Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the worst advice I ever got. I'm your host, Sean Taylor, along with my producer, JB. And today our guest is Bill Haas.
Bill is a professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and has distinguished himself over the years with a very successful career. He's played in nearly 500 events, made over 300 cuts, and finished in the top ten nearly 60 times. Bill leapt into the limelight of the PGA Tour when, in 2011, he won the FedEx cup championship. Prior to becoming a professional golfer, Bill also had a distinguished college career in golfing as a three time All American and four time all ACC player. We're very excited to have Bill with us today from California, where he set the tee off in just a few hours. Bill, thanks so much for being here today.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: No problem, Sean. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:56] Speaker C: So, I would love to know, what was the worst advice that you ever got?
[00:01:00] Speaker B: I think the worst advice I ever got that people saying, hey, you're a millionaire. Don't worry about it.
[00:01:06] Speaker C: Okay. So don't worry about it. What is it? It.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: I guess just your sets or your worries are over. You can. Your career is set.
You know, it happened. The FedEx cup, when I won that tournament, happened in 2011. I was early thirties, just married. Certainly a lot of life left to live, and hopefully a lot longer career after that. In golf, our earnings are printed after each week, and people see that, and they're like, man, he's set for life. I'm not trying to sound ungrateful for that day, but I think that with that comes some responsibility, and then with that also comes, you know, desire to hold on to that level of golf.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: So, talk a little bit about golf and the whole heritage of your family, if you don't mind. Yeah.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Starting with family. My dad still playing. He's a champion. He's two or 70 years old. He's giving me all the gifts I have.
Um, his uncle, my great uncle was Bob Goldbee. Won the Masters 1968. My mom's brother, Dillard Pruitt, played on tour for a handful of years, won a PGA Tour event. My dad's brother, Jerry Haas, played on tour, and as the coach at Wake Forest, where I went to school. So, just a golf lineage, I would say. Certainly the family business, and I was lucky enough to. To follow in those guys footsteps. So, who gave you this advice? I was. I was doing a q and a, like, at an event, and somebody raised their hand and just said, what does it. What does it feel like to. To be set for life? Never have to worry about money again. I think I've realized that that's just not the case. And I think you just don't ever want to. I guess what I'm saying, the bad advice would be to listen to that and, and give up grinding, working hard. I think some of my most proudest golf moments actually came after that. So I think it just, I think I realized it when they said that I didn't agree with it and then I didn't want to take that advice. I wanted to say, well, wait a second, I'm not really playing for money. I'm playing for something greater.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: You know, it's interesting because I think this was the kind of early in the FedEx cup days when we were having the big prize money at the end of the season, right? Is that maybe why this came up?
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I was maybe the fifth or 6th winner. Tiger had won it maybe twice. Jim Fury, BJ Singh and then myself. And I think why I was unique was cause I was the first guy that maybe didn't fit into those, those guys categories. Guys that won already tens and twenties of millions on the tour. They would already set themselves for life in this guy's mind.
[00:03:55] Speaker D: Did people treat you differently after you won? When it comes to money?
[00:03:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I think people, they do when they, especially when it's printed and they say, oh, this guy's got $10 million. Well, I don't know that I was taken advantage of. I think I had enough people behind me to say, hey, that's not right. Or whatever, whatever it may be. Luckily enough, when I won the FedEx cup, if the golf fans would know, but the non golf fans, I hit a shot actually out of the water in a playoff that ended up helping me win the event. And people seem to remember that today more than the money.
[00:04:28] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. For sure. Sounds like in the moment when you heard it, you didn't react to it as good advice. What was, what led you to know that maybe it was bad advice? Like who counsels you? Who coaches you? Just, it sounds like you were set up to be prepared for. Well, that's kind of silly.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: The question or the statement felt. I don't know if icky is the right word, but it just felt wrong to think that, I guess, or to. And people would say a lot too, like, oh, you made more money that week than your dad made in his career on the course. And almost insinuating like, oh, who's had a better career? Well, my career, not even close to his. And so I think I knew that money wasn't the. What made it, made my career, I guess. And so wanting to prove that and wanting to play better and work harder, to say, wait a second, this wasn't a one week thing. It's a long career, and you make something, my dad used to always say is, you make 90% of your money 10% of the time. And so I think that motivated me just to say, well, it's not always going to be like this. It's not always going to be great. Uh, continue to work hard.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: Obviously, there's a lot of money associated with professional sports. Golf is not immune to that. Do you think that golf has become about the money?
[00:05:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we're at it. We're in a unique time in golf. Golf, unlike most sports, money is, uh, represented by how you play and not a contract. Um, I think now with the live, these people, uh, came in with, um, unlimited funds and offered top players more money than they could probably make, at least in the near future, uh, on the PJ Tour and prize money. And, uh, that was, uh, you know, money attracts people, and, and I think that that bugs some people. You know, I think it bugs that, that thought kind of like the way I felt when the guy said, you're set for life. That bugs me to hear that, and it bugs me to think that people would want to just take money over, work hard, and have a long career on the PGA Tour.
The live tour has caused a stir, and I think egos have gotten a part of it. Not necessarily, like, egotistical, like cocky is more like, wait a second, this guy's getting this from the glib, the tour. If I'm going to support the tour or stay here, they need to give me a little something. So it's all about what can you give me versus being proud of where you are and what you can accomplish. And I think we're seeing that in college sports, and we can go down the wormhole with his Nio money and people thinking they deserve this. This guy's getting this. So what do I get? And that was the greatest thing about golf, was you had to go earn it every week and prove it. And maybe the toughest thing about the game, but I think that should have, should mean a little more to guys than it seems to, to be right now.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Right?
[00:07:19] Speaker C: So the ecosystem of professional golf is changing with the entrance of the live. How has not focusing on money actually impacted your, your game?
[00:07:29] Speaker B: Maybe good and bad? I don't know. I mean, physically, golf is. It's not the same for me as it was ten years ago. I don't hit it as well, I don't think. And I'm grinding. I think that's the part when I go to the golf course, I'm not thinking about money. All I'm trying to do is get better at golf and try to compete with these younger guys. And I think those are the things I'm trying to show my kids, that hard work means something, and it's, even if it doesn't pay off, I can lay my head on the pillow at night and say, well, I've worked hard and I gave it my all.
And I think that means a little more to me if I'm going to, if I could fast forward and see what my kids are in 15 years, what they're doing with their life, I'd like to see that they're given that theyre all, no matter the results. Preston.
[00:08:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Its a very positive mindset you have. Im assuming that comes from your upbringing, because going back to what the reporter said is, dont worry about it. Youre set. Why do you keep grinding? I mean, you got all the money you need. Why does it matter? But youre doing this for different reasons. And thats a very, I hear a very positive mindset despite the challenges that you have in the tournaments right now.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it would be easy to say, well, I just dont have it, and hang it up. And I kind of have joked that I should retire. And I think my dad said at one time, he said, well, at your age, that's just quitting. But I think that's 100% right. I, retirement comes when it has to, and I just physically can't do it. And there's enough in me, I think, that can do it. And so therefore, you got to give it everything you have. Yeah, I think my upbringing, my. Again, he's 70, still on Champions tour, still going at it. He's, you know, I can't imagine what it's like for him to see these live guys get these paychecks. He's had the most, some of the most starts on the PGA Tour. He's made the most cuts ever on the PGA Tour. And so when you have a guy that's played a 10th of the career that he's had, getting these huge bonuses, and I've yet to hear him complain about it, to hear someone say, well, this is what I deserve, he's like, wait a sec, he's got to be pushed back by that.
[00:09:40] Speaker C: I think it's also what we do with what we've been blessed with. I mean, look, you were blessed with talent, and you put that talent to work, and part of the result of that was money. Right. But we've heard stories all the time where people have come into great fortune and literally run through it. Right. And that's got to go back to the value system you came up with about it. Yes, I did win all this money, and, yes, you know, I earned it. But I do need to worry about it because I could easily just spend it all and not be smart with it. Right.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: There's a. I don't know if it was an e 60 or 30 for 30. And it talks about all the different athletes that have filed for bankruptcy, and that's certainly a concern, you know, especially nowadays when I'm not playing as well. And what. What does the future hold? And we'd all love to have a job that's nailed down, guaranteed, till you're 65 with the retirement age, and that would be set for life to me. And so sometimes I don't feel set for life with my job. Security's not there and, you know, the PGA Tour is not going anywhere, but the players are. You know, there's. There's turnover year in and year out, and that motivates me to not. To not just say, well, I'm set, because I don't. I don't feel that way.
[00:10:50] Speaker C: I think our world focuses on how much people make or how much they take in the. But very little is spoken about what really is. What matters is what you spend.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: You know, I think I'm also lucky just with my family, my immediate family, my wife. I have three healthy children, my wife's family, certainly my parents, they've instilled in me that I guess that's not everything.
And spending money doesn't make you happy. It's just, you know, I've been lucky enough. When I go home, that's my happy time, and that. That certainly helps keep you in check and also make you work hard. And my kids just now got the golf bug. My two boys are eleven and nine and showing them how to play, teaching them how to play, and they're starting to see how hard it is themselves. And that motivates me to show them that it's not about what you get out of it, it's about what you put into it.
[00:11:47] Speaker C: What do you think is different in your life today if you had actually believed that advice and listened to that advice years ago?
[00:11:56] Speaker B: That's a good question. I don't know.
Like I said, some of my best memories in gall were probably after that day playing the President's cup. My dad was the captain. He picked me.
We ended up winning on the last. Not necessarily the deciding point, but it somewhat came down to if I'd have lost that, that match we'd lost, and that memory, I would say is my favorite memory in golf, and it has nothing to do with money. So if in 2011, I said, well, I'm set, who cares? Well, then I guarantee I would not have made that team.
[00:12:30] Speaker C: You're not a financial advisor. We actually are, so we can talk about this. But generally speaking, you came into a lot of money. What is a piece of advice you would give people who may have really life changing financial results come their way?
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Oh, man, I don't know. Please. It's hard to talk about. I would love to listen. I would say, go talk to you, somebody that knows what they're talking about. Ask them as many questions as you can, maybe be patient with it, let it sit there, make, make good decisions. And what made you come into that money and keep doing that, keep working at it, to, to continue to do that, if that's what your goal is. I was told to seek out players that I thought were better than me. Ask them questions, watch them, try to emulate them. So I would say do that in the financial worlds. Find somebody that is smart and can give you great advice, that's unbiased advice that maybe they don't gain anything from, just how they can help. Help you personally.
[00:13:31] Speaker C: Yeah. I hear surrounding yourself with people that know and understand you and can help you filter through some of the noise that's going to be out there, because there's plenty of it. Right. That's, that's what you did?
[00:13:42] Speaker B: That's what I was able to do. And again, that's. That starts with my dad. You know, he's had the same management team, and so he trusted those people. I trust my dad. Therefore I trusted them.
And I think that is easier said than done. People say, hey, go find these people. Where do you go find these people? That I'm not sitting there saying, that's not difficult in its own right. So that may be the patient part of taking your time to find these people and meet them, interview them.
I was lucky. From high school to college, I kind of knew what I wanted to do, and the family business was gone up. I knew I wanted to do it. I was lucky that it worked.
Hopefully people enjoy what they're doing, and that is more important than the financial side. But again, that's so easy for me to say when it just has all worked for a little while. But right now the unique part of mine is this is where I'm struggling. And you would think my experience, and I'm not too old, I'm not young, that should be working in my favor. But right now I'm trying to find out, you know, how to keep this going.
[00:14:51] Speaker D: How do you feel your career would be going? You know, like you said, you've been struggling lately. You know, you're not making as much money. If you did focus on money, would that just make it that much more stressful?
[00:15:01] Speaker B: Oh, I think 100%. I think if you went and looked at the guy that finished one shot ahead of you and see how much money, the difference of what one putt would have meant week in and week out, I think that would make you have a short career. The world I live in, which is the earning your pay week in and week out, theres no contracts. Nobody says, oh, he used to be good, lets give him a bonus. It's just, it's, it's a, it's a different situation obviously with live out there that, that somewhat exists now in our, in our sport. But overall I'm here, I'm playing in Napa this week. Um, tea off later this afternoon. And you know, the guys that teed up this week, if you don't play good Thursday, Friday, you get nothing. And uh, you know, next week's a new week. But that's the, that's the good and the bad about our sport.
[00:15:48] Speaker D: Yeah, that's crazy actually. I think about that all the time. It's funny that you brought that up. There was a guy who cannot remember his name, but he's up four strokes on the 14th hole and he ends up in fourth or fifth place, like has a quad bogey. And that's all I was doing. In my head, I'm like, he just lost two and a half million dollars. But you just can't think like that as an athlete.
[00:16:11] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: That's a tough way to look at it. But I think a lot of people do. And it's easy to say to look at that the wow factor or the shock factor of wow what? Look what he lost on that last putt. And. But nobody says, well, look what he won on all those putts that he made on the first 71 holes. They're just talking about the one putt that Rory McElroy at the US Open. He missed the putt on 18 to lose the opening. What about all the great putts he made, and all week that put him in that position. And I think a good player. I think a guy like Rory, he has an unbelievable ability to wipe the slate clean. And the talking heads in the sports world will say, oh, he's clearly affected. He hasn't won a major. I say it the other way around. And the guy's got so much weight on his shoulders, him supporting the tour, not, not going to live, coming out week in and week out, being at the top of the leaderboard, to me, shows that he's got an amazing head on his shoulders. And for whatever reason, it hasn't, he hasn't had the wins, but he's clearly one of the top two, three best players in the world. And I hate when I hear people try to knock a guy like him down when there's a player like myself who would be happy just to be in those events, much less competing week in and week out. So I think to myself sometimes, like, well, what are those people saying about guys like me, you know, when I'm grinding my tail off, you know? So those are the things where I think I compare myself more, more so than the money side. I'm comparing more like, well, man, this guy's really good, and they're knocking him pretty hard. So where does that leave me? And those are the things I struggle with the most, probably.
[00:17:45] Speaker C: What do we tell our kids about, you know, the importance of money as it relates to what you're doing in your career?
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Hopefully I'm showing them, you know, hopefully I show them that the hard work side of it, going to the course every day. I mean, my daughter, my youngest, she's gotten to the, if I leave, I'll be, I could be home for a month. And the day I leave, she's like, why are you leaving me again? You know? And it's a, hopefully that makes them realize that I was, that's dad working hard. It's not, I'm not going for, on vacation. I'm not. I didn't go to Napa to come wine taste. I came out here to play golf and, and I'm sure we'll talk about it. I'm sure money will come up when they're older, you know, probably late high school, college days, when they're thinking about what they're going to do with their lives. And hopefully I'll be able to give some insight to them and, and they can make their own good decisions. But my plan is just to show them that they look at me and respect me as a guy that worked hard and they can do it themselves.
[00:18:42] Speaker C: Hopefully, nothing's given to you in this life. You need to work hard, and you need to be committed to what you're doing for various reasons, including, not the least of which is job satisfaction, personal satisfaction, personal reward, but then also what it means to those around you and having a positive impact on your family and your community.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: Yeah, 100% agree. I mean, I think that's the greatest thing about the game I play, is there's nothing more rewarding than having a good finish against some of the best players in the world and then reaping the benefits of that. And I can honestly say, and this is, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I never looked at the paycheck. I just looked at who I'd beat and what that meant to me personally. Just heating up next to him meant more to me than. Than anything else.
[00:19:32] Speaker C: Well, I can tell you my motivation in doing this podcast is to meet guys like you and your stories like yours, and hear about the bad advice and the worst advice people got, because it. It just makes for great conversation that people who listen to this are going to be like, wow, I can really relate to what Bill is talking about, and I can't relate to winning the FedEx cup, but I can greatly relate to everything you're saying. Its impact on your family, its impact on what you strive to do each and every day. So I'm really excited that you spent the time with us this morning. I know you got to get ready to tee off here in a little while. So I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this with us, Bill. Thank you.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: Yeah, no problem. I appreciate everything you're doing. I think hearing bad advice is just as important as hearing is hearing good advice. And I think you said it before on the show that there's so many podcasts out there that are telling you what all the great advice is in the world, and it's certainly nice to have bad advice on your radar and maybe recognize it when you hear it.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: JB, this is a great episode with bill. It brings into my mind the question of, do our worries fade away when we, quote, hit it big or when we're successful or when we make a bunch of money?
[00:20:47] Speaker D: Well, sometimes the goal isn't money. I think that's what my big takeaway was from this, which is funny. You know, you, everybody growing up, you want to be a professional baseball player, professional basketball player, and, you know, in your mind, you're probably thinking, oh, I'm going to have so much money, I can buy my mom a house, all these things. But his whole thing is, the goal cannot be money, or you'll never work hard enough to really get that money. You know, you got. Your goal has to be just getting better every day.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Bill said right now, if he was focusing on how much money he was making, it would make his life that much more stressful. And I think that's pretty universal for all of us, right. Focusing on money just simply adds more and more stress to everything you do.
[00:21:21] Speaker D: You know, he was saying today when we were talking about before he goes out tonight, if he hadn't played Thursday, Friday, he doesn't get anything. Those are those guys that just make the trip. Got to go home with nothing. And so if you think about money, I can't imagine what it does to your golf game.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: But then just think about what our culture says about this. His dad has made more cuts than anybody in tour history. He's still playing into his seventies on the Champions tour. And despite all that, he's made about one 10th the money of many of the younger players on the tour. So when you think about who's had a more successful career, his dad or some of these younger players, what do you think society would say? I think they'd say that these younger guys are way more successful than Jay was. But that's crazy.
[00:22:02] Speaker D: That's crazy. It's just the money. The money is not what makes you successful on a thing. I really liked his line that you win 90% of your money 10% of the time. Oh, and that's just such a good. I mean, just anybody who's listening to the podcast, who's an athlete, or who does any of these things, you got to think about. You're working all the time for this one out of ten time event that happens, and so, you know, don't waste it when you do.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: You know, the other thing that I took from talking to Bill was, you know, everyone we've had on our show so far, JB, the bad advice has come from maybe a boss they worked with or a family member or a friend, someone they've had a pre existing relationship with. This worst advice that Bill got really kind of came more from the ethos, right. It was just some random reporter who brought up this point, and it brings an interesting question up in my mind about what. What kind of cues do we take from what society or the masses say? I mean, do we take advice from the general public speaker?
[00:23:00] Speaker D: Two, I think absolutely, especially in this age of social media, and everybody's got a voice in the amplification of, you know, some guy who got some likes on Twitter.
And, you know, Aaron Rodgers said the other day, he said, don't ever take criticism from someone you wouldn't take advice from. And I think that's a really interesting way to look at it, especially now that everybody's got a voice.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: One more thing on this that really stuck in my head was we really talked a lot in this episode about this one particular shot or this one particular moment and whether you failed or succeeded. And he brought up a great point. He's like, no one ever talks about the hundred of great moments where you were really successful to get to the point that gave you the opportunity to either win or come in second or come in third. It's really not human nature, is it, to focus on the journey. It's all about whether you made it in that moment or not, isn't it?
[00:23:50] Speaker D: Yeah. He brought up Rory McElroy, which is a popular topic about this with the talking heads, is that, you know, he, he missed this puncture. He came in second. And if he adjusted that, it's like, what about the 100 that he got to get in this position? It's like. And he knows how hard it is to do that. So I just thought that was a really interesting perspective. And I myself will probably give Rory more of a break when I watch him play.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Yeah, no, absolutely. Well, it was great having Bill today on the worst advice I ever got. And, folks, if you enjoyed what Bill had to say today, be sure and go out and give us that five star rating on the podcast so we can continue to attract great people with great stories to bring great content to you for future episodes of the worst advice I ever got.
