No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 428: Marcus Armitage

Episode Date: May 7, 2021

Marcus Armitage, aka "The Bullet", joins DJ and Tron to recount his roller coaster of a journey through the ranks of professional golf, the process of overcoming drug addiction after the loss of his mother, competing in the 2018 Open Championship, and some amazing stories from his time on the Challenge and European Tours.   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. I'm not in. That is better than most. Better than most. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No-Lang Up Podcast DJ Pai Houski here, Substitute Teaching for Sully with my associate, Tron Carter. We have an invigorating guest today. I don't think that's overselling it.

We're going to get to him shortly. But before we do, I want to give a shout out to our friends at original Penguin. Original Penguin has been a sponsor of ours for a while now, since tour sauce season five in the Carolinas. And they are also a very prominent sponsor. You may have noticed of Cameron Smith. You probably saw their logo all over Cam when he was winning the Zura Classic recently with Mark Leachman. We got to spend a day with Cam down at Streamsong recently a few weeks ago, we got to check out the original Penguin Spring 2021 collection, which I think truly, you know, had something for all of us.

We all have very, very different styles, as I'm sure you know. And yeah, it had something for everybody. And we also got to see whether Cam would shave his mustache for the ad shoot, which, you know, heartbreakingly he did, but that appears to be coming back in force. Original Penguin also helped us shoot a while World of Golf with Cam at Stream Song Blue, which will be airing very, very soon. Stay tuned for the release dates on that.

I may even sneak out of the booth for that one. We'll have to see. One thing I can't tell you is that like most days, we were definitely wearing our original Penguin clothes, which you can as well by going to originalpenguin.com slash golf. And just for fun, you know, you're also gonna get free shipping by using the promo code NLU Ship on your order. Thank you to original penguin for this port and now onto today's episode. All right, DJ, who are we talking to today?

We're talking to Marcus Armitage. Young English player, not as young as we thought. He's 33, but he's a truly, truly a top bloke. I greatly enjoyed this conversation. He's been someone who was on our radar since you and I went to a Hoopy match club and one of my, one of our caddies Bradley was just beating me up the whole time. We were there. He's like, I love the pod.

I love what you guys are doing. It's a shame you have not had Marcus Armour to John yet. I was like, candidly, Bradley, I've never even heard of Marcus Armer toage. What are you talking about? He's like, you gotta pull up his Instagram. He has one of the best accents in the game of golf. He's got an amazing story.

You got, I don't know how you've missed this. You gotta go talk to him. And I think all that was very vindicated and validated today. Spot on. Yeah, he's the bullet. The bullet's back. I think we spent the entire drive home from a whoopee, you know, three or four hours on his Instagram page,

just watching the, watching the clips over and over and over again. They're as good as it gets. Marcus Armitage golf is his Instagram, if you're looking for it, but yeah, just an absolute thrill. It was great to, I mean, you know, we don't have to delay this any further, but just a very substantive story as well. He comes across as just a very jovial kind of guy on Instagram. He's very funny and very personable,

but also has been through a hell of a lot in not a lot of time as well. So it's cool to hear him tell the story. It'll be an easy guy to root for over the next couple of years and based on his ascent right now, he's cracked atop 200 in the world and he's, you know, it seems like the sky's the limit of the next few years. So without further ado.

Without further ado. Wow, we're all over each other. Without further ado, all right, here's Marcus Arvittich. Marcus, welcome to the podcast. How are you today, man? Yeah, yeah, I'm very good, yeah. Yeah, I'm just getting ready to go back out on talk. We're where we catching you today. I am, I'm in England. I'm just next to my

hometown, Huddersfield. So I'm not far from Manchester, England. Yeah. I feel like, you know, this is probably an obvious first question, but I looked, I read a ton of stuff about you and I can't figure out where the bullet nickname comes from. So can we just start there? All right, yeah, I mean, last last phrase, it's pretty boring story really. I mean, I basically, when I first got on tour,

my mate said to me, oh, we were personality, I could do with a nickname. And, you know, I've got a few Bulldogs and at the time, I was like, I was just coming to Bulldog and he's like, you can't just pick a few Bulldogs and at the time I was like I'll just call the Bulldog and he's like you can't just pick a name like that you mad it. So anyway I try pushing the Bulldog like trying to call the Bulldog and they are just a club love you know from from from from your side you know from the States and they said oh do you want anything in bridering on it. So anyway come through and I said said, oh, I'll have the bulldog on the side,

so I can see it when it comes off the carousel. Anyway, it come through. I did a Snapchat video. I'm like, oh yeah, my cook loves it. You know, I'm buzzing, opened it open. It said, you know, it said the bullet. So I went, I mean, I just, my reaction to it, well, the fucking bully.

I'm like, oh, boy. And I mean, obviously, you're right, to blink the output. I would like, I sent me to Army mates and then all of a sudden, around, and it would pull it, there's pulling that. And yeah, so that's how, yeah, you thanks to Kumpel, really, for that, for that nickname. Well, somebody introduced us to you, your Instagram account when you did the,

the Joe Burger girlfriend. Absolutely loving life. Is it a lot? One of my favorite Instagrams of the past year, I think, was you, when you're arriving at Joe Burger, you're absolutely loving life. I think walking down the fairway, I mean, that was, I think, how Tron and I got connected with your story and started reading more about you. And, uh,

so yeah, I don't know, I don't know where we want to start. I mean, I know, uh, you know, why don't we go with your backstory a little bit? Where'd you grow up? Where did you, you start playing the game? Let's, let's kind of start there. Yeah, I mean, I, I, I started, I started, we lived on a farm, uh, as a kid, uh, it wasn't working farm. It was just a, just a normal, like, just, just a dere a farm as a kid. It wasn't a working farm. It was just a normal, just a derelict farm that we just, you know, my mom and dad did up. I used to ride the quarterback around

and I'll just be a little terror. And yeah, and I watched them 1999, USPGA. You know, we said, you're Joe and Tiger going down the stretch. And I was like, I was just hooked. I was like, oh, this is awesome, you know, like watching the crowds and just watching how they were playing golf. And we got out of the set of golf clubs that

he used to be in the carpet business, you know, we're flooring and somebody hadn't paid him any money. So he went down to the house and took the golf clubs off him and said, when you give me the money, he can have your golf clubs back. So anyway, the guy never come in the money. So I mean, I have these golf clubs. I picked one up and I didn't,

I never read a book or anything. Just, I watched it on the tele. I went out into the field and I got like a six or so and I, and I just ate the first ball. It just went arrow straight and I got like a six or so nine. And I was just eating the first ball. It just been arrow straight and I'm like, this is unbelievable. And then I started chopping it everywhere. You know what I mean?

I never missed a ball while I just chopped it everywhere. But yeah, I just hooked. You know, I was just straight away was lacking it around the fields, finding it. And yeah, I mean, and then my mom got cancer at that point for the second time in her life. a'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r ffordd yn ymwch i'r f I'm useless with skills, you know, I didn't do any good at skill. And my dad just found that if he took me to the golf club, it were my coping mechanism to get through life. So yeah, just going to the golf club from eight o'clock in the morning till six o'clock at night, practice in,

and then me and my dad had to do the deliveries with all these flooring stuff at night time. And then we'd go home and do the exact same, the next day, the next day, the next day. And yeah, we just, and it got me through, you know, it got me through losing my mom. Man, so I think we obviously had that in our notes to talk to you about, but, you know,

we can kind of start there, maybe it, I think you look like a young guy, you know, but your same age as us about 33, right, I think. And so it is kind of wild young guy, you know, but you're, you're the same age as us about 33, right? I think. And so it is kind of wild to think, you know, you're, you're made it to the Euro tour now and things seem to go be going great. And we'll see it. Royal St. George is this year.

And but there's been 20 years kind of between the, you know, between that story and where we are now. So I'd love to kind of hear about some of the the Humps and Bumps and ups and downs from from kind of 13 to to 33 here. Oh, man. I've lived a few lives, you know what I mean? Golf saved me from, you know, wrong going down the wrong path a few times. And from losing my mom, you know, I got to practice and practice and do the goal for the best golfer. And all I wanted to do was play with him on a Saturday. We had Saturday comms.

All I wanted to do was play with him. And I was like, anyway, I put my name down once with him. And I went out and played golf. And I used to be a big hook. Anyway, I played the round of golf. And I was like, come, and I was like, I'd come off and I was like, what's your thinking about? Like, because I played really well.

And he went, yes, shit. He said, he won't get nowhere there. He said, you won't get nowhere in that big hook. So I was like, I got really mad. And I went straight to the practice ground. And for like a month, I would just carve in the divots out of the practice ground trying to get the ball to go that way naturally. And anyway I played with him a month later and I ate everything with a faith and I was like what's off a bit

coppally and I was like what are you thinking about now then yeah everyone was like you eat your puts too hard and I'm like I'm said, I'm sweating, I'm getting off and I'm getting up and you know what, from that young guy's air, he installed something in me that later on, like a year later, he said to me, so I did that for a reason. He were an older guy. He said, did that for a reason, so I wanted to see what type of person you are, because most, most lads would have gone, I give, you know, forget it and, but I said, you went and worked and worked and worked and worked to change it. And he said, and then what did he do?

You've taken on the golf course, you're on the shots. And that was that pretty wicked, you know, and that's how we really got serious, because I won my little county championship as a boy and then I want really good as an amateur. I didn't really do much in amateur, you know, I'm there. I played for Mike County and Lancashire, then I played for Yorkshire which is like a bit forbidden that you go to counties. They'd be like playing for one state and then going to the other state and from that, I turned pro in 2008. I just always wanted to be a professional. So I turned pro, started off playing mini tours, like one day events, and just, I was just burning it up, I was, you know, winning everything.

And then 2010, I got, I got injured. I went to a place called Go8. And it's like zip lines and climbing face with woods. And I landed funny and told me my shoulder. I didn't know he would have had it at the time but I went out for about three or four months. And I've always been in touch with like, I don't want to say dark inside, just a bit rough aside of life, like going out drinking and all that. I've always been in touch with people like that and I mean there were drugs and there were

all sorts of involved with it but I've always been such a bit and when I stopped playing golf I were like how do I get through life here and I basically had a few friends and we went down the path I made a lot of money in a shop period of time but it just was not the life I won't build that way you know then lads that do that and you know, they're caught in the trap. They build differently to me and I went down a path that were, a lot of people could judge me for it, you know, the path that I went down, but you know, it molded away on today. I think that I went off track and I didn't eventually, I got addicted to drugs, but at the end of the day, I think it was a later,

I think it would grievance later on in the career. You know, I think golf would put the grievance off and then mom, so long. And then when I stopped golf, all of a sudden hit me and then I went down a path. I mean, there were only like drugs that I got addicted to. It went anything heavy, you know, I want, but yeah, and then I think I lost the driving license through it. I got, you know, a DUI in 2013 and at that point,

but that said to me right, this is it. We're back to square one. My dad's taught by me the old time. That's a really incredible guy, you know. Anyway, starting taking me to the golf club again, eight o'clock in the morning, six o'clock at night, I had no car enough and just practiced and I practiced my way out of it in 2013 and come back out on the mini-tops and started burning up again. And I went to these and played, there's a talk of the Euro-opera tie in England. So one of them is challenging so it's like the three day events but it's just a bit bigger than the little one days and basically I went and selecting a 10 that year in the middle of March it was like two degrees right so maybe that's selecting these 10 we have normally proper broke we may have lost these

business and everything we're just like then just get a card I can then approach some people and say oh do you want to send this to. I can then approach some people and say, oh, do you want to send me to this tournament for a bit of money? Anyway, one of the best mates said, listen, I'll send you that. I don't want 50% of you winning. I'll pay for everything. So I got the card and sent me to this tournament halfway through the year. I was just going to see them because they were a big step up. I was just going to go and feel and see how, you know, I'm good at these guys, you know, I went and won the event and I was like, okay, this is getting a bit serious now, you know, you're showing potential. And yeah, and then I went to Challenge Toll, which is obviously the one under the European and I finished eight there

in the first challenge to our event. And it's just like, you first challenge store event. And just like you snowballed a little bit and then like old golfers at the end of 2013 have had the best year in the career and I decided to change everything I thought right I'm gonna lose five stoning weight. I'm gonna come out like you know like Hulk Hogan next next year and then we'll come out like old Gogan, but unfortunately I ate the golf ball like old Gogan as well. So yeah, I had a bit of a bad season in 2014, but changed a lot and it just took time to get through it 2015. Then you know, we started up on Euro pro pro again I won two times that year and got onto the challenge tour and then challenge tour again I got you know I have a management group that come in I didn't know what I was doing I had no money

I were on the building sites you know concrete grinding which I you got I'm grinding you're on the floor you can light that on concrete all day and you're like I'm like this is really gonna do me a short game and we touch some good you know all this vibrations But you know I got a challenge star the management group Shapping me a little bit and that cost me a lot a lot of money Yeah, I mean I got on top I got on top, I got on top, through Chainsaw, winning China, like that were out of the blue. I was just like, I was such a bad season.

Nike and stock, stock's making golf clubs. So I thought, do you know what? I'll do the change now and hopefully it'll change the season. And it did, I changed on with golf clubs. Got a little bit of confidence, won on Chainsaw,

and then next minute, I'm begging it up in Hong Kong on the European top. Next to just in roles. And yeah, we're just pretty wickety. You just snowballed really fast. And I always remember me, just in roles on the practice putting green. And then he's gold medal with him.

I said, oh, that's pretty cool, that. And I went to buy it. I said, it's got chocolate is it? I said that chocolate card is it? It's like the look he gave me, well like it is this kid, he likes it, but yeah then I had me first seen him just taking pictures with all the top rolls on the here being saw that first year. Just actually absolute clown for the year and then I wonder how lost my card. But I mean, yeah, that's that's it up until then. It's a it's a mad story. That's a lot of different lifetime. Like you said, I get one of there's a lot to unpack from what you just said, but what's it like? I mean, paint the picture of like sleeping on, on your first professional, you know, win,

sleeping on the lead and a tent with your dad. I was there. I can't imagine there was too many other players in that same spot at that tournament. Yeah, no, the, the other tent was actually the tall school. So we didn't, we were, I actually, the reason that I give 50% to my mate is so that he put me in an old cell, but that was after the task you all bought. Got it, okay.

There were nobody in the middle of March down in Oxford. There were nobody sleeping in the tent that week. And I had a good friend Alex Bell, and I've been for a lesson to the same guy at him a few days before. And I got on the first door, pulled my busional out and 40 quid fell out, the 40 pounds fell out, the busional box, and he messaged me and the best mate

and he said, listen, he could spend that on something decent. He deserved to do well. If he's spending on cigarettes, I hope you're getting the car and you're coming on missing the court, he said, be wise, you know? And I went and made me dad went and bought two quilts from a department store and we got some sleep. And I think the first round of show about 75,

we found the mullier on the first round. And then we went and bought two quilts. I got some really good sleep. And we ended up shooting 66, 66 to get me to gather something. But that all caught one more, and then you have a frog in his part, let's say. I'm like, what for you, we do that frog in the head.

The frog will lie for us. I think it rolled over in the night. And it was just crazy times, but it's molded myself. Yeah. So going back, like, I think in the lead up to 2013, were you always self-taught? Had you worked with anybody as far as an instructor, were you always self-taught?

And then in 2014, when you decided to change everything, or change everything, were you just trying to pick up distance? What were you trying to change? Well, no, yeah, I mean, I've always been, I've always had my own ideas about the goal swing and how I will look and how I, I always have this image as a kid that, and as you get older, you learn, it's not simple,

but I always thought, if you've got an axle on a car, or just a straight thing for you to find, got a wheel, put a hundred club ads on a wheel and just on the wheel. I just imagined that, you know, it just keep going around in the, it's tick consistent every time. As you get more knowledge about it again, you need, you know, you need, you need, you need lots of forces and, you know, you need different movements in there to make it work. But yeah, I mean, I've pretty much self-taught. I mean, I had tips on really good players. I had, you know, I had a few lessons, I had do you and there but I never really stuck with anybody because I always had

my own ideas and if it didn't fit into how I wanted it then I'd be like I'll have another lesson in there and I pretty much got to plus one handicap like on my own and do it myself. Obviously when you get county coaching, that's, I picked up little things there, but I spend most of the time arguing with all the coaches, over their views on it and my views. And I'm pretty out of school,

and if I thought something, I'd tell them, if I thought they were talking shit, I'd just say, I don't like that, I'm not doing it. And then make me rune around the practice ground and have a blow out of my ass and have me like, this is the get me old, you know. But, you know, yeah, I pretty much always have the old idea of it. In 2013, I met a guy through my friends. He pretty much changed.

Everything he changed, he all swing. He gave me a lot of knowledge. I mean unfortunately we don't talk anymore. We don't speak. We have a bit of a fine out but he did change and teach me a lot of stuff that I still keep today. And that's how it really really changed. I changed from being a good one day, two day player to then start turning into like a three day and then four day player. So there's I think there's a massive difference. Anybody can go out and shoot the lights out for one round, but when you start getting better and you know, you start shooting the lights off of three and four rounds. So. All right, friends, just a quick break in the action to talk to you about our friends at golf blueprint. I made some strides. I'm not going to lie. I made some strides in my golf game the last year.

I think my handicap got down to about its lowest, probably since high school. And that was in large part due to working with the guys, Kevin and Nico at Golf Blueprint. And getting some semblance of a plan dialed in for my practice. Before you get too worried here, this really wasn't even that much practice. It was just a matter of being a lot more concentrated and intentional when I actually did take the time to practice. If you're listening to this, I'm going to guess you're probably not getting the most out of your golf game that you possibly could be. And usually that's for one of three reasons either you don't have a plan. You're kind of just running around aimlessly. You're putting too much emphasis on your

most recent round or you are totally misjudging the areas of your game that need the most work. That's exactly where golf blueprint comes in. They work directly with you to figure out what those areas are and come up with essentially a personal training program on how to fix them. For me, that was a lot of wedge work. I already drive it pretty poorly.

So when I was making a lot of bogies from the middle of the fairway with wedge in hand, that was a good way to just add salt to the wounds. So we got a lot of that cleaned up. Now I think next is going to be onto the driver. We got some work to do there. But anyways, visit golf blueprint.com for all the info you need on how to get started. You know, just just clean it up. Just just tighten it up a little bit this year. And anyways, back to the bullet. Going back a little bit to when you first left school, I mean, I know in the states here, the plan is usually, you know, if you finish high school,

you go play in college and then you go play professional golf. I mean, when you're 13 years old and you leave school and you're not gonna go to college, you're not gonna do any of those things. I mean, did you always want to, was it professional golf? That was the goal or what else was kind of in your mind? Yeah, there's, there's two, there's two ways through life for me and that's, that's golf or be a roadman. And I don't want to be

a roadman. I've done that. I don't want to be a roadman. So, yeah, I mean, ever from, you know, we'd have a grafted, it worked on markets and stuff like that. So, you know, it was just always, yeah, we just started golfing, we were like, yeah, just, there were no other options, there were no other options. It's like, I'm not, I'm switched on, you know what I mean?

I'm, I'm, I'm, but I'm not, I'm not intelligent enough to go in an accountant or a banker or a job. I mean, so at the age of 30, I don't know, I mean, I did it and didn't end up getting jail time. Cause everybody's like, how do you do? You know, but I just, all I could think about would go, like, and the thing is, if I went and sat in a classroom,

all I could think about would be mundane. So I'd sit in a classroom, I'd just fixate on the mundane, whereas when I want to practice ground, I fixate on getting that golf ball to go at our old straight. So it's like it's giving someone who's gone through trauma, it's giving them a focus, is the best thing you can do because you're taking the mind off the trauma. You know what I mean? And yeah, you'll get people to say it's the wrong way to do it. I've still got it. I still have issues in there, but you know, that one my coping mechanism and that notice that straight away, and he supported me with a percent of it. Who are your best friends out there on tour now? I like hanging around with Tommy

Langwood. I mean, obviously, he's a bit higher in the world, Rankins and Me, so he gets to go to all the cool tournaments. And whilst I'm still looking at it around a few smaller events. But yeah, every time I see him, we played Lancashire Boys stuff together. So I've known him since he was like 12, 30. And he's never changed. He's an absolute awesome guy.

And so yeah, if I was to go and spend a bit of time out there being, you know, what choice would be Tommy? You know, we have laughed about, you know, a bit of sponsorship and I offered him a spot here for the Tommy Fleet with Academy. He said he might be me 10 grand for it. So I still get a contract drawn on him. Well, I've been pretty funny.

I texted, I texted Finno about you. I was like, hey, anything I gotta ask him, he's like, oh, man, I love that lad mate. Yeah, he's a good life Fino. He's out to work out out. His accent is even me knowing him for a while. It's hard for me to understand Fino sometimes. What he just said, but he's a top guy really down to earth. And they're a great team. They are a great team.

Well, so not to keep bringing up negative stuff, but in reading and feel free to fact correct any of this stuff, but in reading, even kind of wants the challenge tour stuff took off and Euro tour stuff took off. It sounded like maybe there were even some kind of money and credit card issues and stuff like that after that. I mean, I'm curious if you could speak to that

and just what those first few years of success were like. Yeah, I mean, you know, I've gone from having nothing to earning 80,000 in China. And then you get on saw, you get a few full contract food with Wilson and, you know, and all of a sudden you make a cut and you don't feel like you've played that well and you get 20 grand in your pocket. And I have nobody guiding me. I was just like, I'll just spend it on useless stuff, buy a watch here, buy a watch there, and it's like just silly stuff. And I didn't have

a plan, you know, well, to be fair, I was just left on my own devices. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't think about tax or anything like that. I lost my card because I didn't actually feel like I belonged. I actually got there. I don't know. You're here once, just enjoy the year you know you'll be lucky to get on air again and it was just a mental you know mindset

I shouldn't just been on there but I belong here but I didn't I just I just just feel like I belong I feel like I want good enough so I just try as a big olive you know I can remember Crenz Monsan in 2017. I got engaged in my misses. I think I spent that week 16,000 quits on the ring, on the, I got a hotel that were like 500 pound a night. I think I won 26,000 euros and after all the tax, I broke even. Oh, I got a line.

There were a great way to go, we had a ball, you know. But, you know, I found myself, I lost my card and saw. And the way that I started to lose money is, I played it, I got qualified for the open in 2018. And a week before I went to the open, I went to this thing called Skydive Indoor Skydiving. And I've already done a tandem skydive from 12,000 feet. So I don't know why I went to this Indoor Skydive. I went missing in the hercist, anyway, we went in. I was trying to, and I didn't know

that I don't have mine at dislocation in the left shoulder. So when they said I'll be adding issues in the shoulder, I'm like, well, I've had a nickel. I didn't really know what it was. I mean, I just think, oh, I will just, we'll just do it. I went in, I can remember watching the clock. And you're obviously you're in that position. And I can remember watching the clock, you had 30 seconds in there. And I was like, I started off it, we're all right, and I started to get uncomfortable. I went to the clock and it said 17 seconds. And I can remember watching the pot, you had 30 seconds in there. And I was like, I started off it, you're all right. And I started to get on the computer. I went to the clock and it said 17 seconds. And I just felt me arm, pop clean out of its socket.

And I just fell to the ground. Anyway, it was dislocated for two and a half hours, because I didn't know the moon to pop it back in. Yeah, I mean, I dislocatedated it every, and he just said, listen, you ain't playing again this season, like, and I went, no, I've got the open in a week's time. I've got to get to, I'm going to get to count. I'm begging it up there, we're tagging it next week. There's no way I'm missing that. You know, tag is going over, you know, every row is going to be there. And I just, anyway, I just went, I just rehabilitated it like a madman.

And I only had after goal swing that week. In fact, it's not on the practice on the first team, with Finnell, Tommy and Rory. And I did this half a swing off the first team, like we drive her. In Rory is there, he's gone lit like he's 30 down the middle. So I'm gonna be bonding down there

and I'll give it this little, this little like chipping driver. Who knows, what's it with me? Who's gone, what the, where that? And I've come, I said, mate, we showed up, yeah, I said no. He thought, I'm sure he thinks that I, you know, I I got paid to do it.

But no, I died. I'm just going to play the open with half a goal swing. Luckily, with burnt outs, it will rock hard, the ground so I could get a bit of cheers on it. You know, I'm bunting it round. But yeah, I mean, so I did think it, so that would like, that would start on my credit card and, and you know, my debt, my debts,

because obviously I missed the cut there, and then I tried to play the rest of the year because I didn't have any money. It cost me a lot of money to get out of the contract with the management, so that burnt all my money. Just got that rice, just got that rice and I got, you know and I got scorned.

But yeah, so then I got to 2019 season. And I just, and someone said to me, I just want to get a lot of credit cards and, you know, just play on the credit cards. And when you win the money, you pay the credit cards up. If you don't win, if you don't win the money, you just go bankrupt, tell them all to get stuff. So like, that sounds pretty wicked

to me. You're sponsored by the American Express. So I've played that year and yeah, it didn't go well. It didn't go well. I couldn't under the pressure. At this point, I've left the coach that I've been with for years since 2013. I've got tried to go down another path. I've got a coach on Camicathy as a psychologist that I've been on and off with for 10 years. I've left him and I was just on my own. I've just bought a house, me and my missies, so I had the pressure of trying to help her with her business. She had a business that was part of the house and I was trying to help her with her business, you know, she had a business that was supporting the house and I was trying to help her

You know, I mean and it was just a top check in you know, I got to the end and I took a loan out I'm on the bank. I said for bankers. I listened. I need a trackman to move forward. They give me a loan I didn't buy a trackman. I bought I bought entry into European to our school I got a professional caddy. It's a good track run, you know. But yeah, I got a professional caddy. My old caddy that I had a good run within 2017. And we went and I got a European talker. You know, and I was still skinned.

I was still no money. 100 grand in debt. And I was like, right, okay, at least I've got a European talker. And I was still skinned. I was still no money, 100 grand in debt. And I was like, right, okay, at least I've got a chance. I've got a European talker. Went to South Africa, the first one, Robert Rock, the guy on the tour, he paid for my flights. You know, I've said no money, he paid for my flights.

And my other mate, give me some money for some hotels. I had a decent finish. I won like 8,000 euros in left of Creek in 2019 and I was like a bit of money and I felt great. I know it was not much money. I've been up there and I've lost it on the last day. But and then over Christmas period I met two guys from the Gulf Club that just said, listen, we want to help you out. And they call me the summer money for a percentage of them in winnings. Fantastic guys. And yeah, and then I went to South Africa, no money, where there's no issues. And just the only thing that's going to be granted in debt. But I thought, well, I'll just go bankrupt

if it all goes per shade for me. And I finished third and so I'll back pick her. Yeah, and then he just he just took off then. Was your first order of business after finishing third really? I'm paying I'm paying off these credit cards first and foremost and then starting clean from there or were you just? Yeah, I mean I started to play out I've paid off the credit cards it you know bits of time and that to be fair it's a good the credit cards a bit of time. And to be fair, it's a good feeling. A lot of people go, I got all that money in you. You have to give it all the way out. But it's actually a really good feeling

that you've earned your way out of the credit cards. And it's only recently that I've cleared everything up because there are a few issues with all the stuff. And when I got debt free, I think it was a week before Cyprus last year. And I got debt free and it was just a great feeling, you know, um, because then it's like, right now, well, now I've got, I can start stacking on the up for myself and never go back to that position.

But yeah, I did. I've played the kind of cards off as soon as I could do. It's always interesting to me when you hear professional golfers talk about their teams and all these people around them, I feel like you start to kind of roll your eyes at some point, but it's really interesting to hear a story like this and just how much of an impact, like the right people around you can can make on somebody, you know, and getting stuff back on track. Yeah, it's important that you play a massive part. You know, a lot of, I've obviously, I've had Duncan who's my psychologist,

slash performance coach for years on and off, you know. And, you know, we're falling out, we've got that together, but I've always had a lot of success with him. And then, you know, like Swing Coach, he's had Anthony Shea, he worked, you know, on and off for a long time time who taught me a lot. And now I've moved to coach to a guy called Liam James who teach the guy called Matt Wallace.

Yeah, so he's under, he's with Robert Rock, he does like, he started out with him. But yeah, I mean, when you're having downtime, but you do need someone there to talk to, you know, you can't do it on your own. It's, I think more and more of these days. I mean, I was just having a conversation with Duncan before this. I'm like starting to do stat statistics, because I'm just having to cheer in the top 50 in the world. And then eventually, you know, the top 10 and then top 3 and so on. Like so there's a few changes having to make, doing statistics to see where I'm weak and I'm good.

And it's quite a scary thing because I said to him, I said, I didn't need all this when I was, you know, when I was just battling my way through. I said, but I said, to get to the next level, you kind of need this. But it could go the other way, it could go peaked on, and I could, Mae'n gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r which don't be business and she used to be out on tour doing other stats. So she knows the tour, she knows everything about it and she's been amazing from it. She's the one that organised everything and got me out of debt and just aligned everything up

and she's aligned on the business side of it up so I can just focus on the golf. And I think that's what a lot of people don't, when people roll their eyes at teams, they don't see that we're just golfers. We're not business people and we're not business winners. We're just, we're just golfers. So we need a team to look after all the, you know, all the crazy stuff that goes on, you know, like sponsorship and tax and all that, you know, and so we can just focus on being the best we can on the doggo. Well, you're not business people, but you're also not psychiatrists, right? I mean, I'm curious what you're, you know, when you talk about having a mental coach, what are maybe one or two things that you guys are really focused on working on? Well, it's one of them, you know, I have triggers for stuff,

so I, you know, I had a mental side. To be fair, on the golf course, I'm pretty good at it. I don't really need any. If I see some water on the left automatically, everybody's thought is, don't go over there. Well, that's all right. That's a normal thought. It's like, right, okay, I don't want to go over there, but I'm not going to stand there, but there's no water there. There's no water there. It's like, yeah, you know, what was there? He's bad. I don't want to be in there, but I can't show, I've chose to do this for a living. So you have a grow-a-pear falls and eat it down next to the water. I'll just go on now because you know, you've chose this for a living. So I'm going to stand on, you know, all these amazing old fallsils that have won the 18th at Sawgrass and stuff like that

in the players championship leading the tournament still on there. You're like, you can't avoid what you're looking at. So, but then what you've got to do is you've just got to remind yourself, I chose this as a job. This is what I chose to do. So I chose, if I was down on the 18th at Sawgrass with a lead and I'm thinking, that's a lot of water. Well, I've chose to do this for a job. So, you know, you've asked for it. So don't complain about it when you get on the tee and think, oh no, if it's in there, make a trip or I look like a right to, well,

but everybody thinks that, you know, and you've just got to deal with it and just get on with it. It's as simple as that. It's, yeah, I don't stand on there and try and block thoughts out. I almost embrace thoughts, you know, and move on. I'm just trying to deal with it because it's what I've chose to do. Going back to the open at Cornews D. I see you shot 80 in the first round and then you followed up with a 69 in the second round. How the how did you shoot 69 in the second round with a with a dislocated

shoulder? I know. Yeah. I mean, I put it, I like John Spiefer. He's a dad on the greens. I was just like rolling the moon from everywhere. And I just think I can down. I would go to the first day. I was really, I was really upset. Really got it because I was like, I can down, I will go to the first day, I will really upset, really go to because I will like, I can compete here, I can compete against all of these and I just want to able with my shoulder. And the second day, I think I just got over that a little bit. I had a T time at four, around four p.m. in the afternoon, which went actually, I really liked that tea time because I got up in the morning, watched a bit of golf, went back to sleep and then got up

and I'll perfect, the class had quite a down a little bit. And I just think I've just got over that first day and the second day, I just plugged it around and chipped and put it really well and that's how I shot 69. But yeah, I can remember, I think a 21 puts that a day. So, I'm pretty cool. Yeah. That helps.

21 puts. Well, so you're going back to the open this coming year, right? At Royal State, George's. So was that, was it an open qualifying series that must have gotten you in? I saw that. He's about paprika. Right. So I saw that putt and the fist pump that you let have gotten you in. I saw that. Thank you, South Africa. Right, so I saw that part in the fist pump

that you let out when you made that. What was that moment like for you? Yeah, I mean, that's my most awesome feeling of adding golf that I mean, ever since feeling that, I've wanted to chase that feeling again. That's all I want. And I had to feel it actually again in Cyprus this year,

but I'll come back to that. But yeah, I mean, I'll come up to 18, but I knew I had to make a five out of into like 12 foot. And I knew I had to make a three to get into the open. I just knew I had to go in. I thought we were missing right, and it went in. And I was just like, I mean, that Caddysdyde don't been there.

You were a local Caddys, I was like, I was just like, I mean, that Caddys died, I don't think me, we were a local Caddy from South Africa. I was like, Jesus, you know, you're gonna get a lot of stuff over here for some of those. But yeah, I mean, just the emotion and everything, I can imagine that that's what it's like to win on the tour, you know, in a tight knit situation. And I just want that feeling every time I go and play golf.

What was, you mentioned Cyprus having a similar feeling? What was that story? Yeah, I mean, so Cyprus, I ring conti with a Cyprus shootout. The week before I ring contention, I was doing okay and I eat it in the water and the par-five last made a double. So coming down the stretch, I just made like two birdies, three birds on the spin. And it will, so basically the format,

the three rounds and then the cancelled all the scores and they have like 16 players. And it was just like a one round shootout. Bobby McIntay won it actually. I just made three birdies on the spin. I like four under coming down the last. I've hit it in the right semi. And it will fly a lie over water, outbound over the last. I've hit it in the right semi and it will fly a lie over water, outbounds over the green. And I just said to me, and I had a mate, Caddy, you know what I mean? Just

just the mate, he was a good player, plays on charge top. And I just said, so I'm going to hold it to hold. See, you're not missing the old mech 2 on the 18. Like, you know, we've won the event and they're like, it's like, I think we should just hit it down the left and like try and picture it open. I'm like, yeah, but if I hit one shot and get it in the old, we're done. And he's like, you know, you're mad. And anyway, we're trying to make it even worse.

And I got the innocent, I've talked to him and said, shot, I said, oh, I see, I'm just going to wait a little chip cut six times for 190. I'll fight. Didn't take the flyer into conservation, the adrenaline, didn't take any of that into consideration.

So I'm just going to chip cut a six times. Just pop that and he's like, all right, yeah, yeah. And he said, we do it loads of times and eight this thing he'd come out I mean this six sign must have gone too far to if you don't I think you ended up in the in the hotel at the back of the green or something but anyway I'm like oh can't believe it don't know where it's gone it's still in the air and I'm saying as it landed yet and I'm like anyway we dropped another one, went down and forbidden it within about 10 seconds, then that come out even hotter, so I'm like, no, that one went out of bounds.

So then I've gone down to like a 9.9 from 190 and anyway got it in the back bunk and made whatever finish just outside top 10. I'll gut it and but yeah watch the 40 chapter words and it showed the highlight on my little chip cut 6 iron you know that was supposed to be like a shoulder to shoulder 6 iron I eat it like rising up the teeth I mean I just want this glow fast. Oh, I know wonder it's gone too far, if you're here. I, um, but you know, a lot from that and, you know, it's, uh, but it's a great feeling. When you're in that buzzing feeling, you've got, you've got, you've got a chance to, a lot of people don't like it, you know, and then the folded ring, but I just see it's, it's just like energy really.

Can you control the energy that you've got running, pumping through the air? And if you can, then I think that's what makes champions and I learned a lot. What was your biggest lesson from Karnusti? My biggest lesson. Don't whack the practice. Don't whack the ball into Tiger on the practice, putting green. You didn't like it. I was just like, you know, just putting around again. I thought, oh, Tiger, why is she only just giving a biggest day you've ever seen? No, my biggest lesson, my biggest lesson from Carlos was practice, you know, try and play with the biggest name you can in practice because when I'm going down with Rory, obviously

everybody is screaming Rory, Rory, Rory, you get a bit of that with Tommy, but it's almost like if you hear people chanting at Rory in the practice round, it gets you ready for the first tee shop where all the eyes are on you. So I think that we're the biggest lesson to try and play the practice rounds with the biggest names possible. So at St. George's this next year, I'm going to have a go and try and get on there with Tiger. Well, I know I read another story about when you met him in Dubai. Is that the first time you met him? What was that story? Oh, Claire, yeah. So I've got to, it's a funny story, I've played a practice round and I think I'm with Darren Clark, Robert Rock,

and Sam Walker, and we're on the 8th, see, in Dubai. And I think Sam Walker said to me, that's Joel McAverner, and I'm like, no, he winds me up, because he always winds me up, because I'm a golf perv, I love golf, so he's like, he's like, that's Joel McAver, and I'm like, nov. I love golf. So it's like, I'm like, he's like, that's John MacArthur. And I'm like, no, it ain't, nothing. And he's like, I know him.

Fucking hell, he's John MacArthur. I don't know, I'm like, straight over. I'm like, Joe, Joe, how are you, Paul? I'm like, Sam, he's like, he's looking at me. Like, it was his crazy English one, right? You know, I said, I know you, you're the bullet. Yeah. This is just about when that bullet were coming out. So I'm like You know, I said, I know you, you're the bullet. Yeah. I think she's basically just about

when that bullet were coming out. So I'm like, Joe, I said, when's big tea coming, mate? I said, when's he arriving? Where's he gonna be? I said, he's like, he's like, okay, I get rid of this kid. You know, I said, just somewhere he's gonna be here. I'll be there. If your name should be to him, it'd be great.

You know, he's like, yeah, man, I like to do it. I'm like, oh, I'm just so excited. I just after nine hours, I went into 4,000, sat on waiting for tiger. Right. So anyway, tiger and corn, it involves, Graham Storm, we're in balls next to him. So I said to Graham, so if you've finished eating balls, I said, I want to go and eat balls next to tiger. So, like, what is like, yeah, you can have a spot on the range. So I flew down to the range through these balls, and I think, you know, I threw them into tiger's feet, not on the other side.

And I'm like, just clipping balls off the back of his ear, and I'm like, this is awesome, you know, just, he's been up since two o'clock in the morning on the flight over from Florida and I'm there, they're saying, young lad, no, no, no, not young. But just acting young, you know. And I'm just clipping balls and I'm absolutely fizzing it, because I'm buzzing.

I'm like, it's easy to get. And then I just had a little chap me, and me, I'm just. I'm like, it's easy to get. And then I just had a little chat with him. Yeah, I just, you know, and it was pretty cool actually. You know, I mean, I don't think I think he felt forced to talk to me because of the 50 cameras that we're on in. But, you know, it was just the rarism to just meet him. And I've actually, I've got the T-shirt. I put a naked T-shirt on,

because then you were arriving, that choose the red the T-shirt. I put a Nike T-shirt on, because when you were arriving, that chose the Red Nike T-shirt. And I've got him to sign it on the chest here. So yeah, I'm getting that frame so with a picture of me and Tyga, so that's pretty cool. That's awesome. Which tournament are you most looking forward to this year? What's your schedule going to look like for the year? And do you head to the Middle East

to kind of warm up and really get things into gear? Because I know in England everything's kind of locked down right now, right? Yeah, so I'm flying out next Monday to Dubai to do some preseason preparation and I've got the guitar and then down to Kenya. I haven't, obviously, it goes off my category. So, the biggest event I've got this year is the open. Gonna keep that from last year. So, that's the one I'm most looking forward to trying to prepare if you'd fall. But, you know, funny, I did Miguel's to get you all the other day and I did three

schedules, you know, I did, I did an orange schedule, which is if I win early, so if I can win early, the orange, and if I win early and get in the US open, then I've built a schedule around that. And after the green schedule, if I don't win, but then I get in a couple of bigger events like the Rolex, I'll, you know, positional tones around that. And then I've got a pink schedule, which is last resort. It's all the small ones, but, you know, well, hopefully I can, you know, get on that I mean, schedule them and get to the US Open as well. I think if I didn't qualify for the US Open, I think that, you know, take over the take over where you're open, but I mean, yeah, I mean, right now the opens the biggest one and that's the one that I'm most looking forward to. Hopefully we can get some fans there as well. That'd be, except I don't think it opens

and opens without any fans. For someone who's never seen you play, how would you describe your game? What are, you know, you mentioned going into the analytics and figuring out your strengths and weaknesses. I'm curious what the strengths and weaknesses are. I'm absolutely, I just push it, but I just don't know where it's gonna go.

All right, so I'd say that Ball Strike is probably the strongest part, but if we can just give it a bit more tighter up there with everything, then that'd be cool. But I love short game, I love giving me a love wedge, and I'll walk out of the chipping green, I'll go out on the cast chipping all day long. I just absolutely love it. But yeah, no, I've seen the ball striking problem. I'm not my strength in the game. I think putting, I think everyone can get better

at putting, but I'm a very streaky putter. So I've been having this year. The first two rounds are in the top 15. The last two rounds are outside the top 100. So it's like if we can get a bit more, it's not a bit of shot. I think you can get a shot better at that a week or two. Then it's, I think it makes a massive gain over the year.

One more, you mentioned Kenya being on the schedule and you seem like someone who's probably traveled to some pretty wild places to play golf. I'm curious if you could leave us with maybe your best travel story or two. Thank you. I'm going to South Africa. You know, you go out on the safari. And everybody knows until I, everybody, I've got a massive blood of problems.

So I go to a toilet like every, every 20 minutes, 30 minutes, I'm off to a toilet. And, you know, anyway, we went on this safari and we were out there with Laurie Kahnner. And you know, you're out there for hours. So we got 20 minutes in, I said, listen, I need to get out here and I got out and everyone's like, they're all nervous, you know, the guys out there would have gone, anyway,

you know, I must have done it about five times, but one of the times I got out of the car. We literally got back in the car and we went around the corner like 50 hours and a massive rinol there and I was like, oh jeez, good job. He wasn't looking at the bullet when I went out of the Egyptian's kiss. I got run-rated. Apart from that, there's not really, not really, I'm many, many, many great stories that go on site.

So, we didn't go to a lot of crazy places, but yeah, there's nothing that's really happened to me yet. I mean, I am 33 and, you know, and I think I didn't come across young because I've only been traveling like four years. So like someone said to me, oh, you won't make it past four. And I'm like, yeah, but I've only been traveling for years. Most lives have been traveling since the 20. So I'm actually, I'm, I'm nine years younger than one.

No more. Right. Well, hopefully no more, no more sleeping in Tenson. Hopefully all the wild stories are, are behind you. It's, it's much more comfortable from here on out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, the on the road stories there, I don't think there for the public to hear,

but if I have anything, I might throw you through stories of my, on my few years, I had out the game and I, yeah, I've got some, I've got some life experiences there that, yeah. That actually helped me coming down the stretch because I think, well, if I got through some life experiences there that actually helped me coming down the stretch because I think, well, if I got through that life experience there, coming down here in a few golf balls, it's nothing compared to that.

But I'll let you guys know about that in the scene first. Sounds good. Yeah, well, whenever you're standing on that 18th tea at Sawgrass, that's right down the road from us. So we'll catch those stories from you then. Yeah. Yeah. We liked your spoon story too. The one, uh, uh, the spoon story on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. The spoon. Yeah. The spoon. You're, uh, uh, fellow player was, was in the, you were in player dining. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, no that that way. It was dressed just like the waiter and I will like I'll just said Yeah, obviously it's but pushy here on time. I don't know the guy is oh

My you know, yeah, massive. I've got any spoons He's like launching me and I'm like Spoons Yeah, the spoons wearing the spoons is? I don't work here, mate. I'm like, oh my God. Yeah, I'm quite thankful that that playing out on saw anymore, because it was a bit sticky that's interesting.

Well, thank you for the time. Thanks for the story. It's an awesome, awesome story that I think people will, you know, probably haven't heard enough and so appreciate you taking the time. Yeah, no waste, no, no, any time. You know, if you ever want to do it again or anything, I'll learn more than welcome. Sounds great. Thanks, Marcus. Thank you.

Thank you. It's taking easy. It's getting right to the club. Be the right club today. That is better than most. How about it? That is better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most.