Fairways of Life is joined by Justin Lower, a PGA Tour Player who has seen his star steadily rise in recent years grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour and now culminating in a T3 finish at the Mexico Open. What motivates Justin to keep working hard and keep trending upward in a way that could soon lead to a breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour?
Uh delighted to Welcome to the program Justin low playing on the PGA tour 70 PGA Tour starts to his credit as you had six top 10 including a tie for third this past week in Mexico’s best finish on the PGA tour 121 starts in the corn
Fairy tour as well nine top 10 out there he is a multiple time winner amongst the professional ranks as he makes his way uh through this game pleasure to welcome in to the show Justin how you doing are you getting ready to go out today I am Matt yeah thanks for having
Me and what’s going on today it’s play have you by the way are you you have a proam or you just practicing yeah yeah I have a proam it’s not until 240 or something like that so yeah I’ll just uh I’ll go join my wife and daughter for breakfast here soon and
Then uh just kind of take it easy this morning and start practicing sometime mid to late morning what happened with your tie for third at Mexico how would you describe it um it’s a good question uh exciting yet kind of disappointing in the end um yeah
It was it was fun just kind of I was kind of making a run I had it to 15 under uh with three holes to go and I thought if I can 16 and 17 are very difficult holes if I could somehow get through those two unscathed and maybe
Make something happen on 18 18 is a very reachable par five um maybe post a number close to that 17 number uh maybe possibly that 18 number and make the make the leaders think about it a little bit coming down but uh unfortunately
Wasn’t able to do that but uh a T3 is uh never a bad week on the PJ tour no that that’s what I want to ask you about because a T3 on the PJ tour obviously is never a bad week but I wonder if it also represents in your mind and in your
Emotions an Ascension and is do you view it that way that this is a path that you’re on and each time you get closer to that Golden Ring it’s you’re learning something and yes sooner or later you’re going to break through on that what are your thoughts yeah absolutely it’s um kind of
The way my whole career has gone for sure um I always kind of have kind of some not low periods but just kind of flat lines a little bit and then um some huge spikes every now and then and it’s kind of been that way ever since I was
In high school and college and kind of through amateur golf and um it’s definitely been that way through uh professional golf as well so yeah hopefully looking to just build off of it and just kind of go from there Justin went to Malone University he in fact was
A first ballot Hall of Fame member for Malone University the 2010 NAIA Champion as well Justin you strike me when I W I’ve watched you play over the years that you you strike me as having this grittiness about you and and I mean this respectfully but there’s you you play
Almost as if to my eyes as a fan that you have like a chip on your shoulder how would you describe your disposition uh yeah I probably a little bit of a chip on the shoulder type of player um I like yeah I just I’m not your prototypical um like I never played
Any AJ gaas growing up I didn’t play uh I played mostly local junior golf and Regional junior golf I played a couple National events but nothing c i i was I I quite honestly I wasn’t very good um in junior golf and then um like I went to college and I thought
I was okay quickly learned I wasn’t wasn’t very good there either and I just kind of kept working at it and uh yeah just kind of put my nose to the Grind Zone grindstone type of thing and um eventually somehow made it out on the PJ
Tour so it just took a little longer than I thought it would that that somehow making it out on the PGA tour was obviously fired by a passion a commitment within yourself that you were going to make it when did you in your heart and mind say regardless of of how
I compare to competitors at this particular time in my life this is the path that I want I am going to play in the PGA Tour um it did I probably decided somewhere when I was like 15 16 17 um it it was always um kind of my dad ni’s
Dream to for us for me to make it to the PJ tour and kind of share that but uh um unfortunately I kind of shared it by myself but I mean uh yeah it was like it was always what I really wanted to do and it it just kind of
Became more of a possibility the older I got which was kind of nice um and the better I played but uh yeah it was just um something that I always wanted to do and something that my dad and I shared kind of as a dream growing up so but
What changed you when you said you you you just counted for as that as a junior you didn’t you weren’t as good as as the top juniors in college you discovered that you weren’t playing as well as the top players and then you end up being a
Top player and and to paraphrase your coach that he’s never seen a kid as as devoted as you were to the game and I’m not talking about the passion I’m not talking about the devotion you’ve explained that I’m talking about what changed did you all of a sudden become a
Better boss Striker did your short game come alive what was the difference um a little bit of both just kind of everything really um mentally I improved a lot um still working on that dayto day and um physically uh ball striking got better um I finally started working with a
Swing coach and um he’s been his name is Mike Emery he’s out of Canton Ohio um he’s been enormous and helping me and just further my career and whatnot and um yeah I’ve just gotten a little bit better every year and I’ve been able to um just kind of keep climbing and keep
Just having steady improvements and really just just trying to improve every day really you talk about Mike uh being from Canton Ohio you were born in akan Ohio what’s it like for you from the standpoint of you know never forgetting where you’re from type of situation but
What’s it like for you to have a place that you’re from that you know’s always got your back oh it’s just kind of that Northeast Ohio mentality just uh um it’s just kind of like whatever you like people from Northeast Ohio we work for what we get and um it’s it’s
Just a blue collar mentality kind of put your put your head down and get to work type of thing and um yeah it’s it’s just I I love it there I I I love the the mentality of it I mean um one of my my Idols growing up was LeBron James he’s
Kind of the same way um he’s obviously reached the very close to the very top of his career and whatnot and uh that’s on the basketball court and off the basketball court as well with his business ventures but um no it’s just it’s it’s just kind of that Northeast Ohio Cleveland akan
Mentality and just very gritty very um I don’t really know how to describe it really but it’s it’s something special and it’s something that uh something that you’re just kind of born with really very very cool indeed uh you mentioned that your I guess your wife and your little girl are
With you traveling how old your daughter if I may uh she’s 14 months yeah oh oh she’s a tin she’s an infant all right so how are you guys I was goingon to ask you how are you doing with the balance of Life what’s it like traveling with
The family with you how was your sleep when you’re on the road uh I so fortunately I sleep very well my wife is a saint and she um she’s the one who gets up most of the nights um and whatnot when uh our daughter is acting
Fussy and whatnot but uh my my schedule has changed quite a bit on the road um it’s a lot more structured now uh we all kind of get up at the same time we all eat breakfast at the same time uh our daughter goes to bed around
700 p.m. so uh it’s kind of it’s not necessarily lightss out but it’s uh be very quiet after 7 p.m. so it’s a lot of watching uh Netflix or streaming something on our iPads and watching it together with the airpods and stuff like that so but I got a lot
Of questions lot of questions for Justin low as we continue here on the fairways of Life show okay Justin laow you you heard all the the different options is it true that a putter that wins a major championship is like a magic wand would you pick that magic
Wand up would you use it or would you give it back to marala You’re Around the Clock uh I’d probably use it for like a round or two to see if I like it but then if I don’t like it I’d probably give it back to him but like make him
Work for it maybe like send him some if I knew him like send him some pictures of like it being held Ransom or something like that and uh maybe get some get some of his team in on it and have like have them holding it or something like that just to make him
Man I was watching your reaction as we played that clip when he said that his first wife which still amuses me that he he framed it that way gave it away to to a charity because she took the putter from the bag that he described as quote
The crappy Putters she took it from the wrong bag what if this happened to Justin low what would be the ramifications uh I don’t think a divorce would be it but um uh my wife doesn’t really touch my clubs uh I kind of have free rain of
Our basement at home and I’ve turned it into my golf collection golf shop as uh my buddies call it um uh some of them call it Golf Galaxy or PJ tour Superstores when they walk in um but uh no I I don’t know there would be there
Would be a talk happening afterwards I don’t know how the talk would go but um I I get I I haven’t really won yet with a putter so maybe maybe soon as I win I can have my own special rack of Putters but um uh yeah it it would be a very
Very interesting situation if that happen so what is your relationship with your Putters or putter is are you one that believes in in in trust in a long-term relationship or is it fickle uh it’s a little bit of both um I’ve had my I have my fair share of Putters um I probably
Have uh ballpark I probably have 70 at home wow maybe uh but I only have like five or 10 maybe a rotation of five that I use uh I I I I I’m I’m rare I use a pxg putter so I have a A variation of the
Same putter that I kind of go back and forth between maybe two or three of them um but as soon as I find one I try and stick it out with that one as long as I can Justin low is our guest you you mentioned LeBron
Before kind of as you know you said Northeast Ohio grit and something you’re born with to kind of look up to but I am curious about who did you feel Were Your Heroes your inspiration and maybe even mentors to you as you were coming up and making your
Way uh yeah um starting with Heroes um uh I would say tiger growing up just watching the game just watching him play and making him look making it look so easy it was just kind of I I think we’re all kind of like most of the PJ tour
Players out here we’re all kind of like not haunted by that but like we’re all kind of chasing that feeling of having it look and feel so easy and this game is just the complete opposite of that um inspiration wise um kind of my dad and my brother
Um uh for those that don’t know they passed away when I was 15 um just they’re kind of always with me and uh it’s it’s just uh just kind of my inspiration that kind of keeps me going and then uh mentors I would probably say um my coach at Malone um going through
Uh going through my college Years and even after I mean he was um his name is Ken Highland he’s in his 52nd year of coaching I believe um wow at Malone University he’s been there I I don’t know why they haven’t kicked him out yet
Honestly but um uh no he’s uh he’s been great um he gave me a chance when really kind of no one else would and um yeah I’m just forever thankful for him so when when you mentioned your dad and you mentioned your brother and and how they’re an inspiration to
You and they’re with you all the time when that happened at 15 years old how Justin did it not destroy you and instead you’ve been able to channel it as an inspiration that you carry with you for the rest of your life um I don’t know it’s a good
Question honestly just uh like I I could have very well let it let it kind of destroy me and take me down a path of unknown really even though it was basically a path of unknown um in in the long run but uh yeah it was just I I just wanted to just
Kind of Honor them and just uh play for them as much as I can and um just I know never not that I’d ever forget them but just never forget why I just kind of why I go through life and why I um why I
Play the game of golf and why I I strive to be a good person and strive to be a a good a good father a good husband and a good golfer and just kind of go from there really um yeah in in your example Justin and otherwise and people that are
Struggling whatever they’re struggling with you know many times with veterans that are dealing with PTSD etc etc are you convinced do you believe that golf can be in enough of itself a form of therapy 100% it can for me it was um I just those kind of formative years like
When um when the accident happened um and they passed uh I definitely use golf is therapy I would just go to the golf course or the range and just I I I wasn’t even working on anything really um I was just kind of there and enjoying it and just trying to um
Just kind of go through it and find the joy in it and everything and it was it my my dad introduced me to the game so that’s something I’ll always have uh for sure just with him and whatnot so um I like I always have that passion with him
And then my brother was slowly getting into it uh he had a lot of other interests um but he was slowly getting into it so I I always think what he’d be doing right now and um he he maybe he’d be catting for me maybe he’d be um
Traveling with us who knows um he was just kind of kind of a free spirit uh uh so actually who knows what he would be doing but um no it’s it was it was definitely therapeutic for me just um just kind of going through it and finding the enjoyment of the game
Through it as you started to make your March through the ranks of professional golf now having reached the highest tier of the PGA Tour when did you get one of these Pinch Me moments with maybe it was with your hero Tiger Wood I don’t know what it was
But when did you have something where you either said to yourself or you whispered to the spirits of your dad and your brother and brought it back to your wife and said you can’t believe what happened to me today um I’ve had a couple of them just
Like just being in contention like I’ve I’ve slept on a 54 hole lead um just a couple things like that uh I I have one Tiger Wood story that he doesn’t even know he’s probably involved in um it was last year in Cabo um I was just playing a practice round and he
Drove up on one of the he designed the golf course so he was out guess checking out the golf course and whatnot and uh I I I was like well should I go meet him or should I go practice and I was like I’ll go practice more he’ll
Appreciate that and I go to like this just impossibly hard uh Chip Shot like kind of it’s down in a Swale and it’s the green like maybe six or seven feet above my head and it’s just an impossible shot and I blade this I blade this 60° maybe 40 yards over my
Cat’s head my caddy looks at me and he goes what’s that all about I was like look to your right and he’s like oh yeah completely get it now as he’s chasing the ball down the Fairway so um yeah I bladed a i bladed a chip shot in front
Of tiger and um he probably doesn’t even realize it but I was um yeah so it was just kind of the pinch me moment like I like I didn’t realize it was him at first he kind of he has an aura about him when he steps out um onto the golf
Course which is pretty cool but um yeah I mean just a cool little story very cool indeed hey you are now right in the mix on the swing five I guess the general question is because I haven’t really asked you in this in this form yet how excited are
You about how everything is going for you right now in your life and your golf um it is exciting I think it’s um I think I’m trending for sure and I think um yeah I have a great opportunity to hopefully get in one of the designated events uh next week for
Um for Arnold Palmer’s tournament and um yeah I’m I’m really excited about the opportunity and hopefully I can uh hopefully I can stay patient and deliver very cool now these opportunities uh present themselves because of the entirety of what you have built around Justin low the PGA Tour professional
That includes your sponsorships this is our way of saying thank you to you for coming on and sharing part of your life and your time with us so that you can say thank you to them the people that help you do it so who have you aligned yourself
With uh yeah uh pxg uh Lighthouse Foods level Weare uh XMS Investments out of Chicago uh emblem Source out of um out of Dallas they make uh all the patches that you see in uh Major League Baseball NCAA football um uh who else play yellow for kids um
Black Hills AI out of um Idaho um yeah i’ I I’ve got a tremendous team around me and um some really good sponsors so I’m very thankful for sure yeah that is extremely cool the last thing I want to ask you Justin is that it is my personal
Belief that when you get to this level you become literally your own brand you become the justice lower brand which actually sounds like a high-end Cloe or something like that but I’m curious what do you want the brand Justin low to represent to the world uh never really thought about that
Um I just um I wanted to represent kind of resiliency and um just kind of never giving up really and um that’s something I never have I I’ve thought about giving up multiple times but um just uh surr you know surround yourself with good people I’m I have a tremendous support
System and um I’m I’m incredibly thankful every day for them um probably the main one is my wife uh Janice she is incredible um what she does on and off the golf course um and in my life and kind of keeping keeping my life uh relatively stressfree even though I get
Pretty stressed out at times but uh no it’s just it’s I yeah I just want to be known as just a good person in the end so there’s little doubt about that my friend we wish you the very very best this week we know that you are getting
Closer and closer to that breakthrough victory in the PGA Tour and we hoping that it happens very very soon thank you for your time Justin yeah thank you Matt appreciate it
