Golf Lessons from on a PGA TOUR Golf Bag with Mike Cromie

Michael Cromie is a former NCAA Division I golfer at the University of Georgia. After graduating from UGA, Mike played competitive golf for a short while, but pivoted away from the profession when PGA TOUR winner, Chris Kirk, hired him as a part-time caddy.

After some quick success together Mike decided to become a full-time caddy for Kirk and the Georgia couple has been together for multiple seasons since. In late 2025 Mike also worked for Scottie Scheffler when Scottie won the BMW Championship, and he joins #OntheMark to share lessons from Kirk and Scheffler. Apart from insights as to how Scottie and Chris approach practice, course management, and mindset, Mike also talks about the following keys to better golf:

The Biggest Mistake he sees Amateurs make – Carry Distance vs Total Distance and Distance Control. What PGA TOUR Professionals do well …
✔️ Adapting to Variable Enviroments and Hitting the Ball Pin-high.
✔️ Intensity and Purpose behind Preparation
✔️ Trusting your Instincts
✔️ Speaking Success
✔️ Managing Ego
✔️ Golf DNA and Understanding what you do Well
✔️ Short-Game Practice and Variety
✔️ Reading Greens and Putting, and
✔️ Pre-and-Post Round Routines, and Pre-Shot Routines.
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ABOUT ON THE MARK: Mark’s knowledge, insight and experience have made him a sought-after mind on the PGA and European tours. Through his career, he has taught and/or consulted to various Major Champions, PGA Tour winners and global Tour professionals such as: Larry Mize, Loren Roberts, Louis Oosthuizen, Patton Kizzire, Trevor Immelman, Charl Schwartzel, Scott Brown, Andrew Georgiou and Rourke can der Spuy. His golf teaching experience and anecdotal storytelling broadcasting style makes him a popular host for golf outings.

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You know, fans around the world, I often times feel like the best place to learn is from the guys who get to be inside the ropes, but they’re not as emotionally involved in golf shots as what the guys swinging the golf clubs do. And I’ve got one of those in Michael Chromy, PGA Tour Caddy for Chris Kirk, amongst others. Um, Michael, welcome to the show. How are you? Oh, great. Thank you for having me. It’s my pleasure, man. I I I’ve watched you operate over recent seasons here and in 2025, I watched you put on a masterclass as your guy was vying for the title there at the Rocket Classic in Detroit. And the more I’ve kind of watched you and then I talked with you a little bit in Greensboro towards the end of the season, you just kind of the I know Chris is kind of easygoing, but you sort of the quiet calm behind the whole thing and you’re very decisive in everything you do. So I I thought it was a no-brainer to get you on the show. Well, uh thank you. It’s very uh very nice of you to say and yeah, it’s um it’s been a pretty fun few years being on the bag for Chris and uh turning this into my profession. Um, obviously I love the game of golf. Been around it my entire life. And um, I still pinch myself every day that I get to go out there and and be out there with the best players in the world. Yeah. Not only is he good, folks, he’s humble, too. Okay, Mike. Uh, Michael, let’s let’s tee you off here. Um, every week on the PGA tour, you guys play in proams, right? And I know what proams are like because when I was teaching full-time, every amateur would be asking for advice to get better. And you see the AMS play. And look, you’ve played the game at a very high level and professionally in your experiences now as you look back maybe on the last few years. Proams, what is the biggest mistake you see amateurs make? The biggest mistake that I see most amateurs make. Everybody’s going to say short game and obviously everybody needs to work on that kind of stuff, but um to me it’s knowing how far they actually carry the ball. I knew you I knew I knew you were going there. Everybody everybody thinks that they hit it further than they do. They they go into their PJ tour supertore um or wherever and they they go in there and they hit on the Trackman and they see the total yardage and they’re like, “Oh, that’s how far I hit it.” Well, that’s not how far you carry it. And carry is is all that matters when you’re playing um high level golf and knowing how far to cover something. Um how far to stay short of something. Um, and you just take out so many hazards and you’ll hit more greens if you actually know exactly how far you’re flying it. I I want to add to this cuz you said high level golf. I almost want to say that even as some sort of handicapped club player, if you know how far you carry your seven iron and you can work off that, it’s really going to help because it’s massive. What people watching professional golf don’t realize is they don’t it doesn’t occur to them that most times you guys are playing to avoid stuff and not necessarily playing at something. You know, you standing on the tea and there’s a bunker down the road. You’re like, “Hey, that thing’s a 235. We’re going to try and get over or short of it.” So, it’s not like trying to fit one down the middle of the fairway because you make targets wider that way if you know how far the ball goes, right? Absolutely. You you aim small, you miss small. Um, and golf is obviously the higher level you get, the everybody hits very high quality shots, but how great you can become is how good your misses are. Yeah. Um, and that’s where the best players in the world, their misses are just on a very, very tight window compared to the average golfer um, back home. But yeah, I mean to your point of uh knowing how far if a 10 handicapper can hit a seven iron, if they know that it flies 160 yards, but in their brain they think it it flies 175 when they’re trying to hit shot into a par three and they’re already behind the eightball before they even hit the shot. Yeah. Let’s let’s let’s keep it here for a little bit because you got my brain going. The one thing I notice or when I watch someone like you and you’re advising the professional because the professional when they decided they’ll go ahead pull the club and go. But most time there’s a little indecision because of wind changes or whatever and then it’s your job to help them settle on something. A and and the pro is not afraid to go to one more club if they’re a little unsure because then they’ll look at the target and go, “Okay, it might be 175 flag, but if I hit this 190 cuz there’s room behind there pulling the extra club, I’m still okay.” So, you’re playing to ranges. It’s not necessarily one point. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, yeah, like if we have a back flag and greens are firm and we know we might only we have, let’s say, 180 yards, we only have five behind it, but greens are firm and we need to fly something no more than 75, it’s okay if we fly something 70 because it’s still going to get back there. Or vice versa, if it’s a front flag and we need to fly it past the hole, it’s okay to go ahead and do that. Um, yeah, it’s all it’s all situational and green firmness and um you know what all is around it. But um yeah, it’s it’s uh it’s wild out there looking back on it in moments where you have all this pressure and you know people are watching on TV and like they my wife tells me all the time she she can’t breathe sometimes and can’t can’t swallow water and um but in the moment you’re out there and you’re just like this is this is so much fun. Um being able to to make decisions when stuff’s on the line. I mean, that’s that’s why you’re out there. And uh yeah, you look back on it later like, man, I’m really glad I said that in the moment. Yeah, no kidding. One one more thing before we introduce you properly. Um, but but I’m loving this thing that the answer you gave about knowing how far you fly the golf ball. Tell the fans or the listeners to the show or the folks watching on YouTube. How well well first off what you’re doing before the round when you’re seeing how far the ball’s traveling on any given day because you know ball distance on the fly varies. And then how you keeping track real time track of every shot that’s hit in your yardage book. What club was at, where the wind was and how far the thing’s flown. would you please talk us through this distance control thing? Yeah, I mean it starts from honestly before you even arrive you need to look at where you’re going in the country. Um all these guys that have Trackman or Quads or whatever they use to calculate distance and they kind of all have their baseline numbers. Um so you know depending on where you’re going whether uh they’re at sea level or any kind of altitude you can kind of figure out okay the ball’s going to go you know 1% further this week just on altitude alone. And then you got temperature. if it’s hot or cold, you got to add a little bit of distance, take a little distance off. Um, and then as the week progresses, um, your Tuesday, Wednesday, even though they’re just practice rounds, like we’re go still going through our routines and trying to hit shots and like I make notes on I know exactly how far stuff flies on Tuesday, just like I do what they fly on Saturday afternoon. Um, and that way even if it’s not the same hole, I still have a frame of reference for, hey, we had this number on Wednesday with this exact win and this club flew this far. Like we we we’ve got those those exact notes. Um, so it’s more, you know, when you have the data, you can trust it. Um, and uh, that way cuz I I don’t think the PJ tour players get enough credit for how unbelievably well they do at adapting each week on different surfaces. Um I I think that the the common golfer may may not understand that just because they mostly probably play at their own club um week in week out and like and these guys they travel across the country playing different uh climates, different green surfaces um and they have to adapt every single week. That’s why that’s what makes PJ tour so cool is it’s not the uh the same court or um field every week, you know. It’s uh they’re they’re very good at adapting and and just because something worked last week doesn’t mean it’s going to work this week. So yeah. Um so yeah, they they do a great job throughout the week prepping and using Trackman numbers and and hitting shots and okay, this is my real feel at home. This this club should fly 183 yards, but this week it’s flying 186. And you just kind of are very aware of that and adjust throughout the week. And they got no problem too if it’s not going 183. They don’t try and force the issue. They’ll just change clubs. Yeah. Yes. Um absolutely. They will they will go they will go more uh no issue and that’s what some of the great players do. Um Chris is incredible at getting it pin high. Obviously the one we work for Scotty he’s incredible at getting it pin high. And both those guys both Chris and Scotty are very very comfortable and great at taking yardage off of um off of clubs which isn’t very comfortable. I mean, I um obviously never made it to this high of a level, but I I’ve really struggled with that and I never it’s probably one of the the main not main reasons, but I couldn’t make it out here because I wasn’t great at distance control. I always wanted to hit it hard. I hated taking distance off. So, um it’s it’s a hard skill to learn and these guys are obviously very good at it. Well, I’m going to tie the bow on the whole conversation that you kicked us us off with where you’re like the amateur golfer. And you know what? Everyone I’ve talked to, anyone at the highest level when they be with amateurs, they’re like they try, they think they hit the ball farther than what they do is the common answer from every elite golfer, right? And I want to close the loop here to say the professional or the elite golfer or Chris or Scotty, whoever you’ve worked for, they put their ego aside because the number on the bottom of the club doesn’t matter. Correct. matters is how far the ball flies in the air. Correct. Absolutely. Sensational. Okay, Michael, let’s introduce you. Um, for the folks who might not know who you are around the world, please tell us a little bit about you, how you came to where you are. So, yeah, Michael Chrome grew up Raleigh, North Carolina. Um, went to Green Hope High School, which, uh, alma mo of Brennan Todd, another PJ tour guy. um we were really good high school team and bunch of D1 players that came out of there and then was fortunate enough to go to the University of Georgia. Um where I became uh a little fish in a big pond and realized that I had a a heck of a lot to get better at. Um but from day one I was surrounded by like my freshman year Russell Henley, Harris English, Hudson Swaffford were all seniors. Um so got to hang out with them. Keith Mitchell was my roommate for all four years. and welcome to college golf. Slip you around the gills. Huh? That’ll wake you up really quick. If you thought you were good. Um, so yeah, just surrounded by just incredible players throughout uh my entire high school and college career that, you know, if you I’m a big believer in if you surround yourself with people that are better than you, it makes you better and makes you work harder. Um, iron sharpens iron. And I think that’s kind of been the Georgia mantra. And um it’s something that I think guys on tour, they surround themselves with other, you know, they they play practice rounds. They want to challenge each other. They want to gamble on Tuesday, Wednesday so that they can get better and um and you know, just constantly sharpen themselves. Um yeah, I grew up uh in Raleigh, went to Georgia. Do you mind do you mind if I interrupt you for a second? Go for it. because you’re being awfully humble and you’ve just shared a really good lesson for any golfer at any skill level watching this or listening. Um, you like iron sharpens iron. If you’re playing with people better than you, you’re going to get better. But I want to quickly with you investigate the shadow side of that cuz if you’re playing with people better than you, it’s hard. You’re going to get beaten up a bunch and it’s easy to get down on yourself. And the reality is no one plays good golf all the time. So, help us navigate, Michael. You know, those inevitable rough spots where it’s like, man, my game’s sucking. I’m in this environment where I’m aspirant. I want to get better, but gosh, life is just real hard right now and I’m down on myself. Yeah, I think, you know, it ultimately just comes deep inside you. Um, you know, I from my personal experience, like I I definitely went through hard times uh at Georgia when I wasn’t making the lineup and um you know, you’re just you’re going out there, you’re you feel like you’re playing okay and you’re just getting drumed. And uh you know I think I think all golfers that compete at a really high level are just psychotic because they have to be because they have to believe that they are the best player in the world which like there’s no there’s no way that you look at it from a career perspective of like that you should actually go after this goal. But we all are crazy and and think that we can make it. And um you know, everybody on tour had doubts. Absolutely. How could how could they not? They went through that, but they came over or they overcame them. And um you know, you just go through it as a junior golfer, as an amateur golfer, as a professional golfer, you got to you got to take your licks and uh and pick yourself back up. Um and you know, the best the guys that can do that the best, they will they will make it out there. Give us the reality of it, right? How you and Chris here in 2025 did what 20 how many how many events do you guys do ish? It’s a good question. Probably 20 20 something 23 24 something like that. Yeah, let’s let’s call it 20 just for easy arithmetic. Yeah. So, of the 20 events, tell the fans how often Chris was on top of his game and how many weeks he was sort of struggling to find something and just working hard. I would say I bet he would tell you he would probably be really brutally honest and tell you maybe one. Um and I would say I would say four or five. Um and it was a weird year for Chris this year. um he’s kind of like a he’s typically hot out of the gate where he starts out really fast um with Hawaii and Florida swing and um gets going and then this year kind of struggled a lot uh earlier in the year and I mean we we were going through it in the middle of May of trying to get things going and and get his game going and um try to make a run up the FedEx Cup and um you know it’s something that I think in golf and in life you’re never you’re never as good as you think you are and you’re never as far off as you think you are. Um and so when you’re when you’re in those ls, you just have to know it’ll just keep plugging just um you know, you just never know what day you’re going to wake up and all of a sudden things are going to click. And um fortunately for for Chris, he he got it going basically at Detroit was kind of the kickoff. Um and uh you know, he played great the rest of the summer um and almost made it to BMW. Yeah. sensational. Okay, I interrupted you because uh my mind does this sort of stuff, so forgive me. Um I do want to ask this before we get to things that the pros do well that our fans can learn from. Um what was cuz you were a good player, you know, you graduate Georgia. Um what was what was the turning point? What was the watershed that led you to go, “Okay, not for me. I’m going to pick up a bag and and get into golf that way.” Um it was kind of uh on accident I’d say. Um so lived here in Athens, Georgia. Chris and I uh became very good friends. Um and he was going through his sobriety and we would play golf all the time. Um and then the tour picked back up during co or after COVID. All my golf got shut down. So he asked me, he’s like, “Hey, why don’t you come caddy for me, make some money, learn some stuff.” Um and you know, you can go back and and go play your own golf when it starts back up. Because he always rotated Caddy. So, um, I hopped on the bag for the first event back at Colonial and the second event, he was actually the first alternate for the Hilton Head one. Um, so he went ahead and went to the Cornfree event and he actually won that one. Um, and then didn’t hop on the bag again until I think uh what was it? It was Sony. So, it was his last medical start where he had to finish in a two-way tie for third or better and he finished second. Um, and then, you know, was able to kind of I cattied probably six times that year and, uh, but used the money and went and played my own golf and kept going. Um, and then later that year, uh, had my first child. Um, didn’t get through Q school, but gave it one more year. And then, um, decided that after I didn’t get through Q school in 22, that it was time, all right, I’ve got a one-year-old at home. I got to go make some money, learn some stuff. So, I originally wasn’t going to caddy. Um, I told Chris I’d I’d rotate, stay in the rotation through the Florida swing, but after that I was going to have to go get a real job. And, um, he, uh, finished third in Hawaii, third in Palm Springs, and then I was going on job interviews. Actually got a job offer right before I left for the Florida swing, the first or Honda. And, uh, it was a great job offer, and, you know, would have had a great life. And um you know there’s nothing nothing wrong with it, but I just had this pit in my stomach of like am I really about to be out of the game of golf and um I actually called him on Tuesday of that week and told him it’s a no for right now. I want to see what happens with Chris and then he won that week. Um and then I’ve been full-time with him since. So uh it was pretty fun. I remember that week because I was on the call for ESPN Plus. He had a crazy finish. Yeah. Geez. Um of course Eric Cole was in the playoff there. Uhhuh. That wedge shot, man. into the final hole. Gosh, that’s I think I might have 1016 on 107 total and just stuffed it in there. Yeah, I mean it landed. It nearly flew right in and spun around the hole and it was the basically the kick in birdie to win. It was It was cool, too, because they had that big huge screen behind it. So, it was probably on a 5-second delay. So, because we couldn’t see it over that little bunker. Um, and but you could look back at the TV and see it perfectly and saw how close it was. We’re like, that was that was really cool. Well, now you’re still in the bag because clearly you’re good at what you do. So, uh, cool, cool, and cool that you would join us. All right. Um, funny twist in fate here. And that, you know, I’ve seen a lot of golf and every so often when I’ve got some time, I grab some videos of players, right? And on my Instagram account, the two most viewed golf swings are Scottish Heffler and Chris Kirk. Interesting. That’s funny. Yeah. Okay. And what’s even more interesting, fans, is that Michael has gotten to work for both of them. Right. Okay. So, the the challenge I gave you was to share things that professionals do well that any amateur can apply to their game. Okay. So, I’m going to sort of steer you a little bit here, Michael. Um, you were a week on the bag with Scotty. He wins. Okay. In a signature event, which turned out nice for you. Um, was nice. something Scotty does because you’ve seen it now. You’ve had the front row seat. So, so, so, so share something about Scotty Sheffer, please. Um, I would say the biggest takeaway uh especially from a pre-ournament perspective when it comes to prep um was just his intensity um with every shot in practice, how every every shot that he hit had a purpose. Um, and most like Chris is every shot has a purpose, but like it’s it’s on another level uh a little bit with, you know, going around and hitting chip shots and like if he doesn’t hit a chip shot the way that he wants you can tell it he wants he wants another shot at it because he didn’t he wasn’t satisfied with that one. Um, you know, it’s not uh every shot on the range like it has a purpose. he’s trying to hit a certain certain number instead of just, you know, he might have feels and things like that, but like that ball when it comes off the face, it is intentional. Um, and you can just like you just feel it um being around him of the intensity level being being very very focused and uh it was cool. It was cool to be a part of for for a week. It’s cool you see cool you’d say that because I made the comparison year recently because now we’re in the era and for the folks listening down the track. It’s 2025. Scotty’s on the doorstep of probably winning the player of the year award again. Um and I’ve made the comparison to Tiger Woods, not necessarily in the statistics, but just the mindset of that human being is unreal when you’re inside the ropes. Huh. It is. Um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s very cool to be a part of um and kind of get into his brain for a week um and build some trust with him and um yeah, it’s it was a wild experience. Um you know, I got the call Sunday night uh right after the disappointment of being 51st with Chris and um obviously it was under uh difficult circumstances knowing that Ted wasn’t able to work. So, um, you know, it was a amazing opportunity. Um, and you felt for I felt for my my really good friend Ted. Um, but obviously wanted to serve him well and and go do a good job. And, um, but yeah, it was, you know, just from a when I talk intensity, too of um, you know, when we’re scouting the golf course, it was unique, too, because both of us have never been there, so we’re both learning the golf course, and I don’t know how he preps and things like that. So, I’m asking tons of questions just, you know, trying to do do the best job I can without over cattying because the last thing Scotty needs is somebody to to over caddy and uh, you know, just point stuff out and practice rounds and um, discussing stuff and he he wants to be challenged and and he wants you to say stuff of, you know, to get his brain aware of certain things and um, and he wants all the information to be able to to go out and execute and hit the best shot that he What fascinates me about him and this is a lesson and again this is me calling it from 30 yards away from you guys and where you’ve been on the bag but what’s fascinating about Sheffller is he hardly ever shortsides himself even with a wedge or something in hand just eek onto the safe side of the flag so he never really puts undue pressure on himself when he’s hitting iron shots as well I agree um and you know he everyone talks about his ball striking and how elite he is and it’s obviously ridiculous. Um, but early in the week I was I just couldn’t believe how great his short game was and I think it’s just cuz nobody really talks about it but um you know I I didn’t really look at the stats for that week but I he had to be top five in short game. Um and obviously the chip in on 17 was just ridiculous. So, um, yeah, it’s it’s all assets. For the folks who didn’t see that chip in, downhill, long path three, difficult, number of mistakes have been made. Green was firm, water, short and right. Scotty hits it long and left in the miss. So, so yeah, it wasn’t an easy chip shoty hold, but there wasn’t the disaster of the rinsed golf ball in the water on the 71st. Correct. And like, you know, as far as prep goes, like we he hit that chip shot in on Tuesday. Like, we knew what it did. We couldn’t keep it on the green on Tuesday. It was so fast. So, I mean, he knew exactly what it did. It wasn’t It wasn’t It wasn’t blind luck that he knew what that ball was doing. Um, from a prep perspective, that’s fantastic. Okay. Um, I I I sort of led you there a little bit. How about you share something else that you see from being on the bag close to these guys? Something the amateur golfers watching could learn. I think uh in this day and age with you know you’ve got your all these gadgets out there that you can buy on Amazon. You got all this information at your fingertips of trying stuff. Um I think the greats are very very consistent in what they do day in day out. Um where they have their routines, they trust what they’re doing. They’re not going to go and reinvent the wheel. um try crazy new feels and um you know basically try something new every week if it doesn’t work the previous week kind of thing. Um and I think the great are very very consistent with how they practice. Um and it’s boring but it’s it’s being disciplined and when you’re disciplined in practice you’re disciplined out on the golf course. You know you know what the ball is going to do. Um and if things get off you know kind of how to get back to your baseline. Um whereas um you know a lot of guys I mean this was probably my biggest bugaboo. The second I saw some new thing on Amazon that I thought would help my golf swing. I’d buy that thing and you know go try it on the range and um you know I was never consistent and um it definitely hurt me. So I think I think guys that make it to that extremely high level the reason that they stay up there is when they get off they know how to get back to their zero. Um which is a is a hard thing to do. I I would almost add to that, you know, in my experiences on the tour, the top level players, they know exactly who they are, and when they’re taking insight from a caddy or a coach or whatever, it’s like they they they’re okay with saying no. Absolutely. Where where the guys who looking to become the top player, they got like rabbit ears and they’re trying anything that’s that’s coming along. Like they watch that doing this, they try the same thing. 100%. I mean, Chris is uh is the perfect example of that, of less is more. Um, and that’s kind of how I was able to start catting for him is, you know, he he trusts his instincts like he he wants to trust his instincts. So, it’s for me, my job is to bring his instincts out. Um, and, you know, so that he can trust it more. So, I I always kind of revert back to all these guys are incredibly talented if they’re out here already. So they know how to play golf. Like you you don’t need to overcatt these guys. You don’t need to put information in their heads that they don’t need to know. Um you know, you’re not going out there on a Tuesday, hey, we can’t hit it over here. You know what I mean? Like they they know what they’re doing. Um so with Chris, it’s it’s all about, you know, asking, all right, we’ve got our front number, got our hole. Just asking simple questions like, okay, uh how far do you want to fly this? Greens are firm. We’ve got 175 to the hole. He comes up with the answer, 171. I said, “Perfect. All right. How far how far is that playing with this wind? Uh, it’s going to be a 165 shot. Perfect. Go.” You know, it’s it’s him coming up with the answers that I ask the question on. And I’ve got my answers if he does want my opinion. But um I try to get them to come up with the answers, them say it out loud, and um that way it it to me if if I’m putting numbers in their head, it they don’t they might not own it. Um they might not trust it as much. And um I think I think there’s something to be said for for trusting what you come up with and it turns your brain on. No kidding. Uh I’m asking you for your opinion on this in like I’m maybe it’s my faith but I believe that faith comes by hearing right and if you’re hearing something especially if you’re saying it or if you’re speaking it because you’ve used the word intensity or intent with Scotty Jordan man Michael Gley just goes yes no yes yes no no. Jordan’s going the whole time because correct almost to me like he’s talking himself into what’s about to happen. Would you agree with that? Absolutely. Yeah. And and that’s what uh Growler does and what he’s so good at is he’s obviously got a Jordan has one of the most creative minds uh in golf and uh Growler has to maybe rein that in a little bit and you know keep them keep them pointed straight and um he’s incredibly talented and he talks through stuff and getting it out loud. You know, a lot of a lot of people might be external processors, but we’re we’re on a golf course supposed to be quiet. You know, you’re not not supposed to be be talking out loud and doing all this stuff. But in in reality, if you talk it out loud and you if you just physically go out there, if you’re an amateur golfer and you tell the guy that you’re playing with, “All right, my target is this tree in the distance.” Just by saying that, it turns your brain on. Um, and you know, I try not to get too into the weeds with targets with Chris because what I might say is a target he might not like. He might like something two yards different. And like I’m not going to be nitpicky as long as it’s in the general direction and he likes what he likes. So, um, because every everybody likes something different and so it’s just about getting your guy to focus on the right thing. Um, and then when they say it out loud, then they can own it easier. Love it. Um, you said something earlier I want to go and revisit where you said the number may be 171, but you said, “Okay, the wind’s making it 165 or whatever the case might be or firmness in the greens. We’re playing a different landing number, carry number to get back to your original observation.” um how when when you and the player are doing that sort of thing. I guess where I’m trying to go to with this, Michael, is that the number that you laser is not necessarily the number it has to go in the air. And it’s amazing to me when I watch amateur golfers, they pop out the carts, they don’t stand next to the ball, they’re doing it from the card, so they’re probably off by like four or five yards anyway. and they laser the flag, they’re like, “Okay, it’s 155.” But then it might be playing 150 because of the wind or 160 because of the wind. So, so there’s all this stuff where you guys have got again the situation where it’s more exact or you like it might say 175 on the radar, but given conditions, we’re playing it differently. Please, please. Correct. Well, especially rangefinder golf, too. you know, let’s say you have 165, but it’s a front flag, so you only have 160 cover, you know, versus a 165 flag that’s in the back, and you’ve got 20 short of it. You know, those are probably two different clubs that you’re hitting. Yeah. Um, as far as as we call it rangefinder golf. Um, and it’s interesting. We kind of fell into this at Valhalla last year where we could use rangefinders in the PGA. Um, and while it can be convenient at times, we definitely caught ourselves playing rangefinder golf a little bit where we didn’t go through our normal like, okay, you you could just because we already have the total number, which you know, every week for those that don’t know on tour, we go to uh sprinkler heads, base it off, that’s our front number, and then we add on whatever the pin is. So, we’re always working from the front number to the pin. So, when you start at the pin, you know, working backwards, it just kind of messed with our routine a little bit. And uh you know it’s range runners are great. They save time. They give you the exact number. But you do have to do more than just know exactly how far it is. Um and you know if your club has a pin sheet or at least a front uh middle back coloring system. You just got to take all that into account of know that you got either room in front of it or behind it um to make a better decision. Love it. and help us too because the mistake that I see people make and the one thing you guys never do in fact for the folks who don’t know um there’s this thing amongst the pro golfers and the caddies where the pros are responsible for left and right misses and the caddies are responsible for long and short misses. You’re laughing because I’m kind of right kind of. Yeah. All right. So, with that being said, I feel like a lot of golfers misjudge how much wind helps and how much wind hurts. And I feel like a lot of club golfers, they give the wind over their back, that helping wind a way too much credit because it doesn’t help that much. It does. Yeah, I totally agree. Um, you know, everybody says I think a lot of people tried to say this formula of like it’s kind of whatever. Let’s say it’s 10 miles an hour. If it’s 10 miles an hour of help, it’s like five yards of help or yeah, 10 yards 10 10 miles an hour downwind, it’s five yards of help. If it’s 10 miles an hour into, it’s 10 yards of her. It’s like almost double. So, but again, it’s kind of back to the ego thing of of, you know, wanting to hit the lesser club versus the longer club. When you feel it down, you’re like, “Oh, I can get this there. I can get this help.” Um, and you know, it’s it’s hard when you feel that win behind you of and innately too as golfers, you don’t want to go long. So, when you feel that help, you’re you’re instinctively like, “Okay, it’s okay if it’s short kind of thing, and I’m going to hit this one a little harder. See if I can get that help.” Um, but yeah, it’s it’s all nuance. It’s also shot shape dependent, too. Um, like Chris is obviously a drawer of the golf ball. So, when we’re at 9:00, we do a clock system for wind. So, directly off the left shouldn’t be helping, shouldn’t be hurting. For Chris, 9:00 is hurting wind because he turns it back into the wind. Um, so that’s always something that we’re battling out there of like, all right, if this is straight across, then we actually have to add a couple yards to this. if we do have help, even if it’s, you know, 8:30, it’s really just neutral. It’s not even help. Um, so it’s just kind of always being aware of that when we’re out there in situations. But then on the other hand, because I love the clock system, so for the listener, imagine 12 is down the line, six is behind you, nine is on your left for right-hander, and three is on your right. Chris moves the ball from right to left. So if you got something from 3:00 or 4:30, that’s helping a little bit given the big time. Yes. 3:00 would be help for him. Absolutely. like it’s more like 230 would be hurt. Um or would be neutral. So yes. Um exactly. There’s so many things where people can improve their games without even changing their golf swings, you know, because as I’ve% as I’ve watched Chris swings evolve over the years, it’s changed a little. You know, he used to a big loopy hook. Now it’s a draw and it’s a little tighter. Um but you can still see his DNA. You know, he hasn’t changed himself completely. So I I’m almost of the opinion and I want you to comment that amateurs would be best served if the adjustments they’re making to what they’re they’re doing it’s not some massive overall you’re taking what you can do consistently and you just make fine adjustments to tighten that up. Would you agree? Absolutely. Um yes absolutely. You know if you’re a fader of the ball or a draw of the ball simple little thing is okay I’m a I’m a fader of the ball and that’s my shot shape 100% of the time. That’s fine. Don’t you don’t need to go hit a draw. Obviously, you can tighten it, but you know, do a challenge with yourself where you’ve got to hit five shots in a row that start left of the flag and don’t cross the line of the flag so it stays on the the cutting side of the hole. Um, and same vice versa for a draw. And that way, you kind of get rid of your bigger misses. Um, and it starts to narrow in. But it’s just little things like that. Um, you know, your your DNA is a big deal in golf as far as how you’ve learned how to play and um your instincts are a big deal. You know, you need to trust you’ve been if you’ve been playing golf for whether it’s for a year or 10 years, you have um you have memories, you have feels, you know, kind of what stuff does. Um, and I don’t think people take enough credit for their own belief and their own Yeah. Um, trusting. You know, you get told from all these people, you’re doing this wrong, you’re doing that wrong. Well, you know what? You’re you’re a human being. You can go out and do it. You know, like if these guys can do it, they started from nothing. Why can’t Why can’t you figure out how to go hit a golf shot? Yeah, you’re preaching, Riff. Um, how about this? Professional short games. I I don’t You talked about Scotty and Scotty can seriously chip, right? But but every single one of the guys at the highest level, their short games are seriously good and they work on their short games a lot. Absolutely. Um it’s Chris is actually it’s probably the one part of the game that he actually likes to practice. Like everything else he’s you know he knows he needs to practice but he he loves to hit short game shots and get creative and um you know try different lies and um you know work around an entire green. Like that’s something he does all the time. Uh, I’m actually out of the UG golf course right now. And he’ll go around this chip and green and just work his way around it literally 360 degrees and hit shots from different lies, different um stances, uh, different pins and, you know, try to recreate stuff on the golf course that you’re going to have because you never have those perfect lies and those easy chip shots. Um, you know, the only way that you can you can become a great short game player in my opinion is with variety and understanding what lies can do. when you get in the rough, you got to be able to read a lie. You know, you you only get how that ball’s going to come out. You have to you have to learn that through, you know, shots and shots and shots and and figuring out, okay, this lie looks like it’s into the grain. It’s going to come out a little slower. This lie is sitting down. I got to create this angle on this shot that um you know, there’s just there’s no one way to hit a short game shot. So, you got to create as many many chances as you can. Yeah. Um, one more thing on the short game. I don’t think amateur golfers practice their putting enough. Help them and tell them how much and Scotty and in fact everyone on the tour how much time they spend on the putting. A ton. Um, I mean you if if you’ve ever been to a tour event on a Wednesday uh proam day, I mean it is impossible to find a spot. And it’s not even because the amateur partners are there. because, you know, you have either people warming up for the round or people that are going to be playing later and they’re getting their work in now and it’s they’re on the short, they’re on the putting green and um because they know ultimately that that is that is the decider coming down the stretch of what wins golf tournaments. Um, and you know what can define careers. Um, and yeah, it’s it’s wild how you know, you’ll be playing um, I remember Cam Young vividly this year at Hilton Head. Uh, we played with him the first two days and Chris was hitting it really really solid but wasn’t making a ton. Um, and Cam was hitting it uh, kind of he was driving it great but wasn’t hitting many greens and he was making everything and it was unbelievable. And literally as a as a playing partner, you’re like, man, like if I could just get one of these plus to drop like Cam’s but putting and then you look at it and he’s number one in strokes and he’s beating you on the week and you’re like, man, I felt like I beat him by two or three shots each day and you look up and he’s beating you. Um, and I’m that’s why, you know, the Ryder Cup just happened and you want to talk about being able to kind of flip the script and get under guy’s skin. If you can if you can be out of a hole but somehow tie a hole, it just it wears on you. Um and you know it gets under their skin and and ultimately you can you can take him down that he made that sweet putt in the lost hole to get the one point. Yes. It was it was wild looking at his uh his putting stats this year. He’s because he was never you never really thought of him as a as a as a good putter and then after Hilton had I looked at his putting stats for the year and he’s puted unbelievable this year. So whatever he’s done um has clearly worked. Well, he finally got the victory, too, on the heels of that putting you point out, you know, championship. Okay. I’ve kept you for a long time. I appreciate your time. I do want to I do want to ask you this, though, because look, not every amateur golfer has the luxury of having a good warm-up. All right. But I want you to w cuz here’s the reality. If you don’t loosen up at least or hit a few shots, you can’t expect greatness from T1. If it does, it’s actually Agreed. Agreed. So, help us walk us through what a pre-round routine is for Chris Kirk. Pre- round routine is he will show up typically about 55 minutes, 50 minutes before se time. Um he’ll show up on the putting green. Um and we’ll have uh all I’ve set up already a straight putt with um either like a putting template. Um it’s kind of like just a a six-foot straight putt trying to kind of get your bearings um calibrated. for you. Uh, you know, get your get your face at the center of the hole. You know, you might have a tea in the ground. Make sure your arc’s good. And they do this every day, huh? And they do every day stuff every day. Yep. Every day. They don’t overdo it, though. That’s the other thing, too, is don’t go out there and do it for an hour and sit on the same place and hit the same putt over and over. It’s like, all right, this is a straight putt. My face is square. I’m hitting it in the middle of the hole. You’re you’re calibrated after 10 putts. So, all right. Now, you’re going to go hit a bunch of variety of putts. Um, so that’s what he’ll do. He’ll start out with that six-footer and then, um, he’ll kind of work around the green. He’ll do some short putts, do some mid-length, do some lag, then he’ll grab a 60, uh, head over to the short game area for about 10 10 minutes or so, and then arrive to the range, usually around 30 minutes prior. Um, and then he’ll just go through the bag. He goes uh 60, 56, um pitching wedge, 8 iron, 6 iron, 4 iron, 5wood, 3-wood, driver. Um every single time all those those even number clubs um and he probably hits during that time. Is he working hard in his golf swing or is he just hitting golf balls and watching? He’s getting loose. He’s getting loose. He’s getting loose. Um he uh occasionally, you know, if he’s got a feel going his golf swing, if uh Scott Hamilton has him working on something or trying to feel a feel of, you know, as incredible as his rhythm is, a lot of the the stuff he works on is he’ll do that pause drill where he’ll he can just pull it up there, stop at the top. I think you saw it when we were uh warming up for that playoff and put that up. It got like three million views, by the way. Yeah, it was unbelievable. Um, so yeah, he does that all the time. And, um, it just allows his club to come down. Obviously, when you’re in contention, you got adrenaline going, it’s easy to get quick. So, um, if you can, you know, stay up at the top a little bit longer. But for him, if if he has that pause, just everything falls into place and is synced up. Um, so he’ll occasionally do that with some shorter clubs, but, um, you know, it’s it’s six to eight balls with each club, I’d say, at most. Um, and it’s strictly just getting loose. And then, you know, as you get into the longer clubs, he’ll he might try to his first driver, he’s typically just a normal swing. And then as he gets into the second, third, fourth driver, he might try to kind of ramp up the speed a little bit just to really get loose. Um and and then he’ll for the last one or two, he’ll dial it back down to normal, but that way he’s kind of he’s got his speed um up there. So, um yeah, it’s it’s not anything crazy. It’s not this two-hour long crazy thing. Um, and uh, you know, it’s like I said, uh, earlier, it’s it’s super consistent. It’s the exact same every week. Um, you know, never flush it. And, and I would say this too to the amateur golfer, just because you have a great warm-up session does not mean you were going to go out and flush it. And if anything, it almost it almost like gives you false confidence and you make worse decisions right out of the gate because you’re like, “Oh, I’m flushing it today. I’m going to go out this flag.” versus some of Chris’s best rounds have been from one of some of the worst range sessions I’ve seen seen him had. Um, just because he, you know, he doesn’t worry about if he’s hitting it bad on the range or not. It’s strictly a warm-up and, you know, nothing changes when you get to that first te. You’re still going to go through your process. You’re going to think through the shot and you’re going to go. Um, so yeah, I almost like don’t like great warm-up sessions because it’s it’s like a false false uh confidence kind of thing. Liberated a whole bunch of golfers. Okay, real quick. One more. Um, Scotty Sheffler and his molded grip six iron. Sixiron or seven iron. You’ve you’ve seen I mean tell folks how much he checks how how he holds the golf club every single time. That’s cool. It’s uh it’s super consistent. Yeah, we warmed up with it every day. um it’s in the bag and then he once he gets to the sixiron he’ll probably hit four or five shots with it. Nothing crazy. Um but again, back to my kind of theme, he does it every day. Um I think he said he’s been doing it since he’s been 10 years old. So if you can imagine that of it’s not going out there and regripping and hitting a thousand golf balls a day with it. It’s hitting 5 to 10 a day, but you if you do it day after day after day after day, by the end of the year, you’re going to be at, you know, 5,000 shots with it. And all of a sudden, your golf swing and your grip is in a great spot. It’s like investing cool. Like investing money is like a cumulative kind of an effect. That’s a great way to think about it. Compounding interest. Yeah, there you go. Mike, you’re a beauty, man. Um, I know you’re on Instagram. Thanks for your time. Please tell the folks where they can find you because I’m sure folks will be very interested now. Uh, I think it’s just Michael P. Chrommy. Um, so it’s just Michael Chromy but with a P in the middle. And Chromy is C R O M I E. Enjoy your time off. Are you guys up any in the fall? Are you are you pretty well done for the season? I think we’re going to play RSM. Um, kind of taking it light this fall, which um is a welcome break after kind of a grueling year. So, um, yeah, we’ll be ready to roll come January. Well, I appreciate you very much for joining us. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me.