“If I’m not winning it drives me nuts”
Elliott Heath meets American John Catlin, a man who’s come from seemingly nowhere to be a two-time champion on the European Tour...
et’s be honest, not many of us knew too much about John Catlin at the start of 2020. The Californian, who has lived in Thailand for the past four years, has seven wins out in the Far East, but his status on the European Tour was rather limited until recently – he was relying on invites after a finish of 155th in his debut Race to Dubai season in 2019. Fastforward a year and the 29-year-old is a twotime European
Tour winner edging closer to his ultimate goal of reaching the world’s top 50.
He’s produced some stunning performances on the Asian Tour, with his biggest win coming at the 2019 Thailand Open after three victories and player-of-the-year honours in 2018. This all followed a successful college career at the University of New Mexico, where he competed against the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele. However, 2020 will be known as the year when he made his big breakthrough.
Catlin edged out Martin Kaymer in tough conditions to win his maiden European Tour title at Valderrama and then produced a clutch birdie on the 72nd hole to triumph at the Irish Open just three weeks later. We recently caught up with the American to hear his journey so far and what lies ahead...
How would you sum up 2020?
It was a pretty crazy year to be honest. I went from not knowing my schedule to winning my first European Tour event, winning two in quick succession and playing in my
first two Rolex Series events, so it’s been a pretty big rollercoaster year for sure.
How did you get in to golf ?
My dad and my brother would take me out when I was a kid. I was quite young at the time – my older brother is nine-and-a-half years older than I am. He would have been 12 when I started and I was about 3. It just began as a fun thing for us to do together – I loved it, but I loved pretty much every sport as a kid. I loved to compete.
Even though I was nine years younger than my brother, I’d still try and find ways to compete with him. I think that’s where it started and it just kind of grew from there. I didn’t start taking it really seriously until I was about 10, during the time when
Tiger Woods was dominating professional golf. That’s when it became clear it was something I wanted to pursue.
It was definitely a big culture shock. It’s very different, but I think it was a great experience for me – having to make my own decisions, being on my own, being my own adult.
If something went wrong, I had to figure it out and I couldn’t call my friends, call my family. I had to be the one to take care of it. If I didn’t practise, there wasn’t anybody on my case except me so I think that was a very, very good move for me. It allowed me to take a bit more ownership
over what I was doing and it’s benefited me greatly.
You won seven times out in Asia – was the standard as high as you thought it was going to be?
There’s a lot of great golfers out there. It’s very fierce competition – you’ve got to be ready to play every single week and I think that’s what made me take it so seriously. I moved over to Thailand and I was like, ‘Okay, if I’m going to do this I’ve got to give it everything I’ve got, because that’s what the other guys are doing.’
I think that really, really helped me focus my attention and that’s when the practice started going higher, I started working out more, I started reading more books, doing research, just getting smarter about what I did. I’ve carried that on, trying to continue to get better in every aspect of what I do.
Are you surprised more Americans don’t go over to Asia first?
I think you have to be comfortable with it – it’s a pretty big move. It’s 9,000 miles away from home, basically the opposite sleep cycle, different food, different everything. If you’re not comfortable with that then it could be a recipe for disaster.
I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I think if people could kind of get over those factors, they’d realise that it’s a great opportunity and a great way to become a better golfer. I think it’s an excellent route, but I’m not surprised that more people don’t take it.
“I love to win and I love to compete – it started when I was a kid. I think that’s what gets me up in the morning”
You’ve had a couple of massive wins this year, especially at Valderrama. Does that top everything in your career so far?
Yeah, that’s just a world-class golf course. Everything about that property is done to the highest level, even down to the fringes, how well they’re mown and maintained. I think it’s the Augusta National of Europe – that’s the extent to which they take care of the golf course.
You started fairly close to home on the Canadian Tour and then decided to go across the world. What was that move to Asia like?
They had it playing really, really difficult for us in September. The wind blew pretty much 30mph most days and the greens didn’t get any softer or slower the whole week. It was a true test and Martin [Kaymer] and I were battling back and forth down the stretch. Maybe if it went a few more holes it might have even turned his way, but fortunately a round is only 18 and I was the champion.
What was it like going head to head with Martin Kaymer and how were the nerves playing with a former World No.1 and a man with two Major Championships?
I was definitely nervous. Any time you have a chance to win a golf tournament, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, you’re going to have those nerves. Martin’s a great golfer, there’s no doubt about it. You look at his record and he’s got 11 wins on the European Tour, two Major Championship titles and he’s a former World No.1 – the guy’s a great golfer.
But I’m also a very good golfer and I’m very, very confident in what I can do. My record has shown that I can win when I have the opportunity. Was I nervous? Yes, but I was confident that I had a chance to win the golf tournament and I just played with that mentality all day.
obviously very good when you find yourself in the hunt. Would you say that’s an accurate assessment?
Yeah I would say that. I love to win, I love to compete. It started when I was a kid and it has just fostered over my lifetime. If I’m not winning it drives me nuts. I think that’s what gets me up in the morning, gets me on the golf course, gets me practising and gets me talking to my coach about things I’m doing.
All these things add up over time. If I come up one or two shots short and I know there’s maybe
something I could have done differently, that’s going to eat at me. I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to give myself the best opportunity to win, and then it’s just whether it happens or not. Maybe you give it everything you’ve got but some guy just beats you and you shake his hand and say ‘Great job’. Knowing that I’ve done everything I can gives me a lot of confidence in those situations and I’ve been able to win more times than not.
It was an incredible turnaround to win the Irish Open three weeks later. How did it feel to get your second win so quickly?
It was great. I was playing well and I think I made the right move taking a week off after the Portugal Masters. The fatigue was setting in so I rested and felt fresh in Ireland. I think I went into the final round four shots back of the lead. So again, I kind of had nothing to lose and whenever I had an opportunity to aim at a flagstick, I was going to do it. That was my mentality. I’d already won once, so I wasn’t trying to prove myself or anything. I’d already got that monkey off my back.
Do you take inspiration from Brooks Koepka’s journey to World No.1 given the fact he started out playing in Europe?
Yeah, for sure. I think he’s paved the path that I’d like to follow. Top 50 in the world is my next goal – that’s something he was able to accomplish and it gave him the opportunities he needed and he took full advantage. Now he’s a four-time Major winner. I’m not saying I’m going to be a four-time Major winner, I’m just saying that’s the path I’m trying to follow. Seeing someone do that gives you the motivation and it’s like ‘Why can’t I do that too?’
You’ve played on the PGA Tour six times. What’s that like?
We’re very lucky in that the European Tour does a great job – the events are very well run and everything is top of the line. But the PGA Tour is just another step up. Not a big step up, but just another level. You’re playing for bigger prize funds. It showed me what I’m working so hard to achieve. Seeing it makes it very clear that’s where I want to get to. Any day I wake up and I’m a little tired or I’m not sure if I want to go to practise, that kicks me in the butt and I’m like ‘let’s get out there’ because that’s where we’re going to get to.
A lot of your victories have been by one or two shots or in play-offs, so you’re