Episode 41: Bubba Watson

Christian Pena, PING VP of Tournament Players, joins Shane on the PING Tour Truck as a special co-host for this week’s episode just outside the gates of Augusta National Golf Club. They welcome two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson to the pod to discuss ‘Bubba Golf’, what it takes to win at Augusta, and his longtime history with PING and the Solheim family.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The guys from paying They've kind of showed me how
much the equipment matters. I just love that I can
hit any shot I kind of want. We're gonna be
able to tell some fun stories about what goes on
here to help golfers play better golf. Welcome back to
the Pink Proving Grounds Podcast. We've got an awesome reserve
in today, Christian Payne. You filling in for Marty Jertsen
here at Augusta National. We also got a guy by

(00:20):
the name of Bubba Watson. You may have heard of
him before. Two time Masters champion, Christian. I want to
start here though. Bubba, the nice guy that he is,
brought you to Augusta National a couple of years ago
and you got a chance to play alongside Bubba, although
he made you play pretty far back.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well it was far back. And the one thing about Bubba,
he's got a great heart. And he brought me to
Augusta National end John K. Solheim our president last March,
and did dream come true for me? Loves I'm playing
first time, Oh yeah, first time pretty much on the
golf course because as a rep when I worked here,
you're not allowed to go inside the ropes. And so

(00:58):
we came. We had a great time. I mean, Bubba
did say, hey, Christian, you were not playing the members teas,
you were gonna come back and play with me like
a man. And so I manned up, even though all
fifty five years as well, I was fifty four last year.
But it's really long, I'll just say that. And I
didn't know that there's only championship teas and member tees

(01:18):
and but it was fun. It was a dream come true.
We had a great time. Bubba's taking care of me
over the years, Like I've played a lot of golf
with him, and he's taken me to some really cool places.
This is number one. So anyway, it was great.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Tough to beat that Bubba.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Can you kind of dive into the experience how his
game was, how he played from the back to how
many head covers he pulled out on the par fours?

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh gosh, I lost count. But the key is, though
you don't want to leave a guy being a ex
professional golfer as you are and a champion in.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Japan, it is yeah, hey, good memory.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
And so I love when the Japanese media comes up
and takes pictures of you and talks about all the
history anyway, that's a different podcast. So my thing is, though,
when you come to Augusta and you play, and you
have any kind of ability, you want to be back
there totally. You have to like, why say that you
played Augusta National and you played the uptease like you

(02:13):
want to say, you played all the way back. You
saw how difficult it is, you felt it, and you're like, man,
and now you can appreciate it when you watch it
on TV, right, you can see the struggles. You can
be like, oh, yeah, I felt that struggle. Number eleven
is a struggle for everybody. So there's guys this week.
I don't even know what the weather's going to be
on Saturday, but this week guys are going to have
head covers off.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
So yeah, it was He's right. It was a great
experience from the back. And what is always amazing to
me is Bubba and how he plays the game and
like from the back tease, how easy he can make
the golf rush look and the shots that he hit.
I remember, I'm just gonna tell sorry, sorry, Shane. So
fifteen he had like a little he has two drives,

(02:54):
his denk driving in his bomb and he hit the
little dinker out there, didn't really hit one hard, and
he was probably two fifty to the pin and it
was back left. He says, you know what, I want
to try out this three, but I want to try
to hit this shot. And he hit this forty yard
slice three wood that I swear was coming in sideways
to that pin. I don't even know if it went

(03:15):
over the water. I think it went around the water
and then hit like the middle of the green and
rolled right past the pin. I think he almost made
it too. It's probably the best shot I've ever seen.
It was just it. I mean, it was amazing. So
like for me, I'm just like a you know, a
giddy guy just watching a great player play golf, and
it was it was amazing, Bubba.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
The way you've played golf over the years, I mean,
it's it's must watch TV. I mean, you know, especially
when you're winning those Masters Championship. I mean, I will
never forget the t shot you hit on thirteen. We'll
get to that in a little bit.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
I don't know if that was a line.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
You were picking, but we'll ask you about that in
a bit. But shots like that, you know, the forty
yard cut or you know the wet shot you hit
in the playoff. Do you see lines or is it
just the feel in your hands that makes sense to
you to be able to pull off these golf shots
that even a lot of pros wouldn't have either the
guts or the abilit to pull off.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, it comes down to feel, right, you see the shot,
you visualize the shot you've hit it before the shot
that he was talking about with the slice three wood,
that's two fifty, right, So a three wood's gonna go
further than that if I hit a dead straight three wood.
So you don't have the club right, you can only
allow fourteen's right. You've got to figure out a way
to do it. And so the forty yard slice is

(04:21):
just the way for me to get it up and
get spin on it, then slow it down right, And
so that's what I envisioned. That's what I see with
the pin on that side, the left side. So I'm
always trying to figure out so about don't slice it now.
We still have a room over here and we can
chip to the hole. So that's what I'm seeing in
my head now to pull it off as a whole
right front ball game. But yeah, so visually, mentally, I

(04:45):
picture this shot and I can can see myself pulling
it off because I've done it with buddies and things
like that. Now under the gun, can you pull it
off of that one moment? And luckily I've pulled the
shots off twice around this place, so it worked out.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Do you see like a start line pick? You know,
like Jack Nicholas famously picked a spot, you know, three
or four feet in front of him. Are you picking
a spot to kind of cut it off of or again?
I mean, I know you're such a feel player. Does
it just again your hands in your brain? It just
kind of makes sense to be able to kind of
cut something, you know, forty yards onto a pin that
you know it's gonna kind of land in the area too.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, So it depends on the shot, right, So like
a three wood, it's more of like I want to
aim it far enough over so you're gonna and then
off a tee. You're actually looking for something, right, So,
so I'm looking for a tree maybe if it's a crowd,
it's a person, or an edge of a bunker. I'm
looking at something way in the distance to start it
and then just then feed it off of there. The
big slices, you're basically, especially under the under gun or

(05:40):
under the pressure, you're aiming it and going, Okay, if
I really slice this, I'm barely gonna get in the
rough on the left. If I underslice it, we're just
gonna be in the right rough. So long as I
slice it, I'm good. Right, you hit it perfect in
the middle the fairway, So you're trying to You're trying
to play the percentages in your favor.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
So this is your sixteenth start here to go oh lash, Okay.
I wanted to go back to your first It was
two thousand and eight. I believe you got into that
because of your great play at the US Open at Oakmont.
I think that's how you got into it at oh eight.
Do you remember your first Masters? Can you kind of
take us back to like nervy young Bubba Watson playing
at the Masters for the first time, obviously having so
much history in the state, you know.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
There was a there was a lot going on that
week two thousand and seven, finished finished fifth at the
US Open. Not that I'm mad about going bogie bogey
the last week I was gonna bring up. I wasn't
gonna bring it up exactly. So so you know, I
got to call my dad. How was Father's Day? After
the US Open? And it called my dad and said
we're going to the Masters, and he was excited. And

(06:39):
so we get there and boo weekly he's slop them.
They're my idols. There were the guys I looked up
to when I was in middle school. They played him
the same high school I went to. They were older,
so they were out of high school and I got there.
But those are the two guys that I wanted to
emulate when I got to high school, and so so
for them to be at the Masters, that's the only
year that all three of us were at the Masters,

(07:00):
and so our hometown, that was a big news for
a hometown, right It's it's one of those things that
I think there was a couple of stories written about that.
But three guys from the same small town, same high
school were here. So that's really what I remember. I
remember playing a practice round with them, goofing around with them,
and always seeing them. Those are the faces I can
remember I knew and I could talk to and it
was all new to me with the other guys, and

(07:22):
the Masters was new and my caddy, Ted Scott at
the time was he's like, man, just drink it in.
You know you're good enough, You're gonna be back here.
You know, you never think that, you know, you shouldn't
think that you should always be grinding towards making it back.
But so really the golf itself, I really didn't pay
much attention about that, So I don't even know what
I finished. I think it was pretty high up. I

(07:43):
know I made the cut, but but then O nine
I wasn't here, so that one's kind of upset me.
So then I went to twenty nine, by the way,
twenty that week, but it was a low last round. Maybe.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, I think you played really well the last year. Yeah,
So I want to talk about twenty twelve because you
were trailing headed in the final round. I'm not sure
people remember that you went on that tear late. I
think you birdied four holes in a row right started
at thirteen, yep, what not in the playoff. But what
was it like for you? I know you're a guy
like you've talked about dealing with pressure and how it's
been like for you to deal with pressure over the years.

(08:13):
What was it like in that atmosphere comparatively to other
golf tournaments that you've been in the hunt end and
that you've won in in the past, And how did
you handle those nerves coming down the stretch with that
great play late?

Speaker 3 (08:22):
You know, it was crazy. Louis Ustasen made the double
legal right too. Right then he had a four iron.
I had an eight iron in there and he had
a four iron.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
She had an eight iron into two.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
Yeah, I I it was. The wind was just perfect.
I hammered one, but Louis his ball like took forever.
It lanted like I think it lanted just short of
the green, but it was firm, so it rolled and
took the break to that backpen and went in. By
the time I'm getting ready to hit the crowd of erup,
so I was like, the ball hasn't stopped rolling yet,
and so then I sliced it over into the left trap.

(08:52):
But at that moment when he hold that and I
think I might have made birdie, I might have made
par I'm not sure, but I'm four back of him,
and so at that moment, you know, I'm like, oh
my gosh, I'm four back of him, and I think
somebody else might have been he might have been tied
to the lead at that moment or one up. So
I'm looking at this going, okay, we've just played two
holes and four back. Let's have a top ten. Let's

(09:14):
have a top five, because I remember the US Open,
how big this is to get a top ten or
top five. It gets you another eventsah blah blah blah. Right,
and so I wanted to be able to say I
played well at the Masters at least one year. So
that's where my mindset went. And then Teddy on the bag.
Teddy always tried to keep me in the moment and
he was always talking about that. He was always like,

(09:35):
look at top five, here is amazing. I mean, things
can happen you just you shoot, even from here out,
you'll probably move up the board right just because of things,
because of pressure. And then so we just keep battling,
and the next thing, you know, I bogie. I'm just
off the green on twelve, but I bogied it a three.
I counted as a three putt even though it wasn't

(09:56):
a three putt. And then that's when again Teddy was
in my ear and I would and I was already
saying it to myself, but keep fighting like you've got
a part you got two part five's. You can still
have a great finish. You're still top ten, you're still
this And and then you go Birdie. And then me
and Teddy we were we were on what was at

(10:16):
fourteen and I remember it years ago, if I don't
know if y'all remember, but I remember. I remember shots
and Tiger, and I've seen other people do it where
you hit it to that back friend ran it up
the hill, it spins, or you hit it or if
you hit it long enough drive you spin it back right.
And so I told him. I told Teddy, I said, hey,
what if we hit it to that fringe just to
the left and spin it back down the hill. And

(10:37):
he was like, yeah, that's perfect. Or roll it back
down the hill whatever, how firm the greens are. And
it rolled back down to I don't know, seven feet
and I made it. And then you know, okay, we
still have a great finish, We still have great Let's
just finished strong. Let's finish strong. So you're not even
thinking about anything like that. You're not thinking about winning,
You're not any of that. So I hit a great
t shot freight down the middle, hit a seven ron
in there, left it about three feet short from twenty

(10:58):
feet on fifteen. Yeah, on fifteen. So I made that
putt and I still at this moment, I don't even
I mean, I sit there, we talk about, yeah, we're
one back, but you don't really put any thought into it,
because at the whole time, all you're talking about is
a good finish, a good finish. And then when I
hit the eight iron and sliced the eight iron in
there and made that and my putter raised, that's the

(11:19):
first moment I was like, here we go. And then
when I walked to seventeen, I'll never forget it. This
is the worst thing I could ever do. I was like,
oh my gosh, we're tied for the lead, we have
a chance to win. And Teddy goes, yeah, I know, man,
and he goes and then but like it's the same
thought he had maybe I had. It was just like
that moment where we forgot everything we talked about all week,

(11:42):
you know, having my son, we just adopted my son
and all these things, and so we were talking about
all this positive stuff and that one moment we elapsed
and went and I sliced that drive. So far on seventeen.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Was I was an hour still up at that time.
It had to have been right in twenty twelve. I'm
assuming there had been that tree over there on seventeen.
I'm assuming in twenty.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
Twelve, Yeah it could, yes, yes, but you know we
don't even see that tree because I guess play right.
So but yeah, so we we we lost our minds
for a second and just enough where I could slice it,
and so that's where we just yeah, so coming back
those four birdies in a row was amazing, but it
was just we never thought about winning. We never did.

(12:24):
We just focused on having a good finish and then
we get panicked on seventeen. But but yeah, May.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Seventeen and eighteen obviously, yeah, you know you I've read that.
You you said I'm never gonna go down there and
hit that wedshot again, right the playoff a wedgshot you've hit.
Do you ever go down there and look.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
I've hit it one time. I hit it with Ted. Ted.
Scott brought Ted to play, and I used a nine
iron with him because you was gaff hit it. That
was a gaff wege fifty two degree. But I I
flipped over a nine iron and hooked it with a
right handed club hit the green. Maybe it doesn't matter
all right, all right, maybe.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
We've been trying to go down there and find I
think have they changed trees.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
They've added some trees.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Okay, that's what I thought, because every time, well the
time we came out and even when we go gallery
out there, we go down there, I'm like, I don't
know where the spot is.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
Yeah, they've added some trees. I remember a couple of
years ago before they added the trees, Me and Angie
flew in here to play and and they they they said, hey,
do you want to see the spot? And it's just like, yeah,
I'll see it. And so they got it GPS pinpoint
and when where our group was on eight, they said, hey,
they came up to us and said, we put a
flag right where it is because there's nobody in front

(13:33):
of us, so nobody else would know what they were doing.
So they did it secretly. And so we went over
there and guys we were playing with went and looked
at it. But they had a flag, you know, a
little little flag just sit around. Yeah, they can do
it with GPS.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
I mean, it's one of the one of the great
I mean one of the great shots in master's history.
I mean, when you really think about it, I think
every time I watch it, not only am I impressed
by how much you move the ball, but I mean
it was it's just so cool because it rips close,
you know, I mean it had so much side spinning.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Yeah, you rip it up the hill, which is just
so wild.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Where's the gold wedge, because ping major of the gold
wedge is the post of the gold putter. Where's the
gold wedges at home? Is it a case?

Speaker 3 (14:05):
It's at home in the trophy in the office, in
the trophy room. Yeah, so I am am sitting right
there and the same as the the putter as well. Yeah,
that's awesome. I think it saved I think it saved
the money by doing a wedge because it was it
was hollow inside. So they were like, hey, saved us three. Great.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
They need more players to hit wedg shots to win
major championships.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Well, I mean gold putters major you get a solid
gold putter, right, So he's got a couple of them,
and we're we're counting on him. I mean, we're we're
really looking forward to another major winner, and so we
need you to be our guy. You've been our guy
in the past.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
I got I got lucky too. By the way, my wedge,
I have a gold plated because they make gold plated
for inside the vault and and so I have a
gold plated wedge that they did special for some reason,
and so they already had one in the vault. So
they're like, hey, man, do you want this one too?
So I have that in mind too. So I've got
the gold plated one just like the vault, and I

(14:59):
have the the solid going. Uh.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
I want to ask about twenty fourteen, Okay, I mean,
you know, like everybody knows Jordan's speed now at the time,
he's this kid, I mean, he was still burst on
a scene. What is he twenty twenty one years old
when he's battling you that he takes the lead early
in that final round and you made birdies in the
middle of the round to kind of grab hold of
that Master's But I mentioned the t shot on thirteen.
I remember this was like hot and heavy Twitter days,
Bubba when this was happening, and this was like pre

(15:25):
video all across the board, like you didn't have every
shot like they have now on the Masters app. And
I remember I screen grabbed the t shot because it
looked like when you hit it. I don't know if
you remember. I mean it was an anxious look. Everybody
was kind of looking and then it flies and you
have what like sand wedge into to thirteen? Was that
left of your line?

Speaker 3 (15:40):
What was the line? Years take on thirteen? So let's
go with the first part. Though. Jordan Speed was coming
on the seas great player obviously, and he's young. I mean,
I don't even know if he was twenty one was he?
And so he Birdie's he Birdie's seven the bowlpen I
plug it in the lip on seven, but I can
use the bowl to help me. So I hit it
make par So I'm three down with and I and

(16:00):
Teddy and me we were talking about it and we're like, hey, man,
he doesn't know the pressure yet. You've dealt with the pressure.
You've succeeded in the pressure two years ago. You know
what the pressure is going to be like, you know
what you have to do, and then you know, luckily
for me, bad for him. I birdy Ate hit six
hundred and eight. It was down Win hit six hundred
and eight just over the green made Birdie he hits
it off to the side, hits it on about thirty

(16:21):
five feet three putts, so now I'm one back. I
go to nine. I hit a beautiful shot to ten feet.
He hits it just off the side. Three putt. Well
he's just off the green, but he three putted. I burdy,
So now I'm one up, right, So like whoa? So
then we just then I just hold on. Nobody really
we both bog e ten I think, and then nobody
really did anything. He hit in the water, but made

(16:42):
a phenomenal bogie on twelve. So now we go to thirteen,
and I'm at that time, I think I'm.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Three up, two up, because I birty thirteen.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
So yes, you know you're you're the wind is like
I said on eight, it's kind of like eight your
down win. And so I'm going over these trees. But
usually when I try to just hammer one, it's gonna
be a slight draw. You pull it whatever, right, So
I was like, okay, as long as you don't miss
it that way. And you know, when you're trying to
fight and make sure you don't pull hook it or

(17:13):
pull it, you kind of leave it open. And so
I left a little open and I knew I hammered it.
I mean I couldn't hit it any better on the
smash Factor or whatever. And so now it's just now
we're just waiting. I'm like, oh gosh, and you know,
you're like, you're listening to see if you hear a tree, right,
and then when the crowd erupts, that's when you're like, okay,
we're good. You know when a crowd cheers for your drive.

(17:36):
And that's when Jordan was like, hold on a second,
wait a second, because we were listening, right, we were
listening to hear it. And then we get up there.
I mean, I have this beautiful picture. It's framed up.
Asked the Masters for it. Teddy has one too. There's
two that I know of that we got framed up.
And it's only me and Teddy. I'm hitting my shot.

(17:57):
I'm one twenty to the front, one forty hole. I've
got fifty six degree trying to hit the you know,
one thirty and then let it spin down to the
hole and out of the whole tournament. It's Sunday of
the Masters. Jordan spief Is, you know, he kind of
left his drive out. I mean, I hit a ridiculous drive.
But he hit a drive out. So he's hundred plus

(18:19):
yards away from me and there's nobody. You see the
camera tower behind the green, and you see the flag,
and you see me and Teddy, and you see me
at impact. I'm right here. There's nobody, and so I said,
this is the greatest picture I've ever seen for us,
and so I have one hanging up in my house.
Teddy has one of his house. But going back to
the t shot, it was a lot of luck involved.

(18:40):
But what we've always said, it doesn't matter how great
you're playing, how great you're playing, there has to be
something during the week that changes the momentum. I don't
believe in luck. I don't believe in this, but breaks
have to go your way. It's your moment, it's your time,
it's whatever. My ball went through the tree. He had
to touch something right, but it made it through. Look

(19:05):
at shots that we've seen everybody hit around the Augusta
not only Augusta, but every golf tournament. They made a putt,
they chipped in on a Thursday, they made a long
putt on a Friday to make the cut, and then
they shoot crazy on the weekend in La like a
sixty four to sixty four. Wait, who did that? But
you know like ball stays up. I mean, you're so right.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
It's I always say we don't I think in golf
coverage because golf so long, we don't go back to
those Thursdays and Friday breaks enough, you know, because you
talk so much about Saturday and Sunday. And I mean
I remember remember James Han years ago when he missed
all those cuts in a row and then he won
wells Fargo. I think he missed seven cuts in a
row and we Fargo. I was talking him about it
one time and he said, he hit in Adibot on
Thursday and go, this is why we're gonna miss the cut.

(19:45):
You know, it was negative talk to himself. And then
he said, I remember his caddy saying we got to
stop doing that. Let's just let's try to pull something
off when we hit in a bad spot or do something.
And literally that was the mental switch that happened. And
he goes on to win after missing seven cuts. Like
you've got to almost embrace the when something good happens.
Like I'm thirteen, didn't hit anything.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
I'm in the grain.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
I better make birdie here, right, Like I got to
pull off the golf shot, and that gave you off
the opportunity to kind of to kind of take hold
of that tournament.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
Right, There's a lot of times the guy that has
the best ball striking week does not win. Right. That's
why I say, in a tournament, if you can top
ten in any tournament in the world, or you can
top five, you're playing really good. There was a little
one percent difference in you and the next guy. He
chipped in twice for the week, so he beat you,
or he made a fifty footer that you didn't make.

(20:30):
So it's just it's a fine line. And that was
my moment. There was other moments, but that was one
that was like, hey, maybe it's meant to be. And
then nobody else birdied, so I got lucky. I could
just struggle my way in.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
You say that too, like thirteen, if I remember correctly,
that was the year they had a big freeze and
a lot of the trees were dead. They didn't have
as many leaves on them. I don't know if you
remember that. So, like, your ball's going through there and
usually it's really lush, and so you have all these
different factors over call it providence, and here it comes,

(21:02):
here comes your ball is going through and then it
lands in the fairway, and I'm like, this is his
I mean, like like you said, I think I'm with you,
not necessarily luck, like it was providence. All these little
things happened over over the year, and then you get here,
you hit this beautiful drive over there goes right through
the tree. Well over through what everyone's going.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, we'll say over, We'll say over. It's been a while, right, And.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
Then I mean it was beautiful, it was all.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
So then let's go back to that. So on, I
got two things, not that you care, but I got
to tell you anyway, do we go? So so number
eleven Friday, My ball is twenty fourteen and fourteen, and
my ball is in this pine stroll and Teddy looks
at me right or left. I'm right, so you're right
in the pines right now, So you know you gotta
aim it for me being left hand, I gotta aim

(21:46):
it over to water and hook it right. And Teddy
was like, man, we shoe to lay up. And I said, nah, man,
I got this shot. It's a hook. Man. I got
this shot. And I took out a nine iron and
it was stupid. Is one ninety or something to the
pin or whatever? So I tell this niner and I've
got to aim left of the water. So I hooked
it more than I hooked it in the playoffs same year.

(22:10):
And it's a nasty lie. And I just rope hooked
this bullet and just catch us the slope right on
the front of the green. And he goes but before
we hit, he goes, You're one under man, like this
is we missed the cut right? You hit this, make
a triple whatever right? And I said, noah, man, I
got this is easy, but I got this shot, and
so I pull it off right. But then you go
to so then you go to fifteen on Sunday and

(22:33):
I don't know if you remember, but I hit it
in the pine strawl. You know that little inlet of
trees yep, on the left. I'm in the pine straws.
They've added some trees by the way, just for the record,
because I've been there before and I can't do the
shot again. So I'm in there in the pine straw
and Teddy looks at me and he's like, I was, like,
I'm not laying up forty yards down the fairway like
I'm not doing that, and I said, I've got a
wide open shot. We got one eighty four to the front. Man.

(22:55):
It's like, dude, I do this every day in my life.
And I was like, I'm gonna hit a six iron.
Hit it. We're gonna go over the green just on
the left of the bunker pins in the back middle.
You know how that pin kind of traditional pin. We've
used to it many years, and we can chip it
short of the green and two put it for par
and walk out of here. And we're still leading, and

(23:16):
he goes, all right, man, if you can do it,
I man, this is easy. I know I can do this,
and so I so. But you know, when I watch
coverage with my family and listen to people, the commentators
are like, what is he doing? Why is he doing that?
And we've actually thought positively why we're doing it. Now,
I've got this downhill slope web shot and I'm gonna

(23:37):
have to try to lift it and spin it and
guess right on the distance to that green. I would
rather go for it and then fat my chip shot
than fat it in the water totally. So I'm looking
at that and so it's an easy shot. For me,
I wasay, man, my six irond goes two hundred yards.
We're gonna hit easy. We're gonna hit it low, bullet
flat one eighty five, one eighty six, It's no problem. Boom,

(23:58):
we do it, just over the green, make par And
everybody's like, why would he do that? Well, because that
was the best opportunity for me to make par well,
we felt, And so those are the moments like again,
I could have been behind the tree, right, and then
I had to chip out and then I hit in
the water and lost right. So there are just moments
that happened throughout the week, especially on Sunday, that moments
that you don't think about at the time, but then

(24:20):
at the end of it you're like, man, I just missed.
I just miss winning because of this, this and this,
or I just won because of this, this and this.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Right, fancy dinner twenty fourteen after the Masters win, Right,
was that waffle House night?

Speaker 3 (24:32):
That was waffle House night?

Speaker 1 (24:33):
So what is a Bubba Watson waffle House Night?

Speaker 3 (24:35):
Order? I get every time I go to waffle House.
I met the owners a couple weeks ago. It's pretty
funny people that started it, but they know my order
too because of the masters. But I get two grilled
cheese hash browns covered double hash browns. Two grilled cheese
go on the same plate and cover the hash browns
and then I just douse it all and catch up nice.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
I mean, no, no waffle no breakfast food. I've feel
like I feel like you're kind of going like a
little bit more.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's seven in
the morning, doesn't matter if it's seven at night two
in the morning. It's the same, exactly. I do have
a menu, by the way. They made me a menu
the waffle house day and it's the Champion's uh Champion
Special and it's a little picture of me on there. Yeah,
so good, So I have it in my trophy.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
But that's why I think we just heard Bubba Golf.
How he you know, plays golf and then Bubba eats.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
Yeah, I mean exactly, it's amazing, Like that's a new
YouTube series. You want, you want, but you want comfort, right.
The reason why I wanted to go over to the
Manion so if I fat it, it won't be fat
in the water. So that was comfortable to me. Like
it now it doesn't make sense in your head or
your head or the announcer's hit. But that's where in
my head it all makes sense. And when people say, man,
you could do this, this and this, and man, I've

(25:47):
won twelve times, two majors. My career is better than
I ever dreamed it would be. Yeah, who doesn't want
to win forty times? But you know, some people just
aren't cut out for it, right.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
But the thing about Bubba golf too is people out
always ask me, Hey, when I go out to a
tour event, you know, any type of high level golf,
who should I go watch? And I'm like, you gotta
go watch Bubba. Of course, I mean, I said, because
you do think differently than most people. You know, I'm boring.
I tried to hit it straight, right right down the middle,
not very far. You like to hit it high, you

(26:18):
like to cut it, you like to hit it low,
draw it. I mean, it's so much more fun to watch,
and I wish I could do it, But like you're
I mean, Bubba golf is a real thing. And I
tell people all the time, you have to go watch
Bubba play golf because it's different than anybody else and
it's you're gonna enjoy yourself.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
I mean it's it's it's always enjoyable, and especially in
modern golf, so many players are trying to just simply
hit the ball straight. Yes, Bubba was kind of a
bit of a throwback in terms of the way he
moves it. It's funny. A buddy of mine played with you.
I think I've told you this story before, but buddy
mine played with you in a mini tour tournament years ago,
and he was a good player. His name was Casey
broad Us. He played college golf in textas he played
with you. I think was a tight lights tour venter

(26:55):
and Adams even or something like that.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
But he said, you're the only guy in all of
his years of playing pro golf that he called his
dad after and said, remember the name Bubba Watson. He said,
you didn't necessarily shoot a great number. I think he
said you shot three or four under, but he just said,
your ability to move the golf ball, how far you
hit it. I think you had a pink shaft you
painted yourself at the time. But he just said, this guy,
it's different to watch. And I'm assuming you've heard that

(27:18):
probably a lot in your life. Is that it even
from pros like I remember when you burst on the scene.
Tiger loved playing practice ons with you because it was
different to watch the way you go about your business.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, for sure. So my dad used to paint all
my putter shafts and all my things like that, So
my putter was definitely doctored up with paint and different things.
Is that where the pink came from from? Your dad?
Is that where the Yes, my dad loves bright colors
and it stood out and it's easy to notice, and
so pink it was. It made sense because it's funny,
right when a guy has a pink driver, then he

(27:47):
out drives. You can't really make fun of it exactly right.
But then as I got older and became a professional golfer,
it's like, how can we help people? People help me
to get here? So then we started pink Let me
do the pink Drivers for charity, and we've helped two
We've helt many places around the world, but two hospitals,
the one in Phoenix, the Children's Hospital in Phoenix, Children's
Hospital in Pennscol, Florida. So that's what the pink drivers
are for. But no, it's it's funny. I played with

(28:11):
a couple guys this week that that don't really I've
never played with. One guy never played with, and so
I hit a couple of shots that were Bubba esque
and and I could see him. He looked at me,
he looked at his caddy. He looked back at me.
He's like, what was that. I said, well, I had
to take some off, man, so I had to hit

(28:31):
this big old slice and had it like this, And
he was like, okay, what I talk about. As he's
laying up on this part five and I'm going for it,
He's like, okay, okay, I didn't see it, but okay. Yeah.
So but it's like, but if you think about it,
like Bryce and d Chambeau, he plays a different game,
but it's straight correct. He's trying to hit it miles

(28:51):
but straight. He's not trying to do all these curves
and things. So he's still doing what everybody else is doing,
trying to hit the ball dead straight. Uh. He's just
going about differently. He thinks differently. So that's the way
he draws it up. We all draw it up differently.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, yours is just I think the prettiest drawing in
my opinion, Just the way again, I mean, it's just
it's just fun to watch because it's just so different.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
Right, Yeah, the shot tracers messing up sometimes, Thank good, Yo,
you know what you're sure we need of the tracer
like five years earlier for Bubba, like like prime prime
prime Bubba curving the golf ball.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Well, I think it's great. Bubba fits the Ping brand
great because like the Solheims, like Carson was thinking outside
the box when he was making his clubs. You know
what I mean, everybody's like, oh, this crazy guy is
bringing out this butter. Nobody's gonna like the butter, right,
and then once somebody gave it a chance, they're like, Wow,
this is really good. And I mean I think it's
been all the years I've been at Ping. I mean,

(29:42):
Bubba and the relationship he has with John has been
really special. And I think it's been a great relationship,
a great partnership for many years and for many years
to come. So and you know all the charity work
he does, He's he's got a great heart, has done
so many great things. And I think you know a
story I've never told anybody before and I'll tell it now,

(30:04):
but my daughter got sick when she was fifteen years old.
You know, she had leukemi and he's a big donor
at Phoenix Children's Hospital where we spent a lot of time.
But I was gone for like two weeks, you know,
two months from helping the guys on the tour and
then you know, I think the first week back, you know,
I was I'm close with bub and Teddy both, and
you know, they were encouraging me all the time. They

(30:26):
would text me, hey, we're praying for you. Hang in there.
And you know when I saw him, you know, they
gave me a big hug and said, hey man, we're
praying for you guy, hang in there, and the whole thing.
And these guys were really supportive. It wasn't like every
player was texting me, but these guys stayed in touch
with me all the time. They really were an encouragement.
And a couple of cool things he did for my daughter.
He did a couple of videos. One was with Ricky

(30:47):
I think and Pee Reid, and so, you know, my
daughter knows Bubba and knows Ricky. She's like, oh, that's cool,
that's Captain Jack. I was like, yeah, I was Ricky Fowler.
You know, he used to look like Captain Jack back then,
and then she loved Justin Bieber and his buddies of
Justin Bieber and they sent over a video to Gabby
Hey get well, be well, and so like Bubba's always

(31:08):
going to have a special place in buy heard just
through you know, difficult times in life. I mean, he's
him and Teddy both are really great and they're a
great encouragement to me. So and then the work that
they do for Phoenix Children's Hospital has been amazing, Like
we spent so much time there and all the kids
that they help is amazing.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
So when did you start wanting to get into the philanthropy?
When did that become a part of you, not just
as a person, but as a pro golfer, Because I
feel like you got into it. I don't want to
say you know earlier than most people do, but it
felt like something that kind of popped up the moment
you started to become a household name.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
It's funny when I was fourteen years old the golf
course I was playing at. The guy that's got me started.
He's left haended pro golfer, Harm Cook. He loves junior golf. Right,
That's how you build the game of golf, right, the
grassroots is it's not pro golfers on the PGA Tour
or at the Masters. It's the club pros in the city.

(32:04):
It's kind of like the churches. They know the people
of the city, right. And so there was a special
Olympics group that used to come out and I used
to help with that, and he said, hey, why don't
you come out and help and you learn so much.
I mean, these guys and girls are just smiling and
having a blast and all these things. So I used
to do things like that, right, I didn't think that

(32:24):
was helping, even though it was because time. Some people
don't have money, some people just have time, or some
people have energy or or shoulder to cry on. Whatever
that is, right, you can always help. And so for me,
I saw that. And then when as I get older,
I'm like, hey, when I start realizing what a sponsor is, well,
you know, as a kid, I didn't know that these

(32:44):
banners meant anything. You know, I'm playing junior golf tournament
and there's a banner over here, and there's a banner
over there. What is that? And then the reason why
my golf tournaments, my junior tournaments were free is because
of these sponsors or it was five I remember tournaments
were five dollars. Some tournaments, the big tournaments, you know,
there was one hundred dollars fee. But my parents would
pay for these or not pay because of sponsors and

(33:05):
people helping want to give back. So I learned that
at a young age. But then when I finally started
doing my own stuff and became a pro, I wanted
to do it listening to these guys. John Soheim has
been my granddad, right, and I know I'm putting an
age with him, but that's who it was, because obviously
he can't take the place of my dad, but he's
my dad figure. And so that's the guy that I

(33:27):
ran information by, asked him questions, even though he wanted
me to be at the Pink staff. He said, look, man,
if there's a deal out there that's better for you
and your family, you leave ping take this hat off
and go somewhere else, right like that's I'll drive you there.
And that always stuck with me. And I know how
much they give. They don't tell the world how much
they give and what they do and what they're helping.

(33:48):
And so that's where I just started resonating with me
and who I want to be as a person. Where
I come from, there's somebody helped me throughout all my years,
and so I wanted to give back. And then when
you start thinking about like my wife, we had to
adopt both of our kids, how would you not want
to help kids. Kids are born into a situation. They're

(34:09):
not asking to be in that situation, and whatever that
situation is bad or good, it just happens, right, So
let's help them develop and grow. Maybe they're going to
change the world, maybe they'll change cancer, maybe they'll be
the next president or whatever. So that's why I always
want to help the kids. And then getting involved with
hospitals is an amazing journey in itself. And then you know,

(34:33):
so it just I've done a lot of things outside
the US, a lot of things inside the US, but
the hospitals have probably been the best. Because the Watson
name will go away.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
The Ping, the people of Ping will go away, but
the hospital is still going to be giving, right, so
your legacy is still going to be part of that history.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
How is your relationship with pro golf right now? I mean,
you're still passionate about it, you still love it, and
I remember years ago. I think you said maybe that
if you win ten times, you were going to walk
away from Is that?

Speaker 3 (35:02):
Is that? Right? Did you say that years and years
and I said, I said, I might just walk away
because I never you know, I always had a dream
to get that card, right, you know, the PJ Tour
card they actually get I don't know they give now,
but back then they gave you. Yeah, that whole thing,
and so so it was cool, right, I had it
in my interview. I never got a word out because
I was crying so bad. And then you actually win
a tournament, You're like, well, I guess I gotta change

(35:22):
my goals. I gotta win again. So then I set
my goal at ten unreachable. I'm at one and now
I'm gonna get ten. It's unreachable goal. And then I
get there and you're like, I guess I gotta change
my goal. So you always have a goal, right, And
so right now, to be honest with you, I retired

(35:43):
from the PJ Tour. I put in my resignation and
went to live. And the reason why I went to live,
there's a many reasons, but one of the big reasons
I went to live is it's lonely out here. It's
very lonely out here. Now you have guys, but he's
working with a bunch of guys. There's other people, my
caddies got friends. I mean, it's just it's very lonely
and am now having a team. Gosh, And not to

(36:05):
keep talking about him, but Matthew Wolf, I see a
lot of me and Matthew. Matthew Wolf is a talent
that we rarely get to see. And so when you
think about a twenty four year old, he was I
think twelfth in the world or fourteenth in the world
at age twenty. At age twenty now and then been
through some struggles. I've been through some struggles. So going

(36:26):
back to the ten Wins, I wanted to retire. I
wrote a book about my issues, my mental issues, because
I don't Anthony Kim. There's a lot of people I'm
mentioning now. Anthony Kim mentioned it last week that you're lonely.
He felt lonely. A million people could be around you,
but you still feel lonely. And that's how I feel.
That's how I felt, and I didn't know how to

(36:48):
deal with it, and so I wrote the book to
help me. But help other people. And then Matthew Wolf,
I see a lot of him and me, or me
and him, or however you want to word it. And
such a great talent, better talent that I've ever been.
And but forget his talent, who he is as a
person is what I want to help. So live is
giving me that opportunity. Being a team golf gives me

(37:10):
the opportunity to help people around me and just be
a light for the people. I don't might not have
to say words to you, but if you watch what
I'm doing. How when I leave my wife or how
I greet my wife, I always give her a kiss
because it could be the last time. YE always tell
him I love her always when I say bye, going whatever, right,
you tell her as much as you can. And then
he'll see that and go, oh, Kim his fiance soon

(37:33):
to be wife. You know, he might feed off of that.
I fed off that from my dad, and so you know,
there's little things you can teach without even saying a word.
And but the first phone call I made to him
when I made the trade was Matt I've been trying
to get you on my in my life for five years.
We've been friends. I've helped you send you text, but
now I want to help you. And I said, I

(37:53):
don't care what you shoot. You could shoot a hundred
for the rest of your life. That's not what I
care about. And so so that's where when you ask
about the game of golf, my game of golf. I'm
healthy about almost two years for my surgery, where they
said I was going to blossom around two year mark.
Just like any athlete that has surgery, about the two
year market, you start really filling one hundred percent and

(38:15):
I'm forty five, but I feel energetic, I'm excited. And
then having people around me a team, when we can
battle together, it's just like Ryder Cup President's got I
want to battle with them. Even if we don't hang
out for that one week, we're best friends totally, and
we are pulling. We are blood, sweat and tears together.
And so that's where my journey of golf right now
is at an all time high because it's not about me anymore.

(38:37):
For years, it's all about me, and I don't care
what you want to do. It's about me, and so
now it's so much more fun than that is. It
is a long answer, but it only was a great answer.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
Is it strange to be a mentor? Like you know,
I mean you, like you mentioned, you're a young person.
You come up and you're taking this from this person,
and you're giving this to this person. Then you get
to a point in your career where all of a
sudden you can kind of give back to this younger
generation that, as you said, you might see some of
you in or you might see him going down a
path that you think might not be the right path.

(39:08):
Is it strange to be a mentor now in your career?

Speaker 3 (39:11):
It is because of the fact that for so long
I was so selfish, right, right, young people are selfish
as we all are like that, right, and sometimes you
might even creep into the old people with selfish. I
was kind of in that area too, And so you know,
for me, I was so selfish for so long. And
I don't know if many kids, when I say kids

(39:34):
below thirty can can be as good as they are
without being a little selfish or a lot selfish. But
the one person that comes to mind is jordan'spief. I've
always looked up to Jordan speech, even when he was younger, right,
he was so Yeah, we all get animated, but man,
his mindset, his drive, his parents, I mean having his

(39:56):
sister now married with kids. But like just watching him, yeah,
we're always gonna have moments, but watching him and how
he carries himself and how he is always kind and considerate.
I always think of him as older than he truly
is right. And so going back to that, there's no
way at that age and that's successful. Oh my gosh,

(40:16):
who knows where i'd be right? If I was successful
as Anthony Kim at his age, I probably would have
been dumber than I am right, and I was pretty dumb.
I got a lot of stuff written about me that
was pretty dumb. But you know, so you know, I
now being able to especially a guy that's willing to listen,
a twenty four year old Matt Wolfer or anybody else
that's willing to listen, I'm thankful for that because like

(40:40):
Matt's almost I'm almost double his age, and I'm like, look, man,
I'm catching I'm trying to help you catch stuff before
you get to where I'm at and have to write
a book about the problems. But so, yeah, it's crazy
to think about, but it's overwhelming, truly to think about.
And I mean, I'll probably tear up. But when people
come to me and say, hey, man, this book meant
this to me, this book this, and let me tell

(41:00):
you what's going on in my life, and and it's
it's amazing. I've had volunteers, I've had tournament directors, I've
had players, I've had caddies, I've had random people on
the streets to tell me about my book and what
that meant to them. I mean, so yeah, it's it's
crazy to think that this goofy golfer that's never had
a lesson from Baghdad is now looked up to and
and and and not only for them, but my two kids, right,

(41:24):
and I've got to be a leader for them. And
so yeah, it's it's overwhelming to think about all the
stuff that I've been able to do and accomplish. This
means the most.

Speaker 2 (41:33):
Yeah, I mean, that's awesome. And then I mean my thought,
you know, when I was working with you on the reins,
and we must have been dumb and dumber, because.

Speaker 3 (41:42):
Which one's dumber?

Speaker 1 (41:44):
I think it's stay to day before we go, Bubba,
I do want to ask just two equipment things. One
is the grips. Yeah, okay, I mean, you know, you
grow up a young person, you have just a normal grip.
I mean that's how we do it. Maybe you wrap
it a couple of times. I mean yours have like
fourteen wraps under one hand and not so many under
the other.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
When did that start? Why do you do it?

Speaker 1 (42:06):
And how annoyed did these guys get when they have
to regrip your things with fourteen exactly on one side.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
That's not that bad.

Speaker 3 (42:12):
Say let's start from the last part. Man, they hate
it when I come in, They're like, man, we got
to cut out the whole day. We're only doing Bubba's grips.
Got everybody in the factory work, And what is it?
Fourteen under the left hand? Is that right? No?

Speaker 2 (42:23):
So it depends on the club. So the drivers like
ten and twelve, you know, ten wraps on the top
and twelve on the bottom. I always say top and
bottom because he's the left. He always get the hands confused.
And then like his wedge was always bigger as I
think it was eleven and thirteen. But now Spencer's told
me you've got another one in there. There's like a
twelve and fourteen. Yeah, I don't know exactly we're always
trying to help him cut the ball. Okay, so the

(42:47):
bigger grip helps that, and he sets it like ten
degrees open. I'm like, there's no way it's ten degrees.
In my opinion, I think it's way more than ten degrees,
but we call it ten degrees like the actual grip.
Like if you have the logo of the grip going down.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
Said, is that the irons because you know the driver,
the irons in the lobways are different, correct different?

Speaker 2 (43:04):
There are those are the three difference, and then the
other thing that's the grip, the big grip, and then
the hard part, you know, putting on the grip, which
I don't have to put on the grip. So it's
no big deal. But if the guys don't mark down,
they can lose count. You know when you're counting. Wait
a minute, did I mark it down or did I
not mark it down?

Speaker 3 (43:22):
I think I did, and sometimes they redo it and
then yeah, I forgot, I'm twelve. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
The greatest thing is his feel is so good. He
can tell if there's not enough raps or too many wraps.
And then the other thing is the manufacturing process is
not perfect, so sometimes the grips are a little different sizing.
And then the other thing we do to help him
cut the ball is we do a deep heel grind
on his irons, so we cut off. There was a time,
I think when he first started with the S five

(43:49):
to fives, which lasted like ten years, you know, there
was a time where we went through it. Hey, we're
been in a flatter trying to get him to cut
a little bit more. Felt like the heel was grabbing,
so we just you know, grind off the heel a
little bit. And we did the same with the BLUEPRINTSSS.
So you got a nice But the grips are amazing.
I mean, I love showing. We always we still do
have a Bubba driver in there. People come in, they

(44:10):
can grab it and they're like, wow, how kam. It's
on sideways and that's way he likes it. So he's
a field guy there.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
There's a lot to uncover here, but yeah, a lot
of I mean we're pulling back some here's but here's
the thing though, so goes back to how I play golf. Right,
Charles Howe. I've known him since we're eight years old.
Charles how somewhere fourteen something he had bigger grips. And
the reason why he had bigger grips he wanted when
he choked up, he wanted to kind of feel the same.
You can't, you can't have it perfect. It has to

(44:40):
be a little off.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
But I think, right, there has to be taper by
the USA rules.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
So it can't be the same. But he used to
have that. Man I grab it, and man, that feels great.
But then so now the beauty of Ping that people
don't talk about enough or people don't realize enough, the
beauty of Ping, it's all engineers. The soul how family
is pure engineer. That's true, right, yeah, oh yeah, right,
I mean.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
They're engineering as an engineering company, right.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
I mean we had we had John k was selling
stories during COVID. He was down there building golf clubs,
you know what I mean, like literally building golf courds
in twenty twenty.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
Yes, and then but then in but Carson Manufacturing, they've
worked with the military, they've worked with medical, they've they've
done a lot of things behind the scenes that people
don't know. And that was Carson Manufacturing. It's the same
factory as Ping, it's the same family, same everything. So
so when we think of this now, Bubba Golf. Instead

(45:35):
of me changing who I am as a person and
changing your grip and doing this and your hands too
far this way, let's get it this way. That can
that changed my whole feel off, Let's work with who
I am and fix that. Okay, So if we open
the grips, then the club now with my quick hands,
you know, I'll just say I have quick hands. I

(45:56):
have good feel on my hands on stuff. So that's
why I played a natural hook. And so now to
slow my hands down and my wrist down, let's build
the grips up. So we built them up to slow
them down from rotating. Now we open them so then
that'll help slow down the rotation and keep the face
where I want it to be so I can maneuver
the ball hooks or slices. Then, so that was how

(46:20):
I thought of the game of golf. Then the ping
just made the engineering work. I didn't know how to
make it work, but I said, here's what I want
to do. I don't want to change me. I want
to change the equipment. That's the beauty of custom equipment.
Every person, all three of us, are going to be different. Right.
You might like something I might think this is the
worst thing ever, but it works, and Ping is the
company that can do it and make it work for you.

(46:41):
And one of the things I'm working on right now
is a putter. And this is why I said it's
a long answer. So I'm working on a putter. I've
used this one putter and one style putter for all
thirteen wins across across the board. It's the same style putter.
But then Ping was like, hey man, why don't we
do this putter to make you hit it further? And
when I say further, because everybody says I lag putts

(47:03):
and I come it short, which I do, but it's
it's it's easy to say, hit it a foot harder,
you know what. I'm okay, you don't just that's my swing,
that's my putting struck. This is this is, this is
who I am as a person. So they said, okay,
we're gonna make this putter this way. They engineered a
putter to hit it harder, and they do, and it does.

(47:24):
It does exactly what they wanted it to do. Then
they said, hey, your putter faces is closing too fast,
so we needed we're gonna change this hozzle and make
it arc less and not change you. We're not gonna
change anything about you, but we're gonna change it. Now
what the computer can't tell you. I don't like it.

(47:45):
When I look down at it, I'm like, something doesn't
look right here, right, the neck being too long. It
makes me feel weird, right, It's just just the feeling.
So my long answer is now we're back to the
PLD answer style putter. But that's where when you asked
me about the grit and why and what am I doing? Now,
let's go back to that. The driver I want less

(48:06):
open so I can hit the straight bullet when I
need it. It's built to slice, cut right, and so
I want it to do that under pressure. But if
I need a hole that I got to try to
hit one straight. That's where I have the ability to
do it. My irons are built I always said, I
always say two degrees open, four degrees open, and so

(48:27):
that because I like the look of it. I can
see the face when I set it down on the ground. Now,
the lob wedge, the reason why it's built higher because
I feel when I'm trying to hit the field shots,
the bunker shots or the flop shot, or the little
shots around long on fifteen. You were talking about it, right,
So I'm trying to hit these shots because I use
a lob wedge everywhere bump and runs, spins, flops everything.

(48:48):
So I want it more open and I want it
bigger so that I can feel comfortable when I grip this,
that I can pull these shots off that I want
to pull off. So that's another demand. Going back to pinging,
What again is that I use ping engineers? They used
me because I'm the computer. Can only tell you so much, right,

(49:08):
it can tell you if we were perfect robots, these
are the perfect clubs, right, But now they need me
to test them and hit them and tell them this
is what I like and don't like. Now sometimes they
don't like it when I tell them certain answers.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
But but Christian's like, all right, I gotta go back
and figure this out.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
Thirteen we had thirteen I think it was thirteen clubs
or twelve clubs, and they were all one one degree apart,
and I went through. They set them on the ground
one degree apart and little test and they tested me. Yeah,
that was perfect. I grabbed it. I was like, oh yeah,
this one's that. No, this is that.

Speaker 2 (49:43):
The great thing about Bubba. I loved working with Bubba
is because one of his famous quotes was, I think
when track men first came out, He's like, I don't
need track men to tell me when I hit a
good shot, Like I know what a good shot. He
wouldn't use it for a while at the start, and
then we started using it, and it's like a tool, right,
But still his eye has seen him hit the good shots.
He knows what he wants, and so.

Speaker 3 (50:05):
The feel in the field that of course track mans
are they can't computers can't tell you what it feels like,
feel good.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
And that's the great thing too. Whenever we would bring
a new club out, he could hit it once or
twice and he knew right away and like there was
no messing around. He was like, we either built it
right or it's right for him, and the field is
on and it's gonna be good or not. I can't remember.
I think it was the Phoenix over when we came out,
it was like the four to ten and it was
like on a Sunday maybe, and we went out and
tested the drivers. It was I think the four ten plus.

(50:34):
It was brand new, and he's the first one we
tested the driver with because I mean he's the best
driver in.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
The world, the fastest car in the world as well,
use it exactly right.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
And so he's out there hammering these shots on the
back of the ring at TPC, you know, Scottsdale, and
they were I mean, they were beautiful and I'm just
like salivating over here, and he hasn't said anything in
and he's like, this is really good. He kept looking
at it. He wasn't saying anything, but it was good.
Like I knew after he hit a couple he hit
or like he likes it right because he he could

(51:02):
tell me right away. He's like a take it away,
take it away.

Speaker 3 (51:05):
I mean, come on back to the shot. One shot,
I can be done with it. Yes, And that's exactly know.
But that was that was the black one. Yes, that
wasn't pink.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
It wasn't pink.

Speaker 3 (51:14):
That's right that I'm not that I we didn't have
the pink one yet high rent and I need a
pink driver, but I mean I didn't have a pink driver.
And they and I was like, can I play it?
And they said yeah, I said, I'm gonna play this one,
but it's black. So I used it for for that
week I think for sure, and then the next week
I had a pink one, but they were like I
was like, no, I want this one, pink. I love
this one.

Speaker 2 (51:34):
Because when I remember my boss Chance Cosby at the time,
he said, hey, how to go, I said, it's awesome,
like we got something here, like he loved it. I
mean it was, it was beautiful.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Yeah, but listen, we really appreciate the time. I know
you got a busy week. Obviously, same Champions dinner menu.
Both times you've won, you win this week? Are we
going three for three?

Speaker 3 (51:51):
Same thing? And m Rom said it best in some
of his interviews is that it's a it's a little
taste of his hair, it's a little taste of his grandma.
I mean, there's there's a reasons why we do everything. Totally.
We can lie and say whatever, But my mom, that's
the She's from Mississippi. I'm from the South country. Cooking.

(52:13):
It's home cooking. It's the feel good foods. It's the
foods that everybody likes and and it's and it's an
homage to my mom, right, like you want my mom
to feel special at this at this event. My dad
didn't cook anything for us. So if my dad was
still alive, you know he's you ain't getting nothing.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
But the last thing, last thing I did read that
you eat before the Champions Center. In case, what is
that still true? You still power through a couple of
burritos before the Champions Center.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
This this week, I will definitely eat before.

Speaker 1 (52:44):
Okay, I go not because that's chestnut Checkers dude, like
you're thinking outside of the people.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
People ask why, they said why, I said, first of all,
we've got the greatest golf from it ever produced the
greatest sporting event in the world. People don't even play
golfer watching this right, So yeah, I won't comfort food.
I want my body to know what we're eating. I
want my body to be used to it, and I
want to be ready to go in two days.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
No curveballs, no curveballs.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
Listen, but we really appreciate the time. Good luck this week,
awesome catching up. This is the Ping proven Grounds Podcast