WEBVTT - Michael Weaver 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:00.760 I miss the green. 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.480 For example, I'm already upset. When I find my ball 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:04.960 in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.359 And when I find my ball. 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:09.000 In a brid egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.200 Friday Frida Bride Egg Lie, I'm about ready to run. 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:41.920 Off of the course. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:46.279 another edition of the FRIDAYGG Podcast. Today, Kyle, Nathan and 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.800 I are joined by Michael Weaver, former All American at 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.960 cal U s M runner up Walker Cupper and currently 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.200 playing on the web dot Com Tour. Michael, welcome on. 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.200 Yeah, thanks, thanks for having me. Guys, got to do it. 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.319 Yeah, thanks Michael, thanks for being here. I guess we'll 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.600 get started right away. I read some interesting stuff about you, 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.240 and one of my favorite tidbits was that you were 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.920 an elite level go kart racer. Yeah, so tell me 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.160 about that, and then what made you get into golf? 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:22.240 Yeah, So, my dad's always been into racing and I 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:25.320 started down on six. My my dad was probably a 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:29.360 little bit crazy. Uh, one day just started driving go karts. 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.000 We had some friends that did that, and I really 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.960 liked it. Kind of was okay, I had to start 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.880 and then you couldn't race. Excuse me, couldn't start racing 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.319 until you're eight. So for like two years I just 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.160 practiced basically and got kind of good at it, and 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:49.120 then raced kind of all over California, and yeah, I was. 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:51.280 I was really into it. It was. It was a 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:52.960 lot of fun. I mean, you can imagine. It was 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.640 racing go karts that probably went about like fifty five 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.120 or sixty and it's a bunch of like second third kids. Yeah, 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.760 so it was. It was pretty serious. I think some 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.640 of my parents' friends probably thought my dad was out 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.240 of his mind, and but no, I was really competitive. 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.000 But that I did that until I was about twelve. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:12.800 I started playing golf when I was tense. I had 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:16.720 a little bit of overlap. I was racing and playing golf, 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:22.080 and eventually kind of my dad pointed out to me 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.360 that I hadn't raced at one point in like six 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.560 months or a year I think it was, and that 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:29.600 I kind of needed to pick one or the other 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.400 because if we were going to keep racing, I needed 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.679 to be committed to that, and if not, like that 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.320 stuff was he wanted to get rid of the racing stuff, 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:39.440 and if I wasn't going to do it, because it 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.960 seemed at that point I was pretty pretty set on 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.160 playing golf. I started starting I was ten, just played 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.280 for like a year, then started playing tournaments, and think 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.560 when I was eleven and summer, summertime became, you know, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:54.720 three tournaments a week, like a one day or here, 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:57.400 a two day or there, all throughout northern California. So 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.359 racing kind of took a back seat, and I stopped 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.760 doing that, yeah, when I was twelve, and since then 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.800 just been playing golf. But I'm still still pretty interested 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:10.920 in racing in general, like the Formula one. My dad 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.560 still races as like a hobby, as an open wheale 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.400 race car. I've driven a few times. It's it's a blast. 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.559 It's way more fun than golf. I'm not gonna idea. 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.880 He's from racing or golf. 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.560 I was pretty lucky. Never racing go cars is pretty 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.520 common they'd flip, and I never that never happened to me, 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:34.359 so I'd never got hurt doing that, fortunately, And I've 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:36.240 kind of had pretty good luck with golf too. I've 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:41.000 never knock on wood, never, never really had a serious injury. 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.840 I honestly can't remember a time where I've missed playing 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.640 golf for more than really at all. There's been maybe 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:51.640 something here there that's kind of bothered me, But I 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:54.960 don't think I could directly attribute that to playing golf 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.600 or working out related to golf. So I've been been 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.960 pretty fortunate to been playing for I guess sixteen years now. 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.440 You hear about guys periodically, you know, their backs, bothering them, 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.600 risked whatever. I have been pretty fortunate. I have to 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:10.040 deal with that. 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:16.400 So what are worse racing parents or golf parents? 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:21.880 Oh Man, Probably racing parents because they have a bit 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.520 of a temper. Golf parents are just crazy, you know 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.080 they might they might kind of like snap at their kid. 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.359 But like racing, he se some pretty like redneck stuff, 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.719 like people literally lost their mind. It was. It was 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.400 pretty embarrassing for the kids. I'm sure you know it 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.960 was like the little It was equivalent to like the 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.400 Little League, dad. But I don't think you see that 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.960 as much in golf, just because it's more you know, 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.880 you're competing against everyone else, but less so than in racing, 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.280 I guess. And you can kind of directly attribute your 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.680 bad play to yourself and golf wers. If someone makes 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:00.000 a bonehead move. Racing, you could point the finger at them, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.760 you know, with some certainty, so you'd see it occasionally. 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.640 You know, people get pretty pissed, but not you don't 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:08.680 see that in golf. 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:11.599 Yeah, I bet you could be like a you could 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.480 drive like a jackass and like block people out and 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:15.240 stuff like that. 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:16.840 Yeah, exactly. 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.480 So in terms of growing up, you grew up in 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:27.360 Fresno and there's like a stable of talented golfers that 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:31.320 have come from there, like Watney and Yea, Chapel, Bryson, 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.440 you you know, what is it about Fresno. 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.400 Yeah, it's it's kind of funny. I was talking with this, 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.479 talking about this with someone recently. You know, you have 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:45.760 the guys you mentioned, plus Derek Ernst as well. You know, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.520 Derek's a year older than me. Bryson is three years 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.960 younger than me. So I played played quite a bit 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.800 with Derek growing up, played a little bit with Bryson, 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:58.080 but we're at a big enough age gap to like 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.440 high school golf, we're all in the same league and 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:03.680 we would. I'd play with Bryson pretty regularly, but I 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.120 was was kind of a big age difference then. I 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.640 wasn't real close with them, but no, we've I don't 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:11.960 know what to attribute that to. It's kind of strange 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.360 because Kevin Chappel and I grew up playing the same 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.480 golf course. Bryson and Derek grew up playing the same 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.680 a different course, but the same one as each other. Obviously, 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:22.960 Watney has had a good career. I don't I don't 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.520 know if it's just like a fluky thing. That's kind 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:27.039 of When I was talking to a friend about this, 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.479 I said, it just seems like a like a fluke deal. 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.800 Like my high school team, even we had four or 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.479 five guys played Division one golf as well at you 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.960 know various you know, myself and one other guy both 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.360 went to cal Pace Johnson, and then a couple other 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:48.000 guys played like Cal Pauly Soccramento State. I guess that'd 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.520 be it, But no, it's just kind of one of 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.040 maybe one of those things. It's more coincidence than anything. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.040 I can't say, Oh, it's because we have all these 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.200 great courses or facilities or whatever we can play with 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.640 golf year around. But that's true for anywhere in California. 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:05.080 Yeah, I remember at Paul Golido Sound and he grew 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.599 up playing this Muni and Long Beach that like Patrick 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:11.560 Cantley and a bunch of other tour pros of all 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.080 grown up playing, which is is kind of crazy how 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:16.960 like sometimes they all everybody comes from like one course. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.840 Yeah, I could see that. Where like with our team 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:22.360 at Cal, like when you have a bunch of good 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.680 players all together, everyone's very competitive. I know growing up, 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.040 all of us were pretty competitive against each other, So 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.240 maybe that has something to do with it. I could 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.840 when you're it's better, it's better to be surrounded by 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.120 people kind of you know, similar ability there. You know, 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:38.960 all of us are trying to get to say college 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.280 golf at that point, and pushed each other and we 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.280 all wanted to be each other. So I'm sure that 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:45.880 that counts for something. But you know, beyond that, you know, 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.800 and professional golf to have, I guess it'd be five 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:51.960 or six guys. You know, Watney's from Sacramento but went 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:56.040 to President State and then myself, Bryce and Derek and Kevin, 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.320 all four of us either you know right or kind 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.720 on the web. The two others on the PGA tourrets. Yeah, 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.680 it just kind of got an anomaly more than anything. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:10.080 Probably, So you mentioned your team at CAL, which was loaded. 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.960 I mean, you guys had hey, he Michael Kim, Max 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:18.160 Homo yourself. What do you think you guys did at 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.840 CAL to prepare your guy, prepare yourself so well to 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:21.960 play professionally. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:25.720 I think kind of what I was talking about, the 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:29.480 competition we were. We were all very competitive. None of 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.640 us like to lose to one another. We would I 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.800 mean we had this we had this this practice facility 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.840 at CAL. Uh got a course called Metropolitan Golf Links 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.360 and uh like Oakland, San leandera right next to the 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:44.240 Oakland Airport, and we had this huge shorting facility there. 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.800 And there would be days where like nobody really wanted 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.400 to go practice, but like Michael Kim and I for example, 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.960 would say play for you know, trying to beat each other. 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.560 And that was that was that happened literally every day. 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.160 Get It's like we'd go hit balls for like an 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:02.920 hour and then have a two or three hour up 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:05.040 and down contest. There are several contests within a two 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.640 or three hour period. I think that's just kind of 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.600 that element where we were everyone wanted to beat each other, 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.720 we all hated to lose to each other, and that 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:19.480 that I think that was worth a lot because I know, say, 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.040 like my recruiting class was myself, Max and Brandon, and 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:28.120 I think that I for each of us, Cal wasn't 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:32.600 necessarily our first choice going into the recruiting process. You know, 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.480 you have all these schools you're looking at, Like it 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.040 wasn't like it was Cal or then the other things 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.760 everything else to be settling, like we I know, I 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.800 was interested in saying the UCLA, Stanford like all the 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.960 big schools in California, And I know Haye was kind 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:50.040 of the same way with I think USC and Max's 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.520 kind of the same boat as us. There's both of 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.080 us as well, Like Cal was on the list, but 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.520 it wasn't like with all those other programs at that 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.880 time were higher ranked than us. So it was kind 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.880 of common. You know, we all heard it, Max, Brandon 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:07.200 and I that from other coaches in the Pac twelve, 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:10.120 like they kind of overlooked our class. And then that 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.800 was kind of a common thing with even with like 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.760 Michael Kim as well. It was all these guys who 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:18.760 might have been a little bit overlooked, Say Michael Kim 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.640 was overlood because he hit it short thin. Max brand 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.760 and I had not really like hit our stride yet 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.600 I guess you could say we had good junior careers 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.120 but not great, and then you know they certainly weren't 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.160 up to par with our collegiate careers. So I think 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.400 it was just, you know, we had a great group 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.080 of guys. We all got along really well, and we 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.400 were all really competitive, and everyone was willing to work 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.320 really hard. I mean we never had to. There was 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:45.480 never anybody on the team that, like you kind of 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.520 had to light a fire under him, Like everybody knew 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.120 where they wanted to be and believe that, you know, 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:52.640 we were working, we were doing all the right things 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.960 to you know, be a top ten or top five 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:57.679 team or the number one team in the country. 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.800 That's awesome and interesting, guys, I'll had kind of a 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:01.760 chip on your shoulder. 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.040 Yeah, that'd be a good way to play it. Yeah, yeah, 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:05.520 that's awesome something to prove. 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.600 What what would you say in terms of making the 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:13.200 transition from college to pro golf, did you like overlook 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:17.080 that was like that spent that like maybe is tougher 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:19.920 than you would think, Like as an outsider. 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:24.160 You know, this is something I took for granted in 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.280 college that I've just kind of started to realize in 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.240 the last six months or so, is everybody say, like, 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:33.720 you play a lot more in professional golf in college 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:37.280 golf and ice think, well, in college, I played thirteen 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.600 or fourteen tournaments in a school year, and then six 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.840 to eight tournaments during the summer, so playing you know, 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.080 twenty two, you know, say, twenty two events a year. 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:49.920 And then my buddy, one of my friend of mine 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:51.599 from cal who's a few years older, said well, I 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.920 played twenty five or twenty six professional events a year, 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:56.880 and I kind of looked at that, like, that's only 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.640 like a couple more, that's not that big of a difference. 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:04.640 But what you what I kind of overlooked was in college, 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:08.280 your events are four days at most, and you have 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.000 a travel day, practice around day thirty six, and then 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.720 eighteen whole day, and then you go home that night. 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:18.440 Whereas professional event it's uh, you know, you say, you 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.960 fly on Sunday or Monday, you play practice on Monday. Tuesday, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.640 you're either in the program or you're practicing on Wednesday, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:26.880 and then you play four rounds and you do that's 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.440 like last year, I played thirty tournaments and that's thirty 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:34.280 weeks essentially, it's not you know, it's not thirty half 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.840 college tournaments, half amateur events where it's they're shorter. So 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:42.000 that was something that I think that's something that's overlooked 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.240 is people look at oh, it's you play pro golf, 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:47.600 like you get to go and go to all these 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.600 cool places. Which that's true. Sometimes I think if you 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:54.439 took an honest look at like the web dot Com schedule, 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.559 you wouldn't say like, I'm dying to go to Wichita, 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:03.040 Kansas and Omaha and Springfield and is or I mean 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:06.960 I've played. Yeah, it's like courses are good, the tournaments 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:10.040 are well run. But that's like people think that professional 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.800 golf you're going to all these cool destinations, you get 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.720 to do cool stuff. Well, like the reality is like 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:18.839 I'm I'm going to try to make time to go 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:20.719 to the Panama Canal this week because I've never been. 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:24.520 But most weeks like I'm not doing anything touristy. Maybe 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.480 I'm just lazy about that or not. It's not that 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:32.320 important to me, I guess, but most weeks like there's 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.280 just not there's just not a whole lot of time 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:36.920 because you got to play your practice rounds and then 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.840 your practice and your workout and whatever else you have 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:41.400 to do to get ready to go on Thursday. I 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:46.079 think that's something that's so easily overlooked is the tournament. 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:50.000 It's four days, but you know, being ready to play 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.000 tournam involves a week, and you have to at the 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.400 level that if you're not, if you haven't won on 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.120 the PGA Tour. I guess the way I look at 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.600 it is you need to play pretty much every chance 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:03.040 you get because you can't really you can't really like 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:07.040 be complacent because it's so easy to if you're like 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:08.760 a rookie on tour, so it's not easy, it's so 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.800 difficult to get into events. You're kind of forced in 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.360 your rookie year to play the events you get into, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.240 rather than you know, picking your schedule, which you kind 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:19.720 of have to take advantage of that then saying your 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.680 second or third year, once you move up in the 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.000 world ranking or if you win a tournament, then you're 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.600 then you can have that luxury. But I think that's 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:31.520 something that is probably the most overlooked, even for guys 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:35.480 who played golf necessarily in college. That says I'm saying, oh, 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:37.120 I don't want to play more than two events in 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.720 a row in a row, and for an amateur schedule, 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.120 it's like during the summer, it's like you guys need 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:43.600 to kind of get used to playing four or five 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.480 in a row because you might have no status. Monday 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:48.520 into a Web event and top twenty five a few 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.400 of them, and then all of a sudden, like I 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:52.760 had to stretch this summer. I was planning on playing 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:54.760 a couple of weeks on, a couple of weeks off 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:57.360 to that, and then like six six tournaments over like 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.800 a nine week stretch, and the week said off, I'm 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.760 did into a Web event and combined them into nine 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.600 straight weeks, and that you know, after nine weeks, I 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.840 was sick of playing golf. But that's kind of the 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.240 nature of it. You know, you you get you have 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.760 to you kind of have to go and you're hot 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:13.680 and keep going. 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.720 And that's speaking of playing a lot of golf in 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.200 a small amount of time. Obviously, you had a great 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:24.520 run at the USAM at Cherry Hills. Talk to us 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:25.320 a little bit about that. 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:29.080 Yeah, So that was that was kind of a surprise. 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.680 More than anything I knew I had been playing. I 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.480 knew like my game was going in the right direction. 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:35.960 I was improving, you know, I was working hard, but 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.560 I was kind of having a bad summer before that. 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.240 I had remember I played really poorly at the Western 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:45.280 at north Shore, I believe like two weeks before, and 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.000 I was pissed at how I played, and I was like, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.240 I went home and practiced a lot. It's like I 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.480 hadn't really done anything to redeeming that summer, I felt like. 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.200 So I feared out hopefully and I'd qualify for the AM. 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.600 That was really the only highlight, I guess, and I 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.760 think that was. That was my second us M. I 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.000 played at Aaron Hills the year before. I missed the 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.120 Cup by one there, missed the playoff I won, so 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:07.320 I kind of like fired up to go to the AM. 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.360 I didn't know anything about Cherry Ells in particular, rather 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.200 than it was at altitude in Denver. I mean I 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.760 knew about, you know, the like Arnold Palmer playing there 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.720 and that I'm not like not a huge like golf 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:21.880 like history junkie. So that was that was about it. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:28.200 And yeah, I uh so I played common played Cherry 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:33.160 Hills first, then played common Ground and I made like 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:34.960 a double or a triple on my tenth hole at 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.720 common Ground. I remember, and it was kind of I 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:39.640 knew that I was probably outside of the cut line. 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:42.600 And I want to say Birdie, like three of my 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:46.160 last seven or eight got into the playoff, which was 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.200 seventeen for fourteen bogie the first playoff. All went on 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.040 the next one and then part of that and Birdie 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.280 the twelfth hole at Cherry El's like a part three 0:16:55.360 --> 0:17:00.240 over water. It's about two hundred or so to ten. Yeah. 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:04.080 Then I had quite the draw and matchplay. I felt 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:05.640 like I played a lot of guys who are doing 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:07.800 really well right now, so I was now looking back, 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.119 it's kind of a cool, kind of a cool thing 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.399 to think about. I played Zach Blair in the first round. 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:18.639 I think I won two and one. Played Albin No no No, 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.320 played Patrick Rodgers in the second round, beat him and 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:25.800 two up. I played Alvin Troy in the third round, 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:29.320 and I never led that. I was trailing all day 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.040 one to eighteen to get to a playoff, and then 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.000 got up and down in a bunker. I was from 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:35.520 a bunker on one for Berdie to win, so I 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.679 was kind of dirty. I felt like I stole that 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:43.679 one and then quarters I played Ricardo Govea plays on 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:48.080 European Tour now semis. I played Justin Thomas and then 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.119 lost to Stephen Box on the thirty seventh hole. But 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:51.919 all in all, in that it was like a it 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:53.400 was a sick week. I mean, I had my dad 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:57.119 caddy for me. We had a blast. It was obviously 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.520 a really cool experience for my dad and I have 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.679 shared together. He he'd carry from me periodically and just 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:06.440 for me. And knowing that I was in the Masters 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.280 in the US Open the following year was a pretty 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:10.119 incredible feeling. 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:13.600 What was it like to play in the Masters in 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:14.240 the US Open? 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:20.400 Yeah, So the Masters, I was really nervous, really excited. Obviously. 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.040 It was it was, you know, everything I expected and more. 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:29.360 I mean, the course was, you know, incredible. I went 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:33.200 made two separate trips out to Augusta prior to the 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.560 week of the tournament. I went in January once and 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.479 then I went in March. Yeah, so it was it 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:41.520 was like kind of everything I had expected and more. 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.360 I mean it was just I got to play ten 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.640 rounds or so prior to the tournament week. One of those. 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:50.320 Ricky Fowler was there one day, so I got to 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.720 play eighteen holes with them, which that was actually pretty 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:57.760 helpful because I kind of got the like the wow 0:18:57.800 --> 0:18:59.600 factor or whatever you want to call it, like shock 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.359 and awe of playing with a big name player out 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.640 of the way before the practice rounds or the tournament started. 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:10.320 So uh. And then yeah, I played some played practice 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:12.760 on some pretty good guys. Played with Wattney and Luke 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.240 Donald one day, put up Duffner. Another day I played 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:19.199 with Fuzzy Zeller for ninals, which was a hilarious. And 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:21.520 then I played the Part three contests with him as 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.560 well and Hubert Green, which was pretty cool. We got 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.440 put like I'll put on the clock. We got told 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.600 to stop signing stuff because we well fell about two 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.879 holes behind because Fuzzy did as a single person. And 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.280 then I played with McElroy that day as well for 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.960 nine holes and Robert Garagus. So no, I was, it 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.359 was it was incredible. Then the US Open that was 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.840 pretty cool. I was, it doesn't quite compare to the Masters, 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.200 I don't think. I think part of that just because 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:50.920 it's so difficult to get into the Masters. Where was 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.280 the US Open? You can qualify for it every year. 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:58.359 It's obviously difficult, but it's much more attainable and uh 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.320 that was that was pretty cool experience there. Though I 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:04.919 made the cut there, I didn't play great on Saturday, 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.120 but I had my dad caddy for me there as well, 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.560 so that was also like another really cool experience like 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.000 finishing on Father's Day. Have my dad caddy for me 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:18.679 was definitely a something pretty cool that we could share together. 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:22.000 So no, I was Fortunately we got to play mary Into, 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:25.399 which was I thought a really cool course and it 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:29.080 was interesting playing the practice rounds there. Guys are saying 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.080 or sorry, TV was saying, this course will be easy, 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:34.920 it's short, whatever. I remember playing with Bill Haas and 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.639 Nick Watney and I was worried because I didn't think 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:39.960 the course was that easy. I asked Bill Haass, like, 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:41.399 what do you think about this course? And I was 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.479