WEBVTT - ANWA Preview with Megha Ganne (Plus an LPGA Season Update) 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.320 And when I find my ball. 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:08.920 In a bride egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg, 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.880 Frida Egg, Frida egg Egg Frida Egg, bride egg Lie, 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:35.360 I'm about ready to run off of the hump. Welcome 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:38.920 to the Friday Egg Golf Podcast. I'm Garrett Morrison and 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:43.400 the Augusta National Women's Amateur is back. There will be 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.280 a stacked field at Champions Retreat and Augusta National next week, 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.720 and we're here to tell you about a few players 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.159 to watch out for. We'll also talk with one of 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:56.840 the biggest stars in the field, Stanford University's Mega Ghane. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.880 Mega is one of the top players in college and 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.920 you may recall her from the time she contended for 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.560 a US Women's Open at Olympic Club in twenty twenty one. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:10.480 She was actually in that final, pairing with Lexi Thompson 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:15.520 and the eventual champion, Yucusaso. We're very excited to speak 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.960 with Mega. We've wanted to have her on the pod 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.920 for a while, but before getting into anwa we thought 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.880 we'd check in with the LPGA Tour and just see 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.280 what's been going on there. So all of that is 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:32.160 coming up, but first let's talk about golf in Ireland. Now, 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.679 if you've been following our explorations content, which I hope 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.520 you have because it's been really great in my opinion, 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.680 you know that the Island of Ireland is a golfer's paradise. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.160 It has over four hundred courses, one third of the 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:51.800 world's true links courses, and exceptional championship layouts surrounded by 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:57.400 epic landscapes. Those championship courses include Royal Port Rush and 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.360 Royal County Down, both in Northern Ireland, and Royal County 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.760 Down is going to be hosting the Amjin Irish Open 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.160 this September, that is this year, so that's going to 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.480 be really fun to watch, and then the Open Championship 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.280 is going back to Royal Port Rush in twenty twenty five, 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.480 so some big tournaments coming up. There, lots of reasons 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.440 to get out to Northern Ireland specifically. Now in addition 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.079 to golf, one of the remarkable things about the Island 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:28.840 of Ireland is the hospitality that accompanies any golf experience 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:33.080 out there. The nineteenth hole is just the joyful ending 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.640 point of any day of golf out there, and where 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.040 better to do that than the confines of a great 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:43.960 pub where you can relax after a great eighteen holes 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:48.760 at one of Ireland's many world class golf courses. So 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.359 if you're interested in an Irish golf experience, go to 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.800 Ireland dot com slash golf and book your trip today. 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.400 All right, let's get into some LPGA tour golf before 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:04.440 talking about and wha here to discuss everything with me 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:09.520 today is fridayg Golf's project manager, Merch Czar and Women's 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.880 golf correspondent. It's a quite a list of titles there, 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.200 Meg Atkins, Meg, how are you doing today? 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.839 I'm doing good. Garrett, good to be here. And yes, 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.760 we all wear mini hats at Frida Egg. I'm not 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.680 the only multi multi hyphen it here. So excited to 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:28.600 talk some golf with you. 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.560 Yeah, we're we're going to do some travel next week. 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.600 We're getting out of the house and going to Augusta. 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.520 We're both going to be covering and as we did 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.400 last year, so we thought we'd get together and you know, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:44.720 do a little bit of preview of that tournament. But 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.440 while we're doing that, we thought we would talk about 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.640 what's been going on in the LPGA Tour season so far, 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:54.240 because it's really been pretty interesting. So we're going to 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:58.280 do a couple of storylines here, two storylines, major storylines 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.280 from this season of LPGA Golf. So I'm going to 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:04.160 turn it over to you, Meg. What's your first storyline 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.960 that people should be paying attention to on the LPGA 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:08.119 Tour so far this year. 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.200 Yeah, it's it's the big names showing up. 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.320 You know. The start of the season is it's a 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:18.560 little bit disjointed just with the nature of the schedule, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.320 you know, time off after the initial tournaments to go 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.840 to Asia and then time off after Asia for travel 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:31.200 and whatnot. But the players have managed to make this 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.960 you know, kind of choppy start to this season really interesting. 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.240 It's been We've had a couple of playoff wins for 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.560 Nellie Korda, Lydia Co's won and is now on the 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:44.120 cusp of a Hall of Fame. Berth Patty t has 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.559 also gotten back into the winner circle after a long 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.120 long break there, and then you have Hannah Green Souh 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:55.160 all major winners, the exception being Bailey Tarti who won 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:58.000 in China, so the big names. 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.160 Are well toward the top, and the US win is 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.560 open or something fairly recently, right, I remember her name 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:04.880 popping up, I forget where. 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:05.599 Yeah, she played. 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:08.320 She played great at pebble and that was kind of 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:12.360 my first introductioner. But you know, Georgia's standout player and 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.280 for her win, I think she went seven under through 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.080 her last eleven holes to kind of just take that title. 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.960 So what I've been hoping for and wanting for the 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:26.039 past few seasons is kind of to catch a break 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:30.440 with injuries and with everyone's kind of games not really 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:34.240 aligning the big names, and we've got that now. It's 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.679 awesome to see Nelly knock off too early wins. I think, 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.599 you know, the the longer the storyline goes for Lydia, 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.559 with this Hall of Fame birth on the line every 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:50.479 every tournament she enters, that's intriguing storyline too. So, you know, 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.160 really a great start for the LPGA season when they 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:58.200 don't really set it up to be to start off 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.880 with the momentum with how the schedule is, but you know, 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.560 really really fun finishes when that continued over on Sunday 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:10.479 with Nellie's win over Rhinotoole in just crazy conditions and 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:14.039 win at Palace Verdes. So you know, now that we 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.200 kind of wrapped up the first part and are looking 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.680 at the majors on on the on the horizon, I 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.039 think for Nelly, you know, the expectations just get ramped 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.880 up even more on Okay, when are we going to 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.400 get that second major? So you know, in about three 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.840 weeks she'll she'll have the chance at the Chevron in 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.520 Houston and then we'll roll right into the rest of 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:38.159 the major schedule and the real meat of this season. 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.920 But really, I mean, I can't stress it enough how 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.600 entertaining some of these finishes have been, even if you've 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.520 had to stay up late to watch or you know, 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.560 not the easiest to find some of these some of 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:55.600 these tournaments on the broadcasts. But yeah, it's it's been 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:58.920 a fun start, I think, I mean, honestly, outside of 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.680 the players, I think the finishes on the LPGA side 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.440 have been much more exciting and with more intriguing storylines 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.640 than on the PGA side of things. And that's with 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:13.600 you know, not so not so exciting courses, a lot 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.120 of travel, and not exactly a smooth start to the season. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.560 Schedule wise, Yeah, kind of a herky jerky start, but 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:22.680 this has been something that we've been talking about for 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.520 a couple of years now. That's just the way this 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:30.760 start of the LPGA Tour season is in January, February, March. 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.040 It really does seem to settle in in the month 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.880 of March and then we're kind of onto major season. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.200 I'm not sure I love the cadence as it is, 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.520 but there have been good tournaments and that has really 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.320 kind of carried the day so far. Nellie Corda definitely, 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:52.280 you know, starting to live up to the hype I 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.200 want to say, although it's not just hype around here. 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.400 It's always been legitimate. You know, she is a genuinely 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:04.200 amazing ball striker, but she maybe hasn't one at the 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:07.160 rate that we've expected, and part of that is because 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.040 of some health issues, some injury issues that she's been 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.040 grappling with for the past couple of years. But she 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:16.480 really does seem to be in dominant form right now. 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.040 Her win at Palace Verades it was very impressive for 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.200 a number of reasons. One was that the conditions on 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.400 the last day, as you mentioned, were very, very tough 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.240 and one of The one of the fun little side 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.480 stories for me on that day was that were the 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:37.079 things that the players were wearing. There was like lots 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:40.120 of little creative ways to to shield themselves from the 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.320 from the elements that you don't typically see male players. 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.760 Deer medsen Spring our rare site, but always always a 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:47.400 welcome site. 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.760 It was fantastic. But in any case, she she was, 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:55.280 you know, well ahead midway through the final round, then 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:57.560 kind of lost it on the last couple of holes 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:01.040 bogey bogie. But then you know, put her stamp very 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.680 very assertively on that playoff. So you know, how how 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:06.480 would you assess where Nellie's at right now? 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.440 Yeah, And listen to her press conference afterwards, and she 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.400 was actually asked, you know, how how do you stack 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.760 up how you're playing right now to your peak, which 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.800 I think everybody would consider that twenty twenty one season 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:24.240 when Olympic gold, her major four titles and just top 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.160 ten and I think, you know, almost every start it 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.200 seemed like And for her she kind of joked, you know, well, 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:34.520 it's been so long since that peak that I can't 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:38.199 really compare the two. But I was impressed with her. 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:44.679 Meant how she talked about mentally quickly venting about that finish, 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.800 which you know was definitely put the momentum if you 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.400 were if you were betting on that playoff, even with 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:54.720 Nellie's accolades, definitely put the momentum in Ryan O'Toole's camp. 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.040 She drained a long par put on eighteen to get 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.840 herself two nine under then to meet Nellie. But you know, 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:05.560 Nelly talked about, Yeah, I vented, kind of got it out. 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:07.080 My coach said, all right, are you ready to go 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:10.520 play now? And and she refocused herself, got on the 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.120 tee and got it done and on the first hole there. 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:16.240 So let's also not forget that this comes off of 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.000 a seven week break. She didn't play in the Asian 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.400 Swing at all, took some time off to do some 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:26.160 traveling to Prague. Her sister Jess Corta had a baby, 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.360 so playing the ant roll a little bit and it 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.880 wasn't just the travel, but you know, she took she 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.080 didn't touch a club for almost half of that seven weeks. 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.360 So you know, I think one that bodes well to 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:42.200 just not have you know, a whole lot of rest 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:46.400 after that break. And then two, with with the the 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:50.240 LPGA schedule, you know, maybe we're getting a fresher Nelly 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.160 into this this bulk of this season, into the meat 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.360 of the schedule where you know, the majors are going 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.439 to come into fast Clip and then we're going to 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.240 roll straight into Olympics and Solheim Cup. So if that, 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.160 if we are seeing kind of Nelly start to peak, 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.160 you know, maybe that break when we're talking at the 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.320 end of the summer, if she's still playing, well, we're 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:11.480 talking more about how how great that break was for 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:13.840 her to stay fresh through the grind of the season. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.360 All right, let's get a second storyline. 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.400 I kind of wrote about this a little bit in 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:26.079 the newsletter last Friday. I think it's really interesting, and 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.080 I'll offer up a caveat that. You know, the sport 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:33.640 to sport comparison is never apples to apples, But if 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.960 you've been paying attention to the overall, you know, sports landscape, 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.080 you know that women's sports is having a moment here 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:44.160 right now with just the popularity of basketball with Caitlyn 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:50.240 Clark phenomenon, and then last week the new NWSL season started, 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:53.600 and I wanted to kind of talk about women's sports 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:57.640 in general because there really has not been a better 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:03.560 time to be leading a women's sports league, and the 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:09.040 time is quickly becoming now for Marcusman to capitalize on 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:09.880 this momentum. 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:12.640 And I want, you know, I think. 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:14.800 It's it's helpful to look at other sports and how 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.880 they have taken advantage and of you know, really kicked 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.720 down the door in many ways, whether it be with 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:26.760 expanding their leagues, with media deals, with viewership numbers, and 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.840 how can golf kind of take a piece of that 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.280 pie that, you know, and take advantage of what's going 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.920 on with women's sports. So if you look at you know, 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:40.280 Molly Marcusmone's tenure and what she came into when she 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.720 was hired on as commissioner, you know, Mike Wan had 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.880 built the league back up, but she came from Princeton, 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.200 She came from academia, and she went on you know, 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.520 a year long learning tour as she described it, to 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.120 just kind of figure out this new this new, this 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.680 new landscape and and how to tackle it. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:12:59.720 And and if you. 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:05.000 Look at at soccer and the NWSL, Jessica Burman comes 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:09.160 on shortly after Molly marc Us Simon, so very similar 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:13.560 similar tenures here, and she comes into the NWSL that 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:19.280 is mired in scandal, a mess of a league, zero 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:25.120 player trust, and she doesn't have the luxury of a 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.600 listening tour. She's got to get in and turn things 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:32.839 around immediately. And Jessica Berman comes from a background in 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:37.440 the NHL where she, you know, many many years going 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.760 up the ladder in that league, was responsible for, you know, 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:45.000 negotiating the lockout deal years ago, and she just comes out, 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:49.160 you know, guns blazon. I think the most important thing 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:54.600 that she did was demand the team ownership's step up, 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:59.680 and I think that has very you know, obviously golf 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.439 does have teams, but we have these sponsors of tournaments, 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.480 and what was happening in soccer was you had these 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:07.319 passive team owners. 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:12.240 Alexis Ahanian uh co found founder of. 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:16.680 Reddit, is a i think the majority stakeholder in Angel City, 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:21.400 the LA Husband Williams, Yes, husband of Serena Williams and 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.040 also part owner or I don't know the exact title 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.760 of the TGL team La GC. 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.080 So he I actually spoke. 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:32.680 About this, you know, when he kind of came on 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:36.080 and was meeting other owners. He's talking to one owner 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.000 and it was like, you know, yeah, I have a 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:39.960 daughter and this is kind of like a you know, 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.720 charity thing to kind of show her something that I'm 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:47.560 supporting women's sports. And what you've seen is that kind 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.080 of totally flip on its head where those owners are 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.120 now out and you have owners who don't see this 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.640 as a charity but see as an investment in something 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.960 they're gonna make money on. And you've seen the valuation 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.560 of the teams go up. You've seen new owners come 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:07.560 in with big time dollars, celebrities, uh, other other athletes. 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:11.000 Eli Manning has a stake in a team. Patrick Mahomes 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.640 and Britain Mahomes are co owners and stakeholders in the 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:19.720 Kansas City team here. And you've seen major, major investment. 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:24.680 And what that's brought is, you know, these severely undervalued 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.280 teams are now selling at you know, twenty times what 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.520 they were selling for in the past. The league has expanded, 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:36.239 They signed a mega media rights deal with with multiple 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.680 you know, streaming options, Amazon, CBS, multiple venues. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:41.160 For their product. 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.360 And if you're if you're the LPGA, if you're Mollie 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.880 mark Us Simone right now, if you're not sitting down 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:56.360 with what there surely are passive tournament sponsors on on 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.800 the on the LPGA side of things that you know 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.080 have been doing this for certain amount of years. Throw 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.320 an extra one hundred k to the purse each year, 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.800 and you know, call it good if you're not sitting 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.000 down with some of those sponsors and having the conversation 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:13.520 that you know, the things have changed and it's time 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:16.680 to step up in a bigger way. You know, you 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:20.160 can have that conversation with the confidence now with where 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.800 woman's sports is at that you'll have another sponsor up 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.240 to the plate if they're not willing to do that. 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.760 And I think that's where, Yes, soccer and golf are 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.400 not the same, but you can take a page out 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.000 of that playbook from soccer and what Jess Berman has 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:39.960 done and start really putting sponsors to the fire of 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:44.640 investigation of truly investing in golf, whether that's you know, 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.960 new tournaments, whether that's new venues, whether that's bigger purses. 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.000 We've kind of been baby stepping the way into things 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:53.800 with golf right now, and it's time to kind of 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.960 take that that big next step and get onto the 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:01.040 same level as kind of soccer, bsketball and others have 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:01.560 gotten to. 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.560 And broadcast partners probably need a kick in the butt 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:04.920 as well. 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.560 Yep, yep, But I think I think that comes. I 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.520 think I don't think that's going to be They're not 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:12.119 going to be the leader there. I think they're going 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:16.320 to see investment from other sponsors and and you know, 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.119 other money coming in through new tournaments or purses or 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.000 sponsors for players, and they're going to follow suit. I 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.680 don't think we can expect them to be the leader 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:26.480 on that forefront. 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:27.240 Unfortunately. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.760 Yeah, the media rights deal is not really exclusively or 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:34.600 their own right. The LPGA sort of has has piggybacked 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:39.240 on the PGA Tours media rights deal, but clearly there 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.520 are some improvements that could be made in that arena 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.639 as well. All right, cool, So with that, let's get 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:52.280 into the next generation of potential LPGA Tour stars or 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.560 in a few cases, star amateurs. On the women's side, 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.960 Let's do some players to watch at the Augusta nash 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.480 Women's Amateur So Meg, before we bring Mega on, let's 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.440 try to do these in a kind of lightning round style. 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.760 Who is your first player to watch for at Augusta 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:12.880 National next week? 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:18.680 I'm going with Taylor Gouch's favorite player, Asterisk Tally. She's 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.760 the youngest player in the field. She just turned fifteen 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:24.800 a couple months ago. About it in February, I believe, 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:30.000 And she is coming in with some momentum. She just 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.600 won the Junior Invitational, which is an elite junior tournament, 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:38.160 by six, so she's got some familiarity with Augusta too 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:42.560 as a drive, chip and putt participant. Maybe she peaked 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.040 too early, but I think she's got some confidence coming 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.400 in to an lad to hopefully make a run there. 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.120 Okay, my first player to watch is also a very 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:58.399 young player, seventeen years old, Yanna Wilson, absolute stud on 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.639 the junior scene. The twenty twenty three AJAGA Girls Player 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.200 of the Year. She's number one in the AJGA rankings. 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:10.080 She's a University of Oregon commit, and you know this 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:12.920 is her third and wha, right, So she's pretty young, 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.840 but she's been here a few times. She won on 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:20.560 the Cactus Tour fairly recently quarterfinals at the US Women's Amateur. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.640 This is a serious, serious player and somebody to watch 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:28.240 out for many years to come. So Yanna Wilson, all right, 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:29.240 who's your next player? 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:32.199 All Right, we're keeping it with the teenagers. I'm going 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.639 to go with Aila Galitski. She's a seventeen year old 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:40.040 from Thailand. She's committed to South Carolina. She also played 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.399 in the Junior Invitational. She finished third at a even par, 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:45.720 but that's nine back of asterisk. 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:47.840 But I was really impressed. 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.040 She played in the LPGA's Thailand event earlier this year, 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.280 made the cut, finish T forty one, So very good 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:56.560 playing with the best of the best over there in Thailand. 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:58.720 And we'll see what she can do to Augusta. 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.760 All right, and my last player is Hailey Cooper. So 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.520 we've talked about teenagers so far. Hailey Cooper is twenty 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:12.920 four years old, so absolutely ancient, right this is She's 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:18.080 still young, of course, but Hailey Cooper played her final 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.439 collegiate tournament for Texas A and M last year. She 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:25.200 helped the team get to match play at the NCAA Championships. 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.199 Hailey's got a great backstory. She was an elite junior. 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.800 She actually won the US Women's Amateur four ball when 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.639 she was still in high school and was a first 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:40.720 team All America at the University of Texas in twenty nineteen. 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.080 But then her game just sort of hit a rough patch. 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.480 I'm not totally sure what happened. She did get invited 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:50.360 to ANNWA in twenty twenty one, but had to withdraw 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:54.280 because she tested positive for COVID nineteen. So this year 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:58.399 is actually her ANNWA debut. In any case, she's gotten 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.080 her game back rest. She got her undergraduate degree from 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:06.560 Texas in twenty twenty one, I think, and she got 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.040 it in three years, so she's obviously got a pretty 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.639 good head on her shoulders. Then she went to Texas 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.159 A and M for her master's degree and she just 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:18.560 rediscovered her game, had a really great twenty twenty three season. 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.440 So I think that's a feel good story to watch 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:23.560 out for. So there are a bunch of other names 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.800 that I think people will recognize if they've seen past 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:31.080 AUGUSTA National Women's Amateurs. These names would include Amelia Emiliaco, 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.200 who is playing her fifth I don't think there's anybody 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.880 else in the field who has played literally every one 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:40.719 of these tournaments. Yeah, and she's planning to be a 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:44.280 career amateur. She's been on the podcast before, absolutely delightful 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:49.000 person ingrad Lynn Blad is a potential favorite here. This 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:52.160 is her fourth an whah, you know, I don't know 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.640 if there's anybody else you would really choose to be 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:58.080 the sole favorite here. But there's a good, good argument 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.760 for Lynn blad Amari Aver playing her fourth and last 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:07.160 an wha. Rachel Keene in her fourth, Carolina Lopez Chakara, right, 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:11.720 you'll recognize that last name is also playing her fourth. 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:15.560 An wha. We've got Rachel Heck who just announced recently 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.480 through an essay and no laying up that she has 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:22.840 chosen to remain an amateur and not turn professional in golf, 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.800 but she's she's coming back to play in her third 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:30.679 an wha. Anna Davis is the returning champion. Gianna Clemente 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:34.000 still sixteen years old, but this is her second and 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:36.720 I believe she is still the youngest or one of 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.159 the two youngest players in the field, so obviously a 0:22:40.320 --> 0:22:43.840 very very talented player. So lots of people to watch 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:46.080 out for here. I'm not sure if I missed anybody. 0:22:46.280 --> 0:22:47.959 Now that covers the big names. 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.639 You know, it's it feels a little bit different without 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.760 Rose this year. That was obviously the main storyline last 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:59.560 year leading in but an what depth never disappoints. If 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:01.760 you know, all these names kind of show up, We'll 0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:03.600 have a very very exciting Saturday. 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:06.159 Of course, one name that we haven't mentioned yet is 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:11.240 Mega Gane, and Mega has an incredible resume that she's 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:14.280 bringing into this ANWA and we're bringing her on the 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:18.560 podcast right now. But before we get to her, let's 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:24.440 talk quickly about Blackjack Jerky. So Blackjack Jerky started as 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.800