Abraham Ancer joins Jerry Foltz and Su-Ann Heng on Fairway to Heaven to discuss his path to becoming the first Mexican ranked inside the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings. The Hong Kong 2024 winner talks about his difficult final round en route to his first LIV Golf win, the experience of playing junior college golf before earning a scholarship to Oklahoma, and getting the chance to face his childhood hero, Tiger Woods, as the first ever Mexican to play in the President’s Cup. Ancer also speaks about the viral edited video of Tiger lifting his hat before the winning putt in their singles match.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:16 – Jon Rahm’s Masters Menu
3:10 – PGA TOUR/PIF Bahamas Meeting
3:43 – Scottie Scheffler Wins at The PLAYERS
6:55 – International Series Macau
9:35 – Abraham Ancer Joins the Podcast
13:40 – Grilling at Home
16:30 – Growing up in Reynosa
18:21 – Table Tennis Prowess
19:27 – Junior College Golf at Odessa
23:35 – Final Round at Augusta with DJ
25:20 – Winning in Hong Kong
34:40 – First Professional Win on KFT
36:24 – The Struggles of Making it in Pro Golf
42:25 – Pride of Playing for Mexico
44:38 – President’s Cup 2019
53:08 – Sending a Message to Aspiring Golfers
57:01 – Outro
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A yeah this guy is an absolute Legend welcome to fair to Heaven a live golf podcast my name is suan hanging with me is Jerry fultz my partner in crime thank you so much for joining us lots of crime you’re you you have a lot on your record bud I have you ever been
Arrested no oh you know where I’m from I’m from Singapore oh that’s right You’ have been arrested I’d have never met you yeah exactly exactly you’ve been arrested CH oh yeah yeah yeah yeah I grew up in Vegas it’s not quite Singapore yes what did you
Do I was I was in high school we were leaving a party and I wasn’t all that Cooperative so they made an example out of me uh it was fun shocking Good Times shocker you’re you not being cooperative wow I didn’t see that I know wow that’s [ __ ] unbelievable um couple of topics
We need to cover today uh I’m gonna k kick it off if I can talk this morning John ROMs Master’s menu did you see that I saw I saw hints at it I didn’t actually see it because my my uh my internet wasn’t working well so I didn’t
See it didn’t download but what what do he got it’s it’s it’s a very like SP Spanish menu and it’s got one of his grandmother’s like classic I mean it’s kind of taken the Twitter world you know into a bit of a a chat on there people
Are like what is all this stuff and I don’t know I I think it’s great that he’s bringing a little culture you know do something different heck yeah bring who he is into the Master’s Champions dinner from my understanding though you if if you are one of those exclusive
Club members that gets to actually attend that which is a former Masters champion and Fred Ridley um you can order whatever the hell you want if you don’t like what’s on the menu way for you yeah it’s Augusta National you can order a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
If you want a I wouldn’t be dealing that come on it’s like you know it’s but anyways it looks great um and he’s really excited about it and can’t wait to see all the pictures of there’s any are they allowed to take pictures in there there’s usually an official photo
Taken like a group photo it’ll be interesting to see you know because Phil didn’t go to last year’s dinner where Phil and rahar and where who stands by whom I don’t there’s never one when they’re actually at the table eating that I’ve ever seen there might be some
Uh but yeah it’ll be it’ll be interesting if if if there’s a Kumbaya with the you know with there now meetings between H Yas ramayan and and the policy board on Monday in Bahamas if there’s a little more camaraderie amongst the live and anti- live proofs
Yeah um but we’ll see who knows I think at the Masters it all kind of everybody either gets along or pretends like they’re getting along yeah it it’s really interesting I I’ve seen some opinions obviously um when it became public that you know they were having a
Meeting so many opinions on Twitter like everyone had an idea of like what future of golf should be what might happen it just uh might Twitter thing’s been blowing up it’s crazy yeah it’s everybody’s an expert aren’t they I mean everybody’s an expert including me I mean but I’m always right
So so that’s all that matters um um let’s see Scotty Sheffer he became the first player to win back to back at the TPC Saw Grass kind of your backyard not really it’s what an hour and a bit away it’s about two hours away yeah first player to ever went back toback that’s
Pretty amazing actually well one player wasn’t given the chance I am a little bitter about camp Smith not being able to play last year but uh um no that was it was phenomenal it was phenomenal golf it was great drama everything about it was fantastic it was great weather you
Know the PJ the PJ tour kind of got really a bad Shake through the early part of the year in terms of weather in terms of uh the fields and the guys who were contending um from a from a big name standpoint and from a TV rating
Standpoint so this was you know it was kind of cool to see a perfect storm for them to have a great leaderboard and a great championship there were guys playing I’m not going to lie there were guys playing I didn’t know still played professional golf so obviously getting into the players isn’t
Quite the uh the steam it once had when when all the best players in the world were there because it literally had the greatest field in golf year after year until all the players were banned um now the PJ Championship actually boasts that record again or that name again but um
Yeah it was still pretty cool to see that leaderboard it’s fun it’s fun to watch it’s an iconic golf course at least the last three holes are iconic it’s it’s really kind of Co well speak I was just about to say that because speaking of the last three holes a lot
Of people a lot of golf fans were mad about what they did to the 17 what do you mean Oh you mean the Frog hair around the edge yeah yeah they’ve had that for they’ve had that often on forever and they’ve had it lower at times and
They’ve had it pretty high at times that wasn’t the first time it’s been like that I know but they were saying like it changes the the GOL it changes the hole and it makes it like easier it takes the dramatic sents out of it and everybody was like everyone was like tweeting
About that like what is happening it takes away more balls going in the water which as a fan you want you know it’s fun to watch but when you know when a big tournament is on the line as a player a crusty green as it was start as
It has been in years past it gets a little Brew I mean it just gets it borders on unfair yeah and how about Woodham Clark and that putt oh my goodness I I mean how’d that not go in how did that that’s what I’m it looked like it on the slow-mo it
Looked like it bumped up just a little bit right before it got to the lip so like when it got when it finally did touch the lip it was it was it was you know it didn’t like trickle into the hole it kind of bumped up and was
Airborne before it got to the edge of the hole and then it like rocketed into the corner of it instead of I think if it hadn’t hit that bump and it just catches a lip it falls right in I I couldn’t believe that didn’t go in
I know I was just I you know obviously we don’t I’m in Singapore so everything’s kind of on tape delay and I catch everything highlights and stuff on socials anyway but I have to watch that like three four times I’m like how did that not go
In that’s painful that is there are golf Gods there are golf gods they are real they’re absolutely real yes yes who knows um all right well let’s talk about the international series real quick before we invite Our Guest on um John Catlin I think that’s how you say his last
Name guy shot 59 on Saturday he did I was up watching live at 300 a.m I was texting Dom I know Dom Dom’s Dom’s gotten to watch a few sub 60s round um yeah recently I think he watched wacos he watched Bryson’s and now he watched John’s anyways he beat uh David poo
Second playoff hole um David shot 60 on the final day he beat into that playoff yeah okay yeah because Ortiz was in In Contention as well yeah and I confuse those guys because they’re both skinny young guys yes um yeah but I was half asleep it was
3:00 am but I was watching that too it was pretty cool yeah it was it was cool it was neat I was screaming at the TV because most of the people that work that coverage for um for the Asians who are friends of mine including their
Producer and I’m I was just screaming at TV I’m like can we just lend him a camera or two because he didn’t have enough cameras to move ahead to cover po so for p is one two shots back and we’re just seeing the occasional single camera
Coverage tape shot of him until later in the round when he when he finally dispatched when it became a basically a three-player race and Scott was able to go send the cameras there and cover it the way he wanted to it was it was it
Was cool to watch and I mean they were all kind of tearing up that course on the weekend weren’t they yeah yeah I mean it it seems like everyone was shooting low scores which is fun you know as a fan you know you want to see
That and um but I tell you what pu have been playing some really good golf that was by the way his seventh week in a row yeah seventh week in a row yeah he’s young and you know I mean we spoke to Pete last week and he said you know it’s
Great that that’s exactly what these young guys should do at that age is just to get as many professional rounds under your belt and and that’s what PO is doing and he’s playing really good really really good golf okay well every week we have this segment on the podcast
Called tea time and every guest is special every guest is amazing so let’s introduce Our Guest this week from Fireballs GC we have winner from Hong Kong live Hong Kong Abraham answerer let’s invite him in [Applause] hey what’s happening where’s the man cave I read all about this man cave in
Your in your house on your 1500 acre ranch I was so thinking that was going to be in the background no I’m I’m here at my house I’m not at the ranch but I don’t have a man cave at my Ranch who said that it was in the article that
Dylan I don’t know how to pronounce last name wrote three years ago dier di whatever yeah they came they came so golf golf Digest I think it was oh that’s right that’s right no I have um so I have a manave I had a I moved from
That house to this house like three three years ago maybe a little bit more than that so right after we we spoke and I do I do had a pretty cool man cave on the other house but uh well I’m here one I’m my bar but uh it’s still not it’s
Still not quite done yet um but yeah and then my Ranch doesn’t have I don’t know it’s just apple juice apple juice that’s sure that’s apple juice apple juice that that’s no that’s pretty is that tequila no way that’s so Brown yeah ano so that’s why it’s been
Aged so it sits in the barrel for this one 18 months so he gets a little color from the barrel how uh how’s the celebration been uh did you do anything to celebrate after that win in I was extremely jetlagged uh I feel like I get
I’m pretty good at getting rid of my jet lag after a day or two and I don’t know what happened this time but it it just haunted me for a week um I was passing out at like 5:00 p.m trying to stay awake and uh me and my girlfriend went
Went out and had some drinks and just went downtown and just had a good time nothing too nothing too crazy then went to the ranch with some friends and just been doing stuff every single day and for the I guess for that first week and
Now I’m back to back to Grind Mode my putting coach is in town and um for the last two days we’ve been we’ve been grinding out there pretty good I’m sure you’re you I’m sure he learns as much from you as you do from him uh I don’t
Know about that but maybe uh his name is Ramon you’ve seen him out there Ramon bcans he’s the the guy who invented the uh the perfect putter you know all that stuff that little ramp that a lot of the a lot of guys a lot of us use out there
To read greens and practice and all that stuff hey how far away is the ranch it’s 1500 Acres right and it’s outside San Antonio and number what do you do on that ranch do you do you raise things do you kill things do you raise things to kill things what do you
Do so it’s it’s just pretty much a ranch to to have fun I have some plans for it uh in the future it’s an hour away exactly from my house to to the gate um and yeah it’s just pretty much where I go and disconnect um put the phone away and
Just forget about everything and just have a good time um there’s a lot of type of deer out there there’s some fow deer there’s obviously white toil which is native to his area um there’s oric CER orex out there uh some sikut deer uh what else
Elk there’s Buffalo out there as well so a little bit of everything and yeah I mean there’s not a ton of hunting that goes down I I got to keep it um with the pigs there’s a lot of wild pigs out there and it’s just uh I mean
It’s an infestation in in Texas and many other states in the US and other countries as well that you have to you have to hunt them if not they will just take over eat everything and destroy everything yeah well we have a different type of wild pigs here oh
Reallying I know you I’ve seen because I do follow you on Instagram you love food um I’ve seen some of possibly the best food on your Instagram stories really I don’t know if I don’t know if there ones that you cooked or you had someone cook it or you guys were doing a
Thing on your Ranch I think it’s the Mexican food you had some beef on the grill and you guys cut it up and made tacos so good now do you cook yeah um not really in the kitchen but I love grilling and especially if we’re at the ranch that’s what we do we
Just hang out um have a good time and we grill we cook all sorts of stuff but the goto is some ribey tacos with um o yeah so we make um we call them poppers jalapeno poppers or jalapenos cut in half you put cream cheese in the middle
And then wrapped in bacon you put them in the grill and we have those kind of like an appetizer but I like to cut them up and then you add the ribey you cut them up too you add some salsa in there you sprinkle a bunch of Waka cheese put
It back in the grill and you make this gooey goodness of of riye and it’s yeah it’s phenomenal and then at the end uh we cook other stuff with the ribs or you name it fajitas and then we throw everything in there like the leftovers and then we put it back up we
Go out either we’re going to go hunt some pigs or just cruise around we come back we throw it back on the grill we put a little more cheese and then everybody got their tortillas and they make tacos out of it and it’s amazing I mean you can’t God that sounds so good
Yeah that is my favorite my favorite food when you say we who’s who’s your who’s your posi there in San Antonio um just I have a lot of friends here that came from um from where I’m from from Rosa Mexico or Mallen right that border area right they came here
For for college and then they just pretty much stayed over here so I have a lot of friends outside of golf which is which is nice nice to disconnect and not be like talking about golf all the time so um and then just some buddies that I’ve
Met over here um well as my family comes up from from rosan from Mallen every now and then um just yeah whoever wants to go hang out really that’s cool you’re you’re up on the northwest side of town right that’s like where all the golf people live in San Antonio no I’m I’m
Pretty I’m North but pretty Center I’m in an area called Castle Hills oh yeah close to the airport yeah yeah very cool isn’t um Roso did I say that right Roso Roso that’s like that’s like is that one of the most sort of dangerous parts of
Mexico from what I’ve read um they it could be yeah I mean all I think all border towns in the last 20 years unfortunately have been pretty dangerous yeah so um there’s maybe months that go by and you don’t hear about anything and then there’s one I mean just I mean
Absolute chaos so yeah it’s very unfortunate because I I loved growing up in in Rosa I absolutely loved it and um it’s kind of a shame to see how how dangerous he got but uh still hope that he it’ll get better what was it like growing up there you know and then
Moving to San Antonio like what was it like I mean while you were born in Texas right and then you moved and then you correct well no no no I I never Mo back so we always lived in in Rosa but my Mom’s doctor um moved to Mallen she
Didn’t want to really switch doctors so I was just born in Mallen but it’s literally right across the border so that actually worked out nicely for me just for migration stuff I have dual citizenship so I can I guess living in the US and all that stuff so that was a
Lot easier I got I got lucky that way it wasn’t really planned or anything but that’s how it happened uh but yeah born in Mallen and grew up in in Rosa and that’s all I knew right so for me it was it was great uh my dad took me to the
Golf course and so I was in diapers and fell in love with the game and went to school and then whenever we could we’ll go to the golf course play a bunch of played a bunch of soccer growing up and and golf so I don’t know I just loved it
I love the food you’re a pretty good uh table tennis player by the way have you seen him play table tennis no where did you see me play table P Miami oh that’s true the Players Lounge you were going you had you had a game
With Serge and yeah it was it was like watching a professional game they were both like because Serge is pretty good too so you guys are like battling out in the Players Lounge in Miami that was pretty cool to watch it’s fun yeah I I
Love I mean I I don’t play very often we played a bunch in in college we had um at OU we had um at table there and he got pretty intense and then we will actually have a a tournament every year the golf team against the tennis team
And the first year we did it we the golf team actually won which was insane and uh I don’t know if they I don’t know if they still have this tradition or not but we we started and it was it was really really cool um I wish I played it
More often I don’t really I don’t really play it except when there’s tables at at tournaments or hotels or anything like that you’re uh your college career didn’t start Oklahoma though you went to Odessa Community College and for people who’ve never driven from Dallas to El
Paso on I20 you have no idea where Odessa and Midland are um and they’re neighbor cities but it’s like when we used to have a corn fairy Tour event there back when I played in The Stone ages and it was weird because PE there you would meet people who were from
Odessa their whole life and had never even never go to Midland 20 miles away and there ain’t [ __ ] as far as I mean as far as the I can see other than those two towns um but Junior College around there junior college golf in Texas it’s
It’s a notch above what people in the rest of the states view as junior college golf it’s pretty high level competition it I mean it it was uh like I said when I when I was in high school I didn’t really know like what tournaments to play or what so my resume
Wasn’t really that good so I wasn’t recruited at all so my senior year of high school I had nowhere to go I had maybe an offer for a D2 school like 20% scholarship and I was like man I mean we don’t have the money
To to pay for like 80% of of college and I don’t knowwhere coach Chavez called me that summer I was already pretty much done with with high school I I had nowhere to go and he gave me a full ride he’s like hey come come play for Odessa
Uh we’re usually ranked top three in the nation and it’s pretty competitive you happen to play good you can transfer somewhere else I was like sound me up I’m I’m headed that way so packed my stuff and went to Odessa and it was the the best thing I could have
Done it sounds like it because near nearly 30 years before you did that I had the exact same thing happen and played for mlon in W okay exact we play we played against mlan and a bunch absolutely yeah yeah sorry s yeah no sorry I was gonna say it was a great
Year because I think you got your first team All-American right and you finished second T TI for second was it in the junior college National Golf Championship yeah that was I mean that was a a bizarre year because uh when I got there I always lived at home right
So I was like man this is where we’re in the middle of nowhere there’s like not another city for like three hour radius or something crazy it was always windy I mean blowing like constantly like 35 miles an hour like that was a decent day and uh and I
Was like I was obviously missing home I was like I don’t know if this was the right decision or not but kept it together I didn’t really play my best for the first three four events and then our last event of the first semester it was our um we hosted that tournament and
Ended up winning I felt comfortable ended up winning that tournament went back home to the Christmas break and came came back kind of wanting to compete and knowing a little bit of where I was going at and I I don’t know what happened that semester I just
Blacked out and I won every tournament on in that semester individually so I just got a lot of confidence I showed up to an event and I everything fell in place and and played really really solid and like I said I won individually all of them except when we went to
Nationals um our last event we were in I was in second place going to the last day and then he got rained out so we didn’t get to play the last round that would have been really cool to to give it a shot to win them all but uh yeah
That was a just a crazy year that I just just play with a lot of confidence and and won a bunch and that’s when I transferred to Oklahoma I’ve got I’ve got something in common with with Abraham aners suan I finished second in NJ NJCAA as well so there you go that’s
Right that’s right um go mlon baby yeah go mclennon mcclinon Highlanders a guy named Mark Jordan won that year I remember I played with him the last day but I did get to play the last day speaking of last days your first uh trip to Augusta uh you were in the final
Group playing with DJ and your very first on Sunday or yeah it wasn’t it was still a Sunday finish yeah um Co year that that had to be I mean almost out ofbody experience surreal even though that’s what you dreamed of your whole life to be in that
Position yeah it was definitely wild um I never really expected to be in the final group in my first Masters I just hit I mean I hit the ball hit the ball in play of the te I remember I was couldn’t find a good a driver that at
That time my my my gamer broke or it cracked and I couldn’t find the driver so I was just like I felt like I was just hitting Fairway finders all week and golf course was playing long because he was he was wet and it was in November
The grass was longer um and I just remember where now my long irons and my fivewood and I just I was hitting the ball really really well with those clubs and obviously putting really well and then just just like that I’m teeing off in the last group on Sunday I was that’s
When it hit me I was like wow I am nervous and uh but I I liked it I like I like feeling nervous um it didn’t go my way that Sunday there were a couple putts on for example on on whole to I completely misread this short putt that
I had for birdie and after that I didn’t really quite feel comfortable over putts I was maybe doubting my reads cuz they’re they’re pretty tricky reads and ended up not not playing my best golf round but it was it was definitely a really cool experience to
To play with DJ and watch him watch him in his um his green jacket that was pretty cool yeah uh well you kind of remind me a lot of about someone that’s very much like I guess a grinder you know you stay really present and you try to make the
Most out of your rounds all the time you know kind of a classic example would I I would say recently was the final round at in Hong Kong hell yes perhaps you didn’t have your best day during I think everybody probably you guys were roasting me like what is this guy
Doing deservedly so yeah I mean think that not roasting no one was F I know it’s all good but you know you you seem like that kind of a and you said that in your postr interview with with dom that you kind of just stayed within yourself you you just try to stay
As present as you could in the moment and that’s one of the hardest things to do in golf I mean it literally is one of the hardest things to do in golf were you always that way or did you kind of just threw a lot of experiences and
Failures that you kind of learn how to keep yourself in that moment and just keep hanging in there till the very end yeah I guess just the I guess that never I just never give up that’s just my whole mentality and yeah that round was tough um I’ve played with a five
Shot lead before going to the last round and I was able to to play it well and and and finish finish it off I think winning by by the same amount by five at the um the Australian Open but um but the feel was a little different this
Field is no joke so uh I I didn’t want to be really peing at the leaderboards but I knew I was I was definitely losing a lot of ground not really playing my best the golf course was playing tough but still if you were on you can you can
Shoot a low one and that’s the kind of days where you can get a little a lot of movement on the leaderboard uh but I just stayed patient I’ve been I started working more on my mental side of the stuff I felt like I was something was holding me back
While I was playing tournaments in leag then I couldn’t really pinpoint what it was um CU I was putting I was putting the the work in the golf course and practicing and the range putting everything I feel like this last two years is the where I practiced the most
Out of my career and I haven’t really didn’t really see the results that I wanted and yeah just like I said I I was really proud how I managed the my mental side there that Sunday because he was I mean that that round could have been
Brutal I mean I could have shot a million that day and I just stayed stayed cool I I knew that I played pretty much Flawless the first two rounds so some bad shots were going to happen at some point I was just going to accept them and try to get up and
Down and keep playing along so thankfully worked out but uh yeah it was a lot more stressful than I wanted to be yeah well you didn’t seem very stressed on that playoff hole split the Fairway and hit it to like six feet split split the Fairway twice on Pro arguably the
Toughest driving hole you guys will face all year long I mean it’s just a brutally important shot to get the fairway and you split it twice but then in the playoff hole you hit I mean literally it was your other than those two t- shots it was your best swing of
The day by far did you know how good that was going to be turn out when it came off the club and and the second part of that question it’s a lot deeper question but it’s something that the more I’ve learned about you the more that comes to the Forefront about about
You as a person is do you have a self-belief because you know you were you were kind of the underdog coming out of high school Rosa and macallen um you go to a junior college you’re still the underdog and then you go to Oklahoma maybe some things were expected of You
By the time you got there but nobody from Rosa goes to the PJ tour and wins so you’ve always kind of felt like you had something to prove and on that shot when it mattered most after spitting up the five shot lead you proved it once again where’s that come
From yeah I guess just self-belief uh I feel like definitely being an underdog I guess my whole career but I I like that challenge and I like I feel like not that he takes the pressure off of me but um yeah I feel like I want to prove
That I can that I can win that I can that I can hang with the big names and it was really cool knowing that I had to to pull off those two good shots when I needed to and after hitting a lot of bad shots during that round um and being
Able to do it in a in the playoff and then that t which is yeah like you said it’s very very demanding um it was really nice but uh definitely felt really good and right off the face I felt like it was it was perfect I mean I
I guess you can see how like when I hit it I just started walking right away and that second shot you had a downhill line didn’t you you had a slide like downhill line into a tucked left hole location that kind of everything slopes way off on the left and you just
Took on that pin like it was with Paul being on the right and then am being in trouble as well was that always the intention to to attack that whole location and play as aggressive as you did um or were you trying to just go for
The middle and just kind of Drew it in no I was definitely I I felt like I had the perfect number for me to be aggressive I knew that I hit a nine iron I was I think I was like 147 yards the wind was
Into and from the left and it was a little a little cold so the ball wasn’t really traveling and I was I was I was short all all day I couldn’t get the ball to pin high so I knew that it was going to be really tough for me to hit
It past the pin and uh yeah I guess I could have gone a little right to play it safe but I I play with Cam way too many times when he chips in from the craziest spot so I’m like he might make birdie from the bunker I don’t know I
Didn’t know his ball was plugged so I’m like I’ve seen I’ve seen this story too many times I got to go I got to go at this plus Benji was like hey this is this is the time this is a good number this is this is where you hit the shot
Of the day holy smoke sorry that’s my I will here Lucas Lucas a Danel yeah this guy he’s an absolute Legend right yeah he looks like he’s always pissed off look at his face you should looks like Z you have a bandana on no it’s just a little collar
Okay and uh going back to that so yeah Benji just told me hey this is the this is the moment where you make the swing of the day and just go at it I mean let’s do it and it came out perfect uh I’ve been hitting a draw all week and
Aim a little bit right and just hit a trap draw and came out perfect yeah well I was like wow that it was raining it was cold it was windy it was could feel the tension in the air and you just pulled that shot off and I just was
Like just like I didn’t have anything to say I was just like it was so cool to watch and be you know inside the ropes to witness that that fantastic moment um yeah Jerry before you you ask your question I wanted to ask since we are on
That topic You’ve Won you won the PJ tour You’ve Won you know WGC won in Australia how different was it winning on live was it any different and where where does that rank in your career it’s definitely up there um it was cool that to win out there because
That adds another I guess another League tour where where I’ve won like you mentioned um it’s just I feel like the the last two years have been mentally pretty tough because I was like I said putting a lot of work a lot of work and not seeing results and getting very
Frustrated um so that was that was a really sweet victory where I felt like like a lot of relief as like all this work has finally PA off and he and he felt amazing to do it in front of uh all the people there was was really cool the
People in Hong Kong were incredible um incredible support it was it’s a really cool City so it’s definitely up there uh the WGC win for me that was the biggest win at the time so that was also very special um also in a playoff against great guys great players uh
Hideki and and and Sam Burns and Sam Burns so very similar situation um and very tough t- as well on that uh on that 18th hole Yeah in Memphis but uh yeah it’s definitely it’s definitely up there I mean the field uh the way it
Happened how a lot of stress but then he just made it a lot sweeter too so it’s it’s up there you um you did you mentioned the WGC you won and so that’s your PJ tour win the that’s also a co-sanctioned event so you get a European tour DP
World Tour win credit win for that won on the austral Asian tour you won the gold medal at the panan games and you won a corn fairy Tour event for your first ever professional win now I’m not sure do you have the old do you have the
Old tapes of it or anything do do you ever watch I don’t have the tapes no but I I do I guess there’s a video of when I when I hold that P to to get into the playoff yeah the toolbox the toolbox commentator I forget his name Jerry folz
Who was in the booth as the playby play guy actually in the corniest of all [ __ ] calls I’ve ever made in my life when you made the winning putt I of course said Abraham has the answer and I regret it for this sorry about that oh yeah oh yeah don’t feel bad everybody
Everybody does it don’t feel bad I know that’s what makes it so damn cheesy holy Christ well a time in your in in everybody’s mind is like this is so clever right but he like everybody says the same thing it’s all good D yeah yeah
No no it’s awful so don’t watch that you know know that’s going to resurface on air next week in Miami oh no we don’t have rights to it that’s perfect no no but I’m going to I’m going to I’m gonna give you a find way yeah I’m gonna find
A way I don’t I don’t remember who my analyst was it might have been Craig perks whoever it was they looked at me like really you just said that that’s just like I look at Arlo the same way I look at Arlo half the time oh that’s
Hilarious jeez um so Abe you you you started out at Q School and then you got the web.com card and then you then played your way and got your card on the PJ tour lost your card had to go back to the web just talk us through from a I
Don’t think we talk about this enough in professional golf obviously now you’re successful you’ve won on the PGA tour you’ve won on live but how difficult is that you know a lot of people don’t see the struggle very early on in people’s careers and really how much much grit it
Takes to get through all that and hang in there and golf you know we all know this golf is a stupid game you know it drives you insane so what is the most annoying what is the most annoying thing about golf is it’s all about playing your best golf at the
Right time because you can be one of the best players in the world but if you don’t play good at the right time it doesn’t really matter so it’s it’s weird it’s tough to predict who’s going to be incredible and who’s going to be not make it that may may look like he’s
Going to be a world beater right so it’s it’s just weird to really pinpoint um but yeah it’s it’s definitely not easy it’s very nerve-wracking when you’re starting and you go to Q school and you’re like well this is it if I don’t make it then I don’t really have a job
And I got to figure out what to go and play so um yeah and the beginning for me especially was was really tough because I went to my first Q school ever and I made it through all the stages I get to finals and I miss it by a couple
Of Strokes I believe to get my full card so I had conditional and I will get into maybe some events and then after finals the month after my dad passed away so I’m like devastated obviously and I didn’t really know what to do I went
Back to to Rosa and I was with my family and I was just really not practicing for at least a month month and a half and didn’t didn’t know what to do I was still in Oklahoma I was like maybe move somewhere um and yeah that that year was
Really tough like I my mind wasn’t really all there um and definitely struggled a bunch I didn’t play really good at all um I had to go back to Q School the year after that but I felt a little bit better right and uh but I I
Knew I had to get through all the stages again and was able to do that thankfully I got uh I got my full card and then I played a full season and got my pj tour card at the time which um it was really
Cool at the time I was like man I wish my dad was here to to live this moment kind with me because his dream for me was to to make it right um in this Sport and obviously my families as well but he was always the one right uh there
Pushing me and and helping me out and any any sort of way he could and um so making it through was was really cool feeling that it’s like wow I actually made it which nobody believed I was able to to get to the PGA tour at the time uh
But the only person that really really really believed it was my dad not even myself I was like looks like it’s pretty tough task to really uh make it out there but somehow it it happened and then yeah it was a rookie out there and I started changing things I started like
Man I can’t hit it like this guys I don’t hit it far enough I don’t hit it high enough so you start tweaking with your clubs and your game and I lost it completely played terrible the first three quarters of the of the year and
Then I went back I like what what I mean what am I doing so I went back to all my old stuff played golf the way I know how to play golf and started to play good it wasn’t enough to keep my car but I went
Back to to the corn which is a web.com back then and then uh I just kept doing what I’m doing just play the golf I know how to play and just get better at that and had a great season I think I finished second on the money list that
Year without winning a tournament so I played very solid all year got my card back and then I just got better every single year every single year I I finished um better and the standings every single year so yeah it’s it’s not easy like I said is it’s very
Nerve-wracking and you just got to play really good at the right time what’s your driving force what’s your driving force and all that to to try to just drive yourself through all the difficult times I don’t know I’m just competitive I guess I just want to win the I guess
Just that feeling of of winning it’s so rare in this sport uh or not rare but it doesn’t come very often right you’re you’re competing with a bunch of guys that are really good at what they do and it it’s it’s just really the highs are extreme
I guess extremely high and it feels incredible because there’s a ton of lows I mean you you lose all the time in golf right so I guess just that force of just getting better there’s so so many aspects to this game that you can always
Get better in so many things so I feel that just kind of what drives me winning and and getting better every single day and doesn’t matter what it is mentally or putting or chipping or driving you name it you um like I said you won You’ve Won once everywhere you’ve never
Won twice anywhere what the hell I’m trying I’m trying J yeah true but you also have you also have no I think it’s I think it’s incredible what he’s done because he’s never stayed anywhere long enough to to do to I mean you can’t expect a whole
Lot more than that succeeding at every level is one of the hugest accomplishments including a a gold medal at the panan games you also played in the Olympics um now I know the Olympics are still kind of under the burden of this so of this whole political issue
That’s owgr right now how much pride do you take in representing your country and in the international competitions like that a lot I feel like when I first represented Mexico in the Olympics uh in Tokyo that was the first time for me right so it didn’t I didn’t get to play
In Rio and before that golf wasn’t in the Olympics right so I’ve never really experienced that until then and it felt it feels different it feels really cool knowing that you’re not really playing for yourself only but for your country and it’s a it’s a really cool feeling almost like I I
Never wanted to finish like for example I didn’t play my best in in in par sorry in Paris in U in Tokyo but I never really wanted to finish third so bad you know just try to just clinch a medal for your country was is is really really
Cool and being able to do it I guess in a smaller scale scale but still very important in the penam games it was really cool and then we had a great great match there me and Munoz um which were great friends also obviously a live
Guy and it was really cool we were back and forward that last last round was was pretty exciting U I guess there were a bunch of up and downs on that round that made it made it really special and it it came down to the last hole so that
Feeling of getting to the podium and they put the the the Mexican Anthem and they put the the medal on you is it’s a really cool feeling that I definitely want to keep feeling in the future so hopefully hopefully he’ll be there in Paris and it’d be really cool to um to
Give it a shot yeah we hope you make it I remember I played in seames which is a very very small version of the Olympics the southeast Asia games uh one year and and I had that same sense of Pride you know you you do the parade and you do
The March and you have the Singapore Blazer on and you’re gonna go represent it’s a completely different feeling it’s so completely very patriotic obviously um well speaking of of representing Mexico you then became the first Mexican player to get inside the top 100 um on the world golf rankings and
Then you became the first Mexican player to play on the President’s Cup team uh let’s talk about the President’s Cup um how was it experienc and and we’ll get to the tiger bit in just a little bit but what was that experience like for you um playing in the President’s Cup
For the first time that was that was really cool that week um I think about it all the time uh just a camar of all the guys Ernie I think he did a great job as a captain um Melbourne is a great city in in Royal Melbourne as a golf course as a
Host this was just so much fun I love that kind of golf um and it was an exciting week I mean it was I played really good I played probably some of my best golf that I’ve ever played that week uh it was it was really neat and
Then I had a match with with leean and then I had as a partner and then Louis as well and Happ we have them play really really well um who did we play me and Lou I think me and Louie played DJ and and Gary um and we just play lights out so
We we we clinched that point with leean we were we were way down I remember we were like five or six down through six and somehow came back in in half uh that that that match was insane leean when we when we finished he was like dude this is the
Most fun I have ever had in the golf course at that point he’s like because it’s obviously Australian we’re in Australia and I mean everybody was was there it was it was nuts and it was really cool to come back from from a really tough match and and half uh half
The who you playing who are we playing in that we played uh Justin Thomas and Ricky fower if I’m if I’m not mistaken yeah me and I followed you I followed you in one of the matches and I interviewed you I believe if memory serves me correct at the end of the day
But I don’t remember which one then anyway and then I think the only point the only point you lost was your match against tiger right and yeah what was it like playing oneone against him I know in the press conference the day before you said you wanted to play
Against him um and then I want to ask about him taking his hat off uh I don’t know if you even saw the putt or if you saw it later on after the round um after you know he shook your hand right after that putt got off the put of free I mean
What was your reaction to all that and and yeah just talk us through it there’s a lot of things that I that I like to clarify of how everything went down so I love it good so in a month a month before the President’s Cup we were playing in
Mayakoba where we now we not playing late right back then we playing a PGA Tour event there and in the press conference they were asking me hey how excited are you for the President’s Cup you’re are you ready it’s about a month away they asked me who would you like to
Play as a partner who who you want to be partners with I was like well it be awesome to to play with with hen as a partner or really whoever I’m just excited I mean they’re all legends to whoever I’m playing and they’re like okay so if you have to pick who would
You like to play against on Sunday and I was like well no disrespect to the other 11 or 12 guys but I mean I it would be insane if I will play against tiger I mean that’s my childhood hero so it would be amazing to play tiger in the
Finals so I’m not thinking about anything and then the next day I get all these tweets or whatever and that says and all this was in Spanish by the way all this was in Spanish oh really and then yeah and then the next day I get all these tweets and whatever Abraham
Answered quotes I want tiger that’s what that’s what it said I was like well that’s not how I said it but whatever uh so I I get all these like people just sending me text like who do you think you are challenging tiger I’m like oh my gosh whatever
Everything goes down and then all of that happens and then they throw my name Ernie throws my name out there first tiger being a captain he says all right I’m G to go first I don’t know if he just wanted to play against me or he just wanted to
Finish first and then go back to be a captain right so because he was a playing Captain um and then once that happened everything resurfaced and the media just blew it up it’s like this kid said that he wanted tiger and blah blah and so it
Was I was like so honestly I was like pretty upset because I was like that’s not how I said it I was like it would be amazing if I can play against my my hero uh I don’t know who who wouldn’t right so I mean it’s the biggest stage in
Playing against the guy you idolized and play and and watch win everything right and then all that happened I was like oh man it’s happening so I like put my phone away and I try not to look at all that stuff but uh but yeah I mean I got messages
From I mean thousands of messages just trying to get me I don’t know if pissed off or off my game or you name it I don’t know um and then the match itself I mean we both actually played pretty well he he did not miss he made every single
Putt that that he needed to make I made a couple of mistakes uh a couple of shots but other than that I mean played played really well he just I mean he was he played uh extremely solid zero mistakes made every put that he needed
To end up losing on on 16 green which God I wish he missed that put because I was there I was there I was there TI to make birdie I was I was there like I don’t know I was like 5T for birdie and then he putts it and and makes it and
Obviously shakes my hand and by the way the video you’re talking about it’s fake he didn’t completely yeah completely edit it’s edit it I mean he he took the hat off right I mean pretty quick right after the ball went in but I think that was a
Great edit and they they killed it whoever whoever did that video it looks it looks really good I mean so I gotta I gotta give that guy props but uh overall it was it was a week that I learned a lot and I learned a lot about myself
I’ve never been that nervous in my life so going back to Hong Kong uh I thought about that day quite a bit I mean I was really nervous and I I learn how my body reacts how my mind reacts all the mind games that you kind of play
With yourself or your or your mind place on you um and how you react so it definitely helped me a lot even though it was a tough tough day cuz we ended up losing we were up and we ended up losing we were all devastated I mean the whole
Team were definitely devastated because we had it and we just let it slip um and yeah with all in all the media stuff it was like it actually like it did wait on me it was like I hate that this went down like that because that’s not the
Way I meant it you know that’s why I’m like with media I’m like man I don’t even know like what words to pick now because they they might twist it doesn’t matter because people always take things out of context it’s whatever it’s whatever they want to hear whatever
They want to see it just always is no matter even if you say the best of best things you know oh yeah Ron recently said he there Ron recently said that if you read the whole context he would you know it would that yeah he misses the
Chance not misses but he would have liked to been able to defend some tournaments and then all of a sudden the headlines from the media is John rum uh regrets his decision to join l and in the same exact interview in the sound bite he’s like I am extremely happy with
The decision I made so that’s what we media members do for a story we like stories we don’t we don’t necessarily root for people there is a a really powerful commercial shot by the lpga’s drive on campaign with lazette Salis who grew up Inner City LA more or less um so
I forget the name of the town but anyway and it and it starts with Mexicans don’t play golf because she was told that her whole life and she was never growing up where she grew up was never supposed to be a pro golf for never supposed to succeed and it’s a really powerful
Commercial you grew up in Rosa you weren’t you weren’t a in a family of huge privilege but you your parents did everything they could to give you opportunity which is what parents do um what message I mean you’re an inspiration to so many people and you
Don’t even people who all know your name but you don’t know theirs just kids who have a dream what message do you think your your success sends to them and what would you like to impart on them I just feel like no no dream is really big enough um if you really have
The the grit and the the want you know to to do it I mean obviously there’s there’s some situations where are tougher than others but in mind personally I think like like I told you I don’t think one person other than my dad really believed or
Thought it was attainable to to make it at the time to the PJ tour um and I just I believed him more than I really believed that the actual fact that I could that I could make it and I just I saw how much he and my
Family did for me just to give me opportunities no matter if I shot 90 in the tournament but just will max out a credit card or something just to be able to take me to this event and it didn’t matter what I do so I just I will just
Tell kids to not be scared I mean not not be scared to to aim high and and just go do it I mean what’s the worst that can happen you already have the know right so go ahead and try it I don’t know man that’s that’s what I
Would tell them very inspirational now I’m going to wrap it up with one final question from myself you’ve been through so much right you’ve experienced grief you’ve experienced failure what what have you learned about yourself a lot of the times I feel like everything looks so far away like
For example yeah like this this past win I feel like two months ago it felt really far away from like where my game was but it’s really not that far if you just keep doing what you’re doing and not lose your mind of like God I got to
Change all this stuff and just keep working be like feel like every single day you’re doing something to be better at whatever it is like half a percent every day of your mental or your like I said every aspect of the game and even as a person uh it doesn’t even have to
Be professional sports I mean you can be in business or you can be in just in life uh just whenever you wake up figure out a way to just get a little bit better even if it’s like I said half a percent or 1% it adds up it definitely
Adds up awesome stuff thank you Abe you’re inspiration we love you we’re so happy for you congratulations again we’re going to have some Fletcher at some point we’re going to have some tea shots hey to celebrate sorry I started without you Abe has the answer catch up there you go
Jerry AB has the [Laughter] answer thanks for joining us AE I appreciate your time uh we’ll see you in a couple of weeks man we’ll see you in Miami look forward to it thanks for time awesome well that was awesome Gary he is truly an inspiration isn’t he but he he
Is one of the he’s literally one of the best ball Strikers he is you know I think um couple of the thae boys that were on our league early on I think was Sadam and uh pachera and I think they were talking about how I think Dom asked
Them like you know who who’s the most impressive ball Striker you’ve seen out here and and one of them said Abe he is phenomenal with his ball striking and he has no swing coach he’s not a technical guy he works on his own swing um you see him on the Range he’s very
Much a feel guy you know um and it is it is impressive what he’s done not just for himself but for golf in Mexico I know his his idols um Len AOA you know is someone that he admired gr up was a very influential person in his
Life um but then now fast forward to what he’s done and he’s also a phenomenal business guy he’s a businessman you know he’s got Fletcher assou um very successful business he’s got the clothing line he’s got ombre I think which is a um skin care um men’s
Skincare not that you use any Jerry U maybe you should try though you should try some maybe that will help I’m the reason men use I’m the reason younger men cream so they can look like this yeah Oh I thought you I thought you were going
To say so that so that men will know what they don’t want to look like in the future so they should use Skin Care early on in your life yeah no I’m the reason I’m the reason men use uh cosmetic products right everybody has goals everybody has goals to right oh my gosh
It’s all about perspective life is all about perspective yeah um anyways uh that was awesome I really enjoyed that Jerry um yeah I love I mean I love a I obviously I feel I don’t know why I feel an attachment to him because I did call that first professional
Victory of his and and his resume it was good as a college player but not great he wasn’t a world beater coming out of college but I I just I mean I spent so many years out covering the what is now the corn fairy tour and I lived it and
Breathed it for so long that I I really loved watching those those stories because you know you get the you get the kind of rags to riches story if you will on the PJ tour you get the the Dunlap guy kid winning in in uh in Palm Springs
Earlier this year and you get those stories and they’re good they don’t really resonate with the viewers but I love being able to tell those stories um down on the lower levels especially the corn fairy tour because those guys they in the Monday Q info guy who has a
Twitter account that’s just I mean pretty much awesome unless he unless he gives his opinion on on the state of politics in the game um but the the stories he tells of the people who what they sacrifice it’s not all private jets and million doll checks in professional
Golf it’s the Rarity obviously live it’s at the very at the highest end of that um but there’s a lot of people out there really really paying the price and people behind them paying the price and I think Abraham answer to a to a large extent represents that as well and and
It’s the it’s the Feelgood story of of uh of believing in yourself and and having a dream and doing whatever it took to get there you know he he said well yeah it worked out where I got on the PJ t or no he made that happen he
Absolutely made that happen and to steal a line from Ben Hogan he he dug it completely out of the dirt all by himself yeah yeah no he he’s impressive and he’s such a a gentleman too by the way he’s very very shiverers and he’s always been very respectful um yeah
Great human being and I’m glad he won I think it was a long time coming I think he deserves it and um wouldn’t surprise me if he wins another one this year well it would be the first thing on his resume that with two wins first two are with two
Wins yeah yeah absolutely all right uh Jerry thank you so much I’ll see you next week um and then the week after that we’ll be together again yes um yes yes yes yeah in Miami working together working together together working together together don’t get the rumors started you know don’t pay yourself such
A compliment all right got a lot of rumors about me all right well if you love this podcast please do subscribe you can find us wherever you get your podcast and if you want to watch this whole thing on video you can catch it on our YouTube
Page as well as live Golf Plus app which is our streaming app till then we’ll see you next week goodbye for Now
3 Comments
Hi, Su-Ann!
liv it, always entertaining!
Such a cool guy! Abe & I are birthday twins (although I was in high school when he was born…lol)