WEBVTT - Takeaways from the 2024 U.S. Open 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.200 And when I find my ball in. 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.479 A Bride Egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg, Frida Egg, 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:11.280 Frida Egg, Brian Egg, Frida Egg. 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:13.680 Bride Egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the hump. 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.680 Welcome to the Frida Egg Golf Podcast. I'm Garrett Morrison, 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.520 and today we're still trying to process the twenty twenty 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:46.840 four US Open. Bryceon de Shamba won at Pinehurst number 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:51.479 two in thrilling fashion, and Roy McElroy recorded one of 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:56.080 the most heartbreaking runner up finishes in golf history. Maybe 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.040 I don't think that's an exaggeration. Now, before I bring 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:02.240 on Andy Johnson and Joseph Lamania to discuss our takeaways 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.440 from the championship, including some chat about how Pinehurst number 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.600 two fared in this tournament, I'd like to talk a 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:14.320 bit about Goodwalk Coffee. Goodwalk is Frida Egg Golf's official 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.160 coffee partner, and in my mug this morning, my little 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.200 glass mug that you'll sometimes see me sipping from in 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.800 video clips from these podcasts. In that mug was the 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:29.319 Frida Egg Golf Blend from Goodwalk and it was delicious. 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.920 I've been loving it lately. It's a bright and vibrant 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:37.200 organic coffee roasted to a medium light level. 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I guess say I'm on and on adrenaline. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.880 I was still Joseph and I had a very early morning. 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.600 We left the Pinehurst area at four fifteen for our flights, 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.720 and I gotta say I was on the plane still 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.760 buzzing from yesterday. That was an electric golf tournament. 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.000 Joseph, how are you faring, Garrett? 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.680 I'm great. I think similar to Andy. I was on 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.040 the flight this morning just kind of taking in what 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:29.760 had just happened and realizing the significance of that tournament yesterday. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:32.160 So I'm really excited to debrief it with you guys. 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.280 All right, Well, let's first talk about the kind of 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.680 contenders in the tournament, the basic action of the tournament, 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:43.560 before we dive deep into Pinehurst Number two. The architecture, 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.320 the presentation, the various issues around that. So does anybody 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.720 have a Bryson related takeaway that they can dig into 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:51.240 right now? 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.000 I think for one huge takeaway for me, Garrett is 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.520 that Bryson De Shamba's short game I did not appreciate 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.960 it enough coming into this week. I think that was 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.360 a huge story on Sunday, the number of short game 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.120 shots that Bryson hit that were excellent. Obviously the bunker 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.240 shot on eighteen is going to be the one that's remembered, 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.120 but even getting up and down on two that was 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.560 a heck of a short game shot early in the round. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.240 The up and down on eight was incredible, like time 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:22.400 after time. The little wedge on ten to make birdie 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.200 where he had a tiny landing zone at a crucial 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.839 point in the round, like, Bryson's short game was super dialed. 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:30.240 And that's something that I'm going to take with me 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.320 into the future when I think about Bryson in major championships. 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.720 I think one of the things with just in general 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:43.160 with Bryson that gets a little underappreciated is his history 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:48.320 of being just a really well rounded golfer. He was 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:53.200 an extraordinarily great amateur player, and he won the USAM 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.800 and at the time early in his career, I think 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.640 like what was what was his game was really built 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:05.480 around was all around talent. He struggled with putting mightily 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.480 until he found the armack putter. I think he's struggled 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.640 a little bit around the greens, but he seems to 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.240 have figured that out. This is a guy that, like 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.200 has been a great ball striker, has been a great 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:23.360 all round player in general, but he has plugged his holes. 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.000 He has improved, and he's I think like one of 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.719 the things that goes underappreciated is just like the whole 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:33.480 evolution of his career. Like I don't think we've ever 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:37.239 seen a player take on so many forms so young 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.679 in their career. Like I don't know what what Bryson 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.119 de Shambo is gonna look like in five years, because 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.920 we've never seen the same Bryson to Shambeau for five 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.200 years or two, let alone two or three years. 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:54.000 You know, has his short game always been as good 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.160 as what we saw this past week or was this 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.880 past week a new level for him in that area? 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.039 It looks better. I mean, it's hard to tell because 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:07.400 the data on live isn't as granular, but he was 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.799 always pretty average around the greens. And I think something 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.440 that has been debated I know a lot of people 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.080 who are into the prediction oriented stuff with Bryson is 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.080 that the single length wedges could make some short game 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.920 shots more difficult. But he seems to have figured that out. 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.880 And I've even seen some people saying that the single 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.880 length wedges might have been beneficial on the green Side 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.480 Bunker on eighteen, his final hole in that shot that's 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.400 going to go down in history, that he was able 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:38.000 to generate a little bit more speed, which was helpful 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:42.560 in that situation. So I think there's a store a 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:45.760 case to be made at least that Bryson to Shamba's 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.320 kind of figured out a lot of those variables. 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.559 So both of you were on site this week. Both 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:56.080 of you witnessed the reception of Bryson to Shambeau by 0:06:56.160 --> 0:07:01.640 the gallery, which seemed really notable throughout the week. We've 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:07.159 seen Bryson gain in popularity this year, but it's easy 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.679 to forget that just last year he was getting booed 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:15.960 still at major championships and it wasn't uncommon to see 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.040 a gallery turn on him. This week was the opposite 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:23.760 and so Andy, what what do you think is different now? 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:24.560 What has changed? 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:32.520 Bryson is incentivized by popularity. He he is a YouTuber. 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:34.480 He loves being loved. 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.560 He understands I think, like there he said in his 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.880 press conference. I don't have the quote pulled up in 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.840 front of me, but he said something along the lines 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:48.160 of like I understand what goes into the production of content. 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.480 I understand what it's like to be behind the camera, 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.400 and I understand what it's like to be in front 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:57.680 of the camera. And he also studies what does numbers? 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:02.880 You know, he understands the full scope of like today's 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:07.480 society is like popular, how people become popular online? And 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.400 I think that whole experience. If you think about Bryson 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:15.640 to Shambeau, he would he was like testy with cameraman before. 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.960 He didn't like cameraman getting into his business. He's completely shifted, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:21.720 and I think a lot of that. I think like 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.840 a lot of his growth and I I'm sure people 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:27.920 are tired of hearing about this, but like, I think 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.400 a lot of his growth has to center around the 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.880 YouTube thing and becoming a content creator. He's gotten way 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:41.040 more comfortable as a person He's got a huge number 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.800 of fans and followers, and I think he's always like 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.440 as you allude to, he's I think at the core 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.120 of Bryson, he's always just wanted to be loved, and 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.200 the Internet has given him an outlet. And now he's 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:57.760 learned how to take his Internet personality and translate it 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.400 to major championship golf on a Sunday, and I have 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.720 to say, I think it's a weapon. I think that 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:11.880 the roarers and just that that energy has an impact 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:12.920 on his competitors. 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:15.800 Garrett. I know that there was a lot of chatter 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.760 about this on social media, but I think it was 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:22.199 so striking to see in person that Bryson is constantly 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:25.439 listening to what every all the fans are saying around him. 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.160 And I don't know how much that shown through on 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.440 the telecast, but like on Saturday, people are making comments 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.240 to him constantly as he walks down the fairway and 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.960 he is acknowledging them and responding to them. He's about 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.120 to hit a drive on ten on Saturday and some 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.800 fan yelled like, this is number six at bay Hill 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.920 but without the water makes no sense, But Bryson thought 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.320 it was funny, like laughed and like looked up at 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:51.120 the guy like he it must be exhausting. But the 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:54.080 difference between like a Rory who was pretty locked in 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:57.320 the entire weekend kind of blocking everything out, and Bryson 0:09:57.600 --> 0:09:59.520 was unbelievably striking. 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.640 I think it's the difference between Bryson and almost every 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:07.760 single other pro golfer who like the way they play 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.079 golf and the way they've been taught to play golf 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.520 is to not acknowledge anybody around you stay in your bubble, 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.240 and like, I think that's been part of like the 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.240 ethos of the sport, is that it's you know, it's 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:23.920 it's very polite and courteous on the outside and the 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:28.599 players stay very keep everything inside. I remember as a 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.240 kid growing up, there was a lot of backlash to 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:35.400 the way Tiger fists pumped from the old guard. Then 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.880 Bryson kind of brought up Tiger and his energy as 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.720 an inspiration in his press conference. I think it's similar. 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.320 I think we're at like Tiger made it okay to 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:50.840 be a little bit more expressive and demonstrative. I don't 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:55.040 think that golf really like evolved and took the ball 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.360 much from that. You know, there have been a few 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.080 players that have been like I think JT when he 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.200 role in is pretty expressive about like he wears his 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:07.880 emotions on his sleeve, but for the most part that 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.720 that didn't really translate. This might be the next evolution, 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.720 and this the way he acts inside the ropes and 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:18.920 the way the fans respond is much more like other sports. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:26.359 I will say that this interactiveness with the gallery probably 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.200 works a lot better when you're playing well and the 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:34.439 fans are behind you than when you're not playing well 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.679 and the fans maybe are turning on you a little bit. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.400 And I think that that was probably a big part 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:47.040 of his problem previously, because he was really attuned to 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.360 people yelling Brooksy at him and saying things to him 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.720 on the course about how he's lame and stupid. That 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.960 got to him. And now it's the opposite. It's the 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.760 opposite kind of reception. But this doesn't last forever. Right. 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:06.880 The public affection that he's getting, that anybody gets, that 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:10.600 any celebrity gets, is a temporary thing, and so I 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.040 wonder how he's going to deal with it when things change, 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.240 because they will. I'm not saying they should, but things 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:18.040 will change. 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:20.439 I'd be interested to see how that goes. I think 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.439 one different Scarrett though, is that he has his YouTube channel, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.520 which I know we've already hit on. But I think 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.560 the ability to craft his own image, like Bryson knows 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:31.559 that whatever happens on the golf course, like he can 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:33.560 go tell his own story once he gets off the 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:36.440 course when he creates content. So I think having that 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:38.559 platform and being able to create his own image gives 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.599 him some level of control of it. Maybe he'll be 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:43.520 able to deal with a little bit of criticism better 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:44.280 than he was before. 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.839 I think he's also going to have more support when 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.040 things are going poorly because he's just got so many 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:54.400 more fanned than he had before. Like he was kind 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.360 of different and people didn't really know what to think 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.640 about him, and then he had moments where it's like, 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.120 you know, I don't really like what this guy did. 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.680 And at this point he's got a core legion of 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:08.800 fans that are going to follow him and support him 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:10.600 whether he's playing great or poorly. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:11.600 You know. 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:16.960 I I think it's crazy how popular he is I 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.160 and it showcases the power of YouTube. 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:25.440 Why don't we talk briefly about Rory McElroy. This was 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:30.719 just one of the most brutal losses that I can 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:36.240 remember seeing in any sport, including in golf. I remember 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:40.160 watching the nineteen ninety six Masters that final day. That's 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:44.120 right when I was like getting into watching professional golf, 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:49.880 and yeah, that was heartbreaking for Greg Norman. But he 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.320 lost that tournament basically on the front nine or early 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.920 on the back nine. Nick Faldo was just playing better, 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.000 and Faldo won by a substantial amount. And so I 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:05.640 guess my takeaway from what happened to Rory on the 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:09.960 last three holes, missing two putts that were not much 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.160 more than three or four feet in the case of 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.400 the sixteenth hole it was a two and a half 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:20.200 foot put was just that I haven't seen something quite 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:26.640 that painful in a major championship in golf, I think. Ever, 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.360 I'm not sure that I have a historical comparison here. 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:33.840 It was really hard to watch, really hard to process, 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.200 and I'm still kind of reeling from it. I feel 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:36.960 so bad for him. 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:45.920 Yeah, I mean, it was gut wrenching to watch. Anybody 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:50.640 that's played golf has had probably an experience like this, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.560 whether it's to match with your friends or whether it's 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:57.480 in the club championship and to have that happen when 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:02.760 you're widely considered one of, if not the best player 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.280 of your generation, who's on a ten year major slump, 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:11.920 who's had numerous heartbreaks along the way, and seemingly had 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.000 the tournament in the palm of his hand with with 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.000 two and a half holes to go, have it to 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.440 all slip away in that fashion where you know it 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.600 was it was a short putting something that he had 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:31.360 done extraordinarily well all year long that failed him. It's 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.960 it's brutal. It's going to be I think, like one 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.080 of the big stories now the rest of the year 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.040 is is what what do we see from Rory McElroy. 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.200 And obviously there's one major left this year, it's at Troon, 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.600 and then there are a long it's a long season. 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.840 Like one of the things about the way the majors 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:54.800 work now is there's a long time before next April 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.440 and and for some people who might have had a 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.080 year full of no contention, that's a that's a good thing. 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.720 They can refocus and come back next year. For someone 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.640 like Rory, who's who's had a who went through this 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.480 and he could win at Truon. But if he doesn't 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.640 win at Truon, it's gonna it's gonna be at the 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.520 top of his mind the rest of the rest of 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.520 the year. I imagine it's gonna he's gonna think about 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.800 this for probably the rest of his life. 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:27.160 Yeah, Garrett. Similarly, my big takeaway from it all was like, 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.440 twenty five thirty years from now, when we look back 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:33.080 on Rordy's close calls, some of them may get jumbled 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.760 together a little bit if you're just looking at the leaderboard, 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.280 the final leaderboard at least, But this was like by 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:44.160 far the most devastating, heartbreaking loss that he had. It's 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.560 not even close. And I think so many of these 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:51.240 close calls Rory hasn't been getting in the mix, like 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.760 making birdies, hitting those shots, like having the ball striking 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.680 and the putting line up. And he actually did it 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.320 this week, Like he put four birdies together in a 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:06.119 crucial stretch of the round nine, ten, twelve, thirteen, Like 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:09.000 he actually was doing what he needed to do to 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.560 win and looked locked in, had a two shot lead 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.320 with five to play, was leading on the sixteen green, 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.159 just needed to avoid mistakes coming in. It felt like 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.000 he was actually going to do it in a way 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.439 that was completely different than all these close calls before. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:27.000 And then look he lost it, like this wasn't Bryson 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.479 just going out and taking it from him. Rory lost it. 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.520 He missed two very short putts. I know. The one 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.640 on eighteen wasn't that was kind of difficult. The one 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:37.360 on sixty was not difficult. 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.600 Yeah, because he was he was above the hole on 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:40.960 eighteen right. 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.360 Eighteen was a hard put in a vacuum. 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.199 Yeah. And that pin, that pin is on like a 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.960 tilted section of that green, the Payne Stuart pin. 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.600 Yeah, it's a hard pin. That was a hard putt 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:59.399 on Thursday morning. If you put Teeing off ten. That 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:04.119 was a hard put on Sunday afternoon to set the 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:09.440 clubhouse lead at six under. It was an extraordinarily hard putt. 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.439 And then when you throw in that he pulled a 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.320 less than three foot putt two greens earlier, and it 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.439 was a hard left to right slider. That is a 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:26.479 It just ramps it up to an extremely difficult putt, 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:30.199 and missing low right is probably the natural thing to 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:34.920 do after a pull on sixteen. That's kind of what happens. 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:36.800 I hear you. I hear you on that. I agree. 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:38.800 It was difficult, but those are the puts you have. 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.000 To make if you will win, right like and he 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.520 made a lot of putts that he wasn't supposed to 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:44.440 make earlier. 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.640 Sure, sure wasn't supposed to I mean, yes, but those 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:51.360 are the putts you have to make if you want 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.280 to win the US Open, right like Tiger in two 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:55.560 thousand and eight. The putt he made it Torrey Pines 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:57.200 is a heck of a lot harder than the putt 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.679 that Rory had on eighteen. It was four feet. I 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.000 agree it was hard, but I'm not gonna I don't 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:03.520 want to let him off the hook too much with 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.399 like the putts on sixteen and eighteen. You gotta make 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:09.120 those pots. 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.320 Yeah, I And And to your point, Garrett, about making 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.280 putts he didn't he wasn't supposed to make. I watched 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.800 a lot of Rory McElroy this week. He had so 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:24.119 many putts earlier in the tournament that were similar range, 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:27.560 Like his strategy was to hit it to that range, 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:32.320 and he had you know, after after really Thursday, Friday 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:34.920 and Saturday, he made nothing. And he had so many 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:38.880 puts that burned, edges, hit hit corners of the cup 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:42.880 that didn't drop and it felt like it was interesting 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.840 because like in a way, that round on Friday felt 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.600 like his round at LACC on Sunday, his round at 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:52.879 Saint Andrews on Sunday where he was in really some 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.600 really good spots but he just couldn't get anything to 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.600 get going. And you know that's what you do. You 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.119 play the averages out and you know you're gonna make some, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.240 and he made them, and he made him in a 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:09.080 spurt and it was really similar to Quail Hollow, where 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:12.199 it felt like he was going to a gear. He 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.439 did go to a gear. He went to a gear 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:21.000 that nobody else had, and unfortunately it just you know, 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:25.159 I think there's a lot of psychoanalysis that you can 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:30.240 get to as to what happened between sixteen seventeen and eighteen. 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:35.240 I think I think one of the unfortunate things is 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:40.720 that an extraordinary bogie is going to be obscured on fifteen. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.040 The shot out of the Native on fifteen, to keep 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:48.240 that on the green was out of this world good. 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:52.960 That was such. That was difficulty twelve out of ten, 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:56.520 and he kept like keeping that on that green from 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:01.000 that lie was unbelievable in having a a chance at par, 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:08.720 But I mean it's too bad because he did everything 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.840 he needed to do in the week, and then the 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:17.679 final three holes he kind of just had problems with 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:19.600 short putts. 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:23.360 In interpreting what happened with Rory down the stretch, there 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:26.199 can be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking and I 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.399 don't want to get too deep into that, but a 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:31.399 couple of things that I want to point out that 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.560 got a little bit hidden about his play down the 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:39.520 stretch were one that t shot on fifteen that skidded 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:42.680 over the green. Maybe there was some bad luck involved there, 0:21:43.119 --> 0:21:45.920 but also just seemed like he overshot the green and 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.040 missed in really the wrong place. There weren't that many 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.880 misses long on fifteen. On Sunday, there were a few, 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:56.440 and nobody made par from back there, and that's why 0:21:56.440 --> 0:21:59.720 there weren't that many players back there, because everybody knew 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:02.119 that that was kind of the deadly place to be 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:06.639 on that hole. And then on eighteen, apparently Nick Faldo 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.479 pointed this out on the Sky's sports feed. Shane Bacon 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:13.760 told me about this this morning, But Rory pulled driver 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:17.720 on that tee for the first time all week. Evidently 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:20.920 he had just hit three wood off of that tee 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:23.719 every other day, and I'm not sure if there was 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:27.280 a rationale for the driver that were just not privy to. 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:31.880 There probably was, but there were some decisions in those 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:37.320 last few holes that maybe are getting overlooked because of 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:41.800 how spectacularly hard to watch those putts on sixteen and 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.960 eighteen were. And it brings us back to this old 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:48.080 question of you know, maybe old at this point ten 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:51.960 year old question or five year old question of whether 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:54.439 Rory could use some more guidance out there on the 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:56.240 course and making his decisions. 0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:59.920 And you don't know how you feel the shot him fifteen. 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:04.240 I'd like to see it again. I think that's pretty fair, Garrett, 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:06.160 because long big death. 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:08.560 Yeah, it did take a big bounce. It did take 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:10.800 a big bounce. I felt like it was. 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.000 It came out low, it was fading. It looked like 0:23:15.080 --> 0:23:17.439 a good shot. I was right behind the tee box 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.520 it was. I mean, you want to hit a cut 0:23:20.640 --> 0:23:24.040 into that green? It was cut and it took a 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:24.959 monster bounce. 0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:28.879 Okay, fifteen, sure, if that can be litigated. I actually 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:33.320 don't agree necessarily on eighteen. If he was feeling confident 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:35.280