WEBVTT - Fire Drill 052: Grand Finale(s) 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:07.360 Welcome back to the Fire Drill. Uh. I am recording 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:12.400 this intro at ten pm Eastern Standard time. I forgot 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.200 I had to record an intro. Went to bed. Jake, 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.520 our producer, sent me a text, Hey, are you ready 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:20.079 to do the intro? And I said, yes, of course 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:23.119 I am. I just want to first thank our sponsors. Uh, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:29.200 Dormy Workshop. Awesome as Alan ship Nick says. Ship Nuk says, uh, 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.760 artisanal head covers. I don't know what artisanal means, but 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.080 I know that they're awesome head covers. Um, so check 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.800 them out Dormy Workshop. And then also part points great 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.479 app for scoring, a new way to go a score 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.920 uh on your phone out on the golf course. Awesome 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:50.000 way to do it. Now let's go make par use 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.440 that part points app. In this week of the Fire Drill, 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.520 we talked about John rom talk about Rory McIlroy. We 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.480 talked about Lydia co At that twenty five, she is 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:05.320 already a Hall of Famer. It's crazy that she's feel 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:07.839 like she's thirty one. She's been a part of our lives, 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:12.840 for our golf lives forever. She started so young. Um. 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:16.360 We talked a little bit about Adams fencing and his 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.399 journey and the connection that he has to the Big 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.920 Money Classic. We talked about Ram's complaints about the o 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.600 W g R and are they legitimate are they not, 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.280 and what that means in the world of golf. We 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:32.119 talk a little wishbone brawl. We talk persimmons in there 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:37.920 um but as always spirited conversation, some disagreements, some not 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.399 without further ado. Here's Michael Allen and I talking golf. 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:48.960 I got dot, He can't get Johan nothinging what I'm 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:57.480 thinking about, can't get the thing what I'm thinking about. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.160 All right, boys, Well, it was a huge week in golf. 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.480 There was sort of some season ending intrigue in both 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.880 Europe and on the LPGA Tour. Uh Europe of course 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.840 being a a a loose term because they actually were 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.240 in Dubai. But there the European Tour, it's not even 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.280 the European Tour anymore, it's the dp World Tour. But 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.840 they have their season finale. John Rahm held off a 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:33.200 really stellar field. Roy McRoy one the race to Dubai. 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.560 Although it should be noted that when a single event 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.320 on the European Tour this year, you know, but they 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.560 count the majors, and they count other events that allowed 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:46.160 Roy's excellence to get him to the top of the 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.680 the race to Dubai standings. But uh, let's let's just 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.200 start there. I mean it's been the European Tour has 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.560 been battled kind of all year. Um, it's in this 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:58.359 this funky place because of the battle between Live and 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.359 and the PGA Tour and Asian tours rising. And I 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.760 think Europe's going through little identity crisis that lost all 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.680 these uh, all of its elder statesmen in the Poulters 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:12.200 and Westwoods and Garcia's and Kaimer's and Stenson's. You know, 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:15.639 an entire generation of stars just vanished and left a 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.400 little bit of a void there. So Uh, to have 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:20.840 such a good finished with so many top players, what 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.720 did that mean for for this embattled tour? Well, they 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.320 need it. Uh, you know just like when uh, when 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:29.640 Live was just starting up and Rory went to Canada 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.200 and they had a great event. Uh, everything seems to 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:35.800 count now, to use one of your words, Alan, everything 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:41.080 is fraught. Everything has more meaning than otherwise would would. Uh. 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.720 So it's significant to see top players playing and uh 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:49.040 it's significant sort of I guess to see Rory McElroy 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:51.520 winning this thing. It means nothing to me, and I 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.880 can't imagine it really does to most ordinary golf fans, 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.640 But on the global stage of golf politics, it seems 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.520 to mean a lot. Yeah think um, I mean, it 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:05.240 just seems to me. Obviously, I'm locked in more on 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.120 the Asian Tour because of just what it means to 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:10.880 a lot of guys that I follow. But it seems 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.680 like the Asian Tour has a lot of momentum um 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:16.240 and the Overtree won last week, you know, last week. 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.200 It just seems to be there's a lot of momentum 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.560 they need Rory and John. I mean, the European more 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.400 than any other tour meets the momentum. It seems like 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:27.560 they've kind of got lost in all of this. And 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.039 and like you said, down, I think their identity is. 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.480 They just seem to be in big, big trouble to me. 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.280 And so, yeah, I don't even know what the race 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:39.440 of Dubai means. I don't know how the hell you 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:44.040 won without winning an event. Uh, it's then like Wills 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.719 Alatorious or Patrick read win it one year or something 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:49.600 by not even playing a European Tour. Event. I don't know, 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.279 but I think it's good for the European Tour. If 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:57.440 Rory and John lam are mentioned anytime with it associated 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:02.640 with it, uh, they needed no story. Will's Alturas finished 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.960 seventh this year, and you only he only played one, 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.640 you know, normal European Tour event and missed the cut. 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:10.919 So it just tells you how heavily weighted it is 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:14.080 to the majors. And again, it's just that you're right. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:18.120 I don't think that, um, that Rory has deep feelings 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:19.840 for this, but it's just another The fact that he 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.080 wanted is another testament to what a fine season he 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.520 had and his excellence from from start to finish. Just 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.880 the fact that we're sort of manufacturing and discussion about 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:33.360 something we don't really care about is proof of the 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.559 fact that people, whether it's Graham McDowell or David Slover, 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.839 various you know, people on all sorts of different views 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.800 of this thing, do think the PGA Tour season of 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:46.200 the professional golf season is too long, too monotonous, and 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:48.720 even if you go overseason, all the rest too many 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:53.840 seventy two whole events without enough meaning to teach individual event. 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:57.640 So um, that might be the biggest lesson of this thing. 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.920 I mean, even when you have John Roman, Roy mclroy 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.440 uh playing in a tournament, it's mid November and people 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:08.640 are not really thinking about golf. It's true. It's it's 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.080 a little bit of like why are we here? Who 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.720 am I? Uh? You know, the old Stockdale line. I 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.080 mean it's um, but they did show up, they did 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.120 play golf. I mean, for you know, John Rom, it 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.279 clearly meant something to him. He was, like people have said, 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:23.800 had a bad year, this is my third win on 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.039 three continents. Like he was kind of beating his chest 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:31.000 and I sort of like that because a a indignant 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.560 and motivated John Rom. Could you know, I think a 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.080 year ago you just said he's the best player in 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.080 the world. I think clearly he's probably been surpassed by 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.800 Marc Roy and Cam Smith in the short term. But um, 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:45.120 you know, to see that it meant something to Rom 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.440 was cool and I agree. And he does run not 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.279 in his comments about the world golf rankings being a 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:55.840 joke and how they what what do you think of that? Run? Yeah, 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.640 I mean the Asian Tour guys and he but even 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:05.839 before Andy uh, Travis Smith, Uh, you know, Barry Henson. Um, 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:07.719 A lot of the live guys that are playing over 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:10.560 on the Asian Tour have been beating this trub for 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:14.040 a long time, and I think it's very significant that 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:17.160 a European tour, a lot of those guys are getting 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.520 there like oh you're mad because I live and you know, 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.480 getting poop food or like discounted because of that. I 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.720 think John saying John rom saying something about the the 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:32.520 l w g R is is significant. Um, you know, listen. 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.560 I don't know someone's gonna say it's because of the 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:37.840 bottom half of the field, but it just seems to 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.760 me at a field with John, Robin Roy, Michael Roy 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.600 at the top having little less points than R s 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.480 M this week just seems backwards to me. I don't 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:48.800 know anything. I'm not trying to pretend that I know 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.800 anything about w g R or the formula that I 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:56.760 goes into. I just think that that seems backwards to me. Alan, 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.280 what's the fix to the world ranking problem? So you know, 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:01.800 we touched on this a little bit in in the 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:06.720 Ogletree podcast, and um, I've been I've been looking deeper 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:08.400 into it and thinking about it more and talking to 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:13.200 more people. I mean, the folks who Live Golf and 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.520 Asian Tour feel like that all this stuff was was 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.000 aimed at them. I mean, the reality is that the 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.560 changes to the to the O w JR were set 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.280 in motion in two thousand twenty one. Now, Live Golf 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.360 was a rumor and it was we kind of knew 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.560 was coming, but it wasn't a thing just yet. And 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:32.000 so the basic philosophy that that the World Ranking took 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:35.520 was that it's significant how many players you have to 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:36.920 beat in the field. I mean, you look at the 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.080 PGA tour um and you look at this leaderboard. There's 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.280 a lot at Sea Island. There's a lot of guys 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.040 you don't think about week to weekend, and yet they 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.559 were there. And so if you have a hundred fifty 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:50.480 six players, you have to beat a hundred and fifty 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:55.199 five of them. And even though there's not it's not 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.280 a top heavy field, there's still a lot of guys 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.280 in the top one hundred and the top two hundred. 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.080 Do buy that was only I think fifty five players 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:04.920 fifty four players, So automatically there's a hundred less guys 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.959 you have to beat. Now they had they had more stars, 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.200 but the World Ranking is just taking the position that 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.880 it's harder to beat a big field than a small field, 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.240 no matter who you are or where you are. And 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.920 they do counterbalance it based on, uh, you know, the 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.280 guys that if you have top players, you're gonna get 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.280 more points. But there's there's a real bias towards full 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.040 field events. That's just their position, and so that obviously 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:31.679 hurts live. It hurt that, it hurt the event and Dubai, 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:33.760 I mean hurt the Torch Championship for that matter, even 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.360 though they had so many top players. So I think 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.920 it's a defensible position there. You know, this is Ryan's 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:42.720 bills sool career on this fact that there are ten 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.160 thousand or twenty thousand or thirty thousand guys who are 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.920 potential PGA Tour winners roaming the planet. They just need 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:52.640 the opportunity and so that that that is really what 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:55.640 the change in the world rankings is all about. And 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.200 I think it's a defensible position, but it does create 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.440 these wonky weeks where have a cluster of top players 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.600 in Dubui. You don't have the star power. It's Sea Island. 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:06.199 But I think we could all probably agree to the 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:07.960 Sea Island field in a lot of ways is deeper. 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.200 So it's it's a it's a it's interesting debate, and 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:15.000 we know how the world ranking has chosen, um, where 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.640 to assign points. You're free to disagree, but that's just 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.199 what the formula is. What's you're feeling about fifty four 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.920 whole events uh being included or should they not be included? Viewer? 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.840 Those are the whole thing? What would your vote be? Yeah, 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.760 I mean the Senior Tour and the LPJ has long 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.680 had fifty four whole events where they crown champions and 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.800 no one was too upset about it. Um, you know, 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:39.719 seventy two holes is the gold standard. I think we 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:42.439 can all agree the more holes you play, the more 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.560 likely or identified the best player. I mean, if if 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.200 if every tournament and then the two thousands was ninety 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.360 holes or hundred eight holes, tiger Woods would never been beaten. 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.120 But you know, the more holes you play, the harder 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.760 is to win. And so yeah, I think I think 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.120 there's merit to the fact that fifty four is slightly 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.480 lesser competent titian and seventy two. But it's been established 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.439 on various tours that you can you know, the mina tour, 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:07.320 you dam it, Like there's been many tours that played 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.439 fifty four holes. Like, It's just it's still a golf tournament. 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:14.120 You know when you start, what what you're signing up for, 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.160 and on that last round it's a shootout and you're 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:17.959 trying to win the tournament. So I would absolutely give 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.960 fifty four whole events points. I think you could. You can, 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.880 you can multiply by point seven five or something to 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.440 penalize them for playing fewer holes. But Uh, to me, 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.520 it's it's a tournament. Everyone knows the rules of engagement 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:32.640 and if you win it, you win it. Can I 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.720 pose the same questions to Ryan, Ryan, what's your billing 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:37.640 about the what would you do it if if you 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.840 were the czar? What would you do to fix the 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.319 world rankings? And what's your feeling about fifty or four 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:47.440 versus seventy two? Yeah, I mean I just don't know 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.200 enough about it. Michael, I mean, like the the whole 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.080 calculation and all that. But I mean Alan brings up 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.000 a great point. I mean, but the top of the 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.480 leader board. Among the players that were on top of 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.800 the leader board this week, Sea Island, Calm Tar and 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.640 Adams Fencer, who won. You know, those are guys that 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:07.880 are far down the list, but on a given week 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:12.679 they can play. So I agree that field is deeper probably, Um, 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.679 I think on a much bigger scale. Uh, yeah, I'm 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.439 fine with fifty four holes now, I'm not firing a 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.840 fifty four holes in a no cut event. That's that's 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.400 where I struggled with. If the Sea Island was fifty 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.000 four holes this week, would anyone really care? I don't 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.240 think so. Um, I don't know that. I just I 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:34.240 think it's I just if you had ten events a 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:36.319 year on the PGA Tour that we're fifty four holes 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.280 and they were all like, uh, you know, opposite field 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.959 or lower, would anyone care? No one would care? Uh. 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.719 I think the people me included have a problem with 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:50.839 fifty four holes, no cut, guaranteed money up front. Uh. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:52.960 If it was fifty four holes and there was a 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:55.800 forty eight player field and twenty four got paid, I 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:00.320 might find it interesting from a obviously I'm on my snority, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.080 but it's just not interesting to watch the rich get 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.080 richard for me. Uh. So it's not really about fifty 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.640 four holds to be, it's just about the format of 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.200 no cuts whatever. If it was seventy two hols, it was. 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.199 If they change the seventy two hols still come morning 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:20.960 to me. But now I'm flat out stealing this from 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:25.240 my close personal friend Davis sem loved the third, get 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.280 rid of the whole thing altogether. Who needs a world ranking? 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.000 Some people know that, some people don't. The world ranking 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:32.719 was dreamed up by i MG as a way to 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.520 promote its players. It's not like you, Bobby Jones and 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.720 and Gene Sarah's and came up with this sitting around 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.880 at the table at Augustina National. It has no great history. 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.559 I mean, it was a promotional tool that Mark McCormick, 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.320 you know, scribbled down the back of a Napkins somewhere, 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:52.160 and it has over time taken on greater significance because 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:55.840 it's used to It's it's the gatekeeper. It's the yardstick 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:57.840 for getting into the majors and and these other things. 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.600 But um, you don't need world rankings to determine who 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:03.520 gets into the major championships. You can go off the 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:06.600 previous year's leaderboard. You can you could give you can 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:08.120 see the top ten on the Live Money list, you 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.040 could say the top fifteen and Asia like there's a 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.559 million ways you can. You can get the best players together. 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:14.880 You don't need the world ranking, and that that's the 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.240 precarious position of the world rankings in they could make 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.680 themselves obsolete. And it's already training that direction. If you're 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:22.920 not gonna have Cam Smith or Dustin Johnson in your 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:27.800 top twenty or top fifty, it becomes meaningless. So um, 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.040 the world ranking is in the last ten years has 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.000 become very important, but before that it was just kind 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:33.720 of a talking point that no one paid that much 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.800 attention to. Here's what I will say about Rom's comment, 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.480 and it goes back to a much bigger thing is 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:44.160 Live has given golfers folk card brunch to say whatever 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.560 they want, whatever they now. Rama is like somewhat outspoken 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.960 at times, and Rory has been. But it reminded me 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:57.280 of so I posted the Sea Island field played short, okay, 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:00.440 unheard of on the state side PG to or event 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:05.520 no uh no alternates on site someone two people that 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.040 drew in the morning. Davis loved the third being one 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:10.160 of them, but I assumed he had told the first 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.680 alternate that he like was probably going to test his 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.360 risk and if it didn't feel well, withdraw, so he 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.240 already knew. And then someone else withdrew with a bad 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:20.760 back and there was no alternate on site. Unheard of, 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.720 unheard of that a PGA Tour event played short and 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.320 Leslie Bryant under my tweet and he was the fourth 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.720 alternate and obviously if he was outside of when he 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:35.000 got in he said, his tweet was and I paraphrase Wesley, 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.480 so I apologize. It was like I gotta call. I 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.960 lived twelve hours away and I gotta call thirty five 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.240 minutes before the teatime. No communication from the time I 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:48.040 was fourth alternate until the time I was first alternate. Uh. 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.920 I guess the PGA Tour just doesn't care about conditional 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.960 guys like me. They would have never said that. In 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.480 my opinion, pre lived people are just firing from the 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:02.720 hip and it is awesome. It is great. M Yeah, 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.400 I agree with all that. Ryan. I mean, it's this, 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.240 We've seen this throughout American life. You know, civility has 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.120 gone by the wayside, and now now people are are 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:17.120 are you know, they're just taking shots, which in our business, 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.080 that's that's it's as I've said many times, it's a 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:22.960 gift from the content gods. But you know, even Rom's 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:27.640 comments were a little shortsighted because part of the the 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:32.000 overhaul of the world rankings this most recent iteration was 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:37.120 in the past different tours were guaranteed a floor on 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:39.720 no matter what, they'd getting a certain number of points 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.280 per event, and even if nobody showed up, you would 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:45.400 still get you know, I think on Europe it was 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.840 twenty four points for for the tournament and they did 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:53.440 away with that. And so Europe especially had had had 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:57.240 used that minimum threshold many times in recent years. That 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.760 so they're they're players were getting artifici propped up in 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.200 the rankings, whereas you know, the field might have only 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.879 been worth eleven or thirteen or seventeen points, they were 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:11.000 still getting twenty four. And so the European guys are 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.080 are they've hit They've been hit hard by this as well. 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.280 And that's part of Rom's blowback, is like that they're 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.000 feeling discriminated against. But really it was probably a necessary 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.760 tweak to say, we can't, we can't just artificially give 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.600 you points you haven't earned. And so you know, Rom's 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:28.040 kind of sticking up for his home tour and his 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.560 own continent and all that, but his his comments were 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.720 not totally grounded in reality or the truth. So um, 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.560 you know, people popping off as great fun, but sometimes 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:40.600 when you when you dig a little deeper, it's like, well, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.840 I'm not sure how well informed they really are. There 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.800 was a there was a beautiful simplicity two the money List, 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.320 just the money List, and if you wanted to win 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.520 the money List, you can either play more or play 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.679 better when you did play. And I remember having this 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.919 conversation on Davis when they made the move from the 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:06.000 money List to FedEx points and I never really gravitated 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.399 to fed X points. And now you go. Now you 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.080 go one step farther into this world golf ranking, and 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:16.879 it's even it's even a vaguer or a bigger mess 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.640 to try to determine who's really good. And it's kind 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.000 of taken away from the barroom conversation of who's the 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:28.240 best player, and right now when people have that barroom conversations, inevitably, uh, 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:30.560 the guy who won most recently. And what John rom 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.639 was saying, you know, I wanted three confidence this year 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.359 and I had a good year. Uh, it's cool because 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.120 it really doesn't have anything to do with where we're 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.080 ranking points just like, look at how I played this year. 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.840 Everything's gotten more complex this season in golf, and it's 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:49.480 it's fascinating. I mean, I think I like the conversation. 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.720 I like the controversy. I like the divergence of opinions. 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:56.520 But it's important that people dig a little deeper. And 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.760 I think, you know, um, maybe maybe this conversation will 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.720 helps and listeners understand the ranking changes. It wasn't really 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:06.639 target that live or Europe. It's just it just happened 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:10.280 or Asia for that matter. But um, you know, the 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:15.520 the it's the emphasis is on bigger, deeper fields, and 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:17.560 it's kind of like Rory winning the Race to du Buy. 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.199 It wasn't he won that many tournaments and just that 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.000 he had a lot of good finishes, like like consistency 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:26.840 and um, that's that's kind of become baked into the model, 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.400 like you gotta be there and you've got to show 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.520 up every week, and but you're you know, Michael, I 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:34.600 think we grab date more so the guys like I 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:36.560 would say you, I'd rather have John Rom's season where 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:39.720 you win three times um and fifth on the on 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.920 the money list or fifth in the ranking versus someone 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:44.119 who has a million top tens but doesn't win and 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:46.280 they're higher up. I mean the winds are what you remember. 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.399 But um, a lot of these, a lot of the 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:52.720 measuring sticks in golf now are more about we can 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.639 week out consistency than they are occasional bursts of excellence. 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:58.960 And it just is what it is. But we we've 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.000 we touched on Sea Island little bit and um you 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:06.960 know for this this kid, uh the winner who third 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:11.520 year Canadian? Um, you know Adam Spencing, Like he's a 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:14.679 second Canadian to win this year on tour behind Matt Hughes. Um, 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:16.680 he's never played in a major before. Now he's punched 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.359 his ticket to the Masters and and a huge career upgrade. 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:22.800 But Ryan, you know a little bit about about ab 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.840 spencon So his journey to the PGA Tour included a 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:29.280 detour through the Big Money Classic. So what is what 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:33.360 is the backstory there? And this is great mini tour scandal. 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:35.880 The Big Money Classic for those that don't know, I've 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.359 written an article about it didn't pay players, but the 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:45.320 original Big Money Classic Adams Spence in one he uh 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.920 it was a hundred thousand dollars to the winner. As 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:50.920 far as I knew, I don't have a relationship with Adam. Uh, 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:53.080 he didn't really fit into the grinder's mold. He was 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:54.879 a corn ferry remember at the time when he played, 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.600 and uh, he plays, he wins as far as I know, 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.760 he gets he gets his hunt thousand dollars winter check. 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.199 The whole fire. The whole Big Money Classic falls apart 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:08.480 the next year, and I learned that Adam has been 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:14.440 paid over a year basis, so he didn't get paid originally. Uh, 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.080 Dustin Manning, the Order of Big Money Classic, made a 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:20.920 deal with him to pay him over a twelve month 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:28.160 period with interest, and unfortunately they use the player's entry 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.240 fee from the this year's version of The Big Money 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:36.400 Classic to pay Adam. So Adam eventually got paid plus interest. 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:40.560 Unfortunately it was from the entry fees of the players 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.320 this year who have never been paid or they've been 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:47.920 paid ten of what they're are. So, um, I mean, 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:52.520