Johnson Wagner Interview: Glory at the U.S. Open, Career Path, State of Pro Golf, and more!

Join Smylie Kaufman and Johnson Wagner on this exciting episode of the Smylie Show as they dive deep into the secrets of winning on the PGA Tour! Smylie and Johnson discuss all things golf, including Johnson’s recent media ventures and his transition from PGA Tour player to golf analyst.

Key Highlights:
– **Johnson Wagner’s Transition to Media:** Insightful discussion on how Johnson made his way from the course to the commentator’s booth.
– **Winning on Tour:** Johnson shares his experiences and career that included three PGA Tour victories.
– **Inside the Life of a Pro Golfer:** Get a behind-the-scenes look at the life and challenges faced by pro golfers, including the balance between personal life and the rigors of the Tour.

Smylie and Johnson also preview the upcoming tournaments and share their thoughts on who might dominate the leaderboard. To close the show, they reveal some hilarious and heartwarming moments from their time on and off the course.

Don’t miss out on this engaging and insightful episode! Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more golf insights!

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#PgaTourPlayers #PgaTour #ImproveGolfGame #PgaTourWins #GolfTechniques

CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
01:40 – MFK
05:20 – Mustache
08:20 – Winning on the PGA Tour
13:22 – First Media Inspiration
19:38 – Starting Media Career
21:40 – Favorite Media Role
25:43 – Live From Reenactments Origin
33:34 – Most Nervous Over a Shot
35:02 – Chili-Dip
35:54 – Transitioning to Media
38:23 – Plans for the Year
44:19 – LIV Golf’s Future
47:27 – New PGA TOUR Season
48:30 – Signature Event Player Cuts
50:15 – Outro

[Music] Smiley caufman for 61 wow I’m Smiley caufman and this is the Smiley Show all right welcome back to another episode of the smiley show super pumped to have Johnson Wagner joining the Smiley Show this is uh long time coming having Johnson come on uh guys absolutely just crushing the media game as we speak Johnson where you joining us from and uh what’s your kind of week look like this week yeah I’m home uh week off after the US Open which is uh very very welcome I worked a straight weeks and uh I am uh playing a lot of golf with my son and we’re headed down to yon’s Hall uh for the weekend going to play some golf down there in Charleston and hang out with a coup couple other families and uh yeah just uh really excited to not be working this week smile eight weeks in a row I guess I didn’t put that together I mean what cow what what weeks uh did you not have off I’m just trying to think did you just go do some studio work I started in new I started in New Orleans uh and I I’ve been booth in New Orleans booth in Dallas walking in Charlotte uh PGA Championship uh where was I after that uh studio for Colonial um it’s just been constant through the US Open which I love I mean I love I love working uh it’s been great but at the same time I think uh my marriage has been strained to the point where I needed a week off and and it’s it’s been very welcome very welcome to come home oh gosh well well Johnson you were at the set of the happy hour and you were about to be with me on happy hour thank you for being such a good friend as we had could not find anybody to joined from a player perspective Bryson came in late sep came in late but as you were standing there you were speaking with my father-in-law you were speaking with Francy you were speaking with a bunch of other people and and somehow it always comes up with you bands like you’re just a you’re just a huge bands guy and I wanted to do an mfk and I have I’ve got a couple different ones that I want to do with you and you’ve already answered one but I want to hear the the reason why this is before we came on and the first one is and we’ve already answered this but I want you to tell everybody the reasons why because I I don’t even know who these bands are and people are going to be upset with me about this it’s Nirvana Pearl Jam and Alice in the chains yeah and just a little backstory on this you and I shared a house in uh inclined Village for the Barracuda a few years ago and Francy your wife and I found ourselves on the deck it was just the two of us in the house and I was Jam jaming some tunes and I was playing Sultans of Swing by the Dire Straits and Francy says she’s like oh this is a great song and I’m like do you know who this is and she said no I said well it’s the Dire Straits and she had never heard of the band so on the set for for your Fridays with smiley at the US Open I finally got to meet her dad and was like how have you not exposed your daughter to more music from your generation like Dire Straits are my parents band uh but you know I I I do love music I’m going to I’m going to kill Alison chains because I don’t really love their stuff uh I’m gonna I’m gonna marry Pearl Jam because I absolutely love their stuff and I feel like I could snuggle up next to Eddie veter any night of the week and I’m gonna F uh Nirvana I mean Kurt Cobain’s may he rest in peace he’s dead uh but but like I think that’s where I’m going with those okay good answers good answers all right next one I got uh these are Blues musicians that influence many bands how about Muddy Waters Buddy Guy and Stevie Ron ah Stevie Ron one of the greatest guitarists of all time uh I’m going to I’m gonna I’m goingon to marry him because I want to again cuddle up next to him every night in bed uh Muddy Waters I’m going to do the the FW with them and then what was I’m gonna kill the other I’m not buy guy not probably gonna get some grief I know I know his stuff but I’m not that familiar so I’m G kill him okay um last one fish Widespread Panic DMB seen them all uh many times live fish doesn’t do it for me I I I some of stud it just doesn’t fish doesn’t do it for me so I’m killing fish love widespread uh I’m gonna I’m gonna F widespread I’ve seen them ton I love them I one night stand that’s my that’s my jam with widespread and Dave Matthews like are you kidding me I mean I’ve couple make out sessions in high school at Dave Matthews concerts with some random chicks so I’m I’m I’m definitely marrying Dave did you have that mustache in high school no no I couldn’t I couldn’t grow facial hair till I was 30 I mean what when did when did the mustache make a appearance was this a something right before you got into TV cuz I don’t remember you with a must sash until you showed up like on set on studio and Golf Channel was like you got to keep it now like you can’t go away is your wife liked the mustache or she is she all about it now she hates it and it was uh it was Thanksgiving 2011 we went uh we were spent the week with my wife Katie’s family in Virginia and I didn’t shave for the week and I we get home uh it’s you know first of December and I shave everything off but the mustache just trying to get a reaction out of her and she hated it so much she was like you’ve got to go back and shave that thing off and so I kept it and then I fast forward to January I played calua played well I won the Sony Open with a mustache in 2012 and I I was like well I’m Gonna Keep it now and then so I I’ve had it off and on for about 12 years any I used to say anytime I like to try to piss Katie off I would I would grow it and uh and then once I got the once I got the trial with Golf Channel she actually said you better grow your mustache back because it’s it’s built for TV so it was her idea so she’s she’s got to live with it now yeah well give me the pros and the cons of having a mustache Pros if you get like a Guinness or a really heady beer and you take a sip it it really sticks in there which is great uh con are exactly the the cons are eating a bagel with cream cheese it’s just all over you uh kissing is tough like my wife doesn’t like to kiss uh with kiss me with a mustache which could be a pro or a con it’s uh I’m not going to go too into detail it’s debatable uh there there’s a lot there’s a lot of Pros it brings uh I feel like it allows me to uh sort of live my best self like uh my filter is sort of off because I think a mustache says hey I don’t take myself too seriously so I can say whatever I want I just love it so much the mustache is such a it’s it’s it’s like who you are it’s your personality it’s your media thing but it’s like the best bit of all time like you you you have like a bit that you get to wake up every day with and that’s I’m super jealous of that I wish I could grow a mustache some sometimes I wake up and I sleep on it wrong and it’s like up in the air and it it requires a little bit of Maintenance one time I waxed it and twirled it but that’s too high it’s so that’s how you style it you’d have to wax it to get the little curl thing up if you wanted that yeah and and if the wind’s blowing if I’m out playing golf and the wind’s blowing it’s it’s not a good thing uh with you never know if it’s up or down so uh yeah I like it just like this oh gosh well I got to go back and watch your highlights now from the Sony Open with even the mustache I I didn’t I didn’t remember that but now I got to go check it out but as we’re speaking about the Sony Open you’ve won three times on the PJ tour and I think there’s a lot of people that don’t know that a lot of people that have forgotten that I haven’t I know how good of a golf you are and I know how challenging this game is but I want to talk about your three wins because I think it’s important to because I I remember watching the Houston open just how you played with every bit of emotion on your shoulders and I it seemed like you were a type of guy when you got around the lead you weren’t scared scared to uh to knock go win that golf tournament yeah I I mean Smiley I mean I think all of us that played professional golf we love being in that position that’s why we play is to have a chance to win I just unfortunately couldn’t get myself there more but I felt like once I got into the position on a Sunday with a chance to win it’s where I really shined it’s just leading up to it I wasn’t good enough to get there get there very often but I mean like there’s nothing there’s no greater feeling than than like the nervous energy and I’ve always said like nerves allow you to do things that you’re not capable of either both positive or negative and I felt like when I was playing decent and I got in the In Contention I was capable of stuff that I couldn’t normally do hitting the ball further making long putts I just like I I I relish that opportunity to contend and um I mean I had some close calls I finished second a bunch too but uh it was the you know if you had told me when I was in college that I would win three times on the PGA Tour I would have happily taken that that makes a ton of sense cuz it was uh that that Houston when was epic just the way you celebrated on the 18th hole and um yeah I I’m I’m just kind of curious too because now you know I I think your persona uh from TV side it’s like you know you go out and and you hit all these shots uh from live from which I want to get into how that all started but just talking about where you are now in your game you know it’s it’s funny how this game it’s for especially for you and I who don’t get to play as much as we used to we don’t touch the clubs we don’t get to practice but we go out and you either have it or you don’t and right now like you and I both go through these periods of I’m sure where you have these mental blocks of like how do I get through this what did I used to do and unfortunately you just have to do it on live TV I mean you like I said I just worked eight straight weeks so yesterday my son and I went and played Quail Hollow is shut down right now cuz we’re air rating uh and and kind of ripping up the course getting it uh back to Summer conditions after the Wells Fargo so we went and played this place Carolina golf club it’s an old Donald Ross I hate that I just said Old Donald Ross all Donald Ross golf hes are old um and it’s wide open off the teeth thank God I’ve got this like two-way Miss I can hit it literally a 100 yards R of a fairway and I can hit it 100 yards left so it’s it’s very challenging for me to play right now it’s you know everybody sees me duffing and skulling chips but my short game’s actually pretty spot on at the moment uh because it has to be and I was playing with my son he’s 15 just won the state championship a few weeks ago as a freshman in high school their team won he was the low freshman in the state of North Carolina and I’m really proud of him he’s he’s killing it and he’s kept me uh very active playing golf because I don’t want him to beat me he’s he’s beaten me twice already and yesterday we had a killer match he Eagles the first toll and is just thumping me and it just brought out this inner competitor to where it didn’t matter where I hit it off the tea I was getting it in the hole I only hit like five greens uh maybe four Fairways and I was just getting it up and down from everywhere and he’s looking at me like he’s like I hate you how are you doing this as he’s piping it down the middle of very Fairway hitting every Green lipping out for birdie and I somehow keep tying him on holes but I beat him yesterday shot 73 uh we play the tips it’s it’s a it’s like a 7 4.8 course rating I’m a plus one and a half and you know I I I it’s been nice in the last couple I would say in the last year I’ve finally gotten rid of the the desire to go shoot 65 every time and I’m just happy to play golf and and and content with whatever comes out sure I still get mad but but I’m not breaking clubs or anything I’m just happy to be competing happy to be playing golf and H like I love playing a match like I’m not going to go out and just play a 4H hour round of golf where I don’t have something on the line I want to beat you or I want to lose and and and that’s what gets me going yeah know welcome to the right side of history with golf and the fact that you totally have to go out and shoot 65 and it doesn’t matter where you hit it and you can actually have fun and enjoy listening some good tunes and enjoy some good camaraderie with some good people and that’s what I’ve I’ve found in golf now that I love and um I I also on the PGA tour I feel like this is always a fun question to ask for somebody that played on the PGA tour as long as you did did I want to know who who was who were some of your favorite people to play with and on the back half of that I kind of want you to answer if you could tell me what player that came up that you were like [ __ ] I either got to get a whole lot better or something’s got to happen or I need to do something else because this like if there’s like more of these type of guys coming up I got problems yeah I’m going to answer that one first it was walking Neiman uh first time I played with him I believe it was at the Green Brier maybe the last year we played there and and I you paired with him Thursday Friday uh I wouldn’t have been paired with him Thursday Friday because he was in a different category um I was playing play with yeah and it was like what the how do i h he hits it forever he putts it good I I just knew he was like the first one that was so much younger than me that I was like I don’t know how I can compete with him on a week in week out basis he was just that good I like I walking nean blew my mind and there was plenty of guys like even you uh you and I played together Sanderson Farms the week after you won Vegas it was it was hard to it’s it’s you know seeing people come out and win immediately on the PGA tour it was very very hard to see myself competing at that level with guys like you over the course of a year uh then I learned that you couldn’t hit a driver in play so I felt a lot better about it but that’s the best thing about playing Sanderson baby you just go find that thing and hit it again exactly I I need we you and I both need places that have you know in no out of bounds on the golf course and there’s always a miss that you can hit it on another hole yes it’s sometimes even a better angle you know Lucas Glover Lucas Glover to me has always been a guy that I love playing with we we uh were kind of close to each other in college and uh played the Nationwide tour corn fairy tour together for a year or two and I always love playing with him he’s so well read he’s so smart he’s not afraid of a conversation on the golf course and it’s not necessarily about golf I love playing with Lucas and Carl Peterson man did you ever play with Carl yeah yeah I did car Carl is like the funniest dude he’s just like you’re constantly laughing you don’t really care how you’re playing all of a sudden you’re upset that the round is over because Carl Peterson is so much fun to play with and you Brendan dong my my teammate in college whenever we got together it was it was it was a blast yeah y’all go check out the wagu and Fila show uh y two are crushing it over there and uh so who who did Carl uh patteron who did he always play practice rounds with because remind me I can’t remember okay he would play with Jason bone George mcneel that’s right it was like Tom Gillis and and Tim Heron were kind of uh you know the fourth or the you know a revolving door but it was always bone mcneel and Carl and they always had this game where they would play a you know if you don’t make a bogey in a practice round they’d go out and play 18 holes if you don’t make a bogey in a practice round it was a hundred bucks from each person and then after their practice round they would sit in the player in player dining and just like they were at a country club they would just shoot the [ __ ] they would have always there man they were always there always the DJ tour has changed so much since those four guys were playing but they were they they they loved it they they would have it was like they were going out for the regular Saturday game at their home Club they would come in eat drink and just hold court for hours and it was kind of like that playing with Carl on on a regular event on a Thursday or Friday he would come in and you would sit down and eat lunch and next thing you knew your cat’s texting you hey you said you were going to be out to practice in an hour uh and and you know you got to say uh well practice is over for the day I’m I’m hanging out it’s over did you have a a group you played with PR rounds uh for a while it was uh it was me Brendan snaker and uh and Ryan armor Uh Kevin Stadler I used to play a lot with with Brendan as well but yeah you used to like to play with those guys we had a we had a running game every Tuesday for a while I’ll tell you Ryan armor is the toughest Tuesday money to take because really if he could if he could somehow capture how intense he is on a Tuesday taking my money if he capture that on Thursday through Sunday he’d be a top 10 player in the world you know who else is exactly in that same boat patent kazy you want to talk about some tough money on a Tuesday patent kazy Ben Kohl’s these two I mean they they would much rather take your money on a Tuesday then make the cut it feels like there’s something there’s something not quite right there but I mean I get it like you’re more free it’s more fun uh it’s not the pressure but yeah Patton I played a couple practice rounds with him as as my partner and patton is a beast on a Tuesday because they play those um the umbrella game you know what game I’m talking about explain one like uh if you hit it inside of a pen it’s like you have an opportunity to like get all the points you at the green closest to the pin and it’s like all these different categories if you are the closest to the pen you could sweep them all and patton would always in the Tuesday game Hit It closest for the most part like throughout the day and so he just keeps sweeping and sweeping so then he’s like you going to press are you going to press he just he just wants you to press so bad because he knows exactly what happens when you press is it’s going to keep on going up that’s incredible I never played that game with him that’s a good one really okay yeah you’re don’t go don’t don’t go don’t go now at least no definitely not now I am lucky to hit a green much l be closest to the pin all right so we made the transition into media uh who was the first person to say Hey you know might want to try this out um was it something you were thinking about and uh the first time you did it did you like it yeah I mean Peter Jacobson told me back in maybe 2012 at the Deutsche Bank I did a Jake with him and uh we were having fun just shooting it on a Tuesday or Wednesday when he came up to me and he said hey keep keep winning golf tournaments but when you’re done you’ll have a future in TV and so it was kind of always in the back of my mind uh our agent I’m going to throw him under the bus Jimmy Johnston never really did anything for me from the TV perspective when I was interested and it was a a researcher from Golf Channel his name’s Kevin Ryan who I played High School golf against he’s been with Golf Channel Studio side for 12 years or so um he called me right after the President’s Cup at Quail Hollow in the fall of 22 and said hey your name came up in a production meeting and uh they want to know if you’re willing to come up and do a trial week of golf Central in studio and I I jumped on it I was so excited I played my last T last tournament was the Bermuda championship in October the very next week the Houston open I was in studio and I never looked back I I I had an absolute blast uh doing the studio side just watching Golf and being able to talk about it at a high level I loved all the people that I got to work with from like the researchers to the graphics to the producers like it was just so different than anything I had done but it allowed me to talk about Golf and still be involved with the PGA Tour so I never looked back they kept asking me to come back for a week come back for a week and then I I got to start calling golf in some opposite field or alternate events like Puerto Rico Dominican last season and I’ve just kind of said yes to everything and I’ve I’ve loved every sing single week I’ve worked I hope that never goes away Smiley because I I’m having such a ball doing it man yeah you and I both and you’ve uh you’ve gotten to to to you know have so many different roles from being in studio to to being on the course being in the booth doing Studio work and I want to just kind of get your ear on what what’s been your favorite uh role of of the ones that you’ve that you’ve done um and are there are there certain ones that that you feel like uh that were not natural to you that you’ve had to work on a little bit Smiley it’s so funny because I I think when when all of us as players get into this media role we think we’re going to be great Walkers right we’re like oh I’d love to walk with groups that sounds like the best and I’ve actually found that to be the most challenging and and it walking is most similar to playing golf and I feel like if you have a good group group and you’re getting to talk a lot it’s great it’s like you’ve had a great round but if you have a group that’s not playing well and you don’t get on the call it’s like you’re shooting 80 and so i’ I’ve found it I I found walking like I think you’re incredible at it and I I find it to be the hardest thing to do because if you’re coming in Live or if you’re calling stuff on tape and the way Tommy Roy produces as opposed to I know what you’re doing this week with uh at The Travelers it’s not an NBC production team so it’s very challenging and I I I have the utmost respect because I think you are killing it on that front um the studio is wildly of course Smiley you’re the best man uh the the studio is so fun like I I especially like the live froms or if we have a road show that I can still be at a golf tournament but do the studio side because you really have the time to make a point you have the time to make an impact on what you’re saying so I I didn’t think I would enjoy Studio work but I love it uh but I mean the ultimate and I don’t know how you feel about it I know you’ve done a couple fortet and and a couple others like being being in that lead analyst chair there is nothing better than that uh I I I love being in that chair whether or not you know it’s used to have to be a major Champion to get that seat and now I think times are changing to where the guys that have won major championships they they don’t need to work anymore there’s they don’t need that time they better want to they better want to do TV they got plenty of cash so I think like you and I are in such a cool position where we love it we want to work we’re hungry and I think the opportunities are there but next week at the rocket mortgage I have my first crack at whole announcing I believe based on the the sheet that I just saw so I’m very scared it’s gonna be the first it’s the first time I’ve done it it’s like being a host and an analyst in one taking it to commercial so I’m I’m a little bit leery of that but throwing it to commercial is a is it’s once you do it one time then it’s after that you’re like all right I think I know how to do it uh there’s I got a couple really good tips Kurt bm’s a really good person to talk to talk to uh uh tarica might be up there next week because he’s actually no it’s next week John Deere is that where you’re doing it next week’s rocket mortgage next week is rocket mortgage you don’t say okay I don’t know why I was thinking next week was John Deer anyways uh I can’t wait to listen because that first commercial break is everybody like collaps and the first time you do it it’s hilarious I I i’ I’ve done a little bit of radio and so I’ve been the host with Brendan and I’ve taken it to commercial on radio a couple times yeah and I mean it get it get but but what I’m really looking forward to is is this is uh as we watch our trackman Tracer technology brought to you by T-Mobile for business dude you already got that like that is that is perfect you’re already in in uh full swing season mode that is amazing I can’t wait for exactly I’m really looking forward to doing the trackman Tracer Reed whatever it is oh goodness that’s amazing uh I can’t wait I can’t wait to listen the but I think what everybody’s here for is dude the the live from reenactments have been just the some of the best television that that golf has found in a long time I mean seriously it’s it’s it’s a credit to you it’s a credit to your team because it’s really has been amazing just like seeing what you guys are going to scheme up like love s and those boys have just like leaned into just like you coming out on stage in that that video that S created it’s like here comes Wags and it’s just like oh let’s go because you’re watching the golf and you just know that’s where we’re heading that evening uh and before like you comment on it I just want to know how did it start whose idea was it and were you hesitant to do it uh so no I was not hesitant to do it at all it it started um you know Frank nablo used to do these te to Green segments and Trevor emman did it for a while they would go two weeks ahead and hit chip shots around the green and it was all taped and and I remember telling Matt hegerty who’s the kind of Studio boss I said hey man I want to be part of the live from team if if it’s ever possible and my favorite things were the Frank Nao and Trevor emman Tia green where they’re hitting pit shots and showing the golf course I I love golf courses so uh he they had me go out to LA last year for the L for the US Open and on Tuesday Wednesday they started me out with Walkin talks and and it was incredible that’s right and then that’s right it was like a great start yeah yeah got Rory got Ricky Fowler I felt like it was it was easy for me to you know as you know playing with all these guys Smiley like you have that’s why you have so much success with your Fridays with Smiley is that players respect you like you know that you’re not going to put them in a tough position so um it kind of started there and then at the Players Championship it was about two weeks before and uh it was Matt hegerty Allan Robinson who’s also a big Studio guy he’s the morning live from producer he said uh he said we’re going to put you out on the golf course hitting chip shots and we think we have approval to where at night you can go out and recreate shots of the day or whatever you want and and I was like that sounds awesome I’d love to do that and amazing just kind of like you know and the players you know I’ve got this field producer Andrew Bradley is the first is that the first yeah so all right the players was the first one Andrew Bradley’s great and the players was fantastic this is this is where it like began this is where Nolan Ryan came out at the players and so it was it was Thursday and U Jeff fabian’s like the onsite Night Live from producer and he’s a grumpy little uh Philadelphia Eagles fan and I he’s just got this resting like Grouch face and I I’ve gotten to just love this dude and and I had my family there it was spring break and I come in for a break and and he’s like hey did you see this drop or he took on seven and I said no but I saw the one he took on 18 he was making the turn to the front side and and so we’re he’s pulled up on his board he pulls up the shot and he’s like what do you think you could do with that and I was like well you know ‘s character is never in question with me he’s certainly not going to take a bad drop I said what if I get some golf balls and I go throw them into the ground and try to recreate the height in which it bounces we can put a camera right where right where this camera is and I can just like show how he had to have uh taken a good drop because if it landed inside the hazard line it certainly wouldn’t be seen and you know I I was out there just ripping balls into the ground and I didn’t realize how ridiculous it looked until I re watched it and I rewatched it and it got it just look it looked it looked ridiculous uh just rifling golf balls as hard as I could 5 feet in front of me straight into the ground but it was a rless Chapman over here at the at the seven old just hurling golf balls at the ground and the best is like your grunt you could just hear how hard it was for you to throw a ball 100 miles an hour but it was so good because you’re like H I mean yeah I mean you can make a case that’s that’s maybe he took a a wrong drop or maybe it’s so good man and then the next night there I I I drilled one into a tree on the same hole when Rory had hit this incredible Escape shot and like you know it’s funny cuz people are like you shank that well I had my son’s clubs which are very flat I didn’t have my clubs and I’ve been standing out there I hadn’t hit a ball in a week I’ve been standing out there for an hour ready to go live and and it it’s just it’s really hard to to sit out there for that long not having you hit practice shots where am I going to hit practice shots you got to go find the golf balls what what was the punch shot Rory hit it was on seven again he was right was right okay and he hit this shot that like he covered this little Pond landed in a bunker skipped up the face and and had like 20 feet for Eagle I just B I just drilled this tree lucky it didn’t come back into my face but I mean you know it it’s been so fun like and I I chunked a couple at the play at the PGA shanked a couple at the PGA and I kind of built this sort of narrative that I can’t chip which I really can’t uh I it takes a lot of mental strength for me to hit a good pit shot especially the easier they are the worse I am at them um but man it culminated at the US open that I had no idea Bryson was going to come out on 18 and I’m trying to hit his 55 Yard bunker shot he had been at the set I thought I was going to get bumped like you bumped me from the Fridays with smiley uh a couple days before and I was going to be fine with it and he I I skull it over the green so worried I’m gonna hit the windows he comes out and it was it was like it was the I I think I should stop doing the reenactments because I don’t know how they’re going to get any better than hitting it you know to 18 inches uh in front of the champ and I was give me that trophy Bryson let me hold that thing when I saw the video I was I was just smiling ear to ear I was so happy where the ball ended up and then BR you could have never prepared me for I I spit out whatever was in my mouth laughing for when you got that usop trophy just like you said just right it just was like so for for the go viewers man it was it was like a culmination of of just we’ve been through so much to get to this point and then we finally pulled not only did we just pull off the shot we did better than than the pro and so that for for all the golf fans that have that have watched the struggles we’ve we’ve been through you through thick and thin and then we get to the 18th old at the US Open and by golly shot of the Year baby it was it it was unbelievable and and the the response from people at Pinehurst last week like I’m driving around in my cart and just doing my thing and people are thanking me and I have no idea why I’m like why are you thanking me I’m having a blast doing this and like you’ve made it so relatable and you know it’s just it’s been it’s been overwhelming like the the response I’ve gotten from golf fans like I just I wish they had liked me shanking chunking and duffing chips cuz that’s all I did my whole career what uh what was the most nervous you were over a shot this through this entire season of live from Shots one where you’re just like oh my gosh it was Saturday at the Players Championship wendam Clark chunked one in the water on 17 he decided he decided to replay it you know and he hit the shot and I I I it was my idea was to go out and show you why it was a good idea for him to replay it and so I walk up I I take the walk from the t- boox to the Drop Zone which I’ve never this my only claim to fame on the PGA tour I’ve got like the career low scoring average on 17 at Saw Grass I never hit it in the water in competition me either yeah boom look at us it was a gap wedge I can you guys not hit it on the green every time seriously so I walked up and I was like you know this Drop Zone to this whole location it’s 72 yards it’s an awkward distance and and I just completely laid I was my heart was pounding the whole walk up drop it and I just slipped and chunked it right into the lake and or Pond and and that hands down the most nervous I’ve been over a shot I remember you slipping you were lucky to hit the golf ball you I’ve never seen somebody slip so bad from 70 yards it was I’m wearing these like uh basically Pro Shop shoes there’s no tread the de had just settled on the fair on the T box and yeah I my footworks not great Smiley okay so after you shank a chip shot at the PGA actually let’s go before the day before when you’re in the middle of the Fairway perfect zoa on the fourth hole just hitting a pit shot and you chilly chunk one the next chip what are you thinking like don’t chili chunk like what like what is your swing thought on a on a on just a simple pitch like that at four after you just almost double hit one uh was don’t don’t chunk it and get it over with as quickly as possible so that’s when I scold it across the green the best after you do that you look up and you say back to like it’s like a back to you type of thing and brandle is always falling out of his chair that’s why it’s just like the silence that the live from set has in those moments it’s just it’s killer man it’s killer it’s been it’s been so fun to to to loosen that show up a little bit I mean I’m not trying to be out there being funny I’m trying to hit good shots and highlight what guys have done but that I I feel like sometimes that show can be a little stiff and too many words and a lot of talking and so to give it a little bit of uh to just change it up a little bit has been so much fun and Paul McGinley we work together at Pebble Beach for the first time and I didn’t know what to think of him I thought he hated me and now Paul is like one of my favorite people like I just like I love hanging out with Paul McGinley he is he is the absolute best dude ever yes he is and uh you make a good point on how it’s a little a chatty show real stiff you know always criticizing which is you know part of what you their jobs are to do is to to analyze and criticize what the players did on at at the golf course that day which I I’m wondering too have you kind of struggled with that at all like criticizing players that’s one thing that people have asked me about is is making the transition into media have you have you found that to be easy or or difficult at times it’s definitely hard but at the same time I I I take it from a lens where you know if they hit a bad shot or make a poor decision if I can look them in the eye after what I’ve said and and be able to justify it uh then I I believe I don’t think I’ve said anything yet that that would really make a player all that mad that they wouldn’t agree with the the closest I came was I was in the booth in Puna last year and wam Clark had a chance to win and I was just completely dogging his putting style and how is toe was up in the air you know a couple weeks later he wins the Wells Fargo than the US Open so it’s kind of a moot point and he putted great but I I felt like that was the closest I came and I’ve done it with Tony fenale too with his putting and now he’s got a different grip in his he’s soing the putter better like mechanics matter and and and I I I’m I’m getting more and more comfortable criticizing players and if they have a problem with it I’m happy to have a conversation of why I said something um but I mean it’s it’s our job right Smiley you gotta you have to you have to have an opinion and you have to be able to tell it like it is and if if if players have a problem with it you know come talk to me and and and I’ll explain myself but that hadn’t happened yet good um as we kind of tie a bow on the live from stuff is do we have anything in the cooker for the rest of the year is it is it the open and then playoffs is that kind of what we’re thinking uh I I’m going to be on site I believe our road shows for uh the playoffs are fed I’m doing FedEx Cup and tour I mean excuse me FedEx uh St Jude and TOUR Championship and obviously trun and the rna’s already approved all the Recreations which is incredible all right I’ll see you at number seven at the post stamp then well that’s that’s that’s I think that’s going to be a Monday Tuesday or Wednesday night thing uh my my studio boss after talking about the US Open he’s like man I can’t wait to see you take a crack at the posted stamp and and and I’m looking forward to getting out there high winds tiny green I haven’t hit a ball all day I don’t know if it’s gonna be an eight iron or a wedge or what it’s GNA be but just I mean I I don’t know if the camera’s going to be able to follow the trajectory of my shot because it could go anywhere that hole is so hard the uh that was the only Open Championship I played was trun and I was in the bad wave I hit seven iron in the morning and then I turned on the TV later that afternoon sunny out and Phil mikkelson’s hitting gap wedge into the hole I’m like this is ridiculous and what my one it’s that whole the seven iron versus a wedge is it’s it’s not even comparable is it is it longer than seven at Pebble yeah yeah definitely it’s it’s probably in that 150 range I think Yeahs about right but the the the coolest thing about that hole is the first six holes play down off the right and then the seven toll you switch you switch back around and so it’s in off the left so you’re the all the first six holes you’re just trying you’re holding the face off you’re holding the face off and then seven you’re trying to figure out if I hold the face off it’s G to go that way so you have to find a way to release it a little bit better and you can’t go left and you really can’t go right either so good luck where where where did you hit it with the seven iron when you um I missed the cut by I think one shot and I think I made a six or seven on this on the seventh hole T okay yeah that’s the ouchies it’s okay it’s okay well I look forward to watching at the post stamp and the uh last topic I want to get to Johnson is somebody that’s in media somebody that was on the PJ tour board uh the policy board I should say is you know having opinions on this PJ tour live stuff and and what’s been rumored is that you know the piff is going to get back into this thing somehow and and there’s going to be an agreement just kind of want to hear from your perspective where you stand now and is has your opinions changed at all uh with Bryson winning is there uh been anything over the last month or so that that that has led you to a point where maybe you’ve kind of seen the writing on the wall and figure out how do we get these guys back together we definitely need to get them back together I I don’t like I’ve heard from a couple live guys like why I can’t believe it’s taking so long for us to get back together and I and I hate that narrative because they’re the ones that that cause the the the The Fray anyway and so the fact that they they’re pushing for us to get back together is really bothering me um me too Bryson Bryson at the PGA and at the US Open made me really want to see us come back I want to see John ROM play I want to see Bryson I want to see Brooks I want to see these I want to see cam Smith I did a walk and talk with him last week and I forgot about how much I love cam Smith the dude is a legend he’s so much fun he’s incredible to watch play golf I want these guys back it’s just I don’t know it’s gonna be so hard like you can’t just go take a100 million and come Waltzing back into the PGA Tour and now we have purses $20 million purses like there has to be some sort of I don’t want to call it a penalty but there has to be something like they have to I don’t know what it is and I think that’s what’s causing I think the getting the money from piff would be great now that we’re in this role as a nonprofit with PJ tour Enterprises I think that’s going to happen but how do you bring the guys back and I think that is what’s the biggest discussion and and what is taking so long is that like do you just welcome him back with open arms and then all of a sudden may you know the PGA Tour has given Equity shares now to uh to players right right maybe maybe these guys have no ability no matter what how long they’re back on the PJ tour they lose their ability to get Equity shares I I don’t know what it looks like but I I know that those conversations have to be difficult because you can’t just burn the house down get paid to do it and then come back in and rebuild it like that’s not that’s not not that life is fair but that’s not going to sit well with anybody on the PJ tour if these guys come back in with no punishment and and let’s say Liv golf uh exists for the next 5 years let’s say it’s around and is you know maybe the schedule can be worked out to where players can kind of work their way onto both because I don’t personally see Liv go going anywhere as of right now just based on my people I’ve talked to um and it seems like the players too over there like it I I think there are some players that enjoy the the concept even though I don’t think it’s uh the best type of Atmosphere for competitive golf I I I don’t like the shotgun I don’t like the 54 holes thing you can maybe sell me on uh I think I wish there were Sometimes some Thursday Fridays that on on some weeks out here that that started on a Friday um but I I just I just feel like uh to your point kind of talking about how these guys have been the first to complain and say hey it’s it’s why aren’t we playing it’s like if this isn’t the old consequences of my own actions type of guy uh it just has been frustrating to hear hear some of the players say it’s and I I know it’s got to be so annoying for the other players on the PJ tour that didn’t take the money that that that did stay and the way I see a Johnson is that Liv is going to be around it’s it’s going to be finding a way to make both of these things mesh yeah and I mean you’re talking you’re only talking about so you’re talking about like six seven maybe eight players Max I mean who who I feel bad for well I don’t really feel bad for any of them but if Liv goes away like what happens to a Cameron tringali a Harold Varner uh these guys that Hudson swaer I mean they have no status when they come back and they’d have to go to Q School um someone said something to me that made so much sense that that we could they all come back and they have no status on the PGA tour you can get seven sponsor exemptions as a non-member and like make them work their way back to status that way which which made sense but yeah a lot of them seem very happy over there to your point Smiley and and I just don’t know does piff if piff invests in the PJ tour they G to continue to throw money at a product that’s not great you really think that it could be around for five years uh this is just what I’m hearing man I’m I’m hearing it’s it’s all systems go right now um so it it’s it’s concerning when I hear that because I I keep thinking that you know seeing that these two sides might come together in my head I’m thinking that Liv golf’s going away but I I don’t think I’ve I don’t think it is going anywhere um and that’s that’s the scary thought and the fact that maybe live golf um exists in the fall and and you have PJ tour and live guys being able to do that but in my head I don’t think these PJ tour guys want to play in the fall I I don’t think any of these guys want to play all year round I think that this entire calendar season and and the way the fall was stru R last year I think the guys liked having a fallof I don’t think they want to go travel to play live golf events and in Singapore or wherever they are I just don’t think they care enough to I mean maybe he Mak a bunch more money doing it but I I think the years will get really quick when you start playing F go as well yeah and they like you just said man they’re making so much money they don’t need to go play in Saudi Arabia or Singapore they don’t the having an offseason was the main goal for a lot of these guys like your buddies Jordan JT that have influence they wanted that fall off without consequence of being behind the eightball come January so I I think the the new system the new season of the PGA Tours a very good thing and and I I just don’t see if piff invests in the PGA Tour I don’t see why they would continue to fund something that is uh that is harmful to their new investment you would think so but we’ll see and and you know this too when we were playing all you just needed to get top 125 right get top 125 you’re you’re in everything I think that we’re seeing now is that these top players they you know they they want it smaller they want it tighter and now with top 50 being into Signature Events they’ve kind of made themselves have to play really well every year like you can’t have a bad year you know in the past like top 125 like these guys would Breeze through that but top 50 is a different animal yeah and I mean top 70 look at Justin Thomas the way he had to finish and played he kind of stacked his schedule at the end because he was trying to make those playoffs ended up just finishing outside him last year I I would like to see these Signature Events have no sponsor exemptions to where you if you miss you miss and sorry JT but you didn’t have a very good year you got to play your way back in I mean I think that would be the ultimate and he’s top 30 in the world so he’s he’s into those but I where do you where you C forever where do you cut the number at like for like I know you’re a guy that wants more players but do you cut a number of like a signature event or do you think 144 like where do you where do you live on this side of the boat as we finish up with The Travelers this week I I I think it’s been nice I think you know I talked to Brian Harmon at the players and he loves the Signature Events practice rounds don’t take forever there’s no cra and player dining like these top players love the smaller field and I would just look at the best golf tournament in the world and that’s the Masters it’s what roughly 88 to 95 players every year I think the number should be in the 90s and I think you cut to 50 in ties every signature event I think 120 is too much you could say 100 it’s a nice it’s a nice clean number but I think just take the model of the Masters for Signature Events have 90s something guys cut it to 45 and I mean because it’s it’s really doing damage to the Monday proam it’s doing damage to the Wednesday proam it’s doing damage to the tournament being able to to to have Hospitality all day for four straight days and and make money to ultimately give back to local charities so I think the harm that they’re causing is is unseen this year but it you know I played the Monday proam at the Wells Fargo I shot 78 who wants to pay that kind of money to go play a proam with me and watch me play that kind of golf the answer is nobody oh what talking about I’m paying money to play with Johnson Wagner that sounds like a hell of a time and I want to I want to play with I want to play with Johnson Wagner soon you me brenon dong we got to recreate our our shallow dive and Jimmy’s pool there’s there’s a lot there’s a lot that we gota got a do coming up Johnson and um one number one is is watch you continue to crush it in the media business and live from and hopefully have uh some some stuff we’re working on together uh in the future whether it’s on off the golf course and always a fan of yours keep doing you Johnson and thank you so much for joining the smiley show thank you smiley man I think you’re crushing it too always fun chatting with you bud all right brother you know I listen to this podcast it’s really cool and all of our fans and subscribers but make sure you like And subscribe it’s cool to see what you guys are doing I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too so please keep it up for all the good people of YouTube like And subscribe you guys have some good takes so I’m happy to come on and and shoot the h