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LPGA: Maja Stark On Her Rise, Michelle Wie West Interview, LA Championship Recap | NLU Pod, Ep 833
ladies and gentlemen welcome back into the no laying up golf podcast my name is Randy and I am joined by my associate Mr Cody McBride Sarge how we doing today down in uh the great state of Texas it’s finally starting to warm up Mr big uh I know that’s something that you’re looking forward to as well I don’t know if you still got snow up there or if it’s lingering lurking who knows but it’s a good day to be in Texas and I’m excited man because we got a jam-packed week at one of our favorite events of the year yeah absolutely uh Founders Cup this week I think it’s probably the best non major on the LPGA calendar I I don’t even and and I say that because of its the the history and the significance of the event and the the way it really tries to honor the 13 original founders of the LPGA which we talked about last year uh on an episode went through some quick bios for all those women extraordinary women and I think it’s an event that’s important and for that reason it it kind of sits apart from a lot of other week- toe events so we’re going to dive into that at the end of the episode really the bulk of the episode you and I are gonna kind of quit talking and we’re gonna bring in Maya Stark who is on a great run of play the young Swede somebody that we got to know last year at the International Crown we played a proam with her she’s just fantastic so we’re we’re going to pick her brain about a lot of different things and yeah that will be the episode so Cody I know we uh we have a couple sponsors let’s thank them right off the top and let’s begin with our good friends at Yeti yeah Yeti everybody knows Yeti by now we are so thankful to have them as our title sponsor for this year’s LPGA content here at no laying up it doesn’t matter if it’s luggage hard coolers soft coolers drink wear you name it you can go to their website yeti.com they have some great Mothers Day stuff going on right now some expedited shipping options if you have any procrastinators out there specifically probably talking to our uh okay talking to you and talking to our audience they have a great selection of items that we think any mom out there will love uh different colors different sizes hard soft cups you name it and I’m excited because they just debuted something uh and they want everybody to take the plunge and I’m not talking about cold plunges here I’m talking about their new Rambler French Press which looks really cool I think we might add that to like our Yeti uh gear equipment packout list so yeah I’m excited for that you know Yeti their products perform when it matters most please head over to yeti.com for their Complete product line and more we also want to thank our good friends at Titleist TW for a TW for advertisement off the top I know I know but you know we love these guys if you want to improve your game a Titleist fitting experience is the fastest way to be better a certified title TI is fitter can help any player at any point in their Journey find the clubs to unlock another level of play custom fittings are not just for better players they are for any players who want to be better your title is fitter will start by getting to know you and your game you and your specific needs Drive the fitting experience and every Club you hit will be the exact Club you will order there’s no guesswork or hoping that the recommendations will work out you know we’ve gone through this a couple different iteration we’ve done our whole bags a couple times now from drivers to Fairway Woods to hybrids you know I I love my hybrids just like you big fella i’ love to hear that I love to hear that our iron fittings most recently I was down again and got redialed in with some wedge fittings but also it was the first time that we actually had a legitimate putter fitting done and that was because of their new Phantom line and that was just an awesome awesome experience I I know you big like it takes the guesswork out of everything every time I leave there I’m so confident in the clubs that I know where they’re going I know that they’re fit exactly for me and they’re actual tools like I can work with now yeah for somebody that is not a gear Head does not want to get deep in the Weeds on specs and shafts and all of that rigoll it’s nice to know that hey they’re going to take care of me they’re going to give me exactly what I need and I can trust that it’s uh the the equipment that I need to play my best so it’s you’re exactly right on that exactly so if you want to play your best golf the first step is so simple go to titleist.com and find the Titleist fitter or fitting event near you the title is fitting experience is the fastest way to be better go do it everybody I I highly encourage you this this is an ad read but like go get fit everybody out there shopping trying to find different clubs going to big box stores go get fit it’s going to make a huge huge difference amen thank you run a show like we said big Maya Stark interview coming on back of this she is off a couple back-to-back Runner UPS including the Chevron a chip away from winning really like getting yourself in a position to be in a playoff with Nelly cter and we’re going to get to Nelly quarter but that that close in La it was a little bit different and we talk about that uh in the interview with her but I think it was an awesome interview and there’s something about this first week in May big you mentioned the International Crown last year that was the same exact week we recorded that podcast last week with her she must just have something maybe she only wants to talk to us like the first week of May every year but we’ll take it because man I’m like I’m buying up all the my stock again like we’re right back in the same spot of course last week at Wellshire uh an excellent tour tournament as well awesome venue in Los Angeles the JM Eagle La Championship would be remiss not to shout out the efforts of Walter and Shirley Wang they are the chair chairman and CEO of JM Eagle and the CEO of plpro respectively uh that’s a wonderful event we’re going to get into uh Hannah green winning that as we said Maya Stark was was runner up there we have the founders this week next week they’re going to Liberty National the mizuo America’s open that’s a great new event we actually have a surprise little uh pop in that that we’ll get to as well and then we take a week off and we’re headed to Lancaster for the US Women’s Open so a wonderful stretch here Cody but let’s go back to welshire Hannah green the queen of welshire going backto back it’s her fifth career LPGA Tour Victory she breaks into the top 10 in the Rolex rankings for the first time in her career she’s currently ranked seventh she’s the highest ranked Australian woman now she has passed M Lee it’s it’s her second win of of this 2024 season and if it weren’t for Nelly Corda just sucking up all the oxygen I mean Hannah Green’s right there as as not only like the player of the year but but maybe the story of the year yeah I agree with you on that and before I get away from it if you’re going to continue to pronounce it will Shire then you have to pronounce it L Lancaster you can’t you can’t pick one and give you know preferential treatment to the other so far in my own head on like every pronunciation it’s it’s incredible but you are right it’s uh it is a shocking time and I think that there’s no one like Hannah green kind of expected this she’s been putting in tons of hard work uh she’s really trying to like just improve her overall game there’s a lot of changes that came with her in the off season her long time fiance and her finally got married and I I think she just finds herself at kind of a new spot in in life where maturity and having like a solid team around her is just carrying her everywhere she goes but but there is something about this course now I will say this next year they are not going to play this championship at Willshire because of renovation that they’re getting ready to to do and there’s nobody that’s going to be more disappointed about that than Hannah green because if you want to talk about horses for courses like she loves that place and she she mentioned it in her post on pressers that something about the turf it’s something about the city it just really reminds her of being back home in Australia and you kind of get that like it’s it’s the weather it’s the firm and fast conditions like I see I understand everything that she’s kind of picking up there and it’s just been so so cool in a year that is all about Nelly coder so far the we finally have somebody to reach out there and for her to pick up two wins so far on the street like it’s truly incredible I and I guess we get to you know the the age-old question is she a horse for course or will she be a monster for sponsor next year you know right yeah but yeah she’s she’s won backto back now uh she’s kind of got some boom and bust in her game though which I which I find interesting and I I don’t know why that is you know I’m not smart enough to know the answer to that but it seems like you know she she’s not a top 10 machine and the flip side of that though is like when she is in contention she seems to just win and we saw that at you know her maiden Victory her her major victory at at Hazel te several years ago at the KPMG women’s PGA we saw her in her first Victory this year out in Singapore with that stretch of uh birdies down the stretch on Sunday and even we saw her drop the hammer here and and really run away from Maya Stark on the back nine it’s it’s really impressive but I’m curious I don’t know Cody like why are some people like that when they get a sniff of being in contention they they just have a knack for winning the tournament I’m always fascinated by that I don’t know I I I don’t know if it’s maybe lack of scar tissue or they just look at it completely different than we would assume other people look at it because you’re right some people get in in contention and find themselves in those positions and it’s just like yeah this is no sweat man like it’s just another hole and for them to be able to process and truly just take it one hole at a time and not look at the the overwhelming totality of the situation that they’re in it’s truly impressive I wish I say this there’s a couple of my favorites that are out there I wish I could give a little bit more of that skill to but for those who have it what a hidden talent yeah no doubt no doubt uh you talked about Hannah kind of coming into her own I think that’s very natural she’s she’s 27 years old I mean I think that’s just a time in everybody’s life where you kind of start feeling hopefully you start feeling just more comfortable with who you are and and you know you you grow into adulthood and and your perspective and mindset changes I know Hannah specifically I had spoken to her last year and and I know how big of a deal breaking into that top 10 in the Rolex rankings has been for her and that’s been a goal of hers for I’m sure several years now and for that to come to fruition has to be a good feeling and honestly it makes me wonder you know like hey mission accomplished and now she can kind of set her sights on top five top three hell number one right it’s it’s a big chore right now to to rund down Nelly but it’s cool to see somebody who had vocalized a goal and and to now see it come to fruition uh that’s that’s just a nice thing I think yeah and if you you think of the courses that we have like the rest of the year you know her one major championship that she had obviously we’re not going back to that course but I think between sahali sets up kind of you know similar to that she loves firm and fast she likes playing the ball on the ground just like most Aussies do I mean the old course if we’re taking somebody whose name is not Nelly Corda out of like who I could see thriving there loves playing in like tough conditions I would say that’s that’s her we joke about all the time and maybe we don’t put too much emphasis on it but the fact that it is an Olympic year what they have to have if they have four players in the top 15 I can’t remember exactly how it breaks down I think that’s right I think that’s right if if you have if a country has four in the top 15 they can send all four otherwise I believe it’s the top two yeah so right now looking it I mean team Australia Hannah Green’s name is definitely up there with of course m and I say you know it’s kind of shocking that she is currently the highest ranked Australian player but when I think of M Lee and this isn’t a complete segue like this is when this is the time of year usually when Mii like starts cooking when you get on some old school really good golf courses uh I know that’s just that this week up at uh uper mountclair I know she she enjoys being in the big city and I’m I would surely think that the mizuo America’s open fits that for her before we start this kind of season of major championships where she can truly get on courses that she’s comfortable with and can run oh by the way like she had the lowest score here last year for this tournament the founders cup and ended up losing to jiny Young in a playoff so it was a hell of a finish we’re gonna see how long Hannah can keep the the low Aussie crown for but I’m just excited I’m excited for the next couple of weeks uh the schedule is turning at an awesome spot and uh finally not crazy amounts of travel so hopefully that takes a little bit of the wear and tear out of it but um just really really pumped to get going yeah uh quickly on Hannah green I was looking at the KPMG performance insights just trying to see you know from last year to this year how her game might be changing a little bit uh last year she was 35th on tour at 0.79 Strokes gain total so far this year she’s up to 1.34 Strokes gain total which is good for 10th among all qualifiers and the Big Driver of that is her putting last year uh she ranked 55th at 0.19 Strokes gain putting and so far she’s at 0.71 Strokes gain putting good for 17th so she’s she’s better by you know a half a shot per round on the greens uh she’s a little bit better around the greens too so seems like just you know tidier uh always nice when that Ball’s going in the hole and I I thought the same thing I I I I think sahali is an interesting setup for her uh I think she’s somebody we have to pay attention to at the at the US Women’s Open here in a few weeks um so yeah Hannah green great great start to 2024 for her a couple other finishers we we mentioned Maya Stark we’ll get into that when when we talk to her uh a trio of Koreans finished tied for third heon Rue among them uh she was you know kind of In Contention there at the Chevron also Jin Heim um she’s on an awesome stretch of of really good golf here um she’s just over from Korea and then Jin young Co coming into form right for the founders cup uh can never count her out I I I remember sitting here last year Cody talking about one about M Lee and just wondering you know when’s she going to turn it on it’s been such a sleepy start and and she answered the bell at Founders Cup last year same with Jin Yano I hope it’s a a sign of things to come for Jin yunko that the tour is better when she is on top of her game so hopefully um that that finish at Willshire is portends to good things for her well she’s got to have good feelings at upper Monclair because I mean she’s won three out of the last four there she the founders cup seems to be her time to really rise up and it it’s going to be very very interesting because of course we have this incredible streak from Nelly that’s still very very active she did not play in LA took a week off there obviously they all had a week off last week and then we have Nelly pop up on already ready what is going to be a busy week for her back to the founders cup that Jin young like she she owns this tournament like yeah it is it is crazy and if you look at Nelly and kind of her trying to continue the streak the last time in America won the founders cup was 2013 Stacy Lewis uh the Korean players has absolutely dominated this only non- Koreans uh that have won 2022 M Lee of course 2017 Anna norquist and then it basically starting in 2015 to current day like the Koreans have have owned this place so it’s exciting it’s an awesome golf course we’re going to be there for a lot of the action because I’m excited to get back on the espm plus Airwaves this time with my guy big Randy uh and dive into it let’s get an official prediction Nelly’s going for six straight Jin young CO’s won three of the last four M Lee might awake uh who who is your official pick Nelly cter you’re a nelly come on I’m going with you I mean if you can’t pick Nelly in this spot like what are we even doing right it it’s certainly who I’m rooting for I wanted to win freaking every tournament the rest of the year I agree I I listen if that happened I I’m right there man let’s go yeah I I think this is such a cool moment and I just wish that my excitement was like echoed across everything that I see in in the golf world and it’s it’s not which sucks but hell yeah Nelly Corda let’s go all right well there it is uh catch Cody and I like we said we’re going to be popping into the ESPN plus feature groups coverage uh we will tweet out specific times and Det Tails when we have them stay tuned we have a very special guest talking about next week’s tournament the mizuo America’s open and then we will move to an outstanding interview with Maya Stark I beg that brings us to our next segment today and of course sets by our new partner and that is mizuo who is mizuho you might ask or top Global corporate and Investment Bank Powerhouse in Japan on the retail space the Americas is their fastest growing region for mizuo globally it’s the only institutional business in the Americas if you’re an aage golf if you’re an avid golf Watcher you might have seen a few of their commercials featuring Michelle we West they’re the title sponsor of the mizuo Americas open that’s in a couple weeks so excited May 16th through 19th at Liberty National has amateurs playing with the pros increase purse to $3 million they cover player accommodations there’s a full day Leadership Summit for young girls in Partnership With Girls Inc that’s all about mizuo but do you know what a couple weeks away our new partner I wanted to find somebody who could speak to us exactly about the details not only about them this awesome company that they represent but specifically the mizuo America’s open so big I I I threw I I made the biggest hell Mary that I possibly could we have one of their brand ambassadors and that is Michelle E West Welcome hi guys Michelle I mean this time last year we were getting ready for a big match it’s it’s been a minute I know hey big Randy guess how many times I’ve played golf since Pebble Beach um can I count him on one hand unfortunately you can two really more than two less than more than two actually I recently played so more than two all right all right uh wow well I was going to make a joke that you’ve played more than me but I’ve played a bit more golf since then as well uh what R’s been playing a lot of golf and he’s gotten a lot better since uh since that day if people want to go watch that video it’s going to live on forever on the internet uh when Michelle absolutely dusted him at Pebble Beach which we like to see but Michelle you got to be excited you’re going into your two of your event I mean what else did we miss from the intro that you listened to H oh my gosh I am it I don’t even know where to begin you know I when I got the call um two years ago saying that I would be the host for the mizuo America’s open it was just like I was like what excuse me like it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do it’s been a dream of mine I didn’t expect it to happen so fast and the way that we run the event the way that we um has have raised standards is just year one was such a success um you know I think because I was a player so soon before there were a lot of you know things that maybe I wasn’t happy with the tournament or I felt like the standards could have been raised and I really took that you know upon ourselves and the team and the sponsor mizuo has been great in every step of the way and you know we want to make the player experience great because my main thing is that you know especially you know us as women you know a lot of times I feel like you know we we don’t take things for granted and you know I don’t mean that in a way of you know being cocky or whatever but sometimes are things that we need to take for granted you know like eating in the clubhouse just higher purses iconic venues you know and I I want this to become you know every time players come play in our tournament I want them to be like oh yeah this is what I need to take for granted this is what our standard is and the first year mizuo um they paid for everyone’s hotel room in New York City at the Conrad and we had the fairies um like the president cup go back and forth and it was was just a worldclass treatment you know um the chef at libery National he was so excited he cooked amazing meals for all the players we actually ate in the clubhouse um you know the tea gifts were amazing um and it just it was really cool to hear since last year a lot of tournaments have kind of followed our suit you know I’ve heard of a lot of travel stiens I’ve heard of a lot of tournaments now paying for hotel rooms so I’m just extremely proud of you know how year one went you know the mentor ship program with the 24 Juniors and the pros um we’re really excited to see who’s going to come back this year um but yeah year two I’m absolutely stoked there’s so much to pull out of that I I think first of all uh huge congratulations and and kudos to you because truly I think this is a prime example of of all boats rise right you just need somebody to be out there and to be the leader in the space and I think that’s you putting your name to an event you being a a incredible ambassador to not just like women’s professional golf but golf all around like there’s no there’s no men’s or women’s thing it’s like professional golf tournaments all around uh bringing the Juniors and getting them involved but ultimately like I could not imagine what it’s like for you to travel week in and week out because we’re on the road for like two weeks Max and I’m like oh my goodness I just want to go home and that’s not even that that’s you talk about like staying at the Conrad and like like having well-cooked meals that have like nutrition and everything else that’s that’s the focus of it it’s just things that in the past maybe tournaments haven’t really thought of and now you’re putting it at the Forefront of everybody’s mind and it’s making everybody just Elevate their product it’s truly incredible to see and a big thank you uh to you for kind of leading the way on it these are things as a player I would be really annoying about to like you know the staff everyone like why am we do this why do we do that and you know for me I was just like recently thinking about it you know just like just because I’m retired that doesn’t make it not my problem anymore you know what I’m saying like it’s not like I’m retired now it’s like okay this is your problem to figure out like I still find it like my responsibility and our generation’s responsibility no matter if we’re playing on tour or not to you know help kind of fix these problems we have to be able to advocate for ourselves I’ve had I’ve never had a problem doing that when I was playing so I want to keep doing that um but yeah we’re really excited you know obviously the players being able to stay in New York City is a really exciting thing this year we added a really fun New York City eating guide um for all the players where they you know can have access to reservations to the top restaurants in New York City and you know maybe get like a little bit a discount as well and we partnered with some really cool restaurants so um you know I love the city I love New York I love Liberty National so it’s just like really fun to have you know players and the Juniors come and just get so excited about an event can you promise us we were so spoiled such an awesome ending last year Rose Zang winning her her debut on the LPGA Tour defeating Jennifer cup cho can you promise US Michelle as good of an ending this year I I don’t know which golf Gods we have to bribe to make that happen but if you guys know of a golf God that can make that happen we will bribe them we will do whatever we can um but I was just with rose at media day and I was like yeah you and Nelly in a playoff right like we’re scripting that for this for this week like perfect great like there we go yeah speaking of media day we we saw the pictures and if anybody didn’t see them they’re on the tournament social uh Pages you can go find them on Instagram or Twitter or the LPGA also shared them there there plenty of them out there but you guys threw out a couple first pitches nerve nerve-wracking experience was there practice included in this did was somebody giving you guys pointers kind of how how’d this whole thing set up I probably one of the most unathletic human beings to ever walk this planet so like me throwing out throwing up baseball is like terrifying um especially at Yankee Stadium like I feel like it’s a place where if you like mess up they will boo you out of the you know like I feel like New York fans are not gentle in that manner they’re not going to be like oh it’s okay they’re like Boo get out the tournament staff actually brought out like gloves and baseballs and we were slinging them pretty good you know because I told them my strategy always in a first pitch is to chicken out lob it early lob it high lob height is key and you just get it there you don’t try to go for the low Slinger the last thing you want to do is 50 Cent it and hold on to the ball to long and then it just go in the ground and I just don’t want to become a meme that was like my number one goal so yeah we were actually like yeah just hit it and I was like I was feeling pretty good and then I got there and usually I thought you know we were able to practice throw the ball around and we’re just standing there for 40 minutes I’m like there’s absolutely no way that I’m doing anything or attempting anything athletic right now I’m just gonna early release early lob I overestimated the softness of it so it was a little bit short but at least I didn’t embarrass myself completely I think thought it great honestly I thought it was better than roses poor Rose I I thought she was uh she was struggling a little bit you went to the wrong catcher but you know we just say that we all went to the same catcher it’s fine yeah yeah oh that’s fantastic as somebody that’s thrown out a pitch a first pitch at a spring training game where I was beyond nervous I cannot imagine being in the middle of Yankee Stadium so I I actually can empathize with with what you must have been feeling you know best of luck with the event Michelle thank you again for hopping on on with us again the mizuho America open is going to be played May 16th through 19th at Liberty National hosted by none other than Michelle we West and we’ll see we’ll hope for that playoff again who knows but uh you know the the level of play that’s out there right now on the lpj tour either way it’s going to be a phenomenal champion and I can’t wait to see who the uh who the amateur is going to be this year because I think you’re just like these ranks and the Juniors that are coming up they just keep getting better and better and better so it’s going to be cool one of these uh years I wonder how much longer down the road it’s going to be before your Amer Champion becomes your actual event Champion yeah that I was just thinking that when you’re saying that it’s gonna be really cool to watch thank you Michelle uh best of luck in your too and and also thank you sincerely for like you said trying to to set the standard and raise the standard for uh the LPGA Tour and professional golf at large we really appreciate it thank you guys thanks for having me out right and for everybody else you can check them out and a big thank you to mizuo for more information that is mizuho americas. comom well without further Ado let’s welcome into the show one of our favorites Maya Stark Sweden Zone Maya Stark she is currently I believe the 16th ranked player in the new Rolex rankings she has six career Le victories one career LPGA Victory and is on on a great run of play having finished runner up at both the Willshire JM Eagle La Championship as well as the Chevron championship before that Maya thank you so much for joining I and I failed to mention one thing Maya we we have I believe another runner-up finish the three of us at the International Crown proam at TPC Harding Park last year which I I think is probably the you know I’m burying the lead there that that’s probably the career highlight runner up I mean probably you know I mean when we made that eagle chip on the last because we thought that we were winning it by chipping in I mean that was a new high for me I’ve never experienced it since very nice of you by by we of course she means when when you made that chip Maya phenomenal moment you called your shot and I think from then we we instantly uh you know we were big fans going in but we were instantly like on your side ride or die from that day on and it’s it’s incredible to see where your season’s at now but big I think I mean there’s so much that we can cover we got to get into where M’s from the upgrade of course uh Swedish golf hot in the streets we can talk some college stuff winning right away as a pro solheim cup I mean there’s so much to go through I don’t even know where you want to start today well let’s let’s let’s start at the present and then we’ll work our way back Maya we are the founders cup is coming up and I know you have not played Founders cup but but what are your what do you know about the course what do you know about Upper Montclair and are you excited to get up to New Jersey honestly I don’t know anything I don’t do my research I’m done studying things so I’m just going to go there I I think it has been cool I have watched it a couple times but not when it’s been at that course and just having like the older players sitting there and waiting after the 18th ho I think that could be really cool to just see them and talk to them I chatt a little bit with Nancy Lopez at Masters at the Masters and uh and she’s just so funny just so great and it feels like she she still loves golf just as much what what did you chat to her about if I if I can ask what did she give you any little insights or nuggets oh no she has so many stories she was talking about ARA Palmer and there was one year where she didn’t have a single three putt I I could not believe that crazy yeah there was a season like one of her first seasons on tour she didn’t have a single three PT and I’m like how the I mean no that doesn’t work like I could not believe it I I’m not calling her a liar but like sometimes you forget a three putt here and there yeah yeah uh that’s incredible well you’re going into Founders on a really nice run of play I mentioned uh your last two starts you finished runner up and then even going back to the Ford Championship a few weeks prior to Chevron you finished tied for third is is there anything different do do you feel like something has clicked in your game uh talk to me about your mental state and where your golf game is right now so in Singapore I played so bad I didn’t even look at the leader board I could just imagine that I was dfl for most of that week but my my coach was there the Swedish coach Patrick was there and we just kind of started dissecting the game and what was going on and and what we could do so then started working on a couple things I talked to my coach that I have at home Frederick he saw a couple of other things and then I worked pretty hard on those I had two off weeks after that I worked pretty hard on those and then obviously I you have to like find a little key because you can’t or at least me I can’t think about my technique stuff like oh don’t roll your hands like that’s such a small thought that I can’t do that when I’m at tournament so I found a technique thought that works for me that maybe my coaches didn’t tell me about but it works so well on the course and that’s yeah so that’s what I’ve been doing and just trying to be confident that everything else is fine I just have to focus on this little thing and then check my putter my Potter was way off and like the specs I didn’t even know you had to check the Loft and Li on Potters but apparently you do and it’s pretty pretty damn important so I did that and now I can start the ball online and um and my mental things as well like now I trust it I trust myself in hitting straight shots and that’s just I mean that makes it a bit easier to play Cody and I are chuckling uh about getting the Loft and lie truly though that’s that’s something you know you guys travel so often and and and your clubs are in travel bags and they’re being handled by airport staff and so many other people that the the the tiniest little knock and bend uh can can really affect that I’m curious though you were talking about you know that Key C can is this like a state secret or can you tell us what that key is that you that you found really works for you out on the course right now I can tell you but it sounds pretty stupid but it is to have relaxed knce really I don’t think any coach has ever said to have yeah because then I FOC so with my coaches we’ve been like trying to get my balance to go like from right to left and not rotate because when I rotate too much then my body ends up like too far behind and I just like chunk or thin but when I have relaxed knees then I kind of take a pause on the top and just like move forward naturally and um it was funny me we realized it in um at Chevron one of the first days there I think it was on the Tuesday or Wednesday and me and my caddy were walking in the clubhouse and they have all these pictures of uh from the A&A uh from like the 80s and 90s and I just saw those pictures and I was like they’re so limber these players like they their hips are just FL like going left and like rotated and it’s so far out and I was like I’m going to try to be as relaxed as as this lady on that picture and then I tried it and I was like this is great all of a sudden I’m I’m loose I am I can do yeah whatever and I trust it and that’s crazy because I let go of all the control that I had of my swing and just focused on relaxing about like a specific part and that really works I’m going to ask that to my bank Randy if you see me staring at people’s knees from here on out that’s that’s what I’m doing I don’t want to be called out by it but I’m going to throw that tip away may I love that it is it is fascinating thing to to think through though I think you know if we look at older people’s golf swings just like you’re you’re talking about Maya and like watching them it was a lot more fluid I I guess you could say like romanticized golf swing versus everything now is is is built on Power and I know that’s something that if I put like I could stack your golf swing I could stack Lynn’s golf swing I could put ingrids I could put ludvigs you guys are all coming out of the same developmental path and there’s so many similarities in your swing and they’re they’re built for power but ultimately they’re built to keep the CU face as Square as long as possible and you don’t see like you know when you go back and look at male or female swings where there’s you the reverse C or anything and it just looks like there’s a lot more finesse I totally see what you’re talking about it’s just fascinating because I never I’ve never thought about the knees like that I guess you only think about like driving from the ground to to create more power when you guys realize this and you’re you’re making a conscience effort to try to work on it are you guys just looking at normal swing videos are you guys using Force plates like is this just from the data that you guys are getting from trackman or something or or where did this come from that’s a good question I feel like it’s a little bit different I think ingred and her coach I think they’re big fans of the the force plates uh I haven’t used those a lot I think it’s mostly just swing videos for me I feel like I get a better better grasp of what I’m doing um trackman is fine I don’t use it a lot but I do use it just to check some stuff but then it feels like it tells you what’s wrong but then not really how to fix it so that’s why I prefer swing videos for me at least Maya if if if we can and and Cody maybe we should talk about solheim cup experience last year because I’m I’m really curious you know we we were in Spain and I I just loved one I loved you and Lynn playing together I I imagine that was such a awesome experience you know as a outside viewer I could just see you know you guys not only enjoying each other and and the competitiveness and and the moment uh but it but it seemed like truly solheim cup for you and and I know you spoke to this in in your press conferences too it seemed like a a true career highlight and being around Captain Pon and and some of the older players I I I’m wondering you know as as we’ve moved into 2024 and you’re reflecting back on solheim cup are there any is there anything that you kind of keep in the back of your mind or anything that you draw upon that has helped you this year whether that’s you know a little piece of advice or just you know that that feeling under pressure I I’m wondering how solheim has kind of influenced you moving forward into this season so at the solheim my best part of my game was my putting because I feel like something just clicks in match play where like I have to make this putt there’s nothing else it’s not fine to T putt this and that just made me like something clicked in my brain uh I changed my setup a little bit to just what was natural for me that’s what I’ve been trying to do as well this year obviously didn’t work very well earlier this year but now I have tried to just like put my focus on the whole and nothing else like technique thoughts nothing like that but then I also think I learned a lot about uh my nerves cuz that first on Friday morning me and Lynn were playing first and I was so nervous the first three holes I I didn’t know what what to do um and then I just thought I I can’t do this for three days this would be exhausting if I was this nervous I just said get a grip let’s just keep playing and let’s just have fun and then we lost that match on the 17th hole but we lost the first three holes because of well like I didn’t play great those first three holes Lyn didn’t play great those first three holes but I feel like since I we played better after those first three um like that was just nerves for me at least so now I’m like okay I’m super nervous but screw it let’s just go not nothing’s going to get better for me trying to control stuff and I’m still struggling with that I mean at Wilshire the first the front line both on Saturday and Sunday I was really nervous and I was trying to control stuff all the time and I was hitting really poor shots and that’s not a coincidence that um that happened then can I can I ask you when you say trying to control stuff can I ask you what to maybe expand on that what what do you mean by that so I feel a lot with like t- shots and stuff where you know that you can’t go here you can’t go there and then my hands just get super tense and I try to so if if I know that like my Miss is a high push fade then I try to control and like turn turn The Blade like turn the club face over obviously that doesn’t work like that’s going to be a straight hook or whatever and often times like the timing just gets off I I’m a little bit too quick from the top I’m I don’t have relaxed knees anymore when I try to do that so that doesn’t work like my balance is all off that’s kind of what happens how how did you how did you pull yourself out of that how did you you know make that uh change in your mindset and attitude within the round uh I don’t really remember what I did at solheim I think I was just trying to enjoy it but at Wilshire I said well I had been talking to Peter Hansen and before that and he had said instead of saying be patient let’s just say just keep playing then you actually focus on like what to do next so that just kind of got me out of it and I and one thing that Lynn said at one of our first L events when we had turned Pro we had a little Q&A with some younger girls and she said you can only mess up one shot at a time so let’s just go and um and that’s really helped me I think it wasn’t good but I think she she made it so I won that one competition and got L status where she came second so I feel a bit bad about that she helped me by saying that um but then also just think of there will be a million other moments like this in my career so let’s just enjoy this and try to swing as freely take this as a Saturday afternoon round with the boys and be relaxed with it I love that Cody you can only mess up one shot at a time that I maybe more so than relaxed knees that’s going into my that that’s going into my mindset this golf season I do the exact same thing it’s it’s crazy to think about you get a little bit nervous and you start thinking about where you cannot miss it at you just start guiding it you’re like this you know mentally like this is the worst thing that you can possibly do I don’t know why I’m doing this but you’re telling yourself this is the only option that you have at the moment I know you and Lynn have teamed up a ton from Junior days to high level amateur competitions you guys are really close friends it’s a very comfy pairing did you number one did you think you were going to go off first at the solheim cup did you ask to go out first or kind of how did the the pairings and startings come to be Susanna told us earlier in the week that she was like we’re going to be really transparent we know what it’s like to not know when you’re playing and whatever so they had said from maybe the wedes Tuesday or Wednesday that we were going to go out she she didn’t say what order we were going to play in but she said myin you’re playing uh Friday morning um so we knew that we were playing and then since sisan is at she like loves testing people she put us up first um I think she wanted the energy but it’s also very much a Susan thing to do uh just send out the rookies into the deep Waters and then after the time went on she was like no this isn’t working I’m just GNA like you’re going to hear it after your round when you’re playing um the next one so and that was more suan for us that was It was kind of weird she tried to be very like Democratic in the beginning of the week and then I know carot had talked to her and been like this isn’t you we’re not used to this H just be yourself and we’ll love it and then obviously we completely turned it around when we saw that fiery Zan who didn’t give a crap about what we wanted she just because she knew what was best for us that’s kind of our mind at least my mindset I was like I mean obviously I did love hearing from there was a Swedish journalist on the Saturday after May and Lyn’s forsome match he was like okay Mayan you’re not playing this afternoon how do you feel about that I was like I’m not playing I didn’t know that um so it was I mean didn’t need to tell the the journalists before she told the players but whatever yeah it was a a fascinating event uh you ended up going to one and one which is awesome for your first solheim cup you partnered up with Lynn as you said up against Lexi and uh Megan for the the opening round that Friday morning uh you were there your your teammates with Emily when she of course made a hole in one in the afternoon four ball sessions incredible moments you got back with on Saturday morning you and Lynn again get a point there against Andrea and I can’t even remember who it was Danielle yeah Danielle then of course you sit out I remember uh I was shocked when I was like oh Ma’s going to sit like it seems kind of weird cuz she’s she’s seems like she got a really hot putter right now and is riding a ton of momentum uh and then of course easy cleaned up your singles match against the the reigning US Women’s Open Champion Allison corpo there’s no big deal there uh big takeaways from solheim because we’re of course back-to-back years we got another solheim coming up this time in the United States I’m sure it’s going to be a little bit different but it seems like you guys have the same captains you guys have this incredible tight team there’s it seems like you guys love being with each other playing with each other and playing for your captain I mean it it seems to be that you guys definitely have momentum and that you’re kind of expecting this year to to just go out and win the cup outright I mean we hope so with the form that the European players are showing I mean uh that I mean it it seems more than possible um and I don’t know I don’t know whe How the US team is feeling about it I mean they we’ve never won four in a row so to do it with San as Captain she she just loves it so much it feels like the energy is just rubbing after everyone else in the team and if we were to win that fourth one I think she would uh love every single one of us forever us special little children can can you talk about uh Captain Captain Pon did you know her growing up or when’s the first time you really met her spoke to her I know she’s quite intimidating I imagine was was that your feeling that that first time you did meet her oh yeah so when I was like 16 we were playing the European championships in and one of the Swedish coaches or Swedish golf team coaches is a Norwegian and he he had been working with Suzanne and I won a a glove and a ball signed by her in a little pting competition that we had so that’s kind of when I first was like whoa like the connections right here I think she started following me on Instagram and started me messaging me after I won an L in Australia and then she would just she would just be like whenever I was in contention she would send me a little message like go win this take it home whatever like no pressure like just pressure there um and uh so I just H she she is intimidating but I love it and I feel like it’s for me I’m not used to it but I have so much respect for her and she’s so cool like I don’t even know what to say around her still I get Star Struck because she is just cool than everyone else that I know um yeah it was just great to see it like on the course she I don’t feel like she would talk to us that much like after a whole when she was sitting there waiting she would just like give you a look and you like oh shoot I got to win this next to like force the sand is there anybody else that you’ve come across in in the in the game of golf that gives you that same nervousness and you you I I just feel like she’s such a unique character gosh like are you Star Struck I I imagine you’ve you’ve really I I imagine you spent plenty of time around like anuka for instance um I I’m just wondering if you’ve ever felt that same kind of like nervous Star Struck energy I don’t think so because anuka is like too nice for that she she uh she talks to too many people whereas it feels like with suzan you got to be like it’s not she obviously she respects everyone and she’s a very nice person but it feels like she doesn’t say anything that doesn’t need to be said but I don’t know I feel like I have massive massive respect for Lexi um just like she’s a great player obviously and um and she is I feel like she’s super nice and not as reserved as I thought that she was going to be um and I just have so much respect for that when like she’s been in the spotlight since she was I don’t know 14 years old and I would I would expect her to like I don’t know be a little bit more just like by herself a little bit more but she is the nicest person out there so I get star struck by that and I get so impressed by that um since she’s had like smoke blown up her ass all like since she was so little um but yeah yeah you’d expect her to be like extremely closed off guarded both like extra externally but also to everyone around her and I’ve noticed the same thing with Lexi is once you kind of like penetrate and get inside and she understands who you are she’s could like could not be any nicer phenomenal person will talk about anything will answer questions I think the cool thing about Suzanne is you’re right there’s like this Aura of like you know she’s like she’s tough and she’s a fierce competitor and even like when you see her off the golf course she’s still kind of carries herself that way and you’re just like who there’s there’s an intimidating fact like intimidation Factor there that that’ll it’ll get you it’s kind of maybe this uh doesn’t register with you but I have like nothing but the the up most respect for everything that Dame Laura Davies has done in her career and from media and from the outside looking in she always seems so intimidating and you’re just like oh my goodness like she’s got a title and like you don’t want to mess with her and then you start talking to her she’s like oh my God come here like give me a hug like how what do you guys want uh I’ll answer whatever how much time do you need oh cool cool well I’ll tell you some stories you want to know some funny stories of life on tour well back in you know 1982 we were drunk here and this happened and I’m like whoa I did not expect you at all to have this personality or anything else like that but it’s crazy how you can kind of judge people from the outside without having a clue what they’re actually like Cody you’re exactly right I you know we obviously sat down with with the Dame in Spain and uh I I don’t get nervous very often anymore but I was nervous just like introducing myself and like I know hey uh Laura thank you for doing this uh can we ask you just a few questions I promise I won’t take much of your time but anyway Maya we’ve spent a lot of time on solheim I I think the other area we wanted to explore with you while while we have you just your upbringing and and how much Swedish golf has meant to you and and done for you we’ve talked about Lynn I but I guess that’s a good a good thing to hear you know I I I think people know you and Lynn are friends but how far back do you go with Ling Grant and and how much has golf you know I I imagine you met her through golf but you guys are very good friends away from the game too I think we met maybe in 2013 2014 but we didn’t like each other very much that’s kind of the funny thing that me and L were so different it’s it’s actually crazy how different we are but we still we still get along and we have so much fun to together but then like our friend groups would not mix like outside of the course then yeah we’re just very different I don’t really remember because she was just like I remember one time like one of the first times I saw her play was at like a regional final like to get into the national uh championships in Sweden uh because you had like you were playing in each age group me and my playing partner were way on the 10th hole and I saw I was just behind the green and I saw Lynn potting out on nine and and she hit this putt like a 10-footer and it was going straight out the hole and then a leaf just comes and hits her ball and stops it and she just goes crazy and I’m like that was pretty sick like how how the hell did that happen um so I was like oh she’s she’s mad she is one of those angry players then I could I mean if I if that happened to me I would be pissed too but I just saw her as was like this angry player like was just mad all the time after that how did that friendship form then going from you know maybe not liking her that much initially was it just time and getting to know her is that kind of the the basis then for the Friendship yeah so we started high school we were at the same high school I don’t know we were just in very different friend groups from the beginning and then started on the national team together always had fun on the national team and it it was nice there cuz you had this person that you’re close to at home to and then have having her at the the national team and we still didn’t hang out much and then it just felt like when we went on and played on the girls national team Women’s National Team turned pro at the same time it just like we got closer and closer and yeah I don’t know what is it about this the the the swedes we always joke you know both both on the the women’s side obviously and with ludvig kind of leading the way on the men’s side now what is it about Swedish golf seems like you guys are having a moment can you talk about you know the the Swedish national team and and I guess what what what’s in the water what’s going on in Sweden yeah I think we have very good coaches who base like everything they do in like science so are I think that’s been the strongest part for like my coach Frederick who I’ve had he was part of the girls future national team uh when I was younger and then the girls national team and then the ladies national team and he thinks about stuff very logically so he says like I don’t care if you have ner because it’s not the nerves that are messing you up it’s how you react to the nerves like if you speed up that’s how you react to it so whereas it feels like a lot of other people uh or a lot of other coaches say just don’t be nervous or they say like they say calm down which that never helps but the Swedish team actually gives us tools to deal with the nerves and then obviously I think that they they know that since we can’t play all year round we have to make the most out of it and it has to be our training has to be really like analytical uh we learn a lot about how to learn so it’s about you know the feedback like the whole feedback loop and and all that good stuff so it feels like when we go out into at tour life and we don’t have a coach with us there every day like you maybe do when you’re in high school or college it feels like we can handle a lot more stuff on our own and we can keep getting better when we’re out there which I I think is a little bit uh unique maybe because it feels like a lot of other people need their coach there all the time whereas I don’t think that we do I don’t think that’s very common for us to have our coaches out there all the time not just coaches but I think there’s a a level of maturity that’s been passed down to every Swedish player and it’s like when they’re when they turn professional and they’re out there they’re they have everything under control it seems like um you know I understand that other countries have their National programs but specifically like even some of the young women that we see coming up in the United States like they can’t go anywhere without Mom and Dad swing coach physio psych like everything there uh to take care of everything and I think it speaks so highly to the Swedish national team that you guys are I mean you have friendships and you have your squad around there but you don’t need all this other stuff to make it through your life and as crazy as multiple weeks on the road are and you guys all living a long ways away from home it’s fascinating to see and watch and I don’t know I mean I know you don’t want me to say this but it’s like other countries should be paying attention to this this and being like this is the template that you need to use to develop your young players because it is working and it’s not just on the men’s or the women’s side it’s it’s both and whatever they got going I would say it’s in the water but it’s like very very fresh uh Swedish snow melt water so I don’t think we can get anything that pure in the United States but uh it’s working it’s really cool to see yeah we had a camp during Thanksgiving where one of the people from the USGA who was starting like I think he was going to be the coach of the national team he was there to see what we do it was funny he was sitting in on a couple lectures where we were obviously speaking Swedish so I don’t know how much he he understood of what we were talking about but uh he was there and saw like we have crazy challenges sometimes uh usually by the end of camps it kind of tests every part of you so you usually it can start with like a ball stacking competition so you’re you have to like stack the balls when you have three piles of balls stacked then you can go and do other stuff it can be like reach into this box and tell me what’s in it and you don’t see what’s in the box you just have to reach in and like challenge yourself like that is like eat this club of garlic or play until you make a birdie on the course like just weird stuff that I I mean I think they put those things in there for a reason I haven’t talked to my coach about why but it definitely makes Camp more fun well I think the biggest thing is that it makes you think about other things outside of like the shot that’s in front of you so you’re putting you know it might be a clove of garlic but they’re inserting a little bit of adversity into something that you don’t like it’s not making you uncomfortable but it’s it is you know eating that much garlic a lot so it’s still making you like think extremely hard through your process and everything else um it’s uh it’s funny I’m not going to eat cloves of garlic like that but I I think from your guys’s you talked about being on the same you know the national team you guys go into high school together which I couldn’t even imagine what it was like all you guys being in the same class and then you know you and Lynn I don’t know if this was planned or not but you guys decided to turn professional like almost the exact same time and before we get there like your decision to come to the United States and I know Oklahoma state has a very long Swedish lineage of players like I’m sure a lot of people are like why Oklahoma State why would you go there but there is like there’s there’s clear lines from not just the national team but players that came before you of going there and excelling there so it makes sense but did covid cut College short for you did turning professional cut it short was a combination of all of it or were you just like I’m ready to go let’s let’s just go play no my plan was to come back to college but then I I talked to my my college coaches about it and obviously it’s tough for the college coaches because they don’t really want a player who won’t play the full year who’s on a scholarship which I was so they said would you mind turning pro now oh so we have a scholarship yeah which is I was fine with that it was a little bit scary and I I could come back if I wanted to but I was like no let’s let’s do this now I turned Pro in August and immediately I got some invites to L tournaments and I think that Lynn Lyn turned probably because of Co we got some really good opportunities I mean there were a couple of Swedish L tournaments that we get invites to and that could kind of Kickstart or like yeah Kickstart our careers yeah you guys came out and started winning quick but you know we talk about Majors we just talked about Chevron to open up and you literally being you know I I thought you made that chip uh a phenomenal solo second finish there uh but I always think back to the 2021 US Women’s Open and I know that uh Mega Ghan like on the low Am side stole all the highlights there because she was in contention literally till the very end but if you go back and look at the leader there’s a Mya Stark that’s also like top 10 the entire week and everybody is kind of like I have no clue who this person is but let’s just continue to focus on Mega uh did that experience and you being there playing on the biggest stage at an extremely difficult Golf Course add to the decision to be like okay I think I’m ready to go do this full-time oh yeah and it helped so I played that one actually the year before that I had also been runnerup amiter so I’m just used to being second I guess um but yeah so when I did that and I thought now I have two good finishes in US opens which is the hardest thing out there let’s just go for it I can do this and then the next week I play the scandy mixed at home and I think I had a top 20 there and I just thought I am ready I was still an amateur then and then the week after I talked to my college coaches so I missed out on a little bit of money there which um it was very hard back then because I was like this could be a great just financial situation if they we’ve talked about it two weeks or prior but it it it worked out fine anyway was the goal to always make it to the LPGA Tour and not trying to like racken stack let versus LPGA but I think that just like sure money and opportunity wise right now that’s on the LPGA Tour yeah I mean I want to play against the best players obviously L has some fantastic players but it’s not as um broad as the lpj where it feels like anyone can win um so yeah that’s why I wanted to come out here and um it feels a little bit this is a little bit more luxurious too it’s a little bit easier to travel between the places cuz on the L schedule you know you have South Africa to Thailand to Australia back to Europe like just a yeah just you’re racking up those miles that’s not really what I wanted well Maya speaking of us opens uh you obviously have a a very good history both as an amateur and you top 10ed last year out at Pebble Beach you got the runner up at Chevron which is now your best finish in in a major championship we go from Founders to missou which is a great event at at Liberty National and then to the US Open at Lancaster one I think it’s it’s it’s about time Mya Stark wins on American soil we’re still waiting on that but but my actual question is I I have to imagine you really like when the golf gets difficult is is that the case for you do do you enjoy it when the the course and the conditions get get very tough I do I think it just brings out a whole new patience for me because because I know that everyone’s going to be struggling is I used to think that I wasn’t good when it was like birdie competition um because I didn’t have the patience to like oh I’ve gone five holes without a birdie everyone else is running away from me so I’ve always liked when you have to be a little bit more creative and you have to just take your medicine just chip out into the Fairway like at Olympic Club in 21 you would have to just chip it out into the faway from the normal normal s rough yeah so and I love that just nitty-gritty grind it’s so weird you make so many birdies it it’s it’s weird to think and hear you say that you get uh uh nervous when you’ve gone through a couple holes of not making them you you hold like school records for most birdies made you are in like top 10 on the lpj tour for most birdies like it’s it’s just weird to to sit there and think through it all but it does make sense when I think of like gritty gritty players right now you at the top of the list for people who’s it doesn’t matter what condition it is like it could be raining completely sideways with a course that’s still super firm and fast and we know that like Yep this is this is Maya and like I know that she’s gonna go out there like she’s got that dog in her and she’s going to be able to go hunt I think of Charlie the exact same way I always think of Leona that exact same way and now all of a sudden uh I didn’t used to think of Nelly that way but now I kind of do and it’s crazy to think that we’re this far into a a LPGA podcast and not to like compare you vers her but could you kind of shed some light on like what Nelly’s like got going on because it’s truly in a historic run right now and you’ve had a front low row seat to you know almost every single one of these wins yeah I haven’t I’ve never played with her but just from watching her on TV like in the Players Lounge and stuff they always show it she’s just so good at staying calm I mean she hit it into I remember at hole number 14 at Chevron it’s super thick rough so she missed this this drive like far right it looked like the ball was gone it like yeah it was it was a bad t-shot but she it felt like she stayed calm she found the ball she managed to just hack it out into the Fairway and then just up to a really difficult pin made a 15-footer for power and then she was just H okay let’s move on so I think she’s just got that that quiet confidence about her that I can miss up but I’m going to make two birdies within whatever amount of time anyway as long as I just give myself chances it’s G to come to me and I think that’s what she does so well and that’s why I’m kind of looking at like Scotty he messes up too but it just feels like he never gets mad or outwardly mad and he just keeps on going same with ludig who laughs at his own mistakes like in the last nine at a major freaking Masters yeah yeah and like the level of confidence you have to do that and just know that I’m going to be this situation several more times and I can turn this around anyway uh that’s just crazy to me and that’s uh I think that’s what makes them so much better does the run that Nelly’s on and and we kind of see her you know separating in the Rolex rankings and and whatnot does that does that help kind of bring out the the competitive Drive in you is it is it do you enjoy having somebody that you can kind of in your mind go chase and and and work towards like hey I want to get there yeah I love a good Chase also it feels like I don’t know I think we’re all kind of sick of just having one person win every tournament so I think everyone is getting a little bit more I don’t know everyone’s trying a little bit more because it’s it’s not like it’s tiger who was like dominant like would win by 15 shots she wins by a couple she’s one two playoffs like she’s just a little bit better so it feels like it’s so easy to so easy to catch her she’s right there but then she always just manages to stay cool and just just inch past you a little bit Yeah Yeah it feels like it’s it’s definitely within reach you know you talked about like having like like cool calm demeanor and there’s a ton of examples out of it and I know this is something that you guys have been working on this year and and you used to say that you used to probably run a little bit too hot on the golf course at times and I don’t know if you could talk about it but having uh a caddy like like you have like hads on the bag and somebody that you have 100% trust and confidence in like what does that what does that do for you I think it’s super nice that he’s not doing too much he’s not doing too little he doesn’t I don’t know Step Up I guess because I feel like maybe some caddies want to do way more when they’re in contention and they yeah just I like that he trusts me enough and he knows that so I didn’t have a caddy before him because I was waiting for the perfect one or I I like doing things myself so he knows what I can do myself that he doesn’t get in the way or anything like that um and it’s just great to have someone that I can have fun with he can take the piss out of me I can take the piss out of him like we had this one t- shot in Arizona uh where we were talking about should we hit a three- wheer driver and uh had goes well it’s 25 M leaves us 137 to the pin and I go okay then we hit three-wood and I skyed it like it went almost straight up in the air like it was fine it was on it was on The Fairway it was fine I could reach in too but then I could just see him smirking when we’re walking off the tea and I’m like just just freaking say it say what you want to say and he goes 137 leaves us 2:15 I’m like dude we’re just the Saturday of like me actually coming back to my good playing and you say that of course yeah so it’s just so funny to have someone that I can laugh with like the whole round he doesn’t yeah he doesn’t make anything special of the big moments he’s not yeah he’s just himself and that’s great yeah he’s awesome and like a good podcast host I of course reached out to him and and said hey we’re going to have my on is there anything and he just said yeah just have her talk about how good of a caddy she is and that uh I don’t need to be there but uh in in all joking aside he knows that uh and he’s told me this that like he’s had to elevate his skill as a caddy so much because because of not only the the positions that you guys have found yourselves in competiti but everything else just because he’s like I this is something that uh once in a lifetime bag that I know that I like I don’t want to give up he’s like this is it’s awesome he talks about how much fun you guys have um and how like this is you know something that he never really expected to have and it just kind of it came about and he’s super appreciative and and like there’s this any inner burning desire for more from him which is funny because you gave him a couple weeks off and you had Jack who’s a great friend of us but mine’s fiance Jack Clark on the bag for Wilshire and you guys were in contention was it different having him there were there things that how he operates are different than how hads operates and like did that change anything for you or you’re just like nope give me the number this is a shot I’m going I think we changed it a little bit it was fun to see how a caddy who’s been out here for longer how he works cuz I could tell that he he wanted to be more involved which is like good and bad depending on because I’m not used to it so I had I I just recognized one one time where I disagreed on something that he said and then I I went with what he he wanted anyway I said I was fine with it I wasn’t I thought that’s never going to work work but I did it anyway and obviously he thought it was going to be fine from his experience but I like it was with my wedges my wedges live their own lives I’m not very good at them so obviously he doesn’t know that about me that I can mess up pretty easy shots like that so it was fun to see how he works and then there’s one thing where I feel like we we’re he works for very different players than compared to what I am so like if I hit the shot that may have rolled into the bunker may have stay Stayed on top it can be fine like when we’re walking up to the ball he he could go I think that’s I think that might have stayed up might have rolled down but I think he stayed up and I’m like okay like what I asked had did it stay up he’s goes I don’t freaking know you didn’t see it I didn’t see it how how am I supposed to know that you know so it’s just it’s funny to see how different players shape their caddies in different ways but he was great yeah it was cool to see how he talks to the player and yeah he is a little bit more active than had but he doesn’t overpower at all I didn’t think so that was that was great I’m I’m really happy for Anna that she has such a great caddy like him and he’s he’s a great guy I think we had a lot of fun too I know you you now you can get hads off of his island hopping tour and put him back to work because number one he doesn’t need that much Sunshine as it is he you need to like bury him somewhere in his rain suit and he’ll be good to go well so he was at a bachelor party now he’s going to wedding at during misso so I am having Lauren coglin’s husband John John’s on the just keep keep taking him back John’s on the bag yeah hey John yeah I love it my goodness good luck with that yeah well Cody what else uh what else do we have to cover or should we let should we let let Maya enjoy her uh her Friday morning here I know a week off we appreciate you lending your time to us and and I think about this obviously that there’s things in tour life that a lot of people don’t think of but what is a week off for Maya look like like are you are you out there grinding on the Range every day you taking time off you finally getting your uh your accounting done what what is this week kind of uh you know how does the roll out work leading up to another big event this week has been kind of special I usually try to get two weeks off but the schedule this year has hasn’t really allowed for that I think that lpj has done a good job of like having mini breaks so this week has been a lot of media um what else I done I went out to putt and Chip a little bit yesterday I’m going to play 18 I think today I’m trying kind to be yeah just chill with it um kind of practice when I need to but I felt I was so tired during Wilshire because the Chevron was such a big thing so I gave myself three days off just to you know calm down be hungry for it again and that’s usually what what happens I take three or four days off depending on how much time I have between the tournaments but I feel like I’m also so confident in my game right now that I I feel like I can do that what else do I do play pickle ball freaking love pickle ball oh watch those knees we got to keep those knees relax Maya you can’t be out there you’re Achilles I know you’re young but watch out a lot of injuries out there I the only sport that’s injured me is golf so I like I should stop playing golf then no you can’t do that everything else well that’s what Randy says all the time too that’s why Randy tries to Quick golf I have to play golf cuz I have to uh no I Cody Maya very very good table tennis player how did pickle ball compare to table tennis andaya I gotta ask why aren’t we just out there playing tennis you’re young you’re fit you can just go play tennis you don’t have to waste your time with pickle ball but my cardio is I’m a golfer my cardio is just not there tennis is so much running whereas pickle ball you can just stand there I mean 80-year-olds play pickle ball they don’t really play tennis that much CU it’s too much running I play an old person Sport and I and I feel like I should be consistent okay okay I was gonna ask about this you talked about cardio are you a person that goes to the gym I am yes okay but you’re going to the gym I’m sure doing things specifically to either strengthen or maintain something that’s specific for the craft that you’re doing most of the time does cardio fit into that anywhere because I got a new trainer and he’s trying you know I’ve been I’ve been running a lot this year I’m proud of myself I lost a lot of weight but I I absolutely hate it I hate it I hate everything about it is there anything that I can do to tell him hey babbe we can lay off this or or substitute it with something else well running D I know she’s like no just you could swim you could swim yeah or bite running is so good for you though I know yeah I talked to so I have a aicio out there on tour and he’s a big Runner but he also says that go out running before a a tournament or like before your round during the day just to get some stress out so that’s what I’ve been doing these past these past two weeks and I think that that’s helped so you can just do little short runs but yeah Swim Bike there’s nothing much better than running you don’t get the runners high like after a while just I hate it I’m angry the entire time you know how people are like oh it gives me endorphins and it gets me think about things and decompress I’m angry the entire time like it doesn’t matter how far or how long I’m just like God this is the worst decision I ever made just got to put one foot in front of the other that’s all you’re thinking about I know it’s horrible there is a technique where you’re like you run and you have like a tennis ball and you can just and you just like do a little steady Jog and just yeah distractions you need that okay I I’ll I’ll do some more research on that it’s actually a really good idea all right Maya thank you so much for uh giving us an hour of your time during your week off continue whatever prep that you got going on I’m excited I am worried seriously though about the pickle ball I don’t want to hear about a pickle ball injury when we see you in a couple weeks the US Women’s Open just make sure that everything’s still intact yes we’ll do thank you guys thank you Maya good luck at founders
Randy and Cody are back with another LPGA pod as we look back at Hannah Green’s win at Wilshire, preview this week’s Founders Cup and next week’s Mizuho Americas Open with tournament host Michelle Wie West.
LPGA: Maja Stark On Her Rise, Michelle Wie West Interview, LA Championship Recap | NLU Pod, Ep 833
ladies and gentlemen welcome back into the no laying up golf podcast my name is Randy and I am joined by my associate Mr Cody McBride Sarge how we doing today down in uh the great state of Texas it’s finally starting to warm up Mr big uh I know that’s something that you’re looking forward to as well I don’t know if you still got snow up there or if it’s lingering lurking who knows but it’s a good day to be in Texas and I’m excited man because we got a jam-packed week at one of our favorite events of the year yeah absolutely uh Founders Cup this week I think it’s probably the best non major on the LPGA calendar I I don’t even and and I say that because of its the the history and the significance of the event and the the way it really tries to honor the 13 original founders of the LPGA which we talked about last year uh on an episode went through some quick bios for all those women extraordinary women and I think it’s an event that’s important and for that reason it it kind of sits apart from a lot of other week- toe events so we’re going to dive into that at the end of the episode really the bulk of the episode you and I are gonna kind of quit talking and we’re gonna bring in Maya Stark who is on a great run of play the young Swede somebody that we got to know last year at the International Crown we played a proam with her she’s just fantastic so we’re we’re going to pick her brain about a lot of different things and yeah that will be the episode so Cody I know we uh we have a couple sponsors let’s thank them right off the top and let’s begin with our good friends at Yeti yeah Yeti everybody knows Yeti by now we are so thankful to have them as our title sponsor for this year’s LPGA content here at no laying up it doesn’t matter if it’s luggage hard coolers soft coolers drink wear you name it you can go to their website yeti.com they have some great Mothers Day stuff going on right now some expedited shipping options if you have any procrastinators out there specifically probably talking to our uh okay talking to you and talking to our audience they have a great selection of items that we think any mom out there will love uh different colors different sizes hard soft cups you name it and I’m excited because they just debuted something uh and they want everybody to take the plunge and I’m not talking about cold plunges here I’m talking about their new Rambler French Press which looks really cool I think we might add that to like our Yeti uh gear equipment packout list so yeah I’m excited for that you know Yeti their products perform when it matters most please head over to yeti.com for their Complete product line and more we also want to thank our good friends at Titleist TW for a TW for advertisement off the top I know I know but you know we love these guys if you want to improve your game a Titleist fitting experience is the fastest way to be better a certified title TI is fitter can help any player at any point in their Journey find the clubs to unlock another level of play custom fittings are not just for better players they are for any players who want to be better your title is fitter will start by getting to know you and your game you and your specific needs Drive the fitting experience and every Club you hit will be the exact Club you will order there’s no guesswork or hoping that the recommendations will work out you know we’ve gone through this a couple different iteration we’ve done our whole bags a couple times now from drivers to Fairway Woods to hybrids you know I I love my hybrids just like you big fella i’ love to hear that I love to hear that our iron fittings most recently I was down again and got redialed in with some wedge fittings but also it was the first time that we actually had a legitimate putter fitting done and that was because of their new Phantom line and that was just an awesome awesome experience I I know you big like it takes the guesswork out of everything every time I leave there I’m so confident in the clubs that I know where they’re going I know that they’re fit exactly for me and they’re actual tools like I can work with now yeah for somebody that is not a gear Head does not want to get deep in the Weeds on specs and shafts and all of that rigoll it’s nice to know that hey they’re going to take care of me they’re going to give me exactly what I need and I can trust that it’s uh the the equipment that I need to play my best so it’s you’re exactly right on that exactly so if you want to play your best golf the first step is so simple go to titleist.com and find the Titleist fitter or fitting event near you the title is fitting experience is the fastest way to be better go do it everybody I I highly encourage you this this is an ad read but like go get fit everybody out there shopping trying to find different clubs going to big box stores go get fit it’s going to make a huge huge difference amen thank you run a show like we said big Maya Stark interview coming on back of this she is off a couple back-to-back Runner UPS including the Chevron a chip away from winning really like getting yourself in a position to be in a playoff with Nelly cter and we’re going to get to Nelly quarter but that that close in La it was a little bit different and we talk about that uh in the interview with her but I think it was an awesome interview and there’s something about this first week in May big you mentioned the International Crown last year that was the same exact week we recorded that podcast last week with her she must just have something maybe she only wants to talk to us like the first week of May every year but we’ll take it because man I’m like I’m buying up all the my stock again like we’re right back in the same spot of course last week at Wellshire uh an excellent tour tournament as well awesome venue in Los Angeles the JM Eagle La Championship would be remiss not to shout out the efforts of Walter and Shirley Wang they are the chair chairman and CEO of JM Eagle and the CEO of plpro respectively uh that’s a wonderful event we’re going to get into uh Hannah green winning that as we said Maya Stark was was runner up there we have the founders this week next week they’re going to Liberty National the mizuo America’s open that’s a great new event we actually have a surprise little uh pop in that that we’ll get to as well and then we take a week off and we’re headed to Lancaster for the US Women’s Open so a wonderful stretch here Cody but let’s go back to welshire Hannah green the queen of welshire going backto back it’s her fifth career LPGA Tour Victory she breaks into the top 10 in the Rolex rankings for the first time in her career she’s currently ranked seventh she’s the highest ranked Australian woman now she has passed M Lee it’s it’s her second win of of this 2024 season and if it weren’t for Nelly Corda just sucking up all the oxygen I mean Hannah Green’s right there as as not only like the player of the year but but maybe the story of the year yeah I agree with you on that and before I get away from it if you’re going to continue to pronounce it will Shire then you have to pronounce it L Lancaster you can’t you can’t pick one and give you know preferential treatment to the other so far in my own head on like every pronunciation it’s it’s incredible but you are right it’s uh it is a shocking time and I think that there’s no one like Hannah green kind of expected this she’s been putting in tons of hard work uh she’s really trying to like just improve her overall game there’s a lot of changes that came with her in the off season her long time fiance and her finally got married and I I think she just finds herself at kind of a new spot in in life where maturity and having like a solid team around her is just carrying her everywhere she goes but but there is something about this course now I will say this next year they are not going to play this championship at Willshire because of renovation that they’re getting ready to to do and there’s nobody that’s going to be more disappointed about that than Hannah green because if you want to talk about horses for courses like she loves that place and she she mentioned it in her post on pressers that something about the turf it’s something about the city it just really reminds her of being back home in Australia and you kind of get that like it’s it’s the weather it’s the firm and fast conditions like I see I understand everything that she’s kind of picking up there and it’s just been so so cool in a year that is all about Nelly coder so far the we finally have somebody to reach out there and for her to pick up two wins so far on the street like it’s truly incredible I and I guess we get to you know the the age-old question is she a horse for course or will she be a monster for sponsor next year you know right yeah but yeah she’s she’s won backto back now uh she’s kind of got some boom and bust in her game though which I which I find interesting and I I don’t know why that is you know I’m not smart enough to know the answer to that but it seems like you know she she’s not a top 10 machine and the flip side of that though is like when she is in contention she seems to just win and we saw that at you know her maiden Victory her her major victory at at Hazel te several years ago at the KPMG women’s PGA we saw her in her first Victory this year out in Singapore with that stretch of uh birdies down the stretch on Sunday and even we saw her drop the hammer here and and really run away from Maya Stark on the back nine it’s it’s really impressive but I’m curious I don’t know Cody like why are some people like that when they get a sniff of being in contention they they just have a knack for winning the tournament I’m always fascinated by that I don’t know I I I don’t know if it’s maybe lack of scar tissue or they just look at it completely different than we would assume other people look at it because you’re right some people get in in contention and find themselves in those positions and it’s just like yeah this is no sweat man like it’s just another hole and for them to be able to process and truly just take it one hole at a time and not look at the the overwhelming totality of the situation that they’re in it’s truly impressive I wish I say this there’s a couple of my favorites that are out there I wish I could give a little bit more of that skill to but for those who have it what a hidden talent yeah no doubt no doubt uh you talked about Hannah kind of coming into her own I think that’s very natural she’s she’s 27 years old I mean I think that’s just a time in everybody’s life where you kind of start feeling hopefully you start feeling just more comfortable with who you are and and you know you you grow into adulthood and and your perspective and mindset changes I know Hannah specifically I had spoken to her last year and and I know how big of a deal breaking into that top 10 in the Rolex rankings has been for her and that’s been a goal of hers for I’m sure several years now and for that to come to fruition has to be a good feeling and honestly it makes me wonder you know like hey mission accomplished and now she can kind of set her sights on top five top three hell number one right it’s it’s a big chore right now to to rund down Nelly but it’s cool to see somebody who had vocalized a goal and and to now see it come to fruition uh that’s that’s just a nice thing I think yeah and if you you think of the courses that we have like the rest of the year you know her one major championship that she had obviously we’re not going back to that course but I think between sahali sets up kind of you know similar to that she loves firm and fast she likes playing the ball on the ground just like most Aussies do I mean the old course if we’re taking somebody whose name is not Nelly Corda out of like who I could see thriving there loves playing in like tough conditions I would say that’s that’s her we joke about all the time and maybe we don’t put too much emphasis on it but the fact that it is an Olympic year what they have to have if they have four players in the top 15 I can’t remember exactly how it breaks down I think that’s right I think that’s right if if you have if a country has four in the top 15 they can send all four otherwise I believe it’s the top two yeah so right now looking it I mean team Australia Hannah Green’s name is definitely up there with of course m and I say you know it’s kind of shocking that she is currently the highest ranked Australian player but when I think of M Lee and this isn’t a complete segue like this is when this is the time of year usually when Mii like starts cooking when you get on some old school really good golf courses uh I know that’s just that this week up at uh uper mountclair I know she she enjoys being in the big city and I’m I would surely think that the mizuo America’s open fits that for her before we start this kind of season of major championships where she can truly get on courses that she’s comfortable with and can run oh by the way like she had the lowest score here last year for this tournament the founders cup and ended up losing to jiny Young in a playoff so it was a hell of a finish we’re gonna see how long Hannah can keep the the low Aussie crown for but I’m just excited I’m excited for the next couple of weeks uh the schedule is turning at an awesome spot and uh finally not crazy amounts of travel so hopefully that takes a little bit of the wear and tear out of it but um just really really pumped to get going yeah uh quickly on Hannah green I was looking at the KPMG performance insights just trying to see you know from last year to this year how her game might be changing a little bit uh last year she was 35th on tour at 0.79 Strokes gain total so far this year she’s up to 1.34 Strokes gain total which is good for 10th among all qualifiers and the Big Driver of that is her putting last year uh she ranked 55th at 0.19 Strokes gain putting and so far she’s at 0.71 Strokes gain putting good for 17th so she’s she’s better by you know a half a shot per round on the greens uh she’s a little bit better around the greens too so seems like just you know tidier uh always nice when that Ball’s going in the hole and I I thought the same thing I I I I think sahali is an interesting setup for her uh I think she’s somebody we have to pay attention to at the at the US Women’s Open here in a few weeks um so yeah Hannah green great great start to 2024 for her a couple other finishers we we mentioned Maya Stark we’ll get into that when when we talk to her uh a trio of Koreans finished tied for third heon Rue among them uh she was you know kind of In Contention there at the Chevron also Jin Heim um she’s on an awesome stretch of of really good golf here um she’s just over from Korea and then Jin young Co coming into form right for the founders cup uh can never count her out I I I remember sitting here last year Cody talking about one about M Lee and just wondering you know when’s she going to turn it on it’s been such a sleepy start and and she answered the bell at Founders Cup last year same with Jin Yano I hope it’s a a sign of things to come for Jin yunko that the tour is better when she is on top of her game so hopefully um that that finish at Willshire is portends to good things for her well she’s got to have good feelings at upper Monclair because I mean she’s won three out of the last four there she the founders cup seems to be her time to really rise up and it it’s going to be very very interesting because of course we have this incredible streak from Nelly that’s still very very active she did not play in LA took a week off there obviously they all had a week off last week and then we have Nelly pop up on already ready what is going to be a busy week for her back to the founders cup that Jin young like she she owns this tournament like yeah it is it is crazy and if you look at Nelly and kind of her trying to continue the streak the last time in America won the founders cup was 2013 Stacy Lewis uh the Korean players has absolutely dominated this only non- Koreans uh that have won 2022 M Lee of course 2017 Anna norquist and then it basically starting in 2015 to current day like the Koreans have have owned this place so it’s exciting it’s an awesome golf course we’re going to be there for a lot of the action because I’m excited to get back on the espm plus Airwaves this time with my guy big Randy uh and dive into it let’s get an official prediction Nelly’s going for six straight Jin young CO’s won three of the last four M Lee might awake uh who who is your official pick Nelly cter you’re a nelly come on I’m going with you I mean if you can’t pick Nelly in this spot like what are we even doing right it it’s certainly who I’m rooting for I wanted to win freaking every tournament the rest of the year I agree I I listen if that happened I I’m right there man let’s go yeah I I think this is such a cool moment and I just wish that my excitement was like echoed across everything that I see in in the golf world and it’s it’s not which sucks but hell yeah Nelly Corda let’s go all right well there it is uh catch Cody and I like we said we’re going to be popping into the ESPN plus feature groups coverage uh we will tweet out specific times and Det Tails when we have them stay tuned we have a very special guest talking about next week’s tournament the mizuo America’s open and then we will move to an outstanding interview with Maya Stark I beg that brings us to our next segment today and of course sets by our new partner and that is mizuo who is mizuho you might ask or top Global corporate and Investment Bank Powerhouse in Japan on the retail space the Americas is their fastest growing region for mizuo globally it’s the only institutional business in the Americas if you’re an aage golf if you’re an avid golf Watcher you might have seen a few of their commercials featuring Michelle we West they’re the title sponsor of the mizuo Americas open that’s in a couple weeks so excited May 16th through 19th at Liberty National has amateurs playing with the pros increase purse to $3 million they cover player accommodations there’s a full day Leadership Summit for young girls in Partnership With Girls Inc that’s all about mizuo but do you know what a couple weeks away our new partner I wanted to find somebody who could speak to us exactly about the details not only about them this awesome company that they represent but specifically the mizuo America’s open so big I I I threw I I made the biggest hell Mary that I possibly could we have one of their brand ambassadors and that is Michelle E West Welcome hi guys Michelle I mean this time last year we were getting ready for a big match it’s it’s been a minute I know hey big Randy guess how many times I’ve played golf since Pebble Beach um can I count him on one hand unfortunately you can two really more than two less than more than two actually I recently played so more than two all right all right uh wow well I was going to make a joke that you’ve played more than me but I’ve played a bit more golf since then as well uh what R’s been playing a lot of golf and he’s gotten a lot better since uh since that day if people want to go watch that video it’s going to live on forever on the internet uh when Michelle absolutely dusted him at Pebble Beach which we like to see but Michelle you got to be excited you’re going into your two of your event I mean what else did we miss from the intro that you listened to H oh my gosh I am it I don’t even know where to begin you know I when I got the call um two years ago saying that I would be the host for the mizuo America’s open it was just like I was like what excuse me like it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do it’s been a dream of mine I didn’t expect it to happen so fast and the way that we run the event the way that we um has have raised standards is just year one was such a success um you know I think because I was a player so soon before there were a lot of you know things that maybe I wasn’t happy with the tournament or I felt like the standards could have been raised and I really took that you know upon ourselves and the team and the sponsor mizuo has been great in every step of the way and you know we want to make the player experience great because my main thing is that you know especially you know us as women you know a lot of times I feel like you know we we don’t take things for granted and you know I don’t mean that in a way of you know being cocky or whatever but sometimes are things that we need to take for granted you know like eating in the clubhouse just higher purses iconic venues you know and I I want this to become you know every time players come play in our tournament I want them to be like oh yeah this is what I need to take for granted this is what our standard is and the first year mizuo um they paid for everyone’s hotel room in New York City at the Conrad and we had the fairies um like the president cup go back and forth and it was was just a worldclass treatment you know um the chef at libery National he was so excited he cooked amazing meals for all the players we actually ate in the clubhouse um you know the tea gifts were amazing um and it just it was really cool to hear since last year a lot of tournaments have kind of followed our suit you know I’ve heard of a lot of travel stiens I’ve heard of a lot of tournaments now paying for hotel rooms so I’m just extremely proud of you know how year one went you know the mentor ship program with the 24 Juniors and the pros um we’re really excited to see who’s going to come back this year um but yeah year two I’m absolutely stoked there’s so much to pull out of that I I think first of all uh huge congratulations and and kudos to you because truly I think this is a prime example of of all boats rise right you just need somebody to be out there and to be the leader in the space and I think that’s you putting your name to an event you being a a incredible ambassador to not just like women’s professional golf but golf all around like there’s no there’s no men’s or women’s thing it’s like professional golf tournaments all around uh bringing the Juniors and getting them involved but ultimately like I could not imagine what it’s like for you to travel week in and week out because we’re on the road for like two weeks Max and I’m like oh my goodness I just want to go home and that’s not even that that’s you talk about like staying at the Conrad and like like having well-cooked meals that have like nutrition and everything else that’s that’s the focus of it it’s just things that in the past maybe tournaments haven’t really thought of and now you’re putting it at the Forefront of everybody’s mind and it’s making everybody just Elevate their product it’s truly incredible to see and a big thank you uh to you for kind of leading the way on it these are things as a player I would be really annoying about to like you know the staff everyone like why am we do this why do we do that and you know for me I was just like recently thinking about it you know just like just because I’m retired that doesn’t make it not my problem anymore you know what I’m saying like it’s not like I’m retired now it’s like okay this is your problem to figure out like I still find it like my responsibility and our generation’s responsibility no matter if we’re playing on tour or not to you know help kind of fix these problems we have to be able to advocate for ourselves I’ve had I’ve never had a problem doing that when I was playing so I want to keep doing that um but yeah we’re really excited you know obviously the players being able to stay in New York City is a really exciting thing this year we added a really fun New York City eating guide um for all the players where they you know can have access to reservations to the top restaurants in New York City and you know maybe get like a little bit a discount as well and we partnered with some really cool restaurants so um you know I love the city I love New York I love Liberty National so it’s just like really fun to have you know players and the Juniors come and just get so excited about an event can you promise us we were so spoiled such an awesome ending last year Rose Zang winning her her debut on the LPGA Tour defeating Jennifer cup cho can you promise US Michelle as good of an ending this year I I don’t know which golf Gods we have to bribe to make that happen but if you guys know of a golf God that can make that happen we will bribe them we will do whatever we can um but I was just with rose at media day and I was like yeah you and Nelly in a playoff right like we’re scripting that for this for this week like perfect great like there we go yeah speaking of media day we we saw the pictures and if anybody didn’t see them they’re on the tournament social uh Pages you can go find them on Instagram or Twitter or the LPGA also shared them there there plenty of them out there but you guys threw out a couple first pitches nerve nerve-wracking experience was there practice included in this did was somebody giving you guys pointers kind of how how’d this whole thing set up I probably one of the most unathletic human beings to ever walk this planet so like me throwing out throwing up baseball is like terrifying um especially at Yankee Stadium like I feel like it’s a place where if you like mess up they will boo you out of the you know like I feel like New York fans are not gentle in that manner they’re not going to be like oh it’s okay they’re like Boo get out the tournament staff actually brought out like gloves and baseballs and we were slinging them pretty good you know because I told them my strategy always in a first pitch is to chicken out lob it early lob it high lob height is key and you just get it there you don’t try to go for the low Slinger the last thing you want to do is 50 Cent it and hold on to the ball to long and then it just go in the ground and I just don’t want to become a meme that was like my number one goal so yeah we were actually like yeah just hit it and I was like I was feeling pretty good and then I got there and usually I thought you know we were able to practice throw the ball around and we’re just standing there for 40 minutes I’m like there’s absolutely no way that I’m doing anything or attempting anything athletic right now I’m just gonna early release early lob I overestimated the softness of it so it was a little bit short but at least I didn’t embarrass myself completely I think thought it great honestly I thought it was better than roses poor Rose I I thought she was uh she was struggling a little bit you went to the wrong catcher but you know we just say that we all went to the same catcher it’s fine yeah yeah oh that’s fantastic as somebody that’s thrown out a pitch a first pitch at a spring training game where I was beyond nervous I cannot imagine being in the middle of Yankee Stadium so I I actually can empathize with with what you must have been feeling you know best of luck with the event Michelle thank you again for hopping on on with us again the mizuho America open is going to be played May 16th through 19th at Liberty National hosted by none other than Michelle we West and we’ll see we’ll hope for that playoff again who knows but uh you know the the level of play that’s out there right now on the lpj tour either way it’s going to be a phenomenal champion and I can’t wait to see who the uh who the amateur is going to be this year because I think you’re just like these ranks and the Juniors that are coming up they just keep getting better and better and better so it’s going to be cool one of these uh years I wonder how much longer down the road it’s going to be before your Amer Champion becomes your actual event Champion yeah that I was just thinking that when you’re saying that it’s gonna be really cool to watch thank you Michelle uh best of luck in your too and and also thank you sincerely for like you said trying to to set the standard and raise the standard for uh the LPGA Tour and professional golf at large we really appreciate it thank you guys thanks for having me out right and for everybody else you can check them out and a big thank you to mizuo for more information that is mizuho americas. comom well without further Ado let’s welcome into the show one of our favorites Maya Stark Sweden Zone Maya Stark she is currently I believe the 16th ranked player in the new Rolex rankings she has six career Le victories one career LPGA Victory and is on on a great run of play having finished runner up at both the Willshire JM Eagle La Championship as well as the Chevron championship before that Maya thank you so much for joining I and I failed to mention one thing Maya we we have I believe another runner-up finish the three of us at the International Crown proam at TPC Harding Park last year which I I think is probably the you know I’m burying the lead there that that’s probably the career highlight runner up I mean probably you know I mean when we made that eagle chip on the last because we thought that we were winning it by chipping in I mean that was a new high for me I’ve never experienced it since very nice of you by by we of course she means when when you made that chip Maya phenomenal moment you called your shot and I think from then we we instantly uh you know we were big fans going in but we were instantly like on your side ride or die from that day on and it’s it’s incredible to see where your season’s at now but big I think I mean there’s so much that we can cover we got to get into where M’s from the upgrade of course uh Swedish golf hot in the streets we can talk some college stuff winning right away as a pro solheim cup I mean there’s so much to go through I don’t even know where you want to start today well let’s let’s let’s start at the present and then we’ll work our way back Maya we are the founders cup is coming up and I know you have not played Founders cup but but what are your what do you know about the course what do you know about Upper Montclair and are you excited to get up to New Jersey honestly I don’t know anything I don’t do my research I’m done studying things so I’m just going to go there I I think it has been cool I have watched it a couple times but not when it’s been at that course and just having like the older players sitting there and waiting after the 18th ho I think that could be really cool to just see them and talk to them I chatt a little bit with Nancy Lopez at Masters at the Masters and uh and she’s just so funny just so great and it feels like she she still loves golf just as much what what did you chat to her about if I if I can ask what did she give you any little insights or nuggets oh no she has so many stories she was talking about ARA Palmer and there was one year where she didn’t have a single three putt I I could not believe that crazy yeah there was a season like one of her first seasons on tour she didn’t have a single three PT and I’m like how the I mean no that doesn’t work like I could not believe it I I’m not calling her a liar but like sometimes you forget a three putt here and there yeah yeah uh that’s incredible well you’re going into Founders on a really nice run of play I mentioned uh your last two starts you finished runner up and then even going back to the Ford Championship a few weeks prior to Chevron you finished tied for third is is there anything different do do you feel like something has clicked in your game uh talk to me about your mental state and where your golf game is right now so in Singapore I played so bad I didn’t even look at the leader board I could just imagine that I was dfl for most of that week but my my coach was there the Swedish coach Patrick was there and we just kind of started dissecting the game and what was going on and and what we could do so then started working on a couple things I talked to my coach that I have at home Frederick he saw a couple of other things and then I worked pretty hard on those I had two off weeks after that I worked pretty hard on those and then obviously I you have to like find a little key because you can’t or at least me I can’t think about my technique stuff like oh don’t roll your hands like that’s such a small thought that I can’t do that when I’m at tournament so I found a technique thought that works for me that maybe my coaches didn’t tell me about but it works so well on the course and that’s yeah so that’s what I’ve been doing and just trying to be confident that everything else is fine I just have to focus on this little thing and then check my putter my Potter was way off and like the specs I didn’t even know you had to check the Loft and Li on Potters but apparently you do and it’s pretty pretty damn important so I did that and now I can start the ball online and um and my mental things as well like now I trust it I trust myself in hitting straight shots and that’s just I mean that makes it a bit easier to play Cody and I are chuckling uh about getting the Loft and lie truly though that’s that’s something you know you guys travel so often and and and your clubs are in travel bags and they’re being handled by airport staff and so many other people that the the the tiniest little knock and bend uh can can really affect that I’m curious though you were talking about you know that Key C can is this like a state secret or can you tell us what that key is that you that you found really works for you out on the course right now I can tell you but it sounds pretty stupid but it is to have relaxed knce really I don’t think any coach has ever said to have yeah because then I FOC so with my coaches we’ve been like trying to get my balance to go like from right to left and not rotate because when I rotate too much then my body ends up like too far behind and I just like chunk or thin but when I have relaxed knees then I kind of take a pause on the top and just like move forward naturally and um it was funny me we realized it in um at Chevron one of the first days there I think it was on the Tuesday or Wednesday and me and my caddy were walking in the clubhouse and they have all these pictures of uh from the A&A uh from like the 80s and 90s and I just saw those pictures and I was like they’re so limber these players like they their hips are just FL like going left and like rotated and it’s so far out and I was like I’m going to try to be as relaxed as as this lady on that picture and then I tried it and I was like this is great all of a sudden I’m I’m loose I am I can do yeah whatever and I trust it and that’s crazy because I let go of all the control that I had of my swing and just focused on relaxing about like a specific part and that really works I’m going to ask that to my bank Randy if you see me staring at people’s knees from here on out that’s that’s what I’m doing I don’t want to be called out by it but I’m going to throw that tip away may I love that it is it is fascinating thing to to think through though I think you know if we look at older people’s golf swings just like you’re you’re talking about Maya and like watching them it was a lot more fluid I I guess you could say like romanticized golf swing versus everything now is is is built on Power and I know that’s something that if I put like I could stack your golf swing I could stack Lynn’s golf swing I could put ingrids I could put ludvigs you guys are all coming out of the same developmental path and there’s so many similarities in your swing and they’re they’re built for power but ultimately they’re built to keep the CU face as Square as long as possible and you don’t see like you know when you go back and look at male or female swings where there’s you the reverse C or anything and it just looks like there’s a lot more finesse I totally see what you’re talking about it’s just fascinating because I never I’ve never thought about the knees like that I guess you only think about like driving from the ground to to create more power when you guys realize this and you’re you’re making a conscience effort to try to work on it are you guys just looking at normal swing videos are you guys using Force plates like is this just from the data that you guys are getting from trackman or something or or where did this come from that’s a good question I feel like it’s a little bit different I think ingred and her coach I think they’re big fans of the the force plates uh I haven’t used those a lot I think it’s mostly just swing videos for me I feel like I get a better better grasp of what I’m doing um trackman is fine I don’t use it a lot but I do use it just to check some stuff but then it feels like it tells you what’s wrong but then not really how to fix it so that’s why I prefer swing videos for me at least Maya if if if we can and and Cody maybe we should talk about solheim cup experience last year because I’m I’m really curious you know we we were in Spain and I I just loved one I loved you and Lynn playing together I I imagine that was such a awesome experience you know as a outside viewer I could just see you know you guys not only enjoying each other and and the competitiveness and and the moment uh but it but it seemed like truly solheim cup for you and and I know you spoke to this in in your press conferences too it seemed like a a true career highlight and being around Captain Pon and and some of the older players I I I’m wondering you know as as we’ve moved into 2024 and you’re reflecting back on solheim cup are there any is there anything that you kind of keep in the back of your mind or anything that you draw upon that has helped you this year whether that’s you know a little piece of advice or just you know that that feeling under pressure I I’m wondering how solheim has kind of influenced you moving forward into this season so at the solheim my best part of my game was my putting because I feel like something just clicks in match play where like I have to make this putt there’s nothing else it’s not fine to T putt this and that just made me like something clicked in my brain uh I changed my setup a little bit to just what was natural for me that’s what I’ve been trying to do as well this year obviously didn’t work very well earlier this year but now I have tried to just like put my focus on the whole and nothing else like technique thoughts nothing like that but then I also think I learned a lot about uh my nerves cuz that first on Friday morning me and Lynn were playing first and I was so nervous the first three holes I I didn’t know what what to do um and then I just thought I I can’t do this for three days this would be exhausting if I was this nervous I just said get a grip let’s just keep playing and let’s just have fun and then we lost that match on the 17th hole but we lost the first three holes because of well like I didn’t play great those first three holes Lyn didn’t play great those first three holes but I feel like since I we played better after those first three um like that was just nerves for me at least so now I’m like okay I’m super nervous but screw it let’s just go not nothing’s going to get better for me trying to control stuff and I’m still struggling with that I mean at Wilshire the first the front line both on Saturday and Sunday I was really nervous and I was trying to control stuff all the time and I was hitting really poor shots and that’s not a coincidence that um that happened then can I can I ask you when you say trying to control stuff can I ask you what to maybe expand on that what what do you mean by that so I feel a lot with like t- shots and stuff where you know that you can’t go here you can’t go there and then my hands just get super tense and I try to so if if I know that like my Miss is a high push fade then I try to control and like turn turn The Blade like turn the club face over obviously that doesn’t work like that’s going to be a straight hook or whatever and often times like the timing just gets off I I’m a little bit too quick from the top I’m I don’t have relaxed knees anymore when I try to do that so that doesn’t work like my balance is all off that’s kind of what happens how how did you how did you pull yourself out of that how did you you know make that uh change in your mindset and attitude within the round uh I don’t really remember what I did at solheim I think I was just trying to enjoy it but at Wilshire I said well I had been talking to Peter Hansen and before that and he had said instead of saying be patient let’s just say just keep playing then you actually focus on like what to do next so that just kind of got me out of it and I and one thing that Lynn said at one of our first L events when we had turned Pro we had a little Q&A with some younger girls and she said you can only mess up one shot at a time so let’s just go and um and that’s really helped me I think it wasn’t good but I think she she made it so I won that one competition and got L status where she came second so I feel a bit bad about that she helped me by saying that um but then also just think of there will be a million other moments like this in my career so let’s just enjoy this and try to swing as freely take this as a Saturday afternoon round with the boys and be relaxed with it I love that Cody you can only mess up one shot at a time that I maybe more so than relaxed knees that’s going into my that that’s going into my mindset this golf season I do the exact same thing it’s it’s crazy to think about you get a little bit nervous and you start thinking about where you cannot miss it at you just start guiding it you’re like this you know mentally like this is the worst thing that you can possibly do I don’t know why I’m doing this but you’re telling yourself this is the only option that you have at the moment I know you and Lynn have teamed up a ton from Junior days to high level amateur competitions you guys are really close friends it’s a very comfy pairing did you number one did you think you were going to go off first at the solheim cup did you ask to go out first or kind of how did the the pairings and startings come to be Susanna told us earlier in the week that she was like we’re going to be really transparent we know what it’s like to not know when you’re playing and whatever so they had said from maybe the wedes Tuesday or Wednesday that we were going to go out she she didn’t say what order we were going to play in but she said myin you’re playing uh Friday morning um so we knew that we were playing and then since sisan is at she like loves testing people she put us up first um I think she wanted the energy but it’s also very much a Susan thing to do uh just send out the rookies into the deep Waters and then after the time went on she was like no this isn’t working I’m just GNA like you’re going to hear it after your round when you’re playing um the next one so and that was more suan for us that was It was kind of weird she tried to be very like Democratic in the beginning of the week and then I know carot had talked to her and been like this isn’t you we’re not used to this H just be yourself and we’ll love it and then obviously we completely turned it around when we saw that fiery Zan who didn’t give a crap about what we wanted she just because she knew what was best for us that’s kind of our mind at least my mindset I was like I mean obviously I did love hearing from there was a Swedish journalist on the Saturday after May and Lyn’s forsome match he was like okay Mayan you’re not playing this afternoon how do you feel about that I was like I’m not playing I didn’t know that um so it was I mean didn’t need to tell the the journalists before she told the players but whatever yeah it was a a fascinating event uh you ended up going to one and one which is awesome for your first solheim cup you partnered up with Lynn as you said up against Lexi and uh Megan for the the opening round that Friday morning uh you were there your your teammates with Emily when she of course made a hole in one in the afternoon four ball sessions incredible moments you got back with on Saturday morning you and Lynn again get a point there against Andrea and I can’t even remember who it was Danielle yeah Danielle then of course you sit out I remember uh I was shocked when I was like oh Ma’s going to sit like it seems kind of weird cuz she’s she’s seems like she got a really hot putter right now and is riding a ton of momentum uh and then of course easy cleaned up your singles match against the the reigning US Women’s Open Champion Allison corpo there’s no big deal there uh big takeaways from solheim because we’re of course back-to-back years we got another solheim coming up this time in the United States I’m sure it’s going to be a little bit different but it seems like you guys have the same captains you guys have this incredible tight team there’s it seems like you guys love being with each other playing with each other and playing for your captain I mean it it seems to be that you guys definitely have momentum and that you’re kind of expecting this year to to just go out and win the cup outright I mean we hope so with the form that the European players are showing I mean uh that I mean it it seems more than possible um and I don’t know I don’t know whe How the US team is feeling about it I mean they we’ve never won four in a row so to do it with San as Captain she she just loves it so much it feels like the energy is just rubbing after everyone else in the team and if we were to win that fourth one I think she would uh love every single one of us forever us special little children can can you talk about uh Captain Captain Pon did you know her growing up or when’s the first time you really met her spoke to her I know she’s quite intimidating I imagine was was that your feeling that that first time you did meet her oh yeah so when I was like 16 we were playing the European championships in and one of the Swedish coaches or Swedish golf team coaches is a Norwegian and he he had been working with Suzanne and I won a a glove and a ball signed by her in a little pting competition that we had so that’s kind of when I first was like whoa like the connections right here I think she started following me on Instagram and started me messaging me after I won an L in Australia and then she would just she would just be like whenever I was in contention she would send me a little message like go win this take it home whatever like no pressure like just pressure there um and uh so I just H she she is intimidating but I love it and I feel like it’s for me I’m not used to it but I have so much respect for her and she’s so cool like I don’t even know what to say around her still I get Star Struck because she is just cool than everyone else that I know um yeah it was just great to see it like on the course she I don’t feel like she would talk to us that much like after a whole when she was sitting there waiting she would just like give you a look and you like oh shoot I got to win this next to like force the sand is there anybody else that you’ve come across in in the in the game of golf that gives you that same nervousness and you you I I just feel like she’s such a unique character gosh like are you Star Struck I I imagine you’ve you’ve really I I imagine you spent plenty of time around like anuka for instance um I I’m just wondering if you’ve ever felt that same kind of like nervous Star Struck energy I don’t think so because anuka is like too nice for that she she uh she talks to too many people whereas it feels like with suzan you got to be like it’s not she obviously she respects everyone and she’s a very nice person but it feels like she doesn’t say anything that doesn’t need to be said but I don’t know I feel like I have massive massive respect for Lexi um just like she’s a great player obviously and um and she is I feel like she’s super nice and not as reserved as I thought that she was going to be um and I just have so much respect for that when like she’s been in the spotlight since she was I don’t know 14 years old and I would I would expect her to like I don’t know be a little bit more just like by herself a little bit more but she is the nicest person out there so I get star struck by that and I get so impressed by that um since she’s had like smoke blown up her ass all like since she was so little um but yeah yeah you’d expect her to be like extremely closed off guarded both like extra externally but also to everyone around her and I’ve noticed the same thing with Lexi is once you kind of like penetrate and get inside and she understands who you are she’s could like could not be any nicer phenomenal person will talk about anything will answer questions I think the cool thing about Suzanne is you’re right there’s like this Aura of like you know she’s like she’s tough and she’s a fierce competitor and even like when you see her off the golf course she’s still kind of carries herself that way and you’re just like who there’s there’s an intimidating fact like intimidation Factor there that that’ll it’ll get you it’s kind of maybe this uh doesn’t register with you but I have like nothing but the the up most respect for everything that Dame Laura Davies has done in her career and from media and from the outside looking in she always seems so intimidating and you’re just like oh my goodness like she’s got a title and like you don’t want to mess with her and then you start talking to her she’s like oh my God come here like give me a hug like how what do you guys want uh I’ll answer whatever how much time do you need oh cool cool well I’ll tell you some stories you want to know some funny stories of life on tour well back in you know 1982 we were drunk here and this happened and I’m like whoa I did not expect you at all to have this personality or anything else like that but it’s crazy how you can kind of judge people from the outside without having a clue what they’re actually like Cody you’re exactly right I you know we obviously sat down with with the Dame in Spain and uh I I don’t get nervous very often anymore but I was nervous just like introducing myself and like I know hey uh Laura thank you for doing this uh can we ask you just a few questions I promise I won’t take much of your time but anyway Maya we’ve spent a lot of time on solheim I I think the other area we wanted to explore with you while while we have you just your upbringing and and how much Swedish golf has meant to you and and done for you we’ve talked about Lynn I but I guess that’s a good a good thing to hear you know I I I think people know you and Lynn are friends but how far back do you go with Ling Grant and and how much has golf you know I I imagine you met her through golf but you guys are very good friends away from the game too I think we met maybe in 2013 2014 but we didn’t like each other very much that’s kind of the funny thing that me and L were so different it’s it’s actually crazy how different we are but we still we still get along and we have so much fun to together but then like our friend groups would not mix like outside of the course then yeah we’re just very different I don’t really remember because she was just like I remember one time like one of the first times I saw her play was at like a regional final like to get into the national uh championships in Sweden uh because you had like you were playing in each age group me and my playing partner were way on the 10th hole and I saw I was just behind the green and I saw Lynn potting out on nine and and she hit this putt like a 10-footer and it was going straight out the hole and then a leaf just comes and hits her ball and stops it and she just goes crazy and I’m like that was pretty sick like how how the hell did that happen um so I was like oh she’s she’s mad she is one of those angry players then I could I mean if I if that happened to me I would be pissed too but I just saw her as was like this angry player like was just mad all the time after that how did that friendship form then going from you know maybe not liking her that much initially was it just time and getting to know her is that kind of the the basis then for the Friendship yeah so we started high school we were at the same high school I don’t know we were just in very different friend groups from the beginning and then started on the national team together always had fun on the national team and it it was nice there cuz you had this person that you’re close to at home to and then have having her at the the national team and we still didn’t hang out much and then it just felt like when we went on and played on the girls national team Women’s National Team turned pro at the same time it just like we got closer and closer and yeah I don’t know what is it about this the the the swedes we always joke you know both both on the the women’s side obviously and with ludvig kind of leading the way on the men’s side now what is it about Swedish golf seems like you guys are having a moment can you talk about you know the the Swedish national team and and I guess what what what’s in the water what’s going on in Sweden yeah I think we have very good coaches who base like everything they do in like science so are I think that’s been the strongest part for like my coach Frederick who I’ve had he was part of the girls future national team uh when I was younger and then the girls national team and then the ladies national team and he thinks about stuff very logically so he says like I don’t care if you have ner because it’s not the nerves that are messing you up it’s how you react to the nerves like if you speed up that’s how you react to it so whereas it feels like a lot of other people uh or a lot of other coaches say just don’t be nervous or they say like they say calm down which that never helps but the Swedish team actually gives us tools to deal with the nerves and then obviously I think that they they know that since we can’t play all year round we have to make the most out of it and it has to be our training has to be really like analytical uh we learn a lot about how to learn so it’s about you know the feedback like the whole feedback loop and and all that good stuff so it feels like when we go out into at tour life and we don’t have a coach with us there every day like you maybe do when you’re in high school or college it feels like we can handle a lot more stuff on our own and we can keep getting better when we’re out there which I I think is a little bit uh unique maybe because it feels like a lot of other people need their coach there all the time whereas I don’t think that we do I don’t think that’s very common for us to have our coaches out there all the time not just coaches but I think there’s a a level of maturity that’s been passed down to every Swedish player and it’s like when they’re when they turn professional and they’re out there they’re they have everything under control it seems like um you know I understand that other countries have their National programs but specifically like even some of the young women that we see coming up in the United States like they can’t go anywhere without Mom and Dad swing coach physio psych like everything there uh to take care of everything and I think it speaks so highly to the Swedish national team that you guys are I mean you have friendships and you have your squad around there but you don’t need all this other stuff to make it through your life and as crazy as multiple weeks on the road are and you guys all living a long ways away from home it’s fascinating to see and watch and I don’t know I mean I know you don’t want me to say this but it’s like other countries should be paying attention to this this and being like this is the template that you need to use to develop your young players because it is working and it’s not just on the men’s or the women’s side it’s it’s both and whatever they got going I would say it’s in the water but it’s like very very fresh uh Swedish snow melt water so I don’t think we can get anything that pure in the United States but uh it’s working it’s really cool to see yeah we had a camp during Thanksgiving where one of the people from the USGA who was starting like I think he was going to be the coach of the national team he was there to see what we do it was funny he was sitting in on a couple lectures where we were obviously speaking Swedish so I don’t know how much he he understood of what we were talking about but uh he was there and saw like we have crazy challenges sometimes uh usually by the end of camps it kind of tests every part of you so you usually it can start with like a ball stacking competition so you’re you have to like stack the balls when you have three piles of balls stacked then you can go and do other stuff it can be like reach into this box and tell me what’s in it and you don’t see what’s in the box you just have to reach in and like challenge yourself like that is like eat this club of garlic or play until you make a birdie on the course like just weird stuff that I I mean I think they put those things in there for a reason I haven’t talked to my coach about why but it definitely makes Camp more fun well I think the biggest thing is that it makes you think about other things outside of like the shot that’s in front of you so you’re putting you know it might be a clove of garlic but they’re inserting a little bit of adversity into something that you don’t like it’s not making you uncomfortable but it’s it is you know eating that much garlic a lot so it’s still making you like think extremely hard through your process and everything else um it’s uh it’s funny I’m not going to eat cloves of garlic like that but I I think from your guys’s you talked about being on the same you know the national team you guys go into high school together which I couldn’t even imagine what it was like all you guys being in the same class and then you know you and Lynn I don’t know if this was planned or not but you guys decided to turn professional like almost the exact same time and before we get there like your decision to come to the United States and I know Oklahoma state has a very long Swedish lineage of players like I’m sure a lot of people are like why Oklahoma State why would you go there but there is like there’s there’s clear lines from not just the national team but players that came before you of going there and excelling there so it makes sense but did covid cut College short for you did turning professional cut it short was a combination of all of it or were you just like I’m ready to go let’s let’s just go play no my plan was to come back to college but then I I talked to my my college coaches about it and obviously it’s tough for the college coaches because they don’t really want a player who won’t play the full year who’s on a scholarship which I was so they said would you mind turning pro now oh so we have a scholarship yeah which is I was fine with that it was a little bit scary and I I could come back if I wanted to but I was like no let’s let’s do this now I turned Pro in August and immediately I got some invites to L tournaments and I think that Lynn Lyn turned probably because of Co we got some really good opportunities I mean there were a couple of Swedish L tournaments that we get invites to and that could kind of Kickstart or like yeah Kickstart our careers yeah you guys came out and started winning quick but you know we talk about Majors we just talked about Chevron to open up and you literally being you know I I thought you made that chip uh a phenomenal solo second finish there uh but I always think back to the 2021 US Women’s Open and I know that uh Mega Ghan like on the low Am side stole all the highlights there because she was in contention literally till the very end but if you go back and look at the leader there’s a Mya Stark that’s also like top 10 the entire week and everybody is kind of like I have no clue who this person is but let’s just continue to focus on Mega uh did that experience and you being there playing on the biggest stage at an extremely difficult Golf Course add to the decision to be like okay I think I’m ready to go do this full-time oh yeah and it helped so I played that one actually the year before that I had also been runnerup amiter so I’m just used to being second I guess um but yeah so when I did that and I thought now I have two good finishes in US opens which is the hardest thing out there let’s just go for it I can do this and then the next week I play the scandy mixed at home and I think I had a top 20 there and I just thought I am ready I was still an amateur then and then the week after I talked to my college coaches so I missed out on a little bit of money there which um it was very hard back then because I was like this could be a great just financial situation if they we’ve talked about it two weeks or prior but it it it worked out fine anyway was the goal to always make it to the LPGA Tour and not trying to like racken stack let versus LPGA but I think that just like sure money and opportunity wise right now that’s on the LPGA Tour yeah I mean I want to play against the best players obviously L has some fantastic players but it’s not as um broad as the lpj where it feels like anyone can win um so yeah that’s why I wanted to come out here and um it feels a little bit this is a little bit more luxurious too it’s a little bit easier to travel between the places cuz on the L schedule you know you have South Africa to Thailand to Australia back to Europe like just a yeah just you’re racking up those miles that’s not really what I wanted well Maya speaking of us opens uh you obviously have a a very good history both as an amateur and you top 10ed last year out at Pebble Beach you got the runner up at Chevron which is now your best finish in in a major championship we go from Founders to missou which is a great event at at Liberty National and then to the US Open at Lancaster one I think it’s it’s it’s about time Mya Stark wins on American soil we’re still waiting on that but but my actual question is I I have to imagine you really like when the golf gets difficult is is that the case for you do do you enjoy it when the the course and the conditions get get very tough I do I think it just brings out a whole new patience for me because because I know that everyone’s going to be struggling is I used to think that I wasn’t good when it was like birdie competition um because I didn’t have the patience to like oh I’ve gone five holes without a birdie everyone else is running away from me so I’ve always liked when you have to be a little bit more creative and you have to just take your medicine just chip out into the Fairway like at Olympic Club in 21 you would have to just chip it out into the faway from the normal normal s rough yeah so and I love that just nitty-gritty grind it’s so weird you make so many birdies it it’s it’s weird to think and hear you say that you get uh uh nervous when you’ve gone through a couple holes of not making them you you hold like school records for most birdies made you are in like top 10 on the lpj tour for most birdies like it’s it’s just weird to to sit there and think through it all but it does make sense when I think of like gritty gritty players right now you at the top of the list for people who’s it doesn’t matter what condition it is like it could be raining completely sideways with a course that’s still super firm and fast and we know that like Yep this is this is Maya and like I know that she’s gonna go out there like she’s got that dog in her and she’s going to be able to go hunt I think of Charlie the exact same way I always think of Leona that exact same way and now all of a sudden uh I didn’t used to think of Nelly that way but now I kind of do and it’s crazy to think that we’re this far into a a LPGA podcast and not to like compare you vers her but could you kind of shed some light on like what Nelly’s like got going on because it’s truly in a historic run right now and you’ve had a front low row seat to you know almost every single one of these wins yeah I haven’t I’ve never played with her but just from watching her on TV like in the Players Lounge and stuff they always show it she’s just so good at staying calm I mean she hit it into I remember at hole number 14 at Chevron it’s super thick rough so she missed this this drive like far right it looked like the ball was gone it like yeah it was it was a bad t-shot but she it felt like she stayed calm she found the ball she managed to just hack it out into the Fairway and then just up to a really difficult pin made a 15-footer for power and then she was just H okay let’s move on so I think she’s just got that that quiet confidence about her that I can miss up but I’m going to make two birdies within whatever amount of time anyway as long as I just give myself chances it’s G to come to me and I think that’s what she does so well and that’s why I’m kind of looking at like Scotty he messes up too but it just feels like he never gets mad or outwardly mad and he just keeps on going same with ludig who laughs at his own mistakes like in the last nine at a major freaking Masters yeah yeah and like the level of confidence you have to do that and just know that I’m going to be this situation several more times and I can turn this around anyway uh that’s just crazy to me and that’s uh I think that’s what makes them so much better does the run that Nelly’s on and and we kind of see her you know separating in the Rolex rankings and and whatnot does that does that help kind of bring out the the competitive Drive in you is it is it do you enjoy having somebody that you can kind of in your mind go chase and and and work towards like hey I want to get there yeah I love a good Chase also it feels like I don’t know I think we’re all kind of sick of just having one person win every tournament so I think everyone is getting a little bit more I don’t know everyone’s trying a little bit more because it’s it’s not like it’s tiger who was like dominant like would win by 15 shots she wins by a couple she’s one two playoffs like she’s just a little bit better so it feels like it’s so easy to so easy to catch her she’s right there but then she always just manages to stay cool and just just inch past you a little bit Yeah Yeah it feels like it’s it’s definitely within reach you know you talked about like having like like cool calm demeanor and there’s a ton of examples out of it and I know this is something that you guys have been working on this year and and you used to say that you used to probably run a little bit too hot on the golf course at times and I don’t know if you could talk about it but having uh a caddy like like you have like hads on the bag and somebody that you have 100% trust and confidence in like what does that what does that do for you I think it’s super nice that he’s not doing too much he’s not doing too little he doesn’t I don’t know Step Up I guess because I feel like maybe some caddies want to do way more when they’re in contention and they yeah just I like that he trusts me enough and he knows that so I didn’t have a caddy before him because I was waiting for the perfect one or I I like doing things myself so he knows what I can do myself that he doesn’t get in the way or anything like that um and it’s just great to have someone that I can have fun with he can take the piss out of me I can take the piss out of him like we had this one t- shot in Arizona uh where we were talking about should we hit a three- wheer driver and uh had goes well it’s 25 M leaves us 137 to the pin and I go okay then we hit three-wood and I skyed it like it went almost straight up in the air like it was fine it was on it was on The Fairway it was fine I could reach in too but then I could just see him smirking when we’re walking off the tea and I’m like just just freaking say it say what you want to say and he goes 137 leaves us 2:15 I’m like dude we’re just the Saturday of like me actually coming back to my good playing and you say that of course yeah so it’s just so funny to have someone that I can laugh with like the whole round he doesn’t yeah he doesn’t make anything special of the big moments he’s not yeah he’s just himself and that’s great yeah he’s awesome and like a good podcast host I of course reached out to him and and said hey we’re going to have my on is there anything and he just said yeah just have her talk about how good of a caddy she is and that uh I don’t need to be there but uh in in all joking aside he knows that uh and he’s told me this that like he’s had to elevate his skill as a caddy so much because because of not only the the positions that you guys have found yourselves in competiti but everything else just because he’s like I this is something that uh once in a lifetime bag that I know that I like I don’t want to give up he’s like this is it’s awesome he talks about how much fun you guys have um and how like this is you know something that he never really expected to have and it just kind of it came about and he’s super appreciative and and like there’s this any inner burning desire for more from him which is funny because you gave him a couple weeks off and you had Jack who’s a great friend of us but mine’s fiance Jack Clark on the bag for Wilshire and you guys were in contention was it different having him there were there things that how he operates are different than how hads operates and like did that change anything for you or you’re just like nope give me the number this is a shot I’m going I think we changed it a little bit it was fun to see how a caddy who’s been out here for longer how he works cuz I could tell that he he wanted to be more involved which is like good and bad depending on because I’m not used to it so I had I I just recognized one one time where I disagreed on something that he said and then I I went with what he he wanted anyway I said I was fine with it I wasn’t I thought that’s never going to work work but I did it anyway and obviously he thought it was going to be fine from his experience but I like it was with my wedges my wedges live their own lives I’m not very good at them so obviously he doesn’t know that about me that I can mess up pretty easy shots like that so it was fun to see how he works and then there’s one thing where I feel like we we’re he works for very different players than compared to what I am so like if I hit the shot that may have rolled into the bunker may have stay Stayed on top it can be fine like when we’re walking up to the ball he he could go I think that’s I think that might have stayed up might have rolled down but I think he stayed up and I’m like okay like what I asked had did it stay up he’s goes I don’t freaking know you didn’t see it I didn’t see it how how am I supposed to know that you know so it’s just it’s funny to see how different players shape their caddies in different ways but he was great yeah it was cool to see how he talks to the player and yeah he is a little bit more active than had but he doesn’t overpower at all I didn’t think so that was that was great I’m I’m really happy for Anna that she has such a great caddy like him and he’s he’s a great guy I think we had a lot of fun too I know you you now you can get hads off of his island hopping tour and put him back to work because number one he doesn’t need that much Sunshine as it is he you need to like bury him somewhere in his rain suit and he’ll be good to go well so he was at a bachelor party now he’s going to wedding at during misso so I am having Lauren coglin’s husband John John’s on the just keep keep taking him back John’s on the bag yeah hey John yeah I love it my goodness good luck with that yeah well Cody what else uh what else do we have to cover or should we let should we let let Maya enjoy her uh her Friday morning here I know a week off we appreciate you lending your time to us and and I think about this obviously that there’s things in tour life that a lot of people don’t think of but what is a week off for Maya look like like are you are you out there grinding on the Range every day you taking time off you finally getting your uh your accounting done what what is this week kind of uh you know how does the roll out work leading up to another big event this week has been kind of special I usually try to get two weeks off but the schedule this year has hasn’t really allowed for that I think that lpj has done a good job of like having mini breaks so this week has been a lot of media um what else I done I went out to putt and Chip a little bit yesterday I’m going to play 18 I think today I’m trying kind to be yeah just chill with it um kind of practice when I need to but I felt I was so tired during Wilshire because the Chevron was such a big thing so I gave myself three days off just to you know calm down be hungry for it again and that’s usually what what happens I take three or four days off depending on how much time I have between the tournaments but I feel like I’m also so confident in my game right now that I I feel like I can do that what else do I do play pickle ball freaking love pickle ball oh watch those knees we got to keep those knees relax Maya you can’t be out there you’re Achilles I know you’re young but watch out a lot of injuries out there I the only sport that’s injured me is golf so I like I should stop playing golf then no you can’t do that everything else well that’s what Randy says all the time too that’s why Randy tries to Quick golf I have to play golf cuz I have to uh no I Cody Maya very very good table tennis player how did pickle ball compare to table tennis andaya I gotta ask why aren’t we just out there playing tennis you’re young you’re fit you can just go play tennis you don’t have to waste your time with pickle ball but my cardio is I’m a golfer my cardio is just not there tennis is so much running whereas pickle ball you can just stand there I mean 80-year-olds play pickle ball they don’t really play tennis that much CU it’s too much running I play an old person Sport and I and I feel like I should be consistent okay okay I was gonna ask about this you talked about cardio are you a person that goes to the gym I am yes okay but you’re going to the gym I’m sure doing things specifically to either strengthen or maintain something that’s specific for the craft that you’re doing most of the time does cardio fit into that anywhere because I got a new trainer and he’s trying you know I’ve been I’ve been running a lot this year I’m proud of myself I lost a lot of weight but I I absolutely hate it I hate it I hate everything about it is there anything that I can do to tell him hey babbe we can lay off this or or substitute it with something else well running D I know she’s like no just you could swim you could swim yeah or bite running is so good for you though I know yeah I talked to so I have a aicio out there on tour and he’s a big Runner but he also says that go out running before a a tournament or like before your round during the day just to get some stress out so that’s what I’ve been doing these past these past two weeks and I think that that’s helped so you can just do little short runs but yeah Swim Bike there’s nothing much better than running you don’t get the runners high like after a while just I hate it I’m angry the entire time you know how people are like oh it gives me endorphins and it gets me think about things and decompress I’m angry the entire time like it doesn’t matter how far or how long I’m just like God this is the worst decision I ever made just got to put one foot in front of the other that’s all you’re thinking about I know it’s horrible there is a technique where you’re like you run and you have like a tennis ball and you can just and you just like do a little steady Jog and just yeah distractions you need that okay I I’ll I’ll do some more research on that it’s actually a really good idea all right Maya thank you so much for uh giving us an hour of your time during your week off continue whatever prep that you got going on I’m excited I am worried seriously though about the pickle ball I don’t want to hear about a pickle ball injury when we see you in a couple weeks the US Women’s Open just make sure that everything’s still intact yes we’ll do thank you guys thank you Maya good luck at founders
Randy and Cody are back with another LPGA pod as we look back at Hannah Green’s win at Wilshire, preview this week’s Founders Cup and next week’s Mizuho Americas Open with tournament host Michelle Wie West.
We also catch up with Maja Stark (30:00) about her progression from college golf to the LPGA tour, growing up in the Sweden golf system, last year’s Solheim Cup and a ton more.
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5 comments
Good job Big Randy. And Cody is correct, it’s getting warm in DFW!!!
Hell yeah, great breakdown of the women's landscape. Well done, Randy and Cody, for advancing the featured group coverage.
Great episode! Love Michelle's comment, "just b/c I'm retired that doesn't make it not my problem anymore." 💪💪💪
do do do do do doo
Great pod…NLU is doing excellent work with insightful LPGA coverage…unfortunately Maya shot +3 in round 1 of the Founders…do your homework kids.