No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 102: Graeme McDowell

Episode Date: October 20, 2017

2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell joined me in South Korea for a lengthy chat about his career, the status of his game, trying to keep up with the long hitters, and his future in... The post NLU Podcast, Episode 102: Graeme McDowell appeared first on No Laying Up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Golf is full of strange people in strange places and their stories are what makes adventures in golf. Eric Anders Lang, the documentary filmmaker, takes you on adventures in golf with his series on scratch TV. We've talked to you guys about this, we've talked to you about the amazing videos they're making. Make sure you're checking them out, follow along at scratch on Twitter. And later on in the podcast, we're going to brief you guys a bit on how many options you guys have when shopping with Calloway for the number one Ions in the game. We just gave away a set of the epic Ions that I'm actually afraid to try because of how much I love my apex pros. But for now, let's get to Graham McDowell.

Get the right club. Be the right club today. That is better than most Better than most All right ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the No Laying Up podcast. I'm Chris Solomon sitting down finally in person with 2010 US Open Champion Grand McDowell. Do you ever get tired of getting introduced with that title? No, listen I mean that kind of sometimes I kind of pinch myself seven years ago, man.

I mean time has just flown but it's just one of those things that never gets old, you know, it's a special thing. When you play the US Open every year and you get an honest on the tee, the 2010 champion, you know, it's a special thing that's 12 months after you get an honest in Europe as a US Open Champion. It's cool. Listen, it's a special, special thing and something that I certainly never get tired hearing. You ever get tired hearing it.

You ever get tired of talking about it? I find myself not liking to say, you know, in 2010 when I was playing well or when I did this, this and this, you know, I kind of kind of check myself sometimes when I say that because I don't want to be, I guess I'm trying to still write my own, I want to write some more stuff in my career. You don't like saying. I don't like saying well. Yeah, I find myself saying that a lot.

It's been a frustrating few years. I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about that. But it's been a frustrating few years. And when I, like you say, refer myself in the past tense, I kind of check myself and think, well, we still got some work to do here. And I'm motivated right now.

It's been in a long time. Yes, I suppose I look back to that guy who I was. I feel like I'm smarter, fitter, know a lot more stuff in the other days. But obviously I was doing something different with a golf ball back in those days. I'm trying to get a little bit of that back really, I suppose. I think the game's changed. Got a massive rate around me in the seven years since I won a major championship. I think at the right golf course setup and the right time in the future, I still would love to love to compete and try and win another one.

So let's start first though I want to talk. So we're recording this live. We're here in South Korea. You have some previous playing experience here in Korea on this island. Yeah, for sure. I mean, first time I was ever here in 2008, we had the, it was called the Valentine's Championship on the European sur and, yeah, beat Givemil. Milka singing a playoff. It was the first time that Valentine's had played here. And when I won the US Open in 10, I had the Valentine's logo on my sleeve. We developed a little relationship. I was a bit of a scotch whiskey drinker in those days.

And so what I wanted to hear about the party, I wanted to hear about the party after you won the Valentine's. Yeah. I mean, did you win the Valentine's? I think we probably partied harder the following year when I came back. I think I'm at Miss the Cut and obviously I developed a relationship with the guys up Valentine's. And we had a lot of scotch to drink that Friday night.

We ended up doing tons of Jeju and some karaoke bar, homered. I was a scotch guy in those days and much more of a bourbon drinker these days. I think America has me now. What's your bourbon of choice now? I'm like a four roses single barrel guy. I've got some bluntsons and I've got a few nice bits and pieces of my collection. But my goatsos like a four roses single barrel. I love that.

I got a good selection. It's good. Our bourbon selection is good. I love that. You got a good selection. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, our bourbon selection is good. You know, I don't drink so much scotch anymore, but Bollentines, like I say, developed a great relationship with those guys after I won the tournament. That year, they gave me like a 40 year old bottle, which I still have in my cellar, and I've got a 35 year old Bollentines in my cellar. And yeah, it's weird. I kind of had a few of these bottles that I'd put away for a rainy

day thinking, you know, when I kind of had a few of these bottles that I'd put away for a rainy day thinking, you know, when I get married, I'll open that one. I want to have my first kid, I'll open that one and they're still sitting there on open, you know? So it's kind of like I'm not sure, you know, I've hit a couple of milestones in my life and you know, I'm not really sure what I'm keeping them for. I know I might have to go home and crack them open again,

but yeah, I, you know, Valentine's, we're a great partner. And like you say, good memory, safe South Korea and J.G.U. and nice to be back this week, obviously. Plenty of PGA tourists, but it is kind of a cool tournament this one. I was going to say what are your initial thoughts on the C.J. Cup? This is totally brand new tournament. Yeah.

It's a very rare thing on the PGA tour. The first ever tournament in South professional PGA Tour event in South Korea. You've traveled a lot of the world. You've seen a lot of things. European Tour, PGA Tour. How does this stack up? How does this vibe feel this week for you? I think it's an interesting

dynamic really to see the PGA Tour really start and to lay down some serious routes here in Asia. You know, is it a bad thing for Europe? The PGA Tour are kind of starting to move in here. It's certainly an interesting time. Is it a bad thing for Europe that the PGA Tour are kind of starting to move in here? It's certainly an interesting it's an interesting time It's an awesome opportunity obviously for PGA Tour members to be on this run here where they can play Malaysia You know for a lot of money and and how she come to Korea here and play for a lot a lot of money

And obviously guys are in the HSBC next week and you know There's rumors about a potential event in Japan, which could have a four or five-week run here in Asia in the fall, which is just amazing. There's no doubt we're in. This is the future of the game. We've seen it in the ladies' tour, starting to happen a little bit in the men's tour. Now we're starting to see Chinese and Koreans Koreans and Japanese players come over to the States and Europe and play well and be recognized as a potential strength growing in the game in our sport. So it's great to be out here.

I mean, the CJ Cup, great tournament. Golf course is awesome, really cool golf course, a bit soft this week. I mean, it's had a lot of rain, but the golf course is really pure. It's a great looking track, a few funky holes. I mean, I saw you tweeting about 18, and you know, 18 is gonna be controversial. Yeah, it's, you know, buying a Tony Fino. This week, he just whips it down the left.

It's a 330 fly under the faraway there. 20 downhill given, so it's 310 effective, but he flies it onto the far away and you know if you can't if you don't have that shot you're forced on the right hand side with like a five wood or a three wood yeah I mean the architect probably thought he'd career to the masterpiece when he built that 18th that you know it's our golf course called nine bridges and the boys are just destroying it you know it's silly. There's got to be enough holes out there

that you feel on tour that has that just dividing line of 10 15% 20% the It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal.

It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal.

It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. Like you say, this is divisive, I think the one when Jordan, when Dustin beat Jordan in the playoff this year, where was that Northern Trust Glenn Elks? I mean, we saw the pro-tracer, the two different pro-tracers and whatever. And 18 here at Nine Bridges is another one of those holes, which is just...

You can call it silly, call it what you want, but it's just the dividing, you know, the 330 guys, the 320 guys versus the 280-290 guy, you know, there's a big golf put there, and I was talking to Cody Grimmel, play with him the first two runs, and I said, you know, 10 years ago there was five guys could do that. Now there's 30 guys, 40 guys. You know, it's crazy. I thought these guys can hit the ball. It's cool. It's very cool. But for a guy like me who distances,

I was long in college and it's weird. The curve just took over. I went technology. For some reason, I stopped. I didn't get the gains, you know, whatever way I compressed the ball, whatever way I move at the ball, I just became shorter and shorter and shorter, having been quite long, you know, it's weird. It's weird for a guy like at your age, you're 38, right? That you kind of, these, a lot

of these young players that grew up playing with these huge titanium drivers grew up in this era of the Pro B1 golf ball and all the other similar brand golf balls in this era grew up playing a completely different style where they don't fear big mishits. They developed their golf swings to pound the ball. You grew up in Northern Ireland learning how to fit the ball in links fairways and you know your ball flight still today is lower than I would think the average tour share is so but do you feel like in the last you know five six seven or what that time was that time frame where you feel like you've gotten further and further behind in that distance. Do you feel like it's still exponentially curving that way? Yeah I mean I was surprised when I pulled up your stat page where you ranked in driving this. Yeah I think I was straight but not far. I was ninth and accuracy this year in a PGA, it's over, but I had a bad driving year,

because I felt like my ball speed dropped off dramatically this year. I think that's one part technique. One part, I think I've changed my move a little bit. I'm hitting up on it a bit more, and I'm still using quite a lot of the driver. So it's one part equipment, one part technique, and one part, you know, need to get a little stronger, a little fitter as well, you know, so I've noticed

that this year just out of the blue, my ball speed is just really just dumped, and it's been frustrating, you know, and, but, you know, I look around and the game is changing, you know, there are guys out there who legitimately, all they want to do is hit it as far as they humanly can, and then they'll take care of business from there. Doesn't matter whether they're in the rough or the far away, they don't care. They wanna hit it as far as they can,

and these are some of the best players in the world. This is how they think. They don't care. They just wanna smash it, and then go get it up and done. And, you know, that's the modern game. The kids are growing up now with Trackman. They're learning that they got to launch the ball 12, 13 degrees with 23, 24 hundred RPMs.

Ball speed as fast as they possibly can. Yeah, it wasn't how I grew up. Yeah, you know, like you say, I grew up in a win. I grew up, you know, I remember the first hot driver I got was probably the Ruger Tsaid, and a great big berth of the first one that came out. You know, that was exciting. I remember the first day I tested the Pro V1.

I was like, whoa, you know, we grew up in a different era. But these guys, it's great. The game's amazing. It's changing. And I believe it's changing extremely rapidly. Yeah. No, it's just one. And it's interesting kind of to talk to Rory about this, too,

because he's on the other end of the spectrum. And he's adamant that driving it long is a skill and it is. Yeah it is but so much of the way courses now set up are just on the PGA tour especially are so beneficial to the long guys. You look at and I know it's not it's not fair to just compare everything. I played a lot of golf in Ireland and Scotland this year and England. And just got such an appreciation for that style where I'm not trying to get up there and murder it every hole. I'm thinking I'm using my brain off the tee and I just went to Berkdale this year

and watched you guys play that course and just had such appreciation for that style of play and how much skill goes into it. Some of the long hitters still came to the rows to the top there, but it's not just a driving contest. For sure, I mean certain golf course setups, you know, guys can't smash it out. You know, you know, trouble is always in play. And I mean, you know, obviously that's my favorite type of track where, you know, where

a Rory or a Tony Fina or a Gary Woodland or, you know, Dustin can't blow it over trouble. Like a Sinandruz, you know, you get Sinandruz on a medium-wind day, the guys can smash it past trouble. You know, obviously Tiger did it in 2000, kept it all the traps and won by a lot. You know, like you say, I think hitting the ball far is a skill. You know, I look at Rory, for example.

I mean, Rory's fitness regime has been talked a lot. You know, we talk about how athletic and how strong he is now. And he pones it. But like 10 years ago, Rory was, you know, he was 5'8", not particularly, not particularly good shape. And he could pind it. He could say, you know, he was carrying a little puppy pie. Yeah, you know, I would have said I was a better athlete than him 10 years ago and

kid could smash it 40 by me then. So he always had that athletic ability and that unique talent to be able to create speed. You know, it's like cracking a whip. You know, some guys just know how to crack the whip that little bit faster than other guys. And I mean, it's just not something I can learn in the gym. It's not something I can teach myself to do very well. You know, I'm able to pick four or five miles per hour up. But I mean, to get up, you know, I'll never be a newbie long guy.

And it sucks. It does. It's been a fight for about three or four years. I've had long drive guys that I've spoken to. I've spoken loads of people. I mean, it's frustrating. But I've got to come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to be a long guy.

And the rest of these kids around me, I'm kind of looking at them. Like there's some kind of like superhuman golfers because they just play the game differently from how I play it. And it's hard to keep your head screwed on sometimes, especially when you get a golf course like this week. I mean, today was different. This Friday, the second round of the C.J. Cup,

it was windy and that was kind of, that level to playing feel a little bit more for me. I was able to scramble around and sort of have myself back into the tournament a little bit and throw a few boogies out of it coming in. But he esteredy, flak calm. Wide ass fairway soft. I walked off the golf course, pretty frustrated, having played 18 holes with Tony Fina, I think, and man, this kid is just playing a different game for me.

Right. It's different sport. But I think it's also why I have such an appreciation for guys that with your style of game that have had as much success as you've had. And then you've, I go to, just like normal round of golf that I would play, if I'm playing with a guy who's dead steady down the middle of the fairway and is a skilled player, I fear him more than I do a skilled player that is very long. Because I just feel like the long guy is going to make so

many more mistakes, you know. And but the guys that are steady Eddie and just know where their ball is going, there is, but just the thing is at this level, there's not that much better. You know, you get that public opinion of, you know, hey, you know, McDowell's an overachiever, you know, it's because, you know, he's not the Roy Michael Roy ball-strucker, like a Jim Furek.

People look at him and think, look what he gets out of his game. Look at that guy's career earnings. He gets it wrong. It's a phone call. I'm probably going to have to make here because I feel like, you know, mentally, I've got to talk to a guy like that and say, you know, how do I keep doing what I'm doing? How do I not get distracted? You know, I feel like I've saw Jim sitting around locker rooms a little bit the last year looking a little despondent when when we're on one of those golf courses where these guys are just blowing 50 bias and we can't compete.

Yeah, there are certain weeks where you just have to sit there and a Friday night, maybe you've missed the cut and you go, I couldn't compete this week unless I had my absolute A plus game from inside of 150 yards. You know, if I couldn't wedge it and hold everything, these guys were three four shots ahead of me. It's like Augusta. I feel like when I stand on the first theater, I'm four shots behind Bubba. Probably, you know, probably two shots to three shots per round behind Bubba Watson before I start.

So I've got to do something extraordinary well around the greens to try and compete, you know. So there just are weeks like that and it's frustrating and like I say, I kind of feel like Mensely I'm at that point where I'm gonna have to have a few conversations with guys so that I can Get my head screwed back on again and get back to doing what I do well and You know realizing that there are weeks that I can compete on their weeks That you know unless I have something special going on around the greens that I'm not gonna be able to compete Is there edges scheduled change at all based on this kind of realization or do you walk off golf courses and say you know What I think I'm not coming back to this tournament like I can't compete here. Yeah, you know what, I think I'm not coming back to this tournament, like I can't compete here. Yeah, you know, there are, I mean, obviously,

weather can play against you sometimes. A golf course that sets up well for you, you know, you get a dime pour, you know, you get, you know, you get a golfer, you know, you call them mudlarks, you know, who like wet, you know, soft wet ferro is always thinking, you know, Rory's a mudlark, you know, it's kind of, you know, the mudnier, the wetter,

the better, they can just flat through the air and, you know, they play the game that way, but no, yeah, of course there there are golf courses on my schedule that I get excited about you know Bay Hills, Hilton heads, San Antonio's You know that type of a track us opens British opens, you know where it's firm and fast You know there are thankfully plenty of golf courses where I feel like I can still compete, but there are weeks where A.S. Day away from like the Phoenix Open, I haven't been there since 06. I think when JB Homes won their back to Backe, I said the same for me this place. You know, stuff stuff like that. Yeah, it's, you know, the end of the day, like I say, you know, if you're

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So you mentioned earlier just kind of talking about trying not to talk about your best golf by in the past tense, but in recent years your your life has changed. Oh, heck of a lot as well since winning. You've got married, you now have a kid. Two kids, sorry. Yeah, I think you're competing page needs updated. Two kids, how does, you know, I've heard Jack Nicholas when Tiger's coming up. I heard many comments he said to say, we'll see how Tiger handles once golf is not the biggest priority in his life. What kind of effect has, you know, having a wife and kids taken on your golf career, your priority in just your life in general? Definitely. You know, I mean, I did a Q&A with Tom Watson a couple years ago and he talked about the same thing as Jack, you know, he said talking about Tiger being

you know, great for great for quite a long time. He was talking about who the best ever was and talked about Jack because he was great for a long time. Palmer was great for a short period of time, relatively speaking to Jack, and how these guys deal with getting married, how they deal with, obviously, health, and how they deal with motivation. Those being the three major hurdles that a professional athlete has to overcome.

And obviously the family thing for me the last few years, it's been amazing, wouldn't change it for the world. Has it changed my outlook? Yeah, it's changed my priorities. I compare myself to who I was in 2007, 2008, preparing myself to win my first major championship. I was a very selfish person. I was very driven.

All I did was play golf. My weeks off, what I do, just come home, hang on my boys, go get drunk. I just wake up the next day and I just be working, worried about hitting balls and getting ready to go out to the next tournament. Nowadays, life's pretty different. You know, I go home, I have my family, I have my business interests.

It's amazing how you can fill up the time in a day and not spend that time in the golf course that I used to spend, you know, do I do I live a healthier life? No, no, no days, I probably do. I look back and think, you know, I, you know, I used to play golf come home. Something night was, you know, drink plenty. You know, I lived like a 25 late 20s, you know, just a guy living the dream, you know, making a lot of money in the golf course

and enjoying myself my weeks off, you know, hanging with my boys and having a very singular selfish focus, which was just, you know, jumping back on a plane and going out to play golf. So, you know, that changes. Always one that I have a family. I always knew I'd meet the person and I did and I'm loving my family and loving that

life. But, you know, your week's off. Like I say, I managed to find ways to fulfill my day, you know, phone calls about different businesses that are going on. Just hanging with my kids in the morning. Just wanting to be there. I listen to read a lot of books, listen to a lot of motivational speeches people talk about being present when you're at home.

You're away a lot, so when you're at home, with your kids, be present, be there. What does that mean? Phone in your pocket. Yeah, exactly. Just trying to just plug in. You know, people are always like, you know, what are your hobbies? What do you do when you're not playing golf? Well, you know, this is such a consuming sport. You know, my weeks off, you know, when you're getting rid of the go-play again, the following week, you're typically consumed by getting ready for that following week, you know, it's, you know, it's, you know, it's an all-consuming

game. It's probably only two, three weeks a year where I'll just say, hey, golf clubs are way done, not interested. I just want to hang. There's no doubt my priorities have changed mentally. I love something else more than I love golf. Business interests have definitely taken time up. People get on Twitter and give me shit for restaurants and doing all their stuff. And you know, it should be getting back on the golf course. And people have their opinions.

But I was at, and whenever I ask people that question about family, it always sounds like you're asking, why don't you practice more golf? That's definitely not the point. It's because it's everybody at the end of the day has time when the golf clubs get put up like and you do other things. Some of the younger guys, like you said, when you were younger, you're out partying, you're drinking some of these guys on tour. They go to their hotel rooms and watch movies. There is a time in the day when your clubs are gone and you have eight hours to fill. Do I have pangs of jealousy when I think of this sort of West Palm Beach brotherhood

that the boys have done there now where they're in Joe E.D.'s jammery day and they seem very singular in their mindset and their focus and they're practicing, working me, outtounding me. It's a different world. My world has evolved. I'm doing the things off the golf course that I always want to do. I want that I have a family. I want that I have business interests.

I want to have something that I can move into the next chapter of my career when that is. These guys are so singular in their focus and driven and they're being incredibly successful. It's a different mindset. Is it possible to create that as a married man with kids? Yes, absolutely. I mean, it requires a huge amount of dedication, motivation, time management, drive. It's hard.

I guess I'm still in the mode of trying to re-sort, re-prioritize my life to create the space to keep achieving on the golf course. Because I do want to, I guess I've gone through the last few years. I've had a couple of deep, dark moments where I've been like, is this it for me? Am I finished? Is my career just going to just fall off this you know just slowly gently fade away and you know never make another cut or never you know compete again on a Sunday afternoon but you know do I want this do I want a grind do I want to keep doing it and you know the the answer to the question was always yes I do I do want to keep grinding so

you know I sit down with a guy like Lou Holtz five, six weeks ago and I have a conversation with him. I'm like, hey, you know, how do I handle this? What do I do? Have you ever spoken to players? You know, you know, he gives me a lot of great thoughts, a lot of good things to think about, you know, how to make the sacrifices. And typically that's the word, you know,

that's what it boils down to is sacrifice. And it's just a different type of sacrifice now. 10 years ago, it wasn't a big sacrifice, you know, that's what it boils down to is sacrifice. And it's just a different type of sacrifice now. Ten years ago, it wasn't a big sacrifice. You know, being away from home, being away from my parents, my family, my brothers. You know, I was chasing my dream. Sure. You know, so sacrifice was easy.

But nowadays, like, for example, you know, I've been away from my kids for four weeks. You know, my little boys just over one years old and I pick up the phone, I feel like he's changing every day. The sacrifices are so different now. But at the same time, if I want to achieve in my career at golf, if I want to be there on a Sunday afternoon at a major championship, which I do, before it's all said and done, I really feel like I've hit the I've kind of hit the bottom in the last few years and I'm bouncing back up. It's tough to be patient with it right now

because I'm lacking a little bit of confidence. I mean, confidence is low. You know, I feel like I'm, you know, having breakfast with these kids that, you know, I feel like they're just at a different level for me. Sometimes it's hard to, you know, it's hard to remind yourself that you wouldn't swap careers with too many of them. Yep

But you know obviously that experience is important and I still feel like I've got it. It's just a case of I can say just I'm in that process and I feel like I'm just about there now where I've reprioritized my life And I'm doing the things that I need to do to get myself back to where I want to be one of the top Templars in the world again. And can I do it? We'll see. You know, I don't have the game some of these guys have, but you know, driving at 350. Isn't everything, you know, but it's a lot, but it isn't everything. Thank God, because you still have to chip and pop. You still have to get the job done. And I still believe I can compete. It's not how close you get the ball to the hole after one shot.

It's how close after two shots. On par fours and fives, of course. But I mean, it's not like, you know, looking at your career, it's not like it's been a steady, a steady, you know, you've had major dips in play. Even this recent as, say, 2014, I would say, and you, you, you turn around in one in 2015. So going through this kind of decline in play, is it easier to draw back on that to say,

look, I've in my, you know, mid 30s, I've had a dip in play and recovered enough, good enough to win on the PGA Tour. Is that, do you draw anything from that and say, this isn't like a downward spiral that you can cover from? It's weird, you know, I mean, no doubt, I think when you look at it from 30,000 feet, you look at the best players in the world, and it just looks like this beautiful upward curve to victory to the goals.

But, you know, when you zoom in, and everyone has that, that's ticker tape kind of up and down, that kind of heartbeat, if you like, where the peaks and troughs are, when you zoom in every day, there's peaks and troughs, when you zoom out, there are a year, seasons have peaks and troughs, decades have peaks and troughs, and there's no doubt, the troughs feel deeper to me now, but they're just different I suppose, you know, and like you say, that one at the end of 15 was nice, that kind of pulled me out of something. You know, I feel like the middle of 15 was kind of a turning point.

When I answered those questions that we talked about earlier about do I wanna keep doing this? Yes, I do. Okay, well what are we gonna do about it? Let's start doing some stuff You know, and I focused on being better prepared on a Thursday morning You know, that was that was focused number one and you know, I feel like I've played much better this season sort of end of 16 into 17. Yeah, I made a lot of cuts this year

I mean the consistency was back did a lot of good things talked you know, ninth and driving accuracy got the ball back in play, fourth and putting. Yeah, you put it in. Started putting good, started putting like me again. You know, so there was a lot of good stuff there. So, you know, really made a step in the right direction this year, even though people look at, you know, 150th and World Rankins, they go, you know,

he's always way out. That's not the case. I made some big steps in the right direction this year, you know, and there's just some other stuff I need to get right. My weeks off, I need to get a little bit better, focusing a little bit more on my body and my fitness and, you know, really getting back to doing, you know, like I say, just the mental stuff now is key. The confidence realizing that I've got to get the job done a bit differently

from some of these kids. And obviously having that singular focus to get myself back to where I want to be. I mean Pat Perez was ranked 330th in the world this time a year ago and now he's 20th in the world. It can happen in your age bracket or in your chicken for sure. I actually had a conversation with his caddy on the reins this morning. You know, I said to him, I played nine holes with Pat at the Vegas tournament last year and he was on a medical coming back trying to get his card. You know, seemed did you act it seemed unfocused.

Played very adversely for nine holes a year later. You know, he's won twice. He's back up, you know, I'm not sure he's I'm sure he's top 15 in the world. You know, fortunes can change in heartbeat and, you know, staying patient and believing in that, working hard and just waiting for your turn. You know, is it gonna come at might? You know, you just gotta keep trying, keep believing. I do wanna talk some about your upbringing too in Northern Ireland. And I've heard just how you're upbringing

has helped promote your career in your lifestyle and that grapevine in Ireland, the game is just inherently much more accessible. And I've kind of gotten to see, I've seen the light, I've gone over there and seen and talked to members and heard what they pay. And I've heard you talk about how,

if golf wasn't extremely affordable for you as a child, you wouldn't be where you are today. Do you look at the golf model in the US, just wondering how it got so screwed up? For sure, there's no doubt. I mean, when I came to college here in the States, I was subjected to a golf model that I wasn't familiar with, the country club life.

I still kind of wonder, is that the life I went from my kids? Because that wasn't the life that I had, and I feel like I learned a lot from not having very much, I suppose. I say that, I mean, I had a happy upbringing. The time I grew up and wasn't a time surrounded by a huge amount of wealth. Wealth was something that I wasn't really super aware of until I was

probably my late teens. You know, you know, the game of golf, my dad took it up in his late 30s. He was a nine to five working guy. You know, my mom had tons of credit card bill. You know, when I turned pro, great thing I could do was buy her a house and pay off our credit card bills. Cause she, you know, they did whatever they could to give their kids as much as they possibly could. So we were very, very lucky in a lot of levels. But, you know, the game of golf was thankfully accessible.

And, you know, the time I grew up and you know, you either surfed or you golfed or you got a crappy job and ended up in the bar on the weekends. It's people, that sounds horrible. People, they're successful people, not part of the world. But for me as a young person, I think in the late 90s, early 2000s, young people, if you wanted to be successful, you had to escape the North Coast of Ireland because there's really

not a huge amount of opportunity. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. There's not a big financial issue. Crapie jobs, horrible expression. I can see the headlines in your head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not what you're talking about. Crapie jobs.

There's not a lot of opportunity for kids. Sure. When they're late teens, early 20s with university degrees, that are becoming worth less and less. I feel like these days, there's, that are becoming worth less and less. I feel like these days, you know, there's so much more, you know, I escaped in that. Mm-hmm.

And, you know, I came to college in the States, which was a massive turning point in my life. You know, I learned a lot just about being confident, being a winner and having winning attitude, even though, you know, you may not be as talented as the next guy, if you can start thinking, you winner, I think there was about 12 kids in my team when I came to college at UAB. Probably they all thought hell of a lot more confidently than I did when I arrived.

You know, and three years later I was an humble and plerid college golf. You know, I'd learned a lot about how to start thinking like a winner. You know, it changed my life. Simple as it was the biggest moment in my career was when I was at University at Queens and Belfast in Northern Ireland that was on a master's of engineering, a really, really amazing educational course. I was a very academic, I was second you know, best grades in my high school when I left. Following the path that I felt like I should follow, get your degree and then maybe you can go off and try to be a pro golfer when you're done with that. You know, the phone rang, you know, you want to come in, you know, the UAB man's golf coach.

You want to come and play golf for our program? I was like, yes, it's exactly what I want to do. You know, I probably had to pull them out, but I find out where Birmingham Alabama was. I mean, I always joke with the guys that, you know, I wouldn't have known the difference between Alaska and Florida. It's not miles away from the truth. I didn't know what D1 golf was compared to junior college golf. I had no idea. I just know clue You know, I got lucky. I got a call from a from a D1 school in a southern state With great facilities and a good schedule and a you know a guy who was you know coach She was influential enough to get us to to play against some of the best teams You know like I say it was a moment of my life. I left I left a better education behind me and came to a

Potentially not as good an education, me and came to potentially not as good an education, but an opportunity to play golf. You know, and I probably broke my mom's heart the day I called her my third year of college and told her that I wasn't going to graduate, you know, because my, not on my credits that transferred from my original year of college and I was just like, I only had three years eligibility, NCAA took a year away because I'd played in some drunken varsity team event, you know, my year at college in Ireland. So only a three years of eligibility.

I wasn't going to graduate. My golf was going in the right direction. I was going to go all in basically my third year at college in the States. And, you know, I didn't attend any classes that year. Well, I went in, registered, said, hey, my GPA was in good shape. I was able to take apps across the board. And I pretty much became a semi professional golfer that year. You know, my coach didn't like it.

You know, probably didn't tell much about it, to be honest with you. I had to make the call to my folks. You know, I made that call first. I said, hey guys, this is what I want to do. I'm going to leave my education on the back burner And I'm going to try and play golf and if it all fails I'll get the books back out and I'll go back to school and you know things went well I was the best player in college that year. I wasn't the best academic in college that year, but

You know on a term pro right out of there and you know I won two months later in a year, Pinser So it was it was a successful story in the end, but you know, I took term pro right out of there, and I won two months later in a European surf, so it was a successful story in the end, but I took a risk and had to make a decision, and thankfully it worked out. It takes em balls. It's easy to look back and hindsight with the career you've had, but at that time,

it's first of all, it's amazing how many life, how big of an effect, like decisions you make in your late teens, early 20s have on your entire life. Yeah. You know, I remember making that call to my mom and she was heartbroken, you know, none of my two brothers went to university. I was, I was her shot at her dream, which was to be at graduation ceremony and watch one of her kids graduate university. You know, and I broke her heart.

Mm-hmm. Thankfully, I got given an honorary doctorate about 15 years later from a university in Northern Ireland and she got to come to graduation day even though it was kind of a fake one but she got to live that dream. Thank God. So where did you play golf as a kid? How did you compete in? What did you have to pay to play? What was the competitive nature like? Yeah, so you grew up in Port Rush. So they have the two clubs in Port Rush.

They have the Royal Port Rush Golf Club, and then they have the Rathmore Club, which is the Artisans Club, or the Working Man's Class, you know, Working Class Man's Club. So I grew up in Rathmore, where my dad was playing. You know, it was much cheaper to play there.

They're right next door to each other. They're right much cheaper to play there. The right next door to each other. Our next door to each other, but Rob Porosh owns all the land. Rathmore just basically owns the facilities that the clubhouse itself. They don't even own the land that it sits on. They rent that from Porosh and they really have their hands tied and they do what they're told. But thankfully they have a great membership there of good guys with a great little kind of junior program going on. And you know, when my little brother was 10, we were able to join the club full. I used to play the little par three course there, which was great little nine whole par three.

And we I think we played there about, you know, eight runs a day in the summer, myself, my little brother, and my little brother was just really talented little player. Great, great ability, great swing. You know, if you just stood outside beside when we were in our early teens and said one of these kids of when the US opened, I don't think many people would have picked me because my little brother, he had a great move. He was a natural ability, kind of had it all, but just didn't really have the drive, didn't have the desire to get out there, get on the road and compete. He didn't like competing, you know, but I did and I wanted to get better.

And we had a great little junior program, a bunch of kids, you know, and both clubs came together in the summer time. The role put Rush kids in the Rothmore kids and we all got together. And, you know, there's some kids who are really good. So rivalry there, looking at the kids a little bit. Yeah, there was probably a little bit of the halves and halves not, and maybe that was probably when I started to realize that there were the halves

and halves nots. When I became good enough, probably at 14, 15 years old, the big club, the Royal Port Rush Club, kind of came knock and said, hey, maybe you should come play for us. I remember a guy said to me, he said to me that I would never achieve anything in the game of golf. If I didn't have a club like Royal Port Rush behind me,

my dad sort of viciously would have probably probably would have thrown me out of the house if I had jumped off the raft more ship and escondered to the big club because it just wasn't the go to the Yankees and basically. Yeah, it just wasn't in his DNA. He was proud of the club and he was proud of what I was hopefully going to achieve for the club. We stayed and we decided to roll the dice and represent the smaller club and just keep going. And, you know, obviously I was able to kind of put them on the map a little bit and place some good golf and bring the US Open trophy back to Rothmore Golf Club in 2010.

And it was just one of those times in my life, you know, you'll never achieve anything in the game. If you don't have a name like well, put rush behind you, it was like, whoa, that's a big statement. Bulldog. You know, and, you know, obviously claim. And obviously knowing 10 years later, I realized quickly that it wasn't where you were from or who you are.

It was about getting the ball in the hole and the rest of it take care of itself. But my upbringing was great. From a golf point of view, the accessibility, the kids we had, the kids that I looked up to, I was always very, we had the North of Ireland Championship, which was a big amateur event that was played in Port-Russia every year. So I went from being ball spotter there when I was like 12 to sign boy carrying for the

big events on the way, the British amateur came there, like 93 or 92, I can't remember which year that was, a sign boy for like Sammy in the final match. I watched these guys, these are the guys I want to be like. And I never had any exposure to the pro game at all. I had never been to a professional golf tournament in my life pretty much, I think, until I played my first ever PGA Tour event as an invite in like 2001. That was the first pro, and I never attended let it on.

I was playing in the thing. But I was always very good at picking guys two, three years ahead of me that was like, you know, I want that Irish international bag. I want I want to be like those guys. I want to wear the green blazer and have the green bag and play for Ireland and got there and then, you know, I want to be at the top of the amateur game. I want to play college golf. You know, I remember seeing the college golf bag for the first of the amateur game. I want to play college golf. I remember seeing the college golf bug for the first time in my life. I thought it was saddlebrook.

Kind of, it was a ping hoover or a ping old ping-stone bag with a logo up the side. I'm like, what is that? That's cool. I didn't even know what it was. I didn't know how to get there. But yeah, I knew I wanted to play college golf right there and then I was like, man, that's what I want to do.

Like I say, the college thing was the best thing ever happened to me. And to this day, any kids that I ever meet in Britain and Ireland that want to make it, I'm like, you've got to get yourself to the U.S. unless you're really mackerel, I mean, you know, but they don really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, compete, get better, and still obviously maintain some element of education as well.

Growing up in Port Rush, does it blow your mind or could you ever pictured the open championship coming to Port Rush in 19? Yeah, I mean, that was a dream. It was kind of, you know, I walked in my club. I got called Fred Dehli, who was the other major champion from that part of the world. I walked past his picture probably 10,000 times with him holding the Claret jog. We all heard the stories about the 51 open and Port Rush. To picture an open championship back in Port Rush was probably a boy who dreamed, was

probably an achievable dream. I didn't think I'd ever be playing in open championship. It's never mind one coming to Port Rush and you know obviously a big part of you know why I'm trying to remodivate myself is 2019 you know the open will be back at Pebble. I said the open the US open. We have that joke. We have that joke among my boys you know the British narrash boys you know the open is obviously the British open But I like to joke that the opens the US open But you know, the US opens back in pebble and then you know, six weeks later the open is gonna be a port rush And it's gonna be a special summer if I continue playing the way I'm playing I ain't gonna be playing any of the two of them

No, I'll be exempt for the open the US open but I won't be exempt for port rush but you know big kind of many goal I suppose is to make sure that come the start of 19. I'm in the world ranking and the state of mind where I need to be to you know to win the open at Port Rush that would be that would be something a little special but you know I'll be happy just to be there and playing and be competitive. Just being there this summer you kind of you get a sense of the excitement level too for the town, for the area. Yeah.

I was hoping being at Port Stewart just down the road. That was a really cool. It stimulated the economy. Yeah. It's big for the area. Financially, you can feel it. You can feel the balls back. After a whole weight, things really slow down up in that area.

Big time, I could feel it, you know, it's been stagnant up there for about seven or eight years and then all of a sudden bang, you know, we're good to go again. It's tough to get a seat in Harbor bars. Yeah, the Harbor bars, that's the spot, you know, that's my hangout. You know, I always think that, you know, I don't miss Port Rush much, I don't miss home, you know, I love my life in Florida, you know, I don't miss Port Rush much, I don't miss home, you know, I love my life in Florida, you know, with my kids, but, you know, I always think about 48 hours in Port Rush's

about all I ever need, you know, I get a guess. Yeah, exactly. It's perfect for me, you know, I get a game at Ralph Moore with my boys, my brothers and my dad, a couple of pints in the club there, we get a game at Port Rush, dinner in the wine bar down there at the harbor, and a few pints in the harbor bar, and I've pretty much ticked all the box.

I've visited my family, see my aunties and uncles, and cousins, and just kind of see people, and I'm ready to get out of there. That's 48 yards, like you say, Vegas. I've got like a 48-hour checklist, and that's really all I need when I go home. What do you, have you gotten a chance to play the new holes at Port Rush?

I haven't played them, I walked them. No, hold on, did I play them? I saw you up there. Yeah, I did play them. I actually played them in my little brother when I was home this summer. For a poor steward, we slipped out there sort of one Monday afternoon and I played them.

They're excellent. I think the changes there at Port Rush are really, really great. I think a few of the greens are maybe a little funky. You know, Port Russia's greens are typically quite flat. You know some of the new architecture. There's about three or four, obviously the two new holes and then redone the second grain and the old eighth grain. In my opinion, they're a little overdone. They're a little tricked up. The grain surfaces themselves. But the two new holes, Tita Green are amazing. And I think that stretch from, yeah. Yeah.

As three is good, good hole, but four through, like four now. Four, five, six into the new seventh and eighth. They took the best piece of land off the valley course where I grew up. You know, it was the coolest piece of land. And, you know, they've done a really nice job there. It's exciting. It's exciting stuff. All right, we're gonna let you out of here shortly. I always like to ask players that have had lengthy careers

like yours. First, what are you most proud of? I'm gonna not let you answer 2010 US Open, so if that is number one, we gotta go for, you know, if somebody asks, what are you most proud of in your career? What's your answer? It's an easy one, I mean go for, you know, if somebody asks, what are you most proud of in your career, what's your answer? It's an easy one, I mean, because, you know,

people are always shocked when I say that, the most special moments in my career have been my four rider cups by far. That, you know, the US Open is such a personal achievement, but the way I felt at the US Open, that doesn't compare to how I feel at a rider cup, you know, I think that team environment playing for each other, when loser draw 2008 when we lost was a special week with my

rookie Ryder Cup. I loved every second of it. It really kind of felt like I had arrived on the world stage and that I felt like I played well enough on the biggest stage to me. I didn't think there was a, you know, I still don't think to this day as a European golfer that, you know, we can play on a bigger stage emotionally, then you can play the rider cup and to have acquitted myself the way I did that year. I felt like I pulled a huge amount of confidence and belief in myself in my rookie rhetoric. You're even, well, we lost, you know, 2010, played the last match, I played with Rory and the, you know, the ForSums and better balls. We had a great week. One that last match, which was,

you know, you know, most fun I've ever had in a golf course a golf course with my clothes on. I think I was quoted and saying that someone on those lines You know 2012 Well in a weird way 2012 was probably me emotionally a let down for me the miracle the diner got beat by Zach Johnson the singles It's the only singles I've lost in a rider cup and it was weird. You know, it was a weird unseeklomatical feeling for me I was cuz you know when you lose your singles, you're personally disappointed. It's the only time you're on the golf course by yourself that week, and you just don't, you feel like you don't do your job.

Even though, I play a gritty guy like Zach Johnson, two-time major champion, the guy's tough to beat. But then, you sit in the sidelines and you watch the boys get the job down and you celebrate like it was you holding the winning putt. It was an amazing but it was a weird it was a weird ride or a cup that went for me and then Glengalm Eagles was was special in that it was the first time I felt like a veteran. I was tasked with looking after a rookie, Victor de Busan. I only played three times in one all three matches. Every one of those four experiences has just been something that I'm unbelievably proud of and unbelievable. The experiences and the memories and the emotions. I remember, yeah, they have just been, they're in a different

stratosphere from anything else I've ever done in the game. And, you know, why I'm very motivated to try and play another couple. And obviously, I love the captain one one day, but so the Ryder Cup is special. Wasn't you quoted at one point saying that you thought the Ryder Cup should go every three years? I don't know, was I? I don't know. I remember reading that somewhere and I hated it

because I wanted every year. Yeah, I'm not for sure. My only opinion on things is that I feel like the Americans should get a year off. Yeah. I feel like back to back Ryder Cup. I feel like the Americans should get a year off. I feel like back to back, right, or cup. I feel like the boys are always qualifying. They're always in a qualification mode, president's cup, this recent president's cup.

It was just a beat down. I kind of imagine the international players enjoy that in any shape or form. In front of the New York cr crowds, just getting a beaten. You know, I feel like it takes the edge off a little bit for them when it comes to Ryder Cup year because here we go again, just another team event. Whereas the Europeans, you know, we get that, we get that year off and we're just a little bit fresher and more up for it, perhaps that intangible X factor.

You know, it's going to be interesting going into next year though because I mean obviously Fierrick was quoted there a couple of days ago. They've got chip in their shoulder and they have a one on European soil since about 93 or 95 or whatever it is. They've got the hottest young players in the planet on paper. I think 11 of the world's top 22 players are European. So on paper, we look like massive favorites if the writer couples going to be played tomorrow. But I think not many European players would deny that would be the Americans or probably got the hottest young players in the world right now and they'll be awfully difficult to beat. But it's 12 months of cooling off. Just hope

couple cool off a little bit. France is is gonna be a very unique track for us. I think the Europeans are gonna have that little course knowledge. It's a funky golf course. Can't wait to be there. Obviously, want to be on the team. It's gonna be a monster rider cup. All right, we'll end with this last one. What's the biggest regret you have in your career so far?

Whoa. Yeah, I know. I know it's tough on 48 minutes in or whatever. Yeah. Regrat. I don't really don't have a lot of regrets. It's always hard to say because you know some regret you might have might have caused something some butterfly effect down the road for some for sure. For sure. What do I regret? You know my my boys used used to, I didn't go, I didn't go try and qualify for Tory Pines was it 2009? 2008.

2008. I may think about the butterfly effect. I skipped qualifying for that US Open that year to focus on trying to get myself under the Ryder Cup team. And it worked out, you know, I won twice. Sorry, I won the Scottish Open in June or July that year to get myself under the rider cup team. And it worked out, you know, I won twice. Sorry, I won the Scottish Open and in June or July that year to get myself on the rider cup team. But, you know, I got an opportunity to play in a major championship that, you know, is my best major championship, you know, statistically speaking, but that's not really regret.

That worked out great. You know, regrets are, I mean, I think I always, you know, I wish I had a worked harder when I had the opportunity, you know, I think many of my seasons and years I look back and think that, you know, I could have worked harder. I could have been, I could have been more driven and more motivated and I'm taking a hell of a lot more seriously

than I did, you know, did I, was I relaxed and did I create an environment for myself to be the best I could be? Maybe that's what I needed, but, you know, I look at, I look at how motivated, how serious, how much of a business this is, no, for these guys, like I say, I, the West Palm fraternity, when I look at,

you know, your rickies and justines and, you know, dustins and brooks and these guys that really to me well, you know, we are living in the tag of woods sort of heightened environment if you like. Now, where guys are super athletic, they're super serious about what they're doing and they're taking the game to the new level. I look at myself, when I was 25 years old, I don't think I was out driven. I don't think I was out motivated. I don't think I was out serious.

I don't think I had to know how to take my game to the next level. You know, so if I could go back and do it all again, I would do it a lot more seriously. Would I have achieved what I have achieved today? Maybe not. Right. Would I have done better?

Maybe I would have, who knows? Yeah. Listen, but that's probably my own ear grab. I wish I'd have sucked it all in and worked a lot harder than I did when I had the opportunity because now that I feel like my opportunities are now careful, don't say past tense. Yeah, I'm not going to say exactly. My opportunities are now less. I have less opportunities in front of me now than I did when I, you know, I was 25 years old.

I wish I had a take a bit more seriously. All right. Well, this was awesome, man. We'll let you go. I kept you for longer than I promised, but I don't really give you any jams or any diamonds there. No, this is good golf talk. It's kind of what we go for. So it's good to finally catch up and hopefully do it again.

Sorry, it took so long. Oh, hopefully, I'm apologizing for it. I'll be working my ass off the next few years. So we've something cool to talk about. Well, by the way. Awesome. We'll definitely have to do something in a head of 19 open chamber.

I'm pumped for that one. That's a deal. Graham McDowell, thank you for the time, man. You got a bro. That was fun. Get the right club. Be the right club today. Yeah! That is better than most.

How about in? That is better than most. Better than most! Expect anything different? Just...