April 7, 2022 • 40 mins
Live from Augusta, Claude breaks down this year’s course changes and shares what this week means to his family. He also discusses predictions for the week and takes questions from the crowd.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
So it is a special Master's Week edition of Off
Course with Claude Harmon. I'm see you every Wednesday, and
we are coming to you on the golf dot Com
clubhouse at the Savannah River Brewing Company here in Augusta National. Um.
I think this is such a special week, and UM,
(00:29):
I was really lucky to be able to get out
of the golf course on Sunday. Dustin Johnson, who I
work with, DJ played with his brother a J. And
UH to be able to get out and see the
changes in the golf course and kind of see how
the golf course is going to play. UM, it's it's
a it's a unique week for instructors because it's the
only tournament where we're not allowed actually on the golf
(00:52):
course in practice round. So to be able to get
out on Sunday with DJ and his brother a J.
Garrit Keego who I also work with, they played together
and to see the changes. Um, I think the biggest
change that I saw is eleven and fifteen and the
eleven pole. They've taken the green or they've taken the
(01:12):
tea and they've moved it almost fifteen yards further back
and to the left, So it used to play a
little bit of a kind of a dog leg to
where it was a little bit you can hit it
down the left hand side, and then you were trying
to cut it so you can get a better angle.
But because they've moved that tea and they've lowered it,
it's actually made I think the golf holes straight and
(01:36):
there's more room to the left. But the problem is
is if you hit the golf ball to the left
now the approach shot, if the green is on the
front and right, you're actually having to come in over
the water. They've taken a lot of the trees out
on the right hand side, but in true Augusta National fashion,
they've left three trees. They've cleared out a lot, but
they've left three trees. So all of a sudden, you
(01:58):
you hit one out to the right hand side and
you can be And I watched some of the practice
rounds and and and DJ played a practice round with
Harold Varner. He hit a little a little bit of
a block out to the right and he was literally
right behind one of the three trees and he had
to make the choice to kind of go around it
one side or to the to the right side. Or
(02:19):
to the left side. Um there's been a lot of
changes around the greens. There's some mounds that are short
right of the green at eleven that used to be
quite tall, and so what they've done is in the
past you would hit shots and it would basically because
the mounds were so high, if the ball hit them,
it would push them back and they would come back
(02:39):
towards the player. But because they softened the mounds, if
you miss it and you to the right, but it
hits the mound on the left hand side, it can
kick off and go towards the water. It can even
run all the way towards the water. And then I
think everybody remembers Larry miss famous shot where he chipped
(03:00):
in in a playoff against Greig Norman and he was
to the right of that green. They've actually taken that
and they've almost scooped that out. So there's almost a
little bit of a drop off of about i'd say
maybe three to four ft on the on the right
hand side. And so if you missed the green to
the right and any of the pins or on the
(03:20):
right hand side, and you've short sided yourself in the past,
you could kind of maybe put it you can maybe
hit a little bit of a bump and run. I
think now if you miss the green to the right,
you have to make a decision on whether you're going
to hit some sort of high flop shot if you're
going to try and bounce it into the slope. So
some very very distinct changes on a golf hole that
(03:41):
really is kind of the start of Amen Corner. It's
always a very tough hole. It's been pivotal throughout the
years of Augusta Nationals. So I was really really impressed
with that um. Like I said, it's a hard hole anyway,
but they they've definitely made that harder. And then the
other hole that I thought was really different obviously is
the fifteen hole, the par five um. The te box
(04:04):
used to kind of be right by the club, right
by the cart path that was on that ran right
in front of it, and it was at the same height.
So what they've done is they've moved that almost twenty
yards further back, but they've lowered the team and as
they've lowered the tea and moved it kind of back
into the left that whole we were out there in
the practice rounds on Sunday and there was a group
(04:26):
in front of us, and we couldn't see if that
group was in the fairway or not in the fairway, So,
believe it or not, the almost plays uphill. Now. A
lot of the players have been saying this week that
it may be a little bit easier because in the
past with the tea being twenty yards further and if
you hook the ball off the tea and missed it
to the left, you could get blocked out by the
(04:47):
trees that are down on that left hand side. I
think now that a lot of the players have been saying,
oh wait that if you do hit the golf bowl left,
but you don't really really miss it left, you've got
some room and some bailout over to the to the
left inside, and then you're gonna have to hit a
hook around the trees. You could go for it. They've
changed some of the greens. They've relaid some of the greens.
(05:09):
They relaid the first green, the third green, green, the
fifteenth green. They've made some subtle changes to the slopes.
But because they've made the changes and relaid the greens,
the local caddies that were that were caddying for DJ
and his brother A. J. On Sunday. We're saying they
had all caddied in the Augusto Women's Amateur, and some
(05:31):
of the greens were a lot harder and a lot
bounce here that were the newer of the greens. I
think one of the unique things about this golf course
is it's the same golf course that the players play
every year. So as as someone that's watched this golf
tournament in my entire life every year, there's subtle nuances
and changes and and and I always try when I'm
(05:52):
here to spend as much time as i can around
the caddies that caddy here on a regular basis at
Augusta National. And they were saying that the guys that
caddied in Augusta Women's Amateur, a lot of the pin
positions on Sunday were very similar to what we see
for the guys on Sunday, but they were maybe a
yard or to the right, a yard to the left,
(06:15):
a yard more forward, and a yard more back. And
by just moving a pin position that is a traditional
Sunday Augusta pin position for the tournament this week, but
for the for the women, just moving it a yard
either direction, it completely changed their ability to read the green.
(06:36):
So I think the green complex is here at Augusta
or to me, they're the star of the show. And
I think that's also obviously. To win here at Augusta Nashley,
you have to put well. I just don't think you
can get around this golf course and not have a
good putting week. But if you look at the last
ten years and you look at the way that players
have played this golf course, people that have a chance
(06:57):
to win, and people that have one the normally inside
the top ten and strokes gained approach, so their iron
play tends to be really, really solid. To have a
great iron week, you have to be able to drive
the ball in play. And I think the unique thing
about the design of the golf courses it really does
test every element of your game. It tests your ability
(07:19):
to drive the golf ball. Now, this is probably, out
of all the Majors, the easiest of the driving courses
because there's not a lot of rough, but if you
drive the golf ball in the wrong position, it really
does affect your ability to hit shots into the greens.
And I'm sure everybody that's listening has heard before that
(07:40):
the pin positions here at Augusta National. They're about the
size of a table and not a very big table,
so that's where you have the ability to try and
land it. And if you get out of position off
the tea, it just basically makes your ability to get
anywhere close to the flags to play any sort of
offense and makes it really really difficult. Um there were
(08:04):
The uniqueness of this golf course is there are certain
places that you hit it and and and a great example.
So DJ was out on Sunday and Garrick Keego, who's
a rookie here, uh never played a gust and fourth
played a practice round a couple of weeks ago, but
he's never played in the tournament. And we were on
the fifty. You've got the bunkers down to the left
hand side, and Garrick said, hey to DJ, Hey, what
(08:27):
do you do here? And DJ said, well, if you
hit in the bunkers to the left, it's basically a
one shot penalty because you can't get to the green.
So Garrick a little bit, he's left handed, he kind
of blocked one into the bunkers, into the first bunker
on the left hand side was at the bottom, tried
to hit a club. You thought it was enough club
to get out of the bunker, but it wasn't hit
(08:47):
The lip bounced back and he got to the green
and he said the DJ you weren't lying. It's it's
a it's a one shot penalty. Um. There are interesting
stretches of the golf course. I think everybody knows of
the back nine on Sunday is the star of the show.
But I think one of the sneaky three whole combos
on this golf course is the fourth hole, which is
(09:09):
the downhill par three, which is probably going to play
somewhere in the neighborhood of two twenty two forty. Then
you've got and if you miss that green, regardless of
where the pin positions are, if there's two bunkers, there's
a bunker front, there's a bunker left. Those are difficult
up and downs. If you missed the ball over the green,
the green sets and it's rolling away from you. You
(09:31):
missed the golf ball to the right of the green,
any of those pin positions, it's tough because of the
way the green is angled. You've got the fifth holes
where it's really really important that you hit the fairway.
But then the green complex at the fifth is I
think one of the most difficult green complexes on the
golf course. And then you've got the downhill part three
six holes. You've got a part three par four and
(09:55):
then a downhill par three. But the pin positions on
the six hole, they put it back right on that
top shelf. You miss that green, there's just really no
shot that you can get to that. So it is
always the stretches of the golf course that make it great.
And I think everybody that wins here talks about the
(10:15):
fact that it is as much this week about the
mental side of things, about keeping a clear mind, about
trying not to get ahead of yourself, because that's what
Alistair McKinsey wanted to do here. He wanted to challenge
the players not only physically and technically with their golf swing,
but he wanted to challenge them from a design standpoint,
(10:36):
to make them have to think. And and I just
had recently out of Scott on my podcast which came
out today, and Scotty was talking about the fact that
one of the difficulties of Augustin National is the back nine.
You know what's coming. You know that there are disasters
on ten, there's disasters on eleven, there's disasters on twelve.
You've got the par three where you're expecting to pick
(10:57):
up some ground, but the fourteen pull the way that
fairway work. It slopes pretty dramatically from left to right.
If you can draw it up against the hill and
hold that fairway, but if you miss it down there
to the right hand side, it just makes it really,
really difficult. So it's always testing you, not only from um,
(11:17):
what you're trying to do with your golf swing, but
it's really testing what you're trying to do from a
mental standpoint. So UM, I think it's a really interesting
time right now. We've got a lot of really good players. UM.
I would think that if you've been playing well, you're
going to come in this week with a tremendous amount
of confidence. So um, you're looking at a guy like
Scottie Scheffler, who's newly the number one ranked player in
(11:38):
the world. These ones three out of the last six
tournaments he's played in. You've got a guy like Cam Smith.
The last time he played a month ago, UM, he
won the Players Championship. I think Sam Burns is definitely
someone to look out for this week. Um, he is
a legit contender to be number one in the world.
I think we are going to see right now with
(11:58):
so many good players, is um. I just don't think
we're going to see someone go on a long run
the way maybe DJ did, the way maybe Brooks did. Um.
I think we're going to continue to see uh kind
of not so much of a revolving door. But I
just don't think you're going to see someone go an
entire year year and a half has the number one
(12:19):
ranked player in the world. Because the depth of field
and the depth of players right now, Um, John rom
hasn't been playing the way that that he has in
the past. Um, you would think that this golf course
would suit him because there isn't a skill that that
he really doesn't possess. Um, if you've won this golf
tournament before. I don't think DJ is coming into the
(12:41):
to this week with perform that he had in when
pretty much everybody figured he was going to win and
then ended up winning. But he's starting to find some form.
I think DJ likes the way that he played in Austin.
He started to drive the golf ball a little bit
better and there's a comfort level because he's one here
before he's finished, can here before he's contended, and then
(13:02):
I think August so always this week always throws up
maybe not somebody that was at the top of everyone's list,
and they normally kind of hang around until the back
nine on Sunday, and we see that all the time.
You could definitely see someone if you look back to
camp Smith had a chance to win, Sun Jam had
(13:22):
a chance to win. And if you were an elite
ball striker, this is the type of golf course that
I think really really favors elite ball striking. Um. The
wind conditions this week, the rain it has rained NonStop
here for the last forty eight hours. The golf course
is going to play exceptionally longer than it was earlier
(13:43):
in the week where they haven't had the rain. Um,
and that's going to put a premium on distance. But
if if we're looking at the forecast for the next
three days, the wind is supposed to blow, the wind
supposed to be out of the north, the temperature supposed
to drop, so the ball isn't going to be going
as far as it was on Monday and early on Tuesday.
(14:07):
And then obviously I think one of the big stories
this week is Tiger Woods. Um. I think it's unbelievable
that Tigers even attempting to play this golf tournament. I
think everybody knows, um, the horrific car accident Tiger had
out in Los Angeles, and there were a lot of
people after hearing about the accident, listening to the people
(14:27):
in his team on all the things that he was
going through, I think a lot of people thought that
he may never play play golf again. So, um, it
is just transformed this tournament. I mean, I've never seen
as many people. Um, it's been a long time. I
was lucky enough to be here when Tiger won his
first UM Master's champion. He was worried with my dad
(14:48):
at that point, and there were a lot of people
out here. But on Monday, the driving range, Tiger was
in a bunker and the entire all the stands were
filled with patrons, everybody around the greens and around kind
of that short game area at the at the at
the driving rage here at August Nashvill will will full.
He went over to the driving range, the stands immediately
(15:11):
filled up. Um, I think it's going to be really
really interesting. I don't think necessarily. The golf is going
to be the difficult part for Tiger. I talked to
his caddie yesterday, Joe Wakaba. He said, listen, Tiger is
hitting it good. The swing speed looks good. I think
the big question is how Tiger is going to handle
walking up and down this golf course. I was out
(15:34):
on the golf course, as I said, on Sunday with DJ,
walked eighteen holes. By the time I got back to
my hotel room, I sat down, took a shower, I
had some dinner. I went to get back up. My
knees hurt, my ankles hurt, my back hurt, and Tiger
is going to have to deal with all of that. Um,
they can dry out the greens here at Augusta National
because they have the subair system that will take a
(15:55):
lot of the moisture out of them. So I think
they can kind of get the greens the way they
want to. But walking around this golf course in normal
conditions is very, very difficult, and I think that to me,
that's going to be the big question is seventy two holes,
how Tiger's body holds up just from a wear and
tear that doesn't have anything to do with golf, but
(16:17):
has to do with him having to walk around here. UM.
He's been playing every practice round with Justin Thomas. Freddie
Couples have talked to Freddie yesterday and he said, listen,
Tiger looked really, really good. UM. Justin Thomas has been
talking about that as well. I think a lot of
people are looking at Justin Thomas as someone that should
and probably will give himself a chance to get into
contention this week. We haven't seen Justin be able to
(16:39):
close the way we're used to being able to see
him close. But he's such an elite bull striker. UM
hasn't been putting as great as he has probably in
the last couple of years, but I would expect Justin
to kind of be in the mix. UM last week
in San Antonio. UM, I think on Sunday Jordan's speef
lead the Filded strokes gained. UM. Could we see someone
(17:02):
like Jordan's speak make a run here. I think everybody
would love to see that, UM having one here in
two thousand and fifteen. But I think it's an amazing
week and the players, obviously everybody wants to kind of
see who's going to do what. But I think every year,
year in year out, to me, the star of the
show every year at Augusta National is the golf course.
(17:23):
I think that's what we continue to talk about, and
I think that's what everybody is trying to figure out
how to solve all of the things that this amazing
golf course, this amazing design. Um throws up the twelfth hole, Um,
this is only I think on Sunday it was only
the third time that I've been lucky enough to be
(17:44):
on the golf course here at august never been lucky
enough to play, but it was the third time I've
been on the golf course. And every time I go
to the twelfth hole the t box he kind of
look up, and the players are trying to figure out
where the wind is. There's a lot of advice from
different caddies, from different players. But on Sunday, when when
(18:05):
DJ kind of rolled through the twelfth hole, he was
standing on the tee, the flag on eleven was pointing
straight down, and then the flag on twelve was pointing
straight across. So you're looking at a flag that's going
straight down, and then you're looking at another flag on
the green that's going straight across. The wind kind of
swirls in that area. I asked DJ what your strategy
(18:26):
is and he said, listen, I've heard from all the
caddies that you look up to the trees, you check
the flag on eleven before you hit it, you check
the flag on twelve. But he kind of feels like
you never really kind of get an idea of what
the wind's going to do. Anyway, So wherever the wind
is on twelve, wherever that flag is tone and he said, listen,
that's kind of the one that I always go on.
But I think that is just such a fascinating hole
(18:49):
because the green complex there is so small, it's it
kind of angles away. The middle of the green on
the twelve hole is about ten to eleven steps. Why,
the left hand side it's about thirteen paces wide or
sixteen paces wide, and then the front right, the right
hand side of it is about thirteen So it is
a tiny, tiny target. You know that if the pin
(19:13):
is on the front right, everybody says you try and
hit it over the bunker, maybe play at the even
left of the bunker. But every year on Sunday, when
the pin is front right, you're going to see players
in two thousand, nineteen when Tiger one Tiger hit it
in the middle of that green Brooks or instant in
the water, Tony Finow instant in the water. A lot
of guys did. And there's a great picture I found
(19:34):
on social media of Tiger kind of just past impact
and that ball starting left of that bunker. So there
are so many iconic holes here at Augustina National. And
I think it's something that makes this tournament to me.
It's it's it's the most special tournament that we have
in the game of golf. And it and it is
(19:54):
special for me because I've been lucky enough, um to
come here. I've and coming here since nineteen seven. And UM,
my grandfather won this tournament in um the first time
I ever came to Augusta National in my grandfather was
still alive. I was a senior in high school. I
got to go up into the champions locker room and
(20:15):
have breakfast with him and lunch with him on a
number of different occasions and and and it was a
really unique experience. Um he won this golf tournament in
night and UM, if you look at the purse that year,
in the total entire purse was ten thousand dollars. He
won twenty five hundred dollars for winning the Masters. In
(20:38):
the total purse this year is eleven and a half million,
and the winner will win over two million dollars. So
if you look at that kind of exponential growth and
what golf could do, some of the players playing in
the field, uh that week that my grandfather won, Ben Hogan,
Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Jimmy DeMeritt, Jane Sarah's and Henry Cotton,
(20:59):
some of the greatest player years. He took a two
shot lead into Sunday and ended up winning by five
shot to seventy nine, and he was one of only
three players to break poar that week. He finished nine
under his shot seventy on the first day, seventy on
the on the second day, sixty nine on Saturday, and
(21:19):
seventy on Sunday. And one of my one of the
cool things I think about his Sunday round is the
sixth hole, which is the par three, the difficult seventh hole,
and then the par five eighth hole. He went birdie, birdie, eagle,
which I think he took a ten shot lead to
the back nine and won by five shots. Um, he
(21:40):
wasn't a touring pro. He couldn't afford you couldn't make
a real decent living back then. So he was the
head pro at Wingfoot Country Club where they've had, you know,
a lot of US Opens where Bryson won the US
Open before. And then he was the head pro at
Seminal where they just had the Walker Cup, And those
jobs were so much more financially rewarding for him to
(22:03):
be the head pro at those two jobs wor trying
to play on the tour at that point. But it
was a really really interesting UM time because he never
really played good. My dad always chokes about the fact that, Um,
he never really played good after that. But to be
a Master's Champion, UM, I got to go up into
the to the the Champions locker room with him. He
(22:26):
shared still to this day. UM. Not a lot of
people know that the Champions locker room has been expanded
over the years, but it is an incredibly small room.
And I think if anybody UM that's listening had the
opportunity to go into the Champions locker room upstairs here
at Augusta, they would just be shocked at how small
(22:49):
it is. So all of the past champions double lock.
They have to share a locker, as I said, Adam
Scott was just on the podcast today that came out,
and Adam shares a locker with Gary Player and my
my grandfather. Even though he's no longer with us, he
still shares a locker with Tom Watson. So that kind
of history here at Augusta National, I've been able to
(23:11):
go through and find a lot of old photographs and
to see him at the Champions did or I posted
something on social media last night. He was part of
the first Master's Champions Dinner, which is now a tradition,
but that tradition actually started on April four two and
it was hosted by Ben Hogan. He had won the
(23:32):
year before in one. And there was a great photo
that I posted last night of all of the champions
in nifty two with all of their green jackets. And
it was really cool this morning on the driving range
when DJ came onto the driving range and Adam came
onto the driving range. That's one of my favorite things
on Wednesday morning is to talk to all of the
past champions that went to the dinner the night before
(23:54):
and to listen to them talk about what an amazing
experience it is because the traditions that they've been able
to build here at Augusta National are so special because
the fraternity that you're a part of, as as when
you become a Master's Champion, it is such a small,
small group of people, and when they all get together
(24:15):
at the at the Master's Champions dinner, I can't even
imagine what that must be like for those guys, because
I mean, it's it's like being somebody that walked on
the moon, so little people on this planet to have
had the opportunity to do that. Um, they get to
put on their green jackets. Another tradition that I don't
think a lot of people realize is when you become
(24:37):
a Master's Champion for that calendar year, from the time
you win until you come back the following years the
defending champion, you're allowed to take the green jacket with you.
You can wear it. You're not allowed to post about
it on social media, but you can wear it. You
can take it to other tournaments. Um, you can do
it in speaking engagements, but then the jacket stays in
(24:59):
your lock her here. So the fact that all of
the players are allowed to come back, they put their
jackets on that was one of the cool things that
Adam Scott talked about. Scotty says, from the moment he
gets here, he puts the jacket on and the only
time he's not wearing it is when he's on the
golf course or he's practicing, because it is such a
special thing and it means so so much to all
(25:21):
the players UM last night and talking to all of
the guys that are at the dinner um, they said
that Haddeki Mattioma did just an unbelievable job as the
host UM. I think everybody knows that when Hadeki gives
interviews and we're able to see what Headeki does when
he gives interviews, he always does it with his an
interpreter Bob. And everybody that I talked to today said
(25:43):
that Haddeki got up, stood up in front of that
entire group of people and gave his speech in English.
He didn't use an interpreter. Um. Everybody said the food
was amazing. And Trevor Immelman, who is a very good
friend of mine, Trevor one here in two thousand and eight.
Trevor been going to every Master's Um champions did Or
(26:03):
since two thousand and eight, and they said when Headeki
got up and gave his speech, he actually everybody in
the room got up and gave him a standing ovation.
And Trevor said, listen, I've been coming to every one
of these since two thousand and eight, and I've never
seen that happen, And so that is really one of
the really cool things. And to be on the driving
range today and to watch all of the past champions
(26:25):
that were at the dinner that they were all going
by this morning, and and going up to Headeki and
shaking his hand and patting them on the back, and
the traditions that this tournament and this experience have been
able to make, to me is what makes this tournament
so so special. And um, you know, I'm very lucky
(26:46):
to be a part of the Harmon family. You know,
I was talking to my dad today. My dad. My
dad hasn't been here since two thousand and nineteen. He's
kind of semi retired. He's still working with players, he's
he's here this week. He's been working with Harold varner
Um since of mid June of last year, works with
Daniel Kane, still does some work with Webb Simpson on
my dad's basically just been hanging out in Vegas. He
(27:08):
hasn't been to the Masters since two thousand and nineteen.
Was on the driving range this morning and somebody asked him,
you know, Butchee, how many of these have you been to?
And he said, well, I was here when my grandfather won,
and or when my father on I was five years old.
So my dad will be seventy eight in August. I
mean he's been coming here pretty much his entire life.
(27:30):
And so for those of us that are part of
the Harmon family to come back here every year and
kind of be a part of the tradition and and
see everything that this tournament not only means to our family,
but to the people that are lucky enough to win
this tournament is to me, it is what makes this
this tournament such an amazing, amazing experience. And I think
(27:52):
if you talk to every I think if you talk
to every player that plays golf on a professional level,
I think maybe some of the year pen players will
say the Open Championship because it's where they grew up.
But I think everybody if they had to win one
major or one tournament and and and they could be
a champion in anything, it would be here at Augusta National.
(28:13):
So it is a special week. Um, we are going
to see drama, we are going to see great shots,
We are going to see the best players in the
world be tested. And I think it is, you know,
such a special event. We've got the Players Championship now
in March, but this is also the start of major season.
And if we look at the players that have been
(28:33):
able to win this tournament, Um, you know, could we
be at the beginning and on the eve of of
Tiger Woods doing something that even from a and you
look at everything Tiger has done. If he finds a
way to get himself into contention this week on the
back nine on Sunday, I think it would break. It
would break the Internet, it would break all viewing records
(28:56):
on CBS. And I don't think there's anybody golf or
non golf. If Tigers in the hunting he's one of
the last two or three groups on Sunday, I don't
think there's anybody anywhere in the world that isn't gonna
be watching. So it's it's a really special week. I'm
really excited and um, it's gonna be fun to see
if it has a chance to win. So we're gonna
do some live questions. If anybody's got live questions. Anybody
(29:20):
wants to ask a question about anything, We got anything? Yeah,
there's the first one. I hope this is good because
(29:42):
it's taken a long time. There has been a rookie
champions since the nine. I believe who game of the
first final as chances this year? Wow? That a great question. Um.
I'm working with a young kid named Garrick Keigo, Garrick
(30:05):
two years old. It's his first Masters. I think it's
so so hard to win. And and I was. I
was out with Garrick on Sunday, played with DJ and
he was. He took a local caddy and his caddy
Nick walked around with him because you don't know what
you don't know around here. And I think there is
so much to learn about this golf course and the
(30:28):
ability to try and get your way around here. And
if you look, there have been a lot of not
a lot, but there have been multiple winners here who
have won here a number of difference on Tiger Jack
Um Sevy Gary player. So to have that knowledge of
(30:49):
where to hit it, where not to hit it. Um.
A great example is the second hole today or the
second hole. On Sunday, Garrick had a beautiful drive right
down at the bottom of the hill and there was
a pin on the front right hand in between the
two bunkers. He hit one to that flag, and he said,
I want to hit one to the back left to
(31:10):
go and and hit one back there. It could have
easily gotten there. And the local caddy that he had, Brian, said, listen,
if you miss this green, you hit it in the
bunker to that pin, You've got no green to work with.
Left is dead. You can't get that up and down
because you don't have any green to work with. Over
the green is dead because you've got no green to
work with. If you bail out to the right on
(31:31):
the green you're looking at, it will go down the
slope and you could be looking at forty. So he said,
to be honest with you, the easiest shot rather than
go for that pin, but one that's back left is
lay it up shirt right kind of in between the
bunkers or in front of the bunker on the right,
and then that allows you to shoot up the hill.
(31:53):
You've got plenty of green to work with, and eight
times out of ten you're gonna get that up and down.
It's stuff like at that unless you have that information
and you know that information. I think one of the
other players who's we all know he's not here this week,
but Phil Nicholson, this was the ultimate golf course for
the way Phil plays golf, for the way that he
(32:14):
likes to think around the golf course, for the way
that he likes to play golf, and Phil he charted
every single green. His practice rounds here would take way
more than normal because he was just trying to leave
no stone unturned and in the practice rounds for anyone
that was out there this week, the practice rounds here
(32:35):
take a long time because there's pins and a lot
of different locations. Guys are putting two different whole locations,
they're hitting chip shots to different whole locations, they're trying
to hit approach shots to it. So I think that's
one of the reasons why we haven't seen um first
time winners here because it's really really I thought that
that's what was so impressive about the Augusta Women's Amateur.
(33:00):
Ani Miller, sixteen years old, sophomore in high school. She
looked like she was going around. I watched the whole thing.
She looked like she was going around this golf course
with no pulse. She looked like she was just playing
a practice round in a high school golf turner. She
hit some wed shots. She had a beautiful wedd shot
on Sunday. She laid it up on thirteen. The pin
(33:20):
was kind of where it normally is on traditional on Sunday,
with a little bit of a back slope behind it.
She had a beautiful, flighted, little wedd shot, spun it
back off the hill down to about inside of five feet,
made the pot. I can't remember. I want to say
it was the seventeen pole where she hit it over
the green pins kind of down, kind of front. It's
(33:42):
one of the hardest chips on this golf course. She
took two practice strokes, stood up, hit it, knocked at
about two feet, tapped in it. I mean, it was unbelievable.
And all of the caddies, the local caddies were just
saying that the way she went around the golf course,
you just they don't see that. I think the difference
between someone like her. She said in her press conference
(34:02):
that she wasn't one of the favorites, and she really
really felt like she didn't have anything to lose but
to be a major champion, to win here at Augusta,
and all of the things that come along with that,
not only the financial rewards that you would have, but
to know that for the rest of your life you
will be a master champion. I think that's one of
(34:24):
the things that we see it every year. We see
guys leading on the back nine on Sunday. They make
one bad swing and the wheels come off, and it
can happen in a heartbeat out here. Great story. So
DJ's brother, a J is a pretty good player. I
mean he's he's a good golfer. He's got a ton
of speed, hits it as far as DJ. So they
(34:45):
made him play from the tips. Um a J shot
three over on the front from the tips with the
double and was flying. Bogie one, Bertie two, Bertie three,
Pard four, I mean a double bogeat six, but he
was flying. He got to the back nine and four
(35:06):
putted from twenty ft after hitting an unbelievable three wood
down around the corner, down around down at the he was.
I walked down to where his shot was and he
said to me, you know, you know where position B
and c R because this is a position A hit
a beautiful iron shot about twenty ft above the whole,
four putting and three putted from five ft, hit a
(35:30):
great drive on eleven, hit a bad wedge shot in
the water, and then went to the drop zone and
hit that one in the water. It's not only amateurs
that that happens to. We see that on a regular bay.
So I think there's so much nuance to this golf
course that that's one of the reasons why we just
haven't seen um people that have never played in this
tournament before have a tremendous amount of success. Chips well one.
(36:04):
I think the reason why if you've got a great
short game. I mean the greatest example. The two greatest
examples of that are three. You've got Sevy Bias Steros
who had an unbelievable short game. You had Phil Mickelson
who had an unbelievable short game, and then Tiger Woods.
I think one of the most, if not the most
iconic shot in master's history was Tiger Woods. Left of
(36:27):
the green. It's sixteen, which is you can't get that
up and down and he chips it in. So I
think if you do miss greens here. The only way
you can make pars are to have an an unbelievable
short game. If you shortside yourself, if you maybe try
to play offense from the middle of the fairway and
(36:49):
go at a pin when you shouldn't have. Because this
golf course is so penal um it forces you all
day long to just try play defense. You're just trying
to play defense. You're trying to not make mistakes. And
so what happens is you get a good yardage with
a short iron and it's a good number, and maybe
(37:13):
it's not a green light pin, but you feel like, Okay,
I'm going to try and be aggressive here. Maybe don't
pull off the shot, come out of it. You shortside yourself.
Now you're basically staring at make it. You're trying to
find some way to make a bow game because you
can't get it close from where you are. You have
to hit maybe a hero flop shot. So I think
(37:33):
when you do miss greens here, it is so vitally
important that your short game is there to bail you out.
And I think you know in the in the in
the championships at Phil Mickelson one here we've seen Phil
hits just some unbelievable short game shots. Tiger Woods, in
my opinion, has one of the greatest short games of
all time, and it's no surprise that he has as
(37:55):
many green jackets that he has. It tests every element
of your game, but it's certainly tests your short game
and your ability to It also tests your ability with
the short game to be creative. So if you look
at Tiger, if you look at Phil, if you look
at seven, their short game is it's great from a
technical standpoint, But the creativity that those players world have,
(38:21):
that's it's it's what makes it so important to be
able to try and use your short game to bail
you out here. You always hear that Augusta is a
second shot golf course. Would do a dustin Tiger Jack
(38:41):
Phil Maka say they all played a second shot predominantly
left for right ballplayer. If you're a right to left player,
what would you be as a teacher, what would you
be telling them in terms of how the player the
golf course first is learning from life trying to play
more because as a left for bright approach, well, I
(39:05):
think historically Augusta has been thought of as a place
where you need to draw it, where you need to
be able to draw the golf ball off the team.
If you look at the holes on the front nine,
the second hole, the par five, if you can turn
it around the corner with a little bit of a
right to left shot, it's an advantage on five. It's
an advantage. Um on nine, it's an advantage on ten,
(39:29):
it's an advantage on thirteen. It's an advantage on fourteen.
To hold it up against that slope, it's an advantage.
But Jack Nicholas faded the golf ball, and he's one
here more than anybody. So I think that there is
DJ fades the golf ball and he's one here before
when Tiger won him one here in in fifteen, he
(39:50):
was working the golf ball both ways. He needed to
draw it, he drew it into the greens, He needed
to fade it. He faded it. So, UM, I just
think it's so demanding because you have to put yourself
in position off the tee to have an opportunity to
then play some offense if you get a good number
and you get the right pin. But I don't think
(40:11):
it's a surprise that, um the iron game. If your
iron game is off, you're going to struggle around this
golf course, and I just don't think you can fake
it from an iron standpoint. Oh yeah, it's unbelievable. All right,
Thanks for coming
So it is a special Master's Week edition of Off
Course with Claude Harmon. I'm see you every Wednesday, and
we are coming to you on the golf dot Com
clubhouse at the Savannah River Brewing Company here in Augusta National. Um.
I think this is such a special week, and UM,
(00:29):
I was really lucky to be able to get out
of the golf course on Sunday. Dustin Johnson, who I
work with, DJ played with his brother a J. And
UH to be able to get out and see the
changes in the golf course and kind of see how
the golf course is going to play. UM, it's it's
a it's a unique week for instructors because it's the
only tournament where we're not allowed actually on the golf
(00:52):
course in practice round. So to be able to get
out on Sunday with DJ and his brother a J.
Garrit Keego who I also work with, they played together
and to see the changes. Um, I think the biggest
change that I saw is eleven and fifteen and the
eleven pole. They've taken the green or they've taken the
(01:12):
tea and they've moved it almost fifteen yards further back
and to the left, So it used to play a
little bit of a kind of a dog leg to
where it was a little bit you can hit it
down the left hand side, and then you were trying
to cut it so you can get a better angle.
But because they've moved that tea and they've lowered it,
it's actually made I think the golf holes straight and
(01:36):
there's more room to the left. But the problem is
is if you hit the golf ball to the left
now the approach shot, if the green is on the
front and right, you're actually having to come in over
the water. They've taken a lot of the trees out
on the right hand side, but in true Augusta National fashion,
they've left three trees. They've cleared out a lot, but
they've left three trees. So all of a sudden, you
(01:58):
you hit one out to the right hand side and
you can be And I watched some of the practice
rounds and and and DJ played a practice round with
Harold Varner. He hit a little a little bit of
a block out to the right and he was literally
right behind one of the three trees and he had
to make the choice to kind of go around it
one side or to the to the right side. Or
(02:19):
to the left side. Um there's been a lot of
changes around the greens. There's some mounds that are short
right of the green at eleven that used to be
quite tall, and so what they've done is in the
past you would hit shots and it would basically because
the mounds were so high, if the ball hit them,
it would push them back and they would come back
(02:39):
towards the player. But because they softened the mounds, if
you miss it and you to the right, but it
hits the mound on the left hand side, it can
kick off and go towards the water. It can even
run all the way towards the water. And then I
think everybody remembers Larry miss famous shot where he chipped
(03:00):
in in a playoff against Greig Norman and he was
to the right of that green. They've actually taken that
and they've almost scooped that out. So there's almost a
little bit of a drop off of about i'd say
maybe three to four ft on the on the right
hand side. And so if you missed the green to
the right and any of the pins or on the
(03:20):
right hand side, and you've short sided yourself in the past,
you could kind of maybe put it you can maybe
hit a little bit of a bump and run. I
think now if you miss the green to the right,
you have to make a decision on whether you're going
to hit some sort of high flop shot if you're
going to try and bounce it into the slope. So
some very very distinct changes on a golf hole that
(03:41):
really is kind of the start of Amen Corner. It's
always a very tough hole. It's been pivotal throughout the
years of Augusta Nationals. So I was really really impressed
with that um. Like I said, it's a hard hole anyway,
but they they've definitely made that harder. And then the
other hole that I thought was really different obviously is
the fifteen hole, the par five um. The te box
(04:04):
used to kind of be right by the club, right
by the cart path that was on that ran right
in front of it, and it was at the same height.
So what they've done is they've moved that almost twenty
yards further back, but they've lowered the team and as
they've lowered the tea and moved it kind of back
into the left that whole we were out there in
the practice rounds on Sunday and there was a group
(04:26):
in front of us, and we couldn't see if that
group was in the fairway or not in the fairway, So,
believe it or not, the almost plays uphill. Now. A
lot of the players have been saying this week that
it may be a little bit easier because in the
past with the tea being twenty yards further and if
you hook the ball off the tea and missed it
to the left, you could get blocked out by the
(04:47):
trees that are down on that left hand side. I
think now that a lot of the players have been saying,
oh wait that if you do hit the golf bowl left,
but you don't really really miss it left, you've got
some room and some bailout over to the to the
left inside, and then you're gonna have to hit a
hook around the trees. You could go for it. They've
changed some of the greens. They've relaid some of the greens.
(05:09):
They relaid the first green, the third green, green, the
fifteenth green. They've made some subtle changes to the slopes.
But because they've made the changes and relaid the greens,
the local caddies that were that were caddying for DJ
and his brother A. J. On Sunday. We're saying they
had all caddied in the Augusto Women's Amateur, and some
(05:31):
of the greens were a lot harder and a lot
bounce here that were the newer of the greens. I
think one of the unique things about this golf course
is it's the same golf course that the players play
every year. So as as someone that's watched this golf
tournament in my entire life every year, there's subtle nuances
and changes and and and I always try when I'm
(05:52):
here to spend as much time as i can around
the caddies that caddy here on a regular basis at
Augusta National. And they were saying that the guys that
caddied in Augusta Women's Amateur, a lot of the pin
positions on Sunday were very similar to what we see
for the guys on Sunday, but they were maybe a
yard or to the right, a yard to the left,
(06:15):
a yard more forward, and a yard more back. And
by just moving a pin position that is a traditional
Sunday Augusta pin position for the tournament this week, but
for the for the women, just moving it a yard
either direction, it completely changed their ability to read the green.
(06:36):
So I think the green complex is here at Augusta
or to me, they're the star of the show. And
I think that's also obviously. To win here at Augusta Nashley,
you have to put well. I just don't think you
can get around this golf course and not have a
good putting week. But if you look at the last
ten years and you look at the way that players
have played this golf course, people that have a chance
(06:57):
to win, and people that have one the normally inside
the top ten and strokes gained approach, so their iron
play tends to be really, really solid. To have a
great iron week, you have to be able to drive
the ball in play. And I think the unique thing
about the design of the golf courses it really does
test every element of your game. It tests your ability
(07:19):
to drive the golf ball. Now, this is probably, out
of all the Majors, the easiest of the driving courses
because there's not a lot of rough, but if you
drive the golf ball in the wrong position, it really
does affect your ability to hit shots into the greens.
And I'm sure everybody that's listening has heard before that
(07:40):
the pin positions here at Augusta National. They're about the
size of a table and not a very big table,
so that's where you have the ability to try and
land it. And if you get out of position off
the tea, it just basically makes your ability to get
anywhere close to the flags to play any sort of
offense and makes it really really difficult. Um there were
(08:04):
The uniqueness of this golf course is there are certain
places that you hit it and and and a great example.
So DJ was out on Sunday and Garrick Keego, who's
a rookie here, uh never played a gust and fourth
played a practice round a couple of weeks ago, but
he's never played in the tournament. And we were on
the fifty. You've got the bunkers down to the left
hand side, and Garrick said, hey to DJ, Hey, what
(08:27):
do you do here? And DJ said, well, if you
hit in the bunkers to the left, it's basically a
one shot penalty because you can't get to the green.
So Garrick a little bit, he's left handed, he kind
of blocked one into the bunkers, into the first bunker
on the left hand side was at the bottom, tried
to hit a club. You thought it was enough club
to get out of the bunker, but it wasn't hit
(08:47):
The lip bounced back and he got to the green
and he said the DJ you weren't lying. It's it's
a it's a one shot penalty. Um. There are interesting
stretches of the golf course. I think everybody knows of
the back nine on Sunday is the star of the show.
But I think one of the sneaky three whole combos
on this golf course is the fourth hole, which is
(09:09):
the downhill par three, which is probably going to play
somewhere in the neighborhood of two twenty two forty. Then
you've got and if you miss that green, regardless of
where the pin positions are, if there's two bunkers, there's
a bunker front, there's a bunker left. Those are difficult
up and downs. If you missed the ball over the green,
the green sets and it's rolling away from you. You
(09:31):
missed the golf ball to the right of the green,
any of those pin positions, it's tough because of the
way the green is angled. You've got the fifth holes
where it's really really important that you hit the fairway.
But then the green complex at the fifth is I
think one of the most difficult green complexes on the
golf course. And then you've got the downhill part three
six holes. You've got a part three par four and
(09:55):
then a downhill par three. But the pin positions on
the six hole, they put it back right on that
top shelf. You miss that green, there's just really no
shot that you can get to that. So it is
always the stretches of the golf course that make it great.
And I think everybody that wins here talks about the
(10:15):
fact that it is as much this week about the
mental side of things, about keeping a clear mind, about
trying not to get ahead of yourself, because that's what
Alistair McKinsey wanted to do here. He wanted to challenge
the players not only physically and technically with their golf swing,
but he wanted to challenge them from a design standpoint,
(10:36):
to make them have to think. And and I just
had recently out of Scott on my podcast which came
out today, and Scotty was talking about the fact that
one of the difficulties of Augustin National is the back nine.
You know what's coming. You know that there are disasters
on ten, there's disasters on eleven, there's disasters on twelve.
You've got the par three where you're expecting to pick
(10:57):
up some ground, but the fourteen pull the way that
fairway work. It slopes pretty dramatically from left to right.
If you can draw it up against the hill and
hold that fairway, but if you miss it down there
to the right hand side, it just makes it really,
really difficult. So it's always testing you, not only from um,
(11:17):
what you're trying to do with your golf swing, but
it's really testing what you're trying to do from a
mental standpoint. So UM, I think it's a really interesting
time right now. We've got a lot of really good players. UM.
I would think that if you've been playing well, you're
going to come in this week with a tremendous amount
of confidence. So um, you're looking at a guy like
Scottie Scheffler, who's newly the number one ranked player in
(11:38):
the world. These ones three out of the last six
tournaments he's played in. You've got a guy like Cam Smith.
The last time he played a month ago, UM, he
won the Players Championship. I think Sam Burns is definitely
someone to look out for this week. Um, he is
a legit contender to be number one in the world.
I think we are going to see right now with
(11:58):
so many good players, is um. I just don't think
we're going to see someone go on a long run
the way maybe DJ did, the way maybe Brooks did. Um.
I think we're going to continue to see uh kind
of not so much of a revolving door. But I
just don't think you're going to see someone go an
entire year year and a half has the number one
(12:19):
ranked player in the world. Because the depth of field
and the depth of players right now, Um, John rom
hasn't been playing the way that that he has in
the past. Um, you would think that this golf course
would suit him because there isn't a skill that that
he really doesn't possess. Um, if you've won this golf
tournament before. I don't think DJ is coming into the
(12:41):
to this week with perform that he had in when
pretty much everybody figured he was going to win and
then ended up winning. But he's starting to find some form.
I think DJ likes the way that he played in Austin.
He started to drive the golf ball a little bit
better and there's a comfort level because he's one here
before he's finished, can here before he's contended, and then
(13:02):
I think August so always this week always throws up
maybe not somebody that was at the top of everyone's list,
and they normally kind of hang around until the back
nine on Sunday, and we see that all the time.
You could definitely see someone if you look back to
camp Smith had a chance to win, Sun Jam had
(13:22):
a chance to win. And if you were an elite
ball striker, this is the type of golf course that
I think really really favors elite ball striking. Um. The
wind conditions this week, the rain it has rained NonStop
here for the last forty eight hours. The golf course
is going to play exceptionally longer than it was earlier
(13:43):
in the week where they haven't had the rain. Um,
and that's going to put a premium on distance. But
if if we're looking at the forecast for the next
three days, the wind is supposed to blow, the wind
supposed to be out of the north, the temperature supposed
to drop, so the ball isn't going to be going
as far as it was on Monday and early on Tuesday.
(14:07):
And then obviously I think one of the big stories
this week is Tiger Woods. Um. I think it's unbelievable
that Tigers even attempting to play this golf tournament. I
think everybody knows, um, the horrific car accident Tiger had
out in Los Angeles, and there were a lot of
people after hearing about the accident, listening to the people
(14:27):
in his team on all the things that he was
going through, I think a lot of people thought that
he may never play play golf again. So, um, it
is just transformed this tournament. I mean, I've never seen
as many people. Um, it's been a long time. I
was lucky enough to be here when Tiger won his
first UM Master's champion. He was worried with my dad
(14:48):
at that point, and there were a lot of people
out here. But on Monday, the driving range, Tiger was
in a bunker and the entire all the stands were
filled with patrons, everybody around the greens and around kind
of that short game area at the at the at
the driving rage here at August Nashvill will will full.
He went over to the driving range, the stands immediately
(15:11):
filled up. Um, I think it's going to be really
really interesting. I don't think necessarily. The golf is going
to be the difficult part for Tiger. I talked to
his caddie yesterday, Joe Wakaba. He said, listen, Tiger is
hitting it good. The swing speed looks good. I think
the big question is how Tiger is going to handle
walking up and down this golf course. I was out
(15:34):
on the golf course, as I said, on Sunday with DJ,
walked eighteen holes. By the time I got back to
my hotel room, I sat down, took a shower, I
had some dinner. I went to get back up. My
knees hurt, my ankles hurt, my back hurt, and Tiger
is going to have to deal with all of that. Um,
they can dry out the greens here at Augusta National
because they have the subair system that will take a
(15:55):
lot of the moisture out of them. So I think
they can kind of get the greens the way they
want to. But walking around this golf course in normal
conditions is very, very difficult, and I think that to me,
that's going to be the big question is seventy two holes,
how Tiger's body holds up just from a wear and
tear that doesn't have anything to do with golf, but
(16:17):
has to do with him having to walk around here. UM.
He's been playing every practice round with Justin Thomas. Freddie
Couples have talked to Freddie yesterday and he said, listen,
Tiger looked really, really good. UM. Justin Thomas has been
talking about that as well. I think a lot of
people are looking at Justin Thomas as someone that should
and probably will give himself a chance to get into
contention this week. We haven't seen Justin be able to
(16:39):
close the way we're used to being able to see
him close. But he's such an elite bull striker. UM
hasn't been putting as great as he has probably in
the last couple of years, but I would expect Justin
to kind of be in the mix. UM last week
in San Antonio. UM, I think on Sunday Jordan's speef
lead the Filded strokes gained. UM. Could we see someone
(17:02):
like Jordan's speak make a run here. I think everybody
would love to see that, UM having one here in
two thousand and fifteen. But I think it's an amazing
week and the players, obviously everybody wants to kind of
see who's going to do what. But I think every year,
year in year out, to me, the star of the
show every year at Augusta National is the golf course.
(17:23):
I think that's what we continue to talk about, and
I think that's what everybody is trying to figure out
how to solve all of the things that this amazing
golf course, this amazing design. Um throws up the twelfth hole, Um,
this is only I think on Sunday it was only
the third time that I've been lucky enough to be
(17:44):
on the golf course here at august never been lucky
enough to play, but it was the third time I've
been on the golf course. And every time I go
to the twelfth hole the t box he kind of
look up, and the players are trying to figure out
where the wind is. There's a lot of advice from
different caddies, from different players. But on Sunday, when when
(18:05):
DJ kind of rolled through the twelfth hole, he was
standing on the tee, the flag on eleven was pointing
straight down, and then the flag on twelve was pointing
straight across. So you're looking at a flag that's going
straight down, and then you're looking at another flag on
the green that's going straight across. The wind kind of
swirls in that area. I asked DJ what your strategy
(18:26):
is and he said, listen, I've heard from all the
caddies that you look up to the trees, you check
the flag on eleven before you hit it, you check
the flag on twelve. But he kind of feels like
you never really kind of get an idea of what
the wind's going to do. Anyway, So wherever the wind
is on twelve, wherever that flag is tone and he said, listen,
that's kind of the one that I always go on.
But I think that is just such a fascinating hole
(18:49):
because the green complex there is so small, it's it
kind of angles away. The middle of the green on
the twelve hole is about ten to eleven steps. Why,
the left hand side it's about thirteen paces wide or
sixteen paces wide, and then the front right, the right
hand side of it is about thirteen So it is
a tiny, tiny target. You know that if the pin
(19:13):
is on the front right, everybody says you try and
hit it over the bunker, maybe play at the even
left of the bunker. But every year on Sunday, when
the pin is front right, you're going to see players
in two thousand, nineteen when Tiger one Tiger hit it
in the middle of that green Brooks or instant in
the water, Tony Finow instant in the water. A lot
of guys did. And there's a great picture I found
(19:34):
on social media of Tiger kind of just past impact
and that ball starting left of that bunker. So there
are so many iconic holes here at Augustina National. And
I think it's something that makes this tournament to me.
It's it's it's the most special tournament that we have
in the game of golf. And it and it is
(19:54):
special for me because I've been lucky enough, um to
come here. I've and coming here since nineteen seven. And UM,
my grandfather won this tournament in um the first time
I ever came to Augusta National in my grandfather was
still alive. I was a senior in high school. I
got to go up into the champions locker room and
(20:15):
have breakfast with him and lunch with him on a
number of different occasions and and and it was a
really unique experience. Um he won this golf tournament in
night and UM, if you look at the purse that year,
in the total entire purse was ten thousand dollars. He
won twenty five hundred dollars for winning the Masters. In
(20:38):
the total purse this year is eleven and a half million,
and the winner will win over two million dollars. So
if you look at that kind of exponential growth and
what golf could do, some of the players playing in
the field, uh that week that my grandfather won, Ben Hogan,
Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Jimmy DeMeritt, Jane Sarah's and Henry Cotton,
(20:59):
some of the greatest player years. He took a two
shot lead into Sunday and ended up winning by five
shot to seventy nine, and he was one of only
three players to break poar that week. He finished nine
under his shot seventy on the first day, seventy on
the on the second day, sixty nine on Saturday, and
(21:19):
seventy on Sunday. And one of my one of the
cool things I think about his Sunday round is the
sixth hole, which is the par three, the difficult seventh hole,
and then the par five eighth hole. He went birdie, birdie, eagle,
which I think he took a ten shot lead to
the back nine and won by five shots. Um, he
(21:40):
wasn't a touring pro. He couldn't afford you couldn't make
a real decent living back then. So he was the
head pro at Wingfoot Country Club where they've had, you know,
a lot of US Opens where Bryson won the US
Open before. And then he was the head pro at
Seminal where they just had the Walker Cup, And those
jobs were so much more financially rewarding for him to
(22:03):
be the head pro at those two jobs wor trying
to play on the tour at that point. But it
was a really really interesting UM time because he never
really played good. My dad always chokes about the fact that, Um,
he never really played good after that. But to be
a Master's Champion, UM, I got to go up into
the to the the Champions locker room with him. He
(22:26):
shared still to this day. UM. Not a lot of
people know that the Champions locker room has been expanded
over the years, but it is an incredibly small room.
And I think if anybody UM that's listening had the
opportunity to go into the Champions locker room upstairs here
at Augusta, they would just be shocked at how small
(22:49):
it is. So all of the past champions double lock.
They have to share a locker, as I said, Adam
Scott was just on the podcast today that came out,
and Adam shares a locker with Gary Player and my
my grandfather. Even though he's no longer with us, he
still shares a locker with Tom Watson. So that kind
of history here at Augusta National, I've been able to
(23:11):
go through and find a lot of old photographs and
to see him at the Champions did or I posted
something on social media last night. He was part of
the first Master's Champions Dinner, which is now a tradition,
but that tradition actually started on April four two and
it was hosted by Ben Hogan. He had won the
(23:32):
year before in one. And there was a great photo
that I posted last night of all of the champions
in nifty two with all of their green jackets. And
it was really cool this morning on the driving range
when DJ came onto the driving range and Adam came
onto the driving range. That's one of my favorite things
on Wednesday morning is to talk to all of the
past champions that went to the dinner the night before
(23:54):
and to listen to them talk about what an amazing
experience it is because the traditions that they've been able
to build here at Augusta National are so special because
the fraternity that you're a part of, as as when
you become a Master's Champion, it is such a small,
small group of people, and when they all get together
(24:15):
at the at the Master's Champions dinner, I can't even
imagine what that must be like for those guys, because
I mean, it's it's like being somebody that walked on
the moon, so little people on this planet to have
had the opportunity to do that. Um, they get to
put on their green jackets. Another tradition that I don't
think a lot of people realize is when you become
(24:37):
a Master's Champion for that calendar year, from the time
you win until you come back the following years the
defending champion, you're allowed to take the green jacket with you.
You can wear it. You're not allowed to post about
it on social media, but you can wear it. You
can take it to other tournaments. Um, you can do
it in speaking engagements, but then the jacket stays in
(24:59):
your lock her here. So the fact that all of
the players are allowed to come back, they put their
jackets on that was one of the cool things that
Adam Scott talked about. Scotty says, from the moment he
gets here, he puts the jacket on and the only
time he's not wearing it is when he's on the
golf course or he's practicing, because it is such a
special thing and it means so so much to all
(25:21):
the players UM last night and talking to all of
the guys that are at the dinner um, they said
that Haddeki Mattioma did just an unbelievable job as the
host UM. I think everybody knows that when Hadeki gives
interviews and we're able to see what Headeki does when
he gives interviews, he always does it with his an
interpreter Bob. And everybody that I talked to today said
(25:43):
that Haddeki got up, stood up in front of that
entire group of people and gave his speech in English.
He didn't use an interpreter. Um. Everybody said the food
was amazing. And Trevor Immelman, who is a very good
friend of mine, Trevor one here in two thousand and eight.
Trevor been going to every Master's Um champions did Or
(26:03):
since two thousand and eight, and they said when Headeki
got up and gave his speech, he actually everybody in
the room got up and gave him a standing ovation.
And Trevor said, listen, I've been coming to every one
of these since two thousand and eight, and I've never
seen that happen, And so that is really one of
the really cool things. And to be on the driving
range today and to watch all of the past champions
(26:25):
that were at the dinner that they were all going
by this morning, and and going up to Headeki and
shaking his hand and patting them on the back, and
the traditions that this tournament and this experience have been
able to make, to me is what makes this tournament
so so special. And um, you know, I'm very lucky
(26:46):
to be a part of the Harmon family. You know,
I was talking to my dad today. My dad. My
dad hasn't been here since two thousand and nineteen. He's
kind of semi retired. He's still working with players, he's
he's here this week. He's been working with Harold varner
Um since of mid June of last year, works with
Daniel Kane, still does some work with Webb Simpson on
my dad's basically just been hanging out in Vegas. He
(27:08):
hasn't been to the Masters since two thousand and nineteen.
Was on the driving range this morning and somebody asked him,
you know, Butchee, how many of these have you been to?
And he said, well, I was here when my grandfather won,
and or when my father on I was five years old.
So my dad will be seventy eight in August. I
mean he's been coming here pretty much his entire life.
(27:30):
And so for those of us that are part of
the Harmon family to come back here every year and
kind of be a part of the tradition and and
see everything that this tournament not only means to our family,
but to the people that are lucky enough to win
this tournament is to me, it is what makes this
this tournament such an amazing, amazing experience. And I think
(27:52):
if you talk to every I think if you talk
to every player that plays golf on a professional level,
I think maybe some of the year pen players will
say the Open Championship because it's where they grew up.
But I think everybody if they had to win one
major or one tournament and and and they could be
a champion in anything, it would be here at Augusta National.
(28:13):
So it is a special week. Um, we are going
to see drama, we are going to see great shots,
We are going to see the best players in the
world be tested. And I think it is, you know,
such a special event. We've got the Players Championship now
in March, but this is also the start of major season.
And if we look at the players that have been
(28:33):
able to win this tournament, Um, you know, could we
be at the beginning and on the eve of of
Tiger Woods doing something that even from a and you
look at everything Tiger has done. If he finds a
way to get himself into contention this week on the
back nine on Sunday, I think it would break. It
would break the Internet, it would break all viewing records
(28:56):
on CBS. And I don't think there's anybody golf or
non golf. If Tigers in the hunting he's one of
the last two or three groups on Sunday, I don't
think there's anybody anywhere in the world that isn't gonna
be watching. So it's it's a really special week. I'm
really excited and um, it's gonna be fun to see
if it has a chance to win. So we're gonna
do some live questions. If anybody's got live questions. Anybody
(29:20):
wants to ask a question about anything, We got anything? Yeah,
there's the first one. I hope this is good because
(29:42):
it's taken a long time. There has been a rookie
champions since the nine. I believe who game of the
first final as chances this year? Wow? That a great question. Um.
I'm working with a young kid named Garrick Keigo, Garrick
(30:05):
two years old. It's his first Masters. I think it's
so so hard to win. And and I was. I
was out with Garrick on Sunday, played with DJ and
he was. He took a local caddy and his caddy
Nick walked around with him because you don't know what
you don't know around here. And I think there is
so much to learn about this golf course and the
(30:28):
ability to try and get your way around here. And
if you look, there have been a lot of not
a lot, but there have been multiple winners here who
have won here a number of difference on Tiger Jack
Um Sevy Gary player. So to have that knowledge of
(30:49):
where to hit it, where not to hit it. Um.
A great example is the second hole today or the
second hole. On Sunday, Garrick had a beautiful drive right
down at the bottom of the hill and there was
a pin on the front right hand in between the
two bunkers. He hit one to that flag, and he said,
I want to hit one to the back left to
(31:10):
go and and hit one back there. It could have
easily gotten there. And the local caddy that he had, Brian, said, listen,
if you miss this green, you hit it in the
bunker to that pin, You've got no green to work with.
Left is dead. You can't get that up and down
because you don't have any green to work with. Over
the green is dead because you've got no green to
work with. If you bail out to the right on
(31:31):
the green you're looking at, it will go down the
slope and you could be looking at forty. So he said,
to be honest with you, the easiest shot rather than
go for that pin, but one that's back left is
lay it up shirt right kind of in between the
bunkers or in front of the bunker on the right,
and then that allows you to shoot up the hill.
(31:53):
You've got plenty of green to work with, and eight
times out of ten you're gonna get that up and down.
It's stuff like at that unless you have that information
and you know that information. I think one of the
other players who's we all know he's not here this week,
but Phil Nicholson, this was the ultimate golf course for
the way Phil plays golf, for the way that he
(32:14):
likes to think around the golf course, for the way
that he likes to play golf, and Phil he charted
every single green. His practice rounds here would take way
more than normal because he was just trying to leave
no stone unturned and in the practice rounds for anyone
that was out there this week, the practice rounds here
(32:35):
take a long time because there's pins and a lot
of different locations. Guys are putting two different whole locations,
they're hitting chip shots to different whole locations, they're trying
to hit approach shots to it. So I think that's
one of the reasons why we haven't seen um first
time winners here because it's really really I thought that
that's what was so impressive about the Augusta Women's Amateur.
(33:00):
Ani Miller, sixteen years old, sophomore in high school. She
looked like she was going around. I watched the whole thing.
She looked like she was going around this golf course
with no pulse. She looked like she was just playing
a practice round in a high school golf turner. She
hit some wed shots. She had a beautiful wedd shot
on Sunday. She laid it up on thirteen. The pin
(33:20):
was kind of where it normally is on traditional on Sunday,
with a little bit of a back slope behind it.
She had a beautiful, flighted, little wedd shot, spun it
back off the hill down to about inside of five feet,
made the pot. I can't remember. I want to say
it was the seventeen pole where she hit it over
the green pins kind of down, kind of front. It's
(33:42):
one of the hardest chips on this golf course. She
took two practice strokes, stood up, hit it, knocked at
about two feet, tapped in it. I mean, it was unbelievable.
And all of the caddies, the local caddies were just
saying that the way she went around the golf course,
you just they don't see that. I think the difference
between someone like her. She said in her press conference
(34:02):
that she wasn't one of the favorites, and she really
really felt like she didn't have anything to lose but
to be a major champion, to win here at Augusta,
and all of the things that come along with that,
not only the financial rewards that you would have, but
to know that for the rest of your life you
will be a master champion. I think that's one of
(34:24):
the things that we see it every year. We see
guys leading on the back nine on Sunday. They make
one bad swing and the wheels come off, and it
can happen in a heartbeat out here. Great story. So
DJ's brother, a J is a pretty good player. I
mean he's he's a good golfer. He's got a ton
of speed, hits it as far as DJ. So they
(34:45):
made him play from the tips. Um a J shot
three over on the front from the tips with the
double and was flying. Bogie one, Bertie two, Bertie three,
Pard four, I mean a double bogeat six, but he
was flying. He got to the back nine and four
(35:06):
putted from twenty ft after hitting an unbelievable three wood
down around the corner, down around down at the he was.
I walked down to where his shot was and he
said to me, you know, you know where position B
and c R because this is a position A hit
a beautiful iron shot about twenty ft above the whole,
four putting and three putted from five ft, hit a
(35:30):
great drive on eleven, hit a bad wedge shot in
the water, and then went to the drop zone and
hit that one in the water. It's not only amateurs
that that happens to. We see that on a regular bay.
So I think there's so much nuance to this golf
course that that's one of the reasons why we just
haven't seen um people that have never played in this
tournament before have a tremendous amount of success. Chips well one.
(36:04):
I think the reason why if you've got a great
short game. I mean the greatest example. The two greatest
examples of that are three. You've got Sevy Bias Steros
who had an unbelievable short game. You had Phil Mickelson
who had an unbelievable short game, and then Tiger Woods.
I think one of the most, if not the most
iconic shot in master's history was Tiger Woods. Left of
(36:27):
the green. It's sixteen, which is you can't get that
up and down and he chips it in. So I
think if you do miss greens here. The only way
you can make pars are to have an an unbelievable
short game. If you shortside yourself, if you maybe try
to play offense from the middle of the fairway and
(36:49):
go at a pin when you shouldn't have. Because this
golf course is so penal um it forces you all
day long to just try play defense. You're just trying
to play defense. You're trying to not make mistakes. And
so what happens is you get a good yardage with
a short iron and it's a good number, and maybe
(37:13):
it's not a green light pin, but you feel like, Okay,
I'm going to try and be aggressive here. Maybe don't
pull off the shot, come out of it. You shortside yourself.
Now you're basically staring at make it. You're trying to
find some way to make a bow game because you
can't get it close from where you are. You have
to hit maybe a hero flop shot. So I think
(37:33):
when you do miss greens here, it is so vitally
important that your short game is there to bail you out.
And I think you know in the in the in
the championships at Phil Mickelson one here we've seen Phil
hits just some unbelievable short game shots. Tiger Woods, in
my opinion, has one of the greatest short games of
all time, and it's no surprise that he has as
(37:55):
many green jackets that he has. It tests every element
of your game, but it's certainly tests your short game
and your ability to It also tests your ability with
the short game to be creative. So if you look
at Tiger, if you look at Phil, if you look
at seven, their short game is it's great from a
technical standpoint, But the creativity that those players world have,
(38:21):
that's it's it's what makes it so important to be
able to try and use your short game to bail
you out here. You always hear that Augusta is a
second shot golf course. Would do a dustin Tiger Jack
(38:41):
Phil Maka say they all played a second shot predominantly
left for right ballplayer. If you're a right to left player,
what would you be as a teacher, what would you
be telling them in terms of how the player the
golf course first is learning from life trying to play
more because as a left for bright approach, well, I
(39:05):
think historically Augusta has been thought of as a place
where you need to draw it, where you need to
be able to draw the golf ball off the team.
If you look at the holes on the front nine,
the second hole, the par five, if you can turn
it around the corner with a little bit of a
right to left shot, it's an advantage on five. It's
an advantage. Um on nine, it's an advantage on ten,
(39:29):
it's an advantage on thirteen. It's an advantage on fourteen.
To hold it up against that slope, it's an advantage.
But Jack Nicholas faded the golf ball, and he's one
here more than anybody. So I think that there is
DJ fades the golf ball and he's one here before
when Tiger won him one here in in fifteen, he
(39:50):
was working the golf ball both ways. He needed to
draw it, he drew it into the greens, He needed
to fade it. He faded it. So, UM, I just
think it's so demanding because you have to put yourself
in position off the tee to have an opportunity to
then play some offense if you get a good number
and you get the right pin. But I don't think
(40:11):
it's a surprise that, um the iron game. If your
iron game is off, you're going to struggle around this
golf course, and I just don't think you can fake
it from an iron standpoint. Oh yeah, it's unbelievable. All right,
Thanks for coming
Host
Josh Martin
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