Happened to bump into Jerry McElroy and the and the elevators as we were on our way up here, and he was holding a pizza and going to the the elevator. I said, good luck tomorrow, and he said he's playing quite nicely, isn't he? And I said he is. And he said it would be good for the game of golf if you want it, and I said, can't argue with that. Put another log on the fire. Nobody hears give the time. Hello, This is Alan Schipknuck back for
another Fire Drill podcast. Michael Bamberger, Matt Ginella, RNA Clubhouse. We're here on the balcony of the russ As Hotel. It's late Saturday night. Pretty epic day of golf today. The leaderboard nothing but great players. But it's clarified a little bit. It with Rory and Victor Holland at the top. There was a little clucking from Matt Fitzpatrick and others about the course set up. So Michael, let's start there.
What do you think of how the old course played and what it revealed about the players on the board? Are we are we burying the lead that Matt began his birthday by hanging out with Joe Lacava as midnight struck here in the Russak's Hotel. Worth mentioning, Yeah, we're worth worth mentioning, Matt, Happy birthday, Happy birthday to you. You know, Alan and I have a great friend and colleague, him ideas when we were having this conversation with him on our way to dinners today, and the question is
is this golf course holding up? Yes or no? If twenty underwins, would you say that this golf course held up or not? And there are lots of different ways. You and I have both argued at two different ways. I'm saying overall it's holding up because we get a great leader order, we're gonna have a great Sunday and it's a great tournament. Yeah, I mean I agree with that. The fact is you would like to see the players hitting longer clubs into the greens because that creates more
of a dispersion. Well, there's more danger in play, possibly more recovery shots and getting too funk your spots. But it is what is. It's burnt out super fast golf course. The ball goes too far, So the test that's being presented is still fascinating. I mean, the RNA's come up with some very spicy pins and they've asked a lot of difficult questions and the players have mostly answered. But
it's still fun to watch. And today when when Sat Larry is holding out for eagles and birdies were flying around, I mean, it was fun. It was thrilling. So Matt, what are your thoughts on how this course is play? Yeah, I mean it's it's it's like the course for me, it's links golf links Scoff. The defense to link Skoff is the you know, in large part the elements. I mean, you can't to to you know, to sort of you just have to just change expectations. And it's let's say
it's a par seventy. There's no there's no really no real part five. Just let it be a part seventy. I mean what who cares? Like, is anybody bothered by that that, you know, someone's a lot under par um. Some people are bothered, I'm on golf Twitter, like they're offended that the scores are low, where we would just argue that that's the lowest total wins. You know, someone's gonna shoot two seventy or two sixty five or two sixty two, they're they're the winner. Par is a construct.
I mean, it's probably the legit par sixty eight for some of these guys, But it's still the guy who takes a few of strokes. And that's what the game has always been about and always will be about. Michael jumping here. Well, i'm you know, I'm I'm with that. I'm with that in fury. Uh Having said that, it's a little bit the whole discussion of thirteen und augusta National.
You could have eighteen times here. Is it really the road hole if you're not hitting the foreign and uh no, is it really a part four eighteen pole if everybody in the field can drive it with a three wood or seven wood, as I think Dustin Johnson h a hit here, you're using in iron. So um, there would
be no dialing back. There's no dialing back any ball to the point that this would they still wouldn't be able to drive this green days like today, there's no there is no uh in theory thought, unless we go back to featheries and persimmons, this this golf course on days like today, they'd still be way under par. They're
really good at this game. This is. You know, this is none indictment on anything other than there's no wind, right and I and I would I would add to that, Matt, this is a golf course that even at these teas, but we wouldn't played at these teas that anybody can play.
And you would never say that of oakmon at seventy five hundred or August National and seventy five hundred or Tulsa worry were this year this, you know, And that's part of the greatness of this is that I think the ordinary golfer can watch this and sorry to relate to it. You know. I asked this of Rory after the round. He said, you uh. I said, how do you feel about, you know, using your putter as a chipper basically? And he said, you know, if it's good
enough for me, it's good enough for you guys. And that's fun for that's fun for all for a first all to see. Yeah, all right, so let's let's talk about Rory because he's the man of the moment. I mean, this is clearly his tournament to win. There was a little magic dust there when you hold out on number ten. You know, those are the kind of shots to flip a whole tournament, like thinking when he hit in that bunker he might make a five. Instead he makes a two,
and him in Hobland of obviously separated themselves. The crowd is clearly on Rory's side. I mean, he's just become the conscious of golf. He's such a great ambassador. He hasn't won one of these in almost a decade. I mean, the whole world wants Rory to do it. Is he going to do it? Guys? On the subject of Rory being the crowd favorite, I actually recorded Rory coming up eighteenth Fairway, which you know again was definitely by far
the most applause of anyone. Jake let him hear it. Yes, it would be great, great, great for golf if if Rory wins this thing. But you know something, let's with all due credit to Rory this Victor Hovland is a tremendously likable guy and plays. I didn't know he's such a great driver, and so you told me about it, because when I've watched the Blaze hit Drew in a crooked But I guess if you look at this as he's a great driver, Interestingly, Rory shown you don't have
to drive a great here. You just gotta drive it in the right parts of the of the right roof, which this case is the left ruff. Yeah. I mean he was a little wild with his driver. That's the only bugo I saw. And Rory, I mean, the rest of the game looks fantastic. Matt, what are your thoughts about what this moment means and Rory's place in it? No, well, we said it, I said yesterday, you know, or just talking about and noticing back to a dare and all
of what's happening live related. I just think he's been he's been poked into a focus that I don't think we've really seen from Rory in quite some time. He's he's got more of the just seems like more of an edge right now to him, to his competitive self, and I think that's gonna that ultimately he's gonna bode well for him. I happened to bump into Jerry McElroy and the and the elevators as we were on our way up here, and he was holding a pizza and
going to elevator. I said good luck tomorrow, and he says he's playing quite nicely, isn't he? And I said he is, and he said it would be good for the game of golf if he won it, And I said, can't argue with that. I mean, and I think Rory knows all that is well aware, and I you know, I can't help but think that I'm looking for Rory to win. I would love to see Rory win. Yeah, I mean more to the point, it'd be good for Rory McElroy. I mean, he is in the prime of
his career and in this long major drought. He's won the FedEx Cup, He's won the Race did you buy, He's won the Players, He's won all over the world. It's not like he's lost his game. He's been playing an except on high level, but he just can't get it done at these majors. And part of it is, you know, there's there's an element of Rory where Michael, You're an old beat writer for baseball, Like he's more of a thrower than a pitcher, right, Like he's got it kind of has one speed where I got like
camp Smith, he's got a curveball. He's got to change up. And that's always been the tee with Roy. When you get at these super exacting tests, you have to play a little different. It's just it's not the Phoenix Open. You can't just smash and grab, and so that becomes the question, like at the critical moment, can Rory's wedge game, can his lag putting, can those things sustain? Because that's
what's going to decide this thing. And also to that point, you know, he's one of his major's unsoft wet golf courses and this is a dry field League golf courses, he says, And you know, you're always trying to show off, you know, Jeff Ogilby has taught this to us. Even these elite golfers, not even they're trying to show off all the time. They're trying to show off to themselves
and to their brethren. And I think I think Rory's well, he has said it that you know, I would like to show the fact that I can win and you were in any kind of golf course, but he really never has not at this level. So it would be neat to see him when on a dry golf course.
But I would take a little bit exception of one thing you said, Alan, you know, you said Rory needs I think really truly when it's all I think golf really does need a likable Now, any of these guys really who are in contention, right down to Scottie Shuffler too, Dustin Johnson his own way, they all have a likable quality. But Rory right now has become a face of the game. Not just sort of like for its quote establishment values.
I think more like really the face of the game what golf stands for, which is, you know, a certain grace under pressure, be there in good times and bad. You know you have your hand ready to shake the guy in defeat. Rory represents all these values that are really you can call them old fashioned values, but to me, really they're just basic core golfing values. And and you know, the world's in a funny place, and golf is in a really odd place that his never you know, we've
all been following Skim alone time. We've never seen a period like this in golf. So in that sense, yes, of course it would be great for Rory, but it really would be great for golf to see Rory win this thing as well. Having said that, well, we root for the story. Rory's probably the best story we could be rooting for. Oh yeah, well, I root for anarchy and chaos. So I was kind of pulling for Dustin Johnson,
like in my own little way today. You know, he flagged a couple of shots in the first few holes and he looked so locked in made two quick birdies, is like, okay, here comes Dustin um. But he lost his way. And what was interesting is it was Dustin's round was a great rebuttal that the old courses overmatched against the bombers because he got completely out of his out of his game by humps and hollows and pop bunkers.
He just missed a few shots and the ball ran away and he was left with a tougher shot, and he got completely mental and he was starting yepping putts. He was he was just he put it off the green like like, that's how out of the chances of Dustin Johnson topping into shot the balls sitting on a te Well, that tells you that the old course can get in your head like no other. So that to me was the ultimate rebuttal. People say, oh, it's obsolete, it can't hold up, like big bad Dustin Johnson got
the back of the hairbrush from the old course. And when it was thousands of people last week, did did you top any shots. No, this guy top me. He was my partner. He also did top any there. It's made that there was five six hunders. Those were no. One the lowest score today. Five people shot six hunder and them went early. When the three of them went early, when it was you know, calmer, Yeah, the greens were softer. That makes what Rory and Hovland did all the more
impressive because they went they went late. But nevertheless, like the scoring is not crazy low. I mean, these are best golfers in the world. You give them a course but no wind. That's playing probably effectively six thousand yards away, the balls rolling, they're gonna make birdies and that's okay. Also effectively at part sixty six, when you talk about basically three four or five drivable part fours, no, no unreachable part fives, Rory hitting what driver wedge into a
part five that's over what six hundred yards long? So basically talking about a part sixty six course so on that basis part is not even really a meaningful term anymore in a lot of ways. But clota part of sixty six gold what it is I did? I did bump into Joelacova last night upstairs at the bar. He was just very calmly having a beer amongst a couple of the Golf Channel guys, and Uh, I got again invited down to the table. I hadn't seen Joe in
like eighteen years. It was really it was really amazing to sit down next to him. He looked he looked tired, he was exhausted and uh and when asked sort of, which is actually in my story that we'll be publishing tomorrow morning on Firepit Collective dot com, just about you know what was it like? He's just, you know, we're we're upset. I mean, we wanted we missed the cut. That's it's it's you know, Tiger was upset. It was all about out. You know, Tiger is out to win.
Joe Lecavo was here to win. They didn't make the cut. It didn't feel good to him, didn't feel good to Tiger. It was a a is a bum bummer situation. That being said, he obviously was able to appreciate the moment he said that was happening on eighteen and when asked at the table about was that rehearsed, allowing it was that coordinated amongst the group players and caddies to allow Tiger to go up the fairway on his own, right
out of the gate, right from the tea box. And he said, no, that was that's just an unspoken rule. And everybody was very aware that this was going to happen. The Tiger was going to have this moment by himself over the bridge, up the fit middle of the fairway, waved to the crowd, have that moment on the green on his own. Everybody moved away. The bummer being obviously that he didn't make the birdie Joe said, Tiger didn't
call him in for the read he had it. This was, you know, he was upset that that didn't go in obviously asked him what they and he also someone said, did it look like there was Rory and Tiger were going to have a little bit of an exchange there in the middle of the fairway because Rory was coming off the first tea and watched Tiger's tea shot on eighteen, watched where it resulted, and Rory was kind of in the path of where Tiger was walking up and Rory
kind of stopped at his ball. Tiger really kind of just walked by. I mean, there was you know, and and when asked, was there ever thought that Tiger would go over and talked to Rory And Joe said that would never happen, and out of deference to and respect to Rory and being in his round, Tiger would never
want to do that. And in fact, you know, I think there was some internalization of feeling bad for matt Max and Matthew Fitzpatrick almost that they were dealing with all that was going on with Tiger, that there was you know, they felt bad and that that that could have contributed to mat missing the cut. You know, Max is very respectful and deferential to Tiger in his place in the game, and Joe was feeling like maybe that had some sort of impact. Now, Matthew obviously righted the
ship and had another great day today. But and then I asked, lastly, what was the exchange as you guys embraced on the side of the green, and Joe said, he said to me, I love you, buddy, and I said back to him, thanks for having me. That's awesome. And you know, I remember at Valhalla when Nicholas was saying goodbye to the PGA Championship and him and Tiger repaired together the first couple of rounds and everyone was looking for this passing of the baton moment, and there
was one. It happened on Friday. Jack was going to miss the cut. They came to like a little bridge and they both stopped, and Tiger was like after you, you know, showing a deference, and Nicholas is like, no, after you and Tiger went first. I was like, okay, there, we got it. We needed that. And just that little, you know, Rory given the tip of the cap, it just feels like it's in the stars for him to win this thing and to sort of bring it all home. Tiger's gone, we need a new new boy king. It's
got to be Rory. He's the only logical choice. But he's got to win this for that to happen. And and and that, Joe made mention of the idea that the RNA knows what they're doing by having U, by having Rory go off at roughly what would be the time, and then stacking JT right behind him, so JT was on the T with bones on the bag. And and
Joe loved all of that. He thought that was that was really well done, well orchestrated, and definitely watched the fact that JT and and Bones were watching, and I think Shane Lowry was actually called to the t and Shane Lowry was like not going to hit his T shot and have anything to do with what was happening for Tiger finishing off and essentially paused and waited and so, you know, out of respect to what was happening, and it was it was watching Tiger. Tiger is such a
golf nerd. He was watching Justin Thomas swinging very closely. Uh. He wants to see what his buddy's doing. You know, he's just swinging good or not? Can you get back in this thing or not? In fact, what we do on our buddies trip of our partners over there, we got how's he swinging? Yeah? Okay good? Yeah yeah yeah No, It's true. So this is Roy's open. It has to be Roy's open if if calamity strikes, and you know, he shoots seventy four, like I mean, Holland would be
a great winner. He's he's charismatic, he's fun loving, he's goofy. You can go on Spotify and listen to his heavy metal playlist. You know, he puts it out there for the public. Um. You know, he's in the death metal and all that stuff, like the kids love it. Um. Yeah, so so so so yeah. I mean, Scheffler is so good at golf. I know. So that was interesting because Cam Smith I tweeted us at one point. Watching him hit chips and pitches around these greens is just such
a pleasure. I mean, Michael gave him the old bit confidence that it was like Sevy like and but the rest of his game kind of left him today and he didn't put great and he looked a little overwhelmed by the moment. So I'm never have a thirty six sol leader who goes south on Saturday incomes back on Sunday. You know, mentally you sort of get out of it. It's really really hard to get back in it. I think he's gone. Yeah. I mean we've got yeah. And I mean Kevin Young has played amazing golf, and you
know he's overlooked because he's a rookie. He's never won, but this performance will clinch Rookie of the Year for him. He's clearly got a lot of game. Like. It's a big ass but no one thought Louis Eustism was going to do it. So you never know, um other other guys. I mean he kind of sputtered coming in unfortunately. I mean the thing about the old course, it's so amazing to me is on the last ten holes you have four drivel par fours and you have you have a
par five like it ain't over till it's over. And then of course you have seventeen where Roy was lucky not to make a six today really like, so anything can happen. Um, But I mean, you know, Cebu Kim is the nightmare for all the sports writers because he's so so good at golf and he could do it and that would be a bit of a letdown. I mean, Dustin no, but I can I can never not think about him. Do you remember the President's Cup when they had these people serenading on the first team and they're
they're singing, there's a song. As you know, Michael being a hip hop historian, it's like see shaking head, shaking head. It was the greatest press conference ever. So every time I see it's like I see Woo Kim. So I'm just gonna share that at that press conference, Tiger, he was the only person who was so maybe furic. Yeah, well, that was a wild one, that it was like that it was a classic. But I mean, it just feels
like both Victor Enry have so much firepower. It's hard to imagine that one of them is not going to shoot sixty seven and win this. But I know you disagree. Just I mean, Sheffer driving par fours and coming from behind and nothing to lose and play and loose. H I think, really truly, if it weren't any either of those two, I think it would be Scheffer if I
had to actually bet, we bet Chuffer. But you know, I always say this about Sam Burns and other people and you know who just looked like they could and they should and they might probably won't. But I will say Dustin Johnson with some red ass could be dangerous, like embarrassed, you got humiliated out there missing two footers, topping shots, like if he comes out and just lets it go like he could shoot sixty three. But I don't know, I really think I think nineteen is a
good number. I think the winning scores mean nineteen or twenty at this point, So you'd have to do something crazy if you're not you know, Rory or Victor. But it just feels like this is Rory's open and I hate to say this because we all love it. If he doesn't get this one done, like its where do we go from here? As Rory fans and chroniclers because he's been in every major this year and if he comes, if if he gets skunked, I shuddered even think about it. Yeah, well,
let's see, let's see what happens. It's gonna be exciting. Yeah, Matt, you wrote you mentioned earlier, you wrote up Old Tom
a visit to Old Tom. It was, it was. It's no. I wrote up sort of my week and all the connection points, you know, again going back to the idea that my first week at SI was as the golf photo eder, was Tiger's first tournament as a pro, and then having this kind of emotional send off at St. Andrew's, and then also coupled with the fact that there's so many people here that have connection points, you know, much
like to you guys to my life in golf. Right, So all the different relationships, the Davis says now as the Paul Spanglers, the Mark Mulvoy's, uh, you know, Marty Carr, who's led me into you know, to all these little different moments, and so just kind of a kind of connecting all the dots of my life and professional life through an event like this here one hundred and fifty
at thee because where do we go from here? That that's actually the question that I think as it relates to golf in general, Like, certainly for me, like this is such a huge moment, Like where do we go in the game of golf? Right after this is overcome Tuesday? There's gonna be more. Now, there's gonna be great. And so it almost feels like you're at the end of the of the ice cream cone and it's gonna be You're gonna do you want to ever take that last bite?
Because tomorrow is going to be that last bite and then we're gonna have to see what's next to well, I hope man. At some point the readers of the Firepit Collective dot com will get to read a story by you about your experiences with Tiger at a Sports Illustrated photo shoot in nineteen ninety eight involving not just Tiger, Tiger and Tiger or Tiger and other tigers. Yeah, that's coming for sure. I just if you're listening to this podcast,
you've probably been following our adventures all week long. Let me thank you. Check out Matt story. It's going to post Sunday morning, and it is a lovely kind of first person journey through the golf world and all his adventures and would I would really recommend that highly because we, uh, we've been a lot of places collectively, and it's it's fun to share them. You don't want to hog the experiences,
We want to share them. That that's we're we're the eyes and ears of the fans, like we're here to take them places they can't get to otherwise. So we take that responsibility seriously. There's no other sport that could have the co mingling that this sport has none. There's no other place they could have as much co mingling as this. So just the fact that you know that Matt was with Joe Lacava last night and then we're
telling old Tiger stories at at dinner to night. Well and while we're out here taking this podcast on this balcony, Paul Azinger just wandered out just to take in the view, you know, yeah, like David Fantasy, like it's just golf people come out your years and which leads us to the Rusick's Hotel, which is has been a big sponsor for all things fire Pit Collective this week, So thank you to the Rusick's Hotel for the access to this
these these porches, these decks that overlook the eighteenth Fairway. They've put a lot a ton of money into this place and who everybody's delight. It has changed the accommodation world in Saint Andrews, so highly recommend. We also have to thank Link Soul obviously the clothing company that we all love, and John Ashworth is a part of this story that posts tomorrow. So thanks to John Ashworth and
Links Soul. Seed Golf, the Irish based golf ball company, is a new sponsor to us and looking forward to getting to know them more. Part points our boys Brandy Niebert and Kevin Quinley who have developed that new app on how to Wait, how to Score the Game and again I'm using it for golf with my kids, so high highly recommend. I think this is a lot about the mcloys that they're choosing to stay at this hotel.
The word I heard is I think they are part of the investment team into this hotel, which is and I saw Keith Mitchell today he missed the cut by one. He's up upstairs with his brother and his sister in law and his new wife. As of January, they were having a great time up there overlooking the golf, watching the golf as fans. It was. It was really fun um and the and he said he loves everything about this place. The only thing that is a knock is also part of the reason why it's so much fun
is pace of play. That the drive of part fours and the criss crossing of the routing as back in the back end ends up resulting in six hour rounds. And he said that was the only the only little bruise on this whole this whole event. But on Sunday, on Sunday, we won't have that at all. Uh just to speak connections for one more minute. So we had David Farerty just us inning here. We got friends from Ireland right here as well. Shane and Noel Fleming are in the house and they saw Rory's chip in so
that was nice. And so David Farerty was playing golf with Michael Benn and m Rory mclroy's teacher before Rory was even born. Uh So like you know, speak of connections that you're writing about in your abust tomorrow. Golf is so rich with them. It's it's sexual reporters dream. The whole game is reporters dream, and this week has been a reporter's dream as well. Yeah, well that's well said. And tomorrow it's finale. I feel like we've been in San Enters for a month. That's not a complaint. It's
been It's been a great time. We've all had way too much fun. But you know, it's it's finally Here is what the build up has been all about. We're gonna crown that champion golfer over the year. They're gonna it's gonna it's gonna be memorable no matter what. It could be epic if it's rory. And I know I'm excited. I know you guys are excited. So we'll have one more of these pots tomorrow night and we'll um, we'll have a champion and we'll put a bow on the week.
But any final thoughts where we go, are we going to have no Matt It might just mean yeah, Michael, we'll handle a logistics mark. You just show up and because one thing, Ship and I are good at Yeah, the Butler cabinet. I think you get in the Rusticks Hotel. Well, oftentimes a parking lot for the press as far away. And they have shuttle trust and Michael one year about he would not write shuttlebus the whole year, no matter what,
and he pulled it off. So yeah, this is one of the joys of the job is sneaking around, right, we know that to be true. No. Five, I watched from the RNA clubhouse, so that was a major snake and all required was a blue blazer and a striped tie. Well as as we're looking out at this a dark and fair way. Of course, I go back to twenty eighteen when the open was at Carnous Steve, but we stayed in Saint Andrews because why not. It's so much fun.
And me and Sean Zac went out there and with a couple of clubs and played the eighteenth hole in the dark under the moon. And I don't like to brag, but I didn't make an incredible par and it was it was. It was a great time. So yeah, there's well, we'll see where we can get. Tomorrow night we may be delivering pizza to Rory's room knock, knock, Oh, mister mackelroy, we have your pizza that you ordered. Actually that light bulb moment right there. All right, let's turn the readers.
Oh yes, no, no, that's all. I got Sean mckiel's room service meal that way Sunday night when he won at Rochester. So weird things do happen in other places, but more weird things happen here than anywhere else. Well, one year at the Mercedes Championship, I was staying next to Yester Parnovic and the Ritz Carlton. I just randomly, and the players are so spoiled. Every night they get a gift, and one time they just left it outside of Yespur's door, and this amazing display of chocolates and
sweets and cookies. I stole it and I enjoyed it all week long. And yeah, like I eat like twigs and berries. He wasn't gonna eat it. But anyway, I'm feeling if Rory wins, you guys are gonna have to sneak in anywhere. He will be upstairs at the Russishole Hotel, hanging off the edge, partying and drinking out of declared jug You guys might even drink out of the jug. Yeah, I'll get COVID for Rory's Clare jug for sure. Um, all right, let's let the listeners go. Thank you for
sticking with us. As always, there's a fun time. We'll do this Sunday night, Michael. I'll be writing on Deadline tomorrow, which is always a thrill Sunday night. Game stories and columns are always a blast for us to do. It's the ultimate sort of adrenaline keeps us you at least, Michael. And that's it from the eighteenth hole at the Old Course. Thanks for listening. Put another log on the fire. Nobody hears. Get the time