WEBVTT - Fire Drill 086: I Am The Walrus

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's amazing that he's as good as he

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

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<v Speaker 1>Guys do not play better once they get super involved

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<v Speaker 1>in the politics of the Patriot Jury.

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<v Speaker 2>That got Daughts in my head.

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

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<v Speaker 3>thinking about, can't get him out, John, Not the thing

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<v Speaker 3>what I'm thinking about.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello, welcome back to our fire Drill podcast. I am

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<v Speaker 2>delighted to be joined by Michael Bamberger, who at this

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<v Speaker 2>moment is in Philadelphia, but he will be at Royal

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<v Speaker 2>Liverpool before we know it. Michael, thanks for squeezing in

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<v Speaker 2>the little podcast here.

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<v Speaker 1>You know you have a good time talking about the

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<v Speaker 1>Open Championship aka shpen And tell the people about the

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<v Speaker 1>time that Mark Moulvoy sent you over there with a

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<v Speaker 1>few hundred quid to gamble away.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, no, it was actually was a thousand. It's probably

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<v Speaker 2>the greatest boondoggle in the history of sports journalism. I

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<v Speaker 2>convinced the SI editors because if you've been to the Open,

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<v Speaker 2>any fans would know this punting, as they call it,

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<v Speaker 2>is a big part of the fabric of the event.

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<v Speaker 2>And these little towns, there's little there's betting parlors on

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<v Speaker 2>every corner, or so it seems, and you can and

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<v Speaker 2>this this okay, also say this is like the nineties,

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<v Speaker 2>This is way before smartphones, where betting was so easy

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<v Speaker 2>and ubiquitous like it was. This was to bet on

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<v Speaker 2>the open, you kind of had to be over there, right,

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<v Speaker 2>and uh, it was, it was. It was part of

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<v Speaker 2>the conversation. There's all these different bets you could do.

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<v Speaker 2>And so I this is probably I'm sure I violated

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<v Speaker 2>the laws of various nation states. But I was talking

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<v Speaker 2>up caddies, swing coaches, gleaning all kinds of insider information

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<v Speaker 2>and to place my bets. It was fantastic even so,

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<v Speaker 2>and I was.

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<v Speaker 1>How about the chime ink ethics guideline?

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<v Speaker 2>Nobody cares about that was Michael, give me a break.

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<v Speaker 2>So at the end of like three days of reckless

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<v Speaker 2>you know, betting, I still had I think maybe seven

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<v Speaker 2>hundred pounds left. I'd lost three hundred, although actually I

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<v Speaker 2>snatched an emergency like one hundred pounds out of John

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

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<v Speaker 2>I love Juggert and so but I had this moment

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<v Speaker 2>of clarity on the last night, I was like, well,

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

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<v Speaker 2>not that invested. If I lose at all, who cares?

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<v Speaker 2>This is time ink money. So I said to our

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<v Speaker 2>beloved editor Jim Harry, I said, I need something. I

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<v Speaker 2>need a payoff here. So how much would it cost

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<v Speaker 2>to take the whole staff to Bandon Dunes for a boondoggle?

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<v Speaker 2>And he said fifteen thousand dollars US. So that was

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<v Speaker 2>like whatever in those days, twelve thousand pounds or I

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<v Speaker 2>did the math. So I went to the betting haul

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<v Speaker 2>the next morning, and I'm the dude sleeping in the doorway.

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

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<v Speaker 2>And I said to the nice young lady, I said, okay,

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<v Speaker 2>I need to engineer a parlay so I can win

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<v Speaker 2>whatever twelve thousand pounds. And so what you can do

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<v Speaker 2>over there is I'm sure you still can. But in

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<v Speaker 2>those days, on the weekend, there was two balls and

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<v Speaker 2>you would just you would just pick who's going to

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<v Speaker 2>in the players who were paired together. You would have

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<v Speaker 2>the lowest score. It's a very simple bet. But if

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<v Speaker 2>they tie, you lose. So so I went through it

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<v Speaker 2>and had I had run around the night before, talking

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<v Speaker 2>to all these people, kind of had it in my

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<v Speaker 2>mind who I wanted to bet on, and anyway it was.

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<v Speaker 2>It wound up being a six tiered parlay, six different pairings,

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<v Speaker 2>and I won the first one, I won the second one,

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<v Speaker 2>I won the third one. At this point, I was

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<v Speaker 2>having trouble breathing. I was so excited. I didn't care

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<v Speaker 2>who won the Open Championship. All that mattered was the

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<v Speaker 2>bet and Michael, as you remember, people were tuned into

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<v Speaker 2>this in the press tent because I was talking about

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<v Speaker 2>it all week. I won the fourth bet, I won

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<v Speaker 2>the fifth bet. So now we are on the precipice

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<v Speaker 2>of going to Bandon Dunes like all of us, and

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<v Speaker 2>me becoming an everlasting legend in the annals of sports

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<v Speaker 2>journalism Open Championship punting, and god knows what else I

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<v Speaker 2>would have done with the money if we'd won.

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<v Speaker 1>And so you could be Jason Soble today had this.

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<v Speaker 2>Twenty years ago, Soble and so the last. But I

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<v Speaker 2>was also reporting the story because I wrote this whole

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<v Speaker 2>thing up. So I was running into the locker room

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<v Speaker 2>and in the parking lot trying to get players. And

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<v Speaker 2>so finally I get out to the last hole for

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<v Speaker 2>the last bet, and right behind the clubhouse, about three

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<v Speaker 2>steps off the green, it was Ob and the last

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<v Speaker 2>bet it was Nick Prey. Yeah, what's that?

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<v Speaker 1>Are yell with them?

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<v Speaker 2>Where Todd Hamilton beat Ernie L's This is O four?

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<v Speaker 1>I think maybe Truon?

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<v Speaker 2>Was it Truon? God? No, my brain joke Meal, Michael,

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

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<v Speaker 1>Keep it going.

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<v Speaker 2>Behind the last green. Two steps over the green is Ob.

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<v Speaker 2>And so I run out to eighteen and my two guys.

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

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<v Speaker 2>Their ball is one foot out of bounds. And I

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<v Speaker 2>had chosen Nick Price to win this two ball and

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<v Speaker 2>it was kJ Choy. If CHOI has gone out of bounds,

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<v Speaker 2>I've won and I've become a legend. And so asking

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

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<v Speaker 2>not in contention. You know, there's not a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>people there. They're walking down the middle of the fairway.

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<v Speaker 2>You can't tell from their body language their stride for stride.

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<v Speaker 2>It was the longest like two hundred yard walk in

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<v Speaker 2>the history of golf. And finally, you know, Choi peels

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<v Speaker 2>off into the front bunker to play a shot, Price

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<v Speaker 2>goes back and retrieves his ball with a shrug. And

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<v Speaker 2>so I lost the last vet and we didn't go

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

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<v Speaker 2>ever had on assignment.

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

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<v Speaker 1>very tight there.

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

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<v Speaker 2>are the little things that make the open so fun.

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<v Speaker 2>That was little, that wasn't little. But you know, do

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<v Speaker 2>you remember, do you remember, Michael, when we went at

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<v Speaker 2>Carnoustie when your man Francesco Mollinari won. It's Sunday. We

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<v Speaker 2>don't like to complain about the press room food because

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<v Speaker 2>the people don't care if they don't want to hear it.

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<v Speaker 2>But the pressroom food at the open is always suboptimal.

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>chips dude who goes to every open. He's got this

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<v Speaker 2>little trailer and it's the best fish and chips in

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<v Speaker 2>the World. I walked out there and I got three

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<v Speaker 2>fish and chips, one for me, one for you. I

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<v Speaker 2>can't remember where the third person was.

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<v Speaker 1>Very likely guaranty you was a fisher chip so file,

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<v Speaker 1>but maybe not.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm trying to remember. And so I'm carrying this

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<v Speaker 2>tray with three loaded down fish and chips and it's

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<v Speaker 2>it's precarious and I'm walking and Tim Michelson comes by

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<v Speaker 2>and he was mad about something. He's like, he's barking

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<v Speaker 2>at me about something I had written earlier in the year,

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<v Speaker 2>and I just looked at him. So dump and I said, Tim,

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<v Speaker 2>do you want some chips? I got lots of chips. Here,

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<v Speaker 2>take some chips. And he looked at me. I looked

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<v Speaker 2>at him. I just kept walking. He was so random

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<v Speaker 2>and funny. But we ate the fish and chips. Our

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<v Speaker 2>fingers were oily and it helped us type. They were

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<v Speaker 2>well lubricated and we got through the night. So, Michael,

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<v Speaker 2>what do you love about the open? And we should

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<v Speaker 2>say that. Let me just say this. Our colleigue, Jack

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<v Speaker 2>McCallum at Sports Illustrated decades ago tabbed Michael the Poet

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<v Speaker 2>oh links Land, and to this day it lives on

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<v Speaker 2>in a certain subset of sports illustrated. Yeah, people, Just a.

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<v Speaker 1>Little background on that, because McCallum was is an NBA

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<v Speaker 1>Hall of is in the NBA Hall of Fame as

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<v Speaker 1>a basketball writer. And he used to have an annual

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<v Speaker 1>tournament at his golf course, the Bethlehem Uni, and Alan

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<v Speaker 1>played in and I played in a bunch and he

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<v Speaker 1>had a little skinny line for each contestant. Mind I

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<v Speaker 1>was annually uh poeto links Land. But then m dash

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<v Speaker 1>will heave hagis when he sees the Bethlehem Muni was

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<v Speaker 1>so little traveled in golf, he doesn't know how good

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<v Speaker 1>the Bethlin Muni is.

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<v Speaker 2>It's fantastic.

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<v Speaker 1>So Trump and I, mccalm and I are one's playing

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<v Speaker 1>the Trump. I think the Westchester Trump Westchester Course, and

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<v Speaker 1>I said, Jack, this course is so much better. Excuse me.

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<v Speaker 1>The Bethle Muni is so much better than this Trump

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<v Speaker 1>Westchester course with the fire with the I said, fireworks,

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<v Speaker 1>but I might as well be fireks. But with the

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the the waterfalls and the Hamburgers and the

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

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<v Speaker 1>shitting me, right, I said no, absolutely, literally, Bethlehem, Muni

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<v Speaker 1>is a way way better at golf course. Now, of

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<v Speaker 1>course all this is subjective, and you know it goes

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<v Speaker 1>by taste and other things. But McCollum was a great

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<v Speaker 1>spirit of many, many things, and part of it was

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<v Speaker 1>this uh uh, this anal tournament. I would say, Alan

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

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<v Speaker 1>but let's just say we ever have written collectively. Is

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<v Speaker 1>when we have a fan in the Swinger talking to

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<v Speaker 1>Tree Tremont, who's a contestant in an Open Championship British

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<v Speaker 1>Open as I call it, and the fan says, you

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>That's what that spirit that's like the Masters is the Masters.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a whole thing onto itself. It's a whole culture.

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<v Speaker 1>It's very interesting. The US Open is a different culture.

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<v Speaker 1>Of the three majors, the Open, British Open, whatever you

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<v Speaker 1>want to call it, it has the most bringing everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>literally bringing everybody, kids galore, royals, all time, landed gentry,

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<v Speaker 1>but also a lot of regular punters and pensioners and

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<v Speaker 1>drinkers and and people's not screaming stuff that's stupid, just

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<v Speaker 1>like commenting intelligently. So when they speak about really really

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<v Speaker 1>intelligent galleries, these are the most intelligent, passionate galleries in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. The golf courses are the best in the world,

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<v Speaker 1>even like a boring course like Royal Liverpool is so

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<v Speaker 1>great you can't believe it. Any one of these golf

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<v Speaker 1>courses for my taste, the least of them, which people

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<v Speaker 1>say is we're all Saint George's, which is insane, because

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

0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:34.800
<v Speaker 1>fun hard golf course is so much better than anything

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<v Speaker 1>we have in the United States because quote, I guess

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<v Speaker 1>I'm quoting myself, and I know what I'm using. The

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<v Speaker 1>word quote for it's golf is it's meant to be played.

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<v Speaker 1>You can play it on the ground, you can play

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<v Speaker 1>it in the air. You gotta stay short of the traps.

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<v Speaker 1>If you get out of the traps, you better get

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<v Speaker 1>out and warn it de emphasizes putting Alan and I

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<v Speaker 1>have had, you know, more than a few evening matches

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<v Speaker 1>where I can sort of have more of a chance

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<v Speaker 1>to hold my own because because even though I have

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<v Speaker 1>limited skill. I can sort of shape the ball a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit, but I can't putt. But if you can't

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<v Speaker 1>put you can put a slower green better than a

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<v Speaker 1>faster And I have Brad Paxon on the phone here

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<v Speaker 1>in a day or two, I hope to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>the differences between putting over there and over here. I

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<v Speaker 1>caddied for a man Peter Tarviaine and who played golf

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<v Speaker 1>at Yale, was very good Teita Green and could make

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<v Speaker 1>a living on the European Tour because those greens. And

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<v Speaker 1>of course you know some similar to the greens is

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<v Speaker 1>Golle de emphasized putting by de emphasizing speed. So I

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<v Speaker 1>think just overall, you know you hit you, you know

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<v Speaker 1>you've got us off on the right foot. Just talking

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

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<v Speaker 1>super spirited, and I really do love everything about it.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, if I could only win one major, maybe

0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:49.800
<v Speaker 1>it would be the Masters because of that neat clebbiness

0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.600
<v Speaker 1>and you're there for life, and that's cool, and we're American,

0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.640
<v Speaker 1>but it's the greatest of the three majors.

0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.440
<v Speaker 2>Well, and just the scale of it, I mean, there's

0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:02.600
<v Speaker 2>nothing like that Canyon of grand stands around eighteen that

0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:06.760
<v Speaker 2>they every year put up, and there's this an expansiveness

0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.120
<v Speaker 2>to the golf courses a lot of obviously some of

0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.360
<v Speaker 2>the American courses now have taken out trees and they're

0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.120
<v Speaker 2>a little more open in their field, but the seaside

0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:17.240
<v Speaker 2>Links have always had that where you can stand at

0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.000
<v Speaker 2>a certain points you can see the whole golf course

0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:21.440
<v Speaker 2>and you can see the fans and where they're clustering,

0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:26.560
<v Speaker 2>and there there's the fan villages, the infrastructure, they everything

0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.599
<v Speaker 2>is just it just feels grand over there. Not ostentatious,

0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.319
<v Speaker 2>but just as opposite of that. It's simple, but it's

0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.560
<v Speaker 2>this is the sort of the championship of the world,

0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.800
<v Speaker 2>and it has that feeling and I always love that.

0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Can you remember your first experience playing Links golf?

0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.000
<v Speaker 2>Oh God, yes, So it was nineteen ninety six. I

0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:48.920
<v Speaker 2>was living in New York. I just started I just

0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.040
<v Speaker 2>graduated UCLA, and I was I'd started out at Sports

0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:55.640
<v Speaker 2>Illustrated and there was a whole group of SI folks

0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.480
<v Speaker 2>who annually would go over to Scotland. You know, some

0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:03.800
<v Speaker 2>of them, Greg Kelly, Meryl Noden, terrific writer, and just

0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.120
<v Speaker 2>some of their friends, and so Matt, Janelle and I

0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:12.040
<v Speaker 2>went together and we flew overnight and we went and

0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:17.360
<v Speaker 2>we played Royal Aberdeen, which has hosted various championships and

0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.720
<v Speaker 2>it's a terrific golf course. I'm embarrassed to say I

0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.160
<v Speaker 2>really didn't know that much about the courses in Scotland.

0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:28.240
<v Speaker 2>I had not done my due diligence. I was blissfully ignorant.

0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:30.160
<v Speaker 2>And we got out in the parking lot and it

0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.640
<v Speaker 2>was cold and rainy and scrambling and put clothes and

0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:36.080
<v Speaker 2>layers on and we went out in that front nine

0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.240
<v Speaker 2>at Aberdeen. It's just an incredible sort of moonscape and

0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.720
<v Speaker 2>I was blown away by all of it. And then

0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:47.400
<v Speaker 2>the next day we played thirty six holes at Cruden Bay,

0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.080
<v Speaker 2>which remains my favorite golf course in the world, and

0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:56.280
<v Speaker 2>it was and I actually I played great. I still

0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:59.400
<v Speaker 2>remember some of the shots I hit there like it

0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:01.480
<v Speaker 2>was one of the occasions. But I just in control

0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.719
<v Speaker 2>of my golf ball. And you know that Cruden Bay,

0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:06.560
<v Speaker 2>you've got that blind part three, you have to hook

0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.880
<v Speaker 2>it around a dune. Then there's a thirty dog part three. Yeah,

0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:12.200
<v Speaker 2>I don't even know where you're going. I'm like what

0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.560
<v Speaker 2>am I doing? And there's that, and right before that

0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.800
<v Speaker 2>there's the par four with the blind Green that's down

0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:22.960
<v Speaker 2>in that incredible dell. I guess it's just and some

0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:26.760
<v Speaker 2>of the views and you've got Bramstoker's Castle and there's

0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:30.520
<v Speaker 2>driveable par fours and there's super long hard Part three's

0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:35.960
<v Speaker 2>and everything, and cruden Bay just completely changed my whole

0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:40.120
<v Speaker 2>feeling about golf. Aberdeen was was terrific and just the

0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.760
<v Speaker 2>turf and the shots and everything, but cruden Bay was

0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:47.880
<v Speaker 2>like almost a religious experience for me. And play it

0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.960
<v Speaker 2>twice and it was just I've never been happier in

0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.040
<v Speaker 2>my life. And I still fantasize about there's some nice

0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.960
<v Speaker 2>houses right there on the hill and going over there

0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.280
<v Speaker 2>and living in cruden Bay. And by the way, the

0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.080
<v Speaker 2>food at the clubhouse there was terrific. I still remember

0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.040
<v Speaker 2>that as well, which was not always the case, as

0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.320
<v Speaker 2>previously discussed in this podcast. And it's just such a

0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.000
<v Speaker 2>charming you know, the course is in the town. When

0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.960
<v Speaker 2>you're playing the first couples, it feels like you could

0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:16.000
<v Speaker 2>reach into someone's kitchen and take the pie off their shelf.

0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:20.160
<v Speaker 2>You know. It's just it's so intimate and I think

0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:22.280
<v Speaker 2>about going over there, playing golf every day right in

0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.520
<v Speaker 2>the Great American novel whatever, and just living there for

0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.960
<v Speaker 2>six months. And I'm still I'm gonna do it at

0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.520
<v Speaker 2>some point in my life because it remains and I've

0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.480
<v Speaker 2>been back and my feelings run changed. I think it's

0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.720
<v Speaker 2>the most magical golf course ever played. And so yeah,

0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:38.680
<v Speaker 2>that that trip was a barnburner. We played like sixteen

0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:44.520
<v Speaker 2>rounds and nine days and got to all different corners

0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.080
<v Speaker 2>and me and Janella had an unbelievable experience at the

0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.840
<v Speaker 2>old course where we showed up. I've ever told the

0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.320
<v Speaker 2>story on the podcast. Do you know this story, Michael?

0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:54.160
<v Speaker 1>We don't.

0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.640
<v Speaker 2>We get to the starter shack and it was this.

0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:58.640
<v Speaker 1>Old it's a handicapp.

0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.040
<v Speaker 2>We didn't have proof of handicaps. We just didn't know.

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.720
<v Speaker 2>We hadn't been there. And of course now you would

0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.120
<v Speaker 2>just pull out your phone and show them your gin,

0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.880
<v Speaker 2>but this is nineteen ninety six. It's all analog. And

0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.000
<v Speaker 2>so I'll tell the story briefly because we're getting off track.

0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:18.040
<v Speaker 2>But and we we were there as as singles, so

0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.240
<v Speaker 2>it's like whatever, six in the morning. We didn't have it.

0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:23.400
<v Speaker 2>We didn't have a tea time there, maybe seven am

0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:25.840
<v Speaker 2>at the latest. And the guy says, well, if you

0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.240
<v Speaker 2>can produce it's like I could get you out, but

0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.840
<v Speaker 2>you'll need to produce proof of handicap. So we're like, God,

0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.680
<v Speaker 2>what do we do. It's you know, it's two in

0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:38.640
<v Speaker 2>the morning in New York, it's eleven at night in California, Like,

0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:41.400
<v Speaker 2>how can we do this? But Matt's brother, Sean lived

0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.320
<v Speaker 2>in Hawaii, so it's like eight pm there, and we're like,

0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.760
<v Speaker 2>let's call Sean. And so we call Sean and we

0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:48.880
<v Speaker 2>tell them what's going on, like we need you to

0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.160
<v Speaker 2>like make a phony letter attaching to our handicaps. And

0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:53.760
<v Speaker 2>he's like, oh, I'm all. He's like he loved it.

0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.800
<v Speaker 2>He was all in. So he lived in He's on

0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.280
<v Speaker 2>the north shore of Owahoo near Turtle Bay. So he

0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.880
<v Speaker 2>created a and I think he had a background in graphics,

0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:04.600
<v Speaker 2>graphic cards. He made this letterhead for the Turtle Bay

0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.200
<v Speaker 2>Country Club. There's a Turtle Bay golf course, but it's

0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:12.439
<v Speaker 2>not a private club, and he wrote I had these letters.

0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:16.560
<v Speaker 2>He wrote like paragraphs about me and Matt, like all

0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:20.000
<v Speaker 2>what upstanding citizens we were, and that we'd founded all

0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.280
<v Speaker 2>these programs at the club. And we held all these

0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:26.879
<v Speaker 2>titles and it was so preposterous. I think I was scratched.

0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.639
<v Speaker 2>Matt was like, you know, one point too. It was

0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.679
<v Speaker 2>ridiculous anyway, and he faxed it in. They had they

0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.639
<v Speaker 2>had a fax in the starters shack, probably for Jabbroni's

0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.720
<v Speaker 2>like us, and I'll never forget this old Scottish dude

0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.640
<v Speaker 2>wrapping on the glass. Gentlemen, your paperwork has been received.

0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:47.040
<v Speaker 2>And we went out and played, and then we played

0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.560
<v Speaker 2>together and we had a blast, and when you walk

0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.200
<v Speaker 2>off the old course, all you want he was played again,

0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:53.119
<v Speaker 2>and so we went back to the dude like we

0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.239
<v Speaker 2>played again, and he's like, well, sure. Then we had

0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:58.080
<v Speaker 2>to split up, but it was just had a couple

0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:00.000
<v Speaker 2>of spots for singles. So I played with a couple

0:17:59.960 --> 0:18:04.560
<v Speaker 2>of pilots American They were like these Texas dudes, airline pilots.

0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.040
<v Speaker 2>And then I can't remember our fourth was, but that

0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.159
<v Speaker 2>was also glorious. I mean, you played thirty six on

0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.440
<v Speaker 2>the old Course, and you know, we started there before

0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.720
<v Speaker 2>the sun came up and line and for the singles,

0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:16.399
<v Speaker 2>and then we finished it at sunset, you know, with

0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:19.760
<v Speaker 2>the twinkling lights of the town and yeah, that trip.

0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:22.600
<v Speaker 2>That trip changed my life without that's.

0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.360
<v Speaker 1>Neat Alan You you you worked as a car boy

0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.400
<v Speaker 1>and you've played Pebble Beach a bunch over the years.

0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:29.760
<v Speaker 1>You've been there for tournaments many times, you've been abandoned

0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:32.280
<v Speaker 1>many times. You've played up and down the East Coast.

0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:33.600
<v Speaker 1>Have you played Shinnecock Hills?

0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:33.879
<v Speaker 2>Oh?

0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.240
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, played National Golf Links.

0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.960
<v Speaker 2>Played on on the same day. That was epic. Yeah.

0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.320
<v Speaker 1>You play Fishers Island.

0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:43.720
<v Speaker 2>Number one on my on my to do list.

0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:49.479
<v Speaker 1>Have you played Sancity Ahead that's number six. So so

0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:53.120
<v Speaker 1>here here's my question for you. Do you think there

0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:56.080
<v Speaker 1>is links golf? And you've played in Australia. You've been

0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.360
<v Speaker 1>in Australia, I have not. You've been to Royal Melbourne

0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:04.000
<v Speaker 1>and other places. Do you think links golf exists beyond

0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:07.440
<v Speaker 1>the Kingdom.

0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:10.879
<v Speaker 2>There's elements of it, but the difference is the turf,

0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:16.000
<v Speaker 2>Like it's just the way the ball runs and skidders.

0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.399
<v Speaker 2>It just doesn't. Bandon has that. If you catch it

0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:20.719
<v Speaker 2>at the right time of year, you know it can

0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:22.399
<v Speaker 2>get it can get green there and it can it

0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.800
<v Speaker 2>can be almost a little lush, but you know Bandon

0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:30.200
<v Speaker 2>is built on that incredible sandy soil, but like National

0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.120
<v Speaker 2>National Golf Links has some elements of it. But when

0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:34.800
<v Speaker 2>I and I haven't played there in a long time,

0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:36.399
<v Speaker 2>but the grass was too long in the fairways. It

0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.400
<v Speaker 2>ball didn't didn't didn't bounce and run and roll, and

0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.879
<v Speaker 2>you know, I remember I was doing before Tom Watson

0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.960
<v Speaker 2>played his last to open at St. Andrew's a couple

0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:48.520
<v Speaker 2>months out of the tournament. I flew over there to

0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:50.080
<v Speaker 2>do this this story on him, and we were in

0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:52.719
<v Speaker 2>the Old Course hotel. He done some other interviews that day,

0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:54.359
<v Speaker 2>and he was restless. He's like, let's go for a walk,

0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.400
<v Speaker 2>and so we we we left the whole Old Course

0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.840
<v Speaker 2>hotel and we we kind of just skittered through the

0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.439
<v Speaker 2>you know, and Watson is a ranch hand. He was

0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:05.760
<v Speaker 2>very adept, like climbing through this fence. It was fun

0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:07.679
<v Speaker 2>to see for an old guy. And we got out

0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.000
<v Speaker 2>there in the seventeenth ferry the road hole and he's

0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:11.680
<v Speaker 2>like tapping his toe on the turf and you could

0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.840
<v Speaker 2>hear it. He's like, this turf, there's just nothing like it.

0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.360
<v Speaker 2>And who said with almost lust it was fantastic. And

0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:21.560
<v Speaker 2>that to me is the big difference, right, It's just

0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:27.240
<v Speaker 2>the way the ball reacts. So I think Bandon to

0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.359
<v Speaker 2>me is probably the closest you've played. You've played Sancing

0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.760
<v Speaker 2>Ahead and you played Fishers, Like, how do you answer

0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:34.240
<v Speaker 2>that question?

0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.480
<v Speaker 1>You know, I always thought the answer was no, But

0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.240
<v Speaker 1>then I had Tom Doak on the phone the other day.

0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:42.639
<v Speaker 1>We were talking about various things and I posed this

0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.639
<v Speaker 1>very question to him, and anybody who knows Tom Doak

0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:47.760
<v Speaker 1>knows that he gets to the heart of the matter

0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.359
<v Speaker 1>very efficiently. I said, Tom, do you think there's a

0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:54.199
<v Speaker 1>links golf beyond the United States? He said yes. I said, well,

0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.080
<v Speaker 1>what would be an example of a links golf course?

0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:58.440
<v Speaker 1>Excuse me, I misspoke. Do you think there's slings golf

0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:00.840
<v Speaker 1>beyond the noun kingdom? He said yes. I said, is

0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:02.720
<v Speaker 1>there lnks golf in the United States? He said yes.

0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:07.000
<v Speaker 1>Said what would be an example of it? He said, Nebraska. Wow,

0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:09.879
<v Speaker 1>I mean it's like one thousand miles from the nearest

0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:10.640
<v Speaker 1>seer Ocean.

0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:13.760
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So you know, I almost I almost threw bally

0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.160
<v Speaker 2>Neil into the conversation because that's not Nebraska, but it's

0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:21.080
<v Speaker 2>the northeast corner of Colorado and that they call the

0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.200
<v Speaker 2>chop Hills, and yeah, So his.

0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:26.959
<v Speaker 1>Answer is your His answer is your answer for for

0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:30.280
<v Speaker 1>the same reason. When the turf conditions are linksy, it's

0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:34.399
<v Speaker 1>links golf. Now, I would say I was probably looking

0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:38.120
<v Speaker 1>at it more technically like links golf is golf that's

0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:41.959
<v Speaker 1>played on links land. Links Land is that very particular,

0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:47.480
<v Speaker 1>almost particular in Scotland, but not unique to Scotland completely

0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:50.000
<v Speaker 1>where it's literally the edge of the sea and the

0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:53.040
<v Speaker 1>and the land and it's it's no good for agriculture.

0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:55.200
<v Speaker 1>You can't really grow anything on it because the lanceu sandy,

0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.719
<v Speaker 1>but you can grow grass on it. And it's humpy

0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:01.359
<v Speaker 1>and hollowy and windblown. And that's linksland. And when you

0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:03.960
<v Speaker 1>put a golf on golf course you can have and

0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:07.600
<v Speaker 1>there is if you go to Mirrorfield, there's several hundred

0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:11.560
<v Speaker 1>acres of absolutely pure dune land links land right next

0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:14.080
<v Speaker 1>to Mirfield that's undeveloped, but it is links land. And

0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:15.679
<v Speaker 1>if you put a golf course there, then you have

0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:19.080
<v Speaker 1>a links golf course. Macrohonish of course. Famous sample links

0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:24.800
<v Speaker 1>golf you know are goldsby Ealy, all famous examples roughness

0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:31.240
<v Speaker 1>blah blah blah blah blah. Anyway, uh So, but Duke's

0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:35.520
<v Speaker 1>point is really a great point. You could argue this

0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.200
<v Speaker 1>is a key aspect, but it's a great point. It's

0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:41.280
<v Speaker 1>your point. It's the firmness of the turf. Now we

0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:43.639
<v Speaker 1>have been you and I both have been to opens

0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:49.600
<v Speaker 1>when the summer's been lush and it's still for four

0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:53.000
<v Speaker 1>days and it doesn't play like Links golf at all.

0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:55.160
<v Speaker 1>But of course it's still Links golf, but just not

0:22:55.520 --> 0:23:00.960
<v Speaker 1>the under the normal conditions. But it's interesting how many

0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:07.159
<v Speaker 1>great golfers, including Jones, Snead and Watson. I can definitely

0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:10.120
<v Speaker 1>cite those three. I'm sure there's many many others who

0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.679
<v Speaker 1>didn't warm to the whole thing from the get go.

0:23:12.840 --> 0:23:15.679
<v Speaker 1>You know, there's a famous Tom Watson story where in

0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:17.960
<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy five he's going to play in his first Open.

0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:20.120
<v Speaker 1>He would have been about let's say he's born forty nine,

0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:24.520
<v Speaker 1>so he'd been about twenty five, and he goes to

0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:27.439
<v Speaker 1>He and Hubert Green and John Mahffey they go up

0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:33.000
<v Speaker 1>to Carnousti and they can't get on the course. You know,

0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:36.400
<v Speaker 1>it's Scotland. It's really weird Scotland, as you know Alan,

0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:39.639
<v Speaker 1>because they're really loose people in some ways, and then

0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:42.879
<v Speaker 1>they're really really by the book in other ways, and

0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:46.560
<v Speaker 1>that's not good for us the way we like it

0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:49.400
<v Speaker 1>wasn't good for Watson on this Sunday. So they said, okay,

0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:50.840
<v Speaker 1>well they got in the car, they went down I

0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:53.199
<v Speaker 1>may be mispronouncing, and helped me Alan, you know, if

0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:56.119
<v Speaker 1>you know what Manafith is, of course down the road exactly.

0:23:57.240 --> 0:24:01.200
<v Speaker 1>And so you know, Watson kills his down one. Everyone's like,

0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:03.800
<v Speaker 1>good shot, good shot to get out there. No golf ball,

0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:06.080
<v Speaker 1>I can't find it anywhere. It's supposed to be the

0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:08.919
<v Speaker 1>middle of the fairway. And Watson's like, I don't know

0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:11.639
<v Speaker 1>about this link's golf. And then there's you know famous

0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:15.400
<v Speaker 1>Sam Steed story taking a train into the into Saint Andrews's.

0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:17.200
<v Speaker 1>He says to the guy next to him in the train,

0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:19.320
<v Speaker 1>he said, what's that over there? What's the over there?

0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:21.920
<v Speaker 1>That old abandoned golf course? And the guy says, that's

0:24:21.920 --> 0:24:24.320
<v Speaker 1>the old course, mom, that's where they're playing the open,

0:24:24.960 --> 0:24:28.719
<v Speaker 1>you know, And then Jones walked off over the other examples,

0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:32.240
<v Speaker 1>there are other examples. But my thing was a little

0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:35.520
<v Speaker 1>bit like your thing. I was ready to like it

0:24:35.640 --> 0:24:38.520
<v Speaker 1>because I think a lot of bad I do golf

0:24:38.520 --> 0:24:40.320
<v Speaker 1>in the Kingdom and how much we love that book,

0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:42.520
<v Speaker 1>and how much we love Michael Murphy and his experience

0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:45.159
<v Speaker 1>playing Link golf Links Golf and watching a lot of

0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:47.399
<v Speaker 1>open golf before it went over there. But then I

0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:51.000
<v Speaker 1>caddied in eighty five in the qualify a roll sink

0:24:51.080 --> 0:24:54.560
<v Speaker 1>ports for the open next door of roll Saint George's,

0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:57.520
<v Speaker 1>and I was like, it was blowing and it was great.

0:24:57.600 --> 0:24:59.600
<v Speaker 1>I thought it was just just great. And then I

0:24:59.800 --> 0:25:02.240
<v Speaker 1>then I played it shortly after. I loved it right

0:25:02.240 --> 0:25:06.679
<v Speaker 1>away and and sometimes won. I'm playing here, it's like

0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:12.200
<v Speaker 1>it just actually feels like a different game, especially because Alan,

0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:14.720
<v Speaker 1>You've made this point many times. There's you know, one

0:25:14.720 --> 0:25:16.919
<v Speaker 1>of the starting points for club golf over there is

0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:19.560
<v Speaker 1>that you can go on the website now that there

0:25:19.560 --> 0:25:22.320
<v Speaker 1>are websites and sign up for a tea time. There's

0:25:22.359 --> 0:25:25.040
<v Speaker 1>no really, there's no, truly, truly, I can't think of

0:25:25.119 --> 0:25:28.160
<v Speaker 1>one golf course that isn't open to visit or play there.

0:25:28.880 --> 0:25:31.359
<v Speaker 2>The only one I know was basically Loch Loman, and

0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:35.439
<v Speaker 2>that's the least Scottish golf course there is. And and

0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:38.440
<v Speaker 2>even then we I've that may have changed, but that

0:25:38.520 --> 0:25:41.440
<v Speaker 2>was the hardest one. To get ironically because it's I

0:25:41.480 --> 0:25:41.920
<v Speaker 2>would have.

0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:45.880
<v Speaker 1>Sorry, loch Loman, don't even care. I wouldn't want to exactly.

0:25:46.080 --> 0:25:47.600
<v Speaker 2>It was trying to be something they was trying to

0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:53.440
<v Speaker 2>be an American private club in Scotland. Discordant but right right, yeah,

0:25:53.440 --> 0:25:57.359
<v Speaker 2>it's funny. I was just talking to someone about about

0:25:57.400 --> 0:26:00.720
<v Speaker 2>Bandon Dunes and the Uncle Tony Invitational. We used to

0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:04.960
<v Speaker 2>play it in July, that's annual trip that Janella organizes,

0:26:05.119 --> 0:26:08.400
<v Speaker 2>and it was really windy. It was twenty twenty five

0:26:08.400 --> 0:26:10.760
<v Speaker 2>miles every day. And now we've moved it to the

0:26:10.760 --> 0:26:15.240
<v Speaker 2>fall and it's much more benign and you were all

0:26:15.280 --> 0:26:18.040
<v Speaker 2>scoring better in the fall. But it was more fun

0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:21.680
<v Speaker 2>in the summer because those courses were built for wind

0:26:21.800 --> 0:26:24.360
<v Speaker 2>and it just made it so much more interesting. And

0:26:24.520 --> 0:26:27.800
<v Speaker 2>there was some holes there that just had you quaking

0:26:27.840 --> 0:26:31.280
<v Speaker 2>in your soft spikes. And now without the wind, they're

0:26:31.280 --> 0:26:34.280
<v Speaker 2>still challenging, but it's not the same thing, and it's

0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:37.240
<v Speaker 2>sort of I mean, it can be hard to play

0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:41.439
<v Speaker 2>over in Scotland. Those those lives are so tight. You know,

0:26:41.480 --> 0:26:43.399
<v Speaker 2>there's a times when you hit you hit it up

0:26:43.440 --> 0:26:45.520
<v Speaker 2>near the green you have to go over a bunker.

0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:48.840
<v Speaker 2>You know, there's no ground game sometimes where you leave

0:26:48.880 --> 0:26:51.840
<v Speaker 2>yourself and it's like there's no grass under there, and

0:26:51.880 --> 0:26:57.280
<v Speaker 2>it's terrifying, and you know you've got these huge crosswinds

0:26:57.320 --> 0:27:00.400
<v Speaker 2>and when the fescue gets long and can be hard

0:27:00.400 --> 0:27:02.600
<v Speaker 2>to find your ball. It's not the easiest golf to

0:27:02.640 --> 0:27:07.040
<v Speaker 2>play when you're not used to it. But when when

0:27:07.080 --> 0:27:09.520
<v Speaker 2>you when you start, when you start finding the rhythm

0:27:09.560 --> 0:27:11.600
<v Speaker 2>of it, it's just so much fun. There's so much

0:27:11.640 --> 0:27:15.000
<v Speaker 2>going on in every shot, and it's just it's really

0:27:15.040 --> 0:27:17.200
<v Speaker 2>a thrilling way to play.

0:27:17.280 --> 0:27:19.640
<v Speaker 1>You really nailed the key difference. And this is true

0:27:19.640 --> 0:27:21.760
<v Speaker 1>at every level, and to some degree, this is true

0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:24.280
<v Speaker 1>at Augusta National, even though it's the antithesis of what

0:27:24.280 --> 0:27:27.560
<v Speaker 1>we're talking about. If you've ever if you've ever, have

0:27:27.600 --> 0:27:29.680
<v Speaker 1>you ever been in a Marriott, you know the high

0:27:29.760 --> 0:27:32.240
<v Speaker 1>rise Mariot where it's got the thin carpet and then

0:27:32.240 --> 0:27:34.879
<v Speaker 1>there's the cement floor underneath it. If you ever like

0:27:34.920 --> 0:27:37.159
<v Speaker 1>try to do a plank under those, it's way harder

0:27:37.160 --> 0:27:40.280
<v Speaker 1>there because you've got no cushioning whatsoever. But when you

0:27:40.320 --> 0:27:42.720
<v Speaker 1>try to hit pit shots off those carpets, which I'm

0:27:42.760 --> 0:27:45.520
<v Speaker 1>sure we've all done, everybody our listener, and you and

0:27:45.560 --> 0:27:49.280
<v Speaker 1>me and everybody else. Jake, Uh, It's like if you

0:27:49.359 --> 0:27:52.080
<v Speaker 1>catch it right off the carpet, it's the most satisfying

0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:56.680
<v Speaker 1>thing in the world because it's like ball, carpet, cement

0:27:56.800 --> 0:28:00.359
<v Speaker 1>all in one. That is basically links golf. Because if

0:28:00.400 --> 0:28:02.840
<v Speaker 1>you don't catch it, if you catch the carpet first,

0:28:03.320 --> 0:28:06.920
<v Speaker 1>then it bounces off the cement and you catch the

0:28:07.000 --> 0:28:11.879
<v Speaker 1>way that's a duff, that's an X. And then if

0:28:11.920 --> 0:28:14.479
<v Speaker 1>you thin it or thicket or whatever it's, it's you

0:28:14.520 --> 0:28:16.919
<v Speaker 1>can't get away with anything there but a clean strike.

0:28:17.280 --> 0:28:21.080
<v Speaker 1>And that's really where the legend of Seve became the

0:28:21.160 --> 0:28:23.679
<v Speaker 1>legend of Seve, for the purity of the strike. And

0:28:23.720 --> 0:28:27.160
<v Speaker 1>of course it's no mistake at all that Tom Watson,

0:28:27.240 --> 0:28:29.520
<v Speaker 1>even though it was a great putter and made his name,

0:28:29.920 --> 0:28:35.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm putting, but the ball striking was so clean because

0:28:35.520 --> 0:28:37.959
<v Speaker 1>and the lie is so thin. It's no mistake at

0:28:37.960 --> 0:28:40.560
<v Speaker 1>all that guys who play well at Augusta and dry

0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:44.720
<v Speaker 1>conditions which you haven't had in some decades now, and

0:28:44.720 --> 0:28:49.160
<v Speaker 1>and and open conditions are very very similar. It's I

0:28:49.200 --> 0:28:51.120
<v Speaker 1>think you're really getting to the crux of the thing.

0:28:51.160 --> 0:28:55.200
<v Speaker 1>Alan when you talk about firmness of turf. And that's

0:28:55.200 --> 0:28:58.000
<v Speaker 1>what Doake was saying about Nebraska, or you know many

0:28:58.040 --> 0:29:02.480
<v Speaker 1>other places as well, by the way, including hundreds of

0:29:02.560 --> 0:29:05.920
<v Speaker 1>municipal golf courses throughout the Midwest that don't have expensive

0:29:05.960 --> 0:29:08.200
<v Speaker 1>watering systems.

0:29:08.640 --> 0:29:12.360
<v Speaker 2>But then those places, the greens are often soft, like

0:29:12.440 --> 0:29:15.080
<v Speaker 2>they overwater the and no other part of the course

0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:17.560
<v Speaker 2>gets any water, and it's like that doesn't quite hold up.

0:29:18.400 --> 0:29:22.800
<v Speaker 1>But there is a missing, a huge missing ingredient to this,

0:29:22.880 --> 0:29:26.640
<v Speaker 1>which is Peter Alice's phrase in sight and sound of

0:29:26.680 --> 0:29:29.840
<v Speaker 1>the sea. Insight and sound of the sea, The goals

0:29:29.880 --> 0:29:34.120
<v Speaker 1>in the air, that heavy marine air. It's like you

0:29:34.240 --> 0:29:38.120
<v Speaker 1>might throw wind and see almost nothing, but for whatever reason,

0:29:38.120 --> 0:29:41.440
<v Speaker 1>when that ball gets in the air on a links

0:29:41.480 --> 0:29:44.560
<v Speaker 1>golf course, a little bit of wind does a lot

0:29:44.640 --> 0:29:46.600
<v Speaker 1>to hit it, and a big wind is just like

0:29:46.680 --> 0:29:50.160
<v Speaker 1>forget about it. And Gardy and I were once playing

0:29:50.240 --> 0:29:53.080
<v Speaker 1>night golf and Ben Crane of all people, joined us.

0:29:53.120 --> 0:29:55.080
<v Speaker 1>He was a first alternate and couldn't get into the

0:29:55.080 --> 0:29:58.160
<v Speaker 1>tournament and we were playing at Wallasey i think it's called,

0:29:58.240 --> 0:30:02.640
<v Speaker 1>right down the road from Liverpool, and just watching him

0:30:03.440 --> 0:30:06.040
<v Speaker 1>read the wind on every shot and play it appropriately

0:30:06.200 --> 0:30:07.920
<v Speaker 1>and he was a straight ball hitter. He was one

0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:10.800
<v Speaker 1>of the greatest straight ball hitters. Not great, great, but

0:30:10.920 --> 0:30:13.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, really skillful at hitting a straight golf ball,

0:30:13.280 --> 0:30:16.120
<v Speaker 1>like Jeff Maggert was at even a higher level. But

0:30:16.160 --> 0:30:19.840
<v Speaker 1>he was curving the ball beautifully. And so I mean,

0:30:19.840 --> 0:30:24.280
<v Speaker 1>if you talk about the really great Open players, Nicholas

0:30:24.280 --> 0:30:28.400
<v Speaker 1>for the ball strike, Tiger for sure, Watson for sure.

0:30:28.760 --> 0:30:31.200
<v Speaker 1>I never saw Peter Thompson, but he had to be spectacular.

0:30:31.840 --> 0:30:33.720
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I've seen some old black and white footage of

0:30:33.720 --> 0:30:38.120
<v Speaker 2>his swing on Twitter and it's it's just gorgeous. So

0:30:38.200 --> 0:30:39.520
<v Speaker 2>it's easy to imagine.

0:30:40.160 --> 0:30:42.600
<v Speaker 1>And how about how about Snead and Hogan. I believe

0:30:42.640 --> 0:30:44.520
<v Speaker 1>this is correct. I know it's true. For Hogan, I

0:30:44.520 --> 0:30:47.600
<v Speaker 1>think no, it's not entirely true for Snead. Hogan played

0:30:47.640 --> 0:30:50.600
<v Speaker 1>in one Open Championship on the hardest golf course I've

0:30:50.600 --> 0:30:52.640
<v Speaker 1>ever seen. I've never played at car News Team one

0:30:53.200 --> 0:30:57.520
<v Speaker 1>and Snead played. Did I first Open at St Andrew's

0:30:57.840 --> 0:31:00.400
<v Speaker 1>I think about forty six in one. He didn't come

0:31:00.400 --> 0:31:02.120
<v Speaker 1>back for a lot of years because his joke was

0:31:02.160 --> 0:31:04.080
<v Speaker 1>but it wasn't a joke. He lost money on the

0:31:04.120 --> 0:31:10.760
<v Speaker 1>week and uh uh, But I mean, that's the genius

0:31:10.840 --> 0:31:11.920
<v Speaker 1>of how good they were.

0:31:12.680 --> 0:31:15.520
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, well, and you know, I'm not I'm not

0:31:15.560 --> 0:31:17.440
<v Speaker 2>sure if you got to watch much of the Scottish

0:31:17.480 --> 0:31:18.040
<v Speaker 2>Open this.

0:31:18.120 --> 0:31:19.040
<v Speaker 1>Did I watched a munch.

0:31:19.200 --> 0:31:22.720
<v Speaker 2>I mean that shot that that Rory hit on the

0:31:22.760 --> 0:31:25.480
<v Speaker 2>seventy second hold to set up the walk off birdie,

0:31:25.960 --> 0:31:28.720
<v Speaker 2>that was erotic. I mean, it was.

0:31:28.800 --> 0:31:31.640
<v Speaker 1>Just what was that club hitting there?

0:31:32.000 --> 0:31:33.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? That I don't know, that's a good question.

0:31:33.680 --> 0:31:37.000
<v Speaker 1>I jose I was a setup. What was that cluby

0:31:37.040 --> 0:31:37.480
<v Speaker 1>hitting there?

0:31:37.560 --> 0:31:38.600
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. Michael, what was it?

0:31:39.760 --> 0:31:41.000
<v Speaker 1>You tell me? What do you think? It was?

0:31:41.200 --> 0:31:41.720
<v Speaker 2>Two iron?

0:31:42.600 --> 0:31:45.720
<v Speaker 1>What's a two iron? Who even carries a two iron anymore?

0:31:45.760 --> 0:31:47.800
<v Speaker 1>I think on TV they're calling it a driving iron.

0:31:47.960 --> 0:31:49.480
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's just wild that the guy had a

0:31:49.480 --> 0:31:51.400
<v Speaker 1>two iron without it not having a three arm, so

0:31:51.480 --> 0:31:53.240
<v Speaker 1>he actually must have opened the face and take it

0:31:53.280 --> 0:31:55.800
<v Speaker 1>a little bit off of it. You talk about shot making,

0:31:56.120 --> 0:31:59.160
<v Speaker 1>you know, And Rory's a great, great golfer. If he

0:31:59.200 --> 0:32:01.400
<v Speaker 1>never wins another major, doesn't matter. He's still going to

0:32:01.440 --> 0:32:03.760
<v Speaker 1>be a great golfer. But he has one of his

0:32:03.880 --> 0:32:07.640
<v Speaker 1>major's undersoft conditions. But that shot was not the shot

0:32:07.760 --> 0:32:10.840
<v Speaker 1>undersoft conditions. That was a Linksland golf shot, if ever

0:32:10.880 --> 0:32:13.600
<v Speaker 1>there was one, I'd been to that Renaissance course. You know,

0:32:13.600 --> 0:32:15.600
<v Speaker 1>it's brand new, it was born built in two thousand,

0:32:15.680 --> 0:32:18.840
<v Speaker 1>Open in two thousand and eight. I say Britta because

0:32:18.960 --> 0:32:22.200
<v Speaker 1>like the new course at next to the old courses

0:32:22.280 --> 0:32:25.240
<v Speaker 1>like eighteen ninety three, that's course for two thousand and eight.

0:32:25.240 --> 0:32:27.920
<v Speaker 1>It's a joke. But it really looked great on TV,

0:32:28.040 --> 0:32:30.760
<v Speaker 1>better than I had remembered it. And it looked really winksy,

0:32:30.880 --> 0:32:35.160
<v Speaker 1>and it was fantastic to see cold, miserable fans having

0:32:35.200 --> 0:32:37.040
<v Speaker 1>the time, not well, not miserable, having the time of

0:32:37.040 --> 0:32:38.640
<v Speaker 1>their life, but it was cold and windy and they

0:32:38.640 --> 0:32:39.560
<v Speaker 1>were having a great time.

0:32:40.040 --> 0:32:42.880
<v Speaker 2>That was so good for Firepit Collective dot com. He

0:32:42.960 --> 0:32:46.840
<v Speaker 2>wrote a nice story about Rory's win and setting up

0:32:46.880 --> 0:32:51.760
<v Speaker 2>the fact that we're going back to Royal Liverpool where

0:32:51.800 --> 0:32:55.000
<v Speaker 2>he won his last Open, and that was you know this,

0:32:55.280 --> 0:32:59.080
<v Speaker 2>that was peek Rory that summer when the Open went

0:32:59.120 --> 0:33:02.000
<v Speaker 2>to Firestone one that then won the PGA Championship, you know,

0:33:02.080 --> 0:33:03.520
<v Speaker 2>his third and fourth unbelievable.

0:33:03.720 --> 0:33:06.480
<v Speaker 1>I've forgotten about Firestone, But was that in between the

0:33:06.480 --> 0:33:07.520
<v Speaker 1>two or as Firestone after?

0:33:07.560 --> 0:33:09.280
<v Speaker 2>I think it was in between, Yeah, right, in between,

0:33:10.720 --> 0:33:16.320
<v Speaker 2>and he's been trying to recapture that ever since. It's

0:33:16.720 --> 0:33:19.240
<v Speaker 2>we've been talking about Rory so much there's almost nothing

0:33:19.360 --> 0:33:21.320
<v Speaker 2>left to say. I mean at this point, either he's

0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:24.880
<v Speaker 2>just got to do it and we'll celebrate it. But

0:33:26.480 --> 0:33:28.920
<v Speaker 2>you know, I was looking through some numbers, like that's

0:33:28.920 --> 0:33:33.360
<v Speaker 2>his seventh straight top ten finish. That's the longest streak

0:33:33.400 --> 0:33:38.280
<v Speaker 2>of his career, or matches it anyway, He's just playing

0:33:38.320 --> 0:33:42.920
<v Speaker 2>some of his best golf at the same time. I mean,

0:33:43.680 --> 0:33:46.080
<v Speaker 2>it's impossible we're going on almost a decade in his

0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:51.160
<v Speaker 2>prime when he's won everything else. There's no doubt he's

0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:56.440
<v Speaker 2>had a tremendous career, but it just there's something unfulfilled.

0:33:56.640 --> 0:33:59.600
<v Speaker 2>And do you have any I mean, you know Rory

0:33:59.640 --> 0:34:01.600
<v Speaker 2>as well better than anybody on the golf beat. I mean,

0:34:01.600 --> 0:34:03.960
<v Speaker 2>you're writing about him when he first came out, and

0:34:04.080 --> 0:34:07.000
<v Speaker 2>I think, Jerry McElroy, you're the one reporter he actually likes.

0:34:07.040 --> 0:34:09.000
<v Speaker 2>You guys have a nice rapport. I mean, do you

0:34:09.040 --> 0:34:11.680
<v Speaker 2>have any thoughts on what this week means to Rory

0:34:11.760 --> 0:34:14.840
<v Speaker 2>and if there's any reason for optimism that this is

0:34:14.880 --> 0:34:17.840
<v Speaker 2>going to be the one where he gets off the Schneide.

0:34:20.880 --> 0:34:24.440
<v Speaker 1>You can say no, I don't want to say no.

0:34:24.760 --> 0:34:29.600
<v Speaker 1>I think it's gonna be inredibly hard, just incredibly hard

0:34:29.640 --> 0:34:32.840
<v Speaker 1>for all I mean, for all the reasons we saw.

0:34:33.800 --> 0:34:37.200
<v Speaker 1>The Putt went in on eighteen. It didn't have to.

0:34:37.400 --> 0:34:40.040
<v Speaker 1>He easily could not have. And then you're in a playoff,

0:34:40.120 --> 0:34:42.279
<v Speaker 1>and then you're so deflated. The other guys play great

0:34:42.320 --> 0:34:44.200
<v Speaker 1>to get in the playoff. You've played crappy to get

0:34:44.239 --> 0:34:46.879
<v Speaker 1>in the playoff. Under those conditions, you're probably gonna lose

0:34:46.920 --> 0:34:48.760
<v Speaker 1>the playoff, even though it's just a one whole playoff,

0:34:48.760 --> 0:34:53.279
<v Speaker 1>which is a joke. Anyhow, I think it's gonna be

0:34:53.360 --> 0:34:59.440
<v Speaker 1>really really really hard, really hard. I just it's what

0:34:59.560 --> 0:35:03.520
<v Speaker 1>Arnold told me a long time ago. It's not the

0:35:03.520 --> 0:35:07.920
<v Speaker 1>golf skill. It's what we saw in the tennis today.

0:35:08.040 --> 0:35:11.360
<v Speaker 1>You know, Djokovic is the best, Djokovic is better than

0:35:11.400 --> 0:35:13.600
<v Speaker 1>that guy. But Djokovic couldn't beat that guy today because

0:35:13.600 --> 0:35:15.600
<v Speaker 1>he didn't have the gear he needed it when he

0:35:15.640 --> 0:35:19.680
<v Speaker 1>needed it. And it's not the fitness gear. It's just

0:35:19.760 --> 0:35:22.319
<v Speaker 1>some other gear. And Arnold talked about it without being

0:35:22.320 --> 0:35:27.319
<v Speaker 1>able to identify it. And so McElroy's got all the

0:35:27.360 --> 0:35:32.120
<v Speaker 1>skill in the world, but that close it out. Gene

0:35:32.160 --> 0:35:34.759
<v Speaker 1>is another gene that goes way beyond skill. There's the

0:35:34.840 --> 0:35:37.719
<v Speaker 1>skill from going from the driving range to the first round,

0:35:37.880 --> 0:35:40.160
<v Speaker 1>the second round, the third round, but then to go

0:35:40.200 --> 0:35:42.520
<v Speaker 1>to the fourth round, that's another thing, and then go

0:35:42.560 --> 0:35:44.560
<v Speaker 1>to the last four holes and get it done is

0:35:44.600 --> 0:35:48.719
<v Speaker 1>another thing. Of course, Tiger. We saw everything Tiger did

0:35:48.719 --> 0:35:51.719
<v Speaker 1>his whole career. No one golf's never seen anybody like it.

0:35:54.000 --> 0:35:57.760
<v Speaker 1>And then then you add to it all the years

0:35:57.880 --> 0:36:00.279
<v Speaker 1>now of not winning. You know, having chance is in

0:36:00.400 --> 0:36:02.960
<v Speaker 1>not winning another major. It looked easy when he was

0:36:03.000 --> 0:36:05.799
<v Speaker 1>twenty five and he was up to four, but that's

0:36:05.880 --> 0:36:08.480
<v Speaker 1>nine years ago now, and he went two in one year,

0:36:09.040 --> 0:36:12.360
<v Speaker 1>and the conditions were soft when he won. I just

0:36:12.360 --> 0:36:16.359
<v Speaker 1>think it's very, very, very very hard, I really do.

0:36:19.120 --> 0:36:23.120
<v Speaker 1>I think it's amazing that he's as good as he

0:36:23.400 --> 0:36:27.520
<v Speaker 1>is because he's got so much going on in his life.

0:36:27.880 --> 0:36:30.520
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, you know, our friend Mac Barnhoard makes

0:36:30.520 --> 0:36:33.480
<v Speaker 1>this point all the time. I know I've said it before,

0:36:33.560 --> 0:36:37.919
<v Speaker 1>but it bears repeating. Guys ninety two percent of the time,

0:36:37.960 --> 0:36:40.839
<v Speaker 1>if not much are do not play better. Once they

0:36:40.840 --> 0:36:43.279
<v Speaker 1>get super involved in the politics of the PGA tour

0:36:44.680 --> 0:36:46.840
<v Speaker 1>for whatever reason distraction.

0:36:47.280 --> 0:36:51.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, and you know, Rory's been on the front lines

0:36:51.239 --> 0:36:54.239
<v Speaker 2>here for a year and a half. I mean, as

0:36:54.280 --> 0:36:59.920
<v Speaker 2>the leading spokesman, the chief shit stirer, the behind the

0:37:00.239 --> 0:37:03.800
<v Speaker 2>scenes shot collar, like he put his heart and soul

0:37:03.840 --> 0:37:08.080
<v Speaker 2>into this battle. And then you know, jay Monhan and

0:37:08.160 --> 0:37:10.920
<v Speaker 2>Rory's friend Jimmy Dunn just tore open his chest cowty

0:37:10.920 --> 0:37:13.279
<v Speaker 2>and ripped his heart out and stomped on it and

0:37:13.320 --> 0:37:16.160
<v Speaker 2>you know, metal spikes like and you could see that

0:37:16.280 --> 0:37:18.600
<v Speaker 2>at the US Open, he just looked deflate, even though

0:37:18.640 --> 0:37:21.040
<v Speaker 2>he wound up playing well, but that was just like

0:37:21.080 --> 0:37:25.400
<v Speaker 2>a he was still processing it. I mean, maybe maybe

0:37:25.920 --> 0:37:29.200
<v Speaker 2>maybe he's unburdened now. He's like he was fighting so

0:37:29.320 --> 0:37:31.759
<v Speaker 2>hard for what he thought, you know, he believed in

0:37:32.000 --> 0:37:35.360
<v Speaker 2>and for this just cause and for something larger than himself,

0:37:35.920 --> 0:37:38.120
<v Speaker 2>and he I could see Roy being like, you know what,

0:37:39.719 --> 0:37:41.960
<v Speaker 2>screw all that, I'm just here to play golf now,

0:37:42.080 --> 0:37:45.600
<v Speaker 2>and you guys just you figure it out and I'm

0:37:45.640 --> 0:37:48.640
<v Speaker 2>done emotionally with this whole thing. And I don't think

0:37:48.640 --> 0:37:52.120
<v Speaker 2>anybody would blame him. So maybe he's freed up. I mean,

0:37:52.440 --> 0:37:54.440
<v Speaker 2>he was playing well, and he was he had made

0:37:54.480 --> 0:37:56.800
<v Speaker 2>the point that because he'd put his neck on a

0:37:56.880 --> 0:37:59.600
<v Speaker 2>chopping block in some ways that this that's about analogy

0:37:59.640 --> 0:38:02.279
<v Speaker 2>given the whole jew politics of this, but because he'd

0:38:02.320 --> 0:38:06.560
<v Speaker 2>put himself on the line here, that that was inspiring

0:38:06.640 --> 0:38:08.560
<v Speaker 2>him to really grind and try and play his best.

0:38:08.600 --> 0:38:11.680
<v Speaker 2>And but I think there was you know, he talked

0:38:11.719 --> 0:38:16.399
<v Speaker 2>about it coming out of the Masters, like the adrenaline

0:38:16.760 --> 0:38:19.920
<v Speaker 2>they've been running on ran out. And I think that

0:38:20.360 --> 0:38:23.720
<v Speaker 2>I don't know this, maybe he'll just kind of freewheel

0:38:23.719 --> 0:38:24.960
<v Speaker 2>it in a way that he hasn't been able to.

0:38:25.920 --> 0:38:29.520
<v Speaker 2>We're always Rory. We all project so much onto him,

0:38:29.600 --> 0:38:33.560
<v Speaker 2>you know, he's like, uh, and he no way lights

0:38:33.640 --> 0:38:36.279
<v Speaker 2>up golf, Twitter and the whole conversation like he does.

0:38:38.800 --> 0:38:41.400
<v Speaker 2>It would it would be an incredible exclamation point on

0:38:41.480 --> 0:38:45.759
<v Speaker 2>this whole period and professional golf. You know, everyone sort

0:38:45.760 --> 0:38:48.279
<v Speaker 2>of wanted it. At the Open, it seemed like, you know,

0:38:48.840 --> 0:38:51.680
<v Speaker 2>that was that the man in the moment were perfectly aligned.

0:38:51.760 --> 0:38:54.440
<v Speaker 2>Rory was gonna he was gonna win the Open. He

0:38:54.520 --> 0:38:57.480
<v Speaker 2>was gonna thwart the Saudi's all of it, and of

0:38:57.560 --> 0:39:00.400
<v Speaker 2>course he got run over by Cam Smith. Uh. But

0:39:00.440 --> 0:39:02.040
<v Speaker 2>if you were to do it this way, it would

0:39:02.040 --> 0:39:04.280
<v Speaker 2>it would just sort of bracket these these two years

0:39:04.480 --> 0:39:07.520
<v Speaker 2>from from Rory's involvement, and it would be it would

0:39:07.520 --> 0:39:11.239
<v Speaker 2>be satisfying, it'd be popular. And then who knows whether

0:39:11.239 --> 0:39:14.320
<v Speaker 2>it's Phil Mickelson or Ben Hogan, but both those guys

0:39:14.480 --> 0:39:16.880
<v Speaker 2>win their first major until they were Rory's age right now.

0:39:17.320 --> 0:39:19.480
<v Speaker 2>So it's not like he doesn't have any time is

0:39:19.560 --> 0:39:22.839
<v Speaker 2>still on his side. He's if he can still win

0:39:22.840 --> 0:39:25.600
<v Speaker 2>another half dozen majors and put himself in you know,

0:39:25.680 --> 0:39:27.239
<v Speaker 2>the conversation is one of the five or ten best

0:39:27.239 --> 0:39:32.080
<v Speaker 2>players ever, it's not it's hardly too late. But every time,

0:39:32.160 --> 0:39:34.359
<v Speaker 2>as you said, Michael, every time he doesn't win one,

0:39:34.400 --> 0:39:37.680
<v Speaker 2>and the questions and the burden just grows. And it's

0:39:37.680 --> 0:39:41.800
<v Speaker 2>always been one of my favorite stats is the length

0:39:41.840 --> 0:39:45.000
<v Speaker 2>of time between a player's first and last major championship.

0:39:45.600 --> 0:39:48.040
<v Speaker 2>I like, Arnold won seven in six years, and that

0:39:48.160 --> 0:39:50.000
<v Speaker 2>was it, and he was done, Like it was he

0:39:50.120 --> 0:39:54.160
<v Speaker 2>just flashed and burned. And you know, Tiger Jack have

0:39:54.239 --> 0:39:59.120
<v Speaker 2>had these these long expanses, so did Ernie. Interestingly, some

0:39:59.160 --> 0:40:00.719
<v Speaker 2>players were able to do it and do it again

0:40:00.760 --> 0:40:02.719
<v Speaker 2>and do it again, and other guys that was in

0:40:02.760 --> 0:40:05.319
<v Speaker 2>a very compressed period of time. And I mean right,

0:40:05.360 --> 0:40:09.799
<v Speaker 2>now Rory's three was it three years from twenty eleven

0:40:09.800 --> 0:40:13.759
<v Speaker 2>to twenty fourteen, Like that's a very small window. It

0:40:13.840 --> 0:40:18.280
<v Speaker 2>just doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem possible. And given

0:40:18.440 --> 0:40:22.000
<v Speaker 2>his he's won everything else and during this this major drought,

0:40:22.040 --> 0:40:23.680
<v Speaker 2>I mean, he's won his Race to do Bay's and

0:40:23.680 --> 0:40:27.239
<v Speaker 2>his FedEx Cups and the players Championships, and he's won.

0:40:27.960 --> 0:40:29.640
<v Speaker 2>He's won, you know, the.

0:40:29.600 --> 0:40:31.320
<v Speaker 1>Irish Open, the Scottish Open.

0:40:31.400 --> 0:40:34.279
<v Speaker 2>He's won everything he can win. So it's not like

0:40:34.360 --> 0:40:38.400
<v Speaker 2>he's lost any magic. It's just I don't know. I

0:40:38.400 --> 0:40:41.680
<v Speaker 2>guess part of it is it's the playing conditions are

0:40:41.680 --> 0:40:45.080
<v Speaker 2>more precise and there's not that room for error, and

0:40:45.120 --> 0:40:48.120
<v Speaker 2>you've got to be really tight. And you know, Rory's

0:40:48.120 --> 0:40:50.680
<v Speaker 2>wedge game, maybe his lag putting, maybe all these little things.

0:40:50.680 --> 0:40:52.080
<v Speaker 2>He can kind of get away with it the Greater

0:40:52.120 --> 0:40:54.760
<v Speaker 2>Hartford Open, he just can't get away under major conditions.

0:40:54.760 --> 0:40:56.880
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what it is, but I don't.

0:40:56.640 --> 0:40:59.239
<v Speaker 1>Think it's the major. I don't think it's the major conditions.

0:40:59.320 --> 0:41:02.360
<v Speaker 1>I think it's the fact that it is majors. It

0:41:02.440 --> 0:41:04.560
<v Speaker 1>is the things that they all measure each other by,

0:41:04.920 --> 0:41:08.120
<v Speaker 1>especially as he's gotten closer to Tiger over the years,

0:41:08.200 --> 0:41:12.240
<v Speaker 1>and Tiger's conversations are all about the fifteen, not about

0:41:12.280 --> 0:41:15.560
<v Speaker 1>the the other you know, sixty out events that he won.

0:41:19.880 --> 0:41:22.880
<v Speaker 1>I think you just get so focused on the word majors,

0:41:22.920 --> 0:41:26.000
<v Speaker 1>and you know, when you're playing those last three holes,

0:41:26.640 --> 0:41:29.439
<v Speaker 1>you know it's for a major title, and there's only

0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:31.440
<v Speaker 1>I mean, let's say there's four of them. There really

0:41:31.520 --> 0:41:34.880
<v Speaker 1>are four of them. I do sort of put the

0:41:35.000 --> 0:41:37.560
<v Speaker 1>two Opens and the Masters that quite a bit ahead

0:41:37.600 --> 0:41:40.359
<v Speaker 1>of the PGA, but there are definitely four majors. I'm

0:41:40.360 --> 0:41:44.640
<v Speaker 1>not being a wise guy here, I think. I think

0:41:45.400 --> 0:41:49.360
<v Speaker 1>that was Arnold's point. You know, Arnold was really interesting

0:41:49.360 --> 0:41:52.279
<v Speaker 1>because he was not any kind of great intellectually, wasn't

0:41:52.320 --> 0:41:54.760
<v Speaker 1>a deep breader, but he was a really deep thinker

0:41:55.120 --> 0:41:58.960
<v Speaker 1>about golf and other things as well. And I mean,

0:41:58.960 --> 0:42:03.080
<v Speaker 1>this seems crazy, but he did say this directly to me,

0:42:03.160 --> 0:42:04.920
<v Speaker 1>and there were other people in the room, and we

0:42:04.960 --> 0:42:07.960
<v Speaker 1>talked about it more afterwards. When he won the nineteen

0:42:08.040 --> 0:42:10.880
<v Speaker 1>sixty US Open, he was never the same after that,

0:42:11.120 --> 0:42:14.680
<v Speaker 1>even though he won the sixty two sixty four Masters,

0:42:14.800 --> 0:42:19.080
<v Speaker 1>right yeah, and two British Opens, So I mean, come on,

0:42:19.200 --> 0:42:21.520
<v Speaker 1>in lots of tour events, and a US Senior Open,

0:42:21.560 --> 0:42:23.920
<v Speaker 1>which is not easy to win. But he just said

0:42:23.960 --> 0:42:26.040
<v Speaker 1>I was not the thing because that was the one,

0:42:26.160 --> 0:42:28.800
<v Speaker 1>the one, one one that really meant the world to me.

0:42:29.560 --> 0:42:32.440
<v Speaker 1>And so extrapolate that for the Tiger and the Rori Aer,

0:42:32.680 --> 0:42:36.440
<v Speaker 1>well that one is now four. It's those four. Yeah,

0:42:36.480 --> 0:42:39.600
<v Speaker 1>So like Valhalla, PGA at Valhalla, how's that different from

0:42:39.600 --> 0:42:42.239
<v Speaker 1>a tour event? It's not. I mean when they played

0:42:42.239 --> 0:42:45.840
<v Speaker 1>in August especially, but it's a big butt and we

0:42:45.880 --> 0:42:48.000
<v Speaker 1>saw a great tournament there when it was Michelson and

0:42:48.040 --> 0:42:52.200
<v Speaker 1>Fowler and Macroy down the stretch. It's that trophy and

0:42:52.239 --> 0:42:54.680
<v Speaker 1>it's that history and it does weigh on differently.

0:42:55.680 --> 0:42:56.160
<v Speaker 2>I don't think.

0:42:56.080 --> 0:42:58.719
<v Speaker 1>Joeitch would have ever lost to that kid in any

0:42:58.760 --> 0:43:01.319
<v Speaker 1>other well, I don't know, got tis to say that.

0:43:01.480 --> 0:43:03.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well that kid's got a lot of game. But

0:43:03.239 --> 0:43:07.040
<v Speaker 2>you're you're right, there's it just.

0:43:08.520 --> 0:43:08.680
<v Speaker 1>There.

0:43:08.840 --> 0:43:11.800
<v Speaker 2>There's something that's what Wimbledon is the Masters of tennis,

0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:14.839
<v Speaker 2>right like, and there's there's a choke factor at these

0:43:14.880 --> 0:43:19.640
<v Speaker 2>things and it's it is fascinating funny talking about Tiger.

0:43:19.760 --> 0:43:23.600
<v Speaker 2>I mean the two thousand and six Open at Royal Liverpool,

0:43:23.760 --> 0:43:30.080
<v Speaker 2>it remains indelible Tiger's long irons were you know, maybe

0:43:30.120 --> 0:43:33.120
<v Speaker 2>the best ever definitely in a small handful of guys

0:43:33.320 --> 0:43:36.600
<v Speaker 2>ever have struck it like he did. And that was

0:43:36.640 --> 0:43:39.359
<v Speaker 2>to me the week when I mean he hit Driver

0:43:39.480 --> 0:43:43.040
<v Speaker 2>once right and he was just his iron play was

0:43:43.080 --> 0:43:46.359
<v Speaker 2>so superb. Guys written Driver eight iron, Tiger's laying back

0:43:46.400 --> 0:43:48.239
<v Speaker 2>off the tee and hitting four irons inside of them

0:43:48.239 --> 0:43:52.359
<v Speaker 2>the whole week. And one of the things talking about

0:43:52.400 --> 0:43:56.000
<v Speaker 2>the things we love about Open Championships, like a really

0:43:56.040 --> 0:43:58.280
<v Speaker 2>great strike which is like a little puff of smoke.

0:43:58.560 --> 0:44:01.160
<v Speaker 2>You know, it's not a divot, It's like the turf

0:44:01.280 --> 0:44:04.080
<v Speaker 2>just disintegrates. And I have this image of being out

0:44:04.080 --> 0:44:08.080
<v Speaker 2>there watching Tiger and just the sound of the strike,

0:44:08.480 --> 0:44:13.000
<v Speaker 2>these perfect little puffs of smoke like and of course

0:44:13.040 --> 0:44:15.319
<v Speaker 2>you know he comes off the green. That was That

0:44:15.400 --> 0:44:18.560
<v Speaker 2>was his first major championship victory since his father had died,

0:44:18.680 --> 0:44:23.239
<v Speaker 2>and dissolves into Steve Williams arms like we we through

0:44:23.280 --> 0:44:26.040
<v Speaker 2>his Throughout his career, we saw some displays of emotion

0:44:26.400 --> 0:44:30.960
<v Speaker 2>from Tiger and some memorable ones, including the twenty nineteen Masters,

0:44:30.960 --> 0:44:34.160
<v Speaker 2>the ninety seven Masters, and others. But the way he

0:44:34.360 --> 0:44:37.080
<v Speaker 2>was just bawling almost felt like Steve Williams was holding

0:44:37.120 --> 0:44:38.200
<v Speaker 2>him up. You know it was.

0:44:39.000 --> 0:44:44.080
<v Speaker 4>It's definitely it's not it's not a performance that's not

0:44:44.160 --> 0:44:46.080
<v Speaker 4>talked about enough, but to me, it's it's on the

0:44:46.120 --> 0:44:49.919
<v Speaker 4>Mount Rushmore of Tiger victories, and it was epic.

0:44:49.600 --> 0:44:52.640
<v Speaker 1>In every way. I totally feel the Sam and Alan.

0:44:52.760 --> 0:44:54.320
<v Speaker 1>You know, I mean, not too many people would understand

0:44:54.320 --> 0:44:56.160
<v Speaker 1>what I'm about to say, but I know you definitely wouldn't.

0:44:56.400 --> 0:44:59.160
<v Speaker 1>When we're writing these, you know, game stories for Sports

0:44:59.200 --> 0:45:00.960
<v Speaker 1>Illustrated off hell, and I'm gonna go to the same

0:45:00.960 --> 0:45:05.680
<v Speaker 1>one or Riley or John Garrity, Russian McCallum and other

0:45:05.719 --> 0:45:07.879
<v Speaker 1>people over the years. And you have an assignment you're

0:45:07.880 --> 0:45:09.520
<v Speaker 1>gonna write the winner, You're gonna write the loser, You're

0:45:09.520 --> 0:45:11.960
<v Speaker 1>gonna write something else. But if you're gonna write the winner,

0:45:12.040 --> 0:45:13.640
<v Speaker 1>you better be prepared to write the winner. Well, they

0:45:13.640 --> 0:45:15.080
<v Speaker 1>don't tell you ahead of time who the winner is

0:45:15.120 --> 0:45:20.120
<v Speaker 1>gonna be. So that particular open you had Sergio playing great,

0:45:20.480 --> 0:45:23.080
<v Speaker 1>christ Marco had been playing great for a while, Ernie

0:45:23.200 --> 0:45:27.720
<v Speaker 1>was playing great, and Tiger and just I don't know why,

0:45:27.920 --> 0:45:30.319
<v Speaker 1>but I kind of do. I was like, I'm just

0:45:30.360 --> 0:45:33.000
<v Speaker 1>writing Tiger Tiger because Tiger is gonna win this thing.

0:45:33.840 --> 0:45:37.840
<v Speaker 1>And I was completely, one hundred percent committed to writing Tiger.

0:45:38.120 --> 0:45:40.400
<v Speaker 1>Had anybody else want I had nothing. We don't like

0:45:40.440 --> 0:45:43.000
<v Speaker 1>to be in that position. But I wasn't surprised at

0:45:43.040 --> 0:45:45.640
<v Speaker 1>all because it just looks and I'm saying from Thursday on,

0:45:45.800 --> 0:45:46.279
<v Speaker 1>were you up?

0:45:46.440 --> 0:45:46.520
<v Speaker 2>You?

0:45:46.560 --> 0:45:48.400
<v Speaker 1>Were you out there? No? Six? And it was just

0:45:48.800 --> 0:45:50.320
<v Speaker 1>what was your story? Loser?

0:45:51.560 --> 0:45:53.640
<v Speaker 2>Probably that and.

0:45:53.640 --> 0:45:57.600
<v Speaker 1>Uh but anyway, but you know, I committed to Tiger early,

0:45:57.719 --> 0:46:00.480
<v Speaker 1>and of course it worked out. It's funny you mentioned

0:46:00.560 --> 0:46:02.920
<v Speaker 1>Jim Harry earlier. Jim and I had to think, you know,

0:46:04.080 --> 0:46:05.960
<v Speaker 1>the Open back in those days, would get on the

0:46:06.000 --> 0:46:10.799
<v Speaker 1>cover if they liked the winner. So Ben Curtis won.

0:46:10.920 --> 0:46:12.960
<v Speaker 1>He was like, you know, I don't know four hundred

0:46:13.040 --> 0:46:16.560
<v Speaker 1>in the world wherever he was. And Jim and are like, man,

0:46:16.640 --> 0:46:19.200
<v Speaker 1>this is some story. Ben Curtis won and open whoever

0:46:19.280 --> 0:46:22.239
<v Speaker 1>heard of this guy? And Jim said, yeah, I went

0:46:22.280 --> 0:46:24.840
<v Speaker 1>to that trow met. Nobody likes the story. What do

0:46:24.880 --> 0:46:27.400
<v Speaker 1>you mean this is like great, Ben Curtisy, Yeah, nobody likes.

0:46:28.000 --> 0:46:29.000
<v Speaker 1>So you know, I got buried.

0:46:29.040 --> 0:46:30.400
<v Speaker 2>Finish your story and I want to come back to

0:46:30.400 --> 0:46:32.080
<v Speaker 2>Ben Curtis. I have a story about that go ahead.

0:46:32.400 --> 0:46:35.080
<v Speaker 1>So then a few years later Todd Hamilton was playing

0:46:35.080 --> 0:46:37.520
<v Speaker 1>the Ben Curtis role, and like Harry and I didn't

0:46:37.520 --> 0:46:38.920
<v Speaker 1>even bother having the conversation.

0:46:40.080 --> 0:46:45.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well that that when Curtis won, I was working

0:46:45.400 --> 0:46:47.400
<v Speaker 2>out of the office as an editor. I did a

0:46:47.400 --> 0:46:50.680
<v Speaker 2>two year stint just if I wanted to go down

0:46:50.719 --> 0:46:53.520
<v Speaker 2>to the editing track because SI, they all the others

0:46:53.520 --> 0:46:55.480
<v Speaker 2>looked around, realized they were all in their fifties and sixties.

0:46:55.520 --> 0:46:58.440
<v Speaker 2>They didn't really have in the pipeline any young talent

0:46:59.360 --> 0:47:03.480
<v Speaker 2>on the editings side. And so they paid for for

0:47:03.520 --> 0:47:05.399
<v Speaker 2>me to live in New York and have a grand time,

0:47:05.480 --> 0:47:07.400
<v Speaker 2>and I learned a heck of a lot about how

0:47:07.400 --> 0:47:09.440
<v Speaker 2>the magazine works. It was a great education, but ultimately

0:47:09.520 --> 0:47:12.120
<v Speaker 2>the writing life is just more fun. And so when

0:47:12.160 --> 0:47:13.719
<v Speaker 2>my tears was up, I was gone. But so I

0:47:13.760 --> 0:47:15.360
<v Speaker 2>was in the office and I was in those editorial

0:47:15.400 --> 0:47:20.080
<v Speaker 2>meetings and Ben it came you know what it came

0:47:20.120 --> 0:47:24.359
<v Speaker 2>down to, Kobe Bryant had just had you know, had

0:47:24.360 --> 0:47:30.480
<v Speaker 2>gotten involved in that that sexual assaulting in Colorado. And

0:47:32.000 --> 0:47:35.279
<v Speaker 2>so it was Bill Colson was was the editor that

0:47:35.680 --> 0:47:37.319
<v Speaker 2>there was. I don't know if you've gotten the job

0:47:37.360 --> 0:47:40.920
<v Speaker 2>permanently or yeah, yeah the job was it oh three

0:47:40.960 --> 0:47:43.560
<v Speaker 2>hours way after the bake off, it was it was.

0:47:43.520 --> 0:47:45.040
<v Speaker 1>Like, oh, yeah, he was right.

0:47:45.239 --> 0:47:48.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was was confused when I was an intern. Anyway,

0:47:48.360 --> 0:47:51.560
<v Speaker 2>Bill Colson was the other and so I remember saying

0:47:51.600 --> 0:47:54.480
<v Speaker 2>to Colson, I said, you know, I know, Kobe's a

0:47:54.600 --> 0:47:56.759
<v Speaker 2>huge story and all that. I said, it's going to

0:47:56.840 --> 0:47:59.680
<v Speaker 2>be everywhere, and it's not really a feel good story.

0:47:59.680 --> 0:48:02.719
<v Speaker 2>I was like, Curtis, all Americans when you say not.

0:48:02.680 --> 0:48:04.839
<v Speaker 1>Really a feel good story, like one of the most

0:48:04.840 --> 0:48:07.000
<v Speaker 1>depressing sports stories, right exactly.

0:48:07.160 --> 0:48:09.440
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was an understatement, I said, Ben Cursis all

0:48:09.440 --> 0:48:13.239
<v Speaker 2>American kid. No one saw this coming. He played lights out.

0:48:13.280 --> 0:48:16.200
<v Speaker 2>I said, this would be unexpected and so popular. People

0:48:16.200 --> 0:48:18.840
<v Speaker 2>would pull us out of their their their out of

0:48:18.880 --> 0:48:22.319
<v Speaker 2>their mailbox and they would love to see this. And

0:48:22.840 --> 0:48:25.960
<v Speaker 2>of course Kobe was on the cover. And a couple

0:48:26.000 --> 0:48:29.160
<v Speaker 2>of weeks later, Colson came into my office. Was very rare,

0:48:29.800 --> 0:48:31.719
<v Speaker 2>I mean maybe happened three or four times the whole

0:48:31.719 --> 0:48:36.640
<v Speaker 2>time I was that whole era, and he said, you know,

0:48:36.719 --> 0:48:38.600
<v Speaker 2>we probably should have met Ben Curtis on the cover

0:48:38.800 --> 0:48:42.520
<v Speaker 2>like that Kobe. That Kobe cover was depressing and no

0:48:42.560 --> 0:48:44.759
<v Speaker 2>one bought it at the new stand and uh, it's

0:48:44.800 --> 0:48:46.120
<v Speaker 2>like you might have been right. It was like the

0:48:46.200 --> 0:48:47.759
<v Speaker 2>only time I ever said anything like that to me.

0:48:48.160 --> 0:48:51.160
<v Speaker 2>And it was kind of funny because yeah, it was

0:48:51.200 --> 0:48:55.360
<v Speaker 2>something magical about it. You know, there's the and Curs

0:48:55.360 --> 0:48:57.040
<v Speaker 2>actually had a decent career. You know, he went on

0:48:57.080 --> 0:49:01.759
<v Speaker 2>to win some more events. He wasn't complete fluke, but anyway, yeah,

0:49:02.280 --> 0:49:06.640
<v Speaker 2>that the Open is an interesting one. Also, going back

0:49:06.680 --> 0:49:09.239
<v Speaker 2>to six member, Sergio showed up wearing all yellow and

0:49:09.280 --> 0:49:13.319
<v Speaker 2>it became like this running joke. I know, Sergio, it's

0:49:13.360 --> 0:49:14.920
<v Speaker 2>easy to make fun of him, but that was an

0:49:14.960 --> 0:49:17.920
<v Speaker 2>ode to the Tour de France, which was ending that

0:49:18.040 --> 0:49:20.000
<v Speaker 2>day and I think, as a Spanish guy was gonna win.

0:49:20.200 --> 0:49:23.160
<v Speaker 2>And I always feel compelled to defend Sergio. It's not

0:49:23.200 --> 0:49:25.680
<v Speaker 2>that they had horrible fashion sense. It was like, you know,

0:49:25.760 --> 0:49:27.480
<v Speaker 2>the leader of the Tour de France, where it's a

0:49:27.480 --> 0:49:30.399
<v Speaker 2>little yellow jersey and anyway, just makes me laugh because

0:49:31.760 --> 0:49:34.440
<v Speaker 2>I think, didn't he play with Tiger on Sunday and

0:49:34.520 --> 0:49:36.640
<v Speaker 2>like Tiger was like rolling his eyes out and maybe

0:49:36.640 --> 0:49:38.279
<v Speaker 2>that was on the driving range, but it became like

0:49:38.280 --> 0:49:40.480
<v Speaker 2>this thing, how ridiculous.

0:49:40.000 --> 0:49:43.200
<v Speaker 1>Sergio was was with de Marco. I'm that's not sure,

0:49:43.239 --> 0:49:45.280
<v Speaker 1>but yeah, it was.

0:49:44.800 --> 0:49:47.960
<v Speaker 2>Anyway, not really.

0:49:49.120 --> 0:49:52.239
<v Speaker 1>Uh, And of course this comes up every year. You

0:49:52.239 --> 0:49:54.319
<v Speaker 1>know what side of the draw and you know, for

0:49:54.360 --> 0:49:58.400
<v Speaker 1>those who don't follow this open closely, uh, not the

0:49:58.440 --> 0:50:00.719
<v Speaker 1>Masters because that's got a small field, but definitely the

0:50:00.800 --> 0:50:03.759
<v Speaker 1>US Open, the PGA Thursday Friday, one hundred and fifty

0:50:03.760 --> 0:50:06.919
<v Speaker 1>six players, they go off two t's and the guy.

0:50:07.120 --> 0:50:09.200
<v Speaker 1>The players like it because they think it's already evens

0:50:09.239 --> 0:50:12.600
<v Speaker 1>out the weather over time because it's all more concentrated.

0:50:13.440 --> 0:50:16.560
<v Speaker 1>But the British Open, they have a big field and

0:50:16.560 --> 0:50:18.680
<v Speaker 1>they got a lot of light, and they go literally

0:50:18.680 --> 0:50:20.759
<v Speaker 1>from six point thirty to three thirty.

0:50:21.440 --> 0:50:24.799
<v Speaker 2>At starting times, not finishing time. Starting it's unbelievable.

0:50:24.800 --> 0:50:29.080
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, from starting for starting times, so you can

0:50:29.160 --> 0:50:32.600
<v Speaker 1>have howling, lousy, terrible weather at eleven thirty and then

0:50:32.680 --> 0:50:36.440
<v Speaker 1>by three thirty it could be completely benign. Queens are soft,

0:50:36.480 --> 0:50:38.600
<v Speaker 1>there's not a mark on him. It's just totally different

0:50:38.600 --> 0:50:43.560
<v Speaker 1>conditions than what happens typically in the United States. So

0:50:43.640 --> 0:50:47.440
<v Speaker 1>every year, come Friday evening dusk, there's a lot of

0:50:47.480 --> 0:50:50.840
<v Speaker 1>discussion what side of the draw are you on? And

0:50:50.920 --> 0:50:53.040
<v Speaker 1>I've never done a study but I'm sure guys who

0:50:53.080 --> 0:50:58.400
<v Speaker 1>have favorable draws tea times Thursday Friday often wind up

0:50:58.480 --> 0:51:01.640
<v Speaker 1>due winning, But by Sunday no one's even remembering it.

0:51:01.719 --> 0:51:03.719
<v Speaker 1>In fact, in game stories, I never even think to

0:51:03.760 --> 0:51:05.680
<v Speaker 1>note it, now that I'm saying it, I don't know.

0:51:05.840 --> 0:51:08.840
<v Speaker 1>Of all the various majors I've covered their opens I've covered,

0:51:08.960 --> 0:51:11.200
<v Speaker 1>I can't recall one time where that was even a

0:51:11.200 --> 0:51:13.480
<v Speaker 1>factor and how I thought about the tournament, even though

0:51:13.480 --> 0:51:14.239
<v Speaker 1>it probably should be.

0:51:15.120 --> 0:51:19.279
<v Speaker 2>Justine Reid could tell you in forensic detail about who

0:51:19.320 --> 0:51:23.080
<v Speaker 2>can't missus. Patrick Reid made a careful study of this.

0:51:23.280 --> 0:51:24.719
<v Speaker 2>I would also like to know that we're in the

0:51:24.719 --> 0:51:27.720
<v Speaker 2>fifty first minute of this podcast, Michael. If any people

0:51:27.760 --> 0:51:30.400
<v Speaker 2>have come this far, they surely have made a study

0:51:30.480 --> 0:51:33.920
<v Speaker 2>of the draws at the open. Yea casual fan is

0:51:33.960 --> 0:51:35.719
<v Speaker 2>not this deep into this podcast.

0:51:36.640 --> 0:51:40.800
<v Speaker 1>Well, what I'd like to say to the listeners, Okay,

0:51:42.360 --> 0:51:46.600
<v Speaker 1>they already know this, Alan, Who's going to win this thing?

0:51:46.600 --> 0:51:50.640
<v Speaker 2>It's so obvious. I mean, this is not like a

0:51:50.680 --> 0:51:53.560
<v Speaker 2>secret choice. This is like Justin Johnson, who are you

0:51:53.640 --> 0:51:58.000
<v Speaker 2>thinking of? Well, Cheffler, Scheffler, Well, god, yeah, I saw

0:51:58.000 --> 0:52:00.640
<v Speaker 2>a funny stat on Twitter today. I can't or who

0:52:00.719 --> 0:52:03.880
<v Speaker 2>tweeted it, but he finished, you know whatever, top five

0:52:04.200 --> 0:52:08.200
<v Speaker 2>again at the Scottish Open, one half a million dollars,

0:52:08.680 --> 0:52:12.080
<v Speaker 2>and his average earnings per start this year went down.

0:52:13.840 --> 0:52:17.319
<v Speaker 2>He's already made nineteen million dollars between the ropes. I mean,

0:52:17.320 --> 0:52:19.759
<v Speaker 2>obviously this is the new ear of elevated events and

0:52:19.760 --> 0:52:21.920
<v Speaker 2>all that, but it's incredible.

0:52:22.840 --> 0:52:26.520
<v Speaker 1>The Scottish Open is a PGA Tour event and a

0:52:26.600 --> 0:52:30.279
<v Speaker 1>deep tour event. Yeah, and live guys could could live

0:52:30.320 --> 0:52:32.319
<v Speaker 1>guys play in this event because of some.

0:52:32.719 --> 0:52:36.279
<v Speaker 2>Why I don't think there are any live guys there.

0:52:36.320 --> 0:52:37.879
<v Speaker 1>They've do warnant live guys playing this event.

0:52:37.920 --> 0:52:42.800
<v Speaker 2>They given up their their membership on both two tours. Yeah,

0:52:42.880 --> 0:52:46.360
<v Speaker 2>they were able to They were able to play, you know,

0:52:47.160 --> 0:52:50.719
<v Speaker 2>from last summer until this spring on the European Tour

0:52:50.800 --> 0:52:53.799
<v Speaker 2>because they had filed this arbitration case and until it

0:52:53.840 --> 0:52:57.400
<v Speaker 2>got adjudicated that they were allowed to compete. But that

0:52:57.520 --> 0:53:00.160
<v Speaker 2>was what that was the resolute that was the the

0:53:00.160 --> 0:53:03.160
<v Speaker 2>resolution came down masters week saying that the tour could

0:53:03.160 --> 0:53:05.920
<v Speaker 2>suspend them and could uphold their fines, and that all

0:53:05.920 --> 0:53:10.319
<v Speaker 2>those guys just dipped out. So yeah, no, I mean

0:53:10.360 --> 0:53:13.319
<v Speaker 2>Scotty Scheffler. But this is interesting about Scotty Seffler. Like

0:53:14.200 --> 0:53:17.560
<v Speaker 2>he's he has what eighteen straight top twelve finishes, maybe

0:53:17.560 --> 0:53:20.480
<v Speaker 2>an all time record, but he's only won twice. Now.

0:53:20.800 --> 0:53:23.840
<v Speaker 2>The consistency is incredible, and his wins have been big ones,

0:53:23.880 --> 0:53:28.239
<v Speaker 2>but considering he's there every single week, you'd actually like

0:53:28.239 --> 0:53:30.200
<v Speaker 2>to see him pick off a few more ws. So

0:53:31.200 --> 0:53:33.719
<v Speaker 2>it's funny how expectations changed. I mean, two and a

0:53:33.719 --> 0:53:36.160
<v Speaker 2>half years ago, no one never heard of Scotti Scheffler.

0:53:36.520 --> 0:53:39.480
<v Speaker 2>Now he's playing at a level few have ever achieved

0:53:39.520 --> 0:53:41.600
<v Speaker 2>in the history of the sport, and yet here I

0:53:41.640 --> 0:53:44.799
<v Speaker 2>am critiquing that he hasn't won more. So that's some

0:53:45.000 --> 0:53:48.200
<v Speaker 2>you know, talking about the mental game and what Rory's facing.

0:53:48.560 --> 0:53:51.360
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if Scheffler seems unbothered by stuff like that,

0:53:51.520 --> 0:53:56.960
<v Speaker 2>but to be there every single week and not get

0:53:56.960 --> 0:54:00.279
<v Speaker 2>it done sixteen times in this run, it's like, Okay,

0:54:00.320 --> 0:54:02.600
<v Speaker 2>I feel like I feel like he needs another big win.

0:54:03.440 --> 0:54:05.360
<v Speaker 2>Maybe it's a Tour championship. He doesn't necessarily to be

0:54:05.400 --> 0:54:06.880
<v Speaker 2>the Open, but he needs he needs another big win

0:54:06.960 --> 0:54:10.880
<v Speaker 2>here to to put an exclamation point on this incredible consistency.

0:54:11.080 --> 0:54:14.600
<v Speaker 1>You know who doesn't agree with you. Who Scottie shuffer.

0:54:14.680 --> 0:54:15.400
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I don't think so.

0:54:15.800 --> 0:54:18.920
<v Speaker 1>And that's and that's the secret to his success, you know,

0:54:19.120 --> 0:54:21.879
<v Speaker 1>I don't. I just think he doesn't care that much.

0:54:22.080 --> 0:54:25.400
<v Speaker 1>I think he really really cares, but not to degree

0:54:25.440 --> 0:54:28.160
<v Speaker 1>that where there's just something different like the thing that

0:54:28.200 --> 0:54:30.560
<v Speaker 1>we're talking about with Arnold and I think we're talking

0:54:30.560 --> 0:54:32.799
<v Speaker 1>about with Rory as well. I don't think that's it.

0:54:32.920 --> 0:54:35.520
<v Speaker 1>I think the emotional hurdle that he got through by

0:54:35.560 --> 0:54:37.520
<v Speaker 1>winning that Masters when he cried like a baby in

0:54:37.520 --> 0:54:41.040
<v Speaker 1>his wife's arms before Tiger cries after. But this guy

0:54:41.080 --> 0:54:43.560
<v Speaker 1>is crying something warn't it. But then he got through

0:54:43.560 --> 0:54:45.480
<v Speaker 1>it and he did it, you know, and he's half

0:54:45.520 --> 0:54:48.160
<v Speaker 1>a Southerner and he won them. You know, Texas is

0:54:48.160 --> 0:54:51.239
<v Speaker 1>such a thing for Augusta. Of course, you know, grow

0:54:51.520 --> 0:54:54.560
<v Speaker 1>Andy Watkins and that whole thing. But the fact that

0:54:54.600 --> 0:54:57.400
<v Speaker 1>he got through that, and it's like I can sleep

0:54:57.440 --> 0:55:00.399
<v Speaker 1>walk in top three, so I can sleep walk win.

0:55:00.520 --> 0:55:03.239
<v Speaker 1>He doesn't have to do anything special. And Rory, I

0:55:03.239 --> 0:55:05.520
<v Speaker 1>think is push him is a special special special It's

0:55:05.520 --> 0:55:07.440
<v Speaker 1>got to be special, but it doesn't have to be special.

0:55:07.480 --> 0:55:10.839
<v Speaker 1>But try telling yourself that when Tiger's texting you all

0:55:10.840 --> 0:55:13.000
<v Speaker 1>the time, telling you it's got to be special. But

0:55:13.239 --> 0:55:15.440
<v Speaker 1>you see, did you see Big Jack after the Memorial

0:55:15.480 --> 0:55:17.720
<v Speaker 1>Tournament when he you know, he had another bad Sunday

0:55:17.760 --> 0:55:20.480
<v Speaker 1>for Rory. This was no it was a great win

0:55:20.600 --> 0:55:23.840
<v Speaker 1>for Rory, of course, of course, but it was no

0:55:23.920 --> 0:55:26.240
<v Speaker 1>great last round. It was a great last two holes.

0:55:26.320 --> 0:55:29.680
<v Speaker 1>It was a bad last round. Yeah, under very tough conditions.

0:55:29.680 --> 0:55:33.400
<v Speaker 1>Blah blah blah blah blah. But when he came. But Memorial,

0:55:33.400 --> 0:55:35.800
<v Speaker 1>it could have won that too. Probably Page said it

0:55:35.840 --> 0:55:38.319
<v Speaker 1>should have won it. And Big Jack standing there and

0:55:38.320 --> 0:55:40.400
<v Speaker 1>he says, you know, give me a call. Now, it's

0:55:40.440 --> 0:55:41.920
<v Speaker 1>not the time or the place, but give me a call.

0:55:42.560 --> 0:55:43.880
<v Speaker 1>I don't know what they talked about her. If they

0:55:43.880 --> 0:55:45.040
<v Speaker 1>talked about it, go ahead.

0:55:45.680 --> 0:55:48.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was kind of ruthless by Jack. I mean

0:55:48.200 --> 0:55:50.959
<v Speaker 2>he's basically saying, you're a head case man. What's wrong

0:55:51.000 --> 0:55:54.200
<v Speaker 2>with you? Call me like that was? I mean, I

0:55:54.280 --> 0:55:54.800
<v Speaker 2>know it was meant to.

0:55:54.960 --> 0:55:56.520
<v Speaker 1>I think I don't think it's a I think it's

0:55:56.520 --> 0:56:00.200
<v Speaker 1>more like, uh, something's wrong, and I think I can

0:56:00.239 --> 0:56:03.319
<v Speaker 1>see it. I know, I know I'm mechanical, and I'm

0:56:03.360 --> 0:56:08.040
<v Speaker 1>not saying Jack. I mean it might show up in mechanics. Now,

0:56:08.080 --> 0:56:10.040
<v Speaker 1>I know I have friends who know a lot more

0:56:10.040 --> 0:56:11.799
<v Speaker 1>about golf than I do who don't agree with this.

0:56:11.880 --> 0:56:14.000
<v Speaker 1>Like when they talk about my putting, they say, oh,

0:56:14.000 --> 0:56:17.680
<v Speaker 1>it's mechanics, mechanics, mechanics, But actually I know it's not

0:56:18.000 --> 0:56:20.439
<v Speaker 1>because I can putt pretty well in a practice putting green.

0:56:20.719 --> 0:56:22.920
<v Speaker 1>It's when it matters and when it goes wrong. And

0:56:23.360 --> 0:56:26.200
<v Speaker 1>some of the drives. I mean, we've seen Rory driving

0:56:26.320 --> 0:56:29.440
<v Speaker 1>for fifteen years now. He drives more than that. No, no,

0:56:30.120 --> 0:56:33.120
<v Speaker 1>he drives it incredibly well. He had some of the

0:56:33.120 --> 0:56:36.000
<v Speaker 1>worst drives I've ever seen a world two of the worst.

0:56:36.360 --> 0:56:37.960
<v Speaker 1>Two of the worst drives I ever seen a world

0:56:38.000 --> 0:56:41.440
<v Speaker 1>class driver. Not many tour players can hit it offline,

0:56:41.480 --> 0:56:44.600
<v Speaker 1>but these were wildly offline with bad swings. How does

0:56:44.640 --> 0:56:45.120
<v Speaker 1>that happen?

0:56:45.840 --> 0:56:51.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, it's it's the the things that don't show

0:56:51.080 --> 0:56:53.320
<v Speaker 2>up on a launch monitor is what makes this sport

0:56:53.440 --> 0:56:56.960
<v Speaker 2>so fascinating. You know, it's just it's just an X

0:56:57.080 --> 0:56:58.520
<v Speaker 2>ray of the soul, and.

0:57:00.440 --> 0:57:03.600
<v Speaker 1>That launch monitor is killing these guys. I really believe it.

0:57:03.640 --> 0:57:06.000
<v Speaker 1>I know that sounds like, oh, rolled, he grew up

0:57:06.000 --> 0:57:07.799
<v Speaker 1>in the blow bah blah blah blah, But I really

0:57:07.800 --> 0:57:11.080
<v Speaker 1>believe launch my Brian Harmon was watching Truvino hit balls

0:57:11.080 --> 0:57:14.680
<v Speaker 1>at the Open last year at Saint Andrew's Pure in

0:57:14.719 --> 0:57:17.320
<v Speaker 1>one shot after another, making that eighty two or three

0:57:17.360 --> 0:57:19.800
<v Speaker 1>years old whatever he was, eighty one eighty two, making

0:57:19.800 --> 0:57:22.480
<v Speaker 1>that ball do whatever he wanted it to do. And

0:57:22.560 --> 0:57:25.520
<v Speaker 1>Brian Harmon's like, and Brian Harmon is a damn good golfer,

0:57:25.880 --> 0:57:28.160
<v Speaker 1>and Brian Harmon's like, man, And I'm talking him right

0:57:28.160 --> 0:57:30.720
<v Speaker 1>there in Spice Man. Just watching Trevino you can see

0:57:30.840 --> 0:57:34.000
<v Speaker 1>it's just all in his body, and you know, I'm

0:57:34.040 --> 0:57:37.240
<v Speaker 1>just looking at that machine after every swing. I think

0:57:37.240 --> 0:57:38.840
<v Speaker 1>it's just a weird way to play golf.

0:57:39.800 --> 0:57:42.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's interesting, that's different.

0:57:42.840 --> 0:57:44.440
<v Speaker 1>But if your whole culture is telling you, I mean

0:57:44.520 --> 0:57:46.920
<v Speaker 1>manage you showed up at a at in a prestent

0:57:47.320 --> 0:57:50.560
<v Speaker 1>with a portable typewriter, you know it'd be crazy.

0:57:50.960 --> 0:57:52.760
<v Speaker 2>I kind of want to do that. That'd be awesome,

0:57:53.320 --> 0:57:56.360
<v Speaker 2>Although honestly, you're more like you're a more likely candidate.

0:57:56.400 --> 0:58:00.760
<v Speaker 1>Michael Gary Smith Allan. I had this colleague who was,

0:58:01.160 --> 0:58:04.840
<v Speaker 1>you know, amazing, Gary Smith, and we were once comparing notes.

0:58:04.840 --> 0:58:07.920
<v Speaker 1>He was having a hard time going to the lapto

0:58:08.040 --> 0:58:10.640
<v Speaker 1>or whatever. The color sings bacbook and I said, yeah,

0:58:10.640 --> 0:58:12.919
<v Speaker 1>I can't. I can't write on it. And I said,

0:58:12.920 --> 0:58:16.440
<v Speaker 1>I've had to get this extra what do you call it?

0:58:16.520 --> 0:58:21.880
<v Speaker 1>Like an external keyboard? Yeah, at the right angle. And

0:58:21.960 --> 0:58:24.240
<v Speaker 1>Gary Smith, who can write circles around. I was like,

0:58:24.560 --> 0:58:25.480
<v Speaker 1>you're a head.

0:58:25.280 --> 0:58:32.200
<v Speaker 2>Case that story. That's amazing, and then I got over it.

0:58:32.240 --> 0:58:35.880
<v Speaker 1>But anyway, you get over it. But you also are

0:58:35.880 --> 0:58:38.760
<v Speaker 1>a culturated to what everyone's song, your quote should be doing.

0:58:39.440 --> 0:58:44.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Interesting, All right, Well we're gonna we're gonna be Yeah.

0:58:44.160 --> 0:58:48.120
<v Speaker 2>I think I think we're good for now. We will

0:58:48.160 --> 0:58:51.200
<v Speaker 2>try and podcast when you're overseas, Michael, but it is

0:58:51.440 --> 0:58:55.760
<v Speaker 2>very Wi Fi dependent, and as we both know that

0:58:55.800 --> 0:58:59.680
<v Speaker 2>the water pressure over in Jolly England and the WiFi

0:58:59.800 --> 0:59:02.240
<v Speaker 2>is unreliable, so.

0:59:03.120 --> 0:59:06.400
<v Speaker 1>I gotta get I think I've got my mechanics figured

0:59:06.440 --> 0:59:09.640
<v Speaker 1>out here. I all pod as often as you wish.

0:59:09.960 --> 0:59:11.880
<v Speaker 2>Well, if if we can, if we can make it happen,

0:59:12.520 --> 0:59:14.040
<v Speaker 2>if we can make it happen, we'll do it. I'm

0:59:14.080 --> 0:59:18.320
<v Speaker 2>saying like, it depends on your Wi Fi. But for

0:59:18.360 --> 0:59:20.840
<v Speaker 2>the listeners out there, we're going to try, Michael.

0:59:20.520 --> 0:59:22.640
<v Speaker 1>Well, eight hour time difference, how does that work for

0:59:22.720 --> 0:59:25.040
<v Speaker 1>you when it's eight pm for me, what is it

0:59:25.040 --> 0:59:25.680
<v Speaker 1>for you? Noon?

0:59:25.800 --> 0:59:31.760
<v Speaker 2>So that's fine, that's good. Yeah, well yeah that's that.

0:59:33.240 --> 0:59:35.959
<v Speaker 1>You can wake up and watch oping off. That's pretty cool.

0:59:36.640 --> 0:59:40.160
<v Speaker 2>Well I have to wake up early though, yeah, you

0:59:40.200 --> 0:59:45.600
<v Speaker 2>know it's for the start of it. But anyway, all right,

0:59:45.760 --> 0:59:48.360
<v Speaker 2>well this was this was This is fun told some

0:59:48.360 --> 0:59:50.400
<v Speaker 2>old stories haven't thought about a long time. So thanks

0:59:50.440 --> 0:59:54.640
<v Speaker 2>for drawing those out. Michael safe journey over to cool.

0:59:54.920 --> 0:59:58.800
<v Speaker 2>Uh the listeners out there, we appreciate you sticking with us,

0:59:58.880 --> 1:00:00.520
<v Speaker 2>and we'll be back in your ears.

1:00:00.400 --> 1:00:03.560
<v Speaker 1>Paying the bills running Alan, who's paying the bills run here? Oh?

1:00:03.640 --> 1:00:07.120
<v Speaker 2>Yes, we should probably mention. Dormy Network or Dormy Network

1:00:07.280 --> 1:00:09.680
<v Speaker 2>is a series of private clubs that's different than the

1:00:09.720 --> 1:00:12.400
<v Speaker 2>Dormy Workshop, who are our friends and the sponsors of

1:00:12.440 --> 1:00:18.160
<v Speaker 2>this podcast. Dormy Workshop. They make beautiful leather goods, headcovers,

1:00:18.160 --> 1:00:21.000
<v Speaker 2>stash bags, all kinds of fun stuff. If you go

1:00:21.080 --> 1:00:24.480
<v Speaker 2>to Firepitcollective dot com and you click on the Pit

1:00:24.560 --> 1:00:28.080
<v Speaker 2>shop tab, you'll see some special things they've worked up

1:00:28.120 --> 1:00:30.240
<v Speaker 2>for us, Or you can just go to the Dormy

1:00:30.280 --> 1:00:35.720
<v Speaker 2>Workshop's website and see their full compliment. But we've missed

1:00:35.760 --> 1:00:38.360
<v Speaker 2>Father's Day, but surely there's someone you love who's going

1:00:38.400 --> 1:00:41.800
<v Speaker 2>to be celebrating occasion soon. Or treat yourself, of course,

1:00:41.880 --> 1:00:44.960
<v Speaker 2>my daughter says whenever we're I'm saying I shouldn't have

1:00:45.000 --> 1:00:48.360
<v Speaker 2>any desert night says, treat yourself, like okay, where just

1:00:48.400 --> 1:00:50.640
<v Speaker 2>to live by? So, yeah, there's a Dormy is a

1:00:50.640 --> 1:00:53.800
<v Speaker 2>great supporter. We thank them for their we're helping us

1:00:53.840 --> 1:00:55.480
<v Speaker 2>keep the lights on here at the Firepit Collective.

1:00:55.560 --> 1:00:59.680
<v Speaker 1>So for Michael bamber that that's the Dormy Workshop, Dormy

1:00:59.680 --> 1:01:02.960
<v Speaker 1>works up. Yes, but then there's another thing, the Dormy Network.

1:01:03.240 --> 1:01:03.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:01:03.920 --> 1:01:05.080
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they're not related.

1:01:05.880 --> 1:01:07.600
<v Speaker 2>No they're not not to my knowledge.

1:01:07.640 --> 1:01:10.520
<v Speaker 1>No, no, So does the Dormy Network help us out

1:01:10.520 --> 1:01:11.320
<v Speaker 1>to No.

1:01:11.360 --> 1:01:14.880
<v Speaker 2>I regret even saying their their their name out loud, but.

1:01:14.880 --> 1:01:16.600
<v Speaker 1>Maybe maybe now they maybe now they will.

1:01:16.680 --> 1:01:18.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, if they want to come on and be a sponsored,

1:01:18.360 --> 1:01:23.760
<v Speaker 2>great that we'll just say thank you Dormy. But anyway, uh,

1:01:24.040 --> 1:01:26.880
<v Speaker 2>For Michael Bamberger, this is Alan Schiffle Like that was

1:01:26.920 --> 1:01:29.680
<v Speaker 2>a fire drop podcast and thanks for listening. This is

1:01:29.720 --> 1:01:30.080
<v Speaker 2>the end.

1:01:32.640 --> 1:01:37.560
<v Speaker 5>I'm bet big and I played the wind made a fortune.

1:01:37.600 --> 1:01:41.720
<v Speaker 5>When my ship came in, I ran the table, never

1:01:41.840 --> 1:01:45.480
<v Speaker 5>thought I could fall. Then the win hit made, lack

1:01:45.560 --> 1:01:51.120
<v Speaker 5>of canon the ball, and no, I can't shake this,

1:01:51.440 --> 1:01:52.680
<v Speaker 5>losing the stream.

1:01:53.240 --> 1:01:58.440
<v Speaker 3>Every road I take is a dead end stream. I

1:01:58.600 --> 1:02:03.720
<v Speaker 3>got dot head, can't get them out. Trying not to

1:02:03.840 --> 1:02:07.280
<v Speaker 3>think what I'm thinking about. I got of thoughts in

1:02:07.400 --> 1:02:11.760
<v Speaker 3>my head, can't get them out, Trying not to think

1:02:11.960 --> 1:02:13.360
<v Speaker 3>what I'm thinking about.