WEBVTT - Fire Drill 20: Final Thoughts on the First LIV Event 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:06.760 The dream is what the whole thing's about. That's why 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:10.319 we're drawn to it. Almost every sport, a kid has 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.520 a dream to get in the bigs, and we're gonna 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:15.640 follow this path there and then somebody is gonna get 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:18.200 there and hoisted the trophy. Long term, I don't really 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:21.240 see people gravitating to this live tour because it doesn't 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:26.000 have that underlying competitive spirit that I think we love. Actually, 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:38.880 put another log on the fire nobody hears get the time. 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.640 Welcome back to the fire Pit Collective for yet another 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:52.000 Fire Drill podcast. I'm Machine Ellen. I'm joined by Alan 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:56.760 Schipnuk in London who's just covered the first inaugural live event, 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:02.680 Michael Bamberger, Ryan French of Monday q Info Mac Barnhart 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:08.200 has joined us and guys excited to you know, break 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.399 this all down. Before we get going, I want to 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.120 thank some of our sponsors who helped make all of 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:17.520 this possible. Part Points Brandon Ebert and Kevin Quinley obviously 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:21.600 have created the revolutionary app and an alternative to how 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.880 we score the game of golf. Can't thank them enough 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.720 for their support. I suggest downloading the Part Points app today. 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:32.560 Go make par It's a lot of fun, especially for families, beginners, 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.800 and Buddy's trips. We are looking for an alternative way 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:41.759 of scoring a format. Dormy Workshop have helped us put 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.839 our logo on some incredible new merchandise that we're dropping 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.440 next week US Open Week that we're very excited about 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.640 and we're pretty sure that you will be too. And 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.440 then bag Boy, who makes the what I believe to 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.280 be the best push cart out there in the business, 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.040 and I don't think they have any competition. I can't 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.440 thank all of them enough for their support of what 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.440 we're doing here and what we're doing here today is 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.399 is most notably checking in with Alan as this live 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.560 event is in the books, Alan and looking forward to 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.400 hearing your your sort of wrap up thoughts. Yeah, well, 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.239 I wrote this in my story that's going to post 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.440 very soon on fire but Collected dot com. It's like 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:32.680 this is the age of cognitive dissonance, right like this, 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.120 this whole experience being here on the ground stirred up 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.440 a lot of competing emotions. Like on one hand, it's 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.639 impressive what what live is built in a very short 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:42.640 amount of time. I mean, it's a very well run 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.920 tournament and all the trappings were really well done. Um. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.880 But then you know, his excellency so and so gets 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.679 on the mic at the presentation and it's just get 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.399 a little chill like, oh, yeah, these are the guys 0:02:55.520 --> 0:03:00.200 you know, and um, so you can't divorce yourself from 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.320 where the money came from. Um. But then there there's 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.360 some you know, some interesting stories like you know, Peter 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:09.520 you line finishes fourth, makes over a million dollars. That's 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:12.440 seven times what he's made on the PGA Tour this 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:14.600 year in fifteen starts. And he's a guy who spent 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.519 a decade trying to really find a home, Like maybe 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.320 he's finally found one. Maybe he can be the player 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:21.680 we thought he was going to be. Strangely, you know, 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:23.720 Live will be a place where he can he can 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.400 work it out and then transfer into the majors. But then, 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.480 even as the competition is going on and and you know, 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:31.959 Charles Schwartzel's getting his first win in six years, that 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:36.160 gets overshadowed by the news break that Patrick Read and 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.240 Pat Perez have now joined Live. Follows the announcement yesterday 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.840 that Bryson's officially coming aboard, there's rumors all over Twitter 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.160 that Coke Rack and Harold Varner the next, and so 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:50.440 that it just keeps growing and evolving, and you know, 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:55.840 Live is now accumulated this this critical mass of legit players. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:57.720 You know, you got Hall of famers and Phil and 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:00.640 Dustin will be one day you half a dozen major 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:04.600 championshipinners like Schwartzel. We've got some big personalities like Poulter, 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:10.160 uh and Perez and others. But getting these these the 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.480 coke Racks of the world is significant because they're gonna 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.080 elbow out of the fields and these guys never heard of, 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.919 which kind of hurt the credibility of the tournament. And 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.160 they also they have pretty legit spots in the world ranking, 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.280 and this is that's one of the biggest istues that 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:26.200 now faces LIVE is can they be granted world ranking 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.320 points so that will allow their players to keep competing 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.240 in the majors. And if that happens, the PGA Tour 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:35.599 has no leverage over these guys. I mean, so the 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:37.880 more players they get, the harder they are to ignore. 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.720 And they're clearly gonna keep getting more players. So it 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:46.520 was a momentous week for professional golf, and um it 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.080 was also kind of a complicated viewing experience with those 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:54.719 us were here, Michael Bamberger, your thoughts, well, I, you know, 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.680 Alan was there. Were so fortunate to have had Alan 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.440 there and to have his insights. Alan's covered a lot 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:07.560 of tournament golf over you know, a quarter century or more. Um, 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:09.919 we know what it's like to be Sunday in this case, 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.760 not Sunday, but the last round of a tournament. Did 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.160 we get wrapped up in the shot making like all 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.560 the other stories go aside and we you know, we 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:20.880 care about how the thing's gonna play out. Did you 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.320 feel that on any emotional level today where you actually 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:28.760 cared about the tournament itself. Yeah, Because I've always been 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.039 a Schwartzel fan. You know, when he won the Masters 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.800 in two thousand eleven, that's one of the greatest Sundays 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.760 ever at a guy National. And a year later I 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:40.080 did this this this recreation, this forensic recreation of that 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.240 whole day. So I've always cared about him on more 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:45.000 than most and he's just been lost in the wilderness 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.800 with injuries and putting problems, and so he was trying 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:50.440 to win for the first time anywhere in the world 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:52.880 in six years, and he had a he had a 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.359 five shot lead at the turn, and then he started 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.960 making really bad swings and the lead got down to 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.479 two and he was really struggling, and for little bit 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.600 it was compelling to watch, like this is a proud champion, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.840 a guy who's trying to restart his career and throw 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.280 out the money and all that. Like this is the 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:10.800 guy who did not want to cough up a five 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:12.840 shot lead on the back nine. It would have been devastating. 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.680 And he was playing with this kid from South Africa 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.120 who you know, heny new classes who uh they were 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:21.680 they were the same group, and so there was that 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.240 energy and so yeah, it actually felt like a golf 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:25.920 toment for a while. And you know, Schwartz got it 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.240 in the barn and that um, he's he's a great, 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:29.880 you know, champion for them and the guys won of 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:32.640 Masters and he's played all around the world and he's 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.719 very classy, well spoken individuals. So um, for most of 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:40.240 the week, all the off the course stuff completely dominated 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.320 the actual golf. It has been like sideshow after sideshow, 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.320 but there was about an hour and a half where 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.360 there was some compelling golf to watch. Speaking of sideshows, 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:52.120 we probably shouldn't go any further without sort of addressing 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:57.560 the idea that after you got removed from Phil's press conference, 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.520 you know, you went back, you wrote your game shot, 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.840 you went back the next day. You obviously had been credentialed. 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.920 Was there any other sort of follow up or were 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.320 you escorted out? Did you ever get a chance to 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.040 ask phill a question what you know? Did you ever 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.000 have a chance to go face to face with Greg Norman? 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.560 What's kind of the wrap up to all you know 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.960 to that side show? Yeah, no, it was disappointing. When 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.000 I was walking in the next day, Norman was sort 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.800 of coming at me with his press person and somebody 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.400 else and his his PR Wooman says, Hi Allen. I 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.960 was like, Hi, Jane high Greg. But Norman didn't even 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.600 look He's just like stared straight ahead like and I mean, 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.120 I would have loved to have wrapped it out with 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.040 him like what happened? And but you know that was 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.760 really he's And then so then yeah, I went I 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.040 just did my job and I had no hassles. But 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.480 the challenge for reporters of covering this tournament is all 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:54.720 forty eight players finished at the same time, and they're 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.480 coming in from every direction and getting disgorged out these 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.800 calves in different places, and um to try and manage 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.239 that chaos, they really want all the interviews to happen 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:07.400 in this confined like flash area. Um, you know, I'm 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:09.480 not one to totally always follow the rules. So I 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.080 was looking for Phil just because I want to be like, dude, 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.560 can we have like one quick moment like human human 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.160 like can be piste off? I don't care, but like, 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:19.520 why don't just get it out of the way at 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.880 some point we have to have some interaction. But I 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:23.920 never saw him. I don't know where they dropped them off, 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:25.520 but it wasn't kind of the spot with a lot 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.040 of other players and the same thing today. I mean 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.080 it was, Um, I went out watch him play a 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.520 couple of holes. You know, they didn't give me inside 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.439 the ropes Landard like every other reporter had, Like I 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:37.679 think that was one one that was one little subtle 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.600 way They're trying to keep me away from Phil. So whatever. 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:43.839 So it didn't happen on the golf course, and they 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.280 never brought him in again, And they didn't bring Norman 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.160 in for a press conference, which was crazy because like 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:51.120 this was his victory lap. I mean he did it 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.040 for all the missteps whatever, like they launched this thing 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.439 and by any real metric it was a success. He 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.640 would the Greg Norman was dying to come in and 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:01.520 beat his chest, you know that. But I guess people 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:03.040 have just said, like Greg, we gotta put you in 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.559 the cooler here. So so no, no Norman, no Michelson. 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:08.440 It's kind of the whole thing pizzled out. Was actually 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.080 fine us happy to just have things be mellow. But 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.200 so now, of course I'm gonna go at Feels press 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.520 conference on Monday in Brookline and I want to ask 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.320 them a question. I want to ask him for a while, Like, 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.080 you know, if they just let me do it in 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.280 London when nobody was around and nobody really cared, it 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:23.920 would have taken all the starch out of it. But 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.000 now it's gonna be like this whole fucking thing again. 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:30.920 So uh so, yeah, there's there's no real resolution, but whatever, 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:35.200 Mac Barnhart, you you are, along with Michael Sims and 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:38.520 Colton Ller, will be continue with the podcast we're gonna 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.800 call the Real Game and uh and it's for the 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:46.360 perspective of of a player manager, a guy who has 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.760 been in the trenches from a business side of all 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:55.280 of this, working with players to advance their business. I 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.600 think your perspective has been critical and I'm looking forward 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:02.360 to hearing it today as well. What are your thoughts? Uh, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.400 you know, we talked about a lot about this. I mean, 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:09.840 as Michael said, the toughest thing is getting past you know, 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:14.200 the money, where the money comes from, and and that's 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.800 you know that takes it gives us a lot of palls. Um. 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:21.319 You know, but I don't know. You know, this sounds 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.560 like I'm gonna justify, but I don't know how deep 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:25.360 we can go about money. I mean, I know that 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.800 Alan Stamford had money with the tour for a long 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.080 time and it was a it was a total sham. 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.040 I mean he was staling money, and UM, if we 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.160 can you know, I just have to get past that, Okay, 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:37.640 I just I can't do anything about where the money 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.480 came from. Um, the opportunity. You know, I had a client, 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.120 Andy Ogletree play didn't play great, hadn't played in a 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:47.120 few months, which is kind of the point. He got 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:51.199 suspended from the PGA tour. He got a letter m 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.679 Thursday after he played saying he's suspended and funny thing 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.040 is he hasn't played in a corn ferry event this year, 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.240 and so he's been he hadn't had enough competition. And 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:05.440 what made it more remarkable is this week the corn 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:10.720 Ferry event in Green Bull didn't have a money qualifier, 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.880 so Andy had no way of getting in the outside 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.200 of a sponsor exemption to play. So he had nowhere 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.640 to play. Um. He played the week before in an 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.200 International Series event which is owned by the Asian Tour, 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.640 and the tour released him to play in that same money, 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:31.079 same people. So that's the kind of crazy thing. Um. 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.960 But from from players standpoint, you know, I got. I 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.440 had a player on tour that he did not accept. 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.400 He did not accept an offer to play, and he 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.560 texts me says, so all those guys in front of 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.480 me just got So I just moved up seven spots 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:51.920 on the FedEx list. So every shot makes somebody happy. Um. 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:54.880 So you know, anytime there's an opportunity for a golfer 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.680 to play no one. You know, the tour has always 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.000 been to place. I've said it long before. They've done 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.720 a great job, great product. Um. I don't have any 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.640 problem up top. My problem still goes to have they 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.440 created enough opportunities for people to come along. There's a 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.600 lot more competitive golfers than there worked thirty years ago 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.800 when they had the Hogan Tour when it first came out. Um, Andy, 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:22.240 you know Andy didn't play well. Um, super super rusty 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.640 as he said. Um. But you know, I look at 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:29.200 it from the standpoint of I hate that, you know, 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.000 I keep asking the question if this is Warren Buffett's money, 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.440 where Jeff Bezos money, what would the question be. It's 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.440 a it's a new format. I don't know if you know, 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.320 I watched it on YouTube. Um, there's a lot of 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:45.480 shots hit. Obviously there's no sponsors, so there's no commercials. Um, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.480 it's different, but so is you know everything that I 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.959 see in the business. Um. But it's it's to me, 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.200 it's a positive thing to have more opportunities for golfers 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.080 to play outside of the outside of the you know, 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.480 the social aspect that where the money comes from. So 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.080 these guys who have now crossed the proverbial ruby kon, like, 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:07.280 what do they do now? So in Nanny's case, he 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:09.800 can't play Latino America, you can't play corn Ferry, you 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:14.480 can't play Canada. So is Asia now the spot because 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.800 they have this alliance with the Saudis. Like, is the 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.440 balance of power and lower level golf going to shift 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:21.320 towards Asia because that's where the O I think so 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:23.800 yeah that I think I told you that. I hadn't never, 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.720 never had a conversation about the Live Golf with Andy 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:29.920 at the beginning. It was all about the International series 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.960 they have. Um, I think they're going to have eleven 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:35.280 events or thirteen events. I was looking for a place 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.960 for Andy to play, Um, he couldn't get his number, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.520 would just not get in a corn ferry then, UM, 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:43.760 so yeah, I think that's exactly what it's gonna do. Um, 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.840 there's gonna be you know, I think the International Series 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.080 is going to be between four and seven million dollar 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:53.559 purses next year. Um. And if you call that's huge 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.720 for developmental circuits, I would I would call that. I 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.840 don't know what I'd call that triple A because you know, 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.560 the International Series will be triple A compared to Live. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:07.080 The Asian Tour will be you know, double A below that. 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:09.640 And I don't know if there's gonna be events under that, 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:13.160 but that would be you know, it's always been my premise. 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:14.520 I don't know if you just saw the tour just 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.120 came out and and it's sixty dollars now to sign 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:24.440 up for Q School. Um, there's three stages. Um, you 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.680 know you gotta travel caddies do all that. And if 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:28.680 you do get on, you can't even get to the tour. 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:30.760 You'd still go to the corner for your tour, which 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.560 is a great developmental tour. But the purses are not 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.840 really enough for somebody to make a living. Um, And 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.040 I don't let me uh mac, I'm gonna jump in 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:44.280 here because I got a message just a little bit 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.720 ago from a source on on tour who talked to 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:51.200 a tour official. And here's the reasons that he said 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:56.640 that the price went up playing for a million next year, 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.920 their prices, their persons are going from seven to a million, 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:04.800 the increase in uh O w g R status, World 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:09.160 ranking points. And the last one made me laugh hysterically. 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:15.800 In said adding eight new sites on at Q School, Like, great, 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.120 you're adding new sites where I can pay my saxty. 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:20.440 Do you think that's some sort of perk to me 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.960 as a player, Like what, I don't. It's it's unreal. 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.640 It really is unreal? Is it unreal? Ryan? Or is 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:30.760 it obnoxious greed? I mean it is, it's obnoxious greed 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.560 like and and I mean this is a whole separate 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.640 thing and we're gonna get off in a tangent. But um, 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.680 you know again, they say it's to eliminate dreamers. That's 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.600 not true because they have a prequalifying stage. It's the 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.160 cheapest part of the stage. That's literally what the pre 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.920 qualifying was made for. Ryan who who's using their praise, Uh, 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.320 get rid of the dreamers, eliminate the dreamers. Well that's 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.320 why they claim they have to have a price, because 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.000 the high price because they don't want people, you know, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.800 they don't want me teeing it up at at Q School, right, 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.480 But it's such a minor part like in the like 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:05.440 if you go look at Q school scores, there might 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.000 be ten or twelve people who shoot like ninety at 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.720 pre Q. But that's why the pre Q stage was 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:15.600 literally invented to weed these people out. Right, And anyway, 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.760 it's just it's there's no like we have all said 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.320 a million times, there's nowheres here like we can all 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:26.440 bitch about to live rightfully, so but to make money, 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.360 and trust me, they make so if you want to 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:33.520 play uh mcnos Andy is it would have been in 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.160 this boat. If you want to play corn Frey Q 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.440 School and missed there, then play Latin American Q School 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:39.960 and you missed there, and you want to play Canadian 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.360 Q School. There has twelve thousand dollars in entry fees. 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.520 Twelve thousand dollars in entry fees to play three Q schools. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.000 It's insane. The dream is what the whole thing's about. 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.560 Uh That's why we're drawn to it. Almost every sport, 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.360 a kid has a dream to get in the bigs 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.520 and we're gonna follow this path there and then some 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.640 days going to get there and hoisted the trophy. And 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:06.520 the biggest single difference between the PGA Tour and this 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.679 live series is you earn your way onto the PGA 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.199 Tour by shooting scores. You kind of do in the 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:13.639 live but at the end of the day, it's an 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.520 invitational And to me, that's a huge difference. And for 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.400 that fundamental reason, even though no one would ever articulate 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.920 it that way, long term, I don't really see people 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.919 gravitating to this live tour because it doesn't have that 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:32.439 underlying competitive spirit that I think we love. Actually, yeah, 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.080 I agree with that, Michael. Um, I mean it was 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.240 funny at the at the if you watch some of 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:39.639 them to find around on the streaming and they're just 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.720 talking about the money constantly, how much this puck could 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:43.880 be worth. That's all they can fall back on. There's 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.760 no history. But then they have this this splashy trophy 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:51.240 presentation and the announcer she's like, okay, finishing third place, 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.440 you know, for two million dollars, and the crowd around 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.080 me he's like it aspires a little motion, but like 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.000 not not much. It's it's we don't get a piece 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:03.040 of that. So um, but Mac, I want to go 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.120 back to the point is we're just trying to educate 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.360 and even for myself to understand the changing landscape. So 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:11.160 there's been some talk about these live guys now trying 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.399 to join the European PGA Tour, which would give them 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:17.040 many playing options. Um, if they want to supplement the 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.919 live schedule now, it would make sense for the Eupean Tour. 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.159 They'd get all these great players. If they could co 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.400 sanction a few of these sound, these live events, then 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:27.359 that would be a lot of money flowing to the 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.920 European Tour members. Um. But the European Tour entered in 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:35.400 the strategic alliance with the PGA Tour. So what where 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:37.719 does the European Tour f into this now? And will 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:39.639 they try and back away from the PGA Tour and 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.080 get in bed with with Live, Like, what is your 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.560 thought on where the European to the European Tour can 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:49.440 survive this? Um? I don't know, because again, if they 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:51.080 I mean, I guess there's in your I don't think 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:52.480 they've had a Q school in Europe for a couple 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.800 of years because of COVID. I imagine when they release 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:00.600 how to get onto the Asian Tour um and knowing 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.040 that there's international series events, I don't know, I don't 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:04.440 know how many. I don't know what the person on 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:07.400 European Tour events, but they're not it's not huge, but 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.960 they're going to have the second largest real tour that 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.760 has world ranking points. Last week you had what five 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:18.080 or six guys that finished that qualified into the Lives, 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:22.000 So there was an upward motivation, right. UM, I don't know. 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:24.360 I don't know how the European Tour will survive if 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:26.639 they don't. I mean, that's my point. I don't know 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.680 enough about it to say it, but um, and and 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.160 guys like Graham mcdoal who would always support the Eropean 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:38.600 Tour and Poulter Lee Westwood, you know that there. Interestingly, 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.440 the European Tour has not said that their members are 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.440 banished like the PGA Tour dead. They're kind of sitting 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.240 on the sidelines trying to figure this out. And so um, 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:47.760 you know, Martin Kimer is talking about he wants to 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.880 go play you know, the BMW or the German Open 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:53.479 whatever I can't remember, if it supports whoever the sponsors. 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:55.119 He wants to back to Germany to play. He's not 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:56.720 sure if he's going to be able to. Well, it 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:00.080 doesn't serve the European Tour to banish these guys, just 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:01.879 like it doesn't serve the PGA Tour by the European 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.240 Tour needed stars even more because there's fewer of them. 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.840 So um, where where the eurotur goes becomes? That's the 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:11.280 next domino in all of this. And everyone's holding their 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.520 breath because they have not made any pronouncements like the 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:20.200 PGA Tour did, so the rumblings continue, and um, it's 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:24.360 just it's such a uh you know what's what's kind 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.199 of happened though, And going back to like getting in 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.440 getting into the tour to become a star. How much 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.480 money it takes. I mean, it's an amazing amount of money, right, 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.040 And there's a lot of people that run out of money. 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:37.680 And if they don't run out of money, they've got 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.159 the pressure of money while they're trying to develop. In 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.000 other words, we'll go to baseball. Kid comes out of college, 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:46.080 he's signed by the Braves, but he's not good enough 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:47.720 to be in the majors. They put him in single A. 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.720 They don't pay much, but they cover all his expenses, 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:52.920 They cover all his training, They cover all the things 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.480 that he needs to do to bring his skill level 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.119 up to be in the majors. One day, you know, 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.800 you start leaving people out. You know, they're starting people 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:03.800