Abraham Ancer joins Su-Ann Heng on “Heng Time” at the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba, where they play a hole and discuss golf in Mexico, Lorena Ochoa, his tequila brand, and his working relationship with Hollywood superstar Mark Wahlberg.
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[Applause] welcome to season two of hang time we’re kicking off the 2024 season right here in the beautiful mayakoba Mexico and who better to have this week than Abraham answerer from Mexico from the Fireballs GC we’re going to play the par five 7th it’s a beautiful golf hole there a
Famous Cenote in the background there we going to have a chat with him let’s go what’s up a what’s going on good to see you good to see you doing all right here in your beautiful country of Mexico couldn’t be a better place to start now
We’re going to watch you off here on the 7th see how it’s done and then we’re going to have a little chitchat perfect I like that all right let’s see it cool part five this one pretty unique with the Cenote we play it as a bunker which
Is I think the left side of it is our Target okay pretty small Fairways this week so we got to be extremely accurate what Fairways exactly oh benj told me wind’s off the right wind’s off the right so I’m going to start this wall the middle of the senot and hopefully it
Drifts a little bit left right there come on wind it’s going right in the middle of it come on that’s all right that’s it’s good spot it’s like 320 to get good spot ah I wish it was 320 oh to the bun I thought
You said how far I hit I was like I wish but no it should be in a good spot we should be able to give it a good whack and don’t know if you’re going to be able to get there and two just because it’s going to be a little bit into the
Wind yeah a little different wind this year is but we’ll we’ll give it a best chance to make some birdies so a we’re here in Mexico I have to ask you how big of an impact is it for golf here in Mexico to have live come and have that
Cal this caliber of players play I think it’s huge I I think we only SE seen it a couple times in Mexico where we have a really really strong field um I think everybody’s extremely excited last year I mean we had a little bit of time to
Get ready for this event and I think we had a great turnout a bunch of kids were out here which I’ve never really seen that many kids in in one place being so pumped about Golf and also I think the the team aspect helps a lot because our
Culture is very soccer football oriented or a team aspect so I think definitely with the culture it can relate quite a bit yeah um now you and I have the same role model I believe uh Loreno ooah um Talk us through her influence on your life and and how did she influence you
To play golf and maybe pursue golf yeah well I mean obviously growing up at the time I didn’t know her personally um Carlos I think Carlos did they’re from the same city but she definitely kind of opened my eyes and I think a lot of guys
My age and a little bit younger or older than me to realize that we can we can make it I mean at the time growing up it just it looked like such a difficult task to to make it to a to a tour like
This so I was like man I mean I don’t know if I could ever be there but then she really just showed us how to do it she’s likey this is made it look easy and she made it look easy she dominated I mean she retired as world number one
And I mean she still had a bunch of time that she could have killed it but yeah um she she definitely showed me like hey you can you can definitely do this without tell me telling or sorry her telling me personally yeah and it was really cool to see her how much success
She had that’s amazing and I know she had a huge impact on golf in Mexico as well um now do you know her now have you played golf with her we uh yeah we I’ve spent a little time with her and she’s amazing she does a lot still for for
Mexican Golf and not only not only golf but she does she has a great Foundation um and we I played in in her event one time in in guara and she does a great great job um so she’s still very connected with with Mexican golf um and
She she does a great job she’s still a a great role model for a lot of people now from that we’re going to move to your win at the Pan-American games Congratulations by the way I know it was your first time playing an event how significant was that win for you it was
Really cool I mean every time that you get to put the the polo of your country on and it’s a different feeling and it was really cool to finish the year that way being able to to get that gold medal was really neat and kind of walking up to
That that Podium with your your I mean the Mexican Anthem and all that it was it was really really cool ah that must and then I had a great battle with against Munoz Munoz finished second and I mean that last 18 holes were crazy back and forth it was it was awesome had
A great time a few a few of our the live guys were there I think wo yeah wo Carlos was there Munoz was there y might be missing one but uh yeah it was it was really cool that’s awesome that’s awesome now I know you said after that
You didn’t play any events and that was my first week of November right MH so it’s been a long off season for you it’s been amazing what have you been up to well I did a bunch of things one I focused also on my body you know recover which I’ve
Never really had enough time to to be able to do that before so that was really excited about that uh I went to Mexico a couple times spent some time with the family in in punita we had a an amazing time during New Year so just
Getting to spend time with my family and friends that I haven’t seen in in a while so that was that was really cool um I went to the ranch I love spending time on my Ranch that’s probably my favorite thing to do y and just being home and practicing when the weather
Permits and uh focus on my body quite a bit like I said making sure I was doing the right things with my trainer to be ready for for this week well you know having a long off seon is not something that’s very common uh in professional
Golf and uh this is a by far I’m sure the longest offseason you’ve had how do you then get your mind more importantly because I think your game is pretty simple usually um so like you said you got your body ready but how do you get
Your mind ready to then come out of a long off seon and right into your home country Mexico playing here in our very first live event obviously with some even bigger names that have joined the league yeah I mean that’s a good that’s a good question I feel like just at home
Practicing and playing a bunch bunch of games and money games and just trying to get good quality players to um to stay fresh and stay competitive and that’s that’s kind of what we did at home there’s a bunch of a bunch of guys young guys that are trying to make it and it’s
Been really cool um spending some time with him practicing with him and and then going out there and having some matches every single day day just to stay sharp so that’s what we’ve done obviously when you when you step in here you start feeling a little bit of the
Nerves you know but I love that I love that feeling I love playing in Mexico in front of my people and I can’t wait to get started how do you handle those nerves you know I don’t know I think just I just do it I mean I got to be
Focused on what I do and well tequila of the golf course but unfortunately we we can’t do that while we play little bullet that won’t hurt that’ll work yeah oh I kicked right now I missed the Fairway oh no it’s my fault you I’m telling you these Fairways are small there’re small
We did some we pasted them out today yeah um and I mean we didn’t paste the super wide ones but you know we didn’t go anything past 18 and I think we paced paced that probably about five or six holes yeah and didn’t go past 18 Paces
It’s crazy number one which usually went from the left OB right and then jungle left you look off the te 13 yards and you’re like I don’t know how am I going to hit this Fairway like it’s really challenging it’s going to be interesting every time I watch you play you’re the
Type of player that’s very much a field player you don’t seem to have too much going on on technically uh and I know you’re one of the unique professional golfers that actually don’t have a coach you haven’t had a coach you work in your own swing how does that work and what
Made you decide to do that I just like to keep things simple um when I was a little kid in Rosa I got taught the basics uh czecho which I saw again this week which just it was phenomenal the the surprise it had for me uh so they they taught me the
Basics how to grip the club where to stand you know the fundamentals and then after that I just I kind of ran with it and just kind of build my swing and just just really swing my swing really and I have good videos of of weeks when I feel
Like I’m flushing it and I’m hitting every shot like I want toh so I take I take videos of that week I make some notes of that week I’m like this this week I was feeling this or I was working on this that way I go back if there’s a
Week that I’m not feeling very good or I’m not hitting the shots that I want then I go back can I can look at those videos and also the nose of like okay this is the feeling that I had so that’s how I do it it’s got to be difficult
Because most of these players have a coach or someone to sort of rely on or someone that can give give them some kind of an instant feedback in that way and sense of insurance I guess in some ways so during the times when you don’t strike the ball quite as well maybe you
Might not have as much confidence what do you then refer to did you just go back to those notes and and try and replicate those feels or do you try something else ever thought about going to a coach um yeah I mean I’ve thought about it and there’s some
There’s been some instances where I’ve had some friends that so for example when I first turned Pro and I kind of was struggling a little bit with my swing and I was at the time I was on the PJ tour and I was like man I’m playing
So bad it was I don’t know what’s going on our friend Kime Gomez back home he’s an instructor he helped me out and just did a couple things like hey this is what you’ve been doing right and that’s where I got the idea of like just keeping swings that I really like that
How I was hitting that week and making some notes and then since then has been I wouldn’t say easy there’s some weeks that I’m like man this is crazy like I’m feeling something completely different yeah but I like to keep it simple I like I know my swing really well now that my
Misses I know why they happen MH and if my body if I’m feeling really good with my body and I’m moving correctly I feel like my swing kind of just follows that so I like to keep it simple I do have a putting coach Ramon which you met you
Met Ramon yeah I did yeah uh he’s phenomenal and he’s always there too he’s not only on the putting green so he he’s watching me play and he’s watching me swing so he he’s also been a little bit of like just a outside of putting watching me he balls and that’s kind of
The Reformation of like okay you know so I guess he plays that role as well okay well it’s been working out fantastic for you and and you’re not just a successful professional golfer but you’re also a very successful businessman you’ve got ombre men which is a skincare uh company
That you started but you also started a tequila company a very tasty tequila company I must add with a celebrity Mark Walberg tell us how did that relationship evolve and how did you think about starting a tequila company well it was actually the whole idea
Started in a pram mhm about 7 years ago I was playing in for worth and then I got paired together with Aaron which is my business partner in fletcha and in ombre actually as well well okay and we were both Mexican guys we started talking about tequila on the first round
On the first on the first hole and kind of what we drank at the time and okay growing up and we were thinking about like man there’s a lot of tequila Browns out there that are doing really well and they have a bunch of additives it’s like
We wanted to bring we wanted to create and bring to the United States and hopefully the world a brand that is make traditionally made with no additives and he’s just made the right way you know so we can represent our culture the right way and at the time I didn’t have the
Money or the time to to do that but Aaron we we the connections we kind of created a great a great group great team and we started working at it and then 3 and a half years after that we launched Fletch aul and we have been in
The market for close to 3 years now yeah which has been it’s been phenomenal and then Mark Walberg came into the equation 2 years ago okay he’s been an unbelievable uh investor and partner uh he’s been an ambassador Ambassador yeah that was I he was that
Was just it was really cool I I was watching and he didn’t tell us anything and he was just watch us like are you kidding me so that was really cool and he’s a really really hard worker he believes obviously he believes in the brand but he’s like hey guys I’m going
To go into this because I believe in you guys and I believe in the brand and the product and that’s why that’s why he did it which is was really cool are you very involved in the the tasting process and how you want it to taste well yeah at
The beginning now the profiles are set right so we we have five profiles and yes at the beginning we definitely wanted um that process was really cool cuz we got to get we got hammered I was going to say very often fun was that so
It was a lot of fun but the main thing was just a good quality product that is clean that it has no additives and that we’re proud to Showcase around the world how much have you learned not just about tequila but about yourself in that process of of starting several
Businesses a lot I’ve learned a lot it’s definitely not easy it’s definitely it tells a lot about the team around you you can’t do everything by yourself so the people that are around you is extremely important you have you need to have people that are likeminded that you
Think they’re thinking like you and they have a goal and they’re aligned with you cuz if you find some people that are not but they you think they might have some great ideas it just makes it tougher so I just learn a lot that team work it
Really makes the Dream Work so that’s kind of what we’ve done I think we have a tremendous tremendous team has that sort of led into that here at Liv and with fire balls and having that team aspect of 100% the team also us as a team but every single person needs a
Team around them the caddy your manager if you have a psychologist if you don’t or physio everything so I like to surround myself with people that are amazing that they’ve truly won the best for me and for the results that we all want and and I feel like we’ve done a
Good job with that so all right so so I did miss the Fairway barely but like you said it’s they’re not very big but we’re in a good spot this is a show you’re going to have to practice a lot this definitely not easy controlling the ball
Out of the rough but I’m going to try to land it probably about a yard short of the green or close to the to the beginning of the green it’s a little bit uphill it should be uh somewhat a straight forward shot but out of the rough it never is Right y
Oh perfect oh don’t go in what a shot all right it flew a little bit farther but it was I’ll take that like like what two feet farther what a shot man it worked that well it worked that well shot from where you were all right I for you I need a
Read from you okay I’ll do Benji’s job just better you might I love Benji man Benji help me out here what do you see uh left to right yeah probably go right about depending on your speed correct I rather kind of go there if you’re dying it in maybe I like that
Look I’m going to aim this a little more maybe exactly where you so I want to take all the pressure off me I just lined it up exactly where you said so I’m just going to it me that’s all right everyone else does so I’m just
Going to stroke it right where you said or you can blame it on your putting coach that’s true that’s always a backup dead center caddy of the Year thank you thanks thank you so much thank you that was so much fun thank you for hanging out and uh good luck this week
Absolutely thank you so Much
