Today’s show was LIVE from The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, OH. We were joined on the show by Rex Hoggard, Jack Nicklaus II, Eric Cole, Jordan Spieth, and Brandt Snedeker
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[Music] good morning welcome into Five Clubs here on Golf Channel you’ll be able to listen in an hour on PGA Tour Radio that is SiriusXM because we are originating an hour earlier because we are at the Memorial Tournament what a privilege to be here at Mirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin Ohio the place that Jack built it’s hard to believe 50 years you go back to 1976 and over the next two days we’re going to be joined by a lot of people including the host himself Jack Nicholas and of course Barbara Nicholas as well this is a special year because Barbara is going to be honored so over the next two hours here is what we have for you live from this great event one of the big events on the PJ tour schedule you go back to when it was created and you consider what Jack Nicholas intended to do here it was in 1966 that he actually voiced for the first time after he had won the Masters for the second consecutive year and the third time he had won the event you know what at some point I want to create something that is an homage to what Bob Jones has created at Augusta National and he did it this golf course was constructed it was open in 1974 and then in 1976 for the first time they had this event and here we sit in 2025 and it remains exactly what it was from the beginning different special and all because of the vision the passion and everything that the Nicholas family puts into it so Jack and Barbara tomorrow on this program but today uh coming up in less than 15 minutes Rex Haggard a friend former colleague and a colleague again here at Golf Channel she’s going to join me senior writer for Golf Channel as we sit her on the doorstep of the month of June where are we with respect to this season the big storylines and of course the guy who is the defending champion Scotty Sheffller coming here again offering another top five finish down there at Colonio so he will join me and then the general chairman of this event at the bottom of the hour Jack Nicholas II will be on the program his thoughts if you consider that he was 14 years of age the first time this event was held can you imagine if your dad created a golf tournament and you’re an aspiring golfer yourself and you’re going I’m gonna be around the best players in the world no by the way the best player in the world is my dad well Jack Nicholas the second will join me in this hour as well in the next hour a number of players including Jordan Spe Brent Sneder Eric Cole as well so we got a big couple of hours but let me begin with Jack himself because as I just mentioned in terms of what he’s created here he’s created an event that is really the standard bearer on the PGA Tour and it’s reflective of who he is and there’s probably not a player in this field that’s not looked at a one-sh tournament is really just reflective of what he’s always done he’s done what nobody else has done he set a mark and put down markers over the course of his career beginning when he started to win at a very very young age winning things like the United States Amiter not once but twice and in between winning those two US amits he almost won the US Open in 1960 and consider the bookend victories of his professional career for Jack in 1962 his first professional win was the US Open and when you win any US Open it is profound it’s significant it is weighty but where did he do it he did it in Western Pennsylvania he did it in Arnold Palmer’s backyard when Arnold was truly the king and he did it in a playoff over Arnold Palmer and how about his last win as a professional where was that it was at Augusta National in 1986 can you imagine bookending your first professional win and your last professional win being a US Open and a Mast’s tournament and in between 73 PGA Tour titles 58 second place finishes and 343 add all that up that’s 165 top three finishes oh I don’t know how about six Australian Opens how about five Tournament of Champions there wasn’t anything that could be won that he didn’t win and along the way he was building a a resume of achievement that you’re going there’s no way anybody else is going to possibly match that and then somebody comes along in the mid to late 90s and he starts coming here for the first time and that of course is Tiger Woods and Tiger made this among a handful of his happiest haunts he won five times including three times in a row and it seemed like every time Tiger was punctuating those victories who was in the 18th tower reflecting calling and analyzing what he was doing jack himself every important interlude when you consider in the game of golf that has happened in the last 50 years somehow someway Jack Nicholas has a thread or a note or was present for it greg Norman for that matter greg Norman won this championship when Greg Norman won his first major who called it in 1986 for ABC Sports of course Nicholas did that’s kind of it that’s kind of when you come here and you see all the trappings and all the personal details and all the things that make this different you say “Of course Nicholas.” So over the next two days we hope that we can provide to you a little bit of the flavor of why this event is different at a time when you look at golf and golf is different men’s professional golf is evolving in a way that we think that maybe in 5 years it’s going to look decidedly different and let’s remember as well when the players broke away from the PG of America in the late60s of course it was Jack and it was Arnold who led the way in whatever the next chapter was going to be for the players division of what became the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour is at a critical juncture right now so his voice as he turned the age of 85 at the beginning of this year and you’re going well what does Jack think it’s always mattered and what’s been most interesting to me is somebody who actually had a Mirfield Village golf bag when I was a teenager because my father was lucky enough to come here on an annual basis for a corporate event this place to me growing up wanting to be decent at the game of golf and nerding out on the game this place was mythical and so I actually had a a Mirfield Village Jones golf bag that I carried with me and oh by the way the first little interlude that I had with with Jack that also included his longtime swing in instructor Jack Grout was at Laxa Hatchee in South Florida and I had that Mirfield Village golf bag so the conversation started for me as a 14-year-old kid with Jack Nicholas was through that name this club and this club which has become synonymous and was from the outset so much so that when they created this event in 1976 Jack appealed to the PGA and Tour and said “You know what in the event that this thing goes to the playoff or a playoff I don’t want sudden death i want an aggregate playoff and they gave it to him and it was three holes and it still went to sudden death because Roger Maltby and Hail Irwin were tied after those three holes so somehow someway even though they started on 15 and the players themselves years later Roger said “Why would you start on 15 if it’s only going to be three holes that means we’re going to end on 17.” It worked out that they would come up the 18th which is right over there and they would finish it off and Balty would become the first champion of course Nicholas and of course our program is always brought to you by Century Insurance right by you and of course our three North Carolina based companies that allow us to do what we do including having these great road shows and that includes Golf Pride Peter Malar and Pinehurst those three wonderful companies that support what we do and what we do here over the next couple of days is talk to the players talk to the people covering this event and most importantly talk to the hosts themselves Jack and Barbara that is going to be tomorrow and one little note about Barbara Nicholas being the honore this year they always seem to have the right touch when it relates to who they honor and that is the captain’s club that makes those decisions when you look at the makeup of those people those are people who have kind of driven a force in the game of golf themselves whether it be for the last three four five six decades in the game and so in year one when this event was founded going all the way back to what I said about Jack who was still in his 20s when he said you know what I want to have a tournament because I want to do something that Bob Jones created himself bob Jones was the first honore in 1976 25 years later the captain’s club honored Jack and here we sit now 50 years later and who’s the honore this year barbara the Nicholas family always doing things in the game of golf and most importantly this event which has an enormous impact on not only Northeast Ohio in this area in this state but also beyond this state because the Nicholas Children’s Hospital and their health care foundation and all the millions of dollars they’ve put back into various communities to provide health care to kids uh of all ages is the most important thing and has always been the driving force of this event so to come back here myself to come back to this event and to get to see B Barbara and Jack and the entire Nicholas family uh is special it’s a treat and so we begin with you on this Tuesday and when we continue Rex Hogard senior writer of Golf Channel and yes El Presidente of the Golf Writers Association of America his thoughts not only on this event covering it on an annual basis but where we are and where we’re going as it relates to the changes that are happening with respect to the PGA Tour and the business now of what is a forprofit arm of the PGA Tour it is a Tuesday it is five clubs here on Golf Channel and at the top of the next hour if you’re leaving leaving your home and your mobile of course that’s channel 92 on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio we’re back with you from Mirfield Village and the Memorial Tournament right after this [Music] back in on this Tuesday it is five clubs live from Mirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin Ohio the Memorial Tournament one of the special events uh in the world of golf and this segment is brought to you by Peter Malar everything I wear including this puffer jacket and if you’re going to make fun you’re going to say “It’s the end of May it cannot be that cold.” That is true but everybody knows I like to layer up and I just can’t help myself uh so it is Peter Malar refining performance luxury and style for the better part of two decades the guy joining me now has shorts on but he’s a Marine and I never was and never will be that of course senior writer of Golf Channel Rex Howard good morning my friend how are you i’m well seething with jealousy that you have clearly dressed appropriately and I have not that that’s on me the uh the overcast guys i just you know 10 years in Florida with you my friend i my my my blood is thin i can’t function and I’ll never forget we and it coincidentally of course Nicholas was there we were doing something at Dorado and this was like 2014 2015 and for whatever reason it was in the 50s but down if it’s 50° in South Florida please agree with me that it feels like it’s colder than that it could be in the 30s because it’s damp because it’s always going to be humid down there absolutely it’s so bad well and also keep in mind I was at Colonial yesterday and that was 101 degrees index so it’s a bit of extremes let’s um let’s get to this event you and I lucky enough and and you still do it on an annual basis that the Bay Hill experience and of course Arnold passing in September of 2016 it obviously changes things but but even that last year when he was with us and and Jack now at 85 those two days explain to people how special it is to sit in a press room and listen to those two men uh like you did for all those years with Arnold and still with Jack those two Wednesdays Beill and this week those were the best Wednesdays of my career since early in my career for all of those reasons and I was taken as a young reporter about they would just sit for hours it seemed like they wouldn’t stop they always embraced whatever question you wanted to give them and they spoke on every topic and I think it set such a good example for players like Tiger Woods you talked about in the mid ‘9s i think Tiger Woods play paid attention to the way both of them handled the media that they were going to get questions that probably didn’t have anything to do with golf and that was fine and they embraced it and they always gave wellthoughtout thoughtful answers it was always the coolest part of being on the job having a chance to talk to those because they were able to connect you to the previous generations like no one else could you know I think a lot of people still to this day curious what Arnold would think about all that’s happened in the last 5 years um Jack as I mentioned he’s always been a righteous man he’s always had an opinion that that you know you could look at it and go that’s not flimsy he’s thought about these things and and he has his point of view um as we sit here today and all that has changed do do you think that he’s going to get a lot on on on Libra do you think that right now there is I don’t want to call it dormcancy but that thing is settled and we’re kind of like I don’t know tell us when something significant is going to change or do you think that he’s still going to get a fair amount on that this week i’m sure he will i’ll go back to last week and Scotty Sheffller I’m always amazed that he doesn’t seem to say much but when he does it seems like it’s really worth paying attention to like he’s not very outspoken doesn’t seem to have hot takes doesn’t come in with wild opinions but last week at Colonial when he was specifically asked about bringing the game back together he turned it on its head i felt like where it was like why are you asking me i stayed here ask the people who left ask the other tour how they’re going to bring things back together because we could all agree and I think you and I can sit here and have a long conversation about the game would be better if all of the top players were together more often i think that should be the goal i’m not sure how you get there but I did love the idea that Scotty addressed it that way in the simplest of terms and my guess is Jack would have a or will have a very similar take he got asked about it at Augusta he gets the ceremonial first T-shot goes and does the press conference that’s a little different because he’s got Gary by by his side and Gary’s gonna say a lot more gary player but in this particular case I’m sure he will and to your point he always has a well thoughtout answer the um the Scotty Sheffler thing I go back the last two weeks i had Brennan Porath on the show yesterday and asked him the question in today’s age not just golfers but just athletes in general can greatness with respect to performance override people’s necessity to get the sizzle reels and and the social posts and all those things and he said emphatically great performance will always be interesting i actually think that Scotty Sheffller to to what you said about his comments at Colonial it’s not that he’s finding his voice i think he’s picking his spots i thought he was particularly interesting in reflection after winning the PGA Championship do you think that him speaking when he chooses to speak about things that matter to him maybe make his words weightier because he’s not doing it on a regular basis i think picking his spots is the best way to say it that’s a really good way of saying I’ll go back to the Masters scotty was uh the Golf Art Association player of the year and we honored him on Wednesday night at our annual dinner and I was backstage waiting to to bring him out on stage and we were just talking casually about everything that was going on in golf and he turned the conversation on me and it was let me ask you something and it was about slow play and all of these things that the PGA Tour is doing how much time are we going to save and the answer was 10 15 minutes and he goes exactly is it worth doing all of these things and maybe changing some things that aren’t part of the history of the game distance measuringvices devices along those lines is it worth doing that if we’re only going to save 10 or 15 minutes to that point he will pick his spots he has opinions it’s not as though he wants to hide from him and I have discovered that if you ask him a question he will give you an honest answer it’s just getting to that answer the um the things that I I think that Jack may also be asked about the absence of Roy Moore and it’s not so much you know the specific fact that he’s not here he’s been very loyal to this event he always has been he He did Houston a favor by by choosing to go there in a runup to to Augusta National he honored the defense of the title that he and Shane Lowry garnered at the Zurich so those are two markets that you know he lifts up but but this is now an additional signature series event that he’s not at and when this series was created there was an obligation initially for the top players to have to be there they got one out uh and now they can arbitrarily choose when to play and when not to play do you think that kind of what is exactly this signature series and how much of an obligation the top players are going to have going forward starting in 2026 is that something you expect Jack to be asked oh of course and I think in this particular case and Ryan Labner and myself talked about on the podcast on Sunday night the idea that in a lot of ways the tour is a victim of its own success they have created all of these great events packed into a very condensed window i love the idea that Rory has talked very openly about the importance of winning a national championship specifically the Canadian Open that clearly was the turning point in this conversation he can’t play that many weeks in a row the Scottish Open is important to him that is the history of the game however the PGA Tour has now created these signature events something had to give that it was this one is interesting to me because you and I both know how close Rory is to Jack well that relationship goes many many years back and I’m sure that Rory and Jack had a conversation long before Rory ever decided to do this and I’m sure that Jack’s response was “You do whatever you feel is best to get you ready to play the US Open.” I’m sure that’s just the way he would tackle it but at in the big picture this is a bit of the tour zone making and for all the good reasons because they have created all of these big events and then to your point I was at the Zurich Classic having Rory back there right after winning the Masters was huge to that market you have no idea i’ve covered that event numerous times and I’ve never seen the crowds like we got that week however something has to give the um the tour itself and where it’s going as it relates to SHG i know there was a report over the weekend Aean Lynch wrote about uh the fact that that investment none of that investment has been reinvested there has not been any money spent in that department do you get the sense based on your own reporting and conversations that we’re close to finding out something significant as far as direction and and prerogatives on their part i think we are and I think you touched on it earlier in your opening with the idea that the professional tour whatever that looks like going forward it’s going to look vastly different I know than what we have right now whether if that’s less events whether it’s smaller fields whether that’s bringing the top players back together again whatever the case may be that $ 1.5 billion investment is part of that that’s how you drive it forward i I did read Aean’s column and and it was fascinating to me because it was very much along the lines of what we just talked about with Scotty Shuffler the PGA Tour did not create this situation so it shouldn’t entirely be up to the PGA Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan to fix it and I know they are trying to but as far as what that looks like going forward I can imagine a scenario where and I’ve had this conversation with many many players in the past if I handed you a blank piece of paper and told you to come up with the best possible PGA Tour schedule it would probably look different than what we have right now that’s what the PGA Tour is doing right now and I think think it’s an experiment that will in the long run only help professional golf the um the the CEO pursuit the the the hiring of somebody who is going to have a significant role whether they’re going to be the port point person as it relates to SSG and and the tour policy board and all that do you get the sense that that that’s close that that announcement is is coming i don’t know if the announcement is coming but I think it is close because we’re to the point now where they have now gone through the process of trying to find the new CEO and it will be interesting the separation of powers because my understanding is there will be a CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises and then there will still be a commissioner of the PGA Tour so I will be curious to see how those duties get split up it is a multi-billion dollar business now you can’t hide from that and I think it is time to have someone in that job that understands it i’ve always made the argument that I don’t understand h I wouldn’t I don’t belong in that room most players don’t belong in that room that’s a whole different level and I think that’s who they’re angling for the um last thing with you in in terms of storylines here we sit it’s it’s it’s going to be June here at the end of the week and if you if you look at the FedEx Cup standings if you if you look at the players who like Scott Affeer you can count on and certainly you can count on Rory Mroy and it’s great to see the reemergence of of Justin Thomas but there are a handful of other guys that you look at and go this is found money for the PJ tour how do you how do you tell these stories give me a couple of stories that you find particularly interesting that you do not think based on the way that they played and you think will continue to play are not going to go away over the course of June July into the FedEx Cup playoffs in the month of August i made the argument and that’s being a prisoner of the moment a little bit but I will back myself up ben Griffin is going to be a star in this game not because just not just because he’s playing well at the moment and I got to know Ben a little bit over the course of last year and he has a great personality and he is a very smart man like when you have a conversation with him you realize we we we talk about these weighty conversations he would be the one you would want sitting in this chair because he does have opinions and he has thought this through now if you add to what he has done playing he wins at the Zurich Classic with a partner by his side but still gets that break is having a special year andrew Novak is also a very impressive player as well i don’t know that you can discount and I talked to Ben about this Sunday night after he won at Colono you can’t discount finishing tied for eighth at the PGA Championship the week before i don’t know that there is a better motivational boost for a player of that caliber and going into last week he actually sat down with his caddy and had a long conversation about this is where I want to go they had never had that conversation before and it’s probably as apppropo or it’s not mutually exclusive that they did not win i mean that they did win last week because I think there was a change of mentality and when you have the conversation he’s fifth fifth in the FedEx Cup points now he has had that breakout season what’s the next step he would be one I’d watch okay some bris from brisket to a Buckeye milkshake you your metabolic rate belies your age uh how you stay as slender as you do uh but when you go in there is there one that that is your favorite i I had this long conversation with Ricky Fowler on Sunday at Colonial because he was walking out with a milkshake and I go “The Buckeye.” And he just shakes his head and goes “Can’t do it.” Like even Ricky he he and I we can’t do it but they are delicious man it’s good to see you thank you for coming by of course okay Rex Hogard senior writer at golf channel.com of course El Presidente of the Golf Writers Association of America when we continue Jack 2 Jack Nicholas II his role as the general chairman of this event and just to jog his memory going all the way back to year one when he was 14 years old when this whole thing started as we continue with you on a Tuesday it is Five Clubs on Golf Channel live from Mirfield Village in Dublin Ohio site of one of the great events in golf the Memorial Tournament we’re back with you right after this [Music] welcome back in to five clubs here on Golf Channel top of the hour you can listen as well on PJ Tour Radio that is channel 92 on SiriusXM this segment brought to you by Golf Pride players at all levels trust Golf Pride more than any grip in the world i’m very pleased now to be joined by the general chairman uh of this great tournament uh is Jack 2 Jack 3 Jack Nicholas II your son Jack Nicholas III good to see you both good morning good morning oh it’s good to have you here um I I I will get to you in one second here uh you were 14 years old the first year of this event do you have any recollection of that week at all oh I was uh probably in the mud somewhere getting in trouble i was 14 years old and I think that’s where Roger Malty uh bounded his golf ball at 17 off of one of the gallole in the aggregate playoff onto the uh onto the back onto the green and won our event our inaugural event but you were already you were an aspiring golfer you were obviously a good junior golfer you were headed off uh a couple years later to the University of North Carolina to to become a very very good uh college player were you were you excited about being around all these these great players obviously your dad was the best player in the world uh still at that time but but do you remember excitement just seeing guys like Hail Irwin and Andy Bean and all these other great players you know uh you know dad was always just dad um yes that’s how we knew him mom kept us grounded uh we never uh we never thought we were anything different than any other family uh I actually saw guys like Kale Irwin and Tom Watson and you know Johnny Miller a lot of my dad’s peers and I thought they were kind of big shots and my dad just was he just played golf you know he just he was a dad so um yeah I was actually probably more intimidated by guys like we just mentioned than my father yeah how about you as as somebody who you know you’ve got a father who has been the general chairman of this event you’re now immersing yourself uh in this tournament yourself was your granddad always your granddad what do you remember how old you were when you became aware of who he was and what he’s done i actually know exactly when I figured that out um so in 2005 I was 15 years old unfortunately I wasn’t around when the tournament began so I can’t relate to these stories um but in 2005 I was lucky enough to go over to uh St andrews when he retired from professional golf and like dad alluded to I was always they were just Mimi and Peepa you know grandma and grandpa and we go over there and uh they did a special print of the 5B note your dad was your granddad was currency so he’s on you know he’s on the 5B note and I look at I go “Dad grandpa’s on money what’s going on here?” That’s kind of when I figured out wow this guy was pretty special um but at the at the end of the day he’s just uh they’re our grandparents yeah and they’re fantastic the uh that is funny that your granddad literally was money truly that currency in 2005 uh for that open championship was which was a special thing one of the things that that that you learned early on when you started to immerse yourself in the management and the driving force and the vision of this uh that you want to impart upon him well honestly the you know the management is more a leadership role and mom and dad have been the best role models for me uh I I hope that I’ve done the same for my son Jack uh and my other kids but uh honestly I still watch my mom and dad uh go to all the functions um they are incredible incredible people as you know um dad is so involved with everything he’s meeting with all the pros yesterday talking about their comments on the golf course um how he might improve it always and uh it’s just I’m so proud of what they’ve done here and uh I kind of stepped onto a moving train so to speak you know several years ago and uh I think um I’m just I I’m still looking up to my mom and dad no doubt no no I’m sure you are how about you objectives goals things that you want to do is as by osmosis you’re gathering you know information uh that you want to apply yourself what What do you want to do as it relates to this this great tournament going forward it’s an incredible foundation you know this is uh it’s been going around for 50 years and I’ve got a good beacon right here to you know teach me the way and hopefully keep it going for a lot of years to come the um the the tournament as a family experience um you’re you’re trying to make this as special as you can for the best players in the world at the same time do do you try to make points to to pause and look around and the fact that you’re sharing it with your son and obviously in turn continue to share with your parents and and everybody else in the family who is involved in this do you guys pause and go God this is special we get to share this as a family it’s it’s really incredible um you know I think not think the foundations of the golf tournament early on which mom and dad established were one bring the best golfers in the world to their hometown Columbus Ohio secondly uh to give back to charities uh which we’ve done an amazing job mostly to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital and uh thirdly to honor um go great of the game of golf um and obviously we’re honoring my mom this year which is really special and we are going to have full family participation this year nearly 50 family Nicholas family members are going to be here so when you talk about sharing uh the memorial tournament uh with family this year is incredibly special for us uh when the whole family gets together like like a week like this I mean it can’t happen often people have busy lives you know grandchildren that are on to college and got their own professional endeavors now what’s it like for you to to be around everybody else because here’s one thing I know about this family they’re hyper competitive uh they’re they’re they’re good at most everything a lot of great athletes in all different sports you’ve had you know obviously somebody who’s played in the National Football League lacrosse you name it uh what’s it like when everybody gets together you hit the nail on the head it’s it’s a doggy dog out there um but it’s really cool you know we were all encouraged to go out and play different sports growing up but we’ve all gravitated towards golf as we gotten older so it gets really competitive out there uh but we still get together for Easter and Christmas and all the big holidays Thanksgiving um but this is going to be special because we’re all going to be here and celebrating my grandmother so we’re excited it’s uh I mentioned this at the top Jack that uh in year one you know your father that the the the greatest thing that you can do is to honor somebody else he was obviously so impacted by not only his early experiences at Augusta National that he voiced in 1966 for the first time the idea that at some point I want to create my own tournament and he comes back to his home state on land that he and his father used to walk uh when when he was a boy and and he creates something like this and Bob Jones was honored uh in year one and then and then it’s your dad 25 years later and then 25 years later it’s your mom how there’s no way that everybody can have such good timing and such good vision but it’s worked out how powerful is that to think about that it was Jones in year one your dad in year 25 and and now your mom it’s uh it you couldn’t script it any better no you couldn’t uh you mentioned those years 1966 where you know kind of the the dream of Murfield really started absolutely what you forget that my mom and dad are 26 years old at the time i mean I I can’t even imagine having that kind of vision at that age and then the course was opened in 74 so they’re 34 years old uh when they opened Mirfield Village and had the dream of the Memorial Tournament so uh you look at it in that perspective it’s pretty amazing the um you know 26 years of age but it gets back to something you said when you sat down that he was always just dad um for for you not only do you learn lessons from your parents you obviously continue to learn lessons from your grandparents i think maybe the greatest lesson that your dad is that has ever taught anybody who wants to pursue whether it’s golf or anything else else is that if you are balanced you can be good at all those things because when he was not playing golf he was immersed in all your sports and he would figure out a way to be at a baseball game or a softball game for Nan or volleyball or whatever it may be um when you would see your grandfather in the stands at your events um was that inspiring when you were 14 15 16 years of age intimidating if not inspiring but but but um oh absolutely and you know win lose or draw he was always there and saying great job and if if he happened to be watching my brothers or sisters my grandma was always there so there was always a presence up there including yourself and my mom so just really lucky to have the uh the family around yes that the Nicholas name Jack um you know other sports you don’t have that name the the name may be on the back of the jersey the name on the bag was the name on the bag for you ever a burden or was it always a privilege um I understand it today more of a privilege uh as a kid um you know I mean most teenagers can’t see past their own the end of their own nose and uh you know I always felt like I was kind of playing against uh you know an insurmountable uh you know threshold i mean like I remember playing golf um and I you know I’m out there banging my head against the wall barely making cuts if I’m making cuts at all and I’m in the locker room picking up my shoes uh on that Friday afternoon after missing a cut and I hear these people walk by they look in they see me they said “Ah he’ll never win as many tournaments as his father.” Well no duh i mean you know how many people win as many tournaments as Jack Nicholas so I always felt like uh I was kind of battling against that my dad never put that in front of me but I always felt like that was that was a bit of my challenge and uh I mean like tournaments that you wouldn’t even have heard of most people know know the professional golf tournaments he’s won but um you’ve played you know the amateur tournaments and his trophy or his name’s on most of those trophies that I’m looking I’m like “Oh my gosh.” You know he won here he won here there’s nothing in the game that can be accomplished at the highest level that he did not win it’s extraordinary the breath of achievement is is something that again you can argue about one thing or the other whether it’s an Eisenhower trophy or multiple US amateurs or an NCA individual title again pick up every significant trophy at every level you don’t have to look hard you’ll find his name which is which is amazing let’s talk about this year um in terms of your responsibilities what are the things that you’re doing this week that is primarily your goal is to make this event better than it was the year before what are you doing honestly I’m just I’m learning from uh from the guys at the top you know I’ve been here I’ve been at every tournament since 2008 um more as a spectator but I’m trying to get more involved and luckily kind of cracking through a little bit uh but again I mean the foundation’s set and they’ve done such a great job so I’m just trying to learn from the best and hopefully keep it going for the future and and Jack as far as this event with the signature series that was carved out a couple of years ago this has always been particular because it was an invitational you got particular trappings if you did in fact win and now you got an additional year of exemption uh if you do win this event arnold’s the same Tigers the same as well what has it done to the business model with the field being the way that it is to what it was formally and even then it was less than what you would get at at most other events how have you all adapted to that well we’ve always been an invitational we’ve always had a shrunk field and uh we as you mentioned we’ve gone we used to be about 105 to 110 players now we’re down at 70 and uh and it’s honestly uh you know we used to have more exemptions that we’re able to give out um we’re able to get a little bit more of a local flare with those exemptions which we don’t have as much today uh but um you know we we’ve got we’ve got great support in the community i I actually love that you get you know the top 70 players coming in for our event to compete um it’s interesting the elevated events i I like it um it’s um you know we’ve got a great partner and workday um we’ve got a lot of support within the community so um you know I I like it i like the I like the uh limited event uh let me ask you just to follow up on you saying workday uh because it’s a big investment it’s a big investment to to choose to align yourself with a signature series event the value that they give uh to you in this tournament and how how invaluable it is and how much they mean to what you guys are trying to do here well uh it does start at the top and Neil Busrey is amazing at workday um he’s uh he wants to promote the game of golf and uh he’s a lot like my father he’s about legacy and uh so we have a great partner in Anneal um we’ve got tomorrow we’re going to have the proam and he brings in an amazing group of people a lot of celebrities that are pretty cool um you’ll see Pton Manning here Luke Bryan uh among others and of course uh the the top golf players are playing with him so that’ll be a fun day and uh but no Neil’s a great partner we’re very happy with that okay so before I let you guys go uh athletically you mentioned holidays what is the thing that that this family not every single one of them but most of you can still do together is it I mean what is it is it round ramen tennis i mean your dad used to love playing tennis and would bring over great like world class tennis players to play doubles at the house uh what does the family do to get the juices flowing competitively well just like everybody we play pickle ball now uh do you Oh everybody loves pickle ball but uh we all meet at the golf course and like I alluded to earlier it’s it’s kind of fun how everyone’s gravitated back towards the game and so you know you’ve got you know my cousin’s a probably a plus two or three handicap and then you’ve got you know 30 handicap so we all just go out there together and have fun that’s what it’s about oh on the uh the tennis courts growing up you guys would go at it they’d play Oh yeah baseball football and tennis on that same grounds and uh they tear it up pretty good it was fun to watch last thing for you the defending champion i I think that there are things about Scotty Sheffler that that I think people can see in your father and that is when he’s playing golf there’s a singular focus on that and that he easily separates from this environment to the environment that he values equally and that is being at home with a with a young family but a growing family uh your thoughts about Scotty Sheffller and all that he’s doing in this game scotty’s amazing um great champion for us uh um he could very well defend this week um I loved what he said at a press conference last year after his victory um he talked about you know his foundation his work ethic and what brings him back to you know getting back into that mode he said he’s in his weight room or his um training area in his basement he’s got a shelf with baseball hats lined up sweaty baseball hats from each summer of three months of just walking in out there and sweating his rear end off and each hat reminds him of that year particular that he growing up uh working hard so he looks at those hats he says “You know what i may have won this past week but it’s time to get back to the grindstone and work.” Scotty’s fantastic uh you watch his swing I love it i mean everything’s good about his game and he’s got such a great demeanor out there it’s just he’s calm he He loves to win like my father i mean probably more than anything he loves to win there’s a lot of similarities um I’m talking too much but um my dad said the comment last year he says he doesn’t know if he ever has had a streak of five to seven weeks like Scotty has had he had this past year uh and you look at it he just he he wins just about every week he’s an amazing player an amazing man yeah let let me answer the question your dad had yes he did uh yes he did have stretches dad had like but but the point is is that it’s rare uh and it’s it’s neat to watch it it’s great to see both of you thank you for what this what this family has provided not only to this community to the state of Ohio the impact it makes charitably uh not only in this state but also in South Florida uh thank you to the Nicholas family it’s great to be with you this week gary thanks for being here thanks for having us thanks Gary jack two Jack three it’s the Nicholas family we continue with you it is a Tuesday edition of Five Clubs from Mirfield Village in Dublin Ohio we’re back with you right after this back in on five clubs here live from the memorial tournament you can see the great trophy that if you consider all the great champions starting in 1976 Roger Maltby the story of of him winning his outfit of course was was legendary as well you can look through the years the host himself won it in the second year jack Nicholas 1977 you do it again it was one of his his last wins of his career in 1984 and as I mentioned tomorrow Jack and Barbara together will be joining me uh a special day for them on Wednesday because the captain’s club one of the special things that that happens here uh every year is the annual honore and it will be Barbara this year they also honor somebody who contributes to the game when it comes to writing and covering the game the journalism world last year it was Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press uh so that is coming tomorrow this segment right here brought to you by Piners of course it’s always a good time to arrange to make a trip to go to Piners the new cottages at number eight the clubhouse and new restaurant at Piner number 10 construction of Piners number 11 going to begin in the fall as well and of course there’s a connection uh to the Nicholas family and Piners jack 2 who was just here won the North South so did his dad of course and one of the last great episodes of the Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf was actually Jack and Arnold playing Piners number two and they had Jack Whitaker and Bob Rossberg who were part of that broadcast so there is another thread between the Nicholas family one of the great places uh in the game of golf and that of course Piners we appreciate their great support coming up in the next hour we are looking forward to being joined by several players in this field including Jordan Spe first time I met Jordan and had an extended conversation i actually spent the day with him was 11 years ago this week brent Sneder is going to join us the United States President’s Cup captain we had Brandt on the program uh the day that he was announced is the guy who’s going to lead that United States President’s Cup team at Madina in Chicago next year so he’s going to join us we also expect to to be joined as well by Eric Cole think about Eric Cole’s path and think about where Eric Cole was in the game of golf just three years ago and where he is now as somebody who won the rookie of the year his first full season on the PGA Tour and one other thing that I do want to mention is that tonight and later today on Golf Channel the men’s NCAA’s the team title will start to materialize because match play and we had an individual title determined last night jack Nicholas won an NCA individual title see there’s not much that I can mention in the game uh that that Jack didn’t do beforehand but that of course a reminder that the eight teams that made it to match play that journey to a championship that will be determined tomorrow night right here on Golf Channel uh will be later on today and I have one other nugget related to that individual title and the pursuit of it as it relates to a membership on the PJ tour i’ll get to that before we are done here on this Tuesday but like I said Jordan Speed Brandt Snderker Eric Cole hour two of five clubs from Dublin Ohio is coming [Music] up welcome into Five Clubs it is a Tuesday where have you been we’ve been here for an hour uh the rare 700 a.m start uh but it’s great to be at the memorial tournament at Mirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin Ohio this hour is being brought to you by Century Insurance our presenting sponsor right by you all the things they invest in the game of golf their relationship with the first te with the United States Golf Association we are so proud to be aligned with Century Insurance and of course we want to welcome the audience on SiriusXM you’re always with us at 8 a.m eastern time but we started an hour earlier hope you enjoyed Taylor Zarger’s program the starter you can listen to us so if you leave the house it is channel 92 on PJ Tour radio and I’m very pleased to start this hour being joined by the guy who was a rookie of the year on the PJ tour in 2023 Eric Cole good morning how’s it going yeah thanks for having me i thank you for joining me i said to you how does a guy who spent his whole life in Florida have shorts on i lived there for 10 years i I honestly can’t get cold i can’t get warm anymore if I’m in weather that’s under 60° yeah I probably should have went with pants today but it’s a nice change up from uh Fort Worth last week which was really hot so it was indeed let me let me get your thoughts on where you are as we approach the month of June you kind of uh state of game all of your results you you’re you have good weeks it seems like every week do you feel like you’re close yeah I feel like I’m playing a little better for sure a little more consistent recent rec recently which is nice um but you know the guys on tour are really good and it’s hard to kind of make that jump and really be in contention more often so uh but yeah I feel like I’m trending in the right direction and hopefully just kind of keep building on those things and uh you know have some better results here soon you’ve had a life in golf uh obviously by virtue of of your parents and their professional journeys your awareness level of this event i would imagine you were a young kid when you knew that not only did this event exist that it was the standard bearer of what great tournament golf should look like and be right yeah for sure um you know I definitely remember watching it on TV you know it just kind of got a little bit of a elevated atmosphere around it um you know the course is very demanding you kind of saw that from an early age and then definitely when I got here you realize that it’s very similar to major championships uh how the course changes throughout the week and gets really difficult by the weekend so it’s a great spot to be and I’m really looking forward to this week you love playing golf i mean you you play there’s a handful of guys who I think would have fit in in the 70s and 80s when seriously if you looked at the end of the year they played 32 33 times do you feel that way now now that you are you know you found your footing at the at the best tour in the world you still want to play a lot of golf yeah for me uh it’s a combination of a few things but I worked really hard to get here and it took me a long time so I’m very thankful and um you know just really appreciate every week that I can play on the PJ tour and uh I also love competing i love being in tournaments i love the environment um I like to see you know where my game is and uh where I can get better so uh when you put all those things together it’s hard for me to miss a week i I want to share with people a lesson you learned when you dealt with an injury after you had finally gotten to the Cornferry tour and you went back and you were actually around juniors it was almost like a reset for you and you saw the joy and the excitement in them playing the game of golf and the value you got from that you don’t want to get injured you don’t want to take steps back but in the grand scheme of things did that chapter of your life benefit you for sure it definitely did i think I uh learned a few things you know I I definitely got a lot of enjoyment out of helping uh others and kind of you know showing them a little bit of what I’ve learned along the way and then also it uh made me realize that you know professional golf is really cool and it’s awesome but uh you know it’s not the end of the world if I’m not a uh you know playing on the PGA Tour you know there’s a lot more to life than uh you know shooting low rounds and competing out here so I think that balance definitely helped me to realize that I’m working really hard to play well i want to be out here i want to compete i want to have success out here but if I don’t then you know life goes on and there’s a lot more to it than just uh PGA Tour golf uh the transition from I I always thought it was fun to see the enormity of a PGA championship wherever it was and then the intimacy of Colonial with where it sits on the calendar and now you come north you come agronomically to a very different uh feeling a very different setup give me a few thoughts about this golf course yeah I I love it here i think uh like I said it’s it’s got a lot of similarities to major championships um it it it plays it’s it it feels not easy but it feels very playable you know today Wednesday Thursday and then most of the time by Friday it gets a lot firmer and plays a lot different um and I think when you look at the people who’ve won here and had a chance to win it kind of brings out uh who’s playing the best who the top players are and I think that’s all you can ask for in a golf course before I let you go when you when you look at your season how much attention it it’s it’s my job to look at like stats and where you you stand as it relates to the FedEx Cup and these certain thresholds you want to be at how aware are you of that uh yeah I mean I think it’s uh it’s not really on my mind but you know you kind of look where you fall or gain every week and uh I think it’s a good barometer to see uh which way you’re trending are you trending the right way or the wrong way and then kind of assess your game and see what you need to work on so I pay a little bit attention to it but uh try not to think about it when I’m out there playing um but maybe when I’m practicing and stuff it it kind of highlights what you need to work on and uh kind of gives you that motivation to play a little better i I have to ask you as somebody who’s got an MLB deal which I think is great have you ever talked with them about you incorporating the color schemes paint Stewart years ago did it with the NFL seriously you look like a guy who would be a second baseman for I don’t know the Cleveland Indians for that matter even though they’re not the Indians anymore they’re the Guardians have you ever thought about that uh I haven’t really had any discussions about that um but it’s a really cool partnership and uh you know I’m super proud to be wearing it out here and uh yeah I mean I think it’s worth a worth a discussion i might bring it up to him now well I’m I’m not a marketer but I always wondered why nobody ever brought that back i appreciate you coming by no worries yeah thanks for having me on good talking to you thank you that is Eric Cole again the 2023 PJ Tour Rookie of the Year when we continue he’s a lefty he actually is towed the slab at a major league ballpark uh and I Rich Learner said he looked like Clayton Kershaw i thought that Rich needed to be institutionalized the person I’m talking about Jordan Spe he will join me next right here on Five Clubs we’re back with him right after this [Music] welcome back in it is five clubs great to be at Mirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin Ohio for one of the great tournaments in championship golf and this segment is brought to you by Golf Pride players at every level trust Golf Pride more than any great company around the world joining me now a 13 time winner a three-time major winner i met him on this property in person for the first time 14 years ago this week no it was 11 years ago this week it was 2014 jordan Spre good to see you thank you Gary uh you and Michael I remember walking over we were going to do this thing this was you know this was about a month removed from you finishing second at the Masters to Bubba uh in your first start at the Masters and you guys were in the short game area hitting flop shots and you were waiting for your your grouping to be announced who you’re going to be paired with and you and Michael had wagered who is going who is going to be do you guys still do that you do we we forget more weeks than we remember now until it’s like Tuesday midday and we’re like ah should we do it really so I need to go do it actually pretty soon here but yeah we we we would normally have it you know if you you get like a hundred bucks if you guess one guy you get like 300 if you guess the whole pairing and we go back and forth on who picks first and we used to do you get two picks and your third is a wild card like somebody that would be um you know unexpected and uh yeah I mean we Yeah we kind of find a way to just chirp each other 24/7 well yeah but but the Jordan the thing about that was reflective of something that I’ve always felt about you is that digging in on whether it was the next shot the next round the next event that there was that that that was that was competition yeah and and so that was another element for you guys to get your juices flowing and now life is different with with two children and traveling with your family and you have to compartmentalize your work because you want to be balanced um how is competition different now that you have things that when you leave here bring you joy and stimulation that you didn’t have back then i don’t think competition feels much different i would say you know if there’s as a if you’re going to be a well-rounded individual who has hobbies who has work who has family who has um you know a number of different categories you know right now I I’ve kind of shifted them all into two buckets it’s like I put all my attention into being a dad and trying to be the best golfer I can be and then you know I don’t really have any hobbies anymore for the for the time being um which will come later on and you I’ll make up for lost time and other other things but off the course right now you mentioned my family travels with me most every week and um so I get home and you know I flip the switch and the idea is doing the the best job you can at flipping the switch you know cuz not every day is going to be great out here um and you just can’t carry it home like you used to be able to kind of go home be in like a hotel room and just kind of decompress um your kids you know they don’t you know it in the best way it doesn’t matter if you’ve done well or done poorly they have no idea when they’re this young and nor should they care anyways because it doesn’t really matter so it’s um time management has been kind of the biggest adjustment for me over the last couple years trying to make the most of what I have and the time on the course because I do want to get back and and see them you know in the afternoons or spend a morning with them and then come out in the afternoon so um I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of it it’s nice to be at places I’ve been for 13 years or 12 years where I know the golf courses i don’t feel like I have to play 36 holes before the tournament starts um but I still want to get out and and do as much prep as I can to feel like I can I can win week to week and I want to be um you know make a charge back to you know top 10 top five even number one in the world and I have the runway to do so i’m young enough to do so i’m now healthy enough to feel like I can it’s just um you know and in this stage in my life it’s certainly very much still possible i mean my my wife’s unbelievable in um in kind of taking care of our family and taking the show on the road and um allowing me to to do what I love out here and then setting things up to um to be as solid as they can be at home you know Jordan I feel like that the the the risk thing and I don’t want to ask you so much about the risk thing um as much as I want to ask you about what you’ve learned about yourself when I’m not saying you face your athletic mortality but that has got to be challenging to some degree psychologically to have something that persists that ultimately you’re in a position where you have to get it addressed what have you learned about yourself in the last two years well I’m not a very patient person and I had to have patience you never have been no no never have been and I as you’ve seen I’ve been kind of in a rush to to accomplish anything or to do like it’s always been trying to be the first to do something so I had to be very patient you know I I couldn’t cheat the rehab um you know if it felt good it didn’t matter uh if it wasn’t time to press anything so it was um and it was tough because I was I struggled last year i didn’t have a very good year um and then I had to take all that time off when that was the prime amount of you know prime few months to be able to make changes and and make big improvements other guys were getting better in the offseason and I was just sitting there and and then you know falling further and further behind so I think that was the hardest part for me is I always want to feel like I’m getting better when someone else isn’t um and I I couldn’t do that uh so I had to kind of you know play the game in my head of you know each step that you take the right way here will advance you you know double um you know versus if you try something and it and you have any setbacks so I didn’t have any setbacks in the process it was a few month process and um and it was nice to come out once I started to be able to hit balls again it just felt like so much fun and I just felt so grateful to be back doing that and then when I started at Pebble Beach I hit my first tea shot on number 10 of Spy Glass and I thought you know as I was standing on that tea I’m like just just felt this s overwhelming sense of gratitude it was like man this is like my second chance and uh you know it wasn’t like I had a huge back surgery or anything like that but I mean you know your wrist is a big deal in golf and it wasn’t minor it was something that you know required quite a bit of time off and an extensive rehab process so I it was um it was it was really fun the very next week I worked myself into contention in Phoenix and I thought “Okay I can I can do this again.” Yeah you were asked at Pebble Beach you kind of laid out the way that you were going to look at the first kind of quarter of the year leading into to Augusta National and you said certain things that you would like to touch or achieve did you feel like you did because contention was one of those things and maybe it came earlier than you thought when you look back on it now when you close the master’s chapter did were you not not satisfied but pleased that some of those things that you set out to do you had done i think so it again I’m so impatient that you know I didn’t I didn’t really have you know I wasn’t tied for a lead i haven’t been tied for a lead on a back nine on a Sunday yet um but I was you know up there and and playing good did you feel like you were close enough that that Well that one I was still 15 shots back the whole the whole time because Scotty was going nuts but um that was a that was a solid Sunday you there’s been Yeah certain rounds that have been great for me it’s like I’m doing everything pretty good and I need to improve to you know a shot around you know just a quarter of a shot in each category to get me that shot around that gets me um you know gets me a real chance right now but yes I think um you know my my big big goal that I mentioned back then was to try to make the RDER Cup team i am very much on the outside looking in but we’ve got two elevated events and two majors coming up in the next like five weeks so um it’s a tremendous opportunity right now uh to try to shave those kind of feel like that shot or two that I’m losing per round that are just not getting this easy up and down or just just random stuff that I’m I’m used to um you know just it being easy when I’m when I’m playing really uh playing really well i just don’t even really think about it so it’s just yeah posting scores getting more comfortable you know um into contention really getting off to better starts i mean a lot of my stuff has been um even some decent weeks I’m kind of coming from behind to to finish 13th and that’s kind of the golf that I’ve been playing over the last 6 eight weeks which um you know 25th to 13th whatever it may be but you know if you’re out in front it’s a different feeling and you know obviously more opportunity and um but I’m knocking on the door it feels good i know it’s going to be a long process i’m trying to approach it as a nice kind of 10 15 year outlook and this is year one i’m not even a year posttop so um yeah it’s uh I think I’ve done really well with what I was hoping I’d do but um if I’m not able to do better here on out then uh then I’d be a little disappointed but I have these opportunities coming up where it can turn it into a great year let me ask you because you you made the choice to to invest time in the business of this tour the signature series um as we look ahead to 26 and beyond do you think there’s a way to for with respect to the cadence of these events and when they are we we know that this will always be a signature series event is there a way to give a little bit more time gap i feel like there’s they’re condensed they seem to come so rapidly how do you look at the schedule and how do you look at the way that maybe it could be marinated in a little bit different way well I’m not involved in that anymore and kind of fortunately um um and there’s the right people are in the room to determine that now and you know the landscape of the tour and um and everything outside the PGA tour uh you know I think has yet to be determined right now i think uh so I think there’ll be contingency plans on what that can look like uh for the PGA tour what’s best for the PGA Tour and if that means um you spread them out if that means you come I mean some guys really like the fact that they’re close to majors i think most guys don’t like that they’re when the ones are the week after majors um they leading in is is great i think better for guys but you know it’s um I’m not sure you know what’s the right number what’s the right amount of events um they’re getting you’re getting enough data now with kind of you know two and a half years of it to try to figure out um maybe what the ba best path forward is but I’ve been playing a lot i mean I played a lot last year i’ I’ve played a lot this year i’ll add events if I need to to move up in the FedEx Cup i feel great this is my fifth week in a row which I hardly ever I’ve maybe done once before and I I was telling my wife I have way more energy than I thought I’d have which What do you think that’s a byproduct of i think um some of that’s better time management yeah um and then I think a lot of just adding in more recovery methods i mean I’m getting in the cold plunge every single day i’m seeing making sure I’m taking that time to see a physio after every single day um and then yeah just training when I need to train backing off a little when I need to back off just a little bit of maybe experience in when I know that I’ve overdone it and making sure I’m not doing that so you know uh diet stuff like that i mean it’s just um you know I know this is coming up i need to do my best treat myself the best way that I can and um and it’s great cuz this is not an easy walk this is a hard golf course physically and mentally and um in a in a fifth week in a row it’s nice to feel this way because if you came in a little dragging this it’s not going to be nice to you here right the um the changes from when you started doing this full-time in 2013 and you started you had no status and somehow someway um you know yeah you you get some sponsor exemptions uh but you win by the middle of the summer and now this is your this is your life a lot has changed um when you look at the makeup of the player has the makeup of the player physically preparation optimization and all of that how much has changed and what is it what is the thing that you like most about what has changed out here i think uh from what I hear you know Tiger obviously ushered a massive change but even in the 12 years I’ve been out here uh I went from seeing and and I was the first two three years on tour I I went into the workout trailers you know periodically periodically i mean I would but and I was also 19 2021 so I don’t think I really you know I didn’t need it as much as maybe now but um I mean you can’t get a spot they had to make the trailer double the size they had to add in equipment um it’s crazy i mean if you’re not training and and recovering I mean we have recovery tents now loaded with infrared saunas and I mean it’s what guys are athletes they’re they’re athletes are playing golf because of Tiger um our our era when I you know my age which there’s a number of guys um from my class you know he was obviously the inspiration to us and that had an effect but now you got even more so with some of these younger guys and and they’ve they’ve started doing this stuff like in college I would just warm up in the locker room stretch for a few minutes and go out and play i mean these guys have been doing these kind of routines since junior golf now it’s just the way the game shifted and it’s the way to stay competitive i mean you just you have to for the most part you know there’s guys who get away with it but I mean hitting it far is a big deal now and then learning how to control it from there it seems like that’s what junior golfers are doing i wasn’t that way um you don’t obviously have to do it that way but you’re going to need to make up for it in other categories so I think the coolest change about it is you’re having athletes that might have played other sports choose golf um which is really the goal um for the growth of the game and and for the sport to get better and more competitive and therefore more appealing um to to the to an audience and then that cycle just keeps on going right so a lot of people are playing golf you want to make what’s happening out here in the professional um you know on the PGA tour you want to make that product better um and it seems to be that way it’s some weeks I’m like man I feel like that would have been ninth place like 10 years ago and I just finished 20th i’m like I didn’t feel like I played that bad i mean it’s just getting deeper and better and younger and um I think that’s the benefit of of a lot of this kind of training and just more athleticism on tour you I I remember it was it was literally right after the 2017 PGA and I went to Dallas you had just won the open championship and that was the first opportunity you had to complete the career grand slam and you said to me that that that winning the PGA and I asked you this actually in Quail Hollow and kind of revisited this and you thought it would be the hardest because of the setups but you said that’s changed and part of that is you have more pop in the bat in 2017 your swing speed was 113 in change and now it’s about 117 is this another place that maybe at the beginning you would say I don’t know maybe and now more so and it’s not just the length of the golf course and that it can be long and it can be wet but also advancing the golf ball from dense you know thick rough are you as a player a little bit different even though the strengths that you have are the ones that you want to still rely on are you different to that degree yeah definitely i mean I’m I’m 9 miles an hour in ball speed from the driver different from when I was number one in the world so it’s uh having said that I would say like six or seven of that is advances in technology um but certainly um feeling like I can compete on the longer big American golf courses because I don’t have to make up for it by chipping and putting lights out um is is really nice now would I like to get my chipping and putting back to where um they should be then then then we’re really in business so you know it’s a game of um it’s all it’s obviously a game of ups and downs it’s a game of misses um I do feel like uh I don’t come out here worried about having a disadvantage um in any category uh the driver’s been really good to me i’ve been getting better and better with it over the last couple years uh and now it’s just about making up the rest of the game um tightening up some of my scoring uh you know scoring clubs wedges short irons and then rolling in putts i mean I feel like I’m putting the ball well and I’m not getting a whole lot out of it right now um and for me I feel like I can be super um in a good way I can be you know that that’s that as much as it’s frustrating when it’s not going in and it feels like the hole just gets smaller and smaller the second the lid starts to come off I feel like I can be super bipolar on the greens and just start pouring them in um I feel like I read them really well speed control is really really solid so it’s just about honestly just stepping up with confidence but some of that comes from actually thinking there’s a hole there so sure um you know these greens are perfect um I feel like it’s going to be a soft soft fairways this week they’re bigger fairways but you just can’t miss them this is about as thick a rough as I’ve ever seen here this is major championship rough um but with the fairways being softer it gives you wider fairways to hit and from there uh you know it’s funny this is a track I feel like some of the great tracks we play throughout the season you’ll see scores of 79 and you’ll see scores of 65 the first two rounds this has it every year there’s no hiding it you either have it or you don’t and if you don’t you’re not going to get away with anything so um you get a pretty good idea right away and I hope to get off to a good start and and work my way into contention all right let’s let’s end this five quick questions to go of the most important ones uh for Jordan Sp if the Dallas Cowboys can draft Arch Manning at the end of this season should they i would like that because I I love Arch and I love the Cowboys so I think that would be awesome and I don’t know if I should go any further pretty well you didn’t throw out the current quarterback you didn’t even mention his name dax Dak’s uh Dak’s a tremendous quarterback we got him more weapons we got him a great offensive line and uh it’s a really hard division which which makes it tough but do you think Arch will only play this year or do you what is your in your intuition tell you that he I mean I nowadays and his situ I mean I think it might depend on how the Longhorns end up doing i think you know I think if they if they were to go win at all then you probably leaves and if it’s disappointing or he’s feels like he’s got more to offer them then he’d come back i mean he’s like you said he’s he’s in a a unique position isn’t he so um no doubt yeah it’s uh it’s it’s an exciting time for the Longhorn Longhorn football and uh we’re on the same cycle of the Cowboys football and I’m ready to break that cycle yeah well as a giant building believe me it’s a bad cycle uh that we’re in a show that Sammy watches that you actually like Paw Patrol it’s a great show really oh yeah oh yeah okay who is the most competitive person you’ve ever played golf with i I think I know the answer i know you told me this story yes his behavior that one time you played at a very special place that he completely acted like a No he was fine he just acted very competitive no I there was You thought his behavior was fine just hyper competitive yeah he’s just very very competitive he just didn’t want to lose even that day when it meant nothing in a sport that he didn’t play very often back then it’s true uh all right an athlete that you feel like you’ve seen in person at their apex who is somebody you’ve seen perform athletically that you went “Okay that’s as good as it is.” Novakjokovic well where did you see him at Wimbledon okay that’s pretty special yeah i mean it’s not just the physical it’s the mental side of that with tennis too right i mean it’s he’s a beast it’s He’s unbelievable he’s It really It really was special to It was like I walked away from that i mean my dad took me to see Michael Jordan when I was really young and I don’t I don’t really remember he was on the Wizards so it was a little bit different that’s not That wasn’t Michael Jordan was Michael’s uncle playing the Wizards well yeah he had already played Major League Baseball also by the way played 82 games that year for the Wizards wow i mean it’s so I would say that not counting i think watching Jookovic live that’s pretty good that’s very good last thing a golf course you’ve never played that you’re curious about at some point being able to play terrai is probably my bucket lister uh number one bucket list yeah down and they’re building more now i think Krenshaw are doing or I’ve already finished another one down there in New Zealand that would be um I know Rory went up there at the end of last year he said it was mind-blowing yeah I I mean I love sandb belt style golf link style golf and you kind of got the perfect combination there on New Zealand there’s decent amount of Texans I know that have gone there they’ve got a bit of a presence there so talked about going down back to Australia in the next couple years maybe playing then working that trip over so maybe maybe that that’s that’s my number one bucket list in the world right now your Australian Open win i don’t think people point to that enough for being the impetus for what happened the following year is that fair yeah I I won at the end of 2014 and I had come close and I didn’t I didn’t win on the PJ tour in 2014 in quite a few seconds in big events and I just I learned patience i played with Adam Scott i needed to you know Rory was playing that week down there um after winning two majors that right before that event and uh I played a great final round where I was super patient and and then I won in uh Tigers event the next week and I think those two Yeah those two were like “Okay these are these have some of the best players in the world and and I can do this i just just need to not try to try to do it.” You know you have the game just let it let it happen and um you know that led to a big year the next year for sure it’s good to see you thanks for coming over all right that is Jordan Speed 13 time winner three-time major champion we continue with the captain of the President’s Cup Brandt Snedle will join us next right here on Five Clubs we’re back right after this [Music] welcome back into Five Clubs here on Golf Channel you can also listen that is PJ Tour Radio channel 92 on SiriusXM you can see the trophy over my shoulder it is a thrill to be at the memorial tournament of course of Mirfield Village in Dublin Ohio this segment brought to you by Peter Malar everything that I have worn for 15 years been very fortunate because they have refined performance luxury and style better than anybody for the better part of two decades who knows that as well as I do maybe better branded because he is a period malar man and he always has been it’s good to see you my friend it’s good to be seen thanks for having me uh thank you for coming over i know that you’re look you’re you always want to be aligned with with people who have good intentions workday uh I know you’re proud to represent that company you have for some years now uh it’s nice to be here isn’t it it is it’s it’s a special week i think it uh this tournament embodies everything that workday stands for as a company and and vice versa you know that they treat their customers the right way they’re a great company that does a lot of great things throughout the world and um you know to be partnered with Jack Nicholas Memorial is super special with them and I know this week is uh even extra special she’ll have to give a shout out to Barbara Nicholas because she’s getting um rightfully her her place in the in the spotlight this week being honored this week so I think uh I think it’s this afternoon it’s going to be really special afternoon to see her kind of get some light shown on her for the first for one of many times she deserves it and what she’s been able to accomplish in her career out here being the face but you know really really the the the machine first lady of golf the first lady that’s a great way to say yeah first lady of golf thank you and and has been a great role model for every wife on the PJ tour out here and and us as players so uh really special week for us to be able to honor her this week absolutely i was saying to Jack II who is here with his son Jack III uh about how they they chose Bob Jones in year one as the honore because Bob Jones was was really motivated Jack when he was in his mid20s to at some point I’m going to have my own event so it was Jones in 1976 it was Jack 25 years later now it’s Barbara 25 years after that uh they they work things out quite well here yeah uh when we were breaking the last segment Jordan was leaving and you guys had a little interlude and you said he needs to go practice you’re already thinking about next year oh I’m thinking about this year and I know you’re thinking about this year because you’re you’re obviously an assistant captain uh for for Keegan Bradley and he desperately wants to be on that team look all these guys do that’s important that whatever the pool is if it’s 22 25 18 whatever the number of players you want all those guys to be dying lousy to do everything they can to get all the points they can to be in that conversation when you guys have to make these choices yeah and I think uh I think it’s a great thing i think it’s you know pressure creates what you want and these guys are are you know they’re obviously looking at the list we’re looking at every week and trying to see uh the best mix of guys we can put on the team to to go represent the United States and this fall at Beth Page but I think you know I we’ve taken a lot more interest in seeing how these guys are playing seeing what’s going on um I’ve you know with Jordan I think Jordan’s playing some great golf right now i really do i’ve watched him play a lot the last month and a half and seeing like the progress he’s made since his wrist surgery and see kind of like a better version of the old Jordan Speed in a sense he’s hitting the ball a long way he’s hitting it I think as straight and as solid as I’ve ever seen him hitting it you know I think for him it’s just about matter of seeing some putts go in and you know these greens I played yesterday here i can’t think of a better set of greens for him to find his field and these are these are Augusta National when you talk about speed and the way you have to read them and we all know how Jordan putts there and I think this week would be a great step for him and feeling some comfort you know it’s not like he’s that far off it’s you know as any player will tell you it’s it’s one of those weeks where if you just see a few putts go in all of a sudden the lid comes off and everything kind of turns around i can see Jordan have one of those weeks this week the uh the the question I asked him about being more efficient and it’s not like he was wasting time when he didn’t have any children but you’ve been through this and you were just telling me look you your your son who’s who’s really falling in love with the game of golf and he’s playing a golf tournament and and your stage with your family is different than his um what was that like to make that transition when you had to be more efficient and and figure out times to be focused on that and try not to think about all the things that maybe Mandy’s going through at home what was that like i think it was great i think it affects everybody differently um for me I was somebody who really could never get away from the golf course if I played bad it it stayed with me all day i wanted to get back out and practice i wanted to go fix what was going on i could never really get away and so I I before I had in my first six years on tour I had one tour win and I really think I practiced myself and do a lot of bad stuff and then my next six years on tour I won eight times and I firmly believe it’s because I had kids so when I got done playing golf my kids didn’t care if I shot 80 or 60 they just want to be with dad and so I had to learn to turn it off and so for me it was a great thing and saying “Okay a I do need to be more efficient with my time so when I do go out there and practice but b when I get away from the golf course it’s time to get away like you got to let it go and and it was really eye opening for me to have that kind of a support system with my wife and kids at home saying “We don’t care what you shot.” You know it’s not who you are as a person um whereas we as golfers out there we feel like when we get off from around our self-worth is wrapped up whether we shot 78 or 68 and so for me it was super humbling and great to have that kind of support system away from it and that that amount of love that doesn’t affect how you play or how you played so and I think Jordan’s probably and everybody goes through it differently but I think he’s probably trying to balance that life of hey he’s such a great person he wants to be a great father and a great husband and at the same time you want to be a great golfer too so how to balance all those things and make sure you’re not short you know leaving something out there that you wish you could do and he’ll figure it out just like everybody does everybody has different ways of doing it um I had great u guys I leaned on whether it was Davis Love or um Fred Couples or whoever it was that that older guys of how they kind of dealt with later on in their careers and so um you know we’re all here for them and just know the PJ was a great support system of guys to kind of help you through it um Scotty Sheffller before they had Bennett already had a good understanding of of when I’m here I’m focused entirely on here um and and when I’m not I can I can leave it behind he will be the lynch pin of a RDER Cup team he will be the lynch pin of your President’s Cup team next year um does he remind you of anybody that you’ve seen over your your life in the game of golf no no no like he’s a different he’s different the fact that I’ve never seen um I mean I guess like on the golf course you know you see shades of Tiger Woods right you see shades of just the ability I always say this about Scotty I love watching him play because it’s not the spectacular shots he hits the ability just to hit quality golf shot after quality golf shot the right shot at the right time all the time um we all know how to do it and we do it occasionally but his ability to do it round after round to put himself in the right position all the time um he makes golf look boring which is the best way to p it you know the host did that yes Tiger did that yes we focused on the hero shots but the proper shots that they hit throughout their their careers were the things that was that that was the calling card yeah just it’s unbelievable to watch him do that and just ability to do it and I think what I love about Scotty more than anything is just what a great human being he is he’s you know we’re lucky in golf we we have a bunch of great superstars right now who are all great guys away from the golf course not only on the golf course um and not saying we haven’t always had that but it just seems like right now the guys that we have that are our leaders in the game are all quality human beings that want to give back that want to do stuff the right way that want to take time for fans that want to play great golf and and get what it’s about being a PJ tour member out here and so I think we’re so fortunate right now and Scotty’s the obviously he’s doing things at at his age that not many people have ever done and I don’t see that slowing down anytime soon and I don’t see a family getting in the way of that i see actually a family enhancing that in a way that he can kind of have that release factor away from the golf course to just be a dad and be around Bennett and have a great family and then when he gets on the golf course he can turn in the competitor that we know he is um last thing for you it’s it’s not just RDER Cup responsibilities captain of the President’s Cup team uh your investment in the development of professional golfers at the Cornferry Tour level um when in your life did you start thinking about things that would be the next chapter not that the chapter of playing was going to be closed alto together when when did you start I had my a real big chest surgery about four years ago yeah so I was off tour for a year so I really had a time I called it like a midlife sabatical you know I had a sabbatical a year away from the game where I really didn’t touch a club and so at that point you kind of start looking at okay a I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back and play but b like what does this next stage of my life want to be like you know do how do I want to be around with my kids more what do I want to do more at home is there business opportunities I want to pursue or do I still want to be out here playing and being a being a member and so um I kind of put my feelers out in a bunch of different directions to figure out what it would look like and you know I came back to just I’ve always been a golfer that’s what I love to do um when I’m home and um when I’m practicing that’s where I’m my happiest and so um I still see myself as a golfer i’ll still be out here competing as much as I can um my body probably doesn’t do the way I want it to do anymore but it’s getting closer um but I still love competing against these guys i still love being in locker room with these guys and trying to see okay how how can I play this golf course my way and not their way you know this is a got to play yesterday and it’s going to be a great test this week it’s really rough it’s super thick greens are super fast super firm so I’m going to have to play this differently than Scotty Sheffer plays it i wish I could play it like he did but I might have to play a little differently than he does and so I trying to figure out a way to do that and so I still love that that aspect of it of getting out there and competing and trying to figure out the best way I can get around these golf courses it’s always good to see you thanks for coming over yeah the captain of the President’s Cup team in the United States Brandt Sneder 2026 obviously a key piece of that staff for the RDER Cup at Beth Page we come back some final thoughts here from the Memorial Tournament at Mirfield Village in Dublin Ohio we’re back with you on Five Clubs right after this [Music] welcome back into Five Clubs here on Golf Channel also it is channel 92 on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio we are back tomorrow our regular customary time we will be 8 to 10:00 a.m eastern time we hope you can join us because the hosts Jack and Barbara Nicholas are going to be with us aaron Ry is going to be with us as well some members of the captain’s club who are some of the the key figures really in the game of golf if you look back at the makeup of the people that Jack and Barbara uh lean on when it comes to this event on an annual basis and it’s not just who they’re going to honor every year as the honore and as we’ve mentioned throughout the program today it will be Barbara that’s going to be a very emotional special day uh Jack like all of us uh get a little bit more sentimental in our advancing age and I know it’s going to be a special day for the Nicholas family for Barbara to get what she so rightly deserved they could have honored her any year uh but here we are in 2025 50 years later uh with her being the honore with Jack being 25 and of course Bob Jones when it all started i did want to mention before we’re done uh I mentioned earlier the fact that the NCA men’s uh match play portion to determine a national championship will begin today later today on Golf Channel you can watch that into the evening hours uh obviously with the West Coast site and then the national champion uh ship will be tomorrow in match play but an individual title was determined yesterday but in inside of that if you make it inside the top 10 on the individual side you get a point as it relates to PGA Tour U now Jackson Kovven who is a sophomore at Auburn University had 19 points and so you already have Luke Clanton who has got himself a PGA tour card that he is going to start to exercise those privileges starting next week when he makes his professional debut at the RBC Canadian Open similarly Gordon Sergeant who I believe is celebrating a birthday today gordon is 22 years of age he too because of all that he accomplished at the collegiate level not to mention the the modest opportunities he got in professional events he took advantage of those he too because of PGA Tour the accelerated program is be going to begin his professional career as well well Jackson Kovven needed a top 10 finish in the individual portion of the NCAA’s he finished in a tie for fourth he got the point he needed one wrinkle to that he was going to get that point anyway next week simply by being a part of the Arnold Palmer Cup team and one note on that Palmer Cup we will be there live next Wednesday doing the show from Conger Golf Club uh just northwest of Ridgeland South Carolina a special place for a special event so congratulations to Jackson Kovven and don’t you worry Auburn fans uh as he made it clear last night he’s not going anywhere he’s gonna sit on that card can you imagine having a PGA Tour card in your back pocket and you’re going to play another year of college golf as he expects to do congratulations to him we want to thank Rex Hogard who joined us jack II and third the general chairman and his son who’s now a part of this tournament Eric Cole Jordan Spe and Brandt Snedeker for all joining me here on this Tuesday at Mirfield Village a big day tomorrow have a wonderful Tuesday we will see you tomorrow with Jack and Barbara from Mirfield Village
4 Comments
Gary’s monologues are the best.
Yay! I’m glad he’s onsite this week, nice touch❤🎉
This channel has a very safe, scripted, corporate feel to it. Is it affiliated with Golf Channel?
Fantastic interview from Jordan! great interviewer also!