WEBVTT - Grading Performances in the 2024 Men's Majors 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:05.880 And when I find my. 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.280 Ball in a brid egg Friday Egg the Dread and 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:12.559 Frida Egg Friday fridagg Bride Egg, Lie, I'm about ready 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:13.360 to run off of the. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.280 All right, Welcome back to another edition of the Friday 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.519 Golf Podcast. Today I am joined by Joseph Lamanna and 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:48.440 our esteemed guest, uh the founder, the CEO, the COO, 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:55.800 the CMO of the Quadrilateral, the golf's only major focused newsletter. 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.080 Jeff Shackelford. Hi, Jeff, Hi, an, nice to see you. 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:04.720 Nice to see you guys. Last saw you at the 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.480 US Open. And yeah, it's been a great year, hasn't it. 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.720 Yeah. Jeff is fresh off a nice flight from from 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.400 Scotland back to California. He's in a joyous mood and 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:21.440 he's ready to discuss the entire entirety of the Majors calendar. 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.360 We're gonna give some of the big name players grades 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.240 on their major season as well as the venues and 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:32.600 the governing bodies. So Jeff, big, thanks for coming on, 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.280 and and what you know, before we get into it. 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:38.920 I'd love to hear a little bit about your overall 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:43.280 takeaways from the major seasons. Yeah. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.160 Yeah, we still have one more Women's and the of 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.680 course the Olympics. We don't really count those in the 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:52.360 major world. I thought it was a fantastic year, you know, 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.280 it's kind of what you hope for in terms of majors. 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.400 The courses played generally like we thought they would, or 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:03.320 maybe a little it better. I still have some thoughts 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.720 about Augusta we might get into, but I thought overall 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.920 it was you know, we had really good winners, good finishes. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.880 You felt like everybody who did well deserved to do well, 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.639 and there were great little mini dramas and spats and 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:24.800 fun stuff that kept things lively so and and less 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:28.760 nonsense about world ranking points and live I mean, there's 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.799 still some of that, but I thought it was a 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.560 way above average year when you think about some of 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:36.400 the years we've had in the past. 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.600 Joseph, your thoughts, I would echo Jeff. 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:45.399 I think the golf courses, maybe with an exception, were 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:50.480 very refreshing, and seeing the emergence of Xander Schaffey is 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.160 a huge takeaway for me, and I think an interesting 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:55.880 story to follow over the next couple of years, Xander 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.840 Schaffley and Scottie Scheffler are starting to establish themselves as 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:03.440 like the best major championship players of this new generation, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.919 and it'll be an interesting neck and neck battle to see. 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.160 It's not crazy to think that Xander can actually keep 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.040 up with Scotty at least over the next couple of years. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.160 So that's a big takeaway for me. 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.240 I always struggle with, like where we where the line 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.240 of demarcation is with with generations, Like does it start 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:25.200 with when a player comes on tour or is it 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.839 an age thing? Because you have like Rory's thirty four 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:36.080 and Xander's thirty, like they are somewhat in the same generation, 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.040 but it feels like Rory's of a completely different generation 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.520 based off of, you know, when he came on. I 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.040 think I generally kind of like lend myself to when 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.800 a player's career kind of started. I don't know where 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.320 do you stand on that, Jeff and Joseph. 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.160 Yeah, I'm with you there and it you know, it 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.440 used to be a twenty year window from sort of 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.600 when people turn pro sixteen seventeen or after college, So 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:05.480 we saw a lot of those European guys like Longer 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:10.240 and Sevy start to flame out a little bit at 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.160 fifteen to eighteen years, and I think it's shortened now. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:20.240 And you're correct that, Yeah, Rory's probably on the sort 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.400 of on the backside now and Xander is a little 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.920 bit of a late bloomers. So you're right, they're only 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.320 four years apart, but they seem like they're at pretty 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:32.640 I guess, just different stages of their career, but they're 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:37.720 both equally competitive, and so yeah, it's an interesting window 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:39.280 that I think we're gonna have to watch in the 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.080 coming years because I think, you know, my belief that 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.239 the combination of money and the way the game's played, 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.680 increase in injuries, swinging as hard as you possibly can, 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.080 stuff is going to shorten careers. It's just to be 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:57.160 expected that we're going to see maybe five to eight 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.720 years and ten years is sort of the normal window 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.120 for a really outstanding player. 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.360 Yeah, it seems like we're going to have to change, 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.640 like how we characterize careers if the trends keep going 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.880 the way they're going, like, it's going to like the 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:19.560 way we discuss and talk about and and almost weight 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:23.400 careers now is going to be drastically different than before, 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.440 which one of the fascinating things like, you know, if 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:29.960 you compare it to like the NBA. NBA careers are 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.360 getting longer, you know for star players because of the 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.239 way they were able to take care of their bodies. 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:38.960 I think NFL careers are probably shorter and a lot 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.960 of aspects except for you know, positions that aren't you know, 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.360 completely dictated on speed. I think that's like the thing, 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:51.120 as the sport becomes more and more speed reliant, you're 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.320 going to get shorter careers. And I think that's something 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:57.440 that's not really discussed in the you know, distance debate, 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:02.279 and it's kind of missed by the Yeah, I would 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:07.680 say the savvy, the the savvy executives at Panavidra that 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:13.159 are you know, really considering every aspect of this distance debate. Yeah, 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.440 they are. That are missing the point of that their 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:20.480 value in their tour is greatly increased when you have 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:25.640 generational players that span twenty plus years. You know, when 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:27.880 you think about the golden years of the tour, the 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.160 best times on tour, the longest careers happen, and the 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.960 more that you the more that speed infiltrates and becomes 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:41.159 such a profound important aspect of the game of golf, 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.800 the less likely you are to have really long a 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:46.960 substantial amount of really long careers. 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.280 Well, we know, golf's not the most thrilling sport, but 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.840 one of the things that people love and watching it, 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:55.760 and a lot of people who watch who don't even play. 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.000 You know, I've talked all the time with people who 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:02.240 are just fans. And one of the assets of golf 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.000 used to be that you'd get to know somebody and 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.400 you you'd enjoy seeing them over a long period of time. 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.160 And now the the turnover rate, I just think it's 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.800 a huge problem. And to your point, yeah, I don't. 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.120 I don't think that they even think much of it 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.280 at the tour. It just doesn't It just doesn't seem 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.320 to be something on their their radar. Uh. And I 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.000 find that I find that just bizarre. 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:27.120 They've got more important things to worry, right, I know, like, uh, 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.120 like infrastructure. 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.440 Yeah, and I'm getting championship management to run every tournament, 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.200 so the uh, yeah, that those are the things that matter. 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.680 But as a product, it is so bizarre to to 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:44.080 see that lack of, uh, of real curiosity or or 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.800 contemplation about where we're going and what we should be doing, 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.600 and and the players now being more in charge, they're 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.800 not really the ones to start that conversation. I mean, 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:58.320 Tiger probably understands exactly what we're talking about and has 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.240 spoken on this issue. You know, That's why he still 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.200 takes pride the cut street because he knows that thing 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.800 has no chance probably have being broken just because of 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:11.480 the way things have changed. And so, yeah, they have 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.120 some they have some issues. But I've brought it up 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.360 Andy too with the governing bodies, don't you don't you 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:19.560 in this equipment discussion think about these things? You know, 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.080 do we want to be rushing kids at a younger 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:25.400 age and swinging harder? And they've just generally kind of 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.640 glazed over when you when you bring that up. And 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.080 I think that's a responsibility of them as well to 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:36.600 factor that into the discussion when they're contemplating rule changes. 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.680 Yeah, Joseph, you know we've took a little divergence there. 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:43.800 It'll be the first of many. I'm sure. 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.120 How would you, from your perspective a little bit more 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:54.000 data centric than maybe Jeff Wright, contemplate generations in golf 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.120 and how you divide and tackle them. Yeah, it's difficult. 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.560 I think what I've sort of landed on is, especially 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.240 as I've put more importance on major championships. I think 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.679 the first year that a player plays a full slate 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.760 of majors or three of four majors is kind of 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:16.000 when I'm viewing the beginning of their active career. So 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:18.600 I don't know if they toil around for five years 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.800 before making it into any majors. I don't know exactly 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.080 how that should be considered, but I'm kind of looking 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.720 at major championship windows as the majority of their career 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.960 thinking about their windows that way. I don't know if 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.600 that's necessarily comprehensive, but I think it's a reasonable way 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.000 to look at a player's window of relevance. 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:41.360 Well. That leads us perfectly and our major championship discussion. 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.800 It might be why Jeff's newsletter focuses so heavily on majors. 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.079 I don't know if you knew this going into it, 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.760 but to me, it seems like majors are more important 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.640 than they've ever been because of the division. The division 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:58.920 in the game has increased the value, interest and overall 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.840 compelling stories that come from majors because it's the four 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:07.560 times a year that we actually see all the best 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.920 players in the world together. Who knows if that will end. 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:16.480 It seems seems like we're at a stalemate right now 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:21.199 in the negotiations and both are kind of sitting there. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.840 But let's get into the major championship. We're gonna start 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:25.839 with players. We're gonna go to venues, and then we're 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.640 gonna go to the governing bodies and give grades to 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.120 you know, if we leave a leave a player off 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.640 that wasn't it's not that we don't like them or 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:37.920 we don't like the tour that they play on. It's 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.280 more a factor of they didn't really do anything that 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:43.679 deserve to be on this list. And then there's some 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:47.079 players that didn't do anything and that's why they're on 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.400 this list of players that we're going to run down. 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.160 So let's start it off. We'll start it off with 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.280 the top performer and kind of the toast of the 0:10:55.400 --> 0:11:00.160 town in golf right now, Xanderschoffley. He finished eighth at 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:04.360 the Basters, first at the PGA Championship, t seven at 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:08.880 the US Open, and first at the Open Championship. I mean, 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:10.839 I don't want to cut the suspense here, but I 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.800 have an A plus next to Andrew Schoffley's name for 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:18.839 his major's year. What you know, is there anybody that 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:20.880 gave him something different? No? 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.280 No, no, no, Joseph I did not. 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:27.640 The only notes I even really have on him he 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.440 gained strokes in fifteen of his sixteen rounds in majors. 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.120 The only one he didn't he lost a half a 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:35.440 shot in around at Augusta. I mean gained more than 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:39.120 three and a half shots around in in all the majors, 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:42.600 in all the rounds combined. So pretty historic season. 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:43.520 And you can look at it. 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.280 There's a bunch of stats that have been tweeted about him, 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.040 but unbelievable performance this year. I don't think you can 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:49.199 give him anything but an A plus. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.400 Yeah. What really stood out at Truon I thought, more 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:57.680 than any time I've seen him Andy was how confident, 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.640 relaxed he was. You know, just thinking back to Port 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:05.319 Rush when he had that little driver controversy with the RNAH, 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.199 just just some of the Yeah, he could get combative 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.920 and and you know he came in for his press conference. 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:12.360 I wasn't going to go. I had to work on 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:14.760 some stuff, and one of the RNA people went around 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:16.760 the room and kind of gave the hint, hint, there 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:19.439 aren't a lot of people in the room, could you go, 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.040 And of course I know I do that because we 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.400 don't want to have players come and have empty seats. 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:28.079 And he is the PGA champion, and you just the 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:31.640 body language, the way he took questions. It was just 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:36.200 incredible to see how how different he's become. He's been 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.439 a great player in majors from the very beginning, but 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:43.240 to see that transformation, and then it really stood out 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.240 in the championship when yeah, we had that wind direction 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:52.160 and he wasn't entirely prepared for it, he admitted, but 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.800 he he also just said that's links golf, that's part 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.079 of the fun of this, whereas other players came in 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:59.960 and were whining about it, seemed shocked by it. And yeah, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:01.800 just a little stuff like that just tells you he's 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:05.400 in a special place. He's organized, and he's not spread 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.920 too thin off the course. He's just he's just got 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.959 everything going in the perfect direction. And I think he 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:12.800 plays the game in a way where he's gonna stay 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.199 healthy for a while. So he's spent so good in 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.439 majors from the very beginning, and it's it's great to 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:23.440 see somebody persist like that and and and break through 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:25.040 in this in this way. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.319 I think a lot of times with majors, like the 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:33.120 pressure that is associated when you are close and don't 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.560 have it happen, and he was racked. I mean, he's 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.400 going into the year like he's becoming in terms of 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.559 like weeks in the top ten without a major, one 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.439 of like the most prolific players that hadn't gotten one. 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:49.800 And to emphatically just launch yourself into a whole different 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.640 stratosphere of how your thought of as a player in 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:57.320 you know, three short months since the PGA, two really 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.760 like two months since the PGA is incredible. 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:01.120 Uh. 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:03.480 Speaking of that press conference, I thought that was the 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:07.520 best press conference he's ever done. Like great he's been. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:12.160 He can be like very short, a little combative almost, 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:16.960 and in that press conference he expanded and gave more 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:21.040 insight than I've ever really seen from him or heard 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.480 from him or read, you know, if you read a 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.720 lot of press conferences, but like the there was a 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:31.520 lot of substance in those in the answers that he gave. 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:33.840 And I and I think, like you know, when you 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.640 look at him set up. You hit on it, like 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:42.360 the no injuries, the consistent improvement, the all around nature 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:46.320 of his game. I I think he's got he's set 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.240 up for, you know. I hate to get like too 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.400 far up ahead and like a lot changes in short 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:54.760 windows of time in pro golf. And we'll talk about 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.880 some players like that, but to me, like three for 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:02.040 the next three years, he's gonna be one of the 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.320 pre eminent three four players in the game of golf. 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.920 We started this year in the major season it was 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:13.320 rom Rory and Scottie and Brooks, and I think now 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.920 you have to consider Xander in those five players of 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.120 true major championships stalwarts, you. 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:25.040 Know, yeah, yeah. And the other thing we because we 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.360 obsess about golf courses and like to look at them, 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:33.200 the winning on two completely different tests within a few 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.600 months is just as pretty spectacular as well. I mean, 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:40.440 Valhala couldn't have been more different than true and we 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.760 know that's just the I think that's for a player, 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.880 that is something maybe a lot of fans don't think about. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.080 But the pride you have to get from that and 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:54.280 the confidence of conquering essentially a birdie shootout on lush 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:58.200 green versus a crazy weird and it was a really 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:00.920 weird week in terms of the wind shifts at at 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:05.120 Troon and how the helping wind really was almost as 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.600 hard as as playing into the wind. If It's pretty 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.800 funny when you look at some of the scorecards, guys 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:14.440 turning in down win, down, win supposedly, and they didn't. 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.680 They almost played worse. And so to do that, and 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:19.600 as you know, essentially at the start of the year 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:21.680 he was the best player never to win a major, 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.360 and that was starting. You're starting to wonder this was 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:26.240 going to be a thing that would would linger, and 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:27.600 he certainly answered that. 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:31.200 Yeah. Now we now we have that questions like wide 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.280 open again. We probably can get into that in a 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.800 little bit. But any any parting thoughts Joseph found Xander 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:39.080 Schoffley before we move on. 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.160 I think we covered most of it. It's interesting to 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:43.960 see him as a little bit of a late bloomer. 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.800 And we have some of these other golfers like Bryson's 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:50.000 showing flashes this year in majors, but he was an 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.960 elite amateur player, and so to see Xander Schaffley ascend 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.000 and do it sustainably, there aren't too many other players 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.800 who've really done that recently. Brooks Koepka might be the 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.400 other one who didn't have quite the resume as an 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:07.080 amateur and as the collegiate player. But we'll see what 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:09.240 the rest of Brooks' major career looks like. It's interesting 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.520 to see Xander rise onto the scene and do it sustainably, 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:14.080 so yeah, we'll see what happens from there. 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:18.040 I think there's also like a little undercard with Xander. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:23.440 I mean, he barely got his PGA Tour card and 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:27.720 then he gets on tour and immediately becomes this major 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:32.240 championship force. And I think something that maybe isn't talked 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:36.200 about enough and something that I'm going to dive into 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.280 probably a little bit more in the coming weeks, is 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:43.639 like the corn Fairy Tour is not a good indicator 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.920 of PGA Tour success, and I think Xander Schaffley would 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.880 be like a poster boy for that because the golf 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.520 courses they play just aren't demanding. It's harder for a 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:59.920 player of the quality and talent level of Exander Schaffley 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:04.879 to win and separate themselves and tournaments on courses that 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.440 aren't demanding, you know, Like there it's all I think 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:10.600 for a lot of these players at the top, it's 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:14.080 easier for them to win a major than some of 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:19.320 the bottom tier tour events at really nothing golf courses, 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:22.240 or if they went and played on the corn Ferry 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.000 Tour at some of these golf courses that are you know, 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:29.680 have been are just like not really high quality golf courses, 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.400 like it would be harder in a way. I think 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.240 for Xander to go down and win on the corn 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.560 Ferry Tour than it would be for him to win 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.840 a US Open in some regards, which is a crazy 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.719 thing to think about, but it shows how much how 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:49.080 important venues are, because at these majors, it's amazing to 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.240 see how the cream rises and it's just like it's 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.399 a different I don't think it's necessarily that much different 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:57.919 than a week in, week out in terms of their mentality. 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:01.520 It's just these venues allow them to separate. And Xander, 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.200 Scottie and you know, they are great examples of players 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:11.160 that like when the golf course is really demanding, it's 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.159 almost like they're playing twenty people, not one hundred and forty. 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.640 Yeah, and Brooks had some of that too. I would 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:23.000 also just throw in as a proud southern California. That, yeah, 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.159 you add Lily Avou and of course you think of 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:27.879 starting with Tiger and Phil, but this is quite an 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.080 interesting run of great players from southern California who are 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:36.200 essentially public golf course players were not milled at the 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:40.320 AJGA factory, and you just I don't know how you 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:44.720 measure that, but I think there's something too growing up here. 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:47.000 I mean, he made a joke at the Open, I 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.119 was kind of surprised about the lack of wind, but 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:51.920 you know, actually you play some really great wind in 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:54.960 the afternoon here off the ocean in San Diego and 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:58.800 southern California, and you play pola greens and cocula and 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:01.879 it's weird, but in a way, it's also got an 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:05.920 element of toughening you up. But to your point, he's 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:10.480 somebody who's from the beginning embraced tough golf courses, and 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.399 Scotty seems to thrive on those and speak there there 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.119 are people who just who it just brings out something 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:16.719 different in them. 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:23.760 Another anecdote of another Californian. I remember talking to Sahith 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.960 after he played really well at the Old Course, and 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:29.640 I asked him about like was it tough? 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:30.200 Is it? 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.320 You know, how are you handling the lies around the 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:36.159 greens and the turf? And he was like, this is 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.480 not really much different. I grew up playing baked out 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:43.959 drought drought brown fairways, and I learned all these crazy 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:48.480 shots because I grew up playing on like effectively dirt. Yeah, 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:52.280 And you know, it's like there's an advantage. I think. 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:57.320 I think there's a genuine I think I don't. I'd 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.960 be curious if there was ever able to do a study, 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:04.760 but I think there is like a genuine advantage maybe 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.680 not early in life, but later in life of a 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:11.879 professional golfer for someone who grew up playing maybe not 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:16.119 the best conditioned golf courses or the you know, different 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:19.960 golf courses. Then someone who grows up from just a 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.480 pure country club setting where everything's immaculate. I think there's 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:28.280 a certain a certain mindset that's created when you when 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.640 you grow up playing a little bit scruffier public golf. 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:36.040 It used to be the Texans, the hard scrabbled Texans 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:38.760 who would play, you know, in the Hogan Nelson era 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.920 and then and and after that same thing. And there's 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:45.520 no question that it helps you in those kinds of conditions. 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.399 I mean, Side's played El Prado and yeah, he played 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:52.600 some beauties. And I don't know what the answer is 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:55.159 if you're trying to raise a great golfer, but but 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:57.560 it does harden you in some way, I think. 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.639 I think, yeah, it's just an expence. I remember Putch 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:04.720 just wiggling around, and you know, greens that were like 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:09.000 sponges and brutal makes you not really care about what 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:11.840 any greens are after you've played most of your life 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:14.879 on that, you know. All right, let's go to Bryson 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:19.119 de Shambo, another Californian who now lives in Texas, you know, 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:24.840 a pre eminent YouTuber, you know, making waves with his 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:30.200 latest video T six second first Cut. What do you 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.080 guys got for grades and thoughts on Bryson to Shambo, 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:34.800 go ahead, Joseph, Yeah. 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:38.160 I have an a for Bryson. He missed a cut 0:22:38.200 --> 0:22:41.680 at the Open, and I think that's a big tournament 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:43.560 to keep an eye on over the next few years, 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:46.439 and how Bryson deals with different wind patterns and how 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:48.160 high he hits it and if you can figure out 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:51.639 those elements. So really strong year for him, two top two's, 0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:54.400 I think that's been done thirty times in the twenty 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:57.440 first century, so like a historic year in some ways. 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:01.880 And then also the one the own blemish of needing 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:03.760 to figure out one of the four majors that he 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.720 just hasn't had a lot of success in. So unbelievable 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:08.800 year for him, especially off the course and some of 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:11.600