May 1, 2024 • 36 mins
John dives into how Scottie Scheffler is very easy to root for and even though he's the best golfer in the world people still want him to win and are not rooting for the underdog. Later, John discusses the state of the PGA Tour and how unless they merge with LIV or find a way to get people interested in the tour again, viewership is going to continue to decline. Lastly, John reacts to the LIV Tour ending their season at a public course in Chicago and how that should never happen.
7:33 - Scottie and his greatness
18:11 - The state of the PGA Tour
27:25 - LIV's season finale
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 1 (01:29):
What is going on? Everybody? John Middlecoff a Little Go
Low podcast. We took a little hiatus host the Masters
because of the NFL Draft. I don't know some of
you guys might have heard about it. So we've done
a lot of draft content over the last two weeks,
and I wanted to hit on some golf stuff because
(01:49):
we have our second major in a couple of weeks.
I looked on DraftKings, our friends at DraftKings. Scottie Scheffler
is currently forty to one to win the Grand Slam.
I would say most times that'd be insane to bet
on a guy to win the Grand Slam, But I
don't know, don't really hate it, and I've come around
because I was a little nervous betting him at the
(02:10):
PGA because of the baby situation. But if he has
the baby before the PGA Championship in the next couple weeks,
I think that number gets a little more interesting, especially
what he proved at the RBC not needing really any
rest or practice coming off the victory at the Masters.
I wanted to dive into the story that's flying around
about equity with the PGA Tour situation, with some of
(02:34):
its broadcast partners being in shambles, not having any money.
They don't even have a lead analyst right now for
the US Open NBC in like six weeks. Live Golf
is currently in Singapore. They just played in Australia. Obviously
the merger talks. Who knows. I mean, I don't feel
(02:55):
great about it, but just some thoughts on the current situation.
A problem Live is clearly facing in America. They just
announced where they're going to play their season ending championship.
It is just a run of the mill public course,
so I think that kind of symbolizes a bigger problem.
(03:17):
And then just some overall thoughts on team Golf. Not
really sure it works beside like the Ryder Cup in
the President's Cup. But I do a mail bag on
the Football show Three and Out. It's just my own Instagram.
I created an Instagram a while back at Golo Pod
at golopod so at glow Pod. It's his own Instagram feed.
(03:39):
I'm gonna start now that football's slowing down, doing a
bunch of more golf content on there. Fire in those dms,
and we will have segments on this show weekly where
we're just talking golf, whether it's questions about pro golf players, betting,
what's in your bag? I don't know anything, I don't
I don't care. Fire in at Golo pod and ask
(04:03):
your questions and we will start interacting with the people.
That is the game plan moving forward. So other than
that gambling this week on the CJ Cup, I like
Mark Hubbard. You can get him right now fifty to one,
but his top ten odds are like five to one.
His top twenty odds are almost plus two forty. So
(04:25):
he's a guy that's been playing well. He just played
pretty well last week in the team event. He's at
a good season, hasn't missed a cut. It's gonna be
a Birdie fest. So Mark Hubbard is one guy for
sure that I'm on. If you listen on Collins Feed,
make sure you subscribe to the feed. Three and out
lives here as well as as Golo and all of
our content is up on the YouTube page, so just
(04:45):
type in John Middlecoff to YouTube. We got all of
our content on video as well as audio. So got
a lot going on, so buckle up. Hopefully, you know,
got a little irons in the fire for some golf stuff.
Hearing some rumors about some stuff. No announcements yet, but
we will keep you updated as they come, so hopefully
some big things are in the works. Other than that,
(05:05):
before we dive into golf, I got to tell you
about my friends, a company I use and they happen
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You want to go to a game, you live in
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(05:50):
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in America. Promo code go low, save twenty dollars. Colin
used to have this thing back in the day before
he came to Fox, and I mean he still talks
about it, but it was like one of his big
(06:10):
takes was how he hated the underdog. He hated the
little guy. And I first started listening to him when
I was in college and throughout when I went to
Fresno State, and it used to tick me off because
I was working for the little guy and we weren't
ever good enough to make a run, but we played
Boise State. In Boise State, I often thought could like
(06:31):
compete with USC Texas whoever in the SEC, like they
were a national championship contender. Now they never got that opportunity,
but I truly believe that to my core. But I've
changed my thinking over time, and listen, I'm very grateful
to have gone to school at cal Poly and Fresno State,
(06:51):
two programs that are not the University of Texas or
Michigan Ohio State. When it comes to athletics, that's for sure.
And now, like as a fan, I like watching the
big dogs. I haven't watched much in the NBA playoffs.
I've watched every dribble or I did. It's over now
of the Lakers Nuggets, and it was fantastic, one of
the best five game series I've ever seen, mainly because
(07:15):
I love seeing the Lakers loose, and I knew they would.
But Jokic is clearly established himself is not only the
best player currently in the world, but one of the
best players we've ever seen. And right now he's about
to win his third MVP in like four years. Unless
someone on his team gets injured, including himself, they're gonna
win the NBA Championship. Like he's going into hallowed territory.
(07:38):
And I like watching guys separate from the pack. I
like watching the best teams and the best players. What
Patrick Mahomes just did is insanity. Win his third Super
Bowl in five years. He's established as not just the
best quarterback in the NFL, but one of the best
players we've ever seen. And he's like in the peak
(07:59):
of his powers, not even thirty yet, so like, how
far can he go? My favorite athlete by I mean
there's two of them. But as a kid, like anyone
born in the mid eighties, Michael Jordan was spectacular, and
then coming into your own as a sports fan, getting
to live through Tiger Woods is something we'll probably never
see again and something I'm very very glad that I
(08:19):
got to watch, and like really be able to defend
it because I've always often said, like, if you're in
a bar arguing with someone, if you didn't grow up
or were of age to watch that player, it's a
hard argument. YouTube does not do justice to when you're
watching a guy live, especially as you get older. Like
(08:40):
I can speak pretty confidently about Peyton Manning and Tom Brady,
about Steph Curry, about Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson and
Rory whoever. I mean the players that I've watched. It's
hard for me besides, like, yeah, I know Magic Johnson
and Larry Bird all time greats, but to like legitimately
get into an argument, like if we're getting into an
argument about Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer, even like Greg
(09:01):
Norman and Nick Faldough, like I don't feel as strong
in my argument. I can watch all the youtubes and
thirty for thirties and everything possible on the internet. It
is not the same. So watching Scotti Scheffler doing what
he's currently doing is freaking awesome. Now, the sad part
is is the tourists in turmoil, the tourist split and
television ratings are down despite golf in terms of the
(09:24):
amateur world never being more popular. More people are playing
golf in twenty twenty four than ever before. The access
is much easier. There are a ton of courses. The
public courses are absolutely packed. The waiting lists at country
clubs all over the country is a mile long. And
golf's very, very popular. It's a unique sport. Right. I
(09:45):
played high school football, have not played it down since.
Most people that play high school football never play in college.
Yet we become football fans the rest of our life.
But I'm never gonna throw a pass at lambeau Field.
I'm never gonna run for a yard in Hinsfield, right
where the Pittsburgh Steelers play. It's like I'll never shoot
(10:07):
baskets at MSG. But I can play golf at the
overwhelming majority of courses that pros play, And if you're
lucky enough to run in the right circles, you might
even get access to some of the sweet courses they
play that are country clubs. It's not possible, Like if
you're a tennis player, you're not playing Wimbledon. That's what
makes golf pretty special, and Tiger really brought that to light.
(10:30):
He made it cool. I don't know if Scotty Scheffler
is that he's not even close to the level of
superstar that Tiger was, but he is a special player
in the peak of his powers. And after he won
the Masters pretty easily, I thought the most impressive accomplishment
he's had in his career, and he's won the Masters twice,
(10:52):
was winning The next week he literally went home. His
wife was pregnant. When he gets home to Texas, she's asleep.
He goes out with the boys. Forty eight hours later,
he flies back to you know the RBC at like
Tuesday night. Start slow on Thursday, and then you look
up on Sunday. He's kicking the shit out of everybody.
And I've dune draft Kings today. Right now they have
(11:13):
a special for him to win the Grand Slam. He's
forty to one now. I've said after the Masters, the
only thing, like I think is over under right, now
on majors is two and a half. That's what I
would put it at because I think between Pinehurst and
the Open Championship he's a lock to win one of
(11:33):
those two. The only reason I'm hesitant on the PGA
Championship in Valhalla is because his wife any day could
have a baby. And then the moment when you first
have a baby, you don't sleep, You're sleeping in a
terrible chair bed, never had one, but seeing pictures bend
to the room after my friends and brothers have had kids.
(11:54):
But it is a It's a life changing moment, and
a life changing moment for you personally, especially in the
short term, just with sleep and your routine is going
to be thrown off. So who knows how much practice
he's gonna have before the PGA. And then I started
thinking like, well, he had no practice or probably slept
that much or did anything the couple days leading into
(12:17):
the RBC, and he basically won with his fucking eyes closed,
So why couldn't he win a major now? Obviously if
his wife hasn't gone into labor, And that's a story
that to me would have much more substance behind it
because she could actually have the baby. That's a whole
different conversation. But if the baby happens before, you know,
(12:37):
I don't know if I'm off him that much. And
if he were to win Valhalla, that forty to one
to me probably goes down to like twelve to one immediately,
because one I think he's winning Pinehurst. I mean it
sets up perfectly for him, and by then he will
have enough time to kind of get his routine and
just gets a normal sleep in order for the major push.
(13:00):
I looked at last year, and remember he couldn't putt
last year. He was an awful putter. He finished T
ten at the Masters, which probably gonna be an outlier
for his career because he's gonna win that thing like
five times. And then the next two majors, the PGA.
In the US Open at La Country Club, he finished
T two and third. Again could not put the British Open,
(13:22):
which has given him some trouble though he's only played
in three. He finished T twenty three and two years ago.
His best finished in twenty twenty one was T eight.
I guess my overall point is I don't think it's
crazy at all to throw a little money on him.
Forty to one to win the Grand Slam seems crazy, right,
just because of how difficult it is, how much pressure
(13:44):
is on these majors. But for the first time since Tiger,
you're like, yeah, this is real, this is very, very possible. Now.
The crazy thing is when Tiger was in his heyday,
you know, people love to make fun like it was
just plumbers and fireman is type guys he was playing. Now,
he played against some pretty good players last time I checked,
like Ernie Els could play, VJ. Sink could play. I mean,
(14:07):
David Duvall in the late nineties was pretty damn good.
Now the depth of talent was nowhere near what it
is now, not even close. But Scotty showed like he's
not even that affected by it. I don't give a
shit how good all these guys are. I'm dramatically better.
I'm dramatically better now. The irony is the one guy
that could take him down is a guy that would
(14:27):
be playing potentially in a second major. Ludwig, who is
clearly a special, got a chance to be a transcendent talent.
So I just think this forty to one number. If
you would have told me before the year, We're just
moving forward. Anyone could ever win the Grand Slam again.
I'd be like, it'd be shocking if a guy won
two majors in a year. Given the current crop of
(14:50):
guys playing in these major championship and the depth of
just elite players. I mean it goes, it goes fifteen
deep with just high high end players. I don't know,
he might just be that much better than everyone. Despite
the baby situation. The PGA Tour, there was a story
(15:14):
that came out, i think a couple of days ago that, let's,
let's face it, the tours in shambles. Noah fans or
busts about it. It's it's it's embarrassing. The state of
professional golf has nothing to do with us, has to
do with Sadi's buying all these guys, Jay Moonahan being
just pretty bad at his job, the players not being
(15:36):
hands on enough, and then once Jay fucked everything up,
now that they're really hands on, and ultimately they don't
care what we think, which is a problem because the sport,
just like all these professional sports, are very determined on
how many people watch. It's about television. It's about your
TV product and the ratings you do to be able
(15:57):
to sell it. Now, the PGA Tour sold rights a
couple of years ago for a lot of money, so
that number is set, like the NBA ratings are down,
but it doesn't impact the players because it's a fixed
number over a ten year period of time. Now every
time you renegotiate if it goes If it were to
ever go down, it'd be a problem. But the PGA
Tour is looking at another six to seven year runway
(16:19):
of this current deal. The problem is one of their partners, NBC,
is in financial shambles. They do not have the lead analysts,
which would be like the CBS not knowing who is
going to be sitting next to Jim Nantz six weeks
before the NFLC That would never happen. It would be inconceivable. Well,
(16:40):
Kevin Kisner, who clearly should transition to TA I love
Kiss and I hope he goes full time with TV.
They're not offering him any money, so he's like, I'm
not committing to this. They fired Paul Asinger last year,
which time to go. Paul's just wasn't that good as
his job. Good player seems like a good guy Television
not very good. Jeff O, who I see sometimes at
(17:01):
the gym. Haven't had quite the balls to say anything.
I don't know the smooth interaction like hey Jeff Podcaster, like, hey,
hey Jeff, loved you. When you're going to totoe a tite,
I gotta think of a smooth interaction. He's always doing squats,
you see, has got that long, skinny body. Obviously, I've
talked to a couple of people that know him, says
great guy, so I just need to go up and
(17:22):
talk to him. But he's another guy that like, they're
not offering any money, and financially they're cutting costs, which
impacts the product, which they clearly struggle on. And the
only reason they own the US Open is because Fox,
who paid a billion dollars for realized early like we're
not gonna be able to make any money. We're out.
So they got it on like a fifty percent discount.
(17:42):
Fox is paying for like fifty percent of it. So
NBC didn't even buy the US Open for a normal rate.
They got it on a discount and they're still going cheap. Well.
The PGA Tour, while dealing with this, obviously has lift
that has poached a lot of their players and they
can't compete right, if liv is gonna offer sixty million
(18:03):
dollars for Terrell Hatton, what the fuck are you gonna do?
Let alone the hundreds of millions of dollars they're paying
DJ Kopka, Phil Rawm, You're done, They're gone. So it
was reported last week that Joe Pampliono, I might be
screwing up his name, but he's a really good like
sports business insider. He had this long thing on LinkedIn
(18:24):
which I'm trying to get a little more active on that.
The way their structure is gonna work now, equity is
not the same as giving you one hundred million dollars, right,
So they're giving Tiger Woods one hundred million dollars in equity.
These were the four names that I read. They just
had specific numbers, fifty million to Rory and thirty to
JT and to Speed. Now you can't the equity doesn't
(18:48):
have any value on the open market. Tiger couldn't just
cash out next year for one hundred million dollars. Takes
four years the best and then you can sell or
cash out fifty percent of it. And I when you
get equity in something, and listen, since I've been in
the podcast, world. I only do things that I have
ownership in, right. It doesn't always mean upfront cash, but
(19:10):
big picture, to have equity ownership in anything I found
for myself incentivizes me greatly. I am much more inclined
to do a podcast every single day knowing that I
got skin in the game. It's fucking mine. Why wouldn't
I wouldn't be the same if you just paid me
a fixed cost to have the same type of juice.
Look at liv Like if you gave me one hundred
(19:32):
million dollars. Look at dj it's a great example. And
they gave him one hundred and fifty million plus, and
he even admitted, like, yeah, I don't practice much hard
to blame them, it's human nature. Most people are not
wired like Tiger and Brady. Most people, even high level people,
are closer to Djail. Yeah, it's like I've already made
hundreds of million dollars. Now I got this money guarantee,
I don't need to work as hard. We're all somewhat
(19:53):
similar in our wiring upstairs. So when you give the
equity now, it does incentivize these guys, even though they
will never ever make as much as they would have
got going to live, but to give everything they have
to the product. Now, the problem is Tiger's somewhat of
(20:13):
an outlier. I would even say Rory Jordan and Speak
are good examples, two guys around thirty years old that
have been prominent, famous members of the PGA tour that
the tour needs because of their fame equity with us
the fans in terms of name recognition and just their
star power, is to do everything possible to help out
(20:37):
the sport. And I do think they're trying, But how
do you not how do you do something that you
don't even know what to do? Like where would they
even begin to start? And this is the thing I
understand why the Arthur Blanks and the Steve Cohens and
all these guys with money get involved because it's an
opportunity and they're so flushed with cash. Like why we
(21:00):
put in a couple hundred million dollars raise three billion dollars.
See where it goes? Ideally it turns into a ten
billion dollar operation. But there is a chance if they
stay splintered, this equity won't amount to much because right
now and for the foreseeable future, they don't have much
going and the only way it's not about walking talks
(21:22):
on the on the course where they put a earpod
into someone's ear and they talk for a hole. That's cool.
Or the Friday happy hours where you know a famous
player sits down with Smiley and chops it up for
an hour, that's also cool. That's not doing anything. It's
not moving the needle. The only thing that matters, the
only thing to make this business and this equity worthwhile
(21:47):
for everyone involved, the players, these these rich people that
are put fronting the money, is to get everyone back
playing together, not four times a year, but like fifteen.
And I think the challenges to get these live guys
to come back, Like what's their incentive now the moment
some of them stop dropping out of the majors because
(22:09):
they don't meet the qualifications. Yeah, they're more incentives to
sign incentivized to sign off. But DJ won a major
a couple of years ago, and he's into the Masters
for life. Like he's in these majors for a while.
Rom won the US Open, won the Masters last year.
He doesn't have to worry about that. Bryce and d
Chambeau same thing, in the majors for years to come.
(22:32):
So I think they have a complicated problem on their hand. Now,
the good thing is live golf. Last week was fun.
I just saw highlights in Australia. Australia is a place
that loves golf, like Japan with baseball. It just it works.
If you put an event there, it's gonna be a party.
It is gonna pop on television. But I didn't watch.
(22:55):
I would imagine most of you didn't watch. You might
have seen some highlights on you, but you didn't watch
the event. And that's not gonna change. Like they're not
gonna be able to draw eyeballs now. The one thing
is because of their money back by Sadi, I don't
know if they truly care. They just want to take
over the PGA Tour. But remember the PGA Tour pushed
(23:16):
back after they went on TV on whatever June sixth
and talked about the merger because those guys want to
control everything, and when you're paying the money, when you're
the guy signing the check, ultimately they're the boss. So
if they were gonna get the majority of the juice
and fund all the money, they were gonna have a
lot of say. And clearly the PGA Tour has been
(23:38):
hesitant to let just basically a country run the professional game.
And I think that's a problem that's not necessarily gonna
get fixed. Now. A report this week that Roy McElroy,
who dropped off the player board, is back on the
player board. Maybe he thinks that he could help get
this thing over the line. He's buddies with Yaser. I
don't know, man, I don't feel great these talks about
(24:01):
equity and payments. None of us care. None of it matters.
It just truly does not. It's like what contract, well,
Lebron James signs next, I don't care. He's already super rich,
Like I don't care if it's one hundred and fifty million,
one hundred and thirty None of it matters. Where's he
gonna play? And that's the world of golf right now.
(24:22):
Where are they gonna play? And that's a problem for live.
They announced today that they theyre season ending tournament, the
equivalent of like the Tour Championship for the PGA Tour.
They played at east Lake, which some people have problems
with the course. I think it's fine. They're going to
a bowling brook, which I had never heard of in Chicago.
(24:46):
It is, of course a lot of people have been
posting it about on the internet that you can play
during the week for sixty dollars. On the weekend it's
eighty five dollars. Of course, me and you would have
no problem playing. Sounds like probably a fun little track.
And here's the problem. Chicago is home to some of
the best golf in America. Hell Live played last year
(25:10):
at rich Harvest Farms, which is one of the nicer
courses according to Golf Digest, in the state. But they
have all these other courses like Butler National, Medina, Olympia Fields.
These courses have hosted major championships, but Live has no
access to any of these courses none. Can you imagine
(25:31):
if I said that Greg Norman announced that Live's final
event will be at Pebble Beach, but damn might peak
at that. A huge part of golf is the course.
At the professional level. It draws us in last year,
I remember how excited I was to watch them play
at La Country Club. It's why Augusta is such a
(25:54):
big deal. It's why the Open Championship is so unique.
The links golf, they travel around all these different courses
in Scotland and Ireland. In the UK, it's cool. It
doesn't look like what we normally see. And then over
the course of the rotation, you kind of get familiar
with some of them, especially Saint Andrew's no different than
the US Open. You know they're gonna pla pebble every
(26:14):
once in a while. You know they're gonna play Olympic Club.
They played wing foot, I mean they played Oakmont like
they kind of getting this rotation. If you follow the
sport like I, Live has no because none of the
public courses that are any good. They're in business with
the PGA Tour, Tory Pines, TPC Scottsdale. None of these
people are gonna do Obviously TVC Scottsdale is owned by
(26:35):
the PGA Tour, but Tory Pine is a good example.
They're not gonna do business with Live. And then Live
has no access to any of the country clubs. Besides,
like if Trump wants to get involved, so the country
clubs that might draw, like damn, they're playing this weekend
at pick the course. I'll watch. It's just not gonna happen.
(26:59):
So I think Live has a course problem on top
of just we're not watching. But I do think that
would help domestically internationally I see what they're doing. They're
trying to spread out. It's cool. Australia is cool once
they go in some of these weird time zones, like
it's in the middle of the night. But I understand it.
The problem is they would love to have four or
(27:20):
five events here that are really big. They went to
Las Vegas. No one paid attention. Partly it was during
the Super Bowl, But I don't know. I mean, you
can talk about equity, you can talk about all these
payments until everyone gets on the same page, it's not
gonna be worth it to anyone. When I first got
in the podcast business, I got involved with kind of
this startup and one thing I was like, Okay, I'm
(27:42):
gonna fight for some equity in the company, and I
got a little company went under. Now, the PGA Tour
is not gonna go under. Live Golf is not gonna
go under. But the only way for equity to matter
is for the company to succeed is for it to
keep going up, So your equity actually has value. And
(28:03):
I don't know, I'm not very bullish on the situation.
Just like in theory Team Golf last week, the Zurich
it should be cool because you watch the Ryder Cup
or the President's Cup, and it's awesome. The difference is,
especially let's use the Ryder Cup. There is something special
when you put on your country's flag. Obviously, the international
(28:27):
team is dudes from all different countries. But you know
when we send a team either across the pond or domestically,
that our twelve guys are going to be representing America.
So yeah, they play you know, four ball, they play
you know, alternate shot whatever, but it's still like US America.
(28:49):
It's why when the World Cup happens, everyone gets excited
for American soccer, even though we consistently never do shit rightfully.
So we're not as good. Like I know, the Lakers
played the Douggets close. They're not as good. There's a
reason they have lost twelve of thirteen games against those
guys in the playoffs. They're just not as good. So
(29:10):
it's understandable. But at least you're like, they got Lebron
and Anthony Davis and no different than us. Even if
we go across the pond and lose, at least we're
rolling out some heavy hitters Koepka, Scheffler, JT Spieth, whoever,
even though those guys are shitty, but you know what
I mean. I think whearing your country flag is a
big deal. When you just watch team golf in a
(29:30):
random event, I don't really feel it, especially in the
problem for the Zurich is beside Rory and Shane Lowry,
which Rory had never played the event, and they told
a story on the broadcast. I just watched a little
on Sunday that it all kind of started when they
had lunch or something during the holidays, during that Christmas
(29:50):
time they both live I think in Jupiter, Florida. They're
obviously boys from the Ryder Cup and maybe Shane maybe
Rory's like, I want to do it. I don't know
exactly how it happened, but that's it's not typically the
tandem you see most of the groups. When I look
at the leaderboard, I'm like, I've never heard of these people.
I have never heard of these players, or they're like
(30:12):
random fringe PGA tour players. That's a problem. But I
think one thing with pro golf, and maybe you can
get a little redundant, I don't think it necessarily will
if you shorten up the season a little bit. Once
they get back together is watching three or four guys
coming down the stress trying to beat each other. I
think team golf kind of works when you're just playing
(30:34):
at your local club with three or your boys and
you're like, I'm paired of the bill playing Jeff and
Tyler and we're playing five bucks a hole, and it's
you don't even play alternate shot. Maybe you play best
ball and you do some sort of whatever you do,
and it kind of works, but it's very loose when
you play a serious match that way. I don't know
(30:56):
if it works when you don't have the flag associated
with the person, because that's what draws us into the
Ryder Cup, not necessarily the style they play. That just
be my take, because if you told me the Ryder
Cup they played individual matches, just match play every day
instead of the team events, I don't think it would
phase it at all. I'm glad they do it the
(31:17):
way they do it, But let's say they cut instead
of playing three or four team matches and the individual
at the end, they just had three of the five
were all individual match plays and you just rotated. I
think it would have the same vibe, I really do,
And I don't know, man, I know live has tried
to force the team element. And I understand because in
(31:40):
high school I played golf and football, and at the time,
in like two thousand and one, two thousand and two,
two thousand, golf was nowhere is cool and the amount
of people that play doesn't even come close to today.
So I remember feeling like kind of lonely, like I
didn't want to just hit balls by myself. I didn't
like it that much because in football you're so used
(32:02):
to like, Okay, I gotta go run gassers. Well I'm
doing it with like all my buddies, or we gotta
practice double days. Today you're dealing with everybody. In golf,
it's like, well you better get ready for this tournament.
You gotta practice by yourself three of the seven days,
beside a couple days of practice where you practice with
other guys. It's a very very lonely sport. So I
(32:23):
don't think these guys are lying on live when they say,
you know, I like the team element. But when you're
watching live or just paying attention to it, I never
check the teams where's everyone. I just look at the
individual leaderboard and I go whenever they're playing to live
dot Com and check the leaderboard individual leaderboard, like what's
dj doing today, Where's Bryson, How's Cam Smith doing in Australia.
(32:45):
I don't care about the team because that's not the
way the sport is constructed. There's a reason doubles tennis.
While it's fun if you're just an amateur tennis player,
most of the popular matches in my lifetime are singles,
Pete Sampers against Agassy, Federer against Djokovic, Nadal against Federer.
(33:07):
That's what we enjoy watching. And I just I think
that's a problem for golf because I think to live
and the Saudis really want to force this team element,
and I just don't think we'll care. And it's one
of those things. Hey, John, don't pigeonhole the way you
think about something. Things change. Once upon a time, the
NFL played fourteen games. Now they're about to play eighteen
(33:27):
with multiple buys. Things change, but the setup of the
sport and the way you operate doesn't change. I think
whenever you try to do something drastic, fans aren't done.
The n season tournament, all the media told me was
how cool it was, meant nothing to the majority of people. Ratings,
people didn't even watch Lakers won cool even they'd be
(33:50):
the first to tell you we'd gladly trade the N
Season Tournament to win some games in fucking April against
the Nuggets, because that's what matters, Winning events as an
individual matter, winning majors as an individual matter, Winning the
Ryder Cup matters, for sure. I kind of think that's
a one off. So I think Golf's gonna have to
(34:12):
figure that out, because I do think they're gonna try
to shoehorn some of this team stuff and I'm just
not sure any of us are gonna care. And I'm
a good example. I'm thirty nine years old. I've been
watching golf for thirty plus years. I love it. I
think I'm gonna have a hard time getting behind it.
I really am. It's gonna have a hard time, Like, Okay,
I gotta sit down and watch this. My first question
(34:32):
would be why that's why I said during the N
Season tournament, Why no one cares? Well, it's some fun
for what? Like? What is it? The individual tournaments they
have in soccer have been well established for a long
time that that's not a comparable parallel to what we're
(34:54):
trying to do over here. And what we're used to
and what we like, all four making little changes you
have to, even if I don't agree with them. The
NFL does it all the time, hip drop tackle the
way you can tackle the quarterback, and we all bitch
and moan. Golf's gonna try to do some rollback stuff
in theory. I get it. Don't think it's needed, but
(35:14):
I understand it. Like that's you're not gonna change the sport.
The sport of professional golf is one hundred and fifty
people trying to finish in the top ten, and one
guy's gonna win, and the next guy's gonna try to
finish in the top five, and they're all battling over
a purse of money. That's the essence of it all,
not like teams and this guy. No, it's not the
(35:36):
way it works. And I hope we don't change it
because I paid attention because I thought it was cool.
Lowry and Rory. Of course those guys won. They're the
best two players there. Most of the guys you couldn't
point out of a lineup if I offered you a
million dollars. So it's gonna be very very interesting where
they go. And if that's a big sticking point with
the potential finality of this merger. I think that's a steak.
(36:00):
Appreciate everyone listening. Like I said, get in the mailbag
at Golo Pod. At Golo Pod and I'll answer your questions.
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Speaker 1 (01:29):
What is going on? Everybody? John Middlecoff a Little Go
Low podcast. We took a little hiatus host the Masters
because of the NFL Draft. I don't know some of
you guys might have heard about it. So we've done
a lot of draft content over the last two weeks,
and I wanted to hit on some golf stuff because
(01:49):
we have our second major in a couple of weeks.
I looked on DraftKings, our friends at DraftKings. Scottie Scheffler
is currently forty to one to win the Grand Slam.
I would say most times that'd be insane to bet
on a guy to win the Grand Slam, But I
don't know, don't really hate it, and I've come around
because I was a little nervous betting him at the
(02:10):
PGA because of the baby situation. But if he has
the baby before the PGA Championship in the next couple weeks,
I think that number gets a little more interesting, especially
what he proved at the RBC not needing really any
rest or practice coming off the victory at the Masters.
I wanted to dive into the story that's flying around
about equity with the PGA Tour situation, with some of
(02:34):
its broadcast partners being in shambles, not having any money.
They don't even have a lead analyst right now for
the US Open NBC in like six weeks. Live Golf
is currently in Singapore. They just played in Australia. Obviously
the merger talks. Who knows. I mean, I don't feel
(02:55):
great about it, but just some thoughts on the current situation.
A problem Live is clearly facing in America. They just
announced where they're going to play their season ending championship.
It is just a run of the mill public course,
so I think that kind of symbolizes a bigger problem.
(03:17):
And then just some overall thoughts on team Golf. Not
really sure it works beside like the Ryder Cup in
the President's Cup. But I do a mail bag on
the Football show Three and Out. It's just my own Instagram.
I created an Instagram a while back at Golo Pod
at golopod so at glow Pod. It's his own Instagram feed.
(03:39):
I'm gonna start now that football's slowing down, doing a
bunch of more golf content on there. Fire in those dms,
and we will have segments on this show weekly where
we're just talking golf, whether it's questions about pro golf players, betting,
what's in your bag? I don't know anything, I don't
I don't care. Fire in at Golo pod and ask
(04:03):
your questions and we will start interacting with the people.
That is the game plan moving forward. So other than
that gambling this week on the CJ Cup, I like
Mark Hubbard. You can get him right now fifty to one,
but his top ten odds are like five to one.
His top twenty odds are almost plus two forty. So
(04:25):
he's a guy that's been playing well. He just played
pretty well last week in the team event. He's at
a good season, hasn't missed a cut. It's gonna be
a Birdie fest. So Mark Hubbard is one guy for
sure that I'm on. If you listen on Collins Feed,
make sure you subscribe to the feed. Three and out
lives here as well as as Golo and all of
our content is up on the YouTube page, so just
(04:45):
type in John Middlecoff to YouTube. We got all of
our content on video as well as audio. So got
a lot going on, so buckle up. Hopefully, you know,
got a little irons in the fire for some golf stuff.
Hearing some rumors about some stuff. No announcements yet, but
we will keep you updated as they come, so hopefully
some big things are in the works. Other than that,
(05:05):
before we dive into golf, I got to tell you
about my friends, a company I use and they happen
to be my partners. Game Time. Grab your smartphone, grab
your iPad, grab wherever you download your apps and download
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(05:29):
You want to go to a game, you live in
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do it on us. Go to a game promo code
go Lo save twenty dollars. NHL games. Whenever I see
NHL games playoff games on TV, I'm not even a
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crowds are incredible. If I had an NHL team in
(05:50):
my backyard, I no longer do they move to Utah
and they weren't any good to begin with, but it
was good. I would one million percent go to a game,
so download that app. Game time fast growing tickety app
in America. Promo code go low, save twenty dollars. Colin
used to have this thing back in the day before
he came to Fox, and I mean he still talks
about it, but it was like one of his big
(06:10):
takes was how he hated the underdog. He hated the
little guy. And I first started listening to him when
I was in college and throughout when I went to
Fresno State, and it used to tick me off because
I was working for the little guy and we weren't
ever good enough to make a run, but we played
Boise State. In Boise State, I often thought could like
(06:31):
compete with USC Texas whoever in the SEC, like they
were a national championship contender. Now they never got that opportunity,
but I truly believe that to my core. But I've
changed my thinking over time, and listen, I'm very grateful
to have gone to school at cal Poly and Fresno State,
(06:51):
two programs that are not the University of Texas or
Michigan Ohio State. When it comes to athletics, that's for sure.
And now, like as a fan, I like watching the
big dogs. I haven't watched much in the NBA playoffs.
I've watched every dribble or I did. It's over now
of the Lakers Nuggets, and it was fantastic, one of
the best five game series I've ever seen, mainly because
(07:15):
I love seeing the Lakers loose, and I knew they would.
But Jokic is clearly established himself is not only the
best player currently in the world, but one of the
best players we've ever seen. And right now he's about
to win his third MVP in like four years. Unless
someone on his team gets injured, including himself, they're gonna
win the NBA Championship. Like he's going into hallowed territory.
(07:38):
And I like watching guys separate from the pack. I
like watching the best teams and the best players. What
Patrick Mahomes just did is insanity. Win his third Super
Bowl in five years. He's established as not just the
best quarterback in the NFL, but one of the best
players we've ever seen. And he's like in the peak
(07:59):
of his powers, not even thirty yet, so like, how
far can he go? My favorite athlete by I mean
there's two of them. But as a kid, like anyone
born in the mid eighties, Michael Jordan was spectacular, and
then coming into your own as a sports fan, getting
to live through Tiger Woods is something we'll probably never
see again and something I'm very very glad that I
(08:19):
got to watch, and like really be able to defend
it because I've always often said, like, if you're in
a bar arguing with someone, if you didn't grow up
or were of age to watch that player, it's a
hard argument. YouTube does not do justice to when you're
watching a guy live, especially as you get older. Like
(08:40):
I can speak pretty confidently about Peyton Manning and Tom Brady,
about Steph Curry, about Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson and
Rory whoever. I mean the players that I've watched. It's
hard for me besides, like, yeah, I know Magic Johnson
and Larry Bird all time greats, but to like legitimately
get into an argument, like if we're getting into an
argument about Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer, even like Greg
(09:01):
Norman and Nick Faldough, like I don't feel as strong
in my argument. I can watch all the youtubes and
thirty for thirties and everything possible on the internet. It
is not the same. So watching Scotti Scheffler doing what
he's currently doing is freaking awesome. Now, the sad part
is is the tourists in turmoil, the tourist split and
television ratings are down despite golf in terms of the
(09:24):
amateur world never being more popular. More people are playing
golf in twenty twenty four than ever before. The access
is much easier. There are a ton of courses. The
public courses are absolutely packed. The waiting lists at country
clubs all over the country is a mile long. And
golf's very, very popular. It's a unique sport. Right. I
(09:45):
played high school football, have not played it down since.
Most people that play high school football never play in college.
Yet we become football fans the rest of our life.
But I'm never gonna throw a pass at lambeau Field.
I'm never gonna run for a yard in Hinsfield, right
where the Pittsburgh Steelers play. It's like I'll never shoot
(10:07):
baskets at MSG. But I can play golf at the
overwhelming majority of courses that pros play, And if you're
lucky enough to run in the right circles, you might
even get access to some of the sweet courses they
play that are country clubs. It's not possible, Like if
you're a tennis player, you're not playing Wimbledon. That's what
makes golf pretty special, and Tiger really brought that to light.
(10:30):
He made it cool. I don't know if Scotty Scheffler
is that he's not even close to the level of
superstar that Tiger was, but he is a special player
in the peak of his powers. And after he won
the Masters pretty easily, I thought the most impressive accomplishment
he's had in his career, and he's won the Masters twice,
(10:52):
was winning The next week he literally went home. His
wife was pregnant. When he gets home to Texas, she's asleep.
He goes out with the boys. Forty eight hours later,
he flies back to you know the RBC at like
Tuesday night. Start slow on Thursday, and then you look
up on Sunday. He's kicking the shit out of everybody.
And I've dune draft Kings today. Right now they have
(11:13):
a special for him to win the Grand Slam. He's
forty to one now. I've said after the Masters, the
only thing, like I think is over under right, now
on majors is two and a half. That's what I
would put it at because I think between Pinehurst and
the Open Championship he's a lock to win one of
(11:33):
those two. The only reason I'm hesitant on the PGA
Championship in Valhalla is because his wife any day could
have a baby. And then the moment when you first
have a baby, you don't sleep, You're sleeping in a
terrible chair bed, never had one, but seeing pictures bend
to the room after my friends and brothers have had kids.
(11:54):
But it is a It's a life changing moment, and
a life changing moment for you personally, especially in the
short term, just with sleep and your routine is going
to be thrown off. So who knows how much practice
he's gonna have before the PGA. And then I started
thinking like, well, he had no practice or probably slept
that much or did anything the couple days leading into
(12:17):
the RBC, and he basically won with his fucking eyes closed,
So why couldn't he win a major now? Obviously if
his wife hasn't gone into labor, And that's a story
that to me would have much more substance behind it
because she could actually have the baby. That's a whole
different conversation. But if the baby happens before, you know,
(12:37):
I don't know if I'm off him that much. And
if he were to win Valhalla, that forty to one
to me probably goes down to like twelve to one immediately,
because one I think he's winning Pinehurst. I mean it
sets up perfectly for him, and by then he will
have enough time to kind of get his routine and
just gets a normal sleep in order for the major push.
(13:00):
I looked at last year, and remember he couldn't putt
last year. He was an awful putter. He finished T
ten at the Masters, which probably gonna be an outlier
for his career because he's gonna win that thing like
five times. And then the next two majors, the PGA.
In the US Open at La Country Club, he finished
T two and third. Again could not put the British Open,
(13:22):
which has given him some trouble though he's only played
in three. He finished T twenty three and two years ago.
His best finished in twenty twenty one was T eight.
I guess my overall point is I don't think it's
crazy at all to throw a little money on him.
Forty to one to win the Grand Slam seems crazy, right,
just because of how difficult it is, how much pressure
(13:44):
is on these majors. But for the first time since Tiger,
you're like, yeah, this is real, this is very, very possible. Now.
The crazy thing is when Tiger was in his heyday,
you know, people love to make fun like it was
just plumbers and fireman is type guys he was playing. Now,
he played against some pretty good players last time I checked,
like Ernie Els could play, VJ. Sink could play. I mean,
(14:07):
David Duvall in the late nineties was pretty damn good.
Now the depth of talent was nowhere near what it
is now, not even close. But Scotty showed like he's
not even that affected by it. I don't give a
shit how good all these guys are. I'm dramatically better.
I'm dramatically better now. The irony is the one guy
that could take him down is a guy that would
(14:27):
be playing potentially in a second major. Ludwig, who is
clearly a special, got a chance to be a transcendent talent.
So I just think this forty to one number. If
you would have told me before the year, We're just
moving forward. Anyone could ever win the Grand Slam again.
I'd be like, it'd be shocking if a guy won
two majors in a year. Given the current crop of
(14:50):
guys playing in these major championship and the depth of
just elite players. I mean it goes, it goes fifteen
deep with just high high end players. I don't know,
he might just be that much better than everyone. Despite
the baby situation. The PGA Tour, there was a story
(15:14):
that came out, i think a couple of days ago that, let's,
let's face it, the tours in shambles. Noah fans or
busts about it. It's it's it's embarrassing. The state of
professional golf has nothing to do with us, has to
do with Sadi's buying all these guys, Jay Moonahan being
just pretty bad at his job, the players not being
(15:36):
hands on enough, and then once Jay fucked everything up,
now that they're really hands on, and ultimately they don't
care what we think, which is a problem because the sport,
just like all these professional sports, are very determined on
how many people watch. It's about television. It's about your
TV product and the ratings you do to be able
(15:57):
to sell it. Now, the PGA Tour sold rights a
couple of years ago for a lot of money, so
that number is set, like the NBA ratings are down,
but it doesn't impact the players because it's a fixed
number over a ten year period of time. Now every
time you renegotiate if it goes If it were to
ever go down, it'd be a problem. But the PGA
Tour is looking at another six to seven year runway
(16:19):
of this current deal. The problem is one of their partners, NBC,
is in financial shambles. They do not have the lead analysts,
which would be like the CBS not knowing who is
going to be sitting next to Jim Nantz six weeks
before the NFLC That would never happen. It would be inconceivable. Well,
(16:40):
Kevin Kisner, who clearly should transition to TA I love
Kiss and I hope he goes full time with TV.
They're not offering him any money, so he's like, I'm
not committing to this. They fired Paul Asinger last year,
which time to go. Paul's just wasn't that good as
his job. Good player seems like a good guy Television
not very good. Jeff O, who I see sometimes at
(17:01):
the gym. Haven't had quite the balls to say anything.
I don't know the smooth interaction like hey Jeff Podcaster, like, hey,
hey Jeff, loved you. When you're going to totoe a tite,
I gotta think of a smooth interaction. He's always doing squats,
you see, has got that long, skinny body. Obviously, I've
talked to a couple of people that know him, says
great guy, so I just need to go up and
(17:22):
talk to him. But he's another guy that like, they're
not offering any money, and financially they're cutting costs, which
impacts the product, which they clearly struggle on. And the
only reason they own the US Open is because Fox,
who paid a billion dollars for realized early like we're
not gonna be able to make any money. We're out.
So they got it on like a fifty percent discount.
(17:42):
Fox is paying for like fifty percent of it. So
NBC didn't even buy the US Open for a normal rate.
They got it on a discount and they're still going cheap. Well.
The PGA Tour, while dealing with this, obviously has lift
that has poached a lot of their players and they
can't compete right, if liv is gonna offer sixty million
(18:03):
dollars for Terrell Hatton, what the fuck are you gonna do?
Let alone the hundreds of millions of dollars they're paying
DJ Kopka, Phil Rawm, You're done, They're gone. So it
was reported last week that Joe Pampliono, I might be
screwing up his name, but he's a really good like
sports business insider. He had this long thing on LinkedIn
(18:24):
which I'm trying to get a little more active on that.
The way their structure is gonna work now, equity is
not the same as giving you one hundred million dollars, right,
So they're giving Tiger Woods one hundred million dollars in equity.
These were the four names that I read. They just
had specific numbers, fifty million to Rory and thirty to
JT and to Speed. Now you can't the equity doesn't
(18:48):
have any value on the open market. Tiger couldn't just
cash out next year for one hundred million dollars. Takes
four years the best and then you can sell or
cash out fifty percent of it. And I when you
get equity in something, and listen, since I've been in
the podcast, world. I only do things that I have
ownership in, right. It doesn't always mean upfront cash, but
(19:10):
big picture, to have equity ownership in anything I found
for myself incentivizes me greatly. I am much more inclined
to do a podcast every single day knowing that I
got skin in the game. It's fucking mine. Why wouldn't
I wouldn't be the same if you just paid me
a fixed cost to have the same type of juice.
Look at liv Like if you gave me one hundred
(19:32):
million dollars. Look at dj it's a great example. And
they gave him one hundred and fifty million plus, and
he even admitted, like, yeah, I don't practice much hard
to blame them, it's human nature. Most people are not
wired like Tiger and Brady. Most people, even high level people,
are closer to Djail. Yeah, it's like I've already made
hundreds of million dollars. Now I got this money guarantee,
I don't need to work as hard. We're all somewhat
(19:53):
similar in our wiring upstairs. So when you give the
equity now, it does incentivize these guys, even though they
will never ever make as much as they would have
got going to live, but to give everything they have
to the product. Now, the problem is Tiger's somewhat of
(20:13):
an outlier. I would even say Rory Jordan and Speak
are good examples, two guys around thirty years old that
have been prominent, famous members of the PGA tour that
the tour needs because of their fame equity with us
the fans in terms of name recognition and just their
star power, is to do everything possible to help out
(20:37):
the sport. And I do think they're trying, But how
do you not how do you do something that you
don't even know what to do? Like where would they
even begin to start? And this is the thing I
understand why the Arthur Blanks and the Steve Cohens and
all these guys with money get involved because it's an
opportunity and they're so flushed with cash. Like why we
(21:00):
put in a couple hundred million dollars raise three billion dollars.
See where it goes? Ideally it turns into a ten
billion dollar operation. But there is a chance if they
stay splintered, this equity won't amount to much because right
now and for the foreseeable future, they don't have much
going and the only way it's not about walking talks
(21:22):
on the on the course where they put a earpod
into someone's ear and they talk for a hole. That's cool.
Or the Friday happy hours where you know a famous
player sits down with Smiley and chops it up for
an hour, that's also cool. That's not doing anything. It's
not moving the needle. The only thing that matters, the
only thing to make this business and this equity worthwhile
(21:47):
for everyone involved, the players, these these rich people that
are put fronting the money, is to get everyone back
playing together, not four times a year, but like fifteen.
And I think the challenges to get these live guys
to come back, Like what's their incentive now the moment
some of them stop dropping out of the majors because
(22:09):
they don't meet the qualifications. Yeah, they're more incentives to
sign incentivized to sign off. But DJ won a major
a couple of years ago, and he's into the Masters
for life. Like he's in these majors for a while.
Rom won the US Open, won the Masters last year.
He doesn't have to worry about that. Bryce and d
Chambeau same thing, in the majors for years to come.
(22:32):
So I think they have a complicated problem on their hand. Now,
the good thing is live golf. Last week was fun.
I just saw highlights in Australia. Australia is a place
that loves golf, like Japan with baseball. It just it works.
If you put an event there, it's gonna be a party.
It is gonna pop on television. But I didn't watch.
(22:55):
I would imagine most of you didn't watch. You might
have seen some highlights on you, but you didn't watch
the event. And that's not gonna change. Like they're not
gonna be able to draw eyeballs now. The one thing
is because of their money back by Sadi, I don't
know if they truly care. They just want to take
over the PGA Tour. But remember the PGA Tour pushed
(23:16):
back after they went on TV on whatever June sixth
and talked about the merger because those guys want to
control everything, and when you're paying the money, when you're
the guy signing the check, ultimately they're the boss. So
if they were gonna get the majority of the juice
and fund all the money, they were gonna have a
lot of say. And clearly the PGA Tour has been
(23:38):
hesitant to let just basically a country run the professional game.
And I think that's a problem that's not necessarily gonna
get fixed. Now. A report this week that Roy McElroy,
who dropped off the player board, is back on the
player board. Maybe he thinks that he could help get
this thing over the line. He's buddies with Yaser. I
don't know, man, I don't feel great these talks about
(24:01):
equity and payments. None of us care. None of it matters.
It just truly does not. It's like what contract, well,
Lebron James signs next, I don't care. He's already super rich,
Like I don't care if it's one hundred and fifty million,
one hundred and thirty None of it matters. Where's he
gonna play? And that's the world of golf right now.
(24:22):
Where are they gonna play? And that's a problem for live.
They announced today that they theyre season ending tournament, the
equivalent of like the Tour Championship for the PGA Tour.
They played at east Lake, which some people have problems
with the course. I think it's fine. They're going to
a bowling brook, which I had never heard of in Chicago.
(24:46):
It is, of course a lot of people have been
posting it about on the internet that you can play
during the week for sixty dollars. On the weekend it's
eighty five dollars. Of course, me and you would have
no problem playing. Sounds like probably a fun little track.
And here's the problem. Chicago is home to some of
the best golf in America. Hell Live played last year
(25:10):
at rich Harvest Farms, which is one of the nicer
courses according to Golf Digest, in the state. But they
have all these other courses like Butler National, Medina, Olympia Fields.
These courses have hosted major championships, but Live has no
access to any of these courses none. Can you imagine
(25:31):
if I said that Greg Norman announced that Live's final
event will be at Pebble Beach, but damn might peak
at that. A huge part of golf is the course.
At the professional level. It draws us in last year,
I remember how excited I was to watch them play
at La Country Club. It's why Augusta is such a
(25:54):
big deal. It's why the Open Championship is so unique.
The links golf, they travel around all these different courses
in Scotland and Ireland. In the UK, it's cool. It
doesn't look like what we normally see. And then over
the course of the rotation, you kind of get familiar
with some of them, especially Saint Andrew's no different than
the US Open. You know they're gonna pla pebble every
(26:14):
once in a while. You know they're gonna play Olympic Club.
They played wing foot, I mean they played Oakmont like
they kind of getting this rotation. If you follow the
sport like I, Live has no because none of the
public courses that are any good. They're in business with
the PGA Tour, Tory Pines, TPC Scottsdale. None of these
people are gonna do Obviously TVC Scottsdale is owned by
(26:35):
the PGA Tour, but Tory Pine is a good example.
They're not gonna do business with Live. And then Live
has no access to any of the country clubs. Besides,
like if Trump wants to get involved, so the country
clubs that might draw, like damn, they're playing this weekend
at pick the course. I'll watch. It's just not gonna happen.
(26:59):
So I think Live has a course problem on top
of just we're not watching. But I do think that
would help domestically internationally I see what they're doing. They're
trying to spread out. It's cool. Australia is cool once
they go in some of these weird time zones, like
it's in the middle of the night. But I understand it.
The problem is they would love to have four or
(27:20):
five events here that are really big. They went to
Las Vegas. No one paid attention. Partly it was during
the Super Bowl, But I don't know. I mean, you
can talk about equity, you can talk about all these
payments until everyone gets on the same page, it's not
gonna be worth it to anyone. When I first got
in the podcast business, I got involved with kind of
this startup and one thing I was like, Okay, I'm
(27:42):
gonna fight for some equity in the company, and I
got a little company went under. Now, the PGA Tour
is not gonna go under. Live Golf is not gonna
go under. But the only way for equity to matter
is for the company to succeed is for it to
keep going up, So your equity actually has value. And
(28:03):
I don't know, I'm not very bullish on the situation.
Just like in theory Team Golf last week, the Zurich
it should be cool because you watch the Ryder Cup
or the President's Cup, and it's awesome. The difference is,
especially let's use the Ryder Cup. There is something special
when you put on your country's flag. Obviously, the international
(28:27):
team is dudes from all different countries. But you know
when we send a team either across the pond or domestically,
that our twelve guys are going to be representing America.
So yeah, they play you know, four ball, they play
you know, alternate shot whatever, but it's still like US America.
(28:49):
It's why when the World Cup happens, everyone gets excited
for American soccer, even though we consistently never do shit rightfully.
So we're not as good. Like I know, the Lakers
played the Douggets close. They're not as good. There's a
reason they have lost twelve of thirteen games against those
guys in the playoffs. They're just not as good. So
(29:10):
it's understandable. But at least you're like, they got Lebron
and Anthony Davis and no different than us. Even if
we go across the pond and lose, at least we're
rolling out some heavy hitters Koepka, Scheffler, JT Spieth, whoever,
even though those guys are shitty, but you know what
I mean. I think whearing your country flag is a
big deal. When you just watch team golf in a
(29:30):
random event, I don't really feel it, especially in the
problem for the Zurich is beside Rory and Shane Lowry,
which Rory had never played the event, and they told
a story on the broadcast. I just watched a little
on Sunday that it all kind of started when they
had lunch or something during the holidays, during that Christmas
(29:50):
time they both live I think in Jupiter, Florida. They're
obviously boys from the Ryder Cup and maybe Shane maybe
Rory's like, I want to do it. I don't know
exactly how it happened, but that's it's not typically the
tandem you see most of the groups. When I look
at the leaderboard, I'm like, I've never heard of these people.
I have never heard of these players, or they're like
(30:12):
random fringe PGA tour players. That's a problem. But I
think one thing with pro golf, and maybe you can
get a little redundant, I don't think it necessarily will
if you shorten up the season a little bit. Once
they get back together is watching three or four guys
coming down the stress trying to beat each other. I
think team golf kind of works when you're just playing
(30:34):
at your local club with three or your boys and
you're like, I'm paired of the bill playing Jeff and
Tyler and we're playing five bucks a hole, and it's
you don't even play alternate shot. Maybe you play best
ball and you do some sort of whatever you do,
and it kind of works, but it's very loose when
you play a serious match that way. I don't know
(30:56):
if it works when you don't have the flag associated
with the person, because that's what draws us into the
Ryder Cup, not necessarily the style they play. That just
be my take, because if you told me the Ryder
Cup they played individual matches, just match play every day
instead of the team events, I don't think it would
phase it at all. I'm glad they do it the
(31:17):
way they do it, But let's say they cut instead
of playing three or four team matches and the individual
at the end, they just had three of the five
were all individual match plays and you just rotated. I
think it would have the same vibe, I really do,
And I don't know, man, I know live has tried
to force the team element. And I understand because in
(31:40):
high school I played golf and football, and at the time,
in like two thousand and one, two thousand and two,
two thousand, golf was nowhere is cool and the amount
of people that play doesn't even come close to today.
So I remember feeling like kind of lonely, like I
didn't want to just hit balls by myself. I didn't
like it that much because in football you're so used
(32:02):
to like, Okay, I gotta go run gassers. Well I'm
doing it with like all my buddies, or we gotta
practice double days. Today you're dealing with everybody. In golf,
it's like, well you better get ready for this tournament.
You gotta practice by yourself three of the seven days,
beside a couple days of practice where you practice with
other guys. It's a very very lonely sport. So I
(32:23):
don't think these guys are lying on live when they say,
you know, I like the team element. But when you're
watching live or just paying attention to it, I never
check the teams where's everyone. I just look at the
individual leaderboard and I go whenever they're playing to live
dot Com and check the leaderboard individual leaderboard, like what's
dj doing today, Where's Bryson, How's Cam Smith doing in Australia.
(32:45):
I don't care about the team because that's not the
way the sport is constructed. There's a reason doubles tennis.
While it's fun if you're just an amateur tennis player,
most of the popular matches in my lifetime are singles,
Pete Sampers against Agassy, Federer against Djokovic, Nadal against Federer.
(33:07):
That's what we enjoy watching. And I just I think
that's a problem for golf because I think to live
and the Saudis really want to force this team element,
and I just don't think we'll care. And it's one
of those things. Hey, John, don't pigeonhole the way you
think about something. Things change. Once upon a time, the
NFL played fourteen games. Now they're about to play eighteen
(33:27):
with multiple buys. Things change, but the setup of the
sport and the way you operate doesn't change. I think
whenever you try to do something drastic, fans aren't done.
The n season tournament, all the media told me was
how cool it was, meant nothing to the majority of people. Ratings,
people didn't even watch Lakers won cool even they'd be
(33:50):
the first to tell you we'd gladly trade the N
Season Tournament to win some games in fucking April against
the Nuggets, because that's what matters, Winning events as an
individual matter, winning majors as an individual matter, Winning the
Ryder Cup matters, for sure. I kind of think that's
a one off. So I think Golf's gonna have to
(34:12):
figure that out, because I do think they're gonna try
to shoehorn some of this team stuff and I'm just
not sure any of us are gonna care. And I'm
a good example. I'm thirty nine years old. I've been
watching golf for thirty plus years. I love it. I
think I'm gonna have a hard time getting behind it.
I really am. It's gonna have a hard time, Like, Okay,
I gotta sit down and watch this. My first question
(34:32):
would be why that's why I said during the N
Season tournament, Why no one cares? Well, it's some fun
for what? Like? What is it? The individual tournaments they
have in soccer have been well established for a long
time that that's not a comparable parallel to what we're
(34:54):
trying to do over here. And what we're used to
and what we like, all four making little changes you
have to, even if I don't agree with them. The
NFL does it all the time, hip drop tackle the
way you can tackle the quarterback, and we all bitch
and moan. Golf's gonna try to do some rollback stuff
in theory. I get it. Don't think it's needed, but
(35:14):
I understand it. Like that's you're not gonna change the sport.
The sport of professional golf is one hundred and fifty
people trying to finish in the top ten, and one
guy's gonna win, and the next guy's gonna try to
finish in the top five, and they're all battling over
a purse of money. That's the essence of it all,
not like teams and this guy. No, it's not the
(35:36):
way it works. And I hope we don't change it
because I paid attention because I thought it was cool.
Lowry and Rory. Of course those guys won. They're the
best two players there. Most of the guys you couldn't
point out of a lineup if I offered you a
million dollars. So it's gonna be very very interesting where
they go. And if that's a big sticking point with
the potential finality of this merger. I think that's a steak.
(36:00):
Appreciate everyone listening. Like I said, get in the mailbag
at Golo Pod. At Golo Pod and I'll answer your questions.
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