The Second Cut | Golf Podcast
The Second Cut gets you everything you need in the world of golf on the PGA Tour and more! Tournament previews, storylines for each week, and in-depth players reviews. Hosted by Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood). Joined by Greg DuCharme (@therealGFD), Mark Immelman (mark_immelman), and Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS). Everything you need to supplement your golf experience.
The Second Cut | Golf Podcast
Scottish Open Mega Preview | Picks, Storylines, Best Bets
The boys are back to preview the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. It's news, it's storylines, it's best bets!
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🎤 ABOUT THE SHOW
The Second Cut gets you everything you need in the world of golf on the PGA Tour and more! Tournament previews, storylines for each week, and in-depth players reviews. Hosted by Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood). Joined by Greg DuCharme (@therealGFD), Mark Immelman (mark_immelman), and Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS).
Welcome in. This is the Second Cut Podcast. I'm Rick Gaiman, and today we are mega preview potting the Scottish Open, the first of two consecutive weeks across the pond. We've got your storylines. We've got your best bets. We've got your shenanigans. Mark Emmelman is here. Hello, Mark.
Speaker 00:Speaking of shenanigans, I realized this morning I need a visa to get into the United Kingdom. Thankfully, I did the application and then I get, your application will be reviewed in one to three business days. I'm like, oh shucks, I travel tomorrow. Well, thanks to the good folks there in the United Kingdom, I just got my visa, so I'm good to go tomorrow. Good news.
Speaker 02:You've got a lot of pull in the UK. You didn't even know it.
Speaker 00:They think I'm Trevor.
Speaker 02:There you go. Sometimes that comes in handy. Greg Ducharme is here. Hello, Greg.
Speaker 01:It's like we're sitting here with royalty. I mean, is that like a common thing? People know they need a visa or is it because you're going there to work? Like if I went to, if I wanted to go to Scotland tomorrow to play golf, I need more than a passport.
Speaker 00:You need a visa now. Yeah. It's new rules. That's what, that's what is. Um, and, and we, we got an email, but I, as you guys know, I'm notoriously bad at checking emails. Mark
Speaker 02:is the absolute worst at checking emails. And he, and he insists that Gmail is conspiring against him.
Speaker 00:It is. Gmail doesn't work. Anyhow, so Craig Capano, if you're listening, thank you. He said to me, have you got the app? I'm like, what app? He said, there's an app to enter the United Kingdom. So we're on the golf course at the John Deere. He goes, yeah. And he helps me download the thing, you know, because I'm old school that way. And so I download the thing. So I'm like, oh, shucks, I've got to do this. So I do it this morning. And you've got to take a picture and passport and the whole thing. And then I get one, two, three business days. So thankfully, we're here. I was preparing to watch the Scottish Open from my couch in Columbus, Georgia.
Speaker 02:Yeah, that is– I guess it is relatively new, Greg. So we needed a visa when we went to Australia. Just– I don't know– I don't know what it is. It's like a tourism visa. I think it's just a way to get 25 extra bucks out of you or something like that. But yeah, you need visas. I don't know if that's every country, but yeah, it's a thing.
Speaker 01:That's crazy. That's why I stay right here in the US. I mean, I used to be able to get in the car, drive up to Canada. I mean, a driver's license is recommended. You didn't need a passport. That's for sure. Now you need a Just to get on an airplane and fly domestically, you need a special star on your license. Things are tightening down, and I don't like it.
Speaker 02:Are you doing some Illuminati thing by having a clock directly over your head? Are you making a time zone statement in this frame right now?
Speaker 01:Well, you can make of that whatever you will. But I don't mind it. I like the background. Okay, the time... Is the time... This time is wrong. It is wrong.
Speaker 02:It says it's... Well, I guess I don't know what time zone
Speaker 01:you're in. 1108.
Speaker 02:I don't think it's 1108 wherever you're at.
Speaker 01:I'm in the Eastern time zone. So it's 503.
Speaker 00:Yes, that is way off. The cool thing, I thought this was marketing because, you know... Every watch company or clock company, when they market themselves, the hands are 10 and 2 for the smart face. And when Greg clicked on it, it was 10 and 2. I mean, look at this guy. I mean, this is a professional at work. That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 01:This ain't no hobby.
Speaker 00:Yeah,
Speaker 02:exactly. That's amazing. So well done, gentlemen. Well, listen, I'm about to get my sleep schedule in order. We're going overseas for two consecutive weeks. We're going to start with the Scottish. This is a co-sanctioned event. So there's actually two co-sanctioned events this year between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. This event, the Scottish Open, and then the ISCO Championship. And Mark, we'll start here. I find it interesting. You know, this is... This is a cool field because you get a lot of guys from both of these tours. I feel like there should be more of these. I like the co-sanctioned nature of this. It's almost like having a world tour, but still being on their own separate circuits.
Speaker 00:Well, yeah. I mean, these opposite field events and the co-sanctioned stuff... Look at the opposite field just from a little while ago. Ryan Fox gets a win. Now, all of a sudden, he's a two-time winner in the PGA Tour. So for the guys playing in the ESCO, it's great news. But for this event this week at the Renaissance for the Genesis Scottish Open, it is deep and it is strong. I mean, the strength of this field is way up there from what I've seen. And I'm super excited because Carl Paulson yesterday morning on the trip home from John Deere, we're in the airport for the 6 a.m. flight. And I was like, you going to Scotland? He goes, no, home. And then Port Rush the next week, because he's doing the call for Sirius XM, PGA Tour radio. And so I'm like, oh, cool. He goes, are you going to the open? I'm like, no, no, no, just Scotland, then back home. And my hope was, is that I will be switching on the TV early in the morning with my coffee and all I'm going to see is rain coming in sideways and I'm going to be on the couch under a blanket with coffee and you out there in the rain. And he laughs. I'm like, no, I'm serious, right? So he clicks open his phone and he shows me the forecast for Portrush, which is straight rain for like six days. And I'm like, you're joking. He goes, no, for real, look here. Then he goes over to Scotland and no lie, it was like five days of straight sunshine. And he goes, That might be the best weather that Scotland might have ever had in all of their history, and we seem to be getting it this week. So it's going to be a great event. It just is.
Speaker 02:There's something a little nefarious about Mark, always rooting for bad weather when he's not there, playoffs, nine-hole playoffs when he's not there.
Speaker 00:We've just had two in a row, man. Come on, give me a break.
Speaker 02:We have had two in a row. The field is unbelievable. Greg, it's, uh, uh, as far as the, the OWGR strength of field goes, it's going to be the second strongest field behind just the players championship. So everybody, um, using it, I shouldn't even say using it as an opportunity for a tune-up. I think that is downgrading what this event is and how cool a national championship is, but they are, they've gotten everybody over there.
Speaker 01:And it makes a lot of sense, right? It makes a ton of sense to go spend a little time over there, get acclimated to the time zone. No pun intended. Go get acclimated to all that stuff. Get used to the food and where you're going to go eat and the grasses, the turf conditions. Are you going to need some new wedges to put in play? Is there any kind of grind you got to do with your irons? That happened to Colin Morikawa a couple of years ago before he won the Open Championship. It's a really important trip, not just to get ready for the Open, but it's an opportunity to play Lynx golf, which it does seem like most of the American players really appreciate Lynx golf. Not all of them do very well on Lynx golf, but they'd certainly appreciate it.
Speaker 02:Let's talk Lynx, Mark. This is a different style of golf. America plays golf in the air. Most of the rest of the world plays golf on the ground. When I say Lynx style golf, or when people tune in at 2 a.m. on Saturday, I guess that would be Thursday morning, Wednesday night into Thursday morning. What are they going to see that is so different than golf courses here in America?
Speaker 00:Well, all the Lynx purists will tell you that the Renaissance Club is not a true Lynx. It's just up the way from Muirfield, which is probably one of the greatest links there is in all the world. But it sort of feels like Renaissance was built, where a lot of the original links courses just wandered between sand dunes and stuff that were right adjacent to the water. But that being said, about the Renaissance, I think it's great. There are a couple of seaside holes down the cliffs, which are beautiful. Then the rest of it is parkland with a links field with fescue and such. But if you're looking for an examination, I would say the main thing around Lynx Golf is really striking the ball solid of very tight fairways. The fairways aren't necessarily manicured like the golf courses in the United States, but they're tight. It's almost fescue grass that's cut down real low. You've got to strike the ball really well. You've got to control distance. In fact, at times when the wind blows, because it's always heavy, yardage books go out the window. I've seen guys hit five irons from 140 yards and I've seen guys hit pitching wedges from 200 downwind because you're landing at 40 yards short when the conditions are firm. The last couple of years at the Scottish Open, Renaissance has been sort of softish because it's been wet. But this year it's been very dry from the reports I'm getting on the ground there. They said the golf course is in sensational shape. The weather is supposed to be good. So you're going to see a place where it's kind of brownish in spots. Frank Nobler calls it biscuit color. Sort of imagine your biscuit there for breakfast. That's the look. And, you know, big greens, natural undulation, slower greens. It's just all about hitting the ball solid and being able to kind of play golf and not play numbers. That's what it is.
Speaker 02:Yes, not a track man competition. You've got to worry about what the ball is going to do when it's on the ground. And I can't believe I'm going to say this, Greg, but in defense of the Twitter purists, this was a manufactured golf course. 2008. Tom Doak opened this thing up. So it is not the, like Mark said, mother nature has crafted a lot of the links golf courses in the UK after centuries of erosion and wind movement, all that fuss. This was manufactured within the last couple of decades.
Speaker 01:Yes, which is a rare thing, right? You know, there's not a lot of new golf courses going on in that area of the world. There are so many already. But, you know, I still think that it provides a really nice test for the PGA Tour. We've seen, just like any Lynx golf course, pretty much in the Open Rota or in the Irish Open Rota, as long as it's Lynx, you're going to see a wide range of scores based on the weather conditions. I mean, since... They've been at the Renaissance Club, whether it was PGA Tour or DP World Tour, since 2019. So you're talking about six years, and winning scores have been between 7-under and 22-under. So a really wide range of potential winning scores. It can play very gettable, and it can play brutally difficult. So much of it just depends on that weather. I think this year it's looking like we're going to have a little more of the– a little more scorable. because it is going to be dry to Mark's point. At least it looks that way now. Winds, aside from Thursday, look to be very calm, kind of freakishly calm for that area of the world. So we may see some low scores this week.
Speaker 00:Yeah, will that wind just wait 15 minutes? It'll be like the John Deere last week where I got drenched, then dry, then drenched, then dry, all in one afternoon in three hours. That's sort of the thing. And I do want to say this real fast because I'm kind of glancing at the chats. The east coast of Scotland, like if you want to go on a boy's trip for golf, you know, we stay in North Berwick, which is the coolest little town. The golf course North Berwick is sensational. I mean, in terms of links, that's the one you've got to play. The greens look like they're straight off Mars. It's crazy. It's like Mother Nature designed those. Then just up the way is Muirfield. Then you've got Kilspindi and all these cool places around there. And then up the coastline, you've got St. Andrews and you've got Carnoustie. So it's just a wonderful spot for golf. And I almost get the sense that the golf course course, it's going to show off its true colors a little bit, pun intended here, because when it gets firm to Rick's point, ball gets to moving on the ground. And this links, as far as I've seen, I've been to Royal St. George's, I've been to St. Andrews, I've been to Carnoustie, I've been to Troon, I've been to Birkdale. I have not seen Portrush. I've not seen Hoylake, Royal Liverpool. And This one has more elevation change than most. Like I say, most of them are quite low lying between big sand dunes. Where over here, like a hole like number eight, the shortish par four, it's got this big hill you climb. And then 11 sort of goes up this long, slow hill. And then you go down into like a cliff seaside and you climb up a big hill, another way to play another downhill par three, 14, which has got a wall right between it and the 12th green. So it sort of feels like North Berwick in a way, but there's a lot of undulation change. So as a result, when you're playing from high ground to low ground, the wind's pumping 40, you know, that's what makes it really hard. But to your point, Greg, even though the ball's moving on the ground with the undulation, I feel like it'll be kind of, the fangs will be dulled a little bit and scoring should be pretty good.
Speaker 02:The... Venues, really some of the venues that Mark rattled off, obviously part of the open rota. One of the others, part of the open rota there is Royal St. George's. That's where Colin Morikawa, Greg, got his victory. Colin Morikawa, back in the news. He has a way of doing this recently. This time, positive, I would say. Him and Billy Foster linking up for the next two weeks. Billy Foster, was on Matt Fitzpatrick's bag most recently. They won the US Open together. Billy Foster's been around a long time. He's been on a lot of great bags. He is going to try to shepherd Colin Morikawa around the UK.
Speaker 01:Yes, and look, it's at least, at the very least, an experienced caddy for him. It's like a two-week trial. I'm not sure if that's an awkward kind of thing or a positive thing, but... Look, it is more positive news than we've had in the past couple weeks with Colin Morikawa. And, you know, I heard something really interesting from Morikawa at the Rocket. It was at the Rocket Classic. I think he said it to Amanda Valionis. You know, I feel like I'm hitting a draw right now, but you got to play with what you got. And I'm kind of like, all right, maybe he's figuring out that he just needs to play because he's– Even if he's not feeling good enough, he is playing good enough to beat everybody. So perhaps that gave me a hint of optimism with Colin Morikawa going forward. I like the way he's played here before. So I'm more optimistic this week than I've been. I
Speaker 02:don't know Billy Foster, Mark. I can tell you what I think of him as an outsider. I think he is a rugged player. Burly man, old school caddy who might slap Colin Morikawa around a little bit. I don't know. Am I heading down the right path here?
Speaker 00:He pretty much hit that on the nail on the head. I know Billy Foster well. I know Billy Foster when he was like a teenager caddying for Seve Ballesteros. So he's seen the comings and the goings, man. And he's grizzled. He's typically English. He's sort of, you know, Midland Englishman who calls a spade a spade. And he suffers, doesn't suffer fools lightly. And I feel like for Colin, this may be exactly what he needs. You know, when it gets a bit pouty or whatever the case might be, just get a little slap around the gills and say, sunshine, let's just go and play golf a little bit and let's see what's happening. So it could be good. The word from inside the camp that we've gotten is this is a two-week deal. It's not necessarily like a trial period or whatever you want to call it. It's two weeks. Now, look, if Colin... plays well and maybe contends or wins one of these next two events it could turn longer but as far as i knew billy was kind of done with golf you know it's been a long career and there's a lot of miles on those tires so um i think it'll be a fun trip it'll be fun to watch i've seen billy foster with matt fitzpatrick at times when matt's been standing there with arms waving in the air and billy would just pick up the bag and walk not even listen to the guy So it's going to be a fascinating watch, and I'm actually kind of hoping. I have Murray Carwin, one of the next two rounds, so I can see actually how it's going to transpire on the golf course. Because Billy is a great caddy. He's a grizzled guy, and he's from the old school. He's tough.
Speaker 02:One of my favorite Billy Foster clips is him and Matt Fitzpatrick are discussing a shot. Matt's getting ready to go. Matt asked another question and Billy just goes, okay, now on with it. And Matt's like, sorry, I apologize. I was going to ask you one more question, but I guess I'll just go now. So that is going to be different than some of the other voices Colin's had this year.
Speaker 00:Greg, let me jump in here real fast. That is so accurate. And I will say this, you know, everyone talks about the pace of play on the PGA Tour. The pace they move and stuff, I've said this is fast. some of the deliberation over golf shots is ridiculous. And any single one of these guys, and I've maintained this, you could give Jordan Spieth half a set of clubs and he'd shoot lower than what he does in PGA Tour events. You catch him at his home course, when he's got a range finder, a golf cart, and his clubs, he's going to shoot 65 on you every single time. And when you get to the PGA Tour event, it's all this back and forth and deliberation and stuff where it's like, 175. It can't go more than 185. It's got to go 170. Hit the 7-iron. I don't care if the wind's up and down. Hit the 7-iron. You've got a range to hit to. Where these guys are making too much of it, and maybe, just maybe, with Colin, who likes to talk between shots or before shots, where Billy's like, hit it. Let's go. I'll see you on the green.
Speaker 02:Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how those two interact. Let's get them in feature groups. Let's get them all mic'd up. Let's do all the fun stuff so we can see it. Rory Mackle, Roy Greggers. All right. So we've been following, obviously, Rory very closely here in 2025. Last time we saw him was the Travelers Championship. He finished T6 that week. We are now in the stretch of golf that if motivation was a problem for Rory, if it was, No more excuses now. You get to play the Scottish Open. You get to play Royal Portrush at home. This is the time where we should be expecting, am I right, an absolutely engaged Rory McIlroy.
Speaker 01:This should be as engaged as before the Masters. Should be. I don't know if you can just flip that switch. I don't know if that's possible. And that's the one thing that's given me a little concern. If it is possible, then Rory will have that switch flipped because it does on paper mean a lot. And there's no doubt he wants to perform well next week in Northern Ireland. But look, it's a hard thing to do. You got to go in. What he did last offseason was go into a simulator, lock himself indoors and and go hit balls without even seeing the ball flight for three weeks. Is he doing that in the middle of the summer after winning the Masters? I would say probably not. So I'm very curious to see what we get. I'm optimistic because I do think we saw a better performance out of Rory at, believe it or not, the U.S. Open and the Travelers after an abysmal Canadian Open. So maybe things are turning in the right direction for Rory.
Speaker 02:Well, the last two years here, Mark, if those are any indication, it's going to be a lot of Rory McIlroy in contention. Remember, he nabbed this from Robert McIntyre two years ago in 2023, steals it late with one of the best shots you've ever seen and wins that golf tournament, finishes T4 last year. Your expectations for Rory McIlroy over the course of the next week or two are what?
Speaker 00:First off, I got to see that. two irony hit with my own two eyes. It was one of the best shots I might've ever seen. And that came right after Bob McIntyre hit a three wood from the left rough to about five feet for birdie,
Speaker 02:which was about the second best shot you've ever seen. I
Speaker 00:was on the call for that. Um, to Rory though, just to backtrack a little bit and set it up. I had him in the final round at the travelers and there were one or two sort of silly ish mistakes, but, Pretty much by and by, I thought the game was turning in the right direction. And he shot some round in the mid-60s and ostensibly had a chance to win with a quick finish, which he didn't get. And down 18, he's at a tee shot way left, and they're waiting for a ruling, both him and Harris English. And they had a scoreboard in the way. And he's just standing there kind of leaning against the whipping from one of the gallery stands or whatever. And he's sort of just gazing at me, and I smile. I'm like, what's your plan next few weeks? He goes, flying out tonight, going to London. They've got a new place over there. He goes, I'm going to take some time off, kind of rest a little bit, and then start preparing. And that's exactly how he said it. He goes, I'm going to rest and then start preparing. So I think I'm expecting a rested Rory. I think I saw– well, I don't think. I saw Rory who looked. Like he got the bit between his teeth, the travelers in the final round, when he got a sniff of the lead, you know, Rory battling cuts was like, I don't need this kind of deal. But when he was in contention, you could see the juices started going. So now he knows what was going on under pressure when he was in contention. He's worked on that. Greg, I'd love to see him go back into his room and just hit balls without seeing where the ball goes and just tighten up the golf swing. But I feel like he's going to be ready because the one thing about links golf, it doesn't, You don't play golf swing there. You just don't. Because you've got to create shots all the time. It's rare that you will have like the stock 7-iron. Or it's rare that you can just step up there and blast one off the tee. There's always something you've got to make, even though the conditions are nice. So I think he's rested. He's ready. And I feel like a place where he's been somewhat successful, pretty successful, I think it's going to be a good week.
Speaker 02:Is that a benefit, Greg, the idea that you have to– kind of engage more on every shot and there is not just a stock seven iron sitting out there?
Speaker 01:It can be. Yeah, it can be very helpful. I think it's brought a lot of guys. Look, I mean, I was looking at guys that are the best Lynx players in this field when I was doing my preparation for this. And I was looking at guys that, you know, who are the best performers at the Open and at the Scottish Open. I left out the Irish and the DP World Tour events on Lynx just to keep it to kind of PGA Tour guys. And there's some shot makers in here, right? The best Lynx players know how to work the ball around. They know how to... kind of see it and play that style like Mark's talking about. So I think it can go one of two ways. It can be harmful if that's not your style, that doesn't work for you. It could be very helpful, especially if you're someone like Rory McIlroy, who gets the air quotes, natural talent kind of deal. I'm not sure how... There's obviously some natural talent there, obviously a lot of effort as well. But I think for someone like Rory McIlroy, that thing plays– seeing, visualizing, playing shots is a really good thing for him rather than 175, here's your eight iron, hit a stock shot.
Speaker 00:Greg, I want to add to that real fast too. Why I think it's– well, look, you know Jordan Spieth– will shine in this sort of stuff. Ricky Fowler, you know, he's a bit of a muddler that way. He loves to start creating and that sort of deal. But it asks you to sort of be a little gritty. It's not pretty golf, links golf. It really isn't. I mean, you're not seeing full-flowing follow-throughs and stuff like that. There's a lot of chippy-looking shots at times. And you're playing... And you're playing with a mindset where somewhere in the back of your mind, you've got to have the right attitude because you can drive the ball straight down the middle of the fairway, get on the wrong side of one of those sort of ripply moguls in the fairway, kick into the first cue, and then you're cooked. So you've got to sort of be very accepting of everything that's happening. And so as a result, for someone like a McElroy, who plays a real pretty game of golf, he gets back to the kind of, you know, dollars and cents of it, like the X's and O's of golf a little bit. And then is when he starts to get really good because he used to hate links golf by his own admission, but he's learned to love it because I think he started to realize that, you know, I'm not going to, you know, outshine everyone. I'm going to have to outplay everyone and outplaying people is being prepared to hit from some bad lies at times and get some bad bounces.
Speaker 02:I love it. I love it. I think about the shots that he had to work at, Augusta National around trees and different... It's just like, hey, give me a challenge. Let me have at it. I'm going to pot us through here for a second. I've got a couple of questions from our Patreon, which is linked in the description below. People are starting to get their merchandise. I actually just got a photo on Twitter about an hour ago from Jock... In Manchester, rocking his brand new second cut hoodie. It looks very good on him. You can go check that out as well. Let's go with this question here, gentlemen. It is from Ryan, and it's in regards to Mark's note that he had in his phone, the underrated flushers note. And he's curious about anything else that we might keep in our phones, whether it is food spots, whether it is thoughts or ideas. I'll start with you, Greg, because I think Mark's already chomping at the bit here. But Greg, do you keep anything in your phone? Try to keep track of anything like that?
Speaker 01:Passwords. Yeah, that's really it. I really don't keep anything in there. I keep passwords. If I book a flight, I'll keep that in my notes. Any kind of travel like that. But no, I don't keep anything in my phone. Maybe I should. I really like that idea, Mark's idea. But I carry around multiple notebooks, and I write stuff on paper, all kinds of
Speaker 02:stuff. You're like an 80-year-old man.
Speaker 01:Yeah, yeah, I guess, keeping passwords in my notes on my phone and writing down notes on paper, even scrap paper, which you've seen, Rick.
Speaker 02:I have seen. It's a sight to behold. He just has loose leaf everywhere and he's got notes and he makes... They're not even like lined in the way that he always uses them. He'll do the lines himself and make the tables and the grits. It's insanity is what it is.
Speaker 01:Yeah, I have some... Look, I'll show you right here. This is like a sheet. I don't know if you... There you go. I got a couple on that. There you go. So that's like one of my sheets. And look, this one's Not scrap paper, so it's double-sided. Normally, it can't be double-sided. That one's double-sided. The reason I do that is I like to spread single sheets across a desk, and then I have access to all of them. But no, nothing goes in my phone. I'm a little envious of Mark, though.
Speaker 02:mark i imagine that underrated flushers is not the only thing that lives in there
Speaker 00:i do have you know me i like good words i like people with choice vernacular and um there's when when you hear a great announcer or you hear a very smart person speak um Not too much of it, you know, not like certain folks we kind of know on other golf stations, TV stations, where it seems like they've read the thesaurus and just want to get all these words out. But I think the choice of words at times is really attractive to me. And so when I hear something, I notarize it. And there's one that I heard like way back at a Lynx Golf event by Peter Ellis, who is like the doyen of golf announcing legend. And he described one green one time as if he said, they're all manner of nooks and crannies around the place. And I was like, yes, I'm going to use nooks and crannies when I get the chance over the weekend in Scotland. So yeah, I've got a lot of terms that I feel like are very cool sounding. You know, might be onomatopoeia or like alliteration and stuff, but nooks and crannies and that sort of stuff, I keep notes on that.
Speaker 02:Wow. That is... That's good. That's really good. There's a
Speaker 00:word dexterous. Dexterous? Dexterous, yeah. As opposed to ambidextrous? Yeah. Well, if you're dexterous, you're tactile. You've got a great use of your hands and a lot of skill. Dexterous is a good word.
Speaker 02:That is a good word. Well, you calling a shot malnourished has made its way into people's brains for sure.
Speaker 00:I did that. There was one time I talked about a shot being sautéed. It became a meme. There's one. You could use this in the United Kingdom. He's in a bit of a quandary.
Speaker 02:Oh, a bit of a quandary. I think I've heard you say that before.
Speaker 00:He has a cool sounding one. Bamboozled. Just like to say
Speaker 02:that. That is good. Don't spoil all of these. Save some of these so that you can surprise us with them.
Speaker 01:We'll be listening. And people, I bet, will ask you, is that in the notes? Is that from the notes? Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 00:The only thing I do... If you want to see, can you see it? Hold on. No, you can't see this.
Speaker 02:Forget
Speaker 00:it. It's too
Speaker 02:bright.
Speaker 00:No, too
Speaker 02:bright. Yeah, white screen.
Unknown:Okay.
Speaker 02:The only thing that I have is I'm a, I'm a Google maps power user. So like I, I save tons of locations. So really? Yes. Places that I've, been to places that i want to go every city so like before i go to like before i go to florida for pga tour studios or whatever i'll go and i'll find like the best restaurants or places that i want to see and i'll put that in there so that when i get there i have it so now like when i zoom out i've got like like you can see every city all my little markings on there
Speaker 00:that's insane Add to your list for Ponte Vedra. Go down the road a little bit, down A1A. Go to Pacific Asian Bistro. If you like sushi, that place is sensational. It's on my list of places to stop.
Speaker 02:Okay. I got it. Okay. I got it. I just saved it. It's now on my list of my Ponte Vedra list. Okay. So then I do this. So then I cross it over to my sushi list. So I've got location and then... So you can be in two places at once. So you could fall on the sushi list. So if I'm looking for sushi, I can see all the sushi spots, or you can just be on my, what city am I in list and then just see all my spots.
Speaker 00:Okay. Well then you must make a list now of what you have at said places. And there's a thing called the green river roll. Do it. You're welcome.
Speaker 02:I see a green
Speaker 01:river
Speaker 02:roll. Yes, it is. It is in the, yes. Someone has posted it. in a photo of it. And yes, it is highly rated and it looks very good. You are welcome. Thank you very much. I will mark that as well. See, it's helpful, Greg. You just have access to all this, you know?
Speaker 01:I get it. I get it. I don't know how to do it, but maybe it's something I should look into.
Speaker 02:We got time. We got time. All right, gents, let's talk some more names. Let's talk about the Scottish Open. We have the grid for this week. If you've Never seen the grid before. You're crazy, but welcome. This is our matchup, our finishing position, and two separate outrights for this week. And I will bring it up on the screen right now. There it is, in all its glory. Greggers, you have gone brother on brother. What is your selection for your matchup, please?
Speaker 00:That is sinful at pick. That is terrible. I cannot be with that.
Speaker 01:It's sinful. Okay, sinful. This is Nikolai Hoigard over Rasmus Hoigard. Now, Rasmus is the favorite. Mark thinks that he should be. But I have Nikolai preferred. One, I think these guys are just, I think they're a lot closer than it seems when it comes to their ability level and ability level here specifically. Nikolai, I think, hits his driver extremely well. I value distance pretty high. Rasmus has that too. But Nikolai is extremely, extremely good from outside of 200 yards. In fact, checking my notes, he is, well, I believe it was 13th.
Speaker 02:Are you having trouble locating it on your piece of paper?
Speaker 01:Yeah, which piece of paper is it on?
Speaker 00:Rick, while you're looking, I want to share something about this, because both those brothers are stars, and they both better be on the Ryder Cup team. Rasmus is in, Nikolai's got to earn his way in. Nikolai is good. Rasmus is good, but talented. Nikolai's a better pitcher and chipper of the ball than his brother is. I don't know if that is in your notes. I'll say this, though. You talk about caddies, like... Billy Foster. Well, Gareth Lord, goes by Lordy, has been around the European tour like forever. And he has worked for a number of stars, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and stuff. Now he's on Nikolai's bag. And down in Louisiana, the two brothers are out there together, and I've got the group. And Rasmus hits Nikolai in his bunker down the left side of 12, up against the lip. He's got like 190 yards to the flag. And he's got the lip like six feet in front of him, and it's high. Nikolai gets in there and whips an 8-iron off the sand, up over the lip. He flew it like 190 in the air out of the bunker. And I'm like, holy cow. And Lordy picks up the club, and he's raking the bunker. And I'm like, man, that was good. And he goes, this is the best kid I've ever caddied for. He goes, this child is what he– because he brought me back to caddying Nikolai Horegaard. But still, I'm a Rasmus fan.
Speaker 02:This child– he said this child–
Speaker 00:Well, they're young, man. What's their age? They're like early 20s?
Speaker 02:Nikolai is 24. Yeah, I guess they're both 24 then.
Speaker 00:People don't realize how young they are.
Speaker 02:I have Nikolai as 17th on tour from outside of 200 yards. Proximity number.
Speaker 01:Very important number this week. Very good. Rathbiss is like 23rd. So, you know, I give Nikolai the edge.
Speaker 00:They're not going to have many of those shots around the Genesis. They're going to pitch more. Who's better around the greens, Rick?
Speaker 02:Well, stand by. Well. Do
Speaker 01:you have that? No. These are things that I just look up on less.com.
Speaker 02:You should. Last 36 rounds, Rasmus is a small loser around the greens. Nikolai is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K.
Speaker 01:Probably a bigger loser.
Speaker 02:He is a bigger loser, yeah.
Speaker 00:Quarter of
Speaker 02:a stroke per round, that's
Speaker 00:pretty bad. It's recent, though. By my eye test, I thought he was better than Rasmus. Well,
Speaker 01:you'll see that this week, too.
Speaker 00:Okay, cool.
Speaker 02:I'm going with Robert McIntyre, fully engaged Scott, over Justin Thomas. I'm laying a little bit of juice on this minus 120. I am a bit dubious of Justin Thomas' Lynx-ish style golf, and I know I'm going to get four very, very engaged rounds from Robert McIntyre this week. Mr. Mark, what was your matchup, please?
Speaker 00:I'm going with Adam Scott over Sepp Stryker, plus 100. Scotty is the ultimate Lynx player. He should have a Claret Jug on his mantelpiece, but for falling down at Lytham. Oh, I've been there too. Roll Lytham. And Sepp just hasn't been awfully convincing of late, to be honest with you. So I'm taking Adam over Sepp. And I'm pretty confident with that bet.
Speaker 02:Finishing positions are any finishing positions that we want. We've got two top 20s and a top 10. Mark, I'm going to bounce this back to you and let you know that when you texted these in, Armina said, it says fairway Jesus. Should I keep that in there? And I said, yeah, yeah, just keep that in there.
Speaker 00:Fairway Jesus. People in the comments, who is fairway Jesus? And it's a funny story because He should have won at the Travelers. And the joke with me and my own course crew was, look, Tommy just backdoored a top five. Because they're always like, well, there's Fleetwood showing up in the final round to backdoor another top 10. His record around this golf course is impeccable. I'm going to pick him to win at Portrush. He's my pick to win next week. This week, I feel like it's good prep. He's playing beautifully. He's swinging incredibly well. He has not finished outside the top 10 at this golf course. He's been in a runner-up before. And so I feel like a top 10 is easy pickings at plus 240.
Speaker 02:That's Tommy Fleetwood, fairway Jesus, top 10, plus 240. I went with Aldrich Pocketer, top 20, plus 330. T6 win, was playing well before a very bad Saturday with Drew. Golf course, I think. Helps with distance. I think we got him ready to rock and roll here. Chance to buy a little bit low at plus 330. Mr. Greg, oh, this is a name that has not appeared quite often on the grid. What'd you find?
Speaker 01:I don't think it's appeared all year, but it's Matt Fitzpatrick for a top 20 at plus 190. I think Matt Fitzpatrick's found something with his golf swing. He finished tied 17th at the Travelers, tied 8th at the Rocket. His performance off the tee has been much better the last couple weeks. And also with his iron play, you know, going back into probably April, he's had some really nice weeks with his iron play. And this is a play lost in a playoff to, I believe it was Minwoo Lee on the DP World Tour. He finished tied six here the next year. He's a pretty good Lynx player as well. So I like what I'm seeing out of Matt Fitzpatrick. I think we're trending in the right direction, and this is a way to almost buy early.
Speaker 02:Yeah, getting in on Matt as he's on the way up here. Winners. Two separate winners. We've got both the with and without market. The without market is not just Scotty this week. We'll get there in just one second. Mark, your two outrights, please.
Speaker 00:I picked these because I'm not very imaginative, honestly. But really, both of them have won this event in recent years. I'm going with Rory and I'm going with Bobby McIntyre. First off, McIntyre in Scotland is a force. He truly is. Something about him, it's like he channels that inner brave heart and just finds a way to play well. So I know he's going to be a factor. Rory, I saw enough at the Travelers in the final round to believe that he's got stuff organized. And with some time off and with some time to work on the game and stuff, sort of uninterrupted, I'm sure, of his own time, I feel like he'll be ready. So McElroy and Bob McIntyre for me.
Speaker 02:Yeah, I love that. Getting access to both of those guys in the outright market. 8-1 for Rory, 30-1 for Robert McIntyre. I am going with the Billy Foster boost. Colin Morikawa plus $2,500. He's been playing well enough. He's putted well here in the past. I think he needs a new voice, and I think Billy Foster might be the voice that he needs, 25-1. Greg, you and I have the same golfer here. We have taken him in two different markets. I took him straight up, 40-1. You took him without Scottie, without Xander, without Rory. Tell the people who our pick is.
Speaker 01:Yeah, Scottie always makes you worry, and when you add Rory and Xander in there, that's a nice... That's nice. And I think it really increases the probability of this happening. So I went with Victor Hovland like you, Rick, without Scottie, Xander and Rory. I'm comfortable with leaving those guys off the table, too, like you did. But Victor Hovland's iron play has been absolutely spectacular lately. really for the last 12 weeks. But he's shown us some really big spike weeks in the last five. I like that. The other thing I really like is when it comes to the short game, although the lies, like Mark was saying in the fairway, are even tighter than normal, you don't see a lot of guys pitching with a 60-degree wedge off of that stuff. There are a lot more options in Lynx golf, like Victor Hovland utilized at St. Andrews for the Open Championship. So I think his... strengths are magnified and his weaknesses are, uh, minimized, which is a really good combination in my opinion.
Speaker 02:Very good indeed. And then deeper down the board also without Scotty Zander. Also without
Speaker 01:you're
Speaker 02:nervous about those guys.
Speaker 01:Uh, yes, yes. I'm nervous about him. Uh, I, so I went down to Nick Taylor, uh, who I think is just starting to hit the ball really well. I like his style. I think he could work really well on Lynx Golf, although we haven't seen a whole lot of it. I like what he's done with his shot-making ability. I like the way that, like I said, he's hit his iron and his driver. In his last three events, he's got three straight top 25 finishes. The putter has started to spike a little bit. Everything seems to be bubbling up to the top. And all I want to see is him get himself into contention. And if he does, I'll be very happy to have this ticket. If he misses the cut, he misses the cut. And that's very possible. But if he smells that lead, watch out for Nick Taylor.
Speaker 02:Nick Taylor, 60-1. Roy McIlroy, 8-1. Robert McIntyre, 30-1. Colin Morikawa, 25-1. Victor Hovland, straight up, 40-1. Victor Hovland, without Scottie, without Xander, without Rory, 28-1. Those are the picks for the week. And we have concluded. the segment with Mark. Greg and I are going to continue for fantasy, but Mark, I'll open this up to you. First off, we're excited to get you out there. We're wishing you all the best, all safe travels, getting over there and experiencing what's going to be a great week. And I'm glad that it seems like your visa situation has been rectified.
Speaker 00:Yeah, me too. I'll sign off with this. Really, me too. I'll sign off with this. Someone Caleb asks, what's my best Scottish Open memory? Lots. Look, the Rory shot to win was incredible. Last year, I was waiting with Adam Scott to do the loser interview. You know, I do that stuff. And we were standing by scoring, and Bob McIntyre made the putt on 18 green. And the place erupted. And I get goosebumps now just because all of Scotland was there, it felt like. And when he knocked that putt in, it was just, you could hear it like everywhere. And then right thereafter, as they're exiting the green, then this bagpipe band shows up and starts walking down 18 Fairway. Man, I had tears in my eyes. It was like it was heavenly because it was a beautiful evening. So that was great. But then, of course, we're on the air local time there from like 5 to 8 p.m. or something like that, maybe even later. So during the day, you can do whatever. And so my really best memory is Saturday morning last year, Going to Gullen, which is right up the road. Three golf courses there. The Gullen No. 1 has hosted the Scottish before. Who won there? Question? Anyone?
Speaker 02:Oh, I just saw this. Oh, my God. I was just on their profile page like two hours ago.
Speaker 00:Ricky Caller.
Speaker 02:Oh, okay. Ah, that's
Speaker 00:where I wasn't, I wasn't going to get that. So later that afternoon, preparing for the round, McElroy's in the range. So he's like, so what have you been up to? So I said, I played golf with Izzy this morning. He goes, how'd she play? So I'm like, well, pretty well for a while and started hitting the bush. So I called her Fescue. So McElroy's like, okay, if I see her, I'm going to call her Fescue and see what she does. He never did, but that was a pretty cool memory too, because she went the color of a beet when I told her the story.
Unknown:Yeah.
Speaker 02:Yeah, I mean, listen, I would go the color of a beet if you told me that story.
Speaker 00:I would pass out is what
Speaker 02:I would do. Anyway,
Speaker 00:I will try and call in and catch you guys from over there in Scotland. If I don't, it's because I'm probably in one or other pub having a beer. So, peace.
Speaker 02:We're not going to blame you for that. Mark, safe travels. We'll see you soon, brother. Safe travels, Mark. Take care. All right. Man, I got to start. Man, I love this week. I love the next couple weeks.
Speaker 01:There's a great novelty to it.
Speaker 02:The golf's on in the middle of the night. It's on in the morning. You're seeing these little towns all over the place. Oh, it's so good, dude. I can't
Speaker 01:wait. It's really good time because you don't have to watch the morning wave. You don't have to get up at two o'clock in the morning. You get up whenever and you watch all morning. There is nothing better. So I'm really fired up and looking forward to watching some solid coffee golf this week. Yeah, it's going to be awesome.
Speaker 02:It's going to be awesome. Okay, if you haven't seen this before, Greg and I continue to roll on from a little bit more of a fantasy perspective here. So we go through just a handful of golfers that Greg has picked out that we want to have a conversation about. We want to share some more details with. And we start with the guy that Greg cannot live without. I came up with this and every week I make him, I put him on the spot and I say, Greg, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Just gotta give me a name. You gotta give me the name. And this week, Greg, you have decided on who?
Speaker 01:Matt Fitzpatrick. I feel very strongly about that. So I'm really looking forward to it. I like his record here at the Scottish Open. It was a tied sixth in 2022 was tied second in 2021. Like we mentioned six straight years here at the Renaissance club. He's gained strokes, put in, in all of them. And I really have a feeling that this golf swing is coming together. We've seen it improve from struggles to, to having two really good weeks in a row with it. I think it all comes together this week for Matt Fitzpatrick in Scotland.
Speaker 02:He really has been putting it together. Yeah. He gained eight strokes from T to green at the PGA Championship. He finished T17 at the Travelers, picked up five strokes from T to green there, nearly 12 in Detroit. This is clearly him plugging. There were a lot of leaks. There was just a Hoover Dam level of leakage. And he has started to plug those significantly. And I'm with you here. This is a pretty interesting spot for Fitzy.
Speaker 01:Yeah. And I also, I don't think he's going to be overly popular. I don't think that he's going to be a chalky play at all. So, you know, building a lineup around him, I'm totally fine with.
Speaker 02:Now, this is a name that I believe we have just set the record on. 50 minutes and 43 seconds. And I'm not sure there was a real mention. of this player. We mentioned him in passing because of one of the outright markets, but this has got to be a record where we have not discussed Scotty Scheffler, the number one player in the world and the man closest to Tiger Woods in my lifetime. We have not talked about him for 51 minutes. Would you like to talk about him now?
Speaker 01:Well, it's there's not a lot to say. It's just that good. He's just that good. That's why both of my, you know, both of my outrights were without Scotty. I think that if there's ever a time where you can kind of get away with fading him, it's at it's in links golf. I think it randomizes things a little more. And some of his advantages may be taken away yet. I ran those numbers. Like I was telling you about and, and Scotty's still fourth, right? Since 2019, the Scottish open and the open championship, he's fourth in this field. That's behind Xander, Tommy Fleetwood, Colin Morikawa. So it hasn't been as bad. It hasn't been the best for him, but it's still been kind of the, pretty much everybody else. Uh, and, uh, He's got all the shots. Whatever it takes, Scottie's got it. So from a fantasy perspective, it's really hard to go away from him. So he has not...
Speaker 02:I'm sorry. He did not play here last year. He played here the year before, T3. Missed the cut in 2022 and finished T12 in 2021. One of the things that I was looking at, Greg, because there's not a lot of places that Scottie hasn't played in two years... is I was looking at basically the type of player that he was prior to his last time at the Scottish open. And now, and he is somehow even like, he's even better now, you know, he, he does, he puts a lot better than he's putted at the Renaissance club before he's, he's just, he's just a better player now. And I'm, I'm scared for everyone. Yeah.
Speaker 01:Yeah. Me too. Me too. So because we haven't seen him in a little while, I, I'm not like it's hard for me to be bullish on Scotty and put him on my outright card. It's not hard for me to play him in a fantasy lineup at all. But he's still scary enough where I don't want to bet against him in any way. So if I could leave him out like the outright markets, I'll do that.
Speaker 02:He's that scary. He is that scary. A couple of golfers in the 9K range that I want to dive into more here. And we'll start with Victor Hovland. And what you were mentioning about him earlier certainly makes sense to me. The approach play has been unbelievable all year long. The eight strokes that he gained at the Travelers through three rounds before WDing was like four shots better than anybody else in the field. that week. From everything I understand, that was a one-time neck thing that he's just completely fine with now. I don't have any reservations
Speaker 01:with Victor Hovland. How about you? None. Absolutely none. You get a knot in your neck right before you go play. It's a terrible situation. It's not a lingering issue. Not a lingering issue at all. I love Victor Hovland on Lynx Golf. I think there's My research on the Renaissance Club says a lot of shots from outside of 200 yards. Mark was saying it's been really wet in the past, which I remember some wet. I remember some dry as well. I don't think we're going to have as nice of weather as we're going to get this week. I don't think we've had that before. But a lot of long irons. And if that's the case, Victor Hovland's 10th on tour from outside of 200 yards. But if it's not the case... He's pretty darn good as we get closer and closer to the hole as well. You know, shorter approach, shorter proximity buckets are just fine for him. So I think Victor Holland has everything that it takes to go and really contend this week.
Speaker 02:One of the most talked about men in golf is Colin Morikawa. He's $9,600 on DraftKings. He has done everything but win. The putter was miserable at the U.S. Open. It was... not great at the travelers. It was slightly below average at the rocket. Uh, and now he's going to get a chance, maybe some slower greens, Greg, a new voice in the ear. Uh, you and I are also simpatico here. It's, it's, it's Colin Morikowski.
Speaker 01:He finished tied fourth here last year. He also played in 2022, uh, and 2021. He putted terribly in 2021, but in, but the last two trips, uh, he gained at least two shots put in here at the Renaissance club. So I think a new voice, a new year, perhaps the mallet putter. Look, I think that what I heard from him in speaking to Amanda after the, after the rocket mortgage classic heading into the fourth round or after the third round, it was like, you kind of got to play with what you got. That's what I want to see from Colin Morikawa. Cause whether he likes it or not, it's good enough to win. From a TV green standpoint.
Speaker 02:Okay. That should be the message. Like whether you like it or not, you can win golf tournaments. So shut up and just go, go win golf tournaments, whether you like it or not. And it might not look pretty. You can beat these bozos.
Speaker 01:Yes. And it's, it's distracting to be like unsatisfied.
Speaker 02:Right.
Speaker 01:With a great shot. You're projecting that something's going to go wrong in the future. And it's, Yeah. I just, I just don't think that's the case. So, but I liked that comment. It led me to believe that he kind of understood that a little bit. It's like, you know, I, I don't need to try to hit shots with my glove off. Like I did at the traveler. We're not in that kind of situation here. Right. I tried to like, we didn't catch a disease or try to get rid of it. Things are fine. So I'm thinking he's got that under control.
Speaker 02:Last six rounds, uh, at the Renaissance club, seven strokes gained with the putter, more than one per round. We'll finish off this nine K tier here with our defending champion and low key, this stat profile, uh, is very good i don't think people would have realized this it's been a very good run of golf from robert mcintyre since the masters missed the cut at the masters and has not missed a cut since starting to put together some really high-end finishes a t6 at the charles schwab a runner-up finish at the u.s open played well enough at the travelers and of course we know um you know this is his major championship this is his national championship this is the event that he's finished Inside the top 18, four out of the last five years, including a victory and a runner-up. This is it. This is Roberts.
Speaker 01:Yes, it's a great spot for him. He knows how to play this kind of golf. I love the fact that he answered his runner-up to Rory last year with a win. I'm sorry, two years ago with a win last year. That just spoke so much to me. I love the form that he's in. The performance has been amazing. spectacular. He's a surprisingly good long iron player too. Um, you know, the last three winners when we've had, you know, it was a PGA tour event, Xander McIntyre and Rory were all inside the top 22 entering from outside of 200 yards. It's another reason I really like it. Bobby Mac this year is 53rd. He was much better last year. He was, uh, second on the PGA Tour last year entering this week. So I think it's another area where there's like kind of an underrated strong suit of his that gets put on display at the Renaissance Club.
Speaker 02:You identified two golfers in a stout $8,000 range. One was Matt Fitzpatrick, who we've talked at length about, so I will not ask you more about that. But I will ask you about Adam Scott, who's $8,600, is coming off a T30 at the Travelers the last time we saw him. What do you see in this profile that sparks your interest?
Speaker 01:Yeah, I'm seeing a guy that's starting to hit the ball like Adam Scott's capable of hitting the ball. Which is just fascinating to me. You see the performance with the driver really starting to come around, right? Ever since the Truist Championship, he's gained over a shot and a half in every tournament off the tee. And now the last two starts for him, the US Open and the Travelers, you see him gain about three and a half shots or more approaching the green. the golf swing is starting to come together and it's starting to produce results. The putter has been a little bit hit or miss here and there. He's had great putting weeks and poor putting weeks, but here at the Scottish open the last two years, he has gained strokes putting in that second place finish last year, he gained five strokes putting. So I think things are trended in the right direction. I tend to agree with Mark here. I love Adam Scott in links golf.
Speaker 02:The seven and the $6,000 tiers are starting to get to some more potentially unfamiliar names, but I'm not going to go there just yet. We've spoke about Nick Taylor, who was one of your outright wagers. You had him 60 to one in the without Scotty Zander Rory market. So let me pull up Ben on's profile here. And admittedly, Greg, Ben on has not been on my radar at this point in the week. So why should I add him to my radar?
Speaker 01:Well, I think that distance is definitely Definitely an advantage on this golf course. Not all Lynx golf, but on this golf course for sure. I also ran kind of the, like I said, the Lynx test. Who are the best Lynx players over the last five years? And Ben Onn's name popped up. He was one, two, three, four, five, six, seventh best player over the last five years at the Open and Scottish combined for strokes gained. That surprised me. So then I started looking more into Benny on. And I think that the driving distance is a big factor in this. His ability off the tee is a big factor. He's been hitting the ball really nicely with his irons, which I'm a fan of. So things tend to click here. And, of course, it was the tied third in 2023 that really helped all of his links numbers. But I like the way he's playing right now, too. Now
Speaker 02:we start to get into some names that people may be unfamiliar with. And I want to go to Jordan Smith. You might see him listed as Jordan L. Smith. He's $7,300. He's an Englishman. He plays a primarily DP World Tour schedule, Greg. And I've got his results up here. Talk to me about Mr. Smith.
Speaker 01:Yeah, he's been pretty good. In his last six events, he's got three top seven finishes. And in those, his iron play has been really strong. His ball striking has been really strong. With the exception of a U.S. Open where he still made the cut and the Austrian Open where he missed the cut, his game has been really solid, really well-rounded, with really high upside on the DP World Tour. I also think that Jordan Smith's a guy who has played in enough majors and enough really big-time events to be not necessarily intimidated. It was a co-sanctioned event in 2023. He finished tied 12th. And also in 2022, he finished tied 24th. I think he believes that he can compete with these players. And for the price of $7,300, I'm in.
Speaker 02:Yeah, it is a really good... This is kind of that convergence of the DP guys who play against each other all the time and the PGA Tour guys who play against each other all the time coming together. And Jordan Smith has been so successful on the DP World Tour and you're getting a fairly generous price, just $7,300 to try to see if he can continue that for this week. Two more names. They're both in the 6K range, and they are both probably names that most people have not heard of, and that's certainly not a knock. They're $6,000 golfers in a field that is co-sanctioned. I'm going to start with this guy. His name, if I pronounce this correctly, is Christopher Reitan, R-E-I-T-A-N. He's a Norwegian. He made it to your list here, Greg.
Speaker 01:Yes, this is a difficult profile to ignore. He won the Sudol Open. He finished tied second at the Austrian Open the very next week, then tied 13th, tied 46th, and at the BMW International, he finished tied fourth. And he's done it with great driving of the golf ball, some really solid ball striking as well. The putter has been really hot. Four of the last... seven weeks, he's gained over five strokes putting on the DP world tour, right? This is, this is just really impressive stuff to me. I also was looking at your course key stats on your website and his name, he was like the first or second course fit. It's a really big
Speaker 02:bump for his skill sets. Yeah.
Speaker 01:Yeah. So I, you know, I don't put too much into, into that, but I saw it. I saw the profile. I said, Hey, this makes sense.
Speaker 02:Yeah. So $6,900. I'll have to get him a headshot here shortly. Uh, and then finally, I just like saying this name, uh, Francesco Laporta, uh, rounds out your picks. He is $6,800. He is from Italy and he has that similar, you see a lot of these guys who have that similar stretch of tournaments. So doll Austrian, either the KLM or some other event in there, the Italian open. And then the most recent was the BMW international open. That was just last week. So you see a lot of guys who have that five or six tournament stretch in common and Laporta has been shining.
Speaker 01:Yeah, he's finished inside the top 30 in all of them. Inside the top 11 in four out of the last five. Also in that stretch, he's gained over six strokes approaching the green in three out of his last five. You're talking about seven, over seven shots, ball striking. in three out of his last five events. And not only has he been phenomenal tee to green, but the results have been showing as well. So I think that there's a very good chance with this level of confidence that it carries over into a PGA Tour, DP World Tour, co-sanctioned event.
Speaker 02:It's impressive to say the least. Love how much green is in there. Yes, there are certainly some... I don't want to call them sample size issues. They're not sample size issues. I guess they're strength of field issues. Yes. Right. But, but again, it's not like they're the only golfers coming over. Like half the field is basically guys that play on the DP world tour all the time. And if guys like LaPorter are, are beating them up, they're beating them up and they're priced accordingly in this, in this new, in this new field. So yeah, I, I've started making a lot of lineups this week and I am generously firing in a lot of guys that we've discussed and other guys that have a lot of success in the, in the, on the world tour.
Speaker 01:And I'm more willing to take a chance on these guys. Cause you use the word coming over. They're not coming over like to the PGA. Yes. Normally see right there in Europe where they're more comfortable. I think that's going to make a, I think that makes a big difference and opens up the field for most. When the European guys come to the U.S., there's a legitimate question that you don't know the answer to from looking at a spreadsheet, which is, will they acclimate to American life? And if not, will it affect their play? And those are kind of complicated, difficult issues, but it's had an effect on a lot of European players in the past. That's not the story this week.
Speaker 02:I think we've reached the end of the story for this week, or at least I've reached the end of my outline. Greg, have we missed anything?
Speaker 01:I don't think so. Unless you got anything to add on Scotty Scheffler. Something tells me we're going to be talking about him plenty in our round recaps this week.
Speaker 02:Yeah. Same stuff. I always have to say about Scotty. I've got to say this week as well. All right. Well, Friday and Sunday for this week. And then of course, round by round next week for the Open Championship. I'm trying to think if there's anything else. I don't think there is. Check out all the links in the description. Everything you need is in there. Big thanks, Mark Gimmelman. Big thanks, Greg Ducharme. Big thanks to me. I'm Rick Gaiman. This has been The Second Cut. We'll catch you next time.
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