February 12, 2025 • 32 mins
Claude joins us from Adelaide to discuss what he saw and experienced at the 2025 PGA Show, competition and innovation in golf products and formats, and the recent LIV tournaments.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's the son of which podcast. I'm your host Claude Harman.
This week solo episode of the pod. I am back
on the road currently in Adelaide, Australia for Lives in
Saudi last week Underneath the Lights, but just kind of
wanted to talk about the off season. I mean, just
like the players, I got an off season and just
want to kind of talk through some of the stuff
(00:22):
that I did on my off season, which is always
good to kind of recharge, live a normal life, get
off the road. I think I did twenty two weeks
on the road last year or so it's always nice
to have an off season. One of the big things
I did off season was I went to the PJ
Merchandise Show, which is always, I think, a really interesting
kind of state of where professional golf is. And I
(00:44):
was really impressed with the crowds that I saw up
in Orlando. I think there were some big manufacturers that
came back to the PGA show and you kind of
get a good buzz of kind of finger on the
pulse of what's going on people, and I saw a
lot of people really excited about golf. One of the
big things I think I saw at the PGA show
(01:06):
was It seems like there was a lot of tech,
a lot of simulator tech. Obviously, TGL launched in the
off season, and yeah, I watched some of it and
I liked it. I liked what I saw. I thought
the venue looks amazing down there in Palm Beach Gardens.
I thought the way it looked on television was really
(01:26):
really cool. I know they're having some issues with the
technology and stuff like that, but I do think that
there is a place for that kind of golf. And
I don't know how many people are watching or what
other people are thinking, but I liked it. I thought
it was interesting, the team concept of it. I talked
to Adam Scott in November. He was in Dubai. I
(01:46):
was in Dubai. He was doing some practice at my
academy and got to catch up with him and we
talked about it and got to watch him play on
his TGL team. You know, over the last three years,
Live has made the move to go to team golf.
And find it interesting that the PGA Tour is going
to the same thing. Yeah, it's in a simulator, but
(02:07):
it's cool. I mean, I think the guys really they
look like they like it. I saw Matt Fitzpatrick at
the Grove down in Jupiter a couple of weeks ago,
and he had played in the TGL, and DJ and
I were there. We were asking him about it and
what he thought about it, and so I do think
there is a place for that, and I think Lives
has shown that team golf has a place. It's fun,
(02:30):
and I think the guys you've watched on the TGL broadcast,
to me, they look like they're having fun. And that's
always been one of the things that I think has
been hard for a lot of people to understand that
haven't been, you know, a part of Live. I think,
you know, it's twenty twenty five and everybody has talked
about it. I've talked about it, and you know, I
think everybody's tired of talking about it. But the team
stuff is fun and it has been fun over the
(02:52):
last three years for those of us that have been
on Live and have been part of kind of a team.
You know, the practice round, the way that the players travel,
the way the players practice together and play together and
hang out together. So in that respect, I think it's
been cool to watch TGL kind of have that same
(03:13):
concept and I think they're taking some of their cues,
you know, from Live, which, hey, imitation is very flattering.
So I think Team Golf is here to stay. I
think it's here to stay on Live. I think it's
here to stay in TGL and we'll see where it goes.
But at the PJ Merchandise Show, I saw a lot
of simulator tech. It seems like every simulator company is
(03:33):
coming up with some sort of putting articulated floor, kind
of where the floor can move, where you can put
a monitor in the ceiling and kind of show you
the line of the putt platform. Golf is a new
company that I started doing some work with. They're going
to be putting in some of their units in my
academy in Dubai and in Thailand, and they've got an
(03:54):
articulating surface so you can hit balls and the floor
moves different lives uphill, downhill, side hill, something that's been
very difficult for a lot of people to simulate if
you practice on a driving range. So that tech is
really cool, and it seems like every single company now,
simulator wise, is coming up with some sort of moveable
(04:16):
floor for putting, which, again we as golf instructors and
as golfers, you're always trying to find a way to
simulate what's on the golf course. So if you are
in a simulator setting, having that type of movement to
where you can see how the putts move. I've always
thought that putting from an instruction standpoint, and we've been
(04:37):
part of the problem as instructors, has been kind of
taught backwards, right. We teach stroke first and then then
work on feel. And I try with a lot of
players now that are that are starting out juniors, beginning golfers,
and even competitive golfers, is hey, let's not just go
to mechanics first. Let's go ahead and look at what
(04:58):
your feel is like onlaw pots, what your perception of
break and speed, and how you're matching the line to
the speed. I think that's huge, and I think all
the companies out there are coming up with products that
are going to allow golfers, whether they're in a home situation,
whether they're in an academy or a studio type situation,
(05:20):
lesson type situation, there is products out there. There are
products available that are going to help that. So I
saw a lot of that at the PGA show. I
got to spend some time with Greg Rose and Dave Phillips,
both from TPI, co founders of the titles Foremust Institute.
It's always a great opportunity for me to catch up
with them. I've had them on the pod and kind
(05:40):
of pick their brains on where they see things going.
There seems to be a lot of companies out there
right now trying to do three D tech with just
your camera, sports Box AI. I mean they're on the
broadcast now on PGA Tour. It's an app you can
put on your phone and kind of film yourself and
then it puts mark on your body stuff. So I
(06:01):
think we are going to see more of that, more
tools for the average golfer to be able to say, Okay,
let me video myself and use technology, use AI to
see kind of what my body's doing. I think they've
got to work some of the tech out, and I
think they're trying to figure out how accurate it is.
But my view on technology for golfers is I think
(06:23):
there are a lot of people. When I go to
these PGA merchandise shows and we look at new tech,
it's always funny to me that within the instruction community
you'll see other instructors at the PGA show talking about
various products, talking about new technology, and a lot of
times it's a lot of guys and people arguing over
(06:43):
the tech. Who's got the right tech, who's got the
best tech. Their tech doesn't work, their measurements don't work.
I look at technology and I think that technology can
help the majority of golfers get better. I think launch
monitor technology, I think three D technology. I think all
of the tech out there in some way can help
golfers get better. So I think we are going to
(07:05):
continue to see that. I think we are probably just
at the beginning of AI and what AI can do
in golf, what it can do for golf instruction, what
it can do for golf diagnostic technology. So I'm really
excited to kind of see where that goes. But it's
always fun for me to just walk around the show
(07:27):
and see what's out there. The companies that I work with, Cobrapuma,
got to spend some time in their booths looking at
all their new product and listen, if you listen to
the podcast, you know that I'm a Cobrapuma guy. But
when you get to see all the products from whatever manufacturer,
you're associated with, from whatever clothing company that you're associated with.
For me, it's always fun to kind of talk to,
(07:50):
you know, the guys that are designing the clubs, the
people that are designing the clothing. So I think Cobrapuma
is doing a really, really good job. I think they've
got some really innovative tech. Their new driver. You've heard
me talk about it. I really like it. It's fast
scene players put it in the bag, and then they're
three D printing with their irons. Kyle Westmoreland, who I've
(08:10):
had on the pod before, he just won with their
iron on the corn Ferry, and I think that technology
I'm excited to see. You know what that could look like.
Is there a world if the companies can three D
print irons? Is there a world maybe five ten years
from now, where you, as a player just are able
to go online and say, Okay, this is what I
(08:32):
want my iron to look like. Do I want offset?
Do I want it to be more of a blade?
Do I want it to be more game improvement, more
top line less top line? What shape do I like
in my Iron? So I think, just like I said
about AI, I think we're scratching the surface of what
building a golf club and building an iron could look
like down the road, and I think Cobra he's kind
(08:56):
of at the forefront of that. And I've got their
three D iron in my bag. I love it. It's
kind of got a blade looking, kind of old school
iron look to it, but the tech involved in it
with where you can hit it on the face, the forgiveness,
I think all of that is we're just touching the surface.
(09:17):
So it's going to be cool to see where that goes.
On the Puma side, Puma's shoe company first and foremost,
and I think Puma's got some really really cool stuff
coming out, kind of some retro old school Puma golf shoes.
So excited to see all of that stuff. Later this year,
got to hang out with Steve Malbone from Malbon Golf,
who you know, he's he's a friend. I think he's
(09:38):
doing some really cool stuff. We kind of talked about
all the stuff that they're doing with Jason Day and
all the craziness in what surrounds kind of the stuff
that they're trying to do in the golf space. And
I think we're in an interesting place in kind of
golf fashion as well. I think, you know, I think
there's space for everybody, and I think there are a
lot of cool new companies and I think it's going
(10:00):
to make the bigger companies adapt and look at trends
and stuff like that. So I think I saw more
influencers at the PJ Merchandi Show as many influencers and
people in that space as I did just regular golf instructors,
regular PGA pros. You know, normally when you go to
the PGA Merchant Show, merchandise show, it's khakis, it's blue blazers,
(10:24):
it's you know, it's very much old school. But this
year it seemed like there's just big armies of social
media people walking around. And I think that's a trend.
I mean, I think the YouTube golf stuff is here
to stay. Like I said, I'm down here in Adelaide
at the Live event and today Rick Shields was out.
He signed a big deal with Live. You know, YouTube extraordinaire.
(10:45):
It's got a huge channel, huge following, and he's now
doing content for Live. We've seen the PGA Tour do that.
We've seen the PGA Tour do their content creator. The
pg Tour has hired influencers to kind of come out
on tour to be a part of what they're doing.
And I think that is here to stay. But you
could just see it at the PGA show. You just
see these armies of content creators just walking around with
(11:06):
their videographers and sound people and so listen. I think
the golf space is big. I think there's room for
all of it. And I think you are seeing. You're
seeing the manufacturers get more involved with YouTubers and influencers.
You're seeing clothing companies do that, and now you're seeing
tours do that. You're seeing the PGA tour do that.
You're seeing live and I think that's here to stay.
(11:27):
You're going to see that on the LPGA as well.
I think they're trying to find a way to get
more eyeballs in a non traditional way. I think the
way that all of you listening to the podcast. Everybody
consumes their content differently. Everybody has a way in which
they like to produce their content or absorb their content,
(11:49):
and I think the content creators right now, I mean,
we've never been in a time to where it's easier
to produce content. So if that's something you're interested in,
I think it's here to stay, and I think we
are going to see more of that. And I had
a pretty extensive talk about that with Rick Shields today
about what he's trying to do, what you know Live
wants him to do, and that's happening on the PGA
(12:10):
Tour as well. At Waste Management over the weekend we
saw basically, I mean, you couldn't look at your social
media feed if you're a golfer and not see somebody
in the influencer social media space at Waste Management. The
PGA Tour, I think has done a great job at that.
They've got their sixteenth hole, their stadium, and it seemed
like that was kind of the melting pot for all
(12:33):
of the stars people outside the golf space that love golf.
They're hitting shots, they're trying things, and then all the
influencers and all the content creators are are at that
as well. So again, that's not going anywhere. That is
here to stay. One of the other crazy things that
happened in the offseason Noah Kent finalist in the US Am.
(12:56):
He'll play in the Masters and the US Open this year.
He was at the University of Iowa, made the decision
to go into the transfer portal, And for those of
you listening in America college sports right now, it is
absolutely crazy with all of the nil stuff, with all
of the money that are being paid to now college
(13:17):
athletes and college golfers are in that same boat. Now.
There is a big shift in college golf right now
to where the NCAA is reducing team and squad size
if down to kind of eight nine, and I think
a lot of the college coaches are kind of scrambling.
So Noah, who I've had on the pod, made the
(13:37):
decision to go into the transfer portal lead the University
of Iowa, and it was just crazy the amount of
offers from schools and what schools are now able to offer.
And that is the wild wild West right now. I
don't think college golf coaches ever envisioned time to where
(13:58):
college athletes would be getting paid, that they could pay
college athletes. College athletes could then say listen, I want
to move, and another program saying hey, listen, we've got
some money, we want you to come. And I think
that's new. And I think everybody in college golf on
the playing side, the players and the universities, the coaches,
(14:20):
everybody who's trying to figure out where and how we
navigate this kind of new world. But college athletes now
in America that play college sports, specifically on the golf side,
they're getting paid. Now, they're getting paid to play. And
I don't have a problem with that, I really don't.
I think it's been a little bit upside down. I mean,
if you look at college football in America, I mean,
(14:41):
if you look at the number of college football coaches
that are making over ten million dollars a year, and
historically the athletes, it's been illegal to pay them. I
mean it's been illegal for college athletes who are on
scholarships to get a job, to get a part time job.
So I can remember when Tiger was at Stanford, he
(15:03):
got taken out to dinner by Arnold Palmer, and Arnold
Palmer paid for the dinner, and it was it turned
into a really really big deal. The NCAA was talking
about sanctions. Tiger had to write a check I think,
to Arnold Palmer for the dinner and stuff like that.
So those days are over. So college athletes now across
the board. But in golf, if you're good, you can
(15:25):
get paid. You can get paid to go to school,
and you can get paid basically a salary to play
college golf. So Noah kind of made the decision to
leave Iowa and ended up it went to a bunch
of different schools. I was part of that process, and
we looked at a lot of different programs. It was
like a two week period where I think I was
(15:45):
basically every single day on the way to work or
on the way home, I was talking to a college
golf coach about their program, about the fit and stuff,
and ultimately Noah did a lot of visits and chose
the University of Florida J. C. Deacon and the Gators.
They won the national championship a couple of years ago.
Jac has been on the pod. Noah's a Florida kid
from Naples, and so that's where he's going to play
(16:07):
his college golf. So the interesting thing is Noah played
in the fall for Iowa, and you can't play for
two schools in the same calendar year. So even though
he's at the University of Florida now as part of
the University of Florida Gator golf program, can't play. So
that was a big deal for trying to figure out
what we were going to do. He's going to play
(16:28):
as a finalist of the US Am you get into
the Masters and the US Open. So Noah will play
in the Masters, He'll play in the US Open, but
he isn't going to play any tournaments in college golf
in the spring. He can play on the team, can
practice with the team, he can work out with the team,
he can qualify with the team. He just can't compete
(16:50):
for two schools in the same years. So the next
time he'll be able to compete for the University of
Florida is in the fall of twenty twenty five. So
we're scrambling to try and figure out, Okay, what is
that land look like from a competitive standpoint. I think
we're going to try and look at having him do
some of the Monday qualifiers for some of the Florida
events on the PGA Tour. Is there a world where
(17:11):
maybe he can get some invites, maybe Asia, maybe DP
I mean, maybe even PGA Tour. I mean, that would
be unbelievable if he could get a PGA Tour event.
But it has just been fascinating to watch in a
very very short period of time the landscape of college
golf change literally overnight, and I don't know where we're
(17:35):
going to go with this. I think it's just the
infancy of paying college athletes and paying college golfers. Listen,
whatever side of the fence you're on on that, I
don't have a dog in that fight. But I don't
have a problem with college athletes being paid. I really don't.
I think it's the world we live in and it's
going to be really interesting to see kind of where
(17:58):
that goes as well. And then I'm back on the road.
Did Saudi last week and Saudi for Live they played
under under the lights. They played at night, which was
a really it was cool, but I gotta be honest,
it was a weird experience. I think everybody was coming
to Saudi Arabia that's associated with Live, the players, the caddies,
the coaches, all of us on the team side. You know,
(18:20):
you're flying. I flew from Miami fifteen hours to Doha
and stuff, so the time difference, but then you're playing
at night, so it's a really weird experience because normally
you get up first thing in the morning and you're
getting to the golf course early. It was the complete opposite.
So everybody was jet lagged. We were trying to get
(18:41):
to the golf course kind of mid afternoonish. I was
getting to the golf course around three four o'clock every day,
which normally I'm getting to the golf course between six
seven eight o'clock at the latest, but three o'clock at night,
having some food and then going out. And everybody was
trying to practice underneath the lights at night, so teeing
(19:04):
off at like six thirty seven o'clock at night pro
am time. One of the pro ams DJ played in
Saudi is tea off time seven thirty at night. So
the other part of that is we were getting back
to the hotel after the round. You're trying to eat,
we're getting back. I think the earliest I got back
to the hotel for the week was around eleven o'clock
(19:25):
to midnight. And then your jet lag, you're wide awake,
You're trying to sleep, but then you realize you don't
have to do anything the following day until you know,
four or five o'clock in the afternoon. So it was
a really interesting experience. But the experience of playing night
golf it was cool. I don't think I'd want to
do that all the time, but I think lives trying
(19:46):
to innovate. I think that Lives trying to bring some
different things, and I think the PGA Tour is trying
to do that as well. So I think all the
tours are trying to figure out in twenty twenty five
how they can innovate the product. But I said this
to someone at the PJ Merchandise Show, and I think,
whether you like Live, whether you don't like Live, that's
(20:08):
I mean, we can talk about that forever, and that's
a personal choice. But five to seven years ago, I
never heard anyone talk about the product, what the product
was of professional golf. Professional golf was, what it was,
the tours played, where they played, the tours played, the
tournaments they played, and I never heard anyone talk about
the fan experience, what the fans wanted, what the product was,
(20:29):
how the product can could be better. And I think
Live coming along has made everybody in professional golf say, Okay,
what do the fans want, what are the fans don't want,
and how can we make that experience better. So, if
you're on the anti Live side and you think there
are a lot of negatives associated with that, one of
the positives is it is made all the tours kind
(20:49):
of pivot and go, Okay, how can we make the
experience better for the fans? And the way professional golf
is being televised and packaged and brought to all of
you that are listening that are golf fans is changing.
It's changing on a regular basis. Five years ago, there
was no PGA Tour. You right, there are no content
(21:12):
creator tournaments. I mean, if someone told you ten years
ago that at the Tour Championship on Wednesday of the
FedEx Cup Tour Championship there would be an influencer golf
tournament televised on Golf Channel, nobody would believe that. They'd say,
get out of here. That's never gonna happen. So when
(21:32):
there isn't competition sometimes it can lead to a lack
of innovation. And I think one of the positive things
over the last three or four years. It's very easy,
in my opinion right now, to look at professional golf
and it's just doom and gloom. You know, we hear
that on a regular basis. It's just product is bad,
viewership is bad, the fan viewings down, all of those things.
(21:57):
But I think golf is evolving. Professional golf is evolving,
and I think the way that we view golf and
the way that we watch golfers play, I think you
are going to see more and more of this content
creator to where you have someone who is on YouTube,
who has their channel, and who is spending time with
(22:19):
the best players in the world. I think it's bringing
the best players in the world closer to the fans
in these type of settings. Again, I talked about it earlier.
Rick Shields was out with the four Aces today filming
something for Live that'll be probably dropping soon. But you
never saw that, right, You never saw any of the tours.
(22:42):
I mean the PGA Tour now will have the players
say listen, we need you to do these things with
these content creators, with these social media people, with these YouTubers,
they are going to be at the tournament and it's
another way to get the product out. So I think
that's here to stay. Night golf. I think we're going
(23:04):
back next year to do night golf. And it was fun.
It was a different atmosphere once a year. I think
I'm fine with it, and I liked it. It was fun.
Sometimes the ball was hard to see in the sky.
I think maybe they had some more lights but I
think all the tours are trying to figure out a
way to kind of merge all of the kind of
(23:26):
things in twenty twenty five that are on social media
and how you can merge them into professional golf. And
then for Live, this is our biggest tournament of the
year here in Adelaide. Rumors one hundred thousand tickets have
been sold. Concerts every night. We just saw the exact
same thing at Waste Management. So I think this is
the biggest tournament by far that Live has and I've
(23:49):
been down here for all of them and it's always
great to come down to Australia. The Australian sports fans,
the Australian golf fans are amazing and I can't wait
for the tournament to start. It's going to be bigger
this year than it was last year, and it was
bigger last year than it was the year before which
the first year, everybody that was on Live that came
down here was just blown away by how crazy the
(24:13):
fans are for golf in Australia and the golf course,
you know, the Grange Golf It's not one of the
superstore Australian sand belt golf courses, but the bunkering in
this part of the world is second to none. It is,
in my opinion, the best bunkering in golf. And the
fact that they're going to play a professional golf tournament
(24:33):
and showcase Australian golf and kind of the sand Belt
kind of design and stuff. I'm here for it. I
love it. It's hot down here. Last year Live came
down to Australia in April, so they were going into fall.
It's in the hundreds here. It's firm, it's fast, it's bouncy,
and it is going to play very very lynxy and
(24:56):
they are trying to put some water on the golf
course to try and soften it, just to try and
save it because of the heat. But I think the
greens are going to get very very firm, they're going
to get very very fast, and I think on Sunday
it's going to be a shootout and there's going to
be a lot of stuff going on. But this is
Live's kind of flagship. To me, it's kind of like
(25:16):
their Players Championship right Live doesn't have any majors. If
I said this was like a major for Live, everybody
would crush me. So this is like to me, it's
like it feels like the players, right, it feels like
this is one of the biggest tournaments. This is their
biggest tournament of the year so far, and it's one
that everybody you know that is associated with Live has
marked on their calendar. And it's a fan favorite down here.
(25:38):
I mean, the fans just come out and support this,
very similar to the way that the fans come out
and support Waste Management. You know, they have their watering
hole here down in Adelaide for Live and Waste Management.
Last week had the sixteenth hole. They're a purists that
hate that. They're a purist that thinks that goes too far.
I don't know. I like to watch it. So I
(26:02):
do think that professional golf is changing. I think it's
changing really right before our eyes, and I'm interested to
see where the landscape and where we go in the future.
We're already seeing this week in the last week or
so and this week again USGA RNA trying to find
a way and having a qualification system for the live
(26:25):
players to play in some of these tournaments. So I
think you're going to see more crossover. You hear all
the rumors about what's going on with a merger. When
will the two tours come together? Will they come together?
What will that look like? That's above my pay grade.
I don't think anybody knows what that's going to look like.
(26:45):
But if the off season showed me one thing, it
showed me that the professional golf landscape is changing. But
as I've said before to everyone listening, professional golf is
a very very very small, small part of golf. It
really really is. It's a huge part of it. It's
(27:06):
probably the biggest, most recognizable part of it because it's
on TV, because of the PGA Tour and all the
various tours all around the world. But the way that
all of you listening consume and watch content and watch
golf is changing, and I think all of the tours
are scrambling to try and figure out how they keep
(27:28):
up with that. What is the demand? What do you
as the viewer, as the golfer, what do you want
to see? And I think we've never been in a
time where all of our voices are being heard. They're
being heard by the tours, right They're definitely being heard
by the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour is trying to
pivot again. If five seven years ago you told me
(27:51):
that there would be a team indoor golf league that
Rory McElroy and Tiger Woods would be fronting, and on
Tuesday Night it would be on ESPN and America, Scott
van Pelt and all of the superstars that they have
involved in this and they're bringing out to showcase it
would be involved. I just don't think people would buy it.
I just think they'd go nah. I mean, they're never
(28:11):
going to do that. So I think there's a lot
of different ways to consume content, and rather than look
at all of the negatives about where a lot of
people think the game is going, the state of the
game and stuff like that, I try and look to
the positives and say, Okay, we're getting more eyeballs on
maybe some different ways of consuming golf content. Maybe we're
(28:34):
looking at different ways of formatting professional golf. I don't know,
but I think there was no competition. It was the
PGA Tour that was it, and European Tour, Asian Tour.
They weren't necessarily big players. It was the PGA Tour.
And now I think there are alternatives, There are options,
(28:54):
and there are a lot of different ways to consume,
watch and ob all of the content that is out there,
and I'm here for it. I've got a podcast. I
continue to be blown away that I can be in
Saudi Arabia and someone who lives in Rio walked up
to me and said, huge fan of the podcast. I mean,
(29:14):
if you told me five years ago that would happen,
I wouldn't believe you. So the golf Lands tape is changing.
But focus on the positives that are positives for you
as a as a consumer of golf content. Where you
watch it, how you watch it, what you pay for.
You have power you can vote with you know what
you choose to watch. And there's a lot of content
(29:38):
out there. There's a lot of great golf being played
all over the world on a bunch of different tours.
There are a lot of great young players. I got
to watch Tom McKibben hit a lot of golf balls
last week. I've known Tom. He made the choice to
go to live. He's young. A lot of people are
questioning that decision. I've known Tom a long time. He
(29:59):
used to practic just at our place at my academy
in Dubai. I've hosted him and he's practiced at my
place in Florida. I think he's a bright star. I
think he is part of this next wave of really
good young players and we are going to continue to
see them. And it's interesting the choice that Tom made
to choose live over playing on the PGA Tour. He's
(30:22):
one of the players that finished inside the top ten
on DP World would get you automatic status to the
PGA Tour. Matthew Pavaughan, who I've had on the pod,
he did that, got to the PJ Tour one last year.
We're seeing Thomas Dietree just winning waste Management. He played
the majority of his golf even though he played college
golf in America, played the majority of his golf in Europe.
(30:44):
He's just one on the PGA Tour. So I think, again,
it's easy to look at all the negatives. I think
there are some negatives in professional golf right now, but
there are positives, and there are a lot of them
out there. And I've been saying this for three four years.
You can choose to watch any tour that you want.
Just because you're watching one tour doesn't mean that you're
(31:06):
not a fan of the other. That there's some sort
of litmus tests. You have to be a PGA tour person,
you have to be a live person, all of that stuff.
There's a lot of great golf all over the world
on so many different platforms that you as a lover
of golf, as someone that wants to watch golf, There's
never been a better time for golf content. It's out there,
(31:27):
you find it, and I'm excited to see where all
of that goes. So just a little brief kind of
what I've been doing. It's my podcast, so I can
talk about that. We've got some really great guests coming up,
and we're going to continue to try and give you
as much great content as possible. Son of a Butch
comes to you most every week. I try and get
(31:49):
it out every week. My travel schedule sometimes that's tough,
but be patient. And I continue to be blown away
by how many people listen to the show. And I
can't think all of you enough for making the podcast
a success. Without you all listening, this doesn't happen. We
will see you next week.
It's the son of which podcast. I'm your host Claude Harman.
This week solo episode of the pod. I am back
on the road currently in Adelaide, Australia for Lives in
Saudi last week Underneath the Lights, but just kind of
wanted to talk about the off season. I mean, just
like the players, I got an off season and just
want to kind of talk through some of the stuff
(00:22):
that I did on my off season, which is always
good to kind of recharge, live a normal life, get
off the road. I think I did twenty two weeks
on the road last year or so it's always nice
to have an off season. One of the big things
I did off season was I went to the PJ
Merchandise Show, which is always, I think, a really interesting
kind of state of where professional golf is. And I
(00:44):
was really impressed with the crowds that I saw up
in Orlando. I think there were some big manufacturers that
came back to the PGA show and you kind of
get a good buzz of kind of finger on the
pulse of what's going on people, and I saw a
lot of people really excited about golf. One of the
big things I think I saw at the PGA show
(01:06):
was It seems like there was a lot of tech,
a lot of simulator tech. Obviously, TGL launched in the
off season, and yeah, I watched some of it and
I liked it. I liked what I saw. I thought
the venue looks amazing down there in Palm Beach Gardens.
I thought the way it looked on television was really
(01:26):
really cool. I know they're having some issues with the
technology and stuff like that, but I do think that
there is a place for that kind of golf. And
I don't know how many people are watching or what
other people are thinking, but I liked it. I thought
it was interesting, the team concept of it. I talked
to Adam Scott in November. He was in Dubai. I
(01:46):
was in Dubai. He was doing some practice at my
academy and got to catch up with him and we
talked about it and got to watch him play on
his TGL team. You know, over the last three years,
Live has made the move to go to team golf.
And find it interesting that the PGA Tour is going
to the same thing. Yeah, it's in a simulator, but
(02:07):
it's cool. I mean, I think the guys really they
look like they like it. I saw Matt Fitzpatrick at
the Grove down in Jupiter a couple of weeks ago,
and he had played in the TGL, and DJ and
I were there. We were asking him about it and
what he thought about it, and so I do think
there is a place for that, and I think Lives
has shown that team golf has a place. It's fun,
(02:30):
and I think the guys you've watched on the TGL broadcast,
to me, they look like they're having fun. And that's
always been one of the things that I think has
been hard for a lot of people to understand that
haven't been, you know, a part of Live. I think,
you know, it's twenty twenty five and everybody has talked
about it. I've talked about it, and you know, I
think everybody's tired of talking about it. But the team
stuff is fun and it has been fun over the
(02:52):
last three years for those of us that have been
on Live and have been part of kind of a team.
You know, the practice round, the way that the players travel,
the way the players practice together and play together and
hang out together. So in that respect, I think it's
been cool to watch TGL kind of have that same
(03:13):
concept and I think they're taking some of their cues,
you know, from Live, which, hey, imitation is very flattering.
So I think Team Golf is here to stay. I
think it's here to stay on Live. I think it's
here to stay in TGL and we'll see where it goes.
But at the PJ Merchandise Show, I saw a lot
of simulator tech. It seems like every simulator company is
(03:33):
coming up with some sort of putting articulated floor, kind
of where the floor can move, where you can put
a monitor in the ceiling and kind of show you
the line of the putt platform. Golf is a new
company that I started doing some work with. They're going
to be putting in some of their units in my
academy in Dubai and in Thailand, and they've got an
(03:54):
articulating surface so you can hit balls and the floor
moves different lives uphill, downhill, side hill, something that's been
very difficult for a lot of people to simulate if
you practice on a driving range. So that tech is
really cool, and it seems like every single company now,
simulator wise, is coming up with some sort of moveable
(04:16):
floor for putting, which, again we as golf instructors and
as golfers, you're always trying to find a way to
simulate what's on the golf course. So if you are
in a simulator setting, having that type of movement to
where you can see how the putts move. I've always
thought that putting from an instruction standpoint, and we've been
(04:37):
part of the problem as instructors, has been kind of
taught backwards, right. We teach stroke first and then then
work on feel. And I try with a lot of
players now that are that are starting out juniors, beginning golfers,
and even competitive golfers, is hey, let's not just go
to mechanics first. Let's go ahead and look at what
(04:58):
your feel is like onlaw pots, what your perception of
break and speed, and how you're matching the line to
the speed. I think that's huge, and I think all
the companies out there are coming up with products that
are going to allow golfers, whether they're in a home situation,
whether they're in an academy or a studio type situation,
(05:20):
lesson type situation, there is products out there. There are
products available that are going to help that. So I
saw a lot of that at the PGA show. I
got to spend some time with Greg Rose and Dave Phillips,
both from TPI, co founders of the titles Foremust Institute.
It's always a great opportunity for me to catch up
with them. I've had them on the pod and kind
(05:40):
of pick their brains on where they see things going.
There seems to be a lot of companies out there
right now trying to do three D tech with just
your camera, sports Box AI. I mean they're on the
broadcast now on PGA Tour. It's an app you can
put on your phone and kind of film yourself and
then it puts mark on your body stuff. So I
(06:01):
think we are going to see more of that, more
tools for the average golfer to be able to say, Okay,
let me video myself and use technology, use AI to
see kind of what my body's doing. I think they've
got to work some of the tech out, and I
think they're trying to figure out how accurate it is.
But my view on technology for golfers is I think
(06:23):
there are a lot of people. When I go to
these PGA merchandise shows and we look at new tech,
it's always funny to me that within the instruction community
you'll see other instructors at the PGA show talking about
various products, talking about new technology, and a lot of
times it's a lot of guys and people arguing over
(06:43):
the tech. Who's got the right tech, who's got the
best tech. Their tech doesn't work, their measurements don't work.
I look at technology and I think that technology can
help the majority of golfers get better. I think launch
monitor technology, I think three D technology. I think all
of the tech out there in some way can help
golfers get better. So I think we are going to
(07:05):
continue to see that. I think we are probably just
at the beginning of AI and what AI can do
in golf, what it can do for golf instruction, what
it can do for golf diagnostic technology. So I'm really
excited to kind of see where that goes. But it's
always fun for me to just walk around the show
(07:27):
and see what's out there. The companies that I work with, Cobrapuma,
got to spend some time in their booths looking at
all their new product and listen, if you listen to
the podcast, you know that I'm a Cobrapuma guy. But
when you get to see all the products from whatever manufacturer,
you're associated with, from whatever clothing company that you're associated with.
For me, it's always fun to kind of talk to,
(07:50):
you know, the guys that are designing the clubs, the
people that are designing the clothing. So I think Cobrapuma
is doing a really, really good job. I think they've
got some really innovative tech. Their new driver. You've heard
me talk about it. I really like it. It's fast
scene players put it in the bag, and then they're
three D printing with their irons. Kyle Westmoreland, who I've
(08:10):
had on the pod before, he just won with their
iron on the corn Ferry, and I think that technology
I'm excited to see. You know what that could look like.
Is there a world if the companies can three D
print irons? Is there a world maybe five ten years
from now, where you, as a player just are able
to go online and say, Okay, this is what I
(08:32):
want my iron to look like. Do I want offset?
Do I want it to be more of a blade?
Do I want it to be more game improvement, more
top line less top line? What shape do I like
in my Iron? So I think, just like I said
about AI, I think we're scratching the surface of what
building a golf club and building an iron could look
like down the road, and I think Cobra he's kind
(08:56):
of at the forefront of that. And I've got their
three D iron in my bag. I love it. It's
kind of got a blade looking, kind of old school
iron look to it, but the tech involved in it
with where you can hit it on the face, the forgiveness,
I think all of that is we're just touching the surface.
(09:17):
So it's going to be cool to see where that goes.
On the Puma side, Puma's shoe company first and foremost,
and I think Puma's got some really really cool stuff
coming out, kind of some retro old school Puma golf shoes.
So excited to see all of that stuff. Later this year,
got to hang out with Steve Malbone from Malbon Golf,
who you know, he's he's a friend. I think he's
(09:38):
doing some really cool stuff. We kind of talked about
all the stuff that they're doing with Jason Day and
all the craziness in what surrounds kind of the stuff
that they're trying to do in the golf space. And
I think we're in an interesting place in kind of
golf fashion as well. I think, you know, I think
there's space for everybody, and I think there are a
lot of cool new companies and I think it's going
(10:00):
to make the bigger companies adapt and look at trends
and stuff like that. So I think I saw more
influencers at the PJ Merchandi Show as many influencers and
people in that space as I did just regular golf instructors,
regular PGA pros. You know, normally when you go to
the PGA Merchant Show, merchandise show, it's khakis, it's blue blazers,
(10:24):
it's you know, it's very much old school. But this
year it seemed like there's just big armies of social
media people walking around. And I think that's a trend.
I mean, I think the YouTube golf stuff is here
to stay. Like I said, I'm down here in Adelaide
at the Live event and today Rick Shields was out.
He signed a big deal with Live. You know, YouTube extraordinaire.
(10:45):
It's got a huge channel, huge following, and he's now
doing content for Live. We've seen the PGA Tour do that.
We've seen the PGA Tour do their content creator. The
pg Tour has hired influencers to kind of come out
on tour to be a part of what they're doing.
And I think that is here to stay. But you
could just see it at the PGA show. You just
see these armies of content creators just walking around with
(11:06):
their videographers and sound people and so listen. I think
the golf space is big. I think there's room for
all of it. And I think you are seeing. You're
seeing the manufacturers get more involved with YouTubers and influencers.
You're seeing clothing companies do that, and now you're seeing
tours do that. You're seeing the PGA tour do that.
You're seeing live and I think that's here to stay.
(11:27):
You're going to see that on the LPGA as well.
I think they're trying to find a way to get
more eyeballs in a non traditional way. I think the
way that all of you listening to the podcast. Everybody
consumes their content differently. Everybody has a way in which
they like to produce their content or absorb their content,
(11:49):
and I think the content creators right now, I mean,
we've never been in a time to where it's easier
to produce content. So if that's something you're interested in,
I think it's here to stay, and I think we
are going to see more of that. And I had
a pretty extensive talk about that with Rick Shields today
about what he's trying to do, what you know Live
wants him to do, and that's happening on the PGA
(12:10):
Tour as well. At Waste Management over the weekend we
saw basically, I mean, you couldn't look at your social
media feed if you're a golfer and not see somebody
in the influencer social media space at Waste Management. The
PGA Tour, I think has done a great job at that.
They've got their sixteenth hole, their stadium, and it seemed
like that was kind of the melting pot for all
(12:33):
of the stars people outside the golf space that love golf.
They're hitting shots, they're trying things, and then all the
influencers and all the content creators are are at that
as well. So again, that's not going anywhere. That is
here to stay. One of the other crazy things that
happened in the offseason Noah Kent finalist in the US Am.
(12:56):
He'll play in the Masters and the US Open this year.
He was at the University of Iowa, made the decision
to go into the transfer portal, And for those of
you listening in America college sports right now, it is
absolutely crazy with all of the nil stuff, with all
of the money that are being paid to now college
(13:17):
athletes and college golfers are in that same boat. Now.
There is a big shift in college golf right now
to where the NCAA is reducing team and squad size
if down to kind of eight nine, and I think
a lot of the college coaches are kind of scrambling.
So Noah, who I've had on the pod, made the
(13:37):
decision to go into the transfer portal lead the University
of Iowa, and it was just crazy the amount of
offers from schools and what schools are now able to offer.
And that is the wild wild West right now. I
don't think college golf coaches ever envisioned time to where
(13:58):
college athletes would be getting paid, that they could pay
college athletes. College athletes could then say listen, I want
to move, and another program saying hey, listen, we've got
some money, we want you to come. And I think
that's new. And I think everybody in college golf on
the playing side, the players and the universities, the coaches,
(14:20):
everybody who's trying to figure out where and how we
navigate this kind of new world. But college athletes now
in America that play college sports, specifically on the golf side,
they're getting paid. Now, they're getting paid to play. And
I don't have a problem with that, I really don't.
I think it's been a little bit upside down. I mean,
if you look at college football in America, I mean,
(14:41):
if you look at the number of college football coaches
that are making over ten million dollars a year, and
historically the athletes, it's been illegal to pay them. I
mean it's been illegal for college athletes who are on
scholarships to get a job, to get a part time job.
So I can remember when Tiger was at Stanford, he
(15:03):
got taken out to dinner by Arnold Palmer, and Arnold
Palmer paid for the dinner, and it was it turned
into a really really big deal. The NCAA was talking
about sanctions. Tiger had to write a check I think,
to Arnold Palmer for the dinner and stuff like that.
So those days are over. So college athletes now across
the board. But in golf, if you're good, you can
(15:25):
get paid. You can get paid to go to school,
and you can get paid basically a salary to play
college golf. So Noah kind of made the decision to
leave Iowa and ended up it went to a bunch
of different schools. I was part of that process, and
we looked at a lot of different programs. It was
like a two week period where I think I was
(15:45):
basically every single day on the way to work or
on the way home, I was talking to a college
golf coach about their program, about the fit and stuff,
and ultimately Noah did a lot of visits and chose
the University of Florida J. C. Deacon and the Gators.
They won the national championship a couple of years ago.
Jac has been on the pod. Noah's a Florida kid
from Naples, and so that's where he's going to play
(16:07):
his college golf. So the interesting thing is Noah played
in the fall for Iowa, and you can't play for
two schools in the same calendar year. So even though
he's at the University of Florida now as part of
the University of Florida Gator golf program, can't play. So
that was a big deal for trying to figure out
what we were going to do. He's going to play
(16:28):
as a finalist of the US Am you get into
the Masters and the US Open. So Noah will play
in the Masters, He'll play in the US Open, but
he isn't going to play any tournaments in college golf
in the spring. He can play on the team, can
practice with the team, he can work out with the team,
he can qualify with the team. He just can't compete
(16:50):
for two schools in the same years. So the next
time he'll be able to compete for the University of
Florida is in the fall of twenty twenty five. So
we're scrambling to try and figure out, Okay, what is
that land look like from a competitive standpoint. I think
we're going to try and look at having him do
some of the Monday qualifiers for some of the Florida
events on the PGA Tour. Is there a world where
(17:11):
maybe he can get some invites, maybe Asia, maybe DP
I mean, maybe even PGA Tour. I mean, that would
be unbelievable if he could get a PGA Tour event.
But it has just been fascinating to watch in a
very very short period of time the landscape of college
golf change literally overnight, and I don't know where we're
(17:35):
going to go with this. I think it's just the
infancy of paying college athletes and paying college golfers. Listen,
whatever side of the fence you're on on that, I
don't have a dog in that fight. But I don't
have a problem with college athletes being paid. I really don't.
I think it's the world we live in and it's
going to be really interesting to see kind of where
(17:58):
that goes as well. And then I'm back on the road.
Did Saudi last week and Saudi for Live they played
under under the lights. They played at night, which was
a really it was cool, but I gotta be honest,
it was a weird experience. I think everybody was coming
to Saudi Arabia that's associated with Live, the players, the caddies,
the coaches, all of us on the team side. You know,
(18:20):
you're flying. I flew from Miami fifteen hours to Doha
and stuff, so the time difference, but then you're playing
at night, so it's a really weird experience because normally
you get up first thing in the morning and you're
getting to the golf course early. It was the complete opposite.
So everybody was jet lagged. We were trying to get
(18:41):
to the golf course kind of mid afternoonish. I was
getting to the golf course around three four o'clock every day,
which normally I'm getting to the golf course between six
seven eight o'clock at the latest, but three o'clock at night,
having some food and then going out. And everybody was
trying to practice underneath the lights at night, so teeing
(19:04):
off at like six thirty seven o'clock at night pro
am time. One of the pro ams DJ played in
Saudi is tea off time seven thirty at night. So
the other part of that is we were getting back
to the hotel after the round. You're trying to eat,
we're getting back. I think the earliest I got back
to the hotel for the week was around eleven o'clock
(19:25):
to midnight. And then your jet lag, you're wide awake,
You're trying to sleep, but then you realize you don't
have to do anything the following day until you know,
four or five o'clock in the afternoon. So it was
a really interesting experience. But the experience of playing night
golf it was cool. I don't think I'd want to
do that all the time, but I think lives trying
(19:46):
to innovate. I think that Lives trying to bring some
different things, and I think the PGA Tour is trying
to do that as well. So I think all the
tours are trying to figure out in twenty twenty five
how they can innovate the product. But I said this
to someone at the PJ Merchandise Show, and I think,
whether you like Live, whether you don't like Live, that's
(20:08):
I mean, we can talk about that forever, and that's
a personal choice. But five to seven years ago, I
never heard anyone talk about the product, what the product
was of professional golf. Professional golf was, what it was,
the tours played, where they played, the tours played, the
tournaments they played, and I never heard anyone talk about
the fan experience, what the fans wanted, what the product was,
(20:29):
how the product can could be better. And I think
Live coming along has made everybody in professional golf say, Okay,
what do the fans want, what are the fans don't want,
and how can we make that experience better. So, if
you're on the anti Live side and you think there
are a lot of negatives associated with that, one of
the positives is it is made all the tours kind
(20:49):
of pivot and go, Okay, how can we make the
experience better for the fans? And the way professional golf
is being televised and packaged and brought to all of
you that are listening that are golf fans is changing.
It's changing on a regular basis. Five years ago, there
was no PGA Tour. You right, there are no content
(21:12):
creator tournaments. I mean, if someone told you ten years
ago that at the Tour Championship on Wednesday of the
FedEx Cup Tour Championship there would be an influencer golf
tournament televised on Golf Channel, nobody would believe that. They'd say,
get out of here. That's never gonna happen. So when
(21:32):
there isn't competition sometimes it can lead to a lack
of innovation. And I think one of the positive things
over the last three or four years. It's very easy,
in my opinion right now, to look at professional golf
and it's just doom and gloom. You know, we hear
that on a regular basis. It's just product is bad,
viewership is bad, the fan viewings down, all of those things.
(21:57):
But I think golf is evolving. Professional golf is evolving,
and I think the way that we view golf and
the way that we watch golfers play, I think you
are going to see more and more of this content
creator to where you have someone who is on YouTube,
who has their channel, and who is spending time with
(22:19):
the best players in the world. I think it's bringing
the best players in the world closer to the fans
in these type of settings. Again, I talked about it earlier.
Rick Shields was out with the four Aces today filming
something for Live that'll be probably dropping soon. But you
never saw that, right, You never saw any of the tours.
(22:42):
I mean the PGA Tour now will have the players
say listen, we need you to do these things with
these content creators, with these social media people, with these YouTubers,
they are going to be at the tournament and it's
another way to get the product out. So I think
that's here to stay. Night golf. I think we're going
(23:04):
back next year to do night golf. And it was fun.
It was a different atmosphere once a year. I think
I'm fine with it, and I liked it. It was fun.
Sometimes the ball was hard to see in the sky.
I think maybe they had some more lights but I
think all the tours are trying to figure out a
way to kind of merge all of the kind of
(23:26):
things in twenty twenty five that are on social media
and how you can merge them into professional golf. And
then for Live, this is our biggest tournament of the
year here in Adelaide. Rumors one hundred thousand tickets have
been sold. Concerts every night. We just saw the exact
same thing at Waste Management. So I think this is
the biggest tournament by far that Live has and I've
(23:49):
been down here for all of them and it's always
great to come down to Australia. The Australian sports fans,
the Australian golf fans are amazing and I can't wait
for the tournament to start. It's going to be bigger
this year than it was last year, and it was
bigger last year than it was the year before which
the first year, everybody that was on Live that came
down here was just blown away by how crazy the
(24:13):
fans are for golf in Australia and the golf course,
you know, the Grange Golf It's not one of the
superstore Australian sand belt golf courses, but the bunkering in
this part of the world is second to none. It is,
in my opinion, the best bunkering in golf. And the
fact that they're going to play a professional golf tournament
(24:33):
and showcase Australian golf and kind of the sand Belt
kind of design and stuff. I'm here for it. I
love it. It's hot down here. Last year Live came
down to Australia in April, so they were going into fall.
It's in the hundreds here. It's firm, it's fast, it's bouncy,
and it is going to play very very lynxy and
(24:56):
they are trying to put some water on the golf
course to try and soften it, just to try and
save it because of the heat. But I think the
greens are going to get very very firm, they're going
to get very very fast, and I think on Sunday
it's going to be a shootout and there's going to
be a lot of stuff going on. But this is
Live's kind of flagship. To me, it's kind of like
(25:16):
their Players Championship right Live doesn't have any majors. If
I said this was like a major for Live, everybody
would crush me. So this is like to me, it's
like it feels like the players, right, it feels like
this is one of the biggest tournaments. This is their
biggest tournament of the year so far, and it's one
that everybody you know that is associated with Live has
marked on their calendar. And it's a fan favorite down here.
(25:38):
I mean, the fans just come out and support this,
very similar to the way that the fans come out
and support Waste Management. You know, they have their watering
hole here down in Adelaide for Live and Waste Management.
Last week had the sixteenth hole. They're a purists that
hate that. They're a purist that thinks that goes too far.
I don't know. I like to watch it. So I
(26:02):
do think that professional golf is changing. I think it's
changing really right before our eyes, and I'm interested to
see where the landscape and where we go in the future.
We're already seeing this week in the last week or
so and this week again USGA RNA trying to find
a way and having a qualification system for the live
(26:25):
players to play in some of these tournaments. So I
think you're going to see more crossover. You hear all
the rumors about what's going on with a merger. When
will the two tours come together? Will they come together?
What will that look like? That's above my pay grade.
I don't think anybody knows what that's going to look like.
(26:45):
But if the off season showed me one thing, it
showed me that the professional golf landscape is changing. But
as I've said before to everyone listening, professional golf is
a very very very small, small part of golf. It
really really is. It's a huge part of it. It's
(27:06):
probably the biggest, most recognizable part of it because it's
on TV, because of the PGA Tour and all the
various tours all around the world. But the way that
all of you listening consume and watch content and watch
golf is changing, and I think all of the tours
are scrambling to try and figure out how they keep
(27:28):
up with that. What is the demand? What do you
as the viewer, as the golfer, what do you want
to see? And I think we've never been in a
time where all of our voices are being heard. They're
being heard by the tours, right They're definitely being heard
by the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour is trying to
pivot again. If five seven years ago you told me
(27:51):
that there would be a team indoor golf league that
Rory McElroy and Tiger Woods would be fronting, and on
Tuesday Night it would be on ESPN and America, Scott
van Pelt and all of the superstars that they have
involved in this and they're bringing out to showcase it
would be involved. I just don't think people would buy it.
I just think they'd go nah. I mean, they're never
(28:11):
going to do that. So I think there's a lot
of different ways to consume content, and rather than look
at all of the negatives about where a lot of
people think the game is going, the state of the
game and stuff like that, I try and look to
the positives and say, Okay, we're getting more eyeballs on
maybe some different ways of consuming golf content. Maybe we're
(28:34):
looking at different ways of formatting professional golf. I don't know,
but I think there was no competition. It was the
PGA Tour that was it, and European Tour, Asian Tour.
They weren't necessarily big players. It was the PGA Tour.
And now I think there are alternatives, There are options,
(28:54):
and there are a lot of different ways to consume,
watch and ob all of the content that is out there,
and I'm here for it. I've got a podcast. I
continue to be blown away that I can be in
Saudi Arabia and someone who lives in Rio walked up
to me and said, huge fan of the podcast. I mean,
(29:14):
if you told me five years ago that would happen,
I wouldn't believe you. So the golf Lands tape is changing.
But focus on the positives that are positives for you
as a as a consumer of golf content. Where you
watch it, how you watch it, what you pay for.
You have power you can vote with you know what
you choose to watch. And there's a lot of content
(29:38):
out there. There's a lot of great golf being played
all over the world on a bunch of different tours.
There are a lot of great young players. I got
to watch Tom McKibben hit a lot of golf balls
last week. I've known Tom. He made the choice to
go to live. He's young. A lot of people are
questioning that decision. I've known Tom a long time. He
(29:59):
used to practic just at our place at my academy
in Dubai. I've hosted him and he's practiced at my
place in Florida. I think he's a bright star. I
think he is part of this next wave of really
good young players and we are going to continue to
see them. And it's interesting the choice that Tom made
to choose live over playing on the PGA Tour. He's
(30:22):
one of the players that finished inside the top ten
on DP World would get you automatic status to the
PGA Tour. Matthew Pavaughan, who I've had on the pod,
he did that, got to the PJ Tour one last year.
We're seeing Thomas Dietree just winning waste Management. He played
the majority of his golf even though he played college
golf in America, played the majority of his golf in Europe.
(30:44):
He's just one on the PGA Tour. So I think, again,
it's easy to look at all the negatives. I think
there are some negatives in professional golf right now, but
there are positives, and there are a lot of them
out there. And I've been saying this for three four years.
You can choose to watch any tour that you want.
Just because you're watching one tour doesn't mean that you're
(31:06):
not a fan of the other. That there's some sort
of litmus tests. You have to be a PGA tour person,
you have to be a live person, all of that stuff.
There's a lot of great golf all over the world
on so many different platforms that you as a lover
of golf, as someone that wants to watch golf, There's
never been a better time for golf content. It's out there,
(31:27):
you find it, and I'm excited to see where all
of that goes. So just a little brief kind of
what I've been doing. It's my podcast, so I can
talk about that. We've got some really great guests coming up,
and we're going to continue to try and give you
as much great content as possible. Son of a Butch
comes to you most every week. I try and get
(31:49):
it out every week. My travel schedule sometimes that's tough,
but be patient. And I continue to be blown away
by how many people listen to the show. And I
can't think all of you enough for making the podcast
a success. Without you all listening, this doesn't happen. We
will see you next week.
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