Speaker 1: Welcome back to the fire Drill. Before we get into
Speaker 1: this week's episode, I do want to tell you Tuesday, uh,
Speaker 1: the second episode of the grind Our Show on YouTube.
Speaker 1: Welcome out. Thanks to Golf Tech for their support. I'm
Speaker 1: super biased because this is the coolest week of my life.
Speaker 1: But uh, it is Mark Baldwin's second episode about his
Speaker 1: week at the A T and T Pebble Beach program,
Speaker 1: Steve Young, Ben Rector, Peter Jacobsen, fluff Mark, the ups
Speaker 1: and downs of pro golf. It's awesome. Go to YouTube
Speaker 1: like subscribe comment first episode has gone great. This is
Speaker 1: another level great ones after that every Tuesday page Crawford
Speaker 1: Joe Hooks. Um, I'm super excited, so YouTube fire pick
Speaker 1: collective YouTube go there like him subscribe. Uh. This week's episode,
Speaker 1: we talked about my dad and uh I cried and
Speaker 1: please don't screenshot that and making a social media clip. Um.
Speaker 1: But we talked about my dad and his his role
Speaker 1: in my life. He passed away a couple of days ago,
Speaker 1: and uh, we got into Patrick Read and another rules controversy,
Speaker 1: we got into live. Uh, we got into Anthony Kim,
Speaker 1: is Anthony Kim coming back and the fact that he
Speaker 1: would truly move the needle on the live thing. You
Speaker 1: gotta wonder Alan has some great insight because he's done
Speaker 1: a couple of very in depth stories on Anthony when
Speaker 1: he was playing. Um we talked about Max Homa and
Speaker 1: what an important time for the PGA tour to have
Speaker 1: a guy who is engaging and funny and personable and
Speaker 1: also just really damn good like Max. It's just a
Speaker 1: perfect time for the PGA Tour to have that. Uh.
Speaker 1: It's another episode we talked about libraries. That is the
Speaker 1: fire drill. I talked about the smallest library I've ever
Speaker 1: been to. Uh do people even go to libraries? I
Speaker 1: mean that is the fire drill and nutshell. We talked
Speaker 1: about all those things in libraries. So, uh, that's a
Speaker 1: watch the Grind Tuesday. It will drop on my Twitter
Speaker 1: account on our YouTube channel seven am Eastern. Go watch it,
Speaker 1: go check it out. We've really really worked hard on this.
Speaker 1: People behind the scenes. Jake is one of them who's
Speaker 1: producing this podcast. Also a million people behind the scenes
Speaker 1: that you don't see that I've made that. Marco is
Speaker 1: the main editor. Just Ah, everybody's worked their ass off
Speaker 1: to make this thing, I think, so Uh. Thank you
Speaker 1: to everybody without further ado, here's the three of us
Speaker 1: talking golf. I got my head, can't get jan nothing
Speaker 1: what I'm thinking about, can't get them now, nothing thing
Speaker 1: what I'm thinking about. There is a lot to talk about. Um.
Speaker 1: Of course we have Max Homa, who's just turned into
Speaker 1: a monster. Five wins in the last two years, just
Speaker 1: one on a US Open course with a spectacular finish. Um,
Speaker 1: we've got melodrama in Dubai, to say the very least.
Speaker 1: We'll get to all that as well. But UM, if
Speaker 1: it's okay with you, Ryan, I thought we we'd start
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, you've you've written so beautifully about
Speaker 1: your dad and his influence on your life and career,
Speaker 1: and you've taken readers through this long journey as he's
Speaker 1: been battling dementia. And he wrote a super moving piece
Speaker 1: about how Mrs monday Que you know, was so devoted
Speaker 1: um to your father and in his final days, and
Speaker 1: you know we lost him a few days ago. And
Speaker 1: I know the fact that even on this podcast speaks
Speaker 1: to your own grind. Like we tried to talk Ryan
Speaker 1: out of doing this, but he's like, no, I need,
Speaker 1: I need to get back into some routine. So, Um,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to open up the floor to you,
Speaker 1: and of course, Michael is you've gotten to know the
Speaker 1: French family very well as well. I just feel like
Speaker 1: we need some closure as as your as your family,
Speaker 1: as as your readers and your listeners, Like, how are
Speaker 1: how are things in your world right now? Yeah? Good?
Speaker 1: I mean as good as they can be, uh, I
Speaker 1: said today, like in the middle of this chaos, my
Speaker 1: parents have lived with us for a month, people in
Speaker 1: and out. We're living my brother's house, so he comes,
Speaker 1: his family comes in and out, and you, like you
Speaker 1: just every day you wish that the chaos would stop.
Speaker 1: And then the house seems very quiet today in the
Speaker 1: chaos to stop. My brother's gone home, my mom's back
Speaker 1: at her house, Dad's gone, and it's like we're all
Speaker 1: kind of walking around like you've you've had this chaos
Speaker 1: be part of your routine for so long you kind
Speaker 1: of don't know how to get back to normal stuff.
Speaker 1: But my dad was super important to me. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think we'll get more into it uh in Michael's
Speaker 1: book Down the Road. But there were some pretty dark
Speaker 1: times in my life that my dad was there for
Speaker 1: me and the Caddy trips. Uh, you know, saved my
Speaker 1: life at a at a time that just wasn't a
Speaker 1: great time in my life. So um, I I miss him,
Speaker 1: and uh I love him and I miss him. Michael,
Speaker 1: what what? Um? What can you share about what you've
Speaker 1: learned about about the French father's son relationship? You know, well,
Speaker 1: just as as the starting point, he was a Uh
Speaker 1: he was an All state basketball player. Um who you know,
Speaker 1: maybe you could have played at at Michigan. Say, was
Speaker 1: certainly one of the best basketball players ever to come
Speaker 1: out of Alpina. And it's a telling thing because athletic
Speaker 1: skill is genetic and uh and Ryan has athletic skill
Speaker 1: and it comes straight Uh, it comes straight from the dead.
Speaker 1: And it was and it it made for a for
Speaker 1: a connection between between Ryan and his dad. Alpina is
Speaker 1: a hunting and fishing town. It has golf. Uh. But
Speaker 1: uh it's a spectacular thing to see a father and
Speaker 1: a son, any child and and any parent uh bond
Speaker 1: over this game that lets you show emotion every which way.
Speaker 1: And uh, Howard's father, excuse me, Ryan's father, Howard French
Speaker 1: Um was a remarkable person from a remarkable family in
Speaker 1: a remarkable town. And and Alan, I would say the
Speaker 1: same of your mom and her experience and my parents
Speaker 1: who fled Nazi Germany. We've all lost parents here in
Speaker 1: the past year or so, and they've all had a
Speaker 1: lot to do with us finding the path that that
Speaker 1: we have found. Alan and I've talked about this a
Speaker 1: lot over the years. But one year early and and
Speaker 1: Allen's writing experience, he won a golf Writer's award and
Speaker 1: his mom came down to Augusta, uh for a day,
Speaker 1: and came to a golf writer's dinner, and you know
Speaker 1: that the pride was beaming, and you know, she came out.
Speaker 1: She had been a politician and in northern California, and
Speaker 1: you know it was accustomed to a public life. And
Speaker 1: now her son was leading in his own way of
Speaker 1: public life. And Ryan's father led in athletic life, and
Speaker 1: and and then Ryan was in his own athletic life.
Speaker 1: And you know my case, Uh, my parents were you know,
Speaker 1: totally committed to not totally committed that. They were just
Speaker 1: very active readers period. And uh, you know, I grew
Speaker 1: up in a reading tradition and became a writer. So
Speaker 1: we're all by products, of course of our parents, and
Speaker 1: we all, in our own way devote our whole life
Speaker 1: experience to our parents while finding our own life experience.
Speaker 1: So it was a privilege for me to get to
Speaker 1: know Uh, to get to know Ryan and and and
Speaker 1: by extension, Ryan's paternal grandfather the other side of the family, Uh,
Speaker 1: the Houst decide where there was a writer and you
Speaker 1: know how these family traditions blend to make us who
Speaker 1: we are today. You know, Ryan, I'm curious what you've
Speaker 1: heard from from your your community of of readers and followers, because,
Speaker 1: as I said at the top, you know they've been
Speaker 1: on they've been on this journey and I'm sure allow them.
Speaker 1: I feel the loss as well, and they probably feel
Speaker 1: like their pals with they were pals with with Howard
Speaker 1: because he populated so many of your pieces, and you know,
Speaker 1: there's great old photos of you guys, and and there
Speaker 1: was a lot of love and the things that you
Speaker 1: you typed about. It was what what have you heard
Speaker 1: from your your community? Yeah, I mean super overwhelmed. I'm uh,
Speaker 1: I mean behind on text messages. I spent most of
Speaker 1: the morning catching up on d ms as best I could. Um.
Speaker 1: As Michael has learned, we we share over share in
Speaker 1: the French family and so uh you know I've taken
Speaker 1: people inside. Um you know this struggle that is dementia.
Speaker 1: That was dementia. Um and I read it two reasons
Speaker 1: is for therapeutic reasons. It's my way to kind of
Speaker 1: tell the story and get it off my chest. And
Speaker 1: also I know a million people are going through it.
Speaker 1: I mean those are the d m s right. Uh,
Speaker 1: my grandpa's going through it. My dad was just diagnosed.
Speaker 1: I lost my brother or my dad or whatever to dementia.
Speaker 1: And so um, you know, I'm happy that people. I
Speaker 1: appreciate so much all the support, and I'm glad can
Speaker 1: people can relate? I think Alan, you've you said it
Speaker 1: a million at times and I use the quote all
Speaker 1: the time as our job as writers is to elicit
Speaker 1: some sort of emotion, whether that sadness or anger or
Speaker 1: happiness or whatever. Uh and and uh I think people
Speaker 1: can relate. And so uh I talked openly about my
Speaker 1: not my ability to uh be the greatest words smith,
Speaker 1: but I'm pretty pretty happy with how I write. And
Speaker 1: people have related to my journey with my dad, our
Speaker 1: journey with my dad. So um uh yeah, an amazing
Speaker 1: amount of support. I'm still catching up on d M
Speaker 1: s and text messages and tweets and uh yeah it's been.
Speaker 1: It's been great. It is, ah, it will be. It
Speaker 1: is what we all wanted. And my dad lived a
Speaker 1: very good life. And I've said many times as a
Speaker 1: lot of people would give anything to do the things
Speaker 1: that I did with my dad. He wasn't perfect, no
Speaker 1: one is, um, but he was. I mean he again,
Speaker 1: as he'll read in Michael's book, he he saved my life.
Speaker 1: And uh so I love him and I miss him.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's really sweet. Um, I know, can we talk
Speaker 1: about just mundane golf matters Africa? Can we get to
Speaker 1: the Patrick Green stuff? But now that's beautifully said Ryan,
Speaker 1: And you know we're all sitting you hugs from far
Speaker 1: away and um yeah, I I know you feel a
Speaker 1: lot of relief, but it definitely you know, it's tough
Speaker 1: to time. So we got you. If you get to
Speaker 1: Alpina and you do the Ryan French Howard French Tour,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be amazed at how good this Alpina City
Speaker 1: course is. Because it was like, oh yeah, just a
Speaker 1: little sires, really nice, charming golf course with beautiful greens
Speaker 1: and and our friend John Garrity would especially appreciate this
Speaker 1: Allen Grass driving range. Yes, there's no mats there, Ryan
Speaker 1: is there no mats, no mats, the most beautiful grass ever.
Speaker 1: Now they got about a four month season, so that
Speaker 1: probably helps, right, But it's also so that's funny because
Speaker 1: there's a great three six whole facility here on the
Speaker 1: Monoe Peninsula um Band at black Horse, and they redid
Speaker 1: the rains and they have acres a beautiful turf it
Speaker 1: and it's a really expansive range and it's tree line,
Speaker 1: it's it could be like one of the all time
Speaker 1: great driving ranges. But they often have mats out and
Speaker 1: it's so bizarre hitting off of a mat and you're
Speaker 1: surrounded by luscious turf, and I, you know, I guess
Speaker 1: it's just a cost saving measure. It takes time and
Speaker 1: energy and water, and but the turf looks beautiful and
Speaker 1: it's so dispirting. So yeah, sure, that's one observation about
Speaker 1: about driving ranges with mats and nearby graphs. I have
Speaker 1: snuck on the golf courses all my life. In my life,
Speaker 1: I have almost never been kicked off a golf course.
Speaker 1: But you go to a driving range that's got plastic
Speaker 1: mats and grass from you take one swing and they're
Speaker 1: all over sir. For the last time I've told you
Speaker 1: you've got to get on the mat. You're like, this
Speaker 1: is not the last time. This is the first time.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have a little the way here that it's
Speaker 1: amazing how they're all over you. But sneak on. You
Speaker 1: can sneak on Augusta National and plays before you. I
Speaker 1: will tell my Spencer Levine, I'm a huge Spencer Levine
Speaker 1: fans as people who follow and uh, the Monday for
Speaker 1: the Farmers used to be at Industry Hills, which has
Speaker 1: a two story matt driving range, and I've snuck on
Speaker 1: that course many times. Uh, And two or three years
Speaker 1: ago I got a picture from a follower of Spencer
Speaker 1: hitting in front of the mats and then he got
Speaker 1: yelled at and almost kicked off. And so it doesn't
Speaker 1: it's just not you, Michael, it's an actual p g
Speaker 1: A tour players. Just a quick just a quick note
Speaker 1: about that Industry Hills. They had two courses there, the
Speaker 1: Ike and the ice, the Ike and the Babe for
Speaker 1: for babees. Harris and my mother in law didn't know
Speaker 1: anything about golf. Uh, but I would go over there
Speaker 1: and she would say, yeah, did you sneak on? Or
Speaker 1: did you pay? And the other thing I had there
Speaker 1: out and you may have been there, But did you
Speaker 1: ever know that Miller library there? For for years it
Speaker 1: was considered I think it's called the Ralph Miller Library.
Speaker 1: Maybe he was considered one of the great golf libraries
Speaker 1: of the world. And they shut it down and know why?
Speaker 1: There was a sheard in there and the library was
Speaker 1: part of it. Oh. Yes, So when I was living
Speaker 1: in Belmont Shore on Long Beach, I would drive over
Speaker 1: there and use that library somewhat regularly. Um And I
Speaker 1: don't think I ever played the course. It was. I
Speaker 1: was like just research because this is this was like
Speaker 1: what year was at ninety eight? So that was the
Speaker 1: year I got my first email address, I remember distinctly.
Speaker 1: But I didn't even have a cell phone yet. The
Speaker 1: Internet was not really a thing. I mean I guess
Speaker 1: it was. But do people still use libraries um or
Speaker 1: for a computer access? I would guess right, yes and no.
Speaker 1: I mean there's there's two good libraries in Carmel and
Speaker 1: they're always busy. They're ones is just dedicated kids library
Speaker 1: and that place is wonderful and I spent many hours
Speaker 1: there with my kids, and all the schools go there.
Speaker 1: And then there is there's a nice right on Ocean Avenue.
Speaker 1: Its beautiful stone building and yeah, and it's very busy.
Speaker 1: I mean, I I've been encouraging. My daughter is a
Speaker 1: voracious reader, and she finds these series that have like
Speaker 1: eight books in them. And I know how it's going
Speaker 1: because I Ding ding ding. It's like all the Amazon
Speaker 1: NOTEFID go to the library of It's Michael. Michael will
Speaker 1: appreciate this. And then we are I mean, this is
Speaker 1: classic fired or we are in a library speed but Michael,
Speaker 1: just down the road for I'm living, there is a
Speaker 1: the tiniest library I've ever seen in my life. Like
Speaker 1: we live in the middle of nowhere. And this is
Speaker 1: not even to Alpino, Michael, Michael. Alpina has its own library.
Speaker 1: But there's a Hubbard Lake Library and it might be
Speaker 1: two d square feet, but they're raising money to expand
Speaker 1: it to four hundred square feet. All right to the
Speaker 1: Patrick read things in the tree? Did he cheat? Did
Speaker 1: he not cheat? Al right? Right? So um, well, and
Speaker 1: we haven't even talked about, you know, tegate on this
Speaker 1: podcast because I have sin since we taped our last one.
Speaker 1: I mean, it just the amount of bullshittery, the the
Speaker 1: engulfs Patrick Reed at all times, it's just wild and know,
Speaker 1: flicking the t I think was actually kind of funny,
Speaker 1: like I don't mind that, but it wasn't like he
Speaker 1: was trying to blind him. It was it was kind
Speaker 1: of a jaunty, saucy move. But it's the tone definess
Speaker 1: of like walking up to Rory, hey man, great to
Speaker 1: see you. When you know, there's been some clarification that
Speaker 1: this when when Rory was served, you know, the for
Speaker 1: that lawsuit that wasn't strictly a Patrick Read lawsuit, but
Speaker 1: it's the same lawyer, and this lawyer's right, it's adjacent
Speaker 1: to Patrick Reed. But even setting that bit aside, I mean,
Speaker 1: Rory has been obviously the biggest PJ Tour booster and
Speaker 1: he's made it very clear he us wants nothing to
Speaker 1: do with the live golf guys. So just on that alone,
Speaker 1: for Read to walk up to him like, you know,
Speaker 1: slobbering on him like a Labrador retriever, like, it's just
Speaker 1: it's it's bizarre it's like so it's like sociopathic, like
Speaker 1: I make it makes sense? Michael, Well, can I can
Speaker 1: I fine tune some of you? Just by way of question, Um,
Speaker 1: isn't Rory more in like the Jeff Ogilby school to
Speaker 1: to speak up someone with whom we talked to regularly.
Speaker 1: Isn't he more of a little bit of an olive branch,
Speaker 1: you know, if they would get rid of Norman and
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. But that that there, that there should
Speaker 1: be some well, he's he hasn't made some noises the effect.
Speaker 1: He's looking at the big picture, which it's not good
Speaker 1: for golf to split up the stars. There's not enough
Speaker 1: fan interest or money to support these warring tours. So
Speaker 1: he's pragmatic that it would make sense. Um, And if
Speaker 1: you believe Andy Gardner, who founded the PGL which was
Speaker 1: the precursor to the to Live Golf after the South,
Speaker 1: he's just ripped off the entire idea. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: Andy Gardner says that Rory was supportive of his idea
Speaker 1: early on, and that Rory saw the possibilities of how
Speaker 1: you could bring this infusion of money and interest and
Speaker 1: there was a way they could partner and make it work.
Speaker 1: So I think you're right that Rory sees a bigger picture,
Speaker 1: But at the same time, he's that's a macro view.
Speaker 1: I think when you zoom in, he has a lot
Speaker 1: of bitterness towards the current live guys and he's fed
Speaker 1: up with them and their high jinks and there and
Speaker 1: and their their mouthiness. So I think he would like
Speaker 1: to forge a compmise for the good of the game.
Speaker 1: But in the meantime, he's gonna he's gonna take as
Speaker 1: many shots as he can, and when the guys on
Speaker 1: your door on Christmas Eve, if it's gonna get intensely personal.
Speaker 1: And we picked up on that from Davis the same Davis.
Speaker 1: The same Davis is a Davis Love is a very reasonable,
Speaker 1: mild mannered, intelligent person. But his view of Greg Norman is,
Speaker 1: you know, he's trying He's suing me. They're suing me there,
Speaker 1: They're bringing down everything that I represent, so he can't
Speaker 1: not become intensely personal. I heard interesting nugget. I was
Speaker 1: down at Torrey Pines. The PGA tour has decided they're
Speaker 1: not going to help any players with their legal fees,
Speaker 1: um including and I heard Davis has already wracked up
Speaker 1: six figures and lawyer fees because he came on our
Speaker 1: pod cast, he went other places, and he's obviously a
Speaker 1: huge part of the Writer Cup efforts for the for
Speaker 1: the Americans, and that there's some hard feelings because even
Speaker 1: the staunchest defenders of the tour, the tours kind of
Speaker 1: cut Baiton said, well if you get if you get
Speaker 1: rolled up into these lawsuits, good luck, and so, um,
Speaker 1: that's going to be an interesting nugget because it's discovery
Speaker 1: process as ownerous and I've heard the Live Golf guys
Speaker 1: are coming in and taking phones and no one wants
Speaker 1: their phone snatched from them. Um, there's what would be
Speaker 1: the motivation. And the PGA two are not supporting the
Speaker 1: players for legal face because then they become they're essentially
Speaker 1: sanctioning what the players said even though it wasn't authorized
Speaker 1: and some of these players were a little out of pocket,
Speaker 1: and uh, it also becomes an issue of if not
Speaker 1: setting aside Davis, but anyone if a player is negotiating
Speaker 1: would Live Golf and there a tour member and there
Speaker 1: were secret deals made and there were things going on.
Speaker 1: There was collusion, there was antitrust behavior. If the tour
Speaker 1: comes in and defends that player, then they're essentially approving
Speaker 1: of what they did. I think they're trying to they're
Speaker 1: trying to keep their hands clean, and they don't want
Speaker 1: to get swept up into the actions of any outside agencies,
Speaker 1: because then you have it's not just the players, you
Speaker 1: have you have the actual agents who are we all
Speaker 1: know were double dealing and um and um. So I
Speaker 1: understand the tourist perspective, like they don't want to get
Speaker 1: involved if they don't have to. But all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: they're all these players are not gonna have to pay
Speaker 1: their own lawyers, and that that's that's gonna be. That's
Speaker 1: gonna create more hard feelings and not good for us
Speaker 1: as reporters because now that the well, it's obvious, but
Speaker 1: just for those two from it may not be obvious.
Speaker 1: Sources are more likely to talk to reporters when they
Speaker 1: know there's a lawyer that's going to back them up
Speaker 1: if things go haywire, and then when there's not and
Speaker 1: they're like, is this really worth it? Knows often the
Speaker 1: answer yeah. That's been one of my challenges in reporting
Speaker 1: this book is that a lot of people have said
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you and they come back to me
Speaker 1: and they're like, well, um, I was advised not to
Speaker 1: because they could subpoena your notes, and like, well that
Speaker 1: seems a little far fetched, but um okay, and that
Speaker 1: that's just lawyer's jobs are to air on the side
Speaker 1: of caution. So like a lot of folks who told
Speaker 1: me they sit down and talk have renigged. I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that some have spoken to me, you know, on background
Speaker 1: where I can use information but not their names, and um,
Speaker 1: some are mulling it over. But yeah, it's it's there's
Speaker 1: definitely a chilling effect. And I mean we talked about
Speaker 1: this in a previous podcast. That's really the point of
Speaker 1: these Patrick Read lawsuits against journalists. No matter what he's
Speaker 1: being told, Um, he probably knows he can't win them.
Speaker 1: And I think even the lawyer knows they can't win.
Speaker 1: But it's just it's a hassle when you get sued, right,
Speaker 1: and it's stressful and it's time consuming, and so they're
Speaker 1: just trying to put the chill on people and it's
Speaker 1: probably having an effect. I mean, um, like I would
Speaker 1: it would be interesting to get an AI program and
Speaker 1: monitor all the tweets and all the discourse around this
Speaker 1: latest Patrick Reed um rules controversy and dubai versus the
Speaker 1: previous ones. I mean, people maybe a little more careful
Speaker 1: because they just don't want to get in the crosshairs
Speaker 1: of this stuff. And that's the whole point. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the chilling effect. But so Ryan for those who
Speaker 1: have we're asleep when all this happened. Summarized the most
Speaker 1: recent Patrick Reed controversy. Sure h he a a person
Speaker 1: on Twist so he hit a ball into a tree
Speaker 1: and it got stuck and then a twitter Michael Ferrier Twist.
Speaker 1: I believe he might be he's a player. Um took
Speaker 1: a screen, not not a screenshot, but a video of
Speaker 1: uh where the ball landed. And it is very hard
Speaker 1: to see. To be fair, it looks like it, but
Speaker 1: how much of that is like we know it's Patrick Reed,
Speaker 1: Like if I saw that ball and it was uh
Speaker 1: Max Homa be like, I have no idea where that
Speaker 1: ball went, you know. Uh, So it looks like it
Speaker 1: goes in this one particular tree on the right. It
Speaker 1: it does, but it is very difficult video to see.
Speaker 1: And then Patrick comes up and identifies his ball in
Speaker 1: a different tree, and to be fair to Patrick, uh,
Speaker 1: the rules official used so they used binoculars. Patrick said
Speaker 1: he could see his markings and the rules official looked
Speaker 1: up at their and said that he could see his thing.
Speaker 1: Everybody thinks it's the wrong tree. I don't terribly disagree,
Speaker 1: but there's definitely some like it could have bounced into
Speaker 1: the other tree or maybe the video the video is
Speaker 1: not by any means like like, yes, it went in
Speaker 1: that tree, I would guess a good it looks like
Speaker 1: it goes in the first tree. Uh. But this is
Speaker 1: what it has made me think of t Gay. This
Speaker 1: is the p g A. I mean, it's a The
Speaker 1: much deeper view is it's so sad that golf has split,
Speaker 1: but the live tour has taken all of the villains.
Speaker 1: Like this would be such good golf if this was
Speaker 1: a week to week thing, If Rory and and Patrick
Speaker 1: really hated each other and the tea thing happened and
Speaker 1: all of that stuff, it would be so interesting on
Speaker 1: a week to week basis. We never get they're never
Speaker 1: going to play together. Obviously the masters were not like
Speaker 1: pare them, although I asked them two in a tweet,
Speaker 1: like golf golf. Golf needs a villain, and and the
Speaker 1: live took all of them. That's lived problems. They have
Speaker 1: all villains and no good guys. Maybe Cam Smiths a
Speaker 1: good dude, but like they have all the villains, like
Speaker 1: this would be so fun. And this is the cart
Speaker 1: I r L thing that I always bring up. It's
Speaker 1: like it's divided and we're gonna forget about. Like it's
Speaker 1: just it's just a sad look that this is what
Speaker 1: golf is well. And the last thing I'll say is
Speaker 1: the tea gate is the most golf fight ever, right,
Speaker 1: Like how key players literally literally throw fifths every day,
Speaker 1: right like they get on an actually have a physical fight,
Speaker 1: pound each other in the head. And then like that's it.
Speaker 1: And we're talking about a man flipping a t at
Speaker 1: the ass of another player like it's the you know,
Speaker 1: like the greatest fight in the history of the world,
Speaker 1: like it's Ali Fraser or something. Yeah, well, I mean
Speaker 1: they may wind up playing together more often than you think,
Speaker 1: because the whole reason Patrick Green and other live guys
Speaker 1: are playing on the European Tour right now is that
Speaker 1: there was this injunction that was filed and um Ino
Speaker 1: in only a couple of weeks away where this is
Speaker 1: going to go before the courts in the U K.
Speaker 1: And they're going to have to decide um can the
Speaker 1: very narrow issue of can the European tour demand releases
Speaker 1: for players and and that whole system of sort of
Speaker 1: stricting who can play when and where is is being
Speaker 1: thrown into question. And this has been ruled on by
Speaker 1: the High Court in Singapore years ago. The Asian Tour
Speaker 1: um find some players who played in a conflicting event
Speaker 1: and without getting a release, and they're repudiated by essentially
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court of of of Singapore and they read
Speaker 1: they Asiano had to pay back the fines and basically
Speaker 1: said you can't do that. And there's a ruling in
Speaker 1: Australia years ago involving cricket players. They had an analogous
Speaker 1: situation and the High Court of Australia ruled, or the
Speaker 1: Federal Court of Australia ruled in favor of the cricketeers,
Speaker 1: saying that they should be able to play wherever they want,
Speaker 1: whenever they want. And so there, you know, these are
Speaker 1: different parts of the world, but there is an emerging
Speaker 1: body of legal thinking that the system that's in place
Speaker 1: now is not going to hold. And so and there's
Speaker 1: even folks who feel like the European Tour may want
Speaker 1: to lose this case because then they can say, Jay Monahan,
Speaker 1: hey we tried our best, we went to we went
Speaker 1: to war for you. But this is what the court said.
Speaker 1: So now they get all their players back, and that
Speaker 1: would allow um, you know, Martin Kaymer to play the
Speaker 1: German Open, and Lee Westwood to play the the British Masters,
Speaker 1: and you know all Sergio to play the Spanish Open,
Speaker 1: like these are important draws for these tournaments, and just
Speaker 1: they say nothing of Ryder Cup involvement. And then there's
Speaker 1: a major Writer Cup implications. So um, and obviously if
Speaker 1: if Europe lets all their players play, that's gonna put
Speaker 1: the pressure on the U S side to open it
Speaker 1: up to the Dustin Johnson's of the world. And so
Speaker 1: this is this is a very important legal case. How
Speaker 1: long it's going to be argued, how long it's gonna
Speaker 1: take to get the ruling back is a fundamental question
Speaker 1: that nobody can answer. But there will be a decision
Speaker 1: at some point and that will that will shape this
Speaker 1: debate in a profound way. So if if the tour
Speaker 1: loses and the players win, then you're gonna see the
Speaker 1: live guys all over the European Tour because they want
Speaker 1: the world ranking points and they have, you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of history at these events. And then of course
Speaker 1: it does we know they're gonna see each other at
Speaker 1: the Majors and that's gonna add a lot of juice.
Speaker 1: So um. You know, remember in the old days, Michael
Speaker 1: and the U s g A. They would do funny pairings,
Speaker 1: like one year they put all the fat guys together
Speaker 1: and um, they they had they had a little bit
Speaker 1: of an edge, and the pairings like you're not gonna
Speaker 1: get Patrick and and and and Rory at the Masters.
Speaker 1: You you might get at the US Open because like
Speaker 1: just because they're a little more muckreakers and they liked
Speaker 1: the attention. I don't know that would be epic. I
Speaker 1: agree though. Yeah, just one quick note. I've probably have
Speaker 1: said this before, but I would have never guessed that
Speaker 1: Patrick Reid would join this live tour, uh for any
Speaker 1: number of reasons. You know, what was this thing what
Speaker 1: do they call him on the Ryder Cup teams? Captain
Speaker 1: what Captain America? Captain America? That was the start of
Speaker 1: then of course that you know the red and the
Speaker 1: black and the following Tigers thing. But this, above all else,
Speaker 1: here's Tiger who really, when it's all said and done,
Speaker 1: even north of Rory, is really the spokesman for uh,
Speaker 1: the PGA tour um, you know, as the ruling king
Speaker 1: of professional golf. Patrick Read owes his golfing life, I
Speaker 1: think to the act of Tiger Woods choosing him for
Speaker 1: that President's Cup team and then embracing him after that
Speaker 1: cheating scandal at at the Albany event. Um, things could
Speaker 1: have things went south for Patrick Reed, but they were
Speaker 1: been way way worse. And then Patrick Reed played very
Speaker 1: poorly the first couple of days, maybe the first three days,
Speaker 1: and there was the thing with the caddy and all
Speaker 1: the rest. Patrick's read Patrick Reid's career could have spiraled
Speaker 1: out of control without Tiger's support and uh and it didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean he was holding on but it but it didn't. Well,
Speaker 1: It's true when when you go down the list of
Speaker 1: of the big name players who to live, they were
Speaker 1: old or they were injured. Basically, whether you're talking about Bryson,
Speaker 1: you're talking about Phil, you're talking about Brooks, Dustin not
Speaker 1: that old, but possibly you know, he's told people he
Speaker 1: doesn't want to play forever like he he's he's an
Speaker 1: old whatever thirty eight. So read is the one guy
Speaker 1: that doesn't fit the profile because he's young and he's healthy,
Speaker 1: and he was playing very well on the PGA tour.
Speaker 1: But here here's what I think it's all about. He
Speaker 1: liked the outlaw spirit of the live guys, and I
Speaker 1: think he knew he was going to be unencumbered when
Speaker 1: he got there, just to be himself. And I think
Speaker 1: that's why these lawsuits have touched off, because the tour
Speaker 1: would not have supported him. If he was going after reporters,
Speaker 1: it would have been a lot of blowback. It would
Speaker 1: have I'm not sure would have even been possible if
Speaker 1: he was a tour member. But we know that that
Speaker 1: anything goes on the live tour more or less, and
Speaker 1: you're free to be the asshole that you are. They
Speaker 1: encourage it, and so I think obviously the money was
Speaker 1: a factor, but Patrick Reid was making a hell of
Speaker 1: a lot money on the PGA tour. I think honestly
Speaker 1: for him it was like sticking it to the man,
Speaker 1: just knowing that all his colleagues in the poor hated
Speaker 1: him all the battles he'd had. Um it was sort
Speaker 1: of a fresh start. But more than that, it was
Speaker 1: he was unencumbered. He could be more himself. And it's
Speaker 1: also why Live has a chance to sign Anthony Kim,
Speaker 1: because part of what drove Anthony Kim off the PGA
Speaker 1: tour was, and he told me this a few times,
Speaker 1: he hated all the PGA tour um guys lording over him,
Speaker 1: the suspensions and the find like he was always in
Speaker 1: the principal's office and and he never vibed with his
Speaker 1: colleagues on the PGA tour, who, as we know, skew
Speaker 1: towards conservative, religious Southern and again like it's a different
Speaker 1: scene on on live golfs And obviously the upfront money
Speaker 1: is intoxicating, we know that. But I think for a
Speaker 1: guy like Patrick Green Priy, for like Anthony Kim, they
Speaker 1: feel more at home there because as you said, Ryan,
Speaker 1: it's a bunch of it's a bunch of dicks, and
Speaker 1: they're they're at home. But I and I also think
Speaker 1: that Patrick read Michael and is so out of touch
Speaker 1: with reality or lives in his own reality. Like again,
Speaker 1: like Alan said it, who would like, if you're Patrick Read,
Speaker 1: you like any person would go like, hey, I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna go up to Rory and say hello, he obviously
Speaker 1: hates me, right, And the same thing with with the
Speaker 1: ball in the tree. Any normal human would be who's
Speaker 1: gone through the things that Patrick read Is has in
Speaker 1: the in the rules department, you would look up there,
Speaker 1: right and you'd go, you know what, I think that's
Speaker 1: my ball. But just to be safe, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: back to the tea because I can't undercent identify it,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna win over some hearts and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: lose a couple of strokes. Like it's not about money,
Speaker 1: it's just he lives in an adverse like a reality,
Speaker 1: an adverse reality, like any person that has had as
Speaker 1: many rules controversies as him goes up to that tree
Speaker 1: and goes, yeah, I don't know, I don't think that's
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that's my ball, but I'm not positive.
Speaker 1: If we can't shake it down, I'm going back to
Speaker 1: the tea, like anyone that that is the rule you
Speaker 1: have to positively identify. So, I mean, heats up on
Speaker 1: the tree and it's just like he just lives. He
Speaker 1: doesn't think about Tiger helping him out. He doesn't think
Speaker 1: about anything. He just lives in this adverse like this,
Speaker 1: this world where just his own world. And it's why
Speaker 1: his arrogance is astounding, and and and and it was
Speaker 1: on display for everybody who's interested to see at Tory
Speaker 1: Pines a couple of years ago. You know when when
Speaker 1: he said to the rules official, but I'm gonna let you,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you. I'm gonna let you. That's the
Speaker 1: rules officials doing his job. Patrick Greed is not doing
Speaker 1: his job. And and the tone should be Ryan, just
Speaker 1: what you what you said, I'm gonna bend over backwards
Speaker 1: here to make sure you get it right. That's what
Speaker 1: golf is supposed to be. So you know you're right.
Speaker 1: But I would have thought at the end of the
Speaker 1: day he still would have showed difference to Tiger. That
Speaker 1: that's where I sort of that was the line I
Speaker 1: thought he would never cross, but obviously he did. Allen,
Speaker 1: you would know you would know the most is is
Speaker 1: there any chance there's been a lot of Twitter that
Speaker 1: a K is coming back your personal thoughts or anything
Speaker 1: you're hearing. Do you think there's any chance he comes back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time with Anthony Kim when
Speaker 1: I was doing a big feature on him for UM
Speaker 1: for Sports Illustrated, and that was peak a k It was.
Speaker 1: It was like a week after the Masters when he
Speaker 1: almost won that thing. He made like whatever ten or
Speaker 1: eleven birdies on Sunday and uh, he was flying so
Speaker 1: high and um, and then of course things went sideways.
Speaker 1: And then I wrote the big story that the kind
Speaker 1: of cracked the code about this insurance pout he'd gotten
Speaker 1: and that was part of why he's on the sidelines
Speaker 1: and the injuries. But I probably underplayed it in that
Speaker 1: story and I learned more about it after it was published,
Speaker 1: Like he really had the driver yips and some of
Speaker 1: that was swinging um changes that were necessitated by the
Speaker 1: injuries and compensations. And you know that happens. That happening
Speaker 1: David Duval, Like when you get hurt and you start
Speaker 1: swinging the club differently, it goes from physical to mental.
Speaker 1: But but Anthony Kim had a severe case of it.
Speaker 1: And so the two questions are can his body hold up?
Speaker 1: It's it's not just tournament play, it's how much practice
Speaker 1: you have to play to be tournament sharp. You know,
Speaker 1: he's had obviously a lot of time to recover, but
Speaker 1: he's also now he's getting close to forty, and so
Speaker 1: the big questions are what is the state of his body,
Speaker 1: but also what is the state of his mind? Like
Speaker 1: the driver, hips has ended plenty of of of careers,
Speaker 1: and running away from the game doesn't really cure it
Speaker 1: and almost makes it worse. If you quit when you
Speaker 1: have them, you're not fixed. You're gonna have to come
Speaker 1: back and you're gonna have to look down a fairway
Speaker 1: with all kinds of hazards and lined by people. And
Speaker 1: in his case, there would be an intense media scrutiny
Speaker 1: for every swing. It would be an event. He's there's
Speaker 1: no easing into it, you know, if if that's the
Speaker 1: route he goes and so, and he was tired of
Speaker 1: that scrutiny because he was playing really poorly for almost
Speaker 1: two years and he was always getting in trouble by
Speaker 1: the tour and he was just burnt out on the
Speaker 1: whole thing. So maybe he's had enough time to miss
Speaker 1: it and to refresh and recharge. But I still think
Speaker 1: it's the longest of long shots. But but would wouldn't
Speaker 1: wouldn't live golf give him an easy out for all
Speaker 1: the problems you just outlined. In other words, there's no
Speaker 1: there's no ferries lines with fans, but it will be
Speaker 1: you're paid up front, yeah, for sure. But the lights
Speaker 1: are still on on the c W. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: a the c W audience is waiting to watch Anthony Kim.
Speaker 1: He's there demographic actually you know, teenage, but all the
Speaker 1: people they have, he would one bringing the fans in
Speaker 1: at least temporarily, I mean, like for the first five
Speaker 1: six tournaments. And if he plays well, like the guy
Speaker 1: was uh a lightning bolt, I mean, so he would
Speaker 1: bring fans in for at least the first few offense. Now,
Speaker 1: if he has the gifts and he's shooting a d
Speaker 1: every time, that will obviously end relatively quickly. But at
Speaker 1: the beginning, golf Twitter will be locked in on Anthony
Speaker 1: Kim absolutely, And there were all you know, as he's
Speaker 1: as his game was deteriorating and his body was breaking down,
Speaker 1: he became and I read them all. I mean, there
Speaker 1: was a lot of what's wrong with Anthony Kim's stories
Speaker 1: and that it really nettled him and he so I
Speaker 1: would I would say, it's it's one chance and we
Speaker 1: all have a price. We all have a price and that.
Speaker 1: So he got this big insurance power and supposedly he
Speaker 1: was a very savvy investor. He had smart people around
Speaker 1: him and apparently made just sent a picture on Instagram
Speaker 1: of him in a private plane. It's like how like yeah,
Speaker 1: like he obviously still Like how does Anthony Kim still
Speaker 1: afford I mean, as far as I know, he doesn't
Speaker 1: do any speeches or anything like that, Like you's just
Speaker 1: living off of this insurance thing, or or maybe he's
Speaker 1: on a private plane because he's getting a large check
Speaker 1: from Greg Norman. It's Greg's plane. Um. I mean supposedly
Speaker 1: he he invested a lot of his money in these
Speaker 1: medical device companies that went crazy, and like I was
Speaker 1: told by people close to him who who knew that,
Speaker 1: like he set for life and so I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's it's an interesting it's a tantalizing question. His Instagram picture,
Speaker 1: he needs to eat a cheeseburger. The dude is rail thin,
Speaker 1: I mean like rail thin. That's interesting. Yeah, because he
Speaker 1: was a little he had a little baby fat on
Speaker 1: him back in his heyday. Um, a lot there's a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of calories and Louis the fourteen
Speaker 1: Konjak or whatever he was buying for thousand dollars a bottle.
Speaker 1: So um yeah. I mean again, like we haven't we
Speaker 1: haven't really touched on the live golf schedule which has
Speaker 1: been released, or the TV deal. It's all it's the
Speaker 1: drama is like, it's we'll see how much if they
Speaker 1: can sustain that, because for that was one of the
Speaker 1: keys to their existence, was just the energy and the
Speaker 1: it was part of the conversation constantly, and it you know,
Speaker 1: Sports Business Journal named it the biggest story in sports,
Speaker 1: like that was not about the competition and the open
Speaker 1: there lingering questions and we're gonna pay attention to the competition,
Speaker 1: but look at the we're already off to this start.
Speaker 1: We got a k we got t Gate, we got
Speaker 1: all this stuff. It's like, oh my god. I mean,
Speaker 1: we have talked about how impressed we all are that
Speaker 1: they are this far. Uh, but they definitely need a
Speaker 1: splash in the signing department. It seems this offseason, you know,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of rumors of top guys, can't
Speaker 1: Lexander all those guys, and they've all kind of sworn
Speaker 1: it off, and it seems like they've been telling the
Speaker 1: truth like they haven't. You know, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: rumors that Meteo Pereira has gone, he's joined the agency,
Speaker 1: that uh, all the lift guys are under now. Daniel
Speaker 1: Report said that, and um, you know, so they need
Speaker 1: a splash and a K would be a splash Meto
Speaker 1: prayer not a splash. Yeah. The only thing about cant
Speaker 1: Le is he always says I'm committed the PGA Tour.
Speaker 1: I love the PGA Tour for now. All those two
Speaker 1: words are always tacked on at the end, so um yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it was interesting talking to people down at Tori, like, um,
Speaker 1: that's the one name that keeps popping up. Xander, I
Speaker 1: think is is definitely Team Tour forever. But Cantle's name
Speaker 1: still gets tossed around. Who knows. But I mean he's
Speaker 1: now on the board of Directors of the PGA Tour,
Speaker 1: like it would that would be. He was in the
Speaker 1: Delaware meeting like it would be a big deal. There's
Speaker 1: still some bitterness that um um Joaki Neiman went because
Speaker 1: he was part of some some very rarefied conversations and
Speaker 1: he was you know, he's a great top young player
Speaker 1: who everyone had a high hopes for a one Tiger's
Speaker 1: event at Rivieria, like and and I'm still detected bitterness
Speaker 1: that he was kind of a double agent because he
Speaker 1: was part of some high level conversations on the tour
Speaker 1: and then he went to Live. So Catley would be
Speaker 1: a much bigger betrayal, I mean in that context because
Speaker 1: he he is one of the keeper of the keys
Speaker 1: for the PGA Tour now. So I don't know that
Speaker 1: that's the problem for Live Golf is they've set this
Speaker 1: benchmark so high, like you've got to have the buzz,
Speaker 1: You've got to always make a splash, you you always
Speaker 1: have to be bringing in some impactful signing. But it
Speaker 1: seems like the bottle lines have been drawn and there's
Speaker 1: just the only players available or kind of fringe. Did
Speaker 1: either of you have a moment where you saw the
Speaker 1: headline calling Mari calling Marikawa and and Adam Scott joined
Speaker 1: new Golf League and he thought, oh, they've joined Live
Speaker 1: and that you know, Tuesday night thing or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: Do you guys have that experience at all? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean a hundred percent. I forget about this Tiger Electronic game.
Speaker 1: I mean, like, what, it's not a new golf league.
Speaker 1: It's what. I don't know what it is, but yes,
Speaker 1: for a moment, I'm like, oh my god, oh well,
Speaker 1: it's it's a money laundering scheme. It's like, how can
Speaker 1: we pay these guys more money to stay loyal to
Speaker 1: the tour? Uh? I mean, I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna
Speaker 1: watch it the first one. I might actually trying to
Speaker 1: attend the first one just for giggles, but maybe it's
Speaker 1: gonna be amazing. I'm trying to keep it open mind,
Speaker 1: but it just does seem like a way to get
Speaker 1: these guys more, you know, unsanctioned money. But I think
Speaker 1: it is good to keep an open mind about it because,
Speaker 1: like I remember, I've probably have told you this story, Allan,
Speaker 1: but I'm probably not. But I happen to be standing
Speaker 1: under the trade Augusta National and Chip Brewer, the CEO
Speaker 1: of Cali, who was talking about some new investment they
Speaker 1: were making in this thing called top golf, and he
Speaker 1: described it very accurately. Was what it turned out to be?
Speaker 1: Like what a waste of money? You know? How wrong
Speaker 1: was that? All? Right? Before we go, we got to
Speaker 1: talk about Maxima winning at Tori because we need to
Speaker 1: feel good story. And you know, Home I started out
Speaker 1: is kind of this fun, cuddly character with lots of jokes,
Speaker 1: and he's into an absolute killer. I mean he's winning
Speaker 1: on big time courses with really stout, precise, thoughtful golf.
Speaker 1: I mean his game is so built for the majors
Speaker 1: as obviously only the next step you went five times
Speaker 1: and twenty five months, like you've proven you you can close,
Speaker 1: and he's closed. Now he's just gotta take it to
Speaker 1: that next level. But um, I don't know if you
Speaker 1: guys caught the tell the essentially the third round telecast
Speaker 1: when he was miked up in the round and he
Speaker 1: was talking to the announcers and he had the thing
Speaker 1: in his ear, and that was a major breakthrough coverage wise.
Speaker 1: I mean he's talking strategy, he's talking the mental game
Speaker 1: in competition, and he's got like four different voices in
Speaker 1: his year because all the announcers are are hitting him up,
Speaker 1: and I mean, shows what a good sport he is.
Speaker 1: Um to take that on, But it was also it
Speaker 1: was great TV and this guy has become such a
Speaker 1: star because he's kind of proven you don't have to
Speaker 1: be an asshole to be a great player. You can
Speaker 1: be genuine and funny and sincere and sweet and also
Speaker 1: a killer. I mean, what a what a combination. This,
Speaker 1: It's it's great stuff. He knows. He's got a really
Speaker 1: nice manner with reporters and with fans, with with his
Speaker 1: fellow players. You know, he's really the full package. He
Speaker 1: looks great, he's got a beautiful swing and um, and
Speaker 1: he doesn't quote just say the right thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: he actually tells you what he's feeling and thinking. I
Speaker 1: think he's been tourific for for the tour and you know,
Speaker 1: going into l A. I mean he's shown that. I
Speaker 1: mean he's grew up in l A. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: he knows the course well, but way beyond that, just
Speaker 1: seems to love the grass in the air on the
Speaker 1: West coast. And uh, he looks like he'll be good
Speaker 1: for for for a long time to come. He's been terrific.
Speaker 1: Did a Monday Qualifier ever figure in his rise? Ryan,
Speaker 1: I'd like, yes, not only that, but I tweeted many
Speaker 1: times and tweeted about it yesterday. Yeah. Two things. One, Uh,
Speaker 1: he was headed back to Q school. He was on
Speaker 1: the corn Ferry Tour, the top seventy five make it
Speaker 1: into the corn Ferry Finals. Max bertie four of the
Speaker 1: last five holes in the last regular season event to
Speaker 1: make the cut and keep his corner or get into
Speaker 1: the corn Ferry Finals by like ninety dollars or something.
Speaker 1: Then went on to get his PGA Tour card. But
Speaker 1: as I always try to give everything back to Monday's,
Speaker 1: he started the next tour season and played like shit.
Speaker 1: I mean I think he had one made cut in
Speaker 1: eight events, and it was like a T sixty was
Speaker 1: at the waste management Monday. Uh, Monday qualified obviously a
Speaker 1: good event even before was an elevated event, and finished
Speaker 1: twenty six. Next week went to Pebble. An underreported story is, uh,
Speaker 1: somebody on the last hole in the final group missed
Speaker 1: a put to knock him from T eleven into two
Speaker 1: T ten to get into next week at Tory played
Speaker 1: well there six weeks later one. So basically what I'm
Speaker 1: saying is every basically almost everyone's career always comes back
Speaker 1: to a Monday qualifier one way or another. Well, and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be painful for you to see what's happened
Speaker 1: to Patrick Reid because his whole career was built on Mondays,
Speaker 1: Like he could have been your Corey Connors. But no, no,
Speaker 1: he's not. I mean, I know it's still sad because
Speaker 1: like he is by far the most you know, famous,
Speaker 1: infamous uh Monday qualifier. I mean he not only Monday
Speaker 1: qualified six times, but did well with him and then
Speaker 1: got in a car that Sunday night or on a
Speaker 1: plane and drove with Justine to the next one and
Speaker 1: she caddied for him, and he'd get through again and
Speaker 1: play well again. They did that four weeks in a
Speaker 1: row once. That's insane. Uh, it's beyond insane. That is,
Speaker 1: it's almost mathematically impossible. Oh well, I'd like to say,
Speaker 1: Michael said, cue Michael's clip about cues Michael clip when
Speaker 1: he said, I'd like to clearly state that Patrick Reed
Speaker 1: is a wonderful man. I would like to say this
Speaker 1: about Patrick Reed if I may. Patrick Reed is the kindest, bravest, warmest,
Speaker 1: most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.
Speaker 1: That was often the Manchurian candidate. Right is that where yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't get it then when you said it,
Speaker 1: But back and listen to the podcasts like god, Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour needed Maxima. Like he was always a
Speaker 1: big figure because of his social media following, but now
Speaker 1: that he's backing up with amazing play and obviously going
Speaker 1: to be one of the favorites at the US Open,
Speaker 1: he plays well in California. Uh, Like, I mean, this
Speaker 1: came at a perfect time. There could not be you know,
Speaker 1: Cam Smith is is super quiet and and seems to
Speaker 1: be a good dude. Um, but like take the other
Speaker 1: top players that live and max it could not be
Speaker 1: more opposite, engaging, funny, uh and a stone cold killer.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, the PGA Tour needed Maxima badly
Speaker 1: and they got it. The dude is killing it and
Speaker 1: at a perfect time for the PGA Tour. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: I tweeted this once and like ten people replied, Oh,
Speaker 1: you just made that up. I was like, I didn't
Speaker 1: make it up. I actually I'll never forget. I saw
Speaker 1: on Twitter. It was as at a tournament and I
Speaker 1: was just checking out and and it was a couple
Speaker 1: a couple of friends on Twitter. We're talking about who
Speaker 1: they were going to watch that day, and um, and
Speaker 1: one of them tweeted his buddies suggested Brooks and he's like,
Speaker 1: I don't like Brooks. He's like, let's go, let's go
Speaker 1: watch Max Holmer or Joel Damon because I like those
Speaker 1: guys that relate to them and I feel like I
Speaker 1: know them. Um, that really did happen. I really did
Speaker 1: read that. I showed screenshot it. But that was like,
Speaker 1: this was years ago. This is the way I think.
Speaker 1: Maybe they had one combined Victory Home and Damon and
Speaker 1: that was a lightbulb thing, like how how much it's changed.
Speaker 1: It was almost like the players were the gods before
Speaker 1: and you watched them with Awe and Tigers. The quintessence
Speaker 1: of that, like he was just he wasn't even really
Speaker 1: he didn't even interact with the fans. He just gave
Speaker 1: you this regal performance and you were privileged to get
Speaker 1: to watch it. You would never know him, he would
Speaker 1: he would never talk to him, he'd never sign autograph,
Speaker 1: he would never say anything of note. Um, but that
Speaker 1: was that was what it was. And now there's been
Speaker 1: such a sea change where um, because you know, these
Speaker 1: guys do podcasts and they do fun this than that,
Speaker 1: and they have their social media presence. The most popular
Speaker 1: players are the relatable ones. And kind of the nice
Speaker 1: guys and the ones who who make their their Twitter
Speaker 1: followers feel special, and um, it's really been like this
Speaker 1: democratizing influence. And of course Home is obviously clearly um
Speaker 1: the king of that and and just surfs on this
Speaker 1: good will. I mean, I was out there at Torrey
Speaker 1: Pines and people absolutely love the guy and they're they're
Speaker 1: they're they're talking to him as he's going down the
Speaker 1: fairway and they're shouting at him, and you know, he
Speaker 1: gives the nad the tip of the cap like there
Speaker 1: really is a connection that. Um. If you know, I
Speaker 1: came up watching Faldo and Sevy and tournaments and Tiger
Speaker 1: and you know, Monty and these guys were they were
Speaker 1: so glad, worrying and so remote and they gave you
Speaker 1: an incredible golf to to enjoy and and to stand
Speaker 1: it off. But you they were these unknowable, untouchable figures.
Speaker 1: And it's so interesting how that's flipped to me. Anyway, Alan,
Speaker 1: you may have picked up on this, but when Max
Speaker 1: Homa was paired with with Tiger the first tear rounds
Speaker 1: of the Open uh this year at at at St. Andrew's,
Speaker 1: to me, he looked just totally distracted, Uh, knowing that
Speaker 1: he might be playing with Tiger Woods at Tiger's Final
Speaker 1: Open on the Old course. Uh, he just you know,
Speaker 1: talk about not being a stone cold killer. I mean
Speaker 1: at that moment, I don't think you for those thirty
Speaker 1: six sols, I don't think he was. He's a fan
Speaker 1: and there's something charming about that. You know, he's almost
Speaker 1: like he didn't try and hide it, you know. And
Speaker 1: back to Max's interview on the course. Uh, for those
Speaker 1: that say we're PGA Tour like he's that's a percent
Speaker 1: because of lift, not that Max is not a good
Speaker 1: dude and wouldn't agree to it, but just in a
Speaker 1: ations in the in the watching product, the PGA Tour
Speaker 1: didn't have any reason to be innovative, like zero, they
Speaker 1: like people watch their stuff. They didn't have any competition.
Speaker 1: The innovations in the broadcast are to live. It's there
Speaker 1: is no if you dispute that you're wrong, like and
Speaker 1: like and and and the players agreeing to it. Not
Speaker 1: that Max is not a good guy and he wouldn't
Speaker 1: agree to it, but he knows. They know that there's competition,
Speaker 1: so they're more open to do stuff like that. Knowing
Speaker 1: that they want to get people to watch their product. Alan,
Speaker 1: did you ever have a moment of what it would
Speaker 1: be like to watch Phil Mickelson in the booth as
Speaker 1: opposed to Trevor Mmelman. Uh? Yeah, I think. I think
Speaker 1: Trevor is good. I like him, but you know, he
Speaker 1: doesn't have Phil's needle, and he's not a star in
Speaker 1: the way that that Phil is. And Um, I mean,
Speaker 1: clearly it's a miss. I'll be curious if how much
Speaker 1: will get filled into the booth like they they'd be crazy,
Speaker 1: not too. I mean the problem is, you know, Um,
Speaker 1: at a regular tournament, you can play in the morning
Speaker 1: and you can go in the booth in the afternoon,
Speaker 1: like players have done that through the years, and now
Speaker 1: with a shotgun, he fills playing whenever everyone else is playing.
Speaker 1: Like I think, hopefully he'll come down with a mysterious
Speaker 1: wrist injury or something and he can just sit there
Speaker 1: up with Charity and shoot the scenery and it would
Speaker 1: be epic and it would help them a lot. It
Speaker 1: would happen during the San Diego event. Bones appears and
Speaker 1: ads and filled is not. I know, it's San Diego
Speaker 1: all places, I mean, it's wild. It's these are These
Speaker 1: are strange and and interesting times. Um, but at least
Speaker 1: we got you know, the fall into the winter early
Speaker 1: parts of the winter. Now not things are going gangbusters.
Speaker 1: I mean Tori Dubai is a great double header as
Speaker 1: far as two big time tournaments and and of course
Speaker 1: next week Pebble beats Home game. For me, I know
Speaker 1: people have feelings about the format and then there's not
Speaker 1: a lot of stars, but just to watch those golf
Speaker 1: courses on TV is so special and um and by
Speaker 1: the way, Episode two of The Grind is going to
Speaker 1: drop next week on Tuesday, and it's all set at
Speaker 1: the at the Crosby clam Bake where one Ryan French
Speaker 1: is catting for Mark Baldwin. And I watched episode a
Speaker 1: bunch of times. Now it is a plus plus. It
Speaker 1: is so well done and if you want to know
Speaker 1: what it feels like to be inside the ropes at
Speaker 1: a tour event, and for a guy whose entire life
Speaker 1: can change with a few swings like this episode brings
Speaker 1: it home with such immediacy and it is it's a
Speaker 1: great it's a great watch. So I know a lot
Speaker 1: of these listeners probably watched episode one and we're into
Speaker 1: it and I can just tell you Episode two is
Speaker 1: it takes a whole different level, and then the third
Speaker 1: episode is is a completely different feeling. It's about Page Crawford,
Speaker 1: who travels the the Mini tours in a van with
Speaker 1: her girlfriend and they're like, do you remind me of
Speaker 1: les sort some of these women I know in Big Sir,
Speaker 1: Like they've got their their free spirits and they're they're
Speaker 1: rock climbing and they're hiking in the hills, and there's
Speaker 1: just a sort of ethol quality about about Page is
Speaker 1: so winning. And if you watch that and you don't
Speaker 1: wind up rooting for her, then um, you might be
Speaker 1: patrick reed. But it's it's um the grind. We're really
Speaker 1: proud of it, and it's just gonna keep coming. So
Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the fire Pit YouTube channel and
Speaker 1: they'll just be delivered to you. You can find it
Speaker 1: on fire pit collected dot com. That'll be on on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: um the thirty one to January, so look forward to that.
Speaker 1: And Ryan has I mean Ryan is honously the star
Speaker 1: of that episode. It's so fun and um, first of all,
Speaker 1: the episode is amazing. Obviously I'm biased, but it is
Speaker 1: great insight into the pressure and the joy and the
Speaker 1: the ups and downs of being a golfer on the
Speaker 1: fringe of of this life, being good enough to play, uh,
Speaker 1: to be out there and not be out there, and
Speaker 1: the the amazing highs Saturday afternoon and amazing lows Sunday
Speaker 1: afternoon for us, and uh, it's just great insight. But also, uh,
Speaker 1: I do gain forty pounds within the episode. The first
Speaker 1: interviews are when I was at my best. Wait, and
Speaker 1: the second part of the interviews we needed to go
Speaker 1: back and reshoot a couple of interviews or at the Baracuta.
Speaker 1: And I've gained thirty pounds, so please just like, let's
Speaker 1: not talk about it, okay, I'll just I'm just getting
Speaker 1: it out in the open. I was skinny and in
Speaker 1: shape at the Baracuta. In fact, there's a line, uh
Speaker 1: the second hole, Michael and and Allen will have to
Speaker 1: help me. Second roll it. Monterrey is like, what's the
Speaker 1: part three? Down the hill? That's amazing the second my
Speaker 1: Prince of country Club four. Well, the third hole is
Speaker 1: a downhill. Part three? Yes, so three, So you have
Speaker 1: to walk up to this big hole, to this big
Speaker 1: t that's way up the hole, way up the hill
Speaker 1: and I say to Mark, and it's in the cliffs, Like,
Speaker 1: thank god, I'm in shape. I would have fucking died
Speaker 1: on this hill and now I'm fat again. So hey,
Speaker 1: I just want to is it out there? Okay, let's
Speaker 1: just not bring it up. I brought it up. Let's
Speaker 1: please watch the video. You keeping enough? Does the does?
Speaker 1: The episode? One is great? I haven't watched two yet.
Speaker 1: Is there a nod in two to Steve Young's t
Speaker 1: shot on twelve that Mark Baldwin described for me today?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, so is it in there? No, it's
Speaker 1: not particular shot, but you get a great feel for
Speaker 1: Steve Young. Mark, Steve Young double hit a full shot.
Speaker 1: I have never in my life. It's impossible. It is
Speaker 1: literally impossible. He hit it here and here and it
Speaker 1: went back and over his shoulder over there. It's you,
Speaker 1: like you try it as much as you want to
Speaker 1: pop it up, like he got kind of chunked it.
Speaker 1: But it's a full shot and he has like he's
Speaker 1: obviously in great shape and very athletic. He's not a
Speaker 1: good golfer, but like he's very athletic, and he has
Speaker 1: a fast swing. I don't know how you do it.
Speaker 1: Like it's not like if it was a very slow
Speaker 1: old swing like okay, I could see it. He took
Speaker 1: a full swing and hit the double hit. Was not
Speaker 1: like you know, all double hits are here here right,
Speaker 1: This was like here and here he hit it back
Speaker 1: over his shoulder. It was a great insight into like
Speaker 1: it just lightened us up. We started laughing so hard
Speaker 1: and and and on that whole Uh. Mark said, you know,
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of things in my pro career.
Speaker 1: I've never seen a full shot double hit. That's so great.
Speaker 1: I love it. That's in the director's cut that will
Speaker 1: be released to a later date. Anyway, all right, well, fellas,
Speaker 1: it's always fun. Um. We'll dedicate this episode to the
Speaker 1: memory of of Howard friend. Um. It was. It was
Speaker 1: meaningful to hear hear all that um really rich and
Speaker 1: um and thoughtful commentary from both you guys. That I
Speaker 1: had a little tear in my eye. So that uh.
Speaker 1: But as always there's a little bit of lovity here
Speaker 1: on the Fire Drill, and there's various diversions and so
Speaker 1: this was a fun one for um for Michael Bamberger
Speaker 1: and Ryan French. I'm Alan Schipnik. This is Fire Drill Podcast.
Speaker 1: We'll do it again next week. Thanks for as always
Speaker 1: for listening, and go watch the grind. I promise you're
Speaker 1: gonna enjoy it. That's the end. A bed big and
Speaker 1: I played to win, made a fortune, win my ship game,
Speaker 1: and I ran the table. Never thought I could fall.
Speaker 1: Then the winter time hit me like a cannon ball,
Speaker 1: and now I can't shake this, losing the stream. Every
Speaker 1: road I take is a dead hand stream. I got
Speaker 1: thoughts in my head, can't get joy, and not to
Speaker 1: think what I'm thinking about in my head. I can't
Speaker 1: get him out, and not to think what I'm thinking about.
Speaker 1: Told