Damon Hack and Jason Sobel Give Us a Double Dose of Golf

Our guy from bet MGM is going to talk about betting on golf, his picks for the Masters, and we'll see how he's doing with his bets from last week. And Olivia is going to educate us on some of the finer points of the biggest event in golf. But Olivia, before all of that, we got to talk about the n C Double A Tournament and what a year it was and what an upset for you at least because

your undefeated Gonzaga Zags did not win at all. I know, man, I really thought I was so disappointed with my bracket, but I kept thinking, whatever I've got the national champion and that's huge, but everyone had Gonzaga winning. Very few people picked Baylor. But what I love is as many upsets that occurred in this March Madness, the most ever in history. So it was an incredible march. But that to one Seeds battle it out for the national championship Gonzaga, I want to say it was a four and a

half point favorite. So for Baylor to pull that off and deliver them their first loss was absolutely incredible. Congratulations to the Bears and coach Scott Drew. That was great, I mean yeah, And also congratulations to Gonzaga. Nothing to be shamed of, right, an undefeated season and the only game you lose is in the championship. What a season it was. And overall, like you said, what an amazing March it's been. But now it's time to talk a little bit about golf because the Masters are here. I

love Master's Week. It's it's really special. I went to school down in University of Georgia and I had so many friends from Augusta and that's kind of when I started getting on the train. And for one year my freshman year, my best friend from Augusta, she says, for your birthday, because my birthday is always Master's week. That was not a shameless plug to try to get you to tell me happy birthday. But if you want to,

you can Happy birthday. Okay. But my friend says, for your birthday, I want to take you to the Masters. And I go, oh, my gosh, that's the nicest thing ever. We get down to Augusta, I got a new dress. I read all the rules, which there are a lot of rules I'll get to in a minute. And we get there and she says, no, no, my buddy is gonna get us a ticket. Okay, Well, the buddy doesn't call. The buddy doesn't call. We're waiting a round. We're going

all the Master's parties and nothing not going. We ended up watching on TV. So the Masters broke my heart and I still have never been. I'm dying to go. Well, Olivia, you know, I'm a city boy, born and bread, and I don't get a chance, or never really got the chance to hit the green as much as you did. I'm sure how big of a golfer are you? Indeed, come from a big golfing family. You know you've been golfing all your life. Or how extensive of a golfer

are you. Oh yeah, I I grew up taking lessons, but I have fallen back in love with it as an adult now. And my husband is from this area Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which is right near Cohler, Wisconsin, which is home to Whistling Straits, one of the most famous golf courses in the world. So I told him for a three year anniversary this summer, we are booking that course because it's really really hard to get in. Um so that's gonna

be our little anniversary. But it's our favorite date just to go golf, and we're so spoiled living in one of the best golfing areas in the country. So yeah, it's it's really fun to fall back in love with it now as an adult. It seems like it might be even funner to say the word Sheboygan. That sounds amazing, Like it's a really fun word to say. But you know,

you're talking about ideal dates. The only date that I've ever been on similar was Coney Island when I got to hit the mini golf course, which is, you know, slightly different, but I must say I did hold my own on said date. You know what I'm saying I won, so I feel confident about that. But how excited are you in general for the Masters? Oh? Yeah, I'm excited. It's the first major of one. It was the last major of you know, they did it weird this year

in November, so it's so exciting. The whole golf community is so excited. But you know, the Masters is so unique, it's so special. And going to school and University of Georgia, I knew a lot of kids from Augusta and that's kind of when I got more familiar with it and speedy. I've learned a lot about it. It's kind of goofy and you know, like you said, you're not into golf, You're you don't play much. I I've got to tell you some of these facts because I think your mind

will be blown. So let me just start here. First of all, Augusta National, right, It's so pristine, it is so beautiful. It's one of the most famous places you can even see on TV. But I've got to tell you the lakes, the lakes that you're gonna see this Thursday when the Master starts. You've got to know this Golf Digest tested the water back in the nineties and found that they actually put food die in the real

that's how they get the color so beautiful. Yes. And then the sand it's not sand in the bunkers, it's really mining waste from illuminate in mind, so it's it's not, you know, like any other course in the world. It's absolutely crazy. And then they have these tall gates around the whole property. And the reason is because there are no animals, Like members say they've never seen a squirrel on the property on the premises, not even a squirrel,

not even a squirrel. It's absolutely incredible. And then there's a rumor speedy that there are not even birds and that if you hear birds chirping on the CBS broadcast that that's brought in. Wow, I feel like I've been living a lie, like the from the food died to the mining ways to the bird sounds like this is I feel lied to. And now I don't know how much I can trust anything that I watch on TV when it comes to golf. But is there an event or maybe a part of the Master's that just sticks

out to you as the most exciting part? Yeah, I mean, I think the pageantry of it all is so amazing. And like, what I didn't know either, is that when you win your green jacket, you've got one year to return it. I didn't know that. So you have to return it one year and you can only wear it then at the Masters. Really, so that's really special. I met Bubba Watson one time and I was thinking he was wearing his green jacket, and I was like, well, how do you do that? But it was within his

one year, so you've got one year. It's like, you know, when you win the Stanley Cup, you get to go like paraded around, but ultimately it's got to go back. But yeah, and if you win multiple Masters, you don't get multiple jackets. You still have the one green jacket unless unless your size changes. See I'm the time, I'm just getting mad unnecessary weight just so I can get a second one for you. It doesn't matter because you

don't get to keep it. Don't break my Listen, if I ever get good enough and golf to win a Masters, I'm going to try my best to keep the jacket. Last question for you, while we're speaking about fashion, how serious if you know, is the dress code there for our spectators? Is it? Is it a super serious dress code. Well, first I'm going to correct you because they don't call them spectators or fans. They call them patrons. That's another parted And um, yes, the dress code is strict. Like

I read, you can't even wear your hat backwards. Did they lose you there? I'm out. I'm getting escorted out. As if they didn't lose you there, here's where they would lose me. No cell phones or cameras allowed there. No tipping is allowed, no tipping, No running is allowed, no tipping because that's ghosh, I don't know. And if you bring a folding chair, which you will see on TV, I cannot have an arm rest. So there are tons of little rules, yes, but the dress code. You've got

to look. When I'm watching from my couch, I'll do whatever i want. There you go, You've got to have you have to be ready to impress. You know, it's a lot of lily pool its are a lot of

brightly colored sun dresses and bow ties and whatnot. And it is it is full of pageantry, and that's what makes it so unique and so special to the sport specially indeed, I will be watching from my couch in my crocs and basketball shorts and I can't wait backwards hapwards with everything, and I'm tipping myself just because I can't. Now coming up on Unleashed from the Golf Network, we've got our man, Damon Heck in the building, Damon Half

with the Golf Channel formerly with the New York Times Sports Illustrated. You've seen them, you've read them. Damon. Thank you so much for joining us today to talk about the Masters. Absolutely, Happy Masters Week. Happy Masters Week. David, thank you you as well. I understand you've checked into Augusta, you are in your hotel room. What is the COVID process with everyone covering the Masters this year like and is it any different from November? It's kind of similar.

Everybody has to get swabbed when they get to town, and you also have to get swabbed four days in, so they're very strict protocols. Similar to November. There won't be a capacity of patrons on the golf course. But we're happy to have a tournament to talk about, especially in this era of COVID nineteen. But they're doing everything they can social distancing. Everyone has to wear masks, so yeah, I can't even go to the property, can't go to the golf course until I get my negative test back,

and once I do, I'm ready to roll. Damn it. I'm hearing how strict the rules are in general and Augusta and so I know that their COVID protocols must be official, but I noticed that to use the phrase patrons, and I made the definitely mistake of referring to patrons as spectators or fans. Did I cross the line? Is this the point of no return? Or or do I have anything that can redeem me here? I put the

caution flag up for you. It's early in the week, but I would get that spectator or fan vernacular out early, so we're not talking Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I mean, there are so many little rules and big rules that they have at Augusta National, and one of them is patrons. They also don't call the thick grass rough. They call it a second cut. There's no running on the golf course. And this is kind of how they roll. This is what they do. They like to keep things tradition. It

all slowed everything down and it's been that way. This is my eleventh Masters guy, so it's gonna be very familiar to me. Because I've been going for so many years. It's been twenty years in total when I first went to two thousand and two, but eleven overall, so not much changes. You just kind of fall in line and follow the rules, and that way you get your credential back and you can come to the next year. Well, damon, let's get right into the field of competition. Jordan's Speed

is a heavy favorite. He's had a great couple of months. He just won the Texas Open this past weekend. What do you think his odds are of getting that second green jacket. I think they're fantastic. And I like Jordan to win the Masters before he won in San Antonio, by the way, so I almost feel like everybody's gonna be on the Jordan's speech bandwagon. But we know his history there and yeah, he has some some bad history as well. He did to have a great chance in

to go back to back. In fact, he would have joined Jack Nicholas, Tiger Woods and ser Nic Foudo as the only players to go back to back had he donned the green jacket for a second year in a row. In of course, hit into the water twice on the twelfth hole and lost that green jacket to Danny will it That said, when Jordan's speech is playing good, there's no better canvas for his gifts than Augusta National. He scrambles with incredible dexterity. His hands around the greens are

maybe the best in the game. We saw it in Texas, We've seen it a lot in this comeback over the last two months. He's putting beautifully. His short game is without peer in his imagination, just seems to come out better at Augusta National than anywhere else. I like that, that's beautifully said. You know, this year is just so different. No Tiger Woods, no brooks Kepta. Just as you look at some of the top names in it. Who else do you like? I mean, is it different with those

big names out? Especially Tiger? His presence is so missed. Yeah, we'll miss Tiger this year. He's just such a needle mover. Even now, He's still the biggest name and will probably always be the biggest name, just because of what he's done in golf in general and specifically at Augusta Nashville. But even without Tiger, some great names, of course. Rory McElroy trying to complete the career Grant Slam. It's the one major championship that has he louded him Dustin Johnson

trying to go back to back. He won in November by five shots. And don't sleep on John Rom, the Spaniard who has a fantastic record at Augusta. He just became a father on Saturday. So there's a lot of good mojo and good energy around the young man who went to Arizona State. So I think John Rom, maybe outside of Speece, would be my favorite, just because I think he'll be coming to augusta kind of walking on air,

you know, kind of floating on a cloud. Has three top tens and four starts at the Master, so he has form. He has his life in order and in perspective, and that often leads to playing great golf. Damon quickly, you mentioned the college there, and so I have him end in yours yell at or one college is rather you see a unfortunately lost very dramatically in the n C Double A tournament at the Buzzer. I just want to know are you doing all right? Do you? Is

there anything we can do for you? You need a tissue? Perhaps I need a whole box, my man. I was watching the game. In fact, I was at the Charlotte Airport, you know, waiting to connect to Augusta, and I watched the end of the game and I saw that bank shot and my heart sank. It's kind of bitter sweet because this run has been so improbable for U c. L A. We got in via the playing route, which

hardly ever happened. So you beat Michigan State, and we kept stacking wins on wins and playing better the longer the tournament ran on. You know, beat Michigan and it looked like we were gonna take down the undefeated Gonzaga squad. I have so much respect for how they play. But to lose, you know, when it's nine and you lose on a bank shot that just you know, from a half court stripe, is just it's bittersweet. I'm thankful that

this team played so hard. It's the most I've ever been proud of a team in defeat, if that makes sense. And they're kind of like frozen in time. This team still well, I think positively affect recruiting in the years ahead, and in losing, I still think this team was able to elevate in terms of what it was able to do in elevated status as one of the great teams of this season. Just an absolutely incredible job done by McK cronin. So I think everyone was kind of cheering

on your Brewins there. That was a fun run to watch. You know, you your history is interesting covering NFL and golf. How did you end up putting that pair together as as your two main wagon wheels so to speak? Yeah, yeah, great question. So my first main job as a newspaper writer, I've done high school sports and some college sports at the Sacramento b In in seven, all of the sports writers at the Sacramento b had kind of covered the

Niners and nobody wanted to do it. I was fresh out of graduate school and I was asked if I wanted to cover the San Francisco forty Niners, and I was like, of course, why not. So it was almost being at the right place at the right time. They gave me training camp as a kind of a tryout, so six weeks of writing stories and they said I did a good enough job where I would be the

beat writer. I was the beat writer for three years, so that was my NFL entree, and then I started covering golf for Newsday in two thousand and one, so I had this football background, but then I started covering Tiger Woods for Newsday in two thousand and one. So when I got to The Times, I covered football for three years, and then I covered golf for two years,

and then Sports Illustaated hired me. Knew my golf slash NFL background, and I covered the NFL in the fall and winter for Sports Illustrated and golf in the spring and summer. So it's the perfect balance two sports that have separate seasons, as it were. And and I've been now covering golf for Golf Channel since twelve, so it's been an amazing ride. Still a big football fan, grew up in Los Angeles, a Raider fan, hoping for better in twenty twenty one. But those are my two loves,

golf in the NFL. So if you love golf, what are your favorite golf movies? Because Speedy and I were trying to talk about that, of of what are the best golf movies, there are not many. I think you hit it on the head that there aren't that many. But I've got three, and I'll go from three to one. Number three from me would be the legend of Bag of Vance. You know, Will Smith, you know, listen, and Matt Damon. Charlie's there on at the height of her power.

A lot of fun to watch Will Smith as a caddy and Matt Damon, even though his golf swing isn't necessarily PG Two ur Grade, I like the story of him as Ranolph Juna taken on Bobby Jones in a

mythical match. Number two would be Caddy Shack. It's it's just one of the all time great movies because of the cast that they had to get Bill Murray and you've got the likes of Chevy Chase, of Rodney danger Field, Ted Nights to get this incredible, you know, group of actors at the height of their comedic talents and Rodney Dangerfield, you know, God rest his soul. What a terrific actor and comedian he was. And Number one for me is

tin Cup. You know. It's the story of Tin Cup, who was a driving range pro, falls in love with Renee Russo, steals her from Don Johnson, and comes up short in his quest to win our national championship, the United States Open. A cheech Marin was his caddy. So a lot of fun those are my three bag Advance, Caddy Shack, and tin Cup and you can't go wrong. I was anticipating happy Gilmore reference, but unfortunately, I guess it doesn't make the top three. Huh, that's number four.

It was right there. You know, had the list of it a little longer, I would have given the Adam Sandler and if a little love and Carl Weathers as well as Chubb. Yeah, but you're right, it's not like they were talking about The Godfather here. There's just there's not that many great movies like Mafia movies you can talk about, you know, good Fellers or Godfather, Godfather to Donnie Brasco. You know, the list goes on and on, but I think the golf genre is hurting a little

bit for for fantastic movies. Damian, thank you so much for joining us man and enjoy the Masters. Don't break any of the rules because we'd hate to see it getting permanded. We know how strict they are over there. But thanks for joining us man anytime. I enjoyed it. Guys enjoyed the Masters, Well, now, guys, it's golf. Social

media is absolute favorite from the Action Network. Jason Sobel is here. Jason what's up man? How are you? What's up? Guys? Thanks so much for having me on. Just got to Augusta. Well good, that's the place to be. We here, and so we might as well just go ahead and jump right in with your picks for the masters. Who do you have your eye on? So I think everyone's got their eye on Jordan's speed right now coming off his way at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday, looks so impressive.

He's building has been building towards this. I mean, if you watch what Jordan has done over the last few months, it's all right, you put together some good swings and made a few birdies and it was okay. Then there's a good stretch of holes, and there's one full round and then there's two full rounds, and he couldn't quite finish it off over the last few months. Finally, now going into this week, he has finished it off. He has finally won for the first time in one thousand,

three fifty one days. So do I like Jordan's speed going into this week's Masters? Absolutely? Do I like him. At the price that he's going to be at by the time they tee off Thursday morning, I'm not so sure about that. I think that there's so many good players out there. I just think everyone's gonna jump on the speed bandwagon right now, and it's gonna be really

tough for him to repeat. We've only seen four winners of the tournament before the Masters then repeat the following week, none since Phil Michelson back in two thousand six, and so it's gonna be a tough task for Jordan's. I like him a lot. I've got him number two on my list. Number one, though, is Xander Schoffley has played his best golf lately, but strokes gained approach is the best he's had in years, maybe all of his career, and so guy plays his best golf also in tough

situations in the biggest tournaments. And Alexander this week. So going Zander one, Jordan's to Justin Thomas, who won the Players Championship. Of course at number three. Not too many surprises in there. But I just don't think we're gonna get a surprise winner this week. I think we're gonna have one of the big studs, one of the guys that we are aware of their name, we see them on a regular basis, popping up on top of that leader board comes Sunday afternoon. Jason, you mentioned Justin Thomas.

He's playing in his sixth Masters and he's improved his position on the final leaderboard in every tournament he's played at Augusta National, which is incredible. What are you liking in his game? What would give him a good chance? Yeah? How about that? The fact that Justin Thomas five previous starts at this event and he's gotten better every single time.

He's really become accustomed to Augusta National. And this is sort of more along the lines of what we've seen over the years at the Masters, which is unlike what we saw from Speedware. In his first ear he finished in second place, the secondary finished in first place, and away he goes and is able to have success here. From a young age and early in his Master's career, Justin Thomas is sort of building to something. And this is more along the lines of what we've seen from

players over the years. They get to their sixth, seventh, eighth time playing this event, they start figuring it out a little bit more, and Justin Thomas has indeed figured it out. He's been the best ball striker on the PGA Tour over the last year and a half two years. I expect that to continue. We saw what he can do. That back nine stretch at TBC saw Grass last month for the Players Championship was absolutely fantastic and would not surprise me to see Justin Thomas right up there near

the top of the leaderboard comes Sunday afternoon. Again, there's so many good players out there, but yeah, j T is a guy that I like a lot. This week another ball striker, Dustin Johnson struggling a little bit more putting, but it would be he'd only be the fourth player ever to repeat back to back Masters champions Um. He mentioned his name earlier. How how are you liking DJ right now? I like DJ. I mean, look, it's hard not to like DJ. You watched him play and you go,

how's that gonna not win every single week? I mean, he hits it really far as ball strike is fantastic. He puts it into the hole. That's golf, that's everything right there. And so he's the number one player. Were number one player in the world for a reason, and we should expect some good things from this week. That said, the recent results scare me just a little bit. Plus, just like you mentioned he hasn't nobody's won this golf tournament back to back since Tiger Woods in two thousand one,

two thousand two. It's really hard to go back to back at the Masters, and so Dustin's guy that I'm probably gonna fade this week. I don't love him, Can I see it? Is it possible? Absolutely? But I just think there's something just missing a little bit from DJ's game right now. Well, Jason, you you spoke briefly about Jordan's price when it comes tea time. I'm curious as to what some of your betting picks are for the Masters. What are you seeing that you like us will get

into it. I think a few of the players that aren't necessarily big names have some good proper play opportunity as far as their prices. Corey Connors is gonna be probably a pretty popular top ten pick. He's played well over his last three starts. The ball striking is always there. He started to put really well. I like him. Jason co Crack has been top ten and each of his last three stroke play events. Played the Master's last November

for the first time, missed the cut. But I think that he bounces back in a big way, and so I like him for a top ten. Matt Fitzpatrick is another one. If everything we know about this golf course is true, that it's gonna be fast and firm, and it's gonna be tough to score and pars are gonna be pretty good out there. That's Matt Fitzpatrick's kind of game, and I expect him to have a good week as well. As far as if you're looking for a top five,

Paul Casey is a guy that I really like. Paul Casey has been trending in the right direction for a while. He is a guy who has sort of just like we saw from Danny Willett and Sergeryo Garcia in two thousand sixteen seven Team, but he's are excuse me, two thousand fifteen and sixteen. Paul cases the guy one in Dubai earlier this year, and so there's been a correlation between winning and Dubai and going out and winning the

Masters three months later. So if you're looking for a top five play, I think Paul Casey could be a really strong play. And then for outrights again, Xander Shaffle, who comes into the week right around twenty to one. I believe that should be a nice play. I think that it will be a little bit contrary. And I know people out there are whether you're betting, you're playing office pools, you're doing whatever you like, being a little bit different from the crowds. And so I think everyone's

going to gravitate towards Jordan. They're gonna gravitate towards Justin, They're gonna gravitate towards even DJ coming off his win last year, maybe even a little Brighten. But I do think that because of his recent results not being so great, Xander Shaffle is going to have fewer people on him, few of the less of the public on him this week than some other players. And I do think Sander will be a nice player this week out right, Jason,

you mentioned the course will be more difficult. The rumors obviously that even weeks out that they were saying it was very firm, very fast. Organ Speed has spoken about that. I know you haven't seen the course yet. I know you just got into Augusta, but what are you hearing about that now? Absolutely same thing. And the great thing about Augusta is they can make it anyway they want. If it rains out, We're supposed to get some rain

overnight Thursday into Friday. Guess what, of course, will still be fast and firm if they wanted fast and firm for the second round on Friday. So that's one of the great things about this place is that they can set it up the exact way that they wanted to play. And I would not be surprised. After there were record setting scores in nineteen when Tiger Woods won, there were record setting scores last year when we had a very soft November and it was easier to fire in the flagsticks.

I would not be surprised if the powers that be at Augusta National wanted to sort of bite back a little bit this week and have a faster, firmer, much tougher golf course with lower or excuse me, higher scoring than then we're used to seeing over the past couple of years. So I wouldn't bet on any scoring records being broken this week. I think it's gonna play a

little bit more difficult. Oh yeah, yeah. The last two years yielded the lowest field scoring averages and Masters history, so everyone's kind of looking at numbers wise, but storyline wise, this first quarter of golf has given us kind of a bit of everything. But there's so many storylines going into this year's Masters. What's some of your favorites? Wow, there's so many good ones. Well, Jordan's speed right off

the top is uh. I think storyline number one A coming into this based on that victory that he had on Sunday at the Vlaro Texas Open. I think that everyone's gonna be talking about everything Jordan's going into this week. The other storylines, John Rom was, he was iffy, he was a question mark. We weren't sure we're gonna see John Rom this week, the number pree rank player in the world. We we thought that John Rom might indeed have to skip this one because his wife had their

first baby on the way. And yet the baby was born on Sunday. John Rom will indeed be at the Masters, and I think he's a very strong play as well. And then another guy who loves it when we tend to try to fade him a little bit, when we try to say, you know, I don't think it's gonna be this isn't gonna be his week. I don't like him as much. Brooks Kepta coming off knee surgery just a few weeks ago, there was talk that he wouldn't be back for most of this season six to eight months.

A few weeks later, here he is. He was at Augusta on Sunday. He will be at august Of the rest of the week. From all reports, he's walking a little bit gingerly. But I do believe that Brooks keptco when he puts his mind to it, he can go out there and play some really solid golf. So he's shown in the past he loves when he can pull a chip on his shoulder when he thinks that people are doubting him, and that's what's going on this week.

So I think that Brooks Kepta is a big storyline coming into this one, especially if he can get himself on the leaderboard through the first couple of rounds. I expect him to get stronger as the week progresses. Jason, we're talking storyline, so it's only right there we talk about storylines from the silver screen and talk some golf movies. For a second. We had Damon on the show Damon Hack. He told us his favorite golf movies of all time.

Wondering what your favorite golf movies of all time are? Well, Number one has got to be Caddy Shack. It's absolutely Caddy Shack. There's so many good lines to it. Every time I watch it, I feel like I come away with something new where I go, man, that was just an underrated scene, an underrated line, and under a underrated little plot twist. So Caddy Shacks definitely number one for me. I'll stick with the comedies. Happy Gilmore easily number two. Actually,

just rewatch that just a couple of weeks ago. It's great. It's fantastic. Another one where you watch it, you go, man like, that's a really sneaky good line in there. And I love Happy Gilmore. I can't get enough it. And then by default just because are that made great golf movies out there? But I'll throw Tin Cup at number three. One thing I like about Tin Cup is that they did use real players. He goes to the US Open and Roy mcinvoy is playing against Peter Jacobson

and Lee Jansen and Craig Stabler. I mean that that's really cool that it's sort of had that realness to it. So that's by one, two or three. In order there there needs to be a few more, though I'm advocating for better golf movies out there. Let's release some of them.

Let's release some of them. Indeed, lastly here Jason, Uh, you know a lot of times you see footwear is pretty consistent when it comes to the masters, but Jordan Brand and Nike consistently tries to re uh you know, shake things up a bit and innovate in the footwear realm of golf. I'm wondering if you see or have ever gotten a chance to see some of the Jordan's golf shoes where they take a classic retro Jordan and you know, put the cleat on the bottom. Have you

ever seen them? And you think we could ever see something like that worn on the foot of someone at a stage like Augusta. Oh, absolutely, It's happened before. I did a story a few years ago because Keegan Bradley was the first one that was wearing them on the PGA tour, and so Uh spoke with him about wearing the Jordan's. He said, look, I play with them j back home all the time, and I wear Jordan's all the time. And I told m J like I'd had some spikes on these things and where him on the

golf course. And they started doing it for me, and after Keenan Bradley did it and he came out with some other players started wearing him as well, and so we've seen them at big events. I know Harold Varner wears them. There are a few other guys out there that are wearing Jordan's two actual PGA Tour events, wearing them in major championships. I remember speaking with actually got a quote from m J at the time saying, you look,

we'd love to break into golf. You know, it's a great it's a great sport for us, a great audience for us. We love being around those players. And most of them know Jordan now as well, so there's that relationship. Like I said, Kegan Bradley was the first one. He got in there. He started playing with m J all the time they were playing for big money down South Florida, and started getting on him as far as you know, I want to wear your shoes. I need spikes on

him though, Let's do it. And so Jordan called up his guy, his shoe guy, and they started working on it. And not that much longer, Kean Bradley was the first one out there wearing them, and now you see him on a pretty regular basis, which is pretty cool. Last thing here, you know, you're speaking about some big, big, big names there. I'm curious who you think is the best golfer that's not a professional golfer. Maybe somebody like m J. You know, we've seen Charles Barkley has a

notorious swing. There is there somebody who you think is good enough to maybe ever make a run at a becoming a pro. It is not Charles Barkley. I can tell you that much. Well, we'll go through the process. I knew you'd say that. Say okay, and from everything

I hear is a pretty good player. But for him it's more about, hey, I'm gonna bet more than makes you comfortable, and so you can make the other person feel uncomfortable, and so it's more about sort of that intimidation process just a little bit as foot instead of his game itself. I would throw a guy like Steph Curia is a is a very good player. He's played in I hear he's really good. Web dot Com that in the past. Tony Romo has played a bunch of events.

John Smoltz has qualified for the US Senior Open in the past. So if you're looking for someone from the world of athletes. The those are probably about the top names. There are a few other guys. Mark Molder, I've played with before, the former Oakland Day's pitcher. He's a really good player. He plays with a lot of guys in the Scottsdale area who play on the PGA Tour. So

these guys can hang a little bit. And you know, speaking with one of my buddies who plays on the PGA Tour not that long ago, and he said, look, on any given day, I can lose to one of my buddies who's a scratch handicap and they can beat me. But the thing is they can't do it long term. They can't go out there on the p G A tour and weekend week out, go through that grind and go out and shoot sixty sixty seven every day. That's

just too hard for these guys. Well, we know it won't be Charles Barkley, like you said, because that swing is it's got awful. It is, it is bad. But Jason, thank you so so very much for joining us, and we look forward to seeing what you got coming out of Augusta. Absolutely thanks guys, cannot wait for this week. I'm so fired up the hype machine is up to eleven already. It's only Sunday. Love it. Thank you Jason. Thanks, guys, appreciate it. He walked us through March madness and told

you where to put your money, and now he's getting us ready for Masters Week with bet MGM. Let's welcome in Peter Andrew to help us know who to look for, what names, some names you might not see coming. Peter, thank you so much for joining us again. I think we have voted and you are a third co host. He is host officially. Congratulations, you're one of us now. Thanks guys. I'm I'm honored. I'm honored. Worst looking at the three, but it's fine. I want to get right

into this field of competition. Jordan's speed is such a heavy favorite. He just won the Texas Open on Sunday. Actually read he'll be one of the most wagered upon golfer is in history. Um, what does that mean and why is he such a heavy favorite? Yeah? I think when you talk about the four year drought, I believe it was people have been waiting for this day seeing to beef back on top. So I know it was only the Texas Open, but I think you have an opportunity here to see him win two in a row.

Where better than Augusta. I think between him the normal guys like DJ obviously Bryson coming in, I think you'll see heavy, heavy percentage of our handle wagered on those guys to win out right, not necessarily my picks, but it'll be a great four days starting on Thursday. What are you saying? What are what are your picks? Yeah? So, I I think my theme for for golf this year is really going with the up and comers, so the

young guys and unders kind of Colin more Kala. I think everybody has seen it, especially over the last year. One of the probably the highest rising stars, especially Americans. He's at thirty to one right now. I love his chances. I think if he has a good first couple of days obviously makes the cut. I think he'll be right up there with some of the big boys. And then two other guys that I've really pinpointed with really really good value on the betting side, Victor Hobland, Oklahoma State

guy has really looked good. I think he's come pretty close on a couple of different tournaments. But him at thirty three to one, again great value, and then you've got a guy like Matthew Fitzpatrick six to one. He's not that bad of a golfer. He's actually quite good golfer, great short game, he can hit the ball. I think his accuracy sometimes is what strays him away from being

more consistent. But I got those three guys at the top of the leader board hopefully on on Sunday as we're wrapping things up, Well, if you were to explain to someone who's betting on the Masters for the first time different ways they can put their money out there, I mean obviously picking the winner, but what else can you bet on? And then also prop bets? What are some fun Masters prop bets? Yeah, so you know the like you said at best Levia, everybody knows that to

win outright is kind of the hottest bet. Obviously, the odds you get on some of these long shots is eight. But I think you have a lot of cool opportunity with some of the markets top five, top ten, and then you have three and four ball where you can actually bet on that person to win their specific group. I think those are really interesting things. Obviously the odds aren't as great, but you have a pretty good sense of potentially who you think will come out out of

those three. Something that we're doing really cool here at bet MGM this week we were actually giving every single customer a Golf Boost token. What that actually does It boosts whatever bet you want for the Masters up in value. So so anything you get we're gonna be We're gonna be best price in town because of that Golf Boost token. So by the time we kick off, hopefully every customer bet mgm has got a bet on and is watching the Masters. So something really cool we're doing this year

and super excited. And on top of that, something that's become a staple of bet MGM is our Lions Boost, so we pick and select a different special bet each day. I think everybody can tune in Thursday right after listen to this and check out our Alliance Boost for the Masters, and we'll have one for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well. So you're stepping away from golf for just a second. I'm reading reports that New York lawmakers are close to

legalizing mobile sports bidding in New York. How big of a deal would that be for sports betting at large? Oh my gosh, this is the one you know, we've all been waiting for that. Other operators have all been waiting for obviously everybody in New York City, New York State. This is absolutely massive. So if Cornwell can figure this out and come through for the people of New York, this would be absolutely huge. Just think about going to the Garden, going to Berkeley Center, going to a Yankee game,

putting a bed on right in your seat. I mean, the stuff that we're doing here in New Jersey and certainly across our other nine states. Uh, It's become such a staple of just watching sports in general and enjoying sports, being able to put a time alli bet on something, and be able to put fifty on your favorite team. So having that opportunity in New York would be really huge.

So really eager to see the hopefully the final um, the final news come out this week and hopefully it's all positive and we can start prepping for a New York launch. Well, Peter, thank you so much. I can't wait for a normal Master's Week. It was so weird watching it back in November. So thank you for the advice of where to put our money. Thanks so much, guys,

appreciate it. Well. Olivia. We've been asking all of our guests about your favorite golf movies and we haven't chimed in yet, so I guess you can go first quickly. What is Olivia's favorite golf movie? Well, I'm inspired after Damon's list because I really want to watch the Legend of Bagger Van. So maybe tonight I'm gonna cosey in get Ready for Master's Week and watch that. But I've never seen it. I've also never seen Caddy Shack. I'm

embarrassed to say. I know my husband always lost. My sense of humor is not that like I've seen Happy Gilmore. I don't think it's that funny. I'm not a big Adam Sandler fan. I any of those movies are just not my cup of tea. I grew up in such a girl family, like, we didn't grow up watching that Adam Sandler type movies. Got it, all right, That's fair enough. My favorite golf movie is not a golf movie, but I'm going to justify it because there is a golf

scene in the movie. Listen, you got to hear me, hear my justification. The movie I'm picking is Good Burger with Keenan and kel now listen. In the movie, Keenan and Kel going to double date, and Kell's date is Carmen Electra and they go mini golfing, and so there's a golf scene. Okay, there's a it's a very iconic moment where Kel hits the ball and it ricochets off a million things and hits common a lecture right in

the dead center of her forehead. And so for that alone, I think we can justify it as a golf movie. That's and I'm sticking to it. Good burger, it is. Well, guys, that is our show for today. If you love golf, we hope you love this show that was dedicated just to it. Now, make sure to check out all of the action from bit MGM. You can follow them everywhere at bet mgm. And please, as always, we only ask

one favor. Leave us a review on the show on Apple podcasts, and follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. We'll see you guys next week.