Stephan Jaeger on Beating Scottie Scheffler, Meditation and the Masters | NLU Pod, Ep 845

Stephan Jaeger returns to the pod to discuss his first win on the PGA Tour as he beat Scottie Scheffler at the Houston Open in late March. We also cover his distance gains off the tee and overcoming driver issues earlier in his career, embracing meditation practices, his first Masters appearance and more.

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ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the no laying up Podcast Su here got an interview coming shortly with Steven Jagger recent winner out on the PGA tour Stephen was on the podcast I think it was six years ago now episode 150 we get into a little bit more of his background and whatnot in that episode we did not spend a lot of time on that for those of you not familiar Stephen is uh of German descent he lives in Tennessee went to school uh there in Tennessee and uh if you’re confused on the accent that’s why I’m explaining this right he is bit of a German yet also Tennessee accent mixed in there I love it great dude really happy for his success he’s had incredible success we talk about where that’s coming from what he’s done to add distance to his game and how he’s made himself into a top 20 in the FedEx Cup in PJ tour pretty remarkable we are proud to say season nine of tour sauce and this podcast are presented by our longtime Partners at Precision pro golf They recently launched the 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year and save $30 on your next Rangefinder don’t forget to grab one for your dad as well again Precision progolf domcom let’s get to the Pod all right I need you to tell me if you see Scotty Sheffer with a cup of coffee like do you smack it out of his hands and do you tell him that coffee is for closers like do you do you let him know that you run things around here you know it’s funny because I um I obviously saw him at the Masters a couple weeks after um that tournament right and we play I want to say we played together we played together at RBC on Saturday I think and he I actually played pretty good he beat me like by like four I think he shot 8 Under And I shot 4 under and I was like hey I’m pretty happy with it right but I remember telling Ted I was like hey man I guess guess the Masters was a decent cons consolation priz right to losing M me and Houston he just kind of chuckled um he ended up winning RVC as well I was like Jesus this guy is like unbeatable at the moment so it’s it’s a pretty impressive run he’s been on honestly you know yeah yeah he even I remember watching last week at Fort Worth shot two over the first round I was like oh my God is he GNA Miss A C what sure enough has a damn chance to win the tournament on Sunday I’m like this guy is just Relentless right I mean it’s it’s pretty impressive I mean I obviously didn’t play on tour when when tiger was out out here and and and and making that kind of look easy in a sense right but I’m I’m sure glad he missed that putt to be honest with you it made my life a lot easier and um you know obviously getting into big events and all that kind of stuff get my first W was was awesome so I I appreciate that five-footer he missed um and I wish him all the best of luck for the rest of the year because I I don’t care he missed that one so I’m pretty happy with that one I don’t I doubt I wonder if he even remembers that he missed that one but I well I promise we’ll talk a little bit about you as well but just pausing on the Scotty thing for like are we’re we seem are we justified in how much we’ve been freaking out about what’s been happening lately I mean it’s you’re a peer of his you’re you’re competing against them like this is this is as absurd as we’re making it out to be in the media isn’t it I think you know I just think that um that dominance that you might have seen like in the Byron Nelson days and the the old days right I feel like you know I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes here but I feel like the pool of great players was smaller back then even in tigas area I feel like you know there was maybe a little less that that couldn’t compete at that point like early when tiger came out I feel like every single guy I mean he these guys got a college dude and they’re unbelievable I played practice round with I remember playing practice round with Colin in 2000 when did he come out tour 2017 or 18 or 19 I can’t remember 19 I played at PX round at the 3M I remember that because him and uh wolf were in a playoff or like got in the last hole whatever and I was like this kid’s been pretty good right here and sure enough like finished second to first week wins Barracuda you know Ludi arber like he comes out screaming plays on rer Cup team I mean these kids are so incredibly good and and and prepared to play on tour life like I was not prepared like I was I was barely coming by with driving to Gainesville Georgia to play the Hooters event at the Chasta like that like I could find a day in and that’s about it right like I was not prepared for that so that learning curve for me was obviously a lot longer but these guys like the colleges do such a good job now to you know get these guys ready like hey you have to have a trainer you have to have a physio you have to have a coach you have to have a mental coach like all that stuff was you know I don’t know if it was available I’m sure it was but I feel like now it’s just like holy like this is this is new level so kind of going back to your question I feel like Scotty doing that with all that Talent all that you know it’s just impressive like anytime I’ve played with him a bunch this year and it’s just he never like it’s so incredibly boring in the best possible way like the best possible way when I say boring like he never misses an iron shot like he never misses in the wrong side ever he chips it great you know his putter is yeah it’s fine God thank God his putter is not amazing we’d never win a tournament that’s insane he’s the best chipper best driver best IR player and best chipper like it’s just insane like don’t give him the putting too like he we don’t need that right so but so in the final round of Houston are you like again this is a different level you’ve played a lot of top town but this is a different level run regardless of the sustainability of it all like it’s a different level run like how are you how do you stay in your own process of like you know we can I want we’re going to talk about your kind of career path and everything but in this moment like how am I going to beat that guy today plus a bunch of other people up on that leader board knowing exactly how you’re describing this guy in a very different way how do you go about beating that guy yeah you know obviously he wasn’t quite on the run yet to to the extent I mean he won two in a row which is you know the honor Palmer you might as well give them that give him that tournament every year um but they end up obviously winning the Players as well coming in there so you know I I’ve said this a lot in interviews after the round I felt like he he’s such a good dude to play with it you kind of forget that you’re playing with by far the best player in the world at the moment like you know it’s it’s he’s worlds apart from everybody else I mean you see that in the you know in the world rankings you can see that in FedEx cop I mean he is I think his his lead uh ahead of I don’t know who second I in Xander now um it’s like 1700 points or something like that it’s more than like from second to last place on pool or something it’s insane but you know you just like I really enjoy playing with him he’s super cordial like he’ll talk to you he’ll talk about anything obviously they just had a baby so and we have a one and a half year old so you know I just kind of gave him the rundown on you know like this is what is about to happen in your life right and he he he’s just a dude right like he’s so easy to talk to he’s so he’s awesome to play with and there’s not the you know that intimidation factor or the Fear Factor I felt like I didn’t have that yeah those guys talked about when tiger was playing he was just like he wouldn’t even talk to you just go straight and I could see how that’s intimidating and and kind of like hey you know like this is this is kind of scary so you know in any termin you try to play your own game you try to you know um focus on what you can do and you know I knew that if I could just on that golf course that back nine there’s I mean there is just trouble everywhere right so I just try to give myself as many birdie looks as I possibly could and I actually did a good job with that I felt like um you know if I go through I had a good blury look on 10 uh 11’s kind of like a par hole 12 I think I made B no I made pars I made all Pars in the back nine but like the only like trouble I got in was on 13 a little short one and I ended up making like a 20 20 footer of a par but the rest actually had pretty good 30y looks and I I I I just didn’t make any putts I think the only bad putt that hit I hit was on 17 and it it just kind of slid by and and but yeah I just try to kind of stay you know like just keep trying to hit greens you know those greens are kind of crazy so being able to have putts at the at F birie is was a was a big deal so you you said something afterward believe your quote was you you had to change a few things that weren’t a great fit for the PGA Tour and for those that aren’t familiar you had incredible corn fairy tour career you’ve I think won six times on the corn Fair tour you’ve been remind me how many time you’ve gone to the PJ tour and back to the corn faery twice is that you’ve been a little my first my first year on tour was 17 and then I lost my card that next year I actually got it back in finals um that was back in the day when I had finals so I actually kind of I never really got back to the corn fairy tour I just played another year on tour um so 171 18 1819 and then I lost my card again on 19 didn’t get it back in finals ended up playing the co year which just ended up almost being two seasons on the corn fery um and then got back out here in I guess it would have been 2021 maybe the fall 2020 uh 2020 and yeah I I obviously had a great career or a great long season out on the corn fairy tour won a couple times and and won the money list but I felt like that 2021 early in the season I kind of ranom the same stuff that I did in the years past right like you’ve got to drive it better on tour and you do on the corn fairy it’s just a fact and um I couldn’t really get away with that a little bit um on on the PGA tour so I I I kind of looked at my stats and I was like hey you’re kind of like bottom of the list driving and um I was not very long I you know I wasn’t hit a lot of Fairways so I was like is it which one was easier right is it easier to to to gang a distance it was it easier to hit 75% of your Fairways and I I felt like hey you know what let’s just gain a bunch of distance and see what where it is takes us not thinking honestly between me and you I I didn’t think it was going to turn out that way um you know like I end uh started and the whole process was a long obviously was a long deal but it ended up making me less anxious more free and I was hitting at 25 yard I mean for those that don’t know you made a massive leap in distance right I mean you ball speed pretty big your ball speed in 2018 on the PJ tour was 169 uh average now you’re up to 178 average which again average wise like you’re you’re easily capable of 182 183 in tournaments if you’re averaging 178 for those that don’t know like it’s just really hard to maintain a really high average and that’s a that’s a high average on the PJ tour and you’re not a big guy that was not youro for any of your professional golf career like and I guess what I find unique about your story is we I I was catting in the same group as you you were playing a Monday qualifier uh I think it was fall of 28 jber for SE Island and and so like take I’ve played onic golf Tu played onic golf a lot of the guys in Jackson like I I would just say like you just end up in this bucket of players where when you get in it you can look around and be like holy crap there are so many players around my level right now how do you bust out of this how do you and there’s you know on the other side of the coin there’s I don’t know how many tales there are out there about the Perils of chasing distance right like it can it can wreck everything it can ruin things that you know there’s a lot of horror stories out there right so did you I mean in the years of your career had you had that experience of looking around and saying like all right how am I going to separate from this pack what’s it going to be this is worth the risk of if I do go backwards it’s worth the risk to get longer out on on the on I’ve had this conversation with a couple of my buddies um recently actually because I remember um I remember Joel Damon he’s obviously a good friend of mine he I remember a couple years ago I think he was kind of chasing a little bit of distance too he was gaining a couple miles an hour but he was one of the straightest drivers of the G game right like the guy was hitting over 70% every year so I wouldn’t say that’s maybe the best way like I I don’t know if I would have made that decision at that point but but I was hitting you were inaccurate and short 50% of my Fairway is at 285 like you can’t compete so I was like what I was like I can’t hit it any more crooked like why don’t we just go far like let’s hit it far and the fact like I I not you know our average you know like it’s still going to hover around 60 if I’m around 60% of his Fairways I would that’s great for me um but you know like also mentally for me that’s that was a huge difference in how I felt about my driving like I would go up you know I could get up to a hole that’s you know let’s call it hop Palmer number two um or number three I mean like I could just know like hey I’m not going to be anxious about this Hazard on left like I’m just going to try to hit as hard as I can and find it and the more I did that in practice and the more um my setup at home was amazing for that I never even thought about it but the more I did that you know I’d hit one like two or three good ones in a tournament I was like oh oh here wait a minute like I can do this so the confidence grew and and and my belief in like what I’m doing grew the speeds are gr higher um you know like if I did felt a little anxious like I knew how to deal with that like I had a plan for that so it’s just you know and then once I got better at that I was like wait a minute like my ceiling has just gotten exponentially higher right like I like you said like Suess pool of people that were on my level had my previous speed was huge I mean there’s everybody right like unless you’re the best putter in the world or whatever you know kind of just to find an extra you know extra gear in that end um gave me huge confidence in and being able to compete that year I finished it was my highest finish in the FedEx Cup I finished 86 I think or 81st or 91st or something like that it was like low low 90s I think 94th 2122 yeah there you go 94th I was like hey you know what kept my card let’s you know take deposits out of it but I kept continuing to do it continue to you know like improve that part of my game and now you know two years later I feel like I can rely on that a little bit more right like now I’m actually I’m actually I’m excited to play golf courses that are hard hard like Memorial next week super excited to play that place because you’ve got to drive in the Fairway you got you gota be long so those are the two things that I’m kind of work myself towards got a little bit of a spark back in my game like you know if you continuously like back and forth and like what am I doing like I I I think I’m good enough but why is it not working is a miserable place to be in right like that’s as as a golfer if you don’t have the answers and you have no way to figuring out what’s happening it’s it’s it’s bad so for that to have worked out the way it did I never would have dreamed it um and I’m really happy it did because I’m now I have the opportunities to kind of I wouldn’t say later parts of my career but like you know the the the middle part you know the that’s most important like I can really take advantage of that work on every part of my game knowing that you know I don’t have to worry about a t- shop you know what I’m saying so it’s it’s a it’s a cool spot to be in I’m really happy with it um took a lot of hard work I think people sometimes forget that right we skipped right we were just like oh yeah now you hit it really far we’ll get how you got there why didn’t you do that before yeah right like um and uh you know that’s one of the things I think is impressive with and I see it a lot of times on tour now like I mean Xander gained five or six mil oh he’s been so fast this year yeah he I mean he was always in the low 80s but I mean he’s like 87 88 like that’s Rory still going 10 right trending up always going up you know like all these guys now Rory always kind of he’s always fast but now he’s getting faster and nobody like people don’t even notice it or realize it it’s just numbers get up so quick it’s it’s just it’s just a numbers game right like once they got came out with that strok gain and they told everybody at 320 in the rough or 290 in the fail away you’re better off in the rough yeah at 320 like I mean some golf courses maybe not but 90% of them you’re better off because you’re hitting four or less clubs yeah your ceiling goes up a little bit on on that end and and and it kind of it helps you you know gives you shorter clubs in makes it life a little easier and um it’s a it’s a lot more fun that way as well no l up is sponsored by FanDuel line up your first win when you bet the PGA Tour on FanDuel America’s number one sports book because right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with a winning $ five bet TC is calling his shot yet again Tommy Fleetwood to win in Canada this coming week I’m sure uh there will be some opinions on that one you can check out live PGA Tour bets like longest drive round leaders matchups birdie or better and more plus you can track every shot live in the app and watch select par three holes while you place your bets just visit FanDuel com/ nlu and take a swing at an extra 150 bucks FanDuel official betting operator the PGA Tour must be 21 and older 18 and older in DC and president select States gambling problem call- 1800 Gambler or visit rg- help.com first online real money wer only $10 first deposit required bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt not available on NC restriction Supply C terms at sportsbook.com back to the Pod the distance is one thing but you’ve talked a little bit about anxiousness or or things going on in in your driving can you take I mean from what I understand you were you were going through some pretty dark times with the driver not just not hitting it you know far I believe may have gotten a tip that at one point you’ve gotten you were hitting drivers off the deck off the te give you the best chance to put the ball in play I mean is it was it was it why word stuff are we allowed to say the Y word on that and and kind of you know I never felt the Y word I I’ll say it I don’t I’ve I’ve I’ve never and I might have mentioned it I never felt the Yip honestly but I I think every every problem that I think stems from that and you you it there’s a technical problem in there right now that technical problem leads to the holy [ __ ] like where is this like what is this so it’s there’s you know there’s like there’s a technical problem and then your body’s like oh I can’t play from there and then the more you do it and you’re like oh God like what so I actually played an entire I want to say I played an entire year I might have been close to an entire year without Tina driver up ever really ever and I tier three of which is the funniest thing so I I can’t remember when this was this must have been this is an early career it was like 2016 15 16 I was playing a little bit of Len tour I was playing playing some web.com tour which is the coin fairy tour now and I’d always been a good driver off the deck guy like I’d always love to hit in part fives and stuff and um the guy I was working with at the time and he was like why don’t you just do a little like Scottish tea right like knock a little I was like I’ll try it you know I I mean I was so good at it I was so good at it so I I remember playing PJ National where we play the used to be the Honda the cognizant classet now and I played Q school there in 20 I want to say 16 might have been 16 actually yeah or 15 and I never teed a ball up I mean I would hit every I mean every t- ball I would because it’s perfect it was Bermuda right like I could get a little little it was like this high and I could hit the ground and I would I drove it so good it was like I’d hit it 260 in the air and I was like you know I it was amazing and on on 18 you know good on that golf course you got like you’re costr phobic the entire time but on 18 I I looked at my guy my my coach was catting at to me at the time I was like she would tee this one up and he’s like definitely not you’re this is gonna stay on the ground anyway so that g kind of gave me like it just it was to the point where it wouldn’t be every drive but it was like once or twice a turn once or twice around where I was like if you blow once or twice around PJ T off the map golfer Two Shots yeah I mean that’s four shots really if you think about it so it was a really bad feeling right like we we practiced so hard and at home it was fine on the Range is fine and you get on like it wasn’t even the tight holes honestly the titles were easier it was the ones that you’re like oh you like you can’t miss this one and it just it was It was kind of stuck underneath and it was I mean off the P right and it was a bad feeling man I was that’s where I kind of was like I don’t know if I’ve got this like I don’t know if I can play with this um and then it got better in like 17 a little bit but still have it everyone every once in a while and it was something I was honestly it was something I struggled with for five years at least W and it it it just never like I would be okay for three four five tournaments and then yeah I HD one I’m like right like it’s the wor it’s the worst feeling in the world I mean literally worst feeling in the world there’s some dark times in golf wise right like it it just it was hard but if I compare where I came from on that and how I feel over it now I it’s I would have to smile every time because it’s it’s it’s I mean it it couldn’t be more night and day it could not be more night and day and you go watch that like the 18th hole or 72nd hole at at Houston it’s like I I mean I honestly didn’t know all of this about your path and I watched that drive and I was like man he sent that thing like that was full trust like low arm tension just full like no inhibitions at all there was no guide in that swing I was like I’m gonna do this I’m gonna hit this you make that replay go for people go watch that clip now and be like holy hear that backstory and hear that when you it you know you you asked the right guys man they’ve seen some they’ve seen some stuff right like I don’t know who you got this information from but it must have been some of my buddies that we used to play with right and it it wasn’t pretty right I mean and I was putting lights out and chipping I’ve always been a a pretty pretty good chipper and I was missing 15 cuts on the coin fairy tour because you just can’t like I said you cannot play like that as a professional golfer just you can’t I mean you you almost have to quit right and to kind of persevere through that I mean I tried everything tried psychologist I tried n name it tapping some baseball guy I was like how much you TR tapping I was like the hell is this that what is that um I mean everything what is it what is tapping it’s like you tap something I never I tried it one day I was like no this this ain’t it buddy I mean everything like you cannot imagine the the the things I’ve tried to to fix that and sure enough uh trying to gain 10 miles hour on ball speed sure did the trick I have I I’ve read or heard that the one thing that has stuck with you though is meditation is that right I mean what is I I hear some people that that Rave about meditation and and the benefits of it I’m I’m wondering if that is it so that was actually it’s a fairly recent last probably two or three years um thing so maybe that was you know maybe kind of subconsciously that it it’s it helped me it’s something it it it started out of a like my wife and I used to do uh we either would take something away or add something for one month so like let’s not eat dessert for a month or fried food for a month or alcohol for a month or let’s do I don’t know what we added like uh added like you got to do 100 push-ups every whatever it I can’t remember but one month I was like Hey I’m going to meditate every day I was like I don’t know how to do it I have no clue this is years ago but I’m going quiet and through that I I really resonated with it I loved it like it gave me kind of a quiet space in that psycho brain of mine that I had right like if you think about it what what when you drive it like that what’s going on in your mind I mean it’s it’s a million miles an hour right so it gave me a little bit break from that so starting with that it kind of got me into that space of we’ll call it self-healing or you know whatever it just kind of gave me a little bit more perspective I’m like hey this the I guess your awareness of what you’re thinking about in your mind and and and all lot that kind of stuff and it was really interesting to me so like I kind of stuck with that and when you know I started reading books about it like you know all the kind of not the golf self help like more of like the general idea of it and I I mean I still do it I it it’s rare that I I don’t get at least one in a day um sometimes it’s two one in the morning one at night I mean it’s not it’s not an hour it’s not I’m not a monk but I do like 15 minutes in the morning and maybe 10 minutes a night right so it really I love it I I’ve tried all of all of them like different kinds and I it just resonated with me and and it it helped me kind of this path of I don’t want to call it Enlightenment because that’s way above my pay grade but like kind of just like hey there’s a little bit more to you know life than than trying to make as much money and play professional golf and win golf tournaments right that comes with it and uh it’s it was been a really really cool path and um you know it’s it’s it’s really helped me in that sense and that could have been one of the reasons why I slowly got better with with my driving because I maybe not put as much pressure on like hey this is the most important driver your life rather than like hey let’s just do our best and see what happens wow yeah that’s that’s impressive I think about I I I should definitely try meditation cuz I think about like the clearest time I ever have thinking maybe once every 3 months we’ll go get a massage and like that I don’t have my phone my eyes are closed and like I’m like I walk out of that I’m like I just thought so clearly and I just sit around looking at my phone and looking at computer screens the rest of the day like it can’t be I I I wonder which one’s better for your brain well the funny thing is when once you when you started actually in the beginning um it there’s a little bit of a learning curve because once you’re quiet you realize how much your mind actually talks it’s insane I mean I you know I’m aware of it now but I never used to be aware and I’m like dude shut up what it’s insane like it still does it to me but I obviously like have the you know I guess you know the the the tools and stuff to be like hey wait a minute this is actually not what I’m this is not me right this is just my mind talking but to be like absolute in that in that zone in a sense is it’s I love it I really do it could help a lot of people um with you know like if you talk about anxieties and all that kind of stuff it’s I think it’s a Healer of everything for sure so again we’re we’re about a half hour into this and we haven’t gotten to how you gained the distance that you gained right and and it’s you know I I I understand you’ve worked with Mike Carroll who runs fit for golf uh kind of just take us into your process of getting started and kind of what the what the kind of the physical journey and how it works with speeds what how how’ you do it it’s honestly you will not I don’t know if you know the answer or you probably do your research you probably know what I did it’s really simple I just hit 30 balls every two or three days with my driver that I play every round with as hard as I physically could that’s it that’s it I did not know that now you’ve got to like I you’ve got to know your Baseline is right like you have to write this stuff down you have to have a track not a track man per se but there’s these little Radars that you can get that are fairly inexpensive and um you have to be able to track it right like I knew that I started at the first session I ever did I can’t remember when when this was this me and Mike talked about this uh last or two weeks ago but I mean I lashed at these guys I mean absolute full on as hard as I could and I think my average was 1689 I mean I lashed at it right like I went full board like 100% at it and I couldn’t I I I couldn’t get to 170 so after like a month or two I was like hey you know I got good at 73 74 then I could get to 76 77 and the cool setup for me was I went to the The Practice Facility I practi is a UTC facility here in chattano where I went to college and they have a really good setup they have great range and they’ve got a couple holes one of the holes is a part it’s like a 310 yard Par Four all like trees line down the left and you can kind of cut it off and that’s what I was saying about you know visually it helped me so I would do that on that hole because I felt like if I did it on a hole it would give me a good visual I’m like actually driving on a golf hole rather than the range you know you have a 70 yard out wide range it it Stills the same but it just visually for me and I did my first session I hit 32 ball I had 27 on The Fairway I had two left in the woods and like three I hit like in right of the bunker or something I was like wait a minute I just hit 20 I I mean I’m going both of my feet are in there air I’m going full sand right like I’m going at it and um that’s when I started like hey what am I get straighter through this and you know like trial and error a little bit here and there on on like what worked best and like how my body would react and all that kind of stuff but like it was it was kind of like amazing the first time I did it and the more I did it the more I did it I I realized hey you know if I just you know if I’m tired I’m G to be two miles an hour slower if it’s cold I’m G to be three miles an hour slower if I just worked out and it’s hot I’m going to be two miles an hour faster like there’s so many variables and that’s why you said earlier about the average speed you know my average speed is 78 right now um if it’s 80 I think in I can’t remember in Dallas my average for the week was 81 I think or 80 but then you play like Pebble and it’s 75 because it’s cold and it’s windy and you have seven layers on and it’s in the morning whatever it is that’s pretty much it I did that for probably two years I don’t really do the sessions anymore I had this conversation with Mike the other day is like hey you still keeping up I was like well every time I hit a driver I go 100% at it so there’s my speed session if I had 15 drivers on the Range or and 15 drivers on the golf course there’s my 30 balls well it sounds like you’re getting combining the couple things we’ve talked about here is like you’re getting out of the way of some of the mental stuff of trying to guide it I mean everybody that goes through driver stuff is probably trying to guide it at some point whereas like your Technique is is better when you go faster and harder than you know just getting your brain yeah getting your brain out of the way and going is there so it nothing changed physically in terms of of you know workouts or Mobility or I did a little bit of like I did a little bit of a little heavier workouts like maybe not as golf specific a little more like actual you know Fitness a little heavier squats a little more lower body um but nothing I mean no I was 185 when I started and I’m 185 now like there’s no I might g a little stronger I would say here’s the thing I think your ceiling goes up right like if you’re super strong you’ve got to teach your body to swing fast right like that’s I had this conversation with a buddy of mine that’s one on the tri that plays on the corn fairy tour and I was like if your ceiling is at 175 you got to get stronger because you want your ceiling you want your body to be able to swing faster like everybody is going to learn how to swing faster however like if if you’re weak or short or whatever it is technical flaws in the golf swing your ceiling is going to go lower right and my swing was kind of short and laid off and through the training it actually got parallel and across the line which was a technical flaw that actually got me in this the problem areas for years like I would kind of it would laid off and not laid on but and it be so far underneath that I either flip it way over I to hit it way right and for me to be able to get close to parallel parallel even past parallel was for me I had so much time on the top right like I I I was so used to be like that I was like just had so much time right and that was a technical thing that helped me with you know with my golf swing in a sense on that uh that end and it it was like you know it I’m not saying that’s going to happen to everybody I was going to say this doesn’t quite sound like advice for everyone I’m just going I’m not saying that at all hard I’m not saying that when I say this like hey you may hit less Fairways just be ready for that if you want to be faster you may hit less Fairways I don’t know I hit more so I I don’t I don’t know how to explain that so all right if you go to dial up like I want to hit this harder like you can easily say swing harder I’m going to swing harder I find that if I just try to swing harder sometimes I will slow down right if I don’t know if that’s Tech or what that’s what’s causing that right if you go uh how would you explain to someone how to go faster how to hit it harder how to swing hard where does it come from is it arms hips legs knees feet your body just doesn’t know yeah your body doesn’t know your body has you’ve hit so many golf balls in your life especially Pros you we’ve hit so many golf balls in our life that um our body just that’s our speed right like so those sessions are to teach your body to swing faster that’s the only thing you’re trying to do it doesn’t matter where it goes like if I had a speed session like I could way fou balls in a speed session like my fastest balls ever were kind of a pull straight ball because they just go for like they’re faster so if you’re doing the sessions you’re actually not thinking about technique at I don’t think about technique at all like I’m just trying to get as as much speed as I possibly can in this golf ball and your body will figure it out you know if you’re a good player your body’s going to figure out now if you’re 15 handicapped you’ve got you’ve got some work to do like you hey figure out how to be a scratch first and then figure that part out right um because you’ve got a you you got 120 miles an hour and you’re 15 handicap like I know what kind of driver you are like it’s gon to it’s going to be wild um but like you know so it’s all about teaching your body to swing fast and that’s why I I love that that you know the speed session because it was your drive it was my gamer driver I would hit it on the golf hole and I would hit it as far as I never did speed sticks I never did Stack I never did any of that and I’m sure it works you know I I just I felt like if why would I want to get quicker with a rod and a weird weight on the end and then I’m go my driver and it feels totally different like I want to get faster with my actual driver so that just made so much sense to me and and obviously there’s a lot of knowledge and a lot of research Behind these things and I’m sure they do work I just I never did him that’s fascinating I did I truly did not know the answer to that that’s that’s really interesting it was it’s kind of boring but it’s and I tell you what it is you’re exhausted after 30 I’ve done some of Mike stuff yeah and it’s I mean three sets of eight drivers hitting as hard as you can and it’s like you’re just dripping you don’t even care how hot it is you are dripping being sweat yeah yeah and you saw the next day yes yeah I I I not through nobody’s fault but my own I hurt myself doing it I think of just like and and that’s the next part where I I realized that I was kind of getting a little bit back issues so I needed to up my physi strength recovery program because if I’m going to put that much more pressure on my body I’m GNA be able I’m gonna have to be able to uh calm it down to and make sure it doesn’t flare up every single week and that was something I learned as well um I knew that was going to happen I mean it’s it’s a just a matter of like if you’re going to go harder at it it’s your body is gonna hurt more totally simple as that I mean it’s for those following closely it’s paid off in in in a great way you’re 17th in the FedEx Cup now I mean you had a you know even since the win you had a t18 at Heritage T20 at the CJ cup t-21 at Wells Fargo and you’ve uh T3 at Mexico this year as well T3 Farmers I picked you the ball out of pebble you of course finished 71st in that one that’s great one there what uh 17 in athletics cup now like I mean I would have to imagine goals have pretty seriously changed for this year is there’s something you can point at the end of this year to say like if this if this happens for the remainder year I can look back this year as a great great success you know I actually don’t really do goals to be honest with you um they not those kind of goals they they actually get me more frustrated than anything if I don’t hit them right so I’m more of the guy that I I try to I try to have a growing mentality of all times right like I want to get better and that’s that’s something I’ve done over the last couple years I want to get better every year now of course I have goals like I you know I of course I want to make the Tour Championship and I want to be on the rider Cup team and all that you know all those cool stuff right um that you want to look back at in your when your career is over and be like God that was that was cool right but I still have so many things that in my mind I can get better way better at that I can you know I can be up there with the best in the world and that’s that’s kind of that’s my goal right like ultimate goal is is to give everything I got and the and the in the time I have left on on you know being being able to play professional golf and being able to compete and if I get everything out of it and I didn’t get some of my goals or whatever you know too bad but I at least they gave it my best right and that’s that’s kind of the the main thing I want to I want just want to get better I want to get better at you know driving obviously you can always get better I want to get a better ion player I want to be a better wedge player like my putting needs to be more consistent so there have so many things that that uh I still want to do um mentally I still have to get a little bit better here and there so it it it’s it’s a work in progress and it never I mean this game never stops man you you’re you’re you stop working on that when you’re done playing gol that’s pretty much when it’s when you’re done so uh if I if I forget to have included this in the intro for those listing uh Stephen plays under that you’re you’re German so you this would be the European Ryder Cup team that you would be uh you’d be playing sometimes I forget this as well because I was like Ryder Cup President’s Cup is this year what are you talking about no he’s right he’s German he’s German the accent the accent’s not quite uh it’s not there any well it’s a little bit but not not very prominent Southern Southern us tene Tennessee German right the best so you know you get to live the dream like you have the your your young son and wife run out on the 18th green PJ Tour event and come hug and kiss and all that you look so stoic through all that I mean you just like the emotion isn’t really you know apparent are you in shock in that moment or is it uh you know kind of all the journey you’ve been on you would you would think it’s kind of overflowing at that point yeah I umum you know I I try to be good I try to be good loser also a good winner and I don’t really s celebrating somebody missing doesn’t seem like now if I would have made that Putt and Scotty would had no chance I probably would have gone nuts but like I just didn’t I had actually this conversation with my wife the other day I was like I just didn’t feel like fist pumping in a the guy’s face like like that doesn’t didn’t seem right to me and you know what I got humbled pretty quickly what got we after all the media stuff and I had Miller Light at the media stuff and I got home and I went in the bathroom my kid and put him down the bed bed and we had to go food for for celebration like as a family you just kind of man you’re back to work right like you don’t have any we didn’t go out celebrating with all my buddies and dinner like I have a son at home that needs to go to sleep at 7:30 right like that’s you’re back to reality um we did have a nice couple nights um at home when when I got home and had everybody over and it was it was awesome but yeah I just didn’t feel like I’m not the look at me guy in a sense I I try to kind of fly on the radar a little bit and I I just I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do to to just let loose um and honestly I thought I was gonna make it yeah I just I was honestly in my when I was standing there I remember when I stood over there it was face on and I was like okay so 18 I’m just you know like I was already in 18 again because you you kind of get taught that right totally in match play you’re like hey you you expect that guy to make it especially that guy right like giving him that opportunity it was it was a no-brainer for me and somebody missed it I was like wait a minute what just wait what and then like everybody’s cheering and I was like holy [ __ ] I just won like I was you know it’s my dream for so many years that it was like you said it was kind of a little bit more of a shock and then my wife came out and she was kind of crying and my son was like he I don’t know he always laughs when she cries I’m not sure what what what’s going on there but um he was laughing and he’s looking all the you know pointing at all the cameras and stuff it was it was such a cool moment and I’m I’m glad they got to be there and you know one of the goals of my life is is to to win one when he remembers it right like he don’t he he won’t remember that so you know hopefully he you know when he’s 6 seven8 uh I may may have another shot at it and he actually rememb dad being a cool you know hey that guy’s kind of cool um you know we all his dads want to do that all the time so you you know you you pack up you know you go home for a week I you didn’t play the next week did you you go just no I I I was going to play but then you’re off to the Masters you’re off to Augusta had you been to Augusta prior to playing in the Masters is first time I went down there I always I mean I know a couple members and stuff and I always said the first time I’m I’m gonna I’ve been down there I mean I went to a couple of resturants years ago but I never played it I was like the first time I want to play it is when I actually get to play it we played the Thursday before it was me my caddy drove up and uh it was yeah it was just us to and the caddy local caddy great guy it was blowing like 30 I was like hey yo what is like wait a minute this place is impossible and it sure enough ended up being impossible for me that week man that was once again a humbler golf is a great humbler in life right like he it just I actually didn’t even feel like I played that poorly and I shot I can’t remember what I shot the first round I think two over an 80 second round that wind was absurd I mean that was I was I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been there in person on that Friday for just how windy that was was you know that place you have like two or three yards in certain spots right to land it on and you’re playing like I remember a couple holes like I played it in all the right and then all of a sudden it would be down off the left I’m like how I don’t know what to do here I I don’t know how to play this golf course like this but I the best player in the world one he figured it out so I don’t really I’ll have my revenge on that one I I’ll I’ll I’ll go back and I’ll I’ll be you know not Revenge but like I want to I want to have another try at it you know um it’s it’s kind of course that like it it it as soon as you walk off it you’re like ah I can go right back and do it I I’ll do it differently I know what to do now yeah I know what to do yeah and they don’t but yeah it just with the wind swirling like that it just was it was insane like I’ve never I’d never like you couldn’t you know as as professional golfers like if we have 175 and we know we just hit a 175 and you’re like posing on it and you’re like oh my god get down or go it was just it was a wild week obviously the first time you know we had family there with a big house and it you almost have to to right like it’s you know like oh you know I want to compete and but it’s you know it’s it’s everybody’s dream everybody that’s kind of been in my corner forever you know like you you want to share that with everybody and that that’s kind of the fun part too so but I want to have another crack at it for sure yeah make that tour championship and you’ll be you’ll be right back um what what what did you think about Valhalla as a major championship venue uh it’s it’s been my favorite one I’ve ever played and I’ve played uh I’ve played three us opens and two were probably the worst us opens of all time and I can let you I can let you guess which two they were you play it was in last six years you played pre US Open you played 15 and 17 which I would call like that’s what’s funny I think valal is a terrible major Vue and I think Aon Hill love Aaron Hills and Chambers Bay I think are fantastic Golf Course oh that terrible Jesus Christ somebody paid me a million dollars to play Chambers Bay I wouldn’t play it again would would you with like the the greens are way better now would you play it was that the biggest culprit of it I just don’t know I just sometimes Aaron Hills was better I feel like Aaron Hills was better sometimes I just don’t love goofy stuff like fros don’t yeah hey trust me I get it like you drive down into that in that property and the I don’t know what is it not Hope Sound what’s the sound behind it and it’s like it’s picturesque like it’s awesome it looks cool it plays terrible I I didn’t enjoy it I really didn’t um anyways I really like Valhalla as a golf course I think it’s like now it played as easy as it could get right like the faway weren’t super soft they were running a little bit and the greens are mush like you can’t give professional golfers an easier setup the rough wasn’t that thick it was thick enough but it wasn’t that thick so I think if if if they grew the rough up a little more in the greens get firm I think you shoot 1,00 winning yeah it it it seemed like a medium like a medium level PGA tour course to me right it just the way it played and that could be rain or whatever it was but it I like the majors because they’re something different right they’re they just yeah you like Carnage this is what you like not even Carnage it just requires a different level of precision like you know I I don’t want to see just silly golf right I don’t want to it it it just feel like comparing it to oakill the prior year it just felt like there was a better balance of risk reward of trying to balance making birdie versus oill was great honestly oill was it did have some funky stuff too some of the holes like when it gets I can’t remember number seven remember number seven you had to hit like a four iron if you landed anywhere right it would go into the water not a great hole um but oill I thought was I think the PGA does honestly the best job setting it up um every year you know like you so they just you know they they just honestly try to aggravate you nonstop um well they stopped trying to do that since since shinok at 18 they’ve been pretty soft on the setup since then you played that’s true you play We we’ll see what Vine is going to look like here I don’t know what the weather looks like in North Carolina but if that place gets firm and fast gez that you know that’ll be fun to watch but you know in in then honestly that’s something I I definitely need to learn as well right like you you got to you know if you want to compete in Majors you there is going to be some goofy stuff and you’re going to have to get like you said more precise and you know put it on list man that’s something I I definitely need to get better at um I want to get better at because I want to have a chains you know I want to be able to win there’s no reason you can’t now right I mean that’s the thing is it’s there’s no there’s no pre you’ve passed the prerequisite right you hit it above average distance like that opens up just so many doors for you it really does I agree I agree I agree uh last question I I hope this is I I I how is is is no baked cookie dough still going it is not going anymore is not darn it okay uh it is it it is still going period okay so you can still buy some online but it it won’t do us any good no we we Clos the shop this year actually because it was a kind of a combo between my wife and her her sister and they had a second baby and we had a baby it just nobody had time for it honestly I figured as much honestly soon as I saw that you had where yeah I mean it just we did we didn’t have time for it um and but it was a cool cool deal right like the product was unbelievable what was it for those it’s like a it’s an edible cookie dough that was um you know that was really easy to kind of travel with because it was um it it used like he treated flowers it wouldn’t like you know there wasn’t any ISS I mean I can’t say it like there shouldn’t been any issues on like being able to not have in the in the in the refriger refrigerator all the time and there was no egg in it but I thought it was the best product I’ve ever had on and I’m I love Rockie d right and um it was cool it was fun but no I it we do not have time for that I would be very confused as to how you would have time for like hey dude go practice right yeah practice to take care of your kid so that’s right that’s right all right we’re gonna let you out man we’ll be seeing you a lot more in the remainder of this season and really happy for you excited for your success if I’ll dig up the episode number we Stephen’s been on the podcast gosh that was what 2018 we were in Germany I think we did that that pod oh in Cologne in Cologne that’s exactly right way back in the day probably about six years AG got played terrible there too we weren’t hit it anywhere back then yeah that’s true yeah and that golf was kind of tough to be honest with you so but super P for your success man we really appreciate your time and uh yeah keep it going I think you you’re just you’re just getting started I really do believe that so best of luck appreciate your time cheers thanks for FanDuel you must be 21 and older or 18 and older in DC in president’s elect States fandel is is offering online Sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC gambling problem call- 1800 Gambler or visit fanduel.com RG and Colorado DC Illinois Iowa Kentucky Michigan New Jersey North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Tennessee Vermont and Virginia call Hunter next step or text next step to 533 42 in Arizona 1888 78977 77 or visit ccpg dog chat in Connecticut 18009 with it in Indiana 18005224700 or visit Kos gambling help.com in Kansas 18 77770 stop in Louisiana visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland visit 1800 gambler. net in West Virginia or call 18005224700 in Wyoming hope is here visit gambling helpline ma.org or 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