No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 310: Mike Weir

Episode Date: May 11, 2020

The 2003 Masters champion joins us to talk about the lessons he learned from playing with Tiger at the '99 PGA, his many Q-school attempts before breaking through, golf in Canada, the Champions Dinner, stack and tilt, how injuries derailed his career, turning 50, and his future on the Champions Tour.  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 in? That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different. Better than most! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No-Lang Up Podcast. I'm hoping that today's episode finally sets things right with the Canadian listeners of this show for the many probably unjustified shots that I've taken at Mike Weir in his game over the years. Something I'm not necessarily proud of, and the more I've covered golf, the more I've

appreciated, the grind that goes into, and the effort that goes into the game when it's not there anymore when you're battling injuries. And the perseverance of someone like Mr. Weir, which we're going to talk a lot about the extreme highs of his career, as well as some of the extreme lows. I think any critiques of the shots I've fired are very fair, and I will accept criticism on some of that, but definitely did not want to pass up the opportunity to interview Mike and to get some perspective on what he's gone through, as well as, of course, talk about the masters, winning the masters and being a legend in Canadian sports.

I've never seen, and I'll say this later on in the interview, I've never seen a country ride harder for any one particular golfer than Canada does, Mike Weir. So we really appreciate him spending the time. And lastly, before we do get rolling here, this sadly would have been PGA Championship week. Hopefully this does go off as planned in August. But since it is supposed to be a major week, why don't we start with some appropriately themed trivia. There's only one player who has made more than 250 birdies at the PGA championship since 2000. Can you name him? I think you should probably be leaning towards selecting a Callaway

player if you know where this is going. And if you selected Phil Mickelson, you'd be right. If you like golf trivia, Callawayis got something for you on Thursday, May 14th at 630 Eastern. They partnered with FanBeat to put on a 10 minute live golf trivia game that you can play on your phone, tablet, or computer. It's the Maverick majors trivia challenge. Prices on the line include a Maverick driver, Jaw's Wedge, Cromesoft golf balls, and more. They do this in April. What would have been Masters's Week? And it's a fun way to test your knowledge and a cool chance to win some Calloway stuff.

And it's totally free. So get on this while you can. The game is live. Thursday, May 14th at 6.30 PM Eastern. And to answer the first question in advance, visit fanbeap.com slash Calloway. That's fanbeat F-A-N-B-E-A-T. Get there right now. fanbeat.com slash Callowaway to be ready for the 10 minute

live game happening on Thursday, May 14th at 6.30 PM Eastern. Without any further delay, here is Mike Weir. So you're just about to get over the hump. Finally, first thing I want to know, though, is what is life like for a professional golfer from ages around, say say 45 to 49? Well, yeah, that's it's a tough age. You know, there's not a lot of guys on the PGA tour that are still doing well.

You know, there's there's Furek and and Stryker and Lee Westwood still playing well in that age group. There's not a ton of guys and it's it's a bit of a limbo. You're trying to stay sharp because you're at least in my case. I was still very motivated for the champions to are upcoming and you can't not play. Craig Perry, the great Australian player told me when I was about 45, he's like, Mike, you got to keep playing. He's like, I made a mistake. I went back to Australia and didn't play much and then came back out.

And I was so far removed from the game and the little aspects of the basic scoring aspects of the game that you kind of lose if you're not competitive and you're not playing tournament golf. It's a lot different than playing with your buddies. So you got to stay sharp. So I tried to take that advice to heart and try to play as much as I can, you know, limited schedule the last few years, but enough to keep in touch with my game and know what I need to work on and know, you know, and just keep that scoring, try to get

that scoring sharp for the Champions Tour, because that's what it's all about out there. So those guys shoot some low scores and you have to be, you know, kind of out of the gate quickly what it's all about out there. So those guys shoot some low scores. And you have to be kind of out of the gate quickly when it's only three rounds. Yeah, so a couple of things there. What is kind of the current status of your game and how do you think that does translate to the Champions Tour one from a course setup standpoint? But I think there's also this kind of thing

around the Champions Tour that everyone thinks. Oh, the guys that as soon as you turn 50, oh, you're just going to go dominate out there. And it seems to be there's at least a period of time where guys get punched in the face a little bit and say, like, hey, wait a second, these guys are shooting some very low scores out there. Yes. You know, the first part of your question, yeah, the state of my game is very good. You know, before this pandemic hit, the term when I played on the corn fairy tour in Florida, I was writing contention there on Sunday and played

a nice spot around. The guy's kind of, you know, I think I would end up being maybe four or five shots behind the leader at the end of the day, but you know, had some chances, had had some looks on my last nine holes to make it really close. Didn't quite get it done, but I was there. I was playing good, hitting lots of fairways and greens and doing all the things you need to do to score well. And then I haven't played since. So my game still feels good. I'm in a process right now of taking a week off. I've been working really hard and as we get closer to 50, you get a few things and my back was starting to bug me. So I just said, okay, now's a good time to take a week off and

I'll get back at it next week. But yeah, that's true I mean a lot of guys who you think would do very very well on the Champions Tour when they initially turn 50 have maybe found a bit of a tougher time and then there's some other guys that have maybe didn't have as much success on the PGA Tour but have I've done very well on the Champions Tour. So it's, I guess, you know, just because you turn 15, you've done well on the PGA Tour. It's not a guarantee that you're gonna do well on the Champions Tour, because there's a lot of motivated guys that maybe didn't do as well on the PGA Tour, and they're working really hard, and their short games are still good, and yeah, they're shooting some most scores. So you gotta be

ready. Yeah. Well, I do kind of want to kind of talk to how we got to where we currently are, but there's a lot I want to cover with your career arc as well. But I want to go back to the beginning, Canada, not the best climate to become a world-class golfer. Left-handed clubs, I imagine,

are even less available than right-handed clubs. How, what was that struggle like as a kid? And how did you emerge, I imagine, or even less available than right-handed clubs. What was that struggle like as a kid? And how did you emerge to becoming a major champion out of that kind of setup? Yeah, Chris, I mean, it was a golf was just a summer sport for me all the way until I came to BYU in college. So all my junior days, it was just a summer thing. I didn't do anything for six months of

the year. My dad, my last couple of years as a junior when I was 17, 18 years old, I believe we put a net up in my garage so I can hit some into the net in my garage. But it was summertime was golf and then there was baseball and then there was hockey in the winter, I kind of come out of the winter and then start working on golf game again and come April. And I think that kept me from being burnt out on the sport. It made me a better rounded athlete, I think, playing all the different sports. But yeah, clubs were difficult to come by.

I had my first set of clubs, a set of spalding croid-on irons that I got from a neighbor across the street. It was a 357 and 9 iron and a driver and a 5 wood. No wedges. We found a putter. I remember accumulating my clubs through junior tournaments. You'd win a $50 gift certificate and a pro shop if you had a good finish. I'd save some of those gift certificates up to get my first putter. I remember seeing my first sand wedge. It was this

Gene Zarrison Wilson sand wedge at this junior tournament in London, Ontario and I played pretty well in this junior tournament and had enough of a gift certificate for this club that was probably, I don't know, $70 or $80 or something to get my first sand wedge. And so it was tough to come by clubs early on in my junior days and I guess in my later teens is when I first got I got my first set of real golf clubs my golf pro Steve Bennett at here on Oak's golf club when I was a kid As a Christmas present because he saw how keen I was on the game bought me a set of Wilson staff irons Now is my first real set of irons. They had the leather wrap grips like Jack Nicholas Who was a hero of his and a hero of mine and that was pretty cool. We get my first real set of irons

Late teens gosh, I didn't know that yeah I did I obviously didn't know all the full backstory of all the clubs there that I kind of Was wondering if a what whether that was a good question or not, but man, that, well, all right, so that, I was hoping this would lead you into a famous story that you tell, but I'll pry it out of you. Did you ever seek advice as to whether or not you should stay a left-hander? Yes, and there is a, there is kind of a famous story behind that. I think I was 13 years old and it was my first, my first Canadian open that I had ever

gone to. We went to a couple of juniors from my hometown. We drove up one of our parents drove us up to the Canadian open for the first time and there was a clinic by Andy Bean and Tom Kite. We got to sit kind of in semi-circle around these two guys as they give a clinic. When they were done doing the clinic which was really cool, they took the big sh shag bag of big bucket balls and they rolled them to all of us juniors and we got to fill our pockets with all these tylus golf balls, which was really cool and

it was the first time I got to see professionals up close, but there wasn't any lefties, you know, there was Ernie Gonzalez and Russ Cochran were the two that were there. I remember kind of seeking them out and watching them on the right one. They came to the range. But there wasn't a lot of lefties on the PGA tour and I thought to myself, I was 13, I thought, well, if I wanna be a professional golfer, do I need to switch? And because that was kind of like the,

I guess the stigma, a lot of dads were switching their kids if they were left handed to right handed. I had a couple of buddies that that that happened to and I wanted to ask the best and Jack Nicholas was my idol and so I wrote him a letter in 83, 83, or 84 and yeah I got a letter back from saying hey you know I've always believed that you know you should stick to your natural swing and you should stick to it and you'd best of luck in your goal becoming a professional golfer. It's pretty cool to get a letter back. I didn't know where to send it. I think Jack was writing for a golf magazine at the time and

my dad and I got golf magazines address and we just sent it and care of Jack Nicholas to golf magazine and he got it. A few's, you know, a few years ago, probably in the mid 2000s, I brought the letter to your Fivvillage and showed him and we got a kick out of it. And he had heard about it over the years because I had played with Gary and Jack a number of times in qualifying schools and many tour events and things.

So I'd been around Jack a little bit and I told him the story, but I finally got to show him the letter. He thought it was great Yeah, I can imagine you must have that frame somewhere then I do yeah, I have it I have it framed in my office Well, so what is what was your amateur career like and your path to the PGA tour and You go from seven tries at Q school to winning the masters. So something changed big time at one point So kind of that's a that's an all-encompassing question there, but take us to how you ended up on the major

golf scene. Well, I guess my trajectory in golf was always just a slow rise. I mean, I was a pretty good junior golfer, and by the time I was 17, 18 looking at colleges, I was one of the better ones in our Southwestern Ontario. When it came to BYU, I was kind of starting half of the tournaments. Our coach made his qualify all the time. He always put us under the gun to qualify to be one of the five guys that traveled to a tournament. In my freshman year, I won a tournament in Mexico, but then I could finish eighth in our own team qualifying. And this is the next trip because he always made his qualify.

So I played about half the time, my freshman year, and then by the time I was a senior, I was a second team all-American. So I kind of got a little better, and that was kind of the trajectory of my professional career when I termed pro. And I had some success. I won a Canadian Tour event, my rookie year in 93 but I missed a bunch of cuts and then there was some drought 94 95 and you know I may have won another Canadian to event but it was I was slowly getting better and my game was you know a real watershed moment for me I think was I

think it was 93 or 94 I was on the range I'd qualified for the Canadian open and I walked up onto the driving range and there was only one spot available the range was packed I was right beside Nick Price and Nick Price was still a number of one or two in the world at the time And I had to drop my little shag bag of golf balls right beside him and look face-to-face being left-handed and Listen to the sound of the ball coming out the club face And then my little dinks and dunks out there, little off the heel, little off the toe. And I remember walking off the range and being slightly intimidated.

And Nick was obviously, you know, said hello and was, you know, as personables can be. But I just thought to myself, while there's, you know, out of, if we played a hundred times, I might beat him a couple of times just because of my short game. But this player like that is just, you know, I'm never going to be able to compete with a player like that until I refine my technique. So I started

going to work on my game and studying the game, studying technique a lot more than what I had earlier in my career. So it was a long process. 94 through 97 as I refine my game and start seeing some results on the Canadian tour and a little bit in Australia and Asia And I finally got on the PGA tour 98 for my first time. Well, so take us through Well, what are some of the the techniques that you learned or evolved? I think I'm fascinated to see to know what tangible things Take someone from kind of this middle ground to you know being and you eventually became the third ranked player in the world. So how did you

what did you specifically improve on? Oh so many things but I guess the the biggest thing was I hit the ball very low you know growing up with a hockey background I had a very shut club base and I know that's kind of invoked you know back then in the mid-90s Nick Price had kind of a cup rest and you know that's kind of invoked, you know, back then in the mid-90s, Nick Price had kind of a cup rest and Hogan talked about a cup rest and Price and Faldon were two of the best players and David Ledbetter was their coach. So my caddy Brennan Little, who now caddies for Gary Woodland, where he wasn't my caddy back then, he was still trying to play the Canadian tour. He was working down in California and I would go down there to practice in the winners in Utah and he was taking lessons from this guy Mike Wilson

who was working for David Leadbetter at the Leadbetter Academy out in Palm Springs. So I went and watched this lesson that he gave Brennan and I was just impressed and I made me think about things and a different approach and you know stability in my lower body was a big thing. The club face position was another thing. So getting the club face more open for me back then really helped. I had a very shut club face. The ball was low. I couldn't stop a five iron in the green thing was coming and so flat. And just my technique through working on stability, shortening my swing, making it a little more efficient using my body better. Yeah, it was it was it was a lot of work, but yeah, the efficiency started coming around and I started seeing some results. So that's kind of where

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The answer is that is no, but all the details of that are all on their website. So check it out. Give them a look at herbalactive.com. Again, promo code NLU20 for 20% off your order. You are BAL, AC, TIV. Let's get back to Mike Weir. Well, you've kind of a couple of your comments so far.

You've really prided yourself on your short game. One was that always the case. And two, did you feel like that was, I don't want to say a competitive disadvantage, but when you looked at the way the other top pros played, did you ever wonder if your game style kind of fit that format or if you would have to make drastic changes to your playing style?

Yeah, I knew there was some pretty drastic ball striking improvements I need to make. My short game was always very good. And I was always interested in different techniques I watched and learned from different players and paid attention to what guys were doing out of the bunker. I remember being in the bunker with Paul Azinger early in my career on the Canadian tour when I qualified maybe that same year. And I was never afraid to ask guys for advice. You know, my college golf coach Carl Tucker just said always, you know, the best players ask them questions and I took that advice I you know if I saw after after being on the range with Nick Price there whenever I saw him at an event I'd always asked to sit with him at lunch and pick his brain in this particular time in the bunker I

remember talking with Paul Azinger and learning a learning a few tips on short game but the real overhaul was my golf swing and being more efficient driver of the ball and better iron player. And I knew that my game needed to be built around efficiency, hitting fairways, hitting greens. I'm not going to overpower, of course, I'm not a big guy, I don't hit it very far, but I knew I had a pretty elite short game, and if I could just be more consistent and hit more fairways and hit more greens that, you know, who knows?

Maybe, you know, my goal was just to get on the PGA tour. I was, that was my first goal was to be a PGA tour member and to get to that level. And, you know, those six or seven years playing in Canada and overseas, I was getting tired, I was getting worn out of, you know, being in my car all over the country and traveling and missing cuts and not making money. I wanted to get on the big tour. That was my first goal and I knew I needed to be more efficient with my swing.

That's what makes your career arc so interesting is that you were not a... You struggled relatively speaking as a pro for so long and then became a true world elite class player. I just think that's a... Is there any kind of player you can look at and think of off top of your head or maybe you thought of that kind of had a somewhat similar career arc that you had? I'm sure it exists, but I'm struggling to think of a comp, you know? Yeah, I'm sure it exists for sure.

In my era, there wasn't many guys right out of college that got on the tour. There was, you know, Nicholson's the same age as me and he got right in the tour. And if you're played a year or two on the web or whatever, snikey tour back then, then he got out there and Justin Leonard got out there right out of college into ball. Those were the four guys that I remember that were that were really elite and got on the PGA tour and did well. It's a little different, you know, now it is. So fast forwarding to 1999, your first PGA tour win comes at the Air Canada Championship.

And I can honestly say I don't think I've ever experienced, you know, all the years I've been doing this, a country that rides harder for one particular person who Canada does for you. So was that place just going absolutely absurd when you won that tournament? It really was. It was, It was incredible. I'll never forget coming up, well, I hold the shot on 14. I bogged you to Mr. Shortput on 13 and I think it put me one behind and you know, came to 14 and I hit a bunch of shots, you know, kind of mid to short irons. Here in

the week, I probably hung two or three within two or three inches of the hole. A couple shots that looked like they're going and didn't go in. And I hit my, I hit a little rescue club or five wood down there and I was just in the first cut. And I remember saying to Brenna, I'm like, this would be a great time for one of these shots to go in and sure enough, this thing came off grade and, you know, pitched on the green how I wanted and You know lucky enough went in but just the the reaction to the crowd and I'll still remember that was one of the biggest reactions I've ever had and you know and then coming up 18 It was it almost felt like a major championship in a way because it was

In Canada my first win it felt like a bit of a British open because it was, you know, the weather kind of came in a little bit and everybody had some jackets on. I remember seeing people up in the crowds kind of huddling up and reined a little bit and it just felt like an open championship or something coming up 18 and it was a really cool experience to have your first win come in your home country and the way the fans are active was incredible. Well, just a few weeks before that, you're tied for the lead at the PGA championship at Medina. Who was the guy I forget who were you tied with going to that last round? Who's that guy? Tiger Woods, yeah. All right, so you have not won the PGA Tour yet.

What is the true effect of Tiger Mania in that situation? Well, to go back even a couple of weeks before that or a month before that, this is only my second year on the PGA tour, my first year, I lost my card. So I didn't really even have any, I may have had one top 10 finish or something, had to go back to Q school and I won Q school. And had some nice events, I had a pretty good event

in Atlanta early in the year. But we come to the Western Open, I find myself writing contention with Tiger. We start the last day. I think he's three ahead. And he and I are paired the last day at the Western Open at Coghill. And he wins by two.

But I kind of beat him on the day. And I had a good chance. And but Tiger did what he needed to do, what he's done all of his career and made some key clutch shots down the stretch, but I walked off even though I didn't win the tournament. I'm like, I can play with this guy. I can compete. I know what I'm made of now, you know, and I really felt confident. And so we fast-forward another month and I'm in the final round of the PGA, and we fast-forward another month and I'm in the final round of the PGA and it was you know playing with Tiger and the final round of a major is a little bit different. I got off to a great start. I hit a

great drive down number one. It's a solid iron shot two-potted and then it all started to kind of get a little bit fast for me. Tiger made hit a great shot into two and I hit it on the back of the green. I rolled it down to maybe five feet. He rolled his 10 footer in for birdie and I hit it on the back of the green. I rolled it down to maybe five feet. He rolled his 10-footer in for birdie and I missed my putt for par and just the momentum of the crowd. I never forget what trying to get to the third tee. He had already made his birdie putt so he was on the back of the green while I was you know putting for par and as he walked up to three tee the crowd just kind of funneled in behind him and it took me, I don't know, it probably took four minutes for me to get to the next tee and I wasn't

even on the tee and I hear this whack. And he's teed off on number three. And everything kind of got a little bit fast. So it was a combination of being in the, I think in the final round of a major championship and not being ready for that tiger effect. And I think everything kind of snowballed. And then I started pressing and chasing pins and feeling pressure. And I just kind of fell apart.

I three-putted and did my short game really fell apart that day. And so it was a great learning experience. And I walked away saying, oh, it was a tough day today, but I wasn't crushed by it. I mean, I was surely disappointed, but I wasn't crushed by it. I just, I was determined like, hey, next time I'm in contention with this guy, I'm going to have security with me to get through the crowds. I know what to expect next time.

That's the way I approached it. But it's still phenomenal to play with Tiger in that scenario. I mean, he's like watching Michael Jordan, one of the best athletes of all time, Tigers in that category, and it's fun to play with them, and it's fun to try to match them. And, you know, I don't have the skills, but the way I've always taken that is like, I have nothing to lose, you know, I'm not expected to win. So I would spin it in my head that there's not that much pressure. Yeah, gosh, I've always kind of wondered,

like, what is the, all right, is the tiger effect real? Like, how is it, and then just that story right there? I'm like, oh, man, I don't know how you, how you don't end up completely on your heels after something like that happens very early in the round. And, and I was on my heels. I think like that day, I was on my heels. For sure, after, after that second hole,

and I started to feel rushed, and I didn't do, you know, I kind of lost my mental focus a little bit, and I wasn't able to capture it back, and that's what I was very disciplined about was my mental game. When I was playing my best, I seemed to be able to tune things out, and that day I didn't, I wasn was able to recapture the nice rhythm and flow to the round and to tune things out. And I like to think in my hey day, no matter who I was playing with, I could kind of tune them out and just kind of do my business. Well, kind of moving ahead in the timeline here.

You win WGC American Express in 2000. You win the Torch Championship in 01. But 03 is kind of what I want to get to. I'm sure a topic in a year. You've talked about a lot, but you start out, you win the Bob Hope, but as well, you go and win Nissan at Riviera. You also win at the next year.

What is it about Riviera that set up great for you? Did you have always have a special affinity for that golf course? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I guess I love traditional old golf. I've seen the drawn to those types of golf courses. I love the variety of Rivera, the different shots you have to hit. You have to do everything well. You have to drive it well. You have to hit your irons well. It's a tough putting golf course. I would say early in my career, I didn't. I love the course, but I didn't have great success there. But I learned to figure out my game plan for that place and execute well. And yeah, I just kind of yeah, end up falling a little bit for sure.

Well, do you ever get tired of answering questions about what happened later that spring? No, never. I tried to get as far in as we could before we started talking masters, but first thing I want to know though, is it as big of a life changer to win the masters as people make it out to be? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. It's a huge life changer. It kind of hit me the next day.

Obviously the moment in celebrating with your family and friends is special. And I had a unique situation. I had this, we were doing this deal with sears. And it had been in the works for about a year and we were going to launch this clothing line in the sear stores across Canada. And we were planning to do it the Sunday after Augusta. And this had been in the works for a while,

but I win and then we fly in the next morning and we're going down to the sears downtown Toronto and I just see this big line of people all the way down the street as we're driving in. I thought well they haven't opened the store yet. They let me people in there like oh no the store's open. People can't get in. They're waiting to get in. It was just that packed in there. I was doing a little autograph session. That's the first time it hit me and I thought well you, my life's about to change here. And yeah, that was a real moment that sticks out in my mind. Do you ever go back and watch it?

Watch the highlights? Recently, someone showed that to me. I've been doing some stuff on Instagram with this company that's helping me put out some content and we've been pulling together some video footage and stuff and that's the first time I had seen it for a while. Yeah, that was, you know, it was pretty cool to see it again. I have, I don't go back and watch things like that. I don't go back and watch the fun around or, you know, I just, I don't know, you know, if I'm looking for technique things every once in a while, I'll pull up some old footage just to look at what I was doing maybe in my golf swing and I even done that in a while, but I don't go back and watch fun rounds of tournaments

and things. Well, one story from that, three masters that has always really intrigued me when we heard Lynn Matisse tell it was, and I'm sure you're versed in it too, but the 10th green, when you guys went to the playoff, that you guys both blue putts passed. Len has has insinuated he did not know what they did to 10 green before the playoff. Did you know or have you since learned what happened.

Yeah, no, I did not know either. In fact, in that playoff where I hit my second shot on the 10th green was almost identical to where I had hit it a couple hours earlier in the course of regulation when I was playing the 10th hole. And I rolled this pot up and over the hill and cozyed it down there, you know, to a tap-in, you know, a foot away or two feet away or something. So when I had that putt, I thought, okay, I know this putt, and I hit the putt, and came up over the ridge, and it just felt perfect. It felt the same putt that I hit two hours ago. And when it rolled away, but I was just shocked. I couldn't believe that it rolled like it did, you know, nine, ten feet past the hole. And, uh, you know, come to find out later that they had rolled the green. Well, I guess when I was finishing

up on 18 and signing my card that they had rolled the green, and obviously didn't tell Len or myself, they had rolled the green. So it made us Len or myself. They had rolled the green. So it made us look a little bit silly, which I'm kind of disappointed that that happened like that, because I really did hit it, you know, my first putt was, I thought it was just going to be a tap-in, you know. So anyways. At least it didn't decide the playoff. That's right. It happened to both of you is the comforting factor there, but that is crazy to rewatch. I've watched some of it last night at how far Matisse's ball goes by too. It's just crawling, crawling, crawling. And it yeah, it's, it's, I'm glad to hear you say

you're kind of supporting the way that finish because I think it did put a sour taste in people's mouth for that, for that masters, but it was actually an excellent, excellent masters. You have, so what I love about it too is that you had broke up Tigers run. I mean, he was, he didn't finish runner-up obviously, but he had won the previous two. So he's the one that puts the green jacket on you. So I want to know, what do, who do you sit with at the champions there when you go back every year? I'm on the far end of the table.

I've kind of fallen in this group with Gary player and DJ sings down there and Charles Cudys down there and Adam Scott and Trevor Rememann and Nick Faldo. We're all kind of in this on the opposite end of the table where the chairman and the past champion. We're like the kids in the back of the classroom over there on the far end. Do you have a go to or your favorite champions dinner story? Something that's happened over the years or a story you've heard there over the years that you love to tell? Oh, there's, I mean, there's so many.

I mean, you know, the great thing, I think Gary Player has always been a hero of mine and I think being around him, and he's a great storyteller, you know, and he tells stories from the past with Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and Sam Sneed. And I think all of us guys that sit down there really enjoy listening to those stories about what great athletes these guys were in the top times they had and to try to make it work, you know, to chase it,

and chase the tour and not have to do a club job. And so those stories are always great. I think the one that stands out the most, though, is probably Arnold Palmer. Two years before he passed away, I think his health was starting to fail a little bit. In the previous years that I had been at the Champions dinner, he never said much. He let whoever, well, Byron Nelson was the chairman when we first started and then Ben Crenshaw took over for Byron when Mr. Nelson passed away. Ben was always telling little antidotes about the masters and how it's changed and the history of

the game and then the chairman would say something and then the past champion and Arnold Jack. Everybody just kind of is respectful to them and not trying to overshadow that special moment for them. So Arnold in all the years that had been there had never gotten up and said anything. And in my mind I was like man I want to hear some stories from Jack and Arnold and Tom Watson and Ray Floyd. But this year in particular he got up and said something that was very heartfelt to all of us players and said how special it's been for him to be, you know, a master champion and to be in the room with all of us and for me to be included in that was just, man, I was, I got out of there

I was just falling and It was really something even to this day that, you know, I think the all the great players that are in the champions locker room and in that dinner when Mr. Palmer walked in There was something special and different when when he came in he's just such a lovable man and Just makes you feel he made you feel so special and we're really missing well Can you compare what it's like going back to Augusta now as a past champion compared to, you know, say 15 years ago while you're still kind of in your peak playing form 10 years ago. And now what's it, what's it like, you know, to kind of have that ability to go back

every year? And what's that, how does that experience, you know, the more times you do it, is it get any less special in any way? I'd imagine not, but how, could you just kind of compare what it's like to go back as time goes on? Yeah, it's, it's interesting. Yeah, it's a, I've never really thought about it that way, but it is a little bit different, you know, you're even at my age of 50, you still go in with the, with the hope that you're going to, that you're going to play well and, and contend and compete, but you're also in admiration of the type of players that are out there now and you've watched them on the range and you think how far this games come with

not only technology, but the athletes and how much better they are now and so you you go in and you focus on your game and you and you're able to to go into the Champions locker room and sit with Tom Watson and Jack Nicholson here great stories and enjoy the Tuesday dinner and enjoy just seeing old faces and familiar faces from the media to your family to everything. But at the same time, you can enjoy the tournament and enjoy the type of game the guys are playing now. So it is a little bit different and a little bit more nostalgic, I guess now than maybe in my prime. I didn't pay attention as much. I did enjoy seeing the guys and seeing Jack and the great champions

that are in there and talking with them at lunch and everything. But then I would be so focused and back to what I had to do. Now it's the gas pedals off a little bit more and I'm enjoying it a little bit more. Yeah, I just always find that dynamic interesting of, you know, there's incredibly ceremony as, you know, act of the Champions dinner and the history of all the past champions being there versus, hey, you guys still got to go out and compete. You know, same T's, same pins, everything as these guys are in tip top shape. And it, it, it, it's just an interesting dynamic. But what's, what's something about the week week 2003 that maybe a lot of people don't remember or something that's

Significant to you in some way or a favorite story. I guess that you'd like to tell from that week. Oh Well one is that it was it was an odd week that You know Thursday was completely washed out. So it was completely rained out So we didn't start until Friday. So it was kind of a sprint until Sunday. It was a plays minute. And it rained practice rounds too in part three and everything, right? Yeah, it was just a really, really wet week.

And at the end of the day, I was thinking myself, maybe this is this could be a tough week for me because of course, it's going to play very long. And but then again, coming in with some longer clubs into these greens, the ball was just sticking. If I was hitting, I remember hitting a five wood into number one. Early in the week hitting five wood into 18 and by the end of the week, on Sunday I had four iron. It was like five wood, three iron, three iron, four iron. That's how long the course was

playing. So that aspect, and then when you have the lead, I had the lead after a Thursday, you go into the in the media center and how long the days were. Like Thursday or sorry Friday and Saturday were just so long, you play golf all day and then you're in the media center and you're trying to get food at 9 o'clock at night and you're getting up but you know you're getting up at you know 4 or 30 in the morning to get back and get warmed up and as soon as daybreak comes your back on the course, so it was a sprint. And then Sunday, you know, when you're in the last group, you don't TL till late in the

afternoon. So it was the dead opposite on Sunday. It was you have to find use of that morning time and not get to in your head and just and slow down. Well, it kind of from basically what we've talked about so far and hearing you describe your swing and how you've worked on things, I would classify you as a tinkerer and one I would want to know if that's if you would classify yourself as that and how and when stack until

got introduced into your game and what was appealing about that. Yeah, I would say, I don't know if Tinker, I think I'm always trying to evolve and trying to find a way to get better as a lot of us are out there. In 2005, I start struggling a little bit with my game. 2006 still kind of struggling with my coach and not really coming up with many solutions. I wasn't liking the way I was playing and here my good buddy Dean Wilson, who was a college teammate of mine, was making this great headway with his game. And Dean and I were really close friends, so we were having lots of dinners together, and I told him how much I was struggling with my game.

He's like, well, just have a chat with these guys and see what they have to say. So we chatted and then I was doing some team-. He's like, well, just have a chat with these guys and see what they have to say. So we chatted and then I was doing some team made it to the tour championship, I believe in 2006 this was. And I was out there doing, I didn't make it to the tour championship that year. And I think I was out there doing something for TaylorMade.

And Mike and Andy were there with Dean and they had time for a quick 20-minute lesson away from the tour championship and they just showed me some things and Immediately I started making better contact and the ball, you know, it was coming off a lot better and so that was kind of the why I Made that move to To stack and fill tap that time. It was it wasn't a knee-jerk decision It was you know well over a year of I was not hitting the ball well,

and I was kind of piecing it together with my short game, and it felt like I was regressing. So the listeners, what is it stack until mean? And why did that appeal to you? And then you kind of told part of that there of you trying it out, and you hit a few balls right away, immediately better contact. But was that a big appeal to you? And then you kind of told part of that there of, you know, you're trying it out and you hit a few balls right away, immediately better contact. But was that a big adjustment for you?

And what is it? What are the technical aspects of stack until it have always kind of confused me? The big thing for me is my head was dropping way back in my downswing. As soon as I initiated into my downswing in that transition area, my head was falling way back behind the ball.

So this showed me if I kept my head a little bit more centered, I wouldn't have as much flip at the ball. And things would be a little bit more stable, which they were. I guess the gist of it was that, this that stability and keeping myself a little bit more centered instead of the head floating around. And so much weight transfer, so much weight going

from my left leg to my right leg. My trail leg to my front leg. There was movement and there was weight transfer, pressure transfer, more than weight transfer in the stack until. So the pressure would build up in my left leg being in my trail, a leg being in the left knee and a golfer, but I wouldn't have this sway off the ball. I was a little more centered and a lot of players of you know they termed it stack until but if you look at a lot of the grates a lot of them

did that you know you look at Johnny Miller or Nicholas kept his head steady and you look at some of the airy player and you can go down the line so it was it was definitely appealing to me and then I then I kind of got injured so I got injured with my elbow in 2010 and I just found when I came back from that I was taking some pretty big divots. I'm staying for my my divot pattern got a little bit stronger and I had to kind of back away from that when I came back after my elbow injury and that's why I kind of moved away from it. Do you know what what I guess yeah, 2010 was you you had a torn ligament in your right elbow do you have any insight as to how that happened or what caused

Oh yeah it happened right during the round I was in fact I think I believe I was either tied for the lead or leading Hilton had midway through the second round and on the 11th hole I hit one to the right really narrow little hole and you know they have all these pine needles in the trees and I was trying to punch a five iron towards the green and right in front of my ball, which I couldn't see because the pine needles was a big tree root. And I was really trying to drive this five iron low and I just stuck this cup right into that tree root and I felt this sting go right up my arm right into my elbow.

Yeah, I knew something was wrong right away, but it wasn't like unplayable. Like I played the rest around, played the rest of the tournament, but you know, that's where some bad habits started forming, I believe, because I started hitting some kind of funny shots. I knew I was favoring that. I wasn't driving through the ball like I needed to, and after that tournament, when it was done, I took some time off, but as soon as at any time I took time off a couple

of weeks, three weeks, and try to come back, it would just get right back to where it was. It would feel better if I took time away, but as soon as I start swinging, it would get back to being really sore again. And that's, you kind of answered one of my questions I had, which is the struggles that ensued after that. How much of it is it a mixture of injury versus actual technique struggles?

But I feel like at the same time, those two things are impossible to separate. Is that fair to say? I'd say that's totally fair to say. I think you start, you don't even realize how subconsciously you start to, if you have something you're trying to work around, how you subconsciously start favoring or working around and then you start compensating and how that can snowball and being stubborn as I was I thought I could kind of play through it

and up until the point that I had to have surgery from Dr. James Andrews down in Florida and then coming back from that trying to come back and try to pick the ball like I said you know moving away from stack until, because I didn't want to take divots, to everything can just kind of snowball. Because now you're just making conversations, you don't want to re-engineer yourself and your hesitant. So yeah, I think they go hand in hand with an injury and how that can bleed into bad technique. Well, a lot of guys, not a lot of guys, I shouldn't say, but there are tour players that can go out,

miss a lot of cuts and it doesn't really get noticed, but when you're a former master's champion, it does get noticed. And I guess, did you hear any noise or did anything bother you during this period of, you're going out, teeing it up in events with kind of half-health if you will and you're not performing the way you want how what kind of effect that have on you as far as your drive and energy towards the game. Oh I think there's there's a

range of emotions and there's a range of you know if I go back I mean there's range of times from feeling sad and frustrated about my game embarrassed at some points. But the determination to try to find a way is always there. But when you're not able to do what you used to be able to do is very, very frustrating. And yeah, it was, it was a very difficult time, you know, and, you know, just to be honest, there's, when you're going through that and you're going through, I went through some family struggles too, you went through divorce at the same time, there was a lot of stuff and it just goes to show that, you know, golf's a game that you have to have, you know, your

life in order, you have to have balance in your life. You know, there's no secret why Nicholas is the greatest of all time, you know, and what he did, he credits Barbara for that, keeping, keeping things in check, and so he can focus on his game. And so if those things are all a little bit unsettled, your game's going to be unsettled. And you know, my game was definitely unsettled for a number of years. And thankfully, you know, kind of through that, but that's like life for a lot of people, right? Everybody goes through these ups and downs and things aren't perfect. And that's the one thing I've learned through all this is like, you know, I mean, everybody has struggles. And I'm not a woe is me kind of

kind of guy. And I'm just I'm thankful to be back and healthy and ready to go now. and I'm just thankful to be back and healthy and ready to go now. Well, it's got to be jarring to go from being in the top 10 in the world to playing like you were, but I'm not in all the ways you've described it. I've never heard you even hint at possibility of walking away or giving up in any way. Is that fair or did you ever have any thoughts of that? No, I don't think I really have thoughts of giving up in any way, is that fair or did you ever have any thoughts of that? No, I don't think I really have thoughts of giving up. I'm always, my mind always goes, well, I got to figure it out this way or how can I, how can I get back?

How can I do it? Not saying there wasn't times that I wasn't like in my head, you know, saying like, what is this really worth it? Because I think I knew it was a lot of work to get back, but you know very quickly I'd switch back to the mode of okay. Okay, let's talk to you know I went through, I talked to a number of different coaches. You know David Leibbatterer has been a great friend over the years and spent time with him for a year trying to figure things out because that was a lot of the concept that early on in my career worked very well and just having great people in your life like David, you know, my family, my sports psychologist Rich Gordon to talk through to have somebody to talk

through some of these things with was really important and they helped keep me on track and they knew keep me on track. They knew how much I love the game and how much that was in the cards. I love the game so much playing just with my buddies. I don't want to play good, just even play with my friends. I wasn't playing miserably just in term of golf. I was playing miserably when I was playing at home here. It was just my game was in, as we talked about earlier, because of the circumstances and injuries

and all the other things, that's what was going on. I felt like if I could get those things in order, that, you know, I'm still competitive, I can still move well, I'm still pretty flexible, that I can bring this thing back. Yeah, that's a thing about golf. I mean, you're putting yourself out there.

I imagine at a certain level, it was embarrassing for you to not play well and have your game get commented on almost in terms of a punch line. And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't participated in that, but the thing I always admired about it was like, it couldn't even seem like an option. I mean, you were, it takes, it takes some pride and determination to go out when you know it's not there and still go teat up and try. And we listened to Max

Holm that tells the story of, you know, he is one of his first years on tour. He missed the, basically every cut, but, you know, he went out and kept trying. He's like, I got, I, I, the only way out of this is to keep going. Yeah. Yeah. And there, you know, there's been. There's been Steve Stricker, right? He had a couple of real leaners and so did Westwood. And at the end of the day, there's being a professional athlete and anything. I've been watching the Slas dance. I don't know if you've been watching. Oh, yeah. For sure. And the Slas weekend, Michael Jordan talking about some of the criticism he was getting. And I remember him saying, people just don't, some of that stuff you just have to put aside

because people don't know you. And they're just going to comment on you and they haven't talked to you. And so I've always tried to, that hit home with me because I've always tried to say that to myself as well, like when I have heard things. And she would have been human being. You hear the cheers and the you know, it hurts. But, you know, I would always tell myself, these people don't know me, they don't know,

you know, what I'm about, how I got here and the work ethic I have to get here. And I've tried to tell that to the young Canadian guys when I talk to them. Yeah, I said, you're Canadian, it's a little bit different being on the PGA tour. You're a little bit more under the microscope than some guy from Alabama or something

where, you know, there's 10 guys on the tour from there. Let's say you might be the only guy from British Columbia right now on the PGA tour and you're going to get a little more attention, a little more criticism and you're going to get pumped up when you do really well, a little more. You've got to just kind of take that and stride and not when you're doing well, don't think you're better than anybody and when you're not doing well. You're not as bad as they say you are Well, there's a couple things I want to ask you about before I let you go I know taking up a I'm I'm over what I suggested our our time limit

But 2007 presidents cup one I've seen it and heard it reference to as to how the efforts you made to bring that to Canada And two it ends with you beating Tiger Woods in singles. So, Juan, how did that work? How were you a part of the efforts to bring it to Canada and what was it like to go up against Tiger Woods in singles? Well, I remember talking to Commissioner Fincham about possibly bringing it to Canada

and I had already been on three teams and it was becoming a big part of my career, the president of the cup, and team golf. And I loved it so much growing up, playing hockey, and dip team sports. I was just loving that we had the chance to play in these team golf. And I thought for one, being now that the US guys

have the rider cup and then the next year, the president's cup, they have something to play in every year Kind of makes sense to do something that's you know not too far to travel great golf Community in Canada and they love golf. They love the sport outside of hockey. It's you know Probably the next biggest sport participation wise Being Canadian being on on three teams. I would just love to be able to bring that to Canada, to help bring it to Canada. So that's how it all started with the talk with the commissioner. And then it was great to have it finally come to fruition.

And yeah, the match with Tiger kind of came about because I think we wanted to have something, I think Gary and Jack talked on Saturday if they could make a work, Tiger play me. That'd be great for the fans and great for the event. So I guess when the parents came out, it looked like it was going to happen and we made it happen. So it was a great experience to play him and singles at home the way the crowd reacted. And even the way he was, Tiger was great about it all. And we had a great battle. We've always had a great relationship

and been able to give each other the business and the needle back and forth. He's really good at that. So you got to be able to give it back to him. So at least I have that one thing over him. He got to deal with weermania, right? Yeah. I mean, he finally got a little payback from 99.

Well, the last one too, this was so random, at least from a viewer perspective in 2014 at the Byron Nelson when you seemingly came out of nowhere to almost run down Brendan Todd and win that event. Take us there. What was different about that week and what was it like being back in contention after years of struggle with injuries? Yeah, it was great.

It was fun to get back in contention and kind of start out Sunday the way I did. You know, birding three of the first four holes and getting kind of getting on the horse quickly and getting out in front. The back down was a lot of fun. I birdied 16, hit a great shot into 17 and had a really good look and thought I made that putt and almost made a long bomb on 18. a really good look and thought I made that putt and almost made a long bomb on 18. So the running duty had to do, you know, made some key up and downs on 16 and 17, you know, some couple of 10 foot putts or something that he made to keep the lead going into 18. And they almost got it done, but yeah, it was fun to get that back and kind of show that, you know, the game was still in there.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite get that going. Some families have happened right after that. That's when I started going through my divorce. And not aspect of my life was a bit of a struggle for a couple of years, but it was just kind of interesting time as well. All right. Well, thank you so much, Mike, for joining us. This is some great stories.

I really appreciate all the perspective on your career. And I'm excited to see how you tackle things as you turn 50 this coming week and onto the Champions Tour. So thanks for your time. Oh pleasure. It was fun. Thanks. Cheers. Give it a right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. How about him? That is better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most.