WEBVTT - Takeaways from the 2023 U.S. Open 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.520 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.920 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:05.880 And when I find my. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.959 Ball in a Bride egg Frida egg, the dreaded Frida egg, 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.080 Friday Frida egg, Brian Egg, Fride Egg, Bride egg Lie. 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:13.480 I'm about ready to run off of the. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.519 Pawla. Does La have the worst fans in sports? 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.680 God? I think after this week, I think everybody would 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:44.479 want you to believe that. I mean, we do have 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:46.440 a reputation. I don't know if I want to include 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.760 myself in that group, but we do have a reputation 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.640 for showing up late this morning events, for being casual watchers, 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.720 for you know, leaving after the seventh inning, you know, 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.520 the whole thing. So I guess when you think about it, 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.000 there we are pretty down the line in terms of 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.400 the best fans in sports. But I don't know. I 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.319 think I would say that we're still pretty passionate about 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.039 most sports. I think if you go to any Laker 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.160 game or Darger game, you'll see that. Golf, though I 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:15.320 don't know about that. It was an interesting one out 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:16.360 there this week, for sure. 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.240 Yeah, and we'll talk more about that later. The somewhat 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:25.640 odd atmosphere, but that atmosphere wasn't necessarily the fault of 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:29.280 sports fans. As somebody who grew up a Lakers fan, 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.600 I feel the impulse to defend LA sports fans and 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.759 point out that it's hard to get anywhere in the city. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.319 I can understand why somebody might not want to go 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.640 to a sporting event or might not get there exactly 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:44.080 on time. 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.319 You know. Yeah, I think if you want to have 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:48.800 a critique about the LA Sports team, you had to 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:51.080 have lived here at least a minimum of two years 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.920 to truly understand the situation that goes on here in 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:57.200 terms of sporting events and traffic and just all of 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.960 that stuff. So yeah, I think it's a little more nuanced. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:03.080 All Right, you're listening to the Frida Egg podcast. I'm 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.240 Garrett Morrison. That's Paalo Youghetti, a staff writer for ESPN. 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.400 Later in the show, I'll bring on Joseph Lamanna to 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.360 talk about the venue, which was of course LA Country Club. 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:15.519 But first Pallo and I are going to run down 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.600 the main competitive storylines. Wyndham Clark was our winner at 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:23.239 ten under Roy McElroy was one stroke behind and solo 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:27.120 second followed by Scotty Scheffler, Cameron Smith, and a three 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.400 way tie for fifth between Tommy Fleetwood, minwoo Lee and 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.760 the fifty four hole leader Ricky Fowler. So PLO, what 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:39.639 exactly did you do on Sunday at LACC, Who did 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.519 you follow? What was kind of your plan or agenda? 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.520 Yeah? I think everybody was sort of hoping for the 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:47.800 final group to be Ricky and Rory, right, and then 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.640 when it wasn't, I think it became pretty clear to 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:52.200 me what I would do in terms of who do 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.760 I follow. I think the Scotty Scheffler and Rory mcl 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.840 group was the one that most people were following outuld say. 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.080 It was a big crowd of kind of following them, 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:03.799 and I think part of that was because a lot 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.880 of people, myself included, thought Scotty still had a real 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.800 shot after finishing Eagle Birdie, and I thought, you know, 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:12.440 he seems a little bit inevitable in terms of how 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:14.919 he just rises up to the leaderboard no matter how 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.400 well or poorly he's playing. So yeah, I followed Rory 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.560 and Scottie and just kind of watched him go through 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.360 the front nine. I think the front nine is such 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:27.240 a fun set of holes to watch, especially for a tournament, 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.919 because they are, you know, as we saw it, pretty gettible. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.400 They were not as gettable on Sunday, I would say, 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.960 especially for Rory, who just had a you know, it's 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.600 a tough thing. You know, you look at those fifteen 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.440 to twenty feet or whatever however you want to describe them, 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:43.840 and you know, most of the time they're not going 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.200 to go in right, and so it was tough watching 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.240 him grind over a lot of putts that were a 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.240 few inches from going in or you know, had a 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.680 shop it just did not catch the right break. So 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.800 I watched Rory for the front front nine, then kind 0:03:57.800 --> 0:03:59.680 of bounced a little way back and forth in the 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:03.640 back between you know, Winhem and Ricky's group and Rory's group, 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.840 and it was pretty compelling there down the stretch in 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:10.120 terms of needing, well not needing, but Rory needing Clark 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.120 to Falter and still having no shot at a Bertie 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.560 since the first goal. It was pretty crazy scene in 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:17.080 that sense. 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:22.039 What were some of the most memorable individual moments out there, 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.719 whether they were golf related or not. What kind of 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:27.320 comes to mind as an image that will stick. 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:33.400 With you I think standing between fifteenth ten and fourteen 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.839 green was a pretty compelling place to be when Rory's 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.840 group was first coming through, because you know, he had 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.560 that the drop that he got that from the from 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.200 the ball in the bunker, and then you know he 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.120 had the power put that he needed to say part 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:50.480 and missed it. So just watching that him moving on 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.520 to fifteen and then just a few minutes later seeing 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:55.800 the shot from Wynham Clark to second shot come in 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.080 and land on the green to have a shot at eagle, 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.080 I think that's the one that will stick with me 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.520 because it was kind of it felt at that moment 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.720 that the tournament was over. Obviously, then when it went 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:10.719 on to bogie, I believe what fifteen. 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.400 Yeah, yeah he didn't Yeah, he didn't get up and 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.640 down from behind the green there. 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.039 Right, So there was still more golf to play. But 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:18.720 I think if I were to look back, that's kind 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.200 of the moment where I was like, oh, okay, this 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.960 one's over, Like Rory once again, couldn't just you know, 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.000 make the right putts to be able to stay in 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.000 this and to be able to win. That That's when 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.600 I felt like, because that second shot into fourteen green 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.400 was incredible way when him, Like I think everybody sort 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.039 of realized that at the time, like, all right, that's. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:41.839 Game unbelievable shot. And what it showed is that Wyndham 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.560 Clark was fully ready to win the tournament, because you 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.640 don't hit that shot in that moment unless you're ready, 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.000 and so that's what he showed. And even if he 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.200 bogied the next hole, it was a two shot swing 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.320 on that hole, and so that was really you know, 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:00.240 when you look back on these tournaments, you can identify 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.760 any number of turning points. Going back to the first 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:08.080 hole of the week on Thursday, Rory missed a short 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:10.800 put on number eight. That was a big deal, but 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.080 fourteen was really just kind of the symbolic representative moment 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.720 of that swing where Wyndham was just hitting the ball 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:22.120 so well that he was able to hit it from 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.040 two eighty two to twenty feet under the most intense 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.240 pressure possible, whereas Rory was, I mean, he was just 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.240 a little bit off. He was hitting the ball so well, 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.320 but he's Rory McElroy. He always does that, and that 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:38.600 wedge into fourteen just wasn't good. It wasn't the type 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.200 of wedge that you hit when you're truly in major 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.240 winning form, and it's a testament to his talent, his 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:50.080 ability that he was even able to be so close 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.320 in spite of not having all of the components of 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:54.640 his game together. 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.080 Yeah, I think I was struck by just the margins, right, 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.960 how fine those margins are in terms to Rory, because 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.560 you know, I wasn't there at the Old Course last 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.360 year when he had the lead and just could not 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.040 do enough to to you know, to hold off Cameron Smith. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.720 And this one, you know, there's some differences, but this 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.559 one just felt like there was just none of the breaks. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:16.040 He wasn't getting any other breaks, you know. And I 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:17.760 think he even talked about it after his round. He 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.640 said on fourteen, on that web shot, you know, I 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.640 would have waited maybe fifteen twenty more seconds. The wind 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.000 might have been differently and the guts might have died down, 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:27.760 and that would have been the right shot, you know. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.679 And it's like it's crazy to think about that. Those 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:32.920 margins are so fine in that way that you know, 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.400 fifteen second way could have you know, could have been 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.560 the difference, right, or a putt that drops the other way, 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.480 like the putt on eight. I think that's the one, 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:41.160 and he said it, he said he would want to 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.280 have that one back, the putt to short put for 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.080 Birdie that he missed, and just all these little moments, 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.120 you know. And I think fourteen kind of really embodied 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:50.840 that in some ways because I thought that was a 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.720 hole where Rory could really go after it, right. I mean, 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.400 the hole doesn't totally fit his shot shape in some ways. Right. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.240 But and then he just hit a drawer right into 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.560 the rough and it was like, okay, like that's the 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:03.160 place where you need it to go for a green 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.800 in two And not a lot of players, I felt like, 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.120 did that, which is what made win him's you know, 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:10.280 second shot that much more impressive. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.480 Not a lot of players hit the green at all, right, 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:16.760 There were some who went for it, but a lot 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.240 of them ended up left on the fifteenth tee or 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.440 somewhere around that green. It was so hard to hit 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.560 that green in two because you needed to be supremely 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:29.560 long and supremely accurate in order to cover the distance 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.160 of that hole in two shots. But Rory is one 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:36.360 of the few players out there who can do that 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:41.400 fairly regularly, just cover the sheer distance. He is capable 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.720 of doing that, and so that's a hole that really 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:47.760 gives an advantage to long players. Right, You've got to 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:49.400 be long to carry that bunker and you've got to 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.560 be long to get on that green and two and 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.560 so that's where Rory needs to take advantage and not 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.320 make bogie. Now, what are some of your observations. You know, 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:00.640 we should be talking a little bit about Wyndham Clark 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.320 here obviously, but one more question about Rory. What were 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:07.079 some of your observations about his state of mind or 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:09.800 his approach to the game, you know, beyond the fact 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.679 that he was just kind of missing putts like he was, 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.120 he was a little bit the putts weren't falling, and 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:18.199 sometimes that happens, But what were some of what was 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.880 your sense of where he was at mentally during this round. 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:24.560 I think, you know, I think he looked pretty focused. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.760 I think he it was admirable that he stuck this 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:30.800 game plan right. He was not he was not overly aggressive, 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.760 and I think this goes for the whole week. You know, 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.840 he seemed to manage the golf course really well. He 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.360 hit the right spots, you know, and he always had 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.160 a shot to go for it in two and Yeah, 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.240 I think he just played really smart golf, and he 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:48.560 was really focused, and I think kind of like at St. Andrews, right, 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.360 it's like you kind of wish that maybe he would 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.200 have been a little more aggressive insurn spots, but then 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:54.640 he could have also been out of it. I think 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:56.719 something I think about is some of those up and 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:58.439 downs for cars too that he had on the back 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:00.559 nine were really impressive as well, So it's like, if 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.760 one of those doesn't dropped in, we're not even discussing 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:06.559 how slim the margins were. So yeah, I would says 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.480 he was pretty focused, he's pretty locked in, and I 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.160 think he just he said afterwards, I executed my game plan, 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:14.240 which you know, you can't fault him for that, right, 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.800 And I think the scene afterwards was pretty pretty remarkable, 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:19.960 just to see him dealing with, you know, the realization 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.960 and the acceptance of just coming up short again and 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.080 getting closer and closer but not being able to just 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:26.000 get over that home. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.160 Yeah, Roy is in this weird position right now where 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.000 he gets a lot of scrutiny and even a lot 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:38.200 of criticism for his shortcomings, precisely because he's always on 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:41.880 that big stage. He's always in contention where somebody like 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.880 Scotti Scheffler in this tournament. Yeah he was there, but 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:48.000 we're not going to criticize him as much because he 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:53.560 wasn't really all that close on Sunday, right, And so 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:56.200 you know, there's a there's a tweet that Kevin van 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.160 Volkenberg sent out that I that I liked, where Kevin 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.760 says Roy play today should absolutely be critiqued. But it's 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.640 kind of fascinating that we save our strongest criticisms for 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.720 athletes who finished second, as opposed to third or fifth 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.840 or twentieth. Being almost great annoys people more than being 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.200 slightly worse. And that's a good summary of kind of 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:20.800 where we are at in the Rory McElroy story. The 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.000 player who ended up winning was Wyndham Clark, and when 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.400 we got to the end of the tournament, I'd to 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:29.120 be perfectly honest, I was a bit at a loss 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:34.040 as to what to say about Wyndham Clark's victory, except 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:38.079 that he played extraordinarily well on Sunday, in spite of 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.400 maybe not being completely on form, getting in a couple 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.520 of nasty situations on holes, and being able to get 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.840 up and down, especially on eight and nine on eight, 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.160 he was in the baranka and he had a hard 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.640 time getting out of the baranka, but once he did, 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:56.640 he got up and down for a bogie where a 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.440 lot of players might have done something much worse. And 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.200 then on nine, he was in a bunker. We're sort 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.679 of on the edge of a bunker to the left 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.880 of the ninth green and basically in an impossible spot, 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:10.640 a spot where he had to play well away from 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.199 the hole and let the ball kind of trickle back, 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.120 and he got that thing up and down, he got 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:20.320 his his chip shot within you know, eight to ten feet, 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.559 and he sank the putt. Those were two big, big 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.200 time up and downs in a spot where he could 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:30.640 have really let Rory back into this thing. So that's 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.280 those are kind of my big take takeaways for Wyndham Clark. 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.040 But say you were kind of writing a game story 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.719 about him, Yeah, what are some of the things that 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:39.559 you would focus on. 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.160 I think that's something I've realized. What we're speinking about 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.640 is the last few majors, if you love, We've had 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.040 a couple guys who have ended up in the leaderboard 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.000 going into someone they were close the leaderboard and everything. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.000 So this guy's going to fall away. Right, it's not 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.320 not one of the premiere players in golf, so they're 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.080 gonna you know, I don't. I don't give him much 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:01.280 of a shotgun at this time, and like this time, 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.760 Windham felt like that guy, except he went out there 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:05.679 and did it right. So I think he kind of 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.560 We've had a lot of really good elite major winners recently, 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.600 and I feel like he's kind of I don't want 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:13.280 to say he's not one of those players, but he's 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.280 definitely an exception right to the last few major wins 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.680 in terms of pedigree. But he went out there and 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:21.360 did it, Like I think that's the thing is, you know, 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.880 with that shot on fourteen, I would say the short 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.080 game was probably would save them in a lot of places. 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.240 The flock shot, I guess, if you want to call 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:32.079 it on the eleven was ridiculous, and I think that 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.200 if I were to just just think about him, it's like, Okay, well, 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.920 he had to overcome a lot of narratives, right, a 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.319 lot of the Ricking narrative, the Rory narrative, even the 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.679 Scotting era, right, but he just did it by literally 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.000 literally hitting all the right shots. And I think that's 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.440 maybe the way I would frame it and then kind 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.000 of look at his winners. He just hit all the 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.840 right shots at the right time, even on eighteen Saturday, 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.360 that shot he hit into eighteen and making that Pott 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.280 what you kind of just have to hand it to 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.520 him at that point, right, because he just hit the 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.680 right shots at the right time. And whether you know 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.560 that means he's here to stay and we'll compete in 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.839 further majors. I don't know. Golf is so deep, right, 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.200 but I think for this tournament he was the best 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.120 player in terms of shotmaking and also just recovery, which 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.319 this course demanded of a bunch of players. 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:24.440 The question about Wyndham Clark's future is obviously very hard 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.040 to answer. We don't know if he's going to stick 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.080 around at this level. He very well could, and we 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.520 could end up in a situation where this championship is 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:37.960 looked back upon, sort of like the Aaron Hills US Open, 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.800 which Brooks kept go one. At the time. I remember 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:42.960 people were kind of like, well, that's kind of random, 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.400 Brooks sort of seems boring. That's a bit of a 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:50.960 disappointing major, And yeah, that's kind of the outcome here. 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.640 We have a bunch of guys in second, third, fourth 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:58.160 place who maybe would be more exciting winners because we're 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.800 more familiar with them and we want to see those 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:04.680 players rack up majors and start to get into that 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:10.080 historic conversation. And sure Wyndham did not deliver that this week, 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.240 and maybe he'll fade away back into the middle of 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.440 the pack as some past major winners have. But there's 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.680 also a possibility that he becomes a Brooks Keepka type 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:21.960 because he does have the game for that. This is 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.080 not a this didn't feel like a flukey win. He's 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:28.640 super long, he is a great iron player. He has 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:33.520 a terrific short game that holds up under pressure. So 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.320 he has all the skills that he needs. And whether 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.000 those stay as sharp as they were this week is 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.240 completely unanswerable right now, but it's very possible. 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.280 Yeah. So what I'm hearing is when Clark. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:55.360 Brooks, Yeah, that's gonna that's gonna be the headline from 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.359 this podcast. That's going to get aggregated. 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.800 Yeah. No, but it's it's a great point. I think 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.800 you're right. I think he has the makings of being 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.080 able to stick around for a while, and I think 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.680 I don't know I think maybe the golf course too, right. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.400 It's you guys have talked plenty about how different at 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.520 the US Open test it has been. Obviously there's been 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.200 a lot of bad discourse about the subject as well 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.040 this week. But you know, maybe it just kind of 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.440 fit him, fit him well, and then if they go 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.680 back to a more quote unquote traditional US Open, maybe 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:26.400 it doesn't fit it well. Right, So I think that's 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.880 something to think about too going forward. 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.560 Well, let's talk a little bit about something related to 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.920 the golf course. We'll talk more about the architecture and 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.119 those matters with Joseph Lamannia later on in this podcast. 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.600 But you are an La native, as we kind of 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.520 implied at the beginning of the pod La Country Club 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.520 was a sort of controversial venue this week, or became one, 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:58.640 not just because of its unusual design, but because of 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:02.320 the atmosphere on course as it came across on TV 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.359 and some of the questions about how the club and 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:13.399 the membership contributed to creating that atmosphere through their demands 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.720 about the size of the crowd and where people could 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.240 go on the course and all of that kind of stuff. 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:20.920 And you know, I was on the course for a 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:25.160 few days, I can say that those concerns are valid. Right, 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.720 there are some things to say about the atmosphere on site. 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.960 What did you make of that issue overall? And maybe 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.280 speaking specifically about Sunday, was it different then? 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.719 Yeah? I think it's funny because I feel like I 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.320 maybe should have seen some of this coming. I went 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.200 to the course way early in the process. The USGA 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.720 had first looked they we got to walk the course, 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:50.679 and first thing I thought it was, how are they 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.600 going to get fans in here? Like it's such a 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:56.840 weird setup for watching golf, just built into that canyon 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:58.320 most of that course, and how are they going to 0:17:58.359 --> 0:17:59.640 get fans in there? And they were like, oh, we're 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:01.520 going to build out a few things that they're building 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:04.280 the bridge over Ulster. So but but I think there 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:06.320 was just like a there were starting from a bad 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.080 place in terms of like how to create these big appears. Right. 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.440 That's that's one issue. I think The other thing is, yes, 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.600 as was reported, I think Joel bel from Golf Digest 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:18.960 reported that the club tried to almost buy all the 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.399 tickets right, and and and and there was there was 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:25.080 definitely a sense of a corporate vibe for for you know, 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.119 during a lot of the tournament. And that's not surprising. 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:29.639 I mean, this is a club that you know, I 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.800 think when I went the first time for that, for 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.080 that first look, there was like no no photos and 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:36.439 no phones in the in the in the clubhouse, you know, 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.840 like just all these very distinct rules. And that's not 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.679 dissimilar to other country clubs across the country, you know, 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:44.879 I would say, but in la I think that takes 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.680 a you know, it goes up, goes up a level, 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.280 if you will, I And that's the reputation it also 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.680 has in the city. It's not considered the more or 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.440 less the anti celebrity club. It's they don't want any fuss, 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.159 they don't want any kind of like fanfare. So on 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.520 the one hand, it's kind of shocking that they allowed 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:03.600 this tournament to be there, right, But on the other hand, 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.240 they are very golf focused in terms of they love 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.639 their golf course and wanted to showcase it. But it 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:10.479 sounds like they wanted to showcase it in a very 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.440 specific way to a very specific type and amount of people, right, 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.520 And so that's where I think the issue is. You 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.680 know that being set on Sunday, I thought the atmosphere 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:21.040 was great. I mean, I think there are definitely more 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.520 people on hand. I think it felt like and I 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:25.760 don't have proved it back this stuff, but I feel 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:29.040 like they let fans go into places where maybe they 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.280 weren't letting them in before, or maybe they were just 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.560 more fans and that's what it felt like. But it 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.080 definitely felt like in some spots it was more crowded, 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.040 especially on eighteenth that kind of going up one and 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.240 down eighteen. It was a great atmosphere and I think 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.760 like people really came out in full force. I don't know, 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.639 it's just it was different. But it did not feel 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:50.440 like that all week, right, So I think that's where 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:52.960 you kind of notice the difference between Sunday and the 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.359 rest of the days. And you know, maybe part of 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:57.880 that is the LA fandom aspect about where they are like, oh, 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:01.360 we'll go Sunday, you know, we won't go Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.280 Yeah. And maybe the people who had tickets to this event, 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:10.119 whether they were corporate guests or LA members or some 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.880 of the lucky few who managed to get publicly available tickets, 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.960 of which there were not many relatively, maybe a lot 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.640 of those folks were somewhat complacent about it and said, 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:23.320 I've got this ticket, you know, well, you know, I'll 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.520 go on Sunday whatever, right it's And whereas you know, 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.800 when you have an event that's more accessible to the public, 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.560 there's maybe more competition to get on the site and 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.240 see something, and so you're excited about going on Thursday 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:40.720 because maybe that's your only chance. I feel like a 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:43.480 lot of the people who were there, you know, were 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:48.080 comfortable in their opportunity to see some golf, and so 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.359 maybe they didn't feel that impulse to get there on 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:53.720 Thursday and create a great atmosphere. 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:56.040 But you know, but I will say, like I think 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:58.200 that's the part that was a little tough to kind 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:01.680 of square, which is if you go to rub every year. 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:03.879 I've been there the last two years, right, and the 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:06.919 tournament gets special on the weekend, and the atmosphere is 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:09.160 great and people come out for golf, and I would 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.000 say buy in large. LA has become pretty big golf 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:15.200 down in terms of the golf interest, the golf playing, 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:17.480 you know, just there is a lot of that has 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:19.760 been a ton of that the last two years or 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:22.760 so since the pandemic, and I think there's a lot 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.520 of really passionate golf fans out there, and maybe just 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:27.800 if there would have been a little more accessibility to 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:30.439 the golf course, both on the ground and just getting 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:32.720 into ket wise, I think we could have gotten a 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:35.960 better atmosphere and a better vibe for a tournament that 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:38.000 you know deserved it, right, And so I think that's 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:40.520 a little bit of the Well, we'll see what happens 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:42.760 next time, right, and if they do come back to LA. 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:47.160 One regret I have here is that the USGA didn't 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:51.600 push harder for the interests of the common fan. And 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:56.040 I think that the real shame here is not necessarily 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:59.280 the limited capacity. I think they probably could have gotten 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:02.320 more fans on site. As you mentioned, Riviera is packed 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:05.680 into an LA neighborhood as well, and you know, they 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:07.800 managed to get a bunch of fans out there and 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.000 create an incredible atmosphere. So I don't know. Maybe there 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:14.040 could have been more people at LA. I'm not sure, 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:20.360 but the ratio of tickets that the public had access 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:23.199 to was too low this time, and I think you 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:26.080 could feel the effects of that on site, and for me, 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.919 it goes against what a national championship should be, what 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.080 a national open should be. It's called the US Open, 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:35.560 right for God's sake, and it's still open to players, 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:36.879 but it's got to be open. It's got to be 0:22:36.880 --> 0:22:39.159 open to the public. This has got to be the 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:41.760 people's championship. And yes, it's being held at some of 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:43.960 the most exclusive clubs in the nation, but for the 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:47.600 week that the tournament is happening, it has to have 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:51.639 the feel of a people's championship. And they didn't achieve 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.200 that this week, and the USGA needs to own that, 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:58.200 think about that and try to push a little bit 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:01.560 harder for the public inch next time. In my opinion, 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:02.679 that's just my take on it. 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:05.720 No, I agree. I think there's kind of a funny 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.479 dissonance right between like this open tournament open to all players, 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:11.760 should be open to all fans going to like you said, 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:14.479 these exclusive clubs, right, and and that really kind of 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:19.440 just displays golf's me right in a very very very 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:22.640 open manner. And but I think you're right. I think 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:25.320 that's kind of the the important thing going forward. If 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:27.359 they do decide to come back to la is you know, 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:29.840 you kind of if you're going to bring in the 0:23:29.960 --> 0:23:31.680 US Open, if you're gonna let it come to your club. 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:33.639 You're going to have to deal with everything that that 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:36.199 that implies, right, and you know what it looks like 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:38.040 next time, we'll see. But I think that's going to 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:39.439 be a crucial thing going forward. 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:43.320 Here's my solution, Palo renov Griffith Park. 0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:46.359 There we go, now, now we're talking, yes. 0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:49.040 Come on, come on. There's a lot of room out there. 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:49.360 Now. 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:51.320 It's been years since I've been there, so I don't 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:53.840 know what the access points are like. They might be 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:57.560 a little harry, but yeah, but you know, listen, they 0:23:57.560 --> 0:24:01.840 have two courses out there. I think they probably have room. Man, 0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:04.600 if they turned that into the golf course that it 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:08.360 should be, the George Thomas golf course that it should be, 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:12.080 and at least made one of them sort of national 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:15.600 championship worthy, that would be That would be a great 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:19.080 place for the People's Open in LA And I trust, 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:22.840 I trust that the fans would come out for that 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:25.120 kind of event and create some craziness. 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:27.239 Oh yeah, no, that you kind of just spurke my 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:30.159 brain trying to think about how that would even be 0:24:30.200 --> 0:24:31.360 possible At Wilson. 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:37.160 That'd be tough, but it would have to be a renovation, 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:40.680 not a not a pure restoration. There's been a those 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:42.840 courses used to be out in the you know, all 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:45.119 of these courses in LA used to be out in 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:49.040 open space, right and since then the city has converged 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:52.119 on all of them. Same deal with Rancho Park, a 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:56.240 great public facility but pretty hemmed in by neighborhoods now 0:24:56.359 --> 0:24:59.119 and so you know, it's it's tough to find, you know, 0:24:59.240 --> 0:25:03.480 the great public course that that can host these championships. 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:05.480 And that's why we see so many private courses doing 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:08.600 it because they have the resources to do the things 0:25:08.600 --> 0:25:10.399 that need to be done to their course to to 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:13.359 be able to even come close to hosting in the 0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:13.960 first place. 0:25:14.880 --> 0:25:17.000 Not every city has a Tory Pines, So. 0:25:17.160 --> 0:25:21.679 That's right, yeah, yeah, for better, for worse, Tory Pines 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:24.560 is unique yet, I mean, we focus on the architecture 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:27.800 so much, but listen, Tory Pines is a hell of 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:32.679 a great venue for getting spectators, in allowing people to watch, 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:36.120 and being open to the public in those senses. It 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:40.040 is the gold standard. All right, Palas, So are you 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:42.920 basically done for the year with U with a big 0:25:42.920 --> 0:25:45.240 golf tournament? So you're not going to Hoylake, are you? 0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:45.440 No? 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:49.920 I am you are going, Tolake, oh man, that's awesome. 0:25:50.280 --> 0:25:50.760 I didn't. 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:52.240 I didn't realize that was part of the plan. 0:25:52.840 --> 0:25:55.560 Yeah, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't know I was going, 0:25:55.600 --> 0:25:57.880 but I found out recently a few weeks ago that yeah, 0:25:58.160 --> 0:26:00.639 we'll be heading up there. So we're excited for that. 0:26:00.680 --> 0:26:04.040 I've never even been across quote unquote across upon ever 0:26:04.240 --> 0:26:06.920 in my life, so I'm excited to go over there 0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:09.000 and you know, watch some golf and hopefully to play 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:09.640 some golf too. 0:26:10.160 --> 0:26:13.040 All right, Well, I'm jealous, but I'm also very excited 0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:16.119 for you, So that should be fun to follow. People 0:26:16.119 --> 0:26:19.600 can find your writing at ESPN dot com. And thanks 0:26:19.640 --> 0:26:20.400 for coming on the pod. 0:26:20.720 --> 0:26:21.560 Thanks for having me. 0:26:22.000 --> 0:26:24.040 All right, let's take a quick break and then Joseph 0:26:24.080 --> 0:26:39.680 Lamanna will join me to talk about LACC. This episode 0:26:39.760 --> 0:26:42.639 of the Frida Egg Podcast, and indeed this week of 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:45.520 the Frida Egg Podcast and the Shotguns Start podcast, was 0:26:45.520 --> 0:26:48.919 brought to you by b Dratty. B Dratty has been 0:26:48.960 --> 0:26:51.680 a big supporter of the Friday Egg from the beginning, 0:26:52.040 --> 0:26:55.760 and this week they outfitted us in some really great stuff. 0:26:56.359 --> 0:26:59.399 The first day I was at LACC, I wore a 0:26:59.520 --> 0:27:04.240 Sportlo along with a Champ hoodie from zero restriction. There 0:27:04.320 --> 0:27:06.119 was a bit of a marine layer in the morning, 0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:08.600 but as the day went on it warmed up a 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:10.840 bit and so I took off the Champ hoodie and 0:27:10.920 --> 0:27:13.560 just went with the polo. And both were just sort 0:27:13.600 --> 0:27:16.880 of perfect for the conditions, perfect for walking, and if 0:27:16.880 --> 0:27:19.400 I had been playing golf, it would have been perfect 0:27:19.440 --> 0:27:22.520 for that as well. Later in the week, I went 0:27:22.560 --> 0:27:25.720 with the Sanders Polo on many days. In general, things 0:27:25.800 --> 0:27:27.439 were kind of heating up a bit, so I was 0:27:27.480 --> 0:27:30.199 going with short sleeves for most of it, and the 0:27:30.240 --> 0:27:33.520 Sanders Polo, although it's not like the Sport Polo in 0:27:33.600 --> 0:27:37.560 terms of lightness, is still certainly light enough for hot 0:27:37.640 --> 0:27:42.000 days and it's super super comfortable and very classy looking. 0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:45.280 I also love the Russell quarter zip. This might be 0:27:45.680 --> 0:27:49.119 my favorite quarter zip of all time. It's really just like, 0:27:50.760 --> 0:27:53.720 I'm not a quarter zip guy. I generally go with sweaters, 0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:57.800 but this has the look and the comfort that I 0:27:57.920 --> 0:28:01.240 really want to go for when I'm outside and active, 0:28:01.560 --> 0:28:04.639 and it's a little bit cool. So the deal that 0:28:04.680 --> 0:28:08.399 b Draddy is offering you right now is thirty percent 0:28:08.480 --> 0:28:11.680 off at Bdraddy dot com. That's a pretty good chunk 0:28:11.680 --> 0:28:14.719 of change. So thirty percent off at bdraddy dot com 0:28:14.880 --> 0:28:18.600 if you use the code TFE thirty. So again that's 0:28:18.640 --> 0:28:22.560 tf E thirty for thirty percent off at bdraddy dot com. 0:28:22.560 --> 0:28:25.160 Thank you to B Droddy for supporting us this week, 0:28:25.200 --> 0:28:28.960 for creating the B Droddy House and making it all possible. 0:28:29.280 --> 0:28:38.880 Really appreciate it. Let's go back to the episode. All right, 0:28:38.960 --> 0:28:42.840 I'm here with Joseph Lemanya. We're gonna talk about the course. 0:28:43.000 --> 0:28:46.600 The architecture at LACC was a big topic of discussion 0:28:47.200 --> 0:28:49.400 this week. So Joseph, why don't we dig right in. 0:28:49.480 --> 0:28:51.320 What are some of your what is one of your 0:28:51.440 --> 0:28:54.360 major takeaways about this golf course? What do you want 0:28:54.360 --> 0:28:54.800 to start with this? 0:28:55.640 --> 0:28:58.040 Yeah, well, thanks for having me. I'm super excited to 0:28:58.080 --> 0:28:59.920 do this. I think it's interesting that you run on 0:29:00.200 --> 0:29:03.120 course and I was locked in watched pretty much every 0:29:03.120 --> 0:29:05.240 shot that was hit all four days, So it's cool 0:29:05.280 --> 0:29:09.920 to have the on site perspective mixed with somebody who's. 0:29:09.680 --> 0:29:10.640 Just watching a lot of shots. 0:29:10.720 --> 0:29:13.920 So, and by the way, related to that, the on 0:29:14.040 --> 0:29:17.120 site perspective is important and it gives you a lot 0:29:17.160 --> 0:29:20.520 that watching on TV doesn't give you. But a lot 0:29:20.520 --> 0:29:24.760 of people assume that it's better, but it's not necessarily 0:29:25.040 --> 0:29:28.440 because when you're on site you miss so much. 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:30.640 Yeah yeah, I mean too that I generally, like my 0:29:30.760 --> 0:29:33.360 dream scenario is generally to be on site like Wednesday, 0:29:33.400 --> 0:29:35.240 Thursday and then leave and watch the rest. 0:29:35.760 --> 0:29:37.400 Yeah, because you get both. 0:29:37.480 --> 0:29:39.720 But I don't know if I have like a one 0:29:40.000 --> 0:29:43.680 overarching takeaway. I thought the golf course was awesome, and 0:29:44.280 --> 0:29:49.400 some of the criticism I think is a little unfair. 0:29:50.520 --> 0:29:53.520 The one major question I have, and I would be 0:29:53.560 --> 0:29:55.840 interested in your perspective on this and maybe some of 0:29:55.880 --> 0:29:58.000 the people you were talking to who are more knowledgeable 0:29:58.040 --> 0:30:00.520 than just me sitting on my couch. Did we miss 0:30:01.000 --> 0:30:04.160 an opportunity to maybe see it a little bit firmed up? 0:30:04.720 --> 0:30:07.680 And I thought Saturday was the opportunity for that. I 0:30:07.760 --> 0:30:10.479 do think we missed a little bit of that one 0:30:10.600 --> 0:30:14.320 note on that it never really got that firm And 0:30:15.120 --> 0:30:17.720 I think this course played a little more bomber friendly 0:30:18.600 --> 0:30:21.440 than it would have if it had been firmed up, 0:30:21.480 --> 0:30:24.160 which would have made the fairways play a lot smaller 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:27.240 and more narrow. So I'm sure like the Wyndham Clark 0:30:27.280 --> 0:30:30.280 T shot on eighteen. We'll probably get into that. But 0:30:30.600 --> 0:30:33.160 if that's much firmer, it might miss the fairway, and 0:30:33.160 --> 0:30:36.600 there's some other fairways out there that it would have 0:30:36.600 --> 0:30:38.640 become a little less of a long iron. Just hit 0:30:38.640 --> 0:30:42.160 it as high as possible and stick it. You might 0:30:42.200 --> 0:30:44.600 have seen some craftier off the tee play if it 0:30:44.680 --> 0:30:48.160 was a little firmer, But I don't know that it 0:30:48.360 --> 0:30:50.760 needed to be. I mean, it played really well. What's 0:30:50.760 --> 0:30:51.640 your opinion on that? 0:30:52.680 --> 0:30:55.360 Well, I have like a number of different ways that 0:30:55.440 --> 0:30:58.480 I've been thinking about that this week. First of all, 0:30:58.920 --> 0:31:02.560 I definitely agree that it could have been firmer, and 0:31:02.720 --> 0:31:05.560 I would have been a bit more entertained if the 0:31:05.600 --> 0:31:10.000 greens were less receptive to wedges, et cetera. And so 0:31:10.840 --> 0:31:15.440 you know, first off, yeah, I definitely acknowledge that. But 0:31:15.480 --> 0:31:17.760 a few things to keep in mind. One, it's been 0:31:17.760 --> 0:31:25.000 a very wet winter in California, extremely unusually moist at 0:31:25.120 --> 0:31:29.280 LACC throughout this year, and the course is holding all 0:31:29.320 --> 0:31:31.720 of that. You can see it in the barankas. They're 0:31:31.760 --> 0:31:35.680 not dry, they're full of vegetation, and that's pretty unusual. 0:31:35.720 --> 0:31:39.080 That course is usually pretty sand belty kind of in 0:31:39.160 --> 0:31:43.240 appearance right now, it's green. And that's not just because 0:31:43.240 --> 0:31:46.160 the USBA was out there with hoses watering down the 0:31:46.280 --> 0:31:49.080 entire thing. They couldn't have done that. That's just because 0:31:49.840 --> 0:31:53.960 California has had a wet winter. So that's one thing. 0:31:55.400 --> 0:31:58.880 The other thing is that during the tournament itself, we 0:31:59.000 --> 0:32:03.239 had relatively little sunshine, and the one day that we 0:32:03.360 --> 0:32:07.800 had of full sunshine was Saturday, and that's when the 0:32:07.840 --> 0:32:12.280 course really started to get a bit fiery. And it 0:32:12.320 --> 0:32:14.560 didn't get all the way there, but it was the 0:32:14.560 --> 0:32:16.840 firmest day. I wasn't on site on Sunday, so I 0:32:16.840 --> 0:32:19.360 can't really compare it, but I think it was the 0:32:19.360 --> 0:32:21.440 firmest day. You could see some dust in the air 0:32:22.040 --> 0:32:24.200 instead of there being a little bit of moisture in 0:32:24.240 --> 0:32:26.880 the ground when I sat down, for instance, you can 0:32:26.920 --> 0:32:29.960 feel the moisture when you sit down right on Saturday. 0:32:29.960 --> 0:32:33.280 That wasn't there. It was dry. So that's another thing. 0:32:33.320 --> 0:32:40.720 The conditions didn't really assist super spicy turf realities. You know, 0:32:40.760 --> 0:32:42.520 it was a lot closer to the edge than people 0:32:42.520 --> 0:32:45.560 thought it was, but it really wasn't riding that edge 0:32:45.560 --> 0:32:49.160 in the way that like Shinnecock Hills did in twenty eighteen. 0:32:49.720 --> 0:32:52.720 And here's two other points. Because I'm a little hesitant 0:32:52.800 --> 0:32:55.240 to be like it should have been firmer. I'm holding 0:32:55.320 --> 0:32:58.720 back on that for two reasons. One, if you do 0:32:58.760 --> 0:33:01.960 push it too far and things get a little bit unplayable, 0:33:03.000 --> 0:33:05.320 not to go full Zach Johnson, you lost the course. 0:33:05.400 --> 0:33:09.200 But it does actually undermine the quality of some of 0:33:09.240 --> 0:33:11.680 the shots out there, and you might you might compromise 0:33:11.680 --> 0:33:14.040 a lot of shot value. So it's hard to push 0:33:14.040 --> 0:33:16.000 it all the way to the line. But here's the 0:33:16.040 --> 0:33:17.920 other point. I don't think I've heard this point made, 0:33:18.040 --> 0:33:19.960 but I was reflecting on this a lot Saturday night 0:33:20.000 --> 0:33:26.960 and into Sunday morning. LACC has tremendous variety right whole 0:33:27.000 --> 0:33:31.080 fifteen playing eighty one yards, but it was you had 0:33:31.080 --> 0:33:33.880 to be super precise. Then you've got a stretch of 0:33:33.960 --> 0:33:38.480 three brawny par four's coming in sixteen seventeen eighteen. To 0:33:38.560 --> 0:33:43.000 achieve a proper firmness level that plays correctly for all 0:33:43.080 --> 0:33:47.440 of the shots that are required is extraordinarily difficult, because 0:33:47.880 --> 0:33:49.840 it might have been cool to see it firmed up 0:33:50.560 --> 0:33:52.840 for how would play off the tee or some approach 0:33:52.840 --> 0:33:55.000 shots where you have an eight iron in But then 0:33:55.120 --> 0:33:58.160 is it even possible? Can you even hold shots on sixteen? 0:33:58.240 --> 0:33:59.160 Seventeen eighteen? 0:33:59.200 --> 0:33:59.720 Does it work? 0:33:59.800 --> 0:33:59.920 Then? 0:34:00.520 --> 0:34:03.520 Was fifteen might have been impossible if it were any firmer, 0:34:03.960 --> 0:34:07.600 And that's I think. I hadn't thought about it a ton. 0:34:07.680 --> 0:34:11.120 But when there's such variety long irons like short irons, 0:34:11.760 --> 0:34:15.360 it's hard to argue that one level of firmness that 0:34:15.360 --> 0:34:18.040 would be super firm would play play well for. 0:34:18.040 --> 0:34:19.520 All of those different shots. 0:34:19.560 --> 0:34:22.080 So I was trying to reel it in a little bit, 0:34:22.160 --> 0:34:23.880 like maybe it could have been a little firmer, But 0:34:24.000 --> 0:34:25.640 overall thought the setup was excellent. 0:34:26.480 --> 0:34:30.240 So aside from the firmness issue, aside from the turf issues, 0:34:30.719 --> 0:34:32.919 what were some other observations you had about the course. 0:34:33.320 --> 0:34:36.440 I think I have one main positive and one potential 0:34:36.520 --> 0:34:38.919 negative that I would like your opinion on to maybe 0:34:39.000 --> 0:34:41.160 keep me in check. So I think the biggest positive 0:34:41.160 --> 0:34:44.440 for me is that I feel confident. And there's no 0:34:44.480 --> 0:34:46.839 way to know this, but I feel confident that when 0:34:46.920 --> 0:34:50.120 most people were watching the golf tournament, when players were 0:34:50.160 --> 0:34:54.279 going to a particular hole, the fan had context for 0:34:54.440 --> 0:34:58.239 what that hole was about to test because there was 0:34:58.400 --> 0:35:01.480 variety and these holes have character. I think people knew 0:35:02.160 --> 0:35:05.640 whole thirteen, like, gotta be precise on that t shot 0:35:05.719 --> 0:35:08.320 or it goes way right and down the slope. Fourteen, 0:35:08.360 --> 0:35:10.719 the par five, I think people were pretty familiar with 0:35:11.200 --> 0:35:15.239 really short par three. On fifteen obviously, whole six, the 0:35:15.680 --> 0:35:19.440 semi drivable par four. I think people knew they're probably 0:35:19.520 --> 0:35:22.040 nine to ten holes that somebody who doesn't even follow 0:35:22.080 --> 0:35:25.760 golf that closely, if they watched multiple days of play, 0:35:25.800 --> 0:35:27.560 they knew what was coming. And I think that's a 0:35:27.600 --> 0:35:31.600 tremendous compliment to pay a golf course. So like Augusta 0:35:31.840 --> 0:35:33.920 in that way, I think some of these holes had 0:35:33.920 --> 0:35:36.000 a bunch of character and clarity. 0:35:36.200 --> 0:35:40.760 The clarity of design is terrific at LACC. The features 0:35:40.800 --> 0:35:44.080 are big and bold, and the lines that you can 0:35:44.120 --> 0:35:47.160 take to attack the hole or to play a little 0:35:47.160 --> 0:35:51.480 bit more conservatively are really well defined and easy to see. 0:35:51.520 --> 0:35:54.400 And so yeah, that's that's definitely a huge part of 0:35:54.440 --> 0:35:58.799 why I enjoyed La North so much. I know a 0:35:58.800 --> 0:36:01.840 lot of people didn't, but just personally totally agree with 0:36:01.880 --> 0:36:03.920 that assessment. So what's your negative? 0:36:04.560 --> 0:36:09.400 So one potential negative. We always talk about shots of consequence, right, 0:36:09.480 --> 0:36:11.360 I want there to be you should. 0:36:11.120 --> 0:36:13.040 Be rewarded for a good shot. If it's if you 0:36:13.120 --> 0:36:14.720 hit a bad shot, there should be some penalty. 0:36:15.120 --> 0:36:17.600 I do think being a little bit critical of maybe 0:36:17.640 --> 0:36:22.719 the t shots on three, eight and eighteen. Three and 0:36:22.840 --> 0:36:26.839 eight are sort of funnel fair ways where there wasn't 0:36:26.880 --> 0:36:29.080 a whole lot required out there. You could kind of 0:36:29.160 --> 0:36:31.520 just hit it into a big area and it was 0:36:31.560 --> 0:36:34.160 gonna bounce down into a pretty advantageous spot. Now, I 0:36:34.160 --> 0:36:37.000 don't know if that's something to be critical of the 0:36:37.120 --> 0:36:40.719 architecture about or if I'm just I think there's a 0:36:40.760 --> 0:36:43.879 difference between viewing a golf course purely through the lens 0:36:43.880 --> 0:36:46.160 of architecture and then viewing it through the lens of 0:36:46.200 --> 0:36:49.680 it being an entertainment product and a test of professional golf. 0:36:50.000 --> 0:36:53.000 And I think those shots failed a little bit as 0:36:53.600 --> 0:36:56.160 far as the entertainment value and how well it's testing 0:36:56.200 --> 0:36:59.520 players because they're hitting three woods on three and eight 0:36:59.719 --> 0:37:02.920 into really wide areas that it was just gonna. 0:37:02.640 --> 0:37:04.480 Bound down all end up in the same place. 0:37:04.719 --> 0:37:08.040 So is that do you, as somebody who's more informed 0:37:08.040 --> 0:37:11.600 on architecture has more of an appreciation for some of 0:37:12.760 --> 0:37:15.960 just frankly more knowledgeable. What's your reaction to me being 0:37:16.000 --> 0:37:17.160 a little bit turned off by that. 0:37:17.520 --> 0:37:19.760 Yeah, I don't know if I agree with that that premise. 0:37:19.800 --> 0:37:21.440 I don't think I am more knowledgeable. I think I 0:37:21.560 --> 0:37:25.239 probably am a little more familiar with how with how 0:37:25.320 --> 0:37:28.680 amateurs play lacc right. I've played it a couple of 0:37:28.760 --> 0:37:31.640 times myself. I don't hit it as far as Rory McElroy, 0:37:31.960 --> 0:37:34.200 and so for me that the experience of playing La 0:37:34.320 --> 0:37:38.360 north Is is different. And so I can say first 0:37:38.360 --> 0:37:40.600 of all that you're right on the money with the 0:37:40.680 --> 0:37:43.840 drives on number three and number eight. Those ones stuck 0:37:43.840 --> 0:37:46.600 out to me too as ones that just really didn't 0:37:46.719 --> 0:37:50.400 work for this field, in this tournament. But there is 0:37:50.920 --> 0:37:55.120 definitely a reason for that. There's no room to move 0:37:55.160 --> 0:37:58.680 those teas back. So those holes are basically the same 0:37:58.719 --> 0:38:02.399 as they were in nineteen twenty eight. They're the same length, 0:38:03.160 --> 0:38:06.600 and players are hitting driving irons so much farther than 0:38:06.600 --> 0:38:12.520 people used to hit hickory drivers in nineteen twenty eight. Like, truly, 0:38:13.520 --> 0:38:14.759 that is a situation we're in. 0:38:15.080 --> 0:38:16.560 If you moved it back, do you think those holes 0:38:16.719 --> 0:38:19.400 play significantly better? It would be, would be my counter argument. 0:38:19.680 --> 0:38:22.640 I think so. I think so, And here's why. On 0:38:22.760 --> 0:38:27.680 number three, the idea is that the baranka or the 0:38:27.719 --> 0:38:30.160 finger of the barank. It's kind of a tributary that 0:38:30.200 --> 0:38:33.839 cuts up the left center portion of that fairway. Is 0:38:33.880 --> 0:38:37.239 sort of the risky carry hazard. That's what it's meant 0:38:37.239 --> 0:38:41.440 to be. If you carry that, then you've done well 0:38:41.800 --> 0:38:44.239 and you're gonna filter to this one spot at the 0:38:44.280 --> 0:38:47.480 bottom of a goalie in the fairway. That's about a 0:38:47.480 --> 0:38:50.719 two hundred and fifty yard carry back in nineteen twenty eight, 0:38:50.760 --> 0:38:53.640 that was a hell of a carry. The other option 0:38:53.800 --> 0:38:55.960 on that hole is to play up to the right, 0:38:56.600 --> 0:38:58.239 and there's a couple of places that you can end 0:38:58.320 --> 0:38:59.960 up there. You can end up on a side hill, 0:39:00.800 --> 0:39:03.439 or if you're pretty precise and you decide to aim 0:39:03.520 --> 0:39:06.560 basically well away from the line of the hole, you 0:39:06.600 --> 0:39:08.200 can kind of get up on top of a hill 0:39:08.840 --> 0:39:11.000 there at the edge of the fairway and have a 0:39:11.080 --> 0:39:13.640 nice view of the green. And so that is the 0:39:13.680 --> 0:39:16.480 other option. Frankly, it is the option that I've used 0:39:16.719 --> 0:39:20.200 when I've played the hole. Because I cannot reliably carry 0:39:20.200 --> 0:39:22.319 my driver two hundred and fifty yards. I can't really 0:39:22.360 --> 0:39:24.640 make that carry, so I have to play out to 0:39:24.680 --> 0:39:27.280 the right on that hole, and it is a very 0:39:27.320 --> 0:39:28.920 different experience. 0:39:28.640 --> 0:39:33.080 But with I think with the firmness and how short 0:39:33.160 --> 0:39:36.040 probably the grass was in the fairways, I thought, and 0:39:36.120 --> 0:39:37.880 I would have to go back and look at some 0:39:37.920 --> 0:39:40.880 shots that were hit pretty high up the right side, 0:39:40.920 --> 0:39:44.719 they're still kind of funneled down into the same area. 0:39:44.760 --> 0:39:47.960 Absolutely, yeah, And that's a factor of the severity of 0:39:48.000 --> 0:39:50.520 the ground right, but also just how far everybody was 0:39:50.560 --> 0:39:53.160 hitting those shots right, because even if they hit them 0:39:53.160 --> 0:39:55.719 way up to the right, they were hitting them more 0:39:55.719 --> 0:39:57.799 than two hundred and fifty yards and so they made 0:39:57.840 --> 0:40:00.799 the carry right. That's the reward on that hole for 0:40:00.880 --> 0:40:04.800 being able to hit a ball that far. For somebody 0:40:04.840 --> 0:40:08.279 who doesn't make that carry on a consistent basis, you 0:40:08.320 --> 0:40:09.960 play up to the right and your ball does not 0:40:10.120 --> 0:40:13.400 funnel down to that main goalie that everybody ended up in. 0:40:13.440 --> 0:40:17.000 But yes, everybody was in that goalie. It was covered 0:40:17.440 --> 0:40:19.560 in divots by the end of the week. The hole 0:40:19.640 --> 0:40:23.360 really didn't work very well for this field. Kind of 0:40:23.400 --> 0:40:25.400 the same deal on eight and eight was a bit 0:40:25.480 --> 0:40:27.879 of a disappointment. I should have seen it coming. I 0:40:27.960 --> 0:40:33.040 love that hole for amateurs, but the thing is everybody 0:40:33.080 --> 0:40:35.840 in the field can get past those bunkers on the 0:40:35.920 --> 0:40:38.960 left and just throw their ball into that big slope 0:40:39.160 --> 0:40:41.320 past the bunkers on the left and let it filter 0:40:41.480 --> 0:40:44.160 down next to the baranka. And they can do it 0:40:44.160 --> 0:40:46.520 with a driving iron. A lot of them hit threewood 0:40:46.520 --> 0:40:49.080 off the tee, some of them hit hybrid. I saw 0:40:49.160 --> 0:40:52.520 Gordon Sergeant just hit a long iron out there, and 0:40:53.200 --> 0:40:56.120 the thing is, yeah, you can do that on that hole. 0:40:56.160 --> 0:40:58.840 The ball runs way from the left down to the 0:40:58.880 --> 0:41:01.879 bottom of the hill. But again, it's sort of like three, 0:41:02.080 --> 0:41:05.960 where the assumption was when that hole was built that 0:41:06.120 --> 0:41:08.520 not everybody would be able to make that carry, and 0:41:08.600 --> 0:41:11.360 the reward for being able to carry those bunkers to 0:41:11.600 --> 0:41:15.120 get past that trouble was being able to get that 0:41:15.280 --> 0:41:18.160 advantageous position so that you could go for the green 0:41:18.200 --> 0:41:20.960 in two. But there are a lot of other options 0:41:21.000 --> 0:41:23.520 on that hole, you know. Just giving this as an 0:41:23.560 --> 0:41:27.399 example of how Immortal would play this hole, you could 0:41:27.440 --> 0:41:29.840 legitimately play it where you go out to the left 0:41:30.200 --> 0:41:33.320 short of the bunkers, you are away from the branka, 0:41:33.440 --> 0:41:36.120 and then your option is to go out to the 0:41:36.239 --> 0:41:38.920 right with your next shot and lay up short of 0:41:38.960 --> 0:41:41.160 the green and leave yourself a wedge or a short 0:41:41.200 --> 0:41:44.120 iron in. But nobody took that option because they just 0:41:44.200 --> 0:41:47.160 didn't have to. I mean, they can make the carry 0:41:47.800 --> 0:41:49.760 and so that's the reality. 0:41:50.280 --> 0:41:52.440 Yeah, that's what Maybe I was a little bit disappointed 0:41:52.480 --> 0:41:55.360 because I think the design of Whole eight it's the 0:41:55.400 --> 0:41:59.239 anatomy of like a brilliant par five where you get 0:41:59.280 --> 0:42:02.600 the reward for going down the right side of the fairway, 0:42:02.680 --> 0:42:04.320 you don't have to hit as much of a draw 0:42:04.480 --> 0:42:07.120 into the green. Like, I was so excited to see 0:42:07.160 --> 0:42:09.360 that hole and it just didn't live up to the 0:42:09.400 --> 0:42:10.080 standard that. 0:42:10.440 --> 0:42:11.480 I was hoping for. 0:42:12.160 --> 0:42:14.840 And then the other the last nitpick I'd probably have 0:42:15.000 --> 0:42:18.560 is Whole eighteen, which I was already worried wasn't a 0:42:18.560 --> 0:42:22.040 great finishing hole. I didn't think it was a particularly 0:42:22.080 --> 0:42:26.000 exciting hole to finish on Wyndham's Drive on Sunday. I 0:42:26.000 --> 0:42:29.000 think there's a legitimate gripe like that was well mishit 0:42:29.360 --> 0:42:32.400 and it ends up in the fairway. You can make 0:42:32.440 --> 0:42:34.319 the argument, well, then he didn't have an opportunity to 0:42:34.320 --> 0:42:35.759 make Bertie if you go a little bit left. 0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:37.359 But nobody was really making Birdie there. 0:42:37.400 --> 0:42:39.560 You just got a bunch of pars and then maybe 0:42:39.560 --> 0:42:42.040 some bogies for some of the shorter hitters, so I 0:42:42.040 --> 0:42:45.120 don't think that was a great finishing hole. But to 0:42:45.239 --> 0:42:49.080 be fair, I don't think eighteen at Augusta. At Augusta 0:42:49.160 --> 0:42:51.600 is a great finishing hole, and no one complains about that, 0:42:51.880 --> 0:42:56.759 So overall I felt very positively about LACC. I'm just 0:42:56.880 --> 0:43:00.680 articulating the nitpicks and other than that thought, it was 0:43:00.719 --> 0:43:05.040 tremendous variety and really good test. Like whole five, probably 0:43:05.080 --> 0:43:07.799 one of the coolest holes I think we've seen in 0:43:08.400 --> 0:43:09.919 I mean, I won't say one of the coolest holes 0:43:09.920 --> 0:43:12.640 in Major championship history, but I think whole five was. 0:43:12.560 --> 0:43:15.560 Like a strong, strong golf hole. 0:43:15.960 --> 0:43:18.319 Yeah, that was a pleasant surprise for me because that's 0:43:18.360 --> 0:43:19.920 not a hole that I had picked out as one 0:43:19.960 --> 0:43:21.719 of my favorites when I had played the course. But 0:43:22.280 --> 0:43:25.360 in the tournament that hole is fascinating. I mean, the 0:43:25.400 --> 0:43:26.960 green kind of runs away a little bit. There are 0:43:26.960 --> 0:43:29.560 certain pin positions that are so hard to get to. 0:43:30.040 --> 0:43:31.600 You have to hit great shots on that hole in 0:43:31.680 --> 0:43:35.360 order to be successful. One note on eighteen. There's a 0:43:35.400 --> 0:43:38.239 reason that fairway is wide. It's really a hole that's 0:43:38.280 --> 0:43:42.080 built for nineteen twenty eight, where covering the distance that 0:43:42.080 --> 0:43:46.360 that hole is would require a running shot into the 0:43:46.400 --> 0:43:49.200 green on your second shot. Everybody would be hitting a 0:43:49.200 --> 0:43:52.080 shot along the ground into that green in order to 0:43:52.120 --> 0:43:55.799 get there. And now that's not the case, and so 0:43:56.080 --> 0:43:58.440 the strategy of the hole that in the width of 0:43:58.480 --> 0:44:02.520 the fairway don't make as much sense for this field. 0:44:03.000 --> 0:44:04.520 Then where does that leave us? Right? 0:44:04.560 --> 0:44:07.200 If you know that going in, Because if they had 0:44:07.320 --> 0:44:09.560 narrowed it, and just to play Devil's advocate, if they 0:44:09.560 --> 0:44:13.719 had narrowed it, I could see some fried egg ethos 0:44:13.760 --> 0:44:16.640 being like, this is compromising how it was supposed to 0:44:16.680 --> 0:44:19.480 be played right and kind of going that angle. But 0:44:19.560 --> 0:44:22.920 it might have played better for modern professional golf. 0:44:22.640 --> 0:44:24.520 I mean better, it would have been more punishing. 0:44:25.320 --> 0:44:26.960 Do you think they should have I mean, what do 0:44:27.000 --> 0:44:28.799 you do about that in the future on a whole 0:44:28.880 --> 0:44:33.040 that you know, hey, this isn't gonna play particularly well 0:44:33.120 --> 0:44:36.880 for the modern player because they used to have a 0:44:36.920 --> 0:44:40.239 you know, a super low running in thirty yards, but 0:44:40.440 --> 0:44:43.359 now that's not how players. They're gonna have a seven 0:44:43.400 --> 0:44:45.239 iron in What do you do about that? Do you 0:44:45.239 --> 0:44:48.839 still set it up the old way to adhere to 0:44:48.880 --> 0:44:52.600 George Thomas's original vision, or do you contrive the set 0:44:52.680 --> 0:44:53.200 up a little bit. 0:44:53.239 --> 0:44:54.800 I don't know the right answer to that question. 0:44:55.120 --> 0:44:56.719 Yeah, you roll the ball back is what you do. 0:44:56.800 --> 0:45:00.800 I don't know what the right answer is either. I 0:45:00.800 --> 0:45:03.280 don't think rolling, but the ball back it would really 0:45:03.320 --> 0:45:05.359 bring that hole back into play. It's one of those 0:45:05.360 --> 0:45:10.200 holes that's, in my mind, really a relic. And overall, 0:45:10.560 --> 0:45:13.000 I'm okay with a couple of holes being a relic. 0:45:13.440 --> 0:45:15.319 There's a couple of holes that Augusta National that are 0:45:15.320 --> 0:45:17.799 sort of relics. They just don't play at all like 0:45:17.840 --> 0:45:20.600 they used to play. But I'm okay with them being 0:45:20.640 --> 0:45:25.120 preserved from a museum perspective and the fact that the 0:45:25.160 --> 0:45:29.480 game has moved past them. That's one part sad and 0:45:29.840 --> 0:45:34.640 two parts inevitable. But to narrow that fair way doesn't 0:45:34.680 --> 0:45:37.840 make that a great hole. It just makes it more punishing. 0:45:38.320 --> 0:45:40.120 And I'm sure a lot of people would have loved 0:45:40.120 --> 0:45:42.960 to see Wyndham Clark get in the rough there, right. 0:45:43.080 --> 0:45:47.440 It would have required required a more accurate drive, and 0:45:47.480 --> 0:45:50.759 in that sense, if that's better, then that's fine. But 0:45:51.160 --> 0:45:53.920 I think that also people if Roy McElroy had been 0:45:53.920 --> 0:45:56.400 in the same position and hit the same kind of 0:45:56.960 --> 0:45:59.759 you know, banana sliced drive, that was nonetheless, one eighty 0:45:59.760 --> 0:46:02.480 balls speed, so he must have hit it decently well, 0:46:02.560 --> 0:46:06.400 or maybe the equipment is just that ridiculous. If he 0:46:06.440 --> 0:46:08.200 had been saved in the same way by the width 0:46:08.200 --> 0:46:10.399 of the fair way, we would be having, I think 0:46:10.480 --> 0:46:11.799 a different discussion about this. 0:46:12.280 --> 0:46:14.279 If Rory were one up going into eighteen and that 0:46:14.320 --> 0:46:16.200 happened to him, I think I'd have the same reaction 0:46:16.400 --> 0:46:17.320 like you would. 0:46:17.520 --> 0:46:20.760 You know, you're intellectually consistent. I'll give you that, Joseph. 0:46:20.960 --> 0:46:21.560 Yeah. 0:46:21.600 --> 0:46:24.680 But all that is to say, going back to the 0:46:24.760 --> 0:46:28.919 earlier point of there's a difference between maybe appreciating great 0:46:29.040 --> 0:46:33.120 architecture versus a modern entertainment product. And I will say 0:46:33.640 --> 0:46:36.359 I think it's a fair knit pick of a major 0:46:36.440 --> 0:46:39.719 championship to conclude on a hole that is maybe a 0:46:39.719 --> 0:46:42.160 little bit boring, not a lot of scoring, that's much 0:46:42.200 --> 0:46:44.680 different than the rest of the course. Same way, I 0:46:44.680 --> 0:46:47.799 think it's a fair criticism of Augusta. And I think 0:46:48.320 --> 0:46:52.200 one of a key ingredient of an awesome modern entertainment 0:46:52.280 --> 0:46:55.320 product is a little bit of uncertainty going into the 0:46:55.440 --> 0:46:59.000 last hole. I think that's part of what makes Sawgrass compelling, 0:46:59.120 --> 0:47:02.000 is that if you're three up going into seventeen, it's 0:47:02.120 --> 0:47:07.560 not over and as a sports fan, that's compelling. So 0:47:07.680 --> 0:47:11.320 if somebody says, hey, LACC was boring for me, I disagree. 0:47:11.360 --> 0:47:13.799 I think it was awesome. If somebody says there were 0:47:13.840 --> 0:47:16.320 some t shots out there that didn't play particularly well 0:47:16.360 --> 0:47:19.200 in eighteen felt like a dud, I can't push back 0:47:19.239 --> 0:47:19.840 too much on that. 0:47:20.080 --> 0:47:22.920 I would agree. But overall, this notion that. 0:47:22.920 --> 0:47:26.080 We shouldn't go back to LACC to me is crazy, 0:47:26.200 --> 0:47:28.759 Like that was an awesome brand of golf. If you 0:47:28.760 --> 0:47:30.920 didn't appreciate it, that's fine. I'm not going to try 0:47:30.920 --> 0:47:32.640 to tell you you're wrong. But I thought it was 0:47:32.680 --> 0:47:33.880 a great, great test. 0:47:34.760 --> 0:47:36.880 You know, Joseph, I think that's really well put, and 0:47:36.920 --> 0:47:40.000 I agree with basically all of it. Anything else you 0:47:40.040 --> 0:47:40.600 wanted to cover. 0:47:41.800 --> 0:47:44.719 I have some thoughts on like the whole Rory discourse 0:47:44.760 --> 0:47:47.160 and did he lose or did Windham win? I think 0:47:47.160 --> 0:47:50.799 this turns into a binary did Rory lose or did 0:47:50.800 --> 0:47:51.319 Windham win? 0:47:51.680 --> 0:47:52.640 Here's what I will say. 0:47:53.000 --> 0:47:55.320 We only focus on a couple things, and like a 0:47:55.440 --> 0:48:00.560 couple holes, narratives take shape. This whole idea of like 0:48:00.640 --> 0:48:03.200 was Rory aggressive enough? Was he conservative enough? I think 0:48:03.200 --> 0:48:07.080 his game plan was very good. Where I believe he 0:48:07.560 --> 0:48:11.160 lost the tournament, so to speak, was on Saturday. We're 0:48:11.200 --> 0:48:13.160 focusing so much on he couldn't make a put on 0:48:13.239 --> 0:48:17.319 Sunday and you know, terrible wedge on fourteen, which I 0:48:17.360 --> 0:48:20.040 agree with, like fourteen was a big mistake, but he 0:48:20.120 --> 0:48:23.480 missed on Saturday. He had a very straightforward up and 0:48:23.520 --> 0:48:26.759 down on four that he did not convert. He had 0:48:26.800 --> 0:48:29.480 a very straightforward up and down on six that he 0:48:29.520 --> 0:48:31.960 did not convert, and he didn't take advantage of number 0:48:32.040 --> 0:48:35.360 eight from the fairway. To me, that is where the 0:48:35.400 --> 0:48:40.040 tournament was lost. And he played exceptional golf almost the 0:48:40.480 --> 0:48:44.160 remainder of the tournament. On Sunday, sloppy three put on eight, 0:48:44.880 --> 0:48:48.560 didn't execute on fourteen. I just mentioned five shots and 0:48:48.600 --> 0:48:53.080 he lost by one, Like let's not overreact. And the 0:48:53.120 --> 0:48:55.840 only other thing and then I've said my piece is 0:48:55.880 --> 0:49:00.600 that this idea that Wyndham Clark is this like mich Liz, 0:49:00.680 --> 0:49:04.200 this long shot like Sean mckeel type story, I think 0:49:04.360 --> 0:49:09.279 is misguided. He's been tremendous this year, Wyndham Clark. When 0:49:09.280 --> 0:49:14.040 he won the Wells Fargo, a designated event, people were saying, like, okay, 0:49:14.040 --> 0:49:16.960 he's probably a Ryder cupper. Like Wyndham Clark is a 0:49:17.000 --> 0:49:20.920 great golfer. He's having a breakout twenty twenty three. He 0:49:21.000 --> 0:49:23.360 hits the ball long way. I think the setup was 0:49:23.360 --> 0:49:26.200 good for him. He's been gaining like a stroke per 0:49:26.239 --> 0:49:29.800 round with his irons, and he's a fabulous putter. 0:49:30.080 --> 0:49:31.560 Like, let's stop with this. 0:49:32.200 --> 0:49:35.200 Narrative that he wasn't a deserving champion, Like, I don't 0:49:35.200 --> 0:49:36.120 think it's fair at all. 0:49:37.200 --> 0:49:40.360 If you listen to podcasts that sort of minutely track 0:49:41.360 --> 0:49:43.960 new players coming on the scene, whether it's like Fantasy 0:49:43.960 --> 0:49:46.960 podcasts or the Shotguns Start, you know where they have 0:49:47.040 --> 0:49:49.160 three shows, three times a week and they talk about 0:49:49.160 --> 0:49:51.799 a lot of different players. Wyndam Clark has come up 0:49:51.840 --> 0:49:55.000 for years, right. People have been saying for years, this 0:49:55.040 --> 0:49:58.319 guy is really really good. I mean just you know, 0:49:58.640 --> 0:50:01.120 maybe he hasn't had the results yet, but my god, 0:50:01.160 --> 0:50:05.799 he just profiles out to be an extraordinary player. That's 0:50:05.840 --> 0:50:09.280 been the word on Wyndham Clark. That's not hindsight twenty twenty. 0:50:09.920 --> 0:50:13.440 This is not a Sean mcheel situation. This is this 0:50:13.560 --> 0:50:16.600 is a great player and he may not continue at 0:50:16.600 --> 0:50:20.120 this level, but it seems like he could all right, 0:50:20.200 --> 0:50:23.200 let's take one more quick break and then Joseph and 0:50:23.200 --> 0:50:34.919 I will be back to do some recommendations. Our next 0:50:34.920 --> 0:50:38.480 partner is Athletic Greens. I take ag one by Athletic 0:50:38.520 --> 0:50:41.879 Greens literally every day. I gave ag one a shot 0:50:41.920 --> 0:50:44.360 because I noticed that my daily habits just weren't the 0:50:44.440 --> 0:50:47.640 healthiest and I wasn't always getting what I needed nutritionally. 0:50:47.719 --> 0:50:50.480 So now I take ag one first thing in the morning, 0:50:50.680 --> 0:50:52.600 right before I take the kids out to the bus stop, 0:50:52.920 --> 0:50:55.400 and it just gives me an assurance that I've started 0:50:55.400 --> 0:50:57.920 my day the right way. Plus it gives me a 0:50:57.920 --> 0:51:00.640 little boost of energy, which is always a good thing 0:51:01.080 --> 0:51:04.200 for a guy with my kind of life with young kids, 0:51:04.560 --> 0:51:07.640 very active lot of work, that that little boost in 0:51:07.680 --> 0:51:11.400 the morning is just great. So this past week at 0:51:11.400 --> 0:51:13.920 the US Open, I went with my travel packs. I 0:51:14.000 --> 0:51:16.399 was there on site for a little while, and one 0:51:16.440 --> 0:51:19.280 of the things that happens when you're traveling and covering 0:51:19.280 --> 0:51:22.640 a golf tournament is that you don't exactly eat healthy food. 0:51:23.080 --> 0:51:26.640 I mean really appreciated the media dining situation that the 0:51:26.719 --> 0:51:30.040 USGA provided. It was very very good, but a lot 0:51:30.080 --> 0:51:32.920 of the food was pretty greasy, which I love you know, 0:51:33.040 --> 0:51:36.359 and I was very happy to eat it, but it 0:51:36.400 --> 0:51:40.960 didn't exactly provide the best nutritional value. So having those 0:51:41.000 --> 0:51:43.799 travel packs being able to take some ag one and 0:51:43.880 --> 0:51:47.040 support my gut health was a big deal during this 0:51:47.120 --> 0:51:50.239 past week, as it always is when I'm traveling. So 0:51:50.400 --> 0:51:53.120 if a comprehensive solution is what you need from your 0:51:53.160 --> 0:51:56.440 supplement routine, then Athletic Greens is giving you a free 0:51:56.719 --> 0:52:00.360 one year supply of Vitamin D and five freech travel 0:52:00.400 --> 0:52:04.480 packs with your first purchase. Go to Athleticgreens dot com 0:52:04.640 --> 0:52:09.319 slash the fried Egg. That's Athleticgreens dot com. Slash the 0:52:09.360 --> 0:52:16.640 fried Egg. Check it out. All right, we are back 0:52:16.719 --> 0:52:21.239 for recommendations, Joseph, What are you recommending this week? 0:52:22.480 --> 0:52:25.840 Well, I would think normally here I would give some 0:52:25.920 --> 0:52:28.040 kind of music recommendation because I listened to a lot 0:52:28.080 --> 0:52:30.640 of different music, But I am running dry right now, 0:52:31.080 --> 0:52:34.560 and the main recommendation that I think I could give 0:52:34.640 --> 0:52:38.680 that's not golf related. I recently watched a movie I 0:52:38.760 --> 0:52:41.240 loved and I had never heard of it. 0:52:41.239 --> 0:52:42.800 It's called In the Name of the Father. 0:52:43.520 --> 0:52:45.040 Oh yeah, Daniel day Lewis. 0:52:45.400 --> 0:52:47.640 Daniel day Lewis, who h who? I love. 0:52:47.680 --> 0:52:50.000 I didn't even know this movie existed until like three 0:52:50.040 --> 0:52:53.960 weeks ago. I watched it, thought it was incredible, and 0:52:54.080 --> 0:52:58.120 I would highly recommend it. Cool movie where the theme 0:52:58.200 --> 0:53:02.360 is truth and it is a true story. It covers 0:53:02.480 --> 0:53:07.120 the some civilian bombings between the British and the Irish 0:53:07.120 --> 0:53:10.520 and somebody gets falsely accused. Thought it was awesome. I've 0:53:10.560 --> 0:53:12.839 recommend it to a couple people who have all liked it, 0:53:13.000 --> 0:53:15.520 and I would recommend it to anybody. Sounds like you've 0:53:15.520 --> 0:53:16.600 seen it, Garrett. 0:53:16.640 --> 0:53:19.040 A long time ago. I was a big movie nerd 0:53:19.040 --> 0:53:20.840 when I was a teenager, and so I watched a 0:53:20.840 --> 0:53:24.319 lot of great movies like like that then, and I 0:53:24.320 --> 0:53:27.480 had a bit of Daniel day Lewis phase. And I 0:53:27.520 --> 0:53:31.200 think it was maybe the first Daniel day Lewis movie 0:53:31.200 --> 0:53:34.640 that I had seen, and so I fully thought that 0:53:34.640 --> 0:53:38.960 that was his native accent because he is so completely 0:53:39.000 --> 0:53:43.480 absorbed into that character. It's brilliant, all right. So what 0:53:43.520 --> 0:53:46.880 I'm recommending is a little bit flimsy by comparison, honestly, 0:53:47.640 --> 0:53:50.960 but it is golf related. And just this morning, Tom 0:53:51.000 --> 0:53:54.120 Watson sent out an open letter to j Monahan and 0:53:54.200 --> 0:53:57.600 the PGA Tour, and I don't think he's necessarily saying 0:53:57.680 --> 0:54:02.040 anything super new here, But what I appreciated about it 0:54:02.160 --> 0:54:05.680 was its clarity. It set out the issues really clearly 0:54:05.719 --> 0:54:10.799 about the proposed partnership between the PGA Tour and the PIF. 0:54:11.600 --> 0:54:14.600 But what I just most appreciated about this was Tom 0:54:14.640 --> 0:54:19.160 Watson's willingness to actually engage with the issues, not just 0:54:19.200 --> 0:54:21.960 to wave them off and say, I'm a golfer, I'm 0:54:21.960 --> 0:54:24.600 not going to concern myself with this stuff. This is 0:54:24.680 --> 0:54:27.960 not my job to be an expert on these matters. Instead, 0:54:28.000 --> 0:54:32.080 he's saying, no, I'm taking responsibility to learn about this stuff, 0:54:32.280 --> 0:54:34.439 and he admits at a couple of points, I don't 0:54:34.480 --> 0:54:36.560 have all the information about this. I know a little 0:54:36.560 --> 0:54:39.120 bit about it, but I need to learn more and 0:54:39.160 --> 0:54:42.560 I need to ask questions. And he does a great 0:54:42.680 --> 0:54:46.400 job of just not letting anything off the hook, and 0:54:46.440 --> 0:54:50.320 I think that's a great model for leaders in this situation. 0:54:50.760 --> 0:54:53.960 There's been a void of leadership in this situation. There's 0:54:54.000 --> 0:54:58.360 been a void of moral leadership. Specifically, people have just 0:54:58.480 --> 0:55:03.640 completely abdicated that responsibility to be moral leaders. And so 0:55:04.520 --> 0:55:05.920 I don't know where this is going to go with 0:55:05.920 --> 0:55:08.440 Tom Watson, whether he's going to eventually acquiesce to the 0:55:08.480 --> 0:55:11.640 situation like so many other people have. But his willingness 0:55:11.680 --> 0:55:16.840 to kind of reckon with complex issues and put something 0:55:16.880 --> 0:55:21.560 out there that alone, I think I commend, And for 0:55:21.600 --> 0:55:25.239 that reason alone, I would really recommend that people go 0:55:25.320 --> 0:55:27.759 read this open letter. It is a touch long, It's 0:55:27.840 --> 0:55:30.680 longer than most of what people read on Twitter, but 0:55:31.280 --> 0:55:32.359 I think you should seek it out. 0:55:32.680 --> 0:55:35.560 Look, Garrett, speaking truth to power. I'm not sure our 0:55:35.600 --> 0:55:36.880 recommendations were that different. 0:55:36.880 --> 0:55:44.160 After all, are we comparing the troubles to the PGA 0:55:44.239 --> 0:55:50.200 Tour's current situation. Yes, well, that's a great place to end. Joseph, 0:55:50.280 --> 0:55:52.680 thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'll 0:55:52.719 --> 0:55:54.960 talk to you again soon. Thanks for having me. It's fun. 0:56:05.680 --> 0:56:08.520 This episode of the Frida Egg Podcast was edited by 0:56:08.680 --> 0:56:11.719 Matt Rushis. Thank you Matt, and in fact, Matt was 0:56:11.800 --> 0:56:15.240 out there this week at LACC along with Cameron Hurtis, 0:56:15.280 --> 0:56:19.120 taking some terrific photos of the action at the US Open. 0:56:19.520 --> 0:56:22.880 We've been publishing those photos on Twitter and Instagram and 0:56:22.960 --> 0:56:25.880 in our stories for the tournament. So all credit to 0:56:25.920 --> 0:56:28.839 Matt for not only being a great podcast editor, but 0:56:28.960 --> 0:56:32.480 also being a very talented photographer. So if you would 0:56:32.560 --> 0:56:34.520 like to support the Frida Egg, the single best thing 0:56:34.560 --> 0:56:37.840 that you can do is join Club TFE. This is 0:56:37.960 --> 0:56:41.640 a content offering that also comes with benefits like early 0:56:41.680 --> 0:56:44.719 access to events and discounts and the pro shop and 0:56:44.760 --> 0:56:48.319 stuff like that, but the main offering is in our 0:56:48.360 --> 0:56:52.840 Club TFE website, where we publish content that's exclusive for members. 0:56:52.880 --> 0:56:56.080 This past week we had a great video that Andy 0:56:56.160 --> 0:57:00.479 did on every hole at LACC, or at least one 0:57:00.520 --> 0:57:04.839 feature from every hole at LACC, and we also had 0:57:05.160 --> 0:57:08.719 some different things going on with LACC and US Open 0:57:08.800 --> 0:57:11.520 themed content, as well as a course profile that I 0:57:11.560 --> 0:57:14.480 wrote on Rustic Canyon, which is of course that's not 0:57:14.600 --> 0:57:18.680 far from LA that's public, really well designed and that 0:57:18.720 --> 0:57:20.960 I highly recommend that you seek out if you're. 0:57:20.840 --> 0:57:21.680 In the area. 0:57:21.800 --> 0:57:24.720 So that's all in CLUBTFE. Go to the Friday dot 0:57:24.760 --> 0:57:27.960 com slash membership to see what it's all about. Thank 0:57:28.000 --> 0:57:30.040 you for listening, and we'll be back again soon