Speaker 1: Well, I'm joined by my dear friend, Sir Nick Felt,
Speaker 1: one of the great players of our time, and very
Speaker 1: excited to be speaking to him. So it's amazing the
Speaker 1: things we remember. And I can remember all my eighteen majors,
Speaker 1: nine and nine on both tours. I can remember each
Speaker 1: tournament what swing I was using that week, and they
Speaker 1: were all different, most of them. Well that's that's the
Speaker 1: art of experimenting, you know, because you know people get
Speaker 1: you know, you've got to keep experiment in that game.
Speaker 1: You experiment every day. I mean, it's um. I I
Speaker 1: was just looking at a tweet when they were saying,
Speaker 1: well I was experiments and filling with my swing. You know,
Speaker 1: should it? Should it? I love that line when they said, well,
Speaker 1: shouldn't he just do what he's doing naturally? I love
Speaker 1: that to Sam Sneed said, I hit ten million balls
Speaker 1: to make my swing look natural. I mean, that's that's
Speaker 1: a that's a great thing. That's a great I've trying
Speaker 1: to come up with some wisdom and I thought, I said,
Speaker 1: I came up with this morning. If if when man
Speaker 1: learned to stand up and walk, he said, that's good enough.
Speaker 1: Where would mankind be? Now? Yeah, that's my wisdom because
Speaker 1: if we don't keep striving and and and the beauty
Speaker 1: of our game. And I've been I think I'm blessed
Speaker 1: because I bet you're the same. I know you're the same.
Speaker 1: Even tomorrow, when you tip a bag of balls out,
Speaker 1: You'll be excited, won't you. Yeah, I can't wait. Isn't
Speaker 1: amazing We've been tipping a bag of balls out now
Speaker 1: for a month. C I've been playing this game for
Speaker 1: fifty years. Now, fifty years is coming up. I was
Speaker 1: inspired so fifty years ago I watched television at the
Speaker 1: Master's when Coody one Charles Jack was obviously the all
Speaker 1: the attention. I'm on the BBC, So fifty years ago,
Speaker 1: I was inspired two play golf, try golf. And I know,
Speaker 1: I think the greatest thing is I've never been bored.
Speaker 1: And I've never said ever she should got to go
Speaker 1: to hit balls tomorrow? Never never, And I know. Now
Speaker 1: I go and practice and I laugh because I was
Speaker 1: with Trevino and we go, so what are we practicing before?
Speaker 1: We're not playing any tournaments anymore? And that's isn't that great?
Speaker 1: Things that we go and hit balls and we got
Speaker 1: I think I've got it. I think I think I
Speaker 1: found something that was actually that is better than yesterday
Speaker 1: or last week. I think I've found and I'm staying
Speaker 1: that to myself now, and I think I've got to
Speaker 1: go and play. If I don't play something because I
Speaker 1: think I got it again, I mean that is that
Speaker 1: I played yesterday. You know, I've beaten my age now
Speaker 1: over three thousand times in a row, and I'm trying
Speaker 1: to beat my age by eighteen shots. And I'm saying
Speaker 1: to myself, you're not playing tourments anymore. But yesterday I
Speaker 1: played and I hit fourteen greens and I didn't put
Speaker 1: well Man. Before I had my drink, I went to
Speaker 1: the pudding green. Yeah, what are you doing? I said, No,
Speaker 1: it's engraved in us. It's this game is a disease.
Speaker 1: It's a good one. Yeah, and yeah, that's my that's
Speaker 1: my argument to people to say, you know, in our experiment,
Speaker 1: you go because an experiment is a test, that's the
Speaker 1: other good word. And you and every time you hit
Speaker 1: a good shot, you what do you say to You said, oh,
Speaker 1: how do I do that again? Well, then it's a test.
Speaker 1: How do you do it again? Physically, technically, mentally, how
Speaker 1: do you do it again. So that's that's the coolest
Speaker 1: thing about a game. That's my argument that why we
Speaker 1: keep why we keep working on it. Yeah, it's such
Speaker 1: a great game. It's actually and you you think about it, Nick,
Speaker 1: when you wouldn't golf tourments, you've got to be a
Speaker 1: great packer, and you've got to have a great mind.
Speaker 1: And the mind is so we is having scratched the
Speaker 1: surface of the mind. Yet what is involved and how
Speaker 1: it Okay, I've got a serious question for you. So
Speaker 1: when Gary player could not play like Gary player when
Speaker 1: it obviously it happens one day to an athlete, Yes,
Speaker 1: did that hurt you? No, No, they didn't, because first
Speaker 1: of all, we could go on to the Champions Tour,
Speaker 1: but even after that, because I you know, when nine
Speaker 1: majors on the Champions Tour, and that was very significant
Speaker 1: for me because I stayed in shape and I was
Speaker 1: ready to play. And then came the time when I
Speaker 1: couldn't play there anymore. And I said, look, you've got
Speaker 1: to be realistic. You know, you've had a wonderful long career,
Speaker 1: and I have had a very long career, longer than
Speaker 1: probably maybe anybody has ever played the game. So you've
Speaker 1: had a feast. Gratitude. Gratitude is so important. I say
Speaker 1: to people, a man is never so tall as when
Speaker 1: he's on his knees, and so you should be thanking.
Speaker 1: And I mean if you're playing this great country in
Speaker 1: America as you and I know, I mean, I see
Speaker 1: ethletes complaining about this and then and this and that
Speaker 1: being paid fifty million, five hundred million. You can't go
Speaker 1: to another country and even make one million. So to me,
Speaker 1: gratitude is a big thing. And I and I have
Speaker 1: a feast. So when you have a feast and you
Speaker 1: leave the table, yes, And so your your career fortunately
Speaker 1: just tapered out because physically, like an athlete, you know,
Speaker 1: we're like a new same boat. Once he knows that
Speaker 1: the younger kids will eventually run faster him, and you
Speaker 1: cannot run faster than in your prime you then you
Speaker 1: then let go. So you were able to let go.
Speaker 1: You know my career now, I my last win was
Speaker 1: when I was thirty nine, and then I start playing
Speaker 1: badly and you start and it tapered and that hurt me.
Speaker 1: So when I I stopped, it hurt for a while
Speaker 1: because I thought I can't play punic photo could play.
Speaker 1: So I was hurtful while but then luckily I hit
Speaker 1: the word when I went to tout in the TV tower.
Speaker 1: I looked out the window and watched these guys doing
Speaker 1: this and winning, and I went, wow, I was able
Speaker 1: to do that. I could go and play on a
Speaker 1: Sunday trying to win. And then the gratitude word hit me,
Speaker 1: and I realized how exactly the same thing. And I said, well,
Speaker 1: I'm really grateful I had that time. I had a
Speaker 1: good pair of hands and a good head and good heart,
Speaker 1: and and I had that for my period. And then
Speaker 1: then I was fine, and I was realized, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: had my day, I had my time, and I am
Speaker 1: very grateful that I had it. So but you've got
Speaker 1: to find that. You've got to find that gratitude word.
Speaker 1: There's nothing worse than seeing f t too, being champions,
Speaker 1: trying to make a comeback and failing. You know, go
Speaker 1: out when you're winning. But the mind is so fascinating,
Speaker 1: and records will always be broken. When the masters at
Speaker 1: forty two, and I said to my wife, the two
Speaker 1: things I did in my life that I said to
Speaker 1: my wife, she's a wonderful girlfers. She had two holes
Speaker 1: in one in the same round. She could really play.
Speaker 1: And I said to it, nobody will win the Masters
Speaker 1: at forty two. Again, well, Nicholas comes along and Windsor
Speaker 1: at forty six. So it's such a wonderful, humbling game.
Speaker 1: And then to me, people often say, what's the greatest
Speaker 1: achievement in sport in the history of sport? Well, I
Speaker 1: have quite qualified to say that, being eighty five and
Speaker 1: having been around a long time, and you know, I
Speaker 1: won the Grand Slam at twenty nine. I said to
Speaker 1: my wife, nobody will do that. Nicholas comes along winsor
Speaker 1: Tiger Woods. Now here's the thing, when's the Grand Slam
Speaker 1: at twenty four. That's the greatest achievement in sports, in
Speaker 1: the history of any sport. You'd like to mention, you're
Speaker 1: going for all sports. That's that's a that's a good
Speaker 1: that's a good call. That's something that uh could be done.
Speaker 1: But the odds are extremely slim, extremely It's yeah, it's
Speaker 1: now that his Tiger's achievements are amazing, you know, like
Speaker 1: we're saying, he despite what we were saying talking about
Speaker 1: the wealth, he wanted to win. All he wanted to
Speaker 1: do was win. And how a man. Can you know
Speaker 1: how you can come out and have seasons when you're
Speaker 1: winning eight majors, sorry, eight tournaments a year and then
Speaker 1: you know some of that that hit and his dominance,
Speaker 1: and we know this game is a tough game to dominate.
Speaker 1: I mean, because it's just just you. You've got to
Speaker 1: be feeling great and being able to come out each
Speaker 1: day you walk out your hotel room and go to
Speaker 1: the golf course, be feeling good and those opening balls
Speaker 1: and it's all got to and to be able to
Speaker 1: do that and come out and just be doing that
Speaker 1: all the time. Uh, pretty extraordinary. Well he was able
Speaker 1: to do unbelievable and young people must realize, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: would I have my life over? Now? Would you have
Speaker 1: your life over? No? Back, It's not all roses. You're
Speaker 1: away from your family and many occasions, I was away
Speaker 1: from my children and my wife for three months, away
Speaker 1: from your home, away from your country. You're living in
Speaker 1: motels every week, traveling an airplanes, sitting in airports, having
Speaker 1: torments where you played terribly badly. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: all roses, And young guys have got to understand it's
Speaker 1: not a bit of roses. It's there's a lot of adversity.
Speaker 1: Of course, adversity, its adversity is the greatest gift bestowed
Speaker 1: upon a man. But it's a fascinating game and it's
Speaker 1: a game you can play forever. Nick Up won't way
Speaker 1: to go and play tomorrow. Yeah, that's way way to
Speaker 1: go and play. And I mean a lot of players
Speaker 1: in their sports can't do that anymore. And that's why
Speaker 1: we get to see golf grows. I think with this
Speaker 1: the way golf is going now, you're going to see
Speaker 1: a lot of half and say, well, listen, if I
Speaker 1: go to the NFL three years and I can't walk again,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to die earlier because I've been thumped
Speaker 1: so hard my head and my body, where's gold? You
Speaker 1: know you can make more money at eighty than you
Speaker 1: made when you were world champion. Now, they're not other
Speaker 1: sports that you can do that. It's not only the money,
Speaker 1: it's a competing and it's be able to play in.
Speaker 1: Longevity is a big thing in a man's career. Okay,
Speaker 1: going back to the hotel life. It's funny because you know,
Speaker 1: I'm in a hotel again for for TV, and I
Speaker 1: think that's the hardest thing on the road, because, like
Speaker 1: we were talking before, you're you're so well off. Now
Speaker 1: you're living in a beautiful home anything from six thousand
Speaker 1: to twenty six thousand square feet, and then you come
Speaker 1: to a hotel and you're in Well, I'm I'm pushed
Speaker 1: this week. Yeah, I've got eight walls, I've got a
Speaker 1: bedroom and I got it a lounge. Okay, but compared
Speaker 1: to my home, this is horrible, you know. But so
Speaker 1: if you're doing this week after week and you've got
Speaker 1: that at home, this is a tough life. You know.
Speaker 1: I've been on the I've been on the road since
Speaker 1: I was eighteen, and I'm into go. Hm, this is
Speaker 1: getting a little like half work when I know what
Speaker 1: I've got at home and that's my life. And I
Speaker 1: think that's, you know, that thing that can add, as
Speaker 1: you said, to how the guys look at being on tour.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's because they've got such great wealth
Speaker 1: at home, and surely you've got you gotta remember how
Speaker 1: you got your wealth at home, because you've got it
Speaker 1: on the golf course. So and you have to have
Speaker 1: that sacrifice, as you said, to come and stay in hotels,
Speaker 1: grinded out practice hard. Um so Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 1: all part of it. That's that's that's all part of
Speaker 1: the modern golfer. And and then can you have longevity.
Speaker 1: You don't have to have longevity like you've done, or
Speaker 1: you can have ten great years on tour and boy
Speaker 1: or boy, you are absolutely set for life. Whether you've
Speaker 1: designed to do more is is down. Whether you think
Speaker 1: I've got a twenty year window as a golfer, that's
Speaker 1: probably pretty realistic. Um, that's a great that's a great
Speaker 1: gold to have twenty great years out there. And and
Speaker 1: then if you wish to go out on the senior
Speaker 1: tour after that, that's your your choice afterwards. But it's
Speaker 1: all about it's about that commitment for those twenty years.
Speaker 1: It's the most important thing. Yeah, I when I judge golfers,
Speaker 1: I look at longevity because if you've got a good
Speaker 1: cart last a long time. And if you look at
Speaker 1: Sam sneed and I'll tell you what, I've never seen
Speaker 1: a more rhythmical, loose, beautiful golf swing than Sam Snead.
Speaker 1: And he played forever, so you've got to put him
Speaker 1: right up there. You've got to put him right Ahare
Speaker 1: was strong. He was strong as his ox, his aunts.
Speaker 1: Was he stropped form. I mean he used to take
Speaker 1: that hit cry stick, didn't they? I mean they did.
Speaker 1: He went into the words and he found a stick.
Speaker 1: You know, we've been big knots on it and he
Speaker 1: whittled it with his knights and putting like two degrees
Speaker 1: aloft on this not and he could hit. And I
Speaker 1: heard the stories that he managed to get green height.
Speaker 1: That said the team that at the Greenbrier there he
Speaker 1: got green high in two even doesn't matter what how
Speaker 1: doesn't part five with that old with that old golf
Speaker 1: for him in And he said, I used to take
Speaker 1: this thing out on the tour and give it to
Speaker 1: the guys and tell him to hit it off the debt.
Speaker 1: He said that the top off the end of the team.
Speaker 1: Nobody could get it airborne. And he could hit that thing.
Speaker 1: And and you know he could at sixty five he
Speaker 1: could take the ball out of the cup with his
Speaker 1: knees straight and he could he come in the locker.
Speaker 1: We say Sam kicked the door a normal Doyd put
Speaker 1: his foot driving on the top of the door. Its amazing,
Speaker 1: And he could do five went on push ups. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy was absolutely remarkable. But I loved you know,
Speaker 1: Hogan used to irritate him, but because people would come
Speaker 1: and say, you know, Sam, because you've heard this, you
Speaker 1: know that Hogan hits the ball so straight that he
Speaker 1: puts his driver and the same devit he was in yesterday.
Speaker 1: He said, if he was that straight, why did he
Speaker 1: hit it to the left or the right of it? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: they might said, they must said a good right, they
Speaker 1: were choking cheese, weren't they. They were? They certainly well,
Speaker 1: actually amazing, amazing anyway, And you do such a nice
Speaker 1: job on TV because you've been in the arena. And
Speaker 1: the important thing is there's nothing worse than hearing an
Speaker 1: answers give opinions and they're really wrong. Of course, we
Speaker 1: all have our opinions, but you've been in the arena
Speaker 1: and you know what it is to come to the
Speaker 1: last hole inded afford to winn't And so I love
Speaker 1: your opinions very much. Keep it going, and my my,
Speaker 1: my opinions are right, that's the bottom line. So it's
Speaker 1: nice to listen to them all. And there's a good
Speaker 1: line from somebody today's it's just because you disagree with
Speaker 1: somebody doesn't mean you're you're right, you know, so yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I just you know, fortunately still hit balls,
Speaker 1: so at least, you know, I stand out and misagreement
Speaker 1: a wedge. And then so when a guy does misagreement
Speaker 1: the wedge, you sure it's a bad job, but say
Speaker 1: why you why was it a bad shot? Rather than
Speaker 1: that's dreadful. That's what we can say it, you know,
Speaker 1: but things happen, and try and say, yeah, I'm trying
Speaker 1: to get more of you know, how and why things happen,
Speaker 1: you know, and what what's he got to do? How
Speaker 1: is he going to do it? And why did that
Speaker 1: happen rather than speak the obvious, you know, so what
Speaker 1: you can see? So that's that's important to me to
Speaker 1: keep keep working on that too. Hey, just give some
Speaker 1: good insight into what the players only guess what they're thinking.
Speaker 1: Not a mind reader, but but you can definitely help
Speaker 1: the golfers with some little tips here and there. I
Speaker 1: like doing that, like trying to give a bit of
Speaker 1: insight some try this, feel that, think that. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm enjoying it. It's it's it's a it's a it's
Speaker 1: a good gig. Two things that come to mind. It's
Speaker 1: wonderful to see golfer is you know, doing so much
Speaker 1: for charity. I think golfers are renowned as wonderful contributors
Speaker 1: to charity. And the other thought that came to my
Speaker 1: mind knowing that you're going to have the open at
Speaker 1: sirt Andrew's and deshambro is going to drive probably firm conditions,
Speaker 1: nine greens. So yeah, this has got to be a
Speaker 1: lot of exciting things to look forward to. And thanks
Speaker 1: very much, Nick. Yeah, I just like brys and get
Speaker 1: if they get the right wind. If he gets down
Speaker 1: wind at the first, he might even calculate first bound
Speaker 1: will go over the burn. If he lands it's jot
Speaker 1: on a rock hard fairway dying he could well, yeah,
Speaker 1: if he can carry it three fifty, he will get
Speaker 1: well down wind. They say he carries one three sixty
Speaker 1: at the first, well, that's will learn just short one
Speaker 1: big hot be and will hopefully stopped by the back
Speaker 1: of the green. That will cause a bit of a stir.
Speaker 1: Then he has to play it back to the flat.
Speaker 1: But but you're right, if you've got down wind, if
Speaker 1: they get favorable wind, you know, John Daily got very
Speaker 1: close to number two. I mean the fairways are running
Speaker 1: rock card. John Daily got closer so you've got to
Speaker 1: obviously three you can drive now he can drive three,
Speaker 1: not the four or five part five yes too. Six
Speaker 1: down winds he will get seven, seven, seven, he could
Speaker 1: actually he could somehow get it onto the eleventh green
Speaker 1: of seven he can go up that way. And then
Speaker 1: obviously nine and ten you already can. Twelve, you already care.
Speaker 1: And if you if you got down wind fifteen it's
Speaker 1: the fairways, all downhill, rock hard when it gets when
Speaker 1: it gets silvery shiny, sixteen brutal, prediculous shot. But wow,
Speaker 1: he could he could aim at the second green and
Speaker 1: somehow get it up very close to there. It might
Speaker 1: be in the hay, I don't know. And then of
Speaker 1: course a team will be but he might be hitting
Speaker 1: his forearn if it's down wind on a team, so
Speaker 1: that that will cause a bit of a stir so
Speaker 1: we But but if they get the dreaded left to
Speaker 1: right wind going out and coming back, you're very happy
Speaker 1: to break empty. Four our viewers that I never forget
Speaker 1: played here the very first time. I thought they spoilt
Speaker 1: a good marsh, and afterwards I learned it was one
Speaker 1: of my favorite places the world. I've got such a respect.
Speaker 1: But under one green there. It's about the six or something.
Speaker 1: I had a hundred yard plant, a hundred yards and
Speaker 1: I said Magetti. His name was Jock. I said, Jock.
Speaker 1: He's at the flags holding the flag. I said, give
Speaker 1: me a line. He says, Laddy, I can he give
Speaker 1: you a line? I can give you a yard, bitch.
Speaker 1: I can't even see it, he said, keep keep keep
Speaker 1: talking to me because I can't see you down there.
Speaker 1: And we got we've gotta we've gotta tell everybody what
Speaker 1: we're gonna do, Gary, because you know your stories are made.
Speaker 1: When you first went to s Andrew's, you didn't you
Speaker 1: didn't have enough money for the hotel, so you put
Speaker 1: your water proofs on. You went in the sand dunes
Speaker 1: down I guess it must have been right of number two,
Speaker 1: somewhere there, opposite the hotel, and you put your water
Speaker 1: proofs on, and you make camp and you slept in
Speaker 1: the sand dunes. You know. So I've been thinking about
Speaker 1: we're trying to work on this, because remember when we spoke,
Speaker 1: we were talking about when you're when I'm older, and
Speaker 1: you said, well, obviously we're gonna be in San Andrew's
Speaker 1: next year. So somehow we need us for what we're doing,
Speaker 1: and say we need a sponsor for this. We're going
Speaker 1: to do this for charity for the homeless maybe or something,
Speaker 1: and we're going to do a celebrity camp out. So
Speaker 1: we're well, yeah, we'll start. We will start with a
Speaker 1: nice party so we're fed and watered. Maybe we can
Speaker 1: get then we can get Bush Mills to give us
Speaker 1: some lovely whiskey to keep us war all at night.
Speaker 1: That'd be lovely. And then um, and then I thought
Speaker 1: we can all somebody could sponsor us. We have a
Speaker 1: waterproof or cash me blankets, right and if it's not
Speaker 1: and if it's raining, we need a little bit of
Speaker 1: a canopy. But we thought we'd go and sleep in
Speaker 1: the sand dunes to honor you, my great friend, and
Speaker 1: we can maybe do a bit of do a bit
Speaker 1: of good for charity. So if there's anybody out there
Speaker 1: listening to that, of things will be and you can
Speaker 1: come and join us. You can buy a ticket for
Speaker 1: the evening and come. And we think it would be
Speaker 1: a hell of a laugh, My goodness, will I think
Speaker 1: it would be hilarious. We hope, we just we hope
Speaker 1: it's not a chilly evening. I have to have to
Speaker 1: chip carry out of a ditch. If there's mind diving, well,
Speaker 1: if he dies, he dies. It was a great evening,
Speaker 1: So it might be what's the circle of life? If
Speaker 1: that's where you started with Snares, that's where you're gonna finish,
Speaker 1: my boy the next day. The next day I got
Speaker 1: a room for ten shillings and sixpence. That was a
Speaker 1: dollar bed and the room was so small. When I
Speaker 1: put the key in the keyhole, the window correct clubby
Speaker 1: was facing the sea. It was facing the bloody WC.
Speaker 1: And I didn't have a curtain. There were no curtains
Speaker 1: in the room. And I mean, you know it was.
Speaker 1: It's hilarious when you think. I mean, I remember taking
Speaker 1: a Greyhound bust from fort Worth to Houston. I mean
Speaker 1: it's not the same as your your own private jet,
Speaker 1: is it? Not quite? So I love to tell the story,
Speaker 1: you know it, And it's my favorite. I got on
Speaker 1: the first year Saint Andrew's my first year. Then I
Speaker 1: was very nervous. The fairway so white, and the guy says,
Speaker 1: play away, bloody, there's big do a guy with his
Speaker 1: kill John and I hooked up damn ball and was
Speaker 1: going to get out of bounds and I, thank goodness
Speaker 1: I hit that white ray League and it came back
Speaker 1: in the fince and we will. Walking off the tea
Speaker 1: said Laddy, come here and watch your name. I said,
Speaker 1: my name is Gary Players. He says, and where are
Speaker 1: you from? I said South Africa and he says, and
Speaker 1: what is your handicap? I said, no, I'm a pro.
Speaker 1: He said, you're a pro. I said. He says, you
Speaker 1: must be a hell of a chimberant. Butter lady, I
Speaker 1: won the Open of twenty three, the youngest at that stage.
Speaker 1: Came back to Saint Andrews. He's hitting like and he
Speaker 1: says it's a miras this is important, a bloody miracle. Yeah. Anyway,
Speaker 1: thanks very much, my friend was a delight talking to you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was fun. Don't forget to subscribe to the Player
Speaker 1: series on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast