Fore Play - Matthew Fitzpatrick

Episode Date: August 1, 2019

Matthew Fitzpatrick, the 27th-ranked player in the world, who called Frankie out at Pebble for Frankie claiming he could beat him up, joins us in studio for an entire show. We talk being on the European Ryder Cup group text, picking up distance, his best and worst shots, what he hears from the gallery, the difference between he and Brooks Koepka, and even take some From The Galleries. One of our favorite interviews ever!!!You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/foreplaypod

Hey, 4Play listeners, you can find us every Tuesday and Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Matthew Fitzpatrick. We have a great history with him, a funny history with him. He came into studio. We did nearly an hour. We talk about everything. It gets into, there's a lot of funny bits.

He tells a lot of good, interesting, funny stories. We talk about his golf games, so it gets pretty heavy into golf at parts at times. Fantastic. fantastic stuff. You can also get heavy into golf with Supreme Golf. They are presenting sponsor for the entire year. If you want to go play some golf, you have to go to SupremeGoff.com slash barstool.

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You want to go to SupremeGoff.com slash. Barstool, only tea time app you need. Thank you, Supreme Golf. Let's talk some golf. Our good friend Matthew Fitzpatrick is in studio in New York. First impressions of the barstool office. Mixed reviews. Looks nice and clean, you know, brand new, but I mean, there's some Instagram stories

that I saw a couple of things. Broken door handle and a rat. You just say a giant fucking rat. You just say a giant fucking rat. It was a big rap. It sent people scattering in the lobby. Yeah, it looked aggressive. I'm not going to lie.

So you're all nervous. You're like, I'm going to go to like bar stool tomorrow. Probably be pretty fun. Whatever you look on Instagram, you just see a giant lap. Yeah, yeah. Me walking to work today,

I had my head on a swivel this morning. Oh, me too, man. I mean, I made sure that like I was ready for battle if one was going to pop out of like the ceiling or something. So for a guy who doesn't know yesterday morning, all of a sudden this video goes out on Twitter from a bunch of our employees that some guy in the lobby, he's waiting for the elevator, a giant rat that looked more like a squirrel just jumped on

him. Yeah. Just attacked. Yeah, it wasn't just running on the floor. It just jumped on his person. Yeah. So, you know, it's New York. That's New York City, I feel like, you know.

If you don't get a close encounter with a rat, did you ever really move here or live here? So, you know, it's not too bad. So, you know, the first time and probably the reason that you're here was we're at the PJ championship. You walk right by us. We're making a little video. We're kind of doing our thing. We're in the mix.

And Frankie, right after you walk by. course like after you're out of earshot just gives like I think that might be the only guy in the world that I could beat up yeah so you know what did you like your buddies tag you in that your buddies send that to you how did you figure out yeah I think uh I think someone sent it to me um and then they were like oh this guy's calling you out I was like all right okay and then I saw it and then obviously the US Open comes around a few months later and um I was like yeah you see those guys over there uh that guy there he uh he called me out he said he beat me up and then in which my caddy Billy

um yeah he sort of uh yeah he went and uh ask for an apology oh yeah i thought i was getting out to the cottage or something like he put his arm around me he's like let's go for a walk i'm like oh man what could this be about and i saw you at the other end of the range i'm like oh shit no no it was good though i mean that that just goes to show that like you're in on the joke and you know you know what we do here at barcel which is hilarious because obviously i'm number one i can't beat you up because i'm just a small little twink and number I mean, I can't do anything. And number two is just like, when we're making jokes and stuff like that,

instead of like taking it the wrong way, you're just like laughing it off. And you're like, you're getting in the mix. And that's why like, now you're our boy. Like that's, that's it. There's like one or two ways to go about that joke and you just took the better road. That's hilarious. That's good. So I'm going to ask you, why are we here at 9?

This is insane. Why? Yeah. This is an early interview. Yeah, this is, this is about to you guys in. No, I'm, I'm playing Bayon. I mean, it must be nice. Yeah.

It must be nice. They'll get back to the ferry, you know. And then head over. Have you ever played Bayonne before? I played it a couple times, yeah. It's such a great golf course. Yeah, it's really, really good. Payone's got, I mean, it's not a big deal for you,

but it's got one of the most intimidating first tee shots on the planet. Yeah. Right by the pro shot. The first hole, like, I actually can't remember the first hole. It's a little short dog leg left. You can't see the green off the tee. And the first tea is legit like a step and a half away from the pro shot. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right.

Yeah, yeah. So fucking everybody that's getting ready to tea off in the next like 30 minutes, all the caddies are made. that arrives is just standing there while you hit you're like hey i like sucks so don't yeah don't look please don't make a quick i'll make a quick announcement i stink so don't judge me on this it's a classic first here where you're like two off the first yeah you know breakfast ball yeah like you let that be known that you're going to hit a bad shot and everyone's like okay yeah he's going to take a breakfast ball you're announcing like don't expect a lot but then you roast

on you're like don't need it uh what do you do in york what's the uh just yeah just till holiday really um yeah i'll go a couple of friends friends that to live here and work here, so I'll sort of catch up with them over the week. And then, yeah, they don't actually going out to the Hamptons to stay with some other friends and practice out there for a week. A little vacation. Yep, exactly. Do you, so out there, where are you practicing out there?

Fry's Head. Friars. I've not been there before, though. Really? I've heard a good thing. So I don't want to brag, but I shot my career low at Friars Head. Oh, nice. Yeah.

So it's a good story. I was, you know, I'm playing. I was even par coming at 18. I've never shot 72 before. And it's dog leg left, snap hook one up into the trees. Yeah. Like, fuck. Caddy's like, man, I know you got a good round going.

I think you got to hit Provisional. Like, no problem. Blast one, like 100 yards right. Like, we're not going to find it right. It's like, we go up there. My first tee shot is on the left side of the fairway. No way. Just the luck.

I'm off the hit one of the green two-putt. Got out of there. Oh, that's nice. So good luck. I'm, no offense. I hope you shoot 73. Like, more than anything. I'd be the same.

No, but Friars is spectacular. So speaking of practice, I got to ask, like, four or five years ago, I'm playing a member guest at Brookline, the country club. And you were out there at that same weekend. Oh, so you that? And you were, like, and you're like, ooh, there's Fitzpatrick who on the ESAM and all that stuff. And you're chipping around the practice, green doing some practice with your guy, I guess who's your coach or whoever. And you're hitting these chips from like five feet off the green, your pitching.

And your guy was, like, lasering the flat. Is that pretty standard for you? No, like, that was like my caddy at the time. He kind of did this thing that we just go around and I'd just guess the ardage. Really? He lays it. Yeah, yeah. And then he, I mean, he had players in the past that he noticed when they did that, they got better.

So they got better with the feel and everything that came with that. Really? Yeah, that's kind of what he made me do it, basically. Because, yeah, we're all, you know, we're playing in this, and then we're guys, we're all thinking like, man, we got to start fucking laser in our chips. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This guy's playing chess over here. Like, what are we doing?

So that's not common anymore? No, no, I kind of just, yeah, I just eyeball it now. Yeah, that's just cool. Yeah, it's a little too time consuming, just getting the laser out every time. Right. So Northwestern, we talked about it a little bit when you were on radio, but I don't know that our podcast listeners got to hear about it.

Ryan Whitney actually brought it up of, you know, the great story of you, you know, you come over, you're obviously an English guy, you get recruited, you go play golf in Northwestern, your Wikipedia thing says that he left after one, quarter in January 2014 to pursue a full-time, you know, golf career, you know, what happened? What's, what's, um, the school was so hard.

Like the, yeah, the academic was really, really tough. Schools just sucks. Northwestern especially, that's a hard school. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, um, parents wanted me to go get a degree, something to fall back on if, if the golf didn't work out. Um, and Pat Goss and David Ingalls, coaches, they're, they're, they're great coaches. They, then sort of know what they're doing.

and it was a good fit in that aspect, but yeah, I just got there and it was just so, so difficult. I guess long sort of short, the golf worked out. Yeah, yeah,

basically, yeah, you showed your pants. Yeah, in your face, mom and dad. You're sitting in class, you're just like,

what are we doing here? You just think about golf balls on it. I could be shaping a nice draw right around a fucking tree right now. Exactly. Some drawing triangular, fucking, you don't even know.

I can't even know. I can't even know. Can't even think. Of a scholastic term. That's how bad it's, that's how bad school is. The academics are so far from your brain. You couldn't even think of a funny example. Couldn't even think of a word.

You're better off. Triangular. You're better off. We all, I mean, Riggs went to Harvard. We didn't go to those type of schools, but I don't remember anything that happened there. I mean, I remember nothing. I was just there to get a piece of paper and get out of it. It's four years of my life.

I took like three years of Spanish. Can't tell you one sentence. Where do you guys? I didn't retain anything. I went to a community college on Long Island. I went to a small school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It's just in the John Deere. Zach Johnsonland.

There we go. What do you think of the John Deer Classic? I mean, you know, be open. It's just always, it's always clashed with the European, I think, well, yeah, just before the open. Yes. I mean, you would never play at that tournament, right? Just never. I mean, I'm never going to say never, but like it's just.

We're taking that as a commitment for next year. Matthew Fitzpatrick is going to be at the John Deer Classic. John Deer's going to announce it. Put it on their Twitter account. This is great. Your social is going to be all fired. What again. That's beautiful.

Never say never. That's what we get a tractor named after you. You could just say it. You would just never, ever under any circumstances playing that. I mean, it just doesn't work out. Like, the week before the open, why would I go to America to fly back? It's a great point. Yeah.

It's a great tournament. Feel free to give it some thought. Hey, my friends go all the time. They say it's pretty good. John, your classic tagline should be never say never for the top 50 players. Never say never. That's great. So let's talk about 2013.

I mean, you know, you have, you finished low amateur at the open, then you've got a lot of confidence. You're going into a massive tournament like the US Amateur. How much confidence you have going into that? Yeah, I would say a lot of the time. I've lost in the final of the English Amateur as well that summer, and I was just playing really well. And the US Amateur is a little different. I'm going to be honest, I had no idea how big a deal it was. like really did have no idea.

I mean, I remember winning the semifinal and Nobighay was like, you know, you're going to get an invite to the Masters now. And I was like, oh, really? Like genuinely didn't have a clue. Like that was part of it. So, yeah, I kind of, I think that probably helped a lot in the fact that, you know, if I was going now and realize what was on the line, I'd be like, shit, I've got to play well, basically.

Yeah, because you're probably like, that's great, man. Yeah. I get to go, Masters? Yeah, yeah. You're the actual master? Yeah, yeah. Like, it was basically like that. No, it was basically like that.

And I just remember, I remember him saying, like, afterwards, like, I felt like you didn't know that was like, not, not a clue, genuinely. I had no idea. So what, you know, at that time in your career, what's, like, your team look like? Is it just kind of you and your family and you're out there? Yeah, it's just like me and my, probably, I just had a coach, but. home who I'm still with have been with for since I was probably 15 and yeah that that's that's it really just keeping things simple yeah I'm always curious about the team I mean now you know now that it's it's you know almost it's what seven eight years later are you do you have a bigger team do you

have like a nutritious a strength coach like how what's your team look like yeah so right now I've got Strength and Conditioner, putting coach, a long game, and then, like, management team, basically. You have, like, a mental coach? No, no, don't. None of that. You just trust yourself out there. Yeah. Well, Billy McCaddy is pretty old school, and he'll basically give me shit if, like, going crazy or anything.

He's not going to, like, pamper you. No, not in the slightest. Maybe he's be okay, man. Yeah, yeah, not in the slightest. be like grow the fuck up basically yeah yeah how so how do you pick you know how'd you pick him how did you get paired up well he was with westwood lee westwood for a long time right and um yeah they parted ways at the end of last year and uh i was also sort of looking for someone a lot more full time um and we kind of knew that they were coming to an end and um he's from like the same

areas of me. We're both from Yorkshire. We got on well before, just, you know, in person and then just gave them the offer and he took it. So you've had a good stretch right now. You know, you finished, I believe it was T12 with the US Open, which we saw you out there coming off, I think T4 this past weekend. You're nearly won over on the European tour.

What's, you know, what's clicking about our game? How good are we feeling about the game? Well, this is like being my best summer ever. Like normally I just miss a bunch of cuts the summer so this is uh yeah this is why is the why in the summer um i think it's because to play a lot of lynx golf um and like this year probably only played well the the open course was the only lynx golf that i'm right um like i i don't know i've i've just not got on with it in the past but um like when i was younger and amateur game was always on lynx so it was quite easy to just go with it but um

like since turning pro you never play it so it's just like bomb and gouge every week basically right so you change your game so yeah you know your game changes your ball flights higher um but yeah i mean it's just i think this year the run i've just been driving it well and and my hands have been pretty good too do you try to change a lot when you when you do go to a lynx course or you're kind of like my game's my game uh yeah i mean certainly like this this year um i've always been had the ability it hit pretty low um and this year sort of kind of took advantage of that a little bit more basically. Obviously, wind picks up, and you can pitch shots a lot shorter into the green,

and they'll bounce further. So, yeah, that's sort of what we were so looking at. At Port Rush, you were famously running down the 18th. It kind of looked like the weather was dog shit, and you just wanted to get off the golf course. Is that it? That's exactly it, yeah. I was like, I was like, I got to the, I basically,

I couldn't keep the ball on the face or the golf course, like, for the last three holes. Like, if you've seen Justin Thomas' dad's video, like, it was that, but worse playing in it, you know. Like, I hit it off 17T. I mean, it must have gone 100 yards and then it just went 90 degrees right. Like the wind was hard off the left. The rain was hard off the left and it just went so far right. Then I hit seven wood from 180 yards short of the green by like 30 yards. And then 18 again, couldn't keep it on the planet.

And fortunately, it stayed short of the bunkers, hit my fire vine. And I was like, get me out of it. I'm done. Like, just get me out of here. Fortunately, it was at the back of the green. I kind of wanted to play out of turn two and just like tap in. But I figured that wasn't great on the 18th hole at the open. That would have been.

I would like that. No handshake. I'm on the plane. I'm gone. I'm getting hell out of here. That's great. It's going to turn to like a meme you running off the golf course. Like anytime someone's in a stickier bad situation, just show the video of Fitzpatrick.

I got it saved already. Quickly running. I'm out of here. That's great. So you said seven wood. What's the, no hybrid? No, no. Well, I mean, it's like probably five wood loft.

It's like a seven wood head. It's great out of rough. So anytime like, you know, even if it's probably 190 to, 2.30. It's perfect to just hack it out and gouge it out of it and it kind of runs. Wow, that's a little go-to shot you got. Yeah, no, it's good. It's good. Peloton. Why does men's health call the Peloton bike the best cardio machine on the planet? We can break it down very easily. If you can't find a workout that keeps you engaged, which is very difficult. Everybody knows that. It'll be difficult.

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You can get $100 off of accessories when you purchase the Peloton bike. So, you know, you finished, like we said, T4 this past week, Brooks Kebka wins. You're the 27th, I believe, ranked player in the world right now. What is the difference between your game, Brooks Kebka's game? And is that, in your mind, like, are you close enough? Can you get there? Can you be the number one ranked player in the world?

Yeah, I mean, don't be wrong. Like, Luke, I know Luke well and Luke Donald's done it. Obviously, that was a couple of years of unbelievable ironplay, unbelievable putting. but like my putting's normally been my strong suit but this year it's let me down quite a bit like looking at last week in particular I probably hit it I think statistically I hit as well as Brooks but I just didn't put as well as well as in right and I think it is it's going to be tough for me because you know take the USBJ golf course I never stood a chance you know it's so so long

that's the Kevin Kisner when he just said Yeah well yeah exactly To ask you guys PGA What is that bad page I got no change Yeah yeah That's the thing you know

There's going to be certain golf courses That just don't set up for me Whether that's majors or WGCs And But then at the same time You know I'm delighted they've moved to Memphis Because that's the first time I played it last week And it was great

Although like Tuesday I got there And it was really windy The course was soaked like they had a storm and I was hitting like long irons into pretty much every hole and I got there and I just thought I have absolutely no chance this week like genuinely no no chance and then the weather was really good and it dried out considerably and then all of a sudden it was like actually you got planning way around and that was that was back up my street again so was there any thought to to being like okay I'm going to try to just get longer yeah definitely there's always the yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, if you're really good now, you try to get longer and you mess up what you currently got, then maybe in two years you'll just be back trying to find what you have. Yeah, that's always the concern. Like, we, I've added, like, I added an inch to my driver at the end of last year. That gave me seven yards. And then I'm trying to drive a next week, which is like two inches longer. So, you know, on paper it should be 14.

So, you know, we're getting there. Yeah. Yeah. It's literally, but you're going to hit 500 dollars. Exactly. Driver's just twice as big as he said that. I just saw it. I just dropped me at work.

On Trent's laptop, I saw him type in, how long can a driver go? So there's that. But I did a little bit of work with like a biomechanist earlier this year, just before the use, BGA, and about, you know, forces and speed and stuff like that. And he got me probably four. miles an hour club club at speed which is you know quates to 10 yards wow yeah because i mean rory's not much bigger than you are no i i would say i'm as tall as rory yeah yeah so it i mean he's a unit yeah that's true yeah i'm always just just curious so when you when you add an inch or a couple

inches i mean how much does that how much tweaking and in practice does that take to like keep the the consistency and the accuracy without that was that was a strange thing because i did some testing in Hong Kong with it. I didn't put it in play, but I was hitting it and it was seven yards further every time, but the dispersion was pretty similar. So I was like, this could be something good. And then I just went for it, put it in as soon as the season finished. And it's been great ever since, really. And is there any, you know, for us, right, like, I can go on the range. I can hit 20 drivers in a row and, like, the last 15 will be pretty damn good because I get in a groove. I go out on the golf course and like nothing changed. It's worth, right? How, how different

is it from taking it in the test facility like you said where the dispersion's good to now you're out on the golf course was there any difference or were you like pretty much just as accurate it was pretty yeah it was pretty much the same really um i think like my accuracy this year is probably the same percentage as it was last year just seven yards further which is obviously uh obviously huge but i do a lot of stuff like on the range trying to simulate you know on course conditions so if there's tell us about that we got to figure that okay if there's like Like, you know, there's 20 flags out there at different, you know, you just try and create a fair way and be like, okay, well, I'm going to hit one between there, one between there, one between there, and just keep it. I just keep a running, like, running tally, basically of your numbers or your percentage, whatever?

Yeah, basically. Because we're just like, hit the range. Yeah, get it up in the air. Correct. Get it in the air. Actually, just make it sound good. Yeah. Like the guy to my left, I want him to feel like it sounds like he's hitting him.

Yeah. I want the guy to, like, be addressing his ball and then lift up his head and like, ooh, that's something great. You got to be, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. You're flushing it to him. You know, like, meanwhile, you hear like a tree. Like, who is that? Yeah, that's so true. You know what blows my mind when we talk to these progobbers is like, he's like, yeah,

they added four miles an hour to my swing. Like, how is your swings able to be so consistent and so like you can add four miles an hour and know that you're adding that to your swing? Like, I, like, I can't even compute that in my head. I can't, I can't fathom being able to, like, have so much control over your swing that you know. Like, you'd be able to tell the difference. between adding four miles an hour? Oh, I mean, I can't feel four miles and out like, oh, that was faster.

But, like, the move that he had me making in my swing, like, gave me the extra speed, basically. So if I feel like I do X and Y, then it'll give me, or I'd like to think it would give me a little bit extra speed, basically. Okay. But it's not a feeling of, like, man, I swung out of my shoes there. Kind of, yeah, that kind of is for me still. Okay. Like, you know, take Rory Brooks, whatever, 120 miles an hour, they're probably doing that. I mean, Cameron Champ, for example, he looks like he's just tapping it every time.

And it's going 123 mile an hour. But like for me, if I'm going to try to get extra, I've still got to feel like I'm swinging pretty fast at it. So if you're playing a course out there that's just like a long course or like on Tuesday at Memphis where it's windy and wet, do you just feel like you're swinging out of your shoes on every swing? I mean, not so much there. I still try and keep it straight. Like, I'd rather be straight and short than trying to go long and crooked, basically. Smart.

But it depends on the courses. There's been a couple that I've played this year. Memorial was one. There's a few holes that are a little wider. And I could just sort of try this move, basically, and get a little bit more out of it. It's very relatable to be like, yeah, I got like, new move yeah because like we do that every every time we play it's no no i got i watch this youtube video boy right yeah my uh my good friend from home like i mean i don't think he'll listen to this

but i'll tell him that i was i'll give him a shout out but uh there's a video you can find it on the internet and um it's just if him duff in a chip basically like but it it kind of it kind of went all over the the golf world really but yeah yeah and um so he's got he's got a little bit of the but basically every every you want to grab a drink I'm yeah you guys

every week every single week he's like I'm back like I've got it I've figured it out I'm back I'm like I'm gonna I'll take you down next weekend

and I'm like he's like no no no I had a lesson I'm back like this is what I'm doing I'm like that is such perfect crazy I text my brother that all time I was your game like dude

I went to the range I'm back yeah it's true I know that 91 that I post hosted last weekend. You saw that at my gym, but I'm back. Yeah,

I got this new thing. So what's, you know, you're obviously a big European tour guy. What's the biggest differences between the European tour and the PGA tour? There's a lot. Yeah,

there's a lot. We don't get a car every week, which is a nice bonus on the PGA tour. Yeah. But I would say the places we go in Europe, they're probably a little bit more exciting. Yeah. You know,

there's, I've played a few, few tournaments. You just kind of in the middle and not nowhere, but there's nothing really to do. Do you enjoy that or is it? I don't mind it personally. I know a lot of the European guys don't like that because they like to go out and just have a look around.

But I genuinely couldn't care less because it's like I'm not there to be a tourist. You're there to play golf. Yeah. So even like if you do go to an exciting place, you're like I'm not necessarily going out and exploring. I'm like going to the golf course. Yeah, exactly. There's a handful of places.

where I'll actually have a look around and like, you know, I'll have a look around Hong Kong. Right. Switzerland is always like a nice town. Nice little plug there for your picture. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Where else do we go? This is cool. When you play like a really cool place like Switzerland, I mean, is that, like is that just

overall a tournament then since it's kind of beautiful in a really cool place that you'll put extra weight on when you're making your schedule? Or is it just pure like money, dollars? No, no. Well, I mean, it's, like, for me, picking tournaments is, there's a number of reasons. The main reason I tried to do it is, like, what suits me best, you know, what, what flows the best in terms of two weeks on, one off or three weeks on, two off, whatever it may be. I'm not the person that wants to play, like, seven in a row and just grind it out because that's just miserable. But, like, you know, obviously, that place suits me very well.

where else suits me very well. Like, I love Bay Hill, obviously. Do you have kind of a formula, like a two weeks on, one week off, or three, you know, three out of four? No, I mean, I don't like playing four in a row. Okay. Like, unfortunately, at the end of the year, kind of have to, sometimes, or in previous years I've had to, just because, like, it's the, there's nothing else to play in, so you may as well play. but I'd rather, in an idea world, it'd be like two on, two off, two on, two off, two off, two on, two off.

Gotcha. You'd like to get a little groove for a couple weeks. Yeah, basically. Who's your best buddy out on the pro circuit? Probably, I'm very good friends with Martin Kimer. Okay. Yeah, Martin Kimer. Really?

He's a good guy, yeah. Yeah, he's a guy that actually was going to use it as an example of kind of tweaking his swing because he wanted to find the draw and win it at Gus. And then next thing you know, he's trying to find what he had back. Yeah, yeah. I think he's playing he's playing a lot better I spoke to him

you know a little bit about what he did and everything but I mean you just forget how like he won the players the US Open and the USPGA right he's that those are three of the biggest you can basically win so he won the US Open about what nine shots

yeah exactly exactly so yeah he's someone that I I always think is great to speak to for advice on on everything basically so he I mean he comes off you know, like this German machine when he plays golf? Well, yeah, he is. What, yeah.

He is. Is he, like, sneaky, funny or sarcastic? Or is he pretty, like, straightforward? What do you know about him that we don't know? That'd be unfair for me to tell him. We tried. We tried. I'll absolutely tell you.

Give us his worst fucking story. No, he's just a, he's a really, really nice guy, like, very genuine, very down to earth. You know, for someone who's obviously done so much, you know, the money's not changed him one bit. That's awesome. Don't be wrong, I didn't know him from growing up. But when I started hanging out with him a little bit more, you know, to be able to do that with a two-time major winner and actually pick his brain and talk to him about stuff, it's like, for me, it's pretty cool. Because I've watched him, growing up, I watched him win the USPGA. I was it, played the US Open he won.

Yeah, it was pretty cool. So you played your first Ryder Cup, 2016. Yeah. A little bit of an eye roll from you there. Obviously, you would have liked things to have gone better. I mean, going into that, where you just not feel in your game? No, I qualified for the team outright, you know, I wasn't picked. Which is hard to do.

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I missed out on qualifying last time. But, yeah. I was just disappointed. Like everyone knows this, so it's not like a new thing. But I was just disappointed I didn't play more.

Right, right. You know, I qualified outright. I was playing pretty solid. I had a couple of good finishes, I think, just only a few weeks prior. And, yeah, I didn't play until Saturday morning. That's what was shocking to me. And I was going to ask, like, two. And I play, and it was four.

It's like I basically hit 20 shots. Right. So it seems crazy to me that you wouldn't want to get somebody, you know, your first time and all that day one, get them out there. Yeah, I think, I think that's, I, me personally, I know going forward, obviously it might not always be the case in my next one or whatever it is, but I've got to play, you've got to play a four ball match, you know, you've got to play your own ball, just play it out, see, you know, see how it feels and everything like that. because I mean I was obviously foursomes it's alternate shot and I mean I just never got into any rhythm whatsoever I didn't know what was what basically and you can play practice round and stuff but I mean it's a different animal once you're out there yeah especially when it's something it's that big and I know even talking about it obviously you know you're trying to be Mr. positive and it's the you know it's your European squad and nobody but naturally anybody who's

no I don't know I fucking want to be out there no doubt about that yeah Give me the ball. Yeah. You can, the other guys on the team I know, you know, that didn't, they played as much as me. They'll tell you the same thing. You know, it's, it was disappointing. We all had good gears.

All played really well, playing well leading up to it. And just never, yeah, just never really. And, I mean, having won a, you know, the US Ammoner, like, clearly you can, you can play match. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, the singles game I played against Zach, I mean, you just. hold the world like you made every every single put and then uh damon was just doing what are you shaking what are you shaking your head at nothing nothing nothing i'm just listening it's trance yeah i love zach

and that's one zach is like the nicest guy he after afterwards he was like came to my friends and he was like he's a great guy like he'll he'll do well in the game and stuff like that and that was you know that was nice for me to hear even though he just pump me i was going to say he's you Yeah. What was it four and three? Yeah, no, love that guy. I'll play against him anytime. Yeah.

Yeah, basically, now look at it, it was probably that. That's great. How, you know, how important is it for you to get on that team next year? Yeah, it's definitely a goal. You know, my schedule will probably revolve around trying to make points early doors to sort of make on, I mean, I don't think the points starts literally soon. I want to say probably four or five weeks, I guess. And you're going to pay, you know, you pay a lot of attention to that. Like, where am I in the writer?

Yeah, like that was the issue with the first year as well. Making the team, like I was getting pretty worked up about, like, making the team. Right. Which is only naturally, you know, I've watched it growing up and wanted to be part of it. And, yeah, I was definitely sort of stressing about it when I didn't need to. Yeah. And then it's kind of happened, did it, and I was like, I don't need to worry about that. What am I doing?

If I play well, yeah, if I play well, I should make the team. Yeah, I remember when Boba Watson, when he lost in 2010 to your boy, Martin Kimer, at Whistling, and he lost in a playoff, everyone's like, are you devastated? And he's like, I just found out I qualified for the Ryder Cup team. He was like, I'm jacked up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, it's, to be part of it and everything that comes with it is awesome to be part of the team.

how tight you know are you still with a lot of those guys I mean did that kind of catapult you into this this friendship group with the European you know team or were you already there no I'll probably say a little bit yeah yeah definitely yeah you know probably from that I've become good friends with Rory become good friends of Sergio I mean a lot of the guys on the team as well I kind of knew a little bit before

but it's just it's just that it's probably more feeling comfortable with them. You pick up a couple phone numbers you didn't have before. Yeah, that's true. A group text going on. Yeah, group text died out

though pretty fast out. I'm sure. It was like, Henning Stenson left, Justin Rose left, Roy McElroy left. Oh man, that's a sad day. And I was just there like, no. No.

Come back, go back. I miss my friends. Oh, man. That's tough. I mean, we're, you know, we're rooting for the US, but that's sad. That's just a sad thing.

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Go to Medtera CBD.com slash golf. again go to www. medteracbd.com slash golf. I can't remember if we ask you this on the radio or not, so we'll ask again, how far is your stock seven iron go? 177.

How far if you're, like how, what yard is, are you comfortable if you're in the middle of fairway on a par five to carry? How far are you comfortable going for it? How far out? Oh, probably to like two, 250

That's still pretty good Yeah, that's good Was that just you could just launch your three wood You're comfortable carrying it 250? Yeah, I mean I'd have to rip it I think but like It's different because I can Add 10, 15, 20 yards to my irons

I'd say like I can really Like compress it basically Kepka said that too What is that? How come you guys can just hit and fire? I have like a lot of like My club face is really really strong So I mean

I hit a pitching wedge at the open through the air, which normally goes 140. I hit that 182 yards. Like, I just, yeah, I mean, I was like... He's picked up 42 yards. Yeah, I was like driving it off my back foot and, like, trapped the shit out of it. Yeah. And it had, like, no spin. And it just flew.

And it just went so far. Like, exactly. I mean, he went along with the green. It was a shit shot, but... Like, like, man, you see. Yeah, yeah, literally, yeah. That's great. So you're 24 years old, you've won the U.S. Amity, you're playing on the Ryder Cup and stuff.

Like, when did you know you're going to be a professional golfer? I always wonder that with these professional athletes. Like, what was your upbringing like? Because we read, like, this book called Tiger Woods. It's got his face all written on the front of it and the whole thing. And in his upbringing, like, it was insane. Like, you knew that he was going to be a machine, right? Like, his parents, like, forced him to be a golfer essentially.

Like, what was your, what was your, like, upbringing like in the golf world? and then like when did you know like holy shit i'm going to be i'm going to be something special um i mean growing up i always wanted to play football as like soccer as well soccer as well football it's way better when you guys call football why the fuck is it not call football it's literally football i'm sure they i'm sure he's had this laugh with his mates a yeah yeah exactly um no i mean growing up i like i like golf i like football um and then I won the British boys, which is like the US Junior Am, in 2012. And I was like, okay, that's like a good result.

And then I signed to go to college. So I was like planning doing four years, getting a degree, all that, and playing golf with it and just seeing what happened during the time there. And then 2013 came around and all of a sudden I was playing so shit. Like, my dad beat me gross. I, bearing in mind, I was like plus four at this time, and my dad beat me in like a club comp at my club, and he never lets me live it down ever.

I was going to say, I bet he was busting your balls. Yeah, even now. So, yeah, so I lost to my dad. That was like lowest of low. And then, and then literally, a family friend took me up to open qualifying, and he was like, I was like, I don't even. even know why I'm going.

Like, genuinely, I was like, I don't know why I'm going. Like, I'm playing really shit. And then qualify for the open, won the silver medal, lost in the final English Am, won the US Am. I was like, shit, that's like, all these doors open for PJ tour events, Bay Hill, Harbour Town, Masters. Nuts. And then, obviously, I left college, went back.

And my coach at the time, Pete Cowan and Mike Walker, they were like, my dad said, you know, what do you think? Do you think he's ready or is he good enough? And they both said, yeah. So that was kind of, that was a big boost for me. I think it was also a big boost for my parents. Like, okay, well, maybe, you know, we'll let him kind of do it. So, yeah, and then just turn pro in the middle of 2014, got my card.

And it was probably, it was probably only, like, in all seriousness, it was probably, after winning the English, US amateur, that's when I was probably like, actually, you know. Like this is going to be a career. This could be good. Yeah. Yeah. That genuinely. So it wasn't like, I wasn't 10 and being like, yeah.

But even before then, like, were you like, when did you first play golf? Like, were you playing like how many days? I was playing young. Yeah. So, I mean, I would, I joined my club when I was nine. And I was playing a lot. I like stopped playing football when I was 15. Yeah.

Because golf, it was golf. Because then it was golf. So, like, there was more emphasis and focus on it, obviously. but like I was just sort of you know ticking it over it wasn't like the be all and end all I wouldn't say at that point gotcha it was probably like 18 17 18 when I was like okay really put a focus on it and then 2013 happened and I was like okay this could be good yeah how much how how big is the difference between you know losing to your old man and then you know qualified for the the open winning the silver medal how much of that is just confident Yeah, I don't really know.

I mean, it just all happened. Yeah, I think that's the thing. I honestly couldn't tell you what changed because it just, yeah, it just happened. Like, I mean, I think I qualified for the open at one under or two under. So it wasn't like a world-class score because I went to qualify and thinking, I'm going to have to shoot 70 under around this golf course because there's other pros. I mean, Colin Montgomery was playing and there's a couple other. the well-known pros.

I mean, there was a kid that was five under with five to play, and that was leading, and he finished level part, and that let me in. Wow. Yeah. You're following that, another bogey. You're like, yes. Let's go.

There was a guy in at two under, and there was two guys in at one, me and another guy in at one under, and we could see this guy coming down 18. And then, like, people were like, he's just bogeyed, 17. And we're kind of like looking each other like, oh my God, like we could actually do it. And then he bogeyed 18. He like hooked it into the roof. So. Inside, you're like your fist pop up inside.

I'm like, yeah. I didn't know what to. Yeah, exactly. That's true. But yeah, I honestly couldn't tell you what changed. Like all of a sudden it was just like I was playing really steady and just making puts. I will say I've had front nines where, you know, I'll shoot like 50 in the back. and I'll shoot like in the high 30s,

and it feels like I'm making the exact same golf swing. Yeah, absolutely. Literally nothing changed. Well, that's the thing. You know, I... The ball just went in very different places. Yeah. Fridays round last week, I shot six under,

and I was like, I didn't even feel like I played that. You know, you just don't feel like you play that well. It's like, I've hit a bunch of fairways. I've hit a bunch of greens, and I just made a load of pots, and then all of a sudden that adds up to six under, and you're like, great. Great. Cool. We should do that every time.

why isn't this working all the time? What part of your game are you most confident? I'd say driving this year, yeah. I like that. That's probably changed, right? Because you said the putting was... Yeah, the putting's been shit this year. This year?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I feel that. Has a member of the gallery ever gotten under your skin? No, no, they haven't. But I, the rider cup I had... I was eating a sandwich and someone showered. Did your mum cut the crust off those? That's awesome.

And then I also had like... I think that guy might have gotten on your skinny. Yeah. You had that ready to go. And then also I had three years ago, man. And then also I had, um, did your mom cut your hair? I had that one as well. A lot of mom jokes.

Yeah, I know. They're like clean mom jokes which are good. Yeah. Then that's it. But I mean, compared to what everyone else had on that team that week. Yeah. Are you going to be used to when now like parcel fans are going to be screaming at you every single tournament you go into because you're going to be like a huge bar.

I get that a lot. I get to, you can beat Frankie up. Don't worry. What a world. Don't worry. It gives him a little bit confidence. Although I did hear one the other day. It was like a, this guy obviously didn't really have the balls to say it because,

but he was like under his breath kind. He was like, oh, you're going to hit in this. I just walked, I just got into the tea and I was like pacing off the yardage and he's kind of out of air shot by heard. and he was like, you're going to hit in the water. And then like two seconds later, you just went, no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. He's like, hit the green, buddy.

I was like, okay. Hit the green. Total backtrack. The quickest backtrack of all times. How often do you play with your buddies, like, from home and stuff? Do you like, do you ever go out and just like rip it on the golf course, drink beers, playing music? Yeah, not enough, really. Like, I keep wanting to go on a trip and stuff like that and, you know, them to come over here, go play somewhere.

whatever but it's like they've got real jobs. They've got work and stuff to do. Yeah, my job isn't really a job at the end of the day. So it's like, you're like, hey guys, no, just come for these two weeks over to Hamptons and we'll play whatever course you want. No. What are you talking about, man?

What's the fantasy world are you going to do? Do you play? Like, are you capable of playing like just pure fun golf? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I, it's good. I mean, I played, I definitely play worse. I play shit.

But you don't care. I don't care now. No. Yeah, it's good. I can, I just, as long as I just make sure I'm just playing well enough to beat everyone, that's fine. Keep them like dangled. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll play around with Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Yeah. Big time. We will. I got a good feeling. We can get out. Yeah. We're going to, we're going to, you know, pressure them into it. What's, uh, what's the most important golf shot you've ever hit?

Um, I mean, puts are boring, but the put a deepy world in 2017. 16 that was like that's the biggest tournament you won yeah it was like six feet down or five feet down the hill it's getting bigger every year um but yeah it's like four five feet down the hill we'll have our graphics guys they'll make it like a 24 yeah that's right if you're good that'd be good that won't be a problem what's the worst golf shot you've ever hit uh the competition gold shot i can't really any shanks in competition no i mean i have had a shank yeah yeah um that was in holland but that was 2015 but we don't talk about 2050 yeah i can't I can't think of anything that sort of stands out.

What's the most fun you've ever had? Oh, no, no, I've got a good one, actually. I mean, it's not really good. But the open Sunday, first T-shirt at the open, I just nailed it so far out of balance. Just not even close. Yeah, I was just like, where the, free is that come from? Like, literally no idea where it came from.

And it just, like, came off the club face and just went straight right. To the gallery, go, ooh. Yeah, yeah, it was so, it was, I was like, oh, shit, they've done that. You hear a lady like shrieking horror in the background? Listen, miss, like, I just hit a bad shot. Just golfing. Yeah.

Especially because you probably hit that shot like five times in the range right before you came over. And just what, where'd that come from? Look, folks, we all went to school at one point. Everybody goes to school at some point. Figure out how student loans work should not require a finance degree. Ernest can help you figure out the details and make smart money saving choices within easy smartphone friendly application. We like that.

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Ernest.com slash four, and you can see terms and conditions on that site. So we got, we do from the gallery, we got just a couple questions that some fans had submitted. Dan asked basically what would you, what, you know, how would you shoot a better score using clubs from 100 years ago with today's golf ball or a ball from 100 years ago with today's clubs? Okay, I'm going to have to think about that one. So a ball from today, but with clubs from 100 years ago. Or a ball from 100 years ago with your current clubs. What score am I going to shoot? Which one would you play back?

Clubs today and ball from 100 years ago. Oh man, I was completely opposite. Really? Yeah. Doesn't the ball make such a difference? The ball does make a difference, but I feel like at least the new ball, or the old ball, you're going to get some like spin at least. The new ball with the old clubs, I don't feel like you're going to be able to spin it.

Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can kind of figure it out. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, that is interesting. I would have gone the other way too, but now he's totally. Or he's just right. Reversed him. He just had the right answer. Listener Frankie says, Nice name.

Isn't an asshole move to use a giant golf umbrella as your everyday umbrella? Walking around the street? No, absolutely. I love that. I do that. I do that. I do it in New York. I just dominate the streets in New York for that thing.

Everybody has to duck and horrors. I'm just plowing through the middle. As long as you're dry, it doesn't matter. And then last one, do you know off the top of your head or did anything stick out is the biggest spread you've had in two rounds of golf. Like J.B. Holmes, I think, went 69, 87 at the open. This year, well, pretty much every week so far this year.

My Thursday rounds have been really bad, but the Masters first round, shot 78, second round shot 65. Oh, my God. Yeah, so that was a good one. Oh, so, I mean... 67, sorry. Okay. So, I mean, you probably don't know, but what was the...

I mean, what changed? What was the difference? No, there was a huge difference. I found fairways on the second day. The first day I was hitting trees everywhere. Like, I played the golf course so many times and never hit so many trees. Just trees everywhere. Just literally off, like, off teas and stuff like that.

Just 100 yards in front of me and just nail the trees. I'm like, shit. So then all your second shots you were just trying to, you had to hit punches around trees? Yeah, yeah, get it up by the green, try and make up and down. Where is that course rank for you? it's yeah i'd probably say it's one or two that i play it's i love it's amazing you know everything about is awesome here's a question i got for you someone says you're on 17 at tpc sawgrass and if you don't hit the if you don't hit the green you can never play golf again

are you confident enough that you're going to hit that green yeah yeah you're taking that depend way i mean are we are we talking dead still no wind let's call it 10 mile an hour left to right wind and you're standing on that te box in the la Yeah, that is the top way. He knows. You don't have a college degree, remember. You can't have a good point, good point. Yeah, yeah.

I'm going to have to take the chance. I'm going to have to take a chance. Yeah, yeah. No, you're confident enough in that? Yeah. No, no, no, no. Love it.

Someone told me what they once hit five, I'm into the, into that. Really? Yeah, yeah. So it's pumping into it. I don't know. That feels like kind of when you're like, yeah, I had to make it DP.

World Trials, I had to make like a $20. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can buy that. That's what that story is. All right. Well, what can we, the last one, for real this time, what can we expect from you for the rest of the year? Hopefully a win, yeah, hopefully a win.

Like, I feel... You're knocking. Yeah, I feel like my game's been good, like I say, throughout the summer. There's just a few, you know, I think if I can get the putter going towards the end of the year, and the nice thing is I'm playing every course I'm pretty much playing. I've played a lot of times already in the past few years. So, yeah, if I can just get the putt going, and keep my long game the same, and, yeah, I'll be in with a shout with a few wins, maybe.

All right, well, Matt Fitzpatrick, we very much appreciate. This was a ton of fun. I will, the last thing I got to say is we, you know, you're a fun golf guy, you said, we got to play golf together. Absolutely. That's fine. It's fine. I'm down for that.

Let's do it. All right, pal, thanks for coming on. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, guys.