Speaker 1: It's the Son of a butch podcast. We come to
Speaker 1: you every Wednesday. This week it's Masters week, and we
Speaker 1: had him on last year, and I think we're going
Speaker 1: to make it an annual event. Butch Arm and my
Speaker 1: dad getting his takes on the twenty twenty three Masters,
Speaker 1: and then tomorrow a bonus episode where we put out
Speaker 1: questions the other day kind of an ass book section.
Speaker 1: But m wanted to get kind of his ideas, kind
Speaker 1: of his thoughts on the twenty twenty three Masters, you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit about the golf course, kind of his
Speaker 1: thoughts on that, the favorites, and I think it's always
Speaker 1: good to get kind of Butche's kind of take. He's
Speaker 1: going to be doing TV for Sky this year. But
Speaker 1: I mean he's been a huge part of Augusta, you know,
Speaker 1: as a broadcaster, he's worked with players that have won there,
Speaker 1: and then obviously having a father that has won there
Speaker 1: in the forties. It's it's kind of in my dad's
Speaker 1: DNA Augusta National and it's a special place for him.
Speaker 1: So let's sit back and enjoy listening to his thoughts
Speaker 1: on the upcoming twenty twenty three Masters. All right, Dad,
Speaker 1: So we did this last year. I think we're gonna
Speaker 1: make this a annual event for Augusta. What is it
Speaker 1: about Augusta, Dad that is so I guess special? That
Speaker 1: makes it so much different? Is it because it's the
Speaker 1: first major championship of the year, the fact that they
Speaker 1: go there every time, But it just seems like, unlike
Speaker 1: any other major, the buzz around going to august every
Speaker 1: year is completely different than the rest of them. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, it is the first one of the year.
Speaker 1: It's always been an Augusta National, the most iconic place
Speaker 1: for a major championship because we've all seen it for
Speaker 1: all these years on TV. And it's also a very
Speaker 1: small field. I think only eighty nine players this year.
Speaker 1: So those guys cherish that invitation when they get one
Speaker 1: because it's some place they want to be. They want
Speaker 1: to be there this time of year. And then the
Speaker 1: golf course, you know, the golf course is iconic, it's beautiful,
Speaker 1: it changes every year. It lends itself to heroics on
Speaker 1: the back nine. You know the old adage that the
Speaker 1: Master's done to start until the back nine on Sunday, Well,
Speaker 1: that's that's true. You know, we think about all the
Speaker 1: great things we've seen to happen in the disasters we've
Speaker 1: seen happen. We've seen all of that, and you tie
Speaker 1: all that into one thing and it's just the Masters.
Speaker 1: And besides that, it's the finest run event in the world,
Speaker 1: not just a sporting event. There's no event in the
Speaker 1: world run. It is properly as first class and as
Speaker 1: good as August is. You would think that with the
Speaker 1: fact that it's at the same golf course every year,
Speaker 1: the fact that you know where everything, even if you've
Speaker 1: never been there, you've you can have watched it so
Speaker 1: many times, you would think that it would I'm not
Speaker 1: saying would be an easy place to add to win,
Speaker 1: but it's definitely a place that I think you can
Speaker 1: become incredibly knew you're win. Would you agree, absolutely? Fuzzies
Speaker 1: Ella was really, in modern times, the only first time
Speaker 1: winner that's ever happened. He wanted a playoff, if you remember.
Speaker 1: But you know there's something about the place is they
Speaker 1: change something every year. You'll see the part three courses
Speaker 1: completely different. Now they've redone the whole thing. They change
Speaker 1: certain spots on the greens. Thirteenth tea is a new tea.
Speaker 1: They moved it back almost forty yards. Jack Nichols has
Speaker 1: said that he thinks the Masters is the easiest of
Speaker 1: the four Majors to win, the reason being number one,
Speaker 1: they invite all the former champions. They invite a lot
Speaker 1: of the amateur winners, so you know that eliminates about
Speaker 1: half the field, and then the next half of that
Speaker 1: half our guys that probably aren't going to win have
Speaker 1: never played it in major before, so then you come
Speaker 1: down to maybe only ten or twelve guys that you
Speaker 1: really have to battle to win. So Jack always said, yes,
Speaker 1: it's the first Masters, but it was the easiest one
Speaker 1: because the field was smaller and who the field is now.
Speaker 1: Having said that, the cream changes arrives to the top,
Speaker 1: you were just I think, what were you there about
Speaker 1: two three months ago? I mean you got to see
Speaker 1: the changes at thirteen DJ and both Patrick Reid and
Speaker 1: Harold Barner said they were up there. Recently said there's
Speaker 1: been a little bit of a change kind of to
Speaker 1: the middle of the seventh green. They kind of raised
Speaker 1: it up, made it not so severe. But obviously the
Speaker 1: big talk this year is going to be what the
Speaker 1: changes have been at thirteen. What did you notice, I mean,
Speaker 1: other than that it's way the hell back there. Now,
Speaker 1: well that's a shoot, it's narrow, it's back about forty
Speaker 1: yards and where it was. We played in November, my
Speaker 1: brothers and I and let's see, Tony Fein now played
Speaker 1: in the group behind us one day, so I asked him,
Speaker 1: I said, what did you have in the thirteen? He says,
Speaker 1: I hit a really good drive and I had two
Speaker 1: or five to the front and had to hit a
Speaker 1: four act. You know, they were hitting six and seven
Speaker 1: irons and there over four some of them that would
Speaker 1: go over the trees. Well, going over the trees is
Speaker 1: out of the question, and you almost have to. You
Speaker 1: can actually hit it just straight out right right at
Speaker 1: the corner of the pine straw and the trees up there,
Speaker 1: and if it draws a little, it goes down, but
Speaker 1: it's going to be a longer shot into the green.
Speaker 1: And that was the whole idea that they wanted to
Speaker 1: make it where it was back to where you're you're
Speaker 1: not hitting a eight or nine iron or seven iron
Speaker 1: or a part five. They want to make it where
Speaker 1: you have to hit a good drive. Now, if you
Speaker 1: turn it, you can get it down on the flat
Speaker 1: spot on the left but then you bring in the creek,
Speaker 1: which is another problem. If you hit it in the creek,
Speaker 1: then you're taking birdie out of the question. But it's
Speaker 1: going to be still challenging. It's just going to be
Speaker 1: a longer shot into the green. For everybody that's listening
Speaker 1: to that hasn't been there, the difference between the way
Speaker 1: that it's probably going to play now, even some of
Speaker 1: the longer hitters. DJ said he didn't think that he
Speaker 1: could cut any off. He's either going to have to
Speaker 1: hit a three wood. But the difference for people that
Speaker 1: haven't played there, that don't don't understand it four iron,
Speaker 1: five iron versus going in with six, seven or eight.
Speaker 1: What does that mean for the player, Well, it means
Speaker 1: it may take away as many eagles as we're used
Speaker 1: to seeing there. It'll bring in a little more disaster
Speaker 1: with a creek in front of the green because as
Speaker 1: you know that that green runs from the left side
Speaker 1: to the right side at an angle, it's probably i'd
Speaker 1: say fifteen to twenty yards longer from the front left
Speaker 1: pin to the right pin because of the angle of
Speaker 1: the green. Then you bring in the slope of the fairway,
Speaker 1: which if you've never been there or never played there.
Speaker 1: You have no idea how severe that slope is. And
Speaker 1: so now you're sitting there and you're afraid to hit
Speaker 1: a hook off of that slope. So you cut it
Speaker 1: a little and you know, hit it solid and hangs
Speaker 1: out to the right, the ball goes in the creek.
Speaker 1: So I think it's going to be more exciting. I
Speaker 1: think we're gonna see as many more disasters as we
Speaker 1: are are used to seeing, and it's it's going to
Speaker 1: be interesting. It's still reachable. You know how these tour
Speaker 1: players are. They get upset when they have to hit
Speaker 1: a four or five hours and they think that's oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, because they hit a four or five hourn
Speaker 1: about two hundred and thirty yards. So I mean it's
Speaker 1: I get the biggest kick out of listen to the
Speaker 1: oh you know I had to hit a five iron
Speaker 1: to this. Ah yeah, well back there with the three
Speaker 1: wooden can't get their prows. So it was funny were
Speaker 1: walking around the course this week and Slugger White. It
Speaker 1: was a long time PGA tour officials sets up all
Speaker 1: there's a par three on this course downhill, you know,
Speaker 1: the fifteenth hole and the you know downhill's probably gonna
Speaker 1: play down wind and the green is really really difficult.
Speaker 1: And in the practice rounds dead typical tour player, they're
Speaker 1: all going up to Slugger and saying, hey, don't put
Speaker 1: the pin over here, don't put the pin over here.
Speaker 1: And further to your point, Slugger said, you know you
Speaker 1: don't have to aim at all these pins, right, you
Speaker 1: don't have to go at every one of these flags.
Speaker 1: Give us some holes dead. Obviously, everybody knows the iconic
Speaker 1: holes around Augusta National. But give me a couple holes
Speaker 1: on the front that you think are key holes that
Speaker 1: maybe don't get a bunch of, you know, fanfare, and
Speaker 1: then key holes on the back that you think that
Speaker 1: a couple holes on the front, a couple holes in
Speaker 1: the back. You feel like if you can take advantage
Speaker 1: of these holes, it really gives you kind of a
Speaker 1: step up on what everybody else is doing. Well, believe
Speaker 1: it or not, one of the most difficult holes on
Speaker 1: the front line is the very first hole. Every year,
Speaker 1: it plays almost the hardest holl. Now it's not the
Speaker 1: longest part four the fairway is pretty wide, but it's
Speaker 1: an anxiety thing. The guys are all anxious to get started,
Speaker 1: and they hit bad drives, and that green can get
Speaker 1: pretty severe with the slopes in it and stuff. So
Speaker 1: number one is you wouldn't think of it when you
Speaker 1: look at the yardage for these guys. You know, four
Speaker 1: forty five or what is that's nothing for these guys.
Speaker 1: But it's a difficult hole. It's a difficult starting hole.
Speaker 1: The fourth hole is a great part three, I mean,
Speaker 1: just a wonderful print. They can stretch that out to
Speaker 1: about two twenty five, two thirty. They can get it.
Speaker 1: And now they have a lower tea which they will
Speaker 1: play one day out of the four and then it's
Speaker 1: only eight or nine nine or something. But that green,
Speaker 1: especially around to the right over that bunker, can get
Speaker 1: very difficult. And then the next toll. The fifth hole
Speaker 1: is probably one of the hardest holes in the golf course.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a hard hole. Then moved the tea
Speaker 1: back fifty yards a few years ago and so, and
Speaker 1: they've built another flat spot up on the left side,
Speaker 1: back kind of left portion of the green, which is
Speaker 1: a pin. It's so hard to get to. You got
Speaker 1: to take the ball up the slope. Then you got
Speaker 1: a bunker right over the green. The fifth hole is
Speaker 1: just really really a hard hole. The one hole. I
Speaker 1: wish they would go back to the way it used
Speaker 1: to be in the old days of seven. I think
Speaker 1: they've made seven too long for a green that's small
Speaker 1: because it's built to hit up a wedge or something
Speaker 1: like that to the green, and now you hit it
Speaker 1: down there and sometimes you can hit six iron to
Speaker 1: the screen. It's a little windy and stuff, so you
Speaker 1: can never the tea up and I think if they
Speaker 1: moved the tea up and tempt them to try and
Speaker 1: drive it, you'd see as many double bogies as you
Speaker 1: would birdies, just because the guys would try it. I
Speaker 1: think that's one of the greens if you've never been
Speaker 1: to Augusta National the seventh green, when you actually go
Speaker 1: up and you stand behind it, how much it's pitched
Speaker 1: from back to front. That back portion and then those
Speaker 1: two distinct it kind of has a little kind of
Speaker 1: spine right in the middle. And that was one of
Speaker 1: the things that Patrick Greed told me that they've softened
Speaker 1: a little bit because there's two kind of distinct areas
Speaker 1: at the bottom, both to the right and to the left.
Speaker 1: And I just think that green has so much slope
Speaker 1: to it, and if you get dead on the wrong
Speaker 1: side of it, if you're on the left side trying
Speaker 1: to pot all the way across to a pin that's
Speaker 1: front right, I mean, not as a very treacherous, treacherous
Speaker 1: green to try and navigate. Well, they have flattened a
Speaker 1: spot out there in the back. They've taken that slope outwards,
Speaker 1: not near as severe. But once again, like I said,
Speaker 1: that green was built to hit a wedge too, and
Speaker 1: guys are back there with seven and eight irons and
Speaker 1: six irons, and then if you don't drive it down
Speaker 1: there far enough, you're on a downhill lie to a
Speaker 1: greenness above you. So it's it's a difficult hole compared
Speaker 1: to what it was supposed to be the way it
Speaker 1: was built. I would love to see him move it up,
Speaker 1: just because guys would try and drive it, or try
Speaker 1: and drive it in the right bunk in the front bunkers,
Speaker 1: but it would bring in a lot more disaster. But
Speaker 1: it is what it is, and it used to be
Speaker 1: when you walked off the back of the sixth Green,
Speaker 1: the tea was right there. Now you walk off the
Speaker 1: back of the sixth Green and you go thirty forty
Speaker 1: yards to the to the left. The golf course that
Speaker 1: your dad won in the forties is the golf course today,
Speaker 1: design wise, unrecognizable, And that is the golf course today,
Speaker 1: conditions wise, the agronomy, the way that they're able to
Speaker 1: get golf courses today. It's do you think it's polls,
Speaker 1: I mean miles apart or do you think there's still
Speaker 1: some similarities now? I think there's a lot of simularities.
Speaker 1: The link has changed, But then again, equipment has changed.
Speaker 1: You know what. One day, I like that they do
Speaker 1: it Augusta National. These changes on these holds where they
Speaker 1: add teas, they're trying to bring the hold back to
Speaker 1: the way they're originally designed. Instead of being able to
Speaker 1: because they drive it so far these days, instead of
Speaker 1: being able to hit a wedge or nine iron to
Speaker 1: every hole apart four, they're trying to make it where
Speaker 1: you're back they're hitting five and six irons, which is
Speaker 1: the way it was back in the forties and the
Speaker 1: fifties and the sixties. And I think they've done a
Speaker 1: really good job of that. Now the players are so
Speaker 1: much better than today than they were because of equipment reasons.
Speaker 1: The ball goes further, doesn't curve as much. So I
Speaker 1: think they're they're trying to change these holes to make
Speaker 1: them where it's just not a drive in a wedge.
Speaker 1: You're driving a nine iron driving iron where we have
Speaker 1: to hit a four or five or six iron. I
Speaker 1: think the thing that I'm marvel at the last few
Speaker 1: years is how well Bernhard language has played there. He's
Speaker 1: six or five years old. Guy made the cut. I
Speaker 1: mean he's hitting Highbreds and woods and the holes guys
Speaker 1: whore hitting eight irons on. It's pretty impressive when you
Speaker 1: think about it. You've been going to Augusta basically your
Speaker 1: whole life. You've helped Tiger Woods win around there. You've
Speaker 1: helped Phil Nicholson went around there. You helped grag as
Speaker 1: much as you can't help anybody have a chance to
Speaker 1: win there. So the obvious question, Dad, what is it?
Speaker 1: What does it take from a game standpoint? But what
Speaker 1: does it take from a mental standpoint? Well, local knowledge
Speaker 1: is use huge it Augusta, because you're very seldom shooted
Speaker 1: a flat where they put the pins and the slopes
Speaker 1: and these greens. If the pins over here in the left,
Speaker 1: you might slope hit their shot to the right to
Speaker 1: catch the slope to go down there. We see it
Speaker 1: on sixteen all the time on Sunday with that back
Speaker 1: left pin there. How they shoot it up into the
Speaker 1: middle of the green and use the slope to bring
Speaker 1: it down where there's a lot of holes like that.
Speaker 1: It's why first timer is very seldom contend to win
Speaker 1: there because there's so much local knowledge involved. Then the
Speaker 1: pitching around the green is very difficult those areas, and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of runoff slope. The areas around the
Speaker 1: greens is cut so firmly and so tight, and then
Speaker 1: you're pitching into the green that you have to change
Speaker 1: and you're on a little uphill eye most of the
Speaker 1: time you're changing the way you pitch balls. So it
Speaker 1: takes a lot of not only local knowledge, but knowledge
Speaker 1: on how to play some of these shots and definitely
Speaker 1: how to play some of the holes. Do you feel
Speaker 1: like it's a golf course set ask questions of your
Speaker 1: game or as much as ask questions of your mental thinking,
Speaker 1: because it always teams like there are shots that if
Speaker 1: you've watched there a long time, if you've been there
Speaker 1: a long time, when you're commentating like you are, players
Speaker 1: will hit it in places and everybody sitting around you
Speaker 1: will go, he's making bogey. Now, well, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of that out there, there's no doubt. That's why I
Speaker 1: say local knowledge is so important. The examination is do
Speaker 1: you have control if you can drive the ball good
Speaker 1: around and got to of course obviously gets a little easier,
Speaker 1: especially the par fives, But do you have total control
Speaker 1: of your iron game? Meaning do you have control of
Speaker 1: the distance you're hitting every shot. One of the things
Speaker 1: that I used to think set Tiger aside from everybody
Speaker 1: else is when you watched him play, how many times
Speaker 1: do you hit the ball exactly pin high, exactly pin?
Speaker 1: I mean he had total control of his iron game
Speaker 1: going into these greens, and they're not easy greens to
Speaker 1: get the ball close to. They're big enough where they're
Speaker 1: easy to hit, but you can get in some areas
Speaker 1: where it's impossible to tu punch. So I think if
Speaker 1: you have control of your iron game and you're driving
Speaker 1: the ball pretty well, you're gonna have good chance there.
Speaker 1: The other thing is we always say we tell guys that, Okay,
Speaker 1: I used to tell my paryers, I got one hundred.
Speaker 1: If you don't three pot one green seventy two holes.
Speaker 1: I think tiger Wood is the only one ever did it,
Speaker 1: which is so for everyone listening that hasn't played there,
Speaker 1: or if they haven't been there. The test of the greens,
Speaker 1: I mean some of the greens, I mean it's it's
Speaker 1: controversial to say, but some of the greens there are
Speaker 1: putting it nicely, would say they are severe. The sixth green,
Speaker 1: the fifth green, the fourteenth green. But the test that
Speaker 1: the greens demand of you as a potter, what do
Speaker 1: you feel like those are? Well, first of all, you
Speaker 1: have to have tremendous field because you're going to have
Speaker 1: long pots, and these greens are normally around thirteen and
Speaker 1: a half on the step meter. And then you put
Speaker 1: the slopes in there on some of them and they
Speaker 1: just get brutal. So you've got a number one, put
Speaker 1: your second shot in the right place where you can
Speaker 1: avoid some of these areas. But I think you look
Speaker 1: at it and the greens have pretty much been the
Speaker 1: same to the whole existence. They just because of agronomy,
Speaker 1: they've gotten faster and stuff like that. You know, maybe
Speaker 1: if you've built that those greens today on some courses,
Speaker 1: some people would say, no, that's ridiculous, it's too severe.
Speaker 1: But it's the Masters, It's Augusta National. It's always been
Speaker 1: that way. That's part of what it is there, and
Speaker 1: it's part of a big part that the players have
Speaker 1: to learn how to conquer. In the practice rounds, they
Speaker 1: literally have to spend a lot of time hitting long
Speaker 1: pots across the greens to get the feeling of the slopes,
Speaker 1: get the feeling of the speed a guy. You know,
Speaker 1: first of all, you can say, if you don't put good,
Speaker 1: you're not going to win a tournament anyway. But to
Speaker 1: win the Masters, you have to really put good. Jack
Speaker 1: Nicholas won there. I mean, he and Tiger have dominated
Speaker 1: there so much. Do you feel like they play a
Speaker 1: similar type of game mentally in that they have always
Speaker 1: been willing to let everybody else beat themselves as opposed
Speaker 1: to I mean, when Tiger won in nineteen on Sunday,
Speaker 1: he makes one birdie all day long. You know that,
Speaker 1: everybody knows that. You know, he watched everybody in front
Speaker 1: of him on twelve rinse it into the water and
Speaker 1: make double, and he aimed left of the green there
Speaker 1: and just dumped it to the middle of the green
Speaker 1: and got out of there. Jack had that type of
Speaker 1: ability to control his iron shots, but also mentally, Jack
Speaker 1: talked a lot about letting everyone else beat them. I
Speaker 1: think more so than any major we see, Augusta forces
Speaker 1: you in almost it wants you to beat yourself mentally,
Speaker 1: to get ahead of yourself, to not stay in the moment.
Speaker 1: Would you agree, Oh, definitely. And first of all, we're
Speaker 1: talking about two greatest players that have ever played, Jack
Speaker 1: Nichols and Tiger Woods, and they are similar in that regard,
Speaker 1: as both of them are two of the best mental
Speaker 1: strengths they have, and the ability to just dump the
Speaker 1: ball in the middle of the green when you have
Speaker 1: to and not get caught up in the little tricks
Speaker 1: around Augusta where they can put the pins where if
Speaker 1: you miss it on the wrong side, you almost have
Speaker 1: no chance of getting up and down. And you have
Speaker 1: to know all that when you play. And those two
Speaker 1: were the best in the world, the best players, the
Speaker 1: best thinkers, the best putter's mentally stronger than anyone else.
Speaker 1: The difference between Jack and Tiger was Jack would be
Speaker 1: content to win by one or two shots. If he
Speaker 1: had the lead going out on Sunday, He's going to
Speaker 1: dump the ball in the middle of the green or
Speaker 1: only take on pins that he has a chance because
Speaker 1: if he's leading, he knew that you had to do
Speaker 1: something crazy to come get him. And then if you
Speaker 1: get up there, then he takes some chances and stuff.
Speaker 1: Tiger just goes out and wants to tear the golf
Speaker 1: course apart. I mean, he can play conservatively, even though
Speaker 1: it doesn't look like it's conservative, because it's a conservative
Speaker 1: for him because he's so aggressive. But he's also smart
Speaker 1: enough and he knows that place so well. He knows
Speaker 1: how to get around there, and that's the big key
Speaker 1: watching these guys get around this course. So obviously Tiger's
Speaker 1: playing what do we expect from him? And we haven't
Speaker 1: seen him a lot. We haven't seen him play a lot.
Speaker 1: When we have seen him play, it's it's not what
Speaker 1: we're used to seeing. What kind of chances do you
Speaker 1: give tar I mean, Hank Kney, I've listened to him
Speaker 1: on his podcast. Hank thinks that Augusta is one of
Speaker 1: the chances Tiger has to win not only another tournament,
Speaker 1: but win another major. Would you agree? I don't know
Speaker 1: if I agree with that or not. I'd love to
Speaker 1: see it happen. And I would never tell Tiger Woods
Speaker 1: he can't do anything, because he will prove you wrong.
Speaker 1: But it's it's a hard walk when you're healthy. It's
Speaker 1: a very hard walk when you're healthy. And you know,
Speaker 1: we know that he struggles walking. He can play in
Speaker 1: a card and play phenomenal, but you have to walk Augusta,
Speaker 1: and there's so many uphills and down hills and side hills.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things. If you remember last year
Speaker 1: when he made the cut, the poor guy looked like
Speaker 1: he was just about to die walking off the seventy
Speaker 1: second old. I thought that was one of the greatest
Speaker 1: feats of all time, that he made it seventy two
Speaker 1: holes there. What kind of shape is he in this year.
Speaker 1: I don't know. You may have heard from the guys
Speaker 1: that play with him down there in Florida. I know
Speaker 1: his swing looks good, his game looks good. I know
Speaker 1: how competitive he is. I just don't know physically if
Speaker 1: he's gonna be able to go seventy two holes and
Speaker 1: be at its best. I certainly hope so, because it's
Speaker 1: a hell of a lot more exciting when he's in
Speaker 1: the mix. Let's talk about some of the favorites Dad
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, How the hell has Rory McElroy
Speaker 1: not one a green jacket. You couldn't design a golf
Speaker 1: course that is more made for a player than Augusta
Speaker 1: National has made for Rory, And every element of Rory's
Speaker 1: game sets up perfectly for Augusta Nashville. Well, if you
Speaker 1: look at the two three best players in the world,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at Scottish Sheffer, you look at Rory,
Speaker 1: you look at John Romm, They're the three best players
Speaker 1: in the world. I'm gonna go out on a limb
Speaker 1: right now. I think Rory mcclroy is gonna win the
Speaker 1: Masters this year. He's my pick. I'm gonna I will
Speaker 1: say it. I'll say when I'm on Sky during the week.
Speaker 1: I actually think he has playing as good as he's
Speaker 1: ever played. With a new Scottie Cameron putter that he
Speaker 1: switched to. He putted beautifully into match play. He's the
Speaker 1: best driver in the game when his game is there,
Speaker 1: and I think his game is coming together, and I
Speaker 1: really think this is going to be his week. Now.
Speaker 1: Having said that, those three top guys had just dominated
Speaker 1: golf unbelievable, and John ram I mean, he may be
Speaker 1: the best player in the world. Who knows. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's been unbelievable. Scottish Cheffler. Eighteen months ago, a lot
Speaker 1: of people didn't know who he was. Now he's defending
Speaker 1: Master Champion, he's won four or five times. He's just
Speaker 1: run off. He's the number one player in the world.
Speaker 1: It's impressive. His coach Randy Smith, who's a good friend
Speaker 1: of mine. I commend Randy tremendously for the work he's
Speaker 1: done with Scottish Cheffler. It's unbelievable. But I think this
Speaker 1: is Rory's year. I really do. I know I'm going
Speaker 1: out on the limb. No, I will not take Rory
Speaker 1: and give you the field. That's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: I just feel it's his time. I mean, you're not really,
Speaker 1: I mean, come on, going out on the limb. You're
Speaker 1: kicking Rory mac Roy to win around the ghost. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's as much of a layup as it is. Dad.
Speaker 1: What does he have to do to win that he
Speaker 1: hasn't done before? Control his mind, control his mind, stay
Speaker 1: in the moment, don't get ahead, don't get behind. The
Speaker 1: two best players again that we've ever had Jack Nicholas
Speaker 1: and tiger woods. The last shot never happened. As soon
Speaker 1: as they've hit it good or bad, it's gone. They
Speaker 1: move on to the next one. If Rory can control
Speaker 1: his mind and drive the ball the way you and
Speaker 1: I know he can drive, he's one of the guys
Speaker 1: that can make this golf course look easier. And with
Speaker 1: some of these new teas, the fact that his natural
Speaker 1: shot is a draw and not a fade, that's going
Speaker 1: to help him. Normally, I wouldn't say that because faders
Speaker 1: have won the Masters a lot, but now as some
Speaker 1: of these new teas, thirteen especially, you've got to take
Speaker 1: it right to laft Or. And like you said a
Speaker 1: few months ago, when DJ needs to hit a drying
Speaker 1: and hit a driver, he hits the three wood because
Speaker 1: he can draw it better. So Roy's just Rory. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've been saying this a long time. How has he
Speaker 1: not won the Master him? And he's had his chances
Speaker 1: and he's blown him. You remember a few years ago
Speaker 1: he was leading, all of a sudden the tent total
Speaker 1: jumped up and grabbed him and he went sideways like
Speaker 1: Greg did and that way back and when he lost
Speaker 1: his you know, but it's it's just it's the Masters,
Speaker 1: it's the first major and the other thing that people
Speaker 1: don't talk about. It's probably the greatest fraternity in golf
Speaker 1: to be in that locker room upstairs, in the real cuphouse,
Speaker 1: the main cuphouse, because everybody else is in another building
Speaker 1: down to the left, and everybody wants to be in
Speaker 1: that locker room. They all want that green jacket, and
Speaker 1: we're about to find out who's going to get it. Well.
Speaker 1: One of the things I think that Rory, I mean,
Speaker 1: you just couldn't believe in twenty fourteen if somebody told
Speaker 1: you in twenty twenty three, Roy McElroy and Brooks Keptko
Speaker 1: would have the same amount of majors, because in fourteen
Speaker 1: Brooks had none and Rory was winning him all the time.
Speaker 1: It seems like at times he's put himself behind the
Speaker 1: eight ball and not gotten off to a good start.
Speaker 1: He's kind of had that first round where he's overpower
Speaker 1: and then he has to press You and I both
Speaker 1: know that. Augusta and the way they set the golf
Speaker 1: course up, it is a hard golf course to go
Speaker 1: out and press on. A lot of people don't know
Speaker 1: Dad how they set the golf course up. I know you,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know you have so many friends that
Speaker 1: are part of that. Talk a little bit about how
Speaker 1: they set it up and how they want it to
Speaker 1: be set up Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Well, they
Speaker 1: can kind of control the flow of the tournament. They
Speaker 1: have subair systems in the green. We're gonna have rain
Speaker 1: this week for the Masters, and but they can suck
Speaker 1: that water right out of the greens overnight. You'll hear
Speaker 1: those those subair things going when you walk around. They
Speaker 1: can create a golf course that will either let you
Speaker 1: have a chance to shoot real low or give you
Speaker 1: a chance not to shoot solo. They like the error
Speaker 1: in the middle, unlike the USGA, who will tell you
Speaker 1: they want part to be the barometer and see who
Speaker 1: can do it. August is not that they like to
Speaker 1: set it up where it's exciting, but fair as fair
Speaker 1: as it can be on some of those screens, because
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of flat spots and that's what
Speaker 1: you need, and so that that part of it plays
Speaker 1: into it. But I think it's always exciting. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's it goes back to what we said it
Speaker 1: is the first major of the year. It's always in
Speaker 1: the same place. Can you imagine if the Open Championship,
Speaker 1: which I love, has always played at Saint Andrew's that
Speaker 1: would be amazing. Now, then the courses are great, don't
Speaker 1: don't get to be wrong, and it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: But if it was just always at Saint Andrews, it
Speaker 1: would be cash it would be even better. Do you
Speaker 1: think they have similar to the USA? The USGA loves
Speaker 1: it when nobody's under par and everybody's over par. Do
Speaker 1: you think that the Paris would be at Augusta dott
Speaker 1: have an idea of a score that they have in
Speaker 1: mind that they want. Yeah. I think they look at
Speaker 1: what the weather conditions are going to be, what the
Speaker 1: conditions of course are going to be. Actually win plays
Speaker 1: a huge part at this golf course. They look at
Speaker 1: that in advance. They have done all their homer They
Speaker 1: have had every shot charted that's ever been hit there
Speaker 1: in the last twenty five thirty yards on every every hole,
Speaker 1: every fair way. They know exactly where the balls go,
Speaker 1: they know how everything acts on the greens, and they
Speaker 1: have total control of that because of the fact it's
Speaker 1: always played there. And I don't think they set it
Speaker 1: up like the USGA. They don't have a problem with
Speaker 1: guys shooting under par. They just want to set it
Speaker 1: up where it's fair. It's difficult, but it gives you
Speaker 1: a chance if you can control your ball and if
Speaker 1: you can put to have a chance to make birdies
Speaker 1: and eagles. Yeah. And I think that if you look
Speaker 1: at the players that have won there before, talk to
Speaker 1: me about the rolled out of the caddies at Augusta,
Speaker 1: because I think if you look at you know, I
Speaker 1: mean the partnership of Tiger and Stevie, you know fill
Speaker 1: and Bones, you know Nicholas and all his great caddies.
Speaker 1: But even Adam Scott talks, you know, he's been talking
Speaker 1: a lot, you know, leading up to this about when
Speaker 1: he won there where Stevie Williams called him off and said, no, no.
Speaker 1: The role of the caddy there because the winds can
Speaker 1: swirl around, it is kind of a a tournament where
Speaker 1: that relationship I think is really important. Oh, there's no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. And it's a trust factor. It's a
Speaker 1: trust factor and the player and the caddies. There's a
Speaker 1: few guys going in there this year with new caddies,
Speaker 1: and that's going to be interesting to see how that
Speaker 1: plays out. You know, that's going to be interesting to
Speaker 1: see what happens there. Most of the guys that are
Speaker 1: in contention have played a lot of Masters. Like I said,
Speaker 1: there's only been one first time winner since the first
Speaker 1: one started, obviously, and that was Fuzzy many many years ago.
Speaker 1: So it's hard to be a first time winner there.
Speaker 1: And you've got to have a caddy that really understands
Speaker 1: the nuances of the golf course, the places where you
Speaker 1: can hit at the places you can't hit it. Caddies
Speaker 1: play a huge part every week, a gigantic part at
Speaker 1: the Masters. You said they've completely redesigned the Part three
Speaker 1: tournament for people that have never been to Augusta. I
Speaker 1: mean not. Part three is as cool as as it comes.
Speaker 1: I mean it is such a cool, cool part of
Speaker 1: the golf course, but also a huge part of the tradition.
Speaker 1: Your dad made back to back holer ones sure did,
Speaker 1: yeah about in the sixties. Yeah, and which holes? I
Speaker 1: told them me as the dad, You're the only guy
Speaker 1: I know you played a nine hole course. You made
Speaker 1: two aces, and you didn't win the tournament. I said,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that you know what's going to well, you know,
Speaker 1: you know what he said to me. So what do
Speaker 1: you shoot that day? Oh yeah, that's right. You're not
Speaker 1: in the Masters to get it. But the new Part
Speaker 1: three design is spectacular. They've changed The last three holes
Speaker 1: are pretty much the same, but they've changed all the
Speaker 1: others and there's big mounding around it. You can stand
Speaker 1: on every tea and every green and see just about
Speaker 1: every hole on the course. So spectacular For the spectators,
Speaker 1: it's just another thing that they do there that's just
Speaker 1: separate than others, and this makes them special. Um, Live
Speaker 1: guys playing at Augusta. I mean it's going to be
Speaker 1: the first major, you know since Live had their first season,
Speaker 1: all that bullshit and drama. Where do you think, where
Speaker 1: do you think we're gonna get me all that? I
Speaker 1: don't think there's going to be any drama at all.
Speaker 1: I think the Live players, I think there's eighteen of
Speaker 1: them playing, their six former champions playing there. I think
Speaker 1: out of respect to the Masters and what it is,
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna here see the guys handle it
Speaker 1: very well. And I wouldn't surprise me that every time
Speaker 1: in a press conference some of them ask them about
Speaker 1: to live. Their aunts would be you know, I'm here
Speaker 1: to playing the Masters. Let's talk about that. At least
Speaker 1: that's the way I hope it is. Now. What you
Speaker 1: you know, you hear all this animosity that these players
Speaker 1: they hate each other and stuff. Well, where you live
Speaker 1: down there? There must be thirty something tour pros live
Speaker 1: down there, and a bunch of them are on live
Speaker 1: and they all play with these guys when they're home.
Speaker 1: So there isn't The press wants to make this out
Speaker 1: more than anyone, And I think between Greg and Monahan,
Speaker 1: they've kind of thrown fuel on the fire too. I
Speaker 1: think the guys just want to play off, and I
Speaker 1: think you're going to see that at Augusta. So that
Speaker 1: was part one of kind of Augusta Masters preview show.
Speaker 1: Kind of got some good stuff there from Butch about
Speaker 1: his thoughts on what he kind of who the favorites are,
Speaker 1: a little bit about the golf course. He's obviously played
Speaker 1: the golf course recently, so who better to talk about
Speaker 1: the changes. He's actually seen them firsthand, but always fascinating
Speaker 1: to kind of get his take. Tomorrow, it will be
Speaker 1: a kind of ask Butch where he answers your questions.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna want to miss that as well, So
Speaker 1: two episodes this week, a little preview show today and
Speaker 1: then a little butch answers your questions tomorrow. So make
Speaker 1: sure you join us again tomorrow, Son of a which
Speaker 1: comes to you every Wednesday. We'll see everyone tomorrow.