Shane Lowry and Smylie Kaufman reunite during “Honda” (now Cognizant) week to relive their opening of the 2016 tournament broadcast by promptly hitting two balls in the water and getting fined for their reactions. Shane explains why he would solve golf’s distance debate without rolling back the golf ball, and proposes an alternate solution. Shane also relives the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, and why he bristled at the suggestion that he was the “last” pick on Team Europe.
0:00 Shane’s stay-at-home dad job this weekend with his daughters
1:28 Do his daughters like to play golf?
2:56 Shane’s Gaelic football heritage
9:34 How Shane picked up golf in County Offaly, Ireland
16:47 Shane and Smylie’s wedge practice as kids
19:14 The evolution of Shane’s opinion on Florida golf
20:24 Shane puts together the perfect Ireland golf trip
28:21 When Shane originally moved from Ireland
30:43 Discussing the WGC at Firestone CC
32:04 Living and practicing in Jupiter, Florida
33:13 Shane’s ball-testing day with golf balls that would conform to USGA + R&A rollback
35:59 Shane’s proposed solution to increased distance in golf
38:28 Shane recaps the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome
40:52 Responding to doubters after Luke Donald made Shane a captain’s pick
46:22 What makes Sepp Straka such a good player
47:38 Shane on his battle with Sepp Straka in the rain at 2022 Honda Classic
49:06 Shane and Smylie relive their infamous tee shots in the “Bear Trap” at PGA National in 2016
#golf #golfing #golflife #progolf #progolfer #golfswing #rydercup2023 #rydercup #ireland #irelandgolf #pganational #pgatour #hondaclassic #shanelowry
Shane Lowry thank you for joining the uh Smiley Show I mean I I will say I think you’re probably one of my favorite players on the PJ tour to play with always just such a joy to play with and uh Shane you’re joining us down from
Jupiter the week of Honda I’m I’m being told right as you walked into this uh conversation that you were full dad mode this entire week I was well I um I actually I was quite busy my wife’s been away the last couple of days uh so I’ve
Been holding the Fort here at home and she’s actually arriving home tonight so I’ve been running around for the last hour trying to get the house clean to make it presentable for her and uh yeah but it’s it’s been nice but it’s been busy I’m like uh stay at home Dad
Um yeah it’s great no but I’m not sure it’s for me it’s It’s a Grind man it’s an absolute grind that it makes us makes us appreciate our our wives on on how incredible they are with their children especially my wife who’s currently giving my daughter a bottle as we speak
So it’s it sure is nice to to have that that type of teammates and and Shane you have two daughters am my right I do yeah have two girls six and two so um yeah it’s we’ve had a great time the last few days uh but yeah I mean just the early
Mornings and the constant going um yeah certainly got a good appreciation for what my wife goes through day to day is your is your oldest fancy golf or no she gets a lesson once a week she goes with her one of her best friends yeah so uh
They go and they go to the diap reserve out here uh down at Jupiter and uh yeah they love it to go Tuesday after school and I went for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t really like I kind of sat on and looked from afar but
Uh I liked what they were doing you know he seemed to be disciplining them you know they were doing what they were told and she she actually could hit us which I was pretty impressed by um amazing but she can kind of she’s she’s so busy doing everything I mean kids you’ll see
It in a few years when they grow up I mean they just every day after school there’s an activity on and golf is one of those so um yeah she she actually hasn’t asked me to go out and play yet she hasn’t really said to me dad can I
Go play golf with you yes uh I’ve brought her out a couple of times and she prefers like the halfway house and all the snacks that’s kind of that’s her favorite part of the day why wouldn’t it be you know that’s for all the it’s probably my favorite part of the day as
Well to be honest that’s incredible and and that’s the cool thing about you know kids in general especially when they have um a famous dad and and a famous athlete like yourself who is as good in the world at what they do in their craft and you know
She’s not she’s not ready to play with with Dad yet she just you know uh she’ll get there one day whatever her friend she will hopefully one day but uh I wouldn’t push her into it she can do whatever she likes that’s amazing and you know we were just at this rickon
Shoot in LA and I was talking with uh Michael Jolly while you were doing something with one of the shoots and he was like did you know uh that Shane’s dad is a a famous rugby player and I was like is is that right because I I
Googled no it’s a g GIC football like Irish football okay so what is that it looks like rugby when I looked at it on YouTube get just give me the give me the 411 on all this uh it’s kind of a cross between soccer and rugby okay all right
See this is to me so you’re going to have to explain this it’s not so it’s it’s a field so the field is basically the field is 150 yard yards long say Okay um and it’s pretty the same weight as like a football field NFL field yeah
Um and it’s got a soccer goals but with an NFL post I I was so confused like on YouTube I was like what this looks like rugby they just kicked it up in the air through the field goal thing so I figured that was it and there’s like 15
Players on 15 it’s a fully amateur sport they don’t get paid uh and like I think that’s what’s the the amazing thing about it is you play for the team wherever you’re born so like wherever you’re born that’s the team you play for um so it’s kind of you know that’s
What’s great about it as well and uh yeah like you know the finals are on every used to be September it’s in like early August now you get 82,000 people there at the finals it’s it’s a a pretty big deal wow okay all amateur yeah so um
Yeah they don’t get paid and uh you know some might say they should um I I think it’s like it honestly it’s a full-time job you should see what they like I I know a few of the players that play and uh I keep a close eye on it like only
This past weekend I was watching some games um and watching my team play and uh yeah I don’t know how they do it to be honest because they they work a full-time job and they train five nights a week and then they play game at weekend it’s yeah it’s uh it’s
Incredible what to do and and you know at the end of like not many of them obviously the team that wins the championship at the end of the year it’s huge for them but the other guys are just struggling along at the lower levels uh they still train as hard as
The guys at the top so yeah so my dad yeah sorry that’s a longwinded way of putting it but my dad won in all all Ireland which is a champ National Championship in 1982 yeah he was on the All-Star team in 81 uh so yeah and and
Not only um his two brothers were on the team with them as well that won the game won that game and it’s also it’s like one of the most famous games that’s ever been played because it’s like uh my team is from is off uh that’s where I’m from
And we were playing against Kerry uh which is placed down the southwest of Ireland um and they’re they’re the best best team of all time and they were under way to win a five in a row and my dad te beat him for a five in a row so
Yeah very famous game so uh are they are they’re like position I in this because I need to go watch some film I watch tape a goalkeeper there’s 15 players on 15 there’s a goalkeeper then there’s six backs two two midfielders are called and there’s six forwards okay and uh I mean
The game’s changed a lot over the years the players are a lot fitter now they’re they run a lot more the positions are kind of gone out it a little bit it used to be that you you got your position you know like say a corner forward is where
My dad used to play and he he would have to stay down in the corner when the ball came into him that’s when he got it um but now they kind of roam around the place and they just kind of it’s a bit of a it’s gone it’s very tactical now
Yeah and Shane there’s no way that like I imagine that you had to have grown up playing this game oh I did yeah yeah I did I I loved it to be honest I played I played uh I played all sports really but I played up until I was about 17 or 18
Um so I played quite quite long and uh I loved it I play corner for like my dad of course corner for you don’t have to move that I was about to say right it seemed like that was the guy that doesn’t have to go quite as much the midfielders are the
Guys you do not want to be midfielders are the ones are the backs where you have to like track around and run after people that wasn’t me but I was pretty good when I got the ball I could score I was well able to score so I was like
Talented that way but uh yeah thankfully I found golf yeah how do you score so what is the scoring system for it so there’s a the goals which is like a soccer goal U and then there’s like a post like a football post and you get
Three three for putting it in the net three points and you get one point for kicking it over between the post yeah because there’s nobody guarding the the post but there’s a keeper guarding the like a normal soccer goal and can you you just throw it on the ground can you
Run like no so you you catch it and you kick it and you’re only allowed take four steps four steps with it in your hands and then you’ve got to it’s called you play it so you can either you can kind of kick it it’s called a solo you
Kick it to yourself oh which is like yeah so you throw it on the ground kick it up and and keep running you just throw it onto your foot and kick it up yeah and that’s it resets the clock and then you can go do that that’s you get 4
Seconds again yeah but it’s it’s full it’s like a 70 minute game 35 each half okay and it’s it’s full on yeah is there any other like Ireland golfers that are that I would know of that grew up playing this game so like Paul mcy played at a decent level okay Harington
Played at a good level pork harington’s father won an all out of Medal too really yeah um for cork um yeah there’re the two I can think of off the top of my head yeah goic football I I wrote it down thinking because I watched the video like this
Dude just kicked it through the uprights this got to be rugby and but I wrote that down I was thinking like I it said Irish football you’re going you’re going on a golf trip aren’t you to Ireland oh yeah yeah that’s we’re about to get into
That and so we might as well get into that right game in what’s that you try and go you should try and go to a game when you’re there oh man you think I’m ready for that oh yeah Guinness Guinness go to a game why
Not oh boy man um I I would love to I I’m a big big sports fan doesn’t matter where it is I’m I’m a I’m a guy that if you just get me to a game just let me bet on the home team and let me bet on
The over and if you just find me a couple of beers then I’m going to have a great time you know what I mean yeah that sounds like a great there and and you grow up in all right so is it count offley County offley County offley okay and that’s kind of
Right in the middle of Ireland correct yeah right in the middle it’s about an hour it’s about sort of 60 miles west of Dublin and when did you get started in the game then because it sounded like you were playing uh you mentioned all sports but uh it sounded like GIC
Football seemed to be a little bit of your focus for quite a while huh yeah um I I like my family didn’t really play a few of my uncles played but um I start I start playing golf like I got a club in my hands maybe
When I was N9 or 10 and but I didn’t really play Then till I was about 12 um they built a golf course that I grew up on they built that about five miles from my house in 1997 in 97 so like uh was course it’s a
Place called escar Hills right in the middle yeah uh just outside a place called tore um so they yeah they built that and then I just said to my dad one day I want to go play golf and he was looking at me weirdly like why would you
Want to go play golf who plays golf so um I think he’s pretty happy with that decision now youday yeah I just went out and to be honest I just fell in love with the game straight away uh like from the age of 12
Or 13 like it’s all I did all day every day any any minute I got I remember even when I got like later in my teenage years and when my friends were going out to party and stuff like I just wouldn’t go with them on a Friday or Saturday
Night and I just stay in so I could go play 36 holes the following day I just loved it yeah that was it and you mainly just played at esar Hills growing up I did yeah and then as I got older obviously I I played started playing in tournaments and moving around the
Country a little bit and right we’re very fortunate in Ireland like we’ve got some very big tournaments on some great golf courses and um yeah play all those gr up so uh like learned my golf really on Parkland golf but obviously I played a lot of Links Golf in tournaments as I
Got older so Parkland golf explain to me what that is I’m I’m Parkland is like Like Us Golf like like know Tree Line course gotcha gotcha gotcha you know yeah yeah gotcha and I was uh I I I had forgotten that you had won the Irish uh
Open as an Amer correct and that was in like 2009 against Robert Rock who had the best head of lettuce on his hair still does still does yeah I mean take me back to 2009 in that moment because I mean we just recently watched Nick Dunlap win at the American Express you
Had to kind of think to yourself that that kind of brings back a little bit of memories I know it’s not a different different setting and it’s your home home state but still pretty cool right yeah it it did bring back some memories and um like I remember in so in 2009 I
Was quite fortunate the time I came around I remember so I was around the time of Rory like Rory’s a couple years younger than me but he was always a couple years ahead of me few years ahead of me when it came to like the tournaments and stuff back home but Rory
Was obviously the best player best amateur in Ireland at the time and I was kind of in behind them in the pack behind them and uh I remember amateur golf just became so big back home and we go out and play tournaments and there’ be like you know a thousand and people
Out walking the fairways watching the golf and and then when Rory turned Pro I kind of there’s a few of us just took it over from there and I suppose early 2009 I was one of the best amateurs in Ireland I was after winning a lot of
Tournaments and uh I asked I asked the golf Union for an invite to the Irish open because they they used to give them out and then they stopped giving them out for a year or two and and I just had never played so I just wanted to play uh
So I called them up one day like in about I’d say February or March and I was like is there any chance they can play the Irish open and they were like got back to me and they’re like yeah no problem and I went place called B Trey
Which is where I was that week I remember I was just happy to be there and my first ever Professional Event playing on the European tour I was just like oh my God like what’s this and I opened up I shot uh five under the first round and 10 under the second round
Leading by Leading by two going into the weekend I was like this is just I couldn’t believe it to be honest and then obviously I went on to win and like incredible how much that kickstarted my career I obviously got my card in Europe I turn pro right away oh yeah remember
When Nick when Nick Dunlop a couple weeks ago when he when people were talking about him whether he’s going to turn pro or not I was like I If he was thinking about not turning pro I just like to talk to him for five minutes but yeah he he did so um you
Know and even like you know I’ve I’ve watched a little bit of him as as he started off and it’s not going to be all playing sailing I think I was kind of maybe at the time I thought yeah this is going to be pretty straightforward but
Um you realize when you go on tour it’s it’s not as easy as you thought it was going to be and you just need to trust yourself and believe in what you’re doing is right and keep going yeah and I think that’s going to be great advice
Nick’s a hell of a player and it’s gonna he’s going to figure it out I mean he obviously he’s already won on the PJ tour at a young age but still like you said it’s there’s so much that goes into learning all these new golf courses and
Playing against the best in the world which he’s he’s got the talent for it so I’ll be looking out for see what Nick can do and and Shane from watching you over the years I still think that you probably have some of the best set of hands I’ve ever seen around the greens
Just you’re just lethal chipping and um you know is do you credit that to where you grew up is that something about the golf course you played growing up at esker Hills is there something about that place or did you just come kind of naturally to you yeah so like growing up
I never really got many lessons if any lessons at all really I met my coach when I was 17 um and he was probably the first coach I’ve ever had so before that I like we didn’t have a a driving range or a putting Greener short game area at the
Golf course I grew up at uh it was just a golf course and that was it you used just go play and I remember when I spent it the evenings and the days I spent on my own at the golf course I would uh go out and just chip around the greens and
When I when I think back in and I’ve thought about this like over the years um there’s a lot of like raay greens with runoffs around the course that I and you needed to be able to kind of hit the ball high flop shots you know have
Some decent hands to be able to hit the shots and and I think I do credit that somewhat for you know the hands that that I got because um like I can’t actually emphasize or stress how many hours I spent out there just doing it
And I was only I wasn’t doing it to practice I was just doing it because I love doing it and I didn’t want to do anything else um and yeah I just that’s what I did every day I I and I go out and I I if the course was quiet I’d find
The green that was you know nobody around and the green Keepers couldn’t find me because if they see me they wouldn’t be happy but yeah I just spend spend hours out there and trying to hit different shots and spend a back and do all that type of stuff was yeah was
Pretty cool oh man see I did the same I I grew up and uh I fell in love with the ledge you know it just was my always my favorite Club in the bag I would love go late in the evenings and do exactly what you’re just talking about just hit all
The fun shots uh the trick shots the ones that uh you know personally I I I was I became a good ball Striker but it kind of took a while so I actually found myself in all these funny different places which I’m sure you did as well um over the years especially especially
Goinging up in those windy conditions in Ireland yeah yeah and and like I still do it now like I still it’s something that I love doing is I’m very fortunate where I live here um I’m member of two amazing golf courses and uh like I go to the sh area at the
Bears Club you won’t find a better place in the world i’ spend all day around there it’s it’s it’s the best and yeah just hitting different shots and fun shots and uh yeah like look I and I’ve got good hands um my stats are not as
Good as I would like but uh they can always get better but I do feel like I’ve turned I a bad year last year kind of around the greens and I think that that held me back a little bit but I think this year I found something that
I’m pretty happy with and I’m very excited for the few months I have ahead and it’s funny I already know what that is though CU we’ve done like three ston things on this so I might as well just say what it is you’ve you have changed
Your wedge setup you’ve gone to uh I believe it’s a is it a 59 degree that you have and then a 55 and a 51 see W but yeah but it’s yeah so that’s giv me a lot of options and and also I’ve uh I just figured something out
With my chip and that uh yeah it’s it’s very simple just it’s just all for me um when my rhythm gets off my technique gets bad not my technique my shots get bad and I just and I just need to give myself time to hit the ball so if you
Look at me when I chip I look like I’ve got a long slow swing and I I I look like I’m delling on it but that’s what I need to feel to to strike the ball correctly and I mean my short game has been pretty good this year it’s felt
Really good and uh yeah and and do you know what that came from that didn’t come from a lesson off my coach it didn’t come from anything other than me spending some time on my own around the Chip And GRE at the Bears Club and figuring it out for myself yeah that’ll
Do it especially around those grainy lies that that you’re G to have out there this is the time of the year where my chipping is just you know we’re just going to hit hit the omit button till till about April or May comes around and that that dormant Bermuda it’s
Away actually you know what it’s funny when I moved down here first I hated playing uh Florida golf like the grainy lies and all that but living here now I actually love it’s my favorite stretch of the year really okay yeah like I think I think the next three weeks of
Tournaments are some of the toughest golf that we play all year but it’s probably my favorite stretch of golf I love playing Florida golf now it’s it’s definitely difficult especially Bay Hill just continues to get more difficult every single year I show up there it’s the rough gets longer the greens get
Firmer there’s no friction on the greens and you’re just like okay there’s nowhere to miss it you get there on Tuesday and you play the practice round and you can’t stop the ball in the par you’re like oh this is going to be a great week um but yeah it’s Bay Hill is
Brutal and um I keep trying to figure out how to play I haven’t learned how to play that place yet so hopefully this year is the start of it yeah no it’s it’s not easy I know that and so Shane before we kind of uh before
We get out of the Ireland talk I just wanted to for you I mean you’re you’re a guy that’s been I’m sure everywhere in Ireland I want you to build me the perfect Ireland golf trip and we have a map here that just popped up on our
Little screen that uh I I just want you to just you know if it’s a region or if it’s something that’s like all right if it’s if I had five golf courses to play um this is how I would plan out the trip and we can kind of zoom in on whatever
Area you want to go to no I i’ so I I know exactly what I do if I was picking the perfect golf trip I’d obviously land in Dublin okay um and I’d play Port Mar yep that’s like right next to the airport right right next to the airport that’s like you could
Probably play that in the day you landed because you’d be fine if you fly overnight and you’ll sleep and yeah that’s and then I would stay the night in Dublin because Dublin’s one of the greatest cities in the world uh love that try sample sample a few
Guinness and I get in the car the next morning and I Drive Southwest Southwest okay towards towards a d Manor yep I see a d Manor right there I’d play there that day okay um and then what’s your thoughts on a Dar Manor because it’s it’s not anything like it’s not a link
Course it’s but it’s like like for Ireland it’s like you can’t believe how well manicur is it’s only like it it’s got similar grasses to Augusta um similar Condition it’s uh yeah it’s one of my it’s my favorite place to play golf in Ireland to be
Honest yeah one of like I probably got it’s in my top three anyway that’s where the big Manis JP big Manis program is man Prim was there JP uh bought it a few years ago and and refurbished the whole place and the hotel is incredible as
Well so um I don’t know if you want to spend the night in the hotel there but yeah for just talk about golf um so from there I would actually go to tr oh there it is okay it’s still Southwest yeah that course is incredible what’s cool about it just I mean it’s
Got to be just links then um it’s links it’s I think Arnold permer designed it and it’s uh yeah the back nine is the one of the best nine Halls the golf You’ ever play just incredible it’s like it’s just it’s like it’s just arold Parmer arrived there and it was already there
And he just kind of had to put his name to it it’s just like it’s like it’s just kind of just perfect yeah and then I would go um that’s three courses you want two more yeah I want two more Kar Kar is a great town if you want to stay
In cler it’s uh where’s that it’s further south it’s kind of Inland further south there you go okay yeah yeah yeah I see it yeah that’s a that’s a great town and that’s about an hour from a place called Waterville yep which is one of the best golf courses in the
World that’s right near Hog’s head right yeah Hog’s head I’ve just joined Hog’s head actually so uh yeah I spending a bit of time there over the years that I went with my friends on a golf trip last year and it’s the most incredible place I’ve been to
Like the hospitality the hotel the the way we got looked after yeah it’s right like it’s right beside Waterville so I’d finish my trip there and I’d spend you could spend as much time as you wanted there but it water was a little Lely little town it’s got a couple of lovely
Restaurants and pubs and wow the people are great and yeah uh I’ll hopefully be spending a bit of time there this summer before the opens so I I guess I was a little surprised we didn’t go up towards Port rush I know I know I I was kind of
Yeah you’re thinking like how am I going to get there I’m sure that’s if in a perfect world The Boys in Hogs head of helicopters they might fly in there there you go but um yeah I I would in a yeah I would I would always go Southwest but H
The next time we come back I’ll send you North okay there you go and there like Port Ro Roy County down yeah um even of course Bal Tre is there on the way north of Dublin that’s where I won the Irish open oh wow that’s that’s a very very
Underrated golf course it’s a great golf course so that’s your most underrated course in Royal County down just north of that it looks like and uh man I mean I could do this all day with you cuz I I’ve been researching uh it’s so funny watch like I’m looking
At courses now I’m like oh yeah that’s great as well you could go everywhere you wouldn’t you want to be there for a month but uh cuz like there’s a course over there in the west coast called NIS grown oh yeah which somebody somebody was asking me recently what’s the
Like course that you know not a lot of people would talk about really because people obviously talk about the sou West down in you know Waterville and these places and they talk about the north up in Port rush and stuff but you know that’s stretch you got off there in the
Scroll and Ross’s point and that place called K out way on the west coast it’s not Carney no it’s not Carney it’s K place called Bel M great little town as well um I I’ve seen uh I’ve seen like flyovers of of K and Andis gron and
Roses Point Rosses or roses Rosses I’m telling you dude that little stretch on that northwest corner is it’s absurd but it’s just like it’s not really that it didn’t look easy easy to get to like to me no like it’s yeah the roads yeah
Might not be the best and it might be a tough trip uh but yeah it would be worth it if you did it like the golf would be amazing like we play we play we used to play an amateur tournament they still play called the west of Ireland in
Ross’s point oh really um yeah like Rory won the west of Ireland I won the west of Ireland poric won it everyone won it so was uh it’s a huge tournament and man Harry Diamond actually CAD Ferrari won it as well so it’s yeah how old is Harry in comparison to you and
Rory I think he’s a little bit older okay but he he played around similar time as us as well man this just gets me excited I I I mean I’m very blessed to grow up where I grew up and um I feel like I had access to you know be able to
Chase my dreams and um for the PGA Tour but I tell you what there nothing gets me more excited in this game of golf than than playing in Scotland or playing in IR irel land and playing in these just incredible places in the world and
You grew up there so it’s I’m sure when you return home you just love love being and and playing at all these fun golf courses that you grew up playing yeah and it’s funny like last year was the first year in like forever that I played
The Scottish open that I didn’t stay in Ireland the week before the open and I regretted it like I I actually went to miss the the open for the first time in a few years so I was like you know there’s no way I’m doing that this year
This year I’m going to I’m going to hang out in Ireland go and play some great Golf and it’s something that I just love doing it’s kind of it’s practice and it’s playing lyns golf but also you know you get to play with your friends and
It’s kind of put you in a great frame of mind and it’s just yeah it’s a great thing to be able to do and you kind of get into just shot making mode right you know so often we’re in just technique mode um here in the states and when you
When you kind of get over there you just kind of get lost into playing golf shots that’s it and you know you always get a bit of a win and you have different shots every day and yeah it’s uh there’s definitely an art to it it’s not just
About swinging the club there’s an art of play Link Golf right and and Shane when did you when did you um and and Charlie you can go ahead and take uh take that map off just so I can get full box on Shane there we go get the full
Shane uh in my box now I’ve actually got my I’ve got my hog head I was thinking that was Hog’s head and I should have pointed it out earlier so when did you move uh from Ireland did you move immediately to the state or was there
Another stop or two before you got to the United States yeah so I um yeah we got married in 2016 and we had our first daughter in 2017 so like I got my card in the states 2015 okay um and we we spent a bit of time in America like early
2016 early sort of we didn’t spend early 2017 cuz she was born early 2017 so I lived in Ireland for a few years while trying to play play the PJ tour which was one of the most difficult things that is not easy it’s like I used to do
A schedule where I do two weeks on one week off and I mean I was just jet lag for the whole thing and it was yeah I struggled and and then um we start coming here a little bit more frequent we spend we used to spend sort of you
Know January to May here every year play all you know all all all that time we’d always go home after like the around the US Open yeah or no wentward used to be early so it used to go around around the US Open it was around that time
Um and then we we actually moved her fulltime like two years ago but we spent like the whole of coov here we spent you know we spent a lot of time here um but like fulltime our daughter started school she started kindergarten a year and a half ago so we moved her fulltime
For that um um and yeah certainly spending more time here makes it easier on my career um and it’s better like for practice for everything like living in Ireland was great and all but just the weather the practice was just not as good and then you’re coming out and you
Feel like you’re playing catch up every week but um yeah it’s been great you know so I’ve been really kind of based partly here since about 2017 2018 and yeah it’s working out I didn’t realize you and I got on tour right at the same
Time ateas the PGA Tour cuz I got my card in 15 so um yeah I won I was getting my card remember I was getting my card through the basically I didn’t have my status but through like the majors in the worldof Championships I was I was
Getting it in 2015 but the last WGC was in Aron and I went on W and that got me a threee exemption that’s right okay that’s familiar it’s a shame we don’t play that Golf Course anymore either that was was a fun track you want to
Tell you want to talk about um if I would have placed my golf balls where I was in the first round of that tournament when I played it and I hit one Fairway that day can I mean it’s the most stressful Punch Out golf course in
The world yeah yeah long rough and these small trees remember when I won the Irish open in 2009 I got you that got you into the Aron and I went there like I just turned Pro and I went there and I shot 20 overow for four rounds and I was
Like oh my God that was one of my lower days I remember sitting in the hotel room on the Friday night after shooting 278 the first two days going how am I like how am I going to do this and then like five years later I come back in one
So that was pretty Co unbelievable right that’s just that Golf Course is fun I mean I I hit like one or two Fairways and shot three or four over then the next day shot a bunch under hitting like 10 Fairways the difference in being in the Fairway not in the Fairway on that
Golf Course is like night and day yeah yeah I remember yeah and it’s a hard course the hit Fairways uh oh gosh narrow Fairways and their slope so yeah it’s uh it’s a great place it’s a good one and man Jupiter is an incredible place to practice you kind of referred
To uh let’s see was it was it metalis and Grove is that where you play was it are those Grove be I so Grove is like I mean Bears glove’s got an amazing short game facility but the Grove is I mean that practice facility is you just can’t beat
It so like when you talk about being you know on top of your game and being able to work on your game but also does it does it help you at all to know or at least just to be able to keep your game sharp playing against the best in the
World that are out there as well as just kind of seeing how hard other guys are working yeah I was actually just thinking that um before you said it I remember cuz I remember when I started coming here in like 2016 is uh I thought
I was working hard and I thought it was practicing but then you go to the golf club every day and Rory’s there before you or you know JT is always there or you know there’s somebody the the best players in the world are always there and they’re always working hard and they
Don’t take a day off so it’s uh yeah it kind of opened my eyes to you know what I needed to do to get better and and I think that definitely helped me along the way one of the days I was recently at the Grove uh actually you and you and
I had lunch together I was with Justin and we went out and played that day but you were doing some ball testing uh wh rcks on that day and and I found it really interesting because it wasn’t just the normal ball testing this was like ball roll back testing to see
Exactly what we’re working with and I think it’s actually kind of cool that I’m talking with somebody that can give you a little bit of insight into what this golf ball actually looks feels like flies like comparison to what you’re playing right now yeah and like I don’t
Think many people have actually tested it so obviously I was doing some ball testing for the 2024 ball for shrick son and uh they brought along five kind of prototypes of what the roll back ball is going to look like and it was a pretty windy day
It was like yes you know it was probably a it was probably a 15 mph wind which was like I played it was it was my balls were they were going yeah and then so um yeah they had a few like they had one ball basically that had a different
Dimple pattern that basically had the ball same ball speed the same spin rates but it just went 20 yard shorter okay um so that’s fine that’s off driver but it went 20 yards shorter with iron as well it just went like yeah so 20 yard shorter with like is that is that
Normalized like is there a way to like because it’s a windy day I just don’t like was it these numbers this is all this these all numbers on trackman so no maybe it wasn’t 20 yard shorter it was maybe sorry it was maybe so 20 yards with driver it was about is about
8% yeah 7 8% what they’ve kind of they’ve said it’s like five to seven yards with irons and only no yeah that’s what the USGA and RNA have been saying but that’s not the ball I tested it was definitely uh shorter than that and and that’s the that’s the thing I mean even
Like you know we play courses at the start of the year you know Tor Pines even the North Course of Tory Pines now is a driver mid iron every hole um get your head C out yeah the weather was cold in Phoenix you know all of a sudden every hole feels is That’s
Supposed to be a wedge hole was a driver seven iron it’s uh so like you add in 20 yards off the tea and another 10 or 15 yards with an iron it’s uh all of a sudden the hole becomes very very long and um I I I’m not sure how it’s all
Going to play out I I think there will be some sort of a roll back but I don’t think it’ be that quite that severe um but yeah it certainly was very interesting like when you know I’d hit and obviously you look up and you’re expecting your ball to come out in a
Certain window and it just doesn’t and you’re just like oh my God this is uh this is going to be very interesting when it does happen so Shane as it stands now you know where this golf ball is is set by the USGA and RNA kind of where they are setting the initial
Guidelines for these golf ball uh manufacturers you know to to make these golf balls I mean for as we kind of grow in this game you know the game of golf is growing so much but would this not just be a a shot in the heart for like
All golfers if they have to go to this type of golf ball CU it seems seems like distance is a good thing yeah I mean I I just think the only thing I think that’s wrong uh that’s not wrong because I think golf is great and I think the game is great that
We play um like I think if they wanted to change it I don’t understand why they just wouldn’t make a smaller driver like I think the driver is too easy hit at the minute MH I’m probably going to jinx myself the rest of the season now and
Drive it [ __ ] um like I think like if I need to hit a fairway I hit driver yeah my three-wood in fact I took my three-wood out because I don’t hit it anymore cuz I’m like I just hit my driver and you know if I really need to
Hit a fair I hit a three iron or my fivewood because I like my fivewood you know it’s kind of like um so I just think if you look at guys if you make the driver head smaller uh guys are going to have to use more Loft like the
Guys that use 8 degre Loft we’re going to have to use a bit a little bit more because on a smaller head it’s going to be too little Loft right is that that would be yeah and they’re going to have to swing it a little bit easier because you know
They’re going to the center strikes are they’re going to have to be more you know careful with Center strikes because if you hit it off off the heel or the toe on a smaller face is not going to go as good so I just think that’s how I
Think I don’t understand why they just you know you see the tailor made mini driver like why you don’t it just make the driver that that that size yeah that it seems I think might fix a lot of problems but who knows and you’re not the only person to kind of echo that
Those same comments we had Adam Scott on he said the exact same thing he he kind of just said you know what the ball is the ball we we don’t think that’s he didn’t really think that’s that big of an issue it’s just make that thing smaller because when you get nervous
That’s the one Club you’re grabbing right now yeah exactly yeah if I need to hit a fairway to give me that driver all day like you know first t a rer cup first T &t of a of a major with a power to win you just want to be able to hit
Your driver and that’s it you don’t want to be hitting anything else well what’s talk Rider cup and were you did you tea off um in the alternate session were you on you say you’re the fa I was on evens yeah was like so sep sep was your
Partner and sep stro is a good friend of mine Birmingham Alabama lives 10 minutes down the road for me right now so I can go knock dingdong ditch him right now if he really wanted me to on the Range on is that a Wednesday or Thursday I think
It was Thursday and Eduardo monari was our stats guy and uh I went over to him I think it this was on Wednesday and I said Eduardo had I call him over and he came over and I said what you know what way do you see sep and I playing the
Course and he goes the way the way I I see it is you should play the evens and I just give him the biggest H Ever I was like thank thank you so much so so sep had to sep had to hit the first te and
It’s funny right so sep is like you know SE very well he’s like very laidback you know quiet kind of walks quite slow he didn’t really get too flustered with anything and and Luke said to me on the Thursday you know we’re were playing a practice round Luke
Said to me you know Shane sep’s a little bit you know different to you he’s kind of you know not as kind of fiery or not as you know a little bit different so because it’s his first one just be wary of that and kind of stay with him and
You know don’t go marching ahead and just kind of you know be with him and look after him for the this so I was like okay yeah cool yeah no problem cheers Captain yeah whatever and then we get to the first te on Friday morning and we’re we’re on the tea and se’s
Obviously just about to tea off and Victor hland his his shot comes up on the big screen uh live on the first tea and he chips in and I’m like running around the first tea and steps steps running around the tea after me and he’s
Got to hit his t- shot and it was quite funny and he he hit it left into the roof but like it was it was fine like um you know it’s it’s one of those t-shots it’s a very daunting place to be so we just laughed at it and kept going
Man I mean just I mean Rome was incredible but talk about the buildup before Rome because you know you did have to rely on a pick from Luke Donald and I tell you what golf Twitter was in a weird place at that time because everybody whether it was JT it’s like
How are you going to pick this guy he’s like wow I mean JT’s got a pretty dang good record I could see I could see why wouldn’t you JT was one of the American’s best players that week as well so I and and so for you shanee like
Was it difficult during that time you know feeling like you know I just I deserve a pick but also other people feeling like you know they can go in another Direction like was that hard for you at that time yeah it was so I remember the day I got the pics were
Announced I obviously got the phone call before that but um look I I’d be the first to admit I didn’t have the best season last year um but I I felt like uh I was playing at a very high level yeah and that I was finishing sort
Of to 25th 15 to 25th every week MH and I felt at the level I was playing at PJ tour Majors consistently I felt like it wasn’t bad I wasn’t missing Cuts I wasn’t you know I know I didn’t make the playoffs uh Miss down those I finished
Like 76 in the FedEx um but I still felt that I was playing good enough golf my stats you know if I look at at my stats sort of the start of the year I hit the ball great I put it horrifically from May onwards I put it pretty well um and
I was pretty happy where where that was at um so yeah going back to like the day the team was announced was the Monday and I remember yeah my phone was just blown up with uh yeah negativity which is wild because it was a weird place for me to
Be in I just had this great feeling of getting an oun and ryer Cup team and then you know I had to kind of fend off a few a lot of tough questions especially you know the Irish open in wentw two weeks after that so um and I remember thinking I remember thinking
Like you know the way the way it was last year let’s be honest it wasn’t like you know European players were winning everything that was going we you know we did end up having a having a great team but it kind of came together quite late
Um you know six months before the wrer C people were saying where are they going to get 12 players from um you know and and that’s the way it was and uh you know obviously we had lud coming along and and Nikolai made a charge um can’t
Even remember who else got the picks but uh yeah it was it was yeah I I was sort of sing I felt like I was singled out as the one that got the 12th pick which I was kind of a little bit pissed off about as well um but I said to myself
I’m a big boy I’m able to handle this if this takes the heat off one of the rookies uh going into the into the rer C I don’t really mind like I I’ll answer the hard questions and I got the arish open I remember you know the journalists
Were on me a little bit about Moran not getting picked and you know yeah so yeah I I answered him as well as I could have um I thought um I thought what I did in the last rter cup in the few years leading up to it I
Thought yeah I I deserve to be picked and I think I showed um I certainly show behind closed doors while I was picked um I think I showed some on the course I thought I had a pretty good rer cope the way I played um you know Sunday I I felt like
I showed a lot of great in determination been Tre down against Jordan after five holes and coming back you know been one up play the last um I was very proud of myself for that uh and yeah I I don’t think even since that I’ve seen certain things written in the media about
Certain players um I don’t think anybody should be having any arguments with any of Luke’s picks consider and the way we played um and you just have to look at the first day uh we all made at least half a point on the first day and that’s
I don’t know if that’s ever been done before everyone’s contributed to the team on the first day and that’s that was incredible and yeah very grateful that Luke picked me though like it’s it’s it’s a it’s a big big kind of honor and I said it to him under Sunday
Evening you know he showed his faith to me and you know it’s a big deal for him being Captain he obviously wants to win really badly so he is going to pick the 12 players that he thinks is right and I was one of those so yeah I was yeah I
Was pretty happy and I’m hoping I’m hoping you know to be honest what’s driving me on the next what’s driving me on now is the next four years it’s not even the next two years you know we got B page and uh B page next year in 25 and then
We’ve got a D Manor in 27 so uh that’s my uh that’s the reason I get up in the morning now for those for for that kind of carrot angland that that could be that could be really kind of cool thing to be able to do those two so um yeah so
When you when you walked off the green um on that Friday morning match when you and sep got the win was that just kind of the moment you’re like you know what I I deserve to be here was that kind of just proving everybody wrong to
Yourself yeah I mean I I remember the the week the team was picked in Ireland I remember I had a chance to win the tournament I finished third so I kind of w wward the following week I kind of had a bit of a chance going into the
Weekend as well so I was you know I felt felt like answered a lot of critics in those two weeks and yeah to go out in the first morning and get a point on the board with SE and uh I remember we I had
Like a 25f footer on 7 and we had two puts for the win and I left a four feet Shore so I was like not sure SE was me but yeah I remember it’s like there’s a lot of relief there but there’s a lot of Joy obviously as well and yeah you feel
Like you’ve contributed to the team and uh yeah you definitely feel your wor there after after something like that can you talk just a little bit about sap and what you kind of see in his game and what what makes him such a good player um he don’t really do much wrong
Does he so sep is like you kind of he stands up he hits it pretty straight he hits his iron solid a little draw and he chips pretty good and he holds a few puts he’s kind of he’s one of these players that you’re very very
Happy to be his for’s partner I know he was you know what I mean he’s like yes he gets a lot of Fairways he gets a lot of greens when he Misses Greens he’s well able to Chip and yeah he he rolls the ball well and he’s uh he’s a very
Late back character he’s very um he’s obviously very driven as well but he’s uh you know he’s a great person to be around um myself and him enjoy the same things we enjoy we both enjoy yeah so uh yeah he’s uh although we’re a little bit different I feel like
We’re quite similar as well so he’s he’s just a great person to be around we got to get Coca-Cola to give you two a sponsorship with Diet Coke I mean just whether it’s getting y saved me a lot of money and I’ve actually got I’ve got por
Harrington stand in my house this week and he’s worse than the both of us put together so there’ll be a lot of diet caes in my house this week perfect and correct me if I’m wrong on this but at the Honda Classic which is where we’re going to be playing this week actually
The cognizant classic I need to start getting that um on my TV brain but didn’t you and sep have a battle uh the year that sep won you got down right yeah this is all before but still it’s kind of like you had a battle when won
His first PJ Tour event yeah it was uh it was 2022 22 yeah yeah uh I had a two shot lead with five to play um and SE was the group ahead of me and Seth bir three the last five to beat me by a shot but it was like you know
That cor like yeah I mean to that and what happened uh I got to the 18 and SE already heat off and and the big rainstorm came in and SE at hit his Drive 340 down the middle of the Fairway and I hear my drive 247 I mean it’s just
So kind of yeah but and everybody thinks about that but I’m like I keep saying to everybody the worst thing for me was I was two ahead with five to play around that course and I played the last five holes in even par and I didn’t even get
Into a playoff that’s insane so that’s where I felt hard on by SE just birdie Tre last five and beat me and this is before I even knew him and uh um yeah I I didn’t like him after that but I got to like him last year yeah it was it was
A tough one for me but um yeah well Shane you and I have uh played the Honda Classic together and it’s it’s still probably you know I have a couple incidents on tour I mean I have an alligator incident but I think probably one of the ones I laugh about the most
Is you and I playing the Honda Classic together and we have footage that we have got to watch together and I got to get your reaction to what all you remembered so this won’t be the first time or the last time that this is uh played this week oh gosh no all right
You can play here we go today is playing 37 yard shorter than yesterday so T officials given the players a break look at this I remember that you snapped your seven over your KNE ball in the water so far today oh not happy oh see they went oh
Look that was a clean break you know what hard it is to snap a club over your knee by the way if you’re notated lost a and then I uh IC it up and follow shot here 15 yesterday hit about 8T canate that effort trying to trying
To cut a little seven AR in as well I cut it all right too much but oh W apologize for that at least yours as closer to the green were these mic did our golf balls land on the mics cuz they were so loud do you know do you know the Mad
Thing about that smiley you know you obviously noticed that that would that was I think CBS were doing it no NBC NBC NBC and it was that was their first shots that the sh on the broadcast on Sunday and was like me and smiley cruising around trying to trying to finish
30th um and yeah I I remember I actually remember about that uh I remember getting called into the office the following week we both did with yeah I don’t think that happens anymore I don’t think you get in trouble for that stuff anymore yeah because there’s a dump
Button you know yeah we don’t I I remember I remember I I was like get called into the principal’s office and like getting in trouble and getting a slap on the wrist and I remember saying yeah like I I thought I got fine or whatever and I remember saying yeah
I’m sorry but like I can’t promise you it’s not going to happen again see I was the opposite I was like the like the goodie or the the guy that doesn’t want to do wrong as a as a new guy and I like apologize and then uh they still gave me
A fine I was like okay I’m not apologizing anymore if I snap a club over my knee yeah I remember it was you the funny thing about that I remember saying to them uh because we were obviously I think we were lying at best I was lying
Like 25th 30th I think you were doing a little better than I was I think so um and we were both like you know you’re thinking around that course if you finish I start of think if you finish one or two under for the last four holes
From there you might go from 25th to 15th or 12th and it end up in a half teon week um and yeah you do that and then all of a sudden you finish 45th and it’s it’s not a very good week so uh I remember trying to explain this to the
The tour at the time and I was like whatever um it’s funny it’s funny you look back and what year was that SM uh that was uh 2016 Honda Classic wow yeah was a long time ago there yeah you know I remember hitting the shot and I hadn’t hit it in
The water all week and it wasn’t I wasn’t necessarily hitting at my best that week I was kind of getting up and down not hitting in the water and it was you know the fifth 15th hole on that Sunday it finally hit in the water and I
Just totally snapped but then I was so mad and so angry and I’m not even watching you hit because I know you’re not going to hit in the water CU like why would you do that after watching me hitting in the water and so I’m not even
Watching and then I hear you say oh you an idiot and then you hit and then I didn’t I didn’t know you H in the water so I get up there and your your caddy puts his bag on the Drop Zone I was like
Oh he did it too I thought you hooked it I thought you had left I had no idea yeah anyways it’s not wasn’t the first ball I hit in the water it won’t be the last that’s the funny thing and yeah I’m not trying to give you a visual for that
And you did mention the TV side of it too and as somebody that works in the TV business now it is insane to me that that those two shots were live because most of the time these are these are tape shots uh typically when we have
Guys that are way out in front like you and I were which are you know we’re 30th some place those are normally things that are cut and then shown later it’s very rare to go live to 15 for just two random guys that are in the middle of
The pack and even I would I would have argued if I was you because they didn’t actually see your Club break until the TV showed the replay of it I know I’m going to have to talk to my producer about that cuz he’s it’s the same
Producer Tommy Roy that I work for and I guarantee you he was like roll that we’re going to roll that one because we’re going to show it from every angle which is whatever it makes for good TV I was the idiot that did it yeah oh man why uh yeah that’s why when
You see yourself on on PJ Tour live you’re like oh I better uh better watch myself today good times man good times and uh I’ll be down there this week and uh hopefully I get to watch you on 15 I’m not and I’m I’m hopefully going to
Be calling for bir hopefully I won’t see it cuz the only thing I’ll think about is like slicing a sar in the water I’ll be living over in the grand standand oh man well Shane this has been a fun combo man I know uh it’s been a busy weekend
For you with uh being on dad Duty so I I know that you’re ready to get to get to some some much needed rest and Recovery as you get ready for a uh again another cognizant open that that that you’ve won before and I’m sure you’re excited to
Get going this week yeah I’m I’m very yeah looking forward this is one of my uh this is one of my favorite weeks of the Year actually the golf course I love the golf course and I seem to play pretty well I get to stay at home I I
Have por Carrington and his cadd Ronin staying with me for the week so it’s good fun and yeah we we’ll have a good time and hopefully play some good gol and I’ll mention this just as we as we get out you know we just had Jake knp on
The on the podcast and of course he wins in Mexico so I’m just saying there’s something in the water Chang Something In The Water I’ll send you a good few points again in Ireland if that’s the case you you won’t have to pay for a drink in Ireland when you’re there
That’s the case we’ll call it we’ll call it a wash we’ll call it a wash on the guinnesses so that sounds good to me Shane play well this week and look forward to seeing out there thank for coming on thanks Mighty I’ve actually watched a couple of
Episodes of of of y’all earlier and uh you guys have some good take so thanks for uh thanks for what you guys do it’s cool to see what you guys are doing and uh I I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too so please keep it up I
Think you’re doing a tremendous job and and you know I listen to this podcast is really cool and
5 Comments
Fantastic interview, Shane is a great Irishman.
Love ya, Smylie, but you have to work on your pronunciation of ‘Gaelic’ before they’ll let you into a Gaelic Football match! 😁
I cannot say enough how much I enjoy this podcast. If you get tired of it, just block me.
The worst pronunciation of Gaelic I’ve ver heard 😂
Love this podcast! Keep em coming