A Joy To Watch

Tommy Does Golf - The Podcast

EPISODE 17
SEASON 01
11th August 2026

TOMMY: Welcome to Tommy Does Golf, the podcast where three old timers give you our opinions on everything golf. I'm Tommy Long, joined by fellow PGA professionals James Morgan and Paul Charman. With over 100 years and counting in the golf industry between us, we are well into our back nines. We'll do our best to stay on topic, but just like our tee shots these days, this podcast could go anywhere. We're hoping you enjoy the banter, and maybe, just maybe, we'll share a few pearls of wisdom along the way. Let's get into it.

I received a question from Phoenix, Arizona that's inspired this episode. That listener wanted to know who we love to watch and why.

Well, with the final major of the year at Royal Birkdale just around the corner, we're taking some time to sit down and answer that question for an episode we're calling A Joy to Watch. We've all picked three players that we would travel to watch and happily pay good money to see. So without further ado, let's see who made the cut. Okay, James, as ever, I'm gonna start with you. Give us a player that you have picked out that you really enjoy watching.

JAMES: A joy to watch for me, I'm gonna start off with Dame Lydia Ko. Born in South Korea, but moved to New Zealand. She's a Kiwi through and through. She has the New Zealand flag on her bag

TOMMY: yes.

JAMES: Even though she's had some, really bad years where she's played horrendous, lost world ranking points, dropped right down. Still the same demeanor. That's what I think I love about her, you can't tell whether she's playing really, really well or not. She just seems to have the same demeanor.

Always happy, and such a great ball striker, amazing short game. She was a fantastic putter- Absolutely ... early in her career. Really was outstanding. Yeah. I would love to have a game of golf with her.

PAUL: When did she win? She won her first tournament as an amateur when she was 15 or something like that.

TOMMY: 15 years old. 15. Yeah, absolutely.

PAUL: Was that the Canadian, Canadian Open?

TOMMY: Canadian Women's Open. Correct.

JAMES: She's won the Olympics one of each color, and I think the bronze one or the silver one, she's lost. She gave it to her sister. ? And she hasn't got a clue where it is in the world.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: But she knows where the gold one is.

TOMMY: Yeah.

A little bit of trivia, she became the youngest player in history, male or female, to reach world number one. 17 years- Wow ... nine months and nine days old. 17 years. So that is pretty incredible.

JAMES:Yeah ...

TOMMY: we'd all like to go and watch Lydia. Like you say, she's always got a smile on her face. And she's amazing in interviews, isn't she? She's so gracious, even in defeat. Yeah, win, lose, or draw. Yeah. Yeah. She's amazing, okay, Paul, give us your first one that you, Like to watch?

PAUL: So I'm gonna go with, one Fredrick Steven Couples. Former world number one. He won over 64 professional tournaments, the Masters, Players Championship. He also happens to be the oldest person to make the cut at the Masters tournament, and that was at the 2023 tournament at the age of 63 years, six months, and five days. So the reason I've picked Freddie

TOMMY: Boom Boom

PAUL: Boom Boom is because if I was able to just put his swing on repeat- and watch it over and over and over again, I do honestly believe that eventually I might take on some of that tempo yeah. I could put Freddie Couples on repeat and sit there-

TOMMY: It puts you in a trance ...

PAUL: It does put you in a trance ... in a trance. Yeah, it does. Specifically.

TOMMY: It's spellbinding, isn't it?

PAUL: It, it is. Well, well said. It is. Yeah. That's exactly what I was about to say.

TOMMY: Yeah.

PAUL: It, it exactly, it puts you in a trance.

TOMMY: Yeah.

PAUL: And if you were able to just repeat that rhythm, and that I think adds to his longevity- Yeah in the sport. The fact that whether it's a 50 yard, approach shot, or whether it's a 250 boom, straight down the middle of the fairway or more, it's the same rhythm. And I also think that carries on in his life. He always- Yes ... seems to just be- He is ... sauntering around, floating, moving. His personality when he talks, there's never anything hasty about-

TOMMY: No, there isn't ...

PAUL: his demeanor Do you know what I mean? I'll,

TOMMY: I'll just interject quickly, 'cause I did have a quote. He's famously laid back. Fellow players often joke that Fred looks like he's permanently on holiday, he's just got that fantastic demeanor about him, hasn't he?

PAUL: Yeah.

TOMMY: In another podcast, I pulled out the comment that Pete Alliss said about him, and he said, "If Freddie Couples was a dog, he'd be a Labrador-" because everybody loves him." Yes. And, if you asked 1,000 golfers whose swing they would like to own- a lot of them would say Freddie Couples.

PAUL:Yeah.

TOMMY: James, anything on Freddie that, springs to mind?

JAMES: I think you've covered it all really.

TOMMY: All right. Well, look, there is a theme to my three picks actually, you'll work it out. But I'm going with foxy. we all love Foxy. Success hasn't changed him.

PAUL: No.

TOMMY: : And I just love the fact that he's one of these players that- He's always exciting to watch 'cause anything can happen, foxy can go low. He's not scared of going low. He keeps his foot on the accelerator when he's on a good round. A little story, and this is going back, but I remember playing, New Zealand Open Qualifying at the old Manukau Golf Club. Lovely golf club. Yeah. You've probably played it, James. , This is years ago, I can't remember what hole it was, like 14, 15. Dogleg left to right. Trees on the right. And there's a bit of a hold-up, and we see this chap walking back down the fairway, towards us, and it's Foxy. And he's got his driver, and he's playing three off the tee because he's taken the corner on in the group ahead of us, and his ball has obviously stayed up the tree. So he hasn't come back to play an iron off the tee and try and- He's hit the same shot. And he's actually launched this one over the corner onto the green, two-putted to make his bogey, right? Yeah. And the reason that I mention it is he's, he's always played golf, as far as I can remember, he goes for it. Sometimes it hurts him, we know it does, and sometimes it frustrates us, but I just love the fact that he's out there to shoot as low a number as he can. He takes everything on. And the one other thing that, I will say about Foxy, I remember when I saw Wheely, Marcus Wheelhouse, and I was talking to Wheely about Foxy when he'd just started working with Foxy And I said , "Come on, what is it about, Ryan?" And he said, "Tommy," he said, "Ryan plays shots that we don't even see."

JAMES: Yeah.

TOMMY: And I didn't really understand what he meant by that until I played with Foxy around Kinloch. Of course, I know fairly well- Obviously

'cause obviously I've been there a long time. And Foxy was taking on shots that I hadn't even considered-

JAMES: Yeah ...

TOMMY: because I didn't have the power to even entertain them as a possibility. So yeah, I, I just think Foxy's one to watch. He's amazing to watch on the range. And the other thing, the last thing I want to say about him before you guys chip in, 'cause I know you will do. All right, absolute powerhouse. I love the fact that he's got an unorthodox swing, which we know he has, but he owns it he just crushes it. Mm. So yeah, Foxy's on my list all day long as one that I love watching, love supporting,

JAMES: you've obviously played with him. He's a good bloke.There's no airs and graces about him. No. He's a typical Kiwi, on the PGA Tour, and he's settled out there as well now. Yeah. Whereas I think his first year or two, he actually really struggled a little bit, missing home. Probably still misses home quite a lot, but, I think he's got a lot smarter with his golf, and when he goes for something, he goes for it. If he's gonna lay up, he'll be laying up for a reason, whereas in the past sometimes I think he went for absolutely everything. So he has learnt, he's developed his game, but he's stuck with his coach.He's stuck with Wheely. Ryan knows how he wants to swing it, and he wants the same set of eyes. He doesn't wanna change. History is littered with golf pros that have got to a certain level, then tried to change everything and then gone backwards. Yeah. And then the last thing for me is his pace of play.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: He just gets up to it. He's made his decision. Doesn't mess about.

PAUL: That's it.

JAMES: Yeah, bang. Go. Give me that golf club.

PAUL: Yeah. Go. Let's get on with it. Do

JAMES: Let's get on with it. Yeah. Yeah.

TOMMY: Okay. Right. Well, go on, James, crack on. Who've you got?

JAMES: Well, I'm gonna go to the other end of the spectrum from Lydia Ko, which is Tyrrell Hatton.

TOMMY: Oh, okay. All right. Heart on his sleeve.

JAMES: Yeah, heart on his sleeve. He does. When he first came out on tour, I must say, I was probably one of his haters.The club snapping, the throwing and the swearing, all that sort of stuff, you know, isn't how we should do things. Gary Evans in the 2017, there was a tournament he was playing in, the British Masters thing it was, and he had a chance of winning it. Anyway, he blew it, throwing his golf clubs, and Gary Evans told him to grow up. He wins the dunhill Links Championship.The following week, and just turns round in his speech and just goes, "Nobody's perfect." So he's aware. He knows he's got a problem. . But what I love about him, he's an amazing ball striker.

He can play golf. He sets his standards so high, so when he misses a putt, you know, you see him gesticulate. Yeah. And I think maybe it's because there's so many players on the PGA Tour that are just so beige. You don't see much coming from them.

Although Scottie Scheffler has changed recently when he stuck that ball in the pond , and he was absolutely giving his caddy the whole what for. Tyrrell goes, boom, explodes, but he's forgotten about it. Once he's had his two-minute rant, he then gets up to the next shot. Caddy goes, "It's 230 yards. Here's your four iron. Aim there. Do this." Bosh, and he steps up and stripes it i'd love to have a round of golf with him.

TOMMY: Yeah. '

JAMES: Cause he hits it pure. Yeah. And just the chatter.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: And he's saying what he's thinking. Mm. Yeah.

TOMMY: His nickname's The Headcase.

JAMES: Yes.

TOMMY: And it's one he's actually embraced because he's joked many times that he's his own worst enemy on the golf course, one of the best descriptions of Hatton came from a fellow player, who said, "Watching him play is like watching someone experience every human emotion in four and a half hours."And it kind of is, isn't it? I mean, he's got that dogged determination. He's like a terrier. Yeah. He really is a competitor, and he would just hold onto your trouser leg, you know? And you'd be trying to shake him off, and he just won't go away. And I love that about him.And like you said, if he's not happy, everyone knows about it.

JAMES: But it's his ability to forget.

TOMMY: Yes, move on.

JAMES: I wish I had that. I've just played over the weekend, and I had four, three putts on the first nine holes, and I'm still banging on about it. Whereas he can have a three putt and he'll forget about it. Next hole he'll have a 30-footer that just sits on the edge and he goes, "Oh, I'm so unlucky." He's forgot about the three putt.

TOMMY: Absolutely.Tyrrell's good value. He's always a great watch. Yeah. And they all say off the golf course, he's one of the funniest and nicest people- Mm ... you could meet. Yeah. So I'd certainly like to have a casual game of golf with him. It'd be hilarious. Go on, Paul. Next, who you got?

PAUL: So, Ernie Els, not just 'cause he's South African- before James says anything.

TOMMY: We all love Ernie. How can you not love Ernie?

PAUL: Well, I've picked Ernie only because I just think that here is, a true gentleman, and there are many, many, many gentlemen, I suppose, that we could talk about, you know? But Ernie Els, I've met him on a couple of occasions and- when I first met him, I wanted to talk to him about golf, and I wanted to talk to him about his golf and his career, and how he got there, and pick his brains, and we ended up talking about fishing.

TOMMY: : Mm-hmm.

PAUL: You know, which is, which- Yeah ... I walked away having had this, most amazing conversation with him. , But I was disappointed because I felt oh my gosh, I've missed this opportunity to have this conversation with this legend of a golfer. And yet I just thought, you know what? That's Els. You know what I mean? My intention was to go there and try and pick his brains, and we ended up talking about fishing on Kariba Dam or wherever it was in, in South Africa. Pretty cool. So for me, again, with regards to him as a person, as I said, he's a gentleman. Gentle giant, but as a golfer Again, maybe slightly in the same vein of, say, Fred Couples, just somebody that I love to watch. Yes. And over the years, I have loved watching Ernie Els play the game of golf.

TOMMY: Yes. I watched him in '95 close up at St. Andrews on the range, and he had Links Parallax, I think, at the time. This was a long time ago, right?

JAMES: Wow.

TOMMY: But his swing, he's like a human metronome.

JAMES: Yeah, totally

TOMMY: Like, it was unbelievable, and I was in a trance-like state just- Yeah watching him. And the power, and yet, it looks so effortless and so easy, the thing that struck me the first time I saw him up close was how huge he was.

PAUL: He's massive.

TOMMY: You know? He's a big lad. I mean, he didn't really have a neck. His head just went- No ... straight into his shoulders.

JAMES: Yeah.

TOMMY: He's just solid, just a strong- Yeah ... strong man. But again, strikes you as just a, kind, gentle human being that's been brought up with great values- Correct ... and just a legend of the game,

PAUL: Correct

TOMMY: yeah, we all love Ernie Els, don't we? Yeah. So, happy days. All right. Anything else on Ernie to wrap that up, or have we covered it all?

JAMES: Yeah. No, I think we've covered it.

TOMMY: We're all good. All right. My next one has got to be Rory. Again, I'm going for someone that I love watching because he's prime time.

JAMES:Yeah.

TOMMY: And he has got so many shots in the bag that other players aren't capable of. Yes. I mean, the first one, that springs to mind it's a shot that you guys will remember, the little shot that he played on the 17th in Rome in the Ryder Cup.

JAMES: Ah, yes.

TOMMY: Where he played that shot, and the other players around the green were open-mouthed, weren't they?

PAUL: They were astonished.

TOMMY: They were absolutely gobsmacked. Yeah. That he just played the shot nonchalantly, and Fitzy just turned to his caddy, and I don't know what he mouthed, but I think it was something- How the hell? with an F in it- Yeah ... as like, how the had he done that? Did that, yeah. And it was incredible. Yeah. The other thing about Rory, again, we talk about watching people, their golf swing on a loop, but watching him hit a driver-

PAUL: Yeah ...

TOMMY: on a loop, the noise. Yeah. The fact that he goes at it so hard, and he's able to hold that finish position- I know ... without recoil , it blows my mind, ,

JAMES: He's just so good for the game.

TOMMY: Yeah. Yeah.

JAMES: Again, not another one of these plastic beige people. When he's hit a bad shot, you can see his frustrations.

PAUL: You can, yeah. Yeah.

JAMES: And he's not trying to do what the psychologist is telling him, where, he must stay calm and all that lot. Let it out.

TOMMY: Yeah. it's funny because if I go back to When Wheely said to me about Foxy, you know, he plays shots we can't even see. Well, I remember hearing Foxy interviewed, and he was talking about Rory, and he said, "He's got shots in the locker that we can't play." So that's another level- Yes ... again, isn't it? When somebody like Foxy says that about Rory, you're just going, "Man, how good is this guy?" You know? And of course, he is the sixth player in modern day to complete the career slam, it's fantastic that he got there, 'cause he really deserved to get there, didn't he?

JAMES: And then when you see the relief.

TOMMY: Yeah.

PAUL: Yeah.

JAMES: But then he did say after that, "So now what do I do?" Oh, I'll go win the Masters again, shall I?,

TOMMY: James, come on. Give us another person.

JAMES : Well, I asked my wife this morning, , with the brief, joy to watch, and she goes, "Who's that Spaniard that has a cigar in his mouth and a glass of red wine?"And I went, "Oh, Miguel Angel Jimenez," and it triggered something in me. And I thought, "Yeah, a joy to watch." That was the brief.

TOMMY: Yes.

JAMES: So you see him with his warmup routine, he is so supple because he does it every day, does his routine, but it just looks so ridiculous what he's doing with his knees going round, but the club and the bending, and you're thinking, "Oh my God, I would snap if I even tried that." But he's done that his whole career, so he's stayed flexible. Like Gary Player, still doing his high kicks at 90-odd. So from that point of view, he's been able to play some really good golf. He's probably more known, for his senior tour wins. But he was the first over 50-year-old player to win on the DP World Tour. He's known as The Mechanic, , but that's because he likes driving cars into the ground, not because he likes repairing them one of his quotes There is no secret to life. Good food, good wine, good cigars, and some exercise. And I think that's a great mantra to live by. Yeah.When he holes a putt, he got the old sword thing from

TOMMY: Chi-chi Rodriguez

JAMES: Chichi Rodriguez. Yeah. Yeah, the whole give it the putter.

TOMMY: But he does it very well.

JAMES: And then the putter goes back in the holster.

TOMMY: Back into the sheath,

JAMES: yeah. And it's just showmanship.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: And he probably will get lung cancer and die, so he probably isn't a great role model from that point of view. But living life to the full and someone you wanna go and watch and you would wanna go and hang out with- Yeah ... he, would be up there for me.

TOMMY: Yeah. I think that's a good call. That is a good call. Paul, come on.

PAUL: That leads very nicely into my next person John Daly. I just put down here, this is me, the greatest showman. I go out there, and I do what I do. I don't change for anybody. I am who I am. I am who I am. And it is just simply that he has been given this ability to go out and hit an amazing golf ball. We've seen him, Tommy, we've seen him close up hit golf balls, and he is extraordinary.

TOMMY: Yeah.

PAUL: Golf isn't bigger than today or tomorrow or the next day. When I wake up, we'll see how things go. This is the way I flow. This is the way I flow. This is the way I roll. And he hasn't changed. And, if there's ever a candidate for, somebody that's gonna keel over tomorrow, you would put John Daly right up there. Do you know what I mean?

TOMMY: Although he's probably packed three lifetimes into most people's one.

PAUL: You're either gonna absolutely love him, or you're gonna just think he's just the worst thing that you've ever seen.

TOMMY: I think, first up, he might have been Marmite. People loved him or hated him. But I think a lot of the people who hated him have softened, they've warmed to him.

JAMES: 100%, yes.

TOMMY: :Right? Yeah. So over the years- Yeah ... because he has stayed true to who he is.

PAUL: Yeah.

TOMMY: And he has just been himself from day one.

JAMES: Yeah, yeah.

TOMMY: And we love that. Yeah. We just love that about him.

JAMES: I would've been in that category. , I went through a spell of not liking him because of all the, the club throwing and the stomping off- Mm ... and that sort of stuff. But then when you find out that's who he is, And again, that's the, , I suppose that is the one good thing with social media and YouTube and that sort of stuff. You can actually find out more about people.

TOMMY: Yeah.

PAUL: Yeah.

PAUL: You know, you look at other sports, and you try and compare maybe somebody that might be a little bit like JD. And although this person is actually nothing like him personally, but somebody like John McEnroe. And people, when he came on the-

JAMES: Yes ...

PAUL: when he started out, oh, my goodness. His tantrums. What's he doing? Why is he playing tennis? Why is he on tour? And yet, actually, over time, over time, people have actually come to love him

TOMMY: Okay, so I'm gonna come to my final one. I know you boys love her as well. I'm gonna talk about Charley Hull. I had to pick Charley because, again, she is who she is. She doesn't hide it. And she's great to watch.

She goes at the golf ball real hard. I love that. She's so competitive. She wants to win all the time. I actually remember seeing an interview where she was asked how many flags she goes at, and she said, "Every single one of them." Yes. And I love that because that's what amateurs do. You know? So they don't go, "Oh no, that's a sucker pin.

We won't go at that. . She just goes at every single one of them, and I just love it. Charley she's prime time because you don't know what's gonna happen when you watch her. She just goes for everything.

She's talked about getting bored making pars and would rather take on a difficult shot even if it sometimes leads to a bogey. I loved it when she sparked up a durry during a tournament, and the whole world seemed to lose its mind over that.

I'm not promoting smoking here, but she's cool. She's down to earth. I'd love to have a game of golf with her. Oh, yeah. She'd be great fun in your four-ball, wouldn't she? I just think she's very, refreshing for the game of golf. Charley's one that I would definitely love to go and watch, and I hope she wins some majors , 'cause she's had a couple of near misses.

JAMES: Yeah.

TOMMY: So yeah, I hope she gets what she deserves, 'cause she works really hard at it.

JAMES: And she is ADHD, and she struggles with a lot of things. Their brains go super fast.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: And she just gets bored being out on the golf course- Yeah she relies on her caddy to snap her back into focus.

PAUL: Yeah.

JAMES; She likes bullet points. Yeah. So it's like, "Right, how far is it?" "It's that far." "What club?" "Seven iron." "Where do you want me to aim?" "There." Mm. That's it. Not a long-winded Bryson DeChambeau, 'cause the humidity's this and that- No ..blowing in from there. "Right, tell me what to do." Facts. "Give me the golf club." Bosh, done. Go.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: And the fact that she's come out as ADHD gives other people with the same condition not hope, but

TOMMY: -" It's okay to be. And there's nothing to be ashamed of with it, and this is who I am.

JAMES: Exactly. Yeah. And then you then know- Yeah ... why they do the- Yeah ... things that they do do.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: And then you don't judge them incorrectly for what they're doing.

TOMMY: Yeah, There's so many players that we could talk about, and we've just named three each.

PAUL: Yeah.

TOMMY: think all of us would love to see Bryson up live, watching him hit it live,

JAMES: 100%.

TOMMY: That would be something we would watch. I don't know whether I'd wanna follow him for an entire round like I would with the likes of Foxy or Lydia or someone like that. But just to actually see him live to see how hard he does go at it and just to see that strike and the noise you know, 'cause I think sometimes on the TV you don't really get a concept of, it's like when you see the America's Cup, you know, and you see, it's on the TV, and you know they're moving pretty quick. But if you're actually there on the water and they're whipping past you, you get a different sense of actually- how fast those things are going. And I think the same would apply . we know he crunches it, and we hear the numbers, But actually, uh, that's the thing that struck me about Foxy when he hit his first drive 60 past me, you know, , and I'd hit my Sunday best, and it was just the noise.

PAUL: Different sound.

TOMMY: And it was the ball speed. And if you didn't get a decent fix on it watching him down the line, you would lose the ball. I know that he's exceptional because he's one of the longest, but again, somebody like Bryson, he's the same thing, isn't he? Yeah.

JAMES: And also Bryson when you see his, social media stuff, , it looks like he's having a lot of fun there as well. Whereas he actually doesn't look like on the golf course he's having much fun at the moment.

TOMMY: No.

JAMES: But off the course, he's just looks like he's, yeah, a regular guy that would go and play golf with anyone as long as you can have a laugh.

TOMMY: Yeah.

JAMES: Which, yeah, it's almost like two totally different personalities. Yeah.

TOMMY: some great names there, fellas.

PAUL: Yeah.

TOMMY: Some great names. Thanks, fellas. We will see you next time.

PAUL: Yeah. Cheers, Tommy.

TOMMY: If you've made it this far, we hope it's because you've enjoyed listening to Tommy Does Golf. To make sure you never miss our podcast, please hit follow. For more of our content or to get in touch, head to tommydoesgolf.com. So until next time, no matter how you're playing, smile, laugh, and most important of all, enjoy the walk