WEBVTT - Denny McCarthy on Putting Prowess, LIV, and the New PGA Tour 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 --> 0:00:06.960 And when I find my ball in a brid Egg 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:11.840 Friday Egg, the dreaded Friday Friday, Fridagg Fridagg Bride Egg Lie, 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.080 I'm about ready to run off of the hump course. 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:39.240 Welcome back to another edition of the FRIDAYGG Podcast. Today 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.640 I am joined by Denny McCarthy, PGA Tour player. Denny 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.360 is fresh off a career year on the PGA Tour. 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.400 I think he finished thirty seventh in the FedEx Cup. 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.479 He had a top ten and a major, a slew 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.560 of other top tens on the PGA Tour in the 0:00:55.680 --> 0:01:01.280 calendar year. Denny played golf at Virginia and just someone 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.240 I've gotten to know through the years on tour and 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:08.720 really enjoyed the conversation about improving at the PGA Tour level, 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.560 his putting, which is truly world class, league of his 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.360 own putter, and then a little bit on live and 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:20.559 the future of the PGA Tour. Before we get to Denny. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.760 Real quick, we have a Labor Day sale going on 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:27.240 in the Fridagg Pro Shop. It is fifteen percent off everything. 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.480 It is automatically applied at checkout, so go in there 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:36.280 if you're looking for some new gear, new hat, t shirts, hoodies, 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.800 layers for the fall, as well as print photography, so 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.279 you know, if you're looking to dress up your office 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.680 or room in the house, or wherever it may be, 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.640 check out our print photography. And without further ado, here 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:57.760 is Denny McCarthy. What's up with you? 0:01:57.960 --> 0:01:58.520 How have you been? 0:01:59.400 --> 0:01:59.920 I've been good. 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:02.800 I'm just back down in Florida. 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.760 I live in Jupiter. After BMW took like five or 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:10.840 six days off and then really got back into it 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.160 the last four or five days. 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:14.680 Are you playing Napa? 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:16.839 I am playing Napa. Yeah. 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.560 It's a place, uh place I haven't played well, but 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:23.960 I feel like I'm just due there for a lot 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:25.840 of good things to happen. I've I think I've played 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.400 there four times and I haven't made the cut there before, 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.679 and theoretically it should be a good place for me. 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.920 My coach took a job at a place called Shooting 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.000 Star and Jackson Hole this summer. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:39.760 Have you have you heard of that place? Uh? 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:40.040 Huh? 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:44.040 It looks unbelievable. So he works seven or eight months 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.600 down in Boca at Pine Tree here and then he 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:48.919 took this job this summer. So I'm actually going out 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.760 next week to play in a their pro member called 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:55.079 the Dusty Boot, and I'm gonna get some work in 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:57.919 with him. Uh, and then I'm gonna go straight from 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.480 there to Napa. So aw, I'm looking I'm looking forward. 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.040 Probably I'm looking forward to Jackson Hole more than I am. 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:06.200 Going to Nappa. 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.440 But it'll be a nice be nice to see him 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:10.280 and get dialed in before I go out there. 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:15.200 Uh, coming like, so we'll just get into it. Since 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:15.960 Ferrari going. 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:20.280 But coming into this year, obviously, you had the best 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.440 year of your career, do you does it do you 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.440 feel different going into the season, Like are you more 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.160 excited or is there is there a different mentality you 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.399 feel like after you know, falling just short of Eastlake 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:34.640 this year and having the best year of your career, 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:38.120 do you do you go into this week a little 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:38.720 bit different? 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:40.120 Uh? 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.080 Yeah, for sure. Yeah. 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.960 I was a little disappointed and deflated with how I 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.880 kind of ended my year, but that didn't last very long. 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.080 Like, honestly, a day or two after, I'm like, I'm 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:54.680 ready to like get back into it. 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.920 I'm excited where my game is at. I keep getting 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:02.480 better every year, and I'm seeing some some really nice improvements, 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.840 you know, like I'm able to I'm able to compete 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.440 on big hard golf courses and and and I can 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.640 hit it well enough to where I can put myself 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.279 in contention at these big places, which I can't necessarily 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.240 say about my game two or three years ago. So 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.560 I love that aspect. I love that I can, you know, 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:24.800 more weeks than not. I feel like my game is 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:26.600 ready to compete and win tournaments. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:29.040 What's crazy. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.520 I have such an appreciation for the top guys because 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:33.960 so many of those guys do that every time they play, 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.840 which is just like people don't understand how hard that 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:41.000 is to do. Like some of these guys are just machines, 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.120 Like they're just NonStop always they're always playing good golf, 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:45.680 which is incredible. 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:47.600 It's really hard to do. And I I, you know, 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:49.839 that's kind of the next step is kind of just. 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.520 Even when my even when I'm not on, like even 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.560 when my you know, these guys bad, like when they 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:58.880 don't play a great round, they still manage to somehow 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:00.640 shoot a couple under them the come out and shoot 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.920 seven under the next day, they when they have their stuff. 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.520 So I think I'm excited because my game is that 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.480 it just I feel like I keep getting better. I've 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:12.960 been knocking at the door a few times, and I'm 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.320 just excited to put myself in contention and just keep 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.160 trying to win golf tournaments. And once I once I 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.400 get that first win, I think that'll be a nice 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.080 relief where I can just kind of just freewheel it 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:24.640 and keep going. 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:29.840 It seems like putting together a tournament. And at every 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.479 level you see it, like at the corn Ferry Tour level, 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.200 you see it at the tour levels, there are certain 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:40.560 guys that it's like there's almost like always nine holes 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.120 where there's going to be like you're going to struggle 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.360 for a period of your four rounds when you're playing well, 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:52.159 and it's like the guys that turn seventy one seventy one. 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.880 Into sixty nine. That's the big difference, right. 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:57.680 For sure. 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.719 And usually that happens, you know early in the week, 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:02.680 like there there could be a stretch where you make 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:05.120 the cut, but like, man, you you really could have 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.360 put some put some you know, put yourself in a 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.720 really good position by shooting three or four under, a 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:13.800 couple under on that nine holes. Instead you shoot a 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.960 couple over when guys were you know, say you make 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.800 a bogie a bogie on an easier hole, when guys 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.600 are just birdy in that hole, like you feel like 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:23.599 you lose something for sure. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:25.640 I had that happen a couple of times. 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.599 This year where I didn't really feel like I played 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:32.120 all that bad, like I've there are a couple of 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.520 times where I played a really good front nine, really clean, 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.520 and then either like a three putt or just a 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.240 slight change in the momentum, and I tried not to 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:43.240 let it affect me. 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.000 I feel like I did a pretty good job of it. 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.119 But but but things like there are a couple different 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:50.719 times where it just it I couldn't get myself back 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.600 in that rhythm that I had on the front nine. Uh, 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.080 and I can't quite get the putts to fall and 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:58.280 maybe shoot a couple over on that back nine. And 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.320 it's just like now so close to getting just like 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:04.240 just totally out of my own way today and totally 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.320 just being locked in. And some I mean that happens. 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.160 It's and it's when you play consecutive weeks in a 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:12.240 row and you're making the cuts and you're playing four 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.280 rounds a week, like it's it can be easy to 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.440 slip up for that for that little. 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:18.320 Bit of time, you know. 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.120 That's what I think. That's what the top, Like I mentioned, 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.280 the top guys are just machines. Like you look at 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.640 like Patrick Cantley, like when he's playing well, like he 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:27.600 doesn't really have that many slip ups. 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.440 He's literally just like laser focus. You know. 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:32.840 He didn't even I feel like he didn't even really 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.200 play that great at East like he from what I saw, 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.400 it seemed like he was just missing a lot of 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.920 really good looks. But he was still like right there 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.320 like Okay, it's fine, I'm gonna miss I miss that look, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.800 but I'm just gonna I'm just gonna give myself that's 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:47.720 like a similar look on the next hole. And like 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:49.600 he just keeps doing that and doing that and do 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:53.320 and doing that and like overcoming how deflating it could be. 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.040 So like watching somebody like that, you can learn something, 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:59.200 you know, like, man, this guy just doesn't let that 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.000 affect him. He's totally unflappable, Like he just keeps going 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:02.400 and going. 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:06.280 How much do you think of that is consistently getting 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.200 yourself into those moments like getting yourself in the mix. 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:12.560 Where do you think it's so so much of it 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:13.720 is a confidence thing. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.880 I do, Yeah, I do think that's part of it experience. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.320 There's a learning curve to it, for for sure. I 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:23.240 also think just. 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:26.880 I really like where my game and swing is. 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.560 I think, at times, yeah, I can I tend to 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:33.960 get a little fast, which causes a few bad tendencies 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.120 to maybe creep into my swing a little bit. 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:38.720 And it seems like some of those. 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.200 Guys keep it really even keel or even the guys 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.040 that let it out, like say like Rom for instance, 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.679 like he's emotionally like he likes to like get it 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:49.360 out and then he and then he uses it to 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.360 almost fuel him. So it's like you just got to 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.599 find what works for you and those situations. For me, 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.760 I think it's I'm pretty upbeat walker. I like I 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.040 walk fast, like I don't even notice it, but then 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.400 like how I like will watch myself on like some 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.079 a video somebody took, or if I see like a 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:09.920 replay and I see like the clip of man, I'm like, man, 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.840 I'm walking so fast, and I know I'm like probably 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.000 breathing fast too. So for me, I think it's just 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.000 just staying staying a feel like I'm maybe moving just 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.360 half a second slower here or there, try and calm 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:24.640 it down. It's I think everybody else. Everybody has their 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:28.120 own kind of you know what, what's the best thing 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:29.760 to kind of keep me in this round or keep 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:31.559 me in the moment. Everyone has their own thing. 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.920 It's you what you brought up earlier about, like how 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.719 sometimes it's just like a three putt takes you out 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.199 of that. Like I've noticed so much with my own 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:44.120 personal game, it's like bad t shots almost always follow 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.240 three putts, and it's just like that little unsettling and 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.800 what you're saying, like it could be just you speeding 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:53.839 up like a half click because you're a little you know, 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.520 hot after a mistake, and that's the little thing that 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.839 just gets you out of that really nice flow that 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.520 you had going through the whole round, right for for sure. 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:08.800 And I can think of two different examples where I 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.480 didn't feel like my thought process was that different, but 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.800 the rounds went totally different ways. And one was the 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:15.440 US Open. 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:16.240 The final round. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.680 I got off to a great start, made some pars 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:21.439 on like I bro was three hundred through five and 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.920 then parted like six seven, eight, and I hit two 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:28.319 really good shots on nine and three putted, and I 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.040 was I was livid because I felt like I should 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.599 have shot four or five under on that nine, and 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:35.679 I just turned in two under after getting off to 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:37.559 a hot start, Like I went from like putting a 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:39.800 lot of pressure on those guys and seeing my name 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:44.040 into just kind of like drifting back a little, and 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.199 I totally let it go, like I got back in 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.160 my mindset like ten's a really hard hole. It broke line, 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:51.040 and I got up and I piped a drive hit 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.559 just smashed a seven iron right at it and almost 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:55.679 made the putt, and then I just continued to like 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:59.160 string along good holes after that. I didn't like I 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.000 shot even on the back, but like I played the 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:03.960 quality of golf that I played on the front nine 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.880 to shoot you know a couple under uh and put myself, 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:10.280 you know, right there in the mix. And unfortunately I 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.880 didn't do that, but I was giving myself the looks 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:15.640 and at least chances to do that by kind of 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.719 just and then Memphis a couple of weeks ago, like 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.080 same thing, final round played great three putted on nine. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.240 I was like four under through seven or eight. Three 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.959 putted on nine, hit a good three whoot off ten, 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.320 which I thought was staying short of this bunker, gets 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.520 a terrible eye, scull it out and almost make birdie, 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.640 and then the next toll eleven can be dicey. The 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.480 win was switching all over. Maybe it didn't make a 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.360 fully committed swing. I was just trying to hit a 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:46.760 nine iron in the middle of the green, pulled it 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.440 a little, hit a sprinkler head and goes like over 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.280 the over the water like in Pine Straw. It was 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:54.640 just like I didn't feel like things changed that much. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:56.719 But when you go like then I had like a 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.920 really stressful shot to try and save a bogie or double, 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.760 and then it's just like like my I tried to 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.000 calm myself down, but it's hard to do in that time. 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.400 Like you played a very stress free front nine and 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:13.720 then you hit like all these like just didn't feel 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.559 like I hit that bad of shots. But then I'm 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.240 like going through like a stressful tenth and eleventh hole, 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:20.679 and it's just like it just kind of just takes 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:22.559 you out of the nice rhythm. It's hard to like 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:26.160 get back into okay, fairway green, make a putter or 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:28.120 hit a good putt like it it's hard to get 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:29.120 back into that rhythm. 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.560 Uh. The US opened great event for you, obviously, shooting 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.280 sixty eight sixty eight on the weekend, you moved up 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.439 a ton, but it was kind of part of a 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.400 really good stretch of golf for you. You had that, 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.040 you had the Memorial you finished fifth in, and then 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:45.839 you had John Deera a couple of weeks later that 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.839 you finished sixth. And was there was there a moment 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.319 leading into that stretch of golf that something clicked Like 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:54.400 what it explained? 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:56.480 You know, like did you just get you know what 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.080 happened in those weeks. 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:01.600 That's a good questions, good question. I mean, I feel 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.599 like I was putting a lot of work in. 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:09.920 I believe the stretch before that was like, uh, it 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.680 was like Wells Fargo where I played well the weather 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.959 was disgusting, like that was my hometown event, and I 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:18.280 put in a lot of prep and. 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:20.959 Work that went into that week. Like I mean, I 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.160 I got to Maryland. 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.480 On like Saturday, I played nine holes like nine Sunday, 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:28.000 nine Monday, nine Tuesday, nine Wednesday, and I was like, 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:30.400 even though I played that course a bunch, like I 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.880 just wanted to get really good prep in the weather 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:37.080 was awful on the weekend, and me being a average 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.760 length hitter, it just played really super long for me. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.600 And I got Rory behind me flying it forty bind 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.319 me and he's hitting a nine iron in and I'm 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.439 hitting a like a I'm like deciding between a chippy 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.120 cut four or like a hard draw five, and he's 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:56.880 deciding between a full boar wedge or nine iron. It 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.559 just became a little difficult on the weekend. But that 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.640 that preparation and that week that that place has a 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:06.280 lot of hard golf shots and I was able to 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.800 hit a lot of them under tournament tournament conditions. And 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:12.600 then it went to like I got into the PGA 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.280 as an alternate and got some good prep in there, 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.760 even though I like wasn't in until Bryson pulled out 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:22.920 on Wednesday night. And then Colonial the next week. Both 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.320 like Southern Hills and Colonial, both windy conditions, ball strikers 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.000 golf course. I like playing in the wind. I like 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:32.520 I like I feel like I have good control. Just 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:34.880 living down in South flo you have to be able 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.320 to control your ball and those twenty mile an hour winds, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:39.880 and so I feel like I was playing some good 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.520 golf controlling my ball, just wasn't really getting that, you know, 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.840 that many great scores out of it. And then we 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.040 went to Memorial where it wasn't that windy. The first 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.720 few days were firm, but not that firm. It was 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.440 just like, finally, like I just felt like at peace. 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:57.560 I feel like like I wasn't playing in these brutal 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.680 conditions where I'm hitting you know, stingers, keeping it low. 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:02.880 Even though I liked playing that sala of golf, it 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.640 was just like like, I don't know. It was of 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.320 course that I felt like I could play well at 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.680 if I just hit the ball on the fairway, especially 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.520 since especially the way my iron game has been trending, 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.000 and I was able to put together a handful of 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.120 really good rounds. I putted really well the first few 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.400 rounds that week, and so it's hard to say like 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:27.640 exactly when it's gonna come, but like I had been 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.080 putting in some really good, like threat and hard work 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:33.680 at the tournaments leading up to that, and I don't know, 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:35.760 I just felt kind of at ease, and it's like 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:37.680 I feel like once I have one of those kind 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:39.080 of events, like I'm like. 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:40.320 Okay, my game is good. 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.920 I can compete on like a big hard golf course 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:44.960 with the top guys and like that. That was a 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:49.000 big confidence boost for me, especially going into the US 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.520 Open and obviously played well there too. I mean, it 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:54.480 was a it was a fun stretch of golf. It's 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.080 something that I would like, I said about the top guys, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.480 like I'd like to do that more often than just 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.920 popping up, you know, for you know, a month's stretch 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:03.160 at a. 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:05.240 Time and then kind of fading away. I'd like to 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.800 be there. I like to be there more often. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:13.160 Yeah, I mean that's obviously looking at your career, in 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:15.480 your your game and and you know, with the with 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.960 the stats, like contending at the Memorial, that's like a 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:22.120 traditionally placed where it's it's the best ball strikers, and 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.520 I think, you know, obviously i'd love to hear about 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:29.520 the incremental improvement you're you're I mean, I don't I 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.600 don't want this to sound hyperbolic, but you know when 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.400 you look at your statistical profile, like you're you're the 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.400 best putter in the world, which is it is a 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.240 crazy you know, like you you look at it and it's. 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:42.160 Like that, it's nuts. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.880 How have you gone about incrementally improving your other aspects 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.600 of your game without you know, with you know, one 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.960 of the things I think across life, whether any profession, 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:56.280 if you go and try and improve something that maybe 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.600 is a little bit of a weakness, sometimes your strength diminished. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.720 How have you gone about incrementally improving your your ball 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.679 striking without losing your you know, your your talent. 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:11.639 Yeah, I think I've always had really good hand eye, so, 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.240 you know, shooting a basketball, darts, cornhole, like ring toss, 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.680 ping pong, putting, Like I put all that like in 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:22.159 the same category. Like I don't lose I don't. I 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.200 feel like I don't lose my hand eye ability, Like 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.760 I feel like I can even though I still put 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:29.440 in a little work on my putting, but I feel 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.960 like I can leave it untouched for you know, a 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.280 little bit at a time and kind of just I 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.560 come back and I have a fifteen twenty minute session 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.520 and I'm like, oh, yeah, this is like I say, 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.160 I haven't putt it in four or five days. 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:43.960 I'm like, yeah, I just got got my. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.240 Feel back, and it's just like riding a bike, So like, 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.560 it's nice that I don't need to like spend hours 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:53.480 and hours in a bent over posture putting, especially since 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.520 once I get on the course of my process is 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.520 actually pretty simple, Like I just I picked spots and 0:17:58.600 --> 0:17:59.760 I line my ball up at this. 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.960 So can I ask you a question, Yeah, do you 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:05.480 think about speed at all? 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.440 Yes, it's factored into kind of what I'm seeing with 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.520 the spot, and yes it's factored in. 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:13.159 I'm not like. 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.760 I'm not people ask me that, Yes, Like why am 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:19.760 I such a good putter? Because I have a really 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.400 good feel, My speed is really good, and I read 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.199 the greens very well. That is why I put very 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.560 well most times, because I've played golf for almost thirty years. 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:31.880 Well I've probably played for twenty five or six years, 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.840 and a lot of trial and error and reading greens 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.440 and seeing things and kind of just I've got just 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.080 so much data on all the putts I've ever hit 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:41.840 and what they look like to my eyes. 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.760 So I feel like I've formulated. 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:46.920 A good system for reading greens, and then I have 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.320 good touch and feel where I'm kind of taking that 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.320 into account when I'm picking my spots. It sounds all 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.480 like very complicated, but like it's very simple. When I 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:57.280 get out on the course, like I'm just like I 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.760 just I try and find spots or things that stick 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.200 stick out to my eye that I can use in 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:06.040 reading the putt. 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:09.359 Are they spots close or are they far? Like what 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:10.400 is a mixture? 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:11.959 It's a it's a mixture. 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:14.640 I'd say more times than not, it's kind of halfway 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.960 halfway through the putt. It could be maybe, you know, 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:20.879 fifteen feet away, but more times than not, it's somewhere 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:22.680 in the middle of the putt, whether it's a ball mark, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.639 a piece of sand to blade it like like a 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.040