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Speaker 1: I think it's amazing that he's as good as he

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Speaker 1: is because he's got so much going on in his life.

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Speaker 1: Guys do not play better once they get super involved

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Speaker 1: in the politics of the Patriot Jury.

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Speaker 2: That got Daughts in my head.

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Speaker 3: Can't get him John, and not the thing, well I'm

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Speaker 3: thinking about, can't get him out, John, Not the thing

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Speaker 3: what I'm thinking about.

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Speaker 2: Hello, welcome back to our fire Drill podcast. I am

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Speaker 2: delighted to be joined by Michael Bamberger, who at this

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Speaker 2: moment is in Philadelphia, but he will be at Royal

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Speaker 2: Liverpool before we know it. Michael, thanks for squeezing in

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Speaker 2: the little podcast here.

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Speaker 1: You know you have a good time talking about the

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Speaker 1: Open Championship aka shpen And tell the people about the

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Speaker 1: time that Mark Moulvoy sent you over there with a

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Speaker 1: few hundred quid to gamble away.

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Speaker 2: Well, no, it was actually was a thousand. It's probably

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Speaker 2: the greatest boondoggle in the history of sports journalism. I

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Speaker 2: convinced the SI editors because if you've been to the Open,

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Speaker 2: any fans would know this punting, as they call it,

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Speaker 2: is a big part of the fabric of the event.

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Speaker 2: And these little towns, there's little there's betting parlors on

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Speaker 2: every corner, or so it seems, and you can and

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Speaker 2: this this okay, also say this is like the nineties,

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Speaker 2: This is way before smartphones, where betting was so easy

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Speaker 2: and ubiquitous like it was. This was to bet on

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Speaker 2: the open, you kind of had to be over there, right,

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Speaker 2: and uh, it was, it was. It was part of

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Speaker 2: the conversation. There's all these different bets you could do.

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Speaker 2: And so I this is probably I'm sure I violated

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Speaker 2: the laws of various nation states. But I was talking

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Speaker 2: up caddies, swing coaches, gleaning all kinds of insider information

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Speaker 2: and to place my bets. It was fantastic even so,

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Speaker 2: and I was.

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Speaker 1: How about the chime ink ethics guideline?

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Speaker 2: Nobody cares about that was Michael, give me a break.

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Speaker 2: So at the end of like three days of reckless

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Speaker 2: you know, betting, I still had I think maybe seven

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Speaker 2: hundred pounds left. I'd lost three hundred, although actually I

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Speaker 2: snatched an emergency like one hundred pounds out of John

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Speaker 2: Garretty's wallet, so I was actually I was wagering eleven hundred. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I love Juggert and so but I had this moment

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Speaker 2: of clarity on the last night, I was like, well,

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Speaker 2: this isn't my money anyway, no one, how can I'm

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Speaker 2: not that invested. If I lose at all, who cares?

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Speaker 2: This is time ink money. So I said to our

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Speaker 2: beloved editor Jim Harry, I said, I need something. I

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Speaker 2: need a payoff here. So how much would it cost

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Speaker 2: to take the whole staff to Bandon Dunes for a boondoggle?

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Speaker 2: And he said fifteen thousand dollars US. So that was

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Speaker 2: like whatever in those days, twelve thousand pounds or I

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Speaker 2: did the math. So I went to the betting haul

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Speaker 2: the next morning, and I'm the dude sleeping in the doorway.

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Speaker 2: Guys don't have teeth. It is not a prosperous looking crowd.

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Speaker 2: And I said to the nice young lady, I said, okay,

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Speaker 2: I need to engineer a parlay so I can win

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Speaker 2: whatever twelve thousand pounds. And so what you can do

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Speaker 2: over there is I'm sure you still can. But in

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Speaker 2: those days, on the weekend, there was two balls and

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Speaker 2: you would just you would just pick who's going to

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Speaker 2: in the players who were paired together. You would have

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Speaker 2: the lowest score. It's a very simple bet. But if

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Speaker 2: they tie, you lose. So so I went through it

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Speaker 2: and had I had run around the night before, talking

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Speaker 2: to all these people, kind of had it in my

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Speaker 2: mind who I wanted to bet on, and anyway it was.

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Speaker 2: It wound up being a six tiered parlay, six different pairings,

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Speaker 2: and I won the first one, I won the second one,

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Speaker 2: I won the third one. At this point, I was

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Speaker 2: having trouble breathing. I was so excited. I didn't care

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Speaker 2: who won the Open Championship. All that mattered was the

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Speaker 2: bet and Michael, as you remember, people were tuned into

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Speaker 2: this in the press tent because I was talking about

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Speaker 2: it all week. I won the fourth bet, I won

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Speaker 2: the fifth bet. So now we are on the precipice

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Speaker 2: of going to Bandon Dunes like all of us, and

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Speaker 2: me becoming an everlasting legend in the annals of sports

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Speaker 2: journalism Open Championship punting, and god knows what else I

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Speaker 2: would have done with the money if we'd won.

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Speaker 1: And so you could be Jason Soble today had this.

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Speaker 2: Twenty years ago, Soble and so the last. But I

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Speaker 2: was also reporting the story because I wrote this whole

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Speaker 2: thing up. So I was running into the locker room

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Speaker 2: and in the parking lot trying to get players. And

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Speaker 2: so finally I get out to the last hole for

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Speaker 2: the last bet, and right behind the clubhouse, about three

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Speaker 2: steps off the green, it was Ob and the last

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Speaker 2: bet it was Nick Prey. Yeah, what's that?

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Speaker 1: Are yell with them?

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Speaker 2: Where Todd Hamilton beat Ernie L's This is O four?

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Speaker 1: I think maybe Truon?

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Speaker 2: Was it Truon? God? No, my brain joke Meal, Michael,

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Speaker 2: you're killing my momentum. It doesn't even matter where we are.

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Speaker 1: Keep it going.

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Speaker 2: Behind the last green. Two steps over the green is Ob.

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Speaker 2: And so I run out to eighteen and my two guys.

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Speaker 2: There's whistling and buzzling. Someone has gone long over the green.

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Speaker 2: Their ball is one foot out of bounds. And I

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Speaker 2: had chosen Nick Price to win this two ball and

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Speaker 2: it was kJ Choy. If CHOI has gone out of bounds,

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Speaker 2: I've won and I've become a legend. And so asking

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Speaker 2: whose ball is at No one's really paying attention. They're

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Speaker 2: not in contention. You know, there's not a lot of

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Speaker 2: people there. They're walking down the middle of the fairway.

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Speaker 2: You can't tell from their body language their stride for stride.

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Speaker 2: It was the longest like two hundred yard walk in

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Speaker 2: the history of golf. And finally, you know, Choi peels

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Speaker 2: off into the front bunker to play a shot, Price

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Speaker 2: goes back and retrieves his ball with a shrug. And

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Speaker 2: so I lost the last vet and we didn't go

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Speaker 2: to Bandon Dunes. But it's probably the most one I've

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Speaker 2: ever had on assignment.

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Speaker 1: That's great. It was, it was, And you're right, that's

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Speaker 1: very tight there.

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Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's unbelievable. But yeah, I mean, those

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Speaker 2: are the little things that make the open so fun.

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Speaker 2: That was little, that wasn't little. But you know, do

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Speaker 2: you remember, do you remember, Michael, when we went at

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Speaker 2: Carnoustie when your man Francesco Mollinari won. It's Sunday. We

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Speaker 2: don't like to complain about the press room food because

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Speaker 2: the people don't care if they don't want to hear it.

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Speaker 2: But the pressroom food at the open is always suboptimal.

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Speaker 2: And so it's Sunday. Everything's gone, they're out of everything.

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Speaker 2: We're all grinding on deadline. And there's a fish and

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Speaker 2: chips dude who goes to every open. He's got this

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Speaker 2: little trailer and it's the best fish and chips in

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Speaker 2: the World. I walked out there and I got three

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Speaker 2: fish and chips, one for me, one for you. I

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Speaker 2: can't remember where the third person was.

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Speaker 1: Very likely guaranty you was a fisher chip so file,

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Speaker 1: but maybe not.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to remember. And so I'm carrying this

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Speaker 2: tray with three loaded down fish and chips and it's

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Speaker 2: it's precarious and I'm walking and Tim Michelson comes by

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Speaker 2: and he was mad about something. He's like, he's barking

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Speaker 2: at me about something I had written earlier in the year,

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Speaker 2: and I just looked at him. So dump and I said, Tim,

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Speaker 2: do you want some chips? I got lots of chips. Here,

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Speaker 2: take some chips. And he looked at me. I looked

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Speaker 2: at him. I just kept walking. He was so random

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Speaker 2: and funny. But we ate the fish and chips. Our

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Speaker 2: fingers were oily and it helped us type. They were

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Speaker 2: well lubricated and we got through the night. So, Michael,

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Speaker 2: what do you love about the open? And we should

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Speaker 2: say that. Let me just say this. Our colleigue, Jack

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Speaker 2: McCallum at Sports Illustrated decades ago tabbed Michael the Poet

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Speaker 2: oh links Land, and to this day it lives on

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Speaker 2: in a certain subset of sports illustrated. Yeah, people, Just a.

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Speaker 1: Little background on that, because McCallum was is an NBA

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Speaker 1: Hall of is in the NBA Hall of Fame as

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Speaker 1: a basketball writer. And he used to have an annual

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Speaker 1: tournament at his golf course, the Bethlehem Uni, and Alan

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Speaker 1: played in and I played in a bunch and he

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Speaker 1: had a little skinny line for each contestant. Mind I

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Speaker 1: was annually uh poeto links Land. But then m dash

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Speaker 1: will heave hagis when he sees the Bethlehem Muni was

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Speaker 1: so little traveled in golf, he doesn't know how good

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Speaker 1: the Bethlin Muni is.

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Speaker 2: It's fantastic.

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Speaker 1: So Trump and I, mccalm and I are one's playing

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Speaker 1: the Trump. I think the Westchester Trump Westchester Course, and

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Speaker 1: I said, Jack, this course is so much better. Excuse me.

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Speaker 1: The Bethle Muni is so much better than this Trump

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Speaker 1: Westchester course with the fire with the I said, fireworks,

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Speaker 1: but I might as well be fireks. But with the

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Speaker 1: you know, the the waterfalls and the Hamburgers and the

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Speaker 1: cart paths and all the rest. And McCollum's like, you're

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Speaker 1: shitting me, right, I said no, absolutely, literally, Bethlehem, Muni

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Speaker 1: is a way way better at golf course. Now, of

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Speaker 1: course all this is subjective, and you know it goes

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Speaker 1: by taste and other things. But McCollum was a great

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Speaker 1: spirit of many, many things, and part of it was

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Speaker 1: this uh uh, this anal tournament. I would say, Alan

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Speaker 1: one of the truest. And I don't know who wrote it,

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Speaker 1: but let's just say we ever have written collectively. Is

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Speaker 1: when we have a fan in the Swinger talking to

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Speaker 1: Tree Tremont, who's a contestant in an Open Championship British

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Speaker 1: Open as I call it, and the fan says, you

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Speaker 1: cannot play without the magic drugs, can you? And that's

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Speaker 1: really the reason we like that line, Alan was. It's true.

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Speaker 1: That's what that spirit that's like the Masters is the Masters.

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Speaker 1: It's a whole thing onto itself. It's a whole culture.

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Speaker 1: It's very interesting. The US Open is a different culture.

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Speaker 1: Of the three majors, the Open, British Open, whatever you

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Speaker 1: want to call it, it has the most bringing everybody,

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Speaker 1: literally bringing everybody, kids galore, royals, all time, landed gentry,

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Speaker 1: but also a lot of regular punters and pensioners and

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Speaker 1: drinkers and and people's not screaming stuff that's stupid, just

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Speaker 1: like commenting intelligently. So when they speak about really really

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Speaker 1: intelligent galleries, these are the most intelligent, passionate galleries in

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Speaker 1: the world. The golf courses are the best in the world,

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Speaker 1: even like a boring course like Royal Liverpool is so

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Speaker 1: great you can't believe it. Any one of these golf

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Speaker 1: courses for my taste, the least of them, which people

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Speaker 1: say is we're all Saint George's, which is insane, because

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Speaker 1: we're all Saint George's is such an interesting, tricky, difficult,

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Speaker 1: fun hard golf course is so much better than anything

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Speaker 1: we have in the United States because quote, I guess

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Speaker 1: I'm quoting myself, and I know what I'm using. The

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Speaker 1: word quote for it's golf is it's meant to be played.

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Speaker 1: You can play it on the ground, you can play

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Speaker 1: it in the air. You gotta stay short of the traps.

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Speaker 1: If you get out of the traps, you better get

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Speaker 1: out and warn it de emphasizes putting Alan and I

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Speaker 1: have had, you know, more than a few evening matches

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Speaker 1: where I can sort of have more of a chance

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Speaker 1: to hold my own because because even though I have

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Speaker 1: limited skill. I can sort of shape the ball a

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Speaker 1: little bit, but I can't putt. But if you can't

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Speaker 1: put you can put a slower green better than a

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Speaker 1: faster And I have Brad Paxon on the phone here

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Speaker 1: in a day or two, I hope to talk about

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Speaker 1: the differences between putting over there and over here. I

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Speaker 1: caddied for a man Peter Tarviaine and who played golf

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Speaker 1: at Yale, was very good Teita Green and could make

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Speaker 1: a living on the European Tour because those greens. And

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Speaker 1: of course you know some similar to the greens is

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Speaker 1: Golle de emphasized putting by de emphasizing speed. So I

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Speaker 1: think just overall, you know you hit you, you know

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Speaker 1: you've got us off on the right foot. Just talking

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Speaker 1: about the punters and your own gambling experience, it's just super, super,

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Speaker 1: super spirited, and I really do love everything about it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, if I could only win one major, maybe

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Speaker 1: it would be the Masters because of that neat clebbiness

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Speaker 1: and you're there for life, and that's cool, and we're American,

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Speaker 1: but it's the greatest of the three majors.

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Speaker 2: Well, and just the scale of it, I mean, there's

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Speaker 2: nothing like that Canyon of grand stands around eighteen that

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Speaker 2: they every year put up, and there's this an expansiveness

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Speaker 2: to the golf courses a lot of obviously some of

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Speaker 2: the American courses now have taken out trees and they're

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Speaker 2: a little more open in their field, but the seaside

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Speaker 2: Links have always had that where you can stand at

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Speaker 2: a certain points you can see the whole golf course

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Speaker 2: and you can see the fans and where they're clustering,

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Speaker 2: and there there's the fan villages, the infrastructure, they everything

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Speaker 2: is just it just feels grand over there. Not ostentatious,

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Speaker 2: but just as opposite of that. It's simple, but it's

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Speaker 2: this is the sort of the championship of the world,

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Speaker 2: and it has that feeling and I always love that.

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Speaker 1: Can you remember your first experience playing Links golf?

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Speaker 2: Oh God, yes, So it was nineteen ninety six. I

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Speaker 2: was living in New York. I just started I just

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Speaker 2: graduated UCLA, and I was I'd started out at Sports

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Speaker 2: Illustrated and there was a whole group of SI folks

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Speaker 2: who annually would go over to Scotland. You know, some

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Speaker 2: of them, Greg Kelly, Meryl Noden, terrific writer, and just

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Speaker 2: some of their friends, and so Matt, Janelle and I

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Speaker 2: went together and we flew overnight and we went and

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Speaker 2: we played Royal Aberdeen, which has hosted various championships and

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Speaker 2: it's a terrific golf course. I'm embarrassed to say I

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Speaker 2: really didn't know that much about the courses in Scotland.

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Speaker 2: I had not done my due diligence. I was blissfully ignorant.

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Speaker 2: And we got out in the parking lot and it

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Speaker 2: was cold and rainy and scrambling and put clothes and

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Speaker 2: layers on and we went out in that front nine

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Speaker 2: at Aberdeen. It's just an incredible sort of moonscape and

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Speaker 2: I was blown away by all of it. And then

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Speaker 2: the next day we played thirty six holes at Cruden Bay,

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Speaker 2: which remains my favorite golf course in the world, and

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Speaker 2: it was and I actually I played great. I still

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Speaker 2: remember some of the shots I hit there like it

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Speaker 2: was one of the occasions. But I just in control

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Speaker 2: of my golf ball. And you know that Cruden Bay,

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Speaker 2: you've got that blind part three, you have to hook

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Speaker 2: it around a dune. Then there's a thirty dog part three. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I don't even know where you're going. I'm like what

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Speaker 2: am I doing? And there's that, and right before that

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Speaker 2: there's the par four with the blind Green that's down

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Speaker 2: in that incredible dell. I guess it's just and some

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Speaker 2: of the views and you've got Bramstoker's Castle and there's

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Speaker 2: driveable par fours and there's super long hard Part three's

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Speaker 2: and everything, and cruden Bay just completely changed my whole

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Speaker 2: feeling about golf. Aberdeen was was terrific and just the

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Speaker 2: turf and the shots and everything, but cruden Bay was

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Speaker 2: like almost a religious experience for me. And play it

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Speaker 2: twice and it was just I've never been happier in

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Speaker 2: my life. And I still fantasize about there's some nice

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Speaker 2: houses right there on the hill and going over there

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Speaker 2: and living in cruden Bay. And by the way, the

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Speaker 2: food at the clubhouse there was terrific. I still remember

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Speaker 2: that as well, which was not always the case, as

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Speaker 2: previously discussed in this podcast. And it's just such a

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Speaker 2: charming you know, the course is in the town. When

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Speaker 2: you're playing the first couples, it feels like you could

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Speaker 2: reach into someone's kitchen and take the pie off their shelf.

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Speaker 2: You know. It's just it's so intimate and I think

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Speaker 2: about going over there, playing golf every day right in

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Speaker 2: the Great American novel whatever, and just living there for

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Speaker 2: six months. And I'm still I'm gonna do it at

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Speaker 2: some point in my life because it remains and I've

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Speaker 2: been back and my feelings run changed. I think it's

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Speaker 2: the most magical golf course ever played. And so yeah,

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Speaker 2: that that trip was a barnburner. We played like sixteen

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Speaker 2: rounds and nine days and got to all different corners

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Speaker 2: and me and Janella had an unbelievable experience at the

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Speaker 2: old course where we showed up. I've ever told the

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Speaker 2: story on the podcast. Do you know this story, Michael?

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Speaker 1: We don't.

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Speaker 2: We get to the starter shack and it was this.

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Speaker 1: Old it's a handicapp.

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Speaker 2: We didn't have proof of handicaps. We just didn't know.

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Speaker 2: We hadn't been there. And of course now you would

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Speaker 2: just pull out your phone and show them your gin,

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Speaker 2: but this is nineteen ninety six. It's all analog. And

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Speaker 2: so I'll tell the story briefly because we're getting off track.

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Speaker 2: But and we we were there as as singles, so

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Speaker 2: it's like whatever, six in the morning. We didn't have it.

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Speaker 2: We didn't have a tea time there, maybe seven am

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Speaker 2: at the latest. And the guy says, well, if you

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Speaker 2: can produce it's like I could get you out, but

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Speaker 2: you'll need to produce proof of handicap. So we're like, God,

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Speaker 2: what do we do. It's you know, it's two in

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Speaker 2: the morning in New York, it's eleven at night in California, Like,

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Speaker 2: how can we do this? But Matt's brother, Sean lived

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Speaker 2: in Hawaii, so it's like eight pm there, and we're like,

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Speaker 2: let's call Sean. And so we call Sean and we

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Speaker 2: tell them what's going on, like we need you to

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Speaker 2: like make a phony letter attaching to our handicaps. And

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Speaker 2: he's like, oh, I'm all. He's like he loved it.

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Speaker 2: He was all in. So he lived in He's on

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Speaker 2: the north shore of Owahoo near Turtle Bay. So he

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Speaker 2: created a and I think he had a background in graphics,

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Speaker 2: graphic cards. He made this letterhead for the Turtle Bay

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Speaker 2: Country Club. There's a Turtle Bay golf course, but it's

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Speaker 2: not a private club, and he wrote I had these letters.

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Speaker 2: He wrote like paragraphs about me and Matt, like all

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Speaker 2: what upstanding citizens we were, and that we'd founded all

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Speaker 2: these programs at the club. And we held all these

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Speaker 2: titles and it was so preposterous. I think I was scratched.

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Speaker 2: Matt was like, you know, one point too. It was

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Speaker 2: ridiculous anyway, and he faxed it in. They had they

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Speaker 2: had a fax in the starters shack, probably for Jabbroni's

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Speaker 2: like us, and I'll never forget this old Scottish dude

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Speaker 2: wrapping on the glass. Gentlemen, your paperwork has been received.

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Speaker 2: And we went out and played, and then we played

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Speaker 2: together and we had a blast, and when you walk

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Speaker 2: off the old course, all you want he was played again,

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Speaker 2: and so we went back to the dude like we

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Speaker 2: played again, and he's like, well, sure. Then we had

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Speaker 2: to split up, but it was just had a couple

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Speaker 2: of spots for singles. So I played with a couple

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Speaker 2: of pilots American They were like these Texas dudes, airline pilots.

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Speaker 2: And then I can't remember our fourth was, but that

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Speaker 2: was also glorious. I mean, you played thirty six on

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Speaker 2: the old Course, and you know, we started there before

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Speaker 2: the sun came up and line and for the singles,

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Speaker 2: and then we finished it at sunset, you know, with

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Speaker 2: the twinkling lights of the town and yeah, that trip.

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Speaker 2: That trip changed my life without that's.

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Speaker 1: Neat Alan You you you worked as a car boy

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Speaker 1: and you've played Pebble Beach a bunch over the years.

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Speaker 1: You've been there for tournaments many times, you've been abandoned

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Speaker 1: many times. You've played up and down the East Coast.

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Speaker 1: Have you played Shinnecock Hills?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, played National Golf Links.

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Speaker 2: Played on on the same day. That was epic. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: You play Fishers Island.

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Speaker 2: Number one on my on my to do list.

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Speaker 1: Have you played Sancity Ahead that's number six. So so

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Speaker 1: here here's my question for you. Do you think there

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Speaker 1: is links golf? And you've played in Australia. You've been

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Speaker 1: in Australia, I have not. You've been to Royal Melbourne

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Speaker 1: and other places. Do you think links golf exists beyond

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Speaker 1: the Kingdom.

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Speaker 2: There's elements of it, but the difference is the turf,

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Speaker 2: Like it's just the way the ball runs and skidders.

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Speaker 2: It just doesn't. Bandon has that. If you catch it

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Speaker 2: at the right time of year, you know it can

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Speaker 2: get it can get green there and it can it

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Speaker 2: can be almost a little lush, but you know Bandon

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Speaker 2: is built on that incredible sandy soil, but like National

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Speaker 2: National Golf Links has some elements of it. But when

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Speaker 2: I and I haven't played there in a long time,

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Speaker 2: but the grass was too long in the fairways. It

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Speaker 2: ball didn't didn't didn't bounce and run and roll, and

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Speaker 2: you know, I remember I was doing before Tom Watson

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Speaker 2: played his last to open at St. Andrew's a couple

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Speaker 2: months out of the tournament. I flew over there to

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Speaker 2: do this this story on him, and we were in

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Speaker 2: the Old Course hotel. He done some other interviews that day,

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Speaker 2: and he was restless. He's like, let's go for a walk,

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Speaker 2: and so we we we left the whole Old Course

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Speaker 2: hotel and we we kind of just skittered through the

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Speaker 2: you know, and Watson is a ranch hand. He was

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Speaker 2: very adept, like climbing through this fence. It was fun

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Speaker 2: to see for an old guy. And we got out

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Speaker 2: there in the seventeenth ferry the road hole and he's

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Speaker 2: like tapping his toe on the turf and you could

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Speaker 2: hear it. He's like, this turf, there's just nothing like it.

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Speaker 2: And who said with almost lust it was fantastic. And

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Speaker 2: that to me is the big difference, right, It's just

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Speaker 2: the way the ball reacts. So I think Bandon to

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Speaker 2: me is probably the closest you've played. You've played Sancing

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Speaker 2: Ahead and you played Fishers, Like, how do you answer

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Speaker 2: that question?

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Speaker 1: You know, I always thought the answer was no, But

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Speaker 1: then I had Tom Doak on the phone the other day.

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Speaker 1: We were talking about various things and I posed this

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Speaker 1: very question to him, and anybody who knows Tom Doak

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Speaker 1: knows that he gets to the heart of the matter

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Speaker 1: very efficiently. I said, Tom, do you think there's a

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Speaker 1: links golf beyond the United States? He said yes. I said, well,

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Speaker 1: what would be an example of a links golf course?

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Speaker 1: Excuse me, I misspoke. Do you think there's slings golf

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Speaker 1: beyond the noun kingdom? He said yes. I said, is

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Speaker 1: there lnks golf in the United States? He said yes.

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Speaker 1: Said what would be an example of it? He said, Nebraska. Wow,

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Speaker 1: I mean it's like one thousand miles from the nearest

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Speaker 1: seer Ocean.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So you know, I almost I almost threw bally

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Speaker 2: Neil into the conversation because that's not Nebraska, but it's

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Speaker 2: the northeast corner of Colorado and that they call the

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Speaker 2: chop Hills, and yeah, So his.

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Speaker 1: Answer is your His answer is your answer for for

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Speaker 1: the same reason. When the turf conditions are linksy, it's

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Speaker 1: links golf. Now, I would say I was probably looking

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Speaker 1: at it more technically like links golf is golf that's

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Speaker 1: played on links land. Links Land is that very particular,

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00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:47,480
Speaker 1: almost particular in Scotland, but not unique to Scotland completely

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Speaker 1: where it's literally the edge of the sea and the

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Speaker 1: and the land and it's it's no good for agriculture.

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Speaker 1: You can't really grow anything on it because the lanceu sandy,

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Speaker 1: but you can grow grass on it. And it's humpy

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Speaker 1: and hollowy and windblown. And that's linksland. And when you

428
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 1: put a golf on golf course you can have and

429
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: there is if you go to Mirrorfield, there's several hundred

430
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,560
Speaker 1: acres of absolutely pure dune land links land right next

431
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,080
Speaker 1: to Mirfield that's undeveloped, but it is links land. And

432
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:15,679
Speaker 1: if you put a golf course there, then you have

433
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 1: a links golf course. Macrohonish of course. Famous sample links

434
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:24,800
Speaker 1: golf you know are goldsby Ealy, all famous examples roughness

435
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:31,240
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah blah. Anyway, uh So, but Duke's

436
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,520
Speaker 1: point is really a great point. You could argue this

437
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,200
Speaker 1: is a key aspect, but it's a great point. It's

438
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,280
Speaker 1: your point. It's the firmness of the turf. Now we

439
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,639
Speaker 1: have been you and I both have been to opens

440
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 1: when the summer's been lush and it's still for four

441
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 1: days and it doesn't play like Links golf at all.

442
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,160
Speaker 1: But of course it's still Links golf, but just not

443
00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 1: the under the normal conditions. But it's interesting how many

444
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:07,159
Speaker 1: great golfers, including Jones, Snead and Watson. I can definitely

445
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,120
Speaker 1: cite those three. I'm sure there's many many others who

446
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,679
Speaker 1: didn't warm to the whole thing from the get go.

447
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,679
Speaker 1: You know, there's a famous Tom Watson story where in

448
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five he's going to play in his first Open.

449
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,120
Speaker 1: He would have been about let's say he's born forty nine,

450
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 1: so he'd been about twenty five, and he goes to

451
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,439
Speaker 1: He and Hubert Green and John Mahffey they go up

452
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 1: to Carnousti and they can't get on the course. You know,

453
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,400
Speaker 1: it's Scotland. It's really weird Scotland, as you know Alan,

454
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 1: because they're really loose people in some ways, and then

455
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 1: they're really really by the book in other ways, and

456
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 1: that's not good for us the way we like it

457
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,400
Speaker 1: wasn't good for Watson on this Sunday. So they said, okay,

458
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 1: well they got in the car, they went down I

459
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,199
Speaker 1: may be mispronouncing, and helped me Alan, you know, if

460
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,119
Speaker 1: you know what Manafith is, of course down the road exactly.

461
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:01,200
Speaker 1: And so you know, Watson kills his down one. Everyone's like,

462
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,800
Speaker 1: good shot, good shot to get out there. No golf ball,

463
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: I can't find it anywhere. It's supposed to be the

464
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,919
Speaker 1: middle of the fairway. And Watson's like, I don't know

465
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,639
Speaker 1: about this link's golf. And then there's you know famous

466
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:15,400
Speaker 1: Sam Steed story taking a train into the into Saint Andrews's.

467
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 1: He says to the guy next to him in the train,

468
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,320
Speaker 1: he said, what's that over there? What's the over there?

469
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,920
Speaker 1: That old abandoned golf course? And the guy says, that's

470
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: the old course, mom, that's where they're playing the open,

471
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,719
Speaker 1: you know, And then Jones walked off over the other examples,

472
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: there are other examples. But my thing was a little

473
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,520
Speaker 1: bit like your thing. I was ready to like it

474
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,520
Speaker 1: because I think a lot of bad I do golf

475
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,320
Speaker 1: in the Kingdom and how much we love that book,

476
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 1: and how much we love Michael Murphy and his experience

477
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,159
Speaker 1: playing Link golf Links Golf and watching a lot of

478
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,399
Speaker 1: open golf before it went over there. But then I

479
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,000
Speaker 1: caddied in eighty five in the qualify a roll sink

480
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 1: ports for the open next door of roll Saint George's,

481
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 1: and I was like, it was blowing and it was great.

482
00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 1: I thought it was just just great. And then I

483
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: then I played it shortly after. I loved it right

484
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,679
Speaker 1: away and and sometimes won. I'm playing here, it's like

485
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:12,200
Speaker 1: it just actually feels like a different game, especially because Alan,

486
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: You've made this point many times. There's you know, one

487
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,919
Speaker 1: of the starting points for club golf over there is

488
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 1: that you can go on the website now that there

489
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 1: are websites and sign up for a tea time. There's

490
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 1: no really, there's no, truly, truly, I can't think of

491
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,160
Speaker 1: one golf course that isn't open to visit or play there.

492
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 2: The only one I know was basically Loch Loman, and

493
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 2: that's the least Scottish golf course there is. And and

494
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 2: even then we I've that may have changed, but that

495
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 2: was the hardest one. To get ironically because it's I

496
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:41,920
Speaker 2: would have.

497
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 1: Sorry, loch Loman, don't even care. I wouldn't want to exactly.

498
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 2: It was trying to be something they was trying to

499
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:53,440
Speaker 2: be an American private club in Scotland. Discordant but right right, yeah,

500
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,359
Speaker 2: it's funny. I was just talking to someone about about

501
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 2: Bandon Dunes and the Uncle Tony Invitational. We used to

502
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,960
Speaker 2: play it in July, that's annual trip that Janella organizes,

503
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,400
Speaker 2: and it was really windy. It was twenty twenty five

504
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 2: miles every day. And now we've moved it to the

505
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:15,240
Speaker 2: fall and it's much more benign and you were all

506
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,040
Speaker 2: scoring better in the fall. But it was more fun

507
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 2: in the summer because those courses were built for wind

508
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,360
Speaker 2: and it just made it so much more interesting. And

509
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 2: there was some holes there that just had you quaking

510
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 2: in your soft spikes. And now without the wind, they're

511
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 2: still challenging, but it's not the same thing, and it's

512
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,240
Speaker 2: sort of I mean, it can be hard to play

513
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,439
Speaker 2: over in Scotland. Those those lives are so tight. You know,

514
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,399
Speaker 2: there's a times when you hit you hit it up

515
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 2: near the green you have to go over a bunker.

516
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 2: You know, there's no ground game sometimes where you leave

517
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 2: yourself and it's like there's no grass under there, and

518
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:57,280
Speaker 2: it's terrifying, and you know you've got these huge crosswinds

519
00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,400
Speaker 2: and when the fescue gets long and can be hard

520
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 2: to find your ball. It's not the easiest golf to

521
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 2: play when you're not used to it. But when when

522
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 2: you when you start, when you start finding the rhythm

523
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 2: of it, it's just so much fun. There's so much

524
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 2: going on in every shot, and it's just it's really

525
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,200
Speaker 2: a thrilling way to play.

526
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,640
Speaker 1: You really nailed the key difference. And this is true

527
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: at every level, and to some degree, this is true

528
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 1: at Augusta National, even though it's the antithesis of what

529
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 1: we're talking about. If you've ever if you've ever, have

530
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: you ever been in a Marriott, you know the high

531
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 1: rise Mariot where it's got the thin carpet and then

532
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: there's the cement floor underneath it. If you ever like

533
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,159
Speaker 1: try to do a plank under those, it's way harder

534
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 1: there because you've got no cushioning whatsoever. But when you

535
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 1: try to hit pit shots off those carpets, which I'm

536
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 1: sure we've all done, everybody our listener, and you and

537
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: me and everybody else. Jake, Uh, It's like if you

538
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,080
Speaker 1: catch it right off the carpet, it's the most satisfying

539
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:56,680
Speaker 1: thing in the world because it's like ball, carpet, cement

540
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,359
Speaker 1: all in one. That is basically links golf. Because if

541
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,840
Speaker 1: you don't catch it, if you catch the carpet first,

542
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: then it bounces off the cement and you catch the

543
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,879
Speaker 1: way that's a duff, that's an X. And then if

544
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,479
Speaker 1: you thin it or thicket or whatever it's, it's you

545
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,919
Speaker 1: can't get away with anything there but a clean strike.

546
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: And that's really where the legend of Seve became the

547
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,679
Speaker 1: legend of Seve, for the purity of the strike. And

548
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 1: of course it's no mistake at all that Tom Watson,

549
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: even though it was a great putter and made his name,

550
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:35,280
Speaker 1: I'm putting, but the ball striking was so clean because

551
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,959
Speaker 1: and the lie is so thin. It's no mistake at

552
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 1: all that guys who play well at Augusta and dry

553
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 1: conditions which you haven't had in some decades now, and

554
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: and and open conditions are very very similar. It's I

555
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 1: think you're really getting to the crux of the thing.

556
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 1: Alan when you talk about firmness of turf. And that's

557
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: what Doake was saying about Nebraska, or you know many

558
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: other places as well, by the way, including hundreds of

559
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,920
Speaker 1: municipal golf courses throughout the Midwest that don't have expensive

560
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,200
Speaker 1: watering systems.

561
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,360
Speaker 2: But then those places, the greens are often soft, like

562
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,080
Speaker 2: they overwater the and no other part of the course

563
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 2: gets any water, and it's like that doesn't quite hold up.

564
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 1: But there is a missing, a huge missing ingredient to this,

565
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 1: which is Peter Alice's phrase in sight and sound of

566
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: the sea. Insight and sound of the sea, The goals

567
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: in the air, that heavy marine air. It's like you

568
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: might throw wind and see almost nothing, but for whatever reason,

569
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,440
Speaker 1: when that ball gets in the air on a links

570
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,560
Speaker 1: golf course, a little bit of wind does a lot

571
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:46,600
Speaker 1: to hit it, and a big wind is just like

572
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,160
Speaker 1: forget about it. And Gardy and I were once playing

573
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 1: night golf and Ben Crane of all people, joined us.

574
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: He was a first alternate and couldn't get into the

575
00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,160
Speaker 1: tournament and we were playing at Wallasey i think it's called,

576
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 1: right down the road from Liverpool, and just watching him

577
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: read the wind on every shot and play it appropriately

578
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 1: and he was a straight ball hitter. He was one

579
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: of the greatest straight ball hitters. Not great, great, but

580
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,240
Speaker 1: you know, really skillful at hitting a straight golf ball,

581
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 1: like Jeff Maggert was at even a higher level. But

582
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: he was curving the ball beautifully. And so I mean,

583
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 1: if you talk about the really great Open players, Nicholas

584
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 1: for the ball strike, Tiger for sure, Watson for sure.

585
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 1: I never saw Peter Thompson, but he had to be spectacular.

586
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:33,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen some old black and white footage of

587
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 2: his swing on Twitter and it's it's just gorgeous. So

588
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 2: it's easy to imagine.

589
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: And how about how about Snead and Hogan. I believe

590
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: this is correct. I know it's true. For Hogan, I

591
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 1: think no, it's not entirely true for Snead. Hogan played

592
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 1: in one Open Championship on the hardest golf course I've

593
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 1: ever seen. I've never played at car News Team one

594
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:57,520
Speaker 1: and Snead played. Did I first Open at St Andrew's

595
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 1: I think about forty six in one. He didn't come

596
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: back for a lot of years because his joke was

597
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 1: but it wasn't a joke. He lost money on the

598
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:10,760
Speaker 1: week and uh uh, But I mean, that's the genius

599
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:11,920
Speaker 1: of how good they were.

600
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well, and you know, I'm not I'm not

601
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 2: sure if you got to watch much of the Scottish

602
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:18,040
Speaker 2: Open this.

603
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: Did I watched a munch.

604
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 2: I mean that shot that that Rory hit on the

605
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,480
Speaker 2: seventy second hold to set up the walk off birdie,

606
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,720
Speaker 2: that was erotic. I mean, it was.

607
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 1: Just what was that club hitting there?

608
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:33,520
Speaker 2: Yeah? That I don't know, that's a good question.

609
00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 1: I jose I was a setup. What was that cluby

610
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 1: hitting there?

611
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:38,600
Speaker 2: I don't know. Michael, what was it?

612
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 1: You tell me? What do you think? It was?

613
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:41,720
Speaker 2: Two iron?

614
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,720
Speaker 1: What's a two iron? Who even carries a two iron anymore?

615
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: I think on TV they're calling it a driving iron.

616
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just wild that the guy had a

617
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 1: two iron without it not having a three arm, so

618
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: he actually must have opened the face and take it

619
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 1: a little bit off of it. You talk about shot making,

620
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 1: you know, And Rory's a great, great golfer. If he

621
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 1: never wins another major, doesn't matter. He's still going to

622
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: be a great golfer. But he has one of his

623
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 1: major's undersoft conditions. But that shot was not the shot

624
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 1: undersoft conditions. That was a Linksland golf shot, if ever

625
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,600
Speaker 1: there was one, I'd been to that Renaissance course. You know,

626
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 1: it's brand new, it was born built in two thousand,

627
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 1: Open in two thousand and eight. I say Britta because

628
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 1: like the new course at next to the old courses

629
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,240
Speaker 1: like eighteen ninety three, that's course for two thousand and eight.

630
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:27,920
Speaker 1: It's a joke. But it really looked great on TV,

631
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 1: better than I had remembered it. And it looked really winksy,

632
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 1: and it was fantastic to see cold, miserable fans having

633
00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 1: the time, not well, not miserable, having the time of

634
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 1: their life, but it was cold and windy and they

635
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 1: were having a great time.

636
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 2: That was so good for Firepit Collective dot com. He

637
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,840
Speaker 2: wrote a nice story about Rory's win and setting up

638
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:51,760
Speaker 2: the fact that we're going back to Royal Liverpool where

639
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,000
Speaker 2: he won his last Open, and that was you know this,

640
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:59,080
Speaker 2: that was peek Rory that summer when the Open went

641
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 2: to Firestone one that then won the PGA Championship, you know,

642
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 2: his third and fourth unbelievable.

643
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,480
Speaker 1: I've forgotten about Firestone, But was that in between the

644
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 1: two or as Firestone after?

645
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 2: I think it was in between, Yeah, right, in between,

646
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:16,320
Speaker 2: and he's been trying to recapture that ever since. It's

647
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,240
Speaker 2: we've been talking about Rory so much there's almost nothing

648
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 2: left to say. I mean at this point, either he's

649
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 2: just got to do it and we'll celebrate it. But

650
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:28,920
Speaker 2: you know, I was looking through some numbers, like that's

651
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:33,360
Speaker 2: his seventh straight top ten finish. That's the longest streak

652
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:38,280
Speaker 2: of his career, or matches it anyway, He's just playing

653
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 2: some of his best golf at the same time. I mean,

654
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 2: it's impossible we're going on almost a decade in his

655
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:51,160
Speaker 2: prime when he's won everything else. There's no doubt he's

656
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 2: had a tremendous career, but it just there's something unfulfilled.

657
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,600
Speaker 2: And do you have any I mean, you know Rory

658
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 2: as well better than anybody on the golf beat. I mean,

659
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,960
Speaker 2: you're writing about him when he first came out, and

660
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 2: I think, Jerry McElroy, you're the one reporter he actually likes.

661
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 2: You guys have a nice rapport. I mean, do you

662
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:11,680
Speaker 2: have any thoughts on what this week means to Rory

663
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:14,840
Speaker 2: and if there's any reason for optimism that this is

664
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,840
Speaker 2: going to be the one where he gets off the Schneide.

665
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,440
Speaker 1: You can say no, I don't want to say no.

666
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:29,600
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be inredibly hard, just incredibly hard

667
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:32,840
Speaker 1: for all I mean, for all the reasons we saw.

668
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 1: The Putt went in on eighteen. It didn't have to.

669
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 1: He easily could not have. And then you're in a playoff,

670
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,279
Speaker 1: and then you're so deflated. The other guys play great

671
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,200
Speaker 1: to get in the playoff. You've played crappy to get

672
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,879
Speaker 1: in the playoff. Under those conditions, you're probably gonna lose

673
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:48,760
Speaker 1: the playoff, even though it's just a one whole playoff,

674
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:53,279
Speaker 1: which is a joke. Anyhow, I think it's gonna be

675
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 1: really really really hard, really hard. I just it's what

676
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,520
Speaker 1: Arnold told me a long time ago. It's not the

677
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:07,920
Speaker 1: golf skill. It's what we saw in the tennis today.

678
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:11,360
Speaker 1: You know, Djokovic is the best, Djokovic is better than

679
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,600
Speaker 1: that guy. But Djokovic couldn't beat that guy today because

680
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,600
Speaker 1: he didn't have the gear he needed it when he

681
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 1: needed it. And it's not the fitness gear. It's just

682
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,319
Speaker 1: some other gear. And Arnold talked about it without being

683
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:27,319
Speaker 1: able to identify it. And so McElroy's got all the

684
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 1: skill in the world, but that close it out. Gene

685
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:34,759
Speaker 1: is another gene that goes way beyond skill. There's the

686
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 1: skill from going from the driving range to the first round,

687
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,160
Speaker 1: the second round, the third round, but then to go

688
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 1: to the fourth round, that's another thing, and then go

689
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 1: to the last four holes and get it done is

690
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 1: another thing. Of course, Tiger. We saw everything Tiger did

691
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,719
Speaker 1: his whole career. No one golf's never seen anybody like it.

692
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,760
Speaker 1: And then then you add to it all the years

693
00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 1: now of not winning. You know, having chance is in

694
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 1: not winning another major. It looked easy when he was

695
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,799
Speaker 1: twenty five and he was up to four, but that's

696
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 1: nine years ago now, and he went two in one year,

697
00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:12,360
Speaker 1: and the conditions were soft when he won. I just

698
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:16,359
Speaker 1: think it's very, very, very very hard, I really do.

699
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:23,120
Speaker 1: I think it's amazing that he's as good as he

700
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 1: is because he's got so much going on in his life.

701
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, our friend Mac Barnhoard makes

702
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: this point all the time. I know I've said it before,

703
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,919
Speaker 1: but it bears repeating. Guys ninety two percent of the time,

704
00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:40,839
Speaker 1: if not much are do not play better. Once they

705
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,279
Speaker 1: get super involved in the politics of the PGA tour

706
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:46,840
Speaker 1: for whatever reason distraction.

707
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,040
Speaker 2: Well, and you know, Rory's been on the front lines

708
00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,239
Speaker 2: here for a year and a half. I mean, as

709
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:59,920
Speaker 2: the leading spokesman, the chief shit stirer, the behind the

710
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,800
Speaker 2: scenes shot collar, like he put his heart and soul

711
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 2: into this battle. And then you know, jay Monhan and

712
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:10,920
Speaker 2: Rory's friend Jimmy Dunn just tore open his chest cowty

713
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,279
Speaker 2: and ripped his heart out and stomped on it and

714
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 2: you know, metal spikes like and you could see that

715
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 2: at the US Open, he just looked deflate, even though

716
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 2: he wound up playing well, but that was just like

717
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:25,400
Speaker 2: a he was still processing it. I mean, maybe maybe

718
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,200
Speaker 2: maybe he's unburdened now. He's like he was fighting so

719
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,759
Speaker 2: hard for what he thought, you know, he believed in

720
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,360
Speaker 2: and for this just cause and for something larger than himself,

721
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,120
Speaker 2: and he I could see Roy being like, you know what,

722
00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 2: screw all that, I'm just here to play golf now,

723
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 2: and you guys just you figure it out and I'm

724
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 2: done emotionally with this whole thing. And I don't think

725
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:52,120
Speaker 2: anybody would blame him. So maybe he's freed up. I mean,

726
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,440
Speaker 2: he was playing well, and he was he had made

727
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,800
Speaker 2: the point that because he'd put his neck on a

728
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,600
Speaker 2: chopping block in some ways that this that's about analogy

729
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,279
Speaker 2: given the whole jew politics of this, but because he'd

730
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,560
Speaker 2: put himself on the line here, that that was inspiring

731
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 2: him to really grind and try and play his best.

732
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 2: And but I think there was you know, he talked

733
00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:16,399
Speaker 2: about it coming out of the Masters, like the adrenaline

734
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,920
Speaker 2: they've been running on ran out. And I think that

735
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,720
Speaker 2: I don't know this, maybe he'll just kind of freewheel

736
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 2: it in a way that he hasn't been able to.

737
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:29,520
Speaker 2: We're always Rory. We all project so much onto him,

738
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 2: you know, he's like, uh, and he no way lights

739
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,279
Speaker 2: up golf, Twitter and the whole conversation like he does.

740
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:41,400
Speaker 2: It would it would be an incredible exclamation point on

741
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:45,759
Speaker 2: this whole period and professional golf. You know, everyone sort

742
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:48,279
Speaker 2: of wanted it. At the Open, it seemed like, you know,

743
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,680
Speaker 2: that was that the man in the moment were perfectly aligned.

744
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:54,440
Speaker 2: Rory was gonna he was gonna win the Open. He

745
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,480
Speaker 2: was gonna thwart the Saudi's all of it, and of

746
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,400
Speaker 2: course he got run over by Cam Smith. Uh. But

747
00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:02,040
Speaker 2: if you were to do it this way, it would

748
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,280
Speaker 2: it would just sort of bracket these these two years

749
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 2: from from Rory's involvement, and it would be it would

750
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,239
Speaker 2: be satisfying, it'd be popular. And then who knows whether

751
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:14,320
Speaker 2: it's Phil Mickelson or Ben Hogan, but both those guys

752
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,880
Speaker 2: win their first major until they were Rory's age right now.

753
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 2: So it's not like he doesn't have any time is

754
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:22,839
Speaker 2: still on his side. He's if he can still win

755
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,600
Speaker 2: another half dozen majors and put himself in you know,

756
00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:27,239
Speaker 2: the conversation is one of the five or ten best

757
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:32,080
Speaker 2: players ever, it's not it's hardly too late. But every time,

758
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,359
Speaker 2: as you said, Michael, every time he doesn't win one,

759
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 2: and the questions and the burden just grows. And it's

760
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:41,800
Speaker 2: always been one of my favorite stats is the length

761
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 2: of time between a player's first and last major championship.

762
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 2: I like, Arnold won seven in six years, and that

763
00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:50,000
Speaker 2: was it, and he was done, Like it was he

764
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,160
Speaker 2: just flashed and burned. And you know, Tiger Jack have

765
00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 2: had these these long expanses, so did Ernie. Interestingly, some

766
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:00,719
Speaker 2: players were able to do it and do it again

767
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:02,719
Speaker 2: and do it again, and other guys that was in

768
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:05,319
Speaker 2: a very compressed period of time. And I mean right,

769
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:09,799
Speaker 2: now Rory's three was it three years from twenty eleven

770
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,759
Speaker 2: to twenty fourteen, Like that's a very small window. It

771
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:18,280
Speaker 2: just doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem possible. And given

772
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 2: his he's won everything else and during this this major drought,

773
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:23,680
Speaker 2: I mean, he's won his Race to do Bay's and

774
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:27,239
Speaker 2: his FedEx Cups and the players Championships, and he's won.

775
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:29,640
Speaker 2: He's won, you know, the.

776
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:31,320
Speaker 1: Irish Open, the Scottish Open.

777
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,279
Speaker 2: He's won everything he can win. So it's not like

778
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:38,400
Speaker 2: he's lost any magic. It's just I don't know. I

779
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 2: guess part of it is it's the playing conditions are

780
00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:45,080
Speaker 2: more precise and there's not that room for error, and

781
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 2: you've got to be really tight. And you know, Rory's

782
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,680
Speaker 2: wedge game, maybe his lag putting, maybe all these little things.

783
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,080
Speaker 2: He can kind of get away with it the Greater

784
00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,760
Speaker 2: Hartford Open, he just can't get away under major conditions.

785
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,880
Speaker 2: I don't know what it is, but I don't.

786
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:59,239
Speaker 1: Think it's the major. I don't think it's the major conditions.

787
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,360
Speaker 1: I think it's the fact that it is majors. It

788
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:04,560
Speaker 1: is the things that they all measure each other by,

789
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:08,120
Speaker 1: especially as he's gotten closer to Tiger over the years,

790
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:12,240
Speaker 1: and Tiger's conversations are all about the fifteen, not about

791
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 1: the the other you know, sixty out events that he won.

792
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,880
Speaker 1: I think you just get so focused on the word majors,

793
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 1: and you know, when you're playing those last three holes,

794
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,439
Speaker 1: you know it's for a major title, and there's only

795
00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:31,440
Speaker 1: I mean, let's say there's four of them. There really

796
00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,880
Speaker 1: are four of them. I do sort of put the

797
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,560
Speaker 1: two Opens and the Masters that quite a bit ahead

798
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,359
Speaker 1: of the PGA, but there are definitely four majors. I'm

799
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 1: not being a wise guy here, I think. I think

800
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:49,360
Speaker 1: that was Arnold's point. You know, Arnold was really interesting

801
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,279
Speaker 1: because he was not any kind of great intellectually, wasn't

802
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:54,760
Speaker 1: a deep breader, but he was a really deep thinker

803
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 1: about golf and other things as well. And I mean,

804
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 1: this seems crazy, but he did say this directly to me,

805
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:04,920
Speaker 1: and there were other people in the room, and we

806
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,960
Speaker 1: talked about it more afterwards. When he won the nineteen

807
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:10,880
Speaker 1: sixty US Open, he was never the same after that,

808
00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:14,680
Speaker 1: even though he won the sixty two sixty four Masters,

809
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:19,080
Speaker 1: right yeah, and two British Opens, So I mean, come on,

810
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 1: in lots of tour events, and a US Senior Open,

811
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:23,920
Speaker 1: which is not easy to win. But he just said

812
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:26,040
Speaker 1: I was not the thing because that was the one,

813
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:28,800
Speaker 1: the one, one one that really meant the world to me.

814
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,440
Speaker 1: And so extrapolate that for the Tiger and the Rori Aer,

815
00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:36,440
Speaker 1: well that one is now four. It's those four. Yeah,

816
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:39,600
Speaker 1: So like Valhalla, PGA at Valhalla, how's that different from

817
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,239
Speaker 1: a tour event? It's not. I mean when they played

818
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:45,840
Speaker 1: in August especially, but it's a big butt and we

819
00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:48,000
Speaker 1: saw a great tournament there when it was Michelson and

820
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:52,200
Speaker 1: Fowler and Macroy down the stretch. It's that trophy and

821
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:54,680
Speaker 1: it's that history and it does weigh on differently.

822
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 2: I don't think.

823
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:58,719
Speaker 1: Joeitch would have ever lost to that kid in any

824
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,319
Speaker 1: other well, I don't know, got tis to say that.

825
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that kid's got a lot of game. But

826
00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 2: you're you're right, there's it just.

827
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:08,680
Speaker 1: There.

828
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:11,800
Speaker 2: There's something that's what Wimbledon is the Masters of tennis,

829
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,839
Speaker 2: right like, and there's there's a choke factor at these

830
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:19,640
Speaker 2: things and it's it is fascinating funny talking about Tiger.

831
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:23,600
Speaker 2: I mean the two thousand and six Open at Royal Liverpool,

832
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:30,080
Speaker 2: it remains indelible Tiger's long irons were you know, maybe

833
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:33,120
Speaker 2: the best ever definitely in a small handful of guys

834
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:36,600
Speaker 2: ever have struck it like he did. And that was

835
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:39,359
Speaker 2: to me the week when I mean he hit Driver

836
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,040
Speaker 2: once right and he was just his iron play was

837
00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,359
Speaker 2: so superb. Guys written Driver eight iron, Tiger's laying back

838
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,239
Speaker 2: off the tee and hitting four irons inside of them

839
00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:52,359
Speaker 2: the whole week. And one of the things talking about

840
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,000
Speaker 2: the things we love about Open Championships, like a really

841
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,280
Speaker 2: great strike which is like a little puff of smoke.

842
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:01,160
Speaker 2: You know, it's not a divot, It's like the turf

843
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,080
Speaker 2: just disintegrates. And I have this image of being out

844
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:08,080
Speaker 2: there watching Tiger and just the sound of the strike,

845
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:13,000
Speaker 2: these perfect little puffs of smoke like and of course

846
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:15,319
Speaker 2: you know he comes off the green. That was That

847
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,560
Speaker 2: was his first major championship victory since his father had died,

848
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 2: and dissolves into Steve Williams arms like we we through

849
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,040
Speaker 2: his Throughout his career, we saw some displays of emotion

850
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 2: from Tiger and some memorable ones, including the twenty nineteen Masters,

851
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:34,160
Speaker 2: the ninety seven Masters, and others. But the way he

852
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:37,080
Speaker 2: was just bawling almost felt like Steve Williams was holding

853
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:38,200
Speaker 2: him up. You know it was.

854
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:44,080
Speaker 4: It's definitely it's not it's not a performance that's not

855
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,080
Speaker 4: talked about enough, but to me, it's it's on the

856
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:49,919
Speaker 4: Mount Rushmore of Tiger victories, and it was epic.

857
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,640
Speaker 1: In every way. I totally feel the Sam and Alan.

858
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:54,320
Speaker 1: You know, I mean, not too many people would understand

859
00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:56,160
Speaker 1: what I'm about to say, but I know you definitely wouldn't.

860
00:44:56,400 --> 00:44:59,160
Speaker 1: When we're writing these, you know, game stories for Sports

861
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:00,960
Speaker 1: Illustrated off hell, and I'm gonna go to the same

862
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:05,680
Speaker 1: one or Riley or John Garrity, Russian McCallum and other

863
00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:07,879
Speaker 1: people over the years. And you have an assignment you're

864
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:09,520
Speaker 1: gonna write the winner, You're gonna write the loser, You're

865
00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:11,960
Speaker 1: gonna write something else. But if you're gonna write the winner,

866
00:45:12,040 --> 00:45:13,640
Speaker 1: you better be prepared to write the winner. Well, they

867
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:15,080
Speaker 1: don't tell you ahead of time who the winner is

868
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:20,120
Speaker 1: gonna be. So that particular open you had Sergio playing great,

869
00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:23,080
Speaker 1: christ Marco had been playing great for a while, Ernie

870
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:27,720
Speaker 1: was playing great, and Tiger and just I don't know why,

871
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:30,319
Speaker 1: but I kind of do. I was like, I'm just

872
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:33,000
Speaker 1: writing Tiger Tiger because Tiger is gonna win this thing.

873
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,840
Speaker 1: And I was completely, one hundred percent committed to writing Tiger.

874
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:40,400
Speaker 1: Had anybody else want I had nothing. We don't like

875
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:43,000
Speaker 1: to be in that position. But I wasn't surprised at

876
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:45,640
Speaker 1: all because it just looks and I'm saying from Thursday on,

877
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:46,279
Speaker 1: were you up?

878
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:46,520
Speaker 2: You?

879
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:48,400
Speaker 1: Were you out there? No? Six? And it was just

880
00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:50,320
Speaker 1: what was your story? Loser?

881
00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:53,640
Speaker 2: Probably that and.

882
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:57,600
Speaker 1: Uh but anyway, but you know, I committed to Tiger early,

883
00:45:57,719 --> 00:46:00,480
Speaker 1: and of course it worked out. It's funny you mentioned

884
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,920
Speaker 1: Jim Harry earlier. Jim and I had to think, you know,

885
00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:05,960
Speaker 1: the Open back in those days, would get on the

886
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:10,799
Speaker 1: cover if they liked the winner. So Ben Curtis won.

887
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:12,960
Speaker 1: He was like, you know, I don't know four hundred

888
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: in the world wherever he was. And Jim and are like, man,

889
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,200
Speaker 1: this is some story. Ben Curtis won and open whoever

890
00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,239
Speaker 1: heard of this guy? And Jim said, yeah, I went

891
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:24,840
Speaker 1: to that trow met. Nobody likes the story. What do

892
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:27,400
Speaker 1: you mean this is like great, Ben Curtisy, Yeah, nobody likes.

893
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:29,000
Speaker 1: So you know, I got buried.

894
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:30,400
Speaker 2: Finish your story and I want to come back to

895
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:32,080
Speaker 2: Ben Curtis. I have a story about that go ahead.

896
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:35,080
Speaker 1: So then a few years later Todd Hamilton was playing

897
00:46:35,080 --> 00:46:37,520
Speaker 1: the Ben Curtis role, and like Harry and I didn't

898
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:38,920
Speaker 1: even bother having the conversation.

899
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:45,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that that when Curtis won, I was working

900
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:47,400
Speaker 2: out of the office as an editor. I did a

901
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:50,680
Speaker 2: two year stint just if I wanted to go down

902
00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,520
Speaker 2: to the editing track because SI, they all the others

903
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:55,480
Speaker 2: looked around, realized they were all in their fifties and sixties.

904
00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:58,440
Speaker 2: They didn't really have in the pipeline any young talent

905
00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:03,480
Speaker 2: on the editings side. And so they paid for for

906
00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:05,399
Speaker 2: me to live in New York and have a grand time,

907
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 2: and I learned a heck of a lot about how

908
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:09,440
Speaker 2: the magazine works. It was a great education, but ultimately

909
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 2: the writing life is just more fun. And so when

910
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:13,719
Speaker 2: my tears was up, I was gone. But so I

911
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:15,360
Speaker 2: was in the office and I was in those editorial

912
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:20,080
Speaker 2: meetings and Ben it came you know what it came

913
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:24,359
Speaker 2: down to, Kobe Bryant had just had you know, had

914
00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:30,480
Speaker 2: gotten involved in that that sexual assaulting in Colorado. And

915
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:35,279
Speaker 2: so it was Bill Colson was was the editor that

916
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:37,319
Speaker 2: there was. I don't know if you've gotten the job

917
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:40,920
Speaker 2: permanently or yeah, yeah the job was it oh three

918
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:43,560
Speaker 2: hours way after the bake off, it was it was.

919
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:45,040
Speaker 1: Like, oh, yeah, he was right.

920
00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:48,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was was confused when I was an intern. Anyway,

921
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,560
Speaker 2: Bill Colson was the other and so I remember saying

922
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,480
Speaker 2: to Colson, I said, you know, I know, Kobe's a

923
00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:56,759
Speaker 2: huge story and all that. I said, it's going to

924
00:47:56,840 --> 00:47:59,680
Speaker 2: be everywhere, and it's not really a feel good story.

925
00:47:59,680 --> 00:48:02,719
Speaker 2: I was like, Curtis, all Americans when you say not.

926
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:04,839
Speaker 1: Really a feel good story, like one of the most

927
00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:07,000
Speaker 1: depressing sports stories, right exactly.

928
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:09,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was an understatement, I said, Ben Cursis all

929
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:13,239
Speaker 2: American kid. No one saw this coming. He played lights out.

930
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:16,200
Speaker 2: I said, this would be unexpected and so popular. People

931
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:18,840
Speaker 2: would pull us out of their their their out of

932
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:22,319
Speaker 2: their mailbox and they would love to see this. And

933
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:25,960
Speaker 2: of course Kobe was on the cover. And a couple

934
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:29,160
Speaker 2: of weeks later, Colson came into my office. Was very rare,

935
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:31,719
Speaker 2: I mean maybe happened three or four times the whole

936
00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:36,640
Speaker 2: time I was that whole era, and he said, you know,

937
00:48:36,719 --> 00:48:38,600
Speaker 2: we probably should have met Ben Curtis on the cover

938
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:42,520
Speaker 2: like that Kobe. That Kobe cover was depressing and no

939
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:44,759
Speaker 2: one bought it at the new stand and uh, it's

940
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:46,120
Speaker 2: like you might have been right. It was like the

941
00:48:46,200 --> 00:48:47,759
Speaker 2: only time I ever said anything like that to me.

942
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:51,160
Speaker 2: And it was kind of funny because yeah, it was

943
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:55,360
Speaker 2: something magical about it. You know, there's the and Curs

944
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:57,040
Speaker 2: actually had a decent career. You know, he went on

945
00:48:57,080 --> 00:49:01,759
Speaker 2: to win some more events. He wasn't complete fluke, but anyway, yeah,

946
00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:06,640
Speaker 2: that the Open is an interesting one. Also, going back

947
00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:09,239
Speaker 2: to six member, Sergio showed up wearing all yellow and

948
00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:13,319
Speaker 2: it became like this running joke. I know, Sergio, it's

949
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:14,920
Speaker 2: easy to make fun of him, but that was an

950
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:17,920
Speaker 2: ode to the Tour de France, which was ending that

951
00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:20,000
Speaker 2: day and I think, as a Spanish guy was gonna win.

952
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:23,160
Speaker 2: And I always feel compelled to defend Sergio. It's not

953
00:49:23,200 --> 00:49:25,680
Speaker 2: that they had horrible fashion sense. It was like, you know,

954
00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:27,480
Speaker 2: the leader of the Tour de France, where it's a

955
00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:30,399
Speaker 2: little yellow jersey and anyway, just makes me laugh because

956
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,440
Speaker 2: I think, didn't he play with Tiger on Sunday and

957
00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:36,640
Speaker 2: like Tiger was like rolling his eyes out and maybe

958
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:38,279
Speaker 2: that was on the driving range, but it became like

959
00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:40,480
Speaker 2: this thing, how ridiculous.

960
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:43,200
Speaker 1: Sergio was was with de Marco. I'm that's not sure,

961
00:49:43,239 --> 00:49:45,280
Speaker 1: but yeah, it was.

962
00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:47,960
Speaker 2: Anyway, not really.

963
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:52,239
Speaker 1: Uh, And of course this comes up every year. You

964
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:54,319
Speaker 1: know what side of the draw and you know, for

965
00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:58,400
Speaker 1: those who don't follow this open closely, uh, not the

966
00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:00,719
Speaker 1: Masters because that's got a small field, but definitely the

967
00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:03,759
Speaker 1: US Open, the PGA Thursday Friday, one hundred and fifty

968
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:06,919
Speaker 1: six players, they go off two t's and the guy.

969
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:09,200
Speaker 1: The players like it because they think it's already evens

970
00:50:09,239 --> 00:50:12,600
Speaker 1: out the weather over time because it's all more concentrated.

971
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,560
Speaker 1: But the British Open, they have a big field and

972
00:50:16,560 --> 00:50:18,680
Speaker 1: they got a lot of light, and they go literally

973
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:20,759
Speaker 1: from six point thirty to three thirty.

974
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,799
Speaker 2: At starting times, not finishing time. Starting it's unbelievable.

975
00:50:24,800 --> 00:50:29,080
Speaker 1: So yeah, from starting for starting times, so you can

976
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:32,600
Speaker 1: have howling, lousy, terrible weather at eleven thirty and then

977
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:36,440
Speaker 1: by three thirty it could be completely benign. Queens are soft,

978
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:38,600
Speaker 1: there's not a mark on him. It's just totally different

979
00:50:38,600 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 1: conditions than what happens typically in the United States. So

980
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:47,440
Speaker 1: every year, come Friday evening dusk, there's a lot of

981
00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:50,840
Speaker 1: discussion what side of the draw are you on? And

982
00:50:50,920 --> 00:50:53,040
Speaker 1: I've never done a study but I'm sure guys who

983
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:58,400
Speaker 1: have favorable draws tea times Thursday Friday often wind up

984
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:01,640
Speaker 1: due winning, But by Sunday no one's even remembering it.

985
00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:03,719
Speaker 1: In fact, in game stories, I never even think to

986
00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:05,680
Speaker 1: note it, now that I'm saying it, I don't know.

987
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:08,840
Speaker 1: Of all the various majors I've covered their opens I've covered,

988
00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:11,200
Speaker 1: I can't recall one time where that was even a

989
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:13,480
Speaker 1: factor and how I thought about the tournament, even though

990
00:51:13,480 --> 00:51:14,239
Speaker 1: it probably should be.

991
00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:19,279
Speaker 2: Justine Reid could tell you in forensic detail about who

992
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:23,080
Speaker 2: can't missus. Patrick Reid made a careful study of this.

993
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:24,719
Speaker 2: I would also like to know that we're in the

994
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:27,720
Speaker 2: fifty first minute of this podcast, Michael. If any people

995
00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:30,400
Speaker 2: have come this far, they surely have made a study

996
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:33,920
Speaker 2: of the draws at the open. Yea casual fan is

997
00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:35,719
Speaker 2: not this deep into this podcast.

998
00:51:36,640 --> 00:51:40,800
Speaker 1: Well, what I'd like to say to the listeners, Okay,

999
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:46,600
Speaker 1: they already know this, Alan, Who's going to win this thing?

1000
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:50,640
Speaker 2: It's so obvious. I mean, this is not like a

1001
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:53,560
Speaker 2: secret choice. This is like Justin Johnson, who are you

1002
00:51:53,640 --> 00:51:58,000
Speaker 2: thinking of? Well, Cheffler, Scheffler, Well, god, yeah, I saw

1003
00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:00,640
Speaker 2: a funny stat on Twitter today. I can't or who

1004
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:03,880
Speaker 2: tweeted it, but he finished, you know whatever, top five

1005
00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:08,200
Speaker 2: again at the Scottish Open, one half a million dollars,

1006
00:52:08,680 --> 00:52:12,080
Speaker 2: and his average earnings per start this year went down.

1007
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:17,319
Speaker 2: He's already made nineteen million dollars between the ropes. I mean,

1008
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:19,759
Speaker 2: obviously this is the new ear of elevated events and

1009
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:21,920
Speaker 2: all that, but it's incredible.

1010
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:26,520
Speaker 1: The Scottish Open is a PGA Tour event and a

1011
00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:30,279
Speaker 1: deep tour event. Yeah, and live guys could could live

1012
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,319
Speaker 1: guys play in this event because of some.

1013
00:52:32,719 --> 00:52:36,279
Speaker 2: Why I don't think there are any live guys there.

1014
00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:37,879
Speaker 1: They've do warnant live guys playing this event.

1015
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:42,800
Speaker 2: They given up their their membership on both two tours. Yeah,

1016
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:46,360
Speaker 2: they were able to They were able to play, you know,

1017
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:50,719
Speaker 2: from last summer until this spring on the European Tour

1018
00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,799
Speaker 2: because they had filed this arbitration case and until it

1019
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:57,400
Speaker 2: got adjudicated that they were allowed to compete. But that

1020
00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:00,160
Speaker 2: was what that was the resolute that was the the

1021
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:03,160
Speaker 2: resolution came down masters week saying that the tour could

1022
00:53:03,160 --> 00:53:05,920
Speaker 2: suspend them and could uphold their fines, and that all

1023
00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:10,319
Speaker 2: those guys just dipped out. So yeah, no, I mean

1024
00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:13,319
Speaker 2: Scotty Scheffler. But this is interesting about Scotty Seffler. Like

1025
00:53:14,200 --> 00:53:17,560
Speaker 2: he's he has what eighteen straight top twelve finishes, maybe

1026
00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:20,480
Speaker 2: an all time record, but he's only won twice. Now.

1027
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:23,840
Speaker 2: The consistency is incredible, and his wins have been big ones,

1028
00:53:23,880 --> 00:53:28,239
Speaker 2: but considering he's there every single week, you'd actually like

1029
00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:30,200
Speaker 2: to see him pick off a few more ws. So

1030
00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:33,719
Speaker 2: it's funny how expectations changed. I mean, two and a

1031
00:53:33,719 --> 00:53:36,160
Speaker 2: half years ago, no one never heard of Scotti Scheffler.

1032
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:39,480
Speaker 2: Now he's playing at a level few have ever achieved

1033
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:41,600
Speaker 2: in the history of the sport, and yet here I

1034
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:44,799
Speaker 2: am critiquing that he hasn't won more. So that's some

1035
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:48,200
Speaker 2: you know, talking about the mental game and what Rory's facing.

1036
00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:51,360
Speaker 2: I don't know if Scheffler seems unbothered by stuff like that,

1037
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:56,960
Speaker 2: but to be there every single week and not get

1038
00:53:56,960 --> 00:54:00,279
Speaker 2: it done sixteen times in this run, it's like, Okay,

1039
00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:02,600
Speaker 2: I feel like I feel like he needs another big win.

1040
00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:05,360
Speaker 2: Maybe it's a Tour championship. He doesn't necessarily to be

1041
00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:06,880
Speaker 2: the Open, but he needs he needs another big win

1042
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:10,880
Speaker 2: here to to put an exclamation point on this incredible consistency.

1043
00:54:11,080 --> 00:54:14,600
Speaker 1: You know who doesn't agree with you. Who Scottie shuffer.

1044
00:54:14,680 --> 00:54:15,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think so.

1045
00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:18,920
Speaker 1: And that's and that's the secret to his success, you know,

1046
00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:21,879
Speaker 1: I don't. I just think he doesn't care that much.

1047
00:54:22,080 --> 00:54:25,400
Speaker 1: I think he really really cares, but not to degree

1048
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:28,160
Speaker 1: that where there's just something different like the thing that

1049
00:54:28,200 --> 00:54:30,560
Speaker 1: we're talking about with Arnold and I think we're talking

1050
00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:32,799
Speaker 1: about with Rory as well. I don't think that's it.

1051
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:35,520
Speaker 1: I think the emotional hurdle that he got through by

1052
00:54:35,560 --> 00:54:37,520
Speaker 1: winning that Masters when he cried like a baby in

1053
00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:41,040
Speaker 1: his wife's arms before Tiger cries after. But this guy

1054
00:54:41,080 --> 00:54:43,560
Speaker 1: is crying something warn't it. But then he got through

1055
00:54:43,560 --> 00:54:45,480
Speaker 1: it and he did it, you know, and he's half

1056
00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:48,160
Speaker 1: a Southerner and he won them. You know, Texas is

1057
00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:51,239
Speaker 1: such a thing for Augusta. Of course, you know, grow

1058
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:54,560
Speaker 1: Andy Watkins and that whole thing. But the fact that

1059
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:57,400
Speaker 1: he got through that, and it's like I can sleep

1060
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:00,399
Speaker 1: walk in top three, so I can sleep walk win.

1061
00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:03,239
Speaker 1: He doesn't have to do anything special. And Rory, I

1062
00:55:03,239 --> 00:55:05,520
Speaker 1: think is push him is a special special special It's

1063
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:07,440
Speaker 1: got to be special, but it doesn't have to be special.

1064
00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:10,839
Speaker 1: But try telling yourself that when Tiger's texting you all

1065
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:13,000
Speaker 1: the time, telling you it's got to be special. But

1066
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:15,440
Speaker 1: you see, did you see Big Jack after the Memorial

1067
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:17,720
Speaker 1: Tournament when he you know, he had another bad Sunday

1068
00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:20,480
Speaker 1: for Rory. This was no it was a great win

1069
00:55:20,600 --> 00:55:23,840
Speaker 1: for Rory, of course, of course, but it was no

1070
00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:26,240
Speaker 1: great last round. It was a great last two holes.

1071
00:55:26,320 --> 00:55:29,680
Speaker 1: It was a bad last round. Yeah, under very tough conditions.

1072
00:55:29,680 --> 00:55:33,400
Speaker 1: Blah blah blah blah blah. But when he came. But Memorial,

1073
00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:35,800
Speaker 1: it could have won that too. Probably Page said it

1074
00:55:35,840 --> 00:55:38,319
Speaker 1: should have won it. And Big Jack standing there and

1075
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:40,400
Speaker 1: he says, you know, give me a call. Now, it's

1076
00:55:40,440 --> 00:55:41,920
Speaker 1: not the time or the place, but give me a call.

1077
00:55:42,560 --> 00:55:43,880
Speaker 1: I don't know what they talked about her. If they

1078
00:55:43,880 --> 00:55:45,040
Speaker 1: talked about it, go ahead.

1079
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:48,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was kind of ruthless by Jack. I mean

1080
00:55:48,200 --> 00:55:50,959
Speaker 2: he's basically saying, you're a head case man. What's wrong

1081
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:54,200
Speaker 2: with you? Call me like that was? I mean, I

1082
00:55:54,280 --> 00:55:54,800
Speaker 2: know it was meant to.

1083
00:55:54,960 --> 00:55:56,520
Speaker 1: I think I don't think it's a I think it's

1084
00:55:56,520 --> 00:56:00,200
Speaker 1: more like, uh, something's wrong, and I think I can

1085
00:56:00,239 --> 00:56:03,319
Speaker 1: see it. I know, I know I'm mechanical, and I'm

1086
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:08,040
Speaker 1: not saying Jack. I mean it might show up in mechanics. Now,

1087
00:56:08,080 --> 00:56:10,040
Speaker 1: I know I have friends who know a lot more

1088
00:56:10,040 --> 00:56:11,799
Speaker 1: about golf than I do who don't agree with this.

1089
00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:14,000
Speaker 1: Like when they talk about my putting, they say, oh,

1090
00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:17,680
Speaker 1: it's mechanics, mechanics, mechanics, But actually I know it's not

1091
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,439
Speaker 1: because I can putt pretty well in a practice putting green.

1092
00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:22,920
Speaker 1: It's when it matters and when it goes wrong. And

1093
00:56:23,360 --> 00:56:26,200
Speaker 1: some of the drives. I mean, we've seen Rory driving

1094
00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:29,440
Speaker 1: for fifteen years now. He drives more than that. No, no,

1095
00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:33,120
Speaker 1: he drives it incredibly well. He had some of the

1096
00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:36,000
Speaker 1: worst drives I've ever seen a world two of the worst.

1097
00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:37,960
Speaker 1: Two of the worst drives I ever seen a world

1098
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:41,440
Speaker 1: class driver. Not many tour players can hit it offline,

1099
00:56:41,480 --> 00:56:44,600
Speaker 1: but these were wildly offline with bad swings. How does

1100
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:45,120
Speaker 1: that happen?

1101
00:56:45,840 --> 00:56:51,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's it's the the things that don't show

1102
00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:53,320
Speaker 2: up on a launch monitor is what makes this sport

1103
00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:56,960
Speaker 2: so fascinating. You know, it's just it's just an X

1104
00:56:57,080 --> 00:56:58,520
Speaker 2: ray of the soul, and.

1105
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,600
Speaker 1: That launch monitor is killing these guys. I really believe it.

1106
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:06,000
Speaker 1: I know that sounds like, oh, rolled, he grew up

1107
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:07,799
Speaker 1: in the blow bah blah blah blah, But I really

1108
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:11,080
Speaker 1: believe launch my Brian Harmon was watching Truvino hit balls

1109
00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:14,680
Speaker 1: at the Open last year at Saint Andrew's Pure in

1110
00:57:14,719 --> 00:57:17,320
Speaker 1: one shot after another, making that eighty two or three

1111
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:19,800
Speaker 1: years old whatever he was, eighty one eighty two, making

1112
00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:22,480
Speaker 1: that ball do whatever he wanted it to do. And

1113
00:57:22,560 --> 00:57:25,520
Speaker 1: Brian Harmon's like, and Brian Harmon is a damn good golfer,

1114
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:28,160
Speaker 1: and Brian Harmon's like, man, And I'm talking him right

1115
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:30,720
Speaker 1: there in Spice Man. Just watching Trevino you can see

1116
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:34,000
Speaker 1: it's just all in his body, and you know, I'm

1117
00:57:34,040 --> 00:57:37,240
Speaker 1: just looking at that machine after every swing. I think

1118
00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:38,840
Speaker 1: it's just a weird way to play golf.

1119
00:57:39,800 --> 00:57:42,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's interesting, that's different.

1120
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:44,440
Speaker 1: But if your whole culture is telling you, I mean

1121
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:46,920
Speaker 1: manage you showed up at a at in a prestent

1122
00:57:47,320 --> 00:57:50,560
Speaker 1: with a portable typewriter, you know it'd be crazy.

1123
00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:52,760
Speaker 2: I kind of want to do that. That'd be awesome,

1124
00:57:53,320 --> 00:57:56,360
Speaker 2: Although honestly, you're more like you're a more likely candidate.

1125
00:57:56,400 --> 00:58:00,760
Speaker 1: Michael Gary Smith Allan. I had this colleague who was,

1126
00:58:01,160 --> 00:58:04,840
Speaker 1: you know, amazing, Gary Smith, and we were once comparing notes.

1127
00:58:04,840 --> 00:58:07,920
Speaker 1: He was having a hard time going to the lapto

1128
00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:10,640
Speaker 1: or whatever. The color sings bacbook and I said, yeah,

1129
00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:12,919
Speaker 1: I can't. I can't write on it. And I said,

1130
00:58:12,920 --> 00:58:16,440
Speaker 1: I've had to get this extra what do you call it?

1131
00:58:16,520 --> 00:58:21,880
Speaker 1: Like an external keyboard? Yeah, at the right angle. And

1132
00:58:21,960 --> 00:58:24,240
Speaker 1: Gary Smith, who can write circles around. I was like,

1133
00:58:24,560 --> 00:58:25,480
Speaker 1: you're a head.

1134
00:58:25,280 --> 00:58:32,200
Speaker 2: Case that story. That's amazing, and then I got over it.

1135
00:58:32,240 --> 00:58:35,880
Speaker 1: But anyway, you get over it. But you also are

1136
00:58:35,880 --> 00:58:38,760
Speaker 1: a culturated to what everyone's song, your quote should be doing.

1137
00:58:39,440 --> 00:58:44,160
Speaker 2: Yeah. Interesting, All right, Well we're gonna we're gonna be Yeah.

1138
00:58:44,160 --> 00:58:48,120
Speaker 2: I think I think we're good for now. We will

1139
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:51,200
Speaker 2: try and podcast when you're overseas, Michael, but it is

1140
00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:55,760
Speaker 2: very Wi Fi dependent, and as we both know that

1141
00:58:55,800 --> 00:58:59,680
Speaker 2: the water pressure over in Jolly England and the WiFi

1142
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:02,240
Speaker 2: is unreliable, so.

1143
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:06,400
Speaker 1: I gotta get I think I've got my mechanics figured

1144
00:59:06,440 --> 00:59:09,640
Speaker 1: out here. I all pod as often as you wish.

1145
00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:11,880
Speaker 2: Well, if if we can, if we can make it happen,

1146
00:59:12,520 --> 00:59:14,040
Speaker 2: if we can make it happen, we'll do it. I'm

1147
00:59:14,080 --> 00:59:18,320
Speaker 2: saying like, it depends on your Wi Fi. But for

1148
00:59:18,360 --> 00:59:20,840
Speaker 2: the listeners out there, we're going to try, Michael.

1149
00:59:20,520 --> 00:59:22,640
Speaker 1: Well, eight hour time difference, how does that work for

1150
00:59:22,720 --> 00:59:25,040
Speaker 1: you when it's eight pm for me, what is it

1151
00:59:25,040 --> 00:59:25,680
Speaker 1: for you? Noon?

1152
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:31,760
Speaker 2: So that's fine, that's good. Yeah, well yeah that's that.

1153
00:59:33,240 --> 00:59:35,959
Speaker 1: You can wake up and watch oping off. That's pretty cool.

1154
00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:40,160
Speaker 2: Well I have to wake up early though, yeah, you

1155
00:59:40,200 --> 00:59:45,600
Speaker 2: know it's for the start of it. But anyway, all right,

1156
00:59:45,760 --> 00:59:48,360
Speaker 2: well this was this was This is fun told some

1157
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:50,400
Speaker 2: old stories haven't thought about a long time. So thanks

1158
00:59:50,440 --> 00:59:54,640
Speaker 2: for drawing those out. Michael safe journey over to cool.

1159
00:59:54,920 --> 00:59:58,800
Speaker 2: Uh the listeners out there, we appreciate you sticking with us,

1160
00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:00,520
Speaker 2: and we'll be back in your ears.

1161
01:00:00,400 --> 01:00:03,560
Speaker 1: Paying the bills running Alan, who's paying the bills run here? Oh?

1162
01:00:03,640 --> 01:00:07,120
Speaker 2: Yes, we should probably mention. Dormy Network or Dormy Network

1163
01:00:07,280 --> 01:00:09,680
Speaker 2: is a series of private clubs that's different than the

1164
01:00:09,720 --> 01:00:12,400
Speaker 2: Dormy Workshop, who are our friends and the sponsors of

1165
01:00:12,440 --> 01:00:18,160
Speaker 2: this podcast. Dormy Workshop. They make beautiful leather goods, headcovers,

1166
01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:21,000
Speaker 2: stash bags, all kinds of fun stuff. If you go

1167
01:00:21,080 --> 01:00:24,480
Speaker 2: to Firepitcollective dot com and you click on the Pit

1168
01:00:24,560 --> 01:00:28,080
Speaker 2: shop tab, you'll see some special things they've worked up

1169
01:00:28,120 --> 01:00:30,240
Speaker 2: for us, Or you can just go to the Dormy

1170
01:00:30,280 --> 01:00:35,720
Speaker 2: Workshop's website and see their full compliment. But we've missed

1171
01:00:35,760 --> 01:00:38,360
Speaker 2: Father's Day, but surely there's someone you love who's going

1172
01:00:38,400 --> 01:00:41,800
Speaker 2: to be celebrating occasion soon. Or treat yourself, of course,

1173
01:00:41,880 --> 01:00:44,960
Speaker 2: my daughter says whenever we're I'm saying I shouldn't have

1174
01:00:45,000 --> 01:00:48,360
Speaker 2: any desert night says, treat yourself, like okay, where just

1175
01:00:48,400 --> 01:00:50,640
Speaker 2: to live by? So, yeah, there's a Dormy is a

1176
01:00:50,640 --> 01:00:53,800
Speaker 2: great supporter. We thank them for their we're helping us

1177
01:00:53,840 --> 01:00:55,480
Speaker 2: keep the lights on here at the Firepit Collective.

1178
01:00:55,560 --> 01:00:59,680
Speaker 1: So for Michael bamber that that's the Dormy Workshop, Dormy

1179
01:00:59,680 --> 01:01:02,960
Speaker 1: works up. Yes, but then there's another thing, the Dormy Network.

1180
01:01:03,240 --> 01:01:03,800
Speaker 2: Yeah.

1181
01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:05,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're not related.

1182
01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:07,600
Speaker 2: No they're not not to my knowledge.

1183
01:01:07,640 --> 01:01:10,520
Speaker 1: No, no, So does the Dormy Network help us out

1184
01:01:10,520 --> 01:01:11,320
Speaker 1: to No.

1185
01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:14,880
Speaker 2: I regret even saying their their their name out loud, but.

1186
01:01:14,880 --> 01:01:16,600
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe now they maybe now they will.

1187
01:01:16,680 --> 01:01:18,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, if they want to come on and be a sponsored,

1188
01:01:18,360 --> 01:01:23,760
Speaker 2: great that we'll just say thank you Dormy. But anyway, uh,

1189
01:01:24,040 --> 01:01:26,880
Speaker 2: For Michael Bamberger, this is Alan Schiffle Like that was

1190
01:01:26,920 --> 01:01:29,680
Speaker 2: a fire drop podcast and thanks for listening. This is

1191
01:01:29,720 --> 01:01:30,080
Speaker 2: the end.

1192
01:01:32,640 --> 01:01:37,560
Speaker 5: I'm bet big and I played the wind made a fortune.

1193
01:01:37,600 --> 01:01:41,720
Speaker 5: When my ship came in, I ran the table, never

1194
01:01:41,840 --> 01:01:45,480
Speaker 5: thought I could fall. Then the win hit made, lack

1195
01:01:45,560 --> 01:01:51,120
Speaker 5: of canon the ball, and no, I can't shake this,

1196
01:01:51,440 --> 01:01:52,680
Speaker 5: losing the stream.

1197
01:01:53,240 --> 01:01:58,440
Speaker 3: Every road I take is a dead end stream. I

1198
01:01:58,600 --> 01:02:03,720
Speaker 3: got dot head, can't get them out. Trying not to

1199
01:02:03,840 --> 01:02:07,280
Speaker 3: think what I'm thinking about. I got of thoughts in

1200
01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:11,760
Speaker 3: my head, can't get them out, Trying not to think

1201
01:02:11,960 --> 01:02:13,360
Speaker 3: what I'm thinking about.