WEBVTT - Takeaways from the 2025 Players Championship 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:05.880 And when I find my. 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.760 Ball in a brid egg Friday egg, the dreaded Friday 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.040 Friday Frida egg brid Egg Frida egg bride egg Lie. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.080 I'm about ready to run off of the hup course. 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.960 Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Golf Podcast. 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.480 I am your host, Andy Johnson, and we are going 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.320 to talk about the twenty twenty five Players Championship which 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.239 was won by Rory McElroy on Monday morning. I am 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.920 joined on this podcast by Gabby Herzigg of The Athletic. 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.480 She was on site. I was on site until Saturday. 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.840 It was delightful there, it was really great. And then 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.679 on the back half I am joined by Kyle Porter 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.320 of Normal Sport. So two great guests to kind of 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.680 talking about the big stories to come out of the Players. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:14.240 Each of them. I asked to pick out three things 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:20.080 to talk about, So before we get to Gabby and Kyle, 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.160 let's talk about our partner club champion. It was really 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.759 windy on Saturday and Sunday at the Players. It was awesome, 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:32.560 awesome viewing and to me when the win picks up. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.800 That's where it's most important to have your equipment dialed. 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.880 And there's no better way to get your equipment dialed 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.920 than at Club Champion. This is where you can get 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:46.040 tour fit level fitting. If you're just a regular regular person, 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:52.480 there's studios and master fitters are the best in the world. 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.720 You go into a Club Champion, you can basically basically 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.400 try any type of club with any type of shaft 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.720 and you and see you know what works best for you. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.120 I am a huge, huge proponent of this. I think 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.640 like when you see the heavy wind and balls that 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.960 managed to pierce through it, these are generally players that 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.560 have you don't know how to hit shots, but also 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.919 have that club really optimized so that their ball can 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.200 be kind of heavy through the wind. And we saw, 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:28.000 you know, two supreme players with irons battling it out 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.720 with Rory McElroy and JJ Spahd who's turned into an 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.120 elite iron player. They both hit heavy balls. If you 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.000 want to hit a heavy ball, if you want to 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.520 get optimized, you want to get your clubs dialed in, 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.600 go to Club Champion dot com slash Frida egg and 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.160 use the promo code Frida Egg. You'll get a free 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:49.200 driver or iron fitting with a club purchase using the 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:53.079 code Frida Egg. That's Club Champion dot Com slash Frida Egg. 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.920 All right, let's get to Gabby Herzig from The Athletic. 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.959 All right, we welcome on Gabby Herzig, staff writer from 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.960 The Athletic, a New York Times company. You know, very fancy. 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.160 You know, if I were you, I'd just say I'm 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.079 a staff writer for the New York Times. But you're 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:20.240 the Athletic. Anyways, we are. We saw you on the 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:25.280 ground last week at TPC Sawgrass. You stayed through the playoff. 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:30.160 I am excited to talk about your experience down there 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.480 and kind of your takeaways from the week. So I 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.600 asked you to come up with three things about the players. 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:39.280 What's your first thing? 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:44.160 I guess we could start with the champion himself, Rory McElroy. 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.600 My takeaway about Rory this week is, I know there 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.720 has been so much chatter about the mental side of 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.240 things for him, and he really kind of laid it 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.480 all on the line in his post round interview yesterday 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.360 talking about, you know, walking from the sixteenth to seventeenth 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:03.840 teen and thinking about his ball going into the water. 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.520 It was very vulnerable Rory. The fact that he would 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.960 admit those things is you know, you don't hear that 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.920 often from a professional athlete of his stature. And but 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.440 I want to talk about Rory's actual golf, his shot 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:21.039 making specifically. You know, one thing that he mentioned there 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.760 yesterday is this three quarter three quarter nine iron that 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.040 he hit on the seventeenth hole, and it means three 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.240 quarterback swing with three quarter speed and I'm about to 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.520 go hit nine hundred of those on the driving range. 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:35.880 Try to figure out how to do it, because clearly 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.520 something is working for him. And I just think he 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.520 demonstrated this ability to have a full toolkit of shots 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:45.080 this week on like you know, maybe we've ever seen, 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:47.320 especially when he's just not driving the ball well. And 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.359 that's probably why we got to see it more because 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.839 he had to make more shots. You know, I think 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.360 of the six the six hole yesterday or on I 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:57.120 don't even know what day it is right now, but 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:01.240 on Sunday he hit in the pine straw and had 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.799 to hit this like forty yard slice around the tree 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:05.800 and he ended up right of the pin, you know, 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.360 perfect position. It was just one of the coolest shots 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.480 I've ever seen. So that's my first takeaway as we 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:13.760 you know, we talked about Rory so much, but do 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.080 we talk about his shot making abilities enough. I don't know. 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.840 It's an interesting point because I feel like, I feel 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:26.080 like if you look at like the Phil Ernie Els 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.920 Jim Furick era really pre the kind of the era 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.400 right before Tiger, it became like it was like normal 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.800 for somebody at age thirty five to be hitting their 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:43.960 like peak as a golfer, and that that was like 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:48.240 for a myriad of reasons. It was you know, obviously 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.360 in compared to other sports. Physically you might be past 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.840 your prime a little bit at thirty five. But when 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:59.520 the game without TrackMan and the technology and the tools 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.919 that are today, I think the game was a little 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.760 bit more nuanced, especially when you considered the spinnier golf ball. 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.880 And you know, like I'm reading this book about about 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:16.039 Tiger Woods and it's just Steve Williams, Steve Williams really 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.880 retelling it. And Steve Williams talks about when Tiger got 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.839 the solid core golf ball and it was really about control. 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.880 You know, there was added distance, but the control was 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.479 the big piece that it just held in the wind stronger. 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.720 And I think that's the biggest thing from my perspective 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.000 of when I was a kid with a wound ball 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.240 versus now with a solid core ball, was the number 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.520 of shots that you had to have when you're playing 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:45.600 in the wind. And it makes sense why the maturation 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:50.760 and the excellence of golf was later when you consider 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:52.920 all the types of shots. And I think what we've 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.520 seen with Rory over the course of his career is 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.799 he's gone from like this guy that beat up soft 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.920 golf courses where he could overpower them and the margins 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.480 got a little bigger, to now a player that's got 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.200 arguably more shots as many, if not more shots than 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:15.560 everybody else, and he plays the hard courses the best, 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:19.200 like us Like. He's been unbelievable in the US Open 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.880 the last really five years. He's probably been the best 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.440 US Open player. Maybe Xander is the best. You know, 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.960 you can make an argument, but it's it's really an 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:35.040 interesting kind of career arc because it does he obviously 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.960 had their early success, but he is seemingly reaching a 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:39.960 new level at age thirty five, when most of his 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.080 counterparts at thirty five are kind of slowing down. 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:46.560 Yeah, he basically said it all. He said, you know, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.840 I feel like I'm a more complete golfer than I 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.280 ever have been in my career, and to hit that, 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.600 you know, around this time is pretty remarkable. As you said, 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.320 he he just it's funny because he hit what I 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.000 think twenty eight eight fairways, which is like less than 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:06.360 half of the fairways this week, and yet down the 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.440 stretch the things that it's not it's not those creative 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.600 shots or those escape routes that bring him trouble. It's 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.760 the simple things. And you know, you saw the first 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:19.960 thing that comes to mind for me is either the 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.320 seven foot birdie put on fifteen or the chip on sixteen, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.360 which he left in a perfect spot on that green 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.400 and just comes up I think thirteen or fourteen feet short. 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.400 So it's it's interesting to see like the areas that 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:35.559 he finds like to be his strengths and the ones 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.640 to be his weaknesses. And I think that tells you 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.679 a lot about who he is as a player and 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.160 where his areas of growth need to be. You know, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.560 clearly he's got a lot of it under control with 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:47.120 this new you know, the new swing changes he made 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.160 in the off season have seemed to help him tremendously, 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.199 and now it's just like, can he get that, can 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.400 he get over that hump of just you know, him 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:57.000 against his own brain? Basically? 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.320 Yeah, I mean that's what makes God so compelling is 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:05.319 that you can feel better than you've ever felt about something, 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:10.480 and then the moment of getting into a golf tournament 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.080 and you can psych yourself out or deep in a 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.040 golf tournament, you can you can put yourself mentally in 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.000 a pretzel. And I think that's one of my big 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.800 takeaways from Rory was just I think this was a 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.160 super important win in terms of his major arc because 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.600 I think it eliminates a lot of that doubt. Well, 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.960 the players is not a major. It also isn't a 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.040 signature event. You know, it is not an event that 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.240 he's It's it's just a it's a conundrum, right, what 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:39.199 is it? 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:41.160 Is it not technically a signature event. 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.960 I just don't think it's more than that, right yeah, right, right, right, 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.520 Like this feels more significant than the win at Pebble Beach, 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:53.440 and so it's like one of those things where like 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.360 it wasn't easy. I don't think it. I think it 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.880 was one that held probably looks back and you make 0:09:59.880 --> 0:10:02.920 it couple of decisions different ways, and you could talk 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:07.439 yourself into him winning by three or four, but at 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:11.240 the same time getting it done and winning one in 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:16.280 those high leverage moments, especially after what happened at Pinehurst 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:20.080 last year and the the consecutive year after year, the 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.640 LACC and the Saint Andrews, like three years in a row, 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:27.200 these high leverage moments, just being on the wrong side 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:31.720 of you know, the breaks and maybe maybe some misplays 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:36.040 here or there. And I think that that's like a 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.840 big thing for his mental psyche going into the Masters. 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.520 Yeah, on the you know, on the eighteenth green on Sunday, 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.400 you know, him being able to lip in that par putt, 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.320 I just thought to myself, like the margins are just 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.720 so slim here, Like if that ball goes one more 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.520 rotation to the right, like this is a totally different 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.280 story and we might be talking about him in a 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:02.640 completely different way right now on this podcast. And that's 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:07.000 what makes this game so baffling, because like inches can 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:11.480 determine narratives and it's honestly unfair. Like he's been playing 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:14.199 some incredible golf this season, and I was like asked 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:18.439 in interviews before the Monday finish happened, like, how would this, 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:22.079 you know, determine like his year, how we think about 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:23.800 him for the rest of the major season. And I 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.600 was like, it doesn't if you really think about it, 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:30.080 it doesn't matter as much as we put emphasis on 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.360 because of those slim margins and those little like bits 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:35.720 of luck that you can just get or not get. 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.960 So I thought I did think that watching you know, 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.520 the three whole playoff on Monday morning, especially his first 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:47.400 t shot on sixteen, just literally stepping it up and 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.120 bombing it on down the left side of the fairway. 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:53.560 He looked so much more confident than he obviously was. 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.280 He told us that later, but he kind of he 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.360 had that energy of like I'm coming out here to 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.200 win a golf tournament, kind of like it goes in 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.599 and out, and then you know, you see how he 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.679 three putts on the seventeenth green, You're like, it's a 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.360 little bit fleeting for him, that feeling and that energy, 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.040 and I think he pulled it off this time, obviously, 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.920 but you exactly how you said, it's so mental, it's all, 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.440 you know, those six inches between the years. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:24.120 I think, having watched a lot of the high leverage moments. 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:29.120 I think the most nerve wracking place maybe outside of 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.200 like short puts coming down the stretch to win is 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:36.680 the first tee mm hmm. And if you think back 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:41.800 to like Pinehurst to Lacc to the Open, for the 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:46.720 most part, he he has just absolutely bludgeoned t shots 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.440 off the first hole like it seemed like the first 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.760 hole energy. I think that's like that's where you get 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.800 the most nerves. You get into the round and you're 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.480 kind of set and you're and then like where your 0:12:57.520 --> 0:12:59.280 nerves are going to come back is when you're trying 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:04.360 to win something. That's where your hands just like feel weird, 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.080 like when you're standing over a putt. 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:11.839 Like like spaghetti, like the whole thing. It's just it's 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:12.760 the worst feeling ever. 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.439 But the the first te he's been so good. It's 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.520 it's it's interesting. I I did think like one of 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:23.400 the underrated things. You were probably there on the ground 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:27.960 you might not have seen this. I thought he kind 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.920 of alphad JJ spawn right out of the gate. Did 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.800 you see him like kind of like after they after 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:37.120 Gary Young did the intro, he kind of walked up 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.280 to him and gave him this like, hey, like he 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.760 was very polite, but it was polite, I felt in 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.520 a very game smith ship way, like it was something 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:47.120 that was like. 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.880 I'm about to destroy your life, but it's so great 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.600 you're here. Thanks for doing this, man. 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.400 It was. It was totally like a thing that I 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.560 feel like if you were at a at a club 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:01.720 and the best player in the club was playing someone 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.840 they knew they were better than, and they were in 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.920 a playoff or something, that's exactly what the best player 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:09.720 in the club would do. It would walk up to 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:14.800 him and like congratulate them on being there before they 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.959 just go. It was like an interesting because then he 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.560 hits this three hundred and forty yard drive down the middle, 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.080 and I thought that that next t shot was so 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:26.000 compelling as to like, kim Spawn, who probably has slept 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.360 like complete shit two days in a row, can he 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.160 muster something off that tee And the answer. 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.520 Was no, no, no, of course not he And he 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:38.800 said he knew that he had the honor on the tee, 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.720 which was super important. So like Rory was sleeping knowing 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.120 that he was hitting that first tee shot, and you know, 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:46.800 as soon as he takes like his little dog headcover 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:50.720 off the driver, like everyone's like ooh, just steps up 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.160 there and does that. And I think that he was 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:55.480 able to lean on that shot a lot throughout the 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.560 rest of those three holes. Like even the moment that 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.320 really stood out to me was after JJ flies it 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.240 in the water on seventeen and he's like asking, like, 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.800 where did that just go? And Rory's like, dude, it's 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.480 in the water and walks straight behind him with his 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:13.440 butter in hand. And before JJ's even able to discern 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:14.680 like where the ball. 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:19.080 Went, Shade's blockie, you know, asking Rory of where the 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:19.560 ball went. 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.720 It had some notes of that. I would say, JJ 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.480 was can we just talk about like the club selection 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:28.120 on seventeen for a second, because you. 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.280 Can talk about anything you want to talk about. This 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.000 is a podcast. You're the gust. 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:37.800 Thanks Andy, I appreciate you clarifying that he I watched 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.920 back the audio, which I hadn't heard obviously because I 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.040 was there. I was standing there out of earshot, and 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.760 it sounded like his caddie, you know, hands it in 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:49.560 the eight iron and said, you know, I don't remember 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.440 the word he used, but like a little chippy eight 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.400 or something like that. And then he's like encouraging JJ 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:57.520 one more time, and he goes just a full stock, 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.760 smooth swing. I'm like, and then JJ goes stock. I 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.160 thought you I thought you said had to take some 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:05.640 off of it. Like he literally said that, So there 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:07.680 was and he didn't back away or anything. He just 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.080 went into the shot after that. So like that's the 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.360 type of experience, a level difference that like really can 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.240 make or break a situation like this, Like if if 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.640 that's Rory's not gonna you know, first of all, I 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.560 don't know if he's having conversations with Harry like that. 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:22.880 But a player like JJ, you have to back off 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.800 you're unsure about that and start start fresh. You don't 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:27.800 just walk into the shot not knowing what your guy's 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:28.600 telling you to do. 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.680 It's interesting because that was the thing that stuck out 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:34.760 to me about the shot he chose to hit, was 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:36.840 like that was like a full bore or there was 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:41.880 a full like Apex eight iron versus Rory hit that 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:47.360 really soft three quarter speed knuckler. And I think like 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.400 the knucklers. The advantage of the knucklers, like you just 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.920 like kind of know the general area it's going to 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:57.080 land in, whether it gets really hit by wind or 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.360 minimally hit by wind, like the margin. You know, if 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.960 you think about the green there, it's whatever thirty paces 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:08.320 long or deep roughly, like if you hit the chipper 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.359 into the middle of the green, it would take like 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:16.200 a really weird wind event to have to miss the green. Right. 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.040 I think like it's generally like a pretty good strategy 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.600 there is to not hit something full because then if 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.119 it's down when the wind can't like the one thing 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.560 that's hard there is downwind can get knocked down if 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.560 you don't get enough backspin on it. But that chipper 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.560 into the wind was like totally the shot because like spawns, 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.080 just it didn't get hit by it didn't get touched 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.359 by the wind. Yeah, and that's a weird thing with 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:40.280 those grand stands. 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:40.480 Right. 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.320 I think Rory's flew like probably five yards further than 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.640 he expected. I couldn't believe when it landed out deep 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:47.000 into the green it got. 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.080 I know, I know, that's that's exactly what he said 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.240 he was practicing, like on the range when he turned 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.760 around backwards to hit shots towards the third green. I 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.199 thought that was brilliant. You know, he'd been doing that 0:17:58.240 --> 0:17:59.920 all week going to the opposite side of the rain. 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.640 He just has like this like sixth sense or more 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:05.280 awareness of how to hit the ball in the wind. 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.719 And I feel like JJ was kind of just unprepared 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:08.399 for that moment. 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.199 Yeah, that's I think that's what it was, is like 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.160 golf golf asks all these questions. That's I think why 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.120 we probably love golf tournaments the most is like over 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.840 the course of seventy two holes, like you are going 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:23.919 to get every aspect of your game is going to 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.479 get showcased. And I think that was one thing that 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:31.760 JJ didn't hadn't faced yet, was that was all week. 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:36.399 It was down on seventeen, and it's it's amazing that like, okay, 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:41.359 just the matter of circumstance, the weather delay that like okay, 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.719 we're going to ask you one more question, and it's 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.160 the end of the wind and he just he that's 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.240 where Rory had the shot and JJ didn't. 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.439 Yeah, It's like it's like you're you're finishing a test 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.840 and like you realize there's like one more page left 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:56.600 and it's a question that you have no idea how 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:57.040 to answer. 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:02.600 I think I've finally out own the dreams. Oh I 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.520 haven't where you have anxiety about tests. I think, like, 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:08.560 it hasn't happened to me in a while, and I'm like, 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:10.880 I think it's finally done. 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.840 Yeah, you can tell this is a source of stress 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:13.119 for me. 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.480 Yeah. Oh, it's the worst when you wake up and 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:16.280 you're like, oh my. 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:20.080 God, horrible, horrible. I have it all the time. Actually, 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:24.120 recently it's been like missing Google Google calendar invites. That's 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:25.399 been horrible for me. 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.600 See, I don't have to dream about that because I 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:32.320 missed my fair share without dreaming, you know. So it's 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:36.240 kind of kind of an issue. What's your next thing? 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:42.200 Okay, my next thing is, Oh, I spent a long time, 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:48.280 uh thinking, talking about and watching a tree this week, 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:53.159 and I had a forty five minute conversation with you. 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:57.440 I wrote an article about the tree. Love writing about 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:58.480 inanimate objects. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.800 I liked it. I liked the lead to it. It 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:02.680 really drew me in. 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:03.480 Thank you. 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:03.639 You know. 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:05.520 Actually I have to give a shout out to Sean 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:08.520 Zach for that one, because when I was coming back 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:10.800 in to you know, sit down and write the story, 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:13.199 I think he came out to me and just asks like, oh, 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:14.800 what are you doing today? And I was like the tree, 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.600 and he goes, oh, like what did it tell you? Like, 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.720 did you get did you get any good insight? I 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.560 was like, I know, I'm at least going to be now. 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:25.440 So that was it was a really fun story. I 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:27.879 will say, like I love doing the kind of like 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.600 you know, the thing that everyone's talking about story and 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.200 trying to add a new element, a new light to it. 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:36.920 And speaking to Davis about it was so cool because 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:40.480 he's just ridiculously passionate about this, and you know, he 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:44.160 was sending me videos and pictures from the reconstruction process, 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:47.480 and the fact that they lifted that five hundred thousand 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:50.320 pound tree one hundred yards is like still baffling to me. 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:52.760 They I forget what the system is called. That they 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.080 put it on these like logs or like you know, 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.720 these like inflatable tubes and they roll it slowly and 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.080 they take the tube from the end and put it 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:03.800 in the front and like it keeps going very like 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.800 slowly and surely. And I'm pretty sure like that mode 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:09.840 of transportation was like invented in the Roman Empire to 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:13.600 like move things to build like you know whatever monuments 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:15.199 that are still standing today. And I was just like 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:18.200 having these images of my brain of like golf course 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:21.200 construction and like the little nuances that go into it. 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:22.359 And it was a very cool process. 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:27.439 I will say that tree mattered very it was. It 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:32.159 was stunt. I I was watching Scotty and Rory. You 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:34.679