James Morrison: Realities of Pro Golf, Playing with Tom Watson & Hecklers

James Morrison sits down with George Harper Jr. to share the unlikely journey that took him from elite junior cricketer to professional golfer. After going from an 18 handicap to scratch in just 10 months, James made the leap to the DP World Tour.

In this episode, he reflects on how the Tour has evolved over the years—both on and off the course—and opens up about the realities of competing in major championships in the U.S., from fan heckling to the intense pressure of golf’s biggest stages.

Chapters:
00:00 Behind the scenes
03:00 Introduction
05:54 Growing up with cricket and early golfing talent
10:12 Crohn’s disease
11:20 First win on Tour
13:35 Change on the DP World Tour
16:08 PGA Championship memories
21:50 The Open and playing with Tom Watson
27:03 The low side of playing on Tour
29:55 Financial side of pro golf
38:32 Next steps for James
49:17 Best golfer James has played with

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when do you want to come around hello ladies here he is lads how are we hey mate good to see you how are you and the booze ready this is fantastic well yeah it’s a pretty dangerous set for us isn’t it well do we drink all of them before we’re out we Well good yeah that’s going to be a long day he’s top shelf anyway top shelf liquor come on in mate thanks for having me i go around the long way yeah go the long way around get your K’s in yeah he steps up do you like whiskey love whiskey love whiskey more than golf this is not not a good combo am I going to pour it are you going to pour it uh well looks like you’re taking some leadership there which I’m all on board for should I pour it yeah yeah make yourself at home right to the top or Oh that’s a little tipple and then have a little nip oh we have another call it yeah and a little nip here we go you beauty straight into it what we got here kentucky straight boom whiskey beautiful Kentucky bourbon that is No it is good best in the world well you were over there weren’t you i was over there for an event last year and I should have gone to the distillery yeah but um I was being a uh typical golfer and being very uh pathetic so I played badly so I was sulking didn’t go yeah should have gone miss the cut again seems quite a common theme at the moment missing the cut ah yeah cheers cheers mate at least Cheers mate at least you’re in the field well be little what not most of the fields unfortunately lovely tom’s at half past 9 in the morning yes on a on a Tuesday you’re saying they’re having a Wednesday off Monday well I was saying that yeah i’m trying to stop the midweek drinking and then you’ve actually come up with quite a good theory where midweek is technically only Wednesday wasn’t me it was one of our amazing cameramen that came up with that came up with the idea yeah so I’ll take full responsibility for it so essentially that opens up six out of seven days of the week yeah so Monday Tuesday Wednesday off Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday monday Tuesday Wednesday off yeah wow it’s a great day to do a podcast i I only play golf Thursday and Friday so I’ve got plenty of time [Music] we’re not all flying through golfing life on private jets and it’s all easy we’re making minutes it’s not like that he turns up and he’s absolutely steaming he slipped on his driver face ground into the ground i was thinking this B’s one of the best golfers in the world like what’s he doing walked across the 16 no no tap on the shoulder hi I’m Tom Watson do you mind if I join you i’m like “Wow any job offers out there?” I mean I put a great pint somewhere i know I would [Applause] [Music] all right James Morrison welcome to the beautiful Buffalo Trace Distillery London uh I’d say kid in a candy school but this is almost better than that isn’t it for me it’s just like heaven i’m the shakers coming here looking around at the booze we drinking but no thank you for having me what a great place if you are just listening to this podcast there is literally hundreds of whiskey bottles surrounding us so don’t mind us if we get a little bit distracted uh but James welcome along thanks for coming on mate uh you’ve you’ve had an amazing career you’ve been on tour for God knows how many years over 15 years on the on the DP World Tour now um how are you what have you been up to mold stiff sore no um no it’s it’s been a great 15 years gone really fast and and I play 430 odd events on tour that’s now kids coming out on tour and I was born in 2007 and 2006 and like oh well how long you been on tour then and I try and tell them they just start laughing at me are you still alive they’re still playing out here but um DP World Tour do a great job of looking after us on a weekly basis and look I love it love playing playing the game love competing and hopefully do it for touch wood do a bit longer but we’ll but we’ll see yeah well where are you at at the moment mate obviously a little bit of a tough run at the moment a few cuts missed where are you at in your career and how do you see the next one yeah I guess a bit of a crossroads really i mean um I kind of rewind back to three years ago where I played Race to Dubai i think I finished 50 something on the order of merit and I didn’t want to be there and that was it i was playing our biggest event of the year the finale and I was hating every single second of it and that’s not golf that’s not nothing the tournaments to do where I was at mentally and I feel like this has been building for a while and I haven’t quite dealt with my mental issues but dealt with bits I’ve never quite had the time to deal with and that kind of caught up with me a little bit and I lost my card last year for the first time in 15 years so it’s a different year for me and play as much I can on the main tour played a bit Hotel Planet Tour um I did a bit of a low moment i played in the Middle East for two weeks on the Hotel Planet Tour i was pushing a trolley it was 46 degrees oh wow i had my head down like that pushing a trolley and I ditched it halfway around in the sand and I’m like this this is not this is not this is not for me I’m too old for this I’m not doing it but so yeah that’s going to be the biggest change for me is going to be the mental side of it and get myself ready mentally to play and look who knows if it’s this year maybe next year I don’t know but I’m kind of trying to take it one step at a time cuz 15 years is a long time you’re institutionalized almost for doing that 100% yeah and and actually I think that becomes the biggest fear of a of a normal tour pro that’s kind of my angle is I’m just I’m just a good solid tour pro not Victor Hoffland or Maroy like for us traveling the world playing yeah we make a nice living at it we do great but it’s hard and it’s it’s 30 weeks a year around the world the traveling side of it and I mean I hate to think how many flights I’ve been on how many weeks you’ve been away all the all the little things that the geek would kind of add up and figure out but it’s it’s top level sport and you don’t like it get out but um I’ve loved it I really enjoyed doing it nice well let’s talk about how you got into it to start everything off um and go back to when you were fighting between cricket and golf you know two of my favorite sports are relatively similar what was the what was that part of your life like when you’re just deciding which way to go well yeah cricket cricket is is my life was my life i love the game and have done and I’d play for Surrey from 8 till 18 i played England cricket with Alistister Cook that was my whole childhood i mean literally like the guys on tour play golf i played cricket and I loved it and I and I really enjoyed my whole time through my younger years playing cricket and then started playing golf when I was 16 and um went from 18 to scratch in 10 months where I’m going I’ll be back to 0 to 18 in the next 10 months where I’m playing so it could go full circle but um and then within a year and a half of playing golf as a college in America and that’s kind of that was my trajectory into the game and so it kind of like your your quick very yeah launch and golf took it out of your hands and you’re like maybe correct and I think my last game for sorry was at Gil I remember it clearly was got 124 out against Middle Sex i was fielding at fine leg my dad walked around he goes “You’re right.” So I’m bored i’m out like that’s I played so much cricket before that that and at that level too you’re playing two day games and it’s hard it’s it was proper proper cricket back then and actually and for me it was like I’m done and that was how I kind of worked it out in my head was right that’s finished i’m going that way not never once I questioned that decision nice i was like well I’m just going to do it and I’m just going to go for it what was uh you know to turn this into a cricket podcast did you know cricket golf did you know Ellie Cook was as good as he was going to be back in the day not very young were 14 years of age at the time but back then you you can kind of there’s guys that in any in every sport there’s guys that just stand out mako for example when he came out you knew that he was going to be a superstar right there’s guys coming out Rasmus Nar and you can see he’s going to be a superstar those guys you see come through there you know that are going to be great and there’s that level below who want you think he’s really good he’ll make it never make it so it’s really hard to figure out at that age and and I guess when you play sport so young you can burn out before you’re 15 16 so like you got to kind of keep moving with it but yeah he knew he was always great i mean he got all the records at school and um he was always pretty pretty close not was me but I mean he’s always pretty good i actually met Alistister Cook back in New Zealand um on a Sunday night at one of the worst bars in the country and um I was getting this was after a test series against New Zealand you know big night afterwards and I was actually getting kicked out by one of the bouncers and he had me around the collar and this other little blondie on the other collar i’m like mate what have I done and he throws us to the ground he was a big boy big boy and throws us to the ground i look up and it’s Joe Root so he’s got me here and Joe Root here i was like Joe what are you doing he’s like he’s kicked me out cuz I look too young and for you what do you keep you up for well I was [ __ ] an idiot yeah yeah too young then so then Ellie Cook comes out and tries to talk us in and I was like “Mate you’re not going to you’re not going to let this happen.” So we let Joe Routt back in and I uh slowly slowly siphoned off yeah you you saw Yeah yeah yeah it was great though meet Alistister Cook oh why not sir sir Alistister Cook uh but no look that that was obviously a big chapter and what was like the I guess when you first made that decision was it easy getting into the game was it like whisbang crack how how hard was it to get on tour and get your start um I guess it wasn’t hard cuz I was young and kind of confident and and never did anything ever stop me from believing in what I was going to do and obviously then you have no fear about the consequences or what happens if you don’t play well or that he’s young and he’s going for it and I remember sitting in I was in the England squad as an amateur and we sat down with Peter Makavoy who’s now sadly passed away he said “Look around guys there’s 15 of us in the room only one of you is going to make it in this room go by the stats and one person here and in my head like got to be me you lock anymore just go home that’s how I thought in my head and so you had to be but back as you’re looking back now we we had Paul Wearing in that squad david Hoy Ollie Fischer we had think about eight of us made it on tour so that’s complete fallacy that anyone could make it but at the time you kind of look and think well it has to be me you have to have that inner belief and that inner mindset and then and that was it read off and running and I turned pro and paid change tour uh 2007 8 got my card 9 and that was it brilliant and you also had a few other hurdles to jump as well let’s uh briefly touch on your Crohn’s disease you’ve had that from a young age um can you explain to the listeners exactly what that is and how it affected you and and yeah how much of a hurdle that was to jump it was actually looking back now I kind of took it for granted a little bit really and when I was 16 doing my GCSEs and and I lost I was down to about eight stone i was pretty ill i remember that whole summer I missed about four months of the summer time just literally just in bed couldn’t move and I guess Crohn’s you want to call it inflammation intestine colon and it’s kind of for me it kind of was stress related slash maybe very lethargic but something I’ve dealt with my whole life and so you can’t eat or like is it just like Well I take tablets every day so I can drink booze that’s that’s where I’m at and that’s where I kind of put things into perspective right right but no I’ve I’ve kept medication on I’ve dealt with it through function better and stuff with my Trey Justin Buckthorp so we’ve been on it and touchwood i’ve never been ill along the way on the road it’s been I’ve been been okay along the way but um but yeah something you got to deal with it’s part of life as golfers we’re not immune to that so um just got to deal with it and get on with it so yeah that was that was a big part of my early part of my life but it’s fine now so you got your tour card you’ve made it on tour can you talk us through that moment of winning for the first time on tour how special is that i know that was in 2010 uh that must have made you really feel part of it and feel yeah amazing it felt great cuz I got 18th card from challenge tour and and back then the categories were different so I was behind tour school so I didn’t play very much at the start i think I played two Christmas didn’t play I played in January didn’t play for until whenever it was i played got the Africa Open last minute finished fourth i think I made €45,000 and that was it i thought Richard Branson I thought I was just I thought I was the best man in the world like it’s amazing then didn’t play for literally two months didn’t get anything in Asia didn’t get anything in the Middle East but where the categories went and I got into Ander Lucia I finished sixth there we off was Madiraa so I go there think I’ve been playing well and I’m going to rerank well anyway so it’s kind of like every was a new week and I was really excited and then all of a sudden went out and won played amazing golf finished minus 20 beat Ollie Fisher by one I think it was in the end and that was it and it was just done the most amazing surreal even though it was only a smaller event on tour doesn’t matter winning on tour is difficult with whether whether it’s a Rollance event or whether it’s a small event the standard the standard is so good that no matter where you where you win you got to really enjoy it and and that was kind of the the start of it all really yeah did you enjoy it um well I had to get a boat over from So was an island i’m really bad on boats so um Thank you um so yeah got the boat a hot an hour ferry ride puked on the way over and that was kind of it really and then off and running from there brilliant few celebrations on tour between you lot I can imagine oh yeah there’s there’s my groups of friends we do like a tipple yeah so um that’s the one joy of playing the game that you got to try and impress friendships are bloody important oh massively important it’s so lonely like the young lads come out tour now they play Call of Duty in the room their room service it’s a very it’s a very lonely world and I’m a bit old school i’ve been on tour for a long time so back when there was no real Wi-Fi no social media and yeah you had to go out and socialize and talk to people like face to face like not texting like actually communicate with people and that was the old school way we always had a couple of drinks and enjoy ourselves and that was part of professional golf and that’s dwindled but that’s the way of life has it dwindled like between I guess your generation of lads as well as I guess you’re all getting a little bit older and you’ve played on tour for 15 years or so like what is the energy around the circuit these days it’s changed yeah there’s a lot less kids around cuz everyone’s so young like the tour has changed dramatically from that respect in terms of how people look how they dress how they act like there’s all they’re all getting younger and younger and younger and they’re all very much influenced by social media and and yeah the average golfer now has a is a different breed than when we were out there but in a nice way like us oldies are trying to kind of act cool like them I suppose but it’s not really working um but you got to try and it’s great to have them involved and out on tour and it makes for a great learning great melting pot of people really i want to have a a big discussion about majors in general you’ve played in seven of them um first and foremost Rory’s won the first one of the year how cool was that for you as a golfer playing I guess alongside him for so long how epic was that for a spectacle of that oh I mean what a I mean I’m not a huge golf watcher but I watched all of it and and for him to win the career grand slam was amazing obviously all the hype that gone into it all the chat that’s gone behind the scenes how he dealt with it was unbelievable shows what sort of man he is and what sort of golfer he is and he’s been a great advocate for our tour so as a DP World Tour player I mean we all look up to Rory yeah I played lots of golf with him over the years but for him to kind of be in our corner as well is great and to have him kind of fly the flag for our tour is amazing to see and obviously he’s the best golfer of our generation um you’ve played seven majors y but the Masters is not one of those what’s it like watching the Masters and kind of is there a little bit of like I can’t believe or I want to have played well yeah i get that question quite a lot have you played the Masters i’m like well never been good enough to play the Masters but I’ve always wanted to have played there and it come every year it comes around you watch it on TV and it’s just amazing as any any professional golfer you want to play Augusta that’s the that and the RD cup are the two things you want to kind of play in really cuz it’s the hard one hardest one to qualify for for from a European point of view it’s all done by world rankings obviously that’s a big debate now with world ranker system how it all works but for us now it’s kind of even more out of reach it feels like but every everyone’s dream is to play Augusta because it’s just an amazing but I love to go there love to experience it and just to play the path three course all of it like just just to be involved with it would be amazing but um yeah we’ll see but you have very getting very far away now but um yeah a little bit but you know who cares always dream can kind of we can but you have one thing is for sure you have played uh a PGA championship but is there anything um I guess any great memories from the PJ championship loads I mean obviously the good amount that USPJ is you got to qualify for it so top 100 in the world at that time I was top 75 in the world and I was playing some really good golf and actually I went to Whistling Straits in 2015 it was my first one and you go there and what an amazing place that is and and a golf course I thought I could play well around because it wasn’t so long wasn’t thick rough and it was I shook minus three the first day I think and I was top 10 thinking bloody hell this is easy like we’re going to win the USPGA here like get the speech ready we’re going to win this is great but then and I made the cut um I think I was top 25 after two days and um yeah a bit of an opening experience there cuz I played with um and I’m not going to mention his name an American golfer we were we had a rain delay Friday afternoon we had one hole to go in the ninth and um my other playing partner mention his name either because you can probably figure out the groups if you if you find all their names but I don’t drop him in it but he was like “Where’s where’s player A?” I said “Well I haven’t seen him yet.” He’s like “Is he a couple of miles he’s like 15 over.” I said “You think he’ll turn up?” “All right he’ll be here he’ll be here.” He turns up and he’s absolutely steaming he’s got his hat on sideways his glasses on shirt untucked and this time he was top 50 pair in the world I think at the time and then which is why he’s got the 18th green and the ninth green you kind of walk up between them both and up you go to the and there’s a bit of a jewel on the ground and the snaking marks at the fairway would live in my memory forever like he was absolutely tontoed and he stunk the trackman of the play so I was making the cut the other two weren’t so they come back just for me really I guess and he got he put this ball on the ground and he slipped on his driver face ground into the ground oh bang on the ground well his bloke’s gone wow hit the toe shank with the driver you think he made eight or nine but he just he was off his rocker he got in he was trying to sign his car i couldn’t ride anyway but I made park that was fine but like I was thinking this B one of the best golfers in the world like what’s he doing but sounds like a sat exactly yeah you think you as PJ and M you would never have that experience but John returning john Dailyaly sort of and then I played with Garcia on Saturday and that was that less less said about that the better wow wow that would be amazing to watch with a gallery ripping into it do they notice it no it was like it’s half in the morning there was no one there so like right it was um it was too early for the crowd to be there but Saturday when I played with Garcia you walk over the road over a big um over the stairs they put in for the players and that was the first time I really ever didn’t fancy it anymore cuz go over the stairs and you look right down the first fairway and it was eight deep with people oh wow there was that hazy bit you see from the old footage of the of the open days and and Marv M said Marv I don’t fancy I’m out this I’m not doing this anymore and I just just it just hit me like the whole kind of being contention at a US major is so different than anything else it’s such a big What do you mean you’re not doing this anymore as I didn’t fancy it look it looked so scary like the people the crowd the it just wasn’t for me but and I think 81 in the end so I should have should have just gone in but not finished last but it was a real playing in America made so different than it is playing in Europe and that was kind of the bit that hit me in terms of competing at the majors in America is so difficult wow and so is that like do you think that’s a nerve thing or just a completely different stage thing it’s probably it’s probably a bit of both had never been in that position before and actually a bit of a nerve thing and actually it’s a different proposition over there the crowds are rockous they’re loud it’s a big drinking culture they’re there for a day out rather than in Europe watch a little bit golf and have a clap like there’s no whereas there it’s a real really big day out for the Americans and he kind of got me ready for that and hence why I got so much respect for the likes of Mroy Adam Scott these guys have done it year in year out just keep just going with it and like Tiger Woods for example yeah yeah golf in his life without people just shouting at him and I had that for a real brief moment and I hated every minute of it well these guys deal with it on a weekly basis so actually to keep playing the golf they’ve played at that level was just I mean hats off to them big stuff cuz you you you got it a hell of a lot at one round at Shinikok is that correct no it was just that um qualified for the US PJ the week year after Bolters roll oh right i got to pay with Billy Horscher i think I was plus seven through five the first day i was playing crap at the time and I’d hadn’t fallen out the world rankings that quickly so I was still in i’m like like one that you don’t want to be at a major not playing very well hook hook hook hook rough rough one big American bloke in the crowd was like hey man you suck i’m like yeah I do suck you’re right but I don’t want to be here either mate so just come on rough next bloke hey man you’re went all the way around and playing with Billy Horaw i’m like Billy I’m really sorry mate but I’m not playing very well he’s like “Mate don’t worry about his fight.” He was and he was flying he was like top five i’m thinking I felt horrific i just wanted to get out of there but but playing major golf and not playing very well is very very difficult yeah what was some of the worst things that the crowd have said to you in the past or or that you’ve heard from other players as well because it can it’s it’s a quiet place so you can hear every word they say you can hear everything on a on a golf course but I’ve not heard many things but um I imagine it’s getting worse now yeah i haven’t played any sort of rider cups in America but I know that’s pretty rockous and pretty um they find out all your secrets somehow i don’t know how don’t know how they find out they find out where to get you between the eyes so um I haven’t really heard anything that bad really but just a bit of personal abuse but that’s been about it yeah that would be tough yeah you look forward to the Ryder Cup this year at Beth Page it’s going to be brutal i think as a European golfer that’s going to be a pretty scary place but I I won’t be there but so I’m not going to deal with it but the guys who are going to be there are going to be going to be very difficult yeah and you mentioned the open you’ve played a few good rounds there i know you’ve played with the likes of Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson what was it like playing with playing with those sorts of names it’s dream stuff you know back in 15 I was flying on the merit i was playing really well and and it was funny it was Wednesday afternoon i played with Anthony Wall um was a good friend of mine and and we were playing George Cier as well and George Cier is like I think I might only play five holes cuz it’s late in the day and and Wally being Wally is pretty sharp he nudged me he’s like look behind i turn around and there’s this figure in the distance where the sun is okay it was Tom Watson got to get rid of George quickly i’m like what do you mean get rid of George tend to go over there we’ll play a three ball be great so Wall’s like George I think if you’re going to go now go now I think you got to cut to 15t 16T are you sure yeah just basically off go get out the way so George walked across the 16 no tap on the shoulder hi I’m Tom Watson for joining like wow please be but all way around played all 15 holes with him picked his brain about certain shots how you play certain holes and I was like 12 on the old course was quite a hard hole to figure out bunker short bunker middle jit driver you lay back and he said to me that week always lay back of the first bunker five or four off a te have a longer shot in but always have a shot to the green play that hole in three and a half of the week a three out of four days I’m like this is genius like and that’s kind of Yeah that’s a horrible shot that is lyric oh yeah well when we play the don leagues it’s cold and wet so it’s into the breeze quite a lot so you can’t get past those bunkers whereas in the summertime when you play the open it’s different and but they’re the things you pick up from the top pros people have done it for years the little the little things you kind of learn along the way and he was an absolute he was an absolute gent all the way around got a photo welcome bridge on the 18th and like it was just dream dream scenario and to sort of I think it was his I think that was his last open I think as well at the same time so play with him his last open practice round it was just incredible that is awesome that’s so nice and then Phil the thrill as well phil yeah play for on Sunday yeah and we were he was flying as minus seven with two to play for the day and he he made seven on 17 hit it out of bounds in the hotel and we both shot minus four to finish i think was 20th in the end 20 21st roughly we’re one shot away from getting back in next year but um but that was great and it was a great experience to play with then he was still top five in the world where he was and one of our greatest golfers ever to play the game and to play with him and see how he did it was just was amazing hit some of the best flop shots off of greens and how you play certain shots was just amazing to watch very nice very nice and what about I guess for you as well before you before we leave the PJ championship and as you have another sip of uh whiskey uh I hear some rumors that you had a pretty big week before uh one of the PJ Championships at Royal Ass oh yeah i’ve done I’ve done a little bit of digging yeah thanks thanks for my mate you do me in there a little bit no we had um when a golf home was in George’s Hill Pro and they had a auction prize for a box for 20 at Ascot oh for the King George race day i was like I’m I’m having a bit of that and it was it was for what it was is a cheap auction price sod did it so we all went 20 of us i was flying to the US PJ the next day and I was we were absolutely totoed and or two remember that whole day was I took my sister with me and my sister’s only 4′ 11 so dropping in a cage she’s like a half half woman half dwarf and so I so I wrestled her for a shoe and I threw her shoe off the balcony and it basically was on the racetrack and watching her go down shoeless to find her shoe was quite funny and then I won I won some money in a bet and and I’m not a big I’m not a big gambler at all don’t do the horses and I think won 400 quid I just threw it all in the air and walked off so it’s gone by that point and my mom was on the floor just hands and knees picking all the money up and the next day she oh here’s your money from the horse you won I’m like what I didn’t win a horse didn’t win a race oh you won 400 quid oh bonus I didn’t even won it was like this is amazing but yeah then we flew to the PJ the next day absolutely hanging but the there are things in in life that you kind of got enjoying I wasn’t pretty good at separating home and and and being a professional golfer at the same time because you got to uh you got to enjoy life along the way Well would you call it separating when you like I feel like when we talk about your sledging we talk about that and then if we merge them together I feel like uh it’s a bit rich coming from you because uh I I see that you’ve been fined for for tweeting back to I knew I knew you were going to bring that up um I think I was I was the original tweeter at the time and that was a a tweet in Wales I put out and um and on tour every find you get you doubles every time right i think that was my third fight of the year and that same week I whacked a T- mark with the driver and it went to millions of pieces playing with Scott Strange an Aussie guy played on tour for a long time and the nail out of the T- marker hit him in the stomach like pierced his stomach like a bit of a pin prick so to speak so wounded him and I’ve tweeted and wounded Wales as a nation i think I got fined five grand that week i was I finished 60 I think I finished 63rd and made €6,000 but net was out about three grand but did I enjoy it yeah I did enjoy it yeah it was great fun well there was some footage we were watching as well and speaking of being angry and like the tough times of golf we saw the video of you in the green room which was which was pretty cool hi James welcome to the green room thanks for having me how are you feeling after your round like was there anything in particular that made it bad uh all of it looked like a seven handicapper on a good day i guess back to reality i actually felt like a golfer the first two days and then reality set in i’m not I’m just I should have worked harder at school dad sorry wasting the money on my education i should have worked a lot lot harder in school and I wouldn’t be sitting in this chair right now it was cool for people to see you opening up that kind of went viral can you run us through I guess the pure rage which golf can put you in and how maybe nice it was to actually maybe let it out every now and then yeah I think you got to be able to to let it out at some point cuz it just keeps bubbling inside then you’re going to completely lose the plot and and I think nowadays when people are more inclined to talk about stuff than they ever used to be mental health side of it and and obviously thanks to you guys doing all the podcasts and the DP world do great stuff with social media you can portray that to the people at home and we’re not all flying through golfing life on private jets and it’s all easy you’re making minutes it’s not like that for normal golf and I think if you try and portray that to the people at you kind of they get a better view of it and and Polly who works for um DP World Tour social media stuff came to me start of the week saying do you want to do the green room i’m like I’m doing it under two circumstances i play really well or really nothing in between i think I shot four of a par on Sunday in Dubai and I was raging or so hot sweating or sunburnt i’m like now I’m like sod it’ll do it now this no better time than now i sat down and the the guys the questions they asked I just went for it just kind of Yeah that’s my humor at the same time but also I vent stuff through humor and that’s how I deal with it and Yeah and it’s if people can relate to that at home then great and if they can’t then so be it but I feel like I say what I feel most of the time which is not a good thing sometimes but No it can get you into trouble but it’s also keeps life interesting pure honesty we Yeah yeah yeah and that agreement was was kind of that and and I didn’t do it to get any intention didn’t do it to get any any any likes on social media i did it just because I did it and that was it yeah and you mentioned I love how you mentioned you know it’s not all private jets or whatever like what is what is for you like the toughest part about being a professional golfer or what is one of the lowest moments you’ve got to because Yeah it’s not all glory and trophies and money yeah yeah 100% i think haven’t really had not had one point in my life where I’ve been very low so it’s just a kind of a combination of a lot of stuff and I think I think we may get to that bit later about expenses and finances and how how much it cost to play the tour but you think every week is three and a half grand four grand a week right every every week’s a gamble so people get into the financ that’s that’s enough gambling for me I can deal with and the mental side of the of the game is is from our point of view especially in my career I’ve had so many good weeks but then lots of times where I’ve had two months of playing bad golf three months four months but you somehow come through that end of it and you play well and you keep a card and off you go to the next year or what whatever your goals are as a as a golfer but I think the bit you learn you get hardened to on tour is the kind of the downtimes is that kind of call it a bit of a lag i call it a lag period whereas there weeks where you’re flying 12th fifth fourth this is this is great like but you don’t enjoy the good bits that’s what I should be doing i’m I’m best girl in the world i should be doing that yeah right but when you play crap you you can’t deal with it you make it such a big deal so I did an interview I think a few weeks ago for the tour and I I didn’t enjoy the good bits as much as you should i should have done but I I made the bad bits even worse than I should have done yeah so so it was the wrong way round and actually you got to enjoy the good days because they go like they they go like that and we’re not all like I said not all the we’re not all macaroys of the world they don’t come around that often and that’s the hardest bit about tour life is dealing with the ups and downs and kind of and and that’s that’s involved the traveling around the world on your own and being away from friends and family and and you got to deal with the good bits and you got to deal with the bad bits and that’s the hard bit yeah well that’s I guess like when you look as a fan on TV you see all your favorite golfers playing for example the likes of Jordan Smith like I haven’t seen him at the top of the leaderboard in ages like how important is cashing in when you’re in these little hot patches and what are they what what are these little hot patches because you do go on a run but then you never know when it’s coming back like what is like what is the difference or what triggers those that’s the hardest bit as a I kind of keep saying it normal tour pro I going to keep referring to that but you you’ve got to try and cash in when you can cuz you don’t finish eighth on a bad week you’re home Friday night on a bad week and you’ve got to without putting too much pressure on yourself in that moment you got to try and balance the fact of right I’m going to take this by the scruff of the neck and I’m going to do well but I’m not going to make it a big deal and make it the be all end all so you got to try and find that happy medium between making it really important and and taking your chance because I saw like Paul Wearing winning Abu Dhabi play golf for Porson who were 18 years of age and to see a tour pro win a big event is just amazing for all of us to see and we all take so much pride in that and and it shows it can be done and we are as good as everybody else is but never get the chance to do that and for him to get across the line of win was just amazing to see that and that’s purely because he came on the podcast that’s what that’s why I’m here i’m not here for you or anybody else i’m here for the fact that I’m going to win next week the week the week off yeah exactly but then again and then you look back at you try and compare yourself to the top pros like a Justin Rose for example the the bad weeks are 12th 14th 11th that is the whole art to tour golf is making your bad golf better than anybody else’s and that’s where you climb the world rankers you climb all the merits when you’ve always making points always up there always whereas for me in my career I’ve always been either fourth or gone missing for two months right fourth missing and that you can’t you can’t climb the world of golf doing that and that’s why the top pros are so good they’re so consistent week in week out and how do you get to that point god knows I’m still trying to find it out but um but that’s the whole art of tour golf tour golf is it’s a long period of time it’s a long season it’s finding the es and flows finding just how and when you play well is difficult you mentioned before that you go through three or four grand a week on tour what do you what do you mean by that is that caddies flights hotels yeah so the the things you can’t negate on tour is you’re traveling any caddies wage the average caddy wage now is between 1,200 and 1500 quid a week right so So you play 30 weeks so that’s their retainer that’s their retainer yeah then you pay them a 7% when you make a cut right so your weeklies a bit cheaper in Europe like you can do it softer in Europe maybe two and a half grand three grand because obviously low not long haul flying flights are cheaper etc but you’re in you’re in for that so um and you got for the bill itself that’s the way yeah cuz essentially you’re the boss right so you’re the I’m CEO of a massive business you’re the CEO just me in it company yeah and it’s got a lot of a lot of strange personalities in this it’s a nonprofit organization too we’re not making any profit yeah like when is it the the non like how bad is the nonprofit part because you say you go from mis cuts to fourth mis cuts to fourth like and there’s no certainly no PJs in your Instagram that I’m seeing no but like so what are some of those tough times and and the realizations that year even though a lot of you guys have had success like how much success do you need to have a really healthy tour life yeah people financially healthy to life yeah so people always ask me that kind of I just try and break it down to where I’m at where how I deal with it so my last two years my expense have been 107 grand a year pounds right that’s just my caddy wage and my traveling sure things you can’t negate right so you figure that out that’s a big chunk it’s huge yeah and then you go caddy 7% coach coaches three four 5% trainer 5% if you have an agent some of the percentages some are retainers depending where you’re at what you do withholding tax you got your own tax you got other few bits that pop up you got life living let’s live in a bush people don’t and and that’s not me being negative that’s just being honest and actually the one good thing about the go about the game of what we play is the tour provides such great events for us on a yearly basis but the car is always dangled every week can change your life that one Paul wearing that one big week and you’re off and running and that’s what’s the good thing about golf is that it’s down to you that carrot is always dangled and you’re always chasing it it’s getting came further away sometimes but you’re always chasing that dream week and and that’s the whole that’s the whole drug of it I suppose is that kind of every week like this is my week maybe not next week is my week maybe not the week after is my week and I’ve done it and that’s the kind of that’s the joy of the game the one bit you love the most about playing and so look at it from that respect you probably got to make about 300 grand to really kind of Yeah break even not break even but that like Yeah to make a living enjoy it cuz like you mention when you me when you see the crowd at a major championship and that gives you but like it’s a different type of pressure when you’re not only playing to win or playing to achieve good things but if you know in the back of your mind you’re like mate I haven’t got a paycheck in I’ve missed seven cuts in a row I haven’t got a paycheck in a while like does that also add another flavor well it yeah well that’s how it has to it does do that but those guys who can’t deal with that disappear quite quickly and I’ve always seen that as kind of like I’m not a long hitter and I don’t I’m just a solid golfer so I kind of see that as my superpower a little bit cuz I I quite enjoy that feeling of kind of get turned on by a little bit i don’t know it’s like that’s what separates me from him because I’m tour hardened i’m used to it i know it’s like nothing for 3 months you got to kind of buy your time and kind of go with it and and it’s just part of the game and if you can’t deal with that then you’re in the wrong business and and I try and turn that to bit of a positive and kind of try and enjoy that side of it if you can but anything in in any job in any crosses over you’ve got big expenses in other industries and that’s just part of it oh it’s like test cricket test cricket yeah i mean out first ball on a Thursday morning you’re there for two days like you kind of got to um that’s part of it that’s what makes golf what makes golfers golfers it’s part of the game it’s no different to driving putting chipping the mental side of the game is also an asset people have to have and that’s sport in general what’s the one part of your game that has carried your career if there was one my short game your short game yeah yeah yeah i mean I’ve up and down out of shoe boxes in my career like that’s been if I couldn’t chip and park but most selling Mars bars in the pro shop definitely that’s one bit that’s got me through that’s got me through everything is my short game and and like I said I’m not long hitter I’m pretty straight but you gota you got to kind of lean into the bit you’re good at yeah and that’s my short game bit and I’ve always enjoyed that so aside from selling Mars bars um what are the next steps for James Morrison busking in London by the looks of it but no um we are on the hardest yeah exactly if I can take some whiskey that wouldn’t me i can get half we’re actually going to keep the cameras on you just in case you seem like the type of B that walk away with 10 of them yeah well yeah well that’s a scary thing i probably would try that but no um now what’s next so I want want to keep playing the game and end of last year in career I was ready to give it up and and that’s why you have people around you team and family and friends the people kind of put it literally and put it kind of break it down to reality and actually you know what I love the game and actually going back out on tour now and I see people not seen for a long time and you know that’s what a great tour is deeper world tour we’re so lucky we play all over the world great people involved with the tour and I love it it’s great it’s what I’ve known my whole life and I want to keep doing it and and till I can’t then I won’t but um but yeah what’s next i don’t know we’ll have to wait and see and any job offers out there i mean I put a great point somewhere i know it would go with the booze team well that’ll probably work well you’ve you’ve funnily enough you’ve already given a set of golf clubs away i was also reading the other day like don’t give yours away just yet but um where where was it where you gave a set away to a kid after you played an absolute stoner of Well we’re in Perth and um week before in Malaysia Kalumpa I thought I good enough to use a use a set of blades callaway thanks for sorting me out with that probably probably to give them all away but but the week before I finished 10th in in Malaysia feeling good with a new club set of blades i’m brilliant great i’m back go to Perth play with Rob um Niko Hearn and Steven Looney niko Hearn he’s a good journeyman of a golf yeah he’s he’s the epitome right yeah yeah yeah and um but also very good at the game also very very good at the game but I play terrible and I had a woman who’s doing the score doing the walking scoring i was having a chat to her about “Oh yeah my son plays golf.” Oh does she want a set of clubs she Oh he’s got beginner sets no you want a set of clubs he’s like “What do you mean?” So we can have mine if you want because I don’t work for me so take the lot so we get to the uh scorers heart on Friday mr cut by 805 whatever I missed the cut by and then I got all my clubs out of the bag i went “There you go see you later enjoy.” She’s like “Well no just take them just thank a whole new set by the way.” But take the whole take the whole lot went back there six years later letter him a locker from her son saying “Thanks for the clubs now for scratch handicap i’m still using the golf clubs you’re my hero.” I’m like “Bloody hell this is great.” But that’s what it’s all about it flipped from being an angry thing to actually you know what it’s great he’s still using them but at least someone can use them i could use them at least he can use them properly cuz I couldn’t down to a scratch yeah so that was it so yeah give I’ve broken a lot of clubs but that was the most enjoyable giveaway cuz actually What’s your what’s your technique for the break across the knee just clean snap the throw and the just the on the ground foot through the shaft is is the one cuz you can get good leverage and you can hear the crack better and it actually really kind of sends a message yeah you feel great like the adrenaline rush adrenaline whatever you call it the endorphin release is fantastic yeah but so would you would you say you’re under or over sort of 21 and a half broken clubs oh more way more yeah yeah yeah yeah way more they’re everywhere i mean they’re up trees they’re in they’re in the Kings pond in Morocco we played the Kings course there’s a few in there and I remember once I had a lob wedge that I loved and I couldn’t get one the same again Callaway one and K’s like “Mate I haven’t head off cuz just remember don’t break the log wedge cuz all we’ve got is that one.” Oh no we’re in Portugal and I duffed my chip and just threw it off my head into the pond oh no and the splash was so like quiet and like deafening i was like “Ah that’s the lob wedge we have to change now won’t we?” It’s like “Yeah we have to change now.” But but I don’t I don’t condone breaking clubs but it’s also we get paid to use clubs so thank you Callaway again for sorting me out of the clubs but um I use coming out of this podcast so uh um but you know what it’s sport at the highest level and it’s you’re in the you’re in the cauldron you’re in the in the heat of battle and it is what it is what would you say you’re most proud of in your career because like I can’t stress how impressive it is to play for so long and and obviously you know we talk about everyone else’s successes but like to play as a professional golfer for over 15 years is amazing yeah like what are you most proud of for all your efforts i’m most proud of um well one thing would just be the hard work like cuz you don’t get anywhere without hard work behind the scenes we all work harder than people see it’s all those moments where it’s winter time at home it’s freezing cold out there hitting balls in the in the in the in the in the winter time and actually things you take for granted actually realize I have worked hard at this game and I have put my effort in and I have grind away at doing it week in week out um yeah the effort I’ve put into it along the years has been probably most proudest thing really and actually I’ve given it everything i’ve given it my all and and winning tournaments is the one thing i mean when I won in Spain I just knew I was going to win that week was just was just so quiet and so and actually that week was off the booze that week oh so finally worked it out i’ve tried it and it hasn’t worked again since so but but that week was just a week where my week four in China China to Spain that’s a common occurrence for us on the DP World Tour lots of traveling and be ready to play and I went to Spain and and I was sharing room with Andrew Doe at the time Aussie and we’re just sitting there and talking about stuff and just knew that week that I worked out well the tea times worked out well my lucky number was 21 i was group 21 on Sunday things just And I don’t care what you say winning is always about playing well about being lucky things have to fall into place and I mean I can play great golf but you can play better golf than I can and you win so you just you can’t think some things you can’t just you can’t help when to win golf tournaments and but that week was just a didn’t look at any leaderboards i played great putting just one of those weeks just oh I’ve won that was easy but then how do you get to that state of mind more tranquility yeah who knows like I’ve tried it since but it just doesn’t quite happen that way and and you think I’ve only won twice on tour but it’s twice as more than a lot of people and actually 430 odd events and I’ve only won twice the ratio is pretty is pretty bad but it shows how tough it is it is tough and I guess those winning moments are the most proudest I’ve been really and what about looking back over those years what are potentially some of your regrets like what would you look back on and maybe try and change if you were to go another 15 yeah I I had a chat with mate this morning about and actually brought this up this morning to my friend and actually my one big regret is is is when it’s not going so well on a Friday afternoon and just making cuts and getting through the line and cuz you never know when you’re going to play good golf and too many weeks where I’ve wasted weeks in terms of giving up or or turning the 35th place into 25th place or 25th to 15th i said before that’s how you grow your golf career and move into the different worlds of golf and you go up order of merits and world rankings and you’re not wasting weeks and too many weeks I wasted that through bad attitude and that be my only regret would be that and and as as a golfer you feel so invincible sometimes you think oh I’m not playing I’m going to change coach change swing thought change clubs change what and and you become very you think you’re a superhero when it comes to that stuff and actually you’ve got to Just stick at what you do best and how you do it the best coach Rory the same coach since he was four the top pros change things a lot less yeah and they the secrets in hard work not a new driver a new putter a new swing thought a new coach a new caddy the top players seem to have things very much in line more than same the average tour pro does and I’ve I’ve been bad at that over the years of just thinking right it’s not my fault it’s your fault so you’re gone right actually I’m a CEO like you said before it comes down to me i’m out there playing golf nobody else and actually you think you’re invincible and actually you change things too quickly and and Thomas Bjorn gave me a good bit of advice years ago because careers are fragile handle them with care i didn’t do that quite so much the latter end of my career and that’s kind of another regret I suppose but you you try and get better the whole adage of being a better golfer but just getting better what you do is what you can do brilliant well said but should have said that 10 years ago would be seeing year now but it’s fine well you’d still be a few more trophies yeah yeah yeah yeah we would have just got you in a bit earlier yeah great yeah had a better bottle of whiskey top the top one for the top shelf i would get the top shelf i actually forgot to mention uh your hole in ones yeah not many people have got two hole in ones on no ran away with what a new car a couple new cars new cars yeah yeah but um one was a Port Rush oh 15th it was It’s called Calamity I think it’s called and one was I went with yeah that’s a hell of a hold to the Calamity one yeah and both five irons believe it or not oh brilliant i hate five normally but I’ve had two one with five arms i don’t know how that was but we had one in Wentworth and I was playing Andy Sullivan at the time and Andy’s pretty short right he’s 5 411 5 foot whatever he is it’s a glorified [ __ ] sorry Andy but you are um and we play with Andy and we got to the bottom of the hill at 14 and it is steep i went to you heavy went I’m heavier than I look i’m like you can’t be you’re tiny trust me I’m heavier than I look so saw it farman carried him up the hill there and the minute I got on my shoulder was complete regret cuz he is so heavy little ball of like a like a demolition ball like I got him up my on my shoulder and it’s so steep got halfway up my my legs my knees are wobbling and I was like “Fuck oh my god.” I got up to the to the green put him down got to the next T and I was still shaking hit it out of bounds right i went I went double bogey one double bogey so was a I don’t give a [ __ ] about the that that bit but I had a hole in one that’s all that matters but Sully’s fault the Yeah Sully’s fault was too heavy he was good on the podcast actually he he is a funny dude Andy and actually the characters on tour that we need yeah for sure because the way the game is going it’s so kind of robotic and which is great cuz young lads come out on tour better than ever they have done before ready to play better golfers but you still need those guys on tour to make tour fun and and enjoyable who’s the best golfer you’ve ever played with in a proper round the the the one person I played with who surprised me the most was Paul Lori oh wow you never people ask all the time and I play with Paul my first year quite a bit and I was just blown away by his ball striking his swing how he played the game his shot shaping and and back in 2010 hitting the ball long way was not really a thing but back then he had that shot where he can hit it 40 yards further if you wanted to it was quite amazing and it was one guy that I played with and thought bloody hell this place is amazing like under the radar they won he won the open he’s a great he won more than was one on tour 15 times on tour roughly 14 times on tour had a great career but he was he blew me away about how how well he hit the ball and how good he was and well obviously play everyone rory Mikkelson all of DJ um Adam Scott adam Scott was the biggest one for me where I remember playing with him wasn’t about the golf was over by him like he’s just he’s handsome he’s tall he smells amazing looks amazing he’s a nice and he’s a lovest bloke on the planet it’s just and my best mate whereby and Adam played junior golf together so we organized a practice around at Wentworth a couple of years ago well do you want to play with Adam i’m like yeah but no like don’t fancy it i just keep staring at him the whole time it’s like well come on Tuesday afternoon we’ll go play so he played 12 holes with him it was amazing and then got to the first went with Norwood i’ve got driver teed up like that when Wade teed up wade was like mate why you hitting driver for i’m like cuz I’m myself wait and Adam started laughing cuz I just ending oh get on the tea just get it off the tea cuz there’s very few guys in golf that you see have that aura that kind of that that swag swag yeah like and he’s a he’s a one of the best golfers in the world well well number one masters champ him and Tiger and and Aber Oberg has it now like when he comes you know they’re there you have that feeling that persona and and to play with Adam was just was was amazing and I end up got paid with him again the start of their year in Abu Dhabi find a group with him and Hoffland no him and Palter at um HBSC champions and that made it easier having been able to play with him before I was less intimidated and feel like a mate i was holding his hand and like touching his hair and smelling his jumper and that sort of stuff like and actually it made it a lot easier to kind of be with him and play with him but he’s a he would be my my number one because he’s just there’s nothing he doesn’t do that’s not classy and he just got it all right he does it all right um and just before we go I always like saying or asking what is one more thing that you would like to achieve or what is one more I guess chapter in the James Morrison story that you’d love to Yeah love to finish with um oh I guess the easy ones would love to win again that that would be that there’s no better feeling than getting it over line on a Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd and winning a golf tournament it’s just the best feeling in the world and yeah I want to get back on tour i want to do I want to I want to achieve more i’m still fit and strong touch wood lost a few marbles along the way but I’m still semi there um but I’d love to win again that would be great and to get back on tour and do well and and who knows that was would be the one dream you mentioned winning again but what does I guess life after golf look like for you because we heard your doulit tones commentating in Bahrain correct it put people to sleep that day for that week no I commentated in Bahrain which was great they gave me an opportunity to do it on course which is brilliant and really really enjoyed it and I’ve done stuff over the years an hour here in the box done a bit of sky stuff and done stuff for the tour and on social media stuff so I I enjoy that part of it love talking boo and booze and talking are two things I do enjoy well you can’t do both commentary though well maybe you can try and um but no had a great time that would be something I’d love to do in the future but it’s not down to me it’s down to the powers of powers of Would you class yourself as quite a nerd of the game as such do you analyze the game deeply i wouldn’t call myself a nerd from a golfing i love golf equipment i’m a I’m a golf nerd i love it i mean I played with Matt Schwab in Turkey last week what happened to that shaft using your 3-wood how the hell do you know that so well I love equipment i just I just I take it in i don’t know why not yeah I noticed things that change but I guess from the commentary side of it as a as a as a current golfer and a and a Yeah you just know the game differently you see things differently and and on the course was great loved it went with Anthony Wall and those guys for that week was really re and I made the weekend as well which is great it is cost me nothing guaranteed weekend nothing and I got paid and I made the weekend so extreme week really but I mean oh here we go but but no I loved it that would be something I love in the future but got a face of radio but we’ll see very good nice well I’m sure we’ll be following i hope many listeners after hearing from you will follow even closer now as well because it’s been great to get to know you and thanks for having me we wish you all the best mate really appreciate it mate thank you enjoyed it [Music] to watch another DP World Tour video click here and to subscribe click here