WEBVTT - Viktor Hovland 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.720 It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. You guys know 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:11.000 the drill. We come to you every Wednesday, but this 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.920 week it's a special occasion for the pod. We just 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.160 went over two million downloads and I can't thank all 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:19.800 of you who listen each and every week for making 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:24.400 that happened. I'm still blown away that I do a 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:27.120 podcast and we've got two million downloads. I mean, it's 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:31.360 just it's mind boggling to me. But the support and 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.080 when I'm on the road and when I see people 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:36.599 at tournaments, they'll come up and say, hey, big fan 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.080 of the pod. So thank each and every one of 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.199 you for listening. And given that it's a big week 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.479 for the pod, I figured we'd get a big guest on. 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.400 Victor Hovelin is our guest this week. World number four, 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:52.760 the reigning FedEx Cup champion, and I think Vics easily 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:55.360 one of the top five best players in the game 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.080 of golf. He has big time game. I think there 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.880 are majors in his future, and I think there were 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.080 multiple majors possibly in his future. I think he is 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.520 going to be around for a very very long time. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.240 And it was incredibly cool for me to be able 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:11.920 to sit down and talk to him and kind of 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.680 pick his brain about the way he plays, about how 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.319 he goes about playing. I love Vic's attitude. He's always smiling, 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.560 he's always laughing. We talk about the Ryder Cup, we 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.600 talk about you know, where golf is, professional golf is 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:29.600 in twenty twenty four. But really, I think if you 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.600 get an opportunity to sit down and talk to a 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.160 player who, like I said, I think he's one of 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.039 the best players in the game, and I think he 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.920 can beat anybody on any kind of golf course, that's 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.120 how good he is. So a very very cool interview 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.400 with Vic that's coming up. But before we get to 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.040 that interview, let's take a moment to thank our friends 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.240 at Cobra Golf and talk about their new driver for 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.800 twenty twenty four. You've heard me talk about it. 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If you're looking for more distance, more speed 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:43.399 with more forgiveness, go to cobrookgolf dot com and check 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.960 it out. So now let's get to a very very 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.639 cool interview with Like I said, he's one of the 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.799 best players in the game, he's a fan favorite, and 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:59.600 big things are going to continue to happen to Victor Hovlin. 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:07.480 Take a listen, Vick, you had a unbelievable year in 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.080 twenty twenty three. I think the stat that jumps out 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.200 no missed cuts. How have you managed since you've turned pro. 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.200 I mean, you've really become one of the most consistent 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:21.600 golfers in the sport. Is it something that you're conscious of, 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:23.600 is it something that you're trying to do? 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:28.760 Yeah, I mean obviously I value consistency a lot. Obviously 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:33.400 you want to win tournaments, and I think professional golf 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.040 really tailors to the times you play your best and 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:37.960 that's when you got to make the most out of it. 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.120 But I think it's just a lot more, a lot 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.240 less stressful if I show up every week just knowing that, Okay, 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.080 my game's in a good spot. And I think the 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.920 fact that my short game improved so much last year, 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.240 Now I didn't even have to hit it my best 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.520 and I could still kind of make nice up and 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.960 downs and just keep momentum going. Before I would not 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:02.040 miss very many cuts just because my ball striking was 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:05.160 so consistent. But I still kind of had a little 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:07.360 asterix there with the short game. But now I feel 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.480 like my ball striking hasn't been quite as good, but 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.440 my short game is kind of made up for that 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:17.880 and then some. So yeah, I just think making better decisions, 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.880 not playing maybe as risky as I did when I 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.680 first came out on tour, just knowing when to push 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:27.320 and when to not push. I think I'm making a 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:31.440 lot less mistakes, you know, just simple mistakes, short sighting, 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.520 miss yeah, missing long on a green where you can't, 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.520 stuff like that. So I really value not missing cuts 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.880 and playing for four rounds. I do prefer. 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:47.240 That that it's an art to learning on tour when 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.440 to play offense when you need to play offense, and 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.200 when to play defense when you need to play defense. 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:54.799 I think you mentioned you came out as a rookie. 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:59.240 You can get into that trap of saying, Okay, maybe 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.119 i've made a double, I've made a couple of buggies. Okay, 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:04.479 now I need to go on offense. But sometimes the 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:08.239 golf course that you're playing doesn't allow you, or isn't 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.400 really it's not the right play. So you said you 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.479 learned that. You know, you've been on tour now three 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:19.600 four years, you're learning how to play. But when you 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.240 come out on tour, how do you when did you 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.679 kind of figure out, Okay, what I could get away 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.599 with maybe in the past and making some dicey decisions 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.640 or maybe making some really really aggressive decisions. At the 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.560 level that I'm playing at right now professional golf, it 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:38.840 just doesn't allow me to do that. When was that 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.839 kind of kind of light bulb moment where you went, Okay, 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:44.280 if I can start maybe just being a little bit 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:48.440 more conservative, because I think the opposite is what everyone thinks. 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.880 Everyone watching professional golf and everyone trying to get to 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.360 the level that you're at, thinks that you all are 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:58.080 getting there by just being firing at every flag, going 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.360 for every pin, going for every power into And there 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.960 really is an art to playing professional golf. It's just 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:06.039 not your golf swing. 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.839 Yeah, and I definitely had to learn it in the 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:12.520 hard way. I think some of it is sometimes I'll 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:17.000 still play offensive or aggressive just because, like I want to, 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.640 I think it's fun. But there is like I've gotten 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:24.160 into poker a little bit, so knowing the numbers and 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:25.720 the and the just. 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.400 A likely and the percentages the game is because the 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.080 game poker. It's interesting that I'd heard that you had 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:33.880 gotten really big into poker. I used to teach when 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:35.920 I lived in Vegas back in the day. I used 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:41.120 to teach Huckleberry Seed. Huck Seed won the World Poker Championship, 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:42.880 and he was like a savant. He was trying to 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.200 play golf and stuff like that. So the idea of 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.320 playing poker. How do you think playing poker helps you 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:51.960 on the golf course? Do you think that's been one 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:53.880 of the things where you've gone, Okay, do I really 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.920 need to make this play right now or I'm gonna 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:00.880 get my par five chances? With my lane? There are 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.920 some pins that I can attack maybe on the back night. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.240 But that's a hard thing to learn, and it's a 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.000 hard thing to learn in the timeframe that you've learned it. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.120 I think, yeah, I'd say it's kind of a double 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:16.040 edged sword, because sometimes there is a value to being 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.080 kind of young and dumb, having no scar tissue, and 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.800 just I'm just gonna hit driver everywhere. I hit it straight, 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.320 so why not just hit it here, even though mathematically 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.720 it might not be a great play in the long term. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.360 But sometimes just not even being aware of that or 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.600 putting those thoughts into your head, you have this just 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.720 overconfidence and you you know that, Okay, I'm a straight 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:40.400 I'm a straight hitter with the driver, so I'm just 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:45.200 gonna hit it everywhere, and most of the time it works. 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.600 But then when you start delving deeper into the stats 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.320 and Eduardo Molinari that I work with, he's my stats guy, 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.280 He's really helped me just kind of put things into 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.360 perspective a little bit more. And uh, but I did 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.280 kind of struggle a little bit when I didn't feel 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.240 like my swing was quite where it should should be 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.240 at the time when you start thinking about the percentages 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:10.040 and you're like, okay, it's kind of a fifty to 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.880 fifty play. I could hit driver or three would, and 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.400 then you maybe kind of start to second guess things 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.400 a little bit. There's a little bit of doubt that 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:24.400 creeps into the decision making, and that is something that 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:28.560 you don't really take into account when you're just purely 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.120 looking at the mathematics. So it's like, if it's a 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:35.280 really close decision, I try to just let my emotions 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.439 and my feels trumph the decision. But if it's like 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.120 a sixty or if it's like a seventy thirty or 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.840 sixty five thirty five, then you know, things are pretty 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:50.800 clear cut as what you're supposed to do. But yeah, 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:56.319 I think just in the whole, it's the more information 0:08:56.440 --> 0:09:00.400 you have, the better a decision you can make. And 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.160 I think that's just good to know and see. 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.199 Obviously, I work with two guys, you know, Brooks and 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.360 DJ to where they're the opposite. They want as little 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.880 information as possible so that they can kind of react 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.760 and be an athlete. You're you're Caddie Shane Knight, who 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.520 I think is one of the best guys on tour. 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.840 He's someone that you know, I've always enjoyed you know, 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:22.280 spending time with it. I don't know if you know 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.280 the story, but he came up to me at Memorial 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.760 when you were getting ready to turn pro, and he said, hey, man, 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:28.959 can I talk to you? Because I used to spend 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.040 a lot of time with Shae because he caddied for 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:33.439 Sean O'Hare and and Jimmy Walker. I used to work 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.560 with my dad and I they played a ton of practice, 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.199 so I spent a lot of time around Shaye. And 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.679 she said, listen, can I talk to you. We're at Memorial, man. 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:43.160 He said, Victor Hovelin is going to turn pro. He's 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.160 asked me if I want to work with him. I 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:46.720 worked with him at, you know, in a couple of 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.520 the majors, and he said, you know, you know, what 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.040 do you think? And I was just like, dude, it's 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.520 the kid's stud It's a huge opportunity. And he was like, 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:57.480 do you really think he's going to be You're a 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.280 great player. I said, listen, he's top five in the world. Good. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.839 And so that partnership with Shay when you guys are 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.280 looking at golf courses, because we get asked that so 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.520 much vic from players trying to play. When you guys 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:11.680 are going into practice rounds and you're looking at golf 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:15.600 tournaments and the majors, it becomes more heightened. But what 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.880 are the things that you and Shae are looking at? 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:19.480 What are the things that you're looking at when you 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.319 look at a golf course and you say, okay, even 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.760 if you played that golf course before, you're going out 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.400 there in the practice ones and the conversations between you 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.079 and Shae are okay, obviously, what we're gonna hit off 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.240 the tee, what we're doing. But how do you all 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.440 approach kind of charting around to golf. Do you do 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.000 that as much as he does? Or does he kind 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.640 of shepherd you around? He does the work and say hey, 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:41.600 I think this is the play and then you kind of, 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.360 as the player, either listen or don't. 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.000 Yeah. He he's a very like I consider him a 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.360 really good friend of mine. But he's also very very professional. 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:54.080 He goes out there early and walks the walks, the chorus, 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.640 and he does a very just puts a lot of 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:01.040 work in to prepare. So when I play my first 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.360 practice round, he's already seen the course and he knows 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.839 kind of where I need to be, what clubs to hit, 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:09.240 and then it just becomes a discussion of Okay, I 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:12.160 think the conditions are gonna be this in a tournament, 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.319 They're maybe gonna get a little firmer, or it might 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:18.000 get wetter because of the rain that's coming. Wind might switch, 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.360 and then certain pin placements, like it might be a 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:24.160 short part four where we're gonna hit a driver, but 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.480 if the wind switches it goes to down wind, they 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.040 put a front pin. Now we can't get the wedge 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.480 to stop, so we need to hit less off the tea, 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:33.880 you know, just simple things like that, and then I 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.160 might have some stats from Eduardo if we've played the 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.920 course before. Okay, these pimplacements generally play a little bit 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.360 easier if you're if you hit driver or three wood 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.600 off the tee. It just yeah, it all depends. So 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.320 having a lot of that information even before you go 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:53.200 into a practice round is really valuable, I think. And 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:55.920 then he might say, hey, I think this is the 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.320 better play, but whatever I feel at the time, then 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:03.199 that's sort of going to trumpet. But we're we're always 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.920 having a discussion and trying to manage the game plan 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.839 accordingly to what's what's the best player. 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:11.720 When you look at golf courses fit on tour. Obviously, 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:14.040 you play a bunch of golf courses over the course 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.160 of the year. There's going to be courses that you like. 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.840 But for a golf course that you play that you like, 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.200 what does that mean from when you look at a 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.400 golf course you say, Okay, I've played this golf I 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:28.280 really like that golf course. Give me an example of 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:30.679 a golf course on tour that you really really like, 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.920 and give me some reasons and examples as to why 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:36.520 you like that golf course. 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.440 Yeah, just got back from Riviera. I really like that 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:44.320 golf course. And I tend to play pretty well in Florida, 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.920 So Florida golf courses tend to fit me very well. 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.560 And I think generally that's because I'm a good ball striker. 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.520 Off the tee, I hit my driver pretty straight, so 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:59.040 I'm going to gain an advantage. Because now I do 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:01.439 think I have an advantage Riviera because you still got 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:03.560 to hit it pretty well out there, but there's not 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.280 there aren't any penalty shots out there now no water. 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.199 And you've got to hit it mirleles offline on the 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.520 hit stretched. Yeah, on the back nine, there's that stretch 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:14.920 where you get hit out of bounds left and on 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.720 the front nine, if you really rinse on to the right, 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.199 I mean you've got to hit really you're right. I've 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.640 never thought about that. There is there aren't any there's 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.440 no hazards now Riviera, which is very very rare. The 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.240 only time you really see that nowadays is if we 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.880 go to the Open Championship and you play one of 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.440 the inland you know, where there's just no water. There 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.320 might be a couple of streams, you know St Andrews 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:38.600 has the stream that goes across the first but a 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:40.920 lot of the Open Championship golf goes. You're right, there's 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.280 no hazards. So a golf course with no hazards, it's 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:46.480 a different kind of look and feel. 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.600 Yeah, it is. And that's why I think like Riviera 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.120 is just a it's one plot of land that they 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.560 can't really expend it anymore. And it's been around for 0:13:55.600 --> 0:14:00.360 so long and you still make that golf coursus as 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.880 it is with no penalty shots. That's impressive and it's 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.480 not stupid. You know, it's fair. If you play well, 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:08.560 you're going to shoot a good score. If you're if 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.560 you're missing fairways and missing greens, you're gonna have a 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:14.280 hard time. So I'll like just straightforward fair golf courses. 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.400 Now Florida golf courses are a little bit different because 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.800 you have some water. You generally have some ob kind 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.520 of closer to the course. But that's where I think 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.800 I have an advantage because if I'm hitting fairway more 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.520 often than the other guys that I'm playing against, They're 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.840 going to be more heavily penalized by missing the fairway, 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:36.040 So I have an advantage there. And generally when the 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:39.200 greens get firm, I can, you know, just the value 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:44.040 of hitting greens go up, and yeah, especially if I'm 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.000 hitting it nicely, I'm gonna be able to separate myself there. 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:51.920 But I think that's generally the case for the bigger tournaments, 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.080 you know, majors. If you go to Memorial, for example, 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.720 they're gonna have kind of that style of golf. It's 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:02.640 going to be long, it's gonna be narrow ish fairways 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.080 and thick rough So if you can hit it longest, 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.280 straight and head greens, that's that's usually a pretty good recipe. 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.200 So Vic, the obvious question for everyone listening is what's 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.000 it like to be able to stand up and have 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.800 the confidence because that is one of the strengths of 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.440 your game is the ability to drive it as well 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.160 as you drive it to not really you don't really 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.640 curve your golf ball enough. I mean a lot. So 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:30.160 that must the look of a hole for someone like 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.440 yourself that has so much confidence with the driver has 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.600 got to be very different from someone that doesn't have 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.000 a lot of confidence, because there's you know, there's parts 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.800 of you know, if you think of you want it 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.000 at east Lake, but there's some holes there to where 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:48.520 you know, like that, like what is it after the 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:52.320 par three on the back was at fifteen fifteen? You 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.280 know that if it kind of that dog leg up 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.320 there in the corner. But if you've got the confidence 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.120 to say, listen, okay, I'm gonna fly the bunkers and 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:00.920 I'm gonna get it up up into that neck and 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.720 it's maybe a little bit flatter there. When you have 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:06.120 the confidence that you have in the driver, you're able 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.040 to say, okay, I know if I can get it 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.560 in that area, maybe it's a little bit flatter than 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.160 it is here. If I don't hit it as far, 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:17.560 it must mentally it must give you a tremendous amount 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.640 of confidence going into tournaments because the driver is is 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.320 a weapon and you, as the player know it is. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.720 Yeah. I will say the last few months, I haven't 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.760 swung it as well as I would like, and the 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:31.800 ball has been going two ways a little bit. And 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.360 just from experience, it's a lot more stressful playing golf 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:37.920 when you don't know exactly where the ball's gonna go. Now, 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.680 nobody knows exactly where the ball's gonna go, but I 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.720 would say when I would play my best golfer on 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.280 a string, Yeah, and it's so liberating, especially when he 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:50.320 gets to those tighter holes, like let's say there's water 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.280 down the left side, and I can just aim it 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.400 kind of down the left side and just pump one 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.280 and fade it off of it, and it's not like 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.280 I'm hitting a week's lice over there. It's still a 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.800 powerful just cut off the water, and I know when 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:06.840 I hit that shot. When I get nervous, I just 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:10.720 play a slightly bigger cut. The ball's almost never going 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.000 to go left. Now. It might be in the right 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:15.399 side of the fairway, might be in the middle of 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:19.679 the fairway right rough, but it's never going left. As 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:21.439 I'm getting ready to play a bay Hill now in 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:24.000 a couple of weeks, I just think of, for example, 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:28.880 number eleven out there. If you remember that hole, you've 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:30.240 got water down the left. 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:33.240 Side, and you can just stand up and know that, okay, 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:35.160 left is out of play. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:35.600 Yeah. 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.359 And it also I think it allows you to then 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:40.440 And it's the same thing we're always trying to tell 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:47.160 people that play to make a conservative, aggressive swing, not reckless. 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:51.120 There's a difference between being reckless with the driver and saying, listen, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.600 I drive it well, so I can be aggressive. I 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.080 can still be a conservative off the tee, but I 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.919 can make a conservative, committed swing here, so that that'll 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.800 eleventh hole at Bayhill water all the way down the 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.359 left hand side. You've got the confidence just stand up 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.399 and say, listen, I know it's not going to go left. 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.920 I can make a really committed swing and just stand 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:12.520 up and rip it. 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:15.360 Yep. Whereas a lot of guys I've seen it hit 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:19.440 four irons, three irons, hybrids, three woods, yeah, and then 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.320 they have Yeah, you got more rooms, so you're probably 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.120 gonna hit it in the water less. But now you've 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.600 got seven six iron, maybe even five iron into that green, 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.120 and those pins on the left side are I mean, 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.560 it's almost impossible to get to it when you're hitting 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.960 that long of a club. Whereas if I'm really confident 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:38.920 with my driver, and I think most of the time, 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.400 i think I've hit driver, hit that fairway a lot, 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.720 and then I have a fifty degree maybe a pitching 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.480 wedge of max into that green, and now you turn 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.359 a hard hole into a birdie hole. So just doing 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:55.000 that consistently, especially around a place like that, you turn 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.000 a beast of a course into a place where, Okay, 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:01.040 if I make a few putts and and play nicely, 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.880 I can shoot five six under and yeah, that place 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:05.000 is treating me pretty nicely. 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:13.520 Over the years, there are players that dominate through power, 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:18.440 physical speed. You're not someone that people look at and go, Okay, 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:21.000 he's a killer. He's dominant. But do you feel like 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.480 the ability to hit the driver the way you have 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:27.000 pretty much your your whole career is also kind of 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:29.919 a differentiator down the stretch. When you're playing with someone. 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.320 You guys are in a big tournament, you guys are 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.520 kind of tied for the lead and stuff. There get 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.480 to be tight holes where you have the confidence to say, listen, 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.320 I'm pulling I'm pulling the chief, I'm taking the head 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:45.120 cover off, I'm pulling driver. If you're hitting first and 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:50.040 it's back nine on Sunday, that's also kind of a differentiator, 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:52.280 kind of a separator to say to the guy you're 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:55.040 playing with, Listen, we might be tied, but you've got 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:56.800 the iron out and I'm just gonna go ahead here 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:01.040 and hit driver. Do you feel that's a way to 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:05.119 quietly intimidate the other players by saying, listen, you know 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:07.800 I'm gonna hit driver here. I'm a good driver of 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.159 the golf ball. If you're gonna give up forty fifty 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:13.480 yards here because you don't feel like you can drive 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:17.760 it down there. Another one seventeen at the Tour Championship. 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.200 If you've got the confidence to just start it over 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.120 the bunkers, now hammer the driver down there, you get 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.480 it much much closer. Because if you don't have the 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:28.800 confidence on that whole and you're gonna take three wood 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:31.160 or an iron off the tee, you miss it a little. 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.800 You'd be on a little bit of an upslope and 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:36.280 not But if you've got the confidence, like you said, 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.119