WEBVTT - Fire Drill 068: ELEVATED 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:07.200 These are institutions in our life. Alan, these sports that 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.760 we love, our institutions in our life, and they have 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:15.160 to be tinkered with very gently. And this isn't gentle. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:22.479 I got thoughts in my head. Can't get them, John, 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.440 nothing what I'm thinking about the gown. Thoughts in my head. 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:40.800 Can't get them. Now, Jo think what I'm thinking about. Hello, 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.080 this is Alan chep Nuck back for another fire drill. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.800 I am delighted to be joined by my frequent wingman, 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.880 Michael Bamberger. This is a throwback to about two thousand 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:53.280 and fifteen when Michael and I first started podcasting together. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.360 We were not quite early adapters, but there weren't a 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.840 lot of folks doing podcasts back then. It's not that 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.480 the crowded landscape it has become in the golf space. 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.880 So this is fun. We should We should tip our 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.959 cap to our departed colleague Ryan French, who is part 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.319 of these the Sunday night fire drills for a long time. 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.320 Ryan's left the collective to pursue some other opportunities, which 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.720 we're all rooting for him. We all love Ryan, a 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.800 great human being, fun colleague. We'll miss his random digressions 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:23.840 about players none of us have ever heard of. He 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.440 definitely added an institutional knowledge to these conversations that is 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:33.040 hard to replicate. Michael, you want you wanna send a 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.320 oral bouquet of flowers to Ryan? Yes, very very much. So. 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.760 Ryan's become a good friend in in a short amount 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.520 of time. He absolutely has a heart of gold. Uh. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.120 He absolutely roots for the underclass. The people that he 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:51.280 covers is Monday que Info, twitter Feed, like my friend 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:54.840 Mike Donald, the former PHA tour player. He has a 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:59.800 natural reporting ability. He has an immense curiosity, He wants 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.120 what's going on. He reduces things to a very basic level. 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:06.960 And uh, and he's a great friend and a great colleague. 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.880 And and maybe we'll still have him back from on 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.160 this podcast from time to time because I know how 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:15.280 much he enjoyed it, and we both know alan how 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.880 much he added to it. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, as 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.520 I told Ryan a bunch of times that the doors 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.440 always open, you know, there's always a microphone available if 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.119 he wants to jump back on this pod. We'll see 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:29.519 how it all shakes out. It's definitely a transitional time 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:33.080 for all of us. But anyway, just just a typic 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.080 cap to the Ryan and to Ryan because we missed 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.960 that guy so well. Speak of other colleagues, our colleague 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.040 Jeff Ogilvy, with whom Allan and I've done a long 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.520 series of Need a Fourth podcasts played in the Puerto 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:48.080 Rico tournament this week and I think et eleven, I 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.040 know he played very well. Yeah, it's so nice to 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.919 see Jeff back between the ropes and I can sense, 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.040 just for in our conversation he's got he's getting some 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:00.920 of that competitive fireback. And you know, he kind of 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.320 took a couple of years of where he didn't play 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.359 much competitive golf and he moved his family to Australia 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:08.959 and they went through their own big transition and golf 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.560 was became kind of secondary. But that kind of talent, 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:15.680 that kind of imagination, that love for the game that 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.000 never goes away. So if you can just get tournament sharp, 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:20.960 it'll be really fun to see if if Jeff can 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.160 get on a little run here and now you are. 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:28.760 People may be wondering, are you in a NASA, you know, headquarters, 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.200 what's going on back there? You're actually in the press 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.680 room at Bay Hill. Tell us about the scene there, Michael, 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.400 I'm only ninety miles from Cape Kernaville, So you're not 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:41.560 too far off. I have a neat memento from today's tournament. This, 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:47.240 Hey Luise, how are you? This is a you know, 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:49.440 I've been amazed over the years to watch like Phil. 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:52.520 Phil will take the cruttiest little nib of a t 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:57.120 and use it on a part three. This is the 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.320 tea that Maxifoma used and just guarded after one time 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:02.840 use on a part of three year in the bay 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:04.960 Hill course. It is one of the most elegant twos 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.840 I've ever seen. It's got a it's got a sturdy stem, 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:14.080 good point, very cuppy and so anyway, yes, so I'm 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:15.800 here at the bay Hill Tournament. I'm here in the 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:20.160 president the winners being interviewed. He's wearing his red sweater. 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:24.640 And it was a wild tournament here and kind of 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.000 a great reminder really of what just a I won't 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:32.719 call it an ordinary PGA Tour event, but Arnold Palmer Invitational. 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.880 The Arnold Palmer was never like an elite event. It 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.640 was just Arnie's event. Now of course that I'll have 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.400 a quote elevated status. But I was only here a 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.240 couple of days. But from from what I was here 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.120 it was just like a lot of people having a 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:52.720 good time. Great weather, great field, flat, easy walking golf 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.080 course and an exciting tournament. You know, kind of just 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.840 what the BJA Tour is all about. Yeah, I mean, 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.479 Tigers knack for winning that tournament and the rapport he 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.839 always had with Arnie certainly elevated it. I would say, 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:09.640 pre and post Tiger, it lost some luster and clearly 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.599 with mister Palmer no longer there to serve as a 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:16.160 master of ceremonies, it's it's it's been lacking. But the 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.920 field this year was immense because of the elevated slash 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.040 designated status, and it was fun. I mean a lot 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.520 of a lot of star power on the leaderboard. You know, 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:27.840 John rom they were going to just give him the 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.400 trophy on Thursday after he shot an incredible first round, 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.039 but he kind of lost his mind out there. I mean, 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.279 I've come to like bay Hill. The course itself doesn't 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:40.080 do much for me, but it's basically like the second 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.920 US Open of the year, or it's the first one. 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.120 It's like it's like a precursor because they set it 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:50.520 up so challenging with brick hard greens and long, rough 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:54.159 and skinny fairways. It seems like they always have a 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.560 lot of front flags. On Sunday, you got hit over 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.760 the water, but the green is as hard as a rock, 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.919 and the ball just skips to the back bunker or 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:04.720 into the roff and then you've got these crazy up 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.360 and downs or two puts, and it's really a war 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.720 of attrition. And you know Maxima, who's been one of 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.279 the two or three hottest players in the world, he 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:14.560 went backwards today in a big way. Rom was never 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.440 seen again after Thursday. Like this course gets in the 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.960 head of some really great players. And uh and you know, 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.960 obviously you were out there watching Jordan's speed. I mean, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.560 fourteen through seventeen he missed. He missed four puts in 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.000 a row that were quite short, and that was really 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.200 what kept him out out of the winner's circle. What 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.800 are your impressions of Jordan? And just just this war 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.320 of attrition out there. It really is like a US 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.960 open course because the roof is so penal and the 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.720 fairways are so firm and fast. I never I've been 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:46.680 coming here for a lot of years, I never saw 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.320 so many guys play irons off of par four teas 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.240 or hybrids off the par fives that I did this week, 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.320 because they're so afraid of driving it through the fairway 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.320 and into the rough and some of those, some of 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.720 those rough wise can be really gnarly, almost chip out, 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.880 pitch out, not definitely not go for it, especially with 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:07.960 you know, all the lakes they have in this golf course. 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.040 So it was neat. It was neat to see. And 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:18.840 I believe that appauses for Rhyan French and it. Yeah, 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:21.320 it's a short golf course even though it might be 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.800 seventy four hundred yards on the card, but as firm 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.520 as they have it and as and as long as 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.480 the ball runs with these with these hooded irons, so 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.600 it does sort of play almost like a Churchill Us 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.680 Open course. And it was sort of a war of attrition. 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:38.680 Speech should have won this thing by three shots. He 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:42.320 also used to put on twelve that was three and 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.440 a half feet. You know, he put it very poorly, 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:48.160 no matter what he says. He you know, he has 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.080 those stretches where he can't help. He seems like he's 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:52.640 more likely to make a twenty footer than he has 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.240 a six footer. Like he just I think it's his 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:59.080 overall jumpiness where it just he gets mental. He doesn't 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:00.480 know whether to look at the whole or look at 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:05.000 the ball. And he's a little bit like Mickelson, who 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:08.840 sometimes and like Fred Couples before him, where these these 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.360 immense talents, but sometimes it just feels like they lose 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:13.840 their feel for the short puts, and it's part of 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.280 what's stressful. I mean, like he was chipping in, he 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:19.560 was hitting, he was hitting some great iron shots, but 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:21.840 if he was just like a cat on a hot, 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.600 hot tin roof out there on the greens, and it's 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:27.840 like no hole is ever over With Jordan. We know 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:30.160 that both good and bad. And it was a little 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.120 dispiriting because I thought that Tita Greene he played really 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.360 well and it seems like his game is in good 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.400 working order. Now that we're in you know, bay Hill 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:39.120 to me is kind of like the run up that's 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:42.440 you've already We've already been in Florida for a while, 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.360 but somehow Bay Hill is like now it's a sprint 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.839 to Augusta. And so I guess I'm encouraged by the 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.920 way that Jordan hit the ball and navigated the course 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.199 and kept seemed like he kept as cool until the back. 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.960 Then on Sunday. Then he went completely mental and so 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:57.920 I don't know what to make of it. Yeah, what 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.959 your impressions of just how he handled it emotionally, the 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.480 whole thing. And by the way, you know, speaking of 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.080 major winners, Rory McElroy, Kenny hasn't one of major bays 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.080 right there, Shuffler Hatton hasn't, but you know he's right there. 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:14.599 I mean Jason day Hoblin not a major winner of Fitzpatrick. 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.640 I mean, you really had it. Really is a classic 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.120 case of a good hard golf course with the cream 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:24.200 rising in the cup, but weirdness ensuing too, which is 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.080 which is you know, the ultimate beauty of seventy two 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:32.160 whole stroke play golf with a big field period. Jordan 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.040 just not look I love Jordan, You love Jordan. He 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.480 does not look ready for prime time to me. He 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:41.240 looks really unsure with the driver. He pitches the ball 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.760 like an absolute demon. I mean, he pitches it beautifully, 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.640 and if he lag puts beautifully, some of them go 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:49.280 in the hall and then you know what he's gonna 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:50.880 do from four feet So how are you going to 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.880 play augusta National under those conditions? And how are you 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.480 going to play oh kill for the PHA Championship. It 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.679 doesn't conditions. But and this has been the case for 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.559 a while now, he is making incremental improvements and um, 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.840 he's not the player he was five years ago, which 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.360 is weird, but he's but he's better than the player 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.280 he was three years ago, that's for sure. It's funny 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.719 how we talk about in Jordan, Like, you know, we 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.680 all seez on the moral victories and the little kernels 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.160 of good news. Oh, he pitched it great this week, 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.360 you know, Like I mean, the guy's already a Hall 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.240 of Famer. He had one of the greatest seasons in 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:30.920 golf history. Um, but he's there's that fragility there that 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.240 makes him so compelling. And to be a fan of 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:36.120 Speeth and I think we're all a fan of Speeth 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.720 on some level, it's maddening. And I mean it's certainly 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:41.880 the game's way more interesting when he's playing well, but 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.040 it's also, uh, he can he can give you an ulcer. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.839 So that's that's the fun of following Jordan. What was 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.720 it like for you watch hant Home. Did you find 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:52.880 yourself rooting? I know you root for the story, We 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.040 root for the story, but who are you actually rooting 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.400 for Oh Jordan absolutely because he is I mean, that's 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.120 he's the best story. Like if if Jordan could go 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:05.560 out another run and get back to where close to 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:10.040 where he was. I mean, he he galvanizes golf Twitter 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.240 in a way that almost no other player does, and 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.640 he's just such an appealing person. He's a great ambassador 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.480 for the for golf, et cetera, et cetera. But he's 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.559 just so compelling to watch and he's so fun to watch. 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.600 And so yeah, I mean, we need Speak to win more, 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:25.760 We need Speak to contend in majors. That that would 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:27.400 be a big deal. But as you said, it just 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:29.640 doesn't seem like he's his game's quite there. So I 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.240 was absolutely route for him to get it done. And 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.240 I mean he played beautifully for you know, the first 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.120 ten or eleven, twelve holes, but then it just it 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.880 just went sideways and we, you know, we should definitely 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.920 acknowledge the winner of the tournament, Kurt Kita Yama, as 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.080 as Paul Eisinger kept saying on TV, he had about 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:50.079 seven different pronunciations get a yamah. He was just really 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.320 going in on it. I don't know what Zinger was doing, 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:57.319 but it generated some conversation. But Kurt gets Yama is 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.440 one of those guys who you know as a great 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.719 living he's been in the top fifty. He could never 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.560 get it across the line. And as he has a 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.120 new caddy on his bag, Tim Tucker, who somehow survived 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:11.480 the Bryson experiment, so you know he's got some some 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:15.440 fortitude and great to see him get it done, especially 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.120 with that weird triple bogie on the ninth hole. I mean, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.280 I'm sure, justin ray or someone else's research, how many 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:24.319 tour winners have made a triple bogie in the final 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:26.600 round in recent years, but it can't be many. So 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:30.560 that big time performance by him, and it's always fun 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:31.920 to see a guy win for the first time. And 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:36.280 you know, we use this term probably too often life changing, 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:37.680 but this is a life changing win for him, not 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.160 only a tour winner, but elevated status. He's got the exemption, 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.560 he's going to be in all the all the majors, 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:45.480 He's going to make it to the Tour Championship probably, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.960 like this is the right year in golf to have 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.800 a breakthrough, and he just had a major breakthrough to 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:54.800 make a two on seventeen is astonishing because I mean, 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.480 I'm I'm standing at the back of the team. I'm 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.079 thinking maybe my best three would could reach, you know, 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.160 and to to make you know they're hitting I don't know, 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.959 a middle iron and make it a put. Uh that 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.880 it's big time golf when when you're fighting that triple 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:09.800 bogie for the rest of the day, you know you're 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.199 going to fight it. You're in the last group, you 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.360 got a caddy who knows what it's like to you 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.600 see a guy step up and hit big time shots 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.520 and big time situations. So it's a little tiny degree. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.679 You're probably trying to play for the caddy a little bit, 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.760 not too much, but it is part of it. So yeah, 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:29.640 it's neat and you know, it's a great statement about 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.959 full field golf with the cut. And let's just talk 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:34.560 about the cut for a second on because that's been 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:36.320 in the news a lot. Well, let's just start with 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.120 your feeling about alan You've You've been to live golf 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.560 probably more than any other report except for maybe Bob 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:46.480 harrick Um, what's your feeling about the difference between tournament 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.079 golf with them without a cut? And I guess we 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:54.200 got to bring in the WJC events into that conversation. Yeah, 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.640 I love how primal the cut is. You know, it's 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.680 just such a throwback, Like you get to the you 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.240 get to the course on Monday and you're grinding and 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.280 you're practicing, and you've you're you're you're paying your hotel 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.880 and your food and your and all the bills and 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.520 your caddy, and you know you can you can just 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:14.920 hear the cash register ring in the background. You make 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.360 one or two mistakes and you're done. You're gone, you're 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.840 down the road. You don't get a dollar in the 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:21.960 of course that's sort of kind of changed this year 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.040 with all the players getting a stipend on the PGA Tour, 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:28.120 but still that that feeling of you're living on the 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.359 edge and okay, Roy mcloy misses a cut. It's it's irritating, 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.520 but it doesn't affect them. But you've got rookies or 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:36.040 you've got guys who are just trying to hang on. 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.320 There is there used to be financial pressure to make 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:45.360 the cut, and um there's there's still the emotional um 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.800 component to it. I mean, it's the ultimate rejection. It's 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:50.480 like you are eye filing a story and the editor 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.320 saying that's not good enough to print, you know, like 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:57.000 it does. It's a blow to the selfless team. And 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.440 also especially if you're a young player, you're someone trying 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.600 to generate entom, you're trying to work on something in 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.880 your game, Like you're denied two tournament rounds. It has 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:05.760 an effect. You miss a few cuts in a row, 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:07.040 and all of a sudden you're just not getting the 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.640 reps you need. And so I like how old school 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.480 the cut is, you know, as an entertainment product, it 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.520 makes no sense because and you know, Roy talked about this, 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:22.120 Phil Michelson's talked about this for years. If you're if 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.240 you're a kid in Orlando and your favorite player is um, 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:27.440 you know, pick a guy who who was down the 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:29.600 road on Friday afternoon and you can't get out of 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:31.520 school and you come on Saturday and you're so excited 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.040 to see this person play, and they miss the cut, 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.000 they're not there, Like that's a real letdown for the fans. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.360 It makes no sense from a TV standpoint or for 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.440 the sponsors. You want your big name players guaranteed on 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.360 the weekend and most people are watching golf, and you know, 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.480 if if, if, if these guys missed the cut it 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.160 if it's a negative for the tournament in every possible way. 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:55.120 So I understand the reasoning why they've done away with it, 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.360 But um, I feel like something essential has kind of 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.160 been lost and it's a throwback to a different era 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.800 and in today's soft modern society. Maybe maybe the cut 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.400 is anachronism, and that's why I liked it, But I 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.520 also understand why it's gone or going the way of 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:15.880 the the Edsel. You know why Rory McElroy and Philim 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:21.520 Mickelson made that argument because they're Rory McElroy and phil Mickelson. 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:25.520 In other words, they're not worried. They're not worried about 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.400 that kid in school. They just want to know if 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.280 they have a bad Friday, they can still play on 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.400 the weekend. I don't buy that argument, not in the 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:36.080 not one slightest bit. There is something to be said 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:42.400 for a tradition and I and I'm not saying tradition 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:46.760 like golf in sports and white don't evolve, because of 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.600 course they do. But the cut is a fundamental thing. 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.680 And I mean kaJama could have easily, of course missed 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.480 this week's cut. Jim Herman, who's a buddy of mine 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:58.760 made the cut on the number at Honda, had a 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.240 great weekend. I think top fifteen for sure, made a check. 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:04.639 You know, he's playing for a pension, he's playing to 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:10.800 keep status. Tiger Woods has said repeatedly that you know, 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.760 of all the Mani records he has, his cut streak 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:15.760 is the record that he's proud esso because he means 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.440 he never ever ever mailed it in on a Friday 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:24.720 after a bad Thursday. It's the cut is tremendously democratizing. Now, 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.560 Phil Mickelson, Rory mclroy here, they might actually agree on something. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.679 They might say, well, the cut is years in the 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.199 making or two years or one year, or you know 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.600 whatever in the making, because that's how we got in 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:38.560 this position to be in this eighty man field in 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.720 the first place. But it's not really true. The cut 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.600 is democratizing because you have enough skill to get into 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.800 this field of let's call it one forty four, and 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:49.800 even if it goes down to one twenty five, you know, 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:55.639 look for Arnold's tournament or or Tigers or Jack's. Everybody 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:59.199 starts Thursday on the same level, whether you're whether you're 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.119 Kirk or to your Roy McElroy or Harris ingish or 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.960 or or Patrick Cantley. And that is a tremendous thrill. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.399 If that kid is gonna miss school, if that kid's 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.399 not gonna make it till the weekend, he should skip 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.919 school and get on his bike and uh and forge 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.240 a note. I mean, come on, and man, I don't 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:24.719 buy any of that. That is orshit. You're you just 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:28.000 you're describing a Norman Rockwell painting. I mean, come on, Michael, 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:31.479 like you know, Colin Morrikawa missed the cut. He's now 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.440 a Netflix star. People would have loved to have watched 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.560 him on Saturday and Sunday. I mean, the coin is 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:42.200 a Netflix star. Alan, you're around golf. When does anybody 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.720 ever stop you at a cocktail party and say do 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:49.240 you tell me about that? Call In Marikawa? Well, okay, 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.240 but I mean, you know, Deci Mataya, I'm a biggest 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:56.200 star on an entire continent. He missed the cut, that's true. 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:58.960 I'm sure that the TV ratings plummeted in Japan for 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.000 the bay Hill Classic on Saturday and Sunday. Like, um, 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:07.960 you know, I'm just saying that dudelay. Okay, Well, Michael 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.720 has become the play better troll. I love it. I mean, yes, 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.919 I'm not fully defending this, this new version of the 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:17.760 PGA Tour, but I think it's a nod to market 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:21.800 forces and Alan. Name name me a w g SC event. 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:23.920 Is that what they called WJC World called j W 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:29.199 Name me one, not counting like Tiger Firestone or some 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:31.919 weirdness or Adam Scott. A Firestone would be a better example. 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.639 Namee one. You can do any play by play and 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:40.879 remember anything resembling a motion by Sunday evening. Yeah, the 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.080 wc's were mostly a dub, There's no doubt. And I 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:46.640 mean on some level the cut is humane because if 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:49.600 you're if you're a great player and you're in bad form, 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:51.720 do you want to have to slog it out on 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:54.840 Saturday and Sunday when you're twenty shots back? I mean, um, 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:58.280 you're gonna see the give a Ship meter on at 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:00.840 some of these events for these guys where you know, 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:02.200 when they when they played bad, they used to have 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:06.760 in the weekend off and so but you know, just 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:08.760 to make sure all the listeners are with us here. 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:11.320 There was a big news break early in the week 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.000 at bay Hill because Jay Monahan had a player's only 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:19.000 meeting on Tuesday night, and they talked about what it's 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:22.119 been a huge question, what are the designated slash elevated 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.200 events gonna look like in twenty four. Twenty three was 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:27.879 always gonna be this transitional year that this everything was 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:30.280 done on the fly, came out of the Delaware secret meeting. 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.119 The tour just kind of had the center had to 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:36.600 hold for twenty and twenty three while they sorted everything out. 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:38.959 And so they've announced for twenty four that they're going 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.280 to be all these designated events are gonna be no cut, 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:44.280 feel to be very small, seventy to eighty players and 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:48.679 that's it. And it's very much like a World Golf Championship, 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:51.600 which is a franchise that has basically died. Of course, 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.680 you can't talk about this without acknowledging that this is 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.720 the liv golf model, small field, no cut, guaranteed money. 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:01.840 And you know, MIKEA and I have both made the point, 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.720 I think previously that the best argument that the PGA 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.439