WEBVTT - 2026 Open Championship Preview 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.480 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:04.880 When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.320 And when I find my ball. 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:08.920 In a bright egg Frida egg, the dreaded Frida Egg, 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:11.880 Frida Egg, frid Egg Egg, Frida Egg, Bride Egg Lie, 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:13.480 I'm about ready to run off the. 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:40.760 The Welcome back to the Friday Golf Podcast. We are 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:45.760 here the final major of the year. It's wild. I'm 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.640 still getting used to this setup where you got the 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.639 players in March and then it's just this like insane 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.400 sprint and before you know it, you blink, Uh, you blink. 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:58.800 You can't blink during live, but if you blink during 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:03.480 major season, the season's over. And here we are for 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.360 the final men's major of the year, the Open Championship 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:12.920 at Royal Birkdale. Birkedale obviously a storied, storied championship host 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:16.399 we're going to talk about it in this preview episode. 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.920 I'm joined by Kevin van Valkenberg and Joseph Labanna on 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.680 the front end of this the back end, I'm going 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:28.160 to talk with Derek Gary. He a friend of the 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:32.759 Frida Egg from Ireland who's played basically all the great 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.800 links courses in Great Britain and Ireland and has played 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.959 Royal Birkdale a bunch. He's written on the website before 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:46.840 for us and has been a wonderful contributor to the 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.720 Frida Egg over the years. So it's great to talk 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:54.800 to Dara, and then obviously Kevin and Joseph. Joseph recently 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.560 did a kind of a strike mission to Royal Birkdale, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.240 so he'll give some of his thoughts on the golf 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:05.280 course after spending a week over playing some of the 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:11.239 great links courses in England. So Birkdale is kind of 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:17.000 the most modern of the RODA courses in the Open 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:22.920 and it's got an illustrious list of winners. It's widely 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:27.359 known as the most fair Test and the champions kind 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.000 of reveal a lot of people that won a lot 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.680 of majors. So Peter Thompson won in fifty four, Arnold 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:37.840 Palmer in sixty one, Peter Thompson in sixty five, Lee 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.960 Trevino and seventy one, Johnny Miller in seventy six, Tom 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.960 Watson in eighty three, Ian Baker Finch in ninety one, 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.680 Mark o'meira in ninety eight, Padrick Harrington in two thousand 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.600 and eight and Jordan Speith in twenty seventeen, so this 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.760 will be the eleventh time it has hosted the Open Championship. 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.800 Before we get to Kevin and Joseph, today's episode and 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.560 our week of coverage of the Open is brought to 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.840 you by our friends over at Mercedes Benz. 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Experience the power 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:01.320 and precisions and versatility of Mercedes Benz SEU. They're not 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:03.960 just on par with the best, they are the best. 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.360 Mercedes Benz SUVs offer the space you need and the 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.640 opulence you deserve. Enhance every aspect of your game with 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:16.360 a Mercedes Benz SUV, from massage seats to ambient lighting. 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:21.479 They level up for every ride. Mercedes Benz is proud 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:26.039 to be an official patron of the Open Championship. All right, 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:31.160 let's welcome in, Kevin van Valkenberg and Joseph Lamannia, guys 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.719 off the top. You know we're gonna do three things, 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.480 so this is one, you know. I feel like this 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.039 is a consistent talking point every time we get here. 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.680 Do we like this this major schedule? Do we like 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:44.640 this being so condensed? 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:50.000 No, I would love it if we were stretching into August. 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.200 I think that would be a lot better in terms 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.359 of the rhythm of the season. It would feel like 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.240 I'm already lamenting that the World Cup is almost over, 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:01.760 and I'm feeling because I've had so much fun getting 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:03.120 into the World Cup, And I feel like if you 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.159 got interested in golf and all of a sudden it 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.040 was going so fast, you would feel like, oh man, 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:10.200 I want I want this to go a little bit longer. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:14.880 I just miss the old schedule. When we're stretching into August. 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.240 The World Cup is like a wrecking ball by the way, 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.720 to like anything like Wimbledon is like humming, and I 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:27.120 feel like, you see, there's like nothing about Wimbledon going on, 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.440 and I feel like golf, the buzz around golf spent 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:34.320 a little muted. And it's because all all the world 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:35.599 is watching the World Cup. 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.000 They have to adjust the open dates with the Olympics 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.480 too in a couple of years. No, I don't love 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.680 this current schedule, but I think also when it comes 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.560 talking about the PGA tour schedule or the major schedule, 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:49.719 I've kind of come to accept that there's really no 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:52.159 perfect answer and it is really hard. I think it 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.400 was better before, but it is what it is. It 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:55.000 doesn't kill me. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.000 It's interesting any Like, I think just one file fub 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.600 that like had a really hot summer last year, right 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.400 and so one, you know, two of the four majors. 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.760 I think maybe we thought that that kind of thing, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.040 like somebody gets hot and they could just reel off 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.120 a couple of majors. So, you know, unless it's like 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.200 Wyndham this week, it would be hard to sort of 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.920 feel like that's held up right there. This year. I 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:22.800 don't know if we get four different major winners it 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.440 doesn't quite support the theory that you know, you can 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:27.320 just get hot for a stretch and peel off a 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:28.080 bunch for history. 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.320 All right, what's everybody's first thing? Who wants to start? 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.560 I'll go first. You know you mentioned this a little 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.840 bit at the beginning, Andy, is Birkdale the fairest of 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.160 the on the open rota? What I would say is, 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.120 what's a more interesting question is is Birkdale more likely 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:50.320 to reward people who are great in history? So if 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.479 you do a little bit of just you know, research, 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.400 Ian Baker Finch is the only person to win at 0:06:55.440 --> 0:07:00.279 Birkdale who didn't win multiple majors, And you know, there's 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:02.640 probably reasons for that in some ways, like Bigger Finch 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.799 kind of got the yips, completely lost his game trying 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.320 to hit it longer, felt like he should compete in 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:13.200 other majors. But Arnie, Peter Thompson, Leech, Trevino, Tom Watson, 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.640 Johnny Miller, Padrick Harrington, Jordan Speith. That is a like 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:21.040 Murderer's row of multiple major winners spanning across you know, 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.680 from all the way from nineteen sixty to twenty seventeen. 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.880 Last time we were here, What does that mean, it 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.920 doesn't probably mean anything. You know, Joseph, as the stats guy, 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.280 you would probably say, like, there's a lot of variants 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.960 in there. But you know, if we're gonna sort of 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.160 look at it with history, does that does that mean 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.120 it's just really hard to win here as your first 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.400 time Peter Thompson is the only guy who's first major 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:47.360 of that stretch was at Birkdale. He ended up winning 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.240 Birkdale again in sixty five. So I don't know, like 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.640 if you follow historical trends, like does that mean Fleetwood, 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.080 Patton can't Ley Ludwig, guys are not going to post that, 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:59.280 or we just is it something that's just kind of 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.520 like a kind of too much noise in it. I 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.040 don't know. I think I kind of like the idea 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.280 that Burkedale rewards people who are going to rack up 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.400 a bunch of majors. Uh, And I think, you know, 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.600 maybe that means you know what a Koepka or read 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:17.520 Scottie Rory, someone there, someone who has shown like, hey, 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.360 I'm going to add this to my historical resume. 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:28.560 Joseph, why in your estimation would the thought be that 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:33.959 Birkdale is the fairest test of the open courses having 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:34.600 just been there. 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.120 Yeah, I think this is as unsatisfying as it is 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.600 to say both things are true. I think both things 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:42.160 are true that if you looked at a lot of 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.679 golf courses, regardless of the extent to which they rewarded fairness, 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.720 they'd have a murderer's row of winners. A lot of 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:51.080 great players win major championships. And you know, Matt Kucher 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.280 had the lead with a few holes to play, would 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.440 we still consider it a murder's row? If Matt Coucher 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:56.840 had waned to speak. 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.559 It'd be a It would be more fuel that the 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:01.959 players as a major if Matt Kutcher had one. 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:07.040 Yeah, exactly. But I do think this golf course, whether 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:08.439 you want to call it fair, whether you want to 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.080 call it it rewards skill, whether you want to call 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:13.800 it more predictable than the other open venues. I think 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.160 what you see at Brickdale is a very effective job 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:22.000 at graduated penalty of you know, fairways that are narrow, 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.560 but you can hit them. If you miss by a 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.160 little bit, there's a penalty associated with it. You'll find 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:29.400 your ball, but it's not you know, it's playable. And 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.280 then if you get pretty far off you can get 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:35.360 into some pretty thick vegetation areas. Not a lot of 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.640 blind shots, not a lot of water hazards. There are, 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:41.560 there are some holes where water is in play, but 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.839 it's it's really not in play, like you'd have to 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:45.680 hit something pretty far off line to end up in 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.600 the water. And those are characteristics that tend to be 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:53.160 more predictive. There's not like massive runoff areas and a 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.040 lot of spots that you know, you could chip one 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:56.720 and it comes back to your feet and one of 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.480 the best players in the field runs into a seven 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:01.240 like that. That's just not going to happen as much 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.120 at Brookdale. I think you'll hear a lot of players 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.920 say it's fair, it's right in front of you. But 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:07.640 I think a lot of that has to do with it, 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.200 you know, being a I think of it as a 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:16.480 collection of eighteen strongholds. There's not one signature hole. Again 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.160 like seventeen at Sawgrass that can be a little funky, 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.560 but signature. To me, it's a collection of eighteen holes 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:22.760 that are a really good test. 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.000 Some of all parts. I think the other thing flatter 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:32.920 lies than most links courses, less fair way undulation, so 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:38.040 you know, listen, I am always going to be a 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:43.680 little bit more on the golf is inherently unfair, so 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:47.559 our golf courses should have some quirk and you know, 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:53.920 aspects to them that are irregular. That being said, I 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.640 think that this is you know, a firm like must 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.079 visit Open Road to golf course. Is it going to 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:01.920 be my favorite? 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:02.320 No? 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:04.760 But I think for a lot of people, if they 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:07.200 played all the Open Road To courses, this would be 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.760 their favorite. And it's just you know, like golf course 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.199 tastes is is everybody's different. You know, everybody has a 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.920 different opinion. And I think you know, from from an 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:23.040 equitability standpoint, it does create a situation that that allows 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.200 and you know, Scottie Scheffler to love this place based 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.600 off of you know, his comments about fairness and you know, 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:31.920 if you if you zero in on what he said 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:37.280 at Pinehurst, you know, I think, uh, it'll be I 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.280 you know, I expect to have a big name when here. 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:44.080 Uh you know, I think the weather is it has 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:47.480 been scorching there, so the golf course is going to 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.719 be very dry. You know, just seeing pictures of other 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:55.200 Links courses right now in the area, Uh, this place 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.520 is you know we've gotten treated. I think like back 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:03.560 to the Carnoustie uh Mullinari uh open where it was 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:04.760 just baked out. 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:05.480 Uh. 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:10.320 I think there's a recipe for that type of setup. 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:14.400 I do you know, wonder if the wind will blow 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:18.080 based off of the forecast. You know, tends to not 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:20.559 blow as much when it's really warm there, and and 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:25.439 the forecast looks like fantastic. It's early, it's really it's 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.440 Friday before. It's too early to like any island to 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.000 know exactly what the weather is going to be. But 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.400 it's clear as crap and warm, so I'm guessing we're 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:40.360 gonna get really firm but minimal wind. So I uh 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:45.880 I that is kind of my thoughts. I'm Birkdale in general. 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.000 I think like we've had like the golf course becomes 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:53.320 the story, and it was such the story at at Arono, 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:56.839 mink And and Shinnacock. I actually think this is one 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.079 of those majors where the golf course isn't going to 0:12:59.120 --> 0:12:59.880 be the main story. 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.120 I guess while we're here then that's one of mine, 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.480 is what people think of the golf course. So Andy, 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.280 I guess you're saying that's not going to be one 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.240 of the prevailing narratives, but I'm kind of interested. I 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.760 think the most interesting facet of Birkdale to me is 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.520 that there seems to be a diversity of opinions about 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.880 the golf course within the circle of people who really 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.439 care about golf courses and who really study golf courses. 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.800 Because I think a lot of major venues there's sort 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.640 of a separation, like people who are really into golf 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.480 courses might like this place, but then like a lot 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:31.880 of fans don't love it. I think about places like 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:36.440 LACC in that conversation. This feels like one where, Yeah, 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:39.520 people who are really into golf courses have different, different opinions, 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.880 and that's fascinating to me. There's a lot of real puists, 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.200 real students of the game who think Birkdale's one of 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:46.640 the premier venues, and I think a lot of other 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.720 people who had put it near the bottom. So maybe 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:50.839 it's not going to be one of the main storylines, 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.240 but that's something I'm curious how you guys think about 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.560 this golf course coming in and then how your opinion 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.600 evolves throughout the rest of the tournament. I don't know, Kevin, 0:13:57.720 --> 0:13:59.120 where you are on Birkdale. 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.880 Yeah, I was there in twenty seventeen. It was the 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:07.760 second Open Championship that I ever covered. You know, I 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.880 remember feeling like this is a fun venue. I one 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:14.360 of my things was how hard will Burkdale play. Obviously 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.680 there's been some changes to the course. I was there 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.960 when Brandon Grace shot sixty two, which at the time 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.960 was the lowest ever round in a major. You know, 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:28.440 Xander and Ricky Foller tied it at LCC and then 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.800 Shane Lowry shot at sixty two at Valhalla, so you know, 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.200 it doesn't hold up on his own. But it just 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:39.320 didn't feel that round by Brandon Grace didn't feel particularly special, 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:42.960 but the course certainly felt special, like when Speeth and 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.440 Coucher were kind of throwing darts at each other in 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:48.720 that back nine for a little bit, particularly speed the 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.240 run that he went on. I don't know. I mean, 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.680 I think, like I love that it is part of 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:56.760 the rotation. I think just because it's got a lot 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.640 of cool history and it's a you know, it has 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.280 pretty good sight lines in terms of seeing, you know, stuff, 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.800 in terms of walking along as fans, it just doesn't 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.320 really as you think. I said at the beginning. Like 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.200 the fact that it doesn't have like a hole that 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:13.800 you're really looking forward to it's coming up, I think 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.880 is a little bit of a downside, but you know 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.160 there is you know, a gettable par five on the back. 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.000 It does have, you know, an interesting sort of close. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.320 The par fives are late in the rotation, so it 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.240 is you know, it's not like anyone is out of 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:30.160 it when you know you can make an eagle late. 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.440 I like it. I wish I wish it had one 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:35.880 hole that just felt like, oh man, I'm so excited 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:38.200 to see them play this shot. But I think it's 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.120 still a good part of the rotation. 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:46.320 Yeah, to further elaborate on you know what I said 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:51.480 earlier about it not being like the main character, I 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:55.160 think when you look at the way Ironoming played, it 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:59.080 like thrust itself into the discourse because it was like 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.400 we hadn't seeing a PGA play that way in a while. 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.520 It was you had you saw players just kind of 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:10.000 flu mixed by a variety of things. Then you have 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:13.760 shinnakock this in your face, like this is you know, 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:18.640 as hard as golf can get for for high level players. 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.880 I think this is one that kind of just like 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:26.080 rolls the ball out unless the guys go play. And 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:31.520 I think you know, from that standpoint, there's no devastatingly 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:38.479 challenging holes, there's no devastatingly hard features. What it requires 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.320 is you, you know, I always love the Jeff Ogilvie 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:47.400 talking about stroke play tournaments professional golf. It requires you 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.680 to build a really soundhouse. And round one you're laying 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:55.560 the foundation. And you know, when you have cracks, it's 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.720 going to show up later and it's going to be 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.840 who can who can build the most proficient house, the 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:05.000 most you know. And I think that the golf course 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:10.640 taking a backstage isn't always a bad thing. I'm always 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:14.439 going to want something that like really puts people in 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:18.800 unique positions. I don't think this golf course and I 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.359 you know, to kurktail all this, I haven't been there. 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.560 This is just me studying it from abroad, you know, 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:29.920 having covered the the twenty the Speeth Open twenty seventeen 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:34.040 at home. You know, I think like this golf course, 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:38.600 it requires a lot of skill. It is one that 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.080 is going to grind you down over eighteen holes, and 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.720 you can't hit loose shots, as Joseph elaborated, but there's 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.280 nothing out of this world that you haven't seen before. 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:50.840 Yeah, I think to that part of maybe where this 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.320 course suffers from its from what people think about is 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:55.720 I think a lot of the strength of the course 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:57.600 are kind of earlier in the round. Like I think 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.960 the first twelve holes are some of the best holes 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.680 in the most interesting variety, and probably generally we think 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:09.400 about professional golf venues when it has a wildly entertaining 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.600 closing stretch, that tends to be something that people like. 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.600 But to your point, Andy, what I would just emphasize 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.919 from having been there and then you know, looking at 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.480 some of the past winners and rewatching some of those tournaments, 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:22.520 the shot value is really high. It just is like 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.800 there's some elevated tea boxes where if there's wind, you 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:27.760 have to strike the ball well, you have to be 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:30.480 able to control your trajectory. So I think to your 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:32.479 point about will the golf course be the main character, 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:34.920 you know, probably not, but if the wind does blow, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:37.000 I know it's not forecast too, but if it does 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.840 pick up, it's going to be a really fun test 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:41.560 that I think people are going to be pretty grabbed by. 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:48.240 M hmm, all right, that'll get me to I guess 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:51.760 my first thing here unless anybody has any more on 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:53.800 the golf course that they want to go into while 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:54.480 we're here. 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:56.959 There's a lot of there's changes that the changes are 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:58.440 going to be a popular talking point, but I don't 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.800 think they're gonna have a super significant tacked on the tournament, 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:01.399 But go ahead. 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.000 The thing, the big thing I would hit on is 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:07.480 like this golf course has evolved from it's basically history. 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:13.000 It is a constantly evolving golf course, you know, And 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:15.640 and I think that's the thing one of the aspects 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:17.880 of it. It was intended to be a championship golf 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:24.359 course and evolved as professional golf has evolved. I think 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:28.760 what I'm most interested in, uh this week is is 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:32.080 going to be Rory McElroy. I think him and Scotty 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.880 are at the top of the board for various reasons. 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.760 I think, you know, and I'm sure we're going to 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.000 talk about Scotty. Scotti's is more of like is he 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:45.480 going to go are we on this incredible run? And 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.280 is he going to go a bagel be a bagel 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.879 boy on majors in twenty twenty six? For Rory, to me, 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:57.600 it's really can he get that second major in a year, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:19:59.560 it would be, you know, the second time in his 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.840 career they won two majors in a year. Not many 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:07.160 players in the history of golf have won multiple majors 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:11.199 in multiple years. On top of that, I think the 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:13.879 other big talking point, and it's been brought up this 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.919 week at the Genesis Scottish is just how little golf 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.879 he's played and you know, and that's like a question 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:26.119 I would have is like, has he you know, we 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.680 used to hear Tiger talk about competitive reps all the time, 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:33.800 and has he played enough golf to win a major? 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:37.520 Because in the lead up to the Masters, he played 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:40.200 a good chunk of golf, Like just the nature of 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.840 the way the calendar breaks in the early season. You've 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:48.919 got Pebble, Genesis, Arnold Palmer players, he's playing, you know, 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.159 twice twice, you know, a bunch of tournaments in the 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:56.600 lead up and since the since the Masters, it's just 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:01.199 basically been a cadence of one tournament, major, tournament major. 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:07.399 That being said, it could be roughly the same exact 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:10.240 you know, it's roughly the same about of golf. It's 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:16.439 just less regular events before majors. And I'm just I think, like, 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:19.280 from what I've seen, I don't think he's been quite 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.240 as sharp. And I say this as he leads the 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:26.639 Scottish Open through two rounds. He hasn't been. You know, 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:30.040 he wasn't as sharp at the PGA. He wasn't as 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.320 sharp at the at the US Open as he was 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:36.000 at the Masters. But that's golf. That's kind of the 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:40.639 way it works. I think from a mindset perspective, he 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:46.200 is in the best mindset about golf that he's ever been. 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:51.080 It feels like he is really at peace with like 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:55.280 how golf fits into his life. And I think that 0:21:56.320 --> 0:22:03.120 will yield a lot more satisfying finishes at major championships. 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.720 And this would this would scream to me as a 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:11.720 golf course, if it's firm that he would play quite 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:13.639 well at I. 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:16.480 Would totally agree. Andy. I think, uh no one has 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:20.280 ever like in the modern game, really been better at 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:24.000 fixing their own flaws and their own swing than Rory. 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:26.840 Like he you know, you see Scotty like having to 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:30.199 work through stuff with Randy Smith or the people you 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:33.040 know on the range, Like Rory's really good at like 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:35.840 figuring out what's going on wrong with me and fighting 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:39.520 those subtle tweaks, and I think that we are sort 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:42.440 of trending through like a point in the summer where 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:45.119 he's like been playing pretty good but then had some 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:48.679 time off to sort of get really dialed and you 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:52.120 know how badly like he would love another Open Championship 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:56.040 just being you know, from you know, the that area. 0:22:56.119 --> 0:23:00.080 And I think that truly, like I totally agree. I 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.440 think that this course sets up better for him than 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:05.880 any of the courses this year other than the Masters. 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:09.879 Like I just feel like the line between like, you know, 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:13.640 hitting a good shot that isn't warded whatever isn't quite 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.840 as thin like as it was at Shinnakock, and so 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:18.960 he can get away with like a little bit of 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:21.440 loose stuff here and then his talent can make up 0:23:21.480 --> 0:23:23.320 for like, you know what, now I'm gonna go on 0:23:23.400 --> 0:23:27.520 a four birdie's and six hole run. I really think 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:30.280 he would absolutely be the favorite coming in. 0:23:31.359 --> 0:23:33.159 I think, like one of the other things is just 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:38.359 his experience in majors. There is like just this level 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:42.720 of I think he's mentally got to a place where 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:45.679 he like really understands what he has to do to 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:48.399 be where he wants to be, Like and whether like 0:23:48.520 --> 0:23:51.760 everybody's going to point to Shittacock, Oh, what a disappointing finish. Like, 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:55.160 the reality of Shittacock was he was like right where 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:59.240 he needed to be on Saturday, and he played a 0:23:59.359 --> 0:24:02.800 terrible nine holes of golf. And that's you don't win 0:24:02.880 --> 0:24:05.240 a major if you play bad nine holes of golf, 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:10.800 generally on a high leverage moment. So you know, when 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:15.880 you think about think about that like he I think 0:24:15.920 --> 0:24:20.480 the reality that people don't think about enough with majors 0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:24.919 is like, really, the the first two rounds is really 0:24:25.040 --> 0:24:28.080 just about getting you into a position to have a 0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:29.840 shot on the weekend. 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:35.200 I think this is a great litmus test for Rory 0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:37.919 and we've talked often about how he's the most complete 0:24:38.000 --> 0:24:39.920 version of himself, that he's a much better player now 0:24:39.960 --> 0:24:42.879 than he was ten to fifteen years ago. The iron 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:45.920 play has been pretty sharp this year, the driving accuracy 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:48.159 has been a little bit hit or miss. So I 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:52.119 think with particularly this golf course Brickdale, it does mute 0:24:52.119 --> 0:24:55.960 one of his biggest strengths, which is power. And it's 0:24:55.960 --> 0:24:58.520 not a golf course that you can overpower. It's not 0:24:58.560 --> 0:25:00.920 a golf course that you can freely swing away with driver, 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:04.480 it's gonna take driver out of his hands often. It'll 0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:06.440 be interesting to see like some of these dog legs 0:25:06.480 --> 0:25:08.919 where Rory tries to go over corners and where he 0:25:09.040 --> 0:25:12.600 plays with an iron off of the team more conservatively. 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:15.520 So I think it's a great It's not like my 0:25:15.640 --> 0:25:18.160 dream fit for Rory. I think there are some ways 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:21.840 in which a his power being muted and be Sometimes 0:25:21.840 --> 0:25:23.359 he has a tendency to get a little wide with 0:25:23.400 --> 0:25:26.199 the driver, especially this year, like it could get him 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:28.639 into some trouble. But I think the flip side of 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:30.960 that is, yes, he is the most complete player he's been. 0:25:31.240 --> 0:25:32.960 If he's hitting some irons off T's and he's a 0:25:32.960 --> 0:25:35.800 little sharp with his iron play, he could be right 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:37.720 in the mix. So to me, it's just a great 0:25:37.760 --> 0:25:41.400 litmus test of where Rory's game currently stands. And yes, 0:25:41.480 --> 0:25:43.800 the driving accuracy has been a problem. He didn't drive 0:25:43.840 --> 0:25:46.840 it well at Augusta despite winning. But you know there 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:49.359 are ways around that he can either if he's feeling good, 0:25:49.520 --> 0:25:51.600 you know, go over some corners. Six is a good 0:25:51.600 --> 0:25:54.720 example was rewatching twenty seventeen, and Rory's just going right 0:25:54.720 --> 0:25:56.879 over the dog leg with a driver. He's being aggressive. 0:25:57.440 --> 0:25:58.960 If he's not feeling as good with it, he'll at 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:01.359 least have the option to down. So I think it'd 0:26:01.359 --> 0:26:04.199 be really interesting to see that Rory the tactician, the 0:26:04.240 --> 0:26:06.840 way he decides to attack this golf course. And then 0:26:06.840 --> 0:26:09.199 then also we'll get a good litmus test for how 0:26:09.280 --> 0:26:10.720 sharp Hiss iron plays, which is going to be a 0:26:10.800 --> 0:26:11.840 huge factor for him. 0:26:12.480 --> 0:26:17.000 The I think, you know, it's fascinating what you look 0:26:17.040 --> 0:26:20.440 at where he's moved himself up, where we've gone from 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:23.240 this this drought. Will he ever win a major again? 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:27.320 Now he's won two Masters, and you you know, he's 0:26:27.400 --> 0:26:30.919 moved to six majors in the modern era. You know, 0:26:31.000 --> 0:26:35.560 if he gets one more, there's the players ahead of 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:38.760 him in majors, the only only players ahead of him 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:44.200 in major totals or Nicholas Woods, Hagan, Hogan and Player 0:26:44.400 --> 0:26:52.320 and Watson. I mean, if he gets another one and 0:26:52.440 --> 0:26:55.359 maybe one other one, he's in it. Like when you 0:26:55.440 --> 0:26:57.760 talk about Mount rush like when you get to the 0:26:57.800 --> 0:27:02.880 discussion of who's the Mount Rushmore of golf. I think 0:27:02.920 --> 0:27:06.080 if he gets to eight, he has a legit argument 0:27:06.160 --> 0:27:07.760 to be on Mount Rushmore. 0:27:11.240 --> 0:27:14.119 I you know what, that's a pretty bold statement, but 0:27:14.160 --> 0:27:16.320 I don't. I don't want to shoot it down right away, 0:27:16.400 --> 0:27:21.560 because like if you're saying Rory's got seven more years 0:27:21.720 --> 0:27:27.359 of being like a truly, like you know, injury free, 0:27:27.400 --> 0:27:32.359 hopefully good player, I would bet on getting one at 0:27:32.400 --> 0:27:34.159 least one or two more majors out of that. 0:27:35.760 --> 0:27:39.840 It's it's a pretty wild situation because like he's just 0:27:39.960 --> 0:27:43.399 like a way from where the discourse was two years 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:48.520 ago to now. It's like this, it just doesn't feel 0:27:48.960 --> 0:27:52.040 it felt like it was he was just stalled, and 0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:55.080 now it feels like, oh my god, like all those 0:27:55.359 --> 0:28:00.440 heaping career, like those crazy expectations that were heaped on 0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:04.159 him at twenty two are actually still all in play. 0:28:05.400 --> 0:28:07.080 I think what would be interesting to me andy two 0:28:07.160 --> 0:28:09.600 is that he'd be the only guy other than Tiger 0:28:09.640 --> 0:28:12.879 who had like a big drought, a big stall and 0:28:12.920 --> 0:28:15.560 then like found it again and one, you know, let's 0:28:15.600 --> 0:28:20.000 say three more majors after the drought, maybe four, and 0:28:20.040 --> 0:28:23.280 Tiger really only did it with one after the long drought. 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:26.800 And so that's what's fascinating is that most people's majors 0:28:26.800 --> 0:28:30.520 other than Nicholas are compressed into a really small I 0:28:30.520 --> 0:28:32.879 guess Gary player would be maybe the other one, but 0:28:33.000 --> 0:28:36.159 it compressed into a smaller time period. And if he 0:28:36.320 --> 0:28:38.920 is winning majors into his forties, then that I think 0:28:38.920 --> 0:28:41.560 makes it a decent case of like, you're the greatest 0:28:41.560 --> 0:28:43.880 European of all time. You won all these majors in 0:28:43.880 --> 0:28:46.200 the modern era, and you did it over a course 0:28:46.240 --> 0:28:49.200 of time when you had your absolute peak prime and 0:28:49.240 --> 0:28:52.120 then your second prime. It makes a decent case. 0:28:53.520 --> 0:29:01.120 It's yeah, I you know, it is fascinating. It's just 0:29:01.160 --> 0:29:05.040 a fascinating career in terms of the whole the whole arc, 0:29:05.560 --> 0:29:10.320 everything that's that's happened. And you know, I think with 0:29:11.000 --> 0:29:16.840 everybody's talking about this reduced schedule and he's I think 0:29:16.920 --> 0:29:21.280 he's being He's been one of the smartest players ever 0:29:22.000 --> 0:29:28.560 about longevity and from probably his mid twenties on figuring out, 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:30.760 how can I play this sport at a high level 0:29:30.760 --> 0:29:34.680 as long as I can? And I think in a 0:29:34.760 --> 0:29:40.920 way he's taking almost to Justin Rose approach, but ten 0:29:41.000 --> 0:29:46.160 years earlier than Justin Rose found this approach where you know, 0:29:46.280 --> 0:29:49.560 maybe not ten seven years earlier, where it's we're going 0:29:49.640 --> 0:29:52.920 to do everything we can to peak for these majors. 0:29:54.040 --> 0:29:58.600 Make sure my body's right, My my attitude and my 0:29:59.200 --> 0:30:04.160 you know, mental mindsets, right, and you know, and I 0:30:04.240 --> 0:30:07.520 think part of that attitude of mental mindset is at 0:30:07.560 --> 0:30:10.200 this point in Rory's life is like life off the 0:30:10.280 --> 0:30:14.400 golf course. You know, people don't people look at golf 0:30:14.440 --> 0:30:17.480 as like this dream professional golf is this dream job. 0:30:17.880 --> 0:30:22.240 And I'm not gonna say it's not right, but holy shit, 0:30:22.320 --> 0:30:25.200 if you do it for twenty years, what a monotonous 0:30:25.480 --> 0:30:30.360 life like? It is not you know, you're playing golf. 0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:33.080 So I'm not saying this is, but it is not 0:30:33.240 --> 0:30:37.120 dissimilar to like some of the more monotonous jobs in 0:30:37.160 --> 0:30:40.040 the world, where it's like, all right, I punch in 0:30:40.360 --> 0:30:42.120 and this is how I go to work, and this 0:30:42.200 --> 0:30:44.920 is I do the same thing every day. You know, 0:30:45.960 --> 0:30:48.280 I go to the same cities and I have to 0:30:48.320 --> 0:30:51.280 stay at the same hotels. Like I know this might 0:30:51.360 --> 0:30:53.320 sound a little out of touch, but there is a 0:30:53.360 --> 0:30:57.640 lot of monotony in pro golf. And I think like 0:30:58.080 --> 0:31:02.080 setting yourself up mentally as you play it longer and 0:31:02.160 --> 0:31:03.800 longer gets more challenging. 0:31:04.200 --> 0:31:05.560 I was pulling it up as you were saying. He 0:31:05.600 --> 0:31:08.560 said it the Scottish yesterday. I'm nearly twenty years into 0:31:08.600 --> 0:31:10.320 this I need to do everything I can to keep 0:31:10.320 --> 0:31:13.400 my enthusiasm as high as possible, and playing a lighter 0:31:13.440 --> 0:31:16.520 schedule definitely does that. So I think to your point, 0:31:16.560 --> 0:31:20.920 Andy Rory's longevity is I mean, he's a unicorn for 0:31:20.960 --> 0:31:23.600 a lot of reasons, and playing that level of golf 0:31:23.640 --> 0:31:26.320 over twenty years, we just don't see it. We are 0:31:26.320 --> 0:31:28.440 not seeing it in the modern era, like there's nobody 0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:30.960 else doing it. You can talk about Justin Rose or 0:31:31.000 --> 0:31:33.000 Adam Scott, but those guys haven't been in the top 0:31:33.040 --> 0:31:35.920 ten consistently year and in year out for twenty years. 0:31:35.960 --> 0:31:38.680 They've peaked, but they haven't been consistently in the top 0:31:38.720 --> 0:31:42.120 ten and all the physical tools that it requires. Sure, 0:31:42.160 --> 0:31:45.440 but I think, yeah, that keeping your enthusiasm high, being 0:31:45.480 --> 0:31:48.040 motivated enough to show up every day and work hard. 0:31:48.040 --> 0:31:50.479 Like people are upset that he's skipping Memphis last year. 0:31:50.520 --> 0:31:53.120 Would you want to play the WGC Memphis or not 0:31:53.280 --> 0:31:57.000 WGC a playoff event in Memphis twenty years into your career. 0:31:58.400 --> 0:32:00.920 I just need NBA players to go to Memphis because 0:32:00.920 --> 0:32:04.480 of the hotel. Think about golfers now are jam in Memphis. 0:32:04.720 --> 0:32:06.600 I just think it's I mean, he's earned the right 0:32:06.840 --> 0:32:10.120 a little bit to choose, like a lighter schedule, like 0:32:10.200 --> 0:32:13.000 if you've won enough times, I still feel like even 0:32:13.040 --> 0:32:15.080 despite all the changes and hey, we're going to eliminate 0:32:15.560 --> 0:32:18.440 these spots whatever, Like I think that's an important part 0:32:18.440 --> 0:32:22.760 of golf's history and tradition, Like if you have accomplished 0:32:22.760 --> 0:32:24.480 all these things, you should be able to pick and 0:32:24.560 --> 0:32:27.280 choose a little bit of a lighter schedule as you 0:32:27.400 --> 0:32:29.440 go forward, Like you don't have to. You shouldn't have 0:32:29.520 --> 0:32:32.400 to be the marquee person who's holding up the tour. 0:32:32.440 --> 0:32:35.000 It ought to have to sort of have other people 0:32:35.080 --> 0:32:38.160 who are, you know, filling that role. And I just 0:32:38.200 --> 0:32:42.080 don't quite understand the outrage about it, Like, no, he 0:32:42.080 --> 0:32:44.280 should be out there like grinding every single thing. It 0:32:44.280 --> 0:32:46.680 was a different time and a different setup when he 0:32:46.760 --> 0:32:49.400 was like, hey, everybody should play in all these signature events, 0:32:49.800 --> 0:32:51.800 and people keep banging on him like you're the one 0:32:51.840 --> 0:32:53.959 who thought up this idea, man, that that might as 0:32:54.000 --> 0:32:56.000 well have been like a decade ago in terms of 0:32:56.040 --> 0:32:58.800 like how much has changed in the time of golf 0:32:58.800 --> 0:33:01.920 since then, We've had a whole lead, you know, collapse 0:33:02.000 --> 0:33:04.120 in the sense where now it's there going around begging 0:33:04.240 --> 0:33:06.680 for tax credits UH to sort of set up the 0:33:06.680 --> 0:33:09.200 future of their league, so it's it's not the same 0:33:09.240 --> 0:33:09.760 as it was. 0:33:11.200 --> 0:33:15.080 I I think the one final piece that I'll put 0:33:15.120 --> 0:33:19.040 on this is like, I mean, he's got a he's 0:33:19.080 --> 0:33:24.960 got a five year old daughter, and if you could, 0:33:25.680 --> 0:33:30.960 you know, financially, and had flexibility in your life to 0:33:30.960 --> 0:33:33.800 set up set aside time to to you know, like 0:33:33.960 --> 0:33:37.239 be present and with your with your family as much 0:33:37.280 --> 0:33:41.040 as possible, it's like he's in like the gravy position 0:33:41.800 --> 0:33:44.480 of like the the age of your kid that you 0:33:44.600 --> 0:33:48.400 want to be president in and available for all of that, 0:33:48.880 --> 0:33:51.400 you know, like you know it in seven years you 0:33:51.440 --> 0:33:54.520 get your you got a teenager, and they probably don't 0:33:54.560 --> 0:33:57.360 want to spend as much time with you, you know. And 0:33:57.360 --> 0:33:59.920 and I think there's an element of that also which 0:34:00.000 --> 0:34:03.560 he probably energizes him to play better golf, you know, 0:34:03.680 --> 0:34:07.640 and to be more interested in golf. This is where like, yeah, 0:34:07.760 --> 0:34:11.319 I I think, like somebody once told me, it's like 0:34:11.440 --> 0:34:15.480 the most the toughest thing. The type of person that 0:34:15.560 --> 0:34:20.520 tour golf's the hardest for is someone who is intellectually curious, 0:34:21.200 --> 0:34:25.200 because the monotony of it will just crush you, and 0:34:25.280 --> 0:34:28.399 you have to have pursuits outside of golf, Like I think, 0:34:28.440 --> 0:34:31.080 like of like some of my you know, one of 0:34:31.080 --> 0:34:34.719 my like Zach Blair, he goes and plays golf courses 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:37.680 all over the place when he visits, Like he spends 0:34:37.760 --> 0:34:40.759 this way less time on site than other people. He's 0:34:40.800 --> 0:34:42.480 doing it for ten years. He's not doing it at 0:34:42.520 --> 0:34:45.920 the level of Rory, of like the caliber of play, 0:34:46.440 --> 0:34:49.560 but like that's one of the ways that he energizes 0:34:49.640 --> 0:34:52.520 himself week in week out, Like it's it's a it's 0:34:52.560 --> 0:34:55.319 a fascinating asspec. All right, let's get to the next thing. 0:34:55.360 --> 0:34:58.320 But first, let's take a break. We'll keep rolling on YouTube. 0:34:58.560 --> 0:35:21.000 Let's take a quick break on audio platforms. All right, Joseph, 0:35:21.040 --> 0:35:21.839 what's your next thing? 0:35:22.040 --> 0:35:24.080 Yeah, we should talk about Scotty. We talked a lot 0:35:24.120 --> 0:35:27.160 about Rory. Should talk about the other best player in 0:35:27.200 --> 0:35:30.360 the world, the undisputed best player in the world, Scotti Scheffler. 0:35:31.320 --> 0:35:32.759 You know he's going to be coming in off his 0:35:32.840 --> 0:35:36.319 first misscut since the twenty twenty two FedEx Saint Jude 0:35:36.360 --> 0:35:39.200 speaking of Memphis. But Scotty missed the cut this week 0:35:39.200 --> 0:35:43.160 at the Scottish Open. Certainly a surprise, but not a 0:35:43.239 --> 0:35:46.719 complete shock. If you've been watching Scotti Schffler throughout the year, 0:35:46.920 --> 0:35:49.600 and I don't want to overstate his struggles, because again, 0:35:49.640 --> 0:35:52.040 he is clearly the best player in the world, but 0:35:52.960 --> 0:35:55.439 if you've been watching weekend in week out, Scotti has 0:35:55.480 --> 0:35:57.319 been just a little bit off here and there. He's 0:35:57.360 --> 0:36:01.799 hitting uncharacteristically wide. I think his drive has a lot 0:36:01.840 --> 0:36:04.600 more curve in it. He's hitting these kind of these 0:36:04.600 --> 0:36:07.480 big wipeye fades more often than he was in the past. 0:36:07.520 --> 0:36:09.560 He used to never miss right off of the tee. 0:36:09.840 --> 0:36:12.840 We're kind of seeing a two way miss again. Still 0:36:12.840 --> 0:36:16.799 playing great, great golf, but I mean last year he 0:36:16.840 --> 0:36:18.759 was in the top ten in all four majors and 0:36:18.800 --> 0:36:21.160 he won two of them. This year could be a 0:36:21.239 --> 0:36:23.200 year spent in his primer. He does not win a 0:36:23.200 --> 0:36:26.640 major championship, and I think that's gotta be the biggest 0:36:26.680 --> 0:36:29.040 story coming into this Open. That's player related. 0:36:30.840 --> 0:36:34.319 I agree, Joseph. I think, look, you don't want to 0:36:34.320 --> 0:36:36.160 do a victory lap, but I think you deserve a 0:36:36.160 --> 0:36:39.720 little bit of, you know, kudos here for early calling 0:36:39.800 --> 0:36:42.840 this that he would just be a little bit off 0:36:43.400 --> 0:36:45.879 this year that we might have. You know, it's really 0:36:45.960 --> 0:36:49.800 hard to maintain the peak that you had, I would 0:36:49.800 --> 0:36:52.279 be more concerned. I guess the miscut thing. It just 0:36:52.280 --> 0:36:54.080 feels a little bit like an anomaly. And he shot 0:36:54.120 --> 0:36:57.400 sixty eight to seventy two. Obviously guys are sort of 0:36:57.400 --> 0:37:00.720 going a little bit low at Renaissance. But I don't 0:37:00.760 --> 0:37:03.560 think if he had shut seventy six in this last round, 0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:05.080 I think I would feel a little bit more like, 0:37:05.120 --> 0:37:08.200 holy crap, like what's going on with him? But it 0:37:08.239 --> 0:37:10.600 doesn't feel sharp, And maybe that's the birth of a 0:37:10.640 --> 0:37:13.279 second kid. Maybe it's your body is physically changed, just 0:37:13.320 --> 0:37:16.960 to hair. You know, there's some soreness, there's some you know, lingering, 0:37:17.480 --> 0:37:19.920 you know, just kind of reps grind you down a 0:37:19.960 --> 0:37:23.920 little bit after winning so much last year. I don't know. 0:37:24.000 --> 0:37:29.319 I mean, it doesn't feel like he's ever I talked 0:37:29.320 --> 0:37:30.600 to a couple of players this year and it's like 0:37:30.760 --> 0:37:32.160 at the beginning of the year, it's like, man, when 0:37:32.200 --> 0:37:34.480 he is on the leader board, you're kind of scared, 0:37:34.840 --> 0:37:36.960 like you are like, oh crap, like he is coming. 0:37:37.400 --> 0:37:39.640 And it doesn't feel that way right now, like he 0:37:40.560 --> 0:37:43.160 if I think if like it at Shinnacock, if he 0:37:43.200 --> 0:37:45.160 had played great in that last round, that all of 0:37:45.160 --> 0:37:47.080 a sudden, that magic that he had would have been 0:37:47.120 --> 0:37:50.080 sort of reaffirmed in everyone's eyes in terms of narrative, like, man, 0:37:50.160 --> 0:37:55.319 Scotty is coming, you cannot like withstand the inevitability of him. 0:37:55.640 --> 0:37:57.640 And right now it just isn't that. I don't I 0:37:57.680 --> 0:38:00.120 don't think that fear is right there and other people's 0:38:00.400 --> 0:38:03.719 hearts when they're coming just watching like Windham really like 0:38:04.200 --> 0:38:06.719 just flat out play better than him all in that 0:38:06.840 --> 0:38:10.480 final round. You know, these greens are a lot flatter, 0:38:11.280 --> 0:38:14.560 So I feel a little bit like, man, if he's 0:38:15.760 --> 0:38:18.359 had problems like reading Putts all year, you know, he's 0:38:18.360 --> 0:38:20.480 had Ted Scott reading Putts for some of them, he's 0:38:20.600 --> 0:38:22.600 sort of tried to go back and read some, so 0:38:22.680 --> 0:38:24.400 maybe like if the reads are just a little bit 0:38:24.480 --> 0:38:27.319 less complicated, he rolls in two or three that he 0:38:27.320 --> 0:38:29.480 wouldn't have otherwise, and all of a sudden, like that 0:38:29.600 --> 0:38:32.920 momentum starts to build a little bitfferent this week. But man, 0:38:32.960 --> 0:38:36.440 it's surprising that it just felt so much like we 0:38:36.440 --> 0:38:39.440 were on the verge of this Dude's gonna rip off 0:38:39.480 --> 0:38:42.480 a ton of victories and it just hasn't quite happened. 0:38:44.080 --> 0:38:49.839 It's a reminder that golf's always always counterintuitive to what 0:38:49.880 --> 0:38:54.120 you think. Whenever. It's almost as if whenever there becomes 0:38:54.160 --> 0:38:57.319 a popular group think. I mean like I at the 0:38:57.320 --> 0:38:59.000 beginning of the year, I was like, I don't see 0:38:59.000 --> 0:39:01.680 how he's not gonna win or eight times again, like 0:39:01.760 --> 0:39:05.640 I just don't see how this is possible, and sure 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:09.280 enough it's it. It never sees this amaze me. How 0:39:09.840 --> 0:39:14.520 like whenever you think that something is like this is 0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:18.360 a fact, a matter of fact in golf, that it 0:39:18.560 --> 0:39:25.960 ends up being the complete opposite. Listen, like all this set, 0:39:26.280 --> 0:39:31.120 all of the set, he is still without a doubt 0:39:31.200 --> 0:39:35.000 the best player in the world, which is wild like there, 0:39:35.080 --> 0:39:37.640 and I think, like it's it's funny to me, is 0:39:37.719 --> 0:39:40.560 like you know, there's so many you know, way if 0:39:40.600 --> 0:39:43.880 you watch you know, so many people will will not 0:39:44.040 --> 0:39:46.719 go and say that he's not the same player he 0:39:47.000 --> 0:39:50.560 was last year. But it's like undeniable. You know, Brandall's 0:39:50.600 --> 0:39:54.040 done a great job on Golf Channel like undeniable, he 0:39:54.160 --> 0:39:56.759 is not playing at the same level that he was 0:39:56.840 --> 0:40:00.000 playing at. I think, Joseph, you've done an excellent job 0:40:00.160 --> 0:40:03.520 talking about Listen, like all these events that he's like 0:40:03.680 --> 0:40:06.680 in the mix for he would have won by five 0:40:06.760 --> 0:40:10.439 or six last year with how he was playing, and 0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:13.360 it's and and some people are like, oh, the players 0:40:13.400 --> 0:40:16.440 around him have leveled up their game, Like I don't 0:40:16.480 --> 0:40:19.520 think they have. I just think that he's not playing 0:40:19.560 --> 0:40:22.799 as well. And you know, there are a lot of 0:40:22.840 --> 0:40:26.759 Tiger comparisons with what he did the last three years. 0:40:27.400 --> 0:40:30.759 And you know, Tiger went a couple of years in 0:40:30.840 --> 0:40:34.239 the middle of his prime without winning majors. And the 0:40:34.320 --> 0:40:38.719 thing about like if like this is this is arguably 0:40:38.800 --> 0:40:43.759 the perfect open open setup for him, especially if the 0:40:43.800 --> 0:40:47.440 wind doesn't blow, it's firm, it's a fair golf course. 0:40:47.960 --> 0:40:51.120 Like this is as good as is gonna get for Scottie. 0:40:51.760 --> 0:40:54.440 I expect him to be in the mix, and sometimes 0:40:54.520 --> 0:40:57.319 a miscut before gives him a little time to just 0:40:57.440 --> 0:41:00.520 work on some stuff. Is better than just like you know, 0:41:00.840 --> 0:41:04.240 wailing away on Saturday and Sunday without your best stuff 0:41:04.480 --> 0:41:07.719 like there are that you know, the miscuts not a 0:41:08.200 --> 0:41:10.080 It's not going to change the way I'm thinking about 0:41:10.080 --> 0:41:13.760 Scotty this week. I think he should be the favorite. 0:41:14.160 --> 0:41:18.080 But the the thing about this is if he doesn't 0:41:18.080 --> 0:41:22.160 get it done, he has nine months to think about 0:41:22.160 --> 0:41:25.160 how he didn't get a major this year, and I 0:41:25.200 --> 0:41:28.960 think that's the heart, that's the crazy. The weight of 0:41:29.080 --> 0:41:33.960 this week is about oh my god, like I didn't 0:41:33.960 --> 0:41:39.600 get one and now I have nine months. And maybe 0:41:39.640 --> 0:41:41.759 it's a good thing for Scotty because he talks about 0:41:41.760 --> 0:41:47.319 how like accomplishment kind of became just like, oh, another one, 0:41:47.760 --> 0:41:49.600 and maybe this is the best thing that could happen 0:41:49.640 --> 0:41:50.799 for Scotty in the long run. 0:41:51.560 --> 0:41:53.680 Oh look, if you're trying to make the argument Scotty 0:41:53.719 --> 0:41:55.840 is not any is not a step down, like you're 0:41:55.920 --> 0:41:59.440 just not paying attention. And to your point, Andy, if 0:41:59.480 --> 0:42:02.200 he doesn't win one, which he very well could, he 0:42:02.200 --> 0:42:04.520 should be the favorite. It's possible he goes the whole 0:42:04.560 --> 0:42:06.920 year where his only win is the American Express and 0:42:06.920 --> 0:42:08.600 that was at the very beginning of the year. 0:42:08.960 --> 0:42:11.040 And first start of the year, the first start of. 0:42:11.040 --> 0:42:14.319 The year, and that's not the strongest field to win. 0:42:14.719 --> 0:42:17.120 And just for a little more reference, like last year 0:42:17.160 --> 0:42:18.840 he was the co leader and two of the majors 0:42:18.840 --> 0:42:21.000 after fifty four holes and one to them. This year, 0:42:21.239 --> 0:42:23.520 the closest he's been after three rounds by major is 0:42:23.520 --> 0:42:27.839 within four. He's just a little step off. And people 0:42:27.920 --> 0:42:30.480 have been saying, like well, well, it's just the first 0:42:30.560 --> 0:42:32.239 rounds that are kind of getting to him, because we've 0:42:32.239 --> 0:42:34.280 seen that throughout the year, whether it's at the Waste 0:42:34.320 --> 0:42:36.399 Management or the Genesis. And then you have other people 0:42:36.440 --> 0:42:37.880 who are like, ah, he's been kind of getting in 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:40.160 the mix, but like you know, he's not able to 0:42:40.160 --> 0:42:42.400 get it across the finish line. There's this this little 0:42:42.760 --> 0:42:45.400 and I think sometimes we use that kind of terminology 0:42:45.480 --> 0:42:48.080 to describe something that's much simpler, which is not some 0:42:48.400 --> 0:42:51.840 knowistical first round struggles or final round struggles. It's that 0:42:51.880 --> 0:42:53.759 your game isn't quite as good as it was a 0:42:53.800 --> 0:42:56.520 year ago. You're not quite as sharp. People have always 0:42:56.520 --> 0:42:59.040 said the same thing with Speef, that like he's playing 0:42:59.040 --> 0:43:01.600 good individual rounds, but he can't put them all together. Yeah, 0:43:01.640 --> 0:43:04.520 that's golf skill is being able to put them all together. 0:43:05.160 --> 0:43:07.640 And like you said, and these are tournaments we saw Scotty, 0:43:08.360 --> 0:43:13.040 especially late Saturday afternoons, there's like a signature late Saturday afternoons, 0:43:13.040 --> 0:43:16.600 Scotty rattling, you know, four birdies off over seven holes 0:43:16.640 --> 0:43:18.879 and immediately it's like, oh, he was down to, now 0:43:18.880 --> 0:43:20.680 he's up to going into the final round and he 0:43:20.719 --> 0:43:23.760 wins by three. We're just not quite seeing that brand 0:43:23.800 --> 0:43:26.640 of Scotti Scheffler. And we might see it at Brickdale, 0:43:26.640 --> 0:43:28.480 we might see it next year. I have no idea, 0:43:29.000 --> 0:43:32.960 but I do think there it's Anybody who wants to 0:43:32.960 --> 0:43:35.799 to analyze golf seriously has to acknowledge that this is 0:43:35.840 --> 0:43:37.560 not the same Scotti Scheffler's last year. 0:43:37.680 --> 0:43:41.440 The perfect encapsulation of what you just said, Joseph is 0:43:41.560 --> 0:43:45.400 the way he closed Saturday at Shinnacock. It felt like, 0:43:45.520 --> 0:43:49.920 Oh here he comes. He birdied sixteen, I believe, and 0:43:50.000 --> 0:43:53.160 it felt oh wow, this he's this, he's gonna do. 0:43:53.320 --> 0:43:56.080 He's gonna do this surge. He's gonna get close to 0:43:56.120 --> 0:44:00.680 Windham and he's gonna he's gonna be right there. On Sunday. 0:44:01.200 --> 0:44:05.640 He misses seventeen green, which is like bread and butter 0:44:05.840 --> 0:44:09.960 mid iron, short iron, Scotty Scheffler, best iron, and the 0:44:10.040 --> 0:44:12.719 player in the world makes a bogie. Then he hits 0:44:12.719 --> 0:44:15.520 a great drive, great wedge on eighteen to three or 0:44:15.560 --> 0:44:18.680 four feet and misses the putt. And that's like the 0:44:18.840 --> 0:44:24.640 encapsulation of this year versus the like last year. Yeah, exactly. 0:44:24.800 --> 0:44:28.080 It is seventeen. He hits the green and he's walking 0:44:28.120 --> 0:44:31.200 away with worse of three, and then he makes a 0:44:31.200 --> 0:44:34.160 birdie on eighteen and he's two shots closer to Windham, 0:44:34.800 --> 0:44:37.600 and then Wyndham struggles out of the gate and Scotty's 0:44:37.680 --> 0:44:42.160 right there, right, that's the difference. And then he doesn't 0:44:42.160 --> 0:44:43.720 play the way he played on Sunday. 0:44:44.440 --> 0:44:49.280 Frankly, yeah, he's I mean, statistically he's half a stroke 0:44:49.480 --> 0:44:52.759 worse this year than he was the previous two years 0:44:52.760 --> 0:44:57.680 that approach, So like that's just like bear it out 0:44:57.760 --> 0:45:00.840 right there, naked stats, Like you're you he's still the 0:45:00.920 --> 0:45:04.040 best iron player in the game tournament, but you know 0:45:04.680 --> 0:45:07.959 exactly two shots tournament that he could have that that's 0:45:08.000 --> 0:45:10.560 the difference between three wins and one win. 0:45:13.160 --> 0:45:15.080 I don't know, it'll be it'll be fast. I mean, 0:45:15.320 --> 0:45:20.839 I like, like I wouldn't take anybody before him if 0:45:20.840 --> 0:45:24.319 I was picking like players to win in terms of 0:45:24.360 --> 0:45:26.799 like if you said this is a draft, you have 0:45:26.880 --> 0:45:29.640 to place the order and and who you think is 0:45:29.640 --> 0:45:33.480 gonna win, I'd still put Scotty Scheffler first. But it's 0:45:33.600 --> 0:45:36.880 not the way we felt about Scotty Shuffler last year 0:45:36.880 --> 0:45:41.080 at Port Rush, and there was a lot of doubt 0:45:41.280 --> 0:45:43.719 about like could he win on links course, all right, 0:45:43.800 --> 0:45:45.480 what's up next? Kevin? 0:45:46.239 --> 0:45:47.719 All Right, I think we stalked him Young? 0:45:48.920 --> 0:45:51.480 Oh man, No, no, no, no, no, no, we got. 0:45:51.360 --> 0:45:54.880 To sorry, we got to hasn't had a top twenty 0:45:54.920 --> 0:46:01.000 five in the last four starts since the truest right now. 0:46:01.200 --> 0:46:03.120 I'm not saying this is a permanent thing, but the 0:46:03.160 --> 0:46:07.240 putter is a problem again. Hasn't been in positive strokes 0:46:07.239 --> 0:46:11.239 gained in that stretch. He's losing half a stroke on 0:46:11.280 --> 0:46:13.320 the greens, between half a stroke and a full stroke. 0:46:13.719 --> 0:46:17.160 Since May. We kind of felt like he had solved putting, 0:46:18.360 --> 0:46:21.439 but has he Like this is the worst I looked 0:46:21.440 --> 0:46:23.439 it up. This is the worst stretch of putting he's 0:46:23.480 --> 0:46:27.000 had since twenty twenty four. Not a huge number, not 0:46:27.080 --> 0:46:30.359 huge emphasized, but he hasn't had four consecutive tournaments where 0:46:30.360 --> 0:46:33.399 he's been negative strokes game putting in that stretch since 0:46:33.440 --> 0:46:37.279 twenty twenty four. What's going on with Cam Young? We 0:46:37.360 --> 0:46:40.200 thought that he was ascending, We thought that he was there, 0:46:41.120 --> 0:46:43.440 you know, he's so he's literally leading the Masters by 0:46:43.480 --> 0:46:45.960 two strokes at one point, one of the players obviously 0:46:45.960 --> 0:46:48.759 before that. Right now, it just feels a little bit 0:46:48.840 --> 0:46:53.279 like he's he's not the same in the same conversation 0:46:53.880 --> 0:46:56.319 as the top players in the world. How do we 0:46:56.320 --> 0:46:59.000 get the Cam Young back that we had earlier this year? 0:47:00.160 --> 0:47:02.960 Gosh, we're doing like, you know, tournament breakdown of Cam 0:47:03.040 --> 0:47:07.959 Young's putting, and I feel like, come on, no, it's fair. 0:47:08.000 --> 0:47:10.680 That's we've made it that this is you know, one 0:47:10.680 --> 0:47:13.839 of the main storylines coming in that will take it good. 0:47:14.480 --> 0:47:16.799 I think a question with Cam is how healthy he is, 0:47:16.840 --> 0:47:20.680 because I don't know anything, but he canceled his press 0:47:20.719 --> 0:47:22.960 conference at the US Open, and he also had you know, 0:47:23.040 --> 0:47:24.880 tape on his wrist, which he has had tape on 0:47:24.920 --> 0:47:27.439 his wrist often. But I think that's something with Cam 0:47:27.480 --> 0:47:30.120 that I'm always like kind of trying to monitor. Is 0:47:30.160 --> 0:47:30.880 he fully help. 0:47:30.760 --> 0:47:33.320 Treating And it's like he's a football team, like hiding injuries, 0:47:33.400 --> 0:47:36.719 Like what benefit does he you know, mentally for like 0:47:36.800 --> 0:47:38.480 not disclosing what's going on. 0:47:38.840 --> 0:47:41.319 Well, he doesn't cancel press conferences often, so I do 0:47:41.360 --> 0:47:43.960 think that there It wouldn't shock me if there's some 0:47:44.080 --> 0:47:46.239 kind of discomfort, whether it's his wrist or something else. 0:47:46.239 --> 0:47:48.320 I don't know if that explains putting, that would be 0:47:48.600 --> 0:47:50.719 more likely to explain another part of his game. But 0:47:51.600 --> 0:47:54.600 I actually really I like this golf course for Cam 0:47:54.800 --> 0:47:57.359 and I think, you know, he played really really well 0:47:57.360 --> 0:48:00.960 at Liverpool, played really really well at Saint Andrews. There 0:48:01.000 --> 0:48:03.040 shouldn't be a lot of excuses unless there is some 0:48:03.160 --> 0:48:06.120 kind of injury, which you know that's not publicly known, 0:48:06.200 --> 0:48:07.920 so I don't think he can get to use that 0:48:07.920 --> 0:48:09.640 as an excuse either. Yeah, I think he needs to 0:48:09.640 --> 0:48:12.200 step up and play really well. Is he a top 0:48:12.200 --> 0:48:15.160 five player in the world is a legitimate question right 0:48:15.200 --> 0:48:17.960 now versus a couple months ago, where I think anyone 0:48:17.960 --> 0:48:19.640 who didn't think he was a top five player in 0:48:19.640 --> 0:48:22.279 the world was kind of nuts. There's probably pretty good 0:48:22.320 --> 0:48:24.120 argument that he was the third or fourth best player 0:48:24.160 --> 0:48:27.359 in the world. Him, Fitzpatrick Rahm have always, you know, 0:48:27.360 --> 0:48:29.360 have kind of been in that three to five zone. 0:48:29.840 --> 0:48:32.080 So yeah, I think it's a really important week for 0:48:32.160 --> 0:48:36.600 Cam to potentially punctuate his breakout season. We don't know 0:48:36.640 --> 0:48:39.440 how long these kinds of runs go. He was in 0:48:39.480 --> 0:48:41.200 the mix the Masters, didn't get it done, and then 0:48:41.239 --> 0:48:43.000 didn't play great in the other two majors. It's not 0:48:43.040 --> 0:48:45.040 a wasted year if he doesn't play well next week, 0:48:45.080 --> 0:48:47.200 but it does feel like a pretty important year to 0:48:47.520 --> 0:48:52.120 kind of encapsulate a rise for one of the idea, 0:48:52.160 --> 0:48:55.680 I mean maybe great players. But if he goes out 0:48:55.680 --> 0:48:57.319 missus the cut, then it's a little bit like yeah, 0:48:57.320 --> 0:49:00.000 twenty twenty six was promising, but it never fully materialized. 0:49:01.800 --> 0:49:06.040 You know, My question is did we just see a 0:49:06.239 --> 0:49:11.040 nuclear hot putting run? And like is the old expression 0:49:11.120 --> 0:49:15.680 of a tiger can't change his stripes? You know the 0:49:15.719 --> 0:49:21.440 situation here and here's here's the aspect. Cameron Young is 0:49:21.480 --> 0:49:26.279 so talented tea degreen. He can win major championships without 0:49:26.600 --> 0:49:30.799 putting great. He is one of I would say probably 0:49:30.960 --> 0:49:34.799 five players who can who can do that. He can 0:49:34.920 --> 0:49:37.359 ball strike the crap out of a place. And if 0:49:37.360 --> 0:49:41.200 he just puts average, it is you know, I I 0:49:41.200 --> 0:49:46.160 think like the like Scotty has turned around his putting 0:49:46.280 --> 0:49:49.600 to where now it you know, for two plus years 0:49:49.640 --> 0:49:54.200 he's been a A plus like a very very good putter, 0:49:54.520 --> 0:49:56.719 and it's it's you know, I think he still has 0:49:56.840 --> 0:50:00.520 hiccups here and there, some days the stroke doesn't look perfect, 0:50:00.560 --> 0:50:03.280 but like he's done it for a long time. Cameron 0:50:03.320 --> 0:50:07.960 Young hasn't strung together like a year of sensational putting. 0:50:08.120 --> 0:50:10.399 And it was a mirror kind of like six months 0:50:10.440 --> 0:50:14.840 and I just wonder, like, you know, is how do 0:50:14.920 --> 0:50:20.320 you It's hard to like consequentially change go from below 0:50:20.400 --> 0:50:23.520 average to great. And for a while he was like 0:50:23.560 --> 0:50:26.400 a great putter. I mean, that was the thing the change. 0:50:26.920 --> 0:50:30.080 And my question is is this just a blip on 0:50:30.120 --> 0:50:33.359 the radar he's not seeing the line well and he's 0:50:33.480 --> 0:50:35.760 just having in a little bit of a putting funk 0:50:35.840 --> 0:50:40.200 that totally happens to everybody, or is it something that 0:50:40.480 --> 0:50:42.879 is just like he's just regressed back to the meat. 0:50:44.120 --> 0:50:48.200 Did the regression monster, as PJ likes to say about 0:50:47.960 --> 0:50:51.520 Pete crow Armstrong, did the regression monster come for for 0:50:52.320 --> 0:50:56.239 PJ and Joseph's beautiful boy PJ could jump in? Did 0:50:56.239 --> 0:50:57.800 the regression monster come PJ? 0:50:58.800 --> 0:51:02.120 This is uh I'm expecting to pop in here. Yeah, 0:51:02.160 --> 0:51:05.320 I mean the regression monsters always is always lurking. I 0:51:05.880 --> 0:51:08.799 do think like you said, I mean, it could have 0:51:08.880 --> 0:51:11.680 just been an absolute putting heater. But I do think 0:51:11.719 --> 0:51:16.160 that the floor is higher that it did. The floor 0:51:16.160 --> 0:51:19.520 should be raised from where it was eighteen months ago, 0:51:19.560 --> 0:51:23.279 two years ago, where the putting was a capital all 0:51:23.400 --> 0:51:27.080 caps capital be problem. The floor should be raised. It 0:51:27.080 --> 0:51:30.040 should not go all the way back down to that point. 0:51:30.160 --> 0:51:33.480 I think maybe this is just just hoping out there 0:51:33.520 --> 0:51:33.879 as well. 0:51:35.120 --> 0:51:37.200 Also, I think we're I think we're being a little overreactive. 0:51:37.239 --> 0:51:38.719 Cam was also a pretty good putt of for like 0:51:38.719 --> 0:51:41.280 a year and a half, it was more than six months, 0:51:41.320 --> 0:51:44.680 and I think this is just a couple weeks stretch 0:51:45.040 --> 0:51:47.520 really going back to Sunday at Quail. Sunday at Quail 0:51:47.560 --> 0:51:49.640 was a nightmare for those who watched that at the 0:51:49.640 --> 0:51:51.560 Trust this year when he was in the mix to win, 0:51:51.640 --> 0:51:54.560 it looked like the old Cam young putting. I think 0:51:54.600 --> 0:51:57.120 we're going to see him over the next six months, 0:51:57.160 --> 0:51:59.600 whether just next week or not, over the next year, 0:52:00.480 --> 0:52:02.360 return to being a solid putter, maybe not one of 0:52:02.400 --> 0:52:04.000 the best putters in the world, but a solid putter. 0:52:04.200 --> 0:52:05.640 And I do you think he's a really really good 0:52:05.719 --> 0:52:06.239 chance to win that. 0:52:06.280 --> 0:52:09.839 I think PJ has a completely alternate theory. 0:52:10.400 --> 0:52:11.160 Pj's worried. 0:52:11.719 --> 0:52:14.279 Yeah, I mean, I think there's there's a chance that 0:52:14.400 --> 0:52:17.719 Justin Thomas just kind of zapped zapped his powers when 0:52:17.800 --> 0:52:21.080 they switched putters. But that got co opted by PGA 0:52:21.120 --> 0:52:23.040 Tour Live without Credit, by the way, So I'll just 0:52:23.080 --> 0:52:24.560 throw that out podcast. 0:52:25.680 --> 0:52:26.960 I would just like to put the theory that he 0:52:27.560 --> 0:52:30.359 bottomed out at the second round of the Travelers when 0:52:30.360 --> 0:52:33.160 he shot seventy one when guys were flirting with fifty nine, 0:52:33.960 --> 0:52:36.719 and that we've slowly kind of dead cat bounced like 0:52:36.840 --> 0:52:40.200 up here. Okay, So I'm thinking, and he played pretty 0:52:40.239 --> 0:52:44.040 well Travelers in the last two rounds, so you know, 0:52:44.200 --> 0:52:45.920 maybe we're we're trending in a better direction. 0:52:46.640 --> 0:52:53.200 I'll I'll tie cam Young to a topic that is 0:52:53.239 --> 0:52:56.719 a growing list that Camyong's squarely on and near the 0:52:56.760 --> 0:53:01.000 top of is the best player without Major. I know 0:53:01.920 --> 0:53:05.960 Joseph wants to talk about Tommy Fleetwood, who would be 0:53:06.040 --> 0:53:09.120 squarely on this list. So I will just kind of 0:53:09.239 --> 0:53:12.799 rattle off players on this list we have. You know, 0:53:12.840 --> 0:53:16.120 obviously this list is like this has been just kind 0:53:16.120 --> 0:53:20.120 of like an ongoing thing about majors for years. And 0:53:20.280 --> 0:53:23.279 you know, back in the day, Colin Montgomery was a 0:53:23.320 --> 0:53:27.120 poster boy for this. Phil Mickelson, until he won, was 0:53:27.160 --> 0:53:31.279 a poster boy for best player without a major. You know, 0:53:31.440 --> 0:53:35.239 Lee Westwood never got the major. Him and Monty never 0:53:35.280 --> 0:53:38.760 got the major, were constantly on these lists. Ricky Fowler 0:53:39.160 --> 0:53:42.440 was one that got brought up a lot. You know, 0:53:42.560 --> 0:53:46.839 I don't know if any of these players on this 0:53:46.920 --> 0:53:51.120 list right now are at the level of I mean, 0:53:51.160 --> 0:53:53.120 I think some of them are at the level of Ricky. 0:53:53.680 --> 0:53:55.880 I don't think any of them are at the level 0:53:56.000 --> 0:54:00.040 of the Monty Phil and Westy conversation. I actually, I 0:54:00.040 --> 0:54:03.680 don't think we have like a truly truly great player 0:54:03.760 --> 0:54:08.040 without a major, But we have some like players that 0:54:08.080 --> 0:54:11.560 are sending and I'm you know, you have Chris godder Up, 0:54:11.920 --> 0:54:15.480 who obviously has won just a ton. He's won four 0:54:15.520 --> 0:54:19.680 times basically in the calendar calendar year starting with last 0:54:19.760 --> 0:54:23.359 year Scottish played T four, played great at Port Rush 0:54:23.400 --> 0:54:26.759 T four at Port Rush, obviously one last week at 0:54:26.760 --> 0:54:29.839 the year. You have Victor Hovelin, who I would make 0:54:29.880 --> 0:54:32.880 the argument is the most accomplished player on the list. 0:54:34.200 --> 0:54:37.200 Has been in the mix and a lot of major championships, 0:54:37.400 --> 0:54:41.960 been really close on Sundays, like down to the you know, 0:54:42.040 --> 0:54:45.560 playing the last four holes with real shot multiple times, 0:54:45.560 --> 0:54:50.839 whether it's Okill, Valhalla, He's he has had real He's 0:54:50.880 --> 0:54:54.080 had major championships on the blade of his putter, you know, 0:54:54.239 --> 0:54:56.520 does he make a couple of putts coming down the stretch, 0:54:56.560 --> 0:55:01.440 he wins, get a good bounce, he wins major championships, 0:55:01.719 --> 0:55:04.160 and he has a FedEx Cup title, a bunch of 0:55:04.160 --> 0:55:07.800 PGA Tour wins. I think this is like, without a doubt, 0:55:08.040 --> 0:55:10.920 the best player without a major in the game, and 0:55:10.960 --> 0:55:15.280 I'd be open to hearing any of their suggestions. Sam Burns, 0:55:15.320 --> 0:55:17.200 who knows if he's gonna play. It seems like the 0:55:17.239 --> 0:55:20.279 birth of his kid is gonna but he's becoming like 0:55:20.360 --> 0:55:24.279 this major force. Like you know, the results I don't 0:55:24.280 --> 0:55:26.520 think even really show it. He's had a couple like 0:55:26.760 --> 0:55:30.520 late Sunday tea times that he's bombed out of. He 0:55:30.560 --> 0:55:32.800 has been in the mix at a ton of majors 0:55:32.960 --> 0:55:36.560 last two three years, and then Ludwig is the one 0:55:36.560 --> 0:55:40.200 that everybody wants to put put on on here. But 0:55:41.560 --> 0:55:44.840 and I think, you know he's he's been in the 0:55:44.880 --> 0:55:47.759 mix at a few majors, but it's still really young 0:55:47.800 --> 0:55:48.680 in his major career. 0:55:49.400 --> 0:55:51.120 Can I throw one name out here, Andy that I 0:55:51.239 --> 0:55:55.239 just think obviously you know people were betting him in 0:55:55.280 --> 0:55:57.120 the Scottish and didn't play jagae all at the start, 0:55:57.160 --> 0:56:00.719 but Teral Hatten to me, like, I feel like l 0:56:00.760 --> 0:56:03.640 Hatten is I really think it's gonna win a major 0:56:03.760 --> 0:56:07.040 at some point, played really well. The Masters, played really 0:56:07.080 --> 0:56:10.400 well with you so open you know. It just to 0:56:10.440 --> 0:56:13.000 me feels like he's often forgotten in some of this. 0:56:13.480 --> 0:56:16.360 I personally think Tommy Fleetwood's time has come and gone. 0:56:16.760 --> 0:56:19.200 I think that that is this is someone who is 0:56:19.200 --> 0:56:22.160 going to forever be known as the guy who did 0:56:22.200 --> 0:56:24.640 not win a major. I think Levevig has still has 0:56:24.680 --> 0:56:28.239 plenty of time in his future, but I kind of 0:56:28.239 --> 0:56:30.319 feel like I would not be surprised at all if 0:56:30.320 --> 0:56:32.560 Hatton stepped up and won this major. 0:56:33.800 --> 0:56:36.000 You are setting yourself up to get clipped with saying 0:56:36.000 --> 0:56:39.200 that I am Tommy fleet his time has come and gone. 0:56:39.920 --> 0:56:43.400 This was my last thing, so i'll I'll plant this 0:56:43.640 --> 0:56:45.920 flag or it's not even a flag play because I 0:56:45.920 --> 0:56:48.719 don't necessarily think Tommy Fleetwood's gonna win. But Andy, I 0:56:48.719 --> 0:56:50.960 agree with you. Victor Hobin is the best player who 0:56:50.960 --> 0:56:54.760 has not won a major. He showed he was playing 0:56:54.760 --> 0:56:57.000 to the level of world number one in twenty twenty three. 0:56:57.080 --> 0:56:58.680 I don't think with any of these other guys we've 0:56:58.680 --> 0:57:01.040 talked about, they've ever played a stained stretch where they're 0:57:01.040 --> 0:57:02.920 clearly the best player in the world or have a right, 0:57:03.160 --> 0:57:05.400 you know, to be considered in that class. Tommy Fleetwood's 0:57:05.400 --> 0:57:07.120 been really good. I don't think at any point in 0:57:07.160 --> 0:57:09.759 his career would you say that Tommy's the world number one. 0:57:10.440 --> 0:57:13.040 But next week is a huge opportunity for Tommy, and 0:57:13.600 --> 0:57:15.799 I think given the local ties, we should spend at 0:57:15.880 --> 0:57:19.160 least a minute talking about him. You know, Tommy's very 0:57:19.160 --> 0:57:23.680 familiar with Royal Birkdale play at formby growing up. In 0:57:23.760 --> 0:57:28.200 twenty seventeen at the Open Championship at Birkdale, Tommy finished 0:57:28.200 --> 0:57:30.720 t twenty seven, which doesn't necessarily look great, but he's 0:57:30.720 --> 0:57:33.240 a better player than then, and he also finished he 0:57:33.280 --> 0:57:35.920 started with the seventy six. Maybe he was a little nervous. 0:57:36.280 --> 0:57:37.800 I don't know what all went on in the first 0:57:37.880 --> 0:57:38.520 round or with the weather. 0:57:38.600 --> 0:57:41.400 Looks like the park play home games in golf, it 0:57:41.440 --> 0:57:45.480 can be you actually these guys never play them. 0:57:45.640 --> 0:57:48.200 It can be hard. I think that's an interesting debate. Yeah, 0:57:48.800 --> 0:57:50.720 is it an advantage or you know, do you psych 0:57:50.800 --> 0:57:53.200 yourself out? But but Tommy is is going to be 0:57:53.240 --> 0:57:56.080 a really interesting story coming into next week, especially because 0:57:56.120 --> 0:57:57.480 I think at the end of last year there was 0:57:57.520 --> 0:57:59.040 a very strong case he was one of the best 0:57:59.040 --> 0:58:00.800 players in the world. This year has been a bit 0:58:00.800 --> 0:58:05.240 of a disappointment. But that golf course, he's familiar with it. 0:58:05.280 --> 0:58:07.440 But be if I were to draw a golf course 0:58:07.680 --> 0:58:09.800 for Tommy Fleetwood, I think it looks a lot like 0:58:09.920 --> 0:58:13.520 Royal Brickdale. He hits the ball straight, He's a great 0:58:13.560 --> 0:58:16.640 ball striker. The greens are like dead flat there. And 0:58:16.720 --> 0:58:18.840 you know, Tommy at times has not always been the 0:58:18.840 --> 0:58:20.600 best putter, but he's been putting pretty well over the 0:58:20.680 --> 0:58:22.160 last couple of years. I think he can make a 0:58:22.160 --> 0:58:23.919 lot of putts out there. His short game is good, 0:58:24.000 --> 0:58:27.240 Like you know, his lack of distance, that's his main flaw. 0:58:27.360 --> 0:58:29.720 It's not gonna be as much of an issue at Brickdale. 0:58:29.760 --> 0:58:31.720 So do I think he's gonna win. No, I don't 0:58:31.720 --> 0:58:33.480 think Tommy Fleett was gonna win next week. But he 0:58:33.520 --> 0:58:36.360 could absolutely be in the mix. He could win. And 0:58:36.840 --> 0:58:40.000 to your point, Kevin, this is probably Tommy Fleetwood at 0:58:40.040 --> 0:58:42.480 age thirty five. This is gonna be one of his 0:58:42.480 --> 0:58:44.400 best opportunities to win a major, if he's ever gonna 0:58:44.440 --> 0:58:45.120 get one done. 0:58:47.840 --> 0:58:50.480 Yeah, I just I don't feel it. I don't see it. 0:58:50.520 --> 0:58:53.480 I mean, set me up to get clipped that's fine. 0:58:53.640 --> 0:58:57.240 I just feel like I think, you know, the home 0:58:57.240 --> 0:59:00.680 game thing, absolutely, it's absolutely gonna be iking you out. 0:59:00.760 --> 0:59:03.000 Maybe there isn't as much quite as much buzz about 0:59:03.000 --> 0:59:07.120 it as there was, you know previously, like oh, this 0:59:07.120 --> 0:59:09.920 has set so so perfect for Tommy is Southport boy, Like, 0:59:10.880 --> 0:59:13.040 I just I think it's the kind of thing that 0:59:13.040 --> 0:59:15.080 gets in golfer's heads. He saw it the first time 0:59:15.120 --> 0:59:19.440 at Port Rush with Rory, like just felt overwhelming that 0:59:19.520 --> 0:59:23.280 the emotions of it all, and I just I don't know, man, 0:59:23.320 --> 0:59:26.160 it just something is not It's really hard to close 0:59:26.760 --> 0:59:29.600 in a major, and closing has been one of his 0:59:29.760 --> 0:59:33.720 biggest issues. You know, I just can you would you 0:59:33.800 --> 0:59:37.000 trust Tommy Fleetwood down the stretch to hold off Scotty, 0:59:37.120 --> 0:59:40.920 to hold off Rory? Like, I just don't quite see it. 0:59:43.400 --> 0:59:48.840 I think major championship home games extremely hard. I think 0:59:49.040 --> 0:59:53.320 regular PGA Tour event every single year home game not 0:59:53.480 --> 0:59:57.000 a huge advantage because you get used to it, you know, 0:59:57.160 --> 1:00:02.440 it becomes part of your routine. The number of people 1:00:02.640 --> 1:00:05.800 that will want to see Tommy Fleetwood his whole this 1:00:05.840 --> 1:00:08.400 is going to be a completely different setup than his 1:00:08.440 --> 1:00:11.520 regular event, and he's probably way more equipped to handle 1:00:11.520 --> 1:00:14.360 it than the last time it was here. He's also, 1:00:14.880 --> 1:00:17.920 as you alluded to, Joseph, way better at golf than 1:00:18.040 --> 1:00:21.520 the last time it was here. I think that the 1:00:22.040 --> 1:00:27.480 thing about Tommy is like he's never won a lot, 1:00:28.240 --> 1:00:32.920 and I just think that that is I am like, mister, 1:00:33.480 --> 1:00:38.320 I value consistency probably more than you know, the vast 1:00:38.360 --> 1:00:41.880 majority of people in golf. I think consistency is just 1:00:42.000 --> 1:00:45.600 like the number one thing. But there is something telling 1:00:45.680 --> 1:00:49.880 when someone just doesn't get it across the line very often. 1:00:50.240 --> 1:00:53.560 Like even when you think about like Tommy fleet would 1:00:53.600 --> 1:00:59.600 comparatively to your like Sergio Garcia's, your Adam Scott's who 1:00:59.600 --> 1:01:03.280 were ridical could they were criticized about not getting across 1:01:03.280 --> 1:01:06.760 the line. I mean, those guys won way more than 1:01:06.800 --> 1:01:10.240 Tommy Fleetwood, way more like they might have triple the 1:01:11.720 --> 1:01:18.160 wins in their career than Adam Scott or than Tommy Fleetwood. 1:01:18.200 --> 1:01:22.960 Like you know, Tommy's probably got close to ten professional wins, right, Joseph. 1:01:22.840 --> 1:01:24.600 I'd have to look that sounds. I mean, it's got 1:01:24.600 --> 1:01:25.960 to be in that ballpark, but not a lot of 1:01:25.960 --> 1:01:29.000 them are like you know, strong field, big time tournaments. 1:01:29.160 --> 1:01:32.120 Adam Scott's got thirty three. You know, and this is 1:01:32.200 --> 1:01:35.040 like as who I grew up with is the guy 1:01:35.080 --> 1:01:36.880 that was criticized for not being able to get it 1:01:36.920 --> 1:01:40.040 across the line. So I just think, you know, and 1:01:40.120 --> 1:01:42.240 this is you know, you know, you think about like 1:01:42.920 --> 1:01:44.920 this goes to the point of like the best player 1:01:44.960 --> 1:01:47.640 without a major, like Sergio and Adam Scott were in 1:01:47.640 --> 1:01:50.200 that bucket for a period of time, and they were 1:01:50.480 --> 1:01:52.680 you know, they just were people that won a lot 1:01:52.680 --> 1:01:57.760 of events. So I could see. I agree with all 1:01:57.760 --> 1:01:59.840 of your points. I think this is a great place 1:01:59.840 --> 1:02:00.960 for Tommy Fleetwood. 1:02:01.240 --> 1:02:01.720 I just. 1:02:03.840 --> 1:02:07.800 I just struggle with him being like even you know, 1:02:07.880 --> 1:02:10.800 being the best player without a major with his resume, 1:02:11.040 --> 1:02:13.480 you know, and and I think I don't think you're 1:02:13.560 --> 1:02:15.760 arguing that. It's just like I see that out there 1:02:15.800 --> 1:02:17.920 as like this is the best player without a Major's like, no, 1:02:18.400 --> 1:02:23.680 I don't think so. Another kind of big story along 1:02:23.720 --> 1:02:26.760 the lines of Fleetwood will be Justin Rose this week. 1:02:27.960 --> 1:02:32.520 Made his Major championship debut in nineteen ninety eight at Brokedale, 1:02:32.560 --> 1:02:35.480 finished T four. You're gonna have That's gonna be highlights 1:02:35.520 --> 1:02:37.680 of that are going to be bashed over your head 1:02:37.840 --> 1:02:41.680 this week. If you're watching the golf, which is like 1:02:41.720 --> 1:02:46.960 it kind of amazing. Justin Rose. He's turning forty six 1:02:47.200 --> 1:02:50.520 at the end of this month. His birthday is July thirtieth, 1:02:50.600 --> 1:02:54.600 so he's basically approaching his forty seventh year on Earth. 1:02:57.320 --> 1:03:01.120 I can't, I cannot believe that he is still this 1:03:01.280 --> 1:03:07.280 major force. I do. I think that that the Masters 1:03:07.320 --> 1:03:12.840 did some permanent damage this year. I think more so 1:03:13.360 --> 1:03:16.240 than the year before the year before, he was so 1:03:16.440 --> 1:03:19.680 out of it and surged up and Rory stumbled and 1:03:19.720 --> 1:03:21.320 that's how he got in the mix and got in 1:03:21.360 --> 1:03:26.960 the playoff. This year, I think he felt the I'm 1:03:27.040 --> 1:03:29.960 gonna win this thing. I am, the ball is in 1:03:29.960 --> 1:03:32.360 my court, I can win this thing, and you let 1:03:32.440 --> 1:03:37.280 go of the rope. I don't know, you know, this 1:03:37.360 --> 1:03:40.880 is the question, like, are there more chances for Justin Rose? 1:03:41.240 --> 1:03:46.080 Seemingly this would be a really good golf course for 1:03:46.320 --> 1:03:51.600 Justin Rose in terms of not overly long, a firm 1:03:51.640 --> 1:03:54.880 golf course that like really puts a premium on precision, 1:03:55.680 --> 1:03:59.840 and just that that kind of major mentality that he 1:04:00.080 --> 1:04:02.440 as of knowing when to stay in the how to 1:04:02.480 --> 1:04:07.000 stay in the fight, and then that I as Cameron Young, 1:04:07.080 --> 1:04:10.360 said Justin Rose doing Justin Rose things, which I interpret 1:04:10.440 --> 1:04:15.360 as making putts from all over the place at the 1:04:15.480 --> 1:04:19.960 right exact right time. I think Justin Rose is, you know, 1:04:20.120 --> 1:04:22.120 like if an old guy, if an old guy is 1:04:22.160 --> 1:04:24.200 going to pick it off, pick off a major, it's 1:04:24.320 --> 1:04:27.480 most likely to happen at the Open Championship. It is 1:04:27.880 --> 1:04:32.680 by far the average age of like the last fifteen years, 1:04:32.760 --> 1:04:36.920 the oldest set of winners. So this is the spot. 1:04:37.200 --> 1:04:40.480 But I worry that that masters actually did like some 1:04:41.120 --> 1:04:43.720 irreparable harm on Justin Rose. 1:04:45.200 --> 1:04:47.400 Yeah, I looked this up as I was respondful for 1:04:47.400 --> 1:04:49.840 writing the Justin Rose capsule as part of our preview. 1:04:50.960 --> 1:04:54.840 Only four guys who are five guys who are forty 1:04:54.880 --> 1:04:58.600 five and older Julian Borrows, Jerry Barber, Jack, Nicholas Hale, 1:04:58.640 --> 1:05:02.040 Irwin and Phil Micholson. A major. At this age, it 1:05:02.160 --> 1:05:05.440 just gets harder and harder. The eras have obviously changed, 1:05:05.600 --> 1:05:08.640 like golfers are more relevant into their late forties. But 1:05:09.440 --> 1:05:12.560 you know, you throw out Mickelson, who was like a 1:05:12.760 --> 1:05:16.720 one week heater. That wasn't you know, duplicated before or after. 1:05:17.640 --> 1:05:20.560 Now we're going back to Nicholas and Irwin, like we're 1:05:20.560 --> 1:05:23.240 talking about forty years ago since a forty five year 1:05:23.280 --> 1:05:27.200 old won a major. It's just tough. It's I just 1:05:27.320 --> 1:05:30.320 you know, I would love it for him and for 1:05:30.400 --> 1:05:32.480 the game. If it's sort of coming down the stretch, 1:05:33.000 --> 1:05:36.280 You've got a guy from England in England, you know, 1:05:37.120 --> 1:05:39.240 it's it's It would be a fun sort of flip 1:05:39.280 --> 1:05:42.160 to all these tournaments in the US where these various 1:05:42.200 --> 1:05:46.440 knuckleheads are cheering against Matt Fitzpatrick, you know, and Channing 1:05:46.520 --> 1:05:48.720 USA stuff. So you have the crowd sort of just 1:05:49.120 --> 1:05:52.680 you know, surging with energy behind Justin Rose. I just 1:05:52.720 --> 1:05:54.920 don't know. I don't know. If I see it. 1:05:56.120 --> 1:05:58.600 I think Tommy Fleet would be the coolest winner. I 1:05:58.600 --> 1:06:02.080 think Justin Rose would maybe be maybe the second coolest. 1:06:02.560 --> 1:06:05.320 I remember watching some RNA video last summer going into 1:06:05.560 --> 1:06:08.480 Port Rush and they asked him about Birkdale and Justin 1:06:08.560 --> 1:06:12.680 Rose lit up, like loves this golf course. I don't 1:06:12.680 --> 1:06:14.400 know where it ranks for him in his all time 1:06:14.400 --> 1:06:16.560 favorite courses, but based on the way he was talking 1:06:16.560 --> 1:06:18.120 about it, I think it's pretty high and maybe his 1:06:18.120 --> 1:06:21.720 favorite course on the Open rod to he's old, he's 1:06:21.720 --> 1:06:24.080 old like, and it's it's hard to say that when 1:06:24.080 --> 1:06:25.800 he's been in the mix at some of these majors. 1:06:25.840 --> 1:06:28.920 But I just think at that age, to summon magic 1:06:29.040 --> 1:06:32.640 is asking a lot of players that the peaks are 1:06:32.680 --> 1:06:36.200 gonna happen. But I think the consistency, like sometimes Doc 1:06:36.320 --> 1:06:40.120 Rivers basketball coach and a former player talked about it 1:06:40.160 --> 1:06:43.080 on Bill Simmons podcast, like a year ago, some of 1:06:43.120 --> 1:06:45.160 you have old man games and you know there's not 1:06:45.480 --> 1:06:47.640 a whole lot you can do about it to prevent them. 1:06:47.720 --> 1:06:51.000 Like Justin Rose might show up some days and despite 1:06:51.040 --> 1:06:53.200 all the work he's putting into his body, like sometimes 1:06:53.240 --> 1:06:55.439 your body just doesn't quite cooperate, And I think that's 1:06:55.440 --> 1:06:59.120 a very difficult variable. As admirably as he's kept his 1:06:59.160 --> 1:07:01.440 body in shape and you know, poured all those resources 1:07:01.440 --> 1:07:05.640 into his recovery, I think expecting him to win is 1:07:05.720 --> 1:07:08.040 a lot. Expecting him to contend is a lot. But 1:07:08.200 --> 1:07:10.320 it would be an incredible, incredible story. So yeah, I 1:07:10.360 --> 1:07:12.320 don't think it's gonna happen. You can clip that one, 1:07:12.440 --> 1:07:15.680 just like your Tommy Fleetwood one, Kevin, but that would 1:07:15.680 --> 1:07:18.360 be outside of Fleetwood winning. I think Rose winning is 1:07:18.360 --> 1:07:19.240 the coolest story. 1:07:19.080 --> 1:07:22.080 He's He's already done. The Thirsty Boy routine of wearing 1:07:22.120 --> 1:07:25.360 the burgundy sweater and truon when he was in the 1:07:25.400 --> 1:07:27.920 mix that he when he first wore. You'll see the 1:07:28.120 --> 1:07:31.560 clip a thousand times of seventeen year old him. Can 1:07:31.600 --> 1:07:33.880 he play that note again? Like, if he's in contention, 1:07:34.000 --> 1:07:36.960 can he wear that same sweater of the seventeen year 1:07:36.960 --> 1:07:38.000 old Justin Rose again? 1:07:40.960 --> 1:07:44.080 I mean, yeah, I think he should too. It's kind 1:07:44.120 --> 1:07:48.600 of awesome. I want to just note I made a 1:07:47.800 --> 1:07:52.360 late minute swap here. I decided I don't want to 1:07:52.400 --> 1:07:54.920 talk about Jordan Speith. I put Rose in as one 1:07:54.960 --> 1:07:58.720 of my things and took Jordan Speeth out. I don't think. 1:07:59.040 --> 1:08:01.000 I don't think I want to talk about the twenty 1:08:01.040 --> 1:08:04.920 seventeen champion, and kind of I don't know if I 1:08:04.960 --> 1:08:07.360 want to be a downer on where he was to 1:08:07.400 --> 1:08:08.720 that and where he is now. 1:08:10.040 --> 1:08:13.960 Listen, like back, we have a whole look back on 1:08:14.040 --> 1:08:16.639 the twenty seventeen Open with Brennan and Joseph. The people 1:08:16.680 --> 1:08:18.759 should check out and they can have all the speaf 1:08:18.800 --> 1:08:19.439 talk they like. 1:08:21.360 --> 1:08:23.479 I don't think he's worth getting super into. He's not 1:08:23.520 --> 1:08:25.160 a threat to win this tournament. I think it's really 1:08:25.160 --> 1:08:27.280 worth going back and watching the twenty seventeen Open to 1:08:27.280 --> 1:08:29.519 see what speF was at the time. I don't think 1:08:29.560 --> 1:08:31.479 he's much of a threat this week, and I'm happy 1:08:31.479 --> 1:08:32.960 to eat my words if I'm wrong. And the other 1:08:33.000 --> 1:08:35.800 player that I don't know, we're gonna spend any time on. 1:08:35.840 --> 1:08:38.280 But I think bears mentioning is Bryson de Shamba, who 1:08:38.720 --> 1:08:42.200 would this could be the first year of his career 1:08:42.200 --> 1:08:45.240 in which he misses all four cuts at the major championships, 1:08:45.240 --> 1:08:47.160 which I think does bear mentioning. 1:08:47.720 --> 1:08:52.200 He feels filming YouTube video right now? 1:08:52.479 --> 1:08:53.280 What are you doing? 1:08:53.840 --> 1:08:55.559 Would? Last week in. 1:08:57.720 --> 1:09:03.080 Kerranville, California, I got so much grief on Twitter for saying, 1:09:03.120 --> 1:09:05.760 like is he still interested in like being a great 1:09:05.760 --> 1:09:08.679 professional golfer? Like is he is he still serious about 1:09:08.680 --> 1:09:12.920 this stuff? Going to freaking Canada like five days before 1:09:13.240 --> 1:09:16.200 the Open when there's no live event seems like a 1:09:16.320 --> 1:09:20.160 perfect answer to that, Like he's not interested? Is he 1:09:20.439 --> 1:09:23.240 was in winning majors? Is he is in filming content? 1:09:23.720 --> 1:09:25.840 And mind you that the major he has struggled the 1:09:25.880 --> 1:09:26.280 most at. 1:09:26.840 --> 1:09:30.799 Yeah, this speaks though, to the monotony of pro golf. 1:09:31.840 --> 1:09:35.719 This is it, you know, it is not for everyone. 1:09:35.840 --> 1:09:38.640 It is you know, I people are going to think 1:09:38.680 --> 1:09:41.160 it's crazy. It's hard to stay motivated for some of 1:09:41.200 --> 1:09:44.519 these guys, and I think Bryson's one that threw out 1:09:44.520 --> 1:09:48.559 his career, has gone in and out of of motivation 1:09:48.760 --> 1:09:53.000 levels to play and win tournament, and I think we 1:09:53.160 --> 1:09:55.880 might I reached even a lower point than he was 1:09:55.960 --> 1:09:58.439 trying to be the long drive guy and left the 1:09:58.560 --> 1:10:01.639 US Ryer Cup team celebration to go to the lot 1:10:01.880 --> 1:10:03.760 to Actorville, Oklahoma. 1:10:04.640 --> 1:10:06.880 What if Bryson is Jim Brown just you know, he 1:10:07.000 --> 1:10:08.840 reached the peak of his sport and then he decided 1:10:08.880 --> 1:10:10.920 he wanted to be an actor again. That's the equivalent 1:10:10.960 --> 1:10:13.320 of us. I'm deciding I want to make content walked 1:10:13.360 --> 1:10:16.000 away from it. What if he's not even playing professional 1:10:16.000 --> 1:10:17.000 golf in two years. 1:10:17.240 --> 1:10:20.320 If we get a final pairing that's some combination of Speef, Bryson, 1:10:20.400 --> 1:10:23.280 and Fleetwood, this group is going to be sweating. There's 1:10:23.320 --> 1:10:25.320 a lot of potential clips that could come out of 1:10:25.360 --> 1:10:27.599 this podcast and rose what if. 1:10:27.560 --> 1:10:33.000 It used to be scared and from the bullshit four players? 1:10:34.479 --> 1:10:38.000 What's what's the last anybody have any bullets left? 1:10:40.120 --> 1:10:43.240 Nothing good? I just think that the wind is not 1:10:43.479 --> 1:10:46.200 looking like it's going to be significant, which is always 1:10:46.240 --> 1:10:50.680 a bummer because Open Championships are always better when the 1:10:50.720 --> 1:10:53.960 wind blows hard. And so, you know, hopefully, as he 1:10:54.120 --> 1:10:56.000 alluded to in the beginning, and he will get some 1:10:56.280 --> 1:10:59.160 really firm conditions, but it's going to be a bummer if, 1:10:59.280 --> 1:11:01.000 like the wind is is pretty benign. 1:11:02.200 --> 1:11:04.880 While we're here, we have to talk about John Rahm. 1:11:04.920 --> 1:11:11.920 I guess, yeah, what are I I I wrote this 1:11:12.320 --> 1:11:15.120 for the Friday newsletter. I'm kind of like, if he 1:11:15.520 --> 1:11:17.960 if he if he doesn't have a strong week, I'm 1:11:18.040 --> 1:11:19.760 kind of ready to take him out of the top 1:11:19.800 --> 1:11:23.400 tier of of Rory like where he's been. And I 1:11:23.439 --> 1:11:26.000 don't I don't think he necessarily has deserved to be 1:11:26.120 --> 1:11:28.559 up there for a while. But the top tier of 1:11:28.640 --> 1:11:33.880 like it's you know, Rory, Scotty and rom uh head 1:11:33.920 --> 1:11:36.679 and shoulders above the next group of players. I'm I'm 1:11:36.760 --> 1:11:40.400 almost ready to bump them down into the the Colin Morikawa, 1:11:40.640 --> 1:11:50.040 Matt Fitzpatrick, Zone, Quindam Clark, Cameyon, that's right, got her up, Rose, Yeah. 1:11:49.880 --> 1:11:52.200 I just it's gonna be three years since he's won 1:11:52.240 --> 1:11:55.320 a major if he doesn't win the Open Championship this 1:11:55.600 --> 1:11:56.000 next week. 1:11:56.040 --> 1:11:58.720 Ian majors too, this is the Masters, so it is 1:11:58.960 --> 1:12:01.880 the first you know, he's a lot. This is his 1:12:01.960 --> 1:12:06.040 fifteenth major since his last major win, and I think 1:12:06.200 --> 1:12:08.320 this year's been a step in the right direction though 1:12:08.320 --> 1:12:10.840 for him in majors, because the last couple of years 1:12:10.840 --> 1:12:11.760 were just not good. 1:12:13.720 --> 1:12:15.760 Yeah. I mean, maybe you could just say that that 1:12:15.840 --> 1:12:18.480 US Open crash out was just a bad nine holes. 1:12:18.880 --> 1:12:20.800 What's weird is it was like the most benign of 1:12:20.840 --> 1:12:24.280 the conditions, the softest, The greens were all weak, and 1:12:24.320 --> 1:12:26.360 the Windham went on that run there that sort of 1:12:26.520 --> 1:12:28.720 put him space in between everyone. At the same time, 1:12:28.880 --> 1:12:33.360 like two groups away, John Rahm is collapsing. It's just 1:12:33.479 --> 1:12:37.599 frustrating to see someone who's so talented and so good 1:12:38.439 --> 1:12:42.120 just completely be in neutral. And I think, like you know, 1:12:42.160 --> 1:12:45.120 when he plays poorly on live, he's still gonna finish 1:12:45.160 --> 1:12:47.120 in the top ten every time, which I think creates 1:12:47.160 --> 1:12:50.080 a little bit of like a false sense of where 1:12:50.120 --> 1:12:53.240 you are. And I do truly wonder I'm stealing this 1:12:53.280 --> 1:12:54.880 take from somebody I can't remember. Maybe I think it 1:12:54.920 --> 1:12:57.479 was Ben Cally, But there's a sense of, like in 1:12:57.520 --> 1:13:00.840 these big tournaments where it's not just live, that he 1:13:00.960 --> 1:13:03.599 is feeling watched and judged in a way that he 1:13:03.680 --> 1:13:07.320 might not otherwise, Like like he understands, he's self aware 1:13:07.400 --> 1:13:10.120 enough to know that these are sort of referendum on 1:13:10.200 --> 1:13:15.320 his choices. And I think that that mental things has 1:13:15.360 --> 1:13:17.719 become a little bit of an anvil around his neck 1:13:18.080 --> 1:13:20.360 in terms of, you know, he's trying to almost justify 1:13:21.000 --> 1:13:23.680 what he did even though everything around him collapsed and 1:13:24.000 --> 1:13:26.800 the tours didn't unite and it didn't work out, And 1:13:27.080 --> 1:13:28.920 I think that that has to be a little bit 1:13:28.960 --> 1:13:30.120 of a factor in some of this. 1:13:31.680 --> 1:13:34.240 I'm gonna be pretty non committal on Rom because I 1:13:34.560 --> 1:13:37.519 think I've been a little more pro Ram over the 1:13:37.520 --> 1:13:39.760 past couple of years and a little more forgiving of 1:13:39.800 --> 1:13:42.200 some of his bad performances, like this year he was 1:13:42.320 --> 1:13:44.880 very close joining the PGI, and we would be having 1:13:45.000 --> 1:13:47.280 a pretty different conversation about Rom if he had won 1:13:47.320 --> 1:13:49.439 the PGA, which is a big if, but I don't 1:13:49.760 --> 1:13:52.519 his form. It's like he's won a couple of times 1:13:52.520 --> 1:13:54.840 on live and we'd all be the I think among 1:13:54.880 --> 1:13:56.639 the first to say like that doesn't mean a whole lot, 1:13:56.680 --> 1:13:59.640 but it doesn't mean nothing. Like Rom is still a 1:13:59.680 --> 1:14:02.759 good Is he one of the third best, fourth best? 1:14:03.080 --> 1:14:05.040 I think it's hard to make the claim that he's 1:14:05.960 --> 1:14:11.720 in that bucket Andy, like he's somewhere he's the Fitzpatrick zone. Yeah, 1:14:11.720 --> 1:14:14.080 which is a crazy way to talk about one of 1:14:14.080 --> 1:14:17.080 the best European players of this generation in Rom and 1:14:17.120 --> 1:14:18.960 what he did early in his career. I still think, 1:14:19.120 --> 1:14:23.439 you know, he's very live to win. I'm gonna I'm 1:14:23.439 --> 1:14:25.080 gonna be pretty noncommittal on Rom. 1:14:25.320 --> 1:14:27.519 I think he's I think he's live to win too, 1:14:27.640 --> 1:14:31.280 like I think he said, you're he's probably I just 1:14:31.320 --> 1:14:36.519 think it. You know, when he went to Live, he 1:14:36.720 --> 1:14:39.680 was arguably the best player in the world. 1:14:41.680 --> 1:14:43.040 And he think helps that standard. 1:14:43.439 --> 1:14:47.040 Scotty probably was, but it was Rom and Scotty that 1:14:47.160 --> 1:14:50.000 year duked it out the first half of the year. 1:14:52.040 --> 1:14:57.439 Rom was, you know, from from all the time. You know, 1:14:57.560 --> 1:15:01.599 before he went he was a basically a top three 1:15:01.640 --> 1:15:06.200 player in the world. He went to Live and the 1:15:06.240 --> 1:15:10.320 results have not you know, whether it's fair or not. 1:15:11.280 --> 1:15:14.480 The litmus test was always going to be major championships, 1:15:14.840 --> 1:15:21.040 and unfortunately he's played pretty pretty by his standards, awful 1:15:21.240 --> 1:15:25.280 in major championships since he went to Live. And that's 1:15:25.520 --> 1:15:27.439 you know, that's all we have to really judge it 1:15:27.479 --> 1:15:29.200 off of because I'm not I don't care that he 1:15:29.280 --> 1:15:33.240 beat up on Anthony Kim and Scott Vincent and and uh, 1:15:38.800 --> 1:15:41.880 all right, I think we checked all the boxes, you know. 1:15:43.280 --> 1:15:47.519 Sorry we didn't get to Russe, Russell, Henley Joseph who 1:15:48.040 --> 1:15:49.960 you could pick him? Though? Who are you guys? Picks? 1:15:50.080 --> 1:15:54.360 Early picks Friday? Before you know, I always make like 1:15:54.400 --> 1:15:56.320 three different picks over the course of the week. 1:15:57.720 --> 1:15:59.840 Sneak give you to have three different podcasts to which 1:15:59.880 --> 1:16:01.280 to pick various people. 1:16:01.880 --> 1:16:04.840 I have two podcasts to pick people, and you know, 1:16:04.920 --> 1:16:07.400 if we do a newsletter, I have a third opportunity. 1:16:07.520 --> 1:16:09.559 You could appear as a guest on someone else's pod 1:16:09.600 --> 1:16:12.360 and throw in a fourth pick in there. It's you know, yeah, 1:16:13.200 --> 1:16:16.400 I will stick my neck out and pick Rory. I know, 1:16:16.520 --> 1:16:20.400 bold choice there, but I think he's playing really well 1:16:20.479 --> 1:16:23.760 and it sets up for for him well, So I'm 1:16:23.760 --> 1:16:26.559 gonna I'm gonna say that this is a two major 1:16:26.640 --> 1:16:31.400 year for Rory re establishing himself as you know, the 1:16:31.760 --> 1:16:34.639 dude within the game. Scotty's gonna have to chase him 1:16:34.640 --> 1:16:38.160 next year to sort of figure out the supremacy in 1:16:38.200 --> 1:16:38.960 the world of golf. 1:16:40.320 --> 1:16:42.519 I've talked myself into it over the last forty minutes. 1:16:42.520 --> 1:16:44.880 I'm gonna do it. I believe in him. I'm gonna 1:16:44.880 --> 1:16:45.280 pick him. 1:16:45.320 --> 1:16:52.879 You's chances, all right, love that love that I will. 1:16:54.040 --> 1:16:58.240 I'll just take Scotty, Okay. I think we're going to 1:16:58.320 --> 1:17:01.559 talk about this and then he's gonna go shoot like 1:17:01.600 --> 1:17:04.400 an opening round sixty five and just put everybody in 1:17:04.439 --> 1:17:06.280 a sleeper hole and it's over. 1:17:06.520 --> 1:17:08.439 Next by next Wednesday. I think you're gonna have talk 1:17:08.439 --> 1:17:09.759 to yourself back out of Scotty. 1:17:09.800 --> 1:17:15.040 But we will. Yeah, I will, doubt I'll change my mind. 1:17:15.200 --> 1:17:15.720 Before we go. 1:17:15.840 --> 1:17:18.479 Is there anyone who you would like to see get 1:17:18.560 --> 1:17:21.400 into contention that you don't necessarily you can win, but 1:17:21.520 --> 1:17:23.720 you would love to see them in the mix, just 1:17:23.800 --> 1:17:28.920 for just growth, either narrative purposes or for agree I's agreed, 1:17:29.760 --> 1:17:35.080 all right, I'll go. Colin Morikawa hasn't been the factor 1:17:35.120 --> 1:17:38.439 in any of this stuff for quite a while, but 1:17:39.040 --> 1:17:42.519 obviously great iron player. You know, it'd just be fun 1:17:42.560 --> 1:17:46.559 to see him kind of remind people that he's still 1:17:46.560 --> 1:17:47.400 a really good player. 1:17:49.080 --> 1:17:51.720 Yeah, I think Cali Markala would been one of the 1:17:51.800 --> 1:17:54.360 names that I was I was hoping that we would 1:17:54.520 --> 1:17:57.240 hit on at some point. But you know the thing 1:17:57.240 --> 1:17:59.960 about mar Kwa, he's twenty nine and if he gets 1:18:00.160 --> 1:18:03.400 if he he's been in the mix despite this injury, 1:18:05.320 --> 1:18:07.719 at a lot of events, and if he won, he'd 1:18:07.720 --> 1:18:10.960 have three majors at age twenty nine, and it would 1:18:11.160 --> 1:18:17.760 just like his career. The aspirations and expectations shifted when 1:18:17.760 --> 1:18:20.760 he got two so quick, but if he got to 1:18:20.880 --> 1:18:23.679 a third, it's all a sudden like wait, wait a second, 1:18:23.720 --> 1:18:25.759 like could this guy get to like four or five? 1:18:28.920 --> 1:18:30.559 Not a bad golf course. You know, if we're going 1:18:30.640 --> 1:18:32.760 to describe that powers muted a little bit and you 1:18:32.840 --> 1:18:35.600 got to strike your ball, would you be shocked if 1:18:35.640 --> 1:18:38.400 Colin more Kawa's T four after the first day and 1:18:38.479 --> 1:18:40.400 kind of makes his way up to the leaderboard throughout 1:18:40.400 --> 1:18:41.679 the rest of the weekend. I don't think that would 1:18:41.680 --> 1:18:42.200 shock anymore. 1:18:42.240 --> 1:18:45.360 And if it's not super windy, yeah, the other aspect 1:18:45.400 --> 1:18:51.680 of it, Yeah, all right, fitz Fitzy could be in 1:18:51.760 --> 1:18:52.400 the mix too. 1:18:53.320 --> 1:18:54.920 We've thrown like twenty minutes now. 1:18:55.200 --> 1:18:58.240 The Fitzi brother duel that's going on where they just 1:18:58.280 --> 1:19:01.200 like both appear on the leaderboard. Alex and Matt has 1:19:01.200 --> 1:19:04.719 spent one of my favorite things about it this year. Honestly, 1:19:04.720 --> 1:19:06.960 I don't think enough and I think this is something 1:19:07.080 --> 1:19:09.200 like all going on in sports. This has been an 1:19:09.240 --> 1:19:14.680 insane story Alex at Fitzpatrick. I mean they like I 1:19:15.080 --> 1:19:17.920 thought Alex would get to the tour at some point 1:19:18.000 --> 1:19:21.920 in his life. He's been like a legit top thirty player. 1:19:24.720 --> 1:19:27.280 There aren't a lot of examples of this, you know, 1:19:30.040 --> 1:19:33.759 where two brothers are top thirty players in their sport, 1:19:34.240 --> 1:19:37.400 Like is it? I mean, like the the Thompson twins 1:19:37.680 --> 1:19:40.120 in the NBA, like have a chance to baby get 1:19:40.120 --> 1:19:41.880 there in a couple of years. Neither of them could 1:19:41.880 --> 1:19:42.439 shoot though. 1:19:42.760 --> 1:19:45.480 This is so disrespectful to fanasas ant Tocumpo. 1:19:51.640 --> 1:19:53.400 You know, the last five minutes of a podcast are 1:19:53.439 --> 1:19:55.360 always kind of like the last half hour of Start Live, 1:19:55.400 --> 1:19:57.360 where you can just throw out any kind of weird shit. 1:19:57.840 --> 1:20:00.280 So I feel like brooks Kopka's name just ought to 1:20:00.360 --> 1:20:03.080 be mentioned just as a one last deal. Come on, 1:20:03.360 --> 1:20:05.120 all he's got to do is have one good putting week, 1:20:05.200 --> 1:20:07.120 Joseph one good puddy brooks Capka. 1:20:07.200 --> 1:20:09.639 You can clip this. Brooks Kopka is not winning next week. 1:20:09.680 --> 1:20:11.800 Go ahead, PJ. You can you can set that one up. 1:20:11.880 --> 1:20:12.519 You can book. 1:20:12.560 --> 1:20:17.680 It is that the third player that that Joseph said 1:20:18.160 --> 1:20:20.679 he has clipped and he's in the mix. He says, 1:20:20.680 --> 1:20:26.559 it's the three they talked me out of Pavan at 1:20:26.560 --> 1:20:29.200 the at the Pineers Us Open taking Pavon. 1:20:29.680 --> 1:20:30.840 Yeah forgot he won that one. 1:20:30.960 --> 1:20:32.400 It's the solo third. 1:20:33.240 --> 1:20:35.040 A super cut of all of the people we picked 1:20:35.040 --> 1:20:36.800 not to in the open, would would be great. 1:20:37.439 --> 1:20:41.400 Yeah, all right, Kevin, Joseph big, thanks for coming on. 1:20:41.479 --> 1:20:45.280 We're going to halt this here. Next we're going to 1:20:45.400 --> 1:20:48.679 jump over to Derek Gary. He who has played Royal 1:20:48.720 --> 1:20:52.640 Birkdale a number of times, is a very well traveled 1:20:52.960 --> 1:20:56.880 individual with a keen eye for golf architecture. So he's 1:20:56.880 --> 1:21:00.240 going to join us to talk about Brokedale. I think 1:21:00.240 --> 1:21:02.760 he's a big fan of Birkedale. So it's this is 1:21:02.920 --> 1:21:05.240 this is a good balance. I'm not as high on it. 1:21:05.360 --> 1:21:08.840 He is high on it, and so we'll get over it. 1:21:09.000 --> 1:21:12.160 We'll go over to Dera here, but first we'll take 1:21:12.240 --> 1:21:38.960 a quick break. All right, We welcome on Darah uh Dearah, 1:21:38.960 --> 1:21:43.680 thank you for joining. Obviously a student of golf architecture, 1:21:44.040 --> 1:21:49.559 an Irishman who has seen much of the great Britain 1:21:49.600 --> 1:21:56.400 and Ireland links golf courses excited without Brokedale Birkdale. Brokedale 1:21:56.600 --> 1:22:00.760 will be hosting for the eleventh time the Open Championship 1:22:00.920 --> 1:22:05.040 and this year it will be a new look Birkdale 1:22:05.280 --> 1:22:10.480 and it's pretty much a I would say, extensive renovation. 1:22:11.080 --> 1:22:15.760 There are roughly five new golf holes, relatively new from 1:22:15.840 --> 1:22:19.320 the sense of the way they play, and or and 1:22:19.479 --> 1:22:23.599 or greens or completely new. So we will see a 1:22:23.840 --> 1:22:27.240 new Birkdale which was renovated by Tom McKenzie of Mackenzie 1:22:27.240 --> 1:22:30.479 and Ebert, a golf architecture firm that works on all 1:22:30.520 --> 1:22:34.800 the road to golf courses. Sarah, you are a well 1:22:34.840 --> 1:22:39.160 read a fan of history. Tell me about your favorite 1:22:39.160 --> 1:22:42.639 aspects of Royal Birkdale's great championship history. 1:22:43.080 --> 1:22:43.320 Yeah. 1:22:43.360 --> 1:22:45.880 Sure, great to be on. Andy as All was chatting 1:22:45.880 --> 1:22:48.200 with you about I need to do with golf. So 1:22:48.280 --> 1:22:50.320 we are as you said, we're going back to England's 1:22:50.320 --> 1:22:54.600 golf coast as they call it up there in the northwest, 1:22:54.640 --> 1:22:57.719 fecifically to Birkedale in a few weeks. But that area 1:22:57.760 --> 1:23:00.320 is just peppered with brilliant golf courses. Andy from led 1:23:00.360 --> 1:23:03.320 them to highlight to Birkedale and many many more in between. 1:23:03.960 --> 1:23:07.439 I have enjoyed Birkdale so many times. I've seen it 1:23:07.520 --> 1:23:11.320 in all its mood, moods andy. I've seen cold winter days, 1:23:11.760 --> 1:23:14.559 four club wins, and I've had nice hot summer days 1:23:14.560 --> 1:23:17.160 there without a breath of wind either. It is a 1:23:17.479 --> 1:23:21.559 very story championship golf course. It's got lots of championship history. 1:23:22.840 --> 1:23:25.040 I suppose the first thing to say is that that 1:23:25.360 --> 1:23:28.479 championship golf course term it often just strikes me as 1:23:28.520 --> 1:23:30.679 such a nonsensical one. But we'll get into a little 1:23:30.720 --> 1:23:34.560 bit about the history of how Birkdale was iterated and reiterated, 1:23:34.640 --> 1:23:36.719 and it sort of has as its backbone this hosting 1:23:36.760 --> 1:23:39.599 of championships, doesn't it. You mentioned it's got eleven opens 1:23:39.640 --> 1:23:41.800 or this is going to be it's eleventh open. But 1:23:41.800 --> 1:23:45.920 briefly on its history. Brokedale was formed in eighteen eighty 1:23:46.000 --> 1:23:48.080 nine and then had moved to its current site in 1:23:48.120 --> 1:23:50.400 eighteen ninety seven on the Berkedale Hills. It was a 1:23:50.479 --> 1:23:53.360 nine hole golf course originally and then the clubhouse was 1:23:53.400 --> 1:23:55.760 built then just around the turn of the century or 1:23:55.840 --> 1:23:59.400 nineteen hundred, but they realized that it was built outside 1:23:59.400 --> 1:24:01.360 the boundary of these, so it had to be demolished 1:24:01.400 --> 1:24:04.400 and it was quickly rebuilt to satisfy all the legalities, 1:24:04.600 --> 1:24:07.840 and the club was really thriving. The most pressing issue 1:24:07.840 --> 1:24:10.280 around the time was one year at the Christmas dinner 1:24:10.360 --> 1:24:13.080 when the usual pig's head was removed from the Christmas 1:24:13.080 --> 1:24:16.240 dinner wasn't to be seen, and twenty four signatories were 1:24:16.240 --> 1:24:18.160 put to a letter asking for it to be reinstated 1:24:18.160 --> 1:24:20.160 the next year. It was as it was such a 1:24:20.160 --> 1:24:22.920 great source of pastronomical delight to the members, so all 1:24:23.040 --> 1:24:26.599 was really well in berkdel Now. Like all golf courses 1:24:26.600 --> 1:24:30.360 in Britain and Ireland until from the eighteen eighties nineties 1:24:30.439 --> 1:24:34.240 until about the thirties, they were rudimentary. They were often 1:24:34.320 --> 1:24:36.920 iterated up and up and up. They were mostly nine 1:24:36.920 --> 1:24:39.360 holes to start, and Brookeille was no different at all. 1:24:40.400 --> 1:24:44.360 Nineteen thirty two, Fred Hawtrey and JH. Taylor of five 1:24:44.439 --> 1:24:47.840 Open Championship fame beat out her rival bid with two 1:24:47.880 --> 1:24:51.760 members to win the contract to redesign the course substantially, 1:24:52.040 --> 1:24:54.799 so you can imagine Fred Hawtrey J. H. Taylor beating 1:24:54.800 --> 1:24:57.320 out two members, so it wasn't exactly stiff competition, but 1:24:58.240 --> 1:25:00.040 it was it was the order of the day. And 1:25:00.320 --> 1:25:02.800 you know, you know, things have got a lot more 1:25:02.800 --> 1:25:06.320 competitive in life these days in every regard. But anyway, fred. 1:25:06.360 --> 1:25:09.920 I just I love the idea of the two members 1:25:10.720 --> 1:25:15.680 going up against hat Tree and Taylor, and like, just 1:25:16.240 --> 1:25:18.640 like the idea of that, I'd love to know, like 1:25:18.680 --> 1:25:21.720 their relationship with the committee members or whoever it was, 1:25:23.200 --> 1:25:25.639 were they the committee members that did they just look 1:25:25.640 --> 1:25:27.920 at hot Tree at Taylor's plan and be like, oh, 1:25:27.960 --> 1:25:28.759 this is way better. 1:25:29.360 --> 1:25:32.200 I'd love to have seen the plan of the two members. 1:25:33.080 --> 1:25:37.320 But anyway, they won and the course was redesigned, and 1:25:37.360 --> 1:25:40.639 then the course was granted open status or at least 1:25:40.640 --> 1:25:43.360 the promise of an open in nineteen forty with the 1:25:43.400 --> 1:25:45.800 war intervened and Andy so I'd a rab it. But 1:25:45.880 --> 1:25:49.880 this is where brook Tail has this association with championships, 1:25:49.920 --> 1:25:51.600 and it went on to host a Walker Coup in 1:25:51.680 --> 1:25:55.040 nineteen fifty one, Curtis Cup in nineteen forty eight, British 1:25:55.040 --> 1:25:57.639 Amateur won by an Irishman Jimmy Brown in nineteen forty six. 1:25:59.360 --> 1:26:03.640 But lots of golf courses in this area are championship 1:26:03.680 --> 1:26:06.960 golf courses, and I really disliked the term because all 1:26:07.000 --> 1:26:08.920 the course in the open worad are so many courses 1:26:08.960 --> 1:26:12.799 in America are Hoylake down the Road hosted the first 1:26:12.840 --> 1:26:14.160 ever the precursor to. 1:26:14.120 --> 1:26:14.840 The Walker Cup. 1:26:15.160 --> 1:26:18.200 It was the home of the Amateur Championship and so 1:26:18.200 --> 1:26:20.759 many other things, and Lidam has such a storied history 1:26:20.760 --> 1:26:25.880 as well. But Birkdale, I think it had a short 1:26:26.000 --> 1:26:29.439 lease on the premises on the various courses that occupied her, 1:26:29.439 --> 1:26:31.919 the two courses that occupied from eighteen eighty nine onwards, 1:26:32.160 --> 1:26:34.439 and I think people thought back then that golf may 1:26:34.479 --> 1:26:36.720 or may not take off, so these short leases were 1:26:36.760 --> 1:26:40.439 given and in the thirties to kind of I think 1:26:40.479 --> 1:26:43.160 it was seen as something about securing its future maybe 1:26:43.800 --> 1:26:46.880 and by extending the golf course it was implicit and 1:26:47.040 --> 1:26:49.719 really buffing it up and making such a strong desk 1:26:49.760 --> 1:26:52.000 to golf that if championship were to come, it would 1:26:52.000 --> 1:26:55.480 almost secure its future. And other golf courses were obviously 1:26:56.000 --> 1:26:58.600 talking and thinking like this as well. However, it just 1:26:58.600 --> 1:27:03.320 became synonymous with Berkdale and it's been remarkably successful. Air 1:27:03.400 --> 1:27:06.680 quotations Championship Test even though the test the phrase, but 1:27:06.800 --> 1:27:09.920 really it has produced absolutely incredible winners. 1:27:09.920 --> 1:27:11.440 You know, I think the first. 1:27:11.680 --> 1:27:14.639 Open Hell there was Peter Thompson one hundred and fifty four, 1:27:14.680 --> 1:27:18.160 and then he won again in sixty five, Palmer in 1:27:18.200 --> 1:27:22.400 sixty one, Travino seventy one, Miller seventy six, Tom Wattson 1:27:22.720 --> 1:27:27.719 and so many more. So it really if you can 1:27:28.439 --> 1:27:30.720 put account of Grade A winners to its open, that 1:27:30.840 --> 1:27:33.400 surely must count for something, even if we discount the 1:27:33.439 --> 1:27:34.560 old championship. 1:27:34.120 --> 1:27:34.880 Golf course term. 1:27:35.360 --> 1:27:37.200 So that's a little bit on the history of it. 1:27:37.200 --> 1:27:39.559 It is an interesting place. It's got an art decout 1:27:39.560 --> 1:27:44.200 clubhouse and the carpet inside is actually like an overlay 1:27:44.240 --> 1:27:47.479 of the golf course, so it's underneath your feet at 1:27:47.479 --> 1:27:49.800 all points. So it's got a funky side to it. 1:27:50.080 --> 1:27:52.160 But it's a surely brilliant golf course. It's got this 1:27:52.240 --> 1:27:56.519 championship history, and as you alluded to in your brief 1:27:56.560 --> 1:28:00.080 introduction there, it is changed substantially since we've seen in 1:28:00.160 --> 1:28:02.479 twenty seventeen, and we're really looking forward to seeing it. 1:28:02.520 --> 1:28:04.759 Notice we've had a baked at summer in Britain Ireland 1:28:04.920 --> 1:28:06.160 in a few weeks. 1:28:06.800 --> 1:28:10.439 A question about the carpet if you're if you're in 1:28:10.520 --> 1:28:12.840 one room are you on like a different hole or 1:28:12.920 --> 1:28:15.720 is the carpet just like in the foyer that's got 1:28:15.760 --> 1:28:19.320 the golf course. No, it's the carpet extend through the 1:28:19.360 --> 1:28:22.799 clubhouse and like when you're in different areas, you're below 1:28:22.920 --> 1:28:23.880 us the twelfth hale. 1:28:24.720 --> 1:28:27.120 No, it's it's in one main front room. 1:28:27.200 --> 1:28:30.760 Murders and casual dining had so and I think it's 1:28:31.400 --> 1:28:33.840 like I think there's we'll say a six foot by 1:28:33.880 --> 1:28:36.479 six foot block of it has the whole course in it. 1:28:36.560 --> 1:28:38.080 So I think at various points you could be walking 1:28:38.120 --> 1:28:41.599 the twelfth hole LNDY. I think it's what it's really 1:28:41.680 --> 1:28:44.200 fun and it's it's always been a fun place to 1:28:44.200 --> 1:28:46.160 go to. I can't wait to see it. But these 1:28:46.200 --> 1:28:51.320 changes have been substantial. Andy, I think the process initially 1:28:51.360 --> 1:28:53.559 was a member led process for these changes, and it 1:28:53.680 --> 1:28:56.880 was centered really on the fact that Birkdale has these 1:28:57.479 --> 1:29:00.799 four part threes. It's got the fourth to the twelfth 1:29:00.800 --> 1:29:03.920 and the fourteenth, and three of them play in the 1:29:03.920 --> 1:29:06.679 same direction and all four can actually play a similar 1:29:06.760 --> 1:29:10.680 yardage depending on wins. So there was a member the 1:29:10.800 --> 1:29:13.519 member desire for maybe a bit of variety, as everyone 1:29:13.560 --> 1:29:16.240 wants everyone wants for riding their baritaries for sure and 1:29:16.280 --> 1:29:20.160 certainly in direction. But as that process went on, Berkdale 1:29:20.240 --> 1:29:23.400 was awarded the twenty twenty six Open, So I guess 1:29:23.400 --> 1:29:26.320 the factors of the Open had to be the factors 1:29:26.400 --> 1:29:28.920 needed for the twenty twenty six event had to be 1:29:29.920 --> 1:29:35.080 taken into account and so basically the part threes were 1:29:35.120 --> 1:29:39.479 slightly changed. But there was also this problem solving for 1:29:39.520 --> 1:29:43.799 a championship the par five four or five four finish 1:29:43.880 --> 1:29:47.880 we saw in twenty seventeen, and then also creating extra 1:29:47.960 --> 1:29:51.599 space for tented village needs and hospitality needs, which are 1:29:52.280 --> 1:29:54.080 such a big part of an open now in this 1:29:54.160 --> 1:29:58.519 kind of era of ever increasing footprint and such a 1:29:59.000 --> 1:30:03.000 commercial success that the Open is so the members' interests, 1:30:03.000 --> 1:30:06.840 obviously we're going to be needed to be aligned with 1:30:07.280 --> 1:30:11.800 those hosting Open championship. So that's what we have been 1:30:12.000 --> 1:30:13.880 left with now at the moment. So they've done this 1:30:14.000 --> 1:30:17.200 Brandy by making first of all the old fifteenth, which 1:30:17.320 --> 1:30:19.679 was the fourth or they've made the old fifteenth to fourteenth. 1:30:19.920 --> 1:30:22.680 They've kept it a part five, and they moved the 1:30:22.680 --> 1:30:26.679 old fifteenth fairway one fairway right and this created enough 1:30:26.720 --> 1:30:29.559 space to create what is now a long Part three 1:30:29.680 --> 1:30:31.760 up to two hundred and forty yards where a ball 1:30:31.800 --> 1:30:34.200 could be ran onto at the front with the clubhouse 1:30:34.280 --> 1:30:37.280 is a beautiful backdrop. So that's got complete variety now 1:30:37.280 --> 1:30:40.439 in part threes already. And then they've shortened the seventh 1:30:40.479 --> 1:30:44.360 the par three quite considerably. I think it plays at 1:30:44.360 --> 1:30:46.800 about one hundred and fifty yards now. They've gone to 1:30:46.920 --> 1:30:49.640 water or forward tees up into the right of the 1:30:49.720 --> 1:30:53.479 sixth green, so we've got variety there straight away. And 1:30:53.520 --> 1:30:56.640 then with the extra hole on the back nine added in, 1:30:57.000 --> 1:30:59.559 they dropped out the old fourteenth, which was perceived as 1:30:59.600 --> 1:31:02.599 the weakest of the parcheries. Now where did the logistics 1:31:02.600 --> 1:31:03.479 of an open come in here? 1:31:03.479 --> 1:31:03.799 Andy? 1:31:04.000 --> 1:31:07.960 While moving the old fifteenth right, unlocked nearly two hundred 1:31:08.000 --> 1:31:12.080 meters for the practice ground, space space and space. Yeah, 1:31:12.160 --> 1:31:14.479 so the unlocked nearly two hundred meters for practice ground 1:31:14.520 --> 1:31:17.000 to be moved closer to the clubhouse. And the practice 1:31:17.000 --> 1:31:20.240 ground is the site for tented hospitality during an open, 1:31:21.240 --> 1:31:24.479 So this makes access to the course easier, access back 1:31:24.479 --> 1:31:26.840 to the clubhouse easier. I presume it makes exiting the 1:31:26.840 --> 1:31:29.920 course on a Sunday easier for everyone, and all the fans, 1:31:30.000 --> 1:31:33.160 all everyone involved, and on the member side of things, 1:31:33.400 --> 1:31:35.280 there's a new short game area goes in on the 1:31:35.280 --> 1:31:39.840 clubhouse side of that relocated range. So really happily the 1:31:39.840 --> 1:31:44.160 members have great diversity. There's a much enlarged hospitality space. 1:31:44.840 --> 1:31:47.760 But it's worth noting andy at this point in proceedings 1:31:48.479 --> 1:31:51.960 that course in the UK and Ireland have had historically 1:31:52.120 --> 1:31:55.360 less work done to them for championships than American counterparts. 1:31:56.040 --> 1:32:00.160 But really the footprint of these Opens and the success 1:32:00.160 --> 1:32:03.040 full Open championship formula going forward means that members' interests 1:32:03.080 --> 1:32:05.160 will have to align with those of the Open and 1:32:05.200 --> 1:32:07.360 hope that they both align in both parties benefit. 1:32:07.880 --> 1:32:08.160 Now. 1:32:08.320 --> 1:32:10.160 I really like the variety, as I said, and there's 1:32:10.200 --> 1:32:13.280 other variety. They've shortened the sixteenth I think it is 1:32:13.320 --> 1:32:16.759 now in the new rota or in the new layout 1:32:16.840 --> 1:32:18.879 to become nearly a drivable Part four, which is absolutely 1:32:18.920 --> 1:32:21.840 brilliant drivable the right conditions. But I'm less said on 1:32:21.880 --> 1:32:24.760 things like a new and a large practice facility being 1:32:24.800 --> 1:32:26.960 a boost to members because I think they can often 1:32:27.000 --> 1:32:30.080 be a white elephant, and because British and Irish golfers 1:32:30.120 --> 1:32:33.200 are not as enthusiastic warm ruppers as their American counterparts. 1:32:33.960 --> 1:32:35.800 We just have a quick put in a couple of 1:32:35.920 --> 1:32:38.640 hits and a bacon sandwich into a net by the 1:32:38.680 --> 1:32:40.479 first tea, and that's seen as good for such a 1:32:40.479 --> 1:32:42.800 long time. So these can just add to costs. I 1:32:42.800 --> 1:32:46.280 think sometimes the new short game areas are an extended range. 1:32:47.800 --> 1:32:50.360 But the rejigging the practice ground has certainly been a 1:32:50.479 --> 1:32:56.439 large success in terms of an expanded hospitality area. So that, 1:32:56.560 --> 1:32:58.559 in a nutshell is the change that has been substantial 1:32:58.640 --> 1:33:01.760 changes to the fifteen seven greens which have been kind 1:33:01.760 --> 1:33:04.600 of built up, and they are more interesting holes the 1:33:04.600 --> 1:33:06.200 two of them. 1:33:06.479 --> 1:33:11.000 It's, you know, the undertones of of all this center 1:33:11.040 --> 1:33:14.599 around the needs of championship golf, and I think it's 1:33:15.240 --> 1:33:19.200 you know, from your kind of historical rundown of the club. 1:33:20.439 --> 1:33:22.680 I think when they moved to the New Land in 1:33:22.720 --> 1:33:26.880 the thirties, it became really a i would say, like 1:33:26.920 --> 1:33:31.519 a new part of their history for Brickdale. And part 1:33:31.520 --> 1:33:35.120 of that history is that they were building a golf 1:33:35.120 --> 1:33:39.280 course suited for championship golf, you know, the Open Championship 1:33:39.320 --> 1:33:42.640 in mind, and obviously they've this will be their eleventh 1:33:42.760 --> 1:33:48.320 time hosting since that. You know that, you know, the 1:33:48.360 --> 1:33:52.240 new land that they they acquired to build a golf course. 1:33:52.280 --> 1:33:54.920 And when you think about it's been a super successful 1:33:55.400 --> 1:33:59.000 Open championship host And I think when I think about 1:33:59.200 --> 1:34:03.040 just the idea of the changes in needing to change, 1:34:03.080 --> 1:34:05.559 it makes sense with everything that's happened with the game, 1:34:05.680 --> 1:34:09.720 the distance explosion, but also just like you know, I think, 1:34:09.800 --> 1:34:13.759 like when you go through the history of golf courses 1:34:13.760 --> 1:34:17.480 and architecture just in general, I think great golf architects 1:34:17.880 --> 1:34:21.519 of yesteryear never anticipated how popular the game would be. 1:34:22.680 --> 1:34:25.800 They never anticipated how popular the game would be from 1:34:25.880 --> 1:34:29.120 a playing standpoint, how many people would have to be 1:34:29.640 --> 1:34:31.519 on the golf course at a time. If you think 1:34:31.520 --> 1:34:34.360 about the old course, this is where you know, the 1:34:34.400 --> 1:34:37.160 old course went to double greens and went to wide 1:34:37.200 --> 1:34:41.439 fairways because they needed to accommodate more players. Right, So 1:34:41.560 --> 1:34:46.720 there's this whole there's always been an underestimation of how 1:34:46.760 --> 1:34:50.799 many people we're going to play the game of golf. 1:34:50.880 --> 1:34:54.160 But I think on the championship side, there's been a 1:34:54.360 --> 1:34:59.080 total underestimation of how much space was going to be 1:34:59.160 --> 1:35:02.120 needed to host made championships. As they've grown and grown 1:35:02.160 --> 1:35:04.920 and grown and grown, and you know, the adage in 1:35:04.960 --> 1:35:07.880 the business world, obviously is if you're not growing, you're dying. 1:35:08.280 --> 1:35:13.040 And I think that, you know, a fascinating subplot of 1:35:13.200 --> 1:35:18.160 all this stuff is the growing needs of major championship 1:35:18.200 --> 1:35:22.840 hosts and what's happening to the supply of golf courses 1:35:22.920 --> 1:35:26.880 that can host that have history. So, you know, golf 1:35:26.920 --> 1:35:32.120 says history is important, venues matter, but the size of 1:35:32.120 --> 1:35:35.679 the championship keeps getting bigger so that fewer and fewer 1:35:35.760 --> 1:35:39.519 venues actually matter. And for the RNA's sake, I think 1:35:39.520 --> 1:35:43.040 that RNA has been really out front with saying, like, listen, 1:35:43.080 --> 1:35:48.840 this is this is a commercial championship that floats a 1:35:48.920 --> 1:35:50.920 lot of the things that we do in the game 1:35:51.320 --> 1:35:54.759 outside of it, and for them, getting lots of fans 1:35:54.880 --> 1:35:59.800 on site is very important. And obviously, you know, you know, 1:35:59.840 --> 1:36:02.240 the the people at I hope Brickdale could say that 1:36:02.280 --> 1:36:05.040 this was a member led and member driven till they're 1:36:05.040 --> 1:36:07.800 blue in the face. The reality is there's a lot 1:36:07.840 --> 1:36:10.920 of things that we're done in this renovation to accommodate 1:36:11.880 --> 1:36:17.280 modern major championship golf. And I don't think there's anything 1:36:17.320 --> 1:36:20.040 wrong with that. It's just, you know, it's just a 1:36:20.080 --> 1:36:22.040 part of what happened. 1:36:22.640 --> 1:36:27.120 Yeah, it's I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. So, 1:36:27.200 --> 1:36:30.639 first of all, nineteen sixty seven or maybe sixty five 1:36:30.680 --> 1:36:33.480 for certain yeah, certainly around the mid sixties in Brickdale, 1:36:34.560 --> 1:36:37.840 I think it was Fred Autrey's son was bought in 1:36:38.000 --> 1:36:39.760 after it must have been when Thompson had won his 1:36:39.920 --> 1:36:44.000 second opening sixty five to renovate the golf course again, 1:36:44.240 --> 1:36:47.160 to not only make the golf course a more of 1:36:47.240 --> 1:36:50.080 us test for Open Championship players, but also to make 1:36:50.120 --> 1:36:55.439 it more accessible and easier for fans to move around. 1:36:55.720 --> 1:36:59.599 So this is so far from a new a new 1:36:59.600 --> 1:37:02.360 thing amage of golf. So that actually gave us the 1:37:02.400 --> 1:37:04.959 new twelfth or sorry, the current twelfth Toll in Brookdale, 1:37:04.960 --> 1:37:07.880 which is a beautiful picturesque poetry. So not all changes 1:37:07.920 --> 1:37:10.120 bad and I think we both agree on that. And 1:37:10.160 --> 1:37:14.080 there's been all these golf courses in the British Isles 1:37:14.120 --> 1:37:19.519 have been constantly rejigged to suit opens and to suit events. 1:37:19.640 --> 1:37:22.559 But it's it's sort of like a it's like an 1:37:22.600 --> 1:37:24.720 old piece of news, you know, in the sixties they 1:37:24.720 --> 1:37:27.160 were saying the crowds are getting so big, they're so big, 1:37:27.320 --> 1:37:30.080 But it is true that we are outgrowing the ballpark 1:37:30.080 --> 1:37:33.880 a little bit at the moment. Like if you a 1:37:33.880 --> 1:37:36.639 golf course is a living entity, and as you mentioned, 1:37:36.680 --> 1:37:39.320 it's historical, but not only that, it's living, breeding turf, 1:37:39.960 --> 1:37:43.120 and it's got Duneland. It's got so much more to it. 1:37:43.120 --> 1:37:46.800 It's not just Yankee Stadium, where if you were if 1:37:46.800 --> 1:37:49.200 it was getting more popular, you'd add another row stands 1:37:49.200 --> 1:37:51.400 on the back, you know, and nobody would notice. So 1:37:51.439 --> 1:37:53.720 there's so much more interest and so much more in 1:37:53.760 --> 1:37:57.760 the once in editing a golf course and iterating it 1:37:58.160 --> 1:38:00.920 that goes into anything else, any others or the sports field. 1:38:01.360 --> 1:38:04.439 And this juxtaposition of the grand old Dames, these venues 1:38:04.479 --> 1:38:08.240 that we that are so venerable and that we love 1:38:08.400 --> 1:38:11.720 so much, and putting that up against the need for 1:38:11.760 --> 1:38:14.360 growth and to facilitate the growth. And as you mentioned, 1:38:14.360 --> 1:38:17.920 the ORNA do so much brilliantly for golf. You know, 1:38:18.200 --> 1:38:21.680 they float everything else off the Open Championship, as you 1:38:21.720 --> 1:38:25.479 mentioned the Latin America Ams, the Asia Pacific Ams. You 1:38:25.520 --> 1:38:27.640 know that the Masters have lent into giving invoice to 1:38:27.680 --> 1:38:29.960 these winners. That's all floated off the money made in 1:38:30.000 --> 1:38:32.880 the Open Championships. But we have seen it you were 1:38:33.000 --> 1:38:36.160 entirely correct port Rush. I think they moved to or 1:38:36.200 --> 1:38:40.240 certainly changed the practice ground to suit the hospitality ten needs. 1:38:41.760 --> 1:38:43.800 So it's not a new question. Nineteen sixties they were 1:38:43.800 --> 1:38:46.760 donning in Bruckdale. We're seeing it again. But there is 1:38:46.760 --> 1:38:48.400 a limit, of course, to how much this can happen 1:38:48.800 --> 1:38:53.400 and how much the footprint can grow. Andy, and I 1:38:53.400 --> 1:38:55.800 think maybe that's where your trouble with this comes along. 1:38:55.840 --> 1:38:58.639 Whereas I think this is a net positive for the members. 1:38:58.680 --> 1:39:01.599 I think they've gained great variety in the barteries. I 1:39:01.640 --> 1:39:05.799 think even as even for this British Open, the eighteenth 1:39:05.840 --> 1:39:08.719 has been changed much better home now and the tea's 1:39:08.760 --> 1:39:10.800 go down and left instead of being up and right. 1:39:10.840 --> 1:39:11.760 You know, it used to be a bit of a 1:39:11.760 --> 1:39:15.280 dog leg. It's a straight, austere, really linxy looking hole now. 1:39:16.000 --> 1:39:18.120 The sixteenth, as I mentioned, is a drive about part 1:39:18.280 --> 1:39:22.880 four now much better variety. So that's where I think 1:39:22.920 --> 1:39:25.320 we stand at the moment. But we certainly it's a 1:39:25.400 --> 1:39:28.559 very interesting time to be involved in administrating and open 1:39:28.600 --> 1:39:30.720 and imagine, and it's certainly a very interesting time to 1:39:30.720 --> 1:39:33.479 be a member of an open golf course because you've 1:39:33.520 --> 1:39:35.320 a lot of opportunity to improve your golf course, but 1:39:35.920 --> 1:39:40.040 you have to suppose exercise caution about certain aspects of 1:39:40.040 --> 1:39:40.920 the footprint. 1:39:41.439 --> 1:39:47.639 Instead of alignment is always challenging between you know, a club, 1:39:47.920 --> 1:39:50.800 and then if you throw in a let ae, the 1:39:51.280 --> 1:39:56.280 two party instead of alignment's hard three party becomes very challenging. 1:39:57.520 --> 1:40:02.519 Birkdale has been known notoriously like this, you know, it's 1:40:02.520 --> 1:40:06.080 like kind of the second thing ever said about Burkedale's 1:40:06.120 --> 1:40:13.160 the fairest links test in the Open Roda. How would you? 1:40:13.280 --> 1:40:17.040 Why would why is it characterized as that? And if 1:40:17.080 --> 1:40:19.519 you were going to put it on a scale, you know, 1:40:20.200 --> 1:40:23.360 like how is it different from the likes of maybe 1:40:23.560 --> 1:40:28.320 Hoylake or the Old Course where people might say it's fluky? 1:40:29.120 --> 1:40:34.599 Yeah, okay, Well I am an unabashed lover of Hoylake 1:40:34.960 --> 1:40:37.680 and certainly the Old course. But Hoylc, I think is 1:40:37.720 --> 1:40:42.000 like the pinnacle of subtle golf. It is micro undulation 1:40:42.560 --> 1:40:45.919 combined with it excellently firm golf course, but the undulation 1:40:45.960 --> 1:40:47.960 is so subtle. And obviously parts of Hoylac you see 1:40:48.000 --> 1:40:50.559 an old polo ground and I'm sure you probably know 1:40:50.640 --> 1:40:52.840 that that's how flat some of the golf courses, and 1:40:52.840 --> 1:40:55.439 then obviously they took it out too kind of closer 1:40:55.479 --> 1:40:57.759 to the the estuary, so it does have some movement 1:40:57.760 --> 1:41:00.960 over there. But hoylec is wonderful. And I think there's 1:41:01.000 --> 1:41:04.200 this split in opinion in British and Irish golf about 1:41:04.280 --> 1:41:07.080 preference for a certain style of links course. There are 1:41:07.120 --> 1:41:10.040 those who favor a more dramatic execution test like Brookdale, 1:41:10.439 --> 1:41:12.200 or those who prefer the subtlely of Hoilak, where the 1:41:12.240 --> 1:41:15.720 microndulation on the ground can pull a ball even from 1:41:15.760 --> 1:41:19.080 the middle of a fairway into a bunker, or it 1:41:19.120 --> 1:41:20.640 can just stay in the middle of ferry would be 1:41:20.680 --> 1:41:24.400 resting on a very small knob, which completely alters a 1:41:24.520 --> 1:41:27.280 very seemingly simple approach shot with a wedge because the 1:41:27.280 --> 1:41:29.080 ball is now four inches above you on a very 1:41:29.080 --> 1:41:32.040 fur piece of turf. But then those in fervor in 1:41:32.080 --> 1:41:34.840 favor of a style like Brookdale will say that Lynx 1:41:34.880 --> 1:41:38.800 Golf already has so much vagary in it, some sea 1:41:38.880 --> 1:41:42.160 and wind surrounding and built in firma sandy and we've 1:41:42.160 --> 1:41:43.840 had a wonderful few weeks here and it's going to 1:41:43.840 --> 1:41:45.280 be really firm out there in a few weeks time. 1:41:45.320 --> 1:41:45.839 In Brookdale. 1:41:45.840 --> 1:41:50.080 But you know that you already have you got this 1:41:50.240 --> 1:41:53.880 firmness and those vagaries, that it's already so different to 1:41:54.040 --> 1:41:56.920 normal we'll say Heatland golf or PGA Tour golf for 1:41:57.040 --> 1:41:59.760 regular DPE World Tour golf, that you don't even need 1:42:00.320 --> 1:42:03.920 the microundulation, that it is already completely elevated and very different. 1:42:04.040 --> 1:42:06.920 You know, I suppose I think me and you think 1:42:06.960 --> 1:42:10.200 quite similarly. I think the peak of the peak golf 1:42:10.200 --> 1:42:12.679 that I will always remember was Tiger in two thousand 1:42:12.720 --> 1:42:14.840 and six at Hoylake, and maybe in two thousand that 1:42:16.200 --> 1:42:18.920 Saint Andrews, where we got the right conditions to bring 1:42:18.960 --> 1:42:21.800 out what micro undulation can do to a golf ball. 1:42:21.840 --> 1:42:26.040 Because Tiger played so conservatively, he was using spin as 1:42:26.040 --> 1:42:27.960 his friend, he was doing so many cool things with 1:42:27.960 --> 1:42:30.720 the golf ball, all to avoid being pulled into even 1:42:30.760 --> 1:42:32.559 the wrong areas on fairweys where he knew he knew 1:42:32.560 --> 1:42:34.960 there was undulation, or where he knew he'd have an 1:42:35.040 --> 1:42:37.760 unfavorable lie even though he was on the fairway to 1:42:37.800 --> 1:42:40.280 attack a certain pain, or his ball could be pulled 1:42:40.320 --> 1:42:41.760 from the middle of a fairway into a bunker if 1:42:41.760 --> 1:42:43.680 he used the driver even went down the middle of 1:42:43.680 --> 1:42:46.040 the fairway. So I think that's what I will like. 1:42:46.160 --> 1:42:48.960 That is why I will I will always bat and 1:42:49.240 --> 1:42:51.479 say that Hoylake is one of my favorite places in 1:42:51.479 --> 1:42:53.120 the word to play golf, and obviously the other horses 1:42:53.160 --> 1:42:55.120 as well. But you do have the split between people 1:42:55.160 --> 1:42:57.679 who love the drama of Brickdale and then there's others 1:42:57.720 --> 1:43:02.559 who love the subtle of mirefields, love these of Hoilick 1:43:02.640 --> 1:43:04.519 and places like that. But I want to all to 1:43:04.560 --> 1:43:07.960 be alive, and it is definitely live in places like Hoilich. 1:43:08.160 --> 1:43:12.120 And people will say that because we talked. 1:43:11.880 --> 1:43:14.880 On the pot previously Andy about how when Harry Colt 1:43:14.920 --> 1:43:18.720 redesigned world County down or heavily iterated it in the 1:43:18.800 --> 1:43:22.360 nineteen twenties, he went, Hey, he bought the holes over 1:43:22.520 --> 1:43:25.000 the dune land, he played over Duneland to create these 1:43:25.040 --> 1:43:26.920 wonderful gold folds that we know it oral County down. 1:43:27.240 --> 1:43:30.760 Whereas Hawtrey and Taylor's philosophy in Brooktail was actually put 1:43:30.800 --> 1:43:33.160 the holes in the valley, in the valleys rather than 1:43:33.160 --> 1:43:36.439 the dunes. So we've got this self contained field completely 1:43:36.479 --> 1:43:39.400 opposite of what col did. He avoided or sorry they 1:43:40.439 --> 1:43:44.360 Hawtrey and Taylor avoided having blind shots by going through 1:43:44.360 --> 1:43:46.280 the dunes, and the dunes were so impressive Andy that 1:43:46.439 --> 1:43:49.120 there was an American or sorry, an African adventure film 1:43:49.400 --> 1:43:51.400 was shot in them in the late nineteen twenties, you know, 1:43:51.640 --> 1:43:53.360 So it just shows you the scale of them. But 1:43:53.439 --> 1:43:54.840 what I like to think of now, when I'm thinking 1:43:54.840 --> 1:43:56.439 about the build up to this open, I think that 1:43:56.560 --> 1:43:58.960 because it's going to be so firm, so fast, you 1:43:59.000 --> 1:44:01.639 can run out of fairway, hopefully you can balls run 1:44:01.640 --> 1:44:03.840 into the dunes. You might see Jordan's speed with his 1:44:04.040 --> 1:44:06.760 right foot three foot above his left foot hitting a 1:44:06.880 --> 1:44:09.760 edge over a fifteen foot mound. And there are other 1:44:09.880 --> 1:44:14.200 challenges in the places like Burkedale, and there are other 1:44:14.280 --> 1:44:16.400 neuralnks golf courses that are a little bit like Brickdail 1:44:16.439 --> 1:44:19.519 as well. So I think I get from you that 1:44:19.600 --> 1:44:22.640 maybe you are, like me, a lover of Hoylake, you 1:44:22.720 --> 1:44:25.599 love e Lee, you know all this sort of stuff. 1:44:25.640 --> 1:44:28.639 But don't forget their brilliant golf courses like deal Down 1:44:28.720 --> 1:44:31.760 in the Southwest that have I wouldn't say maybe doom land, 1:44:31.800 --> 1:44:35.719 but they have lots of undulation, lots of throughput, certainly 1:44:35.720 --> 1:44:38.320 out on the kind of seaside holes in deal. You 1:44:38.360 --> 1:44:40.800 know the macro and macro is not bad when it's 1:44:40.840 --> 1:44:43.000 utilized correctly. So I'd love to hear your take on 1:44:43.479 --> 1:44:45.400 what do you know about Birkedale? What do you think 1:44:45.439 --> 1:44:47.280 about that? And I know we're coming out probably from 1:44:47.280 --> 1:44:47.920 the same angle. 1:44:49.080 --> 1:44:51.520 Yeah, I think, you know, in terms of like by 1:44:52.720 --> 1:44:54.439 you know, the places I most want to see, and 1:44:54.479 --> 1:44:56.559 I haven't been to Birkedale, it falls a little bit 1:44:56.600 --> 1:44:58.479 further down the list because of a lot of what 1:44:58.560 --> 1:45:04.880 you described. I am very into the I'm very into golf. 1:45:04.920 --> 1:45:09.360 That is very vague. That being said, I think when 1:45:09.439 --> 1:45:13.800 you get the elements right, you know, one of the 1:45:13.840 --> 1:45:18.800 beauties of Birkedale style of you know, and I don't 1:45:18.800 --> 1:45:21.000 want this to come across is you know, I think 1:45:21.240 --> 1:45:23.840 it's important to preface of we're talking about Leak's golf, 1:45:23.880 --> 1:45:26.960 where the balls alive when it hits the ground, assuming 1:45:27.000 --> 1:45:31.800 it's firm and you know it's it amplifies everything. So 1:45:31.880 --> 1:45:34.640 this is not what we're talking about with you know, 1:45:35.400 --> 1:45:40.439 TPC Minnesota, where if it rains, it's just going to 1:45:40.479 --> 1:45:46.120 be a dart fest. But the the idea of there 1:45:46.240 --> 1:45:48.639 being golf being a little bit more of a riddle 1:45:48.880 --> 1:45:50.760 is always and I think like some of that's been 1:45:50.840 --> 1:45:55.640 muted as golf's evolved, for sure, But I think the 1:45:55.960 --> 1:45:59.320 thing that can be appealing about a test like Birkedale 1:46:00.240 --> 1:46:04.439 is the understanding of it's you're either good or you're bad. 1:46:04.479 --> 1:46:09.040 The execution aspect of it can be good. But that 1:46:09.160 --> 1:46:12.840 being said, I think that it's always preferred when you 1:46:12.880 --> 1:46:16.320 get a golf course that has all the aspects of this, 1:46:16.439 --> 1:46:19.799 when it has the vagaries of the microcontours but also 1:46:20.120 --> 1:46:24.080 some of the more dramatic features and then some punitive 1:46:24.439 --> 1:46:27.439 you know. I think years ago I did a podcast 1:46:27.439 --> 1:46:30.080 with Tom Doak where you know, you talk about everybody 1:46:30.200 --> 1:46:34.320 like loves putting golf courses into schools of design, and 1:46:34.360 --> 1:46:38.599 there's you know, the you know, the strategic, the penal, 1:46:39.040 --> 1:46:43.439 there's heroic and the reality is like the best golf 1:46:43.479 --> 1:46:47.280 courses have a little bit of everything. And I think 1:46:47.320 --> 1:46:52.320 that's you know where Brokedale, like the the being described 1:46:52.320 --> 1:46:56.559 as fair flatter fair ways like that is less appealing 1:46:56.600 --> 1:46:58.800 to me, but it doesn't mean that it can't host 1:46:58.840 --> 1:46:59.680 a good championship. 1:47:00.080 --> 1:47:01.000 Yeah. 1:47:00.560 --> 1:47:03.200 So this is this is something I think about all 1:47:03.200 --> 1:47:06.479 the time sometimes golf I think you've mentioned terms like vague. 1:47:07.720 --> 1:47:09.679 It's a really interesting term. I want. 1:47:10.040 --> 1:47:11.560 I don't want to know when I play golf, for 1:47:11.640 --> 1:47:14.320 the ball will end up. That's why we love firmness. 1:47:14.360 --> 1:47:17.439 But that's also why we love subtle contours around greens. 1:47:17.520 --> 1:47:20.880 We love them internally in fair ways because golf, I 1:47:20.920 --> 1:47:23.799 think is a game. It's like a game of chance almost, 1:47:23.800 --> 1:47:26.679 And you mentioned riddle, and I think of it much less. 1:47:27.320 --> 1:47:29.120 It certainly is a sport, andy, and I would never 1:47:29.280 --> 1:47:31.080 say it's not a sport, but I love to think 1:47:31.120 --> 1:47:32.760 of it as a game of chance. And when you 1:47:32.800 --> 1:47:34.679 say riddle, that really hits home with me as well. 1:47:34.800 --> 1:47:36.600 We think about it in the same way. Because the 1:47:36.680 --> 1:47:38.880 nuance has been taken out of the game by technology. 1:47:39.320 --> 1:47:42.920 It has been absolutely evaporated out. The skill level at 1:47:42.920 --> 1:47:46.640 the top of the game has been condensed. So sometimes 1:47:47.479 --> 1:47:48.920 a good player in my home club once said to 1:47:48.960 --> 1:47:51.880 me what did I think ball striking was? And I 1:47:51.960 --> 1:47:55.040 probably responded saying something stupid, like the ability to flush 1:47:55.120 --> 1:47:57.759 the ball or repeatedly hit it, you know, along. 1:47:57.560 --> 1:47:58.639 And straight or something like that. 1:47:58.880 --> 1:48:01.040 But he said, no, it's someone who can hit the 1:48:01.040 --> 1:48:06.240 ball that required distance on repeat. Now that's easy if 1:48:06.280 --> 1:48:08.639 you're playing a you know, kind of a weekly DP 1:48:08.840 --> 1:48:13.000 World Tour tracker most of the PGA Tour courses. But 1:48:13.160 --> 1:48:15.640 if the ball is four inches above your feet in 1:48:15.720 --> 1:48:19.120 Hoylake sitting on a baked lie and there is a 1:48:19.400 --> 1:48:23.920 very small pimple of a knob in front of a green, 1:48:24.520 --> 1:48:27.799 that is a completely different shot then on a flat fairway. 1:48:27.840 --> 1:48:30.519 So I completely appreciate that that is where a ball 1:48:30.560 --> 1:48:33.920 striker will find it much easier to put the ball 1:48:34.040 --> 1:48:36.560 to twenty feet pin high, and what might look like 1:48:36.600 --> 1:48:39.280 an averagehot is actually an excellent shot. So I couldn't 1:48:39.280 --> 1:48:43.040 agree more here, Like I just think that those kind 1:48:43.120 --> 1:48:45.920 of courses like Hoylake Mirfield, I'd like to think work 1:48:46.000 --> 1:48:49.240 like golf in Port Marnik is exactly the same. You 1:48:49.280 --> 1:48:51.000 could be looking at someone from twenty feet away and 1:48:51.000 --> 1:48:52.400 that might look like an easy shot in the middle 1:48:52.400 --> 1:48:54.840 of error, but you don't actually know that. You know, 1:48:54.920 --> 1:48:57.599 the total club is four it's two inches in the air, 1:48:58.000 --> 1:48:58.240 you know. 1:48:58.400 --> 1:49:01.160 And I mean that's the thing though about the whole 1:49:01.240 --> 1:49:04.640 course is when it's on TV, people that have in 1:49:04.720 --> 1:49:10.000 bed there say it looks it looks really bland, because really, 1:49:10.040 --> 1:49:13.000 I think the best contours of golf actually don't get 1:49:13.040 --> 1:49:15.880 shown well from a telecast they you know. 1:49:16.320 --> 1:49:18.120 I remember I was playing the ninth in Port Marnick, 1:49:18.360 --> 1:49:20.800 and Port Marnick doesn't photograph well. It is truly a 1:49:20.800 --> 1:49:23.040 wonderful golf course. But I got low light one night 1:49:23.560 --> 1:49:26.880 and the fifty hours before the green just popped andy, 1:49:26.920 --> 1:49:29.960 you know, And I'm forever hidden run off shots that 1:49:29.960 --> 1:49:32.679 at ninth Green in Port Marnick instead of hitting sandwich 1:49:32.760 --> 1:49:34.840 in or whatever, and you could just see all these 1:49:34.960 --> 1:49:37.640 one foot little mounds rippling across and everything, you know, 1:49:37.760 --> 1:49:41.360 is it showed everything about micro versus macro. But you know, 1:49:41.479 --> 1:49:45.639 back to Bertill we are. I've played it several times, 1:49:45.800 --> 1:49:49.280 many many times, and I've learned to embrace that it 1:49:49.320 --> 1:49:53.240 has such drama and I'm really desperate not to use 1:49:53.280 --> 1:49:57.400 the term championship links and the test of execution, but 1:49:57.560 --> 1:50:00.840 it really does bring out the best when it is firm, 1:50:00.960 --> 1:50:02.720 and it will be firm in a few weeks. And 1:50:02.760 --> 1:50:05.439 it is a completely different style of links golf, but 1:50:05.640 --> 1:50:08.720 albeit it is links golf, and it is so much 1:50:08.760 --> 1:50:11.960 superior to the product that we get forty eight weeks 1:50:11.960 --> 1:50:15.000 a year and on TV, and it is just a 1:50:15.040 --> 1:50:17.400 little bit different to those high legs, to those deals, 1:50:17.479 --> 1:50:20.280 to those mirefields, but it is to be completely celebrated. 1:50:20.840 --> 1:50:23.960 I absolutely love it every time I go there because, 1:50:24.120 --> 1:50:26.439 as I say, variety has been taken out of golf, 1:50:26.600 --> 1:50:28.679 out of our The product on TV is completely different. 1:50:28.720 --> 1:50:31.240 We're so lucky to get Shinnecock this year, but you 1:50:31.280 --> 1:50:33.920 know we're kind of deprived. We're starved. There's a dirt 1:50:34.240 --> 1:50:38.120 of this sort of stuff and Brickdale. You set down 1:50:38.200 --> 1:50:39.799 your list, you don't seem to have a burning desire 1:50:39.880 --> 1:50:41.439 to get there. And I appreciate you want to go 1:50:41.479 --> 1:50:43.599 to all these places. You know, you love the ELI 1:50:43.920 --> 1:50:45.240 as I mentioned, and you probably want to go to 1:50:45.280 --> 1:50:48.080 Form being all this, but Brickdale is a monster amongst 1:50:48.080 --> 1:50:49.800 these golf courses as well. It's just in its own 1:50:49.840 --> 1:50:52.320 way and it shares this beautiful history with them, all 1:50:52.320 --> 1:50:54.800 of hosting championships up in this England's golf course. As 1:50:54.840 --> 1:50:55.479 I mentioned at the. 1:50:55.400 --> 1:51:01.040 Start, awesome. Well we'll go out on that note. I mean, 1:51:01.080 --> 1:51:04.679 I could couldn't get better words to get us excited 1:51:04.680 --> 1:51:09.480 for this week. Yeah, thanks as always for joining the podcast. 1:51:09.920 --> 1:51:12.880 People can find your work. You are a You're a 1:51:14.320 --> 1:51:17.600 I guess a frequent guest at a number of platforms 1:51:17.640 --> 1:51:22.200 here Cookie Jar and then people can find you playing 1:51:22.479 --> 1:51:25.440 all over the all over Great Britain in Ireland. 1:51:25.520 --> 1:51:27.720 They can and thanks so much for having me. Andy, 1:51:27.760 --> 1:51:29.479 I just want to say that Frannie and who hasn't 1:51:29.520 --> 1:51:32.400 been to Birkdale, who you're listening or indeed links Golf, 1:51:32.439 --> 1:51:34.479 you know not all links Golf is the same. Birkdail 1:51:34.520 --> 1:51:36.960 is incredibly unique. That encourage you all to come over 1:51:37.000 --> 1:51:39.400 and compared in contrasts with Neighbors and Hoylake Li them 1:51:39.439 --> 1:51:41.879 go up to Scotland, go down to Roys and George's 1:51:42.000 --> 1:51:45.080 then come across Ireland, because there's nothing better than Links Golf. 1:51:45.120 --> 1:51:45.720 Andy. 1:51:45.880 --> 1:51:47.240 So that's what I'm going to go ahead on. 1:51:47.960 --> 1:52:03.000 All right, Thanks Sarah, cheers Andy, all right, big thanks 1:52:03.240 --> 1:52:07.240 to everybody for listening to the podcast. As a reminder, 1:52:07.400 --> 1:52:10.240 we have just a ton of stuff going on across 1:52:10.280 --> 1:52:12.760 the company. Go to the Friday dot com there's a 1:52:12.800 --> 1:52:15.960 bunch of written material. We will have a live blog 1:52:16.439 --> 1:52:21.880 going probably starting Tuesday or Wednesday. We debuted this at 1:52:21.880 --> 1:52:24.479 the US Open. It's just a fun place for us 1:52:24.520 --> 1:52:28.840 to just drop short anecdotes, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, anecdotes 1:52:28.880 --> 1:52:33.080 about what's going on. There'll be insights from Kevin and 1:52:33.200 --> 1:52:36.120 Brendan who will be on the grounds as well as 1:52:36.800 --> 1:52:43.040 you know, sleep deprived staffers like me, Joseph, Will Garrett. Well, 1:52:43.160 --> 1:52:45.720 it'll be fun. I think the live blog will be 1:52:46.080 --> 1:52:49.519 will be hummon this week, so check that out as well. 1:52:49.560 --> 1:52:52.559 As we just have a lot of stuff. Our YouTube 1:52:52.560 --> 1:52:57.799 page should have some material up there are the Shotgun 1:52:57.840 --> 1:53:02.439 Start will be doing daily breakdowns. And big thanks to 1:53:02.560 --> 1:53:05.599 PJ for putting this all together, putting all the audio 1:53:05.840 --> 1:53:10.320 products together. He's uh, he's grinding, so big thanks for PJ. 1:53:10.640 --> 1:53:12.400 I'm sorry he had to come in and talk about 1:53:12.400 --> 1:53:15.679 the regression monster in this episode, and I'm also sorry 1:53:15.720 --> 1:53:18.240 that that PCA is just putting them in a body 1:53:18.280 --> 1:53:22.519 bag with the with the anti regression. So thanks to PJ. 1:53:23.200 --> 1:53:27.439 H and we'll see you next week talking what happened 1:53:27.479 --> 1:53:28.439 with Trevor Immulman.