Subpar - Scottie Scheffler talks his dominating run on the PGA Tour, the importance of winning Olympic Gold

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by the world's number one ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler for an exclusive interview. The 2024 Olympic Gold medal winner talks his rise to dominance on the PGA Tour, how he has been so impressive at The Masters and why international team play brings out the best in him. -- Thanks to Ralph Lauren, the Official Outfitter of GOLF's Subpar. The RLX Golf collection is available in select Ralph Lauren stores, exclusive private clubs, and resorts, and online at https://RalphLauren.com.

All right, welcome back to a very special golf subpar sleaze. This one, we've been waiting a while for this one, but we finally got the number one player in all the world. Scotty Sheffler joining us on this week's subpar. Good golf player. Good golfer. Probably the best we've ever had. It's the ball well from what I've seen.

He has a future in the game. We have one waiting on this one. There's been times where we were going to have it. Finally get a little offseason for the kid. He's got some downtime and finally got to make it happen. Yeah, and we're doing these segments a little early because you're heading to Korea to also represent the United States of America

and the Bridges Cup. Me and Scotty, we know what it's like to put this country on our back. Yeah, as you listen to this, that will be in Korea, battling Team Europe, or the internationals, I should say, alongside Team USA.

It's going to be a war. They got a good team. They go out with some Walker Cuppers. They got some good, good players, so we're going to have to go play. Hopefully, they'll be getting up. We'll be doing some updates on social media and stuff,

but hopefully bring that thing back, just like the President's Cup boys, dude. You know what I mean? Similar type of pressure, dude. It's as big as it gets. The eyes of the world are upon us. I don't take it lightly. It's going to be really fun to watch.

I'm sure dozens and dozens will tune in. Doesn't, yeah, at least. But go over there. Your man, Drew Kittleson's going. Ben Hayes, led by Captain Jeff Fujimoto. Captain Jeff, we really got to show up for Captain Jeff. Got a few other former collegiate players really good. Taylor Wood from USC.

Petit Tomasulo. New amateur, the Reverend Pedy Tomasua from the Cal Bears. We got some guys from the South, Northeast. We got a whole squad, and we're going to go give them hell. Tell you that. It's going to be like three days? Three days. Line them up.

Well, go get them. Line them up, dude. Yeah. This is it. Like I said, this episode is what you train for. This episode is very special. And obviously, when you got the number one player in the world in the building, you want to look good. So we're rocking our RLX gear in their new true stay collar from the RLX fall,

2024 collection, blend of style and functionality. perfect for both the golf course in everyday wear. And obviously, Scotty Sheffler will be wearing it in 2025 because they are the official outfitter of the United States Rider Cup team and partner of the AJGA. Their ambassadors are Billy Horschel, Davis Love the 3rd, Sean Foley, Smiley Kaufman, Tom Watson, and Zach Johnson, among others. The RLX collection is available in select Ralph Lauren stores,

exclusive private clubs and resorts and online at Ralph Lauren.com. All right, well, like we said, we've got the number one player in the world. Scotty Schaeffler, he's an Olympic gold medal. He's 13-time winner on the PGA tour, two-time major champion, and obviously a part of a winning Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits. You like his chances to be a Beth page? He's number two on the list right now, but I think he's going to get in there. He can't go to sleep.

He actually probably could not play until the next year's Ryder Cup, and he might still qualify on points, but funny you mentioned the Ryder Cup. Really cool offer for our listeners. If you're a golf fan out there and you've ever thought about going to a Rider Cup on U.S. soil, I would argue this may be the one to go to. It's going to be outstanding out there. and if you do do it, partner with our guys at On Location.

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Once again, on location, eXP.com slash subpar. We hope to see you up at the Rider Cup at Beth page. It is going to be wild. All right, well, a guy we know is going to be there. Scotty Sheffler joins us on subpar. All right, folks, we got a really good golfer joining us here today. He's won a lot of things. 13 wins on tour, two green jackets.

He's got an Olympic gold medal, and not to mention part ownership of the Texas ranchers pickleball team. Scotty Shephardt in the house. How are we doing, Scottie? What's going on, Harry, all? Good. How's the ownership of the ranchers going thus far? You know, I think it's going pretty good.

I would definitely say I own a very, very small fraction of the team, and I'm a very passive owner. So, but as far as I hear, they're doing great. You're like Jay-Z. Yeah. Sure, something like that. But it's off-season right now, and I know you love your pickleball. You spending more time playing golf or pickleball right now?

In the last, you know, week and half, I've played, I've actually played pickleball twice. It's first, I think those are the second and third times I've played since Ben, it was born. So I've definitely slowed down quite a bit. Last off-season looked a bit different, but still get out there and play a little bit. So what's like an average day right now for you at home just chilling? Because I know you're not playing for quite some time. Yeah, I don't play again until, until end of November, December. I mean, honestly, I don't really know.

Last week we were kind of just chilling at home, just catching up on a lot of the random stuff that I don't do throughout the year. Just random sponsor stuff, random stuff at home, catching up with people here at home, just little random stuff. That's pretty much it. It's not very exciting. maybe catch up on some text messages. Yeah, get back to those ones from May.

I try. My favorite one was I text you happy birthday, and like four months later, you said, thank you. Thanks, so. Yeah, I'm trying hard to get better at using my phone to respond to people, but I'm getting, I haven't really improved very much. Don't try too hard, dude.

I think you've got to figure it out pretty good. Any Texas football games in your future while you got a little downtime? Good time to go to Austin. Yeah, I think we're going to go up. plan on going to the game this weekend, Texas OU, and then we'll head down. We got a lot of guys going down for the Georgia game next weekend. So do both of those.

But other than that, I think that'll probably be it for the year. That's a tough back-to-back week. A Georgia going to be a nice one. Any of the Georgia PGA guys coming out for that one? I'm not sure. I felt like Russell may have floated the idea, but I don't know if he confirmed anything. It's going to be a pretty crazy weekend down there. I think FS or what is it, F-1 is going to be down there.

Oh, God. That weekend and then Texas Georgia, so it could be a bit of a mess. I want to, because I did hear on part of my take, you do like your sports betting a little bit. Texas is 14 and a half point favorites. That seems like a lot over a rival. Yeah, that seems like a bunch of points. That's one of those games. You never really know what's going to happen.

I mean, I think they're going to win, and Texas is really, really good this year. Yeah. With those rivalry games, you just never know what's going to happen. Quinn's back in the house, though. Yep. Well, it's not like his backup sucked. You have a nice parachute in case anything happens to them, though. Yeah.

Going forward. Yeah. Very nice. Let's talk a little golf here. I've obviously known you for a very, very long time. But for you, we all, you know, figure out we're good at something at some point in our life. When did you figure out I'm really good at this game? I've got that question before.

I don't really remember having one of those like aha moments where it was like, oh, man, I'm pretty good at this. I was kind of like just a decent, you know, I was a good junior player. I was a good, good amateur player, and then I was a pretty good college player, and I kind of just kept making the steps of trying to get a little bit better. And I never really thought I was that great. I just always wanted to play on the PGA tour. I just never really thought about how good I was. I was just trying to get a little bit better at a time. And, like, I grew up watching so many of you guys.

I felt like that was so motivating for me because you guys obviously were always, always better than me growing up. And so it was fun watching and seeing you guys do the things you did on the driving range and on the golf course. you know, I always felt like it was something that I could do too. You know, I just had to keep working at. You set the bar high for it. I did. I said it. You created him.

That's pretty cool. You said it. That's pretty cool. You said it. But talk about Roelowx Country Club a little bit because that's where you grew up. I mean, all of us were there. And now you're the guy that all these young kids follow around. Yeah.

I mean, it's fun being on the other side of it. But I really do. I have such great memories grown up out there where, I mean, I can't imagine how much I bothered you when you were out there in college. and as a young pro, you know, trying to make it. You had some kid just in your ear the whole time asking you questions and trying to have chipping contests and putting contests. And, hey, let's go play.

And you're like, no, like, I got to practice, Scotty. Well, now look, I get to return the favor and bother you all the time and ask you for interviews. It's great. So we're even. Yeah, we're even. No, but I mean, it really is cool. It's a lot of fun. I felt like that all the pros, yourself included, were always so nice to me growing up there at the club.

and it's nice to be able to return the favor to the next kind of group of young kids coming up. And, I mean, I'll just sit on the range there and practice with Randy. And the kids will just come up and sit with Randy in his cart and, you know, do the same things I didn't know as a kid. Just watch and make fun. And I know I'm not there practicing. I've got to be on my A game because if not, I'm going to be hearing it from the peanut gallery out there. Love that. Stay on that same time frame for a while.

You said I was a pretty good junior. You're better than pretty good junior. You want the junior I am. I believe you went 90-something Texas junior golf events. Was there anyone, whether in Texas, or nationally that you considered like your rival in junior golf or a guy that you really wanted to beat more than anyone else i mean i don't know if it was necessarily like a rival but i mean the way that i grew up you know i grew up playing golf with with wills alt-toris you know we

were the same age we've been playing golf against each other since we were 10 you know vince waley was another guy that i played against a bunch um but then i think it was really good for me growing up because you know jordan was a few years older than me and then i grew up around pros at Royal Oaks that were always better than me. I was always I'm a hyper-competitive person, so when I see somebody better than me at something I want to figure it out, and so it was great for me just to be able to sit there on the driving range and

watch guys like Cole, you know, Harrison Frazier, Justin Leonard, watch these guys practice and try to learn from them. I always felt like when I watched them that I could do some of the things that they did. It was just a matter of learning them. And so it really was valuable for me just to be able to sit there and watch for years.

Watch how they practiced. Watch how they prepare. And really, really kind of just learn. Like I remember watching Colt, you know, he hits it dead straight every time. I always felt like I was really good at hitting a little yellow polter on the driving range. But then I watched Colt hit his wed shots. And every one of them was, you know, sitting right around the pin.

I was like, man, I got to get, you know, more consistent at that. Like Colts a lot more consistent with the wedges than I'd watch, you know, Harrison and Justin drive the ball. And it was like, this guy's almost, you know, Harrison's at 300 yards. It never seemed like you hit off a line when he practiced. And so there was just a lot of stuff that I felt like I could get better at. And, you know, that's why I never really thought it was like good because I was always around people that were, were better than me. Well, turns out you're pretty good. Best player in the world, and it's not even a question.

You mentioned Randy Smith. A lot of people are at Rolex because of Randy Smith. He's been your only swing instructor. Are you surprised at all? With all the success you've had, and as great a ball strikers you are, that more fellow tour players haven't called Randy, be like, hey, you mind taking a look at me? I mean, am I surprised? Yeah, I mean. It's a blow my mind. Randy is like, I mean, he's totally out of his mind. But when it comes to the golf swing, like, I mean, he is such a genius. It really is wild.

He's like a little savant. I mean, I was out there before the president's cup and I remember telling Randy, I was like, hey, I'm trying something here, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. I want to see if you can figure it out. And he watched me hit like five balls. and then he pointed out exactly what I was doing. It was literally like the tiniest movement of my left hand with the grip, and he pointed it out within five swings.

I was like, how did you do that? Yeah. I mean, just little stuff like that is crazy. And I'll tell them some stuff that I'm feeling my swing sometimes. And like this year at the Masters, he gave me a swing tip on after the first round where the first round I had played good. I'd scored really well, you know, probably the best I did. Or some of the best I did all year in terms of just like playing and scoring.

boring and kind of control my ball where I didn't feel very good about how I was swinging it. And, you know, I came off the course and Randy was like, great job. How are you feeling? I was like my swing did not feel good today. I felt like I was kind of just scraping it around. And I told him what I was feeling. And he gave me one tip about, you know, adjusting my grip slightly. And it was I hit a few shots. And it was like, you know, the light bulb went off. And I felt what I wanted to feel. And then it was, you know, kind of game on from there. I didn't have to think about anything else. He hasn't. Yeah, he has an incredible eye. I mean, I think if it was up to him,

trackman and video and golf swings would have never came around and he would be i mean people would be flooding to him yeah i mean it it is funny with the the track man and stuff because i usually practice with mine pretty much every day at home because i'm always looking at distances and stuff and randy will all like if i'm ever struggling or something like that'll always try to like dive into the numbers and i'll literally like take the iPad from you're like no randy like we don't need any of this stuff stop looking at it like we you and i don't know how to do this like we look at distance and that's it yeah yeah and it works because you got two of the three best ball strike strokes gain seasons since they started keeping track.

Like I'm being serious when I asked this. When you go work with Randy, like what left is there to improve upon on the full swing? Not counting like short game stuff. You know, I think we're always trying to improve a little bit at a time. And, you know, most of it is when we're out practicing, you know, making sure that I'm doing the ABCs and good grip, good ball position, you know, good posture and set up, make sure my lines are good. And then after that, you know, making sure I kind of get a good baseline for the day about, you know, making sure my swings where it needs to be. And then from there, we're just hitting and creating shots and, you know, just trying to continue to learn how to control that little golf ball. That's going to be scary if it improves.

Yeah. Because it is fun to watch. Tell us a little about your games at home. Obviously, you got tour players you play with. You got a football broadcaster that people like to slap around there in Dallas. And then you got just some beautiful characters there at Royal Oaks that you play with. Yeah, I feel like I've got a good mix at home where I'm giving up enough strokes to where it stays really competitive, where I feel like when I go out and play, I have to go play well.

And, you know, it's great having Remo here during the week because, you know, I'll text him like, hey, I'm going to practice with Randy. I'll be out there Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, do you want to play Tuesday and Friday? And, you know, he'll set up the game and we'll get good players. And, you know, Jordan will play a lot of the time. You know, Tom Kim's another guy that will come and play. Good amount of Willie Zeal play a bunch. And so we have good games during the week.

And then on the weekends, I can go over and play Royal Oaks and hang out the guys. And it's a bit of a looser game because the guys aren't as good. But still a ton of fun. I mean, you know how it is in that Wolf game. I mean, it's just great pure entertainment. Better nickname, Big Cat or Lump? Probably Lump. God.

Is he the greatest? Lump is... Lump is... Yeah, he's awesome. All right, before we get back to our interview with Scotty Sheffler, today's episode is brought to you by Epic Golf Club. Do you belong to a top-rated private golf club? If you're looking to elevate your golf game and lifestyle,

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affluent members, both on and off the course. To join, you must be an existing member of a private golf club. So apply today at www. EpicGolfclub.com slash subpar to receive six months free dues if invited to join. Now back to Scotty Schaeffler. We're talking about Tony here and you guys playing games. What have you guys done to him? because I feel like, you know, he was winning Tahoe.

He was going to be the next dynasty. Now it's kind of, he's gone backwards a little bit. I've talked to him about it. Have you guys just crushed his confidence? What have you done? I wouldn't say we crushed his confidence. I feel like the way his body is playing that many years in the NFL. You know, he just, he battles it every day.

I mean, he brings his little hypervolt and his lacrosse ball and his bands out onto the golf course with him every day. And he's basically warming up the entire round. So really, I think it's just, it's just battling his body because he really is. I mean, he's a really, really good golfer. And if his body would cooperate for him, I think he'd be a lot better. But it's just, it's tough for him getting beat up for that many years playing the NFL. I mean, he plays golf every day, basically, when he's home.

I mean, he's playing golf all the time. He loves it. How many checks you got saved up from him right now? Currently none, actually. I haven't seen him in a while. But keeping the checks in the pouch is a very nice thing to have. Are you guys on a check payment plan over there? No cash just covered.

No, I mean, there's been a couple times where Tony's gotten beat because Tony always has the most risk in the game. So when he plays good, he wins, and when he plays bad, he loses big because he's got side games with everybody and he never declines a hammer in the wolf. Like, he's a crazy man. And so when he loses, he loses big because if we're playing good, we're going to make a bunch of birdies and, you know, double the bet and do all that stuff. And there's been a couple times where he played where he's wrote checks to guys. And, you know, I don't ever go to the bank. And so I just keep it in my little pouch and when whenever I got to pay him back, you know, let's say he owes me a thousand bucks. And, you know, so he writes me a check for a thousand bucks.

And then the next week I lose 600. I give him the check. I'm like, all right, you owe me four. And it is so much fun because he gets so mad. He's like, this is not real money. This is fair. I was like, Tony, it has your name on the check. This is what you gave me.

Yeah. I'm giving it back to you now. Yeah, just rip it up. This is your real money. I'm like, this is what you did. God, that is great. It won't work with you, Scottie, because you don't care, but like, I've heard other celebrities, like when they lose money, say they go have a random game in Vegas or something like that,

and they lose, they'll write a check because it has their autograph on it, and they're like, good chances, this dude never cashes the check. You'd rather just have, you know, the story. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think Tony's really banking on me. No. Yeah, you're different.

Maybe he knows I'm not going to go to the bank. I don't know. By the way. Anyways, it's fun. Never change that. That is such a great move. Ah, yep, here you go. Now, give me 400 back.

that's awesome that is a good well it was obviously an amazing year I mean master's Olympic gold medal I want to go to the master's because we had Ted Scott on a few weeks ago and he was telling us how just Augusta National and why you play so well there reminds him a lot of why

Bubba played so well there if you could describe it what do you think it is about Augusta National that suits your game so well well I think you just have to really manage your way around the golf course and there's certain areas where it gets so challenging on the The years I've won, it's been pretty firm and fast. And so controlling it and getting onto those little shelves, you know, controlling the ball going into the greens.

And I feel like I'm typically pretty patient on the course. And I think that suited me well around there. You know, I look at – I look at this year, and this was a year where it was really tight going to the back nine. And I just hit some key shots kind of where I needed to and played the hard holes well. And, I mean, on Sunday you just got to – you really just got to hit the shots. that's really what it comes down to. And some years have hit the shots and pulled them off. And another years I haven't,

but I feel like it's a place where if you manage your way around the golf course well, and it just seems like there's a lot of ways you can play it. You can hit it really good and put average and be up there on the leaderboard on the hard years. And then you can hit it all over the place. And if you're getting up and down and you play the par five, well, you're going to be right in the tournament. And so I feel like there's a lot of different ways to attack the golf course. But at the end of the day, when it comes down to it on Sunday,

you just got to hit the shots. You know, they put the pins in places where if you hit a good shot, you're going to score well. But if you miss the shelf, you're going to be looking at bogey. And so you think a hole's like 14 where they put that pin. And if you miss it left, it's a really hard two putt. And you look at a hole like 16. If you kind of bail out right, it's a really tough two putt down the hill there. And there's just certain areas where you just have to pull off the shots.

And I feel like, you know, two years, for two years now, I've pulled off the shots when I needed to. Yeah. And I feel like, you know, Scotty, clearly your game travels to any type of golf course, but you've won on shorter golf courses like Harbortown, like TBC Sawgrass, you've won at Gusta multiple times, Memorial longer, like totally different golf courses. If you had to pick, hey, this type of golf course is best suited for me, do you have one? Or a style? I'm not really sure.

I think I like the kind of harder tests. I think those, I enjoy those more just because you feel like you're almost getting in a battle with the golf course. Memorial is one of those places where the golf course is just so hard. Like I think about the back nine Sunday Memorial where there's certain holes where we almost couldn't hit the green. Like number 17, I'd be shocked if anybody in the afternoon way I've hit the green that day. 16 is the same way where there's just certain times where you just have to step up and stay patient and just battle the golf course.

And I think those type of tests kind of excite me, you know, kind of like the U.S. Open where PARs a really good score. I think those tests are a lot of fun. but at the end of the day, I don't think it matters too much, but the hard ones I think are the most fun. Man, walking with you that back night at Memorial on Sunday, that was fun to watch because that place was brutal that day. I mean, it was nuts.

God. I mean, so brutal. Yeah, but that was probably one of my favorite weeks of the year at Memorial just because how tough it played and how well you played. It's your second master's victory. Got to do another champion's dinner. Do we have, have we started thinking about it at all? I have thought about it a little bit.

I'm wondering if I should just have the exact same menu. I mean, it was pretty good. It was all my favorite foods. I don't really know what I could do differently. I think it would be kind of fun just to have the exact same food. There you go. Yeah, I haven't put too much thought into it. But we'll see.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. They're going to get tired of having that same meal. All that other past champ is like, God damn it. Another one from Scotty. Let's go to another cool thing that happened this year they did for the first time, winning an Olympic gold. That was cool. Seeing you get emotional, like, you're a guy that, you know, it's well documented.

You don't get too high or too low out there, but seeing you on the podium, crying, did winning that gold maybe mean more to you than you thought it would going into it? I think that I didn't quite understand what the environment would be like at the tournament. And, you know, it's a normal Thursday through Sunday stroke play event. And we play three practice rounds, one day, Tuesday, Wednesday, and we don't see a single fan at the golf course. And so we're showing up to the tournament Thursday, kind of wondering, like, what's this going to be like? Is there going to be nobody here?

Is it going to feel like a tournament during COVID? Is it people going to be going crazy? Like, you just didn't know. Like, is anybody going to show up? And I think I was anticipating more of a COVID-like tournament because it's the Olympics. There's so much stuff to watch. I'd be surprised if there was many people, you know, going 30 minutes outside or 45 minutes outside Paris to watch a golf tournament when there's, you know, swimming and gymnastics and all the other track and field and all the other sports you can watch at the Olympics. We showed up to the first T Thursday, and I was so taken back because there were so many people there,

and there were so many flags from countries, and it was really, it was just really cool, so patriotic. And we had gone to some different sporting events at the beginning of the week, and one of the ones we went to was the women's gymnastics all-around final. And you see the U.S. win gold, and you hear the national anthem playing, and there's just so much pride in your country and in the performance. and you think about those girls that are standing up there with their gold medals, the amount of work they put in to get to that point. And I felt like I got so emotional on Sunday because the national anthem is playing.

And it was one of those weird days where at one point it was almost like I wasn't even going to come close to winning a medal. And then all of a sudden I got really hot and ended up winning a medal and you're just kind of sitting on the podium. Like, this is amazing. You know, how cool is this?

And I typically get emotional after my wins. it just happens that you all don't see it ever because, you know, you kind of get time to, you know, get time to myself. But, you know, that time it was really, you know, went straight to the playoff and then you went, or straight to get ready for the playoff and then you win. And then all of a sudden you're going straight to this award ceremony. And like I remember, you know, I cried after the Masters this year, but I did it on my way to walk back to the Champions locker room, you know, and there's nobody that could see it. You know, I told them I need to go to the bathroom. I didn't need to go to the bathroom. I just needed, you know, two minutes to collect my thoughts.

And, you know, I went up there and, you know, I just cried a little bit. That's how I am. And it just so happened that at the Olympics, I did it while everybody was watching. Well, it was a- I thought it was cool. It was a great moment. There's no doubt. It's a show you care, yeah. You're obviously very good buddies with Tom Kim.

Had to play him at the President's Cup a couple weeks ago. What was that like? Because a lot of people, they were texting me in the President's Cup because you were fired up, you know, barking at Tom Kim, which I thought was awesome. They're like, why does he not show this emotion more, like in regular events? And tell us a little bit, well, where? that emotion came from and what it was like having to play your good friend well it was first of all it was funny getting to play tom and um i told him during the match i was like that

that was probably the exact same thing i would do at home if he made it i think it was his it may have been his first birdie the match on seven and i think it was actually my first birdie as well because because russell had kind of carried us at the first six holes and you know i think it was really tom's first good chance for birded he knocked it in he celebrated like crazy and i'm like if he did that at home, I would have done the exact same thing. You know, if he made a 25-footer and started, you know, talking trash and saying hammer and whatnot. And then if I made on top of them, I would turn around and tell him, you know, it would be quiet.

And so it was one of those deals where it's kind of fun. If it wasn't my friend, I probably would have never done anything or reacted. It just so happened that it was my buddy out there. It was really fun. And then the stuff happened on the next hole, which I didn't even see. I saw the video after the day was done. Tom kind of running up behind me and like, you know, flexing a little bit. And I didn't even see them walk off to the next tee.

That was, I didn't even notice that because I was getting ready to hit my put. And so at the end of the day, I mean, I think it's all in good fun. I enjoyed getting to play against my buddy. You know, fortunately, Russell and I were able to get a win there. Yeah, that was really cool. I got to say one thing about, and I love Tom Kim, but we were actually talking about him on our serious XM show the other day. And I pulled up his PGA tour bio, okay?

Oh, Scotty. This is. Tom Kim has himself listed it. six feet tall. Okay. Where's the fact checkers at the PJA tour, dude? This is misinformation. Like, okay, lie an inch maybe, but he's lying like four inches, dude.

I did not know that. And he has no weight. No weight next to his name. No weight next to his name and six foot. Yeah. We'll have to, have you all had him on the podcast? We had about after the President's Cup last time. So this is something.

I kind of want to save it for the CBS broadcast when I get his group because I can have some fun with that one. Yeah. Yeah, that's fun. Six feet. I mean, he's able to list himself. Let him list himself. Brian Harmon's going to be six one next year.

That's good. Stay on the president's cut for just a minute because the final score, I thought it was more competitive than what the final score indicated. A lot of those matches came down to 18. The U.S. just finds a way to win those things. But there was emotion like we're talking about. I got a little chippy at times, at least according to the media. At any point out there during the week, did you feel like,

anything crossed the line. But I feel like anything crossed the line on the golf course? No. I think it was a bit more contentious this week that it had been in years past. But I think it was good for the event. You look at a day like Thursday where there wasn't a ton of energy at the course

and the weather and the location kind of made it tough for people to come out. But then Friday and Saturday, you know, the fans up there really brought it. And it was an awesome environment to play golf in. I mean, they were saying some stuff to us while we were playing, but that's what you get in an away team event. That's what people do.

It's very rare to have a tournament where there's a crowd that's brooding significantly for one team. It never happens in stroke play because it would be bad taste for you to say something to somebody while they're over a shot or when they're getting ready to read a put and they're yelling, you know, hey, it breaks this way or you're going to miss or, hey, remember that put you missed on? three, just stuff like that, where when you go into a way territory, you just know that's going to happen, and it's unusual, but at the same time, I think it's a lot of fun. I think it's good for the crowd

to get involved, and I think it's great for the tournament. And, you know, I think the energy that the internationals and their fans brought to the event was really good for the tournament. Yeah, well, get ready for a rather interesting environment up in New York, at Bethpage, next year. I did see, though, this morning, you

are number two on the U.S. points list, so hopefully you can hold on. God, I hope you make that team, dude. It'd be a really want you on that team. How excited are you for Beth Page, that atmosphere, and to get some revenge after what happened in Rome? Yeah, it's, I mean, there's a reason that's hard to win on foreign turf in the Ryder Cup.

It's challenging, but I'm excited to get back on Home Turf and get another shot at those guys. You know, obviously, Rome did not end the way we're hoping it would end, but, you know, the Europeans, I mean, they played great, and it's one of those weeks where if you just, you know, take your hat off and shake hands, it's great being in there and competing, but the same thing at the President's Cup. You know, stuff happens.

Guys go crazy and they celebrate and do all the stuff. But at the end of the match, you take your hat off and shake hands, and you're still friends. And so I'm looking forward to Beth Page. Hopefully the fans will be respectful to the guys. But at the end of the day, we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I don't have to step in too much if things get out of hand. But hopefully it'll be a good environment. They'll be cheering loud for us.

And hopefully we don't cross the line when it comes to the European players. Captain Kegan will keep them in line. What was your reaction when you heard that Kegan was going to be? U.S. Rider Cup captain. I was definitely a bit surprised, but the more I thought about it, I was just getting fired up. I think he's going to be awesome.

You know, talking about the Ryder Cup, just catching up with him about it. I mean, he's going to be a great captain. He's going to be passionate. He's going to make sure that we're in a position to succeed and go out there and play well. And I'm excited. I think he's going to do a great job.

I'm with you. I'm fired up. I love that they're getting some younger guys in there, even as the vice captains. I think it's going to be great for Team USA. Yeah. I mean, that was exactly how it happened to me. I remember reading the announcement.

I was like, okay, that was not the direction I thought they were going to go. And then I kind of sat there for a few minutes and I was like, wow, this is going to be awesome. He's going to be really good. And then, you know, we've sat down a few times and talked about it. And it just was confirmed even more. I mean, he's going to be amazing. All right. Before we get back to our interview with Scotty Sheffler, a quick note from today's sponsor, GolfLink.

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transforming how golfers connect. Now back to Scottie Schaeffler. Go back real quick, if you can, to your first Router Cup experience on home soil, whistling straights, 2021. You were kind of like the controversial pick for that team. And then you go out in singles. You play then world number one, John Rom, beat him.

Fast forward to the beginning of next year, you're a world beater. Can't be messed with. How much did that match against John Ron factor into that? Well, I think being selected for that team was huge for me as in my growth as a as a professional. I've talked about it a decent amount just how much it meant to me that the guys really wanted me on the team.

You know, that was really cool to get the vote of your peers. You know, I remember getting selected and then it's hard not to read this stuff because it's all over everything. It's like should, I think it was maybe Kisner they thought should have had on the team. And there was a couple other guys that were close. And at the time, you know, you could easily put any of them on the team. You know, Kiz has a great match for the record. and San Burns was close.

He's been great in the team events. And I think Webb was close that year, too. And it was really us for kind of for that last spot. And I was fortunate to get put on that team. And when I showed up, you know, I really did feel like the 12th guy. I was one of the younger guys on the team. I had never won on tour, you know, world rankings-wise and brighter-cut points-wise, I was the last guy on the team.

And so it's kind of interesting showing up. And then, you show up and the guys are like, hey, man, we're so glad you're here. You know, we were all fired up. You were one of our locks. We wanted you on this team. And just hearing that from your friends and from your peers is really cool. And going out and performing and getting some points for our team was even more special. And it's different preparing, knowing what the most pressure feels like on the course.

And so when I went home that off season, I knew exactly what it felt like to be under the most pressure that I've been under as a pro. And when you're able to succeed and play well in those scenarios, it gives you confidence. And then when I can go home and also prepare knowing exactly how I feel in those situations, It gives me even more confidence going forward knowing what I feel like and knowing that I'm prepared for exactly what's coming. Do you feel like a leader on those teams now? I feel like we all have our roles on the teams. I feel like a lot of the teams now are pretty young.

You know, like this last President's Cup was different because we didn't have, you know, Jordan and Justin who have been on a ton of teams. Jordan always is one of the leaders because he's been on so many stinking teams. You know, he's been playing the President's Cup since like 2013. team. And so this year was a little bit different where we had some kind of new voices in there. And I feel like I'm one of the quieter guys in the team room when we're all in there. But I feel like when something needs to be said, I feel like my voice is heard. But I'm definitely not one of the louder voices in the room, if that makes sense.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, we could go on. Who are those guys that are the vocal guys? I'd be curious to know. It depends on the situation. You know, after what happened. it on Friday, you know, Tony was was pretty vocal, just kind of, you know, we all kind of sat down. And I don't want to share a lot about what goes on in the team room, but I feel like in different

situations, guys just kind of step up and it's more natural. It's not like anybody gets in the room and they're like, oh, you know, I need to say this. It's more like we'll kind of sit there and, you know, somebody will say something. We'll kind of all just feed off that. Like this year, I felt like there was a lot of guys that we all kind of just looked at each other. You know, you look at a day like Friday where we lose all the matches and, you know, really didn't play that bad. It was just that they played so good. And you kind of sit there in the team room and nobody's really panicking.

And we're all just kind of sitting there and Capp's like, hey, let me know your thoughts. And there's some guys speak. And I think most of the guys in the team just said a few words. And that was it. There wasn't like it was one guy who was just out there saying, hey, we need to do it this way. We need to be doing this. You guys need to stay focused. We got to get out.

It's more just like, hey, you know, we got punched them out today. Let's go out and come out swinging tomorrow morning. Love that. That's awesome. Well, it's been a hell of a year for you. Quickly, we've got to get to the E9 before we let you get out of here. Nine fun questions for Scotty Sheffler. And we ask this one to everyone.

You can be somebody else for a day. Get to walk in their shoes, see what it's like to be them. Who would it be? Anyone in the history of time? Wow. Could go a lot of directions here. I think, you know, since talking sports, I'd probably like to just see what it was like to be MJ for a bit.

just to see how hard he worked and, you know, the way he approached the game. And, you know, I never really got to watch him in his crime. We're really watching it all. I got to live it all through YouTube. And so I'd like to go back and just see what it was really like for him, see what it really took for him to be as great as he was. Yeah, that's a good one. Should we ask him the other one?

He's a happily married man with a child. I don't know if he... I think the relationship can handle it. Do you have a growing up, your celebrity crush, who was it? Gosh. Had to have one. I have no idea. We had a, who?

Yeah. Yeah, he doesn't have one. Fair enough. Yeah. Fair enough. Celebrity crush. Colt-nosed. Yeah, there you go.

He's too young for Kelly Capows. Yeah, way too young for Kelly Capos. Kelly had like a monopoly, I feel like on our age Democrat, but he's a little too young. A little too young for that. All right, Scotty. I know you don't, you're not a social media guy. You're not online, scouring, all that stuff. So I need to know where you were the first time you saw.

the free Scotty t-shirt and what you thought. I was probably like walking down hole 12 that day. Yeah. Was it that day? Yeah. I mean, those I saw some, I saw some pictures with my mugshot pretty, pretty early in that round. I don't remember specifically, but I remember seeing it being like, dang, this guy's got those made fast. Fast. Fast. Fast. That's flattering. Ask him the next one since it's the same subject. What's that? Ask him the next one since it's the same subject. What was the next one?

The Halloween. Oh, yeah, I'll give you the next one then. Same topic. Since you're not on social media, I don't know if you know what's coming, but you will get some kids coming to your house this year, dressed as you in Louisville, maybe with a partner, the arresting officer. Do you have anything special plan for them? Do they get like bonus candy? I don't know if you've seen it. I did see it.

I'm not online, but when something really good comes out, somebody will inevitably show it to me. And this time it was actually married it. We were coming home yesterday. flying home and she was on her phone and she just started losing it laughing and she turns around she's like look at this can you imagine if someone ring that's pretty good can you imagine if someone rings your doorbell at Halloween it's two kids dressed as that it's gonna happen I don't know what I did I probably just give them the whole basket and be like hurry all yeah yeah give him a Rolex there you go great job kid you take it all take it all you guys win yeah that's great it's how it's coming

all right two of your best buddies on tour Tom Kim Sam Burns uh enjoy much different meals. So I'm going to say you have to choose one as your last meal. You can have a Korean barbecue with Tom Kim or a Cajun Feast, maybe a Crawfish Borough with Sam Burns. Oh, I'm going, I'm going Cajun Feast. Yeah. And Feast is tough to be, really tough to beat. I get that from Teddy, too. You know, Teddy brings me a lot of Cajun. Oh, yeah. He's the real Cajun. Sam's from Northern Louisiana. He's from North. Fake Louisiana. That's good. I'll stay on Sam Burns here for a minute.

What's the closest you and Sam have ever been to getting into a fight, if anything rings a bell? We can give you a hint. No, Teddy, did Teddy tell you the story here at home? Yeah, yeah. Cool volleyball. I would say the closest we've ever been to a fight is when we're on opposite teams and something, but we've never actually been close to truly fighting. Like, you know, when you're mad and you're fighting and when you're screwing around and you're fighting,

that time we were definitely screwing around but we did wrestle a little bit the ball was out over pool volleyball is that correct huh it was definitely out yeah Sam Sam can be a little bit you say loose with the rules he can be he can be a little bit

loose with the rules at times not in golf and everything else yeah definitely in pool volleyball a little liberal a little liberal with the lines yeah a little liberal with the lines Is it true that Ted Scott has his own parking spot at the driving range at Royal Oaks? That is true. Can you explain?

People don't know. You're kind of supposed to take a golf cart down to the range of Royal Oaks. Yeah. Teddy has never been one to lack confidence. And that was definitely one of his ones where I think the guy at the front gate told him like, hey, man, just go down. You know, go down to the end of the parking lot and then I'll take you straight down in the driver range. And he's like, okay. So he just took his car and went down the car. and went down the cart path

all the way to the driving range and I saw him pulling up and Randy was like, who the heck is that? I'm like, I know exactly that it's pulling up in his car right now. And it's like a, I mean, you got an all of 18,

which is 500-something yards in the range. It's an 8, 900-yard drive. Easily. He didn't figure out that cars weren't supposed to be down there. It's probably 900 yards past where he's supposed to park in the parking lot. It's beautiful.

He probably knew it just didn't care. Good, catty, not a great driver. Yeah. That doesn't count as a question. Do you guys have a new number for next year's wholeouts being that the 10 happened like in week five? No. I mean, I'm still, Teddy, he went to 10 each year and I got it fairly early in the year. And he's like, hey, let's just keep it going.

I'll give you for the next 10. I'll give you another, another whatever it was. And he just like stopped counting for years. Has he paid you? Which I didn't think was very fair. He just totally stopped counting. Has he paid you for this year? Huh?

Did he settle up from this year? I think he did, yeah. Okay, he said he changed his slow play as much. I'm sure he did, yeah. Okay, give him on a Ramos checks. Exactly. My last one, Scotty, you only get one of these things, only one of these things can happen,

and it can only happen one time for the rest of your life, okay? You get Texas winning a national championship or Dallas Cowboys winning the Super Bowl. Which one are you taken? Oh, you only get one. It's Cowboys. I've been asked that many times before, and I've been rooting for the Cowboys basically my whole life.

And when I went to college, I didn't really know where I was going to go to school. And I love the Longhorns. I really hope they win a national championship. But the Cowboys have been giving me hope for 20 years now that we're going to get it done and have failed. So I've got much more time invested in the Cowboys, whereas the Longhorns, I really only started rooting for them when I committed to school there. So I'm only 10 years into the suffering there, whereas the Cowboys I've been suffering for 20 plus. Well, I think it's going to continue this year, my friend.

Texas feels close. Texas is nice. Yes. So we got some hope there, but the cowboys, man, we'll see, we'll see. You never know. Yeah. We've had years where we've been great in the regular season and pouring the playoffs.

Maybe this is a year where we kind of squeak our way in and then. Yeah. And then get hot, you know, so. Yeah, that's right. We'll see. That's what will happen. I'm not. Always have, always have, that's what will happen.

I've been out this year. I'm just like, no, we stink. Yeah. But, Cole's going to be a short. Dude, he's down in the dumps. I'm not a Mike McCarthy fan. But anyways. Next one, you mentioned playing hammer, which, for those of those that don't know,

it's a little gambling game on the golf course where you can double the bet during the hole and everything like that. Craziest hammer you've ever stayed in. I've heard a story and I want to know if it's true. My memory for that kind of stuff is not the best, but I hate getting out of hammers. Like, I really hate getting out of hammers. And, like, if I'm in the hole, like, if you got a six footer and I'm checking, I'm probably going to take the hammer because it's going to be so great if I chip that ball in and you miss your six-footer.

I mean, that's worth way more than the, you know, whatever we're playing for. So what's your story? Maybe I can remember maybe they'll bring a bell. I was told that you and Sam Burns, Sam Burns was in the group. He hit it to a foot, hammered. You stayed in and hold it. That is true. Oh, my God.

That is so gross. Yeah. So we were playing. It was in Palm Springs. We were playing at Madison Club. And it was one of those nights where we kind of went out late. We were just going to get a quick nine holes in and the girls are out with us. And it was a front pin on the 10th pole where both in the fairway.

Sam hits it nearly makes it to a foot. And he goes hammer. I'm like, yep. And I hit it behind the hole and it spun back and went in. And the craziest part about that story was about three holes later, Sam hold one from the fairway. And we're out there with both our wives. And Mary, who looks at me, she's like, is it always like this when you guys come out and practice?

I was like, no, it's not like this at all. that's awesome that's cool why don't you guys do this in tournaments new well i think i think probably my my best heckle ever though was um you know pop at royal oaks oh yeah one of the baggering guys so he'll come say hello to me on the range a bunch and he was coming up one day on the driving range and um i think this one's better than the hammer story we're sitting there hitting balls and you know we're kind of like midway up the range so when you park in the back you probably's got to walk you know 40 yards or so to get to our bags and i see him coming up I turn around.

I look at him. I said, Pop, you're going to be playing golf your whole life, and you are never getting hit a golf ball this straight. And as I said that, I took the club back, I hit it, and I nailed the black pole in the middle of the range,

like 160, 70 yards out there, and pop just turned around and walked home. Just left. Just walked back to the back. He's like, I'm out. I'm out. I don't know if I'll ever be able to top that. That's good.

I like that. Pop is the best, by the way. Oh, he's the best. He's the best. All right. Last one. Let you get out. out of here. Okay. I need to know which one of you think, which one of these two things you think's

easier to get out of now that you've experienced them, okay? I think it's easier to break out of jail or break your son out of one of those new fancy SUVs when you somehow can't figure out how to get it unlocked. Well, shout out, you know, Finn Ewing for the, for the near-death experience for my son. I will say both times I did not actually do the breaking out of. You know, I had a lawyer in Louisville and then one of the, the, the, the, guys at the airport helped me with a big, like, rent. She actually busted the window. So, explain how you vote.

Both of them are pretty difficult for me to do by myself. I guess I'm fairly useless. I need somebody's help. You know, if we're going to go play golf, I need a caddy. If I'm going to get out of jail, I need a lawyer. If I'm going to break a window, I need, you know, a handyman out there helping me. So I guess I'm pretty useless. Yeah, you can hardly do anything, dude.

I mean, I don't think you can physically, like, lock your keys or anything in these new cars. How did this happen? Well, so then had loaned me the car to test drive. and so it's a brand new car, but I don't, like, it's in demo mode. And somehow, I think we figured out what happened was somehow somebody had accidentally hit the lock button on the passenger side door to the car, closed it. Keys were sitting on the, in the, where the, like, electronic charger is for the phone. So I think it messed up the signal. It didn't know that the keys were in the car.

And so we load up everything, put Ben in the car, I closed the door, I walk around to the driver's side, and I just. Oh, God. trying to open the door and it's like, wait, wait, it's locked. And then I go to every other door. I start trying all the tricks I can think of. And the guys go inside and start looking for the keys because they're like, oh, yeah, obviously no way the keys are locked in the car. You physically can't lock keys in the car anymore.

And then all of a sudden, you're on the phone with the dealership and it's hot out. And then, you know, Bennett's stuck in the car and kind of watch him in the window. And he made like one facial expression I didn't like. And I was like, no, no, no, I'll pay for the window. You guys just bust that thing open. So I drove around the car for like a few more days and then, you know, they came and picked it up. Hey, Finn, this thing is broken. You can have this one back.

This one sucks. Ben is the best. Here's your brand new car back. Thanks, dude. I don't care for it. That's why you never wanted to get one of these new cars. Those old ones work way better. Yeah, I mean, it was just one of those weird scenarios.

And I was just thankful we were able to get them out. But yeah, it was, I mean, they were trying to like get on OnStar and create an account. Because like, if it was my car, I'd have an OnStar account. We're doing all this stuff trying to figure it out. But it was hot out and all I'm thinking is like horror stories. And then they were like, yeah, this is not worth the whistle. I thought the car was still running. That's why I thought it was kind of an interesting story.

But now I feel bad that it was hot. Poor guy. It was hot out. But when we opened the car, it was like the AC was running, but the car was not on. It was a really strange day and situations. But like when we got in it, it was like, wait, it's not hot. And I went over to the exhaust. And I was like, it's not like nothing's running.

This is so weird. but fortunately he was totally fine i didn't have to bust the window it turns out but it was definitely not the risk reward there was was pretty significantly lopsided in terms of getting my son out of the car so uh yeah sorry fin more more of the moral of the story stay away from those ewing dealerships head on over to soo there in dallas kidding i love you finn we love you in. Scotty, seriously, thank you so much

for coming on with us, man. Congrats on a great season. You and Meredith had an unbelievable year. Welcome little Bennett to the world. We're really,

really happy for you, man, and thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, thank you for having me. That was a lot of fun. All right, that was world number one.

Scotty Sheffler joining us on that subpar, man. That was a lot of fun. People don't really get to see that side of Scotty where he likes to joke around and have some fun. People don't know.

He's a great trash talker. But that's Scottie Schepler right there. He's such a good dude, man. Yeah, I think, like, you heard him say, like, we were talking about the Olympics and on the podium, he was crying. Like, that was cool to see. We don't see a lot of emotion from him. He's like, no, dude, it's there. I just, it's not in front of the cameras all that often.

I win the Masters. I, hey, I got to go to the bathroom. And he walks away to have a moment. We saw a little bit of it at the President's Cup. But yeah, dude, like, he's a dude. But I, it's kind of refreshing to have a superstar in any sport. But in golf, it's like, it's not on social media. He's not doing the video.

He's not trying to be out. All he wants to do is just go play golf, beat your head in and go and go. and go back home. And he does a pretty damn good job, but it's kind of refreshing. He does have some superstar qualities, though. He was five minutes late. Yeah, I mean, who does he think?

Unacceptable. Who does he think he is? Sitting here waiting on him. But I love the Romo checks. Keeping the Romo checks and then handing them back to him, it's all-time move. Hey, you owe me 400. Yeah.

And by the way, with the amount of times his name has come up in this show, I feel like we need to have Finn Ewing on to defend himself, to defend his honor. Maybe we go to Dallas, get a little 10-minute, just, hey, here's who I am. Because his name comes, anytime we talk to someone from Dallas, his name comes up. So I've known Finn for a very long time.

I've gotten several cars from him over the years, and every time I leave and I pay, he'll call me. He's like, ooh, boy, we got you good. He is all time. He's one of my favorite people. I would love to actually do a pod with him. He's actually in a band called Finn Ewing in the wrong direction. The wrong direction. He's a singer.

He's actually performed at places in Dallas. He performs at the Byron Nelson. He's a special human. Let me just say that. And he's a huge golf supporter. His son is actually married to Allie Ewing. Oh, is that right? Yeah.

Yeah. We need to have him on. I just feel like his name's come up too many times. Then now the world needs to meet. He's like McCord. When you say, here's Finn Ewing, he will talk for two hours straight. Yeah, the 10 minute might be, we might have to stretch that just a little bit. But get him a car that works, Finn.

Yeah, dude. Something that doesn't put his son in jeopardy. All right. Well, thanks to Scotty for joining us, man. Love sitting down with him, and what a year it was. And I don't see him slowing down any time soon. Nor do I. as we sign off, hopefully Kansas State covered.

Who was your football pick last week? I took the Buffalo Bills. You think they covered? As we say this now, you still like the chances? I haven't lost yet this year. Good point. Hopefully, Team USA comes back victorious. Yeah, come on.

Handle business over there at the Bridges Cup. Rock flag and eagle, bud. All right. Hope y'all enjoyed that. We'll talk to you out next week's subpar.