LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP: Grand Final Of The Grid (every shot)

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[Music] world champion for the [Music] PDA I decided not to compete at the world championship in 2024 and this guy took home the belt Sean Johnson the world long drive world championship at Eagles Landing country club [Applause] two six foot Giants final stare off for these two world champions so who’s going to take home the grid championship belt let’s [Music] go both of these guys really know the golf swing and uh it’s going to be interesting to watch both of them and what their approach is going to be because yes we’re at altitude but we’re hitting straight into a head so it’s going to be interesting to watch these guys batt well let’s f up here it is right down the middle the gate at 224 mph here’s the problem with that one here’s the problem with that one it’s over 200 ft in the air and it’s 2900 spin Martin you got to get that spin rate down probably under 2,000 if you want to come close to h a 400 ball 400 that one did get out there 400 that’s a huge ball right now I mean he is hitting absolute Moon balls he M hit that one at 210 mph 230 ft the air now I caught that one a little high in the face but maybe it was actually a blessing in disguise because it taught me a lot about the perfect launch that day wait for the number go two for two 400 what was number two it’s going to come up on your screen in a second 425 yards I and why why did the second one go further than the first one even though was 14 mph slower it’s because the spin rate was lower so what are we learning you want to hit it really high cuz we are at elevation about 5,500 ft of elevation that’s going to add about 10% but big man is putting on a big show here you want to keep it in the air but again this this wind is hurting so 15 to 20 mph wind it is unbelievable how high he is hitting this golf ball that is right down the middle if that’s not the middle it’s the center so bad M hit for him but again it’s it’s amazing how high he’s hitting the golf ball he clearly is trying to use that [Applause] elevation he’s going after that one again another another Miss hit there uh Martin definitely wants to be over 220 mph but that 425 ball Arnold it was only 210 M hour ball speed but he hit it way up in the air with no spin great show Martin just put on 425 is a huge number 400 425 and kept it up over and close to another one of 398 he’s been waiting a while with this much adrenaline going steps out first two balls right down the middle of the grid he was in the booth for a while what did I say there’s no moment that’s that’s too big for Martin now here’s the thing sha Johnson hits the ball a lot lower than Martin does because we’re hitting into the wind I would think that’s an advantage because Martin’s hitting him 220 230 ft in the air but Martin just went 425 hitting at 230t in the air I’m not the smartest guy in the world but I thought I had these conditions figured out he has the luxury of watching Mar hit ball number one is in the bonon air what I learned right off the bat 227 mph ball from Shawn Johnson he’s 6’7 really long levers he can throw a baseball close to 100 milph if he wants to perform a professional baseball player the dude knows how to create speed either one of these guys can win this match it’s about who executes the shot at the right time bo bo that is booah so this is what we’re talking about 225 mph with a bunch of roll I I just it wasn’t I don’t know if it’s high enough it’s it’s 80 ft lower than Martin’s ball that did go a very long way he’s going to have to hit it higher I mean clearly going to have to hit in hit it up in the air and let that elevation help he likes this one too and this one’s down the right side now this is only 205 ball speed so he M hit it but Martin’s 425 ball was only at 210 so oh right so the one that we were so excited about went 397 but this one has got more potential doesn’t pitch hard or soft that short of 400 as well he’s got a long way to go he’s got 28 Yards to catch Martin but again the ball speed is there right so it’s having a fixed flight he’s got 28 yards to find um I think he’s going to have to hit it higher and he’s going to maybe have to lower the spin rate just a tad if he wants to get near that 425 Mark got that 10 finger grip and a very very strong grip left hand is way over on the shof yeah he’s cranking that left hand down at these speed it’s hard to release the golf club in time it just it just is so it’s not like a oh Baby that he likes he absolutely loves it 222 mph it’s 12 mph faster than Martin’s 425 Ball but again it’s not necessarily a ball speed contest right now 397 yards he produced two of those as well as a 395 but boy oh boy oh boy it was way short of the 425 that the German put on the board it is a win for [Applause] Martin so that first round is worth one point Martin’s on the board that’s that’s a nice feeling to get that first that first win notched off and obviously it sets the tone higher okay yeah you got to get it higher Apex are way too low so you got plenty of ball speed just get it higher in the air you want to move it up my stance or just yeah if that’s what it takes to get it up just so you get your Apex up you need the Apex about 220 probably okay all right thank you all right so Martin’s talking to his coach as well yeah yeah I mean the first ball was good the second ball was like 13 M our slore but went 25 further obviously we got to we got to speed up but also we have to like Just Launch it up in the air despite it’s down wind uh into wind and that’s a little weird but that’s apparently just how it works yeah got to keep that launch nice and high spin rate is always the magic into the wind so that height with Spin and you can add to that with better ball speed so they’re talking about height and they’re talking about spin rates here there’s not a whole lot of conversation going on about balls hit this ball way up in the air Bobby Peterson one of the smartest guys in the sport in the world of golf to be honest with you and and my golf coach shout out to Bobby Peterson great [Applause] guy he was right up there with the ball speed that’s Triple Two for the ball speed that’s 222 mph but that’s going OB watch him use his his long levers I mean he he almost oh oh he absolutely loves it so 225 mph there likes that one and he uses those long levers create massive swing probably one of the biggest longest swing arcs in the entire world of golf that Arc is absolutely off the jot again he’s not he’s not hitting it as high as he would like to that one must have gone out of bounds figure on ball number four that looked like it was a good one no it wasn’t in the end Bobby is he forcing just a little here against the wind now the wind is howling now it really is howling you know for those of you at home that know that play golf and it’s a weird thing that these two hitters have going on right now where they can feel the wind in their face they can feel it trust me but they still know they want to hit it high and because of the elevation and it’s a really really weird thing to get over what sha needs to do here is he just needs to hit his shot I wouldn’t worry too much about the getting the ball too high in the air o that’s a good ball I don’t know if it’s going to stay in down that right side that’s going to be be tights he’s got he’s got time he’s got to worry about now here he’s only going to be able to get that one more ball off he’s got 10 seconds to do it I would say weakness of Mars is probably hidden the hid in the grid I’m a guy that fills up the grid and uh if if it comes down to it he’s going to be in trouble he needs to get one in the grid here oh there you go he clutches up he clutches up he’s yelling at it 226 mph it is over 200 ft in the air spin it isn’t the win but that’s a pretty good spin rate at altitude Arnold wind is the strongest we’ve seen 405 yards from sea Johnson what do you think about that one it’s got to be 25 milph the 405 Ys that is absolutely remarkable well for a second I thought the second set was going to be a walk in the park but not against the 2024 World Champion Sean clutched up and hit it 405 into win that is a massive number right now I love what Bryson’s doing for the game by the way speaking of Bryson one of Bryson’s good buddies is this guy right here Martin B me and he’s got a number to Chase 45 yards is number to Chase he’s lashed another one for a first one out of the Stalls 220 mph at 2,000 spin there so he didn’t quite Center that one up this is a fun battle isn’t it Arnold I mean this is a pick them this is a pick them match if Vegas was in on this and we were betting this would be even odds I promise you that both of these guys are world champions for a reason oh he Lov it loves it with a draw Against the Wind look at that 222 again oh 391 baby be the one so this one’s a little bit less spin so I’m curious to see how the spin is affecting yes we’re at elevation normally you’d want to spin it more taking that factor away so that ball that he just hit was about 500 less spin than the 391 ball he hit go another one Martin is really getting this ball to talk he’s hit three gorgeous shots in a row and that’s the lowest ball this wind is just howling it’s it’s it’s hard to figure [Music] out oh another one has come right out the middle of the club he’s hardly missed The Sweet Spot in the set you you know you say that but I I like I would like to see Martin closer to 225 so he’s seting these solid but he’s still got a little bit more in the tank he’s probably just barely missing that center of the face but how clutch was it for Shawn Johnson in his final ball with about 5 seconds left on the clock to hammer one one not only did he hit the grid but he went over 400 yards and Martin had to look at that and say now I got to go catch 405 I definitely hit a lot of good balls that set but they were all too low there’s definitely not a ball speed competition this is a competition a battle of launching the ball right and that’s also what our coaches kept telling us it over 200 is the win the same you got to pay attention yeah wind still chilling is the win the same yeah exact yes it’s the exact same yeah stay over 200 keep the spin up hit a nugget all right right all right ladies and gentlemen you’ve just seen two rounds of two world champions having a go at it Martin you started so fired up Sha’s come back strong though hasn’t he yeah I mean the conditions are really interesting because it’s gusting so you never know what you get I hit a lot of good shots but I’m going to tell you one thing I’m exhausted like this altitude is something different and I haven’t hit this many shots in a row in a long time I really hope that inspired play is going to give us a reason to start back training let’s make this big guys come on on everybody let’s go we’re going to be calling on the crowd I want everybody on their feet we got one more round left eight balls each for the players we want everybody up we bringing the other long drivers out to come and help you cheer I don’t want to see a seat in a on a bum on a seat I want to see all of you getting us fired up come on it’s the final round of the grit Championship whoever wins this one it’s winner take all so did you notice what’s going on right here right now because I did not I’m still sorting my te’s my balls but the clock is ticking my preparation time is almost over everybody’s celebrating cheering and so on and so forth but this is the very deciding set this is so important and I’m not ready let’s see if Martin can do what Shawn did to him which is put up a big number and and let Shawn have to go try to chase it down this is what you want in long drive here uh great environment wow wow wow comes down to a final set and that’s what the grid Championship offers we have a bunch of just one wow I’ve already lost over 20 seconds before I’m going to get my first shot off this set is definitely going to be quality over quantity there’s zero chance I’m going to get all of these eight balls off it’s a lot of fun oh he likes it right out of the game every single first shot that Martin has hit he has absolutely dreamed tonight so uh 215 mph way up in the air only 1,800 spin so the spin rate’s a little lower than than he might want it uh at this elevation he’s using different te’s every time he’s really experimenting with us yeah you’re going to have to ask him about those te’s I don’t know if I’ve ever seen those before those are like uh extraterrestrial teas or something but one thing I know for sure is he tees it way up in the air air Martin Borg hits it higher than pretty much anybody on the planet that’s why elevation is is his friend if you’re hitting at elevation against Martin borm you’re in big trouble and imagine if we were hitting downwind rather than into this wind that’s what I was telling you he would be hitting it over 500 yards right now guarantee we are hitting into a 25 mph win and these guys are still putting up ridiculous numbers I would have loved to have seen that nonetheless the conditions are the same for everyone balm with that massive back swing loves it a moon ball stuck that right in there the Space Center had to take notice of that one 260 ft in the air I I believe that’s tall than the Statue of Liberty and um there’s a little bit of a m hit for him is probably off the top of the face that could be a big one for 410 yards wow Against the Wind 40 yards and he smoked another [Applause] [Applause] one that last one is still flying and still flying and still [Applause] flying waiting for that next 45 yards I I I don’t know if this one’s going to count we’re going to need confirmation if if he made contact before the zero uh they need to make sure they get this sorted out say that don’t you say that Martin’s Point of me says don’t you say that uh he wants me to shut my mouth and uh and leave it up to the officials to win what’s going on huh that’s insane though that that that number 415 yards the wind isable and obviously it did not count time was just a little tight this set and well all I can do now is stand back and watch Shawn Chase 415 What a Feeling Sean is going to have to hit his biggest ball of the day uh he hit one 405 in his second set so the pressure is on now for the world champion right out of the gate he likes it so he’s going to have to hit it way up in the air and that that last one probably wasn’t quite high enough he’s going to have to hit at 220 230 ft in the airat 415 that draw spin is taking that outside of the bounds so Folks at home how do you hit it higher there’s a few ways to do it the way I would suggest doing it is T in a little bit higher putting it a little further forward in the stance and catch it even more on the upswing so sha Johnson might be 6 7 de swinging up through it on a normal occasion he might have to try to swing closer to eight or n degrees up on it to get that launch up and try to hit it over 220 ft in the air and what degrees would you have on that driver ahead right now you know I I actually don’t know traditionally probably hasn’t set at 2 and 1/2 3 and 1/2 4 and 1/2 degre he might have set it up a little bit higher than he normally would to try to get that ball flight up when Martin was hitting I actually saw him doing some adjusting so it probably has gone up just a little he’s got plenty of speed so Sha’s ball speed has been consistently higher than Martin’s for the most part again it’s just can he hit it high enough to catch those Moon shots that Martin’s been hitting here’s another one 225 mph but it’s 60 or 70 ft lower than Martin’s ball so he’s going to have to play the Run game here with a little bit flatter Ascent angle and hope he runs out because he’s not going to be able to carry it as far as Martin if he’s hitting it that much lower than Martin yeah so 400 that’s a huge ball guys that is a ridiculous Ball but he’s got to go 415 he’s got 34 seconds to do it he’s got to launch it higher it’s got to be over 200 feet the ball speed is less important than the height is right now there it is see look look at that one I know he M hit it but I mean a bad Miss at 199 but that 221 ft that’s what we need to see let’s come down to this 404 Ys he’s got it he’s got one ball left he’s got hit way up in the air Sean’s a good hitter but I think whenever it doesn’t go his way I feel like he’s lacking a little bit of experience to got it back in Martin this is my T box he’s got to find the grid can he do it in his last ball oh and so CL it’s 194 ft in the air it may not be high enough that’s what I that’s what I’m concerned about 2100 spin 225 mph those numbers look good to me I just don’t know if he quite hit it high enough this is going to be over 400 is it over 415 y all right all right all right let’s have a look oh 15 ties them up no way Jose outstanding outstanding what more can you ask for 415 yards and they tie it up I mean folks that is almost a quarter mile that’s over four football fields whatever way you want to look at it and it comes down ah it comes down to a one ball playoff the first and the longest ball in the grid is going to win the whole thing Sean Johnson has the luxury of seeing what he has to go catch I think he wants to go fourth throttle here and give him big number to Chase so that’s over be right Mr I excuse my language here but it was possibly the most important shot of the night and I tried to hold it off but I flared it out right so what is Sean Johnson do here right and we’re going to we’re going to be able to tell by his ball speed and his Club head speed does he tone it down or or does he keep going Full Throttle like he has been all night let’s see what he’s got he went as hard as he could just it it’s kind of an out of- body experience it’s not a comfortable feeling it’s almost not in control all I thought was screw the a picks all the ball just bash it come on like you feel like you’re hitting in somebody else’s body right now and is the first guy to find the grid probably end up taking this thing there it is there it is he loves it he absolutely loves it 219 mph at 2200 spin not only is this going to find the grid this is going to be a huge number so Sean Johnson fully capable of catching whatever number this ends up but number one he’s got to find the grid so the Viking is in the game but what what have we learned about Shawn Johnson the dude’s clutch right in round two and round three it came down to his final ball with time ticking down and he executed both times the dude is clutch can he come up clutch one more time 385 yards the number to beat we know he’s capable of it and this one’s going to miss left Martin Borg’s going to take him down what a match it has been [Applause] unbelievable yes [Music] the grid Champion Martin bogmire what a showman and what a what a show that these two put on you know I feel for sea Johnson you think hey just hit it out there but it’s tough you know it’s it’s a really tough situation to be in just to say hey hit the grid because this is not a sport that is known for specifically control this is a Full Throttle all our sport tough conditions but uh took it right to the Wi oh yeah um man I wish I was hitting it the way I did on the grid um if I if or on the practice range um if I was doing that there’s no way I wouldn’t have put a ball in on in that playoff um that’s all I needed to do but uh you know the adrenaline gets you you turn the club face over and uh Martin gets the win good job Martin frankly I didn’t even know Shawn that well before this trip to South Africa but I got to know him a lot better and he’s an amazing athlete but he’s also a great human being and I can’t wait to battle it out with him over the next couple years for a lot more belts so Martin you take the title you take the win you were super fired up there ah you were enjoying that oh wow that’s very impressive actually um I mean wow what was going on here I mean thanks again to inspire play I can’t stress this enough please please please give us a reason to go back to training because I mean I kind of hated that guy but you can’t really hate that guy he’s a really good athlete and Sean’s an even better person it was such an honor to hit against him and I mean those speed numbers I want to climb the speed lad again as well so thanks everybody for coming out thanks everybody for watching long drive is back baby let’s do this we are building Inspire play because we believe that golf is super entertaining and we built it about influencers and athletes and what we saw tonight live entertainment fan engagement is exactly what we’re trying to do and I have an award for Martin on behalf of inspire play you’re getting [Applause] a come on grid Champion let’s go [Applause] oh amazing freezing cold guys let’s go ladies and gentlemen put your hands together another time for your champion of the grid championship in Boni Martin B [Music] Maya what an absolutely incredible night this has been are you there are we up encapsulated for us in a few sentences your thoughts well long drives back just like Martin Borg Meer said uh this is an environment uh unlike any I’ve seen in the sport and these are some super high level athletes that we had the the pleasure to to watch tonight and they deserve they deserve an arena like this and they deserve the recognition uh that that this this event gives them an opportunity to have and again these are the fastest hitters in the world and the entertainment value is obviously there and it was just an absolute pleasure to be here in the booth pleasure to compete tonight can’t wait to do it all over again someday Bobby Longway Ray the second to last voice that you listen to tonight Bobby thank you so much for your time and your insights it’s been glorious go and join the rest of your athlete friends down there you deserve it and enjoy