All right guys welcome to the rickshaws golf show podcast everybody i'm your host rick shields i'm here with co-host guy this episode 118 is a special episode hence the friday release we've just interviewed one of the highest ranked golfers in the entire world he's currently fourth in the world it's world number well there's two things when we're sat in this formation you know it's a big podcast it's only been i think uh bryson. And now victor well we're sat at this for the start but yeah we've had victor who was absolutely phenomenal. So victor hoffland from norway he's he's young but he's so bloody sweet seven years younger than me and i felt like he was the grown-up he's the grown-up talking yeah he's won six times which that's an inc staggering amount of wins he won the u.s amateur back in 2019 he's played in the masters he won the best amateur when tiger won the masters back in 2008 must admit i didn't actually i knew he'd won the u.s amateur. But i didn't realize unless i knew he played in the masters but i didn't realize he played the masters the same year that tiger won it until actually i thought it was 2018. For some reason imagine that so victor hovland unbelievable character now this is done remotely which we'll see we've got a slightly new setup which we've trialled today.
Fingers crossed it's all worked this is a little bit of an apology from last episode because it didn't go perfectly. But we did our best um he is remote. So his audio is not perfect. But just bear that in mind and there might just be a couple of times where his wi-fi slightly cut out and we've lost him a tiny bit so if you see if you hear a couple of drop outs listen it's part and parcel of it but if things like this work we can do more interviews we've seen the one with bryce. And this one now with victor we can get some of the biggest names in golf. So bear with it i think you're going to really enjoy it sit back make sure right now. And i don't we don't often do this make sure you like follow. And subscribe to the podcast you do not want to miss a single episode because i'm not being slightly big headed a little bit don't be big headed it's probably podcasted you're getting better. And better well what i like about it is we didn't even mention we're having victor on it's just like normal podcast on tuesday friday comes bam world number four on the podcast. So who's it going to be next.
Time it's only going to go. But maybe worse actually isn't it in world ranking doesn't matter you still be good and i slid into the dm's this time to get this one already so i've got to go slash guys enjoy sit back relax and listen to victor hovland the fourth best player in the world definitely a future major champion and definitely will become a ryder cup legend by the way i'm not called geist anymore it's gonna be what could it be. For geiter guy charland that's it that's it victor hovland thank you so much for coming on the podcast you are now cat this is crazy fourth best player in the world how does that feel yeah it's it's pretty wild uh i mean i was uh i was third two weeks ago. So i guess i should be feeling disappointed uh now uh as uh i mean it fluctuates a lot obviously. But just the fact or just to think about a couple of uh months ago a couple years ago. And then.
Five years ago i mean uh i was. So far away and uh now we're you know kind of here and and um trying to win tournaments and and yeah climb the world ranking well you're doing that pretty well at the moment i mean is it three wins in your last six starts uh it might be last seven i think. But uh i have played some some good golf that's for sure it's not it's not bad at all i mean i i don't want to take all credit. For this but last time you briefly came on the podcast i think you just crept into ninth in the world. And listen i don't want to take all credit for it but now you're obviously fourth and was highest third um what's realistically now start running just started 2022. what what is the ambition. For this year where where do you where can you honestly say your world ranking is going to be at the end of this year i i don't think too much about my world ranking to be honest um it's more about it's a boring boring answer. But it's more about just trying to get better every day as i said i was number three two weeks ago um. And that was insane. And after i won um uh or after i played um in abu dhabi a couple weeks ago i got to number fifth and it's just uh if you focus too much on the ranking from a week to week basis it's uh um you know it's it's gonna take you up and down too much instead of if you focus on just your your skill set and make sure that everything is in order um you know you're you're probably going to play well at the next.
Event. And that's kind of what you need to take care of you let your golf do the talking well that's a good way of doing it we're going to kick things off we normally do quick fire questions we normally do nine of them. But sometimes it's not so quick fire so we've shortened it down to seven yeah that's the thing first evict as rick said we're honored to have you on the podcast we've had some amazing guests recently. And tommy fleetwood and bryson and now yourself so i think the caliber of golfers is just getting better. And better so again thanks so much for joining us um we have got some questions off our listeners as well we didn't tell them you were coming on until about five minutes ago. And we're gonna post on facebook and already the questions are coming in thick. And fast so we're looking forward to those at the end but yeah as rick said we've got some either. Or questions but if you want to elaborate on them please feel free so number one nine holes or the driving range uh nine holes um i get i get bored pretty easily on the driving range if i'm just kind of hitting shots without any goals so uh for me it's way better to just go and play nine holes drop a few balls and try to hit it cut into that green hit a draw into that green hit a low hit high you know you kind of mess around a little bit yeah i'm with you on that bryson was the opposite it wasn't he said he's very much hitting balls hitting balls which. For me it's boring for us because i don't stripe it every time if i hit it out the middle i might enjoy hitting balls more but definitely on the golf course number two uh i played with him just uh at the restart again and uh he said he hardly played golf over the you know the the covet shutdown um in the states i mean he he was just beating balls on the ranch is pretty pretty incredible how he can come back. And be that sharp yeah you think it would take a while to kind of knock off the rust yeah certainly around like the short game. And stuff but uh yeah it's one of those things where i think i think once you've got it as you guys all have it doesn't take a lot to fine-tune it does it really you'd like to think you'd like to think okay netflix. Or youtube uh youtube um yeah i uh i like watching shows. But i don't do that on a daily basis now youtube is a is a daily occurrence. So i'm gonna have to stand with youtube on that one and he's still into your heavy metal on youtube uh well that's that's where i started to find my uh metal music but now uh um i'm kind of i kind of know what albums are coming out certain dates i know when to check spotify. And and stuff like that but i find i find some stuff there through youtube so it serves me well nice tiger or jack tiger it's not much else to say don't driving or putting um driving i would say um is that because you prefer it more. Or are you better at it. Or you find it more exciting yeah i uh it's it's one of my strengths in my game. And uh as we've all heard uh through recent years it's becoming more and more important um you know drive for shelf up or do it would was it's always just been a saying. But now um you know there's more truth to maybe the opposite way so um i i think it's just a good thing to be good at if you if you can hit a little bit further if you can hit it somewhat straight you know you're going to be pretty set up. For for some good scores over the over the course of the season absolutely do you think obviously that's really become. So much more kind of except it wasn't in the golf world like said four. Or five years that how important hitting it along the way actually is there's obviously a lot of young guys now like yourself doing. So so well who hit the golf ball a long way as well do you think that kind of helped you that you were kind of more in your amateur days. And understood the importance of kind of gaining distance in it a long way yeah i think when i was a kid um it was starting to to become popular you know trying to hit it further. And swinging faster but i i wish i started even earlier and put even more emphasis on it uh when i was younger because i felt like i kind of got my back into my junior career kind of starting to get into it whereas if i would have started earlier i would have had some more speed uh even where i am now just really the last couple of years two three years that that's really what i've been trying to swing it faster. And i think that's what you're seeing with a lot of the guys on tour they're just now starting to swing it faster whereas i think the next.
Generation they're you know 10 11 12 13 years old. And they're always or already trying to swing for the fences so um i think that's going to be a difference when you when you see those kids get on tour maybe 10 years from now it's going to be a little different it is quite interesting hearing news they'll say about those kids victor because i think to most people at the moment you're still in that category you're still in that category do you think what we'll see in the next.
10 years do you think we'll see like huge average increase in club head speeds huge differences in ball speeds in the next.
10 years with these new labs coming up uh i wouldn't say huge because i think we're we're at a point where uh guys are already hitting it pretty far um. And you know bryson's reaching 200 miles miles an hour ball speeds out there um obviously there's a difference from you know kind of 180 miles an hour ball speed being a long hitter and then.
Maybe maybe you'll see more guys in the in the 190s but i i think just the average is going to come up um i don't think you're going to see more outrageous ball speeds than you know 200 miles an hour in the tournament um in a turnaround. But there's also some i don't know the longer you hit it uh yes it's going to give you an advantage. But it's also other things becomes harder so there might be a diminishing return there to where um i don't know there is a sweet spot. For for ball speed and how far you hit her but at the same time you can be really really precise with your wedges. And in short irons without you know having to worry about over spinning some shots or under spinning some shots or um so i think there's a sweet spot there yeah good answer first app you open in the morning it will probably be my text messages i would say yeah even though they they're they aren't as fun as some of the other apps. But um i would say that's the first one okay this year hopefully you will win again obviously i'm sure you will. And hopefully you win a major but if this year you were to win one major. And it was either the open. Or the masters which you pick in well that's a good one uh obviously saint andrews um at uh uh this year in the openness it's gonna be unreal but at the same time master uh is pretty incredible um i played my my first major at the masters. And and had a really cool experience being the low end with with tiger there um yeah it was uh that was pretty incredible um i don't know if i can really pick between the two. But i i think because of the opens at san andreas i'm gonna have to pick uh the open. But uh i will take either. Or absolutely you know with that though obviously whenever you achieve anything it kind of it feels amazing and then.
You always think about what's next..
But surely when you won low amateur at the masters the year that tiger woods won that must have felt like you have kind of made it to some degree you must have been so happy with that achievement yeah. But it was it was it was a lot of fun. And i i thought it was awesome. But it was more like um it was more like i was a part of something way bigger than my own kind of achievement you know i finished 32nd at the masters yeah it was it was really good. For me as an amateur but there's been other amateurs that have done better than me in in the masters and um you know 30 second places now aren't something we we kind of uh remember too much but it was more just kind of knowing like i'm sitting in butler's cabin with tiger hearing gymnasts announcing the corner it was more just wow this is i'm actually a part of history uh right now as like i'm living through it uh in real time. And you kind of just have to pinch yourself and think wow this is this is pretty ridiculous i mean that must be the year the tiger kind of came back. And won as well and you're there sat in the butler's cabin like seeing it all happen in front of you like you saw the green jacket being passed over you saw him putting it on i mean that is just incredible um. But what's mad that's only 2019 yeah we're still an amateur then.
Like in a ridiculously short period of time you must have over um achieved on your expectation levels in these in these first few years on tour surely oh yeah um it's uh it's pretty well to think about um now i knew that i wasn't even sure i was going to turn pro kind of that last year in school um. And i played my first few pga tour events i played my cove and i played the farmers and i both i've missed a cut in both of those uh not by a lot but uh i missed two cuts there and then.
I played uh bay hill i made the cup there with without my my best game at all and then.
I played the masters and it made a cup there and didn't really feel like i played that well so that's that's kind of when um you know i became a lot more confident and comfortable um the next.
Time around at the us open um when i would have um played against the best in the world and i i i didn't feel out of place uh as much as i did the first few times. And just that confidence i think is is maybe half the battle. For a lot of these college kids or or guys that are not fully established. Yet you know you kind of need your first few events to to find your ground and and i would say i was lucky enough to play these events as an amateur. So i didn't have to use you know exemptions as a pro or or kind of learn further down the road i i kind of got that experience right away and that gave me a lot of confidence going into my professional career uh thinking okay i can actually do this. But fast forward to everything that's gone on to this point i would say it's it's still been a very crazy journey um i mean winning winning six times uh worldwide. And it's outrageous that we're ranking it's been uh yeah it's been ridiculous. But it's uh it's been a lot of fun there's been some great amateurs around the area yourself and colin and matt wolf there's been a handful of almost like did it help having coming up with i mean did you play much college golf with kali murakawa. And matt wolfe like um you all kind of turned pro at a similar time did that help you collectively were you talking to each other about it were you learning from each other experiences can you elaborate on that yeah i think we're uh um i don't know if there's a saying. Or something but i felt like when we first joined pro at travelers we're we all kind of look like three lost ducks a little bit uh we're just kind of looking at each other's okay what are we gonna do are we gonna play well. Or you know do we think we can win. And then.
We just show up and we played well and and i guess okay colin this tweet i guess i can play sweet here as well. And and you kind of go from there and and obviously they got their wins really really quickly um just watching matt win and then.
Calling one not uh long after and i've been on tour or that wasn't even uh a season for me on the tour i was just playing on exemptions. And i almost got the impression well damn i kind of have to win uh but uh no i i didn't i didn't let it like um kind of make me. Or it i didn't let it kind of uh add pressure on me i just kind of saw it as motivation and so i thought it was really cool what those guys were doing. And i knew that if i just kind of kept believing in myself and working on on good things um i was uh hopeful that i could uh lift the trophy as well right i think there is a saying that could could uh cover this what you mentioned that it's almost like rising tides rise together. And i think i think with the three the three of you all pushing on in your own individual ways in a weird way. But collaboratively because you've all kind of grown up and you've all turned pro at the same time it probably did just kind of spur you all on a little bit um. And obviously since that you've all gone on to be incredible golfers and and climb the world ranking and major winners and uh unbelievable this one isn't a quick fire question but just off the back of talking about majors obviously you know as a professional golfer as an elite athlete you kind of imagine that you want to go into each tournament kind of quite level-headed and just kind of calm but equally we know that the the majors there's the strongest field and there's kind of the most to play for does it feel different when i mean certainly with the open this year. And the masters i guess every year but does it feel different when you rock up on the monday. Or whatever it might be is there a different feeling kind of in the air when it's a it's a major yeah no. For sure i'd definitely say uh there is a different feel it's a little bit weird though because it's it's a little intangible um it's hard to put your words exactly on what's different um. But as you alluded to you kind of feel it in the air a little bit it's a little maybe a little quiet quieter on the monday and and like the first couple of days and then.
When you start to see kind of everything come together and more and more people and uh the practice rounds start taking three and a half hours aside you kind of you kind of let everything sink in but again i i haven't played too many majors i've yet to kind of um get a huge amount of success in one i've played i've played some uh good golf and in some of them but i feel like my short game has kind of held me back a little bit at some of the venues uh but for my preparations i try not to think about it too much it's um like i almost try to take my emotions out of the event in a sense that you just focus on each shot. And you try to go through your preparations and try to hit the best shot that you can hit um every single time. And then.
You just add it up together instead of thinking uh cool this is a gus uh left in the trees there it's not good. And this so hard or whatever kind of um thoughts your your mind is uh is thinking um even though you should enjoy the moment. And you should have a good time out there but it's more um thinking about just the the golf processes instead of um oh wow that's the masters uh just the green jacket or just the color jug and i need to make this putt to have a chance or you know is this you kind of uh your mind start to wander a little bit. So just try to focus on the golf the last question i've followed from that no come on i've got some more we've got we've got a lot. But the last kind of question was then.
You get your because don't you when you're on the pj tour before you round like a text with your tea time. And who you're playing with so when you get that text would you if you could pick between like people who you're actually friendly with who you just you know you're gonna have a great laugh with and maybe chat to or would you almost rather be playing with guys it's good to play with so i'm guessing there's guys out there who might not be particularly friendly with or pally with or you're obviously more than happy to play with them but to actually play with the very good maybe they're quite quick or whatever it is what kind of makes you feel most relaxed on the course as it kind of friends. Or just people who's good to play with or both yeah yeah it's actually funny you say that um because i've noticed a little bit um like i don't like to if i'm in contention it's kind of weird i don't know if it's good. Or bad but usually the first two rounds i'm a lot more talkative uh in a tournament just because you know it's the first couple of rounds and i'm just trying to feel loose and trying to play my game but if i'm getting close to contention i don't like to talk a whole lot um i'll usually go by myself a little bit and just be in my own head and just grind so i did notice that uh we weren't in school together. But when i played the the final uh round with taylor gooch uh in my cova uh at the end of last uh last year um we're good friends because we both went to oklahoma state um and his catty mel is a good guy. And i just like noticed the first few holes we were just like talking a lot. And taylor and mel they like to talk a lot and i just like had to you know just kind of walk a little off to the side and kind of just be by myself a little bit because i felt like i could uh focus a little bit better doing that instead of you know talking a lot about other things it just kind of gets me out of that mindset so um i think that little things like that are stuff that you're you're still trying to figure out um you know it's it's all about kind of learning yourself better uh under what circumstances you perform better um what circumstances do you perform worse in. And and kind of just learning from that and i just feel comfortable you know when i'm in my own head and i can just kind of grind the whole way yeah. But like i say it can vary almost through the tournament yeah thurs thursday night chatty friday less chatting nobody's like yeah i'm gonna win i'm in wind mode on a follow-up question that do you prefer let's say you're in the hunt let's say you get final day you're in the hunt do you prefer to be in the last group do you prefer to be leading going in. Or do you prefer to be a little bit back kind of chasing have you noticed any preferences there um i don't think i have a big enough sample size to kind of really know. For sure um i i think if i'm starting the same amount of strokes behind uh. So it's it doesn't matter if i'm you know it's not like i'm one shot behind in the last group and i'm two shots behind in a second and last group uh just one stroke behind in each group i would i would think i would almost prefer being in the in the group in front just to kind of separate myself in i don't know i just i i feel like i would be ahead. And then.
If i make a bunch of birdies uh that would get into the heads of the guys behind me more so if i played with them and i feel like it'd be harder for me to make all those birdies if i'm in the last group i don't know that's it's kind of a weird uh um situation but i there's something if about just kind of being separated from the last group and you're making a bunch of birdies and you feel like you're kind of uh a lone man versus the last group instead of just being entrenched in the last group if that makes any sense well certainly your most recent win in dubai you were two. Or three groups even more how how far off were you from the final group yeah i uh must have been maybe third. Or fourth group um from the from the last group and you had a screaming sunday managed to get in the playoff against richard bland and obviously then.
Won the playoff but you know that's probably a a very good um case study as you say when when you're saying about being behind and making a bunch of birdies and it forces those guys at the top of the leaderboard to think oh god victor's making a charge like he's getting up there he's making all these birdies. And you've got to put yourself in a position you kind of want both i guess you want to kind of get to that point like targeting this day we've got the reputation where people know if you're leading oh like victor's leaders maybe have to chase him or like if you feel behind and start quaking like victor's behind us he's coming for us this is a question i've always wanted to ask a torpo. And you have obviously had incredible uh recent success so you i reckon you'll give us a really good rep representation now what happens when you win so you've won a tournament explain to me what actually happens like who's the first person you message how busy is your phone when you pick it up like after the like what actually happens i'd love to know that yeah it's uh it's a bunch of tedious stuff that you have to deal with. But obviously it's it's a lot better when you've just won and it makes it a lot easier to do uh. But uh i mean usually um if we take dubai. For example um i uh finish up on the 18th green um cameras first come in and and uh you have an interview right there and then.
Which you guys see i saw that because that's richard bland's coach wasn't it yeah. And you very nicely apologize for beating richard i was that was a tough spot. For him uh i fell for him but um yeah. So but that's the first thing that happens and then.
You kind of go uh behind uh kind of where we sign the scorecards and stuff and there's a little room um sign a bunch of flags take a bunch of pictures um um how many how many flags how many flags did you sign straight away. For example uh probably a couple hundred flags this is straight away uh well okay maybe not straight away it's first all the pictures. And stuff with the guys from the tournament all the sponsors uh and then.
I gave a little um a little speech when i got the trophy um and uh yeah i just talked to some more people uh. And then.
We went and did all the signing stuff it was a lot of back. And forth and uh might have been slightly intoxicated so i don't remember every single step of the way but uh it was a lot of back report a lot of a lot of pictures how long between years how long between holding the last put on the last green in the play-off how long in time was it from that to the first beer that you had um uh i think we started off with champagne um that's sunday. But um i it probably took me a good three hours before i was back to my hotel. And i properly celebrated with some of my friends and and um and had a had a nice late dinner um so it was uh it was a yeah a long time in the golf course. But it was uh uh it was uh yeah easy easy stuff. So so you pick your phone up you've just won like who's who are you expecting on there i'm guessing are you do you see text messages. And what that's from everybody like everybody you've ever met is there on yeah who's got your number there's uh there's a lot of no on there that's. For sure um it's a little um i mean obviously my mistake. But you know when you get messed or notifications on snapchat instagram messenger facebook um and obviously text messages it's it's a little tough because some sometimes all the people that i know or some people that i don't know well have obviously a way to reach me and that pops up pops up as a notification but you know if i want to talk to my mom and dad it's kind of hard for me to go through all those notifications to find uh that so it just like um it's just it's just a mess in there and it kind of takes me a while to to go through all the messages and stuff but i try to at least text my mom and dad as soon as possible when i get the chance and have a quiet moment so is it like the next.
Day when you sat there just going through them all like reading all these text messages off everybody. And replying to some of them etc yeah pretty much uh the next.
Day i flew direct from uh dubai to dallas uh. So i had a good 15 hours to run through some some messages so that was uh it worked out well. And how how hungover were you i wasn't too bad it wasn't too bad okay i don't want to stop getting used to the champagne. And winning i i've always kind of wanted to know that that side of it because i always think as soon as it happens like i said again you'd have to answer this question when does like the money go into your bank account like how quick is that. Or is that a long process uh i don't really know. But i i don't know if it's different from the dp world tour or the pga tour but i think it's usually maybe the wednesday after oh really that. So it's quite quite soon yeah it's pretty quick. So um yeah this is the kind of thing we were talking on the last podcast victor about this drive to survive formula one series. And how it's showing you all the insights obviously this year it's going to be on the pj tour this is the exact kind of thing as like golf fans that we don't see. And it's out to you it's obviously things just like administration things but like to the to the average fan is that you want to see what actually happens don't you like when the golf cameras kind of get turned off i like i i love i i know that the dp world tour have done it a little bit more recently where they'll mic you up right when you're doing all the presentations. And we get a glimpse of you speaking to like keith pelly of some of the marshals or some of the volunteers and i can't get enough of it i just think it's fascinating it's all the things you don't normally see. And and do you do you enjoy obviously you've just won that's what you're out there to do you're out there to win do you enjoy all the media side of it do you enjoy all the interviews i know obviously we're doing a kind of podcast interview now. So hopefully you don't say you don't know absolutely hate it but like do you enjoy even doing the speeches are you quite used to that now like is that is that natural to you uh it's definitely not natural. But it's it's something that i've done a lot better at um it just kind of it's and i think uh because i i'm an only child. And i grew up in norway and especially in the winter like you don't see a lot of people uh you go to i would go to class i would go and practice indoors for a couple hours and then.
I'm just home and i'm in the house for um you know six hours every evening and then.
Just get rid away and just chill and wait to get ready for school the next.
Morning so like you're very protected in a way so for me coming to oklahoma state into college and you meet a bunch of donors you meet people that are well connected. And you have to actually be able to talk to people and and be able to represent yourself and in a certain way so that that kind of got me out of my comfort zone a little bit um and it's like that do get easier over time. But it's um interviews and kind of speeches and stuff that it's not something that uh that i'm longing for or something that i absolutely need in my life now interviews like these are are fine um i enjoy them more because you know we don't have uh obviously it's it's a longer form we can actually go into stuff on a more detailed uh in more detail. And we can frankly just talk about anything um. So i enjoy that a lot more than just kind of oh how how did you feel about your round today.
Or uh wow that was a nice eagle there you know talk about the chip in. Or or whatever you know it just becomes pretty standard um so i enjoy these forms a little bit more but um usually all the stuff is a bit tedious sorry another one then.
From obviously you won the us amateur which is is the biggest amateur event in the world isn't it i think that on the british amateur you'd consider the biggest. And what's interesting is when you look at that list of us amateur. And british amateur winners obviously some of those go on to be super successful in household names but some of them certainly some of the run-ups as well you don't then.
See go on and really push but obviously the elite amateur golfers wouldn't be getting into that position in those tournaments if they weren't or winning obviously but what is that kind of it's very hard to say what are those kind of top top things that some of these guys will then.
Don't possess is it more adapts to the lifestyle is it the fact that when you're playing. For hard cash it actually makes you feel so much more nervous what what are those things that stops from these elite golfers going on to be elite professionals yeah that's that's an interesting question i guess that's that's maybe the million dollar questions that we we all ask ourselves you know in college do we have what it takes to to get to the next.
Level um. And uh i would say maybe to uh the example of the usam you can um i just think with it being match play there's a lot of variants in the tournament um obviously you're playing a lot of rounds um. So it makes it harder to to get further uh but i just think with it being match play you can maybe play some easier guys than other guys play against. And and you might see some guys that you know are ranked a thousand in the world um. And win the event or finish runner-up and yeah you've had a great week. But is your overall consistently consistency level um good enough to take your game uh to the next.
Level um because i would say there's that's a cool thing uh about me kind of coming over to uh oklahoma state to play college golf you know i had heard of you know 30 guys in europe in junior golf um that you would think okay these guys are the best 30 kids in europe. And i know every you know everything about him but when you get to the states and suddenly we're qualifying for the team i mean even the seventh. And eighth and nine guy on the team could you know tee it up anywhere and play well uh and you've never heard of these guys so i think the top level. For all these amateurs you know you could be ranked 900th on the world amateur golf rankings and you could still have a really really good top level but it's just about that consistency and that could be a lot of things you know some guys just don't hit it far enough and they get a lot out of their games so in amateur golf you can succeed at a very high level because you know how to you know how to think around the golf courses you know how you play the golf courses really well. And you can maybe cash in a bunch of top tens. But you don't quite get those wins to prove that you're ready for the next.
Level and then.
Maybe you have some guys that are freaky talented. And they have a a really high you know top level but they have some misses here and there that are just not too playable at certain courses. And when you're playing against the best players in the world you can't really afford to waste too many shots so i think it's it's an interesting question um. And i think it's all very individual you know there's always a story behind a guy that you know let's say maybe finish second at the the us amber won the usam. And they're not longer playing professional golf there's always you know maybe one thing here and there that the guy regrets doing or something happened in his life and yeah it's it's it's an interesting topic it is because it could even as you mentioned there you talked about a lot of the the actual limitations on the golf course. But it might just be personality traits like they might not like to travel or they might not have the funding or they might not have the support from family members or friends like or it might get injured like there are actually. So many things that could stop this this guy's just got the list of like u.s amateur open u.s amateur winners and it's like there are scattered names that you obviously recognize. But quite a lot of names that you don't see again well it's a bit like looking at the silver medal as well at the open you know some of those guys like a rory go on to obviously be rory and other guys don't quite you know excel but you think they've obviously played an amazing start because of a packed out crowd at the open championships they've got the game to some degree. But it's it's just fascinating because i think why i get. So kind of fascinated by this is like i'm not a great golfer at all as a junior as like a full handicapper which at my club was quite good. And then.
You get the guys that around me then.
Played for the county who were much much better than the guys again in the england set up who are obviously better again. And then.
It keeps going. And going. And going doesn't it get to a point where it's like how good do you actually have to be to be a professional golfer on the pga tour. And the answer is very very good very good. And very consistent yes you know it's huge i mean do you think that's one of the best things that you kind of did in your career path obviously i want to come i do want to dive into a little bit about you you kind of upbringing in a moment obviously being from norway. And there is the limitations you potentially had there do you think that's one of your best decisions when you moved over to oklahoma state did that really kind of open your eyes to the possibilities of who you who you're competing against. But also drive you forward more to push yourself harder yeah no i always knew i was going to go to college because our winners. And and you know norway is not the best setup. For for golf so for me to kind of go to the states and i get an extra in theory four years to hone my game and get ready for professional golf that was uh that was a no-brainer. For me because i had a couple of friends that would turn pro out of high school and they would play the nordic league or some mini tourists in in in scandinavia to try to kind of get through the ranks in europe that way but i just knew i wasn't ready uh both from a golfing standpoint but also a um you know personalities point i had a lot to learn and i had a lot of grown up to do um. And i i think just circling back to to what you said earlier about it being a personality trait as well i think that's that's one of the the biggest things because there are. So many guys that can play golf at the highest level. But i think um you know i've always been uh a little introverted. So when i come to a new place that i just don't know anything about i tend to be a little quiet um i don't take up this a whole lot of room and it takes me a little bit of time to get adjusted but i i would say i'm also very good at adjusting um so if you put me into a new environment i'm eventually going to adapt to kind of my surroundings. And i'm going to figure out a way to to to to make it work essentially to to be able to perform um. And i think that's that's been maybe my best attribute. So far i just look at kind of when i first joined pro i i probably had 10 miles an hour less ball speed when i first turned pro and also hit the ball really low there were multiple shots around the greens that i couldn't hit. And i wasn't a very good green reader um whereas now i've kind of like i found ways to adapt at every single part of my game like i hit it higher now because the courses allow or they expect you to come in with with more spin and higher launch so you can stop the balls on the greens. And you need it hit or further to to play some of these courses that we're playing so uh but at the same time just be calm uh when you're playing in front of so many people and uh you have high pressure situations that you don't like yeah it's okay to be nervous. But you get better every single time you're exposed to them so i think that's kind of just one of the most important things that you you learn from stuff instead of because i've seen people you know home same person they never change. So i think that's that's interesting to to just watch you just cut out briefly there victor just on a little bit of signal. But i think we got the gist of what what you were saying there because i think. So so rewind that time kind of it's not super popular golf in norway is it i'm am i writing saying that no it's uh you're right um it was uh i mean we've had a decent amount of people play. But you wouldn't hear too much on the on the news or uh there weren't that many guys that would watch it uh thursday through sunday now we had a little bit of an uptick with uh henrik bjornstat playing the pga tour for a few years uh so that was good. For norwegian golf but then.
We kind of went on a little decline for uh the next.
Decade or so so um yeah it's going a little bit up. And down but with norway being a winter nation and with the winter olympics going on uh which we did pretty well in it's uh we we have just a little different focus golf is not the um the highest on the priority list. For sure so what was your winter sport playing growing up what were you into uh i guess like every norwegian get into just cross-country skiing uh you're basically not a norwegian if you if you don't know how to ski. So i did that. For a little bit but i never really liked it uh downhill skiing was a lot more fun. But it got to a point where you know i was maybe 11. Or 12 years old and i was less interested in going up. And and skiing the mountains in the weekend uh rather i just want to be home and hit balls inside um and uh yeah that wasn't that wasn't. So fun to do. For four months of the year but um yeah i was just keen on playing golf than i was doing other winter sports. But also played soccer or football and and uh i did also martial arts. So taekwondo for a few years oh wow well is it true you're a black belt in taekwondo uh yeah that was a long time ago. But yeah because i saw that online this is either true which is unbelievable. Or it's one of those really random like rumors that i don't want to ask you then.
You go no that's absolutely rubbish what you're talking about that's madness. So you must have been very skilled and to get to black belt yeah no it was i thought it was pretty good. But then.
Again i went from like first grade to seventh grade so i went for seven years but i was really really young. So it's been a it's been a number of years since then.
You know i i'm not as flexible as i was when i was in seventh grade. And i could throw a bunch of kicks around but um no it's it's good to have regardless it's just a bit it's a good it's more than anything it's a good fact when somebody says right victor tell me a fun fact about you that nobody knows i can kick your ass suddenly oh i've got a black belt in taekwondo no big deal. So if if golf wasn't super popular in norway not the not the primary sport as it's not most places granted and how what what got you into it what motivated you to kind of grind and hit balls and practice and get better yeah well my dad kind of first got me into the game he actually worked in in st louis missouri uh when i was really young. And picked up the game there and brought a golf set back to norway when uh i was probably about three. Or four years old so i was really really young. And uh there's actually a big big field uh maybe five minutes away from my house walking distance and i got a lot of people play football or go for runs walks it's just a big field and i would bring some balls out and we would kind of hit my first shots out there and as i said i also did football in taekwondo. So up until when i got to 11 or 12 that's kind of when i wanted to practice golf in the winters and take it a bit more seriously but i just it got to a certain point where you know i just really got bitten by the by the bug and uh when i got a little bit better i could actually hit decent shots you know i could get the ball airborne and and the ball started traveling further and further and it just becomes really really addictive so who who was like were you watching the were you watching the golf on the tv was were you watching stuff online what was there anything in there that kind of really obviously tiger i'm guessing was a influence that is. For most of us was there any other kind of influences at that point yeah i mean i grew up watching the european tour um just thursday through sunday i would wake up first thing in the morning just turn it on the tv. And and you know watch them play in south africa or france or wherever wherever it was. And um so obviously getting a lot of uh a golf through that way but also um like when when i got to high school and i would sit on the computer even in the classroom and just watch highlights of tiger woods and and um yeah i just get get goose goosebumps every time i was watching him make a putter. Or hit a shot from the rough or slicing you know around the trees it was just the charisma that he had uh. And the way he kind of pulled off those shots that it was pretty awe inspiring. And and i just kind of wanted to uh get better and yeah see see if i could do somewhat similar things to what he was doing. So that's amazing so i'm guessing when you go back to norway now you kind of like you must be like royalty like you know you've got this kind of number four golfer in the world currently you've won six times on the tour i mean you must be going back then..
And how often do you go back. But are you are you welcomed are you treated differently you're going to get knighted are you going to become the king of norway like how does that how does that pathway look uh yes yes. And yes no i go i go home a couple times a year. So usually i go home for every uh winter break uh for christmas time and stuff and i hadn't been home in a couple years in the summer which um i did go home last summer uh. And that was a bit weird because i hadn't played golf in norway. For a couple years and uh we have this uh website called uh golf box where you just register your golf rounds uh before you know if you're going to go play somewhere. And i had a few fur [Music] then.
The night before um you know uh 10 o'clock tea time the next.
Day and when we show up there's like 200 people on the first hole so that was that was a bit strange um i did not really anticipate that because at the time i hadn't been home in a couple years in the summer. But i guess um it's been i guess a lot of people in norway have kind of started to watch golf on the weekends and and i would go like to a gas station and and just get some snacks and the guy would say hey you are you victor um. And i would just kind of make small talk and just say ask hey yeah cool do you play golf. Or or anything he said no i've never tried. But i've i've been watching every it's it's like it kind of yeah it's uh it's just a bit weird getting recognized at home. And especially from from people that aren't even golfers yeah um you know one thing is yes it's getting recognized on the golf course that's you know kind of my working place. But um getting recognized outside of that is it's pretty weird. But um it's cool to see that more people are starting to play golf back home. And and and starting to get kind of uh more acclimated to the game and and see how great of a game it is you must be really proud of that you know obviously it sounds like you've had a huge influence on these golfers new golfers coming to the game in norway i mean that must be something you you you're going to look back on in from now. And many years to go and go i've i've managed to influence that and i've i've brought this new breed of norwegian golfers out i mean that must be incredible yeah it's it's pretty ridiculous because i mean i'm still trying to figure things out i've only been a pro. For two and a half years so it kind of makes me feel really really old in a way you know that there are uh kids already they're looking up to me. And and trying to pursue the game of golf and also i live in stillwater oklahoma it's a college town so i'm hanging out with a bunch of college kids that are on the golf team. And we play every single day so uh yeah it's just a good way. For me to to feel really old i guess but um no it's it's cool obviously i just try to focus on uh what i need to do to get better. But at the same time if other kids can if. Or people in general can can you know if they like what i'm doing. And and they find motivation in that that's that's that's pretty cool i can i can just picture it now a lot of norwegian kids double pump in the backswing that'd probably be one of one of my uh advices to not uh try to replicate could you imagine in the future like hoveland schools of golf over there could is that something on the pipe in the pipeline is there anything you're interested in uh it's not definitely not in the works as of right now. But um yeah really cool to give something back um something like that maybe a few projects. Or uh academy or i don't know it's those are cool ideas. But i think that will be a little bit in the distant future speaking of the future then.
As an elite an elite athlete you know you have to be. So much in the moment focus kind of day to day and you know one shot at a time i know it's a cliche but on the golf course you can't like let yourself get beyond the moment you're in but are you a kind of a golfer who has dreams of winning x amount of mages x-men tournaments is that something those athletes out that you want to you know there's always that story of tiger used to just be obsessed with beating jack you'd have posts on the wall. And that was his mission are you kind of like that with anybody. Or do you have an amount of like made you want to win. Or what what how do you see that. Or is it just one tournament at a time yeah it's it sounds boring. But it's it's just kind of one tournament at a time yes the majors are elevated. And they certainly are the biggest tournaments in golf um. But i i almost found that find that mindset to be a little counter-intuitive if you go into a week and just thinking okay this is the this is actually like one of the most important weeks of the year. And you almost not psych yourself out but it's it's still the same game that i did like. For example if i played the week before and i played well well i just keep doing that and then.
Hopefully i'm in concession and can. And pick one off you know it's instead of trying to put too much pressure on yourself um and for me it's more like yes i'd like to win a major. But i think it's really cool that um like just kind of looking at my uh resume already if you will that i've won six times. And they've all been you know in different parts of the world um i haven't won one on on u.s soil yet which i want to change but i think it's cool that i have a win in germany in dubai in puerto rico mexico i i think it's just cool to um you know kind of put your name on different trophies. And and all over the world instead of just kind of playing the same events every single year and you know yeah it yeah it's. So you're just like not just going through the motions every single year. But you you mix it up and hey i want to go i want to go to asia and i want to try to win there or i want to go to south america and try to play there i guess that keeps it fresh as well for you doesn't it keeps exciting for you going to different places seeing different places different courses you know that that should keep you excited as well again the one thing i've heard from a lot of a few players now not a lot big exaggeration. But a few players that they're more trying to control their own controllables now so they're trying to control on the things that they can improve on. So very small gradual steps to improve the putting improve the chip and improve the driving and those changes will lead to more results will lead to more trophies instead of saying looking at goals that are almost externally which you can't always control yeah you can control what you're good at. And what you're bad at and what you need to improve on so is there anything kind of in the next.
Six months. Or so or even the next.
Month i guess that are your weaknesses that you are trying to really improve on yeah i uh i mean it's a very interesting thing. And again it sounds boring to say that because there's so many things in god especially in golf that you can't control so if you can just take care of what you can control. And do that to the best of your abilities then.
You just let that play out. And over a hundred times or how many however. many times you're gonna become more successful if you improve at something um it's a little bit like poker i'm pretty interested in poker and you can get it in asus versus kings. And you might lose three times in a row even though i mean you're you're a heavy heavy favorite. So you would want that spot every single time you have the chance but just because you lost three times in a row doesn't mean that you played it poorly um. So i think there's a lot of that to golf uh you can hit a good shot. And and maybe the wind is a little off on when you try to hit it. And and uh the iron shot instead of being stuffed it you know just goes barely over the green now you're short-sighted and making bogey and obviously you want to try to learn from that but there's some times where you're gonna do the best you can. And you're gonna actually pull off the shop but it doesn't quite work out that way so i i think in kind of just alluding to what i said earlier you kind of have to take your emotions out of the tournament in a sense. Or take the emotions out of uh preparing for shock because you kind of look at it in a vacuum you just okay this is the right club that's the right play. And then.
You just step up and try to execute that's a good point i think what's weird like as a as a when you're watching golf as a kind of uh as a fan ever we get. So much kind of noise around the mages around the open on the masters certainly the television channel saying like the mass design only seven days or ten days or whatever and so was it such a big thing. And obviously it's the players but you kind of almost expect the players to have that mindset going in. But they almost can't like you said because if you went into the master thing oh my god this is the masters this is my chance at the green jacket that's not the right mindset surely you're not gonna perform if you have that mindset yeah it's very interesting which i i. But at the same time it might be different from other people because i i've uh i mean i heard brooks kepca. For example would say oh this is a major i'm going to basically win this week you know he puts a lot of added pressure on himself by saying those things. But at the same time he does really really well in the majors. So for him that might be a way of of just really getting focused i guess and it brings the best out of his game but for other people that might be a little different um i remember when uh and you said you had bryson on your show i don't know if he talked about that. But when he would say for example at augusta that it's a part 67 or something for him yeah i mean it's like you you're kind of put putting a lot of pressure on yourself to shoot 67. Or lower um and i think he also said that after the fact that you know he put a little too much pressure on himself. And and he felt it and it's just not a good place to be in to to perform your best i feel like um so instead of not not even saying those things publicly but but to yourself i've even noticed too uh if i'm playing really really well and i'm striping it and i'm making a lot of putts i'm just like okay this game is easy where you know what's the course record let's do it um. But then.
As i said you quickly get pretty back quality once you hit a a pretty decent four iron. Or something and you get the the wind wrong or a bad balance and then.
Suddenly now you're plugged in the lip of the bunker and you're making about your double that quickly gets you back to normal normal in a little bit so it's just it's important to not let your mind wander too much and just kind of stick to the processes the amount of times i've birded the first hole and gone straight online to check what the cost record is. And then.
They double up the next.
It's happened so many times you know we've gone very very golf heavy today.
Victory. And even though it's a golf podcast we don't normally go super super golf heavy like what else do you do what did you do to like relax you mentioned poker a minute ago is there any other things that you do. And you love to do yeah i mean my my days are kind of boring to be honest with you um usually at a tournament week. For example i mean i don't get a whole lot of a whole lot of time i i like to practice i like to prepare i like to spend time in the golf course um i usually try to get some work some kind of workout in. And then.
At the end of the day i'm like i'm kind of tired so i'll listen to music uh i'll listen to you know i'll try to watch some poker videos or i'll try to play some poker myself um or i really like to listen to music um specifically the the metal stuff heavy vowels um and then.
I just kind of facetime my buddies and and just kind of keep in touch with what's got with what's going on um i don't really do a lot. But um you know i either work pretty hard or or i don't do anything at all that's kind of that's kind of what my my daily routine is about in the last 12 months. Or so there's definitely been a shift in your body shape like you've definitely bulked up i'm guessing that's an effort to create more clubhead speed is it something you enjoy doing have you had to force yourself to do it do you enjoy doing it now. And and was it effectively to get more ball speed. Or was it to pick up some more ladies. Or was it to look better in a golf shirt like what was the motivation yeah i'll say the motivation was uh multifaceted now it's uh definitely there's i mean it's just kind of general health. For most of it um you know you just you feel better uh and obviously you you i can do what i'm doing. For a longer time if i take care of my body and i stay on top of it uh but also just you know the body feels better on a day-to-day day-to-day basis you get more confidence because it feels better um and obviously it's it's helped me hit a little bit further um yeah i do kind of enjoy it um at the same time um i do some weight lifting other times i just do like cardio just to get my heart rate up a little bit. So it's been a combination of you know yes golf specific stuff. But at the same time i do a lot just. For general health but it's also been a little interesting too that i've been trying to learn more about because you know lifting weights because obviously you have to stimulate your muscles to get bigger um you also get pretty tired so knowing the time and kind of how to do it. And when to do it yeah it's just because i'm a pretty motivated person. So for me to wake up every day you know i want to get a hard workout in i want to get some cardio in i want to hit balls i want to work on my putting i want to play nine holes uh i want to work on my chipping and you just kind of map that out throughout the day yeah you do one day of all that stuff. But the next.
Day you're going to be. So tired and you might go through the motions but you're not getting you're not getting any good practicing so that's been like a tough thing for me to to handle uh is that okay i want to get strong. And i want to work out hard because if i go to the gym and i don't work out hard it feels like i'm not doing anything but at the same time knowing that that's going to affect my cognitive abilities the rest of the day. But also abilities i'm not going to be able to to do a speed session later in the day. For example because my muscles are already just fried. So kind of knowing how to listen to your body and scheduling things you know work out here okay maybe a speed session two days after that workout uh. And just little things like that i find very interesting because i'm all about i really enjoy the process and i'm all about just tweaking my daily routines so that i edge um like i i optimize my day a little bit better so in the long run i'm gonna get i'm gonna improve at a way faster rate the vibe i'm getting victor is this success hasn't happened by accident it's not overnight i'm getting i'm getting this i'm getting this five that you're a pretty clever fella. And you're very switched on and you seem incredibly mature and like everything you've said today.
Has had reasoning. And it's and it's very understandable and it's measured it's calculated and it's all pointing to become the better version of yourself not just on the golf course but just of yourself in general which i think needs to be really uh kind of praised really you know it makes me feel very old very fat very uh lack of talent. So after this podcast i'm going to the gym i'm going to hit 50 balls. And eat just lettuce and i'm going to be the next.
Victor hovland. And i'm going to oakley. And i'm going to oklahoma state [Laughter] right we've got some quick fire questions we've got some questions from the audience victor. But i'll be honest with you i don't think this is uh um a comment to your interview. And rick but we've actually asked so many of these so many people want to say about your goals for the future which we've kind of come to the conclusion of you're gonna win more events we know that but you can do it tournament by tournament um there was a question actually which i won't understand this at all. But um what's your favorite metallica album was one of the questions okay um yeah i don't real i don't listen to too much metallica to be honest is that a bit too mainstream well it was kind of my i mean metallica is great. And it was kind of my one of my first kind of getaway. Or gateway uh bands to kind of delve into some some harder stuff but um i i i'm not a super big fan of their later albums so i would say just anything of their you know maybe first three or four albums i would say or you know my favorite i'm gonna sound like a proper old proper old man now the old sound the bloody say all these well i i don't know i don't reflect too hard but when i was in year six at school when i was 11. So what's that 20 years ago i'd actually have a lincoln park album so it was yeah is it hybrid theory. Or something like that it was called i feel like lincoln park is very mainstream there it is very mainstream. But that's it i mean i've always liked linking park um that i kind of grew up with that. But i didn't think much of it. And i couldn't even think of something yeah yeah. And then.
And then.
I just kind of again got on youtube and just search on okay best metal songs. And i just kind of went in from there um but yeah lincoln park. And kind of metallica were some of the bands that kind of got me into this stuff early on all right i'm gonna fire through some of these kurt morse has asked what's his standard chipotle chipotle order um i don't eat it too much anymore i used to a lot in school yeah we back we don't have it over in the uk do we i don't think. So no we're more five guys mcdonald's really i'm really enjoying five guys at the moment five guys i guess this is good philippa said what's your favorite golf club in the bag right now um it's a good question uh i've actually got some new stuff in my bag right now. So it's a little bit exciting trying um some new clubs um is this stuff you can talk about those clubs that are released. Yet you can tell us what they are. Or the under wraps uh they are uh yes they are released okay. So what's in the bag right now then.
Are you trying. So i actually um obviously shouldn't obviously but i actually put in uh a callaway 60 degree last week um and i just found it i i think it was just most of the grind that was different uh. But i just noticed i've had a really hard time uh in the bunkers uh these last few weeks because some of these courses especially on the west coast like the the greens have been really firm and i just noticed i put i put myself in short sighted positions and i haven't like i can't put any spin on the ball um compared to what some of the other guys are doing i'm just looking at it well i mean my hands aren't that bad like my technique isn't that bad. And even my coach smith has been looking at it's like yeah it looks looks fine i don't know why the ball is coming coming out. So low with a little spin and then.
I tried this this callaway wedge and i guess it was just it prevented it from digging as much. And kind of just popped the ball a little higher so i got higher launch and more spin which is huge. For me when i've been short-sighted because i feel like i've got i'm getting a lot better on the standard chip shots but it's the short sided ones uh from the bunker or from the rough or i could from some more height and more spin so i think honestly my 60 degree is kind of what i'm most excited about right now just going out of there. And chip all day yeah we won't tell ping about this right well if you ever wanted something in the world. So i might try to might put another six degree ping in the back soon if you if you ever want even more loft rick bought a club off facebook marketplace was it a while ago it was a 70 degree wedge. And it was. So much fun i'll send i'll send it yeah you can bring it out does he know are we going to solve scar personally i do not know that's my fam that's like people asking us do we know the queen yeah personally you know james bond. And this is an interesting one. And i've seen a few of these so james little said um does he have a standard oh no this is a different question james little has asked does do you have a standard swing thought um i i wouldn't say i have a standard swing thought. But it's always you know if i'm trying to do something there's a couple of things that i change um. And there's not there's really not much to do with swing mechanics it's more set up like i try to do almost everything in my setup because my swing is. So instinctual and reactionary at this point uh so i try to control as few variables as possible so for me a tendency have been in the last few months to aim too far right so for me if i'm trying to i've really had a hard time hitting my cut i've kind of gravitated towards being more of a drawer of the ball right now which i i like in some circumstances but i still see the golf course with a little bit of a cut so for me just last week i was just really getting into aiming more square. And even more left with the iron shots to get that cut swing in there um and ball position for me usually stays the same sometimes if i try to hit a low and maybe more droid i put put the baltimore back in the stands uh but usually like i kind of keep it more up to the left foot and i just try to be really cognizant of of where i'm aiming with my shoulders and my feet and then.
It's more just okay if i'm if i'm feeling a little cut shot then.
I just kind of hold on to the face a little bit more through impacts. And i try to swing more down my uh kind of where my my foot line is. And if i'm hitting a draw it's more okay stand closed. And then.
Just kind of hit hit uh down my foot line as well so um i try to keep it as simple as possible i think you need to don't you at the highest level um right i'm gonna wrap it up on this last question. And that this is a really good one my mum will be asked we'll be glad i've asked this question my mom will okay. But it's not from my mum okay okay i think this is going then.
Andy adams has asked can you teach some of the other pros how to play with a smile on their faces because it's great seeing you smile. So much when you're playing and this was something my mum always had such a she loved tiger she's like i wish he bloody smiled when he played all the time i must have been watching you you do actually look like you're at genuinely having a good time on the golf course yes yeah i know i would say i do smile a lot um especially when i'm talking to some of the guys uh we have some good banter going. But uh i think i just like as some people have a resting face i think i just have a little resting smiley face i i i think i do get credit. For smiling but sometimes i'm not and i'm actually off so i think that kind of that runs in my favor a little bit uh yeah. So if anybody's watching victor play and he's smiling he's not always happy yeah basically what we're getting at well victor honestly you have been an incredible guest yes um you are the by far the highest world rank to play we've had on on the channel. And i can't wait to see after the lucky charm rub that you had last time from ninth to third now fourth i mean it's only up from here well if you're not world number one by the end of the year we've we've not done our good luck charm justice base well that's it we will be at the open this year i'm looking forward to it. So hopefully we'll see you there you'll be playing hopefully winning it and i know you've put a lot of practice in obviously day to day but just so you know you've got my support as well so everyone's been on the podcast we've got tommy we've got bryson we've got victor we've got minwoo lee they're all my favorite so you've got the practice you're going to play well. But just know you've got our support as well and that will be the final push to get you on that clarity jug with the uh yeah. And i think if if we get chance. And our uh schedules collide we'd love to shoot a video a proper main channel video where where i played against tommy and he gave me a 10-shot head start over 18 holes over a championship golf course that was about 7 500 yards everyone knows the result pretty much uh it was a it was a level match in the end. And i started i started 10 on the par i know i'm not that good but he played well he played okay. For him it was tough conditions i played okay. For me so i reckon that was about the right benchmark. So i want to see if there's a tour pro out there who can beat me with a 10 shot head start. And i think you're the man i think you're the man. So let's try and film that victor good luck for the rest of the year thank you very much for your time keep picking up those trophies keep picking up those checks keep smiling and uh good luck for the rest of it yeah thanks. So much mate thank you guys appreciate it.
