SOUTHAMPTON, NY – You learn s**t while shoveling manure.
And from the care of chickens. And from collecting their eggs. And from hand packing those eggs. Billy Mouw, of Billy’s Egg Farm in Chino, California, can tell you all about the operation. For more than 30 years, they’ve been selling some of the best eggs in the Los Angeles area, and in the chicken and egg business, there’s no mistaking what comes first:
chickens AND the egg.
“Yes, it’s 24-7,” Mouw said from his home in California, via phone call Friday. “The chickens lay eggs every day, even Christmas, so often our family would be there to collect eggs for Christmas, yes.”
His son has been there, and at one point, he said he still is. However, this week, William Mouw it is clear on the other side of the country, in Shinnecock Hills Golf ClubABOUT US Open. Mouw is a 25-year-old professional. Played at Pepperdine. there are won once on the PGA Tour. It is ranked 131st in the world. The elder Moux said his son started taking golf seriously about a decade ago, and now look at him. On Friday, while playing his 33rd hole in this national championship, Mouw tied for second place.
Then golf happened.
Small ball that found grass on the par-5 16th but rested on the rough tip collar. The squirrel came out. This shot ended up inches above a fairway bunker in the grass, and two volunteers, afraid of losing the ball, jumped on it. Mouw could only choke on an iron and pull it out.
That shot ended up 80 yards from the green and Mouw could still be par. But his approach bounced once, bounced off the flagstick and went backwards, all the way to a greenside bunker. He left with 7 strikeouts, three of which were where they were collectively a few meters in a different direction, his fate would have taken a different path. But he went to 17 in even-par, and his tee shot there landed in another bunker.
The mind runs here, but perhaps it ends at home, on the farm, in the coop, with the will of the birds. Dad said he was watching. He said he and his wife, Michelle, would have gone out this week to Long Island, but his father, another William Mouw, died recently. Everyone in the chicken farming family plays golf, and they probably understand the vagaries of the game better than anyone.
Did golf happen?
Trash also happens.
At Billy’s Egg Farm, yes.
And guess what? You shovel it.
“Yeah, he’s a tough kid, mentally tough,” Billy Mouw said. “And to play golf, you have to be mentally strong. I know it’s hard sometimes, but he’s always been able to do it.
“He’s always had that, like God-given ability to pull it out of his gut and do it.”
“Yeah, it was very unfortunate, but during a tournament, you’re going to get bad breaks,” William Mouw said after his round. “So, you know, honestly, sometimes in a major championship, double bogey is OK. I would have liked to save the bogey, but I had a lot of great saves on the back nine. Finishing with two great bogeys on 17 and 18 was just the way to bounce back and stay in a positive mindset.”
Yes, 17 and 18.
On the penultimate hole, Mouw chipped out of the bunker and then rolled in a 10-footer. Par. Fist-pump. “Yeah, sometimes that comes out,” said the usually reserved Mouw. “It meant a lot to me just because of what happened on 16. It was very unfortunate. To see that rim on (17), I think it was just, you know, a touch of a positive attitude and a little bit of grit.”
In the final, Mouw stepped up to 4 feet and banked that putt. Par. Par after two rounds. Par through two rounds. On Saturday, he will start seven behind the leader Wyndham Clark.
“I got some good breaks today, so you can’t just look at the bad breaks,” he said. “So I just took it. Like my putt in the last one, it was great.”
The weekend, of course, will be completely different. Mouw’s has previously played in two majors, finishing in a tie for 70th last month at the PGA Championship and missing the cut four years ago at the US Open. Maybe he hangs around. Maybe not. Maybe he pretends. Maybe he fades.
However, he said he is optimistic.
Along the way, he’s learned, well, you know what.
“Confidence comes from the hours you put in when nobody’s watching,” Mouw said, “and just consistent good habits, you know, on a daily basis and doing the best you can to repeat those habits and let the results take care of themselves.
“So if I have to say, confidence comes from consistent, solid, hard work behind the scenes.”
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