WEBVTT - Pro Golf Check-In Ahead of the 2026 PGA Championship 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.760 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.880 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.360 And when I find my ball in a. 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:10.600 Bright egg Frida egg, the dreaded Frida egg, Frida Egg, 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:12.040 Frida egg bride egg Lie. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:38.159 I'm about ready to run off the golf course. Welcome 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:40.720 back to the Frida Egg Golf Podcast. I am your host, 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.800 Andy Johnson. Today I am joined by Kevin vat Vealkenberg 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.239 and Joseph Lavania to kind of take the temperature of 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.479 the golf world so far. We're going to do a 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.520 little exercise around our biggest risers and biggest followers in 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:59.120 pro golf, as well as a storyline we're looking forward 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:02.480 to the rest of the year. A little housekeeping note 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.240 you may have heard an ad leading into this podcast, 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:11.240 just a you know, kind of note about where we're 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.880 going with Friday Golf. We have we will have probably 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:18.840 a couple more ads going forward on this podcast than usual. 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:24.720 We are beginning to work with an agency that provides 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:31.360 ads to the podcast. Really, this is fueling growth for us. 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.080 You know, we're going to be very very conscious of 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:40.840 the listener experience as we always have been, and we 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:45.280 will continue to you know, try and make this the 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:50.360 most listener friendly podcast we possibly can. These advertisements are 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.400 going to really help us grow. It's going to help 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.640 us continue to make more and more content. Better and 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.840 better content is our goal as we're trying to con 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.520 to push our company forward. You know, I'm super proud 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.560 of where our team has uh has has kind of 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.519 come from when I think about recording podcasts uh eight 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.720 nine years ago to now and uh, you know, just 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.919 what we're able to do on a weekly basis is 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.440 something I know I thought we could get to but 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:26.360 never imagined. And you know, as we keep growing, our 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.440 goals and what we want to do change and and 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.480 this was this is a big part of where we 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.080 want to go and what we want to be able 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.440 to do in the long run is uh, you know, 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.600 we want to continue to change the golf media landscape 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.720 and continue to hire super talented people and and give 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:48.640 them the freedom to do really great things. So we 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.840 will have a few extra ads per episode. You'll you'll 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.400 find them at the pre roll, the mid roll, so 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:56.520 kind of in the middle of the podcast, before the 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.000 podcast and after the podcast. But as always, you know, 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.120 so none of this would be possible without you guys, 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:06.760 the listeners, and I hope you can understand what we're 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:11.680 trying to do. We are kind of trying to continue 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:16.040 to elevate our quality and quantity of coverage on the 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:18.919 sport of golf. I wanted to do a little thing 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:23.600 on the golf course as we head into we're two 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:28.840 weeks out from Ironom Ink. This obviously is a standout 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.880 major championship season. You obviously have Shannakok and Augusta National. 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.320 I think you can make an argument those are the 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:41.360 two best modern championship golf courses in golf the way 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:46.160 they are able to test players. But I think ironom 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.680 Inc Is one of the better PGA Championship venues that 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.840 they've had and will have in years. I think he 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.119 would probably is their their best venue. I think Ironomic 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.720 is very, very good and there are a lot of 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:04.240 things that Ironomanc goferers that are similar to Augusta National 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:09.720 and h and to a lesser extent, Shinnacock. The You 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:13.560 know Ironomic obviously, it's in Philadelphia. It was designed by 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:19.039 Donald Ross nineteen twenty six. Donald Ross Design. Philadelphia is 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:23.640 known for its golf architects and golf architecture. Uh, the 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:29.520 famous Philly School of golf architecture was started. There includes 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:34.200 the likes of AW tilling Hast, William Flynn, George Thomas, 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:39.599 George Crump, Hugh Wilson, a lot of architects. You know. 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:43.880 William Phones, the Oakmont designer, was a part of it, 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:48.920 as in in you know, they really are what dominate 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:54.200 Philadelphia golf architecture, particularly William Flynn. You see his name 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.640 all over Philadelphia. A. W. Tilling Hast obviously is very 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.240 prolific championship golf designer in the Northeast. One of the 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.760 unique things about ironom Ink. Ironom Ink was built after 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:10.599 the vast majority of the famous Philadelphia clubs, and it 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:14.600 was built by Donald Ross, an outsider to the town obviously. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:19.400 Ross born in Scotland, came came across and uh and 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.760 started working in Massachusetts when he got to America and 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.799 obviously the most prolific architect of this era, having designed 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.800 over four hundred courses. UH. That being said, Ironomink I 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:36.560 would put into the top tier of golf courses designed 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:40.000 by Donald Ross. You know, the likes of Oakland Hills, 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:44.320 South Seminole, Uh, it is right up there. You know 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.599 Interlock and would be another one that I think is 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:51.240 great Sciota. Another great Donald Ross design Essex County obviously 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:55.320 in Massachusetts, but I would put into that top echelon 0:05:55.440 --> 0:06:00.520 of Donald Ross Donald Ross's work ironom Ink. As is 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.760 the case with most golf courses in the Philadelphia area, 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.360 it is terrific land. That's kind of the core ingredient 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.479 of golf in Philadelphia is a land. It is just 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:16.320 it's really broad and brawny land, but it's very well 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:19.200 scaled for golf. And what I mean by that is 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.880 that the rises and falls. There are a lot of 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.880 valleys that you know, these golf courses in Philadelphia play 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:28.839 into and then come out of. They're big valleys, but 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.960 not too big. Something that's really important for golf architecture is, 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.040 you know, if you can keep those rises and falls 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:40.440 below thirty feet, you know where they these properties are 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.839 very choppy, but never too severe. You don't want to 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.680 have a sixty foot drop very often. You know, it 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:49.560 can be cool once in a while, but if you 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.520 drop sixty feet or eighty feet, you have to play 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.560 back up the eighty feet and that's usually where golf 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.200 can get a little redundant. And golf architecture can get 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:01.480 a little redundant. So with that, you know, ironomic like 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:06.840 the other other Philadelphia area courses, most of them, it 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:09.160 has a really nice piece of land. I don't think 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:12.760 it's necessarily the best piece of land uh in Philadelphia 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.440 by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a good 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.760 piece of land and really good if you consider the 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.280 grand scheme of golf in America. Uh, this is a 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.240 site that you would never find in flatter portions of 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.600 the country like Chicago. It is a it is a 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.280 very very nice property for golf. Now that being said, 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:35.920 there are some flatter portions of the golf course, and 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.840 we did a big video with Gil Hants that illustrates 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.480 some of this. But there are some There's some you know, 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.280 flatter portions around the exterior of the property, and some 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:50.520 holes that run along those exterior are are flatish. Uh. 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.880 Those holes tend to be the most heavily bunkered and 0:07:55.000 --> 0:08:00.960 have the most severe sets of greens. The other holes 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.080 that kind of play there's one central valley and there 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.320 are some holes that play down into the valley and 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.840 a lot of plays holes that play along the valley floor. 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.760 And this is where you know, it's important for a 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.280 property to not be too severe. You know, one of 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:21.040 Ironomic's great assets is that this valley is it's a 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.800 pretty in spots, a pretty gentle fall to the valley, 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.720 and what it allowed Donald Ross to do was route 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.080 a lot of golf holes on the slope of the valley. 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:35.880 So in many cases at ironom Ink, you play along 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.480 the edge of this kind of valley, and what it 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:42.160 creates is a dynamic of of uneven lies. And this 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.120 is something that we see, you know, really thrives at 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.640 Augustin National and and where you know you could see 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.480 some similarity with ironom Ink in Augusta National is that 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:56.200 their players are going to have to hit from uneven lies. 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:00.600 They aren't as severe as Augusta, they aren't as prevalent 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.240 as Augusta. Augusta is basically every hole you hit from 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.880 an uneven lie except for par threes. But at Ironomk 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.440 you're gonna have to hit a handful of shots with 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:14.920 longer irons from uneven lies to very severe greens. So 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:17.840 when you start to think about ironom Ink as a 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.720 championship test, I imagine they're gonna have pretty thick rough 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.600 there looks like we're ten ten days out or so 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.040 from the championship as of this recording. There looks like 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:31.120 there's a pretty good amount of rain in the forecast, 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.679 So it's gonna be it's gonna play long, and it's 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:38.640 gonna play probably fairly soft. With that, you are going 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.120 to have a lot of a lot of long irons 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:46.520 into you know, severe greens. So what you're gonna see 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:50.000 is the best long iron players are probably gonna be rewarded. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:51.880 You know. 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.200 The other big thing that you're gonna see at ironom 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:56.719 mak Is is kind of a lot of talk of 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:01.160 the bunkers. There are tons of bunkers at around. Although 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:02.880 they you know, there are a lot of them, I 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:07.800 don't think they're that severe and that that penalizing in nature. 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.240 This is a member's course the vast majority of the time. 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.040 I don't think you're gonna see those super severe hard 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:17.640 to advance it out. You know, there will be a 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.160 lot of thick rough you're you're not gonna see a 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:22.880 lot of short grass shots. So it's gonna be kind 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.640 of a typical PGA championship around the greens. But really 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.040 the stars of the show a show at aronom inc 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:34.800 is the greens. They are heavily tilted, as you would 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.520 expect from a nineteen twenty six golf course, a lot 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:39.640 of slope in them, as they used to be played 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.520 at much slower speeds. The thing that you that really 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.680 makes ironomic screens stand out are these kind of pronounced 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.880 spines that ross built in a lot of greens, and 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.440 what they do is divide the green into really small 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:57.400 pockets and sections. It's going to give Carrie Haig a 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:01.520 lot of flexibility on where he puts pins and how 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:06.319 you can protect h really scoring in certain areas by 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.600 you could really tuck away pins into tough spots. And 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:13.080 these ridges are built up, so one of the things 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.920 when you're putting or you're chipping across them, you're having 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.560 to deal with the up and then over kind of 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.360 putts where you're having to go uphill and then on 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.120 the backside is downhill to the slope. These are just 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:28.920 hard putts to gauge. Obviously huge reward if you can 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.600 hit it into the right pocket because then you get 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:33.760 a lot of makeable shots, and they're kind of like 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:38.120 small bowls with these ridges, but if you miss outside 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.640 the pocket, it makes it really hard to put not 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.360 just because of that ridge, but also that pronounced slope. 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:48.480 There's a lot of back to front sloping greens, so 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.120 you're you're dealing with like, okay, I if you have 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.840 a thirty foot or across a ridge, over a ridge, 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.880 you're also probably gonna have to play six seven feet 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.439 of break on that putt. With the nature of these greens. 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.120 So Irono Mac, I think this is gonna be I 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.480 think it's gonna be a fun test. I would love, 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.480 you know, if the the weather forecast, you know, kind 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.200 of clears up, I think it would be phenomenal course 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:16.560 with firm and fast conditions. Uh. Probably unlikely. You're just 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:19.559 not gonna get that in May and uh in Philadelphia 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.040 very often, I don't think. But if if it clears 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.240 up and it's firm and fast, I mean, the greens 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:30.120 are gonna be really, really punishing, probably my favorite hole. Uh. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:34.040 In terms of watchability for this tournament, I hope we 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:36.360 see a lot of the fifth. It's a short part 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:42.120 three that really accentuates those greens. Tin tins of little 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.640 tiny pockets. There's about four really unique whole locations out 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.960 the green created by two central spines As I said before, 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.160 go check out our YouTube video on Irono Make if 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.520 you want more and you want kind of a more 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:02.880 visual oriented uh AT aeronomy. Before we get to Kevin 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.319 and Joseph, let's talk about our friends over at eight Sleep. 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:10.600 The difference between dragging through your second round and actually 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:14.280 playing well comes down to how you recovered overnight. You 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.040 know the science of sleep. 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All right, let's 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:53.400 get to Kevin and Joseph. All right, Joseph KVV, welcome 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.600 back to the show. We're we're a week out from 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.920 the PGA. If I'm being completely honest, in my head, 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.760 I thought the PGA until recently it was a couple 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.920 of weeks from. Now. PJA alerted me that that wasn't 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:06.360 the case. 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:10.880 Uh well, I had to. 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:16.800 Cancel a flight that was fooked to Philly. Uh not 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:19.520 gonna make it now, I have I have another another 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:23.040 engagement that week. But but anyways, it is a big event. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.480 We've got lots of big storylines obviously with UH, with 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.640 Spief going for the Grand Slam, but then obviously Rory 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:34.200 coming off his six major win and UH and Brooks 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.960 you know, back, and there's all kinds of storylines galore. 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.680 But we are now four full months into the PGA 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.560 Tour calendar, UH, which you know, really the season. We're 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.800 about halfway done, UH realistically with the season, and I 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.720 wanted to get you guys on and UH and talk 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:59.200 about followers and risers as well as a summer storyline 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:04.000 to watch. So let's start with the positive. Joseph euro 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.920 Upe first, who's your big riser of the year. 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:10.480 Yeah, this is one where I don't know that I'd 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.320 say I'm eating Crow. But my biggest, the player I'm 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:16.760 most impressed with is Minwoo Lee this year. And there 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.960 are a lot of options we could go with this nomination. 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.160 But a year ago. 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.440 Minwu Lee was ranked twenty fifth in the world and 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.480 now he's thirty first in the world. But he is 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.720 a much better golfer today than he was a year ago. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.520 I referred to him as a ball speed fraud last 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:37.160 year at the PGA, and this year he himself he 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.800 referred to his twenty five version of himself, essentially as 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.960 a ball speed fraud and leading into Houston, he said, 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.600 more or less, he used to bash it around, get 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.000 his butt kicked at the signature events, and he could 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.400 play well at the non signature events, like he rose 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.360 in the owgr because he won in Houston, which, all 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.560 due respect to Memorial Park isn't always the best litmus 0:16:57.560 --> 0:16:59.960 test for how complete of a game a player has 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:04.360 and the results this year of min Wu's evolution, he said, 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.879 he's slowed down his swing, He's worked on his iron play. 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.440 It is showing in signature events or call it big events. 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.080 I said, signature events, majors and the players. Last year 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:19.119 he had two top twenties in thirteen of those starts, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.600 and it was a twentieth and a seventeenth. This year, 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.360 through three of those big events, he has sorry. Through 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.720 six of those big events, he has three top twenties, 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.760 a runner up at Pebble, a couple other good finishes. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.040 Min wus just a much better player. He's hitting it 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.680 way more accurately off the tee, much improved iron play. 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.160 He's gone from one hundred and sixtieth strokes gained approach 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.760 to fiftieth now he's a positive gainer, and off the 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:44.840 t he's gone from one hundred and fifth to eleventh, 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.360 totally different level of ball striker. Has always had great 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.640 short game in putting, and I think, finally this guy 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.000 is a threat to win big golf tournament. So I'm 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.560 wildly impressed at Minwu, the awareness that he needed to 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:00.840 change his game, the work he's put in. I think 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.480 we have a serious golfer who could win a big 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.600 tournament or a major over the next twenty four months. 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.400 A major, yeah, he could. 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.199 I mean, he wouldn't be my first five to eight names, 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:12.480 but if I saw him at the top, contending one 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:14.520 of the last two groups on Sunday, that wouldn't surprise me. 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:15.919 In a year ago, that would have been shocking. 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:18.120 Yeah. 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.119 I think I talked to have been a little bit 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.160 this year earlier about Scotty, and one of the things 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.760 that we referenced was that players where he had to 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.000 lead on Sunday going in. You know, he and Scotty 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.480 were in the final group, and he kind of essentially 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:32.320 confirmed exactly what you were talking about, Joseph Isse. He 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.880 just didn't really know where to miss, where to how 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.920 to play finesse shots, it kind of all came unglued 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:40.640 on I think the fourth hole there where he made 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.560 triple because he just couldn't really hit a half wedge 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.320 into that green and take the spin off of it. 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.760 And you know, he said that that experience taught him 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:51.440 a lot, but it took a while for it to 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.760 kind of make sense for him right to learn how 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:58.400 to playoff speed shots. And I think that that self 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.440 awareness is always cool when you see that in an athlete, 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.920 where they are willing to say, like, you know what, 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.280 I actually did not have it figured out and my 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.600 talent was not enough to take me as far as 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:10.639 I wanted to go. And I do think that that 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:13.680 is represents a really cool evolution in mose game. 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:19.439 Yeah, I you know, listen, like all these all the 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.600 young players come out on tour with flaws in their game, 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:27.960 and I think, Joseph and you hit on something really 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:33.840 valuable here. I think the difference between really talented players 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:38.600 that end up with you know, ten plus year careers 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.600 versus those that you know, maybe on tour for seven 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.439 to ten are the players that are able to you know, 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:51.880 look at their game, understand that I have weaknesses, and 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:57.560 approach improving them in the right in the in the 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.320 right manner, not necessarily the right manner, but who can 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.120 approach improving them without ruining the other aspects of their 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:08.360 game without losing the DNA of themselves as a golfer. 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:14.719 And I think that that's the impressive thing about I 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.400 think when players go to the lab and figure it out, 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:21.119 is like, Okay, you know, min Wu still finished T 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.480 three at Houston this year, Like he can still go 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:28.280 out and play bomb and gouch the style of golf 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.440 that that he's thrived at. But then you look at 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:34.000 the you know, you look at his I think he 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:38.960 finished third at at Pebble Beach, second at Pebble Beach, 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:43.680 and that's just that's not really a bomb and go 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:46.600 find it golf course like it's small greens, like you 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.440 have to be pretty precise with iron shots, lots of 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:55.359 uneven lies, like that is a testament to the variety, 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:58.240 you know, And then he goes and plays well Arnold Palmer, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.240 a golf course that you know is just hard, flat 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:05.080 out hard, and that was really firm, it was really 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:09.159 fast that week. And I just think that listen, like 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:11.080 he didn't have the masters that I think a lot 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:14.399 of people expected him to have, but the arrow was 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:16.840 pointing up. And I love the call out of a 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:21.120 player who's actually dropped in O WGR over the last year, 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.800 but is showing that he's a more well rounded player 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.280 because I think, like, you know, a lot of people 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:31.680 would look at you know, Rory McElroy and say, oh, 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.520 he had some down years, but in there was a 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:38.160 lot of progression, you know, in that major drought, there 0:21:38.240 --> 0:21:41.439 was a ton of game progression that's led him to 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:44.120 where he is now. And it's you know, golf isn't 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:49.800 always this like, you know, straight road to improvement, Like 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.159 there's windingness and sometimes you know, you might take a 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.879 little dip. But yeah, I love Minweu. He was on 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.800 my short list of players that I was considering for 0:21:59.880 --> 0:22:04.600 them and I really, you know, it would be great 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:06.280 if he if he wants a big tournament. 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:09.800 The major championships are still the blind spot you called 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:12.640 out Augusta. Augusta was a really bad start for Min 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:16.679 Wu and to date he has one top ten in 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:18.640 a major. He finished t. Five in the twenty twenty 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:21.320 three US Open. Other than that, he's missed his last 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:23.560 four cuts in majors. So I think over the next 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:25.960 three major starts, We're going to find out how real 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:28.760 some of that evolution is. And I would not I 0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:30.760 wouldn't be skeptical of what he's going to do. I 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:33.960 think we could see at least one contention in a 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:35.879 major over the next three I think would be a 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:37.480 reasonable expectation for mine. 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:39.920 All right, KVV, who's your guy? 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:42.840 I'm gonna go with the Fields here. 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:46.639 You know, I'm probably more into the fields than Joseph, 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:49.320 and I always think I make good good parallel our 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:53.240 points on the plotting here is I'm a fields emotions guy, 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:56.159 justps more analytics dated guy. So I'm gonna go with 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:59.680 Gary Woodland. And I think, like this is just such 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:03.200 a cool story, you know, if you if you look back, 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:06.560 it was March ninth when he sort of sat down 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:09.760 with Rex Hoger the Golf Channel and talked about, you know, 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:13.000 I'm not okay and it's okay to not be okay, 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.639 and I'm suffering from this this stuff. I'm feeling often 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.960 overwhelmed and carrying around this burden is enormous to me. 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:23.560 I just I don't really know how to deal with it. 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:27.040 I feel this anxiety all the time about you know, 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:29.720 people looking at me and wondering that, you know, the 0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:32.680 health scares that I've been through, and just the act 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:36.359 of talking about that managed to sort of free Gary 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:38.560 up to just be a better golfer. 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:40.760 And what a kind of a cool thing that is. 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.960 I mean, like, you know, obviously one in Houston, but 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:46.399 just the results in general have been better. You know, 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.080 he's he's already he's started off again at the Durral 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:51.320 this week. He's in the top ten after the first round. 0:23:52.000 --> 0:23:53.680 Who knows sort of how that'll play out, but it's 0:23:53.720 --> 0:23:56.280 a great course for him. It was the top ten 0:23:56.760 --> 0:24:00.560 at the Heritage. I mean, you know, didn't play great obviously, 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:03.000 like at the Masters, but was good enough. You know, 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:05.760 was shot in sixty six and the last day he 0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:07.920 played pretty well at the vaalas Bar, which was sort 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:10.399 of the next tournament after he'd kind of revealed like 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:12.760 what was going on and everything. I just think it 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:16.960 makes for a really cool story of someone who kind 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:20.280 of felt this burden and was willing to sort of 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:23.320 open up with the hope that some people had you know, 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:26.200 would be going through similar things. And I literally got 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:28.639 like just by like retweeting a couple of stories a 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:31.520 couple people message me and be like, you know, I'm 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:36.280 going through something similar with this, and I just want 0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:39.000 you to know that, like Gary, talking about this really 0:24:39.600 --> 0:24:41.960 did mean a lot to me, and I hope you 0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:44.760 guys will keep, you know, talking about this and keep 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:45.520 the awareness out there. 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:46.639 I think that that's just a cool thing. 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:48.760 And Gary's he was in the you know, I think 0:24:48.800 --> 0:24:51.080 he was one hundred and thirtieth in the world last 0:24:51.160 --> 0:24:53.479 year and now he's in the top fifty. 0:24:54.119 --> 0:24:55.640 You know, he's probably going to keep climbing. 0:24:55.800 --> 0:24:58.840 Just with kind of more steady play it strokes gained 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:01.160 across the board, he's better. I mean, he's a top 0:25:01.280 --> 0:25:03.240 thirty player in the world right now. I would say 0:25:03.240 --> 0:25:05.879 he's I think he's thirtieth right now. And it strikes 0:25:05.880 --> 0:25:07.720 gained on the PG Tour, so you know, you could 0:25:07.720 --> 0:25:10.840 put him, you know, top forty somewhere about fifteen in 0:25:10.840 --> 0:25:13.480 the world kind of when the as the season plays out. 0:25:13.760 --> 0:25:16.080 It's just a great story and I just I love 0:25:16.720 --> 0:25:19.639 that some the simple thing like that, not a simple 0:25:19.640 --> 0:25:21.680 thing obviously, but a complicated thing like that was able 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:23.719 to help him play better golf. 0:25:25.200 --> 0:25:29.479 Yeah, I I mean this is just a life life lesson, 0:25:29.840 --> 0:25:33.600 right and I think you could you could look at 0:25:34.080 --> 0:25:36.119 some of the other things going on in the sport. 0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:39.080 You could look at you know, Tiger Woods's struggles and 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:42.600 like Gary, Gary Woodland's like a role model here in 0:25:42.720 --> 0:25:48.320 terms of you know, just showing people, whether whether you're 0:25:48.320 --> 0:25:50.960 a golfer, whether you're just a regular Joe like me 0:25:51.160 --> 0:25:56.199 or you or Joseph talking about something and getting a 0:25:56.280 --> 0:26:00.760 huge problem off your chest, like just generally it usually 0:26:00.880 --> 0:26:05.880 doesn't yield bad results, you know, but we as humans 0:26:06.160 --> 0:26:11.240 fear like being putting ourselves out there, the insecurities, and 0:26:12.040 --> 0:26:15.359 I think for Gary it's it's illuminating with like the 0:26:15.400 --> 0:26:23.360 power of what you know, being upfront and and comfortable 0:26:23.760 --> 0:26:26.119 does for your golf game. I mean, golf is such 0:26:26.200 --> 0:26:32.399 a mental sport that you know, being being open I 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:35.919 think as a person helps your golf game. And I 0:26:36.000 --> 0:26:38.280 you know, I think like when we look at the tour, 0:26:40.160 --> 0:26:44.879 so many people are guarded with the media, with with 0:26:45.320 --> 0:26:49.640 just speaking about what they're going through. And I think 0:26:49.680 --> 0:26:55.440 there's something about like the sport where golfers are drilled 0:26:55.480 --> 0:27:01.400 to be you know, keep keeping even keel, don't show emotion, 0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:06.800 and yeah, I get that inside the ropes, but if 0:27:06.800 --> 0:27:10.920 you're struggling, making people aware that you're struggling is only 0:27:10.960 --> 0:27:14.040 going to help your golf game. I think because it 0:27:14.119 --> 0:27:17.280 allows you to play more freely, It allows you to 0:27:17.400 --> 0:27:21.399 be yourself more and the moment you let people in. 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:24.479 And I think Gary is a great testament to this. 0:27:24.720 --> 0:27:29.040 Like Gary's gotten so much support since he did the 0:27:29.040 --> 0:27:32.480 interview with Rex. I mean, he's you know, I think 0:27:32.520 --> 0:27:36.560 he was like people like Gary Woodland before. Now he 0:27:36.640 --> 0:27:40.320 is a fan favorite. And I think people being aware 0:27:40.480 --> 0:27:44.040 of the things that he's going through is it's not 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:47.720 going to hurt him inside the ropes. Ever, it's gonna 0:27:48.520 --> 0:27:52.640 yield people being just more aware, like okay, like maybe 0:27:52.680 --> 0:27:56.080 we should give him more space, you know, being just 0:27:56.200 --> 0:28:00.440 more open to that. And whether it's a dozen people 0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:06.160 at a tournament that actually think that through it is, uh, 0:28:06.840 --> 0:28:09.919 it's yeah. I just I can't see a downside to 0:28:10.000 --> 0:28:10.919 a lot of this stuff. 0:28:12.240 --> 0:28:14.119 I first him around, go ahead. 0:28:14.600 --> 0:28:16.280 I just was gonna say one little anecdote. 0:28:16.320 --> 0:28:19.280 But like I when he came back first from the 0:28:19.920 --> 0:28:23.359 can't the Legion, the brain surgery stuff, I just happened 0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:25.600 to be walking past him on like a Monday at 0:28:25.640 --> 0:28:29.400 Riviera and I was he we kind of made eye 0:28:29.400 --> 0:28:31.080 contact and I was like, hey, Gary, it's just great 0:28:31.080 --> 0:28:33.320 to see you back out here, and he kind of 0:28:33.320 --> 0:28:35.639 like almost got teared up. He was just like, hey, thanks, 0:28:35.640 --> 0:28:37.480 Like we don't know each other, but it was just 0:28:37.480 --> 0:28:39.560 like a simple act of somebody saying like, hey, we 0:28:39.640 --> 0:28:43.120 really it's great to see you back just made him 0:28:43.200 --> 0:28:43.920 kind of emotional. 0:28:43.920 --> 0:28:45.560 It made me kind of want to root for him 0:28:45.600 --> 0:28:46.160 that much more. 0:28:47.080 --> 0:28:49.440 I follow him around a decent amount of the Masters 0:28:49.440 --> 0:28:52.120 because he was paired with Scotti the first couple of days, 0:28:52.360 --> 0:28:56.880 and like I'm seventeen, he hit a drive a mile right, 0:28:57.120 --> 0:28:59.520 as Gary Woodland is prone to do from time to time, 0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:01.080 so they had to lower the ropes and like he 0:29:01.160 --> 0:29:02.760 had to go out to the middle of the fifteen 0:29:02.840 --> 0:29:06.800 fairway and hit the shot, and he is scanning around, 0:29:06.920 --> 0:29:10.120 like making sure that people aren't all around him. He's 0:29:10.160 --> 0:29:12.200 talked about that that he feels like there's people behind 0:29:12.240 --> 0:29:16.000 him at all times. To watch his eyes scan around 0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:18.800 like that and also play high level golf win in 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:21.840 Houston when he is dealing with that, I think there's 0:29:21.840 --> 0:29:25.320 a tremendous amount of mental toughness that's required from Gary 0:29:25.320 --> 0:29:28.840 Woodland not to state the obvious, but playing championship golf 0:29:28.880 --> 0:29:33.960 is stressful enough. Being genuinely terrified about having people behind 0:29:34.000 --> 0:29:36.680 you as you're trying to hit shots is a whole 0:29:36.720 --> 0:29:39.440 different level of commitment that's required. And I don't know 0:29:39.480 --> 0:29:42.200 what you, guys, if your experience has been the same 0:29:42.200 --> 0:29:44.960 as mine, but I feel like athletes have taken a 0:29:45.040 --> 0:29:48.320 much different approach, and specifically golfers and being more open 0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:52.280 over the last five to ten years than twenty twenty 0:29:52.320 --> 0:29:55.920 five years ago, even with things like have you thought 0:29:55.920 --> 0:29:57.920 about winning this major? And I feel like we have 0:29:57.960 --> 0:30:00.560 more guys now who are like, yes, I've thought about it, 0:30:00.560 --> 0:30:03.479 like it would be amazing, versus I feel like there 0:30:03.560 --> 0:30:06.480 was just a lot more deflection in previous decades. I 0:30:06.520 --> 0:30:08.680 don't know if you have found that experience to be true. 0:30:09.160 --> 0:30:11.280 I think Jordan's Speed's been a great example of that. 0:30:11.320 --> 0:30:14.720 He's been very open with his struggles with his golf game, 0:30:14.960 --> 0:30:17.960 not his mental game, but just over the last five years, 0:30:18.000 --> 0:30:20.640 I think Jordan's kind of let people in on, yeah, 0:30:20.880 --> 0:30:23.280 I'm going through it like I'm trying to figure it out, 0:30:23.320 --> 0:30:26.680 and a lot of other golfers probably historically would deflect 0:30:26.720 --> 0:30:28.600 in that position and I think it does tie in 0:30:28.600 --> 0:30:31.000 with Gary Woodland being more open with his mental health 0:30:31.040 --> 0:30:34.840 and how he struggled to handle PTSD, And there's probably 0:30:34.880 --> 0:30:37.080 a pretty powerful lesson in there that you play better 0:30:37.160 --> 0:30:40.520 golf when you're comfortable, as Andy you touched on. So 0:30:40.560 --> 0:30:42.240 I don't know if you guys think that's true, but 0:30:42.320 --> 0:30:44.880 that's something that's been rummaging around in my head the 0:30:44.920 --> 0:30:47.680 last like five years. It feels like golfers talk about 0:30:47.720 --> 0:30:50.800 winning majors differently than they used to, and I think 0:30:50.840 --> 0:30:51.680 it can only help you. 0:30:53.120 --> 0:30:55.600 I think that Andy brought up Tiger and sort of 0:30:55.640 --> 0:30:58.040 the mental health stuff. You know, we talk a lot 0:30:58.040 --> 0:31:01.400 about the influence that Tiger had on a generation of golfers, so. 0:31:01.320 --> 0:31:02.440 They all wanted to be like him. 0:31:02.480 --> 0:31:04.840 They were all willing to start working out like him. 0:31:05.400 --> 0:31:07.280 I don't know that we have ever really talked a 0:31:07.320 --> 0:31:10.400 lot about the influence that Tiger had on a lot 0:31:10.400 --> 0:31:12.920 of people in dealing with the media and treating it 0:31:13.000 --> 0:31:16.320 sort of like it was combat. And you know, I 0:31:16.400 --> 0:31:19.240 covered Michael Phelps for a long time when he was 0:31:19.280 --> 0:31:22.240 sort of at the height of his powers, and everything 0:31:22.280 --> 0:31:24.600 that he did was sort of from the Tiger playbook 0:31:24.600 --> 0:31:27.120 of trying to deflect, trying not to sort of say 0:31:27.120 --> 0:31:30.120 anything ever controversial, trying to be super boring. And I 0:31:30.120 --> 0:31:32.520 think as Tiger kind of continues to fade a little 0:31:32.520 --> 0:31:34.680 bit from the scene, you see more people who were 0:31:35.360 --> 0:31:37.200 kind of like, I don't know, I just find that 0:31:37.280 --> 0:31:39.320 sort of whole cloak and dagger routine to be a 0:31:39.360 --> 0:31:42.760 little bit exhausting, and they're willing to sort of give 0:31:42.800 --> 0:31:44.920 you more. I mean, We've been having this debate a 0:31:44.960 --> 0:31:48.120 little bit recently on Twitter about like, is Scotty Scheffler, 0:31:49.000 --> 0:31:51.440 like how he deals with the media, is that problematic 0:31:51.480 --> 0:31:53.840 at all? And I've always been of the sort of 0:31:53.840 --> 0:31:57.480 belief that on a day to day basis, like Scotty's 0:31:57.520 --> 0:32:00.719 probably worse at dealing with the media, with Tiger had 0:32:00.760 --> 0:32:04.280 sort of a bland politeness that he could sort of 0:32:04.320 --> 0:32:07.720 deal with the questions day to day. He understood that. 0:32:07.880 --> 0:32:09.840 I mean, you think, I think Tiger only skipped media 0:32:09.960 --> 0:32:13.520 like three times in you know, twenty years or something ridiculous. 0:32:14.120 --> 0:32:16.520 And Scotty can be kind of petulant and kind of 0:32:16.520 --> 0:32:19.160 angry when you know it, gets asked questions that are 0:32:19.960 --> 0:32:22.800 off topic or leading him in a certain direction. But 0:32:23.200 --> 0:32:25.560 in like press conferences, and away from the sort of 0:32:25.640 --> 0:32:28.360 day to day kind of back and forth. Scotty's way, 0:32:28.360 --> 0:32:30.880 way better than Tiger ever was about opening up and 0:32:30.920 --> 0:32:33.400 like giving you insight into here's what I think about 0:32:33.400 --> 0:32:35.360 this course, here's why I hit this shot, Here's what 0:32:35.440 --> 0:32:39.040 I think about, you know, the kind of up and 0:32:39.080 --> 0:32:41.840 downs of being a professional golfer. And I find that 0:32:41.880 --> 0:32:44.440 to be kind of really valuable. I'm I think people 0:32:44.520 --> 0:32:47.320 kind of don't appreciate that about Scotty, and that gets 0:32:47.320 --> 0:32:48.280 into a little bit of what you're saying. 0:32:48.320 --> 0:32:49.080 Joseph is like. 0:32:49.680 --> 0:32:51.720 He's willing to give you a lot and willing to 0:32:51.720 --> 0:32:56.160 share personal anecdotes about struggles with himself that Tiger never would, 0:32:56.360 --> 0:32:59.320 and I think that that is a credit to him 0:32:59.400 --> 0:33:01.400 and the blessing to all of us who are just 0:33:01.400 --> 0:33:03.040 trying to kind of understand these people better. 0:33:03.640 --> 0:33:10.640 Yeah, yeah, totally. I I think allowing people a lens 0:33:11.080 --> 0:33:14.160 and it's a double edged sword though, because then you know, 0:33:14.480 --> 0:33:18.640 if you you know, and I'm talking I duck and 0:33:18.680 --> 0:33:20.600 I was both sides of your mouth. But like you know, 0:33:20.640 --> 0:33:23.560 if you if you fail, people might point to you 0:33:23.680 --> 0:33:28.400 being open as a weakness, which, you know what it 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:31.240 kind of reminds me of like people that we're getting 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:34.120 on Rory McElroy for changing his opinion about a complex 0:33:34.160 --> 0:33:38.960 subject and over the course of a couple of years, like, okay, 0:33:39.840 --> 0:33:42.800 you got me. You know, I changed my opinion on something. 0:33:42.880 --> 0:33:47.920 But like I do, you know, it's just a tricky aspect. 0:33:48.000 --> 0:33:51.000 Like I think Tiger has influenced the sport in so 0:33:51.120 --> 0:33:56.400 many ways of his mannerisms, his approach to fitness, his 0:33:56.640 --> 0:34:02.200 approach to you know, media, his schedule making like he 0:34:02.600 --> 0:34:05.280 really changed the sport in a lot of ways. And 0:34:06.400 --> 0:34:10.520 you know, I think it is probably he revolutionized the 0:34:10.640 --> 0:34:15.200 high performance era and brought in ushered in the high 0:34:15.239 --> 0:34:19.400 performance era of the PGA Tour. Whether that era is 0:34:19.680 --> 0:34:24.520 more compelling is a fascinating question because before before Tiger, 0:34:24.560 --> 0:34:27.160 you had a lot more, I would say, characters who 0:34:27.160 --> 0:34:30.560 were willing to just chop it up. And obviously, you know, 0:34:30.960 --> 0:34:34.080 you look, you just watched nineteen ninety six Masters or 0:34:34.160 --> 0:34:39.120 ninety five Masters versus you know, the twenty twenty five Masters. 0:34:39.120 --> 0:34:42.919 You can see the level of athletic you know, kind 0:34:42.920 --> 0:34:46.960 of attention to the gym that has has been ushered 0:34:46.960 --> 0:34:50.520 in in the last you know, thirty years. 0:34:51.320 --> 0:34:52.799 Maybe it's simple to me. 0:34:52.880 --> 0:34:56.600 The lesson from Gary is that if you're you are 0:34:56.760 --> 0:35:00.760 playing better golf if you're being yourself, and it resonated 0:35:00.800 --> 0:35:02.960 with me when I talked to Patrick Rogers earlier in 0:35:03.040 --> 0:35:06.840 the year, and I really wanted to ask him what 0:35:07.000 --> 0:35:08.760 advice he would give to some of the best amateur 0:35:08.760 --> 0:35:12.160 golfers in the world coming out because Rogers, you could 0:35:12.160 --> 0:35:14.040 look at his career a couple different ways, but I 0:35:14.040 --> 0:35:16.120 think the prevailing narrative is one of the best college 0:35:16.200 --> 0:35:20.799 golfers of the twenty first century and his career hasn't panned. 0:35:20.520 --> 0:35:22.240 Out the way that he would have hoped. 0:35:22.840 --> 0:35:25.200 That might be a little harsh, but I think it's 0:35:25.400 --> 0:35:28.799 pretty fair, and he's a really smart, mindful guy. So 0:35:28.840 --> 0:35:31.120 I was curious what his perspective was, and basically what 0:35:31.160 --> 0:35:33.680 he said is when he came out on tour, he 0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:37.279 was trying to emulate other golfers and seeing, oh, like 0:35:37.400 --> 0:35:40.040 Rory does this, Dustin Johnson does this, I'm not as 0:35:40.120 --> 0:35:43.320 good at that. I need to get better in this area. 0:35:43.520 --> 0:35:46.360 And his biggest revelation over the last ten years is 0:35:46.400 --> 0:35:49.239 that by understanding your golf DNA, to use a term 0:35:49.239 --> 0:35:52.759 that you invoked, Andy, that is how you play your 0:35:52.800 --> 0:35:56.040 best golf and remove expectations. And I think there's something 0:35:56.560 --> 0:36:00.680 connected to Gary Woodland talking about PTSD that if you're 0:36:00.680 --> 0:36:03.600 trying to be somebody else, you're not gonna play your 0:36:03.600 --> 0:36:06.880 best golf. And it's a difficult headspace I'm sure for 0:36:07.000 --> 0:36:09.280 young amateur golfers to get into when they turn pro. 0:36:09.760 --> 0:36:11.960 But I feel like there's a profound lesson there, not 0:36:12.040 --> 0:36:16.160 just from Gary, but from anecdotally other golfers. It's Patrick Rogers, 0:36:16.160 --> 0:36:18.880 it can be speed, it can be whoever. That playing 0:36:18.880 --> 0:36:20.799 any kind of character on the golf course is not 0:36:20.840 --> 0:36:22.000 going to bring out your best golf. 0:36:22.400 --> 0:36:25.799 Well, it's anything and life. Being yourself is always going 0:36:25.880 --> 0:36:28.879 to yield the best results in the long run, right 0:36:29.680 --> 0:36:35.120 you know? I Yeah, I think that that's one of 0:36:35.160 --> 0:36:37.680 the hardest things I learned, because when you're a kid, 0:36:38.760 --> 0:36:44.560 you're always emulating other golfers, you're emulating pros, you're emulating 0:36:44.840 --> 0:36:50.440 the best junior in the area. But the hard lesson 0:36:50.440 --> 0:36:53.279 you eventually learn, and I feel like you generally like 0:36:53.400 --> 0:36:56.719 for me, I learned it in my mid to late twenties, 0:36:57.040 --> 0:36:59.560 was like, Oh, I just have to be me and 0:36:59.640 --> 0:37:03.000 I have to play my way. You have to find 0:37:03.160 --> 0:37:07.799 people that communicate to you and manners like everybody talks about, 0:37:07.840 --> 0:37:11.040 oh he's a great coach, he's a great caddy. The 0:37:11.080 --> 0:37:13.319 great coaches and the great caddies are the ones that 0:37:13.360 --> 0:37:19.080 communicate best with with their with their subject you know, 0:37:19.200 --> 0:37:21.879 I'll just use I know myself better, you know than 0:37:21.920 --> 0:37:24.359 any any but any golfer. But like if I went 0:37:24.440 --> 0:37:28.319 to you know, you know, Mark Blackburn's a genius and 0:37:28.360 --> 0:37:32.560 he'll be you know, he's a subjective of one of 0:37:32.640 --> 0:37:35.440 one of my one of my picks for for this segment, 0:37:35.560 --> 0:37:40.120 but like you know, he he gives people tons of information. 0:37:41.040 --> 0:37:44.520 And like the way I like to think about my 0:37:44.560 --> 0:37:48.600 golf swing is like simple movements, Like I so I 0:37:48.600 --> 0:37:53.040 can remember how it feels to turn my shoulder a 0:37:53.040 --> 0:37:55.680 certain way. But like if you told me my ground 0:37:55.760 --> 0:37:59.319 force metrics are x y z and you need your 0:37:59.400 --> 0:38:03.440 only turn x degrees and you need to be at 0:38:03.440 --> 0:38:06.279 this like I'm I'm lost. That's not going to work 0:38:06.320 --> 0:38:09.000 for me. Like it's funny, and you know, you think 0:38:09.000 --> 0:38:12.160 about like I had the most success playing golf when 0:38:12.200 --> 0:38:15.200 I had you know, when I had a caddy, my cat. 0:38:15.320 --> 0:38:17.760 My favorite person to caddy for me is my cousin 0:38:18.360 --> 0:38:21.440 who you know, played high level baseball. He was a 0:38:21.440 --> 0:38:26.040 pitcher and coaches baseball. And to me what worked was 0:38:26.080 --> 0:38:30.160 like he played a sport at a high level, where 0:38:30.280 --> 0:38:33.720 like if you come and do a mound visit somebody, 0:38:34.239 --> 0:38:36.320 you're not going to go to the picture and say, hey, buddy, 0:38:36.440 --> 0:38:40.759 throw more strikes. It's like, no shit, that's what I'm 0:38:40.760 --> 0:38:44.440 trying to do. And it's the same regard is like 0:38:44.480 --> 0:38:47.279 you can't you can't tell a golfer like you know 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:49.440 you need to hit better shots. It's like, oh, do 0:38:49.480 --> 0:38:51.839 you think I'm trying to hit the ball over here 0:38:51.880 --> 0:38:54.719 and over here? Like what you need is to me, 0:38:54.880 --> 0:38:58.200 what I found with that was like somebody that talked 0:38:58.200 --> 0:39:01.280 to me the right way, got me in the right mindset, 0:39:01.400 --> 0:39:04.640 knew when to be light and joke, knew when to 0:39:04.680 --> 0:39:09.200 talk about you know, the bears, but also new like 0:39:09.280 --> 0:39:11.720 the moments that we needed to lock in and focus 0:39:11.800 --> 0:39:14.680 on accomplishing the shot. So like, the key to I 0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:18.000 think playing your best golf at the highest level if possible, 0:39:18.440 --> 0:39:22.680 is surrounding yourself with people that allow you to be 0:39:22.800 --> 0:39:26.800 yourself in all aspects, allow you to be comfortable. And 0:39:27.520 --> 0:39:31.000 this is where like I think it's so humorous to 0:39:31.080 --> 0:39:36.160 me the you know, up until the Masters last year, 0:39:36.640 --> 0:39:42.480 the Harry Diamond slander about oh Rory needs to change 0:39:42.480 --> 0:39:45.239 his caddy to you know, like imagine what he would 0:39:45.239 --> 0:39:48.200 have done. And Bones has become a friend of mine 0:39:48.320 --> 0:39:51.319 in the golf world, imagine if he had Bones. Like 0:39:51.600 --> 0:39:56.839 Phil Mickelson and Rory's personalities are polar opposites. You don't say, 0:39:57.480 --> 0:40:00.720 what Rory needs from his caddy is complet letely different 0:40:00.760 --> 0:40:03.480 than what Bones needs from his caddy. You look at 0:40:03.520 --> 0:40:06.560 Rory does like a lot of the work on the 0:40:06.560 --> 0:40:10.359 golf course himself. That tells me what Rory wants from 0:40:10.400 --> 0:40:12.839 his caddy is just somebody to say the right thing 0:40:12.880 --> 0:40:14.960 at the right time. And you go to it at 0:40:15.000 --> 0:40:19.120 twenty twenty four or twenty twenty five Masters, and you 0:40:19.160 --> 0:40:22.200 know who said the right thing at the absolute right 0:40:22.280 --> 0:40:26.319 time was Harry Diamond walking to scoring after. You know, 0:40:26.400 --> 0:40:30.000 Rory probably felt like he like gave away the green jacket. 0:40:30.320 --> 0:40:33.399 He says, we would have taken this on it. That 0:40:33.520 --> 0:40:37.920 is that is getting a team to a place where 0:40:38.040 --> 0:40:42.160 you are able to be yourself and you you have 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:44.000 the people around you, you know you can say the 0:40:44.040 --> 0:40:47.319 same thing about Scotty Shuffler and Ted Scott, Like, look 0:40:47.360 --> 0:40:50.080 at what happened with that is just like a perfect 0:40:50.120 --> 0:40:54.640 matchup where Scotty and Ted share a you know, a 0:40:54.920 --> 0:41:00.359 passion for you know, religion and they're able to they 0:41:00.400 --> 0:41:04.160 believe like their backstop of their beliefs are the same, 0:41:04.760 --> 0:41:08.400 you know, and that provides them like this ability. Like 0:41:08.480 --> 0:41:13.120 if you put an atheist on Scotty's bag, it probably 0:41:13.160 --> 0:41:14.280 wouldn't work well. 0:41:17.560 --> 0:41:19.600 A lot of content ideas coming out of this Andy 0:41:19.680 --> 0:41:23.239 getting a less than the Blackburn Scotty play a hole 0:41:23.239 --> 0:41:24.760 with Nathan atheist on the bag? 0:41:29.040 --> 0:41:29.960 Does that make sense? 0:41:30.600 --> 0:41:32.959 Yeah? Absolutely, I would. 0:41:33.000 --> 0:41:34.640 It would be interesting to think about that in terms 0:41:34.680 --> 0:41:36.680 of who we don't I don't think we know enough 0:41:36.680 --> 0:41:39.720 about caddy personalities to be like who's a bad fit currently? 0:41:40.719 --> 0:41:44.160 But that is a sort of a fascinating thing thing. 0:41:44.200 --> 0:41:47.759 And you understand why players why caddies are fireable, right 0:41:47.880 --> 0:41:51.440 is because you have to find someone who fits with you. 0:41:51.800 --> 0:41:54.960 A great example, if we're gonna talk caddies, apparently the 0:41:54.960 --> 0:41:58.400 Paulta Sory cam Jung experiment did not go super well 0:41:58.920 --> 0:42:02.600 and another player or another caddy that's I think very 0:42:02.640 --> 0:42:06.840 technical works for a lot of guys. VJ liked that 0:42:07.040 --> 0:42:09.160 to sorry, knew his golf swing really well. They ended 0:42:09.200 --> 0:42:12.359 up working together. I think Web Simpson leaned on Paul 0:42:12.440 --> 0:42:14.719 for a lot of swing advice. Now Cam Young has 0:42:14.760 --> 0:42:18.000 a friend on the bag Kyle, who's a really good player, 0:42:18.360 --> 0:42:21.480 reads the greens for him. And you can't attribute all 0:42:21.520 --> 0:42:24.160 of Cam's success to the caddy change. I think becoming 0:42:24.200 --> 0:42:26.160 a good putter is a much bigger part of the 0:42:26.200 --> 0:42:29.040 story there. But clearly having Kyle on the bag has 0:42:29.040 --> 0:42:31.680 been a huge net benefit. So Andy, if you're looking 0:42:31.680 --> 0:42:34.520 for supporting evidence of that theory, which doesn't feel like 0:42:34.520 --> 0:42:37.880 you need it, it's I think it's pretty established, pretty 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:38.439 sound theory. 0:42:38.480 --> 0:42:39.760 But that would be a really good example. 0:42:40.200 --> 0:42:44.319 Yeah, I mean, like we get this. The friend thing 0:42:44.440 --> 0:42:50.080 is comfort right. I mean, like Cam Young, he's a 0:42:50.080 --> 0:42:53.000 pretty quiet guy, but I imagine like his friends, if 0:42:53.040 --> 0:42:55.680 you if you, you know, like a lot of introverts 0:42:56.280 --> 0:43:01.200 are really extroverted with people that they're comfortable with, and 0:43:01.239 --> 0:43:04.000 they get it. And I think, like you just think 0:43:04.000 --> 0:43:07.120 about like to story two stories, a personality he likes 0:43:07.160 --> 0:43:10.439 to be out there, you know, I could see they're 0:43:10.600 --> 0:43:13.680 generationally like so far apart too, like what are they 0:43:13.719 --> 0:43:15.960 going to talk about inside the ropes? And if you 0:43:16.000 --> 0:43:17.920 don't want to talk about the golf swing, what are 0:43:17.920 --> 0:43:21.240 you going to talk about? So I think it's interesting. 0:43:21.640 --> 0:43:26.040 I was the matchup though, like, and here's my biggest riser, 0:43:26.200 --> 0:43:29.800 and this makes a ton of sense. Matt Fitzpatrick, probably 0:43:29.840 --> 0:43:33.160 the most data centric golfer in the world, starts working 0:43:33.200 --> 0:43:36.120 with the most data centric golf golf coach in the world, 0:43:36.120 --> 0:43:38.560 and Mark Blackburn or one of them, you know, I 0:43:38.560 --> 0:43:41.080 don't I don't know who's the most data centric. It's 0:43:41.120 --> 0:43:43.640 not my realm of the realm of the world, but 0:43:43.840 --> 0:43:47.720 like an extraordinarily data centric coach. And all of a sudden, 0:43:48.160 --> 0:43:51.959 you know, Joseph, your take is aging like fine wine here. 0:43:52.560 --> 0:43:54.960 You know, years ago on this podcast you said I 0:43:54.960 --> 0:43:58.360 wouldn't be surprised if Matt Fitzpatrick was the best player 0:43:58.360 --> 0:44:01.600 in the world as some point in his career, and 0:44:01.680 --> 0:44:04.000 right now he might be the best player in the world. 0:44:05.120 --> 0:44:10.560 He has been basically over the last year, absolutely extraordinary. 0:44:10.680 --> 0:44:13.440 I think when he you know, maybe not fully to 0:44:13.520 --> 0:44:16.319 the Scotty level yet, but he's got four wins if 0:44:16.360 --> 0:44:18.840 you count the Zurich, which I don't know whether you 0:44:18.880 --> 0:44:21.920 want to count it or not. So he's got three wins, 0:44:22.000 --> 0:44:25.560 three individual wins. He obviously had the really close runner 0:44:25.680 --> 0:44:30.880 up at the Players where, you know, basically so closely 0:44:30.880 --> 0:44:33.480 he had come down to the seventy second hole to 0:44:33.560 --> 0:44:37.399 win that. He's got fourteen top tens in the calendar year. 0:44:38.160 --> 0:44:43.279 Just an extraordinary run of golf really since since last 0:44:43.360 --> 0:44:47.520 year's Masters, hasn't missed a cut, you know, one over 0:44:47.600 --> 0:44:51.160 Rory McElroy in the in the DP you know, world 0:44:51.920 --> 0:44:56.360 final there. But Matt Fitzpatrick's been just an absolute revelation 0:44:56.680 --> 0:45:00.279 over the last year. And what I find amazing about 0:45:00.320 --> 0:45:05.920 it was like the surge has come right after he 0:45:06.040 --> 0:45:10.720 reached basically probably the bottom rock bottom of his professional career, 0:45:11.400 --> 0:45:15.359 and now his he's at basically the pinnacle. This is, 0:45:15.520 --> 0:45:18.160 without a doubt, the best sustained golf that he's played 0:45:18.200 --> 0:45:18.720 in his career. 0:45:21.000 --> 0:45:23.080 Kevin, I know you've got matth Fitzpatrick takes. You were 0:45:23.080 --> 0:45:24.719 pretty high on him a couple months ago, so why 0:45:24.719 --> 0:45:25.400 don't you go ahead. 0:45:25.880 --> 0:45:29.040 I just think I'm just really impressed with you know, 0:45:29.120 --> 0:45:31.000 It's funny. There was the thing going around Twitter recently 0:45:31.000 --> 0:45:33.080 he was like, oh, look at Matt Fitzpatrick's swing, and 0:45:33.120 --> 0:45:35.600 he used to be so much more prettier, And why 0:45:35.640 --> 0:45:38.040 couldn't we stay well, you know why in part because 0:45:38.120 --> 0:45:40.359 like that swing wouldn't be able to compete on tour, 0:45:40.800 --> 0:45:43.960 right And you know that the swing was aesthetically beautiful, 0:45:44.320 --> 0:45:47.040 but you need speed and power to compete on the 0:45:47.080 --> 0:45:49.359 tour at the level that you want to compete out 0:45:49.360 --> 0:45:52.600 if you're past fitz Patrick. And he did that. He changed, 0:45:52.719 --> 0:45:55.120 he made his swing faster and a little more rotational, 0:45:55.160 --> 0:45:58.320 and now like, even though he's really not a physically 0:45:58.360 --> 0:46:01.440 imposing person in any way, shape or for like, he 0:46:01.520 --> 0:46:03.520 is a really good driver of the golf ball. He 0:46:03.520 --> 0:46:05.880 doesn't hit the ball as high with his irons as 0:46:05.920 --> 0:46:08.000 some other people to do, but he's able to make 0:46:08.040 --> 0:46:11.600 it work. I you know, the crosshanded shipping thing still 0:46:11.640 --> 0:46:15.120 to me, like logically, I can't quite grasp it. I 0:46:15.239 --> 0:46:16.799 just tried it the other day just to sort of see, 0:46:16.800 --> 0:46:18.880 and it felt like holding a snake in my hands. 0:46:19.640 --> 0:46:22.560 But it's awesome to watch him like turn that from 0:46:22.600 --> 0:46:24.920 being a liability into sort of a you know, at 0:46:25.000 --> 0:46:28.239 least a break even proposition or a strength. I just 0:46:28.320 --> 0:46:30.200 I don't I was expecting a little bit more the 0:46:30.200 --> 0:46:33.360 Masters this year, but you know what, like fourteen top tens. 0:46:34.239 --> 0:46:36.600 As he was pointed out, Andy, my my fall or. 0:46:36.640 --> 0:46:39.319 That almost reaffirms me in some ways I feel better 0:46:39.360 --> 0:46:42.319 about naming this person a fall or coming up. But 0:46:42.560 --> 0:46:46.400 because that's like, that's an awesome sort of consistency that 0:46:46.480 --> 0:46:49.719 a lot of players do not have. I just I 0:46:49.719 --> 0:46:53.120 don't know. He's a good interview. He's someone who's really 0:46:53.160 --> 0:46:56.400 willing to give you good quotes. And then maybe that 0:46:56.440 --> 0:46:57.920 doesn't matter if you're just a fan of the game 0:46:58.000 --> 0:46:59.760 or whatever, but it's someone in an in my position 0:46:59.840 --> 0:47:03.120 like who's trying to find interesting things about players, Like 0:47:03.520 --> 0:47:04.600 I love talking to fits. 0:47:04.760 --> 0:47:06.800 I love listening to him give interviews. 0:47:08.440 --> 0:47:11.000 The Fitzpatrick, there's a lot of there's a lot to 0:47:11.080 --> 0:47:14.239 digest with Fitzpatrick. I think one, I've had a big 0:47:14.280 --> 0:47:18.000 mindset shift in the last five eight years about what 0:47:18.160 --> 0:47:23.040 makes a great prospect. And I think back again five 0:47:23.040 --> 0:47:25.319 eight years ago when somebody came out and showed a 0:47:25.320 --> 0:47:28.680 ton of speed but weren't super polished in other areas. 0:47:28.680 --> 0:47:31.920 To me, that was attractive, like, Okay, well there's a 0:47:31.920 --> 0:47:35.200 lot of upside there, and if they can develop the 0:47:35.200 --> 0:47:37.520 other parts of their game, then they're going to be 0:47:37.520 --> 0:47:39.680 a great player and they'll have the speed, but that 0:47:39.800 --> 0:47:42.719 is so much easier said than done, and it is 0:47:42.840 --> 0:47:45.799 really hard to have both speed and be a great 0:47:45.840 --> 0:47:48.640 iron player. I think Gary Woodland not to go back 0:47:48.640 --> 0:47:50.799 to him, but that's another's player who actually has done 0:47:50.800 --> 0:47:54.960 both of those things, and it's an interesting career to 0:47:55.360 --> 0:47:58.359 take in. Because he's US Open champion, you could say 0:47:58.400 --> 0:48:03.200 he's one of the less one of the lower quality 0:48:03.520 --> 0:48:05.440 major champions of the last ten years. But the other 0:48:05.480 --> 0:48:07.200 side of it is like Cary Woodlon's been a really 0:48:07.239 --> 0:48:10.600 good player for fifteen to eighteen years. But with Fitzpatrick, 0:48:11.320 --> 0:48:14.120 that's the sort of the other model, and it's maybe 0:48:14.120 --> 0:48:16.560 he doesn't have a ton of speed when he comes out, 0:48:16.800 --> 0:48:20.000 but he's very polished in his other areas. And if 0:48:20.000 --> 0:48:21.880 that player can put on a little bit of speed 0:48:21.920 --> 0:48:25.279 like then they have, that actually might be the more 0:48:25.440 --> 0:48:28.839 sustainable path to being a great player. And I think 0:48:28.840 --> 0:48:31.560 we saw something similar with Xander. He's dealt with a 0:48:31.560 --> 0:48:33.440 little bit of injury that you could chalk up to 0:48:33.640 --> 0:48:35.560 some of the speed increase if you wanted to, So 0:48:35.800 --> 0:48:38.920 that would be the counter argument, but Xander was had 0:48:39.000 --> 0:48:41.600 some speed, but him taking his speed to another level 0:48:41.600 --> 0:48:43.160 over the past couple of years is what got him 0:48:43.200 --> 0:48:46.200 multiple major championships. I think Matt Fitzpatrick is a great 0:48:46.239 --> 0:48:49.120 example that if you are very polished and then you 0:48:49.160 --> 0:48:51.160 start to pick up some of the speed, you could 0:48:51.200 --> 0:48:52.360 be a world class player. 0:48:52.560 --> 0:48:52.759 Now. 0:48:52.800 --> 0:48:55.600 Even even something like Patrick Reid kind of stands out 0:48:55.640 --> 0:48:58.399 to me too. He talked about he wasn't a great 0:48:58.400 --> 0:49:00.799 ball striker growing up, so that's made a short game 0:49:00.840 --> 0:49:03.279 really good. And then when the ball striking gets a 0:49:03.320 --> 0:49:05.640 little better, like you have the short game. So I 0:49:05.719 --> 0:49:08.640 think I've kind of inverted my model on what makes 0:49:08.640 --> 0:49:10.920 a great prospect, and Mat Fitzpatrick's played a big role 0:49:10.920 --> 0:49:11.080 in that. 0:49:11.600 --> 0:49:15.080 Well, it just speaks to like, well, we'll pinge and 0:49:15.239 --> 0:49:18.680 pod eater become like as good as Metphis Patrick, Like 0:49:18.760 --> 0:49:20.960 right now, I would say very unlikely. 0:49:21.200 --> 0:49:21.879 Right and then. 0:49:22.040 --> 0:49:25.160 Because at fits Patrick was a was a get the 0:49:25.160 --> 0:49:27.680 ball on the whole guy, and that's impossible to teach 0:49:27.880 --> 0:49:29.480 andy go aheads hard interrupted. 0:49:29.400 --> 0:49:34.680 It's all right, you know. I think if you go 0:49:34.800 --> 0:49:37.319 through the top ten in the world right now, it's 0:49:37.360 --> 0:49:43.880 actually a pretty compelling case for what you're talking about. Obviously, 0:49:44.000 --> 0:49:50.120 Rory Backroy Unicorn. But I think what everybody's based, like 0:49:50.239 --> 0:49:53.440 the way they think about pro golfers is is Okay, 0:49:54.080 --> 0:49:58.960 Tiger and Rory did it with sheer power, and yeah, 0:49:59.080 --> 0:50:02.759 she power is is vitally important. And I think like 0:50:02.840 --> 0:50:06.880 what's become clear is like you have to have requisite power. 0:50:07.480 --> 0:50:09.359 You have to be able to get the ball out 0:50:09.360 --> 0:50:13.520 there three hundred plus yards, Like you can't be a 0:50:13.840 --> 0:50:17.879 you know, bottom twenty five percent power player. And maybe 0:50:17.960 --> 0:50:20.200 that's changed a little bit, but you go down the list, 0:50:20.200 --> 0:50:26.200 it's like Scottie Scheffler just really good again the ball 0:50:26.320 --> 0:50:29.640 in the hole. If you watched him in college, yeah 0:50:29.680 --> 0:50:33.320 he he wasn't. I mean he barely made the Walker 0:50:33.360 --> 0:50:37.359 Cup team, but you know what he did was like 0:50:37.440 --> 0:50:42.720 it was an all round array of skills. Bonafide golfer 0:50:42.920 --> 0:50:46.279 Matth Fitzpatrick one of the youngest USAM champs of all time. 0:50:47.640 --> 0:50:51.239 Bonafide you like, score the golf ball. I think about 0:50:51.280 --> 0:50:55.440 this a little bit, like, you know, the guys you 0:50:55.480 --> 0:50:57.160 can kind of go like a couple of ways with 0:50:57.280 --> 0:51:01.440 like if you said NBA players just as a as 0:51:01.480 --> 0:51:04.319 a complex, you know, like Jalen Brunson fell the I 0:51:04.320 --> 0:51:07.799 think the second round Draymond Green because they were undersized, 0:51:07.880 --> 0:51:11.920 because they had deficiencies with athleticism, you know, fringe athletes. 0:51:12.280 --> 0:51:15.480 These guys fell to the second round. But like when 0:51:15.480 --> 0:51:17.919 you watch them play, it's like, oh, they know how 0:51:18.000 --> 0:51:21.759 to play the sport. And I think that's the thing 0:51:21.800 --> 0:51:24.319 that gets mixed up with all the track man and 0:51:24.360 --> 0:51:29.080 the love of data, is that with this love of data, 0:51:29.160 --> 0:51:34.319 we lose like who are actually golf savants because I 0:51:34.360 --> 0:51:39.319 think like to be a top tier and before I 0:51:39.360 --> 0:51:44.719 think Dustin Johnson is slash was a golf savant. Like 0:51:44.800 --> 0:51:48.279 people will laugh at his answers and press conferences, but 0:51:48.400 --> 0:51:52.400 I think he understood how to play golf like an 0:51:52.440 --> 0:51:57.000 exceptionally high level. But you think about like the players 0:51:57.000 --> 0:51:59.560 that get to the top of the game are I 0:51:59.600 --> 0:52:02.879 think are generally golf savants. And you think about Justin 0:52:02.960 --> 0:52:08.480 Rose's fifth in the world. That guy, he has evolved 0:52:08.520 --> 0:52:11.759 as a player from what he was early on so 0:52:11.960 --> 0:52:14.800 much and he continues to evolve in his late forties. 0:52:15.440 --> 0:52:18.360 And Cameron Young, I think goes more unto the Rory 0:52:19.719 --> 0:52:23.480 Tiger camp, but he won at a pretty prolific level 0:52:23.719 --> 0:52:29.520 at the college level. He's always won a lot. Tommy 0:52:29.520 --> 0:52:33.960 Fleetwood not a speed demon. Colin Marcowa not a speed demon, 0:52:34.280 --> 0:52:38.239 but excellent, excellent iron players, And like if you watch 0:52:38.280 --> 0:52:41.799 Tommy Fleetwood play on a challenging condition day, it's like, oh, 0:52:41.840 --> 0:52:46.480 this guy has such a deep bag of shots in 0:52:46.560 --> 0:52:50.400 his repertoire, like knockdown, low draw iron shots that you 0:52:50.520 --> 0:52:54.640 just don't see anybody else hitting. You know, Russell Henley, 0:52:55.360 --> 0:52:58.120 you go through this top ten, JJ Spawn's number ten, 0:52:58.239 --> 0:53:02.000 Russell Henley's number eight, not speed demons, guys that have 0:53:02.160 --> 0:53:06.160 just consistently gotten better at the sport. And I think, 0:53:06.239 --> 0:53:09.200 like a through line with their career, they were always 0:53:09.640 --> 0:53:14.640 really good golfers, you know, but you know, never going 0:53:14.719 --> 0:53:16.800 to be somebody that just jumps off the page because 0:53:16.840 --> 0:53:20.239 they're you know, their ball speed was exceptional. And then 0:53:20.280 --> 0:53:22.440 you already hit on Xander who's number nine, you know, 0:53:22.480 --> 0:53:24.080 you go through that top ten in the world. Like 0:53:25.120 --> 0:53:28.680 I think, like the only player you'd ever characterize as 0:53:28.680 --> 0:53:32.000 a speed demon would be Cameron Young, and I think 0:53:32.000 --> 0:53:34.440 that's an unfair characterization given his career. 0:53:35.400 --> 0:53:38.520 Just to give people a very high level, quick overview, 0:53:38.560 --> 0:53:40.399 like top ten in the world, Andy, you mentioned them, 0:53:41.120 --> 0:53:43.879 average ball speed in professional Golf's around one seventy five 0:53:44.320 --> 0:53:46.960 seventy six miles an hour. Almost every name that you 0:53:47.040 --> 0:53:50.919 mentioned is somewhere between like one seventy four and one eighty. 0:53:51.000 --> 0:53:54.280 Scotty's like one eighty. The two outliers would be Rory 0:53:54.280 --> 0:53:55.880 and cam Young off the top of my head, those 0:53:55.880 --> 0:53:59.160 are high one eighties guys, and Russell Henley's like one 0:53:59.280 --> 0:54:02.279 sixty seven. Most of the guys are like around one 0:54:02.320 --> 0:54:04.839 seventy five one seventies six. Like I do think there's 0:54:04.840 --> 0:54:06.680 a lesson in there that the one eighty eight's the 0:54:06.719 --> 0:54:10.440 one nineties, like Minwu Lea, he had to learn how 0:54:10.440 --> 0:54:11.640 to dial it back a little bit. 0:54:11.719 --> 0:54:13.719 So uh it is. 0:54:13.880 --> 0:54:16.080 It's an interesting moment in golf to look at what's 0:54:16.120 --> 0:54:18.600 working and consider that getting the ball in the hole, 0:54:18.800 --> 0:54:21.600 even if you're not a one eighty eight guy, if 0:54:21.640 --> 0:54:23.440 you are one eighty eight, you better have the other parts. 0:54:23.560 --> 0:54:27.319 If you go eleven through twenty, it's similar. Got her 0:54:27.400 --> 0:54:31.440 up would fall into the above one eighty McIntyre is 0:54:31.800 --> 0:54:36.960 you know why around what eighty mctire Sepstraca In the 0:54:36.960 --> 0:54:40.759 one seventies, Ludwig won a mid one eighties guy, but 0:54:40.800 --> 0:54:44.960 then Hideki one set high one seventies, Ben Griffin right 0:54:44.960 --> 0:54:48.920 around one eighty, right, yep, j T right around one's 0:54:49.040 --> 0:54:50.520 highest seventies right. 0:54:50.719 --> 0:54:52.359 Can't keep it on the planet so that one doesn't 0:54:52.360 --> 0:54:52.839 even matter. 0:54:52.880 --> 0:54:56.880 But yes, Harris English high seventies, Jacob Bridgman in the 0:54:56.920 --> 0:55:00.000 seventies five yep, yeah, and then you got John Ram 0:55:00.120 --> 0:55:03.920 which is so in that bucket the next ten. You 0:55:04.000 --> 0:55:08.000 have three guys above that are consistently above one eighty exactly. 0:55:08.520 --> 0:55:10.160 Can I just throw out an example too, Andy that 0:55:10.200 --> 0:55:12.239 this I read a lot about this when I was 0:55:12.280 --> 0:55:15.440 doing the Shuffler piece. But you know, Scott, Scotty Scheffler 0:55:15.520 --> 0:55:17.799 and Brad Dalky were like kind of like rivals when 0:55:17.800 --> 0:55:20.200 they were grown up in junior golf and kids like 0:55:20.280 --> 0:55:22.480 Dolkey was the person that everybody thought was going to 0:55:22.560 --> 0:55:25.920 be a dude. And this is the person now you see, 0:55:25.920 --> 0:55:29.279 like he's he can hit the ball one nineties ball speed, whatever, 0:55:29.360 --> 0:55:31.480 but he could not make it on tour. Even he 0:55:31.560 --> 0:55:34.440 has admitted, like, I never thought that Scotty was going 0:55:34.480 --> 0:55:37.760 to turn into this, But Scotty was just always really 0:55:37.800 --> 0:55:39.879 good at figuring out a way to get the ball 0:55:39.920 --> 0:55:41.680 around the course and get in the hole and it 0:55:42.320 --> 0:55:44.560 you know, when they were coming up, everyone was like, Oh, 0:55:44.719 --> 0:55:46.200 Dog is going to be the star. He's hitting it 0:55:46.239 --> 0:55:48.919 way past Scotty. It just didn't work out that way. 0:55:50.000 --> 0:55:53.640 Yeah, I mean, I think it's you could go to 0:55:53.680 --> 0:55:57.320 any sport like this goes to you know, and I 0:55:57.360 --> 0:55:59.560 think there's some you know, it goes to the pitchers, 0:55:59.600 --> 0:56:04.600 Like drafting pitchers is fascinating. I was sitting at a 0:56:04.640 --> 0:56:07.759 game with a friend of mine who who played minor 0:56:07.840 --> 0:56:11.480 league baseball, was a pitcher, and you know, it was interesting. 0:56:12.040 --> 0:56:16.080 You know, people fall in love with the numbers behind pitchers, 0:56:16.120 --> 0:56:19.200 like the you know, hey, but he what what something 0:56:19.239 --> 0:56:21.680 that he said stuck with me. As he said, like, 0:56:21.760 --> 0:56:27.280 if you watch major league pitching, the best pitchers all 0:56:27.320 --> 0:56:32.480 have a very unique motion. There's there's very rarely do 0:56:32.560 --> 0:56:36.960 they deliver the ball in a conventional manner. And what 0:56:37.000 --> 0:56:40.359 that does is it it just hides the ball a 0:56:40.400 --> 0:56:43.399 little bit longer and it comes out of their hand 0:56:43.800 --> 0:56:47.560 just it looks a little different. And that's he was like, 0:56:47.640 --> 0:56:52.120 that's one of the key traits to a major league pitcher. 0:56:52.400 --> 0:56:55.280 That and you know, I I think like the general 0:56:55.320 --> 0:56:58.359 person would look at that and and you know, like, 0:56:58.400 --> 0:57:01.640 what's funny to me a little bit about about the 0:57:01.640 --> 0:57:04.959 golf industry is like the people that that hand out 0:57:05.160 --> 0:57:09.480 you know, contracts, the agents are these are not like 0:57:09.760 --> 0:57:12.160 guys that almost like that. In some cases there are 0:57:12.280 --> 0:57:15.880 guys that almost made it, you know, but like in 0:57:15.920 --> 0:57:18.800 many cases it's just like a guy that likes golf. 0:57:20.400 --> 0:57:23.960 You know, there's a wide spectrum. But like that tip 0:57:24.040 --> 0:57:26.120 as someone I would just look and be like, oh 0:57:26.200 --> 0:57:28.760 my god, that guy throws a ninety eight. But like 0:57:28.800 --> 0:57:31.640 the idea of like oh if if you hide it 0:57:31.680 --> 0:57:36.120 for a split second longer, it is going. And there's 0:57:36.160 --> 0:57:39.840 so many things about golf that that go into it, 0:57:39.920 --> 0:57:43.240 like something I always marvel about with Bryson, And I 0:57:43.240 --> 0:57:46.600 don't think anybody everybody always talks about speed with Bryson. 0:57:47.200 --> 0:57:51.400 I think Bryson just like a great gamer, Like just 0:57:53.040 --> 0:57:57.800 the guy manufactures a score as well as anybody in 0:57:57.800 --> 0:58:02.280 the world in my opinion, and I don't there's no 0:58:02.680 --> 0:58:06.800 metric that shows that, but when you watch it in person, 0:58:07.120 --> 0:58:10.320 you I'm always marveling at it. 0:58:10.400 --> 0:58:14.959 The only pushback score is data. Like I think that the. 0:58:16.520 --> 0:58:20.720 Turning data into the enemy isn't appropriate when people say 0:58:20.760 --> 0:58:22.600 like people are too focused on data. I think there's 0:58:22.600 --> 0:58:23.880 a lot of people out there who are really intelligent 0:58:23.880 --> 0:58:26.160 about the way they look at data and aren't missing that. 0:58:26.200 --> 0:58:28.640 They're like, yeah, I act there is an element of 0:58:28.880 --> 0:58:32.240 they don't have all the traits, but they score well. Therefore, 0:58:32.320 --> 0:58:35.840 like there's something innate about that athlete. So I will 0:58:35.840 --> 0:58:38.560 push back a little bit on the data as the enemy. 0:58:38.560 --> 0:58:41.320 But I understand what you're saying is like speed is 0:58:41.360 --> 0:58:44.800 probably an over indexed data point. But when you touched 0:58:44.840 --> 0:58:46.680 on Bryson, can I get to my biggest follower, then 0:58:46.720 --> 0:58:51.720 we My biggest follower is Bryson this year. I think 0:58:51.760 --> 0:58:57.520 that for the Bryson winning twice on live, which especially 0:58:57.520 --> 0:59:00.640 in light of recent news, is going to have next 0:59:00.640 --> 0:59:03.480 to no meaning in the history of golf, and then 0:59:03.560 --> 0:59:06.640 going out and missing the cut at Augusta and going 0:59:06.680 --> 0:59:10.320 on multiple years now of being a very average iron player, 0:59:11.640 --> 0:59:14.080 you can't consider Bryson a top five player in the 0:59:14.080 --> 0:59:18.600 world right now. There's no argument for it. Scotty, Rory, 0:59:19.480 --> 0:59:24.000 cam Young, Fitzpatrick, John Ramsander Schaffley like that, that's six names. 0:59:24.000 --> 0:59:27.160 They're all way better than Bryson right now. And to 0:59:27.200 --> 0:59:28.720 be at a point in his career in the middle 0:59:28.720 --> 0:59:32.160 of his prime's thirty two, he's experimenting with new equipment 0:59:32.960 --> 0:59:36.080 was pretty seemed pretty immature in my opinion at the Masters, 0:59:36.080 --> 0:59:38.240 with a lot of his comments and scoffing at people 0:59:38.360 --> 0:59:42.760 for what he's doing with his irons, and I just 0:59:43.040 --> 0:59:46.160 I wonder how committed Bryson to Shambeau is to golf 0:59:46.600 --> 0:59:49.600 long term, and if getting back on top of the 0:59:49.640 --> 0:59:53.400 world is a high priority for Bryson because he's not 0:59:53.440 --> 0:59:56.440 there right now. If liv does fold up or if 0:59:56.440 --> 1:00:00.160 he doesn't re sign his contract, he's gonna have he's 1:00:00.200 --> 1:00:02.400 going to be looking for a place to play. I 1:00:02.400 --> 1:00:04.200 don't know if that'll be on the PGA Tour or not. 1:00:04.280 --> 1:00:06.680 And if he decides, hey, like, I'm going to focus 1:00:06.720 --> 1:00:10.280 on YouTube golf and building this business and just play 1:00:10.280 --> 1:00:12.480 the majors, which I don't know how realistic that is, 1:00:12.520 --> 1:00:15.160 but it's not a zero percent chance, then I think 1:00:15.200 --> 1:00:17.080 that would be really bad for his golf game. And 1:00:17.120 --> 1:00:18.720 to be talking about a guy like this who's a 1:00:18.720 --> 1:00:21.400 two time major champion, one of the best golfers of 1:00:21.480 --> 1:00:24.600 the last five years, his game feels as vulnerable as 1:00:24.600 --> 1:00:27.240 it's felt in a while. It's just disappointing to see 1:00:27.240 --> 1:00:29.320 that out of Bryson, I will also call out he 1:00:29.400 --> 1:00:32.200 got multiple votes. It was one of the highest vote 1:00:32.200 --> 1:00:35.560 earners in our anonymous pro Golf survey for most overrated 1:00:35.560 --> 1:00:37.360 golfer in the world, and those were from people who 1:00:37.400 --> 1:00:39.720 know ball. So I think there's a pretty good case 1:00:39.720 --> 1:00:43.400 that Bryson's overrated, not going to be a top five 1:00:43.440 --> 1:00:45.479 player in the world. Again, who knows. I mean, Andy, 1:00:45.480 --> 1:00:47.080 your point about him getting the ball in the hole, 1:00:47.120 --> 1:00:49.160 I hear you. But he does need to become a 1:00:49.160 --> 1:00:51.200 better iron player at some point, and since he did 1:00:51.240 --> 1:00:55.280 the speed training, he really hasn't been a great iron player. 1:00:55.360 --> 1:00:58.280 So I'm a little down on Bryson. He's probably Yeah, 1:00:58.280 --> 1:01:00.240 he's my biggest follower of twenty twenty six so far. 1:01:01.120 --> 1:01:04.080 I wonder how much the iron play is just lost 1:01:04.120 --> 1:01:06.480 in this like experiment of like, oh, I want to 1:01:06.480 --> 1:01:09.000 have these bulg face irons. I want to have you know, 1:01:09.800 --> 1:01:10.600 three D printing. 1:01:11.320 --> 1:01:12.440 Yeah, Like I want. 1:01:12.240 --> 1:01:13.880 To release his own irons. 1:01:14.360 --> 1:01:17.320 Yeah, he's my own irons. I'm gonna partner with LA Golf. 1:01:17.320 --> 1:01:19.920 They're gonna, you know, they're going to make the shafts 1:01:19.920 --> 1:01:22.120 that are perfect for me. Then LA Golf is essentially 1:01:22.200 --> 1:01:25.280 like goes bankrupt or goes out of business, and so 1:01:25.320 --> 1:01:27.840 where is he sourcing all this material? Like, is he 1:01:27.880 --> 1:01:30.000 actually have a three D printer in his house where 1:01:30.000 --> 1:01:32.800 he's like staying up late at night, you know, making 1:01:32.800 --> 1:01:36.040 the steel and cutting in the grooves some of this stuff. 1:01:37.080 --> 1:01:41.600 I've always felt that Bryson is, you know, posturing in 1:01:41.640 --> 1:01:43.800 a lot of ways about stuff that he he wants 1:01:43.840 --> 1:01:46.000 you to think that he understands, but he actually does not. 1:01:47.080 --> 1:01:49.480 I don't think that that's you know, I know that 1:01:49.520 --> 1:01:52.560 his like college teammates felt that way, that they thought, 1:01:52.600 --> 1:01:54.200 you know what, the guy's is just a really good golfer. 1:01:54.400 --> 1:01:57.040 The stuff about this being a scientist is kind of bs. 1:01:57.400 --> 1:02:02.280 So I just I think, you know what people always say, Oh, 1:02:02.400 --> 1:02:04.360 I think Bryson should go just try to play regular 1:02:04.440 --> 1:02:05.040 length irons. 1:02:05.040 --> 1:02:05.280 I don't. 1:02:05.320 --> 1:02:06.880 I won't go that far, because I think part of 1:02:06.880 --> 1:02:11.240 what makes him great is like his obsession with like 1:02:11.320 --> 1:02:13.880 proving that this method is the way to do it, 1:02:13.920 --> 1:02:16.600 and he probably works really fricking hard at it. But 1:02:16.640 --> 1:02:20.040 I just feel like you're right, Joseph. Ever, since he 1:02:20.120 --> 1:02:22.160 wanted to be the longest player in the game. You 1:02:22.160 --> 1:02:24.200 can look at the stats right there on day to golf, 1:02:24.240 --> 1:02:27.600 like he became a worse iron player like almost every year, 1:02:27.680 --> 1:02:29.800 and to the point where he was a really below 1:02:29.880 --> 1:02:32.720 average iron player for like twenty twenty two, he was 1:02:32.800 --> 1:02:36.240 legitimately bad. It kind of was like been This year 1:02:36.280 --> 1:02:38.640 has kind of been sort of similar. It's just like 1:02:38.760 --> 1:02:42.240 length can especially on live play these courses without a 1:02:42.240 --> 1:02:44.120 lot of trouble, you can just hammer it down there. 1:02:44.160 --> 1:02:46.280 And of course that's how you're gonna end up shooting 1:02:46.320 --> 1:02:48.680 fifty eight on a week setup. But it doesn't really 1:02:48.680 --> 1:02:50.720 work and a course where you have to be super 1:02:50.720 --> 1:02:52.520 precise with your irons, and the Masters showed that. 1:02:53.920 --> 1:02:58.480 I still listen, he won at a golf course I 1:02:58.520 --> 1:03:01.560 never would have expected him to win in Pinehurst, and 1:03:01.840 --> 1:03:04.200 it was a gritty win. Maybe I'm over index saying. 1:03:04.840 --> 1:03:07.320 I mean, I think it's just super hard to play 1:03:07.560 --> 1:03:11.000 only four tournaments that matter every year, which he's been doing. 1:03:12.320 --> 1:03:15.640 I wouldn't be surprised if if he comes and if 1:03:15.640 --> 1:03:19.240 he picks off this week or next week at Aronomy 1:03:19.920 --> 1:03:26.040 like that's that wouldn't surprise me one bit. So I think, well, say, 1:03:26.040 --> 1:03:29.720 I you know, yeah, the Master's was a disappointment, but 1:03:30.080 --> 1:03:32.280 I'm not going to read too much into one one 1:03:32.320 --> 1:03:35.520 tournament result. I agree though, that the iron play needs 1:03:35.560 --> 1:03:38.000 to get better. I just don't think we see him 1:03:38.040 --> 1:03:42.880 playing enough meaningful golf to draw like huge conclusions. 1:03:43.560 --> 1:03:43.920 That's fair. 1:03:43.960 --> 1:03:45.320 I mean, I wouldn't be shocked to be wins either, 1:03:45.360 --> 1:03:47.560 Like I'm not a I don't want to say that 1:03:47.600 --> 1:03:49.160 this is the start of a decline. I don't know 1:03:49.160 --> 1:03:52.040 that we're going to see that. But it's not like 1:03:52.240 --> 1:03:53.880 the iron play is a real issue and he's missing 1:03:53.880 --> 1:03:55.880 shots left and there's some people who would get into 1:03:55.920 --> 1:03:58.800 the the specs of his irons and why that happens 1:03:58.880 --> 1:04:02.080 that it doesn't seem like rocket science, Like the left 1:04:02.160 --> 1:04:04.080 miss feels like that's part of the build that he 1:04:04.160 --> 1:04:07.000 has going right now. So I don't know what magically 1:04:07.120 --> 1:04:07.640 changes that. 1:04:07.840 --> 1:04:09.720 But I mean, Quail Holla. 1:04:09.800 --> 1:04:11.640 Last year, he probably I'm not gonna say he should 1:04:11.680 --> 1:04:13.120 have won, but he was right in the mix and 1:04:13.120 --> 1:04:16.320 started missing iron shots left in the water, like he 1:04:16.480 --> 1:04:19.320 had a really good chance to win that tournament kind 1:04:19.320 --> 1:04:22.120 of gave it away with his iron play. So it's 1:04:22.160 --> 1:04:24.440 not like he missed a bunch of putts which can 1:04:24.480 --> 1:04:28.080 flip overnight, like there is a real technical issue happening there. 1:04:28.120 --> 1:04:30.280 So I don't know if the standard of golf gets 1:04:30.320 --> 1:04:32.800 raised every year, and I don't think Bryson has really 1:04:32.840 --> 1:04:33.440 kept up with that. 1:04:34.000 --> 1:04:36.360 He's a full I mean, the sample size isn't great, 1:04:36.360 --> 1:04:39.320 but he's a full stroke worse in stricts gained this 1:04:39.440 --> 1:04:42.040 year than he was last year, so that's a pretty 1:04:42.120 --> 1:04:43.000 significant drop. 1:04:45.440 --> 1:04:49.440 But other other followers found Bryson out there. We're going 1:04:49.480 --> 1:04:50.960 all big names or where are we going? 1:04:51.920 --> 1:04:55.280 I gotta go with Victor Hoblind In part, I was 1:04:55.520 --> 1:04:58.400 with that's fine, in part that Victor Hoblin has become 1:04:58.480 --> 1:05:01.360 one of the worst drivers of the golf ball of 1:05:01.400 --> 1:05:04.240 a certainly of a player his caliber. I mean, like 1:05:04.480 --> 1:05:06.840 Jordan Speed's a better driver of the golf ball. Max 1:05:06.960 --> 1:05:09.440 Homa right now is a better driver of the golf 1:05:09.480 --> 1:05:13.080 ball than Victor Hobland. And we all know what kind 1:05:13.120 --> 1:05:16.080 of problems Max has had. They have similar rounds, so 1:05:16.120 --> 1:05:19.760 this is not like an unfair sample size. Victor just 1:05:19.920 --> 1:05:23.400 cannot keep the ball from spinning way right. He's only 1:05:23.400 --> 1:05:26.160 missed I looked it up this morning. He's only missed 1:05:26.200 --> 1:05:29.760 two balls in their left rough all year. It's just 1:05:29.960 --> 1:05:31.840 everything is spinning off the planet. 1:05:31.920 --> 1:05:32.400 Going right. 1:05:32.480 --> 1:05:34.960 I mean it's like twenty percent of his drives almost 1:05:35.400 --> 1:05:37.960 are missing in the right. And this used to be 1:05:37.960 --> 1:05:41.080 a person who thrived on taking away one side of 1:05:41.120 --> 1:05:43.840 the golf course just setting up in hitting it and 1:05:43.880 --> 1:05:45.920 down the left side and with a you know, a 1:05:45.960 --> 1:05:50.439 power sort of bullet cut and whatever that was has 1:05:50.520 --> 1:05:53.560 disappeared for him, and you know he has. You talked 1:05:53.560 --> 1:05:56.920 about Matt Fittpatrick having fourteen top tens. Victor Hobin has 1:05:56.960 --> 1:06:00.880 one top ten this year. It's just not happening right now. 1:06:00.920 --> 1:06:04.760 And this is all true with him being becoming actually 1:06:04.800 --> 1:06:07.320 a very good short game player. I mean, he's like 1:06:07.360 --> 1:06:12.000 the fortieth best person on tour in around the Greens 1:06:12.040 --> 1:06:14.560 now and that was a huge, huge hole in his 1:06:14.640 --> 1:06:17.320 game forever. And so we've solved the short game issue, 1:06:17.320 --> 1:06:19.480 but the driver is a mess, and it just I 1:06:19.560 --> 1:06:22.200 don't I don't know what to make of someone who's 1:06:22.240 --> 1:06:26.400 just constantly, constantly tinkering and really has the talent to 1:06:26.440 --> 1:06:29.000 be a top five player in the world, but continues 1:06:29.040 --> 1:06:32.120 to sort of slowly slide down THEWGR. 1:06:33.520 --> 1:06:38.920 It's a delicate balance between trying to get better. This 1:06:39.000 --> 1:06:43.160 goes to the Minwu lead discussion earlier about attacking your 1:06:43.160 --> 1:06:47.960 weaknesses and improving them, but not losing your DNA as 1:06:47.960 --> 1:06:50.680 a golfer. I mean, I think, like, what do you 1:06:50.680 --> 1:06:55.600 think about Victor Hoblin and he walked onto the PGA 1:06:55.720 --> 1:07:01.000 Tour as one of the premiere t degree ball striking, 1:07:01.480 --> 1:07:06.000 which would be driving and approach play players in the world. 1:07:06.480 --> 1:07:08.480 I mean, he walked onto the tour and was a 1:07:08.520 --> 1:07:12.640 top ten guy in those two stats, like all around, 1:07:13.000 --> 1:07:18.439 just machine of an approach and driving player. But he's 1:07:18.440 --> 1:07:24.600 so obsessed with improvement that I think, like, similarly to 1:07:24.680 --> 1:07:28.880 Jordan Speith, he's kind of lost the DNA of what 1:07:29.040 --> 1:07:32.240 made him great in the first place, Like he's messed 1:07:32.240 --> 1:07:36.640 with it and it's a little unrecognizable. Like the reality 1:07:36.680 --> 1:07:39.200 of Victor Hovlin was like and we saw it for 1:07:39.240 --> 1:07:41.560 such a short period of time when he ran through 1:07:41.560 --> 1:07:44.480 the FedEx Cup. He was just a good short game 1:07:44.560 --> 1:07:46.840 away from being one of the three to five best 1:07:46.840 --> 1:07:49.120 players in the world. And you could have just locked 1:07:49.120 --> 1:07:53.320 that in. If you don't touch anything, you just lock 1:07:53.440 --> 1:07:57.480 that in. But this game, it's the beauty of the 1:07:57.520 --> 1:08:02.080 game is is you can't cocker. So you as a 1:08:02.120 --> 1:08:06.760 player always are looking to and especially at the highest 1:08:06.800 --> 1:08:10.360 level of the game, the professional level, you're always looking like, 1:08:10.400 --> 1:08:12.400 how do I get a tenth of a shot better? 1:08:13.880 --> 1:08:16.880 And that pursuit of trying to do that can lead 1:08:16.960 --> 1:08:20.880 you down the complete wrong into the wrong places, And 1:08:21.520 --> 1:08:23.920 I mean it's what makes the sport so fickle. 1:08:25.640 --> 1:08:28.960 I think with Victor Kevin, you're hitting on the most. 1:08:29.560 --> 1:08:32.280 His driver is a problem right now. It's he's spraying it, 1:08:32.560 --> 1:08:36.519 and until he's not spraying it, Victor can't compete the iron. 1:08:36.680 --> 1:08:39.639 The around the green improvement, I'm not willing to call 1:08:39.680 --> 1:08:43.360 it solved. He has throughout his career hovered between being 1:08:44.040 --> 1:08:50.320 horrific around the greens and being slightly like being okay passing. 1:08:50.960 --> 1:08:53.679 I think it's a pretty limited twenty twenty six sample 1:08:53.720 --> 1:08:54.120 size to. 1:08:54.080 --> 1:08:55.040 Say that it's solved. 1:08:55.080 --> 1:08:57.799 It's better, But from talking to some short game people, 1:08:57.840 --> 1:09:00.080 like I do think there are potential limitations. And the 1:09:00.120 --> 1:09:04.160 way that Victor hoblin in some of his technique, some 1:09:05.040 --> 1:09:07.720 short game coach was getting into how like, yeah, he'll 1:09:07.720 --> 1:09:09.760 be able to pick the ball cleanly, but some of 1:09:09.760 --> 1:09:12.519 the ground first shots with that, like really forward shaft 1:09:12.600 --> 1:09:14.200 lean and how steep he is, like that might be 1:09:14.240 --> 1:09:17.880 a problem. So I think there's probably some un I 1:09:17.880 --> 1:09:19.920 know that that gets into disputes in the short game world, 1:09:20.000 --> 1:09:21.799 so don't want to walk into a short game war. 1:09:22.120 --> 1:09:25.799 But don't get Jomeo on your ass. 1:09:25.880 --> 1:09:27.600 Yeah. I'm not willing to call it solved yet. We 1:09:27.680 --> 1:09:28.200 will see. 1:09:28.439 --> 1:09:32.360 But the driver is the big, big question mark. So 1:09:32.360 --> 1:09:36.519 I think everyone should monitor Victor's driver and if he 1:09:36.640 --> 1:09:40.000 shows four to five good starts in a row where 1:09:40.000 --> 1:09:42.680 he's keeping it on the planet, and even this year 1:09:42.680 --> 1:09:45.360 his speed went down, I think he was trying to 1:09:45.479 --> 1:09:47.040 keep the ball in play a little bit and he'll 1:09:47.080 --> 1:09:49.439 dip down to like one seventy two and he's normally 1:09:49.479 --> 1:09:51.559 like one seventy six to one seventy eight. If that 1:09:51.600 --> 1:09:53.360 starts to come back up and he's hitting it straight, 1:09:53.360 --> 1:09:55.679 then he's immediately a real threat to start winning again 1:09:55.720 --> 1:09:58.439 because he's one of the best iron players in the world. 1:09:58.680 --> 1:10:00.960 He's always a top twenty iron player a year in 1:10:00.960 --> 1:10:03.559 and year out. Almost wanted Oakmont last year. I think 1:10:03.560 --> 1:10:06.439 that's a little forgotten with how sloppy that day ended 1:10:06.520 --> 1:10:08.479 up going. But Victor was right there, had a real 1:10:08.560 --> 1:10:11.200 chance to win going into the going into Sunday, So 1:10:11.400 --> 1:10:13.320 I think it's a hold it's not a it's not 1:10:13.360 --> 1:10:15.760 a buy, it's not a cell. It's a watch what 1:10:15.800 --> 1:10:17.559 happens with the driver. And as soon as the driver 1:10:17.640 --> 1:10:19.400 starts to turn around, I think you can start buying 1:10:19.439 --> 1:10:19.960 Victor again. 1:10:23.000 --> 1:10:26.400 All right, I'll move on to mine. It's another it's 1:10:26.400 --> 1:10:32.440 another European. He's played, He's been in contention a lot. 1:10:32.720 --> 1:10:39.559 Shane Lowry is my biggest faller. I don't I think 1:10:39.600 --> 1:10:44.920 that we've we've seen enough here and and why I 1:10:45.479 --> 1:10:47.639 put him as a faller. I don't think he's gonna 1:10:47.640 --> 1:10:52.120 win another individual golf tournament of substance. 1:10:53.160 --> 1:10:53.479 Forever. 1:10:53.600 --> 1:10:57.559 Uh yeah, that I I can't be moved off of 1:10:57.600 --> 1:11:02.760 the Honda mm hmm. And then the back to back 1:11:03.000 --> 1:11:08.639 Masters final rounds. I think that, yeah, he's gonna play 1:11:09.000 --> 1:11:12.519 great golf and he's gonna be He'll probably play on 1:11:12.560 --> 1:11:15.800 the next Ryder Cup team. And I don't you know, 1:11:15.960 --> 1:11:19.040 I don't necessarily care where his o WGR rank goes. 1:11:20.080 --> 1:11:24.400 But in terms of a why he fits in the faller, 1:11:24.680 --> 1:11:30.040 I'm removing him from the lexicon of ever being a 1:11:30.040 --> 1:11:32.559 player that I think is going to win a golf 1:11:32.560 --> 1:11:37.759 tournament again. And listen, I would love to be wrong here. 1:11:38.040 --> 1:11:40.360 I would love to have it shoved in my face. 1:11:40.880 --> 1:11:45.160 I think he's a genuinely interesting character in the game. 1:11:45.320 --> 1:11:47.720 I'd like to see him win more. But just what 1:11:47.760 --> 1:11:51.439 I've seen at the ends of tournaments and the you know, 1:11:51.640 --> 1:11:55.760 kind of crucible if you would you know that term, 1:11:56.080 --> 1:11:57.639 I don't think it's happening again. 1:12:00.080 --> 1:12:01.919 I wish we had a word that was the opposite 1:12:01.960 --> 1:12:05.479 of like ball speed imposter, because that might be what 1:12:05.800 --> 1:12:08.840 Chane is, like just a dude who doesn't have enough 1:12:09.040 --> 1:12:10.879 speed or whatever to compete anymore. 1:12:11.000 --> 1:12:12.760 Like I I don't know. 1:12:13.200 --> 1:12:15.200 I don't think it's the speed thing. I think it's 1:12:15.360 --> 1:12:19.200 just a mental thing. I can't get it done at 1:12:19.200 --> 1:12:22.439 the end of the end of a tournament. Thing like 1:12:22.640 --> 1:12:27.800 he's got the recklessit skills, exceptional short game. Really when 1:12:27.840 --> 1:12:33.840 he gets hot, he gets really hot. I just I 1:12:33.840 --> 1:12:38.879 think the back to back you know, eighty whatever, seventy 1:12:38.960 --> 1:12:41.639 eight or whatever he shot in the last two final 1:12:41.720 --> 1:12:44.519 rounds of the Masters, and then then what happened at 1:12:44.560 --> 1:12:49.400 the Cognizant not the Honda. I just I don't foresee 1:12:49.479 --> 1:12:51.080 him winning again. 1:12:51.800 --> 1:12:55.120 Eighty one in the final round last year the Masters, 1:12:55.160 --> 1:12:57.519 eighty this year in contention in both. 1:12:58.400 --> 1:13:00.200 I thought it was funny when Rory said, oh he 1:13:00.280 --> 1:13:02.599 always following the scoreboards because I thought, well, if I'm 1:13:02.600 --> 1:13:05.960 not going to win Shane, I don't I hope Shane wins. 1:13:06.040 --> 1:13:08.839 It is like, oh, nope, nope, that's not happening. 1:13:09.320 --> 1:13:10.760 I think it's a real question. And is he on 1:13:10.800 --> 1:13:14.800 another Ryder Cup team again? He's thirty nine and being realistic, 1:13:14.800 --> 1:13:18.240 he was towards the back half of this past Ryder 1:13:18.240 --> 1:13:21.040 Cup team. A year is a long way from now 1:13:21.080 --> 1:13:23.000 to still be playing really good golf. And there are 1:13:23.000 --> 1:13:26.480 a lot of hung a lot of young, hungry Europeans 1:13:26.760 --> 1:13:28.600 who would like that spot. So I think that's a 1:13:28.600 --> 1:13:30.160 real question. Do we see Shane Lowry. 1:13:29.960 --> 1:13:32.280 Again in Ireland? Leave Shane at home in Ireland? 1:13:32.320 --> 1:13:35.160 I think that would be a big controversy that you 1:13:35.479 --> 1:13:36.760 not be quiet about it either. 1:13:37.120 --> 1:13:41.320 That could be a big, big controversy going into next year, 1:13:41.360 --> 1:13:43.240 Shane Lowry or not, that's going to be a big one. 1:13:44.680 --> 1:13:49.120 It's yeah, I mean there's a lot of young talent. 1:13:50.800 --> 1:13:52.280 Does you with the Hoyguards playing better? 1:13:52.760 --> 1:13:57.680 Yeah, it's hard for me to think that. I don't know, 1:13:58.240 --> 1:14:00.439 but this is the type of player that you to 1:14:00.479 --> 1:14:06.360 our earlier conversation that you just you know, you overlook 1:14:06.800 --> 1:14:10.000 because but I think, like the thing is, he knows 1:14:10.040 --> 1:14:12.320 how to get the ball in the hole exceptionally well 1:14:12.360 --> 1:14:16.040 for fifty four holes, and some I think like players 1:14:16.080 --> 1:14:20.040 lose their nerve, they lose the ability to like closing. 1:14:20.200 --> 1:14:25.160 We've seen this so often. I think people like closing 1:14:25.200 --> 1:14:29.240 how to golf tournament is so exceptionally hard and such 1:14:29.280 --> 1:14:31.759 a skill, and I think you can lose the skill 1:14:32.640 --> 1:14:34.760 and I and you lose the nerve. And I think 1:14:34.800 --> 1:14:39.720 that's the thing. He's lost the nerve, like he like 1:14:39.800 --> 1:14:43.080 his comments after the cognizant of like, you know, I 1:14:43.160 --> 1:14:45.800 don't know what happened. It just came over me, like 1:14:45.840 --> 1:14:49.920 the inability like that to me was like, oh that's 1:14:50.920 --> 1:14:52.200 this may never happen again. 1:14:53.040 --> 1:14:54.760 This is a huge topic, so I don't want to 1:14:54.760 --> 1:14:57.600 open a can of worms, but there is some great 1:14:58.040 --> 1:15:01.240 research and analysis to be done on the relationship between 1:15:01.280 --> 1:15:04.920 swings and swinging under pressure. And I do wonder a 1:15:04.920 --> 1:15:07.400 little bit with the sort of white bee fade that 1:15:07.439 --> 1:15:09.720 we see from Shane at times. If when you can't 1:15:09.760 --> 1:15:12.200 feel your hands at the end of a tournament, how 1:15:12.240 --> 1:15:14.800 does that impact swinging under pressure and maybe it's not 1:15:14.840 --> 1:15:15.400 all technical. 1:15:15.439 --> 1:15:15.960 It could be. 1:15:16.120 --> 1:15:19.080 I'm sure a lot parsing out which how much is 1:15:19.080 --> 1:15:22.000 technical versus mental is a really difficult problem. But I 1:15:22.040 --> 1:15:23.720 know there are people who would maintained that, like a 1:15:23.760 --> 1:15:26.920 guy who hits a hard draw, like a Patrick Reid, 1:15:27.320 --> 1:15:30.280 that that swing can withstand pressure A little bit more 1:15:30.439 --> 1:15:33.280 hard thing to prove. Tommy Fleetwood would be a great 1:15:33.400 --> 1:15:35.880 counter to that who hits a draw and has not 1:15:36.000 --> 1:15:38.160 been clutched. So I don't I think it's really hard 1:15:38.160 --> 1:15:40.760 to determine, but I feel like there's a lot to 1:15:40.800 --> 1:15:41.840 be done in that field. 1:15:50.920 --> 1:15:54.080 All right, before we get to the storyline we're gonna watch, 1:15:54.160 --> 1:15:57.640 let's talk about our friend over at Shady Race. If 1:15:57.680 --> 1:16:00.679 you're serious about your golf game, your vision on these matters, 1:16:00.720 --> 1:16:04.400 that's where Shady Rays Golf Collection comes in. These feel 1:16:04.840 --> 1:16:07.439 just as bit as premium as the expensive brands that 1:16:07.479 --> 1:16:10.759 I've owned. One of the great things is their price 1:16:10.920 --> 1:16:14.439 isn't as premium. They're built for the course. Their color 1:16:14.520 --> 1:16:18.320 rush lens tech enhances contrasts that helps you track the 1:16:18.360 --> 1:16:21.040 ball in the air, read greens better, and cut cut 1:16:21.080 --> 1:16:24.559 the harsh glare with our lightweight frames. 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I 1:17:39.640 --> 1:17:43.160 didn't anticipate this going in an hour, but alas good 1:17:43.160 --> 1:17:48.639 discussion always always yields longer time than you expect, uh 1:17:49.040 --> 1:17:50.759 storyline to watch the rest of the summer. 1:17:51.800 --> 1:17:57.880 God Kevin, I think it's Ken Rory win two three majors. 1:17:58.160 --> 1:18:01.640 I think that's the most compelling storyline to me. Like 1:18:02.640 --> 1:18:05.880 Scotty had clearly kind of overtaken Rory as the best 1:18:05.880 --> 1:18:09.559 player in the world, and I think Rory, you know, 1:18:09.680 --> 1:18:13.040 had that postmaster's lull and there was understandably a little 1:18:13.040 --> 1:18:15.479 bit of a letdown. But I think he's like really 1:18:15.520 --> 1:18:17.800 focused and really kind of like, you know what, this 1:18:17.880 --> 1:18:21.040 is all the matters I can take, you know, big 1:18:21.120 --> 1:18:23.880 chunks of time off and keep myself fresh and get ready. 1:18:23.920 --> 1:18:26.640 And I think we're gonna see him contend and at 1:18:26.720 --> 1:18:29.640 least two more of majors this year. He didn't have 1:18:29.680 --> 1:18:32.760 a great time at Shinnecock last go round, but I 1:18:32.800 --> 1:18:35.240 would be really surprised if he wasn't in it at Burkedale, 1:18:35.479 --> 1:18:37.479 and he should be in it at Aeronomic. 1:18:38.680 --> 1:18:42.639 It's I just think that he could put he could 1:18:42.760 --> 1:18:44.680 begin to put a huge. 1:18:44.400 --> 1:18:48.160 Gap between him and the other players in terms of 1:18:48.200 --> 1:18:52.120 like majors. One with a historic year this year, when 1:18:52.160 --> 1:18:55.640 you can it's hard to like say that you know 1:18:56.520 --> 1:18:59.280 anything other than the mental bugaboo of having not won 1:18:59.320 --> 1:19:02.759 the Masters was holding Rory back over the last decade, 1:19:03.120 --> 1:19:04.479 and now he's won two in a row. 1:19:05.000 --> 1:19:05.920 Like I don't know. 1:19:06.000 --> 1:19:07.640 I know we said some of this last year, like oh, 1:19:07.640 --> 1:19:09.479 he's going to be freed up after winning the Masters, 1:19:10.000 --> 1:19:12.599 but I actually really believe it now this time that 1:19:12.680 --> 1:19:14.919 this is he's figured out a formula for himself. 1:19:16.520 --> 1:19:17.840 I don't think he's just freed up. 1:19:17.840 --> 1:19:20.040 I think he's also just so much more talented and 1:19:20.080 --> 1:19:23.240 it only proves itself more year in and year out. 1:19:23.560 --> 1:19:25.600 I think if you were to pick major venues that 1:19:25.640 --> 1:19:28.000 set up well for Irono, Mink would be pretty near 1:19:28.040 --> 1:19:31.400 the top of that list. I think, especially not to 1:19:31.479 --> 1:19:33.439 do the whole like Rory can only play when it's soft, 1:19:33.439 --> 1:19:35.320 because he's proven that that's not the case. But a 1:19:35.360 --> 1:19:39.479 soft long setup where I think early call Irono MinC 1:19:40.080 --> 1:19:42.760 may not be the stiffest test of professional golf and 1:19:42.800 --> 1:19:46.439 may lend itself to some bomb and gouge, especially if 1:19:46.479 --> 1:19:49.400 it's soft, which it often will be in these may 1:19:49.520 --> 1:19:54.320 Philly conditions. I think there's there are very few golfers, 1:19:55.320 --> 1:19:57.639 I mean, Scotty, you can make an argument for over Rory. 1:19:57.680 --> 1:20:00.360 But that play sets up incredibly well for Rory mac Royce. 1:20:01.200 --> 1:20:03.840 It's like winged footage, a little oak hill ish. It's 1:20:03.880 --> 1:20:06.559 more in that vein than certainly more in that vein 1:20:06.600 --> 1:20:08.680 than somewhere like Pineers. But again Rory proved he can 1:20:08.720 --> 1:20:09.360 play well there. 1:20:09.680 --> 1:20:12.800 Yeah, I think around Mink fits him well. But I 1:20:12.800 --> 1:20:16.160 think something that's changed with Rory is like, actually, the harder, 1:20:17.200 --> 1:20:19.280 the more well rounded the setup, the better it is 1:20:19.320 --> 1:20:22.720 for him. Now. I think you could actually make a 1:20:22.760 --> 1:20:24.839 case that when you get to the bomb and gouge, 1:20:24.880 --> 1:20:27.720 it lets more players in than when you you know, 1:20:28.560 --> 1:20:31.400 it goes to the Brooks quote a quote like when 1:20:31.400 --> 1:20:35.479 the course is really tough and it's a major, there's 1:20:35.520 --> 1:20:37.160 only ten to twelve guys that can win. 1:20:38.600 --> 1:20:41.240 There's something to that. But the hardcore accuracy tests I 1:20:41.280 --> 1:20:45.719 don't like for Rory. The Miarfield villages, yeah, are pretty tough. 1:20:45.640 --> 1:20:52.599 On them all right. My storyline to watch will be 1:20:52.960 --> 1:20:57.839 Scottie Scheffler. I think we've seen early in his career 1:20:57.880 --> 1:21:04.320 we had the putting adversity, and I think the you know, 1:21:04.400 --> 1:21:07.200 the putter, he overcame that. He you know, he went 1:21:07.240 --> 1:21:09.640 to the spider and the claw and he's overcome that, 1:21:09.720 --> 1:21:13.920 he's become a great putter. To me, he's dealing with 1:21:14.000 --> 1:21:18.519 a little bit of of falling short, coming up short, 1:21:18.800 --> 1:21:22.280 a good amount not being able to string together four 1:21:22.360 --> 1:21:27.160 rounds on multiple cases. And this is an extraordinarily high 1:21:27.240 --> 1:21:31.240 standard that he has set based off the last three years. 1:21:31.760 --> 1:21:37.400 But you see it in press conferences. I think that 1:21:37.680 --> 1:21:40.800 the there's a toll that being the number one ranked 1:21:40.800 --> 1:21:44.479 player in the world takes on players. It's hard to 1:21:44.520 --> 1:21:48.680 stay there because of just the obligations, and he kind 1:21:48.680 --> 1:21:54.040 of rose to his place by being obligation free. You know, 1:21:54.120 --> 1:21:56.679 people expected him to be a very good player. Nobody 1:21:56.720 --> 1:21:59.679 expected him to be this, you know, the best player 1:22:00.080 --> 1:22:07.080 since Tiger, and all of a sudden, the last two 1:22:07.160 --> 1:22:10.280 years he's been met with more demands of his time 1:22:10.320 --> 1:22:12.639 than he ever has in his life. And I think 1:22:12.960 --> 1:22:16.400 one of his superpowers is illustrated by like Jordan Spieth 1:22:16.680 --> 1:22:20.480 has said this, one of the superpowers is like he 1:22:20.479 --> 1:22:22.800 he lives like a fairly care free life, and I 1:22:22.800 --> 1:22:24.880 think you're starting to see some of that boil over 1:22:25.479 --> 1:22:31.040 and then the idea of coming up short. So listen, 1:22:31.120 --> 1:22:34.640 like if if Scotty, I expect Scotty to get a 1:22:34.640 --> 1:22:39.800 major this year. But if he doesn't it it just 1:22:39.840 --> 1:22:43.840 gets harder to win majors the longer you go without one. 1:22:44.920 --> 1:22:48.640 And I just I think Scotty obviously, like this is 1:22:48.640 --> 1:22:55.040 not it's just a very compelling story, like he hasn't 1:22:55.360 --> 1:22:58.200 gotten it done the way we've grown accustomed to the 1:22:58.280 --> 1:23:02.960 last three years, and that could switch. It could flip 1:23:03.200 --> 1:23:05.680 this week and all of a sudden, it's you know, 1:23:06.240 --> 1:23:09.120 he wins a ton of stuff, Like he comes back 1:23:09.160 --> 1:23:13.200 and he wins at Darrel when we're recording this, you know, 1:23:13.280 --> 1:23:15.639 he comes back from bad first round wins at Darrel. 1:23:15.960 --> 1:23:18.719 But this year's been kind of the story of him 1:23:19.000 --> 1:23:22.240 coming up short just because of like a myriad of reasons. 1:23:22.320 --> 1:23:26.360 And I don't you know, I'm just fascinated to see 1:23:26.400 --> 1:23:28.960 if it clicks in and he has a great second 1:23:29.000 --> 1:23:30.960 half of the year, but the first half of the 1:23:31.040 --> 1:23:33.880 year has been lackluster by his standards. 1:23:34.479 --> 1:23:36.800 You want to go, Kevin, do you have anything on that. 1:23:37.200 --> 1:23:38.559 I just kind of agree with all that. 1:23:38.600 --> 1:23:41.320 I mean, I think the thing I would emphasize the 1:23:41.360 --> 1:23:44.959 most is someone who has thought a lot about Scottie 1:23:44.960 --> 1:23:48.479 this year is that he really needs to like have 1:23:48.600 --> 1:23:52.479 a simplified life, and the more complicated it gets, the 1:23:52.479 --> 1:23:56.760 more little annoyances start to kind of creep into the 1:23:56.760 --> 1:24:00.320 rest of his life. Like let's give him a little 1:24:00.320 --> 1:24:03.720 bit of a pass, just kind of adjusting on new parenting. 1:24:04.120 --> 1:24:07.120 Two kids is a lot more than one kid. I 1:24:07.160 --> 1:24:09.759 think he's, you know, wants to be a pretty involved dad. 1:24:10.840 --> 1:24:13.880 I think, you know it, just you can see the 1:24:13.920 --> 1:24:18.639 tension sometimes in him just dealing with the bullshit of 1:24:18.680 --> 1:24:20.680 being the best player in the world. It's like he 1:24:20.720 --> 1:24:23.760 doesn't really want to talk about live stuff after every 1:24:23.760 --> 1:24:26.439 single development in this but there's an obligation, there's a 1:24:26.479 --> 1:24:29.280 responsibility of the best player in the world to sort 1:24:29.320 --> 1:24:30.840 of weigh in on that kind of stuff. And that's 1:24:30.840 --> 1:24:33.439 a little bit what I was mentioning about, how he's 1:24:33.479 --> 1:24:35.840 worse than Tiger at dealing with the day to day 1:24:35.960 --> 1:24:39.760 news cycle stuff. He's better at the things where it's like, hey, 1:24:39.800 --> 1:24:42.120 can you tell us like the meaning of life? But 1:24:42.439 --> 1:24:44.439 he doesn't want to talk about the meaning of live 1:24:45.040 --> 1:24:49.840 and he gets, you know, perturbed about simple questions about 1:24:49.880 --> 1:24:51.920 like why'd you go hit balls after your round? Like 1:24:51.960 --> 1:24:54.200 what we're you searching for? I wasn't searching for anything. 1:24:54.200 --> 1:24:57.000 That's why always Mario routine. It's like little simple things 1:24:57.040 --> 1:24:59.320 like that, I think kind of reveal like, man, this 1:24:59.400 --> 1:25:01.679 is annoying, why do I have to do this? And 1:25:02.320 --> 1:25:04.280 so I just think it's a kind of a it's 1:25:04.320 --> 1:25:07.280 important thing to figure out how to navigate, and you 1:25:07.280 --> 1:25:09.800 know he's not going to be perfect. 1:25:09.400 --> 1:25:14.360 In that, and I think you're hitting on becoming a 1:25:14.400 --> 1:25:17.639 parent annoyance with being world number one, Like Andy, you're 1:25:17.800 --> 1:25:18.880 having trouble getting it done. 1:25:18.920 --> 1:25:20.880 I think there's also a deeper like his game's just not. 1:25:20.840 --> 1:25:23.200 As good as it was here Cup, like whether that's 1:25:23.720 --> 1:25:26.799 because of things that are off the course or something 1:25:26.840 --> 1:25:28.720 with this swing. I think it's very clear that we're 1:25:28.720 --> 1:25:32.320 seeing a B version of Scotti Scheffler, and it's remarkable 1:25:32.320 --> 1:25:33.920 what he's able to do with his B game. But 1:25:34.479 --> 1:25:36.760 to your guys point, the question is if if we 1:25:36.800 --> 1:25:39.760 see that a level what we saw throughout twenty twenty five, 1:25:39.840 --> 1:25:42.439 because again, if I would maintain that if he had 1:25:42.439 --> 1:25:44.200 his A game at the Masters, or even his A 1:25:44.280 --> 1:25:48.040 minus game like he wins this year's Masters, and that's 1:25:48.360 --> 1:25:50.760 a big one to let go in the middle of 1:25:50.760 --> 1:25:54.519 your prime. So I don't I have felt a little 1:25:54.520 --> 1:25:56.040 bit like we might see a little bit of a 1:25:56.040 --> 1:25:58.800 downturn from Scotty. We're recording this in the middle of 1:25:58.840 --> 1:26:02.200 the Ralmber of shots he hit on his first round 1:26:02.240 --> 1:26:05.800 that were just uncharacteristically bad. Scottie Scheffler swings way higher 1:26:05.840 --> 1:26:08.799 than anything we saw last year, so we shall see 1:26:09.200 --> 1:26:11.679 my storyline of the summer. I'm going a very different 1:26:11.680 --> 1:26:16.280 direction the potential professional debut or expected debut of one 1:26:16.280 --> 1:26:18.479 of the great amateurs of the last fifteen years in 1:26:18.560 --> 1:26:22.400 Jackson Coyven. I think that's a massive, massive golf story 1:26:22.400 --> 1:26:24.400 that since people don't watch a lot of college golf 1:26:24.479 --> 1:26:28.160 or pay attention to it, maybe doesn't slide under the 1:26:28.240 --> 1:26:30.800 radar too much for people who listen to this podcast. 1:26:30.880 --> 1:26:34.240 But I think from the general golfing public, we have 1:26:35.360 --> 1:26:39.840 a true great who's on the doorsteps of professional golf. 1:26:39.920 --> 1:26:44.160 Three time SEC champion back to back to back, It's 1:26:44.200 --> 1:26:46.880 only been done one other time. He's won six of 1:26:47.000 --> 1:26:49.640 eight college starts this year in twenty twenty six. His 1:26:49.720 --> 1:26:52.519 worst finish is tenth. This is a different level of 1:26:52.600 --> 1:26:56.400 consistency than we've seen from a lot of other big 1:26:56.439 --> 1:26:59.800 time prospects of the last ten to fifteen years. Could 1:26:59.800 --> 1:27:02.920 be number one ameter that we've seen recently. I think 1:27:02.920 --> 1:27:07.439 anywhere between like one and three. He's played nine pro starts, 1:27:07.840 --> 1:27:10.160 not as a pro, obviously he's still an amateur, but 1:27:10.200 --> 1:27:13.639 he's played nine OWGR sanctioned events in his last four. 1:27:13.680 --> 1:27:16.240 He's finished top twelve in all of those, which is 1:27:16.320 --> 1:27:21.400 just unbelievable, not just upside, but consistency for somebody who's 1:27:21.479 --> 1:27:23.679 not even twenty one when he was playing those events. 1:27:24.000 --> 1:27:27.639 Three straight top tens, and to some of our earlier discussion, 1:27:29.360 --> 1:27:32.200 he's shown he's like one seventy five ish ball speed 1:27:32.200 --> 1:27:33.200 guy won seventy six. 1:27:33.320 --> 1:27:33.960 That is enough. 1:27:34.040 --> 1:27:36.599 That is sufficient that if he comes on tour, he'll 1:27:36.600 --> 1:27:38.360 probably pick up a couple of miles an hour through 1:27:38.360 --> 1:27:40.840 equipment tweaks and getting a little bit stronger in his 1:27:40.880 --> 1:27:44.360 first couple of years in professional golf. There are no 1:27:45.040 --> 1:27:47.760 reservations about Jackson Coyvin's game. A lot of people would 1:27:47.760 --> 1:27:49.679 say he's one of the best putters they've ever seen 1:27:49.720 --> 1:27:53.040 in college golf. He's gained strokes with his irons and 1:27:53.160 --> 1:27:56.280 is off the tee in the professional starts he's made. 1:27:57.360 --> 1:27:59.840 This is a potential monster in waiting, and there's no 1:28:00.000 --> 1:28:01.600 which thing is a sure thing that this feels as 1:28:01.640 --> 1:28:02.679 close to it as we've seen. 1:28:02.560 --> 1:28:02.960 In a while. 1:28:04.600 --> 1:28:08.240 I'm very excited about this. I saw that Data Golf 1:28:08.240 --> 1:28:12.439 had him in like the top fifty in the world already, right. 1:28:12.960 --> 1:28:14.240 I think that's right. I think they have him as 1:28:14.280 --> 1:28:16.479 their number one amateur in their database. It goes back 1:28:16.560 --> 1:28:17.960 like fifteen twenty years. 1:28:19.400 --> 1:28:22.840 I you know, I think this is the most complete player. 1:28:23.960 --> 1:28:26.200 Another name that I throw out that because of how 1:28:26.280 --> 1:28:28.960 much buzz Kaven is getting that I don't think people 1:28:29.000 --> 1:28:31.200 are paying a lot of attention to is prest And Stout, 1:28:31.800 --> 1:28:33.520 who just won his third straight. 1:28:34.200 --> 1:28:35.640 Big twelve super Coo. 1:28:35.840 --> 1:28:41.640 Like and any other year, Preston Stout would be the story. Now. Personally, 1:28:41.680 --> 1:28:44.360 having watched him at the Walker Cup, I have some 1:28:44.400 --> 1:28:48.080 pace of play concerns that you know that you don't 1:28:48.120 --> 1:28:50.679 have nothing to do with. His ability to play golf 1:28:50.680 --> 1:28:52.800 at a high level might actually help him play golf 1:28:52.840 --> 1:28:57.479 at a high level. But I didn't enjoy the Preston 1:28:57.560 --> 1:29:01.280 Stout experience because of the face. But that being said, 1:29:01.720 --> 1:29:06.840 I think like it's it's you know, like this is 1:29:06.920 --> 1:29:11.080 kind of reminiscent of the Morekowa Hoflin Matt wolf Year 1:29:11.280 --> 1:29:14.320 when they all came out, but with Coyven and Stout 1:29:14.400 --> 1:29:18.960 particularly at the top, I think like those two are 1:29:19.280 --> 1:29:25.479 are look like very bonafied PGA Tour players. Winning three 1:29:25.520 --> 1:29:30.600 straight big time conference tournaments and both regards is like insane, 1:29:31.280 --> 1:29:36.599 insane to win a high level individual tournament, even i'lbe 1:29:36.680 --> 1:29:39.759 at a college three years in a row, nut stuff 1:29:40.520 --> 1:29:42.479 Jackson Coyven. Can't wait to see him. 1:29:43.720 --> 1:29:45.800 I remember when I first started covering golf, really it 1:29:45.840 --> 1:29:49.400 was like twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, and just like that 1:29:49.479 --> 1:29:52.920 feeling of excitement of like, oh, man, Rory's great, this 1:29:53.040 --> 1:29:56.479 kid Speeth is coming, this kid justin Thomas is really good. 1:29:57.200 --> 1:29:59.400 It just it's there is a little bit of a 1:29:59.439 --> 1:30:01.479 similar fear feeling of like, oh, there could be a 1:30:01.520 --> 1:30:04.960 whole nother wave of like great players who are coming 1:30:04.960 --> 1:30:07.680 down the pipe that you know, ten years from now, 1:30:07.680 --> 1:30:10.160 we're gonna be like, oh yeah, of course, like Jackson 1:30:10.200 --> 1:30:12.800 Coyvin and Blades Brown are dueling it out, you know, 1:30:12.960 --> 1:30:16.280 And I just think that's that's a fun moment when 1:30:16.280 --> 1:30:19.000 there's like a whole wave of good young kids coming. 1:30:20.040 --> 1:30:22.479 We you know, and it's still so early, and so 1:30:22.560 --> 1:30:25.240 many of these guys but we haven't had anybody really 1:30:25.280 --> 1:30:31.400 pop in a while at a young age. And obviously 1:30:31.479 --> 1:30:34.320 I don't think it's fair in a lot of cases 1:30:34.479 --> 1:30:38.120 to say that about a lot of guys you know 1:30:38.160 --> 1:30:41.080 that are very young in their career. But we just 1:30:41.160 --> 1:30:45.240 haven't seen someone that's super young. And before people yell 1:30:45.280 --> 1:30:48.360 about Bridgeman or got her up like they're twenty six. 1:30:48.720 --> 1:30:53.240 You know, we haven't seen you know, Thorbjornton look like 1:30:53.320 --> 1:30:56.200 he might be breaking out, but he just hasn't gotten 1:30:56.280 --> 1:30:59.439 across the line in something big. He's twenty four, but 1:30:59.479 --> 1:31:01.360 he's been around for a couple of years. We haven't 1:31:01.400 --> 1:31:05.120 seen that that twenty one year old sensation yet. 1:31:06.520 --> 1:31:09.320 Yep. I don't know. 1:31:09.360 --> 1:31:11.200 Twenty one is so young. I think it's like a 1:31:11.200 --> 1:31:13.320 generational thing when somebody comes along at twenty one. 1:31:13.640 --> 1:31:16.400 But uh, maybe it's co even. 1:31:16.600 --> 1:31:19.040 Maybe, and he probably will have a little bit of 1:31:19.040 --> 1:31:22.080 a rough I think expectations should be tempered for the 1:31:22.120 --> 1:31:24.360 first twelve months. He's not going to be super consistent, 1:31:24.400 --> 1:31:25.880 but I think we're going to see the upside. I 1:31:25.920 --> 1:31:28.240 think we'll see him make cuts in majors right away. 1:31:29.840 --> 1:31:33.040 All right, Well, I think that does it. We got 1:31:33.080 --> 1:31:35.960 everything in Uh, we'll have a we'll have it. We 1:31:36.000 --> 1:31:39.400 have a ton of major coverage coming coming down the pipe. 1:31:39.439 --> 1:31:42.760 We just released a video about Ironom innk uh for 1:31:42.840 --> 1:31:46.480 anybody that's looking to get ready for the the PGA Championship. 1:31:47.000 --> 1:31:50.880 Uh and uh. We'll be back next week with a 1:31:51.280 --> 1:31:54.280 with a preview for Ironom Miink and the PGA Championship. 1:31:54.520 --> 1:31:58.800 Big thanks to Joseph and Kevin obviously for coming on 1:31:58.880 --> 1:32:03.000 board or board doing this podcast, but all their contributions 1:32:03.040 --> 1:32:07.720 to our website on a weekly basis editorially for the 1:32:07.760 --> 1:32:10.960 newsletter and also the website. They will have a bunch 1:32:11.000 --> 1:32:14.880 of major championship coverage coming down in the next next 1:32:14.960 --> 1:32:18.240 week or two. And big thanks to PJ for editing 1:32:18.240 --> 1:32:19.520 and producing this podcast.