The guys from Paying They've kind of showed me how much the equipment matters. I just love that I can hit any shot I kind of want.
We're gonna be able to tell some fun stories about what goes on here to help golfers play better golf.
Hey, welcome back to the Pink Proving Grounds Podcast. I'm Shane Baking. That is Marty Jertsen. We're with Joaquin Neeman and we're in the tour truck Joaquin, and we're in La. It's US Open week. You come back to La. What are the vibes like for you, obviously with the success you had last year Riviera?
Yeahs always I always enjoying coming back to California. We are pretty close from Riviera. I got obviously really good memories from that place. And yeah, I mean the only I think the only similar thing about here is just the year so totally different cored than we play at rev.
Tell us about that week, just recap the week last last year at riv Viewers. I mean, it's got to be super rare to win wire to wire, and especially that tournament. It was one of the most stacked fields. I think you're all eleven and the top eleven, the top eleven players in the world were in the field.
No decent start, by the way to Marty sixty three, sixty three, I'll play at almost any golf course in the world.
So just tell us about that week. Every round round one, round two, how you're feeling, and yeah.
That was, yeah, I was.
I remember Actually that was probably like the last couple of weeks of February, and I remember seeing Story Pines. I was playing amazing golf and I told my team, my coach that, I mean, it's I remember telling them that the game feels so close, that he's right there. I just need to be patient. I was having a great attitude on the golf course. I was kind of like really understanding my swing, what was going on, where
the ball was going. Then I remember I played like two or three more tournaments after Tory and I felt I was right there. And the week before I was at my house and I had such a week week off there where how the way I trained, the way I prepare. Once I came to Revere, it just felt like pretty pretty simple. I mean I just needed to go out there play golf. I knew it was coming at any time, and yeah, I mean, I played amazing
all the first two rounds. I didn't feel like it was on match effort, just hitting the board nicely off the tee. I was putting amazing. My approach as to the green were pretty good too, So I mean everything that we was amazing the first two rounds. Obviously, then we go to the to Saturday, and for me, the weekend was more like another tournament. Obviously, you got the first two days I was leading, but obviously you still need to win the tournament. You got two more days.
I remember Saturday was a really good day too.
I got it.
I think I was five under a moment and I was probably twenty twenty twenty one under a thing, and I.
Was like, wow, this is working.
And then I always travel a little bit on number twelve and on the teacher on number twelve. It doesn't fit well for me, like you want to hit that little fade, but you don't want to start it too far left. So I was kind of always on that right raft. But yeah, I mean, Saturday was a really good day. I didn't finish the right way, I think, but but yeah, I mean I knew.
I knew that.
On Sunday, I had a little margin, but I still needed to play well again. And yeah, I mean I played with Carmen Young, and I felt that I started the round pretty good other than I three pattern number number one or I miss a short pattern number one for Bertie. But I kind of was still really focused on my game. I knew I was hitting the ball grade. I have a great warm up, and I remember on
the warm up, I remember this. I was on the right side of the range and there's like a little chipping green there and I always like doing little beds with guy with my caddy before we go out. And I was like forty yards to this, being on the on the on the chipping green, and I was warming up. I grabbed my driver, start heating drivers. Alright, big, how much if I if I make it to the hale, like I'm just messing a run with the driver and I he like a fifty year driver and.
I made it.
I was there with my trainer also with a see and he would lay all right, I think I'm ready.
Yeah, I think I can go out and play now. Yeah, that's what's the stress level. I mean, golf is so funny because we get more stressed when we're in a position that makes us uncomfortable. You know, when a guy that's never broke eighty is sitting on seventy eight on the eighteenth t you know, and all of a sudden you're stressed out, even though that's where you want it to be for so long in your life. You open sixty three, sixty three at this historic golf course, historic tournament,
and you said, it's a different tournament. When you get the Saturday, does the stress almost intensify because you played so well those first two rounds.
Yeah, after those first two rounds, obviously, expectations are way lower the first two That the first two rounds.
And you just went out there and play, and I play amazing.
And then obviously the next two days you you you know that you can win the tournament and you want to win it. So yeah, I think I think expectations are a little bit higher on the weekend. But I also were pretty good to manage my game, especially on Saturday. I think Saturday was a really important day to yet
prepare for Sunday. And yeah, I mean also it helps a lot being we stayed in the house with with all my friends also, and that helped me a lot to kind of get distracted on what was going on on the golf course.
Yeah, so walking, we've heard, uh, you travel around, you gotta you gotta tight crew, you gott you travel with. What are some fun things you do to decompress when you're traveling playing tournaments?
Yeah, remember, well it always changed. It used to be a lot of gaming before. We remember with Carlos and Sebastian Munos, we stayed the three of us together, and at that time, we're playing a lot of Call of Duty, and I remember we we always tried to go up early, do our practice early, play early, trying to do everything early. That way we can come back to the house and do videogames.
I gotta go to work for a little bit and have some fun.
But yeah, then, yeah, that was that was a lot of fun. And I the other day we were talking about it, and I remember the sometimes that playing video against it helped me a lot to kind of like forget about it what was going on the golf course.
And I remember Greenbrier when I won.
I on Sunday, my team I was like at three pm something like that. I wake up like at seven in the morning, and all my friends at that time were into Fortnite, and I was like, wake up, I already have a coffee, I have breakfast, and like, I mean, I got like six hours.
To warm up. Hey, guys, you want to play Fortnite?
Start playing for for like three four hours before my tea, and I kind of like forgot about everything, you know, So it was pretty cool.
Gaming can get the mind away from the golf course. Really important question here, how long did it take you living in the United States where you stopped getting annoyed that Americans called it chili?
What do you say Chile?
You know, Americans say Chili, they don't say Chile. How long did it take you to realize that's the way Americans pronounce it?
Yeah, I mean between that and my name, it just I think it's too much more for this.
Our accents don't work great.
But it's fine.
Yeah, I gotta kind of like learn instead of Wuago with Jay. I gotta say, like try to say Wuago with like a way, and they kind of started getting it. Then, Yeah, they think I'm from Chile and they started talking about the chili, the.
Spicy eat right.
Yeah.
Yeah, actually don't have much spicy like Mexicans do, but yeah.
What can you tell us about just your start with Ping, like the first clubs you got, just what that journey looked like. When did you start playing golf?
Yeah, I started playing probably when I was three two years old. I was always walking in my house with plastic clubs. Yeah, everywhere. I got pictures that I can barely walk and I was with a plastic bag walking around. And I think I remember on Christmas when I was I don't know, probably like eight seven years old, I got my first set of clubs and it was the pink Moxie.
I don't know if you guys remember that one all blue blue bag.
Yep.
It was the driver that it was like thirteen degrees and I remember that after I got like a bigger set than the Pink Moxy, I came that driver as a three wood. Now I was using my other driver and I had this Ping Maxi driver that was like through thirteen degrees and I was hitting it like a fair with would any It was my favorite club over the back.
We interviewed Sahith in the same seat about a month ago, and we were talking about him getting into Ping early. And then you get to that point where you're signing a contract with Ping, How weird was that day? How cool was that day? When you think back to your junior set and you've got a thirteen degree driver and you're putting that in play as you're twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old, and then you get to professional golf and
all of a sudden you're a ping athlete. How was that experience for you and how was that moment?
Yeah?
For me, since I was ten twelve, since I was really into golf, I've always been a big fan of ping. I remember in Chile they had a lot of professional tournaments and there was this few couple of guys where they have their ping bag. They're white and black, and I always look at it and I always dream of having a tour bag, you know, putting your clubs there, a clean towel. You know, you just feel like a pro.
And I remember when I was I think I was fifteen, and I got in contact in contact with being and I was who helped me out. He was a Scott Sullivan, So I remember it was a little bit of a pain in the ass because I was all the way in Chile and sometimes I would ask them for clubs because I was not able to go to the us for a while, and they sent me the clubs they were sitting in Atuana for a couple of months, and I, oh, it was it was a lot of work to get
clubs from from here to to Chile. And then yeah, and then when I turned pro, I always knew that I I was going to be a Pink player.
I always been.
I always used their clubs since I was fifty fourteen clubs I always been PIN. So yeah, everything came up pretty easy. I used to the driver. I mean, we always talk about it, how different the drivers look from each other, from different brands. And since I start using PIN, I every time I put another driver on the ground.
It's not like I do it every time and I never do it, but but you see them and it's like, I mean, you get so used to the face, to the look of it, and obviously more than the fitting, how it feels. Once you put the driver on the ground, you immediately know that this is your club.
Yeah, so walking, you play irons that help you launch a little bit higher in the air. So tell us about your kind of that journey choosing irons you play, and then you do some interesting things on what I think on the top end, of the bag into the wedges you play are like our specialty wedg forty eight degree as opposed to a pitching wedge. Right, what how do you make that decision like between the pitching wedge and you know, play.
Forty forty six because I'm currently in exactly in that dilemma. I'm very interesting wedge. Yeah, it's like or do you play the game? Yeah?
So I never just like plate plad faces on the irons. I always kind of like it a little bit bigger, and the eyeblades for me are the perfect size. But when I go to the wedges, obviously a wedge you like to see a knife there, you know. And I think the wedge is kind of like right there it does it has a number you got you know, you have number nine eight seven.
The wedge is still at the Greek c love.
Right, yeah, right, you want to see that now.
I like having the wedg and I like to play a lot between numbers from one hundred and fifty years down. I like to hit a lot of in between clubs. I like to take off a little bit. So the wedge is just perfect for me to control the distance a lot better. And yeah, obviously now we go for the four iron. I remember last year for the playoffs, I was with my coach and obviously for me, hitting high and spinny is hard. I prefer way better to
hit it low and you know, with less spin. So we got to some courses where I got two twenty yards and I cannot stop it on the green because my fore arm doesn't launch too high. And I was with my coach and we were he was giving me this idea of trying a five rescue. I was like, no, I mean, I you know, you don't want to go. You don't want to take your forearm of the back. Maybe a three, but not a four. I'm twenty four.
I don't need another head cover.
And then you don't know you can put the four rescue were the four ron used to be?
What slot? So there's a lot of the important professional golf problem.
And my coach was like all over me, no, you gotta use it, like no, no, no, no, once I try, like yeah, it's awesome. I and I also sometimes when when we play a lot of Bermuda around the green, so I like, I used to love hitting like seven woods around the green and with the rescue now is it's unbelievable. And I remember I put it for the playoffs and and my coach was telling me, I'm telling you, you're gonna you're gonna win a lot of strokes, and every stroke you're gonna own me a certain out of
money that we paid that time. And we started the B and W with that club, and I chip in like two times with that club, with with the with the with the fire rescue.
It's like Todd Hamilton.
Yes.
And then then I got to Tour Championship and I always travel on number nine because you gotta hit a really good for iron to hit the green and yeah, and I think that week I hit the four rescue every day and I think I was like one under through the week and I missed a short part for very or I couldn't been two under on that whole easily, Like, yeah, this club is good.
Are you? Are you a tinkerer? I mean are you? Are you someone that is always kind of tinkering with their clubs? Are you someone that gets their set?
What I mean.
Tinkering mean you're changing a lot, You're wanting to adjust maybe a grind, or you're replacing certain clubs in your bag. Or are you pretty consistent with your bag week to week.
Yeah, No, I'm pretty consistent with my bag. I think I had the same stuff for Friday since I start, since I start my.
Professional career, I don't change much. I think.
When I start changing too much, I kind of like start blaming a little bit of club and I want something yeah, and yeah, I mean I always I'm really like a few player and I and when I know the club is doing what I like, I just keep it on the back. And then if it's not doing what I was supposed to do, I know, I gotta I gotta change something on the swing or you gotta start feeling something different.
And and I'm a little bit more that way.
Maybe if I I think the most, the club that I have changed the most is maybe the sixty when I messed up a little bit with the lie with leading edge, depending on the course, the bankers, how much sunder is on it. And yeah, and then the other thing that I changed once since I turned pro it was my driver.
Uh, now I have it a little bit more, a little longer.
It's almost forty six, not quite, but yeah, almost forty six. And I gain a lot of the distance from there. And also it feels better for me. And also I hit a little straighted too.
San, there's some there's some awesome lass is in this for the everyday golfer, Like what you're you're the rescue you play the hybrid you play is a five high right, so he's got five iron say it?
Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, yeah, five.
But that's such an important lesson I think, you know, because if you play our Eyeblades or our Blueprints I Series I two thirties, we have a lot of players that that the gapping those hybrids are meant to gap with our g right irons that go really far right. So you can play like the five hybrid and a five iron and the gaping will be good. You're probably hitting that like twenty percent higher in.
The air, yeah, way before, and it's like a pitch in which yeah twenty five.
Yeah, So some weeks you'll swap that out for form. Yeah.
I think I think this week and the US Open, I might put the four iron because there's gonna be a little bit of wind there and kind of like mixing the yard and the numbers so.
The par threes are a mile long.
Yeah, right, we.
Were joking what is it is Evans. The lengthy one is that? Is that right? Sevens to nineties or two eighty six, but you know eleven is longer, but it's a little bit more downhill and into the win on seven. I think you're gonna see the big head covers come off for certain players.
Oh definitely.
I mean just I play with Midi and Mido hit a beautiful three when he didn't hit degree, I mean it was just short.
Yeah, you're like, this is a far three. You mentioned being twenty four, and I wanted to ask you this because golf is getting younger by the minute, and as a twenty four year old, do you still feel like one of the young guys or are you starting to feel more like a veteran of professional golf considering every year two or three or four, you know, college graduates or amateur players are popping up and not just being on tour, but contending on tour.
Yeah, it's funny.
I mean, I obviously I'm still twenty four, but I all of these guys that are coming out now, I mean I feel that it'd be here for a while, and I feel long a long time. If I look back and I remember since I started. It does feel like a lot of years. But yeah, I mean, obviously I still feel like I'm I'm o kaid I'm in just twenty four I yeah, yeah, I mean doesn't feel much difference.
Well, Kaya, I want to go back to that driver forty six inches or close to forty six. Now, what what did you play before that? And how did you kind of experiment with that?
And what's the loft on the forty six?
Yeah?
So they had the four thirty with the LST. It's tend pointing five degrees around there, and I remember I had the standard shot. It was probably forty I think it's forty five quarter probably, yeah, yeah, yeah. I started messing with it, I think the week before the Presidents cut in twenty twenty nineteen.
Yea.
And what I did, I.
We tipped the bottom of the chef a little bit, a little bit more one inch more thing it was, and then I left it a little bit longer, and I went from a D to rate D, from the D seven to.
The D six six.
Yeah, so a little bit of I mean it was a little lighter, but a little bit longer. So yeah, I mean since since that year, I tried it for the first time at the President's cab any and he worked great. I mean I still hit a high a little bit higher. I can hit it low also, which is easier for me. So yeah, I can can wear around both ways. I mean, my driver is one of my favorite claps of the bag.
So you saw an increase in ball speed with that, yeah, yeah, and clap speed was probably like three three four miles more. There is such an important lesson Shane to be able to experiment with longer length. And then we even have some calculations on this for the every day golfer that you know. I think for every three yards you gain in distance, you can live with one more yard of offline, right if you if you're if you're on the tour
level player. So it's it's fun to see not every PGA tour player, uh and player on the on the big tours, playing in the majors is playing a four four and a half inch driver, right, you know, and you're you're seeing more distance there, but we're still able to keep the control.
Yeah.
Obviously with your mechanics, you're you're you have a lot of handling and a dress and so that's why you're playing the ten point five right.
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, always been a higher love driver. I'd like to to see the face a little bit more open, because I mean, I say, for me, it's really easy to go down on it and.
Yeah, hit it low as low as I can.
More natural for you to hit it load than Meah, try to get it up in the air.
And then and then with this obviously, with this head and a little bit longer chef is way easier for me. I can step a little bit behind the ball and just send it along chair.
So yeah, nice, I heard you're a car guy, big time, gark. What's the garage like right now? Can you just walk us through the walking name and gral.
Yeah, I'm I'm a big fan of cars. I love I love to read the look of them, I like to drive them. I mean, right now, I just put my last car and it was a well last car for now, because I know I'm gonna be kind of mixed it up of course right now. The last carboy was a GT three and I love it. His man on and so much fun to drive. And also the week after Washington, we went to Austin with Sergio and we rented the race drug in Austin, the one that the race for Formula one and I took my my McLaren.
We took it there and we were driving on the track and he was one of the happiest day of my life.
Did you was it hard to get you out of there where you're like, no, we can still.
Yeah, I mean we're right like at eight in the morning and we left like a five.
Really it was all They had to put gas on the car for like two times.
Do you do you have like rules about buying cars where Okay, if I win again, I can buy a car if I do certain things or is it just kind of when you're feeling itchy Instagram you go, you know.
What, No, no, no, I like to I like to to give myself when I do something right, Like obviously I remember I was. I mean I was looking at car for a while, the McLaren, and I was like, yeah, I need to I need to play better to to kind of like give it to myself, right Yeah, And I I told Carlos, my agent, okay, uh, I want to buy this car.
Okay.
I was playing Hawaii the week after the next few weeks and obviously give me some extra motivation to play better. And after I finished second on the two weeks in Hawaii. Obviously I was based because I didn't win, but I told Carlos, like, I really want this car.
Can we do something? Yeah? I think you deserve it. That's final. Yeah, do it all right? Thank you? I went and start string.
That's good negotiation.
Yeah. It's not like I'm gonna by this card. All right, thank you? No, I got I would like to put some rules on myself. And also if I mean, if I had a bad attitude on the golf course or I don't like to give myself.
I've heard you have a simulator. Actually, so what's it is? This is this in the house in the house, So what's it like? Uh, you know, driving on the simulator then going on the track, and how does that compare to I don't know if if you ever played simulator golf or hitting doors, how does it compare to the golf side.
Yeah, it's actually pretty I mean I would said that it helps me a lot to to be a little better on on the on the racetrack with a regular car. I mean I spent a lot of time on the on the simulator and it is a lot of fun. I I actually both the same simulator as uh Sergio and Carlos did, so we we kind of like play online into each other.
And I I mean it's awesome.
You can raise Formula one to like a normal like a g D three or like McLaren. I mean, you can raise the same cars that I mean, any type of car you can in my in and and it changed all the vibrations on the steering wheel, the breaking, the acceleration, so it is a lot of fun. And also you can kind of like learn the learn the truck also, like I race on online on the Austin racetrack and you can kind of have an idea of the breaking points and the turns and.
The full on scouting one.
Yeah, very impressed, and it's and it's awesome.
I mean you can and then when you really get there to the racetrack, I mean obviously now you got your I mean now, I mean now it's between that and I mean you can dive you messed up. So it's not like on the similarity where you can break right there. Here is like I think I'm gonna break a little bit there.
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna get as much leeway do you do any online scouting for golf courses? I mean, do you ever do like look at videos before like a major Champions of course that you played or I haven't seen it all.
So for this course, I was trying to find out golf tournament, but there there were none tournaments before, and the USDA had had a video like a flyover, and yeah, like I like to do that kind of like have an idea of what the course is doing. And I also once I played the tournament, I kind of have a better idea where where the fairway is going, what
the greens is doing. And I like also to visualized a little bit my shots, so that like seeing the flyovers or past tournaments, it can it can really help.
You a little bit like the track where you kind of have an idea of what it's going to look like.
Yeah, walking in, let's talk about punning a little bit. You're using a pod answer. What is your journey been on putters through your career? You know, from a junior till now?
Yeah, I change a little bit.
I remember, I mean I always have the same same answer to I need to have the answer to when I came out and I remember I had a thirty four inches shaft thirty three maybe, and I started working with Stan Ali during my first two years and I went a little bit longer shaft I think to thirty six and yeah, I mean it's always nice to have options and people that can't help you out here on the track to to obviously, I mean the more you try, you can have a better idea of what were the
difference of the club, the shaft, what they do, how they feel. And yeah, with the pottery, I went from thirty six inches and then we build a pod because I didn't lie the I don't know how you the regular line the long line that it has on the on the bottom, because I like to part with the with the line on the ball, so sometimes that line with the line of the pottery was kind of like not.
On the same line for me from my eyes.
And we build with Tony pod an answer to with the line on top like a really short line, yeah around the top round and that is I mean that's been my gamer for or I mean probably three three years almost. Are you still using that long I went back to thirty thirty five I think it is right now, but yeah, it's the same club face, the same pattern face for for a while and I and.
I really love it. I we messed a lot with the also with the with the face of the Potter.
We had like no, like super firm how you call it, when it's just smooth, yeah, smooth melling.
And then we go to semi deep million and then super deep.
We kind of like try everything, and I mean and I and for me that's the softer it comes off the face. For me, like I have a better feeling of what the boy is gonna do and the spirit of the Potter, Yeah, distant control. So yeah, and that's been Mike Potter. Sometimes he behaves really good. Sometimes it doesn't behave really good, but he's.
Get in trouble if it's just put it away from the bag, like what's the what's the.
He is my baby.
Okay, you're nice to it.
I always try to talk nice to it.
I know.
I yeah, he never had a hard time. He he goes on the back nicely. He yeah, you got to use it on every whole the right. He knows I'm gonna be with him, par I mean sometimes probably a good idea to have another one there that way he feels Jealousyah, sure, but yeah, I'm not like that.
We'll get you out on this. What's your favorite thing about living in the US and what's the number one thing you miss about home?
H number one?
Living in I mean I live in Palm Beach right now, And for me, I picked up place because obviously, I think is where I can be a better player. I can focus more on my game, on my day to day routines, and yeah, I think it's where I can be a better golfer. And what I miss of Chile obviously are are I mean my friends, my own family lives in Chile, So that's kind of tough a little bit sometimes, but obviously it is what I decide to be.
And sometimes it's hard to be away from home for so long.
I mean I just go back for early at December for a couple probably one month for New Year and Christmas. But but yeah, I mean they understand that this is what I love and this is what I yeah, this is what I love to do, and they understand pretty good.
When you go home. What is the reception like when the plane lands and you get off the plane. Is it a celebration, are there people there? Or is it pretty calm and cool and collected and you just got to go home and just plend it.
Yes, I mean it's getting every time a little bit more busy. Obviously, whenever I go back, I always try to do something on the golf course where they can watch me play, because there is a lot of people dally they cannot travel to the US, which is way too far for them expensive and being able to play in Chile, have all the people there enjoy a golf around in a golf tournament that I can play there in Chile, And it's also something that I really love
to go and play in Chile. I mean, probably right now is probably too much people, and it's hard for me to focus on playing golf there because it's so much going on. But I mean, there is nothing for me better than going back there playing with my friends, play a little game, play different courses that we used to play in Chile when I was sixteen seventeen.
Like those memories for me are never going to I'm never gonna forgot those.
You mean, who hits it further off the tea?
Oh have you seen his size?
I think the face do you see hits his face?
Hat off?
He didn't have to answer.
He's a Bill different to be.
He's not what I mean, if you get him, do you tell him that?
I mean sometimes I can, yeah, I can hit it past him, but most of the time he's past me. I mean sometimes he's he's not trying to hit it too hard and I'm trying to give you everything.
So I think those times when.
I'm like six degrees.
But if we go there Midia and I told me that hid as hard as you can, and I try to hit as hard as I can, hear he will get me.
What is a week to week I'm gonna eat at this place every week on the road. What's your place on the road.
Oh, it is hard decision right now.
I think my first couple of years he used to be Chipotle, I was, I go to plays and I feel like that's.
The I feel like that's the PG eight Tour answer.
But I mean I do think the same.
Are you Are you not doing anymore?
You not anymore? Let a little tired of that?
Okay, Okay, so you're you're you're kind of in between spots right now.
Yeah, No, I mean with lately we're renting houses and we had a chair for all of us, so he's yeah, I love it.
You're gonna do it out this week?
Oh yeah, on Sunday Sunday.
If let's say, let's say you win the US Open, still in and out on Sunday and out on Sunday. I mean, that's the way you should celebrate a US Open winner.
I al would like to have a burger on Sundays. I mean, I like files, but on Sunday.
Oh yeah, like walking, Now, you're you're an avocado guy, right, so how do you actually eat it on the golf course?
Like, how do you do?
This is an encorese snack?
You know?
No, no, I just if I wait too much to the aloco is not gonna look good. So I'll keep it for my breakfast or after the round.
But yeah, I love it. And Chili is a big thing.
You eat a lot of smash avocado on a toast, and that's the one thing I do when I arrive in to Chili.
It's a different type of thread Tuesday. That way. It tastes so good.
Well, walking, really appreciate it. I'm good luck this week and look the rest of the year and we'll chat with you soon. Keep trying to hit it past me to Okay.
There you go, that's right there.
You go.
And this is the Thinking Browns podcast.