On The Range from the Wyndham Championship

“On the Range presented by ReliaQuest” tournament preview show at the Wyndham Championship, featuring players as they prepare for the upcoming tournament at Sedgefield Country Club with interviews, insights and analytics, and a course preview.

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[Music] NBC Sports and the PGA Tour proudly present the seasonl long race for the FedEx Cup. from here at the Windham Championship. [Music] It is on the range presented by Reliquest. Well, eight months after the regular season began in Maui out in Hawaii, we have reached the end of the line. Final opportunity here this week in Greensboro, North Carolina for players to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs which begin next week at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. We’ll be providing you with some in-depth swing analysis from our experts, breaking down some of the best in the world as they prepare for the Windham Championship and try and crack the playoff field. 82 degrees right now, little sticky in Greensboro as it always is this time of year. There are threats of some showers a little bit later in the day, but we’re good for now. Great to have your company. I’m John Swanson. PJ Tour veterans Richard Lee, Robert Damron are here as well along with every player, every single one. Robert, between 60 and 80 in the FedEx Cup race. They know the deal here this week. They definitely know the deal here this week. And you know, I know you’re a big uh uh, you know, history fan and literature fan. And if you’re familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prinn had to wear a big letter A around her neck all the time. And that’s what these players feel like out there. like, okay, you’re 70th, you’re Matty Schmid. That 70 is just there. It’s just hanging over my head, and there’s nothing you can do to get rid of it except play great golf. And especially this week, it is down to the wire as we know. It’s going to be fun. I didn’t think we’d get an Nathaniel Hawthorne reference that that early in the show here, Richard. So, I I’ll simplify it. We had 125 players qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs for about a dozen years. It has been trimmed to 70 now for three years straight. A little bit more of a sense of urgency at the tail end of the season here. Absolutely. Definitely a sense of urgency. I mean is a bit weird. I mean it 125 was drama but 70 players trying to get to the next week. I mean every shot matters and it’s going to be urgency from the get- go. Yeah. The man on the bubble by the way is uh Mattie Schmid right at 70. So first order of business for those guys, make the cut here this week. You don’t want this thing out of your hands over the final 36 holes. Jordan Speed, I would say, is on solid footing at 50th coming into the week here. Solid footing at 50th. There’s a, you know, he he’s played okay in times. He’s not the Jordan Speed we know and love, but that not yet anyway. He’s not back fully, but little controversial as far as he and and Ricky and their standings as far as getting exemptions into the majority of the uh of the signature events, but you know, you can’t cry over spilled milk now. Get out there and you got to play golf. Let’s remember, Richard, offseason wrist surgery. Players are extremely careful with the timetable of when they’re going to return. So, it was a little bit of a delay before Jordan got his 25 season cranked up. It really was. And I actually got a chance to talk to Jordan during the WA management Phoenix Open where he felt like that was an event where he finally felt comfortable coming back into the tournament setting, trusting his wrist. Is it okay? And he told me he felt pretty good. So, nice to see him kind of back out here competing at a high level. And uh I think we’re all waiting to see Jordan be the Jordan speed that we all know of. So, let’s see how he competes this week. You know, Swanie, wrist is the I think the worst injury you can have in golf. If it’s your back, you know, you know it’s going to hurt, but the wrist it hurts sharper and it’s kind of sporadic. So, you almost don’t know whether to trust it when it’s hurting. You know, these swings, oh, they felt okay and then bam, out of nowhere and and you you flinch and hit some of the ugliest shots you’ve ever seen. But he is free swinging here. Tom Watson used to say, if you’re coming back from a wrist injury and you think you’re ready to compete again, wait another four weeks before you come back. I can speak from experience. I had a hand injury, similar injury, and I I do feel like I did come back a little too early, and uh I wish I could have that time back, for sure. No one’s ever come back too late. Yeah, I came back too late for my injury, but I’ve heard a lot of people come back too early. The scoring average, as you saw just a moment ago, sparkling for speed this season. 18th best on the PJ tour. The former FedEx Cup champion who uh in all likelihood is going to be in that field next week at TPC Southwind. Not for some reason not known for his distance like people don’t think he’s that long. He has put on some serious yardage. And watch how he flies through the ball. Watch how his left shoulder turns out of the way and takes him to the big full finish. I was told by David Leb better one time, you think like if you’re a water skier, the fastest you ever go is when the boat turns and you whip out. So think of the left shoulder as the boat and as it’s turning through the ball, your club head is the skier and it’s gaining that much speed right into impact on into impact. So watch how he kind of does that. Left shoulder out of the way. Club whips through. very free. Nice to see. Yeah, like to see more of that on the course. Cristian Bazedenhot would uh like to see the weekend here. He’s 74th in the FedEx Cup race. So, if he misses the cut, his playoff aspirations have been snuffed out. So, the trick this week is to try your best. I mean, you want to go one shot at a time, of course, and give don’t give away anything just by being sloppy, but then you don’t want to put the extra pressure on each shot either, because then that’s a putting that extra pressure and extra tension on each shot takes you out of your own personal rhythm and how you know how to play golf. So there’s so much more to balance in the final tournament of the season, the full season trying to get into the playoffs mentally and physically frankly because you know if you get a little mentally uh uh nervous, you get a little quick physically you get a little tight grip gets a little tighter maybe. So you know stick with what you know. Make sure you don’t give away any sloppy golf shots just because you, you know, didn’t pay attention or you went to straddle someone’s line and tap in from two feet and you miss it. Um, just make sure you take care of business the the C biz way. I love what they’re working on here with his coach Jason Bale. He has that club just above his shaft when he’s hitting. He’s just trying to keep the club underneath the plane. Not underneath, but trying to keep the club shaft lower. Lower the shaft through the hitting zone means a quieter club face through the shot. You see a lot of players who struggle with face control. Their shaft will rise through the hitting zone. So, I love what they’re working on here. And as they’re talking about, you see how he’s holding that right palm down to the ground as he goes to the left is compressing, putting the pressure down to the shaft and the club, be able to cover that ball with the right shoulder is exactly what they’re working on, trying to get that club, he’s feeling like that club is above the plane in reality. That means he probably struggles with club getting underneath the plane, which gets the shaft high. So, this is a great drill to feel what he’s hitting through the shot. I always wanted that feeling. You always notice what you don’t have as a player. I always wanted that covering compressing feeling. I always kind of love to hit that kind of thin out to the right mess, but I wanted the uh the old like Henrik Stinson was the best as far as just on top of the plane, face down, covers it, flies through the ball, and hits it unbelievably well. We’ve got Colin Swaden with us here this week as well, former coach and caddyy for world number one, Jason Day. Good day, Kyle. How’s the energy down there on a steamy North Carolina morning? Well, you hit the nail on the head, Tony. It is hot here. It gets hot and sticky this time of the year. And these guys are going to have to love that because they’re going to have it for the next two weeks. The guys that are inside that top 70 will make the journey to Memphis. And it doesn’t get any cooler there. Swanie, Colin’s used to the heat though. He used to swim out to what Heir’s Rock out at uh Australia. It got nice and steamy out there. Collins been doing some fine work with Carl Phillips, the young Australian who won in Puerto Rico for his maiden victory on the tour earlier this season. Very solid rhythm here from CBZ. very calm and on a couple of international President’s Cup teams, the South African. And you get this man on the greens, he is a threat from anywhere. One of the best putters on the PJ tour when you look at the metrics or when you just simply look at him optically. Mhm. Yeah. There’s a difference as as players or former players like myself or or Richard, we could look at stats, but I always felt like I I could learn a lot more just optic. Watch how he carries himself while he’s putting after he putts that, you know, is he did he move to the side of the green? He’s making a bunch of practice strokes and stuff. You could tell how comfortable people are or how uncomfortable people are and you don’t need to look at statistics. So Hayden Ho at 73rd in the FedEx Cup race with his back against the wall. Ricky Fowler with just one lone top 10 on the season but comes into the week at 61st in the points race looking to secure his spot in the playoffs next week. [Music] 36th and final regular season events on the PJ tour schedule. This week’s Windom Championship, Greensboro, North Carolina, where Ricky Fowler starts his week 61st in the FedEx Cup race. Richard, the swing looks uh very much in order this season, doesn’t it? It sure does. It definitely looks much more up and down the plane. Less moving parts. It looks nice and clean. 61st. I mean, he’s looking This will be his 14th playoffs, assuming that it doesn’t go crazy out there, but 61st should be should be immune from even a miscut as far as getting in the top 70. The stars would have to align perfectly as far as who finished first, second, third, fourth, fifth in order to pass that many people to pass Ricky and knock him down to 71st. But that’s our job to think about miss cuts. It’s not his job. He’s going to go out there and try to keep going and and build on, you know, the the good work he’s done. It’s been sporadic, but it has been making some some, you know, showing up here once in a while for Ricky. It’s always hard to play and I think we’ve all said it, good golf takes care of everything. Um, and I wish it was that easy, but as a player, if you’re on that bubble, you’re constantly thinking about where’s everybody else. Uh, and you don’t want to think about it, but it’s hard not to. Ricky doesn’t have the best record here. you know, just what a couple top 10s. Played here quite a few times, but struggled the last couple years. It’s interesting golf course. Really cool. You know, some some players don’t like the kind of the Bermuda rough and the the the propensity to catch a bunch of really like crazy flyers. Not sometimes in certain rough you can control the flyers to a degree. In the old school Bermuda, which you have a little bit of it around here, there’s no control at all. It’s it’s it’s kind of fun to watch and horrible to have to actually hit this golf course. I mean, you have to drive the ball in the fairway. If you look at the top three players from last year, Aaron Ry, Max Grzerman, Rio Hetsuni, JJ Spawn, they were all Max was 29th in strokes approach. Aaron Ry was first in stroke can approach. Real was number three. You can’t do that out of the rough. So, you have to drive the ball on the fairway. It’s one of those golf courses if you can hit in the fairway, it is getable, especially with the soft conditions that we’re going to see this week with weather moving in as well. And with any Donald Ross design, Damron, the green complexes are going to be complicated, treacherous. A lot of back to front, a lot of runoffs on the sides, you know, like front left, front right of the green. Um, You want to avoid obviously above a lot of these greens or over the greens. Donald Ross, if you hear, “Oh, I’m playing a new Donald Ross horse.” Typically, your first thought is don’t go over the green. He he made a lot of back to front. Very fast drop offs in the back. Um, kind of a simple design, but but yeah, treacherous, much easier to play from short. But that’s that’s again the key and the cool part of having that rough where flyers are really prevalent because how do you how do you keep it short of the green if you’re 150 yards away and you see the flyer lie and you go, “Well, I can’t hit a lob wedge. I mean, I I’ve got to hit something that’s going to try to get there.” And then next thing you know, boom, you’ve seen it over the world. Just got to play a lot of defense out there and from the rough. It’s been a long season, Richard. How do you go about preserving your energy when you’ve kind of hit the end of the line here in what is expected to be a hot and steamy week? It’s tough. I mean, the extra pressure as well, too. So, it’s you just got to really pace yourself. And hey, simple as make sure you’re hydrated and you’re eating a lot of food, especially when it’s hot out here. Try to lose energy quick. So, Fowler at 61st in the points race. Should be solid for the playoffs. not the case for Garrick Higgo. Even with the victory this season, he won the Corales Punicata Championship, but he’s at 93rd and really needs to burn this week. Robert does need to burn this week. Boy, that hair that’s burning, isn’t it? You feel like you that traps a lot of humidity there in your head and face area. But he looks good. You got to sacrifice uh you know, comfort for fashion occasionally. But speaking of fashion, look at the the what’s that kind of a plastic ball attached to his his right arm. And what’s happening there, Richard? He’s trying to feel the connection of the arms and the body. And if you look at Garrett’s swing here, he doesn’t have a whole lot of wrist movement. He also has that grip moulder that we know Scotty Sheffller uses a lot where he gets the grip set, takes a club back, and he’s just trying to maintain his angles and try to use his chest and big muscles to swing through the ball. He’s done this drill. I follow him on the social media. Uh he’s done this drill quite a bit and uh it’s obviously paying off and he’s got a great instructor Sean Foley guiding him the way. So you’ll see a lot of players having their drills and their things that they do on Wednesday to get them prepared for Thursday. I saw Richard a lot of action earlier too from him where he’s not just with that ball on his arm, but he’s on the down swing, he’s making slow swings and trying to bow his wrist on the way down, like halfway on the down swing, which is it’s kind of the more modern way. It’s not the way I learned. I’m sure you know, you wanted it kind of more cuped. Bowed down means the club’s uh face is shut and and you’re going to hit a lot of hooks, but nowadays it’s more of that and and a lot of speed through and kind of hold it rather than release the club face. Correct. When it’s bowed down, what he’s doing too is it promotes body rotation, which is why that ball helps him with the rotation aspect because if you bow it and you don’t rotate, it’s hook central left to left. It he’s got to really have the matchup. A lot of these modern players are all about matchups, creating what’s what’s the right fit for my club face. And also what he does too with the bode wrist and the less lag, it actually keeps his interaction really shallow through the ball for distance control, especially hitting wedges. It’s a great way to deliver the loft consistently. And guys are good, very good at predicting their yardage and trajectory that way as well. Sean Kohley, the swing instructor that the South African is working with at the minute. He’s getting a lesson himself financially that balances out for the week. I think by the way, the grip molder probably became a pretty popular mechanism out here once Scotty started using it. Huh. Once you start seeing the best player in the world doing it, you better do it as well. Two wins out here now for Higo. He also won at Congerey in South Carolina a handful of years back and he was a a rising meteoric star in the game. He had won a couple times in succession backto-back weeks on the DP World Tour in Spain and then came over here to win in the United States in short order a couple weeks after that. Went into a lull the last couple of seasons but uh got another victory on his belt. Not qualified for the playoffs yet, Robert, but fully exempt out here for another couple of years. Yeah, kind of started like Lahi W did on the LPGA over these last couple weeks with, you know, wins as an amateur turns pro, wins her first tournament there. But Higo did make quite a splash like you said, Swania early on and and has had sporadic success, but anytime you can get a win, you know, ask any of us, wins are tough. So, anytime you get one like that, you have had a heck of a year. He’s got his whole team here with him this week down on the range, including Jason Goldmith, who is his mental performance coach, and Kyle Swatton. Had a chance to catch up with him a little bit earlier. Well, I’m on the range here with a good friend of mine, Jason Goldsmith. He’s worked with two number ones in the world, Justin Rose, Jason Day. Also, two gold medalists, uh, Olympic gold with golf and Olympic gold with soccer. Yeah. Coffee national team. Yeah. for the United States of America and we’re on the range show. So, we’re predominantly talking about swing instructors. Now, you’re a different kind of instructor. You, I would say, is a mental performance coach. Currently, also work with Jason Day as well as Garrett Higo in the background there. Just explained a little bit about what a mental performance coach does. So, we’re going from the technical aspect, what all these guys are working on here, and then it’s the bridge to performance. And the way that we do that is create a mental process that these athletes use that connect them to the target and get them back to playing the sport that they grew up loving and not so much into all the specific moves. So, it’s really about just being connected to the target and being, you know, trusting your swing enough and playing the game. Yeah. So much of these guys, they get so into the weeds. It’s Wednesday, it’s the day before the tournament, they’re out here with different gadgets. So to be able to make that transfer from that technical platform to then playing the game is is a difficult thing to do. No doubt. Yeah, absolutely. And so, you know, it’s something Jason, you had Jason start early on. I think it was 12 years old. It’s really about visualization. And so, you know, the way that our brains work is, you know, most of us are very visual. Some of us are a little bit more kinesthetic, like Justin Rose would be a little bit more feel-based. But once you know which way the athlete tends, then you’re trying to create a routine that allows them to be as free as possible when they’re actually out there playing the game. You don’t want people, you know, so the way, you know, you think about it, your conscious mind can do about 60 things a second in sequential order, which sounds really fast. Your non-concious mind is doing somewhere between 11 and 33 million things a second. So the reason why I bring that up is if you’re thinking, the thinking is getting in the way of the doing. Wow. I think I have a hard job and I got a producer in my ear. Let alone what these guys have to do with also too. I see this on the side there. Mindset. What is all that? So mindset is uh Jason’s process. Bridgestone put it on a golf ball. It’s their number one selling ball. Now if you’re an 18 handicap or above, I think you’re getting about five shots better just by playing the mindset ball and following the process. So it’s a great golf ball and again it’s Jason Day’s process. The little rings run you through it and it’s just been a real big success. Wow. Jason, you’ve got everything in your arsenal. These guys are really, really happy to have you by their side. Can’t thank you enough for your time. Back to you guys. Thanks, Cole. If only Damron had had a mental performance coach back in the day. I mean, besides the bartender, maybe I can make a comeback, but they can work together to bridge performance and uh and practice. What a season for Ryan Gerard, the North Carolinian who won the Barracuda Championship just a few weeks ago. [Music] 7 9 We welcome you back to On the Range presented by Reliquest. Final events of the PGA Tour regular season homecoming for Ryan Gerard, the former University of North Carolina Tarheel, who is having a really strong season, including a top 10 finish at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. And that was before he won out in Truckucky, California a few weeks ago at the Barracuda Championship. He he was in the mix there at Quail Hollow until, you know, Scotty Sheffler decided to just take his ball and go home. No one else had a chance. But yeah, beautiful out there in Truckucky Barracuda. Get your first win. Richard, this guy’s done it the hard way. He had to Monday qualify half dozen times a couple years ago just to get into events out here. talking about earning it. He truly has earned it and it’s nice to see his hard work pay off. Went down to the Cordon Ferry Tour, played a full season down there to earn his PJ tour card and now he’s got it locked up for another two full seasons. What a good feeling. Above all else, as a young player, you want your fully exempt status out here, your tour membership, all the job security that goes along with it. Uh Mr. Damarind is going to take it from here as we’ll take a little closer inspection at the very unique and distinctive move of Ryan Gerard. He does it his own way. It is a very dependable swing and when he’s under the pump on Sunday, Robert, he can really put some trust into it. You know, our our viewers, Swany, at home are saying to their self, they’re saying, “Self, how do these tour players hit that flighted spinny 80 yard shot? I hit it like a rainbow. It has no spin. It hits the middle of the green and goes over the green.” Well, Ryan Gerard has a great great uh form for exactly how you should hit that flighted spinning wedge. First off, this is just a normal nothing really remarkable about a setup. It’s normal. Everybody looks about the same really on their setup. Feet close together, pretty neutral, no big deal. But where it gets interesting here is from where it starts to where it ends on the back swing. So, let’s go ahead and take it to the top of the swing there. And I’ll show you what I’m talking about. Watch his head. really focus on his head now from where it is on the top. You can see there’s a line there to it’s dropped a good what 6 in. And it’s not only dropped, it’s gone forward. Like his chest is now in front of the ball. The ball’s back. He’s actually looking kind of back at the ball. Short back swing, you know, head down knee. You don’t sway off of it. See how his knee’s gone towards the golf ball, not backwards where he sways off of it, and then he kind of loses the bottom of his swing. No, he he turns and almost what we would say reverse pivot. Stays in front of it. From there, all you got to do when we start down is keep that chest moving. Kind of hold that angle. Start it down. Chest moves through. Ball comes out flat. No more uh over the green chunks or skulls hopefully. Yeah, it’s fascinating, isn’t it, Richard? Thanks, Damron. Um, all the fundamentals are intact for all these players. at the highest level of the game. But each swing has its own personality, its own DNA, and that this guy’s move is not traditional, but it’s very dependable. Oh, 100%. Every guy has their unique move. I love what Robert just mentioned on a wedge shot, how he almost creates what we call reverse pivot. How the upper body dominates, how the upper body stacks on top of the ball. Ryan is a great example of doing that versus a driver swing where you kind of stay behind the ball. So, every player has their unique feels and their DNA pattern, but biggest thing is they know the adjustments they got to make depending on the shot that they face. So, 70 will go to Memphis, 50 will go to Caves Valley and Maryland for the BMW Championship, 30 in Atlanta, which is a huge deal. You’re in all the major championships next season as well. And Ryan Gerard at 29th right now would love to be part of that field at East Lake. couldn’t do it when I introduced you. What a fun character to see. Wu Kim, there is not a flag that’s this man will back down from. Even on the practice range on a Wednesday. No, the flag stick there. You can see him shaking out there a little bit. They know he’s taking dead aim trying to knock him out of the ground. Is that his phone right by his left toe? Sure looks like it does. Yeah. He’s watching Happy Gilmore 2, I think. Doesn’t want to put it down while he’s practicing. Maybe he was one of the 70 players who had a cameo. Maybe. So, yeah, it was all cameo. I mean, is he capturing video from that angle? It could be an alignment thing that maybe he’s seen the reflection off the phone or he just left it there and forgot about it. Colin, what do you think? What’s happening down there? Maybe he’s just reading the the daily news. Yeah, scrolling through social media or something. You know what it might actually just be? He might have his camera on and just reverse the picture just to making sure that his shoulders are square. Something like that. I’m right behind him. Boy oh boy. It’s silky smooth, isn’t it? Very nice. Former players champion who shot 60 on this golf course early in his career. In fact, he could take it low and go deep. Small range here at Sedgefield. You see how close those guys are together. You got to pay attention. You go for, you know, grab your driver, you got to make sure you don’t conk somebody on the head. Call’s overcome some injuries as well as we look at a little step through there. Yeah, I just got up there to take a little sneaky peek at it. He’s actually got his Trackman device right behind him. probably not in the shot of the camera there that you’ve got, but he’s actually just making sure in those numbers. And when it gets as hot as it gets here, these guys have really got to pay attention. The Caddies have got their work cut out this week cuz the temperature is going to be somewhere north of 100. That’s going to be tough. Makes you want to get back out there. Call within 45 lbs on your on your shoulder, huh? Yeah, that doesn’t that’s not an easy ticket, Swaty. So, this is kind of fascinating here. Almost like the the the effect of the mirror that you see the guys use over on Yeah. the the ey line. And I thought that first step through was maybe just an accident or something he’s doing goofy, but he did it twice in a row now. And now that we can look Yeah. the Trackman behind him, he’s got to be just looking at his Trackman numbers. Yeah. Up to that. Exactly. every week, every player, depending on the condition you play, the softer ground, hard ground, how far is the ball flying, because everyone really wants to know their range and it’s that important out here. High humidity, too. You know, you can make the exact same swing at Pebble Beach in February and then here at Sedgefield at almost August and uh they’re going to fly a little differently just because of the air. That is Manny Beas, the younger brother of Camila who’s Siu Kim’s caddy. and confidant. See who’s had a couple late tea times in some big spots this year on Sunday that have not unfolded as he would have hoped. Played in the final pairing. Harbortown, in fact, that signature event that Justin Thomas went on to win in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, had a very strong season. He’ll be one of the favorites content here this week. Another thing that you can do on the Trackman app is that you can actually play a hole, play a pattern to a certain degree in a distance. You can kind of figure out am I my my tendency to be short or right. It’s a great great app that you can use to kind of train your dispersion and distance control as well. Somebody pretty smart had to have invented that. I mean, they wouldn’t know where to start. Just a charming piece of property here at a sliver of a driving range on this Donald Ross gem that’s been around for more than a century. Will it stand up to the modern-day bombers on the PJ tour? Players like Mattie Schmid, the young German who’s the man on the bubble at 70th in the FedEx Cup race. I’m going to change That Ice Cup standings will be fluid throughout the course of the week here. Projections will literally shift with every shot. But as it stands right now coming into the start of the opening round tomorrow morning, Maddie Schmid, the young German, is the bubble boy at 70th. And he’s got some stress here this week. Needs to perform. and one of the things you chatted about with Colin earlier. Well, I’m here on the range with Mattie Schmidt, currently 70th on the FedEx Cup. All the viewers at home watching on the range show, they’re interested in every little piece of equipment, gadget out here. You’ve got this ball around. It’s a little deflated at the moment, but you got this ball hanging around your neck. Just talk to us a little bit about what it does and how it helps you. Yeah. Um yeah, I put this ball between my forearms and uh it just keeps me wide and a little shorter in the takeaway uh in the back swing. Um I have the tendency to get a bit narrower and steep and that just keeps me wide and a bit more shallow without me thinking about it because I don’t like Yes, I could work on it myself as well, but I don’t like to think about that stuff really. It just like to hit balls and get warmed up and that just helps me. Yeah. Well, I think anytime you’re thinking about less over the golf ball, the better. So obviously different gadgets uh produce different feels and those different feels then you can put it into your golf swing. Big week this week obviously 70 on the FedEx Cup. Is there any added pressure that comes into a week like this? You’ve been playing exceptionally well. We finished second at the Charles Swap Challenge out in Texas. Any additional pressure this week? Uh I I wouldn’t say so. I mean I I play a good season I would say without being in the elevated stuff. Um I feel like the last couple years I was uh around 125 at this time of the year. So, uh, this is definitely much better and much more comfortable trying to qualify for the playoffs. And, yeah, I think if I play well this week, get a top 10 and I I definitely have a chance to to play a couple more weeks. Well, one hole in particular this week, the 14th, Rely Quest, better decisions, better outcomes, I should say. How do you approach the 14th this week? Um, it’s the par five, right? Yeah, four. Par four. Oh, the ah before the par five. Um, my it’s just a driver. I mean, if if the wind’s right, you can cover the bunker and even if you’re in the left rough, I think you still have a have a decent shot at the green. Um, yeah, that distance definitely an advantage there. And um, and then second shot, I you want to be in the middle of the green. You want to avoid the left side and even the right side’s not too good. Um, yeah, middle of the green and uh, then it’s a tricky green. It’s a tough. Matty Schmidt, as always, we appreciate your time. Go get him this week. Thank you, sir. See you guys. All right. Thanks, Col. appreciate some of Matty’s time as well. Time now for improved outcomes presented by Reliquest. Colin posed the question to Mattie Schmid. How do you deal with the 14th? It is a brute and coming down the stretch. It has way laid uh some hopefuls of trying to win this tournament through the years. Richard, it really is a tough hole. It’s just a tricky drive cuz if you don’t if you’re not a bomber, that left bunker does come into play. But if you are a bomber, like Shimit just talked about, you can carry that bunker. And this green is sloped right to left. So coming from the left side is actually better than the right side. But overall, it’s a tough T-OT because if you just hit it straight down the right side, you can run through. Try to cut the corner. You got to carry it about 315. So if you don’t hit the fairway, now you’re dealing with flyers. We’re on this green long and right. Not ideal. So just a very tough hole all around. There are some prime scoring opportunities that follow the 14th, but you’ve got to kind of buckle down and take care of your business at 14. Look at the scoring average over the last five seasons here, Robert. A couple guys have put up some big numbers here along the way. Yes, they have. And I you look at the scoring average, 4.29. I mean, that’s that puts it amongst some of the hardest holes on the PJ tour, not just here at this golf course. and and look at how Swanie the winners over the last handful of years have played this this whole over the tournament. Two over, one over, even one over even. So if you can if you get around for the week at even, even one over, you’ve actually probably gained some ground on the field. So none of the last five winners have played the 14th under par for the week. Matty Schmid mentioned to Colin that he was around 125 this time last year. Isn’t it interesting? You see a lot of the same guys around the number whatever it happens to be at certain times of the year and they have an innate sense of kind of where they live out here on the tour. Looks like he’s Colin mentioned it that Paul is slightly deflated. You might as well emulate Tom Brady if you’re going to I mean he is the best of all time. So slightly deflate those balls and go play. He made a good point. and he said, “You know, 70th is is a solid season considering I wasn’t in any of the eight signature events with all those extra FedEx Cup points and cash on the line those weeks.” Great point. I think he’s had a strong season. He also mentioned in the interview like last year he was struggling to finish in the 125. So yeah, I think that’s why he’s not feeling as much pressure because in a way it was a much better season and let’s say he doesn’t get in the playoffs, he still has secured his card for next year for that following season. So, in a way, I guess he can kind of free will it um with where he stands compared to last year. He did say, you know, he didn’t feel really any extra pressure. I think that’s just self-t talk. You know, you could say that. I don’t want to sound my like not cool to Colin Swatton and say, “Oh, yeah, I’m shaking.” and he’s not shaking yet, but there’s zero doubt that he’s going to be watching the the leaderboards out there throughout the week and where do I stand and and they they’ll be showing the, you know, updated FedEx Cup numbers and whether you’re sliding out, whether you, you know, moved in solidly. So, definitely definitely a weight on his shoulders this week. But that outlook that you mentioned, Richard, that’s a beautiful way to look at it. Even if I miss this week, I’m I’m better than I was and and headed the right direction. Another thing that I want to add is like he talked about how he doesn’t want to think and how that little contraption that he has between his forearms allows him to just feel it rather than just trying to figure it out himself. And uh sometimes out here when the pressure is hot, I mean, you want to have try to have the clearest mind possible. So, it’s a great way to kind of get him in the mindset to play well. And uh I think this guy has one of the best golf swings on tour. runner up at Colonial, but a lot of miscuts as well. It’s kind kind of a boomer season for Mattie Schmid. He’s the bubble boy number 70 on the points list. Danny McCarthy is solid for the FedEx HU Championship next week at 39th in the standings. Amongst those small handful of names, you could say is who’s the best without a win? you know, and definitely statistically definitely the best putter. We’ve just dominated that stat over the years. So, and had a lot of close calls, couple playoff losses. Statistically number one in putting a few seasons. And Richard, he’s worked hard on on the rest of the game over the last few years to try and become a more complete player out here. One who’s capable of getting across the line on Sunday. He sure has. And he he he is a very athletic player. And you can really notice when he starts swinging his shots, I see the clubs get longer, he really uses his left foot well. He lifts it up, plants it, really uses the ground ground force well with the lead leg. And um you can really notice it when he gets to that driver trying to get more energy out of it and kind of clear his way out. But just focus on his left foot. probably not so much uh on the iron shots, but once he gets the longer clubs, he really pushes off the lead foot. And that’s just an effort to get more speed, a little more power on the driver and three woods. I want that guy’s job. Yeah, everything’s looking good. Danny, I’m just sit back. Do it right. I’ll just expect my percentage at the end of the week. Thank you very much. Go do your job. Oh, we’re just kidding around. All these players rely so much on all the people in their their camp, if you will, and some of them keep a much tighter circle. Scotty Shepler, for instance, you know, just a few people in his life, including his longtime instructor, Randy Smith, that he lets in. Some of these guys have a lot of folks on the payroll though. That’s true. And if if you’re a rookie off cornfairy and only have a caddy, then all of a sudden you have these people, you know, offering, hey, you need this, you need this. You know, you might want to ease into that a little bit. It’s all in how you absorb the information. And this guy doesn’t have a whole lot of thoughts going on in his head as few players there is. I think m quite season for Tony Fee now, but nonetheless, 60th in the FedEx Cup race and looking solid for the start of the playoffs next week. One of the elite players in the game and the owner of half dozen victories out here on the PJ tour. Tony Feno has not made a big splash in 2025. However, just 60th in the FedEx Cup race coming into the week. pretty pedestrian by this man’s standards. It should be safe as far as going into next week, but that’s not what Tony Fen likes to think about or what you expect out of a Tony Fen at the beginning of the season. He’s a top 10, top 15 type of player and he knows it, we know it. So, just stop playing poorly and get back to Tony Fen now stuff. So much speed available, Richard. But he kind of stashes a lot of it away in reserve. It’s there if he needs to to really let one go, but if he does, I don’t think anybody right moves the ball at a clip like this man does. His reserves a lot faster than most people’s maxed out swing. So it’s impressive. Here is a setup of Tony Fenino. But let’s take a look at his set. Look at his hands. That’s the area we’re going to look at right there and his body tilt. All right, we’ll take him to the back. I’m going to clear these out the way so you can see the back swing here as he loads to the right. You’re going to notice that bold left wrist very delofted at this top, but look at his hips too. Does not turn that much on the back swing. And once he gets to the top, I mean, boy, this is barely over a half swing. I mean, it’s incredible. And thing is, if you now watch his feet here, I’m going to put circle on both of his feet. Let’s have him come down towards impact. He slots that in and creates a lot of lag, but both his feet are pretty grounded at this point. You’ll see some guys jumping out of the ground and using their legs really well, but Tony really keeps them grounded and we’ll swing them through. Very flatfooted for the most part. So, he really utilizes his levers. Yes, he has a short swing, but he got long arm. He’s a big dude, so he can create a lot of speed. But it’s unique. But he’s had a ton of success out here. just an athlete. Robert, you look at that swing and you think athletic. He was just a guy who was adept at playing all kinds of different sports growing up and learned to play the game. He and his brother Gipper, who was a bit of a prodigy as well. Their dad may know the story, nailed the mattress against the wall in their humble home in Utah there. And he and his brother would just wear that thing out day after day. They used to come down to to Lead Betters uh and work with him some when they were teenagers. And I hit some balls out there. Like, what is that sound coming from both Tony and and Gipper? Actually, he could hit it, too. Somebody’s like setting firecrackers off behind me. No, it was these teenagers sending it on the other side of the driving range. But you’re right, as far as athletic goes, that’s that swing, that setup, especially that’s I think if you’re if your kid wanted to get into golf or something, that’s not what you would teach. But Tony makes it work for him. It’s his own DNA. It’s his own swing. It’s way he does it. and and just like Randy Smith with Scotty Sheffller, his footwork is not what you teach, but the coaches have done a great job of letting them be them, not taking away what they do to make it more traditional. Uh but but taking their action, what feels good and what what feels good to them and what creates the shot they want, and then kind of just do little work around that. You saw the the breakdown that Richard showed us. It’s not a long swing for a long languid guy who’s 6’4. You think of Tom Weissoff, Andy North, Scotty Sheffller who stands 6’3. Tony, you know, maybe gets the three/ quarters at the top. Richard, he does, but he really really presets his wrist and it’s very strong hand wrist position where he can put that club in a delofted position. So, he really kind of shallows that club out and rotates hard with the upper body. But yeah, I mean, he really doesn’t need anymore. And if he really wanted to, he could easily get it. But when you got power and control, what more can you ask for? I think if we had a full-on long drive contest on the tour, I might put a few bucks on this guy if he wanted to reach back and get it. Um, and but you got to remember his his three quarter back swing, Swan, has more arc and distance than you and my full swing. There’s a lot of distance between his hands and the golf ball at the top just because they’re so long. Yeah, I’m with you, though. I I would stack him up with Rory or anybody and just a pure raw let it go driving distance contest. What he could use is an improved performance on the greens. It has been a real struggle for Big Tone the last couple years and he’s tried all kinds of different methodologies and postures and grips and techniques. There’s a there’s a lot going on on the greens these days. Yeah, a lot going on. You just don’t like the way you see guys changing all the time. You know, Ben Crrenshaw never changed and he didn’t struggle putting. And one of the promising young stars in the game, Gordon Sergeant came through the PJ2 University Accelerated program to earn his rights to play out here the top level of the game. Probably. Things getting a little busier, starting to heat up in North Carolina here on the range here as we welcome you back. Our preview of the Windom Championship presented by Reliquest. Opening round here at Sedgefield Country Club starts tomorrow. Young Gordon Sergeant is in the field. He was the first player to come through the PJ Tour University accelerated program to earn those 20 points by virtue of different achievements and accomplishments to earn his playing privileges after a standout career at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. It’s pretty sweet action right there. Very nice. I mean, talk about guy with speed. This guy could hit his three arm like 280 off the tea. He is the example of what a modern game, modern young player looks like and he is a model for it. They do a lot of training, a lot of speed training, but they, you know, some guys are just naturals too as far as getting that club head speed. He has got it. Luke Clanton, Jackson Kovven, a couple of other collegiate studs have also gotten to this level as Sergeant has through the PJ tour accelerated program starting to mic check grab some starts, gain a little more experience, comfort level out here, but u it takes some time. I mean, literally just months away from playing college golf. It it typically does. You know, Nick Dunlap might disagree with you, but but uh some of these players, Brendan Valdez played pretty well last week. Um you know, Dr. Phillips own Harvard of the South, we like to call it, Dr. Phillips High School. Um you know, it’s a lot of great young players and they do come out more ready to win, more ready to compete. And a lot of it, I think, is is because of these numbers, Richard. the the you know, you don’t have to play forever to know to kind of get the feel for how far you hit a sixiron in this situation. The numbers are right there and and you’re memorizing them quickly. So, you’re a more well-rounded player through technology at a younger age. Much more data available to you. Yeah. And if you’re a young player, you’re probably going to want to soak up as much as that data as as you can. and it’s sort of a zone to be really cognizant of and and be careful with because there can certainly be overload. You can get a little tied up in that sense. And he’s only played five events on the PJ tour this season. He’s going to get another crack at life out here on the tour next season. His coach is Scott Hamilton, who was uh the man who’s harnessing all this thoroughbreds power, and Colin caught up with him earlier. Well, I’m on the range here with the Bob Baffett of the PGA Tour. When it comes to training guys out on the PJ tour, Scott Hamilton, how many guys are you working with in the field this week? I think I have 10. Just 10 this week. Yeah, long hours in the hot sun for you. No doubt. We just saw you a moment ago working there with the Phenom Gordon Sergeant. We know he has this ample speed. I was just talking to his caddies, three iron goes 280 yards. What were you working on? And then how do you formalize that relationship? You’ve only been working with him now for about 4 months. What are you working on? And can you give us a little peek inside the hood, so to speak? Yeah, he was just when we started with him, he got kind of in a struggle bus and he would just got too left bent on his back swing, which means the spine was leaning too much towards the target. So, he was stuck and he would be steep. So, we’ve shadowed him out, cleaned his spine angle up. And now we’re kind of working on the way that he has a really slow closure rate. the way the club goes through the hit. So, we’re working on some back swing technique so he can square the phase up on the down, which also adds some shallowing. So, we’re trying to work on getting the club a little more up in line. Slowing down, like I called a no weight zone, slowing down like the first foot of it so he can do the things we’re trying to achieve and then go ahead and hit it. So, I’m kind of a back swing guy and just get them in the right place, they can just hit it on the down. Yeah. So many guys, you know, you see these pictures in in golf magazine, certain positions sort of on the down swing, it’s all over in fractions of a second. So, you really got to get them started on the back swing, like you said. Yeah, that’s where you have like 70% of your times in the back swing. By the time you change direction, you burned up probably 80% of it. So, I’m a back swing guy. Try to get them somewhere so they don’t have to think about it on the down. They can just hit it, see shots. Well, Scott Hamilton, the brainchild behind a lot of these PGA Tour players out here on the PGA Tour and on the range with one of his stallion horses. Back to you guys. Thank you. Love a coach. Just not afraid to use the term struggle bus. Struggle bus. Describe a young player. Looks like they’ve got things uh on the right road though. What a year for Keegan Bradley. 10th in the FedEx Cup race, rising up inside the top 10 of the world as well. a winner for the eighth time in his beloved home region of New England at the Travelers Championship. Is the RDER Cup captain going to be a competitor on that US squad? Richard, I’m feeling more and more like that is going to be a reality. I agree with you, Swanie. I think that is going to be a reality. But do you want to be a captain and play? I don’t know. But I think he deserves a spot. Do you Oh, 100% deserves a spot. Does he get tempted into the pick to pick himself if he doesn’t qualify on his own? That’s he said no in the beginning. But honestly, with the pressure from the other players because he’s playing great and and you you do want him on that team, but does it take away from his duties and stuff like that, I wonder if there’s a scenario where he gives the right to another person to be the captain if he wants ends up playing. So, I think that might be a better way to go about it if he I mean, he deserves a spot. I I think he needs to be on that team the way he’s playing. Well, he’s got Brandt Snedker, Kevin Kner, Webb Simpson as his lieutenants who would be in position of taking on a little heavier role if asked to. I’m sure they’ll have no problem with that if they if need be. And if he did if he were playing captain, first one since Arnold Palmer, that would be I think probably take himself out mostly. He wouldn’t go any back-to back matches. You know, at least one a day tops, you would think, but I mean, frankly, it’s all speculation till we find out. 1963, Arnold Palmer was the plane captain for the United States. That’s how long it’s been. That was when it was just Great Britain and Ireland. It’s more of a more of a showdown nowadays. Up in New York, it’s going to be a mustwatch. You see Keegan set up here is a pretty tall guy. He has much more knee flex than most players. He’s very low to the ground. Keeps a club very upright. It’s a good relationship. A player has a lot of knee bend on the right side generally matches up with a very upright golf swing. Higher hands and Keegan is a great model for that. He’s the opposite of Tony Feno in terms of the club face and nice long cup left wrist. playing very nicely this year for a a tall player. He gets very chest down at address, you know. Uh and and another one kind of like pheniles homemade, but really it’s pretty pretty strong when you p piece it all together. You see a lot of uh take Jordan speed who we saw earlier as an example. If you focus on the right knee, Jordan’s right knee really straightens out a lot on the back. Keegan’s really keeps it down. He really keeps the right side structured and loaded in. So there’s not one way to do it. There’s many ways to get the job done. Hall of Fame is full of all types of swings and stances and you name it. Back before strokes gain metrics were introduced, there was a stat called total driving and it was just a reflection of distance and accuracy. And Keegan Bradley was always at or near the top of the list in that category. Robert, how’s he get the job done? At his advanced age, even he still drives it pretty far. So from this angle, this is really, really pretty good because from the back angle we were just looking at him, he looked lower than a tall player should be theoretically. I mean, he makes it work for sure and his back was lower. here. This face on view is 100% uh perfect. This is just textbook what you want. A little up in your stance with a middle iron. Uh square shoulders, a little bit higher with the left, you know, just absolutely perfect. So, let’s go ahead and take it back from this more traditional looking view. Those heads nice and slow, but he gets a little steeper because his hands are low. the club picks up a little faster than some players. Uh um you know, goes ahead and sets that angle a little more and a little like Fee now, too. Not a big full back swing. He just does. He’s got his arms are long enough. He doesn’t have to make those hands go way way back and and have to time that up. Head’s still way down. I mean, he’s just doesn’t use his height because he’s a tall man. He’s got to be in the 6’3 range. And go ahead in this last little bit of coil moves over to his left. And here’s where like to me it gets interesting. He holds that angle. Watch his hands there at impact. Left glove, the the logo on his left glove facing the target. Still leading that club face a little bit. Left shoulder, as I mentioned much earlier, up and out of the way. You know, kind of coming up with that left knee, almost jumping up with the left knee. He goes ahead and closes the club face through impact more than a lot of players, modern players do now. But you cannot deny the success he’s had. And like you said with the driver especially that you know if you drive it long and straight Swany golf’s pretty easy. Got a couple of FedEx Cup playoff titles among his eight wins out here on the tour. By the way there was an agreement between Keegan and Luke Donald the European Rder Cup captain that another acting captain if Keegan were to play would be able to give advice to the players. So that has been ironed out amongst the captains. The Europeans try and retain the cup at Beth Paige Black in New York. New York sports fans will be rooting for a guy from New England that’s going to be just weird this September. Take a quick break. More on the range coming your way. Chris Kirk, the owner of a halfozen victories out here on the PJ tour. Steady as they come. [Music] on the range presented by Reliquest from Sedgeville Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. Site of this week’s regular season kapper, the Windham championship. Chris Kirk was the defending champion 36 events ago out in Maui at the Sentry to starts the season. And this game has been percolating, I would say, the last couple of months and steadily climbing up the points race. 73rd coming into the week. A steady performer over the years. I said six wins, but eight years between his sixth and seventh win, which was at Cognizant. Beat Eric Cole in playoff what about two years ago. Colin, it looks like this cat just rolls out of bed in the morning swinging the club this way, doesn’t it? Oh, he is one cool customer. That’s for sure. John, I was talking to Scott Hamilton a little earlier. You guys played that that uh little piece there. And you know, he said this guy here doesn’t take a lot. He’s pretty much maintenancefree. Knows his golf swing inside and out. And that was a pretty cool, calm, and casual little video that Scott just shot of him as well. So, he is no doubt ready to go. You know, Colin earlier made the Bob Baffert reference and then and calling his Scott Hamilton’s players raceh horses. You you you know, he earned his paycheck this week. You just can’t make stuff like that up. Colin’s a pro. Richard, I learned this about Chris Kirk just this past weekend. Um Matt Ever told me this. He created his own driving range at his property in Georgia and everything moves right to left, which is pretty much every shot this guy’s hit for 15 years. Right. True. Truly, he is the drawer of the ball. And it’s funny because um you’re right, he doesn’t really move the ball left to right, but on the range, as you can see, he’s just trying to neutralize it a little bit cuz as a drawer, you can see his head as well. His ey line changes to the right. his head tilts to the right, meaning so everything path from his point of view looking down is more of a draw path. And uh it is funny that you bring that up, Swanie, because if you can see it, you can hit it, right? So it’s a great way to practice. Um and uh it’s interesting and drawers love to go pepper the left side of the driving range. You see where he is always on the left. VJ Singh always hated anything going left. Hated everything had to cut and he dominated the right corner of the range. She never left that right. And if someone else even got there, he gave him the the the side eye. You know, you’re in my spot. Can’t do that. I think to your point, Robert, there if let’s say you are overdrawing and hooking, go to the right side of the range. Vice versa. Yeah. A lot of these players, if you can see it and feel it, they can pretty much correct it. Yeah. Go to a little tiny downhill lie, something like that. Just a little feel. But yeah, visually a guy that likes to draw it just likes the look of the range from the left side likes the target kind of outright and then the ball starts right and moves back. What a career it’s been for Chris Kirk after helping lead the Georgia Bulldogs to the national championship in 2007. So close to two decades out here. won a FedEx Cup playoff event at TPC Boston back in 2014, the year that Billy Horchel then went nuts to win the FedEx Cup. Yeah, Billy had a great chance at that tournament. Second place, kind of got on a hot run. Well, not kind of. The definition of a hot run. Kirk has a his own rhythm to his golf swing. It’s kind of there’s pieces where there’s some speed and then there’s pieces where it looks very just languid fluid like a Larry Me kind of rhythm. Oh. Oh, that’s that’s the definition of rhythm right there. His routine has never really changed. And as he gets into the ball, he always has a nice little tap of the club head pad before he hits. And it’s almost like a trigger for his rhythm that you talk about. You don’t need the speed everywhere, right, Richard? You just kind of want it at the bottom, maybe a foot in front of and and beyond where the ball is positioned. Exactly. I mean, you just want it at the right spot. And it’s almost like this gradual buildup that he just lets go through the hit. Always controlled. President’s cuppper for the US side over in Korea 2015. Jay Hos captained the team to victory that year. Got some marquee wins out here. Colonial, Robert, PJ National down in South Florida as well. Yeah, PJ National one of the hardest golf courses except for this season. NAP 59. They went crazy there this year. Hopefully next year they’ll rectify that situation. But yeah, turn up the fan anyway. Oh, something anything. inspirational story written by Bud Collie this year, 7 years after the devastating car accident in Columbus, Ohio the week of the Memorial Tournament that derailed his career and frankly nearly took his life. He is fully back and played brilliantly at the Players Championship near Jacksonville, Florida, where he grew up to regain his PJ tour card. It’s a feel-good story for this guy who’s a really wellrespected and well-liked player out there, Colin, amongst his fellow players. Yeah, he’s one of the good guys out here, John. I remember the first time he came out on tour head congressional and with when I was getting for Jason Day and he had such a bright future in front of him and then that car accident that you referenced and now making a comeback and working with Jason Bale good friend of mine used to actually be the head teaching pro at Belfare and then headed down to Florida and works with a whole host of players out here and he was actually honored as the PGA of America national award recipient. So the best teacher in the United States of America has got the eyes on that man. And Colin, the action which we’re getting a look at here is so effective in its simplicity, isn’t it? I think that’s the key word. It’s super efficient. There’s not a lot of moving parts. Keeps that head extremely steady, very still. And that just helps get that ball in the center of the face every single time. club face integrity, right? As they say, Richard, it is. It’s just the way the club moves up and down the plane. Not a lot of wasted movements. I remember Bud playing against him in college. I mean, he’s always had this nice short, efficient golf swing. And Bud’s not a big guy, but he can still move it out there for his size. And it’s just clean. He went on a tear middle of the season. Like you said, Swan, he started at the players with sixth, fourth, fifth three weeks in a row and then the third at the Charles Schwab a couple weeks later. So, what is that? Four top sixes in six tournaments. That’s that’s a heater. He’s cooled off a little since then. Couple mis cuts, but this would be a nice spot as any to step it back up where he is. you know, he’s thinking past, well, hopefully you don’t think past this week, but he’s thinking past uh Memphis and on into Baltimore, you know, to make sure he gets that. That’s his thought. That’s his goal in these next two weeks. Get myself on into the BMW. Richard mentioned his college career that was at the University of Alabama. At the time when he left Tuscaloosa, went straight to the PGA Tour, bypassing Q school. Only a handful of guys including Tiger have managed to do that through the years. That’s how talented he is and it was I mean it’s incredible feat to be able to do that to play on sponsors exemptions and make enough points to get on tour. Um Bud is a stud. His a lot of game that is a a rare breed there. The Phils, the Justin Leonards, the They never had the joy of battling through Q school. I mean it’s all it’s so much fun QL is. It’s just the time of your life and they missed it. I feel pity for them. Oh man, Rob, it’s just like Q school is a great time. Oh yeah, I got gray hair. A lot of them. Well, it’s been 8 months and 36 events since Matsuyama reeled in 35 birdies to win the century out in Maui back in January and one of the headliners in the field here this week. [Music] Oh, it feels terrible. Got some goosebumps. [Music] first champion of 2025 on the PJ tour was crowned plantation course in Maui back in January. There was very little wind to contend with that week and Hideki Matsyama said, “You know what? I’m in for some of that.” 35 birdies across 72 holes to set a PJ tour scoring record. Richard, that’s ridiculous to think 35 under on any golf course. Yeah, it it doesn’t matter. Yeah. Okay. There was no win. There’s a lot of times there’s no wind out there. No one’s shooting 35 under in the history of the tour. Amazing. Amazing stuff. There’s you get in that kind of zone and there’s really a trick to staying in it. I was masterful at pulling myself out of it by by thinking overthinking it, you know, and like, well, I’m really doing it now. Why am I doing it well? What is it that I’m doing so I can do it next time? And then you instead of just riding the wave, I’m trying to figure out why the wave’s happening the way it’s happening and stumble and fall. But weirdly, guess what? That’s been the only top 10 finish of the season for Matsama was the win eight months ago. That is shocking just to say that. I that’s one of those things where I’m tempted to doubt you and go to my uh you know computer here and look it up, but I’ve learned better. You would make a mistake, but it doesn’t sound right a player of this kind of caliber. He is defending champion come next week. We get those vibes coming back. It was a signature event that he won. So there was a huge FedEx Cup points hall that he left Maui with. Good enough to set him up for the rest of the season. I love this guy’s golf swing. A little old school. Very uh cupped left wrist, open face a little bit. Little bit more of kind of Scotty Shefflleres. He keeps that club in front of him the whole time and his reactions are the best. Sometimes you just never know. Like he is notorious for having a bad reaction and ending up 12 ft away from the pin. That one, I mean, you know, he didn’t like that, but he’s a he’s a nightmare to guys like me and you, Richard. We’re like, “Oh, he must not like it.” And then the ball’s four feet from the hole. Wait a second. I uh sure what just happened. He’s a gifted superstar, but man, he’s a diligent worker, too. Not afraid to dig it out of the dirt. And the pause at the top is not as pronounced as it was in the the earlier part of Hideki’s career. He’ll play with Bob McIntyre and Ricky Fowler. That’ll be a fun group in the afternoon tomorrow. Keegan Bradley with Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak. two guys who teamed up to win the Zurich Classic in New Orleans and two guys that are very much on Captain Bradley’s Rder Cup radar. Yeah, especially Ben Griffin, you know, I think he’s going to be in there the way he’s played steady and solid couple wins. A Beta was the 54hole leader last week in Minnesota at the 3M Open and then just kind of unfolded on Sunday. He’ll have the company of Jordan Speed who’s solid for the playoffs and Adam Scott who’s 85th and needs to finish third or better this week to qualify for Kittyama at 745. He was the winner of the 3M Open last week. Really impressive performance for his second victory out here. I don’t think it would shock anyone if Adam Scott went ahead and finished in that top three. He has a a knack for rising to the occasion when need be. Now we’ve got some contraptions going. Hideki is never shy in that regard. Sanjay M almost never takes a week off. He has condensed the schedule a little bit since his first couple of years out here. Richard, he was playing 30 plus events a year. Well, he didn’t have a home out here. He’s just living hard playing golf. So, um I think he settled down in Atlanta, Georgia area and uh yeah, I mean he is probably one of the hardest working golfers out here. And uh I mean the fact that he’s always near the tour championship and leading or competing with the top best players in the world, it’s the guy’s impressive. This guy’s a machine. It’s uh he’s made his first bogey of the week even though uh the tournament hasn’t started. He got the pants and the black shirt on a hot day. That’s just wants to torture himself. Quick hello to Tom Kim who’s a past champion there. I love the fact that when M was on cornfairy, he he won the first tournament, had that yellow jersey for his caddy and never gave it up the entire year. He was number one the whole year after winning the first tournament. That that’s that’s unheard of. That’s his man Willie Wilcox who played the PJ tour for many years and has been a steady presence on the bag for Sunj the last few seasons out here. So 70 men will qualify for the first leg of the playoffs next week in Memphis. Caves Valley in Maryland is where we’ll play the BMW championship. 50 players will qualify for that event and then only 30 at the season ending to a championship in Atlanta where we’ve done away with the starting strokes format that’s been in play the last few years. I would imagine you’re a fan of that news. Actually, I was a fan of the way it was before. I I liked the advantage going into it, but you know, just like any other playoff, there’s no advantage once it’s the last two people. Go ahead and and play it out. The players obviously were a fan of that, and I I’m I’m interested to see how it’s going to play out. I’m not I’m not going to like turn it off because they changed it. They’ve always been the FedEx Cup playoffs have always been kind of a living fluid organism and and it’s okay. It’s going to be a little different again this year. You know, if this were the NFL playoffs, this would almost be like the wild card round, Richard. And it’s given this event, the Windham Championship in Sedgefield, some real juice over the last few seasons. Absolutely. For sure. I mean, it’s going to come down to the last hole sometimes and it usually does. Someone makes a birdie, someone makes a bogey. So, there be a lot of drama at the end. and it’s going to be exciting to watch. Winning on the PJ tour is always first and foremost, but the the playoff narrative is is so dominant and it’s just like a long shadow hanging over all the players here this week. Well, the story line usually is who’s going to win the golf tournament in a normal PGA Tour event. This one has double story line. It’s the end of the regular season. Who’s going to get into those those playoffs and and who’s going to, you know, keep moving up to where they know they’re going to get into Caves Valley or maybe even into Atlanta. It’s really kind of interesting. It’s it’s fluid the whole time. Starting really on Friday, uh the players start to notice really their position and they’re jocking for position. So, the the mindset of this tournament, like it or not, it does change. It is different. Sure, you want to try to win, but man, there’s just a lot going on in your mind. All the talk this time of year is playoff centric certainly, Richard. But if you don’t qualify for the top 70, you’re inside the top 100. You keep your PGA Tour card, which is a nice consolation prize this week. It absolutely is. And a lot of these players are ecstatic to just be in that position. Yes. And if you are 101, 102, I’ll be stressing a little bit, but uh just nice to know that you have a job for next year as well. And you have opportunity to kind of move up and get in more events in the fall as well. We’ve got some, you know, quality fall events and good golf courses. So, you know, it would be it’d be nice still to finish this, like you said, uh, uh, you know, 100 and not 101 cuz then it’s a pleasure if you’re 100 to play those fall events. If you’re 101, it’s a chore. Boy, access to the PJ tour, the top level in the game, is becoming more narrow each year. You’ve really got to play your very best every time you tee it up. Slide inside the top 100. Keep your your PJ Tour card. 70 will make you playoffbound next week. And that is the aim of all the players in the field here at Donald Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club here in Greensboro, North Carolina, where it is hot and sticky and maybe a little weather in the picture later in the week. [Music] Lot of fun bringing you on the range presented by Reliquest. Opening round of the Windom Championship gets going tomorrow morning. It’s the final regular season stop on the PJ tour. Thanks for being part of the show and enjoy the Windham Championship this week. [Music]