Webb Simpson responds to criticism of sponsor invites he’s received for Signature events. He also shares lessons he’s learned in fatherhood over the years and the influence of his kids on him.
right here with web Simpson and Webb like think about your career we were just talking off mic about how wow just seemed like yesterday 2011 you got that that win in the playoffs and just so much has happened you only had uh James it was the only kid at the time in your life how how crazy is it to think back on time and on the tour for you um it’s gone fast you know I think this is my 15th season on tour uh you know 14 years of marriage five kids later um it’s been a wonderful career that I probably never could have dreamed as a kid but um I’m 38 and I feel like I feel good I’m healthy as ever um you know I got plenty of speed with the driver so I feel like there’s still a lot of good golf that that is still in me well I think about good golf but also good parenting and I heard you on with mark imman on his podcast a couple years back and how the kids do so much for us right they they teach us little things that bring us back to reality and you know give us some examples of that with your with your big family yeah you know parenting with my wife is is such a joy you know there’s parenting I tell people is probably the most Joy you can have and probably the most challenging thing I’ve ever done um and every day you know you got five little ones in our house five little ones running around and you know they’re going to they’re going to get in fights here and there and arguments and they’re learning how life Works um but it’s a joy to teach them you know what we believe in most which is faith in Christ and um how that anchors our life anchors our soul um you know I tell them all the time daddy is not a golfer he’s he’s a child of God who happens to play golf for work um and so they they know that now but they’re super supportive of of what I do and um you know they’re starting to pay attention a little more and uh they you know they don’t have a phone but they’re borrowing my wife’s phone to look at the app you know every Thursday Friday see how I’m playing so that’s fun yeah and you have your trophy room at home and and you made the comment even though you have US Open trophy you have a players championship trophy that the kids are the real trophies and how would you explain that yeah you know those are just amazing uh accomplishments that I’m super thankful for but you know like I I don’t hardly ever think about those trophies um and I think about my kids pretty much every hour every day um and they mean obviously infinitely more than any trophy could um but I think as a Christian I’m able to you know be thankful for those successes but know that my identity isn’t wrapped up in them and I don’t have to keep chasing more to be happy that my happiness is rooted in Christ and not a trophy um and that you know my par my kids know that me as their parent like they bring me way more joy than golf ever could um and it’s probably a challenge that I have like to teach them that considering how much time I spend working on my game and on the road but they’re getting old enough to really understand it and believe it well as you see them mature like what’s the mo one of the most rewarding things of seeing them mature like I know I see my kids take them out to the driving range but when they are really listening to each other and and when I feel like I’m at least present with them or stepping up my present game that really is more fulfilling for me as a dad I don’t know like what what do you pinpoint um yeah I I I love the development like the developmental stages and how I can be involved in that you know I got a 5-year-old and a 13-year-old they lives are so different um and you know my 13-year-old I didn’t press him to play golf but he’s getting interested lately and he’s getting excited about it and I’m kind of letting him dictate when he wants to practice a little bit I’m encourag him you know to work hard but um the other girls they’re they’re trying to figure out what they love whether it’s singing soccer gymnastics and I think our job as parents often times you know in terms of sports and stuff is just to provide them opportunities to to explore what they love and what they’re good at and is it is it easy to Foster kind of those passions I know that we’re born with certain gifts right all of us and even now James at 13 are there are there some gifts that really kind of get you excited as you look at him and some of your others developing yes I mean they’re all uniquely gifted in different ways um I think it’s always that fine balance of what age do you start getting them to really focus in solely on that gift um I play basketball till I was 15 play tennis till I was 15 and and so I think I want them to keep doing other things than just one thing um but you know like my 11-year-old plays soccer and she loves it she’s obsessed with it kind of like I was with golf and so if she wants to do that only I’ll let her but um I think most great athletes are pretty well grounded athletes at least when they’re kids you want to get some variety and just give them a chance to to see what else is out there right and make friends other ways right yeah they won’t know if they like something or if they’re good at something until they try it so that’s kind of our our mindset yeah well look at now where you are on on tour and you up in leadership now like how do you look at your kind of your leadership role I know there’s been discussion about Rory possibly coming back and how do you kind of view your your leadership role yeah it’s been quite a learning opportunity for me um almost a year and a half on the board and I’ve learned from a lot of great people a lot of smart people um it’s been fun to understand the business of the PJ tour a lot more um and you know at the end of the day we are golfers and not businessmen uh us players on the board but it’s been great to see how much the tour and how much the The Independents value our opinion um and so I think overall I’ll look back thinking you know this was a a great uh opportunity um I did want to do it cuz I feel like the tour has been so good to me and I did want to serve and and kind of give back if there’s anything I have to give back um but yeah it’s been I never could have imagined it would have been you know the the landscape of golf would have been what we’ve gone through and so I think there’s been more time that we’ve put in than I anticipated but overall I’ve been thankful for the time yeah and speaking of what we gone through as you open the door there I think about where we are now limited smaller Fields right here signature event and when you hear um you know I deal with criticism in my own world with journalism and you know you got a hold up to the standards you believe in when you hear criticism about um you getting invites to some of these events like how do you deal with with some of that that talk you know what I mean like we all kind of compartmentalize differently you know well I’m not on social media so I have no idea what’s out there uh and I would advise anyone listening that I promise you your life will be better if you’re not on social media um I haven’t talked to one person who’s gotten off who said They wish they didn’t um but look we’re in an opinionated day and age more than we’ve ever been people love to behind their screen um and most people really care what they think the world cares what they think but 99.9% of the world really doesn’t care um and that might sound strong but I I don’t I don’t think too much about it you know the rules and Rags that are put into place give tournament directors the opportunity to invite and the sponsor to invite four people and you know if anything from tournament directors and sponsors this year I’ve heard that they would like to be able to give more sponsor exemptions and kind of give them a little more power to build the field how they want to build it um and so look if if somebody says the sky is blue somebody’s going to have an opinion on that and somebody’s going to complain about you saying the sky is blue so I’m in a public Arena and I’ve dealt with it for a long time and it’s nothing new to me right so it just like like water off duck’s back if you get criticism for for being a pick in a small field basically I can control what I do what I say I can’t control what other people do say or think yeah well lastly Charlotte home game like how how much do you enjoy when you have a home game uh you know out on tour I love it um I I love it for all the obvious reasons but I love this golf course this is a home to me um my family and I spend so much time out here so I’m grateful for the opportunity that Gary’s giving me Wells Fargo’s giving me and um I’m hoping to to have a great week always grateful for your time web thanks buddy appreciate it cheers all right buddy hey thanks so much man
