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Speaker 1: for the support. And now on to today's episode. Today
Speaker 1: we are joined by the great Shane Bacon. He is
Speaker 1: obviously one of the co hosts of golf channels Golf Today.
Speaker 1: He's on TV almost every day there as well as
Speaker 1: the host of Get a Grip with Maxhoma, a stellar
Speaker 1: podcast that I'd highly recommend to anybody listening to this.
Speaker 1: You're clearly a golf fan. If you're a golf fan,
Speaker 1: Max and Shane have an awesome podcast that gives you
Speaker 1: unbelievable insights. So Shane joined and we talk about the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one US Open, everything that happens Sunday, and
Speaker 1: then some more big picture things and a little bit
Speaker 1: of chat about the Olympics and the Open Championship. At
Speaker 1: the end, without further ado, here is Shane Bacon.
Speaker 2: I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When
Speaker 2: I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
Speaker 2: And when I find my ball in a brid egg
Speaker 2: Friday egg, the dreaded Frida egg Friday, Frida egg Brian Egg,
Speaker 2: Frida egg Bride egg Lie, I'm about ready to run
Speaker 2: off of the hump course.
Speaker 1: Hey Shane, how much does the East Coast time zone
Speaker 1: suck to watch sports?
Speaker 2: Andy, I'm trying so hard to be positive about all
Speaker 2: of these things. But I got home from Tory Monday
Speaker 2: at about one am, traveling across the country with the
Speaker 2: two year old on an airplane and on all I
Speaker 2: wanted to do Tuesday night to stay up and watch
Speaker 2: the Suns, and it just took everything I have. Like
Speaker 2: I it was my Jordan flu game to stay up
Speaker 2: to watch the entire Sun's game, and I did it,
Speaker 2: and I'm so thankful I did it. I saw the
Speaker 2: eight and put back What a finish. But this, it's
Speaker 2: it's insanity, Dude, Dave, I told you my my, my rule.
Speaker 2: I think should be the case of this. Have I
Speaker 2: told you this about East Coast sports? Much like relegation
Speaker 2: in soccer, if you're the worst record in the league,
Speaker 2: or even just the worst record in the Eastern Conference,
Speaker 2: the next year, you have to play all your home
Speaker 2: games at noon Eastern, so it gives people something to
Speaker 2: watch during the day, or maybe it's four pm. I
Speaker 2: don't care. But some of the players, they play hard
Speaker 2: not to finish the lot dead last. It gives them incentive,
Speaker 2: but at least give me something. It like, give me
Speaker 2: a sport at three pm. I mean, if it's not baseball,
Speaker 2: it's just not go. I'm not gonna do it, man,
Speaker 2: I'm trying to. I'm trying to pay less attention to things,
Speaker 2: not more. And uh, when I stopped playing baseball in
Speaker 2: my teenage years, I was kind of out and I
Speaker 2: don't think I'm gonna get back in.
Speaker 1: It's it's the baseball is like the perfect argument for
Speaker 1: having scarcity in your sport. You know, one hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty two games just too many.
Speaker 2: Somebody I don't remember who it was that was on
Speaker 2: Twitter during the US Open, but they were in New
Speaker 2: York and they said the Yankees game was starting at
Speaker 2: like three pm on Saturday, and it might have been
Speaker 2: like Peter Burns or something and said, all the TVs
Speaker 2: in the bar flipped to this random middle of the
Speaker 2: season Yankee game and the US Opens going on like
Speaker 2: Saturday at the US Opens, like sorry, it's game fifty
Speaker 2: four of the Yankee season. We're turning all the TVs
Speaker 2: to that. It's I don't know, I'm I can't do
Speaker 2: the baseball thing. I don't fault anybody that loves the sport.
Speaker 2: It's just not for me, you know, it's just not
Speaker 2: there's I mean a lot of people trash NBA and
Speaker 2: it is what it is. But I'm just not gonna
Speaker 2: spend my time watching a baseball game. I watched playoffs occasionally.
Speaker 1: You know, many are saying that the key to the
Speaker 1: Sun season was you leave in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: It's a it's been a circulated rumor. I'm I was
Speaker 2: texting with some friends last night about Game two. I
Speaker 2: think we're going to try to get tickets and go
Speaker 2: to Game two, and apparently we have ends. If they
Speaker 2: make the finals, I feel bad if I fly back.
Speaker 2: Are they going to lose by forty to fifty? I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, it might have been me holding him back
Speaker 2: this whole time. But from afar, it's nice to watch.
Speaker 2: It's like the most fun basketball team since the early
Speaker 2: season Warriors, and I'm not in Arizona for the first
Speaker 2: time in like fifteen years. It's very special.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember talking to you at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the year about this. It's like if Suns are finally
Speaker 1: fun and you're gone, you know, it sucks. Anyways, you
Speaker 1: were out at toy doing live, from doing golf today,
Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff out there. What will be your
Speaker 1: lasting impressions from the twenty twenty one US Open, Big
Speaker 1: big question here.
Speaker 2: I think you know, for me, like honestly, looking back
Speaker 2: on this, it'll be finally getting a young player that
Speaker 2: won a major, you know, I mean, that went out
Speaker 2: and won it. I've been talking to a lot of
Speaker 2: people as listening to you guys on shotgun Start. I
Speaker 2: don't know if this is just a thing that doesn't
Speaker 2: happen as much in majors, or we maybe just think
Speaker 2: it happens more often than it does. But like going
Speaker 2: and getting it, winning a major championship, you winning it,
Speaker 2: not waiting for somebody else to lose it. It just
Speaker 2: doesn't happen as much as you think it does. I mean,
Speaker 2: even thinking about the PGA, I mean, Phil played fantastic
Speaker 2: in solid golf, but there was never that push that
Speaker 2: made it necessary for Phil to make those late birdies.
Speaker 2: I think the ROM finishes the first time since Phil
Speaker 2: at Mirfield where somebody birdie the last two holes in
Speaker 2: a major to win, And so you think about that,
Speaker 2: what was that eight years ago? I mean, that's a
Speaker 2: long time, and we're not talking about Schwartzel's finish, just
Speaker 2: two birdies over the last two holes. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, in three or four years, when we think
Speaker 2: about in twenty one, I think it'll be the WROM
Speaker 2: finish that we go back to, because you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: you guys talked a lot about this throughout the week,
Speaker 2: you and Brennan did, But it doesn't have to be
Speaker 2: a great golf course to have a great championship. And
Speaker 2: I think it was a great championship considering all the
Speaker 2: names that we're in it, and I think it was
Speaker 2: as exciting as you're gonna get, especially you know, with
Speaker 2: all the characters involved. So it'll be the wrong finish
Speaker 2: that I'll remember, I think in five years from now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the thing I think about major championships, and
Speaker 1: I always think the best championships are when you look
Speaker 1: up at the top of the leader board and if
Speaker 1: you're a player that's in tenth, you say to yourself, man,
Speaker 1: I didn't really see that score out there. That wasn't
Speaker 1: in the bag this week, because you know, but this
Speaker 1: major championship in terms of like television drama, compelling Sunday coverage.
Speaker 1: This outside of like a two person duel was about
Speaker 1: as good as it guess, because there's twelve guys that
Speaker 1: could win in the middle of this. You know, golf
Speaker 1: course to a certain extent, keeping people close together also
Speaker 1: has a very high entertainment value, and I think it
Speaker 1: also it aided the finish here. I mean, who would
Speaker 1: have said to with the way things were going on
Speaker 1: that back nine for everybody. When Louisu stays in makes
Speaker 1: par on twelve, if you say, oh, you play even
Speaker 1: par in you win everybody everybody would have been like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's going to win if he plays even par. And
Speaker 1: because at that time Harris English all of a sudden
Speaker 1: looked really good three under.
Speaker 2: Three, I legitimately thought three might be a playoff, you know,
Speaker 2: once he finished and shot sixty eight. So I was
Speaker 2: doing featured holes all week with Trevor Immelman, and our
Speaker 2: holes were eleven, twelve, thirteen, And that's where all the
Speaker 2: craziness was happening, you know, on Sunday, and so we've
Speaker 2: got all this stuff going on and ball stuck in
Speaker 2: trees and Colin morricawb kind of forgets how to play
Speaker 2: golf on thirteen for half an hour and Bryson slips
Speaker 2: on thirteen and his he ends his championship on the
Speaker 2: par five. You know, I mean there was there was
Speaker 2: a moment where I was convinced one hundred percent that
Speaker 2: Briceing was gonna win. There was a moment I was
Speaker 2: convinced one hundred percent that Kopka was gonna win or
Speaker 2: at least getting a playoff. I felt a little bit
Speaker 2: like it felt a little for a while like there
Speaker 2: was it wasn't gonna be wrong, and then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, it might be wrong. He makes the Pudd
Speaker 2: on seventeen. I'm like, okay, maybe Rom gets in a playoff,
Speaker 2: and then the Verdy at eighteen and you're at six
Speaker 2: and you go, okay, now Louis got to catch you.
Speaker 2: It's crazy to think that there was a time where
Speaker 2: I was convinced one of, like, what the top seven
Speaker 2: best players on the planet, we're gonna win a major.
Speaker 2: I can't really remember the last time. I keep going
Speaker 2: back to twenty eleven Augusta, when all those guys were
Speaker 2: in the mix late, you know, and you had and
Speaker 2: if you think about it, it was kind of Pete Jason
Speaker 2: Day and Adam Scott was in the mix, Tiger was
Speaker 2: kind of flirting with it for a bit, and then
Speaker 2: Schwartzel goes out and wins it. It felt a little
Speaker 2: like the Eleven Masters to me, and there was equal
Speaker 2: amount of throwing up on yourself equal Mount Birdie's right,
Speaker 2: So that's why it was. It was cool because you
Speaker 2: were getting both the good and the bad of major golf.
Speaker 2: So listen, I know you're not an enormous fan of
Speaker 2: Tory Pines. You and I've had conversations about it before,
Speaker 2: but drama wise, I mean, you know you kindor are
Speaker 2: two for two and what you're looking for in a
Speaker 2: major because it was exciting and again, you could have
Speaker 2: an exciting major championship on a dirt track if you
Speaker 2: have the best in the world involved. And we got
Speaker 2: exciting golf again at Toris, So you know, you got
Speaker 2: to I guess you got to give it credit for
Speaker 2: at least giving us great majors when it comes around
Speaker 2: to it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, obviously storybook finishes both times around, and
Speaker 1: I think I think I struggle with that that kind
Speaker 1: of defense just because like when do we have the
Speaker 1: best players in the world get together and they don't,
Speaker 1: you know, we don't have a great leader board. Every
Speaker 1: single time they get together, the best players in the
Speaker 1: world get together, we have a great leader board, you know.
Speaker 1: I think I I got questions about eleven through thirteen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it seemed like Rory hit perfect shots, the
Speaker 1: best shots of any player on eleven, and he like
Speaker 1: would make both he made both pars. And then how
Speaker 1: many guys hit that putt on twelve on Sunday, like
Speaker 1: twenty feet by? And then what happened on the thirteenth
Speaker 1: t Like, what was going on? Did you have any
Speaker 1: insight into those?
Speaker 2: So eleven? Okay, tell me you know as much about
Speaker 2: architecture as anybody I know. I keep going back to
Speaker 2: eleven at Tory, especially this week at the US Open,
Speaker 2: it felt a little like seventeen at Bayhill. Does that
Speaker 2: make sense? It's it's a long iron. You can't really
Speaker 2: get the ball close. The best shot you can hit
Speaker 2: is to hit it to about twenty twenty five feet,
Speaker 2: But it's the smart shot, right You're playing it to
Speaker 2: the fat part of the green. You've got to use
Speaker 2: the slopes to get the ball close. And then Rory
Speaker 2: gets up there and hits exactly what you're looking for
Speaker 2: nobody hit it was nobody was hit it hole high.
Speaker 2: And he gets on the tee and he hits a
Speaker 2: dead center of the green to thirty feet and you
Speaker 2: go perfect, You made par eleven was the hardest hole
Speaker 2: for the entire week.
Speaker 1: That's where you thought he might win.
Speaker 2: Exactly exactly, considering the way he played twelve throughout the week.
Speaker 2: He birdied in each of the first three rounds. So
Speaker 2: he hits it to thirty feet, he hits just an
Speaker 2: awful putt, I mean just awful, leaves it six feet
Speaker 2: low and short. And I was on live from on
Speaker 2: Saturday talking about Rory and I said, what we've seen
Speaker 2: from Rory this week is different than what we've seen
Speaker 2: from Rory in the past. I went back to Thursday
Speaker 2: when he finished in the dark. I remember when they
Speaker 2: made Justin Rose run up to the tee at eighteen.
Speaker 2: Rory's playing basically in the dark and he wedges it
Speaker 2: to that back left hole location, which typical Rory over
Speaker 2: the last seven years. Hits that there, it rips back
Speaker 2: thirty feet, two puts. He two putts for par. He
Speaker 2: gets off the golf course and you kind of go, ah,
Speaker 2: you probably left one out there did eighteen, he wedges
Speaker 2: it to eight feet and makes that putt. There was
Speaker 2: a moment on what was it fifteen where he hits
Speaker 2: it left or fourteen where he hit left on Saturday
Speaker 2: and he somehow saves bogey and you go, that's a
Speaker 2: place where Rory makes double a lot and he's saved five.
Speaker 2: It just there were these moments with Rory throughout the
Speaker 2: week where that was where he would typically let these
Speaker 2: majors get away from him, and he wasn't letting him
Speaker 2: get away from him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Sunday he's just kind of like plugging along.
Speaker 1: He's not doing anything spectacular, but he's done. You know,
Speaker 1: everybody's shooting themselves out of the tournament and you're and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden names are falling out and you're like, oh, Rory.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he hits it there, he hits just I mean,
Speaker 2: he hits just the typical Rory putt that he's done
Speaker 2: over the last you know, five six years, where he's
Speaker 2: got six feet, doesn't hit the hole, does the hand thing,
Speaker 2: you know, the thing I love where he's you know,
Speaker 2: he's kind of doing this and you're like, well, you
Speaker 2: didn't the hole from six feet I don't really know
Speaker 2: which way you thought it was gonna break. Then he
Speaker 2: hits in the fairry bunker on twelve, he gets an
Speaker 2: awful break. A lot of those balls we're kind of
Speaker 2: feeding into the bunker. Of course, his plugs into that
Speaker 2: the down slope lip. I mean, you can't, that's.
Speaker 1: Just it was a terrible bunker shot though too to
Speaker 1: hit it over there.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it was the Fanny one. I mean, you
Speaker 2: can hit middle of the green he had. I think
Speaker 2: he had like one seventy nine or something. It's like,
Speaker 2: hit in the middle of the green with an eight
Speaker 2: iron and you're fine, maybe a seven iron and he
Speaker 2: hits that the scared swing where you miss it right,
Speaker 2: plugs in there and then it's done. He makes double
Speaker 2: and it's over. I'll tell you this, he hit the
Speaker 2: best shot. I'm thirteen. I saw all week. Give him
Speaker 2: a chance at the eagle. I have a lot of
Speaker 2: takes on thirteen. I'd like to get with you on
Speaker 2: at some point. I talked about it and get a
Speaker 2: grip with Max yesterday. That episode's out, but he's still
Speaker 2: but it's like he makes double and you know he
Speaker 2: hadn't really done that throughout the week and you were
Speaker 2: kind of waiting, is Rory gonna finally not have this
Speaker 2: this hole that shoot him out of a championship, out
Speaker 2: of a major. And he goes bogey double there and
Speaker 2: he's done, and that's that's it for Rory. Uh. I've
Speaker 2: talked about this to Andy, going from Rory to Koepka.
Speaker 2: Kept had a chance at post five, you know, which
Speaker 2: would have changed the entire dynamic of this this late
Speaker 2: major championship. And he just makes an awful bogie on eighteen.
Speaker 1: Terrible bogey on twelve too. The three putt on twelve
Speaker 1: was really bad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you asked about the three putts on twelve. Everybody,
Speaker 2: Kepka did it, Bryson did it, Paul Casey did it.
Speaker 2: Everybody was running that putt not four feet by, I mean,
Speaker 2: had Kepka had twelve feet. Louis ran it by and
Speaker 2: made it from like nine feet, Bryson ran it by
Speaker 2: and missed that putt. Everybody. I don't know what was
Speaker 2: going on on twelve, but everybody that hit it late,
Speaker 2: that hit it over there on the right, that gave
Speaker 2: themselves the putt you need, because there were three birdies
Speaker 2: on twelve all day long. Everybody that hit it over
Speaker 2: there ran it by eight or nine feet. I mean,
Speaker 2: you never see that, Andy, you never see that anywhere
Speaker 2: to run it that far by. And we kept getting
Speaker 2: player after player after player doing it. It was so wild,
Speaker 2: and of course Louie gets up there and makes the
Speaker 2: comebacker that everybody he was missing. Everybody was missing. It left,
Speaker 2: and then you get to thirteen. They've got the tea
Speaker 2: moved up. We saw players slipping. I don't know if
Speaker 2: it made the telecast, but Patrick Can'tley was was fairly
Speaker 2: close to whipping his t shot. That's how much he
Speaker 2: slipped on the tee there at thirteen. Like for him
Speaker 2: to make contact, Trevor and I were talking about it's
Speaker 2: like it was unbelievable athleticism for him to make contact
Speaker 2: his right foot was possibly it was I don't know,
Speaker 2: it's just close to the ocean. It's I don't know,
Speaker 2: it's you know, it was like it was just that hangy,
Speaker 2: heavy air all week and for whatever reason that tea
Speaker 2: players were slipping on. I don't know what the reasoning was,
Speaker 2: but it was more it was you saw more slips
Speaker 2: there than anywhere else.
Speaker 1: I wonder if spikes were actually a detriment on that
Speaker 1: tea box, because like, if you're playing in tennis shoes,
Speaker 1: I feel like you'd never slip even if it's wet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but bryceon Bryson said it right when he made contact,
Speaker 2: he goes, I can't. I did it again, and he
Speaker 2: looked at his shoe and he goes, my shoes clean.
Speaker 2: I'm wondering if Bryson needs nail.
Speaker 1: I feel like Bryson was a well I think he
Speaker 1: has nails.
Speaker 2: But I think he might have changed because I didn't
Speaker 2: hear him as much this week, so maybe he's gone
Speaker 2: to side soft. Maybe that's something he's going to change
Speaker 2: after he does some serious experimental uh you know, you know,
Speaker 2: uh proceeding a guy, get a spike guy, get a
Speaker 2: fan guy, get a light guy, get an umbrella guy.
Speaker 2: But it was wild. That thirteenth holl was wild. And
Speaker 2: then you had you had Colin Morerikowa make the most
Speaker 2: confusing decision of the week. He had three eighteen in
Speaker 2: and hits three wood and blows it in the right roff.
Speaker 2: You can't be there, he makes double. Bryson lays up
Speaker 2: in the right rouff. You can't do that, you know,
Speaker 2: say Louis hits his layup in the right roff and
Speaker 2: then his ball somehow stays on that ledge, which had
Speaker 2: to have been about a two foot area that the
Speaker 2: ball doesn't roll back on. But you know, I loved
Speaker 2: I love the USGA and I love the US Open.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's been a big part of my life
Speaker 2: and it's been a big part of my career. That
Speaker 2: thirteenth hole was bad all week. You know, I watched
Speaker 2: a lot of golf there and there's no reward. That
Speaker 2: was my big thing is there was no way to
Speaker 2: get rewarded there. On Saturday, the best shot we saw
Speaker 2: in Kopka banged his second shot into the lip of
Speaker 2: the bunker and it landed on the grass slip of
Speaker 2: the bunker and then kicked on the green. Balls that
Speaker 2: were landing on the green were rolling over, balls that
Speaker 2: were landing short, rolling back seventy yards. There was no reward.
Speaker 2: That's the issue is you at least need to be
Speaker 2: rewarded if you can hit a good golf shot. I
Speaker 2: talked to home about it. He was saying that that
Speaker 2: back tee it just doesn't it doesn't help the hole
Speaker 2: at all. It's a tough t shot. Unless you're one
Speaker 2: of the top ten longest guys on tour. I just
Speaker 2: felt like thirteen played poorly all week.
Speaker 1: Phil talked about that a lot in his pre show.
Speaker 1: Actually after the first round, you know, he was just like,
Speaker 1: there's just nowhere to hit it that I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know exactly what the number is.
Speaker 1: That The thing that I think with it is that
Speaker 1: if you lay up short of the big valley, you're
Speaker 1: just too far away then, you know.
Speaker 2: And Max talked about it being a blind layup. Max
Speaker 2: was saying on get a grip, you guys, listen to
Speaker 2: it if you want. He was great this week, as
Speaker 2: he always is, but he was talking about he said
Speaker 2: the thing he dislikes the most in golf is blind
Speaker 2: layups because he says, it's like they're trying too hard
Speaker 2: to make it difficult. And you know, he's saying, you're
Speaker 2: laying up with an eight iron. You know, you're laying
Speaker 2: up with an eight iron to a blind area and
Speaker 2: then to hit a wedge. It's just not it doesn't
Speaker 2: really make a lot of sense for for trying to
Speaker 2: test the best in the world. It was, but it
Speaker 2: was it was. It was a game of avoiding dibbots. Again,
Speaker 2: that's so locked.
Speaker 1: And that's where every municipal Joe hits it too. Everybody
Speaker 1: hits from there. So it's just it's going there's not
Speaker 1: in a fair way down there either. It's the other problem.
Speaker 1: It's like a tiny little ribbon, so it's like it's
Speaker 1: twenty yards wide. Of course it's gonna be just littered
Speaker 1: with divits because you know the balls are coming down.
Speaker 1: There's just it's just so much of chance. And we
Speaker 1: saw it was it in the first round. Bryson ended
Speaker 1: up down there in.
Speaker 2: The second round, Yeah, yeah, he had that hybrid in
Speaker 2: it was about a yard short of the green, rolls
Speaker 2: all the way back down and it did. I think
Speaker 2: he makes six there, yeah, and you know it's and
Speaker 2: he got a crappy break, right, I mean, it was
Speaker 2: a bad break to have the ball. I'd say he
Speaker 2: hit probably two great golf shots. He smoked his t
Speaker 2: shot and I think that second shot was exactly how
Speaker 2: he wanted to play it, and it was probably a
Speaker 2: yard or two short of the putting surface right at
Speaker 2: it and it rolls back to the same spot that
Speaker 2: anybody that's just laying up with a seven iron was
Speaker 2: laid it up to. So I don't know that that
Speaker 2: to me if you were kind of going to ride out.
Speaker 2: If I just simply wrote out how that hole played,
Speaker 2: I don't think people would read what I was writing
Speaker 2: and go, oh, that sounds like an awesome par five
Speaker 2: And what's crazy, andya is we don't get a lot
Speaker 2: of US Opens that have two par fives on the back.
Speaker 2: That rarely happened. So to have a US Open course
Speaker 2: that has two par fives on the back, it would
Speaker 2: be fun if they both gave opportunity for good, and
Speaker 2: I felt like they gave opportunity for bad. And we
Speaker 2: saw two big doubles from two of the best in
Speaker 2: the world. But you know, we didn't see some amazing three.
Speaker 2: Now Rory almost made a three, but we didn't see
Speaker 2: some amazing eagle some guy, you know, like like when
Speaker 2: Kopka was trying to chase down grey Woodland and he
Speaker 2: flies that hybrid on eighteen over the flagstick. You know,
Speaker 2: those those are the moments that make championships.
Speaker 1: Well and further further to that point, Woodland's you know,
Speaker 1: hitting fourteen in two that year was such a huge moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. Great point exactly.
Speaker 1: You know, the thirteenth eight. It did provide some entertainment.
Speaker 1: I will say that, you know it this is like
Speaker 1: sometimes like what we talk about a s chotcun start
Speaker 1: a little bit, but like sometimes things can be so
Speaker 1: bad that they turn good. That might be an example
Speaker 1: of a hole that was so bad that it was like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's pretty fun to watch because you know, Bryce is
Speaker 1: obviously self destruct. I think like that's the thing that
Speaker 1: I go back to with this tournament and is like
Speaker 1: John Rohm went out and won it on the last
Speaker 1: two holes, right, he got some good breaks along the way.
Speaker 1: He got some bad breaks, but like there are there's
Speaker 1: got to be ten guys that tournament feeling like they
Speaker 1: could have won it, you know, not Bryson. I know
Speaker 1: he said he could have gotten it to eight or
Speaker 1: nine when he finished at three over. That's a little
Speaker 1: bold of acclaim, but like you look at like you
Speaker 1: get a break here, you get a break there. I
Speaker 1: think that's the thing that one of the things I'll
Speaker 1: take away from it is that like this one really
Speaker 1: came down to a bouncer two.
Speaker 2: And the rom bounce even on eighteen. I mean, you
Speaker 2: think about the bounce. I mean that ball could have
Speaker 2: kicked left right his second shot and it kicks into
Speaker 2: the bunker on the downslope, and then Rom's got to
Speaker 2: kind of create a birdy opportunity, which he did. He
Speaker 2: did unbelievably. Can I can we talk to Bryson comments?
Speaker 2: I know it's been a couple of days, but I
Speaker 2: keep going back to this. You know, when you are
Speaker 2: using the directions on your phone to go somewhere. I
Speaker 2: just feel like Bryson's comments after golf almost are always
Speaker 2: you going the opposite direction that your phone's telling you
Speaker 2: to go, you know, like the phone's going up here,
Speaker 2: take a right, and I feel like Bryson always takes
Speaker 2: the left. That you should be upset. You are standing
Speaker 2: on ten t leading the US Open, trying to win
Speaker 2: back to back. This has happened seven times in the
Speaker 2: history of the US Open. Don't walk and you shoot
Speaker 2: forty four and you walk off, and you go.
Speaker 1: You got thirty straight holes with no bogey.
Speaker 2: And you go, I'm already over it. You're not. I mean,
Speaker 2: you shouldn't be over it. If you're already over it,
Speaker 2: then you are. Then your mentality about this championship is wrong.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can't shoot forty four on the final
Speaker 2: round of a US Open that you're leading on the
Speaker 2: tenth te and walk off and go, I'm already over it.
Speaker 2: I've already won one of these. Because if that's your mentality,
Speaker 2: then just skip US Opens forever. Because if you've already
Speaker 2: won one and you don't care to win another, or
Speaker 2: you don't care that you had a great opportunity to
Speaker 2: win back to back, then why are you teeing it
Speaker 2: up there in the first place. You should be upset. You.
Speaker 2: We want you to be upset as a golf fan.
Speaker 2: We want you to be upset because you played like
Speaker 2: crap down the stretch when you had a great opportunity
Speaker 2: to win. You know, Andy, to win a US Open
Speaker 2: on the on the on the East coast at this
Speaker 2: exclusive private golf course that's historic. To couple that with
Speaker 2: winning on the West coast this public office the next year,
Speaker 2: back to back. What a story that is. And to
Speaker 2: say you're over it to me, A, I don't buy it,
Speaker 2: And B why do you feel like that's the road
Speaker 2: you should go down? Just just say you're upset. All
Speaker 2: we all would understand that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I completely agree. I think his press conferences are
Speaker 1: just ridiculous. It's like he's trying to put on like
Speaker 1: a show. I love that he was like mad about
Speaker 1: the term derailed. Came off the rails, like, well, how
Speaker 1: else would you describe what.
Speaker 2: Happened shot forty four? Forty four? Like if you shot
Speaker 2: forty we'd be going, man, that was brutal and forty four.
Speaker 2: I mean, you and I played some competitive golf through
Speaker 2: our lives. When you shoot one of those rare times
Speaker 2: where you come in on some just some awful number,
Speaker 2: I know, there are moments where you just have to
Speaker 2: laugh it off, but.
Speaker 1: You're like shell shocks in a lot of times you
Speaker 1: just can't right. And like that's the thing is like
Speaker 1: I would be if I were in his shoes, I'd
Speaker 1: imagine it. I'd be like, you know, to be honest,
Speaker 1: like I don't even know what happened, right, everything was
Speaker 1: in control and then it wasn't. Like that's kind of
Speaker 1: what it looked like what happened like? And I think
Speaker 1: that it shows a little bit like how high of
Speaker 1: a level it, you know, when you're playing at that uh,
Speaker 1: you know, in contention leading at a US Open, and
Speaker 1: how small the margin is for air to where it
Speaker 1: can just tailspin into an utter disaster. I think that's
Speaker 1: like one of the things that should give everybody an
Speaker 1: appreciation is like just like these guys, they don't have
Speaker 1: like a Ford f one fifty that can you know,
Speaker 1: you can burn the oil down and you know go
Speaker 1: without an oil change. Have some things broken. These These
Speaker 1: are like Lamborghinis that one little thing gets like a
Speaker 1: little off and all of a sudden it a lot
Speaker 1: of things don't work well. And I think one of
Speaker 1: the things that I took away, I came away so
Speaker 1: bullsh on Bryson because like he really didn't play very
Speaker 1: good the first two days and then it was and
Speaker 1: he's still like always within shouting distance just because his
Speaker 1: floor is so low. Our floor is so high in
Speaker 1: terms of like golf, like that forty four might be
Speaker 1: the worst round of golf we see him play for
Speaker 1: a long time.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I said it on Live from on I think Saturday,
Speaker 2: when Damon and I were on Live From I said,
Speaker 2: Bryson's proving that he has the best B and C
Speaker 2: games since Tiger. I mean, his B and C game
Speaker 2: can can compete. Now, I mean you could probably argue
Speaker 2: that keepkaz Is up there as well, which is obviously
Speaker 2: very fun that those are the two guys you debate.
Speaker 2: But Bryson's ability to get himself in the conversation and
Speaker 2: these championships where it sure doesn't seem like he's got
Speaker 2: his best stuff is what we yearn for from guys
Speaker 2: like Rory, right. It's what we hope to see from
Speaker 2: the Rareries and the Speeds and the Justin Thomases of
Speaker 2: the world, because we want them to be in contention,
Speaker 2: even if it's not there the week that they're supposed
Speaker 2: to win.
Speaker 1: Hey, So back to rom I think, obviously, like he was,
Speaker 1: I think the guy that everybody was like, well, he's
Speaker 1: gonna win a major soon. He was like the de
Speaker 1: facto who's gonna be the next first time win major winner.
Speaker 1: I think everybody would go John Rahm. I think I
Speaker 1: I even was getting a little rap uh, you know,
Speaker 1: restless waiting for at least a close call uh from
Speaker 1: him where he was really in the mix. And obviously
Speaker 1: now he he has his major. Who would you say,
Speaker 1: is is the guy now that we would that you
Speaker 1: would look at or a couple guys immediately that jump
Speaker 1: off the pages, like he's the next major winner, first
Speaker 1: time major winner.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think the answers Xander. I think Xander's
Speaker 2: the answer. I think Fenale is probably the bet. So
Speaker 2: you're probably gonna get a better number on Tony Finow
Speaker 2: In terms of who's the next, you know, person to
Speaker 2: break into the major world. Feenal's just been so unbelievable
Speaker 2: and these majors finish in the top ten that you
Speaker 2: just expect that if he keeps doing that, he's eventually
Speaker 2: going to win a major championship. So I would probably
Speaker 2: have Xander first, just because I think Xander's the most
Speaker 2: talented of the bunch that hasn't won one. I think
Speaker 2: female should be up there considered what he's done basically
Speaker 2: up until this US Open, and probably a sleeper in
Speaker 2: the world is can't Ley, right, I think Can'tley is
Speaker 2: a name as well. But you know, you know, dude,
Speaker 2: like you can go through this European tour list of players,
Speaker 2: you know, Tyrrell, Hatton and Fitzpatrick your favorite. I mean,
Speaker 2: there are some of those guys on on that side
Speaker 2: of things. Sung Jay is another one that I feel
Speaker 2: like any of these guys that win a major would
Speaker 2: not be surprising, but I feel like Xander's game, he
Speaker 2: just is there so much. I expect Xander to be
Speaker 2: a major champion before maybe some of those other guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, he finishes, He's finished at the top ten
Speaker 1: and over fifty percent of his tries obviously, I think
Speaker 1: that's the one. Hoblin is another one I was throw
Speaker 1: in there also, But it's uh, I feel like everybody
Speaker 1: that we think really should have one at this point
Speaker 1: has one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, probably yep.
Speaker 1: Because like you start you look through the rankings, it's
Speaker 1: like none of them, Like, you know, Xander, if he
Speaker 1: guess one, he gets one. But he you know, and
Speaker 1: I think he's getting to that level, but he was
Speaker 1: nowhere near like the Ram you know, Oh, the other
Speaker 1: guy Ricky. You know, everybody asked about Ricky.
Speaker 2: I didn't. I didn't want I didn't want to bring
Speaker 2: him up. I didn't want to say anything about it.
Speaker 2: So I'm going through so top ten in the world,
Speaker 2: Xander's the highest rank player without a major. He's fifth
Speaker 2: in the world, can't Lay seven, Hatten's eleven, and then
Speaker 2: Hoblind's fourteen and Females fifteen. It's it is crazy. You
Speaker 2: make such a great point It's like, as you go
Speaker 2: down this list, there isn't really a name that scream
Speaker 2: off the board right that says I should have a
Speaker 2: major by now. I don't really feel like there is
Speaker 2: that name after rom win It one one. But I
Speaker 2: have I run through my my Sunday major thing with
Speaker 2: you yet? Have I have I talked to you about
Speaker 2: my Sunday Brooks thing basically going back to the twenty
Speaker 2: nineteen Masters.
Speaker 1: Go for it. I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 2: This, Okay, So I don't have all my notes in
Speaker 2: front of me, so I'm just gonna have to go
Speaker 2: off memory.
Speaker 1: But I mean, you're a little off. We won't. We
Speaker 1: won't kill you.
Speaker 2: Twenty nineteen Masters has two great puts at the end.
Speaker 2: Doesn't hit the hole on either of them. I would,
Speaker 2: I would say, as good a look as I can
Speaker 2: remember somebody having on seventeen AUGUSTA. I mean, that's such
Speaker 2: a hard hole. You don't ever see anybody hit it close.
Speaker 2: He hit it really close on seventeen, and then he
Speaker 2: hit hit it on eighteen close and did the rory
Speaker 2: thing where he's doing the hand like it went the
Speaker 2: other way.
Speaker 1: Those are two putts that I really vividly remember and
Speaker 1: I think the thing that got me about those two
Speaker 1: putts is, like we see Koepka like always puts so
Speaker 1: well of these things, those two putts he looked almost
Speaker 1: a little out of sorts on him, like they like everything.
Speaker 1: It just didn't feel like he hit the putts the
Speaker 1: way he hit putts normally. And I don't know if
Speaker 1: that was a little bit of the tiger juice coming
Speaker 1: at him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, and and and and and you know so,
Speaker 2: so he has those birdies late that would have changed
Speaker 2: the whole, the whole dynamic of that final round. Next
Speaker 2: major is the PGA has what seven shot lead going
Speaker 2: into it, plays awful four bogeys on the back Dustin
Speaker 2: I think was it within one at one point. Now
Speaker 2: he wins that major. So I mean, it's not like
Speaker 2: we can discredit what he did those first three days
Speaker 2: to put him in a position where he could play
Speaker 2: a mediocre final round and have a chance. Fast forward.
Speaker 2: Next major was the US Open. Has an unbelievably hot start.
Speaker 2: If you remember, thinky bird eat something like four of
Speaker 2: his first five. Yeah, doesn't.
Speaker 1: Woodland kind of was answered the bell though. That was too.
Speaker 1: That was something that I think was like a little
Speaker 1: a little bit of a he he threw a haymaker,
Speaker 1: but you know, the Woodland kind of got him back
Speaker 1: with something, you know, across.
Speaker 2: Or Woodland Woodley butter birdie like like two of his
Speaker 2: third first three holes or something. Kepka hit it really
Speaker 2: close on seven, missed it, and I think he made
Speaker 2: one birdie the rest of the day. Never really put
Speaker 2: any pressure on h On Woodland outside of that shot
Speaker 2: at eighteen, which I mean he did. I don't think
Speaker 2: he made birdie there, right, didn't he didn't He chip
Speaker 2: it up there and missed the putt, which didn't It didn't.
Speaker 2: It didn't matter anyway. Open Championship next Shane Lowry, big lead.
Speaker 2: Kepka Bogi's like his first four holes I think on
Speaker 2: Sunday and uh. And I mean, you know, obviously you're
Speaker 2: trying to go out there and apply a little bit
Speaker 2: of pressure. He was playing with JB. Holmes. Couldn't do
Speaker 2: anything from that. Uh. And then you kind of get
Speaker 2: into twenty twenty Andy and it's like, you know, we
Speaker 2: kind of saw a lot of the same stuff PGA
Speaker 2: Championship in twenty twenty. You know, he's talking all that
Speaker 2: trash about Dustin he is the second worst score on
Speaker 2: Sunday of anybody in the field. You know he did
Speaker 2: he obviously didn't. He didn't play wing foot. Uh. I
Speaker 2: don't really remember what he did at that Masters on
Speaker 2: he maybe missed the cut at the Master, the.
Speaker 1: Knee the knee thing. He was not finished seventh. He
Speaker 1: finished seventh at the twenty twenty Masters.
Speaker 2: And then and then and then he was injured. He
Speaker 2: like battling injury, wasn't really in the in in much
Speaker 2: of the conversation there, and then really, I mean, you
Speaker 2: get into this PGA Championship and see what he played
Speaker 2: like on Sunday there, played very very mediocre golf, made
Speaker 2: some very very questionable decisions on Sunday, trying to push
Speaker 2: you know, Phil Mickelson a little bit. I think you
Speaker 2: were kind of waiting for him to push Phil. And
Speaker 2: then here, I mean, he's got a great chance at
Speaker 2: shooting at posting five hunder and played great golf basically
Speaker 2: for ten holes eleven holes and then bogie sixteen, bogie
Speaker 2: eighteen at Torrey Pines when he really needed a late birdie.
Speaker 2: So I'm just saying, over the last couple of years
Speaker 2: in these major championships, it has been a Sunday where
Speaker 2: we've seen Kapka struggle and there's I mean, basically, if
Speaker 2: you go through every major, he's seen a struggle in
Speaker 2: some in some capacity there. So I don't want to
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, the guy's unbelievable majors and get himself
Speaker 2: in a position know where he can win one. But
Speaker 2: this Sunday thing is something I'm keeping my eye on.
Speaker 1: My question about this would be like when you point
Speaker 1: out where the struggles have come. You know, we saw
Speaker 1: Tiger was nails when he was ahead going into the
Speaker 1: final round, but then you know when he's chasing from behind,
Speaker 1: it was always the big thing. Tiger never comes from
Speaker 1: behind to win, Like is that? Is it the same
Speaker 1: thing with Kopka, where you know, when he's leading and
Speaker 1: he's out in front, he's you know, almost impossible to
Speaker 1: take down. But when he's you know, coming from behind,
Speaker 1: maybe there's something that he's trying to push a little
Speaker 1: bit more than he usually does. Maybe that's it.
Speaker 2: The Kopka mentality that he talked about to that point
Speaker 2: does make sense, right. Kepka's mentality about these major championships
Speaker 2: where it's not having to be overly aggressive don't feel
Speaker 2: not feeling like you have to make a whole bunch
Speaker 2: of birdies, just feeling like all you've got to do
Speaker 2: is play solid, smart golf and then all of a
Speaker 2: sudden you do have to press late. Maybe that major
Speaker 2: mentality has to change a little bit. I think also,
Speaker 2: and I mean this is something that we don't talk
Speaker 2: up about. It's hard to win majors from behind, right,
Speaker 2: So it's so you guys laugh about this all the time.
Speaker 2: We chuckle about it a lot. It's, Hey, all this
Speaker 2: guy's got to go out and do is shoot sixty
Speaker 2: five on Sunday. You're like, yeah, but like that rarely,
Speaker 2: if ever, happens. So maybe it's just maybe chasing people
Speaker 2: down is really hard, and that's why we don't see
Speaker 2: a lot of closing Birdie Birdie finishes right. What there's
Speaker 2: been forever in US opens now and it's Hogan, Jack,
Speaker 2: Tom Watson and John Rahm, Like, I mean that that's
Speaker 2: that's wild, and that shows that it's it's very very
Speaker 2: hard to kind of come back and do it.
Speaker 1: Do you think, uh, do you think Louis doesn't make
Speaker 1: that punt? If it's uh, if it's not, if it's
Speaker 1: through the win on eighteen.
Speaker 2: I'm I love Louie, God, I love Louis, but I
Speaker 2: don't have a lot of confidence in him having to
Speaker 2: make one. You know, it's just he made it. He
Speaker 2: made that one because it did it truly didn't matter.
Speaker 2: We do a thing, we do winners that don't win
Speaker 2: on golf today and this we're not going to remember
Speaker 2: this Louis run in ten years from now, but we should.
Speaker 2: We should remember it. He shows up in every major
Speaker 2: right now. It's it's it's remarkable to see him do it.
Speaker 2: But you know, the trophies matter, right, The trophies matter
Speaker 2: a lot more than anything else does. And to finish second,
Speaker 2: you know, it's it. It's a good finish. But I
Speaker 2: feel like we don't We're not going to remember it
Speaker 2: a couple of years away, going back on what Louie did,
Speaker 2: basically going back to that masters.
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Speaker 1: to get fifteen percent off your order. Now back to
Speaker 1: Shane Bacon. So, we didn't get a really great open
Speaker 1: qualifier story this year. I feel like it's one of
Speaker 1: the rare years that we didn't. We don't get a
Speaker 1: great one, and this kind of illuminated a little bit
Speaker 1: when I when Brenda and I did this Lee Trevino
Speaker 1: spotlight on a shotguns start, but just how awesome having
Speaker 1: a field. This got a substantial open qualifier component to it.
Speaker 1: I thought was was really is really neat because it
Speaker 1: gives this like gives a player that comes out and
Speaker 1: plays against the best players in the world and shows
Speaker 1: out like a different pathway to the tour. We saw
Speaker 1: obviously like camp Smith did it really successfully and from Chambers,
Speaker 1: you know, finishing fourth at Chambers, getting his card, you know,
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago at Aaron Hills, we saw
Speaker 1: like this was like the breakout of Xander Schoffley. He
Speaker 1: obviously had his PGA Tour card, but he was heading
Speaker 1: for you know, losing his PGA Tour card and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden he finishes six that at Aaron Hills.
Speaker 1: Cameron Champ was you know in that mix two. All
Speaker 1: these guys were qualifiers and it serves as kind of
Speaker 1: like a launching pad for careers. Andrew Landry even to
Speaker 1: a smaller degree, you know, he was sputtering as a
Speaker 1: touring professional and then Oakmont kind of like relaunched his
Speaker 1: career gave them confidence. I tell me, do you think
Speaker 1: there should there's space for more events where And I
Speaker 1: think the key to this is having the best players
Speaker 1: in the world in the in the field. Like, if
Speaker 1: it's not the best players of the world, I think
Speaker 1: you lose a little bit. But like, what do you
Speaker 1: think about the idea of wgc's being the top say,
Speaker 1: top seventy players in the world like they are now,
Speaker 1: and then there's thirty open qualifier spots.
Speaker 2: I mean, I love it. I think it's it gives
Speaker 2: it an identity all of a sudden, it's not just
Speaker 2: an everyday tour event. I mean, even if the w
Speaker 2: gcs want to say they're the best player best fields
Speaker 2: in the world, they're a little sleepy and they need
Speaker 2: an identity reshape. And so I love the idea of
Speaker 2: allowing these players that wouldn't be in the field otherwise
Speaker 2: to get a chance to get in there. I mean,
Speaker 2: I keep going back to this Cameron Young run and uh,
Speaker 2: you know we're going to start. I think we're going
Speaker 2: to start this thing where we do our our current five,
Speaker 2: the top five ranked players in the world. And there's
Speaker 2: an argument to be made last month that Cameron Young's
Speaker 2: a top five player in the world, and so to
Speaker 2: get into those fields and to have a chance to compete. Andy,
Speaker 2: what you're hinting at is to see more Wills Alatura's stories.
Speaker 2: And I think everybody would sign up for more Wills
Speaker 2: Alatura stories because it has been so fun to follow
Speaker 2: him along. There are players out there that are good
Speaker 2: enough given the opportunity to go on tour and compete.
Speaker 2: Justin Sah is a player that keeps coming to mind.
Speaker 2: Justin Suys had opportunity on the PGA Tour, It's taken
Speaker 2: them a little longer to kind of get in that
Speaker 2: space to be as competitive as Victor and Matt Woolf
Speaker 2: and Bryson and that crew. But we know he's talented
Speaker 2: enough to do. So. Let's say he gets into a
Speaker 2: WGC by qualification, and he plays well in tops fives,
Speaker 2: and that gets him in next week, and then he
Speaker 2: wins that next week. These things could happen, so I
Speaker 2: love the idea. I also love the idea of big
Speaker 2: events holding spots for two time corn Fairy winners. I
Speaker 2: know that we're talking about promotion changing from three to two,
Speaker 2: but if you've won twy on the corn Ferry Tour
Speaker 2: in a season, you should get auto invites into all
Speaker 2: the wgc's. Let's just give him a spot and so
Speaker 2: now all of a sudden, you're getting a bonus for
Speaker 2: the way you've played on the corn Ferry Tour. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I love the idea of opening up and having more
Speaker 2: qualification because we're seeing less qualification on the PGA Tour.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, you're seeing LA Open losing the
Speaker 2: available the ability to play your way into these tournaments.
Speaker 2: And so let's open up the qualifying because golf is
Speaker 2: getting deeper in the talent is widening, you know. I
Speaker 2: mean there's four hundred guys that can win a professional
Speaker 2: golf event right now.
Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing I think about it is like
Speaker 1: it's like it's becoming more and more of a closed
Speaker 1: door and there's only you know, a certain number of
Speaker 1: spots available through corn Ferry Tour every year, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's like these this Open, the US Open, and
Speaker 1: it's it's been proven year after year after year. Like
Speaker 1: Xander's a perfect example, Like granted he had his card,
Speaker 1: but he was not playing well and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden we saw him on the type of golf
Speaker 1: courses that he's now proven and are suit on the best,
Speaker 1: the most difficult golf courses with the best players in
Speaker 1: the world. There's something that creates, you know, that brings
Speaker 1: the best out in him. He gets in the US
Speaker 1: Open because he qualifies, and all of a sudden, now
Speaker 1: he's got his chance to perform on the best stage.
Speaker 1: And you know, the guy hasn't finished worse than seventh
Speaker 1: in a US Open since then.
Speaker 2: It's I love the idea again. I just think that,
Speaker 2: you know, every golf tournament right now should just be
Speaker 2: trying to think about how can I be unique? And
Speaker 2: the golf tournaments that the non major golf events, the
Speaker 2: most successful events are the unique ones. I mean, you
Speaker 2: think about the waste management, it has a thing. Travelers
Speaker 2: has a thing. I mean, the Travelers has this unique
Speaker 2: ability to get the best fields post major of any
Speaker 2: event we see, and so the Travelers, all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: is substantial. The Scottish Open has a thing. It's this
Speaker 2: Links tournament that is played right before the Open Championship.
Speaker 2: The Dunhill Link has a thing. You're playing the old
Speaker 2: course in Carnoustie and Kingsbarns like these golf tournaments that
Speaker 2: I get excited about that aren't major championships all have
Speaker 2: something unique and to be a great event to make
Speaker 2: yourself separate than the regular PGA Tour, you've got to
Speaker 2: have a thing, and that thing's either one thing you
Speaker 2: harp a lot on, is be a great golf course,
Speaker 2: you know. I mean, rib is always going to be
Speaker 2: riv because the golf course is awesome. Pebble's always going
Speaker 2: to be Pebble because Pebble's awesome. Even with the celebrities there,
Speaker 2: you still want to see Pebble Beach on your television
Speaker 2: once a year. If you're the WGC and you're looking
Speaker 2: for run out identity, I think this is a great
Speaker 2: way to make yourself something something new and something cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it would be so cool to be
Speaker 1: talking about like Ricky Fowler out there playing and he's
Speaker 1: playing a qualification round with Cole Hammer, you know, because
Speaker 1: they're they're both trying to get into WGC. You know, China.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think I think it's a great idea
Speaker 2: you have. You have a lot of brilliant ideas. I'm
Speaker 2: just going to tell you this is a good one.
Speaker 1: I liked this one. It just would it would automatically
Speaker 1: give the WGC so much more juice than they have.
Speaker 1: So what looking ahead Open Championship, last major of the year,
Speaker 1: Who's who's the most desperate for for this Open? Who
Speaker 1: would you say? What player would you say is that
Speaker 1: is needs this Open the most?
Speaker 2: I mean that I think the default answers Rory. But
Speaker 2: I mean I don't think it's I mean, unfortunately, I
Speaker 2: don't think there's I don't I don't foresee it happening.
Speaker 2: So I would say, in a in a in a
Speaker 2: weird way, I think Keopka needs it. I think Kepka
Speaker 2: needs a major. I mean, he has majors and he
Speaker 2: will forever have these major championships, But to end the
Speaker 2: year with a Kepka Major, to say I won one
Speaker 2: this season Bryson didn't, or I guess this year. I
Speaker 2: know the season has been like thirty majors in this season,
Speaker 2: but to say you've won one this year to in
Speaker 2: the in the year with Kepka Major for it to
Speaker 2: be an Open, I feel like Kepka kind of needs
Speaker 2: one because he's been so close and as I stated earlier,
Speaker 2: we're seeing a little shake. He finished to Kepka's major
Speaker 2: run as of late, So I feel like he's a
Speaker 2: guy that I'd probably put on that list. What about you,
Speaker 2: I would.
Speaker 1: Kind of lean Kopka, you know in the trying to
Speaker 1: be different. What about Speed? I think like the reclamation
Speaker 1: project and everything the coming back, like to fully be back.
Speaker 1: I think there's an exclamation par that could be made
Speaker 1: with a major win.
Speaker 2: To me, the last hurdle for him back is the
Speaker 2: final rounds. That's where he's really struggled. I think he's
Speaker 2: shot in the sixties in one final round in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one, and that's when he won in Texas. That's
Speaker 2: the only round in the sixties he's shot on a Sunday.
Speaker 2: That's the next step for me. With Speed, the finding
Speaker 2: whatever is going haywire in the final round, and he's
Speaker 2: talked about this one percent better thing. So I mean,
Speaker 2: I do think it's still a work in progress. But
Speaker 2: to me, to me, Kepka's still Trump's speath because to Kepka,
Speaker 2: majors are the only thing he cares about. And for
Speaker 2: Jordan Speed, this this return to the top of the
Speaker 2: world in golf. Sure it would be helped by a major,
Speaker 2: but just playing well in these majors has been a
Speaker 2: good thing to me. I think twenty twenty two is
Speaker 2: the Speed year. I think twenty twenty two is when
Speaker 2: Speed wins another Masters. Looking at kind of the golf courses,
Speaker 2: I think they set up really well. I think US
Speaker 2: Open sets up well for Jordan Speed next year. So
Speaker 2: I'm looking more at next year as the major year
Speaker 2: for Speed. I just feel like for Kepka, now you're
Speaker 2: going a couple of years without a major. It's like
Speaker 2: all right, now, it's not. This hasn't been as easy,
Speaker 2: and it's harder to win majors than I thought it
Speaker 2: would be by the way I got. I gotta bring up.
Speaker 2: I gotta give a shout out to Joel Clatt, so
Speaker 2: you'll appreciate this, because you're a weirdo and your mind
Speaker 2: works in mysterious ways as well. But I called Joel
Speaker 2: Clatt yesterday because I had a Ricky Williams ron Daine
Speaker 2: thing I wanted to ask him about. And we got
Speaker 2: into majors and he made an unbelievable point about Tiger
Speaker 2: and majors, and so I want to give Clap the credit.
Speaker 2: He said that when you leave events, when you leave
Speaker 2: a sporting event as an athlete, you leave with experience
Speaker 2: or scar tissue, right, and you either had the experience
Speaker 2: of being there and you take that away, or you
Speaker 2: leave a scar tissue. And for Kepka, he never had
Speaker 2: scar tissue. Now he has it. He said, Tiger never
Speaker 2: allowed himself major championship scar tissue. He never left major
Speaker 2: as a loser. You know, every time he was in
Speaker 2: the Honey won him.
Speaker 1: All the scar tissue came after he lost to Yang.
Speaker 2: To why Yang everything right, And so for most of
Speaker 2: his career he never had He never knew what it
Speaker 2: felt like to lose a major championship. Now he never
Speaker 2: He would not win every one of them, but he
Speaker 2: was either in the hunter, he wasn't right. And I
Speaker 2: just thought it was such a great point because you
Speaker 2: see all these young players Speed and Justin Thomas and Rory,
Speaker 2: for goodness sake, says all the scar tissue in the
Speaker 2: world at majors, and now you're seeing it with Kepka,
Speaker 2: and Dustin's had it, you know, in spades kind of
Speaker 2: earlier in his career. But Kepka now knows what it's
Speaker 2: like to be in the hunt and lose a major.
Speaker 2: That was something he never really experienced earlier in his career.
Speaker 2: So for Kepka to go out there and win one
Speaker 2: now would prove that he's able to kind of swallow
Speaker 2: the bad and push it away on a Sunday. And
Speaker 2: so it still it just reminds you of how impressive
Speaker 2: Tiger Woods that he went what twenty years where he
Speaker 2: never if he was in the Honey won. You know,
Speaker 2: that's that's such an unbelievable thing to carry that no
Speaker 2: other pro golfer has the ability to carry around. You know.
Speaker 1: A sneaky answer to that question is DJ You know,
Speaker 1: at the end of last year, early the first three
Speaker 1: weeks of this year, it was like, God, this guy's
Speaker 1: the best player of the world that sat even close.
Speaker 1: At this point, I don't feel that way at all.
Speaker 2: Is he a top ten player like I'd say now
Speaker 2: or you argue he's not? Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know the sneaky thing about it, he
Speaker 1: wins and open all of a sudden, he's I almost
Speaker 1: would put him in like best chance at the career
Speaker 1: Grand Slam of any active player if he wins an open,
Speaker 1: because then it's like, oh, all this guy needs is
Speaker 1: a PGA, Like that's right, that's the major. He should
Speaker 1: have like four of by now, you know, And I
Speaker 1: think that's like that could be a sneaky answer to
Speaker 1: that question as well. It's like, you know, like this
Speaker 1: has kind of been a disastrous twenty twenty one for DJ.
Speaker 1: Like after that Master's win, it's like, well, like, you know,
Speaker 1: could this guy get to four or five majors by
Speaker 1: the end of his career? Six majors? Like it doesn't
Speaker 1: It didn't seem like he was slowing down at all.
Speaker 1: And then he wins in Saudi Arabia and maybe maybe
Speaker 1: there's a curse of the you know, the the prince
Speaker 1: over there or something.
Speaker 2: Anytime somebody wins and goes about four months without winning,
Speaker 2: I think you call it a curse. So we're just
Speaker 2: gonna happen. Every tournament's gonna have a curse.
Speaker 1: It's uh, there's you know, might be more to it
Speaker 1: than just the poor play. You know, could be the
Speaker 1: new boat though. So hey, Shane, are you going over
Speaker 1: the Open or are we going to see you over there?
Speaker 2: I still am not one hundred percent. I think I'm
Speaker 2: doing a lot of stuff from here for the Open,
Speaker 2: but I'm not sure. I uh, you know, I I'm
Speaker 2: really excited about this. I'm gonna call some of the
Speaker 2: Olympics golf in Connecticut, so I'm kind of gearing up
Speaker 2: for that and getting ready and going through kind of
Speaker 2: the notes and stuff like that. I'm gonna be there
Speaker 2: doing that, which I'm really fired up about. So I'm
Speaker 2: not one hundred.
Speaker 1: Percent Rory Sabatini's inn I had.
Speaker 2: I saw that. I heard it. I was excited about it,
Speaker 2: but uh, like, could I do that? Andy? Could I
Speaker 2: just I think.
Speaker 1: You have to be a certain rank in the world rankings,
Speaker 1: you know, Like I think that's the big barrier, where
Speaker 1: like it can't feel like, you know, there's that like
Speaker 1: open quality. It would be cool if the Olympics had
Speaker 1: an open qualifying aspect too, because that would be really
Speaker 1: badass if there was, like, you know, two, say there's
Speaker 1: four spots for every team, two of them go to
Speaker 1: open qualifiers on every team and you get like seventeen
Speaker 1: year old kids like beating out the pros to get
Speaker 1: a snag a spot.
Speaker 2: I'm with it. I love that all the four Americans
Speaker 2: in the Olympics are all young. I mean, I know
Speaker 2: we kind of have bagged on Ricky with the tattoo
Speaker 2: and all that stuff. But Ricky Fowler, I would say,
Speaker 2: did as much for Olympic golf as anybody. I mean,
Speaker 2: he talked it up, he loved the experience. He was
Speaker 2: visible right as a golf Olympian and twenty sixteen, and
Speaker 2: he was young, and he was very young at the time.
Speaker 2: I think he was twenty seven or twenty eight. All
Speaker 2: four of the American guys going over are under the
Speaker 2: age of twenty eight. I think that's really important. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think when you're forty, maybe you don't maybe you're
Speaker 2: not as interested in doing this. But if you're twenty six,
Speaker 2: why wouldn't you go over there and be an Olympian.
Speaker 2: So I love that the four young Americans are all
Speaker 2: going to go over there and do this. I'm fired
Speaker 2: up for the Olympics because I think it's going to
Speaker 2: be very, very cool, and it's a reminder each and
Speaker 2: every year that it's a lot bigger than just one sport.
Speaker 2: It's a lot bigger and just golf, right, I mean
Speaker 2: you you said it with the LPGA players and and
Speaker 2: kind of the l E t and and and you know,
Speaker 2: any any golfer in this global game, especially a female golfer.
Speaker 2: It's as big a win as you can have, It's
Speaker 2: as big a tournament as you can compete in, and
Speaker 2: so I'm kind of pumped. I'm I'm I'm just as pumped,
Speaker 2: if not more, to call the women's side of things
Speaker 2: that I am the men's side, because I just feel
Speaker 2: like it's going to be such an enormous event.
Speaker 1: I think that's just like everybody has been so shortsighted,
Speaker 1: especially in men's golf, about the Olympics and the value
Speaker 1: of being an Olympic gold medalist. Like they look at
Speaker 1: the FedEx Cup and they see, oh, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's all this money, and it's like, guys, you're missing
Speaker 1: the long term point, you know, like the golf might
Speaker 1: become like a big Olympic sport. Who knows, like it's
Speaker 1: not off to the best start because of like, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of it I think has
Speaker 1: to do with like the schedule makers of golf has
Speaker 1: kind of screwed it. But like in twenty years, being
Speaker 1: an Olympic gold medalist is probably going to carry way
Speaker 1: more weight than being, you know, finishing eighth in the
Speaker 1: fed X Cup in terms of your ability to generate
Speaker 1: money on a random day of the week for an.
Speaker 2: Appearance if I asked you, and again, this is no
Speaker 2: knock to the FedEx Cup. I think the FedEx Cup
Speaker 2: has actually been an enormous benefit to the PGA Tour
Speaker 2: because it gives the players something to look forward to
Speaker 2: at the end, or at least try to play for
Speaker 2: at the end. But if I ask you to name
Speaker 2: and you know, I mean, you know as much about
Speaker 2: golf as anybody. If I asked you to name the
Speaker 2: last five FedEx Cup winners, I'm not sure I think
Speaker 2: you could get it, but I think it probably takes
Speaker 2: a little bit of time and you might mix up
Speaker 2: a couple. But if I asked you to name the
Speaker 2: six players on the podiums at the twenty sixteen Olympics,
Speaker 2: you'd get all six right away. And that again, that's
Speaker 2: the point is that's.
Speaker 1: A great point because it's Rose, Stentson and Coocher and
Speaker 1: then it was mb Park shenschen Fang and who finished third.
Speaker 1: That's the one I lady Lydia, Okay, So yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: like easy.
Speaker 2: Rattle them off in and on and on. The FedEx Cup. Again,
Speaker 2: it's like, that's great and I do think the FedEx
Speaker 2: Cup is exciting. I think that like as a person
Speaker 2: that watches a lot of golf, giving me something at
Speaker 2: the end of the year that you get the best
Speaker 2: players playing for and you can tell it matters to them.
Speaker 2: Maybe the money doesn't matter to you and I, but
Speaker 2: it definitely matters them because you see players struggle and
Speaker 2: even choke on that Saturday and Sunday at the Tour Championship.
Speaker 2: But I just feel like in twenty years from now,
Speaker 2: let's say Justin Thomas wins a gold medal this year, right,
Speaker 2: and he'll have that forever over a Speek who is
Speaker 2: gonna be thirty thirty three next time the Olympics are
Speaker 2: a round and men's golf, and you look at a
Speaker 2: at a Ricky who will be thirty six or thirty
Speaker 2: seven if he wants to qualify again JT if he
Speaker 2: wins a gold medal, will always have that. And I mean,
Speaker 2: this is like Carmelo's the Olympia basketball player, right, That's
Speaker 2: the Carmelo thing. And so I don't know I'm gonna
Speaker 2: write a big thing on Rory. I think I'm gonna
Speaker 2: write something for golf channel dot com about Rory and
Speaker 2: the Olympics as we get closer to it. But I
Speaker 2: just feel like it will, Like to your point, I
Speaker 2: think at twenty or twenty five years from now, we
Speaker 2: will We're already talking about the importance of the Olympic
Speaker 2: medal in women's golf. I think it will get over
Speaker 2: to the men's side at some point once we have
Speaker 2: more Olympia Olympians in our sport.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're just they're being shortsighted about it, which is
Speaker 1: like they're looking at money today and not realizing the
Speaker 1: potential money tomorrow for the Olympic gold medal.
Speaker 2: You know, if a DECI wins the gold medal and
Speaker 2: he has a green jacket and a gold medal, it
Speaker 2: will go down globally. Is one of the great golf
Speaker 2: seasons that we can remember it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it would be. It would be. It was like
Speaker 1: when Trevino won Sportsman of the Year, Like that's the
Speaker 1: type of story that Hideki having the green jacket and
Speaker 1: the gold medal. It can can with almost any story
Speaker 1: in sports.
Speaker 2: I agree. I'm excited for it. I think it's gonna
Speaker 2: be great. I'm pumped to see the golf course and
Speaker 2: I love that there's a lot I love that there's
Speaker 2: a lot of guys doing it, at least more than
Speaker 2: there were in twenty sixteen, willing to see what this
Speaker 2: is all about, because I think if you go see
Speaker 2: it and see what it's about, you're gonna enjoy it
Speaker 2: and want to be a part of it again.
Speaker 1: All right, Shane, everybody can find you on the Golf
Speaker 1: Channel almost every day, Golf Today co host and then
Speaker 1: obviously with your Get a Grip podcast with Max Homa.
Speaker 1: Anybody that doesn't listen to that, that listens to this,
Speaker 1: I recommend that highly. It's an unbelievable podcast. And Shane,
Speaker 1: do do is you know, relationship in many hours recording
Speaker 1: with Max gets more out of its active tour pro
Speaker 1: than anybody in the world gets out of you know,
Speaker 1: almost any active athlete.
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that. I love you. You're one of my
Speaker 2: favorites in the world. Thanks for having me on, Thank
Speaker 2: you all for listening. Hope you guys are having a
Speaker 2: great week. And yeah, anytime you need me, just let
Speaker 2: me know, all right, Thanks Shane.
Speaker 1: Today's podcast was edited by Mega Atkins. You know, as
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