WEBVTT - Michelle Wie West 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:02.520 I think I was playing with a really short player, 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.360 someone who was like five ft tall, and obviously they're 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:09.840 making everything and I'm missing everything. And I'm like, you 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:12.280 know what, you know what. I figured out why I'm 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:16.919 missing all my putts. I'm too tall. This is why. Yeah, 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.239 I'm too far away from the ball. There are five 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:21.720 feet tall, there's so much closer to the ball. That's 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:23.800 why they pretty well. So then in the middle of 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.040 the round, obviously there's no mirrors on the golf course, 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:28.880 I start to bend lower to the ball. I start 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.840 making everything. I'm just like, I feel so great over 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.400 the golf ball. The ball looks bigger, the whole looks bigger. 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.520 I'm one with the ball because I'm closer to the wall. 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.440 And then after the round, reporters are asking me questions 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.159 about my new punting steps. I'm like, yeah, I'm just 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.000 a little lower to the ball, Like, what's the big deal. 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:45.840 And I see a picture of myself. I'm like, oh, 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:56.560 I understand why I look funny. Hi, Michelle Ee West, 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:06.240 I am a mom or a professional golfer. Hello everybody, 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:10.199 and welcome back to a brand new episode of Off 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:16.160 the Beat. Our first episode of Happy New year to 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.520 all of you. As always, I am your host, Brian 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.200 baumb Gartner, and to kick off the new year, I'm 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:27.080 very excited, as you just heard, I have with me 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:36.440 pro golf extraordinaire and well absolute badass, Michelle we West. Now, 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.840 if you're anything like me, you've probably been familiar with 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:45.760 Michelle since she was just a young girl taking the 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:50.560 golf world by storm. That's right, she began her career 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.880 before most people her age were even in middle school. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:59.280 And even more impressive than that, Michelle knew she was 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.520 going to be a per fessional golfer when she was 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:07.640 only seven years old. Seven. Think about that. What were 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:12.560 you doing at age seven? Playing hop scotch, perhaps maybe 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:17.640 collecting beanie babies? I know I was. Uh. If there 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.360 is an award in golf for the youngest player to 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:25.560 do basically anything, you can bet that Michelle either has 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.000 or had that record at some point. Since starting her 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:34.640 professional career at age ten, she's hit just about every 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.960 golf milestone known to mankind. And now she is using 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.640 her platform to help women and minority owned businesses, and 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:47.640 she's passionate about showing young athletes that they can achieve 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:53.040 all of their goals, including those outside of their sport. Look, 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.480 if you know me at all, you know I love 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.000 golf and in fact, I played with Michelle last year 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.240 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, where I 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:08.919 will be again this year in Orlando January nineteen through 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:13.320 the twenty two. It's my opportunity to play with the 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:17.760 stars of the LPGA Tour, and there is no bigger 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:23.040 star than the living legend Michelle we West. So without 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:32.600 further ado, here she is m w W. Bubble and Squeak. 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:40.200 I love Bubble and squeak on Bubble and Squeaker, cooking 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:54.360 at every month, left over from the nubb before. What's 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:58.200 up a show? Hi? How are you? I'm so good? 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.360 How are you? I'm excited that you're playing next year. 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:03.560 I won't be there, but I'm so you're playing next year. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.720 At the time you're gonna come, You're gonna come caddy 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:11.680 for me? Right? Yeah? No? Is that a note? Was? 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.720 That was just a la? I didn't hear it. That 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.520 was a polite laugh. Oh shoot, there'll be a lot 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.839 of those today, I'm sure. Yeah. You and I played 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:28.360 together last year at the Hilton Grand Tournament of Champions. 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.200 For the LPGA Tour. Now that might confuse some people 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.039 as to why I was playing in the LPGA Tournament 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:39.400 of Champions, but uh yeah, there was. There's a celebrity component. 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.920 How how are those for you? How is it for 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:49.400 you trying to concentrate and have me definite around around now? Honestly, 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.400 I love these formats are so much fun. I had 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.480 a blast. I had an absolute blast. And honestly, if 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:00.120 we can't concentrate with like outside distraction, then they we 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:02.760 shouldn't be golf pros in the first place. But you know, 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.680 I think that's the beauty of golf is that you 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.400 can play with other people. You know, you can't you 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.400 can never have the format and let's say NFL. You know, 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.520 we're not going to just like throw in celebrities and 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:18.640 be like, let's get tackled by you know, NFL tackled um. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.760 You know. So it's a great format and golf is 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:24.520 very unique in that way. Even if you do poems. 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:26.640 I feel like in tennis it's never the same as well, 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.480 because you're across the net. You know, we've spent we 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:32.440 spent like five hours talking and get to know each other, 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.440 and it was it was so much fun. Yeah, I 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.720 love doing it. I love playing in those events. I 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.560 feel like it's my job because let's face it, I'm 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.159 not gonna win. I feel like it's my job in 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.000 a way to stay out of the way. But I 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:55.080 do feel that competitive thing, like I do. I do 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:58.440 want to do well. In fact, there is a there's 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.320 a video that's going around. I think it's on my 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.360 all time highlight video because I only have like three things. 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:08.640 Where last year with you on eighteen I made a 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:15.480 twenty yeah for Bertie ish and so I think that. 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.960 I think the folks at the Tournament of Champions literally 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:25.240 scoured my four rounds to find one redeeming moment. And 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.360 of course I did a big fist pump like an idiot, 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:34.000 like no, and definitely well yeah, I mean a birdie 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.400 is a birdie, right, Hey, it was a great Bertie. 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.400 It was a great Bertie. Um. Well, look, I've been 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:43.200 a fan of yours for so so long. Um, I 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:47.760 want to go back to start to to your childhood. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:53.320 You grew up famously in in Hawaii. Your mom was 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:57.560 a golfer, is that right? Yeah? And and was a 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:01.760 good golfer. Yeah, she played competitively in Korea. You know, 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:03.320 back in the day though, there weren't a lot of 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.640 women in Korea that played golf. So I think she 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:08.760 I mean, she said that she won a golf tourn it, 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:16.320 but there was like only four people in the field exactly, 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.120 and when is a win? Um? So yeah, she my 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:21.760 my dad and my mom got married and moved to 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.640 the States, and um my mom taught my dad how 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.280 to play golf and they joined those couple's league and 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.640 was very serious about it. And I started playing because 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.240 I just wanted to join in on the fun. I 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.160 felt like they were leaving me at my friend's house 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.560 to do something fun by themselves, so I would beg 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.000 them to take me with them so I could go 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.680 out and drive the golf cart. You you started playing 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.720 at age four, h Yeah. I was playing a lot 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.800 of other sports as well as playing baseball, tennis, swimming, 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.920 I did ballet, funny enough, and imagine that. Um, but 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.360 I did a lot of other stuff, and I don't know, 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.040 golf was just I guess another one that I tried. 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.840 At what point did you decide that this was not 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:05.840 just a little activity you were going to do as 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.680 a child, but that you were you were serious about 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:12.560 golf specifically, Uh, you're in a laugh. I was pretty young, 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.880 I was about seven. I really wanted to be at 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.920 tennis pro. I really wanted to be a professional athlete. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.080 That was your goal, that was my goal in life. 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:22.920 I really wanted to a professional athlete, want to be 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.800 really good at something. And I sucked at baseball. I 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.680 sucked at soccer, I sucked at swimming, sucked at ballet 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.600 and gymnastics. Obviously, I was like a five foot child, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.559 and it was tennis and golf, and I was pretty 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.760 good at tennis, could hit the s h I t 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:46.160 out of the ball, but I don't know. I'm also 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.800 used to doing that around my child or now at 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:56.360 BCK that spell not yet um no. But it was 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.800 between tennis and golf, and I just couldn't run to 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:00.920 the net. So I just made it exacting decision that 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:02.439 I was gonna be a golfer. And that was a 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:07.720 day wait, meaning you weren't fast. I'm very slow, really 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:12.040 extremely My feet are like cement blocks, which I guess 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:16.040 is great for golf. Oh it is. You know what's 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:20.520 interesting to at least me, that is, this is so 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:23.720 lame talking to a real golfer about this, but I 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.480 actually most it's not. It's occasionally cement like I've had 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.360 that before, But I do a visualization where I think 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.880 of my my feet my legs as trunks to try 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:41.959 to sway or you know, to keep the lower half still. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.480 So I've I've used that before. So good. So you 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.280 actually have concrete on your feet, so that's you don't 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:51.000 even have to visualize it. Well, I think the next 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.079 time we're together, we're gonna race. I've just decided that 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.400 because I feel like I'm going to lose, well, then 0:09:56.480 --> 0:10:01.840 we definitely should. Okay, So at seven, I mean, it 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:07.000 doesn't make me laugh because doing my research here, at ten, 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:13.600 you became the youngest player ever to qualify for the 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:23.000 US Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. Now you're ten, are 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.600 you are you hitting the ball far? Are you keeping 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.720 it in play? Are you put like, what is your 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:31.760 what is your strength at this point? Or is it 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:36.120 just everything? Well, I think there's one factor that I 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.840 think a lot of people don't imagine in their heads 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:40.840 when they're thinking about a ten year old qualified for 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.520 a national event. I was a behemoth of a child. 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.680 I was five seven when I was ten and I 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.560 weighed a hundred and seventy five pounds, which meant I 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:53.240 hit the golf ball over to fifty. You hit the 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.040 golf ball over to fifty ten years of age. I 0:10:56.040 --> 0:11:01.320 mean I weighed a solid yeah, but still the coordination 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:06.040 to do this is impressive. Are you doing at ten? 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:10.160 Are you doing like core exercises? Not at all? If 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:12.560 you see a picture of me, no, I was double 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.920 fisting ice cream at that point, right, Well, that gives 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:21.800 you energy, I heard, yeah, wow, And are you shooting? 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:24.640 What does it? What does it take to qualify for 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.720 the US Women's Amateur Public Links Championships. I mean, are 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.560 you shooting par I mean I was at that point. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.920 I think I shot like, I don't know, high seventies. 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:36.840 I mean else. I mean I was also qualified in Hawaii, 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.240 and I think at that point there weren't a lot 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.000 of people. I think now it's become a very popular 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.200 qualifying site, and that's the talent um, you know. I 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.760 think every year it's getting better and better. I think 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:51.319 that year not a lot of people try to qualify. 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:55.000 Sorry I was lucky in that sense, but yeah, they 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.960 shot like high seventies. I think, yeah, but that but 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.840 that's misleading for people who don't really follow this stuff. 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:06.679 I mean, there was recently a man's qualifying event here 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:10.319 at the golf course where I am in California. They 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:12.760 set up the course really hard, and the guys were 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.520 over par over two days. So I mean to say 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:19.000 high seven, it's not that's not like crazy. I mean, 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:20.800 if they when they set up the course is hard, 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.959 this is you know, it's difficult. How was it? How 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.520 was it to be in the Who was cutting for you? Mom? 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:32.120 And dad? I think my dad, I think, okay, yeah, 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.960 did you have a preference at that point? Um? So 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.440 I fought a lot with my dad, but it was 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.120 the more logical one on the golf course. Um, he 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.520 had better coursevantage. And my mom was like, yeah, go 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:48.920 for it, Yeah, go for it. Yeah, oh the water, 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.800 you can do it. And my dad would be like, no, 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.080 you gotta lay up. Let's be safe. And I would 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.480 always argue with him because I would think more like 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.760 my mom. But it was great. I needed someone like 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:03.840 my on my bed And were you like Dad, like 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:10.120 you're ten, you're not rational conversation? Oh no. There's so 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.199 many funny memories that I have, my dad catting for 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.640 MEAs I would fight with him all the time. It 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.520 was when I was ten at the Public Links, and 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.480 I remember my first time playing in Georgia and know 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.680 it was on Georgia, North Carolina, and there was like 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.000 flower beds and pine needles, stuff that I've never really 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.760 seen before playing golf. And my ball goes into like 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:32.040 the flower bed and I'm like, dad, flower Like, I'm like, 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:34.960 why don't you see that? Not blaming myself for hitting 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:36.680 the bad shop, it was like das ball for not 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.800 seeing the flower bed. And there was one time I 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.600 think I was probably in an LPGA tournament when I 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.080 was like thirteen or something, and my dad was catting 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.880 for me, and you might have noticed that there's little 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.400 markings on the fairway. There's someone spray paints like a 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:54.120 yellow triangle or like a red circle, and I think 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.880 it kind of confusing at times if you don't go 0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:58.559 stand right on top of it, because they do a 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.640 yellow triangle in a yellow school. And my dad missed 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.120 what shape it was and gave me the wrong yardage 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.520 by like forty yards, and I hit it like forty 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.920 yards over the green and I remember I vividly remember 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:15.480 taking the yardage book from him, it's like, you're fired. 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:23.800 I do this. I do this still. By the way, 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:26.840 this is another thing if you if you're not you know, 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:29.360 even if you're a golfer and but you're not familiar 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.040 with the tournament golf, there's it's good that you went 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.840 to Stanford. Spoiler alert. There's a lot of math on 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:40.840 the golf course. There's a lot of math, and particularly 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.960 if you're like me and I do it three times 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.720 a year, maybe at these tournaments that you know, you 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.280 can't use the yardage guns or lasers. I don't know 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.080 if you can call them guns. I'm always like, hey, 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:54.880 hand me the gun, and everyone's like, what are you 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:57.840 talking about. Um, there's a lot of math, and it's 0:14:57.880 --> 0:14:59.720 to the front, and then you've got to add this, 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.880 subtract that, and yeah, well obviously you know what I'm 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.800 talking about. But it's it's it's very difficult and you're 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.040 out there trying not to take time. Especially when I'm 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.040 playing with Michelle we I'm like, just give me and 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.000 just give me just as close as you could get. 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.880 Just give me the number. Move on. How How was 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:24.200 the attention that you begin getting, How was that for 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:27.640 your parents? I was I think my parents took a 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:32.240 definitely heavier load than I did, because back in the day, 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:36.520 there wasn't you know, Instagram or Twitter or any of that. 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:38.680 It was only in the physical newspapers. I think there 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:40.920 are some online articles. But I was going to school 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:43.280 and now my friends knew who I was. Oh, they 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.640 were not aware. No. My my best friend, her grandmother 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.880 would like cut out a newspaper article and highlight the 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.960 most important part so she would read it because she 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.480 wouldn't read the whole article. Um. But yeah. There was 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.360 this really awkward moment where the mayor I think when 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.560 I was like ten or eleven, ended up assigning a 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.600 Michelle we Day and I was this new kid in 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.160 school and everyone hated me, and everyone hated me even 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:14.160 more after this, and I was like, great, I they 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.400 wanted to do it at school and I'm like, oh, gosh, 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:21.960 anywhere but here please. How old are you at this 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.760 point when there was a Michelle we Day. I think 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:26.920 I got one when I was like a London and 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.920 then I got one like in two thousand and fifteen. 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.480 I don't know it was. I didn't get a key 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:36.000 to the park, which was very cool, the key to 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.400 the city which I don't know where the key lock 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:41.600 would be. But did they give you a key? They did? 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:44.880 See that's weird. I think I was given the key 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.600 to Scranton, but I wasn't given a key. I think 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:52.320 it was more a metaphorical key to the city. Gave 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:56.400 me a key, I have a proclamation it's in my office, 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.640 but they did not give me an actual key. What 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.360 is it open? I have no idea. I want to 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.480 find out. It could be like National treasure there. There 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:09.080 could be some special stuff in there, very special stuff 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:16.080 that only you could see or whoever else has a key. Um. 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.359 You know, I've talked to a lot of well child 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:24.000 actors for lack of a better term, about what it 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:30.800 was like for them, not just juggling those relationships between 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:37.600 school and work, if you will, um, but also balancing 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:43.399 school with doing the actual work. What what percentage of 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:47.760 time were you in the classroom here? Ten eleven, twelve? 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:51.480 Are you? Are you practicing all the time? You're obviously 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.119 traveling to tournaments, so you're missing school. Do you have 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.760 a tutor? How does that work for you? So I 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.520 did have a tutor, and I only practiced after school 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.119 for a couple of hours, yeah, Um, on the weekends, 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.040 I would spend all day on the golf course, but 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:06.920 I would probably only practice for like two or three 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:11.560 hours after school. UM. And then my school and my 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.440 team my parents met and they said that I'm only 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.960 allowed to miss two weeks out of the school year, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:22.080 so I didn't miss much school at all. And because yeah, 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.640 because I when I was younger, UM, I didn't play 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.200 in any A j G events UM, which is the 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.760 Junior Golf circuit which you know, there was a tournament 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:31.960 every week like the LPGA Tour. I didn't play in that. 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.040 I just played in the U s J events during 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.320 the summer, so there was public links US Amter and 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.560 U Studio Girls which and then I also played UM 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.760 in the men's public links as well, so like you know, 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.439 four or five, I would try qualify for the US 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.000 Open as well. And then even once I qualified UM 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.760 for LPGA tournaments and started playing in LPGA tournaments, because 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.040 I wasn't a member, I was only allowed to play 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.720 six throughout the year. Okay, so I mean most of 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.120 my tournaments were in the summer. I missed two weeks 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.920 out of the year, so it worked out perfectly interesting. Yeah, 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.680 that's that's surprising. It's I've also I'm just gonna take 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.080 an opportunity to say the two things that I've learned 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.800 so far to be uh comic transcendent golf star is 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.520 to eat just a double fist ice cream and only 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.359 practice after school for like an hour or so. Yeah. 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:27.600 Mylow on my way. Yeah, my reward for practicing well 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:32.000 was a king size sicker bar. Oh how often did 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:41.280 you get those? Exactly? So you just mentioned it. It's 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:46.720 inconceivable to me. But you begin playing with the men, 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:52.440 I mean, for lack of a better words, weird um 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:58.960 in two thousand four, so you're fifteen, you became the 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.600 youngest email to play in a p G A event, 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:07.119 the Sony Open in Hawaii. You are playing on in 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:10.960 public legs as well. What what is this? Because you 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:16.639 were playing against them, like in local stuff like that, 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:18.879 This wasn't a big deal for you. Was this a 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:22.040 goal of yours to do? Talk to me a little 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:25.720 bit about that. So it's crazy and uh, this is 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.800 definitely a mindset of a I was fourteen, fourteen year old. 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:35.280 I had won the state's biggest tournament, women's tournament when 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:39.040 I was twelve. By thirteen strokes. Y um. And from 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.120 then on, I just started playing in men's events because 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.719 there was nothing bigger for me to kind of like 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:48.199 unquote conquer. I guess in the state of Hawaii. You know, 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:51.280 I was already playing the fifteen through eighteen age range, 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:54.360 and I don't know. I was just like, to me, 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.560 I didn't really understand the gravity of playing in a 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:01.960 PG eight Tour event. It was just another tournament that 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:06.000 was on the island. Because you also have to realize 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.520 that we're five six hours from the West coast, so 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:11.600 you know, I'm not traveling a lot to the mainland. 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.480 That's expensive for my parents. Um, you know, so I'm like, great, 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:17.879 another tournament here on the island. It's trying to do 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:20.879 that one. Um. So I didn't really I guess I 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:23.960 didn't really understand the gravity of it. It was ten 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.840 minutes from my house. At that point. I had played 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:31.639 on the boys baseball team, and for me, I was like, 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:34.600 I did that, I could do this as well, right, 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:37.840 that was literally my mindset. It's kind of crazy thinking 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.040 about that, but yeah, yeah, well yeah, and you just 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.760 brought it up. It didn't really occur to me like, 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.520 of course you win by thirteen shots against the women. 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:52.600 Now that it's the Hawaii Stayed Open women's division, is 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:57.720 that every age woman? Yeah, so any woman in Hawaii, 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:01.640 you beat them all by thirteen shots, and so you're like, well, 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:04.840 who bring up the next one? Right? I mean? Is 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:08.840 that it? Yeah? I started playing, um, yeah, the men's 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:12.800 tournaments and then, um, I don't know. Just like for me, 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:16.200 I was just like, let's just try new things. Let's 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:18.959 qualify for not PJ tournament, Let's play in a PJ tournament. 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:22.159 I was like, why not? And then people started to 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:23.879 make a big deal about it, and then I was 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:27.000 just like and I just started thinking like, why are 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.520 they telling women not to play in these tournaments? Like 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.440 it just didn't make sense to me. They felt like 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:35.359 that shouldn't be the reason why I can't play in 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:38.600 these events, you know. Um but yeah, just to me, 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:40.480 I was just like, let's just just try it out. 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:43.520 See what happens. What's the worst that can happen? What's 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:46.280 the word? Yeah, you could play like me when I 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.240 played with you, Literally, that's the worst that could happen. 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:54.160 You played great, did not? We had fun? We had fun. 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:17.920 At this age, we're talking about ten eleven, you win 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:22.119 at age twelve. At thirteen, you make the cut on 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:26.080 the LPGA Tour, you start playing with the men before 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:31.240 you before your professional golf. What is the achievement for 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:35.679 you that you're the proudest of. I think when winning 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:37.840 the U s Women's probably Links when I was thirteen, 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:40.439 because I felt like every year at that tournament, I 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.000 was like getting better and better and better. Um. And 0:23:43.000 --> 0:23:44.840 when I was ten, I made the cut, made into 0:23:44.880 --> 0:23:47.560 match play, lost in the first round. When I was eleven, 0:23:47.600 --> 0:23:50.240 I think I lost in the third round or second round, 0:23:50.520 --> 0:23:53.360 and they just kept getting better and better. And by 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:55.800 the time I was thirteen, you know, i'd want it, 0:23:55.840 --> 0:23:58.320 and I had a really good chance to win when 0:23:58.320 --> 0:24:00.920 I was fourteen as well, but it was just one 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:02.639 tournament that I really wanted to win. U. S J 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:04.680 were like family to me by that point. I would 0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:07.480 started playing in the US Open, you know, when I 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:10.280 was thirteen, I played in my first major at that 0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:13.840 time Craft to Disco now is a chevron um and 0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:16.400 made it into the final group on Sunday, which I'm 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:19.920 extremely proud of as well. Yeah, you made the cut 0:24:20.080 --> 0:24:24.320