WEBVTT - Blindsided Betrayal 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:06.000 This is the most traumatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:11.400 We have a very interesting show for you today, Chris 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.920 Harrison here alongside Lauren Zema here at the home office 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.599 in Austin, Texas. Follow me here for a second. There's 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:23.440 something that happened today that was emotional and a bit 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.360 triggering for me, and it had to do with golf, 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:31.720 and so yes, technically this episode is about the PGA 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.760 Golf Tour and a rival league called Live. Now. I 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:40.280 know what you're thinking. Don't push stop yet, Dear God, Chris, 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.519 do not do an entire podcast about sports, much less golf. 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:46.240 I won't. I'm not going to do that. And to 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.640 keep me honest and to keep me on track, here 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:51.600 is Lauren Zema. And I think we can all agree. 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:53.400 If there's someone who can keep me on track and 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.920 away from just sports, it's Elsie. 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:58.200 Wow, thanks for giving me that power. Baby. 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:00.760 Well, look when you said to me, I want to 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:04.360 talk about this today because it was quote very triggering 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.360 for you and you said it made you emotional. And 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.800 this whole news headline of the Live Golf Tour merging 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.360 with the PGA, and for US sports layman's out there. 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.000 My understanding is basically, this is shocking. No one saw 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:22.920 this coming, The players didn't know, people deeply involved were 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:26.200 completely blindsided by this. And so as you're kind of 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.080 telling me about this, the first thing Chris came to 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.240 me and said was, this is making me see my 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.280 own situation with the Bachelor in some new ways. It's 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.560 giving me some new takeaways and making me reflect on 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.520 it differently. And that is what struck me, because you know, 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.319 you're not gonna get me with the golf stuff. 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:46.040 It's a microcosm of what's going on in the world 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.800 right now, and it really did make me look at 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.880 my own situation with fresh eyes and realize things that 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.320 I had never realized before, which was amazing considering I 0:01:55.360 --> 0:02:01.320 have thought in depth about my situation and over again. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.600 Consumed us for you know, a couple of years ago. 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.640 I will I will bore you for like a very 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.800 short time just to give you the five thousand foot 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.200 level of this whole thing, just so you can understand, 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.080 because I know there's a lot of LZ's out there 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.480 that are like, what are you talking about? So for 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:20.000 forever and ever, the biggest pros in the world played 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.960 on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicholas, Arnold, Palmer, 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.320 you name it. They played on the PGA Tour. That's 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.799 where they made their living. They had a monopoly, they 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:32.120 owned it well. About a year ago there was a 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:37.160 Saudi based league called Live and this was funded by 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.919 this Saudi fund out of Saudi Arabia, and all of 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.679 a sudden, the PGA Tour had competition in this Live 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.400 Golf Tour, which was a competing tour against the PGA. 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.200 Went after the big name players, offered them hundreds of 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.560 millions of dollars and they got a big star like 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:59.120 Phil Micholson, Brooks, Koepka, Dustin Johnson. These are big names 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.400 in the golf world. And now all of a sudden 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.560 there was competition and serious competition in the world golf 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.200 where there hadn't been any. And this is a billion 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:17.680 dollar industry, a bill multi billion dollars, where money, endorsements, companies, 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.840 commercial television rights, all of this is on the line. 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:26.280 So why do I bring this up Because when this 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.960 happened about a year ago, the PGA Tour quickly went 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.760 on defense because they had a monopoly. They didn't want competition. 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.640 Understandable and to clarify the idea, was if you were 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.120 going to go play on the Live Golf Tour, you 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.240 could no longer play on the PGA. Right, Like, the 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.680 players were forced to make a decision and Live was 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:46.839 luring them with lots of money and opportunity. 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.040 Well that's what happened the PGA Tour. Upon losing, some 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.200 of these players quickly said, there is a line in 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:58.000 the sand you choose. You choose this Live Golf Tour 0:03:58.960 --> 0:03:59.960 or you choose the PGA. 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:01.640 Period an ultimatum. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.440 Yeah, which probably broke a lot of anti trust rules 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.120 and some monopoly rules, and that's part of the lawsuits 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:08.680 and the things that I'll get into in a little bit. 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:13.360 But these guys had to choose, and they did and 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.960 they chose to go with Live. So the PGA, clearly 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.400 feeling the pressure, had to click it up a notch. 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.680 And this is where things get interesting, and this is 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:25.599 where everything changed for me. And this is why I 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.400 wanted to talk to you today, because what the PGA 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:34.520 Tour did was they had to create animosity. They had 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.080 to create a fight. It's not enough to say, hey, 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:39.800 it's no fair that you want to play in our sandbox. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:41.920 Now we've had a monopoly and you want to take 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.839 some of our money. That argument doesn't hold weight. So 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:51.240 what they did is they went to the players, the employees, 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.480 and they weaponized them. They gave them talking points, they 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.440 fed them information that made the other side seem evil. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.520 This Saudi League, they kept calling it the Saudi League, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:03.920 wanted to make sure you knew it was coming out 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:09.159 of Saudi Arabia, that these evildoers are now buying these players. 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.800 We are just and if you stick with us, we 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.560 are loyal. You're a team member, you're part of this 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.119 family at the PGA Tour. We got your back. Well, 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.839 j Monahan, let's call him the creator of this show. 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:25.239 Let's call him the executive. 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:26.840 Is he of Live ORGAPGA Tour? 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.880 Is the boss at the PGA Tour? Well, he's not 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:34.080 the most loved, as most CEOs aren't, so he couldn't 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:37.320 be the face of this. So what he did he 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:41.640 found the freshest, most lovable face he could, a golfer 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:45.760 named Rory McElroy. Let's call him the host of the 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:46.559 PGA Tour. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:49.200 A lot of analogies happening here. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:52.440 So they go to Rory, who's a great golfer and 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.599 so loved. He's Irish, he has a cute little accent. 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.839 He's very forthright and honest and transparent. They go to Rory, 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.760 they make him the spokesperson. Rory, you get out there, 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.200 you get out front and center, in front of the cameras, 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.039 You recite all of our talking points. You fight the 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.600 good fight. We are on the just side of this. 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.160 We're on the right side of history. We're going to 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.800 make it right. And remember we're a team. Buddy. We 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.960 love you. You're our brother, We got your back. We 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:26.160 will never screw you over Rory. You're our hope, our golfer. 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:32.640 So that's how Rory went out, and Rory did so 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.200 thinking and again I don't put this on Rory. He's 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.560 thinking he's doing the virtuous thing. He thinks he's being loyal. 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.360 He thinks he's doing the lord's work here by toting 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:48.560 the company line. And it cost him dearly. He started 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:52.200 drawing a line in the sand, started arguments and fights 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.680 with players that he was friends with just weeks before. 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.279 The stress of this has deteriorated his game. He's not 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.080 the same player he was. Everybody will agree he's been 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.839 a bit of a mess because of this. He took 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.760 so much heat. He took all the pressure. Meanwhile, the 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:10.680 PGA Tour and Jay Monahan got to sit in the 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.640 shadows and just watch see how this goes well. It 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.600 wasn't going well enough, so the PGA Tour turned up 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:24.720 the heat. They then weaponized the media. Does this sound familiar? 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:30.200 Pretty interesting? There was an interview about a year ago 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.480 that Jim nance did with j Monahan on a PGA 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:38.000 tour broadcast on CBS, major network. Again, CBS, they have 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.120 millions in play here, hundreds of millions at play. Jim 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:43.480 Nantz has been a loyal subject and a member of 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.600 you know, the PGA, and he's you know, announces all 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:49.440 of it and does He's great. By the way. I 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.120 love Jim Nantz. I respect him. I know Jim Nantz. 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:53.840 I've talked to him on a number of occasions. He 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.840 is a legend in broadcasting. But he did this interview 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:01.960 with Jay Monahan and he clearly read talking points that 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:06.000 were given to him. He took a stance. And now 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:07.560 this is where I have an issue with Jim and 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.520 I did back then as a journalist. Let's just say 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:15.400 it was really poor journalism. It was pretty gross. He 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.679 wasn't asking questions of Jay Monahan, the commissioner who should 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:24.120 have had all these answers. He started making these declarative statements, 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.640 very strong statements about live golf and the people that 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:33.680 run it. Talked about sports washing, a phrase that really 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:38.280 became popular and used back in the Olympics when Nazi 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.880 Germany was hosting the Olympics. They talked about sportswa washing, 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.200 about using sports to kind of show how your society 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.319 is great and how everything's okay, and please don't look 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.200 over here, look how wonderful the Olympics are. That was 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.480 the Nazi regime and sports washing back in the Olympics. 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:56.880 They start using that term in regards to this live 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:02.280 golf tour. But it's Jim Nance saying this. Someone we love, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.840 someone we respect, someone we've watched our entire childhood. Now 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:07.760 it's Jim Nantz saying this, So it carries a lot 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.640 more weight than Jay Monahan saying it. It was some 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:20.800 of the worst journalism I've witnessed outside of Michael Strahan 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:26.040 and how he handled my interview. It was very reminiscent 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.360 that interview, watching Jim Nansen and the links he went 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.600 to bringing up nine to eleven, bringing up the nine 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.920 to eleven families, that this was all on these golfers' hands. Basically, 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.600 these golfers that went to live have blood on their hands. 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.200 This was jim Nantz making these statements. And then Jay 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:51.480 Monahan added on to it, really sad journalism by jim Nantz. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:55.319 It really disappointed me greatly. And again I give him grace, 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.120 and I still love jim Nantz. I respect him that 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.400 one moment in time. I guess he thought he was 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.120 on the right side of history. He thought he was 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.960 doing the right thing. He thought he was defending people 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.720 who were going to be there for him. But that 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.720 wasn't enough. There is a thing called the Golf Channel. Yeah, 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.840 that's right. That thing that's usually on in the background 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.000 of your house and your husband just disappears for hours 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:20.800 on end. That's the Golf Channel. 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:21.080 There is. 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:22.720 I was going to say, first of all, this is 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.160 a lot of drama, a lot of interesting relationships, and 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:30.040 for anybody who's not a golf fan, but maybe your 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.280 partner is, you are going to walk in with some 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:33.920 things to say tonight. 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:35.560 Okay, so go on the Golf Channel. 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.160 So the Golf Channel jumps in. They're partly owned by 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.760 the PGA Tour and kind of exist with the grace 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:46.080 of the PGA Tour and they're owned by NBC. For 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:50.800 the entire year, they have i'd say ninety nine point 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:54.200 nine percent been against Live Golf. They have read the 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.680 talking points the PGA Tour wanted to give them. They 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.880 have promoted PGA. They're all PGA because that's that's where 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:07.040 their money lies. Well, these announcers, these sportscasters, and again 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:08.320 a lot of them I know and a lot of 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:13.400 my respect have said really rough things about Live Golf 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.280 and the people that went to Lift Golf. It has 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:21.280 been one hundred percent one sided, no objectivity, no real journalism. 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.120 When it came to the other side of this story, 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:29.680 instead of just posing questions and posing points, they made points, 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:35.920 they gave opinions. Again, golf fans are watching this. These 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:39.400 people at Golf Channel again probably thought the PGA Tour 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.280 was on their side, probably thought NBC was on their side. 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:45.280 We're going to be loyal, We're going to be team players. 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.400 They got our back, They'll never screw us over. We're 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:54.520 on the right side of history. Well, everything changed. As 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.160 I used to like to say on the show, everything 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:01.600 is about to change. Jay Monahan again, we'll call him 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:06.800 the creator, the CEO, president of PGA Tour. When he 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.360 made this strong statement when Live Golf started. Remember he 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.400 went in the room and said, guys, we are a 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.400 band of brothers. We make decisions together, we live or 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.960 die together. This is all about transparency. It's all about 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.240 doing the right thing. Have you ever been ashamed of 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:24.000 playing on the PGA Tour. No, these Live guys can 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:29.640 be ashamed. Don't worry. This is all about family. When 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:35.240 I woke up this morning on Twitter, I found out 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:39.480 at the same time Rory McElroy did, the same time 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:44.920 Tiger Woods did, the same time every employee, Slash Golfer 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:49.040 found out. We all found out on Twitter that Jay 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:54.680 Moonahan and the PGA Tour have merged with Live Golf. 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:10.040 So now that you set that up, it's like they 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:14.880 were saying for a year, this thing is evil, This 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.520 thing is toxic, This thing is going to tear us apart. 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.680 These people are tied to nine to eleven, These people 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.720 are sports wise, These are evil, evil human beings, and 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.280 you are a part of it. Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reid, Bubba, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.600 you guys are a part of this. That was the 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.480 stance for the last twelve. 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:37.160 Months, and now they've partnered with this screp Not only 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.760 did they do a ONET eighty, it was one hundred 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:45.240 percent behind everybody's back, one hundred percent in the dark. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:50.600 There was zero transparency, There was zero debate, not one golfer. 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.920 All the golfers are going on Twitter right now going 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.920 what the hell aren't these the people we swore we 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.120 would never do business with? 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.120 As Rory spoken, I have not heard. 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.800 Rory's statement yet. I do not know if anybody might 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.000 be in the bottle, the bottom of the bottle of 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.720 boerman or Irish whiskey talk about someone who got screwed 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.800 over in this more than anybody, Rory and I love 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.640 Rory McElroy. He is a good guy. I mean one 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.520 hundred percent across the board. Everybody loves Rory, which is 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.440 why he was the perfect mark to push out there 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:26.040 to be the voice of what the PGA Tour wanted 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.240 him to be. Again, let's just call him the host. 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.240 Very interesting that they have left him on an island. 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.840 The damage is done. He's lost friends, he's lost fans, 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.360 his game is deteriorated. Now he'll be back. He's not 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:42.920 going to be in the poorhouse. But what they did 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:47.280 to him was unconscionable. How they have stabbed him in 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.400 the back, pulled the carpet out from under all of 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.720 these guys because all of these guys were offered big 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.120 money Rory Colin Morikawa, I'm just naming some other big 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.640 golfers where they were offered hundreds of millions of dollars 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.960 to go to live. But they thought they were told 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.600 they were doing the right thing by saying no, and 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.160 if you stick with us, we'll take care of you. 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.600 They woke up this morning and realized all they did 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.280 was piss away hundreds of millions of dollars because the 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:21.880 PGA tour in J. Monahan singularly decided that the best 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.720 interest of all of them was to join forces with 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:30.880 Live an LZ. You and I love journalism. I turned 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:33.120 on Golf Channel. First of all, the announcement was made 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:38.840 on CNBC, very telling as well. The guy on CNBC, 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.600 he may like golf, but he doesn't know it. He 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:44.120 doesn't know how to dive into this story. So it 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:48.800 was a very very soft landing spot for J. Monahan 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.680 and the Saudi group, who by the way, won in 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.240 this big time to come and announce this merger. So, 0:15:55.840 --> 0:16:02.200 after this announcement and Jay Monahan completely contradicts hypocritically everything 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.400 he has said and stood for for the last year, 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:11.840 we go to Golf Channel. When I tell you the 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:17.480 analysts were like deer caught in the headlights, it's an understatement. 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.720 I felt partly, I felt justified, but I felt sad. 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.280 These people now don't have talking points. They now have 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.600 to think for themselves. They now have to navigate these 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:32.320 unchartered waters because the safety net was ripped out from 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:32.800 under them. 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:34.640 Well, and they're probably thinking about what they said over 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.040 the past year, and now how are they worried about 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:38.800 contradicting points they made before? 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:40.320 Things they said before. 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:46.320 They were they were mumbling, they were stumbling. People that 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.720 I really respect in this business had nothing to say. 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.680 They literally were wide eyed. Go back and watch it. 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.840 It's fascinating TV. These guys were all just kind of 0:16:55.920 --> 0:17:03.840 mumbling and stumbling and asking questions. And flash forward several hours. 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.480 This just happened today. I usually don't like to date 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:09.960 these things, but it's Tuesday. It's one thirty in the 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.560 afternoon Central time when I'm taping this, So they've had 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.840 several hours to count to try and gather their thoughts. Now, 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:24.399 these quote unquote journalists are asking questions, poignant questions, lobbing 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.439 out questions like maybe this is the best thing for golf. 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:35.080 Maybe the entire geo political existence of the United States, 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.560 Saudi Arabia, the Middle East shouldn't have been on the 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:43.200 shoulders of Dustin Johnson. Maybe the President of the United States, 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:46.800 Maybe some of these other political leaders could handle this. 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:50.080 Maybe it's not on the golfers to figure this out. Now, 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.760 they're still right and wrong here, and that needs to 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:54.720 be settled, and that needs to be talked about. By 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:58.640 the way, there needs to be questions about Saudi Arabia, 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:03.400 about China, which the PGA tour is massively in bed with. 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:07.440 So when you get into this human rights thing, you 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:10.320 can't just pick and choose. You can't cherry pick only 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.600 because you were worried that this was going to cost 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:16.480 your organization hundreds of millions of dollars. The same Saudi 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.399 fund they own, maybe it's not the majority, but they 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.920 are massive shareholders in UBER. Nobody's not used UBER. 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.320 First of all, you know, you said we love journalism. 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:29.639 I used to love journalism. 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:31.600 I was just talking to somebody about this the other day, 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.440 and we've discussed it a little bit before. It's hard 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:37.080 when you are educated in something and you grow up 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:39.680 dreaming of being something, and then by the time it's 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:43.280 your time to have that as your career, it's changed 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.639 so much. I mean, I was growing up reading People magazine, 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:48.960 and then when I was in high school and college, 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.000 the Internet very rapidly changed everything. Then when I graduated 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.679 after studying journalism, video on the internet very much change everything. 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.040 Then social media gave it another change. In the fifteen 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:00.800 years I've been doing this, the industry has changed so much, 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.880 so fast, and I don't know that I love it anymore. 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:05.320 It's not what I grew up loving. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.919 And a huge part of that is because I questioned 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.280 so much about it ethically, Like in this case, I mean, 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.159 these quote unquote journalists, I mean they are journalists, but 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:18.879 they're in a tough spot. Their boss is telling them 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:22.439 what to say, their boss owns. You know, there's so 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:24.760 much money at stake here, and I know you know 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.360 that feeling not just from journalism, but from hosting reality 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:27.960 TV also. 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:29.920 Well, and look at you know, you look at Jim Nantz, 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:32.760 who again, I really respect. I've looked up to him 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:36.080 as a broadcaster. He made a really bad decision in 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:40.080 that interview, and he took a bad stance. Now he 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:43.520 was getting But I understand because that even jim Nantz 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:46.359 was getting a lot of pressure. Clearly he had been 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.439 giving given things to say and read. Does jim Nantz 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:52.840 walk away and quit his job? Does Brandal Shambilie on 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.240 Golf Channel? Does rich Lerner on Golf Channel? These people 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:58.640 that didn't speak up, that didn't ask the right questions, 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:08.199 that didn't correctly approach this objectively. When NBCPGA, there's so 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:10.879 much at stake and you're feeling so much pressure, and 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.159 again you feel like you're being a team player, you're 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:14.800 being loyal, you feel like you're doing the right thing. 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:17.200 Well, plus people will say, oh, you should take a 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:18.760 stance at work and you should be like, be the 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.520 voice and speak up. It's not that easy to walk 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:23.920 away from your job, even if you've made a lot 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.359 of money and you're talking about walking away from the 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.280 career you've built. About thinking to yourself, if I do this, 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:30.800 will I ever work again? 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:32.800 Because you're also going to be blackballed in the rest 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:33.480 of the community. 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.600 Exactly so it's really not an easy thing to do. 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.200 And you know, I do think one thing that's hard 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:45.280 is like you're working for a company, but publicly you 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.840 have to privately represent that company and on some level 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:49.800 do what you're. 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:52.840 Told, but publicly you're yourself. 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:55.840 Like you, I know, everybody is a boss they have 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.880 to answer to, but when you are, you know, in media, 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.600 you have to publicly say things to the world as 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.840 you and with your name on it, but behind the 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:08.879 scenes you're told what to do to a certain extent. 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:10.960 And I felt like that. I mean, for twenty years 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:14.960 on The Bachelor, I spoke for the Bachelor, but it 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.280 was me. And sometimes you're having to deliver a message 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:20.639 that it's not that you're not okay with it, but 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:22.320 maybe that's not what you would say if it was 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.680 just up to you. And I'll go a step further 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:28.159 a layer of this that again I found very interesting 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:30.080 and I was yelling at the TV. There was this 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:32.600 documentary that I was so excited about called Full Swing. 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:35.560 If you on Netflix, if you watch Drive to Survive, 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.639 there's a few of these kind of sports docs that 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:41.879 came out brilliantly done by the way Drive to Survive, 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:43.560 I mean, the people that do it are incredible at 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:45.960 what they do. They decided to do one of these 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:49.480 for golf called Full Swing, and they happened to be 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:52.679 filming the year that this happened last year, so I'm like, 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:57.920 oh my god. These documentarians captured everything that was happening 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.919 when the PG two are fractured in live and guys 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.720 were leaving and there were fights and arguments and things 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:08.760 we know about. I watched this quote unquote documentary and 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:13.879 it was one hundred percent like watching a PGA Tour 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:19.160 media film, a promotional film put on by the PGA Tour. 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:23.840 They made every PGA Tour guy seem like the greatest 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:27.000 human being in the world. I mean, Captain America. Put 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:29.719 an American flag on this person, give him some apple pie. 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:33.840 He's going to sing, God Bless America. Then they would 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:37.439 cover the live guys Ian Poulter throwing a tantrum in 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:41.440 the locker room, throwing his clubs. He's on edge Brooks Koepka. 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:45.480 He's mentally unstable, he's losing it. Literally, they change the music. 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:49.320 They would change the music to this like grab the money, 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:51.879 get your bag, like that kind of stuff. Then there 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:56.359 would be this soft glorifying, you know, beautiful lens that 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:58.960 they would paint the PGA tour. That's how this Full 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:04.080 Swing turned out to be. It was a PGA pr stunt. 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:09.960 And today again this journalist Chad mum who was a 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:12.679