A Master(s) Plan for James Piot
Augusta National first, turning pro soon afterwards
By Tom Lang
Many kids complain to their parents about taking math classes, often asking in that very annoying tone why they’ll need to ‘know this stuff’ when they’re an adult.
James Piot can say he’s glad he paid attention in math (and based on his GPA lots of other classes too), after playing a practice round at Augusta National for the first time this winter. The Canton native and defending U.S. Amateur Champion is competing in The Masters this week via his monstrous USGA title won last August, making him eligible for the springtime experience of any golfer’s lifetime.
“When you watch it on TV you don’t see any of the elevation changes, I thought it was a pretty flat golf course,” Piot told me recently, mirroring comments I have heard from many others about Augusta for years, yet have seen for myself aren’t true.
“But you get out there and, on every iron shot there you’re adding and subtracting yardages. It’s got a lot of slope and I did not expect that, and that’s one of the really big challenges out there; getting your numbers right on your irons, so there’s a lot to think about. It’s a math contest out there.”
Piot may have more conversion math to do based on his first PGA Tour experience when he was invited to play as an amateur in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March at Bay Hill.
“The golf ball was flying way farther than I’d ever hit in my life,” he said. “I was hitting irons 15-20 yards farther (than average). The greens were concrete. For me it was a really unique experience because it was adjusting to conditions I’d almost never played in before. I’ve played in events before where the nerves are going but nothing quite like a Tour event, so it kind of exposed some things, but it didn’t discourage me. It actually made me feel pretty good about where my game’s at despite the score.” (He missed the cut.)
That knowledge will be very helpful once Piot turns pro full time. He’s also been invited to play in the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island the week after The Masters, where he will still be an amateur seeking more Tour experience. But once the college season is completed – ideally with he and his MSU teammates at the NCAA Nationals – Piot will turn pro and play in Jack Nicklaus’ The Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.
Piot will seek sponsor exemptions all summer long from that point forward, and as a ‘local boy’ we’re all pulling for the Rocket Mortgage Classic in late July to extend one such exemption.
“The U.S. Open I can play as a pro and everything else will be if I can get some sponsor’s exemptions,” Piot said. “Hopefully that all works out to get a pretty full schedule this year.”
Speaking of college ties, Piot utilized MSU assistant head coach Dan Ellis as his caddy in the U.S. Amateur and had planned every day since to have Ellis on the bag at Augusta National. Their chemistry is magic. That plan will materialize, but only because Piot wrote a plea letter to the NCAA to overturn a rule that stated Piot would have to give up two college tournaments this spring if Ellis was on his bag because it would count toward having a college coach helping at a tournament.
“I had to think about do I take someone who got me there (U.S. Amateur win and a Masters invite) and skip two college events, or decide to play all my college season by having a different caddy at Augusta,” Piot said. “Absolutely it’s a big mental lift for me. Coach Ellis is phenomenal at knowing golf courses, and on top of that just having someone I trust and comfortable with, and he’s good at keeping me loose and keeping it light, so having him on the bag was everything to me.
“So many people were telling me I need to take an Augusta caddy and even though they know the course like the back of their hand, I want someone I can trust and someone who got me there. So, Coach Ellis is the No. 1 guy I wanted on the bag and we’re very happy the rule got over-turned.”
Ellis said he has been a caddy at least once on every Tour except PGA Champions. The short term plan is for the partnership to continue throughout the summer then find Piot a new looper.
“We obviously had something good going at Oakmont,” Ellis said about the U.S. Amateur. “He trusts me and he’s certainly a fun horse to take around the track because he hits it right where he’s looking all day.”
That perspective fits Piot’s game really well right now. He said Augusta National has many areas that ‘fit his eye’ while acknowledging other parts do not.
“It’s a ball-strikers course,” he said after practicing at Augusta. “Obviously, you have to manage it well, and putt well. But you have to put it in the right spots and that’s what I think I was doing well. I hit it straight off the tee and hit good iron shots. For me it does fit my game. Yet obviously you’re never fully comfortable at Augusta National, because you’re always one bad swing away from a double bogey. It’s one of those places where more experience matters.
“The par 5s are gettable, so that makes me really comfortable, knowing you have birdie holes there. There’s some really good par 4s out there. No. 1 is not easy. When I watch it on TV I’d think ‘How come guys bogey this hole? It doesn’t seem too bad.’ Then you get up on the tee box and realize, ‘whoa, there’s no room to hit your driver, and it’s a long hole.’”
The fact Piot grew up in a non-country club environment drives him even more to experience success at Augusta, and eventually as a pro.
“I still see myself as that kid who grew up on the public courses, playing with my buddies,” he said. “I describe my childhood like ‘The Sandlot.’
“It put a little chip on my shoulder and it’s kind of always who I’ve been. Part of why I came to MSU is you’re unique as a Spartan; and it feels like everyone’s got that grit. I still remember freshman year walking into Coach Lubahn’s office Day One and he asked what my goals are, and I said All-American. And he said, ‘how about we start with All-Big Ten,’ and I said coach that’s not me. It’s just part of what drives me.
“I still get buddies texting me from my childhood about how crazy it is. They are working the real 9-5 jobs and I’m playing in The Masters and it’s like, what happened?”
Winning the biggest amateur tournament in the world happened, and now it’s Piot’s turn to reap the benefits.
“Stepping on property was really cool for my experience so far,” Piot said of Augusta National. “Everyone working in the pro shop or the dining room, everywhere, greeted me as Mr. Piot. They all knew my name and who I was. To know my name is enough already, but to call me Mr. Piot? I thought, hold on a second, I’m a college kid.”
But not for much longer James.
