You're from South Africa, a country that produces many great golfers. What was your junior golf career like?
I grew up in Durbin, South Africa, and lived there most of my life. Then I moved to Johannesburg to do national service (Editor: "national service" means playing for the RSA National Team) for two years. They only pick four guys every year. Ernie (Els) was chosen for that, Reteif (Goosen), myself ... Those guys were younger than me. Ernie came two years behind me.
How did you wind up playing collegiately at Texas A&M?
Once I got chosen (to play) for South Africa, it helped me get the scholarship to Texas A&M. Because I did two years national service, I couldn't stay (at A&M) for four years because they wouldn't pay for my scholarship. But the first year we won the Southwest Conference, which was pretty big. Back then you had Bob Estes at Texas and John Daly at Arkansas.
And after leaving Texas A&M, did you play professionally?
I battled through college. I had a few top 10 finishes but I wasn't a standout player. From there I went back to South Africa and turned professional. I won Tour School (for the Sunshine Tour, the Southern Africa Tour). I kept my card for five years and then came to America, where I was given a job working with David (Leadbetter) at Lake Nona in Orlando.
Had you always been interested in golf instruction?
Not really, but I always had an interest in the swing. It held me back in my (pro golfing) career, being a complete perfectionist. But trying to do everything perfectly helped me learn the swing.
How did you hook up with David Leadbetter?
I took lessons with him when I was in college and also when I was a professional. I started working for David ... it was probably '94, it's been 10 years.
You're now the Director of Golf at IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla. What is the focus there?
Junior golf has been our main focus. We started with summer camps and then we built a fulltime program. And the difference between this and most academies, it's more of a training atmosphere, it's not just instructional. The instructional part isn't the main focus, it's training the athlete mentally, physically and technically and trying to enhance their game so they can prepare for competition and have peak performance during competition.
And your most famous student at this time is Michelle Wie. How does a golf instructor in Florida wind up with a young girl in Hawaii as a client?
I did a coaching seminar in Hawaii, in Honolulu, and during that time I called the family and we hooked up. I taught juniors on about four (Hawaiian) islands for the week and she came out. She was 12 years old ... this was around February 2002.
What was your reaction the first time you watched her hitting on a driving range?
I've seen a lot of juniors come through. At 12 years old, she had the power and the finesse components I have never seen on a kid like that before. She naturally just hit the ball ... the driving range was 250 yards long and she was flying the fence.
How often to you get to work with her? And do you travel to Hawaii to do so?
No, they (the Wie family) come to the mainland. They'll come to the academy for weeks at a time. During the weeks they're here we go through every area of the game and work on it, from putting to the driver. And then in the summer (of 2003) I traveled with her because she was going to take a huge step.
How do you see Michelle's game developing over the next few years?
What I see in her game is the next three years is a learning process - going out there and playing with the best of the world. What happens in their games and their mindset rubs off on you and you learn how to score.
She's learning how to score. If she played at a lower level she could score, but she has to learn how to score at the highest level.
The thing is, if you want to be the best in the world at anything you do, you better hang around the best. It's like it's contagious. If you want to be mediocre just hang around mediocre people, they'll soon get you thinking that way.
