Adam Scott Interview: What it meant to win the Masters, what the Champion’s Dinner is really like and what the future holds for the Australian

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's episode of of Course with Claude Harmon always comes
to you. Every Wednesday, It's Masters Week and who else
but the two thousand thirteen Master's Champion Adam Scott is
the guest this week. So excited to sit down and
talk to Scotty. He's a friend. Um, I think he's
just an icon. I think he's one of the best

(00:32):
players of the modern game. I think he's so good that,
um people, I think he's underachieved. I mean, one of
the masters, number one in the world, over fifty million
dollars in career money, and you know, he's just the classiest, coolest,
He's the best man. And I'm I'm really excited to
get a chance to talk to him and uh, one

(00:55):
of the guys that I really wanted to get on
the podcast, so glad we could do it, and I
thought this was the week to do it. Before we
get to Adam, let's talk about our podcast partner, Elijah
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(01:17):
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Of course, mc claude Harmon is brought to you by
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Elijah Craig reminds you to think wisely, drink wisely. And

(02:03):
now let's get to the interview with Adam Scott. All right,
my guest is Adam Scott Scotty. When I decided I
was going to do a podcast and they told me
to write down the list of names I wanted, your
name was at the top of the list. We're almost

(02:24):
I mean, we've done over forty so I'm glad we
are finally getting you to come on happy to be
on I think, um, you know, we go back for
a pretty long way these days. You and I are
not to say that we're all but yeah, I mean
I was. I was saying to myself that you and
I could probably talk for five six hours and all

(02:44):
the stories we have. I just want to read some
things to you. Um, You've made fifty eight million dollars
on the PGA Tour, fourteen wins, eleven wins in Europe,
You've won the Players, the Masters, You've been number one
in the world. When you started out as a junior golfer.

(03:04):
If someone would have told you back then that that
was what you were going to be in your early forties,
would you have been satisfied with that and would you
have believed them? I think when I started out, I
wouldn't have believed it. But when there was a point
when I was a kid, you know, where I decided
I wanted to be a tour pro. You know, I
was watching when he was the number one player in

(03:28):
the world when I was eleven or twelve years old,
and I wanted to be him. So then from that
point I would have believed it. I probably would have
thought I would win more. You know, I was a
cocky little kid who won a bunch of stuff at
home in Australia in a small pond, you know. But um,

(03:51):
you know it was amazing because then when I was
an older teenager, Tiger term pro and one everything. So
then expectations went from kind of being at Greg Norman's level,
which is well, Golf Hall of Fame, uh he wanted
eight times around the world and and with a player,
to like, hang on, now you've got to play like
Tiger Woods, and which is a whole another level that

(04:14):
we saw. I think one of the things that I
find really amazing about you is you You, Sergio, Justin Rose,
Trevor Immleman. You guys coined the phrase young guns. You
were the next young generation to come out after Tiger
had started being Tiger, right, and we hear it now,

(04:36):
you know, Matt Wolfe, Victor Hovelin, Colin more Cow, they're
the young guns on t But you and and and
those guys. You guys were like the original Beatles. You
were the ones talk to me about the extra I mean,
everything Tiger did back then. I mean I had Trevor
Immlement on my podcast while back Trevor just said all
I did was trying to talk copy everything Tiger was doing.

(04:59):
Right in that early stages, he he changed the sport.
He was such a massive, massive influence on the sport.
We know what he's going on to do, but at
a time to where he was just starting to do
things that nobody had ever seen before. You come out,
you turn pro, and you're immediately this next group of

(05:22):
young players having to play against a guy that is
literally changing the game overnight. What was that like? Yeah, well,
I mean it was a kind of a fun story
for a little while, and it probably dragged on longer
than it should because kind of really played the best
out of this young group immediately on tour. You know,

(05:44):
he really gave Tiger a run at that p G
A and and said you shot up high in the
world rankings immediately, and was probably um the only one
of us who who really threatened Tiger slightly, if you
could even threaten Tiger, I don't know. Back then it

(06:06):
was pretty much, but it was a fun little story
to be a part of, and Trevor was right. I mean,
we were all trying to do what Tiger did, but
when it came down to it, we could copy everything
he did except execute the golf shop. It was such

(06:26):
an incredible time to term pro and get not thrust
in the spotlight, but be kind of in the shadows
of tigers spotlight just a little bit here and there
through practice rounds or just even playing in a tournament
with him, and you might be drawn near him or
with him. Um, it was quite an experience. I think

(06:49):
everyone's kind of got used to the Tiger show now,
but it was so new then and it felt enormous.
It just was. It was quite overwhelming out there with him.
I remember, because obviously you're working with my dad at
the same time he was working with Tiger, So you
got to spend a lot of time around him. You
got to play practice rounds with him. And again we're
talking before YouTube, before really what the internet and social

(07:13):
media is now. I mean I used to get the
questions on what is he like and stuff. As somebody
that got to play with him, the other people in
golf must have looked and treated you like you were
like from another planet because you were in his orbit.
Everybody else was kind of outside of his orbit. Right.
There was my dad, there was Stevie, there was Tiger,

(07:34):
and then there was Marc o'marra and John Cook early on.
But you got to play practice rounds with him. You
got to play practice rounds with him a lot. Did
you get other people in the sport asking you about
it and asking you about the experience and what it
was like? Clearly, I mean, I think everyone was so
interested in what he was up to because they didn't

(07:54):
really know. He was incredibly, um, almost stand offish with
the media. I mean, he was the king of a
one word answer for a long time, probably because he
was sick of doing interviews all the time. And you know,
I quickly figured out that I better be careful what
I say because I won't be playing a practice round

(08:15):
with him again. Um. You know, it was. It was
really the Tiger Show, and to be fair to this day,
it still is. I mean, you know, we're talking just
before the Masters here this year, and he takes a
plane ride to Augusta and that basically great. He is
the show, and but it was quite incredible to be

(08:38):
around the hype. I don't know when we'll see that
again in the game of golf, at least what what
I saw early days playing at major championships, in practice
rounds with Tiger. Honestly, I think for a couple of
years it probably hurt me playing with him because it
was somewhat demoralizing. I mean, the guy was playing at

(09:00):
such a level, but even when I was playing good
and he was a competitor, I mean, he looked kind
of brake me in the practice round if I was
playing any good, you know. I mean, that's that's where
he was at, and I wasn't mature enough to understand it.
One of my favorite stories is you can tell it.
Right before he went out and shot a hundred under

(09:21):
at the US Open at Pebble Beach, you guys played
a practice round out in Vegas at Rio Seko. It
was blowing. I remember that day because we we watched.
It was blowing thirty on a desert golf course. Nothing
to stop the wind. I'll let you take it from there.
Set the scene a little bit. It was basically, I
just that week decided to turn pro, and I was

(09:44):
I've been taking lessons from your dad for a good
few months at that point, and kind of God not
of approval that I'm ready to turn pro. But we
decided you should probably go and play in Europe. You know,
if you can get the invites over there, go and
play there. And you know, to be fair to your

(10:06):
daddy probably thought I wasn't quite ready for the p
g A Tour and and that was kind of the decision.
And he said, okay, well, Tigers coming into town this Sunday,
tune up for the Pebble Beach. Why don't you play
with him? If he plays, you can go out and
play with him. So we went out and played a
match and I was actually only one down through nine
holes and I was doing pretty good. And then we

(10:29):
turned and Tiger and this is a long time, this
is the year two thousand, target at three seventy yards
onto the tenth green and rolled it him for an eagle.
He birdied the next four holes and I think that
was the match was over. Then he went on and
I think he actually took an unplayable at the last

(10:49):
and shot sixty three and went around a tough track,
and you know, he wiped me on that nine obviously,
and you know, I left thinking, oh, my goodness, you
know what am I doing? And fortunately the best thing
that could have happened was him winning the US Open
by fift You didn't feel bad that Thomas Bjorn and

(11:12):
all the rest of everybody else got wax too. I mean,
it was really at another level. And and to be honest,
you know, with no disrespect to any of the any
of the players, since no one has been able to
separate their game from the rest like that since since

(11:32):
the early two thousand's. You know, you work with DJ,
and you know, I think DJ is just unbelievable when
he's on and he can separate himself. But there was
there was another level where Tiger took it at that
and you know, the numbers don't lie. I mean, he
won the US Open by fifteen shots, he won the

(11:54):
Masters by twelve, the Open Championship by eight, and countless
tournaments by nine shops on the pg I two and
you just you just don't see that happening these days. Yeah.
I always say that when people look back, you know,
in two now, and we look back at what he did,
you know, with the Tiger Slam, the run that he
went on when he was working with Hank and everything.
I always say that as good as people that never

(12:16):
really saw him and weren't around it. Then this younger
generation of players that are out now, they only saw
it on on videos maybe a little bit on TV.
I always say, as good as people think he was,
he was so much better than than what people think
he was. When you look back, what did you because
you got to spend a lot of time with him Scarty,
what did you learn from him and what did you

(12:38):
take that helped you build your career to become, you know,
one of the great players of of of this generation.
I think I got to see I didn't get to
see the whole picture, but okay, through being around the
people that were with him, I got to see how

(12:59):
much to work he was really putting in to be
at that level. You know, it was relentless work. It
was like everything he did was just to play better golf.
And you know, it took me quite quite a while
to really piece it all together and understand not you know,

(13:20):
you've got to be working on the right thing, but
you've got to be working hard, and you've got to
be working smart um and to get up to those levels,
you know, it takes a lot of repetition. You know,
you have to commit the time. The talent. Tiger has
got so much talent as well, but it's not enough

(13:40):
to go to that level to know that when you're
showing up at the Masters, You're going to perform, and
you know it did. It took the better part of
a decade for me to really kind of balance all
the pieces of things happening out on tour, to kind
of sort it out in my head to take my
own game to the highest possible level. Like obviously, the

(14:03):
golf swing that you have, which I think is as
iconic a golf swing is as anyone's ever had in
the game. UM. A lot of comparisons are made between
the golf swing that you and Tiger had, UM, because
you spent so much time with him, and obviously you
were working with my dad at that point. One of
the jokes that that I love is everybody says that

(14:24):
you tried to copy Tiger's golf swing, and you basically
still have Tiger's old golf swing, and he spent the
rest of his career trying to get rid of the
golf swing that you have now. UM. But Trevor talked
about it as well. He said, we were looking at
what my dad talks about this. When he was growing up,
he tried to emulate Arnold Palmer, and then everybody before

(14:47):
that was trying to emulate what Ben Hogan was doing
Jack Nicholas with the raising of the foot and stuff
like that. Do you find it interesting now that we
are in an era now you mentioned DJ guys like
Matt Wolf to where I think when when when Tiger
came out, everybody was trying to put the golf club
in the positions that he was trying to put it in. Obviously,

(15:10):
I think you've done as good a job as anyone's
ever done it trying to put the golf club in
the positions he put it in. And let's be honest,
those positions were pretty good. I think that's what makes
your golf swings so good. Do you think it's kind
of cool now that we're seeing more and more players
come out that don't necessarily have these perfect, beautiful, textbook

(15:31):
golf swings and that are still some of the best
players in the world. Yeah, I think, you know, everything
kind of evolves, and you know, if you go back
before Tiger and maybe a little bit before the Greg
Norman Nick Faldo kind of domination, there are a whole
bunch of different kind of swings in the eighties and
and before that, we're really really effective. And now fould

(15:55):
I was a big guy who transformed his swing in
the late eighties with lead. You know, that was very
position type swinging and it and it was such a
hard worker also, that's why he was so incredibly good.
That had a lot of success. Therefore, got noted a lot,

(16:15):
and I think your dad is not a position type swinger,
but he refined gregg swing there in the early nineties
to a to a reliable point. You know, he took
away Greg's bad shot. Gregg had incredible success Dad early
in that time. And and things got a little more simple,
a little more on plane, like very neat and efficient,

(16:40):
and that was kind of a trend, you know. And
that's what he did with Tiger as well. He got
rid of Tiger's kind of loose shot, got a little
more on plane at the top, and in two thousand
it fell in this slot, which was just so ridiculous
and definitely, you know, like for me watching the best
swing to watch ever, you know, so good, and I

(17:01):
was trying to copy that as a as a teenager.
And then you know, technology and the athlete and everything
has evolved been advanced in the last twenty years since then.
That allowed has allowed some guys to find ways to
generate the speed that Tiger naturally had, But other guys
are doing it in other ways, and you see a

(17:21):
lot more like this kind of bode left wrist at
the top, much more shut club base, whether it's laid
off or across the line or square even at the top,
but shot club based and massive body rotation is kind
of the kind of a thing again which we would
call unconventional, but I see it a lot, and it's

(17:43):
very effective because I think it matches in with all
the body science stuff and all the technology advancements in
the club. And you know, DJ is probably one of
the big instigators of people seeing like kind of a
a real strong left wrist at the top and a
shot club place. But this guy just dominating out there

(18:06):
and helping people not be afraid to just if that's
their natural mood kind of work with a little bit,
and now you see a whole bunch of different kinds
of actions out there, And I think I think that's
great because you know, you've got to play the game
as much as swing, you know, more than the club. Yeah,

(18:28):
you mentioned obviously the work that you did with my dad.
I think he had an enormous influence on your career
at a young stage. What do you think, as someone
that worked with him and you know he helped you
achieve a lot of really amazing things in the game,
what do you think was the thing that made him

(18:49):
such a great coach? Well, there's no doubt. I mean, look,
I'd still say which is the greatest coach out there?
And that's with respect to every body else doing fantastic work.
He's he's had an unbelievable track record. You know. I
was lucky to work with him for ten ten years,

(19:10):
and I also spent a lot of time at his
academy in Las Vegas, and I watched every amateur leaves
in an hour or two hours or three days, whatever
they had with him better than when they came. And
that's to me, that's certainly something. You know, getting hold
of Tiger Woods. The biggest thing he could do is

(19:32):
not mess him up, you know. But what is really
a couple of things that I think of the strong
which he can communicate the golf This striking of a
golf ball to anybody, his communication is fantastic. A teacher
has to be able to communicate, and he can quickly

(19:54):
identify different personalities and know whether this is to approach
this with Adam or that's the way to approach it
with Tiger Woods or Joe Bloggs who comes in off
the street to get him to kind of square the
club based up at impact. He's got to be able
to communicate well. And as much as he was a
swing coach to me, he was as much a mental

(20:17):
coach in preparing the player to to go out there
and play golf. Because Butch had played on tour and
you know, one of the fiery tempers on the course,
you could say, so understand emotions and all the stuff
that's going on out there. And he was very good

(20:38):
at one of the One of the biggest things I
ever got out of him was before the final round
of the Alfred Dunhill in two thousand and one. It
was my first year, first tournament on the European Tour,
and I was leading, and he said, just go out
and play a round of golf today. That's all you

(21:00):
I do. It's a round of golf. And I went
out and played a really good round. I've birdie the
last hole and I won my first ever pro tournament.
And that that's the only invite he gave me. He
wasn't there with me to look at my springs and
said that just go out and play another round of golf.
And it was just really nice way to send me
out there like it. It wasn't a big deal. Just

(21:22):
keep doing what you're doing, you're playing good, you're leaving
a tournament, do one more time. So we're gonna take
a quick break from the interview with aud of Scott
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(21:45):
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let's get back to the interview with Adam Scott. You

(22:33):
earned your tour card in in two thousand and one
on the European Tour in eight starts. Um. You talk
about the fact that you you went to un l
You went to un l V. After a year you
turned pro. Um, you and my dad decided that, you know,
going to Europe was going to be the place to go.
You've won eleven times in the Europe. What role did
the European Tour play in the early stages of your career.

(22:57):
I think people even to this day the European tours
a little bit. You know, you and I traveled and
worked together over there in the early two thousand It
was like a traveling circus, right. It was the complete
opposite of the PGA tour. There's no courtesy cars, there's
no dry cleaning, the food, you know, the player's lounge
and all of that. All the players we all used

(23:19):
to hang out, What what role and what are some
of the memories that you have about playing in Europe,
do you think helped you when you got on the
big stage of the PGA Tour, Well, there was. There's
some of my fondest memories as a pro. You know,
as much as we were competing and trying to win tournaments,
there were it was it was a different thing there,

(23:41):
and there was it was a real fun time. There
was a lot of stuff. If anything could go wrong,
it generally did go wrong. It was. It was a
bit of a traveling circus and really fond memories for me.
But from a serious standpoint, like I said before, Butch
knew that I wasn't quite enough to cut it on
the p g A Tour and I needed to kind

(24:02):
of sharpen my game somewhere else. And it got me competitive,
is what it did. You know. The level of competition
was slightly lower at that time than the p g
A Tour, And that first year in two thousand and
one when I had my full card, I think I
had eleven top tens and a win and okay, you know,

(24:24):
I'm competing out here and it got me in the
midst not just an also ran I think that same
year I might have played five or six events on
the PGA Tour and missed four or five of the cuts,
you know, and just made up a couple of numbers
here and there. Thanks for the invite. So it got
me competitive and got me believing myself and got me

(24:45):
winning ultimately. I think there are a lot of people
that have had big influences on your career. Tiger obviously
my dad, but some guys on the European Tour I
think have had massive influences on your career. Thomas jorn Um,
Darren Clark, guys like Lee Westwood, and then all of
the Aussies that came before you, Jared Moseley, Richard Green,

(25:07):
all the old school guys I mean talk me through,
you know, guys like Adam, I mean guys like Darren
and Thomas. They really kind of looked at you like
a young brother. They took you under their wing. You
played as much as you played a ton of practice
rounds with with Tiger, you played a lot of practice
rounds in Europe with guys like Darren Clark and Thomas Bjorne.

(25:29):
I think they have had a huge, huge mentoring role
in your career, in your life as well. Totally that
you know, it was really like a brotherhood out there,
and there were certain groups of people that really looked
out for each other. I think it happened with all
the different groups. You know. There was a whole bunch

(25:49):
of Swedes on the two then and they were now.
I fell into this group with Darren and Thomas, and
they were obviously, um far more experienced and older than me.
But at the right moments they take you aside and say, listen,
pull your head in. You know, how are you shooting

(26:10):
seventy seven? That's ridiculous. You're a good player, you know what.
Or just have a have a practice round and and
kind of make sure you stayed on track. And I
think stuff, I see more of that still happening in
Europe to this day. I mean the p g A
tour is pretty cutthroat these days. I mean it's all
very pleasant and nice. There's not too many problems between guys,

(26:33):
but there's far far less of that kind of stuff
from where I sit going on, and so that was nice.
But there was a strong Aussie connection to I mean,
Rammy and I used to hang a lot. I wish
you taught me some short game back then, not just now,
but for those people that don't know. Brett Rumford played
on the European Tour, played some in America Australia. Brett

(26:57):
Rumford could be without a doubt, he is the best
bunker player I have ever seen. Watching him in a
bunker is like watching Tiger Woods in two thousand hit.
It's like Rory McElroy hitting a driver. It's like that.
If you think of short game, I think of Sevy
Michaelson and running. That's it. And the same conversation the

(27:19):
three of them. You know, I'm noting him third. I'll
you know, I'll sit there and have an argument. He
chipped in to win this Omega Masters in Crown. He uh,
he won a couple of Irish opens where you need
some creativity. I mean, he's so. He was a good buddy.
And then then the older guard again, the Mosleys and
the Richard Greens. It was a real fun time back then.

(27:43):
Stephen Leaney was playing then out there. Then I'm leaving
a bunch of Nio remember Nico Hearn and Jeff was also.
He was just briefly there and he came to America
as soon as I got on the European to a
Jeff got his card in America and I caught up
with a couple of years later, two thousand and three,
you win the Players Championship. We flew over on the

(28:05):
plane together. We said we both got upgraded the first
class and I was having a conversation with you and
I'm eating my food and everything and you are you
are asleep next to me. Um. We were a couple
of weeks ago we were at a tournament and it
was right after um, Cam Smith won the Players Championship
and Tommy Roy it was actually an Austin. Tommy Roy

(28:25):
came up to you, who produces golf for NBC, and
he said, I don't know if you saw it, but
when when Um, when Cam hit it in the water
on eighteen, I got your shot that you hit in
the water on eighteen when you hit it in the water,
and one there. That was a huge, huge win on
a really really difficult golf course. At that stage of
your career, that young, what did that win? Did did

(28:46):
that win? Winning the Players Championship in your early early
twenties did not make you stand up and go, yeah
I belong out here, I can play out here. Yeah,
you know, it's it's it's funny. I wish, I wish
there are definitely no regrets. I'd won one PGA Tour

(29:08):
for that, so that was But the Players is a
different pole, different level, and I don't really know how
I got myself into that position. Obviously, I would think
I think I was actually putting really really well generally
at the time. But I will say something that hasn't
been mentioned that's relevant to today. And in December, three

(29:33):
months before that Players, I played my first President's Cup
with any Els in South Africa. I partnered him a
couple of times and it was by far the biggest
arena I'd ever been in at that point, and the
pressure and Tiger was down there, and you remember they
had that battle in the end. But I played some
matches that went to eighteen with any Els and he

(29:55):
is like the Tiger of South Africa and huge pressure
where that I had to step up to. And then
when I had to step up and play the final
group at the Players, I felt a little bit more comfortable.
That experience in the President's Cup just throws you into

(30:15):
a pressure situation and I think that was the best
thing that could have happened to me for the for
the Players, Championship when I ended up winning even though
I was doing my best not to. Scotty Scheffler has
just gone on an unbelievable run here. He's just broken
through and it's unbelievable. And I would love to ask

(30:35):
him how much experience and confidence he's taken out of
the Ryder Cup last year, where he played very very
well too, in that pressure cooker, because every match is
like playing a final group of it too. I would
love to know how much he took out of that
to break through all of a sudden and not win

(30:57):
one time on the PGA Tour, but three, yeah, and
and and you I think you could see it. And
I thought I was there that week and you could see,
you know, the rookies that had that had played. You
could see his confidence that week getting bigger and bigger
and bigger. And then to beat John ram when he did.
John Romson number one player in the world, just one

(31:19):
his first major is the you know, is by far
at that point the best player in the world. I
think it was a huge, huge thing. Um you talked
about confidence. I think we we look at golf as
as as fans and as people in the sport and
It's something that I've been talking about for a long time.

(31:39):
There's a massive difference between golf swing and talent execution,
but confidence as a player, Scotty, I mean, the one
thing that I love about what you've done over the
course of your career. You wanted to you want on
the PGA Tour in two thousand three, two thousand four,
two thousand six, two and seven, two thousand two, two

(32:02):
thousand eleven, fifteen, two thousand twenty. Right, You've want a
tremendous amount of golf tournament and people look at golf
when you're playing great and they think, oh, you guys
can make it look easy. But that elusive thing of confidence,
like Scotty Shuffler right now, he's he's got to feel
like going into Augusta. He's the favorite, right He's thinking, listen,

(32:26):
I'm on a heater or here I can go. When
you have that confidence, what does it do to you mentally,
Scotty on the golf course and how does it translate
into what you're able to do with the golf club?
Frees you up tremendously. It comes the mind and frees
you up, you know, and that's just where you'd like

(32:48):
to play golf. You know, it's very hard to replace
or to find a way to have the confidence without
the same kind of confidence without winning a tournament or
getting a result, because ultimately wearing the results driven business.
And you know, you can think I'm playing great and

(33:09):
you finished thirty six every week, but you know you're
right back. You've got to find two a day at
the least, and you know it's hard to replace that.
But I think you know, if you if you're not
having a heater like Scotty Scheffler or Cam Smith is
on right now, that that to me, there are two

(33:29):
most confident people going to this Masters are those They've
got to be feeling unbeatable. Ah. But if you're not
doing that, you need to have your mind and such
a good place, like just things are good, everything's like
and easy. You know, it's incredible. You see it all.
You see it all the time. But you know the

(33:51):
amount of stuff we can burden ourselves with, you know,
not not just the golf game, but everything else that's
going on. Need to remove all that stuff and just
walking out there like this is a walk in the
park today and I think it's clear to see. I mean,
you see it. Uh, you know when Rory walks out

(34:12):
there with a kind of a smile on his face,
I mean it looked like, man, this guy is going
to be hard to be you know, the Tolenge driver
at three forty down there and shoots at the pins
and rolls them in and you're like, it's unbeatable. So
it's really about getting yourself into kind of that happy,

(34:32):
happy place to go to the first team. And I
think the advantage and the whole guy like me has
is I at least know what works and what doesn't
for me. I don't have to, you know, try too hard.
And what do you feel like Scotty works for you
when you play your best and you've had success and

(34:54):
you've been on these runs to where you're at the
height of the game, and when you got in two
thousand and fourteen, you you win the Masters in two
thousand thirteen, two thousand fourteen, you get to number one
in the world. Are you able to kind of touch
and feel what you were distinctively feeling as not only
as a player but as a person when you were
in that space. Yeah, it's it's really hard to like

(35:18):
replicate um feelings sometimes, you know, because what you've felt.
You know, my feeling was right arm high or something
in two thousand and fourteen. Well, you know it's not.
I'm nine years older, and you know my right arm
might not be able to get high anymore or whatever
it is. You know, and it's a really different it's

(35:39):
a real balancing act. And the other interesting thing, you know,
is that the golf career is just like everyone else's career.
If it's long enough, it's your it's your whole life.
And you know, you look back and early twenties you're
single and moving around Europe when you were and I
were over there, and now you know, married, three kids.

(36:02):
You're going through all these different stages of life and
still trying to balance playing elite, elite level golf like
best in the world stuff and that. And that's a
ficky thing to do. And that's why what gets me
happy to the golf course today is probably different than
eight years ago. You know, I can't I can't hit

(36:23):
as many balls as I did years ago, But that
doesn't mean I'm going to be worse. I don't I
know my golf swing. You know, I have to be
content with I know my golf swing. I'm confident in that.
You know, I need to put the working in the
areas that really needed. I have to be a little
smarter and how I do it. And it's actually I
feel in a really good place, like I'm starting to

(36:46):
figure this out for myself. You mentioned Ernie Els. I
think a lot of people look at your life and
look at your career and you're associated with Tiger. But
I've always thought that that Ernie, probably from a playing endpoint,
played as big a role as anyone in your life.
He to me, Ernie always was like your big brother. Um,

(37:08):
what did you learn and and and how important has
that relationship been to your career? And you know we
touched on a few guys earlier about the brotherhood and
the European tour of it. Somehow I got really close
to Ernie after that President's Cup in two thousand and three.
And you know who who wouldn't enjoy playing golf with

(37:29):
Ernie Els? I loved watching him play. You know, I
loved his rhythm, I loved his swing. His short game
was absolutely absurd. You know I loved watching that too.
So I tried to play with him as much as
I could all the time, and just hope like his
rhythm would rub off on me while I was out there.
And he was also fantastic to me for really giving

(37:55):
advice and but he he'd paid attention and enough to
my game where the advice was really relevant. I think
in fairness to Ernie, and he understood how I can play,
and you know, I learned a lot. I think Ernie
is one of the smartest strategists on the golf course
I've ever seen. Brilliant and he was captaining the President's

(38:19):
Cup just a couple of years ago at Royal Melbourne,
and you know, he had the attention of the team
in the team room and listening to him talk about
how to play well in Melbourne and what he's seen,
it was incredible. It was like the Mozart of course

(38:39):
management listening to this guy. I just sat there and thought,
you know, it felt like, oh, you know, I've really
developed as a player at him. You know, you've been
out the twenty somethings, you know a lot of and
I listened to Ernie and it was unbelievable, and he
is just so smart at working his ball around the
golf course. He and you know, I think I took

(39:00):
a lot out of playing with Ernie, and I played
practice rounds with him a lot of majors, especially around
that time I won the Masters. Um, you know we
had a really closed bond. You you mentioned Royal Melbourne.
I mean you were part of Ernie. I mean you

(39:21):
always say that he won. It were all Melbourne. You
guys played four rounds together, right, And I always remember,
I think, what did you have? Do you shoot sixty
at Royal Melbourne the first first and you say that
you have no idea how he didn't shoot fifty seven.
It's the best round of golf you could possibly imagine.
He did bogy the fifteen coole and he he chewed

(39:45):
Ricky Roberts out for it to go under the sixteenth
tea and he alreadied one coming in to shoot sixty.
But just the positioning and the shot execution, because Royal Melbourne,
when the greens are so firm, a little bit like Augustie,
you have to get it really close. You have to
play the right shape into the green to be able
to hold it. And it was just so lovely to

(40:07):
watch it was. It was incredible. They say that you
learn more from defeat than you do from victory. Obviously
the two thousand twelve Open Championship, Ernie wins. You birdie,
you've got to You've got four holes to play and
you bogey coming in. Um, what did you learn from
that experience? Because obviously that was devastating and it was

(40:31):
tough to watch. I was coaching Ernie at the time,
and I'll never forget this. We were behind the green
going out to do the prize ceremony. You'd finished second,
and you were distraught and just shattered as as anybody
would be, and you gave me a hug and you said,
I'm so happy for you. I'll always remember that when

(40:51):
you're going through a situation like that and you look
back on it. People look at that and they say, Okay,
you bogy the last four holes. How hard can it
be to get to the to the house. I've gone
back and looked at that. You were hitting good shots.
You were It wasn't like you were hitting it out
of bounds. It wasn't like you were snap hooking it
leaving it in a bunker. I mean, the only thing

(41:13):
that that I think people look at is the drive
you hit on eighteen. But other than that, you hit
good shots and just made four bogies coming in at
the wrong time. Did do you think that having gone
through that helped you in two thousand and thirteen when
you were able to win the Masters for the first time. Oh,

(41:35):
I mean it was it was all the things you mentioned,
and it was also a huge motivator to light right,
I know I can win a major now. I mean
I played good enough to win that Open Championship, and
that's the first time in my career. It was twelve
years into major championship goal for me that I truly

(41:58):
truly believe the evidence that I could win a major.
You know, I was right there. It was all up
to me in part the last four and I win
by four. So I took a lot of belief out
of that and also motivation. Right. I had the PGA
in a couple of weeks time, and I was determined that,

(42:19):
you know, I'm playing the best goal of my life
right now, I'm going to win this PGA. And it
didn't work out, and I think I finished eighth or something.
But I then had eight months to figure out how
to win the Masters, and you know, and and for
that short period of time is probably the closest I
was to relentlessness for me, Like you know that stuff

(42:40):
we talked about targeted for about twelve years, that was
me for the next eight months. Nothing was going to
stop me from winning a major, and I was. I
was on a mission. And what I took out of
the bogies was it's too I was too soft. You know,
it's easy to bogie holes at a major championship, even
with a four short lead, even playing great, you know

(43:02):
something as a whole of part, a six ft twenty
ft of something in the last four holes, and I
didn't do it. And at the Masters was the complete opposite.
It was, you know, I toughened up and I needed
to be a birdie the last hole, and so did Cabrera.
But you know, the golf down the stretch was flop

(43:24):
flawless golf, and so and Cabrera too, and I just
just outlasted them and made a birdie in the playoffs.
So it's you know, that's how it fell for me.
I lost the Open. But Masters, you talk about the
two thousand thirteen Masters, were coming up to the Masters, Um,
what do you remember most about that? The one thing
I remember looking back on there, and I think people forget,

(43:46):
is how horrendous the weather was, but whether it rained
all day, I mean it never stopped and the rain
was pretty pretty steady from pretty much kind of the
middle of under that front nine all the way to
the back. I mean that iconic moment where you make
the pot on eighteen. Um, what having done it? You

(44:10):
want a Master's you have a green jacket? What do
you think it takes to win one? Because it is such?
It is such an iconic tournament, Scotty, it's such. I
mean everything about it is is iconic, right, The venues
the same, the golf courses, the show, the green jacket,
you know, you get to go to the dinner, all

(44:31):
of the stuff that goes into it. What do you
think that it takes to win that tournament that is
different that it takes to win other tournaments or other majors.
I think it's a massive gut check because you know
the back line. It's the same back nine every time.
You know, and I know we know what's coming at

(44:53):
any manager, because we've played at least three rounds on
the course before you're on the back nine. And the
cliche of the Masters starts on the back nine. Sunday
ah As cliche as that is. I mean, it's massive.
It is a huge gut check to get it around there.
Ten eleven, twelve. We're incredibly demanding, and there are opportunities,

(45:14):
but once again, you're just one bad shot away from
a disaster of AUGUSTA. Almost every every hole, you know,
you can get into such a horrible position with the
wrong shot that it's hard to recover. And so it's
the composure that's needed, I think is the one thing

(45:36):
that everyone who's gone on to win has managed to
keep together. You know, I can't think of too many
disasters happening and then recovering miracle recoveries and they win.
You know, it is rattling around there when it goes
the wrong way, and I think that's the beauty of

(45:59):
what that tournament has evolved into over you know, however
many years it is now like eight something years. Um,
it's an incredible back nine holes where thirties possible, but
forties possible if it goes the wrong way. I think
if you're in one of those last two groups and
you're near the lead and the conditions are tough on

(46:20):
the front nine, it must play into your head. You
talked about ten eleven, twelve. You know that with really
really difficult conditions, you've got to get through this really
really difficult stretch. Then you get somewhat of a breather
on thirteen, but fourteens difficult. Maybe a little bit of
breather on fifteen, but then the Finnish sixteen, seventeen and eighteen.

(46:45):
It like you said, you know they're coming when you're
on the golf course at Augusta. Um, I think it's
the ultimate strategy on from t to fairway to green.
And it would see to me playing at Scottie that
it must be really really mentally taxing as much as

(47:06):
it is trying to get your body to hit the
right shot. I don't see the emotion out of players
that I see them at Augusta when it goes wrong
for them, you know, I I see guys in tears
after their tough rounds on Sunday who were leaders that
didn't win. It's an incredible arena for playing golf in

(47:29):
and you know, there's all the things about it that
we've all grown up loving about it, and and you know,
you know what's ahead of you, maybe more than any
other course. It's hard to block out what's what's coming
and requires that composure and that focus to just stay
in mentally, like you said, and play exactly what's in

(47:51):
front of you. Um, you know, and these are good
things for me to remember going into next week. I mean,
I think if you start doing out on Thursday, you
will have a better chance of doing it on Sunday.
What are your favorite holes out there? What are the
holes that you get up to and you just not
only do you like the way they look, but from
a design standpoint, you just what are the for you?

(48:12):
Your iconic holes At Augusta for me has always been
my favorite hole. I mean, yeah, the flowers are pretty
down the left for sure, but you know, it's so
cool the massive dog leg around there, and I love
that if you're on the corner then you're hitting like
four iron from way above your feet into that green

(48:35):
as such a cool shop and the risk reward kind
of thing. I always liked that style of golf and
I love you know, just look at the one iron
Woozy hit in there when he won to the back
left him. I mean, it's just epic stuff. So I've
always loved their team, and ten kind of became a
favorite because that's where I was just and that's for

(48:59):
the whole. I mean, that's that's such a tough second shot.
Probably you know eleven has talked about how difficult is
but ten and eleven back to back shots into those greens.
I mean, it can all go really wrong quickly there
with the wrong shot in So no, I think I
think ten is good. I mean from a design standpoint,
twelve is outrageous. It's like they've angled be perfectly just

(49:21):
to catch the bad shot. When you're standing there and
you you know everything on TV so much now when
you watch it is made of the wind at twelve.
When you're standing on that t and you know you
have to go through this, when you're leading and stuff,
you're trying to figure out where the wind is coming.

(49:42):
We've heard all of the old wives tales of the
old school caddies say to look here when you're there,
and over the course of your career and your time there,
what have you learned and what are you looking at
when you stand on that twelve hole to try and
figure out because unless you've played there. I don't think
the fans you have never been to a GUS that
they don't realize how much at the bottom of that property.

(50:05):
The twelve I mean literally it is at the bottom
of the property. It's the clubhouse sits on the hill.
You go down ten, you go down eleven, and then
you go all the way down to twelve. What makes
that so difficult? And what are you looking for, Scotty
as a player when you're standing up on that twelve team,
when you're trying to figure out what club they hit. Well,

(50:25):
it's sitting so low. It's like the tops of those
trees are lower like green even you know, they're really
tall pines, and so that all the wind that's coming
from above the course is coming down and then it
gets hits down into like thirteen and gets pushed around
the trees. And that's when you get the flag on

(50:47):
twelve going this way, and the flag on eleven in
the second direction. And now you've got a conundrum. But
generally the eleventh flag is the correct flag, and you've
got at eleven, but you know the wind is pushing
it up there that way. And I think the biggest
thing is I always play kind of like where the

(51:08):
wind should be on eleven unless it's just so strong
that I'll try and wait, I'll slow play if I do,
but you know that's where you've got to find the
safest target. And you go on the left over the bunker,
uh and further left if you want to get even
safer them by yourself more grass because and you've just

(51:30):
got to commit and hit a good shot. And if
if you're slightly off on the wind, you know you'll
be okay. And I think the best example, not even
on a windy condition, was Tiger inelieable and that was
just classic Tiger move. I mean I was working with
Brooks at the time. Brooks rinses it in the water.
Female rinses into the water. Everybody rinse it. And there

(51:53):
is a great picture that I found and it's Tiger,
you know, just past impact. And you look at where
his ball is starting on the twelfth hole, it's left
of the bunker, the pins front right. If you look
at where his ball is starting, you're thinking, that's why
he's won there so many times, because if you think

(52:13):
about it, he never got baited into going. Why do
you think players it's maybe they're not trying to, but
it just it suckers you into it. The pins over there,
it's a short iron, it doesn't look like it's that far,
and you just and you know you shouldn't be aiming
over there, right, you know, you on Sunday, you shouldn't

(52:35):
be going anywhere close to that pin. And every year
we see somebody go for it. Do you think it's
just the situation? Do you think it's just they press
because you know you can't go at that pit. I
think it's just all of those things. I mean, I
felt at it at moments. There are times when you

(52:57):
just feel you've got enough club, you feel like you
can be the hero, You feel like things and you're
feeling all those and you're not just focused on your target.
Then that concentration and the composure is broken, and hey,
you might get lucky and block it right in there
to the hit pretty beat, But a lot of the

(53:20):
time because the angle of that green, somehow it just
catches you out and back down the banking in the
water and it's a disaster. And that's you know, Tiger,
maybe the toughest mental golfer there's ever been. On that
Sunday showed he could keep his composure and hit it

(53:41):
out to the left. You mentioned emotion and the things
that Augusta brings out in players. You and I have
been knowing each other and been friends for over twenty years.
I've never seen you have a motion like you had
when you wanted Augusta. I think one of the greatest
and the coolest pictures in the game I've ever seen
is you in the rain with your arm was out
and all the cameras in front of you. It's shut

(54:02):
from the back. When did it sink in for you,
Scotty that you were a Master's Champion? Was it in
the moment when the ceremony or was it later on
when you went back there. I think when I rolled
the put in on ten, that overwhelming emotion of you've

(54:24):
You've won the Masters, I think, I mean, you know,
it's it's like the dream come true. If that if
I don't know how to explain that feeling, the dream
come true feeling. It's a dream state. It's such an
incredible thing to do. It's hard hard to put into words.
And I got so many cool things out of it.

(54:44):
You know that the Masters throws up all this drama
all the time on eight, fist pumping like Tiger, and
so they aren't in the air winning on ten, And
then I got that cool photo because it was so late,
we didn't even do a presentation. They just walked me
out there in the jacket and it was dark and
got such a cool shot of me with my arms out. Ah.

(55:06):
And you know, it's truly amazing. Like around the world,
everywhere I go, people know me as a Master's Champion
with you know, really something else. And speaking of the emotion,
you know when DJ One a couple of years ago,
he couldn't even talk in his interview after he won.

(55:27):
That's customer on the tour, couldn't the words out, you know,
it was so choked up. His brother was too. I
think that there's so much goes in on that golf course,
that emotion. I think it's one thing that stands out.

(55:47):
I mean it only came to me since we've been
talking today. But everyone, whether you're winning or not, everyone's
got like this special attachment to the Master's In AUGUSTA
Nationals of one of my favorite cool pictures as you
doing the come On Aussie thing and you were playing
with Mark Leishman who's from Australia and he's got the
fist pump. I mean that must have been a cool
moment for you to play in the final group with

(56:09):
leash both from Australia um that that that was one
of my favorite pictures as well. From that from that
wind that you had their absolute champion blog and you
know he hit it in the water on fifteen I
think that day and kind of that was the end
of his run because he was playing good too. But
it was such a big thing for all of us

(56:30):
Aussies because all we've got, We've just been peppered my
whole career anyway with wins in Australian going to win
the Masters, of course aims so close. Guys. Before even
Craig Parry was giving it a run, like in ninety
four or two, I think he was leading going into
some Dame Fred beat him. And I've been peppered with

(56:51):
that the whole time, and it was just such a
big thing. And Lesh and I were kind of talking
about it out there that day a little bit, and yeah,
it was a big deal for us proud Australian sports people.
You know, we think we're pretty good at every sport
we play and we've never won the Masters. So you know,
for me, I hope it's not the only major I

(57:14):
win because I want to be a multiple major win them.
But it is really a neat thing for me that
I have become the first assi to win the Masters,
and that's kind of what I'll forever be known as. Anyway,
two of my favorite traditions at at Augusta National as
being a Master's Champion is the Champions locker room and

(57:34):
the Master's Dinner. I don't think. I mean, obviously, very
very few people get an opportunity to go into the
Master's Champions locker room. They've made it bigger, and it
is still a very very small room. Who do you
share a locker with Gary Player? Which pretty much every

(57:56):
year I go in there, and look, we leave our
jacket at the club. They stay at the club, so
we don't get to see him much. And I make
a point to try and wear it every day. If
I sit down and have a drink in the mask
I put. I don't care what people think being ridiculous.
I think it's epic. And almost every year, at least

(58:17):
one day, Gary takes my jacket and wears it and
he's off on the ground muzing whatever he's doing in
my jacket, and I'm like, I can't even get an
arm in his jacket and then the champions Um dinner Um.
Trevor says that there's a little clique that you and

(58:38):
Trevor and and and who's your click that you always
sit with because they're all there's clicks of people that
kind of sit together at the dinner every year. Who's
your who's your crew that you always sit with seven
I have been made since we were about sixteen or
seventeen and have traveled the world playing golf together. And

(58:58):
after I won, and I the first year you sit
up at the head of the table you host the dinner.
But after that year, you know, I looked down the
table and I saw what was going on, and I
went straight down to sit next to Trevor because we've
been made so long. I want to, you know, I
want right. You don't own your seat in there, sometimes
move around, but I was like, Okay, Trevor and I

(59:18):
are going to sit next to each other at this
this is the best, one of the best nights of
the year. That's where we're gonna sit. So we're down,
We're down kind of the left corner, I call it,
and myself and Trevor and Mike Weirs down there and
Charles swartzall and the swings around the table and FOWLO
and player and there, and then I'm kind of the
buffer to the middle of the table, which is like

(59:41):
next to me is a mirror, and then Tiger and
then Nicholas and heavy hitters up there and you know,
so there's a bit of carriage down here and the
big the big boys are up there. Uh, and then
you have kind of the Spaniards over on that side
of the table. It's it's really good stuff. It's a
quick it's a quicker that evening than you think. It

(01:00:02):
always wraps up pretty quick. But there's always a good
bit of band to thrown across the table. And if
you laugh and you know an evening that especially this
time he really looking forward to or when you're doing it,
are you able to kind of understand the magnitude of
what you're able to be a part of. I mean, look,

(01:00:23):
being a being a Master's champion and going to the
champions did er is is almost like walking on the moon.
I mean, there's so little amounts of Masters Champions and
the fact that you all get there and get to
do it, are you able to kind of soak it
in and you ever kind of sit there and just go,
I mean, this is unbelievable that I get to be

(01:00:43):
a part of this. It strikes me the first year
because you're at the head of the table and you
just look down, and then you're to speak in front
of this group of people and you know, Jack and
Annie was there, and it's like, are you kidding me?
I mean, what am I gonna say right now? Uh? Yeah.
It shouldn't be taken for granted. I try and enjoy

(01:01:04):
the whole evening and speak to as many of the
guys as I possibly can. Fred Couples, who I have
a great relationship where I loved I love seeing him there.
And Bob Golby, He's hilarious. Uh. You know some of
these guys and they're so interested too in what what
we're doing now with golf and and stuff like that.

(01:01:24):
It's really fantastic. And you know, I'm sure I hope
I'm that guy, you know, in forty years interested in
what these younger guys are doing. Lastly, Scotty um you're
in your early forties. Um two. I asked this question
to a lot of the people I have on the
podcast in what do you like about the professional game

(01:01:46):
of golf and what don't you like about it? Rotational
golf is and is in such a good spot. It's
only getting stronger and stronger. I mean, uh, you know,
buying the PGA Tour is the spot to be obviously,
it's really quite incredible. As I'm in my forties, you know,

(01:02:10):
the long season is the oest thing now, I think,
and I've never played a lot, but if you're not
coming out playing hot, you're falling so far behind. And
I think the depth of talent has never been deeper
than now. There are so many guys playing at a
high level that you know you kind of can't leave

(01:02:35):
it eight weeks and think you're going to just come
back out and float up all the lists and rankings
and stuff, and that unless you're a major champion, that
pretty much determines what you're in or not. So you
know that that is the toughest bit for me. Is
is the full years schedule? I would say, and you know,

(01:02:57):
hopefully I can bag a big one. And then I
said it was gonna be the last question, but I
couldn't get you on the podcast without asking you about
one of your favorite subjects you have as as as
as many tour players as I've I've met in my life.
I think you have one of the healthiest and one
of the richest um life's off the golf course. Your

(01:03:19):
passion for vintage Rolex watches. You've been a Rolex ambassador
for the majority of your career. I've been lucky enough
to be a rolexmbassadord will. But there are people that
are into watches and then there are you. You are
obsessed with vintage Rolex watches. I've down this rabbit hole

(01:03:41):
about five or six years ago, and it's a it's
a horrible hole to go down and never end that.
I don't even know how deep by a minute at
the moment. But I've been an ambassador for twenty years,
and you know, I've had really great, generally, really long
standing relationships with my sponsors. I've been titless my entire career.

(01:04:02):
I've been with Rolex my entire career, and I've been
with Uniflo for nearly ten years now, and you know,
I really try and as much as they support me,
I also want to not just support them, but understand
the brand. And I'm pretty deep in there with understanding
where Rolexes have come from. And it's only fitting. You know.

(01:04:24):
I live in Switzerland, so that where the capital of
the watchworld. But I got to a point where it's
kind of plateaued and I think I know what I
know without going any any further, and it's something fun
for me to do. It kind of took over. I
used to serve, then I had kids. Now I read
all the books. Out of all the vintage rolexes you have, right,

(01:04:50):
give me the top three in your collection. Well, look,
I mean everyone everyone loves of a Daytona, you know.
And I think the early Daytonas are incredible. I have
a six two three nine from I think it's nine three,

(01:05:12):
which was first year they were made. Like, I have
one of the fairly early Daytonas, and I think, like
as far as the collector goes, that's pretty cool. It's
in a nice condition, so that's a cool one. And
I like dive watches, you know, I think they look
best on my wrist. I have what they call it
a double red Sea Dweller from the early seventies h

(01:05:36):
and it's double red because there's two lines of red
text on the dial. It's something you don't see much anymore.
From role legs they used to do lots of dial
variations back in the early days. It's a it's a
more fixed these days. But they kind of did a
throwback to the Red Sea Dweller a couple of years
ago with like with like a anniversary one. I think,

(01:06:01):
um so I I like the double Red Sea Dweller
from the early seventies. That's a nice one. And oh,
my goodness another I mean the one you had on
the one you had on at the Players right before
the tour shut down for the pandemic. I mean, what
was that a that thing? What would you say, nineteen

(01:06:21):
fifty three, fifty two, I think it was. Yeah. It's
kind of a really well known roles generally maybe with
the collectors, but it's a seventy one. It's it's a
triple calendar moon phase and kind of a complicated watch
for roles that they don't do many of. But it's

(01:06:42):
a really cool mid century watch. I mean, the design
in the mid century was really really good stuff, and
you know that's where the date just came from that
time in the day date and they're still basically exactly
the same in design as they were in the middle
of last century. So yea one is an unbelievable watch.

(01:07:05):
And for people that listening with the numbers that you're saying,
you are an encyclopedia of model reference numbers from Rolex.
I mean you can. I mean I've asked you about
getting roles in you or like you can get the
six oh five nine oh, but you get six h
five nine D or you could get that when you
get into it. It's just all reference numbers and that,
And you know, it's fun to scout that off. It

(01:07:29):
makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about.
But how many masters will this be for you? This
is my one expectations? What are you? What are you thinking? Look,
I'm I think I'm playing generally really well, and um
this is the time of year when we all want

(01:07:49):
to try and peak, and I think I've been heading
in that direction. I played nicely at the match play.
I like where my game's at. I've been moving a
couple of bits and pieces around, but I like where
it's all bowling and it's a place I'm very comfortable at. Oh,
you know, there are probably fifteen guys who are talking
the same like me. And then of course you've got

(01:08:11):
Scottie Scheffler and Cam Smith who who were on heaters
that you know, going out there with extreme confidence and
backing it up. So but it's it's going to be
a great Masters, I think, just looking at it from
a golf fan, all the top players are looking to
get it going, you know, all guys. You know, even
John Ram who at this time last year is clearly

(01:08:33):
the best player in the world. He hasn't got it
going yet. DJ was looking good at the match play.
But now it's it's major season. This is where it
all starts, Rory. I expect all these guys to be
chomping at the bit for results of the Masters. It
could be don't ethic of it. Well, Scotty, like I said,
you were the guests that I wanted on my podcast.

(01:08:54):
I can't thank you enough. Um. On a personal note,
like I said, you and I've known each other a
long time, We've been friends for a long time. I'm
so damn proud of you, Scotty for everything that you've
been able to accomplish and everything that you've done, not
only in your career, but I think you've got a
pretty good life. And it's been so fun to watch
everything you've done and all the success you've had. And

(01:09:16):
if I tell everybody, if you're going to try and
model your career as a golfer on somebody, you are
the blueprint of the way that you handle yourself on
the golf course off the golf course, because to me,
you are an iconic figure in the game. And it's
just it's so great too, even at this stage of
your life in your career, to see you still inside

(01:09:39):
the top fifty in the world, still playing in tournaments
and and and I just can't tell you how proud
I am of you, because you've done a hell of
a job. Very nice of you to say, h thanks,
And I you know, I value our friendship very much,
and I could say all the same things about you
and from our time working together in the early two thousands.
For you to go on with DJ and Brooks and

(01:10:02):
and other guys too and and help them achieve their dreams,
you should be proud also. But hopefully I've got a
few more good years in the tank. And I feel
like I really my best golf is to come the
next few years. As as you told Darren Clark once
after a number of drinks, you've got shots in the wind.

(01:10:24):
He's never seen before. That's a story for another time.
Have a great week next week, Scotty, and I'll look
forward to seeing you Darren to tell that when he's gone.
Cheers mate. So that was Adam Scott and listen, I
think he is. Um, he's an icon in my opinion. UM,

(01:10:46):
he's just he's got everything. I mean, the golf swing
is unbelievable. He's a cool guy. He's he is to me,
the epitome of what a golf tour professional should be.
And as um I said in the interview, UM, if
you're gonna model your career on somebody, Adam Scott would
be a hell of a guy to try and do it.
So I want to thank Scotty and UM. Hopefully everybody

(01:11:09):
UM that's going to be watching the Masters gets a
lot of insight based off of the stuff that Adam
was able to talk to us about. So questions, UM
this week obviously a lot of people ask about Tiger Woods. UM,
it's really going to be interesting. I've watched him hit
some balls. UM. I talked to his caddie, Joe Lacava.
I think, Um, I think he's hitting it good. Um,

(01:11:32):
the speed looks good. UM, I think the big, big
question with Tiger at Augusta this week is is he
going to be able? Is his body going to be
able to walk up and down this golf course. Um,
I walked to practice round yesterday. I walked eighteen holes,
and last night I was I was gassed. I mean
I woke up this morning. My knees hurt, my ankles hurt, UM,

(01:11:55):
my back hurt. Um. I work out a lot. I
feel like I'm in pretty decent shape for someone that's
fifty two years old. And I was tired. A lot
of the caddies, the players, they all talk about this
week being tired. So I think the big thing this
week is Tiger's body going to be able to handle
everything that he needs it to handle, not only from
a golf standpoint, but just from a kind of life.

(01:12:15):
Walking around this golf course because it is tough. There
is a massive buzz. He was on the driving range today,
was chipping and putting, and yeah, I haven't seen that
many people on the driving range since um, probably two
thousand nineteen when when he teed it up. Um, he
moves the needle. Everybody wants to see him play. I
think it's gonna be fantastic. I think it will be

(01:12:37):
very interesting to see who they pair him with. And UM,
the crowd, the crowds, I can say crowds, patrons, fans,
whatever you wanna call them. Um, they will be out
in full force. And there are more people at Augusta
UM this week than I've seen in five years. Um.
I mean, it's crazy, so great to see him back.

(01:12:58):
I think everybody's excited to see him what he's going
to do. Um at a question about my grandfather won
the Masters. Did he faded around Augusta to win? Headed
around Augusta? I think there is this myth that you
have to be able to draw the golf ball at Augusta.
If you look at Jack Nicholas, who faded the golf
ball exclusively, he had tremendous success at Augusta National. Yes,

(01:13:23):
there are holes where you have to draw at ten,
it helps, but a lot of the holes where he
used to have to hit draws now with the way
the players are able to hit it and the clubs
that they're able to hit, I just don't think you
have to be a drawer of the golf ball to
win here. I mean there are there's a long list
of guys that have faded it around here, so UM

(01:13:43):
be interesting to see what ball flight the winner this
week UM likes to hit. I thought this was an
interesting The most important three whole stretch at Augusta. Uh.
I actually think that a lot of that that are
us just really underrated, comes really really early in the round.

(01:14:04):
So part five second, everyone kind of expects to to
birdie that, and then the short part four third, which
can cause some problems. Um. A lot of guys will
take driver and try and get it up there. But
I think four, five and six, I think they have
some of the most difficult greens. The par three fourth

(01:14:24):
hole long, Um, you've got to stay. I mean, if
you miss that green, you're struggling to make a par.
And then the fifth hole, I mean you hit it
in the bunkers down the left hand side, it's a
one shot panel, you are most likely going to make bogey.
There are some of the deepest bunkers on the golf course.
I was out in a practice round UM with garat Kego,

(01:14:47):
one of the players I had, he hid in the
bunkers and he got down there and he said, the
deepest bunker I've ever been in trying to hit a
full shot. The green is very very treacherous. There's a
lot of slope to it, and then the downhill six
the part three, depending if they put that pin back right,
it's tough if they put the pin down at the front.

(01:15:08):
It's because if you don't hit the green, you are
going to again, you're going to struggle to make a part,
and you can make double or triple bogey in a
heartbeat by just missing the green by a yard and
you're on the wrong side, or if you've shortsighted yourself,
you can basically have no shots. So I think it's

(01:15:29):
a really really cool stretch. It comes really really early
in the round. And you've seen players, you know, going
into the weekend in contention on Sunday, they get off
to a good start, they bertie number two and then
they they're just gonna try and hang on through four
or five and six. So it's it's under d yes obviously,
amen quarter. You know, you could do ten, eleven, twelve,

(01:15:50):
you could do eleven, twelve, thirteen, you could do you know, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.
But I kind of like that stretch on the front
that I think it's a little bit underrated. A lot
of people asking questions on on who's going to win. Listen,
I mean if you look at from a confident standpoint,

(01:16:11):
I think Adam touched on this in the pod. Um.
I think coming into this week, there are players that
are going to come in with a lot of confidence.
Scotty Shuffler tons of confidence, Cam Smith tons of confidence.
Sam Burns is gonna come in here with a lot
of confidence. And then obviously if you've one here before,
you come in here with a lot of confidence if

(01:16:31):
you're a past champion. Do we see Jordan's speech kind
of find his game again around this golf course. It's
a golf course that he really really loves. I think
Justin Thomas will be in the mix. Um. I think
John ram Patrick can't lay, and every year it will
throw up, you know, this tournament throws out a player
that isn't necessarily one of the favorites, that is going

(01:16:52):
to make it to the back nine on Sunday with
a chance. It's the great thing about it. Um. So yeah,
I mean I think that it's impossible to talk about,
you know, a champion this early, but I mean you
can kind of get an idea. I think John rom
he's gonna have a chance. I mean, this is a
golf course that that sets up fantastic for him. I

(01:17:13):
think every golf course sets up fantastic for John. Rom
had a lot of questions about the Augusta Women's Am.
I mean, I thought that that was just so so
much fun to watch um Anna Miller, sixteen years old
high school student. I mean, if anybody is listening, that
is a junior golfer, If anyone's listening that is a

(01:17:35):
parent of a junior golfer, or if anybody that's listening
is a competitive golfer. If you watch the way that
that she rolled around Augusta National hand in the pocket
jacket was gonna zipped up, not zipped up. She had
the bucket hat, she had the you know, the hair,
and she was hitting shots and acting like it was
just no big deal. I mean, she was walking up,

(01:17:56):
she had a couple of she had a wet shot
in the thirteen flighted, laid it up, beautiful little wedge shot,
controlled the trajectory, controlled the spin, and basically looked like
she wasn't even trying. She I can't remember one of
the green she hit it over, maybe seventeen. She hit
it over, unbelievably difficult chip shop one. Look, a couple
of practice swing got up hit it and it just

(01:18:17):
goes to show you that, you know, the attitude that
you have. She talked about it after the wind. She said, listen,
I didn't feel any pressure. Um, I wasn't one of
the favorites, and UM, I just kind of enjoyed it.
And you know that kind of attitude and if you
can kind of watch that and watch that attitude. And
then unfortunately, um, the way it finished. You know a

(01:18:40):
lot of players had chances. You hear me talk about
it all the time. UM, A player in control Bertie sixteen,
all she has to do is get through seventeen and eighteen,
makes a double bogie on seventeen, makes a bogheie on eighteen,
and ends up losing by one shot. Double bogey, triple

(01:19:00):
bogies destroy your scores. They just crush them, keep them
off your card. Um. I can't wait to see what
happens this week. Augusta, it's it's it's one of my favorites. UM.
A lot of family history there for me, So I'm
really really excited. We're gonna do a bonus episode of
Live recording on Wednesday of this week. Um here from Augusta,

(01:19:23):
So that's gonna be launched later this week, so make
sure you check that out. Of course, with Claude, Harmon
comes to you every Wednesday. We'll see everybody next week.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Adam Scott Interview: What it meant to win the Masters, what the Champion’s Dinner is really like and what the future holds for the Australian