25 years on the PGA Tour and a lifetime member of the PGA Tour and PGA of America, Jay Delsing brings you his perspective on one of the world's greatest games as a professional golfer and network broadcaster. It's the game that connects the pros and the average Joes brought to you by Whitmore Country Club. Golf with Jay Delsing is now on 101 ESPN.
On the Range is brought to you by 20 Minutes to Fitness. Good morning, this is Golf with Jay Delsing. I am your host, Jay.
I've got my buddy John Perlis here with me, longtime friend, Caddy. Perli, good morning. Good morning, Jay. Let's get rolling.
What's going on? How are you this morning? Did you get to do any, what did you, what sort of exciting things did you get to do this morning before the show? Did you do any meditation? I always do my meditation. That's how I get centered and ready to roll with you every morning. All right, perfect. Well, the show's formatted like a round of golf.
This first segment is called the On the Range segment. Please look for these outlets on social media. Twitter is at Jay Delsing. Facebook is Golf with Jay Delsing and Jay Delsing Golf LinkedIn is just Jay Delsing. That's a lot of Jay Delsing, Perli.
And Instagram is a mystery. And Perl, I looked back and started reviewing some of the interviews that we had for this first year and we just, we had to do a second best type show. You were, I loved how you were surprised at how good the interviews were. You know, when we did the, through the whole first year here, getting your feet wet in the radio business. They're still wet. They're not, well, it's not just interviewing, it's the technology behind it.
It's saving it properly. It's the rhythm behind it. It's, there's, there's just a lot more to it. So I just loved when you listened back, reflected on the year, listened back to the, to the interviews and you impressed yourself. I think that's cool.
Well, you know what, just trying to decide, we're sitting there last night, you know, talking about this, trying to decide which three and it's, it just doesn't seem right. So folks, we've got another best of show. So we've got an interview that we had last year with Jim Cavanaugh, CEO of worldwide technology.
It's just terrific. Great stories in that interview. That was, that was fun. That was, that's kind of the prototypical or what we were after the whole time. It just encompassed everything.
All right. So enjoy this interview with Jim Cavanaugh with worldwide technologies. Well, Jim, in 1986, you were the second player picked overall in the M I S L draft of major indoor soccer league. What a thrill that had to be.
Yeah, it really was Jay. You know, I was extremely fortunate to get picked, you know, second in the draft and I will tell you growing up flying on a lot of different teams, I was cut on a number of different times. So I would say, you know, perseverance and hard work absolutely does pay off and it doesn't mean you're going to be the second pick or you're, you're going to have success and what, but I'll tell you this, it definitely gives you your probability of being successful and whatever you do, if you, you bring that kind of grit and determination and work ethic, the probability of success, whether in sport or our general work is, is going to be better. And that was one thing you know, I could have gave up when I was growing up because I was caught a number of different times at different teams and got a good, you know, the good fortune of barely getting asked at the last minute to get a scholarship to St. Louis university. And from that standpoint Harry Keough at the time saw something in me and I played every game and every minute for him. And that literally created some opportunity that some of the Olympic team coaches saw me play. And you know, and I, and you just kind of, you know, it's another lesson learned. I would say it's just aching those opportunities when they present themselves and recognizing it and jumping on it.
And that's what I did. And it kind of catapulted me into a position where I had the good fortune of being picked in the second as the second overall pick in the 1986 draft, which I was, I was very fortunate to get that. I mean, Jim playing on the Olympic team.
I mean, what a thrill that is. But one of the things that you said that rings so true to me is I think Jack Nicklaus said the harder I work, the luckier I get. And your successes, I think that's what you're talking about.
Yeah, no, you're spot on. And it, you know, I it's, you know, it's such a simple, simple statement, but it is so true. And I think there's, you know, again, a lot of people that don't completely understand that doesn't mean that every thing that you do is going to turn to success. But I can assure you if you build into your own personal habits into your DNA that, you know, you just you don't run from hard work, you run to hard work, and you learn to enjoy that. And those things, you know, over time, opportunity will present itself. And you need to take advantage of those opportunities. But a lot of times those opportunities don't present themselves unless you're willing to put the time effort and work into it. So, you know, I think that's something that everybody can take and learn to, you know, the importance of hard work, grit and determination, because I think it's, it pays off for everybody.
Yeah, I agree with you. You know, what's interesting, Jim, there's a couple things you have to put yourself out there, don't you really have to have some stretch goals, and you have to have this dream, or something similar that gives you some of those. What some people might have looked at, at least I did, in my case, you know, kind of crazy ambitions. And then, as I look at the back at the failures, I think I learned so much more about myself through them than some of the successes. No question, Jay, I, I think it's, it's a hard one.
I've been thinking about those different things. I actually just finished reading a book called The Obstacle is the Way. And it, you know, basically the moral of the story is, you know, if you're, if you set your mind in the right way, that, you know, where you actually embrace challenges, and you embrace obstacles that are in your way, you will get better. And that's how you do get better.
You too, you will get, you will probably learn a lot more from your challenges and your setbacks than you will from things that became easy and you've had great success with. So, I think that is very true. And I would say even the, my point as long as, you know, I've been a part of the game, but the game of soccer, but also just a part of business, creating this mindset that you want to constantly learn and you want to constantly get better.
And I think that can be a trap. You as a professional golfer, the same thing applies in soccer and same thing applies in business. I think one of the biggest problems are, I would say hurdles that people can run into is when they think that they've mastered the game, or they think that they've mastered being a leader and running a business. That's when I think you start, you know, you will start running into problems because I think you got to create that mindset that you're always trying to learn and get better. Well, for me, Jim, that kind of would breed complacency. And I can remember some of the times when I was playing my best, if I didn't stay up with doing the things that got me there, I'd fall right back into the same bad habits.
Yes. And you know, that's another, you know, it's another one of those. I mean, you push yourself to learn and get better. But as you know, Jay, I mean, boy, and I'll tell you, golf can be a penalizing game, talking about a game of inches and tweaks that, you know, can impact, you know, your swing and just all kinds of things. But I think those good habits, you know, learning what good habits are all about learning how to put those in play and to make sure you never forget them.
Just go a long way in both sport and in business and leadership. Yeah, I have to say, you know, you talked about your dad and the values that your parents instilled in you. And I think having that as part of your toolbox, so to speak, is just, you know, one of the things that I love about growing up in North County, it was, it was pretty much blue collar. And it was it some of those things are just priceless now as I look back at them.
Yeah, they really are. And I, I would not, I would not give away any of that I, you know, I, I think I had the good fortune of having to still have two great parents who, who taught me so much, whether they realized it or not. And some of those things are around, like I said, just, you know, being being loyal, being respectful, hard work, being willing to, you know, grind things out. You know, and those those are just, I think things that, you know, you, if you can build those into just who you are, and what's important, they can apply to so many different, so many different things. And I think, you know, whether people realize it or not, I think also, going through some tough times, you know, whether, you know, personally or business or sport, they may not feel so good when you're doing it, but they will make you stronger. And I think it's just reflecting back on some of those things and recognizing, you know, those values and behaviors that, that, that, that, that are very important to you as an individual and can be very important to your own personal success. Yeah, Jim, if we kind of transition now in 1990, your business career kind of took off, I really love to hear how you and David Stewart kind of met. But man, when when I hear your name mentioned around town and in circles, it's always about, man, this guy is so down to earth.
He's so one of us, he's so authentic. And then I look in one of the things that in your core values with your business, it's most important to you is the word trust and, and, and, and you're so concerned about the culture at Worldwide Technologies. And I've had the great fortune of being with some really amazing companies, or especially here in town, like enter enterprise and Emerson, and even worldwide, and when you're with a company that has great culture, it is a whole different world to live in.
Yes. No, I appreciate that. And, you know, I think, you know, again, a lot of things that, whether it's growing up personally, and learning some of those, I would say those values and behaviors, you know, in applying those in, you know, playing as as an athlete, and, you know, also working as a member of a team, whether it's in sport, or it's in business, those things are incredibly important to me. And I also, I also believe, you know, creating a culture, you know, I can tell you, you know, first starting a business, I really didn't even understand what culture meant relative to a business, I understood there were different cultures, you know, around the world.
But what did that really mean? I can't say that, you know, that was something I really understood when we first started what I did understand was that, you know, you you need to treat each other, you know, with respect, and you need to always, you know, and have each other's back and be willing to work hard and to be working, you know, and always looking out to work as a team, because, you know, that's what business is, is about. It's bringing individuals together and working collectively and collaboratively to deliver outcomes that are much bigger than the individuals working individually or separately. And so, you know, moving forward a big part of that, it clearly figured out how do you create an organization of individuals that come together collectively as a team and that then when you start looking at that's growing that becomes the culture. And that culture has to be based on a certain set of values and behaviors that you expect your organization to live and breathe on a daily basis. And that can permeate and proliferate globally, we have people all over the world, whether it's in the US or China or Brazil or, you know, London and, you know, Singapore, and those same values and behaviors, we expect and they're, you know, very simple to build that, you know, trust and have a high level of integrity, how you work with each other. So when I look at it, you know, you brought up the word trust, I think it is such an important word and if you have it, things can move forward very quickly, you can make decisions quickly, you can work through challenging situations quickly and collaboratively.
If you don't have it, things tend to take much longer and at times come to a screaming halt or a screeching halt because people can't make decisions because they're not sure what someone else is thinking or what their ulterior motive is. So I look at that, and it's really, really important to build an organization that is a great place to work and to make sure that those foundational values and the behaviors are understood and are executed against. And, you know, you mentioned one that I'm glad people feel that I'm a fairly down to earth individual and, you know, growing up, you know, as we have in a working class family, and I don't believe that anybody's better than anybody, it just so happens that I've got a title and a role that does on the CEO and to a certain degree, that means I have responsibility to make sure everybody treats each other with respect, and there is no hierarchical class. But at the end of the day, also, someone has to make decisions and difficult decisions at times.
So you know, but that doesn't mean you look at anybody differently. Well, let's talk about this story for a minute on this show. We love telling stories. And I did some digging. And do you mind telling us about the time early early in your career?
Would you rented a truck and drove some PCs to Omaha? Yeah, that was kind of a funny story was, you know, many, many years ago, but you know, it's in kind of in the spirit of the mantra. We've had it worldwide for years and years and years of doing whatever it takes.
And it kind of goes through those peaks and valleys of things. And, you know, as we mentioned, there were opportunities that presented themselves. So we were at this point, I think it's probably like in 94 95, that we were building PCs in a building that's not too far from where we are today, where I'm at my corporate headquarters at our corporate headquarters. And we built we're building PCs on the weekend. And then we had two customers up in Omaha, the US Corps of Engineers and Stratcom, Strategic Air Command, were two of our customers and myself and Joe Koenig, who, you know, went to college with all played soccer together, we just working here, Joe's president, we we wanted to provide a higher level of service and understand exactly how some things work. So we packed up the PCs over the weekend on Sunday, Sunday morning and drove the truck, the U haul truck up to Omaha with about 500 or so PCs to deliver to these these two customers. And it was kind of funny when we got up here the next morning when we were delivering them, we basically went and delivered the PCs first thing in the morning wearing jeans and a t shirt and deliver to PCs. And then when we were done delivering to the warehouse, we had our suits in the back of the U haul truck. So we were in the back of the loading dock and we want the back and on the back in the rubber jeans in our our t shirts, whatever we delivered and then put a suit and tie on in the back and came out of the back U haul truck and the guys that were back there smoking a cigarette at the dock. We're looking at it, got a laugh and saying, weren't you the two guys that walked in and we're delivering the PCs and we're like, Yep, with the same one, we got to go make a sales call to some of the some of the, you know, it and procurement folks. So, so it's, you know, it's just one of those stories, you know, in that process, I will have to say you got to be careful do things that you're good at.
Unfortunately, Joe said be careful. As we were driving this truck, we were going through an underpass are under an overpass. And fortunately, we did stop because if we don't want forward, the truck would not have made it. So we had to back up and go another direction. So but it's, you know, it's just one of those things, you know, as whether an athlete or in business, the mindset, you know, has got to be, you've got to be willing to do whatever it takes at that point in time, you know, to drive the business forward.
And that was exactly what we've done numerous times here at worldwide. It's just, you know, it just didn't all fall together. It's, it's, we've had our trials and tribulations over the years.
And you just got to have that kind of mindset to work through those things. Okay, now. I love that interview, man, I could listen to the whole thing again. Well, that's going to wrap up the on the range segment. Come back as Jay and Jan are be with you here. As we go to the front nine and we are going to listen to an interview from Taylor Twelman. This is golf with Jay Delsing. Quick note, we just got a call from our friend Joe sheezer at USA mortgage.
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It works for me. You're listening to golf with Jay delsing on 101 ESPN. You can find Jay online at j delsing golf.com. Welcome back to golf with Jay delsing. I'm your host Jay got john Perlis here with me and we're on the front nine Pearly.
Let's just go right into the Taylor Twilman interview. This is my nephew and this guy is just doing terrific work on ESPN as a lead soccer analyst. It's hard to to not embrace his passion. As a competitive guy like you are, I mean, who doesn't want to play on the best stage and I mean, you can't even argue the best stages is over in Europe and in Germany is a huge part of the EPL and I mean, you know, it was exciting for all of us and then you come back and you're the second overall pick for the New England revolution and man you had just such a great career in the MLS from 2002 to 2009 five time All Star. You were the league MVP in 2005. MLS golden boot recipient that year as well. You played 174 goal games in that that league and scored 101 goals which is incredible. And that awesome bicycle kick in 2007 against the Chicago Fire to put you guys into the MLS cup.
Yeah, to lose our fourth MLS cup Jay so I appreciate you bringing that up. I was I was gonna leave that to you. But I mean, surprise you didn't introduce me as the Jim Kelly of Major League Soccer. That would have been more fitting.
Well, we could redo this again if you want to. Good stuff. The collision in 2008 never leave my mind that you you had a brutal collision with the LA galaxy keeper Steve Cronin and it was pretty much the slide for the the numerous concussions you had I can remember you running. I don't know how you got up I sitting next to your dad. I'm like, Oh my gosh, at least he got up and and you're bleeding I think from under your eye and you look to Sharif Joseph and said I got another concussion. And I yeah, I never remember never forget those words coming out of your lips or your dad and I are sitting there and we're like, Oh, man. And but what a what a great career and you know what's what's really cool to maybe this is a good segue into the think Taylor portion you have a phenomenal foundation bringing concussion and just head injury awareness in general to this country and to use all over talk a little bit about think Taylor.
Yeah, it's weird, Jay. You know, you you can go through your career as an athlete and whether you're a very good amateur athlete and end up becoming a pro or whether you're not in your career ends at a certain stage, whether it's high school or, or college, any athlete, and I know you know this better than anyone you think your greatest accomplishment, your greatest. I think recognition is always going to be on the field that ironically, for me, it's not. And I thought I would always be remembered for whether it was the goals I scored or the trophies you win or the moment you had with the national team, whatever that may be.
And it's not in a weird way. August 2008 was the greatest gift ever given to me. And it because that concussion at that time of American sports and professional sports in general, there was no education, there was no awareness. We were still doing barbaric tactics, techniques, excuse me to bring athletes back on the field. And even though we're sitting here in 2019, there's still some of those things that resonate with people, but at least the education awareness is there.
I I've struggled to this day with post concussion syndrome. But I felt the only way to actually maximize as crazy as that sounds, the injury and the circumstance was actually to help others. And I don't say this in a way that's, you know, putting myself on a pedestal.
But the reality is this is the major league soccer MVP in Boston, Massachusetts, which is arguably the medical capital of the United States of America, cannot get proper treatment and cannot get the proper recognition. Well, then you tell me what the millions of kids are going to do in our country. No matter what the sport is, gymnastics, horseback riding, cheerleading for girls, soccer, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, field hockey, no matter what it is, if I can't get it, then what are they going to do?
So I basically have said, you know what, I'm going to start a foundation. It's simply education and awareness. And in 2018, we had almost 5 million kids take the Think Taylor pledge. And the pledges basically take telling kids to take ownership of their brains and to tell parents to get the heck out of the way. And if any parent is not educated, that's on you, because it's 2019. You can't blame the doctors, the coaches, anyone else. It's on you. So if your kids aren't educated, then that's on you. And it's really resonated as opposed to going the other way.
James and CTE Junior Seau was a real good friend of mine. And obviously it went the wrong way for him. And for the listeners at home, if you haven't seen his story 30 for 30 on ESPN Plus, it's unbelievable story. But yeah, I don't want to do that because it doesn't also mean that anyone gets a concussion, you're also going to kill yourself and commit suicide. That's not how this works. So I've gone about it a different way. And I think it's resonating with some people. And Taylor, how can our listeners get involved and stay in touch with the Think Taylor organization?
It's a great question, Jay. First and foremost, ask questions of your kids. Ask questions of your kids' organizations. Doesn't matter the sport.
Doesn't matter the activity. Actually, ask the schools. Make sure there's a concussion protocol. Make sure everyone is well-versed on that.
But most importantly, don't be scared to say you're not educated, you don't understand. There's well-versed medical papers out there. ThinkTaylor.org, you can come to us.
We'll just redirect you. But the CDC does a wonderful job. But just become educated and to help spread the word that we need to take ownership of our brains. Because the one thing is, Jay, and you're an athlete and you've had surgeries and everything, we only get one brain. Now, mine may be a little bit smaller than others, but besides the point, you only get one. And so that's the one thing you can't have surgery on. If it's an ankle, knee, back, shoulder, elbow, I don't care.
That you can play with. You get one brain. We need to make sure our kids have the best opportunity where their brains can grow. When they were passing out brains, I thought they said train, and I got on one. I don't think I got one. No, that's really great stuff, Taylor. And I got to make a transition to your ESPN career, lead soccer analyst there. They're hosting the MLS Rewind and just doing a great job.
And it's so cool how all this ties in to the foundation. And now we're going to get to talk a little bit about golf. And what the listeners may not realize is what a great golfer you are. You're probably a scratch right now. Are you a plus handicap at this time?
I know you. You know those handicaps. It's a plus point too. But what does that really mean?
You're still giving me seven strokes, buddy, if not eight. So what does it matter? Right. And we're family.
We don't pay off anyways. If we play a million dollars a hole and it ends up being an IBC root beer. Exactly.
That's exactly what it is. So Taylor, tell me a little bit about why you love the game. I mean, one of the things that I think is so cool and I think our listeners will be interested in is golf seems to be the go to sport for everybody. All these great athletes when they retire.
I was visiting with Brett Hall a little while back and he just said he couldn't wait to start playing golf and he couldn't wait till his hockey career ended. He just loved the game so much. It gave him something to focus on. And how does that does that kind of replace any of your competitive juices? Absolutely.
Absolutely. Jay, it's a great it's a great question. First off, my love of golf came from you. I don't think many people understand that when you're 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and you're growing up and you're literally opening in any one of my family members would tell you, tell you this, Jay, and you know the story. I read the newspaper, the sports page at age 6.
Big reason why? My mom and dad wanted to know what Jay Delsing shot in the tournament. So I found my way learning golf through that. Now, my also big love was baseball. So at a younger age, baseball was such a huge part of my life that golf kind of fell to the side.
So that's where my love started. And then it went away, Jay. I honestly didn't play golf from age 14, my freshman year of high school, all the way till I came back from Germany. And so there was a solid eight to nine years where I maybe played 10 rounds. So golf went away.
It came back when I came back to the States. But I think what you talk about is interesting. Bread halls of the world. And first off, how many hockey players are good at golf? That's the hand-eye coordination. We can go into that.
That's completely different. But, Jay, for me, and I think for a lot of pro athletes that I now play with, a lot of it is, Jay, we played in team sports. You didn't. And I think secretly a lot of us would have liked to just play in a sport where, you know what, control what you can control. On the other hand, my respect for golfers and the sport of golf is I don't think golfers get enough credit because I could score two goals, Jay, and miss five breakaways. And yet at the end of the day, if we won 2-1, I was a hero. If you miss two seven eight foot putts for par or for birdie, that changes.
You're not looking at anyone but yourself. And I also don't think qualifying for the PGA Tour in Q school gets enough credit. That is arguably, in my opinion, the most difficult thing in professional sports in our country. And so when I looked at golf, for me, it was about perseverance.
It was about individuals controlling what I can control. And ultimately now, Jay, it's the only thing athletically that I can do because of my post-concussion condition and, you know, you and I come from the same family. We like to gamble a little bit and have some fun. But so many pro athletes that come from team sports love the individual part of golf because their entire career and professional career, they never got that opportunity. And I think they're addicted to that juice, for lack of a better word, because now they get to do that.
Yeah, and I think that's a great point, Taylor. One of the things that I always looked at, you know, baseball is my first love, too. I used to read the box scores.
You and I grew up so similarly. But one of the things that I missed from the team sport component was, man, it would have been nice to have that 76, but still look at that day as it was a win. You know, you have a day, but, you know, you put your clubs in the car and go, man, if I don't shoot 65, I'm not even going to be around for the weekend or something, or maybe I just blew an opportunity to win the tournament. Jay, it's ruthless.
It's ruthless, Jay. Like, I don't think people fully understand golf. And the reason why, too, and this is no disrespect to the amateur golfer and to those of you listening, but everyone at any age of any shape and size, Jay, they can go play golf. They think they can. You can't go play offensive lineman if you're 5'10", 170.
You can't, you know what I mean? Athletically, you are, you have to fit into certain categories to play other sports. I thought I was going to be the next Jalen Rose, and then I played next to Larry Hughes myself in high school, and I was like, you know what, I should probably hang up my basketball shoes. My point is, listeners at home, you all watch golf and you're like, oh yeah, whether you're 300 pounds or you're 150 pounds, you can all grab a golf club and you think you can do it. But to do it at the level of where you were and where those guys are, there are a million golfers that are plus.2s like myself. The ones that play on Sunday on the PGA Tour, Jay, I just don't think he gets enough credit, and I think if you ask Brett Hall and you ask all these guys that play golf, that played at the highest level of their respective sports, they are sitting there going, wait a minute, this is no joke. And that's why I always chuckle at the Tony Romas of the world. I'm like, listen, Tony, you're a good amateur golfer, absolutely. But that being like Jay Delsing saying, nah, I can go play quarterback for the Cowboys.
It ain't happening. You know Taylor, there is an insulting component to that when you think of it in those terms. I remember playing and Jerry Rice got a sponsor exemption into a web.com event out in San Francisco and I was friends with Chiquita folks that were sponsoring the event and we met Jerry and everything and he shows up the first day, 89.
Eight, nine, almost double snowman. Yeah. By the way, Jerry, those five foot putts that you get on the weekends, you got to hit the bottom of the cup. Like in, but Jay, there's an addicting part of golf for all of us that play team sports. And it's, I love it because I've met so many people that I would have never met because they would have said, oh, he's just a soccer guy, if that makes any sense.
But I'm not, I never have been, you know that. And yet golf has brought me into a world where now you meet people, you meet different walks of life. Honestly, it's made my life a little bit more enjoyable because of that. Not because I get to play golf and play these amazing places, but I like meeting different people. I like having conversations and especially athletes from other sports, but we're all addicted to that little piece of it where if I play well, I win. Jay, there were many games I scored two goals.
We lost three too. And that's that catching, you know, that chicken and egg type of discussion because you, on the other hand, would shoot 71, make the cut and you're sitting there going, Wolf, any, if that ball hit the tree and stayed in the fairway or my teammate would have done this. It is weird, Jay, because I feel for the golfer where you guys don't have the camaraderie, the banter, uh, the slow moments where you're maybe struggling or they're struggling and you can help each other. It's all on you, you're caddy and playing that golf course.
That's where golf is extremely unique. I love that interview. Um, you could go online, uh, J Delson golf.com and find all these interviews in their entirety and their podcasts. And, um, um, that's going to wrap up the front nine Doster Olam and Boyle LLC are a proud sponsor of golf with Jay Delson here on one Oh one ESPN. The firm was started in January, 2015 by Mike Doster, Jess Olam and John Boyle, three veterans of the St Louis real estate banking, commercial and corporate legal landscape. The firm was founded on the shared view that success should be measured by client and community satisfaction, not profits for partner. The firm's focus is on business, real estate, corporate finance and restructuring and succession planning. Since its founding in 2015, Doster Olam and Boyle have been involved in real estate business and corporate transactions with a combined value in excess of over $1 billion for decades, Doster Olam and Boyle lawyers have been recognized as leaders and their practice areas by their peers, Doster Olam and Boyle LLC, extraordinary talent, ordinary people.
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Welcome back. This is golf with Jay delsing got my buddy, caddy, john pearls with me and pearly we are going to the back nine and we got to talk a little bit about Whitmore country club and what a great partner they've been with us 90 holes of golf at Whitmore. If you join at Whitmore, you get access to the golf club of Wentzville the links at Dardin Missouri bluffs and there are no card fees all included in your membership. There's no food or beverage minimums. There's no assessments 24 hour fitness center tennis courts large pool complex they've they've just got everything you need the kids club in the main clubhouse is near the fitness center and it is just a great feature to be able to drop your kids off they can hang out with other kids they can play video games taken by golf or tennis while you guys go enjoy dinner or a cocktail or something fun for you to do the year round social calendar the holiday parties picnics date nights live music it's just a family friendly atmosphere bummer in the golf shop is just terrific and so anything that you need you got to give bummer call you can go visit them at Whitmore golf.com all right let's go right to this interview our third and last of the best of our David Farity interview I hope you enjoy this I tried to prepare for this and I really feel about as unprepared for this conversation as anything I've ever done excellent that's the way I like it you know I don't like so attention deficit that anytime I prepare for something you know I always forget what the hell it was I was preparing for so I think we're on the same page that's probably why we get along so well which is probably a scary thing yeah really it's big we've got a lot of history most of which I've forgotten it should be forgotten and won't be spoken of today that's for sure you know I just want to go over just a few things to talk about your golf career a little bit and I know you're very humble about this but I did some research I mean 10 worldwide wins two Ryder Cup appearances for the European team you know back in the day we played for no money I mean even in Europe you guys played for less money than we played and we weren't playing for anything over in the US and gosh when I met you we had so much fun together and you were playing over here I know it was a difficult time in your life and this this TV opportunity came along and you were really ready to retire weren't you oh yeah I was I was more than ready to retire I was in you know it was one of the lowest points of my life I was in the middle of a horrific divorce a spectacular divorce you know back page of the tabloid to the UK and all kinds of things I was drinking like a halibut and you know I got into painkillers and that's what alcohol was for me you know it was a painkiller as well you know so when the TV opportunity Campbell came around you know I was only 36 and initially I said to them look I think I've got a little golf left and the you know I would love to do this job in maybe four or five years and then they told me how much they were going to pay me and I said would you like to buy a set of clubs these are for sale officially as of right now that's that's that's fantastic how was the transition how did you make that transition it seemed so smoothly to all of us to go from you know playing to you know an Irish guy you've been over in the States just a couple of years and now all of a sudden you're on a major network calling golf well it wasn't really I don't think you could call the transition it was such an abrupt halt I was I'd won a tournament in some communist country I don't know how it was and I qualified for the the world series in 95 or 96 whenever it was and I was approached by a couple of gentlemen from CBS at the bar in the Hilton in Akron or Planet Firestone and I don't know what I shot the first round wasn't particularly good and you know guy sticks his hand out and said we're from CBS and I thought oh jesus 60 minutes um this is going to be some fearless expose on drugs in sport or something like that and um but it turns out Ben Wright had been fired and uh they were looking for somebody that knew the players on both sides of the Atlantic that knew the caddies on both sides of the Atlantic and as you know the caddies are a sort of they're a vital part of uh of television uh televised golf you know that's where people get most of their information especially on the golf course you know hand signals for clubs and you know you know a little sort of backstories about the players and things like that so uh I just happened to be the right drunk in the right bar at the right time and uh you know I said yes you know I'll do it and uh you know they handed me a microphone two days later and that was it you never really looked back did you I remember talking to you seeing you probably a year after that you said oh my gosh I man I don't miss this at all no I I've never missed it um and you know when I turned pro at 17 with a five handicap I lied about my handicap so so that I could turn pro and I never thought uh that it was what I would do for the rest of my life I thought I'd be lucky to get uh well I mean I thought I'd be lucky to ever uh be be good enough to make a living playing the game and um when it came toward the the end of my career I I wasn't you know making a living I was in such bad shape uh emotionally because of this divorce and I moved to America uh you know to be with my two sons I was playing the German Open in 1993 and the woman I was married to just up and left went to Dallas so that that's how I ended up in this country I remember talking to you and I remember some of the heartache that you were going through then and um and following those boys around is uh uh so admirable and exactly what I would have done and just kind of ripped your heart out I think at the time yeah yeah no it's a tough thing you know being uh being a professional golfer is I mean obviously it's extremely difficult to make a living you know you're surrounded by the best players in the world but uh it's very difficult to have a home life as well to find a balance between the two and that's why I admire you know people like Jack Nicklaus you know that we're able to find the time you know in between playing like a genius you know to be a great father and a great husband as well yeah those examples are there there's some great examples out there and um it's a cool way to kind of transition to the next topic you know when you stop drinking and you got the help from got man some of the icons the the true you know bastions of our game Jack Nicklaus Tom Watson yeah it really it really was a sign of what kind of community we golfers have and and you know some there for some of us we may not have known that really even existed yeah you know the people out here on tour and in professional golf and in general and I think you know it transfers over to professional sports there's tremendous empathy and and a great deal of support obviously in team sports but especially in individual sports and a game like golf which is it can be incredibly lonely both on and off the golf course but Jack Nicklaus and and Tom Watson were both really instrumental especially Tom who has been such a great friend you know like a big brother to me over the last 15 years he has been you know there for me every time I've been done and I know that's that's been a lot well I tell you David it reminds me of I know you remember when when the late Payne Stewart went down in the plane crash and we turned around I think we were playing in Orlando we just finished the Disney event and I think he died the next day and we turned around for for the funeral a few days later and it was eye-opening to me as a younger guy to see what the golfing community look like and what they how how they showed up and what that looked like for for that event and then you know thinking about what these guys did for you and the support you've got it's it's a pretty cool thing that otherwise I may not have known yeah it really is you know that you know particular occasion was you know it's something that I think I think about a lot you know when I'm on a golf course I think about pain especially when it comes to the Ryder Cup or the Open Championship you know he I kind of looked after him when he came to the UK and you know showed him around and spent a lot of time with him and he did exactly the same for me you know when I came to the United States he was a boy has he missed what a personality and what a what a talent let's talk a little bit about your show you guys are you just finished your eighth full season of your show wow a hundred episodes you've hit these milestones I mean how the hell how the hell did you do this I mean I look at the people but that you've interviewed and I look at the list of guests you know I keep waiting for my invitation but I guess the mail this doesn't deliver and I just I mean why do these people want to come on and talk with you you know that that's an exceptionally good question and I I don't like most exceptionally good questions I don't know the answer to it I mean I think it's got a lot to do though with you know the game is it's like heroin people get addicted to it and and you know the one thing that you know is a common thread obviously you know in my show is people have to be whether they're an actor a musician a politician or an athlete you know they have to have an interest in golf I mean that that's it I mean they don't even have to play very much you know to be on my show but people want to talk about it they want to talk about the game and in that process you know they end up talking about themselves and it's I just ask the first question and and then I listen you know I love interviewers you know people like Johnny Carson and Michael Parkinson was kind of an idol of mine growing up I used to love his show in the UK Graham Norton you know as well it's they all have one thing in common it's they listen you've got a lot of interviewers that have got questions in mind and they're determined you know to get them over and it's almost as if they they don't listen to the answer to the previous question you know they're so keen on getting the next one in the the show has been incredible and the thing that that for me that I love the most about the show but is somehow you've managed through the game of golf to connect with these extraordinary people and I look at I just look at myself and just go man I'm 58 years old I've never had an honest job in my life and yeah it's this game I mean it's this freaking game and it's on uncanny how great a game it is yeah it is you know it's so addictive and you know we need to keep it that way you know get more women and children involved in it because I remember you know growing up it was my dad that played and you know when your father plays you know generally speaking you know a little boy or whatever will come along that kind of thing but if your mother plays you know the whole family shows up and that's I think that's really important yeah if you get the backbone of that family and then more times yeah at least in my estimation you know these these women are the backbone of the family and they're gonna they're gonna hurt those cats in that direction and I'm a you know I have four daughters you know I'm a huge proponent of you know the gals trying to get involved in the game and hopefully through this show we can you know let them understand that the men play just as poorly as they do they just don't care as much and the women are a little more self-conscious about it yeah I've forgotten that you're four girls man you are living in a sea of estrogen swimming it's oh man only lucky let's talk a little bit about the troops first foundation I have had the sincere privilege through you to be involved in very very very small ways some tournaments that we've done down in San Antonio with some heroes Tom Capel Sergeant Major Tom Capel retired US Army is one of the neatest people I've ever met I hope to have him on the show later got to see him again we got to go great idea yeah I would love to hit his perspective David and and let people hear about golf hear about his stories and how these things intertwine and some of the things that you guys have done with troops first and it just I come out of those rooms after listening to him just being around him sitting around having a beer with him and it's I just feel like I'm a better person I feel like I'm stronger I'm motivated I it's a it's pretty incredible I mean I know you've done a concert more than a worn concert with George Strait my personal favorite thing that you guys do only because it's really how we connected was the 24-7 battle buddies these these dogs that are oh man instrumental in changing these these heroes lives and helping them get back into kind of some sort of normalcy in their life is just incredible but you have operation proper exit you're building homes I mean how did you get involved in this and and I know this is about your this is your eighth year in that isn't it yeah it's it's a derivative I think of where I grew up Jay you know I grew up in a war zone in the 60s and 70s and 80s in in Northern Ireland when there were you know troops on the street and roadblocks and checkpoints and bombs going off and sectarian murders you know every you know day or or you know it seemed like that you know the time and it didn't feel abnormal to me that's just the way the world was and when I moved to the United States you know I fell in love with this place so quickly and when 9-11 happened I I was horrified at the thought of of things like that happening here I couldn't bear the thought of it of it coming here you know so it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do but I ended up going to Iraq in I think 2006 to entertain you know that our troops and they weren't they weren't my troops at the time because I was I wasn't yet an American citizen but I came back from Iraq stunned at the quality of the the kids that we have out there and the job that they were doing under the most difficult of circumstances you know things like the restraint that they showed on a daily basis not pulling the trigger and the love they had for each other the compassion they had for the people in Iraq and I needed to do two things I needed to be an American citizen and so I could call them my troops and I needed to try to do something for them when they came home broken you know it's all very well I've been to Iraq a couple of times and to Afghanistan you know you spend a week there and you go around forward operating bases and they fly around in helicopters surrounded by special forces and it's it's the most incredible privilege you know to be over there you know and they thank you for being there all the time and one of the common threads is golf every forward operating base has some kind of a range whether that's just whacking it into a net or or hitting balls into the desert you know we were at a forward operating base on the Syrian border called Korean village and I ended up on the roof of the chaplain his his hut and I remember it was a Reverend Tim Ferry and there's a big marine up there Tom Watson was giving him lessons and we were sitting in deck chairs you know watching they broke open glow sticks and poured them over the golf balls and they were like tracer bullets going out into the Arabian night which is so black you know I remember thinking to myself you know what what an unbelievable moment you know a time to be able to spend you know and see this this you know it just incredibly unusual thing a beautiful thing like that well probably that that wraps up our best stuff when I think about the six we chose we had a lot of fun interviews this year absolutely absolutely interesting where some of the interviews went some of the subject matter that came up and you got the who's who of St. Louis sports of the golf world pretty exciting for the first year I'm concerned what the heck you're gonna do to follow all this up we what we picked up on that yeah I don't want that pressure I don't want that pressure well that's gonna do it for the show probably thanks so much for being with me today me thanks so much for keeping us together the best of lots of great stuff come come back with us next week this is golf with Jay Delsing on one on one ESPN hit him straight St. Louis that was golf with Jay Delsing brought to you by Whitmore Country Club tune in next Sunday for more from Jay John and the other pros and experts from the golf world in the meantime you can find all of Jay's shows at 101 ESPN dot com as well as at Jay Delsing golf.com Hi this is Chris Howard host of Plugged In with Chris Howard it's crazy to think that a few weeks ago we were talking about whether or not Tua Tagovailoa should consider retiring after two concussions and worldwide debates on player safety and NFL culpability Tua has done nothing but go back to work and currently has the Dolphins writing a three-game win streak and one loss behind the division favorite Buffalo Bills while everyone was yapping about the end of his career Tua Tagovailoa said he'll decide when it's time and clearly he's not ready to hang up the cleats hi this is Chris Howard from the Plugged In with Chris Howard podcast BetOnline.net is your 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