Andrew Novak On Winning Zurich Classic & Ryder Cup Goals 🏌️‍♂️🇺🇸

We’re joined by yet another new PGA TOUR winner on the Smylie Show, as Andrew Novak chats with Smylie Kaufman fresh off his first TOUR win alongside Ben Griffin in the Zurich Classic! 🏆

We detail Andrew’s rise this season to his top-ten standing in the FedEx Cup, and what his goals are for the rest of 2025 with his sights set on the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. SK also picks Andrew’s brain on his side gig as an NFL podcaster in the wake of the 2025 NFL Draft full of interesting storylines. And don’t miss Andrew and Smylie talking about the team event they once played in together!

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more golf insights, player interviews, and updates! #golf #pgatour #progolf #golfpodcast #zurichclassic #rydercup #pgachampionship #andrewnovak #bengriffin #justinthomas #scottiescheffler #golftrip

CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
02:46 – Andrew Novak joins the show
12:47 – Playing his way into contention more often this season
18:13 – Contending at the Valero Texas Open
23:26 – The skill of knowing what score you need to shoot to win
26:24 – Having a putt to win your first PGA TOUR event
28:45 – Recapping the win at the Zurich Classic
41:11 – Breaking down the 2025 NFL Draft
45:11 – Grading the Carolina Panthers draft
51:08 – Which draft pick did Andrew like best?
52:41 – Creating the perfect golf prospect
01:05:55 – Previewing the Philadelphia Cricket Club
01:11:46 – Course Setup & Conditions
01:18:17 – Like & Subscribe

Big thanks to everyone who made this episode possible! Check out all who support us below:
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[Music] that’s Smiley Coffman for 61 Wow I’m Smiley Coffman and this is the Smiley Show Welcome back to another episode of the Smiley Show and we are excited to bring a new guest on the show one of the more recent winners on the PGA Tour Andrew Novak who won the Zur Classic alongside Ben Griffin really fun conversation to share Smiley had with Andrew and we’re going to do that via our friends at Ahead and we’ve talked to you a lot about trustbased relationships and this is one Smiley we’re going to delve into some some uh I want to say issues of trust but you’ve partnered with Andrew Novak before so delving into your relationship and the the way that trust fluctuated up and down we’re going we’re going to use a head to do that so ahead builds and manages digital platforms that power the most successful organizations in the world their consultative approach Unmatched engineering and innovative solutions combined to accelerate the impact of technology in every client that they serve Ahead’s long-standing relationships are built on outcomes and experience with both their clients and technology partners Learn more at ahead.com So Smiley I I got actually got a little headquarter zip rocking here Uh you know I’m I’m a headed out So so tell me about this relationship You know you can maybe just tease a little bit of that story as well but just the conversation with Andrew Novak What do the the viewers and listeners have to look forward to here Well we’ve covered him over the last couple weeks of course because of his great play starting over at the Valero It’s been a run of top three finishes uh third second then first finally going bronze uh silver then the gold medal winning obviously uh with his buddy Ben Griffin They’ve got a good relationship him and Ben It’s uh pretty wild Andrew and I got paired together in Sea Island Uh there’s some pretty good stories involved And actually Ben Griffin is a part of the uh the mix when it comes to that Sea Island event Andrew is a great dude He’s uh uh it’s been it’s been fun to see him have so much success and uh he’s he’s quickly been one of my favorite players to watch not only uh for how good he is and how talented he is but he plays quick but he also brings in the fans when he’s having his conversations Uh he’s just as good as Jordan Spe when it comes to just lay out let him talk He talks through it Um and you’ll you’ll find out he’s a pretty dang good analyst Not just golf but uh talking shot when that’s talking football That’s right Fellow podcaster Uh so and and and a good one too And a committed one So talk a little ball with Smiley at the end of this podcast Lots to look forward to We’re not going to delay you any further Here is Smiley’s conversation with Andrew Novak Welcome back to another episode of the Smiley Show We are joined by a recent winner at the Zurich Classic Andrew Novak Andrew uh you’re probably on a little bit of a media tour right now where you’ve done a ton of interviews Uh have we had time to settle in and take in uh your first win on the PJ tour And what I just found out was your hundth start on the PJ tour which is pretty cool Yeah Yeah it’s it’s been good I’ve been you know home for this week taking the week off which has been nice Um getting just celebrated with Maddie and and some people at home So um it’s still been a pretty busy week you know doing podcast interviews stuff like that But it’s been fun Well just let’s just go to the Zurich Classic and of course uh you won with partner Ben Griffin a good friend of yours You know how did uh this team come about you know is this something that uh was was decided earlier in the year Uh who made the ask How how did this this little uh partnership form Yeah we talked about doing it for a while Um we played a lot at home in Sea Island and we typically play well when we play at home at Sea Island Um we’re known for you know taking people’s money when we do get paired together And so it’s something we kind of like talked about for a bit just hadn’t worked out Ben had played with like a past teammate in um in a previous year and stuff like that So uh this year I want to say I think Ben actually asked me um like kind of early on like maybe like January or something and I was I’d kind of been waiting for that text I knew we’d be a good team So uh yeah it’s kind of like middle school dating right like trying to figure out who like who’s going to play with who Uh you know Ryan Ryan Palmer was the best He he played with John Rob Jordan He he was the best at getting partners This play with Scotty one year too man Well you know a lot of people need to go to Ryan Palmer and figure out how to how he did it Yeah Um I want to say like I think we always kind of thought like or I always thought we would play together I think it was always like kind of wrong time wrong place And uh this year it all kind of came together especially going into the week Like Ben had played some decent golf earlier in the year Uh and he like I knew he had like a big chip on his shoulder after being essentially first alternate for the Masters and then actually first alternate for RBC Heritage Um like I knew he was going to be coming in ready and I was coming off playing some good golf So I think we were both like we didn’t like talk to each other like in depth about it but I think we were both like pretty quietly confident coming into the league All right So we we all of course are aware of how well you’ve played over the last month And you know when I was watching the uh winning interview from Justin uh at Hilton Head they had asked him a question I said “Have you ever played with Andrew Novak before?” He’s like “Well yeah I got uh you know I actually played with him and Ben Griffin in a practice round last year at the Travelers and they were in like a big big match between the two of them and you like shot 59 What the heck happened out there that day Was it a Tuesday where you just got it going out at the Travelers when was it like a legit 59 It was a Tuesday Um Ben and I started on the first TE We’re like let’s do a birdie game Like let’s just do it And I think we hit the turn and I think we were both chilling at like 600 at the turn like just going nuclear and we walk over to 10T and Justin’s standing there Ben and I are kind of like looking at each other like Justin you want to join us bud I think Justin said the best decision he made all week was not joining that money match Uh but yeah we just kept going Um I think I had it to 11 through 16 and it’s a par 71 Mhm But I do think I made a bogey there on one of the last holes I did not shoot 59 He was off but it was very close It was like 61 Ben and I talked about this this week actually because we’re we saw the interview We think I shot 61 and we think Ben shot 62 I didn’t I whatever I shot I did not make money off of him We split um we split the match that day So yeah it was it was blackout Well all right Well tell me about your 2024 season because 25 is going to be easy to talk about but 24 uh for somebody I I I of course like I have you favored on my PJ tour app because of course uh your wife Maddie who is uh great for me for three years helping me out uh with with travel this and that of course now following you out on the PJ tour but you know I’ve always been a fan of yours uh ever since you and I have played some golf together uh early on in your professional career but last year was interesting right Cuz it was you were right on the cusp of being in and out of that 125 it felt like for me most of the year but you were playing better than that it felt like and just never quite were was able to get the breathing room that you needed How stressful was 2024 for you Uh of course knowing that you got to keep your guard Yeah I mean I finished what 86 last year but that was Bermuda Second last event of the year was a solo second So that’s right I don’t remember exactly what I was before Bermuda I think I was like you were safe though right I think I was safe probably like maybe there was some mathematic way where like if I miscut miscut last two um enough to you you’d be looking at it you’d be thinking about it Yeah exactly And I think um like the year before that I had finished like 124 or something like that So I mean I had been essentially on the bubble for two straight years Two Yeah two straight years Um last year was tough just because like looking at my stats looking at my statistical profile I was very very good Um my entire season I was about as consistent as it gets I hardly missed any cuts last year but I just didn’t have any top finishes Like I would finish like on my good weeks like 12th or something like I would never finish worse than like 40th or 50th but like you need those top finishes because the points fall off so quick Um like looking at all my stats my strokes gained like I I was awesome last year I really like I was very happy with how all that ended up turning out I mean I think I had I I think I finished like fourth or fifth in stroke average on the PJ tour last year Wow I was top 20 or 25 in in total strokes gained Like all of my stats were good but it really did not turn into until like Bermuda didn’t really turn into any win opportunities or or top finishes And so that was something that really going into this year and honestly going into last fall because I did go into the fall like I think I was like closer to like a hundred So like I was pretty safe Um you know if I had like a disaster fall like it could have been maybe close but uh I was going into it like I had what six events in the fall I wanted to like I made it a point I wanted to like be in contention in like two of them And that’s something that like going into this year I’m trying to like make sure I’m putting myself in contention just because I felt like it’s something I needed to do to get more comfortable being around the lead Um I was able to do that last fall which I think was big for this year uh to get me comfortable for being like with being up near lead Um I think my Saturday scoring has like greatly improved in the last I was always like a terrible Saturday player for whatever reason Yeah Well because a lot of a lot of guys when they get to Saturday it’s finally we’re we’re playing with house money We’re now playing threesomes We’re playing twosomes You’re a quick player You like getting going I’m a little surprised that Saturday’s been tough on you Yeah So th this year has by far been my best Saturday performance I’ve always been like a poor Saturday player but a pretty good Sunday player And so I like you know I’ll come into the weekend kind of drop a bit and then Sunday make like a little move up And that’s what I was doing a lot to like finish top 20s But you have to have good Saturdays if you want to finish like top five because you got to be you got to be up there Um and actually that’s a good point you bring up about the Tusomes because uh there’s been like a lot of talk like how many final groups I’ve been in um recently Uh the best I’ve played by far was the Heritage That’s the only final group that I’ve been in that was actually tusomes All of the other ones were threesomes And if you remember Tory Pines the pace was brutal It was so bad And that like I was struggling with that And then same thing at Valero Like I was you know playing in threes Um that was a death march Yeah And you know Brian’s not like the fastest player And he had the lead and so he was really you know making sure what he was doing was what he wanted to do and the wind was right what he wanted it to be and stuff and I I was not really handling it great I don’t think uh so it was really nice at Heritage to be playing in twos which was a lot more my speed where we were just getting up and going and it’s the same thing in alternate shot like you’re playing in forms but it’s only two balls like we played you know four hours basically right and um I would say like that is definitely an advantage for me to be able to play at that pace Yeah I want to go back to the original thing you just talked about talking about how you wanted to play your way into contention Well of course easier said than done right Like everybody says like I would love to be in contention would love to be in final groups Um and of course you had this quiet confidence because you look at your analytics your stats and you’re like I’m playing good golf Uh but other than you know you know not being in a twosome or whatever it is was there something that you flipped on on the on a Saturday that you think maybe could have been the difference Was it more of an aggressive mindset Uh did you like is there anything that you feel like you did differently I guess on the weekend Not like nothing major but just like a conscious effort in my brain to just like I want to be putting myself up in these positions Like you talked about like sometimes you you know you can get to the weekend get a little bit complacent like hey we made our cut and based on what I was like seeing from last year like my Saturday scoring was not good and that was I was having good tournaments but that was essentially costing me chances to win Yeah So it’s been like kind of a conscious effort like once I make the cut it’s like that’s not just the end of it like we’re going to keep pushing I have 36 holes to chase down the leaders basically from whatever position I’m in Um I I don’t like I mean the fact that I’m thinking about it and it’s working I I don’t know if there’s like a correlation there but like it’s definitely something that I’ve wanted to like it was definitely something that I wanted to allow myself to do because like I I think every level I’ve played at it’s taken me a bit of time to get comfortable um to gain confidence playing against whoever I’m playing against And I fig I I figured the next step for me was to be putting myself in contention because I knew like like I mean may you know it could happen like the first time you put yourself in contention you win but that’s never not really how I’ve been at each level Like in college I didn’t really get going I didn’t win until my junior year Like it took me some time to like figure it out So I I wanted to like really put myself in some positions because I know when I do I’ll get better as as it goes but I need to start giving myself those those chances to learn about myself in those positions Um and then obviously I’ve done that and now it finally pays off with a win um last week Well and then these signature events this year uh I see the Pebble Beach you finished 13th Genesis 13th you got a second place finish obviously in a playoff at the Heritage but heading into the year you just talked about uh where your FedEx Cup was uh as far as the ranking uh is concerned and and that’s outside of the top 50 heading into the year So coming into 2025 um I imagine that your your goals were to try to play yourself uh into these signature events Of course these uh sponsors invites are very political A lot of times they go to the most popular player I’m sure there’s been times that you felt like “Hey I probably thought I deserved a spot.” But how much pride do you take that you earned your way into these fields And not only did you earn your way in you’ve played incredible when you’ve had the opportunity to compete Um how much confidence has that given you when you go up against what is deemed to be the best fields on the PJ tour and you’re on near the top of the leaderboard just about everyone you’ve played Yeah it’s it was definitely something that I wanted to do this year I played I don’t even know if I played one of them last year actually I can’t remember We can get our stats We can get our stats department I think my first one So yeah it was it was something that I definitely wanted to do Um I knew like when I got in them I would probably play well based on just like a lot of the elevated events are on tough golf courses They you know they kind of took a lot of the premier events but a lot of the premier events are at tough golf courses which I think fits my game M obviously Genesis got moved this year but I got moved to Tory which is still a very tough golf course Like Tory South is is no joke So I think that that has helped me play well in those events Um I tend to do better in events when you know shooting a couple under each day is a pretty good score Yeah Um I know Heritage we got to like 17 but behind Justin and I it was like 14 like it was you know if you shot four under a day out there like that was really really good So um I think that that has helped me in those events Uh I think the fact that we talked about it but pace of play in those events is much improved It’s been It was Tsums every single day at Heritage that was like the greatest tournament I’ve ever played in because we literally played in like four hours every day It was awesome Like you’re not really waiting much You’re not having to like deal with that Um I do think that that’s something I’m going to have to like work on a little bit I think that’s a area that I’ve realized especially after Valero that I need to improve in of like how to handle like being slow played essentially Mhm Um but you know in those tums and those elevated it’s it’s kind of nice flying around Well let’s uh let’s go to the Lero Texas Open I got to watch your entire round on Sunday and the hole that I want to turn to here is the ninth hole And if you’re watching the Blero Texas Open uh it was I think the most pivotal hole that the entire tournament Uh Brian hits one out in the woods right Uh it takes an unplayable plays it basically right in front of your ball So all of a sudden I I feel like you were probably down uh maybe three shots at the time That feels about right I’m not sure if that’s quite right or not but I just remember the your second shot there was the opportunity that you were looking for to like okay this is my time And I watched you probably hit the best shot you’ve hit the entire year I mean this was the most beautiful looking five iron Is that it was a sixiron Sixiron This I mean beautiful flighted uh shot that just pierced right through the wind and goes to the one place that you could not hit it And so you get back there and you’re thinking to myself or yourself probably how are we here What just happened Uh I was literally just given you know the door was just completely open Uh Brian was definitely peeling at that time And uh I imagine Valera Texas Open had to hurt a little bit because you were playing some really good golf and you hit some good shots Yeah I I hit some good shots I didn’t think I played particularly well in general on Sunday It was hard though Andrew It was really hard I but based on how I played like earlier in the week I I thought I wasn’t quite as sharp on Sunday Um with that said that second shot on nine was about as good as it gets Um for me unfortunately it was wrong time wrong I don’t know It the wind just didn’t touch it enough It’s funny if I hit seven iron there there’s no chance it gets there No there’s no way it would have gotten there Um maybe it was a little aggressive but like I also could have hit that sixiron missed it a little bit and not even gotten there Like it’s just that’s how the wind was Even you just if if it lands on the green it’s just rolling over the back and you could probably get that up and down but it it flies the green You’re just thinking how how is that possible That that was tough I mean I flagged it because I knew like you had said I knew it was a moment I think I I might have only been down two at the time It was either two or three It was either two or three Uh I think uh Brian might have just made like a birdie on the previous hole or something So it was either it was either like two or three but either way like I knew I had a two shot swing right in front of me cuz he had already dropped and then chipped out to like right next to me So he’s hitting for four and I’m hitting for two from basically the same spot So there there’s your two shot swing and I’m like you know if I can give myself a look here if I can flip this into like a birdie double situation go straight to the back knight with a ton of momentum And so I was really maybe amped up and I put a good swing on it and just just hit it in a terrible spot Maybe maybe looking back maybe I should have hit the seven just to make sure cuz like anything short was pretty fine there And that’s literally that’s where I ended up after my first chip because there was no way to actually like hit the green from where I was Like it wasn’t that bad a chip from short But we hope you’re enjoying this conversation with Andrew Novak If you’re watching on YouTube you of course noticed his very large manly beard he’s got rocking there Uh and that’s a great excuse for us to talk to you now about a partner of ours House of Atlas Uh so Smiley you’ve had a chance to shave with the razors now use all the products We love the smell of the after shave What do you enjoy most about the House of Atlas shave experience Uh the the shaving cream Uh big big fan of the shaving cream Smells incredible Uh easy to spread and yeah definitely a little jealous too of Andrew Novak’s beard Can’t ever really grow a beard Never been great at it Uh but a big fan of playoff beards and I think that’s underrated Good for him as as he’s six in the FedEx Cup and most likely uh should make a pretty deep playoff run this year Is this this is a complete tangent Do you feel like he looks like a a bearded version of Seraa Am I way off there Not even a little bit Just a stricks on hats just blinding your vision It’s just I’ve got such a connection to the the lid they’re wearing Huh I just felt like you know cuz Seth’s going the other direction Speaking of guys and razors he’s he’s started to kind of shave the head So I feel like copy and pasting some of his hair on Andrew maybe look the same Maybe not But uh yes Andrew owns a great beard Maybe cleans it up with the House of Atlas razors And you can do the same Now for a limited time they’re offering 15% off your first order when you purchase any razor kit and the before and after set which includes the precision shave cream and calming after shave both of which Smiley of course loves Use code smiley@ houseofatlas.com That’s h o u s e oof f a t l a s.com with promo code sm y l i e for 15% off your new razor kitten before and after set Stop wasting money and time on shaving products that don’t look good aren’t effective and cost way too much Visit houseofatlas.com today Let’s get you right back to Andrew Novak What’s like the learning process for you uh knowing what a good score is on on a Sunday or maybe not even just a Sunday but when when you’ve played a hundred times on the PGA Tour in in varying different conditions and knowing where where you get to a hole like the ninth hole you have that back pin of course like you’re aggressive in nature or you like to make burgers you you believe you can hit the shot but how how much have you had to kind of uh almost rely on a little bit of a green light yellow light red light system of of knowing when when to attack and when not to Yeah that was um my caddy and I didn’t talk too much on that whole about like I I wouldn’t have necessarily called that a sucker pin It’s just the way that green is is so small It’s ridiculous Um I I probably needed to like just make sure my miss was in a different spot Like you got to make your miss in the proper spot Mhm Um there’s not necessarily like a safe play to that pin It’s not like oh I’ll just hit it to like 25 30 ft Like that’s not like actually a thing to that pin Like there’s a big slope like you either are 45 ft putting up the ridge or you’re very close to the hole Like there’s not really an in between And so probably like putting it you know short of the hole somewhere where you’re at least chipping into the windsh um is definitely like to my advantage But re realistically we didn’t actually think that that club could go long Uh that was something we hadn’t really considered Um it was blowing a lot We had hit other clubs into the wind that got hammered right Yeah Just it should have matched up It was just the way I hit it in the moment Yeah Um maybe you know because I did flight it so the wind didn’t touch it as much Like it’s tough That’s golf and like when you’re playing in conditions like that that’s just kind of how it goes sometimes like the wind’s not going to do exactly what you want it to do or um yeah you get funny bounces whatever But that’s I I like that kind of golf because one you have to be a good chipper because you’re not going to hit every green because things are going to go wrong which benefits me And too I pride myself on being pretty patient on the golf course Like I I like tournaments where if I make five or six pars in a row like especially if there’s some good pars like that’s not a bad thing I I don’t like making pars and then just feeling like I’m getting lapped So like certain events that’s definitely a thing And that’s why you’re sitting here talking to us during the middle of the AT Well they did just it’s playing 7600 yards and it’s soaking wet I mean it’s it’ll it’s soft I’m sure guys are going to make birdies but I saw dude I was literally watching like coverage a little bit ago Dudes are having like somebody had 230 into 10 I like sand wedge into that hole like multiple times Well we’ll see what happens this week with Barry Nelson but you definitely had a a welldeserved week off and um it’s always interesting to ask this question because not many players ever have the opportunity to have a putt to win on the PGA Tour and you had that moment at Hilton Head and you in a place that you care a lot about You had so much uh support uh from friends and family honestly feeling like like you’re you’re the home team That had to be a pretty cool feeling You’re standing there on the 72nd hole with a chance to win the golf tournament What is going through your head I’m just generally curious Was it were you able to focus in on on the moment not being too big I knew I hit a good wedge shot in there but you can’t like see the surface of that green because of the way the bunker’s raised up So I thought I had like 15 ft or whatever And I got up there I was like “Oh my god I just did an awesome shot.” I’m like 8 feet from the hole And I was I mean I I was obviously excited but I was kind of like feeling it too Like I was thinking like you start to feel like legs like legs I knew like I knew like this is the biggest putt of your life Like you know hit a good one I’d been putting good all week and I you know I went through my process I didn’t want to like change up my process Like I I think I saw like one or two people talk about like why’d he putt it so quick Like that’s how I play I I do everything quick like Mhm Uh I I didn’t want to like leave my process of what I was doing I read it you know from the side read it from behind Had what I thought was a pretty good read on it Um maybe in the moment being excited hit it a little hard for the line I picked but I don’t think it mattered I think I had already misread it enough it wasn’t going to go in Um I think that green like looking back I think that green sits way more exposed than anywhere else on that golf course I think it was more baked out I think there was less grass on that green than maybe all of the other greens So I I think I could take it as much Yeah I think I overplayed the grain a little bit and the wind was holding it up from that side So um on coverage like looking back at it it I mean it didn’t really have a chance It wasn’t very close to the hole Um I in the mo I it wasn’t a bad putt It was I do think like kind of when I hit it I I kind of realized I hit it a little hard I was trying to like be aggressive with it and maybe should maybe should have gone a little lower line because of that but can’t leave it short Yeah Well yeah Um were you when uh when he got in the playoff with JT of course uh the guy’s got a lot of experience in winning PJ tournaments but you also know that it’s he was had a lot to play for too So I’m sure heading into that playoff uh you knew that he probably was nervous you’re nervous but you still get up there you you have an opportunity to make a birdie and then you have to sit there and kind of watch JT hit his putt Uh you know a lot of times in match play or just when you’re playing a round of golf and you’re playing against a guy and you just have that that feeling that there’s there’s no way he’s going to miss this Did you have that feeling at all Yeah I I really um you know I I had my birdie putt and when I was over my birdie putt and looking at my birdie putt I wasn’t really like thinking like oh I have to make this I was trying to hit a good putt but I was really like I was locked in on my on my read cuz I just misread the other putt and so I’m trying to like figure out you know 20 minutes ago I just whiffed on a read pretty bad to this hole and now I’m putting on like a somewhat similar line Like I need to lock in on what I’m doing here right And I kind of maybe got a little caught up in the line Didn’t quite give it enough Although I misread it again It was definitely going to miss low Uh it it broke more that time but um kind of after I marked my ball I walked back I had like 3 ft for par So I was kind of like thinking about that And then I looked over and like JT I could see him walking into the putt and I just kind of got this feeling oh man he’s he’s going to make this Like at what point when that ball was rolling did you know that it um It was uh it just had like that perfect speed that perfect roll on it It was about halfway there and I was kind of like I think that’s in And then it just never did anything to make me think otherwise And then I watched the uh I guess they had like the worm cam from behind on the I mean it went right in the middle I mean it it would not go anywhere else It was truly a perfect butt Um you know that’s tough golf Dude just beat me with a birdie like Yeah totally tough But so heading heading into the Zurich uh we do one and done picks every single week And uh luckily for me I I said “You know what This week I’m going to take Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak I I don’t care if Novak is worn out from last week I I feel like these guys are motivated They’re going to go out there They’re going to win this week.” And of course uh you guys made me look smart So I really appreciate you uh as a as a man who likes to be right sometimes when it comes to who’s going to win a golf tournament So uh big congratulations to you guys and uh with the Zurich Classic So both of you two had not won yet on the PJ tour I’d watched both of you in final groups have opportunities uh be you know very very close Yeah I I thought it was such a great dynamic because you two both kind of just pulled each other to the finish line whether it was you on Sunday being a little bit off and Ben kind of having his moments and then earlier in the week watching you just like play some incredible golf making so many birdies Um what was Sunday like for you I imagine you probably at that point in the tournament were you out of juice at all I mean it’s been a long run for you with being in contention Um I I honestly I felt pretty good Uh I think of any week last week was probably the easiest for it because you one you have a partner to like kind of pick you up but it’s also like two alternate shot days You’re only hitting like 30 something shots on those days So it it’s not so bad Now I think about it that’s that’s kind of nice It’s not so bad as far as that I think I was just a little off on Sunday Um you know I’m not Sunday like Friday and Sunday I not playing my own golf ball I was playing Ben’s ball and so you know little little off on the chips with that The irons like I I wasn’t quite swinging it great Like I wasn’t like it’s not easy I mean it’s I hit I hit I hit a couple like actually like poor golf shots but for the most part I thought a like Sunday a lot of my shots were just like C golf shots like very average never really hit anything close Um not like bad not necessarily leaving Ben in like terrible spots but just not quite You left him in a great spot on 17 That ball was in the air where you were like uhoh So okay See the one thing about 17 I had like a ton of people like text me like “Oh my god like I thought you were in the water for sure on like I thought.” And I’m like I’m I’m like looking back and I’m like I that was a good golf shot Like I landed 6 feet from the hole Like it just landed There’s like one like brown downs slope slot it landed on Just took off when it hit But I mean it was like it was a golf shot And so then I finally especially after watching one go in the water right before you And so then like this was like two days after I actually got around to watching the highlights The shot tracer on 17 like wigged out Oh it didn’t start that far right It it like it like goes and then stops and then like it and I it I’m like okay I kind of understand why people were freaking out now because this thing is not It like had my ball starting like almost close to the hole and then showed like a draw but I started it I I gave it plenty of space Like it it never like water wasn’t ever in my mind until it took that huge bounce off the down slope and then I was like sit But even still like that green slopes like in the fringe slopes away from the water pretty heavily I just wanted to sit down I didn’t think that that club I hit the club that I hit to land in the middle of the green and then work back there I didn’t expect it to fly all the way back to the hole but that’s probably just a little bit of adrenaline in the moment But like I I kind of liked the shot Uh we were you know I didn’t really change what I was doing based on them hitting in the water cuz we still had the hoy guards in front of us They drive at like 400 yards like they might have had nine iron and 18 for all I know Um well relief I don’t that’s a whole another story that after but um yeah you know I was still trying to stay aggressive That was something Ben had like talked about all week like like let’s go get it like and so yeah but I I didn’t realize why people were freaking out as much until I saw the shot tracer that definitely did look like it was kind of scary Y’all were playing with Jake Knap and Frankie Sappin and they could they didn’t really make it easy on y’all On 17 they hook it in the water and then on 18 Jake Knap has this wedge shot He lays side on it hits it in the bunker And so you’re a sitting duck over there watching Ben Griffin hit a what is it a 50 60 yard wed lay don’t bone it Just get it on the green It was probably 35 maybe probably a 35 yard pitch but he is going up and over that bunker but it was right I mean it was right where we wanted to leave it like that was the spot to be give him all the green and right when Jake did that I looked at my I was kind like man that’s like the last you kind of wanted Ben to see there like cuz I knew when Jake was hitting the shot I knew I was like okay if he makes this we’re tied up we can still get up and down and win because like you know like I’m thinking thinking about the leaderboard and so I’m like you know kind of like no way this goes in right And then he did that I was like oh no that might be worse Like no Ben’s got to see that But it’s like I mean I had full faith in Ben I mean he’s got you know one of the best short games in the world Um I do he was kind of laughing about it after He definitely played it like uh I think we were joking about like you can’t chunk it if you don’t touch the ground Like I he kind of he thought that one a little skinny I think But Oh he did Okay It was It was fine You know that shot that uh that same hole location kids chipped it in like in the dark with Scott Brown It was going in the water Yeah I I had no idea like that him and Scott Brown could not chip that week We had kids are on the podcast and he’s telling us us the story that Duffner’s playing with them earlier in that week and Duff uh had watched these two guys They’re literally like putting it from 30 yards away And then on uh one of the holes out there on uh that day they get a golf ball that gets like behind one of those little small bunkers to like a short-sided pin and Duff looks over at kids say “What are y’all going to do now?” And then of course on 18 in the playoff or whatever it was kids like bones one hits the pin it goes in It’s just like the most now it tells the whole story of okay chipping at at uh at that place is not necessarily easy So yeah the shot that Ben hit is is underrated in that in that circumstance Yeah we had uh we had our fair share of good chips though last week We had four chipins as a team We were we were getting after it a bit Although three of those were on Thursday when for whatever reason they let us go lift clean and place And that was that was a silly decision but that’s neither here nor there Yeah Well I I actually was thinking about this the other day because I’d mentioned earlier that you and I had played together earlier in your career and this was coming back out of co I don’t think you had status yet Uh this would have been 2021 We’re playing an event at Cornferry You were on cornfairy Yeah I was I was cornfair I had just won on Cornferry like right before co Gotcha Well you were playing good golf and uh my agent at the time Jimmy Johnson who of course uh you work with he was like “Hey man you need to go play Like I’m working back through things What’s I’m going to pair you up with Andrew Novak.” I’m like “Great.” So come down to Sea Island And we of course play You carry me I try to just survive in advance I I told Charlie uh when we were talking about this on Monday I was like “I’m surprised I didn’t ruin his career those two days He saw some things he shouldn’t have seen as a young Tour pro.” But what came to my mind was I am 99% sure and correct me if I’m wrong that Ben cattied for you during that deal I I am I know that Ben cattied He cattied out at Sea Island in an event I played in and I was like “What other event would I have played at where we played the plantation course?” Because I vividly remember talking to him walking down fairways especially number one But we we played seaside both days though Dude he cattied He might have I think Ben catti for you He He really might have but we definitely played C-side We We definitely Maybe it was number one at C-side that I’m thinking we’re walking down Anyways what other event would Ben Griffin be I actually think you might be right I’ll have to ask him on that Now that you say that I hadn’t even thought of that but cuz I don’t think he was back playing quite yet cuz he had I I think he was like in that process around that time of of his way back We played golf every day of co like every day Yeah like we were out there just would that have been around the same time where that he had gotten the funding to go back and play I don’t remember the exact timeline but it had to be because I got my card that year like Well no I got my card the next year 22 Yeah And he got out on cornfairy and then got his card the next year I think I think he cared for us So I I think you might be right Yeah Anyways I just saw it like uh and it hit me when you guys were on Sunday I was thinking I was like I know these guys are friends I know they play a lot together But then it hit me I was like he cattied for Andrew in our event at Sea Island And this is uh just another part of Ben Griffin’s story right Like going from winning on the PGA tour now to uh having to watch me play golf uh and caddy for you at the co event in Seattle We played all right Actually we hung in there in the in the team thing I mean you you made some birdies Oh I’ll give you some birdies Yeah you gave me some birdies I’ll give you some birdies Uh I just was on my own about half the time which is fine It’s fine And good for you like for being Yeah I I’ll give you some birdies I tell Charlie that’s my my mo now is I’ll give you five to seven birdies around but I’ll give you I’ll give you about five to seven X’s on on a day or two So hey it’s fun I have fun with it Um another reason why the Zurich Classic you may have been more relaxed and you could take your mind off of things is that it’s NFL draft week I’m sure that constantly the entire week all you’re thinking about is uh what’s going to happen on this Thursday first round and then Friday you’re thinking about the who’s going in the two three and the whole week was about the Shidor Sanders show But when I listen to your podcast a screen screenplay podcast as you can see visibly on the hat that you’re wearing if you’re watching on YouTube uh dude you’re you’re like a legit analyst man Like when I was listening I could not believe how much ball you knew about all of these different prospects How much how much tape have you watched Like do you go and like legitimately find like YouTube videos of all these players Yeah I watch a bit of tape I just watch a lot of football in the fall Like if it’s Thursday like there’s football on I’ll watch it Are you taking notes You just taking mental notes No not not really I um This is something Maddie can come I just don’t forget stuff really Yeah Like kind of why I didn’t have to study in school Like if a teacher said it once I was probably going to remember it Like if I watch somebody play like I just I don’t know I remember it with kids Um I love watching football I’ll watch most any teams play I like I liked watching some of the smaller teams play this year I think I thought a lot of a lot of like the more dynamic players in college football this past year were actually at like smaller schools Um I think I touched on a few of them in the draft but like Jaylen Royals out of out of Utah State Uh Tory Horton out of Colorado State he was super fun to watch this year Ricky White Um he ended up going seventh round Uh I think it was out of UNLV Like they were just fast fun to watch players that that I got to see a bit of this year when they were on TV We’re taking another quick break from Smiley’s conversation with Andrew Novak to talk to you about Magic Mind This is something that Smiley has used for a while and loved He’s got me on the program I’ve got the the mental performance shots We’ve got the sleep performance shots We’ve now got the mental performance gummies and Smiley I felt like this was a very appropriate cut in here because a lot of the conversation you had with Andrew Novak was about the mental leap that he’s made this year and and just the things he’s had to do and change and and uh you know elevating himself to this level of golf that he always had in him in terms of talent but just the the improvements he’s made and also the goals he has to make national teams be on the RDER Cup teams things like that I thought it was just an interesting conversation when it comes to the mental side of the game 100% And focus is so key out there especially with really long days He’s a very very fast player And I think that’s something that it takes a while for young guys to get accustomed to to learn to play at the pace that you have to play at that day Uh clearly plays well and he’s played in some tsums and uh you know clearly has kind of figured out a way in which he can zone in and uh play Andrew Novak golf I I I love that because you know a great way to wake up and feel like you’re playing at Tusome’s pace but also not rushing it too much is with the Magic Mind mental performance shot Uh it’s it’s a nice calm sort of energy a nice sort of calm focus Supplement that with a little bit of these mental performance gummies later in the day to kind of keep that focus going but not feeling jittery Man I need that Oh it’s it’s killer And then you end the day with a little sleep performance shot and get your rest and start over and do it all over again the next day got one of those in about 20 minutes coming I I unfortunately have to stay up a little later but I assure you that is going to be the last thing I do before I go to bed tonight So uh you got to check them out Magic Mind Smile and I both legitimately love using this product Use it for for on the golf course anything you name it Just great to kind of keep the mind sharp Uh so check them out at magicmind.com and let’s get you right back to Smiley’s Conversation with Andrew Novak How did you think your Panthers did because I was uh I I follow a lot of uh I love watching like all of Todd McShet’s clips Uh like I it pops up on my TikTok and heading into the draft he was not high on the uh wide receiver you guys got out of Arizona His grade was like 50 Uh do you think that was a good fit or and pick for the Panthers Because I was watching a video that you said the Panthers really can’t screw up this pick Yeah I I think there were a lot of options they could have gone and the board fell about how I thought it would I mean on our podcast in the box draft I went seven for seven in the first seven picks So like I knew exactly who was going to be available for the Panthers slot The Panthers was kind of the slot I didn’t really know you know that’s my team and I had no idea which way they were going to go with it I thought there was good options everywhere and they went one way A lot of the ways that people rate the Panthers draft comes down to where people have team rated I think he was probably one of the more like polarizing players Like some people are like “Oh he’s the number one wide receiver by far he’s you know a top 10 player and then some people didn’t really like him as a prospect I think the Panthers drafted very heavily to our needs Um and Dan Morgan was needs uh we needed edge rusher we needed really all defense and then specifically like uh a weapon for for Bryce Young So we needed a wide receiver That was probably about all we needed on offense I saw we grabbed a running back as well I’m guessing that speaks a lot more towards how Jonathan Brooks’s knee is looking which is super unfortunate because obviously we used a second rounder there last year Um but anyway we grabbed the wide receiver and then we grabbed a bunch of defense I’m a little surprised we didn’t address like offball linebacker but uh two good pass rushers Um we grabbed the safety which we definitely needed Uh I think for the most part we drafted specifically to our needs and then it’s just it’s going to come down to whether these guys end up producing whether they’re actual good football players What how would you say this draft was Uh meaning is like it just didn’t felt like it had just the high echelon like first round dudes like we typically see Like there was so many players that I was like really that’s a first round guy huh Like in years past I would have said they would have been slipping a lot more Was this was this class like much deeper with like more talent on the back end I think I think a lot of it is like it’s like a two-part problem So one like in general a lot of like analysts had this as a little bit weaker draft class but also I think that the way the broadcast went down kind of undermined the quality of some of the pro uh prospects Like Cam Ward goes one unbelievable player unbelievable college career You have Travis Hunter this absolute unicorn of a player like doing stuff we’ve never seen before Do you like the trade uh Jags Did they give I mean the Jags will sell more jerseys I don’t think they’re necessarily going to win a ton of football games but they’ll sell more jerseys so that’s cool Uh Abdul Carter unbelievable talent and pass rusher There were there are good players but if you look at the entire coverage of the draft of the first round half of it is talking about Shador Sanders who went in the fifth round Now why have we spent the entire first round talking about a guy who’s gone in the fifth round Like that’s just undermining like what we’re seeing all of these other guys doing Like these are good players that are going but they’re not talking about the good players that are going They’re talking about this guy who’s just Did it surp Did it surprise you at all Uh like when you I’m sure you followed everything with the draft Did Yeah Did you see a world in which that he dropped to the fifth I had in our mock I had him going first round but I thought that’s just because a team was going to take him I didn’t think he was that level of a player I thought he was more like maybe a day two player Like I thought like where the Saints took Tyler Shuck I I think that would have been like about where I would have thought Shadur maybe would have gone I thought that was maybe the level of his tape But look if his interviews were as bad as some people have said they were and you don’t want to deal with the drama and like all everything that’s going to bring I’m not surprised that teams just flat out took him off their board Like it’s not like like in my opinion it’s not like it’s a mi a can’t miss player Like I I feel like it’s very replaceable like you can get a backup quarterback that can basically do what he does and that’s be reasonably accurate and reasonably on time Like there are backup quarterbacks that do that They don’t really have like elite traits but they they can just function in the offense Um I think I think he would have done like well in like a Miami I I think um that kind of offense would have fit him a lot of like screen passes a lot of just being you know like boom boom boom going here with the ball sort of thing But uh obviously ends up in Cleveland Fine whatever Um what’ you think about them taking two QBs Tilly Gabriel and Sanders that they only have five quarterbacks Like what are we doing here Right My co-host on the podcast said it literally felt like the Cleveland Browns had five different people drafting and it was like “Okay you get this pick you get this pick you get and like by the end of the draft it’s all like how has this been like what this turned into?” Like it’s like there’s no like logic behind any of it Um the running backs I do kind of get because they are very different Well I don’t even want to say very different Like Samson’s like pretty physical guy but yeah they are different style Like I think Judkins a little bit bigger Samson’s like a little bit more of a speed guy which is fine Um you know they’re not gonna have Chub anymore Jerome Ford I think is a good player but maybe if he lost a few pounds picked up some of that speed that he showed initially maybe would be more helpful to have Judkins be more of the bruiser But I I think the Browns are definitely still a few years away from from being good I hope my caddy’s not listening What What was your favorite pick in this NFL draft my favorite pick Your favorite pick So you you you’re sitting here watching and you’re like man that is the best value That’s the best fit uh for a team It could be in any round The one that that you were just like man they absolutely never first round I hate I hate this because you know being a Panthers fan in the first round I I really think the Falcons killed it Um their pass rush was so unbelievably bad last year Pierce is that who they got Well yeah but even before that Jaylen Walker somehow made it all the way to 15 and that’s like the exact kind of player I think they needed Like I don’t think a lot of people were expecting him to make it to 15 And so the Falcons getting exactly what they needed there was was ideal And then of course they did loop back and and trade up for Pierce which I thought that was a little bit interesting because you just grabbed the pass rusher Now you have two which is great but I don’t know how much like Pierce is going to offer you first and second down and you just gave up your first round pick and I’m not convinced that the Falcons aren’t just going to go like five and 12 anyway this year So you might have just like given up a top 10 pick next year That seems a little bit questionable Um but yeah that that Jaylen Walker pick was was really really good I’d have to I’d have to look There’s probably a second or third rounder that that made it somewhere that that I think Yeah Well we can think about it for a bit We can we can uh we can stay here on theme with the NFL draft but I want you to help me create the perfect prospect as a golfer So I want you to think about all the different tools when you could talk about driving the golf ball ironing it putting chipping uh even fashion or mental game create the perfect NFL draft prospect for a PGA Tour player So starting with driving and work your way down Yeah Um I mean it has to be Rory right Like the way he drives I think that’s where I’m going Yeah it’s got to be Rory Uh it’s it’s stupid what he does off the tea Um so we’re going Rory driving Rory driving I don’t see any reason not just take Scotty’s Iron Game that anybody else that’s kind of close that you’re considering other than Scotty I’m with you typically iron game like if you want to go underrated like let’s throw Tom Hogy in there uh his approach game is is kind of nuts um yeah Colin Colin All right so scrambling uh me Love it Yeah love it We’re We’re in a creative player mode and we got Andrew Novak now in the creative player uh here in this virtual world All right What about putter Danny Yeah Denny Is that probably the way to go right I think I’m Denny Yeah Um Okay What about fashion Now we’re Now we’re dressing our player Not Keith So you’re going Victor I don’t know Adidas makes some nice stuff It looks a little better on Levig but I’d say he’s got to go you got to go corporate on us here Oh man You know nobody gets too crazy with the fashion besides Keith which makes it tough because you can’t like single out like any one guy I mean man I I can’t We’re not doing a visor Like we can’t do Keith We’re not We’re not doing that I’m fine doing a bucket hat We can do the Joel Damon bucket but like we’re not doing We got Now we got We got We got got Joel Damon bucket hat going over the fashion All right One mental game that you think a guy’s uh overall mental game is is is probably the best I can’t use Joel again for that Uhhuh Strongest mental game It’s kind of hard because you can’t look inside somebody’s brain but you can always observe what your perception is Um if we’re trying to make this just like feel like an unbeatable force like we all throw Peter Malnati and just people crazy because just the amount of positivity like I’m losing to this guy by six shots right now like and he is being entirely too nice about it Yeah Okay All right We got the creative I I think you’re right I think like a like a Xander or maybe like a Patrick Canlay like Yeah very like when I watch them play they just seem very very focused in on what they’re doing Yes Um very like one shot at a time Actually it looks like it’s one shot at a time Yeah Yeah Very structured like they know exactly what they want to do what they’re trying to do in the moment Yeah Um it feels very like not like robot like scientific like it’s like we’re doing this and then we’re doing this and and they’ve got it down And you’re now exempt into the majors because you’re inside the top 50 in the world You’re 33rd in the Owgr You’re ninth in the Ryder Cup points list And heading into the year we already talked about it You’re 82nd um in the FedEx Cup weren’t in the signature events weren’t in the majors You’ve played one major in your career and you’re sitting here now and you have all the opportunities in front of you How excited are you now to be able to not only pick your schedule but prepare for the biggest events in the world knowing that you’re a player that plays really well on hard golf courses Yeah this is this is what I wanted to do Um I had some kind of bigger goals this year I felt it was about time like I kind of took the next step Um are you a guy like do you set goals like are you somebody heading into the year like are you writing down or you just have Yeah I I think this year I’ve been a little more like bigger goals and trying to like tell myself they are achievable Mhm Um obviously like a win knocks one of those off but like I have like bigger bigger aspirations for this year Like that was big but that’s not the end of it Like that’s a step towards what I’m trying to get to I mean uh you talked about the Ryder Cup but Beth Paige has been announced for a while And when that was announced I kind of had that circled like I wanted a lot of what I’ve done is to kind of make a run this year to see what I can do because that like with the New York fans there I truly think it’s going to be like one of the most unbelievable atmospheres one of the most unbelievable RDER Cups um that that we’ll see So it’s been a good start but I know like I I don’t have much of a background of like like a resume to like point back to So I feel like personally I’m going to have to like really show that I belong Like I can’t just be a fringe guy Like I can’t just kind of sleepwalk through the rest of the year and expect to get picked Like that’s not that’s not going to work Like Keegan wants to win and if he’s going to pick me I’ve got to like prove to him that I should be on the team Uh because you can’t just go off like “Okay this guy had one hot month in like April.” Like yeah that’s not the the Rder Cup’s in September Like you can’t just go off one hot month and and assume that that’s that’s enough I’ve got to you know like you said I’ve only played one major I have three majors coming up I’m I’m expecting I’m going to have to show like some good progress some some good golf in in those because the Ryder Cup’s about as pressure packed as it gets Master or sorry not the M the majors are about as close as we can get to that I would assume like as far as like simulating that kind of level of pressure Yeah And so I’m going to have to show that that I can handle that Um I think it’ll be good for me to handle that like in case I am on this team in Beth Page like I’m going to have to have some high pressure moments to look back on Um to to be comfortable to to perform Um of course I think having a home crowd will be a huge advantage Um I think that will help immensely But um no I’m excited like this is this is the start I was hoping for and it’s it’s just you know what can I what can I use that to lead to Like can I keep it going Um I mean that’s that’s my goal That’s my plans It’s golf Like of course never know exactly what’s going to happen but I I feel good I’m excited to play some of these courses we have lined up here in the future It’s it’s going to be a little interesting It’s a lot of golf courses I actually haven’t played some of these right Uh it’s going to be you know my caddy’s going to be working overtime I’m going be working overtime It literally like Heritage like on Thursday we’re playing the first round and we’re like sit there scribbling notes in our book for like Saturday and Sunday Like literally learning on the fly Um but I feel like we’ve been doing an unbelievable job like communicating that and um yeah it’s Hey at least you’re going to uh a PGA championship that Quill Hollow is a place you’re you’re familiar with Never played there Really Never played there A Carolina Panthers guy Never played there I I just when I think of you I think of Charlotte I I just think you were an hour from Quail in college Never went Not familiar I stand corrected Andrew Novak Never been on property Never had one of those famous Is it the churros that they have in the in the locker room I didn’t even know they did churros I I think it might be It’s donuts It’s some form of uh uh fried bread situation with some glazing and never been there Wouldn’t know Okay Well you’re gonna have to give a full review now because they’re terrific Uh gosh here here I am just putting putting words in your mouth Uh no I have I have not played Philly Cricket I have not played quail I have I have played Oakmont once but not in not in US Open conditions at all Well it always is like US Open conditions in Oakmont I played it the one time it was not because I got out there with my caddy and it was like a week after they had the USAM So they’re actually like protecting the golf course a little bit because it was recovering from that So uh the rough wasn’t quite up The greens weren’t quite as fast Like I’m very excited to see see how that is I have not played uh Murfield Village either So um there’s going to be a lot of learning for me in this this next upcoming stretch Are you a guy on Monday Tuesday Wednesday uh who takes it light though Andrew Are you somebody that uh like so not a ton of practice maybe more like week Definitely practice I in an ideal week I spend as little time on the actual golf course as almost anybody in the field I am like I very much love playing nine on Tuesday and then my nine in the proam on Wednesday and that and I’m good But I’m also like I said I my memory the way it works like I can see it once and I pretty much got it So um obviously playing it a few times like I just add on to that but I don’t want to spend a ton of time out there on the course just playing playing Like I’ll get my work done on the range on the putting green and and see it and go from there Well look forward to watching you man It’s been a great start to your uh your season obviously sixth uh in the FedEx Cup race I’m sure the Tour Championship of course is on your mind too making it to East Lake for the first time And uh you also made a lot of money too We made $5 half million dollars this year So that’s not too bad either So uh next dinner on you uh Andrew next time we see each other but uh going to be cheering you on man Love of course love your family Um and look forward to see you next week So I appreciate you coming on And of course if you’re watching or listening hey if you’re an NFL person go subscribe and like uh the Screenplay Podcast This guy gives the goods when it comes to the NFL and of course giving the goods on the golf course So Andrew we appreciate you coming on man And uh best of luck to you Yeah appreciate it Thanks man Well Smiley loved being a fly on the wall for that conversation with Andrew Novak Ton of fun stuff in there including some some football analysis that I you know you just never know These guys have a secondary passion How seriously do they take it and he takes it very seriously and that was evidenced by his big board the way he called some of those picks So a lot of fun Um a and Andrew by virtue of that win his play of the season is of course in the field this upcoming week at the truest championship being hosted at Philadelphia Qriket Club Uh and Smiley to to tee up a little bit of talk about the historical significance of this course and its designer Uh we’re going to talk about a company that I promise you if I ever got an invitation to Philly Qriket Club and I need to get there in short notice I would be using shipsticks to get my clubs up there as soon as possible Uh they got a lot of great benefits and a lot of reasons why uh it it makes getting your clubs there uh the the the fastest and easiest and most convenient way possible They have white glove service complimentary insurance real-time tracking door-to-door service international shipping But for for me personally where I’m at in life uh and we’ve talked about this before on the show is that it’s it’s the traveling with family the managing the kids the strollers the extra luggage not having to lug the travel case for for the clubs and just sending that off and knowing that when I show up to the club I’m playing the clubs are going to be there in perfect condition That’s probably the best part about shift sticks Yeah of course That’s definitely the uh what you’re looking for when it comes to your your clubs which hey nobody wants to play with a rental set Even though every now and then you might find something in one of those rental clubs you don’t that doesn’t need to be something that needs to be a mainstay But actually you know Hoopy one of my friends who was on the trip with us uh he was he was saying that “Yep just drop my clubs off We’re ship stickicking them home.” I was like “Really?” He’s like “Yeah I do this every time.” Like good man I’ve used this before It’s great Uh Shipsticks gets you from your front door to Fort easier than ever They’ll pick up your golf clubs from your home or office and deliver them on time guaranteed to your golf destination anywhere in and outside the US No more airport headaches no more lugging heavy bags just easy stress-free travel for golfers like you Enjoy 20% off your next shipment by using promo code Smiley So Smiley that sets up our conversation here about Philadelphia Cricut Club And this this course was designed well there are numerous courses here on site but the course that will be played for the truest championship was designed by AW Tillingast He is one of these Philadelphia school of architects responsible for many of America’s golden era of architecture these gyms in the early 20th century especially in that Philadelphia area Uh some of his more notable works are both of the Wingfoot courses both the Balta Straw courses San Francisco Golf Club Beth Paige Black Somerset Hills He he did a ton of courses but that’s probably at the top his resume Philly Cricket right there with them Uh it’s interesting Philly Cricket hosted two US Opens in 1907 and 1910 but both were prior to the opening of Tilling Design in 1922 They were played on the St Martins’s course So that Wistah Hicken design opens in 1922 and most recently it’s hosted the 2024 US amateur fourball Uh so Smiley we’re both very much excited to see this Tilling gym in action You’re going to be there working uh for for Golf Channel this week before the coverage switches over to CBS Uh so you’ve done a little bit of research on the course tell give us a little bit of flavor of what this course is going to feel like what to expect you know what type of player can reward as we head into the truest championship Well you know we’ve had that conversation about PJ Tour venues and and how we can uh play venues that challenge the best players in the world uh from an architectural standpoint Uh also what can interest the fan and also a reason why people love Augusta National and the Masters It’s that you get to see it once a year and it’s so so private that it’s hard to get on Well this is another one of those places that is an incredible venue rated very highly and I think many people would love to see uh week in and week out It’s not necessarily a bomb and gouge It’s it’s it’s so welldesigned I’ve gone through the hole by hole and just really excited for the week Uh it’s a I think it’ll be a different challenge for the players It’s a par 70 only two par fives But I think the question that uh hasn’t been answered yet and I’m not sure how many events they’ve had especially professional events the best players in the world coming to their golf course is is it going to be long enough to test them And based on my research and what I’ve seen is I’m looking at all these holes and and all these flyovers and I see like this one bunker at the corner I’m like is Rory going to be able to hit over that Uh or is he not But when I look at just the length of these par4s we’re talking about I guess it’d be 12 par4s and and the overall length I think most of these holes uh depending on the weather right if it’s if if they get a bunch of rain or something or if it’s uh cool I I still expect that from what I’ve heard that the golf course is firm that it’s going to be uh probably a lot of wedges Uh and and there’s it’s a big golf course meaning it’s not just like in these neighborhoods There’s plenty of room and space off the tea This guy loves loves that when I saw that So you could find your golf ball anywhere Uh but the fairways depending how firm they are are going to be uh maybe a little challenging to hit as far as the space mainly because the bunkers are so well organized on this golf course You know it’s interesting when you think about some of these these classic these sort of gyms we’ve seen you know where where we’ve seen pro events be held whether they’re majors or regular events Uh I’m think I think about these maybe not an exhaustive list but thinking about Marian or or LACC where where they’re they’re landlocked to a certain degree like they were built in again early 20th century and things were built around them and as a result of that you don’t have a ton of additional space to expand into as the modern era progresses and and guys get longer and longer and so as a result of that the concern always remains the same is will this course be long enough and I think where you end up at a lot of these places is the green complexes can be the defense unless they’re in a place where there’s there’s wind and there’s weather and there things like that that kind of keep scoring down But you know a lot of places if if they run the greens firm and fast they’ve got all sorts of undulations that’s the defense And then the downside to that is if you get a little bit of weather and it’s soft then that strips away the one thing they have to keep scoring down And we saw that a little bit at LACC in that first round was a little bit overcast They they got a little bit of rain earlier in the week and you know the guys kind of had had it for the taking So I I that is my fear at Philly cricket is like seeing a course like that that could present very interesting not be firm enough for whatever reason to present a test and then people go away you know they want to go away from it in years you know future because that’s deemed to be not hard enough for the PGA tour when in reality it’s kind of at the mercy of the weather Uh it’s a sh I mean it’s just that’s the old equipment argument right And and the modern player it’s it’s so hard to test these guys You need these perfect type of conditions Uh and it needs to be swirling winds right You need it firm You need the greens to be you know borderline to where it’s you know a downhill putt You’re worried about three putting So you need all of these factors And then of course you’ll throw in some rough and and then some you know good course design And that’s where you where you find guys struggling and and and then also keeping the the score from being you know not a 20 plus under week But being a par 70 if it got up to 20 under par that’s uh that means these guys really really blew this place up Yeah Now what do you think Have you heard anything in terms of like where the rough’s going to be this week Because of course if you’re looking at the title on this resume I just heard it’s firm I’ all I’ve heard uh is that that it’s been firm I’ve looked up the forecast They’re expecting a little bit of rain like Monday Tuesday I think Wednesday looks good Thursday Friday looks to have a little bit of rain and then really nice on the weekend Yeah cuz I mean you look at a list that has Beth Paige Black on it and say “Oo you may maybe there’s room there to grow the rough up rough up and present a little test there but there’s room to hit it.” And I was just in the Lehigh Valley area a couple weeks ago to see family and and it’s kind of starting to get nice They’ve had about a month of greening up since the beginning of April So the hope is that that’s been enough time to really kind of get in primo condition but I’m I’m excited to see it on TV as I am for any one of these kind of golden age courses And let’s just hope we we get a good forecast and it presents a challenging test Yeah I think so And uh I think it I think the most interesting about this this tournament is will the Bombers be at an advantage or will the course be just short enough to where brings guys back into play where Rory getting to inside of a 100 yards maybe isn’t like the craziest like advantage in the world because other players are also that aren’t quite as long still have you know just short irons into the green That would be the one thing that I would say I’m looking most forward to figuring out is are they all playing to similar spots Because if they are they’re all hitting short irons and wedges into the greens then it comes down to oh shoot um I’m kind of looking to short iron players and good putters this week because maybe Rory’s strengths of being now now this could change right Maybe he’s one of the few guys that that is instead of hitting driver you know four to six times in a round where they’re prioritizing hitting fairways maybe Rory’s hitting it uh close to you know 10 times in the round or 10 or 11 12 times and just said you know what I don’t care where it goes It’s like the Bryson strategy you had at Wingfoot Let’s just hit it as far as we can to get as close as we can to the green or maybe other players on some of these holes situationally with where these fairway bunkers are placed which they I I love golf courses when you stand on the tea and bunkers make fairways look smaller like they’re just hanging out like a cornerback waiting to to to pick off an interception That’s where I think when you stand on these tea boxes especially when I when I do these flyovers it looks like there’s more rooms in these fairways but I guarantee you when you stand on these fairways it’s going to be like perfectly placed where you can’t tell how far it is to that next bunker but that one on the right you’re thinking this fairway looks 10 yard wide You know what’s so funny about that is like the advent of the drone for video production is of course an amazing thing but it really does not tell the story of the golf course cuz we don’t we don’t fly over the course before we play the hole We go stay on the tea box And that’s the thing that I think a lot of these architects around the turn of the century did so well is just disguising bunkers and making you think the place that’s actually trouble is where is the inviting place where you want to hit it And the place that looks up the tea that’s actually the line you want to take taking their space up there Um this course will have a lot of that And then it’s that’s a very I guess it’s not a link style course but that’s a Lynx component I think a lot of Lynx golf courses do a great job of using bunkering and land to make it feel like your your fairways are not as big as what they are Well and I think it’s interesting that you refer to what we just spoke to Chris Como about in his interview talking about Bryce’s strategy at that foot US Open which is a tilling course is that you know he reduced the the simplification of the strategy in terms of bombing it to if the fairways one yard wide and everyone’s hitting in the rough of course the advantage is being further up Now obviously it’s not going to be taken to that level but I think if you’re looking at course setup that if the fairways are wider I think that does favor shorter players you can bring back into the equation Because if you’re pushing the ball up and you’re hitting into the rough and the green complexes are going to be difficult as you expect them to be and you’re taking scrubbing spin off it out of the rough it’s going to be harder to stop There’s no going to be no material advantage being further up when when the guy further back can spin it just as much from the fairway But but you know so setup’s going to matter a lot for sure I think it’s going to be a really interesting leaderboard I think it’s going to have a good mix Uh it’s not going to be just all the I mean it’s a signature event all them I guess were technically the top players I think you’ll have some wild cards in there this week Yeah I I guess the the one thing I’ll say just to in terms of to wrap for my thoughts on it is just that I hope the comments coming out of it from the guys who play it are we enjoyed this test Like this was this was we want to do more of this to encourage finding these venues in the future I know this is a oneoff sort of a sub thing but my hope is that there’s not a situation where some part of the course they don’t like and a couple guys speak disparagingly of it and then we go away from this in the future cuz this stuff really intrigues me My guess is for Philly Cricket to take this on um especially just on a one-year thing they they must have their minds set or you know just sight set mainly on potentially getting a major down the road getting a PGA maybe get a US Open if it goes well Who knows I mean Marian uh isn’t the longest golf course in the world and that was an incredible major championship they hosted there Have another one coming up Yeah we’ll see You know I I’m I’m interested to see it’s uh it’ll be a good limus test to see how it’s going to hold up You know those members are hoping it’s really really hard Uh that’s I think any any member at you want a player to come to your course you want them to think it’s uh it’s pretty challenging So uh I I I hope that it’s really hard for these guys And I think uh everybody else is hoping for the same Well can’t wait to get the report from you when you were boots on the ground there at Philly Qriket Club just taking it all in Uh so we have that to look forward to next And then we are officially into PJ Championship week So we’re excited about getting you prepped for all the action at Quail Hollow Club But Smiley that’s all I got Unless you have any final thoughts for the people on the way out the door No all good man Let’s uh get back to work this week Let’s get back to work this week some good final thoughts We’ll talk to you back here very very soon See you You know I listen to this podcast It’s really cool and all of our fans and subscribers but make sure you like and subscribe It’s cool to see what you guys are doing I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too So please keep it up for all the good people of YouTube Like and subscribe You guys have some good takes so I’m happy to come on and and shoot the