2017 U.S. Open Preview

I miss the green.

For example, I'm already upset.

When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. And when I find my ball in a fried egg, Friday Egg, the.

Dreaded Friday Egg, Frida Egg, Frida Egg.

Bride egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the course.

All Right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another edition of the Friday Egg Podcast, and we have our three man weave back. Unfortunately, Tron Carter is out. The Spicy curmudgeon Ate some bad meat or something tonight had to bow out late. So we've got a, you know, a much better replacement. We have sp Nations Brendan Poor Wrath and then also uh scratches, DJ Paiowski.

Welcome on, Hey man, it's up. I wouldn't uh wouldn't. It's an honor to be here. I wouldn't claim that I can fill in the take shoes of one Tron Carter.

Though it's not a lot of people in the corners of the Internet saying Tron might be suffering low tea right now.

Low Takes had to do a big week.

It's it's kind of upsetting to hear needed to issue a statement to see what's going on?

You know, since since the flip flopping, the fatoa lifting, and then the flat fatah placing on coucher, he just seems to be a lost man.

He just he needs to start seeing some putts good. I think, just kind of get his get his feedback under him.

He uh, he was telling me he's kind of been bogged down with real world stuff. But uh, he did find time to parachute in and give his take on the Niked Blade collar lineup for the week, which I appreciated. Like I just couldn't go, couldn't go untaped, you know.

Andy can I can?

I just say I'm excited and a little nervous to eventually find out what kind of hackers are listening to this podcast as we record it, to see who's gonna who's gonna infiltrate me next?

You know, it's it's been a bad, bad week for the pod, bad ten days. I apologize to all the listeners. Uh, you know, we're having a little internal issue here. I use squarespace and they have no clue what's going on, but I keep getting infiltrated by other squarespace customers.

The leakers are the real story here.

Internal issue.

So after today, you know, I know how to fix it now, but today's I mean, I I rarely get got very upset with people, but I was quite. I sent a strongly worded email to squares Space, who doesn't have a helpline. Otherwise I would have been on that line with giving some choice words to the to the support people over there. But yeah, sorry, Well hopefully we'll have it all strained out here. I think I think they're they're working on it. They've escalated the situation.

But.

Infiltrating my golf takes, you know, on the.

Better things, you know, as a Bulls fan, I sit here and you know, I just wonder how how cavstans are doing. What's up with Caves foro ref all.

We're doing fine. I mean, it's a crooked Warriors team atting, you know, tipping the balance in just kind of a dishonest way, and it is what it is.

You know.

We we have our championship after fifty two years. I can't complain we ruined their attempt at sixteen and now and I saw Sean Martin just tweeted something about it. The Warriors, add in Durant is like Rory Payne money to play from the white teas from the forward teas, which is a take I didn't know Martin had in it, but I think Rory is like, you know, too much credit because we would have wiped the Warriors out and

It's, uh, it'll be an interesting offseason, see what happens, I think, and then it's going to be a bad thing for the NBA. It's gonna I listened to a really interesting Howard Back Zach Low podcast about how yeah, you know it's gonna hurt at the local ratings, and I know, I'm like, I'm a huge Bulls fan. I'm less interested because we have absolutely no chance of competing.

Yeah, it wasn't It wasn't fun. I mean, I mean, I think that's like a legit not hot take. You know that there is that's a legitimate concern.

So all right, So DJ listening in Jack's you know, not much, not much.

I've been kind of bouncing around a lot.

We've been shooting a series, a travel series for AVIS. So I was out in Denver with Shane Bacon and hashtag Chad, a couple of friends of the pod shooting some golf travel stuff, and then was in New Orleans last week with Bacon and the take Smith Sean Martin. So I actually haven't seen I haven't seen much of Jack's recently, but back, glad to be back.

It's steamy. Play a little golf today.

It was it's nice and sweaty out there, and yeah, it's significantly warmed up since you guys were here.

It's just beautiful in Chicago. My my depressing low energy vibes are gone. You know, it's but you know, speaking of Midwest, you know weather good segue south. Then Aaron Hills, just just a couple of hours north of me. Got a little rain yesterday and I think a little bit more rain on the way tomorrow. But here in the course is handling the rain really well. What are you guys most excited about for the week?

Pretty goodhead, Yeah, I mean I think just seeing seeing a new venue. Like you said, all the natural land movement, I think is the term you used, and I've heard quite often watching all the coverage. I think it's always interesting to see a new venue and the drama that surrounds the US Open. I think sometimes it can get a little tedious to watch it, which I thought, you know, and follow it because it is like, you know, just

They finally hit like the right formula and kind of the best of a lot of these different things.

I think it's like a you know, a unique golf course.

It's not necessarily like they're playing it on a you know, real lynksy place, but it's it's got a lot of those kinds of vibes, but with a lot of kind of this softish American kind of style of golf. I don't know, it just feels really like, it feels like there's a lot of kind of converging trends that really, like you know, have all kind of met up into this same place this week, which which I'm into.

Since both of you guys like yelling and I mean, I think we got to dive right into fescue Gate twenty seventeen. I mean, I have never seen Grass talks so much about then.

I think it's one of those I think it's one of those things where it's just a really easy like argument to understand, Like the rough was there and then they cut it down, and so it's like easy for people to talk about and like get really worked up about. But you know, I know, Andy, we were talking earlier today, like they only cut it on what four holes.

I mean, I just devoted a whole reporter to it, just following around the mowers and then saying, rip to the fescue. It's like, are they cut? Like they cut like probably two percent of the total fescue on the golf course or maybe even less, maybe one percent.

I love it. That's what the US US Opens for. It's just like getting worked up. I wrote something today. I was like the USGA, the USJA mowed the lawn and everyone lost their minds. Basically. You know, it's like we talked about grass and like you know, at Pioneers are talking about wire grass and native sandy areas, like all these terms of art that you just never hear the other fifty one weeks of the year. You hear a million times during the US Open week and people

I mean, the the overspray drama with Shackleford and like every super intendent way and I mean, it's just been unbelievable. I will say, you know, I did hear some some different uh some players on Sunday. I was walking around up there and they were complaining about how thick it was in certain spots.

But I mean, what do you so let's get to it then, like, what is it too thick if the fairways are sixty yards like Rory is saying, what's.

Here's my issue with it is that, like in championship golf, I believe that the further you miss, the more you

That makes sense, and I think that, you know, from everything I've read, I mean, that kind of sounds like it was a mistake if that was the case, right, like like that they didn't really want that to be that way anyways, kind of the way that that turned out.

If that's why they.

Were kind of knocking it down, I think then that's a good move for for what they're doing. I mean, I think that makes sense, but I don't think that they would. I don't think they've changed it because people were complaining or anything like that. I mean, I was pretty checked out of Twitter today, but I'm guessing that some people had that take.

Oh everyone, everyone had that take. Brandal Brandell was on like the coverage tonight saying like, nah, basically.

Cause this, you know, saying it was.

All you know, Kevin Naz like deserves a byline for this championship from here on out. It's like I couldn't believe it. I mean, I think it was only four holes, but it is like dramatic to see them just wholesale changing the course and hauling away these like truckloads of grass.

Well, so, Andy, what do you so? What do you think?

So go into your favorite two words with an angles. You know, when they're moving these pins around and like you're making you know, you're making one side of the fairway so much more of a premium than the other, you know, how to how does that make you feel? Like? I kind of feel like if you're if you're really trying to hit the left side of the fairway to get a good birdie chance, bringing that gnarly ass fescue into play is like kind of awesome.

Oh yeah, it's totally odd. I think, like you can need to be, but there's enough width at this course. And then the other thing is the natural land movement. I mean, so like there will be sides of fairways that have like severe undulation and other sides that are you know, flatter, so you'll have this risk where one side of the fairway isn't necessarily right and the greens are really big. So you've got these massive greens where

And then the flexibility you're talking about kind of reminds me of another Midwest of course, rich Harvis Farms.

Yes, yes, there are many T boxes there. There's someone I found, you know, one thing I held back on, you know, I made a truce at then, I mean at the end to stop on that golf course. I found an abandoned T shot a T box and I couldn't figure out where it went, and I took a picture that I haven't ever hosted it. So on the you know, of course, with some wan strategy and options.

So do you think do you think those options get you know, sometimes the us GA tries to get like a little too cute out thanks themselves. Do you think there's too many options to get in trouble?

Well, I mean I think this is what you what you described at the beginning of the the podcast as the beauty of the US open like watching the u U s G a like fumble like different things and everybody overreact to everything I do. So this course should set up quite well for that.

I mean, but by and large, you know this rescue Gate aside, like I don't think we've seen this is an annual thing, like whether it was I don't know. I was looking to day at his like some of the past posts I've done, like Lee McCoy, like dribbling his ball down the fairway at Chambers Bay.

Remember it was like.

And like h Graan mcdal finding like fake clumps of grass and the like native areas that Native areas that Pinehurst and fourteen. It's like fake news, fake grass. It's these big, like huge clumps like and just picked it up like it was like a hairball. There's just like always this social media outroar and if like the worst we get is like Kevin nah yelling into his phone, like that's not that bad because this video is better Nah or.

Westwoods, They're both good. I thought not I'm team Nah.

I just loved how you the last thing you expected was somebody to crawl out of thee.

Maybe the best the best way I heard this put, I think was your boy Michael Clayton was talking about it, and like it kind of reminds me of the par argument and the fact that par Is kind of just a number that people.

Freak out about.

But if if this fescue was a water hazard, like literally nobody would even think twice about it.

Or mention it, And just the fact that it's not is, like, you know, just makes everybody lose your mind. Yeah, Rory said that today.

It's like if they put you know, red steaks and red lines up the side of it, like they wouldn't, we wouldn't be getting Instagram videos about it, right.

Yeah.

Hey, you know, if golfers like they're gonna complain about something, because most of them have so much confidence that like nothing is ever their fault that goes wrong on the golf course. So you know, that's part of why they're the best in the world is that they never hit a bad shots. You know, the USGA stand fault that the rescue was there.

Doesn't that mess you up? Like the whole week though, Like that's what you're focusing on going into the week.

Oh yeah, yeah, that couldn't have helped Kevin Na's preparation that, like, all of a sudden, he's in these headlines.

I also think that that was mostly a joke, you know, and it probably just got completely best construed, as things often do in society today.

So Kevin Nah as like analogy for all that's wrong with society.

I like it, you know. Yeah, So where do where do you think?

Like I was watching some of like The Flyovers and Noblo and stuff like that, and I heard like Baba drove number two. That sounds like a cool hole. Just seems like there are a lot of options going on. Where do you think it could get away from him? Seems like nine. I'm intrigued by that, Like weg shot, if it could get a little crazy.

Nine nine could be like a double or a six. You know, somebody can make big numbers there. The par five fourteenth and then the par four fifteenth could be big swings. Like I think the fourteenth is like a longer par five. If for the long hitters. It's a really tough driving hole if you want hit driver, because there's some bunkers that shrink the fairway and there's a center line bunker which I love, and it makes you know two small fairways, and then you know there's like

Yeah, it sounds like I was watching some highlights of the AM like can't lay I guess blew it, Like you hit an eight iron off the one with tea into like a well. I think that's central one of the bunkers in the middle of the faraway Like it's sometimes laying up or you know, taking being safe off the tee can get you in trouble, like he hit an eight iron some ridiculous distance that carried into this faraway longer.

Yeah, that hole that whole like fairway runs really hard to the right right end to fest too, so like you can hit a good shot like I was talking to a player who said, oh, you can hit a really good shot here and it could still go in the fescue.

I think, uh you should.

I think you were talking about it in uh maybe your preview thing. But I think one of the things I'm most excited about too. It just is all the bunkering and the fact that like there's basically no flat lies out there, and a lot of these bunkers how there's so much slow inside the bunker, which is awesome.

I love that.

I love watching guys hit like weird crouching kind of like uncomfortable shots above their feet, shots below their feet, like that's that's the best, and then just seeing how close they put it most of the time, Like that's awesome.

Yeah, there's like like a bunker, you know, like I've never seen where like you could visibly see like a like almost like when you see like a big hump or a roll in a green, you could see that he's in bunkers. So like in the middle of a bunker there's sometimes like a uphill and downhill undulation right in the middle of it, so so that that's kind

Can I ask you would you rather? Would you rather get a ton of rain? Uh and not have it played firm and fast or have Phil play.

Either? Or I'd rather have philm play.

I mean that's you love furm and fast though?

Oh no, no, I'd rather have firm and fast. I thought the question was, like I could Oh I misunderstood the question. I thought it was it was it was going to rain or Phil was going to play, and it was one or the other.

Yeah, no, it's the same thing.

I'm just an idiot. See, it was a very complex question, far too much for my brain to understand. I'd rather have it be firm and fast than Phil play. Yeah, I mean, I get lit up about this, but it just gives Ernie, my boy Ernie, another chance to catch Phil on the Career Majors List.

No, but what you were saying is I found it interesting reading your like primer of the course. Basically it seemed like a voice in the wilderness all alone, talking about how you didn't necessarily think, you know, like everyone keeps saying Bomber's Paradise, long hitter, long, hitter long, You were more of like, hey, like the uneven lies might make this more like. It might be more of like the best approach game is that people who went in the short and stray guys can still hang.

I think I think, like any US Open, you have to hit the ball really well to win. Like almost any golf tournament, you have to hit the ball well to win. I think what you'll see is like I would look at guys that are high on strokes gained that aren't necessarily long, you know, like Bubba's always in the top five because he just hits it so far. But find guys that drive it really well, who are also really good iron players, because you see it at at at Augusta, you know, like Speed plays so well

Will go up.

But if it doesn't blow, you know, like early morning rounds are gonna you know, the draw. It's going to play more like a a British Open where you know, a or an Open championship where the draw could be a legitimate factor.

That's what I think I was saying at first, is like it's kind of this like confluence of all these factors that are like the best parts of all the other majors almost, and it seems like we're going to get like a lot of them this week all in one, which is really cool.

Yes, Speed said that exact thing. That is Kapalua, the home of ralph Press conference. At the top of the year. He's like, I succeed that Augusta. I succeed at the Plantation Course, I think, because you know, I think a lot of the modern players, the guys coming up don't really hit it as well off different eyes and on even terrain as well as I did, which is weird for a Texas player to say, you think, But yeah, he said that at the top of the year, so maybe maybe he's the guy to go for this week.

I'm going to slide in and take the speed pick first, says it.

I put it in that course, thoughts. I just I put a gift of speech just so the uh the I think that that's like the one of the best design tricks of how to really create difficulty for the great player without you know, stretching out the average player.

What other courses are like that? Besides those? Those two come to mind, But.

I'm just William Flynn did a lot on his courses, So Cherry Hills, there's a course I played of his rolling Green that like, you're never hitting off an even lie and it always seems to be like a fade lie hit into a draw green and it just drives you, drives you nuts. But what it does is it really separates the great ball strikers. So I'm you know, sitting there hitting high fans into draw pins and grind him

I mean I think that, like I think Speef is the guy in my head. But of course that I'm saying that, as you know, Dustin Johnson's the number one player in the world, who looks pretty much unbeatable every time he is teed it up over the past year or so here. But I mean, I think speF is the guy that, like, in my mind, I think when I was watching him in twenty fifteen or even before that, probably like kind of when he was a rookie.

I mean, it's easy to get sucked into.

The narrative of kind of like, oh, he's just he makes every putt and blah blah blah. And like I think when you get sucked into that, you kind of start to think, like, Okay, well that's gonna that's going to dry up eventually, and like he's gonna he's gonna

But you know, I don't know. I think just the fact that he's got what.

Ten years on Dustin Johnson nine years something like that is the fact that makes me lean towards him. But I think I'm just like freakish, you know, talent of like being able to just kind of take over for a decade, like Dustin's the guy that has the tools to do that. But I don't know, it's kind of a rambling answer.

I think.

I mean he's got he's got or Bryson, the i A, the Changelo, He's definitely it's the most airtime about it. I think, you know, he's at zero right now, but doesn't rom got to be thrown into this from what we've seen so far with like you know, like DJ was just talking about different styles. He handled himself fine a colonial or whether it's you know, Austin or Toy. It kind of doesn't matter where he plays, putting, driving, you know, iron game. It seems to be pretty solid through the bag.

You know.

I just it's kind of I think like he's someone if you're Rory. He might be, you know, thinking like that's the guy for the next era. It's hard to argue with DJ Dustin Johnson that is being I think the most immediate threat. But there's that age thing, like he just seems DJ seems like the guy who could win, you know, a Major every year for four straight years, you know, elite get one a year, and but I think like rom is the kind of the biggest threat right now.

He would he would he would scare.

Me if I was looking for a guy thrown Rory so to speak, Mm.

Hmm, yeah. I mean, now that you've touched into ram, so do you do you put him as you know, the next first time major. I mean, even though I asked this really because a Japanese reporter set in that press room all day and asked the same question to every player, you know, asking if the deck he could win this week, all of them said yes. I love that.

I love that.

The question was always do you think the number four player in the world could win this week? It's not like newanced thing, It's just like can he win? Is he okay at golf?

He's not.

I wish I wish that golf would get some sort of like performance artist up there that would just like basically lean into all this stuff and kind of have like a handshake agreement with every other player that like just so you know, like I'm just messing with you guys. I'm just kind of spewing this off. But like when somebody asked that question, do you think he can win?

Just say, you know, no, I don't. I don't think he has what it takes. I think he's destined for just a life of just miserable shortcoming next question. But until that day comes, I.

Guess we'll have to keep suffering the same, the same pointless hypotheticals.

The monotony. It's the whole SIS conference thing needs a major shakeup. I'm so loud. It was.

Like I parked on the cosh today and just watched the whole cycle. I was having a field day with it. I'm very kind of like deep in the game, just know who's asking the questions and kind of having fun with the the bias and fake news angles of some of these guys are thrown out there.

It's pretty pretty interesting.

You had the Japanese woman asking about if Deki could win, and then you had another guy asking about Wisconsin culture every single time, like, tell me about what you think about Wisconsin people, you know, and it's just you're all just writing a story and getting these quotes for this story.

It's like that's that's the bad part, is having the story ninety percent written and just saying like, Okay, cool, I just need some quotes I can plug into these holes.

It's like, I mean that's I don't know.

I guess that's how you get to do it on the deadline. I know a lot of times, but like it's just that's how you wind up with these like milk toasts kind of, you know.

Asking Rory about Wisconsin, he's like, I don't know. It's a state and I've been here a couple of times to play golf, Like I can't what insight can you?

Actually?

People are nice? Yeah, it's like you know, I think you know with the NDA, how they have like a ref score, you know, and and people get graded on there, Like I think that should be the same way for media. Yeah, dumb question out.

My favorite. I was watching Adam's God.

I think somebody from the Australian Press, I don't know who, like asked him, like, you know, said he was almost he'd be almost unbeatable, right, He's let's just let him right into it, because like if you make a couple of putts, you're almost unbeatable, right, So what Scott's supposed to say, like, yes, I am unbeatable. I don't know, you know, it's just you know, pretty leading question.

It's uh, well, before we got sidetracked.

Yeah, we're talking. We're talking about Ron Yo.

Let's say, next guy, who do you guys think next guy to win a major of this of this young crap. I'm gonna leave my boy Westy, who's going to get it done this week out of it. But everybody out at the you know, the younger guys who's going to get it done first? You know, jt Ricky Rahm Hadki.

Stricker said, you said short straight hitters this week. It's good short games.

That's true.

I'm sticking with the ram just I know that's like we just went over it. But he seems like the most unburdened by things. I don't know, if it's like just you know, culture change, he doesn't you know, it seems he seems pretty embedded in American culture. I should say, but like I don't know it just this is kind of just looking at intangibles and you know, trying to

Yeah, I think I agree.

I think my power rankings I think would be like rom Ricky Matsuyama, I think, and Matsuyama last, just because I don't know, I don't know, Maybe maybe I keep I keep riding my I uh uh. J T and Jimmy Walker have the same game narrative, which you think is a bad take.

So horrible they couldn't like Jimmy Walker is the guy that like grind his way to PGA tour at age thirty two, and.

They have the same art, they have the same twenty one.

This is what happens when all my takes get bastardized because you're not listening to what Web's saying. Uh so, but massa young I think the knock on him is always his putting, and like you know, if he puts, he's one of those guys that like can finish first or second with kind of negative stroke skin putting has happened a couple of times, and like, I don't know, I mean, I think these majors just like completely exposed that in every way.

So I think him winning you know, Phoenix is a lot different than him winning at Aaron Hills feels.

Like that's that's a good point.

Uh, how's at first? Okay, take who's your guy? Andy, I'm just checking from the cheap seats.

I'm all in on the I'm all in on the thumb long term. That's John Rahm for those of you.

No, no, no, no, the initiated, But.

I'd say i'd say rom for like the long term arc. I think I kinda I kind of like Ricky even I'm not I'm not a huge Ricky fanboy, but I just love the way he's playing this year. Like the thing that he's done so well this year is putt. And I know everybody says putting doesn't matter, but he's having like the best year of his career, and he's like top five or ten in strokes game putting after being fortieth or something like that the year before. And

Like he's you can't like people are like, yeah, by any of these guys.

I had somebody chirping at me about not having rom in my sleepers article.

And I'm like, I like, the number nine player in the world, Can we talk about another sleeper?

Real quick? Rory, No, No, just real quick, So.

Like you're talking about how he's been stuck or whatever. On five, Chambly was also saying before I came over here to this pod that like, this is his best opportunity to win since like the fifteen Open at St. Andrews, which you know he didn't play because of that kick About what what do you do you think, like obviously Quil Hall is going to be a big opportunity, Like do you think he's like gotta do this this week

What do you think, DJ, I don't know.

I mean I think it's his.

I don't know expectations. I mean, like the cliche is going to be the expectation is to win every week. But like at the same time, he hasn't played what in like six weeks because he's been hurt. I mean, I don't I don't think he's going to be like win or die this week. I don't think by any stretch.

This is crazy?

But like eventually that has to it has to kind of feel like you've never done it before, after after so long. I mean, if he gets to you know, if he gets to the twenty nineteen US Open or whatever and he hasn't won a you know, he hasn't real I guess it'd be the PGA at twenty nineteen PGA and he hasn't won in five years.

I'm just a long time so yeah, I don't know.

I mean, I think I do think he'll he'll get one of these before then, but I think he doesn't. Like, Yeah, I think what you're saying is is got to be a factor that like it's got to kind of start to creep in.

I think I think the other thing that goes unnoticed, it doesn't get talked about that much, is like how much better the depth of talent is now than when it was like even three years ago. Jordan Speth was, you know, just getting started, Like Dustin Johnson wasn't this Dustin Johnson, Jason Day wasn't this Jason Daydecu Massuyama wasn't here. And you still have Adam Scott, Sergio, all these guys playing at a high level Westwood. All right, that's the

Well, we'll go back to like I mean, who was the last kind of like quote unquote dud major winner.

It's just like it just doesn't happen, Like it's.

Not like Danni willis just playing.

Yeah, but I mean he was still like number fifteen in the world or something like that when he won. I mean he's he's super good. Yeah, Like like I get what you're saying, but like, you know, when was the last Like I'm trying to think, you know, Darren Clark is not like swooping in and winning another major right now, or anybody or like you know who who else kind of before that.

I mean even.

I don't know, I'm just trying to think. I mean, I know, we went through a stretch where it was kind of like it was Kegan and it was Web and it was some of these guys that like kind of looked like they would be around forever, and you know, it just pans out that like Daupher was in there.

Yeah, he's got a good shot this week actually though, Yeah.

I think so too.

But the point being, like for any of those guys to win outside the top ten, now, I mean this is like the most obvious statement.

Ever, but like for any of those guys to win, I mean, you've got.

To be This goes into a whole other thing that like you can kind of extrapolate out on the whole Tiger thing as.

Well, es, but she didn't think we're gonna bring him up, but.

You can you can bring out with Tiger Too's like in order for like anybody who says like, oh, I think he can get it back and he can win a major, It's like, Okay, cool, that sounds great, but just FYI like he's got to be Ricky and Dustin and Jason Day and Rom and Rory and Spieth and Adam.

Scott and Justin Rose like all of these guys like on the same week. Like it's just so crazy to think about it like that.

I think. I think that this brings up, you know, so you have your young guys that are trying to get there first, and then you've got this this kind of class class as superstar that are kind of you know that somewhat have separated themselves just because of this one major, you know, where you have you know, In Speith has two, but all these other guys have one but have shown, like I think DJ, Spith, Day and Rory, those four have shown that they can dominate golf for

I mean, Adam Scott's like the main one that sticks out.

I feel like, I mean, Sergio is probably a pretty easy answer there. I mean, I just I think he's still.

Like on you know, doesn't feel like that was like five years ago that he won the Masters. Yeah I wrote that.

I actually wrote that today. I was like, it feels like, yeah, five years ago.

I don't know if I've ever seen like a Masters champion seemingly fly under the radar.

Yeah yeah, right, especially like a better fitting golf course.

Right Uneven lies like it's like is made, Like that's a guy that if you look at strokes game driving, you know he can rip it far. But for the most part he's such a great driver that he has the ball on the string. You know, he might not miss a fair away for you know, he could probably go twenty seven holes without missing a fair away out here, which is interesting. But you know it's because Steve Stricker is eating up all the headlines.

I'll he plays well this week. It would be so fun.

I'm kind of on team knee Burgie this week.

I wanted to I wanted to ask you that.

Just kind of there's like a pretty strong am crop here this week between whatever Dalkey and Big Hag and slender McNeely and I don't know, I heard this knee burg He is like, you know, knows the course better than everybody anybody else. It sounds like it want to play there. So it seems like you think Ams could I don't know, not win it. But he seems like there's a lot of firepower.

He was like the last group at the end. Yeah, is a pro. Yeah right, he's on McKenzie Tour.

Yeah, he won and the McKenzie Tour two weeks ago and then uh or no, he came a second to McCoy when he won. But yeah, he came in six and he could I mean, he could play well, you know, you never know, but I mean he was a two time Walker cover. But the the ams are incredible. Joaque Neeman, this kid from Chilly, he's the new number one in

News.

Yeah, I'm not sure if it's been reported, but give.

A message board war. Yeah, textagg or Bloods.

Podcast is gonna get tons of hits at minute forty or whatever it is. But he all of a.

Sudden, all of a sudden, your account's going to be hacked by Big Aggie.

To take a break from the Tom Herban recruiting trail to got many.

Kyle Porter might be you know, diving in from Oklahoma state. You know there might be some golf fans on there and Sooner Nation, just they're not in Calvoy Nation coming at me. But he uh the thing about Champ he murders the ball like he hits it forever. So that's a that's a guy that you know, one day somebody will see how far he hits it and it'll go viral on on Twitter. You know, sure he hit it three hundred and eighty yards.

Speaking of which, just slip in and mentioned that I'm going to get your reaction to your boy Tom Peters this week, heard his name bandied about a little bit.

You know, he didn't. He just didn't come. I don't know why. I just didn't didn't get on him this week. Pauli's been giving me a lot of ship about not being being banging the Thomas Peters drum, and I don't know why I'm not. He's a great, great driver, hits it forever and awesome with iron.

So yeah, I mean, but who's who's gonna be lower running this week?

Corrupted by the Blake collar mafia.

Though fortunately that could be you know, he might have gotten too mainstream for me, That's true, lower LINI it's going to be Peters. I think there's only two right, Stricker and him probably. I think you know what bugs me about Stricker? I like the guy. I love him. He went to Times.

Somebody goes off on this guy. He went to do it well.

He went to Illinois. But every time you see him in pictures he's wearing like Wisconsin gear. It's like, what the hell, man, you didn't go to Wisconsin. You went to Illinois. The regular.

It's very Zach Johnson move. He ain't good, didn't good to Iowa. I h side note.

I did a radio interview with a with an Iowa radio station today like just we're hitting the usual, you know, DJ Speed, you know all this stuff, Rory, how's everybody gonna do? And they sign off and they asked me, like about Zack Johnson, how he how he's been like struggling. Why we think he's struggling it? And with this new equipment. I was like, man, I don't have notes on Zach Johnson.

All right, back to your strict beat.

But no, that's it, that's it. But yeah, then Illinois will be playing Wisconsin and he's wearing like Wisconsin stuff and you're like, what.

The hell, dude, Yeah, let's crooked something that wait to take a stay and take a stand stand up to strigger.

All right, let's get into some Twitter questions here. We got a ton of good ones. You know, we'll we'll stick away from stay away from the ones that are directed at the spicy crimudgeon unless you just want poor have to sit in and answer them as if he was Tron.

I don't think it's possible for anyone to be a proxy for Tron heavy lies to crowd.

Uh so uh, Geronimo Jackson wants to know, is the U s G A woke? Uh?

I feel like I don't. I don't know. We haven't talked about this one.

I don't know where you are going to fall on this, but I'll kick it off and say that I think they are woke. Some of this, of course, probably depends on your definition of the word, but in my definition, I think it's it's uh. I think you look at kind of their body of work. I think what they did with Chambers Bay recently, I think what they did, what they kind of you know, what they pulled off

Uh.

WHI on one, on one hand, you know, belittling uh the four station, you know, forestation of the rainforest is very unwoke. But at the same time, Mike Davis actually being the guy who yanked him off camera.

When I think when you're when your head honcho is also strong arming people, I think that's very woke. Literally yeah, just super woke. I think that, uh man, what else I mean?

I think the anchored anchored Putter decision was pretty unwoke, uh that wasn't.

The con that the ball in distance has an increase was extremely Now, yeah, but.

Some of it's so not woke that it might be woke, you know what I mean.

That's like when you said if nobody stinks, does everybody stink?

I think the busy curbudget said that, So all right.

I'm not going to back that up. Do you do you have anything behind?

You know?

I feel like DJ really wow, undid Yeah, I think I think I think I think they're woke. I got a great question from Joe Mayberry for for Poor rap Here Early Bets on how many awful versions of red, white and blue apparel we see this week?

Oh, it's already out. You know.

It's just these it's so heinous, it's so wrong. It's like just kind of like, you know, they're trying to appeal this you know, this low hanging fruit, and it's just really this I don't know, it's this bass and kind of I don't know, really discouraging, you know, false sense of patriotism.

It's just like an easy sell for commercial reasons. You know.

It's just everybody's got to release the bag, everybody's got to release the shoes, the outfits. You know, why why does Sergio have to be in red, white and blue. He's from Spain. I mean, I know he's you know, big Texas now he's like big tax or whatever. But you know, I don't understand why we got a drape Sergio in red, white and blue. It's just just like commercial kind of you know, hollow commercial attempt at you know, trying to capture on people's patriotism.

I don't like the brands getting involved in my issues, right yact keep your keep your brands off my issues. Let it be an organic, organic decision to represent yourself patriot.

I wish players still picked what they wore, you know, like who would be wearing the blade color voluntarily?

I got a buddy. I got a buddy, Jason.

Jason Day would do that. Your buddy loves it.

He loves it.

Yeah, we make fun of him constantly. He played golf with Tron the other day, and Tron just mercilessly was like, dude, Blake callers got to go.

He's like, no, it's good. He's kept popping Tron right back in the face about it. It was admirable.

Actually, the Blake collar is good.

All right, here's another question from Will Knights, What is more likely Coocher snakes his way to a top ten in a major that doesn't suit his game or an actual snake attacks Kevin.

Nah, A lot of moving parts on that one.

I will say this, I'm surprised that snake didn't attack Kevin when he spent like an hour making a nineteen in San Antonio. That one?

Yeah, sixteen? What was that? What? What about the colf course doesn't fit Coacher's game?

I think it's in a major, Like I actually like when when I think you're just going heavy on the snake pet there, I think.

Which I respect trying to fit trying to shoe hardest narrative into question.

I actually think Coacher is a guy that that could play well yea like a shorter hitter that hits it really straight and is a really good iron player. Like that is him. Cooch might be might be h somebody that's really flying under the radar. Let's see what else we got here? Whose career Steve Stricker or Jim Furick.

Oh Man? Who did this question come from?

Ken Ryan from Milwaukee?

Well, that's what That's what I was gonna get at, because I was like, I don't think that this is this doesn't just feels like a very biased question.

I don't even think it's close, right, like seven and six at least.

Alight. Alright, here's a good one, and I promise.

I will letting the biases show through.

I wouldn't bring this up, I promised earlier, but this question is so good from the tour saucy air. How many putts inside three feet little LESSI mess, Oh.

Well, that's the thing. If they get some rain, maybe that maybe some of that spice will be taken out of the greens. I don't know.

I mean, I I'll whatever it is, I'll take the over, whatever, whatever the number is. You said it that I'm gonna take the over.

I'm gonna say he's gonna have he's gonna have a great week. He's gonna have less than four messages, less than one around.

Yeah. I just watching him last last year with DJ, who was just like a fan.

Him and like Billy Foster were just there to like run interference with the USGA, Like I mean, he was ejected by like the seventh pole, so they literally served no purpose out there. He's like a marker, just running interference on the USGA felt bad for him.

You know, I's a very incriminating text from Andy that I'm going to roll out with the times appropriate. Feels kind of like the like Koby to the alleged Koby tapes. I'm going to roll out there right at the right time. So you guys follow me on Twitter at dj PI.

If you want to see some of this stuff come out. He's not always cracked, and he's not always cracked up to be.

You know, I was. I was rolling through last year's open on Wikipedia and it had like, you know, all the leader's cards and at the bottom it was west Woods and it was just it was ugly to look at. But I really think Westwood could play well here.

You know. Actually I think he will too. Actually I'm a little nervous about it.

Again, the point still stands at like, I don't do not see a universe in which he wins, but I do think he'll play well.

Yeah, you know, so we got our we'll kick off overrated, underrated, we got our first write end and back to Westwood. I was already onto this. But maybe a thirty six hole leader bet would be good for Watswood.

Yeah, totally, But again that's not the point. That's not what started this whole thing. Like I think he could take the thirty six hold lead at every tournament he plays.

That's not the issue. You keep ducking the real issue.

We'll see what happens on Sunday.

We will.

All right, overrated it underrated and Barry w coming in hot with a write and overrated underrated. I love that.

You know the NLU mergans are yeah, yeah, he.

He wants to know the USGA overrated, underrated.

Oh well, I'm gonna go back to my original point and say underrated. I think they I think there's a lot of Look, they in a tournament that should be like one of the least exciting, you know, just based on kind of like fireworks and and uh, you know, fun stuff happening on the golf course. It should kind of be the least exciting thing, and it's always like the most exciting week. And I think that's because of them.

I think, yeah, I think they know what they're doing. As as someone who bathes himself in content every day, it's good for good for content, you know, they just one week a year, can't take this every week. But I think they know what they're doing.

Underrated all right, and then he wrote he gave us a bunch of them here.

Okay, great, all right.

The Thumb's nickname, I'm very underrated, underrated, the Thumb's chance.

Shout out to Big Randy.

Yeah, and the Thumb is John Rahm. For anybody that's made it this far that doesn't know who the Thumb is.

That's the stroke of genius by Big Randy.

The Thumb's chances this week?

Can John Ram win? It was a joke. Yes, he could definitely win. Underrated, I'm gonna say slightly overrated.

And I'm gonna say that because, like I know, he's won at Tory Pines, and I mean it's it's not like he's, you know, not gonna win. But the last couple of times I think he's gotten in contention, he's gotten a little he's been running a little too hot, I think, and he just like it's been kind of a bad luck.

Yeah, no, light up dot com ye thoughts the Central Ohio Fitness Regimen.

Not a fan.

And that was even on like Thursday, I mean, like at even at the match play where like he looks like he couldn't lose. He came out in that match against DJ and just like pressed way too hard or something and just was making these mistakes he wasn't making all week. I think that stuff just like takes time to get comfortable with.

I'm sure, yeah, I agree some somewhat. Yeah, I don't know. I think he's he hits it so good and drives it so well and touched pretty well and the irons so well. It's you know, he's it's gonna be a very rare week when he's not in contention, you know, yeah, let's see.

Uh.

I think the big thing with rom is starting to cash in more, you know, yeah, but he's so young. And then uh, you know, I came up with some overrated and underrated moving on from from big part.

The freelance.

Brass, oh just brought worst Yeah, underrated, overrated?

You think overrated? Yeah, I think.

I think like the ratio of finding a good bra, Like when you find a good one that's been cooked properly for a long, low and slow, it's like, you know, it exceeds anything else that you know I could do on it.

Grow, but like you's so rare to find them.

I think it's just a lot of riff raff too often overrated.

Okay, so yeah, that's a that's a fair take. I'm still gonna say underrated. I think that a lot of people uh poo poo them a little bit too much without really giving them the due course.

But uh yeah, I mean I'm a huge fan.

We'll go with uh I would say with Bratt. I'm gonna go with my uncle. If he was listening to this, he would hate it. But I'm gonna say they're overrated. You know, it could be my proximity to the Wisconsin border, but you know, like, you know, I was at Aaron Hills on Sunday and you know, this is very very nice Wisconsin volunteer like rolled up on me and was like, you gotta try one of these brats. They're the best things ever.

You know.

It's you know, I noticed that with a lot of things. If you ever noticed how people like will just be like this is the best burger ever, or this is the best red wine ever. It's like, what does that even mean?

People have no capacity for context? Yeah, yeah, so what's the best what's the what's the best Wisconsin thing?

See? In general, I love Wisconsin, by the way, I'm like, I mean, I'm in there more than anywhere.

Else way in Wisconsin, like a little micro brew up there, a little light. Yeah, totally, it's just totally totally underrated.

It's you know, Ribbon Blue Ribbon Award winner that comes out of there that I really like to let me tell, drinking in Milwaukee, like going to Milwaukee for a night out. If like you're looking for somewhere that you can just go have a great time Milwaukee, that's awesome.

My brother went to Marquette, don't man plenty of times. That's great, great things.

Yeah, to go out, That's might be one of the best things about Wisconsin. But their their golf is really good too, very very underrated. The thing is is that everybody looks at you know, Aaron Hills and now sand Valley and Cohler, but Lasonia. Uh, it's like that hidden gem of the of the golf world. It's like this fantastic Golden Age golf course that is just so good and for some reason, it's probably because they don't pay any magazine to cover them, but they just go unnoticed,

Great, you guys got any over underrated?

The straight list got thrown out there because this is like, you know, the week of a pro Tracer. Pro Tracer overrated or underad Actually sorry, it's not top Tracer. I don't know if you knew that they're there, or just the technology in bed with big parlor games, Top golf, Pop Tracer.

Man.

That just might have swayed my answer.

I am yeah, that's right.

Or no Torons, the one that hates top Golf. I've so this is one of those things that like I think, you know, everybody has a tendency to like freak out about, you know, to kind of latch onto this one thing and just adopt it.

As like their their rallying cry, you know.

And I feel like pro Tracer kind of seems like that, where everybody like it's something that you know, people start talking about and then everybody just loses their shit about like.

Oh, we need it more, we need it more, we need it more. Yeah, and it like seems like it loses its punch.

But I totally disagree, and I think we do need it more and I literally can't get enough, like it just Bacon was talking about it last week, and I mean it's like watching I mean, it'd be like watching football, like without the first down line when you could have it, Like yeah, it's like totally changes everything, Like it changes

To the right, like you know, it just gives the whole thing just so much more depth and context.

Like the perfect example was Dustin last year on eighteen, his second shot that he hit, like as soon as it left the club face, like you knew it was right at the flag, and then you're just like there's just that much more anticipation building because you know it's going right at it, rather than like you know, just kind of waiting to guess and going to the wide shot and just kind of seeing where it lands. Like I don't know again rambling answered, but like I'm all in underrated somehow.

It's under until they start putting on chips.

That's fair. That's fair, you know, it's underrated.

Speaking of putting it on chips was Golf Channel would do the I think it was like it was sponsored by one of the financial advisory firms like whoever has the green line, like TD and Meritrade or something, and they were doing for like a long time. They were doing like the Putt projection line like before they putted that was the coolest. That's like the coolest aspect of

I love that.

I'm with you. It's underrated.

It's just like a ubiquitous and obvious take that you know, you kind of you know, ruins it for everybody. But yes, you can never have enough of it.

I think without with all the without all the content about it, it would be you write so much more underrated about it.

Yeah, this is my first Fox broadcast I watched. I'm pretty pumped to see it. I'm really pumped.

Yeah, Bacon was was telling us about all the tricks they got out their sleeve. It's gonna be gonna be really cool.

What a what a company? Man just just pumping pumping influencers like DJ.

Paia exactly you. I'm like one of his surrogates, just sitting.

Here spewing the fox.

No, it's gonna be great, man. That was like one of those.

Yeah, it was kind of the thing everybody lost their mind about the first The first year was like, you know, the small everything that they got wrong was like such a small thing that was like such an easy fix, and like if you just looked at like the bones of what they had, it was clear that like they were gonna they were gonna get so much better so quickly, and like last year's badcast was awesome.

Like getting Greg Norman out of the booth.

Just it wasn't great. Immediate op rated, underrated.

Oh this is a tough one. I almost say he's underrated because of how much people hate him.

I don't get him. I love I'm all in on it, I love it. I like him.

I think he's underrated because of like Andy said, although like everyone thinks he hates their team.

It's just ridiculous.

I don't know. I go back and forth because sometimes he just annoys the crap crap out. I mean, I mean, I am a Cubs and Bears fan, and he is a Cardinals and Packers fan, like those are known things, so like literally when he does games, he's rooting against my team.

But that being said, well, I'm an Indians fan, and everyone in Cleveland thought, like, you know, he and Kyle Schwarber had inappropriate relationship and just had to weed through all that stuff.

It's funny because stop everybody, he hates our team. Everybody in Chicago said the same thing about the Indians.

Yeah right, it's I.

Think people always people always say he's he's smug or whatever, and I think what really resonates with me is just kind of his like he's almost got this like kind of nihilism about the fact that like sports don't really matter all that much, which just speaks like directly to my soul.

And I love watching it.

Just everything he says is just kind of like, oh my gosh, what an possibly huge moment this is.

And it's like it's just all dripping with sarcasm. It feels like I love it.

I'm all in on that, all right, well out on Joe Bach. I think we'll rap it here.

Do we want to make predictions or no? Yeah, sure, make your prediction. I already said Speed. I'm in on speed. I just want to hear who you be like when you distill it down one name, I was gonna say speed, let me let me you can take Speed, go for it, drink the numbers, crunch the numbers. How about Rosie? Second? Yo?

So I love that I'm sitting, you know, telling you how much I like Speace all week DJ and then you just take my pick right from me?

Yeah? And now what am I?

What am I supposed to do?

So I'll go, I mean I'll take I'll take who would you take? Dustin or Speed? Straight up?

I take Speed, but I uh, I'll take Dustin. That's who I'm gonna pick for my one and done because I already burned speed, So I'll take Dusty.

Yeah, all right, there you have it.

Hey, what are we betting on this? On this Westy Leashman? I kind of really like a Polishman this week too.

I like Leachman this week too. I think it would be good bet. I think just let it roll the standard bet.

All right, just just be expecting a venmo yeah exactly from me. Yeah? Alright, alright, guys, hey enjoyed it. Thanks for coming on. You were you were an admirable, if not superior, replacement to the all right.

I could never be, could never fill that void, but appreciate you have me on