WEBVTT - Fire Drill 041: Center of the Storm 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:05.920 For me, it was a complete no brainer. I had 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:08.680 nowhere else to play that week of London. There was 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:10.959 no g Pro Tour event, there was no Corn for 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.680 You Tour event, there was no Monday qualifier. There was 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:15.960 nowhere else for me to play, and it provided a 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:18.880 great financial situation for me to be able to you know, 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.599 fund my my golf for the next couple of years. 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:28.200 I got thoughts in my head. Can't get John, nothing 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:32.440 thing what I'm thinking about about thoughts in my head. 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.519 I can't get them out. John, not to think what 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:48.160 I'm thinking about. Welcome back to their Fire Drill podcast. 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:52.159 This is Alan Schipnuk. I am joined by Ryan French 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.560 at home in Michigan and we have our special guest 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.600 to stay, Andy Ogletree, coming into hot from Alfreda, Georgia. 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.000 Before we get to then, and let me just thank 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.760 our sponsors who make this stuff possible. Of course, we 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.280 have part points our favorite golf scoring app our friends 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:11.880 at Dormy Workshop. They make beautiful Artisano leather goods. We 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.880 sell them at the fire Pit Collective dot com in 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:17.360 the in the fire Pitch Shop and the code is 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:21.560 fire Drill. You get a nice discount. We always appreciate 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.640 our our corporate sponsors to let us do cool things 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.720 like this. So we want to welcome into Andy Ogletree 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:33.000 of course US Open champ who's had a US Open 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:40.039 taking upgrade man, my apologies. Yes, US amateur champ who 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.919 has had a non traditional start to his professional career. 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.560 We're gonna we're gonna talk about that and his um, 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.800 his dalliance would live golf and where it all goes 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:52.520 from here. So Andy, thank you for doing this. I 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.880 really appreciate you. Yeah, thanks for having me. Guys looking 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.240 forward to it. So, so let's talk about the the 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.000 US am A victory. You know, it's obviously a career highlight. 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:04.680 It was it was just played recently and we were 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.600 all tuned into a pretty epic match. It's a very 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.560 exclusive fraternity. I mean, as the years go by and 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.440 you look back on that victory, how much does it 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:16.320 mean to you in reflection? Yeah, like you said, the 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.680 years of have gone by, for sure. It's uh, it's 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:21.960 kind of old news at this point, and when I 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.000 think back, it seems like such a long time ago. 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.240 So many things have happened since then. But obviously it's 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.799 just special memories. Um, what a great week, and it's 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:32.840 opened the door to a lot of opportunities for me. 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.480 So I owe a lot of what I'm able to 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.160 do now thanks to that week. And you know that 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.200 week was That week was super cool. I can't wait 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:42.919 to can't wait to talk about it. Remember it a 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.919 little bit. I mean, it does touch off this this 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.280 unusual almost like internship. Right, you have to stay an 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.880 amateur to cash in these great exemptions, and it creates 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.760 a little bit of a limbo. Remember Bryson D. Shambo 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.480 called it an internship when when he was the USA Champion, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.880 because for me, it locked me in for about another 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.120 year and a half. Um Traditionally, when you win the 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.560 us AM um, it looked like everything was gonna come 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.119 into place, perfect, perfect for me. I won the us 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:14.760 AM after my junior year of college. I had always stay, 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:18.760 planned to stay four years and graduate from Georgia Tech UM. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.880 So I win the U s M after my junior year. 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.040 Everything's great. I'm gonna play my senior year. I'm gonna 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.200 play the Walker Cup. All these dates are kind of 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.280 lining up perfectly. I'll play the Masters in November, and 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.880 then I'll play the um n C Double A championship 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.120 in turn pro, and hopefully play seven events on the 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.040 PGA tour UM that season. I kind of had all 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.480 of that lined up for that summer, and then COVID happened. 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.280 So I think it was March fourteen that the world 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:50.320 kind of shut down. UM our senior season got canceled. 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.920 They announced all spring sports and n C Double A 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:58.880 will be canceled starting March fourteen. There's gonna be no championships, 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:03.600 you know. All that stuff happened, so that happens. The 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:06.720 Masters gets postponed in November. We don't really know when 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:09.040 we're gonna play any tournaments. I have a couple of 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:13.000 sponsor exemptions that I can still play UM as an amateur, 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.200 obviously because their direct qualifications for winning the US am 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.960 So those were the invitationals UM Colonial. I could have 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.919 played bay Hill, UM I didn't play because of a 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.039 college event, but I could have played bay Hill and 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:30.320 then Hilton Head and Memorial. So I played all of 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.960 those UM that summer. So that gave me something to 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.200 play in which was great. And then I waited until 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:42.919 November obviously to turn pro. And after the Masters, I 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.200 mean that it's always a challenge for the U s 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.480 am champ to kind of balance the business in life 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.600 and the opportunities you're turning down. I mean, what did 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.560 you give up by staying an amateur? I mean, did 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.400 you have offers on the table to get turn professional 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.559 right away? Yeah? I mean, obviously I could have turned 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:02.160 profession on and played that summer. I probably just would 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:06.800 have moved up my timeline. Um, I would more than 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:08.960 likely going to get seven events on the PGA Tour, 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.120 and um so I could have gone ahead and taken 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:16.640 my seven events that summer, and you know, obviously three 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.640 of those were I would have just played the same 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:24.040 term as I played anyway, um being Colonial, Hilton Head, 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:25.960 and Memorial. So I would have had those, and then 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.840 I would have hopefully gotten four more sponsor invites throughout 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:32.360 the summer. But I mean, when it all turned out, 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.480 I basically didn't turn down much to wait until November. 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:39.880 I just had to wait until November. Um, some some 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.760 unfortunate events happened after November that you know, kind of 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.839 set me back a little bit and made my route 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.640 much more untraditional. Andy, Just to be clear, like if 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.719 if the Masters was played at its normal time that year, 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:55.720 you would have played the Masters and then turned pro 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.640 and got seven exemptions as a pro right and then 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.839 obviously like Flee, Yeah, so I would have played the 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.920 Masters in April, I would have played the n C 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.160 Double A Championship at the end of May, and then 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:10.560 I would have turned pro early June and hopefully played 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:14.680 seven events including the US Open, and I would have 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.240 been able to play all those as a pro. Just 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.680 for those listening, and then what that would have done 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.120 to Andy's career is he plays those as a pro 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.920 gett non member points. If he plays decent enough, at minimum, 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:27.880 he's in the corn Ferry finals with the chance to 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:32.080 get is PJ Tour card or at at worst be 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.320 a full member of the corn Ferry Tour. So the 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.359 timing of COVID and all of those things really obviously 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.600 worked against And in this case, that wasn't just me. Obviously, 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.320 that was a lot of players earning pro that year, 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.360 and there was no Q school that following fall, so 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.040 everybody was basically in a limbo state for a year 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:52.560 and a half to two years. It was great for 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:54.640 the guys that had their tour card already, and it 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.960 was great for the guys who maybe played bad on 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.680 tour and got an extra year, or maybe you know, 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.080 got some guys got stuck on the corn Ferry Tour 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.480 for two seasons that we're going to qualify for the 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:07.000 PGA Tour. So there was a lot of guys that 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:11.240 got you know, dealt a bad hand from that that timeline, 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:16.360 but my situation was definitely unfortunate. So so fast forward 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:17.680 now that takes us all the way through the end 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:22.400 of two thousand twenties. So you get into early and 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.880 you don't have a ton of options, right, what what 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:28.440 was your making in pro? The week after the Masters 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.160 obviously another special week for me and finished in low Am, 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.960 and that whole experience was so cool. Getting to play 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.880 with Tiger and getting to be in Butler cabin at 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:40.400 the end of the week and all the stuff that 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:42.600 came with that was awesome. It was a great segue 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:46.160 into me turning pro. Um. I kind of accomplished everything 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.200 I wanted to do as an amateur, and then you know, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.320 everything was unfolding. I was so hopefully going to get 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.960 my seven events on the PGA Tour. I hoped, and 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:57.800 I had a lot lined up and I played in 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:03.680 three before having hip surgery, so um, everything was kind 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.200 of still in place. I hadn't lost much at that point. 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.560 I was just basically delayed six months of my prolier 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.160 process um from kind of when I thought I would 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:17.400 be doing this this step in my career. It was 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.360 basically six months after but played three events and then 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.160 had to had to have hip surgery. So that was 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:29.880 obviously detrimental. You know. I played those events hurt. I 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.720 thought I could kind of tough it out. I was like, 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.280 you know, maybe I can, maybe I can at least 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:36.040 play well in a couple events to get me enough 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.480 points to get into corner pretty finals and then kind 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:40.920 of go that route. But I wasn't able to get there, 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.880 and I didn't play well in my events. I realized 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.160 I couldn't compete against you know, some of the best 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:50.040 players in the world when I wasn't feeling fully healthy. 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.880 So I needed to get that figured out, and you know, 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:55.360 I had to had to go have surgery. When did 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:59.520 you sustain I don't. I don't really for a specific 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.840 day or like a specific event that happened. I was like, oh, 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.080 you know, that was that moment that tore my hip. 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.720 But um, I had a torn laboram and a cam 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.640 F A I impinchment, so basically extra bone girth around 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.360 the hip socket and all the rotation on my left 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:16.760 hip over time just tore my labram in half. And 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:19.200 I was bowling on bawn and it was just I 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.840 was having a hard time walking, much less turning hitting 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.760 the golf ball. So I played. I started the year 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.640 um out at Tory Pines. Played there, played okay, but 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.679 missed the cut. Played batt on the south course and 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.640 didn't take advantage of the north. And then the next 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:40.240 week was a Monday qualifier in Scottsdale, so I went 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.679 from Tory to Scottsdale. I was gonna play the Monday, 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.800 and then I was in the next week at Pebble Beach. 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.120 And that week in Scottsdale, I remember my hip just 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:53.200 killing me. And I didn't Monday, but Alie Snydergean's and 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.720 I stayed out in Scottsdale because it's a great place 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.320 to practice. It's cold in Atlanta. We didn't want to 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.319 come home, so stayed out there in practice all week 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.040 and I was like, man, my hips just killing me. 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.560 And then I get to Pebble Beach the next week 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.679 and I was just I was smoked, not mean, my 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:12.160 my hip was in such pain, and I kind of 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.400 suffered through that week and then drove down to l A. 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.160 I was gonna play Riviera the next week. I was 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:22.040 in there, and so I get to Riviera and I 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.520 had to withdraw on Monday. And I took like a 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.800 month off before Punta Kana and gave it one lass, 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.680 one last more right, and I just wasn't able to 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.240 do it. So I called my surgeon walking off the 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.000 eighteenth green, I said, schedule it, um, let's go ahead 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.280 and must do the hip surgery. So um, in that 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:45.640 month between Riviera and Punta Kana, I went and had 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.920 imaging done and he told me, you know, I was 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.040 gonna have to have the surgery within a few months. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:51.679 He just didn't know when it would be. He said, 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:54.640 you know, you'll know when the time's right. So I 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.480 called him after Punta con insist, I know the times right, 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.240 let's do it that And I knew if I if 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:02.920 I had the surgery, then then I could play Q 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.520 School that that year, and that was kind of my hope, 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.080 UM at least be able to play Q School and 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:13.400 give myself hopefully guaranteed status. UM that was kind of 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.240 the goal. A whole time. So that was the reason 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:18.400 I want to have the hit surgery Andy, I mean 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:20.840 take us back to just like trying to work through 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.319 the you know, play through the pain, because I mean, 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.160 I think a very few people kind of understand how 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.040 fleeting in the politics and all the stuff that goes 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:34.000 on with sponsors, exemptions, even if you're the U. S. M. Champ. 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.679 I mean, you're out six months and it's like quickly 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.000 for people forget who you are. So you're just like, 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:44.400 I gotta take advantage of it. Yeah, that's very well said. Um, 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.280 people forget very quickly. Golf very much a game of 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.680 what can you do for me right now? And you 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.360 know rightfully, so you want to take the take the 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.479 players that are hot, and take the players that, um 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.960 kind of have have done something recently so they're sponsoring 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.680 vites are very hard to get, and fortunate for me, 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:06.679 I was able. You know, it was soon enough after 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.080 the low am with the Masters that people kind of 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.120 were still remembering me and I was able to get 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.280 all the sponsor invites starting out that year. But after 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.840 hip surgery, UM, it was a little different. I wasn't 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:19.760 able to get any sponsor invites and we'll get into 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:22.680 some of that after after Q school and kind of, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:27.240 um what happened after that? But UM, yeah, this, the 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:28.960 sponsor invites are very hard to get. I think they're 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:30.480 hard to get on the corn Ferry Tour than even 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:35.080 the PGA Tour. And for reasons we don't. We don't 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:38.480 have to. One day we'll tell that story. That's a 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:42.920 different UH. There's there's a lot of polics that go 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:48.080 involved in UH and and those sponsor invites on both tours. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.600 I think. So. Um, after hip surgery, I was feeling great. 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.600 I had a great six months recovery and um, everything 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.360 was looking good. Um, I was playing some good golf. 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:01.679 I went and my first tournament back was a g 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:05.679 Pro Tour event September, and uh, I was advanced to 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.440 second stage. So I wanted to play a little bit 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.800 of golf before I went to second stage of Q school. 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:12.120 I went and played a g Pro Tour event. I 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.120 won that. That was my first event back post hip surgery. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.760 Everything's great. Um, I got a sponsor invited to Sanderson Farms. 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:23.000 It's near my hometown in Mississippi, and I've known the 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.120 tournament director for a while. He gave me a spot, 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.319 and which I was, you know, obviously super thankful for. 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:31.600 I had two events to play before before Q School. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.480 I got into contention actually Sanderson Farms and had a 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.120 bad Saturday. But I had a really good tournament and 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:40.400 uh gave me a lot of confidence. Going into Q school, 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.160 I was, I was ready to go. Um, all the 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.079 all the hard work that I've done for six months 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.040 was paying off and everything kind of. I go, so 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.120 here we go to Q School. I get the second stage. 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.360 I lose by one, but play great. I think I 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.280 shot like eighteen nineteen under par. I don't remember it 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.920 was in in Dothan, Alabama, but uh yeah, so accuse 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.480 school went great. I get the final stage. I pulled 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.880 a muscle in my elbow on Sunday. But right before 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.920 the tournament starts, I play no practice rounds. I go 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.559 get a Cortison shot the night before the first round, 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.800 and I mean, I just I couldn't swing the golf club. 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.000 Um somehow I wasn't able to make a lot of 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.520 puts the first round and shoot a few under. But 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.520 after that it started raining, got super cold, and Wendy 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:28.000 um Savannah and I just I shot a million finished 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.600 like a hundred at final stage, and I didn't really 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:35.120 know how detrimental that could be for the rest of 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.920 the year. So okay, so we're back in Q school. 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.240 How how did you How did you hurt your elbow? Yeah, 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.120 so I was it was super cold in Atlanta. Obviously 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.720 in November, you never know what you're gonna get in Atlanta, 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:49.160 and it was really cold the week before. But I 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:50.880 wanted to get some practice in, so I went to 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.120 the indoor hitting bays at Golf Club of Georgia and 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.720 there's like a little trench in the in the mat. 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:00.240 But I hit it out there and it kind just 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:02.880 called it just right. I don't know, I don't know 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.800 what happened, put it just right in the little trench 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.280 and it kind of just caught my wedge and it 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:13.480 snapped my elbow and it's it was so swollen, looked 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.880 so gross. Um called my physical therapist that had done 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.560 he had done my hip surgery rehab, and he was like, 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.560 oh my gosh, you know, we've spent seven months getting 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.880 you ready for Q school and then this freak accident happens. 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.560 So he rushed me in. It was a Sunday. He 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.440 rushed me into his clinic. He opened it up. It 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.880 was like, you know, late in the afternoon. Um, he 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.680 was actually at like his kids volleyball practice or something, 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:41.400 and he was like he knew that when I called him. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.480 The tone of my voice I was, you know, I 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.240 was in in some serious pain and hurting and whatnot. 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.800 So he uh rushed me in did some dry need 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:52.720 link to it? And then he's like, you don't need 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.440 to go to final stage and I'm like, no, I'm 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.440 going to final stage. You know, this is all I've 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.920 worked for for the past seven months. And even you know, 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:04.640 back before that it was you know, I had I 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:06.800 missed Q school the year before because of COVID. So 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.880 this was like a whole two year cycle leading up 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:14.280 to this event. And you know, my elbows size of 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:19.320 a balloon. So, um, I go down Monday morning just 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:23.320 like I'm gonna go to Savannah. That was my original plans. 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.400 I called Mac Barnhardt, my agent, and I was like, 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.120 you know, Mac, this is what's going on. He called 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:33.000 one of his doctor friends, Dr Topper, down in Sea Island. Um. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.200 Dr Talps got a practice in Brunswick, so he brought 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.920 me in for imaging on Tuesday and then I think 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.160 I got a Cortison shot on Wednesday to play the tournament, 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.320 and I was icing the whole week. I got to 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.680 walk the course obviously, but I couldn't hit any balls. 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.200 Dr Talps like, you know, he was like, we've done 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.920 all we can do. Go try and see what you 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:55.520 can do on Thursday. But he was like, don't hit 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.360 a ball until Thursday and make it any worse. So 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:01.920 I literally really from Sunday to Thursday didn't hit a 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.720 single golf shot. Um. I didn't know if I was 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:06.760 gonna be able to play, but I knew I had 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:08.680 to at least hit a shot off the first tea. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:10.520 If you hit a shot off the first tea at 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.919 final stage, you technically finished. You can withdraw and finish 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.399 last in the tournament, but at least you keep your 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.040 conditional status. If you withdraw before the tournament starts, you 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.520 don't even keep your conditional status. So, um, you know, 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.800 I hit a shot off the first he end up 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:29.639 shooting a shot. I think I shot like four or 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.960 five when out of the first round, and we were like, okay, 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:34.879 here we go, let's let's see what we can do. 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:39.080 And then the second round, Um, I went to the 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.640 other course and hit like three balls out of bounds, 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:47.359 shot a million. So um, I mean yeah, just does 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:49.240 your mind ever go to a dark place and you 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.159 think about how your life had been different if it 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:54.639 wasn't for that little goddamn trench in the map. Yeah, 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.240 I mean it really could. I would have been off 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.200 and running. I was playing so well, um, coming back 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:03.160 from surgery, and you know, I was in a good, 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:07.400 good space mentally, everything was good and yeah, so that 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.720 was super unfortunate. And as soon as the tournament ended, 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:13.679 I knew I had to find a way to get 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.719 into some tournaments. So I had to get sponsor invites 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:20.240 um or I had to Monday qualify. So as soon 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.879 as the tournament ended, I start emailing Bahamas. I started 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:30.480 emailing um the South American events, I started emailing Louisian. 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:33.480 I started emailing all these different places. The lead calm 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:37.440 down in Florida. I can I've had hours and hours 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:41.760 of conversations with all of these tournament directors, um tons 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:45.280 of emails. I was told literally three days after the 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:48.600 final stage that all of my all the spots in 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.640 my category were already taken for the Bahamas. I don't 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:55.040 know how that's possible. Um PGA Tour sponsor invites are 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:58.919 given out, you know, two weeks ish before the event. 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:04.480 But somehow my category was already already given for Lee Coom, 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:09.040 already given for Bahamas, um for Bo Gatar. I think 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.639 they were already given their's. They probably get them the 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:13.600 local guys or I don't know what the deal was, 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.600 but um, yeah it was. It was very interesting how 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:21.359 that that whole system works. I was told, like I said, 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.800 three days after um Corn Free Finals that all the 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:32.520 spots were already given out, So maybe it's coincidence. Maybe Yeah, 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.600 in my opinion, the spots are being sold still, so 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.400 that's just just my ti. Um, that's that's where I'm at. 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:42.639 Andy first. I mean we can definitely touch on the 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.600 on the exemptions too, but just kind of give people 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:49.440 to give people a perspective of what finishing a Q 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:52.840 school was. People think that like you get the final 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:55.920 stage and you're like, oh, everything's goold and you basically 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:57.600 have to finish in the top forty. Maybe if you 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.000 missed by one shot, you're gonna get a lot of tournament, 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.280 but we're Andy finished, basically you're gonna get into maybe 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:05.800 five tournaments in a year, and they're gonna be you know, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.399 not that there's any but they're gonna be later in 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:13.200 the season and all this kind of stuff. So yeah, 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:14.880 I mean that was kind of my understanding. I thought 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:16.920 I might get into a couple of events later in 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:18.640 the year. I thought I might get into maybe bow 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:22.159 Guitar Panama, because a lot of people don't travel to 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:25.600 those places. UM. I thought I would get into the BMW, 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:29.200 which was, you know, a large field because it's three courses. 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:30.840 I thought I might get in a few of those events. 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:33.120 So that was kind of my hope. But I never 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.240 got into a single event. Um based off the reshuffle 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.359 this year and how everyone wanted to play every event, 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:42.720 I just never got into a tournament. So UM, I 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.840 was traveling the Southeast and kind of all over playing 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:51.280 all these Monday qualifiers. UM. I was playing a lot 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:55.400 of many tour events in between. And the season got 0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:58.399 to the point where there was two events back to 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.879 back in Louisiana and I had been talking to a 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:04.360 tournament director in Louisiana. I'm not going to say his name. 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:06.479 I had been talking to the tournament director for one 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.840 of the events, and he told me you know. He 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.240 was like, between you and me, you're gonna get into 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.640 this tournament. We're gonna give you a sponsor invite. And 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.520