Daniel Berger STRAIT VIBIN at His Home Course | On the Bag with Dan Rapaport

Daniel Berger’s going for Jake Knapp’s crown as he takes it LOW on his home course with Dan Rapaport On the Bag. Dan caddies nine holes at Dye Preserve Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, where the guys touch on several topics including fellow Class of 2011 megastar Jordan Spieth, the most difficult golf course on planet earth, and how exactly he got the unique nickname of “Boog.”

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Well, we uh we got a caddyy bib, but we didn’t get like a fancy name plate. So, we’re going to do it a little DIY style. I haven’t written block letters since probably the third grade, but we’re going to try right now. Oh, that doesn’t look good. Screwed that up. Not a very good B. Think we might have to abandon the block letters. I think I just like competition. I don’t think it matters, you know, whether it was golf or what. Like, I just am a competitive person. That’s the double. That’s the four. Yeah. You look like uh That’s how I do the four. That’s kind of sweet. Yeah. Yeah. It’s going to be a little tricky. Which one? It says mid on it. I would not want a golf club that says mid on it. Did I get it there? Let’s go TV. We vibing. Yeah. Welcome to the beautiful Dye Preserve here in Jupiter, Florida. I’m here with Daniel Burgerer for another episode of On the Bag. Daniel, you were saying you haven’t played golf in a little while. No, I’ve taken a few few days off. Uh a little vacation after the open in the Scottish. So looking forward to today and uh we’ll see if we can beat that Jake Nap 5 under. But we’re but we’re not in the offseason because we got the playoffs still coming. So I’m not I’m not taking any of this, you know, like I’m out of practice. I I I got faith in you today. So we’re going to do what we always do on the series. We’re going to play nine holes ball down ball and hole like they were playing in the tournament. Want to get to know Daniel uh throughout the day and uh yeah, it should be a lot of fun. All right, let’s get it going. Yeah, you got it. Par five here on the first. Two bunkers down the right and you got the forest down the left. So you just kind of split the two of them. Aiming at that middle bunker. It’s reachable in two if you hit it in the fairway. So we’ll see. That should be left side of the It’s cutting. Yeah, that should be good. Good swing. You like to see it kind of fall right mostly? Always. Always Yeah. Never hit it right to left. It’s funny. They have all these like advanced stats now where it’s like you can tell like not on the not on the tour website but some of these like gambling guys have their own databases and so you can see like what percentage of shots guys hit that are like low cut high draw. You were like it was like you and Oshay were like the strongest fade bias players. I am definitely a fade bias. When I start to see the ball go right to left, that’s when I’m that’s when I’m in trouble. I I I like watching your game because I feel like obviously you have a very unique golf swing. We were talking on the range that you have one of the lowest ball flights like certainly in the top 50. It’s like you and Russ Henley down there in the mid 80s. I feel like you just don’t really give a [ __ ] about what other players are doing. Well, I listen, you know, you have to play to your strengths and for me, you know, I grew up in Florida where obviously we’re in the summertime there’s no wind, but you get out here in December and January where it’s blowing 20 and you have to have that ability to fight it down. So, I feel like just from out as a young player, that’s just kind of what I uh what I learned. And again, you got to stick to your strengths. So, you’re a Daniel, huh? I’m a Daniel. Yeah, I’ve been all three. I’ve I was Danny growing up. I was never a Danny and I’ve never been a Dan. So, people do call you Dan Burger, but that’s just that they don’t know you. That’s how I know if you don’t know me. If you call me Dan or Danny, you just always been a Daniel. I’ve always been a Daniel. Like even in grade school and everything, Daniel. Yeah. just never really picked up the Danny. I was Danny and then when I started writing I went to Daniel cuz I thought it sounded a little bit smarter. I was always curious like how one gets into golf writing. Yeah. You must have been a golf player as a Yeah. So I played golf all the way growing up tournaments and all that stuff and uh I knew I wanted to do like sports journalism because I just Yeah. just once you realize you’re not going to be a pro. I mean, they say this this I don’t know if this was true for you, but they say that uh a young man’s bar mitzvah is the day when he realizes he’s more likely to work in sports than to play them professionally. You kind of bucked that trend. I like that. I realized that I wasn’t going to be a player on the PJ tour. And so I just kind of wanted to be as close to it as possible. Love that. So I was uh I went to journalism school at Northwestern, which is a good program. So you’re smart. I’m okay. I’m okay in the classroom. Less so on the golf course. What do you think? Florida State or Northwestern. You know, they’re pretty close. Pretty close. Probably a similar Well, it’s funny because my freshman year was Mattie Fitz’s freshman year and he had just won the US AM and so he was the number one AM in the world. Why do you look so much older than he does? I don’t I think he’s a baby face and I think I probably have a few more vices than he does. I like that if we’re being honest. And uh but yeah, so he he wasn’t like that good before he went on this like crazy summer. Mhm. So he committed to Northwestern, which is a good program, but not, you know, it’s not Florida State or Oklahoma State. And then he started getting all these offers like at the last second. He was like, “Fuck these guys. They didn’t want me when I was, so I’m going to stay loyal to Northwestern.” I like that. Then he got there and school just like absolutely cuz Northwestern is not Florida State like or Arizona State like they don’t give a [ __ ] if you’re an athlete. Yeah. like there’s no there’s no like BS like sociology like and so I think it was just a combination of the weather and school and yeah he was out of there after 3 months. I mean the reality is what I learned is you can only really be good at two out of the three aspects. You can either be good at school good at golf or good in the social environment. You can’t be all you can’t have all three. So what were your two? Probably the social and the golf were the two things. But did you like it? Were you, you know, honestly though, my first year that I got there, I was uh they had like this ACC honor roll and I made that. Wow. My freshman year and that’s like my big claim to fame. So made dad proud. Yeah, exactly. This worked out. This did work out. Is you going to shoot me with my rangefinder? Probably like 255, something like that. I got 65. 265. But it looks like that pin’s in the back. It’s probably what? It’s probably like 250 front. Yeah. What do you got? I’m going to hit my two iron. This is the uh a little bit of the low one cuz you actually can kind of chase it up there. Two iron off the off the first bar. I love it. Just a little right of it. Yeah. And then it should kick a little left, but Oh, he flushed it. Beautiful golf shot. You think that’s deep? I think it might be long, but I’m pretty happy about that. That was absolute flush with the deuce. Yep. So, does this thing does this thing stay in the bag all year? It kind of depends on the course. Like, obviously, we’re going to play Memphis next week, first playoff event. And uh if it’s firm and fast, then yeah, you can hit it off a bunch of T- boxes and you know, it’ll carry for me it’ll carry 245, but it’ll it’ll have 40 yards of run, so it’ll almost go it’ll go like a little baby driver. Yeah. So, it’s all course dependent. I think a lot of guys travel with multiple clubs and just kind of But you’re not in this like sevenwood brigade. Not a sevenwood. I’ll travel with a two iron and a fivewood and just go based off of course condition. So obviously like when you go over to Scottish and British, you don’t even think about a fivewood, but then you know when we get to the BMW and Maryland or got to hit next week in Memphis, you got to hit high and yeah, that’s when the fivewood goes into play. It’s funny. I I feel like all the trend in golf is like toward those fivewood 7woods. I actually just went the other way. I got rid of my hybrid and put in a driving iron because I don’t play Oakmont or Yeah. where you guys need that like 230 yard shot that comes in high. Yeah. Like I’m playing Country Club like 6,900 yards. Yeah. You know, I use these same tailor made MC irons for like 12 years. I was going to ask about those. And I just the beginning of the year I changed to these pings. Uh did a bunch of testing with a couple different companies and found that like the pings were clearly a much better iron for me than the tailormaides. And you know, it makes sense, right? in like the 12 years since I used those tailor made. There’s a lot of, you know, new things. They were probably like the oldest clubs. They were. Yeah. When I got a set of irons, like I had to go to the tour and check to make sure they were like USJ conforming cuz like 2010 MC’s were non-conforming, but like 2011 were conforming. So, it was always this, you know, battle to make sure that I was using the right set of clubs. But, well, why didn’t why did you wait so long? You just did you always test like and nothing or you just I never I just I hated testing clubs. I just I had something that worked and I didn’t really see a need to to make a change. And then in the last couple years, I’ve noticed like you get to these bigger tournaments, majors, you know, WGC’s or elevated events and the courses are firm and fast. And if you’re hitting a 5iron, you know, 65 ft in the air, like you just have no stopping power. And when we were testing the pings, like I had I was able to hit a five iron twice as high as my other five iron, not doing anything different. And I’m like, well, that’s a pretty big advantage if I can do that. So you do that’s like the struggle. A lot of guys struggle to keep it down. You have to like actively try to hit it. I have to try to hit it up and and that’s why like Oh, we’re putting sir. We’re putting for eagle on the first. Hell yeah, we are. I I you know, I thought about giving you this, but I didn’t want to commit the caddy felony of That’s okay. giving you the putter and then you have to back for the wedge. That is a That is a big It’s not my first rodeo. That perfect two iron front of the green. That was a golf shot right there. I’m going to set uh I’m going to set sweat records today. I don’t want anyone your ass is going to be sweating. I just want you to guys to know that like I’m aware of it and it just is what it is. Okay. I’m I’m a soft boy and it’s the height of summer in Florida. All right. I will uh stay out of the way. Mostly cuz I feel like do are you like uh do you do you bring your caddy in for reads or No, I mean I used my caddy and I used to read every single putt together and then recently I’ve been using a little bit of aim point which has helped me out. I don’t have to ask him every putt what he thinks. It’s got to go a little left. Yeah, it’s going left. Yeah. Oh, I wanted that. That would have been a good start. That would have been an electric start. It’s still a great start. Yeah. But it would have been an electric start. Did you have the two ball for a while? I had a two ball. Had a old ghost or a spider putter. I don’t even know. That was like 12 years old. And then I just threw this in the bag last week. And you’re probably the equipment rep’s like worst nightmare cuz you just or best nightmare because they don’t have to they never have to do anything for me. That’s true. Good start with that same club. We going with the deuce again? Deuce again. Short par4. First two holes are good opportunities to make birdies. Just just off just a little left of those bunkers. Just right side. Yeah. Kind of right edge of the green. I’m going hit that low one again. Nice white. Uh that’s a that’s a safety first two ball. Yeah, I like it. I mean, you could hit driver, but it’s a two iron and a Do you uh are you one of these guys who like looks at I feel like I know the answer, but looks at like a stat breakdown of the course or like a Google images and like tries to map it out. No, I hired a stat guy probably five years ago who I’ve used and he has the breakdown of where people make birdies from where they hit it and and my caddy looks at it every day, especially before the round because he has live data before the round. Um, which I think most players, at least most of the top players have someone that they’re using for that type of information. So, you’re saying like if you have an afternoon tea time, he’ll have the data from the morning rounds that says on this drivable par4, the guys that went for the green averaged 4.5, the guys that laid up averaged 3.5. Or even like or even like, you know, this that there’s a crazy like guys are landing on the front, it’s rolling over the green or like some sort of Yeah. info like that. Yeah, that’s cool. Well, I mean, it’s so competitive now. It’s like a shot can be the difference between winning. I mean, it’s always been like that, but a shot is the difference between winning a golf tour or not. So, why would you not want to know? It’s heightened in the last with all the money. It’s heightened, I think, in the last I mean, you would be able to tell me more, but do you feel like it’s a little more intense? It is. I mean, the guys are still, you know, the same to be around, but yeah, for sure. It’s definitely more cutthroat. I mean, less you got there’s only whatever 70 50 guys that qualify for the uh signatures for the signature event and like I know from experience having not played them the year before like it’s so hard to go move up the FedEx Cup if you’re not in the elevator. It’s brutal. Like you I I remember like I was talking to Joel cuz like after uh Joel’s not in them this year and he had a chance to win in uh he blew it in uh Dominican Dominican which would have got him in one or two of them. also just would have like moved him to, you know, guaranteed his card. And I was thinking, okay, well, he finished third. Like he’s still going to be he moved up like six spots cuz those opposite field events. Oh, they’re they’re tough. Like you got to win to make any sort of splash. Well, you could win and still not, you know, really make that big of a move. But yeah, I mean, I think cutting the cards from 125 to 100 is going to be really good. You know, it’s it’s tough for guys that are in that 100 to 125 spot, but in the end, like it’s going to make the tour more competitive and it’s going to give people more opportunities, which it it always cracked me up when guys were like, uh, oh, these changes play into the hands of the top players. I go, so top players just means better golfers. Yeah. I mean, and in that’s how the world works in the end. Like, if you play better golf, then you’re going to be in the elevated event. So, like in my perspective, I was at no point complaining about it. I just thought, “All right, this is even more motivation to play better and work harder.” And then once you’re in those elevated events, um, and you play well, then you can kind of solidify that. So, that’s kind of the way I approached it from the beginning of the year and played well and got into them all. There you go. You like the West Coast, huh? A little bit. I I actually don’t like the West Coast that much, but I’ve played pretty well in a couple events out there. So, you don’t mind the POA? I I don’t love the Poa, but I don’t I don’t hate it. If not hating PoA, I think on Twitter means that you love PoA because everyone just [ __ ] non-stop. Poa is is hard for everyone, so that’s the way you got to look at it. This is actually a pretty dicey little pin here. It’s like right on top of a knob. I got 119, but I know you have trust issues. I’m going to check this. I got 118. My bad. I was standing too far. That could be the difference between a club. That could be it could be that could be $400,000 in an elevated event. Um 118 land at 115. It’s a little sand wedge. Gap wedge. I’m going to hit like a chippy gap wedge. It’s kind of a spinny green. You have to kind of control your spin here. That’s it. Little hot. Pretty good, I think. Oh, that is good. That’s actually like a really good lead uphill. Let’s go DB. We’re vibing. I know. I’m actually shocked. I waited I waited to the second hole to say vibing. Where does that come from? Straight vibing. I don’t know. That was just a thing that me and my buddies used to say like, “What are you doing?” “Oh, I’m just vibing right now.” Like, I mean, I don’t It just It’s an iconic Instagram handle. It is more I never expected it to be like that, but people like it. So, I love it. I play into it a little bit. DV straight vibing. Yeah. I’m definitely not like an Instagram guy like some of these other people. I know you don’t respond to DMs. I don’t respond to DMs. I don’t really post that much. I don’t know. It just it could take up a lot of your time and it’s kind of like sometimes I feel like it’s not real life, you know? So, I don’t have to worry about you starting a YouTube channel like some of these others. No, but my YouTube channel would probably involve a lot of fishing. Do you watch fishing? There’s I know there’s like a huge YouTube fishing community. I I I do watch YouTube fishing because it it is pretty interesting. Like my fiance says it’s like Tik Tok. Like she compares YouTube to Tik Tok and I’m like it’s like male Tik Tok. I know. But YouTube you can watch like a 25minute informational video and like learn something. And I feel like Tik Tok is like a 10-second. Dude, my wife is so addicted that we we don’t even like when we get like in bed she we she doesn’t even turn the TV on. Don’t want to talk to you either. She doesn’t even know. She just wants to scroll. I’m like, “Hey, you want to watch something?” She’s like, “I’m just going to watch TikTok.” Great. When are you getting married? Uh, no date yet. Just a long engagement. Not quite as long as like a Dustin Johnson engagement, but How long have you been engaged? Two months. Oh, that’s congratulations. Yeah. Don’t know if I saw any Instagrams about that. No. See, like I just think it’s I don’t know. The people who know you know will know that you’re engaged. Exactly. I gota plus half my buddies on tour have known her since I mean we’ve been together for 10 years. So So it’s time. They were all asking when it was coming. Thank you. Perfect leave. This is the perfect leave. So, you got full aim point training. You You got the whole thing. I mean, yes, because there is a little bit of uh I mean, you have to do it right or it doesn’t work. But it’s pretty simple, right? It’s just like use your feet to feel what you practice the like feeling part. You have to like just just to keep sharp of like this is 1%. Well, yeah. I mean like if you don’t know what a like I don’t do a lot of guys will do oh it’s a 1.5 or it’s a 2.5 like to me it’s a zero a little or a lot and then I break it down from if it’s a little is it more than a two less than a two so I kind of just try to like like benchmarks yeah just it’s just simpler like for me I stand over here I’m like pretty straight not a lot straight and it’s uphill anytime you’re uphill you hit a putt with more speed it’s going to break less so like for me I’m sitting here going This is a makeable putt at straight. I love that. I like what I’m hearing. Oo, leaked right, huh? Yeah, it snuck a little right. But now that I’m looking up here, there is a little grain left or right, which in Florida in the summertime, it’s you definitely have to factor it in. It’s never It’s never the player’s fault, you know. Well, you got to learn, right? selling the next one. Factor it in. There you go. All right, we’re still in the red. I like where we’re at. Yeah, this next hole is it’s like one of my favorite par threes. Thinking seven. I’m thinking it could be. It’s downwind. I’m going to hit. How far does eight 65? Eight is like 70 when it’s hot. Think it’s going to end up a little short, but I’m still going to hit it. This might be the one time you see me hit a draw. No, that’s way short. You gave me the wrong club. I said the literally the first thing I said was seven. It’s all right. We’ll make that putt. Wow. Those are some I’m a sweaty hands guy. I have to use um You don’t think this? No, dude. With some moisture, this thing is tacky. With some moisture, this thing is like lubed up. No, it’s I need the cord. I need the cord. You must not have sweaty hands. I mean, I just think that as they get a little wet, you know, like if you’re doing your job as a caddy, you should be, you know, wiping them off, keeping them, you know, nice and slick. Give me some, you know, if there’s anything you need me to do for you, I’m I’m working for you today. So, you uh I feel like people people group you in with that sort of class of 2011 squad. Yeah. Speif JT, those are your boys, huh? I mean, I grew up playing, you know, amateur golf, junior golf. Obviously, they were much better than me, junior golfers. I don’t think I really figured out the golf game until like I was a sophomore in college, but that 2011 class is is got a bunch of good players, you know, even Patrick Rogers, you add in Ameliano Grio Sanders in that mix. I don’t know if there’s been a class, you know, like if if you look at how many wins Yeah. Yeah, just from that period of time. But obviously Jordan and Justin got a lot of those wins. Was Jordan always like golden child? I mean, he was he was the luckiest [ __ ] golfer I’ve ever played with for a long time. And I feel like it’s come back to level. Guys have said that where they’re like, “Dude, this guy would hole out like more than I’ve ever seen anyone hole out.” Which, yeah, obviously you’re hitting good shots, but maybe there’s like a little element of fortune there. Well, I mean, like you would there was a stat that I used to remember. I look at he was number one on tour from putts made from like 25 ft, but he was he was making twice as many putts as the number two guy. That was like 2015. Yeah. When he was like I mean that’s like that’s ridiculous. Like you’re making twice as many putts as the second best putter from 25 ft. Like that means every time he’s hitting the green he’s got like a 25% chance of making the putt. It’s just it’s a confidence builder. And I actually don’t think that was the wrong club. It wasn’t the wrong club. But when you That’s why I don’t hit draws. I hit them to the right. Yeah, that was a little bit of like a just a block. It was a push, but we’ll we’ll take it. It’s a makeable putt. Do you like to leave them in for like this or like from this range when I’m just off the green? I do leave them in. Looks like it’s got actually some speed that way. Right. It does. It has a little bit. Should have a little left to right at the end. This green is a carpet, dude. This course is in perfect condition. Didn’t really turn, did it? No. I’ll blame myself on the read on that one. But this place is really cool. This is like um it feels a lot more secluded. It is than the other like Florida courses I’ve played around here. Yeah. I mean, my favorite thing is it’s it’s a Pete die and Pete Dye is it’s top three course designers for me. Like just the way he’s able to like you’ll see he’ll add in like these tiny little bunkers that aren’t even in play, but when you stand up on the tea, you’re like, “Whoa, that’s I’m going to hit it in that bunker.” And then you get up there and it’s like 40 yards from anything. So, he’s really kind of a master of using [ __ ] with your eyes. Yeah, he [ __ ] with your eyes. I wasn’t going to say it like that, but yes. It’s okay. It’s you, too. There goes. All right. This is probably one of the hardest par4s on the front nine. Dog leg, right? Should should set up nicely for your I’m going to hit my what I call a bullet cut, which is like my low fairway finder where I tee it way down. Bullet cut. Yeah. So like whenever I’m on a tea, me and my caddy, we either say, “Is it a bullet or is it a bomb?” So I either hitting like a low one or the bomb is the high one. There’s no like that. There’s no nothing in between. Okay. All gas, no brakes. Yeah, it’s definitely a bullet. You know, I do well in the strokes gained off the tea and but I don’t do it with distance. Like I do it with accuracy. And you see a guy like Roy Moy, it’s like he’s whatever top five in strokes and off the tea, but he only hit whatever 56% 50% of his fairways, but he’s hitting it 370 off the tea and I’m hitting it 300 or 290 or whatever. Were you ever tempted to like try to push it, try to get some speed? I mean, I feel like when Bryson was doing it and then when Fitz won the US Open, everyone was like doing the stack system and trying to, you know, get up in the 180s or whatever attempted. I mean, there’s a clear cut off between like where you are in the world rankings and your ball speed. Like, I think if you’re not able to at least be at 175, like that’s that’s a problem. Yeah. Don’t tell Brian Campbell that. Yeah. Well, two wins. He does have two wins, but like I can cruise at, you know, mid 170s and if I step on the gas, I can get low 180s. So, I feel like I’m kind of right in that range, but I just don’t know if there’s like for my health, I’m not sure if, you know, 186, 187 is really worth it, you know. So, let’s talk about your health a little bit. You’ve had some What were like the main injuries? I missed a year and a half with a lower back injury, which sucked. What was the lower back injury? I had basically I had a small disc bulge, but it took six months to diagnose it because it was from what I know about the back now is it’s more complicated than like what you see on an image, right? Like the MRI is the gold standard, but it doesn’t show everything and it’s not perfect. So, I had a pretty clean MRI and but it was still in pain. So, what they say like we don’t Well, I went to three or four different people and they’re like, “Listen, we don’t really know.” And then I reached out to a couple different players that I knew had gone through some back stuff and Luke Donald actually gave me a book by a guy named Dr. Stuart McIll and I read this book and it gave me a lot of insight and knowledge that I didn’t get from these other doctors that I saw. And so I ended up flying out to see this Dr. McIll in Canada two days before Christmas and in an hour he was like this is what’s going on. This is what you need to do and in three months you’ll be a year pretty much. But in the end, like you have to go through the whole process and you, you know, you end up finding what works for you. But I never had surgery. I’ve, you know, in the end it wasn’t that big of a deal. Like thinking back on it now, but while it was happening, I was a pretty unhappy person. So, yeah. But, no, I I did a disc in my back last year and it was mine, I guess, was a little bit more clearcut. Just like they were like, you got to get in the gym, you have to get shrunk, you have to get your core strong. That was part of the reason why I went to work with Mark Blackburn and I hired a a new strength and conditioning coach. And like two years later, not only have I I felt better than I ever have in my career, but toward the end of the year where I’d always start to be fatigued or you know, little things would pop up like I’ve had nothing. Yeah. So, it’s just changed like you have a new gym routine and all that. Yeah. I mean, first off, like I would never go into the gym before a round and before your injury. No, never. Like I zero times. zero time in the gym. Now it’s every single day before the gym. But I just have a routine that works. And I think that’s the biggest thing. Yeah. Back pain and you stay on top of it, right? Like you can’t once you you got to you got to be consistent. That’s the biggest thing that I learned. Yeah. Yeah. You can’t you can’t Oh, I’m feeling good. I’m I don’t need I don’t need a stretch. Yeah. Cuz that’s when it bites you. Beefy hole here. Yeah. 199. I trust you. Wow. We got the We got the trust factor going. We’re in the red. Um, this is a firm six or five. I think it’s a full sixiron. Yeah, just right at it. Yeah, that pin’s right in the middle. Yeah, it’s right in the middle. I’m not sure if this is going to get all the way back there, but it’s better than chipping a five iron. Hang on. Isn’t that rough? There’s a little fairway cut there. I could see it, Chip. Not a very good shot. What’s interesting, you said like, “Oh, this is going to be a little bit short.” Cuz I think a lot of amateurs, they think like, “I’m only going to hit this club if I can get it to like three feet.” Yeah. And I mean, I just got back from a golf trip with my buddies and, you know, a lot of them were like, “Oh, well, if I hit this, you know, we were playing Lynx golf, which is obviously like on steroids, but they’re like, “Oh, this isn’t going to get all the way back there.” And the caddy’s like, “This isn’t the club.” Like, it’s like, “I can’t. It’s going to be 30 ft.” It’s interesting that you even the first couple holes, you’ve kind of accepted that like, “Okay, this isn’t a perfect number, so I’m just going to play smart instead of trying to like jam something in there.” It’s really trying to, you know, figure out where you want to leave it. And like if you look at the best players in the world, like their average proximity to the hole might be like 35 ft, right? Like 35 ft. You’re the best players in the world are averaging 35 ft. So I think it’s pretty unrealistic for an amateur golfer to think they’re going to stick. Well, they watch TV and they were only showing the guys who are playing their best. You don’t see the guy who shoots, you know, 70, 69, 71, 68. Like you probably didn’t get much TV time at the open. You finished T30, right? got zero. Exactly. Exactly. But uh No, I think it’s a you have to just you have to give yourself the best chance to make the Yeah. lowest score, right? And it’s like if I miss this shot and it doesn’t come out, where where’s it going to go? Where’s it going to be? And like kind of just taking what the golf course gives you. Like if that was a if we were six yards closer, you’d probably have had a little bit of a different Yeah. mindset. Or it’s situational, right? Like if I need to make a birdie to win the golf tournament, I’m going to hit the club that I feel like is going to, you know, give me the best chance to hit it to five or six feet, whatever. JT said that you take the most money off him. I play a lot with JT at home and I have done really well against him. But I don’t know, like I just play hard whoever I’m playing. Yeah. Hell yeah. Grind it out. I just grind it out. Like I play with Steve Steve Marino a lot at home and I make him putt like three and a half footers and he absolutely hates it. I’m out on gimmies and I’m just like, “Dude, we’re playing golf.” Like, and we’re playing for money, too. Also, you’re professional golfers. Like, like, you’re the last person who needs a gimme. You know what I mean? I like to see putts go in the hole. So, yeah. It’s funny, though. I was uh I went over to Ireland and like gimmies were just like not a thing. And I’m I’m anti-gimme now. Yeah. It’s It doesn’t make sense to me to play a sport where this hole is probably 500 yards. There’s water and trees and you do all this work to get it to 3 ft and right when you go to knock it in, you just pick it up. It’s like what? No. Are you kind of 60 everywhere around the greens? I am 60 everywhere. This is like South Florida in the summertime. Like if you look at this, like how grainy this is and kind of soft. It’s this is tough to chip from. But but it’s good. This is where you get, you know, you can’t contact. If you can chip from here, you can chip anywhere. Caught that like a [ __ ] dream. Might go in. Do it. Ah, it’s two edges. Talking about gimmies, though. Is that one good or you you got to see that one go in? You want to see that one go in? After that whole conversation, you’re going to pick that up, huh? Are you crazy? Oh, you want me to You want me to putt that? Yes. You want me to putt that? We play ball and hole on this series. Oh my god. It’s the most satisfying stroke. I’m getting you ready for Memphis. You know, this round with Dan Rapaort’s really going to jolt you into life. Was that so bad? Wasn’t. And it sounded good when it hit the bottom of the There you go. Oh, I left it in the wrong spot. It’s like a U What is this bag? Is this a USA? Was this the US Open? That was my US Open bag. But I love to represent the USA, so I’m going to keep it going. Are you uh you spoken to Keegan at all? Yeah, I played with him at the uh at the open for two rounds and uh you know he’s a he’s a good buddy of mine. We play a lot at home so I’ve spoken to him a lot and but I have been a part or been around these team environments enough to know that like they pick the best players that are playing the best at that time and so it doesn’t like cool with the captain. Yeah. doesn’t matter like you know I have to go out there in the next couple weeks and and ball out if I want to make that team and that’s the way I look at it and you know some of the Is that is it motivating? Yeah. I mean listen like the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course by far like more fun than winning a golf tournament was being a part of those team events. So once you do it once you’re like how the how do I do this every single time it comes around. You were pretty electric at Liberty National. I mean it’s just it’s just incredible experience. It’s like it’s hard to describe. What’s your favorite memory from that week? From the President’s Cup or the RDER Cup? Does the Liberty I did I did I did the You played 16 Ryder Cup. I played uh Liberty President’s Cup in 17. Then I played 2021 Ryder Cup in. Yeah. I guess two totally different, you know, experiences. Like in what way? Well, you know, President’s Cup is massive. Like it’s a huge I mean 12,000 people on the first tea. Like it’s crazy. But then you go to the RDER Cup and it’s like it’s just different. Like I don’t know how to describe it. Like I remember I was the first I teed off in the alternate shot the first day, first tea time and like I was the first person to hit. I remember like going to put the You hit the first shot in the first shot in the rerup. I remember going to put the tea in the ground and like my hand was a little shaky and I was wondering if I was going to get the ball on the tea and I was like man I’ve never felt that before. But like all the other guys were the same way so I was feeling a little better. I mean, I striped it right down the middle, but it was one of those feelings I hadn’t had. I probably that that T pickup probably felt pretty damn good. It did feel good. And then we won three up, which felt even better. Are you with Brooks? Yeah. Little FSU squad. Mhm. Can you shoot it? 287. Yeah. So, it’s drivable big time. It’s drivable. It’s just like drivers too much and 3wood’s not enough. So, it’s like a tweener. I mean, I know you’re not a draw guy, but this is a draw shot. going to draw it off that mound. You try to hit this like right of the pin. It’s all fairway, just right of the pin. Anything left of the pin’s in the water. So, all right. So, 3-wood. You said turn it maybe a touch right to left. Yeah, it has to be right of the pin. Like this is in the water if it’s left of the pin, but I hit it really good. So, it’s almost kind of straightening me out. Oh, it’s on the green. How can you see that? Cuz I have sick eyes. Do you have LASIK or something? No, I just have incredible eyes. Wow. Might it might be just over the green, but You saw that land? Yeah, I saw it land. What do you think if you played if you played Oakmont like US Open conditions? Cuz I had this conversation with a couple of my buddies like to me that was the hardest probably the hardest golf course I’ve ever played. What do you think you would shoot? I’m interested that you said that. You say that. Do you think you you found that to be harder than like Wingfoot or Kioa or I mean not even close. It was the hardest golf course. If you missed the fairway, you you had nothing. Well, yeah, cuz I was I was like I wanted to see Carnage and as as far as like scoring conditions, they were actually pretty perfect. They were like there was some rain early in the week. Wasn’t a ton of wind and it was still the guy had to make a 64footer to shoot under par. This is my perspective on it too though. I actually think it would have been a little easier had it had it not rained because so long. It’s so freaking long. Like you’re hitting you’re hitting five irons into greens. Like if it’s firm and fast the first hole you’d be hitting sand wedge every day and then you get it over that hill or you at least get it far enough down where it’s you know a gap wedge. When it gets soft you’re you’re hitting eight iron, seven iron. Yeah. So So I think you’re saying what would I have shot? What would you have shot? Yeah. Okay. Like am I is it like uh there’s people around and like or is it just me playing the golf course? Play the play the golf course the Monday after the tournament. They set the course up the Sunday Sunday setup. Yeah. It doesn’t even have to be people around. I don’t even think that would have makes that big of a deal. I think if I was trying to shoot 90, I could shoot 90. No [ __ ] chance. I’m a decent golfer. I don’t care if you’re a semi-professional golfer. There’s no way you’re shooting 90 out there. There were PJ Tour players that shot mid 80s. I’m saying I’m trying to shoot 90. You’re trying to shoot 90. I will shoot 100. Okay, fair enough. You will shoot 100. USGA, you got my number. If you want to make this happen, I I feel like they should do that just to give a little perspective. Well, they do a US Open Media Day, but they they have you on like the member TES. Otherwise, it would take six and a half hours. I played I thought the hardest I ever played was Shinnik. I played Shinnokh in the US Open media day in 2018. Oh, that was that was one of my Yeah, I played well that final group. Yeah, that that was a serious test. I I remember I I shot three or four under on Saturday. It was you and Tony. You guys went way the [ __ ] up. I went from like 50th place. I got done with the round. I was like in tied for the lead. I was like, “Wow, this.” Weren’t you in the final group? The final group. You and Tony, right? Yeah. I mean, I was tied for the lead or one shot back with like nine holes to go and then Brooks kind of ran away with it a little bit. That was But you still thought Oakmont was harder than that? I thought Oakmont was harder than that. because of just just everything the the rough. I mean, you couldn’t you missed the freaking green and you couldn’t chip it to 10 feet. Like that’s Yeah. And the difference between there and oak and and um Wingfoot is Wingfoot’s sort of designed for it. You can run it up a lot of the greens. Yeah. There’s none of that in Okan. Yeah. I just I’ve never found a place more difficult to chip from than than that course that we played. Was this with the grass or just the I mean, it was this freaking high. Yeah. You hit it in the rough and you had no shot. So you’re just you’re just log wedge hacking it hoping it comes out soft. Hoping that it’s inside of 15 ft. Yeah. Did you make kind of took away the skill from a little bit of the chipping because it was so hard. Did you make the cut? Yeah. I finished like 45th or something like not that good. No TV time. No TV time. Putter. That must have pitched right in the middle of it. Yeah. It landed right there. So, a long putt like this. Yeah. I know a lot of guys some like to break it down into sort of different putts. How do you go about these? When I’m reading it, I try to read it in like a third at a time. So, the first third, second, third, third, third. And I mean, if you were doing aim point, you would try to play whatever has the biggest amount of break in that 3/3. Do you weight the end of the putt more because it’s moving quicker in the beginning? You actually weight the middle of the putt more because the middle of a putt? Yeah, the middle of the putt is where it’s going to have the most influence. Like from here to here, the ball’s carrying so much speed. Like even if you were on a four degree pitch, it’s still going straight. Yeah. So this part almost like doesn’t even matter. It’s really the second third and the last third. But So yeah, cuz it looks like it almost wants to go left in the beginning, but you’re not really looking. It does. It doesn’t even factor in. So the putt kind of almost starts right where you’re standing like right here. Yeah. And this is like It’s got to be coming in over here, right? It’s like a four. Yeah. And then it’s gets gained some speed on the on the end. It’s going to carry some speed at the end. But the biggest part is the middle section and what it’s doing in that part. What’s this? That’s the double. That’s the four. Yeah. You look like uh That’s how I do the four. That’s kind of sweet. Yeah, it’s it’s pretty high. Like that’s pretty well done right there from I would say. So I tried to give you the official PGA Tour sign for a good shot. You know when the guy does this the sideways thumbs up? I I’ve never seen that. Come on. Who does that? Everyone does it. Like if you’re if you’re hitting a shot and I’m walking ahead, maybe you’re in the shot looking and you hit a good one. All the guys will go like this. I’ve never seen that. You’ve never seen that? I don’t really pay attention to much while I’m out there. I can tell. Let me grab this flag for you. You leave it in. Okay. Yeah. Are you pretty like uh tunnel vision out there? I think I think most people are. Yeah. Yeah. I saw you give a fantastic answer to an annoying fan the other week. We It was at um Travelers and this this woman, it was on the back nine. It was during a practice round and this woman was like, “Hey, can you come sign this?” And you were like, “Yeah, sure.” And you walked over there and then her her man had like a phone in your face. Yeah. And she was like, “What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage?” Oh, I do remember that. And you were like, “Uh, Arnold Palmer.” cuz she was clearly trying to make like some content out of it and then she’s like, “No, like you, what’s your favorite alcoholic beverage?” You’re like, “I’m not a big drinker.” And you walked away. It was awesome. I really am not a big drinker, though. I feel like people kind of think of you as like a party guy a little bit. No, I mean I’m definitely much more of an introvert than than an extrovert, but I like I’ll drink a couple beers if I’m out on the boat fishing, but just like to drink two beers does nothing for me. Yeah. I think you should leave the bag here because it’s a kind of a walk back. Yeah. Or five. Um Yeah. You either got to send it or That’s my philosophy. Or or it’s like you just make it feeling a little shitty. Yeah. So you weren’t you weren’t on the Guinness in uh in Port Rush. I had one Guinness just to say that I had a Guinness. I do this thing like the first chug you try to get to split the G. I didn’t know that was a thing until I got there. But it’s a thing. It’s a thing. Yeah. I was there for a week before the open on that golf trip and we drank I drank probably the thing about Guinness is it kind of looks like coffee but so you feel a little bit better about drinking it in the morning. All right. This is a this is a tight driving hole. Yeah. This is uh the back tea box but again I’m going with the bullet here. Just try to get it in play and it’s reachable if you hit it in the fairway. Is that the flag kind of pretty much? Yeah. There it is. It’s good. That one was actually pretty hot. That was like a higher bullet, but I hit that pretty high on the face. It’s probably pretty low spin. I liked it. Works. Were you aware? I mean, obviously Scotty was a great player, but when I went to I go to do this college series, I’m actually going to FIC, which would be sweet, but I go down and kind of tour the facilities and play with the team and all that stuff. When I was asking the Texas guys, they were like I was like, “Oh, do you see this coming?” And the coach was like, “No, not not like this.” Really? So obviously like I played with Scotty his first couple years on tour a few times and I was like man this guy’s incredible but he kind of went was on that like he was always up there but he never won and then Stricker took him in the Ryder Cup and he played incredible and like like after that it was over. He stomped Ram I remember in saying and after that it was over like he I don’t know if it was like this confidence that he had like oh I can do this and but I mean he was like a different person and you’ve played with him a few times in these last couple years. Yeah. What do you like what do you see? I mean he’s just so consistent. It’s like he just his bad days are still good days and that’s the difference, right? It’s like you know a guy that’s 100 in the world has a bad day shoots 73. Scotty Sheffller has a bad day shoot 69. That’s the difference between staying in the golf tournament and finishing 30. It’s hard to have four perfect days. You’re never going to have four perfect rounds. I mean, I’m sure if you asked him, you know, how many tournaments have you played where you played four perfect rounds? I mean, he would say never. It was just the the bad days were better, right? Can you get in the house at 70 or 69? Correct. I feel like his chipping is criminally underrated. Like, I think that’s I mean, his putting is like ridiculous. Yeah. Is it just a almost a touch into I don’t feel just 3-wood or do you like the deuce? Iron. Yeah. How far does threewood go? It’s like 275. So yeah, you don’t want to take that off. The thing is is like you can kind of like hit it on the front right of the green and run it up. So So you’re going at the camera guy basically pretty much. Yeah. Even if it’s a little right of that, you can still get up and down. It’s right at it. I don’t know if it’s enough though. It’s going to land on the downs slope. There’s a little bunker over there. Hit it good. did hit that good. So, uh, I grew up at a I’m a Jewish country club guy. Your your dad’s a bit of a legend in the Jewish country club. Yeah. I don’t think people necessarily realize how good your dad What did he get to in the world? I think it’s a careerhigh seven in the world. So, he’s a top 10 player. Have you gotten to seven in the world? I’ve never been I don’t know if I’ve been top 10 in the world, but that’s So, he’s still got you. He’s got me. Yeah. But, um, his knees are bad now. So, like, you know, I think actually this might be the only time in my life I’d ever have a chance to beat him in tennis. I I think How old does he know? Mid50s. I think I could beat him. He would say no chance. You haven’t done it? We haven’t played. No. I guess going like all out tennis probably isn’t the best. The thing is is that I mean I play tennis when I’m at home three days a week. Yeah. I play all the time. It’s like my favorite thing to do. Tennis or padell. And you don’t find that it like for a cutter especially, you don’t find the top spin forehand bleeding into your golf swing? No, I think if anything it makes my game better. I don’t know like just the dynamic movement of changing directions quickly and you know ripping forehands core gets strong. I just think I I don’t know like the fastest I’ve ever been in my career like on the golf course with my driver was when I was playing most consistent tennis. So I can’t believe you guys haven’t done like a one set or anything. No, especially not now. I don’t serve anymore just with the back stuff that I had. So, I play a lot of baseline games like Coocher and I play a lot of tennis. Um, his son’s a good tennis player. So, are you the best tennis player on tour? No, I don’t think so. I think Coocher is a little better than me. He plays way more than I do. I I I’ve never seen him play. I think of him as like a slice and dice, come to the net guy. He 100% is. He’s He’s like a goofy looking chip and charge kind of guy. He’s got good hands. He volies well. He moves well for whatever 48 years old. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty interesting. But so how’d you get started? I mean your dad was obviously a professional tennis player and also wasn’t he invol he’s still or was involved in like coaching, right? Yeah. So he was the head of the USDA player development for 10 years which is like is that in Bradenton? It’s in it was in Bokeh and then they moved to Orlando. But essentially it was like the USJ for player development, but the the USJ doesn’t have to develop players because there’s so many good American golfers, but for tennis they had to do that. So all those kids, you Well, it’s also different because I feel like if you’re in Europe, like you’re not going to school. No, but now actually it’s still like it used to be in tennis if you went to college like you weren’t that good. Now you can go to college and still I saw there was like six or seven uh college uh college players in Wimbledon. Yeah, that’s the thing is it’s it’s kind of evolved and changed. I think we’re right over this hill here. But you never you never played junior tennis? I played a little junior tennis but fell in love with golf. Did your dad play golf? Yeah. Yeah. I mean when he retired he was down to like a scratch golf where he was playing all the time. Now I think he’s just he’s a lunatic on the golf course. He’ll like Did you see where that one went? Back of the green. Over the green. He’ll like buy a set of clubs and they have like a 30-day return policy and he’ll like use them for two weeks. Return them and get another set. Use them for two weeks. Return them and get another sporting worst nightmare. This I told him like it’s not the clubs. Like you can keep switching clubs, but well, he doesn’t have a caddy to fire or an agent to fire, you know. That’s true. This is going to 60 here. Yeah, this is going to be a little tricky. Which one? It says mid on it. I would not want a golf club that says mid on it. It’s just a different bounces. No, I know. But mid is like, you know, you know what mid is. Yeah. You’re not mid with this club. This is actually a pretty tough shot. The first one, the the one you played was almost like a low spinner. Is that kind of what you see here? Or would you get some more height here? This is kind of like you have two options. You either fly it on the green with height or you kind of land it short here low and bounce it up, which if the green if the if this was like the winter time and this was a little firmer, I’d probably bounce it. But because it’s the summer and it’s a little softer, I’ll probably fly it on. Yeah, I think you’ll be able to generate some spin. It’s just, you know, when you get like these grainy areas, it’s just so hard to spin the ball. But this is a little green to work with. I landed it two yards too short. Yeah, I just pitched on the front and it was maybe a half a groove fat, but we don’t need to talk about that. We got a putt for birdie. You feel like short game is a strength? I think fairway chipping has always been a strength for me. I think I can definitely improve like the rough stuff. Do you work with a short game guy? Had a short game guy for a long time. Now Blackburn kind of does everything for me. Mhm. Just nicer to just have one voice. Especially if you trust the voice that you get. Mark is a smart dude. He is a smart dude. I mean he he really has helped me a lot. Like I never really understood how I swung the club and then started working with him and now you get it. Now I understand it which kind of amazing to have the career you’ve had without really knowing how you were swinging it. Yeah. And I think some people that works, some people it doesn’t. Early on I would say I probably didn’t want to know but now like I definitely want to know. That’s how we do up and downs on this show, sir. We don’t need to hit it close. Alex Bush is over there. He doesn’t even care. Alex, he made it, bro. Oh, okay. I didn’t hear you. What is that? Three under. That’s three deep. All right. So, we need two in the next. We’re out of par fives, though, right? One, two. We need two in the next three to tie the record. To tie Mr. Knap. He He likes to go low, Mr. or not. All right, we thinking full five here. 215. Full five iron. All right, so just just rip a five iron kind of that V tree. Yeah, 215. There’s like this bunker right in front of me, the Pete dive bunker that it’s not even in play, but looks like it is. Cutting in there. Might be short on the green. Looked like it bounced on the green. It’s a good shot. Strokes game positive there. Rusty today, but you’re moving it around just fine. I’m getting better as we go. Yeah. Takes you takes you like nine holes after a break. Probably a little more than that. Takes me two days. The first day I like to just go out there and play golf for fun and just enjoy it. And then second day get a little practice in and by the third day I feel like I’m back. Is your practice pretty structured? Like do you have a guy who like kind of designs your practice routines? I mean, Mark’s really helped me with my practice. And then I try not to waste a lot of time. Like, I just get in and get out. Whether it’s four hours, two hours, six hours, if I’m going to be there for that amount of time, I’m going to be really focused and have a plan and then and then get out because it’s just it can be too exhausting to just be out there for 10 hours a day. And so, what do you like, let’s say you practice in the morning, what what do you do in the afternoon? Well, the gym every day. So, if I usually do the gym before, so I’ll spend an hour and a half in the gym, go to the course, usually start with putting um do some face control, do some speed, face control, like you put like te’s down and stuff. Put te’s down. Yeah. Make sure the ball’s starting online, do a little speed, and then I play like a little game where I uh you have a five-footer, a sevenfooter, and a ninefooter. So, three putts, three different holes, and then you have a 10-footer, 15 footer, and a 20 footer. You’re hitting a total of 18 putts and you try to make at least nine of them. That would be a positive strokes gain. Got it. Putting. So, you’re sort of simulating a round of golf. Yeah. You’re trying to basically simulate a round of golf. Like everything you do in practice, you’re you’re testing and then you’re competing, testing, competing. So, it’s not you’re not just hitting five, seven irons in a row and saying, “I got this.” Never. Never. So, then you would go to some type of chipping and you work on am I landing it in the right spot? Can I control my distances? Do I have the right feel out of the bunker? And then you go right into to testing it again. You play a game where you have uh nine holes. You hit one chip shot for nine holes, random spots anywhere. Tough shots, easy shots, bunker shots, sidehill shots, and you measure out total distance for each shot. And you try to get it inside of 50 feet. So I mean like 50 feet would be like really solid for for nine holes. Like just inside five, six feet. Yeah. Which would be like an incredible day of chipping. But were you always a good practicer like when you were a kid? I think that’s always been something that I learned from an early age. And I think you look at any, you know, elite level. Well, you had a proathlete dad. Yeah. And I’ve been around enough professional golfers early on in my career to see what they did. So that was always a good way to know whether I was doing the right thing or not. Did Were you one of these guys who was like you were going to put on the PGA Tour like no matter what? Like I mean, you know, you always you have other plans. I never had another plan, but when I look back at it, a lot of things went right for it to happen, right? Like there’s always these forks in the road where one direction goes one way and one direction leads you to where you want to go. How did you get your card the first time? I turned pro. I So Jordan Spe turned pro. He was the first guy to like turn pro out of college like that. I remember and I played in the Palmer Cup and I was like, I’m going to turn pro. Like I just How what year was this? This was 20. But like what year in school? Oh, this is my end of my second year in college. I played well. I finished second at NCAA’s. Max Homo won NCAA’s. Played Palmer Cup and I’m like, I’m turning pro and went to Q school that year. Got my cornfairy card, played a year on the corn ferry and I was on the beat. Were you pretty like um got off to a good start on cornfair? You were up there the whole year. I mean, I played well. Like I never won. There was guys that, you know, won and and got it that way. Yeah, I just was really consistent and, you know, had a bunch of top five finishes and got my card and then that was kind of it. Like never had to So you had a tour card of what, 21? Yeah, 21. So you’ve been you’ve been doing it. You’re a big time. This is like my almost This is going to be my 11th year. You have like um Well, you’ve been You have 200 starts? I don’t know if I have 200 starts because like I I never played like I only played like 17 to 20 times a year. So probably right around 200 even before the signature events. Yeah. I never really played that much. What? You were just confident you were going to get the points? I just always thought that you I was better off playing well in the events that I played in than trying to like play seven in a row and maybe get lucky one out of the seven events. Like in the end, right, like you’re going to you’re going to play well. You’re going to have, let’s say, four chances to win, five chances to win unless you’re Scotty Sheffller in a course of 20 events. And like I try to just focus on like playing the best in those events and feeling like you have like a full tank when you’re Yeah. like you have to be 100% in those events. This actually ended up pretty nice. Yeah, this was better than I thought it was going to be. What do you see? I’ll I’ll go for the uh the Dan Raport read here. I I It almost looks like it wants to go left, but I feel like the whole green I I don’t see all that much. I think you’re right with it wanting to go a little left. I I would maybe play it like on the right edge inside right. Yeah. Did I get it there? Yep, I did. Let’s go, DB. Are we vibing? Let’s go. We need two more for the record, baby. Let’s go, son. We’re hooping right now. First take. No, no screwery here. Nicely done. Thank you. You also have kind of an interesting putting stroke. I feel like you take it back like further than most people. I think putting is like super personal, right? Like there are certain things you got to do, right? But like there’s not like a I mean, you look at some of the best putters in the world. And well, Brooks has a loop in a stroke and he wants me I mean like Tiger Woods used to aim a degree right and pull it a degree, you know, or Brad Faxton used to do similar things. So, it’s really about like knowing what you’re what makes you you and just owning that and making sure you kind of stay in those parameters. Yeah, it is. I mean, you’re in an interesting part of your career cuz like you’re still young, but you’ve been at it for a long time. There’s probably temptation to like try to reinvent the wheel, but then you also think like I had a lot of success doing what I’m doing. But you always you always have to try to get better, you know? You really do cuz it’s such I mean everyone’s so freaking good at this game now. Have you noticed the level get better? I mean the thing that I noticed is everyone hits the ball so freaking far. Like it is crazy. And wasn’t the case when you turned pro? I mean like when I first turned pro I was pretty long. Yeah. Like I was in the top 20, you know, off the tea distance-wise. I’m like middle of the pack. Like less than middle of the pack. Yeah. Is that just the young kids who grew up with Trackman and knowing what how I think the new I think the new way to the the new way that they’re teaching people is hit the ball as hard as you can from a young age and then we’ll rein it in. Yeah. And I was always taught to like hit shapes and hit shots and distance was never really a thing. Like if you I mean we’ve played whatever seven holes. I haven’t hit one ball all out. Like every single one is like a little chippy a little And that’s how you play out there too. That’s how I play out there. It’s really interesting because I we I did a little thing with Luke Clinton who you might know from FS. Yeah, I do know him. Yeah. and he hits that one. He hits that 190 cut every hole. When I see his game, it it’s like it makes me feel really similar to like how I used to play. Like I only hit one shot. Like it was a cut every single time. And I just think as you get older, you start to see like all right, there’s a lot of pins that are on the left. Like how am I going to get that there? So you kind of just evolve as a player and figure out how to hit those shots. Sets up nice for you and kind of started at those trees and just cut it off. It’s at the uh corner of the trees. And bullet or bomb? It’s a bullet. It’s a bullet. Yep. Stay there. Too far right. You think there’s a big little There’s a mound. I see it. Oh, it’s in the fairway. Yeah, it’s money. 104. That’s a good number. Nice lie. Yeah, it’s the summertime, baby. 104. Land it. You got to be like Tiger. You got to pick it, you know. 104, land it. 107. You think it’s going to spin? I think it’s going to have a little spin. To the right. Go short. Go hard. Okay. What were you doing before? I was with Bar Stool and then I was with Golf Digest before that. So, I’ve kind of seen all sides of it. How is that bar stool doing after? It’s doing well. Yeah, they’ve got their thing. I mean, they were they were humming before I got there. I was kind of a like a late ad. Um, and we did some really cool stuff together, but no, they’re they’re they’re still crushing it. Bar stool is absolutely massive. This is an interesting putt. Yeah, I need this one to go. It almost looks like it’s right on a spine. Going to go a little left. You think goes right in the beginning? I actually think it goes a little right. Doesn’t flatten out by the hole. It’s like if I’m using my feet here, it’s definitely not going left. Okay. Well, I guess we’ll just have to see. I guess we’ll have to see. But I like the way you’re rolling it, so I’m not going to get in the way. Did that go left? I honestly think it did go left. It definitely went. I don’t want to I don’t want to give that to you, but I really think it did go left. It definitely went left at the hole. About four feet out. I thought I made it. That was a great roll. All right, we need a birdie at the last. That was eight. That was eight. This is flying by. All right, last hole. Ninth hole. Birdie to tie the record. You got to cover that left bunker. Yeah, that left bunker. I think it’s like just over 300. But you don’t have to go all the way left, right? You see that American flag by the clubhouse? I do indeed. That is like ideal position. Is it a bullet or a bomb? This might be the only time of the day I’m going to hit a bomb. Let’s see it. Yeah. Is that going to do it? I hit it pretty good. I hope it does. Yeah, it’s fairway. Nice. Did you see that land or no? No, you didn’t see that land. I can’t see [ __ ] dude. I told my buddies I have CSS and CRS disease. What’s that? Can’t see [ __ ] and can’t remember [ __ ] Can’t remember. No, that’s a good one. Is like if you ever don’t remember something, you look at them and you go, I have CRS. Can’t remember [ __ ] And then it always gets a little chuckle. What do you do in the winter time at Northwestern? Drink. like get fat, get a girlfriend, full coat, full winter gear going everywhere. Going from Southern California, it was a real culture shock. I just like wasn’t ready for it. Not even the cold. I mean, the cold, but also just like how dark it is. Yeah. And sun for like five hours a day, dude. And like when it snows, you got to wear boots. It It’s just different. It wasn’t for me. My wife’s from Chicago, coincidentally. We we met in New York, but she’s from Chicago, so I go back there every uh Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it’s just the weather is just hor horrific, you know? It’s like, okay, they got good food there, though. They do. But it’s like I can do snow if you give me like mountains. Like my parents live in snow in Colorado now. And like I love going to Colorado in the winter. I like snowboarding. And that’s the one thing I wish like I I would love to go skiing or snowboarding, but I think it’s probably going to have to wait till the end of my golf career. Skiing is really dangerous. Like you could tear your ACL so fast. You break a wrist just falling on like a bunny slope, right? You can’t do that. So you’ve never been? Never been. I mean we we water ski, we scurf, we do all that [ __ ] on the boat, but water is like totally different. Yeah. No, it’s and like the worst thing you can do when you’re skiing is being is like be defensive. Well, that’s what I would do. Right. Right. That’s what I’m saying. So it’s just a not a good formula. I’m getting 164. All right. 16. I believe you. Okay. I’ve earned my trust. 64 little cutter eight. It’s a little chippy eight. Yeah. Kind of started at that guy. Maybe a little left of that. As long as it finishes left of the flag, it’s good. Like Oh my god, Dan. That is so bad. I don’t know. I think I’m just a little rusty from that uh week off. Yeah. Do you do that a lot in the middle of the season? Like take a full hard week off? Um at this point in the season, having played like, you know, last year because I wasn’t in the elevated and I was coming off injury, I played from Palm Springs all the way through the fall to Sea Island. And it was pretty stressful. Like I was 15th going into or 120th going into the last event of the year. like I needed to play well just to keep my card. So I think just playing that year and then rolling right into this year and playing in the elevateds I was just exhausted. So like this is my fourth week off in the last six weeks and I feel like that’s it’s a pretty good recipe though like coming down to the playoffs. Yeah, exactly. Like I’m excited to play and I feel energized and ready to go and there’s no worse feeling than going to the last couple events of the year being like man I’m exhausted. Yeah, I can tell you a lot of guys are feeling that way. Totally. Yeah. And if you’re like a rookie and you have to play everything. Yep. Um, how’d you get Boo Knight? People call you Boo. Yeah. So, Steve Marino gave me that nickname. I used to have a like when I was 15 years old, I had a or 16 years old, I had a Toyota Corolla on hub caps that I put the first check I made from cadding here, I bought like a 15inch subwoofer and threw it in the trunk and I would bump this like gangster rap music and I’d put like Sugge Knight on and one day I rolled in here. It’s aggressive. Yeah. One day I rolled in here bumping Suge Knight and Steve said, “Oh, that’s bug knight. That’s not Sugge Knight. That’s bug knight.” So he started calling me that and it just kind of stuck. It’s a good nickname. But Steve is he’s an OG. He’s he’s taken care of me since I was like 15 years old. Showed me the ropes. Showed you how to be a pro. Exactly. All right, last hole. It’s doable. Yeah. I mean, it’s some thick Bermuda. You got your boy Neil right there. Is that [ __ ] Neil? Boo. Boo. Boo. It’s going to be like a tumbler. Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s going to come out slow. What an effort. I needed that for the for the record, Neil. What an effort. He beat you. I want to hear that [ __ ] rattle though. All right. He gives nothing. You got to put You got to put these six inches out. Fantastic round. Four under. Yes, sir. Get you back into uh back into form. Pleasure. You got to you got to grade my uh my caddy abilities. Seven out of 10. Okay. So, where’s the room for improvement? I don’t really think there is. I just think that you’re a seven out of 10. Okay. I’ll take seven. I can’t give you too much credit. That’s totally fine. That’s great. That was fantastic. Thank you so much to Die Preserve. That course was pure. We got out there, beat the heat mostly. Four under. We have a new solo second finisher and on the bag. Thanks for doing it, dude. You got it, bro. I appreciate it. Anytime. It’s a wrap.