But i just said i just want to hit hybrid. And i've hit hybrid turned it over one bounce out of bounce wednesday night yep you're playing thursday you're playing in the open the day after yep like was it was it did you get a good night's sleep were you nervous we like what it was really really hot. And i actually remember i bought a dyson fan to just try and keep the room cool because it was. So hot and i slept okay i mean i don't struggle to sleep like i could have my house repossessed. And still be able to sleep um but there was definitely a lot of nerves. But with a qualifier you tend to get like bad tea times yeah of course they're not gonna give you good tea times yeah. And i was late late. So i was morning tea time first round no not a morning sorry like a the first tier in the first day. But i was one of the last off yeah. So it was still i feel like it was around 12 40 my tee time. So it was a late early if that makes sense. And did okay. And i was playing fairly good i actually remember i finished bogey bogey which is no disgrace around like golf course i don't know if you can remember 17 18. yeah. And 16 as well as a tough one at the par three yeah. So i kind of let my round slip away and i think i finished i shot four over first round. And i think um i've got your scorecard dustin shot did i finish 75 yeah. And dustin shot 76. yeah you actually didn't bogey 17 you're part seven was it sixteen about. But you bogeyed 16 years is known as one of the hardest part threes in the world in the world yeah it's like 240.. So so front nine you shoot one over yeah. So you had two bogeys and a birdie yeah what was it like having that first birdie on number eight part three by the rep by the side amazing because i remember hit great seven iron in. And then.
Just hit perfect pull straight in the middle from about 20 feet and like all my my my gang my supporters like went cheered because i was playing fairly well i wasn't putting a foot wrong really i was just playing steady golf. And keeping it in play i want to rewind just eight holes earlier first tee on the championship on the thursday first like what the hell was going through your mind there well i just remember being stood on the first tee like looking up at all my friends. And family and like because it was i wasn't on it yeah. But i wasn't i wasn't really concentrating on what i was doing i was just like yeah you're all right all right hey nice to see you i see you like i was thinking like come on we need to concentrate how far do we need to put this first shot you know what i mean what stood there like. And that was then.
The four eye. And the deep breaths yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah sorry i'm kind of joking i don't i just don't want to miss anything i want to catch you like your emotion at the time like it's all i think like the four iron the bullet four ryan that went 250 down the middle of fairway that's good how the hell do you feel in that moment in time i don't i don't understand how you can do it i just remember thinking like just try. And make a good swing and you have all sorts of like thoughts but i was hitting it fairly good at the time. And just hit a rocket down the middle do any because i know right now if i'm saying right now if literally somebody said to me next.
Week you're playing in the open the first two you've got to hit a t-shirt yeah i would keep getting flashbacks of like a horrendous shot. But i would i would think of shanking it. And hitting someone in the head back foot foreign i can't remember the last time i shanked it i don't i don't that's the difference though isn't it because like i'm not being funny if if if you were in his situation at centennial wouldn't have got through that's why he's that's why he's at elite level because you don't think like that one very really that's what i'm trying to digest really get into it doesn't matter i i'm not sure it doesn't matter how good i can possibly play there's always a horrible demon somewhere that that just wants me to hit the same undershot i think that's part like obviously part of golf is ability obviously. But on massive patterns obviously james does much more than we do is that mindset isn't it yeah. And mindset is something you create in your own head it's not real you can't touch it you can't pick it up it's it's something you create in your own head. So if you're in like a good place mentally it doesn't matter how you feel like if you can control that in your own head. And your own emotions it's it's not something real and is it you know i mean like you can't touch it. But again going back to the story we said in the first podcast from 2000 to 2017 you've got rid of those demons by playing a lot of amazing golf like you've spent a lot of your time under par yep a hell of a lot. And it's like then.
It just translates into the open it's just i remember being 16 years old playing in something called the victory trophy at gathers golf club and i think it was 15 maybe at the time actually. And i was a reserve. For the team and i remember standing on the first tee not being able to put the ball on the tpeg and it was a men's event. And i couldn't put the ball on the tpec because i was. So nervous and i was a reserve. For the team and you just think that's laughable now to me. But at the time it was like the biggest thing i'd ever done being a reserve in a men's team. But then.
It just goes up a notch up a notch and you just you look back 10 years ago and you think god i was nervous then.
Like what was the nervous about what do you think would it take to get you properly properly nervous do you think like first tee friday ryder cup. Or 18th hole over a putt to win the masters like what would actually probably get you nervous something that like means a lot so i've always tried to like control nerves by saying this is something you created in your own head. And i'm having this conversation with myself and i'm just thinking this isn't real you just sat here winding yourself up making this something when you're good enough to do this just just hit it it's just a golf shot yeah. So i've always tried to control control nerves by just having a word with myself like that so and breathing is the biggest one. For me like if i can control breathing. And have that little chat with myself saying this isn't actually real don't be scared of it it's only only be scared if it gonna bite you if it's gonna bite you like an alligator of course you um okay. So 75 first round you beat dj by one are you happy with that round of golf i was happy. But obviously 16 and 18 it felt like a bit of a a win windy like finished the round it was it was a bit disappointing because i drove it in the trap on 18 splashed out made bogey. So it wasn't it wasn't bad but i felt like just let it slip at the end even though there were hard holes. And at the time i can't remember you might like how far away were you from the middle of the pack like what was what was the cut looking like i was on the mark right i think after that round of 70th off memory i'm sure i was bang on like what the call is gonna be okay. So then.
From that you wake up on the friday yep are you thinking i've gotta shoot ten under again like you did you know what what's the are you optimistic of making the cut are you are you feeling like i'm not sure if i'm going to do it what was your feelings i felt like i could definitely make the cut um i had i'm sure it was about 3 3 45 tea time oh that's late on the second day. So i woke up walked downstairs first thing on tv everyone's watching is the open oh god yeah. So i'm sat there watching the open i'm thinking getting a bit nervous now like is that weird yeah. And then.
I'm watching it on on my phone thinking i was 70th now 72nd 73rd oh my god. And then.
I might have gone into like 69 through you know like during the day watching my score like where i was placed. And then.
I just thought i need to get out the house like i've got to go out the house everyone around me is just talking about golf course watching golf i'm watching it on my phone i need to get out i just felt like the nerves were building. So i we went to you know dobby's garden center i don't know it no. But i can't believe it no no i've been to one yeah dobby's garden center i mean it's somewhere i've never been before. But i was like just said to my my um wife i said come on we just need to go let's get out. So jumped in that flash x5 nice went to dobby's ball walk around dobby's let's see what kind of time is this then.
Better than mine's enough at 3 45. i see he's like much time. Or 11 o'clock 3 40 time is a really late time would you prefer 6 30 in the morning oh yeah 100 i've always done my best golf early early yeah like when no one's watching just get it done yeah 3 45 is super late. So you walk around the garden center and is it working. And you're feeling more relaxed and more like normal or well living my wife's going oh look at that look at that i'm just thinking god i'm. So nervous i can't wait to just get on that tee and just hit the ball and oh look at that i'm just thinking i don't even know what she's saying to me i'm just thinking i just want to get out and play golf and just have it done um but it was just a weird thing to do i mean i don't go to garden centers. And i'm walking around the garden center just about to play the second round of the open and it was just nobody knows who's like no disrespect no you're walking around this garden center nobody's knowing that you're gonna play in the open that afternoon you feel like stopping at a random person guess what you're doing after what are you doing you're playing them plants you're like i'm playing the open yeah the open championship like today.
I'm finding it it was really random definitely when you're watching it on tv yeah it's something i've always wanted to know are you looking at pin positions yeah watching that holes i played yeah yeah. And how like this are you ever looking at a sloping putt. And going i need to remember that when i play it this afternoon it was more like wind direction. And just getting starting to think about what clubs you will hit off t. So when you get to the course you can do a bit of prep beforehand. And think oh wait like i don't know garcia. For iron off here before when yesterday hit driver or you know what i mean are you ever looking at like a par three. And going guys here at four out here. But i'm i'm feeling sick siren i'm at like do you almost like quit do you remember what you saw on tv six hours earlier. Or not is that just go out your mind no i didn't really pay too much attention to that. But i remember playing practice around with him thinking i'm actually quite long here but i was in like a big bomb draw slinger at the time. And i remember thinking i i'm quite long that's crazy because i just thought i'll be 50 yards behind all these boys but i was the last one did you think did you think that moving into the open did you think you were gonna what what did you think was going to be your weakness compared to the best players in the world in the open good question i just thought he'd be good at everything. But when you play with him you just think he's got two arms two legs he's he's not actually doing that much different i was gonna say when even when you did your practice rounds were you like were you blown away by the performance compared to what you i felt like i was the pro. And they were the amateurs in the practice round because they just flushed it like in the practice rounds did anyone ever say anything you're hitting it really well. Or is it just. So like normal it's just normal to them like they don't they don't really comment like sam after the practice round said like you're hitting it good like let's just keep going. And i just kept going to the range hitting more balls before you know it i started hitting it poorly um. So tia the first t for the second round then.
It's 3 45 you've been to the garden center you've had some time to try and chill out have a cheese sandwich how did that t-shirt end up going um you went another good one didn't you yeah i i did all right i didn't start the round too badly i think it may have been one. Or over earlier the first oh do you know what i did i hit perfect t-shirt down the middle i've hit seven iron into about four feet three jabbed what yeah. So it was a swinging left to right i remember it fast green. And i rammed it a little bit past it caught the top edge and spat it down the hill and it went maybe five feet away and then.
Missed that puck coming back so all of a sudden i'm stood over this four foot of thinking i'm well inside the cut too oh no i've just gone outside to cut mark oh no in one hole. And then.
What did you shoot that round i shot myself no i actually actually matched my score 81 yeah he did well i was doing okay. And you can remind me of that that number the snowball you had a snowman on number seven number seven four. Or five that's the powerful it's up against the side it's it's the whole after hogan's oh yeah yeah. So the par five i think i've made par there played that one the first you made five pass on a row yeah. And then.
Stood on the seventh and i've been hitting three eight so well for like weeks on end i don't know why i didn't pull it out but i just said i just want to hit hybrid. And i've hit hybrid turned it over one bounce out of bounce so i've said to sam go. And give us another one and he said same club i was like yep i can do this i can hit it down the middle same shot hit it overdrew one bounce over the fence out of bounds. And then.
Sam was like same club i was like yep there's absolutely no reason why i can't hit this club down the middle it feels like tin cup your whole story's felt very tin cup until this point as well i know it's like i'm not changing club like this i've got the ability to at this club down the middle. So put it down spanked it down the middle made par with my third ball but made triple well weirdly i've got i've got a video and i've just i sent it to guys morning did you wear the blue outfit on the friday you might remember good question. But on the on i've got a t-shirt of you on the sixth hole so before the snowman yeah absolutely striping one down the six on hogan's alley. And i think i've done that to you yeah yeah loads of loads of footage. So it was the whole after that it was the hole after that yeah. And i just i just hit two turning over ones but i look back to that moment and i just think why was i not hitting three out of head height the same as i did all the time why was the hitting hybrid like he wasn't going to go any further than the chasing three iron. And it's just stupid so then.
When you've you've had the eight and you've finished the round 81 you've kind of signed your scorecard and essentially that's your open done what's that feeling like is it kind of happy out the way you regretting anything. Or going back to that moment where i made eight i remember like thinking that's it we're done not gonna make the cut it's over um back to work just all negative thoughts start flying in. And i played a few holes and i just thought i just want to get off here like i'm not enjoying it one bit just brought back all the old emotions of why i stopped playing golf um i must have been like a nightmare to work for then.
But sam's just saying just step back have a look at what you're doing here you're still in the open let's just try and enjoy the rest of the round and it took me a few hours to come around but then.
I was just. So disappointed in myself for making that eight because as soon as that happened it was i mean birdies are. So hard to make around that golf course it's unbelievable and i needed like five or six of them and you're thinking that's not gonna happen so the disappointment in myself just it just rattled me and um sam gave me a talking too and said just try. And enjoy the rest of the day we're not going to do it. But you're playing in the open just remember this for the rest of your life um kind of took me a few holes but i came round started to enjoy it and obviously finished with an 81 but all the damage was done on that one hole done. And then.
Did you stay. For the weekend or did you just head back down the road. Or what was the plan uh i said nine o'clock lesson on saturday morning yeah well i started filling my diary back up. And i thought i'm not gonna earn any money here i'm getting home.
