761 Bubba Watson: Golf Star and Humble Champion

ONCE YOU ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS, YOU HAVE TO CREATE NEW ONES. Do you remember what you dreamed about when you were little? So often, we get what we always wanted, and then we get greedy. We start wanting more money and more recognition. But that stuff doesn’t make you happy. It’s time to get your priorities straight. Remember why you started in the first place. On today’s episode of The School of Greatness, I talk with one of the best golfers in the world who is grateful just to be able to play: Bubba Watson. Bubba Watson Jr. is a self-taught professional golfer who is a 12-time PGA Tour Champion. Bubba reached a career-high 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking. Bubba is a famous golfer, but he feels the most loved when he is serving. The way he gives back to his community and helps others is truly inspiring. He wants to be a hall-of-fame husband and dad. So get ready to learn how to thrive by spinning your negatives into positives on Episode 761. Some Questions I Ask: When did you realize you had talent? (8:00) Did you ever think you would be an Olympian? (16:00) What did adopting kids do for your career? (22:00) Do you think you would be as successful as you are now without your dad passing? (31:30) What’s your biggest flaw? (39:30) When do you feel the most loved? (43:00) In This Episode You Will Learn: Why golf isn’t about money for Bubba (11:00) About Bubba’s new goal after he accomplished his 10-win PGA Tour goal (15:00) How Bubba’s father’s sickness changed his perspective (28:00) How to spin negatives into positives (35:00) The importance of giving back (48:30) What adoption means to Bubba (53:00) Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This is episode number 761 with two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  Melody Beady said, gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates vision for tomorrow. And Doris Day said, gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty. Welcome to a very special interview with Bubba Watson, who is a top professional golfer on the PGA Tour. One of the few left-handed golfers on the tour, taught himself golf, only had one lesson, and taught himself the rest, which is a fascinating feat. He's a multiple major champion with victories at the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014.

• 1:17Lewis Howes?

  He's an Olympian. He loves doing charity work and giving back to his community. And he's an all-around good old boy with a big heart. And in this interview, we talk about the power of focusing on self-improvement over comparing yourself to others. We talk about the power of gratitude and how it affects mental focus in peak performance. The impact that losing Bubba's father had on his golf game, and winning perspective. Bubba's journey with adopting his children and how his perspective has changed as a father. And the power of living a life of service and how he can make a difference, big or small, by giving love to others.

• 2:00Lewis Howes?

  This and so much more in this inspiring interview. Make sure to share this with your friends. LewisHowes.com/761. If this is your first time here, please subscribe on iTunes, on Spotify, or anywhere podcasts.

• 2:15Lewis Howes?

  Our ads and leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review. Let us know what you enjoyed the most about this. And as always, share this with a friend or a few people, send them a text, send them a message on social media. Again, LewisHowes.com/761 to spread the message of greatness. Big thank you to our sponsors and I'm so excited about this interview. So without further ado, let's dive into this one with the one, the only champion, Bubba Watson. Handball. Yeah, yeah. Ranking yourself as an American, how many? American handball? Yeah. How many people on the team, first of all?

• 3:00Lewis Howes?

  Um, well, I mean, there's 16 that they take with us, but it's a seven on seven. Yeah. So you're saying I got a chance? You got a chance, yeah. I'm right there. I'm about 17th. Yeah, exactly. But, um, America as a, as a, in the world, we're very low. Yeah. Probably like, I mean, we're, we can compete for a while, but these guys play since they're like seven years old, you know? And they're just like the technicality of like how they move. It's just like, if we played basketball against them, we would win because we're better athletes. But they just know how to move the ball. Let's don't word it that way, just because anybody's watching the show. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. But we'd probably be like, we can't compete at a world level. Let's just say that, like in the world championships, the Olympics, we would be like in the bottom, like, I don't know. But if they let you go to the Olympics, you're in.

• 3:45Lewis Howes?

  We're, well, in 2020, what is it, 2028, it's automatic qualifier because it's in the U.S. So you just got to be. But I'll be old. I'm 35 right now, so I'll be, yeah, 45 then, it'll be tough, but, um, we'll see. Anything's possible, you know? Exactly. Just staying healthy, just trying to, and we go into the Pan Am Games this year. So if we win the Pan Am Games, we qualify, but the South American countries are really good. Right. Chile, Argentina, Brazil, they all play since they're like 70 years old, so. Right. I play like a few times a year. It's, I was gonna say, it's very rare in the U.S. There's no pro league, it's all amateur club and they practice like once a week. But I, I truly believe though, if people saw it. It's incredible, man. It would, it would blow up. That's why I saw it in the Olympics in 2008 for the first time. I just got done playing pro football.

• 4:29Lewis Howes?

  And I watched this at like 3 a.m. and I was like, what is this sport? This is amazing. And I started Googling and researching. There was nothing, there was no teams in Ohio. So I moved to New York City to play with the club team. Learned the sport and got on the USA team. And then it's just been like traveling ever since for the last eight years. That's for fun, you know?

• 4:46Speaker 00

  So who, I mean, is it on your own dime? Like when y'all travel?

• 4:48Lewis Howes?

  It's all my own dime, man. I pay to play with the USA team.

• 4:52Speaker 00

  Well, I'll pay, at least I can make the team or how did?

• 4:54Lewis Howes?

  But for me to wear USA on my chest and

• 4:56Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh.

• 4:57Lewis Howes?

  Sing the national anthem in Israel and Brazil and wherever. It's just like, it's amazing for me. And I'm one of the older guys on the team, you know?

• 5:05Speaker 00

  Right.

• 5:06Lewis Howes?

  It's fun, so.

• 5:07Speaker 00

  No, I'm with you. Anytime I can play a team event with a USA flag on the, on the sleeve.

• 5:12Lewis Howes?

  It's a game changer, man.

• 5:13Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh, what a dream. Right. Never believe it until it happens.

• 5:17Lewis Howes?

  And I never take it for granted. Every time it happens, I'm always like, this could be the last. Never know.

• 5:21Speaker 00

  For sure.

• 5:22Lewis Howes?

  It's such a physical game. He knows it's like guys get injured all the time. It's just like, every time a tournament is done and I have everything intact. I'm like, thank goodness, you know? I get bruises everywhere, but it's like, as long as I don't break something, I'm good.

• 5:35Speaker 00

  Right. So my thing is, um, in 2010 was my first Ryder Cup. And my dad was about to pass away of cancer.

• 5:41Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 5:42Speaker 00

  And so he got to, he watched me nine days later. He passed away.

• 5:45Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 5:45Speaker 00

  And so this year at, in France, well, last year, whatever, the last Ryder Cup. My mom was there. And so I hugged her when I got beat on the final day. And I said, you know, and I was crying because, not because of I got beat. I got beat many a times in golf, right? So that, I'm used to that. But it was the emotion of this could be my last time and my mom. Cause that was the last time my dad watched me play. Last time my family got to bond before he passed away. And so for me and my mom being there, it was the emotion, the crying, the everything about it was about my dad and my family. Cause that could literally be my last one ever.

• 6:18Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 6:19Speaker 00

  Cause you never know, right? Cause I'm getting older, you know?

• 6:21Lewis Howes?

  How long do you expect to play for?

• 6:23Speaker 00

  I mean, I expect to play for a while, but at, at a level to make a Ryder Cup team. I mean, you're talking about the top 12.

• 6:30Lewis Howes?

  The top 12.

• 6:31Speaker 00

  The top 12 guys. There's four picks, but you know, if I'm, if you're not in the top Thirty or so in the world.

• 6:37Lewis Howes?

  You don't have a chance.

• 6:38Speaker 00

  Well, I mean Tiger Woods always got a chance.

• 6:41Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 6:41Speaker 00

  But I'm not, my name's Bubba Watson, so I don't have a chance. So that's what I'm saying, just at some point, old age catches up and you just, you're not got these young guns nowadays, right?

• 6:50Lewis Howes?

  They're freaks, right?

• 6:51Speaker 00

  Right.

• 6:52Lewis Howes?

  Cause you're 40 now, right?

• 6:53Speaker 00

  Forty now, yeah.

• 6:54Lewis Howes?

  And these guys are 20, 22 are coming in and they're just like, they're training at a different level.

• 6:58Speaker 00

  Right.

• 6:59Lewis Howes?

  They had coaches and trainers, sports psychologists at 10 years old.

• 7:02Speaker 00

  They don't have wife and kids yet.

• 7:04Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 7:05Speaker 00

  They don't have, you know, nothing's wrong with wife and kid, it's just, it takes away from being the best.

• 7:09Lewis Howes?

  100% energy at the game.

• 7:11Speaker 00

  Right, focused all on the game.

• 7:12Lewis Howes?

  And most people don't know this, if they're not golf fans, but you essentially taught yourself golf, right?

• 7:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:17Lewis Howes?

  You taught yourself, you didn't have, you had like one or two coaching sessions when you were younger and then?

• 7:21Speaker 00

  My dad was the only one. Let's make sure we put that out there, right? There was no coaches ever.

• 7:26Lewis Howes?

  No coaches, it was your dad.

• 7:27Speaker 00

  Yeah, and I don't consider my dad a coach.

• 7:28Lewis Howes?

  He was your coach.

• 7:30Speaker 00

  He barely broke 100, he probably shot in the 80s a few times. So he just taught me the basics and he said the golf swing, if the ball's in the middle of your stance, the golf swing is about a foot and a half and a foot and a half, so three foot is where your golf swing is. Cause it's all about knowing where your club face is at impact. If your club face is open, the ball goes that way. Club face is closed, goes that way. So it's all knowing where your club face is and.

• 7:51Lewis Howes?

  It's that simple, right? Just hit it straight down, just hit it straight?

• 7:55Speaker 00

  And hit it hard as you can.

• 7:56Lewis Howes?

  That's it.

• 7:56Speaker 00

  And then make a putt.

• 7:57Lewis Howes?

  That's it, yeah, no big deal. When did you realize that you had talent? How old were you? Cause you were teaching yourself, you were just kind of hacking the ball around, trying to figure it out?

• 8:07Speaker 00

  It's a great question. I don't really think you know as a kid. Well, I think you just focus on what you're doing and I've seen plastic balls around my house. My dad and my mom always said like, you have stepping stones, you have a ladder. So if you can see yourself still improving every year. Won my first tournament at age eight, I happened to shoot 62.

• 8:25Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 8:25Speaker 00

  At age 12, I think in a tournament. So it's one of those things where I developed, but I wasn't ever focused on. I'm better than you. I was focused on how do I get better? So I just kept trying to get better, make more birdies. And then Payne Stewart, about age 12 is where I started realizing golf was on TV. This was before Golf Channel and stuff. And so I watched Payne Stewart, wanted to be like Payne Stewart. He stood out to me. I don't know if he won tournaments, if he lost tournaments, but I knew him because of the knickers. I always knew who that was on TV. I was like, hey, there's Payne Stewart. And so for me, that's what it was. It was, I loved, I fell in love with the game because I saw this guy play. He stood out to me. And then obviously, I was in high school. I graduated in 97. Tiger won the Masters in 97. So he stood out to me.

• 9:09Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 9:09Speaker 00

  That baggy red sweater that he was wearing, pumping his fist on 18. Then that changed. Getting a free education in college, but then seeing these guys, guys that I played in same junior tournaments with, winning and performing in Tiger Woods. That's when I was like, okay, maybe we can do this for a living.

• 9:25Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 9:26Speaker 00

  And that's where, basically, high school is where I really thought a living could be a chance.

• 9:30Lewis Howes?

  How often were you training or practicing? Was it daily for hours?

• 9:33Speaker 00

  Daily.

• 9:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, in high school?

• 9:35Speaker 00

  Yeah, so my mom would, she'd pick me up. She took her lunch break around 2:30 to pick me up from school. She'd drop me off and then my dad would be there around 5:30, 6:00 at the golf course. So I'd get nine holes in, I'd chip around, putt and chip around the practice green and then I'd, I'd just play golf and then it'd rotate. One would drop me off, one would pick me up.

• 9:56Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 9:56Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:57Lewis Howes?

  And how old were you with your first pro tournament?

• 10:01Speaker 00

  Oh, man, first pro tournament. Gosh, I was out of school, so I had to be 24-ish.

• 10:05Lewis Howes?

  What was that feeling? Because that was the dream for many years. What was the feeling the first time?

• 10:09Speaker 00

  The feeling was, um...

• 10:10Lewis Howes?

  Were you terrified?

• 10:11Speaker 00

  No, actually, I wasn't because I never focused on money. So most of the time on mini tour golf, the minor leagues, right? It's about money. I mean, it's 15, back then it was about 1,500 to $2,000 just to play.

• 10:23Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 10:24Speaker 00

  And so when you're doing that, basically, the winning check was anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000. So I wasn't, I was never focused on paying bills. I was never focused on anything except the next level. The PGA Tour is my level. So it wasn't about money. It wasn't about anything except getting better. So if I got better, I can make it. So there was not one time I ever had a putt or a shot where I was focused on income. I was always focused on getting better and, and so money has never been, I've never hit a shot going, gosh, look at the money we could have made.

• 10:54Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 10:55Speaker 00

  So when I had a five footer to win a, a small event... I never focused on what this means to me. What it means to me is I'm getting better, going to the next level.

• 11:03Lewis Howes?

  Even in the Masters, you're not thinking of like, okay, if I miss this putt, I'm gonna lose an extra million dollars or make an extra million if I make it.

• 11:10Speaker 00

  No, because, I mean, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, you play your sport, right? You played football, now handball.

• 11:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:19Speaker 00

  But you played football, you were focused on a Super Bowl. You were focused on getting a contract, right? So when I focused on the PGA Tour, I focused on getting there. I wanted that little card that said, "Bubba Watson, PGA Tour Player." That's all I cared about. And then after you get that card, then you think about a trophy. So if you poll anybody that's playing today, if you said there was no money, but you have a Tiger Woods, you have a chance to still win 80 events and be one of the greatest or the greatest of all time. He's gonna say, "Yeah, I'm in." The money's a byproduct. So you're not really focused on that, you're focused on the trophies. And if you are focused on the money, you're probably not gonna go this way, you're gonna kinda level or...

• 11:55Lewis Howes?

  The pressure's gonna be too high, probably, for thinking about the money. So when you got the pro card, what was that like, that feeling?

• 12:01Speaker 00

  I mean, it was like your driver's license, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's exactly the same size as your driver's license. When you got that driver's license, you thought you were the man, right? And so when I got that tour card, like, they literally hand you a card, and it says, "Bubba Watson, PGA Tour Player." And I remember doing my interview, the lady right next to me, Golf Channel, and she asked me, I was the last person to get it, I barely got it. I was the last person to get my card that year. And she asked me, and I didn't get a word out, I cried the whole time. So she talked to me, I didn't get one word out. I nodded my head a couple times, but I cried the whole time, the whole interview, because that was my life. My whole life leading up to that was that card. And so, and then now I have to change my goals, right? And so I had to change my goals. I had a wife at that time, I still have a wife, but I mean, at that time, it was,

• 12:46Speaker 00

  she played professional basketball, so she was all about golf as well, so that was our...

• 12:50Lewis Howes?

  Dream.

• 12:51Speaker 00

  That was our dream together, to get that card.

• 12:53Lewis Howes?

  And so, once you achieve one dream, you said you have to create new goals, was the goal, I wanna win the Masters or...

• 12:59Speaker 00

  The goal was, we've heard interview after interview after interview is, win a tournament, get a W. So win a tournament. So after I got my card, I was like, can I win a tournament? But what I did, instead of win a tournament every year, I said, 10 wins. If a person this day and age can get 10 wins, double-digit wins with the talent across the world, Tiger Woods has pushed it across the world. So you're talking about young guys from every continent, because of Tiger Woods now, so to get 10 wins is unheard of. I thought it would be... That'd be leaps and bounds better than I could ever do. So, I mean, it took me five years to finally get my first win. Really? Yeah, so I started in 06, so 2010, I got my first win. So I never thought it was gonna happen. I was making, I mean, obviously, we're making a living, paying bills, but never winning.

• 13:44Speaker 00

  And so I just wanted to keep winning. I wanted to, I kept going to try to win. And so to finally win was, I was like, oh, my gosh, I did it. Did I ever think I'd get to 10 wins? No, but I put it out there in my head, right? Not for the public, but for me in general. And to get that first one, I was like, oh, my gosh, I've won on the PGA Tour. That's crazy. I mean, a guy named Bubba from Baghdad, Florida, no lessons. I mean, you're talking about. Lefty. Right, that you, it can't be done. And then now sitting with you, two masters, 12 wins, it's crazy. So you've achieved. And an Olympian, by the way, sorry, I forgot that. That's pretty good, that's pretty good. So you've achieved the 10-win goal, now you have to create new goals, right? Right. What's the new goal for you?

• 14:25Speaker 00

  Well, I mean, the progression would be 20, but as I get older, maybe 15. So 15 would be the, would be the new goal. You know, as I get older, it kind of falls back a little bit. Yeah. But three more wins would be, would be, I mean, gosh, I would be, be set for life. I mean, I would be, it's already done something I never thought I could do. I mean, I want to do it, I dreamed it, but to actually go home and see 12 trophies. Wow. Is something that you could never even, and then an Olympic ring too. Yeah, you got the ring, is it a ring? Oh, they give you a ring for making the. Oh, my gosh, that's the dream. Right, exactly, so, I mean. Did you ever even think you'd be an Olympian? No, because golf was never in it. Funny story for some of us, but not for all of us.

• 15:06Speaker 00

  But my wife is from Canada, playing basketball, 6'3", professional basketball. The women's Olympic team, women's basketball team there finally made the Olympics, but my wife was hurt, hurt her knee, so she could never be an Olympian. The one chance she had, she would, she was on the team, they, you know, they had to get, get a new player in, so she never got to be an Olympian, and now I'm an Olympian, so it doesn't sit well in the house sometimes. Because she's like, you play golf, like you're an Olympian. So I, maybe every once in a while, I bring it up. Yeah, yeah. Not in a kind way.

• 15:42Lewis Howes?

  Now, these young guys are just so talented, right? All these new guys who are 20, 23, whatever. They're, they train, they think a different way. Where do you think you'd be if you were 20 years younger and gone through the same training as them? Do you think you'd be better off now? Or do you think you had a mentality that they never had? Because you didn't have the coaching, because you didn't have the trainers, because you didn't have the gym technology?

• 16:05Speaker 00

  You know, it's a tough one. I would have to say I would be better off because I would look at it different. Probably wouldn't eat chocolate cake every night, you know?

• 16:11Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 16:12Speaker 00

  And so I would probably go in the gym. I mean, I didn't go to the gym till I was 30 something, right?

• 16:17Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:18Speaker 00

  So I'd probably go to the gym. I'd probably look at it differently. You know, now we're looking at stats, we're looking at performance, we've got slow motion cameras. We've got all this stuff that you can use. It would definitely, I'd get there quicker. You know, if I am going to be a champion, I'd probably get there a little bit faster. But the way I did it, you know, I don't have to worry about a swing thought. You know, when I'm on 18T, we all gonna have nerves. But if you're trying to get into like one of these young kids with coaches, they're trying to get to a certain position. You know, under pressure, that might be tough. But for me, I always just think hit it there and end up over there. I don't think about my swing. I think about where I want the ball to go. And so for me, I think that's how my progression was, was just mentally. Understanding me as a person and understanding me as a golfer helped me.

• 17:03Speaker 00

  But I think getting to the gym faster, helping me under the gun, deal with nerves, breathing right? And doing all those certain things that people talk about. Probably would have helped me a little bit, but I don't know how much. I would say it can't hurt. It wouldn't have hurt me, put it that way.

• 17:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, but the swing like mechanics is what messes a lot of people up when they're thinking too much.

• 17:21Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:21Lewis Howes?

  Sounds like you're just gripping and ripping it and you're like, I'm just hit it there.

• 17:24Speaker 00

  Right, and hopefully I win.

• 17:26Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 17:27Speaker 00

  I mean, that's really what I'm, I'm doing. And I can, I can picture here at Riviera, I can picture the trees on 18 as we sit. So I aim at those trees and just, we call bleed it off of there, cut it off of there. And that's all I think about. I go aim at those trees and just bleed it off of there. So I'm not thinking anything else. I don't, my takeaway, anything. All I'm thinking about is those trees and bleed it off, uh, cut it off of there.

• 17:47Lewis Howes?

  That's it.

• 17:47Speaker 00

  And so that's all I think about on that tee shot.

• 17:49Lewis Howes?

  What's the routine like when they, they call your name or you're going up to the? To set the tee down and drive, what's the routine and the rhythm like for you? Do you have a specific pattern? Do you have a specific mindset technique? Do you breathe a certain way? Do you approach it the same way every time?

• 18:07Speaker 00

  Truly, it's what I've changed over the last, I would say, five, six years, maybe, is my thought process is in focus on, I've done this many times. This is what I love doing. The Lord's put me in this position. I've been blessed to be here. So no matter if this goes out of bounds or not, what a great career I've had.

• 18:24Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 18:24Speaker 00

  I'm still a golfer. I mean, yeah, you try to, you try to tell yourself that. And then, as that happens, you know, we're talking about the first shot. So you're just focused on that, getting in the round. And when you get in the round, your thought process changes. When I'm going down the fairway, I'm going, okay, my ball's over here on the left side, the pin's on the right. Okay, is this gonna be a draw in here? So I start thinking about the shot before I even get there. And then, these courses that I've played year after year, okay, you can't miss it here. You gotta miss it over here. You gotta do that. So then, your process changes in your head. But that first tee shot, you're just, you're trying to just relax yourself and hit it good. Because you wanna hit a great shot, but we're all gonna mess up. You just hope your mess-ups are less than all the other people's mess-ups.

• 19:03Lewis Howes?

  Not in the woods.

• 19:03Speaker 00

  Right, exactly.

• 19:05Lewis Howes?

  So you really focus on gratitude and focus on like, I'm just grateful to be here. I'm blessed to be here. Like, I'm still here. I'm playing with the best in the world. You focus on that first.

• 19:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 19:15Lewis Howes?

  Do you focus on also like, I'm here to win? You know, I'm going all out?

• 19:19Speaker 00

  Truthfully, I've never focused on winning. Now, the last six holes, maybe the last nine holes, yes, of the 72 Old Tournament. But I've never went to the tournament going, I have to win this one. I should win this one. Or I'm gonna win this one. Because I can play my best golf, or I can have the best attitude. I can do everything. But what if it's, what if it's a rookie, right? What if you're a rookie? And you have your best rounds ever? So you beat me. I did nothing wrong, but you just had your best tournament ever. So I'm happy. So I need to be happy. With what I did and I can't focus on what you did. You know, shake your hand and say, man, you beat me.

• 19:55Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 19:55Speaker 00

  Next week, we're gonna do it again.

• 19:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:57Speaker 00

  And so that's where, you know, the first five years or so, my childish upbringing, you know, focused on the wrong things. And so that's where my mental side changed of thinking about me as a kid again going, this card was the most, the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in golf. And so sometimes we lose that, right? As an athlete.

• 20:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 20:17Speaker 00

  We focus on, why not me? Why didn't I make that putt? Why didn't I win that trophy? Why did I hit it in the water here? Instead of going, you know what? I'm just blessed to be here, looking at that PGA Tour card again.

• 20:27Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 20:28Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 20:28Lewis Howes?

  So your mindset has shifted a lot, it sounds like.

• 20:30Speaker 00

  Yeah, it shifted a lot, especially with a wife and then with kids and everything.

• 20:34Lewis Howes?

  You adopted two kids, right?

• 20:35Speaker 00

  Adopted two kids, yeah.

• 20:36Lewis Howes?

  What did that do for your career when you started adopting kids? And having, you know, more of a complete family as opposed to just you and your wife? Do you feel like that served you in a bigger way in your performance? Or was the time and energy and thought process something that was, you know, a struggle or a challenge at times?

• 20:55Speaker 00

  We've talked about, because we knew from first started dating, we're gonna have to adopt to have a family. And so my childish ways, when I first turned pro, thinking I need this, I gotta have this and I want this. I'm practicing, why am I not winning? And, and you know, the mindset of why not me? Why is everybody else winning and I'm not?

• 21:16Lewis Howes?

  Your first five years, right?

• 21:17Speaker 00

  Right, and I hit it further than everybody. I can do this, I can move the ball, I can do stuff that people can't do. So why am I not winning? And so it's the childish, young and dumb, I guess you would say, you know? And then, you know, the wife standing beside me the whole time, cheering me on and trying to help me, in a loving way. And then my dad getting sick in 09. We had a scare with my wife too, thought she was having some issues too. So she, we had some scans on her head, all at the same time. And so, so that nine months that he lived after we found out, we found out in November.

• 21:51Lewis Howes?

  Throat cancer, is that what you're?

• 21:52Speaker 00

  Throat cancer. And so that year, we were going to different doctors for her and with my dad. And then for some reason, my whole thing was about perspective and then. In my head, I'm arguing that I'm not winning. But my wife's going through something, luckily it turned out to be nothing. My dad's going through something, my whole family's going through something. And the one bright spot for us was watching me play golf. Wow. So when I got inside the ropes, everything went away. Cause I went back to focusing on me and the golf ball. And my family got to throw everything away and focus on watching me at a golf tournament. And so in 2010, I um somehow I win the travelers.

• 22:34Speaker 00

  And now I'm 18th on points trying to make the Ryder Cup team. And I'm like, oh my gosh, if I top 10 here with double points at the PGA Championship, I can make the Ryder Cup team. And you know, or get picked, I just won and then have another good finish. And I lose in a playoff. And so first question, they interviewed me after losing in a playoff. They said, uh, whatever they asked, didn't matter what they asked, cause I could care less. I said, I'm not answering the question until did I make the Ryder Cup team? That's, that was my comment to them. And they said, you went from 18th to third because the points doubled. So by coming in second, it doubled the, the points. Wow. So I went from 18 to third, so obviously I made the team. And so, yeah, exactly. So now, you know, I get to call my dad, so now I do the interview.

• 23:19Speaker 00

  Who knows what the interview is about? I was like, yeah, man, I lost, I made the Ryder Cup team, who cares? And so it wasn't about money, it wasn't about career, it was about I made the Ryder Cup team. My dad gets to see me. My dad was drafted in Vietnam, so he was in the war, had some shrapnel on his back still. So there's a lot of things, history there. And me getting to put the United States flag on my shoulder and represent our country. Win or lose, who cares? Yeah. It was about representing our country and my dad getting to watch this. And so, I mean, there's so many things that, that changed my attitude around that time period. And then um him passing and then winning twice the next year and then winning in 12. I mean, so it just, I think all that freed me up and made me realize what life was about. And about, it was about that card again. Hmm. It was about, this is what I wanted to do as a kid.

• 24:05Speaker 00

  It's not about the money, it's not about bills, it's not about this, it's not about the trophies. It was about, I made it to this one place. And so I think with the sicknesses and all the stuff going on in our family, it made me realize, man, you're going out this the wrong way. You winning, who cares if you win? You don't have to worry about bills, you don't have to worry about anything. Your mom is taken care of now because your dad's not there. Forty-two years they were together and not having a man there anymore. So just all this stuff. And then, and then in 12, so we started the adoption process in nine as well. But then we put it on hold because of my dad. So then in 12, we get this call and do you want this, this boy? So we were like, yeah. But I'm at a golf tournament.

• 24:48Speaker 00

  So like this is, this is Wednesday morning of a golf tournament. I had to make the decision. It was Bay Hill, so I had to make the decision. But then we realized in that short time that can't leave the state of Florida. Because our adoption process with our lawyers wasn't all the way complete. So we had to lease a house, we had to do all these things. No way. And so Monday, this was a Wednesday, Monday is when we picked him up. So we had to find a house, we had to find furniture, I mean, we had to do all this stuff. And I finished fourth, Tiger Woods won, by the way. But I finished fourth, but again, why did I finish fourth? I was playing great, don't get me wrong, but I was so focused on inside the ropes. It was all about golf and then outside the ropes, it was chaos. And so, and then a week and a half later, we win the Masters in 12. So that's what I'm saying, like it just. A week and a half after you adopted? After I adopted.

• 25:32Speaker 00

  So I was only with him, I was only with him three nights because I had to fly back to Arizona to, to do some adoption with lawyers and my home study and all this, all this junk. Not junk, but all this stuff with it. And then I flew back to Florida. Grandparents are there now, my mom's there. Her parents came from Canada. And then I said, hey, and she, she looks at me and she goes, look, you're playing really good at golf right now. Go to the Masters early. So I said, okay. And my, and my father-in-law from Canada is like, I'll go with him. And then my mom was like, well, look, other grandmas here. I'll go with you too, it's Augusta. So we went to Augusta and, you know, I win. It was just a whirlwind. But I think again, like I said, in nine is where it hit me.

• 26:18Speaker 00

  What's most important, right? Like, I mean, you can always downsize house. You could always go to a cheaper car. You could all, I mean, you could figure out a way to get a real job. Yeah, yeah. Instead of this glamorous life of golf, when all this family stuff happened. So how blessed, truly blessed are you in 09? And I think that's just freed me up mentally to be like, man, if I win, that's awesome. If I lose, man, I tried my best. Yeah. And so I just changed. And I think that's really what, what changed me over those first four years of. Wow. I guess I matured in those first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hate to say it, my dad's sickness changed who I am as a person. In what ways? But I think it's because of how I thought about things, not golf, golf, but other things as well.

• 27:03Speaker 00

  And, you know, you're using this negative as a positive. Mm-hmm. You know, changed how my mom thought, changed how my mom saw things, changed how my whole family saw things and did things. And so you have to use a negative to a positive. And that's what we, we try to do as a family, but I try to do. What was the biggest lesson your dad taught you? Oh, gosh. There's, there's a couple that stand in mind. I'm gonna tell you two, cause I just always change it up. But the first one was never lie. He said, I don't care how much it's gonna hurt somebody. Yeah. You tell the truth. He goes, cause it's gonna be better than not telling the truth. He always said, if he found out later that I was lying to him. He's gonna whoop your butt. Right. Um, we don't do that. Yeah, right, right. But, um, you'd be in more trouble.

• 27:48Speaker 00

  And he said, as a poor person, all you have is the truth. And if people can't trust you, then you have nothing. Wow. So I've always told the truth, wrong or right. I, sometimes it might come across a little mean, but I always tell the truth. And then second one, he, without saying a word, when he left the room, left the house. He kissed my mom goodbye, and when he came home, first thing he did, kissed my mom. And so I always saw that, always remembered that. And it was a way to see that he truly loved, they truly loved each other. So now, when I leave the house and come back, there's no words. I just say bye, I love you, and give her a kiss. And then when I come back, it's a kiss before I do anything else.

• 28:32Speaker 00

  I don't care if the kids are screaming, dad, let's do this, let's do that. I find my wife, I give her a kiss, then I do whatever the kids want to do then. But it's something that always stuck with me and seeing a loving couple, a loving family. No matter how upset they were at each other, they could be upset at each other, but he would kiss her goodbye before he stormed out. You know, it was one of those things where, I'm leaving, but I love you. And then he walked out, right? So those are the two things that stick with me today that...

• 29:01Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 29:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 29:02Lewis Howes?

  So he got to watch you win.

• 29:04Speaker 00

  And play in the Ryder Cup, yeah.

• 29:05Lewis Howes?

  Play in the Ryder Cup. He didn't get to see the Masters.

• 29:08Speaker 00

  Right, he went to the Masters one time. So Boo Weekly, Heath Slocum, they're from my hometown. They're five years older than me. So we didn't play in high school golf together, but we all went to the same high school.

• 29:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 29:19Speaker 00

  So those were my idols growing up. Those are people I saw every day playing golf. And so they've won on tour, and now I've won. So us three went to the same high school. We've all won at least three times on tour. And we all made the Masters in 08.

• 29:33Lewis Howes?

  It's crazy.

• 29:33Speaker 00

  So my dad went to the Masters only in 08. I didn't make the Masters in 09.

• 29:40Speaker 00

  So yeah, he got to go, but he couldn't walk. He had rheumatoid arthritis, had some health issues, so he couldn't walk. So he sat behind number nine green. You see 18, you see 1, 9, 18, and 10. And so yeah, that's the only time he got to go.

• 29:52Lewis Howes?

  Do you think you would be as successful as you are now without your dad passing?

• 29:57Speaker 00

  Oh, man, that's a good question.

• 29:59Lewis Howes?

  If he was totally healthy...

• 30:00Speaker 00

  If he was totally healthy and none of this ever happened, I mean, gosh, I would, you know, let's just say no. Because I think I spun it for me, I spun it to a positive real fast. And, you know, my wife going through a health scare. We went to many doctors, brain scans on her gland right here. So I think all of that, just, you know, when you spin it, we can spin everything we want, right? We can spin it negative, we can spin it positively. And I, you know, going back to losing this... Playoff to win the PGA Championship, my first major. If I'd have won that, what would have happened? Would I have ever won the Masters? You know what I'm saying? Like it just spitballs, right? So I would have to say I wouldn't be as successful if my dad was still here.

• 30:43Lewis Howes?

  What's the?

• 30:44Speaker 00

  And I know that sounds negative, but I mean, I'm just saying like, I don't know if I would have hit maturity, the maturity button real fast.

• 30:49Lewis Howes?

  It's interesting because I, my dad's still alive, but he got in a really bad car accident about, man, when was this? Like 13 years ago. And he was in a coma for three months. We had to teach him how to walk and talk. It took, you know, it's, he's still recovering and he still has amnesia and he forgets a lot. So my dad's alive, but he's not really my dad, the way I used to know him. You know, the conversations are different. He's not emotionally available, really. It's not that he doesn't want to be, it's like the brain injury he had.

• 31:17Speaker 00

  Right.

• 31:18Lewis Howes?

  And I remember I used to always kind of rely on him for so much. Financially, you know, as a younger guy, playing football in college, like he would just take care of me. He was like, just train, I'll take care of you. When you're done playing ball, come work with me. And when he had that injury, it was like everything changed. And I remember thinking like, I've got to figure this stuff out now. Like I don't have my dad emotional support. I can't really communicate with him the same way financially, all these things changed. And I look back at it, I'm like, if he didn't get injured, there's no way I'd be living a lifestyle, have the business success, would be impacting people the way I do. None of this would be happening, I don't think.

• 31:56Speaker 00

  Right.

• 31:57Lewis Howes?

  And it's like, huh. I'd much rather him be healthy and available in the way that I knew him to be, but at the same side, I'm also like spinning it to be like, but I also get to do something greater that I probably would have never done.

• 32:09Speaker 00

  Right.

• 32:09Lewis Howes?

  It's crazy, right?

• 32:10Speaker 00

  Right, for sure. I remember my dad, after I won Travelers in 2010, you know, I called him. We were on the 16th hole, so I had to drive, we had to drive back to 18 after, because I won on 16. And so, um, calling him, we didn't get a word out. We were crying, you know, and said, I loved you and all that stuff. And the next day.

• 32:29Speaker 00

  I was going somewhere to another event. I called him. Hey Dad, how you doing today? You know, and because he's at any moment it could have, it could have happened. And so he goes, hey, are you practicing? I said, no, Dad, I'm going to the tournament. I'm taking today off. He goes, you shouldn't take today off. You could keep, you gotta keep practicing. And that's, I remember that, like, that's what he always said to me. I don't care how good you did. You gotta keep practicing. Those other guys are practicing. And so that was, that stuck with me. When you're thinking about like dads and stuff, like that's one. The very next day, I got the trophy. I got the trophy in my car where we're going. And he's like, you practicing? No, Dad, I just woke up. I'm going to the next tournament. Well, they're practicing.

• 33:07Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 33:07Speaker 00

  But it was like, it wasn't mean. It was just, he was basically giving me a mindset. Look, is this it? Are you gonna, are you gonna work harder? Are you gonna try to get another one? So.

• 33:17Lewis Howes?

  That's powerful.

• 33:18Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 33:18Lewis Howes?

  How important is adversity in your life? Do you look for adversity? Because you know, because you know, it's going to ultimately make you stronger and probably make you better with your mindset?

• 33:31Speaker 00

  You know, as a, as a human being.

• 33:35Lewis Howes?

  We wanna play, we wanna be comfortable.

• 33:36Speaker 00

  Right, as a human being, I, I falter a lot and I, I look at the negatives. I mean, right now, negative sells on TV, right? Not this, but everything else. And so negative sells, right? And that's what gets the clickbait, as we wanna call it, right? And so I fall in that trap, you know, like, gosh, I just three putted, man. I'm never gonna be a good putter again. I'm never gonna, I hit that ball in the water. I'm, I am terrible at golf, you know, then my kids yell at me and I'm like, man, I'm a terrible dad. And then my wife looks at me, I'm like, I'm a terrible husband, you know? So like, you, you always look at that now. If you look six months ahead, you forget all about what happened. Because you've got other issues, you've got other things going, right? Or it could be positive in six months.

• 34:19Speaker 00

  It could be another win or it could be a birthday of a, of a child. It could, whatever it is, but you forgot all about that last six months. And so I don't look for adversity. I don't want adversity, but when you think about it, what you're going through is minor. Cause there's, there's somebody always. Going through worse.

• 34:37Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 34:37Speaker 00

  And whatever that situation, somewhere in the world, there's somebody going through worse. And you can find him real fast. Who's going through worst. And so for me, I don't look for it, but. Yeah, I mean, if you. Look deep when you think you're going through something really bad. You can definitely spin it to a positive real fast.

• 34:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What has being a dad taught you about? Being a better golfer and being a better human?

• 34:59Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh. Just alone, I mean, now with YouTube and people wanting to get their phones out and and make fun of you and. The commentators wanting to tell you how you're yelling at people. I gotta change my tune real fast. You know, golf is the one place where I'll use a. A word that you shouldn't use. Real fast and with this day and age with cameras and.

• 35:20Lewis Howes?

  Catch everything.

• 35:21Speaker 00

  And if you're gonna call yourself a Christian. Don't get me wrong. By calling myself a Christian doesn't mean I'm perfect.

• 35:28Lewis Howes?

  You're not a perfect human being?

• 35:29Speaker 00

  No, I don't know about you, but.

• 35:31Lewis Howes?

  I'm not perfect at all.

• 35:32Speaker 00

  Right, but that's what I'm saying. So like for me. I'm not perfect. And so that's why I need help. And but my child. Both now. Dakota doesn't really know TV and YouTube yet or any of that stuff, but Caleb's starting to understand it. And getting what we're talking about. And so for me. Knowing he could be looking or years down the road, this is gonna be sitting on the web somewhere. It helped me again, like in 2009, it helped me focus on. Catching myself, trying to be better. Golf is the one that always brings it out. There's no other time I can think of in my life where I want to just. Freak out.

• 36:09Lewis Howes?

  So frustrating, right?

• 36:10Speaker 00

  Right, exactly. It's unbelievable. And I'm probably thankful that my son's not into golf yet because he'll probably freak out too, but.

• 36:17Lewis Howes?

  Do you feel like you're more under control now than five or 10 years ago with your reactions? When something doesn't go as planned?

• 36:23Speaker 00

  Oh, for sure. Definitely better. That doesn't mean I'm good. I'm, you know, you know, my thing is I always joke about is. If you were doing something wrong 100 times a day. Right? The next day on Tuesday.

• 36:38Speaker 00

  Instead of Monday, you down in 99. You've improved. I'm never near perfect at 99 bad things. But if I can improve, if we go six months from now, man, you're down in 95 bad things. We've improved. And I'm not saying this improvement's gonna happen overnight, or you're never gonna be the perfect human being. But my goal was to try as hard as I can, and if my trying lets my kid, or my kids, or my friends, or my wife, for that matter, improve their own self, then we're doing something in the right direction.

• 37:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What's your biggest, let's, well, call it a flaw, or a thing you need to work on in your marriage, as a father, and as a golfer?

• 37:21Speaker 00

  That's simple. They all work together. I need to read more. Because, reading, for me personally, it's the mental part, right? It's to be clocked in. When I'm on the road, I wanna play video games, cuz I wanna space out.

• 37:36Lewis Howes?

  Fortnite?

• 37:37Speaker 00

  I don't play, I play Call of Duty. Only Call of Duty. I wanna get the headset on and yell at my friends.

• 37:41Lewis Howes?

  You could swear there, right?

• 37:43Speaker 00

  Right, I don't, I don't.

• 37:45Lewis Howes?

  Cuz they record that, too.

• 37:46Speaker 00

  I'm so good in that, I don't, I don't remember. Golf is the only, golf is a bad sport. It's a great sport, but it's very bad for everybody. So I wanna space out. And then, when I get home, a lot of times, I focus on, when I'm at home, I focus more on golf. Man, look at all these guys playing this week. Why am I taking this week off? The weather's perfect over there, you know? And then, when I'm on the golf course, I'm like, oh, man, I wish I was with my kids, I wish I was with my wife. And so, by reading more, reading these books more, reading the Bible more, it shows you and teaches you, it makes you focus on the positive instead of the negative. And a lot of times, I focus on the negative. And so, I believe all of that helps me in life. And I think over the last...

• 38:28Speaker 00

  Gosh, I read my first book recently. Gosh, what's the name of it? I don't know. But anyway, it's 300 pages. It took me about three months to get through it. 20 minutes a day. I gave myself 20 minutes a day. So I woke up 20 minutes early and started reading. Man, it took me forever to understand the book. It was about just life. Gosh, what's the name of the book? I'm gonna, I'm terrible. That's how bad I am at reading.

• 38:49Lewis Howes?

  Tell me later, yeah.

• 38:50Speaker 00

  Right, exactly.

• 38:51Lewis Howes?

  So, reading more.

• 38:52Speaker 00

  Reading more.

• 38:53Lewis Howes?

  What will reading do for you?

• 38:55Speaker 00

  Truthfully, it's a boring message, but it's, I wanna, I wanna read more about Christ-centered stuff. I wanna focus on being a better person. Uh, the Bible tells you to love all people. So if you love all people, you're not gonna honk the horn when somebody cuts you off. It was funny, I heard that today. I honked it for at least a minute and a half.

• 39:13Lewis Howes?

  In LA?

• 39:13Speaker 00

  Oh my gosh, it was so much fun. I was like, yes, I'm better than that person. No, that's not what I was meant to say. But nah, it's just the thing. If you love all people and you're focused on helping other people and not worried about the self-centeredness of myself, what can you do for me? Right? A lot of times we go into that mindset. When I say we, me, go into that mindset and and I gotta focus more on my wife. If I'm focused on my wife and making her happy and she was reading the same book and she's focused on making me happy, what a relationship that would be.

• 39:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 39:44Speaker 00

  And I think I'm the one that's lacking in that part. And so to get better there, my kids will see that. They're gonna feel the energy, they're gonna, they're gonna see it. They're gonna, we're gonna be a light for them. And so that helps there. And then with the right processes in the game of golf, the same help and all this other stuff, it's gonna help me in golf. It's gonna relax me. And if that means losing every week, but enjoying the game that I truly do love, I mean, I play it every day at home. So what is a trophy gonna do for me?

• 40:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 40:12Speaker 00

  Except right on my, my mantle, you know what I'm saying? So like, truthfully, the book, the reading, the things that I wanna read are gonna help me in all areas of life. Is it gonna win me more tournaments? I can't tell you that answer, but it's not gonna hurt me.

• 40:26Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 40:27Speaker 00

  To think better.

• 40:28Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. When do you feel the most loved in your life?

• 40:31Speaker 00

  Oh, when I feel the most loved?

• 40:35Speaker 00

  Oh, man. I can't answer that question, but I can answer it this way. At church, I just served for the first time at my church. And it was, all it was, was at the preschool desk. Sunday school for the, so the kids can go to Sunday school or their little classes, we'll call it Sunday school. And the parents go up to the sanctuary and listen to the message. And for me, checking them in and then taking the kids to their little classes and the pastor's, he's a new pastor, a young pastor, has three kids, but his wife is away. And so he's, he's a man trying to take care of three kids, right? And trying to lead the church, right? Yeah. He's thirty-six years old and so, we happened to part because I was gonna serve, me and my wife were serving, so, so I said, "Hey, man, you need some help?" He goes, "Yes, I do."

• 41:19Speaker 00

  And the kids' hairs were everywhere, so I took them and, and me and my wife took them. And so truly, I felt more loved then, but I think it's more of a satisfaction for me, but- Being in service, you mean? Right, being in service and, and helping. It's not like, I don't think there's anything you can do that's, makes me feel more loved. It's me really just doing it myself. And that sounds really bad, but it's more of what I, how I can use my platform. God has given me this platform and how do I use it? And, and making a smile on somebody's face is, is, shows me love in general. Because I helped them. And like the pastor was like, "Yeah, man, can you help me? I gotta go get the message ready, I gotta get this stuff ready." So, "Yeah, man, I'll take your kids." And so we, we took them and, and so him just going, "Yeah, man, you can help."

• 42:03Speaker 00

  So he didn't even, he didn't even give me like a real smile. And so that made me feel like I was doing something. Doing a part to help somebody in a small way. But it just, it was, you know, my wife telling me she loves me and my wife always being there cooking meals and making sure everything's right. Making sure I get my twelve hours of sleep at a golf tournament. Yeah, I feel loved, don't get me wrong, but we actually talked about it after the church service. It was, I was like, "Man, how much better you feel serving?" We just became members of the church, so it was the first time we could serve, be a part of the church. And so it was a, it was an eye-opening experience, but a fun experience. Wow. So I don't know how to answer the question. When was this? This was actually yesterday. Yesterday? Yeah. So you're forty years old. I didn't know when this aired, so I didn't want to like just start putting time on- No, it's okay. So you're forty right now. Nobody's watching, so no.

• 42:48Speaker 00

  You're forty years old. Right.

• 42:51Lewis Howes?

  You don't feel, this is fascinating to me that your answer was, after I win the Masters and everyone's celebrating me and the trophy and everyone's interview and money and checks and love and hugs, you said, when I was serving a couple of preschool kids.

• 43:05Speaker 00

  Right.

• 43:05Lewis Howes?

  And the church.

• 43:06Speaker 00

  Because, you know, truthfully, it's, I look at life differently. I grew up differently, right? I don't know how some people grew up, but some people grew up, they have to be the best. They have to be the greatest. And as we've seen in many sports and many businesses, there's been, um, trying to use advantages to get to a level, right? Because of big contracts.

• 43:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 43:28Speaker 00

  But I've never been motivated by the money. I've never been, nobody's ever gonna dangle money in front of me and say, "Bubba, do you wanna do this?" Nah. I've turned down big deals.

• 43:37Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 43:38Speaker 00

  I've turned down traveling out of the country for big deals, because it, that's not what motivates me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna turn down a check, handing it out, but, that's not what motivates me. And as I've had the kids and my wife and the things we've been able to accomplish and be a part of and help, the Masters helps me personally. Cause again, as a kid, I wanted to win it. And I think, after I won in 12, I think my, my quote was, "I've never dreamed this far."

• 44:08Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 44:09Speaker 00

  Cause now we're in the media and all these people are looking at me, waiting for my, my great advice I'm about to give the world, right? But my, my dream as a kid, you're making a 10-foot putt to win the Masters. And that's all you, as a 12-year-old, you don't know about money, fame, social media at that time, cause social media wasn't even out at that time.

• 44:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:28Speaker 00

  Big house, more debt, you don't think about all this stuff. More family members that call you, hey!

• 44:33Lewis Howes?

  And want something.

• 44:34Speaker 00

  Right. And so, your dream ends. You're catching a touchdown pass, you're throwing a touchdown pass to win, and that's it. You win the Super Bowl, that's it. You don't go past that.

• 44:45Lewis Howes?

  That's your dream.

• 44:45Speaker 00

  Right. Well, I didn't. I didn't think about a car, I didn't think about this, a house or that or that, or a boat. I thought, win the Masters. My life is set. That's what I dreamed about. And so, when I did win it, I realized, that dream doesn't work out the same way I had it in my head. And so, that's why I don't feel like, people telling me how great I am on social media, people telling me how great I am on the Golf Channel or ESPN.

• 45:10Speaker 00

  I don't listen to it. I don't want to be too positive, too high. I don't want to be too low. I want to just stay right here. My goal is to win as many tournaments as I can for my own self, not for you or anybody else. So yeah, I don't really feel love after a... Because Monday morning, they're off to the next tournament. They're focused on who's gonna win the next one.

• 45:28Lewis Howes?

  That's right.

• 45:28Speaker 00

  They'll dog me just as fast as I do.

• 45:30Lewis Howes?

  I know. You lose the next one, they say, "Ah, it was a fluke."

• 45:32Speaker 00

  Yeah, he just got lucky.

• 45:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. So is this a new awakening or a new awareness that yesterday this happened? Or is this something you've been doing for a while, like serving other people? Whether it be the church or using your platform for good and feeling that sense of love and connection to something greater?

• 45:50Speaker 00

  I've always tried to help charity-wise. I remember...

• 45:53Lewis Howes?

  You donate a lot for hospitals and other charities.

• 45:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, and even starting out when I was first on the mini tours, I didn't have any money, right? I had a pocket change, but it was my first job ever, so I thought I was rich, you know what I'm saying? Couple thousand bucks in my, uh, in my, uh, bank account. And so I used to sponsor a little, um, college tournament, a women's college golf tournament in my hometown. And, um, it was two grand. And you're talking about $2,000. I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do it. And so like, I just did it. And I did it for years until they canceled the tournament. So for me, it was, it was, it's something I've always done, but like, starting to serve and serve in a community. And I wanted, I moved back to my hometown because I wanted to be part of the town. I didn't want to be Bubba Watson. I wanted to be a citizen. I wanted to be part of this town. I wanted to get involved in this town.

• 46:40Speaker 00

  And like you said, the hospital, the children's hospital came up and I wanted to be a part of it. How do I move back? It was a two-year process to move back home. And how do you do that? How do you get involved with the city? How do you try to give back as much as the city gave to me? And when I say that, the city raised me. The city, City of Pensacola. When I say Pensacola, it's Santa Rosa and Escambia County, Milton, Baghdad, Pace, Pensacola. They all raised me. There was somebody at that time that paid for these tournaments that I could play for free or for small amounts of money that my parents could afford.

• 47:12Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 47:13Speaker 00

  So when I think about that now, as a golfer or as a, not as a golfer, I want to give back. And my profession just happens to be a golfer, but, so I give back to the game of golf, the children's hospital, different organizations around the, the country, around the world that we've been involved in. It's been a dream and that, that... The Masters is personal, but don't get me wrong, I know that that Masters win helps me in my platform.

• 47:36Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 47:36Speaker 00

  And being involved in organizations that give back. And now with the adoption, that we've been talking about adoption processes that we went through, the struggles, the happiness, the sadness. And that's why we teamed up now with Jockey, is to be a part of that, with the adoption stories that they have from their own family and company to help.

• 47:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:54Speaker 00

  And so this is just another avenue for us to get our word out and use our platform from the right way to impact lives. And so that means more to me. My business side of winning golf tournaments does help the platform and helps the money side and everything. But it's, it's only a personal gain to get that jacket or get a trophy.

• 48:12Lewis Howes?

  It's nice though, but yeah, yeah.

• 48:14Speaker 00

  Right, it's nice, but I, I've never been in my room and when people come over and go, hey, you wanna go see my trophy? You know what I'm saying, like I don't, I don't do it. Now if they ask, I mean, yeah, let's go look at the Masters trophy. I mean, I have one Masters trophy, it's at the University of Georgia.

• 48:27Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 48:28Speaker 00

  It's in the golf room, the golf locker room down at the golf course. So they have it there on display. Again, because by seeing that trophy, maybe one of the Georgia guys gets inspired. You know, maybe he turns out to be the world's greatest golfer of all time. He gets inspired because he saw the trophy, but then he gives back using his platform. I mean, Tiger Woods is Phil Mickelson, I mean, we can see Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer. Their golf is great, but what they've been able to impact off the course.

• 48:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 48:53Speaker 00

  Is mind blowing and is amazing.

• 48:57Lewis Howes?

  And what are you doing with Jockey specifically right now? What's, what's that partnership been like?

• 49:00Speaker 00

  Well, I mean, I'm an underwear model now, so.

• 49:02Lewis Howes?

  I like it, man.

• 49:03Speaker 00

  Yeah, who doesn't want that, right? I can tell everybody I'm an underwear model. I'm not, I'm not in shape as all the other ones, but man, I'm there.

• 49:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, man.

• 49:10Speaker 00

  Again, like I said, the adoption process, it's about how do we, the foundation is all about helping them. And right now, the campaign is show me what's underneath, or show them what's underneath, sorry. So for me, it's, it's our story, me and my wife's story.

• 49:26Lewis Howes?

  So not exactly, not exactly show them what's underneath.

• 49:28Speaker 00

  Right, right. It's show them, it's show them what's underneath and about helping these, these kids, right? A kid is not asked to be in a situation, you know? All of our families, there's somewhere down the line in the history of our families, there's been some, some situations, right? And so for us, our two kids alone, we want to teach them about their family, the, the birth moms. We don't know the birth dads, but we know the moms and so. The right time and the right moment when they're 18 or older, I will help them meet their parents, their, I guess, not their parents, but their birth mom. If they want to, it's their choice. It's totally fine. I want to teach them about their family and how much they were loved, and that's why this happened.

• 50:09Speaker 00

  And so, but what Jockey's doing and what they're passionate about, and for good reason, is that the adoption process doesn't stop when the kid comes home with you. Because there's going to be questions. Now, what do I do? There could be mental problems when you tell them that what happened. There's a lot of things that could happen behind the scenes that people don't think about. You just think about the adoption, and oh, it's beautiful. You know, my son's running around, it's a beautiful story. But there's other things that could happen, might happen. But then there's other things for like me in general, as the parent. Is how do I, you know, I need somebody to talk to. You've been through this. Tell me the insight. How do I, how do I break the story? How do I deal with this? How do I show love to him? How do I teach him and not get upset if he wants to go see his mom?

• 50:52Speaker 00

  Or how do I, there's a lot of unanswered questions that we haven't even dealt with yet. But at the same time, our inspirational story, I think it's inspirational, we tell them. So that maybe there is a family that's going, you know what? Maybe we should adopt a child and help a child in need. Because back in the 80s, 70s even, adoption was not talked about very much. Right. It was, from my side, I've never been tested to see if I could have a kid. But we knew for a fact my wife couldn't have kids. And so, I've never been tested. I mean, I could be not able to have a kid. But from the man's side, just because that's the side I know. I mean, it would be tough, especially, you know, the old, in the old days when people would be like,

• 51:34Speaker 00

  oh, you can't have your own kid, you know, people, those nasty jokes that people would say to you. And so, I think we're trying to shine a light on this. And I think there's celebrities all over the world that have done this in a beautiful way about adopting. And the adoption is not just for you, it's for helping a child that's, that could be the President of the United States one day. Could be a doctor, it could be, cures something, could be anything. And so, that's really our story. That's why we wanted to get on board, so we can help. But then it also, I think it's helping us more because of the fact that with these events that Jockey does, is we get to sit there and and listen to families and shed tears with families, talking about their story and their ups and downs, and our ups and downs, and how much they truly match up. Doesn't matter what you do in life. No matter how high of a celebrity people think you are,

• 52:18Speaker 00

  you have the same issues as they're going through. So Jockey, what they're doing right now and their initiative, I get to be underwear model, but for them, it's building these bridges to match people up. No matter where you are in life, that you have other people going through the same issues and you're trying to work together. And I think it's a beautiful love story about our world, right? We should all be trying to help and all we're doing is just trying to help kids. We wanted a family, but at the same time, we're learning so much more from our kids and from Jockey and what they're trying to create than we could ever imagine. It was all about us. It was selfish, right? It was, we want a family.

• 52:52Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 52:53Speaker 00

  But then we're looking at this going, gosh, man, how much are we going to learn from this? How much better are we going to be as a couple and as a family, learning from this, from these beautiful kids that were so loved that they were given up for adoption?

• 53:07Lewis Howes?

  Wow. I love the way you reframe it. They were so loved, they were given up for adoption.

• 53:11Speaker 00

  Right. My wife says it best, that they were born in somebody else's womb. They were knitted in somebody else's womb and given to us. And so for us, it's, I mean, and like I tell Caleb, I read to him and I say prayers with him every night. And Angie's with, and so for us, we pray with them. And I always try to explain to him, I was like, one day you're going to realize how blessed and how lucky we all are in this situation. Cause at six years old, he doesn't understand yet. But he started asking a few questions because some random people will walk up, go, oh, is this your adopted son? And my son's like, what's adoption? I'm like, oh gosh, why do y'all have to say stuff like that? But yeah, so no, I mean, it's a, it's a, for us personally, the inspirational story of our kids, what we're going to learn from them is way more than what they're going to learn from us, you know?

• 53:56Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 53:56Speaker 00

  Especially if they see YouTube of me being angry.

• 54:00Lewis Howes?

  I'm not a parent, but I know being a parent is challenging in its own way. Do you think being a parent who's adopted kids is even more challenging? If so, what's the differences?

• 54:10Speaker 00

  The only challenge that I've seen right now is, you know, because we can talk to her parents, we can talk to my mom about their upbringing, right? Because they had their kids and so they had us. And so we can talk to them about the upbringing. But the only challenge for us so far has been every time we've adopted, we've had about a week, maybe a little bit less than a week to prepare. But if you have nine months.

• 54:33Lewis Howes?

  All right, yeah.

• 54:34Speaker 00

  If you have nine months to get and get your friends and your family to buy all your gifts, you know, but we don't have nine months. You know, like in Florida, he couldn't leave Florida. So the Masters is coming up. I was playing good. I won twice the year before. So they're gonna be like, why is your wife not here, bubba? So we had to come out and say, we've adopted this child. Can't leave the state right now and blah, blah, blah. And so that was the only challenge that I've seen that's different from having your own child to adoption. And in red tape, right, like the tape of taking this child home, the government asking questions. You can have your own child without any questions asked.

• 55:09Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 55:10Speaker 00

  But then having a, you have to show that you're in love. You have to show that you're gonna be a loving home. I don't know how you show that. You know what I'm saying? Like it's, how do you, and then when they want to see my bank account, I didn't get that. But you know, there's a lot of things that you're like, why do you need to see my bank account?

• 55:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 55:25Speaker 00

  Because people can have babies without any money.

• 55:27Lewis Howes?

  Poor, bro.

• 55:28Speaker 00

  Right. And so it just, a lot of it didn't make sense to us. But in the very end product of this whole thing, it's well worth it.

• 55:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 55:35Speaker 00

  But it was, so that would be the only difference is that you, we didn't have the nine months to prepare. So.

• 55:40Lewis Howes?

  A couple of questions left for you, but before I get into those questions, what can people do to be a part of this campaign? Or to, if they're looking to adopt, what do you recommend?

• 55:50Speaker 00

  Well, I think you would just look up Jockey. I mean, you go to jockey.com or you'd go to Jockey's Foundation website. We were selling bears for a while and we probably still are. And these bears, all the money goes back to the foundation and it's all about encouraging people with the adoption and then encouraging people that have adopted to get involved. So you can have a shoulder to cry on.

• 56:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, part of it, so it's a community.

• 56:13Speaker 00

  It's a community. You're trying to create, they're, they're trying to create a community and a beautiful community that's, that's all trying to do the same thing is, is and help these kids.

• 56:21Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 56:22Speaker 00

  And, and then help families dealing with situations. That's the easiest way to look up Jockey, look up Jockey Foundation and go that way and go that route. And and whatever you want to give, I don't care if it's a dollar, it's still, you're given to try to help as much as you can.

• 56:35Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. That's cool. Uh, this question is called the three truths.

• 56:38Speaker 00

  Three truths.

• 56:39Lewis Howes?

  I asked.

• 56:39Speaker 00

  I can't lie.

• 56:40Lewis Howes?

  I know, right? I ask this at the end of every interview.

• 56:42Speaker 00

  Can I change that one thing? Yeah, I do lie.

• 56:45Lewis Howes?

  So imagine this is your final day on earth. At some point, at some point, you're gonna have to pass on and move on to the next phase of wherever we go, right? You can be as old as you want.

• 56:56Speaker 00

  Perfect.

• 56:57Lewis Howes?

  Be 500 years old.

• 56:58Speaker 00

  Oh, but it's a lot longer than today.

• 56:59Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. Eventually, you get to choose the day. It's the final day. Okay, you've accomplished everything you want. The pro card was all you wanted, but you've done so much more. You've seen your family blossom and do everything they want to create. You've lived the life of your dreams. But it's your last day.

• 57:17Speaker 00

  Gosh, I feel like I'm dying now.

• 57:20Lewis Howes?

  This is many years from now, many years from now. It's your last day, and for whatever reason, all of your trophies and videos and content that you've put out in the world, it has to go with you. So no one has access, fortunately, to all the swear words on videos and everything else, right? But you get to leave behind a piece of paper that you write down three truths on. Three things, lessons, or ideas or truths that you would want the world to remember you by and your experience in your life by. So what would be your three truths?

• 57:53Speaker 00

  You know, this is a lot deeper than my education. I gotta figure this out. Does it matter how long the sentence is on the truth?

• 58:00Lewis Howes?

  No, you can tell a whole story if you want to.

• 58:02Speaker 00

  Right, perfect, I'll tell the whole story. First one would have to be the Bible. And the reason why I believe in the Bible so much and why I think this is important to this is because I don't care if you're a believer of Jesus, God. I think if you look at this Bible, the Bible gives us a plan. I'm an athlete, so I'll say game plan of life. If you believe the Bible and you believe in Jesus, great. If you don't, it still gives you a, if you read the stories, gives you a game plan how to treat people. So number one is the reading the Bible. Believer or non-believer, that doesn't matter to me.

• 58:39Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 58:40Speaker 00

  It's the game plan of life that can teach you love all people, follow the laws of this land. But the main one is love all people. If you treat everybody with love and respect, non-believer or believer, the world's a better place. So I think it's a perfect game plan. The Bible teaches you a perfect game plan.

• 59:02Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 59:03Speaker 00

  So number one. Number two, truths. Oh, man, there's some funny ones I want to say, but I'll get blessed, so I'm not gonna say them. Always tell the truth. We've been dealing with some stuff about people stretching the truth lately, and we'll say it that way. So, we've been dealing with that lately, back home, and so, um, I'd say always tell the truth. And then, number three would be, I would say, no matter what you accomplish, there's more you could've did.

• 59:32Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 59:33Speaker 00

  And, and that's about me. If I passed away today, there was more I could've done.

• 59:37Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 59:38Speaker 00

  I say did, but could've done. And like I said, I could've got off the, the Xbox and read more.

• 59:43Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 59:44Speaker 00

  And then, which would've accomplished, number one, would've got me to love people more, right? Get off this anger kick when somebody drives in front of you and you want to honk the horn. So, I, I, I just think that you could accomplish more. I don't feel like you can sit back and go, I did everything I could possibly do. I think that there's always more you could've did. So, that would be my third one, is like, whenever you think you've reached your goals, you hadn't reached them.

• 1:00:11Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:00:12Speaker 00

  You could've did better. And that's another way of pushing yourself, so.

• 1:00:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Those are powerful truths, man.

• 1:00:17Speaker 00

  I don't know if they're truths, but that's what's going on in my crazy head.

• 1:00:20Lewis Howes?

  I like it, man. I like it.

• 1:00:22Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 1:00:23Lewis Howes?

  Before I ask the final question, where can we connect with you the most online? How else can we support you? Where do you hang out the most? Instagram, Twitter, Facebook?

• 1:00:32Speaker 00

  Instagram and Facebook, obviously, but Instagram is the big one right now, right?

• 1:00:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:37Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:00:38Lewis Howes?

  You're on there, you're hanging out, so people, they can connect with you there and...

• 1:00:40Speaker 00

  Yeah, for sure.

• 1:00:41Lewis Howes?

  Send a message about the interview that they're listening to.

• 1:00:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, for sure.

• 1:00:44Lewis Howes?

  It's just Bubba Watson there.

• 1:00:45Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 1:00:46Lewis Howes?

  All one word. Cool. Anything else we can do to support you, besides cheering you on, the tournament's coming up?

• 1:00:52Speaker 00

  The only way to truly support me was just pray.

• 1:00:54Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:00:55Speaker 00

  Just be thankful, or be thinking of me. It starts with being a, the first thing is first, is being a better husband.

• 1:01:01Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:01:02Speaker 00

  The better I can be as a husband, the better she can be as a mom, and the better our family can be. So, that's really it. And like I said, and I, it, people will never believe me, but I love the game of golf, but professional golf.

• 1:01:15Speaker 00

  Like I have just as much thrill beating you at my home course as I do beating Tiger Woods at the Masters, right? Like it's just, I just love the game of golf. I I've loved sports and so for me, it's the game of golf is great, but I'd rather be known as a Hall of Fame husband and Hall of Fame dad than a Hall of Fame golfer.

• 1:01:33Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's pretty cool. Before I ask the final question, I would acknowledge-

• 1:01:36Speaker 00

  I thought the last one was a final question.

• 1:01:37Lewis Howes?

  No, I said I got one more, but I wanted to support you and see what you wanted to share. Before I ask the final question, I would acknowledge you, Bubba, for all your wisdom for constantly-

• 1:01:47Speaker 00

  Let's don't, let's, you know what, let's keep it at that, let's keep it at that, yeah, wisdom.

• 1:01:50Lewis Howes?

  All your wisdom because you've been, you've gone through a lot of different challenges and you've had a lot of successes. And to hear you say you want to be a Hall of Famer, husband and dad over your career or over your sport, the thing you love the most or something you love very much. For me, that speaks very highly of you and I acknowledge your constant growth, your constant commitment to being a better husband and a better father. And um yeah, man, I'm just inspired by you as a person. So thank you for sharing your truth with us and um for all that you do for the world. This is the final question.

• 1:02:25Speaker 00

  Okay, here we go.

• 1:02:26Lewis Howes?

  What's your definition of greatness?

• 1:02:28Speaker 00

  Definition of greatness? Definition of greatness? Well, it's hitting a hook shot out of the trees about 2012. Oh, man, definition of greatness. I would have to say, um, I can think of people that I think are great people in my life and and truly what they are is selfless.

• 1:02:47Speaker 00

  They always ask how you're doing. They always want to know how you're doing and

• 1:02:54Speaker 00

  they mean it. You know what I'm saying? So I'd have to say, what pops in, what popped in my head as soon as you said that was selfless. Selfless acts over and over from an individual. That would be greatness, but I don't really think greatness can be achieved because like I said, I just think we underachieve as as people. We're so focused on ourselves that we-

• 1:03:14Speaker 00

  Don't really do as well as we can because it's all about us. The other people in this world, I don't, I can't vouch for, but for me personally, my whole life has been about me. Golf is about you, right? It's about the individual. It's not about anybody else. And so I've been focused on myself for 40 years of my life. So I gotta, that's what I'm trying to change and be better at. So I think greatness would be selfless. For me, greatness is selfless and not one care of yourself and focus on the people around you.

• 1:03:41Lewis Howes?

  That's great. You're the man.

• 1:03:43Speaker 00

  Thanks, brother. Yeah, man. Thanks for having me.

• 1:03:49Lewis Howes?

  There you have it, my friends. I hope you have been rejuvenated with greatness in your life today after listening to this interview. If you have, make sure to share with your friends. Text one friend who you think this would, this would resonate with. Text them right now and say, hey, guys, check out this interview. You can take the link from the podcast app. You can just copy and paste that link. You can put it in your text message. You can tweet it. You can tag a friend on Instagram. You can send them the link to the show notes, lewishouse.com/761. You can watch the full video interview there over on YouTube as well. We've got all of Bubba's information linked up over there. So make sure to check it out. Again, lewishouse.com/761. Bubba Watson.

• 1:04:32Lewis Howes?

  People's champion, the man, the myth, the legend. Super exciting. All right, guys. I've been so pumped. We had an amazing interview. If this is your first time here, we had a big interview at the beginning of the week with Terry Crews. Go listen to that episode. Over the last few weeks, we have some big people on, on the show. Robin Sharma was a huge interview for a lot of people. We did a one on relationships where I opened up about all my relationship past, the things I've learned, the mistakes I've made, the lessons, sharing all that as well. And we've got some big interviews coming up. I'm so pumped for you guys. We've just been diving in so deep with these conversations and I love every one of them. The people we bring on are vetted. They're people that are inspiring the world. They're people that have gone through real life experiences.

• 1:05:17Lewis Howes?

  And I believe they can share real life, practical lessons and advice on how to optimize your life, to take it to the next level. Again, if you enjoyed this, make sure to share with a friend, leave us a review, subscribe on the podcast, on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you're listening. And as Doris Day said in the beginning, gratitude is riches, complaint is poverty.

• 1:05:40Lewis Howes?

  What are you doing today? Are you living a rich life by being grateful and expressing your gratitude? Or are you living in poverty by constantly complaining of what you don't have? Reflect on that as we end this episode. And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.