It’s Supposed to Be Fun

Something changed for me at the Memorial in 2023. It’s a low point in my career. Maybe the lowest, actually. But also in this weird sort of way ... it’s a high point. I know a lot of people remember my interview after I shot an 84 in the first round and got pretty emotional. If you didn’t see it, I basically just got everything off my chest that I was feeling. I was feeling somewhat broken at that moment. It wasn’t just my score or my swing — it was this feeling of being lost. And I felt lost in this world that I loved. I’ve been obsessed with golf my whole life. It’s never felt like a job. I’ve never felt like quitting. But all the grinding I was doing leading up to that event, knowing I was the defending champ and knowing I wasn’t where I wanted to be with my game…. I just felt heavy.

And that first round was a nightmare. My swing felt fine, but I didn’t know where the ball was going. And at a course like that, you’ve got no chance. That was the lowest my confidence has ever been in my entire life. All the stress, all the anxiety that had been bubbling inside me for months, it was just too much. So I let it out. I just said everything I was feeling.

I think there’s this tendency for golfers not to talk about some of the more challenging parts of life on tour. People don’t like hearing us complain, and I get that. And some guys don’t like talking about their struggles. It’s almost like voodoo. If you don’t mention it, it’s not real. But for me, when I opened up, when I let myself be vulnerable — it changed so much for me. 

That night after the round, I talked to my family and my team and just let them know how I was feeling. There was something about hearing the words come out of my mouth, just speaking out loud about the frustration and the pain that really helped me.

I think about that day often because my career could have gone one of two ways at that point. I could have internalized it and let it fester, and who knows how things would have gone after that. I’m guessing not great. But in being honest with my family, with the golf world, I found a new part of myself.

I woke up that next morning and I’m serious when I say this: I physically just felt different. Like that pressure, that weight on my shoulders, it was gone. I know some guys on tour who would have withdrawn with an “injury” after a round like that, but that’s just not me. I’m an athlete, I’m a professional. I wasn’t going to give up. So I went back to the course and I told myself that I didn’t care anymore what people thought about me. That there was nothing to hide and nothing to be afraid of.

I had this clarity, this freedom. I shot even par. My game wasn’t fixed overnight. Neither was my mind. But I started going in the right direction for the first time in a while.

And I think, most importantly, I had fun again.

To me, that matters a lot. I play a game for a living. It’s supposed to be fun. That’s why it was invented. And if you’re not having fun, golf gets even harder. When I forget that, or I get lost in all the other parts of the game, I think about growing up in Florida, and the pond we had in our backyard.

I remember being seven or eight years old and hitting an iron in the backyard that my dad cut down for me. I just loved seeing the ball fly through the air. Looking up after hearing that thwack sound, and seeing the ball cut through the air and go right at the target. To me it was the coolest thing in the world. I begged my dad to take me to a local course so we could play. But he’d point to the pond in our backyard, and he’d say, “Once you can carry a ball over the pond, we’ll go to a proper course.”

That became my obsession. I’d whack balls after school all afternoon, trying to get them over the pond. It was probably around a hundred yards, which felt like 300 to me back then. I’d collect the ones that landed on the bank or just barely in the water, and bring them back to my tee. And then one day I finally did it. I feel like I can still picture that ball bouncing on the other side of the pond. I ran inside and told my mom, who told me Dad wasn’t home yet from work. So I went and sat in the driveway for the rest of the day until he got home.

I’m not the kid out on the driveway anymore, I know that. The meaning of golf has changed for me. It became a way to provide for my family, to see the world, to discover who I am. I love being on the PGA Tour. I’m really thankful to be a part of all this. It’s been a blessing to compete and leave my mark on the game. To win eight times out here, to win a Tour Championship, that stuff means a ton to me.

I’m 39 now, and I find myself thinking about my legacy more than ever before. 

What type of golfer do I want to be remembered as?

Who do I want to be?

And it’s not lost on me that the biggest is by playing well in the majors. But for me, with the majors, it’s always been a real love-hate relationship. And I’d say it's been a lot more hate than love. 

Growing up, we all watched Tiger dominate them. Everything about his game seemed perfect. So when I turned pro and started playing more consistently in majors, I tried to be perfect, too. I thought that to win one you had to be absolutely dialed. That everything had to be at 100. And I’d get so caught up in my own head that I’d get off to these horrible starts and just forget to be myself. I’d lose the joy of looking up and seeing the ball fly at my target. And for a decade, really, I struggled like that.

It’s easy to say, “Oh, just treat it like another event,” or “Just be yourself.” But even now, with a better attitude and some good results at the majors under my belt, I still have to work hard to relax, to be me, when those events roll around.

I think it’s OK to vocalize your fears, your desires, as a player. I remember at Troon in 2024, when I went into the final round of the Open with the lead, I pictured myself on the 18th green with the trophy in my hand. I could see it. It takes more energy to not think about it, so I let my mind go there. And I played great that day. 68. There’s a couple shots I’d want back. But I lost to a phenomenal player in Xander, who had a terrific day. I’m really proud of how I played that whole week. I wasn’t afraid to get hurt, to lose, to be human. I cherished the challenge.

I hope the day comes where I'm the one holding one of those trophies. I’m not too big to say I’m scared that it won’t. I know time isn’t on my side. But I believe I will get there. And I’ll keep trying until it happens. 

I also know that I can leave a legacy through all the different opportunities the game can provide to people. I’m really proud to have sponsored an AJGA event since 2016. That event, along with the APGA Tour event we have in Florida, which aims to provide opportunities for minority golfers, have meant so much to me. I really, really believe in leaving the world a better place than you found it. I think all of us as people can do that no matter who we are. 

Golf, and the opportunities it offers, are really endless. That’s why I love bringing more people into the sport. The work with the AJGA and the APGA Tour is part of that. To me, TGL is doing the same thing. It was hard for me to know what to expect at first, probably like most people. An Indoor team golf league? How is that going to work? Look, you can call me biased (I am), but playing in TGL and getting to win a championship as part of Atlanta Drive GC has been an absolute breath of fresh air. I grew up a huge sports fan and never thought I’d get to play golf in an arena as part of a team. Getting to be out there with my teammates, seeing my kids in the crowd, being  in front of a rowdy audience, and just having fun — it was just such a wonderful experience. 

It’s cool to be able to show people that golf can be something different. It can be casual, and accessible. It can be indoors and fast and a place to crack jokes and be serious when you need to be. We can get fired up with our teammates and bring fans this element that people might not see on a Sunday afternoon at a course. Seeing guys like Tiger, like Rory, seeing them let their guard down a bit and just be themselves…. It’s honestly so special to me. I feel like that kid at the pond again. I can’t wait for our second season to start. It’s going to be really cool. We’ve cooked up some new stuff and I know this year’s going to be even better.

A lot is made about “growing the game.” I know it’s a tired phrase. And for me, I think it’s not so much about growing as it is about reminding people of  all the different things golf can mean to someone. I think TGL is doing just that. 

And at this point in my career, man, I’m just loving having fun. Simple as that. I want to be out here as long as I can. Age is just a number. I feel like my game is in a good spot, and I’m finding myself falling in love with the game again and all the things it can offer.

So who do I want to be?

I want to be the guy who sees the ball flying at the flag and still thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world.