Akshay Bhatia on his thrilling Texas Open win, first Masters, and putting with the broomstick

Akshay Bhatia joins Smylie Kaufman to detail a thrilling playoff finish at the Valero Texas Open in April, which got him into his first-ever Masters Tournament. Akshay discusses his unique path to turning pro, and how that journey has paid off with two PGA Tour wins already at the age of 22. Smylie and Akshay look at videos from his putting coach Stephen Sweeney and detail his journey with the “broomstick” putter, and also look at some videos from his short-game coach Gabriel Hjertstedt while charting his development around the green.

[Music] Smiley caufman for 61 wow I’m Smiley caufman and this is the Smiley Show all right guys we got another episode here on the Smiley Show and we have axe batia joining us and the first guy to come on the smiley Friday’s happy hour and win so AE it’s like you you’re the first guy to do get it done took down Rory and a bunch of other guys on the weekend I know uh I know that had to be a lot of fun yeah that was probably one of the craziest finishes ever in golf honestly I mean seven shot lead with nine holes to go you’re feeling pretty good and you know Denny obviously just went blackout so it was a wild finish but yeah I mean being on on the happy hour and getting that done is pretty cool because I feel like a lot of guys would you know try and minimize as much distractions as possible but I guess I like it so yeah I mean you did a really good job of uh first off you know you you were basically a wire-to-wire champion in that and you had like a a big shot lead after every single round and when I talked to you on the happy hour and just asking about how are you sleeping like are you thinking about it too much and I didn’t really get a sense at all that you were going anywhere that week it seemed like you were in a really good mental space that you had a lot of trust in your game and that somebody was have to go run you down and that’s kind of what happened because you didn’t play Bad on Sunday by any means yeah I mean you shoot five under you get to 20 under on that golf course you feel pretty good but yeah it was just one of those weeks where I felt like you know leading up to it I played great in Houston and learned a lot um just why I didn’t win the golf tournament and um you know even throughout the whole week I just remember I you know some points I had a two- shot lead by making a bogey and the other guys would make a birdie and uh I just always felt like when I had the opportunity to make a birdie or put myself in a good position I was capitalizing a lot that week and yeah it was just uh it was a crazy week because I was you know one of those weeks where mentally I was you know working on so many things but had just a big goal and everything happened so fast achieving that goal and um yeah then flying straight to Augusta is a pretty cool feeling as well heck yeah and you know it’s very rare for me because I go up and down the range talking to guys and I will say that the two guys I talked to the most on Wednesday were you and Denny it was just like really odd that I had like the two guys that were competing down the stretch so I had all this information I just felt and sense like you talked about the week before in Houston how you felt like man if I just would have you know done these couple things I I would have been right there and had a chance to win so referring to that you know when I did see you on Wednesday I I think you showed me a like this pretty long list of of things of that you were working on mentally just goals that you were setting and I I just want you to kind of talk a little bit about the mental space that you were in that week and then all the mental things you’ve been working on in the weeks leading up to San Antonio yeah I um you know I started working with Ryan Davis and you know there’s more than just the golf stuff that I’ve been working on but more life stuff and um I don’t think a lot of people realize you know what it takes to be a professional golfer especially at a high level uh you’re not just a golfer you’re a CEO of a business and you know adding a lot of people on my team and having people that have been there you know since day one is it’s a big deal to to be 22 and kind of run the show so um yeah I just you know started talking to him during players and I think everyone knows Julie Ellen who has helped wendam and JT and um you know Max and just kind of shows how important it is to be strong you know every week because one week can change your life and um yeah that week you know I had a sense of calmness but throughout the whole week I was very stressed out and I think changing the dialogue is important you know sometimes I’ll be like oh I feel very anxious but more so being on the PJ tour and playing tour events is stressful and um just changing certain dialogues and you know we had a goal of where I wanted my world ranking to be uh by the US Open and start of the year I I wrote down I wanted to play all four majors and we kind of knew that austa was such a long shot but at least trying to get into um the US Open I was in PGA and then the British Open was an important goal for me and I wrote down on my wrist 35 the whole week that was kind of the the world ranking I wanted to get to by by um by the US Open cut off and you know anytime I saw it whether it was in a porter potty or my tea time the final day was I think 11:35 um he went Ryan played golf and his golf cart the first golf cart he sell was 35 so like just reminding myself of that and I think the craziest thing is you know I obviously won my world ranking went from you know low 80s to 34 and then out a gust I finished 35th so the wow just kind of the you know how how strong your mind is of manifesting certain things like that is crazy to me because you know that was such a big goal and it all happened so fast and then I finished 35 kind of the end of the story or end of the chapter I a GU and finished 35th it was just so crazy um but I feel like you know I’ve grown a lot as a person in the last four or five six weeks seven weeks and um you know it’s nice to be in the position I am now because um there’s so many things that I still want to accomplish but just kind of getting through this first half of the year and having a wind is is really hard but it was uh you know well worth the waight yeah and can you take me a little bit through this back nine obviously I was in the in the booth that week so I had a chance to really be a part of the action but the 10th hole three putt and then you make that Birdie on 11 which I felt like all right this thing is over in your mind after you made that putt on 11 I believe Denny made I can’t remember if he made a bogey or maybe made a par but it just to me in my head is like okay this thing’s over did you feel that way heading into the 12th hole um you know I felt like you know Denny made a 15 20 footer off the green on 10 and I think in my mind I felt like I needed to kind of force the force the issue a little bit and I hit like you know four or 5T by and then end up missing that and I’m like wow that just went from a seven shot lead to like a five shot lead so quick or four shot lead or whatever and then I saw him hit his putt five six feet by on 11 I make mine and I’m like all right you know five or six up with seven to go I think you know we’re doing good and then all of a sudden he makes a you know 35 footer on 12 and this putt was going so slow like so slow it one of the fastest puts I’ve ever seen and I’m like oh my God it’s 7 ft short goes in and um you know 12 then we had a probably 20 30 minute wait it’s 240 yards into the wind pretty tough hole not a lot of You Know Places to miss the greens are pretty firm at this point he hit a four iron the 5et and I’m like d was so good it was so good and then I you know I I I think I striped a for and right at it and it landed a little soft and I had 30 ft it was a great shot and then MH um you know then we get to 13 I hit a perfect drive he kind of hits it left hits in a good spot and then I you know I miss it in that right bunker which was a which was a pretty easy up and down and I felt like my bunker game that week was amazing my short game was great that week so good yeah and then you know he hits his pitch to 10 15 ft and I hit it to a knock in and then he makes that and I’m like all right well he just say away he’s just saying going away and my goal for the day was shoot my goal for the week was 4 under a day if I could shoot 16 under for the tournament I felt like you know I had a chance and I was 4 under at that point I was like I’m doing you know everything I’m trying to do in this round and and then finally you know he misses a green um on the next hole and then I you know unfortunately missed a green and then he hold he chips in and I’m like dude what is going on you know and like this guy you have to laugh at that point right I mean no I was just like oh my gosh this is really happening and you know then I have a three shot lead with three to go uh 16 he hits a great shot I think that’s the hardest pin you know on that on that green there’s just nowhere to miss it and you know he hits it a great shot and then I kind of feel like I had to force the ER again didn’t hit a great shot and I think that up and down was huge for me because I feel like if I don’t get that up and down and he makes that then that momentum is you know so much different going into 17 and um yeah then he makes that and I’m like all right we got a we got a freaking ball game here but I felt like if I if I bir 17 you know I feel like I probably lock it up and 17 I hit you know a not great drive but I hit a great bunker shot there and Denny hit a great pitch there and then I hit a good pot just not enough speed and I think kind of with the nerves and um feeling like I had this big lead and now it’s gone and it’s just kind of deflating but also like all right well you know I’m still in it but I think getting to 18 and the fact that I needed to make the pot to force the playoff was ridiculous you know and it was it was crazy but it was like I don’t know just the best feeling doing that because it was such a similar situation to Barracuda when I won last year you know I had to make Putt in regulation and both the putts were so similar both you know I do aim points so they’re both 1% downhill left to right and both of them went in dead center and even in the playoff um you know Patrick Rogers hit in a divot and he fatted it shortly green and then obviously Denny fatted it short in the water and it was just so similar but um yeah that back nine was crazy because I felt like I was doing everything pretty much perfect right and you know he just got really hot and it was it was unbelievable to watch because that guy just nothing phased him until obviously the playoff kind of ended not great for him but yeah right unbelievable and and and a uh any professional golfer you know the satisfaction that you get from Hing a putt on the 18th green when you have to have it I mean that’s that’s what you train for so when you saw Denny make that putt on the 18th green and you said okay I have to make now what what was going through your mind was there a sense of calmness or was there a sense of oh oh crap like what take me through exactly how you felt when that ball went in the Hole uh well I remember doing the press conference and they were kind of say asking me like what did you think over that pot and vocally I you know I I’ll talk to myself and I just kind of told myself like let’s freaking go and right before I hit that pot and you know heart was pounding hands were shaking and uh I don’t know when I made that putt it was just like it kind of felt like in a way I felt like I took the wind out of his sails um just because he played so incredible but yeah I never gave up and I never you know I never backed down and in that moment I feel like I’ve I’ve been able to perform so well under that pressure and uh there’s just no better feeling because you dream about you know holding those putts and whether it’s a you know signature vendom major whatever it is it’s such it’s just that feeling of like you have the biggest balls ever you know so but that’s that’s that’s what you got to have out on the PGA tour man you gotta have that yeah and um yeah it’s just no better feeling it’s just the satisfaction of like I don’t know just a the will that you have to to execute in that situation is is something like no other do you do you think that in the let’s freaking go moment and the fist pump happens do you wish you would have doubted back just a smidge on the pump fit or the the fist pump because was if if is it true that on the fist pump shoulder came out a little bit Yeah Yeah it subblocks so it kind of slipped out slipped back in and you know then my caddy pounded my hand and I was like dude I I um you know from now on I guess I’ll tip my cap but um no no you got to keep doing that I remember you know shuttling back to the tea and I was just like you I told my fiance I was like this is you my shoulder came out this doesn’t feel great I get to that team my shoulder feels super loose obviously all the ligaments are stretched and I didn’t really know what to expect off that in t-shot if it was going to kind of like out again yeah and uh it just such a a crazy situation because I’m obviously trying to win a golf tournament and I felt this calmness but you know I went straight to my physio we got it taped and I didn’t even see Denny hit in the water but I heard everyone kind of start screaming and then you didn’t even know he hit it in the water like you didn’t see it I just I just you know I heard the crowd and I was like okay well iess it could been it could have been in the back bunker for all you knew you you still when you got to your golf ball you you figured that he was in the water but you weren’t positive no I I was positive when I got back to the golf ball but when I was getting taped you know we were behind the scoreboard and I just heard everyone go oh and I was like all right he either hit in the water or hit in the back bunker and I get back and you know obviously a great white shot and then I’m like counting on my fingers like one two three drop four hit five I was like oh my God I just won the golf tournament and it was just crazy because you know that’s the guy he just played so freaking good all day and just kind of you know the one mistake and I I you know listen back to his um interview and he said he had a bug on his ball and I think that goes back to the the importance of yeah I think it goes back to the importance of like the mental game because you know if he backs off and doesn’t care if he’s embarrassed or whatever like it could could have changed outcome for sure and I think that’s what I’ve learned um you know just backing off is important and doesn’t matter if you look down or you’re not comfortable like just do it and um yeah it just it’s just so unexpected because he he played so good and I you know have so much respect for him and just watching one of the best Putters in the world do his thing is is pretty sweet so um yeah well I can I can say this now this explains way more to me because I’m in the booth and all I see is you decide like hey I’m gonna go get taped up and we just saw a ball get hit in the water I’m thinking to myself oh crap he’s about to ice himself right here so I was thinking like it was like man actually get up there just hit your 80 yard shots so you don’t have to think about it for two minutes but that’s okay this is making a little bit more sense but you got up there it was like you just got up to the ball anyways and you striked it so it was sick yeah oh man that uh that was a probably the going to be you know the event of the year as far as just as as far as the drama goes and I know it’s soon as you finish up you probably realize it’s like oh crap I’m I’m going to the Masters uh I know you had played there before correct me if I’m wrong right you you had played Augusta National before but how difficult was it when you got there because I I think you and I talked outside the clubhouse and you said you’re working with a little cold but still it had to be mentally draining showing up to your first Masters coming off a win I imagine your emotions were just like trying to get as much energy as you could to play your first uh Masters yeah it it’s just such a just crazy 24 hours um because obviously you know you don’t leave the golf course in Tex I didn’t leave the golf course till 9 9:30 um and thankfully you know the tournament had a had a plane for us and the one of my sponsors had he brought his plane and picked us up and perfect um but you know just being on that plane it was 2 and a half hours you land your cars there and uh but we didn’t get to the house till 1:30 I think everyone was still on Cloud 9 for a little bit didn’t fall asleep till 4:00 and then you know I feel like for your first Masters you want to prepare as well as you can understand the golf course but um you know I was just so tired like Monday I just kind of got the lay of the land and I don’t think many people understand how big the property is you know the the clubhouse is or I guess the locker room is in one spot and then you have the range in one spot and then you have you know media in another spot and then the the gym and you know across the parking lot like it is just so big and you feel like you get so lost and I think you know we obviously have the privilege to have our phones but everyone on your team doesn’t and so trying to plan everything like a normal week was just so unorganized um and on top of that was probably the hardest you know the Masters has played in I don’t know 10 probably five six years probably since when uh Danny Willet won um so just trying to prepare for it but yet you know still just you didn’t even I didn’t even really expect to be there so it just whole lot of emotions that came into it man I imagine and I know it was a really difficult week and and I hate that you had to bring up 2016 as somebody who was a a uh who lost to Danny will it down the stretch I wouldn’t call down the stretch maybe just a little early in the day I kind of Let it Loose but we’re not going to get into that but I want to just ask you I know you kind of just talked a little bit about your experience but was there what about the golf course um did you like about Augusta ashle do you feel like that’s a place one day that you can win at after playing your first Masters yeah I think I mean austa is AA it’s got just there’s just never give up on that Golf Course um even the par five now there’s still you know not many easy shots you can leave yourself in some really tough spots and I think the golf course you know the more experience you have and the more experien your caddy is and understanding so many things about it uh it just plays a big part of it and I think what’s really impressive was when lvic obviously finishing second in his first Masters or Jordan being in contention his in his first Masters even you being in contention is uh it’s just unbelievable because you know that golf course changes so fast and the wind was the I mean I’m a really good ball Striker I play really good in the wind I mean Valero blew 2030 but it’s so consistent and there is just literally a guessing game and uh I mean for the cut to be six or seven over it just shows like the you know we’re the best players in the world yet six overs a cut and um yeah it’s just crazy I mean the greens got so firm so fast and you know there’s just certain things about it that you’re like how is this even possible like three green you know the whole green pitches hard right to left and downhill yeah and they had that back left pin and that putt is downhill left to right but your chipping is downhill right like it’s just crazy how the green slopes like that and um I think just understanding the more and more you play like we’re to truly miss it and actually hit shots and 12 I could never figure out you know that sucks you watch it on TV you’re like dude it’s a freaking it’s a nine iron it’s a pitching wedge and then all of a sudden it’s like I didn’t hit the green once so it’s it is a nightmare when you just like it’s not moving up at the green but you see all around you it’s it’s howling it’s a that ho is an absolute mess trying to figure out what type of shot cuz if you played up in the air and it happens to get hit it’s just that’s not what you want to do so um pretty cool stuff man and and I I think this kind of leads us into our next uh bit of this conversation which is you know about 14 months ago if my maths me correct you were kind of playing off of still exemptions and really you know you eventually played your way into special temporary status which if you talk if you listen to Charlie and I on this podcast I think special temporary status is like a madeup word and doesn’t even do anything because you were in the hard way and that by getting special temporary status and winning and it’s like oh wait I had special temporary status and I still didn’t get all those points of when I had special temporary status so just kind of talk about like how difficult and how you know finally you get to plan out your schedule in the past it’s like your schedule was all over the place and your team like you said you finally got that organ do you feel like finally you’re in a place where your game is matured like you’ve matured and that you’re and that you can finally kind of move in the direction which you can set these lofty goals yeah I think um I feel like my game is you know still very similar to how it was last year I think obviously the putter change has been a big uh MH a big change but a great change and um you know my ball striking was really really good last year and it’s starting to kind of trend like that again I think I’ve gained you know plus four or five shots almost the last three or four weeks even last five weeks and um you know I’ve always driven it better and better um but I you know I think last year was such a weird year uh I was planning to play corn fery I played Four events had a couple good finishes and all of a sudden you know I’m playing all these tour events and um you know top 10 in a couple really big events like this week at the Wells Fargo um so yeah I think you know truly being a professional golfer and like I said the CEO of my company is important and I’m learning so much about it especially at my age I’ve been doing it for five years now um and you know for just to keep learning and still be one of the younger guys is is really cool because you know it’s not it’s not easy out here and um I’m still learning a lot and trying to to figure out the balance and uh I always love playing golf and these last two weeks I took off and I’m not used to that but you know it just comes with the territory yeah it makes a ton of sense and you you said it five years ago you make the decision coming out of high school two turn professional so you’re 17 years old and and I asked you in happy hour maybe it was even before like you didn’t really consider going to college and and I I I want to ask you this a little bit about this I know you were obviously one of uh the most talented coming out but there wasn’t like an nil component to college like it is now would that have changed at all for you were you always uh were you always going to be turning pro yeah I don’t I don’t think anything would have changed and I think the PJ tour you thing is great obviously you can get a tour card now and corn fairy starts and everything but I don’t know I just I still want to seen myself waiting four years or three years to get my tour card I think the way I’ve done it and my story and um kind of everything I’ve learned so fast is you know it’s it’s time that I would have never I don’t think I would ever gotten in college because the people I’ve gotten to meet and like I said just being a professional golfer is there’s so much more to it than just you know playing golf and playing on the PJ tour and making money uh there’s just so much more to it and the travel and you know the consistency is something that I’ve learned over time but at my pace and with the people I have around me and it’s uh yeah just would have never changed honestly I would have turned Pro I didn’t love school but um yeah me and you both my man me and you both and then I think in probably 200 oh shoot maybe this was like 19 or something like that to or 20 I was playing in the RSM and maybe you had gotten a sponsor’s invite or maybe you were trying to do the Monday qualifier and I was talking to you and your family at the porch in at Sea Island and they had this event and I talked to your dad for quite some time just about the journey that you were on I think you were playing mini tour stuff um just try kind of trying to find your way and in that first year did you ever doubt the decision of turning pro like immediately did you think like were you overwhelmed at all at the very beginning where you’re thinking like man like did I make the right decision no I never doubted it I think um I think over time you know you I feel like it’s a cliche of you spend too much time out there you know as a kid especially at 17 years old you want to you know spend as much time on the prct screen and test all the new clubs and um you know just kind of this is what you dreamed about playing on the PJ tour playing PJ tour events and um I think at the time I just wasn’t ready um but I still almost made some cuts and I didn’t miss I miss every cut as a you know my first year but I still was always kind of right there at right on the cut line and I just didn’t know how to deal with it and um I think Co you know was a tough thing for a lot of people but a blessing for me because I kind of got to relax a little bit and kind of truly just work hard on my game and what I needed to do to I guess not necessarily compete out there but just be you know a little more consistent um um and yeah you know I everything kind of just progressed every year you know won my first mini Tour event then yeah where was what uh what’s what mini Tour event was it was it swing thought does that sound like swing there you go tour I uh how much was it do you remember how much you got paid 10,000 my man I love it it was sweet I remember I have my friend catting at the time and my my other friend he came down kind of come watch and I remember after the round we went to Mo’s and I just told him look guys like this one’s on me today that’s what I’m talking about man I I want to like right when I turned Pro I won a Hopkins Tour event I don’t even know if you knew what that tour was or if it was around when you were because it wasn’t much it wasn’t around much longer after I won that event because I won $155,000 and I never got paid so that’s that’s that’s kind of where I was like I need to get off the mini tours I hated here so and it’s funny Pat kazy and I were battling down the stretch and I I won and he uh he finished second so we both made it through Q School like all right I guess uh I guess we need to make to the tour because I don’t think we’re ever GNA see that money again that’s unbelievable yeah you know we just bankrupt the mini tours you know but but um yeah I just you know back to winning my first M tour the top 10 in my first PJ tourament and my first made cut then mondy qualifying into my first PJ Tour event just kind of everything started happening and I always knew I had it it was just kind of a matter of time and understanding and um yeah here we are now yeah and I I guess like to just put a period on this conversation you know I think the game of golf when we look at all the great Juniors and the and the great players in our game like Tiger Woods you know look at Justin Thomas Jordan Speed spending some time in college you know they weren’t there all four years but they did spend time but then you look at different sports leagues like you know I would say the NBA you know you can FasTrack and the MLB you can turn pro right away and get your clock started so golf is just unusual in the fact that you can be talented enough to get going early but you’re one of the few guys to really do it so I just think it’s it’s a credit to your confidence and your ability to say you know what let’s just go figure out how to play pro golf because that’s what I want to do for a Liv yeah I think um you know so many people have talent and um I was so fortunate to get you know seven spots as a 17y old on the PJ tour seven sponsors exemptions and I think having the ability to play those events and just kind of to experience that um I feel like it’s just not something that a lot of people get and obviously very appreciative of it now and um it’s cool now to go back as a two-time PJ tour winner to these events that always gave me spots and uh just kind of crazy you know come back and be like I mean what was I doing two years ago playing this tournament I was freaking out I love it and uh a I mean we we know you from how good you are at golf but I found you via social media and I want to talk just a little bit about content because that’s something that’s important to you and I mean I I was sitting here last night I T typed in uh OE on YouTube and you just dropped this TPC s grass video that I already had it it dropped 26 minutes in it had like 50 comments so obviously that’s something that’s a point of emphasis of yours to kind of grow on the YouTube side as well as other aspects of your social media kind of just talk about where what your longterm uh plan is for uh kind of your your content yeah I guess I’ve always loved it um my cousin Anish does you know a lot of my Social Media stuff he’s one of the most creative people I know and um you know it’s something we’ve always wanted to do especially on the YouTube side but just never quite had the time or the understanding of what we truly needed to do and um but now it’s just so fun because I feel like a lot of kids or a lot of people don’t get to see the perspective of a PJ tour player’s life uh I think what Netflix did was awesome I think you know with good good on YouTube or the Brian Bros or whoever they show you know just kind of the fun parts of golf playing challenges with your friends or whatever it may be but for me I I want to show a different perspective of this is how we travel this is my practice or you know sometimes we’ll do matches but more so it’s just kind of the experience of a tournament um and I think for me it’s just a lot of fun I I love watching YouTube first of all I love podcast obviously and um I just think you know as a kid being able to see you know PJ T Pro’s life is is cool and um you know just inspiring people and getting the game to grow I feel like social media is such a big part now of everyone’s lives and um especially for golf to grow and for kids to be interacted with you know random stuff of golf and I think that’s what you know a lot of these creators do so well of making it seem so fun like oh I want to go you know play one with one club like that sounds awesome you know um and you know with the Instagram stuff it’s it’s really cool but I think obviously growing my brand and being a little different than a lot of people um is important to me because I just want to be myself but at the same same time um I guess not stand out but kind of make an effort a little bit more than than some guys because some guys obviously want a lot of privacy in their life which is absolutely okay and for me I just I love interacting with people and I love you know just making kids smile or whatever it may be because it’s important for for us to show that we care about you know people supporting us and um yeah I just really enjoy it yeah it’s a great way to grow your brand as well well you know yeah absolutely all right aay let’s uh kind of enter to what uh has been a really fun part of this this podcast and show and if if you’re listening this is a good time to flip on over to YouTube so you can kind of follow along with the videos that we have uh that that oa’s team has sent to us and we’re going to start with the putting and before we get the video pulled up last year oay using the arm loock putter this year the broom six putter you’ve already mentioned it how good your stats have been how well you’re rolling it but the change Stephen Sweeney your putting coach how did y’all end up making the decision to go from the arm lock to the broomstick putter yeah I think um you know I never had good putting weeks I remember Mexico the viante Mexico open I that was the first week I did aim point I played with Harry Hall the week before in the Zurich and he was kind of telling me about it and first we got did it I gained like four strokes and I was like all right well this is it and then just from there I never had good putting weeks and I hit it so good but yet I was losing Strokes almost every week um and even at Barracuda you know I never puted great I just kind of hung around and that format’s a little different but you know I had unfortunately obviously didn’t get into the playoffs um when I didn’t when I won didn’t get my points and I um went down to see Stephen and I told him you know I want to try this broomstick obviously Lucas Glover won the week uh of window using it switched and obviously the guys been through a lot of different feelings and I’ve had you know I’ve had some feelings on the greens and um I’ve tried you know regular Putter and I F it great with a regular putter but sometimes you know mentally I I just couldn’t do it and arm loock was just difficult because I can never get my speed right you know obviously once it’s locked into your arm then you can only do so much manipulation with with your wrist to you know hit a 50 60 footer up a slope or whatever it may be and I remember trying the broomstick and you know Sweeney Sweeney really liked it but I was just not really convinced and um I practic I practiced with it for a little bit and I remember going into Napa at the foret and first round I’m like I think it was Tuesday Wednesday I was going back and forth of arm lock broomstick arm loock broomstick and then you know I’m like I’m just going to try this broomstick and I puted terrible the first round I puted so bad um and then the second round you know I switched back to armlock and I put it great and and I played with the Justin that week and he uh he’s like man that that broomstick sucks pretty much and then you know I I played that fall season i i puted a little bit better but still not good enough to obviously win you know win that fall and I played RSM and the first round I think we had a rain delay so we came back Friday finished the round and I was using arm lock in the second day I was or the second round I was like told my K was like just go get the broomstick if I miss his cut whatever I just want to see how this is and you know I start to feel a little more comfortable and um I still you know I didn’t roll it great and I made some nice putts I made a lot more longer putts and then this you know December we kind of had a call and everyone was kind of like we need to we need to do this and I think it’s really going to make a big change and wow this stroke’s going to look terrible all right oh I can’t imagine because like you don’t really know like what to move right so when with the arm lock you’re you know it like you said it’s glued against you and you do have to use more shoulders but like your arm being like almost parallel to the ground has to be like a very odd feeling for the first time Joey can you pull up a face on so we can kind of see uh what that looks like from that angle because I think this is where the really awkward moment is the first time you get with that putter because you just don’t like what was the first feel that you came up with it’s like okay this is kind of what I’m trying to do here I mean obviously the biggest thing with the broomstick is setup uh getting your arm where you want it to be ball position how far you are from the ball like all that makes so much of a difference um it’s not like you know a regular putter where you know your ball play position can be a little off but you can still roll the ball good this is like you have to be almost perfect to to set up and then once you get the setup then you got to figure out okay what’s going to start the putter back um and there’s you know different grip variations and so many different things that you you can do and um yeah it just was it’s such a weird change and I think that’s kind of what Lucas Glover was saying it’s so foreign that it’s almost a great thing because you’re just trying to relearn U yeah system that’s the good part right like if you have if anybody’s listening at home that’s struggling with their putting they’re like gosh I can’t figure this thing out I I I think the broomstick is such a unique experience it’s almost like relearning how to putt for the first time yeah and I think the biggest thing that convinced me towards the broomstick was I played with Lucas Glover in Mexico and he put it unreal I play with Adam Scott in Berita he puts unreal and then seu Kim was using a broomstick and he putt it unreal and I was like all right like this is and to me like you know a lot of people think it’s be banned and a lot of people think I anchor it whatever but to me I think it looks really cool I think it’s like when you see Lucas Glover Adam Scott or seu like when I saw them set up to it I was like dude this guy just looks like a solid like he’s going to make he’s going to make some he’s gonna make some I love that so you know making that change in December I still wasn’t fully convinced but they they finally sent me like the jailbird which obviously Ricky and and wendam and and Keegan like everyone was using and um kind of once I got that putter on my hands I was like this is it like this is the one that I feel like it’s going to be great and I I also remember you were watching you were watching us at Sanderson Farms and yeah uh I had a putt on the 11th hole and you’re like you know I think he should make this broom broomstick change and Wags was like yeah but you know he rolls it so good and I just you know I’ve rewatched that that round and I remember you saying that but yeah it’s obviously a big change but also it’s a cool experience because you get to kind of really dial in everything and like I said relearn you know this putting style um and going into you know centry it was my first week doing it and I putted great and kind of from then I’ve had I I’ve pretty much had you know a lot of really solid weeks on the greens and um you know I’ve had one or two bad rounds or two bad weeks but it’s just uh I don’t know I feel a lot more comfortable and I also understand like my Tendencies now okay yeah I mean your stats your stats are so good we’re and we’re looking at Wells Fargo putting uh from this week as as we’re kind of rolling these through your I mean your stats speak for itself putting inside of 10 feet this year 90% you’re 17th putting I mean is your stats are just so good with the putting with how good you hit it I mean you’re going to find yourself in contention so often now yeah I uh you know I did a podcast with Dan R and for and he was what was a big he was asking me you know what’s the biggest thing for you to kind of get to the next level or to win golf I said putting and um you know fortunately I’ve I’ve you know I’ve always worked really hard especially on putting and always looked up to Jason day because he works so hard he is one of the best Strokes I think ever in the world and he obviously went through that period of time where he didn’t miss but I’ve always worked really hard but now I feel like I have my kind of my checklist every day and um you know I feel like if I get that done and I’m really consistent like I’m just never going to have many bad putting weeks and I feel like that’s kind of what the broom can produce you know you’re never going to have really bad putting weeks you might not have great days but you’ll still have days where the ho looks like a bucket so yeah I think for all the all the viewers that struggled putting and you know wonder why they missed two three Footers just freaking go grab a broomstick and you know go have fun well the putting’s been fun to watch but I think the re one of the big reasons why you wanted Valero was how well you pitched it and I watched you and your coach of work on the pitching on Wednesday and we have some videos that he sent over and this is coach Gabe on it’s or it’s Gabe Goff on Instagram Gabriel yeed is that how you pronounce his last name is that it yeah I mean it’s so funny little little quick story on his on his last name I was so nervous about saying it on the aid valo but I had all this great information that I that I’d learned from him that y’all were working on at Valero and I’m like hey Dan te tea me up because he know how to say Gabe’s name I was like please just so like I like whacked him on the arm was like it’s time he’s like so OE has been working very hard with the short game coach Gabriel yed and I was like thank you so I thought I was going to Fumble it so bad but here’s a video he sent and I think a lot of people when they see this face on it’s not a perfect angle but they can see how quick your arms are you’re working on trying to get some friction at the bottom but you move towards the target just kind of talk about that seems to be something a little bit new you’re doing this year with him yeah I think you know I did a like kind of like a trial week at a Honda and he looked at my pitching and um yeah first thing we did was we went from you know I um in lock grip so we went overlap which is a big change uh but obviously it softens the kind of softens the blow and then you know matching the the back swing speed with the through swing yeah and all of a sudden you know I was I’d never spun the golf ball a lot I play a low spin Ball but now I’m starting to spin it a lot and I feel like I can hit a lot of those spinners and um I just feel like now he’s he’s helped me understand you know my Baseline but then you have the versatility of different shots different lies you know just random things and I feel like he’s really good at kind of just telling you how to do it and I feel like he unlocked the potential I always had um yeah and so now I understand like okay well if the ball’s sitting up you know in the rough then I hit up on the ball and if it’s you know sitting in a divot and then I like tow it down and Hood the crap out of it or in the B you know there’s just so many different shots like if if you’re if you have a short shot in the rough and you have you know three four paces and I like will hit the go I like hit the golf ball and like draw my hands back and it’ll come out like really soft but there’s so much speed that it’s not like a muff shot yeah like normal so there’s just so many different things that I’ve learned and um it’s fun you know it’s a lot of fun I think this is a really cool shot that we have here on the screen now it’s like this is the face is wide open but you’re taking a really slow back swing and getting a ton of speed at the ball is this kind of that low spinner shot right here that you’re kind of working on so this one is we call it a flow so it’s like longer slower but then this one we call like the low flow because I move forward still and so it’ll come out with you know soft but a lot a lot of Spin and and then if I’m short-sided or it’s firm greens um then I’ll go with the flow which is like really long really slow but the ball will come out super soft sometimes it’ll come out spinny and like out of gusta I chipped it like if you ever get Shane Lowry on the podcast and you ask him about my short game out of Gua like it was nasty dude like didn’t you hit a flap shot on like behind the green on one didn’t you like hit like a full gosh it was it was yeah it was like a Sandy it was where all the chairs were so it was in the grain Sandy matted down and obviously like you know that green is wicked but I I hit this like I this you know like bunker shot like fat flop that lands like on this small little shelf and trickles to like a foot and then 15 uh the first day I hit it long in the green near those like three pine trees and it is down wind or like down off the right and I hit this flop that landed like a inch on the green and went to like six feet and Shane you know Shane comes up to me and goes dude I wish I was 22 and I was like and yeah it’s just like my short game that week was nasty and even you know Phil and I are good friends and he he even saw some of those swap shots I hit and he was like dude that was that was nice you’re getting uh you’re getting some compliments from uh the original short game Chef that’s not Parker mcaf and this is Phil Michelson the guy’s just nasty but the the last two videos we have or actually You Haul out both of these so these are kind of just cool videos just to to roll in as as we kind of head out of this section this is at the back of the range of TVC s us it looks like yep you remember this shot oh yeah yeah this is when we were first working on kind of like I was like you know I need a better 50 yard like soft shot and he’s like oh it’s do this and then I hold it well what do you do it’s just I you know I’ve always been a clock person um so I I kind of it’s more of like kind of the long slower shot but it doesn’t come out really fast and so I feel like I have a lot of time to kind of Hit the 50 yard shot so I take it to I would say 2:30 3:00 and then just kind of let the you know stay in front of it move forward and then all of a sudden it just comes out soft and slow um you know if I have a shot that’s downwind or a front pin whatever it may be and um so yeah it was uh kind first of those that’s sick and the next one we have is like a super grainy light I’m not sure exactly what uh what short game facility this next video is in but it looks like you’re going to be going with like the toe down shot um can you tell where this is is this Honda yeah sorry cogs yeah so this was this was like the first day we worked together and um yeah Sandy grainy and um you know we went tow down open face um and then still kind of very very Cy so could you hit that shot before did you like learning just the ingredients there is that like a Hallelujah for like for learning how to hit that shot um I felt like I could just never I I you know I I know I hit that shot but I feel like I just never had yeah I guess the ingredients to actually do that on command you know some some would come out great and then some would come out you know short come out hot yeah so now now I’m like oh I know EX what I’m doing well this uh this was all really useful information for those that are grinding on their short games they come out of the spring and they have all these big expectations about this is the year I’m G to finally lower my handicap or win the whatever Championship uh at their home golf course and now they got all these useful information and tools from oet so thank you for sharing all this and uh just the last thing I want to kind of talk about is uh first off Wells Fargo being one of them uh do you consider this being kind of a home event for you is this kind of one you have circled on your schedule every year is when you want to win oh absolutely I this is my by far my favorite golf course that we play all year um and it is it is very a home game for me I mean being in North Carolina and um I just I don’t know this this whole tournament is awesome I’ve been fortunate to play it a couple times and thankfully now I can you know being a signature event thankfully I’m in it um because this was one I really wanted to play and I didn’t ever get an opportunity earlier in the year to play any of these Signature Events but you know everyone with the the tournament staff was gracious enough to give me the opportunity to kind of like chat with them and I made their job Easy by winning and getting in but quall is a special place um Golf Course is freaking just so pure I mean so good so good Augustus you know Augustus got its own presence but this place I think this place in Memorial and Augusta kind of Standalone as as just a different just different atmosphere um it’s a right when you pull right when you pull in it’s just the vibe it’s just it’s a big big time event Clubhouse locker room just the amenities it’s just like Yep this this is Big Time golf this is what I dreamed of right the snacks and the milkshake stees here and the food like it is just tough It’s they still have those donuts like in the in the locker room y goes freshly made H we tell the donut guy I said hello and I miss him and I wish wish I wish at times that I was still playing on tour for for things like that but um I probably wouldn’t be having conversations with OE so this is uh uh this has been a lot of fun and I think uh next week being the PGA Championship I was just kind of you know just doing a little Googling on oan and I totally forgot and I knew this had happen that you won the junior PGA in vajala in 2018 yep how sick is that so you’ve already you’ve already played and won there Charlie uh our our co-host and producer of this podcast he he picked you by the way at Valero and I I actually called one of my budes Wednesday night and they’re like hey who’s who should I pick for my oneand done and I was like dude I don’t even know why they’re playing the event at Deer O’s going to win and I had I can’t even remember who I picked for our oneand done but I knew I had such good feelings about you that week but Charlie can’t pick you anymore so I just might have to burn my oet card at the uh PGA Championship I mean the guys’s already won there yeah I think like I said everything about my story is it’s definitely crazy to me I mean being my first PJ Championship going back to Valhalla where I won is is really cool I just don’t think you can you know write that and um yeah I uh I’m pumped to get back you know that that chip on 18 is one of the clutchest moments I think I’ve ever had in my life um yeah I we’re sitting here looking at this chip I I saw it on Twitter today uh so yeah man it’s it’s going to be fun to watch you not only this week at the Wells Fargo uh but at the PGA Championship for your first PGA Championship at Valhalla so there’s a lot to be excited about if you’re oay via but if you’re an oay fan as well a lot to uh to look forward to because you got a lot of great golf in front of you and I’m looking forward to watching you play a bunch because I’ll be I don’t have to look far for your golf balls you’re always right in the middle of the Fairway so this is it’s an easy job for me yeah try to make it easy as possible for you so all right man well I appreciate you doing this and in the Smiley Show we definitely love to do any type of uh YouTube content down the road or collaboration if you will so uh definitely look forward to potentially doing some stuff with you down the road and and and as always you’re more than welcome to join us on this podcast this has been a whole lot of fun and play play really well this week dude thanks I’m pumped I was you know we I feel like we’ve been talking about being on this podcast for six months and you’re like you know we just got to wait until something good happens and thankfully it did so I I I knew knew that your story wasn’t done being told and I was like this something is going to happen I don’t know what’s going to happen um and it was just an instinct I was like why am I gon to get oxay on if I know like something’s going to happen and Valero happens and and of course I’m on the call in the booth and I talk to you on a Wednesday for 45 minutes before the round it’s just it’s just stuff like that it just it just makes sense so uh this has been a lot of fun and we’re we’re not going to go another six months without doing something else so uh we we’ll make we’ll make sure of that yeah well thanks for having me and hopefully uh yeah some YouTube content soon my guy play well this week and uh we’ll see you soon right thanks dude you know I listen to this podcast is really cool and all of our Lo fans and subscribers but make sure you like And subscribe it’s cool to see what you guys are doing I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too so please keep it up for all the good people of YouTube like And subscribe you guys have some good take so I’m happy to come on and and shoot the