Speaker 1: I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When
Speaker 1: I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
Speaker 2: And when I find my ball in.
Speaker 1: A bride egg, Frida egg, the dreaded Frida egg, Frida Egg,
Speaker 1: bride egg.
Speaker 3: Lie, I'm about ready to run off the golf course.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast.
Speaker 3: Today's episode is with Ryan Laughner. Ryan works at Golf Channel.
Speaker 3: You've seen his writing, he's been there for a while.
Speaker 3: He's uh, he's a writer. He's on air, he's on
Speaker 3: live from will be prominently featured in the upcoming NCAA
Speaker 3: Championship telecast, the National Championships for men's and women's golf,
Speaker 3: and he will be on the ground at Oak Hill
Speaker 3: as well as he does podcasts. He's got the Golf
Speaker 3: Channel podcast with Rex and Lav, so he came on
Speaker 3: to talk do our Five Things podcast with about the
Speaker 3: PGA and Okill. I thought it was a fantastic conversation,
Speaker 3: but I'm obviously biased. You guys can listen, but I
Speaker 3: was really excited to talk to him. He is a
Speaker 3: Western New York native, so he's going a bit of
Speaker 3: a homecoming and really excited to just talk okill in
Speaker 3: the PGA.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 3: It's awesome that our second major's here. And without further ado,
Speaker 3: here is Ryan Lavner. I'm excited to be joined here
Speaker 3: by one of the I can I call you a
Speaker 3: founding resident of Nakty No?
Speaker 1: No, oh, you certainly can't. Like it was definitely established
Speaker 1: before I moved here.
Speaker 2: When was it established? What year?
Speaker 1: I don't know, Probably a decade or so ago. I
Speaker 1: think it was just a swamp, Like we're three miles
Speaker 1: from the ocean, so yeah, I think it was a
Speaker 1: swamp until it was inhabited ten fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2: And then somebody had a dream of turning into town.
Speaker 1: Yes, turning it into like the Truman Show, and now
Speaker 1: it's and now it's and I was just flourishing.
Speaker 3: So you're a little town there, South Panavidra. You can
Speaker 3: you could just do. You can ride a golf cart around.
Speaker 3: It sounds like a wonderful place. The most is it
Speaker 3: would you make an argument that it's the most convenient
Speaker 3: town in America.
Speaker 1: Most convenient town certainly where I'm located. Like, if you've
Speaker 1: ever been to TVC Sawgrass, we're like fifteen minutes from there.
Speaker 1: And if you're coming from ninety five, you probably went
Speaker 1: on this road called two ten and you drive past
Speaker 1: its Publix, and so it's like downtown Nakati. I live
Speaker 1: walking distance from that public so like I never get
Speaker 1: in the car unless I'm driving to like home, depot
Speaker 1: or target or something like that. Otherwise I'm just like
Speaker 1: cruising around in my golf cart. Like it's a great,
Speaker 1: great place to raise kids.
Speaker 2: You can and then you can take your kids to
Speaker 2: school in the golf cart.
Speaker 1: Yes, daycare is literally a block and a half away.
Speaker 1: It's unbelievable. I was running late. I was running late
Speaker 1: yesterday and just like Floorida and was there in twelve seconds.
Speaker 3: That's my hometown. I'm close. I'm close to downtown and
Speaker 3: I can walk. I rarely get in my car when
Speaker 3: I'm home. It's like once you know, I have to
Speaker 3: be venturing out somewhere to get to get in the car.
Speaker 2: I can do every task. It's so underrated.
Speaker 1: It's like it's such an inconvenience having to get into
Speaker 1: the car. Like I had to start my car recently
Speaker 1: to like make sure it still works. Like I never
Speaker 1: ever fill up.
Speaker 2: It's amazing, wonderful.
Speaker 3: One way one way to to say, you know to
Speaker 3: to reduce your emissions, your your gas emissions.
Speaker 1: It's just next year, next year's Players Championship. You're coming over.
Speaker 1: We'll grow out in the backyard. I'll take you to
Speaker 1: the water park. I'll get you a three dollars beer.
Speaker 1: We can get some chicken tenders at food. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of hard time. Yes, we live a half mile
Speaker 1: from a water park. Two of them, not just one.
Speaker 1: Two of them like legit designed by like the Disney engineers.
Speaker 1: But they're so legit.
Speaker 2: All right, Ryan, you're on When do you head up
Speaker 2: to Rochester?
Speaker 1: I fly on Monday morning. So although Nakati is my
Speaker 1: current home, Rochester, New York is my old home. My
Speaker 1: dad lives about three miles from there. I grew up
Speaker 1: in Canadagua, which is one of the Finger Lakes, about
Speaker 1: thirty minutes south of Oak Hill. So this is a
Speaker 1: much anticipated home game for me, to be honest.
Speaker 2: Ah, that's delightful. You stay in with your dad.
Speaker 1: I am staying with my dad.
Speaker 2: What a wonderful week for you. I had.
Speaker 1: I know I needed to secure one of those parking
Speaker 1: passes where I can actually park on property, and I
Speaker 1: have to go through the rerouting that I think every
Speaker 1: other meat member is going to have.
Speaker 3: What's your what's your favorite part of that area? Give
Speaker 3: us a little bit of a insight here. I didn't
Speaker 3: plan this, but I would love you know some Upstate
Speaker 3: New York. Uh, you know what, what's the best part
Speaker 3: about Upstate New York.
Speaker 1: First of all, it's Western New York.
Speaker 2: Western.
Speaker 1: Yeah. We take actually great exception when people say it's upstate.
Speaker 2: Could it be western slash upstate?
Speaker 1: It couldn't. It could Nope, Okay, most it most certainly
Speaker 1: could not. I love it. I miss it. Obviously. The
Speaker 1: best part is the seasons, and now living in Florida,
Speaker 1: that's that's kind of been eliminated for the most part.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's nothing better than than fall golf. That's
Speaker 1: when we played our high school golf with you know,
Speaker 1: the leaves falling and you're putting on pullovers and pants
Speaker 1: like it's it's just a great time to be up there.
Speaker 1: Football games I miss like August to October working at
Speaker 1: the golf course, like yeah, obviously, the winters, the winter suck.
Speaker 1: We lived near Bristol Mount which was a ski resort,
Speaker 1: so that was something fun to do. But like the
Speaker 1: spring's pretty miserable, and that's why I'm like, I'm super
Speaker 1: curious to get up there. And I looked at a
Speaker 1: long rage forecast, like I was kind of hoping that
Speaker 1: we were going to get the typical Western New York weather,
Speaker 1: like you know, where it's eighty five one day and
Speaker 1: then it's forty five and like possible sleep the next.
Speaker 1: It doesn't look like we're gonna get that, which somewhat disappointing.
Speaker 1: I know, it looks like sixty five degrees and like
Speaker 1: partly cloudy, Like that is not the That is not
Speaker 1: the Western New York that I remember. Like I remember
Speaker 1: pitching a high school game early June, so like the seasons,
Speaker 1: I'm sure it was the same for you in Chicago,
Speaker 1: like your school year goes into June. Like I was
Speaker 1: pitching and my fingers were bleeding because the laces were
Speaker 1: so firm and so sharp from the cold, Like that's
Speaker 1: just kind of what I was used to it. I
Speaker 1: feel like it's not gonna be the same if it's
Speaker 1: just like sixty five and pleasant, Like what is that nonsense?
Speaker 3: Also, like for since really since the PGA moved to May,
Speaker 3: how many years ago was that like almost like five
Speaker 3: now four, so.
Speaker 1: I think it was. I think oak Hill was was
Speaker 1: awarded this PGA in twenty fifteen, and then either a
Speaker 1: year or two later is when they're like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: by the way, we move move this thing from August
Speaker 1: to May. Good luck.
Speaker 3: So you know, it's been like the most fun little
Speaker 3: story to bat around every just like in passing, like
Speaker 3: every you know, every few months. Oh yeah that May
Speaker 3: major in Rochester, New York. And of course now we
Speaker 3: get here and it's pretty nice weather, and I think
Speaker 3: the springs beender. I'm in Chicago right now and I'm
Speaker 3: just shocked at how many leaves are on the trees.
Speaker 3: So I'm guessing something similar there. Like you know, I
Speaker 3: remember I was there. I was there last fall and
Speaker 3: I was asking, you know, some of the oak Hill staff.
Speaker 3: I was like, how are we feeling on trees? They're like, oh,
Speaker 3: they're they're gonna be bear. They're gonna be bear. But
Speaker 3: I think they're actually gonna have some foliage, which should
Speaker 3: help a ton with the with the coverage.
Speaker 2: Is there is there a meal?
Speaker 3: Is there a restaurant that you where you're anticipating, eagerly
Speaker 3: excited to return to at home or is it mostly
Speaker 3: just going to be hanging out at the house.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a lot of it's gonna be hanging
Speaker 1: out with the house. I haven't seen my parents all
Speaker 1: that much since, unfortunately, since I went to school. I
Speaker 1: will say we're going to dinosaur barbecue on Monday when
Speaker 1: I first get in, like Rex Hoggard and I March
Speaker 1: label from ESPN, my dad, my step moomb We're going
Speaker 1: to go out to barbecues. I think that'll be great.
Speaker 1: And then the rocks that's in the rock. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: like fifteen minutes from Oak Hill. And then I've actually
Speaker 1: made the mistake before Andy of getting what's called a
Speaker 1: garbage plate.
Speaker 2: Before I barbecue.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, this is this is different. So
Speaker 1: that's that's a separate entity. Getting a garbage plate, which
Speaker 1: is pretty famous in Western New York. It's like everything
Speaker 1: that you could possibly imagine on one plate. There's like
Speaker 1: hot dogs, hamburgers, mac and cheese just like all thrown
Speaker 1: on this one plate. And I made the mistake of
Speaker 1: hopping on a flight about an hour and a half
Speaker 1: after I had one. It was pretty epic adventures. So
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna have to duplicate that just for
Speaker 1: just for some hashtag content.
Speaker 3: So so you're gonna get a garbage plate that sounds,
Speaker 3: you know, sounds like an eight year old's dream.
Speaker 2: A garbage plate.
Speaker 1: It's pretty, it's pretty popular, it's pretty grotesque. But I
Speaker 1: think anyone who who visits visits that area will have
Speaker 1: to snag one.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, I think I think there should be
Speaker 3: a challenge to some you know, willing golf journalists to
Speaker 3: find the best garbage plate. It seems like something you
Speaker 3: might find at golf dot com nowadays. I go over
Speaker 3: that website and I find like, hey, here's a great
Speaker 3: guacamole recipe. I'm like, oh, that's that's what I was
Speaker 3: looking for.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna have to text Claire Rogers and be like,
Speaker 1: all right, I want to see like a garbage plate challenge.
Speaker 3: Let's go Yeah, all right, let's uh, let's do our
Speaker 3: our ceremonial five things here. I you know, I again,
Speaker 3: Hey is my guest here. You have to come up
Speaker 3: with five things. I came up with five.
Speaker 1: Things, very very very unique format.
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, it's the it's the I thought long
Speaker 3: and hard about it. I'm glad I was able to
Speaker 3: innovate in the space and come up with a five
Speaker 3: story lines podcast.
Speaker 2: It was a great honor of mine.
Speaker 1: We're actually we're gonna count this down in like true TV.
Speaker 2: You're te guys, right, so this is good.
Speaker 1: You know the TV guy when they're desperate to be
Speaker 1: very clear.
Speaker 3: Oh, don't sell yourself short. You got that CIA's coming up.
Speaker 3: That's that's usually your time to shine.
Speaker 1: I do events double as up coming up. I had
Speaker 1: to had to beg my way back into the coverage
Speaker 1: very much looking forward to get into Greyhawk for the
Speaker 1: final time where I can stop getting a sock tand
Speaker 1: like it's so freaking hot on that set that like
Speaker 1: my ankles get burned. So the La Costa, La Costa
Speaker 1: here we come, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: You'll be in uh, you'll be in Arizona to see
Speaker 3: Illinois first national championship in golf.
Speaker 2: I'm excited for you.
Speaker 1: That'd be wonderful. I mean the storylines are a plenty,
Speaker 1: like the like the individual racist year is is insane,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna begin lud big Ayberg's march towards the
Speaker 1: Roder Cup twenty twenty three. He would come at ntaa's.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get into it. What's it? What's your
Speaker 2: number five?
Speaker 3: I didn't really, I didn't number them, so mine are
Speaker 3: gonna be all out of order. But I love that
Speaker 3: you've got a countdown, So you're your number five.
Speaker 1: Uh for for number five? For me, Andy and I
Speaker 1: don't think we're gonna be outdated on this when this
Speaker 1: comes out on Sunday. But for me, the fifth biggest
Speaker 1: storyline is jordan' Speed's injury, Like is he going to play?
Speaker 1: How severe is the is the ailment that he's dealing with?
Speaker 1: Like I was. I was super alarmed when he put
Speaker 1: out that tweet on Monday of Nelson Week. Like he
Speaker 1: didn't say that he had discomfort, He didn't say that
Speaker 1: he had no bagging pain. He said like quote severe
Speaker 1: pain in my left for rists. So there's so many
Speaker 1: alarm bellows that go off. It's not just the left
Speaker 1: for rists, it's the use of the word severe. It's
Speaker 1: the fact that he said that he's weak to week.
Speaker 1: I made the point with Rex earlier this week, like
Speaker 1: you can miss time in October, you could miss time
Speaker 1: in January, Like this is just a dreadful period in
Speaker 1: the golf calendar to be suffering something like this, right,
Speaker 1: you have to let it one hundred percent heal, And
Speaker 1: so I'd be really surprised if we see Jordan Speed
Speaker 1: tieda this week at Okhall, which I think is a shame.
Speaker 1: You know, he's playing the best golf he has since
Speaker 1: since twenty seventeen. He hasn't had the greatest history at
Speaker 1: the PGA Championship, and so just to kind of have
Speaker 1: an opportunity missed, most likely in the prime of his
Speaker 1: athletic careers is certainly is certainly disappointing from a golf
Speaker 1: fans perspective.
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously, you know the career Grand Slam is the spot.
Speaker 3: I don't think Okill was really a great spot for him.
Speaker 3: But he's playing really good golf, and risk injuries are
Speaker 3: terrifying for a golfer like that is I mean, when
Speaker 3: you talk about what are the worst injuries a golfer
Speaker 3: can have, like I think wrist and hand can risk
Speaker 3: is like right there with back. Right, So in terms
Speaker 3: of this, and you know, you know that it has
Speaker 3: to be pretty serious. Outside of the majors, the players
Speaker 3: like the events that Jordan Speces least likely to miss
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: Are the two at and T events.
Speaker 3: Right, obviously his biggest, biggest sponsor outside of under Armour
Speaker 3: and uh a big PGA Tour sponsor. So those are
Speaker 3: the events that he is locked in for his hometown
Speaker 3: at and T event and uh and so yeah, I agree,
Speaker 3: this is a terrible time to have an injury.
Speaker 1: Why is why is? Why is okill not a great
Speaker 1: course for him?
Speaker 3: I just I think it's gonna skew power. I think
Speaker 3: it's gonna skew I think it's I don't think it's
Speaker 3: gonna be full Beth Page, but I think it's gonna
Speaker 3: skew that way.
Speaker 2: You know T three, Jordan's.
Speaker 1: Beef T three at the Beth Page pg A.
Speaker 2: That's it's the most it's the most irrelevant T three, And.
Speaker 1: I mean it was he was like nine back, but hey,
Speaker 1: it looks it looks good on Wikipedia.
Speaker 3: Nine back and he's five years later. He had like
Speaker 3: a historic puttig week. It was like one of the
Speaker 3: one of the greatest putting Major Championships weeks of all time,
Speaker 3: and like, you have a great putty week and you
Speaker 3: still are nine back or whatever he ended up. It's
Speaker 3: uh so, anyways, I think it's gonna skew a little
Speaker 3: bit bomber just with uh.
Speaker 2: This was one of my things, so I can just
Speaker 2: roll right into it.
Speaker 1: Is it number five or is it?
Speaker 2: No, it's not number five. I don't know what it is. See.
Speaker 3: It was the first thing that I wrote down, just
Speaker 3: because that's usually where my brain go.
Speaker 1: Two.
Speaker 2: It is golf course.
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna we're seeing early videos. I've got
Speaker 3: some insight from the ground from somebody very intimate with
Speaker 3: the grounds at Oak Hill that the rough is is
Speaker 3: very lush, which I think was like.
Speaker 1: It's been great growing conditions. Andy, it's been warm, it's
Speaker 1: been warm, and now it's been wet for the past
Speaker 1: couple of weeks.
Speaker 3: I think that was the biggest concern with this, with
Speaker 3: hosting at this time of year, was like, how are
Speaker 3: you gonna how's the grass gonna be? And it seems
Speaker 3: like they've had a great, great uh spring.
Speaker 2: So the rough is super lush.
Speaker 3: It's like super thick grass, Like the actual grass is
Speaker 3: really thick.
Speaker 2: It's a thick strain of grass.
Speaker 3: So I think we're gonna see, you know, with these
Speaker 3: narrow fairways that can't in different directions, Like it's just
Speaker 3: gonna be really hard to hit fairaways. And when that happens,
Speaker 3: it it becomes who can hit it the furthest up
Speaker 3: and there's some elevated greens out there, so that's the
Speaker 3: other thing. You have to hit it high and are
Speaker 3: and so you start to look at it, it's you know,
Speaker 3: I think you're you're starting the field of who's going
Speaker 3: to contend shrinks down to ten fifteen players.
Speaker 1: That's interesting because that was my number four was the
Speaker 1: golf course. I remember playing it, you know, back in
Speaker 1: high school. It seemed kind of forgettable, Like every there
Speaker 1: was just so many trees I didn't like like being
Speaker 1: It's kind of like Harbor Town right where you can
Speaker 1: be in the fairway, but but you can be blocked out,
Speaker 1: and that was that was certainly frustrating. I didn't find
Speaker 1: it particularly memorable, at least for vast stretches of the
Speaker 1: golf course. You guys an amazing job, but I would
Speaker 1: I would strongly encourage anyone who hasn't checked it out
Speaker 1: to see the history of Oak Hill and kind of
Speaker 1: what they've done with the restoration. Like I'm super excited
Speaker 1: to see how this golf course plays now after the restoration.
Speaker 1: Going back to the Donald Ross greens like you guys
Speaker 1: illustrated so well, like the bunker shaping is so dramatic.
Speaker 1: Like I think, I don't think this is going to
Speaker 1: be a pushover by any stretch of the imagination. Like
Speaker 1: I don't think we're going to see those the very
Speaker 1: low scoring PG championships that we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1: Okill typically plays tough and with the density of the
Speaker 1: rough like you talked about, like, yeah, you've got to
Speaker 1: have this thing on an absolute rope. And so if
Speaker 1: that's the case, if you need a guy who hits
Speaker 1: it far, hits it high, is able to stop it
Speaker 1: on firm greens like who Who's players to you that
Speaker 1: that fit that profile as well as you know currently.
Speaker 2: Informed twenty twenty Bryson.
Speaker 1: He was he was too erratic.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think I think it's gonna be about like hitting
Speaker 3: it far. It's gonna be a big thing. But you
Speaker 3: obviously automatically go to that Beth page like Brooks DJ.
Speaker 3: I think rom obviously I thinks just like brawny, big
Speaker 3: burly dudes, I think will be a good one, you know,
Speaker 3: like the I always say, like the thing about Shuffler
Speaker 3: is if you're really good at everything.
Speaker 2: Every course is a fit, right.
Speaker 3: I think one of the things to watch, like, I
Speaker 3: think you hit the nail on the head with scoring.
Speaker 3: If we're going to just talk about the course a
Speaker 3: little bit here, and I think, like I was thinking
Speaker 3: about this, it's like four to six is probably gonna
Speaker 3: be the winning score if I had to guess.
Speaker 1: Stuff was like, I think ten and that was the
Speaker 1: lowest score ever. It'll kill if I'm not mistaken. Obviously
Speaker 1: that was in August. Yeah, I was thinking like eight.
Speaker 3: Ish, I get yeah, I could see eight. Eight would
Speaker 3: be I think on the on the upper end. Obviously,
Speaker 3: PGAs tend to be around saddy, you know. I think
Speaker 3: the the thing is like what I'm really curious too
Speaker 3: about is like morning versus afternoon wave because I think
Speaker 3: it'll be consistent looking at the weather, but like the morning,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be cold, and the balls just.
Speaker 1: Not gonna be go forties. Yeah, the forties in the mornings.
Speaker 3: And the ball doesn't go anywhere in that out there
Speaker 3: at that time of year when it's cold like by this,
Speaker 3: even if it's like sixty five, you get that kind
Speaker 3: of spring cool air breeze and the ball's it's gonna
Speaker 3: play so long.
Speaker 2: I'm curious with the club.
Speaker 3: I think one of the things where you could have
Speaker 3: a higher end of scores, like the higher range, like
Speaker 3: where you get to the eights, the nines, the tens
Speaker 3: is if they're like very conscientious of the uh of
Speaker 3: the club pros and they set it up a lot
Speaker 3: shorter because there are some te's. It's nuts how far
Speaker 3: back some of these teas are, like you're you know
Speaker 3: thirteen the par five with the Hill of Fame.
Speaker 2: That thing can play so long.
Speaker 3: I think it's like six six hundred plus for the
Speaker 3: back te You know, you have these par threes on
Speaker 3: three and couplets, aren't there three and eleven? I think
Speaker 3: once two thirty, once two forty five. It's like those
Speaker 3: are just beasts of holes. I mean remember remember the
Speaker 3: guy I forgot his name maybe it was last name,
Speaker 3: was Haul at the at the the PGA pro who
Speaker 3: was like sixty five at Harding Park, who was hitting
Speaker 3: driver three wood.
Speaker 1: You think we're gonna see a repeat?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean like one of these.
Speaker 3: And so I think that they have to be somewhat
Speaker 3: conscientious of of the PGA pros, right, And that's where
Speaker 3: you could get a little bit.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's one hundred and fifty six guys the daylight,
Speaker 1: like they're not they're not fully stretched out yet like
Speaker 1: big long golf course. You gotta get them all around. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I could see them. I could see them being gentler,
Speaker 1: I guess over the first two days and then just
Speaker 1: absolutely putting the screws to them on the weekend. I
Speaker 1: think it's custom right for the PGA to not cut
Speaker 1: the rough after Monday, Monday or Tuesday, so I could
Speaker 1: certainly see that being the case.
Speaker 3: So h that's golf course talk. Was that your number
Speaker 3: four was the golf course?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: It was those my number four. Look at this, which
Speaker 1: I probably if it if it wasn't the Friday podcast,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure i'd have the golf course down. But
Speaker 1: like I watched the video and I got I got
Speaker 1: super Jazz to be at oak Kill next week.
Speaker 3: I think, like what you said, just to kind of
Speaker 3: close this, like what you said about playing in No
Speaker 3: for I do think like the restoration has done a
Speaker 3: wonderful job of like you're gonna have a much more
Speaker 3: memorable course. Yeah, because like you said, like when you
Speaker 3: have just like trees everywhere for eighteen holes. They all
Speaker 3: feel the same because it's like now they have just
Speaker 3: really great I mean the trees out there are majestic.
Speaker 1: Those oak trees, they really are.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I hope, like I think actually, like personally I'm
Speaker 3: in a place right now where like the oak trees
Speaker 3: are budding. It's more I think that are the most
Speaker 3: beautiful at that time and in late fall, so you
Speaker 3: could they could look really cool with just like the
Speaker 3: buds and everything and give you a little bit more
Speaker 3: sight lines there. They're gorgeous trees and I think there's
Speaker 3: some it's opened up some of the really nice topography
Speaker 3: at the place.
Speaker 1: Get like what was the memorable line in the video,
Speaker 1: like they planted more than thirty thousand? He lost count
Speaker 1: after thirty thousand trees? And how many? How many did
Speaker 1: you did you remove the right number?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Like yeah, he I don't. I don't think they did
Speaker 1: anything by just happenstance or guesswork.
Speaker 3: Garrett cut out the history and went on about the
Speaker 3: trees Fred Belts and he said he said he was
Speaker 3: like he lost count at thirty thousand, and the estimate
Speaker 3: is that he planted seventy thousand.
Speaker 1: Which is just outrageous, like you could lose, you could
Speaker 1: lose five hundred, you could lose a thousand.
Speaker 4: And not even notice. Well, the thing about it, I'm
Speaker 4: looking forward to getting up there. He grew He grew
Speaker 4: them in coffee cans. Where did he get seventy thousand
Speaker 4: coffee cans?
Speaker 1: Wasn't Folger's headquartered around there?
Speaker 2: Was he just bulk ordering coffee?
Speaker 1: Can't if you guys want, if you guys wanted to
Speaker 1: do Big Jay journalism, you would have asked, this would
Speaker 1: have been this should have been like an extra segment.
Speaker 2: Well you can ask.
Speaker 3: Now there could be a story on Golf Channel where
Speaker 3: he got all the all the all the coffee cans.
Speaker 2: I think people would love to hear that.
Speaker 1: I know exactly whould run it.
Speaker 3: Now for a quick word from our sponsor, Club Champion.
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Speaker 3: clubs outside of rummaging around finding retro sets. The way
Speaker 3: I get new golf clubs is via Club Champion. I
Speaker 3: have my fitting set. I'm sure I've talked about this
Speaker 3: in the ad reason in the past.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited.
Speaker 3: I have my fitting set for Wednesday this week. I'm
Speaker 3: gonna go get fit, and it's pretty cool. They sent
Speaker 3: me an email a little questionnaire from the location from
Speaker 3: the guy that's doing my fitting, asking me about goals
Speaker 3: and different things. That's the kind kind of the personal
Speaker 3: touch that you get from Club Champion.
Speaker 2: On top of.
Speaker 3: The great stuff that they offer, which is like every
Speaker 3: major manufacturer, every major shaft, you are able to test
Speaker 3: drive everything and find the exact type of clubs that
Speaker 3: are going to work best for you. They have state
Speaker 3: of the art fitting technology, state of the the best
Speaker 3: fitters in golf, and what they're going to do is
Speaker 3: get you really dialed in. You're going to gain yardage,
Speaker 3: You're probably going to tighten up your dispersion from getting
Speaker 3: fit by Club Champion. So if you use the promo
Speaker 3: code fried Egg, you will get fifty percent off your
Speaker 3: fitting costs with the purchase of a club. So if
Speaker 3: you if you go get fit, you'll get fifty percent
Speaker 3: off you're fitting when you purchase a club. One thing
Speaker 3: I would actually recommend if you're like really trying to
Speaker 3: get better, something that you don't get fit very often
Speaker 3: that could make a big difference is wedges. That's something
Speaker 3: that people don't think about, but getting your wedges dialed in.
Speaker 3: If you can pick up, like, you know, a couple
Speaker 3: feet of you know, dispersion tightness with your wedges and
Speaker 3: you can be a little bit more consistent with distance control,
Speaker 3: that's gonna make like a massive impact on your game.
Speaker 3: So that's something I would I would check out and
Speaker 3: thank you to Club Champion for their ongoing support. And uh,
Speaker 3: next time you hear from me about Club Champion, you'll
Speaker 3: probably be hearing about my new sticks. So I'm excited.
Speaker 3: And now back to Ryan Lavner. All right, here's my
Speaker 3: number four. I'm talking about a couple of major list guys,
Speaker 3: Xander and Can't.
Speaker 2: I did some research. I was just curious.
Speaker 3: I was like, these guys have been in the top
Speaker 3: ten for a really long time, like perennial top ten players.
Speaker 3: So I looked at number of weeks in the top ten.
Speaker 3: So Xander's got one hundred and eighty seven weeks. Can't
Speaker 3: Lee's got one hundred and eighty five. They're obviously best friends.
Speaker 3: It's kind of humorous to me that they're like that
Speaker 3: close in weeks in the top ten. Off the bat
Speaker 3: it's almost four years. Yeah, it's an insane number. So
Speaker 3: they've spent one hundred and eighty seven, one hundred and
Speaker 3: eighty five weeks in the top ten. That's thirty ninth
Speaker 3: and forty first all time. Obviously, the OWGR I think
Speaker 3: started in eighty six about then, So thirty nine and
Speaker 3: forty first pretty crazy, like that high already in weeks
Speaker 3: in the top ten. By you know, by the end
Speaker 3: of the year, they'll be up to like thirty four
Speaker 3: and thirty six in they're four and five. They aren't
Speaker 3: falling out of the top ten this year, so they're
Speaker 3: gonna just keep going up.
Speaker 2: So active players that are ahead of.
Speaker 3: Xander and Cantley are Phil Rory Sergio, Adam Scott, DJ
Speaker 3: Westy Stenson, J t rom Day, Speith, Donald Luke, Donald Fowler,
Speaker 3: and Bubba Watson all right. Of the people ahead of
Speaker 3: them that have not won a major, there's only six
Speaker 3: guys Monty Westy, Steve Stricker, Luke, Donald, Ricky Fowler, and
Speaker 3: Jumbo Ozaki.
Speaker 2: And that nuts.
Speaker 1: So what you're saying is there in rarefied air and
Speaker 1: don't have much to show for.
Speaker 3: It, exactly Like so much like these guys need to
Speaker 3: be talked. They're they're entering that like you know it
Speaker 3: doesn't feel like it. But they're entering the greatest player
Speaker 3: to never win a major?
Speaker 1: Discussion, Ah, they're probably they're probably a dozen or two
Speaker 1: wins behind behind you know, Westy for that discussion, But
Speaker 1: I see where you're going.
Speaker 3: Like we've been in this era of like I felt
Speaker 3: like for a while, like once Ricky fell off, we
Speaker 3: lost and Westy you know, got old. For a couple
Speaker 3: of years, we've had not a lot of discourse around, hey,
Speaker 3: who's the great player that hasn't won a major because
Speaker 3: they're too young? But can't Lay and Xander at this
Speaker 3: point cannot be. They are, without a doubt, in the
Speaker 3: in the crosshairs of this.
Speaker 1: I think the difference though, is Xander and Can't Lay
Speaker 1: essentially have been out there for five years, right Like
Speaker 1: Xander didn't didn't break out on tour until the twenty
Speaker 1: seventeen US Open at Aaron Hills, and Can't Lay Can't
Speaker 1: was the exact same effect, Like he missed. He missed
Speaker 1: three years because of a debilipating, abilitating back injury. Didn't
Speaker 1: know if he was going to be fine. So they've
Speaker 1: had five opportunities. He's five years of opportunities, which is
Speaker 1: twenty majors. Like, that's not a it's not a huge
Speaker 1: sample size to get it done, particularly when you still had,
Speaker 1: you know, the emergence of other place. I'm with you,
Speaker 1: Like I've picked Xander to win a major at least
Speaker 1: one per year over the last four years, and he
Speaker 1: hasn't gotten it done. They're they're you look statistically like
Speaker 1: they're they're basically the same prototype player. Like obviously Xander
Speaker 1: is is longer than Patrick is, but like they do
Speaker 1: everything well. Yes, Like there's no there's no weaknesses in
Speaker 1: their game. Now Scotty is a tick better, Like we
Speaker 1: talked about Scotty being a really complete all round player,
Speaker 1: Like Scotty's.
Speaker 2: Is better.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly. But like these guys are way too
Speaker 1: consistent across the board to not have given themselves more
Speaker 1: opportunities to get it done. I mean, what was their
Speaker 1: best what was the best chance? I think back Xander
Speaker 1: that USTI yeah, Xander twenty nineteen masters. Can't they had
Speaker 1: a chance there too, Like they really haven't gotten their
Speaker 1: heartbroken all that many times, which I think is even
Speaker 1: more frustrating that they haven't, Like they haven't been squarely
Speaker 1: in the mix with a couple holes to go.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm I'm intrigued.
Speaker 2: What's your next thing?
Speaker 1: I think I've lost track. I do have John Rahm
Speaker 1: written down because because we have not talked about the
Speaker 1: world number one in like genuine world beater.
Speaker 3: See I didn't put him on my pretty story to
Speaker 3: because how was he?
Speaker 2: How was he not have him?
Speaker 3: I need if you weren't, if you were, if you
Speaker 3: didn't have him, I would have plugged him bin and
Speaker 3: just brought him up, you know, as one of my
Speaker 3: last ones.
Speaker 2: I would have kicked out one of my other ones.
Speaker 3: See this is a hotel enough. But like, you can't
Speaker 3: not talk about him right.
Speaker 1: Like, so I find him really hard to write and
Speaker 1: talk about. I think his I think his upbringing is
Speaker 1: is super interesting, like with the with the club foot
Speaker 1: and then the transition to college golf was obviously very interesting,
Speaker 1: not knowing a lick of English, and now I'd put
Speaker 1: him as as perhaps the most eloquent player on the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour. But I find him hard to write about
Speaker 1: now because over the past four or five years, like
Speaker 1: it's just been a linear trajectory to get to this point,
Speaker 1: Like there hasn't been much adversity, like the the the
Speaker 1: issues that he had a year ago was like moving
Speaker 1: into a new house and and kind of dealing with
Speaker 1: the with with the fatherhood and now Kelly's pregnant again.
Speaker 1: Like that's that's kind of the challenges that he has had.
Speaker 1: But he's such unexceptional golfer that it's but I but
Speaker 1: I don't find him resonating yet well like the general
Speaker 1: with the general public, which is unfathomable to me. Like
Speaker 1: I find him super interesting as a player, Like if
Speaker 1: I was if I was a golf fan who's going
Speaker 1: out to Oak Hill, like he would easily be a
Speaker 1: top three guy that I wanted to watch, just because
Speaker 1: like seeing him he's seeing him hit a power fade
Speaker 1: is is like one of the best sights in golf,
Speaker 1: right and and obviously the passion flows through him, the
Speaker 1: energy flows through him. I find him compelling. But but man,
Speaker 1: he's he's he's tough to he's tough to write about
Speaker 1: because he's just so damn good and he just wants
Speaker 1: it so damn much.
Speaker 3: I think that's like the challenging thing that like one
Speaker 3: of the things that makes golf so j fun sport
Speaker 3: to watch, as everybody has weaknesses and everybody has these
Speaker 3: like holes and things to overcome, Like what he.
Speaker 1: Doesn't have frailties. There's like no frailties in John Rock exactly.
Speaker 1: It's just like a relentless force.
Speaker 3: And I'm I'm curious with this year and what he's
Speaker 3: putting together. Does the discourse start to become easier when
Speaker 3: he as he keeps winning, like he's in this weird
Speaker 3: in between spot where he's having historic year. But you
Speaker 3: could make a comp to another player. But if he
Speaker 3: gets to eight nine wins this year, which is in
Speaker 3: the realm of possibilities, it's you know, which is crazy
Speaker 3: to say that, but it's in the realm of possibilities,
Speaker 3: he could win three more times, right, Yeah, Then all
Speaker 3: of a sudden you get into where does this year
Speaker 3: rank all time? And it's in the VJ you know,
Speaker 3: Tiger Woods level of discourse, right, And I think that's
Speaker 3: where he gets easier to write if he gets another major,
Speaker 3: like if he wins this or LACC if he gets
Speaker 3: the three majors all of a sudden, I don't think
Speaker 3: because Tiger Tiger, for all of his thing, he was
Speaker 3: never I don't think he's probably similar in the sense
Speaker 3: of like there wasn't that much interesting stuff to write
Speaker 3: about Tiger until it became like this is history.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he needed to be like so overwhelmingly dominant that
Speaker 1: that was that that was the story. If it's if
Speaker 1: it's if it's Rom winning five times and Scotty winning
Speaker 1: four times, then Rory, you know, picking up two or
Speaker 1: three on his own, Like it's hard to it's hard
Speaker 1: to separate those sorts of personalities in storylines. But if
Speaker 1: he drops seven, eight, nine wins that then yeah, you're
Speaker 1: talking about a historic year.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So the other thing is like if Scotty picks this
Speaker 3: one off, right, then all of a sudden, Rom and
Speaker 3: Scotty both become I think I have struggle the same
Speaker 3: way with Scotty, right, Like there's there's not a ton
Speaker 3: to talk about outside of like he's really freaking good.
Speaker 3: You know, he's not like dynamic as a personality. I
Speaker 3: think he's underratedly funny. I think he's got like some
Speaker 3: you know, very interesting aspects of his personal life that
Speaker 3: with golf and how how it relates to a sport
Speaker 3: that's like so brutal on your mental side of the game.
Speaker 3: But the thing with Scotty, I think Scotty and Rom
Speaker 3: almost need each other because that's I think Scotty and
Speaker 3: Ram have you know, and Rory I would put in
Speaker 3: the same bucket. I think those are I think those
Speaker 3: three guys probably only think about the other two guys
Speaker 3: really when they think about like there, I think those
Speaker 3: guys are the clear a different echelon of play.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you if if if you beat Scotty
Speaker 1: and Rory in a tournament, there's a very good opera,
Speaker 1: there's a very good probability that you're that you're gonna
Speaker 1: win it, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, or Rom for that matter.
Speaker 3: So like those three guys when you put I think
Speaker 3: like Rory's obviously hasn't played great the last ten weeks,
Speaker 3: but that's the way golf works, right, you go through
Speaker 3: dry spells and heat heaters. Right, So with that, like
Speaker 3: those three guys are have like a really interesting ability
Speaker 3: to elevate a sport that has been void of like
Speaker 3: true stardom. Like how many big threes have we had
Speaker 3: in the last eight years, Like remember the the Rory
Speaker 3: DJ Ricky Speith big four, you know, so we've had.
Speaker 1: These, but Brooks was in there, JT was in there.
Speaker 3: So we have like these two guys, especially Scotty and
Speaker 3: and rom are having have the potential to have like
Speaker 3: the greatest two player year in a really long time
Speaker 3: from like really since like I mean Speath and Day
Speaker 3: and at Whistling Straits and Chambers that was like a
Speaker 3: great year of two guys, right, But these guys, if
Speaker 3: they pick off multiple majors, I think they're in that
Speaker 3: class because of what they've done already on the PGA
Speaker 3: Tour in big time events.
Speaker 1: And like we haven't seen a player win the first
Speaker 1: two majors of the year since since Speef doing the
Speaker 1: double dip back in twenty fifteen. Like I would put
Speaker 1: John Rams as the favorite obviously for this week at
Speaker 1: Oak Hill. He's had two weeks off now, right after Mexico.
Speaker 1: Like and to your point about looking at a potentially
Speaker 1: historic year, like had he been able to chase down
Speaker 1: Tony Fee now it hadn't been done since I think
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four of win that many times before the
Speaker 1: calendar turns to May, Like this is this is absolutely
Speaker 1: crazy stuff. And so let's let's say, let's let's look
Speaker 1: at Chris, but let's say John Rahm win's it ok
Speaker 1: kill first in eight years to win the first two
Speaker 1: majors of the year, like US Open traditionally has been
Speaker 1: his best major championship. Okay, then you turn the page
Speaker 1: to Open Championship, Like he has a great history links
Speaker 1: golf courses. He has all the shots. Uh, there's there's
Speaker 1: no like. The way that he drives the ball is
Speaker 1: putting him in great position. His his short game is
Speaker 1: it certainly can be Sevey esque at times, like boy,
Speaker 1: Like the conversation really changes if John rom wins at okill,
Speaker 1: I think Scott he's going to factor prominently in that
Speaker 1: right and like we'll get to that, but but he's
Speaker 1: he's the favorite, and if he wins it, like wow,
Speaker 1: the temperature just got turned up.
Speaker 3: I mean I thought it was like clear as day
Speaker 3: from the first tournament that he teed it up on
Speaker 3: the PGA Tour that he was going to be a
Speaker 3: great player, just because.
Speaker 1: I remember talking. I remember talking to Tim Michelson. This
Speaker 1: was the Oregon inc Double. Is that twenty sixteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was like that was the NCAA's that Illinois
Speaker 3: got completely robbed, completely jobbed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what that's what everyone remembers from that. But Tim,
Speaker 1: Tim Michelson John Ram's college coach told me that that
Speaker 1: John Ram is essentially Phil Mickelson, but a better driver
Speaker 1: of the golf ball. And so you look at Phil's
Speaker 1: skill set, which is otherworldly. You look at Phil's career,
Speaker 1: which you know, it's already legendary when of the top
Speaker 1: ten all time had tigered up in there, like god knows,
Speaker 1: who knows what he could have accomplished, Like that's what
Speaker 1: they were talking about John Robin College, and he has.
Speaker 1: He has fulfilled all that monster potential, which is just
Speaker 1: wild to think about. Like I think we're looking at
Speaker 1: quite possibly the greatest European golfer of all time and
Speaker 1: a player who, over the course of his career could
Speaker 1: certainly win the career Grand Slam.
Speaker 2: Well you brought up Phil. Natural segue to my next thing,
Speaker 2: the Live boys.
Speaker 1: That was my next one, All right, perfect?
Speaker 2: We got seventeen guys, I counted, is that right?
Speaker 1: That's right? Seven or is it eighteen? It's either seventeen
Speaker 1: or eighteen.
Speaker 3: I went through and hand counted, so I might have
Speaker 3: missed one. You know, some of those guys, some of
Speaker 3: those names on Live are pretty obscure.
Speaker 1: And Dean Burmester is in the field.
Speaker 2: I got.
Speaker 3: I got him. I would never ever miscounting Dean mean,
Speaker 3: Dean my guy. But they kind of popped at the Masters.
Speaker 3: I think, like, you know, they had what was it,
Speaker 3: three of the top six players the Masters, the top
Speaker 3: six yep. I think if you really look at who's
Speaker 3: in the field, who's who's like a potential winner. And
Speaker 3: I don't want to discount Phil, but I just don't
Speaker 3: think this is the golf course for Phil.
Speaker 1: Phil was out there scouting early, I know, scouting early
Speaker 1: and then having lunch with Amy.
Speaker 3: It's I you know, as much as he won, it's
Speaker 3: insane to me to think that he won two years ago.
Speaker 3: We were watching the final round together. I watched you
Speaker 3: get enveloped by the swarm of people on eighteen and
Speaker 3: the and the cop and the cop regressive.
Speaker 1: I was riding him like a Bronco all the way
Speaker 1: to the green.
Speaker 3: So anyways, I U, I mean, it's insane they won
Speaker 3: two years ago. But really I zero in on on DJ,
Speaker 3: who hasn't done anything, but like, I still have to
Speaker 3: put him in the in the discussion just because of
Speaker 3: other worldly talent, and I think this is a great
Speaker 3: course fit for him. And then camp Smith, but like
Speaker 3: this is not I don't think this is a camp
Speaker 3: Smith golf course.
Speaker 1: It's not a camp Smith golf course.
Speaker 3: But he's a top ten player in the world without
Speaker 3: a doubt. So you know, I just don't is he still?
Speaker 1: Is he still? Like?
Speaker 2: What is he?
Speaker 1: What has he shown you over the past five months
Speaker 1: to suggest that he's still a top ten player?
Speaker 3: I mean he hasn't shown a lot because he hasn't
Speaker 3: played a lot, and I haven't tuned in to Live
Speaker 3: Thailand and you know and such, right, So like I don't,
Speaker 3: I you know, I just I can't discount a guy
Speaker 3: that was arguably the best player in the world last year, right,
Speaker 3: and say he's not a top ten player this year
Speaker 3: just because we haven't seen me.
Speaker 1: Cam cam Smith was my player of the Year last year.
Speaker 1: Like you look at the totality of his year. I
Speaker 1: think he played the best golf.
Speaker 3: I agree, like, and who knows what happens in the
Speaker 3: FedEx Cup playoffs if he's not like going to live
Speaker 3: and had that weird WD and you know, it was
Speaker 3: just kind of like I can't imagine playing in the
Speaker 3: playoffs when everybody knew you were leaving was very easy mentally.
Speaker 1: Yeah, very very very awkward, you know.
Speaker 3: So to me, like, and this is the thing is,
Speaker 3: like Paul Casey's in the field, right, he might finish T. Twelve,
Speaker 3: That's not He's not going to have a chance to win.
Speaker 3: I mean I might get burned by this, but Paul
Speaker 3: Casey's not going to win a major championship, right. And
Speaker 3: that's that's why I'm saying, like, guys have legitimate chances
Speaker 3: to win this week.
Speaker 2: I don't think there are a ton of them.
Speaker 1: I would certainly agree with that. I mean, Brooks's Brooks
Speaker 1: is to be a top five favorite regardless of what
Speaker 1: tour he's on, regardless of what tournament he's playing. I
Speaker 1: think the way that he played through fifty four holes
Speaker 1: at the Masters was was no fluke. I mean that
Speaker 1: was that was peak Brooks Kepka, playing, nishing, calculating really
Speaker 1: smart golf. And I think there's little reason to suggest
Speaker 1: why he can't continue to do that. He's he's played
Speaker 1: well in the inner in the in the intermittent time
Speaker 1: between those two major championships. But like when you go
Speaker 1: down the list and you mentioned like three of the
Speaker 1: top six at the Masters where live players like this
Speaker 1: is not gonna be a great place for a Bannster.
Speaker 1: This is not gonna be a great place for like
Speaker 1: a Woakee Neman. I know Mito had an opportunity to
Speaker 1: win PJ last year, but like, is has he done
Speaker 1: enough this year just to suggest that, you know, that
Speaker 1: wasn't just kind of like a one off. This feels
Speaker 1: like a yeah. I feel like Thomas Peters could play well.
Speaker 1: I feel like with Patrick Reid scrambling, although he's highly inaccurate,
Speaker 1: Like if this is going to be a slog fest, right, Like,
Speaker 1: if you're looking at a winning score between five and
Speaker 1: ten under par, that's kind of right up Patrick Reid's
Speaker 1: alley the player. So I think Brooks has a like
Speaker 1: a legitimate chance to win. I'm very curious a about DJ,
Speaker 1: who was the undisputed number one player last year on Live,
Speaker 1: like thirty five million dollar man, and he hasn't done anything.
Speaker 1: I don't know how much the time off affected him
Speaker 1: right between the end of the LIP season and starting
Speaker 1: up again. I don't know how much the back injury
Speaker 1: before the Saudi event has affected him. But he hasn't
Speaker 1: done anything. Yeah, he didn't play well with the Masters.
Speaker 1: He hasn't played particularly well against forty eight man fields
Speaker 1: on live, so he's of interest to me, and like
Speaker 1: the man of the moment, Taylor Gooch is Taylor Gooch's
Speaker 1: time to shine. And we're recording this spoiler alert, not
Speaker 1: on Sunday. We're doing this on Friday. The live event
Speaker 1: has not started. Like it would not surprise anyone if
Speaker 1: Taylor Gooch by Sunday evening is like one three consecutive, be.
Speaker 2: The first first three time winner and live history too.
Speaker 1: That's right, it would be a it'll be a historic achievement.
Speaker 1: But like he's he's the man of the moment, Like
Speaker 1: there's there's so much dialogue about how good Taylor Gooch is,
Speaker 1: how live players are being disrespected, how there's collusion between
Speaker 1: these all these establishers. If you're a great player, show
Speaker 1: up at the PGA Championship and show it like this
Speaker 1: is the best form you've ever been in in your
Speaker 1: entire career. Let's see how you do it against the
Speaker 1: strongest field the major championship golf. Like that's that's really
Speaker 1: what I want to see.
Speaker 3: I think there's not a it's not a crazy world
Speaker 3: to look at Taylor Gooch and think if he had
Speaker 3: stayed on the PGA Tour, if he would be thought
Speaker 3: of in a similar vein to Maxhoma. They were on
Speaker 3: a very similar trajectory. Taylor Goosh was a player that
Speaker 3: continued to improve, and if you looked at like, you
Speaker 3: know what he was really good at, it translates really well.
Speaker 3: He's an unbelievable ball striker, right, he's great t degree
Speaker 3: and that really translates well to major championships. And I
Speaker 3: think that's the thing that's like, it's a hard thing
Speaker 3: with live and what it presents for players like Taylor
Speaker 3: Gooch Joaque Neeman is that it's it's it's unfair because
Speaker 3: there we don't there's no context around it, right, you
Speaker 3: don't know how to describe it, like, Okay, you went out.
Speaker 1: Just they're just playing. They're playing in a vacuum essentially.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you went out and beat forty seven guys like
Speaker 3: he probably would have won a couple PGA Tour events
Speaker 3: and he was playing like you know when he left
Speaker 3: the best golf of his life on the PGA Tour.
Speaker 3: So it's just a it's a tricky thing because like,
Speaker 3: is there a world where Taylor Gooch like he qualified
Speaker 3: for Eastlake and he didn't play half the year. Like,
Speaker 3: is there a world that he finished fifth on the
Speaker 3: FedEx Cup last year?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Right, Oh totally.
Speaker 3: Is there a world that he is the top ten
Speaker 3: player in the world right now if he didn't go
Speaker 3: to Live Absolutely probably, Like I think he would be
Speaker 3: a top fifteen player in the world. Like if you're
Speaker 3: if you're talking like very you know. I just think
Speaker 3: that he was on this arc that was really similar
Speaker 3: to Maxhomer.
Speaker 2: They were their friends.
Speaker 3: Like if you look at his stats and what was happening,
Speaker 3: he was becoming a world class player before our eyes.
Speaker 3: And then he went to Live right, and it's uh,
Speaker 3: and now he's won twice, he's coming in. He should
Speaker 3: be in the US Open field. I think that that
Speaker 3: kind of stinks that he's not. And I'm glad he's
Speaker 3: going to be in the field this week.
Speaker 1: So like the Masters, I think kind of unfairly felt
Speaker 1: like a referendum on the whole live experience, right, Like
Speaker 1: I think it was a rough ferendum on the the
Speaker 1: the time off in between seasons, the early schedule, Like
Speaker 1: was that going to be enough time and an opportunity
Speaker 1: for these guys to get major championship sharp and you
Speaker 1: look at through the top six and the lead board
Speaker 1: the Masters, like I think that that kind of dismissed that.
Speaker 1: I think this is actually a greater indication of what
Speaker 1: these guys can do. This is a prototypical major championship test,
Speaker 1: and and Live has has sent these guys to what Australia, Singapore.
Speaker 1: Now they're in Tulsa like they're there's it's They're not
Speaker 1: making it an opportunity for these guys to go if
Speaker 1: they wanted to practice ahead of time at oak Hill.
Speaker 1: They're going to be coming in hot On on Monday now,
Speaker 1: So I'm not as optimistic that the lift players will
Speaker 1: play as well this week at Okol, which I think
Speaker 1: is very interesting because had the inverse happened right at
Speaker 1: the Masters, had they not have three of the top six,
Speaker 1: if it was just like it was a if it
Speaker 1: was last year. If if it was last year and
Speaker 1: the guys completely no showed, then I think the dialogue
Speaker 1: heading into this year's championship is much more intense than
Speaker 1: it is. I think it actually took a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure off those guys.
Speaker 3: Now for a quick break from our other sponsor CLUBTFE.
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Speaker 3: also have a monthly member video this week. This month's
Speaker 3: member video is about Okill East. I break down an
Speaker 3: architectural feature that I'm keen to see on every hole
Speaker 3: at Okilleast. So that will be up early Monday, I think,
Speaker 3: is the plan. So you can go join CLUBTF at
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Speaker 3: And now back to Ryan Labner. All right, you what
Speaker 3: do you have one left?
Speaker 1: I have one left?
Speaker 2: All right? I got two left? I will I'll go
Speaker 2: through this quick.
Speaker 3: I'm starting to uh, I'm starting to like Adam Scott
Speaker 3: is a little bit of a dark horse.
Speaker 2: This week. So the last six we're in this sixty.
Speaker 1: That's that's sixty three at the Nelson. Really got you going, huh.
Speaker 2: Well, he played really well last week too.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you feel like we're due for
Speaker 1: an over seventy over over thirty seven year old winner.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we're due for like an older winner, right,
Speaker 3: We've had We've had a run of young winners.
Speaker 2: There hasn't been an old winner since Phil.
Speaker 1: And which was like the fluke of all flukes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, fluke of all flukes.
Speaker 3: But you had Tiger, you had Sergio, you have like
Speaker 3: you have these guys, pop them, you get them still
Speaker 3: like they're still good enough to win if they have
Speaker 3: a great week and you know, he's starting to play well.
Speaker 3: DJ and Adam Scott feel like, really the only two
Speaker 3: guys right now thirty seven plus that I would I
Speaker 3: would say, like, can win a major Jason Days thirty
Speaker 3: five for like the record, you know, you start to
Speaker 3: think about, but like, there's nobody else really in that bracket,
Speaker 3: that bucket that I would be like, oh, yeah, they
Speaker 3: could go win it. Sergio's not in the field. It
Speaker 3: also just feels like, all right, this guy has had
Speaker 3: such a crazy career, such a great career.
Speaker 2: He has to get number two.
Speaker 1: It feel it would feel wrong if a player of
Speaker 1: Adam Scott's longevity and Adam Scott's talent level only had one. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he also won a Players Championship, but that was you know,
Speaker 1: that was a different lifetime ago. I'm with you. I
Speaker 1: honestly have not thought about it much. Who who over
Speaker 1: the thirty seven year old set could could win a
Speaker 1: major championship. I do like the way that he's playing, obviously,
Speaker 1: like he's he's trending heading into this golf course. The
Speaker 1: putter that has kind of been bugaboo for the majority
Speaker 1: of his career, Like it's actually kind of short up now,
Speaker 1: Like that's not a it's not a predominant narrative when
Speaker 1: it when it looks to to Adam Scott, it's more
Speaker 1: can he can he not have the round where he
Speaker 1: where he falls off.
Speaker 3: It's like he shoots a seventy four on Saturday, that's
Speaker 3: what happens so like to me, one of the things
Speaker 3: that could play in his hands is if this Major
Speaker 3: ends up being like a minus six, like I think
Speaker 3: when the Major, when the score gets to ten under
Speaker 3: in a Major, that's that's trouble for him. Right if this,
Speaker 3: if this stays around six under, and it's like becomes, oh,
Speaker 3: he could go sixty eight, seventy two, seventy two, sixty
Speaker 3: eight and win, or you know something along that lines,
Speaker 3: Like I guess that would be wrong, that'd be even
Speaker 3: par at par seventy. But you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: Like if all of a sudden that range of scores
Speaker 3: comes condensed and like a winner can shoot seventy three
Speaker 3: to sixty eight every day and win that I think
Speaker 3: that's like the thing with him because he can make
Speaker 3: a ton of parts. He can ball strike this place
Speaker 3: to death, and he's great, great around the greens.
Speaker 2: Like it just always becomes can he make enough putts?
Speaker 3: But if it's that hard, you know, the putter doesn't
Speaker 3: become that big of a you know of a deal.
Speaker 1: Like if you ask me who's gonna have a better
Speaker 1: finish at the PGA Championship, this could certainly come back
Speaker 1: to bite me. But like I would say, Adam Scott
Speaker 1: over DJ Like I would I would take those those
Speaker 1: two players head to head, like Adam Scott traditionally has
Speaker 1: fared pretty well all things considered at the PGA Championship. Obviously,
Speaker 1: varying tests, but like he's got a number of top
Speaker 1: tens over you know, roughly twenty appearances or so, so
Speaker 1: I would I would take him head to head. I'm
Speaker 1: curious to see how this weekend goes if he can
Speaker 1: avoid kind of that slip up. TBC Craig Branch has
Speaker 1: gotta be a different test, right then then than than Oakhill,
Speaker 1: Like you're gonna have to shoot twenty five thirty under park.
Speaker 3: They followed the TPC Summerlan model, so it's harder this
Speaker 3: year because they reduced the par by one shot.
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. But yeah, I haven't, honestly have not
Speaker 1: given that much thought about it. And it's very curious
Speaker 1: to me that this is your number two storyline.
Speaker 2: It's not my number two though. That's I didn't number
Speaker 2: them like.
Speaker 1: You so was. So is this your number five? Can
Speaker 1: can an old timer win? Are we due for an
Speaker 1: old old?
Speaker 3: Should honestly be like my fifth storyline, this wouldn't have
Speaker 3: been a storyline if I put Scheffler or rom in
Speaker 3: that I figured you would put Scheffler and ram in, So,
Speaker 3: you know, smart.
Speaker 1: That's very it's very forth thinking podcasting.
Speaker 2: Is that number one? Well, that's what that's what the
Speaker 2: host does here.
Speaker 1: I mean, we have not talked about this guy, so
Speaker 1: I would assume that he is your number one as well.
Speaker 1: And like the player, I'm most intrigued by Rory next
Speaker 1: week at all kill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Macro, it's not my number one?
Speaker 1: How how is he not your number one? How is
Speaker 1: he not the most fascinating player in golf right now?
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on on Rory heading into year
Speaker 1: second major?
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I know that's that's that's like a great part. I
Speaker 1: have no idea what's going to happen.
Speaker 2: I think like this golf course will set up very
Speaker 2: well for him.
Speaker 3: This is going to be a This is a Rory
Speaker 3: type golf course, a Rory type major. You would not
Speaker 3: be surprised to see him win here like this. This
Speaker 3: is a this is a golf course that plays right
Speaker 3: into what he does well.
Speaker 2: Hand, he hits it high, he hits it far.
Speaker 3: He like is one of the players with enough speed
Speaker 3: that he can fight through rough he can you know,
Speaker 3: he has a great short game. His putter has been
Speaker 3: pretty good. But like you know, I just think, uh,
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: This is great.
Speaker 3: Obviously, there's the big The big storyline is gonna be
Speaker 3: it's a home game for Rory.
Speaker 2: He's an honorary member member.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's kill He's probably played it like
Speaker 1: three times.
Speaker 2: I don't think he's played it very much.
Speaker 1: All right, do you think do you think he's Do
Speaker 1: you think he's paying his dues?
Speaker 2: I don't know if he if they charge him dues.
Speaker 5: You know, this is like this is like the Jason
Speaker 5: Day Mierfield Village, Jory Lane, Like the guy never plays there,
Speaker 5: but but sure he's a he's a member and he
Speaker 5: has all this intimate course knowledge.
Speaker 3: Like I do not think that I don't think he's
Speaker 3: played there very much. I doubt, I would doubt. I
Speaker 3: don't think he likes to do the big prep. It's
Speaker 3: it's interesting because like I talked to him Riviera week
Speaker 3: and I asked him if he was going over to
Speaker 3: Lacc at all, and he's like, no, I'll go there
Speaker 3: the week of which is interesting because then you know,
Speaker 3: for the.
Speaker 1: Master means that means you and I have played Lacc
Speaker 1: more than Roy McRoy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, how about that?
Speaker 1: It's shocking.
Speaker 3: And then for the Masters this year, he did the
Speaker 3: big prep. I think like he's stuck where he's trying
Speaker 3: to figure out how to prepare for majors. It's it's
Speaker 3: this funny thing with golf, right, Like majors were probably
Speaker 3: felt so easy for him in his younger years. I
Speaker 3: mean just rattle off four and and then all of
Speaker 3: a sudden it's like, yeah, now they're hard again, right,
Speaker 3: and he doesn't know how to prepare for him And listen, like,
Speaker 3: I think a lot of it is like a bounce here,
Speaker 3: abounce there. I think that gets in people's head. Like
Speaker 3: I remember I had Luke Donald on the podcast years ago,
Speaker 3: and it was like the end of the podcast, it
Speaker 3: was a total throwaway question. I asked him, like, do
Speaker 3: you have any regrets from your career and it was like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I played. I played in the final group of the
Speaker 3: Marion US Open, and I watched Justin rose Winn and
Speaker 3: I played bad, and I completely blew up my golf
Speaker 3: swing because I said, I need to be.
Speaker 2: More like him.
Speaker 3: And these things, like these small moments where like you
Speaker 3: just don't have it a day, become overblown and you
Speaker 3: think you need to rework the whole way you do everything.
Speaker 3: And I think that's where Rory is right now is
Speaker 3: like he doesn't. It's really weird because he wins all
Speaker 3: these other tournaments, but he doesn't know how to approach majors.
Speaker 3: He's trying to make them feel like normal events. That
Speaker 3: seems what like the mental work he's doing with Rotella
Speaker 3: when he's talking about it, it seems like he's just
Speaker 3: like attempting to make this a normal event, but it's.
Speaker 2: Not, and he can't do that.
Speaker 3: Like as much self talk talk as you give yourself,
Speaker 3: he's a guy that's very conscious of what's going on.
Speaker 3: He's not like and that's the trouble of being conscious,
Speaker 3: right of Like as much as you tell yourself it's
Speaker 3: just another event, it's not, you know, but he's been.
Speaker 1: But he's been. He's been fighting that battle, particularly it
Speaker 1: comes to Augusta, Nashville and the Masters, I mean for
Speaker 1: for years. He's like he I remember, he tried to
Speaker 1: play his way into it. He tried to take a break,
Speaker 1: he tried to put his phone away, he tried to
Speaker 1: juggle dive dive into yeah, like yeah, he got he
Speaker 1: got into the juggling phase, which which apparently did not
Speaker 1: last long. He was reading like self help books, like
Speaker 1: he's literally tried everything. But that's why that's why he
Speaker 1: like the Master's performance was so mystifying to me because
Speaker 1: it actually seemed like he turned a corner. Yes right
Speaker 1: last year he like he described the fun around sixty
Speaker 1: four Augusta. Last year's like cathartic and a breakthrough. You
Speaker 1: look at the way he played the Major champi in
Speaker 1: Chips the last three of twenty twenty two, like what's
Speaker 1: what's kind of dogged him right over over this dry
Speaker 1: spell as he's he started poorly. You know, his his
Speaker 1: opening round scoring average is so much higher than the
Speaker 1: other three rounds, which suggests some sort of stage fright
Speaker 1: or conservative approach or just sort of timid play before
Speaker 1: he can finally get his way into it. By that point,
Speaker 1: it's too far behind.
Speaker 2: But you look, I think he I think, yeah, like
Speaker 2: y jitimate like he's.
Speaker 1: Just like feeling his way out when when a Scottier
Speaker 1: ram is like going to going to grab this thing
Speaker 1: by the throat. And so he was. He was consciously
Speaker 1: aware of that for the final three majors of the year,
Speaker 1: and he started great, like he shot sixty six, sixty six,
Speaker 1: sixty seven or something like that for the final three
Speaker 1: Majors of the year. He goes into the Masters this year, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he missed the cut at the Players, but like played
Speaker 1: great at the match play on Wednesday of Masters week,
Speaker 1: he thought, like, I'm gonna win this thing. Like he's
Speaker 1: he's hitting it, he's hitting it great. And so to
Speaker 1: to play as poorly as he did clearly in effect
Speaker 1: they had been a deep way because he knew he
Speaker 1: was going to cost himself three million dollars by skipping,
Speaker 1: and he kind of did the calculus and said that
Speaker 1: this is it worthwhile for me. That had to have
Speaker 1: shaken him to his core in such a way that
Speaker 1: I have no idea what to expect this week at
Speaker 1: the PGA, because that was such a bewildering, mystifying, like
Speaker 1: it had to create some sort of existential crisis.
Speaker 3: Like I don't know what all happened after the Masters.
Speaker 2: I don't know, you know, if it was.
Speaker 3: Just play or if there is something that happened personally,
Speaker 3: which you know, I tend to think it might have
Speaker 3: been a combination of both of them. Yeah, I agree,
Speaker 3: But I do think what's fascinating is we have an
Speaker 3: all time great player. Really it feels like a little
Speaker 3: bit hit bottom in terms of like, which is crazy,
Speaker 3: Like his bottom isn't like anybody else's bottom, right, it.
Speaker 1: Feels a more dramatic.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it feels like a kind of like a rock
Speaker 3: bottom situation. And it's because of this major drought, and
Speaker 3: it's not just about the Masters anymore. That's the thing.
Speaker 3: It was the Masters because it was the one he
Speaker 3: didn't have. But now we're now it's any major. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's so he's so far removed from winning one. I
Speaker 3: mean he's he said to himself like I'm approaching this
Speaker 3: like I'm trying to win my first again. Yeah, like
Speaker 3: it's nine years ago. So it's almost like he's in
Speaker 3: this camp of Xander and can't Ley and players who
Speaker 3: don't have a major, which is a wild thing because
Speaker 3: we're on I don't know what chapter of the Rory
Speaker 3: McElroy career we're on, but we're in this like, I mean,
Speaker 3: that's it is. It's why I think, like, you know,
Speaker 3: obviously he took like an outfront role with the Live thing,
Speaker 3: and he's gotten more press than he's ever gotten really
Speaker 3: in his career. There's been more attention on Rory than
Speaker 3: ever before. And I think think like with general fans,
Speaker 3: there is like a little Rory fatigue because, like.
Speaker 2: You know, he's been so front and side, it's been
Speaker 2: so front and center.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, this is maybe arguably, you know,
Speaker 3: outside of his coming out party and like coming of age,
Speaker 3: is an all time player, this is probably the most
Speaker 3: fascinating aspect of his career.
Speaker 1: Oh, I wouldn't. I wouldn't disagree at all. Like I
Speaker 1: think from a from a writing perspective, like he and
Speaker 1: Jordan are are are by far the most interesting players
Speaker 1: to write about. It. It's they're easy to emotionally invest in,
Speaker 1: I think because they are so open and accessible, like
Speaker 1: they let you inside their their their mental fortress, and
Speaker 1: we're we're kind of along for the ride, right, And
Speaker 1: so that when you when you look at at Rory
Speaker 1: and the explanation that he gave after or excuse me
Speaker 1: before Quail Hollow, like it was easy to understand, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: the toll of the past year finally caught up to me.
Speaker 1: I'd play my way through it. Everyone thought, Wow, this
Speaker 1: is amazing that this guy has taken on this dual responsibility, right,
Speaker 1: Like he's he's playing some of the best golf statistically
Speaker 1: of his entire career. And he's also on like eight
Speaker 1: hour conference calls and is literally literally reshaping the PGA tour,
Speaker 1: like how do you do it all? Well, it turns
Speaker 1: out that that's a burden, that's that's eventually going to
Speaker 1: crush even even the greatest player. And so like we're
Speaker 1: we're we're riding this wave with him. I'm just as
Speaker 1: it pertains to like next week. I'm just curious if
Speaker 1: if one week is enough to re establish an equilibrium,
Speaker 1: tighten up a ball like a ball striking performance that
Speaker 1: was that was really poor by his standards at at
Speaker 1: Quell Hollow, And can he get himself now in a
Speaker 1: frame of mind with three majors across the next two months,
Speaker 1: like to get to get himself across the line in
Speaker 1: the tournaments that he covets the most.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say, I think golf is such an
Speaker 3: expectation game and it's I think what Rory's got going
Speaker 3: on is similar to what we saw from Brooks in
Speaker 3: full swing, where he was talking about when he was
Speaker 3: talking about Scottie and he's like, I mean that guy's
Speaker 3: not thinking about anything.
Speaker 2: He's just going out and shooting sixty five and.
Speaker 3: He's kind of and I think one of the things
Speaker 3: that but like we're like.
Speaker 1: But we're two or three months removed from Rory winning
Speaker 1: in Dubai. Well that's last year he was the number
Speaker 1: one player in the world. Like, he's not that far
Speaker 1: removed from from that player. So I'm not quite I'm
Speaker 1: not quite with you that like he's at he's at
Speaker 1: rock bottom now. I think it's I think it's easy
Speaker 1: to dismiss dismiss the Master's performance as as kind of
Speaker 1: this curious one off. I think I'm most curious to
Speaker 1: see if it if it lingers through the entire major season,
Speaker 1: which I think would be quite alarming.
Speaker 3: I think the thing about golf is like when you
Speaker 3: don't have it, you feel like you're never gonna get
Speaker 3: it back. And I think that the Masters he just
Speaker 3: didn't have it and it's scary and you don't see
Speaker 3: it on Wednesday, Yeah I know Wednesday, I know, and
Speaker 3: you don't feel and he played bad Aquoil Hollow. But like,
Speaker 3: one of the beautiful things about that with pertain to
Speaker 3: Rory is like Rory can get it back in a second.
Speaker 3: And one of the things I think that the Masters
Speaker 3: could do that could be A huge positive is that
Speaker 3: it resets expectations and all of a sudden he comes
Speaker 3: into this and I think, like people, the general public
Speaker 3: expects a lot less out of Rory this week than
Speaker 3: they did if he had finished fifth in the Masters,
Speaker 3: you know, which it shouldn't really have any bairers.
Speaker 1: I think the general public always think a lot of
Speaker 1: Roy McRoy, like expect a lot of them.
Speaker 2: I think they do.
Speaker 3: But like I think that, like the the golf Van,
Speaker 3: their expectations for Rory now are so much lower because
Speaker 3: of what happened to the Masters. Then if he had
Speaker 3: finished T eight, you know, if you'd you know, a
Speaker 3: non competitive T eight, right, people will be like, oh,
Speaker 3: he's got to be your first page favorite, And really
Speaker 3: the reality is like missing the cut and finishing non
Speaker 3: competitive T eight really isn't that much different, right, It's
Speaker 3: like you played okay, you played good, like there's some
Speaker 3: things to take away, but you never really felt it right. So, like,
Speaker 3: to me, one of the beauties, if I was going
Speaker 3: to turn this whole thing and spin it as positive,
Speaker 3: is that he's coming into Okhill with like way less expectation.
Speaker 3: He's your number one storyline. But the storyline is like,
Speaker 3: what is he going to play well? It's not is
Speaker 3: he going to win? Is he going to finally end
Speaker 3: the drought? It's more like, is he going to play well?
Speaker 3: And one of the beautiful things when you're when you're
Speaker 3: a player like Rory McElroy is is the bottoms never
Speaker 3: you know, never, like his bottom is better than he doesn't.
Speaker 1: He doesn't say, he doesn't stay down for long exactly,
Speaker 1: And it's not like a prolonged slump so to speak.
Speaker 3: In the last four weeks could completely reset expectations and
Speaker 3: bring them in to the right mental framework to win
Speaker 3: a major, because because it's not like I need to
Speaker 3: win this. It's like it's a weird thing with golf,
Speaker 3: like expectations are just crazy, and this could be a
Speaker 3: great thing for his expectation management.
Speaker 1: I agree. I mean, he has the preeminent mental guru
Speaker 1: like in his stable with Bob Rotella, Like I'm assuming,
Speaker 1: I don't know for fact that over the past month
Speaker 1: they've they've had some some some pretty in depth conversations
Speaker 1: to try to get him on the right track to
Speaker 1: to salvage what is left of the major season. Obviously,
Speaker 1: wants to win the Masters more than a the other major,
Speaker 1: But like, at this point, let's just get one man, Like,
Speaker 1: let's let's let's get number five and continue rolling. He's
Speaker 1: still thirty four years old, like there's so much good
Speaker 1: golf and so many prime years left for him. I
Speaker 1: do agree with your point that, like next week, the
Speaker 1: conversation isn't necessarily can this be the one that he
Speaker 1: that he wins. It's more like, which rory are we
Speaker 1: going to see? Are we going to see the rory
Speaker 1: that we grew accustomed to last year who figured prom
Speaker 1: Le in every single tournament? Or is it the one
Speaker 1: who's kind of like a leaf blowing in the wind
Speaker 1: right now and doesn't have a direction? Seems a little
Speaker 1: bit lost, seems a little bit forlorn, Like I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see what he does next week, which is why?
Speaker 1: Which is why?
Speaker 3: And this isn't my number one, This is just one
Speaker 3: of my five, all right. I don't like ranking things.
Speaker 3: I'm more of a bucket guy. So this is all
Speaker 3: the things I'm watching for my last one er.
Speaker 1: Number Number one is club pros, isn't it? Is it?
Speaker 2: Club pros? Now? No?
Speaker 3: I wanted you know, the one I was most proud
Speaker 3: of was the can't lights chople, I think because it
Speaker 3: was it required a little research research, Yes, yes, so
Speaker 3: I felt I felt a little bit like justin Ray there.
Speaker 3: So So anyways, my last one is MLR ball. We've
Speaker 3: heard every organization talk about this, the PGA tours kind
Speaker 3: of doing their own research. Augusta was pretty strongly behind it. Obviously,
Speaker 3: you've got a U, S, g A, and Harnae coming
Speaker 3: out with this ball. So you look at the all
Speaker 3: the entities, it's PGA week. We're going to see where
Speaker 3: they fall. Do they join in. If it's all the
Speaker 3: major championships that are behind this MLR ball, it puts
Speaker 3: the PGA Tour in a really weird situation. If they
Speaker 3: say they're kind of more in the shoes of the
Speaker 3: PGA Tour and they're going to listen to players and
Speaker 3: and you know, and do their own research and think
Speaker 3: about this, then it makes it a little awkward for
Speaker 3: the US G A, RNA.
Speaker 2: So it's just a it's a fascinating little rinkle to
Speaker 2: the week.
Speaker 3: See where the PGA stands on this issue, and it
Speaker 3: could really dictate how how the MLR MLRR ball discourse
Speaker 3: goes from here.
Speaker 1: I think as soon as Augusta came out and said
Speaker 1: that they essentially would support a rollback, Like I think
Speaker 1: it's over, you think that's that's that's the majority of
Speaker 1: the majors. The PJ really has little choice but to
Speaker 1: fall online. The PGA Tour as a as a byproduct
Speaker 1: that has little choice to fall line. And if I'm
Speaker 1: the tour, I'd be spinning it totally differently than how
Speaker 1: they're doing it, because well, we don't know this for
Speaker 1: a fact, Like it would not surprise me if liv
Speaker 1: comes out on the side of like where the entertainment product,
Speaker 1: like if you want to see guys hit three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty yard bombs, like this is this is the
Speaker 1: tour for you. And I think in everything the tour
Speaker 1: has done over these past six nine months to kind
Speaker 1: of restake its claim right as like the number one circuit,
Speaker 1: like the destination tour in golf, I don't think they
Speaker 1: have a choice but to fall in line with the
Speaker 1: rest of the major championships. Like if you're serious, if
Speaker 1: you're a serious golfer, if your aspirations are to be
Speaker 1: the number one player in the world, if you want
Speaker 1: to play the most major ready regular season golf, right
Speaker 1: then we're going to play the ball that you're doing
Speaker 1: it the major championships. I think that's where the divide
Speaker 1: can go, like one's entertainment and one is strictly serious
Speaker 1: golf only. And so I don't think the PGA will
Speaker 1: come out in overwhelming support, but I think it's I
Speaker 1: think it's pretty clear as soon as Augusta and Fred
Speaker 1: the Ridley came out last last month with their stance,
Speaker 1: Like I don't think there's I don't think these other
Speaker 1: organizations have any choice but the fall on line.
Speaker 3: See, I'm I'm naturally skeptical, So I'm sitting on pins
Speaker 3: and needles because I kind of think I could see
Speaker 3: the PGA is zigging when everybody else is zagging.
Speaker 2: But like that's just you know, probably me.
Speaker 1: Who's what about the ecosystem? These these these entities have
Speaker 1: never been closer.
Speaker 2: I know. It's Well, that's why it's on my list
Speaker 2: of things that I'm fascinated about.
Speaker 3: Like it's the last it's really the last big party
Speaker 3: in golf that has to hear from yeah, and and
Speaker 3: and it will shape how like if they support the
Speaker 3: MLR ball without a doubt.
Speaker 2: I don't think the PGA Tour has a choice. They
Speaker 2: have to go. They have to do even if.
Speaker 1: It's like tepid support for the ball.
Speaker 3: If they don't support it though, if they kind of
Speaker 3: give a PGA Tour statement.
Speaker 1: Then which is get which is what gather? We want
Speaker 1: to gather more information and see what the feedback periods? Like, like,
Speaker 1: is that what you're if we hear that.
Speaker 3: Because then all of a sudden, like it's like, hey,
Speaker 3: well you know, obviously the PGA Tour and players kind
Speaker 3: of consider the players a major, right is that fair
Speaker 3: to say, yeah.
Speaker 1: No, it's the it's the it's the it's their biggest tournament.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so they consider that, and then all of a
Speaker 3: sudden they can make the argument of like, hey, two
Speaker 3: fifths of the majors in our eyes, say no to
Speaker 3: this ball, or like we need to figure it out,
Speaker 3: we need to come together and like the in two
Speaker 3: fifths of the other half of the majors are the
Speaker 3: are the people trying to institute this only one?
Speaker 2: Like it's one versus one, right.
Speaker 3: Like I just think that it's a super important statement.
Speaker 3: See where it falls from everything kind of I've heard.
Speaker 3: I think, I don't know. I I feel like it's
Speaker 3: going to be more PGA Tour than than Master's support.
Speaker 3: I don't think it'll be as defiant because I think
Speaker 3: one of the big things is like the PGA members
Speaker 3: the PGA membership, I don't know how they feel. And
Speaker 3: there's you know, the PGA is in an interesting situation
Speaker 3: much like the PGA Tour. The PGA has constituents, and
Speaker 3: those constituents are are very tied in with the equipment manufacturers.
Speaker 3: Like you know, you go to your local pro shop,
Speaker 3: you understand they're tied in, right they you know, they
Speaker 3: interface with these guys. So like that's that's kind of
Speaker 3: my my uh. One of the things that it's just
Speaker 3: something I'm I'm really fascinated about. And it's an early
Speaker 3: week thing. It'll be done by whatever day Seth.
Speaker 1: Wall probably Wednesday, Yeah, yeah, probably Wednesday. So yeah, like
Speaker 1: I would I would be I would be surprised if
Speaker 1: it was anything other than like tepid support. I could
Speaker 1: even see basically a non answer answer whether they're still
Speaker 1: in the information gathering phase and and and we'll get
Speaker 1: we'll get back to you guys with a more concrete
Speaker 1: answer by the time the feedback period is ending, right,
Speaker 1: Like I could I could definitely foresee that scenario.
Speaker 3: I mean, what has to happen to advance this discourse
Speaker 3: and like we're in this weird phase, is like somebody's
Speaker 3: got to go play with one of these balls, Like
Speaker 3: I don't know what the USG is doing, Like they
Speaker 3: have to get a freak.
Speaker 1: That's what the match should be.
Speaker 3: Yes, they have to get a ball in one of
Speaker 3: the best player's hands that's supportive of it, which isn't
Speaker 3: a lot of them. So you could probably figure out
Speaker 3: who who the guys are that would do this, But
Speaker 3: you have to get the ball in one of their
Speaker 3: hands and be like, hey, can you go play with
Speaker 3: this and tell everybody this guy's not falling.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I want to see like a Rory JT Fried Egg
Speaker 1: match roll back ball versus versus JT's ball of choice.
Speaker 3: Well, Jay C's personally rolled back this year. It seems
Speaker 3: like he's he's lost a few few miles an hour
Speaker 3: on Yes, I think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's going he's going the opposite direction. Unfortunately, we
Speaker 1: haven't talked about JT. I think JT the defending champion.
Speaker 1: If if if the aim point, if you can, if
Speaker 1: you can get the thing dialed in if he can
Speaker 1: get to you know, the number of digits right he's
Speaker 1: he's hashtag trending a little bit as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that Quail Hollow I thought was really promising because
Speaker 3: he hasn't done anything.
Speaker 1: I agree he has he has not done he has
Speaker 1: not done much over the past three months. But the
Speaker 1: way he played for at least fifty four holes of
Speaker 1: Quail Hollow I thought was very encouraged.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 3: I like, I think like he's he's going to be
Speaker 3: a very discounted player.
Speaker 2: That's worth a look.
Speaker 3: Like when you think about like, hey, he hasn't been there,
Speaker 3: he hasn't been around. But like I mean again, like
Speaker 3: like Rory, you're when you're that level of a player,
Speaker 3: you're never far away from being great again.
Speaker 2: It just takes one little thing to.
Speaker 1: Iron play is just slightly regressed this year, but he's still,
Speaker 1: you know, top a top thirty iron player. It's I mean,
Speaker 1: it just comes down to the putting, the the ROMs,
Speaker 1: the Scotti's, the Rory when he's in top flood obviously,
Speaker 1: the cam Smith and Anders the can't is like all
Speaker 1: those guys putt better right now than JT does. But
Speaker 1: that's not to say he can't do it for for
Speaker 1: four days next week, it'll.
Speaker 3: Kill Yeah, who's your pick to win? Then we'll get
Speaker 3: you out of here.
Speaker 1: Pick to win selfishly, Selfishly, I'd love to see a
Speaker 1: Brooks win.
Speaker 2: It'd be fun.
Speaker 1: Realistically, I think it's Scotty. Yeah, realistically, I think Scotty
Speaker 1: Scheffer's gonna win.
Speaker 3: That'd be great win too. For the discourse, I'm gonna
Speaker 3: take Ram going out on back to back, going back
Speaker 3: to back.
Speaker 1: You just want to I mean I think, like any
Speaker 1: one at this point, like I want to see I
Speaker 1: want to see like a historic rom page. I want
Speaker 1: to see like seven eight nine wins, two three majors,
Speaker 1: like just just to full out Ram assault.
Speaker 3: I feel I feel like I'm chasing right now, and
Speaker 3: I don't like this pick because of that. But like
Speaker 3: somehow I talked myself out a rom for the Masters,
Speaker 3: like after like after Riviera was like, I mean, I
Speaker 3: don't know how you pick anybody else other than ROMs.
Speaker 1: I mean, and then I was blowing I mean he
Speaker 1: was blowing chunks at TBC sawgress. He didn't play great
Speaker 1: at the match play, Like yeah, there was there was
Speaker 1: I think there was a little bit of reduction in value.
Speaker 2: And then I talked myself into Rory, you know, and
Speaker 2: since then I've.
Speaker 1: So apparently and apparently so did Rory.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So so at this point now I'm I'm going Rom.
Speaker 3: I've set on it, and you know, I can't be
Speaker 3: moved off the position I am.
Speaker 1: But we're staking our claim to the top two players
Speaker 1: in the world.
Speaker 3: We're going out on limbs. You know, that's what people
Speaker 3: are coming here for, is the bold prediction. I'm taking
Speaker 3: John Ram If he wins, I'm gonna I'm gonna cut
Speaker 3: this clip out and I'm going to celebrated like I was.
Speaker 3: You know, I was the first guy on the board
Speaker 3: with Rom and everybody else fell line.
Speaker 1: Picked the number one player in the world.
Speaker 3: Hey, everybody can read your writing at golf channel dot com.
Speaker 3: Everybody can uh can listen to you and uh in
Speaker 3: the Great Rex Hoggard on your podcast Golf Channel Podcast
Speaker 3: with Rex and laugh and UH, they can see you
Speaker 3: on TV.
Speaker 2: Too. Are you gonna be doing any live.
Speaker 1: From just early week shows? Uh, that's when we have
Speaker 1: eight or nine hours to fill. They bring on. They
Speaker 1: bring us on to kill a segment with our various storylines,
Speaker 1: news and notes. We always have a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: but yeah, just just Tuesday and Wednesday and then I
Speaker 1: get to kick back and enjoy this Western New York
Speaker 1: PGA championship.
Speaker 2: Hey, enjoy going home.
Speaker 3: I look forward to hearing about the meals and look
Speaker 3: forward to seeing you at LACC in a couple couple
Speaker 3: of weeks. So thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 1: Ryan, absolutely and I'd love to do it.
Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Friday Podcast.
Speaker 3: Today's episode. I don't know who's going to be edited
Speaker 3: by at the point of recording this. It will either
Speaker 3: be Matt Rus's or Meg Atkins.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure.
Speaker 3: I'm lean there's probably gonna be Meg. I know Matt's
Speaker 3: traveling right now, So thank you to whomever. They're both
Speaker 3: great with, both wonderful people. As a quick reminder, we
Speaker 3: are going to be cooking in Club TF this week.
Speaker 3: As I mentioned earlier, we have a my favorite architectural
Speaker 3: feature at every hole at Oakhill maybe not my favorite,
Speaker 3: but like a notable architectural feature on every hole at
Speaker 3: oak Hill East. It's a video that we're putting up
Speaker 3: in Club TF. That's our membership program. So it is
Speaker 3: one hundred and twenty dollars a year and you get
Speaker 3: a ton of content. You get a weekly course file
Speaker 3: which is a very in depth review with photography and everything.
Speaker 3: Major weeks we'll have a Donald Ross roundtable with a
Speaker 3: with a few architects that will also be up there
Speaker 3: all about Donald Ross.
Speaker 2: So if you're.
Speaker 3: Looking for more content from us, if you're looking for
Speaker 3: a way to support our content, this is really the
Speaker 3: best avenue you can join at the fridagg dot com.
Speaker 3: It's right across the top bar it says Club TFB
Speaker 3: joined CLUBTFF there and you'll get all of our backdated content.
Speaker 2: So we're now up over twenty golf.
Speaker 3: Course reviews, so you could spend a good couple of
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Speaker 3: Illustrations that Cameron Hurtis does are really top notch in there,
Speaker 3: so I think they are alone worth the price of entry.
Speaker 2: So join there and thank you guys for the support.
Speaker 3: We also in CLUBDF have a PGA Championship cool bone,
Speaker 3: so it's a way to when cash and the Frida
Speaker 3: Egg Pro shop. But yeah, really really appreciate all this sport,
Speaker 3: and thank you for listening to another edition of the
Speaker 3: Friday Podcast.