Speaker 1: They feel. I'm just wondering, in your time away, what
Speaker 1: did you learn about yourself? I think there were there
Speaker 1: were a number of things that that I've certainly learned,
Speaker 1: But it's given me more than that, an opportunity to
Speaker 1: really prioritize those that I love, those that I care about,
Speaker 1: and developed path forward so that I can be more engaged,
Speaker 1: to be more intentional with when I'm with people I
Speaker 1: care about, and also have a little bit more balance
Speaker 1: in my life going forward. Off the golf, cot h
Speaker 1: put another log on the fire nobody hears get the time. Hello,
Speaker 1: this is Alan ship Nut back for another Fire Drill podcast.
Speaker 1: Far Away from Me for audio reasons is my frequent
Speaker 1: wing man, Michael Bammer. We've sneaked into the locker room
Speaker 1: of the Brookline Tennis Club or the country Club Tennis Club.
Speaker 1: We uh, this this place really is a country club.
Speaker 1: I mean they've got amazing facilities and Peter Jacobson's joke
Speaker 1: about it, what they couldn't come up with a name,
Speaker 1: It's pretty good. I guess when you the first one
Speaker 1: in the whole world, at least the United States. Um,
Speaker 1: we're gonna do an instant reaction to Phills Presser. Um,
Speaker 1: we just walked in from that a few minutes ago, Michael,
Speaker 1: what do you think? Uh, you know, haddan't sand him
Speaker 1: since the PHA Championship in the flesh and just being
Speaker 1: in the same physical room as Phil reminded me that
Speaker 1: I'm really very fond of him, even as screwed up
Speaker 1: as he is, and as self absorbed as he is,
Speaker 1: and as manipulative as he is. I like, I can't
Speaker 1: tell you particularly why, but I do I'm same. I'm
Speaker 1: mean I think Phil is he's such a fun personality
Speaker 1: despite everything. Like even you know that that little room
Speaker 1: when Christine Brennan was reading that long letter, It's like,
Speaker 1: is there a question there? Like you would think that
Speaker 1: he'd got his best behavior, he's trying to win back
Speaker 1: hearts and minds, but he couldn't. You couldn't totally hold
Speaker 1: it in. That was like the real Phil. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a smart Alec and he's got an edge. Um,
Speaker 1: not to make this about us, there was a very
Speaker 1: interesting moment because have you seen Phil what was the
Speaker 1: last year made eye contact with Phil prior to today? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. Championship at the Ocean Course. What
Speaker 1: followed that, I mean there was the US Open probably yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it certainly was last summer, and I didn't
Speaker 1: you know, some people may or may not know. I
Speaker 1: want to to the live event in London and Phil
Speaker 1: it only really did one. He did one big meat
Speaker 1: press conference. I was still flying over. So then after
Speaker 1: his first round, I was hoping to asked him a question.
Speaker 1: It didn't work out. We never even really acknowledge each other,
Speaker 1: so this was the first time I was happy. I
Speaker 1: just asked him as off ball question, you know, what
Speaker 1: is it? What have you learn about himself in this
Speaker 1: time away? And I'm actually glad he just kind of answered.
Speaker 1: It wasn't a great answer, but it just sort of
Speaker 1: took the air out of things and we can all
Speaker 1: like move on now. What what would be your own
Speaker 1: answer to your question? Your your your question is you know,
Speaker 1: what have you learned about yourself with all the therapy
Speaker 1: and your time away from golf. You've observed him very
Speaker 1: keenly at the live event and and then today, um,
Speaker 1: physically he looks different and he looks the same. It's
Speaker 1: kind of hard to say, but what would be your
Speaker 1: own of course we're mind reading here, but what would
Speaker 1: be your sense of how he's different. I thought he
Speaker 1: looked good. You know, he's actually put on a little
Speaker 1: bit of weight. He was slightly emaciated, you know, like
Speaker 1: fils a double down personality, and so he wasn't an
Speaker 1: incredible eater, whould have like a quadruple cheeseburger. That's why
Speaker 1: he was a little heavy. And then when he went
Speaker 1: to lose the weight, to me, he looked a little skinny,
Speaker 1: and I think, I think he looks good physically, looks strong,
Speaker 1: you know, I was. I was very close to him, like,
Speaker 1: he looks like he's been even lifting, and I like
Speaker 1: the scruff, you know, it's kind of a little bad boy,
Speaker 1: anti hero vibes. So I thought just physically looked good. Um,
Speaker 1: how how I would answer that question? For Phil? I
Speaker 1: think maybe he learned that golf is not as important
Speaker 1: to him as he thought. I think it has been
Speaker 1: the biggest thing in his life since he was a
Speaker 1: little boy, and this was his first break from competitive golf,
Speaker 1: you know, probably ever. You know, he broke his legs
Speaker 1: skiing hot dogging and that kept him on on the
Speaker 1: shelf for ten weeks. But even then there was this
Speaker 1: urgency to get back and it was all looking forward
Speaker 1: and when's my leg rady? When can I hit drivers?
Speaker 1: When can I go go go? And you know, he
Speaker 1: said there might I got a chance to be still.
Speaker 1: I thought that was like a really interesting phrase. You
Speaker 1: can imagine he's had a big, crazy life and um,
Speaker 1: you know, he he was skiing, he was backpacking, he
Speaker 1: was hanging out with his family, he was going to
Speaker 1: his nephew's literal League games in San Diego. I think
Speaker 1: he enjoyed that and it was like a reset, and um,
Speaker 1: I think there's a sincerity they were. Part of the
Speaker 1: appeal of the live schedule is that it's manageable, you know,
Speaker 1: you can play a couple of times a month if that,
Speaker 1: you know, more like more like once a month really
Speaker 1: and sprinkling the majors and um, maybe it was his
Speaker 1: first time getting off the treadmill and he kind of
Speaker 1: appreciated that. So I think that was a takeaway for him.
Speaker 1: And um, you know, he's an adrenaline junkie, and I
Speaker 1: think he's always thrived on the energy and even his
Speaker 1: high stakes dealings with the Saudis and the tour and
Speaker 1: his freighted phone call to me, like all of that
Speaker 1: was energy and it was there was risk and he
Speaker 1: loved that. And for him to like, now take this
Speaker 1: tack like I'm not gonna answer any conversial questions. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna keep it all in house. Like I think he's
Speaker 1: learning to bring the temperature in the room down a
Speaker 1: little bit for himself and it probably feels good, right, right,
Speaker 1: But what we didn't handle as a lifetime member of
Speaker 1: the PGA prior to signing up with lived, couldn't he
Speaker 1: have just sort of trry pictures to her and played
Speaker 1: when he felt like it. Yeah, that's the inconsistency that
Speaker 1: no one was making him play. But I think you know,
Speaker 1: he has he has contracts. He probably had to honor those.
Speaker 1: They haven't probably have a minimum number of tournaments, and
Speaker 1: that's all been taken away. Like, I don't think you
Speaker 1: can underrate how much it means for a guy like
Speaker 1: Phil to lose all of his corporate masters. That was
Speaker 1: a huge part of his schedule because what they were
Speaker 1: paying him, it wasn't for the logo on his on
Speaker 1: his shirt, it was for his time. It was like
Speaker 1: four or six or eight or ten corporate days a year,
Speaker 1: and that was a huge part of his schedule, like
Speaker 1: getting all these around the tournaments and having to show it,
Speaker 1: but having to perform like you're always on in those scenarios,
Speaker 1: like you're the star, You're the reason they brought in
Speaker 1: all their v I P clients and so stripping all
Speaker 1: that of way, he's got to be a huge relief,
Speaker 1: you know though you know he missed the money, but
Speaker 1: not very long because now he signed it lives. So
Speaker 1: it's like he's got all the money and he's got
Speaker 1: a lot less work and a lot less responsibility. That's
Speaker 1: got to be freeing. Would you would you be in
Speaker 1: a position joining forensic accounting where even give him all
Speaker 1: that he's lost and what he may have gained here,
Speaker 1: whether he's a head or behind where he was. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I was able to get some snapshots of
Speaker 1: Phil's gambling and his his financial health, but no one
Speaker 1: knows a whole complete picture except for him and probably
Speaker 1: a few nationals. So um, I don't think Phil was
Speaker 1: ever headed to the poorhouse. I mean, a guy like
Speaker 1: that can always make money. The key is can you
Speaker 1: hold onto it? And if he's really sincere about addressing
Speaker 1: his gambling addiction, which is a powerful world word he
Speaker 1: just started using then he'll be fine. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: always gonna make money. I think in the past he
Speaker 1: was just spending it as fast he was making it,
Speaker 1: which can be stressful. He's gonna make a heck of
Speaker 1: a lot now if you can just be more responsible,
Speaker 1: he's fine. What he's used as phrase I think maybe
Speaker 1: two or more times now. Um, that he has been
Speaker 1: addressing this gambling issue for a number of years, I
Speaker 1: had a surprised me because I've always thought him as
Speaker 1: a very active gambler. Uh. If let's think of someone
Speaker 1: who's a publicly recovering alcoholic, Tom Watson, if we suddenly
Speaker 1: started seeing Tom Watson casually drinking up at bars, would
Speaker 1: be like it would be alarming, because, well, you said
Speaker 1: to David for a New years ago that you're recovering
Speaker 1: up colic. I hope I have that little correct. I
Speaker 1: think I do. Um, but how did you how have
Speaker 1: you interpreted that that sort of on comment that I've
Speaker 1: been working on this for a wow. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I think that's probably sincere. You know, anecdotally, after Amy
Speaker 1: and their son almost died in the delivery room, you know,
Speaker 1: Phil stopped gambling for a period and he kind of
Speaker 1: made this this vow to lead a more purposeful life,
Speaker 1: and he launched his charitable foundations and all that, and
Speaker 1: I think there's been period where he has stopped gambling,
Speaker 1: but it's always come back in his life. I'm sure
Speaker 1: in Phil's world, you know, playing a thousand dollar nassaw
Speaker 1: in a Tuesday practice around of tournament doesn't count as gambling.
Speaker 1: That's part of the competition, that's getting tournament sharp, and
Speaker 1: losing a thousand dollars is not. He's not going to
Speaker 1: feel that. But if you're betting a million dollars in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl and then you have twenty or thirty
Speaker 1: or forty college basketball games day after day, like that
Speaker 1: isn't gambling addiction, and that's where the money goes. So
Speaker 1: I think I think for him to play casual games
Speaker 1: and bet on them, that that might be Okay. I'm
Speaker 1: just speculating, and I think that there's always going to
Speaker 1: be an element of that in his life. But that's
Speaker 1: part of his golf preparation and part of like bringing
Speaker 1: meaning to his to all the rounds of golf he
Speaker 1: plays in a year. You know, I don't think that
Speaker 1: would raise a red flag, but when when you're when
Speaker 1: you're cycling through dozens and dozens of meaningless you know,
Speaker 1: may baseball games like that's a real problem, right, And
Speaker 1: like Pete Rose betting on the Cincinnati Reds when he
Speaker 1: was the player manager for the Reds in the in
Speaker 1: their early nineties. Um, we can I do not know
Speaker 1: the answer at all when Al and you might have
Speaker 1: some insight into it, do we have any Is there
Speaker 1: any hint ever from any of your sources that he
Speaker 1: bet on himself during pH a tour events. I wish
Speaker 1: I could answer this question with with what I know,
Speaker 1: but it was told to me off the record, so
Speaker 1: I have to like honor that interesting. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that you know, I think Phils being sincere in addressing
Speaker 1: his his problem, but I think he may also trying
Speaker 1: to get out in front of some other revelations that
Speaker 1: may come. And one knows that Billy Walters is writing
Speaker 1: this tell all book, and Billy knows a lot more
Speaker 1: about phils a gambling life and even els on the planet,
Speaker 1: and so that there may be an element of of uh,
Speaker 1: Phil's trying to just control the story a little bit.
Speaker 1: And you acknowledge you have a problem that was out
Speaker 1: of control, you take ownership for it. He talks a
Speaker 1: lot about the therapy and it's a lifetime commitment, and
Speaker 1: so that that may be a hedge against you know,
Speaker 1: any any revelations that are coming. That's potentially a very
Speaker 1: hairy area for fill to say in the least, but
Speaker 1: also in the context of just human human nature, of
Speaker 1: being human nature. You know Jay Monahan when he's talking
Speaker 1: about a tiger, you know, after running his car off
Speaker 1: the road. You know, we're a family, we're you know,
Speaker 1: we're together, We're together. It was not true. It was
Speaker 1: never true. It's not you know, if you can play
Speaker 1: your way off the tour, there's a lot of ways
Speaker 1: to to lose your steps tour status. But now he
Speaker 1: has asked for a tour suspension and he has one,
Speaker 1: which means he is the enemy of the PGA tour.
Speaker 1: He is clearly the enemy of the PHA tour. Right now,
Speaker 1: I'm going or what Chimanahan says, so just human emotion
Speaker 1: being a human emotion. If you add to that, oh,
Speaker 1: now we're gonna dig out, We're gonna dig up all
Speaker 1: the stuff that we buried for a number of years
Speaker 1: because it was convenient. That could be a very difficult situation.
Speaker 1: And I want to emphasize again, we're reading between a
Speaker 1: lot of lines here. Yeah, there's a different reported fact
Speaker 1: and we're trying to infer where things could go, and
Speaker 1: that's what going here. Yeah, no, that that's an interesting component.
Speaker 1: And like even in my book, there's that story of
Speaker 1: game records in the tower and Phil comes to his
Speaker 1: holes and they kind of make eye contact and McCord
Speaker 1: flashes like a couple of fingers and those become the odds.
Speaker 1: It feels gonna make this fifteen or twenty ft or
Speaker 1: and based on if you know, if he makes it
Speaker 1: or not, mccorded wad up these twe dollar bills and
Speaker 1: throw them out of the tower to bones. And I
Speaker 1: think that's a really cute story. Um, but I did
Speaker 1: have people say to me it was that like a
Speaker 1: Pete Rose moment, you know, feels betting on the competitions,
Speaker 1: Like twenty bucks on Gary McCord. I don't think is
Speaker 1: a big deal. But at the same time, the purse
Speaker 1: that week was what five millions, six million, seven million,
Speaker 1: a million, like all needed that juice, that energy, and um, right,
Speaker 1: so it is revealing, right, Um, So how would you
Speaker 1: greet his performance in the press conference today, Well, it
Speaker 1: was outstanding in terms of him doing what he wanted
Speaker 1: to do, which was not make his situation worse impossible
Speaker 1: to make it better. And uh, the questions were there
Speaker 1: was a lot of anger in the questions. I felt,
Speaker 1: you know, you're heard in Christian Brennan's voice. I don't
Speaker 1: know who the fellow was from. It sounded like a
Speaker 1: British accent. Uh, maybe Scottish accent um. Uh. There just
Speaker 1: seemed to be an animosity. Uh. And a lot of
Speaker 1: it maybe is rooted in the source of the money
Speaker 1: that that well that that phil I would say all that.
Speaker 1: I mean, if this money was coming from you know,
Speaker 1: an Australian oil company. Do you even have oil in Australia?
Speaker 1: The point is, I don't think anybody would really care. Well,
Speaker 1: you know this man like carry Packer. Yeah, I was
Speaker 1: thinking to carry Packer because he loves golf like whatever.
Speaker 1: You know, if this was if this was coming from
Speaker 1: the Bank of Ireland like like whatever, it would be
Speaker 1: a totally different conversation. So but yeah, the Saudi thing,
Speaker 1: I mean it was brought up in this thing in
Speaker 1: the press conference. I mean two of the planes at
Speaker 1: eleven left from Boston, Like that is part of the
Speaker 1: collective memory of this city. Yeah, and here we are
Speaker 1: in Boston, and um yea all that said, and I
Speaker 1: think they're totally fair questions. Um I did have this
Speaker 1: feeling of empathy for Phil up there, like this is
Speaker 1: a guy who, um, you know, when he's hitting flop
Speaker 1: shots in his backyard and he's ten years old, just
Speaker 1: trying to be the best golfer he can be, Like
Speaker 1: he never could have imagined that all the love and
Speaker 1: adoration would curdle and he'd be up there on this
Speaker 1: firing squad of taking these hard questions and probably in
Speaker 1: real time thinking, man, that I do the right thing
Speaker 1: and Phil, Phil chose this path. I'm not absolving of responsibility,
Speaker 1: but I just I couldn't help but have that feeling
Speaker 1: for him. And also it was just it was a
Speaker 1: tough room. Like I don't know people at home know
Speaker 1: this or could tell, but the US did not build
Speaker 1: like a formal interview room for this this tournament, partly
Speaker 1: because it's a small footprint. It's also a cost saving thing,
Speaker 1: and so we're all crowd of this hot high. It
Speaker 1: was a little element of anarchy in there. People shouting,
Speaker 1: and also the session was over and Paul, a singer
Speaker 1: who was probably Phil's captured at one point as ryder
Speaker 1: cup what do it was? Phil? Would Philip been on
Speaker 1: that too? YEA asking a question and it's a damn
Speaker 1: good question. What would your advice be? To j Monahan?
Speaker 1: And Phil blew that off from Paul, his fellow PGA champion.
Speaker 1: I know, well, I mean in fairness to feel he
Speaker 1: was staying on script, like and he you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of Phil's problems the years have been started with
Speaker 1: his mouth. He's talked out of school a lot, and
Speaker 1: he's taken a lot of private beefs public and even
Speaker 1: goes back to when we were talking from my book, like,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of this stuff is because he
Speaker 1: has been said many times he asked me the smartest
Speaker 1: guy in the room. And he's an oversharer and over explainer,
Speaker 1: and he loves the sound of his own voice. And
Speaker 1: he showed a lot of discipline in this press conference,
Speaker 1: because I feel like there was a few times he
Speaker 1: was ready to let it go, but he kept using
Speaker 1: the word respect. I respect their feelings, I respect your question,
Speaker 1: I respect the different point of views, you know, and
Speaker 1: He was just trying to hammer that theme, like we
Speaker 1: may all disagree, but let's respect each other. Now. Of
Speaker 1: course he wants it to flow both ways, and he's
Speaker 1: not really feeling much respect. But I think it was
Speaker 1: that choice of words was interesting. And you know, it
Speaker 1: must be laughing watching this at home, Tiger. It's like
Speaker 1: he finally figured out my playbook. Say nothing. You can
Speaker 1: say nothing. You're gonna be up there for eighteen minutes.
Speaker 1: So the question is how many words can you use
Speaker 1: on the benign questions to get you closer and closer
Speaker 1: to eighteen and then be done and not say anything
Speaker 1: I know, any value whatsoever. And he did that today.
Speaker 1: And the funny thing is in fraternity reports have asked,
Speaker 1: you know, two questions in one because it's hard to
Speaker 1: get the mic back, so we do that all the time.
Speaker 1: I have two questions for you feel on the fourteenth
Speaker 1: holes out of seven iron? And and then what would
Speaker 1: this victory mean to you? Like that happens constantly every
Speaker 1: press conference. But you know, Phil is like acting like
Speaker 1: this is information, this is too much. I can't handle it.
Speaker 1: But again, that was just a way of sort of
Speaker 1: controlling the message, controlling the tempo, and under some hard questioning.
Speaker 1: I don't think he took a wrong step. I think
Speaker 1: he controlled himself. I think he controlled the room pretty well.
Speaker 1: What was it like for you, just on the most
Speaker 1: emotional level. I mean, you've spent so much time thinking
Speaker 1: about Phil, You've wanted to have a sit down and
Speaker 1: interview with him for your book. You never really got that.
Speaker 1: You didn't get that, but then you did get this
Speaker 1: very odd call, which used very effectively. Uh, you've become
Speaker 1: a big thing in this whole story, and now there
Speaker 1: you are, twelve ft from the guy that's been in
Speaker 1: your thoughts for so long and you're actually having an exchange.
Speaker 1: What was that actually like for you? Well, it was
Speaker 1: just a relief. I mean I was never going to
Speaker 1: ask him some sort of gotcha question like I was.
Speaker 1: It was asn't said sire question, and he was talked
Speaker 1: about all this work he's done. I'm curious what he's
Speaker 1: learned about himself. He kind of gave a boiler plate answer,
Speaker 1: and I was nervous at all asking it. Not when
Speaker 1: I was asking it, but there was some some tension
Speaker 1: in the build up. I was like, because you know,
Speaker 1: I talked to the U. S. G. A guy. I said,
Speaker 1: you're gonna give me the mic? He's like, oh, you
Speaker 1: want to ask you a question? Yeah, Like that's a question.
Speaker 1: He's like, Okay, we'll see how it goes. Like you know,
Speaker 1: before Phil came on the stage, if you don't know,
Speaker 1: if you saw that, he pulled a couple of U.
Speaker 1: S G people behind and he was he was there
Speaker 1: having a little pow wow. So who knows what was said.
Speaker 1: I mean credit to the U. S G. A. They
Speaker 1: didn't try and censor anybody. It's not their job. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just relieved. I got we got to make eye contact.
Speaker 1: I got to ask a pretty simple question. He answered it.
Speaker 1: I mean, he could have been a dick. He could
Speaker 1: have ignored it. He could have called me out, and
Speaker 1: that's fine, it's his prerogative. But I think it just
Speaker 1: takes some of the air out of the whole situation.
Speaker 1: You know, I think you know the reason I feel
Speaker 1: something for Phil here is that his greed is out
Speaker 1: of control. He won the PJA Championship in age fifty,
Speaker 1: He could go on the senior Tour and pretty much
Speaker 1: when any time he wanted. He probably or possibly could
Speaker 1: have become the first player to win the US Senior Open,
Speaker 1: they're Senior British Open, the PGA and in one year
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's ever done in readers or listeners
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong. Um, he could. He was in such
Speaker 1: great shape for a last act. The CBS thing was
Speaker 1: waiting for him. He would have been great at it.
Speaker 1: His kids are, you know, in college and getting out
Speaker 1: of college, and for any normal person it's more than
Speaker 1: you could possibly want. And it wasn't enough for him,
Speaker 1: and he turned his life upside down because of it.
Speaker 1: And it's sad, really, it's easy to criticize him, but
Speaker 1: it's just actually apathetic. It is it's like pure Shakespeare
Speaker 1: that his greatest achievement never been more beloved and it's
Speaker 1: all gone now. And um, but the money. No one
Speaker 1: gets in bed the saudis without the money. But there
Speaker 1: was also this element of Phil wants to be this maverick,
Speaker 1: he wants to be this agent of change, and he
Speaker 1: he wanted to reshape the sport in his image. It
Speaker 1: wasn't it wasn't just greed. It was also ego. It
Speaker 1: was also righteousness. It was also like a little vengeance
Speaker 1: with the PG tour who through you know, he's talked
Speaker 1: about he's had all these battles of him, he hasn't
Speaker 1: won very many of them, And so there was more
Speaker 1: at play than just the money. But certainly the money
Speaker 1: is the biggest reason. But but all those things I
Speaker 1: decided are not necessarily healthy positive attributes, right, Like it's
Speaker 1: to what you're saying, like there's there's an element of
Speaker 1: phil that and maybe he's working on this, like there's
Speaker 1: been some some some stuff in him that's untidy and
Speaker 1: at least to messiness. Well, how about being old? You know,
Speaker 1: having you know, anyone's married a long time. There were
Speaker 1: lots of ups and downs in marriage, but you know
Speaker 1: that Margers stayed together, they raised children together. He's traveling,
Speaker 1: he's home life is challenging. And uh, and you actually
Speaker 1: think that money more money. You're a multi multi millionaire,
Speaker 1: You've got a jet, you've got private homes, you skew
Speaker 1: whenever you want. And to think that more money is
Speaker 1: actually going to change your life. I don't know how
Speaker 1: someone could be in their early fifties and be that
Speaker 1: unaware of themselves because it's not going to I mean,
Speaker 1: I think anyone would tell you that. I don't know,
Speaker 1: just looking at my own life. I don't think it's
Speaker 1: going to make them happier. Let's say it's impossible. I
Speaker 1: know one of the things that are meaningful in life,
Speaker 1: it's mostly friendships, relationships the people around you. And I
Speaker 1: think of like, you know, Pebble Beach is my home
Speaker 1: tournament feels obviously one there five times. That's a place
Speaker 1: that's very special to and everyone knows his grandfather was
Speaker 1: a caddy like Phil, that whole week, there's dinner parties
Speaker 1: every night he goes to. He has a lot of
Speaker 1: friends in the community. He goes on Place Cyprus on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: he's got this fancy dinner with you nance and his
Speaker 1: pals and like, I've seen me out there, and she's
Speaker 1: got all her friends, and they have their favorite restaurants
Speaker 1: in Carmel, and they've got their favorite shops they buy
Speaker 1: their kids clothes, like like that week is part of
Speaker 1: their life. It has been for a quarter century. And
Speaker 1: he's beloved there, and he's got this whole network of
Speaker 1: people that might be the only time he sees them,
Speaker 1: might not, but it's like a big deal to go there.
Speaker 1: They love It's an easy flight from San Diego. All
Speaker 1: these things I like to give all that up, Like
Speaker 1: you may never see those people again in that context,
Speaker 1: and you know you may never be able to use
Speaker 1: you to use his grandfather's special little coin that week,
Speaker 1: the pebble beats that his grandfather earned, you know, almost
Speaker 1: a hundred years ago for cattying at pebble beats. Like
Speaker 1: there's just something is lost there and that you're not
Speaker 1: gonna find in Jetta Saudi Arabia playing at this live
Speaker 1: event with no fans, you don't know anybody. You can't
Speaker 1: leave the hotel anyway becausere's nothing to do, Like it's
Speaker 1: that to me is a sad part of the story. Well,
Speaker 1: these guys have given up. Now it's their choice. I'm
Speaker 1: not it's the world's tiniest violin, but there is there
Speaker 1: is a community that they're leaving behind and and and
Speaker 1: to dovetailing that. Um, if this leads to the minds
Speaker 1: of the pH A Tour, if all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: all these young players who were hearing about are considering it,
Speaker 1: if they actually do go, if the next generation of
Speaker 1: great college players doesn't even isn't even interest in the
Speaker 1: pj A Tour goes straight to this liver tour, and
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour becomes a second rate tour or doesn't
Speaker 1: exist at all. He will be the poster child for
Speaker 1: the death of the PGA tour. And that's a really
Speaker 1: lousy legacy. Am I missing something there? Is I think
Speaker 1: I'd secate? No, I know, I mean I hadn't thought
Speaker 1: about in those terms. Yeah, because we're here, We're here
Speaker 1: at the US Open and talking to people and it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: Colin Mark, how is gonna jump centershof He's gonna jump
Speaker 1: of someone's gonna jump like you know, up till now,
Speaker 1: it's been mostly it was like these old timers playing
Speaker 1: out the string and looking for one last pay day.
Speaker 1: And that's how it was spun. Like, okay, just they
Speaker 1: can have him. Bryson changes that. I mean, he's had
Speaker 1: the injury and he's got his own little issues, but
Speaker 1: he's will hasn't even reached his prime. He's a young guy.
Speaker 1: And so now if you start getting the young talent,
Speaker 1: if you've already get a more at Cow, it has
Speaker 1: an unlimited future. Um. You know that is that is
Speaker 1: a that is a brutal blow to the PGA tour.
Speaker 1: So um, we'll see what really happens but you're right.
Speaker 1: I mean, feels always going to be the guy who
Speaker 1: pushed this to the forefront, fairly or not. He's just
Speaker 1: always going to be the one who this. It's around
Speaker 1: his millstone. So I think I think, you know, Phil
Speaker 1: talked about he wants to play both, like he's you
Speaker 1: can read between the lines. He's hoping there's a compromise
Speaker 1: and a resolution. I've been saying this, you know, since
Speaker 1: last week. To me, the tour has already lost. How
Speaker 1: quickly they acknowledge that and they realize that and they
Speaker 1: strike a deal? Like you know, Monahan has been so prideful,
Speaker 1: like he wears it as a badge of honor. Like
Speaker 1: I haven't even talked to them, I won't even take
Speaker 1: a meeting with them. To me, that's crappy leadership. Like
Speaker 1: you have whatever your personal distaste, and he's made it
Speaker 1: so personal. Oh you know, you don't have to apologize
Speaker 1: for playing the PGA tour. Well like that that morality
Speaker 1: and that question has already been answered by the players.
Speaker 1: They don't care. So Jay is already fighting a losing
Speaker 1: battle there Now. It's just about economics, It's about reality,
Speaker 1: and the reality is Saudi's have unmatchable money. So what
Speaker 1: are you, as the commission the PGA Tour going to
Speaker 1: you to save your circuit? And right now he's not
Speaker 1: doing much Like it's time to engage with the Saudia's
Speaker 1: freaking Joe Biden's going over there to talk to him
Speaker 1: because it's pragmatic. Now, Um, you know, you can say
Speaker 1: that American president needs Saudi oil to keep the country running,
Speaker 1: and that's a little more important. You don't really need golf.
Speaker 1: But the fact is, like it's almost like Monahan is
Speaker 1: punted and he's put it all in the players. But
Speaker 1: the players are starting to vote with their feet in
Speaker 1: their pocketbook and um, you know, but you're right. If
Speaker 1: if the PGA Tour is completely diminished, Um, this that's
Speaker 1: part of Phil's legacy. It'll go right back to his
Speaker 1: November and called you. He said, you know, this is
Speaker 1: a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring transformational change
Speaker 1: to the PGA Tour. When he said that, I don't
Speaker 1: think he meant the transformational change would be the death
Speaker 1: of the PJ Tour. But it may prove to be
Speaker 1: or totally weakened different p tour. Yeah, No, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's wild how this is all played out. And um,
Speaker 1: I think for Phil just to be here is a
Speaker 1: big deal. I mean, he's got to survive this week.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter how he plays, but the crowd, you know,
Speaker 1: the term mass holes is a real thing. Like how
Speaker 1: they're going to treat him. He said one of the
Speaker 1: greatest days he's ever had in golf was was the
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup. Here. Um, if he can if he can
Speaker 1: get through this week, then he can sort of his
Speaker 1: new reality will be baked in. But it's gonna be
Speaker 1: wild to see the reception and how he deals with
Speaker 1: any heckling. What if if he's gonna keep talking reporters
Speaker 1: after his round like this is this is a big
Speaker 1: week for him. You know, he's trying in hearts and minds.
Speaker 1: I think he did a pretty good job in the
Speaker 1: press conference, but this is this is really the first test.
Speaker 1: What do What does the casual golf fan think about
Speaker 1: Phil Nicholson, about all this live stuff like we were
Speaker 1: a little bit of echo chamber and golf Twitter is
Speaker 1: not real life, Like real life is outside on the outside,
Speaker 1: on the other side of the ropes, and how they
Speaker 1: respond to Phil is it gonna be really interesting? If
Speaker 1: are if you're one forty nine for two rounds, do
Speaker 1: you want the under or the over? That's a good number.
Speaker 1: I wanted the under, but I think it will be
Speaker 1: the over. I mean, I will say, like the green's over.
Speaker 1: At the Centurion Club, they had a lot of movement
Speaker 1: and Phil was a struggle with his speed the whole time.
Speaker 1: And but these greens are gonna be faster and more treacherous.
Speaker 1: And he called it one of his worst putting weeks ever.
Speaker 1: So um, his iron play was really good and a
Speaker 1: couple of rounds he drove it pretty well. So if
Speaker 1: you can dial in the putting, then you know, all
Speaker 1: you have to do is shoot one or two over
Speaker 1: on Thursday. He's in this tournament, but I think can
Speaker 1: shoot eight because of all the build up in the
Speaker 1: emotion and everything else. And when you say in the tournament,
Speaker 1: you mean in play seventy two holes. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: just like Tiger Augusta. Yeah, that would be a tremendous accomplishment.
Speaker 1: It would be. But the thing is, like these are
Speaker 1: the smallest championship greens in the world, along with pebble beats,
Speaker 1: and everyone is going to miss greens if you hit
Speaker 1: ten or eleven greens and regulation that's probably average. So
Speaker 1: now it becomes a chipping contest, and you know Phil
Speaker 1: still got his weds, so it doesn't put well if
Speaker 1: it doesn't put note, but this is I'm just saying like,
Speaker 1: this is a setup. This is not Aaron Hills where
Speaker 1: you know, huge fairways, huge greens, and it demands a
Speaker 1: different skill set. You know this, This is really going
Speaker 1: to be a lot of short game magic out there.
Speaker 1: So I'm not predicting he's gonna win, but if you
Speaker 1: can survive the first round, maybe I'll make it interesting.
Speaker 1: Tell me how I'm looking at those correctly or incorrectly.
Speaker 1: I we're MBS is an amazingly divisive figure on the
Speaker 1: world stage. Yeah, appropriately so Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 1: Just so what we're all clear? Uh? Donald Trump, even
Speaker 1: among our listeners, has such enormous fan base and following
Speaker 1: and almost equally enormous, if not as big, people would
Speaker 1: think the single greatest lecture American democracy in our lifetimes
Speaker 1: among Americans. Do you think it was a struggle at
Speaker 1: all for Phil Nicholson to be aligned with Trump? Because
Speaker 1: two of these live events are going to be played
Speaker 1: on drump golf courses. Yeah, I mean, that was a
Speaker 1: very insightful question that somebody asked in the press conference
Speaker 1: of Phil and he, you know, he said, I care
Speaker 1: more about the quality of the test and the fan experience,
Speaker 1: which on some level is true. Like when these guys
Speaker 1: go to a tournament, all they care about is making birdie,
Speaker 1: the history, the architectural bona fide, that's a second secondary
Speaker 1: concern for all tour pros. They rate the course based
Speaker 1: on how well they played and how many birdies they made,
Speaker 1: right Like, So I think on some level that's an
Speaker 1: honest answer, But it was also as with many of
Speaker 1: the questions, Phil kind of answered, but he kind didn't. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I know that he's voted for Obama at
Speaker 1: least once, and he's very you know Phil and Amy
Speaker 1: or pretty liberal on social issues. So it's like, I'm
Speaker 1: sure it gives him a little bit of pause because
Speaker 1: by by showing up and playing on Trump's courses, you
Speaker 1: are legitimizing him, just like you are. You are doing
Speaker 1: some sports watching for the Saudias, And so I would
Speaker 1: expect that Phil has a little cognitive dissonance there, and
Speaker 1: he would probably prefer that they were played at um,
Speaker 1: you know, at some other club down the road. But
Speaker 1: I do you think the conversation goes with his kids.
Speaker 1: Yeah you felt his kids with underger and social media.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Well I mean saying he played the Masters
Speaker 1: playing times when it had all male membership, and um,
Speaker 1: you know there's he's been going over to Saudi Arabia
Speaker 1: for years now, playing in that tournament even before the
Speaker 1: live stuff started, one of the European Tour events. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think for fessional golfers are not tortured by this
Speaker 1: given Schwartzel said it last week in London, a couple
Speaker 1: of days ago. Anyway, like you know, I've just been
Speaker 1: I never think about where the money comes from, because
Speaker 1: you can go down this rabbit hole and you know
Speaker 1: they play in China, they play and Cutter, they play
Speaker 1: in the U A E. I mean, if you want
Speaker 1: to be honest about you know, the USS foreign policy
Speaker 1: is questionable in a lot of areas. Like I think
Speaker 1: the players have just made peace with it. Like I
Speaker 1: am a professional golfer by definition. I play golf for
Speaker 1: money and wherever the money is, I gonna go play.
Speaker 1: And you know, Rory he's become the conscious of the
Speaker 1: of the sport. You know he's he's taken that hard line,
Speaker 1: but he's played in China plenty of times, and you
Speaker 1: know they have actual concentration camps in China. So I
Speaker 1: don't know. It's um, it's a slippery slope. The Trump
Speaker 1: stuff is really interesting because that's gonna be awkward for
Speaker 1: the whole sport because you know he's gonna be there,
Speaker 1: living large, pressing flesh behind the green. They're gonna have
Speaker 1: his excellency and whatever Titols and these big Saudi guys have.
Speaker 1: They're gonna love Robin elbows with a former president, and
Speaker 1: that's gonna be just someone that hangs over those events
Speaker 1: and um, but when you signed on the dotted line,
Speaker 1: would live. That's what you're signing up for. They knew
Speaker 1: the schedule when they committed. This is not a secret
Speaker 1: and so I guess that answers your question. He's at
Speaker 1: piece with it. I mean, I imagine, I think, what
Speaker 1: this is such a rabbit hole, but it's not crazy.
Speaker 1: Imagine if MBS and his accolyites wanted a second Trump term,
Speaker 1: uh and won't talk to Biden, but we'll talk to Trump.
Speaker 1: I mean, basically, you could use golf and the connective
Speaker 1: tissue of golf to affect the next presidential election really
Speaker 1: very easily. Phil Mickelson could become the Secretary of Commerce
Speaker 1: the OI OI in the next Trump administration. I mean,
Speaker 1: what would be the film might be the head of
Speaker 1: the FBI, Like who knows, Like it wouldn't be good
Speaker 1: for us, good for us, especially me, I mean the
Speaker 1: whole He is like, but you're not wrong, Like, I'm
Speaker 1: sure there'll be a big Saudi contingent that comes to
Speaker 1: those those Trump events, just like you know there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a bunt. I'm sure Jared Kushner will go over
Speaker 1: to the live event that's in Jetta, Saudi Arabia and
Speaker 1: who knows the back channel communication And I'm not being
Speaker 1: serious that feels going to have a political role necessarily,
Speaker 1: But if maybe he's gonna, I think they already do.
Speaker 1: I think they are ponds. I think all these players
Speaker 1: are ponds in some big geopolitical thing that we are
Speaker 1: way too unsophisticated to understand. But yeah, well, I mean
Speaker 1: colleagues elsewhere would be well, And I mean in the
Speaker 1: pro am over at the live event, Phil did play
Speaker 1: with the guy who runs the public investment fund in
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia. You know, however, hundreds of millions, billions of dollars,
Speaker 1: who does that guy report mbys and that guy, that
Speaker 1: guy by himself, his excellency Yassa or something. He is
Speaker 1: one of those powerful people on the planet fills out.
Speaker 1: They're playing golf with them. And so yeah, as you're saying, like, um,
Speaker 1: that it is, it's an uncomfortable moment for the sport.
Speaker 1: Like just when we thought, like, okay, we survived Shoal
Speaker 1: Creek and Augusta National has female members and like we've
Speaker 1: we've survived a lot of this stuff as a sport.
Speaker 1: Who would have ever guessed Now we've got to do
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia and geo politics and all that. Like, it's
Speaker 1: really not a great development. Do you feel like it's
Speaker 1: razors or lowers the profile of the four major championships? Oh,
Speaker 1: it raises them because they have always been the most
Speaker 1: meaningful tournaments. Now, especially so you've got if half of
Speaker 1: the world's best players are playing fifty four whole shotgun exhibitions,
Speaker 1: the only tournaments that matter and the only measuring sticker
Speaker 1: who's really the best player is going to be the majors.
Speaker 1: So I don't think there's any questions about that, because
Speaker 1: what used to be really strong tournaments are gonna be diminished,
Speaker 1: right Like if these guys can't play in the World
Speaker 1: Golf Championships, if they can't play the l A Open,
Speaker 1: they can't play Memorial like those were always good fields.
Speaker 1: Like so now there maybe four times a year when
Speaker 1: you get the best players together, only the majors. And
Speaker 1: that's why it's being foul for Field to be here.
Speaker 1: And he's gonna play the Open at St. Andrews like
Speaker 1: it keeps him in the mix on on the biggest
Speaker 1: stages even as all this other stuff is churning, Like, um,
Speaker 1: he still has the biggest stages and he's Tigers not here,
Speaker 1: Phil will have the biggest galleries. Like you know, Colin
Speaker 1: more Cowa is a better golfer than Phil Nicholson right now.
Speaker 1: So was John ROMs or a bunch of people. But
Speaker 1: they don't inspire any emotion Phil does. I mean, I
Speaker 1: guarantee you feel how the biggest crowds out there. When
Speaker 1: when you were writing your film book, did you do
Speaker 1: any sort of deep study of kept goes round on
Speaker 1: Sunday at the PHA championship. Yeah, because I didn't. You know,
Speaker 1: I remember, of course Phil holding out that bunker shot,
Speaker 1: you know, and then signing for the kid. That was
Speaker 1: a big turning point. But I've forgottenuntil a friend of
Speaker 1: mine was reminding me the other day that some of
Speaker 1: the really loose, crazy shots that I kept your hit
Speaker 1: on ten. I think he went with ten A part
Speaker 1: five D seventy yard and so he went forward and
Speaker 1: wind up in the gunchromate six a little later in
Speaker 1: the round. But yeah, yeah, you know they're just turning
Speaker 1: like that was Brooks kept his tournament to win, and
Speaker 1: you know, a lot changed for him and for Phil
Speaker 1: because he because he didn't, uh, and he's never really
Speaker 1: been the same since then. Well, and Kepta said that
Speaker 1: Phil got in his head, you know, like you. One
Speaker 1: interesting part of Phil's press conference today was when he
Speaker 1: was asked the question, he would gather his thoughts and
Speaker 1: you could you could see the angel and the devil
Speaker 1: on each shoulder, but he was going through his talking points,
Speaker 1: going through his coaching. It was like he had a
Speaker 1: swing thought for the press conference. And but as you
Speaker 1: said afterwards, Mike was like watching Phil at the ocean
Speaker 1: course where he stood on the tea and he just
Speaker 1: stared and he was just like it was just like
Speaker 1: Jason Dave meets Tiger. I never saw Phil do that before. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was you know, yeah, but at the Ocean course,
Speaker 1: that Phil really did that, and that got in Brooks's
Speaker 1: head and it Phil was playing slow out there, and
Speaker 1: he asked for a few rulings and Keptica got totally flustered.
Speaker 1: So and he later hailed Phil for like the gamesmanship,
Speaker 1: you know, that was the word he used. So he
Speaker 1: wasn't that mad about it, but he admitted that that
Speaker 1: Phil got to him. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 1: These these four may jers. This us open. First of all,
Speaker 1: we're here at the country club. We're here in the
Speaker 1: men's locker room of the racket facility. Uh, it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's just great to be a really traditional and now
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, maybe I'm old fashioned in this way,
Speaker 1: but I mean, you know, the ghosts we met and
Speaker 1: Paint Steward and things that have happened her over the years,
Speaker 1: you know, Paint Steward playing well on that Ryder Cup
Speaker 1: and then and you know, conceding the conceding that put
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, and uh, and Phil knows this far
Speaker 1: better than you and I ever could because at the
Speaker 1: level he played it. But we know because we love
Speaker 1: to play golf. It's a slow, difficult sport. And they're
Speaker 1: going to try to address this thing up over there
Speaker 1: at the Whip Series. They'll never make it anything other
Speaker 1: than what it is, a slow, difficult sport. As you
Speaker 1: were saying, you know that's in turn course, never heard
Speaker 1: of my life. He said, Well, it's hard to give X.
Speaker 1: It's hard. It's hard golf course, well, almost every golf course.
Speaker 1: It's hard really when you get right down to it,
Speaker 1: because you gotta get the ball in the hall. And
Speaker 1: so you know. I have an older friend, Sam Rahems,
Speaker 1: and one of his sayings is, you know, don't jump
Speaker 1: on bandwagons. This is the bandwagon involved. Bandwagons for for
Speaker 1: for golf, and uh, I don't know. Bandwagons usually don't
Speaker 1: don't play out. Yeah, no, it is. It is like
Speaker 1: whiplash to go, especially for me literally to go from
Speaker 1: there to here, like this place is so stately, there
Speaker 1: is so much history. This is the ultimate examination. I
Speaker 1: think even players today revenerate the masters more. But there's
Speaker 1: something special about the United States Open the questions that
Speaker 1: it asks. You know, it's going to pursue the breaking
Speaker 1: point like this, to me is the ultimate golf tournament.
Speaker 1: I might have more fun at the British Open and
Speaker 1: the mass is more exciting, but to me, this is
Speaker 1: the greatest urn in the world. Barrows when a US
Speaker 1: Open here and that in that playoff and six over
Speaker 1: with Arnold and the other guy, I mean, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: And then of course the Barrows was the guy that
Speaker 1: had the PGA champion was the oldest winner of the
Speaker 1: major rental until film blew it out of the water,
Speaker 1: and that whole continuum and that texture, in that fab break,
Speaker 1: in the fact you know, you and I've been around
Speaker 1: the game for a while and you know so many people.
Speaker 1: It's so rich and beautiful. I mean, it's such a
Speaker 1: big part of my life. So I don't feel angry
Speaker 1: at this live thing. I just think I thought the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour did lose its way. It is boring, It
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like a not for profit. It feels like
Speaker 1: fat cat sitting. There are really major problems with it.
Speaker 1: But the greatness of golf is it's difficulty and the
Speaker 1: mental and physical challenges it presents. And this live series
Speaker 1: to me, kind of dumps it down. And I think
Speaker 1: Phil must know that he you know, he said at
Speaker 1: that he's sort of that stood at that press tournament
Speaker 1: press conference today, you know, and said, oh, you know,
Speaker 1: the format hasn't changed in fifty years. Well, if Chris,
Speaker 1: it's a lot longer than that. It's way over a hundred.
Speaker 1: But the fact is that format has worked for a
Speaker 1: long long time. And the only thing we've been better
Speaker 1: than some of these two holes from Tiger's perspective or
Speaker 1: n you know, you want to kept winning more and
Speaker 1: more and more attrition, and that's what this is. And this,
Speaker 1: you know, we've had this conversation with Jeff ogilbye this
Speaker 1: and we saw it at j Championship this March to
Speaker 1: that seventy second hole and sometimes you know, like a playoff,
Speaker 1: it's golf. It's golphins purest and we've loved it forever.
Speaker 1: And the women played the same way, and you know,
Speaker 1: the college consider typically play a little shorter tournaments for
Speaker 1: your holes, but basically the same idea. Yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: think there's a there's a purity here and this is
Speaker 1: this is like a palate cleanser, like all right, we
Speaker 1: survived the first live event, We survived fields press conference.
Speaker 1: Now we can turn the page. This podcast helps to
Speaker 1: put an exclamation point and all that stuff. And now, like,
Speaker 1: let's focus on the US Open. This week is going
Speaker 1: to be about who wins this tournament. It is and
Speaker 1: even starting tomorrow or even tonight on Monday. But like,
Speaker 1: and by the way, I don't know what the first
Speaker 1: place money is. I mean, if I thought about, it's
Speaker 1: probably too and change. Who cares. That's really the point.
Speaker 1: Nobody cares because you're gonna have your name and a
Speaker 1: trope with Burrows and Tiger and Hogan and Nicholas. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, and it Scott Simpson and Steve Jones. And
Speaker 1: that's cool too. That's that's a great name. All right. Well,
Speaker 1: I think we put a bow on the Michelson stuff.
Speaker 1: I think you and I are both ready to move on.
Speaker 1: I think you shoot sixty and on Thursday, and then
Speaker 1: we'll sit in this room and talk about that. That
Speaker 1: would be great. I look forward to that, all right, Michael,
Speaker 1: Thanks for being pleasure. Another Fire Drill podcast is in
Speaker 1: the books, the first of a bunch. This week, we
Speaker 1: will be podcasting pretty much every day. We we'll have
Speaker 1: some special guests. Michael I will be part of most
Speaker 1: are all of them. So thank you for listening, and
Speaker 1: we will bag and we'll be back at it tomorrow
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. And that's it for now from the Men's
Speaker 1: locker Room. But when now, what about our our friends
Speaker 1: at Part Points, Part Points, Dormy Workshop and the third
Speaker 1: one is no, that's it. Those are our friends for
Speaker 1: this podcast, our part points, and they're great, they're good.
Speaker 1: We really are appreciated. Like, okay, a a free and
Speaker 1: independent press is important. Now I'm not suggesting that. Number
Speaker 1: one comment I'm getting since starting the Power Pit Collective
Speaker 1: is I can see they've taken the shop. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's fantastic. I mean, we love it. And you know,
Speaker 1: me getting like roughed up at this film that was
Speaker 1: press conference over in London has no real meanings to
Speaker 1: the world at large, but it's indicative of an attitude
Speaker 1: like you guys are a pest. You don't have a
Speaker 1: you don't have a role. We don't value independence. And
Speaker 1: so while we make our occasional jokes about our sponsors
Speaker 1: and they accept them good naturedly, we do appreciate them
Speaker 1: because it allows us to be here to do this,
Speaker 1: and and they're the right kind of sponsors. They're like,
Speaker 1: you guys, do your thing, right. We like golf and
Speaker 1: you're going to reach golfers. So that's good for us.
Speaker 1: For you guys, do your thing. And you know it's
Speaker 1: not compliment. Anyone who's gone this deep into this podcast
Speaker 1: probably appreciate what we have to say. So it's the
Speaker 1: freaking sponsor to help us get here. So maybe we
Speaker 1: should mention at the beginning. I know that's bad form.
Speaker 1: Well we'll make it up to we have we have
Speaker 1: like seven more of these Michaels, so don't worry. All right,
Speaker 1: that's a rap from the country Club. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Put another log on the fire and we hear is
Speaker 1: get the time.