WEBVTT - Valhalla Insights, Rory Diagnoses, and Other Lessons Learned from the 2014 PGA Championship 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.920 And when I find my ball in a frid. 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:10.039 Egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg Friday, Frida Egg, 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:11.760 Brian Egg, Frida Egg, Bride. 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:13.360 Egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:37.800 hump course. Welcome to the Friday Egg Golf Podcast. I'm 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:42.120 Garrett Morrison, and today we're talking about Valhalla Golf Club. 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:46.000 We're talking about Rory McElroy, and we're looking back on 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.080 some details of the twenty fourteen PGA Championship, which we 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:55.520 think will really inform and illuminate what might happen this 0:00:55.600 --> 0:01:00.280 week during the twenty twenty four PGA Championship. Here to 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.360 discuss all of that with me is Joseph Lemania. Joseph, 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:05.000 how you doing, Garrett? 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:08.160 I'm doing great. I love talking major championship golf with you, 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:09.479 so I'm really excited to do this. 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:14.200 So we both watched the final round telecast of the 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:18.360 twenty fourteen PGA. We used our we used our inside 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.880 media connections to get a hold of this video because 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.399 it's actually not available publicly. Maybe maybe it should be 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:26.440 maybe just throw that up on YouTube. It would be 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.759 cool to have it. But in any case, we got 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.080 to watch this telecast and mainly we were looking at 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.360 it to collect some observations about the golf course, how 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:39.400 certain holes played, what kind of playing style. Valhalla tends 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:43.480 to prefer all that kind of stuff. But just to 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:47.160 give people that the high level summary of what happened 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:52.520 on that Sunday in twenty fourteen, the tournament basically came 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:57.080 down to a four way duel between Rory McElroy, Ricky Fowler, 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.440 Phil Mickelson, and Henrik Stenson. Now I had forgotten that 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:05.720 Stenson was so involved in this final round, but he 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:08.560 was actually tied for the lead at one point on 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.760 the back nine. In any case, that the big drama 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:16.480 was between Rory, Ricky and Phil. Ricky and Phil were 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.400 in the second to last group. Rory was in the final, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.320 pairing with Bernard Weisberger. Poor Wisburger was pretty much dropped 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.400 from the coverage by the back nine, even though he 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.239 didn't like play that poorly until the final several holes, 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:33.320 but you know, he wasn't truly a factor. But Ricky 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.800 and Phil made a big charge on the front nine, 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:40.079 really exciting stuff from them in kind of the middle 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:44.160 stretch of the front nine, whereas Rory faltered a bit. 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.480 When Rory was standing in the tenth fairway, he was 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:52.239 actually three shots behind Ricky and two shots behind Phil, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.320 But then Rory eagled that par five the tenth hole. 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.399 Ricky and Phil kind of stalled out for the rest 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.800 of the back nine, and Rory made a couple of 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.040 birdies and they finished in the dark on eighteen, with 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.919 Rory playing his first and second shots up into Ricky 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.520 and Phil. It appeared to me that Ricky and Phil 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.120 were kind of okay with him hitting his drive up 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:18.280 into them, but the second shot was a point of contention. 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.440 Famous ending to this tournament, it was nearly dark, there 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.040 had been a rain delay earlier. That's why they were 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.000 kind of pushing darkness as they were playing eighteen, and 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:34.119 Rory won by one shot over Phil, two shots over 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:38.840 Stenson and Ricky. So in all this Joseph and all 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:43.080 this kind of Sunday action from twenty fourteen, were there 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.160 any moments that jumped out at you, Gared. 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.280 I think you did a great job setting all that up. Admittedly, 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.440 when I watched this, I was kind of looking for 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.520 more of how the golf course was playing than like 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:59.520 specific moments. I think the main things that I will 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.320 take from watching that telecast Phil the whole scene on 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:08.080 eighteen is infamous and it was really fun to relive that. 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:12.440 I do think it was a bit absurd that Phil 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.000 and Ricky had to let Rory hit his second shot. 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.760 Into totally totally I am on I am on Phil's 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:19.760 side here me too. 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.599 I mean it was completely ridiculous, and I think the 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:27.080 drama of Phil having a chance to hold out his 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:33.240 shot for eagle and that being interrupted significantly with Rory's 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.120 approach shot into eighteen, and then Phil steps up after 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.200 Rory hits the approach shot and nearly holds it was 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.919 I really respected the way that he gathered himself to 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.320 hit an unbelievable chip shot, So that was one of 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:45.679 my biggest takeaways. 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:50.679 Yeah, and Ricky ended up free putting right. He seemed 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.960 rattled by it all. Both Phil and Ricky were really 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.840 pretty classy about it and didn't take the bait after 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.240 the round two express their displeasure. But Phil had a 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.799 long conversation with the rules official on the eighteenth green 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.240 I'm sure to the effect of what the hell is 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.120 going on here? And I get it, you know, But 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.120 at the same time, from Rory's perspective, he's thinking, if 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.200 I don't hit up this second shot, I'm probably not 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.080 going to finish today. It seems like the weather forecast 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:26.360 also wasn't good for Monday, so who knows when Rory 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:28.719 would have hit those final shots, and he would have 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:33.040 had to keep that kind of mental intensity and focus 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:38.080 going for another potentially couple of days, and that would 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.640 have been a very difficult position for Rory. But it 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:43.680 was totally puzzling. I think it was just a bit 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.520 of a clusterfuck, and nobody knew what was going on, 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.520 including the rules officials. So as far as moments for me, 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.880 I mean just this three way duel. I mean, Stenson 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.119 was involved, so, but he was a couple of groups 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:02.400 ahead and so he was definitely being covered by the telecast. 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.599 But the true duel was between Ricky and Phil in 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:10.120 the group ahead and Rory kind of waiting on every 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:14.880 shot behind them, watching everything they did. And the telecast 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:17.919 showed this really well at a couple of moments, and 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:20.440 it was clear that, you know, Phil and Ricky were 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.520 kind of getting buddy buddy about it. A lot of 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:26.240 fist bumps and you know, congratulating each other on good 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.640 shots and things like that, and there was Rory and 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.479 the group behind kind of you know, I think he 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.839 was getting frustrated by it, and in fact, actually he 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.919 admitted afterwards that he was annoyed by the way that 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:40.880 they were carrying on with each other. And on the 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:46.480 back nine he just locked in and absolutely blitzed that. Well, 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.800 he didn't blitz the back nine, but he did what 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.640 he needed to do. He had an eagle and two 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:55.119 birdies on that back nine when everybody else was sort 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:58.240 of stalling out and making a bunch of pars. But 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.760 I loved the particular moment on the sixth tee when 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.280 there was there was a big backup on the sixth 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:11.679 tee and Rory arrived after playing some pretty poor holes 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.920 in the opening of his round and watching Phil and 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:19.360 Ricky Hull putts and chip in and do all this stuff. 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.640 Rory arrived on that tee and did not say hi 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.640 to Phil and Ricky, did not talk to them, sat 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:30.320 off to the side and waited for them to play. 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:35.200 And there have been descriptions of this scene, most notably 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.440 by Shane Ryan and his books Slaying the Tiger, and 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:40.640 the scene was awkward, and we saw a little bit 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.120 of it on the telecast where there was actually this 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:46.680 great shot which started on Rory kind of sitting off 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:48.880 to the side of the tee and there was a 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:53.360 zoom out and in the foreground Ricky was revealed kind 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.480 of sitting there, you know, standing there with an awkward 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.520 expression on his face as Rory sort of stared them 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:04.160 down forfar. So there was some tension between these players. 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:08.120 I think Ricky and Rory are are friends. Rory and 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.440 Phil clearly, I don't think have ever really seen eye 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.000 to eye, you know, there's a little bit of juice there. 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.640 So really really fun final round overall. 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:20.360 I think part of what you're hitting on is one 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:22.320 of the biggest takeaways from watching this, which is the 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.520 it was a different Rory McElroy in twenty fourteen than 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.320 the Rory McElroy that we watch weekend and week out 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.480 ten years later. I think the free flowingness of his 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.600 game is clearly a little bit different, and even though 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.400 he looks confident right now coming into this tournament, there's 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.280 a little bit of a different swagger to the way 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.760 he was playing that final round in twenty fourteen than 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.040 anything I can recall him playing recently. You know, I 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.439 do think part of this story there is that Rory's 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.160 length advantage and the way that fit golf courses ten 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.840 years ago is different than today, and he's a little 0:08:55.920 --> 0:09:00.480 constrained as part of how easy it's gotten to swing 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.640 the driver and how far the golf ball goes is 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.480 the advantage he had in twenty fourteen was just bigger 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:10.480 and perfectly at Valhalla and let him free wheel. And 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.640 I think that's evident from watching the coverage. So both 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.600 maybe with some of the behavior and the way that 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.439 he was, I think there's more of an alpha to 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.079 Rory in twenty fourteen, both the way he swung the 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.760 golf club and maybe some of those moments like you're alluding. 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.760 To, absolutely, and this is kind of what happens with people, 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:32.120 you know, and Rory and I are kind of close 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.080 to the same age. He's five years younger than I am, 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.560 and so you know, ten years ago he was a 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.960 young man, you know, very much on the upslope of 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:44.959 his life, you know, going towards the apex. This turned 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.000 out to be kind of be the apex twenty fourteen 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.520 for him, but of course he didn't know that at 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.480 the time, and we didn't know it, and there was 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:56.600 a kind of freedom and hopefulness in the way he 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.320 played golf, like he was just going to keep getting 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:05.280 better and better and better. And that has gotten you know, 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.560 it hasn't been taken away from him necessarily, but he 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.640 has lost a little bit of that confidence and hopefulness 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.560 about his golf game. And that's kind of what happens 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.959 when you get older. You mellow out a little bit 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.320 and you lose some of some of that edge that 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.200 allows you to do incredible things when you're in your 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:30.600 mid twenties. And so that's the Rory we saw here. 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.440 The real reason, Joseph, that we watched this round, though, 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.640 was to get a sense of how this golf course 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:43.840 played in twenty fourteen and how it might play this year, 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:48.000 ten years later. I think that we saw that the 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.360 game is different now, but it's sort of like a 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:55.640 just a more extreme version of the game that was 0:10:55.679 --> 0:11:00.000 being played at Valhalla in twenty fourteen. Distance had really 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.080 started to get out of control then, and the way 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.760 we saw Rory playing that golf course is probably the 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.839 way that we're gonna see a lot of golfers play 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:13.720 the golf course this week, So as it relates to 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.880 the course, what are some of your big big thoughts there? 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:20.360 I mean, Gary, I've there's a chance I'm wrong about this, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:24.559 but I feel fairly certain we are on pace given 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.440 the weather conditions this week and the lengthening of the 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:29.800 golf course, the way it sets up, like, I think 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:36.160 we're projected to watch an extreme version of a major championship, 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:41.400 one that is about as friendly to big hitters as 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.160 a setup can be. 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.079 An extreme version of a PGA Championship, especially right. 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.440 Yeah, but I mean an extreme version of any golf tournament. Like, 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.040 I think this is going to be as much like hitters, 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:59.520 only you bombers bomb away, and a part of that 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.440 is going to be the soft conditions and the ways 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.800 that the golf ball just isn't gonna roll. And so 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.040 I think what's instructive about watching that twenty fourteen PGA 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:13.320 Championship was that the conditions were similarly wet, and I 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.040 think the I think it's gonna play a lot like 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.120 it played in twenty fourteen. So I agree with you 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:22.080 that the game has changed. We will talk later about 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.960 some of the players that that favors. But I think 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.880 we should set the expectations here, and other people are 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:31.000 saying the same thing. But we might watch an extreme 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:33.480 version of bomb and gouge golf this week. 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.840 What is it about this course that favors that style? 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.800 Well, I mean, one the obvious point is the sheer 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.760 length of the golf course, and it's been lengthened since 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:52.640 twenty fourteen, so you're gonna have so many driver six iron, 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.600 driver five iron. I mean, Tiger has already talked about 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.120 this week, has already talked about it this week that 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:00.120 there are certain holes he hit like driver wedge to 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.840 one when he played this I believe he said in 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.400 twenty fourteen, and now I mean he hit driver five 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:09.160 would and part of the reason the moisture is a 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.040 huge part of the story here. Coming out of the rough, 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.520 even you're gonna have shots that when they land on 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:16.360 the green, they stop and you're gonna be able to 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.040 hold the green even from the rough. The fairways are 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.520 also gonna play much wider in these types of conditions 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.760 because the ball just hits and sticks immediately, so you 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:27.880 don't have to worry about controlling the ball. As much 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:29.880 and hitting something down the center of the fairway that 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.559 rolls and ends up on the right edge or the 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:35.760 left edge of the fairway. It's pretty much hitting and sticking. 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.000 And I think that's something that people should kind of 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.839 burn into the back of their brains before this tournament starts, 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:42.960 because that's what you're gonna see. 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:47.559 Here's something that Justin Thomas said earlier today. We're recording 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:52.720 this on Tuesday. Justin Thomas said about Valhalla, for the 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.600 most part, if it's a par four or five, you're 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.040 just grabbing a driver when you get to the tee 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.440 and you're just hoping you hit the fair way and 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:06.120 then you're probably going to hit somewhere between a five 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.559 and an eight iron into the green. That pretty much 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.440 sums it up. That is so much of this golf 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.480 course where you hit it as far as you can 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:17.640 off the tee and it's all carry distance, right because 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.640 as you mentioned, the ball is gonna stick and hold 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.880 even though the fairways have been regrasped with Zooija. We've 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.240 seen the weather forecast for this week. It is going 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.640 to be wet, and so you hit the driver and 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.880 then you're going to have a fairly long approach for 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.800 these guys, it's not going to be a bunch of wedges. 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.640 It might be more wedges for some of the longer players, 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.280 but most of the field is going to be really 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:49.120 tested with their mid to slightly shorter irons. And that's 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.880 the golf course, right And this is a PGA Championship 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.960 golf course these days. This is the style of golf 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.360 course that the PGA Championship has gone for. And I 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:02.240 don't know about you, but not my favorite type of 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:06.880 golf course to watch Thursday through Saturday. I think it's 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.800 going to be pretty sleepy. But then when we get 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.640 to Sunday, we're probably going to get a bunched up 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.080 leader board and it's probably going to be a bunch 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.880 of players that we know about. Because the players that 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.200 we know about, the top ten players in the world, 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.920 tend to be the players who thrive on this kind 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.960 of golf course, who hit it really far and are 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.160 really good with their mid to long irons. We're going 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:35.280 to see those players in the mix more than likely. 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.400 If they show up with any kind of chipping and 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.920 putting form, that's who's going to be there. And so 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.600 that kind of sets you up for an exciting Sunday, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.200 even if the three days leading up to that are 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:48.960 not as exciting. 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.960 Right, A lot of things to react to you there, Garrett. 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.720 The only thing I would quibble with a little bit 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.400 is that there actually are a couple opportunities out there 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.760 on the golf course to hit less than I think 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.560 that's one of the stronger points of this golf course, 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:06.680 even though I'm not a huge fan of it in general. 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:08.920 There are a couple t shots that, especially if it 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:14.480 were firmer, the three wood versus driver decision that players 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:16.080 would have to make is kind of interesting, Like the 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:19.120 Ninth Toll is an example of that. But again, with 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:20.760 it being wetter, we're not going to see as much 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.600 of that. To your point about the style of golf, 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.760 this is my least favorite style of golf to watch, 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.000 where the golf ball just isn't rolling at all. Everything's 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.200 hitting and sticking. It's all kerry distance. I guess the 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.280 exception or my least favorite would be if this were 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.560 more of a wedge fest. But at least here there's 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:40.840 going to be long iron play, which to your point, 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:43.160 is going to bring a lot of these long hitters in. 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.040 So yeah, we're probably going to see a leaderboard on 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.960 Sunday of some of the top players in the world 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.800 and a lot of really long hitters, right your Brooks, 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:55.920 Bryce and Scotty Rory. So from an entertainment perspective, I 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.560 think Sunday could get pretty interesting, even if the golf 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.080 shots themselves aren't that interesting. One tournament that I wanted 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.320 to throw at you, Garrett, and I'm just curious for 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:10.400 your reaction to this. I admittedly this is a golf 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.800 tournament that maybe a lot of people don't remember, and 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:16.240 I only remember it because I have personal connection to 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.280 the golf course. But this Valhalla reminds me more than 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.960 any golf course of Crooked Stick, which is another Midwest 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.879 golf course long and in twenty twelve they hosted the 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:33.119 BMW Championship there. Leading into that week, it rained all week. 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.960 It was extremely muddy. And only really remember that because 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.040 I was at the tournament. The final group that week 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:44.960 was Rory, Phil and Tiger. And you just talk about 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.359 long hitters not always the most accurate. It's interesting the 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.040 way that that leaderboard kind of paralleled to twenty fourteen 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:57.320 PGA Championship. Not Tiger wasn't involved, but Lee Westwood finished 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.359 high on the leader board at the Crooked Stick tournament, 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.040 and I believe in twenty fourteen he was the first 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:06.040 round leader. A lot of parallels in how that golf 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:07.840 course is going to play. I think this is just 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.919 a very clear hit it long. You don't have to 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.200 be the straightest driver of the golf ball, and then 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.399 you're firing six and seven irons in that stop on 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:17.200 a dime on the green. So I thought that was 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.560 an interesting tournament to reflect upon because both some of 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:22.720 the names line up, and also the style of play 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.080 is so similar that you have like a Robert Geragis 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.480 in the top five at Crooked Stick who was just 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.720 a bomber that didn't have much short game or wasn't 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:31.159 the best potter. So I think that's what we're going 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:31.560 to see. 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.199 That's kind of surprising to me. So I'm not nearly 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.000 as familiar with Cricket Stick as you are. Obviously you, 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.199 I believe played the course a lot when you were 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.800 a kid, and so so what about cricket. It's a 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.359 Pete Die golf course. Normally we would think of Die 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:53.040 championship golf courses as being in a different mold than 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:57.480 Valhalla in terms of the play style that they most favor. 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.399 So what about cricket Stick is kind of similar to 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:00.360 Valhalla to you. 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.760 Well, there's a lot of it has to do the 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:07.160 width of missus and how much it penalizes you. There's 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.000 a lot of shots at Crooked Stick where you can 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.480 kind of take trouble out of one play on one 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.480 side and then just bash driver and if you miss 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.440 a little bit and you're just in the rough, it's 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.480 not that big of a deal, especially if the greens 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.560 are receptive and you can hold something coming into those greens. So, 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.320 you know, I think what's really interesting about that golf course. 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:25.680 Not to make this a full blown discussion of cricket stick, 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.240 but John Daily, Dustin Johnson, and Rory McElroy are some 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.200 of the champions there in the most high profile events, 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:34.600 some of the most high profile events that have been 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.800 hosted there over the last you know, thirty years. Those 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.760 are bombers. And it can be counterintuitive sometimes when you 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.760 see a course that is there is some thick rough 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:47.800 and there are some trees, even though there's not a 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.800 ton of trees at Crooked Stick in particular, but it 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:52.919 does lend itself to that kind of bomb a lot 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:54.480 of the t shots you can just aim somewhere in 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:55.040 bash Driver. 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.199 Let's get into some specific holes at Valhalla. You know, 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:02.679 when you were watching the Sunday telecast, did any holes 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.400 stand out to you as being interesting on the one 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.639 hand or just representative of the golf course on the 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:10.160 other hand. 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.440 I mean, it's a lot of browny par four's and 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.040 like ripping five irons into greens. 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.919 So yeah, second hole at Valhalla, I feel like is 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.560 probably a good example of what players see a lot 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.840 at that golf course. Right, it's a converted par five. 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.439 It plays as a part four for the pros, it 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.159 plays as a par five for the members, And yeah, 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.320 that hole just is all about hitting your drive as 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.920 far as you can so you can have a reasonable 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:41.840 mid iron into that green. 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:44.679 I'm probably teeing you up here, Garrett, and you have 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:50.960 both more informed and probably stronger opinions, more important takes 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:51.600 on the golf course. 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:52.919 So I'll leave some of this to you. 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:56.480 But I think the fourth hole at Valhalla, it's one 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:58.280 that I'm sure you're eager to talk about, but I 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.359 think from watching the telecast, that's one that even though 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.320 it's a short part for where you're hitting driver wedge 0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:07.119 or you know, maybe three would, but I think especially 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:08.600 in these wet conditions, you're going to see a lot 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:12.239 of driver. To me, that was pretty indicative of what 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:15.760 we're going to see this week, where you can blast 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:19.359 something up there pretty close to the green. The angle 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:21.080 that you're going to be coming into that green with 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:24.200 really doesn't matter, especially when it's wet, And I think 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:26.959 something interesting about these kinds of conditions or that when 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:31.840 you're hitting a wedge, spin control on wet greens is 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.800 a pretty big factor. And sometimes when you're coming out 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:36.119 of the rough, if you have a good lie in 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.920 the rough, that SHOT's almost easier a sixty yard shot 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:40.680 out of the rough when you have a fine lie 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:42.520 and you don't have to worry as much about if 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:44.679 it were really firm, it would be different, but it's not. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:46.760 So the ball just kind of stops and maybe rolls 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:49.600 a couple of feet. That's such an easy shot that 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:51.399 I think you're going to see a lot of that, 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:54.320 in particular on the fourth hole. So I don't know 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:56.080 if you have any other comments on the fourth. 0:21:55.880 --> 0:22:00.520