No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 758: Latest LPGA News and Notes + Gabi Ruffels Interview

Episode Date: October 26, 2023

Big Randy and Cody are back with a recap of the latest from the women's game including Lexi's performance on the PGA Tour, the last couple of LPGA tournament results, recent interviews featuring Rose Zhang and Mollie Marcoux Samaan, and more. Then in part two (45:00) we're joined by Gabi Ruffels to talk through her year on the Epson tour, her transition from high level junior tennis to golf and a look ahead to her upcoming year on the LPGA Tour in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yes. That is better than most. I'm not in. That is better than most. Better than most! I'm gonna be joined by Cody McBride, the Sarge. We're gonna break down some of the news and happenings in and around women's golf. We're gonna react to the last couple tournaments on the Asian swing.

We're gonna talk briefly about this week's Malaysia event. But then in part two, I think the real meat of the episode, we are joined by Gabby Ruffles. We have an excellent conversation with her that I think everybody's really going to enjoy. Before we get into things though, I want to thank our good friends at Titleist. This episode is brought to you by Titleist, the number one ball engulf, and the overwhelming choice of players on the LPGA tour, including Gabby Ruffles. Good timing. Gabby was the number one player this year on the Epson tour, leading a group of 10 graduates who earned their LPGA tour cards for next season.

And all 10 of them, all 10 played either a ProV1 or ProV1X golf ball weekend and week out more players on the game's biggest stages, relying the performance and consistency of titleists. Gabby plays a pro v1. I play a pro v1 x. 78% of competitors this season on the LPGA tour have teed up a pro v1 or pro v1 x. That is unbelievable. And listeners choosing the right golf ball is all about flight, spin and feel. And titleist has a choice for every player looking to shoot their lowest scores. Just head to titleess.com to find out which ball is right for your game. Thank them very much for supporting what we do. And now let me get out of the way.

As I said, part one is a conversation with Cody McBride and myself and then be sure to stick around for part two where we are joined by Gabby Ruffles. My good friend, the Sarge Cody. Welcome, sir. How are we today? Big, we are tired. I don't know how much more nighttime golf I can take.

We can do more weeks, buddy. I feel like this stretch of golf, I'm doing the best that I can. I've been trying to stay late. I've been waking up early. I've been DVR and things to try to get caught up. But man, if I'm feeling this way as a spectator, I don't even know how these women are doing this halfway home, four weeks on the road, not just four weeks on the road, but bouncing all over the place. It's truly an impressive feat. And you're well, and you got, you know, you got field trips to the pumpkin patch. You got all day soccer events. I mean, these, these women, they don't have to do that also.

So, you know, I feel like you're, you're putting an extra dad duty on top of everything. Well, not to thank you for the hardship tour that I am on. But I mean, they're out there grinding away, playing professional golf, and I understand they get, they get to travel to some amazing places all around the world, but it's a grind. I know that. I, I, listen, we get jet lag going on like our little three, four day trips that we do, buddy.

I can, I can not imagine this feeling that they're on right now. It's, it's absolutely insane. Well, shout out the, shout out the physio, shout out the support teams. I think that's where those folks really become important for the athletes. But, code man, a lot, a lot happened in since you and I and TC, we're all on the last LPGA specific episode. But let's start right here. We had talked a lot about Lexi Thompson playing at the Shriners and what our expectations were. She has now done that. What grade would you put on Lexi's week at the Shriners and do you think she acquitted

herself well? Wow. We've got a grade right off the top. I would say to answer your second part. the Shriners and do you think she acquitted herself well? Wow. Great right off the top. I would say to answer your second part, yes, I think she acquitted herself very, very well, I think she exceeded most expectations by the way that she handled herself, the golf that she played and how she was able to kind of not only take her game, but kind of display what we see weekend and week out

from the rest of these amazing players on the LPGA tour, ladies, European tour. You name it and showcase that competing against the men. And she did not make the cut. And I know that we had a lot of back and forth in the previous episode of like, what would success be here? And I think making the cut is obviously that's everybody's goal, right? Every time they tee it up, what would success be here? And I think making the cut is obviously that's everybody's goal, right? Every time they tee it up, they want to be able to play off or around, they want to be able to make it to the weekend. But I

think all in all, I'm going to give Lexi an A minus for this episode. I think she exceeded all of my expectations. I would have given her a flat A, if it wouldn't have been those two putts coming down the last and I understand that she was kind of outside the bubble. By the time that she got there, but she gave a heck of a fight that Friday. She was inside the line, then she was gonna, you know,

the line was gonna move and then she was outside and then just, you know, that's Lexi. And honestly, from the amount of time that's Lexi. And honestly, from the amount of time that we've invested in watching her, if that didn't happen, then that's truly not Lexi golf. So it finally came, it probably opened some people's eyes and made it seem like it was a lot more dramatic than it was, but she was already going to miss the cut anyway, but heck of a performance. She should be very, very proud of herself, her team should be proud of her and everybody else because I truly think it was a win across

the board. I agree with you. I agree completely. I remember we had talked about, wow, she can break 150 for the two days, right? Keep it under, keep it under 150. And man, she shot even par for the two rounds, 73 round one, which was two over and then comes back round two with a 69. And like you said, birdie, excuse me, bogied her 17th hole that day, missed a birdie put on her 18th. I mean, she, she really had a look to make the cut there, which would have been, I mean, that would have been a plus plus. That's the most rare fight air for any woman competing in a men's event. So I was, I was super impressed.

She obviously acquitted herself well. She hit the ball really well, especially in that round, in that second round. I think it was, it was a rousing success. And I will say, too, generated some interest. We saw some of the TV ratings. I mean, her rounds, those first couple of days were actually much more viewed than the weekend golf. So a bit of a novelty, getting people to tune in. But I think that's

certainly, you know, I think mission accomplished for the Shriners. They're just in a spot where they're trying to attract eyeballs. And I think it's mission accomplished for Lexi. She, she competed against the men. She beat a number of men, a lot of names that all of us recognize. And she looked like she belonged. It was a good course. It was a good event for her to compete in. And I guess my question then goes to what do you think the next opportunity might be for an LPGA player to compete in a men's event? I know there's nothing really planned. And this one kind of came up out of the blue, but if you were, if you could make these things happen, Cody, is there a certain player, a certain

tournament that you would like to see come together for something like this? There's a time and place for everything, Mr. Bigg. We know that I would say without getting too far ahead of ourselves and getting congratulations to Lexia. I can't wait to actually break down and look at the stats here because we actually have real stats and like we get, you know, we don't get that we can weak out on the LPGA tour. But what I'll say first is that if Lexi or any other player is interested in doing this, they can go and play in the Scandinavian mixed

It's a you know men's and women's event co-sanction event by both the DP World Tour and the ladies European tour Anybody can go tee it up in the Aussie open Aussie open is a a try sanctioned event. There's a men's professional portion a women's professional portion and a Disabled or adaptive professional portion and I think's professional portion, and a disabled or adaptive professional portion. And I think if people are looking to go and try to weigh or measure how the male professionals are playing against female professionals, I think those events are already great places to start.

And we see, you know, majority of the, the Swedes go home and play in that. Lin is the only female to ever win on the DP World Tour based off winning the Scandinavian Mids. And, you know, eventually that's going to happen at the Aussie event as well. But other things, we know the Barbersol has played this before, you know, they played this card in the past. I wouldn't be surprised thinking of other events that could use something like this or might try something like this. I could see Puerto Rico doing something like this because it's kind of the layout is very, very similar to Las Vegas. There's not a lot of water travel. Length is not really that

big of a concern. It's all about where everything lands on the calendar, right? But I don't know. Do you have any thoughts on it? Well, my mind went to giving that the LPGA, the LPGA kind of has a funky schedule when they get their season going. Like this year, they played the terminate, tournament of champions in Orlando, the third week of January, and then there wasn't another event for another month where they started their first Asian swing. So you

have this time between the first of the year and really late February. Now I will say we haven't seen the LPGA's 2024 schedule yet, so I don't know if things will change. This past year, the fit that I was thinking from an American perspective also, with the season that Lily of Voo has had, winning two majors, I mean, really taking the title of like best American female golfer at the moment, ranked number one in the world currently. If an event like the Palm Springs, the American Express were to fall on a different week than that tournament of champions on the LPGA, I feel like that would be a cool event to get somebody like Lili Avue specifically into Southern Cal roots, you know, they play it across a few different courses That's where my mind goes now. I realize This is the start of the season on the PGA tour and all of those spots in these events

Certainly in January are coveted. So it's it's not necessarily the best time of the year to do that I think the fall is a much better time or even some of these smaller events in the summer. So I get that part of it. But I guess in an ideal world, it would be something like Lillia playing in Southern California, at an event like the American Express. I think that would be a lot of fun. And you're hitting the nail directly on the head there and saying that it's Lilia guessing strictly based off her hometown roots being the number one player in the women's game right now and I would say probably a pretty good course match around there. I hate it. I would think you know That's that. Yeah, my girl Lucy Lee, you know, she does her home, that's her home course, but I understand

if we're looking at Lisa's little bit more from Lucy. Yeah, we just got to see a little bit more. If I remember correctly and, you know, we've been working the sources trying to figure out what's going on with the schedule because that caused a lot of a point of concern. Last year when it first came out and Claire and everyone else was making these crazy Googlers, a little flight maps at how much the the women are traveling. And we've been beaten this up. And if I remember correctly, the, you know, Q one of next year's season looks

a lot similar to how it played out this year. And I think you have you have tournament champions, if I remember correctly at the beginning part of the year, and then there's an additional event. I think they just announced a drive on is going to be in Florida. I think that's right. I'm falling up there. But if I remember correctly, like February is still pretty wide open.

And I know it's a short month, it's tough month. And there's a lot of things going on. And then you get into the first Asian swing. But I liked the thought of that. What I do not like and what I'm sure your DMs are going to get filled up with. And I'm sure people will get that. My DMs are off. Let's be very clear about that. All right. Well, people would say would be well, Mr. Big, with the way that the new signature series or signature events go on the PGA tour and people trying to get points,

those spots at that PGA tour event are needed for players to actually make up points. I don't think that the the charitable component in Palm Springs definitely, I don't think they need it. I don't think that's an event that's looking for juice. And I would say that that outside of Vegas, I think this is like the one unicorn. It fit in because you had people who are taking weeks off on the PGA tour. You had an event that was kind of struggling because they're confused at what their identity actually is now because they no longer have, you know, all of these points and everything

that would get people there to play. And I think it was a perfect timing thing. And I don't want to poo poo your idea. I just think that when you look at it, it needs to be a very bold sponsor or very bold charitable component that is going to put it out there and say, no, this is what we want to do. And I don't know if MX is that. I can't remember exactly how many different charities that events turned over. I don't think it's the bill and I mean, Hillary Clinton foundation anymore. It's definitely not Phil and Amy. That was pretty quick. You get to say Bill and Monica was that a Freudian slip? Okay. But who knows where it is. But I think that's what you would have to have the perfect alignment there. And I don't know.

You would. I don't know where that's at. But also say this is it. We we're reaching to the stars right now and I understand that's what we do. That's what we we dream on, man, just like the great song says. But why why can corn fairy tour events not do this? And that's again, not saying anything against an LPGA player or a ladies European tour player or anybody. I don't care. Why can't this happen at some of these corn fairy tour events who are truly looking for juice? I mean, if Steph Curry can go out there and come that damn close to making the cut out there, why wouldn't that be a better paved route to prove the competitiveness of some of these players than going straight to a PGA tour event.

And I'm just asking questions here. Yeah, I guess my mind would go to, if from a standpoint of put my shoes in, you know, a Lexi or Lillia potentially or a Nellie Corta. I think I would, I don't know, there's some to be said about like, I'm the best player in the world on the women's side. I want to go compete against like my peers on the men's side. I don't know. I just think there's more downside, right? If if Lili or N Ellie goes and bombs at a cornberry event, it just adds to all the stereotypes that we know. And, you know, I think there's

a bit of protection really putting them in a PGA tour event. Yeah, I think that's a great question that we can ask Abby about. Somebody who's been known to play in various city and state opens against men, signing up and playing in men only events, playing an outlaw to her events when she didn't have anywhere else to play. Did you have any stats for Lexi's week? Oh, yeah, buddy. I was pumped about this because you know, we talk about it a lot. We don't get weekend week outats on the LPGA tour.

I think the biggest one that jumped out at me and I think Bethan wrote an awesome piece of kind of what the week was and what, you know, kind of lessons learned that we could take away from that. You can check her piece out, of course, at golf week. can check her piece out, of course, at golf week. Lexi ranks 12th on the LPGA tour in total driving distance. She has an average of 270.7 yards. Again, we've gone through this before LPGA only measures two holes each week for distance. Thompson often hits something other than driver on those teams, just like a lot of other players. Sometimes it just doesn't fit. And that's the whole that the tour is deemed to be, you know, being measured that week. But during Shriners, Lexi carried a 301.2 yard driving average for her two rounds

that put her right about 120th in the field. So towards the bottom end of the field, she had 20 of 28 fairways. That's T8 for the week. She had a 71.4% driving accuracy. Her longest drive recorded for the week was a 316 yards. Again, that puts her 129th at the bottom end of the field where she made, you know, tried to make the majority of that up was through her, her ball striking and still right, right, right. Excuse me, through her ball striking, that put her about middle of the pack for all stroke, gain data. So Stroke's saying approach. She was 94 strokes gained around the green 104. And then surprisingly,

putting shoes in the top half of the field with 1.153 44th for the week strokes gain putting. That was probably the biggest shocker, honestly. Huge. And you know, we talk about driving distance and stuff like that. But Triners and the the TPC course that they played on it kind of set up for because we saw herself get on Multiple par five and two she had zero eagles for the week, but she did have eight birdies 21 pars and then the Six bogies and then the one double bogey to round out that even par you know two rounds that she had but overall I think what you look at it is that Lexi is one of the longest drivers on the LPGA tour. And we can say wherever

she's at in her career, I would say we're probably in the the back half of her career. It's not like she's getting too much longer, but she is one of the most fittest people, not only in the women's game, but I would say in like engulf in general. She's a legit athlete and she pounds the ball. Yeah. Kudos. Kudos, Alexi. I was a bit dubious when I first heard the announcement, but really continuing a run of form that started at Soulheim Week. You know, she's turned it around. Folks had said that she had found something and she is playing much better golf. So good on her.

We'll leave it there. Next piece of news, Code Man. I saw golf digest. Had a little story yesterday, the headline being the LPGA to award tour carts to top ladies, European tour players starting in 2025. We had talked about back a couple months ago, there was a player meeting with tour leadership and Cincinnati and things had gotten a little contentious, I think, as fair to say.

And one of the main sticking points points they were debating whether to give these tour cards out immediately for the 2024 season. And I think based on pushback from pretty much every single side they have made the decision. Let's delay it. So beginning next year, the LET standings will take on a little added component where four players, the top four players off of the season long L.E.T. race to Costa del Sol, they will be awarded LPGA cards. So another avenue besides Q series for some folks to earn status onto the LPGA tour. What do you, what do you make of this? Not surprising. I don't think given, you know, stuff that we had heard and even talked about before.

Not surprising. Happy to see that it went through. Happy to see that, you know, cooler heads prevailed on the actual timeliness of this. I thought it was a little nuts when they first announced it. And they were trying to push it through, basically giving some not retroactive cards, but saying, yeah, all points that are in place this year, you're going to get, you know, the cards are going to be awarded at the end of the 2023 year, which seemed a little silly. And I really felt for the majority of the European tour players who you know, decided to take up and play majority of their season on the LPGA tour because they felt that like they had to keep status. So it was very, it was a bummer for them.

I'm happy to see that it's actually going to take place. Their cards being awarded for the 2025 season. So all of next year, people can figure out their schedules. What is best for them? Ultimately, if you play good, you play good, you're gonna pick up your card. It's not that big of a deal, but when you look at, again, talking about scheduling,

how crazy both the LPGA tour schedule is and the Ladies European tour schedule is, it gets a little bit silly, so it's nice for them to be able to figure out what exactly is going on. Yeah, one additional nugget from that story, golf digest, which I did not know. It says, the top 10 players this year on the ladies European race to Koso del Sol, they will be exempt into Q series, which is the LPGA's final stage of qualifying school.

That begins, we just finished stage two, and now we've set the field for Q series, which begins at the end of November, the start of December, and that awards. I believe 20 full-time LPGA cards, and then you get some, you know, mix LPGA Epson status and then pure Epson status. So for the top 10 on the ladies European tour this year that aren't already holding a card for next year, good opportunity. If they so choose, they can go to Q series and perhaps earn 20, 24 status that way. So as you said, though, I think the big thing is there's some big formal partnership coming between the LPGA and LET. We just don't know exactly when and we don't know exactly what that will look like, but all these little things are pointing to that occurring.

I think sometime in the near future, I don't know the end of this year, maybe sometime next year, but feels like that's gonna happen sooner than later. Yeah, absolutely. You touched on stage two, finishing up there, big, hearty congratulations to another young sweet coming up, Ingrid Limbat, obviously the amateur sensation.

God, she was fired up about her luggage. Yeah, luggage concerns, everything else like that, but it looks like everything is right. She got the sticks fired rounds of 67, 66, 70, 67, 18 under to take medalist honors at stage two. And, you know, a great list of people who made it through. You got her, uh, Christina Kim veteran, good to see her playing, binding form against Samantha Wagner, Kim Kaufman, uh, Amelia Garvey, Lily Thomas, the young amateur that we dealt and talked a lot about this year at the AG Women's Open Charlotte Heath made it through stage two. In the list goes on and on some disappointings, people who missed it for us, people who obviously close to us and the young hitter program, the car be felt just short, not making it through

stage two to get into Q series. And then surprisingly, you know, based off form and really how they played in stage one former US women's and champion, Jensen Castle, you know, I've given her shit on this podcast before about the horrible, horrible fit that the university can tucky outfits her with at the anwa. She unfortunately did not make it through to stage two. One of my favorite players in the world, Anna Morgan, she unfortunately did not make it through to stage two as well. But, you know, they'll finish out their senior year in college right now and I'm sure they're going to go ahead.

Amari Avery. Sorry. Amari Avery, another big name there that did not make it through. Yeah, absolutely. It's a lot. They're finishing up school. They'll have, you know, we'll see all of them at Anuangan and then we'll see who knows. Maybe it'll catapult them. I, I, this goes back big. We've talked about this a couple of times too.

Why is Ingrid playing in stage two, you know, when you look at advances on the PGA tour, specifically with the success that PGA tour you has had, why in the world does Ingrid have to miss a collegiate tournament and bounce all over the world to try to get, you know, down down to Florida to play in stage two when there's, there's just nothing set up for them. She's in the number one women's amateur in the world. She's played in everything. What is the hold up and why is nobody thought about this? And if they have like, why aren't we just making this happen?

I know. It's a great question. I feel like Molly, Commissioner Molly has even touched on this that that it is a need. I will say our own Jordan Perez. This is something that gets her very fired up. She's planning to write more about this as we get nearer to Q series. But it's a great question. I think the PGA tour you program has been successful. And it's good to get the college guys, the most successful college guys,

give them a pathway. And I feel like it would be just as good for these young ladies to have the same opportunity. And I think it would just help market them, right? It helps, I feel like it will help everybody getting these recognizable, bigger name players that people start to see at Anwa, the NCAA championships, you know, that they have a little bit of a profile. But then the risk is they just get lost

if they don't immediately get through Q-School and Q-Series and it's like, wait a second, what happened to So-and and so, what happened to so and so. I mean, honestly, Gabby Ruffles is somebody like that, which we're going to ask her about that as well. So yeah, I think it's something that LPGA should do. I hope it's on their radar, but we shall see. Big, interesting article about Rose from Gulf Digest. What do you think? Yeah, I thought the format was interesting.

You know, the author spent a day at an art museum with Rose. I thought it was an interesting premise, I guess. I think not a whole lot that I learned. I'm curious if you picked up anything reading the article for folks that haven't seen it. It's about a week old. The author is Elizabeth Nelson and it's a it's a golf digest plus cover story. So I'm very happy that, you know, hey, Rose is moving the needles. She's getting some good publicity. I think from my standpoint, not a whole lot of new territory, but curious if you had a different reaction. No, not a lot. I think she's proof to be insightful when she wants to be and years ahead of her time, very mature. I didn't

say that I gleaned or learned anything new from it. I was confused because when I first looked up Elizabeth Nelson and tried to find her byline and figure out what is actually going on. It was the first piece that she had written for golf digest, but she has written a ton of work for the ringer. And you go back and she has some very, very, very well written pieces there. I just don't think that it's, there's nothing really that jumped out. That was different. You know, I didn't learn anything about her. That's new. I guess I'm just glad, kind of like Sting and lander, you know, I'm glad he's they're out there doing it. I think I'm sticking on the media.

Have you had a chance to watch? We've gotten a bunch of new of the LPGA drive on all access videos. I know you watched the Soulheim Cup one. Was there anything that stood out for you on that one? It was an okay effort of behind the scenes of the Soulheim Cup. I think it's one of those things. It's very hard to compare these. I think we've talked about this in the past of what is exactly the intent here.

And if it's a, at times it feels like it's supposed to be a look inside. And I know this one at the, the Soulheim Cup went way further than any of the other ones have gone so far this year with, well, truly inside the room access, you had Gemma walking through and from the European side and kind of describing, you know, the hotel room setups and clothing and, and all the different team room activities. And then you had Cheyenne on the other side doing the same and kind of walking through golf bag and the little knickknacks and everything that we think of and what it symbolizes.

And then you can see and feel their emotion as being part of the team. I think that when it came to that actual coverage of the Soulheim Cup, obviously people I think that when it came to the actual coverage of the Soul Heim cup, obviously people that did not catch the Soul Heim cup. At the end, the score is just kind of the score, but I feel like this episode specifically was a little bit over-narrated. I think they could have let the action kind of tell itself. And there was a lot of key to deciding factors within that week that didn't even make the show. I specifically, you know, inside the episode, there was obviously a lot of emphasis put on Danielle and missing clubs and what's going on here and everything else like that and the team coming around here and helping her out, which I think

is a good story to tell. Then you jump ahead to kind of what the week's activities and the team bonding aspect of it and they're out to dinner and then they're doing practice rounds and truly trying to figure out what little, you know, who their partners and their squads are going to be for the week, which I thought again, was was great insight. And then they did a great little section with Justin Ray and talked about stats and kind of how the data is driving some of these pairings. And then we watched it play out and there was never really any feedback on the back end of like this, this is why this didn't work out. And I understand from us talking to Justin and his team and as like, you know, when, when you go out and you plan on,

on a team that you're competing against to make four or five birdies around and they go out and make eight or nine, like it's very hard. Like the numbers aren't going to help you out there. You know, what happened was headwall, headwall happened. You just get beat. But there is also defining moments, as I said, within that week that just kind of were, they didn't put them in there at all. And I'm not even saying because we were like a tiny bit involved in this at all.

But I think that truly I look back at the momentum shift that was, you know, the chip in on 18 and what that chip in did to Lexi and Lexi's response to that. And that whole element was completely ignored. And I understand they don't want to dig things up and everything else like that. But truly, I would love to know what happened inside the team room after that. Where are the discussions? And I know a lot of this is hyper personal and everything else like that. But that was the design. That's when we'll mention truly switched. And you knew that this is just, this is just too much. And then even through Sunday, when that wall, and we talked about, you know, head wall

coming, she's coming. Like that, that, that could have been, you know, give that, that thing air to breathe, man, because that was a heck of a moment. And you just saw all these matches just start stacking on top of each other of blue out there. And it's just kind of it left me wanting a lot more. I think that's very fair criticism, if if if you're making a series called all access, like you're exactly right. That's such a big defining moment of the whole week and to not have anything from listen, if it's not from Lexi directly from Stacey or anybody around the team or the other. You know, or anyone.

Yeah. I mean, you can go either side of it here. The only other thing, multimedia wise wanted to flag for listeners, Molly Marcus, Samon, LPGA commissioner. She appeared. Actually, it was around the Soulheim Cup on the podcast, the business case for women's sports. It's episode 60 is the specific episode talking to Molly. I was really eager to listen to this and it's not bad. I just felt like maybe not a lot of

just felt like maybe not a lot of juicy details. I felt like Molly, you know, given us a lot of good company lines and corporate speak. But I did think it was interesting. You know, she went into the purse growth, for instance, on the LPJ tour. I believe overall over the last two years total amount of money being played for has gone up by like 54%. I want to say maybe not two years total amount of money being played for has gone up by like 54%. I want to say maybe not two years, maybe it was 10 years. I apologize. I didn't write down the exact time frame.

So there were some like eye popping little nuggets, but it was a lot of like, you know, they were not really diggin or pressing, which is fine time and place for everything. But if you wanna hear Commissioner Mark Hussmann, I would encourage anybody to check out that podcast. I think that's case and point of somebody who is coming from a, you know, the business side of it, but primarily focuses on all other women's professional and the business verticals that they support versus,

I think somebody coming in who is used to the LPGA tour has questions on specific LPGA tour things and can kind of drive in, I think a lot of that. Like us, I think we need to put the invite out there big. I think there's a lot of things that we would love to run down on the record. For sure, for sure. I think we'll make that happen. I feel good. I feel good. Turning to the golf action. We last spoke a couple of tournaments now completed. Angel Yin got her first career, LPGA victory a couple weeks back at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. She wanted to play off over Lily of Vue. Congratulations to Angel. It just feels like this has been coming for several months now.

So I am very, very excited for Angel. And then last week, Minji Lee won the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, her 10th career LPGA victory. Code man, immediate thoughts, reactions, anything you want to get out into the world on those two events. So pump for Angel. Finally, getting that first LPGA tour when nobody deserves who win out there more than she does. I hope this finally gets that little monkey off her back to she can just continue getting number two. Hopefully we're not waiting as long as it took her to get number one. Awesome to see Lillia back up there. You know, bum that she lost in a playoff, but I think Angel very deserving champions echoed across the, you know, bum that she lost in a playoff, but I think angel very deserving champions echoed across

the, you know, all of women's professional game. A T8 at the Buick for our own Madeline Sagsström, LC's first trip to China, T21, like seeing that the following week, Minji wins in Korea. Some form peaking here, Lydia Kho solo third, like that big time and LC falling up that T20 finish with a T10 of her own. Big stuff coming this week as we turn to the May-Bake championship in Kuala, Lumpur. You ever been there, big? No, I've never been anywhere in Asia. I a quick mech may a culpita issue on lily lia co last sundays and LU podcast. I talked about her solo third and she would earn CME points and she's got to get in the top 60. Well, it turns out as friend of the program Grant Boone who knows everything about everything. Let me know via Twitter. So Lydia is actually competing in these Asian events

under sponsor exemptions, because of her poor season, she did not qualify based on her play. So she's over there on sponsors exemptions, which the LPGA has instituted rules if you are playing these events because they're all limited field. If you're playing these events under sponsor exemptions, you are not eligible to receive CME points.

So Lili is third place actually is not a boost to her CME points for the year and she in all likelihood, barring a win at game bridge, will not be able to defend her crown at the tour championship, Which is interesting, but I wanted to clarify that. I had not heard that rule before, but it makes total sense. So I appreciate Grant educating me and others like he always does. Yeah, it's wild to think about it, but between her and Lexi, a lot of these names that that we think of are like, oh, yeah, you know, top 50 player in the world. Well, not the case right now. You said the Maybank this week, it's more prime time golf. I believe the TV windows are 10

a or excuse me, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Eastern time on golf channel. Actually, some nice windows out here for me on the West Coast. Little nine 8 p.m. Do to one a.m. Maybe I'm making a couple nights of it this weekend. So they go from Malaysia, they go to Japan next week, and then it's back to Florida, the game bridge, and then the top 60 will go to the CME tour championship. We are getting right down to the end of the season, Code Man, which means all the points based player the year, rookie of the year, races, you know, we're getting right down to it. Liliavu still holds a lead in the player of the year race. She sits at 166 points. That is 27 clear of Saline Boutier right now, who's in second. And then Rooning Yin is in third with 133 points. You get 30 points for a victory.

So if anybody wants to catch Liliah, specifically Saline and Rooning, they're going to have to at least win once to cause any shakeups there. And then in the rookie of the year race, Heyron Roo, complete control. She's got 842 points on the year. Grace Kim is a distant second. You say, where's Rose? Where's Rose? Well, Rose is in fourth. She has 398 points. She just hasn't played that many events. I think she's played now eight or nine events where Heyron, Ruse played 21 or 22 events. So Rose in all I could is not going to be your rookie of the year this year, which will be a fun little, you know, side note in history, I think. But yeah, I guess I'd be shocked

if anybody does run down Lillia. I feel like no matter what the points say at the end of the year, I think Lillia is gonna be my player of the year just by fact of winning two majors. Do you know the last American to be player of the year, Biggie? I don't. And if I had to guess right off the top of my head, I would say was it, was it

Stacy? Correct. Stacy was 2014 player of the year, uh, Lily, a whole month. I see. I know, I know it's, it's very, very, very, one lexie, of course, right? Correct. And you think, Nelly, you know, she hasn't. Yeah, that know. It's it's very, very, very one lexie, of course, right? Right. And you think Nelly, you know, she hasn't. Yeah, that's, that's really interesting. Allison leads the money list at $2.9 million dollars so far this year through 21 events. We'd like the game within the game. Aeon, risk reward challenge.

Number one in our hearts, angel, you're still holding on to that first place spot. Of course, we know, a on risk reward doesn't matter if it's PGA tour, LPGA tour, a on matching that one million on each side. So hopefully angel can hold on to that. And then she would have to be worried so much about the cost of fuel in California. All right, my man. Like I said, Maybank this week, Japan next week, and then Game Bridge, and then we're at the tour championship.

Anything else before we turn it over to the Gabby Ruffles interview? Excited to hear from her. I think it's one thing that people heard from her and we're straking a couple of years back when she won the US Women's Am and then she kind of just went in a MIA. COVID added to that obviously. But I want to hear about the journey. Obviously has been crushing it on the Epson tour and just excited to, you know, excited to get her full time on the LPJ tour.

Hey, man. Good interview. Stick around. Gabby's the best. and just excited to, you know, excited to get her full time on the LPGA tour. Hey, man. Good interview. Stick around. Gabby's the best. Thank you all for listening. Cody and I will be back in a couple of weeks here for another special LPGA episode. Until then, everybody take care. Now here's our interview with Gabby Ruffles. She was the 2019 US amateur champion, the 2020 US amateur runner up. She won three times this year on the Epson Tour, which has secured her LPGA Tour card for 2024. Gabby, great to talk to you again. Thanks for coming on the show.

Good morning, first question. Where do we find you? Where in the world are you these days? Yes, good morning. I'm in California at the moment. I'm in Palm Springs, where my parents live. It's so nice right here right now, and I'm enjoying my off season in this beautiful place.

It truly is a nice off season for you, because I'm just thinking, obviously, the Epson Tour wrapped up. The LPGA season is coming to a close. They're on a bit of an Asian swing. So you do have a nice, what, what's next for you? Are you going to go down to Australia this winter and play any events down there? Yes. Yeah. I have a couple of weeks off, um, right now, and then I'll play the Taylor made Pell beach program, which is one of my favorite tournaments of the year and then after that I'll go to Australia and play the Australian Open and Sydney and then the Cathedral invitation which is kind of a smaller event that they're just trying to get started right after the Australian Open and then have a little bit of a vacation in Australia and then come back here for Christmas.

So looking forward to it. What a life. Did you vacation in Australia and then come back here for Christmas. So moving forward to it. What a what a life. Did you play in the cathedral last year? I did. Yes. It was their first year last year. One of the only reason why I know this is because one of my buddies is a place professional, but he's in the adaptive category, Mike Brown.

So he's a bread. I know he played in the cathedral last year and played in the Ozzy opens amazing. I talked about this in the first part of this, but the fact that it's one tournament with three tournaments going on all at the same time. It's truly phenomenal. But excited for you to get back to Australia. I'm sure you're excited. But up until that time, like, how do you stay, what are you doing to stay current? How do you keep your game sharp? You just playing many games around the club or are you truly taking time off?

I've kind of been forced to truly take some time off because I mean, the course that my parents are at, I mean, most courses in the desert right now are closed for overseeding to get prepared for the season. So a lot of them are closed. I have found, you know, a good facility at PGA West where I've just been kind of practicing. They've allowed me to kind of go out and practice. But I mean, the course that I'm looking at now for my parents backyard is currently closed. So I definitely haven't been doing as much practice as what I normally have, but I mean,

I still have three events left for the season. So still trying to, I guess, keep my game sharp a little bit. Well, let's, uh, if you don't mind, I would like to turn the clock back a little to the end of 2022. And I know this is a subject you've talked about, but could you walk us through the end of your 2022 Epson season and kind of how you came about to be full-time Epson in 2023. And then there's some things I'd like to ask you in there. But if you don't mind, could you just kind of quickly walk us through the last couple years and your experience on the Epson tour? your experience on the Epson Tour? Yeah, so 2022 was my, I guess, working year on the Epson Tour, you know, learned a lot, played pretty good, came 15th on the money list, and top 10 get their cards, so I just missed out.

And then, so top 35 on the Epson Tour money list, get into Q-Series at the end of the year, which is the final stage for LPGA qualifying school. And so I was excited to go into Q series. I had qualified through the ups and toer. And then I can kind of go into detail. I was driving to a practice round, to do a practice round early for the Q series in Alabama. So from Orlando, so I had driven seven and a half hours, and it was just a thought. I was like five minutes away from the practice round or the course, and I had a thought I was like, I haven't entered for Q-Series yet.

I wonder if the entry deadline's coming up or when that is, and I haven't you paid or registered yet, and so I stopped to nearby gas station five minutes away from the course and then I looked at my app and it said you have not entered in like red, bold and so I was like no this cannot be good. So yeah that's how I found out. So I did not enter Q series, I missed the entry deadline and yeah it was a long seven and a half hours home that's for sure to Orlando I just kind of made a straight-u turn and drove back home but you know what I mean I can laugh at it now you know it's funny now but I guess you know all in all it was kind of

a blessing in disguise because I really had a great year this year and learned a lot on maps and tours. So all in all, I can, yeah, I can laugh at it now, I guess. How, so two things. One, that reminds me, you're not alone in that. My senior year of college, it was a few weeks before graduation and, you know And my parents, my grandparents are coming, and I'm the most disorganized person. And I'm like, oh God, I feel like I need to go register for graduation. I'm sure there's official things I need to do.

So I go down to the registrar's office, I say, hey, I need to, I'm graduating, I need to sign up, do whatever I need to do. And please, okay, what's your name? I tell her my name. She comes back and need to like, I'm graduating. I need to sign up do whatever I need to do. And please like, okay, what's your name? I tell her my name. She comes back and she's like, well, you're not going to be graduating because you are too credit short. And I was like, really?

Oh, that was, I know what you're going through. That initial like, oh, damn, I wish. Okay. Um, but I don't mean to make light of your situation because I wanted to ask you in all seriousness, like how, how quickly did you try to flip your mindset? Like it really seems like you made the most of it and embraced this year back on the Epson tour. Obviously, you had a phenomenal year, one three times, made what, 13 out of 14 cuts. Was that something you very consciously did and how quickly did you shift mindsets and say, okay, I'm going to accept it and I'm going to make the most of it.

Yeah, no, for sure. Obviously, it was a long seven and a half hours home and I had a lot of time to think, made a lot of phone calls to people and I actually did kind of get over it pretty quickly. You know, I had a great, I guess, conversation to my dad and what we kind of spoke about was, you know, it's just about improving your standard of golf. And if you can improve yourself and your standard of golf, then you'll get there. You'll eventually get to the LPGA.

And it's just all about that. It's not worrying about if it's now or later. And I needed to improve. I came 15th on the money list. It wasn't good enough to be on the LPGA and I had to earn it. I think that conversation with my dad has really been the motto this year, is really trying to improve myself and my standard. Then everything else takes care of itself, which is what happened this year. Now I have my LPGA card for next year.

So it all kind of worked out. When you talk about improving your standard, where there are certain things in terms of your golf game that you really keyed in on last off season prior to this year, I'm curious how you went about raising your standard. I kind of went back to, I guess, my college days and my amateur days and how I enjoyed playing golf and I kind of went back to keeping it more simple, which is how I've always enjoyed doing it. Ever since I started at 15 and I kind of went back to that. I think when I first turned pro, I tried to be a pro, I guess, and kind of change some things that I don't think I really, I guess, needed to change and added a few things here and there.

And whereas what I feel like I've kind of learned this year is just trying to be more, you know, myself and trust myself and what I was doing and knowing that it was good enough, you know, before. And I feel like that's kind of what I've gone back to this year and works super hard on a few different things. But yeah, just trying to just kept it simple, which I've really enjoyed.

Do you think learning to win is a thing? Did you experience any of that this year? Is kind of the process of winning tournaments? Is that a real thing? For sure. And I think it's something that's priceless and you can't be taught in hours and hours of practice. I wasn't really in contention that much in 2021 when I turned pro, 2022 as well. And that's the tour. And probably maybe once or twice in the past, you know, a couple of years between 2021 and 2022. So I mean, learning, learning how to win, I definitely think is a real thing,

you know, being, you know, in the thick of it on a Sunday, and trying to maintain that lead over four rounds. It's tough mentally, physically, you know, you don't know how you're going to handle it until you're in it. And as I said, no amount of practice can teach you that. And getting my first win in Phoenix. That was huge and kind of gave me the confidence to know that I can close it out. And I can, I guess, perform under a pressure situation when I'm trying to win and want to win. And I think that kind of, who's super beneficial to me in my next two wins

and then getting that confidence. So hopefully I can kind of transfer that, winning the mentality next year. Did anything surprise you about your season this year on the Ups and Tour? I mean, obviously, you know, being number one on the money list for that whole kind of, I won the second tournament of the year and then just kind of maintaining the number one spot on the money list throughout the whole year.

I guess it did, it did kind of surprise me. I was never in that situation before and then always kind of admired the people that did that in the past and winning three times. I looked at players like Lilia Vu and Paddy Tevatanaka who I'd done that before and always looked at that and I was like wow, that's really cool. They're really doing well and then to look back on this season and be like, hey, I did that. That's, you know, that's pretty cool. So I'd say that that was, I guess, kind of surprising, but yeah, super grateful for it all. Was it difficult at all? Because you said you won the second event in the season and really from an outsider's perspective, Gabby, I mean, you were in kind of total control of the Epson tour money list this year. Was it hard to kind of stay in the moment? Did

you catch yourself at all thinking about, you know, because I believe you clinched your tour card officially in August, but even a month or two prior to that, it was like, yeah, you're going to have one of the top 10 spots. It's just a matter of where maybe. Was it hard to maybe stay in the moment a little bit? Did you ever catch yourself thinking a little bit forward? Yeah, I mean, I guess a little bit, but I guess a funny thing was about this year is that I never looked at the I guess the official money list the whole year, except for you know at the last event. And I never knew like where people were at or anything like that because I mean as I kind of spoke to I guess going back to that conversation with my dad it was just about improving my standard and kind of focusing on

on myself and trying to improve my own game. And then everything else is just kind of everything else, it's something that I can't really control. So never really never looked at the money list and I thought that was something pretty powerful. And you know just trying to focus on myself and what I could do and I guess that never really kind of got in the way. Playing good golf all year long and you're focusing obviously on your Epson season, but at the same time when you insert major championships into the middle of it and you played very good at both KPMG and the US women's open. I wonder if you can talk about them and where they fell at in the season for you.

If that kind of helped a little bit, because I think it probably provided a little bit of good separation before we get to the latter half and sponsors invites start coming and everything else. Yeah, so I got a sponsor exemption into the KPMG, I think like seven or eight events into the abs and season. After I had just won, I think my second Epson event. So that was like, it came a week before the actual event, so it was kind of a surprising one. I think I qualified for the US Open a little bit before that, so I already knew that I had US Open. But, yeah, so KPMG and US Open were back to back events this year for the LPGA. So it was quite a

intimidating stretch, I guess, going from the Epson tour to two majors. But no, that was so super cool. I was so grateful to get that sponsor exemption into a major. I mean, when does that, when does that ever happen? And it was at Baltic Rull, which is one of the most, I guess, prestigious golf courses in the US. So that was a super, super cool week. And it didn't start off great at the KPMG. I kind of had a rough front nine. I think I was like four over three nine,

but then brought it back and ended up making the cut and had a pretty good first KPMG. And then US Open was obviously amazing as well. A Pebble Beach. These venues that we're getting are absolutely crazy. Hello, so that was a really, really cool two weeks stretch and definitely learned a lot. Last thing on Epson Tour, and then I'd love to kind of look forward to 2024 a bit.

What's the hardest thing about the Epson Tour? And I guess my question is, you know, it's, is it the travel? Yeah, and it's amazing that people are like, wait a second. So we got like a hundred women going to battle Creek Michigan. And then we're staying in Michigan. And then we're going to some weird spot in Kansas. How does all this make sense?

How are they getting there? Like what is, what are the logistical constraints that are happening? Yes. And how did you travel? You know, is it a lot of time in the car? are like, what are the logistical constraints that are happening here? And how did you travel? Is it a lot of time in the car? Are you traveling with a team or parents or friends?

I'm just curious how that week-to-week experience in between tournaments is on the ups and-tour? Yeah, they're definitely a very remote locations. Like you said, I'm in the places I have never been to before and they were very, very hard to get to. I mean, we went to like French, like Indiana and Garden City, Kansas and yeah, it's not like you're flying into just major airports. Yeah, no, definitely not.

They were, I mean, that's kind of part of the absentee was they're very, very remote locations and the travel is not easy to be honest. It's kind of part of that. So they're very, very remote locations. And the travel is not easy, to be honest. It's really, really not easy. And I don't think the girls and the abs until you're gonna enough credit for all the travel that has to be done. But I guess a lot of girls drive, you know, to kind of save cost.

And they try and make it, there's like a two, three week stretch where you can drive to them and then kind of drive what eight to 12 hours to the next one So a lot of girls do that. I did not do that I you know, I'm lucky to have a base in the US So I would kind of come back here and then be able to fly out of Palm Springs or Orlando and a lot of girls do travel together

I was lucky enough to be able to travel with my mom my mom, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like,

I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like,

I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like to my ears. That when, okay, when does mom stop for her and when does like, caddy pick up and I'm sure there's like multiple other forms of your guys' relationships between, you know, a friendship, a confidant, everything else in between, but like, are there clear lines in that relationship? Or is it just like, yeah, just come on mom, we got to go to the course. We're going to admit, like, I'm not going to have my warm up time now if you're late.

No, right. No, yeah, she's great. I'm lucky with both of my parents because they were both professional tennis players. So they know, they know the ins and outs to sports. So they're not, you know, just kind of like going shopping or like, you know, like, no, no, no, no, it's going on. They know. They know. Get out of the pro shop. What do we do? like going shopping or like, you know, like, don't know what's going on. But they know. Get out of the pro shop. What do we do? Right, right, right.

They know the dedication and that is involved and an athlete. And no, she's been great. She's been pivotal to this year and last. And I mean, she doesn't really say much out there. She's a tennis player. Pretty good golfer, but a tennis player. So she kind of knows her boundaries, I guess. But she does.

She helped me with the win a couple times. A couple of reads here and there I'll give her that. I'm a greased. But no, she was great. It definitely helped physically because she was able to kind of push the cart. And a lot of girls actually on the absentee who have their parents out,, which, which really helps.

Man is, is, uh, ten, is it harder to be tennis mom or to be golf mom for her? Because I know we haven't even touched it yet, but you're, you obviously come from a very, you know, prolific tennis family. You and your brother played tennis as well, highly competitive tennis, but, uh, where they more family, you and your brother played tennis as well, highly competitive tennis, but were they more intense watching you guys on the court or actually watching you guys out playing golf? It's a great question. Like he said, it was experience both, but I think, I think they've said that golf is a more relaxing sport for them to watch because you're in a good relationship with nature. You you know you get to go to places

like Fall to Suron, Hello Beach, you know it's not bad. Garden City, Longwood, you know. Yeah yeah we can mention those right. But no I think I think golf is definitely a much more relaxing home sport for them. Tennis is quite intense and that was you know something that drove me out of the sport and I know tennis parents can be kind of brutal and intense. So yeah, I'd say they're enjoying having my brother and I in golf, for sure. As we, Gabby, as we look forward to next year, I'd love to start here. How do you think about your golf game? What do you consider your relative strengths? Do you have any, you know, areas where you're like, okay, I really need to work

these next few weeks or months before 2024 begins? I'm curious how you would describe your golf game. Curious how you would describe your golf game? Yeah, I would say some of my strengths would be my long game. I'd say my driver and my irons, my iron play, feel like I'm a pretty good ball striker. I'd say, you know what I learned in the majors, and I guess what separates me from, you know, the really top girls and the girls

that are winning and contending in majors. It's probably like the short game aspect of it, the pitching, the chipping, and the putting, just getting that a little bit more sharp. Because the girls out there, they're so good inside 100 yards and they're getting so many of those up and down. And I just really think that I need to improve that part and putting as well. You know, that's where the scoring happens, I feel like. So for me to be able to, I guess,

like, contend and, you know, internments like that and really, really tough, challenging venues like those, I feel like that is going to, you know, have to improve. And I feel like that's, yeah, that's what I've been kind of focusing on this these past couple of weeks. Yeah, he's been studying her KPMG performance insights because that's exactly what they say as well. So Kudos for you. Are you a big, like stats player? Is that something that you look at?

Are you tracking all these things? How do you kind of go about your rounds of competitive golf? No, I'm not a big stats person. Maybe I should be, I don't know, but. Well, you're already on the right page. I'm serious, I'm looking at your profile right now on the website and it's everything that you said matches exactly what you described.

Oh, wow, interesting, there we go. No, it's a game, yeah, that's excellent. I guess so, yeah, I mean, like I said before, I just try and Wow, interesting. There we go. Yeah, that's excellent. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, I mean, like I said before, I just try and keep things simple. I feel like I can really tell after around a golf, what I need to work on and kind of observe other girls and how they're you know, playing better than me or what I'm doing, I guess, better than them. But obviously, stats are great. And maybe I'll get more into that next year when we do have stats on the LPGA a little bit more. So yeah, but I just try and keep it simple, I guess, and I guess I do know my game. So there we go.

Do you from from my perspective where I said Gabby, I always feel like your game and maybe just your temperament too is really situated for difficult golf courses. And you've had what I say, a ton of success in majors already, at least in terms of made cuts, you know, being there all four rounds, gaining that experience. Do you enjoy, like when the test gets more difficult, do you feel like that gives you a little bit of an advantage? Do you enjoy difficult golf? Yeah, no, I definitely feel like I do. And I feel like I've kind of, I guess, shown that a little bit in the past with USA Amateurs and Stop kind of like the biggest test.

And I feel like my mental game is probably one of my strengths as well. And I guess temperament as well. I kind of try and remain pretty balanced and even out there. And I feel like that does help me and helps me kind of get through these tough, you know, challenging courses. And I do, I do really, really enjoy the challenge because I know that scores are not going to be too low and it's not like a birdie fest out there, so you kind of have to just, you know, remain even and also ball-striking, I feel like, is a huge component on tough golf courses. So, parts are good out there and just kind of hitting a lot of greens

or meaning study are really good on, you know, is really good on courses like that. And I feel like that's one of my strengths. So, yeah, I definitely look forward to, I guess, the tougher courses and venues and challenges. Do you think you're time playing tennis? And again, just for those that might not know, Gabby played really from the time you were very young

up until what, 14, 15, you played high level junior tennis in Australia and competed in international tournaments. How much do you draw on maybe that tennis experience and does anything with the mindset that has it helped you in your golf career? on maybe that tennis experience and does anything with the mindset has it helped you in your golf career? Yes, for sure, I would say so. A lot of people ask me if I would trade,

I guess my tennis years and I've started golf earlier, but I would say no, I feel like it's definitely helped me, especially with the mental side of things, for sure, and just knowing how to work, you know, the work ethic, the competitiveness. And I feel like when I stopped playing tennis, I was just so used to that really intense work ethic. And I feel like I kind of transferred that into golf. And yeah, I definitely, you know, feel like that's helped me. And the competitive side of things, you know, learning how to close out of match, how to win, you know, how to remain level out there. You know, it's all, I feel like all sports can kind of correlate mentally for sure.

And, you know, that's also why I kind of drawn my parents' experiences with their tennis. Because I feel like a lot of it definitely correlates. So, yeah, I wouldn't trade my tennis years, and I definitely feel like it's helped me. When did you actually start playing golf? Because this has always blown my mind. Because if you look at me, I don't even want to hear what year did you start playing? Okay so I played my first 18 holes in December 2014. See that? It's insane to think about it's really insane. Yeah I mean I played a little bit like growing up but never played 18 holes

and when I started I was using my dad's clubs when I was 15 I didn't have my own set. I think I got my own set when I was 15. It's been a quick progression I guess. Yeah, it's crazy to think about. So you really started playing golf full-time in 2015 started playing golf full time in 2015. And then if we leap forward, like you won the USAM in 2019, but in between that time, you're already playing in like major amateur events back in Australia,

traveling all over the place. How did you pick the game up so fast? Yeah, I mean, I think kind of being around golf with my brother, my brother started playing golf before I did, maybe like five, seven years before I did. So I was always around it and you, I knew what was going on and you would have birdie apart. Everything like that was, I knew what was going on.

Did it make him mad? Your progression? I don't know, he can ask him. I don't know, I can ask him. I don't know. I haven't really asked him, but I know he's super supportive. But yeah, and I think also kind of going back to my tennis was that I had that super hard work ethic from tennis, because I was putting in the hours long, long days for tennis.

And then when I stopped playing tennis, I was so used to being active and then just kind of transferred that work ethic in the long days, I guess, into golf. Yeah, it worked super hard. I was at the golf course like all day, every day. And yeah, I definitely feel like that, you know, just I guess the long hours really, really helped me progress super quick. Gabby, are you a goal setter? And if so, have you thought about 2024 yet? And what, you know, a successful rookie season might look like for you?

Yeah, I've never really set goals, to be honest. I know that's kind of different to what a lot of people, you know, do. And I never really have. And I just kind of, I guess, I keep going back to the conversation with my dad, but it's always just been about trying to improve myself and my standard and whatever happens happens. And I just kind of put that like in a basket

where I can't control that. And I guess for a lot of people, like setting goals is to do with motivation to kind of get yourself up, get yourself up every morning and try and go out there and you know go to the gym and go practice and everything. But I truly enjoy that. Just myself and I feel like motivation is definitely there. And I'm always just trying to improve myself and I guess whatever happens happens and the results I guess

kind of take care of itself. So never been a huge goal setter. And yeah, I guess that kind of goes back to just trying to keep things simple. If you were not playing professional golf, what would you be doing? Like, okay, like in my career? Yeah, say I'm taking, you cannot play professional golf. What is Gabby Ruffles doing? Ever again, what are you doing with your life? That'd be sad. I don't know.

It would be sad, but I'm trying to see if there's any other, what are the hobbies, other influences, other things going on that excite you, that you are passionate about in your life, because I know golf is front and center there, but I'm always curious to see it, because some people are like, well, I'm, you know, I would like to start a business.

I would like to, you know, help rescue animals or something like that. I always find it so interesting to see because you guys get to see all different places of the world and you have so many different influences that you pick up through travels and it's always so interesting to see what people pick up and carry on with them.

Yeah, I mean, I love sports and I also love fashion and fashion and sports and I was doing like a little master's program no longer. I mean, it sounds very impressive, but no longer. I couldn't keep up with it. But I was doing like a little master's course in fashion, in fashion design. And I love that kind of aspect of it. And I'd love to one day have a or a brand from Nike and try and design.

Just going to say that. Yeah, yeah, golf clothing for women, especially. I feel like that kind of space can really improve. I love, and I would love, I'm really interested in stuff like that. And yeah, this makes me think maybe I should pick up that master's course again. Well, I can't wait to see the Gabby Ruffles line by Nike. I have three little girls and I know this is the rare major championship that you are disappointed in that you did not make the cut out, but we followed you around pine needles

and all three of my little little girls and they're always like, wow, daddy, her hair is so pretty, her braid is, hair is so pretty her braids They were obsessed about the braids and the visors that you were wearing and They have you have yet to put that down So you have three big fans at least in this household that I know are gonna bring you on for a long long time to come Thank you. I appreciate that. No, I love I love all that stuff and I love you know the office that Nike does and all that fascinates me. So I'm glad Well wonderful Gabby we we really really appreciate you taking the time during your off season

We really enjoy speaking with you and wish you nothing but the best of luck Not only this winter, down under, but certainly as you get started in earnest in 2024 out on the LPGA. Thank you guys, thanks so much for having me. Give it a right club. Be the right club today. Yes.

Beats. That's better than most. How about it? That is better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most.