What It’s Like to Play the Masters With PGA Tour Pro Michael Kim | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Ahead of this weekend’s Masters, Russillo is joined by PGA Tour pro Michael Kim to discuss why playing the prestigious Augusta course is particularly difficult, how he feels about competing in the tournament, and who he feels has a chance to win overall.

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this is kind of cool I don’t know if
it’s going to be cool for him Michael
Kim of the PJ tour joins us now getting
ready for the Masters uh so we’re g to
do a little golf here I
imagine doing a Thursday pod with me is
not as great as teeing off at Augustus
so I don’t know if this is kind of a
bummer for you so thanks I don’t know
it’s uh it’s not as good as a uh not as
good as playing in the actual Masters
but this is a this is a close second for
uh for a guy uh that listens to your pod
all the time right and you would send in
a life advice was it during H’s life
advice or was that just its own that was
during the visit with hom right that was
uh my visit uh that was the visit with h
um he’s obviously a good friend of mine
we played in college together so I
thought it’d be be fun to kind of put in
my uh life of ice in there it worked it
was good all right so let’s get to we’ll
do some master stuff here it was delayed
this morning um you’ve played in five
events this year so how does it work
like I want to ask some dumb questions
here I went through the 19 ways you can
qualify for the Masters and looking at
it this morning I had idea on some of it
not but like where is it for you right
now like how does it work for you when
you realize okay like this I didn’t
qualify because of
this um you know for me as a PJ tour pro
really the easiest way is to win a PJ
Tour event um that is um other than kind
of like getting really into details
that’s probably the best best way to get
it in to get in um otherwise it’s top 50
um world
rankings um for me those two are
probably the best ways to get in which I
unfortunately wasn’t able to do but uh
you know always next year so you played
in
2019 what tell us the stuff you were
thinking about that you didn’t want
anyone to know when you’re actually like
I’m doing this and it’s real I was first
just freaking out on the inside um yeah
I get there
Sunday um you just don’t want to over
prepare but the the practice facilities
and you feel like you have to do so much
homework um I played with Zach Johnson
who had won there before um and so
you’re just writing down note after note
just trying to get a trying to get
comfortable trying to get a feel for
that place but um you know that at that
time my game was in a really bad spot
and so I’m trying to get my game ready
I’m trying to do all this homework and
you know to be completely honest I
probably knew I was I wasn’t going to
play well that week um so you’ve got all
these like emotions going like you know
maybe maybe I might play well you know I
I hope I I hope I can make the cut um
it’s kind of the thought process that
was going through my mind at that
time God that must have been
awful it’s like I imagine if you’re like
a basketball player it’s like you’re
you’re playing the NBA Finals you know
you’re going to be in the rotation but
you don’t you know you’re not going to
make anything once you get in there it’s
just it it wasn’t I tried to enjoy it as
much as I can but you know from like a
professional game aspect from my game it
I was in a really bad spot did your
friends know did people close to you
know that you were like yeah it’s
probably GNA be great I mean I’m I I
wasn’t playing very well up to that
point so I felt like my my agents and my
my coaches you know the real Inner
Circle guys that kind of knew what was
up probably knew um probably I I wasn’t
at that time wasn’t exactly like open
with how bad my game was at that point
so um my the close the really close guys
you so is
Zach because it’s your first time and
you know you have a really nice resume
you know coming out of the amateur ranks
and winning Player of the Year at Cal um
I the golf is weird in that way like I
I’ve just got back into it this year I’m
not very good and one of the things I
always think is kind of silly about it
is you have to compliment the other guy
even if he sucks and it’s a way to kind
of break the tension but there’s no
tension like we’re not playing in
anything that actually matters but if
you get paired up to somebody you don’t
know and you know you screw up and then
your approach doesn’t hit the green and
he’d be like oh well you know with that
lie you got it out pretty well I’m just
like dude you’re just trying like I suck
like that wasn’t none of that happened
does that happen I imagine it’s who
you’re paired up with but does Zach like
realize what you’re going through but at
the same time like he’s going to worry
about his game that day yeah you know at
that time golf was so weird in that like
you can have a really good practice
session on the Range but as soon as you
get onto the golf course it’s like
completely different and you know in the
practice rounds I was able to hide it
pretty well um and then tournament
starts and you know it wasn’t it wasn’t
the best I remember I played with um
Ernie ell’s at at at a tournament um a
few weeks prior now I was just hitting
it all over the lot and um and he’s like
he he um he’s like so um what have you
done in your career so far kind of just
you know making small talk and I was
like oh I actually W to won the John
Deere classic um you know last year and
whatnot and you know I’m sure it’s
probably hard to believe right now and
Ernie kind of gave me the hey man I’ve
seen it all I’ve been through it all I
know exactly what you’re going through
it’s it’s it happens to all of us even
even um even a guy like me so um that
that was uh pretty cool to hear it’s um
golf is such a crazy mental game as much
as is a it is a physical game so I’ve
been there and I always say like as a
nonh hardcore golf guy
it’s uh it’s it’s a place that I’ve been
lucky enough to go to with all the
places I’ve gone to through my career
that it exceeded expectations and the
expectations probably have never been
hired for something that I was going to
and you know I didn’t even really want
to leave I’d give my tickets to my
college roommate for the last day and I
was like yeah I gotta get back home
anyway you know NBA right and then when
I was leaving I was like I kind of wish
I hadn’t done that because it was that
amazing so explain to us I don’t know
this is probably maybe it’s boring I
don’t know
but I’m over everybody being like Oh
you’re a scratch golfer at your Club
well you’d shoot a 100 here um okay we
got it got it it’s hard what is
it though about it that maybe separates
it and I know conditions can play into
some of the rotation of the US Open
stuff and the scoring there has
sometimes been comically high in
comparison to what other Majors would be
at but what is it about this layout in
this course that just the guy who’s like
really good at his Club doesn’t
understand I think it’s just all the
crazy amount of slopes everyone talks
about it um it’s way hiler than than it
looks on TV um and I feel like in recent
years TV has done a better job of how
how to explain it but you know just like
the shots of the LIE itself doesn’t
match the shot you want to hit so for
example like 13 the ball’s above your
feet and when it when the ball’s above
your feet um the ball wants to draw more
but the way that green is shaped kind of
left to right you actually want to hit a
fade so there’s all these like weird
little mismatches that that makes you
want to hit a certain shot but it
doesn’t agree with what the cough course
requires in a in a sense and so it’s
it’s kind of like that for for you know
16 out of 18 holes or 15 out of 18 holes
where you know the par three is you have
a flat line it’s fine but the course
just gives you so many weird interesting
lies that you have to hit shots um that
you that the LIE doesn’t want you to hit
if that makes sense yeah that makes a
lot of sense um you talked about
pairings and as soon as the pairings
came out for the first round we saw that
Brooks
kka um who’s plus 1800 if you’re looking
at that part of this uh he’s with Brian
Harmon who’s slow so is it plus 500 that
Brooks will punch him by
the um I don’t know EX exactly but I
don’t I don’t know if they have like oh
they’ve played on the Ridder cup
together um last year so I’m sure
they’re fine I’m sure uh Brooks Brooks
uh understands um and you know it’s if
you’re a fast golfer on the on he’s on
live but if you’re a fast golfer playing
professional golf you understand that
you’re probably paired up with a with a
slower one and and you kind of know what
to do um if you’re just waiting around
all
day so the the pace of play part of it
though like can
you because I’ve look I’ve been to a few
events where I’ll watch kind of how the
guys interact and there’s very little
interaction until you’re either teeing
off you know most people are not taking
the same path to the green
but are there times where you get paired
with somebody where you’re like awesome
or like ah this sucks oh oh yeah there’s
uh I mean there’s 200 odd members on the
PJ tour there’s going to be guys that
you like and there’s going to be guys
you don’t like um and you get the
pairing on Tuesday usually around noon
and you’re either like oh great I’m I’m
let’s say I’m playing with Max Max Homa
was a good friend that’s great or you
get paired with another guy and he’s
like oh man he’s slow and he complains a
lot after every golf show that’s going
to be that’s going to be a little tough
to play with for the first two days um
and and you know I’ve this is like my
10th year as a pro so so there’s
definitely certain guys that I enjoy and
certain guys that that that you know you
don’t necessarily want to be paired up
with all the
time okay
hom did you like being paired up with
him oh yeah yeah um like I said you know
Max and I we played together in college
so um and he’s not slow or anything like
that and um um yeah I’ve played
countless of rounds with him so super
comfortable playing with Max not too
chatty no um I’m kiding just kidding
actually like during tournament itself
he’s he’s not like the most he’s not
chatty by any means like he’s kind of in
his doing his business um I I probably
came up to him and talked to him more
than more than he comes up to me so were
you better than him at Cal
um freshman year he’s couple years older
so freshman year he was a junior he
probably he was better um sophomore year
I did win player of the year so um I
guess I was a little little bit better
than him that year okay say that yeah
but he won he won ncas he won pack 12s I
think he was like second or third in the
voting anyway so it was uh it was close
for sure I always wonder like human
nature now this is gonna sound like I’m
trying to get something out of you and
this won’t be the breakout video but
this is actually a terrible question I
shouldn’t even ask it CU I just think of
like some of my friends and I know that
if I had the the background that you and
hom had like some of my friends would be
so happy for me if I were hom and then I
know that there’d be other friends that
if IID played with them professionally
they’d be like
him I don’t expect you to sit here and
say like yeah I’m actually kind of
annoyed that that H’s you know done this
well recently and you know I’m on a
podcast with you right now actually this
is a terrible this is one of the worst
questions I’ve ever asked but I think I
have to leave it in as punishment no no
I think it’s you
know Ma Max is really like act a real
good friend of mine so um I’m really
happy to see how well he’s done um and
you know Max has had his fair share of
struggles um and I think he came on the
pot to talk about it a few years back so
you know when you’ve seen a guy that is
has been down but really worked his butt
off to get back to an even better than
where he was before it’s it’s super
admirable and and I’m absolutely totally
happy to um to see him have all the
success that he’s
had yeah I almost feel like I need to
explain it to the audience because we
can see each other right now but I knew
there wasn’t going to be an answer where
you were going to be going like oh hey
but and I think about the competitive
part of it but Max is just so likable
like I do love the guy um we’re all
rooting for I went to go see him at one
of the programs at Riv and he he let me
and my buddy just follow him for the
entire time because he was like hey come
up to Riv he’s like come on Wednesday
he’s like bring a friend and then we’ll
just hang out and I was like are you
sure he’s like yeah dude it’s Wednesday
it’ll be it’ll be fine nobody’s gonna
care and you could just walk the course
with me the whole time and I think that
there is a parallel there for you and
why I hope so many listeners are going
to start rooting for you after being on
the pot is that you you had to go
through it you know you lost the card
you get it back you’re trying to find
your game again here and I imagine
that’s probably one of the coolest parts
of the Homer relationship is that you
guys can understand like I love talking
to other people that are on the air
because there’s only a handful of people
that can I can really talk to about the
stuff that I go through and I imagine
that’s probably the coolest part of your
background of knowing this guy for a
decade yeah um it’s weird like he and I
have had like similar trajectories where
we both weren’t like the most highly
recruited guys out of high school we go
to Cal together um you know we both do
really well and we get our PJ tour cards
relatively quickly in a couple years and
then you know we both go through some
deep deep struggles and you know he’s
basically come gone all the way back and
and far up and you know I’ve I feel like
I’m on my way back up um and so it’s
it’s been weird
to to see how our careers have kind of
followed each others um but you know at
the same time like he and I have never
really like super talked about like the
ups and downs on a deeper level for some
reason and it’s like it’s almost like I
can talk to you about about these
certain struggles but because he’s such
a close friend I almost struggle a
little bit more talking to him at times
even though he he knows exactly way more
than you know what what we’ve gone
through and you know kind of the
thoughts and then and all that yeah
because it’s such an individual sport I
imagine a lot of golfers are like hey
I’m I’m your buddy and I talk about it
but like I don’t want to get in my own
head while I’m sitting here with these
therapy sessions with you uh I always
felt like and I don’t know if there’s
anything in golf that’s close to this or
Sports because it’s just cooler and more
important but when people ask me about
on air stuff I was like I don’t think
you ever become great until you’re just
like yeah I’m good at this and now I’m
going to stop thinking about every
single little thing so I’m not saying
I’m not comparing the two but I wonder
with you getting the card back and
feeling like you’re coming
back the skill is all there right the
skill is inside of you you know you have
the skill what is that process like to
get to taking it easy on yourself and
then probably playing your best golf
again it’s it’s weird do you think like
I thought like when I won my first PJ
Tour event like oh you know from that
point on it’s like
iot I don’t have anything to lose it’s
it’s kind of rainbows and everything
from that point on but it’s weird how
golf it’s you still feel like every shot
it’s like you’re living and dying with
every parp with every you know t- shot
you hit and you know now that I’ve had
my downs and now I’m back up you know
you think that like oh you know I’ve you
know I’m way more humbled I have way
more gratitude in in playing on the p DJ
tour but at the same time like that that
urge of like you know caring so much
about every little shot never really
goes away and it’s you know I I hired a
mental coach last year and you know talk
a lot about kind of acceptance of like
you know this shot may not go the way
you want but you know at the end of the
day like that’s a possibility and you
kind of have to accept accept all the
all the good and bad results um and it’s
just hard to do you know you’ve
practiced I’ve played golf for 24 years
I’ve been a pro for 10 and it’s it’s
just hard to kind of they say kind of
get out of your own way and it’s a part
of that um but it’s it’s uh it’s like I
feel like I’m going against every every
cell my body just going against human
nature almost I let by trying to let
go Scotty Sheffer is plus 400 I mean
that’s a pretty significant gap between
him and Rory when I was looking at
FanDuel this morning on it where Rory’s
plus a thousand I know sheffler won it
two years ago but what is it about his
game right now that he’d be considered
such an overwhelming favorite U he’s
just a ball striking machine um he hits
it super long and straight his iron game
is is
incredible um and really his only
weakness right now has been his putting
but it seems like the last couple years
he or last couple weeks he changed to a
different putter
that’s helped him out a ton and you know
he’s he’s basically either won or been
second in his last few events
and and um I think you know what he did
on the final round of the players
shooting like I don’t exactly know what
number but maybe seven or eight under to
go to come back and win the putts he’s
made um I mean he’s just firing in all
cylinders right now who else do you like
this
weekend um I really like Xander um I
know he gets a lot of crap for not being
able to finish finish out tournaments
and win more often but he’s playing such
good golf um he’s had good success at
that tournament um I think he finished
second in 2019 to Tiger um or something
around that and you know he’s been
playing awesome um and I I know he’s
definitely one of the favorites there
too so if you
had you mentioned sheffler just as ball
striking like I I think the answer is
always hey if you could be a lead at any
part of the game everybody’s going to
pick putting uh unless unless I’m wrong
on that one you can correct me uh that
is the you know the old old saying is
the DY for show put for D um stats will
actually tell you it’s actually the
quite the
opposite now I’m interested tell
me um if you look at you there’s this
thing called Strokes gained metric it’s
it’s much better St that then it’s like
Advanced metrics in the NBA it actually
shows you instead of just kind of your
standard field goal percentage and
whatnot um and if you look at the most
important metric is actually your iron
game um that is the most important for
for success in golf and then right after
that is driving then after that it’s
around the greens pretty similar to
driving and then putting is actually
kind of last uh but to win a tournament
you do need to make a lot of putts so
it’s it’s a weird it’s it’s kind of
weird but but for overall consistency
and to be like top of the top of the
leaderboard week in and week out um your
iron game approach to the green is the
most
important I didn’t realize this until it
just happened but uh homas paired with
tiger later
today have you played with tiger I have
not I have not I’ve I’ve had lunch with
him a couple of times just because he
was sitting next to another buddy of
mine and I kind of just joined him as an
excuse but I unfortunately I’ve never
been paired with
tiger I think as a professional golfer
you have a bit of you know you’re entay
into that conversation’s a little bit
easier than than the rest of us so uh
I’m I’m sure that was fine yeah I’m
excited about that I’m excited now to
make sure I dial that in a little bit
later today so if you look at because I
saw an interview where you were talking
about like your interest in coming over
from Soul and and coming to the states
and being in San Diego and it’s like
right around 2000 Tiger’s blown up your
dad gets you to golf the whole deal and
then it’s like okay you know you took it
really seriously to get the point of Cal
and Beyond everything we’re talking
about here but like tiger obviously
introduced a new version of golfer where
you’re like hey you might be even better
at this sport if you actually work out
and shocking if you’re stronger it’s
better yeah flexibility strength taking
care of your body these things all apply
to this sport too
so we’ve had a long run now of of
golfers all taking this really seriously
and you know the equipment advances are
just always going to happen because
that’s what happens you get idiots like
me to be like yeah I’ll try those irons
out so what I’d ask is like in
basketball because I know you’re a big
basketball
guy you wonder if the game has been
solved but also broken with what we
prioritize you know then you can get to
the Aesthetics of it you know baseball’s
certainly struggling with this stuff too
but I don’t know what the next step is
and there will be some other advancement
but watching basketball now in the NBA
I’m like I don’t all of a sudden we have
some thing where it’s like hey actually
this whole three-point thing didn’t make
any sense I don’t think that that’s
going to happen it’s just going to be
maybe a more pronounced version even
what we’re seeing now I remember when
darl Murray there he was theorizing like
with his g-league team he was like I
want to just see maybe like they’re only
allowed to shoot threes and then see
what happens and everybody thought he
was nuts and you’re like actually darl’s
probably making like a pretty astute
point just like let’s get in the test
lab here with it just go ahead shoot
883s a game um has golf kind of
maximized like this generation of
golfers like is this kind of what it is
like I can’t it can’t be Beyond
physically what your generation is doing
now right like I don’t imagine we’re
ever going to see this kind of jump from
what we had in the 90s to what we’ve
seen in the last 20 years it’s
definitely similar like whether you want
to talk NBA NFL or or even baseball
where like the numbers have dictated how
we play the game you know with with
threes in the NBA or or throwing more
NFL or you know kind of going for home
runs in in baseball it’s you know for
for golf it has meant you know we hit
way more drivers than than we used to um
even on on holes where like oh you know
you just hit like a 4 AR and like on a
shorter hole you just hit lay up with a
4 AR and to your hit it to your number
and try to make greens or make birdies
that way now it’s you know what what a
lot of these guys call bombing gou we
just hit driver as far as we can and
kind of go from there because the number
show statistically like that’s the
better way to play because you know that
that four iron that um that you’re
trying to hit in the Fairway does
doesn’t go in the Fairway 100% now
you’re really behind the eightball um
and so there was that there’s this
distance boom along with the technology
that lets us hit driver a lot straighter
than we used to before and you know I’m
sure well they are talking a lot about
rolling the ball back making the ball go
shorter maybe making the driver be less
easy to hit um and so they might the
rules might kind of cut back on that but
you know there has I I do feel like we
are trying to you know play the game as
efficiently as possible and and I really
I don’t know if there’s another massive
step that we can take yeah that was an
awesome answer uh so far what’s the best
point of your career
professionally um probably the two we
stretch of me winning the John Deere
classic and then you know that
automatically got me into the British
Open and so you take a plane from from
the John Deere straight to um where it
was Carusi um played well at Carusi um
just that two we stretch was definitely
like golf was actually easier for for
just about two weeks at that point that
was definitely the
best well we’re rooting for you man and
I appreciate your support on the Pod
over the years and you know Max had told
me he’s like oh yeah you got to you got
to have them on and it was just random I
hit you up I was like yeah you got to
come on at some point I know it wasn’t
uh the next day day but this was good
timing and uh hopefully we’ll see you in
the field next year so thanks so much
dude appreciate I’m a big fan of you
guys thanks