Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. We come to
you every Wednesday. I am your host, Claude Harmon. This
week's guest Scott Vincent, been playing the last two years
on Live and I think it's one of the kind
of cool, feel good stories. Here's a guy that was
playing the Japan Tour, had status in Asia, won a tournament,
got into the first live event in London last year,
(00:27):
and I spent the last two years playing his golf
on Live. But I think there's been so many stories
and so much stuff written about money and excess and
all of this stuff. But I think Scott's story is
one of the stories that doesn't get talked about. A
lot didn't have big time status and wanted to try
and use live as an opportunity to play in better
(00:49):
tournaments and play against some of the best players in
the world. And that's what he's done. He had a
breakout year this year. He'll be playing on Live next year.
So he has a very unique story on how he
got to professional golf from Zimbabwe. But before we get
to that, we want to talk about our friends at
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improve your daily health and fitness regiment. So let's get
to a really really cool interview with Scott Vincent. I
(03:17):
really enjoyed it and I think you will too. Scott,
let me see if I've got this straight. Born in Zimbabwe,
live in Colorado. Up until two years ago, you're playing
on the Japan Tour. There are strange journeys that people
get on to play this game, but competitively. And you
(03:39):
played golf, U College, Golf, Virginia Tech. So you've been
kind of all over the place, spend some time on
the Asian Tour. In the last two years you've spent
on Live but the journey to get to where you
are now Zimbabwe believe it or not. A rich history
of Nicky Price, one of the greats of professional golf.
(04:01):
How did you get out of Zimbabwe and first of
all get to Virginia Tech. We got to start there.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Hey yeah, I mean Nick Price had a huge influence
in Zimbabwe golf and I was part of his academy
growing up and that that played a huge part in
my development coming through. Amazing coach called Roger Bayless who
helped get us all started, and just one of those
guys that did it for the love of the game.
He didn't care that he made nothing from it. He
(04:26):
was just happy to pour into and yeah, help help
get all the fundamentals right, help help develop us young
kids coming through, and just anyone that had a passion
and was willing to work, he was happy to give
the time. So a huge I give a lot of
credit for him and getting my career going.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
From there.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
There was a connection with Virginia Tech, so I was
probably the fifth Zimbabwan to go there. Brendan Deong is
one of the better known guys that went there, but
the McDonald brothers myself, Sean Farrell was another one. But yeah,
Brendan's obviously the top guy that made it from Virginia
Tech onto the PGA and had an amazing career, And
(05:07):
so that was kind of the connection. But how I
got scouted was through the Orange Bowl that happens every
year in December, Okay, just a great spot for international
kids to come and play and get some exposure and
see college coaches come down and have a look. And
so that's where the coach saw me and obviously like
what he saw and wanted me to come out.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Was it a big, big move to come from Zim
to Virginia Tech, Because I mean that is a law.
I mean, South Africa's a long way away. Zimbabwe's can
almost seem like it's even further away. Was there a
little culture shock when you got to play college golf?
You're playing Division one, You're playing in a big program.
You know, Virginia Tech has a massive athletic program as well.
(05:52):
Did it take you a while to get adjusted?
Speaker 4 (05:55):
It was a huge shift.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
The culture of the food, the people, just how they
studied as well. Like I never had a computer growing up,
so everything's done on a computer. So I got my
first computer, had to learn how to type, spent the
first year basically just trying to figure out how to
use this thing. And then yeah, I mean, I mean
college was amazing. Like like you said, Virginia Tech has
(06:18):
a huge athletic program, and obviously golf has been fairly
successful too, but yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
It was incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I loved I loved every moment that I had at
Virginia Tech. And funny story because it ties in with
liv golf, is my very first college tournament was at
rich Harvest Farms.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Okay, yeah, that lives played the last two years.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Played there the last two years, and obviously coming from
Zimbabwe where the courses are very different to playing this course,
which is a really strong, big golf course that can
host a major, you know. Essentially, I remember coming off
of that tournament calling my dad and saying, I don't
think I'm good enough to play college golf.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Maybe I should come home.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Maybe because of the golf, Because of.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
The golf course.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, it was just so big, and I hadn't played
a golf course like that where you're not hitting wedge
into every single hole. It's like now you're hitting four, five,
six signs or woods into holes. And it was just
something that I and even now as a professional, you
play that course and you have a better respect for
it because of how tough it cam play. So funny
that then we go back and play it as a
live player now and okay, it feels a little bit
(07:23):
different because you've gotten used to the style and your
prep works different. Maybe you developed a bit more as
a player, and yeah, it's just kind of done a
full circle, which is quite funny.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So you turn prone twenty fifteen. Did you go to
Q school and the usual routes that everybody tries to
take you try and go, you try to get on
the PGA Tour. If you don't get on PGA Tour,
you're trying to get on corn Fair, corn Ferry, go
to Europe Asia. What was which qualifiers and qualifying schools
did you go to?
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, so first off, I wanted to do the typical route,
go through corn Ferry, went to Q School, got through
I think pre quality, then didn't get through first and
so it's like now what? And so I was playing
a bit of mini tour stuff and picked up very
quickly that this is not what I wanted to do
and just or not play on mini tours. I needed
to play a full season somewhere and just by chance,
(08:14):
a buddy reached out to me and said, hey, we're
going to do Asian Tour Q School, you should consider it,
and I was like, nah, I want to be in America.
You know, I've spent time in America. That's where the
best are. I want to be out here. I was like, Okay, well,
I've got nothing else to do in January. Let me
go and give it a shot. Go win first stays
and finished fourth in the final stage of Q School.
(08:35):
Full talk art now and playing out there. Amazing players,
huge culture change as well, out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
And very different. I mean Asia. I think out of
all of the tours, scott probably has the most diverse
types of golf courses, types of grass, types of conditions
that you're com playing. I mean to me, the knock
on the PGA Tour and the corn Firy Tour has
always been but I think the golf is very similar. Right,
(09:03):
You're always going to play in pretty good conditions, You're
always going to play in pretty good weather. And back
in the day when I when I started playing, you know,
started working and working with players. I went to work
on the European Tour and Trevor Immlman was, Yeah, I've
had him on the podcast. He's one of my good friends.
Trevor was the first person I work but back then
(09:24):
it was Trevor Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter was
they were choosing Europe as a way to kind of
cut their teeth, and I thought the same thing again, Europe,
You're gonna have to learn how to travel, You're gonna
have to learn a lot of different golf courses, different
weather conditions. But Asia is a completely different kind of
(09:44):
That's a whole nother. Like you said, the culture shock
of the travel, the culture shock of the food there is.
There is so much more I think to being a
competitive professional golfer and making it then what people think
it is. And I think one of the great things
about going and playing time. I mean, Brooks kept a
(10:04):
Brooks played in Europe. He didn't take the traditional route,
he missed in the US, didn't get his US card,
missed European Tour school, and then got onto the Challenge Tour.
What do you feel like those type of experiences did
for you and how have they helped your development not
(10:25):
only as a player, Scott, but as a person as well.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, I think it has a huge impact. It just
it opens your mind up and you play against different
people with different styles, and like you said, the foods
and stuff are just nothing that we're used to in America.
And to be honest, like I love it, I miss
it at times. The camaraderie of the tour. It's one
(10:48):
of the friendliest tours I've played on. But like you said,
you know, you're playing on golf courses where you have
no idea what you're going to. It could be perfectly
fine in pristine, amazing or one of the words golf
courses you are gone to. But regardless of that, it
was you know, I'm here for a reason. I've got
to figure that out. I've got to come play my best,
give my best effort and learn something and try and
(11:11):
put a good result in And so that that was
the cool part of that is that we all did
that together. We all kind of jumped on similar flights
off we went, stayed in random places who knows where,
and just got on with it. There wasn't much to
complain about it. We just we just kind of plodded along.
That's we were all on the same boat, which was cool,
you know, there weren't these big names or little names.
It was we were all doing the same thing. And
(11:34):
yeah that what that does is it just develops you
as a person as a player. You learn a lot
about yourself and it develops your game. Of course, you're
going to learn different shots, different different ways to play.
And Asia Asia really helped with that. And and through Asia,
you know, I got access to the European Tour as well.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
And you Rookie of the Year in twenty sixteen on
the Asian Tour. So you come out of college, you
miss where you want to play. Everybody wants to play
on the PGA Tour. Everybody wants to play in America.
That's where the best players play. But you say, okay,
I've got so a lot of players I think, Scott
that I find interesting is they don't do what you do.
Their dream is to go, Okay, I want to play
(12:15):
the PGA Tour. I don't make it on the PGA Tour. Okay,
I want to play the corn Fairy. And if you
don't meet those two targets and those two goals, then
I've seen so many players say okay, well everything now
is is a come down, right, Everything now is kind
of it's kind of beneath me because I thought I
was better than this, and I really don't want to
(12:36):
be And I see a lot of players in go
they get status somewhere else, but because they didn't get
status where they wanted to, they struggle because it's almost
like they self sabotage. They were like, oh, well, I'm
too good to be here, so I'm actually not going
to go out and do what you did. Is okay,
I'm in Asia now, I want to play in America.
(12:57):
I want to play on the PGA Tour. But what
you did was you went out and you're Rookie of
the Year in twenty sixteen. So you go and have
a really good, solid opening year of professional golf. What
do you feel like that first year on the Asian
Tour where you were Rookie of the year. What did
you learn about yourself and what was the jump from Okay,
(13:18):
I played college golf, played four were you there for
four years? So four years college golf Division one, So
you know how to travel, you know how to do
all of the stuff. But then you go and you
don't have the success that you wanted to have them,
you know, by getting onto the PGA Tour, getting on
the corn ferry, you go to Asia. You weren't planning
even to go to Asia. Then you go out, you
(13:39):
get through first stage, you win first stage, win first stage,
and then basically finished top five. So now you're fully exempt.
What do you feel like was the jump from college
golf to professional golf that you kind of noticed and went, Okay,
this is different now, is it? Or is it just golf?
(14:01):
And you go into the mindset of saying, listen, even
though this is Asian Tour, it's just golf.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
It I mean, in the simplest form, it is right,
it is just golf. But I think from a personal level,
you have to start owning it yourself. It's like, Okay,
here's where I'm at. What's the best I can do
with where I'm at? And how am I going to
get to those big dreams that I have? Obviously the
plan A didn't work out, But as we know, like
as we've seen with so many other players, there's so
many different ways to get back there, and different journeys
(14:30):
develop different people differently, And mine's being a little bit
different in that I've gone through Asia, tried a bit
in Europe that didn't work out so great, come back
to Asia, gone to Japan. But it's just been a
cool journey of just me learning more about who I
am and what I am like as a player, and
how I can continue to figure out ways to optimize
(14:52):
that and be better. And yeah, like you said that
first year, I mean it's quite a few years ago,
and trying to remember a little bit more of it.
But obviously that was a validating moment in my careers. Okay, yeah,
we you know, we came to college, we figured that out. Okay,
we were good enough for college golf. Now it's another
(15:13):
level up. You know, not many people get to chase
their dreams at the professional level, and you don't know
if you're going to be good enough.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Obviously you have big dreams.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
And you want to be good enough, and you're dreaming
of winning majors and playing at the highest stage. But
is that going to be a reality. You're not sure.
And so going to Asian Tour maybe getting Work of
the Year was a little validation. It's like, okay, good,
that was great. Now how do we move on from that?
We continue to look at ways to improve and get better.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
One of the few Western players that played in Japan.
There's the Asian Tour, which is crazy on to itself,
and then there's an entire another world which is golf
in Japan. And for people that don't know, it's hard
to find a country more obsessed with golf than they
(16:01):
are in Japan. And the Japanese Tour is very, very specific,
and then you go into a completely another cultural shock
of the food in Japan. If you don't speak Japanese,
it's a struggle. You've got to get yourself around. How
(16:21):
many years did you play on the Japanese Tour?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
So I did two full seasons out there. Obviously I've
got a little messed up with COVID and how that
all works, so two and a half something like that,
and I still have full status out there. But honestly,
Japan's one of my favorite countries. Like once you kind
of figure out the little things and how to move around,
and it's one of the simplest, most amazing love the culture, love,
(16:44):
food's amazing, love so many things about it. It's one
country and it's big, but it's small, and so the
travel in and around that is just incredible. And I'm
excited to be going back there in a week's time
to go and play some bill.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
You go back which tournaments you.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
So, I'm gonna play the there's one called the ab
ABC event. And then two weeks later I'm playing Doune.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Phoenix on Phoenix fiftieth anniversary of the Dunlap Phoenix. Brooks
is going, Brooks is Goings is going, He's won it twice. Yeah,
what's what's playing a golf in Japan like on tour
because obviously you're not Japanese, there's a language barrier golf course.
I love the look of the golf courses Japan that
dormant to where everything is burnt out, and then the
(17:29):
greens and the t's are bright, bright green. I love
the way some of the golf courses in Japan look.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Like, yeah they're they're pristine, like they take so much
pride in doing everything one hundred percent. Some of the
best greens I've put it on and played on their
courses are incredible, and so it to me. I loved
it because it felt like right, this is kind of
a slightly.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Smaller version of the PGA Tour.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
And so good conditions, great conditions. You know, tons of
people watching, so you getting used to the crowds.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Of television, big stars in Japan, I mean, the the
players in Japan that are good are rock stars in Japan, phenomenal.
I mean they are. I mean, And it's interesting that
you said that because out of all of the tours,
and it's funny Adam Scott has said to Scotty loves
going to Japan, right, I mean, obviously the unicloth thing
(18:23):
now it helps, but Scotty's always gone and played in Japan.
And it's interesting that you mentioned that playing professional golf
in Japan is probably the closest you can get to
playing on the PGA Tour because the crowds are huge,
there's television every week, there are big superstars. All the
(18:43):
manufacturers have trucks, everybody's logoed up. So I never thought
about that, but that playing in Japan is probably as
close to being on the PGA Tour from an experience
as a player as you can get.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
And so seeing that and tasting it's like, this is perfect,
This is amazing preparation for I'm trying to get to
and just loved it, you know, it depends an amazing place.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
You got your first win in twenty twenty one, Yes,
do you remember it?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (19:14):
What was different? So you get your first really that's
your big that's your first big professional wine. I always
ask players did you need to play as good as
you thought you did to win your first tournament? Or
was the experience different? Because I think so many players
(19:35):
Scott feel like the only way they're going to win
golf tournaments is just to come in all guns, blaze
and shoot four rounds in the sixties and it's just
going to be this amazing m to shoot sixty three
on Sunday or do something special? Was the experience afterwards?
Did you have this kind of thought process saying Okay,
that wasn't as hard as I thought it was?
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Right on?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Yeah, you it up so much in your mind and
you think it has to be absolutely perfect. And I
found that a lot of times just golf in general,
there's always a testing point at some point during the
round and which way is that going to swing? Are
you going to let it swing in your favor or
against because you're going to get tested at some point.
Obviously the nerves and everything and like that's all that's
(20:21):
all part of it. But at some point during the
round you're going to face something that's really uncomfortable, really challenging,
really difficult, and what are you going to do with that?
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Are you going to let it.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Linger and affect the way that you're going to finish
the day or you just this is all part of
the process, and so yeah, absolutely, it was just it
was just one of those days where the whole experience
and just being in that was just incredible. Obviously, the
golf kind of followed, and I did play really good golf.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Yeah, it was. It was cool.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I had to make a six footer on the last
hole to win it, and I couldn't really feel the putter.
I was so nervous and stroked it and I went
in and it was It was amazing, and my wife
was there and so we we had a special moment together. It. Yeah,
it was like you said, it wasn't like I had
to play absolutely prep golf.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
It was just I had to be there. I just
had to experience it.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
I just had to do my opining almost get out
of the way and just let it happen.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
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Speaker 1 (23:22):
Game when you get your first win as a professional, right,
what does it do for you mentally? Because you've been
basically your entire life has been about that moment, right,
and you've built it up, and you've thought about it,
and you've done all these things to make sure it happened.
When it finally happens, what's that experience like for you personally?
(23:46):
Do you just kind of go? Do you exhale? Is
it validation? What is it?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
I think at that time it did feel like a
sigh of relief. It's like, man, I've knocked on the
store so many times and it hasn't opened it finally,
you know, But I think over the years or a
few years on, it's just like this, this game that
we're chasing is just so fickle. It like comes and
goes and comes and goes, and it's like if if
everything's about winning or losing, it's just it's that just
(24:14):
seems pointless to me. And so what I'm trying to
do is make this more about the person I'm becoming.
You know, who am I becoming as a player and
as a person. And so that's how I'm trying to
judge it more now, whereas back then I was all
about winning, because you know, for the longest time, who's
the longest person that's finished top ten almost every single
weeks and it hasn't won. You know that, everyone said, Scott Viciica,
(24:36):
but and so it was. It was just nice to
get past that and put that to bed and just
move on with me becoming the person undercoming.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And you won three times in Japan, you want to
tournament that qualified you to get into the Open Championship
in twenty twenty two. Yeah, and then so you go
through like you said, you go through COVID and then
you go and then not out of nowhere, but Live happens.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
And we have heard so much over the last two
years about the money aspect of Live, all of this stuff,
all these guys getting the bag. Well, you're one of
the guys that is the opposite end of the spectrum
from the Brooks, the DJs, the Brysons, who all got
(25:19):
a boatload of money, who all made a decision that
a lot of people think was largely based on money.
Your journey to Live was through the International Series, which
lived in a partnership with the Asian Tour to try
and have an opportunity for players coming out of Asia
to get to live. And you won what I think
(25:43):
it was the week before the first tournament in London.
You won an International Series event which qualified I remember,
I mean you were thrown in first year on Live,
three different teams. But the first tournament that Live has
in London, I was there. First tease packed, they throw
(26:04):
you out.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
With DJ and Phil. Incredible. It's like, who's this guy?
That's what I'm thinking as well I can imagine what
everyone else is thinking. So just yeah, amazing. Like for me,
Live came out of absolutely nowhere. I was playing in
Japan and I thought, let's go play this one in London.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Lives so much.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
It's it's a nice person, it's it's in London, my
sister live, well outside of London, my sister lives there.
And win that and it's like, oh, you're heading to
the live of it next week. I'm like, okay, cool,
what's that? And so yeah, just came out of nowhere.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Was the decision to say, okay, I've got on to
a live event. I can play all eight this year.
Was that a big decision because I think so many
people that are listening, we've heard so much on both sides, right,
We've heard the tour side of things, We've heard live
side of things. I actually think people are tired of
(26:59):
hearing about it, right because at the end of the day,
it's golf, right, but not everybody, not everybody chose to
go to Live and it was a money grab for you.
I talked to Wayde Ormsby about this as well. Who's
one of the livers or it's an opportunity for me
to play and somewhat try and climb up the ladder
(27:21):
that guys like DJ and Brooks and Bryson and Phil
they don't have to climb up the ladder. Now, there
were times at their career that they did, but there
were a lot of guys that I think went to
Live that have gotten tarnished with this brush that you're
a sellout. So you're just looking for a place to
play and trying to find a tour where you can
get a foothold, right.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Yeah, yeah, I you know.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
One of the things is that we want to play
against the mists in the world, and like in Asia
and Japan, we don't get to see these guys very often.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
A couple times a year, Like you said, Dunlap, Phoenix,
there might be maybe Ricky Fowler comes over. There's maybe
one superstar from the US, but a lot Live gets
beat up because everybody says it was worthless. It was worthless.
It's worthless. But as a player, you're looking at the
caliber of players that have come over to LIVE and
you're like, wait a minute, I can go play with
(28:13):
multiple major champions and currently when Live happens last year,
you're looking at playing against arguably one of, if not
the best player in the world at the time, Cam Smith.
When Cam finally came over and decided to play, DJ Brooks, Bryson, Phil,
Matt Wolf, all of these guys. You have this opportunity
(28:34):
to say, listen, I don't get an opportunity. I can't
get on a tour like this unless I qualify for
the PGA Tour, even Europe now, unless it's the Middle
East Swing. You just don't get that quality of people.
So I know a lot of people think, oh, the
Live fields are bullshit and the players aren't any good.
But somebody like you, you're looking at that, going, this
(28:55):
is an opportunity of a lifetime for me to play
against some of the best players in the world. And
then they throw you out in the first one and
you get paired with Phil who's won six Majors and
you get paired with DJ, who's arguably i mean Phil's
he and Tiger are the best players of his generation.
DJ's one of the top five best players of his
(29:16):
generation and is a superstar. What was that experience like
for you? Because you're Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe that lives
in Colorado, that plays on the Japanese tour, and then
you've got Phil and Dju both flew over on fifty
million dollar airplanes. I mean, there's a big difference between
what you're doing and what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Yeah, like I said, for me, it came out of
absolute nowhere. I was just playing an Asian door event
the week before, and next thing I know, I'm paid
with Phil and DJ, and I'm like, oh, is this
even happening? Like why is this happening to me? I'd
happily just play off Hall sixteen somewhere and just carry on.
(29:55):
But that, like, looking back, that experience is just invaluable.
You can't you can't put a price tag on that,
Like to hit that first t shot with them, to
play the way I did, I actually had an amazing
then I played really well. I think I shut three
or four under that day, which was incredible under the circumstances.
And to rub shoulders with these two guys that I've
(30:16):
only ever seen on TV. I haven't seen them in
person before, and like, just the whole thing was so cool.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Was it hard not to fan boy it right and
focus on your own game because all of a sudden
you're playing with one of the greatest players of the
modern generation in Phil Mickelson, who's won you know, so
many major champions. I mean, he's an icon of the sport.
And then DJ. You know everything about DJ, how far
he hits it, the swag, the whole thing. Is it
(30:44):
hard in that situation, when you get thrown into a
group like that and a big tournament to focus on
them and not focus on you because you're, like, man,
I get to watch Phil Mickelson's short game today up close.
I get to watch Dustin Johnson in a real tournament,
drive it close, right? Is it hard to say, Okay,
I've got to stay focused on my sub because, like
(31:05):
you said, a lot of people go out into that
situation and play terrible, right and just go listen. The
situation was really big for me. It's a big tournament.
I never played in a tournament this big, and then
they prepare me with you know, former world number one
and two time major champion and you know Phil Mickelson.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
That's that's not easy, no it yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
It was something just I think for me in that moment,
I was getting very self conscious. So actually I was
thinking more about myself and how I was going to
look in front of them, which I wish I was
more of, Hey, we get to watch this up close
and upfront, because I think that's a bit of approach
to learning and watching and trying to take in as much.
(31:46):
But yeah, once we got going and through a couple holes,
you know, I golf, it's a golf and you sittle
right into it and the hardcore you got that.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I tell players like yourself all the time that are
new in that situation. It's always that's the same thing.
You're worried about what they're going to think about the
way you play. And I tell guys this all the time.
They don't give a shit about you. They couldn't care
if you shot sixty two or eighty. And that's not
(32:14):
that's not being rude about them or rude about you.
They just they don't care. They're focused on trying to play,
and I think a lot of guys in your situation.
You get into that situation where you get paired with Tiger,
you get paired with Rory, and you know you're like, oh,
I don't want to embarrass myself and I don't want
to look bad in front of them. They don't They
couldn't care less about your game, And that's hard to
(32:38):
think like that, but you have to think like that.
To be great, you have to not worry about other
people and not care how they play.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Yeah, it's funny because like I'll go and play a
pro am with someone and that's exactly what they're thinking
about me, Like I'm worried about them and how they.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Don't care less, you're worried about yourself.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Yeah, And so that's exactly how I suppose do it think.
Being out there for this year or two years now,
you start to realize that a bit more, that everyone
is just kind of locked in on what they're doing,
and like whether you're shoot in sixty two or eighty two,
it's like whatever, you know, we're going to walk the
fairways together and have a conversation and carry on with them.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
They do anything in that round, that first round where
you were paired with DJ and Phil where they hit
a shot or did something where you went, Okay, I'm
in the show now, that's that's different. This is a
different type of player than that I've been around.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
I mean, they are phenomenal players. You can't quit.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
DJ's ball striking is absolutely incredible. Like the sound it
makes coming off the face is just it's just different.
And you don't hear that definitely not an Asia because
they're not built like he is.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
And you certainly don't hear that in Japan either because
to play with a player. And again, I don't think
people everybody that watches competitive golf thinks that the players
are interchanged. Right, the golf that's played in Europe is
the similar golf that's played on the PGA Tour. Right,
there are different players. And if you play in Asia
and then play in Japan, you don't see someone like
(34:10):
Dustin Johnson who's six foot four, who hits it the
way that you don't see someone like a Rory McElroy
who hits it as far as somebody like Rory hits it.
You just don't see that in Asia, and you don't
see that in Japan. You might see it from a player,
but the player isn't really that good. He doesn't have
(34:31):
another box of tools in the toolbox. He Yeah, Okay.
You see players in Asia and Japan that hit it
a long way. You don't see players like DJ hit
it a long way that have been number one in
the world, that have won multiple major championships, like a Rory,
like a Bill, like these icons of the game. And
(34:52):
so when you see somebody like DJ, you just go
Does that make you go, Okay, I need to hit
it further? I need to get in better shape. Do
I need to try? I mean, because there is that thing, Scott,
when you play all of a sudden you come from
playing Japan and Asia to live to where you're playing
against some of the best players in the world, do
you kind of go is it imposter syndrome? And you're like, oh, man,
am I supposed to be out here? Am I as
(35:14):
good as these guys? Am I going to stick to
my own game? Or am I now going to try
and do something that I can't do? That isn't me?
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Right?
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:24):
I think I think it's only human nature to kind
of go that way a little bit and start comparing
yourself to everyone else in it, and I found, at
least for me, it's just so deadly like if I
start comparing, like why why can't I wedge it like
Karen Smith or or public Karon Smith or or I mean,
he does so many things really well, and it's just
(35:45):
like you can get in this hole where it's like
I'm not good, and then you start forgetting what you
do well. And so yes, there's a time and a
place for picking things that they do and asking them
questions and trying to absorb as much information and maybe
learn a shut or two. But at the same time,
I think it's really important to also realize what you
do and kind of stick to your game plan and
your way that you operate around the both course and
(36:08):
keep that kind of.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Close to home, because I've gone.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Both ways and disappeared off down a rabbit hole where
it's like I'm just not built to do that, or
I don't understand how to do that. Now maybe down
the road I will, but just no, so let me
not compromise everything that I'm doing just to try and
figure out something that someone else is doing. So that
comparison thing is is I've got to be very careful
of that, but you can definitely learn a lot.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
So three live teams. Last year you were on torqu yep,
you're on.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
I was on iron Heads, I believe at one point,
and then I think I started on Smash but she won,
was the captain for Smash. Yeah, something like that.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
That was before Brooks came Well brooksk.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
So now we cut to the chase twenty twenty three.
You go to the irons Heads, Kevin Nah, See Wan Kim, yourself,
Danny Lee four point seven million dollars this year. And
if I'd have told you last year, Scott that you
were going to have the year that you've had on
Live this year, because I don't think again, Yes, there's
a lot of money that live in the Saudis have
(37:11):
been brought into professional golf. And yes, you can make
the argument that guys like DJ and Brooks and Phil
and Bryson that they didn't need that kind of money
anyway because they'd already had these amazing careers and they
were already multimillionaires and.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
Stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
That was not the case for you, Right, You're not
flying around net jets every week, you're not building you know,
twenty thousand square foot houses, right, that's not the golf
world that you live in. So to have this opportunity
to come to make almost five million dollars this year,
to be a full year on a live team, regardless
(37:47):
of which side of the fence people are that are
listening that, whether they're pro live anti live. Your experience
and what did you like about the opportunity and what
did you feel was different about the live opportunity that
was different than having full status on the Asian Tour,
that was different than having full status in Japan? How
(38:09):
is the experience different for people that are listening that
having been a part of.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
It, Yeah, I think for me the biggest thing is
that it's completely out of my comfort zone. Like I've
I understand Asia, I understand Japan, and there's a comfort
level to that. This this whole live thing for me
as a player and a person is it's very uncomfortable
because it's new territory.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You're playing in the US, you're playing big tournaments, huge
outside the US, You're playing probably in front of more
people than you normally play. For me, I mean they
get big, big crowds in Japan.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Yeah, But and the courses and the style of courses,
and just how demanding it is, just off the tee
into the green, on the greens, around the greens. It
was just more about am I going to embrace this
or am I going to kind of shy away from it?
And so we've been working really hard and just trying
to embrace these moments because as a player and as
(39:01):
a person, you're going to face these things that may
make you feel very uncomfortable throughout your life. And I
think this year, more than ever, I've embraced some of
that a little bit more and just kind of faced it,
which doesn't guarantee that you're going to pull it off
and do it perfectly fine, but it's going to help
you down the road. And so this year was just
facing a lot of those uncomfortable situations and moments. And Saudi,
(39:26):
for example, was a hugely uncomfortable week for me.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
You know, as you go into the final individual round
or tournament of the year and Live was in Jedda,
the top twenty four guys on Live are guaranteed their
spot for the following year, and then everybody else kind
of goes into this kind of pool of players. Some
of the I mean, listen I think a lot of
(39:50):
people also don't understand the inner workings of Live. There
are players that have multiple year contracts, guys like Brooks DJ,
they're captains, they've got there, they've got contracts for a
long time. Someone like yourself, you're on a year to
year opportunity to try and keep your playing privileges. So
for you to finish in Jedda on Sunday and basically
(40:11):
play your way into another year on Live, it's a massive,
massive thing for someone like you at this point in
your career.
Speaker 4 (40:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
Yeah, So, like I was saying, that day was just
very uncomfortable. One of the things that I've tried not
to do is look at the school board, look at
where I'm at. You know, I felt like I've played
really well this year, but looking back, I was around
thirty first, and thirty first. To get to twenty fourth
as a massive jump that you need to make going
into the final event and obviously have a great second
(40:43):
round where I'm now in the second last group, but
again I don't know where I stand over all, and
I don't know what I need to do. And I
get pulled into an interview and the first thing they
bring up is you sitting right now at twenty fourth position,
and I'm like, great, the whole thing that I've been
trying to do the whole year, it just gets camp
is right there accidentally. But again it was perfect for
me because then I had to deal with that as well,
(41:06):
and so now I know exactly what I need to
do and where I need to finish. Now I've got
to go play the next day and sleep that night
and just deal with everything that comes along with that.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
So No, Saudi golf course is tricky. It's tricky because
it's a desert style golf course. If you hit it offline,
you're not going to have a good lie. It's wide open,
it's very very windy, and on Sunday when you shot
or under, it's blowing twenty to thirty. And you get
(41:37):
out on those holes near the water. Thirteen, it's always
haling off the right. There's water right, it's dead left. Sixteen,
it's always haling off the left. What did you learn
about yourself? Because then your back's up against the wall right,
So then you know exactly what you have to do, right, Okay,
So you know that if you're on the bubble going
into Sunday, So you're the twenty fourth guy. You know
(42:01):
that if you're inside the top twenty four next year,
you have full status on life, which is a huge
opportunity right now, the amount of money they're playing for
to have another opportunity to play, it's massive for someone
at this stage of your career, coming from where you've
(42:21):
come from, right, coming from the tours that you've come from,
playing where you've been playing. So how do you go
about that mentally because you're trying not to get caught
up in the moment.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Yeah, yeah, you're trying everything you can, and the moment's there,
like you can't really avoid it. So again it's just
am I going to embrace this? Am I going to
learn from it regardless of how the result comes out
or shy away from it? So you know that night
was it was a tricky night to get good rest.
But again you kind of remember in your your bank
of memories that I've played well with not very much sleep.
(42:55):
So that's okay, And yeah, we just I just went
into the day exactly like I would treat it any
other day. Hit my routines take up half the putting
greed to do all my putting drills and then yeah,
just just cruise through the routines and play. And again,
I don't look at school boards, or I try not
to because I find that just gets me caught up
(43:15):
in results and all over the place. So I'm just
playing and I don't really know where I'm at. I
just know that this is important right here, So let's
start it in. Let's the best shot that we can.
And we're not trying to play safe or push or anything.
We're just playing golf. And so I played amazing like
that whole day, and like looking back and dissecting that round,
it's like the cool thing was is that under those circumstances,
(43:39):
like a few more puts go in and it's like,
I'm actually at a chance where I could win.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Yeah, you had it on the background, you had a
legit chance to win. I mean because the margins were
so tight. There was only really there was probably ten
or fifteen guys within like one or two shots of
a lead. Right, And it was a tough day Brooks.
That wasn't he was the leader. He shot zero the
day before. He didn't really have his best stuff until late.
(44:03):
We made puts when he needed to do. You say
to yourself Okay, I've got a game plan, I've got
an idea of what I'm going to try and do.
Did you have a target score in mind? Did you
have any of that or were you just basically saying, listen,
I'm just taking each each each shot, each hole as
they come.
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Yeah, just each shot as it comes. For me, that
seems to be the best way to go. Didn't really
have a target number or anything, and it was just
less play because like so often is like the round
cannot start the way you want, but it can finish
even better than you expect, or vice versa. You know,
you can start off hot and then it can kind
of just get all funky and you just not really
finish and take advantage of the holes that you should.
(44:40):
So for me, it was just we just play. We
just played like this was going to be a great
day of learning, regardless whether it worked out or didn't,
and grateful it did. And it came down to Sergio's
part on the last hole, which I couldn't watch. I
don't want to be standing there wishing something on someone else.
I just got away and and eventually the news comes
(45:01):
that it was good enough.
Speaker 4 (45:02):
So just amazing.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
There are a lot of people that the team element
of live. They don't get it. They don't understand it.
They think it's a gimmick. They don't think it's real.
Your experience of being on the iron Heads this year,
what did you like about it and what is the
team part about it? How is that different and helpful?
Maybe in a way that you didn't.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
Think it's a special bond. You actually like your team
is like your family in a way. Like the one
thing I really loved about the Ironheads and Kevin and
his captain Sye is he just he let us do
our golf on our own, like he knows that we're
all good enough and he doesn't need to coach us
and tell us what to do. He just let us
do our own thing, which I really respect and I
(45:52):
think that was great. But at the same time, he
could bring it in and we could go and play
games together, and we could compete and keep it fun,
and we went out for dinners, we hung out together.
It was you know, obviously a.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
Little bit like I'm guessing, like college golf again, a
lot to where you're traveling, kind of staying in the
same hotels. I mean, to me, that's one of been
one of my favorite things about the experience on Live,
which has been vastly different than the PGA Tour, is
it does feel a little bit Live. To me, feels
a lot more like when I started traveling in Europe
on the European Tour in the early two thousands. It
(46:26):
was a traveling circus. It was the same group of people,
and you mentioned Asia's a little bit like that, because
you don't have this massive disparag difference between the superstars
and everybody else, right. I mean that's the thing in
the US that people don't realize the PGA Tour. It's
very different because the superstars, you don't really if you're
not a superstar, you don't see these guys, right, You're
(46:48):
they're certainly not on the same planes as you are, right,
They're not on you know, whatever airline you're taking, because
they're either flying with all the other superstars private, So
there's a big difference. And I think the cool thing
about Live for me is it does feel like a
traveling circus, like we're all big, one big family, and
(47:08):
that part of it's fun.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Yeah, it's so fun, Like we joke around together, there's
internal jokes, and then when you feel another member coming
and making fun of when you're defending them, and so
it's like, it's just an amazing atmosphere and I think
I think it's really cool and special and it's a
game changer because golf can be very lonely. You do
a lot of things on your own. It's an individual sport,
(47:30):
that's just the way it is. But this team thing
just adds a different level to it.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Do you watch as you're trying to not watch your
own score, are you watching the team score?
Speaker 3 (47:41):
Yeah, watching how the team's doing, seeing, hey, how's Danny
playing today? Okay, good, that's great. Let's you know, let's
see we can help out or whatever. And there was
something Danny talked about when he had his win in Arizona.
He wasn't worried about himself. He was just seeing how
the team was doing and we were moving up nicely
and that fired him up. So yeah, it's it's cool.
It's something else to chick well outside of yourself, which
(48:02):
is great.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
So twenty twenty four, do you reset your goals because
obviously now you've had two full seasons on lift, so
you played all eight the first year, you played fourteen.
This year you'll play a full schedule next year. The
mindset of going into that first live tournament in London
to where you get thrown in the deep end with
DJ and Phil and you're thinking, Wow, this is way different.
(48:27):
Is the mindset now Okay I feel comfortable. Do you
feel like, okay, twenty four is my opportunity to say, okay, now,
maybe I feel like I can win, Maybe I feel
like I can win more than one time? Is that
the mindset moving forward? Do you adjust based off of
the two years you've just had.
Speaker 4 (48:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (48:49):
I think overall, you know, there's still these big dreams
and goals that I have personally from a golf standpoint,
and so it's just about am I continuing to move
closer to those? And I think when I stopped trying
to learn and get better, that's when I think my
golf career is probably coming to an end. And I
think right now, I've just got tons of learning and
(49:10):
growth to do. You know, I'm always trying to find
ways to get better. I'm like this off season, I'm
so excited for it, Like I can't wait to see
the changes that I can make going into next year.
And I think, just for me, just I'm just trying
to get better each and every day. You know, we
can learn, we can grow, we can we can find
ways to improve, and that that's what I'm going to do.
(49:32):
We we do have some goals that we would like
to achieve, and I think people would call that crazy,
but I think I've got to shoot high, you know,
I've got to shoot for staff.
Speaker 4 (49:41):
So we'll see that where that ends up.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Lastly, you you pot with the flag in. I have
no idea how you pot with the flag it Fitzpat
Matt Fitzpatrick Fitz does it? Yeah, you pot with the
flag in from every distance?
Speaker 4 (49:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:56):
What I mean? Bryson, We've I've talked to his crazy
ass about this as well. The rest of us look
at that that aren't flag in putters and go, what
the hell are you doing? What is the thought process
behind the flag in?
Speaker 3 (50:10):
I think it started in COVID when we had to
leave the flags in, and then I started hearing some
stats backing it up that you actually make more putts.
And then I started to find that it was something
smaller for me to aim at, and so aiming at
the pin smaller than the hole, and so it kind
of lucked in my focus a little bit.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
Never thought about that one and that one. Okay, that's
that's the first real answer anyone's given me. Okay, all
the numbers Bryson tried to give me all that bullshit.
It was just like, you're crazy, right, But the focus
from and I would imagine from three five those short
range puts leaving the the flag in it does give
(50:53):
you an extra focus that you're just going to try
and hit the middle of the flag right in the
cup right. You worry about it bouncing it out.
Speaker 3 (51:00):
It's happened one time, but from what distance.
Speaker 4 (51:02):
It was a longer putt.
Speaker 3 (51:03):
It was like a forty foot putt and it was
forty miler, no wind, and it just timed it perfectly
when it flag is ending back. So it's only happened once.
If it does get really windy, sometimes I do take
it out, especially on those shorter ones, but I think
I think it's been good to me, so I'm gonna
keep going with it.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Well. One of the cool things about talking to you,
and one of the reasons why I wanted to talk
to you, is I think over the last two years
there's been a lot of divisiveness with regards to live
versus the PGA tour and the fans and everybody feeling
like they're getting pulled in a lot of different directions.
But I think one of the good, really cool, feel
(51:42):
good stories about what Lives done has been your story
and your journey. For a guy that didn't really plan
to go to live, it kind of fell into your lap.
You got an opportunity, and you really really taken advantage
of this opportunity in it it has been life changing
for you. And I said this to you earlier today
(52:03):
when I saw you. One of the cool things is
when you walked in to the clubhouse and Jetta, all
of the players that had finished, all the caddies, everybody,
everybody when you walked in stood up and clapped and
because they knew that you secured another year that you
can tell you know that doesn't happen anywhere else. Your
(52:25):
friends that you play with, that you know in professional golf,
on whatever tour you're playing, they're happy for you.
Speaker 3 (52:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (52:33):
But I think one of the cool things was to
see the response of everybody on live from player caddy
and all the people associated with it. They were also
genuinely happy for you when you did what you did.
In Saudi Arabia and secured another year of playing privileges.
To me, that was something that was really cool, and
I think everybody's really excited to see what you can
(52:56):
do next year and listen with as hard as you work,
and you're one of the hardest working people I've seen
in a long long time. I mean, you put the
hours in and I like the fact that I watch you.
I'm OCD, I'm a rule. I mean, I need structure, redvant.
I take a lot of comfort in the fact that
you and your caddie literally every week take up half
(53:20):
of the putting green and it doesn't matter what the
size is because you've got your process in your drills
and you do them every single day. And I think
a lot of guys I remember saying to DJ once
about the fact that there wasn't a lot of room
on the putting green and stuff like that, but he said,
you know what, I kind of like the fact that
(53:40):
kid does the same thing every time. So that process
that you're going through, obviously it's working. I've just never
seen anyone set up that many stations on a putting
green at a professional event, but it's obviously working. Congrats
on a great year and you really looking forward to
(54:00):
seeing what happens in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (54:03):
Clud yet appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
So that was Scott Vincent, And like I said, I
think it's a it's a good story. I think, you know,
there are a lot of stories around, you know, what's
happened over the last couple of years, and I think
everybody has been focusing on, you know, the money element
of it, and a lot of you know, the war
between PJ tourn Live and whatever side of the fence
you're on on that. I think Scott talks a lot about,
(54:31):
you know, the decision he made, how it's impacted his life,
and he now has opportunities to play in tournaments that
he never would have had opportunities to play in, and
as an opportunity to play against a pretty strong field
each and every week out on Live. Keep an eye
on him because I love the way he goes about
(54:51):
things and I like his game and I'm excited to
see what he can do in twenty twenty four. Thanks
everyone for listening. I know it took a couple of
weeks off from the pod, had some technical issues, was
on the road, but I put a question out on
people that you all want to hear for the pod.
(55:12):
I'm gonna do my best to try and get them.
We've got some great guests coming up over the coming weeks.
And thanks for listening. It's always fun when I'm on
the road. I get a lot of feedback from people
saying listen, love the podcast, and that always makes me
feel really really cool. Son of a Butch comes to
you every Wednesday. We will see you next week.