Speaker 1: I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset.
Speaker 2: When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
Speaker 2: And when I find my ball in Egg Friday, Egg
Speaker 2: Frida Egg, Frida Egg Bride, Egg Lie, I'm about ready
Speaker 2: to run off the golf course.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Golf Podcast.
Speaker 1: I am Andy Johnson and uh we are back with
Speaker 1: another episode with Joseph Lamanna. Obviously, this week there was
Speaker 1: big news with the American team Ryder Cup selections, so
Speaker 1: the captain's picks came out. I decided to have Joseph
Speaker 1: on to discuss the merits of the picks, the American
Speaker 1: team in detail, and then also we dove into the
Speaker 1: European team a little bit as well, and just the
Speaker 1: event in general. It was a really fun chat and
Speaker 1: always love having Joseph on to kind of tackle these
Speaker 1: bigger subjects. So along with that, just news for Frida
Speaker 1: Egg Golf. We have a sale in our pro shop
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Speaker 1: great discount for the princes obviously, as well as the
Speaker 1: other merchandise. So without further ado, here is Joseph LEMANA.
Speaker 1: All right, Joseph, welcome back. It is always a pleasure
Speaker 1: to chat with you. How are you doing with golf
Speaker 1: off season? How are you feeling?
Speaker 3: I'm great, I'm fired up for this conversation. Actually heading
Speaker 3: to the US Open, the tennis tournament this weekend. Have
Speaker 3: never been to a.
Speaker 1: Grand swam so I'm pretty excited, honestly, Like two of
Speaker 1: the highest things on my bucket list are US Open
Speaker 1: tennis and Wimbledon. Like those are two things that I
Speaker 1: need to accomplish before I die, And Yeah, I like
Speaker 1: the US Open one of the things I'm pumped about.
Speaker 1: I've been in the Midwest for like the last month.
Speaker 1: I'm going back to California tonight and US Open tennis
Speaker 1: is unbelievable in California because those matches they go to
Speaker 1: like two or three Eastern in the morning and it's
Speaker 1: like midnight in California. I remember last year it was
Speaker 1: we were in a heat wave and you know, we
Speaker 1: don't have ac I'm just the house is cooling down
Speaker 1: by the minute as I'm watching ya the Cinner Alcoraz match,
Speaker 1: which to me was one of the best tennis matches
Speaker 1: I've ever watched. Yeah, who are you seeing?
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know. I'm this is somewhat controversial, but
Speaker 3: I do. I am kind of a Novak Djokovic fan,
Speaker 3: and I'm hoping to see him at some point.
Speaker 2: I have a lot of respect for.
Speaker 3: His competitive fire, so I hope to see him. I've
Speaker 3: gotten more into tennis over the last couple of years,
Speaker 3: and the US Opens sneaky become like one of my
Speaker 3: favorite events of the year to watch of any sport.
Speaker 2: So I'm with you.
Speaker 3: It's amazing what elite competition on primetime TV does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you got a we're gonna talk Ryder Cup.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the American picks. They came out yesterday,
Speaker 1: and I think there's there's there's gonna be a healthy
Speaker 1: discourse about the US Ryder Cup picks. No matter which
Speaker 1: direction they went, whether they went with the kind of
Speaker 1: the what they went with was the team. You know
Speaker 1: a lot of people could call it the Buddies, Buddies Club,
Speaker 1: you know, the old Boys Club. They went that direction.
Speaker 1: If they had gone data, if they had gone just
Speaker 1: off the points list, there would have been discussion about, oh,
Speaker 1: how do you not how do you not pick Justin
Speaker 1: Thomas or Ricky Fowler who technically didn't qualify on points,
Speaker 1: you know, if they had done that. So I think
Speaker 1: it was a no win situation. But you know, the
Speaker 1: fun of this whole thing, it's one of the rare
Speaker 1: times that we get a really kind of off the
Speaker 1: field event, off the course event that that generates significant
Speaker 1: buzz debate and uh interest in the sport. So yesterday,
Speaker 1: UH Zack Johnson in a made for TV special that
Speaker 1: maybe shouldn't have been made for TV announced his six
Speaker 1: captains picks. It was Sam Burns, Ricky Fowler, Brooks Kopka,
Speaker 1: Klin Morikawa, Jordan Speeth, and Justin Thomas. They joined the
Speaker 1: group of already qualified six players, which were Scottie Scheffler,
Speaker 1: When Clark, Brian Harmon, Patrick Cantley, Max Homer, and Xander Schoffley.
Speaker 1: Do you want to start on the on the program
Speaker 1: just the whole the whole way it it kind of
Speaker 1: went down. Do you want to talk about that first? Uh?
Speaker 1: And and and what? Were kind of just general thoughts
Speaker 1: about about Zach Johnson and his his presentation of who
Speaker 1: he's picking and and reasoning behind it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, This's that's why I'm excited for this conversation. There's
Speaker 3: a lot of different angles to to talk about. Was
Speaker 3: not impressed by Zach Johnson showing I don't think it
Speaker 3: inspires a lot of confidence. It's in the process. At
Speaker 3: the same time, I think generally what's gonna happen is
Speaker 3: you can make bullet points for all these players, and
Speaker 3: then the captain they knew who they wanted to pick,
Speaker 3: and then you just kind of pluck from the bullet
Speaker 3: points as to why it's not always consistent I think
Speaker 3: there were better cases for some other players. I don't
Speaker 3: agree with the captain's picks. I don't think the message
Speaker 3: was super well delivered, and frankly, I don't think Zak
Speaker 3: Johnson understands some of the core stuff very well, which
Speaker 3: was evident based on some of his commentary. So I
Speaker 3: think Steve Stricker was a sneaky, excellent captain, not just
Speaker 3: because they blew you're up out. He handled this process
Speaker 3: very well from the start. I don't feel that way
Speaker 3: about Zach Johnson as as of now, at this moment.
Speaker 1: I think that's the one of the things as I
Speaker 1: started to think about it with the Ryder Cup that
Speaker 1: really stands out is just how how like all the players,
Speaker 1: you know, they have bad performances, they have great performances,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, maybe nobody has
Speaker 1: more pressure than these captains. It's a black and white thing,
Speaker 1: like I've never heard somebody lose and one of these
Speaker 1: team competitions and people be you know, maybe on the
Speaker 1: President's Cup side, just because it hasn't been as close
Speaker 1: of a like I think most people said, hey, Trevor
Speaker 1: Mullmans was a great captain, right, but on the Europe
Speaker 1: American team. I've never heard a losing captain be referred
Speaker 1: to as a great captain, you know, And I've you know,
Speaker 1: and rarely is a winning captain ever, Like you know,
Speaker 1: he won, but this wasn't This was not a good captaincy, right.
Speaker 1: It's like, if you win, you're a great captain, You're
Speaker 1: gonna get another captainship, You're gonna make a lot of money.
Speaker 1: Like one of the things, like the little sneaky secrets
Speaker 1: about this is being a Ryder Cup captain is worth
Speaker 1: a lot of money, like a substantial sum of money
Speaker 1: between corporate appearances and different different things. So if you win,
Speaker 1: you got another chance of another go around, and you're
Speaker 1: always a winning Ryder Cup captain. So with Zach Johnson,
Speaker 1: obviously he has a huge a lot to gain from
Speaker 1: winning this Ryder Cup. Nobody's won. No American captains won
Speaker 1: in Europe in thirty years, fifteen tries.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I hope it's not lost though in some of
Speaker 3: that is the American team has been favored in some
Speaker 3: of those, it's not some impossible tasks. So I hope
Speaker 3: that the captains are judged based on the merit of
Speaker 3: their decisions and not necessarily the results.
Speaker 2: Though the result, it is important.
Speaker 3: To evaluate how somebody played with respect to whether or
Speaker 3: not they were a good pick. You can't go overboard
Speaker 3: with that. We know how high variance golf can be.
Speaker 3: But I have skepticism about some of the decisions that
Speaker 3: were made, and I do think people should be held
Speaker 3: to account for those decisions.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk a little bit about the course
Speaker 1: and the course fit, since that's one of your kind
Speaker 1: of grievances here with Zach and obviously like when somebody
Speaker 1: asked him about the course fit, he said that it
Speaker 1: was confusing to explain. You know, there's technology and whatnot
Speaker 1: involved with it. You wrote a great article earlier this
Speaker 1: week in your newsletter, Finding the Edge. It's a substack
Speaker 1: that's free that everybace is subscribed to. About a little
Speaker 1: bit about the course fit that do you expect? Can
Speaker 1: you divulge kind of what from your expert angle is
Speaker 1: the course fit at Marco Simoni.
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be pretty hardcore accuracy test off
Speaker 3: of the tee. It's not just about with the fairways,
Speaker 3: which I think we get carried away with when we
Speaker 3: talk about how accurate you need to be at golf courses,
Speaker 3: it's also it's largely about how much of a penalty
Speaker 3: is there for a small miss and how much of
Speaker 3: a penalty is there for a wide miss. And at
Speaker 3: Marcos Simone, there's gonna be plenty of areas where, yeah,
Speaker 3: even if you're just a little bit off the fairway,
Speaker 3: it's going to be penal. But once you get way
Speaker 3: off the fairway, there's going to be thick fescue, there's
Speaker 3: gonna be some hazards. You can't go out there and right.
Speaker 3: It's also, despite the length on the scorecard not being
Speaker 3: super long, some of the reason for that is that
Speaker 3: there are multiple semi drivable par fours. There are three
Speaker 3: of them, and though those are short on the scorecard,
Speaker 3: there's some of the most highly correlated holes with distance,
Speaker 3: So you have to look at more than just a
Speaker 3: scorecard to understand how distance friendly a course will be.
Speaker 3: This is going to be a pretty distance heavy course
Speaker 3: where accuracy is highly rewarded.
Speaker 2: Off of the tee.
Speaker 3: You're going to have to be an elite striker, and
Speaker 3: if you're somebody that makes a lot of their money
Speaker 3: on the PGA Tour or on live or wherever, with
Speaker 3: your wedges and your putter. That's not the type of
Speaker 3: player that I would be prioritizing. So I get a
Speaker 3: little bit frustrated when people say things like, oh, well
Speaker 3: this player is such a great putter, which you need
Speaker 3: in the Ryder Cup. That's not always true. And you know,
Speaker 3: Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Mullinari are not people you think
Speaker 3: of as great putters. That's always been a deficiency, and
Speaker 3: they smoked people in Paris. So I just don't like
Speaker 3: that argument, and I don't think it's I think there's
Speaker 3: some fallacies that get thrown around when we talk about
Speaker 3: this event.
Speaker 1: I think that that is a huge misconception with match play,
Speaker 1: and I have always thought of it. You know, the
Speaker 1: type of player, just anecdotally that you do not want
Speaker 1: to play in match play is someone who's steady, someone
Speaker 1: who who can overwhelm you with their ball striking, the
Speaker 1: type of player that every time you look up and
Speaker 1: watch one of their approach shots, it's landing fifteen ten
Speaker 1: feet that never gives you an inch. You know, it's
Speaker 1: to me, the great match play trait is consistency, especially
Speaker 1: Te de Green because and if you think about Sergio Garcia,
Speaker 1: I mean, he embodies this right, Like, what is the
Speaker 1: one thing throughout his career that Sergio Garcia brought to
Speaker 1: the golf course every day effectively was elite, elite, top
Speaker 1: of the end, top end tee to green play You
Speaker 1: think about some other like great Ryder Cup players, Monty
Speaker 1: was a just a thoroughbred tee to Green, right, it
Speaker 1: is that is what is about putting is streaky. Putting
Speaker 1: is variable. What's hard to beat and what what wins
Speaker 1: a lot of matches over a big sample size is
Speaker 1: guys that bring you know, that are and that's not
Speaker 1: necessarily I think that's where it runs counter. It's not
Speaker 1: like winning a tournament. Winning a golf tournament is about
Speaker 1: marrying great ball striking with a hot putting week, really
Speaker 1: like or an above average putting week, or for somebody
Speaker 1: like that's hitting the ball like Sky Scheffler, an average
Speaker 1: putting week. You know, with match play, you're playing people
Speaker 1: on singular days. It's about the guy that doesn't shoot
Speaker 1: seventy two, that shoots you know, sixty eight over and
Speaker 1: over again. Sure he's get beat sometimes by somebody playing
Speaker 1: better than him, but if you're consistent day in day out,
Speaker 1: that's what to me, makes a great match play player.
Speaker 3: And it's not saying that putting doesn't matter. It's if
Speaker 3: a players makes their money with their putter, they're probably
Speaker 3: deficient in some of the areas that are going to
Speaker 3: be particularly important at Marcos Simone. There are certain setups
Speaker 3: where I would prioritize putting more.
Speaker 2: This is not one of them.
Speaker 3: So not to throw a player under the bus, but
Speaker 3: like a Danny McCarthy, right, who is one of the
Speaker 3: best putters on tour and does well on particular setups, like,
Speaker 3: that's not the kind of player I want at Marco Simoni.
Speaker 2: So I would be.
Speaker 3: Prioritizing these really accurate drive, really good drivers of the
Speaker 3: golf ball who are.
Speaker 2: Proficient with their long irons.
Speaker 3: And I don't know if you want to go right
Speaker 3: in depicts, but we did leave a couple of those
Speaker 3: off the team.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I so like, based off of what you're saying, I
Speaker 1: just you know, I you know, looking through the two teams,
Speaker 1: I think we would look at the the American team
Speaker 1: and you say, like, all right, if we're going to
Speaker 1: prioritize long and accurate players, to me, like the really
Speaker 1: elite drivers of the golf ball on the American team
Speaker 1: are obviously Scottie, Scheffler, Wyndham Clark would come to mind.
Speaker 1: I think Patrick, Cantlay and Xander are above above average drivers,
Speaker 1: not not elite elite. Brooks is above average. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say he's elite, but that that's about it, right, And
Speaker 1: I think this is this is a team, yeah, accurate,
Speaker 1: this is this was a team that was you know,
Speaker 1: we left whistling straight saying like they're like, look at
Speaker 1: this power advantage this year, driving like they have the
Speaker 1: capabilities to drive the ball so much better than the Europeans.
Speaker 1: The Europeans are never going to win again. Now two
Speaker 1: years later we zoom out and now like, look at
Speaker 1: the driving advantage right at the top, Like it's very
Speaker 1: evident right at the top of the top of the
Speaker 1: each team. You know, Europe is going to roll out
Speaker 1: Victor Hovelin, Rory McElroy, and John Rahm arguably you could
Speaker 1: probably you know, I think Scott he's right in there,
Speaker 1: arguably the three best drivers of the golf ball in.
Speaker 2: The game of golf and one that's not on either team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's maybe one that got left off Cameron Young, Right, Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: So I think like, and then you go down the
Speaker 1: European team, you got some other like Fitzpatrick's turned himself
Speaker 1: into a pretty good driver of the golf ball, a
Speaker 1: drastically different driver of the golf ball than he was,
Speaker 1: especially at at Whistley Straits when we last saw him.
Speaker 1: So I think like in a way like it's really
Speaker 1: amazing how in two years, how how drastically different the
Speaker 1: two teams makeup are and how they appear on paper.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I think when you look at these teams at
Speaker 3: a high level Europe, the top three for Europe in Rory,
Speaker 3: Ram and Hoveland, I think you have more confidence in
Speaker 3: those three on this golf course than any three on
Speaker 3: the American team. I do believe that it get The
Speaker 3: European team is clearly not as deep. But I do
Speaker 3: think Zach Johnson with I agree with four of his picks.
Speaker 3: I don't agree with two of them, and I think
Speaker 3: that those two.
Speaker 2: You just you have.
Speaker 3: You can't leave any stone unturned when you're trying to
Speaker 3: win over in Europe on what should be a pretty
Speaker 3: close fight here. So the golf course is relevant, and
Speaker 3: I think Europe sets up, especially at the top of
Speaker 3: their roster.
Speaker 2: They set up very well for this golf course.
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially if they bring in like a you know,
Speaker 1: a guy like Ludwig who drives drives the ball extraordinarily well, right,
Speaker 1: if that's their type of if that's the captain's pick,
Speaker 1: that it seems like it's a very relevant you know,
Speaker 1: he's playing with Nicholas Cole, starts and uh and Molinari
Speaker 1: this week. It's it seems like that is, you know,
Speaker 1: starting to come to fruition that Ludvig Aberg, the rookie
Speaker 1: player on the PGA Tour, who is by all you know,
Speaker 1: early stats, an ultra elite driver the golf ball, will
Speaker 1: be on the European team. Now for a quick word
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Speaker 1: and check it out now. Back to Joseph Lamonia. Let's
Speaker 1: get into the two picks. So you said, which four
Speaker 1: do you agree with?
Speaker 3: I agree with the Koepka pick, I agree with Spief,
Speaker 3: I agree with Morikawa, and I agree with Fowler. The
Speaker 3: the Burns pick doesn't doesn't kill me, and I think
Speaker 3: there are players who deserved it. Deserved as a term
Speaker 3: that we can we can debate, but I think there
Speaker 3: are two players I would have preferred over Justin Thomas
Speaker 3: and Sam Burns. Sam Burns could play well in Paris
Speaker 3: or sorry in Rome. Don't think Justin Thomas. I'm sure
Speaker 3: we'll get into but in my opinion, Cameron Young was
Speaker 3: a player that I would not He was the player
Speaker 3: you don't leave at home, especially with how well he
Speaker 3: fits the golf course and how well he's played in
Speaker 3: big events. I think he could have come out and
Speaker 3: crushed this course, and he could have been the type
Speaker 3: of player that you're like, all right, five matches for
Speaker 3: us or four four matches for us, like somebody who's
Speaker 3: dominant on this setup. And then the other player that
Speaker 3: I think just didn't get discussed enough in a really
Speaker 3: strong case to be on the team is Russell Henley.
Speaker 3: And I think he's a great course fit and almost
Speaker 3: any argument you use on short term or long term form,
Speaker 3: Russell Henley just did not get talked about. Everyone's focused
Speaker 3: on Keegan and Russell Henley had a really strong case
Speaker 3: to be on this team and he should have been
Speaker 3: discussed more.
Speaker 1: All right, let's zoom in a little bit on Cam Young. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I don't think this was the best year for Cameron Young.
Speaker 1: He was kind of in and out, pretty inconsistent. Year before,
Speaker 1: you know, left us with I think one of the
Speaker 1: issues was the year before golf with extraordinarily high expectations
Speaker 1: for this year of Cameron Young, and he's still a
Speaker 1: relatively green player on the PGA Tour. That being said,
Speaker 1: you know, in you know, he didn't he made the
Speaker 1: FedEx Cup playoffs, he didn't get get past you know,
Speaker 1: the top fifty Earth and we get to you know,
Speaker 1: the Open Championship. He leads the field in driving and
Speaker 1: approach the green. So he's the best ball striker in
Speaker 1: the field at the Open Championship with the best players
Speaker 1: in the world. And to boot, he's ninth in Ryder
Speaker 1: Cup points. Ninth, not tenth, not eleventh, not twelfth, very
Speaker 1: close to being eighth in fact, like not very far
Speaker 1: away from eight. He was. He was a ways behind
Speaker 1: Kepka at seven, but he's he's closer to being eighth
Speaker 1: than you know in a spot where like I wonder,
Speaker 1: like if he's eighth in points there, I don't think
Speaker 1: you could leave him at home really at ninth? Is
Speaker 1: that like it? To me? It seems like if you're
Speaker 1: ninth in points, you're a course fit. I don't know
Speaker 1: how you leave that person at home.
Speaker 3: I'm not the biggest fan of the points system and
Speaker 3: using points for some reasons that maybe we'll get into,
Speaker 3: like Keigan Bradley, So I don't put a lot of
Speaker 3: stock in the points, but I put a lot of
Speaker 3: stock in some of what he's done on the course
Speaker 3: in the last eighteen months, and he's contended in four
Speaker 3: of the last eight major championships. He was playing around
Speaker 3: with like a new ball and stuff for parts of
Speaker 3: this year, had some changes with the caddy, didn't play
Speaker 3: great during the summer. But when you zoom out when
Speaker 3: you look at his year, it's not bad. I agree
Speaker 3: with you that it didn't live up to expectations set
Speaker 3: by last year. But he contended at the Masters this
Speaker 3: year for much of that tournament. He finished second at
Speaker 3: match play to Sam Burns, which the main reason Burns
Speaker 3: is being thrown out is because he won match play.
Speaker 2: Kim Young was.
Speaker 3: The thirty six hole leader at the John Deere. Not
Speaker 3: a strong field. I wouldn't hang my hat on that argument.
Speaker 3: But then he destroyed at Liverpool Tea Green, you know,
Speaker 3: stumbled a little bit on Sunday in the final group
Speaker 3: and finished eighth. But he's contended in four of the
Speaker 3: last eight major championships. When you look at the shots
Speaker 3: that are acquired at Marco Simone, I want Cam Young
Speaker 3: hitting all of those drives and I think he would
Speaker 3: have been a really hard out at that golf course.
Speaker 3: So I don't think you can leave him at home.
Speaker 3: But it is what it is.
Speaker 1: With Russell Headley obviously very very rarely discussed. But what
Speaker 1: was it that really jumped out to you about about
Speaker 1: Henley and his candidacy for one of these spots.
Speaker 3: You know, when everyone's talking about these picks, I think
Speaker 3: they've fallen a lot of bullet points, right, and people
Speaker 3: want to talk about Keegan Bradley and his past performance
Speaker 3: at Medina. There's not a lot to talk about with
Speaker 3: Russell Henley, which I think just works against him, but
Speaker 3: he was unbelievably solid this entire year. He's played fit
Speaker 3: fifteen tournaments since the Players Championship Andy. He missed the
Speaker 3: cut at the PGA in the Open, so two of
Speaker 3: the majors he gained strokes t de Green just didn't
Speaker 3: put well in those, but missed those cuts. Every other
Speaker 3: finish is a top twenty in that span. He finished
Speaker 3: fourth at Augusta this year, which I don't know if
Speaker 3: people realize, and he finished fourteenth at LACC at the
Speaker 3: US Open.
Speaker 2: Just a bunch of elite finishes. Sorry.
Speaker 3: One other he finished TI for thirty fifth, so that
Speaker 3: was outside the top twenty of the John Deere. But
Speaker 3: twelve of those fifteen events top twenties. And he's an
Speaker 3: extremely accurate driver of the golf ball. If you think
Speaker 3: about a course on the PGA Tour that demands accuracy,
Speaker 3: Mayacoba is one of those. He won that this past fall.
Speaker 3: Not saying you want to use Mayacoba as your litmus
Speaker 3: test for Rome, but Russell Henley is a course fit,
Speaker 3: elite long iron player, and he's been extremely consistent this
Speaker 3: entire year. It's hard to poke holes in the argument
Speaker 3: against Russell Henley.
Speaker 1: So those are the two guys that you would have
Speaker 1: liked to see him picked. To me, really where I
Speaker 1: fell is? I you know, I thought Cameron Young was
Speaker 1: kind of the big snub. I think he's the only
Speaker 1: guy that you can you can say like is a
Speaker 1: true like really a snub? Right? I think if we
Speaker 1: got to the point where Cam Young's on the team
Speaker 1: and one of Burns or Thomas is out, you know
Speaker 1: that was that last pick should have been decided between them,
Speaker 1: Russell Henley, you know, Denny McCarthy, other other Keegan Bradley,
Speaker 1: other people. To me, Cameron Young needs to be on
Speaker 1: this team. He should be. He's a young player. And
Speaker 1: you know what what kind of happened And and Brendan
Speaker 1: made this point on on our podcast on the Shotgun
Speaker 1: start at talking about this topic. You know, if you
Speaker 1: look at Keegan Bradley's quotes and I'm paraphrasing here, he
Speaker 1: talked about after you know, there is disappointment not being selected,
Speaker 1: how he spent the year the seasoning to become friends
Speaker 1: with people that he thought were going to be on
Speaker 1: the team, that you know, he he understood that this
Speaker 1: there's a lot of camaraderie involved, that this was not
Speaker 1: this is a you know, he kind of pointed out
Speaker 1: that this is indirectly that this is a very political system.
Speaker 1: So if you look at the players that were selected,
Speaker 1: and you've called into question Sam Burns, he is best
Speaker 1: friends with Scottie Shuffler, vacations regularly with him, and as
Speaker 1: well as as Justin Thomas, who might be one of
Speaker 1: the you know, real decision makers on the Ryder Cup team,
Speaker 1: might be one of the biggest influences in the room
Speaker 1: despite you know, in data golf ranking being ranked fifty
Speaker 1: seven in the world right now, So Justin Thomas gets
Speaker 1: gets a spot. When Zach Johnson was you know, kind
Speaker 1: of asked about it, he said he was born, born
Speaker 1: for this. Couldn't imagine going there without him. Those were
Speaker 1: the reasons given, despite you know, really a poor season
Speaker 1: from JT. And I think, listen, like he might go
Speaker 1: over there and play great and everything. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: He might go over there and play poorly. But you know,
Speaker 1: with this Ryder Cup, you look at it and given
Speaker 1: his form, it seems like a big question mark here.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, if I were to build the case against Justin Thomas,
Speaker 3: and again I think he's one of the When he's
Speaker 3: playing well, he's one of the best Americans, There's no doubt.
Speaker 2: But ultimately, I think the best.
Speaker 3: Way I can frame the argument that as I've been
Speaker 3: reflecting on this process, I think the range of outcomes
Speaker 3: for Justin Thomas at this golf course is it's well
Speaker 3: within the range of outcomes that he plays very poorly
Speaker 3: because he's been playing terribly and he's kind of on
Speaker 3: the downswing a little bit. It's not like he's showing
Speaker 3: some signs of going the right direction. Almost finished dead
Speaker 3: last at the US Open and opened with an eighty
Speaker 3: two at the Open Championship, recovered a little bit the
Speaker 3: next day, but he's playing badly. The golf course doesn't
Speaker 3: fit him particularly well. He's one of the best wedge
Speaker 3: players in the world. You're not going to hit a
Speaker 3: lot of wedges here, I don't. I think there's some
Speaker 3: There are some scenarios where he plays really poorly at
Speaker 3: Marcos Simone for all of his matches. I think the
Speaker 3: best case for JT. And you can old takes exposed
Speaker 3: to me if I'm wrong, But I think the best
Speaker 3: case is he kind of scrapes by and like maybe
Speaker 3: wins a match or two, or you know, Judge, if
Speaker 3: he's partnered with Jordan, Jordan plays really well. They're competitive,
Speaker 3: maybe wins a match or two. If you pick somebody
Speaker 3: else like a Cam Young, there's a chance Cam Young
Speaker 3: dominates that event and he's the reason you win the
Speaker 3: Ryder Cup. His range of about there's so much more upside
Speaker 3: in a pick like that, and that's what rubs me
Speaker 3: the wrong way a little bit about the Justin Thomas pick.
Speaker 3: I understand the team chemistry and the soul of the team,
Speaker 3: all of those arguments that are made. But ultimately I
Speaker 3: think kind of land On hitting good golf shots solves
Speaker 3: a lot of issues, and Camyon would hit a lot
Speaker 3: of good golf shots.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think if you look at where where JT's really declined,
Speaker 1: and in his decline, I want to be very clear,
Speaker 1: is like, you know, his bottom is not what a
Speaker 1: lot of other people's bottom is. He is an ultra
Speaker 1: ultra talented, one of the best, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the best players in the world. Could make an argument
Speaker 1: he's the best player in the world when everything's humming.
Speaker 1: He where is big decline has been has been around
Speaker 1: driving the golf ball. You know, it's it's been inaccurate,
Speaker 1: and he's he's not as long as he used to be.
Speaker 1: I mean, the driving numbers have been poor, his approach
Speaker 1: play numbers have been much much worse this year. And
Speaker 1: then he's always kind of outside of really one year,
Speaker 1: been a so so putter. So obviously this is a
Speaker 1: three day competition, and you know, one of the things
Speaker 1: about it is golf is very a high variance game.
Speaker 1: You know, if you if you have you can just
Speaker 1: have it for three days. You could not have it
Speaker 1: for three days. Your best player, Scottie Scheffler, might not
Speaker 1: have it for three days. And if he doesn't have
Speaker 1: it for three days, the US teams in trouble. Right,
Speaker 1: But like that's the way it works, Like you can
Speaker 1: just play twelve players can play pretty mediocre. Like, you know,
Speaker 1: seven of your guys could just play poorly. We see
Speaker 1: it every week and week out on the tour when
Speaker 1: these guys miss cuts right, Elite players miscut. You know,
Speaker 1: so a lot of it comes down to variants in
Speaker 1: this game, in this sport. But you know, again going
Speaker 1: back to what makes great matchplay players selecting players without
Speaker 1: a lot of variants, that are really rock solidity to
Speaker 1: green kind of mitigate some of that variants. And if
Speaker 1: you think about like the players that have caused like
Speaker 1: you know, the old stallwarts of the Ryder Cup of
Speaker 1: the European team, a lot of them were very very steady,
Speaker 1: ted green players, and that's what has given the US
Speaker 1: fits when they've gone abroad. Think about Molinari and Fleetwood
Speaker 1: as a pairing, what are they ultra ultra elite ball strikers,
Speaker 1: you know, think about you know, Sergio Garcia as we've
Speaker 1: talked about before, ultra elite like those. That's the makings
Speaker 1: of a really dynamic Ryder Cup team pairing. And I
Speaker 1: think like one of the tough things that I found,
Speaker 1: like one of the cringe things is we're saying this
Speaker 1: justin Thomas Ryder Cup record, like he's a like living legend.
Speaker 1: He's played in two Ryder Cups.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we make way too much of Ryder
Speaker 3: Cup records in general too. That's a that's a hill
Speaker 3: I'm happy to die on. The You don't look at
Speaker 3: who they played against or like how they actually.
Speaker 2: Scored on the holes.
Speaker 3: You just look at the record, and sometimes you run
Speaker 3: into you play well and the other guy plays better
Speaker 3: and you lose, and you were still you still had
Speaker 3: a strong performance. Justin Thomas has had legitimately strong performances
Speaker 3: in the Ryder Cups, even when you add in that context.
Speaker 3: But it is a small sample size. I don't think
Speaker 3: this golf course sets up particularly well for him, and
Speaker 3: I think the chance that he goes out there and
Speaker 3: crushes it is minimal. And when the United States team
Speaker 3: is so deep, you could have picked guys that did that.
Speaker 3: So again, like I said, I think Cam Young was
Speaker 3: that player. I think Russell Henley was that player. He
Speaker 3: kind of profiles a lot like a Fleetwooder, a Molinari,
Speaker 3: and you could have sold me on, you know, a
Speaker 3: Lucas Glover, Keigan Bradley before Justin Thomas. But as you've mentioned,
Speaker 3: it's not always just about what you do on the
Speaker 3: golf course.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk a little bit about the US
Speaker 1: team as it's constructed. Are there any pairings that you
Speaker 1: look at, potential pairings that you look at that really
Speaker 1: excite you about with the twelve players that are on
Speaker 1: this team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I probably need to get a little more into
Speaker 3: that before giving you a firmer answer. I think starting
Speaker 3: to materialize the more I've gone through the golf course,
Speaker 3: which players are well suited for the course, Like I
Speaker 3: think a Max Homa is a sneaky could be really
Speaker 3: good here. I think calin Markawa is going to be
Speaker 3: excellent here. And that's I know that they have some chemistry,
Speaker 3: so wouldn't be shocked to see those two paired together.
Speaker 1: You know JT is cal bear action.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 3: J T and Speith are going to play together. I
Speaker 3: think it's likely Burns and Scheffler are going to play together,
Speaker 3: which is kind of a high variance one. I think
Speaker 3: that could work out, and I also don't I think
Speaker 3: they could be not the best pairing to where Europe's
Speaker 3: not that scared of them. I think, you know, Xander
Speaker 3: and can't Lay are probably going to play together, So
Speaker 3: it's not too hard to start to figure out where
Speaker 3: these guys are gonna potentially match up. But I can't
Speaker 3: tell you that like an alternate shot optimal pairing that
Speaker 3: I've gone through all that yet.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the things when you get
Speaker 1: when you become kind of this reincarnation of the old
Speaker 1: boys Club, that this era of players kind of blew
Speaker 1: up and it's seemingly back is that you get these
Speaker 1: like locked in pairings that have to play together. Speth
Speaker 1: and JT are going to play together, Xander and Cantley
Speaker 1: are going to play together. I think he made a
Speaker 1: great point about Homo more Kwa cal Bears, They're going
Speaker 1: to probably play together. And then you know, Burns seemingly
Speaker 1: one of the big reasons he got picked was his
Speaker 1: he's you know him and Scottie Shuffler or boys, which
Speaker 1: leaves like, you know Fowler. I think like you could
Speaker 1: kind of go through this and it leaves Fowler and Brooks.
Speaker 1: I imagine they live in the same area. I imagine,
Speaker 1: you know, Fowler's pretty agreeable and Brooks, like, I imagine
Speaker 1: that probably looks like a pairing. And then it leaves
Speaker 1: Wyndham Clark and Ricky and Brian Harmon the two kind
Speaker 1: of guys that crashed this this boys clubs. As Keith
Speaker 1: and Bradley pointed out what he was asked about about
Speaker 1: missing he needed to he in future years he feels
Speaker 1: like he has to qualify on points to make the team.
Speaker 1: These two qualified on points to make the team, and
Speaker 1: I wonder if they would have if there were twelve
Speaker 1: twelve just exclusively twelve captains picks, Brian Harmon probably isn't
Speaker 1: on this team. Wyndham Clark might be, but Wyndham Clark
Speaker 1: and Brian Harmon seems like a logical pairing as well.
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the fascinating things, is like,
Speaker 1: in terms of Luke Donald, when you have these locked
Speaker 1: in pairings, it kind of allows Luke Donald the opportunity
Speaker 1: to game against them with course setup, with his own
Speaker 1: pairings and other things.
Speaker 3: I agree with you, and I think overall, one thing
Speaker 3: I feel pretty confident saying without being in some of
Speaker 3: the team rooms is that Europe generally has a little
Speaker 3: healthier I think philosophy around some of this stuff, which
Speaker 3: is like pair me with anybody and I'll if you
Speaker 3: tell me it's the right person for me to go with,
Speaker 3: like I trust and I'll go out and hit good shots.
Speaker 3: Whereas I think Team USA it's doing a little more
Speaker 3: dictating about who they want to be paired with and
Speaker 3: who they want on the team, and I think that
Speaker 3: flexibility is beneficial for Europe.
Speaker 2: Don't know that. I don't know that, Luke.
Speaker 3: There's a whole lot Luke Donald's going to be able
Speaker 3: to do because once the event starts, you can't do
Speaker 3: a whole lot with like pin locations and stuff that's
Speaker 3: out of his hands. But I'm with you that the
Speaker 3: overall Europe has more flexibility, and I think that speaks
Speaker 3: to the mindset of some of the players in there,
Speaker 3: who often are a little bit more open to some
Speaker 3: of that kind of information the analytics side. I think
Speaker 3: it's fair to say that Europe's a little more open
Speaker 3: minded about that, not just among the captains but among
Speaker 3: the players.
Speaker 1: In a way, the American team is kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: the overall seemingly leadership style is very intertwined with the
Speaker 1: direction of the PGA Tour, where it's the top players
Speaker 1: dictating the the way that the tour now is govern
Speaker 1: is run, and so there's I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of similarities and a lot of you know, people that
Speaker 1: in this in this room, that you know are very
Speaker 1: good at hitting a golf ball, that believe that they
Speaker 1: are also very good at knowing what's best for their team.
Speaker 3: I agree with you, and I don't want to entirely
Speaker 3: dismiss that, like Randall Cobb is on the Jets because
Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers wants him on the Jets, And I do
Speaker 3: think when you vouch for people, there is some camaraderie
Speaker 3: that's built in, and when you tee it up next
Speaker 3: to them, like I think, it can elevate your performance.
Speaker 3: I think we go too far in that direction, and
Speaker 3: I prefer the mentality of just give me any partner
Speaker 3: and I'll go out there and get the job done.
Speaker 3: But I don't want to entirely dismiss how vouching for
Speaker 3: others it can build camaraderie only other One other note
Speaker 3: I had is that we talk so much about chemistry
Speaker 3: and so much about like alternate shot pairings and stuff,
Speaker 3: it's still important to remember that these players are going
Speaker 3: to play most of them three to four matches, and
Speaker 3: one of those is for sure singles, right, so you know,
Speaker 3: twenty five to thirty three percent of your matches, It
Speaker 3: doesn't some of that doesn't matter. Like you, it's you
Speaker 3: alone on the golf course. And so that's where i'd
Speaker 3: really prioritize. Some of these guys who fit the course well,
Speaker 3: you know, have been consistently strong performers all year. Form
Speaker 3: is a great indicator of success.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's the fascinating question I wrote a
Speaker 1: little bit in UH Wednesday's newsletter about this is what
Speaker 1: should the Ryder Cup team be? How should the picks
Speaker 1: be selected? There's money at stake with these with these selections,
Speaker 1: you know, player incentives and contracts and in some contracts
Speaker 1: and and then obviously the pit program and everything that's involved.
Speaker 1: Should these picks be you know, hey, we're the leaders
Speaker 1: of the team. This is who we want to play with.
Speaker 1: We're captains, this is who we want. Or should it
Speaker 1: be more merit based? With the fact that it is
Speaker 1: like a career honor, a career distinction and now a
Speaker 1: very you know, it's a lucrative spot to gain. Should
Speaker 1: it be more merit based or should it be more Hey,
Speaker 1: this is the guy that we wanted on our team.
Speaker 3: In my opinion, it works very well the way it's
Speaker 3: running right now with six auto qualifiers and six captains picks.
Speaker 3: Of course it gets political, but it is an option
Speaker 3: to earn your spot, and Brian Harmon can testify to that,
Speaker 3: as can Wyndham Clark. But Brian Harmon's more of the
Speaker 3: He's been around for a while and earned his way on.
Speaker 3: I think it works well now and there's going to
Speaker 3: be controversy if you have six captain's picks, if you
Speaker 3: have two, if you have zero, there's always going to
Speaker 3: be arguments that the process could be better.
Speaker 2: I think it works well when.
Speaker 1: Now, Yeah, I kind of agree too. And what I
Speaker 1: really agree with is that I think it's great for
Speaker 1: the sport, the discourse and interest that this creates an
Speaker 1: event that's a month away like that rarely rarely happens
Speaker 1: outside of the Masters. Is there anything that generates this?
Speaker 3: The super Bowl and the Player Atpact program, we're both
Speaker 3: pretty exciting for fans.
Speaker 1: Right Hey, real quick, let's talk about Club TFE. They're
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Speaker 1: help support us. So let's go back to Joseph Lemannia.
Speaker 1: I got a text from my group of like casual friends,
Speaker 1: a casual golf friend. It was it's a group chat
Speaker 1: about golf, and you know, mostly it's revolves around like
Speaker 1: playing golf. Rarely does it revolve around the PGA Tour.
Speaker 1: It revolves around the majors during major weeks, but rarely
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour. And the comment, the comment was like,
Speaker 1: you know, I can't I can't remember the last time
Speaker 1: there was like a meaningful shot and a meaning or
Speaker 1: meaningful golf tournament on the PGA Tour or something like that.
Speaker 1: And to me, like I immediately said, like, the last week
Speaker 1: was really good at the BMW, But I think this
Speaker 1: person didn't even know that it was a net to
Speaker 1: start that like that. It would have been in a
Speaker 1: fascinating tournament at the Tour Championship with Victor Hovlin and
Speaker 1: Xanderschoff really separating themselves and lifting from the competition. That
Speaker 1: would have been an amazing, amazing tournament with meaningful shots
Speaker 1: hit down the stretch everything that they're looking for. I mean,
Speaker 1: like the this thing, it can't this isn't it. What
Speaker 1: the Tour Championship. I don't mean to diverge from the
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup here, but what we watched last week can't
Speaker 1: be it. And I'm not saying that like one way
Speaker 1: is it, but this isn't it.
Speaker 3: Well, look, I know we don't want to go too
Speaker 3: far on this path, but to tie it back to
Speaker 3: the Ryder Cup. Something I had in my notes was,
Speaker 3: isn't it kind of funny that less than forty eight
Speaker 3: hours after the Tour Championship, the season end pinnacle, all
Speaker 3: anyone's talking about is the Ryder Cup and one of
Speaker 3: the captain's picks is Justin Thomas, who didn't qualify for
Speaker 3: the playoffs at all. I mean, what does that say
Speaker 3: about how much people view what kind of light the
Speaker 3: actual tour product is viewed in with relation to you know,
Speaker 3: who's going to be playing well on the biggest stages.
Speaker 3: So don't want to derail us there, but I think
Speaker 3: it is interesting that the week after the Tour Championship,
Speaker 3: no one's talking about it.
Speaker 1: You know, real quick, where I've like, after a few
Speaker 1: days of really thinking about this like the Tour Championship.
Speaker 1: Like I cover golf for a living, I I you know,
Speaker 1: I want it to be as successful, as popular and
Speaker 1: popular as possible, because that's that is inherently what everybody
Speaker 1: that is involved in the sport wants. They want the
Speaker 1: sport to be thriving. And you know, I think there
Speaker 1: this is a puzzle that hasn't been solved yet. It
Speaker 1: is a very valuable property in a potentially great event.
Speaker 1: It's just not there yet. And where I, like the
Speaker 1: last couple of days, I've just found myself like very
Speaker 1: occupied in thought about what's going on and what the
Speaker 1: what the solution is and and it's a complex problem. Right.
Speaker 1: Players want regular season perform ormance rewarded. They I think
Speaker 1: if they had it their way, it would just be
Speaker 1: a payout to the best players over the course of
Speaker 1: the year. That's what they want. They do not want
Speaker 1: the idea. They didn't want Adam shank winning, you know,
Speaker 1: eighteen million dollars by playing thirty one events, and you know,
Speaker 1: they want the best players to be the only ones
Speaker 1: that have a chance. Right, So with that in mind,
Speaker 1: I think that they need to reallocate some of this
Speaker 1: money and it needs to just go to the regular season,
Speaker 1: like it needs to be substantial amount of money, like
Speaker 1: maybe half of it just goes to the regular season.
Speaker 1: Because as Rom said last week, like this isn't about money.
Speaker 1: This is about winning, right if you reallocated money and
Speaker 1: made the end of the regular season more valuable significantly,
Speaker 1: like I'm talking like triple the end of the regular season.
Speaker 1: I know that they have a big increase, but make
Speaker 1: that huge then have a real playoff, have the opportunity
Speaker 1: for someone to be eliminated. It was a big deal
Speaker 1: when Justin Thomas was eliminated at the Windom. That is
Speaker 1: an amazing way to have it. And then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, this can be a competition, it can be
Speaker 1: a actual playoff. Right now, they're stuck between wanting playoffs
Speaker 1: but also wanting to reward regular season play, and it
Speaker 1: puts you in the middle, which just doesn't work.
Speaker 2: I think my opinions on this are well known. I
Speaker 2: totally agree.
Speaker 3: I think everyone who plays in the Tour Championship needs
Speaker 3: to have had a season worthy of being the champion
Speaker 3: if they do win, so it should be eight to
Speaker 3: twelve players match play. I don't think I need to
Speaker 3: go on much more here. I'm in total agreement with you.
Speaker 3: One thing that you just reminded me of. That's going
Speaker 3: back to Justin Thomas a little bit, because I don't
Speaker 3: think i've heard this point made. We talk so much
Speaker 3: about match play and how important it is. Justin Thomas
Speaker 3: skipped Dell match play this year, and if you had
Speaker 3: just played and not even done anything, he'd have made
Speaker 3: the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think he only played twenty one times. Adam Shank
Speaker 1: played like thirty two times for sure.
Speaker 2: And that's a huge problem.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, even going back to the Ryder Cup conversation,
Speaker 3: like Justin Thomas didn't even have to beat anybody. You
Speaker 3: get points just for participating in down matchplay. He finished
Speaker 3: seventy first. If he played that event, he's in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: It's kind of unbelievable. And you know that same events
Speaker 1: the reason that Sam Burns is on the team.
Speaker 2: Right that That's what's what I'm saying. Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's talk European team a little bit while
Speaker 1: we're here. They make their picks after the after labor day.
Speaker 1: How do you like the way that the European team's
Speaker 1: shaping up and do you have anybody that in particular
Speaker 1: at that back end, which I think is always the
Speaker 1: problem with the European team that back end of the lineup.
Speaker 1: Are there anybody? Is there anybody in that back end
Speaker 1: that you really would like to see pick?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Disclaimer, I watched less DP World Golf than I watch
Speaker 3: PJ Tour Golf, so a little less familiar with some
Speaker 3: of their skill sets.
Speaker 2: I think the team is shaping up.
Speaker 3: Well, especially at the top. I mean, how many golfers
Speaker 3: do you feel about feel better about than Victor Hoveland
Speaker 3: coming into this Ryder Cup in the way that he
Speaker 3: fits this course. So you know you're talking about Rory
Speaker 3: Ram and Hoveland at the top. And I also have
Speaker 3: a ton of confidence in the way Fleetwood sets up.
Speaker 3: I think Fitzpatrick could be dangerous. Tiro Hatton's been playing
Speaker 3: really well all year. Wouldn't surprise me if he plays well.
Speaker 3: Lowry Rose like they've got guys, so I think they
Speaker 3: are absolutely competitive, and this thing's probably pretty close to
Speaker 3: a coin flipped with a slight edge to the Americans.
Speaker 3: On the back end, I'm less familiar with some of.
Speaker 1: You forgot the skill set, forgot you forgot Cepstraca. You
Speaker 1: forgot Sepstraca, how dare you?
Speaker 2: I've got him listed, but I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't know that he's gonna, you know, break any
Speaker 3: records at this Ryder Cup, but he could be solid.
Speaker 2: I think Ludwig Aberg's.
Speaker 3: Interesting, especially because of how good of a driver he is,
Speaker 3: so again, without being super familiar with all the skill
Speaker 3: sets of every player who's being considered, I think you
Speaker 3: have to give him a pretty You got to give
Speaker 3: him a look.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's an.
Speaker 3: Excellent driver with the golf ball, both long and straight,
Speaker 3: so I think he's got a pretty good case. I'm
Speaker 3: sure Adrian Moronk won at this golf course and I'm
Speaker 3: guessing he'll be on the team. So I guess Bobby
Speaker 3: McIntyre's maybe the other player that doesn't really set up
Speaker 3: that well for the course necessarily, but it'll probably be
Speaker 3: on the team.
Speaker 1: I think the thing with morunk and Is in particular
Speaker 1: and Aberg and Sepstraca, is that all three of those
Speaker 1: players have shown the ability to make flurries of birdies.
Speaker 1: I believe Mornk last year led the European Tour and birdies.
Speaker 1: I believe Stepstraca is near the top of the PGA
Speaker 1: tour and birdies. So if you're like unlike a lot
Speaker 1: of times we get to the back end, like obviously always,
Speaker 1: the back end of Europe is a is a struggle,
Speaker 1: like it's their you know, they just don't have the
Speaker 1: depth that the Americans have. They aren't rolling out like
Speaker 1: you know, last year or at Whistling Straits. America's last
Speaker 1: guy on the team is is Scottie Scheffler. You know,
Speaker 1: I think the difference between this year's European team and
Speaker 1: and the recent European team is they don't have guys
Speaker 1: that are just like grinders, that are par guys like
Speaker 1: guys that make lots of parers. They have some they
Speaker 1: actually have some firepower. They have some you know, a
Speaker 1: little bit more high variance guys. I think if you're
Speaker 1: if you're weak at the back end, you want that
Speaker 1: high variance rather than someone who's just like kind of
Speaker 1: an average plotter. I don't know how you feel about that,
Speaker 1: but it seems to me that would be a little
Speaker 1: bit more give you a little bit more dynamic of
Speaker 1: a of pairing capabilities and a team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I the the back I don't know that
Speaker 3: This Ryder Cup is going to be decided by those
Speaker 3: last couple guys who aren't even gonna play that many matches.
Speaker 3: If I'm looking at where Team Europe's are vulnerable, it's
Speaker 3: probably more in the middle, where you have you start
Speaker 3: to stack up like the Hatton Lowry Fitzpatrick Roses, who
Speaker 3: you need to play a decent number of matches against,
Speaker 3: like the Xander can't lay home like some of those
Speaker 3: guys in the middle. I think that's probably what will
Speaker 3: ultimately decide this Ryder Cup. They're fine at the top,
Speaker 3: the bottom is serviceable. I think you need some of
Speaker 3: those guys in the middle to step up and like
Speaker 3: who Andy, Who's gonna be that player on Team Europe
Speaker 3: that isn't one of the top three but just shreds it.
Speaker 1: I think that the natural reaction right now, based off
Speaker 1: of how he's played the last four months, how he's
Speaker 1: played in Ryder Cups before, is Tommy Fleetwood right. He
Speaker 1: seems like a guy that has to play well for
Speaker 1: them them to win. Matt Fitzpatrick hasn't earned a Ryder
Speaker 1: Cup point yet, and I think he's a dramatically different
Speaker 1: golfer than he was the last time this was played,
Speaker 1: and I think that that could be. You know, he
Speaker 1: could be a big swing guy to me if I'm
Speaker 1: looking at it, Like Shane Lowry was really good at
Speaker 1: Whistling Straits. He seems to play, he plays. He's not
Speaker 1: the most accurate player, but you know, he's got a
Speaker 1: good short game and he's fiery. I you know, I
Speaker 1: hate I kind of hate that expression, but he's a
Speaker 1: kind of guy that is a competitor, you know. The
Speaker 1: I would I would lean towards Fleetwood, Fitzie as the
Speaker 1: guys that are really the swing guys that they need
Speaker 1: to play well. They need two of the three of Hatton, Fleetwood,
Speaker 1: and Fitzpatrick to play well.
Speaker 3: I agree, I think those are I could see Matt
Speaker 3: Fitzpatrick doing very well in this golf course.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so early prediction, who would you who would you
Speaker 1: give the edge? I mean your newsletter is called finding
Speaker 1: the Edge? Who's who? Who did you give the edge?
Speaker 1: Right now? To? Obviously the USA is heavily favored in
Speaker 1: all all books. Do you think that that shouldn't be
Speaker 1: the case.
Speaker 3: So USA is not as favorite as they were. They
Speaker 3: were like minus two hundred. So when probability about sixty
Speaker 3: five percent as of a couple months ago, and it's
Speaker 3: down to like minus one fifty in most places, so
Speaker 3: you know, just under sixty percent when you remove the juice.
Speaker 3: It's trending that way. And I think the Team USA
Speaker 3: should be a small favorite, but not by a lot.
Speaker 3: And if you made me take either side, I would
Speaker 3: lean with the European side.
Speaker 2: How about you.
Speaker 1: I think the Americans are the favorites still, They're always
Speaker 1: the favorites. I think they just have so much depth.
Speaker 1: I just you know, but I would say that, like
Speaker 1: this is when you take into a fact into account form,
Speaker 1: the Europeans are certainly trending to very close and I
Speaker 1: think it's going to come down to Captaincy, like you
Speaker 1: can make up the edge and Captaincy. I would all
Speaker 1: almost give it a toss up at this point. And
Speaker 1: I think like Luke Donald might might be a bit
Speaker 1: more cerebral. Uh. You know, you have Molinari, who's you know,
Speaker 1: that's a very data driven family in general. Uh, and
Speaker 1: then you have you know, I just think that you have,
Speaker 1: as you said, a little bit more open mindedness, a
Speaker 1: little bit more flex you know, just flexibility. I think
Speaker 1: one thing that that should be talked about is like,
Speaker 1: this is a dramatically different European team makeup. This is
Speaker 1: the first year that you don't have a lot of
Speaker 1: long term guys. Sergio is not there, uh Lee, Westwood's
Speaker 1: not there, Poulter's not there. So this is going to
Speaker 1: be a different team dynamic too. And and I think
Speaker 1: that that is one of the big I think that
Speaker 1: you're the American team, the challenge is going to be
Speaker 1: getting a little bit of flexibility with pairings. You know,
Speaker 1: uh are are we are we rolling out just the
Speaker 1: same pairings because that's who people want to play with
Speaker 1: or they're the best fit. I think with the Europeans,
Speaker 1: it's going to be assimilating a really new team, a
Speaker 1: really green young team together and getting people comfortable in
Speaker 1: the moment.
Speaker 3: If as you look which Americans you feel like there's
Speaker 3: almost no way they don't play well, like they are
Speaker 3: going to be rock solid in Rome. For me, I
Speaker 3: think Xanderschafflee and Patrick Cantley, it's like, Okay, I think
Speaker 3: they're going to be really really good. Outside of that,
Speaker 3: I mean there's some other players I have confidence in,
Speaker 3: but not maybe to that degree, especially seeing some of
Speaker 3: Scottie Scheffler's The putter recently is a little scary. Like
Speaker 3: I know said, putting's not the most important thing, but
Speaker 3: it's it's kind of at a crazy level right now.
Speaker 3: Who do you feel supremely confident in when they tee
Speaker 3: it up in Rome on the American.
Speaker 1: Side, You know, I have to say Scottie Scheffler. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the t degree games just spent so good that I think, like,
Speaker 1: like alternate shot, he's not hitting, He's gonna hit a
Speaker 1: lot less short putts. It's not a long putting problem.
Speaker 1: It's a short putting problem. You know. Granted there's gonna
Speaker 1: be high leverage putts, but like that that ball striking
Speaker 1: in an alternate shot format is so so, so so valuable.
Speaker 1: Right So I'm very confident in Scottie despite the putter.
Speaker 1: I mean, as we saw all year again, like you
Speaker 1: can't he just is a relentless guy. I think more
Speaker 1: Kawa with recent recent form. I feel really good about
Speaker 1: two so I and I would Echo, Can't Lay and Sander.
Speaker 1: So I think those four I feel really good about.
Speaker 1: But I don't think I feel as good about any
Speaker 1: of them as as I feel about really like I
Speaker 1: Rom's not playing well I do. I'm not worried about
Speaker 1: rom hoveland Is, I'm not worried and and Rory I
Speaker 1: think like those three are are probably the guys that
Speaker 1: I feel the best about. All three of those guys
Speaker 1: are the guys that I feel the three best about
Speaker 1: heading in. And I think like there's a little bit
Speaker 1: more relevant European golf the next couple weeks, like I do,
Speaker 1: like it's hard to be sharp when your season ends
Speaker 1: a month before the competition, Like I think there is
Speaker 1: an advantage to the Europeans with the way their their
Speaker 1: schedule works out that they are playing real golf two
Speaker 1: weeks before the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 2: No disagreement here. And the only other thing I guess.
Speaker 3: I'd chime in on is when you said you feel
Speaker 3: really good about Rory ramin Hovland, I think Fleetwood I
Speaker 3: feel similarly good about.
Speaker 2: Not not quite on that level, but yeah, too far behind.
Speaker 1: He's been sensational, he hasn't won, but match plays not
Speaker 1: about about winning against one hundred and fifty six guys.
Speaker 1: It's about beating one guy and if you did. If
Speaker 1: you did is like a Sagarin ranking over the last
Speaker 1: six months. It's got to be through the roof because
Speaker 1: he's been just a top ten.
Speaker 2: Machine probably looks like Russell Hemley's.
Speaker 1: All right, Joseph, you got anything coming up that's exciting
Speaker 1: or you know what, what can we look out for?
Speaker 3: I'll probably put out some long thoughts on the Ryder
Speaker 3: Cup in advance of when the event actually starts, with
Speaker 3: like some pairings and some holes. I guess to tease that.
Speaker 3: It's interesting that a lot of the part reasons semi
Speaker 3: driveable par fours are all odd holes, which is just
Speaker 3: an interesting thing to start considering as you look through
Speaker 3: the pairings. So I'll be looking into stuff like that
Speaker 3: and I'll probably have some thoughts on that.
Speaker 1: All right, so they can find you. You're writing for
Speaker 1: the Frida Egg, but also your own newsletter, Finding the Edge.
Speaker 1: Recommend everybody sign up for that. Also follow you on Twitter.
Speaker 1: So hey, Joseph, thanks so much for coming on and
Speaker 1: it's always fun to chat and looking forward, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is this is one of the this, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is probably the most fun event we have in golf.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. And what makes it so fun is
Speaker 1: all of the armschair quarterback, the quarterbacking that you can
Speaker 1: do with it.
Speaker 2: Looking forward to it. Thanks for having me on and.
Speaker 1: Andy, thank you for listening to another edition of the
Speaker 1: Friday Golf Podcast. Today's episode was edited by Matt Russis.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Matt, new resident of Colorado Matt Rus's congrats
Speaker 1: on the move, Matt. As a reminder, we talked about
Speaker 1: it at the top, but we've got a pro shop
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Speaker 1: pro Shop, so that includes print, photography as well as
Speaker 1: all the merchandise, and you just go to proshop dot
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Speaker 1: hope everybody has a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.
Speaker 1: I honestly probably one of my favorite holidays of the year,
Speaker 1: so look forward to it. And we will be back
Speaker 1: one episode next week. So we will be back next
Speaker 1: week with one episode. I will I'll put something together
Speaker 1: next week, so talk to you then and thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: As always,