Speaker 1: It's the son of a Butch podcast. It's Master's Week
Speaker 1: and episode two of Bush Harmon talking about the Masters.
Speaker 1: Put up some questions last week and it's kind of
Speaker 1: a ask Butch segment. He's gonna answer your questions. Got
Speaker 1: some really good questions, and um, I think everybody will
Speaker 1: be Um, yeah, I think they'll be maybe a little
Speaker 1: surprised by his answers. But um, anytime you can get
Speaker 1: you know, someone like him, his takes, um and get
Speaker 1: an opportunity for him to answer your questions. Um, I
Speaker 1: think it's invaluable on him. I mean, his takes on
Speaker 1: the game on Augusta and um, you know, just his
Speaker 1: life in general. Always good to listen to him. So
Speaker 1: sit back and enjoy episode two of The Master's Pregame
Speaker 1: show with Butch Harmon. I put some questions up and
Speaker 1: so these dad are the fans questions. Had a bunch
Speaker 1: of people ask me what is your personal favorite Master's moment?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I would have to say Tiger in
Speaker 1: ninety seven when he won. The reason being I always
Speaker 1: told Tiger when he was younger, the beauty of Tiger
Speaker 1: Woods was. He loved to hear about the old timers
Speaker 1: what how'd your dad do this? Hogan Nelson sneeen. We were.
Speaker 1: I mean you always had him playing practice rounds with
Speaker 1: Raymond Floyd and guys that had won there before. And
Speaker 1: you know, my dad won by five and he said
Speaker 1: it was the greatest feeling in the world walking up
Speaker 1: to seventy second hold with a five shot lead because
Speaker 1: he knew he couldn't lose. And I remember when Tiger
Speaker 1: was just a teenager and we were talking about this.
Speaker 1: I said, you know, Sunday, that's going to happen to you.
Speaker 1: Well in ninety seven, I can remember standing behind the
Speaker 1: eighteenth green and he's breaking the record and He's went
Speaker 1: in by his zillion shots and I'm standing back there
Speaker 1: and it was kind of overcast, but I had my
Speaker 1: sunglasses on because I had tears in my eyes. I'm
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, obvious some bits. I told this kid
Speaker 1: that this is going to happen to him someday, and
Speaker 1: arey cops. And it just did my heart good to
Speaker 1: see it, because I know how much it meant to
Speaker 1: my father the way he did it. And people don't
Speaker 1: realize when you come to the last hole of a
Speaker 1: big lead, it's it's there's so much relief off your
Speaker 1: shoulders and being tied or one at one back or
Speaker 1: one in front. So that part to me was really special.
Speaker 1: And then obviously eighty six when Jack Nicholas one was
Speaker 1: pretty oppressive. I've told this story before and but it
Speaker 1: you talked about having a big lead DJ when he
Speaker 1: won there, you know, he said he didn't look at
Speaker 1: any of the leader boards, and there aren't a lot
Speaker 1: of leaderboards like there are at PGA Tour events where
Speaker 1: there's pretty much leaderboards in every hole. So if you
Speaker 1: really don't want to look, you can kind of not look.
Speaker 1: And he hit it in that bunker, and he hit
Speaker 1: it and he said to AJ, so walking up to
Speaker 1: eighteen hold, he said, are we leading? I mean, am
Speaker 1: I in the lead? Don't have a big lead in?
Speaker 1: AJ said, probably got like a three shot lead. Even
Speaker 1: I can't miss this out. I may have to I
Speaker 1: love DJ, but I may have to sell the bullshit
Speaker 1: flag on that. I guarantee he knew where he stood
Speaker 1: coming up seventy seconds. There's no way he didn't know.
Speaker 1: And I guarante, and I guarantee you you give Austin
Speaker 1: a three shot leave in the middle of that fairway,
Speaker 1: he's gonna struggle to make par. I can tell you
Speaker 1: that he was playing and had three shot lead to
Speaker 1: be struggling to breathe A you kidney, Um, what's a
Speaker 1: lot of people ask this, what's your favorite hole at Augusta?
Speaker 1: When I when I play there in my favorite hole
Speaker 1: is the twelfth The reason being is I get to
Speaker 1: walk through the green, go to the tournament. He never
Speaker 1: get to go over that, so well, that's that's true.
Speaker 1: I mean, you get over When we were my brothers
Speaker 1: and I were playing in November, we get over the
Speaker 1: green and hey, guys, look back waving all the people
Speaker 1: back there, even though there was nobody there. That isn't
Speaker 1: I mean last year I went and played um when
Speaker 1: DJ was defending champion. Um, I'd never been on the
Speaker 1: golf course and he went up and did a little
Speaker 1: scouting mission, you know, the week before, and like you,
Speaker 1: like you said, I had never been onto So I
Speaker 1: didn't play, but I got to walk around. I'd never
Speaker 1: been on to the twelfth green. And when you actually
Speaker 1: when you actually get down to that part of the
Speaker 1: golf course, when you get down to eleven, when you
Speaker 1: get down to twelve, that entire part of the golf course.
Speaker 1: Dad has a completely different field than the rest of
Speaker 1: the golf course because because it is one of the
Speaker 1: places in the tournament when you go and if you're
Speaker 1: lucky enough to watch that, you can never get anywhere
Speaker 1: close to you can't. Also, I think the interesting thing
Speaker 1: about the eleventh green is when you look at all
Speaker 1: of the things around the eleventh Green, the undulations of
Speaker 1: the approach shots, of the chip shots that jefta. But
Speaker 1: when you get on the twelfth green, I think people
Speaker 1: would be absolutely floored by how small it is. It
Speaker 1: is a tiny, tiny green. Well, the beauty of twelve
Speaker 1: is and the old timers will tell you because the
Speaker 1: wind comes down there whips it around. It's why you'll
Speaker 1: see a guy hit a shot that he thinks he's
Speaker 1: hit a really good shot and he gets hit with
Speaker 1: a gust and the ball goes in the middle of
Speaker 1: the lake with like an eight iron or nine iron. People, so,
Speaker 1: how the hell can that happen? And it's coming if
Speaker 1: they're doing that, it's coming up sometimes twenty yards short.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, So I mean that's not they hit a
Speaker 1: bad shot, that's the wind. But the old timers will
Speaker 1: tell you and you'll watch the guy that have been
Speaker 1: there forever. You can see the flag on twelve going
Speaker 1: one way, but they look over their left shoulder till
Speaker 1: eleven because the flag on eleven is the true direction
Speaker 1: the winds going above the trees, because eleven is not
Speaker 1: in there with all those trees. It's exposed so you
Speaker 1: can see it. But still it's it is. I would
Speaker 1: say over the bunker where you probably should play everyone.
Speaker 1: If you hit in the middle of the green every time,
Speaker 1: you'd be the happiest guy on the course. It's probably
Speaker 1: not even thirty feet deep because it's it's very narrow,
Speaker 1: and it's just a great hole. It just shows you
Speaker 1: that these modern part threes that are two hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty two iron and thirty yards or a joke, because
Speaker 1: this isn't even one hundred and fifty yards long, and
Speaker 1: it kicks the butt of the best in the world
Speaker 1: because it's so tricky the way the wind blows down there.
Speaker 1: That's why it's my favorite hole in the whole court.
Speaker 1: It's not only to play, but to watch it during
Speaker 1: the tournament. This was an interesting question that someone asked,
Speaker 1: what's the most difficult shot at Augusta during the tournament
Speaker 1: that nobody talks about, that they're not constantly talking about
Speaker 1: all the time. What is the shot that you say
Speaker 1: that having played there, having been there for pretty much
Speaker 1: the majority of your life, and then having commentated, what
Speaker 1: is a shot that the viewers can say, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is a hole that you wouldn't think, this is a
Speaker 1: difficult one. But if a guy has this and is
Speaker 1: able to get this fifteen twenty feet, they're literally sprinting
Speaker 1: to go mark their ball without a shot to drive
Speaker 1: off the first team. The anxiety that's going through these guys.
Speaker 1: Think about the Great Tiger Woods, some of the worst
Speaker 1: drives he's ever hit at Augusta on the first team.
Speaker 1: It's not because he's nervous. It's just he's so anched up.
Speaker 1: He's like a horse in the starting gate a Kentucky Derby.
Speaker 1: He's ready to go and drive. You watch some of
Speaker 1: the best players in the world hit some of the
Speaker 1: worst drives you've ever seen in your life. It's amazing
Speaker 1: how many times they're playing out of the left trees
Speaker 1: or even the ninth fairway. Sometimes you know, because that
Speaker 1: bunker on the right is very deep when you hit
Speaker 1: it and bunker, it's hard to get it to the green.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the shot that I know who
Speaker 1: it's surprised your viewer who asked the question. I think
Speaker 1: the hard shot is the one you hit up the
Speaker 1: first tea, which sounds ridiculous for the best players in
Speaker 1: the world, but look at how many bad drives we see.
Speaker 1: I think another one that you hear the guys talk
Speaker 1: about again if you've never been there, the layoup on fifteen.
Speaker 1: If you don't go for that green into where you
Speaker 1: lay that ball up, I mean it is on a
Speaker 1: straight down slope. Here's the interesting thing where people don't
Speaker 1: realize when they see a guy dump of eighty ninety
Speaker 1: yard wedge shot into the water. First of all, you're
Speaker 1: hitting off the severe down slope and the greens above you.
Speaker 1: I know it's hard to believe, but the green is
Speaker 1: up a little higher. The only flash spot you hit
Speaker 1: is if you hit. If you're lay it up, you
Speaker 1: lay it up way to the left over there, you
Speaker 1: have a chance. But then if the pins over there
Speaker 1: on the left and you know you don't want to
Speaker 1: get it down there, you don't want that sixty fifty
Speaker 1: sixty seventy yards shot off that dam. You'd be better
Speaker 1: off back up on the hill where you get hit
Speaker 1: a nine iron or something and have a better chance.
Speaker 1: It's one of the coolest wedge shots ever. I can
Speaker 1: remember a couple of years ago when Billy and I
Speaker 1: were playing there. I came to that hall and I
Speaker 1: was I was only like four over part I was
Speaker 1: having a good day, and I said, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I got a great chance to shoot my age today.
Speaker 1: And you know, seventy nine now, so I would have
Speaker 1: been seventy seven or what else. And then I said,
Speaker 1: I'm only like four over or something, and I laid
Speaker 1: it up perfect. I'm still on the hall. I haven't finished.
Speaker 1: I put some walls in the water, so there goes that. Well.
Speaker 1: The other thing that I don't think people realize is
Speaker 1: when you do lay it up, regardless when the pins
Speaker 1: on the right hand side or when the pins down
Speaker 1: their front left, you hit it over that green, and
Speaker 1: it is you can chip it or put it in
Speaker 1: the water in a heartbeat, because it's so severe that
Speaker 1: slope going back from if you're over that green, it
Speaker 1: is so severe that you're scared to death of running
Speaker 1: it past. So then you lay the sawt over it
Speaker 1: and don't even get it on. And now you've got
Speaker 1: to hit the same shot that you were scared of before.
Speaker 1: When you go over that green state ten fifteen yard,
Speaker 1: you're probably six to eight feet below the actual putty
Speaker 1: surface and you're pitching back up into the grain and
Speaker 1: not allowed to green the pitch. And what I've seen,
Speaker 1: lady the last few years that we didn't used to
Speaker 1: see in the old days because guys can hit the
Speaker 1: ball so far, is guys that catch one and they
Speaker 1: knock it over the green and it goes in the
Speaker 1: lake on sixteen. We used to never see that because
Speaker 1: the grasses cuts mode so much nicer now and it's
Speaker 1: all down grain, and that ball takes off, it's going
Speaker 1: into water on sixteen. Then you're really upset because, as
Speaker 1: you mentioned in the beginning, because it's played at the
Speaker 1: same place every year, we know where the pin positions
Speaker 1: are going to be very rarely on Sunday. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're never going to put a pin on the right
Speaker 1: front right of the green at fifteen. They're never going
Speaker 1: to put a pin on the front right at sixteen.
Speaker 1: They're always going to put the pin on fifteen to
Speaker 1: the left down at the bottom. They're always going to
Speaker 1: put that pin on sixteen, the iconic sixteenth pin position
Speaker 1: where Tiger Chip did sixteen more than any of them.
Speaker 1: Occasionally they'll put it straight back in the middle of
Speaker 1: the green. You can remember years ago Nichols hole a
Speaker 1: big pot putting up the hill. Usually the pin on
Speaker 1: Sunday used to be kind of on the right side,
Speaker 1: straight back towards the back of the green. They use
Speaker 1: the one over to the left on Saturday, but they've
Speaker 1: changed that up now, so it's either going to be
Speaker 1: one or the two. It just makes for an exciting hole.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's just special watching those guys play.
Speaker 1: They've linked in that tea a little. They didn't have
Speaker 1: a lot of room, but they went back to the
Speaker 1: left end. It's lower. It's actually below the fairway, so
Speaker 1: the ball doesn't carry quite as far as it used to.
Speaker 1: But there's still most of the time hitting some sort
Speaker 1: of iron in there. But you know, it's it's like
Speaker 1: anything else. A lot depends on the wind can be.
Speaker 1: We've seen seventy back in the day have the lead
Speaker 1: coming in. He's hitting the forearm to the green, trying
Speaker 1: to hit a high fate and don't quite hit it,
Speaker 1: hits in the water costum winning. Even in Norman's debacle
Speaker 1: when he was still hanging in there, you know he
Speaker 1: struggled on those holes coming at sixteen, even hit in
Speaker 1: the water. So it's there's I would say, there's tragedy
Speaker 1: waiting for you. That's why I say Augusta to win
Speaker 1: Augusta is a really really mental game. You gotta really
Speaker 1: to be smart and learn how to play that course.
Speaker 1: So is it harder to win from the front or
Speaker 1: is it easier to chase? Because obviously if you do
Speaker 1: have a lead, and we've seen that over the years,
Speaker 1: we see guys that have a lead and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, by the fifth hole, the lead's gone and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden they've got a two three shot lead.
Speaker 1: Didn't take advantage of two. And also, to do you
Speaker 1: feel like it's a golf course and a tournament that
Speaker 1: it is hard to lead from the front on Sunday,
Speaker 1: I think it depends on the individual. You've had great
Speaker 1: front runners you've had. Tiger Woods is probably the greatest
Speaker 1: front runner in the history of the game. He just
Speaker 1: takes off and leads you. Jack was the greatest champion
Speaker 1: of all time. You know, he won eighteen majors nineteen seconds.
Speaker 1: I mean he could have won thirty something major. But
Speaker 1: those guys were smart taken hand out. Now you have
Speaker 1: other guys don't feel comfortable with the league. You have
Speaker 1: a lot of great players that have won a lot
Speaker 1: of tournaments and had never won one when they had
Speaker 1: the lead because they come behind and they can free
Speaker 1: wheel it a little and say, well, I got nothing
Speaker 1: to lose. I'm just going to turn and loose and
Speaker 1: start shooting for everything. The guy that has the lead,
Speaker 1: depending on who he is, it's a lot of pressure
Speaker 1: on him and the mindset dad of you, I mean,
Speaker 1: that is interesting that you mentioned that some guys, I mean,
Speaker 1: Tiger loved having a lead, and then there are other
Speaker 1: guys that have never really won tournaments being in the
Speaker 1: lead they've worn What is it about the mindset of
Speaker 1: the chaser and the guy that's got the lead, and
Speaker 1: how are those different? What depends on how well the
Speaker 1: guy was playing that had the league. Did he do
Speaker 1: with his putting? Does he have an exceptional putting week
Speaker 1: where he gets up and down every time and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, now it's the fourth round, of the
Speaker 1: first major of the year that you got the National Masters,
Speaker 1: and he's scared to death going out there because you
Speaker 1: know he hasn't had his best shot. Stuff. If you're
Speaker 1: having control of your golf ball, especially your iron games,
Speaker 1: scottis Sheffer is a perfect one. He controls his ball
Speaker 1: beautifully the way he's played John rom Rory. These guys
Speaker 1: control their ball. And we could put Cantley in a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of other guys in there too, But this
Speaker 1: is the important part. And then here comes the coup
Speaker 1: right here. How comfortable are you with the league? Some
Speaker 1: guys love it, they absolutely love it. DJ is very
Speaker 1: good at it. DJ gets the lead, he loves it.
Speaker 1: Rory likes to lay. They got to come get need
Speaker 1: And the only way they can get me is if
Speaker 1: I make a mistake. So if I don't make any mistakes,
Speaker 1: That's why I say it's a mental thing. You've got
Speaker 1: to be strong mentally to deal with it. We had
Speaker 1: some people ask Tiger or Jack, who's the greatest of
Speaker 1: all time? Well, first of all, it's different erors, so
Speaker 1: it's hard to compare them, especially with a different equipment
Speaker 1: and stuff. The way I answered that question, all the
Speaker 1: time is Jack is the greatest champion that's ever lived.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. He won eighteen majors, he
Speaker 1: got nineteen seconds, He's got thirteen thirds. He could have
Speaker 1: won a zillion majors. Every time there was a major,
Speaker 1: Jack Knicks was there with a changed Tiger is the
Speaker 1: greatest player I've ever seen. He could take over a
Speaker 1: golf course. He won the US Open by fifteen shots.
Speaker 1: He wins these majors by eight and nine and ten shots.
Speaker 1: No one's ever done that. I don't think you could
Speaker 1: say one's better than the other. To me, they're the
Speaker 1: two greatest players that have ever played the game, and
Speaker 1: I in no way I can say one's better than
Speaker 1: the other. I wish they could have both played against
Speaker 1: each other in their prime because it would have been
Speaker 1: something to see. We had a lot of people asked
Speaker 1: this question, what's the difference between elite and what's the
Speaker 1: difference between good? What's what's because everybody, I mean, Dad,
Speaker 1: you work with so many players, I work with players.
Speaker 1: I'm always getting asked that question. What is it that
Speaker 1: separates players from level to level? But that elite? Rory McElroy,
Speaker 1: Dustin Johnson, Scottie Cheffer, the great great players of any era,
Speaker 1: Jack Arnie Whatever, Tiger, Greg Faldo. What is the differentiator
Speaker 1: that separates the good from the great, from the good
Speaker 1: from the really really elite players? I think the best,
Speaker 1: the ultimate champions, it's all mental. They handle every situation perfectly.
Speaker 1: They understand their adrenaline rushes in their body. How much
Speaker 1: further do they hit a shot when they're all jacked up?
Speaker 1: They have the ability and do you hear me say
Speaker 1: this all the time that the last shot never happened?
Speaker 1: It's gone. I can't be thinking about it three holes later.
Speaker 1: How did I three put that green from twelve feet
Speaker 1: or something? The great ones just put it out of
Speaker 1: their mind and they are totally focused on what they've
Speaker 1: got control of right now. And the only thing you
Speaker 1: have control of is the next shot that you're going
Speaker 1: to hit. And these guys, because they're all good, these
Speaker 1: players today are all really good. And you've got guys
Speaker 1: that win a lot of tournaments and don't even win
Speaker 1: them ever win a major. You know, it's because it's
Speaker 1: it's hard to win a major. But the guys that
Speaker 1: have total control of their mind, their ability to know
Speaker 1: their nervous system and control and have a great caddy
Speaker 1: that can keep them going and involved with that. That's
Speaker 1: the difference between the elite and the really good ones.
Speaker 1: Do you think you can overprepare for Augusta. I always
Speaker 1: think the guys get there too early. They do too
Speaker 1: many kind of scouting missions and then the golf course. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the great thing about Augusta too. It
Speaker 1: it gets in their head early, and the people setting
Speaker 1: up the golf course they know that it's getting in
Speaker 1: their head. And everybody always says, I don't know why
Speaker 1: I'm playing these practice rounds because by the time we
Speaker 1: get to Thursday, the golf course from Wednesday night to
Speaker 1: Thursday morning can be totally different than the of course
Speaker 1: they played for the last three days. It's the young
Speaker 1: ones that go there and over prepare. The champions will
Speaker 1: go there the week before and they'll play and they'll
Speaker 1: do there, but they're caddying to do it. Then they
Speaker 1: may not show up till Tuesday, and then they'll only
Speaker 1: play nine holes. They'll play nine holes Tuesday, nine holes Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and then they'll go play the tournament. The young ones
Speaker 1: are the first and second timers. Man they're they're there
Speaker 1: the weekend before. By the time Thursday comes around, they're
Speaker 1: not only one out of physic but they weren't out mentally.
Speaker 1: They're like, how the hell are we going to play
Speaker 1: this hole? Oh my god, I can't, you know, And
Speaker 1: everybody's telling them. The old timers love messing with the
Speaker 1: new ones. This ye okay, here, let's start off on
Speaker 1: number two. You can't hit to the left on number two. Okay,
Speaker 1: if you hook it down there, there's a creek down there,
Speaker 1: and there's a Delta Airlines ticket agency down there to
Speaker 1: get your fight because you're not gonna be here on Saturday.
Speaker 1: That's the first thing. So now you've played the first hole,
Speaker 1: you made bogue, you're gonna double bogie the second. Then
Speaker 1: you get on thirty, act like you can drive the green,
Speaker 1: but you hit it over the green and you pitch
Speaker 1: it back over the green. You made another double. Now
Speaker 1: you're staying on the fourth tea. So they messed with
Speaker 1: his kids heads all the time. But I think you
Speaker 1: watch the really good ones. They don't play a lot
Speaker 1: of practice rounds. They usually go nine and nine. Someone
Speaker 1: will come in on Monday and just play Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Most of them, the upper echelon, have been there the
Speaker 1: week before and they've worked on their games and they
Speaker 1: know their game plan for the way that the course
Speaker 1: is set up. It's it's man, it's a mental test
Speaker 1: to Gusta National, I'm here to tell you it is
Speaker 1: a mental test. We had a lot of people that
Speaker 1: right in and ask about the work that you've been
Speaker 1: doing with Ricky Fowler and some of the work that
Speaker 1: you've just started doing with Tommy Fleetwood. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: Ricky first. I mean, obviously disappointed not to play his
Speaker 1: way into August, but I think we're starting to see
Speaker 1: some signs of life and Ricky starting to play golf
Speaker 1: like I know he wants to, and how we all
Speaker 1: know he can play as well. Yeah, we got back
Speaker 1: together last November. Did most of it just on video
Speaker 1: because I was in Florida my brother Craig, who lives
Speaker 1: down there as a member at the Medalist where he's
Speaker 1: a member, and Craig was kind of my eyes. We
Speaker 1: laid out. I laid out a whole plan for Ricky
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do to change the flame of
Speaker 1: his arm, give him more hip, turning a lot of
Speaker 1: different things that we've worked on, and then Craig would
Speaker 1: go watch him and film him for me and send
Speaker 1: it back and forth. Ricky's not a great job. He's
Speaker 1: very upset that he's not playing at Augusta. I thought
Speaker 1: he had a good chance in the match play if
Speaker 1: he had just got to the out of the first three,
Speaker 1: and unfortunately that didn't happen. He would have been high
Speaker 1: enough to get in. But that's okay. He's going to
Speaker 1: be there and the rest of the majors. I guarantee
Speaker 1: he will win this year. That's how good he's playing.
Speaker 1: He's got tremendous confidence. Again, it's just I played with
Speaker 1: him member guests last month down to flirting. He came
Speaker 1: up and played on Friday in the practice round with us.
Speaker 1: He made nine birdies again, you know, so his game
Speaker 1: is there. It's a matter now. The one area of
Speaker 1: it that I still amount one hundred percent happy with
Speaker 1: as his driving. He's not seeing quite the draw that
Speaker 1: he likes to hit off the team consistently. So we're
Speaker 1: doing a little more extra work with the driver and
Speaker 1: get that dialed in. Ricky's gonna win, and he's gonna
Speaker 1: win soon, and the game needs Ricky Fowler to play
Speaker 1: good because he's one of the most popular guys in
Speaker 1: our sport, and it's just nice to see him back
Speaker 1: up doing what he's doing and having a good chance.
Speaker 1: Tommy Fleetwood, Dad, you started working with him. Tommy, he's
Speaker 1: one of the guys that on the driving range. If
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for one of you know, the guys I'm
Speaker 1: working with, I'll sit and watch Tommy hit golf balls.
Speaker 1: I think I'm in the majority in that. Like you,
Speaker 1: I'm surprised Tommy hasn't won more. I'm surprised he hasn't
Speaker 1: certainly hasn't won more on the PGA Tour. What do
Speaker 1: you like about Kim and talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: what you've been doing with his game. I love his
Speaker 1: golf swing. I love the way he swings. I think
Speaker 1: Tommy is a good dark horse better at August of
Speaker 1: the course kind of suits his eye because he draws
Speaker 1: the ball, and I think now more than in the
Speaker 1: past or some of the new teas, a draw becomes
Speaker 1: a little more important than he used to. He's got
Speaker 1: to put a little more consistently than he has. He's
Speaker 1: switch putters and has gone back to his old putter,
Speaker 1: which he feels more comfortable with. I think it's just
Speaker 1: getting comfortable with the changes. As you know, change isn't easy.
Speaker 1: Change is hard no matter who you are, no matter
Speaker 1: how much talent you have, and you're you're faults will
Speaker 1: always creep back in there. So I actually have all
Speaker 1: my players whatever change we're making, I make them exaggerate
Speaker 1: the heck out of it on the practice team. That way,
Speaker 1: when they go to the course, they can feel more comfortable.
Speaker 1: I think Tommy's ready to break out. That driver's back,
Speaker 1: his little draws back and sees it. He's feeling more
Speaker 1: comfortable about it. He's ready to go, So it's going
Speaker 1: to be interesting to see how he does. And besides that,
Speaker 1: he's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
Speaker 1: I love Tommy Fleetwood. I love this golf game. I
Speaker 1: love him. He's got a great sense of humor. He's
Speaker 1: just a good guy. Can you understand a word his caddie,
Speaker 1: Finno says, or do you need a translator? No? I
Speaker 1: can't understand him. And he's also like six foot eight.
Speaker 1: I mean I can't even So you don't want it.
Speaker 1: You don't want to understand that. I can't understand him
Speaker 1: a bit, and I'm one thing. If a fight breaks out,
Speaker 1: I'm just standing behind him and talking shit going in,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take your ass. You've got to come to him.
Speaker 1: To me, Well, I'll tell you what if you If
Speaker 1: you stand behind finno U, nobody's gonna be able to
Speaker 1: see you because he's six to eight and they have
Speaker 1: we talked about it earlier. They have a great player
Speaker 1: caddy relationship. They get along so well. They're good friends.
Speaker 1: He's a good guy, that catty, He's something. Uh, give
Speaker 1: me your three favorites and then give me three dark horses.
Speaker 1: You've kind of touched on them, but we'll put you
Speaker 1: on the spot. Give me three favorites and three dark horses.
Speaker 1: I would say, well, I've already told I've already told
Speaker 1: you I thought Rory's gonna win. I mean, you'd have
Speaker 1: to take the top three in the world Scottish chef
Speaker 1: for Rory John Ram would be the ones everybody would take.
Speaker 1: But if you look down the list, I think the two,
Speaker 1: the two that I am going to be most interested
Speaker 1: to see, and you're involved in one of them, are
Speaker 1: Smith and DJ. I want to see how they handle Augusta.
Speaker 1: I want to see because it's the first time they've
Speaker 1: been involved with a guy. With all these guys and
Speaker 1: a big major and stuff, that's going to be the
Speaker 1: interesting thing for me to see. You've got to look
Speaker 1: at the guys that have been playing that are hot
Speaker 1: going in here, but I think you're dark horses, and
Speaker 1: I love this guy and if he can control his temperament,
Speaker 1: he's really awesome to Trail Hatton. I mean, this guy's
Speaker 1: Tarrell Hatton has got to be your spirit animal because
Speaker 1: he's basically got the same type of temper you had
Speaker 1: when you played on tour. Yeah, well a lot better
Speaker 1: Talleton I had, that's for damn sure. But I love
Speaker 1: Taryll Hatton. I think you've seen Justin Roses started to
Speaker 1: play well again. He's another one nobody's thinking about. Brooks
Speaker 1: is really playing well again. Lowry's playing well again. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've got a lot of guys that could be dark horses,
Speaker 1: and then you got the guys that are I was
Speaker 1: just writing some things down, guys that are flying in
Speaker 1: under the radar, who aren't even being talked about. He
Speaker 1: got Patrick Cantley, one of the best players in the world,
Speaker 1: nobody's talking about it. Max Homan, nobody's talking about it.
Speaker 1: Jordan Thomas and Spieth, nobody talks about it, Young and
Speaker 1: Tom Kim, these guys nobody's talking about. These guys are
Speaker 1: all capable of winning this tournament. And I'll tell you
Speaker 1: who's really it's gonna be one of the most exciting
Speaker 1: Masters we've had in a long time. Fun. And I'll
Speaker 1: tell you who's really starting to play good again? Who's
Speaker 1: been doing a lot of work with Chris Como. I
Speaker 1: think Chris has done a great job. I've had him
Speaker 1: on the podcast. Jason Day start to play good again.
Speaker 1: I mean Jay Day's golf swing looks good. He's been
Speaker 1: a major champion before, he's been number one in the world.
Speaker 1: I mean, if Jason gets that putter going like when
Speaker 1: he puts like he does, i mean he's he's pretty good. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Chris Cormo has done a phenomenal job with him. You know,
Speaker 1: he never used to make any hip turn. He's all
Speaker 1: up or body turn. That's why his back was so bad.
Speaker 1: He's got him rotated his hips now, which takes the
Speaker 1: pressure off his back. He seems to have his mojo
Speaker 1: back too. The same thing you see with Ricky when
Speaker 1: they walk, you can tell that the confidence is back.
Speaker 1: So Jay Day is another one. But there's the game
Speaker 1: is in a great place. I mean, we've got so
Speaker 1: many good young players. It's unbelievable. It's just and the
Speaker 1: Masters is always special because it's the first one and
Speaker 1: somebody who you would never believe is going to be
Speaker 1: leading after the first round because that usually always happens
Speaker 1: there and then they go away and you know, but
Speaker 1: it's going to be a great Master if we've got
Speaker 1: so many good players that are playing good, and that's
Speaker 1: what you look at coming into a major, who's playing good.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, there's fifteen or twenty of them that
Speaker 1: are playing great at this point in time coming in here,
Speaker 1: and none of them are really rookies there. They've all
Speaker 1: played there before. They know the course, they know how
Speaker 1: to handle it. I think it's gonna be awesome. I
Speaker 1: thought this was a good question. Somebody said, what do
Speaker 1: you know now that you didn't know when you started teaching.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. One of the things I've pride myself on.
Speaker 1: If I don't know what I don't know, I'll go
Speaker 1: learn it. I'll go talk to somebody who does know it.
Speaker 1: I mean, think about teaching Claude, and you've been doing
Speaker 1: this for quite a while. I've done it for my
Speaker 1: whole life. What I teach now, I didn't teach ten
Speaker 1: years ago, but I taught ten years ago and teach
Speaker 1: twenty years ago. Equipment has changed a lot, Players had
Speaker 1: changed a lot, the physical fitness part of players, the
Speaker 1: size of players. Back in my day, I'm five ft eight.
Speaker 1: Back in my day, everybody was five to eight, five nine,
Speaker 1: five ten would have been pretty tall. Now everybody's over
Speaker 1: six feet. There's six, one, two, three and four. They're
Speaker 1: all great athletes. So it's a different scenario. And as
Speaker 1: an instructor, you have to change according to the times.
Speaker 1: When you look at who you're dealing with, the capabilities
Speaker 1: of them, how strong are they? The club had speed
Speaker 1: so much faster. You look at what equipment has done.
Speaker 1: The ball doesn't curve as much as it used to,
Speaker 1: so they can go at it harder. So all of
Speaker 1: these things have to factor in. You look in the
Speaker 1: old days with wooden drivers and softballs, a big reverse
Speaker 1: seas that everybody got into hitting it, trying to get
Speaker 1: the ball in the air. You're looking now we want
Speaker 1: everybody on top of it to launch it high with
Speaker 1: as little spin as you can. So I think you
Speaker 1: have to evaluate everything that's going on, and you have
Speaker 1: to think outside the box. I'm a great believe it
Speaker 1: that I don't think in the box. I think outside
Speaker 1: the box, and outside the box is a wide ring.
Speaker 1: What I mean is, don't get caught up in everybody
Speaker 1: doing everything the same way, because that's a bunch of
Speaker 1: bs that doesn't work, and people that have taught that
Speaker 1: way none of those players are on the tour anymore.
Speaker 1: So think outside the box, have an open mind, and
Speaker 1: always look at what guys are doing. You may see
Speaker 1: a guy you don't like the way he swings, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden he's a good player. Of all,
Speaker 1: Why the hell's he a good player? I mean, look
Speaker 1: at Scottish Cheffer's footwork or Bubba Watson's footwork. If that's
Speaker 1: the thing. I think that Randy Smith has done such
Speaker 1: a great job with Scottie because you've been with him forever.
Speaker 1: You don't change those things. That's what they do naturally.
Speaker 1: And so as I've taught you, and as my dad
Speaker 1: taught me, you never take away what someone does naturally.
Speaker 1: You just try and make them better. But yeah, my
Speaker 1: whole philosophy on teaching has changed maybe every ten or
Speaker 1: twelve years. I had somebody asked this question. I thought
Speaker 1: it was interesting if you could become TPI certified, meaning
Speaker 1: learn about the body swing connection, or become certified, you know,
Speaker 1: in a launch monitor, and learn everything about the launch monitor.
Speaker 1: Which one would you do and which one would you
Speaker 1: suggest people? To learn about how the body works and
Speaker 1: how that affects the golf swing, or to look at
Speaker 1: all the numbers and become proficient in everything a launch
Speaker 1: monitor can tell you. Well, first of all, a launch
Speaker 1: monitor can't hit a shot, so I don't give a damn.
Speaker 1: But the numbers are telling me on the launch monitor.
Speaker 1: That's information, But that's not the whole thing. I'd rather see.
Speaker 1: You have a great body, and you do the things
Speaker 1: in your body that allow you to do the things
Speaker 1: you want. One of them you and I've had this conversation.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I find when I was first,
Speaker 1: when I would left the tour in twenty nineteen and now,
Speaker 1: like I only go to the master's to watch a
Speaker 1: lot of these teachers. They never watched the guy swing.
Speaker 1: They never watched the ball that'd instantly go to all
Speaker 1: the numbers. Well, I would love my father to be
Speaker 1: alive today because with the launch monitors. Can you can
Speaker 1: you imagine your grandfather today with everybody looking into launch
Speaker 1: monitor and you could just here, hey, pal, let me
Speaker 1: explain something to you. That see that machine right there,
Speaker 1: never hit a shot. It's never hit one. Doesn't know
Speaker 1: how to hit one, doesn't know how to tell you
Speaker 1: how to hit one. And come Sunday on the back
Speaker 1: nine at Augusta, when that red light on that camera's
Speaker 1: burning a hole in your forehead right here, and you
Speaker 1: know it's burning that hole, you better help. You're not
Speaker 1: thinking about that damn lunch monitor. That and you gotta pay,
Speaker 1: and you gotta pay thirty grand to get one. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't have. Actually, I teach with two of them.
Speaker 1: They're right here, my big baby blues. Those are my
Speaker 1: large monitors. UM, the sky team. UM, they're like a
Speaker 1: second family to you. I know that, even though you're
Speaker 1: not doing it as much as as you used to.
Speaker 1: I know it is something that UM. And now that
Speaker 1: you do it, you know only once a year at Augusta.
Speaker 1: But to come back and and get with all the
Speaker 1: people at Sky Sports, the golf team there, um, all
Speaker 1: the crew, Radar, Coltart nick Um. It's like a second
Speaker 1: family to you. I know, well, you know I first
Speaker 1: did it. The first thing we do was the small
Speaker 1: part of the Ryder Cup in ninety five at o'kill
Speaker 1: and I've been doing it ever since, so I mean,
Speaker 1: I know everybody there. I'm actually it's so funny when
Speaker 1: I mean over in the UK plane golf or something.
Speaker 1: I'm much more known in the UK than I am
Speaker 1: in the US. And it has not to do with
Speaker 1: the teaching and all the great players up. It's all television.
Speaker 1: It's just I'll tell you a great story last year
Speaker 1: when we went to Royal County down the first time
Speaker 1: I got to go as being a member in Northern Ireland,
Speaker 1: which is my favorite golf course in the world. Because
Speaker 1: of COVID after I became a member in nineteen I
Speaker 1: couldn't get over there. I had the best time and
Speaker 1: we flew over and my good friend stand Bucket Miller's
Speaker 1: eighty million dollars Global and it was just a phenomenal
Speaker 1: plane and we pulled we land and we put it
Speaker 1: Parkers off Nowheres and these two guys that are bringing
Speaker 1: the plane in stuff. We get this is so funny.
Speaker 1: We get off the plane and they go, ah, can
Speaker 1: we get Petway there next year? Plane said, oh, we yeah,
Speaker 1: please do next to my plane. Absolutely, we're excited that
Speaker 1: you're coming to August. I know a bunch of the
Speaker 1: guys and the fact that you know, I've pretty much
Speaker 1: told everybody that you're coming, so you're gonna be amongst friends.
Speaker 1: Everybody's going to be excited to see you. And I
Speaker 1: agree with you. I think we're gonna have a special
Speaker 1: masters and I look forward to it and Roy going
Speaker 1: for the Grand Slam, you know, Scottie Scheffler trying to
Speaker 1: repeat John Ram. I mean, I think it's a golf course.
Speaker 1: It's made for him. And then the live guys. I
Speaker 1: think it'll be fun. Look forward to seeing y'all. See
Speaker 1: you on Monday. Well, I'm looking forward to being there.
Speaker 1: And as the great referee in boxing, you did all
Speaker 1: the big fights here at Mills. Lane used to say,
Speaker 1: let's get it off. Thanks for talking to us. You
Speaker 1: gotta love you, pal. So that was a really good
Speaker 1: segment where Butch Harmon asks answers your questions and I
Speaker 1: love doing that and I love getting you know your feedback, UM,
Speaker 1: and listen, he's my dad, but he's also I mean,
Speaker 1: he's an icon and UM I just did a pot
Speaker 1: if you haven't listened, making a case for him to
Speaker 1: be in the Hall of Fame. He's been on the
Speaker 1: pod before, so if you're new and you're new listener, UM,
Speaker 1: he's been on a couple of times. He's always got
Speaker 1: good takes and UM, it's a treasure trove of information
Speaker 1: when you when you get an opportunity to talk to
Speaker 1: Butch Harmon And like I said, I'm lucky. UM I
Speaker 1: talked to him all the time. He's my dad, but um,
Speaker 1: he's just such an iconic figure in golf instruction, Um,
Speaker 1: an iconic figure in in professional golf. And anytime UM
Speaker 1: I get a chance to talk to him, I feel
Speaker 1: I'm much better for it. And that was it. Uh
Speaker 1: So two episodes this week. If you haven't listened to
Speaker 1: yesterday's go check it out. But UM, I figured pretty
Speaker 1: cool to do that around this week Special week. We're
Speaker 1: all looking forward to see um Augusta National and all
Speaker 1: its glory and I'm looking forward to it as well.
Speaker 1: So hope everybody enjoys watching if you're going have fun,
Speaker 1: and if you're watching on TV, enjoy it as well.
Speaker 1: Son of a Butch comes to you every Wednesday. We
Speaker 1: will see you next week.