WEBVTT - Fire Drill 032: Dawn to Dusk 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:09.000 My Room overlooks the fairway. Here. I'm literally on the 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.320 on the cross path on eighteen with a window cracked open, 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:17.439 shades pulled, and at six thirty I thought I was 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.799 I thought it was. It was a half state of 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.319 dream and reality. I was woken to the call to 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:29.200 the first tee of Paul Laury from Scotland, uh, you know, 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:34.400 and a nice round of applause and that, and there 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:43.800 was the start of the open championship. Put another log 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:58.200 on the fire. Here is get the time. Hello, welcome 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.480 back to another fire drill podcast. This is Alan Schifnik. 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.560 Michael Bambergers here in Scotland in the press room. Matt 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:08.600 Janelle is here in Scotland in the Russi's hotel and Um, 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.880 it was the first rounds in the books. M here. 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:15.560 It's been an incredible day of golf. Let's let's just 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.320 get into it. Um, Michael, what did you see out 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:21.520 there that Um that caught your eye and and just 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.479 your thoughts on the day. Just a wild, wild range 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.840 of scoring. Uh, you know, it's amazing. I think Cameron 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.480 young shot of sixty four here and you know, you 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.120 want to do some simple math and say, oh, is 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.720 gonna win this thing. I just never see that thing happening. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:38.880 But you know, I want to come to the old 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:44.600 courses defense. How about you, guys? Man, I I it's 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.680 just amazing to me how this looks like it's like 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.480 the him alays where we're watching one big putting contest. 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.800 I mean, with the exception of the occasional bunker shot, 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:01.480 this has been a big put show and it's you know, honestly, 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.320 I'm I'm enjoying it. Yeah, I mean the course is 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:10.280 playing incredibly short. I mean mcilroy on the fourteenth hole, 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.920 part five, you know, it's six D and something yards. 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:14.760 He had a little wedge into it. I mean it's 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.720 just the ball doesn't stop rolling, but it's still not 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.760 easy to get it close. I mean because the Greens 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:24.680 are just as firm and uh, the RNA had had 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.720 some spicy flags out there where they used the mounding 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.720 and the banks of the of the Greens. Is Defense, 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.919 which I think is fine and Um, and so I 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.680 agree that you're saying, Michael. I mean it's Rory's word 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:38.720 was fiddly. I love that word. The Brits use it 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.280 to describe like kind of a course that you can't overpower. 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.280 You have to you have to finesse and uh, if 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.400 you play perfect golf, like like Cameron Young did, ahead 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:50.839 of the wind, then there there's definitely a score out there. 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.240 But I mean three under was good for tenth place 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:56.880 most of the day and it's not like the entire 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.600 field is going low. I mean if you play perfect golf, 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.919 it's it's there for the taking. But Um, there's definitely 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.880 the course can bite back. And when and when you 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:09.519 say that, Alan when you look at this spoard and 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:11.079 you've got a lot of good golfers on the spoort, 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.800 I don't see any of these guys doing a second 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:15.800 day what they did today. For one reason is it 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:18.399 took six hours in the wind to play this thing. 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.560 Nobody can be mentally strong enough, except for Jack Nicholas 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:23.679 and Tiger Woods in their primes, to do that on 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.240 back to back days. Maybe rory to some degree, but 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:28.840 I mean it will wear you out just stand that 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:31.200 long in the wind and try to play golf shots 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.160 on a fifthly golf course. But by the way, we 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.000 started by saying for round one is in the books. 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.200 I'm I'm still seeing golfers play the a t though 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.040 this the round is still going. It's PM local time 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.080 and golf is still being played without, without any irony. 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.280 I mean it's, it's, it's it's still light out right 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:53.360 my my bad eye, and let's and let's, let us 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.320 and let us and let us know, without irony, that 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.560 Matt's wake up called today was, um, the call to 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.920 the tea at six thirty five of Paul Laury, you know, 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.760 group number one, now on the table, and company. That's 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.600 a great story this morning. Tell the tell the readers 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.800 about that. For the listeners, I mean the I had. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:20.120 I had one of the greatest twenty four hours in 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:25.440 my life as a professional in the golf industry, which, 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:31.880 you know, ended with on the heels of an hour 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:36.520 and a half worth of sleep and my my room 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:41.320 overlooks the the fairway. Here I'm literally on the on 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:45.440 the cross path on eighteen with a window cracked open, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.599 shades pulled, and at six thirty I thought I was, 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.919 I thought it was. It was a half state of 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:59.480 dream and reality and my whole day then, my day 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.479 had ended an hour and a half before with reflections 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:06.040 of visiting old Tom's and young Tom's grave sites at 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:09.640 the stroke of midnight with a few former colleagues at 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:13.240 golf channel, after we jumped fences and scurried under fences 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:16.080 and and and found their grave sites. And then an 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.240 hour and a half after I fell asleep, I was 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.599 woken to the call to the first tee of Paul 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:25.720 lury from Scotland, uh, you know, and a nice round 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:30.560 of applause and that. And there was the start of 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:35.400 the one Fiftie Open Championship and uh, it was tremendous. 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.720 I just sat there and with my eyes closed and 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:42.320 listened to another couple of groups go off until Phil Nicholson, uh, 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:44.200 was called to tea and then I had to get 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.159 up out of bed and pull the shades open to 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.680 watch him, watch him stroll across the Cross way to, 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:52.839 you know, a couple of calls of let's go fail, 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:59.159 let's go fail, and uh, and and they were off. I. Um, 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.320 I wasn't out there, but from reading, from reading some 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.680 of the the press accounts and the transcript, sounds like 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.000 maybe Ian Poulter got got a little heckling or a 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.559 smattering of booze. Um. Did you happen to hear Poulter 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.359 go off, Matt, I did. I I was listening to 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:18.000 a wide variety of players go off. I didn't hear 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:24.080 any any booze and it just seemed that that just 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:26.599 does not seem like this crowd at all. It's not 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.479 say it didn't happen. It would be. I was listening 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.200 thinking would there be something like that? I didn't hear 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.560 anything like that at adare manner and not nothing audibly 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.040 to the point where they could actually hear it. But anyway, 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.240 if it happened, I didn't hear it. Interesting, alright, just curious. 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:44.960 But how it sound from the fourth floor of the 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:49.560 russaks hotel? So also Alan, he's very English. Well, yeah, 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.160 I mean that's not necessarily a good thing when you're 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.520 playing in Scotland. But we won't get in. Probably why 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.600 that that would be more inclined to have the booze. 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.600 WE WON'T DREDGE UP. You know, fifteen cent tree politics 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.679 share on this podcast. But so cam young goes out early. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.440 He's he's sort of them. He's he throws a marker down, 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:09.960 I mean the tip of the CAP. I mean the 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:11.800 guy is probably gonna be rookie of the year on tour. 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.520 He's he's had some really good finishes. He made an 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:20.960 awesome run um at at southern hills. So he's a 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.320 legit player, and not say he can't hang around, but 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.760 to me that the man of the hour, the toast 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:31.080 of the town, was rory mcelroy. I mean to shoot 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.920 such an effortless sixty six where he was almost never 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.680 in trouble and even even the one bogey he made, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:38.920 he's right in front of the green and he said 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:40.480 he got too cute with a chip and it took 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.000 a bad balance and you know that happens. But he 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.160 looked totally in control, not only of his golf ball 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.720 but also his emotions. The crowd was very much on 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.960 Rory's side. Um. You know, I think we've talked a 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.119 lot already this week about how much this open means 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.120 to the game of golf and then how much it 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.600 means to the players to win a and open at 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.200 St Andrew's. And as rory has become sort of the 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.600 this global ambassador for the sport and probably the most 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:07.080 beloved figure in the game. I mean everyone wants him 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.080 to get this one and you could just feel that 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:10.480 energy in the crowd. I went out there and walked 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.480 a bit and Um, so let let's talk about rory. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.880 I mean Michael. You follow him his whole career. Um, 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.080 what did you see from him today and can you 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.160 put in context what this victory would mean if he 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.920 can keep going? You know, I think it's a little 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.120 bit like playing for right now, not to turn this 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.920 into a political discussion of another sort too quickly, but 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.280 he is playing for traditional golfing values, you know, and 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.920 not this upstart live golf league, and in that sense 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.280 it's a little bit like playing for your nation or 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:44.120 your or your continent in the Ryder Cup and Um. 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.080 And that adds pressure and we've seen the pressure that 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.679 just trying to win the master's Tournament, Um has on 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.000 Rory and Um, I expect he's gonna play, you know, 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.960 three really good rounds of golf, but to get it 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.880 done all the way through Sunday evening in the seventies 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.400 and hole is, no matter how good his golf is, 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.760 no matter how strong his head is, it's a very, 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:11.560 very tall challenge. Yeah, it's interesting because, oh, go ahead, no, 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:16.240 I was just saying that. You know, I I get 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:18.840 all that and I seem I think that's like that's 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:22.000 very obvious to me at this point of Rory's sort 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.920 of life and career. It's really all about trying to 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.000 get it done under pressure, like he's got to continue 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:33.120 to try to uh make up for past, you know, 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.559 hiccups and but I think he's been poked. I think 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:41.800 he's been poked, he's been perturbed, he's he's been reinvigorated 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:47.439 or refocused in terms of the competitor in him and, Um, 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:50.640 I think going back, you know, to the Canadian open and, 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:56.080 you know, even watching him and and seeing him at 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.640 a dare manner at the JP program and and knowing 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.320 what this means, I just get the sense that there's 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:08.640 the the childlike competitor in Rory has been has been, 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:13.720 you know, uh prodded and and I think that there 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:18.640 seems to be in an extra layer of focus to 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.679 him the last couple of weeks and it has a 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:23.600 lot to do with live and it has a lot 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.720 to do with the fight for competitive being annoyed. He's 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:31.640 he's annoyed by the fact that he's going through all 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:33.360 this and I think he knows that the way to 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:37.280 continue to silence all this and let his game do 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:41.240 the talking. He's as opposed to his talking doing the talking, 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:46.280 is a better way for him to go about his business. Yeah, 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.240 that's really well said. I mean coming into this year 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.480 the backstory on Roy the majors was he would get 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:54.880 stage fright on Thursday, and he was. He had all 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.520 these terrible first rounds. I kind of blew him out 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.560 of the tournament and he's conquered. I mean there's three 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:02.880 straight majors. He started with a really great round, put 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.200 himself around among the leaders and he talked about this 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.840 a little bit after his round. Now the challenge becomes Friday. 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.679 It's backing up one great round with another, because at 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.000 both southern hills in the country club he kind of 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.400 retreated a little bit in the second round and instead 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:18.480 of taking the you know, the tournament by the throat 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.720 and really putting his stamp on it Um, you know, 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:23.439 he was his play was a little defensive and a 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:25.360 little soft in the second round. So now he has 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.880 a new challenge. Can he keep going forward and can 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.679 you build on this, on this round? But I thought 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.800 it was impressive that he played with so much patience 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.280 and restraint because, you know, roy has so much firepower. 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:37.840 He could he could try to overpower this golf course, 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:40.439 but he he was very disciplined. He had a game 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:42.640 plan and he stuck to it and and when he 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.080 got in trouble on a couple occasions, he just got 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.120 himself out of trouble real quick, played semi conservative shots 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.480 and Um and, as you were saying, Matt, you know, 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.160 Roy's lag putting was beautiful and when you think about 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.520 the strengths of his game, that's not something that gets 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.520 mentioned very often, but he had. He had some terrific 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.880 two putts from six eight feet and even some from 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.360 off the green, like on the road hole. You know, 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:05.040 he was way short of that Green. He rolled it 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.439 up there and save par. So it's exciting. I mean, 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.959 as Michael said, there's still a lot of golf to go, 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.240 but Um, roy is the right man at the right 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.160 time and it would be a thrill if he can 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.920 just keep himself in this until the bitter end. And 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.360 he doesn't have to do very much to do that tomorrow. 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:26.000 In other words, tomorrow is not the round to put 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.600 pressure on yourself. I mean, he's going to be playing late. 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:31.800 You know he had a good first round. If you 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.600 shoot seventy tomorrow, it's it's terrific. UH, and I don't 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.600 know what his mindset has been after you know these 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.160 last three majors where he played first good round, good 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:44.840 first rounds, but tomorrow he all he has. You know, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:46.719 Tigert uses is forever. All he has to do is 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.840 play rory mcawrey golf. He doesn't do anything exceptional at 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:52.600 all to just hang around, hang around, to hang around 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.640 and then be there come, come Sunday. Having said that, 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.160 you've got a lot of talent all over this golf 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:03.880 course and s good. You Know Scotty Shuffler and you 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:10.440 know Cameron Smith. I mean you know Dustin John. UH, 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.440 that Dustin hasn't been a factor in a long time 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:18.160 and Um, I think, as with rory, but in a 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.319 different way, this lift stuff is maybe um stimulated dustin 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.559 in a way that he needed, because he's just been 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.559 coasting and for a guy who still has so much 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:30.040 game to not even factor, I mean he's been, when 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:31.839 he's going on two years out of even any kind 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.760 of win anywhere. So Um, for him, for him to 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:36.560 make a strong push, I mean you would think if 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.320 you make a list of guys that were born to 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:39.880 win on this golf course, he would seem to be 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.080 a he'd be on that Short list. So Um, he's 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.679 a really intriguing. Name, Um, anyone else on the board 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:50.679 that captures your eyemat? Well, say heath the gala. I 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.240 mean we were just we're just watching and Gawking at 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.839 him and his game. I mean I just I just 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.120 love the way he plays Golf. I love that he 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.719 wears links Ole. He was out there in in in 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.920 one of my favorite link soul hoodies. Uh, and he's 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.360 at the old course. It's like he plays Goat Hill 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.880 Park when he's in oceanside California. To go from Goat 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.959 Hill Park and and pepperdine to win the you know, 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.880 the open championship of the old course. We're in a 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.440 link soul hoodie. I. How can I not relate, to 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.880 relate to that. Uh, and I and he's he's got 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:25.880 a lot of DJ in him just with his his 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:30.760 his his length, his his stride, his presence, his demeanor. 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:36.680 He's really he's really kind spirited guy. I watched DJ 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:40.200 for eighteen holes at a dare and he did not 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:44.720 miss a shot. He was hitting, he played, he is 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:48.760 he is hitting the golf ball. He's in total command 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.520 of his game. In fact, he was reading his own 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.600 pots Um. He had his brother in law on the 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:59.040 bag at a dare and you know, I again I 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:01.280 mentioned that the that we had a caddy who could 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.400 help and read putts and and he he wasn't interested. 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:09.120 And Uh, he could have shot eight under easily and 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:10.960 he missed a lot of short but so it's funny 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.960 that his putting was off in terms of I guess, 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:18.360 maybe the reds Um. For Him to win this, obviously putties. 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.880 He's gonna have to have great reads and great putting. 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:25.600 So and he seems like kind of a classic links 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.760 player who's not so focused on mechanics and just hit shots, 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.080 like I saw on the telecast play some really fun, tricky, 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:37.920 spinny Um shots that just showed a real flair and 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:39.840 a real understanding of what you gotta do out there. 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.640 So that that I you know, I haven't I haven't 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.040 seen as much of his game as I would like 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.480 to this point, but from what I saw today, like 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.760 he seems to get it and Um, you got you 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.080 got a root for young players like that who who 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.360 just take on the challenge and they're they're not playing 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.360 track man golf and and they're they're they're just they're 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.720 just making, you know, hitting golf shots. So that that 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.960 was cool. He's having fun. A model for the a 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:06.360 model for that would be John Daly. UH, John Daily 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.800 and Dustin Johnson are actually very similar in a lot 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.480 of ways. Mega, mega talents uh don't have their nose 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:16.400 in the artage book. Uh, played by feel, do their 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:20.280 own thing and can't be dictated to. And if John 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:22.800 Daily could come here and and and win here on 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.600 the old course, uh, with Sabat like skills, uh, I 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.440 think Dustin Johnson could do the do the exact same thing. 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:31.400 You don't have to do it, you know, the Jack 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:36.520 Nicholas Way, or the Louis tizing way for that matter. Yeah, 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.840 all right. Let let's talk about Tiger Woods, because you 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.800 guys last night were ready to annoint him the champion. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.440 I kind of stayed quiet in that debate because I 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.160 didn't quite share your belief, but I didn't want to 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:54.640 be Debbie Downer. Um. But you know, there's gonna be 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.640 days when Tiger doesn't play well. But it was startling 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.160 to watch him come out on the first hole, uh, Um, 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.000 and dump it into the into the burn and make 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.679 it and then hit a hit, a nice pitch, and then, 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.280 you know, basically with a three FT or like that 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.920 that double bogey was such a Gut Punch. Um, you know, 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:13.840 there's some hard holes in the old course where bogey's 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.400 fine but number one is not. Is Not a double 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.840 bogie hole. And so Um, what what can we say 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.199 about about tigers seventies six to day, which put him 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:28.560 in a place. He's still in it all right. Why 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:33.040 is he still living at Michael? Let's hear it. You 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.960 know he's Tiger I. I agree with the Alan completely 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.600 that he has had over the course of his career 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.080 a lot of bad first souls, including Augusta national, you know, 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:48.119 driving it crazily offline here, you know, to drive it 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.240 in a divot hole or you know, hit a foreign 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.200 into a divot hole on a on a perfect shot 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.320 and then dumping in the burn. He said Augusta wind 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.399 hit in his press conference afterwards. I don't know. Uh, 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:00.480 it's hard to imagine. There's a hard and of Gusta 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:02.560 win that's going to prevent you know that it's gonna 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:04.960 knock the ball down twenty yards, because you should be, 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.080 you know, at least five yards. Uh, past that whole 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.600 but tiger woods, at the peak of his powers, had 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.600 so much mental strength it would be even with having 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.480 the red ass of having your first shot finishing a divot, 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:22.399 it would be almost impossible to imagine not keeping the 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:27.160 ball dry and making at worst of five Uh. And then, 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.000 of course, in his prime he would have come back 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.119 from the double bogey. And that takes mental resolve as 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.880 much as anything. And how much meant to resolve can 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:40.639 any one person have? So, you know, it's uh, this 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:45.399 game reveals your inner life like nothing can, and I 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:50.080 think we saw actually a glimpse of of Tigers in 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.879 her life today and it's it's a tough place to be. 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:55.159 And I would just want to say this too, but 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.359 I mean he showed a lot of grace and a 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:00.359 lot of class really coming in after the round and 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:03.280 answering every last question, which he has done pretty much 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:05.600 his whole career, but even today it was with like, 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.359 you know, a little bit more, almost definitely depth, but 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.399 also sort of wistfulness, like I won't be doing this forever. 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.760 And I saw oh it to the game just to 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:16.840 explain myself and I and I think he should get 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:19.879 I think he's I mean, he does get credit for that, 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:25.639 but he should get probably more. We just watched him 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:28.399 walk up the eighteenth fairway and he had driven it 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.399 into the Valley of sin and then he three putted 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.000 from there. Almost four putted, I mean drove. He hit 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:37.720 that third part by four, four FT, maybe five five. 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.480 He made a good part coming back to save par 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.760 and off the cap and gave a nice to wave 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:49.159 a decent crowd. UH, still still there, you know, but 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:52.920 it was. It was well past nine o'clock in the evening. 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:58.560 There wasn't a crazy crowd and it's I just was 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:02.439 feeling a little sad that if, if this is, if 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:04.760 this is it for him and the and the open 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:11.240 on an afternoon, late evening. Um, it just looked sad 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:14.040 all that. You know, it just he just looks broken. 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.240 He does. And then when he's climbing up the you know, 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:22.320 I've noticed this a lot over the years actually, but especially, uh, 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:27.320 since since the car crash. Uh Uh. He puts on 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:31.119 a brave face in terms of his walk and in 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.800 his actual literal face and then the second he's done 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:35.800 it sort of all comes washing out. And when he 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.280 walked over that bridge that takes you from the eighteenth 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:42.200 green to the to the scorer's scoring area, the limp 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.280 was much more pronounced immediately. And then when he was 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:46.919 done with his press conference and he had to walk 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:50.000 down four steps. You know, in his youth, of course, 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:52.120 like any you know, young person, he would have hopped 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:54.720 down the steps and he's literally holding onto the is 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:56.280 it called the door jam, you know, the side of 0:20:56.320 --> 0:21:00.360 the door and sort of gingerly, understandably careful he walking 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:04.040 down these steps. So you know, we're seeing a guy 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.320 with a lot going on in his life, physically and 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:12.160 emotionally mentally. Yeah, and it was interesting because even early 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:14.040 in the round, I mean obviously when you take a 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:16.800 double bag on the first hole and any human being 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.800 that's gonna be an emotional letdown. But I mean his 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:22.320 distance control was so off today. I mean there was 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:24.760 he was coming up twenty, thirty yards short with iron, 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:26.640 you know short irons in his hands, and he flew 0:21:26.760 --> 0:21:29.600 some Greens. I mean you still get you'll get hard 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:31.320 bounces and you get run out, so it will put 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:32.680 you in weird spots, but he was doing it on 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:34.600 the fly. It just felt like he didn't have any 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:37.840 feeling in his hands and it certainly showed in his putting. 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.160 I mean his speed was off all day long and Um, 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:43.639 these Greens didn't really change overnight. I mean he's been 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:45.920 practicing on this speed and it just, it just kind 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:49.520 of you just didn't have it today. and Um, you know, 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:52.640 tiger is not immune to other emotions. You Know Rory 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:56.280 talked about Um. You know how keyed up he was 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:58.040