Jon Rahm im Exklusivinterview

when they slap you with a large amount of money in your face your feelings do change yeah and uh I try not to be a materialistic person but I do owe it to my family as well to set them up for success as best I can right and having kids I think changed that quite a bit so yeah the the money is a part of it I mean I’m not going to lie and say no it [Music] is D who’s on who’s on breakthrough today John ROM uh world number three captain of of the unknown live team and like Chief Defector to live this year we’re going to see what he has to say we’re going to hear about his his upbringing we’re going to talk about his his life as a major Champion then we’re going to talk about the decision appropriately we’re in Miami uh to hear about John and his future why he went to live what his plans are [Music] all right John thanks for being here my pleasure I I want to start at the beginning with you I guess and take you back to uh to your childhood and specifically the first moment that you remember thinking I I’m really good at golf and I curious if there was like some moment in time where you had that realization oh that’s that’s hard that’s hard um I think it was 2009 when I made a jump in my my golf level um up until then I was top five in my in Spanish proia in my province which is equivalent to maybe a county in the US us and uh maybe up there as well on my would be my state but as a best country there’s not a lot of people I mean two million people you can imagine how many golfers we have right so uh I was there I competed on the national level but never did good um and I hit my grow spurt that summer winter going into 2009 and obviously a lot of the same tra stayed but I gained a lot of distance and I think when I first realized my talent uh would be it was early on that year on January there was the first national level event that we had and I came back on on the last round shot what I think was my first round in the 60s uh in competition I think I shot four on there to end up winning by one or two but I finished hours before the group the final groups right nobody expected me and that was the first time I I actually finished and said okay you know I know obviously I’m good enough to at least beat the people in my International level how old were you at that point 2009 so uh that was a long time ago God need to do math no no no no so that was 14 years ago uh in January so 15 I had turned 15 years so 14 yeah yeah so you weren’t someone that was like playing in World Championships from age like 8 n ET no no I started playing at eight or nine as my first touch the club yeah and up until maybe that age 13 14 I played pretty much as many sport as I could even at home golf wasn’t my priority it was just I went to see who became my longer teacher at the time long-term teacher at this at the time um Eduardo thees and he we improved certain things but again obviously becoming a lot taller when I’m playing other sports I got obviously a lot stronger and and helped within golf right I think the biggest jump though was the following year so that same year I win the national championship of my age under 16 I was 14 the next year when I’m 15 in Spain we had the under 21 championship and at that point you’re dealing with some of the best players in Europe and Spanish players only but they’re some of the best and that year I did win that tournament by six and that’s when I thought okay this is a little bit more unusual than than other thing so that would be the first step for me to think okay I I definitely got were there other guys in that field that whose names we would know who are now Pros or yeah and I played on the final round and we’re in the same age so I wasn’t the only one uh there’s definitely some names uh DP World Tour um Sebastian Garcia was Al also on that final group uh Adrian I believe was playing there as well all all four of us are in DP world too Pro players right now there’s probably more that I just I’m not remembering right now and do you think that playing other sports contributed to your golf success long term absolutely uh it’s actually if you see my swing besides my my right ankle limited Mobility uh and story that I have if you ever seen highi I can look at camera if you know what highi is J AI a l a i there’s three versions we play in the B country one is with the the basket hook that people know here in the US yeah yeah that’s the version I pictured yes so same concept but then you can play it with your hand bare hand well yeah have protection but your hand and the ball slightly different and then wooden paddle so I play with a wooden paddle and if you see the way we do it you kind of take like a skip step to then hit it right fast moving ball as well but if you see it’s like shoulder height so if you were to see me see somebody play you kind of get an idea of okay it’s very similar like your hands never go above to do anything right you’re always keeping it kind of shoulder level to then hit it so um I grew up playing that a lot and then when you’re not a daredevil and you don’t want to wear a helmet because you have to wear a helmet uh the subversion we have with h is closer to Rocket ball I mean it’s like a foam plastic ball and then you use a tennis racket got it where if you get hit it won’t hurt it’ll sting but you won’t bleed right that’s kind of not that I ever did but it’s you’re doing some swinging though growing up you’re doing oh yeah various types of I also did Kwan canoeing the Olympic canoeing I was reading that just sorry K2 I believe K2 prepping for this and I hadn’t realized you were such a serious caner how do you how do you get into that as a kid so there was a club right next to it’s actually a big big sport where I come from there’s a lot of rivers that okay you a lot of people Cano on and there’s a club like literally across the street from the neighborhood I grew up my brother did it pretty much everybody in the neighborhood did it and so yeah I joined it can you draw any connection from canoeing to golf it helped with this Association of your upper body and lower body right cuz when you’re sitting in the canoe I mean you’re sitting pretty tight with your legs mhm even though you do push with your feet you’re turning this way right so your hips aren’t turning so you got to learn how to disassociate upper body lower body I don’t do it on the back swing but I do it on the down swing right okay yeah so yeah there’s there’s um few Sports I was a goalie playing playing soccer growing up uh and did a few years of martial arts as well um yeah kung fu is the first thing I gave up cuz once I got the certain age the classes ended at 10: p.m. oh wow and my parents and I said yeah absolutely that uh it’s a little bit too late with all added up right and I think soccer was the next to go and and the other two shortly after because I like golf so much yeah was there enough golf around that that felt like a normal thing to focus on or was it kind of I don’t know isolating I guess to be oh yeah that’s that’s John he’s like the the one Junior golfer around no no no there was more I wasn’t up until I was 15 there was many of them ahead of me talent wise for sure that at least were proven from a younger age right that they were up there for a very long time it was yeah it was that 2009 2010 when I put myself in the Forefront but all those ages before which I did compete in the national championships I was just nowhere to be seen lost in the bottom of the leaderboard um but it’s it’s it is funny like this golf communities obviously it’s be becoming much bigger but in my high school over the high schools most of my friends went to I was the only golfer yeah like there was no other person that ever stepped on a golf course wow yeah did you love it yeah oh yeah uh early on maybe not because it’s so hard to hit the golf ball yeah and it’s a and it’s a tough process to to try to explain to an impatient child uh unlike other things right like with other sports you like soccer other things uh Larry fitzer told me this which is true from a young age you know how to run jump catch and throw and kick yeah better or worse you know how to do it right grip in the club properly and doing the swing and making contact with the ball first try never happens almost very specific yeah and if you make contact you’re probably making contact with the ground before you do it with the ball right so it’s it’s it’s an acquir a learn skill so early on you’re not going to fall in love with it as much as other sports why were you good well like what what I wasn’t good early on till I was not good early on whatsoever was it working through it did you like fall in love with the process of were were you just a really good natural athlete like what do you think it was about you that that made you develop in the way you did like I said the other sports help but I’ve always said and I read this in Rafa adal’s book as well it’s uh that similar to him like I was a competitor before I was a golfer so I love to compete on whatever it was so growing up in any club you have a junior class right so what we did as practice was just challenges right putting games chipping games games on the Range whatever it was we had a net on the right side of the net so a lot of times would be try to hit a hook that goes outside the range and comes back in or how close you get to the net or how high how low do do things like that right that was our practice just doing games and it was so much fun that we would lose ourselves and it and be there all day yeah right that was uh that’s what developed me right I think physically I was developing playing other sports and still growing uh but I was competing against all those people sometimes older players uh trying to trying beat them just at that game I wasn’t solely just thinking about Golf and when did you realize that your your foot made it so that you’d have to swing differently or so that maybe you couldn’t like copy someone else’s swing exactly I didn’t know until day Philips stole me when I was in college already they like oh this is why you do these things I’m like oh well that makes sense yeah I didn’t know until then my my swing coach in Span Eduardo is the one that told me you know John you’re big you have plenty of plenty of speed it’s like how about you focus on trying to hit a straighter CU I pump L points I mean that’s where the short swing yeah I had a strong swing try to overswing trying to high hook everything as far as possible and he said yeah maybe you try to keep it in front of you and I was like all right so we practiced that three quter swing and uh it didn’t take me long to realized that okay I definitely had a future because I started with them like November to practice that in January I one of the first big event coming from behind so uh I went from never fighting the faway to all of a sudden dialing it in not dialing it in I didn’t become a good ball striker of the ball till like junior year of college but just raining it in a little bit a little bit Yeah slowly got better better better yeah and then I mean growing up the way I did playing golf and the high school team did not get me like a lot of Street Credit was not a not a particularly cool thing to do were you were you like a were you a popular kid growing up were you uh were you well-liked in high school did you get invited to all the coolest parties like what was your what was your status well no but we don’t have high school parties in Spain I mean this is not how it goes a lot of people actually have their own friend group outside of the school very easily that happens uh I was definitely not part of the cool kids cuz whoever were the cool kids in Spain at least uh maybe they were up to some things that I wasn’t willing to do um for the most part we never good in class uh yeah it was just not the people that I would have mixed with pretty much every in my life right there they are good good people they’re young you’re just doing some things that you don’t know maybe are not good best for your future and uh I was definitely in when it comes to Spain not nerdier side but closer too cuz maybe we I was I mean I wasn’t the one that got straight A but I was the group of guys that maybe got better grades but we were still playing sports right we we’re very active in that side of the of Spain so uh we’re still playing sports just not doing other things and what was the first step to getting recruited T ASU how did that process start it’s a very unusual story right like I I don’t know how I can explain this without offending the NCAA please by all means but NCAA recording rules if they make no sense to people in the US you can only imagine to us in Europe I mean this no way to look at it where we’re like okay that’s right not right over there in Spain you don’t know that coaches can’t contact you because you’re certain age or you can you cannot do I we have no idea I was telling my D I’m like that I don’t know if I want to go to the US clearly they don’t want me there right like I was in the rankings I was top five in Europe top 20 in the world at one point I’m like I’m number one in Spain I’m like they clearly don’t want me there or or something dur the see like this makes no sense whatsoever until the summer of 2011 I I’m playing this European under 18 Championship representing Spain right so there uh I think the 16 countries six players on each team um top eight after the two rounds going to a knockout section you play match play right so we we were on the second round and we’re on the mix we’re up there and I see somebody I’ll never forget this on the eighth Hall in Prague chck Republic has a San Francisco shirt I have no idea who s or what he’s doing but my grandma had just been in San Francisco with her sister that summer so I just go up to him which I guess is legal and strike up a conversation right uh with my limited English I said that I hear you know great about San Francisco I knew there’s a there’s a decent amount of Jesu there which most of my family is so uh within the Catholic religion so you know I talked to him because we were waiting and he decided to follow me and uh I made part eight and nine and then I birded 10 11 12 13 Eagle 14 and I think came with another birdie I finished second on the stro play portion of the tournament and then I went undefeated in match play played Four sums in the morning singles in the afternoon and we won uh needless to say shortly after that we had I had a full ride offer to University of San Francisco um no other school though that was the only one wow so was a it was a coach or no he was the head coach he was the head coach at the time yeah and uh I was very happy to get the first one the only mistake they made is because I’m from November they thought I was a year behind in school like further back so they wanted me to wait a year in Spain which I was willing to do and then around April May of the following year right 2012 the year I ended up I wound up going to Arizona State a friend of mine who was at Iowa State That was supposed to transfer to Arizona State decided not to do it for whatever reason so coach melson had an a vacant scholarship and uh there was a man who’s now an agent for golfers called Ricardo rink MH who is Po’s agent right now uh he was working for the Spanish go Federation helping players get better scholarships right and he let him know about me and about my situation and uh yeah never spoke to me never seen me play Never I don’t know if ever seen me swing it or not he just I guess he saw my my resume and decided to give me a chance got a oneyear scholarship and yeah we had the opportunity my dad and I had no idea what Arizona state was we started researching and we saw well Phil first thing that comes up and then Paul Casey and then Alejandro kares and then AAR Muno and then carand something like this enough Spanish influence there uh multiple national champions who then became professionals to be like okay this is clearly a good path where I grew up in Spain for people that don’t know is closer to Portland Seattle weather a lot of rain not great Seattle so when they say there’s in a state is sunny I’m like okay I’m gone and uh yeah uh luckily I had taken I think one of my my tests required already I had to take the I believe the I don’t even know I don’t if it was the AC the SATs or something else but um then my second test my second test and uh got approved to go in and we had to wait for the Visa and when the Visa was done I actually arrived with the school year already started I was a little late because of the process being so late yeah is very unusual never did a visit I had no idea where I was going my dad Dro me over at the airport and says I don’t know if he ended up in Japan Moscow Thailand I said bye and he texted me when he arrived there and that was it and that was a a culture shock to say the least right it’s just thing how there’s you know whole industry is built on on getting people into college you know and getting people scholarships and going through the whole process like what would what would be your message to a junior golfer that said hey I want to play high level division one golfs I don’t know if I’m the best example for that that’s why it’s interesting cuz my story is so different like you’re never too late that’s a thing yeah I would say focus more on what school suits you best I had a couple friends for example that all good players all on the national team that W up going to some schools that maybe weren’t the best for the development one of them was from southern Spain had never seen a cloud in his life and he went to Iowa State I’m thinking man you’re putting yourself through something that yes it’s tough yes it’s great for life but man you’re not used to being in in Iowa weather right like especially in winter like you come from sou Spain it never is never below 60 yeah like you know it’s uh and a couple others two of them that that were from Barcelona uh that grew up in a nice part of Barcelona not that they were extremely wealthy but they were well off and they go to Arkansas middle of nowhere Arkansas I’m like buddy culture shock like you are going the wrong way I’m like I’m going from rainy to Sunny you guys are going to the worst possible scenario from where you come from right so that’s what I would say I would say make sure whatever you’re going maybe don’t Focus so much on the best possible golf team or academic school or credentials in the school maybe go to the place where you think you’re going to get better that’s a golfer right because just because you’re a national champion as a team doesn’t mean anything that you’re going to become anything as an individual right so um that’s what I would say make sure you find the best spot for you for yourself to go [Music] to big jump here but what was bigger winning the US Open first major or winning the Masters cuz it’s the Masters they’re very different um and is the Masters but it’s almost because that the Sunday I mean it’s a wind come from behind right I I finish great I play good golf and it’s almost to due to me playing good and then Louis making a mistake that I end up winning it’s fantastic right the Masters I wasn’t leading the whole time but I was in contention the whole time and I was in the final group for a long time and then I had the lead for quite a while on Sunday U then you add the the history of Spanish golf in the Masters right joining those three great golfers that I’ve won it sev’s second win 30- year 40 year anniversary on sev’s birthday on Sunday mik C and I have our number that week was 49 cuz I registered I was the 48th player to register the defending Champion is always number one so I got number 49 April 9th uh it’s Easter there’s so many things that came in together it was my fourth win of the year it was Spain’s 10th major like there’s so many things that came together that made it so much bigger and it definitely was plus it’s aasta I mean it’s I never understood I always thought I well winning a major any of them right it’s great and then after winning one when I’m Augusta and it’s definitely a different feel when you’re Champion there the walk up 18 uh knowing that I had won was quite incredible that’s right yeah what Scotty had four putts the the previous year you could have you could have thrown down four or five putts I think on the 18th green but you only took one I had to hit two t- shots so we’ll just leave it at that that’s right yeah um what do you remember from that day cuz it was a a marathon Sunday a lot of golf and you start off behind yeah I was four behind on Seven Grain yeah and I made birdie he made bogie so that was right away the two back um long day yeah very long day that that that finishing the first round it was just mainly see how close we can get and I didn’t that was my worst golf I played all week those holes and luckily he he didn’t have his best either so he could have taken a big lead and I ended up only teing off two back which two shots anywhere is nothing right and um Sunday I just I just had a fantastic day I mean almost playing that course with the win that we had poy free was incredible and to to hit some of the shots I had at the time and and the pots I needed to make was uh was very very special it’s it’s hard to pinpoint any moment obviously it’s very special when I take the lead on six but there was many moments and shots after that that that made it so much better I mean there were a lot of moment I mean first of all like how slow was it that final day because watching it definitely the pace felt sluggish at times so it was I mean you’re you have to some split tees is just going to happen everybody’s bunched up together to finish before it gets dark um actually I mean we waited a lot on two like we get to the tea on Two And that back tea box you’re just they’re on the tea and then we’re coming in so there was a lot of wait on that te not as much going forward cuz I guess a couple of those holes play a little bit faster I remember waiting up until uh 13 again maybe a little bit on 12 okay but we didn’t wait a lot up until then it’s just the last few holes that 13 14 15 16 stretch was very slow but it’s understandable yeah but then you have a lot of time to think about the gravity of what you’re doing maybe do do you take that head on or do you try to distract yourself kind of why I went to the bathroom as much as I could I mean I’m walking 20 30 40 50 yards in and out I mean you’re not wasting some time you’re just doing something else during that time right yeah that’s all it’s interesting because you’re up against you know arguably this generation’s greatest major champion in Brooks um but it seemed from the outside like maybe you’re doing a couple little things to like assert yourself as as the guy that day and I don’t know if this just me making up stuff up from from the outside but one before you finish yeah you you are making it up in your head okay I didn’t do anything like I wasn’t trying to do anything I was just going up on my day you’re just being you yeah I was just yeah like like can just control myself right so I just going with my with what I was doing now nothing was like intentionally done to put anybody off no no and I’m not implying any sort of like disrespect either because I think you’ve made it pretty clear from a lot of comments how much respect you have for Brooks as a you kidding competitor and a I mean you he’s won how many professional events 12 11 12 yeah yeah uh sorry if I’m mistaken it been five of them are Majors yeah I mean are you kidding you have to respect the guy what he’s done is absolutely incredible five majors in this in what in no time 27 de to now this is the only one that you can think maybe in this stretch is approaching somewhat tiger numbers which is not easy to come by right so yeah you have to respect it I mean he’s done what he’s done was there a moment where the the gravity of it sank in uh the fact that you won the Masters I can you still believe it now like was was there a moment of you know slipping on the Green Jacket somewhere of of having a a quiet time later with your family I don’t know if I can focus on just one little moment right I think uh I’ve been told before that when you win The Masters things change a little bit because it’s the Masters and yeah everything evolved quite a bit right like the especially within the public the level of respect they got from from the crowd went up and and the the amount of Cheers also went up and the attention went up so I think in every which way I could realize it changed yeah uh the best moment I say was the next morning uh actually I put on the jacket to send a funny picture to a friend that which then they made their my my contact picture it’s not my best picture but I have the green jacket on so we can excuse it uh and somebody had sent me I don’t know who made the collage it was me and sevy on the 18th grade shaking hands and even right now it puts me over right now cuz like my wife and I were talking and I saw the picture and next she’s she’s looking at a book or something next thing she looks up and I look up and I’m just absolutely balling she’s like what’s wrong and I’m like I show to the picture and like it’s like it really hits how how important really is just when it comes to golf in Spain just that not even outside that how important it really was it’s funny looking back now because here you are in your live kit and that day was sort of from the outside you know and you guys didn’t really feed into this I will say but from the outside there was the sense of oh here’s a guy from lib and here’s a guy from the PJ tour and they’re going head tohe head um was there any sense of that in in real time for you inside the ropes I think the media tried to make that I think some somebody tried to make that I I never bought into it CU again it’s Brooks and who was behind me Phil yeah and then Patrick Reed I mean it’s not like you can worry about it you have two pass CH and Jordan spe I mean you have three pass Champions and the greatest major player of the last few years I I don’t think I need to be F wasting my time on other possible narratives right uh plus I wasn’t leading either like I still had to beat him yeah and you had to beat as it turned out everyone else too because there was a moment kind of halfway through the round where the leaderboard started to a little tighter yeah once they posted that 8 under is like well you know you also have to worry about that yeah it’s it’s it’s not as it’s never as easy as they make it sound right and it’s never as as complicated as people try to make it like Brooks and I weren’t thinking about where we play golf like there’s that mutual respect like you know how good the person in front of you is it doesn’t matter where you play right so that that was my position I mean I think even Brook said that after the PGA it was like you know I one for me here this wasn’t like a league winning a a title here this was Brooks no it’s absolutely how it should be you play off for yourself period it’s not like yeah I shouldn’t you shouldn’t burden yourself with putting that responsibility on your shoulders right if you’re waiting for yourself things will take care of your take care of things we’re going to find out what the team name is we’re going to find out what the team is do you have any predictions um like an a majestic animal of sorts so it’s like a stallion or like a bull your something something with four legs something maybe something with a main too something Mish yeah how do you say stallion in Spanish uh we’ll find out so we’re here at at livs uh I guess shoot days here media Days by the time this interview comes out you will have announced your team we can see it here what what is your team name legion 13 Legion 13 the 13 is because we’re the 13th team which I guess when this comes out as yeah yeah as public a legion you know they always want to go the golf route and it was a lot of work with marketing uh and the creative team I wanted to want go down like the warrior Spirit type thing and uh you know I’ve always liked Greek and Roman history and mythology along with Egyptian mythology but I wanted to focus on that so you know the word gladiator keep coming to mine Warrior things like that and we’re going down this rabbit hole and at some point somebody said Legion and said Legion 13 and we’re like man actually apart from really sounding good in my eyes it sounds really familiar he was for two things the first one Comic Book cartoon I grew up watching it’s called Aesthetics and Obelix which I don’t know if it’s Spanish or not but it’s um it’s a cartoon in which Rome has conquered Europe right but they have a thorn on their side that is this one little village that they can’t conquer because they have a m a wizard that has a magic potion that gives him super strength so there’s a legion in charge of trying to conquer them but they never came and obviously it’s a cartoon is for kids uh but that Legion is Legion 13 which I understand the premise of them losing all the time is not great but the actual Legion 13 was a legion that was very faithful to Julius Caesar on his way back to Rome to re you know to take over for lack of better word to become emperor right so uh that the sense of loyalty and togetherness and being a team uh with one goal you know charging towards towards winning was something that I really liked and I think a legion is pretty self-explanatory in that sense so um I thought it would appeal to a to a broader margin even though there was a lot of names that I liked like the the Spanish REM mod I liked but that would only make sense in my mind if four of us were Spanish right um the matadors that was good but that was se’s nickname it was the Matador right so there was a couple other names that were really fun but uh I just I don’t know I didn’t feel like it was truly me in that sense and that’s how we ended up with this and then the lion Legion 13 gemina I think I’m saying that right I should be saying it right is the actual Legion their Banner was Aon they have this maroon red and gold color like the Roman colors uh but also my favorite football team soccer sorry is a Athletic Club BB and they’re called the Lions we don’t really have mascots but they’re called the Lions and uh again the lion image is pretty self-explanatory right king of the jungle so I wanted to go on that route and uh that’s what we ended up with here and this will I guess won’t make sense timeline wise but just for a context you’re still in the process of kind of finalizing your team we have one player right now and myself obviously uh Karen Vincent who qualified in Abu Dhabi fantastic player Scott Vincent’s brother so I’m glad they allowed me to to to have him instead of uh putting him with his brother um it’s I mean it’s a great players actually fill in a couple times for players in the the live go last year when they got injured so it’s always great to have somebody with experience in the team and stepping back like how did we get to this point because it was just a couple years ago where you were saying you had a very clear conversation with your wife okay if you had a $400 million contract your life wouldn’t really materially change so I guess by that that definition it probably wasn’t just the money that brought you over unless it was just the reality of the money like what was it that took you over the line you’re you’re explaining it very very rely very clearly now I’ll say there was two instances I think Dynamics started to change right and there was a lot of division at that time M and yes for me to want to change there had to be reasons beyond the money right um so when I said that I fully meant and it is true now when they slap you with a large amount of money in your face your feelings do change yeah and uh I try not to be a materialistic person but I do owe it to my family as well to set them up for success as best I can right and having kids I think changed that quite a bit so yeah the the money is a part of it I mean I’m not going to lie and say no it is uh but again when I said that I wasn’t fully aware that that was uh of what I was saying cuz you don’t really understand um yes so there’s a different emotion when it’s okay this is actually there is a reality here you could get this massive amount of money yes do you think the live contract should be public the way we you know like JJ Watt we we know how much money he makes oh I I I mean being good friends with JJ I I I’m pretty sure he would love to be able to break break the news to the world of how much my contract is uh he is a breaking news guy now yeah this yeah he is so he has the friendships he has the friendships um part of me does and part of me doesn’t part of me does because that way I don’t have to keep it a secret feel free to you can us right now I would get in in in a little bit of trouble and then uh there’s also a point of as stupid as it may sense to some people maybe safety issues when you start blurring out things like that but with every other athlete in the world you do know so I guess uh maybe Reserve sentiment in that sense but yeah was there a part of the the decision that that had to do with your position in the game I mean you’re now a master’s champ you have uh five years of exemption into all the majors lifetime into the Masters Etc like you are in a pretty Prime spot to go you don’t need the world ranking points mhm um was that a part of the calculation yes absolutely um winning the Masters was a huge step towards maybe thinking about it um being extent for Majors knowing that most likely you can play the Masters for life in the US Open at is still 2031 it’s you know I’m set with two of those right so uh yeah it was it was a big determining Factor um you know the Dynamics in golf changed a little bit I think what opened the door for me a little bit is the fact that PJ tour and live golf struck this disagreement yeah so when that happened I was like well we’re definitely coming in together right this there’s something happening so at least I owe it to myself to hear what they have to offer and what their vision is right I at least I figured that I I owed it to myself to hear them out and uh that’s why I did when when the season was over um yeah so June 6 things obviously changed but they they changed a little bit in that Dynamic too right yeah I mean I think it opened the door a little bit yeah yeah of course not only for me but maybe more people again it did change the dynamic yeah is there an element of you going over that where you want to be some sort of bridge and where you like are you trying to affect any sort of change and a larger way of okay well if if John Rah is going over to Li that means that they really have to come to some sort of Deal or was that not a part of the calculation it’s it’s a bit more yeah a little bit you you’re obviously aware that it could happen right I’m not the biggest name in golf not even close right uh but I think I was a maybe a a a heavy enough name heavy for sure you’re one of the best golfers in the world but it’s a heavy enough name that maybe it can actually really get people to like all right let’s sit down and think about this right because I don’t think I’m going to be the last I trly hope that things come together but I don’t think I’m going to be the last big name to come to live gol right uh at some point somebody’s going to think it’s a good idea and they’re going to do it so uh I’m just hoping that by that time we get to a point where it’s coherent and there coexistence in a way and there a path for people to to enjoy the same perks that you have on other tours I mean it would be ludicrous to say that some of the players in live golf then earned the right for certain things last year with the level of golf you played is that simple you can’t say tiller G was one of the best players or Bryson or Brooks Brooks won a major improved to you Bryson shot 58 I mean I don’t know what else you want me to say about a guy like that right so uh and again those are things that I was saying before I came over so yeah um I hope that me coming is is at least you know tipping the scales a little bit for for the World of Golf to come together because I do see a situation and we can end up with a great product for the crowds and and have golf in a better as a better entertainment business setting than what it was before what’s the reception been like from the general public this I mean this this I imagine you’ve gotten a lot of support but this also makes you a more divisive figure than you were before with any decision you make in life some people are going to be happy some people are going to be upset and that’s what I’ve learned throughout this process uh I got to do what’s best for me and my family and that simple I honestly I’ve heard vastly more support than I’ve heard critics and to be honest the critics were pretty much the people that expected to be critics that maybe are just saying it because they say it right the way I saw it is you know if we think about 100% of the public I think 30% are going to be extremely happy for me 30% or maybe around that number or maybe less are going to hate me no matter what and then 30% are in the middle thinking you know count in between some people are good some people are bad right depending on the day so uh yeah I mean I was very comfortable with the with the decision I was I was aware that maybe I would lose some fans but I was aware that maybe I’ll gain a couple you were just in Maui for the uh well not for the tournament but the same week of the tournament I think that no it was the same week so for I saw the stories and I was laughing at it CU I almost wanted to send the picture from me when that story came out at home in my backyard CU you weren’t there you weren’t there no so obviously I won the tournament and we loved that Maui so much we booked it a year in advance and we’ve always gone to a different side of the island early on the week we’ve always gone uh for new years as a vacation and then we go over to to Kapalua and that time of year A lot of times those hotels are are nonrefundable and especially after what happened in Maui uh the community definitely needs it so I told Kelly just going to go what’s the problem let me last time I check where allowed to go to the island so I won the first half and then she stayed with the parents and the kids and went to Kapalua and had a great time I I mean you were home I was home yeah yeah yeah I obviously was aware that if I went to the tournament side may I didn’t want to feel like I was insulting anybody so I went home I saw my swing coach and and enjoy some day with my friends but uh yeah Kelly was the one that was there but I was in Mau that week before yeah what was it like seeing guys from the PGA Tour and how has the reception been from that side because obviously there’s complex Dynamics it play there I I only saw a few some people the ones that I’ve seen some people have acted as if nothing’s changed and obviously some people are bothered by it which it’s fair I I get it yeah so looking forward down the road in four or five years do you have a a a dream or a goal for where professional golf is it’s hard to say right cuz if this if this Union does coming together it’s not a I don’t even know this partnership that’s coming together there’s going to be a lot of politics and lawyers involved like I think it’s going to take quite a bit of time for the US government out of it be Department of Justice or whoever it is for everything to come together right uh and really be said so I think 5 years might not be long enough but for the future and hopefully I’m I’m still playing I want it to be where the best players are playing against the best players and there a chance for for that to happen but I certainly want to see live golf players to be recognized for what they’ve accomplished and their talents right I understand s smaller field I understand there less rounds than convention and golf but that doesn’t mean you’re a worst player right I think it’s been demonstrated last year so I think that there should be ways for those players to qualify for certain things qualify for majors and qualified to earn the same perks that you can earn in other tours how involved do you want to be in that process uh one of the things that put me up was having to be involved in the politics of things so the as little as I can if possible I just want to play golf and there’s people a lot smarter than me for sure a lot more talented to do all that and accomplish that right I’m always willing to give my opinion uh but I’m just not going to be sitting on 7even eight hour meetings trying to figure out what’s best for anybody else that’s just not I’m not fair for that I do not have the attention span to be sitting there for eight hours but I do hope it’s the best for everybody period I hope every professional golfer ends up in a better spot throughout all this yeah and you said that was something that put you off about the PJ tour you’ve been not the two or both if they were asked me to do all those things here that would have been a huge negative yeah yeah and you’ve been intentional about saying this wasn’t about the PGA Tour no I’m forever thankful I I still want to play PJ tour events I still want to play DP World Tour events I’ve said that multiple times right as long as it’s not conflicting with live golf schedule I’m allowed to go play other things so I would love to be able to play the Spanish open I would love to play American Express I would love to play Farmers Phoenix a lot of Court tournaments that mean a lot to me if I could I would love to be able to play right this wasn’t necessarily about playing lless golf or other things it was just a career change for me it’s a new chapter but there’s so many events that I still would love to play that if I L I would go and play yeah this is sort of a half serious question what are you do with all that money dream you to spend this money like y you had you had a decent amount of money beforehand I would think yes I I I could afford pretty much everything I wanted before that’s why they want the money to be a factor uh like I said be M set my kids up but I I I don’t want to sound too To Grim here but we are going to die so enjoy it enjoy it and the what I do what I like to tell my wife is I like to do it in experiences so you know um set ourselves up to have the best experience we can on vacations and trips and things like that I’m sure we buy a couple things actually I know we are cuz I am buying something for more for her than me soon but uh but yeah but actually I am that type of guy I would have spent more money in her than myself CU I’m just when I first turned Pro the first thing I about was an Xbox when I made my first money not a car anything else it was a new Xbox get a lot of Xboxes now uh if you had to look back at at the entirety of your career and and and pinpoint okay this thing about me made me a multiple time major Champion made me a master’s winner it’s because I am this way what is it just one two if you want keep myself looking out like like I’m the Queen’s gambin I’m going to see things up I know L The Columns around this building uh I think a couple things are com It’s a combination or they’re related to each other I think discipline to put in the hours and work uh the commitment you have to that those two are pretty much the same saying thing but um what I’ve always had ever since I was a kid that’s allowed me to get to this point is Extreme confidence in myself right I true believe that I can accomplish certain things uh and that’s why I can go and work on those things with full faith that I’m going to accomplish it so yeah it’s uh I was never the most gifted I was never the longest I was never the fastest I was never any of that right but if I had to pick my superpower it would be if there’s not dedication and discipline it would be the confidence confidence and commitment yeah I like that it’s a little it’s I mean you don’t have one without the other but yeah yeah well you should be confident in uh based off what you’ve accomplished so far so still a lot more to go hopefully a lot more to go John thanks a lot for joining us my pleasure appreciate it thank you very [Music] much