Shane Ryan is a contributor for GolfDigest.com and the author of Slaying the Tiger , an account of the 2014 PGA Tour season. He sits down with Garrett Morrison to talk about the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which he covered last week; his new book project and podcast series on the Ryder Cup; and how the golf world has changed since he went out on tour in 2014. They also touch on the current discourse around athletes' mental-health struggles, the reasons Team Europe kicks Team USA's butt in thr...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 294
Shane Bacon, co-host of Golf Today and the Get a Grip podcast, joins Andy for a recap of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. The two discuss Jon Rahm's breakthrough major win, Bryson's claim of not caring about his 44 on the final nine, and the bizarre series of events on the 13th hole on Sunday. They also chat about what they're looking forward to at the upcoming Open Championship and Olympic Games. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 28, 2021•59 min•Ep. 293
PGA professional Brad Marek joins Andy to discuss his great run at last month's PGA Championship. Brad played for years on the mini tours before becoming a well-regarded teaching pro at Corica Park in the Bay Area. In this episode, he and Andy delve into that transition. They also talk about everything from Brad's brush with stretching-themed social media fame to his experience at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 292
You probably know that Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. What you may have forgotten is that he also contended for the 2008 edition at Torrey Pines. In fact, at one point on Sunday, he was tied with eventual winner Tiger Woods. Now, 13 years later, the U.S. Open returns to the South Course at Torrey Pines, and Geoff joins Andy to preview the tournament. They run through five things that Andy will be watching for, and they also discuss Phil Mickelson's surprising win at Kiawah I...
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 291
Rich McIntosh, superintendent of the South Course at Torrey Pines, joins Andy to discuss how preparations are going for the 2021 U.S. Open. Rich has an incredibly difficult job: taking one of the busiest municipal courses in the world and getting it ready for a national open. But it's not just a grind; Rich talks a lot in this episode about what he loves about preparing for big championships. He and Andy also touch on the recent renovation work at Torrey Pines, what to expect from the facility i...
Jun 11, 2021•50 min•Ep. 290
Time for a supersized episode! Last week, Andy called up Mike Clayton—former tour pro, current golf architect, and general voice of reason—to talk about Phil Mickelson’s victory at the PGA Championship, ideas for a world golf tour, and Mike’s upcoming project on Seven Mile Beach in Hobart, Tasmania. They also previewed the U.S. Women’s Open, which was contested at the Olympic Club this past weekend. To follow up on that part of conversation, the Fried Egg boys (Andy, Garrett, and Will) got toget...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 289
On April 26, 73 players arrived at Half Moon Bay Golf Links with hopes of qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club. One of them was Juli Inkster, Hall of Famer and seven-time major champion. Now 60 years old, Inkster was paired with two teenagers who hadn’t been born when she last won a major. Also in the qualifier field was Lucy Li, who in 2014 became the youngest player ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. In this edition of Fried Egg Stories, we follow all four contesta...
Jun 04, 2021•36 min•Ep. 288
Kyle Porter, golf writer for CBS and co-host of the First Cut podcast, joins Andy Johnson to preview this week's PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. Kyle and Andy each run through five things they'll be paying attention to as the action gets underway at the Ocean Course. They speculate on who will thrive at the difficult Pete Dye design and why so many top players don't seem to be in particularly good form. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 19, 2021•57 min•Ep. 287
Jeff Stone has worked for the Kiawah Island Golf Resort since before the Ocean Course was built, and he has been the golf course superintendent at the Ocean Course since 2003. For this edition of the Superintendent Series, Jeff takes some time out of his hectic schedule to chat with Andy Johnson about getting the course ready for this week's PGA Championship. They discuss the differences between resort and championship conditions, the Ocean Course's transition from Bermudagrass to Paspalum, Jeff...
May 17, 2021•32 min•Ep. 286
In September 1989, a devastating hurricane hit South Carolina. Directly in its path was Kiawah Island, where Pete Dye had just begun to build a new golf course. And this wasn't just any course: in two years, it was supposed to host the Ryder Cup. To kick off the second season of Fried Egg Stories, we dig into drama behind the making of the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, host of next week's PGA Championship. Season two of Fried Egg Stories is presented by Precision Pro Golf . This episode was pro...
May 14, 2021•51 min•Ep. 285
Golf architect Scot Sherman joins Andy Johnson to discuss recent renovation work at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island for the 2021 PGA Championship. Scot talks about how being at the Ocean Course has brought his career full circle, and he explains some of the magic behind Pete Dye's design. He and Andy then dig into another recent project: along with Davis Love III and Mark Love, Scot completed an ambitious renovation of the municipal Belmont Golf Course in Richmond, Virginia. The work included ...
May 11, 2021•50 min•Ep. 284
Last week, the Fried Egg team went on a whirlwind tour of California, and in this episode Andy and Garrett break down the highlights. First they discuss Soule Park, host of the Fried Egg's Boomerang event and one of the best public courses on the West Coast. They then talk about two storied championship venues that you'll soon see on TV: San Francisco's Olympic Club and San Diego's Torrey Pines, upcoming sites of the U.S. Women's Open and the U.S. Open, respectively. Andy and Garrett dig into th...
May 04, 2021•52 min•Ep. 283
A common knock on golf courses is that they're bad for the environment. But that's an over-simplified view—and in some cases, a flat-out incorrect one. With Earth Day coming up, we thought it was time to sort through these issues with an expert, so Garrett Morrison sat down with Dr. Cole Thompson, the Assistant Director of Green Section Research at the USGA. In this episode, Garrett and Cole dig into current USGA-funded research on golf course sustainability, address a few popular criticisms of ...
Apr 20, 2021•55 min•Ep. 282
For the past decade, Sean Martin, senior editor at PGA Tour.com, has been covering Hideki Matsuyama's career with more depth and nuance than any other golf writer. So who better than him to sit down with Andy Johnson and review Matsuyama's triumph at the 2021 Masters? Sean and Andy discuss the action down the stretch at Augusta National; Hideki's backstory, personality, potential, and relationship with the press; and the story behind Sean's appreciation of the new Masters champion's game. See om...
Apr 14, 2021•51 min•Ep. 281
Golf Channel host Shane Bacon joins Andy Johnson to discuss the upcoming Masters Tournament. Shane and Andy each run through five things they're looking forward to seeing at Augusta National this week. They touch on Jordan Spieth's reemergence, Rory McIlroy's struggles, and the predictive power of name length, among other topics. On most weeks, you can catch Shane on Golf Today, the Golf Channel show he co-hosts with Damon Hack, and Get a Grip, his podcast with PGA Tour pro Max Homa. This week, ...
Apr 06, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 280
When the world is in disarray, what, if anything, is the role of professional sports? Specifically, what's the role of the Masters, a tournament that has always felt like an escape from everyday life? To explore those questions, Garrett Morrison talks with Curt Sampson, the author of several books on golf history. Garrett and Curt focus on the 1968 Masters, which took place at a time, like 2020, when society seemed to be unraveling. Ultimately, that edition of the tournament failed to provide th...
Apr 02, 2021•53 min•Ep. 279
Jim Wagner is a longtime design partner at Hanse Golf Course Design and the head of the firm’s Caveman Construction crew. With the rise of the design-build approach in golf course architecture, Jim’s on-the-ground knowledge is more relevant than ever. He took some time away from an in-progress build at Jonathan’s Landing in Florida to chat with Andy Johnson about working with contractors, mentoring shapers, crafting contours, and staying hands-on as the Hanse name gets bigger. They also touch on...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 278
Jim Huntoon is the golf course superintendent at the Heritage Club in the Myrtle Beach area and a contributor to the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. In this installment of our Superintendent Series, Jim speaks with Andy about finding creativity in his daily routine, the impact of the pandemic on his operation, his memories of Mike Strantz, and the best spots (for golf and other activities) in the Myrtle Beach area. The Superintendent Series is brought to you by the Toro Compan...
Mar 23, 2021•47 min•Ep. 277
For many people, golf course rankings published by major magazines provide an introduction to golf course architecture. They communicate the basic notion that some courses might (or should) be considered "greater" than others. Since 1996, Jonathan Cummings has served on one of the panels responsible for those rankings. Last year, he gathered up his tremendous knowledge about the rating process and published it in the form of a book, The Rating Game . He and Garrett Morrison discuss the book, the...
Mar 17, 2021•46 min•Ep. 276
Kiel Alderink is a PGA professional and one of Golf Digest 's top instructors under the age of 40. Along with mental coach John Weir, he founded Mental Golf Type, a company that uses personality psychology to help golfers practice and play better. Kiel also happens to be Andy Johnson's longtime golf coach. In this episode, Kiel and Andy discuss the underrated influence of personality type on teaching and performance in golf. They also talk about that time Andy hit it so far left at the U.S. Mid ...
Mar 11, 2021•35 min•Ep. 275
Programming note: We first released this episode on Thursday, March 12, 2020. That evening, the Players Championship was canceled in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. So with the 2021 Players approaching, we thought we'd give this story another chance. In this installment of our audio documentary series, we detail how PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman and golf course architect Pete Dye turned an alligator-infested swamp in Ponte Vedra Beach into a new kind of tournament venue. We also tell the ...
Mar 06, 2021•49 min•Ep. 274
Today we wrap up our deep dive into Andy Johnson's visit to North and South Carolina with a hybrid episode. The first half is devoted to a conversation that Andy had with Troy Miller at Charleston Municipal Golf Course. Troy recently completed a Seth Raynor-inspired renovation of Charleston Muni. After that interview, Andy and Garrett Morrison return to finish their chat about the courses Andy saw in the Carolinas. They talk not only about courses like Charleston Muni and Asheville Muni, but mor...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 273
In collaboration with Jack Nicklaus, English golf legend Tony Jacklin designed the Concession Golf Club, which will host the WGC-Workday Championship this week. Ahead of that event, Jacklin joined Andy Johnson to discuss his long, decorated career. They talk about his tenure as Ryder Cup captain, his relationships with Seve Ballesteros and other European stars, his triumphs at the 1969 Open and 1970 U.S. Open, and his eventual battles with exhaustion and nerves. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...
Feb 23, 2021•50 min•Ep. 272
Geoff Ogilvy is back! He joins Andy to talk about he recent golf news, including the USGA’s potential adjustments to equipments standards and Patrick Reed’s rules incident at Torrey Pines. They also chat about the new Players Series, mixed events in Australia in which male and female pros as well as amateurs play for the same prize money. Geoff hosted one of these tournaments recently, and he discusses the concept's potential long-term impact on the game. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 271
Disc golf has a lot in common with golf. It's usually played over nine or 18 holes; there are tees and targets; there are drives, approaches, and putts; and scores are often calculated according to par. But Fried Egg listeners will be particularly interested to know that disc golf, like "ball golf," has its own history, style, and philosophy of course design. To find out more about disc golf architecture, Garrett talks with John Houck, the leading architect in the sport. They discuss John's appr...
Feb 16, 2021•59 min•Ep. 270
Thomas Pagel, the USGA's senior managing director of governance, joins Andy to discuss the USGA and R&A’s latest announcement regarding their years-long Distance Insights Project. Last year the governing bodies released a major Distance Insights Report, and last week they provided an update on new research topics and proposed changes to equipment standards. These efforts have garnered headlines and driven debate in the golf world about the possibility of "rolling back" equipment. Pagel takes...
Feb 09, 2021•52 min•Ep. 269
Garrett and Andy sit down to discuss Andy's recent trip through the Carolinas. In this first part of their conversation, they open with some thoughts on the events and content projects The Fried Egg has on the schedule for 2021. Then they delve deeply into Pete Dye's Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. They talk about the chaotic origins of the course, its spectacular debut at the 1991 Ryder Cup, and how its architecture holds up today. There are also some digressions into Webb Simpson's recent comme...
Feb 07, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 268
Zac Blair makes his long-awaited return to the podcast to discuss the latest news on his golf course project in Aiken, South Carolina. Zac talks about his decision to hire Tom Doak and Kye Goalby as well as the membership structure and much more on the Tree Farm project. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 26, 2021•58 min•Ep. 267
Tom Doak joins to discuss his latest project, rebuilding the Lido Club near the Sand Valley Golf Resort. Andy and Tom discuss the history of C.B. Macdonald's lost Lido, the challenges of rebuilding it, and how Tom and his crew are planning to recreate the historic course. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 18, 2021•46 min•Ep. 266
Sean Martin, Senior Editor at PGA Tour.com, joins Andy to discuss the 2021 PGA Tour season. Both Sean and Andy identify five things they will be watching for this year. They talk about the youth wave on tour, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, and much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 07, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 265
