Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is powered by td Ameritrade. Every stroke counts
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Speaker 1: tedomritrade dot com slash Fried Egg member SIPC. Today's guest
Speaker 1: is Charlie Danielson. Charlie competed in last week's US Opened,
Speaker 1: making the cut and finishing T fifty eighth. Charlie was
Speaker 1: a four time All American at the University of Illinois
Speaker 1: in turn professional midway through twenty sixteen. Shortly after he
Speaker 1: turned pro, a knee injury from his youth flared up
Speaker 1: and he had to get a big surgery to repair it,
Speaker 1: so he is on the end. He's actually eleven months
Speaker 1: through the twelve month recovery process, so it looks like
Speaker 1: he's going to be back in top form shortly, as
Speaker 1: evidenced by his per formance getting out of locals and Sectionals,
Speaker 1: qualifying for the US Open, then also making the cut
Speaker 1: this weekend. So without further ado, here's Charlie Danielson.
Speaker 2: I miss the green. For example, I'm already upset. When
Speaker 2: I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
Speaker 2: And when I find my ball in a brid egg
Speaker 2: Friday egg, the dreaded Frida, egg Frida, egg Frida, egg
Speaker 2: Brian egg Frida, egg bride egg Lie, I'm about ready
Speaker 2: to run off of the hump.
Speaker 1: Course, you probably didn't have the highest expectations to when
Speaker 1: he when he signed up for the local.
Speaker 2: No, I didn't. I mean I had been doing like
Speaker 2: a couple of little mini tours and and I spent
Speaker 2: my winters down in Arizona, and so I felt like
Speaker 2: my game was trending in the right way, but I
Speaker 2: was maybe eighty percent and just kind of bunting it
Speaker 2: down the fairway. And then just week after week I
Speaker 2: started getting a little more confidence in my game and
Speaker 2: in my knee. And then I went back moved back
Speaker 2: up north to Wisconsin, and I felt like, you know,
Speaker 2: I could if I just kind of stayed patient in
Speaker 2: the locals, I could I could probably squeeze through. And
Speaker 2: I was fortunate enough to I think a birdie my
Speaker 2: last three to be a medallist. And then sectionals was
Speaker 2: definitely a place where my expectations were low, just because
Speaker 2: I was at a pro site where with a ton
Speaker 2: of good players, and really I had nothing to lose.
Speaker 1: It's funny how I hadn't played golf in like a
Speaker 1: month until yesterday. So I mean I was on the
Speaker 1: first teape just like hoping to make contact.
Speaker 2: That's how it goes. I mean when I when I
Speaker 2: was uh, I probably went six almost six six months
Speaker 2: without touching the club just because on the couch and
Speaker 2: then rehab and when I first started making some swings,
Speaker 2: it was just like I was the same way, just
Speaker 2: hoping to you just kind of like hope that your
Speaker 2: game comes back, because you know, sometimes people just they
Speaker 2: lose it for good. And uh, you know, fortunately and
Speaker 2: I'm still kind of trending the right direction.
Speaker 1: So when you were when you were hurt, what were
Speaker 1: you what were you doing to keep yourself busy other
Speaker 1: than rehabbing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well for the first probably I couldn't even start
Speaker 2: physical therapy for the first four weeks because my knee
Speaker 2: just needed rest. Like the only time I would get
Speaker 2: up was with crutches to go to the bathroom, and
Speaker 2: so I don't think I made it up the stairs
Speaker 2: to my bed for like fourteen days. And so the
Speaker 2: first month was just like survival. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: taking pills, having my mom feed me. And then once
Speaker 2: I kind of started being able to get on the
Speaker 2: crutches and get off the couch. So probably from month
Speaker 2: one to three, I could at least, you know, start
Speaker 2: getting into a car and going to rehab. And that
Speaker 2: was when things got a little better, because you start
Speaker 2: to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 2: And I loved rehab because that was just like it
Speaker 2: was the only thing I could do to make me
Speaker 2: feel productive, to make me feel like, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: getting I'm getting back as soon as possible. And uh,
Speaker 2: and then I would say, you know, I just did
Speaker 2: some reading obviously, just crushed a ton of Netflix shows
Speaker 2: and uh, and I had my my parents were around
Speaker 2: most of the time, and then hung out with my dog.
Speaker 2: Just it's just really silly stuff. But and then obviously
Speaker 2: a ton of reflecting, like you just you just sit
Speaker 2: there on the couch and you think, you know, you
Speaker 2: think about how you can get better, You think about
Speaker 2: you know the weaknesses of your game, you know what
Speaker 2: you're doing well before you got hurt, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: it was a lot of reflection as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think it's unique. And most players
Speaker 1: that have the injuries happen like you know, when they're
Speaker 1: thirty five or you know, as they get older. When
Speaker 1: they have you know, they've had a long career and
Speaker 1: then they have this time to reflect on, you know,
Speaker 1: what they've done to date. But it's you know, having
Speaker 1: just turned pro, you know, eighteen months or so before, like,
Speaker 1: you know, what was it really you know, what were
Speaker 1: you kind of reflecting on it? You know, and what
Speaker 1: do you think about most?
Speaker 2: Would you say, well, yeah, so, I mean I continue
Speaker 2: to get better throughout college and so you know, I
Speaker 2: had high hopes coming out, played decent in some exemptions.
Speaker 2: My first year. You know, I played all around the world.
Speaker 2: I played some in Europe, PGA Tour, Web, couple of
Speaker 2: Latin and then I played a season up in Canada
Speaker 2: and I played seven events and so half the year
Speaker 2: and finished twenty first on the money list. So I
Speaker 2: was one spot out of getting into second stage and
Speaker 2: then end up going to first stage and missing. I
Speaker 2: shot like I can't remember, maybe like twelve under and
Speaker 2: didn't get through, and so then that was a huge bummer.
Speaker 2: And then a month or two later, just when I
Speaker 2: feel like, all right, now I have a full season
Speaker 2: in Canada next year, and then you know, and then
Speaker 2: you start to think, and then the web, and then
Speaker 2: you know, hopefully the PGA tour of the year after that,
Speaker 2: and then my knee starts to hurt, and you know,
Speaker 2: shortly after Q school and so then I just you know,
Speaker 2: start to panic a little bit and go meet with
Speaker 2: the same surgeon I went to in middle school, and
Speaker 2: he's like, look, we can try all these shots, we
Speaker 2: can try physical therapy, and we can see if you
Speaker 2: can get this thing back to where you can play golf.
Speaker 2: And so I took the chance and did all of
Speaker 2: that for six months and nothing worked, nothing at all.
Speaker 2: So our last resort of surgery, which was a bummer
Speaker 2: because I had just delayed everything six more months, and
Speaker 2: now I'm looking at a twelve month recovery. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, while I'm reflecting, I'm thinking about, you know,
Speaker 2: all the unfortunate things that have gone my way. I
Speaker 2: felt like, you know, my talent and my work ethic,
Speaker 2: you know, everything was good enough to at least be
Speaker 2: on the web, and you know, I'm seeing all of
Speaker 2: the guy all my buddies, all the guys I went
Speaker 2: to school with and competed against, and you know, they're
Speaker 2: all having success. And that's that's really tough. And it
Speaker 2: kind of gives you the option to either feel sorry
Speaker 2: for yourself and think of everything that that has that
Speaker 2: haven't gone your way, or you can or you can
Speaker 2: just you know, continue to believe and work hard and
Speaker 2: you know, and then that was kind of when rehab started,
Speaker 2: and I just wanted to work as hard as I
Speaker 2: could to get back as soon as I could. And
Speaker 2: you know, when you sit out that long, you come
Speaker 2: back and you're hungry, you're refreshed, and you're kind of
Speaker 2: just grateful to be on the course again. And I
Speaker 2: think that's that's a new perspective. I think I learned
Speaker 2: that when I was in middle school, big basketball player,
Speaker 2: you know, focused on that. And then I have that
Speaker 2: time off and then I start to miss golf and
Speaker 2: I come back and that's kind of when I started
Speaker 2: to to really enjoy it and kind of the same
Speaker 2: thing here. You know, now I'm just fortunate to be back.
Speaker 2: I've been through a year and a half of professional golf.
Speaker 2: I know, I know it's a grind, but I also
Speaker 2: know that that I belong out there, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean that's just kind of a little summary of
Speaker 2: what went through my mind, what happened, and you know,
Speaker 2: everything that I was thinking about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I imagine it's kind of odd good, I think.
Speaker 1: You know, nowadays, especially with specialization, how you know, most
Speaker 1: high school kids play one sport. It's it's like you
Speaker 1: got the you've got a rare year plus break off
Speaker 1: of golf, Like nobody gets that anymore. That's trying to
Speaker 1: play pro. You know, you're going pedal to the metal
Speaker 1: from when you're fourteen or thirteen years old all the
Speaker 1: way through. You know how you know your professional career,
Speaker 1: you never get any time off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's that's very true. And uh, you know,
Speaker 2: now people just you know want to play a year
Speaker 2: round golf. And that was the interesting interesting thing for
Speaker 2: me is is when I was growing up in Wisconsin,
Speaker 2: you know, I had a six month season and then
Speaker 2: I would kind of go to other sports and and
Speaker 2: then I decided to stay Midwest and go to college
Speaker 2: and and coach my as was huge on that, Like
Speaker 2: you've you've been used to a break and you've been
Speaker 2: used to having that time off in the winter to
Speaker 2: you know, reevaluate, figure out what you need to work on,
Speaker 2: but also get away from it. And uh, and he
Speaker 2: was he was kind of viewed that as a positive thing.
Speaker 2: And I think that most people now just think that
Speaker 2: they need to work, you know, twelve months out of
Speaker 2: the year, you know, grind on their game. And I
Speaker 2: think that says a lot. And so that I do
Speaker 2: think that, you know, it is maybe a little blessing
Speaker 2: in disguise that I had all that time off. Well,
Speaker 2: obviously I'm I'm impatient and just you know, wanting to
Speaker 2: get out there so bad. But you know, you got
Speaker 2: to think that everything happens for a reason. And I
Speaker 2: learned a lot throughout that process.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I agree. I've got a buddy from
Speaker 1: Chicago who plays on the web and he, after a
Speaker 1: number years of living in Florida, started to just said,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to live in Chicago and and
Speaker 1: you know, just you know, when we're off or off
Speaker 1: and I'm in Chicago even if it's winter, And you know,
Speaker 1: he seems to have liked it much more. It's it's
Speaker 1: a fascinating concept. So, you know, thinking about Illinois and
Speaker 1: Coach small so obviously you went to Illinois, you were
Speaker 1: four time All American, you progressed, and and there you
Speaker 1: have school. When you when you graduate and you start
Speaker 1: playing golf for a living, what would you say is
Speaker 1: the most difficult aspect of that transition?
Speaker 2: Well, I would say, you know, in college, you get
Speaker 2: used to, you know, the team aspect, You get used
Speaker 2: to everyone doing your travel for you and you they
Speaker 2: kind of make a schedule for you and you know everything.
Speaker 2: And then you turn pro and you're completely out on
Speaker 2: your own. You know, you have your family to support you,
Speaker 2: you have your agents to kind of get you into tournaments,
Speaker 2: but it's a lonely world, and especially when you don't
Speaker 2: quite have the results that you're expecting, it gets it
Speaker 2: gets tough, and that's when doubt starts to creep in.
Speaker 2: That's when you start to realize, like, you know, am
Speaker 2: I made out to be a professional golfer, And it's
Speaker 2: not easy. And there are so many guys that come
Speaker 2: out of college and make that transition look so easy,
Speaker 2: and that's really impressive because you know, most of the time,
Speaker 2: it is a it is a big transition, and it's
Speaker 2: a tough transition, and and it was for me. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 2: I made some cuts out on the PGA Tour, you know,
Speaker 2: played played pretty well in some web events, you know,
Speaker 2: played solid and half a season in Canada, but it
Speaker 2: didn't get me anywhere. You know. It came down to
Speaker 2: Q school for two years, missed miss both years, and
Speaker 2: then you're just kind of looking at, Wow, I have
Speaker 2: to start over for the year. And so I think
Speaker 2: a lot of it's just you know, learning and progressing
Speaker 2: and you know, getting used to every experience and you know,
Speaker 2: learning from other players. I think that all goes in
Speaker 2: to to continue to become, you know, a better professional golfer.
Speaker 2: And and I think that you know, I've already learned
Speaker 2: so much through the two or three years that I've
Speaker 2: been out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely something that's changed in the last i'd
Speaker 1: say decade, is you.
Speaker 2: Know, the the.
Speaker 1: Success that young players has had. You know, it just
Speaker 1: seems like now it's younger and younger and more and
Speaker 1: more people have success and and when you and a
Speaker 1: lot of it comes down to in some cases, a
Speaker 1: good break here or a good break there. And you know,
Speaker 1: for you the first stage of you know, missing out
Speaker 1: on second stage of Q School by you know, one
Speaker 1: spot on the Canadian Tour and then shooting twelve under.
Speaker 1: It's just like kind of just a matter of circumstance,
Speaker 1: and it's just so it's interesting because like you think
Speaker 1: about Jordan Spieth, like he had you know, he missed out,
Speaker 1: he missed second stage, or he missed going to final
Speaker 1: stage and then you know he gets on an exemption
Speaker 1: and he wins and you know, he hits the pin
Speaker 1: on that bunker shot. It was kind of a great
Speaker 1: break and a lot of times it comes down to
Speaker 1: a good break here, a good break there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree, and it just comes down to
Speaker 2: playing well at the right time because you know, even
Speaker 2: even if you get to final stage, if you don't
Speaker 2: play four solid rounds, I mean good chances, you don't
Speaker 2: have you know, full web status that next year. And
Speaker 2: so you know, you just you hope to get a break.
Speaker 2: You hope to get you know, either Monday qualify and
Speaker 2: have a great week throughout the year. You know, just
Speaker 2: a ton of things. You know, I've talked uh with
Speaker 2: Nick Hardy about this all the time because we we
Speaker 2: both you know, aren't on the Web and feel like,
Speaker 2: you know, we should be, and we really want to
Speaker 2: be But it's just it's just a matter of you know,
Speaker 2: believing that you keep working hard, you keep doing the
Speaker 2: right things, you keep believing that some way or another,
Speaker 2: you're going to get You're going to get out there.
Speaker 2: And so I would say, you know, belief, belief, and
Speaker 2: playing well at the right time, It's all going to happen.
Speaker 2: It's just a matter of staying patient.
Speaker 1: Ye had you made the cut at the US Open,
Speaker 1: had a really good week, you know, with a with
Speaker 1: the exception of a whole here, a hole there, you
Speaker 1: would have been, you know, up in the top twenty
Speaker 1: five or so. What what are the plans for the
Speaker 1: rest of the summer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, uh that was uh, that was quite the week.
Speaker 2: And we can talk about that in a little bit,
Speaker 2: but uh, the rest of the summer, I would say,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm in the I'm in the Barracude Championship
Speaker 2: that you know, I've played two years already, and so
Speaker 2: I have that in late July, maybe waiting on you know,
Speaker 2: another exemption here and here or there, but you know,
Speaker 2: focus up in Canada and uh, just do everything I
Speaker 2: can to to continue to play well and just kind
Speaker 2: of trust the process. But you know, it's all kind
Speaker 2: of just building momentum throughout the year by the time
Speaker 2: I get to Q school and I and honestly, I
Speaker 2: still have to get healthier. I'm I'm not at the
Speaker 2: point now where I can just quit rehabbing and I'm
Speaker 2: good to go. You know, I don't have my speedback.
Speaker 2: Awkward lies and bunker shots still give me problems with
Speaker 2: my knee, and so that's also that's also something that's
Speaker 2: you know, pretty comforting, is I've I've already accomplished a
Speaker 2: little bit coming after the surgery, and I still I
Speaker 2: still have to get healthier and you know, looking forward
Speaker 2: to to continuing to get my leg stronger and getting
Speaker 2: back to one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: We see it with a lot of guys when they
Speaker 1: when they have an injury and then you know, did
Speaker 1: having the injury and then you know you had this
Speaker 1: period of time where you couldn't full swing. But I'm
Speaker 1: guessing you went and you could start to putt and
Speaker 1: then you started to ship to have you noticed that
Speaker 1: you know that's helped your short game and putting a
Speaker 1: lot that dedicated focus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I Mean when when I was in college,
Speaker 2: I mean that was basically all Coach Wall preached was
Speaker 2: you know, work on that short game. And we sat
Speaker 2: down with Bob Rotella a couple of times and it
Speaker 2: was work on one hundred and twenty yards and end.
Speaker 2: You know, that's it's so important. And I think people see,
Speaker 2: you know, the top players in the world right now,
Speaker 2: and they're just they're just great ball strikers who hit
Speaker 2: it far, but they're also so good from one hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty yards and end, and so yeah, I think
Speaker 2: that's that's something that has kind of It's always been
Speaker 2: my mo It's what I've always loved to work on.
Speaker 2: And I think that was pretty nice having that extra
Speaker 2: time to to start to work on my short game
Speaker 2: so that when you know, when I was healthy enough
Speaker 2: to swing, that my short game was already good to go.
Speaker 2: I just you know, needed to group the swing.
Speaker 1: So Coach Small's had a ton of success. You were
Speaker 1: on some of some just unbelievable teams at Illinois when
Speaker 1: Thomas Feeder was there, and then you know, you guys
Speaker 1: had Thomas Dietree and Brian Campbell and Nick Hardy and
Speaker 1: Dylan Meyer, and you know a lot of times he
Speaker 1: takes you know, the thing that is most impressive as
Speaker 1: the player development. How everybody that seems to go there
Speaker 1: becomes such a better player. What is it about Coach
Speaker 1: Small and his approach that you know really helped you
Speaker 1: guys and consistently improve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the player development was that's why I chose
Speaker 2: to get to go to Illinois because you watch you know,
Speaker 2: the Luke Guthries, the Scott Langleys just get better and
Speaker 2: better and you know, become one of the top players
Speaker 2: in the country. And uh and my dad was was
Speaker 2: huge on that with helping me with the recruiting process
Speaker 2: and and I think that's kind of what sealed the
Speaker 2: deal was watching how if these guys buy in to
Speaker 2: the culture at Illinois, they're continuing to to grow as
Speaker 2: players and you know, be able to compete individually, and
Speaker 2: that leads to the team being you know, top five
Speaker 2: in the nation. And so that was really intriguing. But
Speaker 2: once I got to Illinois, I obviously was surrounded by
Speaker 2: some unbelievable teammates. You know, they're they're great golfers, but
Speaker 2: they are great guys who who fit the culture, who
Speaker 2: love to work hard and and so you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: I got thrown in my freshman year with an incredible
Speaker 2: team and you know, learn a lot. And I would
Speaker 2: say the biggest thing that coach Mall will teach you
Speaker 2: is is one is to do everything the right way.
Speaker 2: You know, show up on time, look professional, and so
Speaker 2: you kind of grow as a man, you mature and
Speaker 2: and that's also a huge part in becoming a better golfer,
Speaker 2: I would say. And then he was he was just
Speaker 2: big on mental toughness and short game, you know that
Speaker 2: stuff that he would he would talk to us about
Speaker 2: all the time we'd practice. And you know, when you're
Speaker 2: listening to a guy who's played on the PGA Tour,
Speaker 2: who's taught you know, some top players in the country,
Speaker 2: who's played in at least twelve majors, won some club pros,
Speaker 2: you know you're gonna listen to this guy because he's
Speaker 2: been there. He knows what it takes. He's seen golf
Speaker 2: at the highest level. And uh so, yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: the moment I got there, I bought in. I loved it.
Speaker 2: And Coach Small isn't you know, just this nice guy.
Speaker 2: He's gonna he's gonna be honest with you, and sometimes
Speaker 2: you know you're you're not going to hear what you
Speaker 2: want to hear. But that's the great thing about him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, definitely, I mean critical, you know, but fairs
Speaker 1: is the best way to have some you know, get
Speaker 1: better with uh with small and and kind of there's
Speaker 1: like a crazy stat with him. I mean it's the
Speaker 1: most amazing thing is like in the mid two thousands,
Speaker 1: nobody had a better made cut streak on the PGA
Speaker 1: Tour except for Tiger Woods, like for like a long
Speaker 1: stretch of time, which is it's just nuts given the
Speaker 1: guy like only plays a couple months of a year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he he doesn't practice all that much,
Speaker 2: but he is so good that you know, I think
Speaker 2: last year he had three top tens in a row
Speaker 2: or you know, three out of four in a row
Speaker 2: on the Champions Tour. And he doesn't practice very much.
Speaker 2: You know, he's a busy man, and so that just
Speaker 2: that just shows how much talent he has and how
Speaker 2: much you know, mental toughness and confidence he has in himself.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's amazing. I mean it shows he also like
Speaker 1: loves what he does, because it's very clear he could
Speaker 1: be making a lot of money playing golf himself.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean he he loves you know, coaching us.
Speaker 2: He loves being tough on us. He loves seeing us
Speaker 2: have success. He loves you know, every part about it.
Speaker 2: And there are so many highs and lows in college golf,
Speaker 2: and he he loves, you know, every part of it.
Speaker 2: He loves the adversity. He loves the struggle because he
Speaker 2: knows that it'll make the team tougher. And and you know,
Speaker 2: he's really good at making the schedule because he'll purposely,
Speaker 2: you know, bring us to courses where we're going to
Speaker 2: get tough lies, we're going to get bad weather, we're
Speaker 2: going to play on grass that we're not used to.
Speaker 2: And so he'll bring us to certain tournaments that you know,
Speaker 2: aren't you know, the top, top tournaments at the best
Speaker 2: courses in the US. He'll he'll throw us into some
Speaker 2: adversity and he's doing it just to prep us to
Speaker 2: build momentum by the postseason.
Speaker 1: This last week at Pebble Beach was your second US Open.
Speaker 1: You played in the twenty sixteen US Open at Oakmont
Speaker 1: and then this year's at Pebble. How would you compare
Speaker 1: the difference between the two sites.
Speaker 2: That was I was still an amateur. I was waiting
Speaker 2: to play the Palmer Cup. So I decided to take
Speaker 2: my amateur exemption into sectionals and qualified through Ohio. And yeah,
Speaker 2: so I played Oakmont as it was my second PGA
Speaker 2: Tour event because I had played Riviera as Nam as well,
Speaker 2: and then yeah, I mean Oakmont was an absolute beast,
Speaker 2: and you know, I'm taking in my first major experience
Speaker 2: and it's tough. I'll just say it. It's tough to
Speaker 2: play well at your first one. You're playing an unbelievably
Speaker 2: tough setup, and especially at being Oakmont. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: just a monster of a course where you got to
Speaker 2: hit the fairways and even when you do, you gotta
Speaker 2: hit the greens and then you got undulated greens that
Speaker 2: are running at least fourteens and without the rain that week,
Speaker 2: I think they were expectingly cut to be eleven or
Speaker 2: twelve over and I think it may Bee was six
Speaker 2: or seven. And so that was, you know, obviously a
Speaker 2: big learning experience and I was still an amateur, still
Speaker 2: had a lot to learn. So this one was completely different.
Speaker 2: It was my first time being at Pebble Beat, so
Speaker 2: I got their Sunday, had four days of prep where
Speaker 2: I could just play nine holes every day, give my knee,
Speaker 2: some breast, and I just felt more comfortable out there.
Speaker 2: I felt like I knew what I needed to do
Speaker 2: to get prep, to get prepped, and I felt like,
Speaker 2: you know, you don't need to be out there practicing
Speaker 2: and playing all day because you know, rest is just important.
Speaker 2: You just got to get used to the grass, get
Speaker 2: used to the golf course. You know what you need
Speaker 2: to hit off the tee tease and get the speed
Speaker 2: of the greens. And I felt like I did a
Speaker 2: good job of that. And that's just, you know, that's
Speaker 2: credit to having those experiences when I was younger that
Speaker 2: you know obviously where I didn't play well, but it's
Speaker 2: just you you learn things by you know, playing and
Speaker 2: being around great players that you can use in your
Speaker 2: future experiences. So so Pebble was amazing. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: probably my favorite golf course ever and it it was
Speaker 2: a it was a great test. I I thought that
Speaker 2: the greens were gonna get a touch firmer and a
Speaker 2: touch faster than they ended up. And I don't know
Speaker 2: if that's kind of because of the moisture that was
Speaker 2: lingering every every morning, but I thought it was. It
Speaker 2: was an awesome venue and an awesome golf course, an
Speaker 2: awesome setup by the USGA. So you know, I was
Speaker 2: I was thrilled. I had thirty plus people out there
Speaker 2: watching me Thursday Friday, and you know, to make the
Speaker 2: cut and give them a few more days to watch
Speaker 2: the golf.
Speaker 1: Was not to mention who you had to play with
Speaker 1: it on the weekend, you.
Speaker 2: Know, yeah, yeah, it was. I got done early on Friday,
Speaker 2: and so I was just watching the scores and and
Speaker 2: it was I knew that I was either gonna play
Speaker 2: with Charles Howell, and you know, he's he's such a
Speaker 2: great guy. But I knew that it would be the
Speaker 2: last person to post at minus one, because I was
Speaker 2: the first person to post at at even And so
Speaker 2: I was watching it. You just see like DJs at
Speaker 2: minus one and then Phil's at minus one, and I'm
Speaker 2: just and then you know, Tiger was in there, and
Speaker 2: I'm just like, tomorrow is gonna be a crazy day.
Speaker 2: And it ended up being Phil, and it was. It was.
Speaker 2: It was a fun Saturday. I I honestly, it was
Speaker 2: probably the best day of golf I played. And that
Speaker 2: that sounds so silly to anyone who looks at my
Speaker 2: scorecard and sees that I shoot seventy seven, but I
Speaker 2: make two silly fluke triple on six and eight, and
Speaker 2: you know, play pretty flawless other than that. And uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I had a blast with uh with Phil
Speaker 2: because the crowd, the crowd loves him. You know, they're
Speaker 2: very vocal around him, and uh, you know, I couldn't
Speaker 2: help but to to soak it all in and just
Speaker 2: smile all.
Speaker 1: Day playing in front of such a big crowd and
Speaker 1: such a loud crowd. Was it was there anything that
Speaker 1: was noticeably tough or was it you know, did it
Speaker 1: kind of turn into white noise?
Speaker 2: Yeah? You know, I would hear, I would hear and
Speaker 2: laugh at you know, people making comments about you know,
Speaker 2: give him the thumbs up or let me see your calves,
Speaker 2: and they you know, what Phil's done on social media.
Speaker 2: The crowd just loves to talk about it on the
Speaker 2: golf course. But then you know, they're they're they're respectful
Speaker 2: when you get over a golf shot. And and and
Speaker 2: I honestly enjoyed it. It was it was cool to see.
Speaker 2: It was cool to get thrown into the mix on
Speaker 2: a weekend at a major. And you know, the only
Speaker 2: thing that I felt like was tough. Was I have
Speaker 2: a kind of a disaster happened on six and you know,
Speaker 2: without even hitting a bad shot, and then we we
Speaker 2: get warned on eight, you know, just to catch up
Speaker 2: with the group in front, and I miss club. On eight,
Speaker 2: I'm in the fairway and I'm miss club and it
Speaker 2: bounces back into the hazard and now I'm like, okay,
Speaker 2: you know, we're a little we're a little behind. You know,
Speaker 2: let's just let's just get this on the green, get
Speaker 2: my five and get out of here. And you know,
Speaker 2: I have a crazy line in the hazard. It's a
Speaker 2: Frida egg and the back bunker, and you know, with
Speaker 2: running completely away from me with nothing, you know, I
Speaker 2: have no shot, and so I'm just like rushing. I'm
Speaker 2: like okay, and I just feel like I'm in Phill's way.
Speaker 2: And that was a huge learning experience because you know,
Speaker 2: that's where I just need to take a deep breath.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm I'm fine. I'm I'm a fast player,
Speaker 2: so I don't need to worry about, you know, being
Speaker 2: on the clock or getting timed, and you know, things
Speaker 2: just start moving really fast and you know, to make
Speaker 2: two triples. It was it was really tough. Obviously it
Speaker 2: hurt a lot, but I just felt like my game
Speaker 2: was in a good place and luckily was able to
Speaker 2: to rebound the next ten holes and shoot even par
Speaker 2: and then you know, one under on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's uh, you know, you got Phil and then
Speaker 1: you got Luke Downald, the former number one. It's like
Speaker 1: a pretty pretty cool weekend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. And obviously Sunday I'm teeing off earlier
Speaker 2: in the morning, less of crowd lookes a little bit
Speaker 2: of a quieter guy. So I felt like Sunday was,
Speaker 2: you know, a nice walk around Pebble Beach. But uh, yeah, Saturday,
Speaker 2: I tell you what it was. It was a lot
Speaker 2: of fun and definitely a day that I'll remember.
Speaker 1: You know, Oakmont and uh Pebble. Did you feel like
Speaker 1: the set like did you feel like different things were
Speaker 1: really important at each core, like different skills were important
Speaker 1: at each course or were they pretty similar, like you
Speaker 1: just have to play really well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say Oakmont, you know, every single part
Speaker 2: of your game needed to be on it. You needed
Speaker 2: to hit the fairway and it was a long course,
Speaker 2: so if you didn't, you know, you're chopping out of
Speaker 2: the rough. And then you still got to hit good
Speaker 2: shots to make your bogie. And you know, the greens
Speaker 2: were so fast and so sloped, it was it was tough.
Speaker 2: And so if you get going a little sideways, you
Speaker 2: know you're you can bogie every hole. And then I
Speaker 2: felt like at Pebble I was probably you know, swinging
Speaker 2: it a little better than I did at Oakmont, But
Speaker 2: I felt like, you know, you're not hitting drivers every hole.
Speaker 2: You get that ball in the fairway, you hit some
Speaker 2: some good iron shots, you know, you try to miss
Speaker 2: it in the right spots. Pebble was just it was
Speaker 2: just easier. I mean, just the fact that you know,
Speaker 2: you could be a little more conservative on the off
Speaker 2: the tee if you needed to be. And and you know,
Speaker 2: once you hit fairways, the greens weren't, you know, crazy firm,
Speaker 2: So you know, it was pretty receptive to to irons
Speaker 2: coming in. And I think if you just kind of
Speaker 2: get through holes eight, nine and ten at Pebble, you know,
Speaker 2: the rest of the golf course you know you can
Speaker 2: kind of get if you hit you know, quality shots.
Speaker 1: There's so many you know, you get so many wedges
Speaker 1: out there, there's so many opportunities to make a bird
Speaker 1: but like as you got it, like it's all about
Speaker 1: it's seemingly to me avoiding disaster at Pebble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. And there are holes that you know definitely
Speaker 2: can give you some serious trouble. And uh that's the
Speaker 2: thing about you know, US Open. It just amplifies, you know,
Speaker 2: any bad shot, and it was it was fun and
Speaker 2: I like I saw a tweet. I think it was
Speaker 2: Paul Tasori, who is who's web Simpson's caddy, who said,
Speaker 2: you know all these holes that are short, you know
Speaker 2: one eight, he went through them that are all playing
Speaker 2: over par and uh, you know, I think that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: It's just you know, having these holes where you can
Speaker 2: hit irons off the tees and almost have wedges in
Speaker 2: and they're playing over par and uh, you know that
Speaker 2: just that just shows you how tough the us GA
Speaker 2: is is setting up these us.
Speaker 1: O how'd you play for did you lay back or
Speaker 1: did you ever go for the green?
Speaker 2: Oh? I definitely laid back. That was that was a
Speaker 2: no brainer for me, just because I felt like, you know,
Speaker 2: you have to hit a perfect drive and you're not
Speaker 2: even guaranteed birdie just because of how slope that green
Speaker 2: is and and you know you probably would just need
Speaker 2: to be on the upslope of the left bunker. So
Speaker 2: it was it was a layup and you know, wedged
Speaker 2: in and try to keep it blow the hole every time. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's funny.
Speaker 1: I was watching some goth and JT went for it.
Speaker 1: I watched him and a he got into the right bunker,
Speaker 1: terrible place, makes bogey, you know, right behind him, DJ
Speaker 1: hits it, goes for it, hits it in the water.
Speaker 1: I saw heele hit it in the water again on
Speaker 1: Sunday and it was like that was such a neat hole.
Speaker 1: But like it's amazing how that hole. Like if you
Speaker 1: if you just hit the iron, you're like given a
Speaker 1: wedge into a green, you know, but it's so tempting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'll take an iron in a way
Speaker 2: all day versus hitting a driver into a super crowded
Speaker 2: green that you know can give you a big number.
Speaker 2: And when you when you hit an iron and you know,
Speaker 2: into the fairway with a wedge in your hand, it's
Speaker 2: you shouldn't make worse than a par. So I just thought,
Speaker 2: you know, pars are good on this golf course, and
Speaker 2: uh so I decided to lay up.
Speaker 1: How'd you get looped up with your caddye Andy Martinez
Speaker 1: for the week.
Speaker 2: So the Steve Holka has been caddying for me on
Speaker 2: all my PGA tour starts, and he used to caddy
Speaker 2: for Brian Davis, and Brian Davis was out with injury,
Speaker 2: and uh so now I was out with injury, and
Speaker 2: then Hulka caddied for Dylan Meyer, my former teammate last summer,
Speaker 2: and then Brian Davis is back playing now. So so
Speaker 2: Steve Holka was caddying for Brian Davis at the Dallas
Speaker 2: sectional and they made it through and the same one
Speaker 2: that I got through, And so I knew that Hulco
Speaker 2: would be cadding for him at the US Open. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, while dealing with my agents and dealing with Halco,
Speaker 2: who's very connected and with all the caddies, he reached
Speaker 2: out to me and said, hey, my mentor is Andrew Martinez,
Speaker 2: and he you know, he's caddied two hundred plus competitive
Speaker 2: rounds out at Pebble Beach and he's won a US
Speaker 2: AM out at Pebble Beach and you know, he's a
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer, And so I thought it was kind
Speaker 2: of a no brainer to have, you know, a Hall
Speaker 2: of Famer who's from the area, knows pebble, well, you know,
Speaker 2: a veteran who you know, I felt like I could
Speaker 2: probably get pretty comfortable with. And you know, he was
Speaker 2: nice enough to take the job. And uh, he's a
Speaker 2: great guy. He uh he loves to tell stories. He
Speaker 2: loves the talk, which is good because it keeps my
Speaker 2: mind off golf. And uh, you know, he he taught
Speaker 2: me a lot and he had a lot of knowledge
Speaker 2: about the golf course and uh so it was it
Speaker 2: was a very cool experience. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I ran into him on Monday and I was like,
Speaker 1: what do you he telling me? I was like it,
Speaker 1: But he's such a he's such a great guy. I mean,
Speaker 1: and the guy in his resume with you know, Johnny
Speaker 1: and Tom Layman, and I mean, he's just an incredible,
Speaker 1: incredible guy. And then just you said it best. He
Speaker 1: just keeps you so loose, if you're just playing golf
Speaker 1: with him, or if you're or if you're or if
Speaker 1: he's carrying the bag.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and for Johnny Miller and Tom
Speaker 2: Layman to to be loyal to him and and him
Speaker 2: to be loyal back to them, for so long. I
Speaker 2: think the says a lot about a caddie. And uh
Speaker 2: and he's still caddying a little for Tom on the
Speaker 2: Senior Tour right now. And I think he's semi retired,
Speaker 2: you know, he's he's getting up there in age and
Speaker 2: you know, probably wants to spend some time with the family.
Speaker 2: So I was just, you know, super grateful that he
Speaker 2: took the job. And you know, maybe maybe in the future,
Speaker 2: sometime this year next I'll have him back if it works. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he knows Pebble pretty well too, from from his years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And uh, it was I thought that was an
Speaker 2: advantage to have him since I hadn't seen the golf course,
Speaker 2: and you know, he was from the area, so he
Speaker 2: he got down there even before I did and looked
Speaker 2: at the golf course and and uh so I yeah,
Speaker 2: I definitely think that that was an advantage to to
Speaker 2: have him on the bay, have someone who knew the
Speaker 2: golf course so well.
Speaker 1: In terms of like playing usams versus US opens, how,
Speaker 1: how how does the set up differ.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's actually pretty close, I would say, because I've
Speaker 2: I've played some usam's that I thought were trough. You know,
Speaker 2: I played Brookline and uh at the country club that
Speaker 2: was that was a beast. I played Olympia Fields, I
Speaker 2: played Cherry Hills and those were all you know, tough
Speaker 2: golf courses where if you're shooting even you are, you're
Speaker 2: passing people and you know, the only weird thing is
Speaker 2: that you know, you're playing two golf courses and then
Speaker 2: it goes to match plays, so things things change in
Speaker 2: your strategy changes. But I would say, I would say
Speaker 2: US ams are you know, it's a it's a great
Speaker 2: championship because they pick, you know, tough courses and set
Speaker 2: it up tough. I would say probably the greens get
Speaker 2: a little for at the US Open and uh, you know,
Speaker 2: the rough maybe gets a touch longer, but you know,
Speaker 2: the difficulty is definitely there in the US AM.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like it's about the same, but yeah,
Speaker 1: just a little tougher. So hey, we uh, let you
Speaker 1: go here. But this is awesome talking and we'll have to.
Speaker 1: People can follow you on Twitter and Instagram. It's at
Speaker 1: Charlie Golf twenty four and then on on Instagram they
Speaker 1: can find you at.
Speaker 2: Charlie Golf and I think it's Charles Charles Goff.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and then we'll be seeing you on the
Speaker 1: Canadian tour mostly.
Speaker 2: Yep. I'll probably play play some in Canada. The schedule
Speaker 2: is definitely a little up in the air right now,
Speaker 2: but you know, maybe a PGA Tour event here here there,
Speaker 2: and then maybe some Web qualifying and and uh some
Speaker 2: up in Canada. Just getting ready for Q School.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hopefully hopefully somebody gets to some more exceptions on
Speaker 1: the On the PGA tour, you get more more Saturday
Speaker 1: tea times with Phil would be good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll take that anytime I can get it.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to the Fried Egg podcast.
Speaker 2: We do the digging for you.