Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butch podcast. We come to
Speaker 1: you every Wednesday. This week, Sack Johnson, US Wrighter Cup
Speaker 1: captain makes his captain's picks Sam Burns, Ricky Fowler, Brooks Koepka,
Speaker 1: Colin Morrikawa, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas. Can't say I'm
Speaker 1: really surprised by any of those picks. Am I surprised
Speaker 1: that Brooks Kepka is on the team. Absolutely not. I
Speaker 1: think won the PGA Championship, finished second. The Masters played
Speaker 1: very limited in PGA Tour events because he's at liv
Speaker 1: what I've been surprised if they left him off. No,
Speaker 1: I definitely could have seen that. But he played a
Speaker 1: practice round. I talked about this on the pod after
Speaker 1: the Open Championship. Brooks played a practice round with Zack
Speaker 1: Johnson at the Open champion not by design, it was
Speaker 1: just Zach joined up. Brooks was playing nine holes with
Speaker 1: Cam Smith and Adam Scott and Zach showed up. Uh.
Speaker 1: They partnered against the two of them in a match.
Speaker 1: But Zach was pretty open about him wanting to take
Speaker 1: the best players too to Italy for the US Ryder
Speaker 1: Cup team. And I think it's important to remember that
Speaker 1: US Writer Cup team is run by the PGA of America,
Speaker 1: not by the PGA Tour. The European Writer Cup team
Speaker 1: is run by the European Tour, so very very different agendas,
Speaker 1: very different politics there. So I think in in having
Speaker 1: somebody like Brooks who's won three PGA championships, that's the
Speaker 1: PGA of America's tournament. He's the winner this year. Now
Speaker 1: do I think that? I think the players Brooks's boys
Speaker 1: with pretty much everybody on that team, so I don't
Speaker 1: think there's any issues there. I mean, obviously there's the
Speaker 1: live issue. I think there is a segment of people
Speaker 1: involved with the PGA Tour and people involved with golf
Speaker 1: in general that wished Brooks didn't win a major and
Speaker 1: they didn't have to pick him because he's a live guide.
Speaker 1: But he got picked, So I think that argument's over.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any issues with the guys that
Speaker 1: are on the team with Brooks. So I wasn't surprised
Speaker 1: that he was on the team. I wouldn't have been
Speaker 1: surprised that they left him off the team. I told
Speaker 1: everybody that was listening there was absolutely no way Justin
Speaker 1: Thomas wasn't going to be on this team. He's been
Speaker 1: on two Ryder Cups before twenty eighteen, twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: six two and one, two and two in the foursomes,
Speaker 1: two zero to one in the four ball, and then
Speaker 1: undefeated in the singles. But Justin Thomas is part of
Speaker 1: the fabric of American golf in twenty twenty three. He's
Speaker 1: part of the team concept as well. He's part of all, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna have a Writer Cup without Justin Thomas.
Speaker 1: When you've got Justin Thomas playing in President's Cups with
Speaker 1: Tiger Woods, He's part of a group of people. Listen,
Speaker 1: every single Writer Cup there is an element of popularity
Speaker 1: to it. There are cool kids and there are not
Speaker 1: cool kids. And listen, the Europeans have been doing this
Speaker 1: for years. The Euros have with a tremendous amount of success,
Speaker 1: picked players based off of their popularity in Europe, their
Speaker 1: popularity on the European Tour, and their popularity within the
Speaker 1: European Writer Cup side. So this is not news, This
Speaker 1: is not groundbreaking, This is not anything that should be
Speaker 1: surprising to anybody. You know, there's been a lot of
Speaker 1: people saying there's a good old boy network. There has
Speaker 1: been both on the American team and the European team
Speaker 1: for years. It's not news. So Justin Thomas's boys with
Speaker 1: Jordan Speith and he's boys with Ricky Fowler. That goes
Speaker 1: a lot these in these team competitions, you want to
Speaker 1: be around people that you're comfortable with. You want to
Speaker 1: be around people that you know you want to be
Speaker 1: playing in, you know, four balls and foursomes with players
Speaker 1: you've played with before, that you're comfortable with, that you
Speaker 1: have history. So I fully euspect Justin Thomas, regardless of
Speaker 1: how he's played this year. I fully expect Justin Thomas
Speaker 1: to be a big, big part of this. I think
Speaker 1: they're going to play him a lot. I expect him
Speaker 1: to play on the first day. I expect him to
Speaker 1: play in the afternoon, even if he were to be
Speaker 1: a part of a team that got beat in the morning.
Speaker 1: I just think that that if you look at the
Speaker 1: captain and Zach Johnson, if you look at the vice captains,
Speaker 1: Justin Thomas is one of their boat boys, and rightly so.
Speaker 1: He's a two time major champion. He's been on winning
Speaker 1: Ryder Cups, President's Cup. He's a hell of a player.
Speaker 1: He's not playing the way he wants to play right now.
Speaker 1: I think he admits that. I think everybody knows that.
Speaker 1: But I just there was no way he wasn't going
Speaker 1: to be on that team. It's just his dad's a
Speaker 1: PGA pro. He's been a part of every part of
Speaker 1: golf in America. He was part of the a JGA,
Speaker 1: he was Walker Cup, he was a national champion at Bama.
Speaker 1: He is part of the fabric of golf professional golf
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three. So I just didn't see him
Speaker 1: not being on the team. And I think it's it's
Speaker 1: it's going to be an interesting pick. Can the team
Speaker 1: competition give JT the the comfort and the confidence that
Speaker 1: will help him play his best because he, like I said,
Speaker 1: he's a two time major winner. He won the PGA
Speaker 1: last year. Now JT is getting picked off of winning
Speaker 1: a major at Southern Hills, He's getting picked off of
Speaker 1: past performances. There is an argument that you could make
Speaker 1: for Dustin Johnson for the exact same thing, two time
Speaker 1: major champion, whether you like it or not. Where DJ
Speaker 1: played last year, he played on live from June onwards
Speaker 1: and one once had a chance to win a lot
Speaker 1: of tournaments and played some of the best golf I've
Speaker 1: seen him play so and he also went five to
Speaker 1: oh in the last Ryder Cup at Whistling Straights for
Speaker 1: the US team. So you could make an argument that
Speaker 1: you were picking Dustin Johnson off of the same criteria
Speaker 1: that you're picking Justin Thomas. But there was only going
Speaker 1: to be one guy from Live that they were going
Speaker 1: to pick. They weren't going to pick Taylor Gooch, they
Speaker 1: weren't going to pick Bryce and d Chambeau. The only
Speaker 1: person they were going to pick from Live was someone
Speaker 1: that kind of forced their hand to pick him. And
Speaker 1: I think brooks Kepka is kind of seen as you know,
Speaker 1: a major champion is a five time major champion, So
Speaker 1: you know what you're getting with Brooks. You know that
Speaker 1: you're going to get a very tough competitor. You're going
Speaker 1: to get someone that likes competition. You're going to get
Speaker 1: someone that isn't afraid when the pressure gets the most.
Speaker 1: Do not be surprised if you see a brooks Kepka
Speaker 1: and Wyndom Clerk pairing in any format. I think you could.
Speaker 1: Wyndom Clark's a rookie, and I think Brooks is a veteran.
Speaker 1: But they are very similar type players, right, They are
Speaker 1: very similar type people. They both play with tremendous amount
Speaker 1: of confidence, a tremendous amount of self belief, a tremendous
Speaker 1: amount of arrogance, which I'm here for. Every great player
Speaker 1: has a little bit of that, but I think wyndom
Speaker 1: And and Brooks wear that a little bit more outwardly.
Speaker 1: Wyndom Clerk is a major champion this year. Brooks Kepka
Speaker 1: is a major champion this year. Brian Harmon is a
Speaker 1: major champion this year. So three of the four major
Speaker 1: champions in twenty twenty three are going to be on
Speaker 1: the US team. John Rahm won the Masters, He's going
Speaker 1: to play on the European team. But I could see
Speaker 1: a pairing of Brooks Kepka Wyndom Clerk, Like I said,
Speaker 1: similar type personalities, similar type personas, tremendous self belief, very
Speaker 1: very similar games. They both hit the golf ball miles.
Speaker 1: They play on confidence, and if you look at the
Speaker 1: way Wyndham Clerk played at the US Open, if you
Speaker 1: were Zach Johnson, you are hoping you get that Wyndom Clerk.
Speaker 1: I think the Ryder Cup has always been an anomaly.
Speaker 1: It's been an anomaly really in the last thirty five years.
Speaker 1: I mean, the last time the US won outside the
Speaker 1: United States on foreign soil was thirty years ago at
Speaker 1: the Belfry nineteen ninety three. I was there. My dad
Speaker 1: was working with the vice with Davis Love as a
Speaker 1: vice captain this year, and it's difficult to do. On
Speaker 1: that Sunday, it definitely looked like the Europeans were going
Speaker 1: to win. They were getting points from all their superstars.
Speaker 1: Nick Faldo in nineteen ninety three was at the height
Speaker 1: of the game, made a hole in one on Sunday,
Speaker 1: one of the loudest roars I've ever heard at a
Speaker 1: golf tournament, jacking hegman, rookie. They got points from him.
Speaker 1: Peter Baker, rookie, they got points fromim. Peter Baker putted
Speaker 1: so good in nineteen ninety three that Jim Lampley, the
Speaker 1: old sportscaster, did a lot of boxing, but he was
Speaker 1: doing golf back in the day for NBC, And in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, I think it was on Sunday, Peter
Speaker 1: Baker again making every putty looks at. Didn't go on
Speaker 1: to have the career that I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people thought the Ryder Cup was going to springboard into
Speaker 1: but Jim Lampley live on air said he was going
Speaker 1: to go out a limb and said that Peter Baker
Speaker 1: was such a good putter and had putted good for
Speaker 1: so good for three days the Ryder Cup at the
Speaker 1: Belfrey in nineteen ninety three. He said he will not
Speaker 1: only win one Masters championship, he will win multiple Masters championships.
Speaker 1: That's how good he putted that week. I want to
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Speaker 1: their award winning combines. So the Euros have always tended
Speaker 1: to get points from maybe some players in that are
Speaker 1: a little bit lesser known, and maybe the US hasn't
Speaker 1: been able to do that, but I do think that
Speaker 1: the Euros have always been able to get points from
Speaker 1: all of their superstars, and in the last thirty years
Speaker 1: they've definitely been enne able to do that. Overseas. They
Speaker 1: did that in Paris. They got a bunch of points
Speaker 1: from a bunch of their superstars, and the US didn't
Speaker 1: get historically points from their superstars Tiger Woods, Phil Ncholson
Speaker 1: and some of the other superstars. So I think it's
Speaker 1: always been for me. I've been going to Ryder Cups
Speaker 1: really since for the last thirty years, and I think
Speaker 1: the team chemistry the Euros have tended to gel over
Speaker 1: the last thirty years. I think they've tended to gel
Speaker 1: better now. I do think. I was at Whistling Straits
Speaker 1: there was a lot of team camaraderie on the US
Speaker 1: team for that and to me, that reminded me a
Speaker 1: little bit more of the camaraderie that they had for
Speaker 1: all those teams where the US was getting beat by
Speaker 1: the Euros. And like I said earlier, there is a
Speaker 1: history of picking players basically just for this event, and
Speaker 1: the Euros have road that. So I'm not surprised by
Speaker 1: these picks. Sam Burns rookie, he wins the match play
Speaker 1: this year. I think Sam Burns the hell of a player,
Speaker 1: and I think his relationship is junior golf relationship with
Speaker 1: Scottie Scheffler. I think you're going to see those two
Speaker 1: pair together. I think you could see those two pair
Speaker 1: together a lot. There's a comfort there, there's a history
Speaker 1: there and listen Scotti Scheffler is in my opinion, he's
Speaker 1: playing some of the best golf I've seen anyone play
Speaker 1: in the last year to two years. His ball striking
Speaker 1: has been second to none. He has not putted the
Speaker 1: way that he wants to put the way that the
Speaker 1: rest of his game I think is putting. Given his
Speaker 1: balls striking, for him to only win the amount of
Speaker 1: times that he's won this year, you would have thought
Speaker 1: he could have had a Tiger Woods VJ. Singh Tig
Speaker 1: year where he's winning seven, eight, nine times. That's how
Speaker 1: good his ball striking it. He hasn't putted the way
Speaker 1: that he wants to putt, and I think having a
Speaker 1: partner in someone like Sam Burns will be a massive,
Speaker 1: massive strength. So not surprised to see Sam Burns on
Speaker 1: the team. Ricky Fowler UH ten twenty fourteen, twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen hasn't had the winning record three seven and five,
Speaker 1: one three and two in the foursomes, one two and
Speaker 1: two in the four ball, one two one in the singles,
Speaker 1: so not a dominant performance. But I think the way
Speaker 1: Ricky's played this year, the comeback that he's made, the
Speaker 1: way he gets along. There isn't anybody on any tour
Speaker 1: anywhere in the world that doesn't like Ricky Fowler. The
Speaker 1: Euros like him, the Americans all like him. All the
Speaker 1: captains for the US team and the vice captains like him.
Speaker 1: All the captains for the Euros and the vice captains
Speaker 1: all like Ricky. Is one of the most popular players
Speaker 1: in the game. He's a fan favorite. He's popular. He's
Speaker 1: playing good again. I think if you'd have told people
Speaker 1: two years ago that Ricky was going to make this team,
Speaker 1: given the play that he had and how he had
Speaker 1: been playing, I think everybody would have not believed you.
Speaker 1: But big turnaround. I think the move back to my dad,
Speaker 1: butch Armon getting back in the winner circle, had a
Speaker 1: chance to win the US Open, and Ricky's one of
Speaker 1: the US boys. He's part of that club. And again,
Speaker 1: I don't have a problem with there being a club.
Speaker 1: There is a club. Everybody knows it. It's not news,
Speaker 1: it's not a surprise. So if you don't make the
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup team, you're hoping for a pick. Colin Morikawa,
Speaker 1: two time Major champion, only played one Ryder Cup twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one at whistling straits three zero to one, so
Speaker 1: pretty good record, two and oh in the foursomes, one
Speaker 1: to oh in the four balls tied as singles match,
Speaker 1: so elite elite ball striker can be streaky with the putter.
Speaker 1: So which Colin Morcow is going to show up? And
Speaker 1: then lastly for the for the picks, Jordan Speith four
Speaker 1: times twenty fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty one, eight seven and
Speaker 1: three h three two two in the foursomes, five and
Speaker 1: two in the four ball, oh, three and one in singles,
Speaker 1: so no points in singles. But again he is one
Speaker 1: of in twenty twenty three, he's one of the boys
Speaker 1: on the US team where if he's playing halfway decent,
Speaker 1: I think if he's got a heartbeat, they're gonna pick it.
Speaker 1: I think, as I said earlier, Justin Thomas Jordan Speed,
Speaker 1: great pairing, Jordan Speith, Ricky Fowler, great pairing, Justin Thomas
Speaker 1: Slick rick great pairing. So I think you're going to
Speaker 1: see a little bit of kind of the boys that
Speaker 1: are comfortable with each other. And I think that's something
Speaker 1: that is important. I think that's where there's been a
Speaker 1: shift in kind of the thinking of the US Tour
Speaker 1: after the Task Force at Glenn Eagles. Everybody knows Tom
Speaker 1: Watson was the captain. Everybody knows Phil Mickelson's comments directly
Speaker 1: after listen there were some changes made it after that, rightly, wrongly,
Speaker 1: whatever side of that you're on. The players, I think
Speaker 1: wanted to feel like they had a little bit more.
Speaker 1: Say Ricky was one of the guys they put on
Speaker 1: the task force, if memory serves me, so. Not surprised
Speaker 1: that you're going to take guys that are major champions.
Speaker 1: Not surprised you're going to take guys that can get
Speaker 1: I mean, Colin Morcow could play with anybody. He could
Speaker 1: play with a long hitter, he could play with someone
Speaker 1: that hits at the length he does. He could he
Speaker 1: could play in any of the formats if his ball
Speaker 1: strikings on. He's to me one of the best ball
Speaker 1: strikers in the game. But surprising that Jordan Spiece singles records.
Speaker 1: You know, three losses and only one you know one half.
Speaker 1: But you would think that that would change. And you
Speaker 1: think that if you get Jordan with players that he's
Speaker 1: comfortable with, do I think he will play well? I
Speaker 1: think he likes the format Justin Thomas likes the format.
Speaker 1: A lot of guys like the Ryder Cup format. Now,
Speaker 1: just because you like it doesn't necessarily mean that you
Speaker 1: play well in it. But I do think that this
Speaker 1: is a very very strong American side. I do think
Speaker 1: that the American team is learning about what makes their
Speaker 1: players play their best. I noticed a big change at
Speaker 1: Whistling Straits. It seemed to me to where there was
Speaker 1: a lot more It seemed to me like there was
Speaker 1: a lot more asking the players what they wanted to do,
Speaker 1: kind of what they wanted needed, how they wanted to
Speaker 1: practice and listen. The Euros have been doing that forever.
Speaker 1: The Euros have been asking their players what they want,
Speaker 1: what they don't want, and how they can get their
Speaker 1: best out of the euro players. So I think you
Speaker 1: are going to see a little bit of the same
Speaker 1: kind of playbook that we saw. Zach Johnson was one
Speaker 1: of the vice captains. Davis Love was part of that team.
Speaker 1: I think it's learning, I think it's evolving. I think
Speaker 1: it's less about the captain trying to put their stamp
Speaker 1: and say listen, you know to me, that's in my opinion,
Speaker 1: that's what a lot of the US captains have done.
Speaker 1: They've come in, they tried to put their stamp on it.
Speaker 1: They've tried to say, listen, this is going to be
Speaker 1: my captaincy. I'm going to kind of tell everybody what
Speaker 1: we're doing, what we're not doing. I noticed in at
Speaker 1: Whistling Straits that that wasn't the case that the captains.
Speaker 1: The vice captains were asked the players a lot more
Speaker 1: of what they wanted to do in practice, how they
Speaker 1: wanted to practice, how many holes they wanted to play
Speaker 1: in practice, and listen, if you think that that's wrong,
Speaker 1: If you don't like that, that's fine, that you're allowed
Speaker 1: your opinion. But I do think that the Americans looked
Speaker 1: why they were getting beat and said, listen, we're going
Speaker 1: to try and make the weeks the easiest for the
Speaker 1: players and make it about them. There were a lot
Speaker 1: of people that think the US team is stacked and
Speaker 1: they are that they are going to walk through this.
Speaker 1: I am not one of them. I think that this
Speaker 1: is as always. I think the Ryder Cup and I
Speaker 1: was asked at the last Ryder Cup what I thought,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was going to be close. It wasn't.
Speaker 1: But I've been around enough of these over the last
Speaker 1: thirty years to know that these are always much closer
Speaker 1: than you think. They don't get played on paper. And
Speaker 1: if you've got a European side that has Roy McElroy,
Speaker 1: John Rahm and Victor Hovlin on, it's it's legit. I
Speaker 1: think Terroll Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sepstraca, they're all winning,
Speaker 1: they're all great players. And you've got, arguably right now
Speaker 1: the hottest player in the game in Victor Hovlin, who
Speaker 1: is to me one of the top five players in
Speaker 1: the world. John Rahm, Rory McElroy. So I think you
Speaker 1: were going to see that kind of threesome be the
Speaker 1: kind of catalyst for a lot of them. Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: gonna have some rookies, right, They're gonna have some players
Speaker 1: that maybe aren't household names, Bob McIntyre, Yanni, Paul, Adrian
Speaker 1: moronk you know, does Shane Lowry get a pick? Do
Speaker 1: they go back to the well and pick someone like
Speaker 1: Justin Rose as someone who's played on these before. So
Speaker 1: I do think Luke Donald has some decisions to make,
Speaker 1: certainly from a pairing standpoint, And I do think that
Speaker 1: you know, the Euros are up against it. It seems
Speaker 1: right now like the US is making there's a turn
Speaker 1: going and these things kind of come and ebbs and flows.
Speaker 1: The US, you know, dominated the Ryder Cup for a
Speaker 1: very very long time and then the Euro's always on paper,
Speaker 1: given the strength and the power of the US team,
Speaker 1: didn't look like they were necessarily the favorites. But they've
Speaker 1: always had a bunch of major champions on their team,
Speaker 1: and you've got in if you're looking at major champions,
Speaker 1: you've got Rory McElroy, You've got John Rahm, You've got
Speaker 1: Matt Fitzpatrick. You've got guys like Shane Lowry who won
Speaker 1: a major before. You've got Justin Rose who's won a
Speaker 1: major before. So I do think that trying to figure
Speaker 1: out who's going to match with who is Luke's trying
Speaker 1: to do the same thing that Zach Johnson's doing, right,
Speaker 1: He's trying to figure out, Okay, who the best choice
Speaker 1: that I can make, Who can I put with everybody.
Speaker 1: I've had Paul McGinley on the pod before. He's to
Speaker 1: me one of the best captains the Euros have had
Speaker 1: from the way that he did it. And you can
Speaker 1: go back and take a listen, the Euros have not
Speaker 1: always gotten along better than everybody that everybody thinks. You know,
Speaker 1: there's always been this thing that everybody thinks the Euros
Speaker 1: get along, everybody in the team room likes each other,
Speaker 1: everybody's best friends, everybody's boys mate. That is not the case.
Speaker 1: What I do think Europe has been able to do
Speaker 1: over the last thirty years has come together as a
Speaker 1: group and come together as a team and use that
Speaker 1: kind of underdog mentality. But when you've got John Rahm,
Speaker 1: when you've got Roy McRoy and you've got Victor Hoblin
Speaker 1: on a Ryder Cup team, I mean stacked, as a
Speaker 1: lot of people think the US team is. If you've
Speaker 1: got those three guys on your team, I don't know
Speaker 1: how you're thinking you're an underdog because you got three
Speaker 1: of the best players in the world and you've got
Speaker 1: three players right now. I think the way that Victor
Speaker 1: Hoblin played in the FedEx, the way that his game
Speaker 1: is change, the way that his short game has changed,
Speaker 1: and I think the way that he's one of those
Speaker 1: guys that's basically in the hunt to win major championships
Speaker 1: all the time. We expect Victor to win majors. But
Speaker 1: if you've got that three Rory, John, Rahm and Vick
Speaker 1: and then you've got Matt Fitzpatrick who's won a major,
Speaker 1: you got Tyrrel Hatton who is a fierce, fierce, fierce competitor.
Speaker 1: And they will get points from people that you don't
Speaker 1: think they'll get points from. That has been the hallmark
Speaker 1: of the European side. They will get points from players
Speaker 1: that you don't think And will we get as the
Speaker 1: US team will the US side, will Zach Johnson's team,
Speaker 1: will the picks at Zach Johnson? Will JT step up?
Speaker 1: Can Ricky step up? Can Brooks step up? Can a
Speaker 1: rookie like Sam Burns step up? So the captain's always
Speaker 1: I think the captains always listen. The Ryder Cup comes
Speaker 1: down to the performance of the players. Whether I think
Speaker 1: some captains do a better job than others, absolutely, I
Speaker 1: think some captains take a different approach and create an
Speaker 1: atmosphere and a culture of competence and winning and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. So I do think that captains do play
Speaker 1: a role. But if you talked all the captains, and
Speaker 1: like I said, I've talked to Paul McGinley at length
Speaker 1: about this, it's the players, right, It's the players how
Speaker 1: they perform. Now, do the captains have a big part
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Speaker 1: son of a butch, check it out. Putting is a
Speaker 1: huge part of this. Historically, over the last thirty years,
Speaker 1: since the early nineties, the Euros have putted us off
Speaker 1: the off the golf course at the Ryder Cup. I
Speaker 1: think part of that is historically, in my experience, the
Speaker 1: greens in Europe tend to be a lot slower. Historically,
Speaker 1: the greens that the players played on that played the
Speaker 1: European Tour have historically been a lot slower than the
Speaker 1: US greens. I think the US somewhat struggles because the
Speaker 1: greens on the PGA Tour have been so much better
Speaker 1: that when they've gone to Europe they purposely clept the
Speaker 1: greens slower. The Euros are more used to that. You
Speaker 1: see the Americans leaving a lot of putts short, you
Speaker 1: see their body language. And then because the Euros are
Speaker 1: such great players when they've come to the US in
Speaker 1: the Ryder Cup, historically we've gotten the greens as fast
Speaker 1: as possible. Thinking that's going to give us an advantage,
Speaker 1: and the Euros feel like they've been let out of
Speaker 1: jail because they feel like they can make putts, and
Speaker 1: it's somewhat backfire. So now the fact that a large
Speaker 1: contingent of the European side plays a lot of their
Speaker 1: golf on the PGA Tour, maybe that's not what it
Speaker 1: used to be. But historically, in my opinion, the Euros
Speaker 1: have gotten points not only from rookies and guys that
Speaker 1: you wouldn't think they've gotten points from, but they've ridden
Speaker 1: their superstars, they've ridden their horses, and for years Tiger
Speaker 1: Woods and Phil Nicholson were the best players in the game,
Speaker 1: the best players of this generation, two of the best
Speaker 1: players the games ever seen, and they don't have amazing,
Speaker 1: fantastic Ryder Cup records. So I do think that politics.
Speaker 1: I do think the good old boy network boys that
Speaker 1: like to play with each other, picking people for specific partners.
Speaker 1: This has always been a part of the Ryder Cup,
Speaker 1: and I think the Euros have played that chess game
Speaker 1: maybe better at times. To me, a lot of the
Speaker 1: way the Europeans have selected their teams, the way that
Speaker 1: they they've picked their teams and the players that they've picked.
Speaker 1: At times from a captain standpoint, it has looked a
Speaker 1: little bit like you'd make an argument. Then in the
Speaker 1: last thirty years it looked at times like the US
Speaker 1: was playing checkers and the Euros were playing chess. But
Speaker 1: I do think that this is a very, very very
Speaker 1: good US team. Scotti, Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harmon, Patrick Cantley,
Speaker 1: Max Homer, Xanderschoffley Brooks, Koepka, Jordan Speeth, Colin Morikawa, Sam Burns,
Speaker 1: Ricky Fowler, Justin Thomas Sadly for the US, Lucas Glover,
Speaker 1: Keegan Bradley, Cam Young, they're the odd guys out, and
Speaker 1: I think you could make arguments. I mean you could
Speaker 1: definitely make arguments for Cam Young. Everybody thinks he's superstar,
Speaker 1: hits the golf ball, Miles. I think everybody thought he
Speaker 1: was going to be on this team in this cycle.
Speaker 1: Freddie Couples made a comment that he was one hundred
Speaker 1: percent on the team. Zach Goudas, asked about in his
Speaker 1: press conference, said that that was a while back. Lucas
Speaker 1: Glover hot, I mean, he's got the hot hand, right,
Speaker 1: He's the guy great ball Striker. I think he would
Speaker 1: have been a perfect partner for Brian Harmon. They didn't
Speaker 1: pick him. Keegan Bradley loves the Ryder Cup. Everybody knows
Speaker 1: what you're gonna get with Keegan. I think unfortunately this
Speaker 1: year he's the odd man out. I think that would
Speaker 1: have been probably the most difficult phone call to make,
Speaker 1: is to Keegan Bradley. His passion, he wears his heart
Speaker 1: on his sleeve, but hasn't been dominant in the Ryder Cup,
Speaker 1: doesn't have a dominant Ryder Cup record. I think you're
Speaker 1: picking Luke's glover because he's got the hot hand. But
Speaker 1: Sam Burns, Slick, Rick, BK Morikawa, Jordan Speith, and j T.
Speaker 1: That's who Zach said he wanted on this team. That
Speaker 1: is who. It sounds like the vice captains wanted on
Speaker 1: this team. That is who. It sounds like Xander Max Can'tley,
Speaker 1: Brian Harmon, Wyndam Clark, and Scotty Scheffler. So we'll see
Speaker 1: when we look at the US team from a major standpoint,
Speaker 1: Scotty Scheffler Major Champion, Wyndom Clark, Major Champion, Brian Harmon,
Speaker 1: Major Champion, Brooks Koepka Major Champion, Jordan Speith, Major Champion,
Speaker 1: Colin Morricawa Major Champion, Justin Thomas Major Champion. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of majors. We got a bunch of guys that
Speaker 1: have won the FedEx Cup, if that's precursor, We've got
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys on the US team that have
Speaker 1: won the President's Cup. To me, the US Ryder Cup
Speaker 1: team is looking more and more like the President's Cup
Speaker 1: in that the Writer Cup on paper, for the last
Speaker 1: thirty years, a majority of the time people thought that
Speaker 1: the US would win based off of what we see
Speaker 1: on paper, and it didn't happen. Every year the President's
Speaker 1: Cup on paper, the US is the favorite and almost
Speaker 1: every year they win. And I've always said, up until
Speaker 1: the last two cycles of the Writer Cup, if the
Speaker 1: US team and captains and the entire approach was more
Speaker 1: like the President's Cup, it seems to me like we
Speaker 1: would have had more success. Who runs the US President's
Speaker 1: Cup team the PGA Tour, not the PGA of America.
Speaker 1: So the PGA Tour runs the President's Cup, and the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour running of the President's Cup always seemed to
Speaker 1: me like that was more kind of what was going
Speaker 1: to have US play our best golf, and I do
Speaker 1: think that the US system now is more like the
Speaker 1: President's Cup. Anybody that thought anybody from LIV had any
Speaker 1: chance in making this team other than Brooks, that is,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, that was fantasy lab Taylor Gooch, who
Speaker 1: I think you can make a huge argument given the
Speaker 1: type of golf course, given the type of golf he plays,
Speaker 1: shot maker. He can move it right to left, you
Speaker 1: can make move it left to right. He's a pretty gritty,
Speaker 1: tenacious character. He's won a bunch of times on Live
Speaker 1: this year playing some great golf. He was never going
Speaker 1: to get a look Brison. I think Bryson's playing some
Speaker 1: amazing golf seems to have turned the corner just shut
Speaker 1: fifty eight. He was never going to pick. He was
Speaker 1: never going to get a pick DJ. For everything that
Speaker 1: DJ did last year, I just didn't see it. I
Speaker 1: think the only person from the Live side that was
Speaker 1: gonna have a chance was gonna be Brooks. And I
Speaker 1: think the only reason he got a pick he fell
Speaker 1: out of the automatic qualifications and he won a major
Speaker 1: championship this year. He won the PGA Championship, which is
Speaker 1: run by the PGA VERMRI which runs the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 1: I just don't think you can. And I think almost
Speaker 1: winning the Masters. So a second in a major and
Speaker 1: a first and a Major, regardless of where you're playing,
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna get on the Ryder Cup team. It's
Speaker 1: a Ryder Cup team that way. And if you're already
Speaker 1: a five time major champion, which Brooks is, you're probably
Speaker 1: gonna get a shout. So tough choices for Zach. I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be tough choices for Luke. I think
Speaker 1: you can make an argument on paper that maybe the
Speaker 1: Americans are favored, But I look at that European team.
Speaker 1: I look at the confidence that Victor Hobbin mean, they
Speaker 1: could pare Victor Hovlin with John Rahm and you could
Speaker 1: see Victor Hoblin and John Rom going undefeated. They could
Speaker 1: pair Victor Hobblin with Rory McElroy and you could see
Speaker 1: those two going undefeated. You could pair John Rom with
Speaker 1: Rory McElroy and you could see them going undefeated. So
Speaker 1: you could see three of the big big super stars
Speaker 1: for Europe getting a boatload of points. And can we
Speaker 1: get a boatload of points from Scotty Scheffler, Xander Max
Speaker 1: Homer can't lay. Those are kind of the stalwarts of
Speaker 1: the guys that qualified, right, Xander Max Homa can't lay
Speaker 1: and Scheffler Right, There's an argument to be made that, Okay,
Speaker 1: Brian Harmon gets on the team because he wins a major,
Speaker 1: and you know, Wyndam Clark, even though he won once
Speaker 1: this year, he gets on because he won a major.
Speaker 1: But I still think winning major's counts. I still think
Speaker 1: it shows a lot of who you are as a player.
Speaker 1: So I think it's gonna be fascinating. I am super
Speaker 1: excited on a personal note to be a part of
Speaker 1: Brooks Kepka's team, and to look at where Brooks was
Speaker 1: last year at this time. I just don't think you'd
Speaker 1: think he was a captain pick. I don't think you'd
Speaker 1: even think he was in the frame. I'm sure as
Speaker 1: I don't think he would have thought he would have
Speaker 1: come on to this Ryder Cup team as Major champion again,
Speaker 1: five time Major champion now so, but I am so
Speaker 1: proud of him. I'm excited to be going. Ryder Cups
Speaker 1: are special. They're special for the players, They're special for
Speaker 1: the captains, they're special for the vice captains. They're special
Speaker 1: for the caddies and for those of us in the
Speaker 1: coaching category that are lucky enough to work with players
Speaker 1: that make Ryder Cup teams, they are special week They
Speaker 1: are definitely special weeks. There are memorable weeks. And I
Speaker 1: am incredibly proud of brooks Kopka to have qualified for
Speaker 1: this team in the manner that he did and to
Speaker 1: be playing the golf that he is playing. And I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see who they're gonna pair him with.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see the choices that Captain Johnson and
Speaker 1: Captain Donnell for both the US and the Euros make.
Speaker 1: But the Ryder Cup is special. That's why you see
Speaker 1: the passion for a guy like j T who is
Speaker 1: so desperate to make these teams. And I hope we
Speaker 1: get the Justin Thomas that Zach Johnson wants on that
Speaker 1: team that uses this as a springboard. We've seen that, right,
Speaker 1: We've seen that Adam Scott got put on a couple
Speaker 1: of teams when he wasn't playing good at a time
Speaker 1: in his career where it was kind of an opportunity
Speaker 1: for him to get some of the mojo back. I
Speaker 1: think JT's gonna use this as that opportunity, and I
Speaker 1: hope for for JT, and I hope for the Americans
Speaker 1: that he does it. And I think there's some opportunities
Speaker 1: here for guys like Wyndham Clark and Brian Hemman as rookies.
Speaker 1: Max Homer. I'm excited to see what he does. Excited
Speaker 1: to see the golf that Xander plays Ryder Cup twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three in Italy in about a month's time. I
Speaker 1: will be there. Everybody will be watching. Anytime there's a
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup in the end of a year, it's special.
Speaker 1: I'm excited for it and I can't wait to get
Speaker 1: over there. Pasta pizza, Ryder Cup, some great coffee, some
Speaker 1: gelato and some great golf. I mean, sign me up.
Speaker 1: I'm here for that. Well, thank everyone for listening. Son
Speaker 1: of a Butch comes to you every Wednesday, and we
Speaker 1: will see you next week.