room door and they don't look at their their name again the rest of they will do literally anything they can to win it from there on and I'm wondering do you one you're nodding with some of this which makes me feel like less of an idiot but two like do you look at anything that Europe is doing and with a little bit of envy and a little bit of like hey they're willing to do this they're willing to do this this isn't on captains like from a player perspective they're getting the most out of all these players how can we emulate that and do you get a sense that it's you know things are going to evolve on that front uh yes I would hope so I mean I think that's that's a big um a big reason of I think this this Keegan pick I think um I know being on the committee I mean after Rome yeah all of us were were pissed and I think it was I think if we were Pro if we were asked the same questions we were that week whether it be before the tournament or after the tournament about preparation and and taking that much time off beforehand I think it was easy in the moment for us to be like no like we you know we're ready we're rested whatever it may be and um but looking back at it like yeah obviously we should have all played more we or we should have found something to play I did because I I missed the playoffs and I had to go play Napa and that's a different story but it's it's hard to I wish there was something that was like a little more consistent that could be when when it is every year because I feel like like my first one I went to we went straight from Atlanta there um you know and then we've had others where it's like that where it's like five weeks off after the Tour Championship and I I completely understand where guys are coming from that after that grind and going and playing in Atlanta the last because the only events really you're playing in you're you're not necessarily wanting to go travel International go play these events um so I wish there was potentially some more like consistency in that front of like okay we know it's going to be maybe there's an agree agreement of like well after Atlanta can't be more than this amount of weeks and can't be this amount of weeks close to a big European Tour event to where it's a little bit more like hey you still need to do something but it's not all over the place um but I do think there's efforts being made to I don't just to make things better I think um of guys that that everyone's excited to be around and everyone's you know having fun with and I think that you know that's that hasn't not been the case in past but I think that I just it really it really struck me in Rome looking at the variety of their Vice captains and I was like there's a reason every single person is here that is here as a vice captain and I just just when I when I saw that I felt like okay like they they're clearly thinking about something that maybe we haven't been and that's something that we should do a little bit more and I feel like we have and and potentially and hopefully will more and that's where it feels like they did a great job of uh we had Eduardo malari on the Pod and they you know he he talked about a lot of this stuff and they did a great job and they've done a great job going all the way back if you listen to We interview with Paul McGinley who was Captain back in 2014 he talked about taking Gran mcdal who's a top five player in the world months in advance sitting down with him in in the back of a limo and be like hey essentially you're going to be babysitting Victor dubon for the Ryder Cup okay and if you do this for me only in forceum that's all you're G to do you're gonna you're gonna go out first in singles so like months in advance he knew what he you know instead of like I I it just seems to me again from 10,000 miles away that you guys end up you're very confident in your abilities and you end up putting a lot of pressure on yourself just to play Great Golf like to play really good golf and to beat the other team whereas they're able to to break things down on a more micro level of like you you you're going to play with this guy and you're going to do this go do this for me hang that point on the board and don't worry about the rest and um I'm I'm I'm ranting I mean I could talk about this for for hours and hours but like it does seem like um there there has to be a reason with this many in a row of having talented teams over not play their best golf and you know there has to be a reason contributing to that is what is what I'm getting at and I'm wondering uh you know kind of give me some confidence that this is going to get flipped around I yeah I I mean it's I I I'm confident that we're making all of the efforts we can to have it be to be in a better position for success is what I would say I mean obviously it's I think that's the big thing right is that um you know like you look at you look at France and look at last year and and obviously last year got closer than it it was um but in like as a whole like that was an ass beating um and and same with with France and like that's the thing like you can there's clearly a lot of things that we did we could have done much better to to get our butts handed to us that bad right so I think that's the big thing is there's so many great players and and yeah there's been plenty of times where they they've played better made more putts whatever you want to call it but I think you you know you've hit some some points or brought up some great points of like there's there's obviously some things that they're potentially doing that we're missing and the hope is to if that's the case then let's find them and see what we can do to fix them and uh so that way once we're there that week we are in the best position for Success possible and then once that first match tees off Friday we feel fully confident that this isn't anything other than the best we can be yeah so the you said you as part of the committee you were I guess were you part of the team that ended up annointing Keegan the captain kind of what what was what's your role in that process and what was any of that like I don't think any of us really know how Keegan ended up being the Ridder Cup captain um yeah no I was I was on all the conversations and new and it was it was a tough tough secret to keep because um I mean Keegan and I practice and play a lot down here and i' I've become very close with him or a lot I should say a lot closer with him over the past couple years just I respect his work work ethic a lot and he really gets after it so we'll play practice rounds from time to time and we just like coincidentally happen to play back-to-back weeks of of practice rounds after I had known what was going to be happening and was was was tough but yeah it's it's there's a lot of conversation there's a lot of looking at it hitting it from every single angle to to make sure that this is what everybody on board felt like was the right and the best option type thing yeah it's certainly it's interesting I think it I was surprised to hear about the process of Keegan not knowing he was the captain until he got a call to say it but like I I think I can get there I think I can get on board in terms of what that's going to bring a little bit of youthful energy brought to it and uh John Wood's gonna be able to bring a lot to the table I really do think so and uh it's got me it's got me exciting excited I think but good um I guess do you see I mean obviously it's a President's Cup year and obviously you have a home Rider cup and you have another President's Cup before you have this road Rider cup thing that I think is is the it's the the Dark Cloud that is following this team around to any event you play in until you win one of those so do you is the process is the team like strategy overall changing now like for President's Cup does it change next year for ryderup is it changing really at all like kind of when this this seems like a big turnover is what I'm saying when is that like is it a slow roll into to kind of this new approach I would say so um yeah I mean I think especially since all of this was done after roll exactly yeah like it's it's um and and you know it's hard to say because yeah you would I think if if you were to pick the the exactly how was going to go the next six Rider cups then that would mean that it's all going to go unbelievably well and you you know you you know how it's going to happen um and and you wouldn't be changing anything so I think that's part of the reason of it is like I mean I know that was a big thing for all of us is we're like why why Rush this like I know that this is maybe when we've put out the captain the last x amount of Rider cups but like what what's the point of us rushing this to get maybe the person that we don't think is right just to meet a deadline of you guys wanting to get a press release out like what's more important here and I think that's something that Jordan and I both are trying to bring to that side of it and especially after Roman talking to every player on the team is like all right guys like what do we need to do differently what do we need to do better what what what's everybody's opinions on things and it's all just like look like we just want to we want like I said earlier we want to be in the best place for Success possible and however that is done it doesn't need to be by the book or whatever we've done in past like we just need to do what we need to do and that's it all protein bars generally taste the same but not One bars one made protein bars that are actually delicious with Reese's and Hershey's only one Reese's peanut butter lovers protein bar is made with Reese's peanut butter only one Hershey's cookies and cream protein bar is made with Hershey's cookie bits each co- branded bar delivers 18 grams of protein and three grams of sugar one also has other delicious flavors like birthday cake maple glaze doughnut and blueberry cobbler which contain 20 grams of protein and one gram of sugar One bars are the perfect protein bar to get you through a busy day whether you need a quick pickup between meetings or just need some fuel to power you through your workout One bars are the perfect treat find all One bars at a retailer near you or visit amazon.com back to the Pod I I was trying to work this in when we were talking about your game earlier but I I I wanted to ask you about ball speed and kind of distance overall on on tour and I have uh a few stats here in 2017 you were 29th on tour at 175. 7 you have gotten 1.8 miles an hour faster on average you're 1775 now which is now 50th you've gotten faster and gone from 29th to 50th Xander's up Rory's up obviously people are familiar with what Bryson uh has done it it's it's everything's trending that way have you gotten caught up at all in chasing ball speed and and and do you see value in that is that something that uh do you feel like you're losing ground now out on tour do you feel like not one of the longest hitters no more I'm curious kind of your journey on that because I obviously it can it can lead to a lot of different paths but I'm curious how your approach is on that um I think I did a little bit in the in that covid area of like the of trying to to hit it further but um yeah I'm not I'm definitely not very much faster or or really hit the ball much further than than like you just said seven years ago but I do have the ability to hit it 10 or 15 yards further in the air if I need to now that I think I didn't have before um and for me it's it it's I would much rather you know hit two more Fairways around or have my what if you want to call it distance from the center of the Fairway be closer and and not gain that much distance versus gaining a certain now there's obviously this is way past my pay grade in terms of of smartness but there's going to be some point there where it's like one one would be more beneficial than the other but I feel like to my game and my strengths of an iron player a good iron player hitting the Fairway more and getting getting that is more important than gaining more distance and um and I think especially with my training I mean I've been knock on wood I've done a great job of staying injuryf free and and that's the most important thing to me while maining distance and hitting it way further is cool and you know maybe having huge muscles is something that like people what they like to feel subconsciously for them but you know playing I can play this game till I'm 50 55 years old at a really high level so you know chasing that in in the weight room in other ways might not be the best idea for that in my opinion see I'm not one of the best iron players in the world so I'm chasing distance right now I I got I'm not accurate so I might as well be longer and and not accurate is after talking to Stephen jger about his approach to it I'm like you just described me it's I played with I played with joer at Bay Hill first time in a while and it was it was like a a typical like a proper hard day at Bay Hill where it was pretty windy and like the first four holes are you know downwind with tu being in part three and he steps on one which is a pretty RT shot and just like full left foot and just was like damn like he swung pretty hard at that and then we get on three same thing left foot fully back hard as he can hit it and I was like wow okay you must just be doing this these holes and he gets a four par five I obviously knew he was going to do it does it there next hole hits like an iron and then we get to like six we get to eight we get to nine all these holes that are like you got to thread a needle and he's just smashing it and I just went up to his caddy I was like what the hell is going on out here I'm like he is swinging I don't I don't ever play with someone that I feel like swings harder than I do and but he was driving the piss out of it so I was like Hey power to you dude he said he got so much more more accurate he hit he hit it better not just longer like he just his swing got better the harder he swung out of a driver it's like gosh that's a heck of an approach but there's been you know obviously Scotty's had just a ridiculous heater of a year Xander is obviously now trending on a heater and one two majors this year they they've got they've done it in different ways but you've been on massive heaters but what what do you see out of these two number one and number two in the world uh kind of what what's it like to to watch your your peers I know you want to beat these guys a ton but I'm kind of wondering what are you what are you able to appreciate about that along the way as well well I've I've always felt like and this is this is not a a disrespect to Xander at all but like I felt like he has been like the most I don't underachieved probably isn't the right right thing to say but I feel like he he has not he had not won as many tournaments as the quality of his game like every time I played with him since the first time I played with him in like 2016 or 17 was like holy [ __ ] like this guy's really good at everything and like the thing about Xander that I think his demeanor is arguably the best on tour I think he he stays so levelheaded and he he just grinds and like salvages away and finds a way to get in contention or finds a way to to make cuts and then back door in top 10 and it's little things like that that while you know a lot of people will would prefer the the career of winning you know two three four times in a year and having five Mis Cuts but like that stuff builds confid confidence and confidence is something that I don't think anybody um Can necessarily just go out on the Range or or just flip a switch and they're more confident and I think Scotty and Xander have so much faith and confidence in their abilities that they just they're better at staying present and staying in the moment and playing the course for what it is better than anybody else um right now and I think it's really hard to play well when everybody expects you to play well and they continue to do it and um and I think that is that's the part that at least for me it has been and in past and and still is at times is playing playing well with those expectations and they're clearly in in a great place mentally and in a good head space to be able to do that what do you I mean again their profiles are different Xander is incredible putter he's really underrated as a Putter and I don't think people you know he's so such a good ball Striker that I think people maybe don't notice that as well maybe it sticks out a little bit more because Scotty is not known as a great putter but his ball striking this season has been just like un truly unparalleled I mean it's it's we all knew he was a very capable player but like what what is it what is it like to watch somebody hit the ball with that level of consistency I mean I I again I'm kind of out of ways to describe what that's like so I'm just kind of looking for your perspective on like yo I mean it's really good player two years ago but he wasn't like this it wasn't it wasn't this good can it get even better kind of what's your reaction to what he's been able to do this this might be a crazy thing to say but I'm gonna say I think that I I think Scotty is a better driver than he might be an iron player like it's it's absurd how good he drives the ball and the way that stats work which is statistically is how he's kind of breaking all of these records or doing all of these things you're just your bad shots are going to be so much better from the Fairway than they are the rough like you don't have that he's not going to have that um time where he's got a chip out twice around because he hits it way offline and then that's a terrible statistic yeah to to that like it because it's he hits so many Fairways and he hits it I mean far and his bad drives are barely missing Fairways that he can always get it around the green or on the green and when you're such a good iron player like he is and you're hitting you know 10 to 12 Fairways around like you're essentially guaranteeing yourself at at the worst like 12 birdie putts and a l lot of times probably 14 to 16 so it it's obviously his iron play is unbelievable but every time I play with him I'm like this guy does not get anywhere enough credit for his driving like he drives it so good it's wild there was a time period it may have expired now but I looked at over the last three six and nine months he was the best driver the best iron player and the best chipper like all three of those like it just legitimately seems unfair like in of that level and that's what you know it wasn't like I heard a lot of people two years ago like peers of his or or somebody like you being like Oh wait till wait till this guy figures it all out right it's just been this leap that like I me he's one of the best players in the world two years ago but now to be like this clearcut is just it's kind of shocking man yeah I I joke with with stricks some in uh what I guess it would have been 2021 um when Ryder Cup you know when you had the whole Co year and we're all sitting in Atlanta like going through the who do we want the captain's picks to be what we're thinking and it was kind of it basically got down to the point of like between Scotty and Sam you know they're like two best friends and it was like who who does everybody think and going around the room and everybody every single person was like we can't go wrong with either one of these guys like they're they're both great they're great for different reasons they're they're you know they bring everything to the table in terms of of having a teammate whatever um but at the end I mean strick obviously wants an answer in a perfect world of like who between them and I was like I mean to be honest I was like Scotty hadn't won yet I was like Sam is won and he like maybe one of the best putting strokes and setups of a putter I've I've ever seen and I was like so I mean if I had to choose I was like I'd probably choose him and then like every once in a while after Scotty wins I'm like hey remember when I told you that Sam was probably better and I was like did you somehow tell him this and he got really pissed off or something but um so that's all joke was strick about about that sometimes I'm like damn that was good call me and Sam's an unbelievable player and Scotty's made him look like like nobody well he's made everybody look like nobody that's the crazy that uh last time you were on which we we somehow missed we didn't do our pod last year I don't know if I was afraid to call you because you weren't playing well or what but uh last time you were on was like the height of the live stuff it was an emotional time you know I would say a lot of the tension seems to have died down a little bit and I have a two-part question here what's your what's your gut feel like when you see live guys at Majors obviously that's when you're going to you know get in touch with them now what's your feeling like and two is that a different feeling based on whether or not that person was one of the people that sued the PGA Tour um it's not I would say my feeling toward them is just is honestly kind is who they are like I don't it sounds bad to say but there's there's plenty of guys that that are on uh that are live or went to live that I I wasn't like we weren't we didn't hate each other or we didn't bash each other but like I wasn't friends or friendly with that I didn't hang out with that person um so it wasn't like a it wasn't like a thing of like oh now I'm really goingon to ignore the person I'm like no now I'm still not going to talk to this like if I didn't talk to him before like I'm probably not going to start now and then there's guys that I would see down here or whatever that I just I'd say hey and catch up whatever when I saw them but to me it it just was more the the guys that wouldn't stop talking when they just really didn't need to kind of thing or when they didn't need to be talking um and just saying things that were um just so egregious and and didn't really make sense that I'm just like go like i' I yeah I got I got nothing for that so I I didn't wasn't exactly going out of my way for for some well I remember you saying you know like You' back in I think this was June 2022 when we talked about you were just like i' I've spent like just way too much time like of my I'd never imagin I'd be spending this much of my own brain power thinking about a league that I'm not even like playing in right and could did that like what kind of effect did that have on on you person like professionally right just not ignoring what's happening all in the golf world but like Golf World got up ended you know there was a lot of people took a lot of flak from a lot of different people in a lot of different ways if you stood up and said something blah blah blah people you know roasted you online or whatever that might be like what kind of effect did that have on you professionally I think it it did more at first because like I we had said I was very wrapped up in it I was like felt like I needed to like check every day what was going on who's the rumor who's leaving I mean you know the amount of text i' sent you I'm like is this true like is this person really and it's like it as we we eventually found out that just the outlandish things that were being thrown around in terms of rumors and and kind of whoever or whatever it was to get those kind of conversations going for attention was eventually we all or I shouldn't say all but most of us got smart enough to not really give it any time a day but I was there for a little bit and it just was like who like who cares I mean it it is what it is and it's the unfortunate reality at that time and at the end of the day like if I'm not playing well um I'm whether this tour is happening or not like I'm still not playing well so I need to play better or play well and still win tournaments and instead of being worried about this thing that I realistically don't have any control over unless it's something that I wanted to be a part of which I didn't so that yeah it it was I've eventually learned uh to stop giving it the time of day has anything changed for you personally since SSG has come on the scene and you know kind of what what what what will change if you know as far as as golf fans are concerned uh entertainment product wise and just kind of personally did that help kind of you know calm any uh you know uncertainties or any any ill feelings some of the guys had about how things had played out um I I don't know I I me like I said I kind of I tried to and I still am just not keeping my distance but just like kind of letting it play out there's there's literally people that tour players and and lawyers and businessmen whatever that are that are there for that reason to to handle all of that um I just I think finally I don't know when it was but just got to the point and and understanding and although it sucks and I do I think it's entirely Fair no but just understand that it it just is for the best if the sooner that we are all playing together and they are back the better it is for golf and like it sucks because they're going yeah the fact of the amount of money that they some of the guys got paid that myself and and my peers if this source was to happen very well could have had the exact same thing um yeah of course that sucks but it just it is what it is like there's just gota had to kind of swallow my pride on that and get over it of just like look it's everybody is better off um especially the game of golf and fans and everything if we're all together like it it just was it and it was something I think that's you know the hardest to admit is when um especially if you've been so strong and adamant about something something and and I still still have the same feelings of some certain things but the one thing yeah that is just like look it if and when it happens like it sucks it is what it is but let's just move on and let's play golf and as long as the game of golf is in the best place possible then like whatever so be it yeah it's kind of like I I look I wish we weren't in this spot but what's the best move we can make from here is clearly this thing right and I know it's not it's an uphill battle with some people that are both in charge of some of these decisions and you know just otherwise otherwise just out on tour of of being needing to be convinced that that um you know guys should be able to come back if they want to come back and what that even looks like that's the whole thing I've honestly stopped asking you guys about it because if you do know nobody's really saying anything about what's going on but I still don't think people know what's really going on correct me if I'm wrong you may have a lot more information from recent weeks or months but like I've kind of stopped digging on it and it's kind of like we're just sitting and wait until somebody can explain to me what the tournament structure is going to be like you can sign some ERS I'm sure we'll hear about a deal you know something like we'll hear like about something like that way before we hear about what the actual structure of competitive golf looks like which is what I care about right and I think it's like yeah what you're saying is that's what I have to focus on as well or I have to focus on what is in front of me and I can't get overly distracted by some of this stuff and I think too the the biggest part or or one of the biggest reasons of that and why that is is because initially when I felt all of these things there was scenario where it they Pro they just didn't have enough people to have to take away some of the fans necessarily from the PGA Tour and now that you know we've had just a little trickle effect and enough people and enough big names have gone that it it's just it's a thing now like whereas like maybe in the beginning it wasn't as much of a thing when I've really started feeling these thing the way that that I was and and did but it is it just it's like we're not we're not a big enough sport to lose you know our most marketable people um or some of our most marketable people and just think that everything is going to continue to to be the same and great when if we just added those very marketable people back it it how would it not be better for us it's like yeah it it sucks but it's just it's not the way it was when this first happened and first started like there's been trickle effect to where it's just it's a different it's a different situation it's it's well said it's very very different what I I I've heard about some increased energy if you will about like all right Upp upping the entertainment factor of the game amongst fellow Pros in terms of knowing kind of what this now that you have an ownership interest in PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises guys feeling a bit more like some ideas percolating on how they can make golf more entertaining for us golf fans what have have you gotten any any kind of in insight into that or kind of any ideas as to where this is coming from I think um yeah I think a little bit of it and that could be have something to do with it too is of of guys and um it's like hey you know like we with being literal part owners of the tour if you know if if it's a better product and more people are involved then like that's yeah we might be pissed off that some people are playing but like it's better for us so like you can you can try and justify it you know sometimes like um golfers is as you know we like to like reason everything like we need to get it's like you see someone you're like oh you got a new Putter and they have to like give you this long explanation as to why they're using that putter when it's like dude I just I just wanted to see your putter like I don't need to I don't need you to tell me everything why but so I think that some people could kind of use that as like a a way to help them rationalize some things um I was more thinking in terms of just like the walkin talks like people are saying people more people saying yes to things right and you like you are always participating in content of of all kinds and whatnot promoting promoting your product of you know as as a pro but sometimes it can be difficult even booking guests for the show can be difficult booking people for videos like getting people getting Pros to do things I know you guys get asked to do a ton of things but just in talking with some of the guys that seem like hey we've got some decent ideas flowing on like how we can make how we can make Pro Golf rise as a whole yeah I think in terms of like specific ideas I I I at least to my knowledge there's nothing that's like yeah like oh okay these couple are good but I think the something that's hard for a lot of people to swallow especially the a big part of like the age demographic of fans of golf is like nobody wants a change nobody wants anything to be different you know it has to be this it it the tournaments start on this day they end on this day you know that this is the order of these events and this happens then and and it's like the thought of of something being different um it's like that that's like no we can't do that we've never done that before it's like well like it yeah but you know changing the tour championship format it's like okay like we can do a lot of things to get that tournament with way more way more people there way more people interested in watching it way more people involved to where okay well if if that change is something that maybe we're not comfortable with within reason obviously you don't want something that's like making us look stupid or dumb out there but if that's what we have to do then that's what we have to do and I think you see that in other sports of you know like the playing tournament I'm sure guys were like that's so stupid but look at the attention that it drew in the middle of their season both with fans and on TV and both in person so it's just I think little things like that where we could potentially get creative to um to come up with some good stuff that would be helpful 100% you've uh I'm in favor of a mulligan a mulligan token or card every player every week or however many weeks a year gets one Mulligan for the week and they use it whenever they want but they but they can to use the Mulligan that that'd be intense I I have no notes on that one that'd be incredible you might have to like then you know somebody shoots 59 then they got to put a whole new asterisk on that whole page it can't happen just you can't think outside the box okay you can't do that it's not how we've always done it yeah too much change can't do it no start over uh you've dipped your toe into a a new element of Golf Course of golf in general Golf Course design Panther national uh remind me is it open open I know it's it's at least okay fulltime open tell me tell us about this place and what your involvements been like what you've learned there yeah yeah it opened up in November it's it's um I mean I guess you it's closed right now for a couple months like a lot of the places down here in the summer just for some maintenance stuff sure as you know it's very typical of South Florida but it's uh yeah it it was really cool um they're making a couple tweaks to a couple the holes in the golf course that just could uh change to make a little bit a little bit different but just better um and I think that's that's something that both the initial process of um of watching Jack kind of go through everything on the first steps of of Designing the course for its original um state if you will and then kind of when we were going through this some changes and and he wanted me to be very involved in changes just like uh any change that he made to the course initially and it's just little things here and there that you know we it's like well we have members that are that really don't like this and and feel like it it all runs this way and Jack's like it's been open six months like just like you you don't even know how it's PL like give it give it some time like there's some things that needed to be changed that were changed but then there's little things where people are so quick to be like no no no you can't do it's like it just like relax like you need you hav't even played it long enough to see how it plays and how it's going to once it fully grows in once the greens roll like this the slopes do whatever so you know little things like that I would have I would have initially thought that oh that needs to be changed for sure but that's not the case for everything you know you kind of need to see it's way way too small of a sample size to to make big changes but um it's it's really cool it was really cool to watch how his mind worked and works and um and kind of watch it go throughout its stages kind of thing what was your role in it I mean what are you you know are you the pro consultant on it are you designing the back te's are you kind of how would you describe your your role I mean I would I mean co- designer I I guess it's what what I am and was listed at it's just a but I I obviously did not know near enough of of designing a course and what it takes to be taking the lead on anything I think it was it was very much a you know we're looking at this how's this look and how and um I mean the the range and the in the par three course I feel like I had had a lot of say in in terms of how to make it functional and and make it great for both everyday users but professionals and and guys that want to use it to like practice and train um but you know just I I feel and and Jack is obviously very opinionated in terms of the distance and and and little things here and there but I still uh I know how the game is played now you know better and differently I would say than he does just from obviously playing so I was able to bring a side of that to where he's like you know hey we have this here and we have this bunker here and there like what do you think about that and um you know I don't know where's the prevailing wind what is that it's like okay well if it gets downwind like this Bunker's 310 yards like I'm shipping it over this thing every single time so like you need to okay and then you'd move it you know back move it back and change it little things here and there so um yeah I I did more than I thought I was going to do but I also very much knew my position and role that um I I was observing and I was helping in any and every way that I could well so I'm I'm guessing I'm uh you know there's probably 80 to 90% of Designing a golf course is all like drainage BL like all this stuff that's you know you you know what the the actual grading of the slope you don't know the exact percentage that it should be for it to play a you know how it should play but you don't know the details of how all that stuff would work so I'm guessing but you know it sounds like that that's the part that uh you know the actual design stuff I could see where what you're talking about right there you'd have a big impact on yeah like the the the tenth hole was uh it's a just a dog like laugh it's a big the fairways are it's totally different than anything in Florida Fairways are very big a lot of undulation they moved a lot of dirt but big Fairway and the green sits up and you can't see the surface of the green and we're out there one day Jack says well we need to move the green at an angle and again I just kind of sitting there and listening and they're like oh okay well we'll do that and everything he did both changed himself and asked me he would asked if I understood that or what I thought of it and he's like do you know why I'm doing that I was like no I have absolutely no idea he's like well when you're hitting up to an elevated green like that and you can't see the surface if the green is facing the same way you have no idea where the pin is if you put it in an angle like that when you're playing you're m whatever you're playing you know where the pin is based on what side of the green it's on so if the pin's on the right you know it's on the back because of how it's tilt it and then if it's you know middle middle left on front so it's like something like that I never would have thought of or never would have known but when you design a bazillion golf courses you you very much know that is it 8,000 yards from the tips I heard something like that I yeah I didn't have anything to do with that uh I don't I've sounds like a video of going to play off the tips yeah I I don't play the back on a lot of holes what about uh I I don't know if we've ever talked about we SPF this is uh can can you kind of take us on uh on your journey with that and and kind of what that's meant to you it's it's definitely been a huge passion project and um I I had a I've had some moles taken off and my parents were good about having me good go get checked in like high school middle school high school college and um in 2019 I went and got checked um and I had just a tiny mole on my back of my left Cal and I asked the doctor to look at it just because I can it looked a little different I had enough taken off that I understood that and um and yeah and ended up being melanoma and which is a what is it 26 year old that's a pretty uh you don't really know a whole lot about melanoma other than bad and um and after then getting it taken out and and the doctor telling me everything was fine and I was probably three or four months away from being a patient in the hospital like that's a that's pretty alarming and um you know going in a dermatologist anywhere let alone in South Florida like you don't see a lot of other 26 and 27 year olds uh the average age seems to be about 80 85 when you go in there so it's it's something I think a lot of people my age don't think that they need to do when you know it's it's serious it's it's real and when you're out in the sun all the time and and you know being wearing sunscreen and just watching your skin it was a it was making a good a great situation out of a huge scare for me and and more of it is just to help raise awareness and um tell people to just you know go get checked and so they don't have a bad incident like what almost happened to me 100% layer up people rub it in spray it everywhere get it it's don't especially if you live in Florida man there's no messing around with that at all I know and I I just recently got a mole taken off like two months ago the first one I've had taken off since then and it it was wild how different I thought about it versus the other ones I was like all right yeah I got a couple mes taken off whatever but it was like the one I mean I was like when are you when are you going to be calling when are these results going to be in I'm like what's what's happening and it was right before I left for the Scottish in the open I'm like what happens if it's bad like do I need to not leave and all this stuff so it definitely got my attention and uh rightfully so well what uh what's next couple weeks look like for you you are the king of when you got time off man you are chilling uh what's what's what's going on what's what's chilling at home look like this this uh this phase of your life yeah not much just uh man feel like we've been gone so much that that stretch there kind of uh what was it like PGA kind of through Travelers was was a wild one um we'll go we'll hang here a couple more days and then uh Jill and Jill and I will go to our our place in Tennessee probably and and hang out there some and I'll play in practice just to get ready for the playoffs and um yeah I mean it's funny after even coming back from Ireland getting back last night I was already kind of today like I wonder if I should maybe go out and hit a couple balls but it's I'm forcing myself to stay away so I'm just I'm really going to be uh you know kind of hitting hitting the gym hard trying to eat get really rested de hydrated because it's it's a big big couple weeks and a really hot couple weeks so just making sure I'm you know mentally and physically in the best shape I can because that's uh you know that could end up being half the battle more than anything 100% well appreciate you spending uh some time with us fresh off the trip I thought you'd want to punt this down the road farther away from uh just traveling back International yesterday I think you said you were so yeah it's good it probably kept me from naing on the couch so I appreciate that I thought that might be a good thing so appreciate your time as always JT best of luck with the remainder of the year I'll see you at some point down the road uh I'm sure and we'll have to get out I know we're supposed to at some point we're supposed to shoot a video uh we got to get out and get out and do that this fall it's a little better to play golf in the fall 100% so all right buddy appreciate your time take care yeah man for FanDuel must be 21 older 18 and older in DC and president select States FanDuel is offering online Sports waging in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC gambling problem called 100 Gambler visit fanduel.com RG in Colorado DC Iowa Michigan New Jersey North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Illinois Kentucky Tennessee Virginia and Vermont call 1800 next step or text next step to 533 42 in Arizona 1888 78977 77 or visit ccpg chat in Connecticut 18009 with it in Indiana 18005224700 visit KS gambling help.com in Kansas 1877 770 stop in Louisiana visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland visit 1800 gambler. net in West Virginia or call 18005224700 in Wyoming hope is here visit gambling helpline ma.org or 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