Speaker 1: From the King of Sports Books. Who comes the Key
Speaker 1: Sports Podcasts presented by bet MGM. You're your host, Speedy
Speaker 1: Mormon and Olivia Harmon Decker. Yo, welcome back to Unleashed
Speaker 1: from the King of Sports Books bet MGM. I'm Speedy
Speaker 1: Mormon and as always, joined by Olivia Harland Decker, and
Speaker 1: today our show is all about the Masters. We've got
Speaker 1: two guests who are gonna talk golf and golf movies
Speaker 1: with us. From the Golf Channel, we got Damon Hack
Speaker 1: and from the Action Network it's Jason Sobel Peter and you.
Speaker 1: Our guy from bet MGM is going to talk about
Speaker 1: betting on golf, his picks for the Masters, and we'll
Speaker 1: see how he's doing with his bets from last week.
Speaker 1: And Olivia is going to educate us on some of
Speaker 1: the finer points of the biggest event in golf. But Olivia,
Speaker 1: before all of that, we got to talk about the
Speaker 1: n C Double A Tournament and what a year it
Speaker 1: was and what an upset for you at least because
Speaker 1: your undefeated Gonzaga Zags did not win at all. I know, man,
Speaker 1: I really thought I was so disappointed with my bracket,
Speaker 1: but I kept thinking, whatever I've got the national champion
Speaker 1: and that's huge, but everyone had Gonzaga winning. Very few
Speaker 1: people picked Baylor. But what I love is as many
Speaker 1: upsets that occurred in this March Madness, the most ever
Speaker 1: in history. So it was an incredible march. But that
Speaker 1: to one Seeds battle it out for the national championship Gonzaga,
Speaker 1: I want to say it was a four and a
Speaker 1: half point favorite. So for Baylor to pull that off
Speaker 1: and deliver them their first loss was absolutely incredible. Congratulations
Speaker 1: to the Bears and coach Scott Drew. That was great,
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, And also congratulations to Gonzaga. Nothing to
Speaker 1: be shamed of, right, an undefeated season and the only
Speaker 1: game you lose is in the championship. What a season
Speaker 1: it was. And overall, like you said, what an amazing
Speaker 1: March it's been. But now it's time to talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about golf because the Masters are here. I
Speaker 1: love Master's Week. It's it's really special. I went to
Speaker 1: school down in University of Georgia and I had so
Speaker 1: many friends from Augusta and that's kind of when I
Speaker 1: started getting on the train. And for one year my
Speaker 1: freshman year, my best friend from Augusta, she says, for
Speaker 1: your birthday, because my birthday is always Master's week. That
Speaker 1: was not a shameless plug to try to get you
Speaker 1: to tell me happy birthday. But if you want to,
Speaker 1: you can Happy birthday. Okay. But my friend says, for
Speaker 1: your birthday, I want to take you to the Masters.
Speaker 1: And I go, oh, my gosh, that's the nicest thing ever.
Speaker 1: We get down to Augusta, I got a new dress.
Speaker 1: I read all the rules, which there are a lot
Speaker 1: of rules I'll get to in a minute. And we
Speaker 1: get there and she says, no, no, my buddy is
Speaker 1: gonna get us a ticket. Okay, Well, the buddy doesn't call.
Speaker 1: The buddy doesn't call. We're waiting a round. We're going
Speaker 1: all the Master's parties and nothing not going. We ended
Speaker 1: up watching on TV. So the Masters broke my heart
Speaker 1: and I still have never been. I'm dying to go. Well, Olivia,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a city boy, born and bread, and
Speaker 1: I don't get a chance, or never really got the
Speaker 1: chance to hit the green as much as you did.
Speaker 1: I'm sure how big of a golfer are you? Indeed,
Speaker 1: come from a big golfing family. You know you've been
Speaker 1: golfing all your life. Or how extensive of a golfer
Speaker 1: are you. Oh yeah, I I grew up taking lessons,
Speaker 1: but I have fallen back in love with it as
Speaker 1: an adult now. And my husband is from this area Sheboygan, Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: which is right near Cohler, Wisconsin, which is home to
Speaker 1: Whistling Straits, one of the most famous golf courses in
Speaker 1: the world. So I told him for a three year
Speaker 1: anniversary this summer, we are booking that course because it's
Speaker 1: really really hard to get in. Um so that's gonna
Speaker 1: be our little anniversary. But it's our favorite date just
Speaker 1: to go golf, and we're so spoiled living in one
Speaker 1: of the best golfing areas in the country. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's really fun to fall back in love with
Speaker 1: it now as an adult. It seems like it might
Speaker 1: be even funner to say the word Sheboygan. That sounds amazing,
Speaker 1: Like it's a really fun word to say. But you know,
Speaker 1: you're talking about ideal dates. The only date that I've
Speaker 1: ever been on similar was Coney Island when I got
Speaker 1: to hit the mini golf course, which is, you know,
Speaker 1: slightly different, but I must say I did hold my
Speaker 1: own on said date. You know what I'm saying I won,
Speaker 1: so I feel confident about that. But how excited are
Speaker 1: you in general for the Masters? Oh? Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 1: It's the first major of one. It was the last
Speaker 1: major of you know, they did it weird this year
Speaker 1: in November, so it's so exciting. The whole golf community
Speaker 1: is so excited. But you know, the Masters is so unique,
Speaker 1: it's so special. And going to school and University of Georgia,
Speaker 1: I knew a lot of kids from Augusta and that's
Speaker 1: kind of when I got more familiar with it and speedy.
Speaker 1: I've learned a lot about it. It's kind of goofy
Speaker 1: and you know, like you said, you're not into golf,
Speaker 1: You're you don't play much. I I've got to tell
Speaker 1: you some of these facts because I think your mind
Speaker 1: will be blown. So let me just start here. First
Speaker 1: of all, Augusta National, right, It's so pristine, it is
Speaker 1: so beautiful. It's one of the most famous places you
Speaker 1: can even see on TV. But I've got to tell
Speaker 1: you the lakes, the lakes that you're gonna see this
Speaker 1: Thursday when the Master starts. You've got to know this
Speaker 1: Golf Digest tested the water back in the nineties and
Speaker 1: found that they actually put food die in the real
Speaker 1: that's how they get the color so beautiful. Yes. And
Speaker 1: then the sand it's not sand in the bunkers, it's
Speaker 1: really mining waste from illuminate in mind, so it's it's not,
Speaker 1: you know, like any other course in the world. It's
Speaker 1: absolutely crazy. And then they have these tall gates around
Speaker 1: the whole property. And the reason is because there are
Speaker 1: no animals, Like members say they've never seen a squirrel
Speaker 1: on the property on the premises, not even a squirrel,
Speaker 1: not even a squirrel. It's absolutely incredible. And then there's
Speaker 1: a rumor speedy that there are not even birds and
Speaker 1: that if you hear birds chirping on the CBS broadcast
Speaker 1: that that's brought in. Wow, I feel like I've been
Speaker 1: living a lie, like the from the food died to
Speaker 1: the mining ways to the bird sounds like this is
Speaker 1: I feel lied to. And now I don't know how
Speaker 1: much I can trust anything that I watch on TV
Speaker 1: when it comes to golf. But is there an event
Speaker 1: or maybe a part of the Master's that just sticks
Speaker 1: out to you as the most exciting part? Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think the pageantry of it all is so amazing.
Speaker 1: And like, what I didn't know either, is that when
Speaker 1: you win your green jacket, you've got one year to
Speaker 1: return it. I didn't know that. So you have to
Speaker 1: return it one year and you can only wear it
Speaker 1: then at the Masters. Really, so that's really special. I
Speaker 1: met Bubba Watson one time and I was thinking he
Speaker 1: was wearing his green jacket, and I was like, well,
Speaker 1: how do you do that? But it was within his
Speaker 1: one year, so you've got one year. It's like, you know,
Speaker 1: when you win the Stanley Cup, you get to go
Speaker 1: like paraded around, but ultimately it's got to go back.
Speaker 1: But yeah, and if you win multiple Masters, you don't
Speaker 1: get multiple jackets. You still have the one green jacket
Speaker 1: unless unless your size changes. See I'm the time, I'm
Speaker 1: just getting mad unnecessary weight just so I can get
Speaker 1: a second one for you. It doesn't matter because you
Speaker 1: don't get to keep it. Don't break my Listen, if
Speaker 1: I ever get good enough and golf to win a Masters,
Speaker 1: I'm going to try my best to keep the jacket.
Speaker 1: Last question for you, while we're speaking about fashion, how
Speaker 1: serious if you know, is the dress code there for
Speaker 1: our spectators? Is it? Is it a super serious dress code. Well,
Speaker 1: first I'm going to correct you because they don't call
Speaker 1: them spectators or fans. They call them patrons. That's another
Speaker 1: parted And um, yes, the dress code is strict. Like
Speaker 1: I read, you can't even wear your hat backwards. Did
Speaker 1: they lose you there? I'm out. I'm getting escorted out.
Speaker 1: As if they didn't lose you there, here's where they
Speaker 1: would lose me. No cell phones or cameras allowed there.
Speaker 1: No tipping is allowed, no tipping, No running is allowed,
Speaker 1: no tipping because that's ghosh, I don't know. And if
Speaker 1: you bring a folding chair, which you will see on TV,
Speaker 1: I cannot have an arm rest. So there are tons
Speaker 1: of little rules, yes, but the dress code. You've got
Speaker 1: to look. When I'm watching from my couch, I'll do
Speaker 1: whatever i want. There you go, You've got to have
Speaker 1: you have to be ready to impress. You know, it's
Speaker 1: a lot of lily pool its are a lot of
Speaker 1: brightly colored sun dresses and bow ties and whatnot. And
Speaker 1: it is it is full of pageantry, and that's what
Speaker 1: makes it so unique and so special to the sport
Speaker 1: specially indeed, I will be watching from my couch in
Speaker 1: my crocs and basketball shorts and I can't wait backwards
Speaker 1: hapwards with everything, and I'm tipping myself just because I can't.
Speaker 1: Now coming up on Unleashed from the Golf Network, we've
Speaker 1: got our man, Damon Heck in the building, Damon Half
Speaker 1: with the Golf Channel formerly with the New York Times
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated. You've seen them, you've read them. Damon. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us today to talk about
Speaker 1: the Masters. Absolutely, Happy Masters Week. Happy Masters Week. David,
Speaker 1: thank you you as well. I understand you've checked into Augusta,
Speaker 1: you are in your hotel room. What is the COVID
Speaker 1: process with everyone covering the Masters this year like and
Speaker 1: is it any different from November? It's kind of similar.
Speaker 1: Everybody has to get swabbed when they get to town,
Speaker 1: and you also have to get swabbed four days in,
Speaker 1: so they're very strict protocols. Similar to November. There won't
Speaker 1: be a capacity of patrons on the golf course. But
Speaker 1: we're happy to have a tournament to talk about, especially
Speaker 1: in this era of COVID nineteen. But they're doing everything
Speaker 1: they can social distancing. Everyone has to wear masks, so yeah,
Speaker 1: I can't even go to the property, can't go to
Speaker 1: the golf course until I get my negative test back,
Speaker 1: and once I do, I'm ready to roll. Damn it.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing how strict the rules are in general and
Speaker 1: Augusta and so I know that their COVID protocols must
Speaker 1: be official, but I noticed that to use the phrase patrons,
Speaker 1: and I made the definitely mistake of referring to patrons
Speaker 1: as spectators or fans. Did I cross the line? Is
Speaker 1: this the point of no return? Or or do I
Speaker 1: have anything that can redeem me here? I put the
Speaker 1: caution flag up for you. It's early in the week,
Speaker 1: but I would get that spectator or fan vernacular out early,
Speaker 1: so we're not talking Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I mean,
Speaker 1: there are so many little rules and big rules that
Speaker 1: they have at Augusta National, and one of them is patrons.
Speaker 1: They also don't call the thick grass rough. They call
Speaker 1: it a second cut. There's no running on the golf course.
Speaker 1: And this is kind of how they roll. This is
Speaker 1: what they do. They like to keep things tradition. It
Speaker 1: all slowed everything down and it's been that way. This
Speaker 1: is my eleventh Masters guy, so it's gonna be very
Speaker 1: familiar to me. Because I've been going for so many years.
Speaker 1: It's been twenty years in total when I first went
Speaker 1: to two thousand and two, but eleven overall, so not
Speaker 1: much changes. You just kind of fall in line and
Speaker 1: follow the rules, and that way you get your credential
Speaker 1: back and you can come to the next year. Well, damon,
Speaker 1: let's get right into the field of competition. Jordan's Speed
Speaker 1: is a heavy favorite. He's had a great couple of months.
Speaker 1: He just won the Texas Open this past weekend. What
Speaker 1: do you think his odds are of getting that second
Speaker 1: green jacket. I think they're fantastic. And I like Jordan
Speaker 1: to win the Masters before he won in San Antonio,
Speaker 1: by the way, so I almost feel like everybody's gonna
Speaker 1: be on the Jordan's speech bandwagon. But we know his
Speaker 1: history there and yeah, he has some some bad history
Speaker 1: as well. He did to have a great chance in
Speaker 1: to go back to back. In fact, he would have
Speaker 1: joined Jack Nicholas, Tiger Woods and ser Nic Foudo as
Speaker 1: the only players to go back to back had he
Speaker 1: donned the green jacket for a second year in a row.
Speaker 1: In of course, hit into the water twice on the
Speaker 1: twelfth hole and lost that green jacket to Danny will
Speaker 1: it That said, when Jordan's speech is playing good, there's
Speaker 1: no better canvas for his gifts than Augusta National. He
Speaker 1: scrambles with incredible dexterity. His hands around the greens are
Speaker 1: maybe the best in the game. We saw it in Texas,
Speaker 1: We've seen it a lot in this comeback over the
Speaker 1: last two months. He's putting beautifully. His short game is
Speaker 1: without peer in his imagination, just seems to come out
Speaker 1: better at Augusta National than anywhere else. I like that,
Speaker 1: that's beautifully said. You know, this year is just so different.
Speaker 1: No Tiger Woods, no brooks Kepta. Just as you look
Speaker 1: at some of the top names in it. Who else
Speaker 1: do you like? I mean, is it different with those
Speaker 1: big names out? Especially Tiger? His presence is so missed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll miss Tiger this year. He's just such a needle mover.
Speaker 1: Even now, He's still the biggest name and will probably
Speaker 1: always be the biggest name, just because of what he's
Speaker 1: done in golf in general and specifically at Augusta Nashville.
Speaker 1: But even without Tiger, some great names, of course. Rory
Speaker 1: McElroy trying to complete the career Grant Slam. It's the
Speaker 1: one major championship that has he louded him Dustin Johnson
Speaker 1: trying to go back to back. He won in November
Speaker 1: by five shots. And don't sleep on John Rom, the
Speaker 1: Spaniard who has a fantastic record at Augusta. He just
Speaker 1: became a father on Saturday. So there's a lot of
Speaker 1: good mojo and good energy around the young man who
Speaker 1: went to Arizona State. So I think John Rom, maybe
Speaker 1: outside of Speece, would be my favorite, just because I
Speaker 1: think he'll be coming to augusta kind of walking on air,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of floating on a cloud. Has three
Speaker 1: top tens and four starts at the Master, so he
Speaker 1: has form. He has his life in order and in perspective,
Speaker 1: and that often leads to playing great golf. Damon quickly,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the college there, and so I have him
Speaker 1: end in yours yell at or one college is rather
Speaker 1: you see a unfortunately lost very dramatically in the n
Speaker 1: C Double A tournament at the Buzzer. I just want
Speaker 1: to know are you doing all right? Do you? Is
Speaker 1: there anything we can do for you? You need a tissue?
Speaker 1: Perhaps I need a whole box, my man. I was
Speaker 1: watching the game. In fact, I was at the Charlotte Airport,
Speaker 1: you know, waiting to connect to Augusta, and I watched
Speaker 1: the end of the game and I saw that bank
Speaker 1: shot and my heart sank. It's kind of bitter sweet
Speaker 1: because this run has been so improbable for U c.
Speaker 1: L A. We got in via the playing route, which
Speaker 1: hardly ever happened. So you beat Michigan State, and we
Speaker 1: kept stacking wins on wins and playing better the longer
Speaker 1: the tournament ran on. You know, beat Michigan and it
Speaker 1: looked like we were gonna take down the undefeated Gonzaga squad.
Speaker 1: I have so much respect for how they play. But
Speaker 1: to lose, you know, when it's nine and you lose
Speaker 1: on a bank shot that just you know, from a
Speaker 1: half court stripe, is just it's bittersweet. I'm thankful that
Speaker 1: this team played so hard. It's the most I've ever
Speaker 1: been proud of a team in defeat, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1: And they're kind of like frozen in time. This team
Speaker 1: still well, I think positively affect recruiting in the years ahead,
Speaker 1: and in losing, I still think this team was able
Speaker 1: to elevate in terms of what it was able to
Speaker 1: do in elevated status as one of the great teams
Speaker 1: of this season. Just an absolutely incredible job done by
Speaker 1: McK cronin. So I think everyone was kind of cheering
Speaker 1: on your Brewins there. That was a fun run to watch.
Speaker 1: You know, you your history is interesting covering NFL and golf.
Speaker 1: How did you end up putting that pair together as
Speaker 1: as your two main wagon wheels so to speak? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: great question. So my first main job as a newspaper writer,
Speaker 1: I've done high school sports and some college sports at
Speaker 1: the Sacramento b In in seven, all of the sports
Speaker 1: writers at the Sacramento b had kind of covered the
Speaker 1: Niners and nobody wanted to do it. I was fresh
Speaker 1: out of graduate school and I was asked if I
Speaker 1: wanted to cover the San Francisco forty Niners, and I
Speaker 1: was like, of course, why not. So it was almost
Speaker 1: being at the right place at the right time. They
Speaker 1: gave me training camp as a kind of a tryout,
Speaker 1: so six weeks of writing stories and they said I
Speaker 1: did a good enough job where I would be the
Speaker 1: beat writer. I was the beat writer for three years,
Speaker 1: so that was my NFL entree, and then I started
Speaker 1: covering golf for Newsday in two thousand and one, so
Speaker 1: I had this football background, but then I started covering
Speaker 1: Tiger Woods for Newsday in two thousand and one. So
Speaker 1: when I got to The Times, I covered football for
Speaker 1: three years, and then I covered golf for two years,
Speaker 1: and then Sports Illustaated hired me. Knew my golf slash
Speaker 1: NFL background, and I covered the NFL in the fall
Speaker 1: and winter for Sports Illustrated and golf in the spring
Speaker 1: and summer. So it's the perfect balance two sports that
Speaker 1: have separate seasons, as it were. And and I've been
Speaker 1: now covering golf for Golf Channel since twelve, so it's
Speaker 1: been an amazing ride. Still a big football fan, grew
Speaker 1: up in Los Angeles, a Raider fan, hoping for better
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. But those are my two loves,
Speaker 1: golf in the NFL. So if you love golf, what
Speaker 1: are your favorite golf movies? Because Speedy and I were
Speaker 1: trying to talk about that, of of what are the
Speaker 1: best golf movies, there are not many. I think you
Speaker 1: hit it on the head that there aren't that many.
Speaker 1: But I've got three, and I'll go from three to one.
Speaker 1: Number three from me would be the legend of Bag
Speaker 1: of Vance. You know, Will Smith, you know, listen, and
Speaker 1: Matt Damon. Charlie's there on at the height of her power.
Speaker 1: A lot of fun to watch Will Smith as a
Speaker 1: caddy and Matt Damon, even though his golf swing isn't
Speaker 1: necessarily PG Two ur Grade, I like the story of
Speaker 1: him as Ranolph Juna taken on Bobby Jones in a
Speaker 1: mythical match. Number two would be Caddy Shack. It's it's
Speaker 1: just one of the all time great movies because of
Speaker 1: the cast that they had to get Bill Murray and
Speaker 1: you've got the likes of Chevy Chase, of Rodney danger Field,
Speaker 1: Ted Nights to get this incredible, you know, group of
Speaker 1: actors at the height of their comedic talents and Rodney Dangerfield,
Speaker 1: you know, God rest his soul. What a terrific actor
Speaker 1: and comedian he was. And Number one for me is
Speaker 1: tin Cup. You know. It's the story of Tin Cup,
Speaker 1: who was a driving range pro, falls in love with
Speaker 1: Renee Russo, steals her from Don Johnson, and comes up
Speaker 1: short in his quest to win our national championship, the
Speaker 1: United States Open. A cheech Marin was his caddy. So
Speaker 1: a lot of fun those are my three bag Advance,
Speaker 1: Caddy Shack, and tin Cup and you can't go wrong.
Speaker 1: I was anticipating happy Gilmore reference, but unfortunately, I guess
Speaker 1: it doesn't make the top three. Huh, that's number four.
Speaker 1: It was right there. You know, had the list of
Speaker 1: it a little longer, I would have given the Adam
Speaker 1: Sandler and if a little love and Carl Weathers as
Speaker 1: well as Chubb. Yeah, but you're right, it's not like
Speaker 1: they were talking about The Godfather here. There's just there's
Speaker 1: not that many great movies like Mafia movies you can
Speaker 1: talk about, you know, good Fellers or Godfather, Godfather to
Speaker 1: Donnie Brasco. You know, the list goes on and on,
Speaker 1: but I think the golf genre is hurting a little
Speaker 1: bit for for fantastic movies. Damian, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us man and enjoy the Masters. Don't break
Speaker 1: any of the rules because we'd hate to see it
Speaker 1: getting permanded. We know how strict they are over there.
Speaker 1: But thanks for joining us man anytime. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: Guys enjoyed the Masters, Well, now, guys, it's golf. Social
Speaker 1: media is absolute favorite from the Action Network. Jason Sobel
Speaker 1: is here. Jason what's up man? How are you? What's up? Guys?
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having me on. Just got to Augusta.
Speaker 1: Well good, that's the place to be. We here, and
Speaker 1: so we might as well just go ahead and jump
Speaker 1: right in with your picks for the masters. Who do
Speaker 1: you have your eye on? So I think everyone's got
Speaker 1: their eye on Jordan's speed right now coming off his
Speaker 1: way at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday, looks so impressive.
Speaker 1: He's building has been building towards this. I mean, if
Speaker 1: you watch what Jordan has done over the last few months,
Speaker 1: it's all right, you put together some good swings and
Speaker 1: made a few birdies and it was okay. Then there's
Speaker 1: a good stretch of holes, and there's one full round
Speaker 1: and then there's two full rounds, and he couldn't quite
Speaker 1: finish it off over the last few months. Finally, now
Speaker 1: going into this week, he has finished it off. He
Speaker 1: has finally won for the first time in one thousand,
Speaker 1: three fifty one days. So do I like Jordan's speed
Speaker 1: going into this week's Masters? Absolutely? Do I like him.
Speaker 1: At the price that he's going to be at by
Speaker 1: the time they tee off Thursday morning, I'm not so
Speaker 1: sure about that. I think that there's so many good
Speaker 1: players out there. I just think everyone's gonna jump on
Speaker 1: the speed bandwagon right now, and it's gonna be really
Speaker 1: tough for him to repeat. We've only seen four winners
Speaker 1: of the tournament before the Masters then repeat the following week,
Speaker 1: none since Phil Michelson back in two thousand six, and
Speaker 1: so it's gonna be a tough task for Jordan's. I
Speaker 1: like him a lot. I've got him number two on
Speaker 1: my list. Number one, though, is Xander Schoffley has played
Speaker 1: his best golf lately, but strokes gained approach is the
Speaker 1: best he's had in years, maybe all of his career,
Speaker 1: and so guy plays his best golf also in tough
Speaker 1: situations in the biggest tournaments. And Alexander this week. So
Speaker 1: going Zander one, Jordan's to Justin Thomas, who won the
Speaker 1: Players Championship. Of course at number three. Not too many
Speaker 1: surprises in there. But I just don't think we're gonna
Speaker 1: get a surprise winner this week. I think we're gonna
Speaker 1: have one of the big studs, one of the guys
Speaker 1: that we are aware of their name, we see them
Speaker 1: on a regular basis, popping up on top of that
Speaker 1: leader board comes Sunday afternoon. Jason, you mentioned Justin Thomas.
Speaker 1: He's playing in his sixth Masters and he's improved his
Speaker 1: position on the final leaderboard in every tournament he's played
Speaker 1: at Augusta National, which is incredible. What are you liking
Speaker 1: in his game? What would give him a good chance? Yeah?
Speaker 1: How about that? The fact that Justin Thomas five previous
Speaker 1: starts at this event and he's gotten better every single time.
Speaker 1: He's really become accustomed to Augusta National. And this is
Speaker 1: sort of more along the lines of what we've seen
Speaker 1: over the years at the Masters, which is unlike what
Speaker 1: we saw from Speedware. In his first ear he finished
Speaker 1: in second place, the secondary finished in first place, and
Speaker 1: away he goes and is able to have success here.
Speaker 1: From a young age and early in his Master's career,
Speaker 1: Justin Thomas is sort of building to something. And this
Speaker 1: is more along the lines of what we've seen from
Speaker 1: players over the years. They get to their sixth, seventh,
Speaker 1: eighth time playing this event, they start figuring it out
Speaker 1: a little bit more, and Justin Thomas has indeed figured
Speaker 1: it out. He's been the best ball striker on the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour over the last year and a half two years.
Speaker 1: I expect that to continue. We saw what he can do.
Speaker 1: That back nine stretch at TBC saw Grass last month
Speaker 1: for the Players Championship was absolutely fantastic and would not
Speaker 1: surprise me to see Justin Thomas right up there near
Speaker 1: the top of the leaderboard comes Sunday afternoon. Again, there's
Speaker 1: so many good players out there, but yeah, j T
Speaker 1: is a guy that I like a lot. This week
Speaker 1: another ball striker, Dustin Johnson struggling a little bit more putting,
Speaker 1: but it would be he'd only be the fourth player
Speaker 1: ever to repeat back to back Masters champions Um. He
Speaker 1: mentioned his name earlier. How how are you liking DJ
Speaker 1: right now? I like DJ. I mean, look, it's hard
Speaker 1: not to like DJ. You watched him play and you go,
Speaker 1: how's that gonna not win every single week? I mean,
Speaker 1: he hits it really far as ball strike is fantastic.
Speaker 1: He puts it into the hole. That's golf, that's everything
Speaker 1: right there. And so he's the number one player. Were
Speaker 1: number one player in the world for a reason, and
Speaker 1: we should expect some good things from this week. That said,
Speaker 1: the recent results scare me just a little bit. Plus,
Speaker 1: just like you mentioned he hasn't nobody's won this golf
Speaker 1: tournament back to back since Tiger Woods in two thousand one,
Speaker 1: two thousand two. It's really hard to go back to
Speaker 1: back at the Masters, and so Dustin's guy that I'm
Speaker 1: probably gonna fade this week. I don't love him, Can
Speaker 1: I see it? Is it possible? Absolutely? But I just
Speaker 1: think there's something just missing a little bit from DJ's
Speaker 1: game right now. Well, Jason, you you spoke briefly about
Speaker 1: Jordan's price when it comes tea time. I'm curious as
Speaker 1: to what some of your betting picks are for the Masters.
Speaker 1: What are you seeing that you like us will get
Speaker 1: into it. I think a few of the players that
Speaker 1: aren't necessarily big names have some good proper play opportunity
Speaker 1: as far as their prices. Corey Connors is gonna be
Speaker 1: probably a pretty popular top ten pick. He's played well
Speaker 1: over his last three starts. The ball striking is always there.
Speaker 1: He started to put really well. I like him. Jason
Speaker 1: co Crack has been top ten and each of his
Speaker 1: last three stroke play events. Played the Master's last November
Speaker 1: for the first time, missed the cut. But I think
Speaker 1: that he bounces back in a big way, and so
Speaker 1: I like him for a top ten. Matt Fitzpatrick is
Speaker 1: another one. If everything we know about this golf course
Speaker 1: is true, that it's gonna be fast and firm, and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough to score and pars are gonna
Speaker 1: be pretty good out there. That's Matt Fitzpatrick's kind of game,
Speaker 1: and I expect him to have a good week as well.
Speaker 1: As far as if you're looking for a top five,
Speaker 1: Paul Casey is a guy that I really like. Paul
Speaker 1: Casey has been trending in the right direction for a while.
Speaker 1: He is a guy who has sort of just like
Speaker 1: we saw from Danny Willett and Sergeryo Garcia in two
Speaker 1: thousand sixteen seven Team, but he's are excuse me, two
Speaker 1: thousand fifteen and sixteen. Paul cases the guy one in
Speaker 1: Dubai earlier this year, and so there's been a correlation
Speaker 1: between winning and Dubai and going out and winning the
Speaker 1: Masters three months later. So if you're looking for a
Speaker 1: top five play, I think Paul Casey could be a
Speaker 1: really strong play. And then for outrights again, Xander Shaffle,
Speaker 1: who comes into the week right around twenty to one.
Speaker 1: I believe that should be a nice play. I think
Speaker 1: that it will be a little bit contrary. And I
Speaker 1: know people out there are whether you're betting, you're playing
Speaker 1: office pools, you're doing whatever you like, being a little
Speaker 1: bit different from the crowds. And so I think everyone's
Speaker 1: going to gravitate towards Jordan. They're gonna gravitate towards Justin,
Speaker 1: They're gonna gravitate towards even DJ coming off his win
Speaker 1: last year, maybe even a little Brighten. But I do
Speaker 1: think that because of his recent results not being so great,
Speaker 1: Xander Shaffle is going to have fewer people on him,
Speaker 1: few of the less of the public on him this
Speaker 1: week than some other players. And I do think Sander
Speaker 1: will be a nice player this week out right, Jason,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the course will be more difficult. The rumors
Speaker 1: obviously that even weeks out that they were saying it
Speaker 1: was very firm, very fast. Organ Speed has spoken about that.
Speaker 1: I know you haven't seen the course yet. I know
Speaker 1: you just got into Augusta, but what are you hearing
Speaker 1: about that now? Absolutely same thing. And the great thing
Speaker 1: about Augusta is they can make it anyway they want.
Speaker 1: If it rains out, We're supposed to get some rain
Speaker 1: overnight Thursday into Friday. Guess what, of course, will still
Speaker 1: be fast and firm if they wanted fast and firm
Speaker 1: for the second round on Friday. So that's one of
Speaker 1: the great things about this place is that they can
Speaker 1: set it up the exact way that they wanted to play.
Speaker 1: And I would not be surprised. After there were record
Speaker 1: setting scores in nineteen when Tiger Woods won, there were
Speaker 1: record setting scores last year when we had a very
Speaker 1: soft November and it was easier to fire in the flagsticks.
Speaker 1: I would not be surprised if the powers that be
Speaker 1: at Augusta National wanted to sort of bite back a
Speaker 1: little bit this week and have a faster, firmer, much
Speaker 1: tougher golf course with lower or excuse me, higher scoring
Speaker 1: than then we're used to seeing over the past couple
Speaker 1: of years. So I wouldn't bet on any scoring records
Speaker 1: being broken this week. I think it's gonna play a
Speaker 1: little bit more difficult. Oh yeah, yeah. The last two
Speaker 1: years yielded the lowest field scoring averages and Masters history,
Speaker 1: so everyone's kind of looking at numbers wise, but storyline wise,
Speaker 1: this first quarter of golf has given us kind of
Speaker 1: a bit of everything. But there's so many storylines going
Speaker 1: into this year's Masters. What's some of your favorites? Wow,
Speaker 1: there's so many good ones. Well, Jordan's speed right off
Speaker 1: the top is uh. I think storyline number one A
Speaker 1: coming into this based on that victory that he had
Speaker 1: on Sunday at the Vlaro Texas Open. I think that
Speaker 1: everyone's gonna be talking about everything Jordan's going into this week.
Speaker 1: The other storylines, John Rom was, he was iffy, he
Speaker 1: was a question mark. We weren't sure we're gonna see
Speaker 1: John Rom this week, the number pree rank player in
Speaker 1: the world. We we thought that John Rom might indeed
Speaker 1: have to skip this one because his wife had their
Speaker 1: first baby on the way. And yet the baby was
Speaker 1: born on Sunday. John Rom will indeed be at the Masters,
Speaker 1: and I think he's a very strong play as well.
Speaker 1: And then another guy who loves it when we tend
Speaker 1: to try to fade him a little bit, when we
Speaker 1: try to say, you know, I don't think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be this isn't gonna be his week. I don't like
Speaker 1: him as much. Brooks Kepta coming off knee surgery just
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, there was talk that he wouldn't
Speaker 1: be back for most of this season six to eight months.
Speaker 1: A few weeks later, here he is. He was at
Speaker 1: Augusta on Sunday. He will be at august Of the
Speaker 1: rest of the week. From all reports, he's walking a
Speaker 1: little bit gingerly. But I do believe that Brooks keptco
Speaker 1: when he puts his mind to it, he can go
Speaker 1: out there and play some really solid golf. So he's
Speaker 1: shown in the past he loves when he can pull
Speaker 1: a chip on his shoulder when he thinks that people
Speaker 1: are doubting him, and that's what's going on this week.
Speaker 1: So I think that Brooks Kepta is a big storyline
Speaker 1: coming into this one, especially if he can get himself
Speaker 1: on the leaderboard through the first couple of rounds. I
Speaker 1: expect him to get stronger as the week progresses. Jason,
Speaker 1: we're talking storyline, so it's only right there we talk
Speaker 1: about storylines from the silver screen and talk some golf movies.
Speaker 1: For a second. We had Damon on the show Damon Hack.
Speaker 1: He told us his favorite golf movies of all time.
Speaker 1: Wondering what your favorite golf movies of all time are? Well,
Speaker 1: Number one has got to be Caddy Shack. It's absolutely
Speaker 1: Caddy Shack. There's so many good lines to it. Every
Speaker 1: time I watch it, I feel like I come away
Speaker 1: with something new where I go, man, that was just
Speaker 1: an underrated scene, an underrated line, and under a underrated
Speaker 1: little plot twist. So Caddy Shacks definitely number one for me.
Speaker 1: I'll stick with the comedies. Happy Gilmore easily number two. Actually,
Speaker 1: just rewatch that just a couple of weeks ago. It's great.
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. Another one where you watch it, you go,
Speaker 1: man like, that's a really sneaky good line in there.
Speaker 1: And I love Happy Gilmore. I can't get enough it.
Speaker 1: And then by default just because are that made great
Speaker 1: golf movies out there? But I'll throw Tin Cup at
Speaker 1: number three. One thing I like about Tin Cup is
Speaker 1: that they did use real players. He goes to the
Speaker 1: US Open and Roy mcinvoy is playing against Peter Jacobson
Speaker 1: and Lee Jansen and Craig Stabler. I mean that that's
Speaker 1: really cool that it's sort of had that realness to it.
Speaker 1: So that's by one, two or three. In order there
Speaker 1: there needs to be a few more, though I'm advocating
Speaker 1: for better golf movies out there. Let's release some of them.
Speaker 1: Let's release some of them. Indeed, lastly here Jason, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of times you see footwear is
Speaker 1: pretty consistent when it comes to the masters, but Jordan
Speaker 1: Brand and Nike consistently tries to re uh you know,
Speaker 1: shake things up a bit and innovate in the footwear
Speaker 1: realm of golf. I'm wondering if you see or have
Speaker 1: ever gotten a chance to see some of the Jordan's
Speaker 1: golf shoes where they take a classic retro Jordan and
Speaker 1: you know, put the cleat on the bottom. Have you
Speaker 1: ever seen them? And you think we could ever see
Speaker 1: something like that worn on the foot of someone at
Speaker 1: a stage like Augusta. Oh, absolutely, It's happened before. I
Speaker 1: did a story a few years ago because Keegan Bradley
Speaker 1: was the first one that was wearing them on the
Speaker 1: PGA tour, and so Uh spoke with him about wearing
Speaker 1: the Jordan's. He said, look, I play with them j
Speaker 1: back home all the time, and I wear Jordan's all
Speaker 1: the time. And I told m J like I'd had
Speaker 1: some spikes on these things and where him on the
Speaker 1: golf course. And they started doing it for me, and
Speaker 1: after Keenan Bradley did it and he came out with
Speaker 1: some other players started wearing him as well, and so
Speaker 1: we've seen them at big events. I know Harold Varner
Speaker 1: wears them. There are a few other guys out there
Speaker 1: that are wearing Jordan's two actual PGA Tour events, wearing
Speaker 1: them in major championships. I remember speaking with actually got
Speaker 1: a quote from m J at the time saying, you look,
Speaker 1: we'd love to break into golf. You know, it's a
Speaker 1: great it's a great sport for us, a great audience
Speaker 1: for us. We love being around those players. And most
Speaker 1: of them know Jordan now as well, so there's that relationship.
Speaker 1: Like I said, Kegan Bradley was the first one. He
Speaker 1: got in there. He started playing with m J all
Speaker 1: the time they were playing for big money down South Florida,
Speaker 1: and started getting on him as far as you know,
Speaker 1: I want to wear your shoes. I need spikes on
Speaker 1: him though, Let's do it. And so Jordan called up
Speaker 1: his guy, his shoe guy, and they started working on it.
Speaker 1: And not that much longer, Kean Bradley was the first
Speaker 1: one out there wearing them, and now you see him
Speaker 1: on a pretty regular basis, which is pretty cool. Last
Speaker 1: thing here, you know, you're speaking about some big, big,
Speaker 1: big names there. I'm curious who you think is the
Speaker 1: best golfer that's not a professional golfer. Maybe somebody like
Speaker 1: m J. You know, we've seen Charles Barkley has a
Speaker 1: notorious swing. There is there somebody who you think is
Speaker 1: good enough to maybe ever make a run at a
Speaker 1: becoming a pro. It is not Charles Barkley. I can
Speaker 1: tell you that much. Well, we'll go through the process.
Speaker 1: I knew you'd say that. Say okay, and from everything
Speaker 1: I hear is a pretty good player. But for him
Speaker 1: it's more about, hey, I'm gonna bet more than makes
Speaker 1: you comfortable, and so you can make the other person
Speaker 1: feel uncomfortable, and so it's more about sort of that
Speaker 1: intimidation process just a little bit as foot instead of
Speaker 1: his game itself. I would throw a guy like Steph
Speaker 1: Curia is a is a very good player. He's played
Speaker 1: in I hear he's really good. Web dot Com that
Speaker 1: in the past. Tony Romo has played a bunch of events.
Speaker 1: John Smoltz has qualified for the US Senior Open in
Speaker 1: the past. So if you're looking for someone from the
Speaker 1: world of athletes. The those are probably about the top names.
Speaker 1: There are a few other guys. Mark Molder, I've played
Speaker 1: with before, the former Oakland Day's pitcher. He's a really
Speaker 1: good player. He plays with a lot of guys in
Speaker 1: the Scottsdale area who play on the PGA Tour. So
Speaker 1: these guys can hang a little bit. And you know,
Speaker 1: speaking with one of my buddies who plays on the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour not that long ago, and he said, look,
Speaker 1: on any given day, I can lose to one of
Speaker 1: my buddies who's a scratch handicap and they can beat me.
Speaker 1: But the thing is they can't do it long term.
Speaker 1: They can't go out there on the p G A
Speaker 1: tour and weekend week out, go through that grind and
Speaker 1: go out and shoot sixty sixty seven every day. That's
Speaker 1: just too hard for these guys. Well, we know it
Speaker 1: won't be Charles Barkley, like you said, because that swing
Speaker 1: is it's got awful. It is, it is bad. But Jason,
Speaker 1: thank you so so very much for joining us, and
Speaker 1: we look forward to seeing what you got coming out
Speaker 1: of Augusta. Absolutely thanks guys, cannot wait for this week.
Speaker 1: I'm so fired up the hype machine is up to
Speaker 1: eleven already. It's only Sunday. Love it. Thank you Jason. Thanks, guys,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. He walked us through March madness and told
Speaker 1: you where to put your money, and now he's getting
Speaker 1: us ready for Masters Week with bet MGM. Let's welcome
Speaker 1: in Peter Andrew to help us know who to look for,
Speaker 1: what names, some names you might not see coming. Peter,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us again. I think
Speaker 1: we have voted and you are a third co host.
Speaker 1: He is host officially. Congratulations, you're one of us now.
Speaker 1: Thanks guys. I'm I'm honored. I'm honored. Worst looking at
Speaker 1: the three, but it's fine. I want to get right
Speaker 1: into this field of competition. Jordan's speed is such a
Speaker 1: heavy favorite. He just won the Texas Open on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Actually read he'll be one of the most wagered upon
Speaker 1: golfer is in history. Um, what does that mean and
Speaker 1: why is he such a heavy favorite? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: when you talk about the four year drought, I believe
Speaker 1: it was people have been waiting for this day seeing
Speaker 1: to beef back on top. So I know it was
Speaker 1: only the Texas Open, but I think you have an
Speaker 1: opportunity here to see him win two in a row.
Speaker 1: Where better than Augusta. I think between him the normal
Speaker 1: guys like DJ obviously Bryson coming in, I think you'll
Speaker 1: see heavy, heavy percentage of our handle wagered on those
Speaker 1: guys to win out right, not necessarily my picks, but
Speaker 1: it'll be a great four days starting on Thursday. What
Speaker 1: are you saying? What are what are your picks? Yeah? So,
Speaker 1: I I think my theme for for golf this year
Speaker 1: is really going with the up and comers, so the
Speaker 1: young guys and unders kind of Colin more Kala. I
Speaker 1: think everybody has seen it, especially over the last year.
Speaker 1: One of the probably the highest rising stars, especially Americans.
Speaker 1: He's at thirty to one right now. I love his chances.
Speaker 1: I think if he has a good first couple of
Speaker 1: days obviously makes the cut. I think he'll be right
Speaker 1: up there with some of the big boys. And then
Speaker 1: two other guys that I've really pinpointed with really really
Speaker 1: good value on the betting side, Victor Hobland, Oklahoma State
Speaker 1: guy has really looked good. I think he's come pretty
Speaker 1: close on a couple of different tournaments. But him at
Speaker 1: thirty three to one, again great value, and then you've
Speaker 1: got a guy like Matthew Fitzpatrick six to one. He's
Speaker 1: not that bad of a golfer. He's actually quite good golfer,
Speaker 1: great short game, he can hit the ball. I think
Speaker 1: his accuracy sometimes is what strays him away from being
Speaker 1: more consistent. But I got those three guys at the
Speaker 1: top of the leader board hopefully on on Sunday as
Speaker 1: we're wrapping things up, Well, if you were to explain
Speaker 1: to someone who's betting on the Masters for the first
Speaker 1: time different ways they can put their money out there,
Speaker 1: I mean obviously picking the winner, but what else can
Speaker 1: you bet on? And then also prop bets? What are
Speaker 1: some fun Masters prop bets? Yeah, so you know the
Speaker 1: like you said at best Levia, everybody knows that to
Speaker 1: win outright is kind of the hottest bet. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: odds you get on some of these long shots is eight.
Speaker 1: But I think you have a lot of cool opportunity
Speaker 1: with some of the markets top five, top ten, and
Speaker 1: then you have three and four ball where you can
Speaker 1: actually bet on that person to win their specific group.
Speaker 1: I think those are really interesting things. Obviously the odds
Speaker 1: aren't as great, but you have a pretty good sense
Speaker 1: of potentially who you think will come out out of
Speaker 1: those three. Something that we're doing really cool here at
Speaker 1: bet MGM this week we were actually giving every single
Speaker 1: customer a Golf Boost token. What that actually does It
Speaker 1: boosts whatever bet you want for the Masters up in value.
Speaker 1: So so anything you get we're gonna be We're gonna
Speaker 1: be best price in town because of that Golf Boost token.
Speaker 1: So by the time we kick off, hopefully every customer
Speaker 1: bet mgm has got a bet on and is watching
Speaker 1: the Masters. So something really cool we're doing this year
Speaker 1: and super excited. And on top of that, something that's
Speaker 1: become a staple of bet MGM is our Lions Boost,
Speaker 1: so we pick and select a different special bet each day.
Speaker 1: I think everybody can tune in Thursday right after listen
Speaker 1: to this and check out our Alliance Boost for the Masters,
Speaker 1: and we'll have one for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well.
Speaker 1: So you're stepping away from golf for just a second.
Speaker 1: I'm reading reports that New York lawmakers are close to
Speaker 1: legalizing mobile sports bidding in New York. How big of
Speaker 1: a deal would that be for sports betting at large?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, this is the one you know, we've
Speaker 1: all been waiting for that. Other operators have all been
Speaker 1: waiting for obviously everybody in New York City, New York State.
Speaker 1: This is absolutely massive. So if Cornwell can figure this
Speaker 1: out and come through for the people of New York,
Speaker 1: this would be absolutely huge. Just think about going to
Speaker 1: the Garden, going to Berkeley Center, going to a Yankee game,
Speaker 1: putting a bed on right in your seat. I mean,
Speaker 1: the stuff that we're doing here in New Jersey and
Speaker 1: certainly across our other nine states. Uh, It's become such
Speaker 1: a staple of just watching sports in general and enjoying sports,
Speaker 1: being able to put a time alli bet on something,
Speaker 1: and be able to put fifty on your favorite team.
Speaker 1: So having that opportunity in New York would be really huge.
Speaker 1: So really eager to see the hopefully the final um,
Speaker 1: the final news come out this week and hopefully it's
Speaker 1: all positive and we can start prepping for a New
Speaker 1: York launch. Well, Peter, thank you so much. I can't
Speaker 1: wait for a normal Master's Week. It was so weird
Speaker 1: watching it back in November. So thank you for the
Speaker 1: advice of where to put our money. Thanks so much, guys,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Well. Olivia. We've been asking all of our
Speaker 1: guests about your favorite golf movies and we haven't chimed
Speaker 1: in yet, so I guess you can go first quickly.
Speaker 1: What is Olivia's favorite golf movie? Well, I'm inspired after
Speaker 1: Damon's list because I really want to watch the Legend
Speaker 1: of Bagger Van. So maybe tonight I'm gonna cosey in
Speaker 1: get Ready for Master's Week and watch that. But I've
Speaker 1: never seen it. I've also never seen Caddy Shack. I'm
Speaker 1: embarrassed to say. I know my husband always lost. My
Speaker 1: sense of humor is not that like I've seen Happy Gilmore.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's that funny. I'm not a big
Speaker 1: Adam Sandler fan. I any of those movies are just
Speaker 1: not my cup of tea. I grew up in such
Speaker 1: a girl family, like, we didn't grow up watching that
Speaker 1: Adam Sandler type movies. Got it, all right, That's fair enough.
Speaker 1: My favorite golf movie is not a golf movie, but
Speaker 1: I'm going to justify it because there is a golf
Speaker 1: scene in the movie. Listen, you got to hear me,
Speaker 1: hear my justification. The movie I'm picking is Good Burger
Speaker 1: with Keenan and kel now listen. In the movie, Keenan
Speaker 1: and Kel going to double date, and Kell's date is
Speaker 1: Carmen Electra and they go mini golfing, and so there's
Speaker 1: a golf scene. Okay, there's a it's a very iconic
Speaker 1: moment where Kel hits the ball and it ricochets off
Speaker 1: a million things and hits common a lecture right in
Speaker 1: the dead center of her forehead. And so for that alone,
Speaker 1: I think we can justify it as a golf movie.
Speaker 1: That's and I'm sticking to it. Good burger, it is. Well, guys,
Speaker 1: that is our show for today. If you love golf,
Speaker 1: we hope you love this show that was dedicated just
Speaker 1: to it. Now, make sure to check out all of
Speaker 1: the action from bit MGM. You can follow them everywhere
Speaker 1: at bet mgm. And please, as always, we only ask
Speaker 1: one favor. Leave us a review on the show on
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, and follow us wherever you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 1: We'll see you guys next week.