Go Low - Scottie is the best, Where is Jordan's game, Weekend's best bets

John Middlekauff dives into Scottie Scheffler's domination from this past weekend and talks about how he is so much better than everyone else right now. Next, John talks about Jordan Speith and if we'll ever see the Jordan we saw years ago. Later, John gives you his best picks for this weekend's tournament.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
Hopefully you are enjoying this day wherever you may be

(00:21):
and living well in the real world. Today, we're gonna
take a day off from football, take a deep breath,
and do a little go Lo podcast. React to Scottie
Scheffler's dominant win. If that was a football game, it'd
be like winning fifty to ten. He wins by eight strokes.
At one point in time he was up double digits.
Just an absolute butt whooping. And we'll dive into some

(00:44):
other stuff. There were some comments made by a few
players in regards to the signature events. There's one this
week at the Philly Cricket Club. Some thoughts on LIV
their ratings feel like they're getting worse. But Bryson d.
Chambeau won in Korea. We had a pretty injury to
you know, a pretty big name player. And we will
also answer some of your questions from at Golo Pod,

(01:07):
which is the Instagram account which I answer golf questions from.
Obviously we do a big one for football and life
and just everyday stuff on my on my Instagram account,
I made a separate one at Golo Pod, which I
do golf stuff, and it's the easiest way to get
involved on this show, which is you know, obviously golf

(01:28):
centric operation when we do a little go lo. So
we got we got the PGA Championship right around the corner, which,
as Jordan called it, Rory McElroy Country Club, which is
next week. So prepare to get ready because I'm really
excited Quail Hollow, Rory, Scotty Bryson. It feels like a
three horse race right now. So we will dive deep

(01:49):
into that next week. Because I love gambling on the majors.
Nothing is better and nothing I look forward to non
football when it comes to gambling than the four Majors.
So before we dive in to Scottie Scheffler, I do
need to tell you about my friends, my partners in
the official ticketing app of this podcast. Last night, I

(02:11):
was at the DraftKings Bet gala put on by Dave Portnoy,
and I was hanging out with Mike Commodore. You know,
he actually was a guest on this podcast last summer,
the hockey player, incredible storyteller, and we were watching some
playoff hockey and he was just telling me about the
best arenas to see a game there is nothing like

(02:33):
playoff hockey. I mean the intensity of it. I kept
telling them I'm not even a hockey guy, and I
am glued to the playoffs obviously, the NBA playoffs. I mean,
if you live in New York area and you want
to see her knicks, at minimum, there're gonna be one
coming home. So any game you want to go, do
playoff game. We got baseball in full swing right now.
We have Obviously, you know concert season is going, So

(02:58):
if you want to go see some live music, get
out of the house. Go do something fun like go
enjoy yourself, have a bruski, have a cocktail, sing some songs,
dance a little bit with a loved one, with a child,
with your cousin, with your mother or father. Go have
a good time and do it on us. So take
the guest work out of buying tickets with game Time.
Download the game Time app, create an account, use the

(03:20):
go John for twenty dollars off your first purchase terms
apply again, create an account and redeem the code Joegen
for twenty dollars off down in the game Time app.
Today last minute ticket's lowest price is guaranteed. Okay, last week,
I was looking at the field, it was not good
relative to signature events and majors. When Jordan Speith at

(03:41):
essentially twenty to one is the second betting favorite to
win a golf tournament in twenty twenty five, that that
tells you everything you need to know. And my logic
was pretty simple. One if you're an elite competitor, if
you're an elite player and things don't go your way,
whether you're playing poorly or whether you're like Scotty, you're

(04:03):
trying to make some raviolis and you cut your hand
and it kind of derails the early part of your season.
Now relative to basically every other player in the world
besides like Rory McElroy, he has had a very successful
start to the season. He just had won and he's
coming off a year where it felt like he won
twenty five times. So it's like I looked at it
and went, well, he's playing a home game. He grew

(04:26):
up going to this tournament. Now it's changed courses, but
it means a lot to him, it means a lot
to his family and as a competitor when it does
feel because while he's the number one player in the
world and I think as of this week, it's now
gone on to the third longest streak in the history
of number one's. Obviously Tiger holds it basically for like

(04:49):
a decade. Greg Norman a second, and now Scotty is
third for the longest running time as the number one
player in the world. But in twenty twenty five, Rory
has played better than Scotty and going into the second
major of the year, where Rory is now on DraftKings
has the same odds as Scotty Scheffler. I mean, think
about the Masters, Scotty was three to one and Rory

(05:11):
was like six or seven to one, and now I
look yesterday they're both five to one, and that feels right. Now.
This is a course like Augusta with Scotty that is
very advantageous for Rory McElroy's game. He has had a
lot of success there. But like based on the way
they've played this year beside last week, Like if you

(05:32):
want to make Rory mclroy the favorite, I don't blame you,
but I went you know what I do. Believe what
it's all said and done, Scotty will be considered one
of the greatest American players to ever play golf. I
think he will have I don't know if he will
win the career Grand Slam, but he is going to
win more majors than just win the Masters, and he's
probably not one a done winning the Masters. If I

(05:55):
had to guess right now over under Scotty majors, I'd
say around six, Like he is clearly one of the
greatest talents we've ever seen. And last week was like,
I think Scotty gets it done. Now. Did I believe
that he would annihilate the field? At one point in
time it was I remember texting someone he was on

(06:16):
like hole twelve. It was Thursday. He had played fourteen
holes in a golf tournament. You have to play seventy two.
He was like minus two fifty to win the golf tournament.
By the end of Friday, he was minus twelve hundred
to win the golf tournament. That's unheard of. It's absurd.
He annihilated everyone. And sometimes I think, and this is

(06:39):
I've taken the tactic and the the I guess the
outlook when gambling, like don't don't not think the room here,
don't try to hit some eighty to one guy bet
Rory Bete Bryce and bet Scottie and that is what
I plan on doing at the PGA Championship. And listen, no,
I would say group that covers of sport can try

(07:02):
to be more hipster, like watch out for the Thunder.
They're gonna roll to the championship. Like are we sure
their second best player weighs like one hundred and ten pounds?
They're playing Nikole Jokicic. I don't know one of the
greatest basketball players in the history of the sport. Honestly,
I've been a die hard sports fan for thirty plus years.

(07:23):
He's easily one of the greatest players I've ever seen.
Should it be that shocking that in Game one he
had forty two points, twenty rebounds, and six assists and
they won. They have the best player on their team,
not on the Thunder. It's like, well, Shay's gonna win
the MVP. Michael Jordan didn't always win the MVP. Lebron

(07:44):
had a stretch in his prime where he didn't always
win the MVP. It was obvious to anyone with a
working brain who the best player was. And listen, betting
on golf tournaments is a lot different than betting on
a basketball game. Or a football game when there are
only two teams right, one has to win, one to lose.
You were betting against an entire field and all it
takes is some random dude in that field to have

(08:05):
a career day. Some guys did and they didn't even
get close. Scotti Scheffler essentially averaged eight under par for
four straight rounds. That is absurd. Jordan Speith, who I
had a little parlay. I took Scotty to win, and
I took Jordan to top ten. It was not looking good,
it was not gonna hit. And then the guy went
nuclear on Sunday and shot nine under par. Scottie Scheffler

(08:28):
averaged eight under part so it's like he went nuts
and he shot nine under par for one day, lowest
round of the day and got in the top five,
which was a really impressive day for Jordan. What Scotty
just did last weekend is what Nikola Jokic does, is
what Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson do. They are
better than everybody else, and it's what is I think

(08:50):
a big reason right now the PGA ratings are are
like a rocket ship. This last week with Scotty was
up sixty six percent based on last year. The previous
week with Justin Thomas winning at the RBC was up
I think like twenty five to thirty percent. Obviously, the
Masters was one of the most watched Masters in like

(09:10):
a long time since Tiger Woods. This isn't a complicated
formula get the best star players to win and in
a hard part in golf, like you're not guaranteed that.
And the cool part about golf is like you don't
necessarily need it to be Scotty versus Rory. It can
be Rory versus me and you. It can be Justin
Thomas versus Andrew Novak no shade. It can be Scotty

(09:33):
Scheffler versus Taylor Pendriz. It can be some of these
random matchups. As long as you have the star the tour.
It wasn't always Tiger Woods against Ernie Els or Tiger
Woods against Podrick Harrington. Sometimes it would be Tiger Woods
against some guy that you would never really hear about again.
And you know what, as long as it was Tiger
Woods versus fill in the blank, it works. This is

(09:54):
a star driven sport and right now I think we
have three needle movers. Scotty clearly Rory, Scottie and Bryson
and these guys are playing it. Bryson just won last weekend.
I think Rory is a lot of momentum coming into
the Philly Cricket Club. I don't know how much he's,
you know, gonna care this week in terms of just

(10:15):
getting his game dialed in for the following week. Much
shorter course than Quail Hollow. But regardless, this sport is
dependent on its stars, always has been, always will be.
It's an individual sport from Arnold Palmer to Jack to
Greg Norman, to guys like John Daly and Phil Mickelson
through Tiger Woods to this crew now. And I think

(10:37):
the tour is pretty lucky that their most famous and
best players are dominating. And I was talking to someone
about this the other day, my buddy Scottie Raver, really
good golfer. I was like, listen, this lift thing is failing.
It is dying on the vine. No one is watching.
People have reported that the uh that you know, the

(10:59):
fun mechanism as essentially said like, you guys gotta start
making money. We're gonna stop cutting checks. And some of
these contracts are coming up and it's like, are they
gonna renew some of these guys for like one hundred
million dollars, one hundred and fifty million dollars, fifty million dollars.
No chance that this thing is going to die, right
if they are truly like watching the expenses and the

(11:22):
profits and trying to go is this gonna work? It's not. Listen,
I love golf as much as most diehard golf people.
It is an unwatchable product. But Bryson is really important
and for the PGA Tour, if they can get him back,
I think that would be a game changer because right
now you've got Scottie Scheffler in the prime of his career,
you got Rory McElroy in the middle of his second prime,

(11:45):
and clearly Bryson is just an elite player that you
know it is just a needle moving, interesting guy to
watch play. But I think last week just wasn't that complicated,
just like sometimes basketball isn't that complicated. Who is the
best player? Like that's like they go ten deep, they
got these great out of bounds plays. It's like, yeah,
I got nicolea Jokic, I got Steph Curry, I got

(12:07):
Anthony Edwards, and you don't you know Scotti Scheffler's in
this field and Rory McElroy, Xander Schaffle, Colin Moricowa, Bryson D.
Chambeau or not. So yeah, his odds are a little
lowering three to one that they should be like minus
one ten and they were really quick after about nine holes.

(12:27):
So congrats to Scottie Scheffler. Very cool moment watching him
get choked up. His family's all there, obviously, his kids there,
his sister. He made his debut eleven years ago as
a high school kid in the tournament and he finished t.
Twenty five. So he's just an awesome player. Jordan Speith,

(12:51):
it's always fun. Like as someone I think I said
last week that you know, I don't know if he's
a Ryder Cup guy. He definitely still has the opportunity
to earn that in more weeks. I'm not putting that
much stock again into a field that's really shitty to
finish fourth, But you know, he is just a very
very entertaining player to watch and he's probably the easiest

(13:13):
guy on PGA Tour to root for. But he had
a comment that it kind of made me laugh. He's like,
it wasn't that long ago that I was definitely better
than him, speaking of Scotty, because they played together in
the first two rounds and Scotty obliterated him, and now
I'm definitely not. And it got me thinking, like, now,
Jordan has actually been a little while since you were

(13:34):
definitely better than him. It's been like four plus years.
That's it's we're going on. We're headed toward like sixty months.
This wasn't like, you know, two years I was better
than the guy, like you know, seven months ago, I
was better than the guy. This guy has been dramatically
better than you for a while now. And I don't
blame Jordan for, you know, trying to justify like you know,

(13:56):
once upon a time, yea, once upon a time, like
like last dec But it's always fun to see Jordan
get rolling. And I think clearly Keegan Bradley, who actually
is hosting a Ryder Cup dinner in Philadelphia, which I
would imagine Jordan is invited to, would love to see
him play well because we know the pairing of him

(14:18):
and Justin, and now Justin is essentially a lock for
the team. I think he would love to bring him
on the team, but he's gonna have to earn it,
and more showings like that, Like I like Jordan's speed
this week, so more showings like that it would be
really important. Another thing in regards to this dinner, he
has invited Bryce and d Chambeau and Brooks Koepka to

(14:40):
the dinner in Philadelphia. So one thing's clear. A couple
of years ago, none of the live guys played in
the Ryder Cup. Remember John Rahm right after the Ryder Cup.
It wasn't right after, but within a month or two
had signed with LIFF. But he had waited till he
played in that Ryder Cup to make that decision because

(15:01):
clearly it means a lot to him. That's out the
window all these John Rahm is playing in the Ryder Cup,
Bryson d Chambeau is playing in the Ryder Cup. Kepka
I would say, is up in the air. But he
has a couple good majors. Based on the way our
team looks, he's probably going to be in the Ryder Cup,
and Sergio Garcia if he continues to have it or
like has a good major season, would definitely be a

(15:23):
Ryder Cup option. Now the European team is pretty deep,
but that's the right move. Like no one cares what
tour you're on. Bryson d Chambeau should be on all
the American teams. And if Koepka or Dustin Johnson or whoever,
whichever one of these guys is playing well, they should
be on the team as well. And I would say
next year when the President's Cup happens, I don't give

(15:44):
a shit what the rules are. Cam Smith, if he's
playing well enough, should be on the President's Cup. This
Mark Leishman, if he's playing well enough, should be on
the President's Cup. Obviously Bryson should be on the American team.
But yeah, so I do think the the Ryder Cup
situation is going to be more enjoyable because the live

(16:05):
guys are going to be invited to the party where
they were not a couple of years ago. I also
got me thinking because Eric van Royan, who finished second
in and had i mean, probably one of the better
weeks of his career, he just happened to be playing
with Scotti Scheffler, who was unconscious. I mean it was
honestly watching Scotty Scheffler last week look like anyone who's

(16:27):
ever played with a really, really good golfer like a
scratch or a veteran scratch or a college golfer who
plays a course a lot, so it's very used to it.
And if you just play with them, it's like are
they even trying? And it's just like par Parr Bertie,
Bertie Eagle Parr Bertie like it just they never even
come close to screwing up. It didn't even look like
Scotty Scheffler broke a sweat. Eric van Royan, who played unreal,

(16:49):
never had a chance but basically earned his way into
the signature event this week, and it was asked about
whether he liked the way this setup was and he's like, honestly,
I don't. Not that I'm not proud of playing well
and getting involved, but the best tournaments do not have
small fields. The best tournaments have one hundred and fifty
plus guys. And I understand Golf's in this weird spot

(17:12):
where they want a funnel. They basically want legal money laundry, right,
they want to launder money legally to their it's probably
an oxymoron, but to their best players. And if you
have one hundred and fifty man tournament and half the
field gets caught, and six of your top twenty players
don't play well, they don't make any money. And Van

(17:33):
roy And essentially said, like the best part about golf
is it's the ultimate meritocracy. And if you don't play well,
you don't make any money, and if you play great,
you earn whatever spot that you get on the leaderboard.
And I'm in complete agreement. The smaller field no cut
events stink. They are just not that interesting. One problem

(17:58):
with LIV well, they got lot of problems. I mean
their biggest problem is like none of it matters. Part
of winning a tournament is like, well, these are the
last fifty guys that won this tournament. This tournament has
been around for seventy five years. There's a lot of history,
right Anyone who's ever been to a club or a
country club. I remember I went to I played, was

(18:19):
a Phoenix country Club. It actually used to hold the
Phoenix Open before I forget what year they came to
the TPC might have been like late eighties, so basically
from the forties, the fifties, the sixties. You walk in
to the locker room, there's pictures of Arnold Palmer, of
Jack Nicholas, of Lee Trevino, of Johnny Miller and all
these guys that had played in this tournament. There was

(18:40):
a legitimate history, but behind the tournament, behind the course.
And now I played at TPC for thirty plus years.
Whether it's Brooks Koepka, whether it's Ricky Fowler, whether it's
Tiger Woods hole in one, whether it's you know, just
all Scottie Scheffler winning his first big tournament. There, there's
a lot of history there and that really matters. And

(19:00):
Live doesn't have that, but they don't have a cut,
so like, if you're in the tournament, you're guaranteed to finish.
And part of golf, it's what makes majors, especially you know,
the US Open, the Bridge, Like it's hard to make
the cut and if you have like a shitty three
hole stretch on Thursday or Friday, you're gone and then
you make no money. Like you make no money right

(19:21):
in basketball in the NBA, I was. I was at
this barstool party last night at the DraftKings sports book
down the street from my house, and I was talking
to Mike Commodore. I mentioned this earlier, but he played
in the NHL for a long time. He's he's the best.
He invited me to play golf with him here soon.
He's a golf junkie and we were just talking how

(19:43):
much hockey players make, and he's like, I was like,
I saw some salaries. It doesn't feel like your highest
paid players make that much relative to basketball or baseball.
He's like, I think the highest paid player in the
league makes eighteen million dollars. And the Knicks Celtics series
was on right next to it. I'm like, you know
what's crazy is there's a chance that every dude on

(20:06):
the floor right now makes more than eighteen million dollars.
And there's a chance, I mean, there's not a chance
five six guys on that court make thirty five to
forty plus. And during the season, whether you're playing or
whether you're not playing, whether you shatter your leg, whether
you're doing load management, whether you're averaging forty or whether
you're averaging five points. Hell, I saw Bradley Beal play
basketball this year. I have never seen a guy in

(20:29):
a professional event, in a live event, try less hard.
He's making fifty million dollars. So whether he tries really hard,
scores a lot of points, whether he doesn't try at all,
he's getting paid. In golf, if you even if you
try your hardest, and you do not play well, you
do not make any money. Now, technically you still make
money from your sponsors. But like Billy Horschel, he is injured.

(20:49):
And unlike a baseball player, a basketball player, if I
get injured, even in football, if you're making twenty million
dollars and I go on IR for eight games, I
still get a percentage of my salary. Now that might
be fifty percent, but I still get paid for being injured.
As a golfer, Billy Hoe Philly Cricket Club, this tournament
doesn't pay him any money. The PGA Championship next week

(21:10):
doesn't pay him any money. He doesn't make any money
from playing golf. Now he's signed me. I'm sure he
has lucrative sponsors, so he still has money coming in.
But that would be the case for any professional athlete
for their like. If whether Patrick Mahomes plays well or not,
Let's say he has the worst year of his career,
that all State money, that Oakley money, all that money
still rolls in on top of the Kansas City chief salary.

(21:32):
And I think the thing in golf, like you see
Billy Horschell, he gets hip surgery, knock on Wood, But like,
what if that derails his career? What if he's never
the same after this hip injury. Now, you would think
with modern medicine and the ability to rehab and improve,
and Billy Hoe is clearly a pretty big workout guy,
should be fine. But you never know. It's not like

(21:52):
Billy Horschell's twenty two years old, and it's just a
risk in this sport, like there are a lot of
variables that can go really bad, really fast. I mean
we're seeing with Max Holmei's just his game all of
a sudden, just what the hell happened? And in fairness
to him, it's like golf, I don't know. It's just
you make a little tweak here, tweaked there, and things
just get off the rails. I think it's one of

(22:14):
the most relatable things about the sport. Any human that plays,
whether you're a plus five or whether you're a twenty handicap,
you can on one individual's shot, you can hit the
best shot of the day. You can hit the best
shot of the day that looks exactly like Tiger Woods
shot from one hundred and fifty yards. You can knock
at five feet. You also can hit a ball three

(22:34):
holes over out of bounds at any given moment, and
so can these guys. And I just think the cool
part about pro golf, especially I mean specifically the PGA Tour,
but I would say the European Tour as well at
the corn Ferry Tour is you have to play well
on Thursday and Friday to continue playing to make money
on Saturday and Sunday, and then like the competition of

(22:57):
Saturday and Sunday, typically you are going to have high level,
famous guys playing well, maybe not all of them, but
the PGA Championship in a week I would be stunned,
I mean floored if two of the three guys, Rory,
Bryson and Scottie aren't heavily in the mix. And when

(23:21):
I say heavily in the mix, I expect one of
those three guys to win, and I'd be stunned if
the other guy isn't top three or four in the tournament.
It wouldn't shock me if all three of them are
in the top ten, but there's no guarantee. One of
them could just have the worst week of his life
and shoot seventy six on a Thursday and miss the cut.
It's possible and while they're all rich, and whether they

(23:45):
get a check or don't, it's not going to change
their life at all. They don't get paid that week.
Neither does it Caddy. That's why this Philly Cricket Club
this week. I mean it's interesting, but to me, I'm
interested to see the golf course. I don't necessarily care
about the results, you know. I mean, this is the
problem with these signature events. It's like I don't even

(24:08):
feel like they matter. I mean, they matter for the
distribution for these guys to get paid, but just in
terms of smaller field, it has been like this for
the last couple of years since they created these. They
just don't do that much. For me, I was more
interested to watch can Scottie Scheffler beat one hundred and
fifty guys than like, is Roy McElroy gonna make two

(24:31):
and a half million dollars finishing second at the signature event.
I just it does not matter to me. So I listen,
I'm gonna gamble on this because that's what we do.
The PGA Tour hast never played here. I think the
stat is that this is the oldest country club in America.
I think it was like eighteen forty eight or something,

(24:53):
so this course has been around for a long long time.
I did some flyovers on YouTube. I read a couple
articles about they have done some redesigns and the course
in which they play isn't the sequence. If me or
you got the obviously you'd have to know a member,
but we played this course. They kind of change the
sequencing of the course. It's not that long relative to

(25:16):
tour standards, it's seventy one hundred yards. I read a
couple articles that did some models on what is going
to work at this course. Obviously Rory's near the top,
but you know Shane Lowry, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Speith. I
do like Brian Harmon. I do think a guy like
him he has to capitalize. He did two weeks ago

(25:36):
at RBC on courses that aren't that long. He's at
a disadvantage playing Quail Hollow. He's not gonna be able
to compete there. Like Kevin Kisner was asked a couple
of years ago, why do you play in some of
these courses where you clearly have no chance? He's like, well,
finishing eighteenth pays a lot, And I think the key

(25:56):
is when you're a guy like that, you get four
or five chants is to take advantage of your skill
set in this modern day world, and this is one
of them, you know. And I think Shane Lowry, Keegan Bradley,
Jordan Speith. I'm gonna do probably Brian Harmon instead of Keegan,
but I'm gonna do Jordan' speed the top ten, Lowry

(26:17):
and Brian Harmon the top twenty. I think it pays
like fourteen to one, but it's listen. I think a
lot of people like Patrick Cantley this week. I can't
bet on Patrick Cantley like I if you telled me
like he's got a fifty to fifty chance, I'm more
likely to not gamble on a golf tournament than put
any money on Patrick Cantley. I've gambled a lot on

(26:38):
golf over the last three or four years. I don't
think I've ever put one penny on that individual. And
I will have no problem never betting him. You can
tell me he wins ten times over the next five years,
he ain't getting any of my money. I couldn't even
imagine watching him play professional golf on a Saturday and
Sunday beside a Ryder Cup and rooting for him to win.

(26:59):
So I also have seen so many times when people
have picked him and he just like finishes seventeenth. So
I'm not touching him hard to make like, does Rory
bring it this week? He's been you know, he was
gone in Europe and he did the media tour. I
would imagine he kind of uses this as a tune up.
But if he were to win this week, which would

(27:23):
be crazy, it'd be his third win of the year.
I do think that his odds would go from five
to one, probably like three to one next week. So
if you do like Rory the risk of him potentially
playing really well this week, you probably want to bet
him now for the PGA Championship. The NBA eighty two

(27:49):
game grind is done, and now the real fun begins.
The NBA Playoffs are here and it's time for the
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Speaker 1 (30:13):
Let's do a couple mail bag questions at golopod. At
golopod is the Instagram, Fire in those dms and get
your question answered here on the show again at go lopod.
This is from Davis. I'm twenty six and I like
to think I'm pretty good. I'm about a six handicap. However,

(30:33):
I think the golfers in the five to eight handicap
range are in golf purgatory, good enough to shoot close
to par, but bad enough to shoot eighty eight and
hate yourself. I feel like it's gonna be hard to
break out of this range while working a job that
demands a lot and only being able to play hit
the range once or twice a week. Any tips how
to work to scratch going forward, Well, you're asking advice

(31:00):
from someone that falls. I mean, I'm a four handicap
right now. In that category, I could go out tomorrow
and shoot seventy four. I could also go out tomorrow
and easily shoot ninety. And you know what I've learned, Like,
I'm never going to be a scratch golfer. I don't
practice enough, I don't play enough, and I just don't

(31:21):
have the mental stamina to focus enough even when I'm
playing a lot on the golf course. And I'm cool
with that. I'm going to enjoy myself and if I
was to be a scratch, when I gamble with my
friends or with other people, or this week, my guy
Mark invited me to play the member guest at Arizona
Country Club. I'm fired up. I am such a better

(31:41):
asset and last I've only played in one other member guest.
I was the biggest disaster in the history of disas.
I was so bad. I was topping ball. I was
an embarrassment. I really was. And my handicap at the
time was like a three. It probably looked like I
was a twenty. I don't know if I was nervous.
I don't know what was going on, but it was.
It was really really ugly. So I need to bounce back.

(32:05):
But there's not as much pressure. I mean, he's like
a scratch, but he's really good and he can play
to that number and he can break par If I
was a scratch, like I would still have ninety maybe
not ninety, but like eighty two in my back pocket.
So when you're a six handicap and you can shoot
seventy eight and maybe get a few birdies, like, you
can make some money if you're not going to the

(32:26):
PGA tour. Here's the other thing. If you're working in
a successful guy and you're like a five or six
handicap that travels, like you could go play with like
Justin Thomas and have a good time. I'm not even
saying gambling with him, like you wouldn't embarrass yourself. I
think the key to golf, if you like actually just
want to do it socially for business have a good time,

(32:47):
is do it minimum. Just get to that number and
then if you can stay, you're fine. You can play
with anybody. Like I'm good enough where I can play
with scratch golfers and it'd be fun. Last week I
played with a bunch of dudes that were probably like
fifteen twenty twenty five handicaps, had a good time. But
I think if if you do work really hard at
it and get good, you do have to maintain that

(33:09):
once you're handicaps at a certain number, if you're gonna
play money games to anybody, because all of a sudden
you're a scratch, Like hard to make money if you're
not playing all the time. So I'm going glass half
full here. I think if you're like a five or
six handicap, that's prime. That's primary real estate. Curious what
your go to wedges around the green. I remember being

(33:33):
a kid when I started playing golf, my dad used
to scream at me because right, you know this, my
dad honestly wasn't a very good golfer at all, but
he liked you know, Jack Nicholas and Nick Faldo and
Greg Norman and old school golfers. Bump and run was huge,
right what you watch now. I mean, Phil really revolutionized
the game. But all these guys that use sixty degrees

(33:55):
around the you know, the green tiger, the old old
school guys would bump and run everything. And I always
wanted to have a sixty degree wedge around the green.
And like most people, I'm not a great wedge player.
So if you don't practice wedges a lot, and you
have a sixty degree a fifty six degree, your margin
ferererror can be really slim on a lot of shots

(34:17):
where I do try to bump and run anything I can,
so I have no problem pulling out either a fifty
degree wedge, which is my gap wedge, or a pitching wedge.
If you know, the gap wedge is easier to use
if I'm in the rough around the green. If I
have like an opening where there's no rough and I'm
basically on the fairway but I can see the pin,

(34:39):
I will hit a pitching wedge, even a nine iron
right and just keep the ball on the ground essentially
like you know, and use you know, a putter stroke
and kind of use my front hand my left hand
on the grip and I grip it really hard so
I don't break my wrists at all. But that's something
that I've done a lot lately, is try to keep

(35:01):
it on the ground more because you're just not good
enough if you're not playing a lot to use a
lob wedge, which good players can no problem all around
the green. Let me throw another fun idea your way.
Really appreciate how you take DMS. The Majors as love interest.
The Masters your honeymoon always looked at fondly, more dialed

(35:24):
up than any other time. If it happened all the time,
it wouldn't be the same, but still beyond incredible. The
PGA your high school girlfriend. You say you love her,
but more than likely you don't. Once you go to
a steakhouse, you realize the movies isn't that good of
a date night. The US Open your ex wife some

(35:48):
absolutely incredible moments, but drives you crazy and plays jump
rope with being too hard and awesome. The Open your
wife top tier as the game should be played. You
have to wake up early and durre some crappy weather sometimes,
but ultimately it's the purest form of the game. I'm
riding Robbie Mack this week, Lefty with great iron play,

(36:11):
strokes gain. Putting at Augusta is overrated as long as
is above average. This was before the Masters. I do
like that there is there's definitely something nostalgic about the Masters,
and I think there's something pure about the Open. I'm
with you on the PGA. It's by far the shittiest major.

(36:34):
I'd even not even go high school girlfriend. I would
just go, you know, your first true I think the
kids call it like situationship. You know someone you're dating,
but you don't call your girlfriend, and ultimately it's gonna
end really bad, but it's really fun. Like That's kind
of what the PGA is now. It's essentially a tournament

(36:56):
that it's much closer to a normal event than it is,
in my opinion, to a major. Let's talk Ryder Cup.
You're the captain. Who are your twelve picks from the US.
Let's say all twelve can be captain to pick. Okay,
I will go Scotty Scheffler. I will go Bryson d Chambeau.

(37:18):
I will go Xander Shaffle, I will go Colin more Coawa,
I will go Justin Thomas, and I will go one, two, three, four, five,
and I will go Patrick Cantley. So that's six. Then
I think it gets really really challenging. You know, let's

(37:44):
go USA Golf rankings. It's hard to do this off
the cuff without So I got Scottie, I got Xander,
I got more Cowa, I got Justin Thomas. Appreciate Russell Henley.
You know, is he a lock? I know he won
earlier this week or this year. Probably decent chance. Bryson's

(38:09):
on it. Wyndam Clark would not be a lock for me.
Kegan Bradley said that he will not pick himself, and
I do think it's kind of impossible at the Ryder Cup.
You know, Tiger was a President's playing captain. That would
have been like twenty eighteen and that was badass. Maybe
it was it nineteen, whenever it was, it was sweet.

(38:30):
I don't really think it's possible at the Ryder Cup.
I just don't think our teams that good. Billy Horschell
not available, Brian Harmon, he's not getting picked. Auc Shay,
probably not, Daniel Berger. I think we're gonna lose Sam Burns.
The Gala has not been good. Nick Taylor's Canadian finales

(38:54):
played like crap. Lucas Glover probably not HOGI I think
we're in trouble. I mean, you get through like six
seven names, no wonder. I don't even think. When's the
last time Brooks Koepka played well? No wonder, Kegan Bradley's
bringing him to this dinner. We don't have that many options.
Maybe Kopka just has to be on the team. I

(39:16):
think it's gonna be hard to get twelve guys, I
really do. Now, we got another three or four months
of majors and guys to let the cream rise. But
we got a long way to go. Let's say Tiger
was born in seven instead of nineteen seventy five, and
he's turning eighteen this year. Crazy How two thousand and
seven was eighteen years ago already? Jesus, that's insane. How

(39:41):
many majors do you think he wins in his career
against the current generation of players. Do you think the
prevalence of social media, smartphones and cameras would enable his
vices and have accelerated his downfall. I mean, Tiger, it

(40:02):
would be more difficult if his vices. There are a
lot of famous people that run around a lot in
twenty twenty five, and we don't have pictures of their situations.
There are a lot of professional athletes that have families,
and I've heard some stories from people in some leagues

(40:25):
that have like full on side girlfriends that they pay
for their life and sometimes even the wife knows. But
the picture has never gone viral of this individual. And
let's be honest, if this picture went viral, at least
the name that I've been told, it would be a
massive story, even if like the family's cool with it.
And I would imagine a lot of these people they're

(40:47):
in relationships that are that do not parallel our lives.
Things they're allowed to do and things that they just
do are not things that normal people do. It's why
I always say, like when these people try to give
me advice for politicians or just like get on their
high horse, like, bro, I don't give a fuck what

(41:07):
you think. You live in a completely different world than me,
and as we've seen, less and less people view what
famous people say as very important just because you're an
actor or an athlete, no one not that what they're saying,
depending on who you are, doesn't hit home or have
some validity, but especially politicians like we saw a lot

(41:27):
of famous people speak out the last presidential election head
zero to little to no impact. That you could argue
that a negative impact. But my point is is that
I still think you could sleep around if you're Tiger
Woods in twenty twenty five and not get caught. It
would be different. I do think he would probably get
exposed sliding in some DMS. I think he would be

(41:47):
a heavy DM or. But I think the one thing
to one Tiger's work ethic is you could argue is
one of the greatest in the history of athletics. To
his design to win was second to none in three technology.
He played in an era where the technology like his

(42:09):
prime technology really changed when late two thousands. By the
twenty tens, the technology that was coming out, specifically with
the Woods was dramatically different than anyone that started playing
golf like Tiger Woods in the eighties and the nineties.
Tiger was never that accurate off the tee. It's why
that he always instituted things like the stinger with a

(42:32):
two iron because he knew that he could hit the fairway,
and back then you weren't hitting it as far as
a hole on the PG Tour. The courses weren't as long,
and you'd get away with doing that. Now I think
I saw a stat Scotty Scheffler HiT's like sixty five
seventy percent of the fairways, and he's hitting at three
hundred and twenty two hundred and thirty yards when Rory's on, like,
he doesn't miss that many fairways. Phil and Tiger were

(42:54):
all over the map. But with technology in twenty twenty five.
You watched Tiger theseast couple of years, even post hurting
his ankle, He's hitting that baby cut right down the pipe.
So I think technology off the tee would be a get.
He would be at twenty twenty five, thirty years old,
right there with Rory. I mean this version of Bryson.

(43:17):
He did it three hundred and twenty three hundred thirty yards,
but like he did when he was young, he did
hit it that far, but he was swinging out of
his shoes. He was like Bryson a couple of years ago.
Now he could just swing under control and hit three
twenty five right down the middle with that baby cut.
I mean, hell, over the last couple of years when
he was healthy and he'd playing some of these tournaments,

(43:38):
he's out driving Justin Thomas, he's out driving some of
these guys he's playing with. And that's at forty seven
years old. So imagine at twenty six what he would do.
He would dominate. He would have no problem dominating this era.
Now would he win at the clip in which he won,
I don't know. The other major difference is he was

(44:00):
making so much off the course that after like five years,
he could really pick and choose where he played. Now
the purses, you know, with the signature events he'd have
to play, obviously the majors. It'd be interesting what a
schedule was. It probably just look a lot like worries

(44:22):
he would be. I do believe this unlessen we've lived.
If you're my age had some unique athletes, right from
Michael Jordan to Steph and Lebron to Brady, there's never
been His name is Tiger. I mean his name is Tiger.

(44:46):
Like just that alone, It's like it doesn't get any
better than that Tiger. It's to me, it's the most
iconic first name ever. I mean it just it doesn't
get any better than that. I mean that alone, and
he dominates his field by as much as he did.
It's like, yeah, there's this guy that dominates his his

(45:10):
sport and the gap between him and the next person
is the widest in the history of the sport. And
his first name is Tiger. I mean, it's just he's
gonna be marketable immediately. And he's chiseled. He was good
looking when he was young. Now he's holding onto the
hair doesn't not quite as good, but he's never gonna
shave and look like me. Coming to Arizona at the

(45:32):
end of the summer, what courses do you recommend playing?
My dad and I want to get out three times.
I hear the stadium course a TBC. There's a Draft
Kings course across the street. I mean it's TBC across
the street, Draft Kings in the middle. What are some
good bang for your bucks as well as quality? If
you're coming late summer, so I'd assume August is so

(45:53):
hot that the that the prices are it's the cheapest
time of the year. I think you can never go
wrong playing at minimum two of the three TBC Scottsdale,
Greyhawk and Troon and if depending on where you're staying,
I mean, Quintaro is a fantastic track. I would say

(46:14):
Raven and Whirlwind are going to be much cheaper than
those courses and honestly pretty enjoyable. When I first moved here,
I played Raven a lot. Now that's one of them's
in Chandler, the other ones in Phoenix. But I don't
think you go wrong TBC, Greyhawk and Truon. What's your

(46:35):
take on wearing the quote proper golfing attire. I've recently
taken up golfing as a hobby, and every time I
go to the course or a range, everyone else is
wearing similar collared shirt and pants. I feel out of
place showing up in a T shirt and shorts. But
all the golf clothes I see at stores are absurdly expensive,
and I'm not sure if it's worth it since I'm

(46:56):
just a beginner. Thanks. I mean, if you're just going
to the especially a public range, who cares one One
thing that is changing dramatically, and it's actually starting at
the top. Historically, golf is by far the stuffies sport.
It's the country club. Historically, we're only rich people were
allowed to play. That has dramatically changed over the last

(47:20):
ten years with the explosion of public golf courses. Then
it shifted back because public golf is so expensive now,
and even country club golf is obviously expensive as well
because you got monthly dues. But a lot of these
clubs are now like the members are my age forty
to fifty thirty years old, and go, wait, you're charging

(47:42):
me all this and I have to tuck in my shirt.
And that is something at the nicest country clubs right
now that have a new younger feel. There are no
dress codes. And listen, you go into Olympic Club in
the Bay Area, you gotta take off your hat. No
different cow clubs. Some of these courses Monterey Peninsula Country Club,
LA Country Club, like they have old school rules, which

(48:04):
I appreciate. Whatever you want to have in your club.
If you want to have those rules, that's fine. I
do think if you want to generate more interest and
get more youth involved in the sport, listen, can you
just wear nothing? Of course not can you go shirtless
and play around at golf, But if you want to
wear a T shirt and a pair of just shorts.

(48:25):
Who cares. I mean, look what the PGA Tour did
in the last couple of years. They allowed shorts in
the practice round. Like, what are we doing, guys, It's
one hundred and ten degrees. We're playing in Memphis and
there's one hundred percent humidity. I gotta wear pants on
a Tuesday. So if you're at a public driving range
where whatever you want one thousand percent, and I think

(48:45):
if you get more and more into it, I think
golf over the next twenty years, one strong prediction is
there are gonna be some courses that will never change. Augusta,
La Country Club, Olympic Club. I just use those two
exits amples because those are the two nicest ones I've
ever played. Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Those are going to
have a stiffer vibe. But like Silver Leaf, which is

(49:07):
about ten minutes away from me, which costs half a
million dollars to join. Their members are guys like Michael
Phelps and John Rahm. There is no dress code. It
does not exist. You can go into the grill and
wear whatever you want and on any given day like

(49:27):
there is absolutely it does not exist. And that is
a trend that the more and more people I talk
to is growing amongst these clubs, because if you want
to attract younger people, I'm coming here to relax. I'm
not coming here to be uncomfortable. And you know, forever
I grew up going to this club in Davis. It's

(49:49):
it's right between where UC Davis is in Sacramento, and
the base of the membership are literally farmers and people
that work in construction. It costs like five thousand dollars
to join the club. This is not some exclusive elitist
country club. And they used to have this rule, which

(50:11):
I think has changed. You could not wear jeans in
the dining room. It's like, guys, this is not Augusta
National here Phyllis. Can we my jeans are more expensive
than some of my slacks? Can I just wear my
jeans even if I wear a button up shirt? And
I'm all for having just generic rules. Hey, we're having

(50:32):
a prime rib dinner. I know I'm getting on a
tangent here, but this is something that is something that
I'm passionate about. Is like, I am a big believer
in the dress code should not exist now if you
are having certain events, I understand it, and I'm not
saying the PGA tour should allow anything. But as you've seen,
like overtime, things change, and if you want to just

(50:52):
wear an untucked shirt, you can wear an untucked shirt,
So do not worry about what other people are wearing
at the driving range. You're also right. I mean, listen,
I'm in business with Travis Matthews. They just sent me
a couple of collared shirts. I've been paid for a
polo here in a little while. Trust me, I know

(51:13):
you go into these golf shops, like you walk into
the pro shop at TPC, you'd be hard pressed to
find a polo. Now, granted they mark them up because
they got the TPC Scottsdale logo on it or the
waste management logo. I just don't know if you could
walk in that in that clubhouse and find anything for
under one hundred dollars, and I get inflation the dollar.

(51:35):
We can talk to about that shit till we're blue
in the face. The point is I can't find a
collar chure from one hundred bucks. And that's that's just
a fact. And they're not alone. I mean that's you
go into a lot of these places. You go to
the PGA superstore, you better hope they have a sale
going on. Uh. And loving question for the back, do
you think that Rory and Bryson will be a rivalry

(51:55):
for years to come and the separation of players will
make rivalries better? Or do you think the separation of
the players will minimize the rivalry. I would throw Scotty
in there as well. I do think the separation which
is gonna end, whether that ends in two years, five years,
a year, I don't know. No one seems to have
a great grasp or understanding or even inside knowledge of

(52:19):
what is actually gonna happen. I saw Rory had some
comments today, or maybe it was like last week with
Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon or wherever I mean CNBC
O Squawk on the street. He's like, yeah, I don't
think we're in a huge rush to do a deal
because they think that they're bleeding dry, not because the
Saudi's are going to try to run out of money.
But like you know, sometimes when you're a little kid

(52:43):
and you're like, go back to your parents for a
little bit more money, and they say, no, I already
gave you twenty bucks. I remember one time when I
was a really little kid, probably like twelve or thirteen.
I was gonna go to the movies with some of
my friends. And this is probably, you know, ninety mid
ninety ninety five, ninety six, ninety four, and back then

(53:03):
you couldn't just like you didn't pay with things with
a debit and credit card, right, so when you went somewhere,
you needed cash. And I think I'd hey, dad, can
I get ten or twenty bucks? And going to the
movies at the time the movie take it was probably
like five six bucks for a little kid and popcorn,
probably three or four. And he didn't have any money.
And it's like anyone my age knows if you need

(53:26):
some money from your parents, which if you're a kid
you don't have any money of your own, that if
they just didn't have any cash, like there's just no
cash coming from it, You're just not gonna have any money.
So maybe you ask your friend if you can borrow
some maybe his parents pay for you, but if they won't,
like you're kind of screwed. And it was it was
I don't know if it was thanks around Thanksgiving holiday
or Christmas holiday, and my grandma, God rest her soul,

(53:51):
she had some money and I was like, Oh, I'm
gonna go to the movies, and my dad was like, oh,
can you give give him? Give him some money, and
she handed me like two dollars, And it just shows
you like in her mind. I mean she I don't
even know when the last time she had been in
the movies. Who knows. It might maybe have been like
the seventies or sixties, the little kid be able to
get in the movies or two bucks and my dad
like kind of laughing in the background. But I don't

(54:13):
even know what that story had to do with anything.
Question for the pod did you ever play pass the
Timbo Golf Club when you lived in the bear It?
If so, how was it? If not, are you familiar
with the name. It's the last question. I've played it.
One time I remember would have been like twenty eighteen
or nineteen. I would just go on golf now every

(54:34):
once in a while, and they would have these hot deals.
I think they still have it, but this is way
before golf got crazy. And I looked and I had
heard about this course for a long time. I had
never played it, and I saw a passa tempo because
you could just do like a sixty mile radius from
where you live, and it would give you the best
courses by rating the cheapest the most expensive. And it

(54:55):
had like a deal of the month and it was
past the tempo for like ninety dollars and I was like,
I did it. And I think it was like a
Wednesday at seven am. And I played with his dad
and his son. Super nice guy. I think the guy
had played at like Stanford back in like the sixties.
Enjoyable guy to play with. And yeah, courses course is sweet.

(55:19):
I mean it's for those of you that don't know
it's it's a really really nice it's a public course.
I think it's like half public half private, kind of
down in the Santa Cruz area, probably I don't know,
forty five minutes hour north of Monterey. It's sweet track.
So yeah, yeah, I've played it. I remember I probably

(55:41):
shot like fifty on the front I got there. I
didn't even hit balls, just went out and played. It
was hard, it was cold, and then I settled down
and started dominating in the back. Maybe shot forty, but
it was just an enjoyable, just an enjoyable round of golf.
I remember being pretty empty. I think the either the

(56:01):
I think the eighteenth hole is a Part three, which
in my life is the only time I've ever experienced that.
And I remember the ninth hole. It kind of is
like an uphill. I think Part five headed toward the
clubhouse and I had sprayed it into the first hole
because it parallels the ninth hole in the first hole
parallel each other, going opposite directions, and I remember hitting

(56:25):
the sand wedge toward the green and I took the
biggest divot in the history of divits, and I mean
it was massive. It must have been like three feet
and like two feet depth, and I remember I didn't
pick it up. I just walked toward the ball because
I was kind of mad. The ball didn't go very far,
definitely did not go on the green, and the people

(56:45):
that were playing the hole started screaming at me. People
playing one because the people I was playing with couldn't
see me. They were like the opposite side of the green.
And yeah, it's pretty embrassing moment. So make sure you
fill your divts if you can. The volume