WEBVTT - Fire Drill 076: A Gathering Storm - Masters Round 2 Recap 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.360 Well, this is where it gets interesting. If keptco wins US, 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.600 he'll have five major championships. He will have broken the 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.360 tie with Rory. I mean, he'll have won five majors 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.040 since Rory won his last one. He'd be wild if 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.200 Brooks kept his spats Rory four majors and he gets 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:24.800 a career Grand Slam first. That got thoughts in my head. 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:29.240 Can't get him out, John, Not the thing what I'm 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:35.000 thinking about. That thoughts in my head, can't get him out, John, 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:46.000 Not the thing what I'm thinking about. Hello, this is 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:50.400 Alan Schipnuck back for another Fire Drill podcast. Michael Bamberger 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:54.120 and I are in a secret corner of the Press building. 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.800 And the thing that's I think that's amazing about Augusta 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.040 Nashville is everywhere you go there's something new to see it. 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.319 It's like Disneyland and they've they've ushered us to this 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.360 giant boardroom. We're sitting like fifty feet apart at the 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:12.600 same table. I've got Adam Scott behind me. It's kind 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:17.440 of cool. I never do this existed like the the 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:22.560 the expansion of the campus just boggles. But anyway, it's 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.000 just a quick note on that Island. The first year 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:26.840 this place was open, the chairman of the club was 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.080 still Billy Pain and I wrote him a note about 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.240 a month after the tournament, and I said that I 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:34.680 was still in the press building and that nobody had 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:39.399 found me yet. And he wrote back, dear mister Barmburger, 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.919 I do not find you funny at all, Sincerely mister 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.800 William Paine. The first part is absolutely sure. I did 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:51.480 not get a response. See that's I mean, that's just 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.760 bad manners. Like on Billy, You've got the dean of 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.120 the golf takes time to send you a personal letter. 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.160 It should be responded, Tom, I'm offended on your behalf. 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:05.400 Should we quickly describe or ambivalence to the stylish mahal 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:10.680 of press catering. Oh, it's sure, I mean it's it's 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:15.080 stronger than that for me. Like every master's week, you 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:17.920 see these these members come in with their friends and 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:19.920 family and they're giving them a tour of the press 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.680 building like it's the zoo, Like, oh look, those are 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.800 the writers at work in their natural habitat. It's like 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:29.519 so offensive, and I mean it looks cool. It's it's 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:31.840 it is grand. There's a lot of things we don't 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:33.480 need or care about, like there's a whole locker room 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:35.960 of showers. Like maybe if you're a super sweaty TV guy, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.680 that's helpful, but most of us don't need that. The 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.679 food is good. They built like this lovely little restaurant, 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:45.240 but the things that matter are like the Wi Fi, 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:50.560 which is it comes and goes, and it's the interview space. 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.880 And the old building it was small and crowded and hot, 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.640 and there was like a real intimacy that either the 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:58.840 writers are right on top of the players and you 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.000 felt a connection, You've got a lot of great stuff. 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.240 Then now it's like this mausoleum that it's just to 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.560 look good on TV. They've put They've put the the 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:13.000 players on a stage separated by all this dark, heavy 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.560 wood and all these flowers, and there's like no connection. 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.639 They're so far where you feel like you're in this 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.080 like library built in the nineteenth century and you're supposed 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.880 to like whisper like the two things that really matter 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.080 for us to our jobs. I mean c minus at best, 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.560 but it is it does look good for the members 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.760 where they show their their friends and family, like, oh 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:35.840 these are writers. Look at his look at the coffee 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:39.360 stains on his shirt. And yeah, yeah, they are mostly 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.360 bald and overweight. That's true. I mean they're like anthropologists. 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.040 But anyway, don't get me started. What are your feelings, 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.080 Michael Well? I think the only reason like we would 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:52.320 even have the listener engage in this part of the 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.680 of the broadcast is that there really has been a 0:03:55.800 --> 0:04:00.920 disthification of the tournament of the week. There have been 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:04.280 some real positive changes in recent years. I think the 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.360 gust National Women's Amateur event is fantastic. I love it, 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.000 but it is sort of all a little bit more 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.040 maybe not a little bit, a lot more mechanized than 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:18.359 it used to be. And you know, even like something 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.480 like yesterday's situation in Brooks KPKA. I mean, it's an 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:24.760 odd situation to me. It was very clear that the 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.840 caddies said five. It's clearly a violation of the rules. 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:30.880 But if you want the public to really understand it, 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.400 there has to be some give and take with the players, 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:37.760 the caddies, the rules guy. And we don't have that, 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.080 partly because of this building and partly because just things 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:45.719 have evolved in a way where everything is more precise 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:47.520 and perfect and we're going only going to present you 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.719 the finished answer, but there is really no finished answer, 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.360 you know, so the messiness is carta gone. Yeah, exactly. 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.159 So I used to get a lot of good interviews 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:02.600 done on the the clubhouse porch, in the essentially the 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.000 front of the clubhouse where you pull in, not the 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:10.200 back that faces the course, and like this is pre COVID. 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.480 I was talking to Paul Casey there and the security 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.320 guard came to chase me away. To Paul Casey's credit, 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.040 He's like, let us finish the interview. And so I 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:19.800 went to the security guard. I was like, what the fuck. 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.360 I've been doing interviews here for twenty years, and they're like, well, 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.240 the rules have changed. And so I marched over to 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.919 the green jacket who is in charge of sort of 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:32.080 the interview area, and I was like, what is happening 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.960 and he said, well, the chairman does not like to 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.279 see reporters on that side of the clubhouse. And I said, 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.560 I said, well, I explained how in this job, information 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.360 is the coin of the realm, and it's that's how 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:49.880 that's what sets us apart as reporters, is what we 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.240 can get that nobody else has. And I said, that's 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:53.920 a great place for me new interviews. He's like, well, 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.520 we have this nice flash area for you. I said, well, yeah, 0:05:57.560 --> 0:05:59.440 that's anything anyone says, it goes out to the whole 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:03.680 world because Agra gated it's on every website and that 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.000 has no value to me. And and he said, well, 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.480 the chairman does not like to see reporters over there. 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.599 I said, well, the chairman doesn't understand how we do 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.440 our job. And then he gave me this big, beautiful 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.719 smile and he said, well he doesn't have to. And 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:20.479 I said, that is I said, that is the single 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.479 most honest thing anyone's ever said at Augusta National. And 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.000 so they took that away. And then in COVID they 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:27.960 closed the locker room where we couldn't talk to players. 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.559 COVID's over I think because they're acting like there's no testing, 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:33.360 there's no mass, there's no COVID policy. But now we 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:34.760 can't get in the locker room. It's just never going 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.920 to come back. And the reason why the very board 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:39.800 listener at home might be interested in this is like 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.160 on Tuesday night, which was the Champions dinner, and there 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.680 was all this build up about how Spicy was going 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.800 to be. If I could have I would have gone 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.320 and camped out on the front porch until nine or 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.240 ten PM, and I would have picked off all the 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.800 players after dinner and gotten the real scoop about what 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.680 happened in real time. It was a little drunk and 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:00.840 more likely to be honest, and it would have been 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.960 a great story. But because I can't get on that 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:04.440 side of the clubhouse, they were just going to walk 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:06.600 out and go to their cars and I couldn't get there. 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.160 And so it's this sanitized official version that Augusta National 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.120 wants to mandate, and they prevent us from doing our jobs, 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:17.800 and that's why it sucks. Now let's talk about the Masters. 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.640 I feel so I feel better. I was all pent up. 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.320 Now now I'm ready to talk about the golf. But 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:29.640 so it's it's late in the second round, brooks Kept 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.840 played an absolute spectacular round of golf, shot five under. 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:36.840 He's twelve under for the tournament. He's leading by four 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:41.080 strokes over the amateurs. Mister Bennett. John rom is still 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.320 in the golf course and it's been a little rain 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.080 so often, so he may close the gap here while 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.480 we're talking. But we wanted to get this podcast to 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.400 our listeners as soon as possible, and he's really the 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.200 only guy that matters right now on the golf course. 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.520 But let's start with the Brooks because it's clearly his 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:59.560 tournament to lose. I think he had a really insightful 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.400 conversation he should with his swing coach, Claude Harmon. You know, 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.120 they had this this messy breakup and for about two 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.080 years they weren't working together. I mean, Claude was there 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.000 for the glory years, you know, seventeen eighteen nineteen, and 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:13.119 then they came back together last summer, and he's played 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:18.080 obviously an important role in Brooks's ascension back to big 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.880 bad Brooks Kepka and two things he told me that 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.320 really stood out as well. And he said Brooks was 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.080 working harder now than he did when he was number 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:27.320 one because the game it was easy for him. Then 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.000 now he's had to find it and chase it. And 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.920 that he's scoffed at the notion that that Live has 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:34.040 made Brooks or any other players so off. He said, 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.760 this guy's busted his butt. But what he also said is, 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.400 you know, Brooks, he thrives on controversy. He loves it. 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.319 He's like John. He made a parallel to John McEnroe, 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:44.959 which I thought was great. He's like Brooks needs a 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:49.320 foil and all the live angst has just has just 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.480 rabbed his engine and so he's healthy. He swings more 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.840 technically sound, and he's super fired up and he wants 0:08:55.840 --> 0:09:00.760 to win this badly. So that's my little riff on books. Michael, 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:03.040 what have you seen out of up to including this 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.040 business with a caddy that is now swirling around. Yeah, 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.240 it'll go away because that's the nature of the beast 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:13.559 right now, the swirling thing with the caddy, and no 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:15.920 one's going to say, oh, you know, he's lead instead 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.560 of four, it should be two, even though I do 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:20.880 feel like he lee should be four instead of two, 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.079 because I think it's very clear that the caddy did 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:26.640 break the rules, and the caddies, for those who don't know, 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.719 the caddy in the rule book is basically extension of 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.160 the player from whom he's working here she is working. 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:37.160 And it's kind of a shame that it didn't get 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.320 addressed properly because if he does go on to win 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.080 this thing, then there's a little tiny asterisk on it 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:45.840 and people can say, and I totally understand, well, who 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:50.199 cares it didn't have any influence on the outcome. That's 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.440 very possibly true. But the fact is the underpinning of 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:57.040 all of golf is there is a rule book and 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.280 it needs to be enforced all the time. It can't 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.360 pick and choose when you're going to force leaving that 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:04.880 all the side by the way, just for those for 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.240 the listener who might still be curious. The thing with 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:09.960 Keptka signaling five is he's taking off the glove that 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.040 a lot of people have been paying diner. Just to 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:13.840 share my own opinion about it, I don't think he 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:16.000 was signing anything. I really actually believe it when he 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:18.080 says he was just taking off his glove. I don't 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.000 think he would. I don't know. I just don't think 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.439 that's just how I saw it. But I guess it's 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.920 worth mentioning because it shows you that people can really 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.400 view different things differently. Somebody else might say, oh so 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.400 I Elliott mouthed that, but he wasn't saying five. He 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.840 was saying, you know, dinner at five or some crazy 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:42.360 thing who knows kept on all cylinders healthy, psychologically healthy, 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.200 physically healthy. You know, we've seen it now for what 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.120 six years. One of the best players ever to play 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.679 the game, just a dominating golfer. We were on with 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.960 Jeff Ogilby yesterday and all three of us are saying 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.200 the same thing. Brooks kept good. Looks like he's going 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:04.120 to win this thing. Having said that, you would have 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.280 said the same thing at Bethpage Black when he won there, 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:09.920 and what he was at two thousand and nineteen, I 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:13.600 think it looked like he should run away with it. 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.760 In the end, he just sort of walked away with it. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.959 I think the same thing will happen here this golf course, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.840 this the combination golf course in tournament and what you're 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.800 playing for, especially if you have guys all of whom 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.719 are trying to get their first screen coat. Let's say 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.319 John rom Victor Hoffland, called Amerkawa, Shane Lowry, Let's say 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.920 they're all in the knicks. They'll all start choking up 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:35.679 stuff and doing unexpected things come Sunday and will have 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:38.640 a tight leaderboard come Sunday. But even having said that, 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:41.760 if his lead is still four shots by the end 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:45.520 of thirty six souls, it's a substantial lead for a 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.360 guy who's doing everything. It's not like he's gotten lucky 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.480 to be where he is. He's just doing everything right. 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.680 He's not doing anything spectacular, is just playing really solid. 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:56.520 Brooks good golf. The putter looks so good in his hands. 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.360 He just it just looks comfortable. And you know he 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.560 Brooks is a fader of the golf wold. If you 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:03.720 saw a second shot on thirteen today, you know he 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:08.000 kind of hugged the creek with his drive, which is ballsy, 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.600 shortened the hole by turning it over so that right 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:14.440 there's not an easy play, and then he had to 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.800 hook the second shot around these trees that almost knocked 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.199 the flagstick down for a very easy two pop Bertie. 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.840 But those two swings tell me he's fully in control 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.120 of his instrument, because that's those are doer dice shots. 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:28.240 And he went against his natural ball flight and so 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.319 I didn't see that. I didn't see the two shot 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.960 on Alan on thirteen. What did he do there instead 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.080 of baling out right? I mean, he kind of took 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.000 a left center line and turned it over and he 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.680 was right down, you know, left side of the fairway, 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.600 which is that things can go sideways there. And I'm 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.640 just saying for guys will play to their on the 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.959 hard hole. Sometimes they refer back to their there's the 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.240 safest ball shape, like tigers hitting these big cuts on 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.240 dog leg lefts, like he's just trying to find the 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.680 fairway and you know he's he's reverted back to that, 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.800 which is okay when you're struggling. But um, yeah, the 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.280 thing about Brooks when he's playing well is he has 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.880 a certain mystique which is very rare in this game. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.360 He has he has a there's there's a badass energy 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.520 around him that very few golfers have. And you know, 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.319 you would I would say it's Sevy Ask in certain ways. 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.720 Sevy is more flamboyant, but there was he had a 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.000 presence that you felt, and you know Faudo had that 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:25.200 to some degree, Norman had it, Tiger had it. There's just, um, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:30.240 there's there's a feeling like this, like it's like alpha energy, right, 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.439 and it's kind of a cliche, but Brookes radio it's 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.560 that and it's a real thing. I mean it's palpable, 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.600 you can feel it. And uh, this thing is certainly 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.319 not over. I mean the Saturday forecast is for very 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.920 cold temperatures, a lot of rain and wind, and so 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.959 if if Brooks is fractionally off, you could easily shoot 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.160 eighty and this thing gets blown open. But uh, he's 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.520 been so in control of his golf ball, which is paramount. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.600 You know, the scramblers were kind of hanging on right now, 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.160 they'll get exposed in that weather. You have to hit 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:01.679 in the middle of the club face, and Brooks is 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.920 doing that every time. So I think the bad weather 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.360 actually helps them. I think it can separate him from 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.480 from a lot of the contenders. But let's talk about 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:11.839 some of the guys or do you ever the last 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:15.319 book one quick brook slot? But it's really abroad August 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:17.760 National thought. And this is why, despite all the things 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:19.640 you're talking about about the lack of intimacy and how 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.680 it's changed over the years, one of the most intimate 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.920 moments on this golf course, and it's almost it is 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.480 almost guaranteed to be high drama this year, as it 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.320 is every year, is the T shot on thirteen. And 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:32.880 now it's a different T shot than it was a 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.040 couple of years ago. So I'm fascinated to hear Alan 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.360 what you said. Here's a guy who can fade the ball, 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.400 hit a mile high with four yards of fade and 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.920 long and totally in control shot after shot after shot, 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.720 and he's going to stand on Sunday trying to win 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.200 his first green coat and try to drive the ball 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:50.280 in the fairway where he can knock a six iron 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.040 on and two put for four maybe and maybe make 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.160 a putt for three and try to do something that 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:57.640 doesn't come naturally to him. And we've seen Sergio do 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:00.680 We've seen Ernie do it. We've seen Savey back in 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.480 the day do it. It's there's a lot that can 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.000 go wrong the whole back nine, and you know we 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:08.160 always and we had on Jeff Vogli last side. We're 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:10.200 talking a little bit about the similarities between the old 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.160 course in this place. But what this place has, which 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.240 really Oqua and Shinnecock Hills and the old course and 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.880 other songs. It's got lakes, lakes in play. There are 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.560 water hazards go to lore in this golf course. And 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.000 if you're really playing well and it's Thursday Friday, you're 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.800 not really thinking about it. But it's impossible not to 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.560 think about him on Sunday. And that's why we get 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:36.040 giddy anticipating what we're anticipating the weekend of Master's play. 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.160 I mean, Brooks is a discipline player though, like you know, 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.720 for him, he calculates the risk and going for it 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.960 on Friday is worth it, and he made the birdie 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.280 and that's creative. If he still has a three four 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.240 shot lead, he has the discipline not of Phil Nicholson, 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.760 like he'll he'll play he'll play this the correct shot. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:54.960 So I think he's less likely to give it back. 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.280 That's really interesting because we might see something we've never 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.840 seen a leader hitting four or earn sandwich into thirteen. 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.040 But maybe that's the way to make that Maybe that's 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.440 your best joan speaker for there. Sure, yeah, yeah, hybrid three, 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:08.640 but there's a lot of there's a lot of ways 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.800 you could play that hole. Now if you just say 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:16.680 accept that it's it's five strokes. I finally have the 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.480 definitive answer, by the way to a question in which 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.920 I know we get a lot. If someone is new 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.440 to the game, men, women or children and they want 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.760 to look into buying a set of clubs, the answer 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:35.680 now is Robin Golf Robin goolf dot com. These people, 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:39.160 it's a family owned business. They make these really sleek, 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:45.080 cool looking sets of clubs for kids and beginners, men 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.360 and women. H This is a bit of a gateway 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.880 solution from like no you know clubs to an actual 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.680 set of clubs before you maybe get fit for a 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.880 set of clubs. Go now to Robin Goolf dot com. 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.000 We got Mother's Day coming up. We've got Father's Day come. 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.400 Kids are getting out of school soon. Fire Pit fifteen 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.280 gets you fifteen percent off promo code fire Pit fifteen 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:08.880 Robin Golf guys excited to have him be a part 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.760 of what we're doing, and their sets are on the 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.920 way from my son and daughter and wife, and I 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:22.680 look forward to breaking him in on fire Pit clicks 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:24.520 dot com. I'm gonna have a story about Brooks and 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:26.960 the interview with Claude Harmon really made the whole thing, 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.919 and he's such an insightful guy and I learned a 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:31.720 lot talking to him. So I'm happy to share that 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.280 you're going to write about one Philip Alfred Mickelson, who 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.880 had a crazy round yesterday. I would encourage anyone listening 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.520 you hasn't done, so go to maasters dot com call 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.200 up the Thursday round. You can watch every shot and 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.359 feel hit a driver off to the deck out of 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.199 the pine straw. He had driver off the deck on 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.320 eight to set up a birdie. He played a shot 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.720 right handed, a ball in the water. It was one 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.040 of those wildly entertaining seventy ones in the history of golf, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.480 and but today it was it was it was a 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.600 cleaner round. He shot three under, one of the best 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.120 scores of the day. He's he's right at this moment, 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.680 he's tied for tenth. I mean, he's eight shots back, 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.199 but he's only four shots out of second place. And 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.280 when I saw out of field was he put jaunty 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:16.240 out there? He looked like he was having fun. And 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.919 he's been in such a funk for you know, the 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.440 last year plus. And we all know he missed last 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.840 year's Masters. He's back again, and something about this place 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:27.399 has always lit him up. But I think this is 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:29.680 exactly what he needed. But Michael, what did you see 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.800 how to field that he liked? Well, he was, you know, 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:34.040 he was having a great time on the golf course. 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:35.879 He was in a great time off the golf course. 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.119 Amy is here. I haven't seen her personally since the 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.640 Ryder Cup in Wisconsin, you know, right after the PGA, 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:49.280 where he was where he was so triumphant. He needs 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.840 golf probably more It's just an odd thing to say 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.080 about a fifty year old man for as successful as 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.640 he is, But he probably needs golf more now than 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.159 any other point in his life because he's trying to 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.960 reclaim a life that he had and that was built 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:08.320 on golf, not coffee or fitness or fancy belts or 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.520 anything else. So I think he's doing what a lot 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.200 of people do when they're in a bind. He's doubling 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:15.960 down the thing that he really likes, the things that 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:20.000 he's really good at. And why wouldn't he be giddy 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:22.480 doing it at a Gusta National, at the place that 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:27.440 he dearly dearly looks. Yeah, he's certainly. You know, he's 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.920 been playing very mediocre golf at the live events, but 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:32.960 I've seen it with my own ice, how hard he's working. 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.120 I mean, he's been on the putting green for hours 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:36.920 at a stretch. I saw it in Tucson. I saw 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.119 in Mexico. He's hitting bags and bags of balls like 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.240 he hasn't given up. He's still on this quest to 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:47.280 be an impactful player. And when you have that kind 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.920 of talent and and you have that drive, it's it's 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:53.040 a good combination. You know, you can't play your best 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.560 golf at this level without a clear head. And you 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:57.760 see it all the time, and whether someone's got a 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.800 sick parent or marital woes or whatever is it affects 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.439 their performance and it Phil's been through the ringer at 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:05.880 the last year and a half and so I feel 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:07.760 like he's just kind of getting back to himself. As 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.480 press conference yesterday, it was actually he was funny. You know, 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:14.160 he's been so muted and careful and you can he's 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:16.640 like just dripping with the media training. That's not who 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.760 the guy is. Like. He's a showman, he's a freewheeler. 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:22.960 He's a huge personality, and it was all stuffed and 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:26.439 bottled up and he sounds like himself. He looks his 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.960 game looks is vintage. So I'm not suggesting that Phil 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.320