Video Transcript
Gary Player:
You’re working now for PXG. You look at a man like Bob Parsons. He goes to Vietnam to fight for this wonderful country, to fight for freedom, which we all are enjoying, and then he starts a big company and makes money. And then he comes into the golf business, and they all said that there’s a message in this. They all said, well, this guy, he’ll be out of business in three years’ time, and he’ll lose his money. And here, he’s doing exceptionally well because he has leadership and there is a great saying, Zach, everything in business is negotiable except quality, which he adhered to. And here’s his company doing so well. I know you’re proud to use it. I’m proud to use it, not just only as a club and a golf club, but for what it stands for and for what he did.
Zach Johnson:
Right.
Gary Player:
And I’m just delighted to be with these people. They’re magnificent with their clothing and their place down in Arizona. I mean, Bob Parsons has done a great job.
Zach Johnson:
Yeah. I’m glad you brought it up. When it comes to Bob, even Renee, his wife, just the Parsons’ family in general, I mean, I wouldn’t even know where really to start. I mean, certainly the business endeavors are very impressive. I applaud, I envy and certainly, there is inspiration knowing that hey, you can’t do this; this won’t work. And he did that a number of times in business, whether you’re talking about GoDaddy back late in the day, 20 years ago, or PXG, or whatever. This will not work. And he firmly believed in it. He believed in himself. He believed in this country, and he pursued it, and he pushed it, and it, obviously, the proof is in the pudding.
So, yeah. What an unbelievable man. I mean, a guy that is red, white, and blue all the way through.
He gives so much to the Marine Corp in general, and the Marine Vets. I know he’s had some honors along the way that he probably doesn’t particularly like to talk about. But those were his brothers and sisters. I mean, he would fully acknowledge that. He is an unbelievable, just man of this country. Businessman, sure. But just an American man.
Gary Player:
Yeah. He is.
Zach Johnson:
And I was fortunate, Gary, I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I met Bob, hell, I was nine or ten years old. He used to live in my hometown up in Eastern Iowa in Cedar Rapids, and back then his passion for the game was just starting to grow. This is late ’80s, early ’90s, and he was unbelievable back then. Hey, there’s Mr. Parsons, what new golf club does he have in his bag now.
Gary Player:
Wow.
Zach Johnson:
And he started his own company. He just loved the game of golf. He wanted to give back to it. He wanted to make the game better, and that’s what he’s tried to do. That’s what everybody at PXG has tried to do. So, when the decision came for me and I was afforded the opportunity to be an ambassador of this company, it really wasn’t a tough decision. I wanted to be a part of something new and fresh, but I wanted to be alongside good people. And I’ve been fortunate to wear those three letters on my hat, on my bag now for almost five years. And hopefully, there is five plus more years to come because my best golf is in front of me. They’re there for me whenever I need them, regardless of my ask, and I firmly believe that they’re going to help a lot of people in this game enjoy it more and get better at it. So, kudos. Well done.
Gary Player:
Yeah. And we’re in two different spheres. I mean, I only play a few golf tournaments, but I’m on television almost once a week, and I can do my share of promoting PXG in a different way than you. I’ve been playing on a lot of golf courses here in Philadelphia because my wife’s not well, and I’ve been stuck here with COVID. And all of the golf courses I’ve gone to are all big businessmen, and I say yes; I’ll play with you if you buy a set of PXG clubs. So, I put a little pressure on them as well! We can all represent the company in different ways.
Zach Johnson:
Sure.
Gary Player:
And I’m so pleased that Bob has got you signed because whenever I’m asked, “who is the greatest gentleman on tour?”, I never have any doubt in just saying Zach. I always remember you because your mom and dad used to be fantastic, and you honor your mother and your father, which is so, so important, which so many people do not honor their mother and their father anymore. So, it’s a pleasure to talk to you, Zach, and I want to tell you a little story we had at Augusta one year.
I’d won the tournament, and the next year, we’re having our dinner. It was down in the lower locker room. And I’m sitting next to Ben Hogan, who I always thought was the greatest striker of the ball that ever lived and had probably the most reliable swing once he mastered it. And anyway, there is this book coming around the table, and everybody is signing it. And so, it gets to me and I sign it, and I’m sitting next to Hogan, and I slide it in front of him. And he sits like this. Watch my face, Zach. He sits like this. He goes… He takes the book, and dead quiet. Takes the book and goes POW! In those days, we didn’t have this luxury locker room we have now, Zach. It was a hard table. And that book hit that table at 100 miles an hour, and he said, “Who passed this book…?”
I won’t tell you his language. “Who passed this book up here?” And Horton Smith, who was a thorough gentleman and the first winner of Augusta, he said, “I did because I’ve got a junior at my club who shows a lot of ability, and I just thought this would be very encouraging for him.”
Hogan says, “Horton, this is the Masters’ club, not a damn autograph session club; don’t you ever do that again.”
And now as you know, change is the price of survival. We now go to the locker room, but we sign hundreds of flags, and it’s changed for the better because all of these flags that have been signed go to charity for hospitals and schools and old age people. And so, that flag at Augusta is signed by many with great love.
Zach Johnson:
So true. The Masters’ flag. Man, it’s not that heavy in true weight, but you get a couple of signatures on there, the weight of that thing just increases substantially. It’s raised… I mean, that flag and that emblem has raised so much money for so many great causes or just inspired our youth in so many different ways.
Gary Player:
Yes.
Zach Johnson:
You said it. It’s amazing what Augusta National and the Masters Tournament, frankly the Masters’ champions have done as a result.
Gary Player:
I took my jacket home, Zach. I didn’t know… There was President Eisenhower, who I admired so much, and Bobby Jones, who was, what I think, one of the all-time great gentlemen of golf. He had a great command of the English language. He was a lawyer, and he was loved by all. I mean, really, when you watch his swing, Zach, he had the most perfect golf swing playing with a walking stick really, basically, and a ball that went 100 yards less than we use now, and the scores he did were quite remarkable. And I said to him one night sitting at the table, and you can appreciate this, I was cutting his meat, and his fingers were like this, Zach, with arthritis, and I put the fork between his hands, fingers like that, I cut his meat, and he jabbed it like that and ate it.
Gary Player:
And I said, “Mr. Jones, you mind if I ask you a question, sir?”
He was bent over, and he said, “certainly.”
I said, “I can never birdie the third hole.”
And he pondered for a minute, and he said, “You’re not supposed to birdie the third hole, you’re supposed to par it,” he said. And you know where they put that position with the flag, it makes you think about that, doesn’t it?
Zach Johnson:
Yeah.
Gary Player:
When you go to that green, a short little shot, and you make five instead of playing for four, and it was just… So, winning the tournament, being surrounded by Clifford Roberts, Bobby Jones, and President Eisenhower, I’m so excited, I go home with my jacket. So, three days later, there’s a call.
“Gary, this is Clifford Roberts here. Did you take your jacket home to South Africa?”
I said, “Yes, Mr. Roberts, I did.”
He said, “Nobody ever takes the jacket off the golf course.”
I thought quickly and I said, “Well, Mr. Roberts, if you want it, why don’t you come and fetch it!”
So anyway. He saw the funny side of it, and he just said, “Don’t ever wear it in public.”
Now all the guys wear it on all the golf shows. So, everything changes in life.
