After nearly two years in hibernation, the Golf Boys are back.
PGA Tour stars Ben Crane, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan hit it big in June 2011 with "Oh Oh Oh," which has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube.
And now, Monday, their encore performance, "2.Oh", was released.
Playbook talked with Nashville singer/songwriter Mat Kearney, who wrote the music and lyrics for the song, with proceeds benefiting charity.
How did this come about?
Honestly, Ben and I have been friends for a while. I was making jokes about the first song. I said, "All you guys are doing are just saying 'Oh, Oh, Oh' a bunch of times." He said, "Why don't you write us a good one then!" So I got this hip-hop beat and started thinking of writing puns using golfers' names. It was pretty entertaining. I sent him the song and he said the guys were freaking out about it. They came together to shoot the video. I would like to take some credit for bringing the band back together!
So had you met any of the golfers, outside of Ben, before?
That was part of the fun. I didn't know Rickie or Bubba or Hunter. Golf was big in my family. My dad was a scratch golfer growing up. When I'm on the road, I always bring my clubs with me. I've met a lot of rock-and-roll stars, but the pro golfers were special in a different way.
The video was shot in Dallas in December. What were those days like?
You know I'm in the video? I'm the guy taking a picture of Ben in the backswing. You might be fooled by my huge plaid belt. We hammered the video out in two days. Director Ty Andre literally took every line and made a scene out of them. I have some pictures and video of Bubba in a diaper with a bottle in his hand. He's like, "Are we done with the diaper?" This is too good. It's like blackmail footage.
To go from writing a song to being there for video, it must have been amazing.
I didn't even think about the video when I wrote the song. I didn't know if the group was going to get back together. I just wrote it on a whim. It takes a lot to get four personalities and four managers in line to shoot a video. It was a big undertaking. But they were all in. I know it'll get some love. I'm just excited to be a part of it.
So what was the most difficult part?
It was not any more difficult than writing a song I do now. It was a little hard finding words to rhyme with Louis Oosthuizen. It wasn't coming from my heart but coming from my brain. I started with hot wings at Stuart Applebee's and I just continued down that path.