One thing i looked into because obviously everybody knows a story that you gained a hell of a lot of distance and i pulled up some stats so i think these are correct off the pga website. But in 2019 you were tied 34th in driving distance at 302.. So you weren't sure i think sometimes people think that you were a short hitter before. But that to me isn't a short hitter like you were tired 34. um then.
In 2020 you went to first in driving distance at 322.. So you gained 20 yards and that saw obviously your score average drop as well you went down from 70.14 to 69.24 so pretty much a shot which is incredible. But there was this frustrated me at the time. And i want to hear your opinion on this obviously but there was some kind of negativity around you gaining distance which i couldn't fathom if somebody spent a year. Or six months working on the putting and improved the putting strokes gained people would applaud them for it but yet people seem to in the media sometimes hate on you for doing that and i personally don't understand it how did that make you feel that it did it get you down. And piss you off let it motivate you even more yeah i mean there are times where it's definitely difficult to um i guess take it um that's also why i started my own youtube channel i mean down the road you know it's been a little bit right to 2021 is when i started doing that. But i tried to start producing some of my own content more um and control a bit of the narrative because it was getting out of hand it has it has gone out of hand. For no reason. And again i get this world's about clicks and likes um you know and that's where i've had i've done you know dope down in this world and it's been a little interesting for me to understand you know i don't want to do click-baity material. But i also want to showcase um very intelligent ideas and thoughts deliver it to the public as much as i possibly can while producing cool fun content right. So it's this huge balance i'm trying to to have and doing this and that's a part of why you know i created along with hogan and martin borgmeyer and hudson uh molten registry we wanted to create a cool content group and whatnot but going back to you know all the criticism. And whatnot in regards to getting length yeah there were times where it was like look i'm just trying to play the best golf i can possibly play. And if it's me hitting it farther great if it's me not hitting it farther because i pivot down the road because i find out it doesn't work for me great it doesn't matter i don't really care what it is what the final end result is the final end result is me wanting to be number one in the world like that's my full goal is to do that. And however. i get there whether it's being the farthest on tour being the shortest on two i don't care it's whatever it is that's gonna work. And i'm i'm still vetting out this process seeing if it's possible because there may come a point in time where it's like this length isn't doing as much as i thought it could and you know the technology just isn't there and we can't do anything about it. For years to come i don't think that's the case i really think that there is possibility moving forward um with the drivers that were developing to create a driver that goes straight to a mile an hour ball speed. But needless to say it was difficult in 2020. And uh one that you have to learn you really have to grow as a person to be able to stomach a lot of uh what people are saying to you. And that's just life now there's a lot of uh cancer culture thought out there and i understand it and it's one of those things that for me i've we all as professionals in our own right have to be conscious of it and respectful of it and continue to move in a direction that you think is positive. For yourself um you know for me and just trying to grow the game of golf yeah well i mean i've got some follow-up questions with that because i'd love to hear it from you again because i've kind of heard it i don't know i don't think i've ever heard you particularly say it. But obviously with all criticism and things you were getting in particular last year you mentioned you would look at potentially quitting like what's the truth in that explain yeah i mean this was like around fedex st due time where just people were just going yeah i mean i couldn't say a thing right there was nothing i could do right. And you know a certain point in time you just you just look at it and you're like i'm well off i mean golf. For me isn't about money anymore i really don't care about that um i just have lost the love for playing the game of golf because there's so many people they're just going against me. And they don't want to they like seeing me down they like knocking me down and it's like you know what i don't need that there's no reason to keep going on i can go do vc work. And be completely content yeah. And be really really well for the world there's no need to to keep going down this road. And then.
I had a friend chris pratt i just gave him a call and he um was he's been a good great friend of mine. For a couple years now i met him at riviera a couple years ago before the pandemic and he he was awesome um the first time i met him we just kept in touch ever since. And just had a conversation with him and he was like dude like i get criticism. And hate every single day for the movies i create but the movies that i create and the characters that i am in those movies do not define me yeah what defines me is the person i am around my family back at home yeah back you know influencing the world in a positive way when i'm back at home taking care of my own life behind closed doors that's really what matters they're going to display you as this character out there whatever way they want to. And you really can't do much to change it ever because it is what it is people have these own ideas. And mindsets of who this person is. And they're going to create it. And this is the person that he is um. And so he told me he's like you got to play that fictional character in the best way possible because that is a fictional character that's not really you um he says yeah you can produce your own content on youtube. And and create what you want and show them what you want as well because that is you on on youtube right. But people that are writing stuff saying stuff whatever they're gonna they have a vision of who you are in your head. And that's not really gonna change unless you keep playing that game i guess in the best way possible over the course of time it's gonna take a long time for that to change but you gotta play the fictional character and you can decide if you wanna play it if you feel like you're good enough character to play that. And the way people think you are. And kind of mold that in the way you want then.
Then.
Do it. But if you don't you aren't ready for that you don't want to do it you aren't ready to take up that task then.
Go live a family life. And call it a day it's not a big deal.
