State of Golf-Fairways of Life w Matt Adams-Tues April 2

Matt Adams chats with Golf Channel’s Tripp Isenhour about the state of golf, Scottie Scheffler’s form, the upcoming Masters and is joined by PGA Tour player Eric Cole.
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#MattAdams #GolfChanges #GolfDiscussion #FairwaysOfLife #GolfTalk

Welcome to the most listened to golf in the world the fairways of Life show on air online and around the world with the most candid interviews Unforgettable stories taking you beyond the ropes here’s your host New York Times bestselling author Mass Adams what is going on folks welcome into the fairways

Of Life show pleasure a company wherever you are joining us around the world today we’ve got I think what’s going to be a very very interesting show today a veteran campaigner uh and dear friend about to join us on the program as well as a player that’s right in the mix

Currently uh for everything that’s going on in the world of golf and all the different things that we may want to talk about and those different things we may want to talk about I have the perfect candidate for the same trip Eisenhower is joining as you know trip

From his work on Golf Channel no doubt he also is a six-time winner amongst the professional ranks multiple wins in fact on the corn furry tour he had 306 count him starts on the tour 24 career top 10s and he’s got a new project going on that

We’re going to talk about in a second called Gap gout Gap golf I will get to that uh with trip but first of all we say good morning to the man and see what’s going on in his world how you doing trip hello my friend good to be

Here thanks for having this is gonna be fun yeah I’m looking forward to it all right so let’s jump into this thing you know I I heard I I saw you in central last night I hear the talk constantly about Scotty Sheffer and the Putter and it’s with good look it’s with

Good Merit I understand but the what he did last weekend in finishing second and his uh just to just to give you some examples Strokes game putting in the second round he’s 128th Strokes G putting in the third round he was seventh right Strokes G putting in the

Final round he’s 72nd all I’m saying is the flow and EB of the putter with guys at that level the best of the best of the best because they’re ball striking is always so exceptional if they get even near average they blow the field away and so that flow and E doesn’t wor

Worry me that much so Dominic put in my rundown because he puts in little suggested questions and he said ask trip if you think that there’s a problem right now with Scotty sheffler’s putting and I’m not going to ask you that because I don’t really think there

Is I I would agree with you yes I would I would totally agree with you and and here’s the thing it’s not like he’s hitting awful putts I mean we focused on that putt on 18 on Friday where you know he three putts from six feet that first

Putty hit was exactly where most people were reading that putt they were reading it on the top Edge and it wasn’t breaking okay so we focus oh well he missed a six-footer for for par you know and then well there he was frustrated that day it was really windy and the

Wind was hitting his shots when he didn’t think it would and you know it was Gusty conditions and that’s the worst conditions as a player when when you’ve got high winds that are up and down it it’s really tough and as good as he hits the ball every time he hits it

So dog on solid every single time he’s counting on you know that consistency of the win and that really frustrated him and I think that boiled over into him hitting another good putt that didn’t go in but that is one of the things though that you know typically world number one

It doesn’t bother him I mean his process is so good and it just insulates him from so many different things and all the noise around him and it really gets him narrowed in and focused on his task at hand and nobody’s doing that better

Than him but I agree with you Matt and I mean really it’s one area and I talked about it last night on Central I talked about it on Sunday night on Central it’s 5 to 10 feet and he’s not putting way worse than tour average tour average is

56% his average for the year is 55% so it’s not like he’s putting from 5 to 10 feet at 48% or 47% and keep in mind that’s missing one or one and a half more putts you know if he was at 47% he’s missing half a putt

Lower than the average per round but over four rounds that does add up well the thing is I I was doing because you’ve done this same thing I was doing the dedicated coverage for PGA Tour live I was with Dennis Paulson was awesome and we watched him this is to your point

Sunday afternoon he hit the putt on 17 and he spoke about it later on with that in 18 he hit those putts exactly where he wanted to exactly the way that he wanted to a person that’s going sideways with the putter knows the line and blows

It over here or blows it over there hits it on the inside heel or catches it on toe right he hit both those exactly where he wanted to he misread them but what I did notice about Scotty which I want to ask you about not necessarily only about him about the others too

Because you used the word focus and triggered this thought my observation was trip is that I saw some signs of what I thought were mental fatigue just you’ve you’ve won two weeks in a row you’ve going through the emotions that go with that you’re going through you

Know not so much physical they’re young guys and are strong but still and here you are in the mix again but he’s not the only one I thought I saw some signs of fatigue from a number of different players which is interesting because we’re just about to go into the

Masters your your thoughts about that and handling that when you’re in the middle of the fry well to your that could be overall but but I will go and Michael Kim on on X by the way is fantastic and he he mentioned about the golf course and how he said you know

They could grow rough here and have a US open absolutely and I was very surprised because many of us me included when we were doing central early in the week I was like the the pre preluding um uh Houston I was like well this overseed is

Going to make it softer it’s going to make it easier it’s going to be an easier in fact it was harder and and and the the thing about that Golf Course is it would wear you out I mean when you go out and play and windy Gusty conditions

And you’re having a chip and pitch and balls are running off and doing all sorts of things that drive two or Pros crazy and it does wear on you by the end of the week and you saw it the mental fatigue on Friday uh from Scotty but he

Rebounded and and I I just think it was it’s a frustrating golf course and I love to see that as a tour player I didn’t like playing them but as an analyst and someone watching it I think it’s entertaining I I like the golf course I I I’m glad that they found this

Home in Houston and I hope they’re there for a long long time it’s right in the heart of Houston what a good US Open would be to have there eventually at some point but uh or a major or PGA even but I I think it the golf course was

Introduced to the world in a new way because in the fall it was never going to AB absolutely the way it played you know with the dormant conditions it it wasn’t that way yeah probably some of the players are fatigued but look Scotty’s been around long enough he

Knows how to get his where he needs to be come Thursday his tea time Channel his energy for that 72 whole race I I I wouldn’t put it as much to min foot fatigue from that as I would the fatigue from running that race in that environment in Houston yeah to your

Point too about the golf course in particular trip the I loved loved the par 3s I thought they were so well done really spectacular 121 yard 15th hole on Saturday 121 yards was the hardest hole on the golf course that that says it all right there brilliant absolutely

Brilliant all right uh because we’re I I want to make sure I get this in before we run out of time we’ve got a lot to go through with you including Gap golf which we’re going to talk about probably after we take a break but we’re on the

Threshold of the Masters we have the Valero Texas open this week pretty good field Andrew could you throw that that that field up there so trip can see it in terms of guys getting ready for the last chance that they have to to get in some competitive reps before they head

Up to Augusta you can see Rory Brian Harman orberg a Fitzpatrick Fleetwood Matsu yam morawa spe Tom Kim fer Eric Cole amongst those that will be in the field your thoughts about the big story lines the major storylines as we’re entering the first uh men’s major of the

Year well the elephant in the room I mean it it’s live and PGA Tour and where is this gonna how is this going to come together it’s it’s going to come together it has to um you know the PGA Tour is made misstep after misstep after misstep in handling this and it makes

Sense I mean look they were they were a monopoly for a long time and they played the Monopoly Playbook Unfortunately they it didn’t work this time and they they’ve had to uh you know bring in a lot of different things and I think it’s going to help the PGA tour in the long

Run because look I was one of the ones on the player advisory Council on both tours corn fairy tour and the PGA Tour yelling and screaming that this to this um you know management team at in Pon ofra was very reactionary they weren’t very Visionary and I think I think this

SE chain is going to help the PGA Tour get more Visionary and when you have private Equity groups and those type people involved and people that make a lot of money they they make a lot of money because they have vision and they’re able to see down the road a

Little bit so again I think it’s been a rocky road for the PGA Tour I’m not a fan of the Signature Events I’m all for having Signature Events but I don’t want limited Fields you don’t need to compete against Liv by acting like Liv and narrowing your starting Fields I think

You can have the big money events and I love them I think they’re they’re great if you give the opportunities for most of your membership at least starting out if you want to narrow them down to 120 that’s fine to start but at least have a

Cut because the spirit of the game and 72 holes um that is the measure the standard of goth Liv has brought a couple of things to to you know to bear I would say um possibly the team aspect of it has some Merit but the 54 hole

Thing has no no merit in my opinion I I I that’s the one thing I don’t like about Liv and I don’t like starting a field with with you know 48 to 54 guys I think you you the best thing about golf is you have you know as many guys as you

Can get in the field Thursday and Friday and then you can cut to whatever you want if you want to cut to 48 and then have a shotgun start on the weekend that’s fine but I I think the the some of the most times that I learned the

Most and unfortunately I was on way too many cut lines but I learned the most about my game in the you know in in in where I was trying to make the cut and and you know really getting my game where it needed to be to try to uh

Compete uh you know on the weekends and when obviously you know when you’re winning tournaments and you are or you’re not when you’re in contention you learn a lot there too but you know what most of the players are around those cuts more than they are winning golf

Tournaments and I as a player that that definitely is the the biggest self-teacher that you can get is how you how you thrive or don’t thrive in that kind of environment when you’re struggling coming down the stretch and find a way to you know hit a couple of

Good shots and make a couple of key putts and make that cut by one or two shots and then have a good weekend I learned more about my game in th in those times than I ever did winning tournaments oh learning about your game is the the perfect segue to where we’re

About to go in just a couple of minutes but to your point about the merits of a full field event or even a modified full field event and having a cut look what just took place Stephen joerger who is a brilliant player and we were all kind of

Waiting for him to do on the PGA tour what he did on the corn fairy tour which is the ability to fearlessly go low he took down the number one ranked player in the world so to the point where if people talk about weaker Fields okay tell me about a weaker field then

Wouldn’t it suggest that the number one player in the world is going to blow away everybody else he didn’t step joerger won and so for me as a golf fan I think that that’s the old imate thing we saw the same thing I keep going back

To Eric Cole and and Chris KK at the Honda that was one of the most entertaining tournaments of the year and I was very entertained this past weekend because of precisely what you’re talking about well but you’re eliminating the Eric calls but by by making these fields

Like set you’re what his story last year I love that and and I love what it did I mean here’s a guy who was on the mini tours making you know as much money as you could possibly make on the mini tours but he was you know that he was he

Went through that journey and he was able to finally break through but we’re putting roadblocks for the Eric Kohl’s of the world we’re putting roadblocks for even the guys like Victor hin and Scotty Sheffer who came through the corn fairy tour that we’re we’re making their time a lot longer when you’re putting

These roadblocks to get in the elevated events where there are more points and all the different things uh that’s why I say you know give the opportunity let the mayor talk of of golf do its thing because it’s the ultimate meritocracy and and that’s that’s one of the things

That I think is being shaved away in this environment of these oh we only need 50 60 guys in a field uh to make it special you know what US open’s been special for a long time they start their field with 156 and you know what how

Many of them are qualifiers that you’ve never heard of those are always pretty good story so you know uh it’s not just the 50 that drive everything so a couple of things that we’ve learned so far in terms of management style don’t react in vision and then consider that uh more

Instead of less is probably a better way to go okay Andrew do me a favor throw the the the odds up there for the Masters trip it to wrap up here because I want to make sure we have enough time on the other side of this for Gap golf

Uh two guys two names I’ll give you two from this list or otherwise for your favorites for the Masters you’ve gotta say Scott sheffler I mean how do you not say Scotty sheffler and also who plays really good with a chip on his shoulder John

R uh we could see Nick falo here I’m just saying I I think uh we could see back-to-back Masters champions I I I just think um he’s got a lot to prove that his his going to live was the right thing which I think it was at the time I

Mean why wouldn’t you I I don’t blame John at all because he knows now there’s going to be a pathway back and go take the money and and you know play less but have still have the majors you know what uh they’re going to be maybe eating top

Us uh two years in a row at the Champions dinner all right Scotty Sheffer John ROM officially in the books for trip Eisenhower when we come back with this man he’s going to tell us about a project that he has created called Gap golf that when I heard it saw

It I thought to myself wow this is kind of ingenious you’ve got a tour player that’s offering this to you you’ll see it and you’ll know it right after this break the fairways of Life show is presented by the PGA TOUR Superstore the number one golf retailer from coast to

Coast big beautiful stores yes check that box you need it you want it swing it wear it learn from it they got it but you’re shopping with Pros invested in your best interest and that to me is the best part your happy place relax easy now find your happy place it’s all in

The hips just tap it in yes find the latest clubs in apparel at golf’s happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore in Ireland golf is more than just a game come and experience our world world famous Lynx courses and our world famous Parkland courses all set alongside world famous scenery and visit

Our world famous historic sites and while you’re here enjoy our world famous Hospitality fill your heart with Ireland at ireland.com golf it screams it tracks it it’s soft it reacts it is the Bridgestone tour be with a gamechanging reactive cover designed to Spring faster off your driver and stick longer to your wedges

Try bridgestone’s tour bees the Tour ball reinvented the Gen 6 iron is a culmination of everything that we have learned as a team the absolute best golf club I have ever H it’s something special say hello to the New pxg Gen 6 iron the longest most accurate irons

We’ve ever made they go higher and farther than any iron that I have hit to date and they’re so easy to hit super excited for the consumer to try these they’re going to love them pxg nobody makes golf clubs the way we do period baseball nah football done it I think

I’m going to go after the PGA Tour Bo you’re going to need need the right equipment company I think I got that you know tourage backs all their clubs with a lifetime warranty I know they ship all their premium custom clubs in 48 hours I know all their premium clubs are hand

Built in the USA I know you know Tour Edge has won 35 times out here guys I know pound-for-pound nothing comes close Bo golf provides the Ultimate worldclass Golf destination with 10 Championship caliber courses spanning three resorts centered in Michigan’s Northern lower Peninsula the courses are the products

Of some of the game’s Masters including Robert Trent Jones senior Arthur Hills and Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation package is Elite instruction with The boying Golf Academy tournaments and so much more Bo golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation experience just log on to Bo golf.com You know I’ve had the privilege of playing against and analyzing the best players in the game it’s the things that happen away from the golf course away from the tournament site that you never see that makes these great Champions exactly what they are that’s what I want

To help you with I want to teach you these tour proven techniques and strategies that consistently deliver lower scores come along with me let’s bridge the gap between where your game is now and where you want it to be that’s it that’s Gap golf that’s the

Concept that trip has put out to the world so trip I guess the place where I’d want to start base level right what is it how did you conceive it and what are you doing with it well the Genesis of it Matt was um you know my best friend is Bill McDonald

The coach at University of South Carolina and we played golf at Georgia Tech together we were like brothers and and he he had a team that was struggling in the fall back up it was about five six years ago and he said hey you know you’re really good with uh you know your

Scoring clubs and you were always really good with those and your short game and he said just come talk to my team he said I I gotta get these guys motivated they’re not working you know in the right areas of the game they’re not they’re he said they love hitting balls

And they they they but they’re they’re just not they’re not scoring and uh so I came I went down and in 1 of January and uh met with a team he he made me the volunteer assistant men’s golf coach so I could come down and work with them

Occasionally and um and um so I I I talked to the team and um just kind of told him what I did how I went about you know hitting wedges and and how important 150 yards and in you know I worked with Dr Bob Rotella since the

Time I was 16 years old and he hammered it in my my head that you if you want to be good at golf this isn’t the sexy stuff this is the this is the meat and potatoes and if you really want to you know get really good this is where you

Got to spend your time and it it helps build your mental confidence and everything else so I started I worked with that team and then um explained I call it the core number system now which is a system that I kind of came up with for uh getting your numbers with each of

Your wedges and then I told them how to kind of practice their uh spend their time on on on their short game and putting and that team went on and they bought in and they worked you know at this stuff and they won three of their next four tournaments that year and that

It was a team that hadn’t won anything so you know that was that was great and and I I just I’m still with Golf Channel I have you know all this stuff and I would occasionally go down and work with some kids and then when I would do it

The kids that would buy in they would go on and win tournaments and play well so I was just doing it kind of on the side and um you know I this last year I I I have U not a full-time uh contract with Golf Channel for the first time really

In 12 years I’m still you know with Golf Channel and have a great great deal but I’ve got a little bit more time so I was like I’m really passionate about this and and um I I started doing it I I you know work with another college team um

In the fall and and one of one of their players went on and won a tournament by six shots after after uh you know applying the things that I told him it’s no it’s no secret it’s what tour prayers do I mean this is what makes us tour

Players is the fact that we we don’t just stand on the Range and hit balls and our time is very important to us so we figured out ways to spend that time efficiently and uh use the tools that are available to anybody and it just is

A matter of putting in the time and like I said it’s not the sexy work it’s the grunt work but it’s it’s the stuff if you do it it always pays dividends and then you know I did a project with Dr Bob Rotella uh years ago 17 18 years ago

And um we had a great run with that and it really all of his mental strategies are interwoven in this and you know I have a lot of that material that I I was just like I talked to Doc the other day I’m like this stuff is timeless I’m like

And he’s like I’ve been saying it for 40 years because much of the game they want to sell the long game that’s the sexy thing I mean we got driving ranges we got all this different stuff but what we don’t have is you know people focusing

Totally on the mental and the and the practice and how to spend it efficiently so that’s really the Genesis of it and and where I am now and I you know what I’m having a ball with it it is fun because it’s great to help people get

Better and that’s the one thing that I do know if if you apply some of these things in in your practice and how you go about the game of golf no matter who you are you’re going to get see Improvement there were there were three things that that you said through the

Course of this that stood out trip to me one of them is the phrase you just you just uttered which was no matter who you are you used the word anybody and then you talked about tools so for our people that are watching or listening to us wherever they are around

The world how does the rubber meet the road this how how do they get involved what do they get from this is this you coaching them one-on-one is it a library of services available to them like they go on the website how does it all work well if you’re if you join the

Membership you get access to a treasure Trove of of mental gain content with Dr Bob Rotella that I mean just watching that is is going to help you and there’s going to be a lot more of that to come um you you get uh drills you got information I mean have a conversation

With Zach Johnson in there where he and I sat down and and and we talked for you know 15 16 minutes and Zach on short game it it it’s so good I’ve got Stuart sink and I did the same thing uh you know there’s all sorts of video content

And and there’s a whole library of drills and games and information on green reading on you know how to practice your your drills just that’s for members they get tons of that I have premium memberships that are more where you get to work with with with me as far

As I I look at some of the stats through two of my my partners are Aros which is you know very familiar in there and and upgame is another beautiful data platform where I can take a look at your stats and I can prescribe you know a platform now that’s typically for the

Better player and and that’s more for um you know the elite Juniors and that’s really not not necessarily Elite Juniors or just Juniors or college level players or even young Pros trying to get going I take my expertise as a as an an analyst that I’ve been doing now for 13 years

And I say okay here’s our weak points here’s how to spend your time and oh by the way here’s some mental strategies from Dr Bob Rotella that’ll really help you in these areas so um th that’s kind of the stratification I do have an Elite Series um and and that’s by invitation

Only because those are the the players that that get my full one-on-one attention and that’s not going to be a high number that’s going to be like 10 to 12 people but that that that is an application and and I I want to screen people for that make sure that they’re

They they will put in the time so that I’m not wasting their time and they’re not wasting mine and and again that’s the Elite Series aspect of it but just joining Gap golf and there’s going to be so much more I’ve got video content um you know just tons of it that that

Really help your game in in a lot of different ways all right it’s called gapgolf coach.com the website Gap golf coach.com so Andrew could you could you put that up there someplace so if if people didn’t understand what I just said and and Matt one other thing just

So you get the name and why I came up with Gap golf is I I I want to bridge the gap in traditional teaching and coaching not not to say that that’s not important go please go with and get lessons and get better physically you know do all that stuff there’s a gap

Between that and performance in short game and what two players do and I’m that’s what I’m doing is trying to bridge that Gap I can’t wait to see it I’m going to head on to the site because I’m really interested in some of this video content that you’ve put together

Obviously you’ve put in a tremendous amount of time to create all that it is not easy to do and then the different levels that people can make a commitment what are what are you willing to do for your game how high do you want to Aspire

With the game that you have do you want to work with one of the best in the world you want to work with a tour pro on making your game better you can do it at Gap uh golf coach.com gapgolf coach.com there it is Andrew put it up

On the screen so that you know exactly where to find it trip it is always a pleasure my friend love catching up with you I love whenever we get a chance to work together up at NBC Sports for Golf Channel and I believe I think uh in

April I think they’ve assigned us again so you’re burdened with me one more time all right I love it than I love my days of math we gotta do good luck with everything talking golf with you I enjoy I love it too man it’s awesome we’ve

Been doing it for years and it’s awesome Gap golf golf coach.com is where you can find the website with what trip is working on super excited about it and looking forward to get an update on that very very soon we’ll talk to you again my friend okay all right mat we’ll see

You all right folks when we come back as I mentioned to you we’re going to be joined by a tour player that is right in the middle of the mix right now with everything Signature Events going to be playing in the Masters and more we’ll explain on the other side of

This really easy now find your happy place it’s all in the hips just tap it in yes find the latest clubs in apparel at golf’s happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore in Ireland golf is more than just a game come and experience our world famous Lynx courses and our world

Famous Parkland courses all set alongside world famous scenery and visit our world famous historic sites and while you’re here enjoy our world famous Hospitality fill your heart with Ireland at ireland.com golf it screams it tracks it’s soft it reacts it is the Bridgestone tour be with a gamechanging reactive cover

Designed to Spring faster off your driver and stick longer to your wedges try bridgeston tour bees the Tour ball reinvented the Gen 6 iron is a culmination of everything that we have learned as a team the absolute best golf club I’ve ever hit it’s something

Special say hello to the New pxg Gen 6 iron the longest most accurate irons we’ve ever made they go higher and farther than any iron that I have hit to date and they’re so easy to hit super excited for the consumer to try this they’re going to

Love them pxg nobody makes golf clubs the way we do period baseball nah football done it I think I’m going to go after the PGA Tour Bo you’re going to need the right equipment company I think I got that you know tour backs all their clubs with a lifetime warranty I know

They ship all their premium custom clubs in 48 hours I know all their premium clubs are hand built in the USA I know you know Tour Edge has won 35 times out here guys I know pound forp pound nothing comes close Bo golf provides the Ultimate worldclass Golf destination

With 10 Championship caliber courses spanning three Resorts centered in Michigan’s Northern lower Peninsula the courses are the products of some of the gamees Masters including Robert Trent Jones senior Arthur Hills in Donald Ross from the all-inclusive vacation package is Elite instruction with the bo Golf Academy tournaments and so much more

Boing golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation experience just log on to Bo golf.com zero friction introduces the wheelpro push cart golf bag with its revolutionary 3 in-1 design supportive legs that spring into action a comfort grip handle with three locking positions accessories for the modern golfer

Enhanced by seven pockets for more storage and removable allterrain Wheels which slide right into place the new zero friction wheelpro golf bag checks every box for every golfer push carryer cart the decision is yours thanks to zerof friction head to zerof fr.com Today welcome back to the fairways of Life show Eric Cole burst out the scene in a huge way last year there was that playoff loss at the Honda against Chris Kirk which was still one of my favorite events of the entire year then he had a couple of top 10

Before the incredible stretch at the end of the year ready for it fourth at the foret third at the Shriners runner up do Zoo the end of the year at RSM classic third place there it all culminated when he won the Arnold Palmer award that’s for the PGA tour Rookie of the Year

Honor I’m sure all of this no doubt changed Eric’s life pretty safe to say he’s here to stay his his swing is beautiful his numbers so far this season show no sophomore slump yet six top 25s 29th and the FedEx Cup standing’s 38th in the official World Golf Ranking

Pumped to have him join us especially since we’ll be doing some pretty cool stuff in the second segment here today we want to get a little geeky on equipment with him Eric what’s going on man how you been oh I’m doing great thanks for having me

On Pleasure the you just saw on your on the return that you’re getting from us but the world saw on their television screens an invitation from the Masters I mean where’s your head at right now are you are you just like crazy excited about everything going on in your

World yeah it’s pretty cool it’s been a crazy last uh you know I don’t know year and a half or so but uh yeah I mean to get that Master’s invite over the you know Christmas break was pretty special and it’s kind of a little bit hard to

Believe but um you know the fact that I’m going there in 5 days or whatever is is pretty cool and I’m excited I know my wife and family are excited to be there too so it’s going to be an awesome week we have a picture of you proposing to

Her at Pebble Beach and then we put it side by side with a wedding photo I guess the quick question is now if you if your wife is watching we’re going to we’re going to say that she’s the reason but but but what is the reason what what

Changed in the world of Eric Cole where all of a sudden the guy that won a zillion times on his way up to the PGA Tour found himself on the PGA tour 35 years old and you’re and you’re liting the world on fire yeah I’m not sure the answer to

That question I get it a lot but I’d say uh one of the biggest things is I didn’t uh change a whole lot I just kind of kept with what I was trying to do and kept trying to improve and I think it happens differently for different people

And for me for whatever reason it took a lot longer and um you know it’s it’s something that’s almost made it a little bit sweeter to take the long road and finally be here now and the fact that you are a son of Legends how much did that give you both

On both sides I suppose one is you’re you’re trying to come out from a shadow and two is you’re getting advice from the best of the best that have actually been there done that bought the T-shirt how much did you find balance in all of that in order to become who you

Are uh yeah I mean I I didn’t have a whole lot of the negatives that maybe uh people think you know me and my parents are both very supportive and you know I didn’t feel like I was you know in their Shadow at all really I don’t know um if

Maybe I was different than other people who have had successful families in go golf but uh for me it just felt like a lot of positives to be around golf a lot when I was young and see how cool it was and kind of you know inspire me to want

To do that when uh you know I became an adult and had a chance to turn pro and try and play so it’s it was mostly positive for me how much do you have to be Eric careful with what you consume uh whe I don’t even know if you drink

Alcohol but how much you have to be careful with what you put into your body food or beverage or otherwise uh yeah I mean I I’m a type 1 diabetic so uh you know I have to monitor my sugar and have to be very careful with

What I’m eating um I wouldn’t say I’m the healthiest person in the world but I I make sure that um what I’m putting in my body is for the most part pretty good stuff and uh try not to get my sugars too high for sure so can you if you

Wanted to have a beer or something yeah yeah I’m uh I can drink a little bit uh you know if if if I if I do drink it’s typically like uh something that doesn’t have a lot of carbs or sugar in it so oh you’re like a

Wh ofer yeah I could do that yeah I like where you’re going all right so here’s the question I got for you to that you walk into the store whatever it is ABC Liquors where you live or whatever right and you’re going to buy that bottle of

Whiskey or a tequila or something you you’ve got your you’ve got your pxg hat on dressed like you are right now do you get asked to to show ID every single time uh yeah I’d say a lot yeah I uh I get asked ID decent amount uh probably

Not as much as uh um well I don’t know I I get asked a decent amount so maybe I look a little young I’m not sure a little young yeah I think you do it’s absolutely awesome all of it is very very impressive now I also saw where you

Were quoted as talking about your dad Bobby that he’s he’s the helped you develop the golf swing that you have now your golf swing is so beautiful and it is so imbalance could you kind of talk to us about the advice that he gave you over the years about trusting your swing

And how you developed who and what you are right now as as that player yeah sure my uh my dad is a little more on the technical side of things than my mom is golf swing wise so uh he was really big on uh fundamentals so setting up well um correctly you know

Grip alignment um uh more of the position side of the Swing so you know I kind of got a lot of that guidance when I was young and I think when you start from a good spot and this is definitely his opinion if you start from a good spot with those

Fundamentals you know even if you have a few little idiosyncrasies or uniqueness to your swing your swing’s still going to be within a certain you know it’s going to be somewhat fundamentally sound if you start from a good spot so I think that was a huge thing for me at a young

Age is to get that guidance as to you know this is what you should be doing this is how you should be doing it’s pretty objective and then from there you can kind of swing your swing and you know have that the feel of you know your

Game but if you start from a good spot then it’s uh a lot of times it’s hard to get too far you know out of sequence or out of uh alignment with what you’re doing the fact that you are as down to earth as you are is incredible and

The fact that you’ve lived your life around Legends could you talk to us about the fact that you had an opportunity you’re still only 35 years old and here we are talking about that you played golf with and you knew Arnold Palmer through Sam and I know that you

Know Mr Nicholas as well it’s just it’s it’s kind of mind-blowing to me and then you become the Arnold Palmer award recipient as the Rookie of the Year all of that is an incredible Circle yeah no the the winning Rookie of the Year having a being named Arnold

Palmer award is just something that’s hard to put into words because I was very lucky um at a young age when I was in high school um to spend a lot of time around Mr Palmer uh through Sam Saunders and his family so um yeah it was it was

Really special at the time I knew it I think uh some of my favorite memories with him were uh not really Golf Course stuff just more uh sitting around the locker room hearing him tell stories and I remember watching him and regrip clubs was something that was just unbelievable

So uh yeah I mean I was very lucky and uh you know to have it come full circle and win an award name after him after him is just such a huge owner and I’m very proud of it how about other Legends you bumped into I mentioned Jack

Nicholas as one uh but just e either through your mom or through your dad the fact that you kind of grew up around the game of golf where you know I I I know the stories that you guys would go on site and mom would put you in like the

Daycare and you guys with your family what was six I believe right you would fill it up yeah I know I was actually really lucky uh when we would travel around around with my mom I’m the second oldest in my uh family so everyone else would

Kind of be in daycare I was in daycare a little bit too but when there got to a point where everyone else was in daycare and I was uh got to go walk around with my mom and watch her play so I was kind of like uh little felt a little bit

Special um so that was one of the things that really got me into golf is you know just walking out there uh by myself and watching her and watching the fans interact with her and um you know seeing how much fun she was having out there so

That was a big uh impact and influence on me wanting to play professional golf you know you’re I just want to Circle back around to something that you had mentioned a couple of things actually but one of them was where you talked about how it took you more time to use

Your phrase do you think that that steel was hardened by fire in those years that when you were out and you were winning all these these mini tour events that by the time that you got to the PGA Tour you knew you had air and your lungs you

Knew that you could survive in situations like Lee trino would say when you you know you’re you’re putting for $5 and you don’t have that in your pocket uh is that the way you felt that when you got there you’re like you know I kind of feel like I’m playing with house

Money uh yeah I’d say a little bit um I’d say for me it was just uh uh it was just so much harder I felt like it was so much harder to get to the PGA Tour than um you know to just stick with what got you there and not change your game

At all which is something you see with maybe some younger players some younger rookies is you know they haven’t spent as much time kind of learning their game and then they get to the PGA Tour and they see what all these great players can do and they try and either change

Their game or try and do some new uh coach or something um so I think I was a little bit Lucky in the fact that uh it took me so long that and I spent so so much time around older players uh who know kind of what it takes that um

Getting there A lot of times is a lot harder than playing well if you just stick on tour if you just stick to uh you know what got you there Eric did your views change as a guy that was trying to scrape and Claw his way up the ladders of the game to

Now being an elite player given where the game is at that that you know there Signature Events now there’s a lot of stuff that reward a player at your level versus a guy that was on the outside trying to get in have your views modified in any way on that and where

The game is at right now on the PGA tour uh I I don’t really know how much of a opinion I have on it I think I think the idea of getting all the players together um in the big events is is awesome but uh you know you do want

To protect the story of the underdog kind of like uh you know the H the Honda now cognizant for me a while back that was a really cool thing I’d never been in contention before all of a sudden I am and uh you know I think I think it’s

A it’s a balancing act and I’m no we’re near smart enough to know where uh it’s going to end up but I think uh I think the idea that they’re trying to do these Signature Events and I think they’ve gone really well so far I think I think

Is uh a positive thing and the ability to try stuff is always a good thing cool we’re going to geek out with Eric Cole when we come back here on the fairways of Life shy I I’m going to ask him about his sponsors but he plays pxg equipment

I want him to grab his golf bag and I want to see what he’s playing and why this is a rare opportunity to go through the bag and talk equipment with one of the top players in the globe more of the fairways of Life show right after

This I guess hello world huh and with one subtle hello tiger began an amazing and Unthinkable [Applause] career I’ve done it for 20 years now with with bridgstone allows me to play an aggressive style around the greens and it’s lot me to win a lot for Bridgestone Golf proud to be part of

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Elite instruction with the bo Golf Academy tournaments and so much more Bo golf truly offers an unrivaled Michigan golf vacation experience just log on to boing golf.com I think when you’re training for other sports or you’re what why most people go to the gym is so that

They can like have muscles and you know be strong and be healthy and a lot of the reason why they struggle to play golf is their body doesn’t move properly for them to be able to hit a golf ball and when you’re training for golf it’s a little bit different because you’re

Focused more on flexibility and mobility and being uh strong in motion when you’re able to kind of have a warm-up and have a workout routine and kind of gradually build up to where you’re training your body to move properly yeah you’re going to get a lot of big

Dividends on the golf course relax easy now find your head happy place it’s all in the hips just tap it in yes find the latest clubs in apparel at golf’s happy place the PGA TOUR Superstore what if we started a company and the company was under no time constraints no Financial

Constraints the one constraint is their clubs had to be exceptional performers and much better than any other alternative I was told time and again it’ll never work it worked like a house of fire and I’ll tell you what I think our customers love it bxg nobody makes

Golf clubs the way we do period stride by zero friction the first of its kind personal cab walking comfort and style with strides remote and follow me technology The Stride handles almost any terrain and its 54 hole range will last all day the lightweight design and removable front wheels makes it simple

To handle plus it easy fits golf carts order yours and save visit zerof fr.com strive or scan the QR code to order yours today stride your personal Cavy welcome back to the fairways of Life show Eric Cole is our guest 38th in the official world golf rankings all right so Eric before we jump into the equipment stuff which I’m dying to do with you let’s pay off uh the sponsors that you have so that we can say thank

You to all of them talk to us about who you who you have aligned yourself with please yeah sure I uh pxg is uh Club sponsor I got uh some partners that I wear their logos of blue tide office is like a business that helps with uh other companies starting up businesses pretty

Much bue um it’s a financial company and then uh that’s on the other side Alpha advisors is kind of like a data technology efficiency company so helps companies be more efficient so I use a tidalist ball shoe glove and I think that’s about it okay Eric here we go

Brother grab grab that phone I’m going to this is a live on National Television take your phone and show me the golf bag and let’s start talking business here you are on the PGA tour 19th on tour in proximity to the hole from 125 to 150

Yards you are 11th you are killing it with your scoring clubs you start where you want to but I’m dying to know about them yeah sure um so I use the tidalist wedges I’m also messing around with the pxg wedge right now it’s hard to do it’s

Like backwards um but uh I use tius wedges uh or vogi wedges I guess sm10 UH 60 55 and 50 so uh yeah just pretty pretty standard grinds my uh I use a te grind on my 60 but uh yeah I’ll I’ll mess around a little bit with

Different grinds but uh try some different stuff out but yeah that’s pretty much my wedge setup that 60 that 60° wedge that you had with that grind is that to open up the heel a little bit so you can make it even flatter if you

Want to pop it straight up in the air yeah exactly yeah it’s a little bit uh uh there’s not much bounce on it and it’s definitely a little bit uh I’m not sure what the word is like you know more extreme than maybe uh some more forgiving game forgiveness wedges out

There but uh it’s really nice on tour when you have to stop the ball quick and spin it so uh I think a lot of guys use it and I i’ I’ve used it for a while now love it okay talk to us about what you’re doing with your irons are are you

Consistent with the irons or or do you have a mix Set uh yeah I use all uh pxg uh 0317 St so it’s kind of like one of their smaller blades go right in there dude go right in so we can see a really good shot of them yeah

Baby yeah so 03 0317 St um and then I used I use the cavity back in the for iron so a little bit bigger for iron CB um and that kind of just little more forgiving little uh little little wider sole on it so it

Makes it a little easier to get up in the air if I need to standard lies for use what shafts yeah I use standard line Loft and then uh I use uh uh Dynamic gold X100 mids they’re called so a little more spin than just a typical Dynamic gold X100 and what’s

That do for your for your trajectory with those for for your Apex yeah the trajectory is pretty yeah Apex is a little but it kind of launches similar um so it just got a little more rise in it so it wants to uh land a little bit

Steeper so it’s got more Spin and lands a little steeper so you know that’s one big thing from the corn fairy tour to the PGA Tour is the uh the greens are much firmer and faster out here so uh you gota you got to stop the ball and

I’m not a real high spin player so I switched to those probably almost a year ago and it’s been really good since and what are you doing with your grips you have any cord it uh no I use uh the Align grips golf

Ride Al so uh I I I like it I think it’s like a little bit of an advantage to have that big rib on the back you can feel the face a little better so I’ve used those for a while now too very cool okay talk to us about what you’re doing

With your Woods yeah sure so uh fivewood is pxg uh I switched to fivewood maybe two years ago from a two iron and it was a very good decision for me um again same thing just trying to get the ball to land a little softer into some of the greens

When you’re going for it on a part five and as long as I have the versatility to still hit it low I really like it um three-wood I use a tailor made 3 wood and then driver I use the new pxg Black Ops driver let me let me take a look

Yeah it’s been really good I uh I like it a lot yeah one that uh is really cool it’s it’s it’s fast but you don’t lose anything with forgiveness so I think a lot of the new drivers um you know like they’re Built For Speed but then as soon

As you get offc Center strikes they come out with low spin and they’re not really all that controllable versus this has the speed but it also uh you know has that forgiveness in there which I really like now if I if I saw correctly Eric it was n degre

On this driver how how did you dial it in what did you do shaft wise Etc yes so I use a uh Rip Tide even Even Flow Rip Tide um which uh has a little more spin than others but I got my uh drivers down like uh I think a half a

Degree so it’s more like a eight and a half um so it’s kind of like less Loft but then the shaft still has some spin so I think that uh although when you get fitted sometimes it’s fun to Max it out and try and get the best window to hit

It far I think uh for me I also am trying to have something that’s playable too on the course so while it might not uh be launching super high with low spin and going as far as I could hit it sometimes the idea of the ball coming

Off a little more playable um combo of lower launch and a little higher spin feels really good to me so that’s kind of the combo I have set up there pxg.com folks if you want more information on what Eric is doing or if you want to check out a pxg equipment for yourself

Talk to us about your putter my man yeah so Putter’s psg2 it’s uh called the bat attack I uh Center shafted so uh I switched to Center shafted uh I’m not sure if I can get that in there or not um but I switched to Center shafted

Uh probably again two and a half years ago and pretty been pretty steady with it since and uh this one’s really nice it’s uh you know just something that looks good feels good and uh it’s very easy to line up with kind of that back

Those two fangs on it and stuff so it’s been it’s been good and uh something that I’m confident in and pxg has done a great job of giving me a lot of options and finding something that works really well that Potter looks like it would be

Face balanced is there any tow hang at all uh no it’s it’s completely face balanced um I switched around a little bit with trying some other phg Putters that uh have just that little bit of tow hang that I’ve used in the past but this one’s completely face balanced cool we

Are almost out of time my man it was awesome to go through that bag with you uh H how excited are you about this week and we’ve already asked you about the Masters but I’m ask you again because because it deserves to how excited are you about the two weeks in front of

You yeah no it’s it’s very exciting I think this is one of the best uh weeks we have on tour for just ease everyone stays uh right here on side and you just walk over to the course it’s a great course uh difficult but fair and then

Yeah the Masters being you know five five or six days away is hard to hard to believe but very excited about it awesome Eric thank you so much for spending time with us we wish you the very very best yes this week but also at Augusta National awesome thank you very much

Good to talk to you it was good to see you guys all right folks thank you too so much for your company today it was incredible as always thank you to trip Eisenhower I’m really excited about everything that Eric’s doing we’ll talk to you later on bye for Now