The Golf Blurb
Golf news from the boys
The Golf Blurb
Masters 2026!
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Masters week means you stop where you can and record.
David and Jacob (from Starbucks) for a good'n
Hello, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. We are back to Matthews Week. David Plumba, how are you, sir?
SPEAKER_01I'm doing great. I am uh licking my wounds a bit from pretty tough round at TPC, Louisiana, which he gave me a good lash in yesterday. What'd you shoot? Oh, we're not gonna discuss that publicly. It was bad. Oh my goodness. Well I I uh started off it, you know, hit a few good shots and um and had some like just misfortune come my way, and I kind of checked out at that point uh when I figured it wasn't gonna be my day. I did not grind very well. I decided to walk it uh because it's carpath only in prep for the the Zurich Classic in a couple weeks. It was kind of cool. You know, all the the grandstands and stuff were up, so kind of neat playing in that arena, but um yeah, I kind of checked out mentally and um you know just enjoyed a beautiful day.
SPEAKER_03But did you did you have anything worth uh writing home about?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm I drove it uh pretty well, especially uh in the early part of the round. Just a nice big high knuckle draw. It was really pretty to look at uh and um outdrove Nick Teresina a few times. Now I was playing from a tee up from him, but still you know, hit it by him pretty convincingly on a couple, so that's always uh I consider an accomplishment. Who was the low man? Oh Nick. Uh he shot uh he shot a 71, so he broke par on his own ball, had had four birdies, two bogeys, uh, and just played a flawless run of golf. And that's from the blues, so he's playing 6,500 yards. The wind was probably blowing 15 steady with gust in the 20s. Um, you know, and the course was uh was playing pretty tough. They they they had some pretty crazy pin pin placements, a lot of tough stuff, nothing in the middle of the greens.
SPEAKER_03Well, I guess so because they probably won't be using any of those in a couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um so but no, the the course looked great. Um, you know, they you could tell they're still kind of protecting the greens a little bit, so they weren't running super fast yet. They had sanded them recently, but um they were rolling just just really, really nice. So I think the the guys will be in for a treat when they get here.
SPEAKER_03So you had a lesson with uh with Thomas Wartel, I believe. Uh did we talk about that on the last show or were you about to yeah?
SPEAKER_01I I think we did. Uh I think I had just played um my first round uh or uh I mean not no, you know what? I hadn't even played yet um after the round, I think last time. And that's right. First round coming up was Autumn was Ottoman Park, and um ended up shooting the best round uh I've shot in a number of years and tied my best score all time there, won my flight.
SPEAKER_03So yeah. It seems like your experience with Thomas has been uh close to mine. So my first real post-round uh uh post real round after my lesson, I shot super great, and then the next one, it just you know, some funky habits. You start to feel like you've figured everything out, and then some funky habits get in. But uh, I at least had a couple of couple of really nice holes when we played at Ougin to balance out some of the crap to two to had.
SPEAKER_01No, I I played really well, and it was honestly, it was uh those greens are so small, you're just not you know, no matter how good you're hitting them, you're not gonna you're not gonna hit a ton of greens. So I my scrambling was like almost perfect that day. I had nine up and downs, um bunch of one putts, so it it was it was a really fun day. And I did back that up. I played around at Audubon uh or excuse me at at the home course at Ellendale um a couple weeks ago, shot 84, which is my best round um since 2025 for sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um I just ended up missing in all the wrong spots over there. You're right, the green's absolutely small, and if you miss them in the wrong spot, like getting it up and down for par is awful, and then I would compound that with doubles.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So no, I had a pretty clean card. I actually didn't make any birdies, but I don't think I had uh you know anything worse than bogey on any hole. So yeah, it was a pretty good day.
SPEAKER_03Awesome. Um it's Masters Week, but um we'll get into uh that in a minute. I think we should talk about some of the stuff going on around golf. This is the first Masters in what 20 20 some odd years that both that neither Phil or Tiger will be playing at. So I thought that was a good one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think 93 was the last time neither one of them were in the field.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we know a lot about Tigers issues. We know uh it's all vague about Phil.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. You know, they're saying it's a family health issue. I know uh Amy had had uh cancer, I believe, a few years ago. Right. So hopefully it's not a relapse of that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um man, it kind of seems like almost seems, if you read if you maybe want to read more into it, that Phil is maybe working uh back channels to try and get back to the tour now that uh you know P. Re Reed and Brooks Kepker are back. Uh that's probably uh me, that's me making a wild conjecture, but uh it would seem like that.
SPEAKER_01Man, I gotta tell you, I I don't think you would find a very welcoming um response to that. I mean, he he was I think even more so than like a DJ or or Rom or DeChambeau. I mean, I think he took the brunt of that because he was the first like absolute superstar that signed with him and and you know, kind of opened the gates of people leaving the tourist. Like, gosh, if one of the most iconic all-time golfers is gonna do this, then it's legitimate, you know. So he kind of I think gets credited with legitimizing live and and kind of starting things progressing for them. And so um to me, he's got you know, uh Rory famously, you know, in that what's what do you call that show on the golf or on Netflix? Um uh full swing. Full swing, yeah, yeah. Well, they're in the training room in that one episode, and Rory's like, fuck you, Phil, can you hear this? So uh yeah, I think uh that would be tough.
SPEAKER_03I I even think maybe that that might be a little bit of a a stretch because basically everything that he called out as a reason why he wanted to leave the PGA tour has basically come to fruition. I mean, yeah, he doesn't, you know, he's not his own best friend whenever he talks to the media, but like some of his gripes I think were legitimate, um, and he was just a big enough star to you know thrive outside of the ecosystem. But I think he probably wanted Tiger Woods money uh all the time, and he just yeah, you know, he couldn't do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I don't know. I mean, I you know he's he now he's gosh, he's fifty-six, fifth fifty-seven years old, something like that. So uh, you know, maybe he's thinking more of of senior tour type stuff, uh playing those senior majors. Um and just just kind of being accepted back into the the greater golf ecosystem. I think he's a bit of a pariah the last few years.
SPEAKER_03I mean, Bernard uh Bernard Longer has like extended his career by almost 15 years. So like there is stuff to chase on that tour, uh especially for two guys as accomplished as Phil and Tiger are.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Yeah. I mean, you know, and and it was much a much bigger deal in the 90s and early 2000s than it is now because you had just absolute legends playing on it. You know, Arnold uh embraced it. He I mean, we basically helped create it. I think you're making a case intravenous.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think you're making a case that if Tiger and Phil are able to make it back to the champions tour, it relegitimizes it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Uh yeah, it would be you know big for the for the tour itself. Um man, I just don't know if they want to go down that road with Phil again. They've been hurt before, did he, though? Uh you know, I mean they're letting ever trust again.
SPEAKER_03They're letting they're letting Pat Perez come back. And you know, Phil uh took time off, so you know, his year really um could be up as soon as as Pat's was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I'd imagine his contract is probably done too if he didn't.
SPEAKER_03I don't think he re-upped, but um I it's probably ending with uh with uh Bryson's next year. I don't know. Who knows? Okay, gotcha.
SPEAKER_01And then uh Yeah, well he was the very you know he was one of the very first and so in that if DJ's has expired and well DJ re-upped, I think, but um Yeah, DJ has no interesting all or DJ has no interest in grinding on the PGA tour ever again, I don't think. Yeah, no, no, he's he's he's happy.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, maybe maybe he loves the the AK side of things and uh who knows. Anyway, yeah. And then we have the whole tiger debacle, which I have uh I have I have opinions on anyway. Um just the way that everyone has an opinion on it is kind of sickening to me. But you know, I guess if uh if you think you know the facts, then you can you can pontificate on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I mean I you know I think people are making a lot of value judgments about him as a human being based on it. Um and and you know, everything kind of reopens everything he's ever done in his entire life, you know, if that all is connected, oh he's an he's an asshole and he's all this and all it's like, well, hang on a second. You know, the guy's obviously got a an addiction issue. We know that's an illness. Um, you know, uh I'm I'm like wishing him the best. And and you know, we've talked about like the legal ramifications of it. I know you feel strongly like he's gonna he's gonna completely walk, you know, between the the procedures, you know, that the police used and whatnot. And and I'm uh it's not like I want him to go to prison or anything. I want him to be to have enough of a consequence from this where he sincerely recovers and you know does does the rehab and and obviously he does not belong possessing a driver's license again for a very, very, very long time. I just don't want anything to get worse for him. I would love him to have you know one last uh one last go at golf, and I mean if he keeps keeps putting his body through stuff like that, obviously that's never ever gonna happen.
SPEAKER_03I I I saw this thing on Twitter where uh people started looking at the body cam footage and and seeing what the police did, and it and a lot of people who have no skin in the game of golf who you know who don't get paid to make opinions on Tiger Woods, you know what they're basically saying that it kind of looked to me like uh if he wasn't Tiger Woods and didn't have that very um public perception of a drug addict or a pain pill addict. I'm not gonna say drug addict, then he probably skates with a you know, it's a serious reckless driving charge, but like as far as you know, you blow 0.0 and uh apparently the cop wasn't even trained to do the the uh the the narcotic side of things, so like there's just a lot of it that people take for granted. And and you know, I I've heard Kiz and I've heard Jason Day talk about it, and they're close friends of his, at least Kisner is, so maybe there is some validity to it, but I just I thought it was gross the amount of people that made just uh these like uh sickening uh like you said, indictments of his uh of his personality. Uh for a man who's like done a complete 180 in the last five years of like completely rebranding himself as uh as the PGA Tourist big, you know, big uncle. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it's it's just obviously a very unfortunate event. I mean, he was you know supposedly making preparations to give it a go at Augustine.
SPEAKER_03He was in his he was in his golf spikes, and uh and he was like telling the guy uh and he was telling the cops like, oh, I need my sticks. That Scotty Cameron's win fourteen fourteen majors, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think he had the putter in the bag, huh?
SPEAKER_03The Scotty Cameron with the Yeah, yeah, because McMuire can't pick him up or can't pick up his clubs.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Wow. But so you know, glad he wasn't injured. Nobody else was injured, you know, as importantly. And um, you know, hopefully this is the the rock bottom for him and the wake-up call he needs to get better. He's off uh in is it Switzerland? I don't know. Who knows?
SPEAKER_03I don't I don't that's all conjecture, I think.
SPEAKER_01Uh somebody thought he was going to the Bahamas, but uh Yeah, no, I th I think they know for sure he's in Switzerland.
SPEAKER_03Why not just why not just get a Tesla that drives itself? If like uh that uh that Dan uh rappaport video that got sufficiently um people made fun of him for that. Uh you know, he was talking about how Tiger probably that's the only sense of normalcy he has is being alone in his car, uh bumping hip hop. Um but you know, get it something that drives itself.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03You have a billion dollars. Uh a cyber truck is one ten. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's some people are saying like he didn't want to get a driver for privacy issues or whatever.
SPEAKER_03So I oh I completely believe that, but yeah, yeah, yeah. Still get something that does it for you.
SPEAKER_01I gotta say that the only positive to come out of this is the meme game. Oh my goodness, it is unbelievable.
SPEAKER_03What did you think of the foreplay guys uh of Riggs A not uh not wanting to like holding them back from reporting it, and then B making that video that almost like a heel turn video? I d I don't know if I saw that. So uh apparently foreplay withheld, they they knew that he was arrested for DUI, and uh Riggs sent out a message to the Foreplay guys, withhold this uh until for whatever reason. And uh I think he might have even asked Adam Schefter to to to hold back on reporting it. And then Portnoy was all pissed off about it. And then he makes a and then he makes a video. If you think I'm uh if you think I was trying to protect Tiger, he takes off his glass and goes, You goddamn right I was. And then he and then he goes into the uh Jack Nicholson monologue from a few good men. Uh you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.
SPEAKER_01That's great. Sorry I missed that. That's funny stuff.
SPEAKER_03Anyway, let's move on, Dave. Let's move on to the tournament, uh, Masters tournament this week. Robbie is not here, as everyone can uh probably hear the no sniffles, because he is on site today watching the uh watching the par three.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's not here, he's there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01He must have got his phone back.
SPEAKER_03Uh I've never been there, so I don't even know if you can leave. I didn't know you could leave and walk back in.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think so, because the the badge you kind of tie around your belt loop or whatever. Uh apparently he he figured out a way to get his phone. He's just started a bunch of texts coming through. I can't believe he's like done and going already. I don't think he is.
SPEAKER_03He said he walked back to the car to get some uh yeah. Speaking of speaking of uh this whole five-minute conversation we just had on drug use.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. We were having a good laugh though. You know, he's the most addicted person to his phone on planet earth, and it's a product of his many business ventures and and you know, also all the 20 text groups he's in and whatnot. But we're you know, you I think you had said he was having like heroin withdrawals, scratching his face, scratching his face and then having phantom vibrations.
SPEAKER_03I don't know if you watched that show on Fox, uh Goin' Dutch with Dennis Leary. You probably don't watch a whole lot of TV. Anyway, they just did an episode on uh on uh tying up your phones, and one of the guys who was the big proponent of living in the past, and I'm from the I'm from the 70s. We didn't need phones, was like the most the most uh fidgety one through the whole episode. So that's kind of funny that I brought that up.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm I'm awful about it now. I mean I'll I'll fully admit that. Old guy hates hates uh progress in technology, but yeah, I I live on the uh live on my phone on Instagram, school, you know, scrolling reels and X and whatnot. So what do you posting?
SPEAKER_03What do you what do you take of uh my favorite authors releasing a book this week about Roy McElroy that I put on? Oh shipcuts, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You know, I I was just kind of thinking I'd forgot to put that in the uh in the notes, but um, you know, I think it it came and went with a with a fizzle. It was like a story for like five hours and it's already like dropped into the background.
SPEAKER_03Well, he just released a statement that there's nothing salacious in the book, it's kind of it's more feel-good, and anything that involves the uh the Baleonis and uh his divorce is just ancillary. He even gave the book to Rory at Teble to read. So uh and I according to him, like the most salacious stuff is in the forward, which would make sense in our uh in our particular uh like 30-second attention span that everybody only read the forward and that's what they think is the bad part.
SPEAKER_01Right. Of course, the you know, the way media is it incentivized by number of clicks and engagement, of course, that's the the thing they pull out of it and out of context, make it sound like the books about it. And then when you get in to actually click the article and read on them, like you say, there's nothing new there. I mean, the the rumors about him and Ballionis are pretty widely spread, and you know, at least they both claim there's nothing to it.
SPEAKER_03Well, according to Shipnock, like every all the stuff that he said, like there was nothing uh at least romantic about it. I'm sure it was uh I'm sure it was emotional, as you know, as some women will like to say.
SPEAKER_01You emotionally cheated on me. Emotional, an emotional affair. Well, I mean, I you know, and nobody knows if that actually had anything to do with with the separation of of Rory and um, you know, the other cheesy thing, like you know, talking about Tiger, you know, catching a catching strays on on this latest thing was they brought it back all the way to the Wozniakie relationship. I mean, oh yeah. Um ridiculous. They weren't they weren't married, they they had a relationship, but it didn't even engage, they broke it off. Uh, you know, people that's happened to countless people, you know, it's not in the public eye.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I just thought it was a a weird time to release the book. But I guess if you want the biggest bang for your buck, that's what you're gonna do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it just you know to me the the what's unfortunate about that is it's Rory's the defending champion, it's his champion's dinner, it's his, you know, addressing the media as the as the reigning champion, and and to me, he should have been able to experience that without this black cloud uh flying over the the week, you know.
SPEAKER_03Speak speaking of the champions dinner, um my favorite time of year to realize how much of a cheapskate Bubba Watson is, because they went through like the last 15 uh uh champions dinners and is chicken breast and uh and mac and cheese. Because I'm sure they're on the hook for that, right? They they just cut a big check.
SPEAKER_01They front the bill, but I don't think that was the issue with Bubba. He's like he's like a new very neurotic human being, and he has like he's like my my wife and kids. He's like a crazy, crazy picky eater. All he eats is chicken tenders and mac and cheese and stuff. So that's that's why he did that menu. It's it's uh he just doesn't have any he has like texture issues and you know things like that, you know. So he just that's what he eats. So that's what that was what the menu is. Fair enough. Fair enough. Um he wears a multi-million dollar watch to while he's playing golf. I don't think he's a cheapskate.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that's I mean, some people like their watches, Dave.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, he's apparently the biggest uh watch fan of all. I I read something yesterday. It was like a five million dollar watch that he wears. It's like on his wrist as he's playing golf.
SPEAKER_03Ooh. Ooh, I didn't know that. I thought it was like I thought it was like hundreds of thousands of dollars. But I guess before, I mean, that was the thing before he won uh like at the PGA when he uh when he lost in the playoff. Um the big thing was about his watches that week, and I guess once you've won two majors, you can spend as much as you want on watches. Yeah, exactly. And he got that live money.
SPEAKER_01And he got that live, yeah, that sweet, sweet uh early adopter live money.
SPEAKER_03So um the Sunday the memes were aplenty of uh of people saying hello, old friend to the Masters app. Dave, um, like what do you think about the way we consume the Masters today versus like you've been obviously a golf fan for you know you you steeped in the history of the game. I'm sure you watched it with your dad in the 90s, uh, you know, pre-Tiger Woods. I my first Masters uh related memory is the Greg Norman collapse in '96. That like that's my first full-range uh memory of the Masters. So, like, do you like it now or do you wish it was like it used to be?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, so going back to the the 80s, you mentioned in the course this year is the 40th anniversary of Jack's uh historic sixth win uh in 86. And I mean, that's literally one of my first golf memories of my life. Uh, was watching that with my dad. My grandmother was there, his his mom was there. Um, and you know, back then they were very famously stingy, stingy with the coverage. Um, there was, I don't think there was any Thursday-Friday coverage on television at all, and there was only a short window on both um Saturday and Sunday. It was basically you just got the back nine. Like there are tons of famous shots that have absolutely no footage of whatsoever because they didn't even have cameras on the front nine. So, you know, Augusta's obviously opened up and you know, with ESPN and and then the internet. I mean, they've they've adapted and adopted uh you know, the more is more instead of more as less philosophy, but it's still actually less actual television. And everything else, yeah. Any other majors. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um now, of course, you can watch it, you know, all on their on their website and app, and then, you know, of course, ESPN, um, the ESPN app, it's all those channels are on there as well. So it's definitely, you know, evolved and evolved and evolved. And and now, you know, I just kind of, as we were prepping for the show, I just had a thought about, you know, I don't even consume it necessarily in that way anymore. Like the last 10 years, I would have said, you know, like live from the masters was appointment television for me. I would just have it on as background noise, even as I have not watched it.
SPEAKER_03I coincidentally put it on as background noise uh last night.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I I went to do that and then got sidetracked and didn't didn't do it. And my daughter touched the remote, and mom's like, oh no, dad's watching golf. I'm like, no, it doesn't matter. It's just I just had it on. Yeah. I mean now it's you love to see you love to see like that the shot that they have uh from the their set. I think it's just a beautiful shot. I think what the practice rangers in the background, uh so like it's just a really well done set that they have. Yeah, yeah. The best they probably have um all season. But yeah, I mean it it doesn't mean like their intro music is is so iconic now.
SPEAKER_01It's uh you associate not as much as obviously the the masters theme, yeah. Um but um is that I'm sorry, Dave Loggins. I want to say Cam Loggins, but Dave Loggins piano piano riff there. Uh uh. But it's it's right. But it's it's uh you know it's almost um that iconic and and you know again but the last and probably going back to last year, I don't think I consume much of it even like that anymore. And now it's it's um it's more social media snippets, you know, it whether it be an Instagram reel or on X. Um and there's so you know, I think it's actually super cool because there's so many stories there that you wouldn't necessarily get on television coverage just because they don't have time for it. And I don't think they you know prioritize that kind of stuff. But I've got all these feeds on both Instagram and X that are that are showing all these neat stories from over the the history of the tournament. Um there's there's one uh X account I follow, and I or I don't even know if I follow them, they just come under my algorithm, and it's just showing individual shots from iconic masters in the past and not even necessarily winners. Like it's just a great two-iron that Tom Watson hit you know in a year where he ended up you know top, you know, in the top five, but didn't didn't win the tournament just because they're phenomenal shots. Um and then like I'm even learning stuff, and I feel like I've read as much as any you know non uh paid media personality in golf. I've read as much as I can be in, you know, either on on the internet and in books. But I even learned that there used to be a bass fishing contest on the the ponds at the par three contest, like on that the players would come in on Monday. I've never heard that before.
SPEAKER_03This is not this is this is not a uh this is not a dig at our inside joke, but I feel like we've actually talked about that before. The fishing one? Yes. Okay. Oh god, maybe uh you know, over the years of doing the show, must have been pre-COVID. Memory hold, memory hold from your uh long COVID stint. Yeah. I think j I think Jamie Kennedy, um who is it Jamie Kennedy? He's a he's a golf guy. Uh his uh his X handle, his X profile picture is yellow right now. I know that, but like he went through the top uh uh top shots of like winners from particular years. Uh and like I think that's awesome. I still wish with the amount of money that Augusta has they would like define what the best broadcast or what the best uh viewing experience could be. I mean, they because it's at that course and they have more money than God, they could absolutely set up a camera from behind every T-box, two fairway, two wide fairway shots, and one behind the green, so that you could literally watch if you wanted to watch one hole all day with nobody talking. Like, don't just I mean, yeah, like you could follow your favorite golfer from T to from start to finish with no commentary. I think that would be amazing, and kind of still in keeping with the way that Augusta uh curates their product.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, you're right. I I think you know there's been a huge change in especially the CBS broadcast over the years, you know, when Frank Turkenny and the legendary producer ran it, it was don't talk over the shot. So they would give you a lot of information heading into it. But when the golfer set up over the shot and took the swing, you didn't hear anything until after the result of the shot was known.
SPEAKER_03Um and they got rid of all the like the foolery around the personality uh of the commentator. I mean, they're that uh uh Gary McCord's story that he made a comment about uh uh because teeny wax the green, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and like he's not allowed back anymore.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there was one from the the 70s, I think, or sixties, it was Jack Whitaker, who's just a legendary sportscaster, and he called the patrons running through the or you know uh in the gallery a mob and they threw him off the broadcast, like he was never able to participate in the broadcast anymore. So, you know, maybe that some of that was a little bit extreme, but it was just how they protected um the the sanctity, you know, so to speak, for lack of a better term, of the tournament. They wanted it to be different and special. And and even today they kind of withhold some of the technology that you'll see on regular PGA tour events and and other majors.
SPEAKER_03Um I'm not saying you need to put a drone everywhere, I'm saying that you can respectfully like uh artfully hide cameras all around that place, and it would probably show some of the holes that you don't really get great looks at on the broadcasts, but I just think because you can watch every they sh they might be able to do that because you can watch every shot from the golf.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Yeah, you can call up. I think there's a database that they just actually released this year where you can look up any shot hit by any competitor. Some of them go back into the 60s. Now obviously they don't have a complete record. Yeah, I want to do that live.
SPEAKER_03I don't want to do that after. Right. Right. Yeah. Maybe they're trying to keep every app on everybody's phone all year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_03Um so uh let's move into the tournament itself, Dave. Um let's see. Scotty is down, so says everyone, even though he is still number one by a long stretch. He has two top fives and a win to start the season. Probably his most successful run-up leading into the Masters before uh before the Masters. Um that's I'm just making that stat up, but it seems right. Uh in the previous few years. And uh Rory doesn't look great. Callin Markawa doesn't look great.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, back injury issue.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, what's your thoughts?
SPEAKER_01Scott, so Scotty did have the baby, so that's that's behind him. I'm sure that was a big distraction, but he is he has been lost. Um as lost as someone who is number one in the world can be. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03So he's apparently he's apparently really high, uh really top ranked uh on the greens. He's just his ball striking, his his uh his approach numbers are like middling.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that's not good at Augusta. Augusta's a place that's you know, that's the famous anecdote, it's a second course, second shot course. Uh, and it's you got to control your golf ball. And if you're if you're hitting even shot like the middle of the green might not be where you want to hit it. Um, you know, it it's very specific targets. There was a video I watched, you know, speaking of consuming it on Instagram, um, yesterday, and it was talking about some of the shelves that you have to hit the ball on on some of these pin locations. It's like a dinner table, like literally a dinner table size, six feet wide by you know ten feet long kind of thing. And if you miss that, you're almost dead.
SPEAKER_03Right, and that's why that's why all the old timers can still play it. Even as much as it's evolved over the years, uh you still get these guys that can make the cut because they know it, they know where to miss it. I mean, I'd I'd love when one of the best things about watching Tiger at Augusta is his press conferences where he talks about like how much this is the only place really where course knowledge is like of the most imperativeness.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And that's I love that you know the older guys have always played practice rounds with the younger guys and they pass around, pass down that the generational knowledge, and and that's what's also so cool about the fact that it's played on the same course, you know, over and over and over again, and you have that historical backdrop against what everybody's performing. So um yeah, it's just so neat.
SPEAKER_03But um apparently the closest comp you know apparently the closest comp to this year will be uh uh 2021 when Hadeki won, uh being as it's been kind of droughty over there and the greens are gonna be as crusty and firm as they want them to be.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I I think Robbie and I we had talked uh earlier um on our group text about you know firm and fast conditions, possibly bringing some of the shorter hitters back into play because it'll actually help them on their distance, and some of the longer hitters may have balls that run off into places they don't necessarily want them to be. So um yeah, could be interesting.
SPEAKER_03Um anything anybody uh you're really really interested in watching this week that uh you think is gonna make some kind of good run?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean I I've got a few. Um you know, obviously I I'll be pulling as hard for Justin Rose to win those masters as I've ever pulled for anybody to win a golf tournament in my entire life. So is Robbie Bro. Yeah, yeah. Well, I heard uh you might have a piece of that too.
SPEAKER_03I don't think so, but uh I I forgot to make it when he told me he was making it, so maybe I do have a piece of it. I think you might.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I think you might have some secret equity that you don't know about. I would uh love that. That that emerged from a conversation I had in the car yesterday. But uh anyway, um, you know, no one's more due. He's got three runner-ups, including two playoff losses, and his performances in the playoffs have not been bad. Like he hit good drives and solid second shots, and then only to get you know bested by you know Sergio for one, and then uh and then of course Rory last year. Um kind of a sketchy resume this year. He's I think he's had six starts, he's got three miss cuts, uh, but he also has uh a win. Uh he won at Tory Pines this year. So um kind of a place with a major feel. So um he he's you know just been a perennial contender in the in the in the in the masters. So I would love to see it. He's a great guy, a great human being. Uh when he's playing well, you know, he's still when he plays well, we said this before, he when he plays well, it looks like he should win every week and then then he disappears uh inexplicably for two years.
SPEAKER_03Well he's good that he's he's I mean he's uh he's afflicted with that foleyback. So you know that is not that never holds up under uh severe pressure. You know, for somebody I used to like not really root for, he is one of the nicest human beings on earth. And uh maybe it's because he was European, so that's why I didn't want to root for him. But like there's is there any other story uh this week that you root for horror than that one? I don't think so. Like not me. Like at least up until last year, it was always can Rory complete the Grand Slam? You know, he's the first one to do it after X amount of tries, because it, you know, uh I think like four or five years ago, they were like, Well, this is uh this is the moonlight of uh of Rory's chances because after this they just go down and down and down.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I mean, how long had it been from his last major win of that was over? A decade, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but yeah, they were saying like uh of of places to complete the Grand Slam, no one's done it after, I don't know, seven or eight attempts. So, I mean that was the last big story, and of course Tiger's not there, so there's no big story with that. So, yeah, I think Rosie getting major number two at Augusta is probably the biggest feel-good story of the week.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, that's akin to like you know the AK coming back and winning it live kind of thing. I mean, it's just a guy that he's been a consummate professional going back to the 1990s. We've known him since he was 17 years old and and you know, had a top ten in the in the British Open.
SPEAKER_03And he kind of meandered for a while, like he took him forever to get his first win on the tour, right? Uh and then you know, he he famously beat Phil at uh at Marion. That probably wasn't you know uh Phil's last good shot to win a U.S. Open was that one. So like I think that's probably why people hated him for a while.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. So anyway, that's that's what I'm pulling for. You know, and then you just a couple other notes that I've got. So uh a guy who um feels like he should have won at least one of these before is Andre Shawfley. Um so so he is um looking really good so far early in the season. Yeah, yeah. So he's got um uh he's top ten, four or five of his last master start, like you said, in great form. Um he's he's the shortest odds guy on on uh on Job's card, so he's you know going off at 16 to 1.
SPEAKER_03He's my he's my pick on our uh on that fool that you don't that that you hate because we have to pick six golfers, but yeah, he's one of them. I'm actually looking at I'm I'm looking at Robbie's card right now, and uh he's the only one on there from uh from oh nope, nope, I put ZJ2. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um I think there's a you know a couple of other interesting things out there. So uh uh Oberg.
SPEAKER_03Um Man, he needs to he needs to do one. He needs to get something done this season.
SPEAKER_01He's gotta close something.
SPEAKER_03There is some uh there's some serious car scar tissue building in that kid's head. No doubt.
SPEAKER_01No doubt. So so last year he was T7 in Augusto, tied for the lead on the back nine on Sunday when Rory was going through his his uh first uh bad stretch. Um 54 whole lead at the players, um, and then you know obviously had a a rough rough day there and got passed by Cam Young. Uh the Cam Young story is pretty compelling to me. I I've never been much of a Cam Young fan, but I'm kind of coming around to him a little bit. I'm the still. I still think he's a he's a little boring uh in his personality. He's almost like another Scotty in that regard. Uh not not a lot, not a lot there when he gets interviewed. Like he's not going to give you like really deep philosophical uh he's like, oh yeah, you know, I don't know. I just go out there and hit it.
SPEAKER_03You know what? You know what's funny? Like Scotty this year has has opened up more. Uh they had a great story about Scotty, or but one of his uh answers this week that I thought was really fun. They were asking him, like, did he ever dream he would get here? And like he just went through, he's like, you know, I had a great manager out of college who made me step by step earn everything. Umbes his first year once he got on Corn Ferry because he felt like I'm on Corn Ferry, I need a win. So I thought that was like I love those those types of stories, and he's he's getting better at that. Uh and I even think like I even think uh to that point Cam is getting a little bit better. I don't think that dude feels very comfortable being famous. I think he just wants to know. He just wants to risk the ball golf shots. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. I think he's probably more comfortable in a deer stand or uh, you know, uh on the golf course with his buddies. So anyway, um this would be what the third consecutive year that the players champion won the Masters if uh if he were to do it. I think so. He had Scotty in 24, Rory last year, and then um and then this would be yeah, Cam Young this year.
SPEAKER_02So interesting. I didn't think of that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, maybe so.
SPEAKER_01I mean he I mean he obviously looked like the best player in the world when he won the players uh in a final round. And then um, you know, a couple other quick call outs. So uh the the big two from Liv, Rom and Dick Bo, uh, I think are both pretty compelling, and I think at least one of them will have something to say about the tournament before it's over. Uh tremendous records at Augusta. Uh Rom, if you look at Liv, I think he's only lost to five people in like a year. Right. Um he's got a win, two runner-ups uh this year, playing phenomenal golf, like shooting really low scores.
SPEAKER_03He was doing that, he was doing that the past few seasons since he's been on Live, but I was looking at his uh speaking alive from the Masters, I was looking at his record since joining Live at Majors, and it's very middling compared to what he did before. I think maybe him winning one finally, getting that monkey off his back is uh will maybe remove some of the stress as much as somebody like that can be stressed. Um I think he probably has the uh better odds of winning. I I I I wonder if Bryson um has the mental fortitude to win this thing.
SPEAKER_01Can he can he can he um back down when he needs to back down. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh and that was what you saw with Rory for a long time. Like he, you know, he would he didn't have the flighted wedge in his game that he needed to be a complete player. Um so you know, interesting. Uh so he he's having a phenomenal year too out on live. He's got two wins. I think he won the last two. Yeah. Um had a another win earlier, you know, a couple other runner-ups and top fives there. I mean, I don't know how how deep deep that field is, but he's in great form and obviously, you know, good history there. Uh last year he was in the in the final group with Rory. Um didn't didn't uh respond well to the to catching the low uh the the cold shoulder from from Rory. So I'm you know he'll probably be more mentally prepared for that this year. Uh he's evolved at a at Augusta, if you remember, you know, he made the famous famous uh faux pas where he said it's like a par 68 for him or whatever, and then and then shit the bed. Um so I I think his game has evolved. He's a tremendous putter.
SPEAKER_03Um especially for somebody who shot so well as an amateur, like he was in contention on the back nine as an amateur, and then he completely tried to redo his game. And uh I guess so many people read into the tiger proofing like Tiger overpowered Augusta, but he still knew where to hit it. That's yeah, it's actually funny that Nolan sent that uh sent that that tweet out to us from uh what was it, the 97 Masters, where like some of the second shots that Tiger hit were not anywhere on planet Earth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. You know, driver wedge in the 13, driver wedge in the 15.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but some of the some of the spots like in the in the trees or in the uh in the patrons, like that's what I'm talking about. Like, yeah, he hit he he had some really great t-shots on the par fives, but like some of the ones uh some of the wayward t-shots and that he was able to you know hit approaches in the right spots, is what I is what I'm actually meaning. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, yeah. Um yeah, well, I mean it's it's still the you know the defining performance of the of the masters ever. Um so anyway, um I'm trying to think if there's anybody else I kind of wanted to No, I don't think so. I I think that's it. I mean we got we got Yab's pick, so we can you know we can talk through a few more of those if you want.
SPEAKER_03He didn't tell us what his uh what his uh what his contest pick was. He's gonna Oh yeah he did.
SPEAKER_01It's Siwoo again running it back with Siwoo.
SPEAKER_03Oh I'm going with uh I'm going with X-Man.
SPEAKER_01X-Man, yeah, that's a great pick, I think. And then I'm gonna take Cam Young for this.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. So Siwoo, can't uh X-Man and Cam Young for our season-long thing, uh our season-long contest, since we're gonna do all four majors, even though this one was probably the hottest high highest contested one to try and get done. For sure.
SPEAKER_01We didn't see a remote, remote podcast from a Starbucks.
SPEAKER_03What uh I mean the weather should be just absolutely perfect all week, uh, which is awesome. We haven't had like a perfect weather masters in a while. No, that's correct. Yeah, they've they've had uh either either they've had too much rain and the course doesn't play like they want it to, or uh or or rain during the course uh during the course of the tournament that kind of stops play. So it should be a glorious weekend for me to be packing my house to move.
SPEAKER_01Oh, is that what's going on this weekend?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because we leave on the cruise next week, so uh you know, we got to close by the 27th, and our house isn't even ready. So it's just fun time to be moving with two small kids, a dog that's uh three months old. You know, yeah, you know, perfect, phenomenal. Yeah, fantastic. So uh I'll have every TV on absolutely with the Masters this weekend. So I'm I'm pretty excited about it. Hopefully, uh hopefully Silas just can can start to be a thing where he's like, Oh, dad's watching golf, let me watch some golf.
SPEAKER_01There you go. That yeah, that'd be nice. My kids are 28, 20, and 16, and they still don't watch golf. So I hope you fare better than I did.
SPEAKER_03So uh before we wrap this up, um you you talked about uh Bryson. Uh Bryson won in the last two. One of those ones that he won, I swear it looked like he was in uh I know they were overseas, maybe Jakarta or whatever, but I mean Liv's production really is like the worst golf production on earth. I know they were trying to to uh to like uh I don't know, set the standard, but um that one where he's playing and there's container ships in the background and it looks like he's like uh basically uh in a shipyard playing golf. Uh and like the courses that they pick, I think it's just awful.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, they're coming to uh coming to see us in in June in South Louisiana when it's gonna be you know 90 plus degrees with 80% humidity. That probably is a golf course.
SPEAKER_03That would probably look good on uh television compared to what they saw in in uh in Jakarta or wherever he was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, at least it's in a park setting with some pretty you know pretty live oaks and and ponds and lagoons and stuff surrounded. Yeah, and you know, so uh um green.
SPEAKER_03Uh Jim Nance was uh famously a couple of weeks ago said he hasn't watched a shot that Bryson hit. So like can we I guess if he leaves, we can finally put a death nail and live. But I mean it is outside of the juice that they got from uh from AK win it a couple weeks ago, I mean, they've done nothing to really revolutionize golf. And uh Patrick Reed even said that this whole shotgun start thing sucks.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, without a doubt, man. Uh, you know, we've laughed about that. Like, you know, what if you had like 18th hole sweet tickets and the tournament ends up ending on the 14th hole uh because somebody got hot and shot at 62. Yeah, and you know, so you don't even get to watch the winner come in. Um yeah, no, that they you know, some of their ideas have to me has all always been off. Um the team stuff has just never really resonated. Nobody gives a shit about the team stuff.
SPEAKER_03Um almost to the point where we make fun of it, but the uh the TGL is more compelling from a team standpoint than live golf team.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because everybody's playing together, you know, and they're high-fiving each other, and you get that kind of more rider cuppy kind of feel to it. Right. Um, and then you know, the other thing is um I I still don't know where to watch it. Um exactly. You know, I don't think we have, you know, it doesn't like if I pull up my my live on my I think we have um Hulu, you know, Hulu Plus or whatever, right? Disney now now, like it doesn't normally anything golf related just because of my algorithm would come up on my, you know, you should watch this when I when I turn on the streaming service, it's never there. Um even if I know like I'll go look like when Adelaide was happening. Of course, I went to you know, cheer AK home. Uh it was late at night, I believe, but I couldn't watch it. I was scrambling trying to find it on the on the you know, the live uh app wanted me to pay for it. And I'm like, okay, no, that's not happening. So anyway, yeah, not a great product. And then, like you said, if you know there's there are one or two more um really one. More um desertion away from from it just completely going away.
SPEAKER_03Uh to find that out because I I I thought I wrote it down, but I didn't. But that was one of the notes that I had was how shitty Liz production is. It's uh it's kind of comical at this point.
SPEAKER_01I think my guy missed the cut at the players, so I'm uh behind the eight ball here. I need a good performance from Cam Young.
SPEAKER_03I think I had Adam Scott. I don't remember. Uh I'll go find it. It's no big deal. Alright, Dave, you got anything else you want to talk about?
SPEAKER_01No, I don't think so, man.
SPEAKER_03All right. Looking forward to the masters. All right. Uh check us out on all our sh uh social media platforms. I think it we're at the golf blurb now everywhere. Uh the website's back up and running. Uh, there's nothing really good on it, but the website is back up and running. Uh subscribe on all your streaming services. And David, tell the people goodbye. Goodbye, everybody. All right, we'll see you next time.
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