PGA Tour Veteran Fred Funk | Great Canadian Sports Show | Ep 164
PGA Tour veteran Fred Funk and renowned golf teacher and analyst Peter Kostis recently collaborated on a golf clinic attended by Joe Tilley. Kostis shared innovative teaching ideas, while Funk showcased the remarkable swing that propelled him to success, notably during his later years. As one of the PGA Tour’s straightest drivers, Funk recounted his impressive victory at The Players Championship in 2005 at the age of 48. The discussion also touched on the impact of the LIV Tour and the PGA’s necessary response. Funk expressed his perspective on addressing distance concerns not by deadening golf balls but by innovating within the clubs themselves, presenting a unique alternative for consideration.
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Joe Tilly’s Great Canadian sports show is brought to you by Air Patrol North visit Air Patrol north.com it up a couple of professional golfing Legends were at the elra club in new wo viarta Mexico to put on a clinic Fred Funk who has 29 professional victories on his
Resume and Peter cess a renowned teacher who spent 25 years as a TV golf analyst cus whose students include Paul Casey Steve elkington and Bernard Langer show he could hit the ball 200 yard while sitting down he has developed a number of teaching AIDS including the water bag
To develop a solid and consistent swing and I can feel this going right up behind my head I’m staying centered I’m rotating drop and rotate swing and rotate drop and rotate and you learn to get a full golf swing from your feet all the way up to your hands Funk
Had most of his success later in his career winning the Players Championship at 48 he’s also a nine-time title holder on the champions tour including three Majors one of the straightest Shooters the game has seen Funk jar a 90 yard wedge for us I got a chance to chat with Fred we
Talked about deadening golf balls the effect of the live tour on the PGA and I asked him what led to all that success later in his career it was a belief in myself more than anything else and a comfort Comfort level that I got to
Where I expected to play well I had a game that I could play well with and and I learned that my method was good enough to to post really good scores and compete out there so it relaxed me and it just gave me I finally just got to a
Comfort level not every week obviously I mean I had I still lost the game every now and then but um you know I always stayed within I had one swing thought and I used that swing thought for probably 10 straight years never varied
I just if I had a bad day I stuck with it good day I stuck with it and um and it was great so I was just hitting the ball solid and when I had a a hot putter um it was and and I got to a point where
I just love being out there so it was it was um that was a fun 10 years I watched that that when you had a TPC recently and uh tell us about your thoughts as you as you came down the final day that final few holes in that final day well
The final day I had to play uh 32 holes on Monday and a lot of people don’t remember we had to go to Monday and we wake up in the morning and it’s blowing 35 30 35 we had a 42 mph gust and brutal conditions for a course that we had so
Much rain on you’re not getting any roll which was actually made that part a little easier but the rough hadn’t been mowed in 5 days and it was really deep so premium was accuracy off the te and I didn’t miss a fairway I actually never missed a fairway I missed one in the
First cut I never got into the high high stuff all week and I had control of my golf ball that day I remember on the second shot I hit a shot where I flighted an N iron in on six and um I went I got it and my caty go what do you
What do you got I said I got control my ball he says oh that’s good so I ended up uh I ended up posting a 71 to finish that third round and then we didn’t repair went back out so we had leaders all over the golf course and um I was I
Saw I was about three back I was on the seventh hole and I told my caddy and I said uh hey hey if I can make some birdies I can get back in this thing he said good time to start well I did I I birdied seven eight 10 made a great par
On par five 11 birdie uh 12 13 and now I mistakenly saw a board and I’m three up and oh crap and then I it was tough conditions and and obviously like I was saying but I three putted 14 I three- putted 15 I missed an eagle put from 20
Ft on 16 but made birdie go to 17 I got it on the green which I was one of the few to get it on a green it was blown in and I three three puted I hit a terrible second putt it was one of those wish
Strokes so when I had that five six footer on the last hole for to save my par to to keep the lead over at that point over Layman who was finish and uh um verplank and um one I’m drawing a blank right now and uh uh anyway I’m got over that Putt and
Because I hit such a bad putt on 17 I said just put a good stroke on it I can live if it doesn’t go in I think but at least put a good stroke on it and I did and I knew I made it when I hit it and
Then I dodged um the last two coming in and uh one by one so yeah it was a to win that big a tournament at my home base at that point and it was it was amazing really you know you talked a a little bit about your your the physical issues that
You’ve had over the last few years but uh it seems that that seems to be behind you now no no I I uh I I’m in less pain um I just I just lost 30 yards off the te and I I can’t compete where I hit it
Uh if I could even the days I feel really good I just can’t generate the speed that I had not that I was fast before but now I’m really slow and um I still working at it I can’t work at it as hard as I can and and my wrist right
Now is really a mess um so that that could be the career Ender if if it that that get better because I I it just some days it hurts so bad I can’t even hold the club much I swing it so so um I I got to get something done with that yeah
Time will tell on that one I want to just talk again like looking back at your career consistency especially off the te I mean five years in a row you you were number one on the tour I think in in driving accuracy uh 13 out of 14
Years I believe you made the top five on the PGH driver accuracy what was it about your your your t- shots that that made you so Invincible that way well just straight I learned to hit it straight I never had a lot of speed so I
Didn’t have a lot of lag and also if you don’t hit it that far in the air it doesn’t have as much dispersion anyway so it the further you hit it the more it’s going to get sideways off the golf course but I always hit the ball
Straight I I taught myself the swing from the one move to better Golf and my down swing was the same plane as my back swing so I didn’t have any variance there I didn’t have many X factors that were going to take it off course so I
Always hit the ball I didn’t really curve it much I didn’t hit big draws I didn’t hit big slices it was pulls and pushes little draws little Fades um so everything was minute including the distance but but I was averaging about 272 to 278 back in those days depending
Which was good I could compete at that and I was fine and that’s when we didn’t have the guys know 275 average then nowadays that’ be dead last and I was back in the pack but the distance between me and the ne the longest guys
Was maybe 20 yards now it’s 80 yards you know it’s it’s crazy how far they’re hitting it my son’s one of those guys he he hits it so far and um and he’s trying to get out there he’s in the finals like I was saying this week and he flies at
320 yards it’s it’s it’s unbelievable so uh that’s the nature of the game now and now they want to back the ball down which I’m totally against I said just make the driver smaller make the head smaller keep the ball all the way it is
And now you got to hit it dead center not you the most forgiving Club in the bag is the driver right now it’s the biggest head the lightest head the longest Club light chaps Just Launch it it’s teed up everything makes it easy so these guys have just learn that swing as
Hard as they can they’re going to hit it somewhere on the face and it’s going to get the hell out there well now you make a smaller one and you got you got to hit it back on like when they had screws on the prons you had to hit it dead dead in
The screws to get everything out of it you’re going to have to do that again if they if that’s what I think would be the fix I I think backing the ball down is not good what you put the lip tour any thoughts on the LI yeah the the the
Unfortunately we’re just in a really the tour was in a great spot before Liv came along we had so many great young guys that were playing good and beating each other every week and and they were a great group of guys and then they handpicked you know picked a couple guys
Off and then we just got they just got John ROM but uh it’s it’s really making a mess of things because we can’t can’t compete with that kind of money how do you say no to that money for one I mean you’re set it’s generational money Harold
Warner said that and I think it was the best and he was the first one he said well we don’t have to play as much and and we’re not his road and it’s all about the family and all this other stuff bull crap it’s all about the money
And and he was the first one who says it’s about the money and and that’s what it is all about and everybody knows that but uh I don’t know where it’s going to go the tour’s the tour’s uh behind eightball right now they don’t have the leverage anymore they were always the
Bully on the Block and they’re not the bully anymore um they’re trying to be but they’re not and the players have got to figure the I think the players have got to get there and figure out how they’re going to do this the sponsors didn’t sign on so a good example Wells
Fargo just pulled out they didn’t want to be an elevated event which is $20 million event they were 10 million so they signed up for 10 now all of a sudden they in that contract all this crap happens and now they’re they say you’re going to be a designated event
You need $20 million which costs about 30 million to be a sponsor or whatever and they said we don’t want to be and they said well you’re going to be well they said okay then we’re we’re we’ll sponsor this and we’re out 2025 domino effect may happen there guys so what
Happens there it’s not sustainable I don’t know where it’s going to go I’m I’m just hoping my son if he qualifies this week and and makes it to the corn Ferry or the five spots that go straight to the tour that there’s one two three years down the
Road here we still have a tour you know and it’s just not going to be these Elite guys a small little hand group that are protecting their own rear ends and saying we got this and they don’t care about the guys that are the one 100th on the money list or the corn
Fairy guys we need to we need to keep having a feeder system and and make it healthy you gota you got to Showcase these young you don’t know who’s going to be the next John ROM or the next maxom or you know these household names Cameron Smith and all these guys so
That’s how they not very very some you get a guy like tiger just come or Phil that just comes out and and they’re the guy so uh anyway it’s a mess uh we got a lot of decisions to go or they have a lot of decisions to go through to figure
This out I’m worried about the Champions forour because the Champions forour might be very enticing for a lot of these companies where they can drop down and pay three three and a half million dollar sponsor money for a weak tournament and have a great time problem is if they do that two or
Three times the tour the mother ship’s going to say bye-bye bye-bye to the senior tour so we can’t steal from them so we can give them tournaments we can’t take so we’ll see well thank you for it really appreciate it buddy thank you so much what our kids breathe matters more
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