2018 PGA Championship Preview

Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast. Before we get into our PGA Championship preview with Brenda poor Eth and Kevin Van Valkenberg, let's talk about our PGA Championship sponsor, Greater Than Sports. Drink. Greater Than is the best way to stay hydrated in the August heat. So far has been loved by readers of the website and listeners of the podcast that I have given it

I miss a 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.

Brid egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida egg, Frida Egg, Frida egg, Egg, Frida egg bride egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off with the up course.

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast. We are here to preview this year's PGA Championship with sp Nations Brendan Porath and ESPN's Kevin van Valkenberg.

Guys, welcome on Andy, thanks for having me. Good to be back.

I tend to think of my partner my guest partner here more is like a Lou Garrick stepping in for Wally Wally, Pip. You know, we may never see our old friend Shawn Martin again.

I thought about doing the entire podcast in a Shawn Martin impression, the Shawn Martin voice, but that would be that's a committing to the bit. I'm not sure I could quite live up to.

Yeah. To clarify for the listeners, our regular preview and recap guy, Sean Martin, he is. He's out on vacation this week, and it begs the question I've often wondered if Smartin was the smartest person in golf, and does skipping the twenty eighteen PGA signal more about his intelligence or is this just a coincident.

I think you know, he's in the spot where the company he works for has a busy schedule up coming. In this scene, this is not the company he works for, so it's a suitable time to take a break.

Sure, he would, he would if he were here. We want you to know the FedEx Cup playoffs are just as big of a deal as the PGA Championship, and maybe more so so.

Definitely, the player the players is definitely a bigger deal.

I will say the highlight of my family vacation last week was pretending I needed to make a run for coffee for fifteen minutes and using it as a reason to just drive around for an hour to keep my sanity and listen to your podcast week on the.

Way you guys would change Golf.

That was a fantastic and entertaining debut on the Friday Egg.

For Kevin, it's just, you know, it's like a author writ in his first book. Just pour everything you have into your first your first novel.

Yeah, now you're you're the quickest repeat guest of all time.

Wow, that's amazing. I gotta say I love the it's a clutch move to pretend to get coffee move on the family vacation for that's use that many times myself. Oh I got a little lost. I had to go to they ran out of coffee at the first one.

It was just like twenty five miles farther away.

Than I thought.

So yeah, so uh PGA this week? What do you guys? You guys excited?

What do you? What do you?

What are you looking forward to?

Well, I'm going to be on site sweaty Saint Louis. I've been trying. I've been begging poor out to join me, but I think he's He's never given me a definitive no. But you know, I'm pretty sure he's not going. So it's gonna be me and Kyle Porter among others, sweating it out down there AND's going.

I'm coming down tomorrow, are you quick? Quick? Quick quick visit? Maybe going back the weekend. I don't know, we'll see. I'm committing to tomorrow at.

Least, Devin, I'm kind of disappointed you're not there already pounding out thousand word columns on the Clydesdale's delivering the Lawnamaker Trophy.

The one thing I've learned covering the majors is the like three day build up to the majors and writing a thousand word columns every single day is not the way to go do majors. The best way to cover major is to get in Wednesday night and just just write about the actual goal.

And then for Andy's purposes, what are you the opposite? Right you go, Scott the course, Yeah, get your content and watch, take those learnings and apply them to watching from home.

No, yeah, I'm I'm the opposite. I'm a I'm a I'm an early week guy taking the early week takeaways and applying them to the to the weekend watching, you know, relating to the uh, to the everyday guys sitting at home watching on the telecast.

Oh yeah, I walk walk the pins like just you know where he thinks the Sunday pans are going to be and check them with his uh, his compass, make sure that it is accurate.

Yeah, yeah, well I definitely want to get a get a feel for for what kind of what kind of heat they're going to be dealing with, and and lou Brown actually asked, uh, We've got a special segment here. We've got Gary Player calling in to describe this week's forecast and what players are going to deal with from a weather standpoint in Saint Louis, Indy.

Thank you many much for having me on the Friday podcast. As you know, I conquer Bill Rieve once far long ago, and it was just a hot and sweaty and disgusting as it will make me this week. So what I expect. There's a lot of swamp ass and a lot of guys were big and Brownie hitting them all very far.

Oh thanks Garry. That was that was a real treat. Yeah, it should be. It should be something else. I mean last year's PGA was much of the same with with the weather down in uh in Charlotte in August, and this year will have probably a couple of rain delays in a really soft course. In terms of uh, you know, there's all kinds of storylines. I was, I was doing a piece of putting together all of them, and I was, I was wondering, what player do you guys think has the most to gain from a PGA win.

Mh, I'm gonna defer to pour out here because I got mine and mine, but yeah, we may double up here. I mean, well, I think I think from like.

Practically speaking, wouldn't wouldn't the answer be Jordan's speed?

Oh yeah, I mean, like I.

Obviously like if he doesn't win, like there's not a big loss. But if he if he does win, I don't know, I feel like that's a pretty big launching in like who who gains more? I mean, I don't know Tiger all.

Of a sudden, that's that's a great question. That's a great answer because then not only does Jordan have as many majors as Rory, but he also has the career Grand Slam, and his entire season, the worst of his career, has been a huge success. Yeah.

Yeah, I think like the probably the default answer. I mean, the first percent goes Ricky, but just because whatever, it just changes a lot of the narrative around him right now. But yeah, I think, like when you phrase it his most to gain, I think it's Jordan's speed as the most game out of winning this PGA.

I was gonna answer something way labor like Kyle Stanley or like Patrick Cantley, like a guy suddenly like a grin elite ball striker, like taking themselves the next level. But Pooras's answer was like so much better than mine that I'm just embarrassed that I threw those out instead.

I think that's the fascinating thing with this one. You could make a case for like almost probably like ten players in the field, like you got Tiger. Tiger would complete like the greatest sports comeback in recent memory. With a win, Phil would become the second oldest guy to ever win a major. You'd have like, you know, I think Dustin Johnson. That's a big question, is like is twenty eighteen a disappointment for DJ without a major?

I mean I go back and forth with DJ so much that you know, are we overrating majors? Like it's obvious the DJ is, like, you know, an amazing player. What if he were to win another fifteen twenty tournaments and have forty wins and only one major, would his

Right, DJ doing the uh you do the summer the Summer triple with the TPC South Glen Glenn Abbey Bellery. It's like, you know, Starberry putting up like triple doubles on a twenty five win NXT team, you know, it's like that.

It's a little bit depressing that we were like rooting the end of Firestone and yet it's gonna it's gonna go to TBC south Wind next year for the the bridge Stone, like where guys are going to hit wedge in every hole, every hole.

It's it's like, uh, I don't know if it's an upgrade.

Yeah, I want to talk Do you want to talk about Can we talk about that that WGC for a second?

Yeah?

You know it was it was brutal, wasn't it. I mean it was boring. I think like part of it is the course, which you have illuminated so well for people over.

The last few years.

Andy, Well, Like I think another part of it is like the WGCs are just kind of eating their own Like it's like everyone's getting too fat and rich to

Amazing. I would say that they're talking about ahead.

Yeah, I would say that the WGCs are the most disappointing thing in golf at this point. You get the best players together right now and they play a Muni in Mexico, they play a cool match by tournament at a at a pretty cool course. They play TPC South one now moving forward, and then they play you know, a terrible golf course in China that barely anybody shows up to you know, that's just the world deserves better

Not it was I am I wrong? Though? In the funnest part of watching JT and the whole tournament was when he would get into trouble and when he'd hit like ridiculous shots from you know, I think he curved a wedge with a ball below his feet, like, you know, twenty yards in the air out of the bunker, and then that shot where he hit and the other fairway on Friday, I think, and then curved it back towards like those are the kind of things that I want to see from JT because that's what makes golf fun.

Yeah, I just think like as bad as yesterday, kind of yesterday should I had so much more juice given the later bore we had, And I just think like next year we're overlooking the impact, Like the wgc's just lack like player enthusiasm for it. And I think next year, going from Royal Port Rush to Memphis, it's gonna show up cast or check and Sunday's gonna lack a little more even more.

Do you think there's a red eye from what is it? What's the airport that they have to fly on due to Port Rush? All fast fast Memphis, the regular ragar red eye there. The most amazing ce SAT that we saw one of our friends put together is Ricky Fowler has played in twenty seven of them. He has zero wins and has made four point three million dollars, so he like Arl Palmer, made like a million dollars his

Another just so another thing that bothers me and I started thinking about this and I couldn't get it out of my head last night. Is a right, So they PGA Tour has to know that Firestone is somewhat of a boring golf course, right, but they've set the golf course up the exact same way for the last fifteen years,

Like?

Am I am I crazy? Or is this crazy?

I think it's spot on. I want to like a deep dive into who, like who's doing the setups each day? Like is it you know, I don't know who's the PGA tour'st set up people. Do we know anything about anyone?

It's Mark Russell and slugg or White.

Yeah, it's those the guys you see come riding in the carts to administer, you know, rulings and things.

I think here's what I think is a here's a take is that because the players are so powerful, it's it's like what we saw at the baron Nelson. They're afraid to piss them off. They're afraid to say, like, well, screw it, I won't come to this thing if you set this up hard whatever, I want to be what it normally is, because they would whine and wine and wine and complain if it was something that was abnormal. And you know what, like I understand it. They're they're

Andy, like you're not crazy, this is crazy, but I think we could lose sight of who the constituents are like at the end of the day, Like the tour answers to the players like Roger Gandelli, the NFL owners, and that's just how it worked, you know.

So, uh, in some sort of attempt to get this train back on the tracks, you know, we were supposed to talk about the beautiful city of Saint Louis and a major championship in Saint Louis and the PGA. What if you know, Brooks Koepka had a great week at Firestone despite putting horribly and looking at the golf course, I really think that somebody that absolutely bombs the ball is going to win this thing. There's really thick rough and the golf course sets up well for guys that

Just the brooks Kepka is just a big game hunter.

I think it.

I think it says more about Kopka in my opinion. I mean, like he's got the game to win on the PGA Tour and PJ Tour setups. No, I mean I think it like, of course, I think I just shows he kind of turns it on, cares more, you know, and turns it on, realizes it full potential at on like the biggest stages and at the most toughest, toughest and challenging venues, and kind of I think it says more about Koepka that he has that he had, that Ricky has lower odds than he does is kind of

On how much how much of mark money do you think that like they get on Ricky, Like Ricky's made Vegas so much money from like a lot of just lame fish betting on Ricky who don't know anything about golf. I bet the rick has made DraftKings like five million dollars himself.

It's I'm in this, like this majors pool with my buddies and a lot of them are like buddies from college, and where there's thirty two guys and it's a snake draft every year, right or for every major and the WGC match play that's why there's thirty two, so all

Is here's what I think Rick's projections. And fourth knows this because we were texting about it. I think Rick's going to get his like Sergio Major, like when he's almost forty, and that's going to be it, like he and everyone like, oh, finally, like Ricky's Fowler's fulfilled. He's a major champion, and but that'll be it, like we all you will think about is like all I'll think about is all the majors he could have won. That's what I think about with Sergio. Sergio want to could

That's when I think about it. That's why I did all this number crunching. I put it all on Twitter. With Ricky is like his career looks a lot like Paul Casey's not. Sergio won twenty percent of the time that he was in in contention, you know, if you if you look at it that way, like that's like a win rate you see with a lot of the superstars. Ricky is at eleven percent, Paul Casey's at twelve. So to me, Ricky's not even I I mean, I don't know.

Yeah, well, I think stat's stats don't lie.

Maybe yeah, I'm not the biggest gat guy real quick.

I do think that there is some merit to the idea that you're if you're the kind of player who has to make like, you know, twenty birdies in a week, Kepta might just be like, yeah, I'm kind of out on that golf Like, so some of those courses are going to set up. You know, It's like if a guy like Kepka might say, like, I want it to be hard. I want it to be sort of you know, I can muscle it out of the rough when other

So I was thinking about this today when I was looking at these numbers and thinking about Kopka and the PGA Tour, and I don't want this to be taken out of context. It easily can be like, but I found this comparison, and I'm not sure sure exactly if it's right on, and obviously like they're all athletes in both scenarios and great athletes. But is the PGA Tour to golf, what is to what the WWE is to Olympic wrestling.

That's a day, I don't know, my god, man, it's called the PGAs for a farce, Like it's just.

Not like I I just I think like I think high level amateur golf, like the summer circuit. These kids play at high level amateur golf, plays a better golf courses, the test your games more, and are set up more towards like what championship golf really is versus what the PGA Tour plays weekend week out.

I mean, they're not playing high level amateur golf. It's seventy four hundred yards, right.

So I mean some of them, some of them are okay.

I mean I knowledge of the high level amter golf is roughly zero, so I'm gonna have to defer to you.

But I don't know.

This is something I thought you're getting back to your point about. I think this is kind of all getting back Like there's a theme in this entire pot. The front half of this pot about WGC is kind of eating their own and setups like are like beholding to the constituents that are the players.

It's kind of like this. I don't know.

It's it's a very limit like closed door party that it's the way they want it to be. Of course, there's access, you can get a card and you can you know, you play well enough, you get there, but like it's more or less a closed system, and it's not a closed system but it's it's the party that they want to throw and it's kind of exclusive, and it's the way they want it to be. It's it's how they want the birdie fests, courses, they want the way they want it set up, and it just yields

I just.

Like if they the players are the constituents, there's not an over there's not.

I mean, you don't need to be We've we've seen like you don't.

Need to be like an adversary, like like the USGA is in an adversarial posture with the players, the RNA is is not. It's not an antagonistic posture, but like they're also not you know, beholden in part part with im parcel with the players, Like the PGA Tour is so like I think like the PGA Tour is the way it is for a reason, and I don't think like we're the only ones that are complaining it, and like the people who are throwing the party, have it set up exactly how they want it.

I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna go in on Andy's take though on the WW thing. Here's are going to go. So if if that's true, then like Tiger is essentially like the Rock, like the biggest superstar that the WW has ever produced or whatever. All right, and so if you have a charismatic superstar, it covers up all of your other ills. And so when the Rock then sort of left the WWE, which I don't follow it that closely, so there was a lot there was like a void

Know if you saw Tiger and Feller looking at making this thing kind of a series with multiple players and two man games. I don't know you saw that report today.

It's I didn't see that either worked out there.

You know, maybe a competing products somewhere down the line.

I mean, the fact that they're putting it at Shadow Creek is kind of fun to me. That's a worse that no one ever sees, so you know, at least at least it will be a different look for things. Yeah that fas.

I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of FAZ fan, but like, yeah, it's actually interesting because I will be excited to see Shadow Creek and PGA Tour pros play it. Just like I mean, like I think about the PGA Tour schedule and after the majors, I would say that Riviera is the best event.

Yep.

Yeah, Like to me, it's it's not a surprise that it has played at the best golf course that they play four rounds at every year. You know, yeah, I.

Was thinking today to get us back to the PGA. It is just kind of like the fatigue of the whole like PGA Tour season. Do you remember when we were at Riviera and like the announcement came out that Tiger, Rory and JT were all playing together, Like I like gas, I like drop my phone. I was like, oh my god, like this is and I know I'm to whatever follow this for a living and like I don't know, I can be jaded about it, but like that literally like

Do you do you think that the move to May then, because of that fatigue and that that season long thing, is a good move for the PGA.

I think in that respect it is.

I think overall, I think like the PGA Tour kind of pulled one over on them.

I think like, I.

Think in that respect it is like they could maybe kind of push a wedge their way into some sort of new identity, and there's much more enthusiasm and anticipation around it falling in May. But again, like there's a lot of other sports going on and a lot of other like compedian indus interests more than just like preseason football.

That I think it'll be it'll make the PGA to me feel more relevant because it will, you know, when we have two majors in that there's a possibility that someone could win two majors and be going for the third at the US Open, which has never happen, happened really in our lifetime. And you know, having the best major the British you know, be the final major of

He brings up the truthers that that I mean, that was crazy. There was like eighty people following Tiger, eighty media people following Tiger that week. In that group, which on a Thursday morning, I remember how packed that just the whole like crowd was on a Thursday morning, like that doesn't usually happen, which uh which is surprising. I think the other thing is that gives the schedule a little bit of benefit as like the cadence of it.

I don't think it's gonna do anything for the general fatigue we feel about the playoffs either. I mean, just because the playoffs are now in August and not going up against football, like I think, like, yeah, we're still just gonna be kind of burnt out. But then you know, it's like guys playing for ten million dollar persons.

People people going to their their lighthouse. You know.

Yeah, that's all right. Here's the question for you, what would be the three ideal PGA may courses. If we have new courses in play and you can set up moving forward and and anything is in play as long as it can have the actual tints and all that stuff, what would be the ideal three courses that you would wanted to see that Riviera kay.

L a c c uh huh and then uh, I guess I guess we'll go with uh. I don't know. I wouldn't mind seeing Chambers Bay, Yeah, Chambers. I just I just put them all on the West coast, like I'm I don't want to ghost. I don't want Kiowa, Okay, I don't want I don't want anything in Dallas other than like Trinity Forest, I know, or Texas for that matter, Like yeah, sorry, Texas. I'm menna. Get a lot of emails about that Florida, Like nothing really does it for me.

No, I just track with Riviera. I mean that's those are two.

I mean, as bad as it sounds like, I mean, that's I would if it was at Riviera every year, I'd be like thrilled. That would never happen and it would cannibalize the genesis open. But it would be the best case scenario.

Go back to salih. Uh, that's right, it's been so long. What's the deal there that they just don't have any enough room? It was like played like sixty seven or something back then at tight tight, it real tight. The big tall trees. I've walked that once for like a buddy of mine was covered like junior am thing there and so he walked it and the trees were beautiful. It was, you know, I know a lot of anti tree sentiment on this podcast, but.

We'd we'd have we'd have to restock tree management shirts that we you know, out there giving them away.

After hearing about the Firestone Dutch Elm disease incident over by CBS, I think you need shirts that say support Dutch Elm disease.

It's uh that one might go too far, too far. People don't realize. I was an environmental science major. I love trees. I just don't love them on golf courses.

So yeah, was Honestly, I think Chambers got a bad rap in the way it sort of played out there, and I want to I think eventually they got to go back to Chambers give another shot, whether it's in may or whatever.

Somebody said something about a idea of like giving it all the modern I can't remember who, and I apologize for that. But like all modern major all modern major hosts as the PGAs think, you know, yeah, and the problem but this is the other problem with the May date, Like it's going to be really interesting next year with Beth Page because like there weren't like leaves on trees in the beginning of May. Like and it's not about like the weather. Everybody's like, oh, well, the average highest

I will say, I will say that, Uh, that's one thing I appreciate about this one is like and this is a very peripheral concern and not you know, germane to what you what you cover Andy, is like it is good to go to a market like this that probably doesn't get pro golf. Now, I understand the course may not be up to snuff, but like I thought it was like it looked like the crowds were pretty pretty good for Monday, and like I think people there

Hey, I agree. Look at what happened when the Solheim Cup went to Cedar Rapids. Yeah yeah, or was it des Moines? It was des Moines, right, I.

Think that's right.

I mean it mean when they go to that marathon, then the women LPGA and Toledo or you know arks, like people get into these events if it's like their hometown event, pro pro.

Sports event, especially markets that don't usually get big events.

Sure, am I correct in? Remembering that when Gary Player won in in bell Reeve and whatever it was that that gave him the career Grand Slam and he had it before Nicholas? Is that I think I read that a year before. That's my mind when I I was like, really like, Gary Player got the career Grand Slam before Technicals. But you know, I think of them. Gary's a little older and so I just think of them as sort of contemporaries. But still that that's kind of a neat

I think there's only one real fix to this whole problem with the PGA. Okay, it needs to go back to match play. Go back and brace their history. All right, so bear with me. Sunday is going to stink. But Sunday stinks for the PGA right now. You know, every day stinks right now for the PGA, like in comparison

Yeah, I agree. I think they play It would be exhausting to play thirty six on Saturday or whatever, right like they do it, I guess anyway for the match play. So it's not like it's totally foreign to them. They're not carrying their bags, so why not, Yeah, let's do it. Moving it into may.

I mean, it's less like they're not coming right off fire sound and doing all that stuff anymore.

I don't know, give them carts. I don't give a shit. Give them something, you know.

Push cards. It's just the most simple, easiest fix they have is out And like, how is there not a match play major? There's a reason the PGA was a match play tournament from the start variety. You know, like you've got your Invitational, you've got your big US Championship, you've got your big Championship of like you know, the British Islands, and then you have your match play Championship. It makes so much sense.

It really does. Do we know what year did it change?

Like the nineteen seventy I want to say.

There's probably sports writers are behind this. They bullied the PGA into taking it into it was probably like I don't know, trying to think of who would have been, you know, in the seventies, would have been like a big powerful sports writer, Irman Bisher, some of the Jenkins, everything,

Well, now we got bloggers and podcasters coming around to make force it back into match play.

I love it.

The last time I played golf, I got to the course with how my grader? Then sure I had a back nine fade after an even part, thirty five on the front, put up a nice little forty one on the back. The best way to fight fatigue on the golf course is to stay hydrated, and the best way to stay hydrated is with greater than check out greater than at drink gt dot com and use the promo code the fried Egg for twenty percent off your first order. That's drink gt dot com. So let's let's get let's

Oh my gosh.

I I enjoyed your note in the newsletter this morning.

About how that was.

That was Will Knights, Oh, Will Knights, how his wedges are just like their inexcusable disgrace. It was very strong language. I liked it, Like it's like this can't go on much longer.

Rory in fourteen I looked this up a while back. He was like proximity the whole Like like from one hundred and twenty five yards, he was like fourth in strokes gained and he's never been That is the only year that he's ever been in like the top one hundred, So like, how did that one outlier? Like what was he doing that year that made him so much better? Was it the wedges he was playing? Was it the ball?

So one thing is that I feel like the majority of the PGA tour has caught up to Rory's prodigious length. And we saw that yesterday and while we were watching the Bridge Stone, you know, everybody was hitting the ball four hundred yards like it's not a big thing anymore. So Rory used to get wedge opportunities where nobody else got them, and now everybody gets wedge opportunities.

That's a big part of it. I don't know that that's.

What's what's going on over there.

Sorry, as I was typing some things, is that showing up on the podcast here and apologize?

You got to throw the mute on if you're gonna just hammer away.

I just wanted to continue to make this the top quality production that it always has been.

You were filling in for Smart and admirably in that aspect.

I was so close and now.

That that's that's part of the tradition. Ah, this is a casual conference called Vibe always as.

Yeah that why are why are Rory's wedges so like? Why can't they be what they are in fourteen? Just need to watch the film. We need to get them as old Nike wedges, Nike vapor things or whatever they were.

I don't know, Uh, I don't know, it's just a different The Sunday fade was really kind of disappointing. I thought for sure, like I think he sees so I think he walked out of fourteen thinking like, wow, there's really just like I am the guy of the next era. Yeah,

Yeah, it's uh, it's fascinating, like his uh, his approach to green numbers have declined, like his rank every year since twenty fourteen. You know, he was like habitually, you know, one of the best on tour, and you know where he was top thirty guys, Strokes gained approach and now he's you know, in the sixties and seventies and Strokes gained approach, and I just have I always think back.

So does he stink? No, he doesn't stink, that's the question. No, I think I think he. I think putting is in his head, like I wish that he had more committed to that sort of facts and method of like, hell, let's screw it, I'm just gonna be athletic and just putt. What do you wear? He won bay Hill and was like, that's the Rory that I think he needs to find that center again. And you know, eventually over time, if he's able to feel comfortable in that, it's when he's

I would tell Rory what I do is I've started to sing comfortably numb by Pink Floyd while I hit any types of golf shot interesting. It's actually been liberating. But you know, I haven't been playing.

The Van Morrison cover version or the one the actual Pink Floyd Pink Floyd. I love the Van Morrison cover version.

Yeah, it's it's actually been you know, it gets my mind. I've putt it better because I don't think about putting, you know. I I've always struggled with Buddy. So it's ah, so uh so, who you guys picking for this week?

Question?

Like I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari one, like he'd be in my list of four favorites totally.

I think is as wacky as his season has been, as much as he started regressed in on Sunday, he's definitely I think trending in better direction. Like he played really well at the Open and so uh, you know, he just wasn't quite good enough on Sunday. Was kind

I justin Thomas, but not like after a fist. Don't feel like that's too fascile, like too easy to do. I don't have my pick yet. It's Monday night. I gotta figure this out. I mean, what about Paul Casey, Okay, I gotta sell myself on him.

You talked some about it already.

I'm gonna probably stay with Justin Thomas. I think that's the smartest and best play. It feels like the PGA could be his major, like for them whatever decade based.

On is Justin Thomas? Can just Thomas win the Masters in the Open Championship with his current game? Like does this game need to evolve a little bit more? Or am I just like overthinking this and that he's you know, he just hasn't gotten in contention to either of those majors.

Yes, I think he can win with it. I I think Justin Thomas is unbelievably good. I obviously as evidenced by is what eight wins over the last two years now. Yeah, but I think just when you look at his game, his career arc and like how he's progressed and how he's improved, Like I think he's in the top forty of every strokes gain metrics, so off the t approach around the green and putting and that I mean, if he does three of them well in a week, nobody

Yeah?

So Rory, Jason Day and JT, Like I feel like that's like your PGA like like you like designed a PGA Championship player in a lab, Like those are like the guys you especially for even this week, those are that's like a perfect kind of player for this kind of test.

See our conversation. This is what's great about this PGA is our conversation earlier about like who has the most game? Because I think what we just talked tot with Rory, Rory could have the most of a game.

Yeah, you know, it's not a bad point.

JT, JT. If he wins, he's one major behind Speed.

Yeah. And I think, well, Jason Day, if he wins, could completely reset the last few years of like all of a sudden him Jason Day having two majors, like he should have at least two majors right now. He was the number one player in the world for a while, like he was by far and away when he won that PGA he's by far and away the best player in the world in that moment. Like that guy, whatever happened to him, like was injury or just he can't sustain it being the guy who swings it look out

I think in our minds, Yeah, they say so, I would say Jason Day also, yeah, like he would. That second win in a major ties him for second most of an Australian all time with Greg Norman. Like he's only behind Peter Thompson. Then yeah, I mean Dustin Johnson the same thing. You know, the second major for DJ is huge. You know, he's beyond I don't get excited about a DJ regular PGA Tour win anymore.

Yeah, like wait, it's yeah, it's time for some majors for DJ. That's what's the only thing it's going to get me excited about him. I think him hitting forty yard drives doesn't excite me, but him winning like another major would be would be great.

Here's why the PGA Championship is underrated because twenty years from certain Yeah, twenty years from now. We don't like, we don't look at like players and say, well, they won three PGAs, so those count as one and a half majors. Yeah, they all count the exact same.

Yeah, it's true. I think PJ should count for point seventy five majors personally, but Yozoba should count for like one and a half. That's what I was gonna say.

I mean, like, I was gonna go the other direction with your day take if he has a whistling straits and bell reeve major accounts as one.

But you would say that now. But you know, when when Brendan porath Is is writing about golf and and has you know, some acute liver damage from all the monsters he's drank over the years, he will remember Jason Day. He'll be writing about the good old days when players weren't like Jason Day. Now, you know, let me tell you about how great Jason Day was.

Right, you're right, cold Hammer fans or whatever. It's like, you're right.

It's all right. So I'm going to go with the Kopka. I'm I'm rooting for Kopka. I'm all in on this. I really want the three major winner with one PGA Tour win and I think he putted so bad. Putting is is a week to week thing. He hit the ball grade at Firestone, and I just I think Belle Reeves sets up so perfect for him. I guess the rough is really really thick. So I don't I just don't see anybody that doesn't hit it three ten plus winning this week.

Can I ask you, what do you what do you think? Like we're looking at for scores this week, Like is this like he's talked about how he like he's perfectly cool just hitting into the middle of the greens and playing out. Obviously he wanted Aaron Hills with the scores were you know, part of the matter, but scores were better. Like, what do you see kind of this championship.

Being I think six to twelve? This is my guess if that's is that too big of a range?

It's a big if it's.

A smart If you want me to tighten it up, I'll go eight to twelve.

Okay, that's pretty standard for PGA, right, Like it's pretty rare for PGA to be you know, one to five or like deeper than you know.

Yeah, Jason Day, what except the records? What did Jason Day get to twenty or something.

He got to twenty, but then I think he bogied the last and need to get it to nineteen or something. Yeah, yeah, finish twenty, finished nineteen or something.

It's just it's thick, you know, like the rough's really thick. It's it's it's not like it's not an easy golf course. It's gonna be soft, most likely the greens. That's a That's something that's interesting is that the members haven't been playing on the greens all year.

Yeah, it's all year.

They've been playing to temporary greens because I think last year, as I understand it, last year they lost the greens. And then when you know, media hit the ground this week, you know there are today I saw a lot of people taking pictures of the greens and being like this doesn't look that good. So it might not be like, I don't know, the putting might be a little bit.

So, I mean, I know groundskeepers are kind of your constituents. I never feel like that's like one of the hardest childs, Like I never Yeah, it's like impossible like that. People are just always bitching about something or other. I just like, I mean, how it's it's I don't know, it can't happen if you have a major I mean, like, well, you know it's coming.

It's Saint Louis in.

August, right, I know nothing.

Yeah, yeah, it's just not a great time, like if you want to play golf and in Saint Louis, Like October is great, May is great, like August is it's kind of bad. It's gonna be as Gary said, it's gonna be very hot.

I can't believe you guys got Gary Player on this podcast. It's amazing yet, I mean, I don't know what. He doesn't even own a cell phone, right, he just called in. Its amazing.

Yeah, I think, uh, I'm sure the medio blow it out of proportion, I'll say, because that's what you know, we get we get worked up about fescubing chopped back a few feet, you know just what we get upset?

What we what we feed on what's.

Your guys favorite PGA memory of the last like five PGAs, mm.

Hmmm, five PGAs. Uh, yeah, that's that's unfair. As I had. It's easy to quee up if you could take the whole accounting of things.

Yeah, I had to. I had to eliminade Tiger Bob May from any consideration.

Jimmy Walker playing Lift Clean and Place on the thirty six halls on Sunday to win the first major under Lift Clean and Place it.

So fitting I covered that solo. None of people were there, so you don't get to talk about the Jimmy Walker experience. All right. That's like you don't talk about a war that you didn't serve in.

I was there for that.

That was I still have to talk to my therapist about the strong. Oh yeah, I mean Rory dusting the field in Kio was pretty amazing. We were talking about Andy and I were talking about the podcast last time about how Rory went like sixty six six seventy five six six sixty eight. It was the most Rory major ever. Maybe is that one horrendous round and then just completely boat raced everyone.

I like, I like, my favorite memory is like burned Weisburger, like just fairly existing in twenty fourteen, like literally just not even. He's like a marker for the final group, like you got Ricky Phil like playing a hat and then like Wusburgers just there. I'm terrible for the guy. All of a sudden, he's got to play up the eighteenth in the dark like that.

That was a memorable moment though, that eighteenth fent dark.

You know, yeah, oh yeah, that's a legit. That's the big people like really realize how close Rory was hitting in the water off that T shot, Like that shot was like three feet from being in the water and completely blowing that PGA for him because he was insistent on hitting that T shot, but it wasn't. It stayed up and then he bully fell into playing through that.

That moment sticks with me. But I I go back to the Kiwa PGA and I think about Ernie's tough luck in majors all the time, where he finished runner up to VJ and Tiger and like three or four consecutive majors back in the day. I mean, David Lynn finished runner up.

I hope we get David Lynn on the next week's podcast. Talk about the slander that he faced two product vodkas in a row. David Lynn, I mean.

He would go right alongside like Sean mckeel is, the most obscure major champions of all time.

Yeahhead was absolutely true.

I don't remember anything else that David Lynn ever did in his career other than finished runner up in that major.

Don't you think we're I mean, as much as we talk about like this is going to be set up for someone who hits the three hundred yards, has that kind of eliminated those like surprise majors and someone like will we ever see a Ben Curtis win a major again? Or Sean mcchiale or like a total like a guy who's ranked outside the top you know, one hundred basically. I mean, it wasn't Ben Curtis like ranked five hundred in the world or something in that moment when he won.

Yeah, yeah, I mean.

Win a day with Todd Hamilton. Todd Hamilton hybrids all the way anywhere else that I don't think anybody's going to ever win a major hitting hybrids into the par fours anymore.

Or yeah, uh, I think that's a good point. I don't know, it's it's God, it seems less prevalent. But I have to look at it trying to think of the last like super fluky major winner we had, Like Jimmy Jimmy Walker, as much shit as you want to give him, was like a legit superstar talent, I mean not super I mean legit top of the world balance.

So that's the thing, is like we haven't had I mean, Danny Willett and Jimmy Walker are I mean the last. The next one would be I mean Duffner. I wouldn't consider Duffner really fluky either.

No, he's good. He was good. Yeah, Keegan was kind of fluky, right, I mean, nobody really knew who Kegan was. He wasn't like he had a great amateur career or like anything that you would you know that that was kind of out of the blue and has progressed in the kind of what it was.

Is Cabrera fluke in the sense that he won two majors a fluke that happened twice.

Two majors in the Military Tribute. He's never actually won an event the Military Tribute.

It's uh, I mean that's that's the thing is, Uh, there's there haven't been many fluccated that could be a byproduct of it. There is less variability in the golf tournament because it's almost a prerequisite to hit it three hundred yards unless you're Zach Johnson.

I hope Keka's career finish this with like five majors and two PGA Tour victories.

That's what I'm saying. It could like, I mean, is that's kind of a crazy thing to have happened. Yeah, isause, what.

Do you think it says more about him or the tour? I don't know that you answer that.

I think it says more about the PGA Tour.

Really.

I think that it shows that the setups are soft and that I don't think it necessarily. I think when when you play true championship golf, it it really usually identified the the big dogs and and who's the best players in the world at that time. I think when and I maybe I'm overblowing majors, I don't know, but like his major record, in his PGA Tour record, there's something wrong there. You know, the guy is just an

I don't know. I mean, Tiger used to say he had no interest in playing the birdie fests, you know where he had to shoot twenty to win. He wanted to play the hard ones. But he still won. He won so often that I don't know that that really the facts quite add up.

I think you can never consider Tiger Woods in any you know, comparison to anybody. Yeah, like that's it. It's it's crazy. But I don't know. I I guess like that's like I know that the thing with the tour is that they have parameters that they set a tournament up in and everything's within a certain parameter and nothing goes outside the box. Yeah, you know, And I would say that the major championship setups are typically outside of that parameter box that the PGA Tour has.

I think that should start giving more control over to like title sponsors, do you like course set up, start getting things real tricked up, all weird, like you got like Big Jim Justice walking in, Yeah, putting like windmills on you know, holes, and it just it should just start like seating tours, just start seating control to like the horse, the host, sponsor and course.

So so you just uh that se you know, the CEO interview on Sundays would be a lot more interesting too. There you go.

That's dangerous because you can't just see it to the like the wild CEOs. Then you got to seat it all CEOs, and some of those CEOs are like the most boring, whitest dudes in the country. So like, what if they set up the most vanilla set up possible, like they already maybe they already are doing that thing. Like it's possible the setups could get worse in that scenario.

You know, they he might make it, you know, mandatory to become a troop for the week.

You got like the guy from Ballast Bar, like going like boisey boise state on the greens, like making them different colors.

Get a little whacky.

All right, let's uh, let's get into overrated and underrated. Unless you guys have any parting things or thoughts that you want to talk about about the PGA.

No, No, I mean I was more like if we're doing the same Louis thing. I was like, my enthusiasm for this was like a like an seven to nine Jeff Fisher ram season. But I've like I've come around to it, like more of the you.

Know, your ten and six Steelers season.

Maybe fastest showing you know whatever. Maybe we'll get some good players.

And Mike Mart's era kind of round. Yeah, yeah, just letting Mark Bulder get creamed.

Like a crappy NFC West Division title, but like an early eggs in the playoffs.

So you know, I just I look at these the players, and I look at so many of them if they don't win a major, if they don't win this major, like you could make a case that they've had a really bad season.

Yeah, you know.

And there's so many big names that didn't haven't won a major, like just because of the way it is now with so many superstars and quotes and so few majors that this is That's the captivating thing about about the PGAs it's Glory's last chance, you know, last shot.

I think maybe maybe PG Championship underrated.

This is major.

We taught at the beginning, we sort of were kind of down on the PGA, and now we've really talked ourselves into it's being super important. Well that's the thing.

It's a major championship and those are special, and they're only four weeks a year. Like as much as apathy as you can have about different things around it, Like it's a major championship and there are only four a year.

Not to not to bring this, not to bring this ship down, but TN T overrated, underrated.

I'm gonna I'm gonna punt on this. I don't know that I'm allowed to comment on other networks. Well I do not need to punt.

I mean CNT, like before before bashing coverage became a thing. CNT is annual the worst broadcast of the year, like annually, and like they're in a tight spot. You gotta like cater to the host organization. So you get the things with like you know, the playing tips from Michael Breed just kind of hammering you over the head when you know players are actually playing golf. You know, you do the PGA professional stuff get you gotta kind of serve

It's it's not great, Yeah it is.

It's it's abysmal. I mean, TNT knows drama that they do not know how to showcase golf drama. I don't think. I don't think you should be allowed to telecast a golf event if you don't telecast any other golf off events for an entire year, like you're just not going to be good at it. Yeah, Like like Tiger says, you need reps, that's true. Like it is let alone a major.

Yeah, that's true. We've talked our friend Shane Bacon talks about how much better that their crew is now that they've gotten to do like the USAM and the Women's SAM and the you know, like even that's the thing where the PGA professionals go out and play against one another, like you just you do it together a lot and you get better at it. You're right, you can't be good unless you actually, you know, get the rims.

Sounds like they're getting that Tiger VERSUSIL match by the way.

They know drama. I can't wait for that match because then you know it will be like the NBA playoffs where I fall asleep with the coverage on and I wake up and Charmed charms on.

Well, that's.

That's the other thing, you know, how Fox goes Like Fox goes a lot. I'm at nine am, Like TNT comes on at like eleven, you know, Tiger goes off at eight twenty, and like we have to watch four episodes of SVU and you know, Charmed and Bones and all this other. Like CNT like doesn't have stuff going on on Thursday and Friday morning, but like they just like bleed you out and wait until like eleven am.

I think I really enjoyed the part where Poreth gave like a really nuanced long thing and then Andy was just like, yeah, it's abysmos is the word of the podcast. All right, let's do more Overrated under.

It, overrated, underrated, Nelly, helly.

I had to hear a lot of Nelly, having covered the Ravens for all those years that was Ray Lewis's thing, and come out to Hot in Here, and so I definitely got weary of it. Uh definitely would say overrated. But I did hear like a like a Glee Club version of Hot in Here once it was like really enjoyable and maybe like rethink it, so I'm not going to like completely trash it. But mostly I'd say overrated.

Well, yeah, I mean talking about Hot in Here is like talking about like twenty twenty fifteen Tiger Woods versus like two thousand. Like, no, I don't know why Hot in Here became a big thing. Like Country Grammar is one of the greatest rap songs all time. I remember exactly where I was when I heard it for the first time.

Air Force ones is good.

Up a fish, Don't Fry in the kitchen.

I remember being a sophomore in high school a Country Grammar came on, Remember exactly like that song like whatever it got played a lot. But if you listen to that now, like you would still think that's good.

Oh yeah, draft on high school straight to the pros.

I mean, Nelly, for that song alone is underrated, like that is.

That is an all time Nelly. I was about the same age, and I'll never forget. My buddy had like one of the first disc drives that could rewrite CDs, so he just burned all of our buddies, you know, Nelly country grammar, and we, I mean we blasted that Nelly. Nelly's got a special place in my heart. Even though it's from Saint Louis. I will say Saint Louis way underrated.

Overrated.

Underrated slogans for major championships.

Overrated of course.

I mean this is like the issue is when you try to find something that's subjective and like force it down our throat and make it objective, like there's just like this, you know, Glory's last shot is just like it's just like a nonsense like subjective crazy marketing term. Live under par like what who got paid to do that? Like you just you get you just just say we have the strongest field in golf. That's an objective truth. They invite with the strongest field and major championship golf.

I love it all right, I would say underrated in there like my like I enjoy I enjoy making lots of whites cracks about uh you know. I send a note to Comport this year and I was like, hey, are you going to be at the fifth Major? From the PJ And he's like fifth, We're like the seventh I want to be. I'm gonna hashtag a bunch of stuff like seventh Major, n seventh Major champion is Sanders.

Shop, What was worse? What was worse Glory's last shot? Or this is major?

This is major? It's not even close. I mean, I don't know. I think Glory's last shot is horrible.

I mean, Glory's last shot is so like, oh, just like treacly and purple, like dumb. It's like a Jim Nancel Jim Nancys. But this is Major is so so base and stupid. I mean I'm not sure, Like I think we've overinflated like that. That thing's history. I did that last more than like a year. I think it lasted like a year, like it will last forever in our hearts and minds.

Someone built a second home in Malibu based on This is Major. That's infuriating. It can't be that hard to be a marketing guy. That's what you come live under. Par and this is Major and Glory's last shot or like winning campaigns.

Yeah, like anything, Usually things are the best when they just naturally happen, right, So they should just let it naturally go. I think they're starting to do that. I think they started to realize, yeah, hey, we it's like the why there's a backlash to the President's Cup and and why you know, people hate when you say that the Players is the fifth Major because if you try and force something, it's not going to work out. Uh, you know, we haven't talked about Tiger at all, which is kind.

Of absurd surprising.

Actually, yeah, does he have any does he have any shot this week?

Tiger's season over it and underrated, underrated, under underrated.

I didn't think that guy was ever going to play golf again. Like ten months ago.

He led a major on the back behind on Sunday he made at the Masters.

Like he's playing golf like that is so exciting.

He's a top He's had a top twenty five player in the world type season without a win.

Totally. Do you guys ever get angry tweets from about people who are like why are you talking so much about Tiger? Like it's amazing, It's amazing how short sighted those are, Like, oh my god, of course I'm going to talk about Tiger like he was he could barely walk a year ago when he was leading a major this year, Like that's nuts it. We don't only talk

It's uh yeah, I uh he's He's important. I don't think he's gonna do well this week.

I don't think so. I think he's gassed. He's pretty tired. He needs to take take a couple weeks off get ready for that FedEx Cup playoff Chase.

Does he really need to get ready for that? Though?

No, he needs to make the Ryder Cup team. Though Is he on the Ryder Cup team?

I'd rather have him just take the whole FedEx Cup playoffs off?

Wow? Yeahs Cup playoffs.

I mean, like it adds nothing to his career. This is the whole thing. Like only thing that major matters for Tiger at this point forward is majors. Yes, that's the only thing that matters. Yeah, to a certain extent, Like that's where a lot of players get at the end of their career, where like Phil like another PGA tour when it doesn't matter. Majors are the only thing that really matter.

So all right, I think Labner had a good article today about how is his swing speeds have gone down interesting every event six six months per hours since the Honda and just every event really since Walls far ago. And then a bunch of truthers started jumping in about how he switched his shaft and stuff like that.

Crazy. But yeah, no, he's there's no reason for him to play the fact Cup.

None, none, especially once could mean like going into the Ryder Cup. He played whatever six times and seven of it, like, it's just there's no reasons.

Yeah, I mean, I think he's a lock for the Ryder Cup as is, assuming he's healthy. So I don't think that's that's changing anything. So all right, guys, uh we will talk to you soon. Enjoy the PGA and uh yeah, thanks for coming on.

All right, Andy, Pleasure Boys. Number two of the books for me, it's second Martin, you've.

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