Fairways of Life is joined by our friend Mark Carnevale, 1992 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and analyst who will be covering the PGA Championship for SiriusXM.
can’t really describe the feeling of you know dreaming of just coming and playing on the PJ tour to be sitting at home you know with a girl I dated in high school with our child and then the Green Jacket sitting in the closet is a pretty pretty insane feeling and I just you know wanted to be as thankful as possible but I think the the human heart is always you know striving for more and the competitiveness in me is uh it doesn’t really allow me to to reflect really that much why does it feel like when we’re talking about CH uh Scotty Sheffer that the human heart that’s always striving for more than he’s talking about doesn’t seem to impact him the way that it affects others you know what I mean he seems insolar in terms of outside forces expectations or even internal ones impacting him Mark carnavale is joining us live from Valhalla this morning he is the 1992 Arnold Palmer award recipient that is for Rookie of the Year and this week he will be a part of serus XM radio coverage uh they call themselves PGA Championship radio this week Carney is joining us I believe from inside of their Studios this morning Carney how are you what’s going on good morning Maddie just uh reflecting on those comments from Scotty Sheffer I think that’s and before we go into anything else it just really makes me admire him uh the way he handles himself and very unusual in this day and age that best player in any sport is able to compartmentalize so many different things and really put the emphasis on what he believes and his family believes is important and that’s unusual and that’s I have a lot of respect for him for that I’m trying to compare him historically and and my mind and I’m not trying to be unfair and I’m not trying to be sensationalized I’m just trying to to understand the mindset and that ability to compartmentalize as you phrased it Carney it kind of reminds me of a Jack Nicholas back in the day where yeah I play golf and and I’m very good at it and my mind is is one of my chief uh attri in in the competitive Arena but when it’s all said and done I’m also going to be there for my kids games etc etc is that is that a fair comparison would you have another one no I think that’s pretty fair I think and what sort of the the sidebar to all that is and and as someone who’s played this game and certainly been around it and watched it and certainly watched other sports and athletes I got to believe that’s that makes them play better and certainly Jack uh you could sort of correlate that with back and obviously with Scotty that because they’re able to separate their profession in in in a lot of ways from their private and personal life and emphasize that more so than their profession I actually think that allows them to play better and uh I think it’s a very fair comparison is is there any concern with Scotty Sheffer is he such an outlier that we don’t have in this in this area is there any concern of rust when he comes back and for and for what he’s gone through now he’s a new dad and all the rest or is he going to pick up right where he left off I I would imagine you know the break and we always talk about all the time players talk about having R like like you used I don’t think it’s R because you don’t ever forget how to play the game uh you know it’s that it’s that competitive side of it that getting in that mix uh is three weeks what is it is it three weeks of so he I know he skipped New Orleans Dallas and I guess so is so he’s three weeks is that is correct I think I don’t think it’s quite that long but yes effectively yeah I I don’t see you know I don’t think that’s it because I’m sure he spent time practicing uh he was there for his wife uh as as she gave birth to their first child um I think he put put time in but I also think it’s a good thing too to get away from it because when you think about it he won four times in five weeks uh I think that shows that he was his game is where he wants it to be I don’t think you lose it uh certainly you could say the distraction of having the child uh is more important and he’s even admitted that uh but now I I mean I don’t expect to see him come out and do anything different than he does than he always does absolutely fascinating are are you gonna see Scotty this week have you seen him what’s your do you even know your what your assignment schedule is yet I will be covering his group tomorrow afternoon so I’ll see a lot of them uh on Thursday I haven’t seen him yet I just just arrived uh I arrived yesterday afternoon uh and it’s been raining and it’s raining currently raining now so I haven’t even been out on the golf course hopefully we get some breaks in this uh I I don’t see any players on the golf course at the moment uh they uh again it’s it’s they’ve had moisture the last couple of days and it’s going to be a challenge tomorrow is supposed to be okay based on what I understand and then certainly possibility over the Friday and the weekend but uh no I’m looking forward to it it’ll be interesting to follow him to see how you know I mean is it a response I don’t know I mean we can classify it however you know people get interested in it but I I think you know I feel very privileged to be out there with them so I’m I’m excited about it do you like the golf course do you like it as a stage for a major championship you know I was here in in uh 2008 at the rer cup I was here for 2014 uh I know that they’ve made some changes to it they’ve added some AG they’ve made some adjustments on on some of the holes I I think it it it’s it’s a it’s certainly good theater uh again I haven’t been out on the golf course yet so I haven’t really seen uh the sort of the sad part is because you know we’re getting the moisture so it’s going to be soft it’s a long golf course uh going to have an advantage with without question to the longer hitters uh so I I I I think the venues are great Matt but I think what ultimately is the key to whether or not I think in my opinion and certainly may you know the public can agree or disagree I think the competition is what really brings it all out and I think I would expect we’re going to have uh another great competition here this week which again I think highlights not only the field but it also then ultimately highlights the golf course that the the competition is on yeah I mean so much of that competition has rightfully been focused on the defending champion in Brooks kka the play of mroy coming in obviously the play of Scotty Sheffer when you look at those three are they the three Chief story lines when we’re talking about inside the ropes which is odd to have to qualify that at a major championship but nonetheless well certainly if you look at the most recent winners and certainly the the uh the game uh the names in golf with their with their competitions on on different tours uh with in Brooks’s case having coming off a win uh on the Liv tour uh you know Rory coming off the win at Wells Fargo and Scotty you know you know the interesting thing we talk about the high that Scotty was on after winning you know obviously the Masters again following up with the win at the RBC Heritage imagine what the adrenaline he’s going to feel now as a father you know that’s that’s might be the biggest win uh when you look at it um I think certainly so but as we always know there are other stories that are going to you know fold in I know that John R made some comments yesterday that people have responded to uh the biggest thing and and this is what sort of bothers me I was talking to D about this before we we you came on here drama was always on the golf course with golf now we’ve got so much drama off it uh and I know that that certainly uh probably gives people clicks and uh it’s more popular in social media uh but I always like to have the go drama on the golf course uh but now we have it off it and then fortunately I think that makes us like every other sport where for the longest time golf was I wouldn’t say immune to it but it it sort of uh distinguish itself separately by not really having that drama outside of the ropes well it certainly carried itself with a with a degree of dignity perhaps that other sports didn’t have that didn’t necessarily mean that drama wasn’t happening behind the scenes we just W aware of it uh as to what John ROM said for those of you that may not have heard it to react to to carne’s comments uh here is John R yesterday and he was talking about he was asked the question about being over there or outside the tour and he was like whoa whoa whoa whoa let me redefine this this is from yesterday’s press conference so you guys keep saying the other side but I’m still a PJ to remember whether suspended or not I still want to support the PGA Tour uh and I think that’s an important distinction to make I don’t feel like I’m on the other side I’m just not playing there that’s at least personally um I haven’t really spoken enough to to know about what’s going on on the board and you know obviously people are not going to be willing to be sharing that information with me since I’m no longer a part of those discussions so uh I’m going to say what I’ve said all along I hope we reached a resolution and a resolution that’s that’s beneficial for everyone to me Carney it seems like his comments were intended to be an olive branch but instead some people have seen it as though he took out a stick and whack the the PGA Tour which side do you fall on I I I think so I kind of tend to agree with some of what John said I mean he’s he’s won on the PJ tour he’s won multiple time many times on the PJ tour that’s something they can’t take away from you uh do you lose your me I again I don’t know enough of the details of what what everything has done I mean that’s part of the you know my my Challenge and my I wouldn’t say my issue is that I don’t personally know enough of what everything is going on so is he suspended I don’t know I thought he lost you know he was his privileges was revoked uh but suspended I don’t know but I I look at some point we have to come to some agreement uh G you know while you know we’ve we’ve we’ve had this I think it’s three years now two and a half years run of of this uh it’s time to get down to business I I would like to see something I don’t know how they’re going to resolve it but I don’t know if it was an olive branch for John I mean um it’s if if you You’ never talked to him or interviewed him you know John JN is JN is sneaky kind of funny uh in a sense of uh he will say things that most people won’t say and and he even said it there he says look I I speak what’s my mind what’s on my mind yeah uh what a lot of other players don’t so I I don’t know and again I go back to the drama it’s just it’s so hard to understand or even get a sense of what’s going on again I I think gol needs it to to to come to some agreement I just don’t know how you satisfy uh everybody in trying to come to an agreement but Carney if you were sitting at home right now and you heard us play that sound you heard this conversation that we’re having about John Rah aren’t the people in the right place to be annoyed by the fact that I didn’t start this by asking you what do you think of John ROM’s chances this week instead we’re reacting to outside the Rope stuff that he said at a press conference I I agree I I would just again that’s that was kind of the point I was trying to make we never had this kind of drama uh I think it’s affected people the viewership the listenership uh I think the fans are golf fans are turned off by a lot of this I mean it’s you know a lot of very rich rich men complaining about you know sort of in a lot of people’s lives very irrelevant things uh it just look kind of p uh in ways and uh you know I I lump myself in there because I am a a member of the PJ tour and and and it’s was my profession and how I talk about it and cover it and broadcast about it but it it it’s not a good look for us uh for this game that’s why I said I mean for the longest time you talked about character and dignity we had it yeah there were things as you mentioned there were things that happened outside the ropes but now everything outside the ropes is I mean you’re putting it right inside the arena every time because everybody’s like sort of waiting uh on every on every word anyone says well what’s live to what’s you know I get asked that question all the time I and I have no idea that’s you know I think people and I think fans and and I’m not speaking for anybody other than myself I think golf fans want a better sense of what’s going on you know what are we going to be able to look forward to uh is it just four events a year that that these guys are going to get together or are we actually going to see the best in the game play against one another we asked a question yesterday would you take Say Brooks Kea Rory maroy and Scotty sheffler or the field the vast majority of our of our audience in the survey took those three against the field when we were coming into the Masters and feel free to comment on that Carney by the way when we were coming into the Masters we had we had three as well we were talking about Brooks we were talking about Rory uh we were talking about Scotty sure but we had John Rah in the mix he ended up finishing Tai for 45th so I revert back to the the the question I I used in in the example actually and ask you what do you think of John ROM’s chances this week do you notice any and I realize he’s a fiery emotional guy anyway but do you notice any extra fuel in that fire this week in determination well we know he has it and that that’s that’s sort of the unknown with John because we as people that cover the game haven’t seen it on a regular basis the the Masters is the most recent one uh I still believe there is a factor in the the setup that that Liv uses uh Brooks is I think Brooks is he’s proven to be an anomaly uh uh Matt being able to do what he’s done while you know pursuing that I think that’s that’s the the mindset but but John is one that I think you know has always wanted to be the best and you have to wonder you know of course it was what less than 6 months ago when he made that decision to to move to live um I think it’s a factor um you can’t count him out but I think you know having having covered him having talked to him it’s got to be bothering him now I think the key is can he use that to his advantage and certainly the talent is there uh but I think we’ll get a we’ll get a good sense of it this week another player that there’s tons of question marks surrounding of course is Justin Thomas he’s the hometown boy uh he’s obviously had success at the PGA Championship he was asked about the pressures that he’s feeling this week here’s JT I’ve just I’ve never experienced it I’ve never played a professional tournament let alone of PGA in my hometown so I’m sure it’ll be some new feelings some good feelings but um I mean just going to take it in and try to you know use it to my advantage use the the energy the the support to uh to to try to kind of get me going and and push me along as the week goes all right Carney so if we if we had it on some type of measure is JT closer to finding it contending winning or is he still searching where is he on that dial I think he’s closer to finding it again you know the the the breakup of he and cadd U Jim maai uh again I I think it’s it’s a good thing for JT in the sense that uh he is is you know doing things uh you know kind of the way he needed to which I think is I mean he’s he’s a player that I think is a shot maker and you know there was always a lot of discussions and again it’s nothing against bones as a caddy I just having followed Justin a lot uh previously um just knowing what I saw and again it’s it’s it it’s you have that Advantage as you know Matt when you’re here you see different things uh I think the confidence is coming back I think certainly this week could help him more with that with the Boost of energy from from the local crowd it’s hard playing in your hometown you know can he is it is it at this point in his career is that enough or does he feel internal pressure which is very understandable um but I I see it getting better for him uh I think he’s you know is he back to win he certainly capable of it but that’s all about confidence you talk about it uh people players talk about all the time uh it’s the greatest thing when you got it and when you lose it it’s the hardest thing to get back and I think it’s all a process but I think he is on the right direction he’s got a good caddy on his bag that’s that’s been successful and uh you know I hope I hope that you know it turns because Justin Tom was playing good golf is really good for the game Jordan spe is another player that there’s a lot of question marks surrounding uh it seems as though Jordan often is how do I phrase it battling voices in his own head uh we do know however that he’s also dealing with a physical issue with his left wrist that has been uh discussed a great deal recently Jordan addressed the media yesterday about this week that it’s almost seems like as incredible as this sounds like it’s being underplayed that he’s playing to try to win a career Grand Slam it’s it’s the one that saluted me so far and it would be uh it would be pretty incredible to work my way into intention and have a chance this week and see if I can try to make that history I mean I’m aware um it’s very cool but I would take any and all and as many Majors as possible regardless of where they come um you know there’s just not many people in the game that have done that and you have an opportunity to do things that are very unique in the game of golf um you know that’s what kind of stands out you know that stands the test of time afterwards so yeah I mean anytime we come to these weeks the idea is to have prep to try to Peak for you know really four time a year and um this is one of them so Carney how close do you think Jordan spe is to playing golf versus playing swing yeah I think that’s the problem I mean I think you hit it right there mat I think that’s what I see when I followed him out there it’s it’s again I think all these guys overthink the game way too much anyways and I think Jordan certainly shows that when out there playing the the thing that stands out and this is with the best players in the world not just Jordan Speed what I find very interesting is those players tend to and again in my mind having been out here and played out here uh mess up the easy shots and we say easy shots C the one that really doesn’t require a whole lot of thought into it I mean it’s pretty obvious what you need to do uh and I think you know it’s just like with JT I mean I think you don’t think of you play golf you know you don’t think golf swing you play and I think that is the hardest thing for some of the best players in the world to do when they’ve struggled with something uh is to be able to go playoff uh it’s uh it’s easy to say but I see it all the time because you’re overthinking it I mean you never when you were you go back to when you were a kid and you went out there and whether you were a junior I mean you weren’t thinking all this other stuff you saw where the golf ball was you saw where you needed to hit it and you hit and there’s just so many other factors I mean do you factor in the money and the FedEx Cup points the trophies whatever sure but I think we overthink it it’s a game and a lot of times I think players get in their own way and I think Jordan is one that has gotten his own way sometimes by overthinking the process Scotty Brooks Rory or the field who do you got I got those three for sure I I did that at the at the Masters I took Scotty against the field I I’ll take him again this week it’s it’s remarkable that we’re having this conversation that that reminds us of you know the last time we had a conversation of this sort was the guy that’s teeing off at 8:04 a.m. Tiger Woods he’s playing alongside of Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley tiger was asked the obligatory question he gave the obligatory answer yesterday about the state of his his game my body’s okay you know it it is what it is I I wish my game was a little bit sharper again I don’t have a lot of competitive reps um so I’m having to rely on my practice sessions and um getting stuff done either at home or here on on site end of the day it’s I need to be ready mentally and physically come Thursday these days of practicing getting on the golf course and that’s one of the reason I came up on Sunday um just knock off some of the the work that I have to do on in charting greens uh get all that stuff done early and uh so I can focus on literally you know playing and plotting plotting my way around you know yeah I still feel that I can I can win golf tournaments uh I still feel I can hit the shots and still feel like I have my hands around the greens and I can putt uh I just need to do it for all four days not like I did Augusta for only two so Carney everybody’s reacting the same way to Tiger right but I’m hly what else do we expect him to say what else answer do you want from him other than for him to say yeah I’m here because I believe that I can win you don’t expect them to go look I think I’m going to struggle to make the cut you know so I I I don’t but again I’m not trying to lead you where do you fall on what you just heard what are your thoughts it it would be out of character If he if he didn’t say that uh I mean he said it from day one that you know he’s here to win golf tournaments and we know how strong his is the mental aspect of his game is and it’s going to need to be stronger now than it even was before and that’s hard to even imagine uh as tough as he was because the physical aspect and the the golf aspect the the physical act of playing golf is is is not where it was uh you know he’s admitted that so it’s it’s it’s almost as he’s got to be tougher uh if anyone could do it it would be him uh without question it’s just going to be challenge uh I think you know like like with anybody like anybody that’s that’s always been at the top of their sport the hardest thing for them to do is to walk away from it we know he enjoys it out here we know he loves playing the game he likes being out he said it many times he likes being out here with the guys you know at some point it’s going to happen that that he won’t um and as long as he still believes who who are we or who’s anybody to say you can’t do it now the likelihood maybe not but you can’t tell someone talented that if they believe in themselves they can do it you can’t say they can’t do it because he’s he’s proven us wrong time and time again and I know from a fans perspective we all hope that he’s going to prove as wrong again or at least be in the mix uh for the for I think fans of any sport get excited when they know that they are actually watching the prospect of History being made all right so Carney I do have to ask you one of the one of the the outside the Rope questions again apologize in advance but you are still a member of the PGA Tour I’m looking for Clarity on something we have always been told that the PGA Tour is a member owned tour that you PGA Tour players own the PGA Tour but recently with the creation of the uh PGA Tour Enterprises which took the commercial properties of the PGA Tour and folded it under that entity a for-profit commercial entity and then players were granted vested needed to vested equity in that in that entity I’m confused here I thought you guys owned the PGA tour now we’re finding out you don’t own what are their Chief assets which is all their commercial assets which is the the real money that’s coming in I’m just confused can you can you help explain to us what’s going on here are is it yours or isn’t it uh well it was my understanding that throughout the years we did we were the owners um things happened that I certainly questioned this certainly questioned I thought it was very interesting when we had been told that for so many years and I’ve had many conversations with guys who played out here I mean I’m still a member but I’m you know I don’t play anymore I don’t play competitively anymore but I I still pay my annual dues uh it’s hard because I’ve always been one don’t tell me show me and when when they came out and I heard that I thought it was just very amusing that well now they’ll actually you’ll be owners why I thought we always were I don’t know enough um I wondered how they were how they were going to be able to equitably distribute that or put a value on it um you know a lot of people have created the tour the way it is a lot of people were part of that um I understand it’s a different world than even when I started playing on the PJ tour and you go back to the the late 60s when they you know they broke away from the PJ of America and so forth so many people have done this again I think that’s that even goes back to how you going to come up with a good an equitable agreement to say okay those guys can come back and play I I my biggest thing is there’s not enough information and there’s not as a member I don’t have enough information I I I I I don’t like that uh again I’m not saying I’ve earned any more than anyone else but I think I’ve earned at least the right to understand what’s happening to to The Entity that I am truly believed in and have loved my entire you know professional career I’m not asking you to reveal anything Carney believe me but it’s clear that who’s getting the grants how much they’re getting individually is on a lockdown because it was it was our understanding that information was released and that those individuals know where they stand in terms of how much of a of a of a vested grant that they’re going to be given or have been given already my question is and again you decide whether whether it’s there’s propriety in answering this or not do you as a PGA Tour member know who the 36 players are that are going to be benefiting from the $750 million and in invested Grant and they on down in in in the next level and the next level and the Legends level i’ I’ve heard rumors of who uh but I have never been given a a a list or been said hey this is this is what we’re going to do so I again I it’s I’m not you know people could say well you’re crying over I’m not I I just I am more concerned about the body of the PG tour what it represents uh and if you know people have earned money and you know I mean you could use an example as as as Rory Ma and Tiger Woods earned that I would say probably yes uh you know who am I to say no I mean they they Tiger Woods certainly one of the reasons why I I sort of had a job with PJ tour radio to begin with um so I you know that’s not that there’s just not to me there’s just not enough information so I I I don’t know uh I have not heard any specific numbers as to who gets what and you know I think then you know what how do you how do you define that how do you how do you separate that uh I think is the interesting part and who who are the people that are deciding this that’s that’s would be my my question is who is making this decision so I I am I am certainly up in the clouds like everybody else that I I really don’t know that’s that’s fascinating and and uh there’s some part of me that wants to apologize to you that I even had to ask these questions no but I have a feeling that we’re not we’re not around the corner where that’s going to be behind us and we’re able to focus solely on what’s going on in between the ropes which both of us would rather be doing uh however we are very much looking forward to your work this week SiriusXM PGA Championship radio as they will be calling themselves throughout the course of the week we’re looking forward to all of your coverage I know you’re going to have fun following that chef group tomorrow Carney as ever thank you very much for your insights thank you very much for your time my friend you got it m you know I will always answer a question if I have a if I have an answer to it I appreciate that that’s why we love you
