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Speaker 1: Let's see. Son of a Bunch podcast comes to you

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Speaker 1: every Wednesday. I'm your host, Claude Harmon. This week's guest

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Speaker 1: PJA Tour rookie Eric Cole, came so close to getting

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Speaker 1: his first PJA Tour victory at the Honda while losing

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Speaker 1: out in a playoff to Chris Kirk. Had a wicked

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Speaker 1: lipout on the first playoff hole, but wanted to get

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Speaker 1: him on and kind of talk about his journey. Very

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Speaker 1: much a late bloomer, he's thirty four years old, but

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Speaker 1: I think it's a great opportunity to listen to someone

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Speaker 1: who's kind of been through everything that you can kind

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Speaker 1: of go through in the game of golf. You know,

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Speaker 1: you're trying to play professionally, you're trying to make as

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Speaker 1: much money as possible, get off those mini tours, and

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Speaker 1: he has managed to do that. Really excited for everyone

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Speaker 1: to hear that. But before we get to the interview,

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Speaker 1: let's take a moment to talk about Cobra Golf's new

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Speaker 1: aerojet driver. I've been with Cobra Puma for a long

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Speaker 1: time and huge fan of their products. I think they

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Speaker 1: make the best equipment in the game. They've got a

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Speaker 1: new Aerojet Driver out. I got it towards the end

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Speaker 1: of last year, went straight into my bag. They're three

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Speaker 1: different models. You've got the Aerojet which is the low spin,

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Speaker 1: high launch, the Aerojet LS which is low spin, low launch,

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Speaker 1: and the Aerojet Max, which is going to give you

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Speaker 1: a combination of all of those and give you the

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Speaker 1: most forgiveness. It's got some new technology in it, the

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Speaker 1: PWR bridge waiting advanced aerodynamic design and the PowerShell hot face.

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Speaker 1: That's all tech talk, but what that means for you

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Speaker 1: is it's a fast driver. The ball comes off the

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Speaker 1: face fast. That's going to give you more distance. Everybody

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Speaker 1: wants more distance. I think if you give this driver

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Speaker 1: a try, you are going to like it. You can

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Speaker 1: check out all three drivers and pick which one is

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Speaker 1: right for you at Cobra golf dot com. So a

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Speaker 1: big shout out to the Cobra Puma team for their support.

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Speaker 1: And now let's get to the interview. So Eric, um,

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Speaker 1: it's been a hell of a couple of weeks for you. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know you got your PGA Tour card. You miss.

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Speaker 1: I think the first four cuts in the fall, and

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Speaker 1: I mean as a rookie coming off the corn Ferry

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Speaker 1: that puts you behind the eight ball early. Did you

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Speaker 1: feel pressure and I mean did the start kind of

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Speaker 1: make you kind of freak out a little or were

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Speaker 1: you just like, listen, it's a long season. I know

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Speaker 1: my game is good. Um, what's that? What's that start? Like? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know, I mean it's it's definitely a bigger environment

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Speaker 1: and everything than the corn Ferry Tour. But you know,

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Speaker 1: I even though I missed a lot of those cuts,

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Speaker 1: I actually played pretty well. Two of them I missed

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Speaker 1: by one, um, and I felt pretty good about my

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Speaker 1: game as a whole. I just didn't score all that well.

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Speaker 1: And I had a couple like weird things. I had

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Speaker 1: COVID for the first tournament in Napa, and then I

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Speaker 1: had had my club stolen in Vegas in front of

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Speaker 1: the hotel, so back window broken out in clubs just

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Speaker 1: jacked right out of the back windows. So you know,

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Speaker 1: a couple of weird things like that. But I, like

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Speaker 1: I said, I felt good about my game overall, So

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Speaker 1: I was kind of just under the mindset that eventually

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Speaker 1: the title kind of turn a little bit. That's a

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Speaker 1: tough I mean, a rookie on the PGA tour, you're

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Speaker 1: trying to play good early your clubs gets so I mean,

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Speaker 1: was that during the was that at night? Was that

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Speaker 1: in the morning. It was at three pm in the

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Speaker 1: afternoon at the JW. Marriott in Vegas in Summerland, So

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Speaker 1: it was very unusual. You know, they had some video

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Speaker 1: of the guys, you know, breaking into it, but nothing

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Speaker 1: ever really came of it with the cops. But I do.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of a crazy thing. I had a girl

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Speaker 1: messaged me on Instagram like a month or two after

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Speaker 1: and she said, I just moved into a new house

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Speaker 1: and your clubs are sitting in my garage. So then

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Speaker 1: sound like, yeah, you know, I'd like to have him

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Speaker 1: if you don't mind. So he drove them from her

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Speaker 1: house to TPC Summerland, and then the pro there sent

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Speaker 1: them to my house. So I actually got him back

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Speaker 1: and everything everything was in there except my tour credential

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Speaker 1: was it was stolen. But so so there's somebody else

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Speaker 1: trying to get into family dining with your tour credential potentially, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I might have to have security lookout for them. I mean,

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Speaker 1: the story, I mean, it is an amazing story. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you're thirty four years old. I mean definitely, um, not

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Speaker 1: the norm for PGA Tour rookies. Um, I mean we

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Speaker 1: both live in South Florida. The minor league where you

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Speaker 1: played a lot fifty how many fifty four wins in

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Speaker 1: the minor league. Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what it is.

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Speaker 1: I I it's up there somewhere though. Um, that is

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Speaker 1: a that is a huge kind of stepping stone for

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Speaker 1: a lot of players. I mean, I mean if you

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Speaker 1: live in South Florida, Um, a lot of good players

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Speaker 1: come off that tour. Brooks Kepta his brother played there.

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Speaker 1: A bunch of guys, Chrispin Tour has played. I mean,

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Speaker 1: guys play that. Um. Obviously there's no substitute for winning,

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Speaker 1: and I work with a bunch of you know, kids

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Speaker 1: that are on that tour. How important do you feel

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Speaker 1: like the minor league has been for your development? I

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Speaker 1: think it's definitely been important. You know. You you one

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Speaker 1: thing about that they do mostly one and two day events,

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Speaker 1: and when you play a lot of one and two

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Speaker 1: day events, you you have a chance to win a

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Speaker 1: lot of tournaments and you kind of get in this

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Speaker 1: mindset of you know, they have like a live leader

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Speaker 1: board that you can look at and you get in

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Speaker 1: this mindset of you know, Okay, I I to win

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Speaker 1: this tournament, I have to birdie three the last five,

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Speaker 1: or I have to birdie the last two or whatever

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Speaker 1: it is. And I think just getting that, whether it's

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Speaker 1: pressure or you know, expectation on yourself and then kind

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Speaker 1: of seeing yourself do it every once in a while,

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Speaker 1: I think it's really uh it kind of sets you

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Speaker 1: set you up well for you know, four day tournaments

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Speaker 1: or whether guys are going to go out and do

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Speaker 1: Monday qualifiers. Like I think it's really good prep as

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Speaker 1: a whole. And golf in South Florida, as you know,

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Speaker 1: is really strong. And even though you haven't heard of

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Speaker 1: a lot of the guys out there, um, you know,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of good players. Most of the purses

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Speaker 1: right around a thousand, maybe fifteen hundred bucks, and then

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Speaker 1: you finish second at the Honda and you make almost

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Speaker 1: a million. My I guess my question is because I

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Speaker 1: get I have so many players that are trying to

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Speaker 1: do what you're you're doing right. They have a dream,

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Speaker 1: they play a high school golf, they play college golf,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think the average golf fan realizes I mean,

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Speaker 1: they were only seeing when they're watching the PGA Tour

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Speaker 1: on Sundays and they're watching you know, like last weekend

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Speaker 1: bay Hill. I mean you're seeing some of the best

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Speaker 1: players in the world, so it all looks normal. You know,

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Speaker 1: Jordan Speech didn't have to struggle. M he just went

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Speaker 1: you know, Matt Woll for eight rounds into his PGA

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Speaker 1: Tour career, he wins a PGA Tour event, right, and

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Speaker 1: he was we were we were at a tournament um

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Speaker 1: last last week, the live tournament. We were talking about

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Speaker 1: we're in a practice round and were talking about guys

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Speaker 1: were talking about yeah when they went to the European

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Speaker 1: Tour and Brooks was talking about travel. He and Peter

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Speaker 1: the struggle early and Matt Wolfe was like, I love

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Speaker 1: hearing these stories because I didn't have any of that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I won my second tournament out. But the

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Speaker 1: road is so long the minor league from playing you know,

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Speaker 1: Mini tour golf, then you go to corn Ferry and

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Speaker 1: then you go to the PGA Tour. What is the difference,

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Speaker 1: would you say? Because I'm always saying the players listen,

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Speaker 1: it's golf, right, and you know that it is golf.

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Speaker 1: Golf is wherever you're playing it. Yes, the stage on

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Speaker 1: the PGA Tour is bigger, there's more fans, But does

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Speaker 1: that kind of do a mind trick on you to

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Speaker 1: make you think that it's just not the same, because

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Speaker 1: I think everybody is trying to work their way to

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Speaker 1: that's trying to play competitive golf. Everybody wants to play

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Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, and I think some of it is

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Speaker 1: as much at times they struggle mentally as they technique

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Speaker 1: or physically. Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 1: the golf ball doesn't know the difference whether you're out

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Speaker 1: with your buddies playing a minor league or it's the

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Speaker 1: last all the PGA Tour events. So there's definitely some

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Speaker 1: truth to that, and you know there's there's definitely a

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Speaker 1: The biggest change, it's just like the depth, right, So

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Speaker 1: you know when you play minor leagues that the top

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Speaker 1: five guys are really good. A lot of them have

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Speaker 1: had success in the past and are just playing coming

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Speaker 1: back from an injury or just because they're in town

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Speaker 1: or something, so that the top as you go down

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Speaker 1: is almost always still pretty strong, especially in South Florida.

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Speaker 1: But you know, like the depth might fall off a

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Speaker 1: little bit when you get into minor league, and then

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Speaker 1: you know it gets stronger when you get into the

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Speaker 1: corn Ferry Tour, like all those guys have kind of

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Speaker 1: proven themselves in college or Q school or past seasons

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Speaker 1: out there, and then you know, the PGA Tour is

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Speaker 1: just like another step up from there where you know

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Speaker 1: the back end is just you know, like a little

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Speaker 1: bit deeper, a little bit more accomplished players that are

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Speaker 1: have more experience, but that you know, to to win

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Speaker 1: at any level of professional golf, you know, you you

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Speaker 1: have to play some great golf and you have to

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Speaker 1: you know, battle with a little bit of mental stuff

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Speaker 1: or a little bit you know, not having your best

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Speaker 1: stuff and getting the most out of it. So you know,

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Speaker 1: winning is good at any level. And I think it

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Speaker 1: definitely kind of u is a good pattern to get into,

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Speaker 1: you know, whether it's junior golf or professional golf at

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Speaker 1: a lower level. Like when you start to win, you

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Speaker 1: start to gain confidence and you start to feel more comfortable.

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Speaker 1: Is there anybody so you come out on tour, m

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Speaker 1: is there anyone you've been star struck by where you've

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Speaker 1: walked past them while they're on the driving range and

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Speaker 1: kind of had that you know whoa I mean, that

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Speaker 1: guy's like I play now. I mean, it's like being

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Speaker 1: in the NBA, right and you've never you've never seen

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Speaker 1: Lebron before and all of a sudden you go up

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Speaker 1: against him. I mean, is there an element of of

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Speaker 1: being star struck in or there any players that you

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Speaker 1: like bay Hill last week you're playing against, you know

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Speaker 1: right now some of the best players on the planet.

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Speaker 1: Did you see anybody last week that you hadn't seen

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Speaker 1: before kind of go and you kind of went, Wow,

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Speaker 1: there he is. Yeah, I mean I think you have

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Speaker 1: a little bit of that for sure, you know, like

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Speaker 1: warming up, Like I get there a little bit early,

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Speaker 1: and I'm at the back of most of the waves

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Speaker 1: tea time wise, so a lot of the like big

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Speaker 1: name players are just finishing their warm up and you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I I uh, you know, hit ball is

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Speaker 1: next to a bunch of guys that are you know,

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Speaker 1: always on TV and playing great golf. And but the

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Speaker 1: cool thing is a lot of them kind of you know,

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Speaker 1: I think because a lot of them didn't play the

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Speaker 1: Honda because of the designate events before and after I

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Speaker 1: had a bunch of people who you know, are big

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Speaker 1: names that I've never really met come up to me

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Speaker 1: and say like, hey man, we watched you or you know,

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Speaker 1: like you looked good and we're you know, like happy

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Speaker 1: you played well and stuff. So that was kind of cool.

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Speaker 1: Do you feel like now, after everything you've been through,

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Speaker 1: that you've arrived, that there's that moment where you say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I've been trying to do this. I'm somewhat of a

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Speaker 1: late bloomer. I'm thirty four years old. This has always

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Speaker 1: been my dream and having a big finish. You had

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Speaker 1: a chance to win, you lost in a playoff in

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Speaker 1: a you know, on a really difficult golf of course.

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Speaker 1: How many times have you played PGA National. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you've played it, not that much or a lot. I've

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Speaker 1: played a couple of minor league events there and then

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Speaker 1: I've probably played it maybe ten other times just over

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Speaker 1: the years living in the area, so I've probably played

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Speaker 1: it around twenty times, I'd say, so. I wouldn't say

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Speaker 1: I have a whole lot of course knowledge, but it

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Speaker 1: was you know, it's a home event. So that was nice.

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Speaker 1: So the obvious question at thirty four, you've been trying

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Speaker 1: to do this, you caddied, I mean I read you

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Speaker 1: caddied for Sam Saunders, Arnie's grandson. I mean what years

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Speaker 1: did you caddy for Sam and how long did you

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Speaker 1: do that? Yeah, I caddied for him kind of in

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Speaker 1: two different little spurts. I caddied for him in like

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Speaker 1: twenty twelve was probably the biggest. I probably did like

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Speaker 1: five or six months in twenty twelve where he I

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Speaker 1: think he was playing corn Ferry Tour, but he got

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Speaker 1: some spots in PGA Tour events with sponsors exemptions, So

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Speaker 1: I probably caddied for him for five months then. And

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Speaker 1: then I also caddied for him in like twenty eighteen.

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Speaker 1: I was coming back from a back injury, and I

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Speaker 1: was kind of like his coach caddy for a few

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Speaker 1: months for like six months or so. So I did

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Speaker 1: like the Florida Swing with him, like kind of trying

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Speaker 1: to help him with his game as much as I could,

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Speaker 1: and caddied Honda Bay Hill players for him that year.

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Speaker 1: So what is caddying for a player on the PGA

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Speaker 1: Tour teach you about playing on the PGA Tour that

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Speaker 1: you took to your own game, Because I'm sure I

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Speaker 1: mean that that's got to be an invaluable tool for

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Speaker 1: you because obviously you're trying to play, he's trying to play.

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Speaker 1: You're on the back, so you're on the other side

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Speaker 1: of it. Um, did you take anything from those caddying

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Speaker 1: experiences that you feel like you took with you? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: for sure. I'd say. The one thing is like the

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Speaker 1: top players, you know, like you can you can really

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Speaker 1: see the difference between the top let's say twenty in

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Speaker 1: the world. Sam didn't necessarily play with any of them

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Speaker 1: when I was cattying, but you could just see the

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Speaker 1: difference in the game, the way they hit the ball.

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Speaker 1: You know, their their preparation is a little different. But

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Speaker 1: so those guys I could kind of tell like separated

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Speaker 1: themselves and also almost on the opposite spectrum, like you know,

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Speaker 1: the line between let's say fiftieth in the world and

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Speaker 1: that might be a little too low, like seventieth in

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Speaker 1: the world and two hundredth in the world is unbelievably fine.

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Speaker 1: So I felt like, you know, Sam was having a

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Speaker 1: decent year or had a decent year of the year

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Speaker 1: before something like that, and you know, like just this

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Speaker 1: separation between those guys that are around you know, one

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Speaker 1: twenty five or one hundred or one fifty, Like the

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Speaker 1: line is just so unbelievably thin to separate those guys,

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Speaker 1: and I felt like, you know, everyone's kind of trying

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Speaker 1: to look for that little edge to kind of make

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Speaker 1: that little bit of a difference to whether it's keep

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Speaker 1: your card or randomly have a great week and win.

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Speaker 1: So that that was, you know, I kind of thought

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Speaker 1: that I knew that, but to see it up close

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Speaker 1: and personal was definitely a little eye opening. Let's take

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Speaker 1: a moment to thank for Wellness for supporting the show.

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Speaker 1: You guys hear me talk about them every week, and

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Speaker 1: So what do you think it took you longer than

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Speaker 1: it's taken other people. I mean, I mean you've had

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Speaker 1: some injuries, Addison's disease. I know that's something that that

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Speaker 1: you fight that makes it hard for you to put

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Speaker 1: on weight, is it correct? Yeah, I mean it's a

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Speaker 1: it's a bunch of stuff. You typically lose weight pretty

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Speaker 1: quickly if you don't take the right medication pretty much.

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Speaker 1: I'm also a Type one diabetics, So that was that

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Speaker 1: was a little bit of a setback starting and then uh,

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Speaker 1: like for me, it was just Q school was really

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Speaker 1: hard for me for like five or six years. Like

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Speaker 1: I you talk about mini tour golf. I played a

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Speaker 1: lot of really good, high level mini tour golf for

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Speaker 1: you know, most of the year, and then I would

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Speaker 1: get to Q School and there would just be like

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Speaker 1: a little bit of a performance block. Like I I

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Speaker 1: think that like I just put a lot of expectations

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Speaker 1: on myself, Like you know, like I would I would

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Speaker 1: have a good Mini Tour year and win a lot

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Speaker 1: of tournaments and you know, beat a lot of guys

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Speaker 1: who have had success, and I thought, you know, like

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Speaker 1: this should be something that's easy for me. And then

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Speaker 1: when it didn't go well, like that, really uh like

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Speaker 1: that inability to perform in the situation that one week

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Speaker 1: or two weeks in Q school at first or second

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Speaker 1: stage was something that took a while for me to

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Speaker 1: get over. And you know, for whatever reason and that

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Speaker 1: it was, it was a slow moving process. Is it

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Speaker 1: hard when you go through that too? Because I'm on

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Speaker 1: the other side of it, right, I'm on the coaching

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Speaker 1: side of it, the instructor side of it. When you have,

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Speaker 1: like you said, you're you're doing all the right things.

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Speaker 1: You're playing on a mini tour, you're having success, you're winning,

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Speaker 1: you're seeing progress, and you know, there's a lot of

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Speaker 1: people you know at somebody, Oh, I'm sure you've played

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Speaker 1: a ton of golf with who's kind of a mini

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Speaker 1: tour legend down here for the minor league, Sonny Kim.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Sonny's in the same boat, right, Sonny is

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Speaker 1: like a legit, legit player, and my trainer M Pierre.

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Speaker 1: So Pierre was telling me he's played a lot of

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Speaker 1: mind and he always says, bro Sonny like lights it up.

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Speaker 1: And every time he goes to Q school he struggles

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Speaker 1: is do you think do you think it? Like you said,

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Speaker 1: is it performance? Is it anxiety? Is it mental? Because obviously,

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Speaker 1: if you're winning, I mean, I don't care. My dad

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Speaker 1: always says, so, I don't care where it is, I

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Speaker 1: don't care what tournament course conditions. If you're if you're

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Speaker 1: winning and you're winning at a good rate, that is

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Speaker 1: going to translate eventually. Yeah, I kind of agree with

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Speaker 1: that sentiment. But for me, it was just, you know,

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason, there was like a little bit, I

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Speaker 1: think in my case, there was a little bit of

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Speaker 1: two high expectations that I put on myself. Like I

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Speaker 1: went to first stage and I was like, you know,

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Speaker 1: this should be something that's very easy for me to

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Speaker 1: get through. Everyone that I play against, I feel like

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Speaker 1: I'm as good or better. It's the same guys at

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Speaker 1: first stage that played mini tour golf all year round.

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Speaker 1: It's like, you know, this should be something that I

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Speaker 1: should just be able to breeze through. And then for

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Speaker 1: whatever reason, it was just like a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a speed bump and instead of having a you know,

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Speaker 1: don't worry about it, it's one round or one nine holes.

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Speaker 1: At the beginning of Q School, I was kind of like,

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Speaker 1: you know, am I going to be able to do this?

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Speaker 1: Is this something that I can get through? You know,

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Speaker 1: like you start to doubt yourself a little bit, and

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Speaker 1: you start to feel like, you know, like maybe it's

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Speaker 1: not meant to be type of thing, and uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: Sonny is a great player. I've put a lot of

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Speaker 1: mini tour golf with him over the years and he

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Speaker 1: is so unbelievably good. So I mean, I think I

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Speaker 1: think it's one of those things where you just have

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Speaker 1: to figure out what works for you. And it's probably

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Speaker 1: different for every player, but for me, it was kind

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Speaker 1: of giving myself a little bit of a break and saying,

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Speaker 1: you know, I don't I don't have to You don't

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Speaker 1: have to win Q School. You don't have to you know,

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Speaker 1: prove to everybody how much better you are than them.

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Speaker 1: You could just play good, solid, consistent golf and you know,

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Speaker 1: if if your games at the level it should be,

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Speaker 1: then you should be able to get through. And that

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Speaker 1: was took me a while to realize that as a

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Speaker 1: rookie you're learning a lot of new courses. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know there's courses on the PGA Tour that you've

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Speaker 1: never played before. Is it a fair comment having come

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Speaker 1: off the corn Ferry, Um, you finish I think third

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Speaker 1: at the tour champion at their their kind of season

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Speaker 1: ending tournament of championship, how much more difficult or the

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Speaker 1: golf course is, because I mean last week bay Hill?

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Speaker 1: I mean do you do you play golf courses like

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Speaker 1: that on the corn Ferry that are set up like that?

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Speaker 1: Now like bay Hill? I mean the biggest difference is

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Speaker 1: like the firmness and fastness of the green. So you know,

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Speaker 1: on the corn Ferry Tour you play a lot of

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Speaker 1: actually really good courses tea green. But you know, for

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Speaker 1: whatever reason, whether it's the course set up or the

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Speaker 1: time of year that we go there, Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: like the courses just placed so much slower so that

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Speaker 1: the ball in the fairway isn't hitting and running. So

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Speaker 1: when you're hitting into like dog like part fours, uh

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Speaker 1: dog led right and left part four is you know,

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Speaker 1: like the ball is just hitting and stopping. So it's

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Speaker 1: a lot easier to hit in the fairway and then

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Speaker 1: hitting into the green. If you do hit it in

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Speaker 1: the rough, the rough flower and the greens are more receptive.

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Speaker 1: So you kind of just have like this three tier

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Speaker 1: thing of the course being slower, the rough being down,

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Speaker 1: and the greens being just softer that it makes it

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Speaker 1: to where the scores are lower. So you know, it's

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Speaker 1: it's definitely a different environment. Yeah, and then obviously on

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Speaker 1: the corn Ferry you can go out on Thursday and

409
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Speaker 1: shoot to under and being almost last place. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot there's there are, I mean, there are

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Speaker 1: a lot of easy courses we play on the corn

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Speaker 1: Ferry Tour too, Like they're not all difficult, but you know,

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Speaker 1: it's mostly set up like I said that everything is

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Speaker 1: just so much softer and slower, and you know you

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Speaker 1: can just get away with more like making like short

416
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Speaker 1: siding yourself on the corn Ferry Tour in general isn't

417
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Speaker 1: that big of a deal, you know, like you can

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Speaker 1: you can kind of get something up there where you

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Speaker 1: have a five foot or for par last week at

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Speaker 1: bay Hill, if you short side yourself, I mean you're

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Speaker 1: looking at like a good shot is like twenty or

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Speaker 1: thirty feet, So all of a sudden, those shots into

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Speaker 1: the greens, although there might not be water on some

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Speaker 1: of them, they turn into penalty shots if you miss

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Speaker 1: a green. So it's just it's just more demanding as

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Speaker 1: a whole. Yeah, and I think that the golf courses, yeah,

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Speaker 1: from a shape, I've heard that before that guys say, listen,

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Speaker 1: the conditions are t degreen are fun, but the green complexes. Um,

429
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 1: do you feel like one of your strengths in talking

430
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,359
Speaker 1: to a lot of people that know you well, is

431
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,240
Speaker 1: short game? Right? You're not going to be a bomber,

432
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,239
Speaker 1: You're not going to hit it up with you know

433
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: some of the guys on tour. Do you feel like

434
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,920
Speaker 1: short game is where you can really really excel. Yeah,

435
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,360
Speaker 1: I mean typically, like you said, it typically is one

436
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 1: of my strengths. So you know, it's it's tricky because

437
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 1: as the rough gets up, you know, like the skill

438
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,520
Speaker 1: of short game shots and I think goes down a

439
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: little bit because everyone's kind of just hacking it out

440
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: of the rough and trying to get it to, you know,

441
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,600
Speaker 1: as close as they can for par But you know,

442
00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 1: there's certain courses out here where they have a lot

443
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 1: of shaved areas and stuff, and I think that kind

444
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 1: of helps you make up some shots on the field

445
00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 1: around the greens. So like this week, I think at

446
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,520
Speaker 1: the players there's I noticed today there's a lot of

447
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: like you know, first cut and closely mown areas around

448
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,479
Speaker 1: versus last time when I was here candy for Sam

449
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: and I think I mentioned to my caddy, I think

450
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,440
Speaker 1: it's a really good move because when you do miss

451
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,959
Speaker 1: a green, it's it's kind of inviting a little bit

452
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,480
Speaker 1: of skill set into the short game shots like what

453
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:36,280
Speaker 1: shots are you choosing, you know, versus just the hack

454
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,120
Speaker 1: and out of the ruff to twenty feet. Yeah. I mean,

455
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 1: I don't think a lot of the people listening and

456
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,160
Speaker 1: people that watch golf realize that when you do get

457
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,280
Speaker 1: that kind of us open Bay hill, that really really

458
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,080
Speaker 1: thick thick ruff, that there really are no options, right,

459
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:55,080
Speaker 1: there's no imagination. Your your technique, if you've got a

460
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 1: great technique, if you can spin it, if you can

461
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:04,919
Speaker 1: go up in trajectories. The runoff areas at TPC Sawgrass,

462
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: I think are some of the hardest to navigate, But

463
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,919
Speaker 1: it also allows you to be really, really creative. Have

464
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 1: you always had a great short game and is part

465
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,760
Speaker 1: of it what part of it would you say is

466
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,919
Speaker 1: your technique? Which part of it would you say is

467
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,960
Speaker 1: kind of your creativity, that kind of special sauce that

468
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 1: you know. I mean on tour, everybody's short games are

469
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 1: pretty good. You can't make it. You can't make it

470
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 1: to the PGA Tour and be bad at short game.

471
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,520
Speaker 1: But then there are the you know, the elite of

472
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,040
Speaker 1: the elite, the Jason Days, the Patrick Reeds, Jordan Tiger

473
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: in the day. Are you a blend? Is it technique

474
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 1: or is it execution and kind of finesse. I think

475
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,119
Speaker 1: it's a blend for sure. I think for anybody, you know,

476
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: I growing up in Florida, you know, like you deal

477
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,919
Speaker 1: with a lot of grain, a ton of grain, and

478
00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:01,440
Speaker 1: so I think naturally just learn to kind of chip

479
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 1: out of some like rough lies and uh, you know

480
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,919
Speaker 1: lies that aren't that easy for people that aren't from Florida.

481
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,919
Speaker 1: So I think that probably helped me, especially with the

482
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 1: creativity and kind of using you know, just your sixty

483
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,800
Speaker 1: degree in different ways and kind of learning different shots

484
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,200
Speaker 1: to hit with it. Um, But yeah, it's it's I'd

485
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,880
Speaker 1: say it's a blend of technique and you know, it's

486
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:29,639
Speaker 1: definitely as you get closer to green, the uh you know,

487
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 1: like the field side and the artistic side of golf

488
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: definitely become more important. I mean, you were, you were

489
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 1: hooping it from everywhere at Honda. I mean, so what

490
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,760
Speaker 1: was different about Honda that week? Because I'm always fascinated

491
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,360
Speaker 1: with players in talking to them about the weeks they

492
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:51,080
Speaker 1: win or the weeks they have chances to win. What's

493
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 1: different and how can you access that more often? Yeah,

494
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 1: that's a great question. I had three really good days

495
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 1: of ball striking. I don't know the stats really showed it,

496
00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: just because you know, Honda, you have those those really

497
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: tough shots like you know five and six and fifteen

498
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 1: and seventeen where you know you're not really trying to

499
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 1: hit it close to the hole on most of those.

500
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:14,879
Speaker 1: So the stats didn't really say that I had a

501
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,200
Speaker 1: great ball striking week. But I hit the ball where

502
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,679
Speaker 1: I was aiming a lot in the right distance the

503
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,600
Speaker 1: first three days, So that was that was huge, And

504
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 1: then I think that helped with my I didn't have

505
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 1: a great ball striking day the last round, but that

506
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,240
Speaker 1: helped with my comfort going into the last round. Like

507
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,399
Speaker 1: I think I felt a lot more comfortable than maybe

508
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 1: I might have anticipated feeling, just because my confidence was

509
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,720
Speaker 1: high from the first three days ball striking wise, and then,

510
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 1: like you said, I did make my fair share of

511
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:44,919
Speaker 1: huts on the last day, so that was that was

512
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,560
Speaker 1: very welcome. I was happy to see that. Obviously, you

513
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,400
Speaker 1: play professional golf to win. Everybody wants to win tournaments.

514
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 1: Going into Sunday at the Honda, when in the round,

515
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,119
Speaker 1: did you kind of know, Okay, I have a legit.

516
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,800
Speaker 1: I mean it's not now, Okay, if I shoot sixty

517
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: four today, I could post something. When did you kind

518
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,960
Speaker 1: of have that moment to where you're like, okay, I am.

519
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,200
Speaker 1: I am in the room now, and there's only about

520
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 1: five people that can win this golf tournament, and I'm

521
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 1: one of them. Yeah, I'd say probably maybe eleven. I

522
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 1: birdied eleven, which is which is I think is one

523
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 1: of the hardest holes on that golf course. We got.

524
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: We got lucky where it was. It's got pretty firm

525
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 1: and it was downwind. So my t shot I didn't.

526
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:32,720
Speaker 1: I only hit five wood and I kind of pushed

527
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,479
Speaker 1: it down there where I could hit a pitching legend.

528
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 1: So that was helpful to that pin for sure. But

529
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,720
Speaker 1: when I birdied eleven, I think I got within one

530
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,720
Speaker 1: and you know, like we hadn't really separated ourselves, but

531
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:45,399
Speaker 1: I think, you know, like there was a little bit

532
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 1: of room behind us, maybe two shots, and you know,

533
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 1: at that point I was like, Okay, you know, you're

534
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 1: you're you're right in the middle of this. If if

535
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,679
Speaker 1: you just keep doing what you're doing, you know, you

536
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: never know what's going to happen by the time we

537
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,760
Speaker 1: get to you know, eighteen or seventeen or something. So

538
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: the sports psychologists always say take one shot at a time,

539
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: But all of a sudden, you birdie eleven and you

540
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 1: look at you look at a leaderboard and you're like, okay,

541
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,560
Speaker 1: is it hard? And were you able to stay in

542
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 1: the moment or like you said in the past, was

543
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 1: the expectation of what you an opportunity? Did you go

544
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: back into that or did you stay in kind of

545
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,200
Speaker 1: just one shot at a time? Yeah, No, I felt

546
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,959
Speaker 1: really good, so I definitely stayed in one shot at

547
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: a time. You know, one good thing about playing the

548
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 1: Honda is at the champ those shots are so hard

549
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 1: on the you know, like once you get to fourteen,

550
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: every shot is you know, very difficult shot, so it's

551
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 1: hard to get too far ahead of yourself because you know,

552
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 1: the shot that's right in front of you is kind

553
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 1: of like a make or break shot. So I think,

554
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: you know, I think that's a fortunate thing about the Honda,

555
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 1: where you're not like looking up where oh, you know,

556
00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: sixteens and easy birdie or seventeens and easy bird like,

557
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,959
Speaker 1: those holes are pretty hard, so you're just focusing on

558
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,320
Speaker 1: hitting a good shot right in front of you. And uh,

559
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 1: you know, I had a lot of family and friends

560
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,400
Speaker 1: out there kind of yeah, Allen and keeping me in it,

561
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: so you know, it goes pretty easy to stay in

562
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:15,600
Speaker 1: the moment because it was so much fun. I didn't

563
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 1: really want to get ahead of myself because of how

564
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:23,440
Speaker 1: cool this whole environment was, is it. I often think

565
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 1: that a lot of players, when they get in situations

566
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,440
Speaker 1: like that, it's not fun. They don't see it as

567
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 1: fun and it hurts them and thinking, Okay, I've got

568
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 1: a chance to win a PGA Tour event, my family's here,

569
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 1: I'm going to go out and enjoy as much of

570
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 1: this as I possibly can. That sounds easy to do,

571
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:47,960
Speaker 1: but it also seems like it should be easy to

572
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 1: do because I mean at the end, at the end

573
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: of the day, it's it's golf, right, I mean, that's

574
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,920
Speaker 1: that's yeah, No, I mean it's it's I mean, I

575
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 1: could understand if you get in that position, then you

576
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 1: get off to a really bad start and there's all

577
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 1: those people around and you're really having a bad day

578
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,480
Speaker 1: where it cannot be a lot of fun. But you know,

579
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,160
Speaker 1: I mean, I played a lot of golf all over

580
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 1: the place, and I've never really had an experience quite

581
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 1: like that in that environment, and it's it's something that

582
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 1: it's it's almost like a little bit like a drug.

583
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 1: Like I've never done any real drugs in my life,

584
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:24,600
Speaker 1: but I just feel like like it was so exhilarating

585
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,000
Speaker 1: to be in that environment and have a chance to

586
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,560
Speaker 1: win that it's like it's addicting. It's like something that

587
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: you kind of want to experience again and uh, you know,

588
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,120
Speaker 1: hopefully get a different result at the end. But you know,

589
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 1: like it's it's it's just such a cool environment, like

590
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 1: it really feels like you know, like you play a

591
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: lot of golf where it's just you know, uh, the

592
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 1: other guys you're playing with and ten people watching or

593
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: twenty people watching, and it doesn't really have like a

594
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 1: sports feel to it, And especially at the Honda like

595
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,040
Speaker 1: on seventeen, with like closed inn like you really do

596
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:01,480
Speaker 1: feel like you're in a like you're you're an athlete

597
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 1: and a sporting event. And I think that was something that,

598
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 1: like I said, I'd never had that experience on a

599
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,040
Speaker 1: golf course, and it was It's definitely addicting. I think

600
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: everybody saw the putt you hit on eighteen, I mean

601
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,800
Speaker 1: a cruel lipout. If you had it to do over again,

602
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 1: would you hit the same put did you? Was it

603
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 1: the right read, the right speed? I mean, if you

604
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 1: if if they took you back out there and said,

605
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:26,600
Speaker 1: all right, you can do this again and we'll give

606
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,040
Speaker 1: you the trophy, would you hit the exact would you

607
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 1: do the exact same thing? I think I would just

608
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,320
Speaker 1: take a little pace off it. I think I just

609
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 1: hit it barely too hard. You know, I wasn't going

610
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,240
Speaker 1: to stand in there and leave it short, so uh,

611
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:42,320
Speaker 1: you know, like I wanted to make sure. I wanted

612
00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: to make sure I hit a good put and gave

613
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 1: it a chance. And I think I just gave it

614
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 1: just you know, six inches too much speed, that it

615
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 1: just didn't quite take the break. But did you think

616
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 1: you'd made it halfway? Yeah? When I hit it, I

617
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: hit a great pot, and you know I don't use

618
00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 1: a line on my ball, but I kind of put

619
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 1: a line through the titleist, and you know, I saw

620
00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: it lead the putter and it was rolling end over end,

621
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 1: and I was like, you know, I've been putting well

622
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,120
Speaker 1: all day, and you know, I definitely thought I made

623
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 1: it halfway there. But as it got to the whole,

624
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 1: like I kind of saw it was on the high side,

625
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 1: and like I said, I think it just had maybe

626
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,480
Speaker 1: six inches too much pace to kind of take that

627
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 1: little bit of break. We mentioned almost a million dollars. Um.

628
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: You know, there's so much talk in professional golf about money.

629
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: The live guys went for guaranteed money, UM talked to it.

630
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,760
Speaker 1: I don't think the average fan realizes because they only

631
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 1: see the Netflix documentary and they see everybody flying around

632
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,719
Speaker 1: on a on a net jet and living in these

633
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:48,240
Speaker 1: giant mansions. Um. It's hard to make it in professional sports,

634
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,560
Speaker 1: but professional golf, I mean the money aspect of it.

635
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: It's not easy, is it. Yeah? No, I mean we're

636
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 1: talking about the minor league tour, like, I mean, you

637
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 1: grind out tournaments and you know when six hundred bucks

638
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: and stuff like that at a time. So it's it's

639
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 1: you know, there's definitely a different side to what you

640
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,080
Speaker 1: see on TV as far as guys trying to make it. UM.

641
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:16,280
Speaker 1: But you know, it's it's it's worth the work once

642
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 1: you get here. I'd say, you know, I mean, that's

643
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 1: that's a lot of money and it's something that you know,

644
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 1: I've worked really hard for. So but you know, it

645
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: does take a lot of work for not I mean,

646
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 1: I guess a lot of guys are straight out of

647
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 1: college on the PGA tour, but in my case, it

648
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,160
Speaker 1: took a lot of time and a lot of work. Obviously,

649
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,640
Speaker 1: with the ever changing landscape of of the PGA tour, UM,

650
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 1: it seems like, you know, different things are happening with

651
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,480
Speaker 1: regards to events. Um. This puts you in a really

652
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: good position, um, because everybody wants to be one of

653
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,680
Speaker 1: these guys inside the top seventy to get into these big,

654
00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: you know, twenty million dollars no cut tournaments. Um. Do

655
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: you feel a sense of a little bit of relief

656
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,880
Speaker 1: that some of the pressure he's taken off the other thing.

657
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 1: Talk to me about the rerank. I don't think everybody

658
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,040
Speaker 1: realizes you get your PGA Tour card you're a rookie.

659
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: But if you don't play well early, the amount of

660
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:23,719
Speaker 1: tournaments you get an opportunity to play in becomes pretty limited. Yeah, Like,

661
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 1: so you know, getting your card is obviously a monumental thing.

662
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,760
Speaker 1: It's a great thing. But you know, when those fifty

663
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,719
Speaker 1: cards come out, you know, like where you stand on

664
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,680
Speaker 1: that list is pretty important just to start with as

665
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,640
Speaker 1: far as getting access to play tournaments. And then as

666
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,759
Speaker 1: you play, there's a kind of reshuffle within your category

667
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 1: that kind of makes it to where you get in

668
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,440
Speaker 1: tournaments or not. And a lot of times in the

669
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: corn ferry category, the field is kind of filled and

670
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,799
Speaker 1: it stops in that category somewhere, so the last man

671
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 1: in might be the tenth guy on that reach shuffle list,

672
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,799
Speaker 1: or it might be the forty five guys. So as

673
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,120
Speaker 1: you play well, you move up your reshuffle list. And

674
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 1: it's extremely important to have a good start. And like

675
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,480
Speaker 1: you mentioned at the beginning, I didn't get off to

676
00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,200
Speaker 1: the best start, so there was a little bit of

677
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,880
Speaker 1: added you know, I'm not sure what the word is,

678
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,000
Speaker 1: but I was trying really hard to motivation, I guess,

679
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,200
Speaker 1: to try and get on that list and move my

680
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:30,440
Speaker 1: way up. Obviously, the big thing about somewhat being safe

681
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,320
Speaker 1: with FedEx cup points and money is your schedule changes

682
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,000
Speaker 1: a lot and you have a lot more opportunities to

683
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 1: play in events that when you're not playing well and

684
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,719
Speaker 1: coming off to corn Ferry, you're you're just not going

685
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,680
Speaker 1: to get in? Are there tournaments now that you probably

686
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:53,320
Speaker 1: thought you wouldn't get into that you're legit thinking now, okay,

687
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:55,839
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have an opportunity to get into that tournament. Yeah,

688
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,839
Speaker 1: I mean the players will start right now. I most

689
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,080
Speaker 1: likely was not going to get into players. Um so

690
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 1: that's that's definitely an added bonus and uh yeah, I

691
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:10,320
Speaker 1: mean it definitely changes, you know, as you as you

692
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,520
Speaker 1: do well, you get more options to play tournaments, and

693
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: uh you know, uh, probably the rest side of it

694
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,920
Speaker 1: becomes as important as anything else. You know, like maybe

695
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,239
Speaker 1: whereas before you're looking like, man, I want to play

696
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:26,839
Speaker 1: in every tournament I can, and then as you do better,

697
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 1: you almost want to be like, you know, is there

698
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: a tournament I could take off because of these big

699
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,120
Speaker 1: tournaments I just played before? So you know, there's definitely

700
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,000
Speaker 1: a little bit of a shift there. But UM, you know,

701
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,399
Speaker 1: those are all good things as as you play good golf.

702
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 1: Has the UM the quest for your autograph UM gone

703
00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 1: up in a two week span? Have you noticed that

704
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,879
Speaker 1: people now notice who you are a little bit. Yeah,

705
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 1: I've definitely had a few more autograph requests. UM. You know,

706
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:00,239
Speaker 1: like some of the people in the crowd out and

707
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 1: volunteer know my name. That's kind of nice. When I

708
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 1: registered this morning, they knew who I was, which is

709
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,080
Speaker 1: a little unusual. Most of the time I have to

710
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 1: say and spell my last name so they know where

711
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,879
Speaker 1: I am on the list. But yeah, no, it's been great.

712
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,320
Speaker 1: It's another one of those things that you know that

713
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,800
Speaker 1: comes with good golf. And I'm really trying hard to

714
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: play good golf, so I'm I'm happy with all those

715
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:26,520
Speaker 1: other things that come with it. You mentioned having your

716
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 1: family at Honda, your father Bobby Cole, your mom Laura Ball.

717
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: I mean, they were both great players. They both played

718
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,759
Speaker 1: on the men's and women's side. I come from a

719
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,960
Speaker 1: similar background, as you chose to do the same thing

720
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 1: that you know my dad did. You did the same. Um,

721
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 1: how much of that is a blessing, and how much

722
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:50,880
Speaker 1: of that at times can be you know, a curse

723
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 1: because it's I mean I struggled for that for a

724
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:58,160
Speaker 1: long time, the imposter syndrome to where you're like, am

725
00:37:58,200 --> 00:37:59,839
Speaker 1: I really good enough to be out here? My dad

726
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,360
Speaker 1: it's like the greatest of all time and what I

727
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:04,840
Speaker 1: do and I'm trying to do what he does. I mean,

728
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,080
Speaker 1: did you go through any of that? Uh? Yeah, not

729
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,359
Speaker 1: not as much because, um, you know, like I feel

730
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:16,360
Speaker 1: like my parents had great careers and they were great players,

731
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,200
Speaker 1: but they weren't like, you know, like the very best.

732
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,760
Speaker 1: They weren't, you know, like my one of my best friends,

733
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: Sam Saunders, and you know, I mean his grandpa's Honor Palmer.

734
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 1: That's that's a different level of success. And there's a

735
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,319
Speaker 1: lot that comes with that, um, you know, both good

736
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,440
Speaker 1: and bad things. But I think in my case, I

737
00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,879
Speaker 1: mostly got good things, you know, Like I don't really

738
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 1: have a whole lot of you know, negatives or pressure

739
00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,720
Speaker 1: that comes with it, because, like I said, my parents

740
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,680
Speaker 1: are are really well known in the golf world, but

741
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:49,920
Speaker 1: you know, they're not like, you know, someone walking down

742
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:52,440
Speaker 1: the street doesn't necessarily know who my mom or dad are,

743
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 1: so I think, you know, it's it's been mostly positive

744
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,799
Speaker 1: and it hasn't really been a huge like pressure point

745
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:04,560
Speaker 1: me or anything. Lastly, what are the goals now? I mean,

746
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 1: because have the goals changed from what you set out

747
00:39:08,239 --> 00:39:13,480
Speaker 1: to do when you started last fall? And I mean

748
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,239
Speaker 1: do you feel like, Okay, I know I can win

749
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 1: now because I'm one pot away from having an opportunity

750
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,400
Speaker 1: to to be a PGA Tour winner. Yeah. I mean,

751
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:25,960
Speaker 1: I'd say some of the goals are probably changing a

752
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 1: little bit. But you know, in general, for me, like

753
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:35,080
Speaker 1: I really try and focus. It sounds like a little cliche,

754
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,880
Speaker 1: but I try and focus on like a you know,

755
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:41,800
Speaker 1: a process type of thing where my job is to

756
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,240
Speaker 1: just make sure that I'm in one of my goals

757
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:46,400
Speaker 1: when I write them down at the beginning of the year,

758
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,279
Speaker 1: is just to be fully prepared for every tournament. And

759
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 1: I think like, if I'm fully prepared and you know,

760
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:56,840
Speaker 1: ready to kind of execute my golf to its highest ability,

761
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,839
Speaker 1: then you know, a lot of the accomplishment stuff kind

762
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 1: of takes care of itself. And you know that's you know,

763
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,520
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys that say that, but for me, um,

764
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 1: you know, like it's it makes it so much easier

765
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,600
Speaker 1: for me to just focus on you know, as long

766
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:15,399
Speaker 1: as I have confidence in how I'm playing and my ability. Um,

767
00:40:15,719 --> 00:40:18,799
Speaker 1: if I'm fully prepared to play every tournament, then I think,

768
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,560
Speaker 1: you know, the the other stuff should just kind of

769
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 1: fall in line. Well, I'm excited. I think everybody's excited

770
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 1: to see, um, what you do. And I mean and

771
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 1: obviously the hard flex getting down on one knee and

772
00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:37,759
Speaker 1: proposing to your longtime girlfriend at Pebble Beach during the

773
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,400
Speaker 1: at and t I mean, if you can win a tournament,

774
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:43,279
Speaker 1: I mean, this is I mean, this is storybook kind

775
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,719
Speaker 1: of first year on the PGA Tour. Yeah, it's been

776
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,919
Speaker 1: pretty cool. I mean, she's she's lucky, she's been able

777
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:52,160
Speaker 1: to come out a lot. And you know that week

778
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,560
Speaker 1: at Pebble for me was for us was it was

779
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,640
Speaker 1: a great week. And uh, you know it, I played

780
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,239
Speaker 1: well that week, but the truth is that was a

781
00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:01,800
Speaker 1: great week whether I would have played well or not.

782
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 1: So And you said you liked kind of the the

783
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,440
Speaker 1: atmosphere of lots of people. You're gonna get a big

784
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:12,560
Speaker 1: dose of that at seventeen at TPC. Just remember, it's

785
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:16,239
Speaker 1: a wedge all that water doesn't really mean anything. It's

786
00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:20,240
Speaker 1: a wedge. Yeah that's true. Yeah, it's you probably wouldn't

787
00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:22,279
Speaker 1: miss that green very out. You wouldn't see pros missing

788
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:25,360
Speaker 1: that green very often if it wasn't that atmosphere with

789
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,279
Speaker 1: water all around it, that's for sure. Well, best of luck.

790
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 1: I know you're really busy, so thanks for taking time

791
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:34,400
Speaker 1: to talk and keep it going. Man, the winds are

792
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,480
Speaker 1: out there, go get them. Thanks, no worries, Thanks for

793
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:43,160
Speaker 1: having me on. So that was Eric Cole. And what

794
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 1: a cool story, right? I mean this if this kid

795
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,399
Speaker 1: managed to get a victory on the PGA Tour this year.

796
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,279
Speaker 1: I mean, there are Cinderella stories, but then there are

797
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 1: Cinderella stories. I mean, the guy gets engaged at Pebble Beach,

798
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:57,480
Speaker 1: miss is the first four cuts in the fall, almost

799
00:41:57,560 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 1: wins his first PGA to event and what's a home

800
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 1: game for him, and then goes from basically no status

801
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:06,400
Speaker 1: plan on many tours to if he could win a

802
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:09,560
Speaker 1: PGA Tour event. I think it would be an unbelievable story.

803
00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,320
Speaker 1: Really glad that we got to talk to him, and

804
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:15,839
Speaker 1: I think there was some really really good stuff in there.

805
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:20,200
Speaker 1: If you're trying to play competitive golf. This is a

806
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 1: good podcast because here's a kid that's kind of done

807
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:27,600
Speaker 1: it all and been at every level. So really glad

808
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:29,120
Speaker 1: that he came on and got to talk to him.

809
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:34,120
Speaker 1: Players Championship this week, the flagship event on the PGA Tour.

810
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,000
Speaker 1: Rory McElroy coming out today. I'm gonna use Rory's words.

811
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,000
Speaker 1: You guys can take from this what you want. The

812
00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:44,879
Speaker 1: emergence of Live or the emergence of a competitor has

813
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,640
Speaker 1: been has been beneficial to everyone playing elite professional golf.

814
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: And then he had John rom saying, yeah, a lot

815
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:52,720
Speaker 1: of the changes that are being made on the PGA

816
00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:55,680
Speaker 1: Tour were as a result of Live. I think everybody

817
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,400
Speaker 1: knows that. I think it's been interesting to watch some

818
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:01,399
Speaker 1: of the people on the PGA Tour try and act

819
00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:03,799
Speaker 1: like all the stuff that the Live guys were doing

820
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:08,279
Speaker 1: was just the devil and it was just completely detrimental.

821
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 1: But it is forced the PGA Tour to make an

822
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 1: enormous amount of changes. It is forced the PGA Tour

823
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:17,080
Speaker 1: to find an enormous amount of money. It's forced the

824
00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:20,560
Speaker 1: PGA Tour to find a way to get an enormous

825
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:23,960
Speaker 1: amount of money to their best players. And anybody that

826
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:28,640
Speaker 1: thinks that this is being driven by not the players

827
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,960
Speaker 1: on the PGA Tour. I think the one thing that

828
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:34,600
Speaker 1: Live is done is it made everybody regardless of what

829
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,439
Speaker 1: side of this year on whether you play on Live

830
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:39,280
Speaker 1: and you went or whether you stayed on the PGA

831
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:41,440
Speaker 1: Tour and went, I think one of the things that

832
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:43,320
Speaker 1: it did. And I talked to a bunch of players

833
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,640
Speaker 1: last year before any of this happened, and I asked

834
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:48,120
Speaker 1: them what they thought, and they said, you know, the

835
00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:51,040
Speaker 1: one thing that this is an opportunity is for the

836
00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 1: players to be recognized as having a voice. And so

837
00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:58,799
Speaker 1: I have always been pro player. That's why I think

838
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:01,480
Speaker 1: that the best players world, regardless of where they play,

839
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,520
Speaker 1: should have the right and be able to make as

840
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 1: much money as possible. And you know, the tour has

841
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:11,120
Speaker 1: tried to come out and say that it was trophies

842
00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:15,359
Speaker 1: and it was legacy and now there's ten events, no cut,

843
00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:22,040
Speaker 1: small fields, guaranteed money for ten events. If that sounds familiar,

844
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:26,480
Speaker 1: It certainly sounds familiar to me. Maybe if all of

845
00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:28,799
Speaker 1: these guys at the top on the PGA Tour, if

846
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,440
Speaker 1: you've got Roy McElroy, who is basically the de facto

847
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,799
Speaker 1: spokesman of the PGA Tour. And you've got John rom

848
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 1: the number one player in the world. If you've got

849
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: them actually addressing and identifying the thousand pound elephant in

850
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 1: the room and saying, yeah, we've made these changes because

851
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:53,320
Speaker 1: of what Live is done, then maybe there's an opportunity

852
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:57,040
Speaker 1: for coexistence to where the PGA Tour does their thing,

853
00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:01,000
Speaker 1: Live does their thing. Maybe there's a way it somewhere

854
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:02,879
Speaker 1: down the road. I don't think it happens anytime soon.

855
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:09,799
Speaker 1: Maybe there's a way that players just stop being at

856
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:14,320
Speaker 1: war with each other. And I do not fundamentally believe

857
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:17,360
Speaker 1: why you have to pick and choose between Live or

858
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:20,480
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour. If you like golf and you like

859
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,640
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, and that's where you want to watch

860
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:25,200
Speaker 1: your golf, watch your golf on the PGA Tour. If

861
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,759
Speaker 1: you watch a live event and like it and want

862
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:30,719
Speaker 1: to watch it, watch it. But I got a news

863
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:34,239
Speaker 1: flash for you. You can do both. You can do both.

864
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:37,800
Speaker 1: There are great players playing on both of these tours,

865
00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:41,920
Speaker 1: and hopefully twenty twenty three will have a little bit

866
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:47,440
Speaker 1: more less craziness and we get back to just talking

867
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:51,120
Speaker 1: about golf as opposed to constantly talking about this battle,

868
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:53,680
Speaker 1: because there are great players playing great golf on the

869
00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:56,600
Speaker 1: PGA Tour, there are great players playing great golf on

870
00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:01,359
Speaker 1: live and maybe there's an argument to be made that golf,

871
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,719
Speaker 1: as crazy as it sounds, maybe we can get it

872
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,080
Speaker 1: back to being in a good place in twenty twenty three.

873
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: I think if cooler heads prevail, there's a better chance

874
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:14,320
Speaker 1: of that than it not happening. And I hope there's

875
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,400
Speaker 1: a day to where you know, the aggressiveness and the

876
00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:20,799
Speaker 1: animosity on both sides subsides, and we can just talk

877
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:23,960
Speaker 1: about how great golf is and how great these players are,

878
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,360
Speaker 1: because I'm lucky enough to work with some of the

879
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:28,200
Speaker 1: best players in the world. And I've done that on

880
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:30,799
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, I've done on the European Tour, I've

881
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:34,200
Speaker 1: done that now on the Live Tour. And golf is golf,

882
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:39,160
Speaker 1: and anybody that thinks of where you're playing, the game

883
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,040
Speaker 1: is the game. And hopefully in twenty twenty three we

884
00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:46,279
Speaker 1: can focus more on golf less on all of the craziness.

885
00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:49,840
Speaker 1: Son of a Buich comes to you every Wednesday. Thanks

886
00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:54,080
Speaker 1: for listening, Rate review, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

887
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:55,719
Speaker 1: We will see you next week.