WEBVTT - Back On Top 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:08.800 It's the Son of a Butch podcast. I'm your host, 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:13.400 Claude Harmon. I'll be the guest today. Obviously, just got 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.840 back from the PGA Championship and I mean, what an 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.640 amazing week. I think it was a pretty important week 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.319 in Brooks kept his career, certainly after what happened at 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:29.120 the Masters where he wasn't able to close, and he's 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.639 been a closer his entire career. Unfortunately, he didn't get 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.920 it done at Augusta, but at o'kill he got it done. 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.080 And you know, it was a really really interesting week. 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:41.880 That is a that is a big boy golf course, 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:46.640 and that's that's another thing. I mean, obviously, that's Brooks's 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:52.760 fifth major, which puts him in very very elite company. 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.640 But if you look at the golf courses Aaron Hills, 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.120 everybody says it was an easy golf course, it was 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.080 a bomber's paradise, and yeah, I'll take a little bit 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:03.200 of that. But if you look at the rest of 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.400 the golf courses that Brooks has won major Zone Shinnecock, 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.920 Beth Page, you know, Belle Reeves kind of old school, 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:15.760 and then Okill, which is very very old school. He 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:20.440 wins on really really difficult golf courses, and I think 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:25.160 that's another big part of the story, is his game 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:33.080 rises to really really difficult challenges. Okill is, it was 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.080 a tough golf course before the redesign. They did a redesign. 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.959 They took out a lot of trees. I've been there. 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.840 I was there in eighty nine. I was there in 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.600 two eighty nine for the US Open, two thousand and 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.680 five for the Ryder Cup, and then in thirteen for 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:54.320 the last PGA. I like the changes. I think they 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.480 did a really good job. There is this kind of 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.160 I think it's I don't want to call it a fad, 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:03.880 but there is definitely a move towards going to these 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.520 old golf courses and trying to take out a lot 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:08.600 of the trees that have grown up. So I guess 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:10.960 they're trying to take the golf courses back to where 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.960 they were originally designed, because obviously, if something was designed 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.160 forty fifty years ago, the trees that they were planning 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.320 then are different than the ones and the amount of 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.640 vegetation they'll have now. But I like the redesign. I 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:29.079 thought the sixth hole was just brutal. It's just a 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.280 tough golf course, tough hole. But I do think the 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:36.400 players that I talked to everyone said they don't mind it. 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.600 I don't think golfers professional golfers like it, dislike it 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:45.440 being hard, and I thought Oka was very, very fair. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:50.639 But it is a tough test, and it's just there 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.800 are stretches of holes where you know that that's the 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:58.079 kind of that's the time to make your score because 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.280 you know coming in you're going to go through a 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.000 stretch of holes. We were just going to have to 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.040 hang on. So yeah, I mean, it was a really 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.639 it was an interesting week for Brooks. Thursday, I mean 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.519 practice rounds. He was fine. He played good the week 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.280 before in Tulsa, didn't putt great. I think if he 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:20.080 putts it all in Tulsa the week before where he 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.880 was playing on live, he probably could have gotten into 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:29.240 the playoff with DJ and Gracie and Cam Smith. Didn't 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.359 get it done and we didn't. We didn't do a 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:36.800 ton and ton of work at Okill. We kind of 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:41.080 paced ourselves. It's been a long run for Brooks. You know, 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.920 you can tell that he's a little bit tired, and 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:49.400 so we we didn't grind a ton golf swing wise, 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:53.400 he's hitting it good. He's been hitting it good for 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:58.840 a while now. Thursday I thought was really I thought 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.960 Thursday was one in the golf tournament and that was 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.040 the worst round he had. He did not play well. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.400 Warm ups were good, but he just got on the 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.400 golf course didn't play good. As soon as he got done, 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:14.360 we went straight to the range. He said that he 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:16.440 felt his hands had kind of gotten a little bit 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.080 back at a dress and he kind of was missing it, 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:25.080 you know. Both ways. Hit some really wide shots on Thursday, 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:30.680 but there was zero panic. There was like no panic, 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:35.440 And I found that quite interesting that I think when 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:40.040 a player plays poorly but they know they're playing good, 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:43.640 there isn't this sense of panic. So we went to 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.880 the range after Thursday's round for about twenty minutes, hit 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.960 some balls. Got his set up. Everything in Brooks' golf 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.520 swing tends to be you know, when he gets off, 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.520 the issues tend to be set up related issues. His 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.640 hands get too far back, ball position gets too far back, 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:01.720 a line mint gets off. So a lot of what 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.159 I do over the course of my time with Brooks 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.479 is we do a lot of work on the basics 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.200 and listen in twenty twenty three, basics aren't real sexy 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.120 right now, grip stance post your alignment. No one's making 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.599 Instagram videos on grip stance, posture in alignment. They're making 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.640 them laying the shaft down and all the cool stuff 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.839 that all the cool kids are doing right now. But 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.240 I think you would be surprised at you know, for 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.600 the best players in the world, when their alignment, when 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.479 they're a ball position, when the basics of what they're 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.720 doing before they hit a golf ball get off because 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.040 they've got so much speed, because they've got so much power, 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.160 because they hit the golf ball so solid, they can 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.320 hit the golf ball a long way offline. So when 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:46.719 Brooks's basics get out of whack, he can shoot some 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.240 bad scores and hit some bad shots. So I was 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.120 really happy that that's all it really was. He didn't panic. 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.560 He knows he's hitting it good. His hands got a 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:58.520 little bit back. He kind of felt that on the 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:00.760 golf course. We went to the rain, and then he 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.080 looked at Ricky Elliott and I and looked us right. 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.279 Both of us looked right at us and said, I 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.880 won't play bad again this week and there have been 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:14.640 times where Brooks has said that before, and normally when 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.760 he says something like that, in the way that he 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.080 says it, in the conviction that he says it with, 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:24.040 you tend to believe him. He played really good on Friday, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.159 came straight off the golf course and as he was 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:31.440 walking from eighteen into scoring, he just had this look 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:33.640 on his face and he looked at me and he said, 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:35.840 I told you I'm not going to play bad again. 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.440 I think he learned a lot at Augusta from not 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.040 getting it done on Sunday, and I think last week 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.480 and I think Sunday was a massive, massive day for Brooks. 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.839 In his career, he has been in alpha in the 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.800 major championships. There was a time where it seemed like 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.039 to a lot of people that he had somewhat cracked 0:06:55.040 --> 0:07:01.919 the code in majors just because he was winning them 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:06.880 so much and so often. So I think to come 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.360 back and shoot three rounds in the sixties, get himself 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:13.800 back in the golf tournament on Friday. The golf the 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.840 conditions on Saturday were not good. I mean, it was raining, 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.320 it was cold. You knew if you hit the golf 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:21.480 ball offline, you're gonna get it into the thick rough 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.760 that was already penal and then it was wet, and 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.880 he went out on Saturday and shot another really good 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:34.880 score and you could just see this kind of momentum building. 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.320 But Sunday, I gotta be honest, the Sunday he was 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:40.240 a little jumpy in his warm up. He didn't feel 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:41.800 like he was hitting it that great. I know, he 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:44.480 said to Pete Cowen that he didn't feel like his 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.720 golf swing was was great. But by the time you 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.000 get to Sunday on a major championship, you know, what 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.640 you have is what you have golf swing wise. I 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.200 think Brooks was trying to you know, maybe being yeah. 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.640 I think he was probably a little bit nervous. I 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:03.440 think he was, you know, looking for perfection, which is 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.240 tough to have. The warm up that he had on 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.640 before the final round on Sunday at Augusta made the 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.000 warm up that he had at Oakill on Sunday, I mean, 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.600 it was like black and white. He never missed a 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:19.160 shot on Sunday at Augusta in his warm up. It 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.720 was one of the best warm ups I've ever seen him. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:26.240 Have complete control ability to do whatever he wanted with 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.720 the golf ball, but just total total control over what 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.800 he was doing and went out and didn't play the 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.360 way he wanted to, didn't get the job done. I 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:40.080 think getting off to the start that he got off 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:44.400 to on Sunday was so important. Hit it to sixteen 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.080 feet on the first, four feet on the second, four 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.320 feet on the third, four feet on our nine feet 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:54.000 on the fourth. So he's hitting it inside of ten 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.840 feet on three of the holes and right around fifteen 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.600 feet on the other one. That's a statement I think 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.800 everybody he was looking on Sunday, specifically the guys that 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.920 were around Brooks on the leader board. He took a 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:09.200 one shot lead, but I think you're looking to see, okay, 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:10.920 which Brooks is going to show up. Is it the 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:15.760 Brooks from you know, two thousand and seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.000 where he was winning majors on a regular basis, or 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.720 we're we're going to get on Sunday the Master's twenty 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.439 twenty three Brooks where he didn't get the job done 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.640 on Sunday. So I thought getting off to that start, 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:34.480 hitting those type of shots early certainly kind of put 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:37.600 him in a little bit of a I wouldn't say relaxed, 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.640 but I definitely think at one point early he had 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.000 a three shot lead, two or three shot lead, so 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.680 your mindset is very, very different. The sixth hole, which 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:51.440 I referenced, such a difficult, difficult hole. He had a 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.920 poor drive, but somehow managed to make a bogie. And 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.840 you know, the eight years I worked with Brooks previously, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.240 and you know, back together with him now, one of 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:06.080 the mantras and we had as a team for the 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:11.240 major championships were don't make any double bogies. Bogies are fine. 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:15.040 You can survive making bogies, making double bogies and major 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.160 championships are very very tough to overcome making double bogies. 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.840 When you have the lead and you're in a major 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.480 championship on Sunday, you throw a double in the mix early, 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:29.079 it normally doesn't farewell. It kind of lets the field 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:31.920 know that, hey, there might be some chinks in the armor. 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.280 So I think the par that he was able to 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.800 make there, or the bogie that he was able to 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.800 make there, was huge because he's staring making double right 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.160 in the face he was. I think he knew that 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.360 Victor Hovlin was playing well. Vic I can't say enough 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.959 about how good this kid is. He is, he is legit, 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.880 he is elite. His ball striking is as good as anybody. 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.200 And you know, the work that he's done recently with 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:04.719 Joe Mayo on a short games has paid dividends. I mean, 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.120 you know, we all kind of have seen Victor struggle 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.439 around the greens. For a good player, he has struggled 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.160 a lot, and it was great to see him now. 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.560 I do think that the way the rough was set 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:22.160 up at at at Oakhill, very penal, very much old 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.559 school kind of US open Northeast kind of thick, thick rough. 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:32.240 I actually think that helps Victor because it takes there's 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.760 no creativity at that point. You're not trying to figure 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.079 out what shot you're going to hit, what type of 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.400 shot you're going to try and play. You just basically 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:42.960 have it's thick rough. You just have to beat down 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:45.360 on it and grind, you know, grind it out and 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:47.720 just get it on the green and run it to 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.000 the whole. There isn't a lot of nuance, there isn't 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.360 a lot of skill, So in that respect, I think 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:55.080 it was it was helpful to be on that type 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:59.000 of golf course. But listen, Victor Hoblin is going to 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.199 have chances to win major tachampionships moving forward. I'd be 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.880 shocked if he doesn't win one. He's got that type 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.240 of talent. He and his caddie, Shane Knight. I think 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:10.280 they're one of the best teams on the PGA Tour. 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.320 And I am a huge, huge Victor Hovelin fan, So 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.080 great to see him play well and he will have 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:19.240 more chances and I definitely think there is a major 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:23.760 in his future. But you know, Brooks somehow makes bogie 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:25.959 and then you know, made a couple of putts when 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.080 he needed to. But to me, the game changer for 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:31.800 him was thirteen Part five where he's looking at you know, 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:37.440 definitely making birdie and had to hold a pretty dicey 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:42.000 quick downhill left to right putt. And you know, if 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:44.079 you're going to win a major championship, there's always going 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.240 to be one of those putts from ten to twelve 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:49.240 feet that is for parr And if you want to 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:50.880 win the golf tournament, you're going to have to win. 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:52.920 You're gonna have to make it to win the golf tournament. 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:58.760 And he stands up on fourteen and just hits an 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:03.680 unbelievable draw and you know, closes the door at sixteen. 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.760 I thought the drive that he hit on eighteen showed 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.120 a lot of guts. He didn't have to hit driver 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.000 there with a lead. He could have easily hit something 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.800 else and had a longer iron. But I think it's 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.680 a testament to how he was playing and how much 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:21.160 confidence he had in what he was doing. He has this, 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:25.200 this knack this, and I don't. I'm around him a 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:26.760 lot and have been around him a lot for the 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:32.800 last ten years, and Brooks just he likes he likes 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.400 major championships. He liked and trust me, anybody that tells 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:40.760 you that they that they like major championships, they're probably 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:45.040 not telling you the truth. But Brooks, he really does 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.480 like them. He likes the pressure, he likes the you know, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.360 all of the things that he knows that you're going 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.840 to have to do to win one. He knows that 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:03.200 you're going to have to go through a lot. It's 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.040 going to get tough, it's going to get dirty, it's 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.319 going to get messy, it's going to get ugly to 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:10.160 win a major championship. And some guys like that, and 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:12.880 some guys don't. He is one of those players that 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.920 just really really really likes it. He likes it when 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:24.040 the pressure is the toughest. He's now won fourteen percent 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.520 of the majors he's played in, and in fifty percent 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.680 of the majors he's played in, he's finished inside the 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:32.760 top ten. Those are just those are just numbers that 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:36.960 we just aren't used to seeing from one person, specifically 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.040 in the majors. I mean, I guess you could say, 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.440 you know, we saw that from Tiger, but of the 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:47.160 modern generation. You know, Roy McRoy won his last major 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:52.600 when Brooks had won none, and in twenty fourteen. If 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.320 I told you that Roy macroy is going to have 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.720 four majors and Brooks Koepka would have more majors than him, 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.160 I just don't think anyone would believe it, because that's 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.800 how great Rory McElroy is. That is how dominant a 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:12.040 golfer he is and can be. So I think Brooks 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:16.320 now with five. It's I mean, I think a lot 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.680 of people are trying to figure out where to put 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:22.320 this win with all the live stuff going on with 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:29.160 the debate. I think, moving forward, hopefully, I think it's 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.880 a fantastic thing for the game of golf that somebody 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:34.600 from Live won a major, because I think it's an 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:39.360 opportunity for us to just go back to talking about golf. 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.000 I mean, can we just go back to talking about 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.080 golf and not politics and all of the other stuff 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.880 that you know, people seem to want to talk about. 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:54.160 I mean, it's just these guys are golfers, right, Brooks 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:58.880 is a professional golfers and a professional golfer, and if 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:03.920 he's healthy, which is it is so naive to think 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:05.880 that he's not going to be a great player. He's 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:07.640 not going to be a dominant player in the majors 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.800 because that's what he was. A lot of the reporters 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:14.120 afterwards were asking me, were you surprised by any of this? 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.440 And I'm like, the only people that are surprised by 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.880 this are the people in the media that have been 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:22.360 anti Lived, that haven't gone to any of the tournaments 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.520 and haven't watched any of the live tournaments, and you know, 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:29.560 like to pretend that it's a fifty four fifty four 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.480 hole exhibition, and you know, everybody that plays on that 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.480 tour is hurting their career because they're not playing on 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.600 the PGA Tour and they're not playing in seventy two holes. 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.920 I think that whole narrative. Now we had another major 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:48.000 where there were live players. Bryson played good last week, 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.880 had a great showing. Cam Smith had a great final 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:58.840 round on Sunday. It's golf. These are professional golfers. It 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.320 doesn't really matter are where they play. And I think 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:08.280 anyone that thought that these guys just weren't going to 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.800 be able to continue to play in major championships on 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:15.159 the biggest stage, to me, it was I think it 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.240 was for a lot of people. They were hoping that 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.879 for their own agendas, whatever those agendas are. But I 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:26.480 think the last two Majors have clearly shown that the 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:30.680 players that went to Live they were great players when 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:32.919 they went there, and they're still great players. If you 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:38.520 don't agree with Live for political reasons, if you don't 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:42.680 like the format, that's that's fine. I mean, everyone is 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.840 entitled to their own opinion. But the fact is that 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.280 in two major championships, you know, one has been one 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:55.119 by guy that went to Live, and the Masters was 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.000 almost one by guy that went to Live. And you know, 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:00.960 someone who has been a you know, a anti LIV 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.879 punching bags see Wan Kim see Wan Kim made the 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.280 cut and played good and beat a lot of people 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.360 that play seventy two holes and play on the PGA 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:11.720 Tour and all that. So I mean to me, it's 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.960 all bullshit, right, It's this is golf, professional golfers. I 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.640 don't care where you're playing professional golf. I don't care 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:20.399 if you're playing on the PGA Tour. I don't care 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:25.000 if you're playing on the LPGA, DP World, Asia, South 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:31.400 Africa Champs Tour and Live as well. If you were 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.240 playing on a professional tour and you are winning on 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:39.320 a professional tour, then your game is going in the 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.000 right direction. And you know, brooks Kopka's won three of 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.840 the last slum trying to think since he won in 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:50.600 Jetta so one in Jedda, his team had a chance 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.360 to win the team championship in Miami at the Live finale, 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:59.919 so then he played Saudi Arabia, then missed the cut 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.439 in an Asian Tour event in Oman that all the 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:09.760 anti Live people jumped all over, and you know, and 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:14.679 then has played pretty good the last month. So it 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.680 doesn't matter in my opinion, It doesn't matter where you're 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:22.399 playing or where you're winning. If you are winning. Then 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.760 don't be surprised if you see guys playing a tournament 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:28.520 have a chance to win. I mean we see that 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.280 all the time, we have seen for years. I mean, 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.600 look at Tom Kim, right, I mean Tom Kim is 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.119 the new darling of the PGA Tour, right, and I 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:37.919 think he's a superstar. I mean I really do. I 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.400 love this kid. I thought, you know, last week him 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:42.719 falling in the water and all of that, that is 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.199 just who he is. Right. You could see the progression 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:51.280 that Tom had of playing in Asia, then playing some 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.760 European starts, he started having some confidence, he started winning 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:59.080 some tournaments, and now he's one of the legit players. 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:03.720 So I just this narrative that because the golf is 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.119 being played on live, it's no good and you're not 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:08.680 going to be any good because you went to Live. 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.879 I think if that's what you've been pushing and you 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:14.680 still believe that, then I feel sorry for you because 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:17.760 I think that you're doing it for your own reasons, 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:23.960 because it's not the truth. If you don't like Live 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.440 and you don't like the players that went there, that's fine, 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.240 that's you got the right to do that. But to 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.680 try and portray these guys as being bumps. To me, 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.320 that's the thing that upsets me the most. And you know, 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:41.399 it's pretty vocal with some of the media. There's an 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.119 article of Golf Week that came out and listen, I 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:49.159 think there has been a segment of the golf media 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:55.439 that has been fiercely, fiercely anti Live and the stuff 0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:58.640 they wrote, the things they said, I think it hurt 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:01.000 a lot of guys that went to Live. And you know, 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:03.879 you've got these these players that had had great careers. 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.280 I mean, to me, the easiest example is you've got 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:11.040 Henrik Stenson, right. Henrik Stenson won the FedEx Cup, won 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:15.400 the Players Championship, won a major, an iconic major, down 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:18.360 the stretch with with Bill Micholson, one of the great 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:22.760 all time majors, stole ward of the European tour, of 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.720 the euro Ryder Cup team, and based off of all 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:31.240 of that criteria, they anoint him as the Writer Cup Captain. 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.320 That's what happens when you do what Henrik Stenson's done, 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:36.240 and you played your golf in Europe, they make you 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:38.719 a Writer Cup Captain. When you have that type of resume. 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:43.920 The day he goes to Live, bum insignificant was never 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.760 any good. And I'm like, the day before he made 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:50.240 the decision go to Live, he was the writer Cup captain, 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:54.439 so in one day everything that he did is just 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:57.320 a bomb. I just don't get it. And maybe, listen, 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:02.440 maybe my view is a little bit skewed because I've 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:07.520 been involved with Live for the last six seven eight months. 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:10.880 All of my players went there, but I was part 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:14.639 of the PGA Tours ecosystem for twenty something years. It 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:17.800 was part of the European Tour for a number of 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:21.200 years when I worked there. I've seen what those ecosystems 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.080 are like. I've seen what those tours are like. I 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:26.560 know how they work, I know how they run all 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:30.480 of those things. So I'm I said this, I'm pro 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:34.879 Live because I am pro professional athlete, I am pro 0:22:34.920 --> 0:22:39.399 professional golfer. I think that professional golfers should have the 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:45.040 same opportunities that every other athlete in professional sports has, 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:48.800 and there are players that get big contracts in every sport, 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:53.080 and I just I just don't fundamentally understand why there 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:59.000 is this continued want to have golf be like the 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:04.240 Truman Show, like this utopian Truman Show type thing. In 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:07.600 the fifties and sixties and where everything is just perfect 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:10.960 and nothing bad ever happens, and you know, everything's just 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.240 like it used to be. I personally don't want to 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:16.320 be a part of a sport like that, I really don't. 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:18.240 I don't want to be a part of a sport 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:21.879 that's constantly looking backwards. I think the game of golf 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:24.520 in twenty twenty three is in an amazing place. I 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:28.119 think we have some of the best golfers in a 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:30.119 very very long time. I mean, if you look at 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.520 the players playing all over the world on the men's side, 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:37.840 on the women's side, the caliber of golfers, the depth 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:42.359 of golfers, it's just it's staggering. It's tremendous. I think, 0:23:42.560 --> 0:23:44.560