Speaker 1: I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset.
Speaker 2: When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.
Speaker 2: And when I find my ball.
Speaker 3: In a Frida egg Friday egg, the dreaded Frida egg,
Speaker 3: Friday Frida Egg egg, fridagg brid egg.
Speaker 2: Lie, I'm about ready to run off.
Speaker 1: Of the hump.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Golf Podcast.
Speaker 2: I am your host, Andy Johnson, and today we are
Speaker 2: going to talk about this year's President's Cup. Uh. This
Speaker 2: is obviously a huge event, a international matchplay competition.
Speaker 4: UH.
Speaker 2: It's delivered some really great moments. It hasn't delivered a
Speaker 2: lot of parody in terms of who wins the event,
Speaker 2: but maybe this will be the year that it changes.
Speaker 2: Joining me today is the PGA Tour Sean Martin, a
Speaker 2: regular guest here on this podcast. Sean's great. He is
Speaker 2: on the ground in Montreal and will delve into his
Speaker 2: things that he's watching for this year's President's Cup. Before
Speaker 2: we get to Sean, today's podcast is brought to you
Speaker 2: by our own Club TFE. As we talked about last
Speaker 2: week on the Main Golf podcast I did with Garrett,
Speaker 2: this is Club TFE delves deep into the world of golf.
Speaker 2: We are producing a lot of content there and if
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Speaker 2: must have. We are producing a couple pieces a week
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Speaker 2: pipe here, but check it out at the Frida egg
Speaker 2: dot com slash membership And thank you guys for all
Speaker 2: of the support. All right, let's get to Sean Smartin.
Speaker 2: You are on the ground at in Montreal. What is
Speaker 2: this your first time in Montreal? What are your first pressions?
Speaker 3: First time? I was in Saskatchewan earlier this year to
Speaker 3: track down the farmer who almost crashed his tractor watching
Speaker 3: Nick Taylor, whin the Canadian opened last year.
Speaker 2: That bumber. That is that he's not here? It is
Speaker 2: that reheat potential for that story.
Speaker 1: Kind of surprise. Yea, it would have been good reheat.
Speaker 3: We're talking maybe some crop circles, you know, with the
Speaker 3: President's cup in it. Unfortunately Nick's not here, so I've seen,
Speaker 3: I feel like all of Canada, the full range, Saskatchewan
Speaker 3: much different vibe than Montreal. So I feel like I've
Speaker 3: had a full Canadian experience, gotten lots of Tim.
Speaker 1: Horton's, including this morning.
Speaker 3: We might go to a Canadian's preseason game tonight, where
Speaker 3: I feel very Canadian.
Speaker 2: Has Tim Horton's grown on you at all.
Speaker 3: The donuts are disappointing, which when I brought it up
Speaker 3: on Twitter, you got into some I think maybe some
Speaker 3: private equity money, or they got sold to a larger
Speaker 3: corporation where donut quality has decreased greatly. I compare them
Speaker 3: to an American gas station donut, which those have their place.
Speaker 3: I've been known to have one or two at a time,
Speaker 3: but the coffee's good. I do like the breakfast sandwiches,
Speaker 3: but the donuts are a big, a big disappointment. The
Speaker 3: tim Bits are a no.
Speaker 2: Go, the tim fits.
Speaker 3: Some Canadians have even agreed with me, so I know
Speaker 3: it's a valid opinion.
Speaker 2: You know, the thing I've heard about from the stem
Speaker 2: from this Nick Taylor not being on the team is
Speaker 2: there's apparently like the East versus West Canada beef and
Speaker 2: East Canada really looks down on West Canada. Allegedly, this
Speaker 2: is what I've been told, and I could see.
Speaker 3: It similar to New York and LA kind of thing.
Speaker 2: I don't think that exists at all in America.
Speaker 1: I mean, we've had rat battles across.
Speaker 2: Some people are saying that Nick Taylor didn't get picked
Speaker 2: because he's from West Canada and we'ds from East Canada.
Speaker 3: I know some of the guys have had relationships with
Speaker 3: Mike since they were kids, so I could definitely see
Speaker 3: him knowing those guys better and it might have benefited them.
Speaker 3: But I could see, you know, Vancouver is kind of
Speaker 3: like our Seattle, I think, and then Toronto's kind of
Speaker 3: like New York, so I could definitely see there's cultural
Speaker 3: differences there. And then just to the proximity to captain,
Speaker 3: longer relationships, those things factor into Captain's picks. So I
Speaker 3: could see a little East coast West Coast beef, East
Speaker 3: coast media bias, East coast Captain's bias.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's that's what I'm hearing. That's what I'm hearing. Allegedly,
Speaker 2: it's all stantiated rumors. Let's get into it. Let's get
Speaker 2: into what we're excited about or three things we're watching
Speaker 2: for this year's President's Cup. I am just gonna say,
Speaker 2: out of the gate, I think this is gonna be
Speaker 2: the best dressed President's Cup team of all time. Be
Speaker 2: dratty and zero restriction. Our log timee partner are clothing
Speaker 2: each team. I think they're gonna be prepared. You know,
Speaker 2: we're gonna have no weather issues. We're gonna have no
Speaker 2: no issues with any of the being comfortable in Montreal,
Speaker 2: which weather seems like it might be a little factor.
Speaker 2: It's been a little cool there, right.
Speaker 3: It is fall weather. There are leaves on the ground.
Speaker 3: It is a little maybe damp, but I mean we
Speaker 3: are in the midst of fall. I feel very much
Speaker 3: in a Big ten football setting.
Speaker 2: That's good. That's good, all right, Smartan, what's the first
Speaker 2: thing that you're watching us?
Speaker 1: Driving accuracy?
Speaker 3: You know, we know with these road games that the playbook,
Speaker 3: especially in the Ryder Cup, is narrow the fairways, thick
Speaker 3: in the rough. You know, Jim Fierix saw that firsthand
Speaker 3: with that team in twenty eighteen that went over to
Speaker 3: Paris and just got decimated. And word is that Mike
Speaker 3: Weir is going to run the same playbook we're talking
Speaker 3: four inch rough. There's been a lot of rain the
Speaker 3: golf course superintendence notes also noted there was a flooding incident,
Speaker 3: I believe, so it's been hard to mow. A little
Speaker 3: bit less control of the course for the captain than
Speaker 3: the Ryder Cup, but Mike did control the pre tournament agronomy,
Speaker 3: and so I think we're thinking big rough. You know,
Speaker 3: usually favors the internationals of the Europeans, but US has
Speaker 3: four guys in the top twenty of driving accuracy, Kalin Morikawa,
Speaker 3: Brian Harmon, Russell Henley and Scotti Scheffler. Actually who's seventeenth
Speaker 3: and to those guys are captain's picks. I think Russell
Speaker 3: Henley was going to be a captain's pick no matter
Speaker 3: the skill set. Brian Harmon, I think partly for the accuracy,
Speaker 3: and I think you have four guys there who could
Speaker 3: really anchor some foursome's teams. And I think this is
Speaker 3: a team we're driving accuracy might be a strain. They're
Speaker 3: actually a slight advantage over the Internationals.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I gotta push back here on the strategy.
Speaker 2: It's like running out just the strategy that worked six
Speaker 2: years ago. Or eight years ago because it worked against
Speaker 2: the US team, but not looking at the individual players,
Speaker 2: Like if you look at I mean, I do sympathize
Speaker 2: a bit with Mike Weir. Like if you look at
Speaker 2: the US team and you start by looking at Scheffler
Speaker 2: and Xander, I mean, like, what do you do? They're
Speaker 2: just better than anybody that you have, So what do
Speaker 2: you do? Like, I guess, like, that's the overarching issue
Speaker 2: here is, you know, with trying to set up a
Speaker 2: golf courses. Our team is at a big talent deficit
Speaker 2: to the other team, So what do we do? And
Speaker 2: I guess, like, I guess that's where I would I
Speaker 2: would probably end up settling on let's muck it up,
Speaker 2: let's make it random, and a few narrow fairways you
Speaker 2: make it more random.
Speaker 3: When the with a angles kind of movement was first
Speaker 3: being talked about, you know, Jeff Ogilvy was one of
Speaker 3: these proponents that narrow fairways thick rough really takes a
Speaker 3: lot of skill out of it because instead of the
Speaker 3: opportunity for the incredible recovery shot where players can really
Speaker 3: show their ability to shape shots and hit incredible recoveries,
Speaker 3: instead thick rough you reduce it to a pitch out,
Speaker 3: which is a shot that I mean anyone can execute.
Speaker 3: And so you bring in some randomness and you actually
Speaker 3: do possibly handcuff a team when you have this this
Speaker 3: thicker rough. So it's a playbook that works. And it's
Speaker 3: also not one we've seen in the President's Cup because
Speaker 3: two of the last three Road President's Cups were Royal Montreal,
Speaker 3: which is not exactly a place you're going to narrow
Speaker 3: fairways and grow thick rough So this is a little
Speaker 3: different dynamic.
Speaker 2: Royal Melbourne, Royal Melbourne. Yeah, sorry, it's okay. You know,
Speaker 2: it's early for everybody.
Speaker 3: All these Royal golf courses. I'm in the presence of Royalty.
Speaker 3: I can't keep it all straight.
Speaker 2: How about this being the first row, Royal Montreal being
Speaker 2: the first Royal club given royal status outside of outside
Speaker 2: of the UK.
Speaker 3: It is interesting and it might be one of your
Speaker 3: things or mine, but uh, it's the oldest golf club
Speaker 3: in North America, Royal Montreal. I mean that's their claim,
Speaker 3: you know, organization, but the golf course.
Speaker 2: Everybody, everybody claims this. There's there's thirty courses in the world,
Speaker 2: and I think in the world, not just North America
Speaker 2: that would make this claim.
Speaker 3: Well, it only has to compete against the ones in
Speaker 3: North America because it does say it's the oldest in
Speaker 3: North America.
Speaker 2: But the golf course, See someone I'm saying, I could
Speaker 2: see a course this claims so preposterous. I could see
Speaker 2: a course in like in a different continent claiming this.
Speaker 3: I always thought it was Saint Andrews in New York
Speaker 3: that was the oldest in North America.
Speaker 1: It was the oldest thing.
Speaker 2: What about Chicago golf? What about the golf course that C. B.
Speaker 2: MacDonald went and played in Lake Forest, Illinois? That like, no,
Speaker 2: kind of like arms the hat I got on today,
Speaker 2: but the you know he he played, he played golf
Speaker 2: in a yard basically, like is that the first golf course?
Speaker 3: I mean part of what Royal Montreal was is basically
Speaker 3: there was a park in Montreal and they were hitting
Speaker 3: golf shots in it and then I guess eventually put
Speaker 3: in some holes. So, you know, the golf club designation
Speaker 3: for anyone back then was I think fairly loose. You know,
Speaker 3: you didn't you just kind of hit shots in a park,
Speaker 3: kind of like Brunsfield Links in Edinburgh, which is always
Speaker 3: my favorite golf experiences.
Speaker 2: The uh, there's a place in Charleston too, there was
Speaker 2: like there was apparently golf in Charleston very early too.
Speaker 2: They try and make a claim too.
Speaker 3: Bruncefield is one of the most terrifying golf courses in
Speaker 3: the world because all the holes are like seventy yards.
Speaker 3: You're in some park with like unkept turf and you're
Speaker 3: trying to nip like a little wedge with cars parked
Speaker 3: right behind the green.
Speaker 1: It is. It is not for the faint of heart.
Speaker 2: I do think, like irrationally, cars are the scariest thing
Speaker 2: you could put near a golf course. It's not like
Speaker 2: we're not worried about other people, you know, We're less
Speaker 2: worried about people and the idea of like seriously injuring
Speaker 2: a person than we are about breaking a windshield. Like
Speaker 2: when you think about that, it's kind of messed up. Right.
Speaker 3: The golf course I grew up on was a real
Speaker 3: short course, like five thousand yards, but the one like
Speaker 3: true hole was this five point fifty par five. It
Speaker 3: was a dog like left with a road on the left,
Speaker 3: and it was a terrifying t shot. We're really just
Speaker 3: we're right on track, yeah, I mean, if you want
Speaker 3: to pivot to your next thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I was gonna kick it. I was gonna say,
Speaker 2: is there anything about the golf course that you're particularly
Speaker 2: outside of the fairway lines? Is there any thing about
Speaker 2: the golf course that you're excited about or is this
Speaker 2: kind of just a course? It feels like it feels
Speaker 2: like compared to like Royal Melbourne, which is probably an
Speaker 2: unfair comparison, it does feel like just kind of a course.
Speaker 3: I haven't had a chance to walk it yet.
Speaker 4: I mean.
Speaker 3: The interesting thing going back to that oldest club designation
Speaker 3: is the golf course itself is a mid twentieth century
Speaker 3: Dick Wilson, so the guy who designed bay Hill, Durrell.
Speaker 3: It's a very parkland golf course. There's a lot of
Speaker 3: just grass, a lot of places to hit it. I
Speaker 3: haven't seen anything super distinguishing on the you know part
Speaker 3: with Royal Mont or Royal Melbourne if you will, But
Speaker 3: it's just super parkland vibes. I think it's just it'll
Speaker 3: be a good setting for the matches themselves. It's the
Speaker 3: stage and then obviously the the competition is kind of
Speaker 3: the focus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, My first thing that I have that
Speaker 2: I am most excited about. I is first time orsatheth
Speaker 2: the Gala, obviously a player that we've seen kind of
Speaker 2: ascend in the last year. And what I'm excited about
Speaker 2: is that this is just a fun player to watch.
Speaker 2: It's a uh, it's a He's got a tremendous personality.
Speaker 2: I think, like in terms of PGA Tour players, he
Speaker 2: is very much the opposite of your stock PGA Tour player.
Speaker 2: He is He's extremely friendly. He has a game that
Speaker 2: he hits a lot of different shots, like it's not
Speaker 2: a just like he just hits the same shot all
Speaker 2: the time. Like he's got great a wide array of
Speaker 2: shots around the greens. And I just think his personality
Speaker 2: and energy are very unique for the modern game. So
Speaker 2: I am extraordinarily excited about him. He's up to eleventh
Speaker 2: of the world. Him getting his debut in these team competitions.
Speaker 2: He could be somebody that becomes kind of a lynchpin,
Speaker 2: a you know, like a a player that like energizes
Speaker 2: the rest of the team. So Saha Tagala first Tiber
Speaker 2: is one of the things that I am watching.
Speaker 3: I think he's a guy that guys are going to
Speaker 3: be lining up to play with. I think everyone in
Speaker 3: that team room would like a chance to play with him.
Speaker 3: He's a guy that I love in Forsom's actually because
Speaker 3: the biggest thing with Force them is you hate making
Speaker 3: mistakes and putting your partner in a bad spot. And
Speaker 3: there might be no one better on the PGA tour
Speaker 3: right now, both on approach play and short game of
Speaker 3: just creating shots and getting out of bad situations than
Speaker 3: Saw hit the Gala. Because it used to be such
Speaker 3: a wild driver that he had to and he's got
Speaker 3: a crazy set of hands. But now actually his driving
Speaker 3: is much improved, and it's why he's had the best
Speaker 3: year of his career because now he can actually he's
Speaker 3: keeping it in play more often. But I mean, that
Speaker 3: is a guy who, like you said, hits all the shots,
Speaker 3: amazing recovery shots, and so I love him in Force
Speaker 3: Them's for that reason.
Speaker 1: He's like a safety net.
Speaker 2: All right, what's your what's your next thing?
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go captain's picks, you know. For the especially US,
Speaker 3: we have two people here myself and Paul Hodawanak. Paul's
Speaker 3: folks on international team on the US, so most of
Speaker 3: my research has been US base, giving you this shirt wearing.
Speaker 3: It's just shipped over. I am wearing a zero restriction vest.
Speaker 3: I think I got it back at the Thoroughbread. So
Speaker 3: it's several years old, but still one of my favorite, uh,
Speaker 3: one of my favorite pieces. It's a great vest warm but.
Speaker 2: Slam, I think I get you a box of gear.
Speaker 2: I don't want to. I don't want to infringe on
Speaker 2: your straight down partnership.
Speaker 3: I wasn't gonna mention names. I do have loyalties to
Speaker 3: another clothing company. I didn't want to come onto this
Speaker 3: pod and violate the agreements.
Speaker 2: All right, I was. I'm happy to, you know, say
Speaker 2: you're a straight down ambassador.
Speaker 3: But the US Captain's picks, you know, whether it's coincidence
Speaker 3: or not, Jim went number seven through twelve on the
Speaker 3: points list.
Speaker 2: Do you think it was a coincidence?
Speaker 1: I I don't know. I it seems like I don't.
Speaker 3: It feels like, hey, these guys earned it. They were
Speaker 3: seven through twelve. I'm not going to bump anyone off
Speaker 3: the team. They earned it, they deserve it. It's a very
Speaker 3: you know, player's mentality for his fellow players. But there's
Speaker 3: especially I think, you know, with Max, I mean even Max,
Speaker 3: I think would admit there's probably pressure on him that
Speaker 3: he's got to perform, and it's been a tough season.
Speaker 3: I mean I was out there in Memphis when he
Speaker 3: was in he finished last, and that was a guy
Speaker 3: on the range, frustrated and searching.
Speaker 1: And then even at BMW he was near.
Speaker 3: Last through most of the tournament, shot a fine around
Speaker 3: sixty seven, said he found something, but then he missed
Speaker 3: the cut at Silverado just a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 3: So you know that's one where you look at Max
Speaker 3: and you wonder should you have taken justin Thomas. Obviously,
Speaker 3: Billy Horsechel's BMWPGA win makes Peo one rough Billy, but
Speaker 3: I hate he can't he can't go back. In hindsight,
Speaker 3: I think Billy was making a strong case. He was
Speaker 3: playing really well after the Open, but faded maybe a
Speaker 3: little bit at the last two events and really when
Speaker 3: he needed to play well for I think another two weeks.
Speaker 2: But I just think maybe he was just tired.
Speaker 1: He could have been.
Speaker 2: It's hard. It's hard being Billy, you know it is.
Speaker 2: He's got a lot of he's got a lot of appligations.
Speaker 3: He's his motor runs hot. I mean, he's a high
Speaker 3: energy guy. He's putting, he's leaving nothing on the field.
Speaker 2: How about his pensity is a knack? Because to use
Speaker 2: another sports term, you know, like they say football players,
Speaker 2: this guy's just gotten knacked for the ball defensive player
Speaker 2: on football. Billy's just got a knack for winning events
Speaker 2: after international competition teams have been picked.
Speaker 1: He does.
Speaker 3: And I mean I saw some you know, tweets about,
Speaker 3: oh I wish Billy was the President's Cup. Oh wait,
Speaker 3: he's not. And it's like, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 3: I mean, it's I'm actually I'm kind of surprised three
Speaker 3: the international guys played the BMWPGA. And I mean, obviously
Speaker 3: you're going the opps away across the Atlantic, but flying
Speaker 3: across the Atlantic on Sunday before last Ye's Ryder Cup
Speaker 3: really hurt the US team. And I was surprised that
Speaker 3: three guys from the international team played the BMWPGA.
Speaker 2: Especially with the Thursday start. It's like the Cup with
Speaker 2: the Friday, Like if it's Friday, I could see, like
Speaker 2: you feel probably fine coming back that way, right.
Speaker 3: I mean, I was doing a little math. I asked
Speaker 3: to actually radar at List. I asked him how long
Speaker 3: a private jet flight from London to Montreal is it's
Speaker 3: only five and a half hours, and so if they
Speaker 3: wrapped up at let's say four pm, let's say wheels
Speaker 3: up at five, you're leaving at Nune Montreal time. You
Speaker 3: could hypothetically be on the ground at five or six
Speaker 3: pm Sunday. So it's doable, I guess. But I mean
Speaker 3: to me, I'm not just being a PGA to her Homer,
Speaker 3: but the pro Core felt like a much easier warm
Speaker 3: up event.
Speaker 2: Well, the you don't get to play the week before.
Speaker 3: Though, right, but you also have jet lag. I mean,
Speaker 3: I look, I'm soft when it comes to jet lag.
Speaker 3: I get jet lag going from Florida to California, so
Speaker 3: I do everything to avoid it.
Speaker 2: So, because I just dealt with the toddler switching time
Speaker 2: zones for a couple of days, a short, short trip,
Speaker 2: which is not fun.
Speaker 1: Their body clocks don't adjust.
Speaker 2: No, No, it was up late, then up early because
Speaker 2: it was light out. You know it's still you should
Speaker 2: still be sleeping. And you know, she'd look as she
Speaker 2: pulled the shades up, it's light out, Like, what do
Speaker 2: you say back to that?
Speaker 1: Wait, don't they get a clock?
Speaker 3: My kids now have clocks in their bed and it
Speaker 3: like you can sleep as late as you want, Like
Speaker 3: if you're tired of stay in bed, Like no, I'm
Speaker 3: getting up at six thirty. I get up at six thirty.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter. They just they won't sleep late. So
Speaker 3: I don't know why they hate sleep. I'm like, just sleep,
Speaker 3: It's fine, it's great.
Speaker 2: Here's the here's the course thing that I'm watching.
Speaker 3: Is this your second thing? I've did like four things. Sorry,
Speaker 3: so we'll get your second.
Speaker 2: Okay, this is good. You know, this is great course
Speaker 2: thing that I'm watching. Uh, all the part threes are
Speaker 2: odd numbers. This is just a unique little wrinkle for
Speaker 2: foursomes uh and alternate shot. So I mean, and this
Speaker 2: is a great way to analyze captains of what they're doing.
Speaker 2: We love there's nothing that viewers left board. Then is
Speaker 2: the lump blame on the captains totally? So we could
Speaker 2: say that there is captain malpractice if somebody in forsomes
Speaker 2: puts a bad iron player on the odd whole, definitely
Speaker 2: or a great putter on the even holes.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: So you have the ability here to this is like
Speaker 2: kind of like nerdy in the weeds, like if you
Speaker 2: like alternate shot. This is like a kind of a
Speaker 2: really cool setup in the sense that it's so slanted
Speaker 2: to the odd holes with the iron play, so put
Speaker 2: your best players. Put your best iron player on an
Speaker 2: odd hole. This is an opportunity to create kind of
Speaker 2: these teams where you have like great iron players. I
Speaker 2: think one of the unique things is I think Mike
Speaker 2: Weir was thinking about this with his Captain's picks. He
Speaker 2: talked about putting, which is like kind of like a
Speaker 2: it's kind of a weird skill to zoom in on
Speaker 2: when you're making captain's pick because I want great putters.
Speaker 2: But maybe this is what he was thinking about.
Speaker 3: Well, you look back at twenty twenty two and you know,
Speaker 3: Trevor passed up on mac Hughs, who's a great putter.
Speaker 3: And you know they had Mark the team room that
Speaker 3: year as well as a couple other stats guys, but
Speaker 3: they really and Quail Hollow is a ball striker's golf course,
Speaker 3: whatever that means. Every golf course is a ball strikers
Speaker 3: golf course, but it is a place where distance is rewarded,
Speaker 3: and guys were high and tros gained off the tee
Speaker 3: especially we've seen it with Rory's dominance there, and so
Speaker 3: they went ball strikers and did not pick like a
Speaker 3: mac hughes, let's say. And then talking to Trevor later
Speaker 3: that year, he was talking about the stats because the
Speaker 3: US ran out to a big lead and I think
Speaker 3: the US, he said, gained like twenty more shots on
Speaker 3: the greens than the Internationals in the first two rounds,
Speaker 3: and then Internationals made a bit of a comeback on Saturday,
Speaker 3: and Sunday was a little bit closer, but putting mattered
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty two, Putting was the difference as much
Speaker 3: as you maybe think of the US team as as
Speaker 3: longer maybe superior ball strikers, Like it was really putting
Speaker 3: that really did the Internationals in last time.
Speaker 1: And I think this might be a bit of a
Speaker 1: reaction to that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but yeah, yeah, I don't know. I think like,
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, what puts the most
Speaker 2: pressure on somebody Ellison, match play is great h T.
Speaker 2: Degreen play, Like when you just feel like you can't
Speaker 2: breathe because somebody keeps hitting shot after shot close, that's
Speaker 2: the worst feeling in match play. I will say it's
Speaker 2: probably close. Close. Second is when like somebody like you
Speaker 2: feel like they're never gonna miss. But like if if
Speaker 2: you're fifteen feet away and the other guy's twenty five
Speaker 2: feet away, like the greatest butter in the world's not
Speaker 2: gonna make up that advantage, right, So it should be interesting,
Speaker 2: Like I think like those you know, Mac Hughes, for example,
Speaker 2: has to be out in every all shot session, like
Speaker 2: if if you if he's not, like why is he
Speaker 2: on the team? Right?
Speaker 3: It's interesting too because how much you have twelve roster spots?
Speaker 3: How much can you really go for specialists? That's the
Speaker 3: other side on the putters, like are you gonna pick
Speaker 3: a guy.
Speaker 1: Just for his putter?
Speaker 3: Is the gain outweighed by I'm not saying Mac Hugh's
Speaker 3: an inferior ball striker, but yeah, like you said, it's
Speaker 3: hard to pick guys like like in baseball, you have
Speaker 3: your defensive replacements or your pinch hitters, Like do you
Speaker 3: have your like designated putter? Is it is that worth
Speaker 3: a roster spot?
Speaker 2: I don't know, could be yeah, yeah, the I don't know,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's an interesting like I could see having
Speaker 2: one or two, but like tipping the scales to we
Speaker 2: want putters. It is an interesting choice, you know, now,
Speaker 2: like if they all get hot, it could be the
Speaker 2: greatest choice because if they're all hot, you know, also
Speaker 2: if you narrow fairways, maybe putting is more relevant because
Speaker 2: of chipouts, right and getting up.
Speaker 1: On war saves.
Speaker 2: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: I actually.
Speaker 3: Say I missed the I feel like we don't have
Speaker 3: in baseball anymore of the guy that was just the
Speaker 3: designated hitter. Like I always thinking of Matt Stairs. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's the guy like that was that was it. That's
Speaker 3: all he was doing. He wasn't starting, he wasn't playing
Speaker 3: the field. Maybe it's because the designated hitters in both leagues.
Speaker 3: He's your designated hitter now. But I missed the guy
Speaker 3: who was getting a million a year and he just
Speaker 3: came in for designated hitting.
Speaker 2: And he only played in one league. He only was
Speaker 2: available to half the league. Yeah, that was the other
Speaker 2: best part about it. I loved that in Major League
Speaker 2: Baseball there were two leagues with different rules Like that
Speaker 2: made them feel like different leagues. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: And then in the World Series they would they would
Speaker 2: alternate based off of I mean that was awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that would be kale pitchers. I mean
Speaker 1: they couldn't hit anything. I mean it was it was brutal.
Speaker 3: I mean, but imagine you don't hit all year and
Speaker 3: then you're facing like a hundred one hour gas.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're just.
Speaker 2: I said something to someone I went to I got lucky.
Speaker 2: I went to the Cubs the first world home World
Speaker 2: Series game when they were in the World Series against
Speaker 2: the Indians, Game three, and I said something to a
Speaker 2: former major league pitcher. I was like, oh, yeah, I
Speaker 2: can't remember who the pitching matchup was, but they were like,
Speaker 2: you know, it was like the not great pitch to
Speaker 2: be the number three pitchers. Guys like, oh yeah, so
Speaker 2: the number three pitcher play a guy pitching in the
Speaker 2: World Series starting a World Series game, not a great pitcher,
Speaker 2: Like he took like very great offense to it. I
Speaker 2: think it would be similar to being like, you know,
Speaker 2: Mackenzie Hughes, he was a Captain's pick, not a great player,
Speaker 2: being like, oh, a guy playing in the President's Cup,
Speaker 2: not a great player, Like all these guys are great players.
Speaker 2: It was just like it was actually like a super
Speaker 2: interesting like response of like something that made you like
Speaker 2: think about like what you said, Like anybody pitching in
Speaker 2: the world Series. Starting a game in the World Series
Speaker 2: is a great picture.
Speaker 3: You think of all the people always think of like
Speaker 3: the funnel because I have kids playing sports now, of
Speaker 3: like how many millions of kids are playing baseball right now,
Speaker 3: and then you have like how many kids even go
Speaker 3: to play high school and then d one and then
Speaker 3: even make it to the miners is even like a
Speaker 3: super small percentage, and then to make it the World Series.
Speaker 3: That's why, like I'm super fascinated by I mean the Cooties. Yeah,
Speaker 3: their grandfather won the Masters, that they grew up with
Speaker 3: that advantage of having that wisdom. But like the hoy
Speaker 3: Guards also like having brothers, especially twins make it to
Speaker 3: the highest level in their sport. I mean, like just
Speaker 3: one person making it that far is is pretty incredible.
Speaker 2: What about Lebron and Broanni.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot, It's a complex situation. There's
Speaker 1: a lot.
Speaker 3: I mean, you have obviously genetics. He's got great jeens
Speaker 3: for height and speed.
Speaker 1: You know, I.
Speaker 2: Captain congratulate you about Otani.
Speaker 3: I was at that game. It was it was amazing.
Speaker 3: I was at that game. And then Sunday was even better.
Speaker 3: They were down by one in the bottom of the
Speaker 3: ninth th Tani leads off in homers and then bets
Speaker 3: Homer's next.
Speaker 1: Now we're now I'm in my wheelhouse. Man. That that
Speaker 1: game was incredible though.
Speaker 3: I talked to Nico Daris of Golf Blueprint, who a
Speaker 3: lot of people know, like we talk about power and like,
Speaker 3: you watch Otani and I feel like he looks like
Speaker 3: a long drive guy teeing off and that second home
Speaker 3: or first homer he hit in that Miami game was
Speaker 3: a shot.
Speaker 1: And there's like nobody in that stadium.
Speaker 3: It's the roof is close and it's like a gunshot
Speaker 3: and that thing is just gone. But I love watching
Speaker 3: the way Otani like uses his body. It looks like
Speaker 3: a guy, like a long drive guy, just fully extending.
Speaker 2: I gotta just wonder. I don't know if anybody's done this,
Speaker 2: but what Pete Rose is thinking?
Speaker 3: I mean on what that I'm tre'stening a lot of
Speaker 3: things on a lot of things about like should you
Speaker 3: gamble on him?
Speaker 2: Like, well, how come Otani hasn't gotten treated, got treated?
Speaker 3: He has been cleared. That was an unfortunate situation. He
Speaker 3: was the victim of malfeasance. Don't get me started.
Speaker 2: There's a Dodgers fan right there, you know that that
Speaker 2: World Series. Not to throw some salt in the wound,
Speaker 2: that World serious game. I was sitting in Dodgers tickets.
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, so uh, I don't get super sentimental about
Speaker 3: sports when my first child is born that October and
Speaker 3: so you're up in the middle of the night right
Speaker 3: with your wife helping change diapers and eating, and I
Speaker 3: was like, and all the games are on super late
Speaker 3: because the Dodgers are on the West Coast. I'm like, man,
Speaker 3: it would be so cool if, like they win the
Speaker 3: first World Series since eighty eight. And I'm like in
Speaker 3: the middle of the night watching it with my newborn son.
Speaker 3: And then of course they lose. Came in a full
Speaker 3: season World Series.
Speaker 2: My sentimental moment of early early child having a kid
Speaker 2: super early was in the you know, it was during
Speaker 2: the middle of COVID, so I was in a we
Speaker 2: It was just my wife, me and my daughter in
Speaker 2: the hospital room, no visitors, and the Women's open at
Speaker 2: Royal Throun Pop Offs Win was on and I was
Speaker 2: just you know, laying with my my daughter watching women's
Speaker 2: open like early at crazy hours of the morning.
Speaker 3: I thought you were gonna tell me that like Illinois
Speaker 3: was facing Northwestern for the Big ten East Division title
Speaker 3: or something.
Speaker 2: We're a Big ten West team there also, you know,
Speaker 2: you could be could be going to the coming down
Speaker 2: South in the in the late fall or winter for
Speaker 2: CFP games.
Speaker 3: You know, probably this point, you guys should be Big
Speaker 3: ten East. They need to rework those divisions. It's like
Speaker 3: when the Braves are in the NL West.
Speaker 2: I think we're still we still would be West though.
Speaker 1: I mean with like Oregon and Washington.
Speaker 2: There's Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA, Iowa, Nebraska, and then I
Speaker 2: mean like there's eighteen teams, so there's Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota,
Speaker 2: and then it's like Illinois in Wisconsin would be the
Speaker 2: next West teams.
Speaker 3: I actually don't watch a ton of college football, mostly
Speaker 3: because Cal Poly football is. They're on ESPN Plus, but
Speaker 3: they usually don't have the best cameraman they hire for
Speaker 3: the games.
Speaker 1: It's a little shaky.
Speaker 3: And FSU's my wife's team, so I kind of glom
Speaker 3: onto that. But I love I love following on. You know,
Speaker 3: we got a big win against cal big acc win,
Speaker 3: so I think we're off the Schnott. You know, we
Speaker 3: just want we're waiting for conference play. We're really just
Speaker 3: peaking for conference play. But I love conference re alignment.
Speaker 3: I'll read everything about conference re alignment, like Utah State,
Speaker 3: which was in the Big West, which is in cal
Speaker 3: Poly's division when I was in college. I mean Cal
Speaker 3: Paul and Utah State facing a Big West Conference basketball
Speaker 3: championship game. They're going to be in the Pac twelve now, possibly,
Speaker 3: Like I don't know, I love I don't know why.
Speaker 2: They just turned it down.
Speaker 3: Oh that's right, they did turn it down. See, I'm
Speaker 3: not up to it. I was, yeah, but I love pro.
Speaker 2: Might be a big pack twelve team.
Speaker 3: We can make a case for it. We're good in
Speaker 3: some smaller sports. The football would be a tough.
Speaker 1: Go we do.
Speaker 3: You know John Madden talking right now, we're so off topic.
Speaker 3: I have another thing. We actually had a great segue
Speaker 3: my last thing, and I totally blew through it to
Speaker 3: talk about Otani or something.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Do you want to get to my third thing?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: It was actually we're talking about the designated putters. It
Speaker 3: was Scotti Scheffler. Scheffler's O five and three in the
Speaker 3: last two team matches. I think there's explanations for it.
Speaker 3: Maybe their excuses. But you look at twenty twenty two,
Speaker 3: he's coming off his like life changing year where he,
Speaker 3: you know, wins his first major, becomes number one. He's
Speaker 3: dealing with all the adjustments to being their one player
Speaker 3: in the world, and I think it was a big
Speaker 3: adjustment for him.
Speaker 1: I think you can make a case.
Speaker 3: He's exhausted and didn't play great and also, as a
Speaker 3: lot of people have said, him and Sam Burns just
Speaker 3: had the fortune of they hit some really hot teams
Speaker 3: on the international side, and then last year obviously he's
Speaker 3: in the depths of his potting struggles. I think Scotty should,
Speaker 3: I mean Scotty should statistically have a great Presidence Cup
Speaker 3: this week. But if he doesn't, you know, you gotta
Speaker 3: wonder what's going on for this time he talk.
Speaker 2: About can we talk about saddling him with Sam Burns.
Speaker 1: Well, so I'm gonna make a case.
Speaker 2: I think what are we doing?
Speaker 3: I think we keep him with Sam Burns. If not that,
Speaker 3: maybe Brian harm I think I can make a Brian
Speaker 3: Harmon case.
Speaker 2: Harmon, can we just have somebody that can put the
Speaker 2: ball in the fairways?
Speaker 5: Well, that's why I'm saying, Brian Hartman if you don't
Speaker 5: do Sam, that's the problem with Sam Burns. You got
Speaker 5: your best, so the best iron player on the planet
Speaker 5: with a terrible driver of the buck ball.
Speaker 3: That's why I think again, if you don't sticking with Sam,
Speaker 3: it's Brian Harmon, top ten, top twenty and driving accuracy,
Speaker 3: solid iron player, solid putter. He's eight yards shorter than Scotty,
Speaker 3: but Scotty can afford to sacrifice eight yards off the tee.
Speaker 3: He's great with his irons. He's number one in proximity
Speaker 3: from one to fifty to one seventy five. He's a
Speaker 3: great mid iron player, so you can sticking with someone
Speaker 3: who's shorter than he's accustomed to. So I do think
Speaker 3: Brian Harmon would be the guy from Forsom's. If it's
Speaker 3: not Sam Burns.
Speaker 2: I think another guy that would be good for him,
Speaker 2: Keegan Bradley, you know, just a just a tee to
Speaker 2: green machine, right.
Speaker 1: Going back to Captain's picks. Keegan's another one that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he won the BMW, which he almost wasn't in
Speaker 3: until Tom Kim collapsed. But other than that, the record
Speaker 3: is the last few weeks wasn't great.
Speaker 2: I mean more Cowell would be another great pairing for Scheffler. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I just I can't you look at there's only one
Speaker 2: player that I think would be a worse pairing than
Speaker 2: Sam Burns. An alternate shot for show Windom.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you love to dog Windham for his driver.
Speaker 2: I don't love to dog Windom.
Speaker 3: You were dogging him before the Olympics about his driver
Speaker 3: and then he you know, or after he had that
Speaker 3: first you were dancing on his grave after the horrible
Speaker 3: first round like Golf National, and then he comes back
Speaker 3: and shoots like fourteen hunder in the last three rounds.
Speaker 2: I like Wyndham. Wyndham. You know, most people probably don't
Speaker 2: know this. The first podcast Windham ever was on was
Speaker 2: on this podcast when he was just just turning pro.
Speaker 2: I've been a Wyndham supporter since his his amateur days. Like,
Speaker 2: you know, accuse me of dogging them.
Speaker 3: I just remember there's some takes after his first round
Speaker 3: at the Golf National.
Speaker 2: I mean his his I'm just calling balls and strikes
Speaker 2: he did. He told driver accuracy is not good.
Speaker 3: He told our Paul Hodawana Kee been dealing with a
Speaker 3: lower back injury, and then he blitched the Olympics last
Speaker 3: three rounds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like him.
Speaker 1: I've always really win him. I think his back.
Speaker 2: Door t six in the forty eight player field.
Speaker 3: Congratulations, he's he's had some better signs since the Olympics.
Speaker 2: He has he's a great player. You know, I think,
Speaker 2: uh what, uh yeah, what's your thing? What's my thing?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: All right, my last thing here Taylor Pendrith.
Speaker 3: Yep actually putting the weight of the international team on
Speaker 3: Taylor pendrid.
Speaker 2: I've got I'm gonna wait for that. I got another
Speaker 2: question for you. I just have, like a a general
Speaker 2: question that we haven't talked about this.
Speaker 1: I can't wait for this.
Speaker 2: Does does the Peak Cup? This is just such a
Speaker 2: broad question. Does the Pea Cup need the Internationals to win?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't want to go down Adam Shupac's road.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: I think you don't want to. You don't want to
Speaker 2: get explicit. Uh uh. Profanities yelled at you. Bet you're
Speaker 2: about seeing Captain Jim Furich.
Speaker 3: Sally said he spoke to Adam about the incident, and
Speaker 3: Adam and uh Jim, as fellow Pontavidrins, have known each
Speaker 3: other for a long time, and so it was a
Speaker 3: little bit tongue in cheek. It wasn't quite as harsh
Speaker 3: finger in the chest Bobby Knight as it maybe comes
Speaker 3: across in print.
Speaker 2: Well, when people ripped, when people didn't read Adam's piece.
Speaker 1: Well there you know you got a quote graphic made
Speaker 1: out of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Now now you got the aggregators, the new you
Speaker 2: get things nucleared on you.
Speaker 1: You know, I love going nuclear. No vowel? Well one vowel?
Speaker 2: Do you think so? You think?
Speaker 1: Sorry?
Speaker 3: Real quick on aggregators. A great conversation with Woje retiring. Uh,
Speaker 3: they said that they don't know will there ever be
Speaker 3: an insider like Woges again or is it just gonna
Speaker 3: be the aggregators that are gonna fill the vacuum I think,
Speaker 3: I mean nuclear, I followed nuclear very closely, so they
Speaker 3: do a service, but they also can it can lead
Speaker 3: to misunderstandings like the Atom Shoepack incident.
Speaker 2: I think like the key to the aggregators is always
Speaker 2: go to the source. Take the aggregators as the this
Speaker 2: pops up on my timeline, and then I'm going to
Speaker 2: go to whoever if if they actually source it, which
Speaker 2: is always a good question.
Speaker 3: The hard part is, you know x Throttle's posts with
Speaker 3: external links on them, and so Nuclear does a good
Speaker 3: job of they reply with the link, but they can't
Speaker 3: put in the post anymore because they put in the post,
Speaker 3: nobody sees it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those guys understand the algorithm. Well, Nuclear Discussion, what's
Speaker 2: so your answer is, yes, the internationals need to win.
Speaker 1: I can keep it close.
Speaker 2: I don't have to win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, and so your point the other.
Speaker 3: Thing, the US can't afford to lose if we go
Speaker 3: into be page having lost two in a row, just
Speaker 3: getting throttled at Rome and then losing a president's cop
Speaker 3: I mean, the whole infra structure.
Speaker 1: You got to tear it up and you got a
Speaker 1: new task.
Speaker 2: Well, that's why we Keegan's Kean's Keegan's the outlier. This
Speaker 2: is it's almost like Keigan was picked to protect themselves
Speaker 2: against the US losing at Royal Montreal so that the
Speaker 2: PGA can go Listen, it's a new era with with
Speaker 2: with Keegan Bradley coming in.
Speaker 3: Hey, there's a Charles Schwab challenge or commercial on in
Speaker 3: the media center.
Speaker 1: But it's not you.
Speaker 2: Oh thanks, I got I heard from a lot of
Speaker 2: people because it was it was on, It came on
Speaker 2: at the right at the like critical moment of last
Speaker 2: week's BMW PGA, like it was like they were plant
Speaker 2: coming up eighteen, It came on, can you can.
Speaker 3: You complain about commercial load if you're in the commercials.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can still complain. I don't want the commercials airing.
Speaker 2: I don't want my I don't want people people seeing me,
Speaker 2: you know the Uh. I think Keegan Bradley is just like,
Speaker 2: what if he goes like for four and oh yeah,
Speaker 2: does that fuel him picking his own himself?
Speaker 3: I don't think he would. I think he'd have to qualify.
Speaker 3: I don't think he'd pick himself.
Speaker 2: What if he what if he's seventh in points?
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: Does the BMW count as a mean beat?
Speaker 1: Home course? He's a New Yorker. He has to he
Speaker 1: has to play.
Speaker 2: Pj's shaking his head this long islander there he can't
Speaker 2: jump on. He's in producer mode. Uh yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: It's interesting.
Speaker 3: I want is it more valuable for him for next
Speaker 3: year to be a player this week and get the
Speaker 3: time inside the ropes with the guys or to be
Speaker 3: have been a captain's assistant?
Speaker 1: I see you think so?
Speaker 2: Honestly, Yeah, I think being a captain is completely overblown, then,
Speaker 2: Glad hadding it's figuring out figuring out what kind of
Speaker 2: food players like this is you know, I think like
Speaker 2: and I think and then it's like the important part
Speaker 2: of being captain is like the pick stuff. You know,
Speaker 2: who's pairing with who, and you know, getting guys to
Speaker 2: come together. I think from that standpoint, being a player
Speaker 2: is actually having connection to the players, and being a
Speaker 2: player is really important.
Speaker 3: Well, then do you limit your you know, Keegan's participation
Speaker 3: this week, Like, do you only pairing with guys who
Speaker 3: you are really confident are going to be on the
Speaker 3: Ryder Cup team next year? No?
Speaker 2: No, I think you you play to win. But I
Speaker 2: think just Keegan being around the players all the time
Speaker 2: and seeing how a player, like how a schedule works
Speaker 2: or doesn't work for players. You know, obviously, like Xander
Speaker 2: spent pretty outspoken about these competitions and the dinners and
Speaker 2: different things out how it like interrupts his flow. I think,
Speaker 2: you know, there's probably some deep rooted other reasons that
Speaker 2: he doesn't like these competitions that center around monetary compensation.
Speaker 2: But the you know, I think like understanding what works
Speaker 2: and what doesn't work. As a player from what the
Speaker 2: captain sets up is probably pretty invaluable, like being that
Speaker 2: connected to where you played the last year. Now, what
Speaker 2: would throw a whole wrench in is if he qualifies, Like,
Speaker 2: then who who's the captain? Like you can't be like
Speaker 2: a playing captain is not actually a captain? Right right?
Speaker 1: Well, so who Tiger Lean? I guess you.
Speaker 2: And then ifan if Keegan plays as a playing captain,
Speaker 2: it goes so well do they have to run it
Speaker 2: back for your.
Speaker 3: Scotty the playing captain that's sping of Pete Rose playing
Speaker 3: captains might be in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, good, I'm glad we tied that whole
Speaker 2: baseball conversation back. Hey, let's take a quick break. You know.
Speaker 2: One of the things that we've done in the pro
Speaker 2: Shop is we have just launched a fall line. They
Speaker 2: there are some awesome, awesome pieces in this in this drop,
Speaker 2: one of which is named after me. Big congrats to
Speaker 2: B Dratty for being the clothing sponsor of this year's
Speaker 2: President's Cup. But one of the pieces is the Andy hoodie.
Speaker 2: That's a B Dratty piece we have. We have that
Speaker 2: in our pro shop. Another thing that I would highly
Speaker 2: recommend it's fall falls coming. Uh. There is an American
Speaker 2: needle crew neck in there that I really really like.
Speaker 2: On top of that, we have some new Polos, new hats,
Speaker 2: all sorts of stuff. Meg did a really great job here.
Speaker 2: Check out our pro shop at proshop dot Thefrida egg
Speaker 2: dot com. Thanks and let's get back to shot all right.
Speaker 2: Uh questions, last party question outside of Who's gonna win? Who?
Speaker 2: Which players on each side intrigue you the most?
Speaker 3: Tom Kim has won obviously, you know, such a breakouts superstar. Yeah,
Speaker 3: a breakout start in twenty twenty two. He's only played
Speaker 3: twice since the Open. He played the Olympics and then
Speaker 3: he played and Qualify. Well, he played the Olympics and
Speaker 3: then he played the FedEx Saint Jude and then he yeah,
Speaker 3: he was out.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And that guy, you would feel like, is ripe to
Speaker 3: play the Pro Core, but he hasn't played since Memphis.
Speaker 3: Last time we saw him was that tough finish. He'd
Speaker 3: finished sixty sixty six to you know, miss BMW And
Speaker 3: I get the need for a layoff this time of year,
Speaker 3: but man, that's a long layoff.
Speaker 2: Where would you like him play Pro Corps or the
Speaker 2: Made Sense Worth.
Speaker 3: I didn't, I'll be honest. I mean, Adam Scott knows
Speaker 3: what he's doing. I didn't love the Wentworth thing.
Speaker 2: I thought he just was gonna stay in bed. How
Speaker 2: about that answer, I'm not going out to practice. I'm
Speaker 2: staying in my hotel.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like go to NAPA and then you get a
Speaker 3: week off in between, and you know, less jet lag.
Speaker 3: It's three hours instead of five.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I I'm not gonna second guess Adam Scott when it
Speaker 3: comes to golf decisions, but that just seemed like a
Speaker 3: curious one to me. I mean, like, look, Young Union's
Speaker 3: won the BMW before. Adam's a global player. Seawoo Kim,
Speaker 3: I can't remember the last dep World Tour event that
Speaker 3: Seawoo Kim played.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean all these international players, that's the
Speaker 2: ironic thing. They're just PGA Tour player.
Speaker 3: The internationals though. The guys that played Pro Corp outplayed
Speaker 3: the Americans oft Pro Corps Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Connors.
Speaker 2: I mean that's a pretty sample size totally.
Speaker 1: But I mean, I mean Wyndam missing the cut.
Speaker 3: I mean because Wyndham, you know, as we've discussed it
Speaker 3: has been a little up and down this second half
Speaker 3: of the year.
Speaker 1: He missed the cut.
Speaker 3: Max missed the cut after having a few weeks to
Speaker 3: try to straighten out whatever was bothering him.
Speaker 2: Salath wasn't great, right T seven, T seven, Okay.
Speaker 3: I think saw hit is going to be on the
Speaker 3: US side. Saw Hith, I think is going to be.
Speaker 3: I don't I'm not breakout star. He's eleventh ranked player
Speaker 3: in the world, but I think this is gonna be
Speaker 3: a good week for saw Hith.
Speaker 2: All right, here's the players I'm most interested in. Taylor Pendrith. Yep.
Speaker 2: Last time we saw him in this competition, he was
Speaker 2: like the I think, what was the like one hundred
Speaker 2: and fifteenth in the world. Yeah, he started this year
Speaker 2: one hundred and six. I think like when you look
Speaker 2: at Pendrith, he's got some like he had some like
Speaker 2: raw skills that were very interesting. Now he won no
Speaker 2: points last last President's Cup, but he comes into this
Speaker 2: he's like a completely different player. If you look at
Speaker 2: the data Golf rankings, he went from basically one sixteen
Speaker 2: to twenty seven in those rankings over the course of
Speaker 2: this calend. This year twenty twenty four, you could make
Speaker 2: an argument that he's probably like a top three player
Speaker 2: in terms of, like, you know, this year on the
Speaker 2: international team. He's got a lot of power. He's I
Speaker 2: think one of the most impressive players on the international
Speaker 2: team this year. So I think he is kind of
Speaker 2: like a lynch pin. If you can go out and
Speaker 2: play like and get three points, I think they're in
Speaker 2: a really good spot.
Speaker 3: The crazy thing is the jump and putting. In twenty
Speaker 3: twenty two, he was not a good putter, and he's
Speaker 3: part of that problem. On the international side, he's like
Speaker 3: top ten is Roskame putting this year. So you have
Speaker 3: a guy who's that long and an elite putter. It's
Speaker 3: a great combination.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's the that's the thing. So I think
Speaker 2: he's just like kind of a key player on the
Speaker 2: on the American side, I pointed out Sahith just for
Speaker 2: a little variety, I will go with uh, I'll go
Speaker 2: with mact I think, you know just I think like
Speaker 2: everybody's always looking to criticize picks, and I think if
Speaker 2: he could go get some points on the board early,
Speaker 2: it will will help any second guessing if this is
Speaker 2: close with with Furick and the maximum of pick because
Speaker 2: it's like even if it's like one two and one
Speaker 2: on one, you know, like if you get a point
Speaker 2: on the board right out of the gate, nobody's gonna
Speaker 2: second guess you. It's like kind of the silly thing
Speaker 2: about this competition and the way match play works. It
Speaker 2: is like you could be a captain's pick and you
Speaker 2: could go make like six birdies a day and lose
Speaker 2: and lose every match and people will be like why
Speaker 2: was this guy picked? As like, well, I just got
Speaker 2: the bad luck of the draw. Or you could go
Speaker 2: out and you could win every match shooting like seventy
Speaker 2: four if you just get like the luck of the draw. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I think, like we there needs to be a
Speaker 2: little bit deeper level of critique in terms of like
Speaker 2: who played well who didn't. But if you go out
Speaker 2: and win your first match of the right of the
Speaker 2: Ryder Cup or the President's Cup, you're pretty much exempt
Speaker 2: from critique like people for like it's just an immediate
Speaker 2: like you know what, that guy's great, or even if
Speaker 2: your matches get to like eighteen and you lose, Oh
Speaker 2: it was close. It was close. So for Max, who
Speaker 2: might be struggling with this game coming into this, just
Speaker 2: get a point on the board right out of the gates,
Speaker 2: and nobody's gonna look at you.
Speaker 3: I think it's a great week for him too. Match
Speaker 3: plays a good format for a guy who's struggling the
Speaker 3: way he is, because you know what, he's not driving
Speaker 3: it great right now you make a triple. Okay, you
Speaker 3: lose a hole. It doesn't mean you're gonna miss the cut.
Speaker 3: Your whole week is derailed. You just move on to
Speaker 3: the next hole. So I think, you know, maybe like
Speaker 3: Adam Scott in two thousand and nine when he wasn't
Speaker 3: playing well and he got a captain's pick and it
Speaker 3: kind of turned him around. I think this could be
Speaker 3: a good environment actually for Max because match plays a
Speaker 3: little more forgiving.
Speaker 2: All Right, what's your pick.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go USA fifteen thirteen or no, there's thirty
Speaker 3: points sorry, sixteen fourteen he.
Speaker 2: Went with the President or with the Ryder Cup points there, Yeah,
Speaker 2: seventeen thirteen. It's kind of a blowout.
Speaker 3: USA International, USA, So you can't put your money pick.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I think sixteen fourteen. I mean Internationals they
Speaker 3: won Saturday. Last time singles were close ish, like every
Speaker 3: time it had that forty five minutes where like the
Speaker 3: odds probably weren't actually that great, but like you're like, well,
Speaker 3: Xander doesn't close this out.
Speaker 1: It could get interesting.
Speaker 2: Is the four ball discrepancy where like they just get
Speaker 2: absolutely murdered for forsomes because for the talent is that
Speaker 2: the talent?
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's nowhere to hide. You need two players playing well,
Speaker 3: you know, four balls. One guy can carry a team
Speaker 3: and if you know, one guy pitches in a couple
Speaker 3: birdies and the other guy makes six, that works. But
Speaker 3: for some themes, both guys can be playing well, which
Speaker 3: I mean that's the same thing you've seen it.
Speaker 2: So that's is that the whole like his remedy is putters.
Speaker 3: Designated putters, Matt Stairs come in to you know, knocks
Speaker 3: him in the hole, knock him out of the park,
Speaker 3: knock him in the hole.
Speaker 2: If we get another nineteen eleven, what what is the
Speaker 2: you know, what's the future of the event, look.
Speaker 3: Like, I mean a lot could change in the golf
Speaker 3: world between now and twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: That's a good answer, that's it. I mean, twenty twenty
Speaker 2: six Medina's can be fun.
Speaker 3: The other two I mean you talk about like golf
Speaker 3: course set up Madnaly like Davis Love did in twenty twelve.
Speaker 3: You know, no rough Bomber's Paradise. You know, USA didn't
Speaker 3: win that Madna Ryder Cup, but they had to have
Speaker 3: a historic collapse. Not to that that one plays right
Speaker 3: into the US hands. I mean I don't know, actually
Speaker 3: the renovation, I don't know. You've been there, I haven't.
Speaker 2: So how about how about the fact that you know
Speaker 2: and the international cap why is it an architect Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, might be able to show him some tricks.
Speaker 2: I love it. You know what interesting thing about about
Speaker 2: that that one? You know, we'll do a little twenty
Speaker 2: twenty six Peak Cup preview. Here is the way they
Speaker 2: rerouted it. The first three holes are like some of
Speaker 2: the most interesting architecturally for the golf course. It be
Speaker 2: obi left on all of the first three holes. Love
Speaker 2: effectively all boundary holes. Love that and like it's kind
Speaker 2: of very You remember like the first day at Royal
Speaker 2: Melbourne when the first hole, like everybody, all the Americans
Speaker 2: were bailing away right and they could it was a
Speaker 2: short part four and they could not get up and
Speaker 2: down and all the Internationals just hit irons up the
Speaker 2: left and like they just they got off to a
Speaker 2: great start in every match because of that first hole.
Speaker 2: It could be similar with with with Medinna.
Speaker 3: Could you imagine the feeling standing on the first team
Speaker 3: one of these events and you just pump it OB
Speaker 3: and it's four balls.
Speaker 1: You have to re tea.
Speaker 2: I mean I played, I played their bad. The media
Speaker 2: thing there I didn't get that I hit. I hit
Speaker 2: four balls out of bounds and in like a three
Speaker 2: hole stretch is not like one trying. I want to say,
Speaker 2: I was actively trying to hit it close to the
Speaker 2: boundary line.
Speaker 1: That's texture to take.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, like you're playing the hole, you want to
Speaker 2: see how it works, like I'm trying to get to
Speaker 2: the right spot. Like I'm not. I'm not out there
Speaker 2: trying to post a score. I'm like out there playing
Speaker 2: the golf course, trying to have fun with the golf course.
Speaker 3: You know, hitting OB is not fun for me. I
Speaker 3: don't know about you, but I mean it.
Speaker 2: Got pretty fun when after like the fourth ball went
Speaker 2: out of bounds in a two hole period.
Speaker 4: One.
Speaker 2: I also want to say, one ball hit like a tin.
Speaker 3: Cup will take your hand off your caddy, give you
Speaker 3: another ball, Like no, I'm hitting it down this left side.
Speaker 2: I don't care one ball, one ball hit the fence
Speaker 2: and bounce back in play. I almost hit five balls.
Speaker 3: Out of the and he made eagle on his fifth ball.
Speaker 3: That's whatever I remember.
Speaker 2: But yeah, the I don't know what were you saying
Speaker 2: about about the out of bounds.
Speaker 3: Wasn't there's I saw on Twitter that there was like
Speaker 3: a bunker that goes through and out of bounds fence.
Speaker 1: Is that a thing?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Okay, so can you be in the bunker but out
Speaker 3: of bounds?
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's like no way do they do they draw
Speaker 2: the way it's shaped the ball is going to roll
Speaker 2: back and play.
Speaker 3: Do they draw a line in the sand?
Speaker 1: Like how do you?
Speaker 2: Okay, that's that's how it would technically be. You know,
Speaker 2: there's rumors that the tour wants to remove the fence,
Speaker 2: which would be sad.
Speaker 3: It's not my department. I can't comment on that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the U the one green is insane where it's
Speaker 2: like right next to it. I mean, like I hit
Speaker 2: like who I thought was gonna be a really good shot,
Speaker 2: and the wind just like Atlanta, just just off the green,
Speaker 2: just like gone.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you know, Americans are used to short grass being good,
Speaker 3: but sometimes you can land it on short grass and
Speaker 3: not be in a good position.
Speaker 2: All right, Smartan, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go. My
Speaker 2: pick is uh, let's I'm gonna pick the Internationals. Yeah,
Speaker 2: what do I have to lose? I'll go sixteen fifteen
Speaker 2: and a half, fourteen and a half Internationals nail bier.
Speaker 1: How does it end?
Speaker 2: It ends with uh. With Mackenzie Hughes in the anchor match,
Speaker 2: He's been dreadful, unplayable a whole week. There have been
Speaker 2: calls from Western Canada through the Western Canada, East Canada.
Speaker 2: Beef has come bubbled up to the forefront. Never is
Speaker 2: anybody seeing Canadians so mad at each other. And then
Speaker 2: Mackenzie Hughes on the eighteenth green in the anchor match,
Speaker 2: cans of fifty five foot putt. That puts. That makes
Speaker 2: it everybody forget about Nick Taylor's historic putt in your
Speaker 2: article about about the Farmer, honest tractor.
Speaker 3: Mackenzie has a lot of pressure because all the advertisements
Speaker 3: in town, it's Scotti, Scheffler and Xander for the US,
Speaker 3: and it's Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Connors for the Internationals.
Speaker 1: So like they, he is the face of the President.
Speaker 2: Why isn't Taylor Pendreth on those He's arguably the best
Speaker 2: of the three.
Speaker 3: I would McKenzie's a more of a known quantity. I
Speaker 3: would say, man, by the way, Kent State football is bad.
Speaker 3: I don't know how closely Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes
Speaker 3: and Corey Connors follow it.
Speaker 1: But which I mean? That's those guys play college golf.
Speaker 2: Do you think they should bring Kent State's the coach
Speaker 2: the retired up out of retirement to be assistant captain.
Speaker 3: I don't think they're going that far, but I believe
Speaker 3: he'll be here because he's actually Canadian.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that.
Speaker 2: What's his name? Legend?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Her Page, Like, what are the great college golf coaches
Speaker 2: of all time?
Speaker 3: I mean to take Kent State and make him into
Speaker 3: a golf power. Have three guys? I think you had
Speaker 3: three guys play the Olympic. Two three you guys play
Speaker 3: the Presidents Cup. He's like Herb Brooks her Page. Great
Speaker 3: coaches are named Herb. He's a great coach name.
Speaker 2: He should be an assistant coach this week.
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe they were afraid to be you know, too
Speaker 3: much influence in the room. Who are you gonna listen
Speaker 3: to the old college coach or your boyhood idol.
Speaker 2: Legit Corey Connors. I do think should go out in
Speaker 2: like every format if he if he's got the fitness
Speaker 2: level to do it.
Speaker 3: I mean I actually do like the the Thursday start
Speaker 3: because you can it's more likely guys can play five
Speaker 3: mm hmm. And actually I mean Thursday Friday, there's five matches,
Speaker 3: so you can only sit two guys a day. That
Speaker 3: you know hurts the Internationals because the US has more depth.
Speaker 2: But that's hurt hurts the Internationals.
Speaker 3: Who sits day one? Yeah, oh man, that's a lot
Speaker 3: of pressure. It's gonna be four balls, so that matters
Speaker 3: because they want to start off with their best format.
Speaker 1: Internationals get to pick who sits.
Speaker 3: Honestly, four balls is a great session to get your
Speaker 3: your rookies out. So I see, like on the international side,
Speaker 3: I think min Wu is out there, but you also
Speaker 3: want to put your best players out there.
Speaker 1: I mean Minwu fits both boxes.
Speaker 3: On the US side, I would probably say, gosh, I
Speaker 3: think you sit Keegan. You know, he's a little bit older,
Speaker 3: he's probably a foursome specialist, so you give him a rest,
Speaker 3: sit Keegan, and then maybe sit.
Speaker 1: Harmon. I like Brian.
Speaker 3: I think Brian can have a great President's Cup. He
Speaker 3: played great with Max at Rome. He had the second
Speaker 3: most points on the team as a thirty five year
Speaker 3: old rookie, which is pretty impressive. But I also don't
Speaker 3: know if they're gonna send out guys in their mid
Speaker 3: thirties to play.
Speaker 2: Five Yeah, it's uh, I think.
Speaker 3: Yeah, honestly, I don't know. You sit some just then
Speaker 3: you have run the gauntlet and play every match from
Speaker 3: then on in.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think there's actually like a case that you don't
Speaker 2: sit your struggling player.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, for balls is a great format if you're
Speaker 3: struggling to go out and play because you can hide
Speaker 3: a little bit with your partner.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, that's why. Like, and then if you sit
Speaker 2: and then you play bad the next day, that's going
Speaker 2: to be like what everybody's talking about. I mean.
Speaker 3: The other thing one of Europe's keys is success is
Speaker 3: it figured out with the analytics that it just should
Speaker 3: never sit someone for the entire first day. So they
Speaker 3: made sure to play everyone on the team on the
Speaker 3: fridays of Ryder Cups, at least in one session, so
Speaker 3: everyone played no more than nineteen ninety nine Andrew Coltart
Speaker 3: sitting out until Sunday or whatever. Everyone played Friday. But
Speaker 3: you don't have that option at the President's Cup. Two
Speaker 3: guys just have to sit that day because there's only
Speaker 3: one session.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's I did kind of like the four
Speaker 2: day format. I don't I don't you know, I don't
Speaker 2: love it from a competition standpoint because of what it,
Speaker 2: you know, it kind of magnifies like the kind of
Speaker 2: competition of the issue. But I do like the Thursday Friday.
Speaker 2: It does like a nice Yeah, like you said, a
Speaker 2: lot of people play five sessions more often. All right, Smartan,
Speaker 2: thank you for coming on. What do you do you
Speaker 2: have anything that you're working on this week?
Speaker 3: Our team has some great stuff. Paul Hodawana did a
Speaker 3: feature on Phil Kenyon, obviously the guy that turned around
Speaker 3: Scotty's putting, but also works with Russell Henley, Max Homer,
Speaker 3: and that's a good read. I've never seen something as
Speaker 3: in depth on Phil, so that was a nice piece
Speaker 3: for us. Cameron Morphitt doing a great piece on sawhith Igala.
Speaker 3: He's really gotten to know sawhith well over the years
Speaker 3: as he's been on tour and so a nice feature
Speaker 3: on kind of like we talked about that progression to
Speaker 3: becoming an even better player and not just the guy
Speaker 3: that's a great scrambler, but really a great ball striker
Speaker 3: now as well. So I think those are the big things.
Speaker 3: But no, I appreciate you having me on. I feel like,
Speaker 3: just like Matt Stairs, we touched them all. We hit
Speaker 3: every topic. This is your go to President's Cup review.
Speaker 2: Got it, cut it back, conference realignment, baseball and President's
Speaker 2: Cup here.
Speaker 4: All right, thanks Martin, Thanks Andy.
Speaker 2: All Right, that does it for another episode of the
Speaker 2: fridaygg Golf Podcast. Today's episode was edited and produced by
Speaker 2: PJ Clark. Big thanks to PJ for getting this up quick.
Speaker 2: And you know he's headed to Bethpage to get a
Speaker 2: little taste of Beth Page Black before the Ryder Cup.
Speaker 2: So big thanks to PJ. If you haven't If you
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