No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 351: Harry Higgs

Episode Date: September 10, 2020

Almost a year after his first appearance on the pod, Harry Higgs returns!  We recap the past year on the PGA Tour, his favorite pairings, playing practice rounds at home with Bryson, his notable fashion choices, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yeah. That's better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Laying Up podcast. Today's guest is Harry Higgs. He's teaming it up this week at the Safeway as the new season already gets started. I'm not going to take too much of your time in showing it.

Great interview with Harry as you might expect. Crazy Phil Mickelson is the favorite this week. I know we give Phil a lot of crap, we give Big Randy a lot of crap for kind of the fandom and everything, but if there's one thing Phil's good at, he can poke fun at himself. And that is on full display at the latest commercial

from Dick Sporting Goods Golf Galaxy in Callaway. So if you've seen this TV spot, you may have seen that he's introducing this kind of concept. If Callaway wins, the US Open, you win. It's literally called the if Callaway wins, you win promotion at Dick Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy. Short version is this. If you purchase a Callaway Maverick or Big Birth of B21 driver at Dick Sporting Goods

or Golf Galaxy between August 27th and September 16th, then pick one of the 16 or so Callaway Pros that are playing in the US open. If that player wins, the US open, your driver is free. Naturally, all sales are final. You can see that TV spot at dix.com slash Callaway wins or golf galaxy dot com slash Callaway wins in that spot. Phil delivers the instant classic line. When have I ever let you down at wing foot?

So for all the details, go to dix.com slash Callaway wins or golf Galaxy.com slash Callaway wins. Let's get to Harry Higgs. So I went to go schedule like a season wrap up pod with you and I legit didn't even realize that I was already encroaching on your travel into the next season. So does it feel good to be starting back up? Does it feel like the same season? Like what's the energy level going into Safeway? It feels more mid season than end of season for sure. I started like actually hitting some good golf shots

and making some good scores on some holes and shooting some good scores throughout around. So I wanted to kind of stay sharp this week, play next week, and then I'm going to take three weeks off. So be safe way and then three weeks off and then we'll start back up in Vegas. Now that I've seen the courses, now I can travel later, especially with still a lack of programs. I think there's a program next week, but there's only five groups. So it's not really that impending. So you didn't really mess up travel plans.

I'm just going to start showing up later and later until hopefully that actually works. If it doesn't work, then I'll start showing up earlier again. At the big level, is it that easy then to just adjust to different grass types, different greens? It can be done really with, you know, just having seen the courses one time, you're fine to kind of show up later and get adjusted that well in just a couple of days. Yeah, next week, Safeway is Po, and that doesn't really, no one really puts well on it,

so you just kind of show up and you try to get the speed right, you have to decide whether you're hitting them hard or you're hitting them soft, spend some time, they just kind of touchwork really next week. Not, you can't really pay attention to anything else because the ball is going to bounce around some on you. You're going to have something.

You just chuckle and laugh at it. It was in the middle of the hole for 10 of the 12 feet and then it bounced and it missed by a foot. That is not going to be that big a deal. And then yeah, just a good idea of I kind of already went down and went through all the holes and just had a brief thought of like what I'm gonna when I get to these holes again I'll probably play nine holes Tuesday nine holes Wednesday just like what am I gonna practice and it's a lot of around the green stuff you know a

shot or two from the left bunker because the left bunker is a good miss or something like that and then just kind of move on it should be it should be brief and quick and then obviously I never really felt like I had an offseason. I'm still kind of, you know, obviously hoping sharp, but I'm still swinging a lot, playing a lot. We've played and practiced quite a bit here in Dallas this week. So I should be ready to go. We chatted with you in the fall last year. You'd have a couple of starts. You'd just come off. You know, you're runner up at Bermuda. A lot's happened since then. What is kind of your assessment of where you rank out on the PGA tour as far as, you know,

what you did really well this year, what you know, you need to get back in the lab and improve upon and kind of want to ask that in kind of two ways, is it, you know, things that you just, you know, like looking at stats, this, I'm kind of somewhat deficient here and need to get better at. Or so, even as much as, you know, I played with so-so, I played with this guy, I played with this guy, and I saw how much better he was at this, and that's what I want to be like. In terms of seeing what other people do, not a ton, and then last week, the Olympia Fields with it being rock hard and a little bit of breeze, and then you're going to miss

a lot of greens and have to hit you know pitch shots and chips and pitches. I mean I and I do have a good short game. I stop the ball around the greens with loft more than I do with spin. I need to work either potentially could be a golf ball switch. It won't be next week but maybe if I actually take the time to test it and see but I I actually take the time to test it and see, but I don't really know how to test it, I just gonna go play with it and see if it actually makes a difference. But I need to spin the ball with my wedges really from probably 130, 140 yards

and in more, or I guess not spin it, but have the ability to spin it because I found even from the fairway last week that I tend to hit a lot of flatter shots that just because I do not like to see the ball spin usually if it's spinning especially on a soft golf course it's spinning away from the hole but then you know the one two three times a year we play these rock hard firm places I need to be able to spin it it's still going to bounce you know four or five yards and then it's going to stop. But mine were bouncing last week, four or five yards and then trickling out another three or four yards. So I kind of just rolled it over a lot of the greens last week and that made it more

difficult. And then in terms of my overall assessment of my performance, I'm not displeased with obviously where I finished on the FedEx Cup list. The, you know, I had, I had one really good chance to win and I had a couple other chances, you know, got in contention a few times. Certainly would like to do that more. And then to be quite honest, this was the worst statistical year I've had in three years

from Latin America to the corn fairy last year to the PGA tour. Now, granted, bigger stages, bigger moments, most of the time harder golf courses, just harder golf shots. That has something to do with it, but where I have excelled over the last two years, has been approached to the green, you know, having my iron play be very sharp, give myself a lot of birdy looks. I did not do that very often this year. On the weeks that I played well, I did it more often, still not even to the level that

I remember doing it at the previous two levels. So it's just, I mean, again, just kind of working on the same things and getting the iron play, the approach play, giving myself more birdy looks, giving me the ability to get in contention and have more chances to win this year. You said like 20 very interesting things there that I'm gonna slowly start to unpack one by one there. The first one being about potentially changing

a golf ball to spin more based on just a couple times of playing firm golf course. So it's interesting because I wanted to ask you about what it was like playing in the BMW and the memorial this year and how much those conditions kind of change. What kind of skills were needed if at all? Because I do find it, I'm just asking out loud, like is it worth changing a golf ball for just, because of how infrequently conditions get that firm,

is that why probably you play a ball that doesn't spin that much because it plays very well for you 80% of the time on the PGA tour? Well, yes. So there is a bit of tepidation in terms of changing a ball for, I mean, that was memorial and BMW were the two times that I've played. All the only two times that I've played and been like, whoa, boy, this ball's bouncing a little bit more, you know,

once it lands on the green, it's kind of getting away from me. I think I'm the last person to play that I to my knowledge, the TP5 X, the Taylor made ball, the less spin. I think almost everybody that this year that was playing that ball has since switched to the TP55 which will spin a bit more. It will certainly, well, I guess testing this isn't this. I don't really know anything about that. I'm guessing if it spins more it's gonna, it's not gonna bounce over greens like it did last week. Also the ball, the TP5X is so good in the wind. When you get these breezy days,

I believe it still is helping me, but I'll get one or two shots from the fairway, maybe even a good layout of the rough, and a crosswind that you try to hold, let's say right to left wind, so you're trying to play like a cut up against it to hold the wind. Well, the ball holds the wind so well that normally you cut it up against the wind, but then it will, you know, at the end, it will just kind of fall back a little left. And that's the shot I always see in that certain situation. A few, maybe not a few too many, but a few times the ball just stays flat and holds and cuts the wind the whole time.

And because it stayed flat and just bore right through the wind, it went long again. You know, it just kind of flattened out and bounced and just went long. So it would be part of the reason, the impetus for the potential switch is certainly seeing it bounce on the greens, having the ability to spin it more into greens and then around the greens. But also it could help in me seeing the, me actually hitting the shot that I see in wind, you know, that hold that will eventually just fall left and it lands a little softer than the one that stays flat and then still lands right on the flag and then might bounce

over the green. So do you anticipate getting involved with spin rates and track man on that? You said you don't really know how to test. No. So it's just go out and play with it. Yeah, just go out and play with it and then Corey Lundberg, my instructor. It's your instructor. Yeah, our instructor. I pay him and I pay him enough that he would be the one that's in charge of looking at the spin rates.

So the my testing process will probably be get sent a couple dozen of the balls, hit some with his eye and then going out and playing it. I actually played it all week this week, but we've got so much rain here in Dallas that turnie force was actually soft. So it really made no difference. And then I'm fortunate to play a place that's really forced that's usually rock hard with some wind. So I should be able to see the result at home testing by just going to plain golf. But no, yeah. And then you kind of asked, would you

switch with Memorial and BMW just those two weeks? And yeah, not too often did we see Firm and Fast Conditions this year, but those are also two of the biggest events. And I want to play well in the biggest hardest events. And I want to have a chance to win those. But I mean, I want to have a chance to win every one I play. But if you win one of those, it's a little,

I guess it's a little bigger deal. Winning one is a huge deal regardless of where it is. And I don't feel like if I switch to a spin-ear ball, I would be hindered in any of the, I guess, I will call it smaller than it's not small, but it's no. It just gives you more options and, you know, variability, I guess. You know, if you can control the spin on it when it's soft, then why wouldn't you want to ball it gives you the chance to play all different types of conditions?

For sure. And I mean, some of the guys that switched said that because the ball was spinning a little bit more of their drivers carrying further, you know, and I mean, I hit a lot of tee shots. They're just flat. I love a flat cut that rolls. So in playing it and seeing it, if I'm not seeing that flat cut, and it's kind of spinning a little bit more and maybe carrying a little further, but not carrying a little further

and going the same distance versus me hitting it flat or carrying it not as far and seeing it roll, it might just take just a second to kind of see and visualize a different shot off of T's. And then if I can get my head wrapped around that, I'll just play it obviously. Yeah, this is all above my pay grade. I know it's like all the stuff that you wouldn't hear on TV or you never know guys going through or trying to figure out or any of that stuff. Yeah, I had a lot of downwind wedges last week. And obviously you had to be super exact last week with everything, with trajectory, spin and curve to get the ball anywhere near the hole. And I thought I had trajectory and curve pretty good, but I still had it bouncing over the greens.

Yeah. Or taking bigger bounces than others, basically. When the conditions are like that at Olympia, do you, you know, just with the firmness of greens, do you think about angles more than you do? I can, let's just say a normal round of golf on tour? Not necessary at Olympia fields, because... It was a fairway. Yeah, they're narrow enough that you just had to be in the fairway.

If you could, you know, hit it into the, you know, let's say it was a 20 yard wide fairway. It was a fairway. Yeah, they're narrow enough that you just had to be in the fairway. If you could hit it into the, let's say it was a 20 yard wide fairway and you could hit it into the 10 yards that are the right side for the left flag, yes, I mean it absolutely helped, but it just had to be in the fairway because almost, and now granted, I mean it's such a great design. Almost every hole has a strip up by the green that you can run the ball up to. So you did have a chance from the rough, but it was so hard to get the right yardage,

or even trying landing it in the little gap to land it through the green. And then those were so firm, most of them just bounced and rolled over the green anyway. I mean, I loved it. I thought it was a great test. And I was doing a good job of it. I hit one of the worst golf shots ever on the 5th tee Friday.

I literally dead shanked it. And that kind of spooked me. And I was unable to get that out of my head. So when trying to be super exact with trajectory spin and curve, but then having the thought that I just don't want to shank this one, it became a whole harder. Is that hard to play on tour? Thank you.

I don't want to shank this one. Yeah, I mean, 5T is is there are five is like 410 yards There was a bunker out there like 280 and it was a little down off the left every day And you're you're literally hitting 4 enough to T to stay short of the bunker But it still almost gets to the bunker the fairways were so firm and I just I just made Four pretty good powers. I had one chance for birdie the first four holes and I get up to 5T and honestly I felt like I made a nice a nice swing. Dead shanked it hit it. I mean it was going probably out of bounds. I don't even know what it was just this random forest. It's kind of the

t-shirts kind of through a shoot of trees. I hit it shanked it. Hit a tree dead square and came back to us. Hits the tree, one hops in the rough, then starts bouncing on the tee box, hit the track man that they had set up, or else it would have gone behind me. So hit the track man and just kind of landed like, I never, I was so spooked, I never really paced it off. I wanted to get there one of the days because I was out of it already to just kind of like

Just laugh and see how far actually hit it I think shot links that I hit at 19 feet. I think it was more like six feet in total I've got to the go to the shot link right now as we speak. Oh, yeah, I do it. I still have not looked at I couldn't do it five on Friday and then i hit a unbelievable for iron after that but it was it came down in the left so obviously went a little left the first cut the semi-run so that i had no change that can't spend enough from there so i just had to hit it over the green

and didn't get it up and down but i mean we just everybody just started laughing it was back in the corner jason day was in a group on the whole just right next to us. And he was laughing. I was laughing. The guys I were playing with were laughing. And it just kind of spooked me. And then I kind of like half shanked one on the next hole. And it was just like, OK, well, I didn't do it again

for the rest of the week. But it was hard. It was very hard to try to hit the right shot when you're just worried about where it's going to land. The good news on the shot link is that it's pretty much in a straight line, so you would have to be looking for it. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's kind of like, oh, they have a little glitch there or something that's. It looks like I, it looks like I topped it or. You know, the explanation would be either a top, but I like a really soft top or I

Hit a foot behind the ball and like the divot move the ball 10 feet, but it actually flew like 20 yards Hit a tree came back was going to go behind me Hit the track man and then wound up just right in front of me I mean it we we laughed and then I was kind of obviously r, razzled, I grabbed my, I was looking down at the four iron and I almost, I tried to hand it to my brother to clean it. And then I kind of looked and laughed. And I was like, well, dude, I didn't, this isn't dirty.

I didn't like take a divot or there's no, there's nothing on the face of the club. So I might as well just hit this one again. Was there a ball print on straight on the hosle of it? That it was such a glancing blow that there was no ball print, there was nothing. Was that your worst shot of the year? Oh, by far, by far.

I mean, it was going to go backwards. If the track man wasn't there, it was going to go backwards. It was going to still stay on the tee box. I was pretty sure, but it was going to go backwards. So then I get to the whole Saturday, and I'm looking, and I'm like, yeah, this is probably a foreign, but I'm hitting driver. I need to hit driver there the next two days. I think I parted both the next two days. So maybe it was a driver actually.

Yeah, you parted both Saturday and Sunday. Yeah. You look pretty like a pretty easy driver down there. Yeah, 90 yards in and then flip it up to 15. Yeah, and I hit it in the right rough one of the days and where like kind of where driver came down and the rough was some of the least penal rough that was on the entire golf course. So I don't know if I just missed that for the first two days, but yeah, that kind of derailed my week. I think I just got kind of tired and shot and trying to not shank it for the rest of the

week was was was really difficult. It's been a lot of golf this year, man. That's understandable if you get to get to it. Even with a even with a three month break, it didn't really feel like, I mean, I still played 25 times. Hell, I probably would have played 30 plus, which is a lot without the, you know, if the three month break didn't happen. But yeah, even with a three month break, it was, it was a mad sprint to the finish. And it did kind of wear me out a little bit. I mean, I can still play good golf tired, but it does become much more difficult. It's not like a three month layoff gets you better rested than a one month layoff would

have. You know, I mean, it's as soon as things started back up, there was, it was super hard to actually, you know, actually schedule time off, I would imagine, because you don't, there's not enough events to really space out like you would a normal year, but. Yeah, for sure. A quick break here to check in with our friends

at Elijah Craig, we are actually up at Sweetens Cove right now. We're here with one of our young hitters, Lauren Coughlin. Her husband is here with her as well. And as soon as we busted out a bottle of Elijah Craig, his eyes lit up. He is apparently a bourbon connoisseur. I wouldn't call myself a bourbon connoisseur. I don't think really any of us are. We have loved the Elijah Craig that we've been drinking the last several months, but honestly, I couldn't have told you that it was this highly regarded. It was really, we were super impressed that he thought this highly of it and how great

the finishes. Speaking of great finishes, you should discover the greatness within Elijah Craig's small batch bourbon. It never settles for anything less than the best. And every bottle of their award-winning small batch carries a signature warm spice and subtle smoke flavor. I like to drink it on the rocks and in an old fashioned lore and actually said she's going to make some old fashions tonight. We're here filming some content that is coming

out very shortly. As a matter of fact, Elijah Craig was named the best small batch bourbon at the San Francisco World Spirits competition. Just goes to show you that hard work and dedication leads to great things. So whether you're watching some sports at home, watching golf at home, enjoy it with a glass of Elijah Craig. Pick up a bottle today or order online and discover the greatness within. No laying up is brought to you by Elijah Craig, Kentucky's straight bourbon whiskey, barreds town, Kentucky, 47% alcohol by volume. Elijah Craig reminds you to think wisely, drink wisely. Let's get back to Harry Higgs.

So leaving the Corn Ferry finals last year, somebody says 55th FedEx cup. Are you taking that? Yeah. Yeah. 100%. If you'd sign up for that again for the next year or are you your goals changing? I would probably say no for this this coming year. In the back of my head. For the FedEx cup, I really like that. Well good. Yeah. Are you guys rolling that over until? Yeah, they're making it play a mega season. They don't want to just give us the title right now. So I guess you'd have to or else you'd have to Redraft and then would you still be able to draft me because I move into a different category or I don't know

That's a good question. So That'd be tough. I think it has to be the mega season if we're doing I guess we're not really doing a mega season We're doing this another season with the same membership, but it's not. They're paying out, you know, today. So it's not really a mega season. One of these guys is going to win a boatload of money today. Yeah, we're recording this on on Labor Day. DJ has not what I assume is is waltzing to to a championship by today, but you never know. Sure looks like it. Who knows sure looks like it. I don't have a creative way of asking like what's your take on how DJ is playing right now other than like i want to hear somebody's perspective that is teaming it up with this

guy and competing with him like how do you how do you explain how how special or how good the golf is to get to that level yeah i mean i wish i had a creative way of explaining it to you really don't. I mean, you kind of do feel like you're playing for a second. I mean, Boston was, and yes, Boston had the three-prong combo that makes it as easy as possible. Firm fairways, soft greens, no rough. Now granite, we've seen that a few times this year and the winner is you know 1819 2021-20 200 par and that's what Harris I think was at 19 That doesn't I mean getting to 30 is still Unbelievable so yeah, I mean it I mean that week especially I went out on Sunday and just tried to you know

I was trying to win the beef light. I was just trying to get up and finish in second because Dustin was just going to win. Someone asked me after the round, you know, what do you think about Dustin Johnson right now? I think I don't have a thought. And then he doesn't either. He's just 30 under par. Like what? What do you have not yet?

You can't do anything. This is incredible. Like it literally is incredible. I'm sure that they wanted to set up Olympia Fields a little harder. And it's just on the surface. It a harder golf course than tpc Boston but I mean I've heard stories of Boston the greens getting firm as well and it's the same thing like if you missed a fairway you're not hitting it on the green much a ton more scoreable chances all the parfives are reachable and scoreable versus I mean I don't even think I've heard it a single par five I'm only

playing two of them. I think I went over eight at Olympia Fields, and then you hit the ball in the fairway. If you miss the fairway, you're probably not going to make par on those par-fives, just because they're 600 plus yards and the greens are very penal and there's bonkers and rough everywhere. But no, I mean, it's incredible.

It's probably, I was thinking about it today like When they finished they're gonna send us you know the player the year nomination the rookie of the year and you have to vote and Part of me was I had a brief thought to like well, how do you vote for Dustin Johnson because he was no offense to him But he was for him. He was wildly average. I mean, I'm sure he would tell you he was below average for however many weeks out of the hit. He played 20 times for 16 weeks out of the year, but then he was so far above everyone else that I think he kind of if he does win today, you kind of do have to just vote for him as player of the year. I think it would be damning for the FedEx cup if he didn't win player of the year now. Wow. If that if this is supposed to mean, you know, something here, then he has just swept.

I would say if he would have won BMW, which he was a 60 foot putt away from potentially doing that, he should if he wins, if you win all three play playoff events you get the entire FedEx cup pool You get the whole thing you sweep it imagine how big guys would be clawing like come on man We need you like save us. Yeah, he's gonna get all the money. Ron. Please make the box You know as someone that has now benefited from you know some of the bonus pool. I would Take offense to that. I feel so like that's pretty incredible. I, you know, hey, add some extra, add some extra millions onto his boatload of millions.

Sure. Go ahead. Why'd you look up what 55th pays in the FedEx cup? 55th is, I think it's a, it's a split, like 78 in cash, 78 in deferred retirement, something or other that I obviously will take. And then fortunately, my financial people will take care of that. It's kind of the money unseen. I don't really know. Hopefully that over time it will increase.

So yeah, I mean, that's a nice bonus to have for sure. I mean, I would have loved it obviously self-insured. There'd been more. Your guy's tweet at the beginning of the week, he out was just like, whoa, okay, that, yeah, you want to get to East like, I mean, for more than more than just money too, like that, what they get paid this week is not. I mean, everybody will receive obviously bonuses and then get into no cut events and have the ability to make even more money. Like it's, and majors,

all the money's in the majors. I mean, it's, it's pretty incredible. So goal next year is for sure make it to East Lake. Yeah, I think it's the, yeah, the tour championship is really just a piece of the puzzle to making it to Eastlake. I mean, that putt McKenzie Hughes, you don't see guys grinding over putts like he was at BMW and like the angst going through him knowing how many exemptions were on the line with that putt and how big it is. Just, I don't even want to say just for money.

Like, I really don't think he fist pumped that because he was going to make a bunch of extra money. I think it's because he wants to play in all the majors and he wants to you know reap all the benefits of being in the top 3 Yes Yeah, my if I'm in that position next year and I hold that put the money is not the first thing that you're Obviously super excited about you're excited to play in the best tournaments Have a chance to play and try to win majors against the best fields. But then I'm sure when you go home and take it all in, you realize, oh, I also just made a whole lot of money too.

Yeah. Well, one of the things you said earlier to about how you didn't think your approach game held up to how it has maybe been in the past, how do you, I guess, is it a, did you notice a difference as far as like where you're coming into greens from and the challenge that comes into those shots compared to your corn fairy days, your Latin America days

or any other tournament golf you've played? How different is that question that's being asked or how much more challenging are approach shots on the PGA tour? You know, when I say my approach play needs to be better, it does. I mean, I'm better. I think I was like 130th to 160th something like that. I'm way better. I'm a way better iron player than that. So that was in part irritating and also, you know,

eye opening that, okay, if I improve that and then still keep everything else and kind of the same level, I should have a great year this year. And to me, that's, that should be easy to do because I am a great iron player. But no, yeah, and then the other side of it is that the golf shots are just more difficult. Whether or not it's a simple golf shot, but there's, you know, 20,000 people around the whole. That, that shot then, it doesn't, is not as simple. And then also a lot of them throughout the year are, I wouldn't say overly like a ton more difficult,

but they are fractionally more difficult, whether it being a bigger moment, obviously, people around. And then just it's just a little bit more, you have to be a little bit more exact versus just the slight mishit that is tailing just right of a right flag. Now is penalized more. Now it feels like it will just miss the green versus Cornferrey and maybe even Latin America felt like it would catch the right side of the green and you might have 20, 25 feet

for Bernie versus now you're probably going to be short-sighted. You're probably not going to have a great lie. And you're going to have to play a great pitch to give yourself a good put, you know, a good chance to save your part. So yeah, I mean, if I feel like if I get it back to where it was and then, you know, think and execute the shot exactly, it should, I should be, I should make a big jump in approach play. What should give me a chance to obviously goal making it East Lake. Goal would be obviously win a golf tournament. It should

give me the ability to to getting contention more and have chances to win if I can be more exact with my approach play. Anything that you thought maybe you know you thought a certain way going into the other you think very differently now in terms of you know when to be aggressive when to be conservative where you're aiming or things like that anything that kind of surprised you in that regard is it pretty much in line with how you've competed in the past. Yeah, my good weeks, all my good weeks this year I think I gained strokes on the greens and all of those weeks I again I still felt like my approach like that have been better but you know those weeks I hold a couple 20 footers maybe a 25 footer,

maybe a 30 footer. So that that gives you the big jump and then I think just a Tory pines is a big one for me. I felt like I mean Leachman I can't remember if he shot 64 or 5. I mean, he played a phenomenal final round and torched everybody. But midway, team awe, I think I was in the second to last group, maybe a few back and then the leaders did not get off to a good start. And I missed a bunch of good looks. I think I was a couple under through, no, I think I was maybe turned it one under. And I got on the back nine and literally

i think i i think they were all from the fairway maybe except for one so you try to part of the one you miss the fairway but all of the numbers that i had i was right in between clubs like it was a full eight that's probably gonna come up short and not not give yourself a great look for birdie you know a decent one but not a great look or it was like the Kind of chip floaty seven to push it back to the flag or Or it was the opposite or is the you know

floaty seven into the middle of the green past the flag or it was the full eight that just gets over the bunker and And give yourself a look in that event I aired and I wouldn't have done anything differently in the in the moment, but I aired on the safer one and I didn't give myself enough looks on the back nine. I gave myself looks but not enough good looks on the back nine to win the tournament. And I don't know that I would have done anything different in the moment, but that was an eye opening one in that my thought is everybody goes through that on that last night in the holes. I don't think now some weeks and the week you win, maybe it is, maybe

it is that you get great numbers and you're hitting great shots. You give yourself a ton of looks and you hold the pots and you win. But my thought now is in that situation, I maybe need to flip it and I need to air on the more aggressive one. I need to force the hand a little bit. You don't want to go too much and then have a terrible nine and then you just kind of not ruin a whole week, but you don't leave the week feeling as good as maybe you would have if you've if you air more cautiously. But to win the golf tournament, I think everybody goes through that and they the best players in the world, the guys that win the most try the more exact shot and they pull it off and they win the tournament. That is definitely interesting. What was the what was the highlight pairing

you had for the year? It's hard to not have played last year. I think it was about the third event. We're so in Napa. So with Adam Scott in the final round, that's, I mean, he's just as cool as cool gets. The final, I think I was in the final two groups, both Saturday and Sunday at Tori. I think I played with Cameron champ both of the days and then Patrick Reed. It was me, Patrick and Cameron one of the days. It's fun to watch Patrick Reed play because he gets up and down from everywhere and he made like two doubles and a few bogies and like 10 birdies and shot like two under.

So he plays golf just like, I mean, he plays great golf but he plays golf just completely different than I do and he still beat me. So it's like, well, okay, you know, I need to get better at all those things too. I played with Polter Saturday in Boston and he could not have been cooler. Like, it's, he's just, he's hilarious. He and his caddy are hilarious. They've got British humor down to a tee, you know, real dry. I hate that I'm starting to come around on Polter.

No, see, and I've seen you, I've seen you tweet about it. And, you know, I've seen kind of people come at you again, you know, oh, you shouldn't like him, you shouldn't like him. Man, I really think you should. He is so cool. I think he, and Hal, he's probably going to terrorize us in another rider cover too anyway. Just because he is such a great player and he loves the moment. And that was the first thing I asked him in the first fairway.

And it's like, in out of, you know, one to 10, how much do you love the rider cup? And I think he said like 700 million. Like it's just the greatest thing ever, which is why he plays. So I mean, no, everybody loves it. But he, I think he truly loves it and lives for it. Poulter could not have been cooler. And that was, that was really about it. I didn't play with a ton of big names.

I guess all the names are big names, but the best of the best in the world to see kind of in that day, how do I stack up? I didn't really get that opportunity, hoping for that opportunity more so this year. But no, certainly had some great pairings and you I remember almost hitting it out of bounds on one. At Nathana and then, you know, hit it into a bunker,

bone it out of the bunker over the green made double with Adam Scott. And it was just like, I just got I kind of laughed and I was just like, I just got big time. It wasn't anything Adam did, but it's just like I didn't pay attention on this whole because I was, you know, Adam Scott's here, oh, God. And then I, I think I shot the rear four under that day. On the second tee, I was like, okay, you know,

let's screw this. I could care less who I'm with. I just like playing good golf. I don't really, I'm not really worried about who's with me. You know, and that was a good learning experience for me too. Like, pay attention on the first hole so you don't mess the first hole up. But after that, like, go ahead and play good golf too.

Who cares who's in the group with you? Because I guarantee you, Adam Scott doesn't care that I'm here. He's just going out to take care of his business and play as good as he can. That is, that's honestly refreshing to hear. Every single person listening to this, I'm sure, has like someone that they've admired in some way that they've played with. They've been nervous to perform in front of and they're distracted by that, but to hear that that happens all the way at the top level is. Oh yeah.

Is beautiful man, beautiful swing, like well put together everything and it's like, well, what am I doing here? And this was like maybe even the third event, I would say third or fourth event I'd played. And I'd already had some good weeks, but you know, it was playing with would say third or fourth event I'd played. And I'd already had some good weeks, but it was playing with a lot of the guys that I knew well that I graduated with from the Cornferi Tour. Fortunately for me, it only lasted a whole. I got under the second tee and I was like screw this, I've heard of this second hole and then I was like, okay, this is fine.

It's still just golf. You still just need to execute the shots, hold a couple of puts, play a good round. I could care less who's next to me or who I get to watch all day play. What's the category change do for you? I mean, that's probably a, I, we haven't really covered how much that big of a difference is that that is one big difference between in this mega season is that they're resetting priority. And that's big upgrade for somebody. You're you now go into the FedEx 125 group instead of being on the corn ferry. What does that do for you? Any PGA Tour event that's held I'm in other than majors and WGCs. I was fortunate enough

to get off to a good start. I guess it was this season part of last year into this year that I still I was still in a lot of Invitational's I played Bay Hill I played I guess Honda is kind of like a pseudo-invitational because a lot of guys Played there and then that bumps a lot of the cornferry guys out It really the only event that I'll be in that I wasn't in and memorial I was in memorial really the event that I'll be in That I wasn't in last year's Riviera. I think by the time they played Riviera. I was in memorial. Really the event that I'll be in that I wasn't in last year's Riviera. I think by the time they played Riviera I was like 20-5th on the FedEx Cup list and was not in the event, which pissed me off because Riviera. I've never played it. I've heard it's like the best that we play all year. I want to play it and I want to play against the best players. I want to be in those fields and see how well I stack up and try to win one of those bigger ones to really prove to myself and others that, yeah, I belong here.

This is going to be, this is me. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to win big tournaments. I'm going to beat the best players in the world. So yeah, I was fortunate enough to get in a lot of those events last year, and now I'll be in all of them. It's a positive for sure. Part of me has no idea now how to make a schedule. I mean, I just have no clue. Like, I feel like I can play every event in the fall or every event to start this now new season because not a lot of the top players play

and they don't show up until January, February. And I'd like to be ahead of them like I was last year. Because the points are still there. I mean, it's still a ton of points Yeah, and the Dominican Republic event and the one in Bermuda are full points events Right because they're not opposite field events. There's no other tournament That week. So yeah, I mean, it's there's still is such a push to play As many events as possible, especially early on.

I'm going to pace myself a little better. I'm going to play probably a little less. And then also I will get into the CJ Cup and the Zozo, and they're bringing those events to me in the States. Like, that's a win. Not that there's nothing against Korea and Japan. I would love to travel there at some point. And hopefully that'll just be next year. But, you know, then trying to fit two no-cut events, those no-cut events are nice. Regardless, I mean, I showed up and played really good for 20 holes and then played like a clown and the rest of them at Olympia Fields and still made

20 grand like okay, those are nice. These are nice events and those the top players in the world just go play those events They play well and then they're kind of the kind of inch their way ahead of all the other guys that have played the entire fall So I know we talked to some last time you were college teammates with with Bryson I know yes, you probably get asked about this a lot I know you had to have seen some things. Could you have pictured this kind of transformation happening? Could I have pictured it? I mean, no, but am I shocked by him trying something that most people will never try or never have thought of trying. I'm not shocked by that because he is, you know, so singularly driven to be the best,

to play, you know, his best golf. And obviously he's thought that his best golf is being massive and hitting it massive lengths. And I've played quite a few practice rounds with him since we restarted, so since he got huge. And it is, it's just laughable. I mean, the ball goes so far. And I keep thinking like if I was able to do this,

it would be so easy. I mean, literally, it would be hard, and he misses a few fairways, and you're still gonna make a few bogies throughout a course of a four day event. But like, this is so easy. If he puts halfway decent and keeps it inside the corridor of trees or bunkers, regardless of whether it's in the fairway or the rough, he's going to play well.

Having played a year on tour now is that formula. Can you see kind of where exactly where he's going with it in terms of like this is gives me this raises my floor to a level that is I can compete almost every time out just because I'm always so close to the green. Yeah 100%. I mean if I could put together a plan to do it and then be able to execute it as well as he he's doing because I think some people may try this and they're going to start hitting it all over the place and have a bunch of penalty shot throughout the day off the tee and they're not going to play well because obviously that doesn't help your score. If I could do it and I thought it would be six five, I mean I know it would be successful if you could execute it as well as he's doing it. If I thought I could execute it as well as he'd do it, I'd do it too.

Like you, you know, everybody says bomb and gouge this that and the other like, yes, it absolutely. If you could do it and hit it up there, close to the green and keep it inside the corridor of trees or bunkers or hazards or whatever, yeah, you're going to play well almost every week. That's yeah. The thing that people maybe don't think it doesn't get emphasized enough, like, of course, he got huge, but you can't just get huge and get long one. No, you can't just get huge and get long. One, you can't just get huge and get long and straight,

two, and as he even said, that it's not the size that has let him get that much longer. I don't know the answer, if you wanna just add length, I don't know that really anyone knows the answer, like a quick answer to say, here's how I'm gonna add several miles an hour in a very short period of time.

Like, no one is able to do that. Well, and it's like, I mean, I'm pretty sure I could go to Corey and say, hey, I want to swing it two, three, four mile an hour faster with every club. And we could probably accomplish that in an hour, you know, in the hitting day. Relatively easily, I would assume.

But then to be able to do it day in and day out, and then he also made a jump of like 10 to 12 mile an hour different, you know, that's freakish. That's like, whoa, that's not, that's truly not normal. Everybody, I mean, I'm sure if you looked at people's like average clubhead speeds, I'm sure over the last three or four or five years, almost everybody goes up a mile an hour to every year. And then at some point, you'll plateau, and that's as fast as you're going to move a golf club. Bryson just blew it out of the water. Like he made the jump to the top, like way up to the top. And I know he said he's kind of, the last couple of weeks he's kind of plateaued a bit.

He's not seeing the same words, even once he started playing, he started, still was able, week after week to add a mile an hour or two, or to add a couple of miles an hour in ball speed, and he's not quite doing that right now. Maybe he did plateau, maybe he is as fast as he's going to be, but I would not put it past him to break through that ceiling of speed and then start doing, you know, hitting the ball even further, which is just, it's just ridiculous to me. I mean,

it goes so far. It's unbelievable. I mean, the, it's easy for fans to be in all of that, but the genuine amazement, like Roy saying, holy shit, this is unbelievable. When Roy was incredible. Roy's the number one. Yeah, he's number one player in the world at the time. He's calling what another player is doing, unbelievable. And I bet you, I would guess, Roy has not ever felt short in the last 20 years of golf. Right. And you play with Bryson now just you know out of nowhere a boom we're starting playing again after a big break

and now Rory feels short. I guess in the company of Bryson. If Rory played more golf with me he wouldn't feel short of a team. Right. Like him. I mean it's he hits the ball a mile too. But Bryson's just hitting it a mile and a half. Yeah. Well, that's what I mean, the scary part is how good his putting was this year. Fifth and Stroke's game putting this year. First stroke's game off the tee. So second overall in stroke's game, he legit was negative in around the green and approaching the green. If he gets that somewhat straightened out, which is very reasonable to say, you need a little time to polish up this playing style. Like, the immediate success is, is, is, I guess, overwhelm a little bit. It's, it's dominated a lot of the conversation this year, but it's,

I kind of challenge people to find like a bigger story of what's happened in golf, because I don't think, I don't think this is like, hey, here's the blueprint now. All players are going to look like this, because I just don't think other people can really do this. So yeah, I mean, I I think eventually there will be more because they'll you'll get kids at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, you know, that are big, strong kids are going to work to get even bigger and stronger and swing it faster and faster. And then they have a few more years to try to develop this. I mean, I just don't think he was Bryson being was given enough credit for

doing this in like a six month span and then also being able to execute it at the highest level on some of the toughest golf courses that you'll ever see. Like, you know, some kid at 12 years old might be able to do this, but he might not truly wrap his head around. Okay, how is this going to, how am I going to shoot good scores while, you know, killing the ball for 10 years? Bryson figured it out in like six months. That's crazy. Like, what do you think of it?

What do you think of it in college? What did you see him try and do? You know, it wasn't much and that's, that's kind of the fun part for me is seeing. Yeah, I mean, he he was he was a short hitter not I mean not short. He always he would always rear back and hit one and he had the ability to fly above 300, 310 yards. But for the most part every driver he'd ever hit probably flew 285 and obviously he was dead straight. I mean he wouldn't miss if you told him to hit it out there. You know, if if there was a 150 yard post, you know,

some of the courses that it's, you know, up out of the ground, I, I truly think if you're getting five balls on a T box, he could have flown it or bounced it into that at least once. Like it was so straight. The his tinkering was kind of more wedges related. He did have, we got him to use a normal length lob wedge for maybe about a month. And then he just decided, this isn't me. I don't see this help taking me to another level. So I'm going to go back to my single length, all all irons and then obviously the wedges are going

to be long. So he didn't really tinker, but he just worked his tail off to be a better wedge player and better around the greens. And he was, which so he's like he just said, if he gets better approaching the green and around the greens, it's going to be laughable how great he plays. He's already, he did do that in college. Now he didn't do it with the length and the, you know, the ability to hit the ball forever, but he's already, I remember him being a great pitcher and chipper of the ball in college

after a year or two of really hard work at it. So he's already done this. I mean, it wouldn't shock me if, you know, somewhere midway through next year. I don't think his, I don't think he's, because he's gonna be measured against some of the greatest, you know, chippers and pitchers and wedge players in the world. So I don't think he's gonna go from, you know, negative strokes gained to leading the tour,

but he's, I mean, I think he could easily make the jump to be where it's, okay, he's almost impossible to beat because he's hitting it forever and straight and putting well and then also chipping and wedging the ball well too. That's why I kind of see some people on online saying like, oh, this won't work. It blah, blah, blah. This won't work here. It's, you know, won't work once a major start. And it was like, actually, man, like, Harding Park didn't really feel like his best game. And he was right there on the back nine. And, we like you just said, we're just getting started.

Like, this is not, this is not what the final product is going to look like. Yes. I think this will work almost anywhere. And he just is going to be great. Well, yeah, the one chink in his armor, and this is my opinion of it, is that because he's hitting the golf ball so hard, he hits it so hard, it comes off so high, and the ball spins a lot. So I think he will struggle when the wind gets up, especially like a crosswind tee shot.

If you see those long drive guys, and if there's, now, Granite, they almost are always hitting the ball downwind, but, you know, once or twice, they might get a crosswind and they cannot hit it. Like, it goes, let's say that it's left to right. It blows way over to the right, or they try to, you know, hold the wind and it goes way over to the left. I think he's going to struggle some when it gets windy. And he has some crosswind tee shots

or maybe even into the wind tee shots because if he starts it offline, it's spinning a lot and he's hitting it so hard the ball's just gonna move further offline. But I guess other than the British open, there's not always a tunnel in. I guess every now and again, they'll get a year where it blows and it's golf course becomes very difficult. But again it's Bryson like it. I'm

almost programmed having known him so well that he's gonna figure it out. He's gonna figure out a way to just probably hit the ball through the wind where it doesn't even affect it. I probably should have started the start of the show with this question but how deep can the V get? How deep we talking? So I have four, I like to wear buttons with four shirts on them. And I only button one. I actually do button a button so it could get a little deeper, but then it's almost like just ridiculous. So I just button the one. And I've seen so much about this online.

And it's obviously the sunglasses and the DV that shows off my chest and the hair on my chest. And I wish I could pretend like it was for vanity. And I thought I was cool doing it. Man, it's just like I'm a big guy. I got big shoulders. Those two, three button shirts. And then if you button them all the way up or you button another one, it feels like I'm suffocating and it feels like I'm strang, you know, I'd be pulling at the shirt all day

long trying to get comfortable. So it's more of a comfort thing that will never change. So I'll probably start leaning in more on, you know, I'll probably act like it's more for vanity now over the next couple years. And I think there's a thought, I don't know if it'll be this year because who knows what 16 at Scottsdale will look like. But I've heard enough online and seen enough online that there might have to be on 16, maybe a full butt downshurish and we'll just maybe have it buttoned all the way up and then we'll just, you know, kind of, you know, slowly get down maybe even a little deeper than

normal. You know, it's a family program on television. So I can't take my shirt clean off and just hit it. Probably have to stop with a button just above the belly button, but I think that'd be, I think that'd be hilarious. I love the idea of every, just kind of starting somewhat, buttoned up and every birdie comes down one.

So once you're really grooving, or maybe it's every two birdies or something like that, you look over and you can see, hey, how's Harry doing? Oh my God, I can see his belly button. Oh boy, he's doing a T-lil. Take it real well. I don't feel bad fading the flames of that,

but honestly, I think it was like in January, I think I tweeted out that you were a big advocate for the unbuttoned until you're comfortable, then go one button or lifestyle. Yeah, it was like one of our most viewed tweets in like the winter. It was incredible. I don't know what it was, it was something about it, just what kind of nuts. Yeah, I don't know, and I don't see people want something different, man. Like, come on. Yeah, well, and trust me, I don't know and I don't see people want something different man like come on

Yeah, well and trust me I'm different without even trying to be different obviously I look different than Everybody else I wouldn't say I act different. I mean, I feel like I act like everybody else does But I'm gonna wear sunglasses because I like the the tint, you know I like to tint my world I like to and then I need a little bit of prescription in there. There's some so I can try to see my ball land. So I don't have to keep asking where that go, where that go. Did you hit every shot this year with sunglasses on? Okay, so literally every shot until Boston, on 18, I hit it left, you know, chipped out

really good, chipped out really good chip out Walking to my ball and then the horn blows so you have an hour delay on 18 I go back out there I was warming up and it was just I think there were three groups left So it's just six of us on the range Dustin Louie Harris Scotty and I go out there and it's pretty dark So I start warming up, but I'm still wearing my sunglasses because it's looking down at the ball It looks the same now like if I take them off after having them had them on all day The ball looks almost like a little fuzzy because your eyes are trying to adjust to the different light and I feel like I'm gonna chunk it

so I over her dust and you know talking with with his brother and Claude Harmon, like they were laughing at me, like, how is he still wearing those sunglasses? And I just kept doing it, kept doing it. So we get out to 18 in the wedge shot and I'm like, holy shit, I can't see anything. It is pitch black. Like, I couldn't even make out like where I wanted to land them on the green. I could barely make out the flag. So I decided

to keep them on for the wedge shot which I definitely I didn't get a good wedge shot. I landed it too short and too far right and it spun all the way off the green. So I'm pissed and all this and I can't really see anything and I'm not yelling but out loud saying, God this is this is BS I can't see anything. This is ridiculous. It's so dark and then I got up to the wet the my chip out of the rough and I had a ridiculous lie and I and I was kind of I went on it off on it off with them and I decided okay I need to hit this chip without the sunglasses on so I can kind of see the lie so I hit and then I hit it, I thought I had a good chip, but I almost chipped it off the edge of the green. So I hit a chip and two puts. I then two potted for an easy buggy.

I hit a chip and two puts without the sunglasses on in Boston. That's the only shot that I remember all year without having sunglasses on. That just takes a special level of commitment. I remember when DJ Pineye I were in Dallas in December, we snuck out to play nine holes at Trinity with you guys. Yeah. And it was like 45 degrees and windy and just weirdly gray, dark day, and then we were chasing daylight at the end. And while we're playing the last hole, you did not take your sunglasses off. Yeah. It's hard after, you know,

the, you know, my tint of the world through my sunglasses. It's hard taking them off and then takes your eyes a bit to adjust to the different light. So I just don't do it. I did it once in Boston and it was the whole scene of me playing 18 after that delay was just terrible. So who knows what I should have done. But yeah, no, I leave them on.

I mean, I've played in rain with them on I've played I remember making At the green bar first event I remember making like a 35 footer it pretty much in the dark because that was back when I got Literally the last t-time every week. I remember making like a 35 footer in the Dan near pitch black with my sunglasses on and just laugh and the guys in my group just I mean How did you keep those on all days? I got just it's just me dude like that's just what I'm gonna do black with my sunglasses on and just laugh and the guys in my group just I mean how did you keep those on all day it's like I just it's just me dude like that's just what I'm gonna do I like and yes it's it's even darker for me because I have the sunglasses on but I don't know I can see a little better and it just it's just

me it's weird hitting shots without them for sure. No I I get where you're going with that except I'm the opposite like I wouldn't I don't want to look at a golf ball through sunglasses. Like I couldn't go off and on. So I respect the commitment to staying with it. I just was, yeah, in rain and in near the dark, how that actually works. There's always a curious team. Yeah. So I don't know.

I don't, if I looked back and saw maybe the results of when it was gray and dark or rainy. And I didn't do well. Maybe that would actually I'd have a thought to maybe I should take my sunglasses off so I can see a little better, but I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole. I'm just going to keep my sunglasses on. I like that. So all right man, we're going to let you get out of here. Safe travels out to Safeway, best of luck with the new season and I can't wait to see what unfolds. And thank you for your service for the Fred X Cup. Keep at it and let's bring home the mega title this year. Absolutely. Happy to do it. Thanks for having me on again. I appreciate it. All the best to you guys. Cheers bud. Day. Yes.

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