It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. We come to you every Wednesday. This week's guest Richard Bland, playing on the Live Tour. Richard longtime European DP World Tour player and I can never get used to calling it DP World. It's the European Tour. But that's where Richard Blyin spent the majority of his career and in his late forties. He's now in his fifties. He made the decision to go to Live and he talks about outgoing DP World Chairman Commissioner Keith Pelly. Keith Pelly told him, listen, if
I'm you at your age, I take the deal. He talks about it, and listen, Richard's not one of those guys that got a ton of money. It was just a decision to where it was like, Okay, this is an opportunity, I'm going to take it. He's on the Cliques Martin Kimer's team, and listen, he's playing really, really, really good golf at this stage of his career. And I can tell you he kind of used my used the Floridian where I teach to kind of spend the
last three weeks. He's coach Tim Barter, who commentates for Sky. They came over and I watched this guy grind for the last month, and even in his fifties, he's probably working harder now than he ever has and he wants to continue to play well. And I think he's got a very very interesting story. And like I said, he's not a superstar. He's not someone that got the live bag, got all the money. It was a choice that he made. He talks about it. I've known Richard for a long time.
I've watched his career and this is a really really good podcast, some really candid things that he talks about, and something I think you all will listen and enjoy. So Richard Bland this week on Son of a Butch. My guest is a I mean, Richard, you are a veteran of professional golf. You turn pro in nineteen ninety six,
got onto the European Tour. I think in twenty in two thousand and two, if I'd have told you in twenty twenty four you'd still be playing competitive golf at the highest level, would you have believed me?
Probably not No. But you know, I think it's it's every kids stream you know that's growing up playing golf that they want to play at the highest level for for as long as they can, So you know, it's something that I'm proud of that I'm still going at nearly fifty one, so I must be doing something right. And yeah, it's been uh yeah, it's been a journey. There's been some ups and downs, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
I mean, obviously it's easy to always look at the icons and the superstars of competitive golf, but there are certainly more people like yourself than there are of these guys that the public see. He's flying around on private jets and you know, having this amazing kind of superstar lifestyle, both on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, the Challenge Tour,
the corn Ferry Ladies all over the world. The tours are really made up of a lot of people that are somewhat the fabric of what those tours are because the John Rahm's, the Rory's, the Scotti Scheffler's, they're outliers. They are very unique, unique people. But there are a lot of people that get into golf, and I think it's easy when we look at careers. Blandy, you haven't won a major, you haven't won multiple times all over the world. It's easy to look at that and go, oh, okay,
well that isn't a great career. But as Pat Perez said, he said this to me many times. People always say, well, you only won three or four times, and he always says, we'll try and win in once. I don't think the great ones, the Ernies, the Tigers, the Greg Normans, the Nick Faldos, that of the past generation, and then the guy's doing it today, Rory Scotty, Scheffler Brooks. They make it look so easy and they make winning look very, very difficult. You won your first tournament in twenty what
was it, twenty twenty one? I mean how many starts? It was like almost five hundred to four hundred and seventy eight starts. You played some great golf throughout your career and didn't win. When you did finally get that breakthrough at the British Masters in twenty one at the Belfrey, which is an iconic kind of old school kind of UK old European tour golf course. They had a bunch
of tournaments there, They had Ryder Cups there. What do you remember about that week and what surprised you about that week to get your first win, because I'm always fascinated when you do finally break through. And I asked this question all the time. Is it different than you thought it was going to be? Did you play the best you've ever played that week? What was it about that week that in the almost four hundred and seventy something other weeks tournaments, it wasn't your week?
Yeah, I think I think one of the things that really helped me. That week we were still playing in Covid and we'd just come off a five week stretch, so there was a there was a six week stretch. The last tournament was was the Belfry, So I just I'd been away from home for five weeks, not allowed out the hotel.
Because you guys were much more on the European Tour the DP World Tour. Now, you guys were much more draconian and streaming because we were on tree to country, right, you were just going from state to state.
You know, every country had a different regulation, different testing process or whatever. You know, we were getting tested two three times a week every week, and we were we were coming back on a on a charted playing that the tour had charted and it was arriving into Birmingham at about two o'clock in the morning, and this and the and I remember the Belfry was a Wednesday to Saturday start, and the and the flight landed at like
two o'clock on Monday or say Tuesday morning. And I'd played the Belfry before plenty of time, so I kind of felt like, you know what, I didn't really need a practice round. And I and I'd played okay over the five weeks. I hadn't played great, but I think I had one top ten and maybe another top twenty in the five weeks, so you know, the game was okay. And I just I said to my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, I said, can you come and
pick me up? I want to go home. I just you know, loads of guys were just going straight to the hotel and straight into the bubble again. I said, I just need I need like twelve to fifteen hours out of it. I need a night in my own bed. I just need to get back home. And I then just traveled up on the Tuesday night and started Wednesday. And then I never do that in a tournament, I mean you even though I didn't feel I needed the
preparation because I just played for five weeks. But I just needed to be at home for a little bit. So I drove up in the afternoon and uh and just started Wednesday. But then there was another funny thing that happened that week. I was walking down the range on the Wednesday and I passed a good friend of mine played amateur golf with him, a guy called David Howell had Aliev and he said, you can't, he said, blandy, he says, I need to stop, he said, He said,
You're never going to believe this. He said, I had a dream last night. He said, you win your first golf tournament. He said, don't know when, I don't know what tournament was, but you're going to win.
You're like i'd had that. I've had a dream a lot too.
At some point I've dreamt he said. It was so vivid. You win your first golf and four days later there I am holding the trophy. So but I just, I honestly believe that, just that twelve fifteen hours at home, just to unpack the suitcase, sleep in your own bed for seven eight hours and just have a cup of tea and just beay at home, reset and just reset it.
Just I don't think the fans and people listening to this podcast, if you don't travel as much as that we all do, the travel, it wears you down. And if you can. I mean one of the things that, yes, the private jet travel is on the PGA tour that a lot of the superstars are lucky enough to do is the ultimate luxury. But it was Greg Norman who learned that from Jack Nicholas. Nicholas had his own jet, Palmer had his own jet. Greg got his own jet.
I remember when Tiger was turning pro he my dad was still working with Greg and Greg said to Tiger, invest in private jet travel, especially in America, because he said, will you can get home and if you can get a night at home, he said, you'll have a family one day. But it's that one night. So I'm lucky enough to travel an enormous amount with Brooks and DJ and I'm lucky enough we do a lot of it privately. But what it does it gets us to and from
work faster. But there are times to where we're playing the following week, but we get home and if you can get a night with the family, with your dogs, with your kids, with your wife, girlfriend, sleep in your own bed, get up, make a cup of coffee in your own home. The reset that that can give you is enormous, It really is.
Yeah, it's huge. Yeah. I've always especially with Europe where yeah, unfortunate, I've always sort I live in the south of England, so we've always got Heathrow and Gatwick which are fairly close to me, so you can pretty much certainly in Europe. You know, Heathrow is a huge hub, so you can
get to pretty much anywhere most times a day. So even if we were playing in the even if we were playing in the same country, if we had to say two tournaments in Italy, I would travel home on the Sunday night if I got if I hated being at a tournament in Europe on a Monday, I'd hate it. I'd be Wednesday, I'd be right, let's go, come on, I need to go. You know, Wednesday was just a brain dead day. And so many times, you know, if
I if I okay. During COVID, we kind of had to do it and you okay, so mentally you kind of got your head around it. That's what you're going to have to do. But if you didn't have to do it. I hated doing two weeks on the road in uh in Europe where I didn't go home. You know, it's just that get home, unpack, repack, have that day at home, whether you go work on your game or
you sent your clubs on to the next event. It just like you say, you just you draw a line under the sand of the last event, press the reset button, and then go again. Okay. Mean you're getting up at four o'clock on a Tuesday morning, okay, to go and get an early flight so then you can go play the practice round on the afternoon. You know. And some people might say, well, you know, why not just stay out and then do it, But for me, it just
kind of messed the whole week up. You know, I was just Wednesday, I was ready to go, and then I'd come Thursday. I don't know, I was just kind of I just felt like I was out of sync, and so many and a few times that I did do it. You know, the second week, I've missed a cut. I've been playing, maybe played quite well. In the first week, I missed a cut just because I was I was just out of sync. The whole week so it was just right. If I can get home, I'm going home,
doesn't matter. You know, I've been I did it from an Emirates flight once we came back from Morocco, and the Emirates flight was like four hours later, and I just went, I'm going to go home for an hour. I just went home for an hour and then just went back to the airport just to go. I don't want to go from one term or to the other. I just went, I'm going to go home for an hour and then I'm going to come back.
So that week at the Belfrey, I mean, you'd played so many tournaments, you'd kind of you'd been one of those players that, you know, it wasn't necessarily a stigma, but you'd had a good career, lost your card a couple times, but you'd always made a living playing for PETISCL. You've got this idea in your mind, what winning your first tournament is going to be like that Sunday? What was the Sunday like? Did were you? Were you in the lead?
No?
I was. I think I was tied or one behind on Saturday and I shot I think I shot level par on Saturday and hold nothing. I played te Degreen. Probably the week I played best Tea Degreen I've ever played. Yeah, I made one bogie a week and that was I Like I say, I missed from about two and a half feet for par on one hole. I think on the about the eighth, seventh or eighth hole on Saturday, and I just missed everything, and and and another thing
that happened before. Yeah, I've been you know, Tim my coach. I've been with him for my whole career on tour for twenty two twenty three years now, and he's never He's never done this in the whole time I've been with him. He texted me on this. So the Friday nights we were sady for he said, if you want to win this, you got to go and shoot sixty six tomorrow. He said, So you have to be better on the greens. He said, if you want to win, that's the number you've got to go shoot. And I
shot sixty six on Saturday. Okay, that got me into the playoff. But it just just just a couple of things that week that the Dave Howe thing and then Tim doing that he's never done it. Since he's never done it, you know, it went a couple of times. I've had a you know, I've had chances since and what have you Like, I lost in the playoffs at at Dubai the next year. Yeah, you know Victor Hoblin, Yeah he never He never texted me the night before saying, look,
this is what you've got to do tomorrow, Tim. Yeah, so I think, yeah, I think he's just going to leave it at that one. That it was just a one hit wonder there. But yeah, you know, I knew, you know, I played pretty good on the front nine.
I think I went out in about three under. I made a really good pass save on nine, I hold from about fifteen foot for power of nine, which really then kind of kept my mementor and I birdied and the short hole around the corner and then yeah, you know, and and then I kind of I stole on at twelve the long pat three. You know we're playing. It's it's pretty damp and sort of typical English day, you know,
sort of drizzle ball, not going very far. I remember I hit busted a three iron to about thirty feet short of the flag and hold it and uh and then yeah, you know I hold you know, I hold a beauty on eighteen, Yeah, which I probably thought at the time, you know, I hit my te shot which only just cleared the waters, but maybe a few people just see. And as I was walking around.
That's a tough finish.
It was horrible.
It's a tough finish kind of dog lay, yeah, kind of from right to left. There's water off the tee. There's water on the second shot, the landing area when you're back in that little hollow there. I remember the Ryder Cups that the US both lost there. There was one year that they lost and it seemed like every
US play or rinsted in the water going. All the matches went down to the last and then in I think in the early nineties that's the that's the first Ryder Cup over went to Davis love Hold the winning pot on the eighteenth l But that eighteenth at the belt bring tough driving.
Well, they've actually put a new tea further even further back for that. And I remember when when I teed off there, we it was it wasn't very nice, you know, it was a bit of like I said, there was drizzling yet and I back off the T shirt and people had said to me, or what was it your nervous and no, I said, the face of the driver. I could see the face of the driver was a little wet, and we all know that you get a little bit of moisture on the face, the book can
literally go anywhere. I mean absolutely anyway, So it was I actually kind of try to dry the face and then yeah, you know, so I was walking around the water. It's quite a sort of longish walk around the water to get to your tee shirt. Thought, fucking just if I can, how some make three? I think that's good because I was. I think I was leading by one, and I thought, if the weather stays like this, it's going to be pretty tough to beat. I thought, I
can't see myself losing. And I hit I think I hit a four iron about twenty five feet right of the flag on the middle tier. And then yeah, I just probably hit the sweetest part of my career. And of course, then you know, sometimes the golf and God's go against it. It literally probably from doing my interviews in my iView. Then the sun comes out and it's absolutely you know, I was hitting some balls on the
range and it's perfect. I've taken everything off, you know, I'm practicing in a short sleeved shirt and you know, really, you know, no, it's perfect. Yeah, you know, am I ever going to you know, come on, give me a break. But you know, unfortunately, you know, it worked out.
You got it done, and was the sense relief? Was the sense what was it? Because you've played so long and you'd had such a long career at that stage and really twenty twenty one after being on the European Tour DP world for I still can't get used to the damn no mean, but you've been there for almost two decades. Was it finally or this is what I was? I wonder what that feeling was. I think, you know, validation.
Yeah, I think more, you know, as as everything kind of sunk in, it was more I think just the satisfaction. The satisfaction you know, we all you know, we kind of you know, we all know we can do it, you know, and yeah, you know, I will be the first to admit, you know, there was there was occasions.
You know, you get in your own way, and when you do that and you don't when the next time you want it, it's almost like you put too much pressure on yourself that even the next time because you want it that much more and you know, and and it's and it's I think it's a very very hard thing to do. It's almost like, yeah, the more you care about it, you can try.
You've got it.
You've got to care less in that respect. And uh so, yeah, I think it was just that satisfaction that you finally did do it, and and just it's not like a cockiness or a brash or all that, but then you just have that in a I think it just takes your inner confidence to just to another level.
If you've won a tournament on tour, people look at you different. Yeah, I don't care what tour you're playing on now. If you were a winner and you have won, people look at you differently, You get treated differently, you get different pairings, but there is a knowing look for somebody. And I'm sure having been on tour for so long in Europe, the acceptance and the so many people were
happy for you for that win. I mean because you'd been a part of the tour for so long, so the old guard were happy for you, and then the young guard were happy for you as well.
Yeah. No, it was u Yeah, you know, the the amount of messages that I got, you know, the next sort of week just completely blew me away. I mean, and Legends of the Game, you know, Freddie Couples, you know, putting it on social media. I think VJ. Singh did it. Even Phil, guys I've never even met before. I never even met Phil at that point. Of course I'd played in majors and seen him, but not someone that I would go up to and say hi, you know, he would know who I was. So that that was, you know,
that was that was really nice. But I think I think the thing that really got me was the messages that I got from people that not not necessarily golfers, but whatever walk of life they were in, and they were kind of like, I'm going to keep going. You know, there's times when I've gone, you know what, am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path? And You've now proved to me that I'm going to keep going down the path that I'm on? And that was that blew me away. Those messag are still on
my phone now and will remain on there forever. And that and it, honestly it took There were thousands, I mean literally thousands.
People you don't know.
Yeah, my wife. My wife was so understanding because I was literally for Yeah, I had a week off straight after and probably you know, obviously there was a lot of media to do and sky and that kind of stuff, and I was just these just hundreds of messages were coming through every day and I was reading and I read every single one. I didn't reply to all of them. You know, I kind of put a message out there basically saying thank you to everybody that I couldn't reply
to every single one. I'd probably still replying now, and that that that kind of really meant a lot that, you know, that some people, you know, they took that they watched and that they were crying, you know, you kind of like when you're coming down to stretch and you're in that like you and I. Nothing prepared me
for that. Nothing prepared I wasn't expecting. I'm just a guy that's just won a golf tournament, So what really in the grand scheme of things, I wasn't prepared for that, you know, and some of them quite emotional.
That twenty twenty one year was your breakout year after being on tour for almost two decades. You lead the US Open at in San Diego, that John Rahm won at Tory Pines. You're forty eight years old, You're leading the US Open after two rounds.
Yeah.
Confidence And I say this a lot on the podcast, but we talk about it as a lot in the professional game, at the elite competitive level. Confidence They always it's a cliche. You can't put a price tag on it, but it is so true. You get your first win, gets you into, You got into, You broke the top fifty in the world for the first time in your late forties. I mean, that doesn't normally happen like that, right. Was it hard blendy over there that you had that
you didn't have the success that obviously everybody wants. Was it hard to not try and make changes? You and Tim Barter, your longtime coach, who is a commentator on Sky for the American listeners if you watch Golf Channel. He's the guy you know at the DP World tournaments doing the interviews. You and Tim have been together forevers.
It was funny. I saw not long after you won, Danny Willett, because Danny was the host of the tournament at at the Belfry, and I saw Danny and I saw, my what an amazing story and he was like, you couldn't script it any better, right, I mean, for Blandy to win, for Tim Barter, who's his coach, to be
the guy that interviewed him. You know, they'd been together for so long, and then you know, we talked about who were walking away, and then as I was walking away, Danny shouted out me and he's like, I'm still trying to figure out how Tim kept his job for that long. The guy's never won in twenty years. But it was an amazing story, and it it vaulted you two kind of a resurgence in your career. All of a sudden, at forty eight, you're playing some of the best golf
of your career. You almost beat Victor Hovlin a couple of years later in Dubai in a playoff. Victor is one of the best players in the world. What was it? Was it the validation that you, all of a sudden had this realization Blandy there where you went, Wait a minute.
Yes, I am good, Yeah, I can do this.
It is just golf. I am just playing the game the way everybody else. They might have different toolboxes. We you and I were talking about this privately yesterday You're not going to out drive Bryson to Shambeau. You're not going to do some things that other players can't. But you've got to look at your game and go, Okay, these are the things I'm good at. And I think it's interesting you said this to me privately yesterday, and
you just said it earlier when we started. You wouldn't change anything, and out of your entire career, most people would go, Okay, I would go back and make changes. Given the career that you had and the sick that you've been lucky enough to have. Why do you say looking back that you wouldn't change anything.
You know, you've got to You've got to love the uh, you know, just just just a journey that you're on. You know. I I've made some great friends along the way. Of course, you know, of course, no professional golfer wants to play poorly and lose a card and that kind of thing. So yeah, of course I would love to
be able to change that. I don't have to go through there, of course, But and you know, you could kind of go like, there's something not necessarily I would change, But if you went back your mind, you know what I would have maybe started doing that a little bit earlier, you know, but like a you know, like I joked with you yesterday, you know, you know, my school report always just said, yeah, he's a bit of a slow learner, that kind of thing, and and I guess I kind
of brought that into golf. And but you know, like we said yesterday, you know, you've seen some you know, we've seen some superstars that kind of peak and then they're they're not playing anymore, you know. So to have maybe my success later in my career, okay, you know that that that that's that's that's how it's happened for me, and I'm grateful for that. So you know, yeah, of course someone saying we'd love to win in our fourth event, of course, you know, but I think sometimes that's it.
It's not always a good thing. You know. We've we've talked about players that won early in their career and suddenly they've got all this money and and you're a young lad, and you're a single lad, and it's very very easy to go out and you think everything, Well, I'm now just going to go I'm set now for life. I'm going to be on tour for the rest of my life, and and and they kind of probably feel like they don't have to improve anymore, whereas you do.
You have to try and improve every single day, you know, because that's just how good the standard is. And yeah, and yeah, I'm just I'm grateful that it did come for me later in my career. You know, there are players that have played for twenty years, never won, never one, you know. And fortunately I'm now not in that bracket. But like like you said before, it's so hard to win.
It is, you know, back probably and I'm not taking anything away from the ear of years ago, there's probably only maybe ten or fifteen guys.
You really says that a lot. My dad said when he played the tour in the early seventies, you know, he was still playing on tour when it was non exempt. He always says, Listen, I knew I wasn't as good as the best players. We knew we were just making up kind of the field. We knew we had no chance to win because everybody, the top stars, Jack and those boys back then, they were just so much better
than everybody else now. And you probably and I'd be interested to get your perspective on this, because this is something I've touched on in the past. Why is it do you think this new generation of players come out and they are ready and do win early, because when you turned pro in the early part of the two thousand, you had to be an apprentice. You had to figure out it's going to take you two three years to win, and there was that mentality that you had to learn
your craft. Why is it that you see so many this Ludwigo Aberg. I mean, this kid looks like he can't miss and to do what he's done. I mean last year at this time, he's playing college golf and now he's played in a Ryder Cup, he's won a tournament, and he's never even played in a major. You must have seen a shift every single year in the in the talent.
Oh, definitely that's coming out.
Do you feel like the players have more tools in the toolbox now? What is it that you see after being on tour for over twenty years that you see with this younger generation that just seemed to come out with zero fear and they just are not afraid to win.
Really, I think you know I've said I've said it to a lot of young guys that you know, when I was playing amateur golf in the early nineties, playing for England and that kind of thing. We never had fitness coaches or psychologists or anything like that. We didn't have TrackMan's or launch monitors.
Don't get out of the dirt.
Yeah, you just you're right, Okay, You've and coaching, you know you you and I'm sure you know your dad can say the same thing. Coaching has come on that much. You have to know an awful lot more than what you used to. You don't have to understand how machines work, this, that and the other, biomechanics, all this, what have you. And I just think I think golfers have just led bread differently now. And I mean by that is that
you look at you look at Tiger's boy Charlie. He's probably now he's you know, he's doubled in size in the last year. We saw him. At the last father son told him. He's probably in the gym with his dad every single morning. He's not the average probably as a as a bill the fourteen year old kid or however old he is. Yeah, he probably takes his shirt off. He probably looks like an eighteen year old he does, you know, So it's it's that's that's how it is now,
you know, And I think Tiger changed that. You know that that we had this this guy that came along that was just better in every single way and off, so everybody had to go up, what is he doing? And we have to we have to now keep up.
You're of that generation people forget. They look at Tiger now and a lot of people never really saw Tiger play, right, They never saw him play golf. They saw it on Golf Channel, they've seen it in reruns and stuff. But you were part of that generation playing on the European Tour when Tiger would come over two or three times
a year, he'd play in them. He'd obviously play in the Open Champi, but he'd come to Dubai and then he was on that circuit where he was playing at the Deutsche Bank which was in Germany, so he was coming over there. There was no YouTube, There really wasn't an Internet, so you were seeing him for the first time and as a golfers and as an athlete. As you mentioned, he was one hundred and eighty freak returned
from what golfers used to look like. Do you remember when you saw Tiger for the first time at a tournament. What was the year and what did you think?
I can't remember the I remember I obviously I saw him at the Deutsche Bank. I didn't really see him play, but I watched him practice in a playoff one year. I watched him practice for about forty five minutes in Dubai. I remember I had to I can't remember if you've been to the Emirates that there was a workshop, but in one of the small mantelists there was always the workshop there and I needed a put of gripping, and the guys just said, look, we're a bit busy'd come
back in forty five minutes. I said, yeah, okay, no problem. And as I was walking out and come out onto the back of the range, literally Tiger just arrived. Steve Williams just put the bag down. Tigers and I just went like, no one around. I just kind of like okay, and I'm probably seven eight yards by and I just sit on the grass and beautiful about one o'clock in the afternoon, and I just watched the most unbelievable forty five minutes of practice I've ever seen. It was it
was you can't hit you didn't miss a shot. I mean, did you not miss a shot?
We didn't. You didn't see players like that. You didn't see players that look like that. You didn't see players that had speed like that. And Tiger had this aura around him. I don't know if he created that or we around him created it, but you felt you were in the presence of something different.
It was crazy, Like you say, he just didn't miss a shot for forty five minutes, and I mean draws fade, I mean, exactly the same shot every single time. It wasn't if he's hitting a drawer. It was a five yard draw, and then the next one was a five yard drawer. It wasn't oh it hit one dead straight, and then one had overdraw a little bit, and then one he got perf. It was the same every single time. And then he just opened himself up and hit exactly the same shot just the other way. Just a five
yard cut, five yard cut, same flight, same trajectory. I mean, do you, as a goalfer, you just standing there going like you can't, you can't do that any better? You know, I assume it must be like an artist and you're watching, yeah, Pocasso paint you know, you go, I can't do that. I can't do that. And I remember I walked off, and I remember bumping into Tin and I just said, we can't win this week. You can't win. You can't beat that over seventy two olds. You can't you cannot
beat that unless he somehow self destructs. You can't beat that over seventy times. I'm sorry, you just you can't do it. It was just on a level that I didn't even think existed. And I assume that was I don't know if that was. I think it was whether your dad was still with him or gone over to Hank. I'm not too shy. I think it was early two thy When did when did?
When have t dub and my dad? Two thousand and two? It was the last year they worked again.
Right, Okay, So I assume it was probably maybe later than that.
I mean, listen. Even still, there's an argument to be made. There's always this argument about Tiger's golf swing. Who was better under my dad or Hank? I mean, obviously in.
My opinion, And I'm not just saying it because it's you know, I'm sat here with you, Tiger in two thousand.
Yeah, from I mean from an esthetic standpoint, but then you look at I mean it's I always think that Hank gets Hank gets a bad deal because the winning percentage and the golf he played when he was with Hank, the win rate was higher. I mean, it just it was exceptional as well. But I think Tiger will always going to be thought of in that golden era of right around two.
Blue fields away, I mean, blew them away, you know. So I guess you know, I'm old school. I'm a purist, you know. In two thousand, I love the way that Tiger swung the golf club. It was athletic, it was just power. And he Yeah, I would say he drove the ball better under your Dad than he did with Hanks. Way better, I'd take that.
But he was trying to drive it.
Pretty but yeah, you know, he just came along and he and he just changed the landscape completely of golf. And and I've probably got you know, we we've all got to be thankful for it. We're all better off
for it. We're all probably in better shape for it because we've we've had to we've had to change the way we go about working on our games, working on ourselves, you know, and then maybe that's you know, they helped me in the longevity that right, Okay, because looking after yourself a little bit more has helped you, you know, keep keep your career going.
Yeah, injury prevention, Yeah, that's you know.
And like I said to you yesterday, now you know, I'm not trying to look you know. I know I can't compete with Bryson off the tea and DJ and that kind of and that's fine, you know, But for me it's about staying can I If I can pick up a mile or two, that's fine, but it's as we all know, as mother nature kind of catches up on you is I don't want that drop off. If I can keep my ball speed up around one seventy one seventy one, which okay, yes is below average, but
it's it's far enough. It is far enough, you know, especially when you play in nice conditions, you can still get it out there three hundred and three to ten off the tee. So most part fours you're breaking the back of Yeah, of course i'd we'd all like to hit it three p thirty three. Yeah, of course we do. But if you probably look at most old school players or guys that have been around for a long time don't hit it that far. And Harrington's probably a bit of a and Phil still do.
Ye only maybe because of his size. But but if.
You look at probably Lee, you look at you know, I've played a bit with Lee the last couple of years. I've played with Poults the last couple of years, Stens, and you know it's about it. Can you as long as you can kind of hold that drop off, you know, if you can kind of keep that at Bay, then you know, I think you know you can. You can still compete.
So much over the last couple of years, the golf landscape has changed. You were one of the players that made the decision to go to live. Talk me through that decision, why you decided to do it, and what you've been surprised at over the last couple of years. First of all, the decision to go to live, how did it come about and why did you make that decision?
Yeah, I was I remember I was playing Lee Westwood in the match Player in Texas and we're walking down the second and obviously there was rumors of the live thing, and.
This is Tiger Or post filmmaking all his comments and Allen Ship, yes, book and everything this live so now Live's got no momentum.
So this is just whispers about it. It's it's it's you know, it's kind of will it won't it kind of thing. And Lee said to me, we're going down about the second or the third and we're just having a chat and he says, have you had any contact from from Greg yet? And I said no. I said, why would he want to talk to me? He's gone blindy, you're you know, you're top fifty five in the world. They're going to want to talk to you. And I
went like really, and okay. So I kind of like just got on and played and didn't really think too much of it, and then kind of like spoke to my manager at the time and just sort of said, look, you know, is it worth a trying to get a conversation and see And they came back and they said, yeah, you know, we're you know, we're we would be very interested, and you know, and I talked it over with my wife and you know, my family, and I said, look,
there's this opportunity here that you know, you can't turn down. At forty nine years old. Yes, I've had a decent longevity on on DP world and the last couple of years, yes, I'd done some nice money, but it's still not you know, all right, that's it. I can completely stop playing and never have to do anything else for the rest of my life. Not even close. I mean not even close. And you know, I and I talked to my wife quite a lot about it, and I said to us,
look are you okay with this? You know, we know that the human right, so the side of Saudi is not good. And I said, you know, have you got a problem with this? She said, Look, at the end of the day, you playing golf, no matter where you play golf in the world, isn't going to change that. He said, So you know, you have to do what you think is right and for the best. And as soon as she said that, then for me it was it was absolutely there was. I was one hundred percent.
I was It's a no brainer. My age, at my career, at that stage of my career, I don't know how long I got left. I didn't know, you know, I could be I could lose my card the next year, and so right, okay, okay, it might be a one year thing. It might be I never signed a contract will Live. The first contract I signed with them was at the start of twenty twenty three. Yeah, I've never signed for a dollar. Does everybody think I had any money from?
Everyone thinks that everybody that went to Live got the bag right, they made all this money. Yeah, there are guys that did that, but there were also people like yourself that made the decision at the age you were at to go. Were you and have you been surprised at the backlash?
Uh?
I kind of yeah. We all knew it wasn't going to sit very well, you know, as soon as you start kind of upsetting the apple cart as such. Yeah, you know it's going to put some noses out, and uh, you know, I think looking back to London the first event, I think some of the questions that the media put across to some of the players. Fortunately I wasn't one of them. Ye know, I mean they were they were shocking, they were dreadful, they were disgusting questions to be asked.
And you know, when you know, if there's a World Cup in Saudi Arabria in a few years or whatever, though, those journalists will be out there, one of them, you know that they'll just be doing their jobs exactly you know, and exactly what we're doing. You know, we're just doing our job. There's an opportunity there to do your job for more money. Like you say, it's not everybody's decision, and that's that's entirely up to them. But all you can do is you have to make the best decision
for you and your family going forward. Whether that agrees with you know, some people, that's them, you know. I got I got some stick on social media and I remember replying to one guy. It was just rubbing me up the wrong way one day, and I just said, I said, if I turn up to your house with a briefcase with five million dollars in that briefcase, and I tell you, right, this is where the money's come from. I said, there it is tax free, it's yours, but
that's where it's come from. The briefcase would be on the other side of the door, on my hand, and be still being the door because they're not in that situation. It's not there in front of them. It's very very easy to take the moral high ground. It is. We've all done it, probably, but you know, when that situation is actually gone right, I've got the chance here to make my life, my wife's life, and my family's life very very comfortable for the next however, however long at forty nine years.
Old, i'd need locking away really if I didn't take it, you know, And I would, and I will say, it's the best decision I've ever made.
Yeah, I've absolutely loved it, and I've loved the innovation of Live and how it is trying to you know, make golf call again, you know, and I and when we played in London, I felt like a rookie again at forty nine. I did. I felt like it, and I really do thank them. It's made me a better player because I'm playing against Bryson, I'm playing against DJ and playing against Brooks, playing against Cam. I'm playing against them fifteen times a year. It's made me a better player.
And you're You're on Martin Kimer's the cliques. Having access to a guy Martin Kimer could be the most unassuming two time major champion that's also won the players Champion you could ever meet. I think because Martin's such a nice person, such a genuine, genuine human being, that you sometimes forget how great a player he was. You can't
win two majors and phone it in. I mean, I mean, if you look at the places that he's won, right, winning US Open at Pinehurst, which was brutal, and then the way they had whistling straight set up, and then to win at the Players as well. Last year you got to spend a lot of time with Martin. There were times where he was healthy, there's times where he wasn't. But what have you taken away from your time and your experience with a great player like Martin?
Yeah, you know, I just think he's very He's just you can see he's just very, very cool under pressure, and you know, I think he's got tremendous sort of self belief in himself, and you know, you talk to him about you know a few things.
You know.
I was just with him a few days ago and it was got I think the US Opens going back to Pinehurst again this year, isn't it? And it was interesting. We was having dinner one night and and I just was just chatting to him about that week, and you know, it was just interested in talking to him about you know, when did you really feel like, you know, you're right, Okay, I've got this, I've got it done. And it was
quite he was telling a funny story. I think he was like I think he said, I'm like he hit his t shot on fifteen or something like that, and he's, uh, and he hit I think he hit like two iron off the tee and then he hit his second shot into about fifteen feet with a three iron and he's gone. He was walking up to the bring. I'm right, okay, that's it. I'm good now any three puts and he was in. He was and it was like it was so interesting and he's funny. As soon as you think and he's gone.
On the golf course, as soon as you think, okay, I'm safe now, Yeah, I've got it. Someone holds a bunker shot, you make a bad swing out of nowhere because you go to that mindset of going, okay, I've got this. Yeah, and it sometimes can really really kind of switch the other way.
Yeah, and he's he's and he and he actually quite openly talked about the time, you know, I think he went on to win by seven or eight or something like that, but he talked about the time in Abbadabby when he had a ten shot lead I think with twelve to play and lost to Gary Starr and uh, and it was interesting that he that he talked about quite a member. Yeah, that how he you know that
he was just going along. Everything was kind of great and you know, just right and thinking what okay, this is just you know, just kind of get it into the house and take the trophy, thanks very much. And I think he made I think he made a six or something on the on the ninth or something like that, and and I think Gary then made birdie, so it was like a three shot swing there, and then he made I think he made a triple on thirteen, where then he makes a birdie on the very like next hole,
so suddenly it's a four shot swing. Yeah, and he said I just couldn't stop it. I just literally fit. I was trying everything, but he just I just could not kind of you know. And someone is as good as Martin was, the world number one and major winners and what have you that, Yeah, it happens, you know, it does happen. And but yeah, he's just he's just you know, he's just one of those guys that you know, sometimes he doesn't give you a whole lot, but what
he gives you it's good stuff, you know. And at the end of the day. You know, we've all I've been around the block enough that yeah, I know what, you know, I know what I've got to do. You know, I don't really need I shouldn't really need any sort of pep talking now that right, Come on, guys, you know he should be if that should just come from within yourself. But yeah, he's like you said, he's just
he's just a cool guy to be around. And and that's when again one of the other things I think I've just loved with live and You've got to know players so much more because you're round in that team environment. You have got to know Gmac a lot more, Burn Wisberger last year, Laurie Cancer who's been on the cligues
a little bit. But you know, you're also around all the other guys where everybody's at the course at the same time and you and and it just it really is just a great atmosphere to be around and to play golfing.
I think I've said this a lot of times. I was lucky enough to kind of start my career on the traveling circus in the early two thousands. That was the European Tour back in the day, and Live reminds me a lot of what the European Tour used to be, right. It was kind of this traveling circus. It went all over the world and things like that. Keith Pelly has just resigned from running the Deep World Tour, the old European Tour. You've been on Live for the last this
will now be your third year. But you are a European Tour guy. That is you didn't you didn't play in America. You never left and moved to Florida and played the PGA Tour and did both, So the European Tour was your home obviously. Keith Pelly moving on sounds like Guy Kinnings who was the longtime agent for Monty and everybody at IMG, he's now going to take over
that role. What happens in your opinion now to the European Tour, because there is there is this argument now that I think you can make this that with the alignment and the partnership that the European Tour that Keith and Jay forged together. Now every year the top ten players off the europe off of the DP World will go to the PGA Tour. Where do you see the European tour going and where would you want it to go?
Uh? Yeah, I think Keith has done a lot of good for the tour. I think he has. You know, was I a fan of where I where he was taking the tour in the last maybe two years partnering up with with America. No, I wasn't, And why not?
I just like again, I just I always go back to I remember when he first came in as CEO, he gave his first player, full player address at PJ Cattle and I can't remember what year it was when whenever the first year was he was in charge PJ Cattaloon and he basically we were then going to partner up with Asia.
It was going to be the Asian Tour.
And he was basically saying that America is hostile America, who's our rival, and we have to compete with them. As far as ask said, that was the whole idea of the Roleck series is to play for seven million dollars. Pretty much what that America PJ Tour were playing at the time is to try and keep our best players
in Europe to play bigger events. But yet we still just you know, in some ways, they we bowed down to whether it be player power that right, they want to go play in America, and we made it easier for them to go play in America, that we cut our playing minimums down. You know, I think it's now that you only have to play what was it two or three events outside of the majors too.
You've got you've got guys that I mean, You've got guys going to the Race to Dubai at the end of the year leading the European Order Merit that have legit other than some of the co sanctioned and the majors, have played in maybe two to events legit real standalone, and you can take Abu Dhabi and Dubai out of that equation, right they are not. Those are the ones historically that we're talking like a regular Pete European old
school DP World tournament. The guys that every year are winning this are playing the majority of their golf on the PGA Tour, right. A lot of these guys live the majority of the year in America. And I still remember to where I mean, I started working on the European Tour in the early two thousands. I've had on the podcast. He's a good friend of mine, Trevor Immoman, Trevor, Justin Rose Poltz, Adam Scott. They use the European Tour to go over and win on the European Tour to
then be the springboard to get them top fifty. And because top fifty back in the day was the holy grail, right if you were top fifty in the world, regardless of which tour you played on, you got into all the majors, you got into all the wgc's, you got into the Players Championship, and then you got most likely if you were winning, and you're probably gonna get an invite into Honda, an invite into Bayhill, one of the big tournaments. But back then, those guys Rosie Scottie Poltz,
that kind of generation. They won European Tour events, real European Tour events, not CO sanctioned ones, not Dubai Abu Dhabi. They won rank and file European Tour events. That's how they got to America. Now it seems like the way to get European Tour membership is to play in all the majors, win one of them, and then go play one tournament. Go play Scotland, which is now CO sanctioned,
but you're not playing a full European school. I remember, you know, it's easy to beat up on Patrick Reed, right, Patrick Reed makes it sometimes easy for people to beat him up. Right. But Patrick Reid has played a lot on the DP World Tour in the last five years.
Yeah, I think he's I think I spoke to him. I think he said he's played. He's played more more regular DP World events and than what Rory has in the last however long. Yeah, and it's you know, I don't know, I'm kind of maybe spitballing here a little bit. But if you didn't have to be a DP World member, you know, to play Ryder Cup, would they even come back? I don't know.
I remember at maybe they wouldn't.
They might come back for maybe play Dubai or you know, and Rory maybe play the Irish or something like that, But I I don't know, maybe they wouldn't.
The miracle at Madina where the European Ryder Cup team had the massive comeback all the Nobbles to captain, they win it for sev But on Sunday morning it looked like they were going to get beat and they were going to get beat bad, and I remember thinking Blandy, is this kind of if they do get beat, is this kind of the final nail in the coffin? Because the majority, if not ninety percent, of that Ryder Cup team for the European Tour all flew to Chicago from America.
They didn't fly from Europe because they all lived in America. They were all playing on the PGA Tour, they were all making their homes in America. And I remember thinking, if they go on to lose this, this it's not the euro it's not Europe against America. It's the it's the European based players that left the European Tour to come to the PGA Tour for the money, for the bigger tournaments. They're the ones making up this Ryder Cup.
Yeah. I think it's a hard one that I think that the Ryder Cup selection is how you balance yeah, because it is a European it is a European team, and it is a.
You know, and it is you have the European Tour and you.
Have to you it may be someone that you know, and I've like, I think it's how how do you split it, you know, from say like a world ranking list or world points list to the DP World Order, a merit points list of who gets in. And however, you know, my point is you had a guy last year who's third in DP world points list on the yearly list, and he's not in the he's not in the Ryder Cup. He's third Asian MORONC and he's one
at that venue that year and he's not in. You know, so that that kind of didn't really sit right, and that just shows you then that really the the the kind of race tooby list is completely irrelevant. It doesn't matter to.
The world or the.
You're pretty relevant right now in hugely, you know.
I think that's one of the things that really really sticks in my is is how, you know, I don't know what kind of say Keith has had in that. I know, you know he can't vote on it, Llever, but to stand there and go, right, okay, guys, you know they've put this, they must have put this proposal together to go right now, this is what's going to happen as regards of world ranking, and someone has gone like,
hang on a second, that is just not fair. You know, how can you have like our major, which is the BMWPGA Championship in September where you have a lot of the top ten players in the world, certainly probably four or five of them, Rahm and Rory and Tommy and Fitzie all playing, and you can have a tournament in America where the FedEx is done, the FedEx is done so that it's and they're playing for more points that
I don't I don't get. And it was exactly the same at the DP World Championships at the end of the year. Are Tour Championship, the same tournament in the Marrier, Chris playing for more world he's playing for more world ranking points. How that can be allowed? I've got no idea is if you are a DP World player now, I think it's almost impossible to get into the top fifty in the world unless you probably win six times.
Well, I think if I was talking to Chow Men thought, because he's the commissioner and chairman of the Asian Tour, and we were talking about Tom Kim and Tom Kim's kind of meteoric rise to the PGA Tour, but the road that he took in coming from Asia and then
coming to Europe and then getting to the PGA. Choe was saying those stories won't happen anymore, and it does increasingly seem as we stand in twenty twenty four that without the framework of an agreement between Live and the PGA Tour, like you said, it seems like the only way to get into all of the big tournaments. It's to me, it seems like it's going the route that well, unless you play on the PGA Tour, there is no real pathway for you to really make the jump that
a lot of people have made. And again I use Adam Scott and Trevor Imloan. I worked with both of them in the early two thousands and the holy grail for them was get top fifty in the world. That gets you into the players, that gets you into some of the WGCs. Then you can start to make this move that's kind of the base camp that then you can make the jump to go to the PGA Tour. And it does seem like right now, the world it seems like if you're not on Live, the world is
basically trying to become one hundred percent PGA Tour centric. Now, Blendy, what do you say to the fans and the people listening to this podcast saying you you left the European Tour. The European Tour gave you a platform for twenty years. You left to further your career right for what was better for you. So your opinion on what happens with the European Tour is in valid anymore because you basically left to go do something else. Because there are people that say that.
Yeah, of course, and I completely get it. But of course there's one thing in life we're always allowed, and that's your opinion. Everybody has one, you know, So whether my opinion people want to listen to it or they don't, best you know, I'm not going to lose any sleep over that, you know. My opinion is I certainly don't like the way it's going. Like you say, given ten of your best players away every single year is for me as a recipe disaster. I relate it to my football team Southampton.
Yeah, they had My father in law is a season ticket holder.
You know they gave away for you know, they they sold all their best players, okay, you know because a Liverpool or a Man United or a man City would come in for them and pay for an awful lot of money for them.
Now they're in the Championship and.
At some point, at some point, yes, you can kind of keep your head above water for a while, but you know you're not replacing Lake for like, you have someone like Nikolai Hooyguard who's got one of those spots going to the PGA Tour this year. And this is and this is no disrespect to the guys that have come from Challenge Tour. That is not the same level. It's not the same level of player that you're replacing. The ten or fifteen guys that are coming from Challenge Tour.
Is not replacing those It's not the same caliber. It isn't so you are just watering down your talent the whole time, and that I think in the future for future sponsorship is going to hurt the talk because again, no disrespect to any player that's playing on the Deep world. They're all really good players. They are I'm not I don't dispute that at all. The standard is incredibly high. But unless you have got marquee players people that right, Okay,
I'm going to go watch that guy. Where's the return for the sponsors? They're just going to go unless you're going to give me x Y and Z. You know of a player and of course, then you've got to pay them to come back and play, and it's I'm just not a fan of it. I'm just not a fan of giving your your ten best players, if you I kind of it frightens me that over the next five years, if this does carry on, you're going to give your best fifty players to the PGA Tour. Now, yes,
some will come back. Not all fifty players are going to keep their card, but but it's kind of like the way, kind of the way, you know, I would almost go if I was a twenty six, twenty seven year old guy and I've played good on the DP World Tour and I've got my card in America and I go play and I don't keep my card and I maybe just miss out, and I've got full corn Ferry status, I would almost probably go at that age, I'll I'll stay in America and not go back, and
not go back, you know, because let's face it, Yeah, you know, I know you can say that they're playing for more money in Europe than they ever have, but you know, I think you know, you read between the lines. You know, PJ tours proping an awful lot of that up that Yeah, I and and it's a sad way to think about it, and it's a sad opinion to
have it. It is, and I wish I didn't have it, But I really do hope that, you know, it gets sorted out and and I just somehow I just fear that the deep world could be in some ways left behind. I really do. And I hope Guy comes in and he's stronger maybe in that area than maybe Keith was. Like you say, I think Keith did an awful lot of good for the tour. You know, I don't think probably the last eighteen months two years of his sort
of tenure has been you know, his best. But you know, it is what it is, and you know, and I know some people might go that I'm maybe a part of that because I went to live but I can also say that, you know, and Keith knows. He said this to me when I had a meeting with him. He said, Bland, if I was in your position, I would go. And that was our CEO of the DP
world at the time. He said to me, he said, if I was in your position, I would go, so and he was right, Yeah, I, like you say, you know, it's it's the best decision I've ever made and I'm a better player for it, and no regret and I'm oh none, none whatsoever.
Lastly, twenty twenty four, what are the goals for you? I mean, obviously you know you're setting goals in you know, you're fifty one. What are the goals? Are the goals to keep improving? Are the goals to win? Because obviously we were talking about this yesterday as well. At your stage of your life, your career, your body, your game, you have to pick. I mean, there's courses that are going to set up well for you and courses that
are going to set up well for other players. What are the goals for this year?
Yeah? You know, I know to be you know, if I wanted to play on live in twenty twenty five, I'm gonna have to play some seriously good goal. You know. I know a lot of people think, oh, it's everybody's live that's washed up and this, that and the other. Let's just bs. You know, you have to even to finish top fifteen on a live event, you have to play some serious goal. You have to and if you finish in the top ten, you have played some unbelievable goal.
That's my opinion, and so yeah, So for me, if I can play, I would like to think if I can play two more years, I think that would be me probably riding off into the sunset. You know. You know, my brother's gone through cancer this last sort of twelve months. I want to I want to enjoy the rest of my life. You know. Of course, I'll still be around golf. I'll still play golf. I might even play a few senior events here and there. You know, have I got
any ambition to play sort of seniors in Europe? I haven't, to be honest. And then do I want to maybe play champions and start playing twenty five twenty six tournaments again? I don't think I do, you know. So it's a lot of travel. Yeah, I love playing in America, you know, but you know we're happy where we are. So yeah, I think if I could play through twenty twenty five, I think that would be you know, I'd be sort
of retiring and very happy man. So you know, but that doesn't mean to say that this year I'm going to give it everything I've possibly got. You know, I'm a I'm a hundred an all in guy. You know, I can't do anything half heartedly you know, I'm behind the eight ball anyway when you're playing against DJ and Brooks every every round. So you know, I've got to be at my best, you know, most of the time. And that's what's made me a better player. That's just
it just that has to come out of me. So yeah, I'm going to do everything I can to be playing in twenty twenty five. Of course, i'd love to be coming down the stretch with one of those guys fighting out. I hope it happens, but yeah, you know, it's I'm sort of more also, you know, I can kind of see the end of the road a little bit more now, which I kind of like the look of as well, So you know, but we'll see. You know, I've always sort of said, I, you know, I'll cross that bridge
as well when I come to it. My wife says, oh, you'll never retire. But you know, I've had like a nice sort of two three months off and I really miss it too much. So but you know, now I'm back in kind of practice mode, and you know, I'm here at the Floridian with you practicing and for the next couple of weeks, and it's it does kind of get the juices flowing again, I can say that. So, but yeah, you know, I'm excited to play in twenty twenty four. I'm exactly where I want to be. I'm
playing on the tour. I want to play on regardless of the financial side of it. I just I just love playing live. I think it's great. I really do.
Does your football team, Southampton, do they get back to the premiership. My father in law, Mike McCleary, I mean, he goes to the games, he sits there in the rain, he's devastated. They're in the Championship. Do they get back to the Premiership playing well?
They're on a good run right now. I think they're about eighteen and nineteen unbeaten, and I think we play Sheffield Wednesday tonight, who are like nineteen, So it's know in Southampton, this is probably and we're at home, so this is probably. Now we're going to lose three nol. I think it's tough. It's going to be tough to get an automatic. But how you're back through the you look at Leicester. Leicester look really strong. It's which, yeah, they kind of I think we can maybe nick a second,
but I would probably. I think if someone offered you the playoff spots right now, I think you'd take it. I think you'd take it.
You know.
I think it's always the same with being a Saints fan, you know, even though even though it's quite good at the minute. Yeah, they did it at the start of the season. They had a good start, and then they lose four in a row, so you know, hopefully they can keep the run going. But you know, it's just whether the squad is strong enough and big enough to get through. You know, Forty six games is an awful lot of a lot of football in the season. So
I hope so, I hope so. But there's always that sort of bit of pessimistics view when you're a Saints fan. So we'll see.
I am learning. I am learning that well, having a Saints' supporter in the family.
I'll ask me that question in about three months and I might be able to give you a better answer.
Great stuff, have a great year. Thanks for talking to us, Claude, thank you, bou.
So.
That was Richard Bland and listen, he's definitely somebody I root for, right. I think that his story how long it took him to find his first win, to find that success Yeah, it's easy to categorize someone like Richard as a journeyman. But if you are a journeyman, it means that you're still seeking, But it also means that you're still on this journey playing professional golf. And there are a lot of people at Richard's age that are
packing it in that that aren't playing anymore. He's still playing. I'm excited to see what he can do in twenty twenty four. And I think it's important that we hear from superstars, from regular golfers, and from people that are just making their career playing professional golf. And I think Richard's got a very very good story. Thanks everyone for listening some of it, but which comes to you every Wednesday. We are back next week.