18-Year-Old Mason Howell: US Am Champ, Walker Cup Hero & Rising Golf Star

In this episode of The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman sits down with 2025 U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, fresh off an incredible summer of golf. At just 18 years old, Mason has already:

✅ Won the 2025 U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club
✅ Earned spots in the 2026 Masters, U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and Open Championship at Royal Birkdale
✅ Helped Team USA capture the Walker Cup at Cypress Point with highlight-reel moments including an albatross and back-to-back birdies on two of the most iconic par-three holes in the world

Mason shares what life is like back in high school after such a whirlwind year, the role models who shaped him, how he’s preparing to play Augusta alongside Rory McIlroy, and what’s next at the University of Georgia.

👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe! Stay tuned for two more episodes this week: Thoughts on the ongoing reinstated amateurism debate, and an examination of gambling in golf in the wake of the NBA news that has rocked the sports world.

00:00 – Intro & Cypress Point Story – Smylie recounts Mason’s albatross in practice
02:10 – Mason Joins the Show – Life after winning the U.S. Amateur
03:32 – Media whirlwind & adjusting back to high school life
04:06 – Mason’s background: basketball, Thomasville, GA & golf roots
06:40 – Breakout Year Recap – State championship, U.S. Open qualifier, 63–63 rounds
10:19 – U.S. Open at Oakmont – Playing practice rounds with Harris English & Tony Finau
12:47 – Lessons learned at Oakmont & confidence boost
13:39 – U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club – Near miss in stroke play, grinding to match play
17:54 – Match Play Battles – Tommy Morrison, Ben James, Little John Daly, Eric Lee
21:21 – Pressure of Semifinals & Masters qualification
22:00 – Winning the Final at 18 Years Old
22:55 – Walker Cup Selection & Cypress Point Memories
25:07 – Albatross at Cypress & highlight reel week
27:20 – Walker Cup Team Culture & Bryson DeChambeau’s pep talk
29:49 – Taking down Luke Poulter in singles
31:33 – Birdie at 15 & 16, and receiving Cypress memorabilia
32:10 – Sunday highlights: another hole-out at 17
34:11 – Reflecting on growth & confidence as an amateur
36:31 – Looking ahead: Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and Georgia Bulldogs

#Golf #USAmateur #MasonHowell #WalkerCup #TheMasters #USOpen #OpenChampionship #UGAGolf #SmylieShow #GolfPodcast

[Music] radio. That’s Smiley Coffman for 61. Wow. I’m Smiley Coffman and this is the Smiley Show. The story I was going to use to to tee up this interview is still one of my favorite uh stories associated with the with the tour pro thus far in terms of our media coverage, which is to say that when I was showing up for the for the first time at Cypress Point for the Friday practice rounds, the the shuttle driver was very confused, dropped me off somewhere I should not have been, and I like walked. How do How do you get confused? I mean, it’s 17 milei drive, one road. I I have no clue why. He dropped me off like at a service road that dumped out on the back side of three green, little par three there at Cypress Point. So I started working my way up the the the right side of three and kind of working back down the left side of two, the par five. And I show up and it’s the entire United States team playing tensomes. They’re just they’re all playing all shot. They’re gearing up. And so I I the first five shots I watched hit were all guys kind of hitting their approaches into the the par five second. And uh Mason’s was the final one. And he hooped it for Albatross. I was like, “Okay, this guy just won the 2025 USM. He hooped it for Albatross. I went on to watch him make birdies, back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 on Saturday, uh, in singles play.” Uh, he is the real deal, Smiley. And I just wonder, you know, we taped this conversation a couple weeks ago, but anything you can recall in terms of just having a conversation with a guy who’s only 18, but already has a ton of maturity and a ton of golf game, what the expectations could be for him? I’m just jealous. I wish I was that age. I wish I was about to be heading to Georgia. I wish I, you know, was was heading to play in the World AM or whatever it’s called. I wish, you know, I was I had won the USA. There’s there’s a lot of jealousy, honestly, with with Mason. But yeah, it was really great interview with Mason. He uh has a great personality, has so much to look forward to, incredible uh start to his amateur career, and uh things sure look like he’s in a good spot uh heading next fall. is is not bad to be Mason Al right now. Uh so with that said, let’s get right to it. Smiley’s conversation with Mason. All right, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Smiley Show. We have the US Amter winner, Mason Howell, joining us today. Mason, buddy, I I can’t imagine going from winning the US Amter at an amazing golf course like the Olympic Club to qualifying for the Walker Cup team at Cypress Point to then somehow going back to having to sit in a classroom. like that to me had to be like the biggest drop off of adrenaline of all time when you walked back into your high school. Is that is that fair to say that’s that’s the truth? Yeah. No. No, definitely. I I I don’t enjoy it at all. Um I I’ve tried to get out of school as much as possible since I’ve been home, but uh yeah, that’s a good way to put it. I mean, how how much has your wife changed? Of course, we’re going to get into all the details from the USAM and the Walker Cup, but I mean, just how much has your wife changed at home walking through the high school halls? Everybody, I’m sure recognizes you from of course I mean I’m sure you grew up with all these people, but uh I’m sure their parents are now like say, “Hey, do you mind signing this for my dad or something like that?” You get you getting much of that? Yeah. No, I’ll get some of that especially when I go to like football games on Friday nights and uh but it’s it’s Thomasville is such a great town. Everybody knows everybody. So, um Sure. Yeah. But but no, it’s awesome, but it’s also been it’s been a complete turnaround and change of my life. Uh I mean, what has that media storm been like since you gotten home? I imagined you really hadn’t had a ton of time to just sit down and celebrate with your family or friends. Have you had a chance to do any of that yet? So, when I got back from the AM, I kind of set off like a week. I don’t think I touched the club for a week. Um and just knocked out all the media stuff that I had to knock out. And then, uh yeah. Um, fortunately at the Walker Cup, a lot of the media stuff was on site, but uh, yeah. No, it’s definitely been a whirlwind and things are kind of settling down before I leave again for the World AM. Yeah, I I haven’t uh met you in person, Mason, but from what it looks like on TV, it seems like you’re a pretty tall guy. How how tall are you? 6’4. Whoa. All right. So, we just play golf. Did we quit basketball at some point? We playing two sports? Yeah, I played basketball pretty much throughout middle school, but uh yeah, got got pretty tired of not being able to play golf. Like basketball was a winter sport and yeah, um after practice I didn’t really have any time to play golf and Yeah. And I was probably sitting on the bench a little more than I liked. I was about to say, do you think you could still be playing basketball or do you think uh would you be making that that starting five or at least getting some minutes? Uh well, in middle school it was kind of on and off. So, uh, I was like one of those kids that I would rather be playing on like the B team, get more playing time. Love it. Love that. All right. So, you’re in Thomasville, is that right? Yeah. All right. Where’s Where is that for the people that don’t know where Thomasville, Georgia, it’s it’s um I’d say it’s 40 minutes north of Tallahassee, Florida. So, we’re right on the Georgia, Florida line, and like 4 hours south of Atlanta, hour uh west of Aosta, but um it’s where Harris English grew up and Hudson’s Waford obviously grew up in um Tallahassee. So, it’s lot a lot of good golfers have come out of this area. So, Harris English is obviously u a player that we’ve had on this podcast and Harris has talked about his time I believe is it Glenn Arvin Country Club. Is that is that where he kind of grew up playing some golf? I know Harris was kind of getting around a little bit in high school going up and playing up at Baylor. But still, uh what’s this golf course like and why is it uh produce uh some some top level talent? Yeah. Uh Harris started his junior career at Glen Arvin. Um, but it’s it’s all thanks to Bill Connley. He was the head pro at Gwen Arvin for a long time and now he’s director of golf, but he’s he’s been all of our golf coaches. He was Harris’s golf coaches golf coach before he went up to Baylor. Um, but he just like loves junior golf. He’s so open to having as many juniors out there going to the back of the range. Like on any given Saturday, the back of the range is just packed with juniors practicing and then you’ll see middle schoolers out on the course walking together playing. And um, I think that’s a big part. And we’ve had um just a lot of great division one players and um we’ve had great female golfers. Megan Scofield won the women’s am in 23 and yeah, it’s been a great place for me to grow up and play because it’s always stiff competition. Every time I know out there I’ll be I know I’ll be able to pick up a good game. Mason, catch me up and those listening and watching this on 2025. get me to the beginning of this year on just your entire journey basically to that point because you’re obviously a player who’s found a lot this summer, but up until that point, was there confidence from from yourself heading into this year that this could be a breakout year? You’re uh committed currently to go to the to University of Georgia, which that isn’t exactly an easy scholarship to get to play for Chris Hacker at Georgia. So, just catch us up before uh this big run you’ve had this summer. Yeah. No. Um you know, ever since I committed, I feel like it’s kind of freed me up, honestly, to just get after it. Um like playing college golf is obviously a lot of junior golfers big goal and getting a big D1 scholarship. So, that was like a weight off my shoulders. And um yeah, making the turn into the year, I was starting high school golf. Um playing some big junior tournaments and uh was playing well, but didn’t really have any like finishes. I know I could go home and celebrate. Um then I I what kind of stood out was in April I won my state championship, which we have a pretty stiff stiff classification. And um yeah, and then I didn’t really have anything until that US Open qualifier. I had the first stage of qualifying and uh played super well there and then went into final stage. Had been playing really good at home, played well and um qualified and so that that was kind of the moment for me that kind of boosted my confidence and things kind of started to take off from there. All right. So driving to the golf course for the se sectional qualifier in uh it was in Atlanta, correct? Yeah, it was. What golf course do you play at? Pedmont Driving Club. Pedmont Driving Club. So you’re you’re driving to the golf course that day. You’re obviously playing some good golf. You got off to was it a 63? Is that what you shot the first round? Was it was it lower than that? So, you shoot 63 in the opening round. You got 18 more holes left to go. At what point did you start to think about, oh my gosh, I have a chance to qualify for the US Open. And how were you able to manage those nerves and be able to continue to play well? Because you went out and what did you shoot like 64 or five in the second round? 6 63 63. Oh, is that it? Oh, my bad. Pardon me. I I I clipped you a couple shots. I mean, what dude? back like backing up a 63 is really difficult to do. I mean, how in the zone were you that day? Was it just was golf as easy as it’s ever been? Yeah. Thankful. Thankful I didn’t have to like come back the next day and play or anything like that. I’m just happy I could keep on running. But like we finished the first 18 and I only had like 30 minutes until I teed off again. So like went inside like down to Hamburger as quick as I could and looked at my phone, looked at the leaderboard and I had like a three shot lead and they were taking five that day I think. And uh so I knew if I went and I set my dad and I we set a goal, it was just underpar on each nine that probably gets it done. Um but I was Yeah. Oh, I I can’t I was so nervous starting the second round compared to finishing the second round. Mhm. Um I I knew like backing up a round like that is it’s it’s difficult, but uh yeah, I remember on one I like on the second 18 I like kind of flared a drive and I was like, “Oh, here we go.” Like it turned out being okay. And then I missed like a 12footer for birdie. And then two, I absolutely went for a par five and two and boned myself like longer green and I like pulled out a full swing flop and hit it to like a foot and I was like, “Okay, here we go again. Yeah, just just the beginning, you know, well, you obviously you get it going, man. You shoot that 63, qualify for the US Open, and so this would have been in, let’s see, early June, and the USM is late or late August. So, you have uh two weeks later, you’re playing in the US Open. So, tell me about the leadup heading into the US Open, what that experience was like at Oakmont. And if correct me if I’m wrong, but you weren’t qualified for the USM uh via just qualifying for the US Open, were you? Did you still have to go and qualify for the USM? So, I had a USM qualifier on the on the dates like on but qualifying for the US Open got me into the US Open. They did get you in. Okay. So, that was I was blessed for that to not have to go do some qualifier. Charlie and I were trying to figure that out, but we really couldn’t even find it on the Google machine. Wasn’t giving us anything. So, tell me about Oakmont. How was it? Yeah, Oakmont was hard. Yeah, like everything that people said about it was true, but uh it was so much fun. Um playing some practice rounds with some cool people. I played one I played two practice rounds with Harris. Um I played like six holes with Tony Fen and Tommy Fleetwood walked with us. Um and I played the tournament rounds with Chris up to see him. Oh, he played that stretch in July. Um yeah, that was that was pretty awesome. And um yeah, that that golf course was so good. just so hard though, man. I I tell you, the first time I qualified for a major, this was 2014 Pinehurst and Mason, I I played 18 holes on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and then and I took it light on Wednesday. I played 16 holes instead of 18. So once Thursday got there, I was absolutely worn out and wiped. Did you find yourself uh to being just as exhausted maybe as I was, or did you actually uh manage your time a little bit? because he us practice rounds, man, it could be uh it was going to be some pretty long days. Yeah. No, I uh I played nine holes each day. Um good for you. Good for you. And Harris kind of was advising me to do that. Like the practice rounds, nine holes were taking like three hours. I was like, I don’t even know how people were doing 18 holes. And like if I I would go eat lunch and if I was like iffy about a t-shot like on Wednesday, I would run out there and hit it a couple times and walk back to the clubhouse. But um yeah, Oakmont Harris was like, “Yeah, these pract are taking way longer than they normally do on tour just cuz people are looking for their balls in the rough so much and chipping every single chip shot too.” Yeah, exactly. Which is Oh gosh, Oakmont was brutal. Like uh it was a fun fun event though to be a part of. All right, so you you leave Oakmont and of course you know you can have it can either go one of two ways. either look at yourself and say, “Man, I I either have a lot to work on,” or you look at all the positive and say, “Man, I really saw myself competing out here one day. You know, my ball fights were similar. I was able to either outdrive guys or hit different shots that maybe they weren’t.” Um, what exactly were your takeaways from that US Open? Yeah, no, I I felt like I could definitely hang with some of the best players in the world. Um, it wasn’t wasn’t the result I was looking for. Obviously, I want to make the cut and low AM, that’s every AM’s goal. And uh um you know, it’s it’s one of those things I was kicking myself like, “Oh, I want this shot back. I want this shot back.” But it’s a US Open venue. You’re going to get some bad breaks and things like that. Um but yeah, like I was playing with Chris Goddar up and we were driving it about the same and I know he’s one of the long longer ball hitters on tour. So that was that was pretty good for the confidence off the tea. And uh yeah, just watching watching those guys roll the rock and then how they manage their misses. It’s pretty crazy. So, taking the experience from the US Open, let’s now turn the page to the US Am. When you walked on site for this US Amter at Olympic Club, did you carry a little bit of that confidence from how well you played at the US Open qualifier and playing in the US Open? And uh I know you didn’t make the cut, but still, you know, you talk about, you know, keeping it up with Chris and doing some good things out there. Did you show up there with an expectation that hey, this this could be a really big week if I just stay confident, play uh Mason How Golf? Yeah, no, I I walked in walked into Olympic club. I was pretty pretty confident. Um I come off a little bit of a disappointing US junior. Um I had one medalist missed that. Sorry, I I skipped I skipped an event. No, no, no. I I had I kind of want to skip that one out of my brain, too, honestly. All right, so what happened? I missed it. What What was the deal? I won medalist and then lost in the first round. So, got it. Okay. That was one of those things that we just I just moved on to the next. And uh was that at Trinity? Is that right? It was. It was the hottest tournament I’ve ever played in my life. Oh man. Trinity Force in July. Oh, I can’t even imagine. Uh that place had to be not too difficult either. Imagine y’all were making a lot of birdies. Yeah. No, I mean it was pretty firm and baked, but yeah, it was just if you could survive 18 holes, you probably could play well. Well, okay. All right. So you’re fresh heading into the US, right? So didn’t have to Yeah. deal with any of that match play there. And so you’re medalist at US Junior. So this is the opposite what happened at the USM. You were on the bubble of even making it to match plays. So how close was it for for you to actually, you know, making it into a playoff situation? I ended up being like 20 for 17. So, I guess you were safe on the number, but I imagine you were trying to have three other guys uh, you know, fall back to where you didn’t have to go and do one of these playoffs. I imagine that experience was pretty interesting. Yeah, exactly. No, I played I honestly played fine in stroke play. Um, the rough was thick. I took a lot from what I learned at Oakmont to to Olympic and uh had a good first round. I shot even on what was playing a little bit of the harder course in the second round. Uh, not so much. didn’t didn’t get off to a great start and just was kind of fighting all day and I got the 17 and like pulled an iron shot pretty bad. Kind of flubbed the chip. Had like 25 ft for par and made it and then made a fivefooter for par on 18 and that ended up getting me into the playoff. Oh man, dude, you’re 20 20 footer away from missing this thing. That’s Yeah, I know. And at the time like I I didn’t even think I was going to have to get into a playoff at three over. Um like I went back to I was in the morning wave. didn’t really know how things were going to shape up. I knew the wind was going to pick up, but um yeah, then I suited up at like 7 a.m. the next morning and um yeah, part of the first playoff and figured that’d be enough and a 20 for 17 and had to go to one more then made a bad bogey and I was like I’m probably going to another hole but fortunately that was enough to get you got you through. Got me through. That’s insane. I was actually, it reminds me uh one of uh one of my former teammates, Steuart Jiaak, actually cattied for him at the country club and this is all the way back in gosh this would have been like somewhere around 201 like 11 or 12 for the US amer the year that Matthew Fitzpatrick won and he cruised through stroke play and a similar deal big big playoff and there was plenty of guys that you wanted to try to avoid and the player that we ended up getting paired against in the first round was Scotty Sheffller. So, so I I unfortunately I lost to uh I guess the Caddyy matchup. I lost to Scotty’s sister that day. So, I still uh I have that one going for me that of course Scotty played great and I’ll never really forget that day because this is kind of before he is who he is now. But yeah, uh lost to his sister Caddying that day. So, uh just made me remind me of that playoff experience that can be so awkward. part of like the USGA thing is I guess since there was only two of us that made bogey so we were it was one of us was going to get the 64 seed and one of us was going to get the 63 seed but um their seating’s random so it’s just one of those things you just have to hope that you don’t run into a buzzsaw that’s how it goes so walk me through the whole uh the whole USM you know was it was it fairly easy for you throughout the whole time was was there good golf or tough matches uh how would you describe your play all the way up until that final Yeah, I know. I I definitely didn’t make it easy on myself. There were some matches where I felt like I could have played better, but I got the job done. And there were some matches where I really had to I needed every shot. Um I played my round of 64 match against Tommy Morrison and we went to 19 holes. Yeah, we we went to extra holes. I got up and down from long in the green on 18, which I then that’s one place I wasn’t supposed to be. I remember watching that now that I think about it. You just kind of cut the legs out from underneath it. Just barely got it on the green chic that back pin, right? Yeah, back left pin. I went long. It was one mistake I couldn’t make. And but anyways, we cruise through that somehow. And then uh then I’ve got Ben James the next morning. My goodness, you got two Walker Cupers you’re going right up against right away. Yeah. And um you know, honestly, that match neither of us played great, but uh I we were tied at 18 and I made par and that was enough to get me through. And then uh then I played Max Hearnen I think. Yeah. In the round of 16 and we had a really good match. Um there were birdies left and right in that one. Where does he play? Um he he plays at Illinois and he had beaten Kovven in the morning. So he I was I was had the potential to go Tommy Ben and Ken but jeez man that would have been insane. But uh yeah we played well and then I played uh Little John and that was probably my best match of the week. Um, how did he play? What What was What was the support like for Little John out there? I know. Yeah. No, he had a lot of support with his dad, right? I would imagine that probably felt like a little bit like an away game. Not Not maybe quite as much as uh Neil Donigan who had seemed like the entire city out there watching him. So, you luckily have to deal with that. Yeah. You knew where Niles was on the golf course the entire time. Um, no, but Little John had plenty of supporters out there and we were birdies left and right and um, let’s see. I I went one up on uh 14, I think. And then we tied 15, 16, and 17. And then 18, we both hit it inside 5T for birdie and both made it to end that match. So I won that one one up and just I kept finding myself going to 18 which was not not ideal. Well, you got to find that fairway. If you find the fairway, it becomes a you know little flip wedge up there by the green. But even even some of the best players in the world, you think about uh history at Olympic club. It goes back in my mind. Jim Furick, one of the most accurate uh players in the world, finds a fairway but still uh found that left bunker and lost himself the the US Open where Web Simpson ended up winning. So yeah, that green is tiny. Yeah, I’ve never played Olympic. It’s definitely on the bucket list and I’m gonna have to get your Burger Dog review here in a minute, but I’ve I’ve talked Mason I’ve talked to plenty of players that have made it to semi-finals of the USM. Uh Justin Thomas being one of the players, and he said it’s almost more nerve-wracking in that semi-finals match than it is in the finals match. He’s got 36 holes the following day. It’s almost a bit of more of a mental grind than it is a physical grind. That semi-final match, there’s just so much on the line. you know, you have a chance to play uh you have a chance to play in the final match, but the Masters is uh probably the one thing that always comes up for for many players. If I can just make it to the finals, you know, uh traditionally those those two guys get invited to play uh in the Masters. Yeah, I know. Um that semi-final match, I was very nervous on like that that entire day as he should have been, man. I was playing I was playing against Eric Lee and he was getting up and down from everywhere. Um, and so that that didn’t make it easy. But, uh, yeah, when that match when I won that match, that was like a big weight off my shoulders and and honestly helped me play super free on Sunday. Um, and seemed like you striped it Sunday. I mean, I feel like I I I hit a lot just to the middle of the green two putt. So, that’s just kind of how Olympic was. Pars were going to win holes out there. Um, such so demanding off the tea. But, yeah, I hit it great on Sunday. and uh got it done. Putted fine and then just just kept just played my played my ball. I mean, 18 years old, you’re still in high school. Uh I I think probably heading into the summer, you have all these top amateurs that I’m sure that uh the Quans, the Morrisons, the Bid James of the world. These are all the players that or at least the media would say that these would be the guys that you would expect to win this USA. And here you are, 18-year-old uh kid from from South Georgia gets the job done and all of a sudden you’re you’re you qualified for the Masters, you got the US Open next year, the the Open Championship. Uh and then the other thing that probably I’m curious to ask you about was were you aware too that a Walker Cup spot was on the line for all this? You probably I would imagine that that almost slipped through the cracks. Was that something that you thought about at all? Yeah, so going into the year absolutely not. I wasn’t even close like off ranking but um I didn’t find out until about the quarterfinal match that the winner was going to make it on the Walker Cup team. Okay. Yeah, that that definitely gave me plenty of incentive on Sunday as well. Um yeah, and being a part of that team was Yeah, that was definitely something I was I was glad maybe maybe even more glad I won the AM because that was so much fun at Cypress. Okay. Yeah. What’s Tell me about Cypress. I mean was it just was just unbelievable. We had Jackson Kovven on uh recently on this on the show and he just was saying how incredible it was. But uh Charlie kind of came on and and said how how unique this golf course played. Just felt like it had kind of a lynxy vibe to it uh for being a for being a coastal American golf course. Did it did it feel like it made you uh think about how to play as far as just whether shots were on when the ball got onto the ground? I mean 15 16 steal the storyline of course with Cypress but the rest of the golf course it seems that you got to find a way to get the ball in fairway in the fairway and avoid all the uh the bunkers that are around. Yeah, absolutely. No, the at the beginning of the week when we first got there it was super soft and not really what I was expecting. Like it was 6,600 yards super soft. 600 very short for you guys that that crank it. It was really short and um and then as the week went on it really firmed up and I I would describe the golf course as it like a different like it split into sixes. It had six holes in the trees, six holes in the dunes and six holes in the water and that was what really made it special. There was like it was like three different golf courses in one. Um but yeah, it was that was by far my favorite golf course I’ve ever played. But you had to really think and be creative out there cuz there were some shots you found yourself hitting. It was like I would never be hitting this back at home. Well, one of the uh highlights of the week and this wasn’t even this wasn’t even even during the the uh play. Well, Charlie just wa gets out to the golf course for the first time while watching uh I believe this was the day before uh you guys got going. This would have been Friday, the day before the matches started. He gets out there. He’s like, “Guys, all caps. Mason How just hold out for two.” And so we we got this video that I want you to walk us through. Charlie’s going to get it pulled up right now. Uh and walk us through this 237 yard shot. Yeah. So we we teed off on hole one um in a tinsome and then some of us split up, but we still had seven guys in this group, I think. And so that the first day that the crowd was out there and uh hit it hit a six hour from 237 felt good, looked good, and it kind of slammed the flag. It might have been rolling a little fast, but uh I saw it disappear. Then I saw big 69 Tommy’s hands go in the air and I was like, “Let’s go.” That actually just happened. I mean, 237 yards. Remember, this isn’t like we’re in at elevation for those that are listening. 237 yards uh with typically a heavier air on the coastline there. You see everybody here wearing sweaters. That uh that’s a long way. Were Were you Did you have some helping wind at least? I’m trying to figure out how 600 could go this far. Yeah, I was I was hoping you wouldn’t bring it up, but yeah, definitely had a helping wind and it was pretty firm. It it landed uh the pin was like 20 paces on and it landed right on the front and uh just took one big bounce and rolled right in. I think we actually have the sound of Tommy Morrison asking you uh what club you hit in. Let’s let’s see if we can roll that in here. Yeah, Tommy Tommy’s so funny. Um yeah, that was that was incredible. Um I was glad I got to do it right in front of Cap, too. Talk about Nathan Smith. Yeah. What was it what was it like having him as a captain? hilarious. He’s so funny and he did a really good job. Um yeah, he he really knew what he was doing. He’s played in so many Walker Cups and he had all the experience that we could rely on what he said in the team room and yeah, he’s just such a great guy and he’s hilarious. He really brought good vibes. You know, the Walker Cup community for the players that have played, uh they they definitely take a lot of pride in this event. I know there’s plenty of players that come back and watch. I know Bobby Wyatt was out there watching uh one of my uh players that I used to play with growing up. Uh he who made a Walker Cup team, I believe in National Golf Links, but for that week, you know, when you’re in the team room and and I’m sure there was plenty of videos sent to you guys, uh what stood out of some of the support that y’all got from from past players that played in Walker Cups? Yeah. Um so we we had we got some videos and from from different professionals, but uh Deamboa was there on site. um he came to watch and he gave us a hype speech on Saturday after our our day and uh yeah was one hype speech I’ll definitely remember um but uh yeah he he was on the losing side of a Walker Cup so we knew I mean he still like it that that stung uh he was like I don’t want you guys to feel how I felt on Sunday so um and then we win we had a good uh Sunday morning crushed it man crushed it played well on sat Saturday afternoon so yeah No, hearing his words and especially him being on the defeat side of it cuz you hear plenty of stories of people winning and uh cuz it’s definitely a lopsided event with the Americans winning so many times. But yeah, he he put it in really good perspective for us. Okay. So, I’m sitting here looking at your results and and you went two 0 and1’s which is a great record for I guess you did you set out the first morning. Is that right? I did. I set out Saturday morning. Okay. So, you set out Saturday morning. Uh let’s let’s go to the Saturday. Uh this would have been the Saturday singles in your match against Luke Potter or Pter I should say. Luke Potter, Texas boy. Uh uh anytime that Charlie pointed the camera at you, good things happened. Uh so here we are at the 15th hole. Charlie’s got some more uh videos we’re going to roll with. Yeah. No, this is this got it all started for me on the week. I like bringing the energy. Snap. Go. [Applause] Yeah. Such a such a cool hole. Is that not the best, man? Yeah. No, that um yeah, Pter Polter and I were throwing haymakers at each other all day. But uh um yeah, that that putt was awesome to can because that uh that really got the momentum going for me and really put me in a good spot to win that match. And um yeah, it was pretty funny. Every time that Pter every time that Luke made a made a good putt, Ian was the first one I could hear yell every single time. Yeah. Was it weird kind of going up against uh a son of a Ryder Cup legend last his last name is Pter. He’s going to be insane at match play. I’m going to have to bring my best stuff. That’s so good. Yeah, these like what he was able to do in Ryder Cups was unbelievable. um with his timing of of making clutch putts, probably one of the best at all times. So to take out Luke Poulter uh in the Saturday singles, that’s great. So let’s look at that putt at 16 as well. So you birdie 15 and now here we are at 16 and this is an iconic hole. Can you talk about just closing out a match on this hole? Yeah, and I I hit a good shot in there and Pter actually hit one inside of that. But um yeah, I had uh Tommy uh Michael Assasso and Quan sitting up there on the hill. Tommy and Co or I think yeah, Kovven had already finished out his match and Lasasso and Tommy were sitting out and that hole is like kind of stretched away from the crowd and uh yeah, I had to let him know that I made that putt and uh to go 2-2 on those two holes and in that event was was special and uh yeah, I was just happy to be out there cuz sitting sitting Saturday morning and seeing us go down 3-1, I I wanted to be out there so bad and put a point up on the board. Um and uh yeah, that was such a special way for to play those two holes and to end that match. You know, that’s exactly what any player that ever gets to play Cypress wants to do because you go in birdie 15 and 16, the 2- two club. And Michael Assasso told us that this was something that he was unaware of and him and Ben James did it in back-to-back days in practice. So, were you also given some type of memorabilia for for going 22 uh on 15 and 16? Yeah, I I have a little coin in my golf bag right now actually that uh for the 22 club and it’s got got pictures of each of the holes on each side and yeah, that was super special and yeah, that just any anything from that golf course in general and if it’s something like that, that’s something I’ll definitely keep forever. I mean, dude, you were you were a highlight reel for the week. We’re talking about an albatross on two. Uh you birdie 15, which is an incredible hole to make a birdie on. You you close out your match on 16. And now the following morning, so Sunday morning in a morning in which you really needed to kind of get some moment momentum back uh in the foresome style because the day before of course 3-1 uh GBNI that morning. So this was an important match on the 17th hole that we have uh Charlie going to roll in. This this was just I mean come on, what’s going on here? 15 16 17 to do this. Yeah. So, uh yeah, I had in this match I had birdie or my partner hit it, Jacob Mleski hit it to like 30 ft and I made it again on 15. Um and we went to 16 and we’re three up with three to play and they chipped in on 16 for birdie. So then we have to go to 17. Um which thank goodness they chipped in cuz else I would have never had this mo this moment. But uh it’s just crazy how that all works. But uh my partner Jacob poked one out there perfectly in the fairway and uh my caddy gave me a number and he was like, “This green typically bounces pretty hard on the front even though it’s kind of a false front.” Um No, it did. Yeah. I saw that Kven and uh Morrison were on the back of the green in front of me, so I figured their theirs took a pretty big bounce. And right as I hit it, I you can hear in the video if it has sound, you can hear my caddy say great shot. Um then we couldn’t really see if it went in. We had to look through the rangefinder. He didn’t see a ball, so we assumed it went in. And yeah, that’s we just place kind of exploded and we went crazy. I mean, come on, dude. Can we just talk like you win the USA, you go to Cypress Point, you make the walk up, and then you have like this type of highlight reel. Could you ever imagine heading into this summer that you would have this many moments uh that that honestly I can’t even imagine how amazing it is and how cool it is to play those back in your head. Uh, I’m sure you’ve thought about it a lot when you’re sitting there in science class about some of these these memories. No, it’s I just like the Walker Cup. I never wanted it to end. Um, I could have played that golf course a hundred more times before I would have been tired and I was just running off pure adrenaline. But, um, yeah, no, it’s it’s one of those things I’m super I was super grateful for the opportunity um, especially at the Walker Cup to play with a group of guys like that. and uh then an Olympic club at you know to win a tournament like that you have to have a lot of things go your way but um it’s also how you handle the adversity and I feel like that’s that’s been a big part of me growing from junior golf transitioning to great amateur golf is um I’ve grown grown a lot myself and I’ve kind of found that I that I can hang with these guys and um yeah so just super pumped for what’s coming up impressive to watch and Charlie uh has been saying that you were a dog but spelling it Georgia dog like D- Ag Gez, you definitely showed a lot of dog mentality out there. And Charlie wanted me to ask you, too. And he actually brought this up to me in our doc here. He said that your caddyy AJ, I guess, qualified for the US Minam. How did how did he do? Did you keep up with his play? I did. I keep up with him. Uh I’ve been texting him back and forth. Um he he was close to making match play. I think he missed it by a couple shots, but uh I also didn’t help. I like took a week off of his golf. Like he I don’t even know if he got the play all week cuz he was on the bag for me. So that one might have been on me, AJ. But um yeah, he’s a great player himself. So I’ve been I’ve been keeping in touch with him. He’s awesome. Talk about just the the dynamic or of all the teammates that you had on this team. Was I met was was Sasso the the uh the comedian of the entire team. It seems like he kept the energy pretty fun and light the entire week. Yeah, he’s No, he’s very high energy. Um yeah, he he he was always had a big smile on his face. Um, and then one one person I I guess I really didn’t get to meet him at the AM just cuz I played against him was Tommy. And he is hilarious. Just like straight face will just say something that’ll make all of us die for so long. Your mouth and try to keep it in. It was hilarious. Um, yeah, it was such a good group of guys. And then Cap will chime in. And then we had Stu with all the experience and he always he’s not afraid to say something. So, well, Stu is my age, man. It’s crazy. It’s uh he’s he’s he’s become quite the dang player. He was always a good player, but um gosh, him and Nathan Smith, what they’ve been able to do uh in the mid AM golf incredible. We got to get uh we got to get Stu to stop using that putter from off the greens. That guy when he lines it up, it’s uh it just feels like he’s going to make it. So, all right, M. So, I got a one last thing for you as we head out here with this interview. Appreciate your time, too. Uh I know you got a pretty busy schedule. You got homework, got all the things you got to do. Uh busy man. But uh as you as you turn the page and as we uh kind of look towards next year, I want to talk to you about the Masters, uh the US Open, the Open Championship. Uh of course, you’re heading to school. Uh I guess would this be next year? Where are we right now on the calendar? So, you got a whole another year of high school uh before you head to University of Georgia the following fall. So, I mean, you got a lot of big things coming. Are you just so pumped to uh to make your way over to Augusta? Yeah, super pumped. Um yeah, going to I not sure how many times I’ll be able to play it before, but going to try to play it as many times as I can. Um no, but uh definitely super grateful for that opportunity and then to play in another US Open. Um it’s it’s going to be super special. I kind of know what to expect now. Um and to go play some Lynx golf across the pond is also going to be awesome. So, uh, yeah, just got to keep things in perspective, keep keep playing well, keep working hard, and, uh, um, just keep posting good results, and just go have fun. You you may know the answer to this, and I’m trying to play it back in my head because every US amer always gets incredible pairings at the Masters and, I believe, the US Open, too. If Are you going to be playing with Rory next year, like at the Masters? I think so. And I actually have a pretty funny story about that. Um, uh, yeah. No, I think they think we’ll be paired with Rory if they they keep the trend up. And um I actually in the tour championship in 2016 in Atlanta, I went as um just as a fan and I was on on Sunday on hole four, he flicked me one of his Nike golf balls. It says Roars on the side and I still have it in my room. I kept it and uh yeah, I might have to play a little joke on him if he see if he does he know he doesn’t did he know it was you? No. Oh, no. This was in back in 2016. Oh, this is 2016. Gotcha. I would have been I would have been n years old. So, that makes me feel old, by the way. 2016 that you were 9 years old. Holy crap. That’s was my rookie year on the PJ tour. Wow, man. It’s it’s it’s crazy uh to see at that age now. Uh you’re you’re going to be playing with Rory coming off the Grand Slam. Uh maybe he won’t have nearly as much pressure as he’s already got that green jacket in his locker. Bro, I know. Yeah, but you playing with Roy. Who would be the other guy that you get paired with? Super. Is it randomly? Uh yeah, I’m random. I think it was Okay. I looked at the pairing last year just cuz I was curious. Yeah, cuz Vera played with uh he played with Scotty and JT, I think. Yeah. Something like that. So, it’ll be a fun pairing regardless. And then US All right. So, the US Open, uh you’ll play with potentially the US Open champ or will they go one, two, three in the world? Uh they’ll sometimes like randomly do that. Yeah, I I actually I have no idea how they do that, but um if I got paired with JJ, that’d be awesome, too. He He definitely It was funny. I was I was looking at the leaderboard uh when I was teeing off for my first round at the US Open and he was already in first and it was just like his week. He was like 400 through nine and I was like, “Dang, I got a tough tough order in front of me to chase that.” Well, that’ll be fun, man. So, you got that on the deck in April. You got the US Open and then the Open Championship is turning into like one of my favorite majors. That’s going to be a Royal Burkeale. Uh let’s let’s not let that one slide is one that you’re going to uh enjoy tremendously. The uh Burkeale I haven’t been there yet, but that’s where Jordan Speed won. Uh and that obviously is going to be an incredible experience. So uh congrats to you, man. That’s that’s quite the accomplishment to go out and do what you’ve done. Uh not only to to to win these events and play as well as you have, but it seems like you’re carrying this confidence uh with you into next year. So I can’t wait to see uh what else Mason How has in store. And I know we’re going to see a lot of that dog mentality. So, uh, yeah, exactly. Go dogs. All right, buddy. Thanks for joining us, Jason. Best of luck. See you Wednesday on the Smiley Show. Turning pro was a really cool deal for me. Having success as a pro, uh, failing as a pro, all of it. It It just enjoyed the experience a ton, and I just value being a professional golfer. Well, how much do you miss high leverage competitive golf? Yeah. A lot. Uh-huh. Thursday on the Smiley Show. It puts the players in really tough spots because really they are the ones that that get the negative effects from consumers gambling on me versus Charlie and we’re the ones that have to deal with the negative backlash of playing bad that day. It’s like, hey, you suck. It’s like I put you in my lineup or I had you head to head. So really the players get the backlash of of of it all. You know, I listen to this podcast. It’s really cool. All fans and subscribers, but make sure you like and subscribe. It’s cool to see what you guys are doing. I know golf fans appreciate it, but we we do too. So, please keep it up. For all the good people at YouTube, like and subscribe. You guys have some good takes, so I’m happy to come on and and shoot the