The following friends are the biggest influences in my life both as a playing and teaching professional. Perhaps first and foremost on my list of friends is Payne Stewart. He was a thrill to practice and play with, whether that be in Asia or in America, and I learned a lot from him every single time we were together. He was a great friend since before either of us were living anything even close to a Christian lifestyle, and so the day he started wearing a “WWJD” bracelet prominently piqued my interest into this whole “Jesus thing”. Payne planted seeds in my heart and soul and went on to make a significant difference in my life in helping me understand confidence in our Lord and Savior. The day Payne died in that plane crash was one of the most tragic days in many of our lives, including my own. I still thank his wonderful wife Tracy for all the help she gave during and after my wife JoAnn's 7 year battle with cancer.

Chi Chi Rodriguez is an amazing man to be a friend of. I was immediately impressed with him and his abilities the minute I first practiced and played with him at the Phoenix Open. The day he first invited me to play golf with himself and Raymond Floyd was a special moment in my life. These are two amazing people with two completely different swings that are totally in charge of every single golf shot that they hit. I call them “shotmakers” and I believe that they, combined with my training under “Wild” Bill Melhorn, are significant reasons that I became a very proficient player professionally and also learned how to teach the game of golf properly. It's all about scoring, and through them I learned all about how to be a “shotmaker” just like “Wild” Bill Melhorn had taught me, but with even more uniquenesses on optional ways to play golf shots.

Playing with Hal Sutton was a thrill because he had such a great inner confidence and anyone could see it from a mile away. His swing was so simple and repeatable that it was clear that he was in charge of every single shot that he hit. It was great playing with him and Tom Watson preparing for the Phoenix Open golf championship at the Phoenix Country Club and witnessing, once again, how talented he was. I told everyone that would listen that he was going to win that week, just like I also foresaw he would do in The Miami Open at the Country Club of Miami and in the United States Amateur Championship at Pinehurst #2. Wow what a talent... what a great repeatable swing he had that I learned a great deal from.. talk about confidence... His simple way of doing things rubbed off on me and taught me the value of learning correctly to gain faith in my own abilities. I am glad that we had the same teacher in “Wild” Bill Melhorn.

Fred Couples is an absolute pleasure to play golf with. It is amazing how relaxed he is and how it rubbed into you. He could hit it so far back then... Being paired with him and Mac O'Grady on the same day was one of the more enlightening days of my golfing life... I loved Mac and his unique way of thinking and of course we both love Seve Bellesteros so we had a lot to talk about, but Freddy is just all “Mr. Relaxed” having fun with any conversation we were having about perfection in the golf swing while shooting a little 64 on us with two double bogies... my gosh, that guy is so talented it's unbelievable! It's amazing! That day reinforced my understanding that there are different ways to get the same result.

The biggest influencers that have made a difference in my competitive edge have been Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, Bernard Langer. Each of them seemingly have the ability to out-think everyone else as if they're grandmasters playing chess. It's a thrill to play with them and also to be able to support them in their victories. These men know how to get the job done. You can see it in their eyes and it inspired me to not only play better myself but to impart that same competitive edge to my students.

Although I did not get to spend as much time as I wanted to with Earl Woods (Tiger's father), I certainly spent countless hours with his granddaughter Cheyenne Woods (Tiger's niece). The conversations I did have with Earl were an inspirational influence to the way that I train, and training Cheyenne Woods (with his input) was a rewarding experience. The difficulties of the objectives that I set for her and all of my high-level players are overwhelming, but Cheyenne practiced above and beyond the norm, superior to anyone that I've ever worked with. Over the countless hours that I spent coaching her, her determination never wavered no matter how high I raised the bar on the challenges that I set front of her. To this day, as an LPGA professional, she touches a lot of people's lives around the world and is an inspiration junior golfers everywhere. It was a rewarding experience as her teacher, coach, and caddie winning those US Kids Golf World Championships.

I have been so blessed to have these kinds of people in my life. Each of them have influenced both how I play and how I train others in phenomenal ways.