WEBVTT - The State of Rory McIlroy with Shane Ryan 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.320 And when I find my ball. 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:08.920 In a fried egg Friday egg, the dreaded Frida egg, 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.840 Friday Egg, Frida Egg Egg, Frida Egg, Bride egg. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:13.640 Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the hump. 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:38.920 Welcome to the Friday Egg at Golf podcast. I'm Garrett Morrison, 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.879 and today I'm bringing on Shane Ryan of Golf Digest 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:47.600 to talk about the state of Rory McElroy. As well know, 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.880 Rory just came runner up in the US Open at Pinehurst, 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.440 losing to bryceon de Shambau by one stroke and heartbreaking fashion. 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:57.400 So I thought it would be a good time to 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.720 assess the broader arc of R's career. And I can't 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.600 think of any media member I'd rather discuss this with 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.720 than Shane Ryan. Shane has been covering Rory in depth 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.520 for the better part of Rory's career in the professional limelight, 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:16.200 starting with Shane's excellent book Slaying the Tiger, which was 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.360 about the twenty fourteen season of Majors and PGA Tour events, 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.160 and Shane also wrote an outstanding story on Rory's final 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.920 round at Pinehurst, which we'll talk about in depth in 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:31.240 this episode, in which you can read at golfdigest dot com. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.080 Shane is always such a delight to talk to one 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.480 of my favorite writers and people in golf journalism. But 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:41.360 before we get to that, let's talk briefly about Golf Forever. 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.920 You may have been noticing recently that you don't feel 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.120 as loose on the course as you used to. If 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.480 that's the case for you, your body may be holding your 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.960 game back and it's time to change that. Golf Forever 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:59.560 has personalized video routines and a swing trainer that will 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:04.040 give you added flexibility, strength and balance so you'll be 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.840 able to hit the first tee ready to go, and 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:11.280 more importantly, Golf Forever will keep you healthy, pain free, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.160 and playing more golf than ever. I've just started the 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.040 Golf Forever routine, using the swing trainer and doing some 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:24.240 of these personalized videos, and I'm really excited about it. 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:29.360 I'm already feeling muscles lighting up that I haven't used 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:33.720 in a while. And you know, recently, like all of us, 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.000 i'm getting older, and recently something that's been holding me 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:41.160 back is that I've been having some recurring upper back 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.760 and neck pain. Now I've been cleared by my doctor 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:46.880 to exercise and all of that, so it's not like 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.040 a medical emergency, but it's just something that's been bothering 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.400 me and something that I've kind of been avoiding dealing with. 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:58.200 So I'm very, very eager to get started on the 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.320 Golf Forever program. As I said, already, I'm starting to 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.560 feel like I'm stronger, I've got better posture, and so 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:10.080 the early results are very very promising. So get started 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.680 now at golferever dot com and use the code egg 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.040 to save one hundred dollars on a swing trainer with 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.919 one year of the app. That's golf Forever dot com 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:31.919 code egg egg. All right, let's get to Shane. All right, 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.760 I'm here with Shane Ryan, Shane, how are you doing today, Garret? 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:36.800 I am so good. 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.119 Just to see your face again is lifting my spirits 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:40.320 on this Thursday morning. 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:46.000 Absolutely Likewise, the feelings are mutual. You're back home after 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.880 covering the US Open at Pinehurst. This is kind of 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:50.880 a home game for you, right, Yeah. 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.839 Pinehurst is about an hour fifteen away, just long enough 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:57.280 that I came home like one night I wasn't going 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.880 to commute. Stayed with Luke and Joel Luke Virginian Joel Biale, 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.920 my good buddies from Digest. But yeah, it was nice 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.080 and nice and close. And I love Pinehurst. Man. Pinehurst 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.000 is like, you know, the way people feel about Augusta 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.800 is how I feel about Pinehurst. It's sort of magical 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.440 to me. I'm not a very like romantic person around 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.960 golf courses, but Pinehurst, I'll kind of I'll get there. 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:17.719 I'll get there. 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.560 Do you get out to Pinehurst a fair amount? 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.840 I So it's one of those funny things where I 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.600 know the social the media relations guy Alex is a 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.880 wonderful guy, and so sometimes I go golf there very 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.080 job oh Man insanely good at his job, and I like, 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.200 you know, I said on Twitter and everything, just because 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.640 he was so helpful this week on like four or 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:39.479 five different projects I did and he was having I 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.760 assume it incredibly busy week, but would always DM me 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.600 back anyway. I try not to take advantage of that 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:46.159 by going too much, do you know what I mean? Like, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.200 I try to go once in a while, and I 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.599 don't have to play number two because number two kicks 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.280 the kicks my teeth in, so I'm happy. Like once 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.039 a year I'll go down and play number eight or something, 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.320 you know, and I'm like, that's great. So no, I 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.200 don't get down there is that much, but when I do, 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.960 it's just I don't know, just kind of like. So 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:04.640 I grew up in Upstate New York where they used 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.320 to send tuberculosis patients because the mountain air was supposed 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:10.560 to clear back before they had a cure for tuberculosis. 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:12.520 They're like, the best thing we can do is send 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:14.359 you to a place with good air. And that's what 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.960 they did with pineers in the beginning, because there was 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.920 this idea that somehow the pine trees created this atmosphere. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.560 It ended up not being true, but it feels like 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:27.080 it's true. It won't cure your consumption like Sarenac Lake, 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.560 New York will if you get consumption. I'm sorry for you. 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:31.520 Don't go to pinehers, go to Upstate New York. But 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:33.240 it feels like it would cure your consumption. 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:34.040 And so that's my. 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:37.440 Pitch for it ended up not being the best idea 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.160 to build a resort around the idea of come here 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.240 if you have tuberculosis. And so I think they abandoned 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:46.200 that idea pretty early on, but that is kind of 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.400 a funny origin story for the resort, and you. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:51.960 Know, it's nuts. So quickly they pivoted to golf. As 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.560 we pivot to video, they pivoted to golf. But we 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.320 were looking I did a piece on the history of 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:59.640 putter Boy, the little putter Boy statue, and we were 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.520 looking at the original flyers that they made back in 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:04.599 like nineteen oh five. Would they call it like the 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.840 golf flat which became putter Boy. But on the flyers 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.000 in the fine print below, it's like the only county 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.400 in the South that doesn't allow consumptives. So they didn't 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:16.480 just pivot away from it. They went from being a 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.320 resort for people at tuberculosis and consumption to advertising the 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:21.800 things like if you come here, you don't have to 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.479 worry about those filthy tuberculosis patients. Seriously, it was like 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:27.640 it was on all other things, like no consumptives, you're 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.840 safe here, because apparently that was a real concern. Then 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.480 you want so it's like a great thing, like, hey, 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:33.919 if we go here, we don't have to have people 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:35.840 coughing on our face and killing us. 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.760 That's what we call a hard rebranding there. That's that's interesting. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:40.520 I didn't know that part. 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:42.560 It's the Rory of its time where he was anti 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.040 live and now he wants to merger. 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.520 They were doing that way before. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:51.960 Hey, look at that segue. Our topic today is actually 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.160 Rory McElroy. I thought i'd bring you on for this 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.719 kind of later week episode after the US Opened, because 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.880 now we've had a little bit of time to process 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.720 what happened and to kind of get used to the 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:10.440 idea that what happened on those last several holes at 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:14.040 Pinehurst actually occurred, and I thought it would be a 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:18.160 good moment to dive deep into Rory McElroy. Maybe we 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.320 could just start by talking about your Sunday at the 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:25.440 US Open. As you were going out to cover the tournament, 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:28.520 you were on site for the week, obviously, what was 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:29.720 your basic plan for the day. 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.040 So, yeah, basic plan for Sunday. First of all, I 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:34.720 was healthy for the first time all week. I was 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.280 sick for the first five days, which sucked, but so 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:39.680 finally I was like feeling good about going out, Like, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.160 you know, I wasn't going to be tired after twenty minutes. 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.000 I think originally the plan was to walk within the 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.800 entire round, but we sort of didn't have a broader 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.360 plan about who was writing what early on in the day, 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.280 so we walked with them the first seven holes, which is, 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.640 you know, very good, like a perfect appetizer. 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.040 Things were kind of tightening up. It was it was you. 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:01.400 Rory looked really really good. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.560 Bryson looked okay, but like there was evidence of the 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:06.240 shakiness that would kind of emerge later. 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.520 So he came in after seven holes, got some lunch. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.600 And the way Pineers works, like the seventh hole is 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.480 actually closest to the clubhouse instead of the ninth. So anyway, 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.200 Joel and I, Joel Biel and I were like, well, 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:18.880 who's gonna write Rory and who's gonna write Bryson? 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:20.280 Because those are the two big stories today. 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.760 It already looked like Cantley probably wouldn't factor, even though 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:25.840 he did hang in and Joel it. 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:26.360 Just so happened. 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:31.040 Joel had written Rory the day before and he said, okay, 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.320 you write Rory, which was really generous of him because 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:35.840 it looked at that time talking about ten to eleventh 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.959 hole now like Rory was going to break his major drought, 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.400 and so it was kind of like a benevolent Joel. 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:41.880 You know, it's been there longer, and he could choose 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:43.360 whatever he wanted. So he's like, no, you get him, 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.200 You take Rory, which is really nice and I'm glad 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.640 he did because the story that ended up happening was 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.160 even better in some ways than if he had one. 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:52.760 I mean in terms of like being able to like 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:54.000 write the story. 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:54.160 Yeah. 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.480 So anyways, this, by the way, is the first nice 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:57.920 thing that Joel Beale has ever done. 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.920 Right. He's not a good guy. He's a mean, mean, 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:01.680 cruel person. 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:06.440 Just reach over and slap me randomly. I brought it 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.880 up with HR char I brought it up with HR 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.079 Golf Digest. They say, there's our hands are tied. He's 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:13.160 too good a writer. If we can't do anything, you're 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:14.760 just gonna have to accept. You're gonna have to accept 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.680 the physical blows. But yeah, so he did. It was 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.480 a first nice thing. I don't know what he was thinking. 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.920 But we caught up with him again on fourteen, and 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.520 it's kind of funny when I remember it because while 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.640 I was gone, Rory went on a tear right. So 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:31.040 from eight to thirteen he made five birdies. 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:31.480 Or something like that. 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.000 Then the minute I caught him on fourteen, I'd literally 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.160 got there right for his drive. 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.720 It was back. It was back to best. It was 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:38.439 my fault in. 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.719 Other words, that Rory lost any time I was there, 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:42.839 he didn't play that well. But yeah, so we got 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.440 him on fourteen. You know, he cranked that drive to 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.000 the left. I will shay the mindset. Everybody like has 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.440 a mindset, right, everybody's kind of you. You're making predictions 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:53.680 and you're trying to read the tea leaves. Very much 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.560 felt like Rory was going to win this tournament to me, 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.400 and that was being fully cognizant of the fact that 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:01.600 I have been a sucker to that same thought for 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.599 a decade over and over at major championships. 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:04.920 And Joel. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.240 Joel would do this thing this is actually true, where 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:08.920 every time I would be like, you know, I honestly 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:10.520 think this is as weak I think it's gonna happen, 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:13.240 he would start casting a casting like a fake fishing 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.199 line as I was, and like reeling it in as 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.240 if I was, you know, biting at the big fish again. 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.040 And so I would but yeah, down fourteen, like he 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:23.040 drove it left. But he then he made part from 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.000 there I think his Yeah, his approach shot went a 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:27.400 little bit left of the green, but he went up 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:31.240 and down. At that point, I believe Bryson was making 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.680 birdie really on the just on the previous hole. Which 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.320 that's another crazy thing about Pinehurst. These holes are right 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:38.880 next to each other all through the end, so they 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:41.520 saw each other over and over, which added a certain 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.280 amount of drama and aura to the whole thing. So 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:47.240 Bryson was one shot back. Rory makes bogie on fifteen. 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:49.680 Then you're like, oh God, they're tired. I guess, you know, 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:52.000 it still felt like he was gonna win, but it's like, okay, okay. 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.640 Then the big, the big moment, the last good moment 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.600 for Rory in terms of how everybody was feeling the perception, 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.480 came after that bogie on fifteen. He hits a good 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:06.680 drive on sixteen, right before he hit his approach. Adam 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:08.960 Schupack from Golf wereek who I was with. He had 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:10.920 the head piece where he was listening to the radio feed, 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.040 so I was kind of just begging him for news, 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.839 and that was when Bryson three putted to fifteenth. So 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.840 Bryson goes down one and I'm telling you a split 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.160 second after he told me it was just like boom, boom. 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:24.360 Rory hits his approach onto the green, a good approach 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:26.920 on sixteen, So you're like, this is it. I mean, 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:28.880 this is like he's gonna make par here at worst, 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:30.079 and you're gonna go this. 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:30.320 You know. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.000 Then he's just got to survive these last two holes 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.280 trying to make par. Even if he makes bogie, he's 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.120 got a great chance because Bryson is all over the 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:40.600 place right now. And then yeah, then things turned. The 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.640 big turn, the dramatic turn that I still think is 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.720 the most confounding thing maybe I've ever seen on a 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:50.480 golf course came at sixteen when he hit a good 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.280 first putt to two feet six inches. 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.880 And then you're the way I was. 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:56.880 Thinking of it is like you're kind of plotting out 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:58.960 the rest, like what are the big moments to come? Well, 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:00.960 Rory's t shawan sevent is gonna be really big if 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.280 he gets on the green. Bryson's approach on sixteen is 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.280 really big. You're thinking in the future of what the 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.280 big moments are going to be, and you don't realize 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.120 the big moment is just about to happen and he 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.640 misses that putt and you're like, holy shit, are you 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:16.320 kidding me? Like like genuinely, like are you fucking kidding me? 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:18.280 Is like the only words that in thoughts that come 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.560 into your head. Everybody's just staring at each other. The 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.400 crowd is gasping. All the media people are looking at 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.520 each other like this can't be real life, because, as 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.920 you allude to earlier, you're like, it's like some Sikkah 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.160 was writing the script, you know what I mean, it's 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:35.000 like some it's like Joel Bale, the real sicko real 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.760 say this, like Bale is writing the script of this 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.280 of this round, and you're and I knew, I mean, 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.120 I say, I knew. I didn't know anything. But in 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:43.719 my head, I'm like, he's done. There's no way you 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.800 can win after that, Like you can't win after this, 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.200 it's now a tie ball game. Right after he misses that, 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:50.960 forget it, he's just not gonna do it. Then he 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.560 goes to seventeen. Of course, you know, and stop stop 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.200 me at any point if I'm being too detailed, But 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.280 it's just like it's so vivid in my head. 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:00.480 No, no, let's do it. Yeah, this is yes. So 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:01.280 he goes to seventeen. 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:02.960 He hits a bad t shot, but he makes an 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:05.120 incredible up and down, which didn't seem likely at all. 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:08.240 You know, Bryson's doing his thing, but I think Bryson 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.319 had a good shot on seventeen. So now you're like, boy, 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:13.319 the moment it was really changed. Rory gets to eighteen, 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:16.679 hits that drive, has to kind of bump it over 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:18.920 the wire ground like he couldn't take really, he couldn't 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:20.080 get a full swing on it, but he did a 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.320 pretty good job from there, and then hits a splendid 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:24.840 ship from the front of the green and then Bryson 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.320 yanks his his ball so far left where My first 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.200 thought was, he's gonna get relief and people are gonna 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.480 be so pissed. I was like, he's gonna take some 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.520 he's gonna get some weird relief from the stands and 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:38.080 people are gonna be furious. And he did try and 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:41.240 to his crib who wouldn't, but that didn't happen. But yeah, 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.520 then Rory misses that putt and you're thinking, this is 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.680 just unbelievable. And because I was on the Rory beat, 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.520 I followed him into the clubhouse, followed him into scoring. 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.160 You know, the door shut behind him, So we're just 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.680 kind of standing there. And at this point it's like, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:57.000 as a fan, you're almost there's almost the thought like 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.160 should I just go back and watch suit Bryson does, 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:00.640 But I'm like, no, I'm gonna sta with Rory. 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:01.600 That's the job. 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.640 And we're kind of watching on YouTube TV on our phones, 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.720 but everything. Obviously we're right underneath the grandstand, so you 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:13.920 can hear everything happened ten seconds before it does and Bryson, Yeah, 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.160 Bryson went up and down from that bunker obviously. And 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.920 Rory once he hit it, you could see on the 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:22.960 TV feed like he leaves the room right away. He 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.240 goes down the hallway to the locker room. The Netflix 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.000 crew is there following him. Mike Wand comes up at 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:29.360 one point and is like, do we want them there? 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:30.800 Do we want them there? I think I think talking 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:33.320 about the Netflix crew, like maybe we should kick them 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:34.880 out or whatever, or maybe like we're not doing a 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:39.760 good job protecting Rory from them or something. Then Rory 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.360 comes out after a few minutes. The other funny detail 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.440 that I think people would enjoy is that after that 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.760 point Bryson had finished and come into scoring and someone 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:49.760 from his team had to bring his bag to the 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:50.480 locker room. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.080 And he walked by us and I don't know who 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:52.400 it was. 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.640 It wasn't his cad or anything, but he looked at 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:56.480 us before he goes in, and he goes is Rory 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.560 in there, like pointing to the locker room, and we're 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.200 like yeah, and the guy his face just felt like, 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:02.960 you tell, the last thing in the world this guy 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.040 wanted to do is to bring Bryson Toto Shamba's bag 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:07.000 into the locker room where Rory. 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:08.840 Was, you know, experiencing the pain of his life. 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:11.560 Just like the word ashen when you describe somebody's face 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:12.560 was made for that moment. 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:14.480 It just fell over him. So he went in. 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:17.400 Rory comes out eventually the next Netflix cruise following him. 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.160 All of a sudden, there's a bunch of people following him, 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:21.880 one of whom is Sergio Garcia, who I don't even 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:23.800 think got to him, but was kind of like smiling 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.040 and talking to people. Yeah, and then Rory just from 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.960 a short walk there out into the parking lot loaded 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:31.720 up the bags. None of us were obviously going to 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:32.960 go up and talk to him, and we were just 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.880 kind of watching and then yeah, then pulled out and 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:40.280 was gone and that was the end of the story 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:40.880 right there. 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:42.720 That's it, man, that's it. Yeah. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.560 It was truly one of them, I think, the most 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:49.200 acutely painful thing I've ever personally seen on a golf course. 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:50.560 No, definitely, it definitely was. 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:58.960 All right, So what is so sick about what happened 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:04.320 on those last few holes, I think is that there 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.480 was a push in a poll with each shot that 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.640 Rory hit. He hit his approach into sixteen, the thought 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:16.400 is he has won the tournament. He misses that shorty 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.640 on the sixteenth green and the thought is he can't 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:25.640 possibly win this tournament. He misses the green on seventeen 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.680 and you think, all right, this is over. And then 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.440 he hits a great recovery from the bunker and your 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.640 thought is, oh, he could actually do this. And then 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:37.120 he misses the fairway on eighteen and kind of draws 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:42.000 a funky lie and you think, Okay, nope, this isn't happening. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.600 And then he hits a pretty good approach from there 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.920 and a pretty good chip and you're like, he could 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:49.920 get to a playoff. He could win it outright if 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.800 Bryson makes a mistake. Yeah, and then he misses that putt, 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.880 and at that point Bryson just has to make par 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.320 on the last hole, which was by no means a 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:06.959 foregone conclusion. But there was a kind of cruel, you know, 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.280 back and forth with each of those shots, and I 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.000 think that's part of what made it so painful. Yeah, 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:20.160 we've seen other meltdowns, other major losses, Jean van Derveld. 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:23.920 You know Adam Scott at that one open that Ernie 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:27.879 El's won. There have been obviously Greg Norman at the 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.640 ninety six Masters, but there was something about this sequence 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:39.160 of events that was specifically agonizing. So that's one theory 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.600 as to why it was so painful. Yeah, what are 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.960 some of your other thoughts as to why this had 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.639 such an impact seeing Rory go through this. 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.640 Yeah, the sort of. 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.720 Yo yo of hope that was dangled in front of 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.200 us is you're one hundred percent right. The other thing 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.399 I thought about I didn't see it spoken about as 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.080 much in the app math, but if Rory makes that 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.840 putt on eighteen, that up and down is so much 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.600 harder for Bryson because you're talking about, yeah, okay, he's 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:09.800 got to make a par to win. That's not easy, 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.040 and he did a wonderful job. But he also had 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.680 the security of knowing if I two Putt were going 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:16.920 to a playoff, it's not it's not dead. What about 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:18.840 what about that same situation where if you don't make 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:20.720 par you lose, you know what I mean? Like, that's 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.919 a completely different can of worms. So yes, I like 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:30.480 your theory. Certainly, the the idea of and this works 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:31.760 into the idea of, you know, should he stayed for 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:33.920 the media, should he not have? The fact that there's 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.439 ten years building up to this is another thing of 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.119 what makes it so painful. John van Develt, you know, 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.000 I watched the Netflix show with him yesterday, which, by 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:43.880 the way, John Van Develt is awesome, Like he really 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.320 seems like a cool guy. Really, he really liked him 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.399 both at the time the way he spoke and in 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:51.119