WEBVTT - The State of LIV Golf 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.320 And when I find my ball. 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:09.319 In a brid egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg Friday, 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:11.120 Frida Egg, Brian Egg, Frida. 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.160 Egg, Bride Egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:37.280 of the hump course game. Welcome to the Friday Egg Podcast. 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.840 I'm Garrett Morrison, and today we are talking about Live 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.680 Golf's upcoming twenty twenty three season. Live, as you know, 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.639 is the breakaway golf league headed by Greg Norman and 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:53.319 funded by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. It's 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:56.360 really turned the golf world upside down. But a lot 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.480 of things have happened recently that have suggested that Live 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:04.040 maybe isn't in as strong a place as it was 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:09.160 potentially last year. Live's new season, Season two of Live 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.800 is starting next week, actually end of next week, February 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:17.080 twenty fourth through the twenty sixth, at Mayacoba El kamal 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.800 Leone Golf Course, which is familiar to people who are 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.360 nerdy enough to follow the PGA Tour in the fall season. 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.640 Mayacoba has been a venue on the tour for a while. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.840 Well now now it's with Live, So I just wanted 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:35.160 to do basically a state of Live Golf podcast. What 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:38.000 were the major things that happened last year and during 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.479 the off season, and what are the major unanswered questions 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:45.440 about the league this year. My guest is Adam Woodard, 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.760 a reporter and the assistant editor for Golf Week. One 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.560 of Adam's major roles this past year has been covering 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:55.800 Live Golf on site and on a week to week basis. 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.240 Adam is in a really interesting and I think difficult 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.480 position because his job is to report accurately on what 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.360 happens at live events and in the wider world of 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:11.359 Live's efforts to recruit players and put out a competitive product, 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.400 and the rest of us just get to opine on it, 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.800 which is relatively easy and allows us to take a 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.400 clear moral stance on the whole enterprise. I've made very clear, 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:25.160 abundantly clear, on podcast after podcasts that I do not 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:30.200 think it's good that a league backed by the Saudi 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.519 Arabian monarchy is trying to take over the world of golf. 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:36.480 That has been my stance from the beginning. But it's 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.480 easy for me to say that Adam's role isn't necessarily 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.440 to give his opinion in the way that it's my 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.920 role to do that. Adam's role is to give us 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.640 information that's an essential underlying bedrock for the rest of 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.639 our discussion. I can't tell you how much we rely 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.520 on reporters like Adam to just give us information about 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.200 what's happening, because otherwise we wouldn't get it. You know, 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.920 I can't talk to Brooks Koepka. I've said too many 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.440 negative things about him. That guy's not going to talk 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:10.240 to me. But reporters have the kind of relationships and 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:14.400 perspective that allows them to get information that is super 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.720 essential to the rest of us. But of course Adam 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:22.200 is aware that in the effort to be objective, journalism 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:27.040 can sometimes go astray and end up unintentionally endorsing things 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.680 that should not be endorsed. And so I found it 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.760 really interesting to get his take on how he sees 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:37.040 his role and how he works through these conflicts with himself. 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.160 So in any case, you know, he's a great guy 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.280 to talk to you also just so friendly and fun, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.920 and I think you'll enjoy our conversation. But first, this 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.880 episode is brought to you by Club Champion. Club Champion 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:53.480 helps golfers of any skill level play better golf through 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:58.000 custom fitted and custom built equipment. Their extensively trained master 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.640 fitters provide an in depth, data driven, tour level fitting 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:05.240 process and have access to fifty thousand hittable head and 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.000 shaft combos as well as sixty plus brands. They also 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:12.920 use industry leading technology like track Man and sam Putt Lab, 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.200 and they build to the tightest tolerances in the industry. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.960 Club Champions fittings produce real results for every type of player, 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.240 including an average of twenty two yard increases off the 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.800 tee and an average of ten yard improvements in dispersion. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:31.000 I have gone through Club Champion fittings myself, and one 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.200 big thing that I think is so important about a 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.680 Club Champion fitting aside from getting equipment that works for you, 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.360 and I really did get equipment that is well suited 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.680 to me through my fitting, but one big value of 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.040 the experience is just finding out who you are as 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.160 a player, what your swing dynamics are, what your ball 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:52.480 flight is like, and what you need out of equipment. 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.000 Not just the specific equipment that you get built for 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.200 you at Club Champion, but from equipment in general, because 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.640 I think a lot of players have misconception about what 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.040 they actually need in their bag and what is going 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.440 to help them play their best golf. So I think 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.480 that Club Champion fittings are a huge value in that way. 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.760 So for Frida Egg listeners, the deal that Club Champion 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.560 is offering is this, if you use the code Frida Egg, 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.520 you can get fifty percent off the cost of your 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.159 Club Champion fitting with the purchase of a club. Again, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:27.640 that's code Frida Egg all one word. All right, let's 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:34.680 get to Adam Wredon. So, Adam, you and I met 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.520 for the first time at Live Portland. This was the 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:38.719 first time we had met in person. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:39.280 Yep. 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.560 And I believe it was your first live event that 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:46.039 you had covered, because the only one before that was 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:51.120 Live London. So how did you find yourself covering Live? 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:52.120 Why were you there? 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:53.159 Yeah? 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.080 So, I mean, I know I'm prone to hyperbole, but 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.280 you know, Live is the biggest thing to happen to 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:59.479 pro golf since Tiger Woods join, you know, join the 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.000 tour twenty some years ago. It's been incredibly polarizing and 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.680 because of that, we've seen just incredible interest in it 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:07.919 with our coverage of it early on, I think I 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:10.040 thought there'd be interest, but not to the to the 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.640 level that we've seen. I mean, it's near, you know, 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.400 major interest as far as the discussion that's going around 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.440 it for us, and that's that carried out through through 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:20.479 the rest of twenty twenty two. Now, we saw so 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.640 much discussion around live not necessarily what was going on 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.200 on the course, but a lot of the stuff that 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.280 was going on off the course. You know, what players 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.880 are joining, what's Greg saying about Jay Monahan, what's Jay 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.360 Monahan saying about Greg Norman. It was all the discussion 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:34.320 around it, but not so much on the course, and 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.599 that really carried out as far as you know, player 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.920 movement and everything that was happening. And we just sort 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.400 of stuck with it, and we figured, look, if we're 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.560 going to be involved in talking about professional golf, you know, 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.920 whether you like it or not, these are professional golfers. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.080 This is still professional golf. And we thought it's a 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:50.720 story that that had to be covered. And I think 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.160 we've we've done a pretty good job about doing that. Obviously, 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.240 we've got a lot of the news reporting, we've got 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.360 a bunch of columns. If you've read any of am 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.520 In Lynch's stuff about what he said about Live, I 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:01.120 won't speak for him or his thoughts or anything. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:02.240 How does he feel about Live? 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:02.599 Now? 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:02.840 Yeah? 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:05.560 Amen, What you're referring to is that Amen has been 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.400 very critical of LIV very much from the jump, but 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:13.280 through an opinion column, whereas what you're responsible for, typically 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.560 in Golf Week's coverage of Live is kind of more 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.680 of the fact based reporting, on site reporting, that kind 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:19.320 of stuff. 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:19.920 Right, absolutely, Yeah. 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:21.720 A lot of what we a lot of our thoughts 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:23.320 going into it was all right, we'd want to A 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:24.520 lot of people aren't gonna be able to go to 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:26.720 these events because they're scattered all throughout the country or 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.520 all throughout the world, so we wanted to put people 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.520 at these live events. So my job is basically going, 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:32.680 all right, let's write about what you see, which was 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:34.160 a lot of fun for me. It's something I haven't 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.480 really gotten a lot to do, especially in golf. I 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.160 passed at USA today. I got to do a little 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.440 bit more stuff like that. But with golf tournaments and 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.080 there's a lot of all right, let's go right about 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:44.840 what's happening on the course, let's go right about the 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:47.239 players and stuff in this there's just so much more 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:48.640 involved in it, and it was a lot of fun 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.160 to go out to those events and really see it firsthand. 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.560 Did you ever have any feelings of conflict about covering 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.440 live events as golf events? Did you think that through 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.480 when you were reporting this stuff out, because there is 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.080 an argument out there that reporting on live as a 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.440 golf event is exactly what Live wants. You're playing into 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.200 their hands. You're playing into the hands of the Public 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:17.000 Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which backs Live, and there's 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.080 a feeling out there among some people that reporting just 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:23.600 on the golf is kind of not the right move. 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:25.280 So did you think that through for yourself? 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:27.080 Yeah, I mean there was a lot of those a 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.360 lot of those talks, a lot of those conversations with myself, 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:31.960 with my family, with editors, with other people, you know, 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.080 like you walking around the course talking about it, talking 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.800 to other media members, seeing what they think. But whether, 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:38.800 like like I said earlier, whether we like it or not, 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.559 this is professional golf, and I think that you can 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.320 kind of toe that line of you know, carrying you know, 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:46.280 carrying the water for a live and just doing what 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:47.920 they want you to do and talk about the golf 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.880 while also still talking about what's going on behind the scenes, 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.240 knowing that this is a golf entity, a golf league 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:57.520 now that is fully one hundred percent backed by Saudi 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.280 Arabia's sovereign Wealth Fund, the Public Investment Fund. Know, we 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.840 make sure that we keep mentioning that. And you know, 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:04.599 I think I've been doing a pretty good job to 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.200 pat myself on the back because if I look at 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:08.680 my Twitter mentions, I'm either a PGA tour stand one 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.640 day or I'm just carrying the water for live golf 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:12.960 the next day. You know, it's it's people are so 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:16.280 opinionated on it all. But I think that there's it's 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.720 important to talk about what's going on behind the scenes 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.560 but also still talking about what's going on with the 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.320 golf because they got some guys, they got some really 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:25.800 important players and some really big name players, and there's 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:27.520 still a lot of interest in what they're doing. But 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:29.280 I think there's there's there's definitely a way you can 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.400 do both covering the golf while also still you know, 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.800 noting what's actually going on behind the scenes and grant that. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:37.600 I guess that's up to your opinion on whether on 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:40.080 you actually believe that Live really wants to and cover 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.560 your ears, grow the game, or whether this is all 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:46.000 just one big sports watching effort for the Kingdom. 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:51.800 So when you started covering live at Portland, what was 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:55.440 kind of your intention in going out there and finding stories? 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:59.320 You know, compared to a say, a PGA Tour event 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.920 or a DP World Tour event. How is your approach 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.880 different in just looking for things to report on at 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:08.319 a live event or is it similar? 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.679 I think in a lot of ways it's it's similar 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.840 once the tournament gets started, but those early days it's 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.600 completely different. Those some of those press conferences were just 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.880 were just unreal, the animosity from from one side to 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.600 the other. Uh, just getting a lot of the guys 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.640 are real touchy and try to talk around things, And 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.760 it changed from event to event. But I think that 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:32.720 my thought going into it was I need to go 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.800 into this with the most open mind possible. Sure, I 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:37.360 can have my own thoughts, I can have my own 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:39.480 opinions going on in the back of my head, but 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.559 in order to successfully do my job, I wanted to 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.880 tell the story of what was actually happening at these events. 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:46.680 So that meant talking to the players, asking you know, directly, 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.880 why did you join, What were the issues that you 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.200 did that you went through and joining, What did you 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.000 think about, what did you discuss? It was talking to 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.160 the Live officials themselves. I talked to a bunch of 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:57.800 them and straight up asked them, you know, did you 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.319 have any reservations given the the funding from the Public 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.520 Investment Fund and all of that. I talked to as 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:05.480 many people as I could to get their opinions, to 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:08.200 try and you know, have the most clear cut thought 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.319 of what was actually going on. And you know, it's 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.000 a lot of people. It seemed like they were genuine 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:13.200 a lot of it. You could kind of tell they 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.360 were just given the talking points for what they were 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:17.520 supposed to say in order to you know, make the 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.839 make the criticisms a bit less. But I just went 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.280 into it with the most clear open mind as possible 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.080 to try and just say, all right, what is actually 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:27.120 going on at these events? 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:31.480 Now? What actually went on at the Live Portland event? 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.640 During the press conferences were some pretty tense moments between 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.200 the players and the media. You and I were both 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.880 in the room for the now infamous I guess it 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.679 was Pat Perez Brooks Kepka, and there was a third 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.920 wheel there, right, was it Abe Answer or somebody who 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.960 was I don't exactly remember who their third person was, 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.920 but Pat Perez and Brooks Koepka came out, you know, 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:58.440 with some real fire and with they had different attitudes. 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.719 Pat Perez seemed more angry to me, Brooks pep Gut 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:05.560 seemed more kind of sullen. And so, you know, as 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.080 you were seeing that press conference, what was going through 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.720 your head? Like how do you report on a golf 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.920 press press conference that gets that tense? Because usually they 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:15.560 don't write. 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.760 I've never been a part of anything like that before. 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.040 I've never witnessed anything like that, and I've been doing 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.600 this for a decade now and I've never seen anything 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.679 come close to how how tense that was. Like I 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.920 was not that I was nervous to ask a question, 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.320 but I was definitely kind of worried about all right, like, 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:32.920 is you know, is this going to turn into a thing? 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:34.599 Am I gonna Is one of these guys going to 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:36.040 try and make a headline out of me just from 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:36.800 asking a question? 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:37.839 And it's just. 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.520 It's really tough to take the guys seriously when you 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.640 know former you know, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.559 is standing ten feet off the podium writing down every 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:52.360 single question and answer that was given and staring complete 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.280 and total daggers into anybody who asked anything that wasn't golf. 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:59.800 I mean I asked, I asked the guys, Oh, Patrick 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.840 Reed was in that was in that press, he was. 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.520 About that, and he was and he came off as 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:07.720 the most level headed. 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.520 That's the craziest thing. And the day before bryceon to 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.400 Shambo or later on that day, one of the two 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.200 most normal press conferences that you have are Patrick Read 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.880 and Bryson to Shambo. Something is going either wrong or 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.640 just it's it's unlike anything we've covered before, because that 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:23.679 was not how it went on the tour. But I mean, 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:25.800 I asked the guys, Look how much media training. I've 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.760 see this guy standing right here. You've hired his PR firm. 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:30.760 I straight up asked him, how much training have you 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.920 gotten to deal with the difficult questions about the Saudi 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.600 funding as well as leaving from the tour, And Brooks 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.160 did his le I mean none unless you want to 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:40.839 give it yourself and hit me with a thanks chief 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.920 on the way out. And it's like it's I'm just 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.720 asking a question, man, like if you if the answer 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:46.400 is none, the answer is none. That's all I'm looking for. 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.760 But I find it incredibly hard to believe that these 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.360 guys weren't getting trained left and right, given how the 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.120 first round of press conferences in London went to those 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.160 just a couple of weeks later, with the guy standing 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.800 right next to the podium. He was right there taking 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.680 down notes. I just don't see they could think that 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.640 we weren't going to ask about that. And that's what 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:04.600 happens when you do ask those kind of serious questions, 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:06.160 is you don't really get much of an answer, or 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:07.760 if you do, it's it's kind of a joke. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:08.000 Right. 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.880 That was a great question, Uh, do you have have 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.360 you gotten media training? I thought that got really to 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.320 the heart of some issues there. Now you ended up 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.560 covering most of or all of the live events that 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:25.280 took place in the US for the rest of the year. Correct, Yeah, 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:27.920 And did you notice this is something I picked up on, 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.800 but I wasn't at the rest of the events. Did 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:35.920 you notice a kind of decrease in the electricity in 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:40.440 the press conferences? And did you notice some decrease in 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.200 the number of uncomfortable questions that the press was asking 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.040 the players as the season went on. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:49.880 Yeah, the only other time that I saw it truly 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.280 get that tense was either when a new player joined 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.120 and they got the same round of questions of why 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.560 did you join, did the did the Saudi you know, 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.680 did the money have any have any play in it? 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.360 Those are the only times I ever saw get that. 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.400 And then as well in Bedminster when a lot of 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:04.640 the local journalists were talking about the nine to eleven 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:06.600 attacks and the nine eleven family groups that we're doing. 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:10.080 There are different protests throughout the area. They had a 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.040 TV advertisement, I'm pretty sure they had a protest nearby 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.120 at the club. Those were the only other times I 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:18.320 ever saw it yet even even close to that tense. 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:20.200 But at the same time, we can only ask these 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.120 guys those questions so many times before they completely shut 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:24.800 us down and stopped talking to us, or I mean, 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.040 what's the point in us asking these same questions if 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:28.800 we're just going to get the same answers. You know, 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.760 there's the argument of well you still keep asking it 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.080 because it's the answer you want to get. I understand that, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.600 but also the amount of access that you get to 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.400 these players is so different than the amount of access 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:41.960 that you get at other professional golf events, and you 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.040 need and the one thing I learned is you need 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:45.920 to use that time wisely for you to be able 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.120 to do your job the right way, right, And that's 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.360 I mean, that's something you have to learn along the way, 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:52.120 and it's a decision that I made. There are other 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.560 people that still try to ask those questions and they 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:58.000 got they got zipped up pretty quickly. But for me, 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.800 it was really just a matter of maximizing the time 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:01.720 with players that we had because it is so few 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:02.360 and far between. 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.880 In what sense, was the access at live events less 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.760 than the access that you might normally get at a 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.320 PGA Tour or other major tour event. 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:15.520 Yeah, Normally tour events press conferences start on Tuesday and Wednesday, 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:17.760 and you'll get the guys up there for anywhere from 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.960 fifteen to thirty minutes, and you get them solo, right, 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:22.120 and you can basically ask whatever you want and the 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.400 floor is open. At live events, I've never seen a 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.120 one on one interview with a player ever. There's always 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:30.840 two or three guys up there, even in the flash areas. 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:34.080 After if there is a if it's a set media 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.120 time and there's like a little pin where they For 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.120 those who don't know what a flash area is, there's 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:39.680 a little pin where they bring in and they got 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:41.560 the microphones all set up, and it's outside of the 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:43.480 main press area. But that's kind of like the free 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.360 flowing area where you can pull guys in and ask them. 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.080 At most tour events, you can request the you can 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:49.800 request from the media reps to be hey, I want 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:51.800 to talk to a player X, player a player B, 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:53.720 and they'll bring them in for a few questions that 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:55.640 assuming they didn't shoot like eight over that day and 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.720 they weren't completely taking their round, you can get a 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.280 little bit more of them. But with live they would 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:02.880 bring in the people who who were scheduled, and a 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.199 lot of that was the new guys or the you know, 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.680 the the most the more famous players, and after that 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:09.920 you could get a guy, but only if they said 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:11.040 yes to speak with you. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:11.520 You know, I got. 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:13.399 I talked to Paul Casey for a while after the 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.760 Bedminster event because he was willing to talk. But I 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:17.960 went up to Ian Polter and basically told, you know, 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:19.800 was told to go play traffic, and he was like, no, 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:21.360 I don't need to go I don't need to talk 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.480 to you unless it's in a set media thing. So 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.400 it's it's just so different in the amount of access 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:29.639 you get and how open they are to speak with you. 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:31.919 Very few athletes every want to speak to the media, 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.720 but it's even more amped up with the with the 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:35.160 live tour. 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:39.520 So, Adam, when you think of Live in twenty twenty two, 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:43.680 are there particular moments, whether on the course or off, 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:44.560 that stand out for you? 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:47.119 Yeah, a lot of them were off the course, obviously, 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:48.720 because that's where, like I said earlier, that's where a 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.200 lot of the interest was. I mean insert press conference here. 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.000 I mean, there's so many of those. I will I 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.320 will never forget. We've already, you know, beat the Brooks 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.000 one with to a dead horse already, but. 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:00.920 A lot of them were those. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:04.240 The London one was just so awkward and uncomfortable, and 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:05.760 I think that really set the tone for how it 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.040 was going to go. One of them wasn't even a 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.240 live event, but Sergio hit the Wells Fargo when he 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:11.800 was saying I can't wait to leave this tour and 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.080 basically tipping his hand. That was one of my favorite 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:15.639 ms of the season because I was standing I was 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:17.400 at that event, because he was in DC back where 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.040 I used to live, and I was standing no more 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:24.280