Speaker 1: Elvis mate, welcome to straight Talk.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me Mark.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're only twenty three, is all right? Twenty four
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: Twenty six, twenty four.
Speaker 1: Yeah, April, Wow, that's mad. Do you ever think you'd
Speaker 1: be sort of sitting in the same seat that Greg
Speaker 1: Norman sat in three weeks ago?
Speaker 2: Definitely not. No, Greg's Gregg's an idol of mine. So
Speaker 2: that's really cool. Yeah. Yeah, I still remember growing up
Speaker 2: and watching him play and achieve all the amazing things
Speaker 2: he did.
Speaker 1: I'm sort of sitting here like I'm seeing there's a
Speaker 1: twenty three year old sitting across from me and just
Speaker 1: wont a big event and we'll talk about that in
Speaker 1: a second, but a big, big, big, big take on
Speaker 1: amount of money too for a young fella. And Cameron
Speaker 1: was sitting in that seat maybe one year ago. You're
Speaker 1: on his team Live Golf and he's aside. But what
Speaker 1: he guys caught again?
Speaker 2: Riper?
Speaker 1: Ripper Ducy, that's right, Ripper. I love the name. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, heck, can I forget it's so busy You're
Speaker 1: you're in that side, which is the captain? This is
Speaker 1: here like coach too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he's the captain and then he also
Speaker 2: has involvement in like ownership of the team as well
Speaker 2: of some sorts. But yeah, Cam and I have a
Speaker 2: great relationship. I've known Cam now for a few years.
Speaker 2: I was a scholarship recipient of his back in two
Speaker 2: thousand and.
Speaker 1: Nice trade you ruin the chmistry.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got to go and spend a week with
Speaker 2: him and Jacksonville, where he lives. And yeah, We've kept
Speaker 2: in touch from time to time over the past few years.
Speaker 2: And now I'm part of the team, and yeah, we're
Speaker 2: doing well.
Speaker 1: Do you pinch yourself sometimes? Do you think you know
Speaker 1: the shoes that you're stepping into in the path you're
Speaker 1: walking down? Might I add the chair you are now
Speaker 1: sitting in been followed by your following two of the greats.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I definitely don't take that lightly. I'm very
Speaker 2: grateful and appreciate for the position I'm in, and it's
Speaker 2: taken a lot of people to help you guide me
Speaker 2: to be able to be in this position and to
Speaker 2: continue continue achieving what I want to achieve.
Speaker 1: Your parents both professional sports people in tennis. Your mum
Speaker 1: probably more well known to me, at least Liz Smiley
Speaker 1: or I remember her for many years ago. But what
Speaker 1: is it with you guys? Like, you know, you're at
Speaker 1: the age of fifteen, you were doing playing two or
Speaker 1: three is something ridiculous.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a little bit better than that.
Speaker 1: But well, yeah, okay with here. You so like what
Speaker 1: I'm saying is like, if you ever thought about that
Speaker 1: sort of natural talent you have and I even worked
Speaker 1: hard to get to You've got to talk about that,
Speaker 1: But you ever thought about that gift?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think it's obviously like that hand eye coordination
Speaker 2: is one thing, but also, you know, just a little
Speaker 2: bit about me growing up, I obviously did play quite
Speaker 2: a bit of tennis as well. With you know, the
Speaker 2: background that I've had. My mum and dad were a
Speaker 2: huge support in me being able to choose my own
Speaker 2: path and my own journey, and they were fully supportive
Speaker 2: of that. And the one thing I love about golf
Speaker 2: that was the independent side of things. You know, what
Speaker 2: you put into it, you get out of it, and
Speaker 2: being able to, you know, not rely on others to
Speaker 2: go and go and work hard and go do your
Speaker 2: own thing. I feel like you're on your own time
Speaker 2: and that's something that I've I've really loved.
Speaker 1: Yeah, does that pre pressure on you because it's just
Speaker 1: like you can't really rely on anybody else. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're the one with the stick in your hand.
Speaker 2: And I think I like the ownership. I think of
Speaker 2: having that responsibility of not relying on others, even though
Speaker 2: I have my own team. I've got a coach, I've
Speaker 2: got a physio, I've got an sec coach. Like, I've
Speaker 2: got so many great people around me, but they ultimately
Speaker 2: just try and keep me in between the lanes, you know,
Speaker 2: lanees just if you think of.
Speaker 1: It, just and they're pre posed to because once you're
Speaker 1: out on the course something, you can talk to people,
Speaker 1: but still you're the one who's going to swing the club. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they can't do it for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think that's where also the caddy is so important.
Speaker 2: My caddy, Brad Beacher, is someone that he's had a
Speaker 2: lot of great success over his career. He's had, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five years of cutting. One of the girls
Speaker 2: that he used to caddy fall was Inmby Park who
Speaker 2: was well number one for multiple years. She's a seven
Speaker 2: time major champion. So just having that experience and the
Speaker 2: relationship that we have is great and Brad since I
Speaker 2: was eleven twelve years old. We both a member at
Speaker 2: Southporl Golf Club on the Gold Coast, and he plays
Speaker 2: multiple roles on the golf course, not just a caddy,
Speaker 2: but you know, also tap into that psychologists piece as well.
Speaker 1: I'm actually quite fascinated about the caddy piece. I do
Speaker 1: want to park that for a second and come back
Speaker 1: and talk about that if you don't mind, But it
Speaker 1: might just sort of go back. You know. My imagination
Speaker 1: is that you're a little kid. You know, you see
Speaker 1: all those videos of Tiger Wood with his dad when
Speaker 1: he's like two, hitting a golf ball and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: I'm imagining your mum and dad throwing a ball at
Speaker 1: you with the tennis rakers, putting a golf ball on
Speaker 1: the ground to getting near to hit it, probably throwing
Speaker 1: a footy at you. Well, what was it like as
Speaker 1: a young kid growing up? Am I right? Is that
Speaker 1: this sort of scenario?
Speaker 2: Certainly? Yeah. So I lived on a golf resort on
Speaker 2: the Gold Coast called the Glades, and every day before
Speaker 2: school my dad got me into it. I was four
Speaker 2: years old and I'd go to the range every day
Speaker 2: before school. You know, I probably practiced for about two
Speaker 2: and a half three hours. I probably practiced from like
Speaker 2: five o'clock to eight o'clock, went to school at eight thirty,
Speaker 2: did the whole school day, and then I came back
Speaker 2: and then I'd be on the chipping green and putting green.
Speaker 2: I'd have a little flashlight on the green until pitch black.
Speaker 2: So that was my That was my daily routine for
Speaker 2: multiple years.
Speaker 1: Well is it because and is that because some if
Speaker 1: you get back when you're a little kid, Let's say
Speaker 1: you're five or six or seven, right, whatever the age was,
Speaker 1: do you remember were you obsessed with the with being
Speaker 1: really good at it? We're all just so much fun.
Speaker 1: Can you remember the feeling?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was definitely a bit of both. It was
Speaker 2: more of the enjoyment factor. I didn't necessarily worry about
Speaker 2: trying to get like too good too early, because as
Speaker 2: a little kid, you just want to enjoy it. You
Speaker 2: want to try and see how far you can hit it.
Speaker 2: And you know, I I still remember like making my
Speaker 2: first par and like just little special moments like that.
Speaker 2: As the years have gone on, I broke I broke
Speaker 2: par at the age of twelve. Wow, And then I
Speaker 2: was off scratch at thirteen, handicap at thirteen.
Speaker 1: That's so not fair. It's just not fair.
Speaker 2: So it's cool because and my parents were there with me,
Speaker 2: e recept of the way, like we have achieved so
Speaker 2: many great milestones along the way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny. When I had Ricky pointing here a
Speaker 1: little while ago, not that long ago, actually a month
Speaker 1: or so ago, when the cricket was on, he was
Speaker 1: telling me that a good batsman, not necessarily a bowler,
Speaker 1: but a good batsman actually tend to have physiological advantages
Speaker 1: of other people, and particularly in relation to where their
Speaker 1: eyes are set on the head. And Hear then went
Speaker 1: on to say that those studies have said that that
Speaker 1: goes for all ball sports where you have to actually
Speaker 1: zoom in on the ball sure before you strike it,
Speaker 1: which is obviously with a cricket it doesn't a golfer
Speaker 1: and probably a tennis played too. To some extent, have
Speaker 1: you ever have you gone into that scientific side of
Speaker 1: it or you just say no, that's my ability. I'm
Speaker 1: just going to practice, practice, practice and get better and
Speaker 1: better better. Have you actually gone in sort of scratch
Speaker 1: below the surface and try to work out scientifically? Yeah?
Speaker 1: What is it about me? And how can I get
Speaker 1: better based on what I've already got as a talent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, first of all, that's quite fascinating. It's something
Speaker 2: that I haven't had the opportunity to dive into too much,
Speaker 2: but it's something that i'd definitely be worth well. I mean, ultimately,
Speaker 2: it's one percent stuff, isn't it. And ultimately, as a
Speaker 2: professional athlete, you're trying to search for that stuff. So
Speaker 2: as a particular individual, I like to think of myself as,
Speaker 2: you know, someone who is gifted naturally, but you know
Speaker 2: I've worked hard over a period of time, because you
Speaker 2: know that saying when you know hard.
Speaker 1: Work always beats time, you know it? Yeah, exactly how
Speaker 1: many guys that I know skill? You probably do to
Speaker 1: like the great student of great footballers, regular players for example,
Speaker 1: but they didn't put the effort in and they didn't
Speaker 1: get to where they should have been. But there's other
Speaker 1: guys who weren't as good. Yeah, and the end playing
Speaker 1: first grader and played for Coincidental, played for Australia. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we see that stuff all the time. Unrewarded talents almost
Speaker 1: a problem.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And ultimately I think it's about trying to add
Speaker 2: as many tools to your toolbox as you can, because
Speaker 2: when you're out on the golf course for four and
Speaker 2: a half five hours, you're not necessarily going to have
Speaker 2: everything go your way. So it's important to rely on
Speaker 2: particular things to recall on so if you do get
Speaker 2: faced with moments of adversity, you can be like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I remember doing that at that time. And I have
Speaker 2: a journal as well that I write in most days,
Speaker 2: and I kind of flick back through certain dates, through
Speaker 2: particular moments of my career, and that almost just gives
Speaker 2: me a bit of a like a refreshing attitude on
Speaker 2: you know, I might pick up something that I wrote
Speaker 2: down three years ago and that still has the same
Speaker 2: benefit to this current time in relevance. Yeah, in relevance. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I think that's incredibly important.
Speaker 1: It's just like I play golf, and maybe my style
Speaker 1: of thinking, my brain, mind's or whatever, it doesn't really
Speaker 1: suit it that well. Because if I've had a bad
Speaker 1: morning and I've got to play in the afternoon, I
Speaker 1: play bad. And there must be I presume there's some
Speaker 1: sort of process that you use to maybe control your
Speaker 1: heartbeat or get everything out of your brain and just
Speaker 1: think about this is what I'm doing today, and it's
Speaker 1: probably slightly easy because that's all you do. I mean
Speaker 1: not when I say all we do that equally could
Speaker 1: be a problem because it puts pressure on you as well.
Speaker 1: But like, how does someone like you when let's say
Speaker 1: you hit a shot, you end up in the rough,
Speaker 1: or you're in the sand or not where you want
Speaker 1: it to be, and or you're behind and you're fighting
Speaker 1: to get ahead or catch up. What do you do
Speaker 1: to slow your heart rate down and to get yourself
Speaker 1: in that relaxed mode.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the first things first is all about
Speaker 2: trying to bring your attention back to being in the
Speaker 2: present moment. And I have little tools that help with
Speaker 2: that that I've worked with my psychologist Michael Lloyd with
Speaker 2: And you know, some of those tools are I'd sometimes
Speaker 2: like touch the tips of my finger to feel the
Speaker 2: sensation of that, and that will almost help me feel present.
Speaker 2: And then I would also tell me myself. I feel
Speaker 2: like self talks quite important, and that's just reiterating like
Speaker 2: what's important to me, like doing what matters, making sure
Speaker 2: you're going through your routine, you know, when things that
Speaker 2: are less an ideal, just remind yourself that it's okay,
Speaker 2: and just keep putting your best foot forward. And then
Speaker 2: sometimes when I have a sip of water, I'd feel
Speaker 2: the sensation of it going down my throat. So there's
Speaker 2: little things where I would shift my attention and my
Speaker 2: focus to something else rather than just the result and
Speaker 2: the outcome. And that also just helps me become level
Speaker 2: and you know, cool, come and compose and just keep
Speaker 2: going about my business as well as I can.
Speaker 1: Are you naturally a calm person or i'd like to
Speaker 1: think so? You think, well, when you say that's the
Speaker 1: interesting response, you'd like to think so in other words,
Speaker 1: that generally someone says that to me, that generally means
Speaker 1: that they're someone who knows the downside of not being
Speaker 1: that person, and therefore is always building strategies to manage
Speaker 1: themselves into being that person in the time. That accounts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the important thing as well is if
Speaker 2: I was looking at myself from the audience, how would
Speaker 2: I want to look from the outside? What body language
Speaker 2: would I want to show? You know, something that I
Speaker 2: speak about with my psych is what kind of teammate
Speaker 2: I want to be, What kind of person I want
Speaker 2: to be, what kind of brother I want to be
Speaker 2: son like, what does that look like? And I give
Speaker 2: myself little little cues and little ideas on what that
Speaker 2: will look like. And I just try and carry those
Speaker 2: moving forward and try and represent myself in the best
Speaker 2: possible way.
Speaker 1: So for a twenty three year old to be I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously you're at the highest level inters of your profession,
Speaker 1: but as a twenty three year old, just generally as
Speaker 1: a twenty three year old to be saying things about
Speaker 1: make sure I stay in the present. And then for example,
Speaker 1: the example you just gave me about I might have
Speaker 1: a sip of water when you're out in the course,
Speaker 1: you're in competition perhaps, but you can feel the water
Speaker 1: going to your throat. That's very meditative. That is the
Speaker 1: essence of feeling in the present. So for example, in
Speaker 1: the morning, a lot of people that get the coffee
Speaker 1: their throw it down and they say, go, I've got
Speaker 1: to have a coffee. It's a function instead of smelling it,
Speaker 1: feeling it, tasting it, smelling it, and that is the
Speaker 1: being in the present. That's the meditative part that's really important.
Speaker 1: It does slow your heart rate down and it's all
Speaker 1: about because like I continue now, if I was playing
Speaker 1: at your level or like twenty levels below even my
Speaker 1: sympathetic drive, you know that part of my body where
Speaker 1: I'm pumping quarters all out and adrenalinees going and like that,
Speaker 1: which is why i'd you know, stuff up every shot
Speaker 1: and somehow I would have to tap into my parasitic
Speaker 1: parasmitic drive in the vegas system. And I do have
Speaker 1: techniques for business around that, Like I speak a lot
Speaker 1: of public events. Sometimes i can be in front of
Speaker 1: a thousand people and I've had to work out ways
Speaker 1: to do it because I'm really curious about the science
Speaker 1: and how your psychologists work with you, and do they
Speaker 1: explain these sort of things to you, Because like golf
Speaker 1: is such a valuable profession, there's so much money involved.
Speaker 1: You nearly have to get into that top not just
Speaker 1: as a talent and as an outcome, but that top
Speaker 1: one percent in terms of how you think about everything, everything, everything,
Speaker 1: not just going to go and hit a few balls today,
Speaker 1: Like from the moment you start prepping for the event,
Speaker 1: to the event and probably surely thereafter the event. What
Speaker 1: does your team consist of? You got a psychologist, what
Speaker 1: do you have as scientists?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so a few years ago I put a particular
Speaker 2: individual in place to help me with. You know, at
Speaker 2: the time, he was thinking of it as running my
Speaker 2: own CEO of like you're being the CEO of your
Speaker 2: own company. And at the time I was naive and
Speaker 2: I didn't really know what to think of it. And
Speaker 2: as did you do it or someone I told you? You know,
Speaker 2: someone else told me to do it. And at the
Speaker 2: time I was quite naive. I'm like, I'm just I'm
Speaker 2: just playing golf, I'm just traveling the world, I'm doing
Speaker 2: all this stuff. I need to worry about that. But
Speaker 2: as time's gone on, like the importance and the significance
Speaker 2: of making sure you're communicating with the good people that
Speaker 2: you have around you is one of the most important
Speaker 2: things to be able to have success in anything. Right,
Speaker 2: So you organize, you know, your organized team calls you,
Speaker 2: You've got people that you're employing, You've got you know,
Speaker 2: travel accommodation to organize you tax stuff. Like I was
Speaker 2: nineteen at the time when that particular person came in,
Speaker 2: or twenty, and it's just amazing to see how much
Speaker 2: I've involved with the help of that particular person, and
Speaker 2: moving forward, I can just use so many of those
Speaker 2: tools that I've learned from him. Is it a golf person, Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a golf coach.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's a coach or a coach, golf business coach.
Speaker 2: He's a golf coach golf coaches as well. And yeah,
Speaker 2: without that, I wouldn't have the setup that I currently do.
Speaker 1: So in other words, they leave you to be the
Speaker 1: talent correct and to do that and to create the outcomes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they're guiding you and managing you all through the process.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the good thing is he'll never tell
Speaker 2: me what to do or what to think, but he'll
Speaker 2: always just give me different avenues on what to think
Speaker 2: about and then it's ultimately up to me to make
Speaker 2: that decision. And that's with the great people that have
Speaker 2: around me, is that they're not yes people Like I'm
Speaker 2: not employing them to tell me what I want to hear.
Speaker 2: I'm telling them I'm employing them to tell me what
Speaker 2: I need to hear and what I think is going
Speaker 2: to help me get the best out of myself and
Speaker 2: for me to be able to achieve what I want
Speaker 2: to achieve.
Speaker 1: There's a big difference, which is you're displaying right at
Speaker 1: the moment. There's a big difference between being a great
Speaker 1: golfer or being in the business of being a great golfer.
Speaker 1: You're in the business of being a great golfer as
Speaker 1: well as being a great golfer. You know, there's a
Speaker 1: huge difference. There's a bit like someone telling me. It
Speaker 1: could be out the coffee shop out the front there,
Speaker 1: saying that I'm a fantastic barrista, therefore I can run
Speaker 1: a coffee shop. Now, you might be able to make coffee,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean you know how to run a
Speaker 1: business of making coffee. There's a big difference. Would you
Speaker 1: consider yourself and at what point you would you have
Speaker 1: considered yourself to be in the business of golf, professional golf,
Speaker 1: in the business.
Speaker 2: Of probably only within the last year and a half,
Speaker 2: i'd say.
Speaker 1: And what was the moment where you thought, hang on, Elvis,
Speaker 1: get serious, dude.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I know, there's more to it than
Speaker 2: just traveling to you know, one particular place, teeing it
Speaker 2: up and hitting it and then trying to do as well
Speaker 2: as you can and then leaving to go to the
Speaker 2: next place. There's more to it. There's more to there's
Speaker 2: more to see, you know, behind the scenes that the
Speaker 2: public just don't see. And that's something that at some
Speaker 2: point I would like to be able to showcase that
Speaker 2: through the conversation that we're having. Is there's more to it.
Speaker 2: There's more stress, there's more you have to manage your
Speaker 2: time exceptionally well, and I believe I'm doing a really
Speaker 2: good job at that.
Speaker 1: So you chose to go to live yeah, or well
Speaker 1: maybe you could explained the process tod they offer you
Speaker 1: to come, would you choose you? Excuse me? Can I
Speaker 1: take me? Or here's a leg being a school and
Speaker 1: you want to be in the team, or or is
Speaker 1: it they reach out to you? How does that work?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So the process started. It was this time a
Speaker 2: year ago when I went down to the event at
Speaker 2: Adelaide and I met with the CEO, Scott O'Neill, and
Speaker 2: the general manager, Nick Adams, and the performance manager at
Speaker 2: the time he still is a performance manager and really
Speaker 2: good friend of mine in Tony Meyer. So Tony he
Speaker 2: worked in Golf Australia for multiple years and he kind
Speaker 2: of oversees like all the golf stuff, so making sure
Speaker 2: that all of you know, me, cam Leish and Herbie
Speaker 2: all get what we need. And as time has gone
Speaker 2: on I so flash backing a little bit. Sorry. I
Speaker 2: won the Australian PGA Championship in November twenty twenty four
Speaker 2: and that got me a two year exemption on the
Speaker 2: DP World Tour. So I played the whole year on
Speaker 2: the DP World Tour last year in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 2: and then I achieved some really good things. I finished,
Speaker 2: you know, second in the French Open, and I ended
Speaker 2: up finishing twenty first on the Race of the Bystandings,
Speaker 2: which is the money list, which is you know, all
Speaker 2: the tournaments added up at the end of the year.
Speaker 2: And it was about October last year where Cam and
Speaker 2: Tony approached me and they said, look, we're really interested
Speaker 2: in having you. I've obviously got that personal relationship with
Speaker 2: Cam and I admire what he's done and that was
Speaker 2: definitely a big driving factor for me joining live. There
Speaker 2: was a pros and cons list that I made throughout.
Speaker 1: This roadown yeah with help or just yeah with help.
Speaker 2: I was advised to do that because when you have
Speaker 2: something written in front of you, it's a lot easier
Speaker 2: to digest what's going on.
Speaker 1: Especially if you wrote it yourself correct and what were
Speaker 1: the pros?
Speaker 2: Well, the pros first of all, was to be in
Speaker 2: an environment where I felt like I was going to
Speaker 2: get the best out of myself. So golf can be
Speaker 2: quite a golf can be quite an individual isolating sport
Speaker 2: because you're traveling a lot of the time away from
Speaker 2: family and friends, You're staying in hotel rooms by yourself,
Speaker 2: You're eating by yourself, and moving to live. I knew
Speaker 2: that it was going to be an opportunity for me
Speaker 2: to step out of my what I would call my
Speaker 2: comfort zone, because I would call myself quite a you know,
Speaker 2: I'd keep things close to my chest in a way.
Speaker 2: And I felt like it was a way for me
Speaker 2: to step out of my comfort zone really embrace that
Speaker 2: team aspect of what I've stepped into. And that's something
Speaker 2: that I feel like I've done really well these last
Speaker 2: two weeks.
Speaker 1: So so you like the idea of testing yourself correct,
Speaker 1: Regatta sort of been put in a position where you
Speaker 1: can actually be another type of person.
Speaker 2: Definitely, and I think I've I've showcased that in the
Speaker 2: last two weeks, and it's it's amazing that the results
Speaker 2: have been a byproduct of that.
Speaker 1: Is that one of the greatest advantages that live as
Speaker 1: a team as a team brings to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely like you. Yeah, well you're playing for more
Speaker 2: than just yourself, which I love. So you're getting the
Speaker 2: individual aspect, but you're also getting the team aspect. And
Speaker 2: I couldn't have I couldn't have thought of three better
Speaker 2: guys to travel the world with, achieve great things with.
Speaker 2: And they're the best, the best kind of guys to
Speaker 2: play golf with.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're in nirvana.
Speaker 2: The reception that we received last week in Adelaide was
Speaker 2: one of the most surreal experiences that I've been able
Speaker 2: to witness. Yeah, without a doubt, So tell me, tell me,
Speaker 2: tell me what is it? There was over one hundred
Speaker 2: thousand people there. The twelfth hole, which is known as
Speaker 2: the watering hole, that is full of thousands and thousands
Speaker 2: of people. You get, you get given it, not given,
Speaker 2: but you get to choose a walkout song and my
Speaker 2: walkout song? Serious, yeah you can probably can you guess
Speaker 2: in a way with my with my name.
Speaker 1: Anyway? So which one which one of his songs?
Speaker 2: It was a little less conversation by Elvis Presley.
Speaker 1: Okay, and blues rays shoes or something.
Speaker 2: Maybe I was actually wearing a pair of blue was
Speaker 2: on the Sunday in read. Yeah.
Speaker 1: El Was Presley is one of my all time favorite singers.
Speaker 1: I'm old enough to be able to say that, you
Speaker 1: thought it. And by the way, his name was Aaron, Yes,
Speaker 1: and I named my firstborn son his middle name is
Speaker 1: Aaron after Elvis Presley.
Speaker 2: Wow, my dad will be watching this. I'll love you.
Speaker 1: It's going yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: So the vibe, yeah, the vibe was insane. As soon
Speaker 2: as I've walked out, I had a little less conversation
Speaker 2: going by Elvis Presley. I was pumping everyone up. Everyone
Speaker 2: was on their feet going nuts. Your heartbeat was racing.
Speaker 2: That's where I recall on, you know, drinking the water
Speaker 2: and making sure I'm present and stuff like that, because
Speaker 2: you don't get to practice that at all. You don't
Speaker 2: get to practice that feeling when you're away from the
Speaker 2: lights and cameras. So the best thing that you can
Speaker 2: possibly do is embrace it in the present time. And
Speaker 2: that's exactly what I did.
Speaker 1: That's that's amazing. What an opportunity was. Were your parents there?
Speaker 1: Do they for the music?
Speaker 2: That was their first live event they got to experience
Speaker 2: and we won, which was Yeah, it was a dream.
Speaker 1: They must have walt tears to your mum's eyes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so? When do yeah on one of
Speaker 2: the holes it was the fourteenth hole, so the Ripper
Speaker 2: Golf Club they had a Ripper house, so it was
Speaker 2: like a massive merchant or not merchandise, but it was
Speaker 2: just a massive setup with really good infrastructure and my mum.
Speaker 2: There was an announcer calling my name onto the fourteenth
Speaker 2: to part three and he's like, oh, Liz, talk us
Speaker 2: through hot you're feeling right now? Like do you get
Speaker 2: nervous whilst watching Elvis play? And it actually kind of
Speaker 2: brought like a few tears to my eyes as I
Speaker 2: was walking up the steps from the thirteenth green to
Speaker 2: down to the fourteenth tee and I heard her voice
Speaker 2: and I'm like, this is such a cool, cool experience
Speaker 2: for my mum to be able to see me in
Speaker 2: my element and for her to be able to witness this,
Speaker 2: because you know, she was a professional athlete and highly
Speaker 2: skilled in an own right, but for her son to
Speaker 2: be able to see that, I think I'd hope to
Speaker 2: think that she's pretty proud.
Speaker 1: That's like, I can't imagine what it'd be like as
Speaker 1: a parent to me. That'd be amazing. But as a
Speaker 1: player going from the thirtieth to fortieth, how do you
Speaker 1: manage that emotion? I mean, like, does it inspire you
Speaker 1: to do that I'm going to do this for money
Speaker 1: without doubt, or does it go oh my god.
Speaker 2: Well, it's amazing because I feel like I've been given
Speaker 2: a platform to be able to showcase my skill but
Speaker 2: also show the type of person that I am on
Speaker 2: a global scale, global stage. And doing that in front
Speaker 2: of thousands and thousands of people and showing them that
Speaker 2: I want to interact with like little kids are giving
Speaker 2: them a high five and signing things and putting a
Speaker 2: smile on their face. It genuinely makes me so happy
Speaker 2: and so you know, giddy inside. And then you know,
Speaker 2: adding the financial side of things, I want to give
Speaker 2: back in meaningful ways, and that's something that really inspires
Speaker 2: me and motivates me to be able to, you know,
Speaker 2: start a charity or a fundraiser of some sorts and
Speaker 2: being able to you know, step into cam shoes the
Speaker 2: way he's you know, been doing his scholarship. To be
Speaker 2: able to do that in my own right one day.
Speaker 1: And to actually influence undercent things good outcomes. Unfortunately can't
Speaker 1: rely on Unfortunately, can't rely on good politicians that these days.
Speaker 1: Not that I wanted to get political, but individuals have
Speaker 1: far more impact. I think on those sorts of environments
Speaker 1: and our political leaders and got well done. If I
Speaker 1: could just you know, everyone's sitting there, oh wow, you
Speaker 1: know it's great, and you know you've done the great
Speaker 1: achievements and you did fantastic in Adelaide, et cetera. But
Speaker 1: most people don't understand the hard work it takes to
Speaker 1: get There's one thing to be naturally gifted as a
Speaker 1: sports person or an athlete, which you were both, but
Speaker 1: to be at the elite level, there's a lot of effort, training, commitment.
Speaker 1: Can you give me a sense of you said what
Speaker 1: you were doing you a little kid, but like once
Speaker 1: you decided to start to play, at what point did
Speaker 1: you play professional?
Speaker 2: I turned pro in twenty twenty one, so I was
Speaker 2: eighteen eighteen.
Speaker 1: So at what point did you sort of say this
Speaker 1: is what I'm going to do for my life stuff, school,
Speaker 1: university of whatever the case might be, I'm going to
Speaker 1: be a golfer. And what was what did you have
Speaker 1: to undertake to do that? Like, what does it look
Speaker 1: like in the day of it's called it training or
Speaker 1: prep for a professional golfer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, going to the personal stuff a bit that I'll
Speaker 2: be happy sharing. I went to school from prep to
Speaker 2: year eight. So I went to All Saints Anglican School
Speaker 2: on the Gold Coast, and I went from prep to
Speaker 2: year eight. And I never really enjoyed school that much.
Speaker 2: I always felt like I struggled to fit in a bit.
Speaker 2: I was always a little bit more mature than the
Speaker 2: kids that were around me at the time, and the
Speaker 2: fact that I had such a huge passion for golf
Speaker 2: and wanting to play at a professional level, I felt
Speaker 2: like I could never really get along with anyone in
Speaker 2: that regard because that's all I loved when I was
Speaker 2: that age and wanting to share that passion and hobby
Speaker 2: with others. But you know, I remember talking to mom
Speaker 2: and Dad and I got home from school was absolutely
Speaker 2: balling my eyes out one day, saying like this is
Speaker 2: this is not fun, Like I'm not enjoying this. It
Speaker 2: was a really tough decision to make, but I ended
Speaker 2: up doing online schooling for the remainder of my schooling.
Speaker 1: Like high school.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I had I had teachers online, so my
Speaker 2: parents weren't my teachers, but I had. I did it
Speaker 2: through a school called Australian Christian College, which is based
Speaker 2: up in Brisbane. So you can either do an on
Speaker 2: campus version or an off campus version. So I did
Speaker 2: the off campus. I got all the work sent to me.
Speaker 2: I had the exact same teachers that all the other
Speaker 2: students had, but I would create my own hours. So
Speaker 2: I'd probably do about four to four and a half
Speaker 2: hours a day of school in the morning, and I
Speaker 2: would do it, you know, straight, so I wouldn't have
Speaker 2: a break, and then I'd go to the golf course
Speaker 2: for the rest of the day. And the thing was,
Speaker 2: when I was fourteen fifteen, being able to create that
Speaker 2: structure at such a young age was really difficult to
Speaker 2: get right because you know, with school, you've got the
Speaker 2: eight thirty to three o'clock set regimented time. But when
Speaker 2: you go straight into online schooling in distance education, you
Speaker 2: have to create that yourself. And that helped me. You know,
Speaker 2: at the time I was mature, but that almost just
Speaker 2: took another step, you know above, and I felt like
Speaker 2: that tough period that I went through there, even though
Speaker 2: my golf was a huge benefit of that. The social
Speaker 2: side did go down because I wasn't hanging around with
Speaker 2: anyone my age, and that was tough because as I
Speaker 2: look back, I think that, you know, the golf definitely
Speaker 2: served its part, which was the priority at the time,
Speaker 2: but the social stuff was was really hard, and I.
Speaker 1: Think you missed out or something. Apart from drinking getting
Speaker 1: drunk at fifteen or.
Speaker 2: That that was an interesting I think it was more
Speaker 2: the friendships, I think, But you know, i'd like to
Speaker 2: think and I do think, and I do believe that
Speaker 2: now I've got really good relationships with really good people.
Speaker 2: And some people are you know, closer to my age,
Speaker 2: but a lot of people are a lot older than me,
Speaker 2: and that's fine.
Speaker 1: It doesn't really matter, no, as long as it's not
Speaker 1: when of a certain age. It's not about age commonality.
Speaker 1: It's interest commonality. And you've got the same interest. We've
Speaker 1: got a team. And by the way, like my grandfather's
Speaker 1: ways say, like Mike, don't worry about having too many friends.
Speaker 1: You can count as you get older, you know that
Speaker 1: you're going to count on one hand those people who
Speaker 1: are close to you and then be your family. It's
Speaker 1: just someone will be like family. On there could be
Speaker 1: a family member. But five is enough that in itself
Speaker 1: is a lot to manage. Definitely, and like it's very
Speaker 1: interesting and I appreciate you sharing that with us the
Speaker 1: audience as well. You know, like the sort of it
Speaker 1: sounds a bit sort of average to say sacrifices, but
Speaker 1: to some extent, these things are sacrifices.
Speaker 2: I was proud to sacrifice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, therefore it's not a sacrifice. No, it's just
Speaker 1: a concession. Yeah, yeah, it's a concession you're making for yourself.
Speaker 1: No one else is losing out on. It's just you.
Speaker 1: And what we tend to do is we tend to
Speaker 1: watch you. Obviously have done. You've gone back and made
Speaker 1: up for it in other ways. Do you think that
Speaker 1: decision had a major impact on your let's call it
Speaker 1: your polishing up of your talent?
Speaker 2: Without a doubt, I think it's helped shape me into
Speaker 2: the person I am today. I was. It was an
Speaker 2: extremely tough decision because making a decision like that at
Speaker 2: fourteen years old, where you choose being a professional athlete
Speaker 2: over education. I mean, some people may think otherwise, but
Speaker 2: at the time, I was proud to make that decision,
Speaker 2: and I don't look back and I'm pretty happy with it.
Speaker 1: I don't think be too many Australians athletes who have
Speaker 1: done extraordinarily well have done that. I mean, I can
Speaker 1: think of people like Ian Thorpe probably is one of
Speaker 1: those people where you would have gone to Ennswiss or
Speaker 1: one of those places when he was fifteen or fourteen
Speaker 1: fifteen in order to become I want to become a limpin.
Speaker 1: I want to be the greatest swimmer of all time.
Speaker 1: There wouldn't be too many and you have to have
Speaker 1: a high level of maturity to make that call. In
Speaker 1: the day of a of a golfer, what do you train?
Speaker 1: What's training the way together? The gym, you get a run, yeah,
Speaker 1: what do you do?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So it probably consists of total about five six
Speaker 2: hours a day. Yeah, so that's not always just at
Speaker 2: the course. I love to go to the gym. I
Speaker 2: have my strength and conditioning coach, Luke Macki. We both
Speaker 2: live close to each other on the Gold Coast, so
Speaker 2: I catch up with him whenever he's home and we
Speaker 2: we have a lot of fun together. He does all
Speaker 2: my programs and you know, it's not just the gym
Speaker 2: stuff that's the fitness side of things, but I love
Speaker 2: to go to pilates. So there's a there's a studio
Speaker 2: back on the Gold Coast called Sweat Society that I
Speaker 2: like to go to, and you know that's like an
Speaker 2: avenue as well to meet new people.
Speaker 1: Just gave you a rap sweats. It'll be packed tomorrow.
Speaker 1: But it is a part of a plant. Does someone
Speaker 1: work that plan? If we say you're a strength and
Speaker 1: conditioning person to hear he or say he is it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Luke says, okay, mate e was We're going to
Speaker 1: do polarates through for abs normal strength, other other areas
Speaker 1: or strength. I mean, is that something that a golfer
Speaker 1: should do because I can't imagine you need to go
Speaker 1: and start to bulk up. Yeah, that's not going to
Speaker 1: work out very.
Speaker 2: Well, No, I think yeah. I think the great thing
Speaker 2: with pilarates it targets a little muscles and I really
Speaker 2: enjoy that. So the gym side serves its purpose with
Speaker 2: its you know, the squats and the lateral movements and
Speaker 2: the rotational movements and all that, but then the polates
Speaker 2: is very much more like core engaged and shoulder activation stuff,
Speaker 2: and that's important.
Speaker 1: Do you need to run, do you need to have
Speaker 1: a run.
Speaker 2: I mean, look at me, I'm tall and slender. I
Speaker 2: can't lose weight.
Speaker 1: Y Arabic fitness and heartline stuff is not something you
Speaker 1: need to do much.
Speaker 2: Of, not necessarily. I mean maybe if I speak to
Speaker 2: some people around me, if they think it's a good idea,
Speaker 2: at some point that I might explore that avenue. But
Speaker 2: for the time being, I'll stick to the gym and.
Speaker 1: Practice what you like. You say tomorrow to now putting tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I remember two courses on the Gold Coast,
Speaker 2: Southport and Saintry Cove, and they're both great. I'd probably
Speaker 2: spend yeah, four hours on the golf side of things.
Speaker 2: I love to go and play holes. So there's a
Speaker 2: difference between you know, going out too the putting green
Speaker 2: and doing all your drill work and then chipping green
Speaker 2: doing your drills, and then going to the range and
Speaker 2: just hitting balls. But going out the course is where
Speaker 2: I have the most fun. Because what I'd do is
Speaker 2: I'd go out and play with the half set of clubs.
Speaker 2: So you genuinely have fourteen clubs in the bag, but
Speaker 2: what I'd do is I'd probably have about six or
Speaker 2: seven clubs. So on odd days of the week, so
Speaker 2: like Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'd probably play with you know,
Speaker 2: like five iron, seven nine, nine nine, some sort of
Speaker 2: wedge and then a driver. And the idea of that
Speaker 2: is to be able to mix it up and not
Speaker 2: always just have have the perfect club or have the
Speaker 2: perfect shape or the perfect flight. Like the idea is
Speaker 2: to try and challenge yourself so when you do get
Speaker 2: put in tournament situations, you're like, oh, I remember practicing that,
Speaker 2: I remember hitting that kind of shot, and that's something
Speaker 2: I love and that's something I've done ever since I
Speaker 2: was little. Because that's really that's helped the longevity of
Speaker 2: my career because golf can be quite monotonous because it's
Speaker 2: a stationary sport, like you're looking down and you're just
Speaker 2: seeing one thing and you've got all the time in
Speaker 2: the world, and it kills me. Yeah, I think, you know,
Speaker 2: time can can be a and like not that great
Speaker 2: for you. So that's that's why I like to do
Speaker 2: the seven seven club challenge.
Speaker 1: Could you could you explain to us all? So I
Speaker 1: do want to talk about the caddy stuff, because the
Speaker 1: caddy is more than just caddy shack walking around with
Speaker 1: the bag of his shoulder or a cart. So explain
Speaker 1: in your case, at least the role of your caddy. Hey,
Speaker 1: you choose your caddy and what are the important things
Speaker 1: that caddy does. You mentioned psychology, especially during the game
Speaker 1: and or probably before you start as well. Could you
Speaker 1: just give us a bit of a flavor of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, as I was mentioning before, Brad Beach and
Speaker 2: my caddy, we've been working together since December twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: So you know, as you know, you've got a golf
Speaker 2: range finder like you where you look through the lens
Speaker 2: and U zap it and tells you how far it is.
Speaker 2: But when you're playing professionally, you actually you can't always
Speaker 2: have the access to the range finders. So what you
Speaker 2: do is you get given a yardage book that has
Speaker 2: all the numbers and it's got a photo of the
Speaker 2: hole that's ahead with all these measurements that are in
Speaker 2: the book that also replicate the measurements that are written
Speaker 2: like on sprinkler heads or that are written on like
Speaker 2: little red dots in the fairways, and you have to
Speaker 2: step it out from that particular point to get the yardage.
Speaker 2: So there's a bit of a time process that you
Speaker 2: have to go through, and that's something that Beach and
Speaker 2: I go through in order to get the number. But
Speaker 2: then you also have to look at the wind. You
Speaker 2: have to look at the coldness of the air, like
Speaker 2: the if you're playing early in the morning, the air
Speaker 2: is quite heavy, so the ball's not going to go
Speaker 2: as far. There's more moisture. Yeah, So, and then sometimes
Speaker 2: you're playing at altitude, so the ball goes further than normal.
Speaker 2: So that's where you have to take that into account
Speaker 2: a bit more. So, There's so many different aspects that
Speaker 2: Brad and I both go through. I mean, Brad's are professional,
Speaker 2: so I actually rely on him in particular areas to
Speaker 2: do things a little bit quicker than I do, just
Speaker 2: to help with the time efficiency of things.
Speaker 1: Is that like? But is it like more a check
Speaker 1: off you sort of say, well, yeah, and what do
Speaker 1: you think? Or is it he's to say, listen, this
Speaker 1: is what we're going to do, because.
Speaker 2: No, he won't. He'll always he'll always hear me out
Speaker 2: before we make the final decision. He'll never tell me
Speaker 2: like what to do. And that's something that I respect
Speaker 2: so much of Beach is that he'll always give me
Speaker 2: the like I'm the one hitting the shot. I'm the
Speaker 2: one that knows what I want to do here, and
Speaker 2: then he's he's the guy that's just going to help
Speaker 2: signify what the right decision is and what the right
Speaker 2: shape is, what the right flight is.
Speaker 1: So what could we just look at the element? So
Speaker 1: you just mentioned a couple then, so because most people
Speaker 1: just pick up the club and hit the blow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you're you're thinking about geometry, like the geometry of
Speaker 1: the course and the geometry of what you're going to
Speaker 1: you're going to hit the ball in terms of height, weather,
Speaker 1: your conditions.
Speaker 2: Different grass types.
Speaker 1: Well, so just go if you might just give me
Speaker 1: a little little just a little example of some of
Speaker 1: the detail.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So let's say we're playing somewhere with its early morning
Speaker 1: and it's humid weather yeap, and you know you're a
Speaker 1: one hundred out from the from the green.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, So if we have one hundred meters to
Speaker 2: the hole and it's early in the morning, maybe the
Speaker 2: ball's not traveling as far. You know that instinctively, it's
Speaker 2: probably playing you know, a few meters more. So, let's
Speaker 2: say it's playing one hundred and five hundred and six meters,
Speaker 2: So there's there's clubs in my bag where I know
Speaker 2: the stockyardage for each club, so i'd hit my you know,
Speaker 2: fifty six degree wedge. I'd know that if I hit
Speaker 2: one hundred percent swing here, it's going to go one
Speaker 2: hundred and six meters, So that's going to allow for
Speaker 2: that heavy air. So then i'd say to Brad, well,
Speaker 2: Brad will say to me rather, he'd be like, mate,
Speaker 2: this is feeling like one hundred and six meters shot.
Speaker 2: So then I would instinctively just say, okay, I know
Speaker 2: that my fifty six goes one hundred and five hundred
Speaker 2: and six, so this should be perfect. And then also
Speaker 2: you have to to think about like if the ball
Speaker 2: is going to spin or not on the green. So
Speaker 2: that's where the preparation is so important. On the Monday, Tuesday,
Speaker 2: Wednesday before the tournament starts on a walking around, yeah, correct,
Speaker 2: So you you have those three days to be able
Speaker 2: to come up with a bit of a game plan
Speaker 2: for the week. So by the time we get on
Speaker 2: Thursday and have a shot like that where we have
Speaker 2: one hundred meters to the hole and we know how
Speaker 2: the ball is going to react already before even hitting
Speaker 2: the shot. That's that's important to take into a to
Speaker 2: take into a.
Speaker 1: Factor, and then once it hits the green, Yeah, you
Speaker 1: sort of know what to expect. Yeah, because you've done
Speaker 1: you've done your walk around. You know what to expect
Speaker 1: in relationship, which way it may roll.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, based on like which flight, which way it's
Speaker 2: coming into the green. And then also the the interaction,
Speaker 2: like the way you strike it. You know, like if
Speaker 2: you've hit a good shot based off like that sensation
Speaker 2: that feels straight away.
Speaker 1: With the noise. I mean, that's any thing like that's satdy.
Speaker 1: Time I enjoy golf is when I get that when
Speaker 1: you hit it that sweet spots therapeutic. It's not that often,
Speaker 1: but it's still in mathematical, Yeah, I'd like to you
Speaker 1: just say you have a good example. You said, as
Speaker 1: a hundred one hundred met of shot, but because the weather,
Speaker 1: you're allow for another six, so you need to pick
Speaker 1: a club that's going to get you one hundred and
Speaker 1: six meters. Blah blah blah. That's just like quite mathematical.
Speaker 2: I'm learning a lot more in the school of life
Speaker 2: then I perhaps learned at the actual school. Let's say
Speaker 2: that I feel like you, like in school, you don't
Speaker 2: actually learn that much, like about the finance side of
Speaker 2: things as well, like the tax and all that. And
Speaker 2: that's something that I've really stepped into this last year
Speaker 2: and a half, and that's something that I'm really looking
Speaker 2: forward to learning more about because it's it's going to
Speaker 2: help you become more of a complete person, if that
Speaker 2: makes sense.
Speaker 1: It's a bit in the business being a professional golfer. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what it's all.
Speaker 2: I'm learning so much WEM.
Speaker 1: Greg Norman was a great example. I mean Greg has
Speaker 1: his detractors, but at the end of the day, the
Speaker 1: guy has lived a long career, way past your golfing days,
Speaker 1: making money out of golf, and you know, like he's
Speaker 1: I find him quite amazing. He's seventy, he's the same
Speaker 1: age as me. He's a little bit older, he's seventy
Speaker 1: seventy something. But I finally quite amazing how he's reinventing
Speaker 1: himself into golf, into the golf world. And that's because
Speaker 1: he understands the business of golf, like sponsors countries who
Speaker 1: need golf club golf courses in order to build golf tourism,
Speaker 1: like in Vietnam where he's working on at the momy top.
Speaker 1: So do you look I mean given to your you know,
Speaker 1: at the age of fourteen, you decided to leave school
Speaker 1: and go do it from home and become a professional golfer.
Speaker 1: Just in an other word, you're looking way ahead. Do
Speaker 1: you look way ahead beyond your golfing years now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I definitely want to step in a new
Speaker 2: type of professional environment after I retire from the game
Speaker 2: of golf, and I have, like I was mentioning, the
Speaker 2: fortunate people I do have around me. You know, Todd
Speaker 2: Woodbridge is a really close friend of mine. And as
Speaker 2: soon as Todd, you know, stepped out of the tennis
Speaker 2: playing side of things, he's moved into the media side
Speaker 2: of things, and he's made a huge success for himself
Speaker 2: and he's he's he's been able to engage in a
Speaker 2: different type of audience than just the tennis audience, which
Speaker 2: I think is great, and people are learning more about
Speaker 2: Todd Woodbridge the media person rather than just Todd Woodbridge
Speaker 2: the tennis doubles player, yeah, or the doubles player. So
Speaker 2: I think that's something that you know, motivates me, is
Speaker 2: to be able to step into I'm not saying that
Speaker 2: media might be as strong force had.
Speaker 1: It's just an example.
Speaker 2: It's just an example. So I think whenever that time comes,
Speaker 2: i'd definitely be interested in doing something like that.
Speaker 1: And you and I are talking earlier before the show,
Speaker 1: and you know Greg has been great at designing courses, sure,
Speaker 1: and he's made a small fortune out of it. There's
Speaker 1: all so many avenues that are on tapped us a
Speaker 1: bit like because you know how often we hear about it.
Speaker 1: You mean you're a Bronco supporter, you're about rugby league players.
Speaker 1: They at the top of the tree, and they don't
Speaker 1: actually prepare for something for the day they retire, which
Speaker 1: they retire pretty young and and or either retire just
Speaker 1: by virtual of age or injured one of the two
Speaker 1: and most of them, for some of them, really anything
Speaker 1: they do is either coaching or commentary. But that's getting
Speaker 1: pretty crowded at the moment. In your sport, you have
Speaker 1: a much longer life potentially subject to injury, et cetera,
Speaker 1: but a much longer life and sick. But you've got
Speaker 1: to be successful. You're only as good as your last
Speaker 1: in your game, You're only as good as your last win.
Speaker 2: It keeps me working hard and staying accountable.
Speaker 1: But but but you do. You have a responsibility to
Speaker 1: yourself to build something for the future. It's not just
Speaker 1: that accumulates some money, buy some assays you know, and
Speaker 1: some render whatever it is you know, play that game,
Speaker 1: but also you know where can Elvis Smiley end up
Speaker 1: when he's forty.
Speaker 2: I want to. I want to look back in my
Speaker 2: life and I want to feel like I challenged myself
Speaker 2: as much as I possis we can, and I want
Speaker 2: to step into uncomfortable environments and situations and try and
Speaker 2: get better, because I think comfort is a it can
Speaker 2: be a dangerous place, it can serve its purpose. But
Speaker 2: ultimately I'm trying to I'm trying to add as many
Speaker 2: tools as i can to my toolbox. Like I've mentioned,
Speaker 2: I love using that analogy because it just shows what
Speaker 2: a worldly person I can become, and I'm excited for
Speaker 2: that opportunity.
Speaker 1: That's interesting coming from a kid who's sort of growing
Speaker 1: up in Queensland. I want to be a worldly person,
Speaker 1: but you are in a worldly game. It's a for me.
Speaker 1: It's funny you should say that that point about challenging yourself,
Speaker 1: testing yourself and building as many tools for you in
Speaker 1: your toolbox in golf, but also they will also be
Speaker 1: very good for you in future life. But what's really important,
Speaker 1: and it's coming out of all the studies scientific studies
Speaker 1: these days, even when it comes to how we age.
Speaker 1: Once upon time, we thought when you turn sixty five,
Speaker 1: you should retire and relax and have a game of
Speaker 1: golf or sit in the lounge room and not have
Speaker 1: to be able to work in the morning. But actually
Speaker 1: what's coming out now is that we should actually be
Speaker 1: challenging ourselves. We should be pushing ourselves as sixty five,
Speaker 1: more so than when we even when we're younger, because
Speaker 1: if you start to don't challenge yourself, everything sort of
Speaker 1: slows down and feels comfortable. And Australia has been that country,
Speaker 1: you know, where we're very lucky. Everything's sort of pretty goody.
Speaker 1: You know, we save up, we get our super and
Speaker 1: we retire blah blah blah blah. But it's interesting a
Speaker 1: young person at twenty three is thinking that way in
Speaker 1: relation to a lot of people saying the guy's gone
Speaker 1: enough money, why doesnt ity retire? It's interesting to say
Speaker 1: that you're looking at it that way because for me,
Speaker 1: listening to what you're saying, It's about actually extending your life,
Speaker 1: either as a golf or just as a person by
Speaker 1: challenging yourself all the time until the day, maybe at
Speaker 1: the day you die, which is another thing that Greg
Speaker 1: Norman does. Greg is all he's challenging himself, even of
Speaker 1: this age. He's not retiring, no interest what not retiring.
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's got enough money to retire, but that'd
Speaker 1: probably send him nuts. Do you think about those things?
Speaker 1: And do you have a person who's your like a model?
Speaker 1: Is it your mum or dad or is it Great Norman?
Speaker 1: Who do you think about that? Is it a proxy
Speaker 1: for you?
Speaker 2: The best version of myself? That's what I'd like to
Speaker 2: think of it. As I had role models growing up.
Speaker 2: Greg was one of them, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith. That's
Speaker 2: just obviously just in the professional sports profession. But yeah,
Speaker 2: ultimately the best version of myself. You know, I remember
Speaker 2: watching Matthew McConaughey win a Golden Globe and the winning speech.
Speaker 2: You know, who do who do I look to? Who
Speaker 2: do I look up to? And what do I look
Speaker 2: forward to? And those are the three coolest things ever?
Speaker 1: That's good?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So you know who does he look forward to
Speaker 2: I think is like the future self trying to become
Speaker 2: the best person he can be that who does he
Speaker 2: look up to? Who he's got a really strong faith
Speaker 2: with the man upstairs? And so do I. And that's
Speaker 2: something I'm proud of speaking about.
Speaker 1: And then that's good. You're proud to say that I am.
Speaker 1: And yeah, what's twenty six? Hopefully twenty twenty six? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean we're at the beginning of DIB. What do
Speaker 1: you I hope, what's one big goal for this year?
Speaker 2: You've got me? I don't know. I want to I'm
Speaker 2: in two majors this year. Oh wow, I want to
Speaker 2: do something very special in both of those. I will
Speaker 2: say that.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to be watching that. And I want
Speaker 1: to say to you, Elvis, like, just from my point
Speaker 1: of view, and I guess anyone who's listening, congratulations for
Speaker 1: sort of getting it together at such a young age.
Speaker 1: I mean, apart from your wonderful talent and you know
Speaker 1: what your recently won and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, apart from all that, just congratulations for getting
Speaker 1: it deather at such a young age and very impressive.
Speaker 1: Well done. May thank you you war