Subpar - Michelle Wie West Interview: What it was like gaining incredible fame at a young age, how a Justin Thomas text led to her dating her husband

Episode Date: May 10, 2022

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, the legendary Michelle Wie West joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and jicky jack legend Drew Stoltz for an exclusive, in-studio, interview. The youngest golfer to make a cut at an LPGA Tour event talks gaining fame and fortune at such a a young age, what current LPGA Tour players could be next to compete with the men and how a text assist from Justin Thomas led to her dating her husband. Join us for a LIVE Subpar episode from the PGA Championship: https://golf.com/clubhouse Subpar Podcast: https://linktr.ee/Golf1271 Birdie Juice Merch: https://proshop.golf.com/collections/birdie-juice-collection ---------------   Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar's. Make sure to check out their page on Reserve Bar today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars This week's episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you've never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you. Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

Hello, world. Welcome back to golf subpar. Colt-nosed Andrew Stoltz. Another week, another W for us here, Sleez. Our man, Max Homa, gets the job done at Wells Fargo. Yes, what a week that was. The rocket ship is going up. I mean, we've been talking about this guy for a while. We've known about his ball strike, and you and I rave about it all the time. We get to see it, so we're a little bit biased. But, I mean, three wins now in the past 16 months, four in his career. I think this is probably all it takes to get him on the President's Cup team, which I think he then parlay. into future team events. But it's just like he's been Biden his time. He's, you know, made all these hurdles from top 100, now to top 50 to top 30.

He's trying to get to East Lake. This is just kind of cemented Max, I think, is like one of the great young Americans. I think he's coming into his prime right now. And he ain't done because he actually believes that he's one of the best players in the world. Now, for the first time, even though I think a lot of people around him have believed it for a while. Yeah, he finally does. I mean, I've been super high on him for a very long time. You know, he's done some great work with Mark Blackburn.

They spent the weekend in Birmingham. him getting ready for this. I heard his game was in really, really good shape. He was my pick. He ended up getting the job done. But, man, I thought yesterday, I was texting with Mark Blackburn last night. It was the most comfortable I've seen Max around.

Like, he looked relaxed. You know, we see him walk with some, he seems tense sometimes when he's out there walking. We know him as that laid-back fun guy off the golf course. He's trying to take that more onto the golf course. And yesterday, it looked like he was actually enjoying himself out there and just made so many clutch putts. The putter was hot yesterday.

I'm glad you brought that because like I said, we talked about his ball striking. It's awesome. He can move it both ways and flight it out of every different window. Yesterday, the putter, the way, not just making the putts, but the way he made him. They were in like the middle, middle of those things. They had a bunch of pace. And he was comfortable, but that thing was a freaking roller coaster, dude. I mean, that thing was all over the map.

I thought after maybe 11, I was like, okay, this thing could be done. And then 12 comes in, Max misses the green. Kegan Stones said, I was like, well, damn, we could have, you know, two-shot swing here. I thought 12 was a big hole when they ended up making pars, Max get up and down. And then 16, I thought, was one if you were going to have an episode out there where Max, you know, gets the big three-shot lead and how to make a five-footer to not be tied going into 17. You had a five-footer coming back for bogey after Keegan made the birdie. There was some wild roller coaster stuff on that back nine out there. It was wet.

The conditions were tough all week. But damn, like he just seems like every aspect of his game right now is firing. and he's going to be extremely popular at the PGA. Yeah, it should be a very good golf. I mean, I don't know what golf course isn't. It doesn't set up well for Max with as good as he hits it. He's moving it has 180 ball speed, just absolutely smashing it. But, you know, we're going to have him on our serious XM show later.

And I'm very interested to ask him about that shot on 16 because that might be the worst shot I've ever seen him hit. The wedge from 155. That didn't draw that was supposed to draw. Yeah. Well, just he let and he was just in the worst spot ever. He wasn't going to get too cute with that and leave it in the bunker and have something weird happens. So he flops it up there. And then the thing I was surprised.

rise by it's like, okay, it's just going to lag it up there. If it drops, it drops. Five feet coming back. It's like a three-shot swinger here on 16 would be, that would be a little gut check going into 17. Yeah, but at the end of the day, he picks up his fourth PGA tour win. He's going to be on that President's Cup team. The next step is majors. I mean, his best finish ever in a major is tied for 40th. He's got to improve on that. I think now he knows he belongs. Listen, it's no different. He's going against Roy McRoy. He's going against Justin Thomas,

Jordan Spee, John Rahman. He knows he can play with them. Now he's just got to do it at the biggest stage. And he's won on the hardest venues. He's one at Riviera. He's won at Quail Hollow. Now he won's at TBC Potomac, Avenel Farm. Like, that's a hard golf course. Single digits under par.

A lot of that was weather-related, but that's a big, tough golf course. This game seems to be best suited towards these hard golf courses, which you see in major championships. So I think, yeah, that's the last piece of the puzzle for Max is to start contending and hopefully eventually pick off a major championship. Well, he was subject number one of the tournament at the Wells Fargo. if you want to go to number two, I think we're going to have to go with Sergio Garcia making some noise. By the way, he absolutely got screwed by the ruling.

The ruling was shits. Yes. So I talked, Gary Woodland was paired with him. So I texted Gary after the round. I was like, hey, what in the hell happened? Like I heard the comments and everything. He's like, I never heard the comments until after the round. He goes, I do know, though, that the hedge rules officials came in after we finished.

We signed our card and apologized for what happened to Sergio because the clock started way too soon. Sergio knew he had to get to the other side of the creek. So once he was informed, he had some very, very choice words for the PGA tour. Yeah, choice words. That's one way to describe it. Basically, see you later. I can't wait to get the hell off of this tour. I only got a couple more weeks than I never ever deal with you.

It blew up everywhere. It feels like, and they did start the clock. Apparently he knew his ball was on the other side of the creek, but he couldn't figure out how to get over there, but they started the clock as he was trying to figure out how to get across the creek. He started up toward like the point at cross, but they knew it was over there. So you have to wait until you actually start searching. He wasn't searching for the ball.

yet. Yeah, but he got screwed, but it was like those comments feel like a dude that's pissed off, not happy, and it's been building up, and he's like, this would be a good time to just kind of air it out. You have made $54 million on the PJ tour. It hasn't been the worst run in a profession in the history of all professions, but suffice it to say, we've been talking about who's going to be the first guy. We know a couple of names that have asked for releases.

I'm going to go ahead and put my eggs in this, in the Sergio basket saying he gone. Yeah, that's what Gary texts me. He goes, just in case you didn't know, he's going to go play the live tour. I don't think he's coming back. I think that's, I was trying to read between the lines here. But he was pissed. He should be pissed. The ruling was shit, but that felt like a strange time to just go scorched earth on how much you can't wait to get out of that.

Well, it was an incredible weekend of sports. We had the Wells Fargo, NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, the Kentucky Derby, which was so exciting. At the end of the day, Rich Strike got the job done and just, I mean, the video when they show up from up above, how far back he was coming into the last turn. And then all of a sudden, shun! he just passes everyone, wins at 80 to 1, the second largest underdog. Unfortunately for me, I had Zandin and Epicenter, both to win, and they are one, two, with about 100 yards to go, and then all of a sudden this damn rich strike out of nowhere

just took over and ruined my day. The overhead shot of that thing is wild. It was like 40 yards back. And there was like, there's a whole pack of horses, even if he was the fastest, there's nowhere to go. How do you get through the pack? It's like being in a traffic jam, but there was a shitload of sports this weekend. It was a great sports watching.

My throat is struggling just a little bit here on this morning coming out of that thing. I bet on a little horse by the name of Smile Happy. I know zero about any horse in any race. You know it wasn't going to bet on one of the favorites. Picked a random one. He's a slow-ass horse. Didn't do very good. He's a slow-ass horse.

He's a slow-ass horse. He's on a little syndicate out there. So it's not happy. You got to tighten up. We're on to the AT&C, Byron Nelson, and just two weeks away from the PGA Championships, please. And what's that? Will we be there? Factual.

We will be on location at the PGA championship. on Tuesday, May 17th at James E. McNally's Public House in South Tulsa with our friends from Taylor Made and Doers. We'll be recording live at 4 p.m. and sticking around for a meet and greet and some drinks after the show. The golf dot com team will be posted up at McNally's all day. We'll have a little simulator on site, product giveaways, access to perfect practice putting mats, and more. It's going to be a great time if you're in the area. Swing by, get amongst it with us as we kick off PGA Championship weekend. Another live event down there. Toss a couple back. little golf, sling a few into the monitor.

That's what we do. Southern Hills Country Club is going to be a fantastic host for the PJ championship. It's going to be hotter and shit, I'm guessing. Less hot than August, I'm hoping. The last time it was there when it was triple digits and 90% humidity. It might not get the triple digits, but it's going to be like 95, so get ready. Better than cold. Doers on a hot summer day, what's better?

Let's put one of the huge globes in there and just have it. All right, well, our guest this week, who she is a legend. Michelle Wee West joins us. I don't know if you'd ever been around her at all before. I've spent some time with her in the past, done some events with her out in Vegas. She's a blast. She has so much more personality, I think, than people realize.

I had not ever even had a conversation with Michelle. We had just heard about the people who were friends with her. They'd hung out with her, and I'd heard nothing. But, like, she's one of the fellas. Like, she can hang out, have a beer, all that. I was like, great, this will be awesome. And she's true to form, man. She's fantastic.

I know she's got a lot going on her life right now. I would love to see her play a little bit more on the LPJ tour, but damn, her set up pretty damn good right now. And just going back and digging and you forget just how young she was when all that was going on. And she's one of the few people I would say that became famous that young. They, like, handled it pretty well. And it didn't make them get weird or anything. I mean, she's been in the spotlight for a long, long time.

That can wear you down. And it hasn't happened with her. And she's been ducking and dodging me about coming on subpar. I finally got her to come on, as you'll learn about here. But we are proud to announce that Doers is the presenting sponsor of subpar and the official Scotch Whiskey of the 122nd U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Discover Doer's remarkable lineup of Scotch Whiskeys, most notably of their 12, 15, and 19-year-old limited champions edition, developed in partnership with the USGA.

Doers is the perfect after-round indulgence, extraordinarily smooth yet complex. Enjoy Doer's double-aged Scotch whiskeys any way you like, be it neat, on the rocks, ski highball with a twist or a classic old-fashioned. All we do is go to majors, except we're going to skip the open championship. We're like Tiger, dude. Majors only. That's our schedule. But it is now time for the doers' cheers moment of the week, and I know this one might

hurt you a little bit. But last week, you and I played in a little charity event out at Greyhawk Golf Club, myself and Taylor Treyas, you and the biggest bird of them all, Chance Cosby, two man scrambles. We played in a six, them had an absolute blast. They had the golf genius live scoring. you and our teams were battling it out all day. We come to the last hole, all tied.

Do you want to finish the story? Continue? No, continue. I mean, you wanted to bring this. Continue, tell everybody. Forget out with a fluke. You're like rich strike. Go ahead. Tell them. All tied up at the lead. Tide for the lead. One hole to go. I hit it in there about 20 feet. You guys had about 12, 15 feet. I had a beautiful little zipper in there, I thought.

Tough hole location, though. It was located on a little mound, and I got up feeling really, really good. I was getting amongst it all day, had a little left-to-right slider that went, look like Max Homer's putts at the Wells Fargo, right in the middle, and then what did you do? You didn't step up to the plate. The lights were on for the kid. The fireball was also inside my stomach, caught the high side lip, and I didn't know exactly, because we're getting a little bit loose by the end of the round out there.

You know what I mean? I didn't know exactly where we, I knew the whole thing, the whole day was close. I don't think anybody, yeah, I knew we were at Greyhawk. And I didn't know for sure if I was like, that matters. Either that's them going one up on us, that's them tying us, or that's putting them to it. Like, whatever it is, this part matters. I didn't know exactly, and I got in the cart. And I looked, I didn't say anything after the pot.

And I looked, I was like, was that. Did that matter? Yeah, it's like, yeah, that was for, I think they just clipped this by one. I was like, God, I'm going to have to talk about this now. It's the worst fucking thing that could have happened. It was a lot of fun, though, out there. All right, well, let's get to it. Here's Michelle We West on golf subpar.

We got a bona fide star hopping on the show with us here today. She's a major champion five-time Cup team member, one of the most influential people in women's professional golf, and also one of the coolest people in the game. Michelle Wee West, how are you? Hi, how are you? I feel like if Colt introduced me, that would sound a lot more different. So thank you for introducing me. Absolutely. I was going to say, I've never heard such nice things about Michelle.

Yeah, we're keeping it very classy today. I know. This is great. But thank you for joining us. You know, I've been begging you for years to do this. and I'm glad we could finally get you on. Wow, really begging me for years to get on the podcast, huh? Okay, okay.

I was just making sure you weren't too busy. I wanted your schedule to die down a little bit. Then I figured we'd get you on. No, but thanks for having me on, guys. This is awesome. Can you confirm you're not being held hostage right now based on the background I'm seeing? This looks like something you see on YouTube that's scary. I'm okay.

I am safe. I just don't know how to hang. photos and I'm too lazy to call someone. So we're in like a really interesting spot right now. But I think it's a clean background, right? Very clean. Yeah. No distractions. We like it. I mean, at least you don't have two ugly dudes behind you like we do. So yeah, try to keep your eyes off that if at all possible. Hey, we got to talk a little bit about because you just got back from Vegas playing the 8 a.m. golf event, which owns this podcast. So we got to talk a little bit about it. You're out at the wind hanging out Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, among others. What was it like?

it was awesome i mean obviously you guys know but the 8 a.m people are are amazing and when you get a phone call from ashley mayo saying that jesson timber lake personally invited you to a golf tournament you honestly you cannot say no um and i was excited for a weekend of golf but honestly it was like one of the most fun times i've ever had on a golf course um kara dixon and i were teammates it was a two man scramble which is really great. Scramble are fun. Scramble's a lot of fun. But it was crazy. When the first day we got paired with Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes, and I really got to witness two real athletes

in my close view. And that was really amazing because they would make a put and they would just like charge and run around the green. But the velocity of which they would do it is exactly how I envision myself doing it. Like, you know,

when you make a fist pump at a golf tournament and like you, you know, I think one time I made a put to win a tournament and I like ran around the green. And I like, I imagine myself looking like what they did. But I like, I like, I like, I like, I thought it was running, but I was walking. And they just would sprint. They would jump at one point. Like, I think Travis Kelsey did like the jumping thing that, you know, athletes do to like celebrate, you know, and they jump at each other and they hit each other. And I was like, oh my God. I've gotten injured way faster than this. You and Kira would look slightly different than Patrick Holmes and Travis Kelsey doing that. Slightly. So we just did like a jumping hug, which looked a lot less athletic, but it was so much fun. My abs hurt from laughing so much. It was a great run event. So you had Patrick, you had Travis, you were paired with him.

Who else was all at this thing? I know JT was the host. Jimmy Fallon was in the house. Who else do we have? Yeah. So Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon were. partners. The second day, Catherine Newton and Chase Crawford were partners. So it was the girls and Chase Crawford, which we started calling it, I know, we started calling it Chase Crawford's

Bachelorette party and we all had a lot of fun. That's fantastic. I mean, obviously it was an incredible event and you've met pretty much everyone throughout your life and your career. Is there anyone you still get starstruck by? I actually, so when people ask them that question, I always say two people, Will Ferrell and Lance Bass. And I met Lance Bass last weekend. And maybe it was like I was a couple of cocktails in, but I almost cried. I legitimately like I wish I could do that moment again because I guess my friend G. Hay Lee saw Lance Bass at like the entrance of the party. And she was like, oh my God, I have to take it to my friend Michelle. And I was just talking to other people, you know, it was a normal Saturday night, and I turn around and it's Lance Bass,

and I'm like, oh my God. And I fully just freaked out. Like my 10-year-old self came back out again and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of his chest. I'll be much more jealous you got to meet Will Ferrell than Lance Bass, I'll be honest. No, that's Colts guys do. I've never met Will Ferrell. I don't know what my reaction would be if I met Will Ferrell, but I met one of the two. So Will Ferrell's on my list for sure. But Lance was the one, not JT, C and Timberlake, whatever. Hey, bud, how are you? But Lance, oh my God, picture. I'm so sorry. I never do this. But please, can I get one? Yeah, I was like, I hate to. I never asked for anyone's picture. Like, it's just not something I ever do. And I was like, oh, my God, I love you so much. Can I take a

picture with you? And he was so nice. I was just, I think I blacked out. I am definitely embarrassed myself. That's great when the roles are reversed. Like you've gotten that 80 million times. It's like, I'm sorry, I never do this, but I'm just such a huge fan. Then you have to go do it and to Lance, who probably not getting as many as you, I would think, when he goes out. No, I'm sure he gets it way more than I do. But I'm a huge fan, so. That's awesome. Well, let's talk a little bit about your golf game. We got to go back to the beginning because you're an absolute prodigy at a very, very young age. You got a golf club in your hands, I think, when you were four. Is that correct? Yep. Mm-hmm.

What age did you know that, like, okay, I'm pretty good, maybe not quite as normal as the other kids that I'm playing against? It was pretty fast, to be honest. You know, from when I was four, I really could get the ball airborne. But then, you know, I, as you know, I got really big, really fast. So I was at age 10, I was 5.7 and I weighed a whopping 175 pounds. So I hit the ball like 250, 275. and, you know, quickly realized that other 10-year-old girls weren't doing that.

So, yeah, it just happened really fast. I mean, it's just something that I always knew I was good at. And I beat my dad when I was seven, something, a fact that I liked to tell people. But yeah, I qualified for my first national event when I was 10 and just, I don't know, that to me just felt normal. I know that people always said, oh, that's not normal, that's not normal. but it was like my life, I was seeing me hit the ball that far every day. And to me, I was like, okay, this is what I'm good at. It's great.

You hit it further at 10 than I do now. It's awesome. It's okay. I hit it further at 10 than I need now as well. You hit that gross sport, though. You're going to shoot up. Just watch that. Was junior golf just like a joke for you then?

Like when you were a kid coming out, could anyone even like come within shouting distance of you? No, I mean, I lost a few times too. But, I mean, I pretty much won everything on the eye. island. And I think that's what people don't realize when you grow up in Hawaii. Like it's just so limited, you know, like it's the mainland's the closest point is still five and a half hours away. And it's super expensive to go, you know, play in AJJ event. So I played everything. I played the junior golf tournament circuits in Hawaii. But then I won the, the biggest women's tournament in

Hawaii when I was 12 by like 13 strokes. So, you know, a lot of people were like, oh, my God, I can't believe you play in a PGA tour event. But that to me was kind of like the next step up. I was just trying to see which tournaments are in Hawaii. I qualified for my first LPGA event when I was 12 when the Taki Fuji Classic back in the day was in the Big Island. And then, you know, playing a couple of men's tournaments, playing a men's match play event. And then the Sony Open. I was like, oh, 10 minutes from my house.

I was like, cool, that's like the next event that I can play in. And just never really thought to the extent of like, wow. I'm like actually playing the PGA Tour event. I mean, that's just, that's insane to me to play at such a young age. Any professional event at such a young age is such a huge accomplishment. But to play on the PGA tour, let's go to that week. I mean, it was back in 2004, what in the hell were you thinking when you register, you head to the driving range, you're like, okay, I'm playing against some of the best men on the planet right now.

I was so nervous on the range. I, but it was like, it was funny because people were like, oh, you can't play with the men and like, you can't do this. And then I was just like, wait a second, I played with boys all my life. I remember I playing basketball with them doing recess. Like I was just a huge tomboy. I'm like, how is this different? You know, like naively, I was just like, this is not any different than playing basketball with the boys during recess. It's very different, very different. But in my mind at that time, I was like, wait, you can't tell me that I can't do this just because I'm a girl. So there was that factor to it.

But I remember like getting to the range and like Ernie Ells is in front of me hitting, you know, VJ Singh is there. And I'm just like, oh my gosh. Like I mean, I was super cocky back in the day. I was like, oh, I think I'm pretty good. And I'm watching these guys hit the ball. I'm like, wow. Wow. And then Ernie Els asked me if I want to play a practice round with him.

I'm just like, are you kidding me? Like this is the guy of idolized my entire childhood. It was, it was such a crazy week. I was going to ask how their reception of you was, but it sounds like it was amazing. I mean, Ernie L has asked you to go play a practice round. That helps, yeah.

Yeah, you know, everyone was super nice. I played in the first round. I played with Camillo Vodegas, and I always joke that I, you know, was his first person that he played with on tour. And I really recommend Googling a photo. It's really funny. Like, between me and Camillo.

And I was like, everyone was super nice. I remember playing with Jerry Kelly. There was this like pro junior shootout on Wednesday that week. So I remember playing with Adam Sandler one time. It was amazing. I don't know if you know, but you know, Adam Sandler beat shooting McAvon. So he was the top. Pretty big deal.

Yeah, it was a big deal. No, but everyone's super nice. Normal stuff for a 14-year-old. When you were playing with Camillo and whoever else you were paired with on Thursday, Friday, What kind of conversations do you have going up and down the fair? Like, what could a 45-year-old guy or whoever else who would ask a 14-year-old girl? Like, oh, what's your favorite color? What are you guys talking about?

Dude, I don't even remember. I mean, yeah, I would get so with it. I was like, what's your favorite subject at school? I don't know. I don't know. I honestly don't remember. 2004 is a very long time ago, guys. Who's your favorite member of Insync?

A lot of Lance Bass talk. Probably. That's always hot. Yeah, probably. Probably. But I remember like hitting the ball super far then. And I think there was like one hole actually where I outdrove everyone in the field for the day or something like that. It's my claim to fame. Damn. That's nice. You have a little bit more than that as your claim to fame. But you shoot 68 in that second round. I mean, you know, you were the talk of the golfing world. What was it like when you had to go back to school the next week and just live a normal life? I was still a loser. I was still a kid that no one wanted to hang out with. You know, it just, it was, it was funny. And this is a part that I really am thankful for my life and for my parents is that I still went to school full time. I was never, you know, homeschooled.

I still went to college. And to me, I'm really grateful for those experiences because, you know, I would have these crazy experiences in my professional. work life and I would go back to school and literally like no one knew who I was and no one cared. And, you know, my friends know nothing about golf. My best friend, I mean, I was asking her today like, you know what a bunker was, you know, what a green is. And she's like, oh, I don't, I think so. I don't really know.

And, you know, my closest friends, they don't know anything about golf. And that's just like what's so amazing was that I was able to be that normal 14, 15 year old self when I was away from the golf. course and then I could kind of become this persona on the golf course. So I kind of had like two lives that I was living. Was that week when you first teed off on Thursday morning or afternoon? Was that the most nervous you've ever been or were you all? Was it kind of like I'm 14 years old? All I've ever done is when. I play with guys. Like you're almost too young to even realize maybe the magnitude of what you're doing. Both. I was more nervous because it was my first time playing that big of a crowd. And as you know, Wiley, the first hole is.

is super straight, super narrow, and the people were like this. And I never hit it well off the first hole there, no matter what. Like, it's just like one of those holes. I don't do well with like short straight holes. And I just remember getting up. It's like, I really hope I just don't snap hook and hit someone in the head. That was like literally my, my thought process because there were so many people I've never played in the front of that made people before. So I think I was more nervous about that than anything else. Yeah, and talk us through the decision to turn pro, because you turn pro before your 16th birthday. Obviously, I mean, things are going extremely well. You're playing in men's golf tournaments,

but to be a professional golfer at 16 years old or younger, I mean, it's a whole different ballgame. I mean, you know, these are grown adults ready to support their families and everything, and here you are 15 going out there and trying to make a living playing this game. Yeah, I mean, you know, it sounds really daunting. when you say it like that and like the reality of it is really daunting. But at that time, like, you know, this is a girl that thought she can play with the guys at age 14. So my sense of reality may have been warped. But, you know, I just at that point, you know, I was when I was 13, when I played my first, you know, now Chevron, you know, I was in the final group on Sunday.

And I was turning down some really big check sizes. And, you know, just seeing it go to the next person. And I was just like, I don't want to do that anymore. You know, but at the same time, I was like, and then I was like, oh, it would be fun to turn pro on my 16th birthday. Like, that would be really cool. But, you know, nothing changed in my life after a term pro. I went to the same school. I was still not popular.

I was still a loser at school. I, you know, didn't get a car. I, you know, I never had a bedroom growing up. I didn't get magically get a bedroom. you know, just like nothing changed. And I'm also partially grateful that I didn't have social media back in the day. So, you know, I turned pro and it was a great business decision. Like I said, I kind of was living two lives.

And my parents were saying, you know, you have to go to college. If you turn pro, you can't drop out of school. You still have to take education really seriously. And you still have to go to college. And like those are the terms from what my parents laid down to me. How was it for you on the LPJ tour? Because obviously you attracted a lot of eye. balls to the LPGA, being professional at 16, obviously, signing with Nike, signing with Sony.

Were they welcoming of you, or are they kind of partially jealous at the same time that a 16-year-olds getting all the attention every time you teed it up on the LPGA? You know, they were, I mean, super nice to me. I don't, you know, ever recall people being mean to me, you know, thankfully Meg Malin and Beth Daniel really took me under their wings, you know, and having, I guess, Hall of Famers kind of validating that. really helped. But no, I mean, I stayed really quiet, you know, even though I guess I had big sponsorships and whatnot. I was not really flashy. I didn't, you know, I was really shy, if you can believe it or not back in the day. So I didn't really talk very much. I definitely,

I guess I have changed. But yeah, I guess I just, I kind of kept to my own. I didn't start any drama. I didn't, you know, do any of that. So how hard was it traveling, though? a lot of young pros like when they come out and they get their tour card the hard thing is like kind of finding their home finding their people like there's young guys out there now they're in different place being college age kids as the guys that are 40 plus what was it like for you i mean you're even one generation prior to that you're 16 barely driving and you're out here with grown women was it hard to find like your niche your your group that you hung with yeah um you know what a lot of people don't realize is that i yeah i turned pro at 16 but i didn't join the tour until

I was 19 because I didn't want to play a full schedule. So if you're not a member, you can kind of get up to six exemptions, including the British Open and U.S. Open. So four normal LPJ events and then two co-sanction events. So I was just playing six events, six LPJ events a year. So that's, you know, really not a lot. And I just kind of packed that during the summer. And then when I went to college, my freshman year, I didn't want a petition to join the tour because I was like, my first year, freshman year of college, I kind of want to experience it. So I'm glad I did that. So I really joined the tour full time at when I was 19. And I was really grateful. I mean, at that time, 16, 18, 19, there was super, I was super young. There was really no one around that age. But I remember playing,

you know, Curtis Cup, you know, with Paula Kramer. So she was out on tour, Morgan Pressel. And, you know, like I said, everyone was really nice. But my, when my real friends were, you know, back in high school, back in college. Yeah, and go to Stanford because you go there, you're balancing, playing professional golf and going to school at the same time. As a college student, were you living your, you know, a normal college life, going to parties, going to sporting events, all that? I played the fifth.

Okay. This is the trust tree. Smart, smart. No one listens to this show. She's well coached. No, but it was awesome. I mean, I lived on campus all four and a half years. you know, I remember going to Stanford.

And so the first floor was all boys, second floor was all girls. And I was on the co-end floor. And I go to the bathroom. And I'm like, oh, that's weird. There's no sign for guys and girls. We had a co-ed bathroom. This is someone that was like, you know, super sheltered all, like, you know, all our life. And then all of a sudden I go to college.

I'm like, okay, co-ed bathrooms. Here we go. And it was just, it was such an amazing experience. There are so many amazing humans on campus. And just being there as a civilian, as they call non-athletes on campus, it was a lot of fun. And made a lot of great friends. And, you know, just it really helped because some of my, I mean, even though I won twice in college and had really good years, as you know, I started playing on tour full time. And that's grueling, emotionally, physically, mentally.

And I had some of my darkest moments out on the golf course. And I'm just so grateful at that time. I don't really remember it much because all I remember the good times that I had at school. So I'm just really glad that I had that experience. And I really struggled mentally after I graduated from college. Because I always had that dual life. And then now diving into the golf world 100%.

That was really tough for me. Most people go to college to try to get out and get a job to then make money. You're going into college already with a job and already with money. How hard is it to get motivated to go to class? When you're like, dude, I already know what I'm doing. I don't even really need to learn this shit. No, I mean, I love the classes at Stanford.

You know, but I think the way that Stanford does it, you know, they don't check attendance. You know, you can go to or as little as much as you want. You know, the tests are honor-based. You know, it really cultivates independent thinking. and creative thinking. And it was such a cool time to be on campus. You know, Snapchat was getting built, you know, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Like, it was a boom of startups. And it was just, it was just like this electrifying environment on campus that we could all write our own stories. We can all be what we want to be and who we want to be. And it was just really cool environment

to be a part of. Hold on. Rewind. Tests are honor based. Explain that to me. Please. This is the I think I went to the wrong school. I feel like I made a beat. I feel like I would have been valedictorian summa cum laude at Stanford. But explain that. There's no, there's no proctors.

There's no one in the classroom that watches over the students. So you could just be like, hey, Jimmy, what you got for number four? And four through 12. I guess you could,

but it's honor base. Honor. You got to have honor. I wouldn't have done it. Yeah. For golfers, we know it. You got to respect the code.

Yeah. Call first. Call your old penalties. Exactly. Police yourself. That's why I got D. Yeah. But Michelle, you won five times on the LPGA tour, including a major. I would say, you know, women's golf is starting going in the direction that everybody wants it to. The purses are going up and all this.

But in your opinion, like, what can the world do to make, you know, the LPGA what it needs to be? You know, support us. You know, I think it starts with, you know, podcasts like yourselves having me as a female on. You know, I think that there's a lot of, when people say, oh, you know, there's pay inequality, yada, yada, yada, you know, our purses are so much slower. You know, people are like, are like, oh, you can't, you can't even compare the two because you don't have the audience at the PJ Tortas. You don't have people watching it, you know, and it starts all the way back.

And it's a chicken and the egg situation, right? It's, you know, money makes money. And there has to be a significant investment from, you know, broadcasts and networks to put in the same amount of network investment on the LPJ tour. You know, like on the men's tour, there's a lot more cameras. There's, you know, shot length. There's a lot more technology to create this entertainment factor for golf tournaments. Whereas, you know, the LPJ tour, you know, we have great entertainment value. We have really entertaining players.

but a lot of times that doesn't get shown because we have less cameras, we have less technology, we have less statistics to showcase these talents on tour. And when you have a less entertaining product, people are not going to watch it as much. Therefore, there's a smaller fan base. So we're doing things, you know, that are, you know, more creative, trying to, you know, get a bigger fan base creatively. But, you know, it's a chicken egg situation. We have to be, there has to be a significant investment from the broadcast TV side companies to help create, you know, this entertaining product so that, you know, more people will come and watch it. So, you know, this is a lot of different, you know, factors going into it. But like you said, we are trending in

the right direction. And, you know, every year we're chipping away at it. And, you know, hopefully more people will start to watch our tour. We have so many great players out there and so many great, so many entertaining stories and different nationalities and, you know, cultures on our tour. I think it's great. Were you dabble in the media world a little bit? Is there any way you can kind of push that ball forward? You know, I'm trying to. You know, I'm trying to.

But, you know, you guys can help as well. And, you know, I think the hoodie project was really great last year. I think it, you know, allowed people to show their support. It was really cool to see it in the wild. and see dads and, you know, guys wear it at the airport and support women's sports. Yeah, I checked the mail every day and mine was never in there. It was weird. You too? Did I not send you one? Me too. That's a U.P. I would have worn it today if I had one. Is there a change of address, dude? You move. It probably went to the old house. Same for me.

That's weird. You could have bought it online too. We look good in tie-dye, Michelle. So if you got a couple spares laying around, a couple fellas like us, getting into the summer here in Scottsdale's getting to be hoodie weather. Summer and Scottsdale. You catch a sweat, jump rope and shed weight. That's what we like to do. Michelle, how much you golf are you playing nowadays? As much as I can. You know, a lot of my day revolves around chasing a two-year-old.

And we got another puppy as well. So that's having like another toddler. But yeah, I try to do as much as I can. Do you have any interest? I know you talked to me earlier this year about playing the U.S. Women's Open this year. Any desire to go back to playing more regularly on the LPJ tour? You know, that's something that my husband are discussing. You know, I came back and played after, you know, McKenna was born.

And I played a pretty full schedule. It's just really hard. You know, I'm just trying to figure out what's best for, you know, my family. And, you know, I feel like you just don't get time back with your child, you know. It's just every day they just get bigger. bigger and it's just so amazing to see with something that I'm not sure if I want to miss out on. And yeah, just, you know, with health-wise too and body-wise, just does a lot to consider. So we're talking it through.

Yeah, and you've been so successful, like, you don't have to go play. You can do whatever you want. But being that you are, like, still one of the most influential women in the game, do you feel pressure, like, from anywhere to go play? Because, like, an event gets different publicity when you're in the field than it does. And if you're not. no i mean i mean i don't think i'm like that famous you know like oh you have to play so Lance bass took a picture with you um you know so i think yeah i don't know it's just i have

to think about it you know for for my family and you know what's best but no i don't really you know get a lot of pressure to play because people won't watch i guess i mean there's i think they're doing just fine yeah well it's NBA playoff season your husband your husband She's husband, works with the Warriors. How much basketball are you watching right now? How many games are you going to? You know, basketball is on pretty much 24-7 at our household right now.

And I don't know much, honestly. It's really fun. I mean, I think the Warriors are doing amazing, and it's really fun to see, you know, the players being healthy and all back on the court again. It's just so surreal. My husband's actually going to the game tonight. But we don't live in Sanjurisco anymore, so we don't get to go to as many games as before.

But my husband travels a lot, and hopefully I'll get to a game before the season ends. Do you know more about basketball or does he know more about golf? He knows way more about golf. Is he big golf? He knows more about golf than I do. That's kind of sad, to be honest. I'm like, what's, I mean, I don't know any of my numbers of my clubs. And I was like, what, what's like, what's like,

bounce and all that numbers on my clubs. He was explaining it. He can tell you it's good to have an extra caddy. He knows everything about golf. Extra catty. Yeah, when I was, you know, preparing for the Masters and he played it twice. And I've yet to play it. So I was asking him about all the inside details.

And he knows like exactly what Tiger Woods did five years ago at this event on this exact whole. I'm like, how do you even know that? That's actually surprised me that you haven't played Augusta. I thought you would have. No, never played Augusta. Never, yeah. Like it's never worked out in the schedule or just an invite hasn't come around?

I think a mixture of both. I love it. So you mentioned you dabbled in the TV side a little bit at Augustine Ausner's stuff. Is that something that interests you? Because I know Judy Rankin recently, she called it a career. No, I really enjoyed it. You know, being able to call the master's as a lifelong dream of mine and be able to do that was amazing. I really enjoyed, you know, working with Golf Channel and doing the live from stuff.

It's something that I'm a big fan of the game. Like I said, I don't know much about the game, but I'm a huge fan of the game, especially living through it. So I feel like I can understand, you know, the players are new as well too. We understand the players' mindsets going into certain things. things and we can relate to it and hopefully be able to, you know, tell it to the audience in the way that they can relate. But I'm always really interested in talking about the human element of the game. And I think people get so caught up on numbers and stats and, you know, expect players to be robots. I mean, because they're so good. Every shot just seems near perfect, right? But I know, like,

in the back of their mind, there's stuff that they're working on or stuff that they're feeling. So, you know, I've always wanted to kind of relate that back to everyday golfers. Like, hey, we're still human. Like, you know, if they missed hit a shot, like, you know, we're human. And that's something that I want to relate. You know, I'm not sure if I want to do like week to week because, you know, traveling. I've done that for many, many years. And it's very, very tough.

I think they'll take you whenever you want if I had to guess. But I know you're getting involved a lot in the investment world. Tell us about some of these startups that you're, getting involved with. What are you most excited about? It's been a lot of fun to learn about the different companies and to be a part of it. And I think my whole life, you know, I've had amazing sponsors. And, you know, I think it's different when you get paid to do something versus like, you know, kind of put your own money into it. And it's, it's been a lot of fun. You know, recently, Tonal, we came out with a golf program. So anyone out there that has a tonal, you can see me on your screen.

It was so weird when I turned on the tunnel the other day. I was like, oh, my God, it's me on there. Like, oh, turn it off. No, but it's, you know, stuff like that. It's really exciting to be a part of the company and to be part of, you know, producing content that, you know, you're invested in. It's just a lot of fun.

It's definitely hard and I'm learning as I go. You know, just like playing the PJ tour events. I like throwing myself in the deep end of the water and seeing what happens. You know, I never like, I guess, kind of tread lightly and go from the shallow to the deep. I just throw myself on the deep end of it. And that's kind of what's happening here. I'm really learning as I go.

I have great mentors. So we'll see what happens. That's awesome. I love hearing that. Your co-owners with Steph, right? And a water company? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Who trumps who in the boardroom? You get in there, you're talking a little strategy. Steph throws out an idea. Can you be like, Steph kindly shut your face. You don't know what you're talking about. I mean, Steph wins. Okay, it's fine fair. So good.

That's fair. He can compete with him. Don't let him walk all over you, though. Keep him in check, you know what I mean? Need somebody. Have you played much golf with Steph? Yeah, I played a couple times with him. He's got some game.

He's amazing. You know, he's never gotten a lesson in his entire life. He's one of those dudes. He is so taught. I mean, it's unfair how, how, some people can be that athletic and be that good at so many different things. It's just not fair. I get it.

I get it, guys. There's not many of us. I can see how that would be obnoxious on the other side. All right, what we're going to do? We're going to get to our emergency nine right now. Just nine fun questions and then we'll let you get out of here. But Michelle, because this has been a lot of fun. We asked us to everyone.

You can trade lives with anyone for a day, dead or alive. You get to be someone for a day. Anyone you want to be. Who's going to be? Oh, I don't know. Who would I want to be? not me. A hell of a question.

This is a deep thinker. I mean, I wasn't going to say cult, but, you know. You're going to lose distance. Let's see. If I could trade lives, anyone else, who would it be? It would be, you know, I would love to be a singer. So like, do a Lipa, someone who's, like, really talented musically because I am not whatsoever. And I think it'd be so much fun.

Every time I go to a concert, I just, like, think, like, what? a blast like you won like you it's like after you win a big golf tournament and you see the crowd there and they've all come to see you it's like that same feeling but like every single concert and you're going there and you're just having a blast and like singing and be able to dance um so yeah i think it'd be like a really good singer yeah you never lose as a singer you win every time yeah you you've won every single time you don't go up on the first seat and be like oh well like you know shank it or snap hook it you know no going home early col's a big dual leepa i am you like do it right what's that song you always talk about uh you know her latest one yeah that one with the chorus

that catch yeah yeah that is a good one all right next first one for me all right you did a cameo on wai 5 oh back in the day if you get a chance to do a cameo now on any show what would it be it would be i ask me right now the show no i guess you could do whatever time what if you could pop up in any show ever I guess. Y-5-0. Gossip girl. Gossip girl.

You just got to hang out with Mr. Gossip Girl, Chase. I know. I did tell him I'm teen Chuck, though. Yeah. Do you know who Chuck is? No. I just said, yeah, right there to pretend. How's Chase's game, by the way?

Is it coming around? It's not good. No, he's not. Don't lie. Michelle. You think everyone's good. We're friends with Chase. It's cool.

You could be honest. I've seen it. I've tried to work with him a little bit. It didn't stick. I'm a shit teacher, obviously, but how is it now? I mean, he was really good. I think his driver, we were talking about it. He needs to work on his driver a little bit.

But, I mean, he was putting really well, hitting his irons really well. I mean, it was also a two-man scramble with Catherine Newton. She's really good. She can play, yeah. But, I mean, I was really impressed. That's just because he's beautiful. She's just too nice. She's so nice.

Just because he's from gossip girls. Yeah, and he's good looking. That's true. Yeah, exactly. Weird that he got paired with all the girls. All right, next one. You're one of five women to play on the PGA tour. Who will be the next girl to step her foot inside the ropes with the PGA tour guys?

Good question. I mean, Lexi has played the shootout. Yeah, but it's an actual PGA tour. Like a full field. You did the Sony. PGA. You played the John Deere, something like that. I think Lexi.

It'll be Lexi? I think so. I mean, if she wants her, I think she could totally do it. I was going to say one of the court of sisters. Yeah. Possible. I mean, Patty hits it really long. That was my other one is Tabitatanic kit.

She hits it so far. Like, yeah. So far. She could totally do it too. Follow up. Follow up on that, not part of the E9. Did you enjoy, like, I know you did, because you did it numerous times, but did you enjoy playing with the men or was it almost like, hey, I know I represent all women.

Like, this is going to be the number represents all women at the end of the day. Is that almost like too much? it was a lot of pressure um you know it was a lot of pressure because you know i don't want to be the argument for why women should not play with the men you know that was it was always kind of that was in the back of my mind um but you know every time i kind of stepped up and played it was it was awesome i mean everyone was super nice to me i got to learn so much from the guys i'd be like oh how do you hit this shot or you know what do you do here and just like being was just watched and hit the ball was just incredible.

Yeah, that's a lot of pressure on the shoulders of one person. I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine. All right, next question. You went to the same high school as Mantae Tao. Did you ever get a chance to meet his beautiful girlfriend, Linnae? What can you tell me about Linnae? That she didn't exist.

Oh, yeah. So you know what? She was soft-spoken. She's just under the radar. You probably get that question, but I just wanted to know. Was that a big deal down there? I also know that high school is Barack Obama. I know.

That high school, what's the deal with the, like the notable alums is a joke? Yeah, Steve Case, the founder of AOL also went there. You know, it's an awesome high school. Apparently. Mantai and Leney went there. I've only got me and Joe Exotic from pilot. Oh yeah, Colts got Joe Exotic. Yeah.

That's pretty good. That speaks volumes. It does. About high school. Free Joe. Next one. Pre Joe. I'm hearing a rumor that you wouldn't be,

Michelle Wee West if it wasn't for the incredible matchmaking skills of Justin Thomas. True or false? True. True. Wow. Okay, explain. You know, we had a lot of mutual friends and, you know, just knowing that Justin knew him, knowing that he wasn't probably a weirdo, although Justin knows a lot of weirdos.

You found the one guy, yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I guess that logic doesn't really track. But he helped Johnny write his first text to me, I guess, and be like, how do I approach her? I don't sound like a weirdo. And I guess Justin kind of helped him out on that. And then I remember, like, seeing out the gym.

I'm like, oh, hey, what about this guy? And he's like, oh, yeah, it's really cool. I'm like, okay. Like, we try to get a wedding efficient. Can you share the text with it? It can't be creepy. It's the first text. You would have never written back.

I honestly don't remember. Yo, you what? I honestly don't remember. You awake? Justin put a lot of thought to that one. Dude, right, you awake. They like that. WID, question mark.

What's your relationship like with JT? Because I know he absolutely loves you. How much fun was it living down in Jupiter and hanging around those guys? Oh my God. It was so much fun. I was actually texting J.T. today. and we're just talking about how fun I used to be. No, but it was awesome.

I mean, living in Jupiter, playing at Bears Club. I mean, being on the range with like Rory, Dustin, J.T., Ricky, Ernie, and the list goes on and on and on. Like, it was just so surreal to just be like out there with all of them. And then, you know, it's so funny. JT. and I have still. have yet to play around together. He told me that, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, but I would see him like every day off the golf course. He was like my off course buddy. I mean, I would play with Ricky a lot. But JT, like we'd never play together. It's so weird. We just did other activities together. Interesting.

Okay, a little matchmaker, JT. I'd love to hear this text at some point. We asked him to be our efficient, but, you know, he had this thing called the FedEx playoffs. I don't understand. I don't even know if it would be legal if he did it on Honestly, so probably better that you got a real pro in that thing. But then we can call him like a, we can call him, you know, Reverend Thomas.

That's terrifying, by the way. The good father, Justin, Father Justin. Oh, my God. All right. Next one for me. Most fun athlete to party with while you're at Stanford. Andrew Luck was a year below me. And we lived just a couple of doors from each other.

So that was a lot of fun. Okay. I got imagine he never got carded either. He showed up at Stanford looking about 43. Hey, here you go, sir. Some for your daughter? That neck beard. Oh, the neck beard was horrendous.

A lot of neck. A lot of neck. He's a cool dude, though. Y'all were there at the same time. He was fun hang. Yeah. His wife and I are friends. And I live, like, in the hallway where all football players lived.

So it was so much fun. Like, it would just have all, everyone have their doors open. And, you know, every weekend, it was just, it was so much fun to be able to go see them play and, like, you know, tailgate and then kind of party with them. It was just a good vibe. Yeah. No wonder you didn't want a full schedule. I don't blame you. All right.

Next one. I'd have to keep my priorities open. Exactly. It's true. Next one. What do you enjoy more on the golf course? A cigar or a cocktail? Cocktail.

Okay. Cocktail of choice on the golf course. Tequila OJ. Oh, nice. I heard your dad's a tequila drinker, correct? Yeah, he's like, he's an everything drinker. He doesn't discriminate. I get that. Tequila, OJ. Yeah, but it was really fun. Like, every time, so we had a couple of tournaments in Mexico, and I won my first professional event in Mexico. And he was there with me that week. And during the pro-em, they would have, like, tequila tastings, you know?

And I was like, oh, since I can't do it, I was like, dad, you should drink. So I made him go through, like, every single. tequila tasting out there and there was like a lot and he was like barely walking by that point and I made him chug a beer on one of the tea boxes and I won that week so I was like oh my god you know now that I won that week is because you chug that beer so then I made him like chug a beer like every week and it was funny like when I won in Hawaii I made him like chug a beer on the tea box and I won that week and I was like you know it all goes back to you tugging a beer on a tea box. It's the only reason. It's the only reason. The only reason. Love that. Do you smoke cigars? Yeah. Two? No, I just

I dabbled in it, but it's just a lot. Our first time, I was about to say that would be our first time at hanging out was at Shadow Creek with cigar, cocktail, and we're playing cornhole. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. That sounds about right. That's how you bond. It just really stays though, no matter how many times you brush your teeth. I hate them. Yeah, they're tough. They're tough. Yeah, you just taste them for forever. All right, last one from me. Multiple choice here, Michelle.

Okay, you're the only major champion. The only major champion history that I can think of that celebrated by twerking, okay? On video, incredible, by the way. Which of the following players do you think would have the best twerk after a big win? Jordan Speeith, Max Homa, Harry Higgs, or the good father, Justin Thomas? Harry Higgs. I think I shouldn't have put Harry yet. Harry's too easy.

He's definitely not skinny. He doesn't, he means like this, he's like skinny as a rate. He's like a little chick figure. Yeah, he got no ass. Grow up. Yeah. Yeah, I would say Max home. I think Max home would be able to shake it a little bit.

Max can dance. I bet you Max can move that thing. Yeah, I think Jordan and JT would be the last two people. Sorry, guys. They're backup, backup dancers. Awesome. Well, Michelle Wee West, this has been incredible. Thank you for finally making some time for us to come

on we really appreciate it you're the best you're the worst thank you thank you thank you michel thank you all right well that was michel we west joining us on golf subpar so she's a lot of fun man i love the way the interview closed out when i was giving her a hard time because she's been asking she's like when are you going to have me on the podcast i was like i would love to do it i wanted to do it in person but i finally got her to schedule and we had to do it then but i loved it when i said you're the best you're the worst didn't even hesitate yeah let's keep it honest yeah but manly spot. What a life she's still obviously super young, but just getting thrown

into the spotlight at such a young age. Playing against the men, which she says is the most nervous she's ever been. I can't imagine. I mean, all the eyeballs are on you. No matter who's in the field, unless it's Tiger Woods, she's going to be the one who's talked about. It's a lot of pressure. And she said, I think she said Lexi Thompson would be the next one. She might

expect to do that on the women's side. If I'm one of the top players in the world on the women's side, I don't think I want, I mean, it would be a cool thing to say, yeah, I did it one time. But the amount of pressure that they have, they're playing for like the entire entirety of women's golf. Like if you go out there and just have a bad week, you could play terrible on the LPJ tour too.

But if you bring that to the PJ tour and shoot a big number, like told you, you can't, you know, they can't compete or they couldn't make a cut or all that. I don't think I would want that. I was there when Onica made her start at Colonial back in the day. I was still at TCU. We went out and watched it. She'd off the 10th hole there. And that whole amphithe here, the whole, I'd never seen more people around one hole in my life.

And I was looking, I was like, I would not want this. and she went out there and she performed, but I was like, every eye is on, that is such big pressure. I mean, when you're her age, I mean, it's just, wow, that, you know, she's still so young, but she's been through a lot of big moments

in her career. And it's confirmed now she is someone I want to have a beer with or multiple or tours or whatever you want to have. She's a tequila OJ fan, but she has a lot of fun. And, I mean, she's won on the LPGA tour. She's a major champion, multiple Solheim cups,

but just seems very happy. her life right now. It doesn't seem like she, I mean, she said I might play here and there, but she's enjoying being a mom, being a wife. And it seems to me, as long as I've known her, it's the happiest I've ever seen her. Yeah, I mean, she's got the dream scenario. She can play as much golf as she wants. She could play as little golf as she wants. You can hang out with her family. She's got a bunch of side ventures now where she's investing, doing an investment with Steph Curry amongst others. Like, she's got a pretty damn good setup. Like, I wouldn't be, I don't know, I wouldn't be racing back if I was her. I just pick the ones I want to play and play them.

Yeah. Well, now it is time to step up. up to the T and take a swing at betting the PGA Tour on Fandul Sportsbook. And if you didn't make any money last week, it's your own damn fault. Because we gave you Max Homa at 41 to 1. We gave you Matt Fitzpatrick, who finished second as well. We were all over this thing. Yeah, we've had a good little run here. It's money-making season.

All right now, new customers can place to their first PGA tour bet, risk-free, and if you don't win, you'll get up to $1,000 back. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there's no better time to get in on the action. The app is easy to use. There's a range of betting options like outright winners. head matchups, nationality props, and so much more. And Sleads, what happens when you win? Get paid quick. All right. Well, let's get to the AT&T, Byron Nelson. My first ever start on the PGA

tour back when I was in college. It's at TPC Craig Ranch, which you and I both have played. It used to be a big, big long golf course. Now it just seems kind of average. At Q School, like, every long hitter I know is like got to go to Craig Ranch, go to Craig Ranch for second stage. Everybody that I knew would go there if you could carry the ball over about $2.90 if you had that sort of gas. Now it's just like half with the course. It's like only the long hitters can hit it over. Now it's like everybody can't. But last year was the first year, it was at TPC Craig Ranch.

Scores are very, very low. It's very generous off the tee, perfect greens. But, man, the platforms they built up around there, the stands and everything. It's a, they got big crowds last year. I expect it to be even bigger this year. They got a hell of a field. Unbelievable field. Seven of the top 15 are scheduled to play right now.

The favorite, no surprise. World number one. Scotty Sheffler going off at 9 to 1 over at fans. handle. For me, Slees, I'm going to the guy. I know how much this tournament means to him. This was also his first start ever on the PJ tour when he was 16 years old. But he's, you know, he's the hometown favorite. Dallas is very well represented this week. I got some of the top players in the field. But this one, I just, I think at some point he's going to get the job done here. He won in his last start on the PGA tour at Hilton Head. He finished ninth here last year with an opening around 63.

Jordan Spee's 16 to 1. He's my favorite this week. Okay, with a little local flare there. 16 years old, finished 16th, I believe was in the top 10 heading into the weekend, a 16 year old. Pretty good. Jesus. Not terrible. Hard to believe. I'm going to stay with a little Dallas flavor as well. I'm going to go to the guy looking for his first dub on the PJ tour, which I think we all are expecting

to happen very, very soon. Willie Zee, skinny Willie Zee, Will Zill, Taurus going off 22 to 1. We know about his ball striking. It's always great. Drives it good. Irons a good. Putters the question mark. I was really pleased with what I saw it.

Gus the National from him with the putter. He actually hit a few bad iron shots that cost him some shots, but the putter was great, especially from 10 feet and in. If he can get that thing going, which is an if, I mean, it's not a if he's going to win, it's when he's going to win. And I just think at home, golf course, I assume he's pretty familiar with. It feels like the right time for a Willie Z sighting. Yeah, you get, listen, he drives it beautifully, long, straight, and you get hit a lot of drivers at Craig Ranch. So I do like him around there. Looking down the board a little bit, a guy who had a disappointing weekend at Wells Fargo, but he still managed to finish 15th.

I believe he's on his way back, been doing some great work with Chris Como. Hard to believe Jason Day is 119th in the official world golf rankings. But he's swinging the club beautifully. He's healthy. And I think, you know, the weather turned really, really cold at Wells Fargo,

which we know about his health issues, the bad back. It's going to be hot in Dallas. Highs in the 90s all week. I think that's great for him. He's going to feel loose. He's going off at 45 to 1. I'm going Jason Day as a little bit of a dark horse pick.

Very dangerous if he's hell. I mean, it was just Saturday of last week that really, you know. I mean, it was 40 degrees. It was cold and windy and nasty. I don't blame, you know, anybody that shoots bad out there. And I think Trevor Emelman is keeping close tabs on Jason. Like, please start rounding into form. Give me a reason to pick you for that President's Cup team.

So he's a good scoop at 45 to 1. I'm going with another guy that's at 45 to 1. You want to know why I picked this guy? Yes. Me too. I don't know. I don't know. It's just a feeling I got right now.

Jonathan Vegas, okay? He's playing some good golf, though, coming in. fourth, 18th, 15th, and his last three starts. I think I'm still trapped in that Q school mentality. Like, the longest guy is all the guy, you know, huge fairways if you can just hit bombs all around. So I'm picking one of the guys that hits it as far as just about anybody out there. And when he gets going, he can peel off wins.

It's been a while for him, but 45 to 1, I feel like that's worth a little fire on Johnny Vegas. Yeah, I went to the University of Texas, lives in Houston. Why not? Like some Bermuda. Yeah. All right. So go low this summer and bet on the PGA tour.

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All right, well, everyone, enjoy the Byron Nelson, and the PGA Championship is right around the corner, Sleece. That's it. We're going to be there. If you're in town in the Tulsa area, check us out. We're going to be over at McNellie's having a couple, talking a little shop. It's major season right now. All right.

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