WEBVTT - Fire Drill 087: In the Footsteps of Giants [OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP] 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:06.880 The end of the first round was some of the 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.520 most fun I've ever had watching golf. Rom McElroy a 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:11.480 bunch of guys. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.280 We're just getting absolutely embarrassed by the bunkers. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.320 I got daughts in my head. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.560 Can't get him John, and not the thing what I'm 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:30.920 thinking about. Can't get him John, not the thing well 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:32.160 I'm thinking about. 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.400 Hello, Welcome back to another fire Drill podcast. It is 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:48.919 Open Championship Sunday. Michael Bamberger is at Royal Liverpool. I'm 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:53.440 in Carmel, California. Brian Harmon is playing such beautiful golf. 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.200 He's in such total control of this tournament and his 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:59.000 golf ball. We decided to start this podcast on the 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.160 back nine just to get it over with because there 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.160 is no scenario in which our short king is not 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.399 going to win this Open. So we're rolling the dice here. 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:13.920 What short king it's been. You know, there's been a 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.319 lot of jokes about he's playing he's under the wind. 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:19.840 You know, he has more time to adjust because it 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:21.839 takes longer for the rain to hit him. Like there's 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.480 we can make all these all these all these mediocre 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.200 jokes about Brian Harmon, but the factor remains that in 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:33.040 sports power size are huge advantages, and it's always been 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.840 kind of this mystery where he was a dominant junior player. 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.560 He's not had this nice career on the PGA tour, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.600 but's never had the kind of success that people thought 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.000 he might. You can imagine that when he when he 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.520 started playing against guys who are, you know, eight inches 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.319 taller and could hit the ball a lot farther, there 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.800 was an adjustment. But whatever, he's finally the player we 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.760 always expect him to be. What a performance by Brian Harmon. 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:56.960 What would you say about the guy across four days 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:57.639 here at the Open? 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.200 Why do we talk about On Harmon's height and not 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:05.520 Rory Mackroyz because he towers over He's got too interesting, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:07.400 I would say. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:12.440 Rory who claims to be five nine, No way, Well 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.680 it's because Rory hits Allan. 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.960 If Rory's five nine, Allen Iverson sixty three. 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:26.120 Exactly, well, because the way Rory swings the club, it 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.359 hasn't affected his He's still a power player, so it's 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:30.280 not really relevant. 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.600 Harmon is much more of a finesse and a control player, 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.760 and it seems like, you know, being diminutive has perhaps 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.280 you know, held him back on some level because you 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.959 watch him put here, you watch the control he has 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.400 of his irons. We know he's this tenacious competitor. I 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.400 guess it's just trying to explain why he hasn't won 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.000 more because it seems like the rest of his game 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.800 is so incredibly strong. But I like his answer when 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.320 people ask why haven't you why haven't you won more, 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:58.520 and he said, I don't know. 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.600 It's it's it's It is kind of a mystery just 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.400 to go back to Brian Harmon the golfer, not just 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.040 because they're both left handed, but that is part of it. 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.880 He is a little bit like Phil where he's got 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.240 a really rhythmic Phil is so underrated it's a joke 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:22.080 for his golf. Phil's got a big, rhythmic, long swing 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.400 with a big turn boom and and this Brian Hartman 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:28.920 really does the same thing without as much boom. But 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.680 he's got a big, long, rhythmic swing. It's beautiful to watch, 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:38.200 fantastic short game and it shows you. I think the 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.480 fact that he's got a commanding lead here as he 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:42.200 makes the turn on the back, not in an open 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.640 chip chip Sunday, is really a testament to both, of 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.800 course his skill first and foremost, but also the greatness 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.120 of links golf that it is an equalizer. This length 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:56.520 is not so important. The very brilliant Nick Price sat 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:58.840 eight years ago. It only needed to be said once 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.200 and it was so true. If you want to target 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:03.720 proof the courses to make them shorter, and that's sort 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:09.920 of what the Open chap shows, especially under these conditions. 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.880 You know, we had a tech falla yesterday and you 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.400 were talking about how much you've enjoyed this week. And 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.080 it's one of the fun things about the Open Rota 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:24.280 is just enough time passes between venues you sort of 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.799 have to be reminded and they can kind of blend 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.400 together with the pop bunkers and the little towns. And 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.440 what did you enjoy most about about Hoylake and about 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:35.920 Liverpool as a host city. 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:41.640 You were here in O six and fourteen one show. Yeah, 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.680 but you missed you missed sixty seven. I think. 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.160 I did sixty seven. 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.880 I didn't talk to it for all three. This course 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:59.479 is wildly underrated. It's not as usually beautiful as Burkedale, 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.760 but it's very similar to Berthdale the way the holes 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.560 are just sort of fitted right in there bcause of 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.120 more traumatic piece of land. This is not. But it 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:10.520 really truly is one good hold after another until it's 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:16.040 seventeen about that leader. And it's weird that we get 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:19.960 here so seldom, you know, once in the Tiger, once 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.839 in the Rorrier, and once in the Brian Harminger. But 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:29.000 so you know, the first joy for me is, you know, well, 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:33.080 is just to be here, to escape the American summer 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.440 for a week, to see this primitive form of golf 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.880 that we both love. H There was a story in 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.680 the New York Times today about whether well Fourth Call 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:47.680 would ever get in open, So that's cute. Wales has 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:51.120 never had an open Prince of Wales versus the Prince Wales. 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.280 Wales has never had an open. So it's a terrific 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:57.719 story about and Wyner. And so Christine and my wife 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.680 send it to me, and I wrote back on the 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.719 yet Shouldnik and I have played there? Well, we've played 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:07.080 a lot of places. They're all terrific, and there's except 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.799 for the infrastructure part, almost all of them could handle 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:14.839 in open because it's not so dependent onlinth. But the 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.960 fact that we come here so seldom RNA tells you 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:20.920 how much the golf there really is here. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:27.600 It's been interesting, you know, monitoring the golf fans on Twitter. 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.159 There's been some corvetching that it's not an exciting venue. 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:33.919 I mean it is a sort of flatish piece of ground, 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.040 but especially the back nine that you've got those really 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.479 tough par fours and fourteen and sixteen, you've got the 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:48.640 closing par fives and seventeen. I want to hear your thoughts. 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.000 It's fun to watch on TV just because there's such 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:53.520 a pucker factor and you can tell the players have 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.960 a bit of fear and whether it's crossed the line 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:02.160 into being too small a target whatever, and it's certainly 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.279 embarrassed Matt Fitzpatrick and some others in a way that 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:10.720 seemed a little disproportionate to the miss It's made for 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.720 great TV. What's your take on seventeens? You know, standing 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.040 out there watching players play it. 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.800 The joke that's been going around is that the members 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:21.440 put at sixteen, but I think they actually that's true. 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.080 The members quit at fifteen, so right near at the clubhouse, 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.840 and knowing how they play golf over here, that means 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.360 another fifteen to follow, So a pleasant thirty whole golf day, 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.640 which is, you know, four hours and forty five minutes, 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.680 you know they've played at the proper pace. Maybe five. 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:43.400 I think seventeen really doesn't fit in with this golf course. 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.320 Every golf course has its own personality. If you think 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.679 a dog can have a personality, which is kind of strange, 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.400 although everybody, myself it's true. Certainly a golf course can 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.160 have a personality too. The personality in this golf course 0:07:56.400 --> 0:08:00.600 is not flashy. And then and everything fit, and then 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.360 you get to seventeen and super flash. It doesn't fit. 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:05.840 It sticks out like a sort of bomb. For those 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:09.600 who haven't had a chance to see it. It's a 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.280 dish change. Fine, but it's totally locked by brand stands 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.520 and wind screens, so the players can't really feel the win. 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.440 And then you play. You play one hundred and thirty 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.880 yard uphill into the wind shot with a like a 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.520 clipped eight iron, maybe a full nine iron. But it's 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.880 basically the seventeenth follow TPC sawgrass because either you pitch 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:32.520 it on the green or you've got some wickedly unplayable 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:35.880 bunker shot. Maybe a good shot if you get a 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:40.000 good lie, fine, if you don't, you're making four or five, 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:45.760 six or more. Because it's so slow, it's so severe 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:49.840 that it's not super precise. It rolls off into oblivion 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.000 and you play another shot. You I guess to use 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.120 the price group for using. It's definitely a tabletop green. 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.240 There's very few of us here. Actually don't know if 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.719 there's any tabletops. Maybe that's really kind of point and 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:06.000 it's kind of like an infinity pool and that's cool, 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.840 Like fifteen that Augusta, you know, that back part is 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.360 sort of nuculey can't see how bad it is over 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:16.560 over fifteen. But it doesn't work. It doesn't fit in, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.360 And the biggest objection is the philosophical one trying to 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.400 do something to juice it up for TV. That's not 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.319 the RNA we know and love. They're the opposite of that. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.640 They're just like play the course. So they're not doing 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.360 that here. So I think it's sort of add a character, 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:37.680 but you know, it's a moment otherwise territ the golfers. 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.120 So in conclusion, as we learned to say in junior 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.560 high school, I would say just sort of doesn't really 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.280 fit with the whole thing. But Alan I'm here, I've 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.719 been watching it live and in person, you're doing what 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.679 the RNA knows millions of people across the world is 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:54.920 doing it watching on TV. How's it playing to you 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.480 on TV? Which is kind of it's wrong intention but 0:09:58.720 --> 0:09:59.880 it isn't intentional. 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.920 I think it's fun because you don't have a sense 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.080 of the shift in the terrain or the feeling of 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:08.760 the course. All of a sudden, they're just on this 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.959 really terrifying little hole and you can feel the player's 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.160 discomfort and there's been some great crack up. So I 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:17.880 think it's worked from a TV standpoint. I hear what 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.760 you're saying, but yeah, we have a different experience. But 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.400 this also gets to you, Michael, as the poet of 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.480 the Linksland. I'm really curious your take on what the 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.160 RNA did after Thursday with the Bunkers, because the end 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.960 of the first round was some of the most fun 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:38.800 I've ever had watching golf. You had Rom McElroy, a 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:40.199 bunch of guys. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:45.080 Were just getting absolutely embarrassed by the Bunkers. Probably again, 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:47.959 you know, you're hitting two hundred and fifty yard shots 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.120 into a small target, you missed by a few yards, 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:50.640 and now you're. 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:54.679 Fighting for bogie. The punishment was probably too severe, but 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.480 as as someone who enjoys watching the best players suffer, 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:03.480 it was why entertaining. And it did as you said, 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.920 these courses are they're too short for these guys. We 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.960 know that. I mean, any golf course on the planet 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:10.720 Earth is too short for the pros at this point, 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:14.520 and something that koy Lag is way too short. So 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:17.320 I thought it was fun because it added real stress 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.440 where if you knew you went in the bunkers, you 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:21.280 weren't going to drop a quarter of a shot or 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:23.040 half a shot, You're going to drop a shot in 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:28.160 maybe two. And it made the targets that much more precise, 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.679 and it added danger, which is so often missing in 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.920 championship golf now where the guys are hitting short irons 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:35.480 in the holes they are supposed to play really long. 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.000 So I loved it, but the players didn't like it. 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:42.160 The Arnic capitulated. They they reshaped the sand so the 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:46.640 balls would roll up against the face, and that the 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.599 championship just carried on. But what was your take on 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.320 that decision? That midway you know, midstream in the tournament. 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:55.880 But let's not forget what the great Man did in 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.160 two thousand and six. I speak out of boging or 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.439 big Jack with Tiger his own self did not hit 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:04.600 and tell me this is correct? Allum, this is my memory. 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:05.880 I don't think he was in a single trap the 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:06.960 whole week. Is that correct? 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:12.000 Yeah? I mean, and definitely in St. Andrew's in two 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:13.880 thousand in a single trap. I'm not as sure about 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.160 Hoy League. But whatever it was, this entire game plan 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.360 was built on not going in the bunkers and it worked. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.320 I covered it, and I'm suppose it hasn't come up 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:26.560 that much this week, but I don't think he did. Yeah, 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:28.880 it was a true of the old course as well. 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.640 I mean, that's actually hard to imagine doing that, to 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.920 doing that twice, it's amazing. So that's the starting point. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.840 The architect is challenging, don't go in the trap. So 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.920 don't go in the trap. That's number one. Number two, 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.320 you could always get out in two shots because you 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:47.720 could no matter where you were. You could put up 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.000 to someplace more recently and they get your next shot out. 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:52.440 So then the players asked to go in there and 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.400 assess the thing. Three. I think it shows a tremendous 0:12:56.440 --> 0:13:00.760 confidence on their RNA's part to admit that they overdid it. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:03.040 I don't know that I would have done it, but 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:04.840 I think it's cool. I don't think they can pitch 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:08.880 lad of the players. I think they in their confidence. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.240 I don't like this raise their high golf. IQ's people 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:15.840 are saying these days, but they did use their high golf. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.840 I us and yeah, we kind of overdid it too much. 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.400 Too many of these, too many these shots are finishing 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.520 right against the against the wall and leaving the players 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.440 of nothing. So for it shows you, It shows you 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.240 how you know a golf course is a big, open, 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:34.959 rugged playing field. But as the USA has found out 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.559 more than once, you get the pin placement wrong by 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:41.160 three feet and it can be a day ruiner. And 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.199 you get the you get the raking of the trap 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.079 wrong by just the margin it can be. It can 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.800 be given the top of the day, which which you 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:54.319 don't want. So I think I think that part's quite interesting. 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:58.199 But my biggest take, I don't think it's a complete fantasy, 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.320 but it's a partial fantasy of the best golf courses 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:04.839 in the world. Belport during the pandemic, Pine Valley all 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.520 the time do not have rakes at all. If you 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:10.800 go to Brow and gold Speed where the sheep are 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:14.680 still in the in the bumpers they trotted up of 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.240 course with their with their boats. That's what she had. 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:26.920 I think that ship boots, I think so anyway, that 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:29.080 would be cool. Just smooth it out of your foot 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.200 like you do with Pine Valley and uh and it 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.320 would make the make the trapping more of a trap. 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:38.280 And really golf should go back to that. It's overly manicured. 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.080 So so that's my that's my week bit about that. 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:46.840 So what's your week bit about that. It's just it's 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:50.120 just kind of weird about eliminating the rake. 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:56.240 Eliminating the rake. Sure, it definitely worked out during COVID. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.160 I mean it for the for the amateurs, you know, 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.080 it's hard enough guys like us, it's hard to get 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.600 out of a bunker sometimes if you have a perfect life, 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.800 it's sitting in a depression. It's really hard. So uh, 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:09.880 I think guys I guess need it more than the pros. 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:16.720 They can handle bunkers with such ease. The the thing 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.720 about the rnade changing after the first round is what 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:23.800 mystifies me is they had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.600 watch the players play their practice rounds and watch how 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.240 the ball was running into the bunkers, and to talk 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:31.640 to the players about it. It's kind of like, could 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.880 they have gotten it right by Wednesday night? And once 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.080 they decided and they had all that, they had all 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.600 that data of all those practice rounds and all the 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.800 conversations and all the press conferences, Like I thought, it 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.600 was kind of weak sauce like this. You made a decision, 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:49.200 you want the bunkers to be more penal, just stick 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:52.440 to it, and that would have been that would have 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.080 been part of the character of the tournament. So I 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:56.800 don't know, I don't like them. I don't like them 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.000 making that decision when they made it. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.720 Maybe you've allved more closely than I, But was their discussion, 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.240 you know, as late as Wednesday, that the traps were 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.560 unfair and that the ball was rolling right against the locus. 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.720 I remember that. And by the way, I don't even 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:15.080 know why I'm using the word unfair, because golf is unfair. 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:18.520 Yes, I mean I was reading I was reading the 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.640 pre tournament transcripts, and players were talking about it extensively. 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.760 It was, you know, it was a known thing on Tuesday, 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:26.560 like the ball was running up against the lips of 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.640 the bunkers, and that it was a decision that the 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:33.080 RNA made by keeping the bunker floor totally flat or 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.800 traditionally they'll they'll build a little sand up the face 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.200 brings the ball back. So yeah, it was. It was 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.960 definitely by by Monday people were commenting on it, and 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:47.960 certainly by Tuesday and Wednesdays, So it was. I don't know. 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:52.640 I was surprised the RNA, the PG of America. Yes, 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.840 they'll always cave to the players. I thought those old 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.120 boys might show more of a stiff upper lip. But 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.960 you know, I get it it. It could have dominated 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.320 the discourse if you had all the contenders just making 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.600 sevens after they missed a green by a couple of yards. 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:13.440 I mean, you don't want it to stray into fair 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.720 and unfair is I agree with your point. Golf is 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.680 not inherently fair, but there is overly penal, and there 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.240 is there is there can be a fine line to 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.080 where it becomes somewhat absurd. So they took the safe 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:28.720 way out. I wish they I wouldh they'd stuck to 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:29.960 their guns. I think it would have been a much 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.080 more interesting tournament. And the people at home who are 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.960 saying this has been boring and the course is nondescript. 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.280 I think it brings those hazards to life. I mean 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:39.800 they basically become like water hazards, like you hit it 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.919 in there, you're certainly going to drop a shot and 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.280 maybe more, or you might get lucky in and be 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.040 able to play a beautiful shot like I think it 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.280 would have added to the texture of this tournament. 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:52.879 I get all that, but I wouldn't go back to 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.760 what I said earlier. I think it speaks very well 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.399 for the r and that they have enough confidence. I 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.040 don't think the caves to the players. I just think 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.520 I think they they are Any leadership decided this is 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:08.280 not the tournament who want to have. I think I 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.600 agree with that that reasonable people may make different It's 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.600 really actually this discussion is actually part of the really 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:23.360 intrinsic beauty of the game. Yeah. 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.080 No, it's it's all fun to talk about. There's no 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:31.600 right answer, So let's talk about the pursuers. You know, 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.040 if you took Brian Harmon away, it was a hell 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.600 of a leader board. You had Tommy Fleewood, who, of 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.760 course was the emotional center of this tournament growing up 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:45.800 twenty miles away. John Rahm with his electric sixty three 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:50.560 on Saturday to get himself in the conversation. As always, 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.840 Rory was nibbling around on the on the board. This 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.760 kid Scepts Traca was really impressive. I mean he's a 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.480 big dude and he hits a far but incredible putter. 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:03.480 I mean he seemed like he haven't looked at the 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.120 final putting stats, but I felt like I saw him 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:10.960 make more fifteen twenty footers than almost anybody. Jason Day, 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.760 who's resurgent, and it's fun to see him in contention, 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:17.639 and he was the opposite. I mean every time they 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:19.560 showed Day he was he was hitting a beautiful putt 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:21.119 that like burned the edge and you can see it 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:23.560 on his face like how many how many times am 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:26.800 I going to singe the cup here? I mean he 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.760 really he really hit it well. So there was a 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.920 lot of you know, blue chip players, but they could 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:37.639 never really make that run. It was like there would 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.520 be spurts, you know. Today on Sunday, Rory comes out 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.119 in Birdi's three in a row early early in the 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:44.920 front nine. It's like here we go, and then it's 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:48.639 just like they just flatlined the bars and Ron was 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.760 never able to generate any momentum. Cam Young another one, 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.560 you know, playing in that in that final group with 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.600 his firepower and got all those kicking birdies on Saturday. 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:59.600 It felt like, all right, Cam Young, this is he 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:01.800 did it last year at St. Andrews's going to shoot 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.560 oother sixty four and make this interesting. But nobody could 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.000 ever close the gap of what was your takeaway from 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.800 the guys who didn't win this open, Well. 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:14.040 It's like it's you know, let's replace Brian Harmon, Sane 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.359 Retarga Woods his name. Everybody you know wrote this, wrote 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:20.800 this game story sooner or later, the game story where 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:24.560 the winner was the guy from intersecond. So you know, 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:26.800 if we think Brian Harmon now had a great, great 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:31.639 tournament and by the way, wonderfully eclected leader board of 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:36.679 nationalities especially, but also playing styles and personality styles, you know, 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.640 I think wherever golf is going, we're going to need 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:45.199 these major championships, and major championships would be opened us 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:48.560 the best job of it. The others would likely do 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.000 a better job of its. Does a pretty job of it, really, 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:54.879 gathering the best players in the world, ever you're going 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:57.480 to try to define them from this is a critical 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.080 part all over the world to gather one place, and 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.080 golf is going to become more like tennis with the 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.000 four Grand Slam events. I don't even know what tennis does. 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:09.639 The other fort they outing see here, I actually don't know. 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:11.439 I wouldn't even know. Weird to look. I don't have 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.840 a tennis channel. I don't follow. I don't care enough, 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.040 but I do care about the majors. But we're good 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:18.560 or for bad. Golf is going to turn in that direction. 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:20.520 So when you rattled off of you know, all those 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:23.800 names from and then the young man from India, pardon 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.880 named mister Sharma. Were you familiar with mister Sharma before 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:30.920 this week? You probably wear out you play. 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.639 Oh yeah, it's actually one of my It's one of 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:38.560 my great regrets. Is I think it's either seventeen or eighteen. 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:40.879 He had a terrific year, one of a couple of 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:46.679 big time tournaments around the world, contended at some wgc's, 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:48.520 and you know, he was really young at that point, 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:52.240 and I was I wanted to go do a story 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:54.879 in India because his dad's a colonel in the military, 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:58.000 and India is a place I've always been fascinated with 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:00.520 that I haven't gotten there yet, and I would really 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:03.120 far down the road I had, I'd gotten my visa, 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.840 I had booked a hotel, and I was dealing with 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:11.320