Larry Fitzgerald vs. Hally Leadbetter | On The Tee | Golf Digest

hey if I know you guys don't know this car course but getting up and down from over there on this pen that's that's pretty Saucy for somebody that's seen it the first time the [Music] point I'm Hy this is the one the only Larry Fitzgerald Larry are you ready to play some golf I am I'm looking forward to this it's going to be so fun but let me tell you it's a little different than your normal golf all right okay so it's a point for a fairway point for a green point for an up and down five points for a birdie and a million points for a hole in one all right and of course we can give each other points Whenever Wherever for whatever reason so you know what I'm going to give you two points cuz those are pretty cool shoes all right that's fair that's fair and I'll give you two points for the LA golf shest oh thank you so much I appreciate that okay well Larry FAL you on the [Music] tea nice look at this man showing off with an iron that's a point Larry nice ball okay we'll take that one so Larry your love for golf is very well documented when did you fall in love with golf or actually tell me when you were just introduced to the game so my first introduction to the game was actually Tiger Woods did a first tea clinic in in Minneapolis at hawaa golf course is kind of where my dad played my brother and I actually were like four C we didn't actually like playing golf cuz it was just too slow we were into more fast sports like basketball football but you know we can make a little bit of money on those days kind of doing some for caty work and so like we were around the game so I understood like the etiquette of the game I understood the game got the whole but I really had no interest in playing it um I just wanted to make some money doing it and so like that was kind of my first introduction actually Tiger Woods was like the first Clinic you know to put my hands on the grip and like teach me how to swing wait wait so the first time you ever touched a CL not the first time but like a in a in an instructional Capac got it got it was with Tiger Woods was with Tiger Wood pretty good pretty good guy yeah decent decent player yeah so okay so that was the first time you really got a taste of it but then when did it really hook you 2013 uh one of my teammates name is Andre Roberts still one of my closest friends he talked me into going and playing in this this scramble and I hit it like crap all day right but I hit a couple shots I was like oh okay like there honestly there's nothing in life that feels better than a well struck golf ball going in the direction that you want it to go in because it happens so infrequently even when you get better it just doesn't happen like you hit good shots but it's not it was a little bit right or was a little bit left it was a little bit short and so whenever you hit a golf ball flush and I hit a couple that day I was like I got to have more of this and the rest is history the rest is history yeah you got a little mud you got a mud ball mud ball clean that off minus minus one point for cleaning the mud ball in the Fairway there's no Li cleaning place today and she got her hand on her ball that's fair okay fine all right I see how it is nice ball thank you nice ball thank you point oh this looks good down down down pretty good so Larry I've heard you talk about the frustrations with golf being that golf has zero regard for inate athletic ability better faster stronger does not really apply what has been the most frustrating aspect of golf for you I've been playing 10 years I say over the last two to three years has been the most frustrating because like the better you get the higher expectations become and like I'm I'm at that point now where my swing I've maxed out like my the height of my my ability with the swing that I have so I'm at that place now where I got to if I want to get better have to do some things differently with my swing and so like trying to find the time to work on the nuances of the golf swing which you just don't have you just want to go play right and also the patience because sometimes it gets worse before it gets better oh it definitely gets worse before it gets better and I think when you first get into it like you just make these huge jumps you know you go from shooting 120 and then now you're shooting 105 and like take I mean it's it's really quick it's really quick and then you get to like a five and you're like okay this this progress is really starting to slow down right ex and um it starts becoming you know missing it on the right side and you know not short siding yourself and all these thinking your way around the golf course which you know you just grab the driver and just hit it as hard as you can and like so like course management yes course management now we're looking at you know the the little the little differences to take off a two or three shots as opposed to 15 I'm looking at just take one right now you know okay so on the flip side of that though what do you love about golf I call the the best 4-Hour interview you can have I love that like so you you spend some you spend time with somebody in the golf course for 4 hours you know immediately if you ever want to do that again with them you know and it reveals a lot of character too right um you know you see somebody and they hitting it poorly like are they going to be blaming their caddy are they going to throw clubs are they going to make excuses about why this that you know and I think golf um is the great reveal I completely agree and also you know I played golf with people and then people will be like oh how do you know so so like I actually only met him one time but but you know it was a it was 4 hours and we saw you know each other at the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and you just build these relationships that you could have never had I agree I agree yeah all right let's see it Larry ooh settle well that was quick no stop St oh wow how clutch was that you already know I like something really about you already after our first haul like us took the flag out you know there's people I play with theyve never I asked him how much does the flag usually weigh and they I don't know you wouldn't because you haven't pulled it one time today be be helpful all right that was good that was good okay Larry it is 43 with some questionable uh Point giving out but that is okay 153 part three you go ahead all right o I like this WOW settle settle great shot thank you oh I got afraid of the water sit all right that's going to be fun up and down so like Golf Course pet peeves oo like think things that things that make you say I don't know if I want to play with her or him again slow play for sure which is ironic because I used to be really slow you would have hated playing with me hated but now I'm quick quicker quicker wait what about you definitely slow play yeah I I think it's I think it has to do with like lack of self-awareness MH like if you're in a group setting and you know you see people kind of like talking behind you or snickering about things like it he like okay what what is it I know it's not them because they're talk you know like just have it pick it up on like things that you uh that you should be picking up on right I mean and and I think the other thing that's not so much a p pet peeve but when I'm having conversations with golf about Golf and people say I have to tell you like I'm not very good you not want to play with me and I'm like listen I have no problem playing with people of any level but just keep up right that's it and like in terms of talking like when we're when we're playing golf like I don't talk on the T box I don't talk on the greens like when we walk that's when we talk okay because I think a lot of time is wasted talking on greens and and talking you know if you and also other thing I I get a little nitpicky no I love it this is your this is your platform sound off there's four people on the green like know your turn do your homework on the putting green before it's your turn if I'm if I'm the third person putting like I'm going to do my walk around I'm going to get my my angles and when it's my time I put I I pick up my marker I put my putt you know and then clean if it's close enough I clean it up no we're not on PJ tour we're not putting put not worth $100,000 on Saturday or Sunday right just pick up the pick it up completely agree I completely well speaking of PJ tour lar I know that you're good buddies with with a lot of the pros uh one of them being Tiger Woods has he or any of the any of the guys or gals out there given you some tips that have really made you go like oh my gosh wow yes absolutely um three years ago Kevin stman was my partner at the AT&T and I got a chance to play with Brian Gay and like I always heard about his putting I always heard how every putty hits looks like it's like and I played with the guy for three days and I don't think he hit one putt that did not look like it was going in so like every morning I would get there early and I would I would just stand next to him and I would just watch his technique I got a whole bunch of videos watching it and like there's certain things about people's games that you that you remember going down to Blue Jack National and being able to to play with like Patrick Reed and like I always really love his short game the way he keeps his hands in front of in front in front of you know himself you know to be able to get that really good clean contact all the time you know so like you know you play with guys and you just really admire certain aspects of their game or their mental approach you know I I really like that and you know like John Ram the way he plays you know like um like the the fire and fury it is very similar to like a basketball football player but in golf playing with the most seems like a negative but I always think that's that's a positive you get yourself going or you fight your way through something it's always going to be some adversity so there's a lot of components that I enjoy about the players would you say that are are you a pretty emotional guy like do you take that from football and channel into golf yeah when I'm competing but I would say most of my rounds usually are like with my boys we're hanging out right but if I'm like we're really like I'm playing in the you know the Tahoe tournament right like and I'm playing with your own Bettis or buying herlocker guys I I despise and I really want to take their money like I'm locked in you know and I really you're not talking no no no no I love that great shot not terrible great great great shot okay woo Five Points baby very nice yes up and down great up and down hey if I know you guys know this called of course but getting up and down from over there on this pen that's that's pretty Saucy for somebody that's seen it the first time the [Music] point okay final hole Larry it is 104 not looking good for me I need to make something magical happen uh after your birdie it is very much your honor all right let's do it that baby's going to roll stay in the fa away oh oh oh oh got it got it great ball thank you okay we'll take that do you feel like growing up as a kid and having a father one of the best teachers in the world put any more pressure on you you know what's funny I feel like for me at a young age I very quickly realized ized that if I played well it was like well of course you played well and if you don't play well it's like what the hell's wrong with you so so it was kind of one of those in terms of expectations do you feel like now that you're a pretty good player do you kind of how do you manage those and you're playing in these very visible golf tournaments as well yeah I mean I I struggle in some of the tournaments you know especially like the the ones like the the proam because you know these guys are out here playing for the living like I couldn't imagine playing football and have somebody out there with me running routes with me right you know it's like so to be able to kind of turn that off and turn it on it would have been difficult so I try not to get in the way and you know try to be respectful of these guys this is their livelihood um so that that's a little bit more difficult um but I manage my expectations I'm not going to go out there and shoot 68 any day like that's just not going to happen so well here's the question for do you get nervous no no okay only thing I don't want to do I don't want to hit any Spectators okay you know so which I I have never I've never hit a spectator before in a tournament and like that's my that's the goal I don't want to have to go over and have to have that conversation with anybody sign a glove no I'm not a professional I do this because I love to do it but I'm not that good yeah no fair enough would you say just overall blanket statement golf has changed your life absolutely it's uh given me opportunity to be in places and with people and experiences that I would have never had if I never played it and um you know I think you get the chance to really like take a deeper dive into people you know like no other sport there you know you you can't do and walk with somebody this close in proximity and really get to engage with them the way you're able to in golf in any other sport so it's uh it's brought me to I play golf I've hit golf balls on Seven Continents wow you know I brought a golf club to Antarctica just to say that I could that I did it and um and played in every single other place and met some unbelievable people just randomly going out bringing my golf clubs and playing with three people in in Dubai or in Australia or in in China like all these places that I've been it's it's really cool and that's awesome it definitely made my life uh more Rich well I know mentorship and giving back is is a huge huge part of of what you do now how is golf helped with that well there's no other sport that's that donates and and helps uh aggregate more money than golf does and I mean golf raises hundreds of millions probably billions of dollars worldwide for unbelievable causes that go to support you know different initiatives right and so um I think being able to kind of take that and and uh and and add to it and I can't tell you how many golf events I go to a year that are raising money and it's it's great it brings together something I think we all love and appreciate and is giving back and the Love of the Game yeah and your partnership with workday can you tell me a little bit about that relationship sh and how has that enabled you to to continue giving back as well yes so I got a chance to meet a Neil years back just going to different golfing the CEO right CE U chairman now he's just left as CEO and just kind of just seeing his love for the game and how he wants to not only you know raise the the visibility of work day in the business but also give opportunities you know the work that he does with uh Steph Curry and Aisha um you know and providing meals for young people out in the Oakland area and like there's so many things that they get behind to support it and so like being associated with an organization that cares so deeply about Community is something that really resonates with me uhhuh well I think the last time that we hit golf balls together was at the Memorial tournament last presented by workday last year trying to break some glass out there yeah the milkshakes so what's your go-to milkshake I got to ask you I'm a chocolate banana guy all day Chate banana chocolate banana every time I go with the buck guy I've just you know I but I to be fair I haven't been there enough to to try one every single day so when I'm there I'm like bucke in and out but I'm going to try chocolate banana next time maybe that's too far right oh that's a terrible kick that might be interesting really nice nicely done thank you in your inner circle you know you as a as a young guy thought golf was too slow which you know I I did as well as a kid I didn't really want anything to do with it but I'm curious to know have especially in these last couple years the perception of golf has really changed and have you had a lot of friends or or peers that maybe didn't want anything to do with it that are now kind of into it yeah a whole a whole bunch and I think it's more so just about exposure I would say like in my my dad played golf but I would say not a lot of African-Americans in inner cities get a chance to play golf it's a it's very expensive usually is not accessible um and then like you don't know anybody else that does it and and there's not a lot of people unless unless you're really paying attention that look like you that are doing it so I I think that you know for like my community I think that's one of the larger reasons why you don't see more guys do it at a younger age um and so like working really hard to try to like lift the game and expose more people to it to to get you know a little bit more broad you know women and different minority groups to be able to play the game that you know you and I love yeah absolutely absolutely and I I think to your point yeah it just comes down to I'm not going to maybe go out there by myself if I don't know anybody that can take me or in the price point it's it's cool to see all of that shifting though absolutely I agree all right where man we're going to see we're going to see what it's looking like we going to see them hands okay this is going to be interesting hit the cart path oh I like the C path play I like the car path play that hey I got to try that good that's totally what I meant to do oh it's so tricky with that water right behind it yeah last question for you I'm sure you are in a lot of people's dream forom and you play with a lot of cool people but who would be your dream forsome the one thing I really I love talking to leaders so my first would probably be Nelson Mandela oh yeah great one and then I love people who can articulate their thoughts and put it on paper really well so I'll probably go with like Maya Angelou okay and and I love people who like take take shots on themselves and are are willing to do things that people may have told them that they can't do or not capable of doing so like Elon Musk would be you know high on that list um you know I just I just really I necessarily believe in everything that he that he talks about but I love his Ingenuity and his ability to like just continue to innovate yeah based on everything they've accomplished in the world I bet you they probably wouldn't be any good at playing golf so it probably be like a six hour round which would be a huge benefit for me exactly going back to your thing hey it doesn't matter how you play Maya just just uh you know pick it up at at at Double par and we'll have a conversation oh Larry hit the putt wow how did that not drop yes what an up and down hey that up and down behind the trees so that's a point for an up and down and five points are Verdi it's a tie hey hey you earned that one you ear you that means Larry we're going to have to have a rematch some I would love it I would love it thanks for having me thank you so much that was really fun enjoy being with you [Music]