Phil Mickelson, The Oldest on The Longest.

close to be? Were those these twenty seven teams would be such a special for those two. Nicholson hadn't had a top twenty since August, and yet started the day in the final pairing. My gracious, that was his fifty ft bunker shot at the fifth for birdie and he's gonna like this smoked. And that was his sixty six yard t shot in the par five, which all but

sealed the wind. Biggest moment of the legendary career. Fell defeats Father Time his sixth major championship, and we're all left in disbelief, looking fit, walking slowly, wearing sunglasses, chewing gum, smirking, smiling and engaging throughout the Hall of Famer, made history as the oldest on the longest hoist. Now want to make a trophy for the second time in your career, Phil Mickelson. You have earned it. Jim. It's gonna take some time for a lot of people to have this

one sink in. Well, it has sunk in by now. Phil's career and legacy gets a turbo boost into the top ten of all time. Meanwhile, golf, in the midst of a heater of its own, was dealt yet another straight flush. What was the biggest bomb in the most hellacious seed? You hit that way? Um, well, this is the longest golf course ever played in major championship. The only way you can play well, here's if you hit

bombs and brandle. Before we get to the podcast, I just want to thank our sponsor, Link Soul for leading a lifestyle brand by example. Here's Jeff Cunningham, who founded

Links Soul with his uncle John Ashworth. I always look at it like Minksol existed, you know, throughout time, a long time before us, and it's come through all these club smiths and golf rounds and everything, and the soul of the game really, and it's and it chose John and I to you know, be the gardeners, and and and it really John and I watched it all the time. It it grows and chooses what it needs to do next,

and we just kind of tend to it. It finds the other people in our company that you know, to tend to it as well. Go to links sol dot com and use promo code fire Pit discount on your next purchase. So it was Sunday night, and like the rest of you, the fire Pit Collective was trying to process the situation social media, ESPN and Golf Channel. We're all having a victory lap while we were chasing down Alan Schipnuk our man on the ground who had just

filed his game story for golf Digest dot com. Las Verscias, the newest member of the collective whose backstory was just published on our website, joined us at this pit for a recap of what took place at Keya was ocean course plane of the p g A Championship. What was it like to be there? It was electric, you know,

it was just a phenomenal atmosphere. I think, without a doubt, these are the best crowds of the covid Era at a golf tournament, and there was a feeling in the air like everyone was just almost a giddy just to beat a sporting event around people, a big time events. I mean, golf missed this atmosphere. The last four majors either had no or limited fans and it was just flat. And the crowds brought so much energy, even starting on Thursday,

and then it just built and built. With Phil as we all know, he's the people's favorite, he has been for a long time. And then he had you know, the Brooks pairing was perfect because Brooks wants to be this anti hero and he wants to be the bad guy. And he struts up to the first he like a big swinging dick and he's just he's you could feel that that energy, whereas Phil he looked jumpy, he looked tense. You know, he's working that gum and he's hiding buying

the sunglasses and uh. And of course the first hole, you know, it's the worst case scenario. Film makes a soft bogey. Brooks berries the birdie put two shot, swing fills out of the lead. It's like here we go. And then I mean the first the first five holes were an opera, you know, with the filmmaking mistakes. Looked like he's gonna play himself out of it. Jars that incredible sandshot in the fifth hole to get back in the fight, Brooks looks rattled. It just there was no

easing into this as a spectator. He just these guys hit the ground and going a thousand miles an hour and it was just relentless action and everyone sort of fell away and it looked like it's gonna be a coronation for Phil. Then it got tense again and he started making bogies and just as you said it was there was there was never a sense you could really exhale.

You know, he kind of had the bag on eighteen until all of a sudden he got you know, in the middle of a you know, it was like the running of the bulls at Pamplona, and it was you know, getting jostled around and that dude comes in for selfie. He throws them off. Like it was just up until Phil stroked out birdie on the pl you never knew

what was gonna happen. Like I was, I was waiting for a you know, TV Tower to fall over jungle Bird from Olympic to show up like it was just a sense of anarchy out there was delicious and it was fun and it was emotional, and it was just just an unforgettable tournament. The crowds, in fact breached security,

leaving Kepta claiming his bad knee got quote dinged. It was bad enough for Seth Wat, the p G as CEO, to issue an apology to the players, and it had to be Phil, Like who better too, Who better to bring back the masses to golf than, as you put it, at the people's champion. You know, if Dustin Johnson was

the perfect champion for a patron less Augusta. Frankly, Phil Nicholson kind of had to be the guy to bring back the masses of fans and like almost this ticker tape like scene kind of coming behind him up on eighteen you included Alan, but like very symbolic that he

was carrying that crowd with him. A million thumbs up after a million more thumbs thumbs up, and it felt like watching from home, Um, every heart in South Carolina was beating for him, pulling for him to pull this off, to the point where if he did hit something into a crowd, you kind of half expected it to get thrown out into a good position, which I'm not so

shure didn't happen at one point. But it was incredible and also so poetic that it was Phil Nicholson kind of playing unlike Phil Nicholson that we know, you know, I mean that was yeah, that was that was part of the emotion that was baked into it. It's just it's the most stressful golf course imaginable. I mean, it's just visually intimidating. There there are trap doors and bananappeals everywhere. Yeah, you know, with that that swing that film made on

Saturday kind of just flipped the tournament. You know, he was cruising and all of a sudden that was the dreaded big miss that he brought everyone back into it. And you know he fought hard coming home to to hang in there and avoid any bogies, but you know, made of some loose swings after that. You could see that zapped his confidence and it just let it just there was this dread that was inside of a golf fan because, as he alluded to math, just you know,

Phil has always been a high wire act. Even the best of times, and uh, you know he did. He was definitely performing without a net out there on the Ocean Course because every every bad swing, you know, trouble just lurked. And that just added to the to the tension of the whole thing. You know, Harding Park, you

can hit foul balls and you're still in play. Augusta National, you can, you can, you can play your misses wingfoot say, and you go, You're gonna get down the list of championship courses that there's a penalty for missing the ferry, but it's not you know, near death experience like at the Ocean Course. So that Phil pulled it out on this venue of all venues, just added to the drama

and the sense of disbelief. Crazy to think that. On May eleven, Phil tweeted, quote, I've failed many times in my life and career, and because of this, I've learned a lot. Instead of feeling defeated, countless times, I've used it as fuel to drive me to work harder. So today, join me in accepting our failures. Let's use them to motivate us to work even harder. End quote. That tweet was less than two weeks before this win and three

weeks before his next birthday. Yeah, to do it at age fifty, Like, I can't think of another analogy in sports where somebody's pulled something like this off. And I've been trying to come up with something, and this is pretty surreal. I mean, it's it's hard to imagine that Phil Nicholson has been at the front ranks of the sport for thirty years straight, if not longer. I mean even when you go back to his Amazur career's thirty

five years. He's win USG events, he's winning in c l as, he's winning on the PGA Tours and undergraduate

and everything that's followed. I mean, for sure there was a little dip in form two thousand seventeen and two thousand and twenty, but he was, you know, if he had a couple of top three finishes in the lot a year and a half, you know, w g C in Memphis and at Pebble Beach, and in some ways he's bigger than ever with this how he's embraced social media and become kind of this goofball, like the corny

dad jokes, and he's just he's never gone away. And you know it's I think The only thing that's comfortable is maybe Tom Brady, who's he's not gonna be doing it at fifty, but as long as he's lasted um in obviously a sport that's more physically demanding than golf. But the longevity of Phil is truly incredible. I mean Jack Nicholas obviously had the greatest career of all time, but you know, he was basically had a quarter century and then he faded away. I mean, Phil's outlasted Jack

from just the standpoint of start to finish. When when you're a relevant contender, it's mind boggling. And he's not done yet. I mean, now he's probably played his way under the Ryder Cup. He's uh, you know, he's he's going to Torrey Pines for the US so Open to try and get that a loosive national championship on the course he grew up on in his hometown. He's always

gonna be dangerous at Augusta. Like it just keeps going, Like just when you thought that we were done with Phil, Like you've got five more years of fill in front of us, and I don't thin anybody's could play. And he brings so much energy and star power to the whole thing. To me, he's and he's become the top you know, top ten greatest golfers of all time. And

it came out of it was out of nowhere. Yeah, I mean that that's the amazing thing is he hadn't even contended the Major since two thousand and sixteen when he lost the duel in the in the fog. Then your extensive. But you know this this felt a lot like the two thousand and nineteen Masters, where everything fell into place, you know, and the right guy won. After after Tom Watson had his you know, had his heart crushed at Turnberry, you had to question how benevolent the

golf guard gods really are. But just as Tiger in two thousand nineteen, Phil, today, all the contenders retreated. I mean, no one ever made a run. It feel it just like Noer made run a Tiger and gave him space to kind of treadwater and to go backwards and forwards.

And I mean, really, the last twenty seven holes of this golf tournament fills just hanging on and in some ways, you know, you need an element of luck to win these things, and you got lucky that Brooks didn't have his best stuff that Louis, you know, shrink from the moment that you know, nobody, nobody on the leaderboard did anything of note. I mean son m was at four

under and he disappeared. Uh Patrick Cantlahannah run, He fell back like all these guys who could have spoiled the party just went away and it was just really as the sense that it was meant to be. And I

mean apart from Watson, which was heartbreaking. Like we'll remember, I think it was two thousand and eight that Greg Norman almost won the British Up but also though had the fifty four the lead and then couldn't really control of this golf ball and I think Harrington came snuck up and winted on him, which you know, Harrington played great this week too, which was great to see. But um man, he was in control of that golf ball all throughout the day and it was it was something

to watch. Tom Watson tweeted at Nicholson quote, congrats Phil you old man, well done. The fact is that old dog had new tricks. In two thousand six he panicked and rushed his way to a collapse at Wingfoot. The film we saw on this past Sunday slow, and he savored every step. Don't you feel like just his whole gate and the whole flow of how the day on

unraveled was so unfeeled, Like, yeah, I was. I was standing out in the eighth fairway at Wingfoot, and I never forget the way Phil and Bones marched up to find that errand drive and how quickly they played the second shot, and they felt like this momentum and just things were happening and they were powerless to stop it. And it's really vivid in my in my in my mind's eye. And as you said, you know Phil doing

his visualization. You know, we talked so much about he had to see the shot, and that was part of his problem Saturday. You know, late afternoons he lost that that clarity and he would just stand there and there was a stillness about him and meditative quality. And I think that helped his his breathing, it helped us bio rhythms, and it certainly helped him execute the shots. And you know, they were playing slower, They were a hole behind a

lot of the time. But I think Phil's crafty enough to know there was no chance in hell they were gonna get the slow slow play penalty. It just was not gonna happen. There could have been three holes mine PJ. America is not going to ruin the storybook ending by giving it Phil Nicholson a slow play penalty, like and that that's a crafty move, you know, like Brooks. Brooks is a fast player and he's Auntie out there and

Phil just took a sweet time. I mean, we all can agree that that slow play in general is kind of a scourge of the game. But in this scenario, Phil was going to do his thing and nothing was gonna stop him. And it was kind of like a picture out there controlling the pace of the game, walking around the mound and um, you know, working the red of the rosin bag and all that. And I Phil have that that sense of like I'm going to control this whole thing. I'm gonna slow it down until I'm

ready to go. And I'm sure Joe Brooks a little crazy, but Phil don't care. I mean, he did what he had to do. It could be the evolution of Phil, right, like we we see people and we see the great evolved. Whether you're talking about Jordan's developing the step followay jumper late in his career to kind of extend, you know, to to take some burden off of his body and the beatings he would get. He develops the follow way jumper. Right.

So now Phil employees um meditation, right, and you see him using some of these principles and the breathing before he hits putts and the pace with which he walks like he's not gonna go into He's too smart to go into this and be like, all right, Brooks Kepca, let's go Hagler Herns meet in the middle of the ring and slug it out. Why would he do that with the maybe the biggest puncher in the game. How about I'm gonna play my game here, control the golf ball.

I'm going to play a very cerebral round around this golf course and at a certain cadence and not make it into some kind of you know, slug best with Brooks. And he did what he had to do, and it was beautiful to watch. And he's probably fitter than he's been in five years. He's mentally fitter than maybe he's ever been in his life. He's probably at a place of peace internally where like to your point, Matt earlier, are we looking at one of the top ten players

of all time. I mean, he's not done writing this story. I think there's more to come and and I think he's also going to inspire other people to do things

differently in their careers and in their lives. Like I loved that moment when you know Herring he's walking to the scores tent and players are walking up to congratulate him, and John Ron Bram says, I'm so proud of you and you know, a way to go, Phil, And it's it's the younger players, And all of a sudden he has this moment with Patrick Harrington, two guys that have been through a lot, you know, and and and won a lot of titles, a lot of majors, And I

would have loved to have heard the words they shared right there. Um. I think this is a really important win in the history of the game, not just for Phil but for our generation of players that you know, I mean Streelman out there trying to get things done and it was great to watch and I'm excited for him. Well, to go back to your analogy of the Jordan the fadeaway jumper, the differences, like Phil is now ding the

Gulf equivalent of a three sixty dunk in traffic. The way he's added length and explosiveness to his game, I mean, it seemed a little silly his obsession with the long ball the last few years, but all of a sudden he comes to the Ocean Course, which is the longest Major Championship venue ever, and he overpowered it in a lot of place. Is I mean, look at the sixteenth hole today, which was really do or diet for Phil.

You know, its leads down to two. He's coming off some bogies and he matches a three D sixty six yard drive which is the longest of the day on that whole sets him up for the birdie that really slammed the door. And so uh, he's as you know, as you point out lads, that he does have this this mental game that seems like like a new bag of tricks for him. And he talked about how swing is more solid and repeatable than it's ever been. Work

with Andrew gets in. But this explosiveness that Phil has added after turning fifty, I mean it's aspirational, like you know the I mean Matt Janelle has turned fifty this year, Like it's you know, it's not too far behind for the rest of us. Like, how cool is it to think that you know, your best could be in front of you at anything. Feels always been long, feels always been long. Yeah, no doubt, I mean that was for sure.

But he he was starting to lose that. I mean, he was becoming the middle of the pack three or four years ago and now he's back to being long fifty years old. I mean, it's it's an it's an incredible achievement. And you know, he had a funny line and talking about you know what great physical shape he's in is like someone asked, you know, what did you have to do? What do you have to sacrifice? He said, food.

The guy is a prolific eater. There's a lot of stories out there, and you know, Tiger used to love to make fun of Phil's body, and I've heard some some classic tales of how much the guy could eat, you know, ten in and out burgers at the time and stuff like that. And it's a real sacrifice that that he's made mind, body and soul to put him in position to win this golf tournament. You have to tip your cap to a guy who he's got all the money he's ever gonna need. Presumably he's already the

Hall of Fame. But to pay that price and to sacrifice and give up so much, I mean, it's it's damn impressive. Justin Thomas tweeted, quote, Golf's insane. It's just hitting me. The golf ball has no recollection of how old you are, and players can compete at any age. You just have to work and be willing to sacrifice things others aren't. One day it's great, the next day

it's awful. What a sport I decided to play. I'm just as inspired by his drive to stay relevant as I am his you know, his success, I mean his I just think that he is so accustomed to be This is, you know, decades now of being in the spotlight. And Phil is you know not some guys are not good at being in the spotlight, Like Tiger Woods is not good at being in spotlight. Uh, Phil is very good at being you know, Jack wasn't great at being

in spotlight, certainly not early on. Um and Phil, Arnie, Muhammad Ali, these guys they they they they they live for it, and I think that's a big that's a big motivating factor to fill to do what he needs to do so that he's not just another name you know that starts a tournament. He's a guy who's you know, in contention at the end of the tournament. And uh. He lives for the you know, the camaraderie, the banter, the competition, you know, the fight, and it most often

brings out the best in him. And he got he got close, has gotten close a couple of times. And he said, you know that some good golf was coming. And as we know, if for four days on any given week, a guy can you know, a guy can win a golf tournament. It's just that he's done it a lot more than most. And uh, and he did it again this week at one of the longest, at the longest, at one of the toughest, in bad conditions against one of the you know, one of the true

villains of the modern game. At a crowd coming out of COVID, it was, I mean, this is this is insanity. Yeah, well, you get you've got on something math that's important about Phil and behind the seventy second agree. I'm stand next to John rom and it feels looking over this putt for Birdie, he really doesn't need. Obviously he's got a two stroke lead, and Rob says, if I know one thing about Phil, he really wants to make this putt. And it was just a cute little moment that that

was also instructive. I mean, Phil is a showman and he thrives off the energy of the crowd and he loves the bright lights. And that's part of what's kept in going. You know, as you said, for Tiger, all that was a burden. You know, Tiger would have loved to have played in a vacuum, whereas it feels the opposite. He he's energized and he he really is a ham and obviously it's hurt him a few times. He's taken on some crazy shots and and they've they've blown up.

But I think that's what keeps him engaged is and he just wants to show off. He wants to do things to make people go wow. And that's part of it gets about of Bed, that's what keeps coming back year after year, and all these guys who burn out and fade away, and I like, take take King Louis right, who's we all know is it has this incredible golf game,

but he doesn't want that smoke. I think the last thing he wants to do is win a major championship with all the hassle and all the attention, and you know, saying, like Freddie Couples, there's a million guys who have his as much physical talent as Phil, but they don't live for it like he does, and that that's really a defining factor in in a sport where you have no teammates and you cannot hide and you're all alone between the ropes and uh, you know Phil, just the way

I mean, I was out there four days falling and you know I would falling Tiger for a million majors when the crowd was in such a frenzy, but Tiger diminished it because he had that thousand yards stare. He didn't interact with the fans and he didn't engage with them, and that that kind of mellowed things out. But Phil smiling,

he's laughing, he's the thumbs up. People are making comments, and he's kind of given a little a little nod, you know, the bro nod and um, and that just winds him up more because they feel seen and heard and validated. But that's a choice that Phil makes, like he wants to keep it going. He needs that connection. It's almost a visceral for him, and almost every other player you can think of is the opposite. They don't want their space invaded. They'd rather play in a bubble.

And it gives Phil a huge advantage coming down the stretch of these tournaments when uh, you know, everyone's overserved and sun baked and and the energy is getting a little frenetic. But he can handle it and he can channel it, and I think other guys it puts him out of the comfort zone. But Watson tweeted, Yep, you're still the best lefty in the game. Congrats. You two grew up here. Do you remember him from his kids.

I didn't hear about feel until he got to college, and I remember John Garretty wrote him up in Sports Illustrated, and that was way before I was part of the magazine, and in fact I was. I was talking to Aaron Oberholzer about Phil and he said, yeah, you know, I heard this little buzz about this guy, and I drove to to Stanford to watch him play a tournament and because I was just curious, and you know you it was just driving range talk like that's all that existed

back then. You know, it's hard to imagine a life before the Internet, but you know, it feels old enough that he bringed that gap. And so he whereas you know, Tiger, he won his first US Amateur the same year the Golf Channel launched, and so Tiger has been exhaustively covered his entire life. But Phil got to ease into it a little bit, you know, all through junior golf and even the start of his college career. And so there's a little fundamental difference. And h and how they the

relationship they had with the Spotlight. But yeah, I didn't know about Phil until you got the Arizona State. But had you heard any rumblings, Matt, No, I mean I'm much the same I you know, I covered my sports through Sports Illustrated and ESPN, you know, uh and uh, you know, in college I definitely knew. I mean, you know,

I was Fred Couple's guy. I was Ashworth guy. I was you know, and I remember, you know, I remember Phil with the collars up, and I remember him, you know, being a you know, a notable sports figure before I got to Sports Illustrated, which was and then once I got to Sports Illustrated, it was. You know, I got really hyper focused on the game of golf and started as the photo editor the same week that Tiger started

as a pro. And so I mean that ninety six I started, you know, learning a lot, you know, very quickly about Phil and all that was happening. But I just I just think that, um, I just think this is crazy. This has been such a gift. I think, you know, Beach, I said, what did we possibly you know, do to deserve Tiger in a at Augusta and Phil now winning another major? And you know, for me and my generation to think that we got to witness uh, not only Tiger but Phil and this this idea of

Tiger and Phil. I mean Phil early on became the anti Tiger. Tiger was cheap, Phil over tipped. Tiger wouldn't talk to the press. Phil would give give him an hour and a half. You know, uh this, you know, Tiger shot away from the media. Phil embraced it. Tiger was right, he Phil was lefty. I mean, the whole

thing was has been genius. This has been a it just seemingly master plan by a guy who, uh is is so aware of everything was you know, He's become a cartoon character quite frankly, so today it really felt like we were watching like a Marvel comics come to life. I mean, this was like, oh my god, it's like Iron Man. I mean, he's he's flying around and doing things, you know, in a suit. It was I was like, I mean, I still right now, I can't believe that

this actually happened. Tiger Woods tweeted, truly inspirational to see Phil do it again at fifty years of age. Congrats six exclamation points. My little guys too young to really process what took place because he's for But how many kids talk about grow the game and we can talk blue in our face about first Tea and p G, junior leagues and youth on course and you know, drive Chip and Pott. But you know, at the end of the day, now, the two greatest growth game initiatives in

my generation are Tiger Woods and Phil Nicholson. And Phil just put another supercharge into a game that's already flying on high. Yeah. Well, when you when you talk about the Tiger Phil duo, an important distinction is, you know, Tiger's introvert and fills an extrovert and a lot of flows from that, and Tiger felt like all he had to give the fans was his best and that's all he owed them. And and Phil has always taken it.

You know. Arnold Palmer was his role model that you have to give something back and you have to um, you know that you are working for the fans, and so what when there's there's a story from early in his career where Phil sign autographs and his his PR guy Um t r Hinman, who was then just a reporter, is like, um, He's like, Phil, what are you doing? Man, Like get out of the rain. You know. I was like, Hey,

I'm working here. You know that. That's how he looked at it, like he was going to give his hour a day to sign autographs. And there's some people may think it's phony or calculated, but the bob line is, you know he was giving people what they crave that you could never get from Tiger, that just that little bit of of something and um, so yeah, I mean you could really feel it today like Tiger will always be revered, but Phil is beloved, and it's just different.

There's just there's just a fundamental difference between the two of them, and um, there was just a sense of joy out there, you know, what the Masters with the Tiger one of nineteen was was Catharsis like kind of people needed it. We needed to put a bow on everything that Tiger had been through, from the sex scandal to the d U I UM and they just there needed to be complete that ark and I think there

was a sense of relief that he did it. And with Phil it was it was just it was giddiness and they just they just inspired different emotions and that's okay. I mean there are different characters and that they give us different things, but you could feel a love that that surrounds Phil and it was palpable. Ian Poulter tweeted major respect age is just a number. I remember being

about fourteen the first time I heard his name. There was a playoff to go to what was then called the Optimist Junior World Tournament, and it was that Rich Acres golf course right by it's literally under like one of the runways at Minneapolis Airport now. But the kid that one said to a kid that lost, like, um, yeah, there's there's this kid there named Phil Nicholson. He's really good. And then there's the South African kid that's built like

a dad. Like those two guys kind of kick everybody's ass. And of course it was Phil and Ernie else and so I remember kind of this, you know, and you would see, you know, things in the newspaper about the junior world. And then I remember him in college and I remember him winning, you know, and and it was just amazing to me. And he then kind of became the showman like loved himself, loved being Phil, loved the pop collar, the frat boy hair, the Jick Janis bag

was sweet, I will say that. Um, then he kind of fulfilled, you know. Then you had heartbreak Phil Right, Payne Stewart makes the ft or at Pinehurst, David Tom's Jars, a hole in one at Atlanta Athletic Club, denying Phil of these titles that everyone wanted him to win even back then. You know. Then we get to that run of Winds kind of in the early two thousands, and Matt, I have to tell you, I think he knew he was gonna win when he woke up today. I think

he knew he was gonna win. I sensed that he had to fight that battle to keep down the hero Phil and let the thinking Phil, the breathing fill the meditative Phil step forward today in those conditions and get it done. I think he knew he could do that, and I think he knew he was gonna win. Well,

it's possible, I think. I think the other thing is is I think these tools he worked on to his credit, physical shape, mental shape, you know, going through a routine, because it was very different than than what we've seen of his past. This was a different This is a different guy today and and you've got to give him a lot of credit for you know, the self evolution and to get him to a place where he could

do what he did today. Even those sunglasses he's wearing, and I use this line in my story, but it's a little bit like you know, hiding behind the tinted windows of a limbousine, like there's it just creates a barrier between him and the fans. And even though as we're talking about earlier, there's that connection, I think it just gave him a little shield where it helped them focus. And you know, the tools that you're talking about run really deep. I mean, people don't know this about Phil

but he's really into numerology and astrology. And I think, as you saying, like he he felt it was in the stars for him to do this at some point, I think that that was sort of his guiding light and in some ways like he felt it had to happen, that there was an element of destiny and and he fulfilled it. Here. Fantastic golf this week in Tiua. It's played great. He didn't make any dumb mistakes, which is, you know, the whole key of winning a major championship.

You played the golf person dangerous as it is, he played it very very well. My congratulations to you. And you know, there's something something, sir, strikes me that fifty years old was older than forty six. Well done, my friend. Let's go many more. Good luck. You know, Jack Nicholas

Tiger Woods, Walter Hagen has eleven majors. Hogan has nine majors, Gary Player has nine majors, Watson has eight, Palmer has seven, Snead has seven, sarahsn has seven, Bobby Jones has seven, Harry Vardon has seven, followed Ope, Michelson and Trevino have six. I mean, so top ten players of all time for me. You know, God love Harry. Harry Vardon awesome, but feels above that. I think feels above Follodo now feels above

Lee Trevino. So I mean, now you're Sarazan, Sneed, Palmer, Watson, Player, Ogan, Hagen, Woods, Nicholas. I mean now for me that he's in the top ten, Now that's where he that's where he is, that's uh, you know, that's where he belonged. Yeah, and tollas his point, I mean, Walter Hagen can't taking anything away from that guy. What a character or what a player. But you know, did you do it for thirty years against stock competition,

against athletes that were fully optimized from Bobby Jones? Is awesome? Great? You know, uh retired at a young age. You know, could have done more. But this is the this is the modern era of sports golf. I mean, you know, first Tiger Woods and over the way Bernie Els and Fred Couples and Davis Love and Colin you know, I mean multiple tours global, you know Seene, I mean, to

give me a break, he's in. It might be in the top five, but like and then you know, then like the heartbreak, right like Payne Stewart at Pinehurst, David Toms, like the close six second places in US Open, six second place, you know that's That's one thing that we don't give Nicholas enough credit for that, the number of second place finishes he has. But Phil man, you know, and I think maybe that is what has endeared him so much to people. He's the beautiful loser, right and

and but he's also the winner. He's the loser and the winner does both rights. He's everything we love in this country, right. He's the guy that comes so close and then finally makes it. And he's a showman, right. He's not a robot. He's not the soulless assassin that is coming to take you out. He is a sportsman. He is a showman. He is the people's champion. He is the most gregarious athlete that this sport has seen

since Arnold Palmer. I would say, oh, by the way he's played, He's played on every team event going back to how far out, and he might he might be a part of this Ryder Cup at Whistling Straights. I asked you Stricker that on Friday, you know, is Phil you know in under consideration Now he's like, oh jeez, I don't know, because I mean, how much weight can

you put on one week out of five years? But as the point Sterricker made is that the Ocean course has plays very similar to Whistling Straits and that this one week carries a lot of weight and if you want guys who can you can handle the heat. I mean, of course, the contradiction with Philly. He doesn't have a great Ryder Cup record, but he's the heart and soul of the American side in a lot of ways. I think I don't think Sez Trick has the stones and

not to pick um. Hopefully he'll use him judiciously, and but uh yeah, it's I mean, I don't I don't know how we wrapped this up other than to say that what a great champion and we are lucky to be golf fans and chroniclers during the mix sneer because he made it fun. He just made it fun with more than anything. You brought a certain levity to it. And you you know, as Lass was saying, the rarest commodity in sports as class, and Phil in victory defeat

as exuded class. And he's just been He's livens up every room he's in and I'm grateful to have had him through the thick and the theme of the Tiger, and he's still going. I mean, he's just a live wire. He's just fun. Uh. That's that's how I think about Phil. Tom Brady tweeted, that's my quarterback. LF. Gee, let's fucking go to which Phil tweeted, we have some unfinished business.

Let's get another match and find a pair to give a beat down before we get to final thoughts on the impact a win like this could have on something like the Premier Golf League and or the Super Golf League. I just want to say thank you for listening and show some appreciation for our partners at part points who have developed an app that changes the way we score the game. Here's Alan Schipluck on why this app has

piqued our interest. I mean, when you think about the game as long as it's been around, the best thing you could come up with as an alternate scoring system with a stable for and that's it. I just you know, when basketball you can play horse, you can yeah, you have three pointers, you have two pointers, you have one pointers, like yeah. Like the golf is so static. There's just

not a lot of different ways to compete. So I love the idea of just introducing a new format because they're so rare in this sport, download part points and go make par It's a good time to be getting old. Is it a good time for the Is this? Is this a good thing for the PGLZ Now? I think this drives a stake through its heart because, like Lee Westwood said, yeah, I would do it. You know, I'm forty years old and they're gonna offer me this money.

I can't. I can't make the money anymore realistic. Phil just earn himself another quarter billion dollars, you know, with all the endorsements and all the ancillary income, like he needs Saudi Arabia and and that whole scene less than he did two days ago. Like he's gonna make so much money off this win, endorsements and everything else. It's like, does he want to have to spend twelve or fourteen weeks a year in the Middle East? Nah? He's good.

I mean, um, I think his you know, his, he just cemented his place in the marketplace for you know, until he until he takes his last breath. So I think feels good.