WEBVTT - Takeaways from the PGA Tour Fall Swing 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.960 And when I find my ball in a fried egg 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.600 Friday egg, the dreaded Frida Egg Friday Frida Egg Egg, 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:11.840 Frida Egg Bride Egg. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:13.640 Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the hump. 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:41.160 Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Golf Podcast. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.720 I am your host, Andy Johnson. Today I have an 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.600 episode that is dedicated to the fall season of the 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.800 PGA Tour. So with that in mind, I am joined 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.400 by two of the people that I know that follow 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.720 PGA Tour golf most closely. Sean Martin of the PGA 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:03.400 Tour he is the lead editorial at the PGA Tour 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:07.800 PGA tour dot com. And Joseph Lamania are a very 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:12.880 own Friday Golf. Joseph Lamania I had us each prepare 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.280 five things about the fall that stood out. A lot 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.560 of them overlapped. We ended up hitting on all of them, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:24.720 a few of a few shared things obviously big storylines 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.480 that came out of the fall. But excited to have 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:30.480 you guys listen to this conversation. I thought it was 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:35.520 super fun, free flowing, and yeah, a lot of it 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.759 is about youth and the different tiers of the PGA tour. 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:43.280 So without that, let's get to our conversation. But before 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:48.320 we get there, let's talk about Stripe. Stripe is a 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.640 big part of our business. Integral to this time of year, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.440 especially with Black Friday, you want to buy things online. 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:59.120 Stripe is a great partner to do so. Stripe helps 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.960 businesses as small as ours. They've been a partner of 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.160 ours since really the founding, about two years after I 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.800 started it, so about twenty seventeen is when we started 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.320 accepting online payment, and Stripe was there helped us out 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:17.040 when it was just me small business. It also helps 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:22.280 huge businesses such as Alaska Airlines, Hurts and many other 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:28.800 big businesses. So Stripe has advanced billing products. They have 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.080 the standard checkout products. One of the big things with 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:36.400 their checkout suite. One of the reasons people don't end 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:38.600 up checking out of your store is because you might 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:43.120 not accept their payment. Stripe accepts virtually like every way 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.080 you could pay. I mean, they have it all covered 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.920 and that's one of the things I like the most 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:51.800 about it. It makes it really easy for somebody to 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:55.400 pay for one of our memberships, for example. So on 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.800 the billing side, they can handle really complex situations like 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:04.280 usage based billing, monthly subscriptions, all that jazz. So if 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.440 you want to learn more about Stripe, go to stripe 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.680 dot com. All right, let's get to our conversation with 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:22.919 Sean and Joseph Smartin. Uh. Sean Martin, PGA Tour Officionado 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:27.640 of Golf, really just the the living golf encyclopedia. Uh, 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:32.000 We're honored to have you join us. Joseph Leamanya, who 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.200 you often hear on here, is here. Also, we're gonna 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.600 do just a little takeaways from the fall season. You know, 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.280 fall is over, We're onto the silly season. Can we 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:43.440 call it the silly season? 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:45.720 Father son? 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.360 Herew for a while. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:50.960 And actually the PNC is secondly a PGA Tour champions Events. 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:52.080 That's pj's yard. 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.920 PJ can't talk on this pod. He's just a producer, 0:03:58.320 --> 0:03:58.640 too bad. 0:03:58.640 --> 0:03:59.880 I can see him. He's very excited. 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:01.000 He is excited. 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:02.240 There's been a lot I've been a part of a 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.840 lot of PJ related conversations lately. 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.080 Because he's revolutionized champions to are coverage. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.440 Yeah, what can we expect what's this vibe going to 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:16.560 be in Tucson? Should we be worried? Do you think? 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:18.680 What do you think of his coverage? What was it? 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:20.240 Were there any highlights from it? 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.119 You know, I definitely saw the buzzball coverage, the Cola 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:30.640 Guard coverage, But I appreciate just the sobriety with which 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.520 he mostly covered the Champions Tour, just the weight he 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:34.120 gives to it. 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.360 Yeah. I mean, he's a true professional. He's a journalism 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:43.680 journalism major from a you know, esteemed college. He brings 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:45.640 professionalism to this organization. 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.359 And look, if you're fresh out of you know, Syracuse 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.000 journalism school, you got to put him in front of 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:51.640 you know, world Golf Hall of famers. 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.640 Uh, all right, let's get into this. There's enough enough 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.720 about Champions Tour. I feel like this is more a 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:03.080 conversation for the show gonna start than this podcast. We're 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:07.040 going to talk about the fall. I had everybody prepare 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:12.280 five fall takeaways, and we're going to talk just about 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:18.720 this season. I'll jump off, I'll start this conversation. I'm 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:23.640 gonna ask I pose a question. Is the fall almost 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:28.040 golf cick go heaven like with like with a couple tweaks, 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:33.960 maybe some better venues, some better coverage times. Is this 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.160 like the perfect perfect golf viewing if there was a 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:42.600 little bit more strict relegation, could it? Could it get 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:44.760 to the point where, for like people that are so 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:50.000 in the golf bucket that this is the quintessential viewing 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.799 period where you don't care as much about the big 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:59.680 names and it's just like pure relegation and players duking 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.320 it out out on good golf courses like with like, 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.960 with a few more elite venues and a few better 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:12.359 coverage times in stricter relegation, are we like almost to 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.760 the most compelling part of the PGA Tour calendar. 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.240 I thought Dj Paihowski summed it up perfectly in his tweet. 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.600 It was something like, you know, Amttic McNeely, Luke Clanton 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.880 duel is pretty good golf watching for November twenty fourth. 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.120 I think, you know, guy chasing his first win, You 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.160 had guys trying to keep their card. Luke Clanton obviously 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.919 seems like an ascendant star. I think it is a 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.800 confluence of all those different stories, and I definitely think so. 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:37.479 I mean, I think the fall is made for the sickos, 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.200 definitely You're not going there for star power right in 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.360 the top fifty mostly or taking all those events off. 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:47.240 You're going there for really granular storylines that truly the 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:48.280 Sikos appreciate. 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.719 I think similarly, Sean, the way the PGA Tours changed 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.240 their model with signature events and non signature events. You 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:59.400 just don't see as frequently the lesser known player competing 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.800 against a player that's already kind of made. And you're 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:04.679 getting a little bit more of that in the fall. 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.000 You don't have some of the top superstars, right, it's 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:11.440 not Scottie Scheffler versus Luke Clanton. But yeah, to your point, 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.760 I mean Ludviig was playing this past weekend. You could 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.920 have had Ludwig versus Luke Clanton. Yeah, Andy, I think 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.120 it is kind of a I don't know about heaven, 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.080 but getting close to heaven for golf siccos it's a 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:23.360 pretty compelling product. 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.920 But yeah, not for the casual golf fan. 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.520 That's that's the thing. I don't think it's all the 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:34.160 way there. But yesterday I'm watching I'm watching Caleb Williams 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:38.440 dice up the vikings on one screen, and I was 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:43.040 almost more engrossed in the golf that was happening. You know, 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:45.960 you had four guys coming down the stretch. Yesterday's was 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.200 kind of telling with you know, you had you had 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.000 two guys that have had really great years, you know, 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:57.880 huge improvement years in Nico Etravaria and Mav McNeely. And 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.920 then I think like Clanton Clan was like the story 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.960 of the summer that didn't get off the ground, didn't 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.880 get nearly the shine because of Nick Dunlap and also 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.640 because of Scott what Scottie Scheffler and Saner Schoffley did 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:13.160 last year. I think that like that would have been 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:17.320 almost every other year would have been like story one, 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.040 B or C of the summer, But because of everything 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.720 that happened last year kind of got pushed down and 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:26.320 the fall was a little bit of a reminder this 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.480 especially this last event. He didn't play much all the 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.160 fall until this last event, but this last event was 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.960 a reminder, Oh yeah, we forgot about how good this 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.800 guy's summer was, and here he is. So what's your 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:41.400 first thing, Sean? 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:43.520 And I think my big one is Luke Clayton. 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.319 This is one of mine too. I figured we'd have 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:47.319 a lot of overlap here. 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:49.800 Yeah, I mean I prepared five, It could be three, 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:51.719 could be seven things. We'll see how it shakes out, 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:55.079 but I think Luke Clayton's number one. Obviously, I'd watched 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:59.240 his results from AFAR on Friday. I took the time 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.120 to take my son out to watch Luke Clant and 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.600 Ludwig Obert and Matt McCarty thought that was a great 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:09.040 feature group to have and came away just totally impressed 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:10.559 with Luke Clinton. I think I've tweeted a couple of 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:12.760 times like where he'd rank in all the different status 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.520 rankings if he had enough rounds to qualify. You have 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.559 to have fifty rounds. He's at thirty now, but I 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:20.679 mean it's pretty astounding. He'd be second schros gained off 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:23.959 the tee, third in shros gained approach, eleventh in driving 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.600 distance and fifth in driving accuracy, and first in greens 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:28.960 and regulation. And I kind of compared it to like Morikawa, 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.120 but longer of like this guy comes out in the summer, 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.640 some of the courses are softer, it's so hot out 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:36.720 and so humid, and just flag shots and racks up 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:40.880 gaudy approach numbers, and that's what Luke's been doing and 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.440 The variety of shots too, was really interesting. He talked 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.520 about how on his first whole Friday, he hits like 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.199 this nine iron and it's like five feet off the ground. 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:53.160 I mean not literally, I think I looked at the numbers. 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:54.600 I think it was closer to like sixty, but still 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.040 it was this low flight in nine on rom from 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.040 I think like one hundred yards and Ludwig turned round 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.120 and was like, that's sick. And he has the this 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:04.040 awesome stinger driver that I tweeted about after watching him too, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.040 that he hits quite a lot. He actually plays a 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:09.640 driver with a little more spin than you would expect 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.160 so that he can hit that stinger and keep it 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.160 from falling out of the air. But it allowed him 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.439 to hit this like low ground cut access the right 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:17.920 side of the fairway on this kind of split fairway 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.920 par five that guys never are able to really go 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:22.880 after because it's there's ob on the right. And I 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.480 just think he has shots. He's a shot maker, which 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.679 is really impressive for a guy his age. I think too. 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.439 There were a couple of spots where Ludwig really pushed 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:33.600 it with the driver. Luke laid Back hit wedges really 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.640 close and made birdies and I think, just yeah, that 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:38.480 shot making was really impressive and the stats seem to 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.240 back it up. Even if you know, maybe they were 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.560 on some easier golf courses, I still think the ball 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:45.400 striking is really really impressive. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.320 Can I give you a different comp for a player 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.240 out of the gates that he reminds me of? And 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.760 I think the finishes stack up just like stats wise 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.520 and finishes John. 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.679 Rohm, Yeah, I mean rom came out right away. He 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:02.200 was fished second person. Man. 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:06.160 Yeah, it finished third at the quickened loans. I think 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.560 like one of the things is like if you looked 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.800 at his stats in that short period of time, they 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:15.400 popped similarly off the tee and approached the green like 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.480 where he it was like, oh my god, Like this 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:19.920 guy might be the best te de green player on 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:21.840 tour right now, you know. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:24.840 I mean TBC deer Run is known for his wide fairways, 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:26.679 but I mean he's driving it at least statistically as 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.680 far as Wyndam Clark and as straight as Chez Revie. 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:31.360 You guys are gonna make fun of me. I mean 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:34.720 another player that never he reminds me of a lot 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:38.400 andy is Cam Young and the way that Cam Young 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:45.240 came out through that hold on, hold on, hold on. 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:48.040 Come on, we couldnt compare anybody to Cam Young. 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.640 Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa who Let let me explain. Cam 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.200 Young when he came out in the fall, was shredding 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.160 off of the tea and it was hitting approach, not 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:58.800 as well as Clinton, but he was a good ball 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.640 striker and we saw that train so far in his 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.840 career two major championships. What's clearly held him back is 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.440 the short game in putting, which Luke Clanton is much 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:10.320 better than. So I'm not saying he's charting to be 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.200 like Cam Young, he's charting to be better than Cam Young, 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:15.920 but it's similar in that some of these weak fields 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.760 through the fall, Cam Young did something similar off the tee. 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.520 Has the speed and accuracy combination that translates to major 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:28.320 championship golf versus somebody like Tom Kim who also put 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.160 up really strong finishes in the fall, but was doing 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:33.040 it more with the short game in putting. And he 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.760 still had a good career, including in major championships. But 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:39.040 the upside with Luke Clanton I think resembles some of 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.280 the flashes we've seen from Cam Young, but with much 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.600 better short game. Is that a fair comparison. He's still 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:44.760 gonna get on me for that. 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.880 One thing I liked about Luke for RSM was I 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.360 think he was towards the bottom of the field. He 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:52.480 was negative shows gain approach and he had still second 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.240 in green's regulation, so he was missing it well. He 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.400 maybe wasn't flagging short irons like he should have, but 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.480 he's still hitting greens, and I think that's important. I 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.920 think being anywhere on the green is better than being 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.120 off the green almost, you know, without exception, and so 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.040 I think that shows good course management and kind of 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.920 good ball control of controlling your missus. So I thought 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.720 that was a promising site. I don't know, I you know, 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:18.760 I'd be curious. We have thirty rounds under our belt. 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.319 We have eight events from Luke, four top tens, and 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:23.200 those eight events two runners up in a fifth and 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:24.760 a tenth. And then I think the big thing though 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.160 too he made the cut at the US Open, so 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.800 you can talk about how, yeah, he played the John Deere, 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:31.160 he played the rocket mortgage RSM. These are all birdie 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:34.640 fest but he finished forty first at Pinehurst, which I 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.360 mean that was a place that you really couldn't fake. 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.679 It didn't seem that was a place that obviously Flumming's 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.800 Scotti Scheffler, he tied Scotty. I'm not saying he's as 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:43.880 good as Scotty, but finishing T forty one in the 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.800 same spot as Scotty's a pretty good showing there. 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:48.240 Sean on that I was doing a little I was 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.240 looking through a lot of his scores getting ready for 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.840 this pod. Luke clann opened with a seventy six at Pinehurst, 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:59.520 major debut, right, first major championship round ever. Second two rounds. 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.240 He shot sixty nine on the second day, which the 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.960 low round was sixty six. Dki was the only player 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:06.520 who shot that, so Luke was very close to the 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:08.880 round of the day. And then on Saturday he shot 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.760 sixty nine again the low round was sixty six. Like 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:16.120 he's showing flashes of playing top of the field in 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.080 strong field. It's not like he finished T forty one 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.320 with four mediocre rounds. Like it was a little volatile, 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.120 which I think you'd expect from a golfer who's just 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:24.880 finding their footing. 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.680 First first professional, first professional round. 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.480 Yeah, true, true, true, Right for a guy unlike Cam 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.440 Young who's you know a city guy. This is a 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.640 guy from smalltown Florida who you know, that's a big 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.680 stage for him. That so that was obviously maybe getting 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:43.080 his feet under him in round one and then got 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:44.600 comfortable and did what he did. 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.240 I think you just look at the landscape of what's 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:54.200 going on, Dunlap, Clanton, Thorpyards, that's been really good out 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.960 of the gates Ludvig last year, and I just it's 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.720 you know, you see what was coming and to be 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.240 I think one of the things is like these guys 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:08.360 are more ready than ever to compete. I'm sorry to wonder, 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.200 like how many of the top one hundred players are 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:12.840 in college right now? 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.400 So you could have six guys who have PGA Tour 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:18.560 membership in twenty twenty five who played college golf in 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:22.400 twenty twenty four. With Dunlap Clinton if he gets through 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.080 his twenty points, which maybe we can address that in 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.320 a little bit, I stepped in maybe some hot water, among. 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.320 It did seems like stepped in a step ton of 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.200 land mine. You didn't expect there. 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:37.840 Did not expect that. Dunlap, Clinton, Thorpe, Jornson, Carl Phillips, 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:39.840 who uses PG Tour U status to get off the 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.920 corn ferry right away. The PJ Tour U number one 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.000 for twenty twenty five, which right now it's David Ford 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.640 at North Carolina and then Gordon Sargent will be making 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.800 his much awaited PG Tour debut as a member in 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.400 twenty twenty five after ncla's I. 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:58.200 Mean, it's it's fascinating. It's it's like a fascinating moment 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.000 in the sport because then you start to look at 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.000 the Walker Cup and there's like a lot of young 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:08.040 younger kids that are in consideration, like high school kids 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.000 that might be even better than this crop of college kids. 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.200 I mean, it's the sport is a fascinating like because 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.080 like you look at like Blades Brown and Miles Rusher 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:22.600 Russell and these kids that aren't even in college yet 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.560 that are, you know, potentially making the Walker Cup team. 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.320 That's something that doesn't happen very often obviously, like the 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.560 famous ones Brian Harmon who made the team while he 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:35.640 was still in high school. But I don't know, it's 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.240 an interesting period in the sport with like the game 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.600 is kind of being decoded at the at the at 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.920 earlier and earlier in players' careers. 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.000 I think to that, Andy, if you're a twenty eight 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:52.400 year old PGA Tour player and you're hovering maybe around 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.800 like seventieth to one hundred and twentieth, you're sort of 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.440 battling for your status. If you don't get appreciably better 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.200 in the next couple of years, you're probably going to 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.560 find yourself on the outside looking in. With this youth 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.119 explosion that's right about to bust in. 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:07.920 I think too, you look at the top ten or 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:09.959 top twenty in the world, and all those guys are 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.360 guys who arrived quickly. They mostly were guys we knew 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.720 about an amateur golf. They got on the PGA Tour 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.000 right away. There's not a lot of guys who anymore 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:20.679 that have like the Jimmy Walker progression where you know, 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.920 he finds it at thirty five and wins his first 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.440 major and wins all of his events from like thirty five. 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:27.200 What about Xander? 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.679 I mean, Xander got on tour so yeah, right, I 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.800 think Xander and he won the Western m right already 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:35.399 got to the finals of the Western m and he 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.720 was the California State Amateur or California State Junior champ 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.080 or no state high school champion. I think Xander because 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:42.840 he started at Long Beach State. I think people are like, oh, 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.480 he must have been overlooked, But really, Long Beach State 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.399 had this coach, Ryan Ressa, who'd come from UCLA and 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.000 he was kind of building an ascendent program. And then 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:52.520 you know, went to San Diego State, probably to be 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.440 closer to his dad because their relationship in his swing 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.080 coach and so Xander didn't go to Oklahoma State or 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.199 something like that. But I think he had a very 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.119 good amateur career. Then he got out on tour right 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:02.399 away and he won right away. I mean he was 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.560 what twenty three. I think when he won Greenbrier and 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.919 East Lake, You're you're not spending five years on the 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.200 corn Ferry Tour anymore. It feels like, and then winning 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:13.879 a major, you might have a nice career. You know, 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:16.280 a guy like Patton Kauzier has done that. He won 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:17.959 in the fall. He's won three times now. But as 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:19.800 far as like the top ten twenty players in the world, 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:21.560 these are guys I feel like just got out there 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:22.040 right away. 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.400 I think like one of the other players I had 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:30.560 on my list of just I guess, you know, like 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.040 it was more about like if you look at the winners, 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.240 it's oftentimes like the big time player or bigger time 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.240 player that was in the event that just popped down 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:42.879 for a week, and one would be Austin Ekrot, and 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:47.119 most people would say, oh, Austin Ekro, Like he's not 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.159 a big name. He's only twenty five, right, Yeah, Like 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.320 he's top fifty, he's a top fifty PGA Tour player 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.240 and he's twenty five, right, and he feels like he's 0:18:57.280 --> 0:18:59.600 better around the block, which is like he's been on 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.440 tour for two years. I mean, the youth wave is 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:07.040 is pretty remarkable. And I think, like Sean, like what 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:11.800 you said, when you just scroll through the top you know, 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:15.680 top fifty in the world, it's like all these guys 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:18.119 you knew of. Like Sahez is a great example. He 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.880 was number one ranked amateur in the world, number one 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.600 college player in college golf, and then Covid hit it 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:25.880 took him a little bit longer. And I think that 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.240 was like if it was a PGA Tour or you era, 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.520 he would have been number one, and PGA Tour a 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:33.680 you probably you know, It's like I H I do 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.679 think like and one of my questions I have just 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.280 and this is a little bit off topic, it's like, 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.320 how does PGA tour you evolve? Because I think we're 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:45.399 getting to the point where it's like pretty clear that 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.919 maybe there should be more spots to get PGA Tour cars. 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.200 Yeah, I think that is something to consider. I think two, 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.840 we're only two years into you know, the number one 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.320 getting straight to the PGA Tour, and you know, I'll 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.240 be curious if this continues or if this was like, 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.440 you know, just perfect timing you had Ludwig and thorpe 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.639 Jornson come out as your first two guys that went 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:09.480 straight to the PGA Tour. Because these things do come 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:11.639 a little bit in waves. I kind of laugh when 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.080 Eyone's like, oh, the youth movement is here, and I'm like, 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:16.359 do you remember twenty nineteen when like Matt Wolf and 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:19.240 Colin Morica and Victor Hovlin came straight out, you know, 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:21.480 the class of twenty eleven with j T and Xander 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:24.720 and Speeth and so I do think, you know, as 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:27.080 far as speed dominating the game, and you know, we 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:29.920 know that distance is an advantage and guys really pursuing it, 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:34.560 I think it helps, you know, young players dominate but 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:36.320 these things do kind of come in waves a little bit, 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:37.600 I think, and this could be just one of those 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.000