Andy and Brendan record this Players Championship “preview” from the shore of Portrush in Northern Ireland and they have many questions about Jay Monahan’s state of the tour (and pro golf?) press conference at TPC Sawgrass. They wonder why everyone was so worked up about it and if he was as poor and bumbling as portrayed. They also discuss the lack of pop around this Players, and how only some of it relates to the loss of talent in the field and how this event cannot even begin to argue it appro...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Andy and Brendan record this from Portrush, where the driving on the wrong side of the road has improved … at least up until the point the car nearly went into the sea. Then they begin this episode with a Tosti Tale from the Puerto Rico Open, where there was a kerfuffle over where a ball might have crossed the hazard. Matteo Manassero is also given his flowers, per SGS custom. Then, at long last, they get to the No. 1 player in the world winning at Bay Hill. They discuss Scottie Scheffler’s putt...
Mar 10, 2024•1 hr
Andy and Brendan are together in Ireland, where they are taking in the news of yet another board announcement from the PGA Tour. But first, there’s an EPIC Ian Woosnam story they picked up on one of his Irish Open wins. Then it’s back to the less fun news of a board, for PGA Tour Enterprises, and it gives Jay Monahan another big title, as well as Tiger Woods. Does any of this shit matter anymore? Should we have any faith in this being an actual, final arrangement? We just had a “Framework Agreem...
Mar 07, 2024•50 min
Andy and Brendan record this from an airport lounge phone booth before they depart for Northern Ireland, so it is somewhat “muted” compared to the normal SGS. But there is still plenty to laugh and holler about, starting with an amusing tidbit on the the Monday pro-am participants at Bay Hill getting non-participating minor leaguers despite ponying up a nice five-figure sum. Then they get to the news that LIV is withdrawing its OWGR application, and what that says about the league and the rankin...
Mar 06, 2024•40 min
This Monday morning episode comes a little late after Andy was busy running a freaking marathon on Sunday. Did the Honda delay its finish just for that? Or was this another instance of the Tour screwing up and mismanaging the schedule? Speaking of management, there’s some great testimony from the front lines about Brendan’s Tour Championship Management concerns from last week. Then they get to LIV’s weekend in Jeddah, from Joaquin Niemann’s win and continued run of form to the Anthony Kim return...
Mar 04, 2024•48 min
Wake up wake up wake up! It’s the first of the month! Andy and Brendan are downright bubbly with a double dose of cause for enthusiasm: a first of the month AND a Friday when it’s time to record! They whiparound this episode discussing Rory’s odd/facetious/threatening/all of the above comments about the Chubby mention of him potentially going to LIV. Then they discuss the woeful ratings for The Match and if that means anything about whether it was good. They discuss Anthony Kim’s big reveal, the...
Mar 01, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Andy is celebrating Victory Wednesday after his Ballfrog carried the day in The Match. They offer some initial takeaways on that event from The Park in West Palm, what worked, what didn’t, and what the Tour could learn from some of these lower stakes, personality-shining exhibitions. Also, the DJ Khaled tidal wave is discussed. Then they get to the hype video LIV released on Anthony Kim’s return to pro golf in Jeddah, before quickly diving off into Talor Gooch’s latest wild comment about putting...
Feb 27, 2024•58 min
Andy and Brendan are back for a Victory Monday edition of the podcast: claiming victories for the #GamblingPod getting back on track and for the passport problems moving toward a positive resolution. Then they get to the latest PGA Tour event, which pitted Jake Knapp against Sami Valimaki and a host of circus tricks created by the Vidanta venue. Was it so bad it’s good territory? They debate whether this should be called a PGA Tour event or something else and if it’s contradictory to be mad abou...
Feb 26, 2024•52 min
This Friday episode is in the running for dumbest SGS episode of all time, but hopefully it’s a bit of whimsy to get you to the weekend. Andy and Brendan discuss a pressing issue of an oversight that may blow up plans for an upcoming work/golf trip they have planned. They also get into Feedback Friday on the Tesla discourse and their attempt at a Star Tier system for pro golf. Then they get to the Charlie Woods pre-qualifier coverage both from official PGA Tour channels and the thirsty social me...
Feb 23, 2024•58 min
This Wednesday episode is promptly derailed by discussion of Tesla owners and the subject of e-bike fraudulence. Eventually, Andy and Brendan get to the schedule for the week, beginning with an awful field at the Mexico Open. They make some one-and-done picks and read some hilarious course descriptions about this Greg Norman signature design. There’s also bewilderment about Jim Bones Mackay getting the main chair in the continued NBC tower bake-off when he has no plans to go full time. The sched...
Feb 20, 2024•1 hr 1 min
The shed door makes its triumphant and unexpected return to this Monday episode, which begins with the strong Sunday finish at Riviera. Andy and Brendan discuss Hideki’s “all-time” final round 62 and how the PGA Tour needed a marquee winner after an underwhelming West Coast swing. They compare this year to last year’s start of the season, and it’s not great. There are a few theories bandied about on why. The nuts, bolts, and meaning of Hideki’s win, Zalatoris’s flash, and a couple house cat fade...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 12 min
This Friday episode comes to you from a Santa Monica AirBnb after Andy and Brendan spent a full day out at Riviera chasing stars and mules alike. They discuss the thirstiest boy wedging his way into more camera time in what has become an annual Genesis tradition. They also discuss Tiger’s return to competitive PGA Tour golf and his ghastly shank at the end of his round. There’s appreciation for seeing some high level golf up close and personal again, but also questions about whether the PGA Tour...
Feb 16, 2024•57 min
Andy and Brendan are on site in Los Angeles this week and this Wednesday episode includes some preview scuttlebutt after a day out at Riviera. They begin with the early-week range scene, where one star was allegedly reticent to put a new driver in his bag. Then they get to Tiger’s season debut, which will be done in his brand new clothing line, and there is some reaction to that unveiling. There’s some SSG scuttlebutt after a John Henry sighting and some thoughts on the state of that deal. They ...
Feb 14, 2024•57 min
This Monday recording was hastily arranged during halftime of the Super Bowl so apologies for the rambling nature. Andy and Brendan begin with some great golf that probably no one watched to finish off a very stop-and-start Phoenix Open. They discuss Charley Hoffman nearly winning on a career money exemption and whether that’s proof of its usefulness or proof it absolutely needs to be abolished ASAP. Then they discuss all the social media clips of all the debauchery throughout the Phoenix Open g...
Feb 12, 2024•41 min
It’s Friday! Here’s hoping you can get outside and enjoy some improving weather and listen to some easy tunes from revered artists like Dick Post. Andy and Brendan get to their plans for the weekend before hitting on all the latest golf news that has nothing to do with actual golf: Saudi threats of imprisonment and PGA Tour grants of equity. They ponder how this might all actually work in theory and in practice and if it starts to level the playing field at all for those who stayed and remained ...
Feb 08, 2024•1 hr 4 min
The weather has calmed a bit in Northern California, but things could be looking mucky for the influencer-palooza at the Phoenix Open. They begin with some clean up from Monday, where Pebble was called, Wyndham was declared the winner, and then he offered some candid quotes about weighing a LIV decision in the offseason. They ponder the current state of pro golf with these decisions and some of the payouts going to middling players for middling finishes. This is cause to discuss the hullabaloo a...
Feb 07, 2024•52 min
With high winds repeatedly blowing open the shed door, and no golf on the PGA Tour, many wondered whether this Monday episode would exist. But it’s here, and Andy and Brendan discuss the PGA Tour’s weather mess at Pebble Beach, where Wyndham Clark shot a course record but no golf was played on the first football-free Sunday since August. They discuss Clark’s 60 under preferred lies and the off chance that it will be the last and final round for this edition of the Pebble Pro Am. With no PGA Tour...
Feb 05, 2024•52 min
This beefy Friday episode begins with some amusements from Andy’s time at Pebble Beach, watching and betting on the hapless Ams trying to play the 17th hole in brutal winds. Eventually Brendan steers the ship onto the major news of the week, the PGA Tour’s announcement of a new company with $1.5 billion in investment from SSG and the impacts of a new for-profit entity with player equity. They have some amusing inside intel from Jay’s meeting with PGA Tour staff, the players Zoom call, and reacti...
Feb 02, 2024•1 hr 18 min
This Wednesday episode begins with some Brendan positivity and a check-in from Andy in Pebble Beach, where he spent the day gathering #scuttlebutt. They discuss Jon Rahm’s debut with LegionXII(i) in LIV, his frame in the new uniforms, and an unsubstantiated rumor on his Carl Petterssen problem. They give their thoughts on Pebble getting that sweet Signature status, and Brendan has a follow-up to some of the field composition gripes. There are some critical one-and-done picks amidst further debat...
Jan 31, 2024•53 min
Andy and Brendan get together in the middle of NFL conference championship Sunday to debrief on the weekend that was in golf. They bounce around on a variety of subjects both related and unrelated to golf, including the Ravens, Nelly Korda vs. Lydia Ko, the LPGA’s stringent Hall of Fame regulations, and more. Then on Torrey, they discuss the lumbering start to the PGA Tour season that now counts Mathieu Pavon among its winners. They discuss a troubling social media video of Pavon appearing to st...
Jan 29, 2024•54 min
Andy and Brendan have left Orlando so they reconvene from separate coasts for this Friday edition of the Shotgun Start. They ramble around at the top about some PGA Show observations as well as Aldrich Potgieter’s big KFT win before jumping into the larger (but less burly) news item that Anthony Kim is planning a return to professional golf. It’s unclear where exactly that golf will be played, either LIV or the PGA Tour, but the return is predicated on a guaranteed payout upfront so they wonder ...
Jan 26, 2024•57 min
Andy and Brendan are together again in Orlando and they begin with some unsubstantiated rumors gleaned from their travels -- one about the TGL and another about a new TV show focused on golf. Then they get to some PGA Show expectations and anticipation before transitioning to the schedule for the week, which focuses on the Farmers, its field, and its future. This leads to another brief World Tour discussion and a drive-by of delusional Keith Pelley. There’s also excitement over the return of CBS...
Jan 24, 2024•47 min
What a weekend in professional golf! Andy and Brendan get together for their usual Monday episode recapping it all, starting with an amateur winning on the PGA Tour for the first time in 33 years. They discuss Nick Dunlap’s win at the American Express and if they were more surprised it happened or that it took this long. They also debate whether he should turn pro right now or play out his spring season with Alabama. Other AmEx recap subjects include JT’s performance and Brandel’s performance in...
Jan 22, 2024•52 min
Andy and Brendan send you off to the weekend with a fun 50 minutes on … a wide range of subjects. They begin with some reaction to Zach Johnon jamming right in their faces with an opening round 10-under 62. Then they somehow get on the subject of the proper way to cut grilled cheese, parents who email the school too much, and Coco Gauff’s pasta endorsement. There’s more discussion on some Palm Springs matters, like Jon Rahm allegedly being in town and playing in some games, Nick Dunlap’s impress...
Jan 19, 2024•53 min
Andy and Brendan fire it up for this Wednesday episode on the heels of a report in The Athletic that Yasir may face a lawsuit for some bad things he is alleged to have carried out on the instruction of Saudi Crown Prince MBS. Is this a golf and PGA Tour problem now and just the beginning of many? Also, it comes out while Jay Monahan is reportedly in Saudi Arabia trying to hammer out a deal. Andy and Brendan concede there is probably no choice now but how could this have gone differently than whe...
Jan 17, 2024•1 hr
Andy and Brendan are back for a very much *not* Victory Monday episode during the holiday in the States. They discuss the Browns blowout playoff loss, the Packers success, and the Bulls fans booing a widow. They eventually get to Grayson Murray’s win at the Sony, but not before first addressing a complete sham of a free drop given to Carl Yuan, who was in contention at the wire. Elsewhere on Sony, Grayson’s “redemption”, Ben An and Keegan’s finishes, and Will Zalatoris alarm are all discussed. O...
Jan 15, 2024•58 min
Andy and Brendan get one more unexpected recording together in the Swamp before departing for the week. They offer a few reactions from their time down in Florida, which included a pass by of the famed Abacoa. They transition to a Swamp denizen who is playing on the Euro Tour this week and may set a new record for the “the spread” in a no-cut Dubai event. Then they get to the many shake-ups at the executive level in pro golf, with Marty Sleeps leaving the R&A and Keith/Scott Pelley leaving t...
Jan 11, 2024•50 min
Andy and Brendan are happily reunited in the Jupiter swamp for this Wednesday episode and they have some reactions to their rental home’s putting green architect, as well as its robot toilets. Then they transition to the controversial field composition for this week’s Sony Open, the first “regular” event under the new/old schedule in the Signature Event era. Has the Tour completely bumbled it and screwed the rookies out of their debut? Should DP World Tour players be given priority over KFT grad...
Jan 10, 2024•47 min
With Andy traveling, and Brendan scheduled to early Monday morning, this is a podcast recorded and completed on the run in some of the most dire circumstances in this podcast’s ramshackle history. A first attempt from the baggage claim in a swamp airport is scuttled and transferred to the rental car shuttle and eventually the rental car. Needless to say, they cover Chris Kirk’s win in Kapalua, Spieth’s final round of “bad breaks,” more low scores and 400-yard drives, and the Kevin Kisner experim...
Jan 08, 2024•50 min
Andy and Brendan are back for their first Friday episode of the year and it’s a joyous scramble. They begin with what Andy terms as one of the funniest and bizarre articles he’s read and stumble around on a few random non-golf topics. Then it’s on to one of the best watches of the year: the first round, primetime golf from Kapalua. They react to some sponsorship shuffling on hats and feet, sadly with one Sepptic Tank. They discuss Scottie Scheffler’s opening round, Sahith Theegala’s early lead, ...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 8 min
