WEBVTT - Fire Drill 002: Wednesday Wisdom with Laird Shepherd 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:08.680 In terms of starstruck, I wouldn't say, well, I would 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.200 say Tiger. This morning he walked onto the range and 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.520 I sort of caught myself because on the parting green, 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:17.759 I heard some commotion going on, turned around and sort 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.279 of like, what was that? Tiger? And I was like, 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:25.400 fucking playing cool? Would you past me? I just didn't. 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:27.600 I didn't look at him. I just was was doing 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:29.600 what I was doing. But I can tell you I 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:31.680 was not thinking about the part I was hitting. I 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:39.880 was just thinking to Tiger, this is behind me. Another 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:47.480 log on the fire everybody hears is give the time, 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:58.120 episode two of the fire Drill, and cool that we're 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.280 actually making this a thing because is from time to 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.840 time we've jumped on and you've actually jumped on what 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.040 we call a fire drill, which is around major championships. 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:13.880 Here we are Augusta National, Augusta, Georgia, home of Augusta National, 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:20.400 Laird Shepherd, British Amateur champion of is here. Jeff Ogilvy 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.600 US Open winner obviously two thousand and six is here, 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:28.160 Ship nunk, you're here, stepped down from those guys. But yeah, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.600 we're fading fast quickly, but it's it's great to have 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.280 you here and here we are around a table, which 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.160 is which is so much better than a zoom call obviously, laird. 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:42.080 First impressions, first questions, all of the golf course, so 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:47.520 just the place, I mean, the masses in general, I suppose, Um, yes, 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.440 it's I never really got this far in like my dreams, 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:56.480 I suppose, so I had no expectations of other being here, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:01.240 so to be here to experience it all. Yesterday was 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:05.160 the first full day with fans there, and yeah, it's 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.040 feeling pretty tight. You know, there's a lot of there's 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.560 a lot of people out there, but it's unbelievable. Um, 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:16.160 obviously having the big Cat around as well, there's a 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:20.240 lot of more people feeling like excited about it. So um, 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.919 yeah it's surreal, definitely surreal. Um amateur dinner last night, 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:26.880 I thought it only gonna be six of us, so 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.200 it was about dred and twenty members there. Um you 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:35.040 know you mean Condolli sur Rice talking about Russia. Yeah, 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.280 just bizarre. You know, everything that goes with it the 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:42.000 week is there's there's a lot to take in. But yeah, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.400 it's a lot of fun and it will be Are 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.160 you trying to tell me that you never dreamt of 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.000 winning the Masters, No, I never really I never jumped 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.120 of playing it because I never really just ever thought 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.560 it was going to happen, to be honest. Um, So 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:00.560 in that sense, it is pretty surreal all to be here, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.560 because it's not like I've been dreaming of driving down 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:07.120 Magnalia Lane, because you know, that seemed to be a 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.320 few steps ahead of you know, where I was at 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.440 the time. So in some ways, I feel like I've 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:18.720 almost skipped, um, some of the sort of um step 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.960 by step processes of how people usually get to the Masters. 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.679 So um, in that sense, it's sort of freeing to 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:27.400 know I've just got a free run on it, really. 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:30.959 So yeah, I mean that's that's a subtext for a 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.600 lot of players and coming overwhelmed by the experience and 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.280 they wear themselves out for the terment even begins, and 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:38.720 they're just an awe of the place. Do you feel 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.160 like you may be more equipped to compete out there 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:42.640 than some of these people who have been dreaming about 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.720 it as there little boys? Maybe? I mean, you know, 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.400 as an amateur, there's there's not a really a whole 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:55.960 lot of expected of you from an outside perspective, you know, Um, 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.440 thankfully this isn't my first major as well. I've got 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.160 to play in the Open last year. I think that 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:06.680 was will be really useful, um in terms of conserving 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.880 energy levels and just genuinely playing in front of bigger crowds. Um. 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.520 But even even so, that wasn't that was in July. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.760 He kind of, Um, you know that that effect wears 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:23.880 off after a while. And definitely felt more uncomfortable yesterday 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:26.599 than I had done in a while. But again, turn 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:31.839 up this morning, feel better. I'll feel better tomorrow and 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:33.960 then by the time you get to Friday or Saturday, 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:38.200 you won't even notice as anyone there. So um, really 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:43.000 excited to have that adrenaline of having a big crowd 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.479 and and and everything that comes with playing the Masters. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:51.159 So I feel like I do better in that situation, 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:55.880 and maybe some people don't quite live up to or 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.520 play as well as they can do because of that. 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.080 So I mean, I trying to use that as an advantage. 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.200 But you know, there is definitely an unknown of you 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.320 don't know how you're going to react on that first 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.800 first you on Thursday. You've just got trust in in 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:16.719 your preparation and sort of believe in yourself really, So, Jeff, 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:20.440 does listening to this, does this bring back memories of 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.560 your first time playing the Masters or a yeah, first time, 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.560 I mean I was different. I've been dreaming about it 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:30.039 since day one probably, I mean we grew up. It 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:32.359 comes on really early in the morning in Australia, like 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.719 sort of five o'clock till sort of eight or nine 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.440 the coverage and Norman was always a chance right through 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:40.279 the eighties. That's when I was growing up, and we 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:41.920 turn on every year, is there's gonna be Greg's year? 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:43.360 Is this gonna be Greg year? Is this gonna be 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:44.719 Greg's year? So, I mean it was just kind of 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:47.200 an obsession for Australians in the eighties, especially in the 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.880 early nineties. So I dreamed about I dreamt about it forever. 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.840 Um and I've been playing well and I just missed 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:55.280 out on the top fifty thing for a couple of 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.800 years early two thousand's and finally got in somehow. I 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:03.480 can't remember how I got in the first time. I 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:05.039 don't know, but I knew I was in the whole 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:06.440 year and it was one of those things. And like 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:08.239 so we get the invite in the mail in January, 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:10.960 which is pretty exciting, and I set it up with 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:12.520 Scotty because he'd been going there for a couple of 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:14.400 years before me. We went out of practice round I 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.280 think two weeks before and came and got the whole, 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:19.880 which I think is really important because it gets that 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:24.799 whole Wow, Disneyland, I'm here, nervousness. You're not a fan, 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:27.080 you're the first time becoming the Masters. You're a fan 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.359 when you play, you know you're a Master's fan, and 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:30.880 you just want to soak it all up and actually 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.839 just visit the Master's. So to come to the course 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.560 early before everyone was here, you kind of get that 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:38.520 fan boy thing out of the way a little bit, 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.440 you know, that makes sense. And so when I came 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:45.480 back two weeks later, yeah, I was sort of prepared 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:46.839 for what I was going to get. And I was 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:51.200 playing really well at that point and thinking I was 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.000 sort of a chance a little bit because I finished 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.960 top I think like fifth at Sanandrews and six that 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:00.200 bolts for all. I think the one Phil it was 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.720 a ball roll two five or something. So I've been 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.400 playing pretty well, um, so I kind of felt a 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:07.960 bit of a chance. So I was a bit of 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:12.480 a veteran rookie if you like. But I was still crazy, 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.640 like crossing on the holding of Mom and Dad were 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:19.640 over and the merchandise thing and merchandise town and all 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.720 the souvenirs and just the way like Washington and like 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:26.680 the town. It's just you cannot describe this tournament this 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.480 week to somebody who hasn't been hit like inside or 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:33.760 outside the golf course. You know, Um, that's pretty exciting time. 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:35.960 It was really super exciting and I played really well actually, 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:40.400 so I definitely think you can play well first time. Um. Yeah, 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.600 it's an unbelievable experience. It's the first time you come here. 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.360 It's you just can't believe that you're here almost, you know, 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:52.920 because of the way it's sold, and we only get well, 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:55.400 we used to only get four hours a year, right, 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:57.560 you'd get the back night on Saturday and Sunday. Basically. 0:07:58.360 --> 0:07:59.920 Now we get a whole lot more coverage, and it's 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:01.520 of wall the wall during the week and then it 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:06.920 sort of disappears. But it's so it's this it's disney 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:08.560 Land for a golfer. You're never going to get there, 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:10.840 Like it's just this fantasy thing. It's almost like a 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.800 movie set somewhere that they make this Truman Show golf course, 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.080 that this tournament, this is so different for anything else. 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:17.400 But when you finally get here and you see that 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.280 it's all real and it's it exceeds your expectations, and 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:23.720 all the people who just float around the clubhouse all 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:25.240 week and under the tree, and just the way the 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.400 week works is so unique and so different and such 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:32.439 an enjoyable experience that my motivation, I think went up 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.800 every year on Sunday when I was leaving, saying I 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.840 am back here next year and I'm going to win this. 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:39.720 So I was more motivated when I left the Masters 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.600 than when I got to the Masters every single time, 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.160 because it's such a special week and it's just sad 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:45.920 that it's over and you just can't wait for it 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:51.160 to come back. What would you tell their day The 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:52.880 course evolves a lot throughout the week, and ever it says, 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:54.760 it's totally different golf course on Thursday morning than even 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.199 it was the day before. Here we are it's bringing 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:02.560 some rain on Tuesday afternoon, but it what veteran advice 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:04.760 do you have for a rookie what to expect? And 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.800 you actually you have a scorecard in your pocket. Yeah, 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.400 Like it's the course definitely gets faster on Thursday morning. 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:13.920 I mean where they're dependent. But they're very good at 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.800 this course. They've got this thing wired to like every 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.559 bladder grass, they've got where they want it. Um, they'll 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:25.240 have pins decided what they're probably going to do, but 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.800 they can move them around. They've got sort of fallback 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.040 plans for different weather and how the scoring is going. 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:34.520 And they just seem to be able to manage this 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.920 tournament so well that it ends up finishing at sunset 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.040 on Sunday somehow right at the right score, Like they've 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:45.440 just got it worked out. So, I mean, I think 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.200 what I would notice whenever I would go out there. 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.400 You hit a lot of chip shots. You're playing from 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.400 all these spots, hitting all these parts. As soon as 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.680 you get out in the tournament on Thursday, it's just 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:58.960 how do I get it under the whole? You start 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.040 forget about all this little anti pitch shots and stuff 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:04.319 you've been hitting. You start partner from off the green. Um, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:09.680 you play sort of I don't know, smart damage control 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.840 golf a little bit, you know. I mean, the first 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.800 hole might be the hardest green on the course. The 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.480 first green you're just The first hole in the Master's 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:18.360 on Thursday is a tough hole, you know, I don't 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:19.560 want to hit it over the back. You don't need 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.280 it left of the green. But you've worked better already, 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.680 I'm sure on that, I'll know you don't need the 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.720 middle of gin. Have a nice, easy to part the first, 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:29.600 hopefully make a birdie or something on two, and then 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.600 just sort of trying to just sneak you away in 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.960 and just get used to the course as you go, 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:36.800 because it will definitely be different on Thursday than you 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:42.959 expect now, absolutely, but you'll get to It's it makes 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.280 you nervous and it makes you scared this course, but 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:47.640 the only way to play it well is to not 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.920 be scared, you know, which is the ultimate tent, which 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:52.880 is why it finds the best players, right, because it's 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.480 it asks you to be brave and put brave swings 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:58.720 on it, on shots that are so cavalier and so 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.000 ridiculous in a normal week, like the second shot in fifteen, 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.280 you wouldn't play that shot at any other tournament. You 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:05.400 wouldn't go for that green. You would with a seven on, 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.440 but not with a three on because it's like ridiculous. 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:09.160 It's truck trying to hit under this table with the 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.760 three with water short and long. But because you have 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.400 to go for it, you have to go for it. 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:16.959 So you're hitting a shot you don't want to hit. 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:19.079 But the only way to hit it well is to 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:21.880 buy into it, you know, and not be nervous about 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.439 it and free swingers. My guys like Phil and Bubba 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.760 and Tiger and these guys who play that way. Dustin 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.959 is a perfect Master's headspace, you would have thought, because 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:33.400 you just have to throw caution to the wind and 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.920 just go. You know, this course makes you nervous, it 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.079 makes you play conservative and hit to the front of 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:43.080 the greens and play safe. But you'll make sixteen pass 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.240 and two bogies doing that, you know, every single time. 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:48.960 But you won't shoot any bad scores. But you'll never 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.560 shoot a good score until you actually challenge. You have 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.200 to take on stuff, you know, and that's the challenge, 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.160 because you get nervous, and it's the Master's and there's 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:57.680 a lot of trouble out there. So you've got to 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.440 take on these challenges knowing that you know what, if 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:01.120 it doesn't come it doesn't come off. But the only 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.200 way to win this is to take this stuff off. 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.959 That's genius, Like that discourse, Laird. You came here a 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.840 couple of weeks ago, you had a couple of practice rounds. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.079 Did that take a little bit away from the r 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.040 factor of showing up again this week? Was that obviously 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.160 time well spent. Yeah, I definitely agree with what Jeff 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:25.959 said that. Um, well, I came in January, late January, so, 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.840 um it definitely got that out of the way. You know, 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.000 my first time in the range didn't take a divot 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:37.080 the whole name. It just was over place mentally, more 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:41.640 nervous enough, probably was you know, any other point really 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.800 bar maybe a few times, you know, and there's nothing 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:48.640 on the line. Um So it's weird that that does. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.480 It does that to you because you know, I wouldn't 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:55.160 say I'm a super fan of the Masters, but you know, 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.760 just the place has a sort of aura about it, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.439 I suppose, So it was good to be there. You 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:04.240 get comfortable with where you're going, you know, with these 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.719 phones rule and everything like that, getting around and communicate 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.600 with people sometimes gets difficult. So I think that was 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.040 it was good to get all that out of the 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.720 way so that when you do come on last this week. 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.839 You you're just there to focus on, you know, adapting 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.360 to what the conditions like. There. You know, you've been there. 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.480 You know what shots you're you're gonna face. You've been 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.360 practicing them, so you know, it's all about taking all 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:33.880 those variables. I suppose out the equation. So when you 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:35.800 get on the golf course, you're faced with a certain 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.760 golf shot, you know exactly what you're doing. You're not 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.800 making that decision really there, it's already been made made 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.840 weeks in advance, I suppose. Um, So yeah, that was 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:53.760 definitely a thing that helped me. So you know, because 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:55.960 if you're turning up for the first time a master 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.719 this week, there's that's just an extra layer of you know, 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:05.280 it's not pressure, but just sort of mental baggage I 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.120 supposed to deal with. So yeah, how do you feel 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:12.760 your game translates to this golf course? Um? You know, 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:17.719 if you're asking that question last year, probably not very well. Um, 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.880 But knowing that I was going to play more in 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:25.760 the States this year, UM, I've tried to make some 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.680 some changes or tweaks. I suppose, being able to shape 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.040 it right to left of the tea in my opinion 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:37.800 here is pretty key. Like otherwise you've got awkward t 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.520 shirts every single hole basically. Um, So we've worked on 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.400 moving the right to left, worked on having a bit 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:46.640 higher changed for a bit of a softer golf ball, 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:50.600 and all those things seems to have helped a lot. 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.240 So now I don't have to stand there trying to 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:55.280 hit it high, trying to stop it quickly, and I 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:59.760 can do that pretty normally. I think, you know, the 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.440 that's thing about when I used to go and play 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.560 firm and golf courses, that one link style where you 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.200 couldn't run in is that I'd be just They're constantly 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:12.320 trying to manipulate shots to try and make them work, 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.120 and this week could ever like I have to I've 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.520 got I've got rights left off the teas. I don't 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.800 need to try and do that. I've got high into 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.080 the green, so they need to try and do that. So, um, 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.960 I think definitely my game is trended into a place 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:31.080 where it is much more suited to the challenge that 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.760 we think we'll get this week. For me on the greens, 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.320 it's just going to be the thing because we haven't 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.120 really you know, back over in the UK, you just 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.600 don't get surfaces at whatever they are, you know, fourteen 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.680 let's say, and especially don't get the slopes. Um. So 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.480 that's going to be the main thing that's that's going 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.120 to be tested really, but um it's a good place 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.480 to be in, you know, even if even if you fail, 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.000 you're gonna learn so much from it. Um. So that's 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:04.080 that's kind of like the comforting thought for me at 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:07.440 the moment is that, you know, we're speaking about this 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.040 with my coach there on the practice area, like it's 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:11.680 never really going to get bigger than this, And I 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.560 never really thought about that, you know, in terms of 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:16.440 if you're not going to play in torment bigger than 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.560 the Masters. So let's just go and see how we 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.040 stack up and then you know, we'll know what we 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.440 need to do after that. So that's quite a good 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:31.480 way of looking at it. Yeah. Absolutely, I think all courses, 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.880 I mean all golf in general, but this course especially, 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.880 you learn from your mistakes because people can tell you 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:38.920 all day that don't hit it over there, and don't 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.240 hit the ball left one two or for tea or 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:43.800 all the little bits that you've probably picked up everyone 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:45.160 that don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.360 don't they You're going to do some of them, and 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:49.760 you only do it once. You know, you only hit 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:51.960 it left one on two once the rest of your life. 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:53.280 If you miss it there, you're missing in the right 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:55.120 trades because you can play from there, but you cannot 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:56.600 play from left, you know, and you kind of have 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.080 to do that a little bit. And that's what your 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:03.480 first few years are all about, I think, is learning 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.400 the the spots. You mean, you can miss the court, 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:07.680 you can miss them all all over the place, so 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:09.840 Augusta will still play it, but there's just certain spots 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.360 that you can't miss it, you know. And there sometimes 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.439 you just have to hit it there to know. You know, 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.879 it's just you have to get burnt and make triple 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.040 on the first one day, or you have to spend 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.200 one off the slope twice on fifteen with the layup 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.080 that everyone's done once or twice, you know, to work 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:27.240 that wedge out um. And that's golf in general. In 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.879 it like I think sometimes we get so tight, especially 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.240 the way the world is and all the preparation and 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.120 you doing interviews and all this stuff before every week, 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.040 it's such a big deal. Everyone's so scared to make 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.320 a mistake that they never actually like play how they 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:46.639 can play, you know. So I absolutely think expect mistakes 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.679 because you're going to make them. Everyone's going to make them. 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:52.320 And that's where that's absolutely where all the gold is. 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.000 I mean, the reason Freddie and Scotty and Langer and 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:57.639 all these guys in the field who have played there 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.760 so many times to know all that know this course 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:01.680 so else because they've messed it up so many times. 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:04.560 You know, they've messed up these holes they know, they 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.640 don't they only do it once or twice, and they're 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:08.199 never gonna do that again. And so then it's just 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.919 in your makeup, you know. So if you win the 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:15.639 Masters in five ten years time, that victory comes from 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.440 this week and on. You know, you're learning those bits now, 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:20.679 you know, targeted when his first two or three times, 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:26.119 you know, Um, that's that's as I said that the 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.720 genius of this course is it forces you to be conservative. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:30.560 But the really the only way you learn and really 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.680 the only way you play it well, is to learn 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.919 how to be intelligently aggressive out here, you know, And 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.320 you're gonna you're gonna have to expect mistakes because you're 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:40.640 gonna make them. Just hopefully they're not. They're buggies, are 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.960 not the other ones? You know you love this golf course? 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.520 I mean this is this is this is your This 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:50.480 is like church to you, right, I mean between Roal Melbourne, 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:56.440 Augusta National, Sypus Point Old Course, Old Course. Do you 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:00.520 love this course? Laird? When you play Augusta National it 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:04.520 is do you? Are you falling in love with this place? Um? 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.639 I've never been a big golf course guy, but I 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.960 remember a few conversations I've had with people after having 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:16.000 played it in January really sort of started thinking about 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.200 it and being like, this place is design really well? 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:25.120 Like twelve, for example, is it's the perfect the perfect 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.639 example because it's a nine nine or an eightion or 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:34.000 a wedge, but you know the degree of whatever the 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.400 degree is that the green is angled from the tea 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:40.160 is perfect because for a right hander, if you miss 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:41.600 one right, it's going to come up short. If you 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.520 miss one left, it's going long. So so then you 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.480 stood there going well, So I should I fade it 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:50.399 and take the risk if I just push out there 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.400 too much it's wet? Or do I draw one and 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.679 if I pull it it's long and you know bunkers 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:01.320 or whatever's behind the green. Um, So it just asks 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:05.920 you the question there as well as the whole or 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:07.880 around that whole. You know, you get on that tea 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.000 and there is definitely a different feeling than six, for example. 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.800 Either there's obviously no no trouble to really hit it 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:18.600 into on six, but um, and even sixteen as well, 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:22.360 it's asking you to hit this little drawer in there 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.200 to feed it back to the left pins. Um. But 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:28.600 you know, if you ever do it, then you're in trouble. 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:33.800 And you know as well. You know, it's just so 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:37.119 well designed. You look at the scorecard and I definitely 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:40.560 I hope I don't pay for this this week, but 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.320 I thought, how is this guy not burly you know, 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:49.320 five yards yet out there? Right? Okay, I understand why 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:53.400 every day, you know, it's that it's such an awkward 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.359 the lies. I mean, that's a big thing as well, 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:58.840 just the piece of the land they've got. And then 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:03.119 they've obviously manifest actually in some places. But they've just 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.960 done such a good job of asking the right questions. 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:09.359 And I mean, it's just saying this, eliot, it's it 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:13.800 tests every single part of your game, and not many 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:19.159 golf courses really do that. Um. So that's what a 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:24.680 good golf course and good design is that hits the sports. Jeff, 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:26.040