Speaker 1: But it is terrifying being out there every single week
Speaker 1: because you don't know who's miked up and who's not,
Speaker 1: so you gotta be very careful with what you say.
Speaker 1: I made a comment to Max Olma's caddie Joe Grinder
Speaker 1: on day and he just starts laughing, and I go,
Speaker 1: you're miked up right now, aren't you.
Speaker 2: Yep. I'm like, damn it.
Speaker 1: Guys like delete that I looked up for the guys,
Speaker 1: but it's so fun. I'm Colt Knows from CBS Sports,
Speaker 1: otherwise known as Big Gravy, and I am so excited
Speaker 1: to be on Off the Beat.
Speaker 2: Hello everybody, and welcome to Off the Beat with Me
Speaker 2: your host Brian Boncartner. Now, guys, you aren't going to
Speaker 2: believe this, but my guest today is someone I play
Speaker 2: golf with. Yes. Now, I know that a lot of
Speaker 2: my guests lately have also been my golf friends. But
Speaker 2: here's the thing. I am very very lucky to get
Speaker 2: to play golf with some really interesting people. In fact,
Speaker 2: this is one of my favorite things about the game
Speaker 2: of golf, is that I get to spend four or
Speaker 2: five hours out on the course with someone. And I'm
Speaker 2: really fortunate to have the time to talk and get
Speaker 2: to know them very well, and so I want to
Speaker 2: share some of these fascinating people with you. So today
Speaker 2: I have brought a fascinating friend right off the green
Speaker 2: and right into your ears. The great cult Gnost is
Speaker 2: with me today. Colt is a former PGA Tour pro,
Speaker 2: current PGA Tour commentator, and alumnus of SMU Hail to
Speaker 2: the Red and the Blue. Like myself, go Mustangs, And
Speaker 2: as I said an analyst on CBS golf coverage, where
Speaker 2: he is doing a fantastic job, I know a few
Speaker 2: things about golf. Colt knows seemingly everything about golf. He
Speaker 2: knows so much, in fact, that he has not won
Speaker 2: but two shows where he shares his knowledge and talks
Speaker 2: about the sport. You can hear him on the podcast
Speaker 2: Golf's Subpar and three days a week on his serious
Speaker 2: XM show, Gravy and the Sleeves Cult No he's known
Speaker 2: as Big Gravy. He's a big personality and he really
Speaker 2: gives up the sometimes stuffy game of golf a big
Speaker 2: injection of personality and I love it, and I love
Speaker 2: what he is doing for the game of golf. So
Speaker 2: let's hear about him starting his golf journey at a
Speaker 2: very young age, and completing his pro career, retiring at
Speaker 2: the also young age of thirty five, and beginning anew
Speaker 2: in the media and broadcast world. Here he is my
Speaker 2: friend and soon to be yours Big Gravy Cult gnhost
Speaker 2: Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeak on
Speaker 2: Bubbling Squeak, I could get every more lift over from
Speaker 2: the ninety before. What's up Cold?
Speaker 1: How we doing, Brian? Thanks for having me on?
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I mean I can see you're a
Speaker 2: professional podcaster. You have a light shining right directly behind you,
Speaker 2: right into the thing. I mean, that's perfect. You've done it.
Speaker 2: You've set yourself up perfectly.
Speaker 1: It took me a while, but I kind of figured
Speaker 1: it out a little bit. We do a few of these,
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: You certainly do. We're gonna talk about that in a minute. Well,
Speaker 2: first off, how are you are you good? Are you
Speaker 2: taking some time off these days? Well?
Speaker 1: I thought I was. You know, we just did nineteen
Speaker 1: to twenty one weeks to end the season for CBS,
Speaker 1: starting back at AUGUSTA, so I thought I was gonna
Speaker 1: have some time off. But you know, things come up
Speaker 1: here and there, so I guess I'm for a fact,
Speaker 1: I don't sit still very well. So I've been all
Speaker 1: over the place, heading over to Roam here shortly for
Speaker 1: the Ryder Cup, which I'm really pumped about. But yeah, man,
Speaker 1: life's good. It's good to be wanted occasionally.
Speaker 2: I guess CBS has the Ryder Cup this year.
Speaker 1: No, they don't, NBC does. I'm actually working it for
Speaker 1: Sirius XM. We have a show over there three days
Speaker 1: a week and I'm going to be one of their
Speaker 1: analysts over in Rome. I've never been to a Ryder
Speaker 1: Cup across the pond, so I'm very excited.
Speaker 2: Oh that's awesome, Well, congratulations on that. Is the Ryder
Speaker 2: Cup the best golf event.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's my favorite to watch, just because
Speaker 1: it's so different than anything. You know, it's actually team golf.
Speaker 1: And going to my first Ryder Cup two years ago
Speaker 1: at Whistling Straights. You know the scene on the first
Speaker 1: t Friday morning. I mean, the people start getting there
Speaker 1: at five am and they are going, you know, they
Speaker 1: got the chance, the songs, everything, I mean, you get
Speaker 1: I'm not even playing it. I was getting goosebumps, and
Speaker 1: I was nervous the guys. But I just don't think
Speaker 1: you see that passion at any other event other than
Speaker 1: the Ryder Cup. I mean, the Masters, obviously, individually wise,
Speaker 1: is the greatest golf tournament there is, but the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 1: Since it's every other year, I think it makes it
Speaker 1: so special and you get twelve guys coming together where
Speaker 1: you know, normally it's just mono and mono.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I want to talk about you, but
Speaker 2: you bring up something that I feel like I need
Speaker 2: to talk about, which is, you know, we've got We've
Speaker 2: got the Live Tour, which essentially has well I don't
Speaker 2: know if it's staked its claim on this, but you know,
Speaker 2: obviously one of the huge components for them was team play.
Speaker 2: I had a conversation with Charlie Hoffman about this. Do
Speaker 2: you feel like team play is coming for the PGA
Speaker 2: Tour or no? I do not.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm all for, like I said, the Ryder Cup,
Speaker 1: and it's every other year, the President's Cup all that
Speaker 1: like that's different. I mean, that's representing your country, the
Speaker 1: team part. Like I think the PGA Tour professional golf,
Speaker 1: it's always been an individual sport, and I think that's
Speaker 1: what makes it great. You know, you look at tennis,
Speaker 1: like the ratings and singles are much higher than the
Speaker 1: ratings and doubles, Like no one really cares about the
Speaker 1: doubles matches at the USO game. Sorry, they just don't.
Speaker 1: So therefore, I don't think it's that big deal. Like
Speaker 1: Listen Live was great as a disruptor, but I don't
Speaker 1: think the team aspect is that big a deal. I
Speaker 1: think they're told to talk about it and say, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not playing that great this week, but I know
Speaker 1: if I can play well the last act and really
Speaker 1: help my team out and all that, I don't see it.
Speaker 1: I still think golf's an individual game. You're out there
Speaker 1: playing for yourself and your caddy, and you want to
Speaker 1: go out there and win individually. I would say that
Speaker 1: the individual win and live probably means a lot more
Speaker 1: than the team win.
Speaker 2: Okay, I mean it's curious to me. I mean I
Speaker 2: tend to agree with you, but you know, I think
Speaker 2: the Righter Cup thing and Charlie said a similar version
Speaker 2: of what you said, which is, if you're playing for
Speaker 2: your country and as a spectator, you can get behind that.
Speaker 2: Either you know, the Europeans or international teams or whatever
Speaker 2: versus the United States wanting to beat the United States.
Speaker 2: The United States wanting to you know, to dominate singularly.
Speaker 2: So you feel like that is the thing that makes
Speaker 2: it special and brings its passion. It's less about the
Speaker 2: team aspect.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like for me, like I played the Walker Cup,
Speaker 1: which is the Amber version of the Ryder Cup, and
Speaker 1: I mean, you put on the red, white and blue,
Speaker 1: you hear your national anthem at the opening ceremonies, Like
Speaker 1: I mean, it brings a lot of guys to tears.
Speaker 1: You just in golf, you're never a part of the team.
Speaker 1: And like I know it's in the Olympics now, which
Speaker 1: is really cool, but it's still not you know, we're
Speaker 1: used to seeing major championships and Ryder Cups growing up
Speaker 1: in the game of golf, and I think you always
Speaker 1: dream of putting on the red, white and blue, and
Speaker 1: whether it's in America or in Europe, going over there
Speaker 1: and being with eleven other guys and teaming up and
Speaker 1: battling it out for your country. You're not battling it
Speaker 1: out for it's no disrespect to live the cliques or
Speaker 1: the range goats or anything like that. That's just that's
Speaker 1: totally different. I haven't been able to get behind the
Speaker 1: team aspect as far as it comes to live the
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup. It's just different. I mean, being every other
Speaker 1: year is such a huge deal, and you see the
Speaker 1: fans are one side or the other. You know, there's
Speaker 1: not twelve teams out there. There's a group of people
Speaker 1: root for one team and a group of people root
Speaker 1: for other. It's listen, I'm Team USA and I'm Team Europe,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna chant, we're gonna sing, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: trash and have fun. I just don't think it's quite
Speaker 1: on the same level.
Speaker 2: The other point you made that that I have to
Speaker 2: address with you or at least ask your opinion about
Speaker 2: what makes the Masters the greatest golf tournament.
Speaker 1: I think because it's at one golf course throughout the
Speaker 1: history of time. And so if even if you're not
Speaker 1: a golf fan like you can probably you probably know
Speaker 1: what Amen Corner is. You can recognize those holes because
Speaker 1: we see it every year and it's just one of
Speaker 1: the most beautiful places on the planet. Everybody knows about
Speaker 1: the Green Jacket, the history. I think that's what makes
Speaker 1: it so special? I mean, it's by far the most
Speaker 1: watched golf tournament every single year, and the place is
Speaker 1: just so special.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's funny. I've talked to some people
Speaker 2: about this, the sort of the age old like what's
Speaker 2: the what's the greatest golf course? Or people asking me
Speaker 2: like what's my favorite golf course or whatever, And a
Speaker 2: lot of times people will bring up Cyprus right up
Speaker 2: there on the Monterey Peninsula, and you know, talk about
Speaker 2: that versus pebble and people saying, oh, Cypress is so
Speaker 2: much better. See for me, it can't compare to pebble.
Speaker 2: And the reason why simply is, as you're playing pebble,
Speaker 2: you remember shots that you have seen year after year,
Speaker 2: either in US Opens or the regular tour event at
Speaker 2: and T that's played there. Oh this shot on six,
Speaker 2: Oh this shot on seventeen, you know, and to be
Speaker 2: able to play those shots that the other players that
Speaker 2: you've watched other players play so much to me that
Speaker 2: that makes it special, right, yes.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. And just going back to the Masters,
Speaker 1: like my first ever trip there, I believe it was
Speaker 1: three years ago to cover the Masters, and it was
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, it was still very limited patrons and
Speaker 1: all that. So Monday, I get there and I go
Speaker 1: out and I walk all eighteen holes by myself, and
Speaker 1: you're exactly right, like I'm going up every hole and
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, so and so did this there, you know,
Speaker 1: And I knew exactly what hole was coming every time.
Speaker 1: Like it wasn't like I would walk to a hole
Speaker 1: and be like, oh, this is number four. It's like, no,
Speaker 1: I know what number four is. Watched it so many times,
Speaker 1: you know, I remember, like on seventeen you're putting from
Speaker 1: the left side of the green to the right. It's
Speaker 1: crazy fast going that way, and everybody thinks it breaks right,
Speaker 1: but it always holds up. So you just you remember
Speaker 1: those little things. And going around Augusta sing it in
Speaker 1: person for the first time, I was just blown away
Speaker 1: at by how small the sections in the greens are,
Speaker 1: Like you have to be so precise, and it just
Speaker 1: shows you how good these guys are. Like seeing like
Speaker 1: everybody on sixteen on Sunday, right, you're waiting on that
Speaker 1: hole in one because we see it every single year,
Speaker 1: And then you get there on the tea box and
Speaker 1: you're like, Okay, that's not really that big of an
Speaker 1: area where these guys lay in that golf ball. This
Speaker 1: is not that easy.
Speaker 2: I'm a shot, right right, all right. I could talk
Speaker 2: golf forever, but let's talk about you something equally as interesting.
Speaker 2: That's interesting. You were born in Ohio and then fairly
Speaker 2: quickly moved to Pilot Point, Texas. What was the move?
Speaker 2: Was this some family move? Yeah?
Speaker 1: My mom moved down there when I was very young.
Speaker 1: So like, I consider myself from Texas and I have
Speaker 1: some family in Ohio, but I don't remember any of Ohio,
Speaker 1: and my voice definitely doesn't sound like I'm from Ohio.
Speaker 1: I quickly adopted the Texas twang. But yeah, mom moved
Speaker 1: down there, and you know, it was a blessing, obviously
Speaker 1: a much better weather throughout the year in Ohio and
Speaker 1: introduced me to the game of golf.
Speaker 2: How did you start playing golf? Did you start playing
Speaker 2: really early? Are you like a four year old out
Speaker 2: there little gravy swinging or are you are you is
Speaker 2: this later? No?
Speaker 1: So I joke around about this, but I'm actually seriously
Speaker 1: like I was a sports freak growing up. I mean, football, baseball, basketball, hockey.
Speaker 1: I loved it all. I watched it all. Golf was
Speaker 1: later for me, and it's honestly because I realized, like,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be built for much else, Like
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be six ' three in the
Speaker 1: you know, the super fit guy and super athletic, Like
Speaker 1: that's probably not just me.
Speaker 2: So I started.
Speaker 1: I had some buddies that played golf. I picked it up,
Speaker 1: and I absolutely fell in love immediately, and I pretty
Speaker 1: much quit every other sport and focused on just golf.
Speaker 1: I was like, if I want to do anything in
Speaker 1: professional sports, I think this is the route I have
Speaker 1: to go. So I was all in on golf immediately,
Speaker 1: and it's honestly because of the way.
Speaker 2: I was built. How old are you at this point?
Speaker 1: I was twelve or thirteen when I picked up I
Speaker 1: think I was twelve years old because Tiger was the
Speaker 1: big influence when he won the ninety seven Masters.
Speaker 2: Okay, so you're twelve or thirteen years old by the way,
Speaker 2: Like I decided at a really early age, I was
Speaker 2: going to be the first basement for the Atlanta Brave.
Speaker 2: So for me it was early as well. It didn't
Speaker 2: happen for me quite that way, but for you was
Speaker 2: it like, oh, I'm picking this up and this is
Speaker 2: what I'm gonna do. Is it that early?
Speaker 1: It was pretty early on, But I still didn't know
Speaker 1: throughout my career because growing up in Pilot Point, Texas
Speaker 1: by the way, as a town of five thousand people,
Speaker 1: it's like horse country. There's not a golf course. My
Speaker 1: former stepdad was a horse trainer and we had a
Speaker 1: fifty five acre range. So basically I had my own
Speaker 1: driving range at the house. I just had to go
Speaker 1: pick them up and shag balls, okay, And I I
Speaker 1: was very natural, like I didn't take a lot of lessons.
Speaker 1: Started later on working with a coach here and there,
Speaker 1: but I just fell in love with the game and
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, this is what I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do. I'm going to figure out a way to
Speaker 1: make it in golf. And I would every day after school.
Speaker 1: I would be out there alongside the house hitting golf
Speaker 1: balls into the past year, going out there and picking
Speaker 1: them up and just got better year in year out.
Speaker 1: Didn't play a ton of national like junior stuff or
Speaker 1: anything like that, didn't have many college looks. Ended up
Speaker 1: where you went at SMU. Here you go because my
Speaker 1: longtime coach, Randy Smith was ten minutes down the road
Speaker 1: at Royal US Country Club, and I worked with him
Speaker 1: and even in college, Like I remember I went out
Speaker 1: my first qualifying round because you have twelve guys on
Speaker 1: the team and only five travel My first round shot
Speaker 1: seventy seven, and I told my mom, I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'm made for this, and just kept working,
Speaker 1: ended up making the first tournament, never missed one throughout
Speaker 1: college in four years, and just continue to get better
Speaker 1: and then obviously had a lot of success my senior
Speaker 1: year and knew like, hey, PGA Tours my dream, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to do everything I can to get there.
Speaker 2: The Western Athletic Conference, the WHACK conference that SMU was
Speaker 2: in at the time, two thousand and four Freshmen of
Speaker 2: the Year. So yeah, I mean you started out quickly.
Speaker 2: The seventy seven must have turned into six is pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: How SMU has always had or typically has a great
Speaker 2: golf team. Rice and Deshambeau among others, went there. And
Speaker 2: how was SMU when you were there? Were you competing nationally?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we made it to nationals two out of my
Speaker 1: four years. You know, you got to go through conference
Speaker 1: regionals and then get to Nationals. Probably our best team
Speaker 1: we ever had was my junior year and we just
Speaker 1: missed out, which was a tough one. But yeah, we
Speaker 1: have a great history there between you know, the late
Speaker 1: Payne Stewart of course, an SMU mustang, Hank Keeney. We
Speaker 1: went on a run where we won four USMS in
Speaker 1: sixteen years at a school like SMU, which is kind
Speaker 1: of unheard of. Kelly Kraft Prison, myself and Hank Keeney.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean it's always been a good school.
Speaker 1: It's a great spot. Obviously, have great facilities there in Dallas.
Speaker 1: But the biggest thing for me was I was able
Speaker 1: to stay close to Randy Smith and work on my game.
Speaker 2: So was Randy your official coach?
Speaker 1: He was my swing coach, not my college coach. I
Speaker 1: worked with a guy. Our college coach was Jay Laurd SMU,
Speaker 1: but Randy Smith was the longtime swing instructor Justin Leonard,
Speaker 1: he's now a Scotti Scheffler. He's at Scotti Sheffler In's
Speaker 1: he was six years old. He was my swing coach.
Speaker 1: So when I wasn't practicing with the team, I was
Speaker 1: out working with Randy.
Speaker 2: Right, you decide to turn pro when you leave school.
Speaker 2: You have had a ton of success in college. What
Speaker 2: was behind the decision for you to make that jump
Speaker 2: and decide that you're now going to grind and turn pro?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it was, you know, whinning the US Amateur
Speaker 1: got me an invite to the Masters the next April.
Speaker 2: Which you didn't you didn't take.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I mean, that's obviously one that gets a
Speaker 1: lot of criticism, and you know, looking back at I'm.
Speaker 2: Not criticizing, but that's partly why I'm asking, Like you're
Speaker 2: sort of dialed into this path and you decide to
Speaker 2: turn pro. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The biggest thing for me was, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: and now going professional it's a business now. And the
Speaker 1: way I looked at it and my team looked at
Speaker 1: it was like my stock was never going to be
Speaker 1: any higher. Like I was the number one am in
Speaker 1: the world. I had just done something that only two
Speaker 1: other people in the game of golf had done, an
Speaker 1: amateur golf like and there was a financial opportunity there
Speaker 1: for me. And as a twenty two year old kid,
Speaker 1: it's it's hard to pass that stuff up. And I
Speaker 1: was confident enough in my ability that I would get
Speaker 1: back to the Masters, and I talked to a lot
Speaker 1: of people. I mean Phil Mickelson being one of them
Speaker 1: who reached out. We had a long discussion about it,
Speaker 1: and I decided it was time. Obviously, you know, I
Speaker 1: wish I would have played in the Masters, but I didn't.
Speaker 1: But at the right at that time, that was the
Speaker 1: right decision.
Speaker 2: Right. Do you regret it? No, I don't regret it
Speaker 2: at all.
Speaker 1: I don't regret anything I've done in my career, just
Speaker 1: because I think it's led me to a place that
Speaker 1: I'm really supposed to be, which I'm sure we'll get to.
Speaker 1: But no, I mean, it's hard to look back. Like
Speaker 1: like I said, I would have loved to have played
Speaker 1: in the Masters. I joke if I would have played
Speaker 1: in the two thousand and eight Masters when in the
Speaker 1: USAM champ plays with the defending champion, which would have
Speaker 1: been Zach Johnson, and I always give Zach ardon. Like
Speaker 1: you guys, if Tiger would have been the defending champion,
Speaker 1: I would stayed there. I didn't want to play with
Speaker 1: another guy that hits it short and butts it really well,
Speaker 1: like I see that every day.
Speaker 2: You don't stay now? Is it buy dot Com? At
Speaker 2: the time? Still?
Speaker 1: Oh god, I think it was web dot com.
Speaker 2: Web dot Yeah, the current Corn Ferry Tour. You miss
Speaker 2: out getting your PGA Tour card, but just for one year,
Speaker 2: and the second year you win two tournaments. Are you
Speaker 2: feeling like your trajectory is You're gonna be the best
Speaker 2: in the world.
Speaker 1: Everything is going the way it's supposed to. Honestly, Like,
Speaker 1: I mean doing what I did No. Seven, going over
Speaker 1: to two thousand and eight on the now Korn Ferry
Speaker 1: Tour and winning twice. Honestly, had a couple of chances
Speaker 1: to win even.
Speaker 2: More, Oh you did.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I had a few chances. I mean I
Speaker 1: was in the final group in Omaha, I remember to
Speaker 1: get a battlefield promotion, had a good chance at the
Speaker 1: Tour Championship as well. But honestly, that was probably one
Speaker 1: of the worst things that happened to me, is because
Speaker 1: I felt like golf was easy. I literally had not
Speaker 1: played bad in two years, and so I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go out on the PGA Tour. I'm gonna win
Speaker 1: once or twice a year out there, make millions of dollars,
Speaker 1: have a great career, and then right off into the
Speaker 1: sunset and then the golfing gods heard me. They slapped
Speaker 1: me around.
Speaker 2: There for a while.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of distraction out on the PGA Tour
Speaker 1: that are a lot of fun, and I, you know,
Speaker 1: that's the one thing I probably do regret is not
Speaker 1: working as hard early on in my PGA Tour career
Speaker 1: as I did.
Speaker 2: You know in college and amateur golf. So once you
Speaker 2: got your tour card, you feel like you worked not
Speaker 2: as hard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just I thought, like, honestly, it was just
Speaker 1: everything was easy. I'd won something like if you went
Speaker 1: back between college and my first year on the corn
Speaker 1: free I had won like eight times in two years.
Speaker 1: Like it was just it was, seriously, golf felt easy.
Speaker 1: And I went out there and wasn't working the way
Speaker 1: I was. Had a horrible rookie year. Had to go
Speaker 1: back and those first few seasons I was back and
Speaker 1: forth between the corn Fairy and the PGA Tour, just
Speaker 1: trying to find my footing. And it took me a
Speaker 1: little while. It took a lot of growing up.
Speaker 2: I talked to Charlie about that a little bit as well,
Speaker 2: that the only equivalent kind of right is going between
Speaker 2: Major League Baseball and the miners. How was that for you?
Speaker 2: I don't know mentally emotionally, was was that difficult free
Speaker 2: you, you know, being relegated or I guess soccer too right,
Speaker 2: I'm watching Wreckham right now being relegated back? Was that
Speaker 2: tough for you?
Speaker 1: I think it's tough on everybody, you know, starting out
Speaker 1: when you're twenty two, like, you're hungry, you'll play anywhere.
Speaker 1: That competition is great. You're playing professional golf for a
Speaker 1: living at the second highest level basically, so things are great.
Speaker 1: But then you get a taste of the PGA Tour
Speaker 1: and you have to go back and it's a slap
Speaker 1: in the face. You go from courtesy cars, nice hotels,
Speaker 1: you know, finish top ten, making six figures. Things are great,
Speaker 1: and then you have to go back again, and you
Speaker 1: go back and back and forth, and eventually, the older
Speaker 1: you get, I think the tougher it is. Early on
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, I'm learning, I'm learning. But eventually it's
Speaker 1: it's at one point it's like okay, enough is enough,
Speaker 1: Like it's time for me to step up play golf
Speaker 1: and stay out here on the PGA Tour where I belong.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like you did that in twenty fifteen?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Eventually, you know, I finally got comfortable. I had
Speaker 1: a good year in twelve, I believe twenty twelve, struggled
Speaker 1: in thirteen, and then fifteen and sixteen I really started
Speaker 1: playing well, had a few chances to win. I think
Speaker 1: I had like eight top tens in two years, something
Speaker 1: like that. And then I hurt my left hand and
Speaker 1: had some struggle with that. But I finally felt like
Speaker 1: things were heading in the right direction right before I
Speaker 1: got hurt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you and I spent a little bit of time
Speaker 2: together during that time when you hurt your hand. Now
Speaker 2: what exactly happened? Again? What was it? So?
Speaker 1: I was really struggling with a lot of pain in
Speaker 1: my left thumb in twenty sixteen. Had it looked at
Speaker 1: many at times kept telling me there was really wasn't
Speaker 1: anything wrong with my thumb, and I was playing. So
Speaker 1: I went all of twenty sixteen where my doctor let
Speaker 1: me warm up for twenty minutes before the round and
Speaker 1: then no practice afterwards. And I had the best year
Speaker 1: of my career. But it got to the point where
Speaker 1: my clubhead speed kept going down and down and down.
Speaker 1: And I can't afford that. I mean, I don't hit
Speaker 1: it far as it is went in. They finally looked
Speaker 1: at my wrists and my wrist was jacked up. Went
Speaker 1: in fixed, that was out nine months, came back, hit
Speaker 1: a shot in Dallas and was like, man, and something's
Speaker 1: not right, Like I just felt that pain immediately again
Speaker 1: in my thumb. Saw a specialist there in Dallas and
Speaker 1: he's like, whoever told you there was nothing wrong with
Speaker 1: your thumb was out of your mind, Like your ucl
Speaker 1: in your left thumb is hanging on by a threat,
Speaker 1: like we should have to do surgery tomorrow. So I
Speaker 1: literally withdrew from Byron Nelson that week, had surgery the
Speaker 1: next day, and was out another nine months.
Speaker 2: Jeez, So when.
Speaker 1: Of those things happened? But you know, the way I
Speaker 1: look at it is like that injury led me to
Speaker 1: what I'm doing now, and it might be the best
Speaker 1: thing that ever happened.
Speaker 2: Right, do you think if you had I mean, hindsight
Speaker 2: is twenty twenty, But if someone had told you what
Speaker 2: the real issue was earlier, that you could have gotten
Speaker 2: it corrected earlier and come back stronger. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Maybe. Obviously being out, being out for a lengthy amount
Speaker 1: of time is brutal, just I mean, not being in
Speaker 1: competition is tough.
Speaker 2: Well, you lose your status too, right, Well, you can.
Speaker 1: Come back and play on a major medical which is
Speaker 1: what I was. So I was on a medical exemption.
Speaker 1: So I still gotten all the PGA Tour events. I
Speaker 1: just didn't play as well as I needed to keep
Speaker 1: my car. But yeah, the way I was playing in
Speaker 1: fifteen and sixteen, I was very confident I could come
Speaker 1: back and do it again. But also, the game of
Speaker 1: golf's changed a ton in the last decade. You don't
Speaker 1: see many guys that play the way I did out
Speaker 1: there competing still today. Like the short precision hitters really
Speaker 1: don't exist anymore.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Zach Johnson, who you mentioned before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's done right. We had a guy calling to
Speaker 1: our radio show the other day and say that Zach
Speaker 1: Johnson was a mediocre PGA Tour player. I was, like,
Speaker 1: he's fourteenth all time in career money, and he hasn't
Speaker 1: had the greatest last three or four years when the
Speaker 1: purses have gone up, and he's a two time major
Speaker 1: championship at d two most historic golf courses in the world.
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: Oh I'll take I'll take that mediocrity please.
Speaker 2: You did compete in one hundred and ninety nine. Wow.
Speaker 2: When I saw that number, I felt, I was, that's unfortunate.
Speaker 2: One hundred and ninety Is it two hundred if you
Speaker 2: count the Byron Nelson that you withdrew from or does
Speaker 2: that is that part of the one ninety nine. I
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 1: I'd have to look back. I think it's one ninety nine,
Speaker 1: though it's a it's an interesting number. People people ask
Speaker 1: me if I'm going to go back and try one more, just.
Speaker 2: What just what you can get it now? You can
Speaker 2: get an exception probably in play play one more over
Speaker 2: thirteen seasons. What do you consider to be the highlight
Speaker 2: of your professional golfing career? Oh?
Speaker 1: Professional, there wasn't many highlights.
Speaker 2: You know, well do it? First off, let me say
Speaker 2: this because I mean you've hinted at it, but but
Speaker 2: let me get the stat right. In two thousand and
Speaker 2: seven you won three us GA tournaments, only the third
Speaker 2: player to ever do that after j segual Great and
Speaker 2: Bobby freaking Jones. I mean that is uh, I mean,
Speaker 2: that is a huge accomplishment. And you know, as I
Speaker 2: indicated before, like you were on a trajectory you know,
Speaker 2: to be to be one of the top five players
Speaker 2: in the world. Probably, Yeah, that was kind of my thought.
Speaker 2: At least that was your initial plan. Yeah, but things changed.
Speaker 1: Maucks, as they say in Varsity Bluz, you know, highly
Speaker 1: of the professional career. I would probably say the Players
Speaker 1: Championship the year I finished third, shooting sixty three on
Speaker 1: Friday there with a bogie on the last. By the way,
Speaker 1: your man, Charlie Hoffman, no one had ever been ten
Speaker 1: under part through seventeen holes at any point at tpcsaw Grass.
Speaker 1: I'm ten under through seventeen. I three put eighteen to
Speaker 1: tie the course record. And I'm a golf junkie, so
Speaker 1: I knew exactly what my little three and a half
Speaker 1: footer for sixty two.
Speaker 2: Who meant, oh you did?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Perc. I'm a golf nut. I know all
Speaker 1: the all the numbers. But the first text I got
Speaker 1: after shooting sixty three on Friday was from the Seagull,
Speaker 1: Charlie Hoffin saying, nice three puts. I mean, just it's
Speaker 1: just so typical he is. He is one of my
Speaker 1: favorite people. Nobody has a more fitting nickname than the Seagull.
Speaker 1: We were in Atlanta a few weeks ago. CBS was
Speaker 1: covering the Tour Championship for the first time, and I'm
Speaker 1: on the range and they showed me on the range
Speaker 1: talking to Roy McRoy. Get a text from Charlie glad
Speaker 1: to see you finally made it to the Tour Championship.
Speaker 2: He is special. You know. My researchers, by the way,
Speaker 2: told me about you finally making it to the Masters.
Speaker 2: I mean that I don't think they were They were
Speaker 2: making fun as much as just pointing that out to me.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, he is a butte. He is something. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he is a butte. Yeah. Third at the play that's
Speaker 2: a big deal. Do you are you still tied for
Speaker 2: the course record?
Speaker 1: No, Unfortunately, Tom Hogy shot sixty two last year and
Speaker 1: now he holds it alone right now.
Speaker 2: I got nothing seconds. Not bad. Well, you still won
Speaker 2: three USGA events in two thousand and seven. Let me
Speaker 2: ask you this, do you think, well you brought up Tiger,
Speaker 2: I mean that he's like the obvious go to guy.
Speaker 2: Do you believe or do you know, because you've obviously
Speaker 2: spoken to him quite a bit, do you think he
Speaker 2: has those things in his head? Probably not.
Speaker 1: I mean he's so ridiculous. I mean, he's not even human.
Speaker 1: I mean, the things he's done, I mean it's crazy
Speaker 1: looking at you know, like historical records and like crazy
Speaker 1: streaks and everything, and every single one of them's Tiger.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was just so much better than everyone else.
Speaker 1: I don't now. I know he is a golf nerd,
Speaker 1: and he knows who has the course record here, low
Speaker 1: a score of all time here, So yeah, he definitely
Speaker 1: is aware of it. But when he's out there, he's
Speaker 1: so strong mentally compared to me, he ain't thinking about
Speaker 1: that stuff.
Speaker 2: Right, Well, I wonder. I mean people say, and look,
Speaker 2: I fully admit that I'm a mental midget, but people say,
Speaker 2: when you're when you're playing, just concentrate on the shot
Speaker 2: ahead totally right, like leave everything behind. But people are
Speaker 2: like they don't, don't think about your score. That's I don't.
Speaker 2: I mean, who's not doing that?
Speaker 1: But right I know, I know what everybody in my
Speaker 1: group is at, of course, like I know everything that's
Speaker 1: going on, of course, So I don't. Really I think
Speaker 1: that's impossible. Like I know exactly how many underpar or
Speaker 1: how many overpar I am every single time I've teed
Speaker 1: the golf ball up my entire life, So that's pretty
Speaker 1: much impossible. When someone gets done and be like, oh,
Speaker 1: what I shoot today, I'm like, dude, you know, damn
Speaker 1: well when you shot today.
Speaker 2: You know what? I just thought of something. I just
Speaker 2: thought of something. My best round ever. I actually lost track.
Speaker 2: I didn't lose track, but I forgot where I was
Speaker 2: because I was on this day, on this weird day,
Speaker 2: I had gone under on the front and the idea
Speaker 2: of a minus on one side didn't compute to me,
Speaker 2: and I lost track and had and the course was
Speaker 2: a part seventy one, and so I had about a
Speaker 2: five footer for seventy one really and and didn't make it.
Speaker 2: How long was you put for seventy two? But I
Speaker 2: I made the one from seventy two. I was putting
Speaker 2: well that day, but I was thinking it was just
Speaker 2: it was still for one over. You know, I lost
Speaker 2: track of where I was, But I don't I don't know.
Speaker 2: That's only because I lost track. It wasn't like I
Speaker 2: wasn't thinking about it.
Speaker 1: I just think pro golfers in general, I mean, they're
Speaker 1: really really good, and so they're normally under part.
Speaker 2: They know exactly where they stand, yeah, at all times. Yeah.
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty, after what I have heard you say,
Speaker 2: is one of your favorite tournaments, the Waste Management Phoenix
Speaker 2: Open you decide to retire? Is that about your injury?
Speaker 2: Couldn't do it anymore.
Speaker 1: So that was the end of my major medical and
Speaker 1: so that's kind of going back to what I said
Speaker 1: about going back and forth between corn Ferry and PGA Tour.
Speaker 1: So I had two decisions, either I do something else
Speaker 1: in my life or I go back to the corn
Speaker 1: Ferry Tour. And I was thirty five years old, and
Speaker 1: I think I'd been out on the PGA Tour for
Speaker 1: six seven straight years something like that, and I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't think I can go back and do it,
Speaker 1: Like I have the opportunity with Serious XM do a
Speaker 1: show three days a week. I was like, I can
Speaker 1: make I could finish top ten on the corn Ferry
Speaker 1: money lest sitting in my office talking about golf three
Speaker 1: days a week and don't have to stress about making
Speaker 1: cuts or beating these young and hungary twenty two year
Speaker 1: old kids. So I'd done some work for CBS and
Speaker 1: Golf Channel at the time, and they reached out and
Speaker 1: I was like, you know, I think I think it's time.
Speaker 1: I think it's time for me to go try something else.
Speaker 1: I love talking about the game of golf. I love
Speaker 1: being at golf tournaments, and this gave me the best
Speaker 1: of both worlds, Like I still got to travel with
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, be out there in the action and
Speaker 1: talk about the game I love. I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give this a go. I can always go
Speaker 1: back and try to go to Q School and play
Speaker 1: the Corn Ferry Tour or something like that. But you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if this opportunity with CBS Golf Channel
Speaker 1: all that will always be there. So I decided to
Speaker 1: take a little bit of a risk and went and
Speaker 1: got into the media world. It's weird to say that
Speaker 1: I'm part of the media, but man, am I having
Speaker 1: some fun with it?
Speaker 2: Yeah? All right, Well, before we talk about that, I
Speaker 2: got to ask you, do you miss playing competitively?
Speaker 1: I think you'll always Anybody that does it for a
Speaker 1: long time will always miss it. Like I miss tuesdays,
Speaker 1: trash talking in money games with the guys out there,
Speaker 1: that feeling of like you're gonna throw up over every
Speaker 1: shot when you're in contention on Sunday, Like you can't
Speaker 1: ever replicate that in everyday life, so you'll always miss that.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, with the direction golf is gone
Speaker 1: where everyone smashes it and it's all about fitness and
Speaker 1: you got to carry it three twenty or you don't
Speaker 1: have a chance in seeing the best players in the
Speaker 1: world up close and personal every single week like I do. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I have no business being out here playing
Speaker 1: against these guys. So yeah, party, you will always miss
Speaker 1: the competition part, no doubt. But I've never been happier
Speaker 1: in my life than I am right now.
Speaker 2: How often do you play now?
Speaker 1: It depends during the season, Like I hate traveling with
Speaker 1: my clubs because they're paying lugging around. No, it's the worst,
Speaker 1: you know, So I don't play a lot. But now
Speaker 1: that we're finished, like I normally play three days a
Speaker 1: week and only Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Speaker 2: So you play three days walking of course.
Speaker 1: Off from my cart to my ball.
Speaker 2: Yes, in the season, and if it's cart path only,
Speaker 2: you don't. You don't.
Speaker 1: Plus see here in Arizona we oversee in October and
Speaker 1: so it's carts on path only until like January one,
Speaker 1: and it is the worst. I mean, you might as
Speaker 1: well just walk. Yeah, they keep the carts on the
Speaker 1: path for a long time around her, just because it's
Speaker 1: so busy January through May. They want their golf courses
Speaker 1: really green and pretty. So that's my least favorite time
Speaker 1: of the year. One the ball doesn't roll, so my
Speaker 1: drives go even shorter, and then you have to walk
Speaker 1: like one hundred yards from the car path to your ball.
Speaker 2: Sucks. Yeah, I hear you. You have been described by
Speaker 2: me as the Charles Barkley of golf. Why do you
Speaker 2: think And first I want to talk about your role
Speaker 2: with CBS lead on course analyst.
Speaker 1: That's Dottie. That's Dottie. She's got the lead term.
Speaker 2: I'm just on course analyst.
Speaker 1: Yeah, on course would be fair, on course yeah, on
Speaker 1: course reporter analyst.
Speaker 2: On course Yeah. But I feel like they're doing some
Speaker 2: really fun new stuff with you that is ultimate great
Speaker 2: for the game of golf. I'll bring up you at
Speaker 2: the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the sixteenth hole there
Speaker 2: and the work that you've done the last couple of
Speaker 2: years from there, Why do you think that this work
Speaker 2: suits you?
Speaker 1: That's a great question. You know, I never had any
Speaker 1: plans of getting into this. I recently learned in the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, my mom told me that I
Speaker 1: would sit when I was a young kid and act
Speaker 1: like a broadcaster during all the sporting sports. That was
Speaker 1: interesting to hear. That's something I never knew. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm a student of the game. I obviously played at
Speaker 1: a very high level for a long time. I know
Speaker 1: the guys so well. Like I mean, I'm just recently retired.
Speaker 1: The best players in the world are still some of
Speaker 1: my very good friends, and so I know what it's
Speaker 1: like to be out there. But I also in the
Speaker 1: game of golf, where a lot of people are scared
Speaker 1: to show any personality.
Speaker 2: I'm not right. You know.
Speaker 1: When I got that call from CBS, I'll never forget.
Speaker 1: I had a cast on my hand. I was probably
Speaker 1: with you. I was laid in my hotel room, and
Speaker 1: I wasn't with you in my hotel room. I was
Speaker 1: in Vegas at the same time as you, but I
Speaker 1: was laying there in bed when I got the call
Speaker 1: from CBS, the like would you ever consider doing TV?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, I've never even thought about it. They're like, well,
Speaker 1: a lot of people say, You've got one of the
Speaker 1: best personalities out there, and we're looking for guys that
Speaker 1: were ex players to possibly do this, and I was
Speaker 1: still trying to play at the time. So it's like, well,
Speaker 1: that's kind of a slap in the face. They think
Speaker 1: my career's done. But it works out. It worked out
Speaker 1: really good. So you know, you mentioned the Charles Barkley thing,
Speaker 1: which is the biggest compliment anyone's ever given me. By
Speaker 1: the way, thank you for that. I think he is
Speaker 1: the best in the business. How he makes it fun
Speaker 1: and informative and is not scared to, you know, say
Speaker 1: what he thinks. And that's what I try to do
Speaker 1: with golf. Like, not everybody is a golf nerd. Not
Speaker 1: everybody knows exactly what's going on. So like when I talk,
Speaker 1: I want to I want the average golfer to know
Speaker 1: exactly what I'm talking about and make it fun along
Speaker 1: the way. Like I know it's when it's time to
Speaker 1: be serious and stuff like that, but you know, making
Speaker 1: jokes about myself or Frank Nabolo and even Jim nance
Speaker 1: having fun with those guys. I mean, it's a show.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know you're in the entertainment world.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And here's what here's what I think.
Speaker 2: I mean I already gave you a compliment, but I'm
Speaker 2: gonna I'm gonna explain what I mean, you know. I mean,
Speaker 2: you bring up the fact that you're recently retired, and
Speaker 2: you know a lot of the guys, well, that could
Speaker 2: be true of dozens of players. Let's be honest. I
Speaker 2: think what makes you so refreshing is one you're not
Speaker 2: afraid to have fun in a game that let's face it,
Speaker 2: there are times where I believe and you maybe can't
Speaker 2: say this anymore, but I'll be happy to where the
Speaker 2: PGA Tour at times tries to make it the no
Speaker 2: fun league, and that's what they call the NFL at times,
Speaker 2: but you know, takes itself just a little too seriously.
Speaker 2: And I'm a guy who loves golf, you know, just
Speaker 2: like you, and I think that you have a way
Speaker 2: of explaining to the average golfer what's going on, and
Speaker 2: the not so average golfer what's going on. You're respectful
Speaker 2: of players, but it's not precious, and I think that's
Speaker 2: what people are tired of in the golf world specifically,
Speaker 2: probably all sports. But when it gets a little too precious,
Speaker 2: it's a turnoff, to be honest, and I feel like
Speaker 2: that you have brought a renewed energy behind the broadcast
Speaker 2: where you're telling the story of what's going on on
Speaker 2: that day, but also giving us enough backstory to have
Speaker 2: it mean just a little bit more and have it
Speaker 2: be a little more personal for all of us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like you said, it's like I have no control
Speaker 1: over what happens on the golf course out there, Like
Speaker 1: my job is to inform the viewer, and if I
Speaker 1: can have some fun along the way, like that's what
Speaker 1: I want to do. Like I pay attention to everything
Speaker 1: that's going on in the world up to date on
Speaker 1: curt events, I know where I'm at, Like I love
Speaker 1: taking shots at other football teams around the world if
Speaker 1: we're in there city and stuff like that and bringing
Speaker 1: them in and then getting Twitter all riled up. It's
Speaker 1: just so much fun. But I also know, like if
Speaker 1: a guy hits a ridiculous shot, like I appreciate it
Speaker 1: and I can describe to the you're at home, like
Speaker 1: how difficult that was?
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I use the example just to make fun of myself.
Speaker 1: Like we're at sixteen at Mirefield Village up in Columbus
Speaker 1: Jack Nicholas's tournament and they had this pin tucked over water.
Speaker 1: It was an impossible pin. And I said, this whole
Speaker 1: location looks about as inviting as one of those gem signs,
Speaker 1: and people just they think about it in a second,
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, I get it, Like you don't want
Speaker 1: any part of that. And I'm like, exactly, like you
Speaker 1: just ignore this whole location, shoot out to the right
Speaker 1: and move on with it. But you know, you can
Speaker 1: be serious, but just have some fun with it. And
Speaker 1: you said you mentioned energy, and like that's what I
Speaker 1: tell everyone at CBS, like the one thing you can
Speaker 1: always count on me for every day when I show
Speaker 1: up to the compound, whether I'm having a terrible day
Speaker 1: or a great day, Like I'm going to bring the energy.
Speaker 1: And I can tell like when when I'm on the
Speaker 1: broadcast first when I'm off the difference in the energy.
Speaker 1: Everyone on that podcast knows they can poke fun at
Speaker 1: me or say something creative to me, and I'll give
Speaker 1: it right back to them or I'll roll with it.
Speaker 1: And so I think we're heading in the right direction,
Speaker 1: which is which is good news because like, let's be honest,
Speaker 1: golf can be very boring.
Speaker 2: There's no doubt.
Speaker 1: I mean, the old adage I turn on the golf
Speaker 1: to take a nap. As a broadcaster, that's very insulting.
Speaker 1: I don't want you think an I just want to
Speaker 1: scream wake up out there every once in a.
Speaker 2: While, right right, right, No, I know it's fair, it's
Speaker 2: very funny. This is I don't know if I've ever
Speaker 2: said these words before, but you know, we I hear
Speaker 2: a lot. Not to make this about me, but about
Speaker 2: the office and the number of people that say I
Speaker 2: put it on every night to go to bed. Thanks oh.
Speaker 2: In a second Full Swing documentary that Netflix did about
Speaker 2: the PGA Tour, you a fan. I thought it was.
Speaker 1: Great for the game of golf. They did a great
Speaker 1: job with it for me. You know, I compare to
Speaker 1: Drive to Survive, which was the first one of those
Speaker 1: that was a massive hit. Like, I knew nothing about
Speaker 1: F one, so when I watched it, I was fascinated golf,
Speaker 1: Like I knew all this. I didn't need to know
Speaker 1: how to make a cut for you know, how many
Speaker 1: people play the weekend. What a birdie, what a par
Speaker 1: Is and all that. But I don't think that was
Speaker 1: made for me, the guy who lives and dies with
Speaker 1: the game of golf. So for the people at home
Speaker 1: to bring more people into the game. It was fantastic
Speaker 1: and the numbers have shown them, like the viewership at
Speaker 1: PGA Tour events is up, the number of people that
Speaker 1: follow golfers on social media, and the people that tune
Speaker 1: in like it's great. So it's done great things. My
Speaker 1: one thing, and I've told Chad Mum, this is like
Speaker 1: they showed all the guys getting on the private jets
Speaker 1: going tournament to tournament, Like, let's follow the guys that
Speaker 1: grind it out to make a cut every week and
Speaker 1: are grinding to keep their tour card every single year.
Speaker 2: Like I find that part fast. Yes, well, you know
Speaker 2: I talked to Charlie about this as well. Figala though.
Speaker 2: I mean that story, that episode there, I mean, it
Speaker 2: has to have given him thousands, if not millions, of
Speaker 2: more fans. It was such an engaging story and you know,
Speaker 2: he just won. And I mean, look, it's great when
Speaker 2: you have a young player come out, play amazing and
Speaker 2: win a tournament. And if we know about those players,
Speaker 2: or we want to know about those players, that's what
Speaker 2: makes it especially special.
Speaker 1: It was huge for him. I thought it was huge.
Speaker 1: I mean, look what Joel Damon like Joel Damon became
Speaker 1: all of a sudden this fan favorite because of his personality.
Speaker 1: His caddy, Gina was all over the episode that he's
Speaker 1: out there signing freaking autographs. What are we doing? But
Speaker 1: it shows you. I mean, that kind of exposure when
Speaker 1: you get on Netflix is awesome. I can't Season two,
Speaker 1: I think will be even better because they are learned
Speaker 1: a lot from season one. They're like, Okay, we can
Speaker 1: go this route and make it even better. But it
Speaker 1: is terrifying being out there every single week because you
Speaker 1: don't know who's miked up and who's not, so you
Speaker 1: gotta be very careful with what you say. I made
Speaker 1: a comment to Maxima's caddy, Joe Grinder day. He just
Speaker 1: starts laughing, and I go, you're miked up right now?
Speaker 2: Yep. I'm like, damn it.
Speaker 1: Guys like delete that looked for the guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think it's great, and I mean it's
Speaker 2: I mean, it shows what a nerd you are, because yeah,
Speaker 2: I just gave the stats out forty two percent people
Speaker 2: are watching more golf and thirty seven percent people are
Speaker 2: following and searching et cetera players and golf on social
Speaker 2: media sites. I think it's done a lot to grow
Speaker 2: the game as well as the little thing called COVID
Speaker 2: that happened. You know, it got more people playing and
Speaker 2: so they're too four with more people following the best
Speaker 2: players in the world live. Good for the game of golf.
Speaker 1: Or no, it's been a disruptor obviously, and I think
Speaker 1: it's that I think it brought I mean, like you
Speaker 1: mentioned COVID, Like the only thing I think good that
Speaker 1: came out of COVID was golf. I mean, the numbers
Speaker 1: went nuts because we're all going stir crazy and wanted
Speaker 1: to get out on the golf course, and so it
Speaker 1: brought a lot of new people to the game live.
Speaker 1: It's been a topic of conversation on every outlook right,
Speaker 1: whether it's CNN, Fox News, Good Morning America, I mean,
Speaker 1: the local coffee shop whatever. Like golf's being talked about
Speaker 1: more than it ever has. So as far as attentionionalise,
Speaker 1: it's great, but it's not all the best attention. I'm
Speaker 1: not a fan of it, you know, I'm not crazy
Speaker 1: about the problem at Yeah. Yeah, and I'm honest about that,
Speaker 1: but it's it's not for me. I'm a traditional golf guy,
Speaker 1: like I appreciate as a guy that struggled and grinded
Speaker 1: out to make a cut every week. Like the cut
Speaker 1: is a big part of the game. And you asked
Speaker 1: Tiger what he his greatest you know record he holds
Speaker 1: is it's the consecutive cut streak. But I think it's
Speaker 1: like one hundred and forty five minits in a row.
Speaker 1: That's just insane. Considering the longest active streak right now
Speaker 1: in the PGA Tour, I believe it's twenty five and
Speaker 1: it's ender shot, so it's it's insane, But you know,
Speaker 1: it's just it's not for me. Like I don't like
Speaker 1: the shot guns start, Like I like the leaders coming
Speaker 1: down the stretch. At the same time, I like that
Speaker 1: guy going out there and shooting sixty three on Sunday
Speaker 1: and posting a low score and sitting there and waiting
Speaker 1: to see if he has a chance. But look, it's
Speaker 1: done a lot of Like it's brought new eyeballs to
Speaker 1: the game of golf. It's brought a lot more money
Speaker 1: to the professional players, which is fantastic. I just never
Speaker 1: thought I would see anything like this happen in my day.
Speaker 2: Right, there's a lot of political issues that have to
Speaker 2: be and should be resolved. Will the merger happen? Do
Speaker 2: you believe.
Speaker 1: It needs to? I think for the PGA Tour, as
Speaker 1: we've learned, you know, they can't compete dollar for dollar
Speaker 1: with the PIF. I mean, there's just there's no nobody can.
Speaker 1: So if you want to do that, if you want
Speaker 1: to try to compete with them, you're gonna lose. So
Speaker 1: I hope there's an agreement. Like all I want is
Speaker 1: the best players in the world to play against each
Speaker 1: other as often as possible.
Speaker 2: That's I mean, that's all.
Speaker 1: I care about. Like you, you know, out on the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour, what events have juice and what events don't.
Speaker 1: Like you get excited when ten on the top fifteen
Speaker 1: in the world are there. The majors are special. I
Speaker 1: always want those guys to be there in the majors,
Speaker 1: but I would like to see them more often. I
Speaker 1: miss Dustin Johnson, I miss bryceon de Shambo, even Patrick Reed.
Speaker 1: He's a disruptor, like I mean, he's he's the villain.
Speaker 1: Brooks Koepka is just a monster. Like those guys are
Speaker 1: great for the game of golf. I want to see
Speaker 1: him battle in Roy mclroy justin Thomas John Rome as
Speaker 1: often as possible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and obviously not all of them. But as I
Speaker 2: was talking to Charlie about this as well, like and
Speaker 2: especially for you and your job, it's about the stories, right,
Speaker 2: and it does feel like not all of them. And
Speaker 2: I'm not endorsing this position. It's but a lot of
Speaker 2: the villains left, yes, and that I think all sports
Speaker 2: fans appreciate and want that. If the Yankees were gone,
Speaker 2: it wouldn't be as much fun to be the Mariners
Speaker 2: or whatever. You know what I mean. It's you want
Speaker 2: a behemoth, or you want a personality that you can root,
Speaker 2: you know, for or against.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I use Brooks Skepka, and he's not I mean,
Speaker 1: you can consider him a villain if you want, whatever
Speaker 1: it is. But like when he shows up at major championships,
Speaker 1: you know, he's the baddest man on the planet, right,
Speaker 1: Like it is just I remember at Beth Page. He
Speaker 1: goes out there and shoots sixty three on Thursday at
Speaker 1: the PGA Championship, and every single person that field goes
Speaker 1: we're screwed because brooks Kepka just went out and took
Speaker 1: the lead. And he's one of those guys. He's a
Speaker 1: polarizing figure. And you talk to other players and they're
Speaker 1: just like, they hate to admit it, but they're like,
Speaker 1: he is a problem when it comes to me, he's
Speaker 1: that guy, and he's he's all business. He's not going
Speaker 1: to give you these funny quotes or anything like that.
Speaker 1: He said, my job is to show up, take care
Speaker 1: of business, and lift another major championship trophy onto my mannle,
Speaker 1: and he does it at a ridiculous rate. So yeah,
Speaker 1: there's those guys like him. Even Patrick Reed, who I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, has had all his situations throughout the years.
Speaker 1: I mean bryceon de Shamba when he came back and
Speaker 1: was driving three hundred and seventy yard grades and trying
Speaker 1: to knock it on par fives and one like, people
Speaker 1: loved seeing that, and he was different. I think you've
Speaker 1: got to have those guys that are different to make
Speaker 1: the sport interesting, right I'm not.
Speaker 2: Talking about world rankings. Who's the best golfer on the
Speaker 2: planet right now?
Speaker 1: That is such a tough question, but I think you've
Speaker 1: still got to go Scotti Sheffler. His ball striking numbers
Speaker 1: are just insane. I know he's number one in the
Speaker 1: world statistically, but like, nobody hits the golf ball the
Speaker 1: way Scotty Scheffler does. If he puts it all like,
Speaker 1: he wins by one hundred and there was two turns.
Speaker 1: He went back tournaments this year at Colonial Memorial where
Speaker 1: he missed out on a playoff by a shot and
Speaker 1: was dead last in the field. He barely beat you
Speaker 1: and putting for the league and lost by a shot.
Speaker 1: Like I'm like, all you have to do is putt
Speaker 1: better than one person and you walk away with this thing.
Speaker 1: That's It's just that's how terrifying it is with how
Speaker 1: good he hits the golf ball, because if he just
Speaker 1: makes anything, you ain't beat.
Speaker 2: It, right, that's your answer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, My favorite to watch, like just like one part
Speaker 1: is Roy McElroy drive the golf ball. It's like golden
Speaker 1: d just spin it back and spin it forward and
Speaker 1: it goes three thirty down the middle every time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's fun. It's an interesting time to be a
Speaker 2: golf fan. You're right in the middle of it. What's
Speaker 2: your favorite event to cover now, Masters?
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, you know, I haven't been on the main
Speaker 1: coverage of the Masters. I'm hoping that comes this year
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. Definitely going there every year. That
Speaker 1: is so special. But at home here, I mean it
Speaker 1: was my last event, the WM Phoenix Open. That atmosphere
Speaker 1: is just so cool. And when they put us down
Speaker 1: there on sixteen on Saturday, that is just so much
Speaker 1: fun getting involved with the crowd and it's just it's
Speaker 1: so unique. You don't other tournaments try to replicate that
Speaker 1: sixteen but there's only one WN Phoenix Open. It's such
Speaker 1: a fun week. It's a party that one's hard to beat.
Speaker 2: You have a show on Sirius XM. Gravy and the Sleeves. Yep,
Speaker 2: your nickname, Big Gravy? How did you get your nickname?
Speaker 2: Where to come from?
Speaker 1: So that all happened from Steve Elkington, per former professional
Speaker 1: golfer major champion. One day on Twitter, people are going
Speaker 1: back and forth and this guy's giving me a hard
Speaker 1: time and elk just chimes in. He's like, lay off,
Speaker 1: my man, Big Gravy, And I'm like.
Speaker 2: Where the hell did that come from?
Speaker 1: He's like, he's like, I'm a bourbon guy. He's like,
Speaker 1: there's a there's a really nice bourbon called Big Gravy.
Speaker 1: I love and I just feel like it kind of
Speaker 1: suits you, and it was one of the ones it
Speaker 1: just literally just took off out of nobody. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I got to give Elkington all the credit. It's just
Speaker 1: one of those nicknames that went. It wasn't the most
Speaker 1: flattering thing I would say, but it's still yeah, and
Speaker 1: I kind of like it now Now I just don't it.
Speaker 2: I like it. You you enjoy doing the show still.
Speaker 2: I mean you're like the busiest man in golf too.
Speaker 2: I mean you talk about not wanting to grind and
Speaker 2: hit balls anymore, tried to work on the corn Ferry tour.
Speaker 2: But I mean, you've got your amazing podcast that is
Speaker 2: about to have a very special guest, very special golf's
Speaker 2: subpar with Drew Stolt, You've got gravy in the sleeves.
Speaker 2: So this is this is the same show that you
Speaker 2: were offered for Serious when you retired, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I got offered this Serious xim at La.
Speaker 1: I was doing TV, just my first ever TV event,
Speaker 1: and Scott Greenstein from Serious XM Game called and said,
Speaker 1: would you want to show? And I'm like, I mean, gods,
Speaker 1: Slees and I had been talking about doing a show
Speaker 1: together for years, just never knew how to get one,
Speaker 1: and then Yeah. We started out it one day a
Speaker 1: week for an hour, quickly went to three, three days
Speaker 1: a week for two hours. They want us to go
Speaker 1: to five, but I don't have time for that. But man,
Speaker 1: I love it. It's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, so I have
Speaker 1: to miss shows it occasionally for travel. But I honestly
Speaker 1: tell people, like, I think doing the Serious XM in
Speaker 1: the podcast makes me better on CBS because I have
Speaker 1: to talk about everything that's going on in the game
Speaker 1: of golf right between those two shows, so it, you know,
Speaker 1: informs me on a lot more things like I know
Speaker 1: those crazy numbers about Netflix and stuff like that, or
Speaker 1: I don't think I normally would, right, Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: the Serious ExM. It's nine to eleven in Scottsdale, so
Speaker 1: I wake up, have some coffee, stroll into my office,
Speaker 1: Drew comes over and we just sit here and it's
Speaker 1: like two buddies just talking back and forth for two
Speaker 1: hours and we get paid to do it.
Speaker 2: It's insane. It's great. You're amazing to listen to. You
Speaker 2: offer so many insights. Again, I know to people who
Speaker 2: don't know golf well, but even those who do are
Speaker 2: constantly listening to what you have to say. It should
Speaker 2: be mentioned this year you made your first trip to
Speaker 2: beautiful my favorite place on the planet, the American Century
Speaker 2: Golf Championship in beautiful Lake Tahoe.
Speaker 1: Do you want to see something amazing?
Speaker 2: What?
Speaker 1: So? I was literally getting ready for this show and
Speaker 1: I was on a trip to South Carolina yes day.
Speaker 1: So I was pulling my backpack or stuff out of
Speaker 1: my backpack and I find this ship from Harras. I
Speaker 1: can't make this up, Harris Tahoe one hundred dollars.
Speaker 2: That is a one dollar from Harra's in Lake Tahoe.
Speaker 1: Wow, hilarious. That means I have to go back next
Speaker 1: year so I can cash this out.
Speaker 2: You have to cash it, you have to catch it out.
Speaker 2: Did you enjoy being.
Speaker 1: There the greatest week of the year. Honestly, I'd heard
Speaker 1: stories I was going up there. We flew up there
Speaker 1: on Tuesday or Wednesday, Sleaz and I did a deal
Speaker 1: for Corbell and the Long Drive. Yes, on sixteen there.
Speaker 1: And then my good buddy Alex Klorn, who was making
Speaker 1: his first appearance two times Stanley Cup champion, He's like,
Speaker 1: would you want to Caddy? But I'm like God, it's
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty degrees in Scott's Still I'm like, sure,
Speaker 1: I'll caddy for you. We end up playing great the
Speaker 1: first day, get paired with Steph Curry in the last
Speaker 1: group on Saturday. It makes the hole in one on
Speaker 1: eight like it was such a fun week. I knew
Speaker 1: it was gonna be fun, but it blew me away.
Speaker 1: That is seriously, I see why y'all have so much
Speaker 1: fun and see why you look forward to it every year.
Speaker 1: I mean that scene on seventeen when we came through
Speaker 1: there on Saturday, I'm like, this is this is like
Speaker 1: playing with Tiger right now, with Steph Curry out here
Speaker 1: and all these people. Man, they do a great job there.
Speaker 1: That is, if you ever get a chance to go,
Speaker 1: for those listening, you gotta go. It's a blast.
Speaker 2: Where would you put it ranking wise as a as
Speaker 2: a I understand it's not a PGA Tour event. I'm
Speaker 2: well aware they let me play, but what but what
Speaker 2: where would you.
Speaker 1: Rank it as far as just fun? I don't know
Speaker 1: if you can beat it, Like you can't beat it.
Speaker 1: I mean with all you guys, I mean some the
Speaker 1: names that play in this tournament. You Charles Parkley, Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: I mean, the list goes on and on. Steph Curry
Speaker 1: justin Timberlake's played in the past. Like to see those
Speaker 1: guys up close and personal. Then you see him in
Speaker 1: the casino afterwards. Travis Kelsey, by the way, who's probably
Speaker 1: MVP every year, puts on an absolute show.
Speaker 2: He put a show.
Speaker 1: You can't you can't make it up, like it's fantasy
Speaker 1: lamp like. Yeah, I'm making sure my CBS schedule does
Speaker 1: not conflict with whatever American Century at Lake Tahoe, Like,
Speaker 1: I gotta be there every year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's a great time. Well, it's always the
Speaker 2: same week, just so you know, so.
Speaker 1: I believe it's opposite Scottish Open. It's the week before
Speaker 1: the British Open, the British Op. Yeah, so it's opposite
Speaker 1: the Scottish Open, which just so happens. We have eighteen
Speaker 1: events next year for CBS. I get seventeen of them,
Speaker 1: and I happen to have the Scottish Open off, So.
Speaker 2: So I'll see in Lake Tahoe. Oh baby, shoot, wait,
Speaker 2: you know what's interesting to me and no one else
Speaker 2: the Americans said, I've never talked about this before. I don't,
Speaker 2: probably because nobody would be interested by that. Tournament in
Speaker 2: a way was built because NBC did not have the
Speaker 2: British Open, so it was counter programming to the British.
Speaker 2: It was the same weekend on NBC versus your employer Cbah.
Speaker 1: Well, it was a rather good idea whoever came up.
Speaker 2: With it, because John Miller, my friend, my.
Speaker 1: God, I mean, that is a show. I mean, between
Speaker 1: the golf, everything going on at night, can't beat. It's
Speaker 1: the best week of the year. It takes ten years
Speaker 1: off your life, but it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: You haven't aged a bit. Colt, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for coming on. Check out Colt's podcast Golf Subpar, as
Speaker 2: well as Gravy and the Sleeves on Serious XM. And
Speaker 2: of course you can hear my good friend doing the
Speaker 2: best work in professional golf on CBS, not the lead commentator,
Speaker 2: but an on course correspondent for CBS. Check him out
Speaker 2: at least if they have the tournament and not NBC. Cold,
Speaker 2: thanks a lot, my friend.
Speaker 1: You got it, ma man anytime. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for having me.
Speaker 2: Cold. Thank you, my friend, thanks for joining me, and
Speaker 2: thank you for bringing some personality and incredible knowledge to
Speaker 2: those who like to watch the game of golf. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: I have to report that since we recorded this conversation,
Speaker 2: Team USA did not win the Wryter Cup. But hey,
Speaker 2: cold got to go to Italy, so it's not all bad.
Speaker 2: And Resid assured we will see the Europeans back on
Speaker 2: American soil in two years. Guess what, you don't have
Speaker 2: to wait two years for me. I'll be back next week,
Speaker 2: same time, same podcast. I hope you will. We'll be
Speaker 2: here too. Until then, Yeah, have a fantastic week. Off
Speaker 2: the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner,
Speaker 2: alongside our executive producer Lang Lee. Our senior producer is
Speaker 2: Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and
Speaker 2: Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and
Speaker 2: our intern is Ali Amir Sahem. Our theme song Bubble
Speaker 2: and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bray