Subpar - Lt Col Dan Rooney Interview: Working with Jack Nicklaus, his new book 'Fly into the Wind'

Episode Date: November 17, 2020

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, Lt Col Dan Rooney, an Air Force fighter pilot, joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and his close friend and on course rival Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview. The founder of Folds of Honor talks the origins of the foundation, his work with Jack Nicklaus designing courses, and what readers can expect from his new book 'Fly into the Wind: How to Harness Faith and Fearlessness on Your Ascent to Greatness.'

Hello world. Welcome to this week's episode of Golf Subpar, Colt Nose, Drew Stoltz, coming off the 2020 Masters in November. And the number one player in the world got the job done. Dustin Johnson is your champ. As it should be, after watching that performance last week, we had our little gambling episode this past week where we're going through all our picks, my picks, your picks, the pros, everybody. And I feel like pretty much we picked a lot of the same guys, but everyone up there but DJ, I feel like was picked. You love Jay TLA. Yeah, exactly. In hindsight, it's like, was this? He was just hiding in plain sight. He's like, here's the world number one.

He hasn't played bad in a long, long time. FedEx Cup champion had a couple weeks off for Corona, but bounced back pretty quick. It's like, why were we not heavier on D-Jet? I mean, hindsight's 2020, but, I mean, damn. Yeah, you're looking at a guy in his last seven starts. He's got three wins, three seconds, and a sixth at the U.S. open. You know, finished second at the Masters last year.

I have no idea what I was thinking. I'm going to apologize. Yeah. Finished second in Houston and his first week back after coronavirus, but he put on a driving display and just absolutely dominated the field. I mean, it really, it got close for a second on Sunday after the fifth hole. But other than that, I mean, it was just an absolute runaway performance. After the fifth, you're exactly, I got a little title. I was like, oh, we might have a ball game. Sung Jay sneaking up. Maybe Cam Smith does two. And then

the shot he hit on six, the par three, the back right pan, which is so hard to get to. As soon as he hit that close and it was just night, night from there. I never even got close after that point. Yeah. Listen, I'm very happy we had a master's this year. It'd have been weird if we didn't. And they did the best they could. The golf course wasn't quite in the condition. I think they wanted it. They couldn't just, they never could get it as firm as they wanted to. Like that shot he ended in the six, hit behind the hole and stopped, which a lot of times in the past we see it bounce over and leads to a lot of stress. But you know what?

You got to take your hat off to Augustin National. They got the job done. And a lot of people are going to complain that he broke the scoring record. But listen, you can't control Mother Nature. You know, they had a lot of warm, a lot of warm mornings, which kept them from drying the greens out. But at the end of the day, the best player in the world won. Yeah, absolutely.

And I want to ask you this because so much, there are a lot of questions going into this Masters, I felt like, namely, what's Bryson going to do? We just saw him last time he came out at U.S. Open obliterated everyone. What's he going to do? We heard about his practice rounds and where he was hitting it and the clubs he was hitting in. What's Tiger going to look like? So many questions going into this thing. And then at the end of the day, we got Dustin Johnson, number one player in the world

who absolutely just ran away with this thing, right? Set the all-time scoring record, put on a driving display. It was perfect. And the golf world, I feel like right now, myself included, is like, that's perfect. That's the guy that should have won. He's the best player in the world. Well-deserved. Hats off to him.

I want to ask you a hypothetical here. let's just flip the name Dustin Johnson and Bryson Dishambeau in and out for one another. If Bryson had gone out, shot 20 under, set the scoring record, done exactly what Dustin did in the same fashion, do you think, what do you think the conversation is around that win versus the way it is with DJ right now? It would be outrage, wouldn't it? I think all hell breaks loose. Honestly, I mean, if you win the U.S. Open by 6 and the Masters by 5 and you break

the scoring record, they're going to be like, okay, what he's doing is not right, we've got to change everything. But with it being Dustin Johnson, and, I mean, first off, Dustin Johnson's at nine miles as well. Exactly. He's hitting it not far off from where Bryson's in. it, but everyone, and when he gets done, it's like, oh, great job, kudos. There's no, how do we change against the national? Do they add, what do we do to the golf ball?

Let's roll it back. It's like, he ain't hitting it too far off where Bryson's sitting there, but nobody seems to care. Everything's so documented with Bryson. You know, they show him working out. They show his videos, him getting off the plane into his Bentley, and they show all his, this ball speed, how high it's going. And here's Dustin. He just like, I'm not posting any of this stuff.

He told us the other day at Grove 23. He's like, I got to my highest ever, 193 ball speed, which it's pretty damn fast. I mean, it's not 215, but it's one, niney three. three is pretty damn fast and the way he drove I mean he drove it so straight he didn't miss a fairway on Saturday yeah he drove it for that for the distance he's hitting it I don't care how big the fairways are and how soft I mean to shoot seven under it 14 to 14 fareways is unbelievable he drives it like that and he and he's won by wide margins in the past too but when he gets in the kind of the groove he did with a driver this week good luck I mean I don't care go give bryson

his best go give bryson you know hitting it the way he did at the u.s. open or something like I'd take my chances with dj all cylinders firing versus just about anybody out there right now I mean, I think he proved that when he's on his A game, he can't be beaten. I mean, if you look back, I think he's, of his 24 wins, he's won 54% of them by three or more shots. So just think about that. I mean, no one runs away from Fields the way Dustin Johnson does. A lot of people say Roy McRoy, but what have you done for me lately? He hadn't done it in a while.

He used to be the guy that was like, hey, when everything's, when all cylinders are clicking, he might be the guy. We saw what he did it, congressional, Kiowa, things like that. Like, he could run away, but we haven't seen it in so long. What did you think about what we got from him, though? I think he finished snuck in a little sneaky top five. It wasn't, you know, he was never really in the hunt or anything like that. But here's Rory again, not given quite his best stuff, but yet still finishing the top five. Yeah, I think it's a place he's going to win out eventually.

But he struggled there. He gets off to that slow start, opened with 75. I mean, you can't spot 10 shots to Dustin Johnson. You're just after one round. You're not going to catch him. But yeah, it's just he hasn't figured out how to get off to that start he needs at Augusta National. But listen, this is all about Dustin Johnson, in my opinion. I loved what I saw when he sat down with Amanda Ballionis afterwards.

You know, he couldn't talk. He was, you know, caught up with all the emotions. And me being as close to him as I was so happy, I was tearing up crying when he was crying. But it was so cool to see. That's the Dustin Johnson people don't see. And I was so glad that he let the world see that. I think that's what made that so cool. I said right after the people I was sitting with, I was like, I think that's the best post-masters interview I've ever said.

And by the way, he didn't even say anything. But here's a guy that, like, he's as even killed on the golf course as anybody out there. There's no ups, there's no downs. You barely get a fist pump from him when he wins a golf tournament. And yet here he was in Butler's, cabin and then afterwards with with Amanda and couldn't put a sentence together and you just see how much it means him because it a lot of people I feel like look at Dustin Johnson be like oh dude he's just he's just that talented like he doesn't have to work hard he's just you know blessed like physically

but you saw you know he talked a little bit about how hard he works and what he goes through and things like that but then to get him out there and actually see the guy behind the curtain a little bit take a peek at that was pretty cool because that's a DJ that none of us have really ever seen before yep well hats off to Dustin Johnson he's your 2020 Masters champ and he'll be defending in about six months. Yeah. Five months. Good news for him.

Yeah, bad news for the rest of the field, though, because he's going to be the favorite going in, and I can't wait to see what he does around there in April. But right now, Sleeze, we got a very, very special guest, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, who is just about to, he was releasing a new book today, fly into the wind. This guy, I've known him for a long time. He started the Folds of Honor Foundation, one of the greatest dudes on the planet. This is a guy that, like, I feel like the word hero gets thrown around a lot, right? That guy's a hero.

That guy's this or that. Like, it gets thrown around too much. my mind. This guy right here, it's hard to come away from that and not be like, he is a hero. He's an inspiration. He's served our country. And once he's gotten done doing that, he's continuing to put all his time and effort into, like helping other people. This guy's story and everything he gets done, like you know, I've talked about. Like, after we speak with him, I never feel like I do less in my life than after I get done talking with him. He does so much. He is, he's a guy. Whenever I get a text from Dan Rooney and it's asking me to help out with something, I mean, there's no never crosses my mind.

I mean, this guy, he sacrificed so much like you said. And you do anything to help. this guy out. I mean, like I said, he started the Folds of Honor Foundation. He's a PGA professional. He's made three trips to Iraq. I mean, he's done it all. And I can't wait for y'all to hear this interview with him. Before we get to Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, here's a word from our official sponsor, Bushnell. Yes, absolutely. And this is the special Patriot Pack right here. So being that we interviewed Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney today and his involvement with the folds of honor, this is a special deal right here. Not only will you be receiving a discount on your Bushnell rangefinder, which is the best in the business. A portion of the proceeds from these sales goes to

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using coupon code Subpar 25 during checkout. Here he is, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney. We are honored to be joined by our next guest. He is former F-16 fighter pilot with three combat tours in Iraq. He's also the founder of Folds of Honor, also a PGA professional, and the author of a new book entitled Fly Into the Wind, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney. It is a pleasure to have you on Subpar. Man, blessed to be with you guys.

And just for the record, not that I really care, but I'm still flying fighters. So I'm not a former. Oh, current. But I'll be flying fighters at an England Air Force base this week down in Florida. So all good. That is incredible. Well, first off, congratulations. He mentioned the book.

That's coming out today, correct? November 17th. November 17th, you got it. Yep. So you want to get into the book a little bit or do you want to go back to your beginning? Yeah, let's go back a little bit for people that are listening that might not be as familiar with your story as we are. Give us a little background on kind of how you decided to be a fighter pilot and then also getting so involved in the game of golf. Okay, so it's pretty cool because it does.

It all ties into the book, right? Because the book is my life and the things I've learned along this crazy 47 years. So to go all the way back, public math 35 years ago, fighter pilot's worst nightmare of public math. So I'm 12 years old, and I'm playing golf with my dad, who is just an amazing guy. and it's taught me so many lessons in life. But I have this epiphany. The day before this round, I played golf with the first fighter pilot I'd ever met, Steve Cortright, Reno.

And this dude looks like he walked out a top gun. He's probably 40 years old and my first man crush. And so the next day I'm on the course with my dad, I'm like, dad, hey, my dream has always been to be a PGA professional, but I have a new dream and I want to do both things. I want to be a club pro and a fighter pilot. And his response to me was very interesting. I never forget it.

And he looked at me and he said, son, can you tell me which way an airplane takes off? I'm like, well, is it into the wind? He said, that's exactly right. And so he's preparing this 12-year-old kid with these very unlikely dreams for the inevitable headwinds that would stand between me and recognizing what I thought was the ultimate job description. Obviously, God's had a bigger plan for me as well. but I had no idea, right, how God would, again, put these things together to, you know, send me on this journey and put me on subpar with you two fine Americans today to talk about

a new book, which is a miracle in itself that I could actually write a book. That is. Yeah, I've known you for quite a while. When I met you, you were major, Dan Rooney. So congratulations on becoming lieutenant colonel, but I got to ask you, what's harder? Flying a fighter pilot or fighter plane or playing golf? You know, so here's the thing. So the commonalities are it's both about hitting targets. About being able to be incredibly nervous and under pressure and still execute.

I think the reason I'm addicted to both is because I'm a single seat fighter pilot and golf. There's no referee, right? There's nobody to pass the ball to. At the end of the day, it is you against, you know, yourself. and when that works out, very few things as rewarding in my life have I ever experienced. On the flip side of that, I would say that golf makes me hate myself worse than anything I've ever done as well. And we understand that as golfers.

But at the end of the day, it's probably flying fighter jets, cold. I mean, there are very few people in the world that get to do that. And I would just say the consequences of a shot out of bounds in that world versus is, you know, flaring one in the ditch at the Patriot. The stakes are a lot higher. So I'd lean toward the fighter pilot world, but both things are difficult and rewarding in their own ways. Yeah, that's a good point. There's a pretty big gap between playing golf and flying a fighter jet.

Are you the only, those are pretty two extremes there. Are you the only guy in the world that carries both of those titles? I am. Yeah, I'm the only guy in a history of the world to be a PGA club pro and a fighter pilot. Wow. A rare bird doesn't do much for my bank account, but it's a, it's an interesting tour stat. You are so much cooler than me and Drew.

Yeah, you are one of one. Yeah, after I was, I dug into everything last night and I told Colt this morning, I was like, I don't think I've ever felt less accomplished in my life than I did after reading everything there is to know about Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney. I was like, we are doing nothing right now. It's true. We are, we just entertain. Yeah, that's slightly different.

Yeah. But Lieutenant Colonel, let's talk a little about. We appreciate you. Thank you so much. Let's talk a little bit about Folds of Honor. Right, right. But you started Folds of Honor. Is it 13 years ago now?

13 years ago. 13 years ago and above our garage and, you know, we're so blessed. That's my life calling. It's seven days a week. So I never work. But 28,000 scholarships we've awarded the spouses and children. We've had somebody killed or disabled. But $130 million out the door and the ability to work with the PG of America.

And, you know, great companies like Titleist or Budweiser or. Southwest Airlines, Coca-Cola. I mean, it's just incredible to see people come to this mission. And I said it's a folds of honors. It's a beautiful irony that when you're reaching out to help someone, you're actually the one being helped. And, you know, one really, I think, relevant statistic as we've had this challenging year of 2020 with all this racial tension, is that 41% of our recipients are minorities. And a humble opinion of one that, you know, education is the only lasting bridge to quality in this country. So it's, you know, personally, I think one more thing to love about folds of honor and the mission that that we're on. Yeah. I want to go back to that quote,

you just said, because I wrote this down and I want you to explain it a little bit. You said it's an amazing irony that when you reach out to help someone in need, you are often the one being helped. Can you explain that a little bit? Yeah. And I actually talk about it in the book. I define it as service before self. And I think it's the general rule, number one, the less you focus on yourself in your life, the happier you're going to be, the more fulfilled you're going to be, and that, you know, the path to fulfillment begins with helping other people. And if you're not dedicating a percentage of every day you wake up by truly doing something for someone else, I don't think you're ever going to be fulfilled. And, you know, that's God's greatest blessing on me.

I was not that guy. I was A-plus personality fighter pilot, golf pro, and a pretty average human being before I started this journey called Folds of Honor. I'm still in, but I think I've evolved and that, you know, helping others, I think is the way God designs us. And that if your heart's not full and you feel like something's missing in your life, that that is the first place to look. Well, what you do is, I mean, it's absolutely incredible in the success you've had, providing the, you know, scholarships to families of fallen and disabled veterans. But do you ever get a chance to meet personally these families that you're helping out and actually, like, interact with them, shake their hands, and see what kind of a difference.

difference you've made. Yeah, I, you know, I've met thousands of the families and it goes back to that, you know, that quote we just talked about. I've just, it's like touching the light. And I think the purest form of good is doing something for someone and expecting nothing in return. And these families have gone through so much. Their lives have been torn apart and to get to play a role and putting that back together is, you know, it's the, it's the greatest blessing of my life. And, you know, but for all of us, I mean, it's just not the military. And again, going back kind of the book, the message of flying to the wind is that so often God takes things apart in order to put them back together. And that's a story that's written throughout the ages. I mean, look at, look at Tiger Woods

this year, when of the masters. I mean, I don't, there's, there's no more powerful rise and fall that I've ever witnessed, at least in a, you know, in a public viewing. But that's what we get to do for these military families is bring this beautiful light to inherently dark, dark places. Yeah, and Sleeves, or Drew hasn't had the opportunity, but I've played in your Patriot Cup several times. And I mean, one of the coolest events I've ever been a part of. There's no doubt. But if you go to that gala the night before and you leave out of there without a tear shed, you're not human. It is the most touching thing I've ever been a part of. And it's an honor to always be there for you. And we love having you cold. And we always have enough cold.

Budweiser, which is a hard thing to do when you're crawling into town, but you never fail to do. And so keep coming and we'll take care of you. Well, I mean, you put us up at a casino and then you have Cold Budweiser and golf. I mean, I'm in heaven. I know. That's two of my favorite things on earth. And I get to use those to make a difference. I mean, it doesn't get any better than that.

I love it so much. But we mentioned you got the book coming out, but there's also a TV series coming out on Fox. It's going to be called. There is. Let me, yeah, so let me unpack this for a second. And you know, I'm very rarely serious. I like to just kind of laugh and smile my way through life. But this book comes from that whole principle of, hey, we have to take off into the wind because we need resistance to a sand. And I don't think our lives are any different. And I personally went through a bunch of hard stuff, like over a 10-year period. And that's where I wrote this book. And it was about the lessons that I learned and how my life changed and I really felt, you know, called by God to share it. And, you know, we look at 10 years. And the one thing I promise you is all three of us will wake up in 10 years from now and say, like, where did that time go? But this book is engineered in a way

that you can answer that question. And it is, you know, I guess it's fighter pilot's probably one of the things that we're really good at doing versus the regular population is taking in copious amounts of information and prioritizing that information. And this book is hyper-focused on the things that we can control every day in our lives to make sure that we're evolving to our best selves. And I would say it's more of a journey than a read. It forces us to kind of slow down in order to speed up. But it ties together this common denominator of human struggle and it's inevitable.

right, you will struggle. You're going to have times that you're winning, but living by a code as I do every day, and I call it Caboo, which is a crazy acronym, but it stands for sealing and visibility unlimited. It's a fighter pilot acronym, and I really believe that, you know, God creates every day with unlimited potential, but it's up to us and the, you know, the choices that we make. And, you know, in the book and specifically in the show, I integrate a bunch of the principles of this code of living that there are 12 lines of effort every day that I live by. So an LOE is a military term. And when my first episode is actually David Faradie on the on the show, and I sit down and I talked to, you know, wildly successful people about their darkest places

they've ever been to in their lives. And that fly into the wind moment where they didn't think they were going to make it to the next day. And I have been there and looked at the, that day and more importantly you know what did they learn in that storm how did their lives change and what advice do they have for people that are struggling and you know we got 20 veterans a day committing suicide right now more than we've ever lost in the field of battle mental health is you know a ubiquitous struggle especially when we look at you know years like 2020 and you know both the show and the book are built in a way to really help people right look at where they are where they want to go and have an intentional pathway to get there because, I mean,

we're all bombarded, right? We're drinking through a fire hose every one of us every day, more to do, not enough time to get it done. And this is, you know, it's a beautiful code of living in the book and from the guests on the new show that they share how they've, you know, gotten through and evolved as, it's better people as a result of the struggles in their life. When does that show come out and how can people watch it? So the show just dropped last week on Fox Nation.

So you can go to Fox Nation. It's also coming out on IHeart Radio is a podcast. And so they can go out there. The cool thing is when Fox Nation is a subscription based. But when you subscribe, they kick back funds to folds of honor for everybody that subscribes to the channel. And it's first season's Farity. Greg Norman, Dara Torres.

Herschel Walker and Urban Meyer, and I will tell you this, that I learned in my first season, that when you meet someone that has accomplished something great, I promise you they have a polarizing struggle in their life that is equally as challenging as the greatness as they've achieved in their life. You just finished, you know, you got your book coming out and fly into the wind where you kind of lay out the things to improve one's life and how to live the best life. And then you go and talk to these guys who have had incredible, you know, journeys as Well, did you learn anything new after talking with these guests that you've had who have accomplished a ton that you didn't, maybe hadn't thought about leading up to writing the book? Yeah. I mean, absolutely.

You know, I loved, at the end of every show, we end with like a final piece of advice. And I go back to the, you know, I was texting with Farity last night and he watched the episode and was crying. And, you know, it's what he said at the end. I mean, he had so many great pieces of advice. but it was like, you know, just be where you are right here, right now. And I think for people that are struggling when we look at suicide and mental health, that tomorrow can be a daunting thing, right? When we look too far out in the lens of life and, you know, you're on Monday and you're

looking at Friday's calendar thinking, how the hell am I going to make it through this week? But it's the, you know, the one bite at a time that we go through. One of my favorite questions in the show, which is the last, L-O-E in the book is go before you're ready. And so like the common thread of greatness, the DNA, defiant DNA that ties greatness together is these people have always had a moment that they went before they were ready to go. And they all share that moment, like this enormous leap of fate.

Like, you know, Greg Norma was a 15 handicap when you decided to be a professional golfer. Are you kidding me? And it's like, you know, as a fighter pilot, we got, I got four. rides with an instructor and an F-16. The fifth ride was by myself. And I went and flew a $45 million fighter that if it was up to me, I would have never gone to do. But these moments change you forever. And so many people in their lives wait until the perfect time to get a new job or to get in a different relationship or whatever it might be. And you've got to get to that point where you have

this reckless faith and you live, as I call, between the realm of fear and faith in your life if you want to do great things. And everybody's answer to that has blown my mind. Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, I love that. Go before you're ready. And I was reading about when you said this and you said, basically, I'm going up solo. I didn't know what half the buttons did or half the levers and switches in the fighter jet did. But yet here you are and you're going to go up by yourself. I mean, were you scared to death when that thing took off? Oh, yeah, but it was, you know, I was either going to go or I was going to wash out of the program. So 4.8% of the people that start the fighter jet training, they spent about $8 million on you over two and a half years will make it through.

And this was one of those moments that you go solo or you're out of the program. And hell yeah, man, I was, I was scared. But what a gift. And that's, I mean, it's like God's like divine currency is out there on the ragged edges of life. And he truly rewards those who just, you know, throw common sense, throw their own reservations to the wind and they just go. That's incredible. I can't imagine getting one of those things.

Here I go for the first time. But I would imagine for you, it's also the thing that makes you feel like maybe the most alive and gets your adrenaline going and just make you have to be present up there. I know you said when we first started the intro, you're still flying. How often are you able to get up in the air right now? Yeah. So we're up. I'm up about a week.

a month. I'm an aggressor pilot. So it's kind of like Viper and Top Gun and fly out of Egglin Air Force Base. So it's a it's a really cool job. And I love the Proverbs of 27 that we kind of educate with. It's iron sharpens iron is, you know, one man sharpens another. And we're making each other better all the time in the air and on the ground. And it's just a, you know, an awesome band of brothers that I get to share that piece of my life with, not unlike my golf life. So two of the best people, groups of people you'll ever meet. That is awesome. I cannot wait to read the book flying into the wind. But I want to talk a little bit about your golf courses you have. You have the Patriot in Tulsa and then American Dunes, which just recently opened, right? Yeah, but both in the book,

huge fly into the wind moments in my life, moments that, you know, I faced bankruptcy, You know, just huge headwinds and built it. Everybody jokes. If I'm going to build a golf course, get out of the stock market. So if I ever do another one, get out of the stock market. 2008, we built a Patriot here in Tulsa. I'm looking at my back window at it right now. Man, it's awesome.

Obviously, you've been here, Colton experienced the Patreon at 1,300 hours every day. We play taps. and the bell tolls 13 times signifying the 13 folds that bring the flag to its triangle shape. The whole club shuts down. You know, Robert Trent Jones Jr. did the golf course. It's an amazing track, but, you know, it's God country and golf in that order here. We are not politically correct. If you don't like it, don't show up.

We don't care. But we are reverent. And then, you know, a perfect example. And so Jack's in the book. my new book, Fly Into the Wind. And there are two stories about Jack, the one about American Dune. So it was my family's golf course. Folds of Honor started there with our first little golf tournament.

So that was the significance. And we were, again, you know, facing bankruptcy and maxed out the credit cards. And in this moment of despair, had it never happened, right? I never go make this meeting. I sit down with Jack Nicholas. I fly to the Bears Club, meet with them. And I'm like, hey, Jack, I have this idea. it's called American Dunes.

We could forever preserve the birthplace of folds of honor. Would you design it? And he was like, yeah, but my fees, three million bucks. How are we going to pay that? And so obviously, he smiled and winked at me. He said, man, Dan, I'd never charge you a penny. I'm in. Let's put together your friends and my friends.

And so two and a half years later, flying into the wind, American Dunes will open May 2nd of 2021. And what makes this thing so unique is 100% of any profit that's made goes directly back to benefit folds of honor. And it is just, man, it's reverent to all the things that the people that listen to your show and high golf IQs. This place is just so experiential from the fighter squadron bar. We get a 16 person lodge. But the golf is in sand dunes along Lake Michigan. And it is, it's going to take its place in a really special genre and golf.

I guarantee you that. That's so cool. How nervous were you when you showed up at Bears Club to have the meeting with Jack Nichols and asked him to design your golf course? Had you talked to him before? Was that just like first time meeting? No, so I'd met him a couple times. I had it all rehearsed, right?

You know, I'd chair flown this thing, my brain exactly how I'm going to say it. And I went, as I call it, they're level one, level two, level three. three relationships in life, you know, level three being like the deep, like bear your soul to the people in your inner circle. And I literally, I mean, I went in there and I just threw up all over him. I mean, just out of the window. Oh, my God, there's my life. This is what's going on. This is my dream. And he's just staring at me with my hero eyes, right? This guy's been my hero, my whole life. These blue eyes just staring at me. I'm like, oh, my God. And at the end of it, I mean, he's, I mean, he literally has become like a dad to me. That part of this journey.

has been incredible and, you know, being in their home and Barbara's, you know, asking my daughters how they want their eggs cooked and that piece of this living and getting to hang out with your boyhood hero on this journey has just been nuts. And it's always dangerous to meet your hero too because usually you've built them up to something in your mind that is, is untouchable. But I will tell you that Jack and Barbara both are 10 times my boyhood. hero's imagination and it is just such a blessing to be on this walk with uh with them yeah that's that's very well said um it's crazy but with your crazy schedule how much golf do you get to play right now and what's your game like don't sandbag us dude oh it well number one who cares about my golf no one

except me that's like most golfers unless you're playing for a living nobody cares about your game except you uh but my game is good i'm playing in some section events and it's definitely been COVID's been a rebirth from my game because I haven't been traveling and got a great track out out the backyard here. And I'll leave you with this, Cole, because this is good as we're winding down. But one of the LOEs in the book is called parasitic drag. And so on October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. And in order to break through the sound barrier, they had to eliminate the parasitic drag on the leading edges of the wings of the Bell X1. And in life, we all have parasitic drag.

And it's the stuff that prevents you from getting to where you want to get to. And it can manifest itself. I mean, it can be relationships in your life. It can be, you know, too much alcohol. It can be your weight. It can be your ego. Jack, Nicholas actually shared an awesome story about his ego was his parasitic drag early on in his golf career because he was so good. you stop practicing. So it manifests itself in different ways, but in regards to my golf game,

which nobody cares about, I was able to eliminate some parasitic drag during the COVID after I had drank and ate everything I could until like February. And I'm like, well, this is not sustainable and got on a big rehab program to fix some stuff that was preventing me from really playing golf and I've shed a bunch of a bunch of parasitic drag in the form. of weight and some core strength and so it's been really fun to uh to get back and compete in some section events and and do stuff like that but uh i got a couple years until i make it to the champions tour i love it i'm kidding but uh no man it's um that's good awesome i don't know if there's a doctor or an exterminator whoever it handles that uh on earth that can handle all of our parasitic drag that we

got right here at this table right now drag is not the proper word for that i think that doesn't do it justice It's good. It's an honest inventory is required. So Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, we do this with every guest we have on subpart. It's called Emergency Nine. It's nine, just fun questions to get to know you a little better. I know. I'm a haven't watcher. I love it. Perfect. Well, you get the deal.

Well, let's get right to it. There's a movie made about the life of Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney. You can pick any actor to play you. Who's it going to be? Dude, that is so hard. Gary Seneas, the original Lieutenant Dan! Oh, might have jumped the gun a little on one of mine I got coming up, but that's a good one. That's good.

I had you peg as Jim Carrey. We have to do something with the hair a little bit, but I think Hollywood could figure that out. See, I had you as Bruce Willis because, you know, football, and you're a badass. Oh, yeah. Fire pilot. I don't know if Jim Carrey is a big enough badass. No, he's definitely not. No, very different political views, too.

Okay, perfect. We'll get into that a whole other time. All right, well, I got it. We didn't get to bring this up in the interview, but you are good friends with Gary Woodland. you're actually the efficient at his wedding. I want to ask you this, what's a more impressive accomplishment for Gary Woodland, winning the U.S. Open or being able to convince an actual woman

to spend the rest of his life with him? Oh, man, that shot he hit on 17 was pretty good. But I would definitely say Gabby is his major championship in life. And that's our most divine moment. God puts you together with somebody you spend the rest of your life for, and so no doubt. But thankfully, he gets to do both, right? He does.

He actually told me a great. he did hate didn't he oh he is i love hanging on him we got we got more to get to with him by the way too we almost did nine questions about gary he did tell me a great story how you you said you wanted to come up and see the family and everything and he flew up one day and he and you land and you're like oh i can't wait to see gabby and jacks he's like well they're out of town and you're like well i would have came another day he goes i thought you were here to see me i know i was there and he didn't tell you the rest of the story i hit him up to sponsor a hole at american dunes uh so he sponsored a hole at american dunes it's the 13th hole and it's 677 yards long large longest par five at

altitude in the u.s fittingly so of course that's what gary would do yeah you should charge him by the yard for that hole by the way all right i got this next one number three if you could pick any pGA tour player to be a fighter pilot who would it be who do you think can make it Please don't say Gary. No. It's definitely not Gary. It's definitely too frequently. He's got too much ADD.

Zach Johnson. Oh, yeah. Great patriot. Just because, number one, he's the right size. And number two, he is such a thinker, right? And so methodical. And I love his grit. And that is one of the number one characteristic.

required to be a fighter pilot because it's a hard business. The beatings will continue to morale improves. And if you don't have it right here, you won't make it in that world. That's awesome. All right, Zach Johnson, your next step. All right. Have you ever used your F-16 to buzz the tower at your home golf course, the Patriot Club there?

Multiple times. Nice. An awesome story. And when the PGA championship was here, I took David Faradie for a backseat ride. And we actually buzzed Southern Hills and got a noise complaint. We were so low. We came over at maybe 300 feet, about 450 knots on Wednesday.

And we rattled a lot of windows at Southern Hills. So that's pretty cool. But, you know, the most fun is getting to do a flyby in your hometown and having your kids out in the front yard and pile on it around the house. And they're like, yeah, that's dad. How would fair to handle it? Any puke involved? Nope. No,

no pew. That's a longer story, one of the funniest stories of my life. I'll come back and tell you that in five minutes. But no, he did not throw up. That is hilarious. Good for him. I love it. Well, Lieutenant Colonel, I'm fascinated with the fighter pilot call signs.

And I'm pretty sure I know where yours comes from, but I'd like to you explain anyway. Yours is Noonan. Yeah. Who gave that to you and where did it come from? So number one, you have no say in your call sign. whatsoever. It is a tradition. I mentioned before the training is you got a 95% chance you're going to fail in the training. You run the gauntlet. You get through the training. You show up in your fighter squad and you get your new name tag and guess what it has on it. FNG, which stands for something new guy.

And so you wear this name tag. Amen, right? So you know where you fit in the in the in the in the in the pecking order. You wear this name tag for a year and a half. You go to combat. You prove yourself. in combat, there's a super secret naming ceremony that you have nothing to do with other than you participate in some kind of crude ways. And then at the end of it, they give you your call sign. So my call sign is Noonan, Danny Newton from Caddy Shack, golf pro, fighter pilot. And people are always let down. We're like, oh, your call sign's Newton. But, man, if you ever meet a fighter pilot, they're like, my call sign is Iceman or Maverick, they're a complete tool, okay? I love it. Dude, it's great. That's perfect. Yeah, that feels like the most,

appropriate name possible. All right, you kind of touched on this earlier, but when you saw Forrest Gump for the first time, did you ever think to yourself, damn it, my friends are going to call me Lieutenant Dan for the rest of my life? So I went through four years as a second and first lieutenant in the United States Air Force just after Forrest Gump had come out. And everywhere I went, it was Lieutenant Dan. It was hideous. There's never been anybody in the history of the Air Force more happy to be a promoter to captain in my life. Gary Seneas is a dear friend. You talk about an awesome supporter of the troops. And our little banter every time we see each other, it's like, hey, bro, I was the real Lieutenant Dan. You just played one in the movie. And he was like, yep.

That is awesome. I love that. Well, we got to go back to Gary Woodland for a second. Obviously, your book is coming out flying into the wind. Say there's some crazy chance that Gary Woodland actually ever writes a book what would the title of gary woodland's autobiography be and you could feel free to make fun of him because i have a title oh man i i mean it's it's something i guess it's bad i mean it's like i was like no long ball um and uh i don't know i don't have anything good i love him too much to totally crush on him uh but he he is in the book his story is is in flying to the wind. And the unbelievable, like synchronous, that's this chance for the purpose.

So we have this clothing line we came out with. I'm wearing it right now, Volition America. And so I pitched this. I got no business. Pitch it to Puma, Bob Phileon. They were like, dude, we love that. We'll make that. And it goes back to benefit folds.

Woodland gets dumped by Under Armour. They dump everybody but Jordan Speed. And they're like, hey, we'll pay you for the next two years. Just don't wear the clothes. And so this perfect storm happens. He was like, noon, and I'll wear Volition America. We put it together with Steiny, Bob Filion, and me. And he puts this stuff on, and it's like Superman overnight.

And I watch, you know, one of my dearest brothers in Christ win the U.S. Open wearing this logo that I scratched out in a napkin in my home bar. And I mean, those are the moments that you just know that, I said, God's greatest rewards lie on these ragged edges of life. And you just listen to your heart, man, and just go forward with records. reckless faith. And so that story is, uh, is in the book. Now we just got to teach him to read. Yep. I was, I was texting with you earlier and you said you had a book coming for me. And I said, well, hopefully you made an audio version for Gary. I did. And I read it. And I hope people

listen to the audio version because I think there's a whole other layer of authenticity of, you know, brokenness, but hope and, uh, and finding our best selves on the short journey of life. And I loved reading the book. That's awesome. All right. Next question. When was the last time you woke up and said, you know what? I'm just going to do nothing today.

Never. That's what it sounds like. I was hoping there was maybe a one rare one off occasion. How many hours to sleep? How many hours to sleep? I don't know. When I was sick, maybe when I was sick or something,

I was like, dude, like when you hit the edge. But I wake up. So when I do, I wake up every morning. So let me say I get up early. But my first prayer is to just ignore myself, right?

And get up and be a vessel for God on that day, whatever it looks like. And it, you know, 47 years old. I think I've, you know, I've gotten to the place in life where I know what I want to do on a day-to-day basis. And that has very little to do with me. It's about, you know, what little talent do you have in life and how do you deploy that to have a positive impact on that day? And that's what I wake up. That's my first prayer. So I guess that's why I never, you know, get the answer to do nothing.

But I love playing golf. Those are my favorite days flying and playing golf. That's awesome. Those are my cheat days for sure. My cheat days are a little different. I'll be honest. I love it. All right.

Last question. Top Gun is my favorite movie of all time. Dead serious. This isn't just. Are you serious? A dead serious. My favorite movie of all time. Okay.

You're a fighter pilot who's obviously lived out that movie. What is the most unrealistic thing that goes on in that movie? So number one, full transparency. That movie inspired me to be a fighter pilot. I watched it after I had met Steve Cortright, Reno, the fighter pilot I met when I was a kid. And I watched Top Gun like the next summer. And I'm like, dude, I'm all in. It was unbelievable.

The most unrealistic part, there's a lot of them that are unrealistic. but you cannot capture fighter jets on a camera, right? The new one coming out, Top Gun 2 next summer keeps getting moving. I'm with you. It's just killing me. I think they do a better job, but it's just so dynamic and it's so fast. So the flying, while it looks cool, is completely unrealistic. And as far as it goes in the movie, I will tell you, Phil Vassar and I have made a living singing,

and you've lost that love and feeling in bars when I'm in my flight suit. That is a that is a hundred percent. Chicks love that one. But in the movie, I mean, in like fighter squadrons, we quote Top Gun all the time. So, yeah. That makes me so happy. So you can get inverted and actually flip the bird to an enemy in midair, huh?

Foreign relations, keeping up foreign relations. Yes, no. And we shoot them at 50 miles away. or you know we turn bad guys on the ground into pink mist um but uh we're not flipping people off oh that's awesome lieutenant colonel dan runy this has been an absolute honor and a pleasure for us thank you so much for joining us hey it is a blessing to be with you guys and uh books on sale you can get it anywhere they sell books sams walmart um the audio versions out there and you know my my prayer one prayer for this book it's the best books i've ever read in my life you'll take one

away from that changes you every day from that point forward. I think there are multiple places that that can happen for people in fly into the wind. And I just pray that it really helps people become the best version of themselves. Great stories in there. And obviously, awesome way to support Folds. So go out, get a copy of the book, give it to your family and friends. And thanks for having me on. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time. It was an honor. are the best you are the top gun of golf media period dot so you're living your dream colt yes exactly thank you so much i really appreciate that you're the best thank you thank you so much appreciate see you please what an interview that was with lieutenant colonel dan runy what a guy first off if you don't go

out and buy his book after hearing what he had to say in that interview you're crazy you got to go see it fly got to go get it fly into the wind um i have one at home right now i'm about to start reading it but that guy, he's unbelievable. He's a legit inspiration. How about all this stuff that he's got going on? It's like, oh, I just wrote a book that I've worked on for 10 years. Also doing a little show on Fox where I got some of the biggest names in the world coming on. Oh, yeah, Folds of Honor. I happen to run all of that too. Oh, and let me just throw in a little golf project up and designed by Jack Nicholas up in Michigan, too. Just throw that in the mix, which also benefits Folds of On. I mean, does he sleep? That's what I was trying to ask like, dude, do you ever just take a day? I'd be like, wow, I'm really tired, man. Maybe I just

hang out in Netflix for about eight hours. I don't think that's in his blood. I don't think my man's on that routine. Man, I've been fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time around him, and he is just the greatest dude. So much fun to be around. He has so much energy. He can talk you. I feel like he can talk to anything. He might be able to talk me into doing like a marathon someday. I wouldn't go that far. If he could do that. But if anyone could do it, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Roney could do it. Sales might be in his future if he can get that down. But you've been up to his club in Omaha, correct? In Tulsa. Excuse me. In Tulsa, yeah, the Patriot Club. Talk a little bit about that John's. I've heard some cool thing. I've played it three times. It's called the Patriot Cup. Unbursed against a bunch of PJ Tour players,

comes out, play with you play with a. You play with a. a wounded warrior. You play with a donor, someone that supports the Folds of Honor Foundation, and then another person, and it is

unbelievable. First off, the gala the night before, I mean, if it doesn't bring you to tears, you're not human. They get someone up there that has lost someone in battle,

and they speak, and it is just, you get chills just thinking about it, but the golf course is awesome, so much fun to play, and then they always do a concert at the night.

They get, I mean, Toby Keith, Dirk's Bentley, Lee Bryce, they've had these ridiculous rascal flats, and I'm pretty sure they probably,

they probably come and do it for free just because they're helping out such a great organization. That's the cool thing about what he does is like so many big name people, whether it's in golf or entertainment or whatever it is, or like volunteering their time and energy to go help him out because they're so in line with what he's doing, man. He's awesome. I also have a buddy who's a member out there at Patriot Club, and he tells me their member guests too, right? They have a really cool thing that they do in the member guest. I don't know if they still do it, but they've done it once. The night after the event ends, they come in and they have amateur boxing that takes place at the actual member guests. The dudes show up and just beat the hell out of each other, which sounds

like an incredible feature for a member guests that we might need to slide that into a few more spots. That's a good idea, dude. That's not going to work at WISPR out. That is a very good idea. Awesome. But can't thank Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney enough for coming on. Go out, get his book, fly into the wind. It's awesome. It's going to change your life. There's no doubt.

But I tell you what, please. We got some big dogs coming up in the lineup. We got Ricky Fowler, Justin Thomas, Matthew Wolf. You're not going to want to miss it. Stay tuned for next week's golf subpar.