Who’s On The Bag - Will Davidson - Chasin' Birdies

Episode Transcript
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>> Jonathan (00:07):
You guys out there that just hit play, you're tuning in
to a fresh new June episode
of Chasing Birdies. And I'm joined
today by my favorite co host
and co golfer. And
whatever you are, bud. Jp.

>> RB (00:24):
What's shakin, bacon?

It's good to see. I heard you got the flu. Your wife texted me, said
you had 104 degree temperature.

>> RB (00:31):
Yeah.

And you know, you're howling to the moon and like that,
so it's good. I'm happy to see you.

>> RB (00:37):
Yes. Um, went to the chiropractor
today. Got a little work done on my. My shoulder
from mulching. I pinched the
nerve. I mean, so I
actually did manual labor once and I got hurt. So
needless, um, to say, it was one and done. I don't know how people
do it. Much respect to those people that do do that.

(00:57):
Uh, but I'm done. Um,
officially, I. Hang it up.
Today's episode is brought to you by Red
Vanley. Make sure you go to redvanley.com they got
some new cool colors out. Uh, the lobster
color shorts, light red. Might be up
BK's alley, huh? You might have to bring those back into the
rotation. Uh, or maybe they're a gift for The

(01:19):
Chase and Birdies 2 Man. Brought to you by Red Vanley.
Um, but it was good seeing
you last Thursday at Pete DY and we had
a blast.

Yeah, it, it's uh, yeah. And
great track, great track.
I want to comment on the manual labor situation here because
I don't think that people realize
like us, you and me specifically, we
do our fair share of manual labor. There's no doubt about it.

>> RB (01:46):
Mhm.

I definitely do. I know you just started, but
we definitely do not pay the landscapers enough respect.
Dude. Dude, like out in the heat
shoveling shit out of trailers, spreading the
mulch.

>> RB (01:58):
I mean, my man mix stash is a
workhorse.

>> Will Davidson (02:01):
Huh?

Uh, but how about the Mexicans? Dude, they just,
they will work 16 hours and
never stop.

>> RB (02:08):
Not about an eye. I did it Friday, Saturday,
and I was down Sunday, Monday
and most Tuesday.

So I think with golf, you know when you start
fooling around with muscles that you don't typically use.

>> RB (02:21):
Exactly.

Could you have swung a golf club.

>> RB (02:23):
After you did actually air swung it?

And uh, no,
it's. It's tough. It's absolutely, it's tough.
So, um, so hats off to the landscapers out there. We love y'
all. But, um. But yeah, man, we had a good time
down there with a couple boys of Pete Dye and moving
right along into this crazy Month of June. I know you
have, uh, some member guests coming up, one specifically out

(02:47):
of town here in the next couple weeks.

>> RB (02:49):
Next week, actually, I'm at Old Hickory the week of
the U.S. open. U.S. open comes to town, I leave
town. So, um, playing with
old Cole Taylor and I, I. Little bird told
me that Tyler Reeve is in our flight, so I'm
sure that'll be a bloodbath. I just need to know which coal I'm
gonna get in that match. Hopefully it's early in the morning, because if it's

(03:09):
later, afternoon could potentially
be trouble with. With the booze flowing and all that.

So I was, uh, watching
a little bit of the tournament Sunday, and,
um, I was in no way, shape or
form surprised that Scotty Scheffler pulled it
off. And with him coming to
Oakmont for the first time, playing in the US Open at Oakmont,
I mean, he's got to be the
favorite.

>> RB (03:36):
You would think. You would think.
Um,
I'm gonna stick to my guns on this one. Um, I'm
going with Bryson.

Well, he's the only one. I was having this discussion yesterday.
Of all the live players, the only person right now,
in my opinion, and I think a lot of people would agree, the
only person that can handle playing against Scheffler
is Bryson, period. Nobody else can touch
him.

>> RB (04:01):
No.

So it's gonna be fun at Oakmont. Everybody's saying it's gonna be
over. I think someone's gonna be in the red.

>> RB (04:06):
Did you see, uh, Adam Scott, what he did
on,
um, Monday
of this week? He was out at Oakmont
and on the front nine, he hit seven of seven fairways
and he shot three over.

Really?

>> RB (04:24):
Mhm. So he hit all seven fairways in
the front nine and shot three over. So it
might be, um. I think you're.
You're gonna be in for a dog fight here.
Um, the one thing in those
guys, I mean, it's not, you
know, you get an amateur in the bunkers at Oakmont, they try to
hit this miraculous shot because they're never coming back. And

(04:46):
they're in the bunker for three hours. Um,
but they can cause a
problem out there because even if you're punching out, you got to be accurate with
your punch outs out there because you got six inch rough now.

Right?

>> RB (04:58):
Um, so
I don't know. It's good. It's gonna, it's gonna be fun. It's gonna.
I. It's gonna be a bloodbath. I was watching a lot of the.
The Monday qualifying or the. The Monday,
uh, US Open to get to it. And,
um, man, it's crazy how good these kids are. I mean, you got
15 year olds shooting 16 under, 14

(05:20):
under, and a qualifier to get to the Open. I
know that's, you know, the dentist from
Pittsburgh. Uh, he's from Pittsburgh, caddy
to Oakmont, lives in,
um, Indiana now. Friend of Eric
Childers. He's playing in the US Open. He
qualified. Uh, so it's gonna be kind of cool to see that
storyline. Unfortunately, Shipley did not qualify.

(05:42):
Ricky Fowler did not qualify. Max
Homa out. Um, they're
Padre Harrington out.

Um, which he's lighting it up in a qualifier.

>> RB (05:52):
I did not see if. I think Ian
Poulter's son was.
He went to a playoff for one spot, but I didn't see if
he got in. So, um, that'd be kind of cool to see him.
He's a stud dude. University of Florida, so.
Yeah, but it is gonna be fun. And it's
cool to see the course because we know it. I
haven't played in the last two years. Um, but

(06:15):
it's. It's going to be a fun one to watch.

Yeah. And, you know, next week we'll. We'll do. We'll do our picks,
bud, because now with this third major of the year,
we'll get hot again. We took a break for the pga, but we'll get
back right at it.
Like the US or, I'm sorry, like the Masters.
Um, lugging the bag around on that course is no easy
jaunt either. And, uh, I don't
think any course really, for that matter, when you're on the bag.

(06:38):
Like our guest today, Will Davidson, who's joining us
here on Chasing Birdies Carried, uh, for a lot
of players, um, from Ashke Batia,
uh, to Lexi Thompson to Beef
Johnson, um, to other
Frank Licklider. A whole bunch of cats, dude.
Um, and he tells some great stories. And

(06:59):
just like I mentioned, the landscapers,
sometimes the caddies don't get enough credit. And sometimes
caddies like Max Homa said, I'd better off
alone.

>> RB (07:07):
Yeah. So, um, he's got
some great stories. He's actually got a story in this podcast
coming, uh, up, uh, from Shinneco and Phil
Mickelson, if you all remember that day. So
without further ado, I think that we should roll it right on over
to him and get it done.

Here we go. We got a guy
by the name of Will Davidson
here on Chasing Birdies this week. And Will has been all over
the world. Unfortunately, or fortunately for you, you
haven't carried the bag for me yet, Will. Um,
but you've done it for a lot of guys on PGA Tour and
ladies, LPGA Tour,
uh, and has been around the world carrying the bag,

(07:46):
doing what you do. So here we are, man.
And you're on the show today, man.

Hey, first off, I appreciate you guys having me on. This is, uh.
This is awesome. Long time coming, but,
uh, yeah, I still haven't caddy for you, man. It's. It's
a bit of a disappointment.

>> RB (08:03):
It's a process, bud.

I mean, you know,
the process.
Hey, that's what we're good at, though. You know, that's. Anybody. Any
caddy can carry the bag, can pick a club for you,
you know, tell you how far it is, but it's the ones that, uh, could
get you around the course mentally.

That's what makes you a caddy, you know,
And. And I gotta thank real quick our boy sp for
linking us up. You know, Steve, he does some good
things every now and then. It's not true what they say about him. I always say
it's not true what they say about you, Steve. There's some good in
you.

Yeah, Steve is, uh. Steve is one of the good ones.
Uh, he probably didn't tell you that. I, uh, did take
him for a couple up, uh, a couple weeks ago up
in, uh, Jersey. No, he didn't fail to
mention that one.

>> RB (08:50):
Yeah, I do appreciate. He'll
leave that out all the time, so don't worry.

Yeah, well, hey, Steve, I appreciate the, uh, the invite. Thanks for letting me
stay at your house. Appreciate the golf.

I'm surprised he didn't invite himself to your house.
Um.

>> RB (09:05):
What.

Let me ask you something. The last time I talked to Steve, he was telling me how good
his game was. So he clearly left out his round with you.

To be fair, his game is on point. It is
on point. He is, uh. He's striping it
nice. Had a couple wayward ones off the tee,
but, man, I mean, it was. I want to
say, I think he still hit like 12
or 14 fairways, but the wayward ones were the ones that got him.
The two that he missed were the ones that got.

>> RB (09:31):
Yeah, that's a cold top or a hide, right?
Um, yeah, it's like four
fairways over. I did. I saw him on a par 3,
two par threes. He was on, um. We were
playing number five, and he was on seven green on a par three,
and then, um, another par three, which I don't even
know how somebody can get there

(09:51):
because the Trees were so high. He was
over these trees in the next fairway on a par
three.

That is, uh, that's standard sp,
uh, is from the, the few times I play with him, that's a
standard SP T shot.

So, yeah, I've seen a lot I.

Will give him though. Most of them, though, are actually pretty good. Most of his two
shots are pretty solid.

>> RB (10:12):
I will, I, I beat him up too much, so I will
compliment him. His game has gotten better.
It has gotten better over the last four or five years. But here's
my thing, dude, like, and I've told him this, and you've seen
enough pro golf to know just because
you played well once doesn't mean you're playing well, my man.
And so then he goes into his event saying how good he's going

(10:33):
to play and how he's going to win. Well, you've set these expectations
that aren't like, you have no
past that shows you can play well and
win.

Yeah, no, I mean, exactly right.

>> RB (10:44):
He has won a couple. He has won a couple. I will tell him that.

And I'll tell you this. I got to give more credit to him. Here
is we had a little match play going and I was
up, I was up, uh, like five
with seven to play. And
it came down the last hole. It came down,
but he absolutely turned it on.
And that's just started throwing darts out of
nowhere. And I got to give it to

(11:09):
him. I mean, granted, I still take it, you know, get away with a one up
win here. But it was, it was
dicey there for a minute.

>> RB (11:17):
So let me ask you something. Uh, you beat
him, and this is a go to move for him.
You beat him, he
doesn't give you the cash. He said, hey man, I'll give you, I'll send you a box.
What's your sizes? And then,
and then you like eight months later, you're
like, hey, dude, that box that you're gonna

(11:37):
send, it's never come.
Like, the box has never come.

Yeah, I've had a few of those boxes that have, uh,
that have just disappeared in the mail. And man, you know, lost that
transit. No, I did lost it. Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, it's funny.

>> RB (11:55):
Oh yeah.

Oh yeah. I've sent a few back where he was just like, like, he's like, hey
man, my wife was looking for this and with one
of my companies, I got a skincare company and I,
I always used to send her some skincare. She really likes it.
And he basically was like, hey man,
I'll. I'll send you a box, but I'm gonna need some of that back. I'm like,
yeah, no problem. I'll get the box like

(12:16):
four weeks later. Man, I totally forgot about that box.
I'm sorry. It must have got lost in the mail. I'll send you another one.
So it's happened both ways. So we give it back and forth
or.

>> RB (12:26):
Or the box shows up and like, Steve, I'm a size
medium. You sent me xls, bud. Yeah, like, what am
I gonna do with these?

I mean, his last two boxes, somebody.

>> RB (12:36):
Else, he, he sent me a few ladies gloves,
like, but this is ladies medium.

The last box I got was fire. And that's
how I'll leave it at that. He. He did good. He did good.

So I, the last box I got was, was fire
as well. Um, some six
shirts.

>> RB (12:53):
Nice.

A, ah, couple of gloves in it. Um, fact, he gave me a
pair of shoes actually, and I might get in trouble for that.

Uh, incredible.

Yeah, it was a pair of shoes that was sent to him
by another company that he wasn't able to wear.
And it just so happened that it worked out perfectly for
me, so I snagged a few. Although he said he was supposed to send. If he sees
this, he said he was going to send me a couple of the pairs that, uh, you couldn't
fit. So I'm still waiting on those.

>> RB (13:18):
Well, it's funny, the shoes too. I've. I've heard about
these blue and white 12 Jordans that he has.
They don't fit me. I'll send them to you, cuz. But that
was two years ago, so I just let it go. It doesn't matter
to me. If it shows up, great. If it doesn't,
uh, we're in the same boat. So we'll edit all this
out. We'll cut all the Steve Piering talk out and,

(13:39):
um, no, we'll keep moving along.

Keep it, keep it, keep it. But that's okay. So pivoting off
that, you know, will, you know, I do
oftentimes have some
sympathy or I can empathize with caddies if I'm playing in
a group and we have caddies and there's just
one person in the group. And I'm not bringing this up just because we were
talking about Steve. I just want to make that clear. But from the
caddy's perspective, you know, you got that one guy in that group

(14:04):
that just can't hit a damn fairway.
I mean, he's left. He's so far left, he's
past Pelosi. You know what I mean? I mean, he's.
Then he's right. And I feel bad
for caddy sometimes, dude. You know, like, the one caddy we had at
Sage Valley, I gave my man my. My drink. I mean, granted, I
couldn't drink it anymore, but I felt bad for him. I was kind of beating him up

(14:25):
a little bit. I said, bud, here, uh, have the rest of my. My
transfusion bud. And he took it well, Graciously.

>> RB (14:30):
Well, I feel like that's something like the expectations you set
right as a caddy, because I caddied in, uh, in
college at a country club here, and
I would just walk down the middle of fairway, set the bags down here and let them
take their clubs and go. Because I'm not going back and forth. I
got one right, one left. Here you go.

You would be an awful caddy, dude.

>> RB (14:50):
I'm a good.

No, you're a good caddy because you logical. But when it comes
to patience with dealing with someone, dude, you would be you. They'd be.
You'd be done.

>> RB (14:58):
That's why I. That's why I got to the point and just stood in the middle of the
fairway. Here's your clubs. Take what you need.

Coming over there, I'm gonna tell you what. Patience. You gotta have some
serious patience as a caddy, because as a club
caddy or a tour caddy, because there's gonna be
days that just suck, and
you just gotta stay patient, grin and bear it, deal with
it. And yeah, that's. That's definitely a huge
part of being a caddy, I can assure you there. But
like you said, days when you have guys that go

(15:26):
right, left, whatever, all over the place,
you want to help them in the best way you can by
like, saying, like, hey, man, you know, you're
doing this or you're trying to. You want to try and fix your swing a little bit, or this
is going to help you just a little bit, but at the same time, you don't want to
embarrass them and be like, dude, you suck.
Like, I really need you to change something here,

(15:47):
because I'm not doing this all day. So it's
kind of a fine line that you gotta. Gotta cross there. But, yeah,
patience, man, that's. That's a big part of it.

>> RB (15:56):
Well, this. This caddy story I'm sure you've heard
on the PGA Tour, and I believe it was Woody
Austin. He had missed, like, six cuts in a
row, and he hit his second shot in
the water, and he said, I'm so effing
mad I could break this club. And his caddy said, why don't you try breaking
par?

Yeah. Yeah.

>> RB (16:15):
And he got fired right on the spot.
Yeah, he got fired right on the spot and,
and brought somebody out of the crowd, so.

Mm, mhm. I've actually seen that happen once
on the golf course
on tour at a tour event. Caddy
dropped the bag. Middle was tired of his
player, dropped his bag on the 8th hole, 8th
tee box, which was ironically the farthest point from
the clubhouse. Dropped, uh, the bag and said,

(16:44):
here's your bag, here's your bib, here's your
yardage book. I'm done. And walked in.
It was a pretty epic. Yeah. And guy
grabbed somebody out of the, out of the crowd and said, hey, bud,
you're gonna caddy for me the rest of the day today.
And tell you what, one of the funniest things I've
ever seen, also one of the most crazy

(17:04):
things I've ever seen.

>> RB (17:05):
Um, is that, is that caddy still out there?

That caddy is still out there. He is. And
ironically, he and that player have mended
some fences. They don't work together anymore, but they've mended the, the
fence. And they're still buddies. Are apparently
still, still buddies. Yep. But it was one of those, that
it was a situation. He kind of, kind of told me
pre round, he was like, hey,

(17:29):
I'm pretty sick of what's going on here. There's a chance I
dropped the bag today. I was like, all right, you know, like, I'm in,
I'm ready to see it. And seventh
hole player bladed one out of the
bunker and blamed it on him. And he was like,
all right, got the eight dropped bag, said,
I'm out, see you later. And what's funny,

(17:50):
this is even funnier though. So the guy I was working, so I was working
for Andrew, uh, Johnson Beef at the time.

>> RB (17:56):
Yeah.

Oh yeah, Arby's.

Oh yeah, we, yep, we have the meats.
And so Beef had. We were
the last to put out on the seven. He put it
out and he'd like stop by the bathroom or something like that on the
way to the next tee box. So I'd gotten in the tee box, seen all
this happen. He had not seen it. He
gets up there and uh, and

(18:18):
you know, just standing there or whatever and didn't even, didn't even
notice that the caddy was gone. And he looks up, he's
like, that looks like his caddy there.
Guy walking up the fairway walking up the car path, he's like, oh, that looks
like his caddy there. And I was like, it is.
He's like, huh, Uh, I guess. No, it is. Look. He
turns and looks. He sees the bib on the ground. He sees. See

(18:39):
the book, the yardage book on the ground. And he's like,
oh my gosh, what just happened? So I told him and it
was, we just laughed about it the whole way up the next fairway. I mean,
it was, it was fantastic.

>> RB (18:49):
So did you caddy for Beef? Uh, because he had a great
U.S. open here, uh, in Pittsburgh. It's at
Oakmont. I, um, think it's the year
that Dustin Johnson won. He had a great
finish, that one.

I was not with him there. Um, I was with him
not long after that. Um, so I started
with Beep just after, um,
he played really well in the British, the Open over there
when Phil and Henrik went back and forth and shot
like what, 17 under or whatever it was. And
next closest was 13. I think beef actually finished third
or fourth that week. Um,

(19:26):
but, uh, yeah, I worked with him right after that. So
the US Open I did with Beef. We've got a good
story with that one too. I mean, we're just getting straight into story time
here.

Let's do it.

This is, this is one of my, I don't want to say claim to fame,
but this is definitely a story that
nobody else has. And I did the US
Open with Beef at Shinnecock.
And if you remember, that year
was a very controversial year
with how hard and fast the greens were and how they refused

(19:58):
to water the greens. That event.

>> RB (20:01):
Mhm.

Is that the year Phil kind of just got fed up?

That was the year that Phil got fed up and hit the running
putt. Basically said, yeah, played Plinko back and forth or whatever,
Ping pong back and forth. Um, but that story is,
is on Saturday we were paired with Phil.
I was in the group when Phil did that.
Beef and I were playing with Phil the day that he
hit those running putts and basically said,

(20:25):
I'm done. I was in the group
that day, so I had a first hand experience
and was one of the only one of two people
that have heard what Phil said as he walked off that grave.

>> RB (20:38):
So what did he say?

Oh, yeah, he was. Well, first off, he was, you
know, everybody said that, like, oh, he did it on purpose. He just wanted
to give the middle finger to the usga.
Um, and I, I don't
think that that's. I think that's partially True. But I
also know that when he finished hitting the putt
and finished the, the, you know, the hole and we started
walking off, obviously Beef and I were like,

(21:05):
what just happened? And he's like, honestly,
guys, I don't know what I made right there. We can add
him up, but I don't know what I made. I'm just.
I'm tired of being out here. Essentially, what it was. And it was his birthday that day
too, so everybody was singing Happy Birthday.

>> RB (21:18):
Which is kind of funny.

Um, but yeah, it's. Everybody's saying
that, you know, like, he was. He did it on purpose and
knew that he was going to get a two shot penalty and knew that,
you know, knew the rules and all that. In my opinion. I
don't, I don't think that was the case. I think it was just
simply. I'm tired of going back and forth and back
and forth. And that ball was definitely going back into the fairway

(21:39):
after he hit that third or fourth putt, whatever it was.
And I, I truly believe
that he just did it because he was so tired of being out
there and this golf course was so bad and so
hard that day that he just was like,
all right, I'm done. But the fact that he did, you know, come out
afterwards and said, I did it on purpose and all that,

(22:01):
um, I don't believe that. So.
But, uh, yeah, the funniest part, I'll.

>> RB (22:05):
Tell you this much, the funniest part of that
whole.

Yeah, I mean, I, I like Phil. I've never had
any issues with Phil. He's always been great to me. Tim,
his brother, um, who's on the bag, was fantastic.
Um, but, you know,
like, we have nothing in common. Phil and I have absolutely nothing in
common. And so it's just not really a.
He's not a guy that I'm gonna walk up to and

(22:30):
shoot the, shoot the, talk with him and just be like,
oh, right, how's your day? You know, what's. What's going on in your life?
Like, it's not gonna be one of those. But the funniest part of that, that whole
day, that story was after he hit the running putt,
right, and he lifted out and,
you know, it went to about another 4, 3,
4ft, walks up and marks it, goes, looks at Beef and

(22:51):
goes, I'll wait. And Beef looked at me
and was like, what are we doing
right now? And I was like, well, there's no way we're making this six footer
for par. Not a chance. Uh,
which we didn't we absolutely did. So
it was. It was quite funny.

>> RB (23:07):
A lot of people. A lot of people forget that
John Daly did that in 1999 U.S. open at
Pinehurst. On 17, the par three,
um, he hit one up. It came back. Hit one up, came back, and
he just. The ball was still rolling. He just
smacked it straight across the green.
Um, so that was kind of

(23:28):
funny. I think his was more frustration
than Phil's was.

Right.

>> RB (23:33):
Right.

But at U.S. open, that day was.
Was the hardest golf conditions
I've ever been a part of. Those
greens were impossible. If. If you go back and look,
there's only two guys that shot under par that day,
um, and it was Daniel Berger and Tony Finau. And they
were the first two guys out, and they both shot one

(23:53):
under. They moved up 46, 42
to 46 spots by shooting one under on
Saturday at the U.S. open. And we're the only two that shot under par that
day.

Wow.

Well, that tells you how hard it was.

>> RB (24:05):
You know, one week from today is Thursday
of the U.S. open in Oakmont. And, um, that's
what people, uh, I've talked to.
I, um, just saw Matt Killen, uh, at a
Troubadour a few weeks ago, and he said all his tour guys said
it's the hardest venue because they've gone into
play some of it.
Um, they said it's. There's gonna be nobody under

(24:26):
par for this, and that's what Oakmont wants. Oakmont
wants it to be the hardest golf course ever
in U.S. open history. And apparently,
um, it's heading that way. But, you know,
if it rains, it could soften it up or
whatever. So, um, it'll be interesting to see here in about
a week.

Yeah, no, it will be. It'll be a true
test, uh, for these guys. I think that's such a great
track. Um, I'm excited to see. See
how it goes. I'm also excited about Ryder cup this year at Beth
Page, because that's another sick spot.
Um, Beast, that Page. Beth Page. I did the
PGA there, and, man, it was

(25:07):
brutal.

So what? Uh, so you.

You.

You kind of had a stint with Beef, and I'm sure you got some other stories
with him. So what? And Lexi. You're with Lexi. What? You know,
I mean, what other. What other cats. I know. I understand
you're very close with Smiley Kaufman. I think you told me that
you kind of grew up with him or started with him out
of Alabama maybe, or something to that effect.

Yeah, grew up with Smiley. Grew, um, up playing
against him in junior golf and middle, uh, school,
high school. Uh, we have to kind of rival high schools.
Uh, but yeah, I grew up with him. And quick story how
I got into caddy and was. Was all because of him.
Um, I, uh, I had just had shoulder surgery. I
just finished at Auburn and, uh, just had shoulder

(25:46):
surgery and was bored
sitting in my house. And I went to a Birmingham Barons baseball
game, of all things random. I never go to those.
And I just was like, I got to get out of the house. Went to the game, ran into
him in the stands. He's like, man, what are you doing now?
Obviously I was still in a sling. And I was like, well, obviously nothing.
But, uh, he's like, well, I'm turning pro
in like two months. You want to come caddy form a Q school?

(26:10):
I was like, yeah, ah, sure, why not? I can do that carry on my left.
Why not? Right? Well, we go and do first stage Q School
1. First stage, he had an 80 foot eagle putt on the
last hole to win first stage of Q school,
which is crazy. We actually didn't know we won until we were
two hours down the road. Which it didn't matter because you just had to get
through, like, top 15 or top 19, I think gets through.

(26:30):
And then we go to second stage, finish fourth and second stage, and finish
like 60th and final stage, um, which got
him conditional on the Korn ferry. And then
our first full event, he got a sponsor exemption into
Louisiana, the Chitimacha Open.
And, uh, we finished fourth that week. And
I made like four or five grand. I was like,

(26:51):
this is easy. Like, this is the easiest thing ever.
Uh, 100% gonna keep doing this.
Obviously it is not always that easy and you're not always gonna
finish fourth. But, uh, yeah, that's how I got my start with,
with Gaddy was smiley. So,
yeah.

And then from that, like, I don't understand the ranks. Like, we've
had Joey Scovering on, um,
Skoverin, and we've had, uh, what other
caddy we have? Oh, Greg Bodeen. Oh, yeah,
Bryson's caddy.

Yeah.

Um, but I don't want, like, is
there rankings within the caddy system or is it just a
matter of luck? Like, you get other words. Could
someone just call you right now and know that you were a caddy and like,
hey, man, like, I'm looking for someone?

Sure, absolutely. And it's, it's definitely.
I wouldn't say there's, yes, there's ranks, but it's not like an Actual
ranking system, you know, like, like Joe's obviously a fantastic
caddy, Greg is as well. Um, and
you know, but I could easily get a phone call from,
you know, I mean if, if
Joe got hurt and uh, Ludwig needed

(27:54):
somebody, you know, love it and I, we're buddies and again, he's
most likely not going to call me, but at the same time,
would it totally catch me off guard? No, because a
lot of these guys are, are, you know, we're out there with the same
guys every single week. We get to know each and every player, we
play with them a ton. Um, kind of everybody knows
everybody out there. So yes, there's a ranking

(28:15):
of, you know, the guys who are, who are on the
big bags right now and obviously they're going to be the sought after
guys. Yeah, but you know, like, I've
still worked with a lot of guys that have been successful. I mean
countless top tens and top fives and all
that. And you know, it's, there's tons of guys out there with great
resumes. Um, and again, like I said

(28:36):
earlier, everybody is, is good at caddying
when it comes to grabbing, grabbing the bag,
carrying the bag, getting the yardage, stuff like that. But it's
the guys with the mental, the
mental ability to control their
player in the good and the bad. Those are the
guys that stand out and those are the guys that normally rise to the top.

But I think that's one of the hardest traits about
caddying and it might get overlooked is the
fact that, you know, for us amateur golfers, we know what the number
is. I mean, you got to step it off. If your guy hits
a tee shot or I like it pulls a Steve Piering off.
Now you gotta, you gotta do geometry on the course,
basically.

Yeah.

You got this angle and, and literally it's
like at that point you're almost like
guesstimating, you know.

Yeah, absolutely. And it's hard for ams.
Obviously you've got a rangefinder and on tour we don't
have that. And that's a whole nother discussion. Obviously. I
know people are going back and forth that should range finders be allowed,
etc. But I mean, realistically though,
as a, as a tour guy. Yeah. When we hit one offline or
we hit one, you know, in the, in the trees,

(29:44):
you got to do some, you got to do some math, you got to do some,
you know, some angles that, that Pythagorean theorem
that, that none of us ever thought we'd use back. Yeah.
In third grade it's it's definitely something
that we do.

>> RB (29:57):
So give us a list of the players that you
have caddied for. Even if it was
one. One event.

That'S a long list. But, uh, yeah, we've.
I've been super fortunate to work with a lot of
guys. Um, I'll give you the rundown of
start to finish. Well, Dom Bozzelli was actually
first. Don Bozzelli, a buddy of mine at Auburn. Uh, I
did second stage of Q school with him one
year out of nowhere. Um, but, yeah, it

(30:26):
was. Don Bozzelli was first. Smiley was second.
Um, I worked for. After that, I worked for a guy
named Sam Love. I worked for a guy named Cody.
Cody Gribble. Um, I worked for
Frank Licklider. Frankie the Blade.

>> RB (30:41):
Wow.

If anybody knows Frankie the Blade, I.

>> RB (30:43):
Work for Frank Licklighter. The big M frame, uh,
Oakleys he used to wear back in the day.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Frankie the Blade, man.

>> RB (30:50):
He's got a little hot under the collar, huh?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He is a. If you're on his good side,
he is an awesome dude. He's a lot of fun to be around. Uh, we
actually made a hole in one. So that was. That was the first tour
hole in one that I caddied for. Was. Was Frank.

So you got ripped with Frank?

Yeah. Wow. He was one of those guys
that you'd finish around. He'd take out his checkbook and
write your check right in the parking lot. Uh, see you next week.
Yeah, great. Um, after Frank,
I. I kind of took a step
away. I went. I was like, you know, just, this is cool and all,
and I need to get a real job. And

(31:25):
so got into the insurance business. Did that for, like, three weeks.
And I got a call. It's kind of a funny story
here. Got a call from a guy, um, didn't even know who it was.
Got a call. He's like, hey, man, who are you caddy for right now? I'm not catting.
Well, uh, I got somebody who wants you to caddy for
him. Uh, are you available? I was like, not
really, but who is it? And he

(31:46):
said, oh, it's Haotong Lee. And I was like.
And I knew this kid was good. Mean. I'd met him on Corn
Fair Tour Web at that time. And I was like, this kid's
good. He's 19. Number one player in China. I was like, all
right, so, yeah, tell him I'll do it. Does he want, like, for the week, or do you
want for the rest of the Year. What does he want? He said, no, no rest of the year. I said,
all right, cool. Well, when does he want me? He said, can you be in, uh,

(32:06):
Bogota, Colombia, tomorrow morning?
Excuse me? Sick. You a. Bogota, Colombia, tomorrow
morning? This is like 7pm on a Sunday night. I said, no, but I'll be there
tomorrow night. And I, uh, booked a few flight, went down to Columbia,
caddied, uh, three events down there, and then we went
over to China, played the Volvo China Open
on the European Tour, his home open. He got a sponsor exemption, and

(32:27):
we won it. So we were full European tour
from there on. And that's how I got European Tour, which
ultimately ended up leading to a couple other guys. I worked for Hatong for
almost two years. Um,
how Tong and I made the cut at Erin Hills,
obviously, big, big event this week there.
Um, but Aaron Hills, uh, and

(32:47):
he's the first Chinese player in history to make a cut at a
US Open. So fun fact.

Wow.

Yep. Um, so we did that. He actually fired me on Sunday.
We shot, uh, 20 over on the weekend.
Made the cut. We shot 20 over. Thanks for coming.
Um, and, uh, I got a call from
Beef the next day, actually. He goes, hey,
man, uh, you know, I love hanging out with you. We've gotten
to know each other out there, just out on tour.

(33:13):
Say, man, I'm thinking about making a change. You want to do
it? I was like, heck, yeah. Let's go. So we started in Paris, France, the next
week. So I flew to France and worked for Beef
for almost two years there.

>> RB (33:24):
And so this is a, uh. This is a. You
know, growing up, your parents always tell you, don't burn
any bridges. This is the. This is as
cliche as it gets. Right here is you. You don't want to burn
any bridges with any tour players, because you never know when you're gonna
get.

That's exactly right. I never burn a bridge with a tour
player, um, you know, unless it's
really bad. But I've never had that. That happen. Um,
but, yeah, it was. That's a perfect
example, because Beef and I. And actually how that happened
is Beef and I would play together a couple times, you know, paired together or
whatever. But I told him when he comes to the States

(34:01):
for Aaron Hills, this was weeks before I said,
man, I got to go get you some good barbecue. Because he'd signed the deal with
our business. I got to get some good barbecue, some good stuff up in
Wisconsin. We'll get you some. Some cheese curds, whatever. And, uh,
he's like, all Right. Let's. Let's do it. So that Tuesday of.
Of Aaron Hills, we went and grabbed some barbecue. I took
him to a barbecue joint. And, uh, it's just.

(34:21):
It's funny how things happen where I.
Obviously, I wasn't expecting to make a change, and he wasn't
planning on making a change, but it just. The way that it worked
out was I was,
you know, I was let go, and. And I became available, and he
was like, you know what? I think that'd be a good fit. And sure enough, it
was. And we. We worked together for almost two years.

(34:42):
Um, would probably still be working with
him. Uh, he had had some injuries, and he
had to take six months off. Um, so it was one of those where
it's like, I kind of obviously still had to work after that. And so, uh, I
made the change. We mutually went separate ways because
he was taking time off. Uh, but I worked for Ross Fischer after
that.

>> RB (35:00):
Oh, wow.

Uh, many of you familiar with Ross Fisher, I believe,
believe he gave Tiger woods his first loss in the
Ryder Cup. If I'm not mistaken, uh, he
was.

>> RB (35:11):
Ranked in the world.

I was not. That was before my time out there, but not
saying Ross is old, but, you know, it
was before my time.

>> RB (35:20):
Yeah.

But, uh, yeah, anyway, uh, after Ross,
um, Covid. Well, I take that back,
Came back to the States. Smiley called me and said, hey, man,
getting the band back together. I want to try and get.
I want to try and, you know, get back to where I was. And Smiley
had been struggling a bit at time with injuries. He had a left, um,
wrist and a right elbow injury back to back and obviously

(35:42):
change his swing a bit. And, you know, we all know,
although Smiley had gone through some stuff,
um, and so I was like, all right, let's do it. And
so I came back with him, went back to his old swing. Coach jumped
on with him. I talked him into going to
play Australian Open, Australian
pga, and the Indonesian Masters. I was like, man,
European Tour. You can get some sponsors into that. Like, you got

(36:05):
a shot to go, you know, play well, make some money. You know, you
might be able to go. Go sneak in a top five somewhere if we go play our
game. I said, and it's. It. In my mind, it took the
pressure off of being on the PGA Tour, being in front of all
the cameras, being. Being in the
limelight. I mean, who's watching the Indonesian masters
at 4:00am um, you know, on Golf Channel. It's not

(36:26):
that. That's not a huge field. I mean, I would watch it but
most everybody else would watch it. Yeah, exactly.
So, you know, a couple of us, um,
but we did. We went over and. And he actually
made his. We made the first cut at the, uh,
Australian Open, um, and
he finished 21st that week, and that was the first cut

(36:47):
he'd made, and I want to say almost 20 events.
And so we came back to the States. We're getting
ready to go play. Um,
he'd gotten a couple more sponsor exemptions, and Covid
hit, and that
essentially ended his career right there. Because
after Covid, nobody got started. If you had. Didn't have full

(37:07):
status, you got no starts because everybody wanted to play. So
there was nobody that was going to be able to. I mean, you weren't going to get in. If
you weren't, you know, locked in and
had full status, you weren't getting a spot. So
after Smiley, um, I called. It's actually
the day after the PGA Tour stopped. I sent a
text to Ann Van Dam, and

(37:28):
I'd met her in Dubai, um, at a European Tour
event. And Ann, uh,
awesome person, you know, phenomenal
golfer.
Everything about her is fantastic. And I had sent her
a text because LPGA hadn't stopped playing yet. They still
had another. You know, like, they were still going to play another day because they
hadn't stopped from COVID So I text her, like, hey, just want to let you know,

(37:49):
PGA Tour stopped. Don't know what y' all are going to do, but if.
If you know, you know of anybody that's available, um, because I
think they're playing in Florida or something. That weekend, I was already down in Florida. It's like, no.
Anybody available? Like, I'm happy to jump on a
bag, would love to. She said, yeah, yeah, actually, I. I
might. And ended up. They closed the next day.
Long story short, um, you know, six weeks later, she

(38:10):
texted. She's like, hey, my caddy's stuck in Europe and can't get
into the States. Can you come caddy for me? I was like, yeah, let's do it.
So caddy for. For a year,
um, you know, if you're familiar with hands,
swing, it is flawless here.
I mean, it is. It is as good as it gets. If
anybody ever wants to see a golf swing and try to replicate one.
And Van Damme is. You need to go watch.

(38:32):
Um, but, yeah, so I,
uh. We were playing in the British Open at
Carnoustie, and we had great track,
awesome spot, awesome spot until it blows, and
then it's not as fun. Yeah. But,
uh, yeah, played it. Played in
Ah, at the British there. And I

(38:52):
had. Growing up with Smiley, I knew Curtis Thompson
really well. I'd actually caddy. I threw. I forgot to mention Curtis.
Caddy for Curtis. A couple. One one offs here, you know, a couple weeks, a
week here, a week there. Um, so I've known Curtis a long time
as well. And Lexi
had just, uh, just parted ways with her
caddy. So I landed in the States,

(39:13):
and I had a call from
Lexi's dad, who, again, I've known for a long time. He's like,
hey, you know, what's your plan?
What do you. What are you thinking? And whatnot. And
I was like, man, I'd love to work with Lexi. I think it'd be
great that we get along really well. So we had a
set of a phone call, kind of did a meet and greet on the phone or whatever.

(39:33):
And, um, and it was great. We hit it off,
and, man, we. I started working for
her, and we went on a tear. We went on a great
run. Um, should have won a couple times, but, you know, that's just
how golf is sometimes. Uh, I think we did
27 events. You know, she didn't play every week, so we did 27
events. We made 24 cuts

(39:54):
out of 27 events. We had,
um, 16 top tens, 11 top
fives, and three seconds
out of that on in that run. So, I mean, it was a
solid run of her playing some great golf.

>> RB (40:10):
And was, uh, there any Solheim Cups
involved in that?

So. No. What stunk is I
actually started working for the week after the Solheim Cup.

>> RB (40:21):
Oh. Uh, which was.

It's. It was a bit of a downer there because I was obviously
really looking forward to trying to do that and whatnot. Uh, I started
working for. Prior to the Solheim. Like, I had already committed to work
for her, but she had already told her
brother that he'd come caddy for her in Solheim,
so she wasn't gonna, you know, and my. That would have been my first week
on the bag with her. And I was like, that could be dicey. You

(40:43):
know, if something doesn't work out, we're in the Solheim and, you know, she doesn't
know. I don't know her yardage is well yet, and she
doesn't know how I work, etc. Soulhound cup is not the first
place you want to probably start a new, new career with.
So waited, um, till the week after. But obviously
we worked really well together. Um, we are still really close.

>> RB (41:01):
You think?
Yeah, yeah, we're still really Close
question about Lexi. Um, I think I just
saw that she's 30 years old,
playing in her 18th US Open.
Let that sink in.

Right. Um, she has played more US Opens
than half of her life.

>> RB (41:22):
That's crazy.

Think about that.

>> RB (41:25):
Did you know one of her boyfriends back
in the day, Gary Garris?

Did not know Gary. No, I didn't.

>> RB (41:33):
He's a buddy of ours. Probably happened, but
he's probably.

He's probably lying to us. Probably just
talking smoke.

Gary, if you are lying, then you've gotten
them, you've sold them.
You pulled off a good one there.

>> RB (41:47):
Yeah, but somebody like her, uh, you know, somebody
like Lexi Thompson, I mean, again, for
so long, she dominated the game of
golf right? Before you, during you, after
you. Okay.

Yeah.

>> RB (42:00):
And, you know, people,
uh, it's a big debate. Why is she quitting?
Right? Why is she retiring from golf? And it's like,
dude, she's 30 years old, and she
has played in 18 US opens. So from
the. So from 12 years old to 30,
she basically had a,

(42:23):
you know, extended tour life. Because
a lot of Tour players. Let's be honest, a lot of Tour players are 10
to 15 years, right. That are pretty
good. Um, let the girl
live a little bit. You know, like, she wants to be.
She wants to get married, or maybe she is. She wants to
have kids, whatever she want. She is

(42:44):
literally at the point of her career where
most people are at when they're 45 and 50,
which is crazy to think.

Exactly. And then a lot of people forget that. You know, they're like, wait, why
is she retiring so young? Just like you said. But
think about it. She played in her first U.S. open at
12 years old. 12.

>> RB (43:03):
I actually. I actually think that that was a pine
needle. Was it in a pine needle?

It was at Pine Needle. There's a great call there. And I was very
fortunate to be US Open with her at Pine Needles this last
time, um, when it was there. So it was real emotional
for her. It was a really cool experience for me. Just, you know, she had
all of her family there, um, and a lot of people
that have, you know, supported her over the years. So we had a huge
following that week. Um, unfortunately, her grandmother
passed away the week before, so it was a super

(43:31):
emotional week for her. Um, but that was something
really special for me to get to be a part of
that. Um, and she played really well, and that was a hard
track for us. I mean, it was a hard track for everybody. Minji
just absolutely ran away with that one.
But, uh, she played really well that week with
all the circumstances and, you know, all the media and all

(43:52):
the emotions and all that. I think we finished 21st
in that US Open, so it was, you
know, a good week, but it was a really cool experience for me.

>> RB (44:01):
My, uh. My parents live on the, uh, third
tee box at Needles, right to the left.

Oh, nice. Yeah.

>> RB (44:07):
So I, uh, only go once a year,
uh, with this. Yo, yo. Uh, we plan an invitational,
but, um, man, pine needles is.
People ask me, I've been fortunate enough to play a lot of
good golf courses. I could play pine
needles every single day. Dude, I love that place.

Great track. I'll tell you what, if you miss the green,
though, man, you've got some. You got
some work to do, because it is. It is one of
those. Especially don't go long. That was one of my notes I
remember from that book is. Is don't go long,
don't go long. Don't go long, don't go long,
don't go long.

Yeah,
the women, I think now, like, there
was a guy that I used to know, and
all he would do was watch the lpga. Like, he
didn't care about the PGA Tour.
He. All he was worried about was the lpga.
And I could never figure out, like, dude, like,

(45:05):
I mean, I get it. It's fun to watch, but how can't you be into the
PGA Tour? You know, he's like, the women are just
on a different level. So from
that point forward, not saying I got into the
LPGA Tour, but I paid a little more attention to it. You know,
like, for example, with the US Open on. I'm gonna watch it.

Right?

Uh, and seeing some of these girls now and how they strike
the ball and. I mean, nelly cortisol swing. You talk about the
lady you caddied for as well. Those swings will put you to
sleep, dude.

Yeah, I mean, they're. They're the swing
repetitive. I mean, they are just the same
swing every single time, and they're so good at
it.

So from your perspective, you've caddied for a lot
of guys on the PGA Tour, great golfers, and you've
caddied for a phenomenal star on the LPGA
Tour. Aside from the
DNA features that men have
over women in terms of maybe strength or whatnot, but
what parts of their games are similar and what's the biggest

(46:01):
difference?

Sure.

From your perspective of a caddy.

Yeah. No, and that's something that I get asked a lot.
Um, but, uh, you know, realistically,
it's. It's the vision that's different
for me. Like, so I think as guys,
we're a little bit more aggressive when it comes to golf. Like, like,
if you're. You're outside the, you know, you missed left off the
tee, you got some trees. Like, man, I. You know, I can hook this

(46:26):
thing around this, or I can. Let me just slice one here,
land it short, and let it run up. The girls
are. They tend to be. They tend not to see that.
Like, to see the same shots that we see
as guys. And I think it's just because they're not
quite as aggressive, um, and
they may not be able to. Now, Lexi's a little bit different because

(46:47):
she can work the ball both ways and she has every
shot you could ever imagine. Um, but,
like, talent wise,
there's not a difference. There is. And
honestly, the ball striking on. On the females
are better than a lot of the guys,
realistically. And the thing is, is because their swings are a little bit
slower, they're a little bit more compact.

(47:09):
You know, there's less room. If you think about it like the. If
the swing is shorter, there's less room for error.
And so, um, the strikes just are so
pure out. A lot of these girls, like, the yardages
that they are able to hit. Like, I knew with
Lexi, I knew that. That if
we had 280, like a

(47:30):
280 run out, like a bunker 280, like, I knew it was
100% going to be a three wound. There was not a
chance it was going to be a driver because drivers landing
right at where that's going to be. I mean, drivers
pitching 280 for her if there's no wind. Drivers
pitching 280 anywhere from 275, 280. And
it's like on a. You could put a roll
of paper out and she would land it right there between it. I mean, it's

(47:53):
nuts. It's so consistent with the
girls versus, like, a bunch of the guys where, you know,
like, you can step on a six iron and, you know, if you're hitting a
six iron, your average six iron is like 185. You can step
on one and get 195, you know, but a lot of these
girls, they're not going to step on a. On a
six iron and try and, you know, get extra out of

(48:13):
it. They're just like, okay, well, I'll just hit a five iron, you know, and I'll just
hit a five iron, you know,'190 yards, and it's
just yeah. Uh, it's crazy how good they are at
landing the distances that they. They talk about.
Uh, and then the other thing, too, is, like, Lexi.
For me, Lexi. I've had
one other player that

(48:34):
when I, like, picked out a target for him, and we looked at, like,
hey, like, we're finishing on this tree or this limb or this.
Whatever it is, this TV tower in the back.
I've never had anybody outside of Lexi
that could, like, if I said, this is where we're hitting
it, that's where it started. That's everywhere. It's every
single time. I mean, it was insane.

(48:55):
You know, very rarely would she ever be offline.
And that's what's pretty impressive about those
females. The other one, I would say is I got to give a shout out
is Akshay. I worked for Akshay Batia for a
little while as well. Oh, wow.

No way.

Yeah.

Yeah, he's having a great.

He is. He really is. I work for Akshay.
Uh, Akshay and Ryan Gerard, both guys having really
good seasons. Um, I worked with him two
years ago, so I got. Actually, I was with
Akshay when he got his PGA Tour card. So that's.

>> RB (49:24):
That's awesome.

That was cool. Yeah.

>> RB (49:27):
So I grew up for a few years in
Pinehurst, and I was fortunate enough to play. Play,
um, a good m. Amount of golf with Webb
Simpson. And, you
know, I. I asked him, I said, webb, I said, what's the
difference? This is later on when he's on the tour. What's the difference
between a good college player in a
PGA Tour player, Right? And his comment,

(49:50):
and I want to see if you agree, is, Jonathan, there
are 5 million people that can hit a driver.
Three wood, five iron, six iron, seven iron. Like us
from eight iron. And N. We are dominant.
Like, that is where we can make a difference.
You know, a wedge shot, we're just trying to get it
15ft as an amateur, right? Hey, let's hit this wedge shot

(50:12):
15ft. They're literally trying to hit it
inside a hula hoop, like.

Yeah.

>> RB (50:19):
And I think that that's what. There are a lot of people that
can hit an incredible driver and. And
straight and all that. But whenever you get to those scoring
clubs, that's where the difference is. Those guys putting,
they are dominant at putting.
You don't realize how good these peoples are. And that's like John
Daly. We've. We've gotten around with

(50:39):
him, and you watch
him. Everybody says he has
the best hands ever. And you
wouldn't think that Yeah,
I know.

I completely agree with you in the difference
between a very good college player and
a PGA Tour, somebody who's made it on the PGA Tour.
And I'm telling you,
all of. All of the difference is just around the greens,
everybody is good. Off the tee, everybody's good. You know,
can. Can hit distances, stuff like that. But inside that

(51:11):
eight iron range. You're exactly right.
Uh, it is. They are. If we can get inside of an
eight iron, it's nine out of 10
times. It is go zone. And it is. And.
All right, we're. We're. We're aiming this, you know,
two yards right of this pen only because we need to be right
side of this pen for a better putt, you know, better look at birdie, like, all right,

(51:32):
we're two yards left of this pen only because there's trouble, right?
Let's. Let's give ourselves an extra two yards.
And as, you know, as us who
are single digits or even scratch
golfers, whatever, can we do that? Yes.
But can we do it consistently? No, we
can't. And that's the disc. The difference is the

(51:52):
consistency with these guys. And their short games
are immaculate. They see shots.
Like, I think that's another thing. Me caddy and,
um, like, when I work with Ryan Gerard,
he. He saw shots I didn't see.
And his short game is very good. And it was.
It was, you know, like, I saw going high for

(52:13):
this one. He's like, no, I think I'm going to pitch this, like, right here.
And he'd give me a target like this. He's like, I'm a pitcher right here,
and if I pitch it there, it'll go. And I'm like,
is that, you know, is that the right play? Is that what we should do here?
And. But I mean, he would execute it, and it would be,
you know, we'd be 14 inches from the cup.
Like, man, well, Cody.

>> RB (52:33):
Cody Greibel. Didn't Cody Greibel win a century, uh, a
US Amateur Gribs?

I don't know if Gribble wanted. I, uh, don't know if he won a
USM or not. Or did he, uh.

>> RB (52:42):
Or. Or did he lose in the finals? Uh, that name
is so familiar because he had an incredible amateur
career.

He did. He did. Now, you know, he's won on the PGA Tour.
Um, he won
Sanderson, I believe it was okay
a couple years back, but I don't know, is his
Amber career. I'm not sure what he did on that one, but it.
Very. Well, we Mean, it wouldn't surprise me.

>> RB (53:06):
We need the funniest caddy story from you.

I was just. I was just gonna ask that
M. Like, where you walked away, and you're going, what the
fuck?

Yeah. Uh, well, I mean, Phil is up
there. Because when that happened, it was just like, I looked at Beef, and
looked at me was like, what the fuck just happened? Like,
it was that kind of moment. But I would say,
I mean,
we've had some funny ones,

(53:36):
ironically. So I caddy for Drew. Love.
Another. Another good dude.
Um, a couple random events.
Um, I caddied for
Drew. Where was I? So, uh, we were
Quell Hollow, caddy for Drew at Wells Fargo,
and we actually were playing a practice run with Tiger.

(53:58):
So we were playing a practice run with Tiger. Justin
Thomas Bryson and Tiger,
obviously. And I had not met. I'd met
Tiger, but I've never. You know, I've never been out with him and, uh,
whatnot. And so
Tiger kind of walks up on the putting green. He knew I was
catting for Drew, and he just walks up to me, and he

(54:19):
goes,
what the is that guy wearing? And I was just
like, okay.
And he was like, he's still, uh. Like, look at his shoes.
What is he wearing? And I was like, all right,
I don't know what I'm gonna say to Tiger back to this. Like, I don't know.
Their. Their foot joy. I mean, I don't. I don't know.

(54:39):
Uh, you know, and so then he goes.
He's still hitting that driver six miles high.
I was like, oh, yeah, he definitely is. He's hitting it six miles high
and in six different directions. But,
yeah, um, and then he's like, man,
tell that Bigfoot son of a bitch he just. He
needs to quit. He just needs to stop playing.
And obviously, he's just, uh, walking, and this is on the putting green. Like, we hadn't even

(55:02):
teed off yet. Drew's not around. He walks up to
me. I've again, never really met him. And he's just, like, talking shit
about Drew. And I'm like, what is going on
right now? And just absolutely, just
dumbfounded. Like, you know, Tiger, me growing up, I'm 34
years old, going on 35. Like, he's one of my. My idol guys
that I grew up watching.

Yeah.

And it's like, one of the first time I'm meeting him, and the first thing comes up to me dropping F
bombs. I was like, fantastically. This is great.
Like, this is one of the coolest things ever, you know,
talking Shit about the player that I'm. I'm catting for for the week.
It was. It was pretty funny. Um, what
you.

What year was that?

That would have been. That was
Wells Fargo. That was probably
2000. It would have been
20. Uh, 19. 20.
19.

So that. So that's the year he won
the Masters. So his swing. He was swinging it pretty good.

Yes, he was. Yes, he was. Another. This is not a funny story,
but a cool story. And one of the. I'll probably get chilled. I'm
just thinking about it, to be fair. But one of the coolest
stories and highlights of my career was that same day we're
standing the. The seventh fairway, um, at
Quail. And it was practice rounds. It was all
backed up, um, and

(56:15):
we're all in the fairway, but Tiger was up to the left,
and I kind of walked over that way. Drew's ball was up left
and just passed him. Um,
but the guys are kind of hanging back, talking. And I walked up to
Drew's ball and was just. I'm sure, go ahead and get a number and get everything, you
know, whatever, sorted out, ready to go. And I turn
around and Tiger walks up, and

(56:36):
he had. We had spoken because I was still working for Beef
at the time. Just. Beef wasn't playing Wells Fargo, and I was just working
for. That week for Drew. And so he asked me. He's like, hey, man, you
know, what's. How's Beef? Like, is he, you know, how's it looking for
Ryder cup this year, you know, wanting to know about Beef, because Beef
was playing really well. Um, and I said, you know,
we gotta definitely have a shot and whatnot. And, you know,

(56:57):
was telling him, we're hoping either if we don't get in, obviously
captain's pick would be great, etc. Obviously ended up not getting the
captain's pick. He got hurt. But, uh, I'm sitting there
talking with Tiger, and then Drew walks up, and Drew
goes out of nowhere. He goes,
drops a Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer stat.
It was a Jack Nicklaus stat. Like, oh, you know, Jack finished this, this, this

(57:18):
many times this year, whatever. And
Tiger. I, uh, kind of looked at Tiger and he goes.
He immediately goes, no, it was this. And he changed
the stat. He knew exactly the stat that
Jack had, however many times. He finished, like, third
in a. In whatever events. I mean, it was a
random left field stat, but Tiger knew

(57:38):
it. And then immediately goes. And
Arnold has this, and told us those stats
and just ripped them off, like one after another after another.
And I'm like, holy crap. Like, this is, this is
insane. And then it hit me, and this is where I always get chills.
It hit me, I said, I'm standing in the seventh fairway at
Quail Hollow talking to Tiger woods about

(57:58):
Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer.
Like, what, what this is. Ah, a
highlight. Again, like I said, I have chill bumps right now just thinking about
it because I'm like, I am standing there talking to Tiger about
Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Arnold Palmer, the
greatest, arguably the greatest three to ever play
three. And just having a
conversation with Tiger about it. I mean, how many

(58:21):
people can ever say that they've done that? And
so that was, for me, that was one of my highlights.
You know, it wasn't. Yes. Uh, you know, I was really blessed
and fortunate to win with, with Haotong and so many
finishes, top five finishes with Lexi and
Akshay and others. But that was
still, to this day, one of the, one of the cool,
coolest things that's ever happened on the golf course.

That's awesome.
Well, what about before we get into the tap in
segment? What about some of these cats? And you don't got to drop any names,
but you ever see any of the boys, you know, hitting a little bit of
cough syrup under incognito?

You know, not on, not
as much on tour. I will say this
Pro M days, some of the boys will send it.
It's very frowned upon. Oh, but some of the pro M days,
um, um, and one, one particular
player that I work for won't drop a name here, but one particular player
that I worked for. You know, pro ams get

(59:17):
long, you know, you got, you guys probably played in programs
before and, and you know, it's a group
as the four or five and,
and it just is, you know, it's a six hour
round sometimes. And so. Oh,
uh, you know, they've got all the food and the drinks and all the stuff
on the tee boxes and it's great. And, and
there's times like we look back and forth and,

(59:40):
and, and he or she would say, you want
Cheetos? I'm like, heck yeah, let's go. And
so we'd have a few, you know, have a few and whatnot.
And, and like some of the times when they'd have like the seltzers or whatever,
I'd, I'd throw two in the bag. I'm like, heck yeah, I
have no problem carrying a few extra seltzers in the bag,
you know, for this pro am. And you know, I'd I'd walk

(01:00:00):
off the green, I quickly
shotgun one and make it to the next tee box ready to go. But,
yeah, we. We've, you know, we've dabbled in some of that, but
outside of that, it's. It's really not a
very common thing. If it is. It's. It's very
hidden. Um, not a
lot.

>> Jonathan (01:00:18):
Well, I understand the players. I mean,
you know, you got billionaires paying the money to play when they
should.

>> Will Davidson (01:00:24):
They should.

>> Jonathan (01:00:24):
They're allowed to have fun and do what they want to do. But, I mean, are they great
golfers? The answer is probably not
typically. And so you got a tour player playing
with them. They're going like, uh, it's,
like. Painful. Yeah, painful.

Yeah, it is. And it's. It's,
you know, you try to be. You try to
be nice to them because, you know, you paid. They paid all that money and, and
you're trying to give them the experience, and you want to do that, but it's.

>> Jonathan (01:00:50):
Right.

It's also, man, is it a grind,
Especially when, uh, you know, it's like, par's your friend, right? On a lot of
these parts, your friends, if you. If you're over par. Excuse
me, pick it up. But, man, they want to. They want to finish out that
triple. They really want that triple.
Guys, let's. We got to keep it. We got to keep it moving.

>> Jonathan (01:01:09):
Keep it moving, baby. Yeah, keep it moving.
Well, Will, man, it was awesome having you on today's
episode of Chasing Birdies. A lot of great stories. I can't wait to meet
you in person, dude. Honest to God. I know it's going to happen. I feel it.
But before we wrap it up, we're going to turn it into
our tap end segment presented by
Betonardi Golf. Check them out
online@betnardi.com Pepe's

(01:01:30):
going to ask you some questions here that, uh, demand a quick
answer.

All right?

>> RB (01:01:36):
Um, one role change on the Tours.

Uh, ball landing and divot. That
should be changed. You should be able to. I think you should play it. Play it right out of
the fairway. If you're in the fairway, you deserve to be in the fairway.

>> RB (01:01:49):
All right. Do you think range firing
rangefinder should be allowed on tour?

No. You want me to explain it?

>> RB (01:01:58):
Sure.

I don't think it really speeds up play. I think
it. I think it makes. It makes caddies lazy. I don't
think it's pizza play.

>> RB (01:02:06):
Uh, I would agree with you on that. And
it kind of takes the caddy element out of It. Figuring out a little bit. Bit of
stuff. Well, your.

Your player then, can now just literally go shoot it himself. So what's the point
of having me there to tell you, you know?

>> RB (01:02:17):
Right.

Exactly.

>> Jonathan (01:02:19):
Yeah.

>> RB (01:02:20):
All right. Toughest course to navigate and cad.

Ooh. Um, navigate
Valderrama.
Um, the trees and stuff.

>> RB (01:02:32):
Right.

It is in Spain. Incredible golf course, by the way.
Navigate Spyglass is
pretty tough. That's a heck of a walk. Spy glass is a good
one. Oh, it's an awesome golf.

>> RB (01:02:43):
All right, last question. What are you chasing
outside of birdies?

Chasing? Uh, man, I'm
chasing a. A, uh, career
in golf that will
benefit everyone else in some way, shape or
form. Gonna figure out what that is, but that's what I'm chasing.

>> RB (01:03:03):
I like it.

>> Jonathan (01:03:05):
Love that energy.

>> RB (01:03:06):
Well, thank you so much for coming on Chasing birdies, my
man.

Appreciate it. Yeah, well, we appreciate it, and, uh,
yeah, let's do it again soon. Let me know, uh, when you boys need a
caddy. And, uh, yeah, we'll rock and
roll from there.

>> RB (01:03:19):
We'll bring him in. Remember, guest bud.

>> Jonathan (01:03:21):
There we go.

>> RB (01:03:25):
We'll allow you to drink on that one, too.

Heck, yeah. Hey, I got it. I got to give a shout out really real
quick, too, uh, for guys that go to golf. I know. I know
you are betting already, but go to golf. They,
uh. I've just started working with these guys. They're awesome.
But we do member guest stuff, so that's what made me think of it. Member
guest packages? Go to golf, man. Y' all gotta check them out. They
got a sick app. Do a bunch of custom putters, custom
apparel, custom ball markers. Stuff.

(01:03:50):
Gotta give them a.

>> Jonathan (01:03:52):
Someone's just talking to us about goaded golf.

Robusty.

>> Jonathan (01:03:55):
Yeah, probably sp. Uh, yeah. It might have
been Steve or your.

Girl Jacqueline as well.

>> Jonathan (01:04:01):
Yeah, maybe. Oh, yeah, it was probably Jackie. Yeah, I
think so. Yeah, I think so. Awesome, dude. Yeah,
we'll check that out.

>> RB (01:04:09):
M.
Man with some good stories from. From our
guy Will on the bag. Um,
I'm sure he could get into some others that he didn't care to
share that are private. But, I mean, the Phil
Mickelson story, the fact that he was in that twosome
at Shinnecock when he smacked the ball across the green

(01:04:30):
is hysterical. Um, the Tiger
woods story, I mean, those are some memorable
stories. I mean, you even heard him state that he was getting
chills. Still talking about. And it's probably 15 years ago,
so it's really cool. And like you said, these guys
are workhorses. People don't realize, you know, Monday, the
US Open coming up, these caddies, the players might be

(01:04:50):
hammering out on the range, but these caddies are out on the course
walking around, uh, mapping the greens,
getting some yardages to certain landing points. Uh, they
do a lot leading up to that. That event so that the
players are all ready to go come Thursday.

>> Jonathan (01:05:05):
And I do appreciate his comment relative to
yardage finders, range finders using in
the. In tournaments, you know, because he doesn't really believe.
He said it does not going to speed up play. And it might at some point,
but, you know, maybe for
Brian Harmon, but I think for us it's fine
because we're not. But, you know, but that. That's the point I'm trying to make,

(01:05:26):
I guess is with these caddies, it does take a lot of
mathematics. I mean, you blow it, right, left,
whatever.

>> RB (01:05:32):
It's like, AI, right, like your caddy's gonna be
really needed if you use a.

>> Jonathan (01:05:37):
There's gotta be gun like that.

>> RB (01:05:39):
Like you're not gonna need a caddy.

>> Jonathan (01:05:41):
Well, that's true. Um, unless somebody needs
moral support, which.

>> RB (01:05:46):
I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that could fly off the handles.

>> Jonathan (01:05:49):
Yeah.

>> RB (01:05:49):
Um, but with that being
said, um, yeah, I'm excited. I got a new
rangefinder. I had to get a new one.

>> Jonathan (01:05:57):
So I saw yours. I saw a picture that Foxy posted with
Kneeler sitting in a cart like it was your
fun.

>> RB (01:06:03):
I less than that one at. In Nashville. And.
And I told Neelie I'd give him a label to send it back and he said
no chance. So I had to order a new one
and I got a magnetic one now, so that's exciting.
Um, but
you know, I'm looking forward to the US Open coming up.
I'm gonna roll over on Tuesday, check it out.

>> Jonathan (01:06:23):
Um, so, yeah, it's gonna be
good, man. It's gonna be good. It's good for the community.
And it's our third major. It's hard to believe. Third
major of the year. Our first major of the year is
coming up, though. Our first and only major is coming up at
the end of July at Nemecollen.

>> RB (01:06:40):
So you guys confirmed?

>> Jonathan (01:06:42):
Yeah. 52 in the Chase and two. Man,
it's going to be good.

>> RB (01:06:47):
Um, and let's not discount. I know
we can't really talk about it right now. We'll talk about it in the next
episode. But you're in a major right now too, in the state am.
So, um, let's keep it rolling, bud. And
yeah, um, you know, we'll recap it in the
next episode.

>> Jonathan (01:07:02):
Yeah.

>> RB (01:07:03):
When we have some firm results.

>> Jonathan (01:07:05):
Fresh firm results. But yeah, it's been a lot of fun. And,
uh, it's a great spot down here. But likewise
too, where we have our two man tournament. Nemacolum Resort
is plush and the horses are incredible.
And obviously right now is peak season. No
pun, because the peaks wide open. Get you a
raft, get you a towel. So you check them out

(01:07:25):
online@neolin.com book your stay.
And you'll probably see Pep in the, uh, cigar bar. It's where he hangs
out. Or getting a haircut.

>> RB (01:07:33):
I haven't had a cigar in one week, actually.
Since Thursday. Yeah, since Thursday of
when we played a pizza, I have not had a cigar.

>> Jonathan (01:07:40):
How's the, uh, Alps? Are you still on the Alps?

>> RB (01:07:43):
Amazing.

>> Jonathan (01:07:45):
So the Zen is. No. No longer in your Rolodex
Alps. So you were in Zen for like three weeks?
A month.

>> RB (01:07:51):
A month. And now I was introduced to the
Alps. Um, and I'm in on this little
meteor. Come along already.

>> Jonathan (01:07:59):
So A L, P S. Yes.
All right, I gotta try it.

>> RB (01:08:04):
So try it. All right, boys, without further ado,
you all have a good week. Uh, stay chasing.
Chasing underscore Birdies on Instagram.
Tap it. Like it. Love it.

>> Jonathan (01:08:15):
Yeah. As always, we appreciate
the love, support and listeners out there. And we hope y' all
enjoyed this week's episode of Chasing Birdies.
Gotta give a big thanks to Ivo, Ali and
Emily@ComplerMedia for getting this thing done for us. Jacqueline de
Patero and Rachel London for all your social media
help. You guys have a great first
weekend of June. And we, we will catch

(01:08:38):
y' all in two.

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Who’s On The Bag - Will Davidson

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Who’s On The Bag - Will Davidson