Rising Stars: Michael Thorbjornsen's PGA Tour Journey
Smylie and Charlie discuss Michael Thorbjornsen's first career victory at this year's Rocket Classic. Thorbjornsen has always had the potential to be a star.
Video Transcript
Heck of an achievement.
I mean, this, this kid, i- it's You know, we got a lot of young winners right now on the PGA Tour.
Everybody was talking about Jackson Coggin coming into this week.
Michael Thorbjornsen was a player, who we documented coming into this season.
He's another PGA Tour U guy, tons of talent coming out of Stanford.
He's had plenty of success on the PGA Tour, coming into the year.
Steve and I said, "If th- if this guy can just round out his game around the greens, really..." I mean, really the sky's the limit for, for Michael.
Is that You know, when he steps in, a guy like that steps into your office, that's the exact type of player you want to come in, 'cause you know he's gonna be, so solid from tee to green.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, I, I was so excited when I, when I first found out that I was gonna have a chance to, to work with him.
Going back to the Travelers two years ago when he got his PGA Tour U card, you know, they gave him an invite into that elevated event, and, you know, meeting up with him there for the first time, and then all the way, like, you know, through to today to see obviously him win and, and just what it meant to him and, you know, his family, and, you know, his dad's been heavily involved for such a long time.
It's, it's really cool to be able to watch that happen.
Well, he's, he's got a lot of unique stuff about his, his action, right?
Like, he's, his golf swing is, it's very, very good.
He hits it very far, hits it straight, hits a lot of greens, but he's got a 10-finger grip.
And I know, know we're not here to talk about his full swing, but he does it kind of in his own way, which I think, when a student like that shows up into your office, that's- that's kinda nice that you, you know that he's got some creativity in, at least in the way he plays the game.
Oh, for sure.
For sure.
I mean, you know, with the amount of players that I coach, I mean, you see me out there week to week, it's tough to get on the golf course to s- to see them live in action, and, you know- Mm-hmm I'd, I'd worked with him for a while, and eventually at the PGA Championship, at Quail Hollow, I got out to see him, and the first shot I s- I didn't even see him hit was on 17 on the par three.
And he was playing with another really top young player who, who everyone would know, but, you know, the, the other guy hits first.
I was grabbing a water out of the, the cooler, and Michael hit, and it was the third person that's ever made me do this.
I literally, like, turned around immediately.
Like, the sound off the club- you know, it was, it was just different.
And, you know, as a putting guy, like, you I don't get that excited- about full game stuff, but- Yeah it was one of those, like, you immediately turn around.
It's like, what was That was, that was not normal, you know?
So, he's- he's got just a, an immense amount of talent, and, and, and it's so good to see him finally get it over the line.
All right.
So what's in Michael's, DNA when it comes to just his overall short game?
Like, when he shows up, you know, in your office or the first time into your studio, you know, what were his beliefs in putting, and what did you see in his just overall DNA, and did any of it, have any translation between how he swung the golf club or how he set up to the golf ball and kinda what was in his, putting stroke?
Yeah.
I mean, it's You've been to my studio, Smiley.
You've sort of seen- Beautiful.
It's great how I do things, and you've sort of seen behind the, behind the curtain a little bit.
But, you know, because he's got so much natural talent, I think he was kind of winging it a lot with his putting as far as just, you know, "I'll try this" or "I'll try that."
And when I first met him, he was cross-handed, and- Mm-hmm you know, that was something that, like, it was part of his DNA by that point.
Obviously he, he was the best player at Stanford, won PGA Tour U, and But, you know, it wasn't a case of there was any reason why he did things.
There was, there was no real baseline around A, how he practiced or B, what he was kind of working on from a week-to-week- kind of point of view.
So, very raw, but obviously s- super talented.
So the, the main things that we really tried to do were just to instill good baselines, and, you know, give him some drills that he could work off statistically with strokes gained in mind and stuff like that.
And, you know, the one thing I'll, I will say to his credit, the, the first probably couple of months, you know, it was a little learning curve for both of us, but, you know, he really showed an ability to become a great short putter.
And, you know, with as good as he hits the golf ball, essentially the, the big thing was to try and be a little bit more consistent with his speed.
And then on top of that, you know, just trying to capitalize a little bit more on some of these mid-range birdie efforts that you need to, to win tournaments, 'cause, you know, you, you obviously gotta make a lot, a lot of birdies out there now-
