Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butch podcast comes at you
Speaker 1: every Wednesday. This week's guest, one of the voices of
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour one of my favorite people in the game,
Speaker 1: Steve Sands. I've had the pleasure to meet Steve and
Speaker 1: get to know him both on the course and off
Speaker 1: the course, and I just think he does a fantastic
Speaker 1: job for Golf Channel in NBC, and he spends so
Speaker 1: much time with the players learning about what they're doing.
Speaker 1: He's always, you know, messaging me and other coaches and
Speaker 1: about what he's you know, going to talk about and
Speaker 1: getting all the information. And I think, you know, that's
Speaker 1: why he is so popular. I mean, that is why
Speaker 1: everybody on tour loves the guy, because he does his homework.
Speaker 1: He wants to make sure the information he's getting right
Speaker 1: is right. And I can't tell you how happy I
Speaker 1: am that he decided to come on the pod. We've
Speaker 1: been trying to get it done for a while and
Speaker 1: when when I started this a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: the idea was to sit down write a list of
Speaker 1: people that I wanted to have on, and he was
Speaker 1: definitely at the top of that list. So I'm excited
Speaker 1: and sit back and enjoy the interview with Steve sand So.
Speaker 1: My guest is one of the voices of the PGA Tour,
Speaker 1: Steve sand Sandy, we were talking before we came on
Speaker 1: in this crazy twenty twenty three PGA Tour Live Battle World.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen you since walking down the fairway at
Speaker 1: the Open Championship. And I don't think people realize how
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys in the TV world are as
Speaker 1: much a part of the fabric of the PGA Tour
Speaker 1: as as everyone else. And you know the fact that
Speaker 1: I've been spending most of my time because all my
Speaker 1: guys are on live, I just haven't seen you. So
Speaker 1: it's good to see him. Man, it's great to see you. Glad.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're doing well. I mean, we've been friends
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five years and we usually dine or raise
Speaker 1: a glass, you know, multiple times a year and just
Speaker 1: see you in the fairway. What's that seven eight months ago?
Speaker 1: It's crazy something retext and everything. It's funny you brought
Speaker 1: that up. You brought that up. I was at the
Speaker 1: Bears Club a couple of months ago when Camillo and
Speaker 1: Maria had their first charity event for Mia everybody understands,
Speaker 1: you know, who passed away at such a young age,
Speaker 1: of such a tragic thing. They had a big MIA's
Speaker 1: Miracles event and they asked me to come down. Claude
Speaker 1: Camillo called and said, hey, would you come down at
Speaker 1: m see it. As of course, I'm happy to drive
Speaker 1: down a couple of hours from from where we live.
Speaker 1: And who's the first person I run into was Dustin Johnson.
Speaker 1: And they're all I mean, Rory's there, Ricky's there, Dustin's there,
Speaker 1: They're all of the One of the great things about
Speaker 1: this sport, as you know, Claude, is they support their
Speaker 1: own and they support whatever charities it is, whatever cause
Speaker 1: it is. And in this case, everybody knew what happened
Speaker 1: with Camillo and his wife Maria, and it was just
Speaker 1: an awful thing. So anyway, I run into Dustin. Johnson's
Speaker 1: the first guy I see. Now, like you, I was
Speaker 1: in Dustin and months. You know, I love Dustin. So anyway,
Speaker 1: I walk up to him and say hello, give each other.
Speaker 1: You know, a huh he llah blah blah, has a
Speaker 1: gone family, all that kind of garbage. And I look
Speaker 1: at him, so I gotta tell you, man, of all
Speaker 1: the things that have happened in the last year. You
Speaker 1: know what I missed most. He's like, what's that I said,
Speaker 1: saying the phrase Johnson for Birdie at twelve. Just it
Speaker 1: just he's missed Claude, He's missed on the PGA. I'll
Speaker 1: know if everybody is missed, but he is missed on
Speaker 1: and off the golf course. You know. I say this
Speaker 1: to a lot of the people that I have on
Speaker 1: the show. Um, you know that are in the golf space,
Speaker 1: you know, like you guys who are in the players
Speaker 1: and stuff. I mean, even when we saw each other
Speaker 1: at the Open Championship at Saint Andrew's, if you could
Speaker 1: look forward and I would have told you have gone
Speaker 1: to the future and this is where we are in
Speaker 1: mid season started the floor to swing. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just the landscape of professional golf really has has changed.
Speaker 1: But having said that, I don't think Jaynahan and the
Speaker 1: boys at Pontavidra could have dreamed up a better start
Speaker 1: to this new season. I mean, you were a big
Speaker 1: part of the West Coast swing. I mean there has
Speaker 1: been some unbelievable golf being played and you being so
Speaker 1: much a part of the broadcasts. How crazy and how
Speaker 1: special is what John Ram is currently doing. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've seen, you know, a lot of golf over your time.
Speaker 1: I mean, you saw all the Tiger stuff, You've seen
Speaker 1: all the great players. But this kid is just I mean,
Speaker 1: he is playing some unbelievable golf. Santy. Yeah, he is
Speaker 1: off the charts. Watching him, watching him go about his business,
Speaker 1: how he takes care of his craft, and then how
Speaker 1: he implements the game plan that he has said forth
Speaker 1: and executes it so well. It's just remarkable. I was
Speaker 1: talking to somebody the other day Claude about John and
Speaker 1: everybody knew he had the promise. Everybody knows he has
Speaker 1: the game, but to put it all together is a
Speaker 1: totally different thing. And I think there's a couple of
Speaker 1: things in sports. You never want to rub the anointing
Speaker 1: oil all over somebody. I can't stand that. Now he's
Speaker 1: an incredibly great player and he's established, and now he's hot.
Speaker 1: There's a huge difference in sports, Claude, from being great
Speaker 1: and being hot. He's hot, but he's also great. You
Speaker 1: win three times in a span of a month or
Speaker 1: in change on the PGA Tour, playing different venues, different fields,
Speaker 1: going up and trying to do it from the jump,
Speaker 1: when you're the favorite, or when you're trying to recapture
Speaker 1: being number one. I think what John has done. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to compare him to Tiger and all those
Speaker 1: kinds of things, but when you look at someone who
Speaker 1: wins two consecutive starts on tour, that's pretty strong, and
Speaker 1: then he backs it up with another wins, that's an
Speaker 1: otherworldly type of situation. Claude, I think he is. I've
Speaker 1: changed my mind back and forth on who's the best
Speaker 1: player in the world when they are playing their best.
Speaker 1: When Dustin Johnson was playing his best, I didn't think
Speaker 1: anybody could beat him. When John rom is playing his best,
Speaker 1: When Rory mcaroy is playing his best, I don't think
Speaker 1: they can be beaten. Justin Thomas can be in that
Speaker 1: category as well, and maybe a couple of other guys.
Speaker 1: But John Rom's the best player in the world right now,
Speaker 1: and I don't think it's even a debate. And that's
Speaker 1: saying something because Scheffler's already won and mcaroy has been
Speaker 1: playing some great golf. But I think Rom right now
Speaker 1: is the best player in the world. What do you think,
Speaker 1: will you watch him you get to be around him
Speaker 1: and interview him. What do you think he's the intangible
Speaker 1: that he has apart from the goal. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: when I watch him play golf, and I'm sure you
Speaker 1: feel the same way. I don't know how he doesn't
Speaker 1: win every week because it just doesn't look like he
Speaker 1: can hit it offline the way that his golf swing
Speaker 1: is how accurate. I don't think he gets nearly the
Speaker 1: credit for having the full package, right. We all know
Speaker 1: he can hit the golf ball miles. He's a big kid,
Speaker 1: but he is the total total package from a golfer.
Speaker 1: But what do you see, as you know that thing
Speaker 1: that all of the great ones have, not only in golf,
Speaker 1: but that extra thing that every great champion, regardless of
Speaker 1: what the sport is. What do you think that is
Speaker 1: that he has. I think it's his energy, claude. He
Speaker 1: has the game obviously. We know that. We know he
Speaker 1: can drive the golf ball. We know he can make
Speaker 1: big putts. We know he can chip and pitch. We
Speaker 1: know his irons are great, we know his bunker plays great.
Speaker 1: I think his attitude when he first came out on
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, his attitude coming out of Arizona State
Speaker 1: maybe hurt him a little bit professionally, and he had
Speaker 1: to get used to being out there in front of
Speaker 1: all the TV cameras, being out there in front of
Speaker 1: all the people, all the ropes, all the craziness that
Speaker 1: goes on with being a professional golfer. And here's a
Speaker 1: young kid, Claude. These kids grow up in front of
Speaker 1: our eyes. He's now married to Kelly, two kids. His
Speaker 1: life off the golf course is incredibly settled, very comfortable.
Speaker 1: Allows him to just go play golf and do his thing.
Speaker 1: And I think that energy that perhaps harnessed him a
Speaker 1: little bit in the early stages of his career, and
Speaker 1: he's become a better player, obviously as he's gotten more maturity,
Speaker 1: he's gotten older. But I also think that energy that
Speaker 1: used to be a harness on him is now allowing
Speaker 1: him to freewheel it out there. I think he has
Speaker 1: taken some of that energy that perhaps was either pent
Speaker 1: up or maybe a little bit on the angry side.
Speaker 1: And I mean that in a good way, in an
Speaker 1: athletic way. You need to have some of you know,
Speaker 1: to be great. There is no such thing as being
Speaker 1: great and being the nicest man on the planet all day,
Speaker 1: every day. That's not how it works. So it's a
Speaker 1: singular pursuit, Claude, it's a bit of a selfish pursuit.
Speaker 1: And you've got to be able to take that energy
Speaker 1: that perhaps is holding you back and harness it in
Speaker 1: a way that's in a positive light as opposed to
Speaker 1: a negative. And I think that between his wife, between
Speaker 1: Adam Hayes being his caddy and being a regular presence
Speaker 1: in his life, having two children, to allow some perspective
Speaker 1: and some context to him at an early age. Claude,
Speaker 1: it's not like his life is drastically changed over, you know,
Speaker 1: of course, of fifteen years of being single for ten
Speaker 1: or twelve years, he's young in having this family. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think look out for him. I think that the
Speaker 1: world in this sport is his oyster. And I think
Speaker 1: that that energy that used to hold him back, I
Speaker 1: think he has managed to transform it into a positive thing.
Speaker 1: And now his game is matched up with it. And
Speaker 1: you're looking at the best player on the planet. You said,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously it's easy to try, and when anybody
Speaker 1: gets on a run wins a bunch of tournaments. Everybody
Speaker 1: comparison to Tiger and I don't think we're there yet.
Speaker 1: But one of the things I think he has is
Speaker 1: if he's on the leaderboard, you don't expect him to
Speaker 1: back up. And if you've got a lead or the
Speaker 1: one thing I think he has the ability to do
Speaker 1: that is very Tiger esque is you give him, you know,
Speaker 1: a one, two, three shot lead, he can go out
Speaker 1: and shoot. He's got the game to where he doesn't
Speaker 1: have to take a lot of chances. He can do
Speaker 1: what guys like Tiger used to do back in the day,
Speaker 1: to where I remember Tiger telling Adam Scott early on
Speaker 1: in his career in two thousand and one, We're at
Speaker 1: the PGA at Atlanta with David Thomas. One. You know,
Speaker 1: Adam's just kind of getting going, hadn't really won a
Speaker 1: bunch of tournaments, and Tiger said, listen, you're trying to
Speaker 1: win tournaments by shooting zero on Sunday. He said, I
Speaker 1: promise you, the ones that are most fun for me
Speaker 1: is when I've got to one or two shot lead,
Speaker 1: I shoot one under and I let everybody else screw
Speaker 1: it up. Jack Nicholas did that, and I think John
Speaker 1: has that type of presence in that type of game
Speaker 1: to where he doesn't have to overpower you. On Sunday,
Speaker 1: he can just kind of do what he does. He's
Speaker 1: going to have his chances on the par fives and
Speaker 1: then you know that he's knock going to back up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: John's one of those guys. I think it's rare, even
Speaker 1: for the greats of the greats Claude. I think he
Speaker 1: can sixty eight sixty nine you to death. He will
Speaker 1: just bludgeon you with a butter knife because you look
Speaker 1: up and you're like, oh my gosh, here's John Romigan.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, here's John Romigan. He does it in
Speaker 1: the California Desert, he does it at Riviera, he does
Speaker 1: it on MAUI. I mean it's like all these different
Speaker 1: places and these different grasses, these different conditions. The thing
Speaker 1: about John that I find, Look, I think he's terrific
Speaker 1: to deal with. He's a bit of a hard ass,
Speaker 1: and that's okay. I mean, that's that's part of being great.
Speaker 1: I love being around him. He's very insightful. He's a
Speaker 1: very bright kid. And I also think he has a
Speaker 1: high golf acumen, and I think that combination bodes well.
Speaker 1: And I think you made a really interesting point there
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the question, Claude, he has become
Speaker 1: and it has happened kind of quickly. He has become
Speaker 1: one of those guys. And it's rarefied air in this
Speaker 1: particular sport when your name's on the leaderboard and everyone
Speaker 1: knows it, everyone everyone expects John rom to play well.
Speaker 1: Maybe he doesn't play well, hey listen, that sports. That happens.
Speaker 1: But when he does play well and he puts himself
Speaker 1: in position, he doesn't give that up very often. His
Speaker 1: record when he is playing well and is on a
Speaker 1: leaderboard is stout and I think he is absolutely with Rory,
Speaker 1: with Justin Thomas, with the great players of today. When
Speaker 1: Ram's name is on the first page of a leaderboard
Speaker 1: late Saturday, early Sunday, I think everybody in the sport
Speaker 1: recognizes it and knows what's about to happen. So how
Speaker 1: does his game do you think for this year? I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously I gusta. I mean, I mean he can hit
Speaker 1: the golf ball as high as anybody. He can hit
Speaker 1: the golf ball as far as Anybody's a great putter.
Speaker 1: But the rest of the majors, the venues, how do
Speaker 1: you think those are going to set up for him,
Speaker 1: And what do you think I mean, they haven't had
Speaker 1: a US Open at LACC Los Angeles Country Club. We
Speaker 1: go back to Oak Hill. Where are we going for
Speaker 1: the Open this year? We're going to right Liverpool, So
Speaker 1: those golf courses, I mean, we've got some data points
Speaker 1: for the opening the PGA that we don't have for
Speaker 1: the US Open. But he's won a US Open, so
Speaker 1: he knows what that test is going to be, that
Speaker 1: kind of cauldron. But the other two, how do you
Speaker 1: think his game sets up for those? Well? I also
Speaker 1: think it's interesting that he won at Riviera, so he
Speaker 1: knows what it's like to win in the City of
Speaker 1: Angels and he's going to go down the street to LACC.
Speaker 1: Let's start with Augusta first, Savy Biastaris, Jose Mariela Thable,
Speaker 1: Sergio Garcia, John Ram is going to win a Master's
Speaker 1: and you might as well give it a shot this
Speaker 1: April because right now he's playing so great. Now that's
Speaker 1: six seven weeks from now, so let's wait and see
Speaker 1: if his game is prepared and is sharp like it
Speaker 1: is right now. He hits that high fade off the
Speaker 1: tea that is a magical magical recipe for Augusta National.
Speaker 1: I know that a lot shots are right to left there.
Speaker 1: I think Jack Nicholas was a high fader of the
Speaker 1: golf ball. Did believe he won six. I think Tiger
Speaker 1: knows how to, you know, kind of butter cut it
Speaker 1: out there when he needs to. He won five of them.
Speaker 1: I think John will be okay in that regard. He's
Speaker 1: played it a few times, He's comfortable there. If this
Speaker 1: continues over the course of the next six seven weeks,
Speaker 1: so I think Augustus suits up, sits very well for
Speaker 1: him and should suit nicely to his game. O kill
Speaker 1: big boy golf course, big boy golf course. The Harmon
Speaker 1: family knows that golf course very very well. There is
Speaker 1: absolutely no reason that you could win a US Open
Speaker 1: at Torry Ponds and not win a PGA. It'll kill.
Speaker 1: There's no reason. I'm not saying there's similar golf courses.
Speaker 1: No offense to Rochester, but we're not looking over the
Speaker 1: cliffs to the Pacific Ocean. It's not as pretty, but
Speaker 1: it's a big boy golf course that's gonna be really tough.
Speaker 1: And the PGA tends to just loosen the screws a
Speaker 1: little bit compared to the USGA. I think his game
Speaker 1: should serve very well at Okill lacc's up for grabs.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of guys are gonna go there
Speaker 1: in practice over the course of the next four months.
Speaker 1: Before going there. The guys aren't familiar with it as
Speaker 1: they would be for the other golf courses that they're
Speaker 1: playing on the major championship rotation this year. But LACC,
Speaker 1: for a guy like John, I don't think there's any
Speaker 1: golf course that John can't win on. Certainly he's more
Speaker 1: favorable on certain types of grasses and conditions, but LACC
Speaker 1: will not be an issue. If it's his week, it's
Speaker 1: his weekend. Like you said, he already knows what the
Speaker 1: cauldron is like to win a US Open Liverpool. I
Speaker 1: say this. We talked about this every year, the Open Championship.
Speaker 1: It's predicated on the weather, your tea time, the conditions
Speaker 1: that week, and again, how's your game traveling in July,
Speaker 1: busy time of the year, the you know, the FedEx
Speaker 1: Cup coming up in August. You've already played three major
Speaker 1: championships and the players he's already won three times in
Speaker 1: January and February. Who knows what's going to happen over
Speaker 1: the course of the next four months. But Liverpool famously
Speaker 1: is where Tiger won without ever hitting a driver, and
Speaker 1: McElroy won an Open when kind of like Mickelson, nobody
Speaker 1: thought that mc roy would win him open before he
Speaker 1: won the other three major championships. So to me, if
Speaker 1: you're the best player in the world and you're John
Speaker 1: Ram and you know your game travels all over the place,
Speaker 1: there's absolutely no reason that he doesn't contend at any
Speaker 1: of the four major championships this year. The way he's putting,
Speaker 1: the way he's performing. Have you been surprised, I mean,
Speaker 1: you mentioned that you enjoy talking to him, that he's
Speaker 1: a thinker, that you know, there's a lot more to
Speaker 1: him than you know, just you know, a guy that
Speaker 1: that plays golf. Have you been surprised that he, more
Speaker 1: than anybody on the PGA Tour side of this PGA
Speaker 1: Tour lived debate, he's almost been a little bit of
Speaker 1: a voice of reason to where he's I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: he's riding the fence because he has said listen, you
Speaker 1: know he's made critical comments of live. He's made I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say he's made positive comments, but he hasn't made
Speaker 1: a ton of negative and and and I think he's
Speaker 1: one of the few guys right now that is, you know,
Speaker 1: somewhat a voice in my opinion of reason, where right
Speaker 1: now it is just I mean, these two things are
Speaker 1: as far apart as you can get right now, I
Speaker 1: think with John and I have not spoken to him
Speaker 1: this in depth with him off camera, but I have
Speaker 1: spoken him a little bit and gotten where his mind
Speaker 1: is on this. I think a lot of it goes
Speaker 1: back to the Ryder Cup. Now, remember he's Spanish. Now,
Speaker 1: he lives in America. He's raising his family in America.
Speaker 1: He married an American, he went to college in America.
Speaker 1: He's not going anywhere. He's going to live in Scottsdale
Speaker 1: the rest of his life. He's going to travel the
Speaker 1: world and go home to Spain and see his family.
Speaker 1: But he is, you know, an American for all you know,
Speaker 1: attents and purposes as far as that goes. But he's
Speaker 1: from Spain. And the Ryder Cup is a very big deal.
Speaker 1: If you go back in time, Claude, this isn't a
Speaker 1: history lesson for your audience, but if you go back
Speaker 1: in time, there are three people who saved the Ryder
Speaker 1: Cup Jack Nicholas when he made the suggestion to bring
Speaker 1: in other than just Great Britain and Ireland and bringing
Speaker 1: continental Europe. Hence Schofield, who was in charge of the
Speaker 1: European Tour which is now the DP World Tour, listening
Speaker 1: to Jack and then implementing that. And Savy Biasteros. Savy
Speaker 1: Biasteros is the Ryder Cup god of all gods in Europe.
Speaker 1: So he played, he captained with a lot of passion,
Speaker 1: and then Jose Mario o'thabel played and captain with a
Speaker 1: lot of passion. Sergio Garcia played with a ton of passion.
Speaker 1: He should be a Ryder Cup captain. We'll have to
Speaker 1: wait and see how that all plays out with the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour, with the DP World Tour and with live
Speaker 1: But Sergio Garcia is an all time great player and
Speaker 1: an all time great Ryder Cup participant, and everybody knows
Speaker 1: that he should be a captain. It just depends on
Speaker 1: what the politics will allow. So in John Ram's realm,
Speaker 1: think about it, it's not even thirty years of age, Claude,
Speaker 1: so yeah, you know, eight nine ten Ryder Cups to
Speaker 1: go in his career and if the DP World Tour
Speaker 1: doesn't allow non PGA Tour, non DP World Tour players
Speaker 1: to play in it. You're talking about McElroy and Ram
Speaker 1: carrying the you know, the European flag, and that's it.
Speaker 1: You know, there's not a lot after that. So I
Speaker 1: think that this is basically Ryder Cup based. And also
Speaker 1: John enjoys. This is why I love him. He enjoys
Speaker 1: playing against the best. He wants to play against the best.
Speaker 1: He wants to test himself against the best. He wants
Speaker 1: to succeed against the best. And right now, with the
Speaker 1: game being splintered, you know, it's not as good field
Speaker 1: wise as it was two years ago or one year ago,
Speaker 1: and I think that bothers John. So I think it's
Speaker 1: a combination of let's get them all together however we
Speaker 1: do it. And also it's a Ryder Cup issue as well.
Speaker 1: With John being from Spain. It's not an issue for
Speaker 1: the Americans nearly as much as it is for the
Speaker 1: international team in the President's Cup and the European team
Speaker 1: in the Ryder Cup. Let's take a moment to thank
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Speaker 1: Wellness dot Com slash Podcast. Again, that's the code H
Speaker 1: three at Forewellness dot Com slash Podcast. One of the
Speaker 1: other winners, Max Homa, this kid man you talked about.
Speaker 1: He's on a heater and he's another one that his
Speaker 1: game has really really I think changed. I think the
Speaker 1: work he's done with his swing instructor Maxima, I mean
Speaker 1: Mark Blackburn, I think they're doing some really really cool work.
Speaker 1: And he is such a fan favorite. You get to
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time around him. I mean, he
Speaker 1: is one of the good guys on the PGA Tour
Speaker 1: for sure. Love Max that you can't name five guys
Speaker 1: in golf who play currently who you'd rather go to
Speaker 1: dinner with, rather have a beer with, rather watch a
Speaker 1: ballgame with, talk politics with, talk gambling with, talk anything with.
Speaker 1: You know, he's just a He's a really good dude,
Speaker 1: a bright guy, a thoughtful guy. Man. Is he playing
Speaker 1: some golf club? Wow? I mean, not only is he
Speaker 1: a terrific guy to be around, but he's also matured
Speaker 1: to the point on the golf course where he understands
Speaker 1: his place in the game. It's not just a social
Speaker 1: media presence. It's not just a Twitter guy. He's actually
Speaker 1: a really thoughtful, nice young man. Yeah. You know, it
Speaker 1: sounds ridiculous to say that, but you and I are
Speaker 1: of the age were allowed to say, Hey, look he's
Speaker 1: a nice kid. He's a nice young man, and my guy,
Speaker 1: can he play? And going back to what we talked
Speaker 1: about with Ram, great player who's also hot, Yes, I
Speaker 1: agree with you, he's on a heater. I think Max
Speaker 1: is on his way to greatness. I think he is
Speaker 1: one of these guys who he's gotten in his own
Speaker 1: way a little bit as well above the shoulders, and
Speaker 1: now he's really starting to find himself not only succeeding
Speaker 1: on the PGA Tour, but also knowing how to go
Speaker 1: about his business day and day out, week in week out,
Speaker 1: going against the best players in the world. Wouldn't surprise
Speaker 1: me at all if Max not only one another event
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, but also put himself a contention
Speaker 1: and gives himself a chance to win a major championship
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three. Not only is he a great guy,
Speaker 1: I think he's a great player who happens to be
Speaker 1: on a heater. He doesn't have the resume John Ram
Speaker 1: has just yet. He doesn't have the longevity that John
Speaker 1: Ram has just yet. But I think Max Homa is
Speaker 1: a guy who can win anywhere Claude, and I think
Speaker 1: he's going to prove that in the next few years.
Speaker 1: Knowing him the way you know him, do you think
Speaker 1: going into the four Majors this year? I think sometimes
Speaker 1: Max can put a lot of pressure on himself. The
Speaker 1: pressure comes from within, and I remember going through that
Speaker 1: with Brooks Keepka and you know in twoy nineteen when
Speaker 1: Tiger won. You know Brooks's I mean you talk about
Speaker 1: a heater. I mean he'd won four out of the
Speaker 1: last eight majors he played in and all of a
Speaker 1: sudden he showed up in nineteen. Is a big difference
Speaker 1: between thinking you can win a major, wanting to win
Speaker 1: a major, but then when you're the guy that you
Speaker 1: guys on Golf Channel or beating the drum saying, hey,
Speaker 1: it's his time, he's got the game, he's got a
Speaker 1: step up. How do you think players manage those expectations
Speaker 1: from wanting to win majors and thinking personally that they
Speaker 1: can win them, but then externally when that pressure comes,
Speaker 1: it's even more I think Max is one of those
Speaker 1: guys claude as you alluded to. He can get in
Speaker 1: his own way because he's a bright, thoughtful man, and
Speaker 1: I think that there's a lot to be said for
Speaker 1: having some clarity in professional sports, especially in this sport.
Speaker 1: I will never forget. You could not have been nicer,
Speaker 1: more kind to come on the set with us the
Speaker 1: morning of when Dustin was trying to win the Masters,
Speaker 1: a live from when we were together to Gusta. You
Speaker 1: were very kind to do that, and I remember us
Speaker 1: talking about being ready. Are you ready? Are you ready
Speaker 1: to do it? And you said Dustin was ready. He
Speaker 1: had won the US Open that had been you know,
Speaker 1: years previous, had chances, but hadn't gotten it done since then.
Speaker 1: And I remember asking you about it and you said,
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes an athlete just needs to have the
Speaker 1: understanding that his game is sharp, now just go do it.
Speaker 1: And I think Max is one of those guys who
Speaker 1: almost needed it. And I'm out of sports psychologist, I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to get into his head, but I almost
Speaker 1: feel like Max is the kind of guy who needed
Speaker 1: to prove it to himself before proving it to any
Speaker 1: of us or anybody else in the world. And now
Speaker 1: that he has, I think, like rom he carries confidence
Speaker 1: into a week like this week at bay Hill or
Speaker 1: next week at the Players. I think he carries confidence
Speaker 1: into these big events more so than he ever has
Speaker 1: for because he's proven it to himself that he can
Speaker 1: do it. He took John Ram to the mat at
Speaker 1: Riviera a couple of weeks ago, didn't win, was emotional
Speaker 1: about it, and you know what, I think he was
Speaker 1: emotional about it, Claude, because I think he just realized,
Speaker 1: you know what, John Robb's the best player in the world,
Speaker 1: and I came up just short, you know, a little
Speaker 1: break here and there, and I would have won that
Speaker 1: week at Riviera. And I think Max has the game,
Speaker 1: has the attitude, and also has the confidence to put
Speaker 1: it all together. Right now, we saw Tiger come back
Speaker 1: at Riviera. What do you think, you know, I it's
Speaker 1: great to see him back. I mean, it's just it's
Speaker 1: awesome to see, you know, players you know who are
Speaker 1: past their prime, who have given us so much joy
Speaker 1: on the golf course, you know, as a sports fan,
Speaker 1: to come back and play. I think there are a
Speaker 1: lot of times where I think boy is good. Is
Speaker 1: good enough. Claude, you know, you know more about golf
Speaker 1: than I do. You've forgotten more about golf than I
Speaker 1: have than I'll ever know. But his good is absolutely
Speaker 1: good enough. I remember talking to some players out there
Speaker 1: who were around him and played with them, and they
Speaker 1: said the same thing. You gotta play seventy two holes, though, Claude,
Speaker 1: you gotta be able to walk seventy two holes sometimes.
Speaker 1: That also means on Wednesday there's a ProAm. Now there's
Speaker 1: no pro ams at majors, so he can do what
Speaker 1: ever he wants leading up to a major, and he
Speaker 1: make it seventy two holes. I think his swing can
Speaker 1: His putting wasn't great a river here, but who the hell?
Speaker 1: Who who puts well? Ribby puts well out there? It's
Speaker 1: just so hard to put on those greens. I absolutely
Speaker 1: think his good is good enough to compete. The question
Speaker 1: is will his body, especially the lower half, especially the leg.
Speaker 1: Will his body? I know his back isn't a one
Speaker 1: hundred percent, let alone his leg. Will his body hold
Speaker 1: up a seventy two holes? It's hard to see that
Speaker 1: right now. I will never ever count him out of
Speaker 1: anything after seeing what he has done in his career,
Speaker 1: and I wish him all the best, and it's great
Speaker 1: to have him back, but it was it was great
Speaker 1: to see him play well, and it was sad to
Speaker 1: see him not play well, and I think that's kind
Speaker 1: of where we are. Can he find, you know, lightning
Speaker 1: in a bottle? Can he find that, Genie it's Tiger
Speaker 1: woods Man. You're never gonna hear him say no. I
Speaker 1: think it's it'd be an arduous task right now to
Speaker 1: see him beat these guys the way they're playing, as
Speaker 1: young and hungry as they are as healthy as they are,
Speaker 1: and Tiger's not one hundred percent. He's never going to
Speaker 1: be one hundred percent. And I also think Claude and
Speaker 1: you could speak to this, I'd like to see I'd
Speaker 1: like to see him play at the Players. I think
Speaker 1: he needs to play one more time before Augusta, because
Speaker 1: you know, you hear these guys talk over the years about,
Speaker 1: you know, being in rhythm and not having rust. It's
Speaker 1: hard to not have rust if you only play at
Speaker 1: the Genesis and the last time you played real, meaningful
Speaker 1: golf was the Open Championship before that on Thursday and Friday.
Speaker 1: So I hope he plays the Players if he's healthy enough.
Speaker 1: I hope he continues to get healthier. I can't see
Speaker 1: him beating the best players in the world the way
Speaker 1: it stands right now, Claude, but man, don't ever put
Speaker 1: anything past that guy. It was it was awesome to
Speaker 1: watch him play the take the live thing out of
Speaker 1: the equation. If we can do that, does the game?
Speaker 1: Does the game still need Tiger to be who he
Speaker 1: is because like sometimes feel like we rely so much
Speaker 1: on him, We want so much from him, and obviously
Speaker 1: he's not the player that he used to be. I mean,
Speaker 1: I agree, I think on the right golf course, on
Speaker 1: the right situation, I think he could win again. I
Speaker 1: was listening to Hank Cani's podcast the other day. Hank,
Speaker 1: I mean, Hank can sometimes to be a little critical
Speaker 1: of teed up, but he was like, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: on the right golf course he can win again. He thinks,
Speaker 1: you know, out of all the places he thinks he
Speaker 1: could win again, it would be the Open Championship. I
Speaker 1: think the best golf course for Tiger to win again
Speaker 1: is Augusta. But I just don't know if his body
Speaker 1: will allow that. But does in twenty twenty three, do
Speaker 1: we still need him? It almost feels like the sport
Speaker 1: can't move forward because we keep looking backwards of what
Speaker 1: Tiger once was. Claude, there's a cruelty to this sport
Speaker 1: that not only applies to the players. It applies to
Speaker 1: the fans. And we're fans now you teach a broadcast,
Speaker 1: but we're fans of the sport. In every other sport,
Speaker 1: they show you the door. There's a general manager, or
Speaker 1: a coach, an owner of a team. They show you
Speaker 1: the door. In tennis, at some point, your body just
Speaker 1: gives out a little bit. I mean, Roger came close
Speaker 1: to winning Wimbledon a few years ago in that incredible
Speaker 1: match with Nadal, couldn't finish never one again. You could
Speaker 1: clearly tell that he was never going to get past
Speaker 1: the quarters of the semis again, because these guys are
Speaker 1: just too good, not just Nadal and Djokovic, but the
Speaker 1: other young players. Golf's the same way. They don't show
Speaker 1: you the door in golf. So the cruelty of it
Speaker 1: is that you get to play forever. You don't think
Speaker 1: Aikman would have loved to have suited it up one
Speaker 1: more time. Jimmy Johnson and Joe Brand and Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: said that's it. You're done, you can't play anymore. You
Speaker 1: know what do you think? You know? It's that's the
Speaker 1: way it works in those sports and golf. It's not
Speaker 1: like that. I was thinking about this the other day,
Speaker 1: and I'm not picking on them. They're all time greats.
Speaker 1: But the last time you saw Ernie Else and VJ
Speaker 1: Sing on television, they still play like golf play forever
Speaker 1: Champs Tour. So occasionally they'll come out on the PGA
Speaker 1: Tour and you're like, wow, it's so great to see him.
Speaker 1: I love it. They're all time greats. So Tiger is
Speaker 1: going to pick and choose when he plays. He played
Speaker 1: the Genesis. I'm glad he did. It's his own event
Speaker 1: for this foundation. I think he's going to play the
Speaker 1: players as long as he's healthy enough, and we're going
Speaker 1: to see him at Agusta, no question, unless there's a
Speaker 1: health issue. And the cruelty of that claude is that
Speaker 1: it allows you the opportunity to perhaps get it done.
Speaker 1: But the cruelty of that is also that the chances
Speaker 1: are so slim, and also the chances are likely that
Speaker 1: they're not gonna look the same way, not just walking
Speaker 1: and limping and not being one hundred percent body wise.
Speaker 1: But your game isn't as great as it was, and
Speaker 1: it's a it's a weird deal in this sport compared
Speaker 1: to the others. Do I think the sport needs him? No.
Speaker 1: I think it's a shot in the arm for fans
Speaker 1: and TV and podcasts and radio and the tour and
Speaker 1: the majors to have him out there. There's no debate
Speaker 1: about that. But I don't think the sport needs him anymore.
Speaker 1: Think about it. With there are very few people who
Speaker 1: are in that stratosphere. Wayne Gretzky retired, the NHL is
Speaker 1: doing just fine. Michael Jordan. Everybody thought the NBA's gonna
Speaker 1: tank after Michael Jordan. Well, Kobe comes around, Lebron comes around,
Speaker 1: Greatness comes around, and that the attention moves forward, and
Speaker 1: then you get to see Michael. Every once in a
Speaker 1: while you're like, hey, I look at that. There's Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan and Tiger still playing. Every once in a while, sure,
Speaker 1: it kind of dangles in front of the fans and says, oh,
Speaker 1: here we are. Oh this is so great. But the
Speaker 1: sport is just fine without him. Look Bay Hill, this week,
Speaker 1: forty four of the top fifty in the world, they're here.
Speaker 1: Tiger won this event one hundred times. He made this
Speaker 1: place rock and roll. But it's going to rock and
Speaker 1: roll this week with those great players because of the
Speaker 1: work he put in and how great it was. And
Speaker 1: all the fans in Central Florida or whoever else come
Speaker 1: here this week. They came here at one point and
Speaker 1: saw what Tiger did, and they fell in love with
Speaker 1: either of the game or the way he played, or
Speaker 1: a combination of the two. And also the atmosphere that's
Speaker 1: around professional golf. So does the sport need him? No?
Speaker 1: Does the sport want him? Absolutely No, one's going to
Speaker 1: turn him down. But you know, I think the sport
Speaker 1: has moved past the fact that it's either Tigers in
Speaker 1: the field or he's not. I don't think the sport
Speaker 1: is the same way that it was a you know, eight, nine,
Speaker 1: ten years ago, when that truly was something. You and
Speaker 1: I been a million of these events. When Tiger was
Speaker 1: in the field, there was a different field and that's
Speaker 1: the way it is now, Claude. But it's it's not
Speaker 1: as often as it was, So I think it's okay
Speaker 1: for the sport. Do you think the fans need to
Speaker 1: come to terms with you know, the twenty nineteen Masters
Speaker 1: was the eighty six Masters for Jack Nicholas. That was
Speaker 1: it was to come back. It was the you know
Speaker 1: what everybody never thought they'd see. I mean we were there.
Speaker 1: I mean I never thought I'd see Tiger win again.
Speaker 1: I never thought i'd see him sure as hell, never
Speaker 1: thought i'd see him win a major again. But I mean,
Speaker 1: is that do you think that will be what is
Speaker 1: the defining moment for him at the end? Yes? I do.
Speaker 1: I think that the chances are are better that he
Speaker 1: never wins another major again than the fact that I
Speaker 1: think he could win one. Heck, he could win one
Speaker 1: at Royal Liverpool, he could win at Augusta. I'm just
Speaker 1: not sure his body's going to allow. But by no
Speaker 1: means am I saying that he can't. I definitely think
Speaker 1: he could possibly win it. By the way, you and
Speaker 1: I watched a lot of that together in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget that memory as well. And you know,
Speaker 1: was that his Jack moment? Sure seems like it. Can
Speaker 1: you believe that was four years ago? I you know,
Speaker 1: just think of what's transpired in everyone's life, but let
Speaker 1: alone his in four years I think that, Yes, it
Speaker 1: certainly seems like that's his Jack Nicholas moment forty six
Speaker 1: and eighty six Tiger in twenty nineteen, coming out of
Speaker 1: nowhere to do it, just hanging around, hanging around, let
Speaker 1: everybody else gotta just fold around him, and the seas
Speaker 1: parted for him and he went right through it. It
Speaker 1: was the same it was. People don't realize the same
Speaker 1: thing happened when Nicholas won. I mean, Sevy had a
Speaker 1: chance down the stretch, Jay Hoss had a chance down
Speaker 1: the strat. Obviously everybody remembers Norman, but Tom Kite had
Speaker 1: a chance. I mean, there were so many and they
Speaker 1: all folded the exact same way they did for Jack.
Speaker 1: And I think that to me, that is and my
Speaker 1: Dad's always said this as well, Sandy, that the closest
Speaker 1: comparison that Tiger and Jack chair is that everybody tend
Speaker 1: to throw up all over themselves trying to beat him,
Speaker 1: and he just kind of just hung around and just
Speaker 1: shot one under on Sunday and just kind of went
Speaker 1: It's a lot like what you said about John rom
Speaker 1: When his name's on the leaderboard, everybody knows it. Now
Speaker 1: now he's not nearly at the level of Tiger and
Speaker 1: Jack or everybody quakes in their boats and that's the
Speaker 1: end of it. But Tiger certainly earned that, and before that,
Speaker 1: Jack certainly earned that. And you know what's interesting about
Speaker 1: that is the young guys today, and you know this club,
Speaker 1: the young guys today, forget if it's liver or PGA Tour.
Speaker 1: The last five six years, they've all want become friendly
Speaker 1: with Tiger because Tiger has allowed them into his life.
Speaker 1: When he was destroying Phil and Ernie and David and
Speaker 1: VJ and Retief and those guys you know, get out
Speaker 1: of here. You don't even know. I'll tell you two
Speaker 1: quick stories about that. Tony Finel was playing in the
Speaker 1: final round with Tiger and Francesco Molinari in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: Remember it was threesomes off because of the early tea
Speaker 1: time because the bad weather was supposed to come in,
Speaker 1: which by the way, never came in, but they had
Speaker 1: to push up thet times because of the weather forecast.
Speaker 1: I said to Tony a few weeks later, what was
Speaker 1: that experience like, final round at Augusta with Tiger? And
Speaker 1: Tony laughed. He goes, Tony, by the way, if you've
Speaker 1: seen full swing yet? Yeah, yeah, it's great. I mean,
Speaker 1: Tony's the nicest guy in the planet and we already
Speaker 1: knew that anyway, but now the world gets to know that,
Speaker 1: which I think is great. So I said Tony, what
Speaker 1: was that experience like? And he said, after we hit
Speaker 1: our t shots on one, I'm walking down the hill
Speaker 1: before going back up. And I looked at Type's final
Speaker 1: round of Augusta on Sunday, going down the hill before
Speaker 1: going back up the hill at number one to hit
Speaker 1: their second shots in the fairway, and I said right,
Speaker 1: and Tony looked at me with a huge smile on
Speaker 1: his face and he goes. I looked at Tiger and
Speaker 1: I said, how the kids, And Tiger looked at me
Speaker 1: and said good and then walked fast all the way
Speaker 1: and said and Tony realized it was on. We go
Speaker 1: back to Sevy in eighty six. Padrick Harrington once told
Speaker 1: me he's one of the most thoughtful players in the
Speaker 1: last couple of decades. He's going to be in the
Speaker 1: World Half Hall of Fame, three time major champion and
Speaker 1: an absolutely fabulous guy. Padrick Harrington once told me the
Speaker 1: Masters is the hardest Major championship to win. I said, really.
Speaker 1: I said, it's played at the same place you get
Speaker 1: used to the golf course, short field, no rough, small's field,
Speaker 1: and basically twenty five people can win it unless there's
Speaker 1: a real strange anomaly. But only twenty five of those
Speaker 1: ninety or so guys have the chops to get it done.
Speaker 1: And he said, because it's played now, this is Padrecks.
Speaker 1: Because it's played at the same venue, you remember the
Speaker 1: ghosts just as much as you remember the greatness. I said, really,
Speaker 1: what do you mean? He goes. When I was growing up,
Speaker 1: Sevy was my guy. So the whole world is watching
Speaker 1: the eighty six Masters. Sevey had already won it twice.
Speaker 1: He'd already been a five time major champion, a World
Speaker 1: Golf Hall of Fame inductee, without ever having to hit
Speaker 1: another golf shot in his life. He was going to
Speaker 1: moonwalk into the Hall of Fame. And here he is
Speaker 1: at the top of the hill at fifteen hitting his
Speaker 1: second shot. Jack Nichols is way behind him. Sevey's gonna
Speaker 1: win another Masters. Scott he had that. He had that
Speaker 1: the double Nike logo on the visor. It was Nike
Speaker 1: on the bottom, Nike on the top. That's exactly right.
Speaker 1: And he smotherhooked his second shot at fifteen, went into
Speaker 1: the drink and that was the end of Sev And
Speaker 1: I was like, I go, padrig that's what you remember
Speaker 1: about the eighty six Masters, he goes. Sevy was my guy.
Speaker 1: So every time I stand in a practice round in
Speaker 1: any time a year, or Thursday through Sunday at Augusta,
Speaker 1: on the top of the hill at fifteen, that's all
Speaker 1: I think about. That's why the Masters is so hard
Speaker 1: to win. There are ghosts at Augusta. There is less
Speaker 1: oxygen at Augusta than anywhere else on the planet. And
Speaker 1: that's why Tiger, if his body holds up, we'll always
Speaker 1: have a chance to win their Remember Freddie was a
Speaker 1: leader there in his mid fifties. Bernard Langer in his
Speaker 1: mid fifties was a leader. Heck, Ben Crenshaw was like
Speaker 1: a hundred and he was one of the early leaders
Speaker 1: on the first day. And I love that. I'm just kidding,
Speaker 1: But you can win there if you know the place.
Speaker 1: Nobody in today's game knows it better than Tiger. Not
Speaker 1: where to hit it, where not to hit to hit.
Speaker 1: That's the key to what Tiger could be doing in
Speaker 1: April at the Masters. If he makes a run at six,
Speaker 1: can you imagine the sports world? Oh, if he makes
Speaker 1: a run at it, that would be outrageous. Rory McElroy Sandy, Um,
Speaker 1: I know you probably feel the same. I have no
Speaker 1: idea how that kid played as good as he played
Speaker 1: last year with the weight of basically Jay wanting him
Speaker 1: to carry the the PGA Tour and Rory wanting to
Speaker 1: do that as well. I mean, he played a practice
Speaker 1: time with DJ Tuesday. We played like I think maybe
Speaker 1: five six seven holes, and you could see that he
Speaker 1: was visibly he was carrying the weight of the world
Speaker 1: on his shoulders. And he is now the de facto
Speaker 1: he is the PJA tour right now. I mean we haven't.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know anybody that's seen. I mean,
Speaker 1: is whence the last time anybody saw jam on hand?
Speaker 1: I mean, Rory is the PGA tour right now. They
Speaker 1: want him to be the PGA Tour and he seemingly
Speaker 1: wants that role too. Canny keep doing it and will
Speaker 1: it affect his play the more that he is the
Speaker 1: face of the PGA tour. It's a great question. I
Speaker 1: think some of that has calmed down a little bit.
Speaker 1: I think when they were in the throes of it
Speaker 1: last year in twenty twenty two, you know, Rory took
Speaker 1: the mantle by the way, volunteered for it. He was asked,
Speaker 1: but he also volunteered for it. You know, Rory isn't
Speaker 1: afraid to give his opinion. Rory is a very bright
Speaker 1: young man, is very centered and understands and is very thoughtful.
Speaker 1: When he gives an opinion, there's thought behind it. He's
Speaker 1: not just throwing something on the wall to see if
Speaker 1: it sticks. I'm continually amazed at how great he is
Speaker 1: on and off the golf. Of course, I've said this
Speaker 1: for years on and off the air. There's not a
Speaker 1: better combination on and off the golf course than Rory
Speaker 1: McElroy right now in the world of golf. He is.
Speaker 1: He has taken this one to heart. You know, you
Speaker 1: can like it or dislike it. You can agree with
Speaker 1: him or disagree with him, but this is something that
Speaker 1: he is very passionate about and he has kind of
Speaker 1: taken it on his own and his golf hasn't suffered.
Speaker 1: It's amazing, Claude. I mean, you know, you're around these guys,
Speaker 1: you know, as much, if not more than I am.
Speaker 1: You know, if they don't have that clarity we talked
Speaker 1: about earlier, it's hard to succeed. And you know, I
Speaker 1: think that Rory, Rory needs to win the Masters. You know,
Speaker 1: he's one He's a Master's away from becoming the sixth
Speaker 1: man in the history of the sport to win their
Speaker 1: career Grand Slam. I have no idea. I can't stand
Speaker 1: when someone says, oh, I'd have these one one, he's
Speaker 1: gonna win five. I can't stand that. I have no
Speaker 1: idea if he wins the Masters in April, if he's
Speaker 1: ever gonna win again, or he's gonna go win a
Speaker 1: hundred of him, I don't know. But Rory is one
Speaker 1: of those guys who he can compartmentalize. He has a
Speaker 1: young family at home, He has his parents always around.
Speaker 1: Rose and Jerry are so great to be around, his
Speaker 1: wife Erica, their daughter Poppy. They're probably gonna grow that family,
Speaker 1: I would assume. And he's played great all the while,
Speaker 1: going to board meetings and zoom calls and Live this
Speaker 1: and PGA tour of that, and it's it's been amazing.
Speaker 1: It's been fun to watch. It's been fun to see him.
Speaker 1: I don't mean to sound like an old man, but
Speaker 1: it's been fun to see him mature from a smart
Speaker 1: young kid and a great player and a prodigy to
Speaker 1: fulfilling that promise as a player Claude, but also maturing
Speaker 1: as an individual to the point now where you talk
Speaker 1: about like Max Hoomo, you can just sit and talk
Speaker 1: to anybody, talk to him about anything. You could sit
Speaker 1: and talk to Rory McElroy about anything, and it's just
Speaker 1: he's just wonderful to be around. He's a credit to
Speaker 1: the game. It's a big credit to Jerry and Rose
Speaker 1: who raised a fine young man and also a great
Speaker 1: great golfer. And I am amazed the ability he has
Speaker 1: to compartmentalize. I will say I'll close out on this.
Speaker 1: During COVID, he was the first guy I heard say
Speaker 1: I can't play in front of no fans. The silence
Speaker 1: is really weird to me. It's very strange. It's bizarre.
Speaker 1: I can't get used to it. I don't feel not
Speaker 1: only do I not hear and feel the energy, but
Speaker 1: I feel like my energy is lowered because there's nobody around.
Speaker 1: I feel like live in a very different way. Claude,
Speaker 1: I'd eat live, and the choices he made last year
Speaker 1: publicly and privately as it pertains to Live motivated him
Speaker 1: to be a great player, and I think you are
Speaker 1: seeing a motivated player along with someone who's thought full
Speaker 1: and has an understanding of where he feels like the
Speaker 1: game needs to be at the highest level. I think
Speaker 1: the only thing that I think is negative is if
Speaker 1: he gets the lead at any major, but specifically if
Speaker 1: he's taking any sort of lead one shot, two shot. However,
Speaker 1: the pressure for him to win this for the PGA
Speaker 1: tour becomes something that nobody has ever in our sport
Speaker 1: had to deal with, and nor should they have to
Speaker 1: deal with. I mean, that is just do you think
Speaker 1: that's what we saws andrews or do you think he
Speaker 1: got beat by Camsman. I think he got beat, But
Speaker 1: I mean he came out a little bit flat. I
Speaker 1: mean I thought, I mean, we were both there and
Speaker 1: I'm thinking there is nobody that wins today other than him,
Speaker 1: and I just I mean I was, especially after the
Speaker 1: way played on Saturday and all of the things that
Speaker 1: he did and the way that he did it, and
Speaker 1: going into Sunday, DJ was a couple probably maybe two three,
Speaker 1: grew maybe four groups ahead. So we were kind of
Speaker 1: him in that same kind of wave. We were on
Speaker 1: the we're on the practice range together, and you could
Speaker 1: just tell that you know these guys when when when
Speaker 1: they when there's something different about them, because we see
Speaker 1: them all the time. You sense it, you can smell it,
Speaker 1: you can feel it, you can taste it, and you
Speaker 1: could see that he was in a very different his
Speaker 1: body language. I thought, I've seen him play a ton
Speaker 1: of I've watched him hit a million golf balls. He
Speaker 1: was different that day, and um, you know, and he
Speaker 1: was different that day than he was the day before. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, very similar. My dad always says about Greg
Speaker 1: Norman when Greg had the epic meltdown at Augusta. Um,
Speaker 1: he was a different person on Sunday than he was
Speaker 1: when he left the golf course Saturday night. And I
Speaker 1: noticed a difference in Rory, and I was surprised that
Speaker 1: he didn't come out of the gate because I just
Speaker 1: figured that's all we'd hear. We'd just hear him Bertie
Speaker 1: the first, We'd hear him Bertie the second, Bertie the third,
Speaker 1: and then just the world would have ended. I mean,
Speaker 1: there'd have been more people there than you could shake
Speaker 1: a stick out. I think there's a few things there.
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you. I can't imagine the pressure
Speaker 1: of being the favorite. I can't imagine the pressure not
Speaker 1: only have being the favorite clout, but being the people's choice.
Speaker 1: He's the favorite gambling wise and personality wise. He's who
Speaker 1: everybody in the world was rooting for at Saint Andrew's.
Speaker 1: That place means more to golf than anywhere outside of
Speaker 1: Augusta National. And he was going to win an Open
Speaker 1: championship there and all great players know they only get
Speaker 1: two or three chances at it in their prime at
Speaker 1: Saint Andrews, and when you have an opportunity like that,
Speaker 1: you don't want to let us slip away. The pressure
Speaker 1: is immense. Gazi won a major since the PGA in
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen in Valhalla. It's a long time and we're
Speaker 1: not talking about someone who's forty eight. Find someone who's
Speaker 1: like thirty four, thirty five. I always say to people
Speaker 1: Sancy that in two twenty fourteen, if you'd have told
Speaker 1: someone twenty twenty three, Rory McElroy and Brooks kept are
Speaker 1: going to have the exact same amount of majors, when
Speaker 1: Brooks hadn't just barely gotten on the PGA tour, you'd say, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know if Brooks could ever win one. And
Speaker 1: you're thinking at that point he's got four. By the
Speaker 1: time twenty three roles around, he's probably gonna have ten.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's one hundred percent right. There's no way
Speaker 1: in the world you could have looked back and walked
Speaker 1: away from Valhalla and thought, you know, in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: when we all convene at the Masters, MCA is gonna
Speaker 1: have the same number of Majors. It's amazing and still
Speaker 1: be trying to win at Augusta in his prime, Claude
Speaker 1: and in his prime, I mean we're talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: some really really fruitful years there that have gone away.
Speaker 1: Now he can get on a heater and go in everywhere.
Speaker 1: By the way, he won his Open championship at Liverpool,
Speaker 1: so that's a good vibe for him. I think oak Hill.
Speaker 1: Guess who's from Rochester, His wife, Erica, her entire family,
Speaker 1: all of them from Rochester. That would be special, you know.
Speaker 1: I think, oh, look, I think he's gonna win a Masters.
Speaker 1: I think I think I was more confident three years
Speaker 1: ago than I am now. But I do think he's
Speaker 1: gonna win a Masters because I just think he's great
Speaker 1: and I think he's a great guy, and I think
Speaker 1: that sometimes, you know, sometimes they give you, they give
Speaker 1: you something, you know. Ernie else had a lot of heartbreak,
Speaker 1: had a lot of heartache, and then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden twenty twelve but Royalitham and Saint Ann's Adam Scott,
Speaker 1: who is a fabulous guy and a fabulous player, couldn't
Speaker 1: make a par in the last four holes, and Ernie
Speaker 1: made a big, big put and ended up winning another
Speaker 1: Open championship to give him four majors, two and two
Speaker 1: US Opens and Open championships. I think sometimes, you know,
Speaker 1: those things happened Jack in eighty six was magical. Nineteen
Speaker 1: with Tiger Woods was magical. Magical things tend to happen
Speaker 1: at Augusta National, and I think other than Gene Sarazin,
Speaker 1: and it's hard to, you know, mess with the Squire.
Speaker 1: I love the Squire. Everybody loves the Squire. But let's
Speaker 1: not pretend that major championships meant as much back then
Speaker 1: as they do now. And I mean they were meaningful,
Speaker 1: they were big, but the Masters wasn't the Masters. Then.
Speaker 1: He's the only player in the history of the sport
Speaker 1: to complete the Grand Slam at Augusta. So Rory is
Speaker 1: facing some serious, serious headwinds Claude, but I think it's
Speaker 1: going to happen, and it might. It might happen in
Speaker 1: about six seven weeks. Lastly, changing gears totally to your world.
Speaker 1: We've seen some of your colleagues at NBC, the great
Speaker 1: Roger Malpe, Gary coke Um make their exits. Nick Faldo
Speaker 1: no longer in the in the first chair up at
Speaker 1: CBS and the new breed. Uh, you know one of
Speaker 1: our dear, dear friends, Trevor Immerman getting that role. I
Speaker 1: think Colt Nost is doing a hell of a job
Speaker 1: as it's coming on to the scene. I think John
Speaker 1: Wood's doing an amazing job. I mean, Amanda and kier Dixon,
Speaker 1: I mean, they do great work. But there is this
Speaker 1: youth movement and some of the old guard moving out.
Speaker 1: And what's your take on that? How you? How you?
Speaker 1: I mean, firstly, Trevor, how do you think he's done?
Speaker 1: I think he's done. Unbelievable. I've worked with Trevor for
Speaker 1: a long time. I was there when he made the
Speaker 1: transition from playing to broadcasting, and that's not an easy
Speaker 1: transition to make. You still want to play, you still
Speaker 1: have the inkling to play. And he went over to
Speaker 1: play some some European tour events. He's played some tour events,
Speaker 1: he's played some of the US. Now he's a full
Speaker 1: time broadcaster and he's fabulous. He's great, he looks great,
Speaker 1: he sounds great. He knows the game, he won the Masters,
Speaker 1: he knows today's players. I think he's a wonderful addition.
Speaker 1: I grew, I grew to love Nick Foudo on and
Speaker 1: off the air. He was an all time tough guy
Speaker 1: when he played Claude, but he softened up quite a
Speaker 1: bit once he left playing competitively. But it was time
Speaker 1: to make that switch. And I think CBS did the
Speaker 1: right thing in giving Trevor his shot, and I think
Speaker 1: he's taken full advantage of it. I've been in the
Speaker 1: booth with Trevor for years, and he's going to be great.
Speaker 1: I think the youth movement looked. I miss Roger and
Speaker 1: Gary on a personal level. I I miss raising a
Speaker 1: glass with those two, cutting open a big steak with
Speaker 1: those two, and also broadcasting with them, and listening to
Speaker 1: them and learning from them, and hearing the funny stories
Speaker 1: at dinner and in the trailer and during rain delays
Speaker 1: and all the same stories we've heard twenty times and
Speaker 1: still laugh just as hard. But you know, look, I'm
Speaker 1: fifty four o'clock. You know time moves forward. You know
Speaker 1: my time's gonna run out. You know everybody's time runs out,
Speaker 1: And like golf itself, in TV, jobs are so great,
Speaker 1: we're so lucky to have them. You normally don't leave
Speaker 1: on your own terms. It's just not the way it works,
Speaker 1: and that's okay as long as it's not taken too early.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, Roger and Gary are seventy seventy one.
Speaker 1: I believe maybe seventy and sixty nine an amazing run.
Speaker 1: They are sorely missed. They will be missed, they will
Speaker 1: never be replaced. Kurt Byram and Brad Faxon and John
Speaker 1: Wood and Smiley Kaufman are now the mainstays as far
Speaker 1: as those go. And and that's the way life works.
Speaker 1: I think broadcasting, Look, everything is a young man's a
Speaker 1: young woman's game. You know, everything is better when you're younger.
Speaker 1: I get that. You know, people like me and you
Speaker 1: were just trying to hang in there go now. You
Speaker 1: just hang on as long as you can and let
Speaker 1: the ride continue. But I think that the people who
Speaker 1: set the standard before you, I think it's incumbent upon
Speaker 1: all of us. Look, when I got hired by NBC
Speaker 1: in the early twenty tens, I remember thinking the responsibility
Speaker 1: of being on network television and being the person who
Speaker 1: interviews the players first, always first. There's a there's a
Speaker 1: heavy responsibility to that. I think there's a responsibility when
Speaker 1: I'm in the tower where I'm in the booth following golf,
Speaker 1: that the audience is enlightened, entertained, but also informed, you know,
Speaker 1: And there's a lot to that and the people who
Speaker 1: were before me. I learned a lot from and hopefully
Speaker 1: implement that, whether I'm doing play by player interviews, whatever
Speaker 1: it is. And I think these guys learned under Roger.
Speaker 1: John Wood is as good as he is now on
Speaker 1: TV because he got to work with Roger. Did he
Speaker 1: pick his brain all day every day? No, You've got
Speaker 1: to be your own person. But learning from literally who
Speaker 1: I think is the greatest walker of all time and
Speaker 1: televised golf, I think that you can only learn and
Speaker 1: pick up things like john Wood has. I think that
Speaker 1: you know, Gary cookes at the standard. As far as
Speaker 1: being a whole announcer, I think Nick Foudo was an
Speaker 1: all time great like Johnny Miller for years in the
Speaker 1: big chair. And I think Trevor has learned how to
Speaker 1: criticize but also be enthusiastic. I think that there's a
Speaker 1: there's a fine mix there between the two. But yeah,
Speaker 1: everything's going younger, everything's going less expensive. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: sign of the times, Claude is what it is. But
Speaker 1: I think that for the most part, you know, whether
Speaker 1: I was broadcasting or watching the West Coast, I thoroughly
Speaker 1: enjoyed CBS's telecasts. I think Golf Channel does a fabulous job.
Speaker 1: And I think NBC this past weekend, for the first time,
Speaker 1: we had a little bit a time at mon Maui,
Speaker 1: but as far as you know, in the continental United States,
Speaker 1: at a regular if you will quote unquote regular event
Speaker 1: with a full field and also a regular start times
Speaker 1: and end times, I think NBC picked up right where
Speaker 1: it left off and as one of the standards in
Speaker 1: all of sports television. And we're gonna have that group
Speaker 1: for the next five weeks from Bay Hill all the
Speaker 1: way to the Valero Texas Open, and I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of fun. But there's a lot
Speaker 1: of changes going on, Claude, you know that. Um, we're
Speaker 1: just trying to hang in there, buddy, you know, let's
Speaker 1: just keep let's just keep rolling, and hopefully nobody notices
Speaker 1: and about ten or fifteen years from now, they go,
Speaker 1: you know what, that guy's still around, Get him out
Speaker 1: of here, and I will be glad to walk through
Speaker 1: that door. If it's like sixty eight sixty nine seventy,
Speaker 1: but hopefully it continues for a long time because it's
Speaker 1: a blast and I can't imagine a better way to
Speaker 1: make a living. And the people we work with and
Speaker 1: work for, Claude, I mean, we're awfully lucky to do
Speaker 1: what we do, and you're a big part of that,
Speaker 1: whether you know it or not, whether it's a text
Speaker 1: message for information about one of your players, whether it's
Speaker 1: doing a podcast with you, whether we're doing outings together
Speaker 1: corporate wise, or whether you grace us with your presence
Speaker 1: on the set or in a phone call because you're
Speaker 1: not on site. It's it's all a circus, man. We're
Speaker 1: all clowns in the circus Claude, and hopefully hopefully that
Speaker 1: big ten keeps rolling. All right. Well, we'll look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing you at AUGUSTA will definitely raise a glass
Speaker 1: and it'll be paid for by Katon. It'll be great.
Speaker 1: Two of the great words in the English language. Free booze.
Speaker 1: I mean, hopefully twenty twenty three is a little calmer
Speaker 1: than twenty two, and we can let the golf take
Speaker 1: care of the golf. Isn't that what it's supposed to be, Claude,
Speaker 1: Though I understand whatever everybody has their own thing. Everybody
Speaker 1: has their own lane, their own path. Some of them
Speaker 1: are rocky, some of them were paved. But golf at
Speaker 1: the highest level is really strong right now. These guys
Speaker 1: are so great, the women on the LPGA Tour. Grant
Speaker 1: Boon by the way, because father passed away on the
Speaker 1: Friday of the event at Lake Nona, and I got
Speaker 1: asked to come into the booth and do the LPGA
Speaker 1: event on Saturday and Sunday. I mean, they're playing some
Speaker 1: seriously high level golf on the LPGA Tour, some seriously
Speaker 1: high level golf on the men's side, whether it's lived
Speaker 1: or whether it's the PGA Tour, And hopefully it's a
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a smoother ride in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three. But I think we're heading in that direction,
Speaker 1: but I don't know who knows. All right, Well, we'll
Speaker 1: look forward to seeing you on TV for the next
Speaker 1: five weeks, Sandsy be well, all right, claud good to
Speaker 1: talk to you, buddy. Stay safe, I'll see it Augusta.
Speaker 1: So that was Steve Sands and I love that guy,
Speaker 1: and it's crazy. I used to see him on a
Speaker 1: regular basis and with all this craziness. That's the first
Speaker 1: time we've actually had a real kind of sit down
Speaker 1: and talk. So I think he's one of the great
Speaker 1: voices in the game, and you're going to get a
Speaker 1: big dose of him over the coming weeks as NBC
Speaker 1: takes over the coverage of the PGA Tour, So that
Speaker 1: is going to be a positive for me. I've been
Speaker 1: doing some more solo episodes of the podcast. It seemed
Speaker 1: to be doing well. But if you've got ideas of
Speaker 1: what topics you'd like me to discuss, hit me up,
Speaker 1: you know, send me a DM on Instagram and I'll
Speaker 1: try and get to as many solo topics as I
Speaker 1: can get to. Um, it's always great to have guests on,
Speaker 1: but if you want to hear me talk about anything
Speaker 1: golf related, let me know, because I'm happy to do it.
Speaker 1: I like doing the solo ones. Um it's kind of like,
Speaker 1: you know, given lessons. It's definitely part of my job
Speaker 1: and I really like doing them. So hit me up,
Speaker 1: let me know which topics you'd like to discuss. And
Speaker 1: I can't thank everybody enough. I keep say this, but um,
Speaker 1: the fact that everybody's listening when I'm at tournaments people
Speaker 1: come up and say they're big fans of the podcast,
Speaker 1: and that is just that is so cool for me
Speaker 1: to to to hear that, and um, I love doing it. Um.
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone for listening, rate, review, subscribe, wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. Son of a Buich comes to you every Wednesday.
Speaker 1: We will be back next week.