What advice would you give your younger self?
Whew.
Good one. Tough one. Introspective one. The answer kinda depends on who you are, and where you’ve been. The response might be deep. Or it might be something else. The interrogator and the audience may learn something. Or they may not.
Then there’s John Daly.
He answered with five words.
The question was posed recently to Daly and other pros on the 50-and-over PGA Tour Champions circuit, and a video of the back-and-forths was shared Friday on the tour’s social media accounts. It’s worth sharing here, too. It’s engaging. Below is the video. Below that are some notes.
There was Ernie Els, a four-time major winner. As part of the exchanges, the pros were also shown younger pictures of themselves, and Els noted a gold chain he was wearing in his. He was unsure of the year. Maybe early ’90s.
His advice?
“Don’t be so hard on yourself sometimes on the golf course,” Els said on the video. “We become perfectionists in our own mind. The game is not about perfection. It’s about miss, where you miss it and how you cope with that.”
Then there was Darren Clarke, the 2011 Open Championship winner. Seeing his younger picture, he noted the lack of gray hair. He noted his shirt size. “Double or triple XL,” he said. “Oh, dear. Oh, dear. But the ball used to go in the hole there.”
His advice?
“You know, what advice would I give that young guy?” Clarke said on the video. “There’d be a lot of sensible things I could say. But that young guy had a lot of fun on the journey. Might have been a little bit, a little bit, maybe a few less late nights. Might have been a little bit more successful on the golf course, but it’s been a fun trip.”
Then there was Boo Weekley, one of the stars of the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team. In his photo, he saw whiter teeth. He saw his hairline.
His advice?
“Get Rogaine,” he said on the video.
Then there was Jerry Kelly, a three-time PGA Tour winner. He spotted a growing goatee on his photo. A sideways smile. More hair. And less. “No nose hair. No ear hair. Yeah, my unibrow isn’t there,” he said on the video. “I’ve gotten old. Damn it.”
His advice?
“Wow,” he started. “I’d like to say be easy on yourself, but I think that’s what kept me out there so long. So, I’d have to say, ‘Good job, kid.’”
Then there was Daly, a two-time major winner and one of golf’s biggest personalities. He was shown his photo. He was asked the question.
We’ll end this story with the complete exchange, started by the Champions’ social-media person, after he showed Daly his pic:
“Who’s that guy?”
“That’s an ugly son of a b**** right there,” Daly said on the video. “That’s all I got to say.”
“What year was that from?”
“God,” Daly said, “that had to be early 2000s.”
“What advice would you give that guy?”
“Nothing,” Daly said.
“He don’t listen anyway.”
