Speaker 1: The guys from paying They've kind of showed me how
Speaker 1: much the equipment matters. I just love that I can
Speaker 1: hit any shot.
Speaker 2: I kind of want. We're gonna be able to tell
Speaker 2: some fun stories about what goes on here to help
Speaker 2: golfers play better golf.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Ping Proving Grounds Podcast. I'm Shane Bacon.
Speaker 1: That is Marty Jerts and Marty, you got an exciting
Speaker 1: guest today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Austin is awesome to have you, have you on
Speaker 2: the pod, get to know you a little bit, and
Speaker 2: all of our listeners kind of want to hear hear
Speaker 2: your story here what you're up to.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well let's start with Cognizant because obviously getting a
Speaker 1: win this season on the PJ tourre I was reading
Speaker 1: a little bit about you know what you said after
Speaker 1: and you said, I've been dreaming about this moment my
Speaker 1: whole life. Kind of a weird finish, if you will,
Speaker 1: just the way it ended up, obviously being on a
Speaker 1: Monday finish. But can you kind of walk us through
Speaker 1: the week, walk us through that final round.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean obviously it was from the start, you know,
Speaker 3: the game wasn't a good spot. And that's always a
Speaker 3: promising sign, but you never know until you te it up.
Speaker 3: And you know, I played well the first day and
Speaker 3: just you know, continue throughout the whole time. But then
Speaker 3: to have the rain delays and the you know, I
Speaker 3: played seven hole Sunday evening than the raindelais happened, and
Speaker 3: I was I was happy I finished out on the
Speaker 3: seventh hole, even though it was a you know, long
Speaker 3: putt in the dark. But to come back and have
Speaker 3: a t ball, you know, make it feel as real
Speaker 3: and normal as I could. And I had you know,
Speaker 3: eleven holes the next morning, and uh, you know, and
Speaker 3: it could have helped me. You know, the fact that
Speaker 3: with the raindelais so it just it was really fun week.
Speaker 3: And I'll take a Monday finish every time if it
Speaker 3: ends up that way.
Speaker 1: When you wake up on Monday, because you've kind of
Speaker 1: gone through it's Saturday night, right Saturday night, and the
Speaker 1: Sunday you're thinking about it, You're trying to get your rest,
Speaker 1: trying to go to sleep. Is it almost easier Sunday
Speaker 1: into Monday, considering you'd already kind of gone through those emotions,
Speaker 1: or is it tougher because you're like, I got to
Speaker 1: go through this whole thing. I just went through again.
Speaker 3: I think it was a little tougher just because I
Speaker 3: had to do it was the same thing. It wasn't like,
Speaker 3: you know, it wasn't like it was just another tournament.
Speaker 3: It was the exact same experience, you know, but this
Speaker 3: time I actually had the lead versus where the night
Speaker 3: before I was tied for the lead, so I had
Speaker 3: kind of separated myself. So it was, you know, I
Speaker 3: guess a little bit more comforting in that way.
Speaker 2: That golf course, I mean we put together for on
Speaker 2: the fitting side is some like strokes gained driving scores,
Speaker 2: and we used Kapalu as the easiest driving course on
Speaker 2: tour and that and PJ National is the hardest driving
Speaker 2: course on tour. How did you know in your ball
Speaker 2: striking stats are quite impressive tea to green. What was
Speaker 2: your confidence level going into that course and did things
Speaker 2: really match up with you, you know, the way you
Speaker 2: drive the golf ball off the tea that week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure that you know, the golf course suits
Speaker 3: my really well. I mean I feel like, for the
Speaker 3: most part, it's a drawing golf course off the tea,
Speaker 3: but I actually made an equipment change on Tuesday evening
Speaker 3: through in a different shaft in my driver, and it
Speaker 3: was ended up being the right one.
Speaker 2: What initiated that change? What were you looking for?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it was funny. I was actually driving it fine,
Speaker 3: is the funny part too. And I was finished up
Speaker 3: my practice around Tuesday, and uh, Sam Stevens, another staffer,
Speaker 3: was on the tent tee and I walked over there
Speaker 3: and I just grabbed his driver. I was like, man,
Speaker 3: this feel pretty good. Didn't hit a ball with it
Speaker 3: or anything. I was just like, it looks good. It
Speaker 3: feels good. And I was like, hey, can can you
Speaker 3: make me Sam's driver? And He's like, yeah, you're gonna
Speaker 3: want a little bit more a loft, but yeah, I'll
Speaker 3: make it for you. And then I didn't hit it
Speaker 3: until the Wednesday pro am and hit it great, played
Speaker 3: the tournament and drove it probably the best I've ever
Speaker 3: drove it. So it was funny. Still in my bag now.
Speaker 1: Very amazing, Marty. I'm always I'm always impressed, shot surprised
Speaker 1: that tour players will tinker as much as they tinker,
Speaker 1: but then we'll be confident enough to throw some in
Speaker 1: the bag and be successful with it, go out there
Speaker 1: and win it. It's just the you know, I think
Speaker 1: regular golfers, amateur players, high handicapped players, they're more fearful
Speaker 1: of changing stuff in their bag. And I think when
Speaker 1: you hear from the tour players, it's like, no, man,
Speaker 1: I like, if you're missing it left, you're missing right. Like,
Speaker 1: lean on the equipment if you can for sure.
Speaker 3: I mean a lot of time, it's funny you'll be
Speaker 3: hitting drivers on the driving engine, you know, testing stuff,
Speaker 3: and you know you have a left miss with the
Speaker 3: shaft and then all of a suddenly thrown a different
Speaker 3: shaft and that miss goes away. It really is incredible
Speaker 3: what equipment can do.
Speaker 2: I think it's pretty Yeah, the shaft side of thing
Speaker 2: is really amazing because it all you need is just
Speaker 2: this tiny little tweak to the face to path right,
Speaker 2: Like you can just change that face to path delivery
Speaker 2: like two tenths of a degree and that's all it's
Speaker 2: gonna take. So you know, was it was it a
Speaker 2: shaft field transition thing?
Speaker 3: No? I mean it and what I've heard it's a
Speaker 3: similar shaft the one I played before. Yeah, it had
Speaker 3: a similar feel, similar you know, kickpoint and all that stuff.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it was just it was different and I
Speaker 3: needed that. And uh, but I think on the tinkering side,
Speaker 3: we were joking, like a lot of times with Dylan,
Speaker 3: I'll grab a different putter just to mess around with
Speaker 3: and end up throwing in my normal putter just because
Speaker 3: I need a different look for three days, you know,
Speaker 3: or whatever.
Speaker 1: Just just to remind the other putter. Way, there is
Speaker 1: other ones out there they should be fearful of in golf.
Speaker 1: I mean outside of really the Caddy, there's not really
Speaker 1: teams you stick with throughout your career. You think about
Speaker 1: somebody like Steph Curry, you know, playing with the Warriors
Speaker 1: throughout their career. You're somebody that's been with ping since
Speaker 1: you were very very young. How did that relationship start?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I was playing in the It was a
Speaker 3: junior All starvant in Norman, Oklahoma, and Jeff Brown came
Speaker 3: out and watched me. We had no I did who
Speaker 3: he was, and he watched all all my rounds and
Speaker 3: by the end of it might I was like, hey,
Speaker 3: like I'm Steve, Like who the hell are you are
Speaker 3: you watching my son? And he was like, well, you know,
Speaker 3: introduced himself, and then after that I started working with
Speaker 3: h through that Ping junior program and I've been what
Speaker 3: is that now, thirteen years with Pinning and I'm twenty
Speaker 3: five years old. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: What were some of like the irons and woods you
Speaker 2: played at the very beginning?
Speaker 3: So the first driver I got was the answer, yeah, driver?
Speaker 3: And three would.
Speaker 1: Did you do you remember? Wasn't that the one that
Speaker 1: they you kind of you could color in really custom?
Speaker 1: It would you do to your?
Speaker 3: Mine? Was all orange?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 3: Even the grooves of orange?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah? And then uh, I think it was S fifty
Speaker 3: six is maybe irons or maybe fifty five, I can't
Speaker 3: remember what that and then Glide two point zeros and
Speaker 3: then the redwood putter I still using.
Speaker 2: That the D sixty six still in the bag, Yeah, exactly, yep.
Speaker 2: And then uh, likewise, I think your your your dad,
Speaker 2: he's still he's been your golf code. Is he a
Speaker 2: golf pro or? And what what is that relationship like
Speaker 2: from a mechanics and coaching standpoint?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So my dad played professionally for a little bit.
Speaker 3: He played college golf, and he's only my swing coach.
Speaker 3: That's his thing. He doesn't want to catch anybody else's
Speaker 3: touch me. So he uh, it's more kind of I
Speaker 3: bounce ideas off of him. And that's how we like
Speaker 3: to do it, more so than you know, dissecting the
Speaker 3: golf swing. He'd make sure the alignment's good and the
Speaker 3: ball position's good, and then you know, if I want
Speaker 3: to swing key or a swing feel, I'm like, hey,
Speaker 3: what do you think about this feeling? And he's like,
Speaker 3: I hate it or I like it, you know, So
Speaker 3: that's kind of how we do it.
Speaker 1: I love that. I always talk about steps with players.
Speaker 1: I mean you kind of like take these steps in
Speaker 1: junior golf into collegiate golf, and something happens. You win
Speaker 1: a golf tournament, you play well against somebody that maybe
Speaker 1: you're intimidated by, and your confidence grows. The way you
Speaker 1: played at the US Open last year, I mean, you
Speaker 1: had a great nine hole stretch, you know, tied the
Speaker 1: low score. I think. Ever at the US Open you
Speaker 1: shot twenty nine, right, Is that what you did at
Speaker 1: l ACC What did that do for you the rest
Speaker 1: of the season into this year? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean I think that week, especially just because I
Speaker 3: didn't feel like I had a great game that week
Speaker 3: and I was able to compete and still finish top ten.
Speaker 3: You know, I was struggling with the golf game most
Speaker 3: of last season, especially the ball striking inside of it,
Speaker 3: and you know, I was able to find little keys
Speaker 3: here and there, and you know, and I was still
Speaker 3: able to compete. So that was confident, you know, confidence
Speaker 3: booster for me just knowing that, you know, without my
Speaker 3: best stuff last year, I was still able to, you know,
Speaker 3: almost win a golf tournament and then finish top ten
Speaker 3: in a major and then you know, stuff like that,
Speaker 3: even when I write out of my best stuff was encouraging.
Speaker 1: You hear from players a lot. I mean we as
Speaker 1: golf fans. Typically if you're not watching PJ Tour live
Speaker 1: or you see and plus coverage, you're watching the players
Speaker 1: that are playing the best each and every week, and
Speaker 1: they're typically dialed. I mean, they're not missing a lot
Speaker 1: of fairways, not missing a lot of iron shots. Pro
Speaker 1: golfers miss fairways, they missed iron shots, they hit bad
Speaker 1: golf shots. There is something to seeing your maybe your
Speaker 1: B game be competitive against the best of the world.
Speaker 1: And when you say, oh, my B game is successful, here,
Speaker 1: imagine what happens when I have my a game.
Speaker 3: Right exactly, And that's good point you We'll miss a lot.
Speaker 3: I mean, it happens all the time. And I think
Speaker 3: it's kind of funny. We were talking about like last
Speaker 3: week in the signature events where we have you know,
Speaker 3: I played terrible after the first two rounds, It's like, well, shoot,
Speaker 3: I still got to go play two more, right, Right,
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's nice to go home and go figure some
Speaker 3: things out. But yeah, obviously it's great having those you know,
Speaker 3: no cut events and stuff, but it's, uh, it's funny sometimes.
Speaker 1: So if you're at an event like that in the
Speaker 1: signature events without cuts, right when you aren't playing well
Speaker 1: and let's say you're down towards the bottom of the
Speaker 1: leader board, what do you do in terms of a
Speaker 1: Saturday and Sunday to either work on your game or
Speaker 1: try to find something headed into another big week? All right?
Speaker 3: Yeah, the mentality changes, for sure. It's not so much
Speaker 3: obviously you want to play well and finished well in
Speaker 3: that event, but you're more looking into the future, especially
Speaker 3: like last week coming into a major, I was just
Speaker 3: trying to find something, you know, trying to find the
Speaker 3: right swing key, trying to find the right feels and did.
Speaker 1: You find anything I did, Yeah, definitely what you find.
Speaker 3: Just figure out how to get the golf pull straight.
Speaker 3: That was the key, and I was really strong. I
Speaker 3: had tweaked my wrist early in last week, so I
Speaker 3: didn't get to practice before the event, and the chipping
Speaker 3: really kind of struggled because of that. That's the first
Speaker 3: thing to go. And you know, I was just trying
Speaker 3: to get the feeling back in that area and it
Speaker 3: seems to be back.
Speaker 2: Growing up in Oklahoma. What were some of your favorite memories,
Speaker 2: you know, in terms of, you know, speaking to majors
Speaker 2: and the major the Major's head to Southern Hills. They've
Speaker 2: headed to Southern Hills a few times in your childhood.
Speaker 2: Do you have any any memories from from when the
Speaker 2: PGA was there at Southern Hills.
Speaker 3: Yeah, some Me and my dad actually went out to
Speaker 3: that and to I remember vividly. I was I was young.
Speaker 3: I was like seven years old and Tiger Woods was
Speaker 3: walking up the walkway off of Eighteenth Green and I
Speaker 3: can't remember if you high five me. I definitely told
Speaker 3: people he high five, you know, but it was just
Speaker 3: a cool experience and like I remember him being like
Speaker 3: way bigger than I. Imagined and you know, all that stuff,
Speaker 3: and it was just a cool experience. And then they
Speaker 3: had it back in twenty was it twenty was it
Speaker 3: last year?
Speaker 1: A couple of years, two years ago, Yeah, two.
Speaker 3: Years I wasn't I was on the corn Ferry Tour
Speaker 3: and I wasn't able to play. But we had the
Speaker 3: US or the Senior PGA at oak Tree National, where
Speaker 3: I play now. I think that was in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 3: and went out there and watched some of the legends.
Speaker 3: It was, you know, a lot of good golf in Oklahoma, Austin.
Speaker 1: What is it like thinking back to being a kid
Speaker 1: seeing Tiger was you know him may or may not
Speaker 1: high five in years? Fist pumping your own I'm not sure.
Speaker 3: I still can't remember.
Speaker 1: Listen, we all go fishing. That fish grows every time
Speaker 1: I tell that story. What is it like playing a
Speaker 1: major championship now that Tiger's in the field.
Speaker 3: That was cool this morning I was hitting I was
Speaker 3: hitting range balls and he was two spots down, and
Speaker 3: it's just cool. I mean peaking. Oh yeah, no, yeah.
Speaker 3: I remember in twenty nineteen and I was a sophomore
Speaker 3: in college and I qualified for the US Open at
Speaker 3: Pebble Beach and I was on the putting green, the
Speaker 3: one by the first t it's you know, by itself.
Speaker 3: Nothing else is around. And I walk out there and
Speaker 3: the putting green is just packed that you can't see
Speaker 3: it when I'm walking up, and Tiger is the only
Speaker 3: guy on the green. So it's just me and Tiger
Speaker 3: on the funning green and I I had my coach
Speaker 3: in college guttying for me. I was like, is it
Speaker 3: bad if I take a picture right now? And he's like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I'll take plenty of pictures. You just go put so
Speaker 3: if you're well.
Speaker 1: You know, he has the yardage book out and he
Speaker 1: hit one hand and maybe you had the phone out.
Speaker 3: Of here exactly. Yeah, I mean so he definitely took
Speaker 3: a bunch of pictures, So that was cool.
Speaker 1: Was he who you looked up to? I mean there's
Speaker 1: so many great players that went through Oklahoma State of
Speaker 1: imagine you're looking up some of those players. Just the
Speaker 1: guy you looked up to?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean whenever I was a kid, I
Speaker 3: remember and uh that US opening at Tory Pines when
Speaker 3: he had that put on eighteen, I had my head
Speaker 3: tucked in the couch cushion, like I couldn't watch the pot.
Speaker 3: You know, he was he was the guy. He was
Speaker 3: the guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Austin, Uh, let's talk a little bit about your iron.
Speaker 2: So you played Blueprint teas, right, and then Blueprint ass
Speaker 2: in the three iron right on tour, we have we
Speaker 2: have players in i two thirties, we have players playing
Speaker 2: mostly Blueprint asses and then a lot of mixed sets.
Speaker 2: You know, you you play the Blueprint t down to
Speaker 2: the three iron right, the Blueprint te or Blueprint ass
Speaker 2: three iron? Tell us what attracts you to that Blueprint
Speaker 2: t iron with characteristics and and yeah, why you like it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I remember, and when I was in college, the
Speaker 3: Blueprint came out and it was the coolest thing ever,
Speaker 3: you know, and it was I was just drawn to
Speaker 3: the forge blade look, you know, and I tinkered with
Speaker 3: some stuff last season before the tea's came out, and
Speaker 3: you know, once those came out, they're so clean looking
Speaker 3: on the back. And that's part of the game too,
Speaker 3: is you have to like what you look. So the
Speaker 3: look is a huge thing to do with it. And
Speaker 3: they just kind of matched my game well, you know,
Speaker 3: I think contact wise, I catched the ball pretty clean,
Speaker 3: most of the time, and obviously I could probably use
Speaker 3: a little forgiveness every once in a while and go
Speaker 3: for the more game improvement. But I love them and
Speaker 3: they're they're clean looking, and they do what I wanted
Speaker 3: to do most of the time.
Speaker 1: Growing up in Oklahoma, obviously going to college in Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: there's so many and you still live in Oklahoma. There's
Speaker 1: so many great players that live out there and play
Speaker 1: and practice. Who in that world did you look up to?
Speaker 1: Who in that world did you kind of pick their brain?
Speaker 1: And then when you started to have success, right, kind
Speaker 1: of like wrought off the jump and call it, who
Speaker 1: did you talk to about navigating that world, not just collegiately,
Speaker 1: but what you're going to do post Oklahoma State.
Speaker 3: I thought it was pretty cool. The area I grew
Speaker 3: up in Oak Tree was a kind of a There
Speaker 3: was a bunch of us golfer, yeah, and it was
Speaker 3: like a pro golf it was. And I remember there
Speaker 3: was like three three guys older than me. There were
Speaker 3: seniors when I was a freshman, so whatever, it's difference
Speaker 3: that is three years. And whenever I was like ten
Speaker 3: years old, I wanted to be like them, you know.
Speaker 3: It was like Nick Haye and Hayden Wood like I
Speaker 3: wanted to be like them, and then Kevin Tway and
Speaker 3: Robert Strubb were five years older than them, they wanted
Speaker 3: to be like them. And then there's a group of age,
Speaker 3: you know, a little bit below me that probably wants
Speaker 3: to be like me. And it's I think that's what
Speaker 3: makes that area so good at golf. It's just that
Speaker 3: that area. And obviously Ricky Faller when I was in
Speaker 3: school was kind of he was always close. He came
Speaker 3: back all the time and wanted to help out the
Speaker 3: team as much as he could.
Speaker 1: So it feels like there's like a fraternity there. I mean,
Speaker 1: for sure, such a great system. It's such a great
Speaker 1: you know college, it's such a great university. It's produced
Speaker 1: so many great players, and it feels like you guys
Speaker 1: aren't just close when you're there. It feels like when
Speaker 1: you get out on tour, you stay relatively close, you
Speaker 1: play practice rounds together. You talked to them and we
Speaker 1: were talking before we got going. Scotford planks out there
Speaker 1: kind of helping you during the Masters, your first Masters
Speaker 1: there as well. I mean, that has to feel so
Speaker 1: cool because not every college, not every university has which
Speaker 1: you guys have.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's incredible to think about how many guys we
Speaker 3: have out on you know, PJ Tour and other tours.
Speaker 3: It's it's incredible. And when I first came out here,
Speaker 3: especially on the sponsor exemptions, you do, you know, you
Speaker 3: don't really have any friends out here, and you know,
Speaker 3: guys like Ricky, guys like Victor, you know, they were
Speaker 3: really nice to people. I played practice rounds with them,
Speaker 3: and then now I got teammates of mine with Victor obviously,
Speaker 3: but then Sam Stevens as well, another guy, and you know,
Speaker 3: it's just fun, you know, have someone that you have
Speaker 3: that shared experience with and guys that shared the similar
Speaker 3: experience a couple of.
Speaker 1: Years before you we ever move away from Oklahoma.
Speaker 3: Nope, No, I mean I plan on doing stuff in
Speaker 3: Arizona in the future, but it will never be full time.
Speaker 3: I love Oklahoma.
Speaker 2: Heah, yeah, all right, We'll see you in Arizona.
Speaker 1: Yeah, winter time.
Speaker 3: In the winter time, winter the driver, if you're exactly Yeah,
Speaker 3: but I will scrape up a lot more wedges in
Speaker 3: the in the desert.
Speaker 2: Austin, tell us a little bit about how you like
Speaker 2: approach a week, Like what is your what does your Monday, Tuesday,
Speaker 2: Wednesday look like? How you kind of ramp, you know,
Speaker 2: get yourself ready for tournament week. I think it's there's
Speaker 2: kind of two different tournament preps. There's the you know,
Speaker 2: a week off coming into a tournament, and then you
Speaker 2: fly in Sunday night and then you have a full
Speaker 2: week versus where you're coming from a different event, and
Speaker 2: that Monday is kind of more of a rest and
Speaker 2: recovery kind of day.
Speaker 3: Typically, I like to just play nine hol days. When
Speaker 3: I first got out here, I played a little bit more.
Speaker 3: I played eighteen on Tuesday, but I wasn't in the
Speaker 3: programs on Wednesday. So it's you know, now that I'm
Speaker 3: in the prorams on Wednesday, it makes it really easy.
Speaker 3: I just played nine on Tuesday, nine on Wednesday, and
Speaker 3: I go out. Typically I'm spending a little bit of
Speaker 3: time on the range, just trying to make sure I
Speaker 3: find the right swing keys, right feels for the week,
Speaker 3: and you know, I'd just like to keep it simp.
Speaker 3: I mean, just make sure my the main areas that
Speaker 3: I'm you know, my alignment, my ball position, like I
Speaker 3: was saying earlier, and then the swing path is somewhere
Speaker 3: within a realm that I can play with. I don't
Speaker 3: try to make it too perfect, you know, just kind
Speaker 3: of keep it easy.
Speaker 2: Are you a technology guy or are you Are you
Speaker 2: a track man foresight? Are you looking at those numbers?
Speaker 3: Yeah, use a track man, but I really only look
Speaker 3: at four numbers. The ones I really care about our
Speaker 3: carry distances, and then the swing path, attack angle, and
Speaker 3: then I like to see how fast I'm swinging it.
Speaker 1: Obviously, that's I gotta know how fast I'm swinging.
Speaker 3: That's really those are the That's really all I really
Speaker 3: care about.
Speaker 2: Are you a stats guy, you're looking at strokes gains stuff,
Speaker 2: putting stats? You guys get into that or do you
Speaker 2: feel like you more just have a feel in a
Speaker 2: sense where things are at in your game.
Speaker 3: I definitely like look at it just to get an
Speaker 3: idea of what the rest of the field is doing
Speaker 3: or you know, because sometimes you'll trick yourself, like you
Speaker 3: feel like you're hitting your rons good, and then you
Speaker 3: look at the stats and you're losing strokes on the field,
Speaker 3: and you can I don't wonder how, but then you
Speaker 3: kind of really dissect it and you see see where
Speaker 3: you lost, you know, when you mess agreeing with a
Speaker 3: wedge that kills you and stuff like that. Yeah, but
Speaker 3: for the most part is if I feel like I'm
Speaker 3: swinging it well, I don't too much worry about the
Speaker 3: you know, the statistics on the teea green and short
Speaker 3: games where it gets a little finicky, I think sometimes
Speaker 3: because not all six footers are the same. You know,
Speaker 3: you have a six footer that's breaking you know, three feet,
Speaker 3: and then it's statistically the same as a dead straight
Speaker 3: six footer, but and it's really not.
Speaker 1: Austin, when did you realize that this was going to
Speaker 1: be your thing? Because we've mentioned your success, I mean,
Speaker 1: collegiately you were great. Obviously you've now won on the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour. When did you realize I might have a
Speaker 1: future in this game?
Speaker 3: I think at a young age I was. I played
Speaker 3: everything growing up sports wise, and I was always.
Speaker 1: The best at outside of golf.
Speaker 3: Football is probably what I was second best at, but
Speaker 3: I was just teeny my freshman year physical of high school,
Speaker 3: I was four eleven nine to nine pounds.
Speaker 1: Whoa, come on, yeah, yeah, I don't fall here.
Speaker 3: So that's whenever I gave up football after middle school.
Speaker 3: But you know, I think I always felt like I
Speaker 3: was good at golf, and you know, I had my
Speaker 3: dad telling me I was good enough, you know all
Speaker 3: this stuff, and I was winning all the junior events locally,
Speaker 3: and then you get to high school and kind of
Speaker 3: do the same thing. And I don't know if you
Speaker 3: ever really get the moment of like, I'm good enough
Speaker 3: to play on the PJ Tour until you actually went
Speaker 3: on the PJ Tour. Then you're like, okay, you know
Speaker 3: what I am. I am good enough. But you know,
Speaker 3: I always felt like I had a chance. And then
Speaker 3: to go play at the best program in golf and
Speaker 3: all that stuff, it just it kind of helped build
Speaker 3: my confidence into thinking I could play out here.
Speaker 1: Did you play in the Texas Oklahoma back in the day,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, more better than the Air Force Base event.
Speaker 1: But the golfers had always killed me. It blew like
Speaker 1: thirty people. That'd be the one that always give me kills?
Speaker 3: Is that where you guys put it's a good golf
Speaker 3: a little.
Speaker 1: Older than you. But yeah it was great. It's a
Speaker 1: great really, but it woul always blow fifty. And I
Speaker 1: grew up in East Texas where there was no win
Speaker 1: and I was like I was like, this is not
Speaker 1: my game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what adjustments have you made going from Corn
Speaker 2: Ferry Tour to PG Tour, you know, either courses, competition
Speaker 2: routine and how are you in you know what other
Speaker 2: what what other changes do you think you're gonna have
Speaker 2: to make in the future to continue with your successor Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think something that I didn't realize when I was
Speaker 3: playing the corn Fory Tour I was still you know,
Speaker 3: fresh out of college, was how much it wears down
Speaker 3: on your body playing that much golf. I mean, growing up,
Speaker 3: even in a college schedule, you're not playing that much
Speaker 3: competitive golf. You'll play once every three weeks, once every
Speaker 3: two weeks, and then you're on the corn Fairy Tours.
Speaker 3: You play every week and you have to because they're
Speaker 3: trying to get on PJA Tour, and it really kind
Speaker 3: of wears down your body. And I think that was
Speaker 3: the biggest suggestment I made on the PJ Tour was
Speaker 3: put in a focus on recovery and rest and you know,
Speaker 3: the maintenance in the in the weight room and stuff
Speaker 3: like that, just because I mean, it wears you down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what does that look like for you? Fitness routine
Speaker 2: A couple a couple of days in the weight room
Speaker 2: type of thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I try to get I just really started building
Speaker 3: a team around me to where I have guys traveling
Speaker 3: with me now and you know, we try to get
Speaker 3: at least three or four days in the gym during
Speaker 3: the week, which it's hard sometimes with early two times
Speaker 3: and late tea times, just trying to find the right time.
Speaker 3: But that's kind of what I needed someone for because
Speaker 3: if it's on me, I won't do it. That's something
Speaker 3: that I figured out when it comes to the gym
Speaker 3: on the road, is it's easy for me to say, oh,
Speaker 3: I'll do it tomorrow, you know kind of thing. But
Speaker 3: to have someone in there telling me, no, we need
Speaker 3: to get the done, it's really helped a lot.
Speaker 1: Are you like a chef at the house guy, or
Speaker 1: you like an uber eatsre do we go? What are
Speaker 1: we going with?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Week to week?
Speaker 3: The bad thing is taco Bell? Yeah, I have, yeah,
Speaker 3: and typically I have a courtesy car with me that
Speaker 3: I could easily drive to the taco Bell. But it's
Speaker 3: so easy to oppress. Know what's what's the taco bell order?
Speaker 1: What do we get?
Speaker 3: It changes? I'm everything on the menu talk Okay, it's
Speaker 3: one of my things.
Speaker 1: So you're a democratic dial in Mexican pizza, I'm into it.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you about two thirty in the morning,
Speaker 1: if it's been a heavy night out, I'll go like
Speaker 1: thirty five dollars deep, which is a really good that's
Speaker 1: hard to do. You almost have to order everything on
Speaker 1: the you do you do. I don't consume it all,
Speaker 1: but I'll definitely want to have a little bit of
Speaker 1: a taste. That's very interesting. I'll have the taco bell thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what about the tattoo the World? You have a tattoo
Speaker 1: of the world.
Speaker 3: It's the worst tattoo on the planet.
Speaker 1: Seriously, you don't like it.
Speaker 3: I've actually been to two sessions now with the removal.
Speaker 1: All right, so when did you get it?
Speaker 3: My I was eighteen.
Speaker 1: That was a was the reason.
Speaker 3: It's a it's a funny story actually, So this is
Speaker 3: why I'm going to Arizona in the wintertime, because there
Speaker 3: was nothing to do in the middle in the wintertime.
Speaker 3: So it was a it was a snowing day in
Speaker 3: December and me and my buddy had just gotten done
Speaker 3: working out, and uh we were at Qutoba and he
Speaker 3: was like, would you ever get a tattoo? It was like,
Speaker 3: I probably would, And so we had nothing to do.
Speaker 3: So we drove to this tattoo are they called parlors? Yeah,
Speaker 3: and uh so we drove there and we were just
Speaker 3: like kind of looking through the booklets and what they had,
Speaker 3: and they were like, we have an opening for two
Speaker 3: and the like in an hour and an hour and
Speaker 3: a half if you guys wanna you guys want to
Speaker 3: get them today? We're like, sure, why not? And I mean,
Speaker 3: it's this is it's twelve o'clock in the it's noon
Speaker 3: on a Tuesday afternoon. There was no drinking involved. It
Speaker 3: was completely sober decisions.
Speaker 1: It's sober and board.
Speaker 3: So sober and board and ended up with the worst
Speaker 3: tattoo ever.
Speaker 1: So what did your buddy get?
Speaker 3: I can't remember. It was on his It was on
Speaker 3: his arm. It was a verse of some sort, but
Speaker 3: it was I can't remember what.
Speaker 1: He's not taking that one. He likes it years off.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it hurts and you heard it's worse than
Speaker 3: the tattoo significantly.
Speaker 1: How many sessions does it take to get it out
Speaker 1: of there?
Speaker 3: They said probably ten, okay, but it's who knows how
Speaker 3: much it was just exactly.
Speaker 1: Take a day when you're eighteen. When you're eighteen, on
Speaker 1: buying a car, on marrying someone, and on getting it.
Speaker 3: That's very fad think about before you do it.
Speaker 2: Also, what what's what do you think what would you
Speaker 2: consider the strength of your golf game. Strongest part of
Speaker 2: your golf game.
Speaker 3: I'll say my driving. You know, I think I drive
Speaker 3: the golf ball consistently well, But I think that's the
Speaker 3: areas where if I'm struggling, that's when you'll see the
Speaker 3: score struggling because you know, that's the first thing that
Speaker 3: I really make sure is you know, in a good spot,
Speaker 3: because that's where I think, you know, it's my strength.
Speaker 3: That's where I score from. And I think statistically I
Speaker 3: am one of the better drivers out here. I'm not,
Speaker 3: like I said, I'm not a huge statistical guy, but
Speaker 3: I think the stats says so.
Speaker 2: One of the things we've knows about your driving is
Speaker 2: that you don't curve it a lot, right, You play
Speaker 2: a little draw.
Speaker 3: I kind of if I'm just setting up square and
Speaker 3: I just swing, it's gonna draw a little bit. I
Speaker 3: like to work it both ways most of the time.
Speaker 2: A little bit both ways with the driver. But in general,
Speaker 2: I think one of the things we've seen with your
Speaker 2: with your data is that you don't you don't have
Speaker 2: a big spin accident. It's like you don't curve it
Speaker 2: a ton. That helps unlock a little bit extra disc answer.
Speaker 2: I think that's one of those things that makes players
Speaker 2: sneaky long. Yeah, you know, is that you don't curve
Speaker 2: it a lot straight.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah? Yeah, typically I keep I like to keep
Speaker 3: the ball within the margins of the fairway and not
Speaker 3: start it outside of the fairway. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then what about your iron plate? Do you curb
Speaker 2: your irons a lot? Two different pins? And growing up
Speaker 2: at Oklahoma's windy you know, is that what's your strategy
Speaker 2: on shot shaping?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I kind of. I play with flights a lot,
Speaker 3: and I'm bringing them down, bringing them up, curve them.
Speaker 3: I think that was something I struggled with when I
Speaker 3: go on tour. Was you see a lot of guys
Speaker 3: just hit one ball flight? Yes, And it was like
Speaker 3: I was thinking, do I need to change my approach
Speaker 3: on how I play golf? Interesting just because that's what
Speaker 3: everybody else was doing, And you know, I tinkered with
Speaker 3: that and then realized I hit the irons better if
Speaker 3: I'm playing playing with ball flights, because it gives me
Speaker 3: something to focus on. I think that's something that helps
Speaker 3: me as a you know, I pick a number far
Speaker 3: I'm trying to hit it, the ball flight, I want
Speaker 3: which way I want it working, and it kind of
Speaker 3: helps me zero in on the flag.
Speaker 2: So I think for the listener, Chane, that's another good
Speaker 2: example Austin talking about shot shaping the blueprint, T is
Speaker 2: like that's like your sports car, Like you can just
Speaker 2: dial it in in terms of your face to path
Speaker 2: things of that nature. Do you curve it based on
Speaker 2: pin location, wins, distances or.
Speaker 1: All the above?
Speaker 3: All the above, I think, And a lot of times
Speaker 3: it probably doesn't make sense the way I curved it,
Speaker 3: you know. I mean it's the back left pin and
Speaker 3: the winds off the right, and I'm gonna cut it
Speaker 3: into it, you know, so it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: It just was kind of like the walk up and
Speaker 1: see the shot, yeah exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 3: And a lot of times when I walk a fairway
Speaker 3: or like when I get up to the te you know,
Speaker 3: I just kind of vision visualize the whole work in
Speaker 3: a certain way. That's just kind of how I've played it, yeah,
Speaker 3: and and trust it exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Have you had to change your goals this year?
Speaker 1: After the win? Do you write down goals or you
Speaker 1: a goal guy?
Speaker 3: My cad is a goal guy, so it always makes
Speaker 3: me throwing a couple of goals at the beginning of
Speaker 3: the season and.
Speaker 1: Ordered Taco Bell went on the PHA Tour. What else?
Speaker 1: But what else? What else? You're looking at for the
Speaker 1: rest of the year.
Speaker 3: And now I feel like, you know, I think the
Speaker 3: main goal would be making making ees, Like I think
Speaker 3: that's kind of you know, I'm in a good spot
Speaker 3: for that, and that's kind of if you can do that,
Speaker 3: that means you had a great year, you know, And
Speaker 3: that's really where I'm the main goal. But then also
Speaker 3: somehow making the President's Cup. I think that'd be super cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it'd be fun. And I mean, I'm sure people
Speaker 1: love to hit his t shots. You hit that straight round.
Speaker 1: I'll go in this one. Austin. We appreciate the time, man,
Speaker 1: great chatting with you. Good luck the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: Hopefully we see on the President's Cup team.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, hopefully so.
Speaker 1: This is the Proving Grounds Podcast.