Speaker 1: Without Tiger in the field. And it's weird that we've
Speaker 1: been talking golf all week in Tiger's name barely has
Speaker 1: come up. Uh without Tiger in the field. Justin Thomas's
Speaker 1: Tigers target. Uh, he's got that, you know, get out
Speaker 1: of my way quality. I'm all about the golf. There
Speaker 1: really is no distracting interest in any love sports other
Speaker 1: than golf, like like Tiger does. But he really is
Speaker 1: about the work on the range, the work on the course. Uh,
Speaker 1: and the score of the score of the score. And
Speaker 1: I think that's a I think that's a neat quality
Speaker 1: in Justin Thomas. And uh, you know, I think if
Speaker 1: you've got a direct line to Tiger Woods, I don't
Speaker 1: see how that could be anything other than helpful. Put
Speaker 1: another log on the fire nobody hears get the time. Hello,
Speaker 1: This is Alan Schipnuk back for another Fire Drill podcast,
Speaker 1: joined by Michael Bamberger Ryan French. It is the eve
Speaker 1: of the United States Open gens. There's been a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of build up. Um, finally here, I
Speaker 1: guess let's start with what has been your takeaway from
Speaker 1: the practice rounds at the country club. The way the
Speaker 1: course is playing, but more than that, just the ambiance,
Speaker 1: the feeling in the air, the Boston crowds, Like, tell
Speaker 1: people what it feels like to be on the grounds here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's my first major, my first open, so
Speaker 1: obviously I just walk around like enjoying all of it.
Speaker 1: So there's that. Um, And obviously I know how hard
Speaker 1: the the u S Open is and set up what
Speaker 1: it's it's great to see it in person and practice rounds.
Speaker 1: You know, we see bad shots here and there as
Speaker 1: the U S Open goes on, but to watch guys
Speaker 1: in the practice round true struggle is is really cool. Um.
Speaker 1: The crowds have been kind of I mean, obviously it's
Speaker 1: Tuesday and Wednesday whatever, but the crowds have been somewhat disappointing.
Speaker 1: But I assume they'll drink more and enjoy more. And
Speaker 1: heckle Moore, Phil got a very nice reception yesterday. The
Speaker 1: shambo got you know, some nice applause. I was like, jeez,
Speaker 1: come on, Boston, let's get at it. But the imminence
Speaker 1: have been great. The course it looks amazing and impossibly hard. Um.
Speaker 1: I mean, the the whole ropes thing and structure thing
Speaker 1: and rules following thing is kind of disappointing. I'm at
Speaker 1: events when there is no such things and no fans,
Speaker 1: so that's obviously a bummer. But it's amazing. It really
Speaker 1: is a very very cool. Have you seen any player
Speaker 1: get the red ass over a bad shot in practice?
Speaker 1: I haven't, but I've definitely seen some people like laugh.
Speaker 1: You know, Um, I followed a couple of groups the
Speaker 1: other day and uh, I think Monday, and uh, Andrew
Speaker 1: Putnam hit a whiff and then a shank out of
Speaker 1: the rough at a chip, and you know, just chuckled
Speaker 1: and went and picked up his ball. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: these guys have been through it a lot, so there's
Speaker 1: no there's no point in being mad at him on
Speaker 1: a Monday afternoon. Is that the older Putnam or the
Speaker 1: younger Putnam? That is the younger and the only current
Speaker 1: playing Putnam? Oh, the other guys playing? Michael is not
Speaker 1: he was. He was my roommate when you're well just
Speaker 1: a few years ago, Channica Hills. Wow, Michael Bamberger, I
Speaker 1: feel so badly. We have to have a story about
Speaker 1: the cryptocurrency taxi ride one day. Anyway, go on, No,
Speaker 1: the more you hang out with Bamberger, he'll he'll just
Speaker 1: bust out surprising things at the all time classic is
Speaker 1: we're talking and I knew he had just been vacationing,
Speaker 1: like in Martha's video. I said, how was it? He said, Oh,
Speaker 1: it was delightful. You know, it's just it's such a
Speaker 1: nice place, such a great time. I said, do you guys,
Speaker 1: are you gonna you know, fancy parties. I I know
Speaker 1: it's a big thing. He's like, yeah, I went to
Speaker 1: one good one. I said, yeah, you know, actually I
Speaker 1: saw a Bomba was there at the same time. Did
Speaker 1: you have any any hint of his presence? And Michael's like, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah I did. And um and then as there was
Speaker 1: any cool people at your party? And He's like, well,
Speaker 1: not really, I mean I guess Obama was there. He said,
Speaker 1: oh yeah. And as I said, did you have any
Speaker 1: actions like yeah, yeah, I even talked about golf like
Speaker 1: you would have never have mentioned it. Yeah, like hold
Speaker 1: it out of it, Like whereas most of us I
Speaker 1: would have taken out a full page ad in my
Speaker 1: hometown news paper. I went to a party with Barack
Speaker 1: Obama and talked to him like I would have been
Speaker 1: a hundred and seven tweets into my interaction with Barack Obama.
Speaker 1: But I did tweet out today, good morning America. You
Speaker 1: you you whiffed on ship knock? How dare you? I mean,
Speaker 1: I can't. I mean, as you know, Alan, but the
Speaker 1: forty seven mile walk that we made yesterday was just
Speaker 1: I just told myself over and over again to shut
Speaker 1: up and just listen to Michael stories, anything from ja
Speaker 1: K to cryptocurrency to yeah house that I described friends
Speaker 1: as we met winning the US Open in nighteen, and
Speaker 1: I was only off by five years. I later learned
Speaker 1: cult probably picked up on that, But you got to
Speaker 1: the essence of the story. Yeah, that's what matters. Um, Michael,
Speaker 1: You've been to a lot of opens, but you know
Speaker 1: it's been whatever, it's been decades since we were at
Speaker 1: this particular Um, does this one feel any different to
Speaker 1: you now that you've been on You know, I've talked
Speaker 1: to Curtis a lot about eighty eight, and then Curtis's
Speaker 1: brother said to me, Uh, were you there? Were you
Speaker 1: there in a eight? And I wasn't, And it's like
Speaker 1: that was a bad US Open to miss? That was Uh,
Speaker 1: that would have been a great US Open. The only
Speaker 1: time I've been to the Country Club is when you
Speaker 1: and I were there together. I don't think you've been
Speaker 1: there since then. In uh In, I love reading the
Speaker 1: Boston Globe when I'm here. It's just like one of
Speaker 1: my hobbies. And uh and they made a reference to
Speaker 1: the rocky outcroppings. I hope I have this word correct.
Speaker 1: Maybe Colt can can google it while I'm saying it.
Speaker 1: Those rocky outcrop things that you see at the country
Speaker 1: anybody know what they're called? That's correct putting Stone? Who knew?
Speaker 1: But they're so beautiful and the golf course is so
Speaker 1: beautiful and as an and I know it the other day,
Speaker 1: which you have Vogilly that yellow clubhouse. You know, it's
Speaker 1: like it's like the light at the end of Gatsby's dock.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just it triggers a lot for me.
Speaker 1: And uh I love being a colt. Or you're googling?
Speaker 1: Can you google Getsby? So I know what the hell
Speaker 1: that references? Do? Nobody know? You've got a PhD. And
Speaker 1: I have a question for you guys, because you guys
Speaker 1: have done this a billion times. This is a serious question.
Speaker 1: Like I assume some of this becomes routine, right, But
Speaker 1: there's so much going on in golf right now that
Speaker 1: has never happened in your time covering golf. Does it
Speaker 1: feel different? Does it feel polarizing? Doesn't I mean any
Speaker 1: of like what it What does it feel like with
Speaker 1: all the what's going on in golf? Well, definitely this
Speaker 1: the Live Saudi PGA Tour, Phil that that's captured the
Speaker 1: non golf audience and even the non sports like um
Speaker 1: for just Time magazine wants to talk to about all
Speaker 1: this stuff like they today, I want to do an
Speaker 1: interview with them. They they don't really wade into these
Speaker 1: waters very often. And I saw Dave's are in you know,
Speaker 1: he's who's kind of covers the intersection of sports and
Speaker 1: culture and race and those issues, like I haven't read it.
Speaker 1: I just saw on Twitter just now that he has
Speaker 1: a big think piece about all this stuff. So it's
Speaker 1: definitely a big deal. And there's been you know, there's
Speaker 1: been the strain of of our of our our readers
Speaker 1: or the people interact with on on social media state,
Speaker 1: you know, enough questions about live like let's focus on
Speaker 1: the U s Open. I think that will happen starting
Speaker 1: tomorrow with the first round. But this is a huge story.
Speaker 1: I mean It's one of the biggest story in sports
Speaker 1: right now. Like you can't deny of it. Um, there's
Speaker 1: there's a lot happening here. So it does. It's been
Speaker 1: floating around for a long time. But it's like everything
Speaker 1: collided here. Coming coming out of London. Uh feels re
Speaker 1: emergent Bryson and announcing you know, the guy just won
Speaker 1: the US Open a couple of years ago. Like all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, it just feels like this story is exploded.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that you know, we've been through this before
Speaker 1: with you know, say the Augusta National Membership controversy and
Speaker 1: that that became a fixation of the New York Times
Speaker 1: and that definitely crossed over to the mainstream media. And
Speaker 1: before that with Shoal Creek. Um, and there's you know,
Speaker 1: golf has been at the center of some of these storms,
Speaker 1: but not not really in the social media age. And um,
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia, you know with Joe Biden is about to
Speaker 1: go over there, and uh, it's it's Saudi Arabia's influence
Speaker 1: has never been greater and people have never been so
Speaker 1: tuned into it. And so you have sports, you have geopolitics,
Speaker 1: you have oil, you have money, you have greed, you
Speaker 1: have vengeance, and you have big teams here. So this
Speaker 1: this feels like like a monumental story. And uh, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's going to overstattle the US Open, but
Speaker 1: it's definitely defined the early part of the week. That
Speaker 1: is really well said down and uh, I agree with
Speaker 1: everywhere that that everywhere that you just said. And the
Speaker 1: only thing I would add to it. What's very different
Speaker 1: about this controversy and other things that have come over
Speaker 1: the years, whether it's been Right's comment about quote lesbians
Speaker 1: in the in the in the women's game, or you know,
Speaker 1: women just happens to be another one's thing, but no
Speaker 1: women had no, no, uh, members of color at different clubs.
Speaker 1: This one we know is being discussed by the players
Speaker 1: at every turn. So what we're doing is really reflecting
Speaker 1: the player's own interest in it. Now. Yes, once the
Speaker 1: bell goes off in that ball sitting there and you're
Speaker 1: trying to get near the whole, that's all different. But
Speaker 1: the PGA tour as we know it is being redefined
Speaker 1: now and there's no way that can't be foremost on
Speaker 1: virtually every player's mind. Maybe Ryan, maybe not so much.
Speaker 1: Some of the guys that that that you deal with.
Speaker 1: But for a hundred other guys who are in the
Speaker 1: field this week, most definitely. Yeah, But even even even
Speaker 1: the dreamers are going to be touched by this. I
Speaker 1: mean on some level, if you have four d PGA
Speaker 1: Tour members who all of a sudden get excommunicated and
Speaker 1: there may be some more playing opportunities that will open
Speaker 1: up that you know, the Saudi money, they they're they're
Speaker 1: cleverly gonna start targeting the lower levels of golf like
Speaker 1: it's gonna touch you know, even the people in Ryan's
Speaker 1: golfing life. I think that's why it's such a big story.
Speaker 1: A lot of different facets of the game are are
Speaker 1: being affected, even though right now that the focus is
Speaker 1: just on the top players and we you and I
Speaker 1: talked about this the other day with with with Jeff
Speaker 1: and and and matt Um. I think there is an
Speaker 1: element of I'm going to raise the flag for my tour.
Speaker 1: If you're a PGA Tour player, especially uh competing in
Speaker 1: this US Open. Now, I don't think I can make
Speaker 1: you try harder, but I think it can just raise
Speaker 1: becausetead of trying as hard as you can. But I
Speaker 1: think it just sort of raises the stakes to some
Speaker 1: degree and in ways that maybe you can't even articulate.
Speaker 1: I think that does factor into into the week. Do
Speaker 1: you have Do you guys have a sense of that
Speaker 1: whether you agree with that or not, fairway on. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: so that was the thing I want to do on
Speaker 1: this Podcastle's talk about some of some of the players.
Speaker 1: And you know, the defending champ, John Ram, the guy
Speaker 1: who just won the last major championship, Justin Thomas, the
Speaker 1: hottest player in the game coming off that that very
Speaker 1: emotional win in Canada, Roy Mattha really like they have
Speaker 1: all very uh militantly thrown in with the PGA tour
Speaker 1: and they you know, they they have made their leaders
Speaker 1: is very clear. And um, I do think that they
Speaker 1: there's a righteousness there. You can certainly saw it from
Speaker 1: Rory and you've heard it in Justin's comments and Rom
Speaker 1: you know, he's the guy who introduced fealty into the
Speaker 1: Gulf lexicon. Um So I do think that, um, there's
Speaker 1: something to that. All these guys are fueled by different things.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you know, when you when look at
Speaker 1: Tiger Woods, like the Great Tiger Woods, he needed some
Speaker 1: benign comment from Stephen Ames to get his engine revving,
Speaker 1: and a million other things, you know, all the ways
Speaker 1: he found motivation and fuel. Some off handed comment from
Speaker 1: Rory Sabatini, some uh you know, Jack Nicholas, some newspaper
Speaker 1: columnists and eighties six kind of just missing him as
Speaker 1: a contender at Augusta like things that you that you
Speaker 1: and I would think they would just blow off like
Speaker 1: it does light the fire for even very accomplished players.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I think you're right, Michael, like this
Speaker 1: is this is the has added in a level of
Speaker 1: intensity and and just turned up the volume on the
Speaker 1: whole thing. And so it's it's the United States Open.
Speaker 1: They want to win this because they've always wanted to
Speaker 1: win this. But if if a live player wins this tournament,
Speaker 1: or one one of these guys who has become the
Speaker 1: flag bearer for the PGA Tour, that's certainly going to
Speaker 1: be uh commented upon, even probably by the player himself.
Speaker 1: So it's a subplot, there's no question. And and and
Speaker 1: just to follow up on that, if it's Rory or
Speaker 1: Dustin Johnson down the stretch on Sunday, even though Dustin
Speaker 1: Johnson's in American, we're in Boston. I think they'd be
Speaker 1: rooting for Rory. Now he's Irish. That might have something
Speaker 1: to do with it. But you could substitute John Rahman.
Speaker 1: I know I would be Ryan. Yeah, it will be
Speaker 1: very interesting if there if there's a live, a live guy,
Speaker 1: and a and a tour guy. And it's so weird
Speaker 1: to say that that's where we're at in golf. Is
Speaker 1: like we're at the for racing fans, we're at the
Speaker 1: car I R l U pointing golf that we have
Speaker 1: to point out where these players are are affiliated with.
Speaker 1: But if it comes down, I would assume, no matter what,
Speaker 1: they're going to go with tour guys. But I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean Boston, Boston sports fans are are I a
Speaker 1: fickle bunch? So it might be DJ just to mess
Speaker 1: with everybody. Well, and also, I mean one of the
Speaker 1: ironies and all this is that the monopolistic PGA tour,
Speaker 1: this this organization that is crusted, crushed so many reporters
Speaker 1: hopes and aspirations for telling stories in a different way,
Speaker 1: and that has lorded over the players in so many words,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, they're like the likable underdogs in
Speaker 1: this story, which is kind of rich and um, you know,
Speaker 1: I had lunch yesterday with the DUDEO was U. He
Speaker 1: was a long time executive at the Golf Channel and
Speaker 1: he dealt with the PGA Tour for years and years,
Speaker 1: and he says it is such an I roll that
Speaker 1: somehow the tours become sympathetic. He's like, they they are
Speaker 1: the biggest pain in the acid to deal with at
Speaker 1: every level. Like he's like, anyone engulf can't be rooting
Speaker 1: for the PGA Tour. I thought that was an interesting
Speaker 1: perspective and so, um, you know, there are people who
Speaker 1: like chaos and and there's never been you know, in golf,
Speaker 1: you're rooting for the human. You're not rooting for the jersey,
Speaker 1: whereas in team sports, you're rooting for the jersey because
Speaker 1: some of your favorite players just leave through free agency.
Speaker 1: But you know, if you're a Red Sox or Celtics fan,
Speaker 1: the players come and go, you're rooting for the You're
Speaker 1: rooting for the laundry, right, You're rooting for the team.
Speaker 1: And so golf has never had that that element before.
Speaker 1: And maybe that that's gonna add something to the contrarians
Speaker 1: out there and the anarchists, Uh, they might root for
Speaker 1: the live guys because it just it adds spice to
Speaker 1: the whole thing. And then then the traditionalist might be
Speaker 1: rooting for the tour guys, and so it's a whole
Speaker 1: new layer to fandom. Um. You know, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of the folks out there in the gallery aren't
Speaker 1: paying attention to any of this. They're just happy to
Speaker 1: be a golf tournament and just want to hit shots,
Speaker 1: and they only known the name of ten players in
Speaker 1: the field. But the lunatic fringe that consumes all of
Speaker 1: our stuff and that that we're catering to at the
Speaker 1: fire Pit Collective, they're tuned into this and they probably
Speaker 1: have some some rooting allegiances, and some of them might
Speaker 1: be against the tour for a variety of reasons. So
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's a wild turn of events for sure.
Speaker 1: I would say that PGA Tour out to your comment earlier,
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour maybe the underdogs, but they've got a
Speaker 1: long ways to go to become likable. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's a real thing. Like I will say this,
Speaker 1: when I was over at the live event in London
Speaker 1: and Phil hit one in the trees, I just pulled
Speaker 1: out my camera and I filmed like this thirty second
Speaker 1: recovery shot and the fans going crazy, and I posted
Speaker 1: on Twitter and it was like, wow, that was liberating, Like, um,
Speaker 1: because I'm there for the fans. They want to see
Speaker 1: all these shots. A lot of them are not going
Speaker 1: to watch the live stream. They just they just didn't
Speaker 1: get into it. But they want they want some highlights,
Speaker 1: they want some sense of what it's like. And you know,
Speaker 1: same thing that is, you know, the first t shots
Speaker 1: to kind of kick this event off. I put those
Speaker 1: up on Twitter, you know videos. Now, if we've done
Speaker 1: that at a PGA Tour event, as we all know,
Speaker 1: especially Ryan knows, like they would, they would unleash the
Speaker 1: hounds on us. And we're public enemy number one because
Speaker 1: we're trying to put some fun content out for fans
Speaker 1: and at the live event kind of anything goes and
Speaker 1: they almost encourage you to do that stuff because you're
Speaker 1: helping them from you know, just read the word and
Speaker 1: to bring fans closer to the action. So that was
Speaker 1: a funny moment for me, like, Wow, this is cool.
Speaker 1: I can do whatever the hell I want. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know whether this is gonna. I didn't
Speaker 1: know this podcast was going to go here, and Jay
Speaker 1: can just cut this out if it is, but I
Speaker 1: will tell quickly, Michael mind. I know the story. Alan
Speaker 1: knows the story of my interaction with the PGA tour,
Speaker 1: and you know why, Like you said, you know, it's
Speaker 1: hilarious that that somehow they've become that good guys in
Speaker 1: this thing. So I was videoing Monday Qualifies forever, got
Speaker 1: a phone call that they wanted me to basically stop
Speaker 1: after I had helped them walk, that they invited me
Speaker 1: out and they invited me on a call to offer
Speaker 1: me a job, and that they offered me a job
Speaker 1: for thirty tho dollars a year that I had to
Speaker 1: start a new Monday Qualifying account. Basically it was censorship.
Speaker 1: I mean I remember a person on the Zoom call
Speaker 1: getting on and saying, Hey, Ryan, I'm I make a
Speaker 1: pros and cons video, or of pros and cons list
Speaker 1: of of where we go and when I look at
Speaker 1: a new job. And he said the fact that you
Speaker 1: can continue to video it would be in the in
Speaker 1: the pros and that's all he said in the entire
Speaker 1: Zoom call. And I didn't even know that I couldn't
Speaker 1: video anymore. That was their way of letting me know.
Speaker 1: So it's a state run media organization kind of. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's how they keep it. They threatened people, not out ortally,
Speaker 1: but very like, hey, if you write that, we're not
Speaker 1: going to get you credentials or whatever. And so all
Speaker 1: these guys have to swallow a lot of stories. And
Speaker 1: it's pretty avert. It's pretty overt. I mean, the threats
Speaker 1: are not subtle. So it was very eye opening. I
Speaker 1: got off the phone and I remember calling my wife
Speaker 1: and it's like, it's basically like a video a call
Speaker 1: with the mob. They were just like, hey, you're gonna
Speaker 1: write this and do this, or you're not going to
Speaker 1: be able to do this. And I'm like what, I
Speaker 1: just had no idea. It was so eye opening into
Speaker 1: you know what. It is, so long story short to say,
Speaker 1: I can't believe it that the somehow the PGA tour
Speaker 1: is the good guys in there in here, They're they're
Speaker 1: not they're the better guys, the best of the word.
Speaker 1: I don't know, whatever the thing is. That's what my
Speaker 1: wife said of Rex Tillerson when when when he finally
Speaker 1: when she that's what she said when he finally left
Speaker 1: the Trump administration, we just lost the best of the worst. Uh.
Speaker 1: Ryan to the point, by the way, Bryce and Di
Speaker 1: Schambeau may have his price, but Ryan French is not
Speaker 1: gonna be bought forty dollars a year. There's I thought
Speaker 1: about it. I had worked three years for a free talk.
Speaker 1: Just kidding. Good question for you. You're a lot of
Speaker 1: your players haven't seen greenside pitch shots. Uh like these shots,
Speaker 1: and Alan and I have been talking about this a
Speaker 1: little bit of Alan has been mentioned several times. You've
Speaker 1: got to be able to play two types of really
Speaker 1: of green side pitch shots. I'm not even using the
Speaker 1: word chip shots really because I'm really talking about an
Speaker 1: open faced wedge shot when the balls in the air
Speaker 1: longer than it's on the ground. The ferries are super
Speaker 1: tight and they're gonna get tighter, and the rough is nerally.
Speaker 1: A lot of your guys playing of courses don't have
Speaker 1: these kinds of conditions. Have you observed them trying to
Speaker 1: adjust and learn on the fly how to play some
Speaker 1: of these shots? Yeah, I mean, I uh, I'm watching
Speaker 1: Luke close the closest, but a lot of these guys
Speaker 1: are are spending way more time at then they would
Speaker 1: around the greens. Um. For those that don't know, in
Speaker 1: a in a apro practice practice round, drives and approach
Speaker 1: shots outside of seeing how the ball reacts on the
Speaker 1: greens aren't really a part of their practice rounds. If
Speaker 1: they hit it in the rough, they know they're screwed.
Speaker 1: So oftentimes they will hit a few out of the
Speaker 1: rough just to kind of see how it reacts. But
Speaker 1: outside of that, if they hit in the rough, they'll
Speaker 1: move it back in the fairway because they want to
Speaker 1: get a good assessment of the thing of the of
Speaker 1: the how they would play the whole, assuming they hit
Speaker 1: it well. Um. But and they do a few chips
Speaker 1: and putts, But a lot of the guys that I
Speaker 1: follow are doing way, way, way more chipping and putting
Speaker 1: around the green than they would at a normal thing because,
Speaker 1: like you said, there, they don't see rough like this,
Speaker 1: And it's obviously one of the many disadvantages of playing
Speaker 1: many tours. Many tours play on you know, municipal courses,
Speaker 1: and they don't see They might see it at home,
Speaker 1: or they might have access to a practice range that
Speaker 1: has something or a practice area that has something but
Speaker 1: they don't see this on an eighteen whole level, you know,
Speaker 1: ever in competition. So it's one of the disadvantages of
Speaker 1: the qualifier qualifiers faces. Yeah, they might be as talented,
Speaker 1: you know as a guy who and you know, hundredth
Speaker 1: in the on the PGA Tour, But the guy who
Speaker 1: hundred the PGA Tour uh A has a place to
Speaker 1: play next week, and b has played in conditions somewhat
Speaker 1: like this. So yes, way more uh time around the
Speaker 1: greens than they would normally would, right that. That's why
Speaker 1: Alan made the point the other day with Jeff Ogilvy
Speaker 1: that in a weird sense, it's the easiest major to win.
Speaker 1: It's no major's easy to win. But I think, if
Speaker 1: I may speak for you Allan, Allan's point was that
Speaker 1: they're only thirty golfers maybe forty in the field who
Speaker 1: actually have the golfing sophistication to play some of these
Speaker 1: greenside shots that were talking about to get themselves in
Speaker 1: position to shoot anything like two eighty in the first place.
Speaker 1: Most of this field can't shoot two eighty. Yeah. And
Speaker 1: and also to Ryan's point as well, I mean, really
Speaker 1: firm greens is a differentiator at every level, and you're
Speaker 1: not gonna find brick, hard baked out, closely cropped greens
Speaker 1: like this in many places. I mean, it's not sustainable
Speaker 1: at any level. Like you can, you can, you can
Speaker 1: put push them to the edge for one week like
Speaker 1: the U. S J always does and they've done here.
Speaker 1: But no country club, no municipal course, is ever gonna
Speaker 1: let their greens go go this far. So how the
Speaker 1: ball reacts, what kind of shots you have to hit,
Speaker 1: what kind of grind you have on your wedges like these,
Speaker 1: you know, on in these turf conditions, it's it's all new,
Speaker 1: and it's a fascinating subplot. And that's why why we
Speaker 1: love the US Open. It's just asked different questions that
Speaker 1: any other tournament on the planet, and a lot of
Speaker 1: the guys don't have the answers, and that that's what's
Speaker 1: so thrilling about it. I was just gonna say along
Speaker 1: those lines, when you when you take a really cerebral
Speaker 1: player like Justin Thomas, who is playing really well, and
Speaker 1: then you realize that he's come here a week ahead
Speaker 1: of everybody else, and in a minute of speaking, you
Speaker 1: can spend a week getting it in your head. What
Speaker 1: am I going to do to play these shots, and
Speaker 1: then you really come with a purpose. Could that mean
Speaker 1: you know, a half a shot around. There's no way
Speaker 1: to really do the math. But it can't hurt, it
Speaker 1: can only help. And with with that in mind, I
Speaker 1: don't really know who in the field had that kind
Speaker 1: of preparation. I know Justin did, uh, but I would
Speaker 1: be I would be looking to players like that who
Speaker 1: had that luxury of knowing they were going to be
Speaker 1: in the event, may be coming here early and really
Speaker 1: getting themselves in the mindset of this is what I'm
Speaker 1: going to need to do to win a US Open
Speaker 1: or contend in the US Open. I think it is
Speaker 1: more likely how they think of it. I mean that
Speaker 1: was that was part of Tiger's secret, is he felt
Speaker 1: that the tournament owed him because he had put in
Speaker 1: the work. He had come and he'd played the practice rounds,
Speaker 1: he'd done the prep. He's like, I've worked harder than
Speaker 1: anybody else. I deserve to win this, And that's an
Speaker 1: important mindset. Is the same thing with Nicholas right, like
Speaker 1: he's talking, I could go to the Majors. He played
Speaker 1: four rounds and keep score and he Jack had already
Speaker 1: shot two eighty on this golf course. He just did
Speaker 1: it the week before, so um, and again, these are
Speaker 1: not luxuries that a lot of guys have where they
Speaker 1: can invest the time and the money and build their
Speaker 1: whole season around majors and and preps. That it's another
Speaker 1: reason why the best players are the best players, because
Speaker 1: they've put put in very intentional work and a lot
Speaker 1: of guys don't don't have that appetite or they don't
Speaker 1: have that freedom. Um. I'm glad you mentioned Justin because
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about him. He's a guy who's
Speaker 1: kind of been overlooked and Rory has become the face
Speaker 1: of the sport. Um. But I think going back to
Speaker 1: the two thousand seventeen PGA that that justin one, no
Speaker 1: one had doubled up on a major until until JT
Speaker 1: just did it. And you know he has he has
Speaker 1: bones as his caddie now, who's obviously brings a certain
Speaker 1: presence and know how and what do we think about
Speaker 1: Justin Thomas's place in the game. What Live has done
Speaker 1: is kind of made people outspoken, at least at this
Speaker 1: aspect of it. So he's definitely become more outspoken. Um,
Speaker 1: and a defender's kind of put everybody in the camp.
Speaker 1: So I kind of like to see that about Justin
Speaker 1: is you know, just I like to see it about athletes.
Speaker 1: I say it all the time to you guys. Is
Speaker 1: the players that I cover have no one to answer to.
Speaker 1: So I I get honesty and and rawness and UH
Speaker 1: at all times for the most part. Um. But from
Speaker 1: the top athletes, they have so many ramifications from saying,
Speaker 1: you know, what is on their mind. But this has
Speaker 1: kind of made people forced to answer though, So it's
Speaker 1: been good to see a more animated, opinionated Justin. Uh.
Speaker 1: I would follow up by saying, without Tiger in the field.
Speaker 1: And it's weird that we've been talking golf all week
Speaker 1: and Tiger's name barely has come up. Uh, without Tiger
Speaker 1: in the field, Justin Thomas's Tigers target. Uh, he's got that,
Speaker 1: you know, get out of my way quality. I'm all
Speaker 1: about the golf. There really is no distracting interest in
Speaker 1: any love sports other than golf, like like Tiger does,
Speaker 1: but he really is about the work on the range,
Speaker 1: the work on the course. Uh. And the score, the
Speaker 1: score of the score. And I think that's a I
Speaker 1: think that's in neat quality in Justin Thomas and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I think if you've got a direct line
Speaker 1: to Tiger Woods, I don't see how that could be
Speaker 1: anything other than helpful. Yeah. I feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: like the guys lose their way, right and with the
Speaker 1: money and the fame, and I think it's easy to coast.
Speaker 1: And you've seen a lot of young players who they
Speaker 1: kind of peak earlier, they flat line. But I think
Speaker 1: Tiger is like it is like JT's conscience and uh,
Speaker 1: and if you're feeling if you feel like you want
Speaker 1: to take a week off and you don't want to
Speaker 1: work on your game, whether Tiger actually says it in
Speaker 1: a text message or you just know he might like
Speaker 1: I think that gets I think that gets JT out
Speaker 1: of bed. And then he does have a special gift.
Speaker 1: And I think Tiger's instilled in him like he has
Speaker 1: an obligation, like like there's there's there's something to chase
Speaker 1: and that that's invaluable. You know, you can imagine that
Speaker 1: Justin Thomas to do list it looks something like this
Speaker 1: to do list today, get better at golf. No second,
Speaker 1: no second, Yeah, or maybe number two is scan the
Speaker 1: Alabama football message boards for the latest recruit information. But
Speaker 1: that's about it. I mean, m so it's impressive. Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk about Tiger because you know, his he looms
Speaker 1: large in his absence and we we all got to
Speaker 1: watch the grind at Southern Hills, and uh, I think
Speaker 1: it's a little melancholy that he's not there. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, the Masters was giddy. It's like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: Tiger's back. He's got so much heart, Like it's such
Speaker 1: a thrill to watch him. And maybe he can he
Speaker 1: can keep improving and the lego gets stronger. Southern Hills
Speaker 1: was like a reality check like, Okay, this is gonna
Speaker 1: be harder than we thought. Um, and I think this
Speaker 1: week is like it's kind of it's a bummer, like, well, um,
Speaker 1: this is this this, this is the reality that even
Speaker 1: an iron will cannot necessarily overcome just a broken body.
Speaker 1: You know. It's it's I think if if you told
Speaker 1: Tiger he had to walk a hundred miles, he would
Speaker 1: do it if he had to, if there was a
Speaker 1: competitive aspect to it. But that's not the same as
Speaker 1: being able to execute golf shots and get your body
Speaker 1: to move in a certain way. And um, it's just
Speaker 1: like the reality is like he's damaged his body in
Speaker 1: so many ways and his absence here is heavy to me.
Speaker 1: It's like, okay, this is even even Tiger acknowledging like
Speaker 1: maybe maybe I can't do this. And what is your
Speaker 1: guys take away from from him kind of punting on
Speaker 1: this tournament and saying he's gearing up for for the
Speaker 1: old course, But what is the state of Tiger? I
Speaker 1: I take it kind of opposite Alan from the standpoint that,
Speaker 1: and it comes off of your tweet that on at
Speaker 1: the Master's he should have withdrawn at the last round, right,
Speaker 1: Like Tiger, as you said, has never had anything that
Speaker 1: has kept him back, even injuries. He's driven through those
Speaker 1: to the detriment of his body. Obviously, maybe this is
Speaker 1: the side of Tiger that he's matured enough to know
Speaker 1: that he can't walk this course, he can't hit out
Speaker 1: of the rough in these courses, So he's going to
Speaker 1: save himself for the Masters and the Open Championship. That
Speaker 1: kind of fit a what he can do for clear
Speaker 1: and be his game at this point. So I take
Speaker 1: it as a good sign that he knows that his
Speaker 1: body is broken down, that he can't do the U
Speaker 1: s open anymore, and he's going to play and pick
Speaker 1: events that we're going to be able to see him.
Speaker 1: So maybe this run, let's say it was five years.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is that he could come
Speaker 1: back and play. Maybe it's now seven, or it was
Speaker 1: gonna end. You know, he could come here and twist
Speaker 1: the wrong way and there's a lot of little hills
Speaker 1: and the ground isn't even and those kind of things. Uh.
Speaker 1: I think it's maybe a sign of maturity that hey, yeah,
Speaker 1: my body is is seriously broken. Let me play whatever.
Speaker 1: That number of events is a year, three two seven
Speaker 1: events a year, and maybe I can do this for
Speaker 1: four or five more years instead of playing all the
Speaker 1: events I want to play for two years. I agree
Speaker 1: with that. Ryan part of the genius of of Tigers.
Speaker 1: He's both hyper realist and an idealist or fantas just
Speaker 1: really about about what what what he can do and um,
Speaker 1: but the realism he's so realistic about the ball in
Speaker 1: the lie and what he can do with the shot,
Speaker 1: and he's and he's so realistic about his expectations. So
Speaker 1: if he's gonna I think he knew he had very
Speaker 1: little chance to come in here, and even making a
Speaker 1: cut and being able to walk it for thirty six
Speaker 1: holst alone seventy two, and he's looking at the old
Speaker 1: course and he's thinking, it's flat, I can walk it,
Speaker 1: I know how to play it, and uh, the greens
Speaker 1: are you know whatever, whatever, the greens are there slow
Speaker 1: And I mean he's a great fast, green green putter,
Speaker 1: So that's kind of a he knows how to play
Speaker 1: links goff is what I'm really trying to say. I
Speaker 1: got a chance, uh and uh and I need and
Speaker 1: I need to rest myself up. So I think he
Speaker 1: knew for that Friday around in Southern Hills there's a
Speaker 1: really poor chance of me not even shooting eight and
Speaker 1: what kind of toll will that take on me? And
Speaker 1: he was wise to withdraw. It's unfortunate, Uh, but it's understandable.
Speaker 1: And uh so yeah, I think he's just sized up
Speaker 1: this scheduled. Having said all that, I find it really
Speaker 1: hard and everything you say about Tigers wrong and so
Speaker 1: I'm not being modest. It is almost literally effect. I
Speaker 1: really don't see a path for Tiger to play competitive
Speaker 1: golf at the highest level again until maybe he's fifty
Speaker 1: and he's playing in in in senior Majors, Jake, please
Speaker 1: edit that out, um for the listeners. That's jakemble Downey,
Speaker 1: who's these podcast producers, And uh, we love Jake and
Speaker 1: he's great, but we're not gonna hut that out I think.
Speaker 1: I mean, I hope you guys are right, you know.
Speaker 1: I guess I'm feeling just pessimistic. And yeah, this is
Speaker 1: definitely not an easy walk and the old course is
Speaker 1: certainly flatted. It's a bummer to think that Tiger is
Speaker 1: going to have to choose his schedule by the length
Speaker 1: of the grass and the topography. But maybe that's just realistic.
Speaker 1: But of course Augustin National is the hardest walking golf,
Speaker 1: so I don't know. I think this would have been
Speaker 1: a great, great course for Tiger because he could have
Speaker 1: played so many crafty shots off the tea um, and
Speaker 1: the fairways are are slick. I mean, he could have
Speaker 1: he could have just hit two irons and stingers and
Speaker 1: as we've talked about, you know, shaping the ball into
Speaker 1: these tiny greens and then the recovery shots. Like I
Speaker 1: actually think this is one of the best you guys
Speaker 1: open venues for him because a lot of them are
Speaker 1: now like you saw wingfoot it's just about how far
Speaker 1: you can hit it, and whether you're in the rough
Speaker 1: or not, it doesn't even matter. Um Ah, I think
Speaker 1: this is a different kettle of fish, and I think
Speaker 1: it would have been amazing to watch him navigate this
Speaker 1: golf course. But well, to your point, Mary shapes up
Speaker 1: well for him. There you go. Yeah, I mean, um,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I appreciate your optimism. I need I
Speaker 1: need some of that because I'm I'm missing Tiger this week.
Speaker 1: It's just his presence to me. It's kind of glum. Okay,
Speaker 1: I just addressed Tiger directly here. If he's he's listening
Speaker 1: this far into the podcast, presumably he is. I think
Speaker 1: there's a great second chapter. I know I've said this before,
Speaker 1: but I want to keep saying it until we get
Speaker 1: some kind of reaction from Tiger, like, yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: really good idea. I would love to see him get
Speaker 1: really involved in the PGA Tour and be something like
Speaker 1: Chairman of Competitions and be part of a small group
Speaker 1: that's going to reinvent the PGA Tour as we do,
Speaker 1: because they think it's going to have to happen. And
Speaker 1: I think there's no one with more gravitas and more
Speaker 1: experience um to do it then he Uh. I just
Speaker 1: think would be a really neat thing for golf and
Speaker 1: it would be great for him. My goal, Michael Bamberger,
Speaker 1: is to use the word gravitas, he learn what how
Speaker 1: the hell to use it and be use it in
Speaker 1: a podcast before the end of the week. You just
Speaker 1: did Alan. Uh, Well, Tiger isn't is an X factor
Speaker 1: in all this wrangling between the tours, because what does
Speaker 1: Jamna have, Monahan have that the Saudis don't Tiger fucking
Speaker 1: Woods like the greatest golfer of all time, still the
Speaker 1: biggest draw. And as you're saying, Michael, if if he's
Speaker 1: not gonna be able to play that much tournament golf,
Speaker 1: how can you leverage Tiger? And if I'm Monahan, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna fly down to Jupiter. I can say, Tiger, what
Speaker 1: is your vision for the PGA Tour and how can
Speaker 1: we bring it to life? And let Tiger shape the schedule,
Speaker 1: let him create his own invitationals, his own formats, like
Speaker 1: have a tour within the tour, as you're saying, that
Speaker 1: is completely Tiger centric, and he has a he's the
Speaker 1: he's out front and center and whatever crazy idea has
Speaker 1: the answers yes and whatever if you want, if you
Speaker 1: whatever course he wants to go to, whatever format, if
Speaker 1: he wants to give Charlie a sponsors exemption. Sure like
Speaker 1: like Tiger Woods, is could be the savior of the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour in a way that we never would have
Speaker 1: imagined given his limit. And I don't think of leverage
Speaker 1: as a political word in this context, even though he
Speaker 1: does represent a great a great deal leverage. I just
Speaker 1: mean his actual intelligence and love of tournament golf and
Speaker 1: the creative side that we we actually do see on
Speaker 1: the golf course. We don't see it too much off
Speaker 1: the course. Um, he could just end the fact that
Speaker 1: he needs something in his life. It would just be
Speaker 1: an absolute win win. Yeah. I love that. Uh all right, well,
Speaker 1: as we as we set the stage for for tomorrow's
Speaker 1: first round, in any any parting thoughts about about this Open,
Speaker 1: I mean, do we have has anything caught your eye
Speaker 1: either in the press conferences in the practice rounds, I
Speaker 1: would just offer this really quickly, and Ryn you may
Speaker 1: you may know the answer. It's amazing to me to
Speaker 1: think that we haven't been here for US Open since
Speaker 1: and I don't know of him. Maybe you guys do.
Speaker 1: When is it coming back here? Because this place is
Speaker 1: iconic and beautiful and Boston is a great city for
Speaker 1: for for for national open um. Did you know when
Speaker 1: it's coming back? I have no idea. Do you happen
Speaker 1: to al? I'm googling it right now, but I don't
Speaker 1: think every googling, I don't think it. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's it's been announced. But to get to that point, Michael, like,
Speaker 1: we all have our for a mental bucket lists of
Speaker 1: the courses that we want to play that we haven't
Speaker 1: and the Country Club has like skyrocket in my own
Speaker 1: rankings because it just just so visually spectacular and it's
Speaker 1: there's nothing like it in American golf with the blind shots,
Speaker 1: and I mean, it really feels like you're at Cruton
Speaker 1: Bay or something. I mean it's it's wild and wooly
Speaker 1: and funky and you know, to use Jeff Ogli's word
Speaker 1: from the other the other night, I mean, it's nuanced
Speaker 1: and it's quirky. And I love this place. I mean
Speaker 1: it it is just fit to me. This is like
Speaker 1: the most beautiful golf course I've seen in a long time.
Speaker 1: And this golf course place in US use hands because
Speaker 1: it doesn't emphasize length exactly. I mean, one of the
Speaker 1: one of the first you know, it's been said many times,
Speaker 1: one of the founding members of the U s g.
Speaker 1: A is one of the oldest clubs in the world.
Speaker 1: And if they can't make a US Open work here,
Speaker 1: they should just fold up and quit the whole thing.
Speaker 1: So the fact that it's gonna be a spectacular tests
Speaker 1: and the score, the winning scores are gonna be even
Speaker 1: par or whatever, and it's not eight thousand yards like.
Speaker 1: Of course, they have lengthened it and they have tweaked it,
Speaker 1: but that's that's the way it goes. But yeah, it
Speaker 1: looks timeless and I think it's gonna be. It's going
Speaker 1: to be such a star this week. So it makes
Speaker 1: me even more excited about about this open. Ryan. Any
Speaker 1: last thoughts, Uh, here's to a Here's to a qualifier winning.
Speaker 1: That's all I have to say. This is the the
Speaker 1: chance of a lifetime in any sport. Nothing like it.
Speaker 1: A guy could come out of the mini tours to
Speaker 1: win the biggest championship in the world. So um, Jake
Speaker 1: is showing me a sign that I have to mention
Speaker 1: our sponsors are awesome sponsors power Points. You should download
Speaker 1: the app. It's a new way to score and golf.
Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome. I love it, and they've been a
Speaker 1: huge supporter of us, and I really appreciate it. I
Speaker 1: don't even know if I'm supposed to do the sponsor ed,
Speaker 1: but I'm going I'm running with it right now. So
Speaker 1: download power Points. Uh. They've been super awesome to us,
Speaker 1: and we appreciate this so we can do this crazy
Speaker 1: stuff and yell at alan and talk over each other,
Speaker 1: and uh, we appreciate their their Hell yes to um
Speaker 1: to the listeners who have endured the cross talk, we
Speaker 1: we love you and we thank you. UM. And it
Speaker 1: will be reduced as the week goes on. We're gonna
Speaker 1: come up with some elaborate hands signals an look like
Speaker 1: a third base coach or the base is loaded, and
Speaker 1: we'll work out the kinks. But this is another fire
Speaker 1: drill podcast. We will be doing them probably every day
Speaker 1: going forward, or we'll bring on US Open champion Jeff
Speaker 1: Ogilvie for a few of them at least. And uh,
Speaker 1: thanks as always for listening. Michael Bamberger, Ryan Frent Uh onward.
Speaker 1: Were enough talk. Let's let's let's let's play some golf
Speaker 1: in earnest let's start counting up the strokes, I mean,
Speaker 1: early weeks. Stuff is interesting, but now when it gets
Speaker 1: really good. So the US Open US year, we're loving it.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Put another log on the fire. Nobody
Speaker 1: here is get the time.