Hack & Scratch Golf Podcast

S1E20 - Longest Day in Golf, Canadian Open, World Cup of Golf

• Dez and Casey • Season 1 • Episode 20

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 45:18

This episode features a deep dive into golf and sports, covering historic qualifiers, major tournaments, and the intersection of golf and soccer worldwide. Hosts Casey and Dez share insights, personal stories, and predictions, making it a must-listen for sports enthusiasts.

00:00 US Open Qualifiers: From Underdogs to Champions
03:36 Highlights from the Longest Day in Golf
07:06 Nelly Korda's Historic US Women's Open Win
10:22 Memorial Tournament: Final Round and Key Moments
16:39 Bryson DeChambeau's Recent Golf Challenge
21:19 Canadian Open Recap and Player Highlights
26:14 Predictions for the Upcoming Golf Tournaments
30:16 The Future of Golf Equipment: Trends and Innovations
34:33 Creating Our Dream Golf Tournament
38:45 Soccer Powerhouses: Majors vs World Cup Titles
43:16 Global Success in Golf and Soccer: A Comparative Look

golf, US Open, golf qualifiers, major championships, soccer, World Cup, golf betting, golf equipment, golf tournaments, sports analysis


SPEAKER_02

How many people do you think have gotten to the US Open through Monday qualifying and then have gone on to win it? I'm not sure anyone has successfully won it through the US Open qualifying. You would be shocked to find out that eight people have qualified through the Monday qualifiers and have gone on to win it. Two coming from local Wow.

SPEAKER_01

And that's specifically the U.S. Open?

SPEAKER_02

Yes. Have you ever heard of Michael Campbell?

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_02

So we would have been tiny little eighth graders, but back in 2005, he earned his way through the final qualifying over at Walton Heath in England, which they played at today. And that was U.S. Open was Pinehurst number two. And he beat, you know, a little unknown golfer named Tiger Woods at the time to secure his one and only major victory at Pinehurst. So it was a pretty incredible uh Sunday with all the elements going. He actually started four back. Um Ratif Goosen was in the lead and Tiger was trying to chase him down, but he played some great golf, shot a 69-1 under to take home the U.S. Open after Monday qualifying.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that's incredible considering 2005 Tiger is in good form. So that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02

So you probably heard this name, but Ken Venturi, do you know his story?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so he's he was a broadcaster later on, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, he was. Yes, he was. But before that, he was quite a damn good golfer. And he also did qualifying, but he even went a stage further, which was local qualifying. So he did local, then the final qualifying on Monday. He won his US Open at Congressional. It was the last time they did the 36 holes on Sunday. So they used to run it where it was 36 holes on Sunday, not for weather or anything like that, but just to be a test. And it was crazy. It was like 95 degrees in the heat. People were having heat stroke. People had to retire after 18. And like all these doctors told him to not go back out for his final round. And he went on to win, which is just crazy. But he very famously has the I think come back from the farthest, which is six strokes. So remember when we were talking about like, oh, who can come back? Ken Venturi was the one who came back from six strokes going into the final round.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. I mean, that's incredible. And just goes to show why we need to keep Monday qualifying around for all the tournaments, in my opinion. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

A local municipal golf course says it's been overrun by what some are calling quote hack golfers. Has the game grown too much? Do we need more scratch golfers? I'm telling you, hack slow the game down. You can't grow golf if people are chunking it into the weeds all day. Scratch player.

SPEAKER_02

The world is in route to America for the uh the World Cup, and the U.S. Open is only two weeks away. It's a good time.

SPEAKER_01

A lot of sports happening, a lot of just great entertainment to be consumed in the sports world right now. So I'm I'm super excited for these next few weeks. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

Well, let's start with one of the most uh unique parts uh of today, which is the longest day in golf. 36 grueling holes all across the really the world. They play it now in Japan or and uh England as well, but especially across the US, all these qualifiers, you have pros lining it up with, you know, rising stars and and amateurs and and all this stuff. And and so it's a it's a great mix of just the entirety of the game of golf from the amateur levels all the way to the current professionals. We had some notable names make it through and some notable names kind of fall off and and not quite make it, which is, you know, we're no stranger to that, but pretty, pretty insane. What do you think? I know you watched a lot today.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, I started watching right when the broadcast went on this morning, and it just ended like not too long ago. So I was able to pop in throughout the day and kind of see how things were going. But I most got to pay attention to the I think it was an eight-way playoff for three spots, and this was at the Canadian site where Max Homa unfortunately bogeyed the first playoff hole, so he was out. But I think it was let's see, I had the names here a second ago.

SPEAKER_02

I think it's Grillo, Toastie, Mao, and McGreavy all made it through.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, that's exactly it. But it it it was, I think it went to a four, three, three-hole playoff. But what I liked about it too, when I was watching it, like there were spectators there. There were probably like 15 to 20 people there on the final green, and you could hear them cheering for the folks that they wanted to win rather than just a giant crowd and not knowing. So it was still entertaining knowing what they're playing for, which I thought was super cool. And then at the end, when the broadcast kind of started to wind down, they showed clips of everybody throughout the day winning and hugging their families and things like that. So it was super cool. It was just fun to watch. You never you never know who was gonna advance and then who you were gonna see play in a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. No, it's amazing. Uh so in addition to Homa, I know Tony Finow missed out. Matt Kusher, Lucas Glover, who is actually one of the people that did qualify through Monday qualifying and then won back in 2009. Uh so he's one of those eight people. Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Abraham Answer, and all and Joel Damon all came up short. Tom Kinn snuck in there, Billy Horschel, Graham McDowell, some great names. Out of the only one that was notable out of England, I think I remember Nicholas Norgaard. He made it. Yeah, pretty great names. Uh, some names we haven't heard in a while. Peter Uline made it, JB Holmes made it. So it it's it was a good mix all around.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, one name that I was surprised, and I kind of felt bad. I was like, dang, I forgot about this guy who didn't make it was Webb Simpson. Like, where has he been actually in the past couple of years? Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but I have not seen much of it.

SPEAKER_02

He's played very few events, usually through sponsorship exemption. I mean, obviously he's a multi winner on the on the PJ, so he does have a couple of those exemptions on champions that he he gets in, but he he rarely plays anymore. Gotcha. Yeah. But yeah, overall, pretty amazing. Just curious, what is the highest level of tournament, whether it was qualifier, amateur, or anything that you've considered kind of playing or entering in? I've I've played in city championships.

SPEAKER_01

That's been my highest. That is also my current goal is to get back and play in a city championship. Uh, because if you win, you get world ranking points. And that generally, if it's if it's one of the the power-ranked tournaments, then you can. And that's the highest I've played at, but there's some unbelievable golfers playing there. It's a lot of college kids that are maybe home for the summer or they're traveling a little bit to get some notoriety. But yeah, that's the highest I played in. That is my next goal, but I need to get some kind of local, just fun tournaments under my belt to get back in there.

SPEAKER_02

Nice. That's a great goal. Speaking of goals, Nellie Corda had one growing up, and it was to win the U.S. Women's Open, and she accomplished it this week. Pretty amazing headline. I didn't even, I wasn't even tracking it because I remember seeing on Thursday night her opening up with maybe like a two over. And I I just kind of wrote that off. I couldn't believe it. Check Sunday morning and she's at the top of the leaderboard and pulls it off. Unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, absolutely incredible. I felt the same. I saw her score. I'm like, dang, you know what? Felt kind of bad. I don't know if I'm gonna be watching it much this weekend. Sure. And then she put up a solid score on Friday, did the same on Saturday, and was able to sneak into the final group on Sunday. So I'm like, she's in it, and she is probably gonna win. And great that it was at Riviera. Like, what a place to win your first US Open. Like, that is so cool. Yeah, amazing. The look on her face with that last putt was something else. I'm so glad that she still made it. And then the look on Gabby Lopez's face from the scorers table, watching it just barely creep in was probably like, man, I was that close to getting the chance of playing 18 again. So, you know, it this Nellie Corda is is cementing herself into one of the most decorated golfers of all time. And it's just super cool. And she is still so early in her career. So I'm I'm excited to see where she's gonna go. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

No, it's uh it's uh, you know, it's the fourth of many, I think. Yeah, she's got a long runway ahead of her, and it's gonna be pretty incredible. Yeah, growing up Charlie Hull was number two. Yeah, pretty incredible there, as well as you talk about leaderboard and and wanting it. You talked about it being Riviera. I just felt like that's a cool bridging the gap between the men's and women's game. Something so recognizable as Riviera being the host and pretty awesome stuff. And uh we probably say farewell to a really great women's golfer and someone who definitely pushed women's golf to to new heights and and awareness, which was Michelle Wee West. Um, it's probably the last and final tournament, which is awesome. I mean, even after you know, entering motherhood and being competitive on the scene and doing this, like that's so incredible. Um we actually, in addition to that, we also had a seven-month pregnant woman compete as well, which I thought was so badass. But but yeah, pretty cool stuff.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was super cool. The clip of her walking off 18 and her daughter being right there. Just super cool. And I think she's a Southern California kid as well. So really cool to be able to kind of leave it all on the course there at Riviera. Uh it's funny, growing up, I taught like a youth golf camp. And there were four groups. I think like by age, it was like Tiger Woods group, maybe the Phil Mickelson group, the Kari Webb group, and the Annika Sorensdam group. And now, today, I would not be surprised if I went back to that camp this summer and it's the Michelle Wee and Nellie Corda group for the women, which is super cool just because they're they're leaving a legacy, which is really cool. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

On the men's side, we had the memorial at Jack's place in Mirfield. Funny thing, we both had the winner last week. We just didn't specify the right last name. We both thought JT was gonna win, and JT definitely won, except it was it wasn't Thomas, it was Poston. So hats off to JT Poston. It was written in the stars. But uh yeah, what'd you what'd you think? I it just it it felt like such an incredible tournament with so many people in the names, and then just from a momentum side, just kind of fell off at the end with no one really clutching victory and it just kind of fallen into JT Poston's lap.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I kind of felt toward the end there. It's like, all right, who is gonna mess up the least in order to close this out? But you heard the commentary from a lot of the players that this course was really freaking hard. And the the greens were tough. Uh, it's hard to actually make putts and control the speed. So I'm not surprised that there were a lot of big scores up there. But again, I love seeing playoff holes. Uh, it always sucks when you're going into a tournament and the final group is limping in with one person six strokes up. It's just like, I'm gonna turn it off by hole 14, you know. So it's nice that we're able to see a lot of guys there tied up at the at the end. And then, you know, at the end, the winner gets to shake Jack's hand, even though it kind of looked like Jack might have had JT and Ryan Gerard confused. But, you know, that's okay. It's Jack Nicholas. We give him uh we cut him some slack.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, it it was it was interesting. I, you know, unfounded rumor here, but it just watching the the the coverage and stuff, it just kind of almost oddly, I don't know how to say it, but I just got kind of like a pit in my stomach. I was like, oh my gosh, is is something wrong with Jack's health? Because he was very, very emotional signing off on that.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I didn't notice that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I just did not love how he kind of ended the run at the table. It's like he almost didn't want to leave. Oh man. Okay. So I just you you never know. He's he's getting up there, he still looks I mean great and is obviously doing stuff like this, which you know, but I don't know. Just it felt weird. So yeah. But an incredible.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, he was in that broadcast booth all day.

SPEAKER_02

For sure. I mean, remember that that day started with most of the leaders having to play nine holes fully in the early in the morning. And so that was a long day. I think Post and Gerard played 33 holes on Sunday, which is is incredible. So guess who almost played spoiler yet again? None other than Mr. Wyndham Clark. You've kind of worked out he might embrace the villain side of things and just go on a tear for the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_01

Would not be surprised. I mean, he he's been there, you know, staring down the final group every time.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So it's only a matter of time.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, absolutely. Some other notables, obviously, Fleetwood and Burns came up a little bit short. Burns actually had a chance there to get also into that playoff, but sadly made a big mistake on 17. Um, couldn't quite do it. But but really great tournament. Uh yeah, it was funny, you know, obviously Scotty and and Rory were there, but all kind of out of frame. So opened it up for some some names to take advantage.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and you brought up Scotty. I mean, did you kind of catch the the friction between him and Ted when he hit into the water on that part three?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And then like three holes later, they're making jokes at each other. So it's like it's but yes, you can see some some of the frustration spilling over for sure. But those two, I mean that bond's never breaking. No, it's there's no change.

SPEAKER_01

But it's so funny because like I personally am always like confused when players get really upset with their caddies of like, why did you do this? I'm like, Well, you have the dis you're swinging the club. Like you you have the final say. And I know there's that clip of like Jordan Speath getting really upset with Michael Greller, and I've never really understood them like, hey man, you you took his advice and went with the club. So uh, you know, but these high-level golfers, they're playing elite golf, they don't have room for error. So it's tough.

SPEAKER_02

It's a thankless job. And when you're frustrated and you have someone to just point the finger at, I bet it's easy to do and and flip like that. Uh yeah. But yeah, it is it is so funny. Yeah. Well, we have a live event this week, but it might it might be towards the end of those, is what I'm hearing. There was talks this week of possibly just not finishing out the season like they had thought and canceling some of their summer tournaments. So we'll see. It could have been one, or if not, the last tournament. Uh we won't we won't know for a little while. But live Andalusia out in the south of Spain, Tyle Hatton got the job done, so he might have won the last Live tournament ever. Rahm made his charge at his home soil, and so he finished solo second and nine under um some other notables, Abraham Answer and Sergio Garcia were uh in the chase, and um yeah, Hatton and Rahm's team, Legion 13, took it home. But yeah, who knows? We'll we'll see, we'll see if that that is it for Liv.

SPEAKER_01

I still think if anything, we're gonna have like a spirit airline situation where one moment it's here, and the next moment at midnight, there's a mass email sent out, and it is no more. I feel like if it's going to happen, that's how it's going to happen.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, not if Bryson can help it. He he's he's ready to sell all the teams out on the on the street and and get them to pay $200 million for for the crushers. So I got $50. Yeah, exactly. Well, leaving professional golf and going into the YouTube golf side of things, perfect transition into Bryson's break 50 with Bob does sports. Did you get a chance to catch any of this?

SPEAKER_01

I did. I was very excited when I took over my shift of holding the baby at 3 a.m. I turned this on and was able to get through it with the little guy asleep the whole time.

SPEAKER_00

Nice.

SPEAKER_01

It was great. I thought it was a great episode. I thought they were gonna do it. I really did, until they they just blew it on that par three 74-yard hole. Like I was like, what of all places to lose this? I was shocked. And then from there, I just think they kind of lost their confidence. But yeah, Bob played okay. I thought Bryson did not play very well, like all things considered for Bryson. But I was I was pulling for them. I thought they had it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I it's tough. I mean, they're the one of I think they're one of the only people who's ever gotten a second chance. And I don't know if they'll get a third. I mean, they they yeah, they just didn't quite do it. I mean, honestly, Joey's a non-factor. It's so sad, but I mean, he is a non-factor. It's basically a two-man scramble with with Bob and and FP. Well, and Bob apparently lost $20,000. Yes, yes, because they used they used someone's drive that wasn't Bryson's. Yeah. But yeah, man, I don't know. I just uh that was that was tough. I really thought I was pulling for them. Uh but always good to see that group. It it did kind of just remind me of why I love Bob does sports. I mean, it was it was really good entertainment. So overall, pretty good video. Just came up a little short. I'm curious, did you I know you're not the biggest foreplay watcher, but did you get to catch John Daly and Kevin Kissner at all?

SPEAKER_01

I didn't, but it's on my watch list, so I have another shift tonight. So I'll probably go watch it tonight.

SPEAKER_02

As a huge John Daly fan, you have to go back and watch it. It is just prime daily. It you know, he took his shoes off, hole one, played barefoot the entire time, probably smoked 20 cigarettes, but only like a third of the cigarette. I mean, driving around in his big Arkansas like uh pickup truck golf cart, it's putting with one hand, chipping with one hand, like just it's so funny because if you're told, hey, you're gonna go play with John Daly, like you kind of want that, but at the same time, the dude is not taking it seriously at all. Yeah. So you're just like, what are you gonna get? His playing partner, who's I think is a pretty famous uh country music producer, he was he was struggling because Daly wasn't really pulling his end. Oh my god. Kiz was playing lights out. So but I just man, the one-liners flying back and forth, it was just it was peak entertainment.

SPEAKER_01

I'll I'll have to go back and watch that. Um I did get to see John Daly play a couple years ago on the champions tour uh in Newport Beach.

SPEAKER_02

Nice.

SPEAKER_01

And you just kind of realize like he is out here, this man is an island, like he's out here on his own. Nobody is he's just doing his thing in his cart, and like what a life. And I think it was that moment seeing him. I'm like, I want to play on the champions tour one day. Like, that's when I realized like Rocco Media is lighting up a cigar, walking down barefoot. And I'm like, you are in a professional golf tournament. This is amazing. And exactly that's why I love these guys.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I know you got into some more YouTube golf that I didn't get into. What'd you see this week?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so one that came up for me was from the Cheeky Golf Club guys, which I really like. They did an episode of they can't leave the course until they birdie every hole. And which the one caveat is like when they get kicked out for the day, the guy who contributed the least has to sleep in a tent on the course overnight. Which I thought was random and funny. Yeah, it's funny. And so they did that. It was funny enough, is the last hole, and they had to play it, I think, three times, was the first hole. So like they would go back to whichever holes they didn't birdie and just cycle through them. So it took them a while. It took them, you know, a day and a half, but uh it was it was fun to watch. And I just thought it was a good idea. It's so funny because they started out, you know, just 18 pars every day, and like now they're they've really got a hold on their content creation, which is super cool. That's great. Yeah. Yeah, but the other one that I want to talk about was this series that I found about two weeks ago. It's on ESPN. It's called Where It Lies. Okay. There's only two episodes out, which I think you should watch this. I think you'd really like it. It's from a couple uh producers that have done, I think, other ESPN stuff before. Basically, they find a public golf course and just do a walkthrough of it, a little bit of history, a little bit of like pop culture. So the latest one that I watched was at Ranch was Rancho Park in LA. And it was great because my dad was here last week and we were watching it. My dad used to work across the street and he would play Rancho Park all the time. So all the stuff they were saying, he's like, Yeah, I remember this. Like I remember that guy, you know, here and it's just done very well, very lightheartedly, and just shows a lot of community. And then the first one was a public course uh in New York City, and they kind of do it from start to finish where they show that players, you know, take the train from downtown with their clubs, and they get off the train and go play golf at this awesome golf course. And just the production is very feel good. Like it's very much how we would handle like a walkthrough of the golf course if we did. So I looked up, there's two more episodes that are coming out, one later this June and then one in July, I think. So I'm really excited for it. I think you should watch it.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. I'll I'll go check it out. You said ESPN, huh?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's on ESPN or ESPN Plus. Yeah, super cool. Nice. I'll have to go check that out.

SPEAKER_02

Well, good. Uh switching back to professional golf, we have the RBC Canadian Open recently held at the Toronto in Toronto at the Offspree. It is not well regarded, I guess, within the tour as where they would want to host this tournament, but they're signed up for the little while. I guess last year I was I was listening to some things. I guess they didn't really have infrastructure to park for all the fans like that. So they had this, they had they had contracted out a couple neighboring fields and things like that. And apparently they weren't prepared and didn't do the due diligence for what happens if it rains a ton. And I guess there was like a foot of water across the whole parking lot. And so, like just an absolute nightmare. Mayor uh of a situation. They they've said they've you know done their due diligence this year, but just a bad look. Uh the people of Toronto, I know a couple people out of Toronto, and they're just like, yeah, there's zero interest with with the World Cup starting this week, with with all this stuff going on, there's no interest to go to this golf tournament. So we'll see, we'll see the turnout. It could be real rough scenes out at uh Osprey.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, and I feel like a lot of guys are gonna be focused on the U.S. Open anyway. So they might just be more concerned about fine-tuning and working on what they need to work on rather than being in full-on competitive mode. Who knows? For sure.

SPEAKER_02

So Osprey Valley as a course, decently long, plays at like 7,400 for them, par 70. So yeah, I mean, it's got some length to it. Uh you can spray it. It's pretty, pretty forgiving, rough, shouldn't be a huge problem. It's Bengrass and Poe Mix built back in 2001. There's not too many courses that are comparable. Colonial is actually one of the closest ones, which obviously we just played at not too long ago. Yeah. So it's a decent course. Last year's winner was Ryan Fox. Obviously, I think he won in the playoff against Sam Burns, if I remember correctly. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, it's an interesting course. The field is not very strong this week. It's really anyone's game. I wouldn't say it's, you know, I think I like a lot of names at the top, but by no means are those locks. So you could go down the board a little bit more. But yeah, well, what are you seeing this week? What do you like?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, I'm good, I'm basing a lot of my choices kind of just off the past couple weeks. So my first one would be Tommy Fleetwood. He's kind of been right there the past couple weeks. And we were just talking about him. Like he may be a bit cursed, but I I'm I'm pulling for him that he can he can push through and get this win out. Additionally, uh Eric Cole and Aaron Rye. I mean, two guys that I mean, Aaron Rye maybe is more expected to play really well, but Eric Cole is playing probably his peak golf of his career right now. And I think he knows after uh last week that he can win. And maybe that's kind of the confidence he needed in order to really prove himself among this group of guys. So those those that's who I'm going with. I I would love to see Eric Cole kind of get redemption after barely missing out last time. So we'll see. What about you?

SPEAKER_02

I am back in the camp that I don't feel like Tommy Fleetwood's ever gonna win again. And I think to the point that maybe I'm second guessing myself if I should count his 30-person field win as a win. It definitely is and will go down, but the dude does not have dog. Like the like I don't know. I just don't know. I can't imagine being that spectacular at something, and just it seems like he just doesn't have that fire on Sundays to do it. I I it makes no sense. Guy goes eagle, and you're thinking, God, this guy's gonna walk away with this. What a way to come in on Sunday, and just it's just I don't know. It's just there's something so chill about Tommy that I just don't know if he's ever gonna win. I I'm gonna go, I'm gonna stick with my words. It made me throw up to bet on this guy, but I'm gonna go Windham Clark. He just he's playing too high a level of an elite level of golf right now, and he also, you know, doesn't care if he spoils anyone's party. So yeah, he he could be deadly. And also, it's his last turn. He's been kind of loose off the T and has just kind of gotten away with it the past few weeks with some great kind of rough approach game. This is his last week to do that because that Shinnecock, that that ship has sailed. You're you're not gonna be able to do that. So I think he takes full advantage of this week, and I think he'll be in the mix no matter what. Yeah. So uh I'm gonna go Wyndham there, and then I else I wanted to go Shane Lowry, which believe it or not, you can get some decent odds on Shane Lowry. Uh you can also get some decent odds on Alex Fitzpatrick. I mean, honestly, a 40 to 1, the way Alex Fitzpatrick is playing right now. I took a look at it this morning and I was like, that's not that. I mean, that's you know, he he models out as probably like a top five golfer in this easily. And to get him at 40 to one is pretty good. But I'll go I'll throw some money on Shane as well. I just think he can pop out and surprise us and seems like a decent course for him. I know he's had I think a top 20 last year, but um, yeah, that's where I'm going. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01

I think those are good choices. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We'll see. We're coming off a win from last tournament, so we'll see how we do. Yeah. So yeah, by definition, it's gonna need to be is there a Clark in this thing? Is there is there a different coal? Yeah. So we'll see there. All right, shifting focus to our Pro Shop Drop, the most famous putter manufacturer in recent times, Lab Golf, has come out with yet another center shafted mallet putter, this time blending its famous model with for sure jailbreak. I mean jailbird style. Although it's, I don't know, like well, just curious. I know what I'm gonna say, but when you see this putter, does anything come to mind? You see anything like even real world outside of golf, like do you see any inspiration come from it?

SPEAKER_01

Not really. Okay, that's fine.

SPEAKER_02

I have my I have my answer and I it's a loaded question. I just see sports car, the way everything is like concaved and and has these really fluid aerodynamic lines and it is you know, a tail, a tapered tail at the back. I'm just like, oh, they tried to literally make the Lamborghini of of golf putting.

SPEAKER_01

And that's that's funny you said that because my first thought was like, not really, but like because I knew it was lab golf, but I said if I didn't, if they didn't have the logo on there, I would have thought this was McLaren's putter or something. There you go. And like so that makes sense. And you know what? Like, this has always been my problem with putters like this. It's too distracting, in my opinion. And maybe that's just me, but yes, this is toned down from like the guitar-looking lab putter, which like I can't stand. This I think I would actually be able to handle, but at the same time, like it's still busy, and I don't love that the sight line is so far behind the shaft. Like that, I don't like that at all. So I don't know. I mean, I think it's gonna sell very well, and I think people are gonna jump on it still.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, this is coming from two people that still play blades, so you know, we don't have anything to say about this.

SPEAKER_01

We haven't and we probably have no business playing blades, probably. So yeah. What what do you think? Do you think because this is just the hot thing right now in putting is center shafted, zero torque, whatever. I mean, everybody has one now, and they always have, but now they're marketing them towards like this zero torque. Do you think it's a fad and it's just happens to be what people are into right now, and we're gonna move past it? Or are these here to stay? Like, do you think people like them as much as the marketing suggests?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I just with how many pros have adopted it, I I and will continue to adopt it, I can't imagine that it's a you know, a trend that's not here to stay. I don't know. I watched like a documentary on on Tiger maybe a few years back, and he was just talking about with with the blade and and the heel-centered shaft, like he just has a feeling in his hand and it's more about feel rather than the perfect, you know, line and and it just kind of I was like, you know what, that's kind of how I like to hit putts, especially ones with any kind of any sort of break. And so I like the control that I have of the face uh with with a blade putter. Uh I have I I literally have a really nice mallet putter that just stays at home when I go to the course. But yeah, I don't know. I just I can't argue with the data and and the adoption of it, especially from like the it'd be one thing if all the YouTube golfers were playing it, which they are, but it's also the pros as well. It may not be lab, but they're all adopting, you know, the spiders, and though those have been very popular for for many years. So I just, yeah, I think it's probably here to stay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think so too. And I feel like I haven't fully tested out everything that I've wanted to. Still waiting for that opportunity to try that Zero Torque Wilson just because it looks so slick. But that and then the Odyssey one, and then even the Scotty Cameron center shaft like 5.5 looks really nice. So yeah, I feel like I just gotta try them out because I'm the same way, feel is important. So we'll see. Nice.

SPEAKER_02

Um, all right, we'll we'll switch into a little bit of the games. Applications for the 2027 Masters are in full swing. So it begs the question what would you give to attend next year's masters? So I'm gonna run you a couple, I'm gonna run you through a couple things. You let me know if you would would go for that price or or not. Let's see. Okay. Here we go. Would you spend two thousand dollars to go to the masters next year?

SPEAKER_01

Hmm.

SPEAKER_02

Do I get full weekend? No, no, no, no, no. We'll we'll give you we'll give you Sunday. We'll give you Sunday, which is incredible. But no, just a single thing.

SPEAKER_01

I I think I would, unfortunately. Like I know I'm not gonna Yeah, I know I'm not gonna have the opportunity. And I just if I do it once, I might be good for a while.

SPEAKER_02

You know, that's honestly I get that because that's how I feel. It's like that's a ridiculous thing to do, especially with the opportunity for the rest of your life to potentially go, whether it be through connections or or winning the lottery, if if you know, you you actually get tickets to Augusta National. But yeah, I would do it just to get the monkey off my back, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, 100% same. Cool.

SPEAKER_02

Would you not golf for three months to go to the Masters?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that would suck, but I think I I could do it, knowing on day 91, I could jump back out there. And what a great round that would be after not playing for so long. That's right. Yeah, so I'd I'd I'd definitely give up golf for three months just to go.

SPEAKER_02

I've done that on my whole life and I've never received tickets. So, you know, that's yeah, that's easy for me. Yep. Um, all right. This one might be a little bit tougher. Is it this is a tougher one to stomach, not watch golf for an entire year. Yeah, that's hard.

SPEAKER_01

Especially now. Like I watch golf all the time. I watch when the broadcast starts at 5 a.m. on Thursday and watch till it ends at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

SPEAKER_02

I'm talking, I'm talking YouTube golf as well.

SPEAKER_01

Your favorites gone. Can't even look at a golf club anywhere. I don't think I could do it. I really don't think so. I think I would be so bored. So yeah, I think you got me on that. I don't think I would give that up, just considering how much I watch it now.

SPEAKER_02

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_01

Would you and that would also mean that I couldn't go, like I couldn't watch the masters once, and then I wouldn't get to go until the following year, you know. So you'd be on a little bit of a hiatus. Yeah. Would you quit your job? 100%. I would quit my job for a lot of things. You you could you could have just asked me, hey, do you want to quit your job? And I would have said yes. For a good sandwich? For a very moderate sandwich, moderately good sandwich, I would do it. Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_02

That's good. All right. Go one, and I don't really honestly know your preference on this, so this might be a swing and a miss, but go one year without any type of fast food, which I'm going to include pizza or alcohol for an entire year. So you're going to be really hard. Body as a temple for an entire year to go to the masters.

SPEAKER_01

Dang, I would be in tip top shape and I would be very good. You know what? Like if yeah, I actually would do that because I'm getting a lot more benefit than just being able to go to the masters. I would be super healthy. And that one beer at the masters would taste so good.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. For sure. Yeah. I yeah, I kind of just wish life presented itself with challenges like this somehow because I totally would do it. Like if I also knew it was to go to the masters, I'd be so motivated to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Okay. Last one. Would you train and run the New York City marathon to get to the masters?

SPEAKER_01

Kind of the same thing as before. We're like, it'd probably be good for me. I don't know. Not much of a runner. I don't think I could do it either. I I'm just, I'm not much of a runner. I did cross country in high school, and that was like, oh, I never want to do this again.

SPEAKER_02

I'm surprised. If you did any sort of long distance running, I think you could pull it off then.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but like five three miles is nothing compared to 26.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, 26 is crazy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

No, I don't think I could do that.

SPEAKER_02

All right. Well, so it sounds like we we can go if you pay $2,000, don't go for three months and quit your job, and we're we're right there.

SPEAKER_01

No problem. All right, perfect. If anyone wants to sponsor that, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We will we will accept any of those challenges if someone wants to sponsor us.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Cool. All right, you got the next one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So I I had this conversation with my wife the other day when I'm watching these golf tournaments. Like she only really knows, you know, like the Masters, US Open and the Genesis and whatnot, because I've dragged her to the Genesis. But the, you know, throughout the PGA tour schedule, there's like the Sanderson Farms Championship or the Valspar thing, you know, these company sponsors that have nothing to do with the golf, but their sponsor. And she always thinks, like, oh yeah, of course, the Sanderson Farms. And like it just sounds hilarious. Yeah. So I thought it'd be fun to create our own tournament. We've done something similar to this, but like, so you're gonna create a tournament, uh, you're gonna the name of it, the format, the key sponsor, the course, and any other thing that you think would make the tournament interesting. Yeah. So that would be that that's the game. And then I I would love if we could get people to watch this, which one sounds more fun, uh yours or mine? So nice. Yeah. Do you want me to start it off or do you want to start it off?

SPEAKER_02

I'll go. I got an idea here. All right. So the US Open is my second favorite tournament besides the Masters. And the reason why I love it is it's just grueling golf for for one week of the year. It it makes these, you know, seemingly golf gods mortal and it shows the struggle. That's why I really had a problem with LACC a couple years back because it just did not give me the US Open vibes. Uh, but I I love golf when it's a struggle, and they're like, give me a winner in single digits, and I'm so happy. And so, you know, I like the idea of some more brutal golf, and I want to put this, I think I talked about this before, but Memorial Day is kind of missing a great opportunity to to have something finish on a Monday. And so I want I want to do a Memorial Day tournament at at Beth Page Black. All right, so another grueling golf course. I love it. New York and, you know, Memorial Day, perfect. And I want it to be match play, and I want Sunday to finish with 36 holes. So match play, I would do four rounds of nine on on Sunday with the the winner taking it home after 36 holes. I think that would be so fun. I think we're missing match play on the tour right now. And I think, yeah, the posterity of being Memorial Day and a grueling Monday finish, 36 holes, I think is super cool. And uh yeah, I would love it.

SPEAKER_01

I think everybody would be pretty toasted by the end of that tournament, but that sounds pretty fun.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

All right, cool. I like it. So mine is a little more out there since we're coming up on a major, I thought it would be fun to create like a major matchup. So I'm calling this one and with my title sponsor, I'm calling it the Duolingo Major Matchup Booster. Okay, so hear me out. That's good. Sponsored by Duolingo because each player, it's a best ball match play. Each player is paired with a U.S. Open winner. Or I'm sorry, just a major winner, but since the US Open is coming up here. Sure. And who they're paired up with is somebody who has not won a major before, um, let alone maybe even a tournament. But what's fun about it is that the major winners get to pick who they're gonna be paired with. And so the week starts with a big social of everybody, and you get cocktails and you meet some of the major winners, and you try to schmooze your way to get paired with them. And then there's like a draft day on Wednesday, and then you play with them through the weekend. Similar to, I forget what is the the one where Alex and Matt Fitzpatrick won a couple weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02

The the Zurich classic.

SPEAKER_01

Zurich, yeah. This could help boost some of those new players, and so the winner would get a one-year exemption on the tour in addition to some prize money. So I think great opportunity for Duolingo to sponsor this event. Yeah, so I can't wait to see that on the next year's schedule from uh Brian Rollap. Right.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know. Both of these are pretty far-fetched. I I don't know if they make it, but he's doing some weird things, so who knows? Maybe, maybe up on it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. That's well, let us know for folks who watch this. Let us know which one sounds better. And then that's right. That's right. We'll we'll pitch it to the PGA tour.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. That'd actually be a fun, that'd be a fun segment. One week is if you had 15 minutes with Brian Rolap, what would you talk about?

SPEAKER_01

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02

That'd be good. All right. So our last game of the day, very topical. Soccer, obviously. I'm dripped out on it. Soccer is the world's game because all you need really is a ball. And conversely, uh, golf is kind of the opposite. You need all this land, you need money, you need clubs, you need all this access. But those two things are actually pretty interconnected. And so today we're gonna see do these soccer powerhouse nations have more golf majors or more World Cup titles? So I'm gonna ask you does this nation have more golf majors or world cup titles?

SPEAKER_01

This is a great idea. And I don't know soccer as much as well as I should. So this is gonna be good. Yeah, perfect, perfect test.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, the first one, great, great, uh obviously golf a powerhouse.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, but England. I mean powerhouses in both. But I do think heavier in golf, just with all of the history, I think I'm gonna have to go England. Yes, has more majors.

SPEAKER_02

Has more majors. That would be correct. They have quite a few dozens of majors historically, obviously, with the the open championship being a lot of them, but also on U.S. soil as well. And believe it or not, they only have one World Cup to their name. So definitely a a golfing powerhouse nation. So good, good start. Your next one, Spain.

SPEAKER_01

Also, some incredible golfers coming out of Spain, but also a powerhouse in soccer. I'm thinking Sevi Balesteros, John Rahm. No, that that it's just a couple of guys. I'm gonna say they have more World Cup titles.

SPEAKER_02

They only have one World Cup title. Oh, they have one, and they have 10 majors from the likes of Sevi, Jose Maria, Sergio, and now John Rahm. Duh. I should have known that. Yeah. No, it's it's a good one. These these are these will test you. I'm telling you, these are kind of surprising. Okay. So the next one we have is gonna be Argentina.

SPEAKER_01

And this is where I don't know my soccer very well, but I don't I don't know many pro golfers from Argentina off the top of my head. Um I'm gonna have to go with more world World Cup titles.

SPEAKER_02

It is actually a tie. So they have three World Cup titles, which is pretty incredible. That's definitely amongst the the higher one edge. Uh but they also have three majors. So Robert Di Vincenzo won the open, Angel Cabrera won the U.S. Open and the Masters. So they got three and three. That's right. Yeah. I know. You always kind of forget about Cabrera. Yeah. Um, all right, this next one, uh, France. France.

SPEAKER_01

I know France doesn't have the strongest golf showing. I know, like right now, probably Matthew Pavon is probably one of their stronger golfers. But I don't know if they've what their World Cup history is, but I'm gonna have to go World Cup.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, this is a close race. Uh they have two World Cups and they have one major. Arnod Massey early won the open championship.

SPEAKER_01

Gotcha. Nice, nice.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. All right. Uh we're gonna keep cruising through these. Next one is Italy.

SPEAKER_01

Italy. All right. Well, Francesco Molinari, open championship winner. I know there's a couple more in there. I'm gonna go more golf majors. Uh that is incorrect.

SPEAKER_02

Uh oh. Is it bad? Maybe. Uh so they have they're quite a powerhouse, uh, especially in the older tournaments. They've they've won four World Cups. And you are right. So back in 2018, Francesco Molinari won the open at Carnusti. Um, but that is their only major. Really? Yes. Dang. Okay. I was wrong. So only major, thanks to Francesco. The last one we'll end on. Really tough either way. This is a tough one, is Germany.

SPEAKER_01

That is tough. I was actually in Germany in 2014 for their World Cup win. No dang, I feel like it's close, but I'm gonna have to go Germany for World Cup titles. I screwed you here, but I didn't do it intentionally.

SPEAKER_02

It's another tie. We got four World Cups and four majors due to the likes of Bernard Langer, two masters, and Martin Keimer's two majors.

SPEAKER_01

Well done. Yeah. Yeah. Dang. It's kind of cool to see where a lot of these guys are coming from for these major championship wins. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

The open always tends to, you know, give a lot of nation like there are a lot of different people have won the the open. Obviously, in recent years, we've had some really cool first-time wins for nations like Hideki taking Japan's first masters and things like that. But yeah, I mean, it is it is so true. I mean, soccer is definitely looked at as the world's game, and by far it is. Um, and golf's kind of one negative is it's it's so exclusive. However, there is so many, you know, of these nations that are produced great golfers as well. And it it's great to see. And I was actually looking up the list of kind of what the best handicaps in professional golf is. I saved you from that one, but there's some good England, England carries, let me put it that way. England's football team is quite good at golf.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's so funny. From I've had friends from the UK, and it's just culturally, you know, a lot of people just grow up with golf more than we do here. So not surprised that a lot of them are very good golfers.

SPEAKER_02

It's pretty awesome. Uh, last week England arrived on U.S. soil in Florida. That's where they're setting up their home camp. And one of the first items on the agenda was three of the teammates went out with Brooks Kepka and played around down in Florida.

SPEAKER_01

That's so cool. That's awesome. I love that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so pretty good. England's captain Harry Kane is quite a good golfer. Nice. Nice.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that that's a good game. What so relevant. I love that.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. Well, I'm excited for the World Cup, and and obviously we're gonna have a hell of a weekend next weekend with uh with Father's Day. Congrats on your first Father's Day. It's gonna be the US Open, and it's gonna be World Cup USA versus Australia. So what a friggin' weekend that'll be. That's gonna be a great time. All right. Well, that's gonna do it for us. Thank you for joining and see you guys next time.