Subpar - Matthew Wolff Interview: Looking up to Rickie and Rory, life as a 21-year-old on the PGA Tour

Episode Date: December 8, 2020

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, PGA Tour Winner Matthew Wolff joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and his close friend and on course rival Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview from Old Palm Golf Club. The #14 ranked golfer in the world talks looking up to Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler as a young golfer, what life is like as a 21-year-old on the PGA Tour, and how the constant comparisons to Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa fuel his competitive fire.

Hello world, it is time to get amongst it with golf subpar, Colt, Nost and Drew Stolt. Sleazy Man, how we live him? Good to be back with you, my brother, after the long weekend, and got to watch a little golf this week, and shout out to our boy Victor Hovlin, picking up that second dub, breaking the Puerto Rico curse. Finally, somebody that's one down there gets another win, and a big week for him down in Miyoba. Yeah, and Mycoba, a place that's very special to your heart, very near and dear.

Tell us a little bit about you and Myakoba. I was watching that, I was watching the coverage this way, like a bitter ex-boy. friend. They're doing it without me. They're having this, they're still having this tournament without me. The one and only PGA tour event for the sleazy man, Drew Stoll. This is why I am former tour professional on our serious X-M radio show. So let's go back. I'll tell you the funny story about that one. We'll go back to the year is 2011. Okay, you were there. You were in the building. I go down there. I'm on the jicky circuit. Go down to Monday qualify. End up getting in through the Monday. Play well on the Monday going in. Stoked, excited, go out. You and I actually

play the practice round together. I show up just ran. I don't even know what the deal is. I'm like, I guess I'll just show up with my clubs and see if they'll let me tee up. off show up, meet up with you and our boy Andres Gonzalez, half man, half amazing. Shout out to Andres. We go out, play a practice round, have a great time. I'm going to the range. I mean, I'm spending way too much time on property because it's my first event. God knows if I'll ever get back. I'm going to soak it all up, right? Sitting out there hitting balls, doing all the stuff. And one of the club, you know, the club reps are all hanging around. And one of them, who's a fairly good friend of mine at the time, a bunch of my friends played their clubs,

comes up to me. He's like, oh, what are you playing? I'm like, this is what I got here. He's like, well, you know, we got some pretty good stuff too. And I'm like, yeah, free stuff. Tell me more about it. So anyways, long story short, he's like, look, we're really making a push to lead the wood count in every term that they go to. So driver, three wood, hybrid. And they were paying at the time if you were willing to put those in. So he's like, look, man, if you put our driver three wood hybrid in the bag this week, I'll give you five grand.

And I was like, it would add me at two, brother. Deal is a deal. It's inked. So I was like five grand. I mean, that's a third place finish on the jickeys right. right there, you know, at the time, I was like, five grand. Great. Plus that week was going to cost me a fortune being down there. I was like, yeah, five grand. Cool. Whatever. I dump all my stuff like a complete idiot.

You got to slow down a little bit and realize that you're on the PGA tour. And if you just make it to the weekend, you're going to make a lot more than that. See, that's forward thinking. I was taking money. You need a representative. You need a representative. You can never go broke taking a profit. So I was like, profit. There we go. Being the absolute idiot that I am, I take the money. I throw their clubs in. I played nine holes of one practice around the next day with the, with a set of three that I was going to be playing. And didn't hit it great, but I went back to the range and started kind of hitting the stress.

It'll be fine. For five grand, you can learn how to hit a. Slap it down the fairway. Yeah. And by the way, it's only the narrowest golf course on tour. All you have to do is hit the fairway. And I hit every fairway in the Monday. But of course, I go change all my stuff.

So get to Thursday. We get up there, start playing. This is when 10 was a par three. I started on the par three. Hit a great shot in there and make par. And then I got to go to some driver holes. And I tell you, Colt, after about six holes and two drops in the first six holes later, I'm just grabbing my driver measuring two, dropping.

I'm thinking about it. This is the shittiest club I've ever played A and B, I am the dumbest human being. I was like, what am I doing? Dude, I got the jitters with the driver from that point for it. I had no idea if it was going left. I'd set up and try to.

I was like, all right, I'm just going to slice this one, tee it down low and hit a slide. I hit like a pull hook directly into the shit, have to drop again. And dude, it took an act of God and a Sevi-Biosteros-esque short game for two days for me to even come out below 160. Let me tell you what I shot a grizz down there, dude. You realize that once they do the official count,

I could have put it all in the next day. So Friday, you could have going back to all your old stuff. Yeah, they did the survey and I actually got a text or excuse me an email from the company that I was with at the time. I wasn't get paid, but I got all the free stuff and they're like, excuse me. I was like, oh my God. They're actually paying attention to this. I was like, guys, five grand is five grand, buddy. You know, we'll deal with it when I get back. But anyways, I played it for the two days. I drove it without question. They didn't have strokes gained driving at the time. I would have been dead last dropped all over the place. Incredible irons and up and downs to shoot what I've shot. horrible. I only beat a few guys in the field. And then I took that five grand and spent almost all of it, I think, the next two nights in Plyd-L-Karman, where it's easy to do, had some of the fellows that also emceeed over there. And we had herself a couple two days. It's not a bad place to miss the cut. It's not the worst place of all time to miss. So official earnings on tour for the sleeves, zero, unofficial earnings, $5,000. All right. That's it. That was right to get amongst it. Never went back, never qualified again. I said, that was it. That's a hell of a run.

Well, if you're listening, kids, don't take $5,000 and switch your equipment if you're in a PGA tour event. It's not as much money as it sounds like. Trust me. Well, before we get to our very special guest this week, we're going to open up the mailbag. I know we put a little question out there on Twitter. Producer Mark, what do we got this week? First up, Paul Fasick on Twitter, who sees the winner's circle again first? Ricky or Jordan Speath?

Wow, you know, we actually had this question on our serious XM show today, and we both went different ways. I'm going to go Jordan Spieth solely based on the fact or on the rumor that he's working with Butch Harmon. If he's worked with Butch Harmon, getting this swing straightened out over this Christmas break, I think the way he puts, he sees the winter circle before Ricky Fowler. Do we have that confirmed, by the way, that he is in fact with Bush? That's the big buzz going around, but do we know that for sure? Blink. Blink if it's yes. Okay, all right, we can't confirm more tonight.

All right. So, yeah, you went with Jordan Speeth. I'm going to go other side. I'm going to go Ricky Fowler for this reason. And take this past week, for example, on day one, Ricky went out, made eight birdies. He also made a quad and a double. I mean, the offense is happening. We're seeing Ricky Fowler in spurts play really, really good golf. And it seems like just like in talking with Joe Skobber and his caddy, it's like, did we have one or two real bad shots or, you know, throughout a round?

And it just completely derails all the positive momentum. And then we're back to square one and we're fighting to play the weekend or things like that. So I think Ricky is closer from the fact that I'm seeing stretches of golf that look like the old Ricky Fowler and look really good. just seeing the one or two weird ones per round, per tournament, whatever you want to call it, that are sending him back. So I think hopefully this time off with him, which will be shorter, obviously, gets him back in play. But I think I would go with Ricky Fowar.

All right, here's the deal. I want them both to win. They're both so good for the game of golf that we both need them back in the winter circle. But thanks for the question. And both the best butters in the world. So as soon as they start hitting it decent, they're going to be looking good. All right. Jason Mackie wants to know, the best snack to compliment a transfusion.

Oh, God. Oh, so many options. Geez, I'll take... Snacks. How much time we got? Did someone say snacks? Oh. I'll take this being that I like to fancy myself as a bit of a transfusion connoisseur.

The beautiful thing about transfusion, you don't need food. It's a meal in itself. It's got grape juice in it, so you're basically eating fruit while you're drinking it, getting healthy, and you're having a good time. However, the only thing that I ever eat with it are the uncrustibles that we have at our golf course, which basically go with anything. But I try not to absorb too much of the alcohol. Let the alcohol.

You got the grape in there, so I go to the strawberry uncrustable. Smart. Strawberry and grape pairs are well together. It's very delicious. But you can't go wrong. I mean, snacks are snacks. Snack is a snack is a snack. Last question for you guys.

Everyone thinks that they are boxers nowadays, it appears. So Big Seves wants to know Ryder Cup style fight. Who's winning Europe or the USA? Oh, man. I hate to say this because I think it's an easy, easy answer. I think Europe just absolutely dominates them. But we have had the emergence of Brooks Kepka and Bryson de Shambo now that I'm thinking about a little of our show. I was about to say there's a couple big boys on the U.S. squad.

Who you put up against Bryson on Europe? I'll take Henrik Stinson. He's a big boy. You think he's mean enough? I think he can get meaner than Bryson. Okay. That's fair. Bryson will be the most well researched.

She'll have all the angles down leading into it. Who's going against Brooks and Ron? Let's just say Lee Westwood's still in there. Lee Westwood's like freaking rugby player. He scares the shit out of me. I feel like those Europeans. guys spending a lot of time in the bars growing up and know how to handle themselves in a fight. Like let's just have Thomas Bjorn as a, I mean, can we bring the captains and vice captains

into it? That guy is a mass, the Great Dane. How about let's go presidents cup? And then you got Ernie L's in the mix who just likes to throw down. That wasn't part of the question. I'm just, I'm just thinking outside the box here, you know, we could add a little president's got there. We've got to the European. All right. So who do you got against Kepka? Lee Westwood. Oh, Lee Westwood. You got to go Brooks on that just from the age perspective. Oh, wait a wish. It's tough. I don't know. What if they have a couple of cocktails, before they get all crazy and fearless.

Now we're talking. Now we're talking a pay-per-view event. We could probably get that brokered. I mean, Ian Poulter's probably crazy. He'll probably bite your ankle or something. Yeah, he's got to be a feisty one. Yeah, exactly. He's got a lot of energy out there.

I feel like... Luke Donald's not in the team anymore. I feel like he would have been the one guaranteed dub. You could probably pick off. Yeah, I mean, our team's really, really good. Dustin, I don't think much of a fighter. He's a big dude, but he's seen... I've seen some incidents in the past.

Not much of a fighter. Really? I would have expected him to get in the ring. A lot of length there. I think we're going to need Gary Woodland on the USA side to help out a little bit. Justin Thomas is going to be tough to match up with somebody. Not a lot of weight there. Him and Francesco, Tommy Fleetwood can go at it.

Tommy's a little, got some serious size on him. That's a good question and also would be very much worse of some pay-per-view dollars. Like Patrick Reed might kill someone. I don't know. He's crazy. Oh, he would definitely have like brass knuckles under his gloves. I think it'd be a very, very, very good even match. I think it's worth watching.

I think we-boos are involved. I'm going to Europe. New rule. If you tie at the end of the Ryder Cup, it doesn't go to the person that had the cup already, we go to a street brawl. See, last man's standing. All right, I'm in. Hello, one more captains will do that.

Well, that's a great point, actually. But thanks for all the questions. Keep him coming. They're a lot of fun to answer. And I'll tell you one man, who will probably be on that team sooner than later, that I don't know how much of a fighter he is, but I know he's a hell of a golfer, and that's our guest this week, Matthew Wolf. Yeah, man, he is blowing up.

It is crazy to see what that class of players with Wolf, Moriko and Hovland all coming out at the same time, how quickly they've ascended. They're all three in the top 15 in the world rankings. Let's say that real quick, okay. Yeah, 2019, May of 2019, they were all three attending college classes. At least they were enrolled. I'm not sure if they were attending, but they were there. Loosely.

Now, okay, we're December 2020, Colin Morgiawa, Victor Hovlin, and our guest, Matthew Wolf, are all top 15 in the official World Golf rankings. And we all knew these guys were going to be good coming out. Like, there's a lot of hype around them. But if you take a bed, if Vegas had trotted something out, by December 2020, all three will be in the top 15. I mean, it would have been an astronomical number. The, how fast they've ascended in the World Golf rankings is a joke.

And I feel like every few months, the higher, kind of juggles. You know, it's like, oh, I like Maracawa the most. He just wanted to teach him. Oh, Wolf just finished top five and back to back. Oh, now, Hovlin won. It's like, they keep trying to one up each other. We actually got a chance to ask Matthew Wolf about that exact thing in the interview. Yeah, and it was really cool to sit down with him. We got to play golf the morning of out at Grove 23. And the first thing you and I both noticed was the sound of his iron shots on the driving range. I was like, holy shit, I might be hung over, but this sounds incredible right now. Yeah, I looked up after a couple of my wedge chunks and heard that

driver come out. I was like, uh, okay. This one's different. You know, he's a guy came out and he was known for his different looking golf swing and now he's known for how freaking good he's playing. I mean, here his first two majors ever, he finishes fourth and second, makes a name for himself, had a great chance to win the U.S. Open until Bryson DeCambo kind ran away. But this kid's got all the tools, man. It was impressive. I had known Matthew, but I'd never like spent a lot of time with him and playing the day with him out there. We had an absolute blast. The kids got so much talent and he plays, I mean, he is the modern game now. He just absolutely ships it down there. It might not go as straight.

as a lot of guys, but he normally finds it and he does some good things with it. Yeah, and when it is clicking, and we saw some of those drives, I'm like, oh, that's what it looks like every time when he's playing. Well, I mean, he's going to be a force to be reckoned because he puts it good, too. He does a lot of things good, and he's only going to get better and better. I mean, two major starts under his belt, two top fives already. I mean, it ain't taking a whole lot for him to get adjusted. And I love the fact that he's got the weird looking golf swing, and it's not technically

perfect because I think for a long time there, guys were just trying to build swings. And everybody looked cookie cutter. And you kind of lost these guys like a Matthew Wolf, who has something special. but if a teacher would have got his hands on him at age 12, like, nah, dude, this is really weird. We need to change this. You would have never heard from the guy. In my opinion, I mean, it looks weird going back,

but from the top of the back swing to impact, it is pretty much technically perfect, in my opinion. And, you know, I know Brando Shambly talks about this all the time with, you know, Phil Mickelson, Laura Davies, all these people that had VJ Singh, all that have crazy long careers with the left heel, Bubba Watson, a lot of hip rotation. This is what Matthew has.

And, I mean, I think this guy is just going to be a force to be reckoned with for, extremely long time. I don't think this is a short career. I think it's a very, very long career for Matthew. Yeah, I think there's just too much talent there. He's one on every single level that he's ever been on, and he's already doing it right now on the PGA tour. I think this guy's here to stay, and I think that, you know, we talked about some of the drives don't go exactly where he looking. I think that just tightens and tightens and tightens over time as he plays more and gets more maturity. But he's already out there and doing it at the highest level. It's already

top 15 in the world. Damn. Yep. And he's got a great personality. He's a lot of fun to be around. But don't take our word with it. You be the judge. Here's Matthew Will. on golf subpar. All right, we are in beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida at the Old Palm Golf Club. Very excited to be with our next guest. He has finished top five in his last two major championships. He is the 2019 3M champion, one of the big up-and-comers in the game of golf. Matthew Wolfe, what's going on, my man?

What's up? Thanks for having me, guys. Good to be with you. By the way, we just got off the golf course. How do we do? We rolled them. Why don't you walk through that round? Let's say we.

We use we, guys. It's a team, bud. Hey, Steve Kirk gets a ring just like MJ did. You're right. I mean, come on. You know, wins a win, right? And the game was best to next. So, I mean, I had to help out with the highball. You had to carry that highball a few times. Well, I mean, I mean, you started off strong. You made that pot on the first total of time. Exactly. Thank you.

Big pot. Got that tweet out of the way. Yes. Got that that pesky tweet on 12. But listen, now that I don't play for a living anymore, it's all about hyping your partner up, you know, being there. That's true. These guys, they got a lot of big golf tournaments coming up. You got to get them ready. It ain't about me anymore. I almost feel like the reason why you and Ricky didn't play so well is because you kind of,

you might have honestly like outshined him a little bit, you know? Yeah, elaborate on that, because that tends to happen with my partner. Cole is great. You're a bad teammate. They're getting ready for the Masters, trying to get him some confidence. You're going out there trying to beat your own partner. Yeah, I want the ball at all times. Stuff.

There's not a lot to go around. I'm out of big distributor. After that 18, though, today, got to think watching us two slapies, slap it around for 18 old is a pretty good way to prep for some upcoming pretty big tournaments. Oh, yeah. I mean, it was unbelievable. You know, seeing the shots that you guys hit just, you know, gives me a lot more confidence than that.

You know, I thought, I'm playing a lot better than I thought it was. Yeah, dude, exactly. You can see why we both quit, right? Holy shit, I am really good. Sometimes I forget how good I am until you get around guys like us. That's what we're here for. So it works out. We'll come back in.

You made a couple good putts, though. Thank you. Yeah. Like I said, you were better than I thought. I appreciate that. Yeah. You look terrible, so you're better than I thought. Yeah, I show up on the range.

Oh, Jesus. Awesome. Well, let's go back to some. I mean, you're obviously very, very young, but let's go back to some of the earlier days. You've got one of the most well-known golf instructors in the world in George Gankus. Take us through the first time you met him, a 13 years old, I believe. Yeah, I was 13. He coaches at Westlake Golf Course, and I went to high school at Westlake High School.

So I really didn't meet him until I went to high school, and then I started practicing there hitting balls. And I had kind of the same swing that I have now, you know, maybe just a little different. And, you know, I kind of went up to him because a bunch of people that I knew were going to him, and they're all like, you know, they're all like, George the best coach, all the stuff. And I'm just like, yeah, I'll see, I'll see what he's like. And I go up to him and I meet him and I'm like, are you George Gankis? And he goes, you know, he's like, yeah, fool. That's me.

Yeah, fool. Like, he's just being George. Yeah. And then, and I just, like, talked to him for a little bit. He was in the middle of getting a lesson or giving a lesson. And I just start hitting next to him, like, on the mat. And he, like, turns and looks at me. He goes, like, are you for real?

And I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, do you actually? do you actually swing like that? And I was like, yeah, that's my swing. And at first he was like, he was like, that's kind of weird. And then, and then like I started hitting for a little longer and he actually saw me like, you know, have a ball pattern and stuff.

And he was like, dude, that's so sick. He goes, I've never seen anyone swing like that, but he loved it. And he like, he like went through all of it with me and was just like, dude, like you're like, the places or the positions that you like need to be good in, you're really good in. And I was like, yeah.

And I was kind of looking for a coach at the time. And, you know, one of the first. things I laid out with him was, you know, I don't want anyone changing my swing. I just kind of want to do my thing. And, you know, you can improve it. Like, there's things that you can improve in the swing without, like, changing, like, the feel that I have. And, you know, ever since then, it's kind of been set in stone. He's, he's been great and kind of, I was going to sound pretty childish, but he keeps me, like, looking like, he keeps me looking like a 50-year-old. I want to talk about some of the language y'all use. I mean, is this a secret language I have?

Because some of these words, I'm not even going to try to pronounce them. Like, some of the stuff y'all said, I'd love for you if you could say a few of them and explain to me what in the hell they mean uh they're i mean they're not they mean anything that you want them to me perfect like you know you just like scooby is one of them like you could be like hey i'm going to get like some scoby snacks or like what up scoby like describing someone like and then there's like you know slong dow skushy like yeah what's the squam dow i had a few of these written down i wanted some like definitions give me a squam dow if you can use that in a sentence maybe like you just like i mean he it's almost like it's almost like a joke to him it's like he'll he'll he'll look at someone

one swing and like you know if you screwing around or something like that he'll be like oh yeah you just got to get squabbed down here and then like you know through impact you just get scozy and then like you know from there you just get centrifugal and then you get teradactyl sauce and you're just like yeah that makes sense i'm paying you for this yeah you're like you're like and then and then yeah so the first lesson i had like he just used a bunch of those words and you know my parents were like oh how was your first lesson i'm like i don't know i have no idea i need rosetta stone gangis. Perfect. I have no idea what I just learned. Yeah. How long is it take you to get used to all the vernacular? It's up until you're like, oh yeah, I just got to get squammed out right here. Yeah,

I mean, it's, I'm still hearing new things every single day. He's the best at, you know, just using like acronyms and stuff, like EMBH and, you know. What's that? Be, uh, is that, is that, uh, EMBH is whatever you want it to do. If you know, yeah, yeah, if you know, you know, the real ones know. Yeah, it's one of those things that most people, do know, but he, George says it a couple times. Can you tell me more about like Westlake golf course? It gets so much pubs, so many great players and teachers have kind of gotten their start there. What is it so special about this place? I think it's just like it just keeps everyone humble. And to be honest, I mean, you have to pay for them, or your golf balls, like, you hit off mats.

The range is like, it's all right. It's a good, it's a good range. But like, and it's just, I don't know, like, it's just a place where like you don't go and you're not looking for those guys that, you know, I've like been giving it. They don't, they don't warm, I don't warm up with titleless pro proe ones. Like, and it just kind of teaches you like, you know, to be thankful for like what you have. And, you know, it's a really good area. I don't know if I could say much about like the people that are,

or the people and the coaches and the players that come out of there. I just think that there's been a lot of talent that has, you know, come out of there. But yeah, I'd say the biggest thing is like I used to go there every single day after school and hit like four or five buckets of balls because like, you know, that's all I do. I just get done with school. I go to the course and then I just, I literally hit four or five buckets. It was, you know, it's, you're hitting, like I said, you're hitting off mats.

You're not, you know, you don't have a top, you know, state of the art chipping green or like you're using, you know, the range balls with the two stripes on it. Well, that's because you kept hitting them into the highway. Well, yeah, yeah, that's true. They got, yeah, now they have like limited flight golf balls. Like my driver goes like literally straight up and straight down. See, I feel like you should have to play with one of those when me and you play. So that's a little more competitive. You'll be back there where I am.

Next time we play, we get to pick your ball. Yes. One of those floaters from the range. Like the ballade or something like that? Yeah, one that floats in the water, maximum distance. We'll still lose. Did you have the distance the whole time? Is that something you just showed up with when you showed up on Gankus Dorset?

Or is he kind of like progressed you to hitting it as far as you hit it now? I think, I mean, I think I've always had speed. I mean, the things that he works on definitely increase your speed. But it's not like, you know, he's like, I'd give him credit for, like all the power that I have. I mean, I definitely, I use my legs really well. Got some freaking tru churns. Yeah, you have some like stories, but yeah.

Yeah, similar. With the same size. It's kind of weird that you're looking at my legs. Okay. But yeah, I mean, it's, I've definitely had, I've had speed before I went to him, but he just, he definitely like controlled it and helped me, you know, control my ball fly and create more speed speed by rotation and like using the ground and using my legs. And, you know, he's, I definitely say there are a lot of things that he teaches that I

naturally did, but there's also a lot of things that he has coached me to do and to like, you know, become the player that I am. So it's definitely a, I'd say, I'd say our teamwork is pretty good there. It's working. Yeah, he just seems so much fun to work with. But I talked to him earlier this morning about some stuff obviously involving you. And he told me, you use a lot of like negative stuff on social media kind of as motivation. So how much do you look at social media and are you, are you aware what people say of good and bad? I'm, I honestly, I'm more, I think, The bad means more to me. Like when I see someone being like, oh, this guy's swing is yada, yada, yada,

even though I know they don't know anything, like it's still, you know, you never want to hear that. You know, that'd be like someone up coming to you and be like, do, your podcast sucks. But it's so funny, like, even for me, like, I'll look at Twitter and, like, there'll be nine positive comment. Yeah. And then that one negative one, that's the guy you want to go out. Exactly. Like, you don't really say thank you to all the other ones. No.

But you go with that guy. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. The ones that are like, oh, this kid's going to be something great. He's going to win majors. Like, I look at that. But then you see a guy that's like, oh, yeah, like nice finish last week.

It's like, I could have two second place finishes in a row and then finish like 70th. And they're like, oh, yeah. You ruined my fantasy team. Exactly. All that stuff. Draft Kings. Oh, my God. Yeah.

And then you want to go back out. I'm like, what do you know? Yeah. Yeah. But then that's the boxed in a no-win situation. Yeah. Exactly. It's not a good path to go down.

But yeah, I mean, I definitely, I use some of that, that motivation because there's a lot of, you know, a lot of people out there. I have a pretty different swing. and I go about things different ways. You know, I get, you know, I was on the phone with my buddy five minutes before the tea time, the final round of the U.S. Open. And, you know, I had a lot of people criticize me for that. And I'm just like, y'all take it way too damn seriously.

Yeah, I'm not playing it. Yeah, like it's, I don't know, like we were talking about football. We were talking about fantasy. And we were just, you know, I feel like, honestly, it even helped me because it just took my mind off of the moment. And, you know, I feel like there's a, for me, you know, there's a difference between, like, being, like, locked in and being like, this means way too. much because there's guys like Tiger who like you couldn't even talk to Tiger probably before I don't know I don't know but like it seems like you know before the final round of a major it's

like if you go up to Tiger like you don't you don't go up to Tiger like he's so in the zone it's ridiculous and for me like I'm just I'm not like that I'm more you know I like to just soak everything in take the experience and just you know take it for what it is I think I'm pretty blessed to be on the PJ tour at such a young age and you know everyone's you know like oh you're going to go get that wind tomorrow and it's like you know what yeah like i feel like i could but at the same time i'm i'm gonna be out here for a long time i'm sure i'm sure it's going to come my way eventually yeah there's no doubt about that but i feel like a lot of people um compare you to ricky fowler because i mean obviously california kids go to okoma state um rickie goes at it a little different

what what's your relationship like with ricky rickie's awesome he's been he's been probably one of the best mentors that i could ask for um he keeps everything super light he gives me advice. You know, I moved down to Florida as soon as I was done with school and he kind of took me under his wing. Obviously, it's still a little different. You know, he's married and, you know, he's kind of, they're doing their own thing and I'm 10 years younger. So it's, you know, it's kind of hard to be able to like to be like, hey, you want to come over and drink some beers and watch the football game, especially when I had to ask him to pick up the beers because I couldn't drink. You know, we were just in the car with him talking about this exact same thing. Like, dude,

the guy's 21. You forget how young he is. Like, he's out here. Everybody else got kids, married, doing their own thing. And he's like, if he wants to come over and drink beer and watch football, like, tell me when. Call me. I'm ready. I'd love to do that. It's like I do that all day every day. All right. Well, maybe I was on the table. Yeah, I was going to say, maybe I should start hitting him up. But no, he, like I said, he's been great. We've, we actually haven't flown private together yet, even though when I first term pro, I was, you know, as a new guy out here, I was like, you know, Ricky, it'd be really nice if you, you know, let me hop on and stuff. He goes, oh, you know, I mean, maybe I'll give you a free ride. And then I won. And then he was like,

yeah, I'm not. You're, you're paying. You get your out. You're paying. See, before that, though, this is what you got to do. As a veteran, I'll tell you, you got to get a lot of dirt on these guys that have private planes. So therefore, they have to give you a ride. You're like, hey, you want to give me a ride?

You want me to tell some stuff. I got Twitter, bro. This can be out there quick. This can be out there quick. I rode to Gary Woodland all over the place when I was playing. I wouldn't pay in a dollar. Gary knows. Did he have anything to do with you going to OSU?

Like, was he the guy you looked up to? Like, I want to kind of not following his footstep, but like I saw what he did in the success he had. I want to follow that path? That's definitely a factor that why I went there. The coach was really good at Oklahoma State. Obviously, Carson Creek is, you know, having your own facility is pretty special. But yeah, I'd say he was definitely a big part. Just because, you know, I looked up to him.

I think him and him and Rory were kind of the two guys that I looked up to, and obviously we didn't go to college. But I always looked up to Tiger. But Tiger was like kind of when I really got into golf when I was like, you know, 13, 14, 15 and started playing in these bigger events. events and like really being like, all right, I could like do something with this game. Like that's when Tiger was like not playing and stuff. So when I really got into it, that's when like Ricky and Rory were out, we're out, you know, being the best players in the world. And so, um, I was like,

I kind of want to be like that guy. And like he kind of inspired me. And I saw a bunch of, you know, how many people have been to Oklahoma State and how many people have made it successfully through that program and been on a PJ tour. And I was like, you know, I don't know if I'm going to make it, but damn sure give myself a good chance. Yeah, well, you did make it. Yeah, now you're one of them. Yeah, you were the can't miss kid. I mean, you're the next big star coming out. I mean, obviously, that's a lot of pressure to play with.

But you go out and you win in your third PGA tour start. Were you kind of like, oh, my God, I can't believe this is all happening so fast? Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I told myself, you know, in the interviews to just kind of, you know, make myself look like I was like, you know. Yeah, it was supposed to happen. You know, every single interview, I was like, yeah, I mean, I didn't, I'm not going to, I wasn't going to go pro before I felt like I could win. And that was a true statement. You know, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't turn pro because of the money, because if I didn't, because if I felt like I got a bunch of money, but I knew my game wasn't ready, then I was like, what's the point of being out here?

But as soon as I turned pro, I knew that I could go out there and make it. And then when it happened, even though I knew I could, I, I knew I could do it, like to have it happened that quickly. It was almost like a damn. Yeah, because so many guys get out there, like, early on and feel like the one thing they reference, like, I know I'm good enough, but I'm maybe not playing like that because it's tough to feel like I belong or to get comfortable out there. Did you feel that? Or, like, is that something you felt? I mean, you did it in your third start, so. Absolutely, but I mean, it's still hard to get used to it.

I mean, I know, like, I know when I was at the top of my game. And to be honest, at 3M, like, I played really well. But I definitely, you know, I felt like I, you always feel like you leave a couple shots out there or anything. But to be honest, like, even after 3M, like, I didn't really play that well, like, right after 3M. And, you know, like you said, they're getting comfortable out there. Like, you know, just feeling like you belong out here, even though I won and I knew I belonged, it was still like most people think as soon as you win you're like oh like you're good like you're a veteran out here now but it's like that's not how it works like even if you win or even if you have these

you know there's people there's been people out there for i don't 15 20 years that i've never wanted pjj they've kept their card but it's just like it it takes a while to get used to everything to get used to the travel and the scheduling and like the proams and i mean all that stuff and like i said obviously i'm fortunate that it's you know happening but it's you know i feel like up until recently I still haven't felt like extremely comfortable because I mean the biggest thing is I haven't even seen all those courses yeah you don't even played every tournament yet yeah yeah like I haven't played I haven't seen Quail Hollow um I mean there's that's a main one I can think of right now I'm sure there's a lot more that's a good one go play that one yeah yeah some

nice viewing there yeah very very very nice view it social aspect is nice that's what I've told never been okay looks like it on TV you know I got ask you this um because I feel like for me like I know personally like I hated practice rounds um unless That's out of money game. Yeah. Tuesdays. Are you and like the other young kids, are you a big money game guy? Or are you just kind of Tuesday's your day to see the course and you do all your work?

Dude, honestly, I love money games. I love money games. I just, I feel like no one else really does. Like I know, well, okay. Well, I mean, yeah, I'm not going to text Phil and be like, hey, want to go play money game. He's going to be like, yeah, let's go for five grand. I'm like, okay, well, let's go for. Relax.

Yeah, I'd go for 500. But maybe not five grand. Not yet, you know. You will. Oh, yeah. I mean, eventually, I'm sure I will. But that's the thing is just like, you know, I don't feel like there's a lot of guys that I could go out and be like,

hey, let's go have a game out here. And I feel like that would honestly, because I always like playing for some, I feel, I notice when I go out and play for nothing, like I just, I play so mad. Is that how you are on the off weeks too? Like you come home, you got a week off. You're like, you're not a sit on the range, hit a bunch of balls guy.

You go out and gamble with your buddies guy? Oh, absolutely. And this I'm like really, like, if I'm trying to work on something in my swing, then I'll, then I'll hit more balls. but yeah, I'm definitely a guy that, I mean, there's been plenty of off weeks that I've been, like, you know, sitting there and like I'll play great. I'll top 10 the week before, top 15, top 20, whatever. I'll play well.

And I'll go home, I'll have a week off. I'll be like, oh, sweet, I'll take Monday off, you know, hit some balls on Tuesday, maybe go play nine. And I'll shoot like four over on the nine that I play. And I'm like, did my game just totally go to shit in two days? Like, and then I'll go out the next day and I'll like, okay, I was hitting, I was missing it left. So like, let's work on, you know, not missing it left. And then I'll be like, all right, I'm hitting it better.

And then I'll go play 18 and I'll shoot like one over. And I'll be like, gosh, my game really, I don't know where it went. I don't know where it went. I'll be like, and then I'll have a big tournament coming up and I'll be like, and then, you know, the last three, four days of my week off, I'll be stressing about, you know, I need to, you know, get this right, get this or get this right. And then in golf, you know, even though everyone says it's a marathon, not a sprint. I mean, things can change good and bad.

I mean, not the snap. You could, I mean, you see how many times it happens. People shoot 78 one round and then they come back and shoot 63 and you're like, oh, sweet, they made the cut. Why didn't I just do that at the first day? I mean, that was stupid. Exactly. But you mentioned Phil earlier. He's obviously a legendary trash talker.

How would you rate your trash talking skills? Honestly, I think I'm pretty good. I'd give myself a 7.3. Hey, you got to believe in yourself. That's the exact number. And you're in a zip code here where you got a lot of guys that are going to have the opportunity. A lot of big names that you have the opportunity with. Well, I felt like.

Like my comment, you hear my comment on a DJ about the, uh, the Seminole, like the Taylor made, uh, for COVID, the COVID relief. I was in the right on Seminole. I was in the right sand on three and like everything there is a, um, waist bunker. And, uh, and like I hit it in the right in the right stuff and I ended up making like double on the hole. So I really shouldn't have said anything. But I like, I, I, I was in the right, yeah, bunker and or the right waist bunker bj i was in the fairway and i like call over and like i have a really bad lie i was like hey dustin can i ground my club in this and then and then and then i go oh wait wrong guy i probably shouldn't ask you well played i like that just little things like that and i you know i know i

know i can say that but it's hard sometimes like i feel like i'm a pretty good trash talker for not i've had that much like going on before like you know it's easy for rory or rickie or phil or anyone to be a good trash talk because they're like, oh yeah, I've made $500 million on the course. And, you know, I have my own jet. It's like, but it's like for me, it's like I didn't really have, like, I could be like, yeah, I won the 3M. And then Rory could be like, yeah, I won the U.S. Open. And it's just like, for me, it's hard.

Get creative, guys. Get creative. But that's what I mean. Yeah, I feel like I'm pretty creative with my trash talking. That's good. I love that. I'll blow it by Rory by 20 yards and he'll be like, oh, well, you ever want a FedEx Cup.

And I'm like, oh, congratulations, buddy. You're not talking about the FedExCope we're talking about right now. See, that's why you don't even like talk to Tiger because you can just trump everyone. Yeah, there's nothing you can say to Tiger. You've got to get creative. But let's talk a little bit about the U.S. Open this year. You took a two-shot lead into the final round at Wingfoot. At any point during that day, did you ever get ahead of yourself a little bit and think, you know, I'm going to win the U.S. Open?

I honestly felt like I got more ahead of myself before it started than when I was playing. Because when I was playing, Bryson started off pretty strong. And, you know, he was only two back of me. It wasn't like I had a five-shot lead. That could change in one hole. Yeah. And so I felt like it was definitely a lot different. But yeah, I think like before the round, I was almost like, oh, like, shit.

Yeah. I could win the U.S. Open right here. Like, I could become a major champion. And then, you know, I kind of settled down a little bit. And then once the round got started, which is usually what happens. Usually I'd start off and I'm a little nervous on the first couple holes. And then, you know, as it goes, I'm like, all right, I'm more comfortable and I'm more uncomfortable. And, you know, that's one thing I learned.

at the U.S. Open was that it's such a long week. Like every day I got done with golf and I was like, I'm going straight to bed. Like I had no juice left in me. And I think that was like the biggest thing about that week was that that final day, even though I know I lost by five or six or something like that, I knew that like until like two or three holes left, I was like I could be in this.

Like because he, like I said, he played really well at the end and he made a lot of putts. And Bryson, honestly, he won. I knew that like with, you know, I think I stepped up on 14 or 13 or 15 or one of those holes. And I was like four back or three back. And I was like, that seems like a lot. But in a U.S. Open, it's like he hits it in the rough and then, you know, chops it out in the fairway. And I make a birdie.

That's a two, three shot swing right there. And so, especially with the closing holes at wing foot. Those closing holes are pretty challenging. What's your biggest takeaway after the last two majors, top five in the last two? What's your biggest takeaway after being in those experiences, being in contention? And what do you take away now going into other majors when you get back in that same position? I think the biggest thing for me is just the experience being close to the lead and finishing out and stuff. I noticed that even though I didn't win at Triners, that right after the U.S. Open, that week at Triners was like, I don't know.

It's just like I stepped up on that final, the final day, like having played coming off of 61. like, you know, I'm two shots off the lead, but like, why do I not even feel anything? And I didn't, it's not that I didn't feel anything. Like, I definitely, but it was more of a, it was more of like, I'm nervous because I'm like anxious and want to see how I play, rather than like, I'm thinking about winning the tournament. Like it wasn't, like, there weren't thoughts of going on my head like, oh, if I, you know, screw up on this hole, like, you know, then I'll be out for the tournament. It was more just like, it was more just pressure that you always put on yourself to play well. And it's not because like, oh, I haven't been here.

I don't know what it feels more like you're excited more than like nervous I guess almost yeah do you think the nerves can you compare the nerves of with fans versus without fans like do you think if you us open you might have been even more nervous if there was a ton of people around the first tea um or does that stuff not affect you honestly I really don't think it affects me I mean it's would you prefer it because you wanted the 3M with fans and now you're in you know you're in the last group of you open without so many people ask me about that too so many people are like oh it seems like you played good since the COVID restart and like you know there's no fans you think that helps you Twitter people don't listen to those people.

Yeah, I know. And I'm just like, well, I won with fans. So I just, like I said, I don't really, I don't think the fans have anything to do with how I play. I think, honestly, I could, I mean, you feed off of them. Like, you feed off of them. Like, you hear a wolf howl or you make a birdie and everyone goes crazy. It's like, you feel, you know, you're like, oh, my adrenaline's up. Like, I feel like I can, you know, keep on going.

And, like, I got the momentum and all that stuff. Whereas, like, when there's no fans, it's kind of hard to. get that momentum. What about the nerves from like winning at the 3M versus an versus your major, the U.S. Open where you're trying to win? Can you explain the difference in the nerves you felt at the 3M versus wing foot? Is it different?

It was different, but the reason why it was different is because like the 3M, I know it's not like the biggest tournament on the PGA tour schedule, but that was like the jump start of my career, you know? And like that's a lot different. And like, I understand, like, being a major champion is, like, obviously, like, only people can only dream of that. And there's very few people who can be classified as a major champion. But, like, in my opinion, like, I was more nervous on that, on that coming down the stretch at 3M rather than I was at the U.S. Open. Because I'm like, you know, I've proven that I could win.

At the U.S. Open, I'm in the final group, and I've finished second in a U.S. Open. Like, I'm sorry what anyone says. Like, if anyone tells me that it's a fluke, like, it's the U.S. Open. Yeah, I'm sorry. Like, like, look at the past champion. It's at the U.S. O'O. You still get all the stuff. Yeah.

You're always going to be a U.S. Open champion. Exactly. And so when people say like, oh, like, you know, he missed too many fairways or all this stuff, it's like, well, I mean, there's just too much stuff to go into that for someone out there randomly to just be like, oh, yeah, like that was a fluke. Yeah, we'll ignore those people. You're doing big things and it's going to continue. And we could talk to you all day, but we got to get to our emergency nine.

And Leslie, you got anything else for you? I was going to fire one. I want to ask this because I feel like this is interesting. You, Colin Morikawa, Victor Alvin, always in the media are getting compared. it against one another. You guys ever just sit around and like at this at lunch, but like, god damn, they're doing it again. They're comparing us. Everything we do, I got to hear what you did and what you did. Like, you guys, are you guys aware of that going on? Um, absolutely. Yeah, I think, I mean, we're all aware of it. I think that we're all kind of happy for each other. I mean,

even though we all want to beat each other really bad, um, it's, I think we're all, we're all, like, friendly competitors. Like, we all, obviously, you know, I want to beat Victor every single day in the week and I want to be calling every single day of the week. But I think we're all, we all kind of feed off of each other. I think it only like fires us up. You know, when when I see, you know, Victor go out and have like, you know, I think right after the restart, he had a pretty good run.

He had, you know, a bunch of top tens in a row. And people were talking about like, oh, he's playing really well. He's super consistent. And then Colin, obviously going off and winning work day and then the PGA. And then like, you know, even though like it's frustrating seeing that because I'm like, gosh, like, I mean, I beat up on them. They beat up on me.

I should be doing the things that they're doing. Like it all comes for full. circle because then I you know second place you know US Open and then Shriners and give myself two chances to win and then you know Victor doesn't start playing or Victor stops playing so well so it's just like I think if anything it's not so much of like I hate being compared to him it's more like it fires me up because I'm like like look like they're doing this like let me let me go top that now all right. Let's get into this emergency nine. Let's fire. That's some great stuff we can talk all day. All right number one we asked us to everybody movie about the life of Matthew wolf and pick

any actor to play who's it going to be Ryan Reynolds I just I just don't just talking about Maybe think about it for a second. Well, I've gotten that question quite a few times. And, like, I mean, like, there's nothing wrong with it. But, like, no, it's a great answer. He's an unbelievably attractive guy. Who would you have? You just say he's an unbelievably attractive guy.

Listen, I got to be honest, he's the only guy I know as good looking as I am. I mean, I think Ryan Rehills is great now that I think about it. I didn't really have one. I kind of was thinking Mark Wahlberg a little bit. Well, I just think Ryan would be great because he'd be, he's serious enough, serious enough to where like the serious scenes like the you know small dips in my life like he could be serious but he has that he has like i mean he has a great sense of humor i wouldn't say i'm as funny as ryan reynolds but like he kind of has that you know five minute two minutes all right we'll keep

it moving all right next question i had you for jillen hall by the way we're gonna have like an emergency three like that yeah all right i'll give you one would you rather go on a six-hour road trip with Victor Hovlin listening to his hobby metal or get kicked in the face by a mule. Yeah, kicked in the face. I don't even know why I thought of that. That's a longer delay than I thought. His music is just the most ridiculous thing I've ever. Oh, yeah.

For those that don't know, I mean, it's just the darkest, heaviest metal. I mean, it's just. Well, I think it actually be fine because if I sit in the car long enough and turn the volume up, my ear drums will burst and I won't be able to hear anything anyway. Yeah. It's like the music they put like prisoners of war and torture them with until they break and be like, I'll tell you everything. Yeah, exactly.

All right, we'll sneak two more in here real quick. You're on Team Taylor-Made with the likes of Tiger Woods, Roy McElroy, John Rom, Dustin, Johnson, Jason Day. At those commercial shoots, who's the one that holds court at those events? Tiger. Really? Yeah. Tiger. I mean, I think Rory's pretty, like, up there, too, but.

That surprised me, actually. Wow, who were you thinking? I shouldn't think Tiger would be that social about it and stuff? He's like the granddad lets the kids play. I kind of thought you would, honestly. He's pretty good, actually. Well, I mean, they have all the things. They all have all the stuff set up anyways.

But, I mean, you know, if Tiger talks, everyone listens. Fair enough. Yeah, that's a good point. All right. Last one, please. All right, last one. Out of all the people you've seen imitate your swing, who does it the best? I'd say George, my coach.

Oh, yeah? He can do it? Yeah, I mean, he's really good at it. And, like, it's just, there's a lot of people. I think Ricky does it actually pretty well. Ricky does a very well. Yeah, I saw his on social media somewhere. Yeah.

When he was behind you that day, they got that on film. That was great. That was a Palm Springs. Yeah. That was awesome. But the hard part is that, like, most people, when they try to replicate this thing, they kind of just like take it like straight

this way, instead of taking it back this way with the shaft like that. Most of them take it with the shaft like that. They just go like, I don't know, it's just like a loop. It's weird. It's an art, dude. And you got people hip thrusting all over America right now

trying to be like you. So good on you for that. I don't want to think of that. But yeah, that's fine. Well, dude, thank you so much for Joyce. It's been an absolute blast. Yeah, I appreciate it. It's been fun. And that was Matthew Wolf coming to you from Old

Palm Golf Club down in beautiful Florida Slee's. I had an absolute blast with this kid. Playing golf with him, getting to know, like, another side of him that I normally only see him on TV. He was so much fun. He's got a huge personality. Oh, yeah, I think playing golf with him earlier that day, kind of loosened him up. Like, hey, we ain't here to, you know, solve the world's problems.

We just want to sit down and have a fun golf talk with you. And I think that really showed during the interview. I think we could have gone for two hours with Matthew Wolf and he would have been all in for it. Unfortunately, he had some other obligations that day. So the E9 turned into E3 or four, whatever it turned into. The man's got a lot going on. But it's cool to sit down and talk with him

and just kind of get his perspective on everything. Ricky Fowler, you know, kind of looking up to him. And the comparisons with those guys we mentioned that he came out with. Yeah, it was cool to hear him say like that Ricky and Rory were his idols because you forget he's 21 years old. And, you know, for all of us, it's Tiger and only Tiger. But him coming out, I mean, it was all Ricky Fowler, Rory Macroy. These were the guys he looked up to.

And it's cool to see that Ricky kind of took him under his wing, helped him out. We were sitting at Justin Thomas's house Saturday night, and the deal was we were only going to get like 20 minutes with him. Ricky calls Matthew and he goes, hey, give these guys longer 20 minutes. And Matthew's like, okay, cool, you got it. No problem. Yeah, sure. Done. Okay.

What else? Anything else? You want me to go get your pizza? But it was great. But I tell you what, man, the kids got some big time game. I love playing golf. First time, he plays fast. He plays hard.

He's a go-getter. And he's one of those guys. And it's going to be kind of like all or nothing, I feel like. It's either I'm going to contend or if I don't. You know what? This week sucked. Let's go on to the next one. Yeah, he's been kind of like that starting off.

And then you started to see it tighten up just a little bit. I said earlier in the show that he's played two majors and two top fives. He's obviously now played three with Augusta National, but a lot of success for a guy that's just starting. And when we were playing golf during the day, I was just, you know, we were just bullshit and talking around. I was like, hey, man, who do you like to hang out with? Who's the guys you hang out with on tour?

You know, when you're traveling and things like that. And he's like, man, there's just not a lot of guys that are my age that want to do the things I want to do. I want to drink beer and watch football on the weekends. most guys are married or have kids and they're traveling with their families. There's not a lot of guys out here in the same place that I am. And you forget after you see what he's done in the world of golf that he's 21, dude. He should be sitting around and, you know, most kids are sitting around in their dorm room, watching football, playing beer pong or whatever.

And he's out here contending in major championships. It's easy to forget how young he is sometimes. If you are pro, you're out struggling on the jickeys or on another tour somewhere. You're not 21 competing for majors and flying around private. No, changing clubs for five grand doing the normal stuff. Yeah, Matthew Wolf will not be changing clubs for five grand. It might take a slightly more than 5K to get Matthew Wolf out of Taylor made right now. Just word to all you reps out there that are listening.

Awesome. Will's a lot of fun. Can't thank him enough for sitting down with us. But that's going to do it for this week's episode. Next week, our guy, Derek Anderson, live and in studio. This guy, one of the best. You've probably seen him on Twitter. He's not afraid to get amongst it at all.

We've got some great stories from playing with him and just being around him all the time. And he's got some incredible football stories and golf as well. So it's going to be a blast. Nobody loves golf more than DA. Unquestionable. And we'll get into that next week. I cannot wait. That's going to do it for us.

We'll talk to you on next week's golf subpar.