No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 203: Matthew Wolff

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

Matthew Wolff has won five of the seven collegiate events he’s played in this year, and has an outside chance at getting to the NCAA record of 8. We talked about his unique move on... The post NLU Podcast, Episode 203: Matthew Wolff appeared first on No Laying Up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yeah. That's better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No-Lang Up Podcast. We got a great episode for you today. We got a chance to sit down and talk with Matthew Wolfe, actually was over the phone, caught up with him.

He is one five out of the seven collegiate events he's played this year, recently just won the Valsbar Collegiate event. And he's known for his crazy wild swing. I'm sure a lot of people have heard of him. Most of you have heard of him, but in case you haven't, he's got one of the most unique swings in golf. Swings about 130 miles an hour is coached by George Gankus and is one of the top ranked amateurs in the world looking to turn pro here shortly and is likely to be a future star on the PGA tour. We've not gotten a chance to interview a college student before a college athlete.

This was really cool to do. And yeah, I think people are going to be really intrigued by what he has to say and what he's going to hopefully accomplish in the world of golf. Don't have a lot of PGA tour takes for you on this past weekend or anything else around the world of golf. We're kind of focusing our efforts more towards the Masters. So I do hope you enjoy the interview. Of course, Paul Casey won the Vow spa today. Scott Hendt won in Malaysia.

And we want to give a special shout out to our one of our young hitters. In case you don't know, we're sponsoring five players on the web.com tour this year. Justin Lauer is one of them. He won the Coke Dr. Pepper open last week on a mini tour. I believe it's the all pro tour. And Vince Covello made a birdie on the last hole today to get into a playoff with Justin, where Vince ultimately emerged victorious. So our young hitter finished second in his first web event, repping the NOU logo on his left chest. So our hearts go out to him for the runner-up finish. It was a great performance and we really hoped he was able to gut out the win, but just wasn't meant to be, but some successes on the horizon for Justin.

So without any further delay, let's get to our interview with Matthew Wolfe. Enjoy, expect another podcast coming later this week. We're going to go two per week all the way up through the Masters and even after that, we got a lot of a lot of interviews on the backlog that we got to get through. So thanks, everybody, for tuning in. All right, now, welcoming in one of the top collegiate players in the game from Oklahoma State University, Matthew Wolf. Matthew, first off, do you have any idea what you signed up for today?

No, no. I've had a couple of people tell me that they've listened to the No Langout podcast and I've listened to a few too, but I'm just looking forward to it. All right, sweet. Well, I got a million questions for too, but I'm just looking forward to it. All right, sweet. Well, I got a million questions for you, but first of all, we've never had a college player actually on. We've never really talked about how you balance a schedule during a school year.

So I want to know what your schedule is like during a tournament week and a non-tournament week. This week you're traveling. I just want to understand how you balance the class load and during a tournament week and a non tournament week. Yeah, it is a lot. I mean, we definitely are pretty busy. I mean, pretty much every single day. And so for tournaments, we kind of, I say we leave two days before the tournament starts. So we usually leave, you know, sometime in the morning or the middle of the day of two days before the first round get there and

either have a little bit of time to practice or if we get there during the nighttime kind of just check into the hotel and and relax a little bit. Then the following day is the practice round. So we'll, you know, wake up in the morning. Usually the practice rounds are in the morning for college tournament. So we'll wake up in the morning. Usually the practice rounds are in the morning for college tournament. So play the practice round, eat lunch, and then practice the rest of the day, head back to the hotel, and then usually college tournaments start relatively early like eight or nine in the morning, and you know, with warming up and stretching and all that stuff. You have to get there at, you know, 7am.

So you're waking up at 5.45, 6 o'clock in the morning, which is, which is pretty brutal. But it's a lot of fun being with the team and traveling. We get to go to some pretty sick places, Cava, Hawaii, Florida. I mean, camp, not definitely not complaining about, about all the travel and, and work and you know, school's definitely hard to to. I take I think I'm in three online classes right now along with one on campus so you know that that helps me manage school a little a little better as well but it is kind of you know after playing a practice round or being out of the course all day you're kind of drained and kind of just want to, you know.

Yeah, the last thing you want to do is pick up books and probably do schoolwork. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's not my favorite thing to do in the first place. So, it's not something that I like to do or anything, but you know, you got to stay eligible and get it done. And, you know, we have a good Oklahoma state, itself, has a good history of having really smart people on the team and having academic all-Americans, which is something about our program, not only golf wise, but academic wise.

And what about when you're not playing in tournament? We hung out at Stanford a couple last month. And we saw the study room they had there and the facility building they had there in the facility building They had right by the range. I'm just I'm really looking back at it. First of all I never had the talent to be at that level ever But I like man that would be like a really cool way to experience college kind of have that team atmosphere and kind of doing your homework All together or whatnot. Do you guys have a similar kind of facility at Oklahoma State?

I mean Stanford's a I think a little better academic. Well true I mean Stanford's a, I think a little better academic. Well, true. That's the future of that. I know it's going to stay. So it's kind of hard to compare those two. Sure. But, I mean, we do not, on the, on the, at Carson, we don't have any, you know, study. We have a locker room, which, you know, sometimes we'll go out there and do some homework before we practice.

But on campus, we have, you know, we have something in a kind of in Gallagagher Iba, which is kind of where all the, you know, that's where we work out in the morning. We work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, at 7.30 in the morning, an extra day a week or something like that just to keep my body in shape, because traveling and everything and practicing every day takes a toll on it. I like to hear a little more about those workouts. What would you say the main focus of them are? Is it flexibility?

Is it strength, combination? What does the program look like and is everyone on the same program? We all have individualized programs actually so There's people like Victor Houghland and Zach Boehm. They're not as big into lifting as Let's say, you know me or Austin or Austin at greater Hayden Wood We really like to lift and you know everyone starts out with the same exercises at the beginning. So we stretch, make sure everything's loose and no part of our body hurts or anything.

And then we'll do some mobility exercises just to loosen up and get the muscles activated, get the blood flowing and everything like that. Our trainer really loves to do lunges for some reason. I don't know. We probably do about 152 lunges every single workout. So, I'm not happy about that or complaining. Hopefully he doesn't listen to this, but... That's where the power comes from, though, is the base, right?

I guess that's where mine comes from. Yeah, I mean, it definitely helps. I have relatively big and strong legs, so that's kind of where, you know, George Gank is and my coach and he kind of always says that how, how I use the ground really well. So yeah, I guess you can say that's the, just lunges. Just, if you want to hit a far, just do a bunch of lungeses right? I was gonna say I think you just answered your own question why you're doing all these lunches. What's the weather like in Stillwater this time of year? This is mid-March where we're recording this. Like is it do you guys play a ton of golf? You know in Stillwater this time of year or are you really looking forward to kind you mentioned Cabo and Florida as some of the trips you're taking I imagine it's to get a little bit out of the the weather

you're getting this time of year. Oh yeah I mean it's still water I mean I really love it there but the weather isn't ideal. It's, I think the last couple of weeks have been, you know, either 30 degrees and light winds or rain or stuff, or it's been, you know, 50-55 and just blowing 25-30 miles an hour. So it's right now, it's definitely not ideal. It's not, if you get a good day out there, if you get, you know, under 15 on our wins and above 50 degrees, 45 degrees, I mean, I mean, you got to take advantage of it. There's not, there's not a lot of times to, you know, have weather like that and work on parts of your game where I feel like in, in win when it's blowing that hard, the only thing you can really do is just go on

and play. I mean, because it affects every single effect, affects putting and hitting balls on the range and you don't want to put any bad habits into play. So you kind of just go out there and just play and see how you can control your ball and in the wind and everything. But yeah, coming out to Cobbone ford, it's been a lot nicer.

Winds have been down and Temperatures have been up, which is definitely definitely golf being an outdoor sport. Obviously, it's not we don't have as many opportunities to play as you know other sports, but I mean That's kind of why I'm I'm pretty fortunate to you know come out here and travel to all these places, warm weather, and that's how college golf does it as well. We go up to Chicago in the fall, but in the fall, that's right after summer, so it's still warm and everything. But now when the cold months come in, we're only going to warm places.

So I think you've kind of answered one of the questions I had there. Do you consider yourself more of a range rat? Or you like a guy that likes to get out in the golf course and play? I'm definitely more of a I like to go out and play. I mean pretty much every single day I like to play at least nine holes kind of just to see where my games at because you know hitting balls on the range is You know if you need to work on your swing, I think it's great But it's the same lie, you know The same wind you're hitting into every single time. You can go on different parts of the range, change up the wind, but for the most part,

you're going to be hitting the same shot. For me, I don't feel like you get as much out of it, whereas on the course, there's so many different shots, different lies. You have to hit bumping runs around the greens and putting in everything. So, I mean, I would rather go play, but I've also learned to hit a lot of wedges and practice and stuff and kind of get the most out of,

what I'm gonna practice since I don't like doing it as much, really stay focused and get the most out of it instead of just hitting balls for three hours. And, you know, once I'm finally content with how I'm hitting it, give up, you know. How did, so I imagine too, kind of on that, on that weather note, moving from Southern California to still water was probably a bit of an adjustment for, kind of seasonal golf and whatnot. But how did you, how did you get into golf?

What was your junior career like? And how did you end up at Oklahoma State? I probably started playing golf when I was my dad probably got me to the range at, you know, five or six or something like that. And there was a

summer camp right next to my house, which kind of had all sports and golf was one of them. So I kind of started off playing all sports growing up, football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and golf. And, you know, I played all those sports until I was about 12.

And all the, I mean, once I hit about seven or eight though, I went to a golf specific summer camp, which was kind of a got me the most invested in it, but kind of started playing tournaments when I was about 10 or 11 kind of like golf the most I mean I Was also the best at it which kind of that helps drag you in that direction. Yeah, yeah I mean, that's maybe why I enjoyed it the most but Yeah, I mean I played all the other sports and kind of gave them up once I was you know getting ready to go into high school and kind of just stuck with golf and played tournaments.

I started playing junior tournaments around my house and was winning those and kind of expanded throughout California at that point and was winning more and more higher level events, not NEA, JGAs yet, but once I got into high school that's kind of when I started playing AJAGA's and did all right in those. Went to the Polo Golf Junior Classic, which is now at, which is now I think called the Rolex, but I played that PGA national and that was my first invitational other than like a junior all-star invitational and came in second in that. So that kind of jump started my junior career.

And let me jump in there. Sorry, I don't want to get to kind of how you ended up at Oklahoma State, but I first of all want to see how far into the interview I can make it without asking about your swing yet. But I kind of do want to know what when you picked started picking up a club at that young age, what your swing looked like and how that compares to now.

And when was the first person that ever tried to change your move? I would say my swing was pretty was pretty natural. I think since I started playing, I mean, I'm sure when I was a young kid, I kind of just swung the club around. So I'm I really don't remember what if it, you know, really had the loop or I'm sure I did the light kick. That was kind of a. That was kind of a, you know really had the loop or I'm sure I did the light kick that was kind of a That was kind of a you know, pendant move. Yeah, I patented move that I've always done, but Yeah, I think you know, I always had the little loop especially when I first started swinging I think that was kind of something that just felt natural to me and

And I did have a few people try to change it to be honest. I think it has changed over the years because I saw a video of me when I was about probably 14 or 15 playing in the HGGA and my move really, I really didn't take it. I took it back a little upright and my hands were a little, a little caulked, but I don't really think it was as exaggerated and I think just as I grew and and became, you know, more, you know, grew into my swing more. It started to become this pretty exaggerated, you know, move and unorthodox, I would say. But growing up, I did have a couple of people.

I had River Ridge golf course or golf club, I think. I was playing junior tournament there. And I think a shot, maybe 69, the first round, 68, something like that. It was a good score, and I was leading by a couple. And I was on the range in the second round. And it might have been the club pro, or I don't want to talk bad about him. Am I might have just been some random old guy who was on the range but he uh I didn't know

who he was and you know he came up to me and knew that I played well the first day and you know was asking me about my swing if I've ever taken lessons and um was kind of just you know trying to get me to go to him and tell me that if I went to him and changed my swing a little bit, made it a little more consistent that I could actually have a future in this game. And at that point, I wasn't really that enthralled and everything with my swing and taking videos of it and how it looked, if I played well, if I didn't do anything to my swing, I just was like, I better keep on practicing. But that was about when I was like 10 or 11 and then didn't really have a coach until high school.

My freshman year of high school, that's when I started seeing George, because he was practiced, or he taught at the course that our team practiced that, and I kind of was just hit by him and I had this move and he was, you know, he was pretty intrigued by it and kind of came up to me and he goes, he's like, that move is sick and have you ever thought about having a coach or something like that. And I was like, no, most people just try to change my swing. And he goes, no, like that's the sickest thing I've ever seen. And he told me that, you know, even from the start,

I mean, I could be, you know, as soon as he saw me hit the ball, he goes, dude, you have never seen anything like it. It's like the sickest move. I mean, you know how George talks. Well, I was going to ask you to do an impression of him at some point You just cut went ahead and did it right for me anyways. Let me have an ass Yeah, I mean he was I mean you probably like, you know his eyes got wide and move your move is dope, bro I'm like, scoosh you'd at the top and from there, I mean, dude, it should so sick, bro.

But that's like, I feel like you guys are kind of a perfect match in that regard. You would have needed somebody that's somewhat unconventional to kind of embrace your unconventional swing and not really try to change it. Basically, the way I see it is, he's trying to get the most out of the move that you've created instead of trying to change it in any way. Is that a fair thing to say? Yeah. No, I think that's actually one of the best ways I've heard it said, to be honest.

Yeah, I mean, most people don't really, people who don't know anything about golf or at least don't know the swing, look at me and say, that's a weird swing or how does that work and all that talk. But for him and you know how unconventional he is I mean he shows up to golf course in a flat bill and untucked neon green shirt and Jordan flip-flops so. How has the swing evolved over the years and I think I

remember reading Ryan Lavinner's piece on golf channel about you and I think in there it said you were at 1.12 degrees into out when you first started working with George or at some point working with George. And now you're about four degrees. Does that sound about right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think I probably was around 12. That might be a little exaggeration.

But I mean, no, I know exactly what you mean. When I first started going to him, I was, you know, I had to, my right foot was way behind my left foot. I mean, I had the most close stance. I think I've ever seen. I was kind of just playing big slinging hooks in there, didn't rotate my body, kind of just got stuck at impact and was hoping that I could control the draw and I really couldn't hit a cut to save my life. And not that, not that that was a problem. I mean, George was kind of just like, you know, let's, you know, minimize the amount of draw

that you have and, you know, rotate your swing or rotate a little more and you make sure to get through the ball instead of just, you know, throwing your hands at it and letting the club release really early. He kind of just, that's kind of what we've been working on. I mean, ever since I've been going to him for at least six, seven years now. We've been to that range there at West Lake. I mean,

are you hitting balls over that net in the back of it? I mean, how you're swinging about 130 miles an hour from what I gather? Like, there's no way that range is holding you these days. Well, me and one of my friends Alex Malay, who was on our high school team, we, I mean, he's like six four, he killed the ball. I mean, he is forever. And so me and him were kind of, before they had regular range balls, not limited flight, I mean, and we would hit him over all the time. And you know, the management would come out and they'd be like, make sure you're not

hitting him over. And me and him would hit one, like into the middle of the net, I'll be like, yeah, I killed that as much as I've got. And then they'd go back inside and then we just smash him over, which probably wasn't safe considering the 101 freeway was right

on the other side of the net. There, I think there was one time when it was that one of us, I'm not really sure, I don't think it was me, but it might have been. we hit a we hit a car right in the windshield and yeah so they drove back in West Lake and was like what happened there you know one of you guys hit my car yada yada and you know they came straight over to us and I mean I was sitting down at the time I don't even think I was hitting. And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. I wasn't hitting. I don't, I didn't even have any balls. So, I mean, I must have finished

them right right as soon as I came in, which is pretty nice. But yeah. And then right after that, they got limited flight golf balls, which obviously I didn't like it as much because you know, their ball wouldn't react as, you know, a quarter-tie. You actually hit it, but I mean, me and Alex kind of split those limited flight golf balls out of the range. You broke the range at Wesley basically. Pretty much, yeah. All right, listen up, this will only take a second.

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and yeah, tell them I sent you. All right, let's get back to the pod. Well, what was it like kind of when you're getting in the recruiting process and how you got to Oklahoma State where any college coaches that were recruiting you did they, you know, I kind of want to know who embraced the different, the unconventional way you swing it and who kind of said, I think you can play it at our school,

but I think you need to change some things. Did you experience that at all? I can't really say I did. I definitely, I was definitely hearing that from other people and from maybe not coaches, or maybe not college coaches, but swing coaches and other people who have heard talk, just kind of say, you know, once he grows,

he's going to grow out of his swing or it won't last, you know, stuff like that. And I never really let that stuff get to me, but I was actually committed to USC as a fresh I think. And that was kind of when I first started playing edge of GAs and The coach Chris Dambry there who I mean, I really like I think he's a really good guy and a great coach He kind of recruited me and at that point I was a little anxious and didn't really know how good I was gonna be or if I was gonna be good at all and He kind of you know offered me a pretty big scholarship and kind of I kind of just jumped on it because I wanted to have security. And at that point, I wasn't really, I wasn't really thinking and I didn't, like I said, I didn't know how good I was going to be or if I was going to be good.

So you were also like 15 years old at this point. So yeah, exactly. So I was pretty young and kind of made a little immature decision, but I started playing these big tournaments and getting more recognition and, but all these coaches, which I respected what they said to me, but they told me they go, I'm not going to recruit you because you're already committed. And I said, why not? It's just a it's just a verbal commitment. And they kind of explained to me, if you were committed to my school, I wouldn't want other college coaches talking to you.

Right. Because that's, you know, that's not right. And at that point, I kind of realized like, hey, I mean, I think I could definitely, you know, look at other places and stuff. And, you know, I, I decommitted from USC, I think, beginning of my sophomore year. And I kind of told them, I still want to, you know, talk to you guys because at the end of the day, you might have been, or USC might have been the best fit for me, but I kind of, I definitely need to explore because I didn't, I didn't talk to any other coaches or, you know, explore any other schools or visit any other places when I committed. So I wasn't sure if that was the best fit for me. I kind of just jumped on it. And so, at that point, I decommitted and, and then I've always kind of been Oklahoma State fan

because I've always been a Ricky Fowler fan. Even when I was younger when I was 12, 11 years old, I mean when I first started playing tournaments and stuff, he was always my favorite and and I just kind of wanted to go there but I never really thought that I would be able to. And I started getting recruited by a bunch of a bunch of colleges. I mean, all the big ones, Texas, Oregon. I mean, I was talking to all the coaches or whatever. And I'd never really talked to Oklahoma State that much, but there was one tournament I played in Solving, California at all the Sol and I shot 66 61. And I think one by 13 or something like that. And apparently it was a toy at a tour cup which is a tour that Ricky played on when he was younger. And could he grow up in

Marietta? Ricky's Cady Joe, or kind of heard about me through that and how I shot that low. through that and how I shot that low and told the assistant coach Brian Goot about me a little bit. But I think also the kid I played with when I shot 61, actually I might have played with him both rounds, but he was about to take a visit to Oklahoma State with Coach Bratton and he actually kind of told Coach Brandon that he played with me and I shot 66-61. And that's kind of how they first heard about me because they didn't know who I was. Until the kid I played with in that tournament was taking a visit. He kind of said my name and, you know, they kind of jumped on it. It was like, whoa, this

kid shot 61. I want to know who this is. That's pretty crazy butterfly effect. It's also crazy to, here he's talking about Ricky Fowler being somebody looked up to. And when he came out on tour, like, oh, nine or 2010, you were nine or 10 years old. You were still an extremely impressionable age at that point. I guess, when you say you always looked up to him,

you're always a fan of him. What kind of drew you to him at that age? I just kind of liked his charisma and like how he played and stuff. I mean, I think he was out on tour when I first really started getting into him. I didn't really know him in college.

But he wore those bright colors. And I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of those bright colors. I'm just saying like, I just loved the way he played and how young and like funny he was and you know how good of a player he was. I mean I didn't even know anything really about it. I just kind of knew that he went to Oklahoma State and that made me really like Oklahoma State. And I mean that's kind of how it all started out, you know. I remember I had a either I had a laptop or my mom did, and I used my moms.

And I remember I put like the OSU background on like the screen of the laptop. Wow. When I was like, when I was like 11, 12 years old, like this was before I even like, before I even thought about going to college for golf or doing anything, you know, it kind of, I remember distinctively, you knowively putting that background on the computer and it's pretty funny how things worked out. Yes, you win a national title in your first year at Oklahoma State. What was it like playing in that championship match and have you felt any kind of nerves that were similar

to that point? It was unbelievable, honestly, that championship match was, I mean, it was just so cool, especially to have it at Carson, our home club and all the support, all the fans that came out was unbelievable. There were, I mean, five, five, six thousand people, I think each day out there. And I mean, at least, I think, you know, three, four hundred with each group. I mean, I think there were more for Austin because he's a hometown

kid. And, you know, it was just unbelievable. You're being able to, during that last putt was, I mean, probably I still get goosebumps when I watch the videos and stuff. But, yeah, I was definitely nervous, you know, being in front and all these, especially, you know, with me playing so well, everyone expected me to, you know, perform and that's a lot of pressure. But I would definitely say I've relived the pressure at 16 out of waste management. Well, that was going to be my next question. You got a sponsor's exemption into waste management.

And I want to first, how does that process work? Are you kind of, did they approach you to, you know, kind of offering you an exemption or did you approach them, asking for one, what's the initial step in that process for somebody of your caliber? For me, it was kind of just, I played really well and they definitely knew who I was, but, um, I didn't approach them at all. I kind of told Coach Bratton that I kind of wanted to, you know, play an

event and see where my games at compared to the pros. Coach Bratton kind of took, took his own, you know, took it in his own to contact Chance Cosby, who was the tournament director at Wasteman and Jement, who, I mean, they've coached Brad and chance of not having each other for years and years. They played, I don't know if they played college golf together, but they worked at the Eping together, once Coach Brad and just got out of college.

So they've known each other for a while. And I was told that Wasteman kind of wanted, not wanted me, but wanted me in the discussion to play in the tournament. But Coach Braden was the one who reached out and talked to him and, you know, fuck really finalized and got me the spot into the tournament. And so how did that kind of,

so you get thrown kind of into the fire right away is there's not much more of a crazy atmosphere event wise that you'll have on the PGA tour. How did that compare and nerve wise to anything else you'd ever experienced? I'd say, you know, the first couple holes at the National Championship, not even, you know, that last putt always so I was really nervous, but that was later in the round. I already had a bunch of good shots in my, you know, in my back pocket to rely on and take the good from. So that wasn't as bad, but the first couple holds, the first round of stroke play were pretty nerve-wracking.

I mean, I don't think I settled down until about the starting on 10, so about the 14th T, I think was the first time I really settled down and felt comfortable. What did you learn about yourself during that week at Wastemanagement? I think I learned that. I've been told, and I believe that I can play with the best players in the world, and that put, I will be. One of the best players in the world in the future.

But I think just the biggest thing is the belief of me, knowing that I can, because if you look, I mean the stats for the week, the driving distance, driving accuracy, ball striking, I mean, and I'm usually a really good putter, and I really didn't put well that week, and I know if I did, I definitely couldn't, you know, I don't know about contended, but I know I could have definitely had a top 10 or top 15 finish, because I put it to get the first hand the last three days. I haven't put it that bad in a very long time. So I think for the most part, it was me just knowing

that I can compete with them and that obviously, I have some work to do and to get better and be a little more not consistent. But... Well, that's the next question. What do you need to get better and be a little more not consistent, but Well, that's the next question. What do you need to improve on and what do you need to do you have anything you consider a weakness into that get exposed at all at waste management? Well, I mean, I think my chipping around the greens, chipping isn't one of my I wouldn't say it's a weakness. I've definitely worked on it pretty hard and these last couple tournaments that I've played have been chipping really well. But that was one thing I was management that wasn't as solid as I'd wanted to be. Probably gave a few strokes back there. Pudding is usually a strength of mine. I'm a really good putter and I have a lot of confidence

with pudding, but I really wasn't putting good that week. I don't think it had anything to do with the stage or the pressure. I think it was just you know the puts were in drop in that week so nothing I wasn't worried about that at all because the next week when I played at Hawaii I won and I think gained about four or five strokes over five or six strokes over three rounds in that over five or six strokes over three rounds in that tournament. So I'd probably say wedges and chipping is the biggest thing for me because my ball striking is really good. My driving and irons are really good.

It's just hitting wedges closer and once I miss a green having the ability to get it up and down. And the thing I learned the most of my waste management is just those pros get the most out of their game. They never really, you know, I played with Zach Johnson and Stuart Sink and Kevin Kiesner. And, you know, for example, Zach Johnson and Kevin Kiesner, I mean, they don't bomb it by any means. But, I mean, they're two of the best players in the world just because they get, you know, they're really good with wedges and good putters and they really get the most out of their game.

They don't give up strokes and, you know, don't compound mistakes. You know, if they make one, they'll bounce right back from it. And I think that's the biggest thing for me is to be able to practice that and give my attitude a little better and be able to rebound from bad shots. And I think I'll be doing all right. Were you star struck by anybody out there? Did you see anybody out there and kind of have an old shit moment or did anybody come up to you

and say anything that kind of surprised you? What's your favorite story from the week? That was a lot of questions at once. Yeah, I was gonna say I don't know what it's gonna be. I was gonna say I don't know what it's gonna be. Probably, I don't think I was star struck by anyone. Like I said, I mean, I think the biggest person I'd be starstroke by is Ricky.

And, you know, I've talked to Ricky a bunch of times. I mean, I can text him anytime I want to. He's really nice to us. He's good to Oklahoma State. He comes back every once in a while. So I hang out with him and, you know, all the guys are really nice out there to be honest. The guys that I like Kevin Kisner and Zach Johnson a lot.

Stuart Sink and JB Holmes who I played with as well were awesome, really stand up guys and you know we're really nice to me and said you know after the rounds if I needed anything just let them know and they can do what they can to help me out which was I thought was really really cool. I mean they all kind of said hi to me you know a bunch of guys Tony Fina came up to me and said hi. And, you know, I wasn't really, you know, star struck. I just, I was pretty excited and kind of amazed a little how, you know, nice they were.

Because, you know, at the end of the day, they're all playing against each other and same with college. I mean, I go up to guys and say hi, even though I'm competing against them, but I think it might be a little different out on tour, but it really wasn't. I mean, they were all super nice and welcome me and said hi and asked me how it was going. And that was really cool. What was it like playing that 16th hole? Was it really noticeably different on Saturday compared to the other days as well? Yes, 100%. Thursday was pretty crazy because I teed off on the back nine in the morning, but I was the last T-time off.

So by the time I got there, it was about 11, maybe 10, 45. So it's already been open for a while. A bunch of alcohol has been consumed. And people were all packed in. So it was really nerve-wracking, especially since I was the first time I went through it. And Friday was different though. Friday I was the very last group to go through it. So everyone had kind of left.

And that was the day I missed the green, actually. I missed the green. Yeah, I missed the green once in that middle left bunker. And to that middle left pin and luckily was on Friday with the least amount of people because I got boot pretty bad and then got it up and down. So there was a roll when I made about a 10-15 footer which was nice. But yeah, Saturday, I mean when I went through it was ridiculous because I teed off one.

So by the time I got there, I mean it was two o'clock. I mean not. Yeah, it might have been around two, maybe one. And I mean, it was just, I don't even know why they hold up those quiet signs. I think my mom said that a couple days ago. I mean, I'm looking at them, about to have my shot and the volunteers hold up those quiet signs. And I feel like it gets louder when they do that So say two might be like the most prime time to go through because we get to the very end people are kind of almost Near-pass-out stage, I think but they've been waiting for a long time for people to come around come to a clock So they're fired up. Oh, yeah, are you gonna try to play in any other should we look for you in any other PGA tour events in the in the short-term future I kind of what of your what are your short term scheduling plans?

I don't think so. I'm not, I'm not really sure what's going to happen yet, but as of now, I'm pretty set on going pro after nationals. I'm not, I'm not 100% though. I'm going to see how the rest of the year goes. I'm going to try to play local qualifiers for us open as an amateur. I mean as an amateur obviously, but I'm gonna try to play locals. So if I do end up making it through sectionals as well, I can turn pro as before the US Open because if I were to take my amateur ranking and skip locals and just go to sectionals and make it I wouldn't be able to turn pro. Gotcha. So I think I'm gonna do locals and then you know like I said kind of as the year goes on kind of see you know how I'm progressing and if I feel like I'm

ready to turn pro after nationals but but I mean, at this point, you only get seven starts and I've already used one of them with waste management. So I only get six now if I were to turn pro. So I think I'm going to be saving those those exemptions for when I do go pro to, you know, have the most amount of starts to earn the most money and get me the best the best status on we know web or hopefully you know do what Joaquin did and make it straight to the PGA tour but I mean that's that's the plan right now like I said I mean a lot of things can change I have you know two three months to see where my games at and you know kind of kind of finalize everything so hopefully

at this at this pace I think I will be on pro, but, you know, like I said, a lot of things can change. You never know what's going to happen. I want to ask you about Victor Havlin, your teammate at Oklahoma State, number two ranked Amin the World. First of all, you're the, you've won five out of seven events and you're only the third ranked Amin the World. I have some questions about the Amin or ranking system, but what's it like, kind of, having somebody, what's your guys guys relationship like and what's it like having a teammate that you guys are so closely ranked together and kind of is there a competitive nature between the two of you or what's their dynamic of that relationship?

There's, I mean, obviously we're both very competitive. We both want to be the best. And, you know, at the same time, no, that just, I mean, I'm not happy for him. I mean, obviously I didn't get to play in that USM, but when he wanted, I was extremely happy for him. I thought that was awesome. And he really, you know, he really works hard and he's a really good player. I'd say it's helped me more than anything, you know,

him being, you know, so high ranked and all these guys, especially like even Austin, you know, it's, you know, he's really, really high up there and ranking and, but for Victor, I mean, I mean, there's definitely parts of the game that he's a lot better at than I am, and there's parts of the game where I'm a lot better than he is. So it's nice to kind of, compare our skills and play against each other every single day and kind of push each other to be better, because we're kind of in the same boat right now. We're both, you know, two of the biggest, the biggest, you know, commodities about, about to, you know, be ready to turn pro.

And I think the most important thing is for us to just, you know, help each other out and be there for each other, because I've heard, I didn't really experience it at the waste management, but I've heard it's, you know, it's pretty lonely out there. Everyone's just trying to, it's a doggy dog world. All these new guys trying to go out and turn pro and get starts and everything and, you know, it's, it's sometimes, you know, it's sometimes hard, you know, still having friends out there and stuff. But I think it's, it's really good that me and Victor are pretty close and really competitive, really happy for each other when we, when we win, but obviously you want to be the one holding the trophy at the end. Are you, I don't know if nervous is the right word or are you, I'll use that word. Are you nervous at all about the expectations that have been heaped on you and do you think they're, they're, they're realistic or does that, does that kind of pressure overwhelm you at all at any time? I'd say when I'm off the golf course, I think sometimes it does. There's a lot of expectations

for me. I mean, everyone's saying, I just saw something on golf channel this morning on Twitter that was, you know, am I the Zion Williams sin of college golf or the Zion Williams sin that Matt Wolfe of college basketball. It's like, that's a pretty big statement to be said. So I think sometimes obviously it, you know, it is a little overwhelming. And the biggest thing for me is I hate letting people down. I always want to say yes to people and I'm always trying to be as nice as possible so You know in that in that case it is it is kind of hard but Luckily for me when I'm on the golf course. I really don't think about any of that

I really just think about you know know, me playing the best and That's kind of why I like golf the most is because At the end of the day, it's you you're the one hitting the shots you're the one making the decisions and if you play bad It's on you. It's not not anyone else and Even though all these expectations are set for me, you know, if I don't live up to them You know the only person that's gonna be feeling it is, which is, you know, I think I really like that, you know, I'm not relying on anyone else and I think on the golf course, I don't think about all those expectations, I just think if I play bad, I'm not worried about the rankings, I'm not worried about, you know, money or how much, you know, anything scoring

average or stats or anything like that. For me, I'm just like, I want to play good because I want to play good. I expected of myself and, and I expect it of myself and I wanna be the best player, I can and the best in the world. So, hey, like I said, it is hard off the golf course, constantly thinking about all the expectations people have set for me, but at the end of the day, I think that on the golf course, I handle it really well and not think about all that.

Even when I am playing bad or even when I am playing good, you know, I'm not saying, don't lose it now or if I'm playing bad, I need to step it up because all these people are, you know, counting on me and looking at me as like, you know, not a god, but, you know, someone who's above everyone else. And, yeah, I mean, it is hard, but like I said, on the course, I only think about me playing well for me, which is nice. What I know we talked a bit about George earlier, but I kind of want to dig a little bit more

on kind of the dynamic of your guys' relationship. Am I correct in saying it's not normal to see a guy's swing coach, Cady, for somebody in a PGA tour event? Was there any doubt in your mind that you wanted George to Cady for you at Wastemanagement and kind of how did that go about? I wouldn't say there was really anyone else that I had in mind to Cady for me. I think Steve Lomire, who I think is on the bag for Colt Knows to coach Star Knows really well.

We were kind of talking about him being on the bag. But at the end of the day, I think the most important thing for me at the first event, especially waste management, with how crazy it gets, is just to have someone keep me calm out there. And like I said before, I had confidence that I could go out there and play with those guys.

And for me, I trust myself and my game and my shot making skills and decisions and stuff to to be able to play really well and for me I think it was just not letting the stage get to me and I think there was there was no one that knows me better and can keep me calm like George. Do you guys talk technical stuff out there or is it is it is he switched over to just being a straight caddy? No he switched over to being a straight caddy he doesn't he doesn't tell me anything during the round. He knows me better than that because for me, one of the biggest things about George and, you know, why I love working with him is he teaches me about my swing and not just about, you know, how to swing. So if I'm, if I'm struggling

or if I'm missing it left your stuff, I know exactly what to do in my swing in order to change that. So for him, he doesn't want to put any other, you know exactly what to do in my swing in order to change that. So for him, he doesn't want to put any other, you know, information in my head. It's more just, you know, he's straight giving me numbers and giving me calm and being there when he needs to be, but not, you know, telling me what to do. Last one I've got for you here. I should have mixed this in when we were talking about your swing, but where did your little hip trigger that you that you have before you start your swing? Where did that come from? Is that something you've always done?

Um, no, that's a that's actually that's probably the newest thing in my swing. Even though it's probably the thing that most people notice the people notice the most. I was a sophomore in high school and I was playing pick up football with my friends. more in high school and I was playing pick up football with my friends and we were on the high school football field right right now for a pass and some people say I tripped over the ball some some people say sorry I mean I'll tell everyone that I just lost my balance you know when you're like running really fast and kind of you know lose your balance forward and you know eat it on your shoulder or something so that's kind of what I tell people but everyone else see everyone of my close friends tells me, tells everyone they I tripped over a ball

to make me sound uncorunded and non-athletic. But yeah so I tripped over the ball, broke my collarbone and it was out for about five weeks and I honestly have no clue if that has any effect on it but as soon as I came back, George told me I was really closed at setup. You know, for me, my miss was left at the time. Like I said, I played, I used to play a big draw. And you know, when I was struggling, I'd always miss it left because I wouldn't rotate. And I'd always miss it left.

And George told me, you need to open your shoulders. You need to aim more left. And I said, how the hell does that make sense? If my, if my miss is left, why do I want to aim left? And, and, I mean, get past all the technical stuff, he just told me I need to aim left, I need to aim left. And for me, I had a really hard time doing that. And so he goes, all right, we need to somehow get you to open up your chest and your hips before your swing. For me, I was like, I don't know what to do.

And he kind of just made me, you know how he kind of, you know, does hands-on stuff and like opens you up, you know, that's like a little pre-shot. So he kind of did that to me. And I said, oh, I kind of like this move. I kind of feels good. He was like, all right, we'll do it yourself. And so I kind of did it like little, you know, got my shoulders around, got my hips around, you know, from that point on, I just always did it as like a, you know, as an alignment

aid kind of. For me, it was, you know, to open my, you know, to set up more open to the shot, not have my shoulders as far right. And from that point on, I just kind of stuck with me. It became my trigger. So I can't start a swing without doing that. And people ask me all the time, can you swing without doing it? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I can. But it just feels so, I feel like I'm sitting over it forever. And they're like, they're like, all right, take it back now. And I'm like, well, I feel like I'm missing something. How far down the bag does that go, all the way down to chipping, or where do you not do the hip turn? It's kind of a feel thing.

Yeah. It's not so much at a certain yardage I stop. Right. It's kind of like usually, I mean I'm guessing if I had to give you a number, it's probably around 40 yards. Okay. That makes sense.

I think anything inside 40 yards, I'm pretty, you know, I don't really do that move. Maybe a touch of forward press before I hit, but other than that, that's about it. But once I go past 40 yards and on, I always do it. I do have one more question. I forgot to put on my list, but you brushed up fraternity. Was it last year or this year? Kind of what was the thought process behind that?

So I rushed Fiji 5Gmadolta last spring. So my first year spring. And I kind of just, you know, coming from like I said, Southern California to Oklahoma, I didn't know a lot of people. I knew Austin echo and the guys on the golf team was about it. And he knew a lot of people coming from, you know, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, pretty much Edmund. He knew so many people that, you know, we're already at Oklahoma State. So he had friends outside of the golf team and I really didn't. And for me, I'm a really social guy. I mean, I like talking

with people and especially when I'm off the golf course, I don't like talking about golf really. I like to be hanging out and, you know, talking about other things. And for me, I really didn't have anyone that I could go call up and be like, hey, you want to go get lunch or you want to hang out, you want to come over and play video games or something. And I thought that was really important for me to have. And so about, yeah, I mean, after my fall semester of my freshman year, I was kind of, I got presented with this opportunity that Austin kind of set it up a little bit, but I was the one who kind of, you know, said I kind of wanted to rush a fraternity and, you know, make some new friends and stuff and, you know, at the end of the day,

I'm really glad I did it because some of my best friends that I know are going to be lifelong, you know, for, you know, the rest of my life are ones that I've met in Fiji, which is, you know, really cool. When I was that waste management, I think five, now six, six of my fraternity brothers came out drove 14 hours the night before to come out and watch me, and we're out there, I think the entire week. So, I mean, just things like that where it's, you know, so cool to have friends like that. And, you know, especially friends that don't play golf, you know, so, you know, I can have another, you know, we go play basketball, we can go, you know, watch a movie or just do, you know, stupid things, you know, not surrounded by golf,

which was, you know, really, really important to me. Yeah, you gotta have some balance. All right, Matt, thanks so much for taking the time. And this was fun, this was very insightful. and I think I speak for our entire audience. We're rooting for you and wish you the best of luck going forward and thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it, ma'am. Of course, yeah, like I said, thanks for having me. Sweet, thanks, man. Cheers. It's gonna be the right club. Be the right club today. Yes!

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