WEBVTT - 2023 Ryder Cup Roster Questions, Mid-Am Golf with Shane Bacon, and Course Changes for Pros 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:05.880 And when I find my. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:10.600 Ball in a brid Egg Frida Egg, the Friday Frida Egg, 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:13.000 Frida Egg, Bride Egg Lie, I'm about ready to run 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:14.120 off the golf course. 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:38.440 Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Egg Podcast. 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:43.840 I am back from a long, lengthy road trip US 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:47.440 Open and then followed by a week out in the 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.800 met section in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. So 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.200 it was a great trip. Saw a lot of new 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.920 golf courses to me, which was really phenomenal. I think, 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.440 you know, it's funny. I one of our Matt Rusch's, 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.600 our podcast editor here podcast producer, does a lot of 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:09.679 things for us. He was it was the first time 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.440 he'd been out there. He's very into golf course design, 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:16.200 golf architecture, and at one point he turned to me 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.199 and he said, does every place just have amazing land 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.520 out here? And it's kind of like, yeah, they do. 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.800 That's what makes it such an amazing part of the 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.120 country for golf. And it's always important to remember that 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.720 when you start with a stellar site, there's only so 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.160 much that can go wrong, and uh, you know, out there, 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.680 it's there's so much great land, whether it's whether it's 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:46.440 rocky soil like Yale or sandy soil. I think Hollywood's 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:49.360 pretty sandy, it's not you know what, pure sand or 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.560 Saint George's which is which is pretty sandy as well. 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.680 On Long Island. You know, the the land out there 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:00.040 is just such a wonderful asset. And obviously then the 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.160 the other part of that is having all the great architects, 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:09.120 Sands really Mackenzie work out there. All the great American 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.679 architects other than Mackenzie and George Thomas built golf courses 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:18.160 in Long Island in New York. So really I can't 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:21.040 wait to get back out there, and there'll be a 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.919 lot more on my trip on the fried Egg and 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.640 Club TV. I'm just trying to come up for air 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:32.040 from that, spend some good time with my family. Today 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:37.000 we have Shane Bacon on the podcast. We're talking Ryder Cup. 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.280 It's kind of close, it's not that far away. So 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.120 I was excited to talk to Shane kind of about 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.800 the European Tour, European team and the American team, where 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.840 they're at, what directions. We think they're going with the 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.240 bottom half that or roster right at the point where 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:56.320 there are some locks. Before we get to that, what 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.320 I wanted to talk about in this intro is the 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:05.240 preposterousness of the Travelers. And there's an ESPN, there's an 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:10.040 associated Press report about the Travelers making course changes after 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.960 record low scoring. So there's rain, there wasn't a lot 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.280 of weather, so the course was soft and it wasn't 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.919 windy or anything, and guys lit it up. Keegan Bradley 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:25.200 shot a course record, you know, like a tournament record, 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.320 twenty three under, which was a shot better than Kenny 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:33.080 Perry in two thousand and nine. There were eight rounds 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:37.440 of sixty two or better during the week, and now 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:41.000 they say they need to make course changes. This is 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:47.240 just like the inanity of professional golf. And Andy Bassett, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:52.520 who is an executive vice president at Travelers and really 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.840 a driving force. He's a great guy. I think he's, 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.320 you know, done a lot to revamp this tournament and 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.480 make it a great tournament. But you know, running down 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:07.960 after records scoring and demanding course changes, we're completely missing 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:12.840 the boat here. I think, like obviously, technology is the 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:18.360 reason that this golf course has been completely rendered, you know, undefensible, 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.520 and you know, let's be real, not every golf course 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:23.880 it's going to be a US Open setup. Not every 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.719 golf course is going to be stout. This golf course 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.080 does actually lend itself to some variety. We saw some 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:34.520 short hitters have a chance for you know once so 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:39.000 Besett wants changes. He allegedly has talked to like some 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:42.960 of the players and is soliciting feedback from players, which 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.560 I'm sure it will be narrow fairways, more water hazards, 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:52.200 other things. You know, one player vostivously was on the 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:56.560 other side, and I think this is probably the bullet here. 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:01.960 Rory McElroy said, I don't particularly like when a tournament 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:05.920 is like this. Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by right. 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:09.720 It sort of has made it obsolete, especially as soft 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.440 as it's been with little bit of rain that we had. 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.520 So again, like the conversations going back to you know, 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.880 limiting the golf ball and stuff like that, when we 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.360 come to courses like this, they just don't present the 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.680 challenge they used to. So McElroy went on to say 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.320 he wasn't a fan of the idea of just making fairways, 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:32.800 narrower and rough rougher that bunches everyone together. The blueprint 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:36.160 is something like Los Angeles Country Club where the US 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.279 Open was held, where you can have wide targets, but 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.640 if you miss, it's penal. Another course that has that 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:47.360 in common. Augusta National. Just for the record, this isn't 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.919 that sort of golf course. It's not that sort of layout. 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:55.000 It doesn't have the land to do that. So you know, unfortunately, 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.920 when it gets soft conditions like this, you've got the 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.080 best players in the world. This is what's going to happen. 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.760 I think. I think the second half of that statement 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.960 is really telling. It goes back to what I was 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.560 just talking about with New York golf, Like a lot 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:16.440 of places don't have the necessary ingredients to present a 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:23.200 modern test. You need immense length, you need some terrain, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:29.320 you need wind, you need firmness to really test these 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:35.160 great players. Today, LACC after the first round was a 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:39.600 huge was a tremendous test of golf. Augusta National every 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.640 year is a test of golf. But those courses, I mean, 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.960 Shinnakok you could throw in here too, tremendous test of golf. 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:53.840 They have topography, they have elements, they have really undulating greens, 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.080 they have firm conditions for the for some part, you 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.400 know Augusta obviously as the sub era. They all have 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:03.920 brilliant design. And I don't think anybody is going to 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:08.000 River Highlands is saying that's a brilliant design. So let's 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.760 just you know, I think one of the things that 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.600 you know, this second happens. There's only a handful of 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.600 horses that are going to present a really stern test 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.320 to the world's best players, and most of them do 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.080 not want to host an annual event. So let's get 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:25.720 back to how could what's the easiest way for a 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:29.280 golf course to present a better test to these pros 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.280 the golf ball going a shorter distance all of a sudden, 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.360 then it's not just a wedge fest. It's not just 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:40.520 driver wedge, driver seven iron and to par fives. If 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:45.440 the golf ball goes shorter, it will present a different test. 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.239 This trip in New York I was the first trip 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.520 I've played, or first golf I've played really with modern 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:57.360 golf clubs in a probably about a year, and I 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.320 was just shocked at how I hadn't played in a 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.920 month and I've been nursing a bad neck, and I 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.920 was just shocked at how well I was able to 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.720 play when I was playing so poorly, if that makes sense. 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.960 And you know, when you can just hit a driver 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:18.760 up and really get yourself a wedge into almost any 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.920 hole or a short iron, it makes golf so much easier. 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.559 There are just so few things that can go wrong. 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.520 Having played per Simmon and the old blades, I was 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:34.880 routinely hitting six irons and more into part fours. You know, 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.559 a two hundred and sixty yard drive with the Persimmon 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:39.920 was a good drive. If it was wet at all, 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.320 the ball went nowhere. If it was firm, I could 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.800 hit a three hundred, But if it was wet, the 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.839 ball just doesn't go very far with a per Simon driver. 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:50.680 You were kind I was kind of relying on a 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.640 knuckleball out there, And I think that's the thing here, 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.720 is that we got to stop listening to players. Inherently, 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:03.560 players want nothing to change, and I understand that that's 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:09.560 like the salesperson not wanting any commission structure changed. We 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.680 need to look at other stakeholders that have vested interest 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:17.800 in the game, Like, hey, I cover golf architecture, changes 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.800 are good for me. That gives me stuff to talk about. Right, 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.120 changes are great for golf architects. If courses constantly have 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:30.959 to modify because of technology, golf architects get rich. How 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.079 come they are the ones that are maybe the most 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.600 adamant about rolling the ball back. That's not good for 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.839 their business. It's not like they're going to build new 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:45.319 tees or do these other projects that to modernize nice 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.040 golf courses. Look at what's going on at Oakmont. You 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.200 know they're doing a bunker renovation, but part of it 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:55.079 is just they're embarrassed by what happened at the USAM 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.760 with guys playing down other fairways. You know, these there 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.760 are changes that are being made to golf courses because 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:07.719 of what's happening at the ultra ultra elite. It's millions 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.520 and millions of dollars being spent to do this. The 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.400 Travelers TPC River Highlands, it looks like they're going to 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:18.760 make modifications. Those are going to cost exorbitant amounts of money. 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.880 This is not cheap stuff. Rolling the ball back. Yeah, 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:28.920 these manufacturers who have made you know, millions and billions 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.839 of dollars on the game of golf for years, are 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:33.720 going to have to put a little bit of time 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.040 and money into R and D. They already have golf 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:38.360 balls made. You know, they've already done that. They've been 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.679 waiting for this, and guess what, they have another product 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.920 to sell. People are going to use these golf balls. 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.160 It's just silly that golf courses are the ones that 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:51.840 are constantly having to adapt when the game is broken 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:55.080 because of the technology. I don't know, I just think 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:59.200 this is this is a ridiculous time. The players have 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:04.480 been pretty against the rollback. I understand why. I understand why, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.280 but it's important to look at other people with vested 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.720 interest in the game. So I think Rory has it 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:15.320 right on here. I think LACC was a blueprint, and 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.920 that's a whole nother thing. But there are very few 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:24.440 places with the natural gifts that LACC has, And for 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.800 a course like TPC River Highlands, you have to have 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:33.439 the perfect storm of breezy, dry, firm conditions to present 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:38.600 any sort of a test for these great players. And 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.480 that's you know, that's the same story as this week 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.959 in Detroit. It's the same story as next week when 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:48.160 they go to Minneapolis. It's the same story for almost 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.560 every golf course on the PGA to our calendar. So 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.480 should we change all the courses on the PGA Tour schedule? 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.040 Should we just change twenty four courses or should we 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.400 just do something really simple and change the equipment. These 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.199 guys will adapt if you, I can attest like, if 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.760 you play well with old equipment or or lesser equipment, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:12.040 you still play well. It's not like you just will 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.840 magically have lose the ability to shoot under par. It's 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:20.400 not like your skills diminished and vanish away. You still 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.920 can play well. It's just shows when you don't play 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.920 well more. And I think that's what we want as 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:31.000 golf fans. We want to see players overcome challenges. That's 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.160 what makes the majors so compelling and all these events, 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.439 And this is what the PGA Tour needs to understand. 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.960 What makes golf compelling is not four hundred yard drives. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:48.920 It's the idea of overcoming and doing something unbelievable. And 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.400 the more challenging the game is, the more compelling the 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:57.600 theater will be. All Right, here's the Shane Bacon and uh, 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.280 we're going to talk Ryder Cup as well as him 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.880 playing in the Ike and having a great finish in 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:07.480 the in the MGA event in New York area. So 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:16.640 thanks Shane, Shane, welcome back on I you know, I'm 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.120 excited to talk about Ryder Cup. That's what we're planning 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.800 to talk about today. But I gotta commend you. You're 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:28.640 doing the midam's right. You played the IKE, a big 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.920 Metropolitan Golf association that met one of the great golf 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.319 associations in the in the country. You played their IKE 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:41.160 amateur event. You're you're dueling with college kids, juniors. He 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.800 came out with a with a very Kevin Streelman like 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.720 back door top ten T seven with the sixty six 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.960 on in the final round. I mean, the sixty six 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.440 is super impressive. It was the back end of thirty 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.679 six holes walking. You must have just been hommon. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.520 Yeah, I was. I didn't play great in the morning. 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:04.640 You know. It was in my home course. And I 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:06.400 don't know, I don't know how you feel about this, Andy, 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.080 but sometimes the home course advantage actually add stress. 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.199 I don't think it's the home course's advantage at all. 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:13.160 I think it's harder. 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:15.920 Yeah, I mean, you just cause you're playing a golf course, 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.600 you play stress free. Ninety nine percent of the time, 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:20.800 and all of a sudden, the easy shots become a 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.400 little bit harder, and I got off to like a 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.160 red hot start in the first round. I think I 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:27.280 was three under through my first seven and it was 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.160 just kind of here we go, and then made some 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.600 bogies late. But yeah, the second round, I made the cut, 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.320 which was obviously goal number one, and played okay in 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:40.200 the second round, which was I guess Tuesday morning, and 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.880 birdied eighteen. So I made like a twenty five foot 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.960 in my last hole to shoot seventy one, and I 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:48.240 don't know, it was one of those things like I 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:49.800 made that putt and I told my dad was out 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:51.880 here watching and I said, I said, you know, all 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:53.280 I wanted to do was shoot in the sixties. Like 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:57.240 that's my goal for this afternoon. And it's weird, Andy, 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.520 when you drive it great and make putts, you can 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.280 play well. And I drove it great in the afternoon 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:04.280 and made a lot of putts, and uh and yeah, 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.080 I had like a twelve footer on the last hole 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:09.080 for sixty five down the hill, and all I could 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.920 tell myself was I'd love to make this, but I 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:13.920 don't want to stress over a four footer coming back 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.640 up the hill, Like I've already stressed enough today, Like 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.680 if I make it great, but if I don't, because 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:20.720 a top ten in that event gets you in the 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.640 met Am and I think that's at Friar's and I 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.400 think it might get you in the met Open. So 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.560 I knew I was right around that number, and so yeah, 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.720 I was. Uh, I would have been happy with sixty five, 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:32.000 but I was very happy with sixty six. 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:35.680 Kane, you just described the uh, the difference between a 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:38.840 PGA Tour player in a mid am right there, fretting 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.400 about a four footer. That's, uh, you get under par hill, 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:47.120 you get under par and it's you're snorkeling. You're not 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.640 you're not scuba diving. You're snorkeling. You're afraid to go 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.800 too far down in the water, have the water rush 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:57.560 into your snorkel. Uh. That is the difference right there. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:15:59.920 Yeah, I was just I had I had Zach Blo 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.320 on the Getagrip podcast we posted on Thursday, and we 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.120 were talking about you know, obviously he went low on 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.040 Sunday at the Travelers, and I was asking him about 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.880 this exact thing, because you know, there's that fear of 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.160 low that ninety nine percent of golfers have. And there 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:16.520 are some golfers that once they get four or five under, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:18.360 they're trying to get to seven, they're trying to get 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.320 to eight. And I had a great shot into eighteen. 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:23.720 I mean my last hole was twelve or sorry, my 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:27.160 last hole was eleven. Part five. I laid up. I 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.000 hit a nine iron in there at about ten feet. 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.160 But again I knew that putt was fast, and I 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.360 knew it went away from me, and again I just 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.120 didn't want a three put you know. I was like, 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:39.880 I'm happy with the two putt, and most professional golfers 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:41.800 are trying to ram that in the back and shoot 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:43.080 sixty five not sixty six. 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.320 Wait was that a was it a shotgun? Start? 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.800 No? At Brookline, it's almost like Olympic Club. Ten is 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.280 about as far away from the clubhouse as you can get. 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.280 So he did twelve t one. 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.880 T Okay, that makes sense. I was curious that when 0:16:58.920 --> 0:16:59.520 you said. 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:03.000 That the first round we played one of the guys, 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.240 goes Man, we played the front nine real fast. I 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.720 was like, well, we played seven homes. We only played seven. 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:09.280 We didn't play that. 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.240 I was looking at your first car or your first 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:14.080 round card, I thought you had just like a flurry 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:20.040 finish with birdies. Yeah, I was super impressed. I was 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:23.159 super impressed. I thought, I thought you just you just 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.439 had this flurry of a finish to make the cut, 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.560 I would say, I think like I feel like when 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.360 you're playing as a mid am in these these events 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.320 that I think like one of the things you you 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.080 play with college golfers, and the thing that I always 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.720 used to feel was like, Okay, I can contend, I 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.560 can compete with them tea to green, but when they 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.800 miss a green, the short games are just out of 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:47.600 this warld. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:48.919 I mean, I don't know fear at all. 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.280 And it's like they just like they'll be You'll you'll 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.240 watch them and you're like, oh, they're no, that's a 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.840 terrible place. They just hit it into like short sighted 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.479 over at green, like a little brinning away and they 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.679 hit this flop to like eighteen inches and you're like, 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:05.880 how did how did they do that? 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:06.320 You know? 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:10.160 It's like so I always felt like that, and it's 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.119 like I kind of had a similar goal. Always was like, 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.040 you know, if I'm playing in a state aum, it's 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.400 like make a cut. If I make the cut, I'm 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.280 really happy because that makes me feel like, you know what, 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:24.440 like I'm not I'm not grinding like these guys are grinding. 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:29.800 And it's so I congratulations, that's h And exemptions are god. 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.720 Just not having to qualify as like the greatest feeling 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:33.280 in the world. 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.520 Yeah. But a buddy of mine that knows the area 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:38.760 very well send me a text when I finished up, 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.600 and he went, great playing, now you don't have to qualify, 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:43.119 which is the worst thing in the world. And I 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.440 was like, I trust me, I totally understand. I'm back 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:47.520 out against the college kids. I think next week, Andy, 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.040 I've got a US Amateur qualifiers. So where thirty six holes? 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.360 I'll I don't know, let me look, actually, but it's 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.240 it's thirty six holes. And I will say this. I 0:18:57.280 --> 0:18:59.760 told my wife this because you know, Cindy's not a 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.439 gull for it all, and she listens to my golf 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.520 stories even though she probably doesn't totally care that much 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:07.919 about what I'm saying. But I was just telling her 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:11.440 how it's at Bonnie Bryer Country Club. I think it's 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.119 pretty close to my house. Let's see. Yeah, it's in 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.439 a Yeah, it's not too far. But I was just 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:20.160 telling her that I needed that round in my tournament 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.080 resume because I haven't shot around like that in a 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.560 long time. And it's just a reminder of myself that 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.879 I can do it, you know. And it's not you know, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.159 it's you're not earning money, You're not you know. I mean, 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.160 they're not really giving you a trophy or anything like that. 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.120 But to remind yourself that if you do get it rolling, 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.879 you can't shoot you know, a sub sixty eight round 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.920 is is important considering I've got a few tournaments left 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.240 on the on the schedule. So fun week always nice 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:44.800 when you actually do something good in golf. It doesn't 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:45.400 happen all the time. 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.960 Yeah, well that's that's what When I qualified for the 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.159 mid Am a few years ago, a good friend. 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.520 Of mine stonewall, right, is that the one? 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.439 Yeah? Yeah, And I said I was never not going 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.600 to qualify, and I think I've tried to qualify one 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:03.720 time since, you know, so life right there. It's encapsulation 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:09.280 of your life of personal life stuff. But what my 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:13.480 friend said to me, so I qualified, I birdied I 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:16.960 think three of the last four, and in the year 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.680 before I had had like the complete opposite finish where 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.480 I was definitely in and I just kind of shit 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:26.560 the bed down the stretch. And my buddy, Buddy I 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.600 was talking to a day or two after, he said, 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:31.760 you know, you got to you got to hang on 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.960 to this moment because it's it's your one percent time. 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:36.520 You know. 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:40.159 It's like golf kills you ninety nine percent of the time, 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:42.800 and you just have to hold on to those one 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.080 percent moments where you actually won, you know. And it's 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.480 like I always think about that. It's like it's so true, 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.840 and you think about you think about like major championships, right, 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:56.000 like you think about the last one at LACC. The 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:00.320 guys like you know, Rory or Ricky, like they come 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.679 out of that and even Scotty, I think Scotty's in 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:05.159 the same They feel like it was a failure and 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:08.760 it's like, God, you beat you beat one hundred and 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:12.760 fifty three guys or whatever the number was in the field. 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:17.640 You just didn't beat one guy. Yeah, and it's a failure. 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.520 And that's the thing that makes the sport so maddening 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:22.480 and probably makes you come back so much. 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:24.680 Yeah. I mean they give trip one trophy out. I 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:26.000 remember on the old show, I used to do. We 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:29.240 did winners that didn't win every week, like on Mondays, 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.520 because it's so easy to talk about the person that 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.480 won the event, right, I mean, that's we focus It's weird, Andy, 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:37.719 I mean we focus on you know, you and Brinnan 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:39.960 do this on Mondays, right, you talk about who won, 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:42.840 and then come Wednesday, when you guys do the podcast 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.840 on Wednesday, you're over it. It's not a conversation anymore. Right, 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:49.480 You're not bringing up the person that won. But those 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:53.399 celebratory moments for the dude that shot sixty six in 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:56.880 the final round or Rory who gets another top three 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:59.560 in a major championship. It doesn't feel like a victory 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:03.040 to those Yet there are things to celebrate. I mean, 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:05.719 does Scotty run we're on. I know Kyle Porter's been 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:08.280 pounding this on Twitter, but this run he's been on, 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:11.720 we should be celebrating it, even though he's not taking 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:15.000 home the trophies because the play is so incredibly consistent 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:18.359 and he's beating almost everybody in the world. He's just 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:20.720 coming up short against one or two names every time. 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.800 Yeah, it's it's crazy. It's just him his golf. I think, 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:30.480 like I always think about what Tiger used to talk about, 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:33.840 and it was always about consistency. And right now he's 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.080 on a run that's very Tiger like. I don't think 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:39.480