Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butcher podcast from your host,
Speaker 1: Claude Harmon. My guest is one of the voices of
Speaker 1: Golf Channel and NBC Golf, and I can't think of
Speaker 1: anyone to talk about the second major of the year
Speaker 1: that's just finished up in Quail Hollow, Greensboro. That's how
Speaker 1: much I'm traveling. Surprising, not surprising, Sancy, I mean, Scottie Scheffler. Man,
Speaker 1: it's he's he's good.
Speaker 2: Well, you're great, and it's Charlotte not Greensboro. Come on,
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, I've got no Claude Harmon, I mean,
Speaker 2: what are we doing here, Claude, Quail Hollow. Johnny Harris
Speaker 2: would be very upset with you to say Greensboro not Charlotte. Look, man,
Speaker 2: this guy is relentless. He is a relentless competitor. We
Speaker 2: haven't seen anything like this in quite some time, and
Speaker 2: I think this is the first time I can unequivocally
Speaker 2: say when he is at his best, he is the best.
Speaker 2: I know, he's right number one, and that's an easy
Speaker 2: thing to say. But a little bit of question. Rory
Speaker 2: career Grand Slam Xander wins two majors last year. You
Speaker 2: know you never know he'd only won only in quotations
Speaker 2: two majors at the same venue. Now it's a second
Speaker 2: leg of the four. I think he's in a completely
Speaker 2: different category now, Claude, and I don't think it's gonna
Speaker 2: stop anytime soon. Doesn't mean that he's not gonna it
Speaker 2: doesn't mean he's gonna win every time. But I don't
Speaker 2: think his relentless pursuit is going to stop anytime soon.
Speaker 1: Last four seasons, let me just throw some numbers at you.
Speaker 1: Eighty two starts, forty five top fives, eighteen wins, three majors,
Speaker 1: two players championship, won a gold medal. It's missed four cuts.
Speaker 1: I think the last cutting miss was in Memphis in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. Obviously, plays a lot of tournaments now
Speaker 1: where there are no cuts. Seventy five million in official money,
Speaker 1: just past DJ one hundred and forty weeks at world
Speaker 1: number one. The obvious comparison when you throw up Steve
Speaker 1: numbers like that is everybody gets compared to Tiger Woods.
Speaker 1: And we've always been talking where's the next Tiger Woods?
Speaker 1: And I think, I mean it's a hard comparison because
Speaker 1: Tiger did it for almost twenty years fifteen years and dominated.
Speaker 1: But in your opinion, is someone that sees Scotty day
Speaker 1: in and day out. You follow him, you commentate on him,
Speaker 1: you interview him. Is this as good as we've seen
Speaker 1: from a non Tiger Woods, including the stuff that Rory
Speaker 1: McElroy has done over the last because I think Rory's
Speaker 1: had that career lengthwise, He's you know, was sitting on
Speaker 1: four majors, just got the Grand Slam. I think Rory's
Speaker 1: in a category by himself as well. But the guy
Speaker 1: just we played a practice on DJ, played a practice
Speaker 1: round with him and Gary Woodland on Monday, and it's
Speaker 1: impressive without being impressive, Like he hits the drive. I
Speaker 1: don't think he gets enough credit for how goody hits
Speaker 1: the driver. I don't think he gets enough credit for
Speaker 1: how long he is. I don't think if short game
Speaker 1: gets enough credit. And when you watch him, I think
Speaker 1: because the feet are all over the place, and I
Speaker 1: mean he almost fell down three times. I'm fifteen. He
Speaker 1: hit it on the slope on the par five a
Speaker 1: little above his feet on Monday, and he hit this
Speaker 1: beautiful high draw in there almost fell over. But Shane
Speaker 1: Lowry said to me last year he's impressive without being impressive.
Speaker 1: But the numbers are a joke. How good they are.
Speaker 2: Well, there's nothing worse to me in sports than rubbing
Speaker 2: the anointing oil all over somebody before its time. The
Speaker 2: comparisons are getting really, really close to being fair, Claude,
Speaker 2: like you said, I mean, there have been players, you
Speaker 2: know that debate hot versus great. Every good PGA Tour
Speaker 2: players has a hot run. Doesn't mean majors, but he
Speaker 2: has a hot run. But if you look at Padrick
Speaker 2: Harrington three majors in two seasons, Nick Price three majors
Speaker 2: in three seasons, Rory McElroy four majors in three seasons
Speaker 2: eleven to fourteen, four seasons, I guess, Jordan Spieth three
Speaker 2: majors from fifteen to seventeen. You know, can Scotty sustain it?
Speaker 2: What's the difference between Scotty and those guys. I mean,
Speaker 2: those guys are all time great players, but they are
Speaker 2: not quite in the category of those top ten players
Speaker 2: of all time, top twelve, fifteen players of all time,
Speaker 2: not just yet except McElroy. Now mclroy has sustained it
Speaker 2: over time. The thing that makes me think that Scotty
Speaker 2: has the ability to sustain this. And remember Claude, this
Speaker 2: is crazy. Twenty seven months ago he had no wins
Speaker 2: on the PGA Tour none, none, I mean, think about that,
Speaker 2: and now he has, is it right? Twenty seven? When
Speaker 2: did you win twenty two? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, one in twenty two at Phoenix, which managed it.
Speaker 2: So that's three years ago. So we're talking thirty six,
Speaker 2: you know, thirty eight months ago he had no wins.
Speaker 2: Now he has fifteen, including three majors and two players
Speaker 2: that's insane. And when he did and the FedEx Cup
Speaker 2: end Player of the Year and number one. And if
Speaker 2: there was a money list, the money list, they don't
Speaker 2: have any and all name and all all of them.
Speaker 2: By the way, he won a million times when he
Speaker 2: was a kid. He won a million times at Texas.
Speaker 2: He took his time a little bit to get out
Speaker 2: of the PGA Tour, little Cornferry Tour action. All of
Speaker 2: a sudden he's blistering the field. Here's what makes me
Speaker 2: think he can sustain this. Rory, I guess from eleven
Speaker 2: to fourteen had this, but not Nick and not Jordan.
Speaker 2: If he doesn't win, Claude he's top eight every time.
Speaker 2: There's no miscut tye for fifty seventh win, tye for eleventh,
Speaker 2: tie for fourth, ty for twenty ninth win. It's win
Speaker 2: eighth six, four win win third, ninth six.
Speaker 1: It's nuts.
Speaker 2: His consistency is beyond belief. And I do think, I
Speaker 2: really do think we are, without being premature about it,
Speaker 2: we're looking at something really really special here in Scotty Well.
Speaker 1: We had the hand injury early, so we started late,
Speaker 1: and I think the worst finish he has this year
Speaker 1: I was looking at the other day is like twenty
Speaker 1: second or twenty fifth, right, and then if you look
Speaker 1: at the stats from last week, you know it's first
Speaker 1: in total strokes game, he's fifth off the tee, fourteenth
Speaker 1: in approach, fifth around the greens, Tita green, he's number one,
Speaker 1: twenty third. And putting, I mean there was a time
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago where people were talking about
Speaker 1: he's a bad putter. I'm like, the guy's won eighteen times, yea,
Speaker 1: how the hell can you be a bad putter. But
Speaker 1: my point behind it is he doesn't have this thing
Speaker 1: that stands out when you watch Rory McElroy play golf
Speaker 1: and you watch the things that he does. He has
Speaker 1: a differentiator. Right, the driver is a huge differentiator, the
Speaker 1: ability that he has to hit the golf behind. And
Speaker 1: I think a lot of players that dominate and that
Speaker 1: are superstars in golf, Sansy have something that you know,
Speaker 1: Jordan was the greatest putter on the planet from twenty
Speaker 1: to forty feet, right, you know these guys when Brooks
Speaker 1: was on his dominant run, he was doing things DJ
Speaker 1: dominated with the driver. Scotty dominates because I think he
Speaker 1: is the superpower. I think the way that he goes
Speaker 1: about his life, the way he lives his life, both
Speaker 1: on and off the golf course, is I think very unique.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have social media. He and his wife Mayor
Speaker 1: they play puzzles at night. You know, he's not doing
Speaker 1: the things that a lot of modern day athletes in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five are doing. You've interviewed him, you've been
Speaker 1: around him. What do you think makes him special as
Speaker 1: a person.
Speaker 2: I think the most incredible thing about him and the era. Look,
Speaker 2: you and I are much older than he is. You know,
Speaker 2: he's twenty eight years old. He's grown up in a
Speaker 2: social media era. He's grown up in a you know,
Speaker 2: a posting era. He's grown up in an era where
Speaker 2: whether you're going out for a scoop of ice cream
Speaker 2: or you're going on a cool vacation, that you just
Speaker 2: tell the world exactly what you're doing at all times,
Speaker 2: not in a show off way, but just because that's
Speaker 2: what kids do. That's what people do in this era.
Speaker 2: I have never been around anybody in sports where and
Speaker 2: I mean this sincerely, in all sports. He cares about
Speaker 2: winning tournaments and that's it. The endorsements come with play.
Speaker 2: The social media aspect, as you said, is mil He's
Speaker 2: married to the woman of his dreams. He's got a child,
Speaker 2: high separt, his parents are together, his sisters are wonderful.
Speaker 2: Did you hear what his dad said on Sunday when
Speaker 2: he hugged him. I'm so proud of you for not
Speaker 2: giving up. I'm so proud of you for not giving up.
Speaker 2: And that means he understands exactly what Scotty is all about.
Speaker 2: And Scotty is not going to trip over himself in
Speaker 2: a personal way, and he is all about winning golf tournaments.
Speaker 2: He was like that as a junior, he was like
Speaker 2: that in college, and he's liked that as a professional.
Speaker 2: I'll give you one quick story. We were in Houston
Speaker 2: earlier this year. Steven Jeger, the defending champion, beat Scotty
Speaker 2: Scheffler on the last hole a year ago in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four. So I was on the practice putting green
Speaker 2: on Wednesday in Houston with Steven Jaeger. Say Steven, what's
Speaker 2: the key to playing with Scotty? What's it like playing
Speaker 2: with Scotty right now? And he said, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2: He's not intimidating to play with, like Tiger was intimidating
Speaker 2: to play with, and Scott he's not intimidating to play with.
Speaker 2: That said, really, why is that he goes? Because he's
Speaker 2: just such a nice guy. He's congenial, he's polite. He's
Speaker 2: not a slow player, he's not a fast player. He
Speaker 2: does the right things out on the golf course. He says,
Speaker 2: nice shot, He'll chat with you a little bit when
Speaker 2: he gets focused. He's focused. But he's not an intimidating person.
Speaker 2: He goes, but his greatness is intimidating. His shot making
Speaker 2: is intimidating. And when you see his knee, this is
Speaker 2: in Houston, this is he had not yet won this year, Claude,
Speaker 2: he said, when you see his name on a leaderboard,
Speaker 2: you say, here we go again, And this is from
Speaker 2: a professional golfer who beat him a year ago. So
Speaker 2: Scotty is a singularly focused man when it comes to
Speaker 2: his professional golf. He also has his life in order
Speaker 2: at home, seemingly too much in order for a twenty
Speaker 2: eight year old guy, but you know that's up to him.
Speaker 2: And right now, you know it's going to be very,
Speaker 2: very very difficult to stop him if he is playing
Speaker 2: his best. And he sure played very very well, especially
Speaker 2: late on Saturday. One quick thing, Claude, And you know
Speaker 2: this more than anybody. I think he won that tournament.
Speaker 2: He won that championship on Thursday, yeap one the greats
Speaker 2: of the great even good PJA tour players don't always
Speaker 2: do this, but the greats do this. They take seventy
Speaker 2: fives and make them seventy twos. They take seventy twos
Speaker 2: and make them sixty nines. And he he took a
Speaker 2: day on Thursday where he was hitting all over the
Speaker 2: place and really really scored his golf ball. Then he
Speaker 2: had the three hole stretch on Saturday to give him
Speaker 2: the cushion which allowed him to hit the ball left
Speaker 2: like a fifteen handicap every single drive on Sunday for
Speaker 2: the first nine holes, and then as if he's a
Speaker 2: team sport athlete. He can't walk to the mound to
Speaker 2: talk to the pitcher. He can't take a twenty or
Speaker 2: a thirty or a full time out in basketball. He
Speaker 2: can't just call a timeout like you do in hockey.
Speaker 2: In golf, he can't do that. He reset things on
Speaker 2: the back nine when John Ron caught him, and the
Speaker 2: thing was over thirty minutes later, and that just speaks
Speaker 2: to how great he is.
Speaker 1: You mentioned on Thursday in the caddy area on Friday morning,
Speaker 1: because DJ was late early, I was in there and
Speaker 1: very much like Tiger, very much like Rory, everybody, the caddies,
Speaker 1: the coaches, the players that were in there, everybody around
Speaker 1: the game was talking about what he did on Thursday.
Speaker 1: And I don't think the fans see it the way
Speaker 1: that we see it because we know that it's the ultimate.
Speaker 1: You can lose a major on the first day, you
Speaker 1: can't win it. But he did something that everybody that's
Speaker 1: in the game just went, wow, do you see that
Speaker 1: finish from Scotty yesterday? And they all just smile and
Speaker 1: they shake their head. His caddy Ted Scott, who won
Speaker 1: two Masters with Bubba Watson. He's got five now five
Speaker 1: Majors that he's caddy four. He said. He doesn't care
Speaker 1: about the fame. He doesn't care about the money. Yes,
Speaker 1: he gets paid, but what inspires him is so pure.
Speaker 1: It's almost like he's an amateur playing for the love
Speaker 1: of the game and the love of the competition. It's
Speaker 1: like he's Bobby Jones. I think the Ted Scott addition
Speaker 1: has been massive for Scotty Sheffler. My uncle Billy, who
Speaker 1: you know well, I've had him on the podcast. I
Speaker 1: asked him, was it take to be a great caddy?
Speaker 1: He said, find a great player. Scotty Scheffler was going
Speaker 1: to be a great But I think the team that
Speaker 1: he and Ted Scott are on the golf course. They
Speaker 1: are both very similar people, very much grounded in faith
Speaker 1: and church, and they live their life in private and
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. Say, he reminds me a
Speaker 1: little bit of Adam Scott, In't that. I remember when
Speaker 1: Adam Scott went to number one in the world and
Speaker 1: won the Masters. We were having dinner like three weeks later
Speaker 1: or a month later at the Players and we're all
Speaker 1: sitting there and I was like, Hey, so, what are
Speaker 1: you been doing. He was like, oh, well, Marie and
Speaker 1: I got married the other day. I'm like, you're the
Speaker 1: number one golfer in the world. You've just won the Masters.
Speaker 1: And I think Scotty Scheffler is a great example in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five that if you really want to live
Speaker 1: your life in private, it's pretty easy.
Speaker 2: Without question.
Speaker 1: He's the number one golfer on the planet and he
Speaker 1: moves around with an ease. And I also think that
Speaker 1: that helps him massively because I think he feels the pressure,
Speaker 1: but I don't think I think he looks at it
Speaker 1: very differently than some other professional athlete. He doesn't seem
Speaker 1: burdened by the pressure.
Speaker 2: No, I think he embraces the pressure. He doesn't fight it.
Speaker 2: I asked your father one time, what's the key to
Speaker 2: being a great instructor, and he said, very similar to
Speaker 2: being a great caddie. Obviously you find a great player.
Speaker 2: He goes. But it's part instruction and part sports psychologist.
Speaker 2: And Ted Scott is the right sounding board for Scotty.
Speaker 2: He's the right religious you know, nature, the right demeanor
Speaker 2: for him, knows when to talk Texas football, with him,
Speaker 2: knows when to talk four iron off of a side,
Speaker 2: he'll alive with him, understands his subject as well as anybody.
Speaker 2: And that's a credit to Ted. But it's also a
Speaker 2: credit to Scotty because Scotty doesn't have to listen to anybody.
Speaker 2: He can do whatever the heck he wants because he's
Speaker 2: that great. And I think that, you know, I was
Speaker 2: thinking about this the other day. I don't know why
Speaker 2: if Full Swing came out next year as opposed to
Speaker 2: three years ago, Scotty wouldn't have agreed to do it.
Speaker 2: He's not that kind of guy. And I think he
Speaker 2: probably I've never asked him about this, but I think
Speaker 2: he watched it and said, you know what, I'm not
Speaker 2: comfortable with that. And he did nothing wrong. It was
Speaker 2: perfectly fine, and the Full Swing show was great. It's
Speaker 2: been great for golf. But I just don't think that's
Speaker 2: Scotty's cup of tea. And I think Scotty is the
Speaker 2: kind of guy who is a rinse and repeat guy.
Speaker 2: He's going to celebrate with Meredith Bennett, his parents, his sister,
Speaker 2: Randy Blake, his team and everybody, and then he's going
Speaker 2: to move along and he'll show up probably at the
Speaker 2: Canadian Open or wherever he shows up next, the US
Speaker 2: Open at Oakmah, the Memorial, wherever he shows up next,
Speaker 2: and just practice, practice, pro am, play four days and
Speaker 2: let's see what happens. I just think that he is
Speaker 2: motivated by greatness. He's not motivated by anything else. I
Speaker 2: also think I think he knows that it was a
Speaker 2: big deal to win one of the other three majors.
Speaker 2: When you win like John Rahm. It was a very
Speaker 2: big deal for John to win the US Open and
Speaker 2: the Masters. It's a very big deal. Obviously Rory in
Speaker 2: the Grand Slam, but when you know there are a
Speaker 2: lot of guys who've won two of the same Greg Norman,
Speaker 2: Andy North, Lee Jansen, all fabulous players.
Speaker 1: But when you really want.
Speaker 2: To put yourself in a different category, you got to
Speaker 2: perform in the other ones as well. You can't just
Speaker 2: be a one trick pony, and Scotty certainly is not
Speaker 2: a one trick pony man. He if it wasn't golf claude,
Speaker 2: you'd call him a baller. He's a baller man. He
Speaker 2: just wants to kick your butt and rip your heart out,
Speaker 2: and he does it with a smile. And in a
Speaker 2: congenial manner, and my goodness, is he great.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Randy Smith. He and Randy have been working
Speaker 1: together since he was seven years old. Randy Smith's son,
Speaker 1: Blake Smith, he's his agent. He's also the agent or
Speaker 1: Rooks Kepta. I know Blake very well. I know Randy
Speaker 1: very well. Randy is very much in the instructor coach
Speaker 1: vein like my father is very old school. They don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of gadgets and stuff that influence. I
Speaker 1: talked to Randy and we were talking on Friday, and
Speaker 1: I was asking him, you know, his attention to detail.
Speaker 1: And I talked about this on a podcast that I
Speaker 1: did last week where we were talking about Scotty his
Speaker 1: attention to detail with the grip and the way he
Speaker 1: always kind of goes back to the range and stuff.
Speaker 1: I asked Randy about that and he said, we've changed
Speaker 1: his grip two times. And I was like, okay, cool,
Speaker 1: tell me about it. He goes, yeah, once when he
Speaker 1: was thirteen, and I'm like, and then once when he
Speaker 1: was in college, and I'm like, that is just so
Speaker 1: unbelievably rare in the modern game. His golf swing is
Speaker 1: unique in that it's a little bit of kind of
Speaker 1: a throwback in that there are so many players. When
Speaker 1: you walk up and down the PGA tour now, you
Speaker 1: don't see funky grips anymore. You don't see the all
Speaker 1: asier type swings. You see everybody kind of the same
Speaker 1: size as Scutty now, but they all put the golf
Speaker 1: club in a beautiful position, like Adam Scott or Tommy Fleetwood.
Speaker 1: And I love the fact that at all of the majors,
Speaker 1: regardless it seems as to how he plays, he's always
Speaker 1: back at the range working on something. There is a
Speaker 1: simplicity in the things that he and Randy work on.
Speaker 1: The role of having someone like Randy Smith, who's been
Speaker 1: his coach since he was seven, I think is yet
Speaker 1: another example of just kind of who he is and
Speaker 1: the way that he values people and things off the
Speaker 1: golf course.
Speaker 2: He likes consistency, he likes normalcy, and he likes to
Speaker 2: be comfortable, and he's very comfortable with his team. He's
Speaker 2: very comfortable in the way he lives his life. Like
Speaker 2: you said, and what's amazing to me about the Randy
Speaker 2: and Scotty relationship is I think and you could speak
Speaker 2: to this way more than me. But your first inclination
Speaker 2: is to always try to lend your expertise in whatever
Speaker 2: field it is. You are one of the great instructors
Speaker 2: in the world. Randy is one of the great instructors
Speaker 2: in the world. You instruct, So if I came to
Speaker 2: you down to the Floridian and needed a lesson, you
Speaker 2: would instruct. And that's what you do, whatever the level is.
Speaker 2: Randy has told me numerous times. I joke with him
Speaker 2: about the footwork and the swing isn't exactly right where
Speaker 2: it's supposed to be, and the grip, the whole thing that.
Speaker 2: He just kind of looks at me laugh He goes,
Speaker 2: you gonna change that? What do you want to do
Speaker 2: with that? What am I supposed to do with that?
Speaker 2: And I think it's just I think it speaks to
Speaker 2: Randy's expertise and his confidence in himself. I also think,
Speaker 2: and this is a big thing with me, I'm old again.
Speaker 2: I'm going to say that again. Analytics has become so
Speaker 2: big in sports. Science has become so big in sports.
Speaker 2: I think sometimes we lose sight. I'm not against it,
Speaker 2: but I think sometimes we lose sight of the fact.
Speaker 2: No matter whether it's an individual sport like golfer, tennis,
Speaker 2: or the team sports. I think we lose sight of
Speaker 2: the fact of momentum, adrenaline, conditions, time and date, whatever's
Speaker 2: going on. Is your wife sick at home? Is she
Speaker 2: pregnant and going to be do any time? Who knows
Speaker 2: what's going on in your life. Sometimes science and data
Speaker 2: can't do that. And when I see Scotti Scheffler, I
Speaker 2: see an artist and not a scientist. And to me,
Speaker 2: the greats of all time in this sport are artists
Speaker 2: and not scientists. Because at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: when you've got to pull one out and John Rahm
Speaker 2: has tied you, and he's won two majors, and he's
Speaker 2: playing great, and you're playing like a dog, and you're
Speaker 2: two over through nine and you're hitting every shot left
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, when you've got to pull one out,
Speaker 2: you've got to rely on your ability, your confidence, and
Speaker 2: just the artistry of the sport whatever it is you're playing,
Speaker 2: in this case golf, and not the analytics and the
Speaker 2: data and the science. So point you just got to
Speaker 2: step up there and be a man. And that's what
Speaker 2: Scotty did on the back nine yesterday, and it just
Speaker 2: proves everything that he and Randy have talked about privately
Speaker 2: and publicly for years. This is how I play, Come
Speaker 2: get me. And he played great on those last night
Speaker 2: holes after playing the first night holes not so great.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was not looking great for him there
Speaker 2: for a second. There's no way you can convince me
Speaker 2: that when John Ram tied him with all that momentum
Speaker 2: and guys were getting to within one and two shots
Speaker 2: and Scotty was hitting the ball all over the place,
Speaker 2: I don't know, man, it was looking squirrely, and he
Speaker 2: stepped up. And I think that, to me speaks to
Speaker 2: his inner confidence and his ability to adjust. And I
Speaker 2: think if you rely too much on science, too much
Speaker 2: on data, too much on analytics in sports, at some
Speaker 2: point that could get in your way. What can never
Speaker 2: get in your way is you being you. Micholson once
Speaker 2: told me. I asked him one time, do you think
Speaker 2: you won the right amount of turns? And he kind
Speaker 2: of looked at me and laugh because what do you mean?
Speaker 2: I said, well, forty five six majors and a player's
Speaker 2: I mean, Jesus, you're a top ten player in the
Speaker 2: history of the sport. Some people think you should have
Speaker 2: won seventy times, but you took too many chances. And
Speaker 2: he said, I won the exact amount I should have won.
Speaker 2: I go, really, why is that? I was just curious?
Speaker 2: And he said, because I did it my way. If
Speaker 2: I played more conservatively, I wouldn't have won forty five,
Speaker 2: six and one. If I would have played my way.
Speaker 2: I can live with my resume. And that's exactly what
Speaker 2: it is. And I think Scotty's the same, different personality
Speaker 2: than Phil, different player than Phil, but Scotty's doing it
Speaker 2: his way, Claude, and my goodness, is his way working.
Speaker 1: You know? I read that. You know we missed every
Speaker 1: ball left. And Teddy Scott finally said to him, Hey,
Speaker 1: maybe it's just Nam a little bit more right, Maybe
Speaker 1: it's just Dame over there. Sure, no one like in
Speaker 1: the moment, and you're right with the way that we
Speaker 1: are all now in the data and information age and
Speaker 1: the technique age that's in the game. The game is
Speaker 1: being played while you're on the field. That type of
Speaker 1: comment from Teddy Scott, Hey, just maybe just a little
Speaker 1: bit more right. No one thinks that, like everybody's gonna think, okay,
Speaker 1: is my angle of attack to Steve am I coming
Speaker 1: too much from me into out Teddy, Scott just goes, Hey,
Speaker 1: just aim more to the right. I thought it was
Speaker 1: great blud.
Speaker 2: In baseball, a pitching coach can go to the mound
Speaker 2: and say, hey, listen, I'm just seeing that that that
Speaker 2: index finger is just a little bit off and you're
Speaker 2: you're not You're falling off to the left side, and
Speaker 2: that's why your your pitches are not going over the plate.
Speaker 2: In basketball, in hockey, in football, in all these different sports,
Speaker 2: you can have a coach or a teammate or somebody
Speaker 2: say something to you, correct me if I'm wrong, unless
Speaker 2: they've changed things at the turn. Scotty can't go over
Speaker 2: to Randy Smith and outside the ropes and go, hey, Randy,
Speaker 2: anything you see here because every drive is going left. Now,
Speaker 2: that's not how it works in golf. So to me,
Speaker 2: that speaks vaults to not only the confidence and trust
Speaker 2: that Ted has to say something like that, but the
Speaker 2: confidence and the ability that Scotty has to take a
Speaker 2: half step back and go, yeah, you know what, let's
Speaker 2: do that, and then it feels good and then he goes.
Speaker 2: I just think that there's a lot to him in
Speaker 2: a very simplistic way, and it is wonderful to watch,
Speaker 2: and I know we're going crazy here talking about him. McElroy.
Speaker 2: We were talking about him the day after the Masters,
Speaker 2: after winning the career Grand Slam, but he goes about
Speaker 2: his business in a different way. I think those two
Speaker 2: have separated themselves from the rest of the guys right now.
Speaker 2: Things could change, you know, Xander could change and get
Speaker 2: back on track and all these different guys. But right now,
Speaker 2: it's the Scotty and Rory show and going to Oakmont
Speaker 2: I think is going to be a lot of fun because,
Speaker 2: as you said, I don't think there's a lot stopping
Speaker 2: Scotty right now other than Rory. If Rory does figure
Speaker 2: out that driver for whatever reason, he did not play
Speaker 2: well last week a Quel Hollow, so you know who knows.
Speaker 2: But Scottie right now is just awesome, awesome, all right, So.
Speaker 1: Put you on the spot who ends their career with
Speaker 1: more majors. We've got Brooks at five, yeah, got three
Speaker 1: at five. We've got Scotty and Jordan at three, Rom Bryson, Xander,
Speaker 1: Maricoo and JT at two. So if you had to
Speaker 1: put your money on it right now, because again we
Speaker 1: can sit here and argue and talk and debate about
Speaker 1: the Tiger Scotty comparisons, but you can't go back in
Speaker 1: time and bring prime Tiger to this year. Right now.
Speaker 1: I think ry McElroy is you know, I mean, just
Speaker 1: won the Grand Slam. I don't think his best golf
Speaker 1: is behind him. I think he's still going to be
Speaker 1: a favorite to win every major for the next five years.
Speaker 1: So out of that group, who you putting your money
Speaker 1: on to have and what's the ceiling, right? Who gets
Speaker 1: to seven? Who gets to maybe eight? Can one of
Speaker 1: these guys get to double digits.
Speaker 2: I think Rory is going to get to seven, maybe eight.
Speaker 2: I think Scotty's eight years younger, maybe seven years younger,
Speaker 2: I believe, and I think Scotty will pass him. Brooks
Speaker 2: is just so great at these big events. I think
Speaker 2: that there might be another one in there for Brooks
Speaker 2: to get to six. They're just so hard to win.
Speaker 2: Would Jack famously tell me one time, Let me get
Speaker 2: this right, you can't find your game at a major.
Speaker 2: You have to bring your game to a major, is
Speaker 2: what Jack once told me. So you get four shots
Speaker 2: out of the year, you've got to be prepped and
Speaker 2: ready to go. But if I had to put my
Speaker 2: house on one guy, even though he's two behind Brooks
Speaker 2: and Rory. Right now, I think he's only twenty eight
Speaker 2: years of age, and because of all the things we've
Speaker 2: already talked about, his life is perfectly in order. Everything
Speaker 2: right now is seemingly working for Scotty. If he stays healthy,
Speaker 2: I think Scotty will surpass Brooks and Rory, and I
Speaker 2: think he would be the one in that group anyway
Speaker 2: who could potentially get to double digits. Potentially, but there's
Speaker 2: a long long way to go. When we left twenty
Speaker 2: fourteen and McElroy had already won three of the four
Speaker 2: legs of the Crater, I thought he'd have ten by
Speaker 2: now two. And you just never know. You just never know.
Speaker 2: I do think, however, I do think Claude, and maybe
Speaker 2: I'm wrong, but I think what happened in the last
Speaker 2: eleven years at the Majors, not the regular events, because
Speaker 2: Rory certainly won a bunch, but at the Majors he
Speaker 2: might do what he was supposed to do in the
Speaker 2: next eleven years from thirty five to forty six, that
Speaker 2: he was supposed to do from twenty four to thirty
Speaker 2: five and end up with seven or eight majors, which
Speaker 2: is what we all thought was going to happen. Maybe
Speaker 2: even ten, who knows. But I think McElroy is in
Speaker 2: a different category than everybody else out there, except for Scotty,
Speaker 2: but I probably just because of age and opportunities going forward.
Speaker 2: I would have to say, even though he's two behind
Speaker 2: him right now, I would say Scotty if I had
Speaker 2: to put my house on it. You, Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 1: I mean, I definitely think Rom is going to be
Speaker 1: a factor. I think Bryson is definitely going to be
Speaker 1: a factor. Just before I get to Bryson and Rom.
Speaker 1: Strange week for Rory, the driver's testing issue didn't play
Speaker 1: well and no media for four days. Shane and Rorty
Speaker 1: have both commented that they think that sometimes golf is
Speaker 1: a little different than other sports. That in other sports
Speaker 1: it's mandatory, right, you can't skip right like NFL, NBA,
Speaker 1: you have to. It's contractual, it's in the contract you
Speaker 1: have to do media. Rory chose to do no media
Speaker 1: for four days. Masters Champion.
Speaker 2: You make anything of that, Yeah, I think it's bad.
Speaker 2: I think it's a bad look. But I also think
Speaker 2: that people need to understand this. This is a very
Speaker 2: clear distinction here between the athletes and the media and
Speaker 2: the world of golf. They don't owe the media anything.
Speaker 2: They do owe the golf world something, and the media
Speaker 2: happens to be the conduit between the greatest players in
Speaker 2: the world and the golf world. So to me, a
Speaker 2: player cannot just talk when things are going great. A
Speaker 2: player has got to stand there and take it. Greg
Speaker 2: Norman in ninety six, Ernie else in two thousand and four,
Speaker 2: Jean van Develd in ninety nine, go back in all time,
Speaker 2: you know, you name it. Guys have to stand Phil
Speaker 2: Mickelson and six at wingfoot. You gotta stand there and
Speaker 2: take it, because, you know what, whether it's mandatory or not,
Speaker 2: it's part of the job. You have sponsors, you have fans,
Speaker 2: and you have the golf world at large, and the
Speaker 2: media happens to be the conduit between you and them.
Speaker 2: You don't owe the media anything, but I do think
Speaker 2: you owe the golf world something. And I think it
Speaker 2: was a mistake. I think he made a mistake last
Speaker 2: year at Pinehurst, and I think he made a mistake
Speaker 2: this past week. All four days. To me, that's weird.
Speaker 2: But I will say the face of the driver issue, Claude,
Speaker 2: This sport can be so great in its traditions, but
Speaker 2: it can also be so stupid in his traditions. Can
Speaker 2: we get some transparency? Can we test every week? Can
Speaker 2: we test every driver every week? Because you're killing the player.
Speaker 2: You are allowing these wackos on social media to say
Speaker 2: stupid things like, well, Rory cheated to win the Masters
Speaker 2: because he didn't have a driver that was conforming. Rory
Speaker 2: didn't cheat, Scott, he didn't cheat. It happens every week.
Speaker 2: You and I know this. Xander Schafflee at Royal Port
Speaker 2: Rush didn't cheat and he was hearing it from some people.
Speaker 2: You and I both know this. Everybody in and around
Speaker 2: professional golf knows that these guys get tested, but not
Speaker 2: every one of them does. And they all should be tested.
Speaker 2: And the USGA, the PGA of America, the R and N,
Speaker 2: the PGA Tour, Live Golf, everybody in the ecosystem DP
Speaker 2: World Tour, everybody in the ecosystem of professional golf should
Speaker 2: be transparent with suspensions and with fines, with slow play,
Speaker 2: and also with this, the idea that you're protecting the
Speaker 2: player is just a false narrative. This is not thirty
Speaker 2: years ago. Social media stuff travels and bad stuff can
Speaker 2: happen when you're not transparent, and I think it's unfair
Speaker 2: to the players. It's unfair to Rory, unfair to Scotty
Speaker 2: and every other player who has a driver taken away
Speaker 2: unbeknownst to them. They did not cheat, and the RNA
Speaker 2: and the USGA should absolutely be transparent with that, and
Speaker 2: they should test every driver, not the third of the field.
Speaker 2: That's ridiculous. They got to change that club.
Speaker 1: I think so. I mean, I think it was Tuesday.
Speaker 1: We're at the Masters, were on the driving range. My
Speaker 1: dad and I were talking to Phil and Phil was
Speaker 1: hitting I've already said, but you I've never driven it better.
Speaker 1: I'm driving it long and everything. They tested his driver
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning. He was twenty minutes late for the for
Speaker 1: the game that he was going to play with DJ,
Speaker 1: and his driver got taken out. First thing that happened.
Speaker 1: DJ's on the range. It's either Monday or early Tuesday.
Speaker 1: I think it was Tuesday they came and tested his driver.
Speaker 1: I agree with you that the governing bodies of the
Speaker 1: four Majors, I do think have an obligation to make
Speaker 1: it so as it doesn't look to the fans, right,
Speaker 1: these guys are doing something wrong that the exactly work
Speaker 1: that you know, they're stealing signs like they do in
Speaker 1: other sports. I do think that four times a year
Speaker 1: they could test everybody's driver if that's an issue.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a one hundred Hey, test all you want.
Speaker 2: But protect the player, yeah, sure. Now, if a player's cheating,
Speaker 2: then a player's cheating. This is not a player cheating.
Speaker 2: This is not someone nudging a ball or doing something goofy.
Speaker 2: This is a testing issue with drivers in new technology
Speaker 2: and thin club faces, and sometimes after you hit that
Speaker 2: driver for a year like Scotty has a billion times,
Speaker 2: it's not going to be conforming and the player does
Speaker 2: not know that. So enough already with throwing these players
Speaker 2: under the bus, it's ridiculous that the governing bodies don't
Speaker 2: protect them, in my opinion, in this particular instance, if
Speaker 2: a player cheats by the way, Claude, hey, I'm all
Speaker 2: four you knowing it. Social media can know it, but
Speaker 2: in this particular case, protect the players. Man, It's just
Speaker 2: not right.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And here's the thing. I mean, there's nobody out
Speaker 1: there with their drivers. I mean, I've been on tour,
Speaker 1: gone to a truck from a manufacturer, And today I've
Speaker 1: got a junior player I'm working with. Any chance that
Speaker 1: you could build a driver for him and they will
Speaker 1: look at the numbers on the driver and go, yeah,
Speaker 1: give him this one. Because he's a junior golfer. It
Speaker 1: wouldn't pass a test on the PGA Tour. A tour
Speaker 1: player couldn't use it. So yeah, because the face is
Speaker 1: just a little bit hot and we would never run
Speaker 1: the risk of giving that to a player.
Speaker 2: Of course.
Speaker 1: Bryson, Yeah, the fans seem to love this guy. Is
Speaker 1: Bryson a needle mover in the game right now?
Speaker 2: I think Bryson Rory And interestingly, Scotty's greatness is starting
Speaker 2: to catch on. Not his personality per se, like Stephen
Speaker 2: Jeger said, and the raw ross stuff and the fist
Speaker 2: pumps and the yelling and screaming, but his greatness is
Speaker 2: the CJ Cup, which he won by a million shots.
Speaker 2: The ratings were way way up and he had a
Speaker 2: huge lead. So I was always I'm not a huge
Speaker 2: ratings guy, but it is interesting to see if Scotty
Speaker 2: can jump into that. Fray Bryson as popular as anybody
Speaker 2: in the world of golf, whether you want to call
Speaker 2: them antics or just energy. Uh, it's it's it's infectious.
Speaker 2: And he gives the people what they want called. He
Speaker 2: high fives and low fives kids as he walks from
Speaker 2: greens to Te's. You know, he he gets them pumped
Speaker 2: up doing his you know thing with the hands in
Speaker 2: the air. And you know what, he's good for the
Speaker 2: game man, you know. I mean, people can say what
Speaker 2: they want, whether they think it's genuine or not, whether
Speaker 2: they think it's a fraud or not. Get to know
Speaker 2: him a little bit. He's a little different than most
Speaker 2: people think. Is he a little bit on the quirky side,
Speaker 2: a little bit on the odter side, the most normal normal,
Speaker 2: normal normal people. Yeah, but you know what, he's an
Speaker 2: extraordinary talent. And he also has a mind that probably
Speaker 2: you know, maybe you but I can't fathom being that bright.
Speaker 2: I can't have him being that bright. And I think
Speaker 2: he's become a very very popular player. You can make
Speaker 2: a strong case he's one two three as far as
Speaker 2: popularity in the world.
Speaker 1: He's the complete one hundred and eighty degree opposite of
Speaker 1: Scotti Scheffler. He lives his life openly, he's using social media.
Speaker 1: What do you notice about his game that is impressing you,
Speaker 1: because I mean he's been all over the map like
Speaker 1: he's been. He was doing long drive. He got finished
Speaker 1: second the World Long Dry Championship. I mean he got
Speaker 1: Remember when we came back from COVID, he looked like
Speaker 1: a high school middle linebacker. But as someone that watches
Speaker 1: his game, what has impressed you about the arc and
Speaker 1: the evolution of his game.
Speaker 2: I think his short game is outrageous. With six irons,
Speaker 2: by the way exactly he bombs the ball off the tee.
Speaker 2: He hits the ball incredibly high. You know, the wind
Speaker 2: catches it a lot because he hits such a high ball.
Speaker 2: But his short game, his chipping and pitching claude are remarkable,
Speaker 2: I mean outrageously great. And what happens is when guys
Speaker 2: are bombing the ball and they're crushing the ball and
Speaker 2: the driving part of the game is so sexy, and
Speaker 2: the short game is not as sexy as far as
Speaker 2: watching it goes. It gets lost in the shuffle, and
Speaker 2: I think people don't understand and they're getting a great
Speaker 2: understanding of it now at just how amazing his short
Speaker 2: game is. I also think that you know, his work
Speaker 2: ethic is second to none. Now, it's not exactly the
Speaker 2: work ethic that I would probably take. It's not the
Speaker 2: work ethic that you would probably take, but it works
Speaker 2: for him. Scotty not on social media, Bryson is Scotty
Speaker 2: would never hit golf balls over his house. He doesn't
Speaker 2: want anybody seeing where he lives. Bryson hits golf balls
Speaker 2: over his house, goes on YouTube, has millions of followers
Speaker 2: and has a great time with it. Hey, different strokes
Speaker 2: for different folks. But the way he goes about his
Speaker 2: business on the golf course is incredible to watch, and
Speaker 2: the way he goes about his business off the golf course.
Speaker 2: He is great with kids, is great with golf fans.
Speaker 2: He is not faking that. He's been a big turnaround
Speaker 2: as far as what people think of Bryson, and I
Speaker 2: think that has everything to do with his maturity. He's
Speaker 2: getting older, and I just think he's he's enjoying it. Man.
Speaker 2: He has a lot of fun with the game, with
Speaker 2: the competition, and I also think he has a lot
Speaker 2: of fun with himself. So, you know, good for him
Speaker 2: for turning things around in that regard. But as far
Speaker 2: as his game goes, every time I see him chip
Speaker 2: and pitch, I just like wow. I mean, it's just wow.
Speaker 2: If his iron play ever gets up to snuff compared
Speaker 2: to what his short game is now, then it's gonna
Speaker 2: be a lot of Bryson on leaderboards every single time
Speaker 2: we see him.
Speaker 1: If you look at the last six majors he's played
Speaker 1: until last year, six at the Masters, second at the PGA,
Speaker 1: wins the US Open, Okay gets cut at the Open Championship,
Speaker 1: fifth at the Masters this year, tied for second. I
Speaker 1: get to see him week in and week out on
Speaker 1: lub Tanzi. He hits balls until dark after every single round,
Speaker 1: whether he shot sixty two or whether he's shot seventy two.
Speaker 1: He's the last person on the range every single day,
Speaker 1: every single day. And I just don't think he gets
Speaker 1: enough credit for his work ethic what I just read
Speaker 1: about his majors in the last year and a half,
Speaker 1: do you expect him to be one of those guys
Speaker 1: now that is just going to be on a major
Speaker 1: championship leader board for the next three to five years.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And by the way, to our point earlier, he
Speaker 2: knows he needs to win something other than two US Opens.
Speaker 2: He needs to get a different leg of the career
Speaker 2: Grand Slam, not all four of them. He would love that, obviously,
Speaker 2: but he doesn't want to be one of those guys.
Speaker 2: Who ah, I'm a two time US Open winner and
Speaker 2: didn't win any of the other ones. And he is
Speaker 2: so consistent at these majors as numbers you're reeled off
Speaker 2: are incredible, and you know, look, you've said this to
Speaker 2: me for years when we're out having a drink. You
Speaker 2: just have to give yourself an opportunity, you know, You've
Speaker 2: got to give yourself an opportunity. To the point earlier,
Speaker 2: Scotty gave himself, gave himself that opportunity on Thursday by
Speaker 2: digging it out of the dirt per se to shoot
Speaker 2: that sixty nine. Bryson does it all the time. And
Speaker 2: the more you put yourself in those you know, leaderboards
Speaker 2: late on Sunday, the better chance you have of clipping
Speaker 2: one of these things off. I don't think Bryson de
Speaker 2: Shamba is going anyway where anytime soon. At these major championships,
Speaker 2: he really brings him. Remember when Brooks said years ago,
Speaker 2: I think it's easier to win majors than it is
Speaker 2: to win regular events because there's just a certain number
Speaker 2: of players who just don't think they have the belief
Speaker 2: to get it done. Bryson knows he can get it done.
Speaker 2: He's crossed the finish line twice and I don't think
Speaker 2: he's gonna stop it too.
Speaker 1: You talked about John Rahm. I think it was great
Speaker 1: to see John Rahm get back into it. He did
Speaker 1: everything you needed to do to get to the back
Speaker 1: nine that you have to do to stay in contention
Speaker 1: in a major. He was making the long cutts, but
Speaker 1: the no birdies at Quail Hollow. I mean, Hunter may
Speaker 1: haven't made a comment last week about you know, Quail
Speaker 1: Hollow's like a Kardashian It looks great, but there's no
Speaker 1: substance and stuff. But if you think about a major
Speaker 1: championship venue, I think we had one last week at
Speaker 1: Quail Hollow in Charlotte, where you knew that there were
Speaker 1: four legit birdie chances for the entire round, right, you
Speaker 1: had to take care of the three par fives, right,
Speaker 1: so he had to take care of seven, had to
Speaker 1: take care of ten, had to take care of fifteen,
Speaker 1: and then fourteen's drivable. They put it that way. But
Speaker 1: other than that, you're just trying to hang on. So
Speaker 1: in that respect, John Rahm has that type of game,
Speaker 1: but he just didn't get it done on the holes
Speaker 1: that he needed to and then after that you got
Speaker 1: to just try and fire at every flag. And he
Speaker 1: lived in But because John Rahm went to live and
Speaker 1: there are a lot of people. You know, my dad
Speaker 1: was doing TV for Sky at the Masters and somebody
Speaker 1: sent me a clip. My Dad's going, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: Don Rom's been playing terrible lately. I had dinner with
Speaker 1: him that I said, Dad isn't finished outside the top
Speaker 1: ten like two and a half years, right. So the
Speaker 1: game that John Rahm has, I still think if there's
Speaker 1: a real world golf rankings, how he's not in the
Speaker 1: top ten. John Rahm is one of the top ten,
Speaker 1: top five best players in the world in my opinion,
Speaker 1: and I think the eye test shows that. Good to
Speaker 1: see him back in the mix in a major I
Speaker 1: think he needed that. I think the game needs that.
Speaker 2: Oh one hundred percent. It was great to see him back,
Speaker 2: great to see him playing well. I will say, I
Speaker 2: don't know how long it takes for me to think
Speaker 2: that something is a trend as opposed to an anomaly.
Speaker 2: But last year when we were in Paris, he had
Speaker 2: a three shot lead I think it was a three
Speaker 2: shot lead on the back nine and completely collapsed. He
Speaker 2: didn't really play a factor or a role in the Masters.
Speaker 2: It was the Bryson and Rory show. And then the
Speaker 2: next major championship he's tied for the lead, playing great
Speaker 2: and then basically collapsed on Monday at Quile Hollow. I
Speaker 2: think about worried about it, but it is interesting in
Speaker 2: his last two big spots he has not been able
Speaker 2: to close when he basically had it in his hands
Speaker 2: if he continued to play well. But John is a
Speaker 2: freakiusly great player, incredibly competitive, works his butt off. I
Speaker 2: think he's one of those guys like Bryson who's going
Speaker 2: to be around for a long time in major championships. Look,
Speaker 2: he went over to Live and everybody thought that's going
Speaker 2: to be the end of John Well. They thought that
Speaker 2: about Brooks and he wanted o kill. They thought that
Speaker 2: about Bryce and he wanted Pineers. John rom is going
Speaker 2: to be perfectly fine. I don't care what the official
Speaker 2: World Golf ranking says. Doesn't matter to me. If John
Speaker 2: Rahm is not one of your five or eight top
Speaker 2: players in the world, then you don't understand golf.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, listen. I sent a message as soon
Speaker 1: as he started making double bogies and stuff. I sent
Speaker 1: a message to a friend of mine. I said, wait
Speaker 1: for all the comments about they only play fifty four
Speaker 1: holes and they can't close, and your boy, the ultimate
Speaker 1: lib hater, randall on Que last night going on and
Speaker 1: on about this matres are hard to win. And if
Speaker 1: you look at six of the top ten players in
Speaker 1: the official World Golf rankings last week missed the Cup, JT. Ludwig,
Speaker 1: Jackie Russell, Henley Sepstrak and who just won, and Shane,
Speaker 1: they don't make the cut. And are we still I mean,
Speaker 1: I can go on my phone right now and it
Speaker 1: takes two seconds for me to find video and pictures
Speaker 1: from Mars right and we're still trying to talk about
Speaker 1: the fact that live in the PJA. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think the game and I did a podcast about this
Speaker 1: last week. Say, I think you can make an argument
Speaker 1: that for all everyone wants to talk about the doom
Speaker 1: and gloom, and I keep seeing amazing performances on the
Speaker 1: course from the best players in the world, and good
Speaker 1: players play bad, right, it happens like you're not gonna
Speaker 1: play good every week. You're not gonna have your best stuff.
Speaker 1: And you know, we've seen some of the best players
Speaker 1: in the world, some of the big young superstars, and
Speaker 1: a kid like Ludvig Goberg, I mean, you know, come
Speaker 1: close to missing the cut. Does that mean that his
Speaker 1: game is bad? Does that mean that he's not a
Speaker 1: great player? Does that mean he doesn't have a great
Speaker 1: future because he misses the cut in a major? If
Speaker 1: you want to go down that route, you could say, okay, well,
Speaker 1: these guys obviously aren't any good because they don't even
Speaker 1: make the cuts. If you're going to beat somebody up
Speaker 1: because he doesn't get it done on Sunday when he
Speaker 1: has a chance to win, when he takes the lead,
Speaker 1: I just can't we just get pass all of this
Speaker 1: stuff at this point?
Speaker 2: No, No, it won't happen because there are haters out there. Claude.
Speaker 2: It's a look, I don't care what tour you're on.
Speaker 2: If you're a great player, you're a great player. And
Speaker 2: sometimes great players in this sport in particular, just have
Speaker 2: bad days. And if you have one bad day, and
Speaker 2: that's Thursday or Friday. Then the chances are you're not
Speaker 2: going to make the cut and be able to play
Speaker 2: on Saturday and Sunday. I mean, what do you want?
Speaker 2: You can't have it both ways. You know. I got
Speaker 2: a text yesterday. I can't believe Rora didn't shoot a
Speaker 2: Sunday sixty three or sixty four to tie for seventh
Speaker 2: and have just this random top ten. I'm like, what
Speaker 2: do you odut of your mind? I go, you know,
Speaker 2: sometimes people just don't have it. It's okay, it's a
Speaker 2: hard golf I mean, it's just a hard course. It's
Speaker 2: a hard game. I mean, my gosh, And you know,
Speaker 2: I just think you know a lot of people, you know,
Speaker 2: try to find the negatives. I'd tell my kids all
Speaker 2: the time, you know, stay positive. It cost the same. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Lastly, going back to Scotty, you talked about he doesn't
Speaker 1: really and we talked about it. He doesn't really have
Speaker 1: any weaknesses. And I think the thing that makes me
Speaker 1: think his Major championship ceiling is so high is I
Speaker 1: don't think there's a golf course, let alone the ones
Speaker 1: they play in the majors. I mean, if you wanted
Speaker 1: Augusta twice, you got to feel, you know, Phil felt
Speaker 1: that way, You got to feel like you could win
Speaker 1: another one of those right now that he's want to PGA.
Speaker 1: If you look at the venues that we're going to
Speaker 1: for the last two majors in Congressional, I mean there
Speaker 1: are big ballparks and then there's Oakama. To me, it's
Speaker 1: the hardest golf course on the planet. I've heard they've
Speaker 1: lengthened it. It looks like the rough is knee height.
Speaker 1: And then the Open Championship back to Port Rush. I
Speaker 1: don't see conditions that Scotty Scheffler's game doesn't match. What
Speaker 1: do you think about the upcoming two remaining majors the
Speaker 1: year for Scotty to clip off some more?
Speaker 2: I think I think both of those venues are great
Speaker 2: for a guy like Scotty. I don't think there's a
Speaker 2: place on the planet that isn't good for Scotty right now,
Speaker 2: that little that little cut he has, that little faraway
Speaker 2: finder he has, I mean, my god, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: And I also think there's golf courses are good for
Speaker 2: Rory McRoy as well, if he straightens out the driver.
Speaker 2: You know, he didn't drive it well last week. Oh well,
Speaker 2: he didn't drive it great the week before the Truest. Okay,
Speaker 2: he'll be okay. I mean he's Rory McElroy and he's
Speaker 2: an accomplished player. But for Scotty, I think that you know,
Speaker 2: it's part play and it's part mindset, and I think that,
Speaker 2: like you said, nothing bothers the guy. Conditions don't bother him,
Speaker 2: you know, not being able to prepare the way he
Speaker 2: wanted to, you know, with Monday rain at Kuail Hollow
Speaker 2: didn't bother him, the front nine yesterday, the front nine
Speaker 2: on Sunday didn't bother him. Not playing great on Thursday,
Speaker 2: but eking out that sixty nine. He doesn't get phased
Speaker 2: by things. So if he hits it in the rough
Speaker 2: at Oakmont, which you're going to do at some point,
Speaker 2: he'll be okay. And I think Royal Port rush. I
Speaker 2: think the Open Championship is the one that's the most
Speaker 2: random because it's just it's a weather conditions type of
Speaker 2: thing and you just never know. But I've been to
Speaker 2: that golf course. You have too. We were there in
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen when Shane Lowry won. I mean, you can't
Speaker 2: tell me that he's not going to be the favorite.
Speaker 2: Going into Oakmont, and you can't tell me that he's
Speaker 2: not going to be the favorite going into Royal Port
Speaker 2: Rush as well. I think that both of those venues,
Speaker 2: with his game and his mind, it's just a tough,
Speaker 2: tough combination right now to be able to beat those
Speaker 2: two things.
Speaker 1: And I think last week was a great week for
Speaker 1: European Writer Cup captain Luke Donald, with John Rahm playing
Speaker 1: route again, Matt Fitzpatrick being on the leaderboard again, and
Speaker 1: then for Keegan Bradley who is playing like he's trying
Speaker 1: to make the team, Bryson and Scotty Scheffler. I mean,
Speaker 1: looking forward to September, I think this last major is
Speaker 1: going a long way to kind of go okay. Maybe
Speaker 1: we are going to see some familiar faces because certainly
Speaker 1: on the US side, you're probably going to have some
Speaker 1: rookies Setstraka winning who played great in Rome. I think
Speaker 1: it's great for Luke, I think Fitzi coming back and
Speaker 1: playing good again in a major, and I think John
Speaker 1: Rahm playing good is great. And I think the majors
Speaker 1: are all going to be great this year, and I
Speaker 1: think we're in for a good Ryder Cup. What are
Speaker 1: you looking forward to for the rest of the summer
Speaker 1: pre Rider Cup, and who do you think needs to
Speaker 1: make a move and kind of put themselves kind of
Speaker 1: on the radar or on the map. For both Luke
Speaker 1: and Keegan, I.
Speaker 2: Think that first of all, to see someone in the
Speaker 2: second session on Friday afternoon with cutoff jeene shorts and
Speaker 2: white sox halfway up his ankles and a white tank
Speaker 2: top tucked in with no belt with nine beer cups
Speaker 2: stacked over his chest, screaming and yelling at the Europeans
Speaker 2: on Long Island at Bethpage is going to be sensational
Speaker 2: if you want to have that vision in your head
Speaker 2: of that guy who's going to be screaming and yelling.
Speaker 2: I think Koepka, who went to that dinner with Keegan
Speaker 2: and Bryson, is clearly on the radar. I think he
Speaker 2: needs to play well to prove that he needs to
Speaker 2: be a pick if he's outside of the number. As
Speaker 2: far as the Europeans go, I think Fitzpatrick, like you said,
Speaker 2: stepped up. I think Stepstrak is a fabulous player and
Speaker 2: he's not afraid of the moment. Didn't play well last week.
Speaker 2: I think it's stacking up to be you get a
Speaker 2: lot of really good players playing well. And like we
Speaker 2: said earlier, what Jack said, you bring your game to
Speaker 2: the big events. You don't find your game at the
Speaker 2: big events. And I think right now, with these majors
Speaker 2: the way they're stacked up. When they moved the PGA
Speaker 2: from August to May, I remember thinking, I love that.
Speaker 2: I love having it just before football season. I always
Speaker 2: thought it was cool. I understand why they did it
Speaker 2: business wise, but with them stacked up month to month
Speaker 2: to month to month, these guys are playing well. I
Speaker 2: think we're gonna go to Oakmont. Rom US Open winner Bryson,
Speaker 2: two time US Open winner Brooks. Koepka all right, two
Speaker 2: time US Open winner, three time two time US Open winner.
Speaker 2: McElroy's playing, you know, has gotten three wins, including the
Speaker 2: players and a master's. Scottie Scheffler has now kicked it
Speaker 2: into gear. Xander is starting to play better golf coming
Speaker 2: off the injury. Justin Thomas got the win for the
Speaker 2: first time in a while. He's someone who needed to
Speaker 2: do something to prove to Keegan. You know, I think
Speaker 2: that I think lud vig Oldberg is someone who is
Speaker 2: going to be needed on the European side. Of things,
Speaker 2: and when you know, when depth becomes an issue, I
Speaker 2: think it becomes more of an issue on the European
Speaker 2: side than it does on the American side. And right now,
Speaker 2: if you were playing the Ryder Cup next week, without
Speaker 2: these two majors coming up, without the FedEx Cup playoffs,
Speaker 2: without the rest of the lib golf season, you played
Speaker 2: the Ryder Cup this coming weekend, I think the Europeans probably,
Speaker 2: I don't have they be favored, but may be real
Speaker 2: close right now. And I think Keegan and Luke are
Speaker 2: in very good shape. But as you know, it's a
Speaker 2: long way to go. You know, he had a few
Speaker 2: more months to go, But right now you have a
Speaker 2: lot of players on both sides playing great golf. To me,
Speaker 2: that's what I'm looking forward to the most. Can these
Speaker 2: guys sustain it. Can Rory get back on track after
Speaker 2: the Masters? Can Scottie sustain it? Can Xander take a
Speaker 2: step forward after doing what he did last year? Can
Speaker 2: Ludwig put himself in a different category and get one
Speaker 2: of these next two major championships by the way, Can
Speaker 2: Shane Lowry, you know, get going a little bit and
Speaker 2: be just completely and utterly solidified. For Luke Donald. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of great golfers out there playing good golf.
Speaker 1: One of the superstars, one of the I mean, he
Speaker 1: played unbelievable in Rome for the European side, Victor Hovelin.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he's playing that little bit.
Speaker 1: Signs of life that the science experiment might, you know,
Speaker 1: be somewhat over. Any chance if Keegan plays good for
Speaker 1: the rest of the summer and he picks himself.
Speaker 2: No chance. I think if he's inside the number, he
Speaker 2: will gladly be one of the twelve, probably play Sunday
Speaker 2: singles only and that's it. But if he's in a
Speaker 2: pick situation, I just don't think he's the kind of
Speaker 2: guy who's going to say, yeah, I'm gonna pick myself
Speaker 2: over somebody else. I'm just gonna be the captain. But
Speaker 2: if he earns his way on, he's not going to
Speaker 2: give up that spot and take someone else. I think
Speaker 2: he'll just play in the Sunday singles and that's it.
Speaker 2: But I think Hegan understands his place, knows the history
Speaker 2: of it all. It'd be very cool to be a
Speaker 2: playing captain, but I think he'd want to earn it.
Speaker 2: I don't think he'd want to pick himself. I don't think, well,
Speaker 2: a lot to play for for the rest of the summer.
Speaker 1: Who's great seeing you at the Master Sanzy and look
Speaker 1: for or to seeing you at Congressional in about three weeks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Ka, it's gonna be great.
Speaker 1: Great to talk to you Cloud.
Speaker 2: Be good, Bude.
Speaker 1: So that was Steve Sands and like I said, he's
Speaker 1: one of the most recognizable voices in the game and
Speaker 1: someone whose opinion I respect as well. And like I
Speaker 1: said last week on the pod, I think the games
Speaker 1: are a great place. I think Scotti Schiffer winning majors
Speaker 1: is great for the game. I think the run that
Speaker 1: he's on is fantastic, and I think we're in for
Speaker 1: a really, really good summer of golf. Son of a
Speaker 1: Butcher comes to you most every week Greate Review, subscribe
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast. It's the Son of a
Speaker 1: Butcher Podcast.