The Wyndham Championship is the final event of the PGA Tour regular season before the playoffs kick off. It is the last opportunity for players to break into the top 100 and secure their PGA Tour card for 2026. We speak with #29 in the standings and PGA Tour winner Ryan Gerard and #91 in the standings PGA Tour player Danny Walker.
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Welcome to the most listened to golf in the world. The Fairways of Life show on air, online, and around the world with the most candid interviews, unforgettable stories, taking you beyond the ropes. Here’s your host, New York Times bestselling author, Matt Adams, as we welcome you into the Fairways of Life Show. Pleasure to have your company from wherever you are joining us around the globe today. So, I think we’re we’re at a point where we can start to ask the question, are we in a modern golden age of golf right now? Think about some of the things that have taken place already. Here we have Scotty Sheffler with the history that he is authoring winning two major championships this year. Second consecutive year that we’ve had a player win two major championships. what we saw from Liy W not only winning the women’s Irish as the world’s number one ranked amateur but then she decides okay after finishing a stroke out of the playoff at the Avon that I’m going to go ahead and turn professional and she wins her professional debut was a co-section event so it’s not only LPGA but it’s also an LE victory and against this backdrop where we have emerging stars, established stars like world number one. Uh when when it comes to Scotty, we also have emerging stars right before our eyes. And and I realize that when it comes to signature events and and the focus on the stars, I’m one who believes that when we had a have a chance to see the game in its purest form, meaning you eat what you kill, you have to make the cut to put yourself in a position, we’ve been able to see some incredible golf from some relatively new names that have established themselves on the PGA Tour. A couple of those names are on the Fairways of Life show tonight. I’m super excited to welcome our first Ryan Gerard coming off a recent victory on the PGA Tour. Yes, it is a breakthrough. He’s won three times in facts amongst the professional ranks including that 2025 Barracuda. Uh he’s won in the Cornferryy Tour. He’s won PGA Tour Canada. 47 PGA Tour starts in all six career top 10s and his 2025 has been crazy good. nine top 25s, four top 10s, including a tie for eighth at the PGA Championship. He was a runner up at the Valero Texas Open 2, plus his first PGA Tour victory, as I mentioned to you, at the Barracuda. That was the event that was opposite the Open at Royal Port Rush. Currently, he’s number 29 in FedEx Cup standings. That’s what I’m referring to. We’re watching someone ascend right before our eyes. He’s reached number 50 in the official World Golf rankings. uh UNCC alum. He turns 26 in only four days. Pleasure to welcome the show, Ryan. How you doing? A prehappy birthday to you a few days out. I’m doing great. Thanks so much for having me. Um loving the loving it so far. What’s What changed? What what was the the flip of the switch for you that that gave you amongst other things? Obviously, the confidence to be able to play at the level that you are right now. I think just a lot of people in my life have been really really positive to me and I’ve played a lot of good golf over the last 5 to 10 years and just tried to get incrementally better and learn from the mistakes and learn from experience and um when I get opportunities to make sure that I kind of slam the door on them. So, uh, it’s been a long time of just kind of, uh, a lot of work, a lot of, uh, a lot of learning, but, um, it’s nice when it all comes full circle. I want to ask you about the PGA Championship this year to do what you did at the PGA Championship, the lead after round one, etc., etc. What was going through you to this point? You just talked about how it’s learning, you learn from it, you carry it forward, but what was it like when it was actually happening? What were your emotions as you were in the in the middle of that fray? I mean, it’s it’s scary. It’s it’s cool. It’s like everything you dream of. um that feeling kind of when you’re in a position that you’ve only ever thought might be possible, like in a dream or when you sit at night and you think about what would be the most cool thing that could possibly happen to you on a golf course. So, I mean, your heart’s beating fast. Um you can’t really feel like your hands very well. your legs are a little shaky. Um just a lot of stuff like that where you know you feel comfortable but uncomfortable at the same time. And I feel like you learn a lot about yourself. Um when you’re uncomfortable in a situation that you want to be in? And what do you default to when you’re uncomfortable in a situation that you otherwise wanted to be in? When you said you have trouble feeling your hands and your legs are shaking, where do you where does your body go? Is that when the endless hours of practice start to kick in and innately your body does what it’s capable of? Yeah, it’s it’s basically all kind of like muscle memory takes over. Um, lots of hours of hitting shots. Um, really like key swing thoughts or just focusing on one or two things to kind of uh reenter, refocus, and get all that energy working. in a positive way instead of a nervous way. And do you have when you talked about swing thoughts, do you have like maybe one or two go-to swing thoughts or does it change based upon the game that you bring to the course that day or week? I basically have one and it’s um it’s starting my left shoulder turning around my spine and I kind of like narrow that down a little bit to maybe being more like start your shoulder. Um because there’s only really a small amount of time right before slash during the golf swing that you can kind of think about anything. And um that’s kind of what I’ve narrowed down to recently and it’s it’s been working. Um but you don’t you can’t think about 10 different things and expect to hit a good golf shot. Um you’re just going to be overwhelmed. So incredible. Do you work with anybody from a sports psychology standpoint? Yeah, I do. I have a really great sports psychologist. Uh her name’s Haley Hughes. Um when I was at UNCC, she was working kind of with the athletic department there. uh helping some of the athletes and um once I left school and she ended up starting her own practice. So, I’ve been lucky enough that been working with her for about uh six years or so and just really helps kind of like understand cuz she she played college hockey so she she gets the competitive aspect but she really helps me understand when I’m in a position that I feel uncomfortable in or um when I’m in a position where I’m not sure what’s going on uh that I really just need to trust myself and control what I can control. There’s a lot of variables in golf that are beyond the control of the person swinging the club. Like as soon as the ball leaves club face, it’s it’s everything’s up to whatever could possibly happen. So, uh to just be okay with the result, focus on the process, and just try and do the best that I can do at every given moment. And um when I do that, I can’t really get mad. I can’t really uh be upset about the result. Obviously, the results the only thing that matters, but if you control your process and you do everything possibly that you can do, I mean, that’s that’s as much as you can ask for, right? What what comes first at least for you? Uh confidence or or is it execution? Do you understand what I’m saying? is all of a sudden you start hitting some really good shots at edges, everything’s working here and your confidence builds on it or did you have the confidence coming in just in light of this conversation of understanding the process and being where your feet are? Which direction did it work for you? Uh it’s it’s got to be uh confidence first. I mean you can build confidence in practice. You can build confidence in practice rounds, money games, chipping contests, whatever it might be. But if you don’t feel like you’re going to step up and execute that shot in a tournament, you you don’t really have a chance to execute it. So, you got to be able to just kind of push all the negative thoughts to the side. um really lock in on what you can do and just sit there and um block everything else out and just focus on hitting one good shot at a time and just understanding that the most important swing that you’re going to make is the one the one that you’re about to. Is it true that you learn more in what you fail to accomplish than what you learn when you accomplish your dream? I’d like to think so. Um, maybe that’s just for me, but uh when you win, when you accomplish dreams, like it’s awesome. It’s fantastic. But I don’t really do a whole lot of like reflecting on the great shots that I hit. you kind of can go back and say how cool of a shot that was or how awesome it looked in the air, but when I go and I talk about getting better, when I go and I talk about um learning, it’s it’s always from moments that I fell short or things that I didn’t do that I should have or um just not fully committing to a shot at a key key moment. So, I think you learn a lot from the times that you come just short instead of the time that you fail miserably. You can you can write the ones that are miscuts off just because um you know sometimes you just don’t have it. And you know, a part of getting better, maturing, and growing as a person and a as a player is um kind of raising that floor of your game so that those off weeks become better. But it’s when you feel like you’re playing decent or you feel like you’re playing good and you get in a situation where everything is nervy and you have an opportunity to do something special and you don’t quite get it done. That’s that’s when you can draw a lot of positives from but also go out and really understand that there there is learning in there. There is a there is a kind of like a golden ticket hidden hidden in there that you got to go find. you know, when you think about a victory on the PGA Tour, and I’m assuming I and I’m curious about this, too, uh, that you win on the PGA Tour. In fact, you were the 999th person to win on the PGA Tour. I’m not sure if you if you realize that. So, less than a thousand people all time have accomplished what you’ve accomplished. You will carry that with you forever more. No matter what happens, you’re a winner on the PGA Tour. Did you give yourself the time, the gratitude, the moment to kind of reflect on the significance of what you did? Yes, but it wasn’t until much later. I mean, it didn’t feel real at first. Uh had a couple like ceremonies, interviews, um sponsor things. So, it was it like it was all kind of like right there all at once and it was awesome, but it it didn’t really sink in until um kind of the next morning. Sitting in the hotel room kind of like stuff everywhere, like golf clubs unpacked, suitcase, whatever. got a check out at 11:00 a.m. and just kind of sitting there and it’s like um I worked my entire life to get to the PGA Tour to give myself a chance to win and it was really just a dream to be a winner and the fact that I accomplishment or the fact that I accomplished that and that accomplishment, you know, feels so fulfilling but it also feels so empty. It wasn’t exactly what I expected. It was something that was amazing, but just kind of like eats at you a little bit to get the next one to go out there and um make sure that it’s not the only one that you get. And um I think I find that I hate losing more than I love winning. And I think there’s a lot of people like that kind of in competitive professional sports. Yeah. Um but it it makes you really kind of like cherish that moment of just calmness when you’re kind of sitting there for five 10 minutes just really soaking in kind of how cool of an accomplishment it was. cuz after that um just mentally I I feel like it’s kind of back to it and um I really I really hate losing and I I want to make sure that that’s not the only time that I collect a win on the PJ tour. Awesome stuff. Amazing stuff. When you mentioned when you came back to the room there’s golf clubs everywhere, golf gloves, clothes, blah blah blah. Is that the normal state of your hotel room? Sometimes. Uh yeah, there’s a unmade bed behind me right now in Greensboro. Um I I live out of hotels basically. So I wouldn’t say that I uh I wouldn’t say that I have any sort of system. My clothes kind of just stay in my suitcase and then kind of migrate around the suitcase. There’s like organized chaos around the suitcase. And then at the end of the week when I bring the golf clubs in and um I’m packing everything, it just becomes a little bit chaos. So, uh yeah, it gets that way sometimes. Did you ever misspack? You get to the tournament, all of a sudden you don’t have a shirt for Sunday or you you didn’t have the trousers that you hoped to have? Rarely. I think a lot of it is like you’ll forget um like socks or something. you just completely forget them and it’s and it stinks. It’s it’s awful. You got to scrge around. Um I packed a pair of socks that had a hole in them in Detroit a couple weeks ago and I had to get Pepsi to run into the pro shop and buy socks like 45 minutes before tea time. Um but I think a lot of it is just, you know, we’re so lucky as PJ Tour players. Um, you know, it’s really one phone call and anything I need, like I have a bunch of great partners that can kind of help me out in a pinch, get me something within a day or two. So, as long as I realize that by Monday, uh, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday morning, I’m I’m ready to rock. Hey, migrating clothes and holes in your socks just makes you more human to all of us. Ryan, hang with me. We We’re going to take a quick break here. When we come back, I want to talk to Ryan more about some other human things, particularly when it relates to the best players in the world, of which he now numbers. As I told you about the all-time number is less than a thousand winning on the PGA Tour. It’s kind of headscratching when you when you think about it. But I’m curious about how players at his level, especially when you have that kind of competitive drive, do you judge yourself against the number that you shoot? And at what point does maturity start to take over and go, you know what, I don’t have to be perfect in order to perform because that’s exactly how he won his first PGA Tour event. More of the Fairways of Life Show coming up right after this. Folks, don’t forget benhoggolf.com is back. And I know all of you would love to be playing clubs with the iconic signature of that icon, Ben Hogan, etched right in the metal. Check it out today. Beautiful array of irons. They have the brand new PTX line of driver and fairway medals in hybrids. There is something for you at Ben Hogan Golf. Why not be a legend yourself? Back with more after this. Head down, water down the left, walker down the right, take the club straight back. Wandering minds. When golfers lose their focus, they’re totally But Bridgestone can help. Introducing mindset. The ball’s scientifically designed to keep you focused. First, identify your target. 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Our journey began with a simple yet powerful vision to provide the world with the highest quality Virginia type peanuts. The Hubard Peanut Company, where quality and tradition meet to create an unforgettable experience. Visit hubspans.com to explore our full range of products and place your order today. [Music] [Music] Middle Market businesses are facing unprecedented shifts which demand tailored solutions and decisive action. RSM stands as the unwavering leader of the middle market, empowering you to take charge of change and conquer this era of transformation. RSM. Experience the power of being understood. [Music] As we welcome you back to the Fairways of Life show, Matt Adams here with you. Dom and Andrew are behind the glass today. Our guest is Ryan Gerard coming off a recent victory on the PGA Tour. Breakthrough victory at that. that breakthrough victory will earn him starts into the century, the players, and the PGA Championship amongst his spoils. When you think about that, Ry, you know, this kind of goes back to that same thing. It wasn’t until day later that it kind of the realization of what you accomplished kind of hit you. How fast did it hit everybody else in your orbit? Uh, I think everyone was pretty pretty psyched immediately. I mean, I didn’t know it, but my agent flew in. He was there on property for the last nine holes or so and I had no idea. Um, my caddyy Pepsi’s been doing it for a very long time and I think he was he was pretty ecstatic cuz I don’t think he’d won in a few years. So, this was nice for him to kind of get back into it. And then um family, friends, everyone rooting me on really really hard and know there were a lot of uh kind of nervous moments for him but I think uh hopefully it was it was tears of joy in the end. Um because I know my my mom was watching freaking out and uh that’s awesome. Every everyone kind of around was very very nervous but um I’m glad that I’m glad that it worked out nicely for everyone. It’s amazing. What what’s the story? Instead of me recounting it, I’m going to ask you to tell it yourself if you would please. What happened with you and Ben Griffin in the communication uh before the event about heading to Royalport Rush or playing in this Yeah. So, I was playing the Scottish Open um the week prior to to the Open and um I played so bad that I got to play in the last group on Sunday off of 10. So, like literally the other side because they did a little split tea because of some some fog that came through. So I I played so bad that I was playing dead last just on the opposite side of golf course and um couldn’t get a flight out Sunday night. Had to fly Monday. Flew Monday was like fifth or sixth alternate for the open wasn’t going to get in. And then couple people withdrew, someone else got injured. All of a sudden, I land in New York um halfway through my flights and I’m second alternate. And I’m sitting there thinking, “Oh gosh, I don’t know if I can skip the opportunity to play in a major, especially one as cool as the Open Championship. But, you know, a lot of people already withdrew. Have some people on the ground telling me it’s not not a whole lot of positive kind of news for my direction. positive for everyone that no one’s really hurt, but um for me, not a whole lot of opportunities to get in this field, I think. And um texted Ben, texted a couple guys. Um, my Caddyy Pepsi, he was texting some caddies, uh, kind of keeping in touch with the RNA people and just kind of figured, you know, go to Reno, try and prepare for, um, the Barracuda, but if for some reason end up first alternate by Tuesday, Tuesday night, I’d um, I’d catch a flight somewhere that I could get a direct flight to Belfast and um, go from there. So, ended up not needing to get to that and I unfortunately would have stayed second alternate. So, I’m sorry for Sam Stevens. He he was first and he didn’t get in, but he had a great week last week to hopefully make up for it. Sure. And um just it worked out it worked out well for me that I kind of stuck to my guns. I really liked playing at that golf course in Barracuda. played there a few years ago, finished top five and kind of had some some good good mojo and I felt like my game was in a good spot. So, it was just a matter of time before I pieced it all together and um I’m happy I made that decision and it was a tough one, but it clearly was the right one. And um I I became very okay with whatever was going to happen Tuesday evening. Um I was kind of at peace with the decision that I made and I think that that served me well in the long run. Did Ben send you a I told you so text? Yeah. Yeah, there were a couple I told you so. There were a couple see you should never not listen to me. Um and we played Yes. played yesterday afternoon at Windom and you know he’s he’s a really good buddy of mine when I was a uh freshman at he was a senior. So, um, I’ve known him for forever and been really good friends for a while and, uh, kind of that good naturatured banter that you can only get with some of your close buddies where you never really want to give them props. It’s always kind of giving him a hard time. But, um, deep down, everyone knows, uh, you know, he was super pumped for me. I’ve been just beyond ecstatic for him at the season that he’s having and, uh, his wins that he’s racked up. So, you know, it’s it’s it’s been really cool. Has that been motivation for you? Absolutely. Yeah. I I don’t want him to feel like he can just run me over and um you know, he’s been he’s been giving it to me pretty good so far this year. And I uh I got to fight back a little bit here at the end. Try and try and catch him in some way, shape, or form. But he’s been playing fantastic. And uh I just Yeah, I love the kid. He’s fantastic. But I don’t want him to beat me. Like just absolutely do not want him to beat me. You are 29th in FedEx Cup points. Uh it’s head shaking when you think about it. You’re playing this week and hopefully you’re going to have a run ahead of you in those playoffs. What is your mindset as we sit here on the eve of the Windham championship and heading into the FedEx Cup playoffs? Um, I think right now for me there’s a lot of really cool opportunities. Um, but I don’t really have anything to lose. I mean, I think I’m going to be in Memphis next week. I think mathematically I’m pretty much good for BMW. Um, East Lake would be an absolute bonus. And they got rid of the starting strokes at East Lake. So, you know, uh, for someone like me that could just sneak in kind of under the radar and start dead even with Scotty, I mean, it’s it’s kind of a perfect year for someone to come in and shake things up. So, I have absolutely nothing to lose. And I don’t say that in a way that’s like, you know, other people do have things to lose, but um, I shouldn’t be here this season. That means coming off the Cornferry tour, it’s really hard to just keep your card, especially in a year where there’s only 100 100 jobs instead of 125. But, you know, game feels solid. Been working hard. Um, feel like, you know, we’ve been trending for a while and it’s nice to piece the results together, but love to finish the season on a high note and go out and do some damage. Before I ask you about your sponsors, which is our way, Ryan, of saying thank you to you for spending some time with us, I got a couple other questions I want to ask you. First of all, from the standpoint of not self-editing, not holding yourself back, but putting yourself in a mindset of being completely wide open to possibilities. Have you allowed yourself the thought that the run that you’re on and as well as you’re playing with the amount of events that are left before the decisions on captain’s picks for a RDER cups that maybe? Um, no, not really. I haven’t really thought too much about that one. I mean, it it’d be really cool to play a Ryder Cup and um you know, I’d love to maybe definitely now, but at some point in the future, but uh I got I got more work to do to to make that one happen. Um, I don’t think anyone really has me on their their short list of guys on for captain’s picks and um, you know, just go out, keep piecing together good results and uh, that could change. But right now, no, I just I just got to go I got to go play better to make that one happen. Good. I I hope you do. I mean, I hope you go out and win the next two events and it and the conversation is unavoidable. I do want to ask you this though before that sponsor’s question that I promise you I’ll ask is and that is now that you’re on the PGA tour and you obviously know that you’re now the CEO of your own brand and it is a global brand once you make it onto the PGA tour. What do you want the message of your brand, the Ryan Gerard brand to be to the world? Work hard, have fun, fight for every shot. um just kind of go out there and uh live out your dreams. I mean, I I’ve been dreaming of playing on the PGA Tour since as long as I can remember, since I picked up a golf club and um it’s really really cool that that dream has become a reality and hopefully will stay a reality for a very long time. and um I had the opportunity to do so many so many cool things and uh take care of my family, take care of people close to me and um just really kind of compete at the highest level and that’s that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. So um we’re just going to go out there, not take anything for granted and uh try and make the most of every opportunity we get. Absolutely. Love it. Love the philosophy. Okay. To that question, uh the the people and the companies that you’ve surrounded yourself to make you what you are, who are they? Um Peter Malar, uh they’ve done great by me. Um Scott Mahoney’s the he’s awesome. He’s in charge. His son and I played on the same high school golf team, so uh it’s kind of kind of insane how that worked out, but I’ve known them for forever, so it was a very no-brainer for them to come on and help me. um Berkeley Capital, uh Rob Carter and the guys in Charlotte. Um they they do a great job uh just kind of uh keeping me keeping me grounded, helping me out, making sure that you know uh when I played Quill Hollow, there was quite a few people out supporting and um Titleist, Foot Joy, Scotty Cameron, uh Vokei, all those guys in the Kushnet family. Um, they’ve done a fantastic job just, you know, making sure that as dumb as I am sometimes when it comes to golf clubs or as silly as their quest that I have to kind of walk me through them or um, make anything that I could possibly think of from an equipment or clothing standpoint happen. Dude, you got to ask FootJoy to send you some new socks, too. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. every every every Thursday that I have a hole in them, they’ll they’ll get a call. It was great talking to you. We’re really excited about the run that you’re on. Proud of what you’re doing and we wish you the very very best. Thanks so much. It was awesome. All right, folks. When we come back, we are not done yet. Remember this whole conversation when we started the show this morning and I said, “Yeah, we getting a chance to meet players that are on the ascent right in front of your eyes.” That is a direction that we will continue when we come back. Don’t forget, it may not be necessary for you to get a new driver. It might just be about a new golf shaft. Newton golf shafts are unique in the world of golf right now. Because of their elongated bend profile, you can actually feel load at the top of your golf swing. And I know for many people, it may be the first time you’ve ever actually felt load at the top of your golf swing. 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Right here in America, we pay attention to the minutest of details, and you can feel that in the performance of our shafts. [Music] as we welcome you back to the Fairways of Life show from the PXG Custom Studios. You have never played like this before. Log on to pxg.com for more information. Danny Walker has is a player that has been making a lot of noise this year. Cast your minds back to March when he asserted himself at the players. He ended up finishing tied for six. He is one amongst the professional ranks only 20 PGA Tour starts four top 25s. He’s currently 91st in FedEx Cup standings. And you just heard us talking to Ryan about the importance of where you are in those standings. There’s the 100 that will keep their card. There’s the 70 after this week that will march on through the FedEx Cup playoffs. And there is, of course, the 30 that will make their way to the Tour Championship. Uh Danny Walker, 66 corn furry Tour starts, 23 PGA Tour Canada starts, two wins on the ladder at 29 years old, is joining us today. Danny, what’s going on, my man? How have you been? I’m all good. Uh yeah, just finished up in the gym and uh having a good day so far. Ready to talk to you guys? Very cool. Uh Andrew, would you take would you take Danny in a wide shot there so we can show the audience where he is? So, could you describe for us, Danny, where you are right now? Does that exercise equipment behind you? Uh, no. I’m in a some hospitality area by the clubhouse that uh looks a little bit like a bar. So, looks like set up for Margaritavville this week. So, no margaritas yet this morning, but maybe maybe on Sunday night, right? So, uh yeah, hopefully it shows some nice color for the audience. It’s very cool to tell you the truth. Yeah, I thought that was like a treadmill or something behind you to the right, but it must be part of the the bar setup. Dom was before you came on the air, I saw this shot and I said to Dom, when we were in preview in the commercial, I said, “Why don’t you have Danny take off his lanyard?” He goes, “No, why don’t you ask him about that because isn’t that what this is all about? People getting to know him. Does he need to wear a lanyard around so people know who he is?” How much has life changed for you since the players? Are you getting recognized more or is it still the core golfers that get to know you and see the ascent that you’re on? Um, I mean, I guess there was a little bit of recognition like the week after like living in Jacksonville just because I think so many people go to the event in town. Um, but since then not a lot. I mean, I think maybe more of the the guys on tour probably know who I am after that, but as far as like public recognition, it’s not much has changed. Um, life’s pretty much the same. Just, uh, I guess bank accounts a little better, which is nice. But, um, yeah, otherwise life’s good. Yeah. To that point, uh, the bank account at the players, if I, if I’m not mistaken, the number I wrote down was 843,750ish that you won at the players. its significance to your bank account though all kidding aside what was it a year or a year and a half you said that you had no money in your bank account how much has that kind of changed life for you too yeah a lot so early last season um like I I didn’t play well the beginning of the cornfair season last year on the international uh swing to start the year and that part of the season’s expensive and I pretty much exhausted most of my resources so I even I think I bother borrowed a little bit of money just to get me through about a month from my dad. Um probably like March, April of last year. Um I thankfully had a few good finishes there uh thereafter and haven’t been a haven’t had to do that since which is good. Um, you know, it’s a little bit of a a humbling experience, you know, at whatever I was 27 at the time, having to still ask for help from your family, but uh hopefully I’m past that now and can uh give it back to them in the future. How did it go down that you were able to get into the players and who did you get paired with in those first couple of rounds? Yeah, so it was it was uh on Thursday morning I got I got a call. Um, I was already on property and gone through like a little bit of a a body warm up just to get things started cuz when you’re at first alternate, you got to be there ready to go from first tea time. Um, so yeah, I was it was over an hour and a half beforehand, so I still had time to get some breakfast and get ready for the tea time with Jordan and Windom. Yeah, it was a little uh I was a little shocking at first because I wasn’t really honestly expecting to to get in. Um it’s it’s 50/50 at best I I think when you’re when you’re first alternate on Thursday whether you’re going to get the call or not. So um yeah, I was just grateful for the opportunity. And what was it like playing alongside of two of the game superstars like that in that kind of a setting? Did it have the effect of making you nervous or did it have the opposite effect of kind of settling you down and going now I can hang? Um I was the nerves were there for like the first T-shot. Um but from there it almost kind of helped me settle into the rest of the week because um you know that was as far as Thursday Friday goes like the first T-shot uh in that moment was probably the most nerve-wracking thing. So from there at least the next two days everything was easier um at least until maybe Sunday. Uh yeah, I think that helped. Um, and having some experience playing with uh some of the bigger names and crowds earlier in the season, I think helped as well. Um, got a chance to play with LIG uh at Tory on on Saturday in the final group earlier in the year. I think that helped me for the players. If memory serves me, you made the cut on the number, right? I did. Yeah. And then you went crazy in the weekend, particularly on Saturday. What happened? So, it it was a little bit fortunate that uh with the weather on Saturday that there wasn’t we didn’t play in nearly as much wind on the front nine and then it really picked up kind of towards the end of our round and all the guys in the afternoon had to play in that. So, I I don’t remember what I shot on the front nine, maybe four under, I think. So, I was able to kind of jump start my round and find some rhythm that I could kind of maintain as the wind picked up because when you’re starting your round and it’s blowing 30, it’s kind of hard to get your rhythm going. But if you can kind of get that rhythm going before the wind picks up, I think that helps. Um, yeah. So, I went from making the cut on the number to being in like seventh place going into Sunday. So, that was a a big change. Incredible. So, when when you find out that you get in, as you said, you’d already kind of warmed up the body a little bit. Accounts said that you you kind of went to your car and took a moment of meditation. Did you get emotional at that point? Did it kind of hit you from a from a gratitude standpoint or what were your thoughts? Yeah, some of it was gratitude. Um, just having I moved to Jacksonville back in gosh, I think 2019. So, living there and practicing at TPC every day. Um, you know, you’re just dreaming of getting a chance to play in the player since you’re there all the time. Um, and at some some points you don’t know for sure whether that’s going to happen. Um, so I was just, yeah, just grateful to to be able to be playing um, fulfill my dreams I’ve had since I was a little kid. So I knew it was going to be a good week regardless of how the results results went. It certainly makes sense, folks, that one would shed a tear, get emotional as their dreams are starting to be fulfilled. But it would also make sense that as they feel like their dreams are starting to be lost from their grasp, uh then that’s another direction altogether and that’s a direction that this man also went down. When we come back, I want to ask Danny about that. I want to ask him about making a decision to step away from the game. Uh that maybe uh being a touring professional was not what his destiny was meant to be and then finding his way back to it. Back with more of the Fairways of Life Show right after this. I got ball fit in 2000. Went on a little run. [Applause] Then Bridgestone fit me again and I went on another run. [Music] [Applause] I just got fit again for the new Tour BX. The ball fitting’s been helping me. Will it help you? What does it take to be an original? 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Danny Walker is our guest. He is wasting away somewhere in Margaritavville last time we checked in with him. There it is in the background. So, Danny, tell us again where it is. How did you how did you find this local to do your interview? Did you ask the sponsors if they had good internet there or something? No, I was just uh I was about to walk into the clubhouse and and just try and find a quiet spot and I just looked over to the right. I was walking in and saw a bunch of chairs and a tent and no one was over there. I was like, “That looks like a good quiet spot to do this.” So, I uh I just came over here. It’s awesome. What are your thoughts going into this week given your position? What’s kind of the vibe and the feel on site? Um, I mean, for me, I more than anything else, I’m just trying to get some positive vibes and some good momentum going. Like, I’ve had a bit of a frustrating stretch the last six events where I feel like my game’s in a, you know, a pretty good spot. I’m just not getting not getting results. So, um, it’s been a little bit of a a test on my, uh, on my resilience, I guess, and just trying to make sure I, uh, do all the little things right, set myself up for a good week and hopefully just let results come. Uh, a lot of good opportunities to make some good stuff happen this week. So, uh, trying to focus on that and not worry too much about the negatives, uh, of recent. That’s smart, uh, to f to focus on the positives. in a broader sense of of what you do as as a member of the PGA Tour. Danny, how important is it to society to have PGA Tour players? What do you feel your role is? Um, I mean, I think that’s something I I’m still figuring out to an extent. Um, I mean, hope hopefully this year a little bit of my story just shows that um, the road to road to success, the road to wherever you want to go um, isn’t, you know, isn’t always linear. I think most people have a sense of that. Um, but hopefully kind of my path shows that. And it’s uh you know, you don’t have to be the most talented teenager or college player. If you can just stack stack years of hard work and progress and just keep getting better in whatever your discipline is, you can you can get to where you want to go. What do you feel is a higher virtue then, talent or tenacity? Um, I mean, I I would say definitely tenacity, but but obviously you need a certain amount of talent to, you know, get to where you want to go. Um, some some sports more than others. Um, obviously if you’re 5 foot three, you’re not going to make it in the NBA. I think golf is a little more uh open to um open to everybody. I mean, right, you do need some some talent for sure. Um, but I think it’s more about grit and tenacity than a lot of other sports, which I think is what makes it great. What caused you I know it was some years ago now, but what caused you to step away from the game? What happened? Um, I just I just wasn’t enjoying the work aspect of it. Um, I think it’s easy to enjoy playing playing good golf and having having good results, but no, I just wasn’t enjoying uh the work aspect of it. I didn’t feel um I wasn’t feeling any sense of purpose in what I was doing. Um, which is a little a little bit about what you just asked me about, like what is a what do PGA Tour players give to to you know the world, I guess. Um, and I still I still think I’m figuring that question out. Um, but I think through my time away, I knew that uh if I just kept going, I would figure it out as I went. Um, that was like the feeling I had uh internally. So, you know, hopefully hopefully I do continue to figure that out as we go. I mean, you became a waiter, right? Was it? Yeah. But was it a thought that the grass is always greener and I’ll take I’ll take that gig or was that a starting point? And what did you learn from serving people food and taking orders and find out somebody wanted this sentent back because it was overcooked? I mean, how did that change your perspective and bring back the gratitude for the game? Um, so that came about because I knew I I knew if I was going to try and get another degree because that’s what I was thinking about doing was going back to school, I was going to have to financially support that myself. Um, I was like, “Okay, let’s see if I can um, you know, go do a part-time job and not completely hate it. See if I can actually enjoy it a little bit.” And I thought doing something um kind of in the service industry would be good um just to work on people skills some um just be exposed to you know different people um kind of get out of my golf bubble a little bit and I think it it did all those things but it was hard it was hard work though you know um I think it makes hitting balls on the range seem a little easier um you know it’s a lot it’s a lot easier to work on something, you know, feel like you’re working towards something than just working for a paycheck. So, I’m thankful that um I’m able to do that every day on a PGA Tour. Very cool. If you had a 10 scale, where would you put your one to 10 scale? Where would you put your life right now on that scale? Um probably about a nine. You know, it’s not a 10 because it’s always like, oh, it could be, you know, maybe it’ll be better tomorrow. Who knows, right? Uh, but at the same time, I’m pretty grateful to uh be where I am today. So, yeah, I think I think nine’s about right. Yeah, I think I think it could be a 10 this Sunday for you, too, because we’re feeling some good things and the vibes are very good. As Don mentioned to you, our my producer, when he was booking you for the show today, we always like to ask people about their sponsors. It’s our way of saying thank you. Who have you aligned yourself with? Um, I think the biggest and most important one would be Titus. I’ve been with them since since high school and they’ve always been always been there for me. Always been supportive even when I uh, you know, was struggling to get status back on Cornferry and even the Canadian tour uh, several years ago. So, you know, they never stopped supporting me and I’m thankful for that. Um, another one is Primo Apparel. They’ve been really helpful to me the last few years. uh even on condition when I just had conditional cornfairy status, they helped me out. So, I’m thankful thankful to them for that. Uh, another one’s been Wilson Cadillac this year. They just hooked me up with a nice new XT6. So, uh happy to be driving that at home. That’s nice. Um, and from a sponsor standpoint, those are the big ones. Um, I mean, I feel like I should mention my my parents as well. They’re not necessarily a sponsor, but they’ve been my biggest supporters since I was a little kid. So, um, yeah. Very neat. We only have seconds left here. Danny, what was your nickname in college? God, I had a lot of them actually. Um, let’s see. One of them was uh the ghost, which my friend Derek Bar gave me because I would just uh very quietly sneak in the rooms, I guess, and people wouldn’t notice me. So, he started calling me the ghost one day. And I like to think that also means I like can sneak up leaderboards without people noticing. But that’s more my interpretation. We’re probably going to have to end it there, Danny, because we’re just about to sign off the air. That was why I was asked cuz I saw some place that they called you the ghost and I was like that is perfect for a guy to do just what you said, sneak up that leaderboard. Thank you so much for joining. It was good to see you. Good luck this week folks. Thanks for your company. Bye for now. [Music]
