Speaker 1: I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset.
Speaker 2: When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
Speaker 2: And when I find my ball.
Speaker 1: In a Friday Egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Friday Friday
Speaker 1: Frida Egg Frida Egg Bride Egg Lie.
Speaker 3: I'm about ready to run off of the golf course.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Golf Podcast.
Speaker 2: I am your host, Andy Johnson. Today I've got a
Speaker 2: jam packed episode that centers around Olympic golf. We are
Speaker 2: at the point where we have the Olympics starting this week.
Speaker 2: We've got the men's competition at l Golf Nationale uh
Speaker 2: this week, followed by the women's competition next week. I
Speaker 2: think the Olympics are in an interesting place where they're
Speaker 2: kind of like floating about, so I've thought this would
Speaker 2: be an interesting episode to put together. We have Nicholas
Speaker 2: Cole starts joining to talk about his experience playing in
Speaker 2: the twenty sixteen Olympics at Rio. He was in the
Speaker 2: mix going into the final round, kind of like he
Speaker 2: didn't have a good final round, but was there, you know,
Speaker 2: with the with the thought of possibly winning in Olympic medal.
Speaker 2: So really cool experience and a thoughtful, thoughtful person that
Speaker 2: I think soaked in the experience overall. And then I'm
Speaker 2: joined by Garrett Morrison, Our Garrett Morrison, to just talk
Speaker 2: about the Olympics and where it sits today and where
Speaker 2: we think it might go. So this is a super
Speaker 2: fun podcast. Nicholas will be up first. I realized that
Speaker 2: I didn't have my mic turn on. Halfway through this interview.
Speaker 2: I apologize, you're just getting it through my headphones. So
Speaker 2: if it's a little bit scratchy, I promise it gets
Speaker 2: better for the back three quarters of this episode. So
Speaker 2: I realized on and I was like, oh, it was
Speaker 2: early in the morning. I had flown to the East coast,
Speaker 2: it was it was rough. I was, you know, effectively
Speaker 2: up very very early for my body clock. Uh. So
Speaker 2: I flipped it on and I hope you guys enjoyed
Speaker 2: this episode. And thanks thanks a lot to Nicholas for
Speaker 2: joining all Right, Nicholas, thank you so much for coming
Speaker 2: on on the podcast. You played in the twenty sixteen Olympics.
Speaker 2: You played golf, You represented your country, Belgium. I didn't
Speaker 2: realize your your grandfather played two sports in the Olympics.
Speaker 2: Was a basketball and water polo player in the nineteen
Speaker 2: twenty Olympics. That is I can't imagine there's a ton
Speaker 2: of multi sport Olympic athletes.
Speaker 3: No, correct, But I mean, first of what, he was
Speaker 3: my great grandfather, go long way back that I was.
Speaker 2: I was reading Wikipedia and I was like, that can't
Speaker 2: be right. The grandfather nineteen twelve.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, great grandfather. So we were lucky to
Speaker 3: have the Olympics in Antwerp in nineteen twenty. And then
Speaker 3: he did a second Olympic Games in nineteen thirty six
Speaker 3: in Munich, so he did basketball and water polo. I
Speaker 3: think he was only the captain of one of these
Speaker 3: two teams. I don't remember which one he was. He
Speaker 3: was actually in the stadium in nineteen thirty six when
Speaker 3: Jesse Owens won goal and Hitler was there, and Hitler
Speaker 3: decided to leave for you know the reasons back in
Speaker 3: the day. But yeah, yeah, there was always an Olympic
Speaker 3: history in the family, which is why I have connected
Speaker 3: with the Olympics, even before he was even a question
Speaker 3: that golf was going to be a part of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you played in majors, you contended in majors. You
Speaker 2: obviously had a phenomenal Ryder Cup and twenty twelve of
Speaker 2: I'm curious where does qualifying and playing in the Olympics
Speaker 2: rank in your career, Achie event.
Speaker 3: Let's not even get into the cheesiness of you know,
Speaker 3: you represent your country and all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 3: like we we know that it goes without saying. The
Speaker 3: thing with the Olympics is like I went to the
Speaker 3: Olympics with two different views. Like the number one was
Speaker 3: extremely you know, proud to become an Olympian, but number
Speaker 3: two was was you know, being an ultimate fan of sports.
Speaker 3: You know, the souvenirs that I that I that I
Speaker 3: get from it is you know, walking around the Olympic
Speaker 3: village and stuff like that. I mean, it's almost like
Speaker 3: I had forgotten that I was there to actually compete
Speaker 3: because I was so attracted to the size of the
Speaker 3: event and some of the things I was seeing, like
Speaker 3: the different body types and the different nationalities and and
Speaker 3: you know, also the fact that you know, we do
Speaker 3: a decent living at our sport, even if you're one
Speaker 3: hundreds in the world, where if you're twenty fifth at rowing,
Speaker 3: you know, you probably struggle to put food on the table.
Speaker 3: So you know, Throughout the experience, I constantly was reminded
Speaker 3: that we were extremely lucky to play twenty five thirty
Speaker 3: thirty five events a year, and therefore, to me, it
Speaker 3: was it really satisfied my sporting DNA to the core
Speaker 3: more than anything else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I imagine. I mean, what's it like, you know,
Speaker 2: we're you're there. How does it compare to like a
Speaker 2: normal week where you're you're you might be staying in
Speaker 2: a suburban hotel, you know, playing a tournament. What was
Speaker 2: your week like from a practice Like did it change
Speaker 2: the way you practice? Did you spend more time kind
Speaker 2: of away from the course, do you know, just watching
Speaker 2: other sports and hanging out?
Speaker 3: Yeah, a little bit, Yeah, got a little bit, not
Speaker 3: just for us, but for caddies as well. I mean,
Speaker 3: like we went I had, you know, Brian and Caddy
Speaker 3: for me for more than ten years on the back
Speaker 3: back then, and it was it was like we were
Speaker 3: done with our practice rounds and practice a little bit
Speaker 3: and it's like can we go that there's weightlifting on
Speaker 3: or swimming or I went to see a bunch of
Speaker 3: field hockey games because I know a bunch of guys
Speaker 3: in the Belgium team, so I ended up going. I
Speaker 3: think I went to see all their games except the final,
Speaker 3: and so they blame me for not winning the final
Speaker 3: because they lost the final against Argentina. But I kept
Speaker 3: on pushing my my plane ticket to go back home anyway.
Speaker 3: But but yeah, you you just are completely swallowed by
Speaker 3: by the event and the buzz. Did you know the
Speaker 3: month of the Olympics or the three weeks of the
Speaker 3: Olympics offers, I mean whatever it was, weightlifting or badminton
Speaker 3: or diving. We were also in the stadium when the
Speaker 3: one hundred meter final was on, like just absolute biblical
Speaker 3: moments that you've been watching on TV since you were
Speaker 3: a little kid. And she was just like, we're in
Speaker 3: the stadium with these and agains, these caddies that you know,
Speaker 3: they carry a bag for a living. They are a
Speaker 3: huge part of our you know, living and and sports.
Speaker 3: But for them to be able to live this and
Speaker 3: to tell their parents when they go back home at
Speaker 3: forty five or fifteen years old, there big games. I
Speaker 3: thought it was quite quite quite funny at the same
Speaker 3: time and super fulfilling for them as well.
Speaker 2: Was there a sport that you hadn't like, really experienced
Speaker 2: in person or was there like a sport that you
Speaker 2: picked up while you're there, like watching that you enjoy
Speaker 2: watching from there? Was there one that like stood out
Speaker 2: surprised you.
Speaker 3: I thought the weightlifting was quite incredible because these guys,
Speaker 3: you know, lift those bars every they've got like a
Speaker 3: three four five minute break between you know, trying to
Speaker 3: beat the world record or trying to be the other
Speaker 3: guy that they're going head to head with for a medal.
Speaker 3: It was it was just like absolutely incredible table tennis,
Speaker 3: like it's so quick, so quick, it's absolutely incredible, like
Speaker 3: when you stand you know, most sports when when when
Speaker 3: you go and watch the top of the tree is
Speaker 3: it's just like if you have that that uh, that
Speaker 3: gene of understanding. You know, we might have that because
Speaker 3: we're already sports professional, so we can really understand maybe
Speaker 3: a little bit easier than average Joe. But but it's
Speaker 3: just fascinating to see also the level of focus from
Speaker 3: the guys we you know, for the like the field
Speaker 3: hockey for example, we we ended up going in the
Speaker 3: bus with them to the games. So it was Peters
Speaker 3: and I. Peters knew a few guys in the team
Speaker 3: as well because they're a Mentwerp and I knew a
Speaker 3: few guys because their dad played with my dad back
Speaker 3: in the day in first division in Belgium. So I
Speaker 3: went and asked a coach. I was like, do you
Speaker 3: mind who's key with Do you mind if we just
Speaker 3: coming in the bus with you guys to the games.
Speaker 3: You know, we sit at the front, we sit in
Speaker 3: the corner, and we don't bother anyone. Yeah, yeah, sual.
Speaker 3: So we ended up going to like three or four
Speaker 3: games with the team in the bus and going to
Speaker 3: the venue like there's not a peet. That's just a
Speaker 3: little bit of music. Some guys are a bit loud,
Speaker 3: but it's like and now on the way back when
Speaker 3: they win, like team sports, It's just I was a
Speaker 3: bit jealous. I wish I'd done team sports because you know,
Speaker 3: living with guys like that for you know, two months,
Speaker 3: three months, six months, maybe a year in preparation of
Speaker 3: the Olympics, you know, when you come when it comes
Speaker 3: to fruition like that. We have that a little bit
Speaker 3: in Rodica, but it's only a few weeks building up
Speaker 3: where these guys are training together for one year, two year,
Speaker 3: three years altogether living together, and you know, when you
Speaker 3: beat Holland in the semi's knowing you're going to get
Speaker 3: a medal, which is our biggest rival. It's it's just
Speaker 3: an explosion in the bus on the way back. The
Speaker 3: guys are jumping at the back and it's just like
Speaker 3: absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2: I do feel I think like the Olympics has it's
Speaker 2: been I don't think it's been like warmly received for
Speaker 2: golf in terms of like golf's place in it. I
Speaker 2: don't think like it's been fully embraced by players, bands,
Speaker 2: the governing bodies of golf. And I think that one
Speaker 2: of the aspects of what you just hit on that's
Speaker 2: missing is the team element of it. It's, you know,
Speaker 2: it kind of is just another individual tournament you played
Speaker 2: with with Thomas Peters over there. But did you feel
Speaker 2: like you guys were in it together or would you,
Speaker 2: you know, would you like to see a team element
Speaker 2: of it. I think Belgium is like an interesting country
Speaker 2: when it comes to the Ryder car.
Speaker 3: Are you going to give You're going to give me
Speaker 3: the Illinois.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna I'm not bringing up Illinois. Belgius an
Speaker 2: interesting country when it comes to the Olympics, because I
Speaker 2: think it's like a great example of what golf could
Speaker 2: be versus a lot of other sports, Like you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's gonna there's maybe one or two teams that
Speaker 2: could beat Team USA in terms of basketball, right.
Speaker 3: Basketball, Yeah, but in terms of golf.
Speaker 2: One of the things I think it like from a
Speaker 2: team element, if you made it a team competition along
Speaker 2: with the individual you could get these amazing underdog stories
Speaker 2: because it wouldn't be inconceivable for four golfers from Belgium
Speaker 2: to beat you know, the American team or the English
Speaker 2: team some of the what would be deemed the heavy
Speaker 2: favorite teams because of just the fickle nature of golf.
Speaker 2: And you know, there is worldwide talent and in twenty
Speaker 2: thirty countries could have could feel the team that could
Speaker 2: beat the Americans in a given week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, there's not many team events in
Speaker 3: professional golf. Maybe you know, there was an opportunity for
Speaker 3: them to fill that gap. In the beginning, I didn't
Speaker 3: really personally feel that because I'm you know, I'm I'm
Speaker 3: extremely team orientated. You know, Peters and I in Rio,
Speaker 3: So we ended up being paired together with some of
Speaker 3: the dude on Sunday and I was quickly hatched off
Speaker 3: the race and Peters was you know almost you know,
Speaker 3: with like six seven holes to go battling with Coucher
Speaker 3: to get bronze. And in the end, it didn't even
Speaker 3: matter what I did. I mean every shot I was
Speaker 3: with him. I was like, dude, come on, let's push,
Speaker 3: let's push, let's push. You know, a couple of holes,
Speaker 3: if you squeeze two or three, you never know, like
Speaker 3: there's a chance, blah blah blah. And I really saw,
Speaker 3: I really saw it as a as a team thing
Speaker 3: because of how it happened, because we got paired together
Speaker 3: and everything that was out and this and that. But
Speaker 3: but I think it's it's some nations will probably you know,
Speaker 3: identify as more like a team thing push one another.
Speaker 3: But then you know it's two guys. You know, you're
Speaker 3: going to make sure that they get along with one another,
Speaker 3: which was our case. So it didn't really didn't really
Speaker 3: it didn't play against us. But but the whole build
Speaker 3: up early in the week, you know it might be
Speaker 3: an individual thing, but you do everything together. You go
Speaker 3: to the opening ceremony together, you're you're you're, you're in
Speaker 3: the same apartment type thing. I know, most of the
Speaker 3: guys in Paris now are sleeping at an a hotel
Speaker 3: which is on site because the Olympic village is just
Speaker 3: too far. It's at the north of Paris, like, forget
Speaker 3: about it. It's going to take them more than an
Speaker 3: hour to get to the venue. So it's just unmanageable.
Speaker 3: But you do everything with your with your with your colors.
Speaker 3: Uh nations would tend to send like look at Denmark
Speaker 3: for example, they've got Thomas Beyond as the captain. You know,
Speaker 3: I was asked to be a captain for Belgium, you know,
Speaker 3: last year, and I wasn't really in the in at
Speaker 3: the moment. They should if they asked me at another time,
Speaker 3: I would have said yes. And I actually tried a
Speaker 3: couple of months ago but it was too late. But
Speaker 3: you know, go for Denmark, you have Thomas Beyond going
Speaker 3: with Olison and Oycot. I mean, what more you can't
Speaker 3: be more team oriented than that. I mean, you've got
Speaker 3: a guy that's won the Ryder Cup at the National
Speaker 3: who's you know, into the Hall of Fame of European Golf,
Speaker 3: who as a captain, So it is somehow a little
Speaker 3: bit team orientated.
Speaker 2: MM hmm. With you illuminate something that makes an event
Speaker 2: unique and in the sense of like it's not just
Speaker 2: about winning. You know, most most golf tournaments it's like
Speaker 2: you finished first and you feel you feel that joyous,
Speaker 2: like celebratory aspect that you were talking about with the
Speaker 2: field hockey team on the bus, like where they're you
Speaker 2: know that's for golfers winning is that you know, you
Speaker 2: can leave a tournament really happy about a t eight,
Speaker 2: but you're not in that joyous winning mood. With the Olympics,
Speaker 2: it's a little different, right you hit on it like
Speaker 2: Thomas Peters was was going for the third. Yeah, how
Speaker 2: does that change the dynamic of you playing playing in
Speaker 2: an event? Did it feel different where there was this
Speaker 2: idea of like it's not just first, but second and
Speaker 2: third are are super valuable. Like that feels like winning.
Speaker 3: I think that if you really understand what the Olympics
Speaker 3: are about, you know, you you look at winning a
Speaker 3: medal from such a different angle. You know, we've all seen,
Speaker 3: you know, these pictures of whether it's Carl Lewis or
Speaker 3: Michael Phelps or even you know, we all know this
Speaker 3: Australian guy at the at the Winter Olympics that won
Speaker 3: the short track where everybody fell in front of him, Like,
Speaker 3: you know, you have an opportunity to make it properly
Speaker 3: in the history books of not just your sport, but sports.
Speaker 3: I mean, I've got just I've got ship. It was
Speaker 3: just just talking about it. It. Yeah, it's definitely different.
Speaker 3: I mean I was. I was so nervous on the
Speaker 3: first team, so nervous, and you think, like, you know,
Speaker 3: like wow, I mean I've played majors, have played in
Speaker 3: the Ratta Cup, and it was just as bad as
Speaker 3: team up at the Rata Cup, because because you know
Speaker 3: that at the end of the thing there could be
Speaker 3: something that you would be looked at, uh from your
Speaker 3: people at home as in like wow, the you know
Speaker 3: you want a metal for Belgium. You're not playing for yourself,
Speaker 3: You're playing for the colors. You're playing for your your
Speaker 3: country and hearing your national anthem. I mean, how many
Speaker 3: times you get your national interem play when you play golf.
Speaker 3: Never the only time you get your national anthem is
Speaker 3: you guys at the Rod Cup. Would I don't even
Speaker 3: have all we have this European thing that nobody really
Speaker 3: identifies to. So it's it's it's really it's really different.
Speaker 3: It just hits you different. It's it's it's sports. It
Speaker 3: resonates with just playing for nothing, you're just playing for pride.
Speaker 3: When you're playing for how proud you you? You can
Speaker 3: be representing your country and your sport. And I mean
Speaker 3: it's three every four years, every four years. You know,
Speaker 3: if you think swimming, I mean they have the World Championship,
Speaker 3: they have the Olympic Games, and that's it. So that's
Speaker 3: why I think it's it resonates and it makes it
Speaker 3: so big.
Speaker 2: I do think I think when you I think we're
Speaker 2: you know, we're in the like early years of golf
Speaker 2: being back in the Olympics, and I think, like it's
Speaker 2: easy for people to kind of cast it aside as
Speaker 2: it doesn't really fit. But I think, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: of the person belief that as we get twenty years
Speaker 2: out from this, the event will further entrench itself and
Speaker 2: it will become, you know, more a part of the
Speaker 2: golf lexicon. But you already start to see, like with
Speaker 2: Justin Rose, he won the twenty sixteen Rio that you
Speaker 2: played in, and then you have Xanderschaffle winning in Japan
Speaker 2: four years ago, you know, if they're able to add
Speaker 2: another big name player, it could be this really fascinating
Speaker 2: event where it's like it kind of chronicles capsules and
Speaker 2: time of golf. Because of that it's only once every
Speaker 2: four years. And qualifications, I mean, it's really hard to
Speaker 2: qualify for this team, like to be one of the
Speaker 2: two best players in a country or you know, if
Speaker 2: you're in a golf riche country where you could get
Speaker 2: more than two. You know, you know, you have to
Speaker 2: be at the very top level of the game. Do
Speaker 2: you think that as we get more into the Olympics
Speaker 2: that it will become more embraced by whether it's all consistent,
Speaker 2: whether it's got players, fans, and also the governing bodies.
Speaker 2: I think like the Golf's tournaments haven't really embraced it.
Speaker 3: I think that well, the view from players has changed.
Speaker 3: Like the only the only one was really the first one.
Speaker 3: And you know, people use the excuse of that Zeke
Speaker 3: virus back then, yeah, which which I mean, come on,
Speaker 3: I mean, I didn't see a mosquito the whole two
Speaker 3: weeks I was there, right, But I kind of understand
Speaker 3: it as well, Like, you know, these guys came from
Speaker 3: a schedule of like twenty five thirty big events of
Speaker 3: the year. It wasn't really at the right time of
Speaker 3: the year, I understand it. But quickly for Tokyo they
Speaker 3: all showed up, they all did, and they all realized
Speaker 3: that it was, you know, something quite you neque to
Speaker 3: be a part of. Yes, the majors are special, Yes,
Speaker 3: the Ryder Cup is special. Yes, the Memorial Tournament is special.
Speaker 3: Riviera is special. But this, you know, this stance part,
Speaker 3: and you know when you look at you know, Rory
Speaker 3: last time was sweating it out to try to win
Speaker 3: bronze and look and looked really really upset, not you know,
Speaker 3: getting it done. Just it just makes you think, yeah, okay,
Speaker 3: these guys really get it. If you are a sports
Speaker 3: fan like you will get taken by it. You will
Speaker 3: that there's no if you don't. If you don't get it,
Speaker 3: you know, find something else to do. Go play a
Speaker 3: regular PGA Tour event if that makes you happy. But
Speaker 3: if you don't understand that playing Olympics is special, like
Speaker 3: I've got nothing to say to you.
Speaker 2: I I think there is like this added gravity of
Speaker 2: the of the Olympic medal, and I think we we
Speaker 2: get so caught up especially in America. But you know,
Speaker 2: we're about to hit the uh hit the Fedax Cup playoffs.
Speaker 2: You know, one of my favorite times of the year
Speaker 2: when when golf, all that we talk about is how
Speaker 2: much money is on the line. But like the Olympics
Speaker 2: is actually like the complete opposite, where there's no money
Speaker 2: on the line, except there's this medal that like represents
Speaker 2: I think like an Olympic medal represents a greater kind
Speaker 2: of symbol in just all of sport, right, Like you know,
Speaker 2: it's the first line you say about somebody, Oh, he's
Speaker 2: an Olympic medalist, right, And I think like when you
Speaker 2: think about that, it's like a it's a crazy it's
Speaker 2: it's a different gravity. And I think when we when
Speaker 2: we go to in particularly golf Nationale that of course
Speaker 2: you've won at getting it home at that golf course,
Speaker 2: with all the water, all the preponderance of problems that
Speaker 2: can be there, I think you're going to see that
Speaker 2: real Like these guys might end up getting you know,
Speaker 2: a little bit rattled by the gravity of a medal again.
Speaker 3: You know, you might very well see that because of
Speaker 3: you know, the stage it's on and the last couple
Speaker 3: of hos it's at the National But but you first
Speaker 3: need to understand. I've seen a few medals at people's place,
Speaker 3: in their offices and stuff, and it's just like, wow,
Speaker 3: it's an Olympic medal. Like you just don't see an
Speaker 3: Olympic medal. It's like seeing you know, some of the
Speaker 3: some some some books from from the Vatican library. You know,
Speaker 3: you just don't see them, and and and and yeah,
Speaker 3: I can only hope that you know, there's going to
Speaker 3: be you know, let's hope that there is you know,
Speaker 3: riff raff in the last four or five holes, that
Speaker 3: you know, the three guys in the position for the
Speaker 3: three medals could be. Imagine a group of six, you know,
Speaker 3: playing for three medals and I don't even know what's
Speaker 3: the what's the situation with ties? If it's like just
Speaker 3: the last round scores and stuff like that, which would
Speaker 3: be hard wreaking. Imagine sorry, dude, you're finishing fourth because
Speaker 3: you've shot seventy one and the two other guys shot
Speaker 3: sixty nine and seventy and stay the bus home to
Speaker 3: the Olympic village with nothing around your neck. You would
Speaker 3: be devastating. So I just hope the guys will understand
Speaker 3: what they're playing for.
Speaker 2: There's a there's got to be a playoff. You can't
Speaker 2: send them that.
Speaker 3: It would be kind of harsh, harsh.
Speaker 2: How did it? How did the you know, you went
Speaker 2: into the last day with a chance of a bronze?
Speaker 2: How did how did that feel comparatively to a normal week?
Speaker 2: Was it a similar feeling when you were you're dealing
Speaker 2: with like the nerves of was it similar to contending
Speaker 2: or similar to Ryder cup or you know, how was that?
Speaker 2: How is that Saturday night?
Speaker 1: Like it was?
Speaker 3: Listen, it was it was heavy, just like any Saturday
Speaker 3: night that you know you're going to the last round
Speaker 3: and you know you playing for something big, And it
Speaker 3: didn't really change much honestly. It's it's just you know,
Speaker 3: the people would tell you try to take you know,
Speaker 3: the end result away from you know, the thinking process,
Speaker 3: otherwise you're going to start making bad decisions. But it's
Speaker 3: just like standard you know, sports psychology and all, just
Speaker 3: stick to the processes instead of you know, seeing the headline.
Speaker 3: But after I think after six souls or something, I
Speaker 3: was that So I was like, listen, and I only
Speaker 3: have one job? Lift is one job left? Is trying
Speaker 3: to get the speeders over the line and bring one back,
Speaker 3: because it would have been a hell of a party.
Speaker 3: But but but yeah, listen, in the end, it's just
Speaker 3: another Saturday night like the other ones. You're trying to
Speaker 3: do your best and and and yeah, it's it's a
Speaker 3: you know, looking back now at my age and having
Speaker 3: done it for like twenty twenty five years, you know
Speaker 3: you need to be properly bulletproof to actually go through
Speaker 3: these nights and show up the next day and have
Speaker 3: clear thinking and and and get the job done, because
Speaker 3: it's it's not easy.
Speaker 2: But how do you fancy Belgium's chances this year?
Speaker 3: I think they're good. I think they're good. Listen, I
Speaker 3: mean we all know Detrie HIDINOI both to both of them.
Speaker 2: I mean, see in Belgium or TV University of Illinois.
Speaker 2: You can look at it two different ways.
Speaker 3: I'm a bit surprised Mike Small's not there.
Speaker 2: I'm surprised they I'm surprised they asked you to be
Speaker 2: the coach, not Mike Small.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would have handed it over to Mike Small.
Speaker 3: But yeah, of course they have a good chance. The
Speaker 3: girl as well, that mine, OWNDI listen, she's really good.
Speaker 3: She's I think she's in the top three or top
Speaker 3: five of the d T like, I mean, she's one
Speaker 3: a few times, like she's solid. So yeah, Dutries played
Speaker 3: the course a bunch of times. Adrian de Monchasell I
Speaker 3: wonder if he's actually ever played it. So yeah, there's
Speaker 3: a there's there's a there's a good chance that we
Speaker 3: get somebody in the mix coming Sunday. It would be
Speaker 3: it would be quite funny actually that you know Detro
Speaker 3: wins the medal after chasing you know, big big results
Speaker 3: or actually a win on either PG or europeon where
Speaker 3: it would be a fun one to win for his
Speaker 3: first one.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean he's been in the mix too, and
Speaker 2: I think to the majors this year he was like
Speaker 2: really kind of in it at one point. I think
Speaker 2: the weekends didn't go well for him, but he's been around,
Speaker 2: he's definitely got the game to do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I got to ask you a question. Well, I was
Speaker 2: researching this, I saw you don't have a home one.
Speaker 2: Is that still you know you got one?
Speaker 3: No? No, I do, I do know. I made my
Speaker 3: first official one of the Scottish Open last year and
Speaker 3: it's funny because I started working with Dave Linquist, who
Speaker 3: will be listening to this one of ours friends last
Speaker 3: year and he was like, we're going to get one.
Speaker 3: I'm like, dude, I've been chasing this thing for twenty years.
Speaker 3: I ain't gonna happen. I'm just a black sheep. And
Speaker 3: we did one in Scotland which was really cool. But
Speaker 3: before that, I made one on the practice round at
Speaker 3: a Trump and Dubai on the Path four with Detree
Speaker 3: and Peters actually and I just hold this this shot
Speaker 3: on this driving boat.
Speaker 2: So yeah, albatros before before a home one on a
Speaker 2: part three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I already admite an albatross in Portugal by
Speaker 3: holding a five iron on the twelve hold of the
Speaker 3: Portugal Masters one year. So now I can. I can.
Speaker 3: I can die in peace because I've I've ticked all
Speaker 3: the boxes and I can die in peace because I've
Speaker 3: made your podcast as well.
Speaker 2: I have to say, you got to be you had
Speaker 2: to be like the only pro without a home one.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think there would have been many of us. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was. It was really something that really kept me
Speaker 3: awake at night when it used to when it used
Speaker 3: to to come up in conversations. I mean, you might
Speaker 3: as well just leave the table, you know, when you
Speaker 3: surrounded by guys that I've had like thirteen and seventeen
Speaker 3: by sinning one and getting a good bounce off a bunker.
Speaker 3: I mean you're just like, what have I done? What
Speaker 3: if I don't to deserve this? I mean, I think
Speaker 3: I've hit enough solid go shots in my life to
Speaker 3: actually deserve the Holy.
Speaker 2: One, right, Yeah, Nicholas, thanks so much for coming on
Speaker 2: chatting about the Olympics. One of these days we'll have
Speaker 2: to do a full pod to dive into more of
Speaker 2: your career, more of your interests. I h I know
Speaker 2: you're in Abiza right now. I mispronounced it. You told
Speaker 2: me how to pronounce it before. We'd love to dive
Speaker 2: in you. Yeah, we should be. We should do a
Speaker 2: whole European travel podcast sometime, all the best.
Speaker 3: Spots and any any time. I've always enjoyed watching to
Speaker 3: you guys. You guys are great. You're amusing, your quite intelligent.
Speaker 3: You've got a great sense of humor even where you
Speaker 3: come from, so keep it up.
Speaker 2: Thank you, even where we come from. You thank you
Speaker 2: for that. What last question as a world traveler, what
Speaker 2: would be your dream Olympic city host? Where would be
Speaker 2: the Olympics that you'd most want to go attend if
Speaker 2: you if they were going to host it?
Speaker 1: What city?
Speaker 3: Well, I think the next ones are going to be great.
Speaker 3: I mean los Angeles, Come on, los Angeles is going
Speaker 3: to be amazing. I mean it's going to be pre
Speaker 3: to play at Riviera. This is just you know, selfishly
Speaker 3: about golf. But yeah, I mean you stick to the
Speaker 3: big ones. But los Angeles next time, I think wouldn't
Speaker 3: be absolutely awesome.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, all right, all right. I thought I was
Speaker 2: going to get some European city far flung, your European
Speaker 2: city or something, you know, something off the grid.
Speaker 3: But you want the Americans is too small, Russells is
Speaker 3: too small. Conduit in Brussels.
Speaker 2: Well you could get that American caesar salad you love
Speaker 2: so much if you came it came up.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I'm going to get my fix of chicken
Speaker 3: caesar salad the next time. I can't wait. All right,
Speaker 3: thanks a good one, see dude.
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Speaker 2: their partnership of us. Let's talk about the Olympics. All right,
Speaker 2: I'm joined by our own Garrett Morrison here. Garrett, I
Speaker 2: gotta ask you, are you excited for the for the
Speaker 2: golf in the Olympics.
Speaker 1: I am so excited for the Olympics. I love the Olympics.
Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan of pretty much all Olympic sports.
Speaker 1: Golf in the Olympics is fine. I'm glad it's there.
Speaker 1: I would like to see it build up some tradition
Speaker 1: over time. But my excitement level is kind of middling
Speaker 1: compared to how excited I am to see swimmers and
Speaker 1: sprinters and even the canoers. Those are, you know, special
Speaker 1: Olympic sports that we only get to see every four years.
Speaker 1: I get up for those. Golf, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: got to see more of it. I got to see
Speaker 1: how the competition develops over time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I'm in the same boat. I think
Speaker 2: I'm more in bullish in the Olympics category. I think
Speaker 2: that just in general, this event I think is going
Speaker 2: to age. Well, you know, is it exactly how I
Speaker 2: want golf in the Olympics from a format sense, No,
Speaker 2: but I'm happy it's a part of it. I think that,
Speaker 2: like there is a great opportunity with golf in the Olympics,
Speaker 2: if the players and the constituents really kind of lean into, hey,
Speaker 2: this is an Olympic sport, this is a once in
Speaker 2: a lifetime opportunity to represent, really represent your country, and
Speaker 2: you know, the greatest athletic spectacle there is.
Speaker 1: I agree. I think the potential is enormous because there's
Speaker 1: nothing like an Olympic medal. There's really nothing like it,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's what this competition has going for it,
Speaker 1: plus its association with the tradition of the Olympics, which
Speaker 1: is second to none in the sporting world. But what
Speaker 1: it does require is that investment on the part of
Speaker 1: the athletes. If it's really important to them, then it
Speaker 1: will become crucially important to us. And I think it
Speaker 1: was important to Justin Rose that he won his medal
Speaker 1: at the at the Rio Olympics. I think that was
Speaker 1: a big deal to him and that gave this event
Speaker 1: some authenticity, some legitimacy going forward. I'm not sure I
Speaker 1: got the same sense from Xander Shaffley, but then again,
Speaker 1: I don't really get anything from Xander Shafflee, and so
Speaker 1: maybe he was deeply moved and excited about winning the
Speaker 1: gold medal in Japan. But I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 1: I didn't get much from him about it. And so
Speaker 1: again we'll see if these players properly invest Now. I
Speaker 1: don't want to come down too hard on some of
Speaker 1: the players in the Olympics this coming week, but I
Speaker 1: did notice that some players showed up to the opening
Speaker 1: ceremony in Paris and some didn't. And again, there are
Speaker 1: many reasons that players might not have made the time
Speaker 1: or been able to attend the opening ceremony. But I
Speaker 1: thought it was really cool that Colin Morrikala and Wyndham
Speaker 1: Clark were there. They were out there on the boat.
Speaker 1: They were mixing it up with the other athletes. They
Speaker 1: have been going to at least mare Kawa has been
Speaker 1: going to some Olympic events. They seem to be all in.
Speaker 1: Now we'll see what Scotti, Shuffler, and Xander Schofflee show us.
Speaker 1: As far as the Americans are concerned, you know, how
Speaker 1: much how much do they really care about this competition?
Speaker 1: I would I would like to see that. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that they don't, but not seeing them at the
Speaker 1: opening ceremony was I mean, it was a bit of
Speaker 1: a bummer. It would have been nice to see all
Speaker 1: four of them there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I guess I think I could
Speaker 2: see both sides of it, right, especially for someone like
Speaker 2: Xander who's already done probably I think I think he
Speaker 2: was at the opening ceremony in Japan. I'm not positive,
Speaker 2: but if you've already done one, I see, like, Okay,
Speaker 2: maybe I don't show up to the second one. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I can understand that. I think that the you know,
Speaker 2: it's been interesting. I think from the Olympic side, the women,
Speaker 2: the women's has been way more successful to date. It
Speaker 2: has been way more embraced by the athletes and the fans.
Speaker 2: I think it's like a really big deal in the
Speaker 2: women's game. I think it serves as almost a major
Speaker 2: championship to the women, which is how I kind of think.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't it's not in apples to apples comparison,
Speaker 2: but I think that if it stays into in the
Speaker 2: greater golf world, that Olympic gold will get to that standing.
Speaker 2: Because the scarcity of it, it's just like it's really
Speaker 2: hard to qualify for and there are very few of
Speaker 2: them warded, So when you think about it, it's like
Speaker 2: you have to be one of the best, you know,
Speaker 2: twenty or so players in the world to have a
Speaker 2: shot at really like winning one because of the qualification standards,
Speaker 2: and it's only once every four years, like you think about,
Speaker 2: I think that's what makes major so fascinating is the
Speaker 2: scarcity of them. There's only four of them a year.
Speaker 2: And I think from from that sense, like an Olympic
Speaker 2: gold if if they kind of play their car, if
Speaker 2: the if the if, the game embraces it, and maybe
Speaker 2: they make a few I think a few format tweaks
Speaker 2: could really help it. I think that it would. It
Speaker 2: could leap into the upper ash lines of like the
Speaker 2: sport and the honors of the sport. Olympic gold medalists
Speaker 2: has like a nice ring to somebody's resume.
Speaker 1: A couple of things from that. First of all, why
Speaker 1: do you think it has become a bigger deal more
Speaker 1: quickly for the women.
Speaker 2: I think it's because they embrace it, and I think
Speaker 2: they like revel in the opportunity to be on this platform.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the platform is very meaningful to them in a
Speaker 1: way that you know that the men might not see
Speaker 1: it the same way, even though it is an important
Speaker 1: platform for them. Also, it's maybe harder for them to
Speaker 1: realize that considering that the majors are already such a
Speaker 1: big platform for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think I think that's it, right, I think,
Speaker 2: And I think if you look at the other the
Speaker 2: other aspect of it is I think on both sides,
Speaker 2: one of the things that the Olympics has going for
Speaker 2: it is the winners have been awesome. Justin Rose Xanderschoffley
Speaker 2: on the men's side, MB Park, Nelly Korda. I mean,
Speaker 2: those are four generational players.
Speaker 1: And Ry Sabatini with the silver medal, I mean, how
Speaker 1: can you get better than that?
Speaker 2: I mean, Rory Sabatini has been relevant for twenty five years.
Speaker 1: He gave up everything to get that silver medal.
Speaker 2: Gave up in citizenship, I know, he gave up his homeland. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I think like the thing for for the Olympics
Speaker 2: is continuing to build off it and having successes, uh
Speaker 2: with with the you know, just getting the players more
Speaker 2: in the boat. And I think like Japan, for in
Speaker 2: the men side, was more committed than Rio Rio was.
Speaker 2: Like I think there was like some there had to
Speaker 2: be some fomo from people that missed out on Rio.
Speaker 1: Probably Rio looked really fun. Ricky Fowler was there, right,
Speaker 1: and Bubba.
Speaker 2: Watson that's where he got the tattoo.
Speaker 1: That's right, of course, how could I forget the tattoo.
Speaker 1: I remember Ricky Fowler hanging out, maybe even staying in
Speaker 1: the Olympic village and like bringing Bubba Watson along with
Speaker 1: him and being like, Hey, look at look at how
Speaker 1: cool this is. This is really an amazing gathering of
Speaker 1: world class athletes, and I think golf being part of
Speaker 1: that is such an honor and such an opportunity, not
Speaker 1: just a financial opportunity like this is a this is
Speaker 1: this is some kind of deep experience that they could have,
Speaker 1: that golfers could have being being part of this congregation.
Speaker 1: I'm a sucker for the Olympic spirit. I'm completely naive
Speaker 1: when it comes to that stuff, and so I just
Speaker 1: I just see that this as as a great chance
Speaker 1: for golf to be part of the international landscape of sports.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to pull on another thread in what
Speaker 1: you were saying earlier. You mentioned format tweaks that could
Speaker 1: potentially give this competition a little bit more juice, make
Speaker 1: it make it feel more important. I came up with
Speaker 1: a few ideas around this, not particularly original ideas, just
Speaker 1: just simple things that could happen. But what do you
Speaker 1: what would be your proposal for an Olympic format.
Speaker 2: I think the easy way that you build this without
Speaker 2: having to like tear everything down. I think you should
Speaker 2: have a Each team should have three players on it,
Speaker 2: and if your if your country doesn't can't get three
Speaker 2: players qualified, then you're just not part of the team competition.
Speaker 2: I think there has to be a team component to this.
Speaker 2: So I would get three players, three three person teams,
Speaker 2: and I think you shorten the the the stroke play
Speaker 2: individual championship to maybe thirty six holes or you know,
Speaker 2: kind of just figure out, play around with what you want.
Speaker 1: Have the top.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they give out a medal, right, like that's a
Speaker 2: you know, and then I would have like the top
Speaker 2: eight teams qualify for three rounds of matches and then
Speaker 2: you crown a team champion. I think that would be awesome.
Speaker 2: I think there you'd see real camaraderie. It's not it's
Speaker 2: five rounds of golf. It's it's manageable, but you get
Speaker 2: that team and individual element to it. I think the
Speaker 2: team elements the thing that's lacking, you know.
Speaker 1: I would love that and I agree that a team
Speaker 1: element would be great and would set this competition apart
Speaker 1: a little bit. I just don't. I don't really think
Speaker 1: it's gonna happen. Maybe that's too cynical. The reason they
Speaker 1: went with seventy two whole stroke play in the first
Speaker 1: place is that it's an easy to understand, an easily
Speaker 1: recognizable format. That's why they did it, just because they
Speaker 1: weren't willing to really take a chance.
Speaker 2: I think the matchups would be incredible, Like you know,
Speaker 2: this is the bronze medal match for the team championship.
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's I always use the I always use.
Speaker 2: But like Chili, Chili could have a team with Mita
Speaker 2: Perro juaquin Neeman and I don't know who the third rank,
Speaker 2: but there has to be a player that's ranked in
Speaker 2: the top one thousand of though wgr from Chile. Like
Speaker 2: that would be a legitimate team. You know, yeah, I
Speaker 2: think last year we did like a team, or last
Speaker 2: Olympics we might have done like a team calculation and
Speaker 2: Chili might have won. It was they were right up
Speaker 2: there with the American team.
Speaker 1: The top end of Chile's golfing talent is is really
Speaker 1: really strong. All right, Well, so what I would propose
Speaker 1: a little more modestly, like I would obviously like there
Speaker 1: to be team match play. Who wouldn't want team match play?
Speaker 1: That's what all golf siccos want to see, And frankly,
Speaker 1: I think the wide appeal of it is a little
Speaker 1: bit underrated. Like the Ryder Cup works, so why wouldn't
Speaker 1: Why wouldn't this work in the Olympics. But a little
Speaker 1: bit more modestly, if you maintained this event as an
Speaker 1: individual Olympic event, then at the very least you could
Speaker 1: say we'll have fifty four holes of stroke play, maybe even.
Speaker 2: In feeling live format.
Speaker 1: I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, l IV fifty four Yeah, sorry,
Speaker 1: sorry to all the lift fans out there. I wasn't
Speaker 1: going to acknowledge that until Andy called me out. So
Speaker 1: I'm a bad guy in any case, Maybe even like
Speaker 1: a thirty six cut, you get to fifty four holes
Speaker 1: of stroke play and then you have a playoff to
Speaker 1: define the first four seeds one, two, three, four. You
Speaker 1: get solo places for one, two, three four through a playoff.
Speaker 1: It would be a chaotic playoff. Maybe there will be
Speaker 1: multiple playoffs, There'll be all kinds of scenarios there. It'd
Speaker 1: be a little be kind of similar to what they
Speaker 1: do for the metal placements right now, they have to
Speaker 1: do like a big complicated playoff. You would do that
Speaker 1: at the fifty four hole mark, and then you would
Speaker 1: have four players seeded one, two, three, four, and the
Speaker 1: next day you would have two matches. One is the
Speaker 1: gold medal match and one is the bronze medal match.
Speaker 1: I would love to see that because I think what's
Speaker 1: really great and distinct about Olympic golf is the meaningfulness
Speaker 1: of silver and bronze, that second and third place really matter.
Speaker 1: Players are motivated to get those places. To me, a
Speaker 1: final day of match play that would earn players different
Speaker 1: medals would emphasize that tension, and it would be a
Speaker 1: really great thing to watch. It would be the day
Speaker 1: of Olympic competition that you would have to tune into,
Speaker 1: right and and it would be something a little bit different.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know that. I like that. I like match
Speaker 2: play in general. I think like for the common fan,
Speaker 2: match play is actually easier to understand than stroke play.
Speaker 1: It's intuitive, is this.
Speaker 2: Guy this person versus this person. The other element of
Speaker 2: match play that I think is underrated, is it brings
Speaker 2: in the element of winner and loser, like the black
Speaker 2: and white defined element of is he won they lost?
Speaker 1: The fourth place guy in that situation, the loser of
Speaker 1: the bronze medal match. Oh, that's brutal, you know.
Speaker 2: They'd always be the guy, the guy that lost the
Speaker 2: bronze medal match. Do you remember the guy or gallop?
Speaker 2: Oh didn't didn't he lose in the bronze medal man
Speaker 2: a few years ago? Would be the how they That's
Speaker 2: how they would describe it.
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, yeah, exactly that that would be. That would
Speaker 1: be I lost.
Speaker 2: I lost the bronze medal match. I like that.
Speaker 1: It's a sad way to go. Yeah, no, I mean
Speaker 1: I I think that that would be a simple change,
Speaker 1: a relatively modest change that would introduce something, something new
Speaker 1: to it.
Speaker 2: The other aspect I let I love about golf in
Speaker 2: the Olympics is the opportunity for the game, like other
Speaker 2: parts of the country or other parts of the world
Speaker 2: being exposed to the game. Like that's I think like
Speaker 2: there are there's an emphasis in countries that are placed
Speaker 2: on Olympic sports and development that goes into people that
Speaker 2: are playing Olympic sports because it's such a big deal
Speaker 2: for countries that are maybe an underdeveloped parts of the world.
Speaker 2: And I think that is a neat component to the Olympics.
Speaker 2: And the component that you know that golf has get
Speaker 2: from that is like, you know, I saw the US
Speaker 2: Junior was being played at Oakland Hills last week and
Speaker 2: I was kind of monitoring matches. I saw one of
Speaker 2: the round of sixteen matches was between a player from
Speaker 2: Ukraine and a player from Vietnam, and like, those were
Speaker 2: two really good young players from those countries, and it's
Speaker 2: like you start to think about it. It's like it
Speaker 2: would be really cool if someone from Ukraine won an
Speaker 2: Olympic medal, just like last year when someone from Slovakia
Speaker 2: or last Olympics when someone from Slovakia Olympic medal. I mean,
Speaker 2: but it would be fi need to see golf continue
Speaker 2: to develop in these other countries because I mean, like,
Speaker 2: I think anybody that's listening to this podcast believes in
Speaker 2: the virtues of the game of golf right, and and
Speaker 2: the that it's a great game to play and it's
Speaker 2: a great game for kids to play. So I think
Speaker 2: like from from that standpoint, I just like, you know,
Speaker 2: I think like the pessimistic side of me is that
Speaker 2: and this is like the probably impact that you're now
Speaker 2: covering basically four years of golf pulling itself apart at
Speaker 2: the seams over money. Like the pessimistic side of me
Speaker 2: with the Olympics is like, because it's an unpaid appearance,
Speaker 2: the players will never take it as seriously as as
Speaker 2: they should and make it as cool as they could.
Speaker 1: That's that's sort of what I'm worried about too. But
Speaker 1: the optimistic side of that is that this exposure that
Speaker 1: Olympic golfers might have to athletes who are world class
Speaker 1: but also like have a day job, don't earn millions
Speaker 1: playing their sport even though they're one of the best
Speaker 1: in the world at it. Then exposure to that kind
Speaker 1: of community, that kind of athletics is really good for
Speaker 1: golfers and might provide some clarifying perspective on why they're
Speaker 1: doing what they're doing. I don't think any golfers out
Speaker 1: there got into the sport because they were interested in money.
Speaker 1: I think, pretty much to a man or to a woman,
Speaker 1: they got into it because they love golf and they
Speaker 1: found out that they were really good at it. It
Speaker 1: was about the game it eventually becomes about the money
Speaker 1: at some point in your career if you become successful.
Speaker 1: But maybe this encounter with the community of that have
Speaker 1: athletes who really do it for the love of sport
Speaker 1: and not for any kind of monetary compensation, which simply
Speaker 1: isn't there for most Olympic sports. That encounter is very
Speaker 1: healthy and I hope, I hope that the golfers take
Speaker 1: advantage of it.
Speaker 2: Also, just look at the way of an athlete, like
Speaker 2: the most recognizable athlete on the planet right now, Lebron,
Speaker 2: like what he puts into the Olympics, and that is
Speaker 2: an unpaid It's an unpaid position. And he's playing a
Speaker 2: sport where there are actual real ramifications of playing a
Speaker 2: exhibition where there are potential injury risks, you know, and such.
Speaker 2: We saw it with Paul George a few years ago
Speaker 2: on the men's Olympic team, where like he had a
Speaker 2: career altering injury in a practice for it. You know,
Speaker 2: like this is Golf's a little bit less low stakes.
Speaker 2: But like look at that guy. That guy should be
Speaker 2: the highest paid athlete in the world. I think he's
Speaker 2: probably close to the highest paid maybe, you know, with
Speaker 2: all of his revit all of the money makes on
Speaker 2: and off the court, he cares about he like clearly
Speaker 2: cares dearly about the Olympics, gives it his all. He's
Speaker 2: playing like is the NBA Finals out there? And and
Speaker 2: I think yes, And I just think that golfers and
Speaker 2: gen role they got off to really bad start with
Speaker 2: with this, Like Rio, I think, I think it like
Speaker 2: left a bad taste and fans mouths too, just the
Speaker 2: unseeriousness of how they took the inclusion, like it's an
Speaker 2: honor to be included in the Olympics, Like this is
Speaker 2: a good thing for the sport. And I think, like
Speaker 2: the flip side, the last piece beyond that is is
Speaker 2: the PGA Tour buying in and accommodating the Olympics on
Speaker 2: the schedule and understanding, you know what, we can pause
Speaker 2: our season for two weeks every four years and give
Speaker 2: these guys, give the people that play the Olympics a chance,
Speaker 2: Like everything should be paused because there are players from
Speaker 2: corn Fairy Tour who have qualified, Like everything should just
Speaker 2: be paused. It's okay, it's fine. The FedEx Cup's gonna
Speaker 2: be okay without you know.
Speaker 1: They shouldn't hold the tournaments.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they shouldn't because it happens.
Speaker 1: On a pretty convenient part of the schedule already. I
Speaker 1: mean there's not much going on. Yeah, but if you
Speaker 1: as the three.
Speaker 2: M you know, but if you're on the bubble of
Speaker 2: the playoffs and you have to play in the Olympics,
Speaker 2: that that's not good.
Speaker 1: Like that, especially for like non American players, right, because
Speaker 1: the American players are all going to be top ten
Speaker 1: in the world for you know, for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 1: This this year, they're all top five players I think right,
Speaker 1: Rice into Shambeau is ninth in the owgr and he
Speaker 1: didn't even make the team. But yeah, for players from
Speaker 1: other countries that that would be certainly a factor.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I think that's the last piece of it.
Speaker 2: And maybe that, more so than player greed, is the
Speaker 2: the the thing that we'll we'll hold the Olympics back.
Speaker 2: I think there's this other thing with the tour is
Speaker 2: like they currently don't own any of the five most
Speaker 2: valuable properties and the four Majors and the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 1: The Olympics threat.
Speaker 2: Now, if the Olympics became fully realized now they wouldn't
Speaker 2: own any of the six biggest events in golf, so.
Speaker 1: We probably don't want it to be that, yeah of
Speaker 1: the deal.
Speaker 2: I think this is like a real consideration. Does the
Speaker 2: PGA Tour actually want the Olympics to succeed? And that's
Speaker 2: super sad for the game of golf if it's true
Speaker 2: that they don't want it to succeed.
Speaker 1: I'd also point out that the LPGA Tour was playing
Speaker 1: an event last week and is also playing an event
Speaker 1: this coming week. And I'm not sure what's happening during
Speaker 1: the week of the women's Olympic competition itself, but it
Speaker 1: seems like maybe not a huge amount of accommodations are
Speaker 1: being made on that side either, And so I think
Speaker 1: golf in general just has to ask itself what does
Speaker 1: the Olympics mean to us? But on that theme, though,
Speaker 1: I wanted to get your perspective on on what you
Speaker 1: think in Olympic metal, gold or otherwise means for an
Speaker 1: athlete's career, Like how how a golfer's career? How do
Speaker 1: we how do we contextualize that we know what a
Speaker 1: major means, we have an approximate idea of what a
Speaker 1: player's championship means. I would argue, like about half a major.
Speaker 1: We've got an idea of what those season long championships
Speaker 1: mean that the CME Globe and the FedEx Cup. Basically
Speaker 1: they don't They don't mean much. They don't They don't
Speaker 1: tend to get mentioned that often unless a player you
Speaker 1: know has doesn't have any other high distinctions. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: you want a fed X Cup.
Speaker 2: So cup.
Speaker 1: Patrick and Billy Horschell won a Cup. Yeah, which p
Speaker 1: XG once said was was a major in one of
Speaker 1: the great moments of early golf Twitter.
Speaker 2: I forgot. I forgot that Billy was a p XG
Speaker 2: guy at the for a little while.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Billy Herschel, He's really had quite a journey over
Speaker 1: the past few years. So in any case, where do
Speaker 1: you think an Olympic medal fits in that? Where do
Speaker 1: you think it could fit in that? Will it be
Speaker 1: something that we say, like this player won five majors
Speaker 1: and an Olympic gold medal, and the Olympic gold medal
Speaker 1: is a meaningful part of that.
Speaker 2: I think it's to be determined right now, Like it's
Speaker 2: a part of like the Justin Rose. Like when you
Speaker 2: talk about Justin Rose, it's like, you know, he won
Speaker 2: a US Open, he won an Olympic gold. He's been
Speaker 2: super close in a ton of majors he's won. He
Speaker 2: was world number one, world number I think world number
Speaker 2: one would come before Olympic gold right now, yeah, TV,
Speaker 2: yeah right, if you were going down Xanders right now,
Speaker 2: I think Olympic gold would come pretty shortly after his
Speaker 2: two majors. So I think it's to be determined.
Speaker 3: But like.
Speaker 2: I think, if we get another release quality set of
Speaker 2: Winner this year and then you've got Rivieric going next,
Speaker 2: I think the Olympics will have started to establish Like listen,
Speaker 2: like not nobody, no Schmoe's come out here and win
Speaker 2: the Olympics, right. I do think, like I was, I
Speaker 2: was talking the other part of this podcast is with
Speaker 2: Nicholas Colestarts and he was like, the the feeling on
Speaker 2: the first t is not like it was like the
Speaker 2: Ryder Cup. You know, there's a gravity to an Olympic medal.
Speaker 2: I also one of the things I love about the
Speaker 2: Olympics is that it's not like there are three things
Speaker 2: that you're watching, like it's a super compelling event to
Speaker 2: watch on the last day because first, second, and third
Speaker 2: all matters so much. Because a bronze medal like you
Speaker 2: just think about the Olympics and like the medal count
Speaker 2: as a country. You know, if you're if you're for
Speaker 2: a country that has no medals and you could get
Speaker 2: one medal, that you're national hero. I think that is
Speaker 2: the the unique thing that the Olympic springs is that
Speaker 2: Olympic medal. In terms of like the trophy. Everybody was
Speaker 2: talking about how great of a trophy the claret jug is.
Speaker 2: You know what's better than the Claric jug?
Speaker 1: Gold medal?
Speaker 2: A gold medal, gold medal, gold medal is unanimously yeah.
Speaker 1: Have you ever held one? Have you ever like, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're heavy, right, they're very heavy. Yeah. I grew up swimming, right,
Speaker 1: and so occasionally we would get visited by by Olympic
Speaker 1: medalists and I held one of Janet Evans's gold medals,
Speaker 1: and I mean there was something about it. It was like, man,
Speaker 1: this is this is cool. It feels like this should
Speaker 1: be in a museum or something. But yeah, there is
Speaker 1: an absolute mystique and aura around that trophy.
Speaker 2: I mean it's not just a gold medal. Two is
Speaker 2: a silver medal, Yeah, a bronze medal like.
Speaker 1: Those are also really cool, you know, And I think.
Speaker 2: Like from that that regard, I'm like super Bowl. I
Speaker 2: think a lot of people in golf are very down
Speaker 2: on the Olympics, and I am super bollish about their future.
Speaker 2: I am buying the.
Speaker 1: Olympics, yeah, and I think that what's required is complete
Speaker 1: buy in right, go after it. Do what Colin Morikawa
Speaker 1: is doing this week. All credit to Colin for investing,
Speaker 1: showing up to the opening ceremony, going to other events.
Speaker 1: He is having the experience and doing the thing that
Speaker 1: needs to be done in order for this competition to
Speaker 1: really ascend. Ricky Fowler did his job at his Olympics
Speaker 1: as well, right, trying to make it significant and getting
Speaker 1: as much out of the experience as possible, learning from
Speaker 1: other athletes, like participating in this commune. That's what the
Speaker 1: Olympics is about. It's an international community of athletes who
Speaker 1: love their sports and there's something so pure about that
Speaker 1: and it is really an honor to get to participate
Speaker 1: in it. And so the extent to which golf invests
Speaker 1: in the Olympics and truly commits to it, that is
Speaker 1: the extent to which this part of the Olympics, this
Speaker 1: event in the Olympics is going to be successful now
Speaker 1: it is a true time. We'll tell situation though, because
Speaker 1: one thing about an event happening every four years is that, yes,
Speaker 1: it's special when it happens, like the World Cup. It's
Speaker 1: so cool when it happens because it only happens every
Speaker 1: four years. But the flip side of that is that
Speaker 1: it takes a long time for the event, for any
Speaker 1: given event that happens every four years, to gain momentum
Speaker 1: and to establish some kind of tradition and some kind
Speaker 1: of hold on the memories of the players and the fans,
Speaker 1: right and we haven't gotten there yet with golf. We've
Speaker 1: only had two of them so far. And so the
Speaker 1: more we have great Olympic golf competitions, the more the
Speaker 1: event will gain some weight, gain some tradition and memory
Speaker 1: and you know, get all those things that that right
Speaker 1: now the other Olympic events have.
Speaker 2: There has to be eventually, like the sport really the
Speaker 2: sport in the competition makes sense when you start to
Speaker 2: have kids or kids that become pro golfers, maybe that say,
Speaker 2: you know, I grew up watching golf in the Olympics,
Speaker 2: you know, because like right now, I think one of
Speaker 2: the things why the Masters is the maybe the granddaddy
Speaker 2: of them all is I grew up watching the Masters.
Speaker 2: You know, like there's almost like a it's like a
Speaker 2: religion to it, where like it is a you know,
Speaker 2: it is people set aside the time and there's a
Speaker 2: real ritual around watching the Masters. But I think they're
Speaker 2: they're golf being in the Olympics has the opportunity to
Speaker 2: have people stumble into the sport. And you know, we
Speaker 2: make fun of growth the game and all the I
Speaker 2: think the people that maybe exploit this phrase grow the game,
Speaker 2: but put putting golf in the position for millions of
Speaker 2: sports fans, especially from like a global sense, like in
Speaker 2: in places that you know aren't maybe that familiar with golf,
Speaker 2: giving them the opportunity, just the opportunity to stumble into
Speaker 2: the sport is a great, great part of golf being
Speaker 2: in the Olympics at the bare minimum.
Speaker 1: Yeah, completely agree. So hoping for a good competition at
Speaker 1: the golf nasty.
Speaker 2: Now I'm kind of in. I think I'm in on
Speaker 2: like golf nasty now.
Speaker 1: Tell me why quickly.
Speaker 2: I just I appreciate, I appreciate that it's very different
Speaker 2: from what I'm excited to watch a golf course that
Speaker 2: we don't see all the time, Okay, I mean we've
Speaker 2: seen it amount.
Speaker 1: Ryder Cups. You know, the French Open. I don't what
Speaker 1: happened to the French Open and or the Open.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you something. The finishes of the French
Speaker 2: Opens there were like exhilarating.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were pretty electric. That one.
Speaker 2: It was it was it Levy, Alex Levy was in
Speaker 2: that one.
Speaker 1: God, I don't remember, but I remember Tommy Fleetwood like
Speaker 1: sitting there watching people come are who were behind him
Speaker 1: on the day and that being pretty excited because the last.
Speaker 2: Hole is like a true coming down the position.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And there's there's a mixture of tough and and
Speaker 1: get a bowl holes. Yeah. It is a pretty effective
Speaker 1: stadium golf course for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And and like this was just over a French
Speaker 2: Open like there, I think it could be really fun
Speaker 2: course to watch with Olympic gold on the line, Like
Speaker 2: you could see some real meltdowns you could, And I
Speaker 2: I don't is our meltdowns our meltdowns the best the
Speaker 2: best finishes in golf.
Speaker 1: Or no?
Speaker 2: Do you like do you like the the occasion?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I like the rising to the I mean, but
Speaker 1: both The answer is both, of course, right, And the
Speaker 1: reason that Augusta National is such a great tournament venue
Speaker 1: in back nine is that there's potential for both on
Speaker 1: that back night, right on the same hole often.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: No, I mean, okay, I'm I'm I'm inclined to amp
Speaker 1: up the Olympic competition. Golf competition, however, is necessary because
Speaker 1: I want this to be a big thing that that
Speaker 1: you know, is part of the greatest sporting event in
Speaker 1: the world. But I think the golf is sort of
Speaker 1: like a Pete Die course without the personality.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't basic think I could really want to
Speaker 2: play it. Ever, I I do. I think that there's
Speaker 2: every once in a while, I'm okay watching a golf
Speaker 2: tournament there. I think I'm brady to watch a golf
Speaker 2: tournament there this week.
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's like it's a course that does
Speaker 1: prefer a certain playing style. And I think one thing
Speaker 1: about the US team, if we want to be nationalistic
Speaker 1: here for a second, is that there are a few
Speaker 1: players who are pretty well suited to this style. Of course. More,
Speaker 1: Kawa is a great course fit here. I think Scheffler,
Speaker 1: Scheffler can is you know, Scheffler and Xander are sort
Speaker 1: of like all court players, they can do well anywhere,
Speaker 1: but Schaffle certainly has proven that at an accuracy test
Speaker 1: like the golf Nacy now where you know the golf
Speaker 1: Nascy now. Part of what makes it distinctive is that
Speaker 1: it truly does reward accuracy off the tea. It doesn't
Speaker 1: disincentivize distance, but it certainly incentivizes accuracy more than we're
Speaker 1: used to seeing on regular PGA Tour courses. So I
Speaker 1: think Xander is well situated. Scheffler can do well anywhere,
Speaker 1: but he can do well on this kind of course.
Speaker 1: Wyndham Clark terrible course fit here. I mean for toasties. Yeah,
Speaker 1: don't you love the Argentinian team here? It's toasty and
Speaker 1: and and Grillo or Grillo Have we decided if it's
Speaker 1: Grio or Okay? Well, in any case, that's a that's
Speaker 1: a cranky duo. That's a I'd like I'd like to
Speaker 1: see them playing playing some team golf together. That would
Speaker 1: be fun.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe they could get al Pato to run out
Speaker 2: around out the third spot.
Speaker 1: He did well, he did el Pato's back. We don't
Speaker 1: we don't really want to talk about where he was.
Speaker 1: But but but he's back and doing well in in
Speaker 1: Senior Senior Majors.
Speaker 2: Hey, Garrett Big, thanks for coming on and uh chatting
Speaker 2: about the Olympics and uh, that'll do it for today's show.
Speaker 2: Today's episode was edited and produced by PJ Clark Big.
Speaker 2: Thanks to PJ has been putting in a lot of
Speaker 2: the hours here, a lot of hours lately. As a
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