By Sam Weinman
When Billy Hurley III released a mock attack ad against Jordan Spieth in the closing stretch of both men’s pursuit of the chairmanship of the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council, two questions jumped to mind: What ever inspired Hurley to do so? And what exactly does the Player Advisory Council do?

Hurley elaborated on both as a guest on a bonus episode of the Golf Digest Podcast. His hilarious takedown of Spieth was the talk of social media earlier in the week, revealing Hurley’s underrated talent as a deadpan comic, and underscoring that even as one of the game’s biggest stars, Spieth can clearly take a joke.

“Yeah, I texted [Spieth] about it and he just laughed and said ‘That’s great with me,’” Hurley said on the Podcast. “I had no intention of really swaying the votes. We just figured we can make this really funny, and we obviously did.”

The voting for PAC chairmanship closed on Tuesday and when we spoke to Hurley that evening, he hadn’t heard the results. (Update: Golf Channel reports on Wednesday evening that Spieth was elected chairman over Hurley). Already a member of the 16-player PAC, he explained what role the organisation plays, what issues its confronting most these days, and how he remains upbeat during a difficult start to 2018.