WEBVTT - 2019 Masters Preview with Sean Martin 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.120 Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:07.200 and the twenty nineteen Masters. We have a lot planned 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.560 for the week, both on the podcast and on the website, 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.760 and to kick things off we talk golf with PGA 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.280 Tour Senior Editor Sean Martin a few other notes about 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.200 Master's Week. If you don't already, be sure to sign 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.320 up for our newsletter. It will go out every day 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:27.040 of the tournament and usually goes out every week Monday, 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.840 Wednesday Friday. It's designed to be the easiest way for 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:33.760 you to keep up to date on everything going on 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.760 in the golf world, and especially with Masters Week, we 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.760 will be ramping it up and it'll pack a little 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:43.000 bit more punch, so it'll be the easiest place to 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.280 stay up to date, but also find all the new 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.200 articles that we're putting up and as well as podcasts 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:55.160 across the Frida Egg and the Shotgun Start. The pro 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.080 shop is also stocked up, so we have new hats 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.680 up there as well well. It's a limited edition polo 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:07.000 by b Draddy. B Draddy is one of our official 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.520 apparel partners, along with the other brands in the Summit Group, 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:15.520 Fairway Green and Zero Restriction. I really love be dratty 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.040 stuff because it looks good on and off the course. 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.440 So if I'm going to meet missus Friday after I 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.240 play nine for a quick dinner or brunch after a 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.320 morning eighteen, I don't have to feel like I have 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:33.640 to go change out of my golf clothes because they're 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.920 clothes that are acceptable to wear on and off the 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.400 golf course, and they're very stylish. So we tried to 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.319 keep that in mind with the Master's polo, knowing that 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.319 you might be wearing it out at a friend's place 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.240 or at a bar watching the Masters, or you might 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:53.520 be playing golf. So it's a shirt that is very 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.040 versatile you can wear in any type of situation, really, 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:01.120 So check that out in the prop along with all 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:05.360 of our other gear. And without further ado, here is 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.800 Sean Martin and the kickoff of our Master's coverage. 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.440 The fried egg requires a different technique. What you need 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.600 to do is actually square the face so they'll dig 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:20.280 down underneath that bad lie and propel that ball right 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:21.000 out onto the green. 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.079 Here's the thing. Playing out of a buried lion of 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.640 bunker is completely different than playing out of a nice 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.040 clean lion of green side bunker. You need to be 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.480 aggressive on any show, whether it's sitting cleanly. 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.840 For it's Frida Egg, well, we've all faked it. The 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.200 dreaded Frida Egg not to be feared, though it's actually 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:40.440 a pretty easy shot to hit. 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:56.320 We welcome on Sean Martin, writer at the PGA Tour. 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:57.639 Are you senior writer? Now? 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:02.280 You know yea works your way role, senior. 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:06.359 Editor, Senior editor at the PGA Tour and also a 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.560 new father number two. 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:11.800 Two, number two. You're trying to catch Kyle Porter. 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.040 How's it going. You're sleeping a lot. 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.760 Good, We're getting there. Things are calming down a little bit, 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.280 but it's definitely it's a lot of work. It's I 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.360 feel like two kids, feels like three times the work. 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:27.480 So I've been alternity leave. Augusta is the big comeback, 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.520 you know, just get thrown right into the fire. I've 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:33.280 been paying attention to what's going on, but I'm excited 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:35.480 to get to Augusta. See you back a little golf. 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:37.440 You have some takes just ruminating. 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:42.000 Oh yeah, I've just been fired up, just just waiting 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.080 to unleash. 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.520 Let's let's talk about it. What so so far? In 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.480 twenty nineteen, what's surprised. 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:57.360 You, What surprised me? I think the biggest thing is 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.040 maybe the first thing that comes to mind is the 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.680 way people reacting to Rory's play and just the way 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.119 that I think because Rory gets very philosophical, the way 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:13.640 we philosophize his play, Like winning on the PGA Tour 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:15.840 is really hard, playing in a final group is really hard. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:17.719 Playing in a final group when you're like three back, 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:19.880 which he's done a couple of times, but you know, 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.600 the stats don't always flesh out, like all those are 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.880 very hard, and I feel like a guy going like 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.800 what six straight top six finishes and we're like dogging him, 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:33.840 and I don't know. It was good to see win 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:35.440 the player because I felt like he was playing great 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:39.039 and it was just it's just funny how we over 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.680 maybe overanalyze these things. I mean, good play is good play. 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.240 And then of course speed, Like I was looking at 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:47.359 the speed stats the other day and like being like, 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:49.760 you know, everyone's like, oh, the putting is bad, but 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:51.159 you look at the rest of it. He's like two 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.440 hundreds and strokes gang, he's outside the top one hundred 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.640 and like off the tee and approach like it's it's 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.160 it's bad bad. He's playing better this week so far, 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.520 but the weekends been really the big sort of struggle 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:02.960 for him. So I think Rory and Speed, I guess, 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.640 would be my two big things that stand out. 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.279 Yeah, we've talked a lot about this in the past. 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.120 Is about like winning and how it might be a 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.560 little overrated. And I think Rory was like the poster 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.039 boy for this up until that Players is he was 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.120 clearly the best player in the world, like playing the 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.760 best golf of anybody in the world going into that 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:28.279 Players and then you know, everybody jumped on the bandwagon 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.200 after he wins. But to a certain extent, winning there 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.160 is some randomness too totally. You get into the hunt 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.599 and then if things go your way, you got a 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:42.640 really good chance at winning. But sometimes things don't go 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:43.120 your way. 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.600 And yeah, golf is so golf so random. I think 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.000 I saw a study once they hit like a bunch 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.000 of six irons with an iron Byron and like it 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:53.080 was like ten six ins of an iron bron and 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.800 like the yardage disparity was like fifteen yards or something, 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:01.279 just because of like air and wind changes, like while 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.320 the ball was airborne, Like golf is such a random sport. 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.720 I think what Joe Pete said too about clustering, Like 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:10.640 you know, you only get one chance to hit each shot, 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.160 and we all have like this you know, random basically variant, 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.320 this random. Scott Fascet calls it the shotgun pattern of 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.120 like where our shots go with basically like the same swing. 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:22.719 And so golf is just a random game. You stand 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.080 up on a tee, the wind shifts five miles an 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.279 hour while your ball's airborne, like it can have a 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:32.640 huge impact. And so we love to ascribe everything that 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.919 happens Sunday to nerves and you know, mental and emotion 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.479 and all this stuff. But in reality, like especially as 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:44.000 a player like Rory who's done it's so much, sometimes 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.360 these things just don't don't happen. I thought Joe Pete 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:48.960 calling it clustering in the Very Special Shotguns Start was 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.039 really good because yeah, some days you just you know, 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:54.880 we want to say, we won't want to describe or redoo, 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.159 but some days, like your shots happened to laying close 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.320 to the pin, you're swinging it just as well as 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.600 you were yesterday, but you know you've gotten good yardages, 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.599 changes in the air. You know, slight changes and impact 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.360 that kind of stuff, like it just works out for 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.000 you would basically the same type of play you had 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:10.480 the day. 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:14.960 Previous when Rory went through where people were puting like 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.360 he can't close on Sundays that it was like the 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.680 week before the valspar or not the valspar to the players, 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.120 the Bay Hill was the last time, you know. And 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.440 I looked at all the stats for his last round 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:28.920 and it was all it was was like he just 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.440 wasn't hitting a pro shots that close everybody. Yeah, the 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:34.720 thing about and I think this is a part of 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.800 with golf coverage where everybody always wants to jump to 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.240 the end result and blame people's putting right because they 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.320 don't see putts going in, But a lot of times 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.680 it's you're not hitting it close enough to make putts right. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.280 And that's the case with speed. Everybody's pointing fingers at 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.040 his putting, but he's not hitting the ball close. So 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:55.480 it's hard to make a lot of birdies if you 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:57.400 don't hit the ball well right. 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.880 So, yeah, his balls rining stats are really bad, by 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:03.800 the way, this year. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:05.320 It's not good. 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:06.200 I know. 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.520 I think that that's but that's also the thing that 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.240 golf can do to you is where if you're struggling 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.960 with one thing, it eventually wears on everything. 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:16.280 Oh totally. 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:21.520 You've You've covered U golf for a pretty long time, 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.119 you know, yep, pretty much all of Rory's career. 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.600 Uh sure, yeah, of his career. Started doing it before 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:33.000 Rory came out. But yeah, so I've seen a lot 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:33.360 of Rory. 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:35.600 Do you do you think this is as good as 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:36.440 he's played. 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.600 I think he seems more complete and I like, uh, 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.120 maybe more controlled. You know, I think he would hit 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:47.480 that high draw with the driver and just kill it. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.880 And when it was on, he could just dominate courses. 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:52.640 But then when it was off, you know, it was off, 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:55.280 and that the fade is hitting. Now he seems like 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.559 he's still driving it pretty much just as good, a 0:08:57.600 --> 0:08:59.560 lot more control. It's the same thing we thought with Dustin. 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:01.240 You know, dust in twenty sixteen he goes to a 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:07.600 fade that year, wins Oakmont, wins Firestone, and I don't know, 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:13.720 it seems like Rory he just seems under control and 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:16.559 like and and what so seven straight top six finishes, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.800 I guess like it just seems maybe he's on a roll. 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:22.160 And we get on the rolls, but he just seems 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.400 very in controlled, very repeatable. I like it. I think 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.520 that I think he doesn't. You know, you look at Augusta, 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.040 his Augusta record up until a couple of years ago. 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.800 Every year he had a round of seventy seven or higher. 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.240 So many times he got into the mix, like through Thursday, 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:38.839 Friday and the shot seventy seven. We saw him do 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.120 a speed we saw him doing twenty eleven, saw him 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:42.800 doing it a couple of times early before he was 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:44.720 even in contention, and then back door of top ten, 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.520 and like you know, that was his big prominent Augusta 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.600 was he'd have the one big day and he's finally 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:51.520 learned to control that and he's contended and now he 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.560 just needs to, you know, maybe shave a couple more 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.359 strokes off there and get that Grand Slam. 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:02.280 It's kind of like how much web dot Com leader 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.240 boards all the time, and the difference between the guys 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.719 that you know have good weeks and bad weeks is 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.640 usually there. It's always the bad round and it seems, 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.880 you know, and that's it's at every level of golf. 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.480 Is if you can usually in a tournament, in a 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.839 four day tournament, you know, obviously there's situations where guys 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:23.000 run away and play just unbelievable golf for four rounds, 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.760 but more likely than not, there's gonna be one round 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.800 where you just don't have it, and that's the I 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.640 feel like Rory this year has avoided the bad round. 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.320 Oh yeah, totally. 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.440 I can't really remember a year with the exception of uh, 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:44.000 you know, obviously Speed's been struggling for almost a year now. 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:50.360 But outside of really Brooksy we Brooks, kaptcha, we have 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.319 all the big damn guys have shown something. 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.120 Yeah, I think that happens. I'm gonna say take I 0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.800 think that happens a fair amount more because I feel 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:01.440 like I every year I see this tweet of like, 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:08.839 you know, Rory won speak one day one Like every 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.520 year it's like this might be the most Hypmasters ever, 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.160 and I feel like it happens every year. 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.040 Yeah, I don't know, I don't know. 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:17.559 I could be wrong. 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:22.120 I feel like we have more more parody than ever. 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.760 There's more you know, really big players than ever. 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:28.319 Now totally right, you know. 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.840 Like I think you could go down the list of 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:35.440 players and you could get I mean, you get down 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:40.320 to like twenty twenty two in the world. You're not 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.840 surprised if they win this next week anybody in the 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:44.840 Lap twenty two. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.520 Which going back to the Rory thing, makes like the 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.880 winning that much harder. So all you can do is 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.400 consistently put yourself in contention. You know, Joe Peterson of 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.199 the clustering and the strokes gained, and you know how 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.280 you can only control what you can control, and so 0:11:58.400 --> 0:11:59.760 like I was looking at like the year Christen Marco 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.679 the Tiger in the playoff and DeMarco gained seventeen strokes 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.720 on the field, but he lost to Tiger, but he 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.160 would have won eleven or the next thirteen Masters, And 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.520 so all you can do is control what you can control, 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.599 but it just takes that many more strokes gained to 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:19.280 then win. So you know, when you're comparing Rory and 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.480 like all these other tournaments where he comes close, it's 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:23.800 Rory against one hundred and fifty five other guys. Some 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.280 of them are gonna have hot putting weeks all this 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:28.160 other stuff, and so he's done the only thing you 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.800 can do, which is consistently put yourself in contention and 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.440 then sometimes just hope that someone doesn't happen to play better, 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.400 which is not a sexy answer, and people want to 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.440 wish there's more to it, but really, I mean, he's 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.040 done all you can do, and he's done what you 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.480 need to do to be the best player in the world. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:50.080 So outside of Rory, obviously he's got the Grand Slam 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:56.120 and that's going to be the really big storyline going in. 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:01.800 What else are you watching? Are you excited? 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:06.720 Sure? I'm curious with Dustin Johnson. I did Kyle Porter's 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:08.600 pod and he laughed at me a little bit for 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:13.040 comparing Augusta and TPC Sawgrass based on obviously my employer 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:14.840 and where I work. But you look at Dustin. Dustin's 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.960 record at the Players Championship was horrendous for a long time. 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:21.280 He was over par for his career Deep Sea Sawgrass 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.400 before arriving at the Players this year, and then he 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.240 played really well and he contended and had a chance 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:29.560 to win. And Augusta was kind of that way too. 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.480 For a guy you know, he kills it, hits really far, 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.280 should dominate the part fives everything we say about people 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.000 who should contend to Augusta, But his record there wasn't 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.680 really good. I think now he's just reached that level 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.400 where he's so good and so well rounded that he 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.120 can contend anywhere. And he showed it at the Players, 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:47.840 a place that he had not had a good record, 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.079 and so now I'm curiously if he can kind of 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.760 show the same thing at Augusta, where, like pepc Sawgrass, 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.800 his results have gotten a little bit better each year 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:57.800 after a really bad start. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.680 Yeah. I like the last couple of year times DJ's 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.480 played at Augusta, I thought he's played pretty well, Like 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:12.280 a couple of years ago, he was like, yeah, he 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.719 was that one year I want to say it was 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.400 three years ago. I want to say he finished T 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:23.560 six and he was like he was right there, you know, Yeah, 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:29.080 and he just didn't make any putts on Sunday. I 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:33.560 think obviously, hitting the ball really far and really straight 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:38.520 works everywhere. Sure, and like to a certain extent, it's 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:42.320 all about approach at Augusta, you know. But obviously the 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.680 DJ is always going to have a huge advantage driving 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:47.240 the golf ball, and that's the that's the thing where 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.240 DJ could just look really bad sometimes approaching greens. I 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:58.040 feel like, yeah, but that's everybody, really, who'd you say, 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:59.760 who's your favorite going into the week? 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:06.200 Favorite? I don't want to say Coke favorite with Rory 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.320 and Rose. Uh. And then the one I want to 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.480 look beyond based on your boy Joe Pete is Bryson. 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:15.560 So Bryson when he's an amateur, you know, he's in 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:19.680 contention there halfway through the Masters, and then just makes 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:21.960 a mess of eighteen. It makes triple, but still finishes 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.560 like twenty first. And then last year hit the ball incredible. 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:28.000 I think he was the worst putter in the field 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:29.360 and finished like twenty fifth. 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.800 I think Kyle Stanley was the worst. 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:33.760 And Bryson was the second worst. 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.080 Maybe yeah, I think Bryson was the second worst. Kyle 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:40.360 Stanley lost something like nine shots on the greens, yeah something. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.320 So whatever it was, it was bad. They were both bad, 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.520 but so point being of Bryson was just you know, 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.800 one bad swing on eighteen, which and then you know 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.600 one horrendous putting week, which is putting's been a lot better, 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.920 and I think he's he could have contended twice in 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.040 his two starts, which one of them was an amateur. 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.160 So I do. I do like Bryson, though he has 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.480 slowed a little bit in his play, But I think 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.520 Rose and Rory would be my co number ones. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:08.760 Somebody I'm curious about this year is mol Nari. Yeah, 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:13.000 because he's never had great success at Augusta and you could, 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:15.720 you know, for most of his career he had probably 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:18.680 like the worst type of game for Augusta. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:19.960 Short and a bad putter. 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:22.840 But he's like kind of long now. 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.360 Right, Well, he gain I last year he gained twenty yards. 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.320 It's been like a three year process to gain twenty 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.960 yards because he basically used to be super straight and 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:37.640 super short. Now he's still pretty straight, but twenty yards longer. 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:39.080 And so I asked him for like the best hole. 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.000 That was a good example of how much his distance 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.240 has helped him. And he talked about Aida Augusta. He 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:46.960 always had used to go left of the right faroy bunker, 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:48.160 and then last year it was the first time he 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:53.360 could carry Hutting is a lot better. He has two 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.400 of the things that you do. You do need there, 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.440 You need to hit it farther. And of course, I 0:16:57.440 --> 0:16:59.840 mean Augusta is going to penalize Missus, especially Missus with 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.840 irons on thirteen fifteen, but he doesn't miss anything. 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.760 Yeah, that's the thing, he can just go. That was 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:10.359 I mean last year's open win was It was one 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:14.840 of the most impressive golf performances I've ever seen, you 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:18.600 know it basically didn't miss a shot for two days. 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.600 And then I mean, the the match play was ridiculous 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.040 going into Sunday. He played seventy three holes in five matches. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.080 That's out of a possible ninety holes. And then he 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:32.640 lost a kissner. But then he rolled through the consolation match. 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.160 I mean, he almost won the match play without ever 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.600 like with seeing I think the seventeenth hole once. 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:42.480 Yeah, he he's he's just a tough guy to play 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.680 against because he never misses. Like those guys just frustrate 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:52.240 the crap out of you. Yeah, it's like he's he's 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:55.199 got to be kind of a sneaky Masters guy because 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.919 his his odds are going to be depressed because of 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.600 his form at Augusta, right. 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:02.480 Which I want to say last year was his best 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.159 finished by a long shot. I want to say he 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.040 finished top twenty. I can look it up, but yeah, 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:08.480 I think in a big part of that was that 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:10.600 was when he was starting to really see the distance games. 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.719 But last year was his best Master's finish because he's 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.440 a much different player than he was three four or 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.960 five years ago, so you can't look too much at 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.680 his his way way back results T twenty Augusta. But yeah, 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:25.760 that was after some pretty pretty bad finishes to start 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:27.960 his career. And of course he has caddying experience there. 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.200 Mm hmm oh yeah for for Dodo. 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.199 Yeah, same group as Tiger. Tiger was defending champion and 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.520 Dodo was the USM champ. 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:40.800 No better way to learn learn Augusta than caddy out Augusta. 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:42.840 Maybe more guys should do that. 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:45.600 What about uh, what about your boy Decky? 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:53.000 He just high on him. I know, I think Augusta 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.800 has Augusta is more of a I don't know if 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.240 this term really means because it works everywhere, but Augusta, 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:01.600 now there's than lengthened, is more of a ball striker's 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:03.960 course than before. You know, before it was like you 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.399 had to just kind of wedge it and putt it 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.879 well and go low. But now, I mean, really, you 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.800 know what are we looking at? Eight nine, ten underwins 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.679 some years and you know you just gotta so you 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:18.080 don't have to make a ton of put especially with 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:19.239 the par fives. You can just pick up a ton 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:21.639 of strokes there. So for a guy like Hideki, You 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:23.800 just you know, don't make any mistakes. You've got to 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.800 hit good mid long irons, especially at the par fives, 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:29.800 and then you don't have to put lights out because 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:31.439 it's not like it used to be. It's more of 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.840 a like meld of the US Open a little bit. 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:36.960 It's more of a ball striker's course. And that's why 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.440 I think Hideki has played well in the last few years. 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:44.080 Yeah, I he hits it so good. I think the 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:46.280 thing that Augusta does, and I've said this in a 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:51.000 number of times, but the uneven lies clearly bring the 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:54.360 best iron players to the forefront. I think that's why 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:58.600 we see Paul Casey play outstanding there every single year. 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.560 I the guy is like a top ten machine at Augusta. 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.320 And you see you look just down the winners. I 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.600 mean you look at Speth, who are the best players 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:12.800 at Augusta. You know that we've seen as are like 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.280 in our generations, Speth, Phil and Tiger and those are 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:18.920 three of the best iron players. 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:23.600 Well. And it's an underrated skill because TV flattens everything 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:25.960 out and most of us play you know, fairly flat 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.280 American golf courses. But I mean it's a real thing there, 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:31.520 and Speed had that famous quote that I always love 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:33.480 looking back at. He said he always played well at 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:36.240 Capelloua when he was there, and then in Augusta because 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.879 he loved hitting off side hill lies. Because it may 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.080 you have be more athletic and kind of more innovative. 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:45.960 It's less driving range style, it's less mechanic, it's more athletic. 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:49.560 And so I do think that that skill is greatly 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:52.280 underrated because you don't see it on TV and because 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:55.280