No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 211: Adam Long

Episode Date: April 29, 2019

The winner of the 2019 Desert Classic, Adam Long joins the podcast to talk about his rise through the lower levels of professional golf, to lifting a trophy on golf's biggest stage. This episode was recorded during the 2019 Players, and we break down Adam's thought process on the 72nd hole, the incredible shot he hit to pull off the win, and the putt to clinch it. Thanks a ton to Adam for the time!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yeah. That is better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. All right, guys, welcome back to the podcast. Got a great episode for you today. DJ and I got a chance to catch up with Adam Long when he was in town for the players.

Adam, of course, won the Desert Classic earlier this year in an enormous upset over Phil Michelson, Adam Had Hadwin and several others. This was again done during the players' championship. So it's not the most timely episode, but we do talk a little bit about the players. But for the most part, we talk about Adam's career and his rise from the lower levels of the professional tours and constant improvement to winning on the PGA tour. It really is an incredible story. We spent a lot of time on that and then ultimately get into the great story of winning the Desert

Classic. Well, that's done for him and how it's changed his life and all of that. We did him want to delay this a bit till after the Masters and we had a lot of other podcasts in the queue. So, apologies for that delay on that. And before we get to Adam, I want to again mention, from now through May 31st, Caliwais donating $4 for every dozen ERC soft yellow golf balls that are sold. They're donating that to the Children's Miracle Network Hospital.

It's a nonprofit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals as part of the industry-wide play yellow campaign. So be sure to pick up some ERC soft yellow golf balls with the triple track technology in stores or online at CallawayGolf.com. And please help support this amazing program. So without any further delay, here is our podcast with Adam Long. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Laying Up podcast. We are joined here. I'm with DJ Pie. We are at TPC, Sawgrass, Marriott, something like that. PGA Tour winner, Adam Long. Welcome. Wow. I can't say enough. This is a huge honor. I'm pretty nervous, though. So we'll see how this goes. Well, let me loosen things up. I'm going to give you a bit of time here.

I'm going to read your Wikipedia page in its entirety, which is a much more difficult job than it was like six weeks ago, because you didn't have one when you won the desert classic. But here it goes. Long was born in New Orleans and grew up in St. Louis. He attended Francis Hall High School. He graduated from Duke University with a degree in sociology. He is the son of Gordo and Jane and the brother of Lindsay.

That's your Wikipedia bitch. Well, it's, it's all factual, right? Pretty, pretty factual. Yeah. What would you add? Anything, you factual, right? Pretty factual, yeah. Yeah. What would you add? Anything, you know? I have a wife and Emily. It would be the first thing I would say.

She is over here on the road. I didn't want to read all the spouse and residents and all that. Oh, there's the actual paragraph though. Well, it's good start. It's progress. It's a good start. Did one of your friends make a Wikipedia page?

I was gonna say, who does that? Who does that? Isn't it? I made it for myself. I don't know. To be myself. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know. I have to track that person down and thank them, I guess, for getting the ball rolling.

Where's the best place to start? Is it to go right in to talk about the Desert Classic? Is it to start with the path that led you to that point? I mean, yeah, there's obviously a lot that led me to that point. The Desert Classic is a cool story and it started a new one in a way, but there's a lot of history there that led me to that point. All right, I think that's a tip to go for the history then.

Well, let's go back. So six or seven years ago, you meet a young man named DJ Pihowski, who will end up becoming, I would say, among your biggest champions, at least inside no laying up, draft you on my Fred X Cup team. I was screaming at the telecasts. What?

You drafted the big self. Who can remember those sorts of things? I know it wasn't first. It's like Tom Brady getting surpassed by all the guys. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I knew. I knew that he, you know what, I picked Cameron champ first, because you know, I thought

maybe, actually I picked Curtis first. I picked Cameron champ second, because I knew that would, you know what, I picked Cameron champ first because, you know, I thought maybe, actually I picked Curtis first, I picked Cameron champ second because I knew that would motivate him to win. I dropped Adam down because I knew that he's a guy who's had a chip on his shoulder for a long time. That was going to motivate him to win. I would maybe flip the question back to you guys and ask how many of your players have won this year. I didn't get to draft.

I was auto-drafted. Well, that's auto-drafted me. Listen, we don't need to get stuck in the week here. What I'm trying to say is Adam and I have known each other for a long time and all of the things on the broadcast where this guy, he's coming out of nowhere. This guy that many fans may not be familiar with him, that's bullshit because I've been talking about this for a long time.

Anyways, let's start, where should's start, let's start in college. Okay, so Duke University, why did you end up at Duke and let's kind of expand on that Wikipedia paragraph a little bit and fill in a few more of the details for us. Wow, that's a lot. What the hell just happened? So we're moving away from the FedEx Cup then. Yeah, we'll do a whole separate podcast on FedEx Cup. It sounded like you had a pretty good theory there. Anyway, yeah, I grew up in St. Louis and knew I wanted to go somewhere other than the Midwest for golf. So I looked all over in the southeast and actually settled on, settled on, I picked Florida and was verbally committed to going there.

Obviously, an awesome golf program, cool school, great campus, good weather. And my parents kind of sat me down one more time, kind of late. I guess before my junior year in high school and said, you know, before we really commit fully here, let's maybe you should take another look at Duke. They were, you really liked it. They were really interested in you. It's such an awesome school. Maybe you should go back and, you know,

make sure this is what you want. So we want another kind of a secret trip in a way to Duke and met some more guys on the team and got to know the coaches a little bit more, the school a little bit more, and fell in love with it. I was like, this place is special. It's different.

So I felt like that was where I wanted to go. And I was a really good junior player, but I wasn't a superstar by any means. And so I never really dreamed of that I'd be on the PJ Tour. I mean, it was like a far-fetched dream in a way. It wasn't a goal of mine, even. I just want to play a good college golf and see where that goes. So anyway, I ended up going there, and it was the best decision I made.

Were you there for any of the JJ reddick years? No, I missed him by a year. On my visits, I went to a game and watched him in Cameron. It was pretty ridiculous. What? Who was on the basketball team while you were there? Any of the, who are the biggest names that we would recognize? We did.

We were pretty, pretty blue collar my four years there. Like my freshman year, they weren't. They weren't. They weren't very good, of course. Yeah. Yeah, it was, I mean,. They weren't very good, of course. Yeah. Yeah, it was, I mean, we were like the 16th and the tournament freshman year, which is a terrible year for Duke, obviously. And then by my senior year, though, they were really good.

And they ended up winning the national championship. But even then, it was guys like John Shire, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, Brian Zubak. I mean, it wasn't the guys, the one and done guys that we have now. That was the butler. Would they play Gordon Hayward, but right in that national championship? Oh, yeah. Okay.

So after, what was your career like at Duke? How did you, how did you do compared to what you were expecting yourself to do? Yeah, I didn't have a whole lot of expectations. I didn't know where I would fit in in the team or belong. I mean, they were, before I got there, they were really good. They had Ryan Blom, Nate Smith and, and Rzenski. And they they have some really good teams prior to me being there just right up until I got there. And they were they were probably before me. They were like a top 10 team, top 20 team. And that's pretty much how we were all my four years as a team. And I didn't make I didn't qualify for the first event my freshman year.

Second event was at Olympia Fields in Chicago and I finished second and the team won and I was kind of like boom here we go and I was like all right so I can play here I belong I can play on this team I can compete in college golf with with the best and it was a stacked field and so that gave me the confidence that I could that could play college golf at the highest level. So, but I had a pretty good career. Wasn't amazing by any means. I won one tournament in my senior year and all ACC a couple times, but nothing too crazy.

So you leave Duke and what's the next step from there? Yeah, it's kind of, that's the hardest thing is you turn pro and you're like, wait, I have to figure this all out on my own. And college golf or even junior golf, you have somebody there either coach or your parents or helping you all along the way of scheduling and booking hotel rooms and everything, entry fees. And now I was on my own.

So I kinda had to figure it out. I had some older guys that have been out a year or two before me that I hung out with, but they helped me out. But for the most part, I was on my own, but I was playing the EGolf Tour, Hooters Tour, some Monday qualifiers getting ready for key school. How does, like, the details of the mini tours? How does that work?

Do you just send in like an application and say, all right, here's my resume. I'm playing in this. Do you need a resume of any kind? Do you pay an entry fee? How do the mini tours work for people that don't know? They're all a little different. I don't know. I didn't play a whole bunch of them.

I pretty much stuck to the EGolf Tour and the Hooters Tour. There were some incentives to doing well on those tours. So if you put the money plan, the more money you can make and you finish on those money lists. But yeah, I mean, for the most part, if you had a decent college career, you played D1 Golf or had some sort of resume that they could kind of eyeball, they would let you in. But yeah, you pay, and those days,

I mean, you were paying up to 1,500 bucks to get in and have at it. It's like gambling almost. It's like totaling as gambling. Yeah, it is organized game. You put in your 1,000 bucks to 1,500 somewhere in there and there were anywhere from, you know, 150 to, in the EG off, they were killing it. Then they had like 300 players, two courses, and all around North Carolina, South Carolina area. And that was some of the most fun days though. At what point did they're stopping entry fees, by the way? The, like, Bulp PGA Tour Canada Latin America.

I thought you were gonna say PGA Tour. I was like, all right, this asshole. No, PGA Tour Canada Latin America, they have some, you know, when I played it was like, I wanna say it was around 150 bucks, 200 bucks to play per week, and but the web.com doesn't. Which just kinda seems like a twist of the knife

when you're on like PJ Tour Canada and you're driving all this way, it's like oh yeah, also it's gonna be, just it's 150 bucks. Yeah, exactly. It's just a little bit. It's a little something. I know you're already razor thin margins.

It's gonna be 150 bucks to play the tournament. How well do you have to play on the mini tours to break even? Or is it possible? Yeah, it's possible. If you can win one or finish a couple top tens and make up for your ms cuts, the week's prior and all that, you can make some decent money. It's changed a lot now because when I first got started, there was no Latin America or Canada tour.

I was playing the EGolf Tour and Hooters Tour and they were pretty popular. It's hard to get in. I played a Monday qualifier for Hooters Tour event. Now, it's... They're having a tough time getting more than 50 guys to play, some of those events. It's changed a lot in the last five, 10 years. What kind of golf stands out on those tours? And how is that different from the PJ tour, different from the web tour or anything like that?

Just as far as like people's games and what strengths get rewarded and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, I mean, I'd say in the mini tours, especially then the EG golf tour who is tour, there was a lot of really good players. There's some studs that had either lost status on the web or, you know, were about to become what, you know, PJ Twerp members in the next year or two. And so it was, it was all across the board, but they weren't very deep. Did you ever have to run into Ted Potter on the Hooters tour? Yeah, yeah, he was, yeah, he was like superstar.

I mean, he's like the, the Babe Ruth of the Hooters tour, right? Yes. Yeah, he was, yeah, if he was playing, you're, of the hoors to right? Yes. Yeah. If he was playing, you're just trying to finish second or third. Yeah. It's amazing to me. I don't know why it is. Maybe it shouldn't be, but the links that guys will go to to get into tournaments. I mean, it's kind of, it is all you have, but guys will fly across, you know, fly to

different countries to play Monday qualifiers just to get in a tournament where you're not guaranteed any money. I mean, how were you, I guess at any point were you overwhelmed with how competitive like the lower stages of professional golf are? Yeah, I mean, it's especially, there's very top heavy, right? So when you talk about breaking even, I mean, you got to be finishing in the top 10. Well, there's more than 10 really good players. Sure, the bottom 2030, a lot of them are, you know, their part time job guys are trying to play. And you know, the bottom 2030, a lot of them are, you know, they're part-time job guys that are trying to play, and you know, they weren't, they didn't have a college

career really, and you know, they're just trying to play an event here and there, but at the top, they're really good. So, yeah, it's tough. Haldi? 31. Me too. So, weird flex. You know, you wouldn't get it. Yeah, you're not on the team, man.

So we're talking about kind of seven, eight years here between college and where you are now. So beyond the Hooters tour, you obviously played the Web Tour for a few years and stuff. But what were the points that, you know, what were kind of the high points of that seven, eight years? What were the low points of that seven, eight years? And how did that journey work out for you?

Yeah, I mean, 2011 was an interesting year. So I graduated 2010. 2011, I had no status on any tour, but I actually missed five straight cuts on the EGolf tour, feeling pretty bad about myself, pretty bad about my golf game. I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I was clueless.

I was literally clueless with everything in my game. It was really bad. Well, I traveled to Columbus, Ohio and qualified for the US Open. I had an amazing 36 holes. I was thrown into the fire of the US Open the next week at Congressional. I missed the cut by, I don't know, five or six probably, but that was a pretty awesome experience. I was like, all right, I'm good enough to get here, but you know, it gave me some momentum. Enough so that I went through Q school that fall and got conditional status on the web. And so in 2012, I was playing the web and, and you know, I played 17 events and didn't

keep my card. But again, there was some like, I can play here. I just didn't have good status and I don't know, it was my first year out, and then went back to like the mini tours, and then for a year, and then played Latin America, Canada for a year, the both tours in the same year, which is crazy travel, but I did it. And then qualified again for the web.com tour

and played out there the next four straight years. So the last four years I've been on the web.com tour, and I've been, most of those years, I was pretty close to getting a tour card, I was keeping my card out there the next four straight years. So the last four years I've been on the web.com tour. And I've been, most of those years, I was pretty close to getting a tour card. I was keeping my card out there. And so there was some positive momentum there. Is it full bore? Are you totally committed to this

and was there ever a doubt like professional golf might not be for me? And like when you get to the third or fourth year of kind of bouncing around, does those doubts creep in at any moment? For me, they didn't. I mean, it's been a pretty steady progression. I mean, I kind of did it the classic way, in a sense,

because I played a couple of years of mini tours, four years on the web.com tour five total, but four years on the web.com tour, and everything was kind of trending, and I was pressing. Yeah, and I pretty much figured, like as long as I felt my game was getting better each year, and I was getting closer and closer and getting better,

and I wasn't going backwards, I was going to keep playing. How did you stake your mini tour career? I'm always fascinated at how guys, whether it's sponsors or parents or jobs or, I know there's a lot of different ways to do it. I guess, how did you do it and how are some of the other ways you've seen guys do that? I had some help from back home, for sure, that I couldn't have done it without their help, but yeah, guys have all kinds of crazy deals.

I had some buddies that would have 20, 30 stakeholders that had shares of their company that would, you know, buy anywhere from $2,000 shares to $5,000 shares on up. And, you know, it's like a one-year deal, and that was their money, then they would get paid back. They had all different payback structures, and it can get pretty confusing pretty quickly.

So, and some people just have rich families that just, you know, right out of the gate, they're fine. So, it's, it is hard, it's really expensive. Have you seen any guys getting some really broad deals? I had heard of some, but not, I don't know anybody personally that, any really bad deals, but I know there's some out there. Well, because like you said, when you get out of college, you're on your own. It's up to you to figure out so much of this stuff, and I'm sure when somebody throws

a bunch of money at you, it's probably very, very appealing, but I don't remember where we heard the stories recently of... Yeah, well, I think a lot of it is, you know, I think one thing that's cool about your career is you kind of alluded to it, but, you know, always, even if they're small steps, like always moving forward, rather than you see so many guys that get on the other side of that where, you know, they hit their high watermark and then all of a sudden they start backpedaling and they're back on the mini tours and they're back doing this and it's almost like they're clinging to these kind of last chance opportunities.

And there's almost kind of a loan shark type vibes of these guys who are like, I'll stake you, I'll pay all your expenses, but I get 30% of your money for the rest of your life kind of thing. And like that's a made up example. But I mean, there's a bunch of weird stuff like that. And I don't know, digging into the mini tours is it's not hard to do with. Well, it's hard. It's what like that. And I don't know, digging into the mini tours is, it's not our to-do-to-let.

Well, it's hard. It's what the Young Hitters program is now. That's right, it's actually. It's hard because- We're trying to keep those guys off the streets. I hung out with one tonight, he's doing great. Who's that? Justin Hubert.

Oh, this is one of our favorite Young Hitters. Really? Oh, yeah, one of your favorite ones. One of our five favorite ones, yeah. Definitely. So throughout your five favorite ones. Yeah, definitely. So throughout your your years on the web tour, um, where is your game improving? Where are you progressing and how, how do you know that you are improving, other than just kind of better finishes? How do you know physically the term improving? Yeah, it's kind of two full one, just the

more years out there, the more comfortable you are, uh, with the golf courses, with the travel, all of it, caddies, everything, you can get a pretty, you're pretty comfortable on any tour, the more comfortable you are with the golf courses, with the travel, all of it, caddies, everything. You can get pretty comfortable on any tour the more years you're out there. So that was a big part of it, I think, being out there last year was my fifth year. So some of those courses that I had seen so much that the hard holes didn't seem that hard anymore. The hard courses didn't seem that tough. But I started working with Josh Gregory about two and a half years ago and he really kind of revamped my short game wedges and putting and that helped my scoring big time. I was pretty average at all those and then he really kind of changed my way I go about it and the way I practice it and it's gotten a lot better.

If you get in the weeds on that, what needed to change or what, it's pretty hardcore golf audience that listens to this. So I'm curious, like, the technical stuff that you're working on changing. That's, that's, I can't. That's private. It's a proprietary system. No, I mean, for the most part, like, like, even just basic chips, I was always, and bunker shots.

I was always cutting across it very a lot. So I was relying a lot on spin for my short game shots around the greens. And he taught me that yes, you can hit shots that way and there are times you have to and different lies and all that. But the straightforward ship, he really got me to feel a draw more.

And so I feel like now, for the most part, my standard chips have a little draw feel to it. That's probably the biggest change we made. How would you sum up Josh? He seems like an interesting guy that works with a lot of interesting people. Yeah, he's got a funny stable, I guess, the funny guys. But I knew him from college as a college coach. And when he started teaching, I was one of the first guys I went to and I

kind of learned about what he thought about the game of his theories and all his focus and went out to Dallas and spent two days with him and I loved it. I mean, I loved being around him. First of all, he's a really fun guy. He's very positive. He's hilarious. We have similar personalities and interests

and so that helps, but I mean, he's super into a short game putting, scoring and he's really good at preparing guys for events. So I think that he's out on the PJ tour every single week. Some days just, or some weeks just for a few days, but a lot of weeks he's here through Friday or Sunday. And he's really good at preparing you for two-plight and to compete.

Were you working with a coach when you're on the mini tours and that kind of stuff? Yeah, I've had a coach in St. Louis, Brian Fault, who's out of Bel Rief. And I've used him since I was nine years old, mostly full swing stuff, but I still keep in touch with him. He's a great friend. So in your four consecutive web.com seasons, which before you are undercarded in the 2018 season, but were any seasons there before that? Did you feel like you were on the verge? Did you have close

calls for getting your PGA tour card? Yeah, so I mean, there was a few years there, which was different than last year. The biggest difference last year was a lot of time. I kind of hit it like a little plateau in the summer. I typically got off the mediocre starts, played really well in the spring and was up there in the top 25 at some point and fell off towards the end, whether it was missing cuts or just not finishing high enough to just finish it off. And then I go to the finals and have a pretty good finals. I have at least one or two good

events. The first year at finals, I made all the cuts, but didn't finish high enough to finish in the top 25. So there was always like almost, almost, almost. So last year, that was the biggest difference was I was able to finish it off and kept the pedal down. What, I loved after the Desert Classic. someone, I think it was maybe Sean Martin, friend of the pot. Shout out. I think he was asking you about your last professional win, which is a hooters tour?

Yeah, I mean, it depends on what you, I mean, I'd won the like, so, you know, US Open qualifiers, I had won so many tours, like sure, some one day stuff, but like the last multi-day win was, was yeah, the 2011 Hooters Tour event. What can you tell us about that event? It was the Wood Creek Open.

Yeah, yeah. I, I, I Monday qualified for it. Did you really? Yeah. Where's Wood Creek in South Carolina? Okay. Well, talk, take us there. Tell us about the, about the tournament.

What was different? I'm sure people have heard enough about the 20, they, they've seen the highlights over time. Yeah, I mean, that's just a classic. I think it's on ESPN classic pretty often. But yeah, I was playing primarily on the e-buff tour that year. And so I wasn't like a full member of the Hooters tour. So if you're not a member, you're like an alternate, you can sign up to be an alternate. Well, I was, it was a full field. So they only had certain spots for qualifiers. So I had to go to the Monday qualifier and it was at the other course at Wood Creek.

It's like across the street. And it was the worst day ever. Like Eric Axley was out there and I'm like, what's going on? Like this is tough. I'm trying to get into a hooter tour. Shout out to the stack until. And so he, I don't know if that's a shout out or not.

So anyway, I got in. I mean, it was terrible weather. I'm Monday to end and played a practice on Tuesday or something and but yeah, I found myself playing really well and ended up in a playoff with Stuart Anderson, Canadian Great. Yeah, and I don't know I chipped in actually on the first playoff hole on on 18 there to to win and it was like $28,000 and I mean I'd never been happier I don't know how easy this is to answer, but what do you think kept you from winning more, whether it was Hooters Tour, EGolf, Web Tour, it's funny and interesting to kind of say,

and we kind of sat with Keith Mitchell too, like played in the Web Tour for a while, never actually won and then just breaks through in this huge moment at Honda. What do you think kept you from winning more and then obviously we'll get into what changed it in Palm Springs? Yeah, I don't know.

Part of it's physical in the game. I needed to change some things in my game to get better and to score better and to be in the mix more often and be more consistent. But I've also done some work with Bob Rattella and on the mental side of stuff. It's really helped me both on the course while I'm out there handling bad breaks or bad shots and all the bad and handling the good as well. And then also just the mental side of where you feel yourself in the game of golf and the greater scheme of things

and life in general. And so that both of those have really helped. That's some big topics. Let's we should let's dive into that. Let's dive into that. We're going to keep going. No, that's fascinating. Like I think Bob Rottell is another one. You you hear that name all the time and I really I couldn't tell you like anything about it. I think of like hypnotism.

When I think about that. Yeah. So I know that's that's probably a lot more that something that is actually probably a little proprietary, but give us a little taste of what like What is that that you guys work on and what yeah diving to that a little bit more? Oh, I went as probably four or five years ago, but we I went and State of his house and ended what he does with all his first time guys and you spend like two days there and hypnotized you Yeah, and the rest is a blur. It was like get out No, but it's a lot of it's a lot of both like having that belief

that you are a great player and you can compete and you're, you know, the sky's the limit and believing that in yourself. But then there's also the, like I said, the on-course mental side of the game, which is so crucial, you have to be able to bounce back from bad breaks and to go into rounds with as much confidence as you can.

Was that hard to do? Was it hard to convince yourself at that time? Or I don't know, I'm picturing myself going through that and telling myself those things. I'd be like, no, I don't believe myself. I know I'm lying to myself. No, I mean, I think we all as golfers. We have that sense of confidence, but it's a matter of embracing that and owning it. So I want to know, going back to your web season last year, you finished the season in

a fury, you made five straight cuts, you get your card at Portland, what was that relief, what was that celebration like and what's that ceremony like? It was unreal. I actually got my card at Stonebrei, it was official, I finished fourth and that was enough to guarantee me no matter what happened in Portland the next week. So. Taste it Steph Curry. Yeah. Yeah. When he shot 71 the first day, I was like, man, this guy beat me. Did you beat him? I believe. Yeah, I did actually. I believe our young, our previously mentioned young hitter Justin Heaver was sweating. Whether or not he was going to beat Steph that day. I remember him.

Shedding some pretty panic text messages. Yeah, so when I actually got like enough money, I guess, to finish in the top 25, that was when it was like, this is happening. Like it's real, I did it. And it's such a, it is a relief. That was the biggest sense of the feeling that I had was, was relief.

Like finally I did it. My fifth year, like I've been close and I knew I could do it, but I finally did it. And so that was awesome. And then, but I didn't really like celebrate or anything. I had like nine a p.m. flight to Portland that I still took and sat with Josh Teter who had just gotten his card as well. So we had a nice flight up to Portland and finally got to the hotel at like midnight or something

and took the next day off in Portland. But that was like the moment I'd say. But then the ceremony's pretty cool too. I had seen it on TV, but it was pretty cool. It actually could get your bronze card and your hand and it's engraved and you're on the 18th green there in Portland and with all the class, you throw the hat up in the air, the picture,

the whole thing, it's pretty cool. Do you have to show that bronze card a lot? I would like, what do you check into tournaments and stuff? No, but I don't want to lose it. Okay. And so what would you say your approach was to the web finals? Was I believe after Max got his card, he said he was playing ceremoniously through the end of the finals.

Well, what were your results to the web finals? Yeah, he kind of screwed me by the way, too, because we talked in, I guess it was in Jacksonville at the Atlantic Beach there that he was like, oh, you'll be fine. You'll get into everything in the fall. You didn't even fall. It didn't happen. But that's another story. So anyway, uh, yeah, it's kind of tough because you you hear that you need to play for a position. I finished 13th on the record of season and I'm thinking that's fine no matter what happens in the finals, but you still want to, I mean, there's opportunity to make more money. There's also opportunity to finish higher up on the on the ranking. So you get better starts in the fall.

You would have to finish better than 13th in the finals to bump up, correct? It's just a continuation of, yes. You just have to protect your spot or whatever. So yeah, I miss all four cuts in the finals. And I think two of them by one. And it was kind of frustrating, but at the end of the day, I was like, I'm so excited about the future that I don't really care that much. And turns out, it got me two less starts in the fall.

So I only played three events in the fall instead of five. I was first alternate for one and second alternate for another. Did Max get in any of those events because of you falling out? Maybe he was up to something. Yeah, I think he might have. Yeah, I feel like he was ahead of me. I love, you know, so you come in and made the PJ tour, you get to Safeway, first round, 66, top of the leaderboard for a while. What was that round like? And then what were kind

of the ensuing three or four tournaments like? Yeah, that was, that was fun. I mean, yeah, you don't really know how you're going to feel or any, I was just super excited. I had nothing to lose. I really wanted to get up to good start. And unfortunately I did and didn't play great on the weekend. But I it was kind of like welcome to the tour because I yeah, I was up there at a top five or something on Thursday and then took a drug test Friday night that took like three hours because I was too diluted for. So I literally it was it was brutal. And what happened? I don't know. I was over. I drank too diluted for it. So I literally, it was brutal. And what happened? I don't know, I was over, I'd drink to which water.

I have no idea, it was bizarre. Anyway, so I was there until like nine, 30, 10 o'clock at night. I'm riding out. I just watched all the stuff out of your... This is your first day on the PJ tour. Second day, yeah. Second day.

I was like, geez, these guys are tough. No, so then I played like, okay, on the weekend it was blowing really hard, but I dropped all the time. I finished like 60th and I was just thinking like, wow, on the weekend it's blowing really hard, but I've dropped all the way to finish like 60th. And I was just thinking like, wow, like that happened fast. You go from like having a crazy high finish to beating like five guys. And it was kind of like, and you know,

in that category you need to do really well to get points to reshuffle for the next start of the season in January, so it was pretty disappointing. And then yeah, I missed the next start of the season in January. So it was pretty disappointing. And then, yeah, I missed the next two cuts. So I mean, obviously you're playing like in your first PGA Tour event that wasn't the US Open. And it's probably not the first thing that comes to mind, but what does it come,

you're literally playing for 10X perst, 10 times the size of a purse that you've ever played for. Is that the first thing you think of when you go to tee it up? Is it like the fifth thing? Is that on your mind at all? I mean, a tenth place finish gets you 100 grand. And is that something people think about in the early stages of their PGA tour career? I didn't, but I was just happy that I was going to have, I knew I was going to have a lot

of chances. So I think what makes it hard when you'd qualify for one event, like this is it. You have to do well this week. But when you have at least status and you know you're gonna have, you know, some 15, 20 starts at some point in the year that it gives you a little bit of relaxation that you don't have to do well right now.

But I've been fortunate over the whole career even on mini tours that it really hasn't thought cross my mind on 18, like how much puts are worth. And I mean, it can be a lot sometimes. I mean, last week was a perfect example, but I really don't think about that when I'm on the course. When I know some people do, and it's, I don't know why I don't, but I definitely am aware of it afterwards.

But luckily, unfortunately, I don't, I don't think about that out there at all. What from a, from a nitty gritty specific perspective, what actually changes that first week on the PJ tour from the web tour, whether it's cars or tells, like, I mean, you guys don't have kids, but daycare, you know, that kind of stuff. What can you remember really being like, oh, God, this is pretty cool out here. The courtesy car thing is pretty sweet because you just, you get the baggage claim and that's probably the worst part of Traveling as a pro golfer is I've always said like from the moment you get your bags at baggage claim to actually getting into your rental car can be sometimes so

Horrible of an experience like a shuttle to the rental car center to wait in line and then the car like the it's too small or something Doesn't fit your stuff, or, I don't know, it can just be a disaster, and you're carrying two or three 50 pound bags sometimes, and it can just be terrible. So on the PGA tour, you get up to your baggage claim, you get your bags, and there's always stand right there, and there's either people that take your bags,

or either way, your car is right on the curb, in one form or fashion. And so, they basically sign a form, they hand you your keys and you're gone. So that's a pretty nice luxury. That's why I remember I was doing podcast with Zach Blair when he was at the web finals in Columbus in the fall of 17. He was just going to his hotel and he's like, dude, I gotta get back to PGA tour. I got a rental car this week, like this is bullshit. Yeah, they're all brand new nice cars. I mean, the car this week, like this is bullshit. Yeah, they're all brand new nice cars.

I mean, the one this week has eight miles on it when I got it. So it's pretty nice. But the second thing I'd say, DJ would be the food. The food is ridiculous out here. You can't find a bad meal. And so you walk out, you're going out for practice rounds. Is there anyone, it's not the biggest field, tiger's not there, but is there anyone you're looking around that kind of starstruck at or kind of realizing,

like, oh my god, like, I'm actually here. Does that practice round feel different? A little bit. I mean, well, being on the web for five years also, you know, built a relationship with a lot of these guys that a lot of the 25 that moved on each year that are still out here. That that was probably the most refreshing thing was like that first few days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, that was like, wow, I know a lot of guys out here. That really helps versus being maybe like 21 or two and walking out here not knowing anybody. And I saw a lot of familiar faces either from junior golf,

college golf or whatever, but yeah, seeing some of the mega stars, like Phil was out there and then a funny story was like on Wednesday of hitting some practice puts and hitting some lag putts and just rip one that's going like 50 feet. You know what? I hit one pretty hard. And right then like the ball, I'd already hit the ball, but right then Freddie couples

steps in to start doing like a putting thing and I'm like, I see this happening in slow motion. It just, it drills the side of his foot like pretty hard. Like he was only like, I'm trying to hit like a 50 footer and he's like eight feet in front I see this happening in slow motion. It just, it drills the side of his foot, like pretty hard. Like, he was only, like, I'm trying to hit like a 50 footer and he's like eight feet in front of, 10 feet in front of me or whatever. And he was like, oh my god, this is so embarrassing. Sorry, sir, you know, like, I'm, I'm new here.

Sorry about that. He blows out his back. I was gonna say you're just waiting for him to step on it like a banana field. As blood is back, he never could play golf again. He laughed and he was cool about it. But yeah, seeing some of those guys for the first time is in the tournament. I've seen them outside of like tournament golf,

but like seeing them in the tournament, you're in the field and it was pretty cool. You and Phil have had a rivalry for a long time. Is that where that started that week? Yeah, it's pretty fierce. Yeah, I know that people like to build up. He got you that week. Yeah, people build up him and

Tiger, but the truth is it's filling out. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I do want to get to this very shortly. We're taking a long time to get to it. But a lot of people to probably don't fully understand the pressure that you guys are under as soon as you get out there in that fall. And how you have the short period of time, yeah, because you're talking about the priority you wanted, you know, for the fall, but they're reshuffle again after RSM. So you go out after, after Safeway and you miss three straight cuts, where do you fall in the priority after that? Oh, man. I was, I think I was ahead of like two people, brutal. I mean, there's, there's 50s, right? So 25 from the Regar Cs and 25 from the finals. And I was like 47 or something.

And I mean, it was pretty bad. And then And then, but you're able to get in Sony, we miss a cut there. And then we roll up to the desert classic. What is different in this week? Because by my count, your previous starts were three missed cuts, a T63 and four missed cuts at the end of the web season. Oh, I gotta't in the field.

I mean, we kind of took a chance by going out there and I was going to do the Monday qualifier and I got in the field late. I was on my third hole in the Monday and they said you're in the field. So yeah, I got in and I'm missing the cut by two, but I felt like my game was okay. Like it wasn't terrible.

I was pretty close. So you're not putting up high scores. No, yeah, it wasn't, yeah. I was pretty close and then I got to the desert and I don't know. Everything kind of started falling into place like Sunday afternoon Monday morning. I was hitting it really well I worked a little bit with Josh and and playing some practice rounds with I played with Derek Fathtar and Josh Teter and we're all We're all included. We were all making a ton of birdies But I made like 10 birdies or something on Tuesday

and like six on Wednesday. I was just feeling really, I knew you had to make a lot of birdies out there, and that's what I've been doing. And I don't know though, exactly. Everything mechanically was feeling really good though. Do you think, I mean, the Desert Classic is famous for being such a birdie fest,

and as is the web.com tour, do you think that that style of learning to need to go low on the web tour really helped you in an event like this? Yeah, I mean, I do think that whole web tour going low things a little overblown I think I still think if you've shot like 200 I feel like if you shoot 200 every round you're gonna get your tour card on the web.com tour believe it or not You're gonna miss a boatload of cuts. You're gonna miss like 15 cuts But you're also gonna like win maybe once or twice

and a few top five. I mean, it's a little, but yes, I did learn to go low out there on that tour and be comfortable being like five, six, seven under par because it's a little uncomfortable like for a lot of guys to be that. They're looking at one. I'm terrified.

To have that as you're normed to be four, five, six under is it takes a little bit of getting used to because My college golf experience was not like that if you shot 72 every round you're an all-american your best player on your team So it takes a little bit it took me a little bit of time to get comfortable with that So yeah, I'd say that experience helped. So you're going into The desert classic your game feels good Open with a 63 you you shoot 71, the second round, 63, round three, and you're paired with Phil Mickelson in the final group.

What do you think, like, I don't know the answer to this, what do you think your odds were to win the tournament going into that day? Like in your own mind, what are you really, yeah, like what are you thinking, like do you think I have a true chance to win this, or are you thinking I want a top five? What are you thinking going into that round? I didn't think about winning. That's for sure. No, it didn't cross my mind.

I mean, Phil had a three shot lead. He's won 100 tournaments. He's gonna win this thing. And then I'm like eighth or something alternate for farmers the next week at Torrey Pines. I need to finish top 10 to get into the tournament the next week. That's what I was like. I just need to play okay. Finish top 10. get into the tournament the next week. That's I was like, I just need to play okay, you know, finish top 10.

Let's not embarrass myself out there and then the, but honestly, I just went into it like Don't have any regrets. Really have fun with it and joy. You never know if you're ever going to be in the final group on the PJ tour again. And I was a rookie. I am a rookie and I'm playing with a legend of the game like just enjoy it. Have fun and don't get caught up in all the moment of all of it, and just take it literally one shot at a time, but literally just chill out out there

and just be present. What did you do the night before? Did you get, was your phone blowing up and was? We had some funny texts with some friends about, playing with Phil and all that, but people for the most part left me alone. So what, I know, we're watching it. We're screaming at the TV, but I think it probably didn't register for a lot of people that you had a chance to really win the tournament until you get to 18. And it wasn't before you hit your approach shot.

You get to that where you hit that t-shirt. First of all, there's water left. Are you bailing right? Intentionally on this t-shirt? What's your mindset when you're standing on the board? Let's not skip 17 which is the island green. I can't say we skipped the chip ends, we skipped a lot. I get excited. Well, I mean, it wasn't over to, at least I hit the green on 17 where I was like, okay, we're good. This was a successful day now at this point.

I could still make nine on the last call and finish the top 10. Exactly, but the my goal is still in Taker so yeah, I just floated an eight iron in there in the middle of green, but yeah, 18 definitely like yeah, I I Favorite the right side for sure You got the world right and you just have nothing left. Are you thinking about winning as you're playing 18? No, still not and still not thinking about winning. What was the situation? Were you tied? You've tied for all three. Yeah, okay. Me, how'd one and Phil were all tied. And I just like, I hit one up the right side. And

yeah, I'm like, that's perfect. I know it's not in the fairway, but it's not in the water and it's not in the grandstands. So we're good. And got up there, it's on the downslope of the hill. Like not ideal. I mean, it could have if it would have just gone another two or three feet, flat lie, we're good. No, it's like on the downhill, it's gonna be a really awkward lie. Side hill, downhill, ball, wabel on my feet.

And- Which is hard to stand on TV. It's hard to, it's TV flatens everything, right? So like, how, just how far below your feet was it? Or, you know, one to 10 difficulty, what was it? I mean, the stance in the lie was probably like a, like a five or six difficulty, but then like the pressure, the moment adds a little bit,

of course, then also the water left. Five and a half. Yeah, the water left adds to it. And then if you can bail way right, but that's gonna be a tough up and down from way right. And at that point, I was swinging good. I hadn't really missed a shot in a while. I'm like, I can do this.

I got this and just smoked a seven iron pulled it a little bit, but I looked up and it was going right at the flag and it flew a little farther than I could even hope to did and ended up being like 13 feet, but I'm still looking at Phil and Adam in the hat away or Adam in the fairway. And I'm like, Phil's gonna probably like hold this or maybe put it to a foot, one of the two. And Adam had one as a machine and he's gonna put it to worst case, he's like 10 feet. And neither of those happened.

I mean, Phil left a 30, 40 feet short. I had one hit it over the green and I'm like, wait a second. Okay, so this is actually, I remember actually asking my caddy, he's like, we're tied, right? Like, it's actually, like, I got this right in my head, right? And yeah, let it, let it play out.

What did you, did you, what kind of a pep talk do you give yourself before that shot? I mean, do you, are you really nervous getting ready to hit it? Because you hit it, it seems like you were so committed to the shot and you're, the swing you made was obviously very committed. So is that something you have to trick your brain into?

Is that Rotella coming out? What do you do before a shot like that? A little bit. I mean, I hadn't had a whole lot of shots like that before, certainly. And that's a drawback on the woodcreen classic. Yeah, I couldn't remember as too long. But I just knew I didn't want to overthink it. I knew I didn't want to just overanalyze the number, the win, or any of it.

I knew I just kind of needed to like get up to it and hit it and just be confident what I was doing. So I kind of hurried through it a little bit and just let it go. And I was a full swing. So I was able to go at it pretty hard, which helped and kind of fell down the hill a little bit, lost my balance and walked after it, which actually was more of a losing my balance than a confident, like, oh yeah, that's going in the hole. Be the right club today. When I saw you stepping through it or kind of falling off this side, I was like, that did justice for how far

below your feet it really was and how you had to really go after it. So you get up to the putt, was it filler had when the putt had before you that had just missed it? Was, I think it was fill, correct? It was for much further away. Did you learn a lot from his putt? Not really because he was on a somewhat similar line, but way further.

But our shadows were so long at that point. It was so late in the day that I had to go miles out of the way. I was on the other side of the green to get my shadow out of his way at all. And so he put it by the time I got up there, I was like, I caught the very end of it, but not a whole lot. Really good quote afterwards, where you were saying like, yeah, it's the time I got up there, I was like, I caught the very end of it, but not a whole lot. Really good quote afterwards, where you were saying like, yeah,

it's just kind of one of those like sense of calm and you just feel like it's like, you know, it's gonna go in. There's that true. Was that in the moment? What was your thinking over the past? Yeah, I didn't want that to come off as like a cocky guy. No, no, no, no, I got it.

It came off great. It was a beat feel. You could be as cocky as you want. No, it was more, it was like, I think I said like as all golfers, I think have felt at some point, if they're by themselves or in a tournament, whatever, but like, you get over certain puts

and you're like, I got this, like, I'm gonna make this. You see the line, you see it going in, the right pace, and you just, you literally feel it, and it was one of those puts that I was like, I've been putting well all week, I got this, I got the read, I got the speed, I know I got it. And I mean, maybe I just kind of tricked myself into thinking that, but at the same time,

like I was really confident about it. What was, we should ask this a few minutes ago, but what was the interaction with Phil on the first T-Like? I assume that's the first time he met him actually. And then what was he like afterwards? I mean, did you guys talk at all or no? Yeah, he was great at met him in the scoring tent and you know, he just said, you know, let's have let's have some fun today And and that was kind of it, but let's go party

For pretty much. He's like, yeah, squeezing my hand crushing it No, but he uh, you know, we he's a lot bigger than people realize he's big dude. Yeah, he's a big dude Yeah, and we got out there, but he was pretty talkative on the course, I'd say, and I had known had one from before. So we talked a little bit and had one and filled in with each other. And so I mean, we talked a little bit. There's a few weights, a few times that we'd feel told some stories. And I mean, he was pretty, he was cool.

And then the back nine got a little more quiet. And but even at walking off 16, I remember we teed off work because the NFL football was going on. So he was super into that and we all were. But he was wondering about the betting. I was going to say that was too easy. You said it. And so the security, like the cop that was walking with, I'd say, us, but really him, he

was keeping us updated on the scores of the football. So it was a pretty fun day, because I mean, we're all pretty into the football too. But the last two holes we didn't say much. So you make the putt and I love what, after everyone finishes out, Emily runs out on the green and whatnot. And they camera just catches you

and you say it out loud, kind of what we're all thinking was holy crap. Like is it, cause I feel like it almost didn't really register for you until a few seconds after you made the putt that you just won the tournament. Yeah, literally, I promise you I was not thinking about winning until, I mean, once it was my turn and I knew like that was the putt to win it.

I let myself go there for a second, but that was it. And then it went in and I was just, I don't know what I felt. That was a bizarre feeling. It was an out-of-body experience, it really was. Is it, I mean, life-changing is the first thing that the broadcast will say after somebody wins a tournament like this.

Is it truly life-changing? It's been, people have said that. I just don't feel that. I think it's definitely career-changing. It's changed a lot of of my golf life and my tournaments and all that stuff, but you got into toy pines. I got into the farmers, which is pretty sweet. But every tournament for the next three years, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that's what I mean, though. It's changed that, but the stuff that Emily and I are,

what we do at home, and it's all been the same. We haven't made any extravagant purchases yet. I mean, we might soon, but still getting hit with taxes provided on that. California is not the best day to win in. But winning an event at that time of year is about the best time you can win one because of how long your exemption lasts. Because you get two full seasons after this one, correct?

Right. So the rest of 2019 season and then all of the next two seasons. Which just frees you up to just play, you know, great golf in your next five tournaments, right? Uh, pretty mediocre at all. Well, before we get to that, how many texts did you get after you'd won? I don't know if Keith Mitchell's line or not, but he got a lot more than me. Yeah.

I got like 600 something, 700. Okay. Because you didn't reply to mine, so that's fine. I'm not offended now if you got 600, that makes a lot of sense. I did, I had an old phone, an iPhone 6, and it kept shutting down when I was trying to respond to people and stuff.

It would just have that little circle pop up and the middle of the phone, and it kept literally dying. And so the next week in San Diego, I got a new iPhone. Oh, good for you. Yeah, thanks. thanks. That's very cool. Yeah, I had to spend the money. Very tough on the back here. Yeah. I got en-ghosted by a lot of people.

I've not heard my phone was dying every time I tried to reply to you. That's why I was getting too literally too many text messages to reply. I was trying to reply to you, so I had a problem. It's like, whackable. Okay, so tell me as specific as you can, this is a tron question. What is your first time in a tron question? I've been in a tron for a long time. I've been in a tron for a long time.

I've been in a tron question. I've been in a tron for a long time. I've been in a tron for a long time. I've been in a tron for a long time. I've been in a tron for a long time. I've been in a tron for a long time. I've problems. It's like whack a bowl. Okay, so tell me as specific as you can, this is a tron question, why isn't he here to ask this? We did, you know, it's a small hotel room. We didn't want to come in hot. And he's an imposing captain, he gets hostile. I don't trust him around my players, frankly.

What happens like literally after the win, what's all the things that you have to go do? Like immediately after? Yeah. There were a lot of interiors. Like what's the rest of your night basically? Yeah, they like I walk out of scoring. It was like live golf channel interview,

a few other little interviews like Sky Sports and some other ones and then you go out on the 18th green and they're, I mean, I'm shaking, they have a whole like basically it's like a stage set of almost on the 18th green with a podium. And I mean mean I'm shaking they have a whole like basically it's like a stage set of almost on the 18th green with a podium and I mean I'm shaking hands meeting all these people in these nice coats and tie suit and ties and all this stuff. I don't know who anybody is I don't know. Do you remember one name from it? Yes, but I don't want to tell it on the on the on the air. They wouldn't want to be embarrassed. Yeah, yeah, I out of respect for them. Yeah, I mean, with

everybody associated with the tournament, the golf course, the sponsor, everything. And so, you know, you're just like overwhelmed by my wife's there, my dad's there, and I'm freaking out. And some old friends of mine, some other players, some caddies are there. And there was just a lot going on. But I'd say they had a little presentation on the 18th green. And then there's more like local news TV and Couple different stations there a couple reporters some a lot of pictures. So meanwhile all of this I'm holding the trophy and it's it's a crystal like it's a nice crystal heavy trophy And I'm taking a ton of photos of my family with these people happy all these pictures and my arms I'm not kidding you were burning

burning from holding this thing. It's not Tiger guts jacked. Tough burn. Yeah, I know. Some point Emily was like, do you want me to hold that for a second? Can I just see it? Can I I was like, yes, please take it. I'm not kidding my arms. We're like, we're so sore. It was the heaviest thing I've ever felt. I mean, I'm holding that thing for like 20 minutes. Like it was brutal. But anyway, then they cart you up to the press center and you're answering a bunch of questions on it. And that was pretty surreal feeling to be up there. Like with the trophy and answering these questions from the great Selik Sean Martin. And you've been in a media center before?

Like up on the interview room? Not like sitting up there actually giving the interview. I've seen one, yes, but no, I haven't been the subject of one. So I go up there for, I don't know, 30 minutes or something or more. And then that's it, you're good to go. So we just went to the locker room,

cleaned out the locker and went to dinner. So is it hard to get yourself back up for the next event after winning? Is it hard to start back over from scratch? Or what's your mindset going into the very next week? There's a totally different feeling. It was it was pretty a lot of people warned you like you got to give yourself a lot of extra time Every day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday because Everybody that sees you for the first time are gonna congratulate you and it's true like it was overwhelming It was it was awesome. I mean it it felt really good to congratulate you. And it's true, like it was overwhelming. It was awesome.

I mean, it felt really good to be recognized. But at the same time, it did, it took a lot of energy and stuff out of you. There's a lot of energies as well. And there's a lot going on in the Tory. And I'd never played it before. I'd played it once for fun, but I hadn't played it for the tournament.

So I had a lot of prep to do. There's two courses. And it was a lot. But I mean, obviously I was playing well, so I didn't have to do a whole lot. I didn't feel like I had to do a whole lot of prep to do. There's two courses and it was a lot, but I mean, obviously I was playing well, so I didn't have to do a whole lot of, I didn't feel like I had to do a whole lot of maintenance on my game, but it was a different feeling to you, not for sure, different level of confidence,

I guess, or belonging. Is it a weird feeling, going from where you were, basically through that third round, everything, everything in your career, backward from there to flash forward to after that puck goes in. Basically every fan that's at the tournament, every security guard, every media person,

like literally all of their eyes are focused solely on you. Like you are the center of attention. I, you know, not even to mention like all the TV people watching. I gotta think that's gotta be like a very weird feeling, surreal feeling. Yeah, yeah, it was weird. And gotta think that's gotta be like a very weird feeling, surreal feeling. Yeah, yeah, it was weird. And it still is, to be honest,

like even people today will say, you know, nice winning the last month or a couple weeks back, you know, the desert. And it's to be like just recognized without any sort of teeing it up for them, I guess. And they're telling them who I was. Like to be recognized like that is pretty weird. How often did that happen before you won?

Like an airport, sir, anything? Zero. Really? Zero. Yeah, no, zero. You're going to be buying a privacy yacht, just like that. I mean, I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that.

Like, those guys live a whole other life, but it's enough that it's different. What was, is a very cliche question, but what was kind of the coolest thing you heard after the win or the coolest, you know, congratulations you got or something like that? That's very cliche. I know it. So that's why I preface it with that. I'd say the next week at Tori,

just to have all the, you know, I guess the superstars of the tour recognizing me coming up and congratulating me, you know, Justin Rose and Rory was there and Jordan and Ricky. And they were all congratulating me. And it was pretty surreal. So is your new policy now? Is it miss cut or top 10?

Is that the only way you're going to play it here? Go bigger, go home. What's funny is I've always prided myself on being a pretty consistent guy. I'm always around, but I don't have a lot of wins or anything, but I have a lot of good finishes and pretty consistent. I never shoot really high and never necessarily go super low. And it's kind of hanging in there and making a lot of cuts and all that.

And this year has just been a bizarre, not how I envisioned it at all, not even how I see myself. That's the way to do it on the PGA tour, though. That's right. It's the Scott Stoling's plan. You're right. I've always said, like I'm envious of those guys that are either like, I'm going to win this thing or screw it, I'm finishing DFL. And there I am, like as one of those guys.

You should be that guy now. I like that. Because it got overshadowed because of what Molenari did, but you made an enormous run up the leaderboard at Bay Hill last week. And you doubled the 17th to fall back into a tie for 10th, which shows how hot you got. But take me through kind of that back nine. First of all, how you ended up in the green side bunker

on the 10th hall, I still don't understand. I just heard you hit the cart path. That's what I heard. I heard that too. I didn't see it. I can't confirm it a night. I did not see it hit the cart path, but the volunteer said it did,

but you can't trust them. You probably hit it for it. You probably carried it 400. I mean, I did. Would that be out of the ordinary for you? You would say? Yeah, probably in Florida. In Florida.

In C-level here. Yeah. To Eagle the 10th Hall, Eagle the 16th Hall, what happened on 17? You haven't come from coverage. They didn't even show your double on 17th. It's funny. There was a camera after I hit in the water.

There's a camera right on the T-box, a guy with a cameraman right there, right in my face with that camera, like, right after I hit in the water, I'm like, camera after I hit the water. There's a camera right on the T-Box, a guy with a cameraman right there, right in my face with that camera, like, right after I hit the water, I'm like, this is all over the TV, like, gosh, this is bad. But do you start thinking, here I go again? I'm gonna come from behind to win this thing.

A little bit, but I was so ahead of the leaders that those guys were only making the turn, probably, or whatever, so there was still a lot of golf behind me to be played, and some of those holes are some birdie hole. So I didn't really think about winning, but there was a British open spot on the line that I, in hindsight, found out that I was in the running for I missed by one.

So that's unfortunate. You didn't know why you were playing the year? I knew that there were three spots, but I didn't necessarily know how to get them or who was eligible or who was on the leaderboard eligible. So I didn't know the details of it, but yeah, if I would have finished Bogey par or finished one over those last two instead of two over the last two, I would have had a spot. Do you immediately get thrust into the like the featured groups and that kind of stuff after after the win?

I wouldn't say featured groups necessarily, but the category changes so explain that for people who don't have any idea What you're talking about. So there's like three or four levels of categories for t times and so it's it's basically You got like let's call it the superstar category category of the big name guys, you know, Tiger Phil, Jordan Ricky, those kind of guys. And then you have my category, which is now past champion or tournament winners. And so anybody who's won a tournament or even top guys in the world, and that's kind of like the next category down. And then there's two more category goers below that. So I went from the web.com category, which is like, you know, first year guys are low status guys and you're getting, I was last group off two of the three events in the fall and I was like second to last off in Hawaii.

And so you're in the bottom two or three groups every wave to being thrown into the good t times of being earlier in their wave. So this is going to come out after the players, but we're here at the players this week. What does it mean to be in this in this event? Does this event feel different to you so far? Yeah, it's wild. I mean, just the just the presentation of it all, like I knew it was going to be crazy. And I've been to sawgrass a bunch of times before, but never for the tournament. And it is, it is going to be nuts.

Awesome. Well, best of luck. Thank you for joining. Thank you for letting us crash your hotel room on 10 o'clock on a Tuesday night. Hey, you guys are welcome to stay. Your wife is looking at you like, what are they will stay? They really not. They will do it. They do not invite them to do that. So, all right, Adam, best of luck.

Congratulations on the win. It's been awesome to follow your success on the PGA tour so far and keep knocking those top 10s out. Yeah, that's what it's. Yeah, go bigger, go home and DJ will have our team meeting tomorrow. Well, yeah, or we were thinking maybe we would have it at Augusta. That might be the next best chance to get together. So yeah, it was a majority of it.

Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Can we, I know we just wrapped, I know we just wrapped, we literally didn't ask about the fact that you're going to play the masters. Major that one's on me. Yeah, are you excited to play the Masters. Major that one's on me. It's in you. Are you excited to play the Masters? I'm very excited to play in the Masters. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be surreal to be out there.

And just for the actual turn, I've been there as a spectator and I've played it in November. So this will be totally different experience, but. How'd you play? I remember being like three or four under through like six or seven and shooting like 75. So I don't know. Okay. I guess But this will be a total like I've played that course strike strikes together

This will be this will be a little different, but it's in this game like especially to be in a rookie like I you can't think that far in Advancing, honestly, I haven't had time time to sit and think about it all that much. But it's like each week is a new week for me, and it's a new course, new experience. So that's only three tournaments away from me, but it sounds like a year from now. What point did you start thinking about, or did you realize you got in the masters? It's overwhelming when you win the tournament, I imagine. But when do you start thinking, oh my God, I'm also in the masters. So after I finished, I went to the scoring trailer and in there was Rick Wilde, Scribz, who's a great guy.

He's on the web.com tour as a truck guy for a long time and now he's scoring official for the PJ Tour. And so I had a relationship with him, so I walked in and I sit down and at some point, after I signed it, and he just kind of looked up and he's like, and by the way, I need a few tickets to Augusta. And that's when I hit me that was like really shit playing the master. How many how many tickets for have you gotten beat up for already?

Uh, it hasn't been too bad. It hasn't been too bad. I think people know it's extremely limited and we don't get a whole lot. So it's it's been how many do you actually get? Do you get eight? Okay, that's pretty fair. I think yeah. Yeah. Did you know? Did you know? Okay? I got the eight Rattled off already. I don't know. I've turned that over to my wife and my dad kind of sort out and

Your team. I'm good. I'm good. I've seen it. It's right. You're an alternate. Yeah, okay perfect first all today He's got a Monday qualify for this thing We do take bribes. I would recommend one thing, now that you're a winner, I know you just said your wife and your dad, I would start calling them your team. My team. Yeah, my support team.

My team's really been working on that. Yeah, I think picking up the lingo and really starting to get some of those idiosyncrasies of a tour winner is one thing I'd like to see from you, I think. Are you talking as is my Fred X Cup captain or as a friend or a... But I'd like to think both. Yeah, I think both.

That's what makes this team so special. It's exactly right. It's hard to argue that. He's DJ's running away with it thanks to people like you. So, all right, best of luck this week and thanks for coming on, man, appreciate it. Yes, sir, thank you. Give it a right club. Be the right club today.

That is better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. the most, better than most.