Speaker 1: The guys from paying They've kind of showed me how
Speaker 1: much the equipment matters.
Speaker 2: I just love that I can hit any shot.
Speaker 3: I kind of want we're gonna be able to tell
Speaker 3: some fun stories about what goes on here to help
Speaker 3: golfers play better golf.
Speaker 1: Hey, hey, everybody, welcome back to the Pinging proven Grounds podcast.
Speaker 1: Shane Bake and Marty Jerts in a second appearance for
Speaker 1: mister Mat McCarty. You're like a now a podcast regular.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, happy to be back on.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five. I know this season, I know maybe
Speaker 1: you haven't played as good at golf as you play,
Speaker 1: But I want to go back to twenty twenty four
Speaker 1: for a bit, because you know, you have this breakout,
Speaker 1: You're on the corn Ferry Tour, you flip to the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour, you win pretty much instantly. Have you had
Speaker 1: time to like process twenty twenty four like and just
Speaker 1: you do you have time like this winner to just
Speaker 1: sit back and go like what I was able to do,
Speaker 1: how I was able to play, Like if you had
Speaker 1: any time to kind of think about.
Speaker 2: It, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4: I mean I think when you're kind of just going
Speaker 4: like that, it just kind of everything happens and you're
Speaker 4: just playing good golf and everything kind of snowballs on itself.
Speaker 4: But uh yeah, definitely to kind of you know, reminisce
Speaker 4: a little bit, but also kind of think about like
Speaker 4: what I'm doing well or what I was doing well,
Speaker 4: like what I need to kind of keep doing, keep
Speaker 4: improving and working on. And uh was a good off season.
Speaker 4: A little shorter than I was used to, but that
Speaker 4: was all all positive, So it's good.
Speaker 3: What is like the definition of off season Like, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2: Only in a few weeks. Yeah, yeah, this year, I
Speaker 2: mean it flew by.
Speaker 4: It seemed like it was just like it's six weeks,
Speaker 4: but it flew by in a couple So yeah, it
Speaker 4: was good. I mean a lot a lot of sitting
Speaker 4: on the couch watching football after twenty nine events in
Speaker 4: a year.
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, it was fun.
Speaker 4: Nice to you know, spend time with family and friends
Speaker 4: and just kind of you know, not be bouncing around
Speaker 4: city of city every week, is you know, kind of nice.
Speaker 2: But uh yeah, it's good.
Speaker 3: What what what type of practicing training? What did you
Speaker 3: kind of do during the off season here?
Speaker 4: I think a lot of just kind of out, you know,
Speaker 4: my body was kind of a little run down after
Speaker 4: last season, so just trying to kind of recover a
Speaker 4: little bit a little bit like strength training, get back
Speaker 4: in the gym, lift some weights and but yeah, and
Speaker 4: then just kind of give yourself some time to rest,
Speaker 4: I think like mentally as well, just kind of turn
Speaker 4: turn your prain off from golf a little bit.
Speaker 2: But yeah, Yeah, it was good, and I spend the holidays.
Speaker 4: And you know, excited to kind of you know, get
Speaker 4: going out here too and be right back in it.
Speaker 1: We were talking before you got going about you shooting
Speaker 1: fifty nine. You said your fourth professional tournament, Is that
Speaker 1: what you said? Or fourth professional round is that right?
Speaker 2: Like turn Yeah, fourth professional tournament in the Wyoming stayed open.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you said, you know, one of the hardest
Speaker 1: things we've talked a lot about. It is a cliche
Speaker 1: and professional golfs like the round after and you're like,
Speaker 1: you know, you go out there and you shoot even
Speaker 1: I'm assuming in a way you start twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: you have this incredible twenty twenty four and it's like
Speaker 1: back to the grind, you know. You hear players talk
Speaker 1: about the first one on the PGA Tour and then
Speaker 1: Thursday comes around and it's you know, you're even again, right,
Speaker 1: You're like tied with everybody else. Has it been difficult
Speaker 1: to kind of jump start twenty twenty five after what
Speaker 1: happened last season or have you been energized to get
Speaker 1: the year going now?
Speaker 4: I mean, I think got kicked in the teeth a
Speaker 4: little bit early at Centric. I mean, shooting like six
Speaker 4: under Friday, I think, and I played okay, and you
Speaker 4: just get.
Speaker 2: A lapped by that entire field.
Speaker 4: But uh, yeah, No, it's been good, and I think
Speaker 4: it's definitely different out here. You know, the courses are
Speaker 4: a little bit more challenging. Obviously, the caliber of other
Speaker 4: players is higher.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you're a little off out here and you
Speaker 2: kind of can get exposed a little bit.
Speaker 4: But you know, it's exciting and dream come true to
Speaker 4: be out here, and especially like growing up in Phoenix
Speaker 4: and starting on the West Coast swing, like very comfortable,
Speaker 4: kind of getting some events in California, went to college
Speaker 4: there and haven't really played you know, tournaments there in
Speaker 4: the last three years. So it's been been a lot
Speaker 4: of fun to kind of be background home and background
Speaker 4: a lot of like friends and family.
Speaker 2: Two, it has been good.
Speaker 3: You've I think shooting fifty nine, you got the capability
Speaker 3: of going low. How does that like? And then you're
Speaker 3: talking about century where the scores are really really low, obviously,
Speaker 3: talk about that mindset of like continue to make birdies.
Speaker 3: I mean when you won last fall, what you were
Speaker 3: twenty four under, twenty three I think twenty three under.
Speaker 3: So like, just what's it like to kind of be
Speaker 3: in those tournaments where you have to keep making birdies,
Speaker 3: keep making birdies, shoot six seven unders a day?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean you kind of just got to keep
Speaker 4: looking at the pin and just visualize seeing it go close,
Speaker 4: but really like not really kind of think about where
Speaker 4: you're at and literally like each hole is kind of
Speaker 4: its own thing, and you know, once you get to
Speaker 4: like five six seven under, I think that's the thing
Speaker 4: that you learn a lot, or at least I learned
Speaker 4: a lot on the corn Ferry Tour. I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: you shoot three four under out there and you're kind
Speaker 4: of getting laps. You kind of got to learn how
Speaker 4: to shoot you know, six seven eight nine hunderbar a
Speaker 4: lot of times, and you know it's very important to
Speaker 4: kind of just keep the pedal down when you're out
Speaker 4: there and on a good day and then days when
Speaker 4: you're kind off just kind of figure out how to
Speaker 4: scrape something around out there.
Speaker 1: What do you think when you look back on twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, the run you had on the corn Ferry Tour,
Speaker 1: you win the three times, and then you went on
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, when you took some time to kind
Speaker 1: of think back to the season, how I played all
Speaker 1: the good stuff? What do you think you did the best? Like,
Speaker 1: what was the part of your game mentally, physically, whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be that you feel like took you
Speaker 1: to that place.
Speaker 4: Honestly, I think more than anything, and a lot of
Speaker 4: what I've been talking about with like a lot of
Speaker 4: people on my team the last few weeks is just
Speaker 4: just I was just playing golf, like very simil put
Speaker 4: but not like you know, thinking about golf swing, not
Speaker 4: thinking about like my stroke putting, but just kind of
Speaker 4: trying to visualize each shot, commit and just kind of
Speaker 4: hit it as close as you can, try.
Speaker 2: To make the ball in the hole as quickly as possible.
Speaker 4: But I mean, just that joy that comes with that
Speaker 4: of just playing the game, and just playing golf in
Speaker 4: general I think is super important for me. But also
Speaker 4: like to have success and just kind of that freedom
Speaker 4: that comes with that is uh usually the best thing
Speaker 4: for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, like Marty, we had this window. You know,
Speaker 1: we're do the Corn Ferry Tour, you know, on TV,
Speaker 1: and I remember mad I think he won a couple
Speaker 1: of times at this point. Maybe we're like in Utah
Speaker 1: or something, and we have him in the window, and
Speaker 1: I was pumped because, like, you've been played so well,
Speaker 1: and you know, I've known Mat for a while and
Speaker 1: you played okay in the opening round. You might have
Speaker 1: shot like one under and like all right, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean it's fine. You know, he's having a good
Speaker 1: season whatever. Like the next day you shot like ten under,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, I he is having fun. Like
Speaker 1: this is really fun right now. When you're able to
Speaker 1: even when the round's not going your way or the
Speaker 1: opening round's not going your way, you were able to
Speaker 1: kind of like walk back in And that stretch has
Speaker 1: to be the best golf you played in your life,
Speaker 1: that run on the Corn Fairy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think too, like like you said, I mean,
Speaker 4: you shoot like one under the first round on pretty
Speaker 4: easy course in Utah, and it's like you can't put
Speaker 4: too much emphasis on like how you're playing, Like sometimes
Speaker 4: you play good and you just kind of the scores
Speaker 4: aren't there, and then it's like, you know, you come
Speaker 4: out the next day, and that's a great part about
Speaker 4: golf is you know you always got another chance the
Speaker 4: next day and a ton of rounds out here. So yeah,
Speaker 4: it's definitely good, but that mindset's definitely super important.
Speaker 3: Now, tell us a little bit about the week at
Speaker 3: the Black Dozer Championship, Like showed up at the course.
Speaker 3: It's a course nobody had played before. I know, watching
Speaker 3: it on TV, it was amazing. You know when did
Speaker 3: you start feeling good? Was it in the practice rounds?
Speaker 3: After the first round? Yeah, I mean about that week.
Speaker 4: The place is just visually very cool, like to look
Speaker 4: at kind of the course, Like I felt good that
Speaker 4: it was like an even playing field. I think like
Speaker 4: a lot of these events early in the year too,
Speaker 4: is like a lot of these guys have been out here,
Speaker 4: you know, ten fifteen years and very comfortable with the
Speaker 4: golf course. So kind of having that start of like
Speaker 4: on a level playing field, and I felt like I
Speaker 4: honestly a little bit of advantage like growing up in
Speaker 4: the desert kind of a lot of like weird blind
Speaker 4: t shots. You know, if you hit it offline, you're
Speaker 4: not gonna find that golf ball. So very comfortable, like
Speaker 4: you know environment in that aspect, but also like the
Speaker 4: golf course itself, and then you know the weather is
Speaker 4: a little you know, warm kind of you hit a
Speaker 4: high one, the ball really goes. So growing up here,
Speaker 4: you know, in Phoenix was definitely like very similar and yeah,
Speaker 4: and that part of Utah is great. Like me and
Speaker 4: my girlfriend went on trip to Zion a couple of
Speaker 4: years ago, so I'd been up there before with the
Speaker 4: Red Rocks and loved it, and yeah, it was just
Speaker 4: just a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: I mean, how much are vibes important to playing good golf?
Speaker 1: Like you go to a place the week's going, well,
Speaker 1: maybe the girlfriend's there with you, Like I feel like
Speaker 1: you're a vibes guy in general, Like are vibes massively
Speaker 1: important for having a good week? Or can you show
Speaker 1: up to place the golf where you don't love and
Speaker 1: you're not it's not in your game? You can still
Speaker 1: play that type of place?
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean I think it's fifty to fifty.
Speaker 4: Like I think when you're comfortable, like having fun off
Speaker 4: the course that week is definitely a lot easier. I
Speaker 4: think a place that my vibes were pretty low was
Speaker 4: at Colorado for TBC Colorado for the corn Ferry Event.
Speaker 4: I'd missed the cut there two years first two years
Speaker 4: out and then this year, you know, I think set
Speaker 4: their fifty four hole scoring record, had like a three
Speaker 4: shot lead.
Speaker 2: So early into the last round.
Speaker 4: But like you know, when you kind of conquer a
Speaker 4: place that you don't feel comfortable at too, that's you know,
Speaker 4: kind of gets it going as well, and kind of
Speaker 4: that kind of gave me some confidence. Even though I
Speaker 4: didn't win that week, definitely gave me a lot of
Speaker 4: confidence kind of moving forward and the rest of the season.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean it's always fun, like when you're.
Speaker 4: You know, being in San Diego is a lot better
Speaker 4: than being in Springfield, Illinois.
Speaker 2: So the vibes has been a lot better out here
Speaker 2: onto it last.
Speaker 1: But what's been the biggest change? I Mean, we ask
Speaker 1: players they graduate from the Corn Ferry Tour to the
Speaker 1: PJA Tour this a lot, like what's the one thing
Speaker 1: that stood out or what's the one thing that's been
Speaker 1: mastly different? As you've kind of started twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: and you've got a chance to play in some of
Speaker 1: the really big boy events. Like what's the thing? Doesn't
Speaker 1: necessarily have to be a big thing, but what's something
Speaker 1: that stood out to you that's wow, this is way
Speaker 1: different than what I've experienced a pro golfer at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean, honestly, just playing against the guys that you
Speaker 4: watch on TV is the biggest thing. Getting the courtesy
Speaker 4: car straight out of the airport is like one of
Speaker 4: the little things that I think that's the nicest, not having.
Speaker 1: To drop it all, like what do you get it?
Speaker 4: It's different every week, but it's just kind of there
Speaker 4: about it.
Speaker 1: But if we're about a rental car, I don't if
Speaker 1: we're about riding with other people, like my car is here?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no more Avis lines is really nice.
Speaker 4: But uh but yeah, I would say just like the
Speaker 4: golf courses has been the biggest difference for sure. I
Speaker 4: mean a little bit more demanding off the tee always.
Speaker 4: They've been a little bit firmer out here for sure,
Speaker 4: So like kind of puts a premium on ball striking.
Speaker 4: But also I like, you know, you kind of got
Speaker 4: to think your way around it a little bit more
Speaker 4: less like kind of point shoot, try to go absolutely
Speaker 4: ballistic every week, which is nice, but definitely an adjustment
Speaker 4: and you know, kind of a learning experience for sure.
Speaker 3: At the Black Desert Championship, I'm curious to get your
Speaker 3: take on this, but I read a stat it had
Speaker 3: the highest fairway hip percentage but also the most provisionals
Speaker 3: off the tea. Yeah, did you have to hit any
Speaker 3: provisionals that week?
Speaker 2: I did not. We did not find the desert.
Speaker 4: Actually, the only time I did find the desert was
Speaker 4: with like a fifty degree from a bunker, just kind
Speaker 4: of bladed it.
Speaker 2: But nothing off the tee. So usually pretty accurate. Soay's
Speaker 2: one of my strikes out there.
Speaker 4: But yeah, the fairways were wide, but it's a very
Speaker 4: visually intimidating golf course and there's like four or five
Speaker 4: out there that you really got to hit well or
Speaker 4: else you're kind of in the lava and you know
Speaker 4: you're never gonna find it.
Speaker 1: Like like confidence wise, I mean again kind of like
Speaker 1: following you throughout the season, like Corn Ferry Tour and
Speaker 1: just seeing you, like when when when play well, even
Speaker 1: when you weren't winning, you were having high finishes like
Speaker 1: I go to the eighteenth hole on Sunday and the
Speaker 1: way you were able to kind of close that thing out.
Speaker 1: It's a par five again. You know, if you spray it,
Speaker 1: it can get you in trouble. I think you might
Speaker 1: have had what a one or two shot maybe a
Speaker 1: two shot lead at that point. Yeah, and it's like
Speaker 1: smoke a tea shot and then you hit that second
Speaker 1: shot to what like ten feet fifteen feet for eagle.
Speaker 1: It's just to me, it like encapsulated your year. Is
Speaker 1: my confidence in my game to be able to close
Speaker 1: something out like that?
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think that's a big part of it.
Speaker 4: I mean you got to kind of stay aggressive. You
Speaker 4: get a little timid out there, and you know, you
Speaker 4: try to play a little conservative, and then if that
Speaker 4: shot that you're hitting conservative doesn't go well puts you
Speaker 4: in more of a bad spot. You're better off kind
Speaker 4: of just trying to get it as close as you
Speaker 4: can and make the next one a little bit as easier.
Speaker 2: But that was definitely my mindset.
Speaker 4: I'm like, you know, I could hit threw it off
Speaker 4: this tea, but then I got, you know, another longer
Speaker 4: iron in and it hit my driver. Well, so kind
Speaker 4: of get as close as possible, and you know, being
Speaker 4: able to be on that green in two and you know,
Speaker 4: being able like four or five butt to win was
Speaker 4: definitely very sure. I could let myself relaxed.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, you can actually smile on the walk up.
Speaker 3: Matt, tell us a little bout what's going on in
Speaker 3: your bag? You still rolling the tyn Cee Center shafting.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, not much has changed obviously, like the new
Speaker 4: wood's coming out, so.
Speaker 2: Kind of been tinking around.
Speaker 4: Finally figured it out, you know, how to week kind
Speaker 4: of with the short offseason was kind of tough to
Speaker 4: you know, not playing a lot to kind of really
Speaker 4: you know, trust something in the bag. But after this
Speaker 4: last week, you know, being back in Phoenix and going
Speaker 4: out to ping, you know Thursday, you know, the boys
Speaker 4: got me dialed again and the new driver has been
Speaker 4: great and spinning a little bit less, launched a little
Speaker 4: higher for me, which is great, and you know, gained
Speaker 4: some distance.
Speaker 2: A little bit of speed.
Speaker 4: So was the four lst Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I
Speaker 4: went I went down to the nine and then kind
Speaker 4: of I like seeing loft, so went back up to
Speaker 4: the ten to five, turned it down. It's at about
Speaker 4: nine and a half added a little hot melt, you know,
Speaker 4: got I didn't. I grew up a lefty kind of
Speaker 4: just playing whatever. So I've been learning a little bit
Speaker 4: about kind of tinkering around with some clubs. But uh yeah,
Speaker 4: the guys here are awesome and you know, kind of
Speaker 4: get it, get you going and put you in that perfect,
Speaker 4: perfect zone.
Speaker 2: So it's been good.
Speaker 1: Sw Yeah, being a lefty growing up and you're like,
Speaker 1: just use this.
Speaker 2: I guess this is the club.
Speaker 3: I'm going to use it.
Speaker 1: I'll just make it sing. It's just so fun that now.
Speaker 1: I mean even with four forty, it's like the four
Speaker 1: wood and the seven would the nine, with like all
Speaker 1: the options for a lefty golfer being the same as
Speaker 1: a I mean, it definitely feels different thanhen we were
Speaker 1: like teenagers.
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: That's kind of been a big thing for me, like
Speaker 4: the last three or four years of just kind of
Speaker 4: learning about the equipment and you can, you know, if
Speaker 4: you kind of want to make the ball do something,
Speaker 4: you can have that advantage, you know, just based on
Speaker 4: the club that you're using.
Speaker 2: So it's been nice for sure.
Speaker 1: Have you been able to have some fun, like I mean,
Speaker 1: you have this crazy twenty twenty four and then you
Speaker 1: kind of run right into twenty twenty five. Like, have
Speaker 1: you stepped away from the game at all and been
Speaker 1: able to like enjoy it or go do anything or
Speaker 1: has it mostly been chilling, relaxed and just preparing for
Speaker 1: the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a little bit of both.
Speaker 4: Me and my girlfriend took a really nice trip for
Speaker 4: like a week in Montana this winter, So that was nice.
Speaker 1: Just like you guys are like, you're like not beach.
Speaker 1: I mean you're like going to the Zion National Park
Speaker 1: in Montana, Like that's your.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So like you know, likes doing hikes and stuff
Speaker 4: like that, and you know, we're going to Maui, you know,
Speaker 4: for New Year's so we figured we had the beach
Speaker 4: covered and it was kind of cool to do something
Speaker 4: like that. And you know, it's been a while since
Speaker 4: I had, you know, been on a plane without the clubs,
Speaker 4: which is always a nice feel.
Speaker 2: It feels like you're always like forgetting a bunch of stuff.
Speaker 2: But it was nice.
Speaker 3: You got a sciar snowboarder.
Speaker 2: Not anymore. I haven't been in a while. I'm too
Speaker 2: afraid I'm gonna hurt myself.
Speaker 1: Smart. Smart, you don't want to do that and you'll
Speaker 1: like just waste a year because you have an AHBL
Speaker 1: injury or something silly. The win, obviously, you get into
Speaker 1: a lot of these major championships. So I mean you're
Speaker 1: looking ahead of twenty twenty five. I know Phoenix has
Speaker 1: been big for you in terms of circling and just
Speaker 1: because you grew up here and you've been out to
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Open a whole bunch. So I want to
Speaker 1: talk to you about that a little bit. But as
Speaker 1: we inch closer to augusta like, is it on the brain?
Speaker 1: Do you think about it? Have you got a chance
Speaker 1: to go out there and play around at the golf
Speaker 1: course yet?
Speaker 2: I haven't been out yet. I've been thinking about it
Speaker 2: kind of.
Speaker 4: I was thinking about it last week and maybe in
Speaker 4: another week if the weather kind of turns.
Speaker 2: But I think it's snowed there like a week and
Speaker 2: a half ago.
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know if that's probably not
Speaker 1: a good practice round the show.
Speaker 2: You're ready for me yet?
Speaker 4: But uh no, I'm definitely circled on the calendar, and
Speaker 4: you know with the US Open, the players and the
Speaker 4: PGA as well, and you know, waste is kind of
Speaker 4: you know, this environment I feel like is you know,
Speaker 4: I'm gonna feel very similar to that outre as I will,
Speaker 4: you know, those weeks so kind of good prep that week,
Speaker 4: you know, to kind of get those nerves going a
Speaker 4: little bit and that excitement, you know.
Speaker 2: But yeah, definitely excited to go out there.
Speaker 4: And kind of see it and you know, step on
Speaker 4: the grounds out there would be very special for sure.
Speaker 1: What was your first Phoenix Open experience? Like, do you
Speaker 1: remember how old you were whatever when you came up
Speaker 1: with the Press.
Speaker 4: I mean we moved here from Seattle, and I was
Speaker 4: like ten or eleven, and I think I came out
Speaker 4: here every year, so I was, you know, eleven twelve.
Speaker 4: We'd do like, you know, probably a little bit too
Speaker 4: young at that point to do the standard baron, but
Speaker 4: just following my dad around watching guys hit balls put
Speaker 4: you know. Obviously kind of once I got a little older,
Speaker 4: weaseled my way into sixteen in that atmosphere. So uh yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, growing up out here, I think that's kind
Speaker 4: of a big part of like what I think about
Speaker 4: golf and like that it's fun and it's nice when
Speaker 4: you see the guys kind of like buy into that atmosphere,
Speaker 4: and I think this is one of the most well
Speaker 4: run tournaments of the year and just kind of you
Speaker 4: know how how much like the community here builds it
Speaker 4: up and you know, the support.
Speaker 2: For it obviously, but also like just the atmosphere.
Speaker 4: It feels like you're you know, just played, you know,
Speaker 4: played the back nine out there today and.
Speaker 2: You know sixteen.
Speaker 4: I mean that's how you got to feel like when
Speaker 4: you're playing an NBA game or an NFL game or something,
Speaker 4: it's just insane.
Speaker 2: It's a different feeling.
Speaker 4: So but yeah, it's a lot of fun and just
Speaker 4: like golf should be fun, and especially like when you're
Speaker 4: doing it at a high level like this, to have
Speaker 4: that many people out you know, watching your plays a
Speaker 4: really cool thing.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 3: Were you did you do Standard Bear?
Speaker 4: Yeah, in a few years growing up. So my biggest
Speaker 4: memories Ken Duke. I think he was just nice, Like,
Speaker 4: you know, a lot of the guys locked in all
Speaker 4: the time, and I especially out here, you kind of got.
Speaker 2: To put your blinders on a little bit.
Speaker 4: But I mean he was just like, you know, chopping
Speaker 4: it up with us down the fairways and stuff.
Speaker 2: So I remember that He's just a great dude. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: that's the goal for the week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for me, I did as a kid a few times,
Speaker 3: and for me it was Calcri. Yeah, he was so
Speaker 3: nice to us, you know, so I always remember that.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you.
Speaker 1: Always remember both, right, I mean, because like I know,
Speaker 1: the guys like when I was a kid that were
Speaker 1: really nice, and then I remember the guys that weren't
Speaker 1: so nice. You know, like you kind of remember both ways.
Speaker 1: But it was definitely as well.
Speaker 4: But yeah, no, it's cool, and like I mean, growing
Speaker 4: up out here, I don't feel that far removed from
Speaker 4: being a kid and wanting an autograph and getting a
Speaker 4: ball from someone, So yeah, to kind of have you know,
Speaker 4: it's pretty surreal that you know, they want my stuff now,
Speaker 4: But I mean.
Speaker 2: It's it's it's definitely a very cool feeling for sure.
Speaker 3: How about how the course plays, Like, you know, you've
Speaker 3: obviously played it casually a bunch of times and then
Speaker 3: here it is you're you played during the tournament. Things
Speaker 3: are a little more spicy. What are the biggest differences
Speaker 3: you're noticing? Course set up?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just a lot firmer.
Speaker 4: You know, played out here a lot in December and
Speaker 4: you know they kind of protected a little bit, keep
Speaker 4: it a little hair softer. Yeah, so it's definitely gonna
Speaker 4: have a little bit more spiciness to it this week
Speaker 4: for sure. But yeah, it's kind of nice because I
Speaker 4: think it's a fairly long golf course, especially when it's soft,
Speaker 4: so like if you're hitting in the fairways out here,
Speaker 4: you can actually give yourself a lot more wedges and
Speaker 4: a little bit more kind of like scoring opportunities.
Speaker 2: When it's firm like this, you know, part fives.
Speaker 4: Get a little bit more manageable, but then at the
Speaker 4: same time, those part threes get a little bit more
Speaker 4: intimidating when you're coming in with like a five six
Speaker 4: iron and the greens are concrete.
Speaker 2: So it'll be a fun week.
Speaker 1: I always so felt like the part threes here are
Speaker 1: like a lot tougher than we give them credit for.
Speaker 1: You you know, I mean you think about like I mean,
Speaker 1: the ones on the back nine. I mean, it's not
Speaker 1: they're not cake holes. I mean obviously, I mean if
Speaker 1: you were playing sixteen casually with some buddies and you're
Speaker 1: hitting wedge and it's whatever, But the fact that you
Speaker 1: know it's in that tournament environ, like you said, the
Speaker 1: NBA's level environment. I just feel like I feel like
Speaker 1: that's the part of this golf course that can eat
Speaker 1: you up a little bit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 4: And like I mean, being very comfortable out here, like
Speaker 4: just playing it a lot. It's definitely a lot different,
Speaker 4: you know, when the stands are up and people around
Speaker 4: and you know, I haven't played a tournament round yet,
Speaker 4: but there's more people out here on a Tuesday today.
Speaker 2: Than you said.
Speaker 1: Fifty people are cheering, you're on your second ball. You're like,
Speaker 1: thank you very much.
Speaker 2: That's very fun. Yeah, first one in the water. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I appreciate.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm assuming, and I mean again, you know,
Speaker 1: we've talked about this, you know, like Max Home, I
Speaker 1: mean wins at Riviera and he talked about like that
Speaker 1: was his tournament, you know, growing up. And I mean,
Speaker 1: I think golf fans, you know, somebody like me who
Speaker 1: thinks about golfers, we always think, oh, man, this person
Speaker 1: wants to win the US Open, if this person wants
Speaker 1: to win the Masters, Like, yeah, of course you want
Speaker 1: to win that. But I feel like every golfer's kind
Speaker 1: of got that one tournament. It might not be the
Speaker 1: one we think it is. That's close to their heart.
Speaker 1: It might have been the one they went to when
Speaker 1: they were a kid. And I mean I can only
Speaker 1: imagine for you the moment you get that PGA Tour card.
Speaker 1: You're circling Scott Stale like you know, when it is
Speaker 1: on the schedule and you know you're gonna get an
Speaker 1: opportunity to play.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean that was like, now you got to
Speaker 4: finish number one on the corn for it to actually
Speaker 4: get in this field.
Speaker 2: So that was kind that was kind of like a
Speaker 2: big job on that big part of my goal for
Speaker 2: the year.
Speaker 4: But yeah, this is you know, outside of the majors,
Speaker 4: this is the biggest tournament of the year for me, Like,
Speaker 4: you know, I want to play well and you know,
Speaker 4: show the home crowd something and prove that I can,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 2: Play well out here. And uh yeah obviously.
Speaker 4: And I think too, like with the stands and you
Speaker 4: know kind of coming down the stretch out here, if
Speaker 4: you're in contention, it's got to be the closest atmosphere
Speaker 4: to like that major championship pressure just with all the
Speaker 4: people and.
Speaker 2: Kind of everything going on.
Speaker 4: So I think there's a lot of you know, a
Speaker 4: lot of the past champions out here. Obviously it's like Scottie,
Speaker 4: but even like Brooks and like their success after they
Speaker 4: kind of their breakthrough win was out here. I think
Speaker 4: a lot of it is because of that. If you're
Speaker 4: kind of able to handle this environment, I think you
Speaker 4: should be able to play in anything.
Speaker 2: So I think that's kind of a cool aspect of
Speaker 2: it as well. For sure, what.
Speaker 3: Other events are you looking forward to? I mean, obviously
Speaker 3: we talked about Augusta. What other events are you Are
Speaker 3: you allowing yourself to think about the rest of the
Speaker 3: year much or you're trying to stay a little bit
Speaker 3: more in the present, And if so, what other events
Speaker 3: out there on the calendar do you have kind of
Speaker 3: ear marked?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think the players will be a
Speaker 4: really special week. I think for a lot of the guys,
Speaker 4: just talking to them like that seems like it's just
Speaker 4: an awesome week.
Speaker 2: I played Sagress. A lot of my girlfriend's family lives in.
Speaker 4: Jacks, so, oh nice steel, pretty comfortable with that place,
Speaker 4: a little bit pretty similar though. I always kind of
Speaker 4: played it when it's very soft, so I think it's
Speaker 4: gonna be a different animal when it's firm and the
Speaker 4: roughs up out there but yeah, I mean trying to
Speaker 4: kind of keep it like one week at a time.
Speaker 4: I think this West Coast Swing I was very excited for.
Speaker 2: I mean being at Tory two weeks ago was really cool,
Speaker 2: Like you know, grew up going out there.
Speaker 4: I watched the US Open in UH eight when Tiger
Speaker 4: won obviously, ye, so just kind of being at some
Speaker 4: places that you've watched on TVs like very cool.
Speaker 2: But yeah, Toy was a pretty pretty sweet week. And
Speaker 2: but yeah, this, you know, being home in Phoenix and
Speaker 2: getting to play the waist is pretty pretty awesome.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean it feels like, you know, you think
Speaker 1: about what they've done now with the players, and I'd
Speaker 1: say the players and like the Ryder Cup are probably
Speaker 1: the two events closest to this one. You know, in Phoenix,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's raucous. There's people out there, they're
Speaker 1: excited to be there. The crowds are big, like they
Speaker 1: do an amazing job with that tournament.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It's I think when you prepare an alternate like that,
Speaker 1: like you were talking about in Phoenix, it's like when
Speaker 1: the event's that well done, it feels bigger even for
Speaker 1: the players, not just for the fans.
Speaker 2: You know, yeah, yeah, and I was.
Speaker 4: I was playing with a good buddy, Mackmizer today and
Speaker 4: you know, he didn't play in this event last year,
Speaker 4: but like, you know, we walked through sixteen and he's like,
Speaker 4: this is crazy, you know, like, yeah, it's like on
Speaker 4: a Tuesday, it's crazy being inside, but even when you're
Speaker 4: sitting in the stands, it's not.
Speaker 2: Too so like, but yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 4: And I think, like, you know, when you got like
Speaker 4: big time like events like this, like you know, it
Speaker 4: shows kind of that. I don't think the tour is
Speaker 4: in the bat of a spot as you know, all
Speaker 4: this stuff that's going around lately, but it shows that,
Speaker 4: like when you put on like a really good event,
Speaker 4: you get people excited about it, people are gonna care
Speaker 4: and a lot of the good players are going to
Speaker 4: show up too.
Speaker 2: So I think that's important for sure.
Speaker 3: I like it, Phoenix. Just the involvement of the Junior Golf,
Speaker 3: you know, the standard bearers, you get the kids out,
Speaker 3: the JJA is involved. Did you play JJA grown up
Speaker 3: as a.
Speaker 4: Kid, Yeah, yeah, JJ played all over the valley. I
Speaker 4: actually I never really played stadium that much growing up.
Speaker 2: I mean it's too expensive.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's like fifteen bucks for us to
Speaker 4: play Champions in the afternoon. I grew up fifteen minutes
Speaker 4: from here, but I played that place like two hundred
Speaker 4: and fifty times. I didn't really play out here till
Speaker 4: you know, getting status on corn Ferry and was able
Speaker 4: to kind of you know, play and practice out here.
Speaker 4: So that definitely felt like kind of like a special
Speaker 4: thing for me too. So it's to be able to
Speaker 4: play a vetting out here is definitely, you know, kind
Speaker 4: of next step of that.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 1: You said you've been in you've been in the area
Speaker 1: of the last couple of weeks. Whence you get back
Speaker 1: back from Tory.
Speaker 2: You were back in Arizona, come back after Tory, and
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: Do you do you have your checklist of like I've
Speaker 1: got to go eat here, I've got to go to
Speaker 1: this place.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, hit basically all my favorite spots already. So
Speaker 2: uh yeah, we're good.
Speaker 4: I've been eating well all week and honestly, just you know,
Speaker 4: being at home with my mom and kind of sleeping
Speaker 4: in the bed I grew up in.
Speaker 2: But having some home cooked meals is nice too after
Speaker 2: being on the road.
Speaker 1: That's got to be kind of surreal, Right, You're like,
Speaker 1: this is the house, this is the bed. Now I'm
Speaker 1: playing in the golf tournament. You know, like all of
Speaker 1: these kind of mixed emotions. I'm sure it's got to
Speaker 1: be exciting, but it's also kind of got a feel
Speaker 1: while I'm sure you have moments throughout the week where
Speaker 1: you're kind of like, what the hell's going on here?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, no, it is crazy and like, you know,
Speaker 4: pulling into my house, like the courtesy cars definitely different feeling.
Speaker 1: Marty said he when he played at the Phoenix, somebody
Speaker 1: said he was driving down his neighborhood and the courtesy car.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's a weird feeling, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 4: I'm also used to it taking like fifteen minutes to
Speaker 4: get here, so it's gonna be a real adjustment knowing
Speaker 4: it's gonna be like an hour of this week, so.
Speaker 1: It took me a couple of minutes to get into
Speaker 1: parking to day.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, well, Matt, I mean it's the progression of your
Speaker 1: game has been incredible watch. It's felt rapid over the
Speaker 1: last you know, eleven months or so, but it's been
Speaker 1: so cool to watch and like you need more comfortable
Speaker 1: in the moment and being able to like, you know,
Speaker 1: flip right into that winning mentality on the PGA Tours. Incredible,
Speaker 1: So good luck the rest of the way. Excited to
Speaker 1: see in the Major's. Excited to see play a gust
Speaker 1: and the players and all that stuff and continue to
Speaker 1: success because like I said, it's it's been awesome to see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you very much for the year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's Mat McCarty. This is the Ping Proven Grounds Podcast.