Rory McIlroy’s form EXPLAINED & Matt Fitzpatrick’s US Open preview | Sky Sports Golf Podcast

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US Open preview! Is Scottie Scheffler still the player to beat, can Rory McIlroy sort his driver issues and can Matt Fitzpatrick become champion again? Jamie Weir is joined by Nick Dougherty as well as chatting about his memories of that tournament 18 years ago, Nick previews this year’s competition and discusses whether anyone can beat Scottie Scheffler. Plus, they analyse Rory McIlroy’s driver issues and there’s an exclusive interview with the 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.

00:00 – Canadian Open reaction
06:30 – Matteo Mannasero’s comeback continues
08:40 – Ryder Cup watch
09:20 – US Open preview. can anyone beat Scheffler?!
15:30 – McIlroy’s driving issues
23:30 – Bryson Dechambeau defending champion
27:20 – Jon Rahm back in the mix at the PGA Championship
28:15 – How do you characterise Oakmont?
30:55 – Par 3 8th hole is nearly 300 yards!
33:20 – Matt Fitzpatrick interview remembers 2022 win
38:15 – The bunker shot
42:20 – Thoughts on Oakmont and the tough ‘US Open’ test
48:30 – His frustrating last year or so but a corner turned?
50:20 – Parting ways with caddy, Billy
51:10 – Ryder Cup. any chats with Luke and the team?
53:00 – Thoughts on Matt Fitzpatrick
55:50 – Connor Syme wins first DP World Tour title
59:15 – Nick’s memories of Oakmont 2007

#golf #rorymcilroy #usopengolf

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hello and welcome to the Sky Sports Golf podcast presented by Callaway the third men’s major of the year is upon us they really do come thick and fast this time of year the first two majors of the year have been split by unquestionably the best two players in the world as I said on the pod a few weeks ago you could argue the world’s four best players currently hold one major championship each at the moment but who will be lifting the US Open trophy on Oakmont’s 18th green this Sunday well there was only one choice from the Skyolf team when it came to our guest today because when the US Open was at Oakmont back in 2007 he not only finished seventh but led after the opening round it is the one and only Nick Dhy who joins us from Pittsburgh hello to you Nick hi Jamie h good to be with you mate and nice to be back as well it’s exciting to come back to a place that’s got such great memories for me yeah absolutely we’re going to get on to that US Open 18 years ago nick’s memories of it the test that Oakmont will pose and ask whether anyone can beat Scotty Sheffller in just a wee bit i’ll also be chatting on the pod to the US Open champion of three years ago at Brooklyn Matt Fitzpatrick but before we start h get into that we’re going to start by taking a quick look back at Canada where Ryan Fox was the champion his second PJ tour win of the season his second win the week immediately preceding a major championship he won in a playoff at the fifth extra hall they just kept playing 18 changing the whole location at one stage eventually after Foxy and Sam Burns kept making par fives Foxy hit what he called afterwards perhaps the best shot of his career uh to about six feet nick full disclosure I was watching the tennis getting the girls ready for school today making dinner only flicked over to the golf as Foxy was walking on to the 14th the rink call as they called it three shots back with five to play i thought it’s not looking great from here but it turned out that I I tuned in at just the right time because he suddenly turned it on with five to go barring one stinking birdie putt at the 17th it was pretty much flawless golf for his last five yeah it was i mean it was a child to call because it was I want to say it’s like 21 guys within three shots it was so congested but he didn’t get off a very good start it was a little lackluster at the beginning and then guys are making birdies everywhere first of all Shane saw to the front you thought “Oh here we go.” Then he slowed his roll then Burns came um flying on through past everybody set the bar and then really he was the last man left who could and and they all just sort of they made a mistake at the wrong time but then he found the birdie on the last it barely crept in the left edge to force the extra holes but to his credit he stayed really patient through the day when it wasn’t going his way to allow that to have the opportunity to happen it did and then um yeah got the job done with but that was an incredible shot in the playoff he maybe feels a bit fortunate burns could have put him to bed the first time around maybe or was it the second missed a short put which he does a shortish put of his own as well or or short which is the cardinal thing yeah yeah it was uh it was interesting i’ve never seen that before as well they moved the flag after a couple of goes around i wasn’t sure i felt like they should have moved the TE’s rather than the flag because it was Isn’t that not the obvious thing to do yeah i mean that 18th is let’s call it spade a spade it’s a terrible playoff hole and you even sort of alluded to it in commentary yourself because you’re just wasting 20 minutes getting to a position where basically it’s a wedge off cuz that’s what it became but ironically it worked out for him the last time did get within distance speak for whether the wind just Wayne was saying the wind was up and down a bit and when he said it was up they had no chance had to lay up but then that last one it allowed for shot the tournament really uh and it was a what a great way to win and you know what he’s backed up that win at Myrtle Beach it’s always that classic you know for me I said it in the broadcast you know PJ tour players might not agree but winning the BMW PJ he beat better players to win that than he did to win Myrtle Beach winning the RBC Canadian Open that’s a big championship you know he’s got a great list of winners and it’s got a great history as well you know one of the oldest ones in all golf so I’m really really pleased with him and with the exemptions it brings with it as well he’s into the Masters next year i know he was gutted to miss the Masters this year i think you guys had said it on commentary at the age of 38 he’s playing the best golfer of his life right now he is he really is um I love the way he plays i think he’s a great example we did bring up a great example for like sometimes the best shot to hit without too much thought and he is thinking about him he just isn’t dallying around taking forever and like these mundane chats that and it it’s just he gets over and hits it to the point where camera is nearly missing quite often um but I love it he’s a great example for the way that the game should be played he’s also I you know I was just trying to think of the right terminology for it but he he just he’s a tough competitor he’s steely in terms of he just isn’t fearful and and I knew I said that at the start of the coverage that even though he had a bad start I just said he won’t flat he’s not someone to panic he’ll just keep chugging along doing his thing and he’s just a tough bloke and and um comes across in his obviously physicality that he has but also the way he plays the game uh he’s no nonsense i just think he’s great love a bit yeah and you’re right like the amount of times I’m always sort of taken aback by just how quick he does play because I mean I’m so used to guys taking an eternity over a shot oh Christ he’s ready to play already it’s great to watch one of the games good guys it seems very unfair to be critical of Sam Burns after he shoots a 62 in the final round but he was a real disappointment in the playoff because he had a few chances to put that to bed he really did and um look the the putt he it happens he missed the short putt to win shortish putt it wasn’t a given it was going to be made in the early stage but the way he lost that’s a massive school boy that’s like rule number one when your playing partner has a chance to win but it’s not a tap in make him win it don’t give it to him and he gifted it to him and let’s be honest if there is something we’re looking at as per perhaps a a frailty in Ryan’s game it is the putter it’s his weakest it’s his weakest part i mean I wouldn’t want to out hit him that’s for sure but the putt doesn’t always get make all of his putts so I think um I think the fact that he gifted it after all those playoff holes where oh it’s over and Ryan actually he forced his hand in it by hitting a great shot but oh he’ll be kicking himself for that span a wedge back off the green at one point in the playoff yeah that was a poor shot yeah yeah it it was a poor shot um just one other thing I want to mention from Canada as well matteo Manisero who burst on the scene as a teenager won a number of times on the European tour as a teenager and then sank to the proper depth that only this sport I think can really do to you his best ever PJ tour finished yesterday okay he didn’t quite get it over the line in the final round but to have been at the very top plumbed to the very very bottom and dragged yourself back up he’s still only 32 years of age yeah I mean hats off to him that is impressive stuff you know for me because of what happened in my own career I have more respect for guys that do those sorts of things than sounds ridiculous than than watching Scotty without the scar tissue just dominating world fields because like everything in life when everyone’s telling you how great you are and life’s just going fab and everything you touches turns to gold like Yeah amazing and I love watching Scottish Sheffller play golf but watching a guy that’s had the door slammed in his face and like you had all this promise and everyone’s looking at what happened to having to fend off the media attention of like what’s wrong what’s going on oh my god have you seen how bad it’s not even on the challenge tour it’s on the outs tour like the pits for over a decade like to come back to win to get the PGA tour card to have a chance to win um for me is is mind-blowingly impressive and I admire that because I know how hard that was i never managed it i never managed to get that back i couldn’t get past the scar tissue of of the fear that I had from the game of golf and and the walls that I built around me rather than you know it wasn’t about beating other guys they didn’t have to beat me i was beating myself and took me retiring to get perspective on golf again and now I love the game but when I was in it I couldn’t see the wood for the trees and Matteo’s managed to do that though from being as bad as it was and again all in the noble pursuit trying to get a little bit more distance to make the next step in the game so that he can go from being a really good player that was the world number 25 to being a superb player that threatens to win majors it didn’t work out and it didn’t just not work out he lost it so to come back and see him now I think that’s marvelous truly is marvelous i And Nick you’re not alone like so many can’t get past that scar tissue so for him to have done it great to see from Matteo Manosero our our customary Rder Cup watch the Ludvig Oberg revival continues 6566 over the weekend in Canada to finish in a tie for 13th alongside the ever consistent Shane Li who as Nick said at one stage yesterday did lead the tournament a welcome return to form for Thomas Dietri he was in a tie for 18th a decent defense from Bob McIntyre finished T36 alongside Torbio and Olison who was actually quite well placed until a poor final few holes for him but miscuts for Justin Rose and in spectacular style a miscut for Rory Mroy we will discuss that in more detail shortly because let’s get on to the US Open preview it is US Open week at stunning Oakmont one of the great historic courses in the United States all the indicators are that it’s going to provide a brutal test and it is a funny old game Nick because literally one month ago before the last major we’re asking okay can anyone beat Rory Mroy he’s the best player on the planet a weight’s been lifted he owns Quail Hollow now we’re asking can anyone possibly beat Scotty Sheffller can they um yes uh because it’s golf but the signs aren’t good if if you asked me if you said “Look you can have anyone and you don’t have to pick someone that’s exciting you pick whoever you want and your life depends on it i’m picking Sheffller every single day and twice on Sundays.” But um for to be honest the the Rory thing for me yes and no i I I wouldn’t have said I was in that camp necessarily i I think maybe long term he goes on to win lots more majors yeah that wasn’t a lot of time to go from doing something that changes not just your golf career but the way you look at your life that your purpose to getting out of bed every single morning has changed forever like Jesus what do I do now like um like this is amazing but right okay PJ right come on place I love i should I should do great here is on this golf course suits me he’s like he just wasn’t mentally ready to compete again and I don’t think he and I think you know I think he’s been quite honest as well and he’s talked about putting himself in the right place of of trying to find what gets him out of bed set new goals reassess what the future looks like he’ll get there i just think it’s quick i’m not sure it’s now either because watching him in Canada you know it was a struggle he he didn’t look at his best there for sure and then when you lean into the other side of that so Rory and Scotty have obviously stolen the show to start this year um Scotty is as strong as ever um the question for Scotty was can you go from a season where you win nine times a gold medal the Masters the players all these sorts of things and build because I think that’s a massive hurdle because also when you start getting compared to Tiger you don’t want that Monica hanging around your neck because you ain’t you ain’t doing it like there’s no there isn’t another Tiger there isn’t i don’t know like you know watch how he’s playing this is actually pretty close like if if you’re if you’re a dating nerd and you just go into the shots the shots gained the strokes gained stuff he’s actually pretty close to prime time that’s the scary thing and he’s he’s obviously it will always come down to the caveat is do it for a decade but but the reality is he can only do what’s in front of him and what he’s doing in front of him is very similar um the consistency to which he puts it together but also like it’s not all shiny and glossy it’s just it’s Pittsburgh steel it’s just like it works it functions it’s efficient he finds the fairways generally he’s got a great mind he stays away from targets very much like Tiger massive misconception that Tiger used to flag it all the time because we think of shots like the RBC Canadian Open out the bunker and that yeah he hit some of them mainly he did the damage by hitting it away from flags towards center of greens and working either fade towards the right flag draw toward the left flag giving himself a buffer and other people beat themselves and Tiger just put himself in there put himself in in the right position throughout which is a great mindset to have towards how you do well at a US Open scotty plays that way yeah he doesn’t really go hunting flags and now when he does knock one out you think well he went for that well he might have pushed it or pulled it because he picked a good line which gave him a buffer where sometimes it goes close when he hits a bad one it goes to 25 ft what you don’t see him doing often is dumping it in a bunker short side or in a position where there’s an easy bogey that’s why he’s right there with show in terms of bogey avoidance he takes those out and as much as we love seeing birdies the only account the same as every bogey as well so that’s a massive tool that he has is an artillery and and when I look at where he is right now and the test that’s in front of him here there are no sure things in golf but is definitely the closest thing we’ve seen to it since Tiger Woods i look what we are expecting this week you’ve touched upon it there it’s going to be a test of finding fairways finding greens in regulation aiming for the fat of the green not always taking on the spectacular shot missing in the right place if you’re going to miss scrambling for part picking off the occasional birdie but keeping big numbers off the card and what we’ve said about Scottish Sheffrey as well his 15th club is his mentality i mean this US Open in particular just suits him on paper it suits him perfectly doesn’t it it does find it so it’s not going to be wing foot this it’s what Bryson did there and let’s be honest as well it looks bad with the percentage of fairways he hit everyone was missing fairways he still wasn’t that far down the rankings in terms of driving accuracy but he was also they’re all missing and he’s miles up there now that’ll be the same here like if everyone’s missing and he’s miles up there I like Bryson because he’s 20 yards closer to the hole than everybody else i like Rory as well because he’s 20 odds closer than everybody else guys are going to hit these fairies they are narrow the average 28 yards in width but they’re not ridiculous um but the problem with Oakmont is a lack of friction so if a ball rolls you’re done at Oakmont you have to have control of the golf ball so if a ball is ever rolling of course on the roof it is always rolling now sure if you’re close to the green it’s rolling less but it’s still rolling a ball rolling on these greens they’re huge eight and a half thousand square feet yeah it’s another 2,000 square feet bigger than the average on tour but they are so undulating and they are arguably the most difficult greens they face beyond Augusta National they are the easiest greens to three putt that they will go on but if you miss it you can sometimes not keep it on the green and like we see a great example of par 512 it it’s virtually unholdable unless you’re coming from the fairway with your third shot uh and and if the ball is rolling on these grins it won’t stop and it is nearly impossible to to get it close to a hole so coming from the fairway is imperative because because from there you can do the one hop stop which is going to be the ultimate skill and when I think about guys who have great control over their ball and are brilliant from the fairways and complete control over distance as well as spin Sheffield will be top of that list yeah absolutely and as you say finding the fairies is key which is something Rory Maroy hasn’t been doing of late let’s go on to Rory we kind of have touched upon him we said that after Augusta weight would be lifted he’s going to be freed up untouchable since then a hit and a giggle with his pal Shane at the Zurich an okay performance at Philly Cricket Club a meh PGA Championship subsequently a lot of negativity coming out of that pre-ournament withdrawal from the memorial then not just a miscut as I said but a mis cut by a wide margin in Canada let’s quickly hear from the man himself after more driver wos in Toronto i went back to a 44 in driver this week to try to get something that was a little more in control and could try to get something a bit more in play um but if I’m going to miss fairways I’d rather have the ball speed and miss the fairway than than not so uh I was saying to Harry going down the last like this is obviously the second time this year I’ve tried the new version um and it hasn’t quite worked out for me so you know I’d say I’ll be testing quite a few drivers over the weekend i felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that you know that sort of was going to you know be good and solve some of the problems off the tea but it didn’t so um yeah you know and obviously going to Oakmont next week what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways so um yeah still sort of searching for for the sort of missing piece off the tea uh and obviously for me when I when I get that part of the game clicking then everything falls into place for me but but right now that isn’t and you know that yeah that’s a concern going into next week nick Rory’s concerned and I think all Rory fans probably should be too yeah I mean Oak’s not a course you want to be going to not having your game in in order and he’s saying that himself um but the driver the driver stuff I I get the frustration of being singled out there that would have annoyed him you know that that it wasn’t dealt with more transparently get ahead of it the organization from the PJ and the USG to explain that this is what goes on because the problem is you have an audience coming to major championships that don’t watch golf all the time and all of a sudden they see headlines on social media of Rory uses illegal driver to win the masters which one we don’t know is true but because it could have been fine then for all we know but but two happens all the time nothing to do with the players they’re all built towards the edge every single player treads this line you play and they do the testing to keep it all in check because if we didn’t guys would use them until they crack and and that’s what would happen and so he did nothing wrong and yet he got all this negative be I think annoying it because he wasn’t playing his best he’s obviously still fighting as well his positioning I think he’d love to be able to step away if he could and enjoy this for a little while like lap it up he’s done something that he’s one of six you know in in the history of men’s golf which is now like Scotty you’re not even close Yeah like you’re not there mate like Brooks you’re not there xandandy you’re not there none of you are there like he it’s Tiger and Jack the two before him and and so he wants to enjoy it but at the same time he wants to compete and he went to a place where he was supposed to win because it was quail hollow where he’s won so many times before and he obviously wants to compete in beard at his best but he’s also said grinding is harder now that than it used to be going to the range and grinding is tougher because the motivation has shifted understandably he will solve that i doubt very much we’re going to hear Rory retire next year he will solve that and he will want to get more majors but he has to set himself a goal and I don’t think he knows what that is yet i think the challenge of Oakmont will get his attention because it gets everybody’s attention and I think players love to say that they’ve won at Oakmont one because of the champions that they’ve had there but also it is thought of as the hardest in terms of physicality but also mentally and every player wants to be remembered as those two toughest he he’s also become a very good US Open player Rory and you wouldn’t necessarily have thought that a decade ago where you would have thought Rory very swashbuckling but makes a lot of mistakes he’s become a very patient US Open style player as well well it was a conscious effort you know he made a decision that he was going to build what he did in his preparation around what was required to win these championships us Open is all about that and as you say doesn’t lean necessarily into the aggression he plays most weeks on tour but he’s learned to do it it’s a little bit of a nod to Sheffer right and what he watched from Tiger probably a lot learned from Tiger in terms of plotting his way around these golf courses back-to-back seconds suggests that he has the game that can win a US Open the the bit I was a bit surprised with was the move in the driver now I use that driver it’s a great driver great tech in it but the only bit that surprised me is he obviously wasn’t quite ready to do it because he loved that Qi 10 he had he he loved it and of course it it can’t use it so he had to change the head what I am surprised in in in the short space of time between these majors because you know what it’s like now because they all come in a row with bum bum bum bum they’re on you and then they’re gone it’s like there’s not a lot of time to work in new hair new feel new look um it’s a challenge so I’m just surprised he’s tried to put it in now and that that surprised me to see him in Canada with that driver last week nick I answer this for a lot of the a lot of amateur hackers and layman watching like me and listening to this podcast because his driving is a superpower and a lot of mere mortals be thinking well surely it can’t be that difficult to find a head that is similar to the one you had how difficult can it be to find a driver cuz it’s it’s he’s gone from the greatest driver to he can’t find a fairway it’s like trying to it’s getting the local mechanic to fix a Ferrari though isn’t it i mean that’s the that’s the problem is that it’s not like your ordinary cars where oh yeah know I’ve seen one like this before not seen one like that and and that’s what Rory is you know he he is a supercar and um the drive the speed it’s moving fractions and I mean fractions are the difference between fine and in the junk like it was last week to be fair he didn’t swing it well last week that wasn’t the only issue the driver he wasn’t comfortable but he did say I’m having to learn that the miss with this driver is to the right whereas I’m used to being to the That’s a massive shift that completely changed the way you see the game when you’re used to I miss it this way and then all of a sudden I miss it this way as much as missing on one side is the holy grail of golf for a tour player it’s still awkward because you brought in a whole I’ve never used to look oh wow look at all the stuff that’s down that side now it’s completely different so I think I think I I’m willing to be wrong i think we’ll see him with the old head obviously a new head but but the old style and I do think he’ll move into the new driver because the tech’s better than the one before it so it’s like he will want to get there and most of the guys do do it but you know what it’s like with tour players different for me now the amount I play i get used to I don’t play a lot now and and and I and I get advantage from the tech but when they’re fine tuning they’ve got a love and a passion for the perfect driver new tech comes along that is better but you just got to be dialed in and when it’s in the season that’s tough you know because they need to hit a lot of shots to have that faith in the biggest moments to hit it and and that’s always the challenge for every manufacturer when they bring new stuff out so I’d be surprised but if he does have the new driver um it’s going to have to be a massive uplift from last week because he he can’t drive it like last week and have any fortune here in fact he’d do be doing extraordinarily well to make the cut if he drove it like he did in Canada well he did at least saying kind of that if the driving clicks everything else falls into place so so fingers crossed but you know as we say the vibes don’t seem great with Rory at the moment he seems unmotivated disinterest he needs to find for the best reasons jamie obviously yeah he’s completed his he’s climbed his own personal levers what do you do after that well we were talking about it last week it was like you start debating more he goes “Yeah you know his motivation’s not quite there and he doesn’t look quite right.” If it hang on hang on hang on for the best ever reason because you’ve won all four major championships and been the world number one which is what you dreamt of as a kid which was by the way ridiculous but he’s done it so it’s the best possible reason to have this problem um let’s talk about the defending champion the incomparable Bryson Dashambo he visited Oakmont recently um and filmed with his own commentary his entire practice round to post on YouTube love him or hate him that is amazing content to wet the appetite yeah I mean I haven’t watched it I’m going to be honest with Me neither but I mean great isn’t it yeah cuz I saw the no laying up guys talking about it today sully was talking about it right and um and uh I do want to watch it because I’m really intrigued to see how he does it i I I feel like he’ll have a blend it’s not going to be just head cover off as he’s walking to every hole that’s not a par three although maybe the eight needs a head cover off but but you know it won’t I it’s not going to be that because he’s smart and Bryson’s smart and you know he’s won two US Opens but he knows he has this massive asset which is his power and he won’t want to cage it he’ll want to take advantage and there are holes certainly with the redesign with Gil renovation or restoration is probably a best way better way of putting it where they’ve tried to give an advantage to bigger hitters on occasion and Bryson will take all of those opportunities the great examples the seventh where he’ll be whipping it over the cross bunkers where and giving himself the best angle into that green for a look and it’s all of a sudden a birdie hole most guys here down the right hand side blind cross a big bunker much more challenging he won’t give up those edges but I think when there can be restraint he’s going to be smart enough to know that Oakmont doesn’t play ball like the rest of them it’s a beast for a reason and and it doesn’t take kindly to people trying to bully it yeah yeah you’ve already explained why this won’t be like winged foot where he won his first US Open it won’t be a case of just hit it as far as you can bomb and gouge bryson is also a much more nuanced player than he was when he won at Wing Foot coming off a T2 finish at the PGA Championship as well he has found a knack and this is a great knack to have of peing for the majors he has and he’s played he’s played well the last few he’s had a second and a win hasn’t he on one and li career i mean it’s not recent weeks but in recent times you know like his form when he has they haven’t played a huge amount recently he played quite well last week I think didn’t he think top five maybe in Virginia maybe I think he finished on live um but he does when he gets to the major championship seems to be able to tune it up which which is a skill in itself and to be honest like all all the great players managed to do that i I think he has such a he has a unique skill in how he goes about his business and I think the fact that he has always been willing to go against the grain and have people like me and most people in this sport who played for a long time scoff at him and be like do me a favor mate you know like look at this kid now trying to reinvent the wheel like he’s sort of and proved us all to be foolish actually and I I admire that because that takes courage and I think because he’s had success he now has conviction as well he believes in himself and these decisions he makes he’s not afraid to find different routes so you know what i am open to being proved wrong at Oakmont Bay by him because I’d have certainly said the same at Wingfoot until he proves us wrong i just can’t see how he can apply pressure to that golf course that he does at other ones he’s also got a really good short game which I think is going to be important although I can never make my mind up at Omont I feel like Oman is so difficult around the greens that it’s almost an equalizer because I think it sometimes takes away the ability for great short game players to get it close as well because it’s so hard so actually it can sometimes be a bit of an equalizer for some guys around around the green but um iron play is going to have to be better though because it certainly wasn’t at Augusta National and and we know iron play is pivotal at this but especially distance control yeah one other player I want to talk about is John Ram the record books will show was it in the end of T7 or T8 finished the PJ championship i can’t remember we all know watching it though on the Sunday he was basically Scotty’s nearest challenger until he frittered shots away in those final two holes after his race was run and he clearly relished being back in the heat of battle again as well john Ram is somebody who is a major champion and loves being in that heat of the battle on a Sunday afternoon yes and um I think it was evident that he missed it and he was grateful and also I think he loved how people responded to him yeah i I think John is quite he’s bullish and strong and he has that look in his eye when you know like oh okay John I’ll stay out the way but at the same time he’s quite sensitive and um I think he was a bit put out and upset that he’d gone from being someone that people loved on the PJ tour to getting a lot of grief when he went across to live and as some people I’ve never seen him like this is not my fault i don’t see this at all i just I enjoy watching great golfers but when he went across like some people then well I don’t like John Ram anymore and I think I really got under his skin and then of course when he didn’t play great in majors for a period became a well you know it’s cuz he’s gone there that got right under his skin and I think there was a bit of relief i think there was a little bit of justification but also a bit of joy in in being received so well a lot of people were pulling for him at the PJ championship and there were some good signs that he could be a big contender here yeah absolutely i I was pulling for John great to see him sort of show signs of him being back to his best was below amateur Oakmont in 2016 at the US Open as well just finish off this section Nick by talking about the course itself the Greens are big and they’ve been made bigger since DJ won there in 2016 lots of talk as always about the rough at US Opens how would you characterize Oakmont um it’s brutish i I actually I remember to talk about myself for a second when I led I had to go do the presser i remember describing it even after shooting 68 on the first play as barb barrick um I completely recognized what it was i hadn’t broken 40 in any of the practice rounds on on any nine really and I think that’s why I shot a good score i had no pressure had no pressure because it was just like this is too hard and I think there’s a there’s an element of giving yourself to that golf course and embracing the challenge of it that allows you to play well and sure you know it doesn’t mean that oh I’m not gonna do any good so let’s just try and enjoy it i mean embrace what it’s all about you have to meet it on its terms it demands you to find fairways it demands you to stand up with commitment and finding fairways as soon as you start steering it and grabbing the steering wheel with those white knuckles you’re in trouble man and and that happens to a lot of players at US Open especially here yeah yeah and when you make a mistake bogey is fine more than any other venue because you can sometimes just skip bogey go straight to double at Oakmont because if you try and get it back if if you try and limit the damage and you push a little it’ll push back twice as hard and for me that’s what it’s all about on paper you find fairways the greens are plenty big enough there’s birdie chances out there there are holes that players will make birdies on and fancy it and you know if it take your medicine and play the game as it was designed to be in the US Open which is a lost art these days fairways and greens will count for so much there just finally for this section of the pod um one hole which will get a lot of attention this week already has in the buildup to the US Open is the par 38 it could play at 300 yards that is silly isn’t it no not for me i played at 300 yards it was that in 2007 was it really yeah on one of it’s the longest par three ever recorded 2007 I think it was it was around four actually played it at 300 yards um it’s only silly because we call it a par three right so um if it was a par four and it was 10 yards longer we you’d have people saying “Oh great little hole.” You know you got to take it on you got to thread it through the little gap at the front but if you miss to the right or you can’t even hit the green if you miss to the right we’ve been waxing lyrical about being a great little but it’s the same old it’s like the last time I checked they count how many shots you took over 72 yeah not like what you made was it a par three or par four though it doesn’t matter and and I think you know seeing a top back in the day you watch Arie when he won these tournaments and chat they were in Johnny Miller when he shot 63 he didn’t hit much less than the six iron into any old he three irons the odd two iron and he he’s like it was a skill to hit long clubs modern day professional works out the face on the wedges and and I’m not saying that’s wrong that’s the way the game’s gone but seeing a pro have to hit a wood to a top and it’s not like it’s ridiculous surrounded by a bunker there’s a path in there like you’ve got to be accurate be accurate from a teg with a with a club that has a head cover on it you know and whether that’s going to be a fivewood for some guys maybe even a driving iron for the really big hitters it it could be but it will be threewood for some and it will be the driver for for the odd shorter hitter um yeah to hit it in a small gap where there’s a green and know where you can afford to miss it which is a different skill mentally to finding a fairway great test another part of the game so yeah I’m uh I might be the odd one out but for me I enjoy it colt Coltart’s going to hate it sorry mate coltart’s going to hate it worth saying Colt’s going to hate it but I will fight back throughout the week it is a psychological thing you’re right isn’t it cuz if you make a a birdie three on a short par four then it’s fine but if you make a four and a long par three you’re like anyway yeah um it’s going to divide opinion no doubt we’re going to take a quick break there when we come back I’ll be chatting to Matt Fitzpatrick Nick sticking around to look back on uh 18 years ago not the last time the US Open but the time before that when the first round leader as we’ve discussed was asserted and dory see you in a bit welcome back to the Sky Sports Golf podcast presented by Callaway and our special US Open preview episode now three years ago at Brookline on the outskirts of Boston we had one of the great final rounds in recent years scotty was in the mix Rory was in the mix Hideki Matsyama Colin Morawa but it was my next guest who saw them all off who lifted the trophy thanks in no small part to what will go down as one of the most iconic clutch shots in major championship history a stunning shot from a fairway bunker at the 72nd hall it was his first professional win on US soil it made him a major champion and poetically it made him the US Open champion on the same course where he’d become US amateur champion nine years earlier hello Matt Fitzpatrick how are you my friend uh good thanks jamie how are you yeah I’m very well thanks but listen thanks for taking the time to talk to us three years i couldn’t quite believe that does it feel like three years ago it feels like it was just a matter of weeks ago yeah it’s crazy really i can’t believe how fast it has gone it’s um Yeah it’s just very very weird yeah very weird how special was that week the fact you’re back at Brookline and the scene of you know one could argue your most significant victory up to that point yeah definitely it’s um I think the the whole week as a general you know in general I was looking forward to it from from the moment it was announced that it was going to be there um I was excited to obviously go back regardless um and then to I think obviously at that t point in time as well I’d been actually I’d been playing really well so um and really kind of putting myself in contention in quite quite a lot of events which was really nice and um I think obviously getting there with the confidence even though that was you know nine years ago that I played the US amateur there it’s like you know I felt like I knew that course better than everyone else i you know I had that success i’d had that got that confidence and particularly when I was playing well there as well it just kind of all came together obviously as you said you were playing well and people will remember you were kind of in the mix at the PGA Championship Southern Hills a few weeks before that but can you remember how you were feeling on the back nine at Brookline on the Sunday did you draw on that experience of Southern Hills were you watching leaderboards were you conscious of of feeling any more nervous standing over shots yeah yeah yeah there was a there was a few things that you know I I um I think I think the the PGA I I was obviously playing well and and I you know I thought I could win like there’s no doubt about that like I thought I could win and I think that almost um that was almost a little bit detrimental in that like um you know that it was kind of I was almost thinking thinking more about winning and you know that I could do it than kind of like just staying in in the in the in the moment to to to be cliche um but kind of after speaking to uh my coach Mike Walker basically like you know the time leading up to it and then we had a call actually on the the Saturday night of uh of the US Open we we spoke about it because I said to you know we said I said listen I feel the same way i feel very you know very much like I can definitely go and win this and you know my confidence is obviously high from from playing well and whatnot but and his advice was kind of like yeah that’s fine you can you can think about that no problem but you know you got to let let it wash over you you got to you know you got to as and again he said to seem to remember him saying like it’s cliche as it is it’s cliche for a reason but you got to you know each hole one hole at a time and um you know stay stay in the moment and um I think that was kind that really that really helped me because it was like yeah okay I can um you know I can think about that and uh the other thing that I felt was quite good i I look back and and it was like quite quick i remember a few things on the bat n at Southern Hills like wasn’t necessarily committed to the shot didn’t necessarily talk through it properly enough and and and it wasn’t necessarily the right shot at the time and and then um actually the the CEO of Workday Anneil uh he actually we had a phone call a week later or so and he was like listen you know I’m not a I’m not a go I’m not like a top golfer but like I played tennis at a high level and whatnot and and you know tell me if I’m overstepping the mark but like I just think you you’re a little bit quick on the Sunday um you know it just looked a bit rushed or whatever and and I was thinking I was like yeah he’s right obviously cuz I knew that as well and he’s like just you know slow down so that was another thing that you know I consciously sort of tried to do you know maybe walk a bit slower just take my time but the biggest thing was like you know really committing to the shot knowing you know not walking in until we we decided what I was going to hit basically well speaking of committing to the shot the bunker shot in 18 which I referenced and we’ve spoken about this before but to take it on to execute it perfectly the moment it came off the club face was one of those shots where you just go “Yeah I’ve nailed that.” As soon as I as soon as I hit it I I knew I’d hit it I knew I’d hit it clean which was the most important thing um we always felt like we had a shot to the green um but I would say that it cut a lot more than uh I thought I could cut it out of a trap really so I was obviously trying to hit a little cut um which is kind of my stock at the time but then when it’s come out like I’ve obviously just hung the face a little bit more and it’s cut a little bit more and I look up and it’s like fading towards the flag and I was just like “Wow that’s like Yeah couldn’t couldn’t be any more perfect couldn’t be any more perfect.” So yeah look the reason why I and a lot of people listening to this are are hackers and just play the game for fun and the reason you’re a professional golfer and a major champion is is these sort of differences but I if I was standing over a shot like that a little voice in my head is going “Oh my god I’m going to knife this into the face of the bunker is there ever a little voice that enters your head at all about that or are you just like nah I’m No I think I think the funny thing is like I struggled in fairway bunkers all year and my tendency was the opposite um which was to to hit it heavy so like that was my biggest issue and I almost felt like I couldn’t hit it clean enough like there was no way I could ever hit it clean enough so um and I think just the way I was swinging at that day like you know I certainly started to realize over the last you know however many years like when you’re swinging it well there’s certain things you can do there’s certain things you can’t do and when you’re not swinging it well and um like I think because of that I I was just you know that it was it happened fast we knew what club we were going to hit and and away we went really it was interesting the little things you pick up from being at major championships i remember on that Wednesday afternoon standing at the back of the 18th green and you finished your practice round or your practice nine holes and you and Billy went back down the 18th and I think spend a good 45 minutes just on that funny that you noticed that yeah because I thought many people see that it’s funny that you saw that because that’s actually something I tell tell people yeah because you obviously just had a little sort of bee in your bonnet about that t-shot at 18 you didn’t quite fancy it for whatever reason yeah I I wanted to hit dry like my theory has always been certainly over the last you know however many years since I’ve really got into the data stuff and and with Eduardo it’s it’s like the further you are regardless whether it’s in the rough it’s always going to be it’s going you it’s always going to be easier so like my that was my theory like it wasn’t a good it wasn’t an easy T-shot you know you miss left you’ve got a tough trap you miss right you’re in the rough you you know you’re hacking it out but my theory was like well if I hit a good drive then we’re going to be fine it’s going to be in the fairway if it goes in the rough then I’m going to have a nine iron with a chance on the green if I hit 3-wood and miss the fairway then I’m tripping out whatever i’m never going to get to the green so that was kind of always my theory and Billy was more of three-wood kind of theory um and I you know I wasn’t sure and so I went back hit a bunch of balls and I was like driver like no no brainer so and then I think for the first three days I played it in one over and only hit the fairway once maybe or or twice or something but um didn’t didn’t necessarily obviously play play it that well and then Sunday comes and I was and I you know I specifically remember saying to Billy walking to the tea like it’s I’m going to hit three it’s like three would hit for sure um and we both agreed that that was the you know that was the right club and and it was like I wouldn’t I wouldn’t change that because I think obviously with so much adrenaline and and hitting it so well like I if I there was potential the other worry was that driver runs out even on a good line so 3wood was the right club at that that point in time and and obviously you know the rest is kind of uh yeah just snap pocket into the bunker and and get up and down from there almost but look it’s a great story to tell because of it um look looking ahead to this week Oakmont was where you played your first US Open as a professional back in 2016 do you remember much about it that week uh not a massive amount really know it’s um I I remember that it was uh it was just it was very hot it was like firm the greens were kind of mostly running off everywhere from memory and um but I don’t remember too much about it now i think that was around about the time where the USGA tried to make courses just like ridiculously difficult and Oakmont is one of the tougher tests a proper sort of kick you in the teeth for 72 holes kind of test do you like that or do you need to be slightly sadistic to like that kind of thing do do you like really tough challenges yeah definitely i think I like tough but fair i think I think that’s the that’s the big thing i think um you know I think if you look at Pinehurst last year I would say it was very very tough in my opinion but like it it was it was fair you know even if you missed it in the waist you would have a shot to the green and then you’d have to scramble for up and down which was just hard but but you know it was tough but fair i think it there’s a few golf courses that we’ve played of late that and course setup’s such a important thing for me and and something I’ve been speaking to the refs about a lot recently um I I just think it it’s it’s got to be fair and it’s got to reward you know good good play i think the PGA has over the years has has kind of changed their their setup in in different ways and and again I think it depends on the different courses and same goes for the US Open i feel like they’ve definitely thrown different setups out out there over the last however many years just to kind of see what sticks and I still don’t think they’ve necessarily found like that their perfect thing in mind i was actually speaking to someone from the USJ asking about the rough and um my my big pet peeve is like you can miss a fairway by a yard and it’s worse than someone who hits it 40 yards offline and the the cut is so defined in some of these places that you could actually hit it in the semi- rough and it’s nestled against the rough line and you’ve got no shot and someone’s hit it another 30 yards in the rough and they’ve got a shot so that really really really really winds me up um and uh I think I really enjoy tough challenges but like I I I you know I like them to be I like them to be fair i mean Shinikok I always felt was I know people were complaining on that Saturday and saying the course was gone and stuff like that but my my thing with that was well you have a practice round for a reason you should know where to miss it if it’s if it’s you know if it’s getting tough if you’re out of position you should know where to miss it so I think that’s an that’s the thing that I always lean on that it it was tough but it was fair you just needed to you know plot your way around a little bit different it’s not always going to be a case of making you know four or five birdies around and I always think courses where it is tough where conditions are tough where you know minus 5 minus four is going to be the winning total not even major championships on the PGA tour as well when Bay Hill has paid played tough or when Mirfield Village has played tough I always think that kind of plays into your hands as well that you’re a good golfer in tough conditions do you almost sort of relish turning up and thinking “Right I I I got half the field beaten here because this is tough this week.” Yeah I don’t know if I kind of think that that I’ve got half field but like definitely I I enjoy the challenge i enjoy when it’s um well I wouldn’t say I enjoy it but like I I you know it I it’s I think when it is tough like that I like I like it when it’s like that it’s just um fest yeah exactly i I feel like But I also feel like in that it requires more skill in a way to to to grind it out you know i think um I’m not saying it’s it’s super easy to go out there and shoot 40 under cuz I’ve never done that either but like um I think when it is tough I I enjoy it a little bit more cuz I feel like like you say it almost not plays into my hands but just I I feel like I’m used to that i’ve grown up kind of playing that style of golf I think and um you know normally when it’s windy and firm that’s kind of um when I feel like I’m I’m kind of in a good spot you’re also coming into this major having come off a major where with just a few holes to play on Sunday you had a genuine chance of winning how much belief did that give you because it has been a really tough year 18 months for you i don’t know if I had a genuine chance of winning i mean Scotty Sheffler he don’t put a foot wrong does he never he never he never gives you a chance so I I I think we were all playing for sec when he got to 11 under i think we were all playing for second weren’t we but um no it g Yeah it gave me it gave me massive confidence i was I was so pleased with the um with the finish i was saying to to my wife and a couple of the team that it was a weird feeling coming off 18 because you know I was delighted with the finish but at the same time obviously disappointed with my last few holes but at the same time like I looked at those last few holes and I was like well you know I just hit I’d hit so many great shots over the course of the week like I just hit a couple of poor ones and unusually for me I just missed a couple of puts and you know all of a sudden I hold those and I think I’d have been the two I didn’t play 17 and 18 well but I played 15 and 16 really well um and if I’d have made the two puts on 15 16 you’re two better i finished second or six or whatever whatever it was I can’t remember and obviously it’s a it’s a different week but like for me I just feel that um I came away you know just in a much better frame of mind from you know having having you know finished finished a great week and and played really well all week yeah how frustrating has the last year or so been and have you been scratching your head about how do I figure this game out and do you feel like you’ve turned a corner now yeah definitely of course it’s it’s always frustrating it’s a It’s a world’s most annoying game um you know and it’s uh it’s it is very annoying but um yeah I definitely feel like I’m I’m on the right track um I definitely think things are are going better i feel like more confidence in my game more confidence in in what I’m doing and um yeah just just I feel like I’ve just got to kind of lean into that a little bit more now and and trust that and um you know probably you know in a way be a bit more aggressive to to try and you know go after it and get some wins really and look a lot of people listening to this will know how much you analyze your own game pour over stats keep such detailed notes you just sort of referred to this is it tough to keep completely focused on your on how you can make yourself better and not look at Scotty Sheffller and think “God I’m so far away from that i’m playing for second place here.” I mean or is everybody looking at Scotty and thinking that at the moment no I think I think for me like listen obviously this this could be a dangerous quote but I feel like if I’m I feel like if I’m in the mix going into the back nine you know I think any player would say they back theirel to go out there and win and compete and have a good chance of winning there’s no doubt about that he’s obviously an extremely elite level right now that you know a level that no one’s seen since you know tigeresque which is phenomenal really um but at the same time if you go in on that bat n you think well Scotty’s there as well I’m just never going to win and you’re never going to win are you so so I feel like I’ve definitely you know got my confidence back a little bit and and I just got to it’s just a case of trying to kick on now and and uh you know try and force some more results really and obviously all professional golfers can recognize when they need to change things and they’re not going according to plan one big change for you this year was to part ways with Billy how difficult a decision was that to make yeah obviously it was it was always going to be difficult um you know we’ve had such great success together and and stuff and um I think it was you know it was one of those things that we or you know so I I felt that it was the thing that I needed at that that point in time and um you know he was obviously so so great for me and I learned so much off him and um I think that’s just just you know it’s it’s the way the golfing world doesn’t it you know there’s there’s all these so many variables in the game and um you know it’s controlling as many as you can is is what’s important and I just felt at that point it was was the time for me to uh you know to to do something a little bit different yeah uh look I I’ve already taken up enough of your time but but just finally obviously this is a US Open preview podcast but we always reflect on the RDER Cup the last 18 months or so has kind of left you a bit behind the eightball in terms of qualification i’ve backed you to make the team anytime I speak to somebody I say “Matt Fitzpatrick will be there because I think form is temporary and class is permanent have you had chats with with Luke and Dodo?” I mean you chat to Dodo all the time I know but have you spoken to them about “Look guys I’m getting there i want to be there.” That’s very kind Jamie thanks for putting me in your team um let me know when you let me know when you’re captain and I’ll be I’ll play for you yeah um yeah I I’ve had brief chats with Luke yeah yeah I’ve had brief chats with Luke i mean I think being being experienced now and and and knowing how it works it’s like I’m not I’m not trying to force issue i’m not like try texting L Luke I really want to be there you know it’s really important for me you know like if I play well I’ll be I’ll be there you know if if I don’t play well I I won’t be there i’m I’m happy to to accept that you know as well as anyone like my Ryder Cup experience hasn’t exactly been how you know you dream about as a kid so I’m I love to play the Ryder Cup i love to be part of the European team with all the lads but at the same time it it doesn’t it doesn’t hurt me right now because I’m I know where I am i know where I lie you know I’m not um I know I’m not that close to the team and I know that I’ve got to have some good results to even come into the frame of mind for for a for a pick and whatnot so yeah it’s really something I’m not I’m not even thinking about to be honest Jamie it’s like really is it’s it’s very far in the back of my mind i’m just trying to concentrate on on where I am and kind of pulling myself out of the bit of the hole that I’ve been in and and just going from there really yeah as you sort of allude to Hazeline and Whistling Straits weren’t amazing experiences for you but what was Rome like and where does that sit compared to say Brookline where does the experience of Rome sit yeah nothing’s ever going to top Brookline you know it’s just not and and you know and I’ll be honest like it’s going to be hard to beat Harbortown as well that those those mean so much to me on a on a on a very personal level so it is it’s always going to be difficult to to you know beat that but um yeah Rome was Rome was a special week i felt like you know again felt like I got a bit unlucky and also didn’t necessarily play play my best at how I want to and and felt like I could have come away with with a couple more points than than I did and um so you know there’s always that slight sour sour taste in in your mouth when you leave but to to win as a team to win a Ryder Cup you know I’ve got that on my resume now and um it was an amazing experience obviously share with the guys and and and achieve it the way we did so um to play in a home rider cup there’s nothing like it you know everyone’s on your side everyone’s you know supporting you and and that’s what that’s what feels great so it’s it’s always nice to be part of that yeah look well roll on Beth Paige we always we obviously hope that you’re there thanks so much for your time Fitz and thanks Jamie this luck this week you know I’m rooting for you family all there this week as well no no one no just me just me and me and Catherine so yeah all right okay okay so I was going to say well send my love to to Russ and Sue there you go you’re you’re you’re now my fifth Fitzpatrick you know since Katherine joined the family i believe it i believe it that’s fine that’s fine thanks very much buddy and take care thanks Jamie see you Nick green shoots for Matt we saw it at the PGA Championship and this week as he was alluding to in that interview could be the kind of setup where he could really flourish because he is a gritty competitor that likes tough courses yeah well he’s a US Open champion isn’t he and it speaks for itself but I don’t think there’s ever been a US Open where you go well it it’s not the normal way though it it was played a different way that US Open and it was more about hit it as far as you can and you could miss fairways so it’s the same challenge and Matt’s got the better of it and um you know I think I think there was always an element of finding a new position in the game that was going to be a challenge for Matt as as a major champion i mean it changed everything didn’t it and look he’s had success since obviously but it’s been a battle for him with his game and he is hard on himself like I make no we know that he’s really tough on himself but it’s arguably also the mentality that pushed him to be the player that he’s become but um yeah I hope he’s kind to himself this week and I hope he’s got a reason to as well because you know he has opportunity here to continue to get back to the player that we know he is and uh the signs are better yeah absolutely good luck to him this week h just to recap some other news from around the world of golf h we’ve spoken a lot already about Scotty Sheffller now the man he played and only narrowly beat in Sunday singles at the 2017 Walker Cup at LACC was Nick i put you on the spot it’s a tough one is it a tough one it is a tough one the man he beat Give me a clue at the Okay here’s the clue he won for the first time in the DP World Tour yesterday connor Sim there you go connor Sim a winner for the first time a two-shot victory over Yuckam Laragin at the KLM Open feels like he’s been wrong around for a long time nick been knocking on the door but I suppose that first win is always the hardest oh I love it you know they’re they’re the best stories because it makes you reflect someone in my position or any of our golf team that used to play for a living it makes you reminisce and you remember what it felt like and it’s that that I’ve done it and especially when he’s had to wait quite a long time as well because he’s a good player he has been since we ever got to know his name and um you start doubting yourself and then that feeling is initially that the in the days after they’ll never ever take it away from me i will always be a champion until he gets to next week when he’ll be like I just need to prove it’s not a flash in the pan though so but I’m delighted for him it’s been a long time coming but that that’s brilliant news yeah it’s a proper tournament as well the Dutch Open you can see the list of winners on that and that win in Holland was in grim wet miserable conditions was very similar to what conditions were like in New Jersey where Jennifer Cupchure was a winner again on the LPGA tour and on the Champions Tour the American Family Insurance Championship was a team event and it was won by Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clark two legends of the European Game two Ryder Cup heroes and I imagine Nick probably had a pretty quiet night and early to bed can you imagine i wonder who had the bill i wonder who’s paying the bill it would have been lot it would have been heavy i know that they might still be going who knows um Wacky Neman was the winner on live for the fourth time this season but Nick have you seen Phil Mickelson’s shot over his own shoulder and and can you describe it to us well he’s played something similar i’ve seen I don’t know if I saw on YouTube but but we’ve seen the shot right from years ago one of the first times I ever saw anyone do it now of course you see trick shot guys do it all the time now but in a tournament uh I mean like he is the gift that keeps on giving whether you like Phil or you don’t I I love a bit of Phil i love watching him play and you know it’s pertinent to this week as well isn’t it because it’s you know it’s it’s arguably he said his last time he’ll ever peg it up and one of the great wonders of the world is that Phil with his playing off the tea because he has spled it through his career off the tea he is a genius around the greens but as hard as US Opens are he’s still managed to be second six times yeah it’s crazy that’s how good he is and I I I would love to see him have a good week um but to see him still doing stuff like that it’s Phil isn’t it and you know when he eventually hangs up his spikes it’ll be missed as a golfer whether you like him as a bloke or not it’s a different thing but you know as a golfer I’m going to miss seeing Phil play it’s an incredible shot it’s something as Mixer says that you would only ever see on YouTube a trick shot or in an exhibition we saw it in live i’m not going to say anything else um one other bit of news from Canada kevin U Matt McCarti and Cam Young claiming the three spots on over on offer for the Open Championship at Port Rush but as promised we’re now going to turn our attention to the US Open of 2007 when it was at Oakmont on the end of day one heavy favorite Tiger Woods defending champion Jeff Ogulvie the likes of Justin Rose and VJ Singh were all one overpar Bubba Watson and Jose Lathabal in the tie for third level par and only two players were underpar the eventual champion Aikel Cabrera at minus one and after a 68 Nick Dherty who led the way nick how well do you remember every single one of those 68 shots from Thursday um well I could take you through it um shot by shot i I remember it i remember it clearly um there were so many firsts for me that week and obviously leading after a round of a major i mean the Sunday is really the goal but um if you if you you know if you if if you can’t pick I suppose it’s going to be you know for me Thursday was was my one you know um but Andy Warhol is is from Pittsburgh and he was the guy who said about everyone has 15 minutes of fame yeah and uh and maybe that was maybe that was my 15 minutes there it was the greatest week of my career above all the wins um that I had even in St andrew oh yeah because of Tiger you know I play the Tiger on the third day so as much as as leading was it it was mind-blowing she We’re going to go to tonight laura myself and Rich are going to go and watch Pittsburgh Pirates play i love baseball so we’re going to go and watch the game i went there after the third round after the first round when I shot 68 my brother was in town with me and I remember just being sat in the stadium just looking around i was saying “Look at all these Americans i am the ruler of their country.” When it No one on this continent can play golf better than me uh it was shortlived um but you know what i I played lovely and and you know I it was amazing i loved it and to shoot 6J at a course like that gives me immense pride um of what I did you know the story about it though really is more about what happened after because the next day I didn’t feel like I played that much different and I shot 77 and and it was just so difficult and and I just it wasn’t that much different and that was Oakman in a nutshell and I was obviously really despondent but um because the the joy and the buzz of leading after a major championship you know at that stage as well I didn’t know what was going to happen in my career would end up happening i was playing the golf my life 2007 was my best year i gone to win the Dunn that year i was top 50 in the world and like you just think I’m I’ve arrived get ready guys because I’m here to stay you know that’s sort of like you’re bullish aren’t you confidence and um you know internally a bit of arrogance of like this is my turn this is my time and I really felt like I I I thought I’d hang around so I was disappointed when I shot 77 but the good thing about shooting 77 is that it earned me the tea time with Tiger on the Saturday which was best day of my golfing life thought they shot the 77 on Friday on purpose just to get in there with Tiger but um no um you’re always incredibly self-deprecating when it comes to your own golf and I know it’s tongue and cheek and in particular you always talk about you know how wayward you were off the team so you would think a US Open at Oakmont would be your worst nightmare but it’s your best performance in a major i think I was quite good at um yeah you know what my drop I I was streaky off the tea so as much as it was my downfall in my game I couldn’t keep on the planet that was different that was when I was on my knees with with the game and and it owned me and that’s where I had it it was it was not yips but it was it was close to being like I I just can’t find the golf course anymore and that’s game over because the ball goes too far right you’re done um when I was through all my career I had times I drove it really good um but it was just in and out and obviously that week I drove it well wing foot the year before not so much you know I missed the cut was one shot worse than Tiger you know I think it was 140 over miss the cut and the year that’s generally what used to happen you know if you missed that many fairways or you hit seven fairways you can shoot a bad number one I I drove it pretty good h and my short game was electric I can I remember feeling like it was starting to annoy Tiger a little bit a little bit because he was playing so good like because I I’m keep going to Saturday this tells you I led the US Open but actually I keep want to go to Saturday because like absolutely yeah you know Johnny Miller said it could arguably be one of the greatest US Open rounds ever played he only shot one under Tiger but he hit 13 of 14 fairways and and 17 of 18 greens and he only missed the 18 fairway in it by this much in the right rough and the rough was so thick in 07 he just couldn’t reach the green so hence that was the only green he missed and he hold nothing but didn’t put bad so he grazed edges all day long but didn’t put badly and I remember the bit that shocked me it was the time when I realized that how he was different to what I was like all the other players i play with all the great players that time whether it be Ernie or VJ like I play with all those great players on my day i thought on my day I I might beat you on my day because I confident when I watched Tiger there it if if I played golf he was doing something else that it was called something else because he looked easy in complete control of the tea but then he hit down the middle of every green bled it to the right flag draw to the left flag giving himself the buffer the chef way of playing but of course he came before and he was under no pressure and I think I actually played quite well that day purely because all I was watching was like this is that bad you know I made a fateful error though i I was level par after 14 holes which is remarkable amazing right it’s on a Saturday of the US Open and I remember walking and I said to my caddy stretch I was like we can do him today mate I might have said different words but like there might have been an exploitive in there but I was pumped I’m you can do him today imagine that dumping up Tiger Woods in the US Open have a bit of that and I I took my attention away from being fully focused on that golf course which requires all of it especially with my ability you know I didn’t have anything spare out there and and I both dropped four in the last four and arguably I lost that torn by five to Cabrera in the end and it would made all the difference you know um but it it was the greatest round for me because you know as much as someone wins a major championship each week see Tiger when he was in his prime and play with him in the tours that he wants to win that that’s not something that’s coming around again now it’s gone that he’s not going to be that guy anymore and Rory and Scotty have stepped into that void but for me there’ll only ever be one Tiger Woods and I was lucky enough to be alongside him in one of those things it’s interesting david H says exactly the same thing and I’m sure you’ve had this conversation with Her about playing with him in the third round of the two 2005 Masters and just being like having a front row seat to an absolute clinic and thinking I’m never going to be that good it must just be Did you share any words that day at all did you chat yeah he was you know what the bit that I loved about him was he called me mate all day now of course Americans don’t say mate do they they say bud or man yeah yeah and um it’s because testament he played with so because he was just a global superstar he played with you know loads of Brits and we all say mate don’t we aussies mate you know we all say mate and um he was fine making me feel comfortable like he could have easily amped up the discomfort it’s already open Saturday in contention to win and you’re playing with Tiger Woods crowds are ridiculous i mean they ain’t there to see me funny enough you know so like he could have made that he could have lent into that he didn’t you know he he made me feel so at ease um great and it it was a real a real pleasure to play with him but I I remember thinking that that is that is not the sport that I play and being in awe of it but I’m grateful also grateful and privileged to have seen it who’d you play with on the Sunday lee Jansen i beat Lee i beat Lee i shot one over on the Sunday which was a great score i hold a hold a 15 12 footer on the last for a par and well it was in the end it was got me the top eight which got me in the masters so it was that day not only did I have my best finish in a major um by my I knew I was going to Augusta the next year and obviously I thought the world was at my feet at the time little did I know that there’d be you know some tribulations to come after trials and tribulations of life and golf afterwards but wouldn’t change any of it it was amazing and I’ve heard you speak about this the test of the US Open is that stern test where you’re just getting kicked in the teeth for 72 holes you cannot switch off you love that style of golf don’t you i do yeah it’s a bit sadistic isn’t it but I I you know if it was like that every week you’d hate it um but when I came to the US Open and I realized the first time I played was Pinehurst in ‘ 05 I I it took me a while i made the cut but I I kept second guessing like “Oh no that can’t be that close to that slope because that’s that’s not there is it really?” It is no it is it’s just you can’t go in that bit it’s like “But I’m only 15t away.” Yeah but you can’t go in that bit yeah and I I learned there that wow this is this is brutal and it was just like I enjoyed the fight of it yeah you know I think growing up as well and watching and seeing that and I love it now i love like being back and doing what we do for Sky and being in that and telling that story i love the fact that you know wiping the sweat off their brow and getting up off the canvas and like he’s doubled that oh but he’s hung on there and he’s managed to shoot a 74 they’re hanging in there and it’s the battle against the course the competitors but mainly themselves mainly themselves because it challenges it challenges everything you believe that should be fair and golf is not fair never was fair otherwise you’d never hit out of a divot in the fairway you’d never get a bad bounce it was never supposed to be and the illusion that we it should be somehow I don’t know who thought that up but they weren’t for this sport and and the US Open epitomizes that element of it and people might say “Oh it gets ridiculous.” And you know when they lose the golf course and it becomes certain pin positions become unplayable that’s different it’s a it’s a regular these days um for them to do it but they tread a thin line and I like it i get excited about that you know you get in in the morning you get the pinchy out and you’re like “Oh that could be juicy by the time we get to 3:00 this afternoon.” And for me it’s one of the things that makes it such a great spectacle if the hardest championship and um you know Jack has spoken openly about it is that he said once his quote was something like not everybody is meant to win the national championship of America and very often they know it yeah exactly look I think that’s that’s the test that is indeed um I think in recent years have got the course set up absolutely spot on i’m really looking forward to this week nick thanks so much for your time um this is actually the 20th podcast of the new era since Josh passed over the mantle to me in our first 20 episodes these are the guests we’ve had xander Schaefle Shane Li Tommy Fleetwood Bob McIntyre Windam Clark Billy Horchel both Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick Thomas Dietree Podrick Harrington Brandt Sneder Jeff Ogulvie Eduardo Molinari Anna Norfist Lori Caner Callum Hill and Stevie Williams from the Skyolf and the NBC family our very own Wayne Riley Rich Beam Paul Mcinley Rob Lee Euan Murray Dame Laura Davies Mel Reed Karen Stuppples Brad Faxton Brandle Shambbley Matt Every and saving the four biggest hitters to last we’ve had Butch Harmon Sir Nickfaldo Ehem Jack Nicholas and Nick Dorsey of course so it’s not a bad it’s not a bad list up to this point it’s been a joy so far some list of guests for our first 20 we’re only getting started as well so Nick Nick thanks for coming on today oh congratulations Jeremy cheers mate thanks very much um thank you loyal listeners for being on the journey so far if you like what you’ve heard or watch today do make sure you give us a follow on Apple or Spotify wherever you get your pods and leave us a review let us know what you think of the show a huge thank you as always to Callaway for sponsoring the podcast thank you again for your time do join us again this time next week to look back on what is bound to be a thrilling US Open at Oakmont