Now, the Shotgun Starting Golf is full of mathematics. There's a lot of setup work that we have to do in order to make a tournament work. So I'm going to demonstrate to you just exactly how we do a shotgun start here and.
Go alright, alright, alright, did no man.
Dark you are.
Greetings, are welcome to a Friday edition of The Shotgun Start. It is May fifteenth, Andy, how we do it?
Brendan, I'm doing fantastic. I gotta say, what a good day golf. Just lots of stuff percolating out.
There, percolating to good word, it feels like could boil over, could bubble up, could be you know, everybody might turn to you know, the entire golf world, might turn the guns on each other. Circular firing squad, debating course set up, proper tests, fair, unfair data. We're on a razor's edge right now, just data, data, gambling analysis, uh touts just I mean, you know what, Andy, at the end of the day, it's just golf. It's just a golf course.
I think we try to have fun with this, we try to call balls and strikes, but at the end of the day, it's just a golf course. We try to say what we think is interesting, fun and proper and good for consumers, good for listeners, and you know, as a product. And but at the end of the day, it is just a golf course. But I think it's been great, good fun day, good good first fun two days.
I mean pretty uh. I think it's just a fast dating weeks so far. I think the obviously the course is kind of front and center, really way more difficult than they than everybody thought it was going to be. Correct hand up, I you know, I predicted ten to fourteen on Tuesday night under to win. Still got shot at that, but like you know, it's definitely skewed on
the harder side of what everybody predicted. And I think, like you look at it, and what's happening is that there's there's real punishment for the the PG eight Tour Bible gospel which has become aim away from the flag. Hit it to the middle of the green and you'll be fine. You'll just you're gonna cash in putts left and right if you just hit it to the middle
of the green. This is the gospel of how to play golf in the modern era and Aronomk is proving if you hit it in the middle of the green you might three put a decent amount, and that seems to be bothering people.
Or if you miss your spot to the middle of the green slightly, that the penalty may be severe.
You may be running off yonder. And I think, like you know, people are always in listen like the leader of wards bunches crap obviously very con run through it. Alex smalley and Matt mcdealey scintillating Saturday final pairing that everybody was hoping for. Then it lead the way at four under par. But then you've got, effectively you got twenty eight guys that are even or better. So twenty
eight players within four shots. And if you go a little bit further, if you wanted to say stretch of a Maga imagination, I'd say that you know, if you're plus two or better, you have a chance, and you're gonna have to play outstanding golf all weekend, but you have a chance. You're six within six of the lead you got. You got fifty eight players within six shots of the elite. And there's a lot of ways you could talk about, like how do we get here, how do we get to a place like it. And it's
a great question who's playing the best right now? And I don't really know, but I think the set up is gonna I think the weekend is gonna yield lower scores. It's gonna get hot, the ball is gonna go further, and the wind's gonna die down. It's been cold and windy, and I think, like what you're seeing his people like, you know, you build, you play major championship golf. You
know your job is to build the house. And a lot of people are playing in a way to build lay down that foundation, not screw it up and get get to the weekend with a shot. And now we got you know, forty some people with a shot, forty four people want one plus one or better. Who I would say, enter the weekend with a real shot and we'll see if somebody kind of deviates or just plays off the charts and uh and separate.
So I think that the critique is that it's been set up to hard in a way that has produced boring golf. I have not personally found it boring. I know there's some data underlying data that Joseph was you know, we talked about midday where it's maybe not skill as defined by data to be clear, as defined by the model the data modeling is maybe not being rewarded or maybe not being discerned in a way that's remarkably different from a.
Regular PGA tour event.
What I have found refreshing, And you know, I watched I think it was Xander on Mondays, like we haven't seen greens like this. We just never do. We never do, and so you already know you're in for something a little different. And so I guess like, if you're upset that the pins have made it to like hit it to the middle, then try it to put what's ranch next week or what you know, have asked Gary Young and everybody to come in and set.
It up for the weekend.
Do that.
You can do that. But variety is a spice of life, and what we have right now is something we just don't get that often. And you know, I think like the judgment that you know, you people like pot Geeter and minwou Lee would suggest you can kind of drive it all over the place and get away with it.
You're seeing that's disrespectful to potty. He almost had a clean toilet at the end of the round.
So it's not like, you know, pure tea degreen. I just think it's okay to have some variety where a PGA, you know, would you say PGA and Valhalla better rewarded the best tea degreen guy. It might have based on the data sets, but you.
Got to remember everybody operates like a model as gospel, and the people that right this model will be the first first to admit, like it's it is our interpret Like we put a lot of interpretation into a model.
So like hand up, I I like took in the the sort of the insight of a lot of players and coaches and things like that who said they were thought that you would just tear it up right, and we've just we didn't anticipate it being this hard and and but I also like we were pretty clear, like it's pretty there's a lot of mystery, Like it could be challenging even if there are a lot of more wedges and shorter irons into greens. I don't think what I anticipated was the first two days the setup being
this challenging. Usually you get you you get progressively harder, or you just have to take into the consideration that you have one hundred and fifty six players to get through, but they Carrie Haig just went right to the you know, the immediately to the woodshed with pins on Thursday. Pins today, I don't think I've heard players say they're like unfair or outrageous, or they've said they're pretty much the hardest
they've ever had. But again, that's against the baseline of this sort of modern tour and quite frankly more benign US Open era. And so nobody's saying it's it's it's goofy golf though this is just frankly something they don't see on tour.
Tom Doak built a golf course at Memorial Park and he had to, you know, when he build a golf course, like for the Tour, for a tour event, you have to work with their design team. The tour design team said that they need to have pretty big areas with no greater than one point seventy five percent slope in those areas. So this is what the tour is saying they want for setup. They want big areas with very little slope and that's your your kind of like their
dream setup scenario week in week out. Ironom Make is the complete opposite it is large swaths of the green with unpittable slope because it's so severe, and then these little pockets where you can place flags all over the place, and the dynamic the difference is is like on tour week in week out, you know, and I saw the Jamie Kennedy compared three putts to Augusta National, and I would say Augusta National is not like your tour set up week in week out, but it's easier to visualize.
If you hit the ball within that kind of relatively small pocket at Augusta National, you are rewarded with a very good look at Bertie. If you miss it, it's a hard to putt. The difference between Augusta National and Irono Make is that those little pockets, in my opinion, are shrunk down, and with the way the PGA kind of came out with the daggers out, we haven't seen it in some of their bigger pockets. It's been in
the small US pockets. And that's why you're seeing all these three putts is because of the insane slope where you would like where at most golf courses a really good shot would be. So the the big big thing here is like I think in general, I would say modern golf architecture has and set up has always kind of undervalued just what big tilt does in greens, when when a green is just set with this and you
build from that and you create from that. And I think that's the the story of this week is that when you're on the wrong side of gravity and it's firm and fast, you're you're in a bad spot.
Brother, and it's so you think the scores might get a little easier on the weekend because it's gonna get hot. Yeah, that's the one thing. Like obviously when we're talking Tuesday, you know, there was this notion Wednesday walking around there and it was so windy, Like why are guys even practicing? This isn't what they're gonna face, Like, this is just pointles because it was just constant. It wasn't even gusting, it was just constant, like twenty five thirty, Like, why
even practicing this? Then it turns out that is a lot of the first two rounds. I don't think people anticipated that win and it made it really challenging. So that will lie down It seems like we didn't expect it though, and but it does seem like that's supposed to lie down. Have they used all the hard pins already? Probably not.
There's enough, there's plenty of them to go around a lot of tough so I think they just keep it going. This is my thing, Like would this be good every week? No?
If it's just like you know, this test would not be you know, variety is what we're looking for here. And if you want the PGA to be the same every year, like it has to be the guy who strokes gained, you know, he has to be top five strokes gained Tita Green, then that's stupid. Just hold the PGA in the SOFI dome under the same conditions every year and just read the read the data sheet when it's over. Don't even watch, just read the leaderboard when it's over.
The other thing that could never happen is they have to be within x shots of the lead or else they should just quit and stop playing. You know, these are all the rules of data and we must abide by them. Maybe we need maybe you know, we got the fair police out there for of course set up. I liked Will Knights had a comment in our slack that you know you've put dropped in a question that that scott Somebody asked Scotty about did you have anything
unfair happened to you? Said? Well, I said, that's like just just sticking the speedomena or the radar gun right in his face, trying to catch him speeding.
Uh, let me read that. Did anything unfair happen to you out there?
You know what?
Like Andy, I think we're over indexing on the pine hers stuff from two years ago. I think, Scottie, maybe I know we've got to cart he's the sheriff. Now you can't come back. Did anything unfair happen to you out there? Scheffler? I mean not unfair? I mean I think the only time our game where it's unfair is like if you get winds starting to blow the ball off the greens. I just feel like he's cast a wider net on what unfair is before though, right, I mean enough town, Yeah, tough town.
You know, bud balls he sees.
I don't think it's been just when the wind's blowing the ball at the green. But I digress. This is his answer. Now, I hadn't seen that yet. It looks like I haven't seen that yet.
This week. It looks like the wind's going to die down and this week goes on. I don't think we'll see that this week.
It's funny sometimes I feel like that they are a game right now, which I do enjoy. I love hard tested golf, but it's also the hardest game in the world, and we're trying to make it harder and there's different ways you can do that. You can do that on a golf course like this, I truly believe they can have the winning score of you whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations. Is that the best test? Who knows? It's a different test.
So speaking to this variety.
Point, great take right there, different test, it's.
A different test. I think that's what's great about our game is very rarely do we play the same golf course, and even when you do it a place like Augusta, it's different each and every year. So conditions are always changing, the golf course is always changing. I think it's the hardest game in the world and still just trying to solve a bit of a puzzle. Really a great answer from the sheriff. I wonder if he's you know, is he trying to turn in his badge here. It's a
really interesting perspective about it. It's the best I don't know. It's different, and that's what's great is how it can change from year to year, week to week.
He just wants to move into different Uh, he wants to move into the into the DA's office.
I will say somebody had just somebody was I don't know if there was a recruiter out there trying to get people in, but someone asked, uh, got her up? Who by the way, sixty five five under sixty five? It wasn't like everybody was just three two putting for par middle of green two punning like sixty five was out there. I think the probably early late wave will
be kicking themselves. And you said it yesterday, like I on the lunch the midday check in, You're like, these guys kind of kicked it away the early wave yesterday, and then they certainly got a bit more more benign set of uh set of wind today and.
They all kicked it away.
They booted it.
No one really went and got it, but uh, someone did ask got her up? If anything was unfair. There was definitely a police recruiter out there just trying to get new uh new trips. He goes, how do I He looked at himself, He looked up and down. He's like, I don't know. He goes, I'm trying to answer this properly. He's like, I can't say it's unfair. So he pleased the fifth. This is the storyline nobody's talking about. He
didn't want to incriminate himself. He wasn't going to turn state's witness and be a testify on on behalf of the police and the prosecution. So I'm going to try and answer this properly. I don't think it's unfair, but I do think for paces of playing certain aspects, there have been a couple. You know, fourteen is the pin is aggressive. You're hitting four iron to a ten foot circle. If it doesn't go there, it's off the green. And we saw that frequently.
Just Rory shot like a towering of an iron.
You can just boom out of here, no chance.
The thing about games of strategy, you know, golf is a game of strategy. Sometimes the right play is fifteen feet left, like in that case, on that whole it was just play fifteen feet left, take your par and walk away. What's kind of interesting about this week is that if you go to another hole fifteen feet left could be death, and I would just you know, I would point out that never ever have have players spent less time preparing for major championships on the golf course.
Ever, because of how the schedule's compressed, well.
Just the way they go. They'll play nine holes a day and they you know, these players spend so little time on the actual golf course and what they rely on is people to tell them how to play the golf course and how to play golf. And the reality is is that of all the greens in the world, Irana Mak would rank in the top five to ten of sets of greens that you'd want to spend the most time you possibly could figuring it out and figuring out how where the miss is, where the spot to
hit it is. And it's not as prescriptive as just to hit it fifteen feet left or right, you know, and you shade it one way or the other base off of how far away you are. There are a
plus places the misshots into and an absolute disasters. And I think that's what we've seen out seen play out and I think There's an element of this is that these as somebody's going to figure out the golf course over the weekend, and they they're gonna that figuring out the golf course is going to match up with supreme shot making, and we're going to see a couple of people get out in front at the on Sunday.
I think you started to see it a little bit with Cameron and Chris got her up. I think that's going to happen. I'm not ready to look it's not bombing Gouge. I think that was like the prevailing notion it's gonna be bombing Gouge. It's going to be very similar to Wayne Foot twenty twenty. I don't think that's the case. I also don't think you like you clearly don't have to hit every fairway. You don't have to be the most accurate driver. Patrick Reed is not a particularly good driver.
He's done well.
Stephen Yaeger on like on the record, second man, I'm never gonna be a guy. It's a lot of fairways. He's doing well. There isn't ability to Speaking.
Of Steven Yeger, we got to another storyline that nobody's talking about.
I'm sorry to more than the ten day.
What's going on? Perfect game Jaeger gets his spot start and throws the perfect game of eighteenth straight parts and that.
Was amazing because it's great to be pokey free. Unfortunately, I also didn't have any birdies, so I you know, min Wu potties, I mean potty is kind of shipping it all over the place and getting away with it. So that doesn't mean it's Bob and gouage, but you also don't there there It depends. There's a penalty for missing the fairway. Some of these fairways pitch and they're much more effectively smaller than they seem. The word generous was like the word du jour at the start of
the week. I don't think that would be said anymore. But you can get away with miss.
I think there's a couple of things here and this is where it's it's not everybody wants black and white, and there's a lot of douance to everything. And like the way this golf, the golf is being played out in my eyes, is there's enough space to hit a lot of fairways, and if you hit a lot of fairaways,
you're probably gonna play pretty well. We saw that with Scottie round round one versus round two, Like the difference was, you know, Rory round one versus round two, he had a lot more fairways, you know, he had a lot more generally, a lot more looks at Bertie. So anyways, there's enough space to hit fairways and consistently hit fairways, which is great. The rough is thick, it can be unpredictable.
Sometimes you can get good lives, sometimes awful lies. It's firm, so it's going to lead to a lot of outcomes. But I think the key here is like if this golf course was two hundred yards longer, I think this leaderboard would look way different and it would be more accustomed to what people you know, quote unquote want or what they want their model, how their models would have worked,
you know better. But because it's shorter, it's on the shorter end that distance is not as much of a prerequisite because yeah, sure Potty can blast it up there and get a flip ledge in his hand. But you know, a guy like Maverick McNeely still, you know, and he's gotten on the longer end of things, But that guy Maverick McNeely can still have a wedge. You know, it's not like he's hitting a demonstratively longer club, if that makes sense.
Yeah, the best driver in the top ten is David Pooge. Everybody else is sort of like okay to average. It's there is a way to score and get around here. Do you have a newfound respect for Carrie Haig? I don't think. I want to say. We sort of said, look, there's two signs of thinking and and some people told me on Tuesday he kind of whoss out and he just doesn't go hard enough. Others say he sets up the perfect major because it's just let's the it's what
the conditions in course that week are. We were sort of like, he's just he's he's chewing on your wallet, he's milk toasted, and he body bagged me. I tried to get him to talk. He goes some Some courses have trees, some courses have fewer.
Trees, and he just went there. And that that he doesn't give you anything. He's not going to pop off the page personality wise. Do you have a newfound respect? Were there any that that he just went right to it? Well, I say I didn't. I didn't know he had this much range. I didn't know he was ready to do what he's done the last last two days. And I'd like to point out, I think you could make this golf course way harder with whole locations. Like everybody's like,
you couldn't make that. You know, they're they're picking the heart. I think I think you're just at the tip of the iceberg with what you could do with these greens and these the whole locations you could pick out. But I do think this is kind of following the Carrie Haig playbook, which is like Carrie Hag and the PGA. They're known for fun finishes, bunch leader boards, and I think that's one of the you know, hallmarks and wasn't
like I I've complained about it in past. I've complained about you know, val you know, like they kind of just keep people close. But I think that might be just kind of the way he likes to set up golf courses, keep people in and we're gonna have we're gonna have the most exciting finish of any major every year, or set us up to get one of the most
exciting finishes. You think through the recent ones, I mean they're all pretty close usually, you know, last year was like the only one that wasn't super close.
It was Scotty doing Scotty things, but it was close there for about you know, twelve thirteen holes on Sunday, were there any pins and look, fourteen was really under the microscope. Six seemed to have Fitzy, Rosy and Scheffler like muttering to themselves as they walked off. Eight got a little intrigue for eleven. Eleven was getting sort of under the mic But like JT talked about it, He's like, look, you have a wedge in your hands, like right, and so you can make a five with the sandwich in
your sand wedge in your hand. But you know, it's it's really borderal. It's really hard. It's really freaking hard. But you also are coming in with a wedge. It's not hard to hit it to twenty feet with jat, but it's really really hard to hit it close. And that's example. You have a great number of full wedge. You can spin it and hit it close, but you don't want to try to do too much. I did that this morning. When knocks it down on the air, it doesn't even come close. I'm grinding to make five.
It just speaks volumes to how this course can be throughout the day. Scotty on fourteen, that part was a extremely good. That was one of the craziest pins that I've seen.
Uh.
He talked to h Foos and ted He said, this is Scotty, this is the hardest set of pen locations I've seen since I've been on tour. Includes us opens, includes Oakmont, as Foos as Teddy. If they said anything like this before, said maybe Shinnacock. Well, I got good news for everybody in the field. Shinnacock soon comes. He learned to be doing this again. Discourse. Hey, maybe Carrie Haik has given the USGA John Bohenhemer a little bit of cover to turn the dial up a little bit
even more like let the boys. The boys have been boys have been blooded. You know they they've run their race now and they're ready for a more strenuous race in four weeks.
I did a podcast a couple of weeks ago on Frida Egg with Scott McPherson. One of the more interesting things as it pertained, it was about the old course. He's a great historian, wrote a book about how the old courses evolved, and he's done some you know, some of the book is about the championships at the Old Course. One of the things he talked about is that as technology has advanced, the number one thing that how the Old Course has changed outside of like your new te
markers is whole locations. The whole locations have gotten de monstraly more tucked over the years. Where I think the example and I can't remember the exact paces, but the example he used is the first hole at the old Course, which everyone knows is the par four, and then you hit over the berm. A front pin used to be something like fifteen or sixteen paces on the green. That was like a tucked front pin. Now you see it and they have a front pin and its six paces
over the berm, you know, so six paces on. So like the idea of like how do you how do you combat technology? And you think about aroundomy a place where as JT said, like, yeah, we have wedges in our hand. The pins are hard, but we have wedges in our hand, is like how do you how do you how do you combat it? How do you make
a golf tournament not you know, a birdie fest? And I think, like this is just a general rule that I believe in the more and I and I think like they definitely went out and said, hey, we want we want scores to not be crazy, along with getting a really nice weather for scoring to not be crazy. The two things I think are both true. But one of the things that does happen. I believe is that when you try to curb scoring, you also curb variants
a little bit. And I think that's what's happening this week.
There's a that's and that's where you're seeing so many people condensed. Uh yeah, you know leaders to four under three under Yeah, yesterday, certainly one hundred, twenty guys one hundred or not. There were ninety two guys within five shots of elite. That was for sure, that was the number.
And if you want to curb scoring on a design side, and this is this plays perfectly into the early discourse of this week, like the number one thing you can do if you're if you're worried about score to part Oh, we'll just plant trees everywhere. But what you're also doing is limiting outcomes, which is limiting variants. So we're just defining it too much by the leaderboard number. That's everything. How we've come to.
The data models that suggest this is skill or not skill, the leaderboard number that suggests this is a good test or not, the gambling prognostications either being born out or well, we know this guy is one of the great tee to green players and the other guy, and these guys aren't playing well here, and therefore something must be off. Like we're just defining it way by. I think all those things are incredibly additive and and have unlocked so
many different insights. But it feels like that's how we've purely come to define the golf course. And and you know, I just that's what I'm like, That's what I'm loving about. This is just it just is a little bit of a different uh, a different I don't want to say eye tests. It's just a different, uh viewing experience. And I was worried it wasn't gonna be I was worried it was just gonna be send it as far up
as you can and hit wedges on. But it became clear over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday that it wasn't quite there yet. It wasn't gonna be that and and and credit to the PGA, credit to the ground staff, it's it's really been awesome to watch I Now I can't understand the people who were saying this is gonna be a just a birdie fest now Mad. Now they've like gone to the other side.
Now Mad.
It's like a lot of the same people that this is boring because guys are just trying.
To Can I can I just say something about online discourse. Sure, the more present you are and take this however you want online during major championship golf, and the more present you are with the with your own you know, tweets trying to point something out. Do you know what the less present you are what what aspect of the golf you're less president, the actual screen, the views, actually watching the shots, informing your own opinion. Yeah, yeah, it's you know.
I saw a tweet late last night from Andy Lack, who I know Joseph deals with talks a lot and smart like data guy. Say Joseph deals with him or Andy whatever you ad vice versa whatever. They talk their buddies. I know, I've I've dealt with them too. He's a smart guy. I like him. But but a guy who's probably more data uh driven, I would imagine, I don't know like, I don't follow that, he says. Irono Mank is not a course that's going to produce massive numbers
compared to other PGA venues. But given the strength and size of the Greens, they ability to keep doing this, keep challenging the players. The pins today are from an organization that felt like they had something to prove. It will be very interesting to see where they take this championship. Because everyone knows the Greens are everything on this course. They can create scoring variants with funnel pins. Maybe we see more of a push or pull of the scoring
pins going forward. But despite the lack of scoring variants, that condensing you can enjoy. He enjoyed the hell out of today, So I think like you can be a Jada driven guy, you know, and really come to appreciate what you saw. Were there any pins that you thought were too hard, too much, Scotty.
Were there any pins where the ball was coming back to players feet?
No?
Scotty said, the one on fourteen was the hardest pin I've seen in a long time. There's literally just like a spine. They're like, oh, we'll just put it right on top of it. So he said, they just dropped that one on top of the spine the fourteen and that was playing very challenging. So let's talk about golf. Yeah, that's our course. So but that became the story. I just I can't. We'll do a full recapping of it Sunday night. But that's where we're at, at the checkpoint, the midpoint.
You know what this story of the golf is, what anybody's in it?
Anybody do you want to give me a real leader board? If you're going to say anybody, I mean, yeah, I would quibble with that notion.
I just I think that this is this is a you know, pick a pick a big time player plus one or better. You know, I was talking to PJ and I were talking today and he's like, you know, blah blah blah. You know, he's saying stuff. You know. The real leader, I believe right now is at three under. You got Hideki and got her up. That's who i'd put it at the lead. I'm not I don't think Sully and McNeely are going to get it done taken,
but the real leaders at three under. So if you're sitting at plus one or you're even at plus two, and you know, and this is what I would ask you, Brendan is like, do you think it's feasible for I'm just gonna take a player Matt Fitzpatrick to beat to beat everybody in the field by five shots over thirty six holes.
Yes, at a golf course.
I do. If you do, then you think then they can win. They could conceivably win this tournament. And if you go down that like to me, that's where plus two. Obviously the golf course has rained some people in a little bit, you know, over the two days. But I kind of believe we're gonna get one fun set up, one hard setup on the weekend. You're gonna see that
the thirteenth driveable it's going. They're gonna they're gonna ratchet it, you know, to make it really fireworks one day, I believe, probably tomorrow, and then Sunday it's gonna be back to being an ass kicker.
An interesting choice I thought was they kind of not by design, but I would say probably three best players in the world this year consistently.
Were Scheffler fits Cameron Young. I think Rory has like kind of you know, he won the Masters, he's put him forth to put him third wherever he was.
But he's he's been like trying to find a few things right and was it the masters and did it enough? So whatever, three of the four players, Rory's in that group, they were all ended up kind of buying the harder wave, the harder early late or sorry late early wave with a lot of the win like today was this morning was freaking hard. That was like incredible, the balls going nowhere, it's cold, it's so windy, hard pins. I don't think those guys are probably necessarily playing poorly. And cam Young
started to come on late. I don't think Scheffler was like, you know, the broadcast said, like this is unheard of? Was Scotty because he made three bogies? It was freaking hard? Ye had they so three of the paperwork storylines. Nobody's talking about Sheriff Scotti, slow start, the resolve, hours spent processing Higgo's appeal. He had to do desk work last night. They had a big controversy on the fair police frontier
who was at the desk doing paperwork all night. He comes out makes three bogies, Like so you have three of the guys who are playing the best right now in the hardest got the draw a little bit. It wasn't a crazy draw disparacy disparity, but it was the harder point. And so that's FITZI Yan Scotty, like you said with FITZI, absolutely he'll be out a little earlier tomorrow. Of course he can go get it. We just saw a sixty five.
I mean, honestly, listen, I'm gonna beat the drum always for championship uh setups where you know, just generally like okay, we're gonna identify the better play the best player by then to seventy two holes. But just in terms of if you're an organization, what a dream setup, you got a dream leader board you have in the sense of like I'm gonna be locked into golf pretty early in the morning because any of these guys at like plus two could shoot a sixty six or sixty five and
all of a sudden they're right back in it. And that's what we saw from got Her Up today obviously is got her Up. You know, because of how many names were on the board yesterday. It's like we didn't really talk we you know, the thought of talking about Chris Gottrup's slow start with seventy two was gonna be if we had a four hour show, we might have gotten to it. But now got Her up shoots two over,
he shoots a sixty five. And like I would say, if I was gonna make favorites, like he might be my favorite right now, I'd probably still lean a little bit towards Cam or Scottie, but he'd be right up there in terms of favorites for the weekend.
Yeah, I think a lot, a lot can happen with thirty six holes to go? Where else do you want to go next? Got her ups in it? Where's your Can we go back to your leaderboard?
Yeah?
Yeah, all right, we'll go keep going down the leaderboard. I put min Wu Lee on here. I had to take my guy the potty off. I was happy. One of my really good friends texted me last night and that he that he followed our lead or what what what is it? PJ? When you tail tail tail us? He got he hit a potty first round leader yesterday. Right there we go. But anyways, the uh potty I've taken off. I think those those bogey bog that bogey bogie finish is going to rattle him.
But this is a good performance from pott. Come on, let's be honest. That's that's a tight rope. He's going to fall off at some point. You're walking the potty tightrope. He's not fully trained yet that you can't have him on the real leaderboard.
My story storyline, nobody's talk about PJ put up here potty potty clogged eater finishes Bogey Bogey to lose the.
Lead on Saturday. On Friday, I guess I missed that there was a loud potty shout on the broadcast.
At some point somebody screamed.
Body, Oh, we don't encourage that. No, don't don't bring dumb inside jokes to the ground.
Uh.
Uh.
We're impressed by Ben woo Lee. He made the made the real leader board. And uh, I gotta say a moment, it felt like it was gonna unravel after the double today, it kind of felt like it was going to go the wrong way. And this is a this is an experienced chef. He put out the active grease fire. Uh and and and got that, got the kitchen back working, served with the customers, didn't have to shut down the restaurant. So Min wou Le chef min Wu makes.
The leader board here, love it? What else do we have Cameron.
We got Scottie and Cam at at two under. Obviously, Peach, how did you how did how did that finish make you feel? Coming coming down the stretch for camp.
Finish finish made me feel great. It was uh, you know, got gets saw saw the shot. Then we went away for like what felt like an hour on the ESPN, I was just waiting for I was like, there's no way they're not going to show him at least close to live making this eagle Putt refreshing the tracker, just like right as our team team meeting call, weekend planning call started today.
I'm just waiting.
I was wondering where you were we did I just assumed it was a great talks.
I was just chats, you know, spam and spam and the refresh button and and and waiting for it to come up. Put finally dropped. I mean, his front today was bad. Did not play well as first nine holes, hasn't played well this whole week. I think it's a minor miracle and a testament to to being a top flight player in the world, being on the T four on the on the real leaderboard.
We were going down the real leaderboard. We were making the graphic and uh, and I just I knew PJ was just waiting for me to say Cam Young, So I just left him off and he's like, you're kidding, right, you're kidding.
So you're leaving Who am I? You're leaving Pooge, Harris English.
Jaeger JT JT is a notable emission that's not going to go over well. Uh we did include Sea Wou though.
Ludvig, I might. I guess it could come.
Honestly, I almost said this last night. Yes, I was so disappointed in Ludwig yesterday. Yeah, to me, this was just totally a show. Show you something round today along the lines of I think got her up doesn't have as big of expectations as Ludwig. Yeah, for Ludvig today, big time sixty six from lude. So then we got we got who else? We go to one under, we got John Ram, Jason Day and uh and in there I gotta say, this is this is this is who
I'm most worried about. The vulture capitalists can't lay is seeing a distressed situation playing out here at Ironim and he is ready to pounce, just like a good Virgil. Vulture capitalist.
He's one in the area Wilmington Country Club. He's familiar with the area. Is he with rom because I think he's like I think can't A is the guy on the board who sort of pretty out in the open, despises the live situation as much as anybody that would be a good parent if it's can't lay Ram. They're both at one under, so you're keeping them. You're you've got some can't le concerns you you know, you always have to.
Look at this and it's like, what's the worst worst case scenario here? And I can't I might have joined that. Uh we go, Hoe, he is on it, Come on, why are you doing that? Of all the people, even yah Us he has needed needed to have him on here just to just to have a reason to bring up. What a good start to the major for Hoe? You know, did you have ten on the actual leader board here? And he's in it. He's alive. Anybody been two over or under? And he said, we're in it. The first
step is this step towards east Lake BP. We need to get on our horse here a little bit. This is the first step.
Patrick is also even yeah, that's fine, Smith and even any any Cameron Smith is cards right.
I don't want to call him to sanct you know, question the sanctity of this list. But yesterday we have the opportunity to put Martin Kramer up there, and we took it. And today we had an opportunity to get Hoey in there. We got to the point on the leaderboard and we saw a guy there and we said, we got to put this up here.
Some other names I could throw out Collins won over more kwa uh is he out of it? Is Ricky Xander kind of a Ricky Xander, Rory speif are all at one one over?
I should say Ricky Xander. God, I thought we weren't going to talk about him all week. Actually he looked amazing today. It was really fun to watch. Even the cold hearted haters had to have had to enjoy watching speed play golf today. Right, you didn't like that?
Come on the shots into sixteen he was at It was fun to watch.
He didn't make it beautifully. The problem is it's always something, It's always close. It's one part like he that he can't make any puns like he didn't out He not cash in one of those great shots coming down the stretch.
What he disappo from Xander, like quite honestly as seventy three when he was kind of set up. Now he's won over certainly within striking distance. Rory one over driver, better driver, was better today?
Get me speak missed some miss some putts. He's got to look at this and say, like, you know, I'm three shots behind I legitimately, someone like Rory's got to look at this and be like, I'm three shots behind Scotty, and if I make up the if I if I keep making up. You know, yesterday he was what six behind Scotty. Yeah, I mean, so he's six behind Scotty and now he's three shots behind Scotty. So he made up half the margin. And you know, if you're right near Scotty, you're right near the lead.
It feels like he had like a horrendous like seventy minutes there right where he made five vogueies coming in and didn't hit it great the whole day of Thursday.
So yeah, who knows, get hot on the weekend? Would you rather have a horrendous seventy minutes? Do you? In?
Like that?
Where like it's like God, if I could have just gone and rep you know, rework that or would you rather be in Garrick Jego's position where a disastrous minute.
Ruined your weekend.
I mean some would argue it was a disastrous like twenty five seconds, not not even more.
He was, he was on time, he missed it by a shot.
I I'd rather be quick so the pain's not drawn out right way that way. I mean, that was the whole thing with Rory with the Masters last year, with the two doubles on Thursday, right on fifteen seventeen, like God is just like these quick punches erased.
But he knew he was playing well.
That was sort of a I don't know that he's playing that level to this week at all. But it was just a really bad finish on Thursday, and he's otherwise kind of would be right at the near the top. He missed us the cut because it's penalty.
How about Joseph not showing up when we invite We invited him, we said you.
Could bring your wine wine time.
He doesn't even come. Where is he, PJ? Where is he is he not coming in Friday? I don't from him. I know where I bet he is. I bet he's hanging out in the in the discussion forums in Friday Golf Club.
That's probably that's where he absolutely should be. I'm supposed to read this script for Beatim from internal.
Well I don't. I don't think you have to read it for Beatim, but there is this what am I supposed to do? Just well, you can read it tonight.
There's there's talking points for Sunday, so you can read it for Batim tonight.
If you want sure.
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This is great, great, great ad copy. Actually, where do you want to go next?
Let's go Uh, I mean, where do you where do you want? Miss cutters M sears it's Friday night. Uh, Blockie going home absolutely jammed. What is declaring independence? PJ is just throwing ground. P J and I are both trying to do this. What is going on right now?
We were we were trying to put up the same one and we were clicking on it at the same time, and then you switched to Blockie.
So here we are. We're all started with.
Blockie because he's the guy. He missed by a shot. He got absolutely screwed. He was the hard, tough draw. He's being buried him. I don't know why they would bury him. I should have been the toast of the morning running for office. Block maybe planning presidential run with media flip flopping, flip flopping. There's a typo in there. What the flip? The media is going back and forth? Is that's what's going on?
Well, go on, is this about the senior tour?
Yeah, this is what you you wanted. He's walking back his comments. He says Al talks to him at the beginning of this week. Blockie says, this is gonna be this is how many lives we've lived since like noon when we came up with this graphic. Sorry I had a title. Blockie gives this interview to Shipnuk earlier in the week. This is my swan song. I'm not gonna
do this anymore. I'm gonna play the Senior Tour. Blockie gets off the course today after a miscut I dad and goes, I'm going to qualify for these for the rest of my life. I'm you know, I'm absolutely gonna qualify again. Next year. I should qualify for five more of these. He's not no swan song. Honestly, I hate to say this because Brendan's gonna get mad at me and he's gonna like this. It was very Lebroni today from Blockie. It was very like, oh, I'm gonna retire here I go.
Nope, I'm back. I'm back and.
You all love me, and I'm gonna do this again next year in the year after that and year after.
It's very Lebroni.
The way he said it was like I think it was to sobol was just it was on radio, complete Showman style. He goes, I have to be honest with you. Dramatic pause. There's no way on God's Green Earth this is my last one, like absolutely, just flips it like like a wrestling Like he's at the mic cutting a promo. Everybody thinks he's done. He said he's done, No chance. I will definitely qualify for one more, if not five more. So I hope to see him when the PGA comes
to Congressional whenever. That is twenty thirty five more Blockie, he got screwed. Guy plays in the hardest wave, grinds his ass off. It's insane how far he hits it. Andy, he just it's like two sixty six off the tee he's averaging on Friday.
I don't have to tell me. I saw it in real life, up close and personally. I saw this. It came off first the first tea. I was like, well, no, like I didn't. I didn't really hit it any great drives. I think our last hole. I hit a drive and he was like, man, that went really far, and I was like, oh, well, you know I got one. But his driver's just a little poofballer out there.
I mean, he's got to make par in eighteen. He's got two thirty six in It's just crazy. It's it's amazing he's able to do it.
So Blockie who got him with the game in the game, game within the game, who DJ? Oh we beat him DJ? DJ DJ. I'm not gonna say he's like, is he back? Is he's I'm not gonna go like all the way to he's live, But I would really like a good round from DJ tomorrow. It's just have Can we can we get one more DJ major moment? Like this guy for like you know, by the formative coming of age years was just a fixture at major championships and then he was just gone. Can we get one more? One more DJ moment?
Uh, Blockie going home? DJ beats it? That would be amazing. One more DJ moment would be amazing. I yeah, I feel like more likely to have one more major moment DJ or Speed both would be incredible.
I mean like TJ's like half later retirement, I mean three course the later retirement. Well, the way you guys speaking, I can't believe that I'm gonna say this, but speak.
Yeah, I like that right, It would be great, great for golf. So with Blockie, if Livga.
Just ceases to exist, does DJ even.
Play I don't know, No, I think he just plays like majors, you know, it's kind of amazing Cornia Blockie. He's coming to five more. He's going to play majors longer than Tiger and Phil. He's going home, which means low amateur and the Blockie are a low pro, not amateur, low club pro. We have a new recruit, a new recruit and the fair police, the colonel that's what we're calling him, Ben Kerr and the colonel. We have a deputy, we have a constable, we have a sheriff, and now
we have a colonel Ben Kern club pro. I believe out a Grove City, Ohio, where I used to go for an AU tournament.
This maybe it's changed.
You do want to find yourself in Grove City about twenty thirty years ago. Sheriff, deputy and constable may have a new Kern l in their ranks. Ben Kern guy is like thirtieth t thirty. Good good job on him.
So he's he's eating the field in Bernie kind of insane. It's called boy got the sleeve tat. I believe Big Boy loved that. He's rolling rumbling onto the leader board other mcers. More seriously, Ox Shay's going home started Bertie Birdie to day russ Henley kind of a surprise not having as good a year this year as last year, but set up should have set up well for him.
Bobby mack Peach, aren't.
You happy I talked to you out at russ Henley on Tuesday? You were?
You called me you could on the early Tuesday morning and we were trying to plan out who we're gonna pick so we don't want to end up on the same guy. And I said, ah, you know, I already used the rust Buss, but I think he might be good this week. He said, not enough popping the bat here not gonna happen. Can't get close enough to a good Irons.
Absolute carnage on the euro Ryder Cup team, Bobby mack, Fleetwood, Straka, Hatton Hoveland all going away. So those five just miss cut, miss cut, missed. Like, that's a lot of heavy hitters from across the pop. Maybe they should play the Ryder Cup.
Maybe the PGA will watch this and be like, we kind of bring the Ryder Cup to Ironom in twenty years because of this happened the last time.
Adam Scott ejecting Snetecker, who I was told was like the best case scenario for a winner. Oh my god, what a shocker he.
Miss You know what, he hit a lot of great shots in them, Oh my god.
Uh and then probably most of the most alarming Garrett Kigo we met outed going home by a shot to two stroke penalty.
You know what.
ESPN went like full t bow mode on the Higo thing, like Tim Tebow first Take type two thousand and eight or whatever. That would be, uh, just way too much, like just blood in the water. We've got a mainstream ESPN car watched the thing to death. They've got Marty Smith with the timer like the shadowing him to the first t like it was good. The Higgo thing happened. It wasn't gonna happen again today. We just overdid it. We didn't need Higgo watch. We just didn't need it.
But ESPN did that they do. But he ends up missing by a shot. And then Bryson goes Birdie, Birdie birdie to.
Finish, not maybe a pyrrhic victory at the end there with his last three holes, but declaring independence storyline, Bryson sets himself free from PGA.
Governance in Philadelphia.
Uh, he's.
Do you have like real concerns about Bryson as we go to Shinnecock and Birkdale and whatever he's got to do on live. He's not playing well.
I mean, he hasn't played well really since the Masters last year.
Since like the sixth hole at the Math or whatever, say eighth hole the Masters.
It's not been yet. I mean, he hasn't been very good. And like port Rush, it was he had the bad first round and they played well, like with no threat of he was never going to tract on Scottie right, No, yeah, I would be worried.
I mean, he was like ten over at one point.
The thing too, is I feel like three years ago you'd be like, man, this is a good Bryson setup. Yes, you know two years ago this is this is great for Bryson.
He'll run the wing foot game plan kind of thing, and yeah, yeah.
And I don't know, you know, I think it's hard to hard to I imagine it's hard to devote so much time to so many different, you know, things at the same time. But this is the way he is though that we talked about this where like I feel like he has like a passing interest in pro golf, and I like that that's not a bad thing. It's just a bad thing for being consistently one of the best players in the world. Like, but when he's engaged with pro golf, he.
Is everybody was doing like the lawn Drive, like the week after before the rider was it? Right after He's like, oh, well, he's trained for the lawn drive as he has to play the Ryder Cup.
I think he's legitimately trying to stand up a golf club brand. And he's also doing all these YouTube videos like it is.
That's like the P and L too for the crushers.
That's right. He has to make sure he increases. If you're not growing, you're dying that even if better go up this year, So he's he's got a lot of mark.
It's just I mean, it stinks as a fan to see him just be not competitive. There's some sort of there's some shot in Freud elements. Some people were getting off about it. But I think he's put so much mental mental weight into the whole equipment thing that if he feels like thirty percent uncomfortable and it seems like he's still R and D and the ship out of whatever he's trying to do, that like he just throws his hands up like, well, I'm not there yet, so
that means I'm not going to play well. He's like put too much agency and wherever he's feeling with his equipment, which is of course important. You need to be comfortable with your tools. But he just has put way too much weight. Why you should go to Golf Galaxy, right, he should go?
Maybe should see if they fit them into one single length irons or if they fit them into regular irons. Get yeah, that'd be a great YouTube video. Honestly played both clubs and said I played regular clubs, but he's already done it versus my single length clubs. I got a bone to pick with you. You just did notable miss cuts and I can't misscutters. And I can't believe you forgot this name. Do you know who I'm talking about?
No, I mean I didn't want to just run off one hundred names, but who uh Andy Sullivan missed the cut the bumblebee?
You know I did it.
I thought about it, the Ryder cupvers I thought about putting it on there just for you. I honestly I looked at it, said no, we got to keep this move. And here we are fifty eight minutes, and you want to talk about the bumblebee. Wyndham Clark also missed, but he'll be there with in spirit on the T Mobile signs all over the place.
It was a win because he missed the cut but did not destroy a T Mobile sign this year.
Yeah, not too fewer days to do destruction.
So there you go. It's a win. Who are you more most impressed with making the cut? Is it Luke Donald or Patty Harrington?
Did Donald make it?
Yeah? Plus four?
I had an old leader board up. Good on Donald?
Oh maybe he did make Yeah, yeah, he snuck in.
Yeah, that's amazing. He made it last year.
Guy doesn't play. He doesn't even play.
He doesn't play anything, doesn't play like a euro or one off. You're like, he has not played anything since last you know, mid last summer. Incredible, just drops in makes the cut?
Did it? That's Quail Hollow last year.
I would say that was even more impressing given the like distance disparity there.
But that's good, good on Luke. We have tea times. You told me alert you when we had time as well.
I'll look here in a minute.
I don't have much to ask j I was trying to queue you up here, all right, well we we can take this.
Uh Padrick Harrington prous he's the Champs tore player to beat in real events. Junior majors here, uh potty taking taking the kitchen to the woodshed. I mean, it's just kind of kind of depressing.
Count in the Schwab Cup standings.
I think I think it's it's open for interpretation.
I mean, we're getting FedEx Cup standing updates like on the hour, every hour from ESPN.
That's gross.
Nobody's updating the Schwab Cup. So I kind of think that maybe it should matter.
J What do you think of the ESPN coverage so far? I think it's bad. Think it's bad.
Brendan thinking think it has not been good A.
Lot of I hate the rejoins uh that I've been comparing to the Little League World Series.
After that that this is Little League World Series content, quizzing the players about.
The players, about signers and the declarations. So what's heavier the Stanley Cupp or the Want to Make Cup?
How many years in a row do they get to do the Stanley Cup Wanta Maker thing? Because I feel like I've seen this thing, like you're right, they love that. I think. Billy even was like, I've seen this before. It's this I can't remember.
What it is though, it's the Stanley Cups. Stanley Cupp but your cop that like, this is what they do with the little lake World series. Kids who signed the Declaration of Independence. JT got went bagel right, didn't get anybody.
He said, I'm a college dropout, dude, you can't give me one. Three They asked for three, which I think is kind of insulting you.
Right, Yeah, I speak.
Did very well. I just think like that's kind of low brow. I mean, the tracers I did not think were good. The graphics on the green showing the break of the putts were inaccurate. I didn't think the commentary was great, which is a recurring bit we have with ESPN's golf coverage. I Marty was in rare form today talking to the colonel. I mean, not many people know your life story and your journey.
What is it?
And just like threw the colonel into a blender by not asking a question. He just sat there. It was like dead air for five seconds. Well he just looked at him.
The speak soliloquy.
I was like, I just saw you I'm sorry this shuffler soliloqually about I just saw you great Meredith and your kids.
Scotti was clearly like thrown off by that. There was dead air. I mean it was it's CBS. I feel like I'm the guy in the meme with the sunglasses in his car being like, you know, Donald Trump, please save me, CBS, please save me, Like we need a big weekend from CBS.
To salvage this on the television aspect, like please.
I thought they went a little too overboard with the Higgas stuff I enjoyed yesterday morning, and they called Bridgeman when they called Bridgeman Bud Cawley and then seventy six year old Andy North totally excusable mistake, called min woo ye seawoo kim uh.
But he's seventy six year old. That like, come on, like that's gonna happen ESPs golf guy. When I was a kid watching Sports Center for five straight hours over and over again, North would be doing check ins from the from the Open. He was their golf guy in like nineteen ninety seven. Yeah, Curtis strange guy. He's going to be their golf guy in twenty twenty seven. It's an incredible career.
Curtis Strange was struggling with pronunciations left and right, which I mean, we do too, but we're not on national television.
Ah.
I don't think like Duval really puts it in the work, but maybe he does. Doesn't say a lot. I'm sure he did at one point at all, But I don't mind think. I think we should be referring to people in media like like golfers get referred to when they're struggling. It's like, listen, you know, I know, I know PJ. His swing doesn't look great right now, but nobody, nobody puts in more hours. You know. It's like PJ. I haven't agreed with some of his takes lately, but I'll
tell you what. Nobody puts in more hours in the spreadsheets than PJ looking for takes. I like, I want that. I want that to be the way people describe me when I'm not doing well. Is the way golf announcers describe pros.
You gotta get a coach for you gotta get a take coach so they can just say, oh, he's working with whatever, because it's always the coach, like, oh, he's working with this guy, you know, Mark, who's the Mark Blackbird of takes, Like we gotta find that it can't be stephen A.
No, God, you look at I have like the ESPN portal open all day and it's like related videos or other videos, like twenty five of the thirty ones are like clips of stephen A. Just take take, take, take thing, like that's all stephen A on the on the whatever, on the knicks. It's crazy how much I don't mind ESPN dropping in to get it. Seems like they have
whiplash on whether they're into golf, not into golf. They're into golf again, they want to like I don't know, it's just they're all over the place.
Go ahead. I will say that I had like some PTSD when I heard them going to commercial and the TGL commercial music was on, and I was like, oh wait a second, this is a major. This isn't tg L. You can't use the same music.
All right, are we bringing Kevin in?
PJ? Is Kevin coming in? KBV No? I think we didn't want to go too long, so he's.
In the power too long anyways, Okay, all right, PJ is waving off the bullpen.
I just listen to the coach. Listen, he's not going to the pen for the writing.
How about Get and j t just going freaking out on the rules official? I think it is ken Tacket for putting him on the clock, freaked out on him, this gesticulating to and so I have it too and fro Kee Get. You know, felt like we were back at bed Bage's argument PGA rules officials, but I think it was a tour official working on behalf of the PGA. I don't have anything else. Do you have anything else pertinent? I mean, I'm excited to watch golf tomorrow?
We too? Would you want to talk any spicy tea times? What tea time you like the most? Uh?
Sure? I don't have it pulled up, but I can. I can look at that. Are Ram and pe can't lay together?
Or no?
Probably not? P and Jason Day?
Oh interesting, Patrick Greed and Howson Lee don't feel like they're on the same wavelength. I think that's sort of a fun one.
Do you think there's going to be more people watching an Aldrich Pott Eater and Jaeger or Smolly and McNeely.
Hatti or a Kirk Kitty Am and Aaron Rye. I mean this is just a bonanza for their early ESPN coverage. We have, in consecutive order, Spieth and dj Kopka and Rory and Ricky and Xander. I mean, that's just back to back to back to back bonanza for ESPN. That's around eleven AM. So CBS will get the end of that, you know, back nine. But those are those are some power hitters there. That's a great that's a great cluster.
Peach. You wanted JT out of the cam Young group on Wednesday night and you get him again on Saturday.
I was just texting Lamanya, who is busy writing so he will not be joining. I was just texting him in all caps. We got to get out of the JT vour text. Man, this is too much. This is too too much. It's a very comfy pairing. I just I think it's not I think it's not good.
So I think, why is it not good too?
I don't know, yeah, Like I think there's a level of too comfortable, too good.
I'm still rattled by the whole j T stealing the Putter thing. The mojo hasn't been the same since that came out, truthfully, So I just want to get out of.
The Thomas vortex. Hopefully someday that'll happen.
There's gonna be so many guys that finish top ten this week, and you're gonna be like, God, that guy finished top ten. I didn't see any of his shots all week because there's so many people in the middle in the top ten.
I mean, I feel like that's Pooge. Pooge is playing with Scottie Scheffler, and I don't think I've seen Pooge once this week.
I think I saw him a couple of shots.
One Harris English putt today.
Any Novaki, he could be totally blocked out on Saturday. There's some good there's some good parents. Ben Kern gets with Daniel Hillier. I feel like he could have had a partner that kind of put him more on stage, but not to be on Saturday.
That's it.
I don't have any some good, some good parents.
It's gonna be tough when I tell my wife, we I gotta be locked in from like ten thirty on because how bunched up the leaderboard? Leaderboard is Yeah, do you think it'll stay that way for Sunday? You think someone separates? I think it I I would predict tomorrow they go with like the driver aill for some holes and some bowls listen like funnels. If I were if I were a betting man, I would I think I would go ten under for the win. If you get to ten under, you win this tournament. And uh and yeah,
oh Pj's peach or kV. If he entered the.
Studio, Okay, great, Hello, what's up? I don't think your MIC's on? Maybe could be wrong, could be wrong.
Let me check it out.
There you go. Maybe that's better.
No, definitely not.
Now that's there, you go? There it is?
What's up?
What's going on?
Did you guys see Ry came out against the setup late? I don't know if you saw that.
Nopes, Nope. I figured we might get some set up takes for Rory Lake.
I will read his quotes Jariff's recruiting him to the pres It sounded like it.
So he was asked about the setup, he said, yeah. The only thing I would say is I think a bunch leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of not a great setup. I think when it's as bunched as it is, because it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves. It's like, you know, it's easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies, and it's not that hard to make bogie. It just feels like bogie's the worst score you're going to shoot on any hole.
There's not a lot of hazards. There's not you know, Yeah, I think the setup is fine, Like the golf course is good, the pins were tough, and the wind was what it was as well. But I think, yeah, it's always just felt like a really good setup, it starts to spread the field a bit and it's not great setups and sort of bring everyone together. I feel like that's what sort of happened the last couple of days.
It is.
I just feel I feel like it's the most talented players just always want the same setup that is allowing going to allow them to pull away, and that is not Major championships always like you're gonna have face different tests, and that's why it's so freaking hard to win major championships.
It's true, that's true. I'd say the word fine, so it's fine. It's become it's derogatory word.
It's meant to be.
It's meant to be, like probably on balance positive, but it's under to be totally connote something derogatory.
It's b.
I you know, it's hard to get at some of those whole locations. And I'd be curious, you know, if you if you asked the follow up question about about uh fourteen right there? What comes out right after that with about fourteen and the shoddy hit and the Ristaldi got you know.
Yeah right, he came in with just kind of where you're holding on your butt coming in those last several holes. There are I see sixty three double bogies, eleven others six hundred and twenty bogies.
It's a lot. So the disparity between double and bogie is significant. I do think though, is it what? There aren't many Parkland golf courses that produce any more of the high variants, Like what produces high variants generally is had, yeah, you.
Know, water, So not a lot of obie balls. I thought, Potty, is that one boom out of here? Touch them all on thirteen today, But.
I hope Potty wins.
Do you think any of this was at Lancaster that they would bitch about this, because it reminds me a lot of Lancaster and the greens anyway, like just in terms of that east coast side of Parkland.
Set up, I mean they have it at Lancaster, probably not, but I don't know.
I think they the similar thing where the greens are so severe and slope that like it's just hard, you know, I don't know, I don't. I feel like I feel like these guys anything that does. There is like an aspect of like reinforcing the narrative, like you just pointed out, Like I think we're obviously there's Rory and scottire are always going to be in the mix at like any kind of setup, right, but they're this this leaderboard is
like a little bit different. It is super bunch and I think we've talked about that already at length here.
But but there is like an element too. You know, you can make a variety argument with with majors, and maybe it is good for one to be bunched, But then I would just point out if you're artificially bunching a leader board, which I think they're more manipulating score, which always manipulates variant, like that's just like a go they go hand in hand together, almost, But if you if you're making that argument, then you're cutting across championship golf.
So I feel like I'm talking out of like eight sides of my mouth. But this is a super complex topic course setup, and like everything you do has these downstream implications that sometimes you don't know are an implication until you do it. It's kind of like science, where like you experiment and then like the worst thing you can do as a setup person, if you're taking the eyes of being a set up person, is to not evolve. It's like a coach in the NBA, right, you have
like or the NFL, or in college football. You these coaches come in and they're innovative, but ten years later they're normal. Sure, right, So if you're a setup person and you're an organization that sets up tournaments, and I think this is something that maybe goes under the radar that the Masters does really well. They evolve and they
change with the with the times with their setup. Like you know, people complain when when their pins not in a certain Sunday location, but the reality of that is that they are trying new things and they, like you have to, as a setup person, have the stones to try something new that's different than what you've done in the past, and I think what happens with golf fans is they grip onto this is what this tournament is, and they won't let it evolve when naturally all tournaments have to evolve.
That's well said.
I also think there weren't like a ton of things you would do differently they I think it was an interesting experiment. It was an interesting choice. And when they say it's a bad setup, like, it's kind of the golf course they have, and so you want more funnel pins or ballpins, fine, we'll probably get that.
Okay, It's only Friday, right, Like, why can't Friday be hard? Why can't the pins be on ridges on Friday? Make the good players have to make the cut, Like, you know, if you had a bad round in the first round, then maybe you should have to chase a little bit and some tough pins.
What was the biggest story of the day for you, Kevin? Is it all golf course related? It felt like discourse?
Uh?
I mean I think it was a little bit. It was Rory getting back in it, Bryson totally bombing out again. There was no attempt to sort of get back in it. I just wrote a little bit at something of it today about like, you know, Maverick McNeely and the Big Potty are two very different players, but they both led the tournament at one point today and are both like
you know, in it Potty. If you look at like the stats he he's putting his way through this, he's not really like the driving hasn't been what's been kind of winning the day for him. And I just you know, every time Maverick comes up, I feel like it's almost kind of unfair at this point to mention like rich dad, Oh you had all these privileges, Like that story to
me is like so kind of yesterday's news. And I think what's kind of cool about mav is like he's improved as a player every single year that he's been a pro, say for like one sort of slump year in twenty twenty three, And I kind of admire that about him, Like he's gotten better and gotten to be a very credible tour pro to where he's like a fringe President's Cup guy. And I don't think he can win a major, but it is to me like those two people could scarcely be more different in terms of
their abilities. Potty normally can't putt and Maverick normally can is a great putter, and so the fact that they're kind of doing what they're doing is the evidence of like we're in a good major, Like they're both credible players, and they probably won't be there in the end, but halfway through they're in the mix.
Do you think you wouldn't have liked PJ and I were mulling a storyline nobody's talking about that. Christopher Wright tan inspired matthe McNeely this week, maybe we should.
Have a son billionaire off, you know, that should be like the next golf Golf channel games.
I was having a great conversation with shack El shackle further early in the week. It's like, can we mention Maverick mcmilia without saying you make a great CEO one day? Like that's like the next clause, like Maverick mcneily would make a great CEO one day.
A terrible CEO.
Why do we always have to say that about Maverick? I think PJ textas like he got called young Maverick McNeely. At what age do you stop being young? Because he's like, I mean.
Thirty, right, I think we can still call him young.
Potty.
You know, twenty one is pretty damn Yeah, yeah.
He could be a little potty.
Now.
A couple of comments Bryson's game moved away from this earth, which is just some great prison ism about dying and moved away from this earth.
I forget who we talked about. Who we mentioned that.
Uh, Michael Kim making the weekend on Holy eighteen was cool to Yeah, I guess great, sure, fine, cool, probly I thought Rosy chipping in was cool in the end. I don't know if he needed the hold out, but he needed up and down.
Michael definitely needed to hold out. Yes, knew it, so.
All right, but real quick, no explanation, best case, worst case for everybody this weekend.
Peach Hay, come in to be mean.
You're asking us to be mean? Yeah, well it just real quick, no, no explanation. You don't you cannot explain the worst case.
Alex Smalley, what is my best case?
Here's that best case?
No, No, Alex Smalley would be worst in case. Best case I think is within the rama possibility. I think Ram would be lovely, but you know, the haters might be triggered. But for the game of golf, Ram would be good.
I just had no explanation.
All right, fine, well you didn't even know what I meant.
What does the explanation mean. I'll go because I have one, all right. Worst case would be Steven Jeger making thirty six more pars and winning at three hunder.
Within the robo pos yess.
In best case for me, it would be Speed.
Just oh god, I thought we were talking realistic out Come.
On, listen you you haters were sweated so hard today. I was even got me down. I was in the slack talking about how you might stink today, just because you and Joseph put that in my head. And then he hit it great.
He was so fun to watch.
It was so fun. This is why we can't quit Speed, because he's fun. He's just fun.
This is why I said no explanations. All right, now we're ringing up. No, but hey, it was It was fun to watch a guy shoot seventy two or whatever, seventy four.
Or seventy two, seventy two he didn't make a bogie and or no, he did make two bogies, but he played really well.
PJ.
I think I know your best case.
I will just take the two pm T time tomorrow. Best case Camera Young, worst case justin Thomas wow cow.
First case JT. No explanation.
You should be careful. I once predicted that Justice was winning would be a terrible.
Well, you said he wasn't gonna win. You didn't say it would be a bad thing. I'm you know, I just I think I don't know if I want to get started on the j T Ryder Cup discourse this early. I think he's gotta earn it that I don't. I just I think I'm good. I can't see j T winning three of these things, so I'm just I'm throwing it out there.
I'll take the whole two PMT.
Anyone ever won three pg as and no no other majors. I can't imagine that's.
Leak existence as you figured that out. The best case for race Potty, okay, worst case I'm gonna go. Worst cases.
Kid vehemly disagree.
There would love Kitty Cat. You were talking about Kitty Cat.
I like Cat this week.
Potty is just not fully formed. Potty does not need to be winning a major right now. It'll hurt his long term development.
The online discourse. If Potty wins will be sensational. I mean it will be incredible, Like the takes will be so wild and like because of the take, the takes will get so wild and they'll get so absurd that it'll diminish a twenty one year old, somehow diminished twenty one year old winning a major, which I want, I want all of that.
Okay, God be the youngest major since Jordan.
Right, it would be incredible. I mean the people would come with their knives out because of the Chips in augusta National you played the chips. This guy won a major because of this terrible set up.
You think they would call Ali and get them on live from him to like describe what happened at at the zooming in, just being like did you see this coming?
I think we just get poor fun. He saw it up close, like he saw that the out there with Ali.
That was a nightmare.
Yeah.
I mean, if it's Kitty Kat, they just they kind.
Of bring in don to do the trophy presentation. You just got to do something. You can't be having that. Okay, that spice it up, all right? Anything else, Kevin, are where are you?
Like?
Generally positive?
Negative?
Positive? Yeah? Good, think I'm headed up there tomorrow. I'll be I'll be up there for the weekend, so uh, you know, we'll get some on the ground insights. That'll be fun.
Good looking forward to that. All right?
I think that does it. Friday Night Wine Time, Friday Night Live. Uh, listen to this at your leisure before those those groups go off tomorrow ten eleven eleven am.
Thank you for joining us. Must have had a better wine date. Yeah, what's going on?
Grinding on the news letter man, he's got to write that lead here. I'm just punching. I wrote about McNeill and potty, so just you know, three four hundred words bang out.
That's kind of just did you guys?
You didn't talk about the shank Lowry's cold top that you didn't? That was my favorite moment of the day. Frankly, we didn't.
That was I mean, he does that. Let's be honest that that happens every now and then. Get a ball striker.
I loved it.
All right, all right, that does it Friday night. Thank you all for watching. We'll be back Saturday night after play set up the final round.
Letter.
Check out the newsletter, check out golf club.
We had a great ad read for that. Yeah.
Yeah, Kevin's a great writer. If he makes mcneilie and Potty interesting, then better than I even thought that was, will be raking in the subs, so check it out in the morning or this evening. Well, we'll talk to you on Saturday night.
Studies Atticus, pro Papal Post and stra