Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman emperor, once wrote: “You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.” It’s doubtful Aurelius ever landed a perfect pitch on the downslope of the collar only to watch it rocket 40 feet past the pin, but his philosophy for life does apply to golf. Few today are more qualified to speak on Stoicism than Massimo Pigliucci. He is a professor of philosophy at the City College of New York and the best-selling author of several...

The Golfer's Journal and this podcast are made possible by reader support. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT Padraig Harrington will be the first to tell you that he wasn’t destined for golf stardom. In fact, he’ll be the first to tell you a lot of things. Like how to pronounce his first name (“Pour-ig”), what separates elite professional golfers from the rank-and-file, and why your on-course goals need more oomph. In this...

The Golfer's Journal and this podcast are made possible by member support. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT A case of the throwing yips ended Jason Kuhn’s promising baseball career. He pivoted and became a decorated Navy SEAL operator and sniper. In his post-Special Forces career, he’s turned his training into a bulletproof mental system that has led Lucas Glover back into the winner’s circle, Atlanta Braves pitcher Tyler...

The Golfer's Journal and this podcast are made possible by reader support. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT With thoughtful questions and a knack for reading the room, Amanda Renner’s (formerly Amanda Balionis) post-round interviews have become something of a CBS broadcast weekend tradition. Now it’s her turn in the chair as Tom Coyne gets the inside story with Renner on asking tough questions (like interviewing Tiger...

The Golfer's Journal and this podcast is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT “Everyone wants to be great, until it’s time to do what greatness requires.” Joshua Medcalf has made a career by turning the path to greatness into best-selling stories. The sports psychologist, author and scratch golfer joins Mind Game to discuss what greatness actually requires, the benefits of being uncomfortable, how he went...

Easygoing charisma, effortless steeze and bombed fade drivers have made Keith Mitchell a fan favorite on Tour. But he wants to be more than that. On the latest TGJ Podcast, Tom Coyne pays Mitchell a visit at his home in Sea Island where the two discuss Mitchell's ambition, offseason tinkering, swing thoughts, perfect medium-rare steaks, what’s in his golf closet, and the wild backstory story behind TGJ No. 25’s cover. The Golfer's Journal and this podcast are made possible by reader...

The Golfer's Journal and this podcast is reader-supported. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/MembershipsYT Julie Elion’s nickname on Tour is “Stealth,” because the most in-demand psychologist in in the game doesn’t disclose her clients or grant many interviews—until now. Wyndham Clark, Max Homa (above) and Justin Thomas have all revealed they are working with Elion on their mindset using her holistic, goal-driven approach to building...

If you prefer that your golf instructors stick to sports, steer clear of Sean Foley. The longtime mentor to Tiger Woods and Justin Rose is an inveterate seeker, drawn as much to the neuroscience behind how we learn as the ideal position at the top of the backswing. Foley sits down with host Tom Coyne for a wide-ranging discussion on performance and purpose, fear and success, perspective and, yes, even love. If all that leaves you asking, "Why?"—to Foley, that's the whole point. The...

Focus on one big goal at a time. Say no more than you say yes. Be more productive by being less busy. Sahil Bloom is a writer, entrepreneur and creator who inspires millions daily with bite-sized nuggets of wisdom and life hacks. He joins Mind Game to give his playbook on time management, the benefits of imposter syndrome, making one good decision at a time, choosing a side quest and prioritizing the things that matter. If you’re struggling to find ways to attack your Index Experiment goals,...

Few golf writers know the Ryder Cup like Shane Ryan. Since his book, The Cup They Couldn’t Lose: America, The Ryder Cup, and the Long Road to Whistling Straits, he’s only increased his exhaustive reporting of the biennial event’s origins and history. On this week’s TGJ Podcast, he and host Tom Coyne discuss the best and worst captains, the formation of the pod system, bad blood and preview next week’s showdown in Rome. The Golfer's Journal Podcast is presented by Titleist and made possible...

Since the Super Bowl era began in 1967, only 800 men have started an NFL game at quarterback. Kyle Allen is in that elite club. He joins host Casey Bannon on this week's episode of Mind Game to discuss the physical, mental, emotional and leadership skills required to play the most coveted and challenging position in professional sports. This podcast is 100% reader supported thanks to the Broken Tee Society. Become a member here:...

As a kid, Tom Valentine called Merion Golf Club “the family farm.” His grandfather tended the greens there for 52 years, and his father followed suit for another 27. Tom took a different approach, opting to leave the "farm" to develop newer and more efficient ways to care for courses. That's taken him across the golf world, but his heart still belongs to Merion. Dig in learn more about our playing surfaces, an encounter with Albert Einstein, and a secret modification to Merion's famed 11th...

The brain processes roughly 70,000 thoughts per day. With 100 billion neurons connected nearly 500 trillion different ways, it’s without question the most important club in your bag. So as we continue The Index Experiment, it’s vital to examine the mind’s role in playing better golf. In this new podcast series, we’ll hear from high performers, academics and experts across a wide range of disciplines, all offering mental models, hacks and insights to help in your search for improvement.  On...

You might have heard that gambling legend Billy Walters is releasing a book, and that Phil Mickelson is prominently involved. But have you heard the rest of the story? The one in which Walters is raised in the pool halls of rural Kentucky, rises to legitimate business power on the Las Vegas Strip and uses his time in prison to do some good for other inmates? Walters joins host Tom Coyne to chat about Phil, the $100 million in losses, that $400,000 Ryder Cup wager and the two-year sentence...

The Golfer's Journal Podcast is made possibly by member support .If you enjoyed this episode, please consider becoming a member here. As host of Golf Channel’s Morning Drive from 2011 until its final episode in December 2020, Gary Williams cemented his place as one of golf’s most recognizable voices. He joins host Tom Coyne to take stock of a golf life spanning from Ridgewood to Wyoming to Seminole and beyond. Williams talks candidly about his sobriety, and shares hilarious stories about...

Welcome back to Re-Teed—the show that relieves some of golf’s most memorable tournaments. This time around, Editor Travis Hill reminisces on the chaos that was the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale which, for him, included birthday cake shots, Wrigley Field and life-changing news. For Jordan Spieth, it included one of the strangest rulings in golf history and some demon slaying down the stretch. We re-tee it all on this episode, plus Travis catches up with friend-of-the-program D.J. Piehowski in an...

Joe McDonnell has always known good golf. He grew up in Hoylake and has been a member of Royal Liverpool since he was a young lad. Today, McDonnell is changing the way the industry thinks and looks at golf holes. Using state-of-the-art topography technology, 3D graphics and an artist’s touch, McDonnell’s hyper-detailed renderings of golf holes land somewhere between golf course architecture and modern art—and we’re proud to feature them in the “Yardage Book” department of The Golfer’s...

The Golfer's Journal is made possible by member support. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a member. What’s left after playing and writing your way through Ireland, Scotland and America? For TGJ Senior Editor Tom Coyne, it's settling down and falling in love with a golf course that needs some. Alongside his new superintendent Shaun Smith, Tom details how he became the owner of Sullivan County Golf Club in Liberty, NY, how they’re turning it around, and how it all...

The Golfer's Journal Podcast is made possible by member support. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/Memberships Geoff Shackelford has written extensively on golf course architecture throughout the years and has consulted for Los Angeles Country Club on course modifications, making him the ideal guest for 2023 U.S. Open week. Shackelford joins Tom Coyne for a candid chat on his new book, Golf Course Architecture for Normal People, how...

Friend-of-the-program David McLay-Kidd makes his return to the TGJ Podcast from the site of his highly-anticipated next project: Dormie Network’s GrayBull in the Nebraska Sandhills. The world-renowned architect known for his work at Bandon Dunes, Gamble Sands and Sand Valley joins Tom Coyne to discuss the wide array of course builds he’s currently undertaking, the new course boom, how water works, how new projects come about, how the pandemic affected his business, Ruby Tuesday vs. Applebees...

What does it take to be the best in the world? Or maybe just better than yesterday? If anyone knows it’s Cameron McCormick—Jordan Spieth’s swing coach for the last 18 years and one of the game’s most respected instructors. Host Tom Coyne recently paid McCormick a visit at his performance center at Trinity Forest Golf Club where they discussed the mindset of elite players, the power of forgiving yourself before a bad shot, Tom’s personal Index Experiment and what 12-year-old Jordan Speith was...

The Golfer's Journal Podcast is made possible by member support. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a member here: https://glfrsj.nl/Memberships Lou Stagner never intended to become the golf data guy. But with a degree in analytics and a spreadsheet that’s tracked every single one of his shots since the 1990s, he’s uniquely qualified for it. The prolific tweeter joins Tom Coyne to discuss why not all 10 handicaps are equal, why more birdies is a bad strategy, the...

The Golfer's Journal Podcast is made possible by Member support. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a TGJ Member: https://glfrsj.nl/Memberships Bernard Darwin didn't invent golf writing. But as TGJ contributor and philosophy professor Matt Chominski tells us, he was the first to prove it could be a career. Chominski and host Tom Coyne are your guides through Darwin's singular golf life, with timeless tales about Pine Valley, Bobby Jones, the inaugural Walker Cup, and...

After an award-winning career as a PGA teaching professional, Keith Stewart is going all in on something more high stakes: betting on golf. The founder of readtheline.com joins host Tom Coyne to unpack what makes golf such an attractive sport to wager on, his rigorous process for making picks, the pros and cons of sports gambling and all the factors that make The Masters one of the most-bet weeks of the year.

Parker McLachlin, aka @shortgamechef, is a winner on the PGA Tour and is now helping some of the world’s best players revamp their short game using modern techniques. We sat down with Keith Mitchell and Collin Morikawa’s greenside guru to better understand how pros approach wedge play, why our understanding of it needs modernizing, why amateurs make it harder than it actually is and who the best to ever hold a wedge is. Broken Tee Society members can get $70 off all of Parker's short game...