Verlander gets an ice bath after his
first career no-hitter in 2011. At right,
Verlander and wife Kate Upton chat with
Texans’ defensive end J.J. Watt before
Houston’s playoff game against the
Buffalo Bills earlier this year.
there, but really the main person I’m
competing with is myself. I could see
doing something. Time will tell.
thought it was to make the cut. I ended up
making it by two. We thought me making
that putt was for us to go through. I was
all fired up about it. My pro, Robert Gar-
rigus, said ‘Dude, you need to give a first
pump or jump up and down or something.
That was awesome.’ A couple of minutes
later after everybody had putted out, I
was like ‘Yeah!’ That was a good one.
VG: The baseball season is a grind, as
we all know. How do you keep your game
sharp during the long season, and do
you get to sneak away from time to time
for rounds?
JV: I don’t. My game falters during the
season. I try to keep it going, but I’ve
just learned it’s not going to be very good
during the season and then I give myself a
month or so to work on it in the offseason
and try to get better.
vsga.org
VG: What’s the best course you’ve ever
had a chance to play?
JV: It’s hard. I’ve checked a bunch of the
boxes in the United States. I’ve had the
good fortune to play Augusta National,
Pine Valley, Cypress Point. Those are all
regarded the top three. I can’t really rank
them. They’re just unique and all different.
I don’t want to put a number on them.
They’re just all so special in their own way.
VG: The celebrity golf field is loaded
with retired baseball players. Any plans
on becoming a regular on that circuit
once your playing days are done?
JV: I don’t know, man. Maybe. I do like
the competitiveness of it. One of the main
things I love about golf is the competition
with yourself, you know? Every day I go
out there and it’s nice to compete with
everybody else when you’re playing out
VG: Your wife, Kate, plays a little golf
as well. How competitive does it get
between you two on the course?
JV: She doesn’t play much. She did. She
did some stuff for Golf Digest, but recent-
ly with our little girl, it’s hard.
VG: How special was winning your sec-
ond Cy Young Award in 2019 after coming
so close three times previously?
JV: It means a lot. Having come so close
a few times and winning it made this one
feel a little bit better. Going through the
ups and downs of 2014 (when he was
injured and didn’t know if he was done)
to where I’m at now, I think just the per-
spective of all of that really kind of made
it that much more special for me.
McTaggart covers the Houston Astros for
MLB.com.
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