April 8, 2024 • 39 mins
Ashley Ryan hosts the 19th Hole Podcast with guest, Derek Berg (PNW Golf Academy) and sponsored by Tito's Handmade Vodka.
On this episode, we cover:
On this episode, we cover:
- celebration dislocations
- the struggle to get over mistakes and the mental aspect of the game
- The return of Tiger
- Is this Rory's year?
- Should you fire a caddy the week before a major?
- Our Masters contest sponsored by Tito's and more!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the nineteenth Whole Podcast.This is the Master's Addition, sponsored by
Tito's handmade vodka, distilled and bottledin Austin, Texas, forty percent alcohol
by volume, namely eighty proof,crafted to be savored responsibly. Cheers,
cheers. I'm drinking out of myTito's. See, this is the hard
(00:21):
thing. Everything's opposite my Tito's mug. You're lefty today, I am because
the handle's on the left side.There you go, and I still can't
figure out how to get it inthere. See. This is why I
would never be good on the news. Opposite, I wouldn't be good at
that. I am whoa, I'mAshley. What happened to my voice?
It just went all weird? I'mAshley Ryan. I am your host.
(00:43):
I am with Derek Berg, whois an esteemed golf professional. Derek tell
us, do you want to talkabout where you work or no? Oh?
I'd love to. Kenw Golf Academyand is a Claul Washington. We
try to coach golfers to the bestof their golf inability, and I will
say some golfers probably can't be coached. Uh I couldn't. We do need
(01:11):
them to do that, and thatis that is one of the hats we
wear, is some of the psychologypart of trying to get them, trick
them into practicing a little more.I was gonna say that's probably got to
be the hardest thing though as agolf pro, is having someone come into
a lesson getting everything like you're youfeel like that's a successful lesson. Then
by the end of it, theyleave, they come back next time,
(01:34):
and you have to do it allover again because they didn't practice anything.
Does that happen frequently? I wouldsay that is more frequent than you would
like. So okay, yeah,no it uh, you know, everybody's
busy these days. Nobody's going tosay they're not busy. Yeah, but
yeah, if you want to getbetter at anything, you got to put
you got to put some time inand and then the hard part is the
game is really hard. So hopefullyyou don't get discouraged when you're putting that
(01:57):
time in as well. But yeah, it's it does take some work off
off away from the lesson tee.So I feel like that is a big
thing too. Because I went golfingwith my husband the other day and it
was the second time I golfed thisweek and I couldn't hit anything, like
it was terrible. And I knowpart of it is that when I'm playing
golf with Mark, I'm already likeextra nervous because I'm like, oh,
(02:21):
he's gonna he hates playing with me. This is gonna make me hate him
hate playing with me more. Andthen it's just fail, fail fail.
So then you get into your ownhead. Yeah, like what do you
have any advice for how to kindof snap out of it when you get
in that sense? Yeah? Imean again, I think it all goes
back to, you know, kindof what's going on in your head,
right, if you're worried about whetherit's slowing somebody down or you're not going
(02:44):
to play good enough. I meanthat's just you know, excessive stuff that
we don't really need. But we'rea human being, so it's just going
to be there, right, Soyou know, just understanding that you're doing
the best you can and and youknow, just got to keep trying at
it and working hard at it,and you know, I mean, I
think expectations are the biggest thing,right. I Mean, even people that
(03:06):
aren't good probably have expectations that areprobably higher than they should be. I'm
not telling anybody to not try tobe positive or anything, but you know,
yeah, you know, getting nervousand all that stuff's not going to
help you, you know. Soso just understanding this is a hard game
and that you know, again,it takes I mean that's why myself,
(03:29):
I've put in so many hours overmy life and these guys, obviously,
the people that watch, the peopleon TV, they have no idea how
many hours they put in, right, and so it just takes a long
time. I mean people call itlike a game for the lifetime, you
know, and it is. Imean, you you can go out one
day and play awesome and think yougot it in the very next day,
it's totally different. I Mean,our feel to play varies every single day,
(03:52):
unlike back ball or football, whereit's like it's the same feel.
It might be cold one day,or you might be you know, in
a different state, but it's thesame one hundred yards or ten foot rim.
So yeah, that's true. AndI suppose that's also where the practice
comes in, right, because ifyou're practicing to the point where you don't
need to think about those things thatyou're doing, then you're not worried about
(04:12):
the extra stuff. Yeah. Yeah, And again we're human beings and it's
like, that's a season I happened. I think that's the one thing I've
gotten as I've gotten older, isyou know, there's so much now on
psychology, which, to be honest, I think people that try to play
this game, I mean, especiallyas you get better, like it should
be more of that even is understandingyou can't even control your mind, I
(04:40):
mean, to be honest, theway I think is like, I mean,
I've driven to so many golf tournamentsover my life, thinking, oh,
I'm gonna be positive all day,and before I know it, some
bad thought hops into my brain andI'm thinking one day like, oh,
I'll just have no bad thoughts offin my brain. And I realize now
in my forties, be like,maybe I should stop trying to control this
thing. Maybe it's just not goingto happen, you know, and you
(05:03):
see your best so well. Andif anybody watched Full Swing the second season,
I mean they that played a bigpart in it. And for who
was it now? I can't ohWyndham Clark and he talked about the psychology
of his game and now he hasthat coach that goes with him all the
time. I actually was on PGAtour dot com today and they were doing
(05:24):
like a profile on her and theimportance that she's played in his success.
So I do think that that itis good that they're focusing on that now
for sure. No, absolutely,I mean he's been a world class player
for probably five years. It's justthat one added piece that made him extremely
world class now, you know,Yeah, be able to get over that
(05:44):
hump. Yeah, all right,we got stuff to talk about. So
the Valero Texas Open was this pastweekend, and but I know this is
the Master's addition, and we willget into plenty about the Masters. But
I just have a couple of questionsthat I I three together just after watching
this one. Have you ever seenanyone dislocate a shoulder doing a fist pump?
(06:06):
No? And uh yeah, thatwas quite interesting, especially when you
couldn't at first, didn't really understand. I didn't understand what was happening.
You know, he's kind of onhis hand or his shoulder, and you're
going, like, what's going on? And then they started getting into it,
and it's like his shoulder pops outand I mean, the guy's either
got to start falling in love withsome you know, milkshakes and desserts or
(06:29):
something on some waiter, or he'sgot his trainer and him got to start
planning some different celebrations so he canstay healthy because he's obviously a world class
I mean, if people don't know, I mean, he's won each of
the last three years, and he'swon twice in the last like six months,
so that's probably not gonna stop happening, you know, So to celebrate
a little more, uh carefully,maybe the Phil Mickelson thumbs up he can
(06:54):
just get, yeah, just smile. You notice when he made his putt
to actually win, he just kindof looked up to the sky. He's
probably like, I'm I'm not movingmy arms at all. Yeah, Well,
he'd already gotten his shoulder tape Ithink by then too. And for
anyone that didn't see it, itwas a batilla that did this and on
eighteen made a putt to continue theround into an extra hole, and his
fist pump was apparently too aggressive.His shoulder popped out, and they're like,
(07:15):
waiting for I've never seen anything likethat, for sure. I've also
I don't think ever seen anything likewhat happened to Denny McCarthy. He hit
seven birdies in a row, goesto the playoff hole and you think,
okay, well Batia just had hisshoulder come out of his socket, So
this is all McCarthy. All hehas to do is not screw it up.
And what does he do? Yeah, I got it. Thank god
(07:38):
for Denny McCarthy, to be honest, because that tournament would have been a
snoozer. Yeah. I almost wasn'tgoing to tune in yesterday. I'm sure
a lot of people probably turned itoff with nine holes to go. So
yeah, well, thank god forDenny and obviously anybody that knows the PJ
Tour and Denny McCarthy, I meanthat guy can flat out putt it so
(07:59):
and he showed that yesterday. Sonow that was that made it quite interesting.
And then yeah it's tough. Imean when you I mean he birdied
eight to nine on the back nine, Yeah, it was a pretty big
shock chunk in the water. Butagain going back to like I mean,
all I can equate that too isjust the pressure. Yeah, there's nothing
(08:20):
else. I mean, he hadbasically the same shot he had in regulation,
you know nothing. I mean it'sone hundred yard wedge. These guys
eat those up, you know,no, no big deal and chunk it
right in the stream. I mean, like that's just the pressure of trying
to win on that tour, especiallyhe had lost the play playoff to Victor
(08:41):
Hovlin, you know, bogeing,I think, the last whole of memorial
and stuff, and you know,trying to probably want it so bad and
man get his first victory. Yeah, I mean, it's just it's pressure
right there, right for you.I mean, think of a guy making
seven birdies in a row is likefeeling it and something must have popped into
his brain at the wrong time.And how long do you think he's going
(09:03):
to hang on to that shot too? Like he's not, he's not,
like it's all he woke up todayand he's over it. Yeah, that's
hard to say, because again Ithink that's what I mean. I'll bring
up like Dustin Johnson for example.I mean, that's what makes that guy
amazing, other than obviously he's physicallytalented too. Yeah, it seems like
that guy gets over worse stuff thanthat, you know, losing majors and
(09:24):
stuff. So yeah, it's hardto say. It depends on who you
are, right, So I'm hopingDenny McCarthy doesn't hold on over too long.
But really tough to say, sothat would be I think, you
know, if he hits it onthe green and actually makes a pot and
he misses, I think it's kindof one thing, you know, because
especially the Ronnie went on, butto just hand it over, I think
(09:46):
that one might that one might betough. Yeah, yeah, it's going
to sting for a bit, forsure. You brought up Dustin Johnson,
and actually I had a question abouthim because the live golfers will be back
at the Masters, obviously because itis a golf major. And the note
I put next to justin Dustin Johnson, I don't know if you saw this
or not. Does he actually careabout winning now that he has all that
money, because the guy shows likezero emotion Yeah, and I yeah,
(10:11):
yeah, So I don't know.Do you think he cares about winning anymore?
I think he definitely does. Ithink that's just part of what makes
Dustin Johnson so great is that he'sI mean, if you want to call
it emotionless, you know, itdoesn't seem like he really bothers him,
but then also makes you wonder alittle bit at the same time. But
I think, you know, especiallywhen it comes down to majors, I
(10:31):
think that's a no brainer. Thoseguys care about those for sure. Yeah,
but yeah, I just think that'sjust kind of who he is.
It maybe doesn't maybe make him soexciting, you know. I know,
personally I love watching him play becausewhen he gets it going, like he
dominates events, you know, kindof like Tiger did when he's so I
(10:52):
definitely think he cares, but it'sjust he just doesn't show it. And
like that. So that said,it's kind of the brilliance of him and
kind of of like does this guyreally give it? You know? Yeah,
that's what I think it's like.And it's like the guy that's lost,
like I said, major championships withyou know, whether it's rulings or
anything, he just kind of shrugsit off. I literally think like maybe
(11:16):
the next day, and maybe it'sthe day after that, he's like all
right, onto the next you know. I mean, he's just it's it's
it's amazing. That is amazing becauseI I mean, I am obviously not
a good golfer, but I loveit, but I will think about,
like, oh, why did Ido that for at least the next day
and a half, and I'm like, it didn't even matter. I was
playing a practice round at mill Creek, Like who cares? Yeah, I
(11:37):
mean, yeah, I don't knowhow he does it. So you mentioned
Tiger there, and he grabs headlineswithout even really stepping foot on the course.
I mean, he's done some practicerounds and he's technically there's eighty nine
people in the field. He doesn'thave to commit yet to playing in the
Masters, but it's looking like he'sgoing to play in the Masters because he's
(11:58):
looking pretty healthy. But do youthink that Tiger's ever going to get back
to even remotely Tiger esque? Imean, look at these questions I think
are tough for anybody to answer becauseall of us grew up idolizing him and
watching him and it's why millions playthe game and all that way I got
(12:20):
into enjoying it. Yeah, Imean, obviously, among so many things,
he made it cool and he wasI guess, you know, I
feel like an athlete out there andall that stuff, and he's so banged
up. I mean, it's youknow, I can't even imagine what he
feels like between you know, backsurgeries and knee surgeries and car accident and
(12:41):
all that. And I mean whenI watch him, it's kind of more
of like, does he isn't gonnamake it through the rem yeah, you
know, and so we all loveto see him out there. He you
know, his body's just so bangedup. I would find it amazing.
And I know most guys answer thequestion with don't put anything by Tiger because
he can do anything, which Imean no one can say like he for
(13:05):
sure is not going to win anythingagain. But man, these guys are
so good now there's so many ofthem. They hit it a mile,
you know, and all they doall these things that are more Tiger like
when he was doing them, andthey're healthy and so not being healthy,
And again we all don't know howhe feels, right, I mean,
(13:28):
he hasn't made it through rounds ofgolf. So yeah, that's what I
was gonna say. In the walkingat Augusta is not going to do him
any favors, no, I mean, so it's I think that's where I
would gravitate towards, like he's fightingthe biggest stuff he'll battle ever to win
anything ever again. But again younever know. But yeah, he's I
mean, he was just so muchbetter than everybody else at everything when he
(13:54):
was dominating, and now all theseguys can do what he did. It's
just mentally he obviously that's where itkind of gets separated when you have like
the same physical abilities. So it'sjust whether it's some of these guys and
I think that's where Scotty Scheffler.I mean, everybody you know sends video
or has videos about his swing andhis footwork and all this stuff, you
(14:16):
know, so it's like not likea swing is amazing. I mean,
it's obviously good, but it's mentally. I think Scotty Scheffler is in such
a place where that's why he's dominated. I know it comes out physical,
but I mean there's guys on theon like on tour that you could be
like, well, that swing isbetter and that swings better for all these
technical reasons, but for some reason, Scotty Scheffler is like hitting the ball
(14:39):
as good as anybody sends Tiger.Yeah, you know, so it's that
mental part that really separates it.But yeah, no, Tigers be a
that'd be tough. Yeah, well, and it's I think it's just hard
because, like you said, weall grew up watching him, enjoying him.
Like I didn't become a golf fantill two thousand and eight when I
met Mark, but Tiger was whatI was like, Oh, I can
(15:01):
I can follow the sport, Ican like this sport. This guy's awesome,
and so you just want that.Like when he came back and won
the Masters, when was that,now? Yeah, that was the It
was amazing, the greatest golf ofthem I ever watched. Yeah, it
was amazing. Everybody was rooting forit, Yeah, everybody, So everybody
(15:24):
I want that again. Is thereanyone on tour that you can think of
though, that would be like someonewho's kind of as exciting to watch.
I mean, nobody's going to matchTiger, but somebody that has that,
you know, kind of that peopleare zoned in on because Scheffler's great,
but he doesn't have that same excitementthat Tiger had. I think the two
that come to mind are probably betweenDJ and Rory. Yeah, I think
(15:48):
Rory's filing, filing, firing onall cylinders. It's pretty fun to watch,
and you know, especially when youhear the other pros be like,
man, you got to watch Rorydrive it on the driving range, like
it's like you stop and watch it. I think that's when you're starting to
get Tiger esque, you know,DJ when he was winning and when he
(16:10):
won, and there was events hewon by six and seven and eight and
all that. So I think thatwas another one that I would I'd say
those two kind of have that feelwhen they're just at it. But I
don't think I'm going to be aliveto see anybody that did what Tiger did.
Yeah, I get that step.I mean it was like to add
(16:30):
up. I think at one pointit was like you had to add up
world ranking points of two, threeand four and they might still have been
like a little shorter word Tiger.I mean that's how separated it was.
So Yeah, and I would saytoo, with Rory, the nice thing
like when you're watching him, hehas that passion and that fire that you
did see with Tiger, which somepeople, like old school golf people didn't
love because you're on a golf courseand you're supposed to be reserved. But
(16:52):
that's what changed golf, and that'swhat's brought so many more people in so
for Rory to carry that same passionand that same fire, I do think
you're just cheering for him. Andbut why is it that the Masters continues
to elude Rory? Why can't heget over that final hump? Well,
on paper, it should be rightup his alley because there's a lot of
right to left shots for a righthander. He drives it like everybody knows
(17:15):
that. It's like his thing.I personally think it's two things. I
think once it just one is justhow his putter goes, so he puts
well and things like that, becauseI mean, I know people can talk
about his wedges and his irons andhe's really good at those, but it
really just goes by his putter.And then the other one is again back
to the mental. He knows thisis to complete a Grand Slam. Yeah,
(17:40):
it's the one eluding him. Hewants me to everybody always he wants
to win the Masters. You know, it's just the the lore of the
Masters, right. So I think, just you get out there and it's
like it gets to be too bigof a deal. And again back to
the mental, it's like that's whatit is, Like, Oh my gosh,
this is the one. And alsonow you're not concentrated on what you're
(18:03):
doing, and and and yeah,I think it's just because he knows it's
the Masters and it's the one tocomplete the Grand Slam, and everybody talks
about it every year he gets there. And I think those are the two
things in my opinion, because youknow, he and if you want to
call it, blew it, buthe blew a decent lead in eleven twenty
eleven, and he hadn't even wona major yet. So at the time
(18:25):
it's kind of like whatever, kindof go out there and free wheel it.
And you know, this course fitsmy eye because I draw it,
and I mean, you know,and then he just had a you know,
a bad back nine and then twomonths later when the US opened by
a million. But now it's comingdown to like, I gotta win this
one. Yeah, it's yeah,the pressure starts to mount. And I
(18:45):
will say I will be interested tosee how he does this year, because
I do think from a perspective ofthe live golf PGA Tour thing, all
that pressure that he was facing andthat need to be the mouthpiece or the
PGA tour is gone. He's explainedhis frustration of how the PGA to were
handled it. So at least hedoesn't have that going against him this time
(19:06):
and maybe that'll make a difference.Yeah, for sure. I mean,
like I said, and that allhas to come back with you how you're
thinking. I mean, I thinkit's you know, these guys don't need
to explain their daily lives of usall the time. But I got to
imagine when people are playing well andthey win, you know, home life's
pretty good, they're practicing well,they're hitting it well, you know,
every you know, things are inline. And I think that's was a
(19:30):
huge piece the last few years forRory, where it's like, hey,
he's just that ultra talented where he'sgoing to finish third and second and it's
just that's the way it's going tobe because he's just that good. But
then, you know, why isanyone a major Definitely in the last two
three years, like you're saying,like he's got so much time devoted to
(19:51):
off the course stuff, there's justno way that leaks into their golf game
because it takes time, it takesconcentration away. It's the same reason why
you see some these guys like youknow, in my opinion, Ricky Fowler
and and things like where they hadfamilies and like they've been you know,
it's like and we know families alwaysruined. Everything really might be strong,
(20:12):
but you know it's not really Yeahno, but yeah, it just takes
away from passing and mental energy onwhat you're doing. You know. It's
like it's just that's just the realityof it, you know. And who
knows. Scotty Shuffler's have about tohave a baby and yeah, a little
short amount of time here, andI mean, who knows what's going to
happen, but that's going to taketime for him. So we'll see how
(20:33):
well he plays once that happens,you know. And and and then that
Rory has way more off other thanjust the family too. With Scotty Shuffler.
It's like Scotty seems like he's justout there playing golf and you know,
and Rory's playing golf and he's doinglike you said, he's like the
mouthpiece, he's like all this otherstuff. Yeah, you know, so
(20:53):
I think Scotty's mind is pretty clearand he's really good. So like,
yeah, and it seems like likefrom Full Swing Season one, you saw
the mental aspect and the toll thatit took on Brooks Koepka, and then
how his game was struggling during that. We'll come back next the next year.
Last year and he was phenomenal,So I mean I have to think
(21:15):
that he's writing the good wave.Yeah, he just had a kid and
you know, he's got other responsibilities, but it sure seems like we could
expect this a similar outcome as hehad last year at the Majors, which
is contending in each one, ifnot winning them. Yeah. I mean
he's very vocal about how the Majorsare like the thing. I mean,
(21:36):
he saw full swing and all that. It's like he's got the trophy case,
it's got all the open spaces,ready to put Majors up there.
So yeah, I think he hehas that mentality that Tiger had, where
like these are the ones and againultra talented golfer who's super motivated, you
know, after winning one last year. I think he's ready for more.
(21:56):
So it's tough for us though,I mean less really watching the CW a
lot watch their games. You know, are you not a big liv golf
fan watching it? I able tostay on top of it as much,
that's for sure. So you youknow, you know they're really good,
so you're thinking, you know,they're probably still really really good. But
when you don't get to see themas you know, or you're not really
(22:19):
making it point to see their games, it's kind of hard to go like,
well, I want to what kindof form there on? You know?
So yeah, well then yeah,it's weird because they've still got the
you know, the fifty four holesversus the seventy two holes. And at
least it's not on YouTube YouTube TVanymore. I guess that's better. Or
no, it's not even YouTube TV. It was just YouTube I think,
yeah, yeah, yeah, sothey are. Things are looking up.
(22:40):
It'll be interesting too to see howthings with Live in the PGA Tour actually
progressed, because after that big announcementthat blindsided everybody last year, it's just
been silence and they're like super Bowgoing on, yeah, no one and
so. But I can't imagine howfrustrating that would be to be an actual
player, because as a fan,it's frustrating to know what are you going
to do next? And then theplayers literally have no idea either, and
(23:03):
that has got to be annoying.I have one more live golfer to ask
you about. Yeah. Is Brysonto Shambeau good at golf anymore? Yeah,
is pretty good. In fact,when we get into the Master's stuff,
he might be, if you wantto call it a dark horse,
really good. Yeah. Maybe Ihave seen enough he does post enough where
(23:27):
he's still he's still pretty good andyou know, yeah, well he went
through that whole phase where it waslike, I'm going to put on all
this weight and look at how farI can hit it. And I was
like, if you just keep doingthat, just go to long drive competitions,
You're going to win a bajillion dollarsand impress everybody and have drinks with
your buddies. So maybe he sortedit all out. And on that note,
(23:48):
we should probably talk about the Mastersbecause it is coming up the greatest
week in golf this week, Master'sWeek the azaleas, everyone's favorite flower at
Augusta. Is there anyone like,if you're doing fantasy golf and you've got
every you know, we're early inthe season, you've basically got every single
golfer available to you. Is thereanyone, aside from Scotty Scheffler, that
(24:08):
you should be picking this week.Yeah, I mean Scotty is definitely,
you know, probably the bad betbecause you're not gonna make much because he
is I mean he's I mean,why would you not, although he is
slumping coming off that second winning twiceroll then making you know, not really,
but no, he's definitely the oddson favorite, you know. I
(24:30):
mean John Ram is been I actuallyforgot all about John Ram. That's weird.
John's been playing so good. He'sso good. I mean he just
if he makes a few putts,he's off and running. So John Ram
is really good, you know Brooksbecause he does want all them. He
does want those majors so bad,and he just had a taste of one
last year that I mean, howcould you not so, I mean really
(24:53):
tough because they're all world class.Like I would look at any of those
DJ up there again, you know, and again the way he goes it's
like like, havn't heard a peepfrom him again unless you're fallowing live a
lot and all of a sudden seeinghim up there, you wouldn't be like,
oh interesting, you'd be like,yeah, there's Dustin Johnson again.
If I can't live on Scheffler.I do like Rory coming off that sixty
(25:17):
six of Volero, and like yousaid, I think the other pieces maybe
a little bit removed from talking aboutliv and the PGA Tour and all that.
Maybe just a little extra relaxation inhis shoulders and get out there and
play a little bit. So youknow, if it's not, it's not.
Scheffler. I kind of like Rorythis year if he gets off,
(25:38):
if his first round is good,I really like him. Okay, a
tough start. I just wonder ifthen the demons just hop right back real
quick, like oh gosh, herewe go, you know, and and
maybe not missing the cut, butlike backdoor and another top five, but
really never being in contention. SoI like off to a good start and
it doesn't have to be leading ifhe just shoots some them in the sixties
(26:00):
for what, you know, dependinghow the course was planned. And I
like Rory because on paper that coursesets up for him really well with the
way he drives it. Okay,I would love to see him win.
And good news for anybody that's makingtheir fantasy golf picks. I have already
used Rory this year, and hesucked like he does every year when I
use him, so he's free,I will not be using him. I
will not be ruining his round foryou, so you'll be good. You
(26:25):
know. It's my service to everybodyfor this major, a name that has
been kind of creeping back in moreand more and more. He fell off
after I guess it was twenty seventeen, and that's Jordan's speed. He didn't
fall off, but he wasn't,you know, his form went down and
I don't know if it was someof that mental stuff because after the collapse
at the Masters, then he cameback, he won the Open, but
(26:47):
then it was like he just kindof disappeared for a while, and now
he seems to be getting closer againto that earlier form that we saw Jordan
Speith. Do you I mean,do you think that that he could be
getting back to, you know,having his name in the top three finishes
at the Masters this year? Yeah, I mean, you know, having
won there and all the experience hehas. It's like that is of any
(27:10):
of the majors. I mean,Masters a place where experience is huge,
like as much as any major thereis out there. Because sometimes they they
kind of make their way back aroundand the play. Of course, they've
played seven or eight years ago,so guys know it. But like the
Masters, being the same place everyyear, experience is huge, whether it's
(27:32):
the course is firm or you know, soft, or the winds blowing and
stuff. And then and the guysobviously get up for him too, so
you know, I know, youknow, Jordan's been he said he even
said he's driving it really well lastweek in Valero, so so that's encouraging.
So yeah, I think, youknow, Jordan has a bet or
as being up there is again notsurprising and probably gonna happen because again he's
(27:57):
he's really good on there, histrack record's really good, and he's you
know, been showing good signs.So yeah, I think he's gonna play
well too. You know. Yeah, it's interesting too because so many people
just remember the collapse, but youknow, and it took me. I
went back to day to look.I was like, got it, that's
right, I forgot his first yearfinished second, then he won it,
(28:18):
and then the epic collapse he finishedsecond behind Danny Willett. So yeah,
he's got a pretty good track recordthere, I would agree, y,
Yeah, he was winning everything aroundthat time. Yeah, to be young
and naive and not have anything.Justin Thomas did something interesting in the last
week. He got rid of hiscaddie. Do you recommend that heading into
(28:38):
a major? That was that wasa little surprising, I think for everybody.
And you know, no one reallyknows the reason why, so whether
it was more bones or more Justinor who. But yeah, that's that
was a surprising move. Yeah,I know Justin Thomas is trying to been
taking more ownership over everything his golfgame a little bit and swing and all
that a little bit. But yeah, that's a surprising one. So we'll
(29:02):
we'll see how that works out forhim. And you know, he's been
hot and cold the last ever sincehe won the PGA, So again,
you don't know kind of what JustinThomas is showing up. The only thing
I know so Justin Thomas warn't anything, is that it looks like over the
last couple of years he's it lookslike he just is getting more technical about
things. Okay, it's like you'reall really really good, So like more
(29:25):
thought doesn't look like the way togo. I mean his putting and his
chipping and hitting it, and itjust looks like he wants to do everything
like you know, perfect, orlike tigers over analyze it all and everything.
You know, just it just lookslike he's trying really hard to just
do everything really well. You know. I don't think that works awesome for
(29:48):
athletes. Yeah I would, Icould understand that. And it is interesting
too, because I feel like thatcaddy player relationship is it's not just like
you can just go grab somebody andbe like, hey, going to be
my caddy for the day. You'renot at like the local country club where
you just get a caddy for theday. I mean, this is something
that the caddy has to know howthe guy plays, and the player has
to know how the caddy communicates,and you know, it seems like a
(30:11):
symbiotic relationship. So to have thatchange, that huge change a week out
of a major just seems like somethingbigger had to have been happening for the
timing in my opinion. Yeah,again, not knowing or I haven't never
really said much so not knowing exactlywhat happened, but yeah, it was
enough to obviously be like, hey, we got to go our separate ways
(30:32):
here. Any other timing, Idon't know, you could say it couldn't
be worse, but it definitely wasinteresting. If he was doing Caddy auditions,
though, I would have submitted myselfjust you know, the week off
if he needed to carry. I'vewatched the gust on TV enough. I
know the holes you got it.You're like, Actually, when I saw
this on TV, it looked itwas from an opposite angle. But I
do recall moving right to left.I know you don't want to hit in
(30:55):
the water on twelve in the finalround. So see, you're already ahead
of the game. There you go. We are going to be doing a
little master's contest. But before Ido that, because it's gonna full,
it's going to play into this fielda little bit, you would mentioned the
dark horse. So tell me whyyou think Bryson might be decent this week.
Yeah, I mean, if youcould call him that, I'm going
(31:15):
to call him a dark horse.Since we don't get not much anymore,
I think that's a good I thinkI would call him the dark horse.
I mean, it looks like he'sdriving it far and straight from some things
I've seen, he's a good putter, like super underrest. I mean,
I think people unterrest me, howgood of a putter. He really is,
even though it looks contrived and technical, he's he's a good putter.
(31:37):
I think just kind of comes downto, like his wedges and irons,
if you can control all the distancesreally well. But I think all the
work he did with his whole longdrive looking stuff, I think one.
I think you know, you getin the gym and you start getting big
and buff, maybe a little testosteronetakes over and you're kind of get into
it, get into that a littlebit. But I think it looks like
(32:00):
he's at a place now where he'skind of maybe he's a little past that
a little bit and kind of backto golf, and now the distance is
he's not having to try so hardto like get it because he's kind of
got it now. And so nowlike playing golf, distances there and it's
really far and it looks like it'sstraight too. So I think people got
(32:21):
to understand, like as far asthat guy hits it some, then how
straight he hits it so and againthat's super important at Augusta. And yeah,
if he's gonna have short irons inthere, he's gonna be able to
hit it in close to some ofthose pins that some guys have a little
longer clubs in and stuff. SoI think it just kind of really depends
on how his irons go, becauseyou know, he does something drastic in
(32:43):
the next little bit, he drivesit far and puts it pretty good.
So yeah, those are two goodthings. I would say the key in
this in this podcast history, Ithink our key statistic is bogey avoidance.
So both of those things would leantowards bogey avoidance, which is critical when
you're trying to win majors. Yea, that's golf analysis right there. You're
welcome, I should be. I'lljust go around. Okay, now justin
(33:07):
I think we really want the avoidancehere. I'll just keep saying that would
work out really well. Okay.So, as I said, we're gonna
be doing this Master's contest, sowe're going to have people submit four players
Okay, I can't figure this cameraout. Okay, four players, and
it's going to be any player inthe field as one low am, a
(33:28):
past winner, and then someone whohasn't won the Masters before. So really,
I think you know, the thethree of the four categories are pretty
easy, right where you're going tojust totally be playing a guessing game.
Is when it comes to the amateurs, We've got five amateurs and I don't
I think the only one people probablyhave heard of is Nick Dunlap and he
(33:50):
lost his amateur card right because heaccepted this spot on the tour. Yeah,
but so we've got Neil Shipley.His odds are plus one hundred thousand.
That doesn't seem great. He's gotthe odds stocked againstant it sounds like
some would say there's two other peoplewith those same odds. That's Stuart Hagastad.
(34:13):
He's the US mid Amateur winner.He did earn low Amateur honors at
the twenty seventeen Masters though, whenhe finished tied for thirty six. That's
a surprising that he's the same asNeil since he's been to the Masters and
played in at what like three orfour times now because he's won the mid
am I think it was here threeor four times, so he's yeah,
he's got more experienced there than someof the pros are going in. So
(34:34):
yeah, that's interesting Miami. Buthe's got a lot of experience there.
Yeah. Well, and there's there'sout of the five, three of them
have plus one hundred thousand odds,but I would think he would have should
have been in the lower ones.Jasper Stubbs is at plus fifty thousand.
He's Australian and won a playoff atRoyal Melbourne in November. And then Christo
(34:54):
Lamprecht. He's the Amateur Championship winner. He's six foot eight, so you'll
definitely notice him out there. Hewon the Amateur at Hillside and took low
am honors at the Open last summer. Oh, I do remember him.
He led the Open the first round. That's right, I do remember that
guy. So he's pretty good.So any of those do you think again
that course history and course comfort knowledgeis gonna just play in Hagastead's favor.
(35:19):
I mean he would definitely be upthere. I mean another thing, Crysto,
guy has got some experience, LikeI said, I mean leading.
I'm pretty sure he led the firstround of the Masters or sorry, Open
Championship or was tied. He wasright there, so that's good. And
then he is number one in theworld. Well there's that. There's that,
so he's got plenty of experience.I think so if I had to
(35:45):
honestly, it is close to I'dhave to give the nod to Kristo just
because of probably his length, becauseat six eight he does he moves in
a few yards out there, andhis experience in just other majors. I
think that would give him my notas low Am, but Hagstad would be
definitely the next guy right there,just because of how many, how many
(36:07):
has played in the experience he hasthere. Okay, Yeah, it's it's
interesting because when you said because ofhis length, all of a sudden,
I was just picturing how long hisclubs must be, Like, they've got
to be pretty long. Yeah,he would not like my clubs, No,
No, nor mine normind although mypink driver is very comfortable. Okay,
(36:28):
So, as I said, there'sgonna be four categories any player in
the field, low Am. Wejust gave you some info on the low
Am there a past winner and someonewho hasn't won the Masters before. So
you will have to do a littlebit of research listeners, because you'll have
to figure out who has one andhasn't won, so that you know the
correct people to put in there.I will give you a hint, there's
about fifteen of them that have onethat are playing there. So you've got
(36:50):
a couple options. As far asthe odds on the rest of the field,
it looks like we've got ord inmy start. Oh there we go,
Scottie Scheffler's leading plus three twenty fiveand then Rory Brooks, Rom Wyndham,
Clark Shoffley, which is interesting.Shoffley's name. I mean, you
see it all the time, butI just feel like every time I think
(37:10):
about using him in fantasy golf,I am deterred. I don't really feel
like he finishes a lot. Hekind of puts himself in the running and
then he disappears. That just myimagination. Yeah, I mean he's he's
gonna win one one day. Imean it just it's gonna happen. He's
too good, not too he justdoes everything really well. So and it's
(37:31):
probably gonna be one of those whereonce he wins one, he's gonna win
multiple. But we just don't knowwhen that's gonna be because like I said,
he he seems to do everything well. I mean every time I watch
him, it's it's a mile.He puts it really good, good iron
player. He's been in contention aton, so he's you'd say he has
the experience, so it's just kindof peeling the lid off to just kind
(37:54):
of get it going a little bit. So again, if he's up there
this week, it wouldn't be likeoh okay, it'd be like, yeah,
that sounds about righting. Yeah,all right, fair enough. If
you want to participate in the contest, we do have a prize pack from
Tito's. Sponsored by Tito's. Ishould say I'm not going to tell you
what's in the prize pack. You'regonna have to find out when I give
(38:15):
it to you. And if youreach out on Twitter, my Twitter handle
is at Ashley Lola Ryan, youcan send your four picks. They have
to be in by Wednesday at midnight, and then the scoring is going to
be based on where they finish.So if they finish first, they get
one point. Your objective is tohave the lowest number of points. If
they miss the cut, and fiftypeople make the cut, then everybody who
(38:37):
misses will get fifty one points.So just think about that when you're trying
to plan this. I will putit out on Twitter what the category is
again when we post this podcast,so people can have some time to think
about it. Wednesday at midnight andyou will win an awesome Tito's prize pack
because Tito's is the official sponsor ofthe nineteen Toll podcast and we appreciate that
(38:57):
very much, just like I appreciateyou taking the time to help us navigate
Master's Week. Derek, thank you, thank you. Ashley. Okaybye,
Welcome to the nineteenth Whole Podcast.This is the Master's Addition, sponsored by
Tito's handmade vodka, distilled and bottledin Austin, Texas, forty percent alcohol
by volume, namely eighty proof,crafted to be savored responsibly. Cheers,
cheers. I'm drinking out of myTito's. See, this is the hard
(00:21):
thing. Everything's opposite my Tito's mug. You're lefty today, I am because
the handle's on the left side.There you go, and I still can't
figure out how to get it inthere. See. This is why I
would never be good on the news. Opposite, I wouldn't be good at
that. I am whoa, I'mAshley. What happened to my voice?
It just went all weird? I'mAshley Ryan. I am your host.
(00:43):
I am with Derek Berg, whois an esteemed golf professional. Derek tell
us, do you want to talkabout where you work or no? Oh?
I'd love to. Kenw Golf Academyand is a Claul Washington. We
try to coach golfers to the bestof their golf inability, and I will
say some golfers probably can't be coached. Uh I couldn't. We do need
(01:11):
them to do that, and thatis that is one of the hats we
wear, is some of the psychologypart of trying to get them, trick
them into practicing a little more.I was gonna say that's probably got to
be the hardest thing though as agolf pro, is having someone come into
a lesson getting everything like you're youfeel like that's a successful lesson. Then
by the end of it, theyleave, they come back next time,
(01:34):
and you have to do it allover again because they didn't practice anything.
Does that happen frequently? I wouldsay that is more frequent than you would
like. So okay, yeah,no it uh, you know, everybody's
busy these days. Nobody's going tosay they're not busy. Yeah, but
yeah, if you want to getbetter at anything, you got to put
you got to put some time inand and then the hard part is the
game is really hard. So hopefullyyou don't get discouraged when you're putting that
(01:57):
time in as well. But yeah, it's it does take some work off
off away from the lesson tee.So I feel like that is a big
thing too. Because I went golfingwith my husband the other day and it
was the second time I golfed thisweek and I couldn't hit anything, like
it was terrible. And I knowpart of it is that when I'm playing
golf with Mark, I'm already likeextra nervous because I'm like, oh,
(02:21):
he's gonna he hates playing with me. This is gonna make me hate him
hate playing with me more. Andthen it's just fail, fail fail.
So then you get into your ownhead. Yeah, like what do you
have any advice for how to kindof snap out of it when you get
in that sense? Yeah? Imean again, I think it all goes
back to, you know, kindof what's going on in your head,
right, if you're worried about whetherit's slowing somebody down or you're not going
(02:44):
to play good enough. I meanthat's just you know, excessive stuff that
we don't really need. But we'rea human being, so it's just going
to be there, right, Soyou know, just understanding that you're doing
the best you can and and youknow, just got to keep trying at
it and working hard at it,and you know, I mean, I
think expectations are the biggest thing,right. I Mean, even people that
(03:06):
aren't good probably have expectations that areprobably higher than they should be. I'm
not telling anybody to not try tobe positive or anything, but you know,
yeah, you know, getting nervousand all that stuff's not going to
help you, you know. Soso just understanding this is a hard game
and that you know, again,it takes I mean that's why myself,
(03:29):
I've put in so many hours overmy life and these guys, obviously,
the people that watch, the peopleon TV, they have no idea how
many hours they put in, right, and so it just takes a long
time. I mean people call itlike a game for the lifetime, you
know, and it is. Imean, you you can go out one
day and play awesome and think yougot it in the very next day,
it's totally different. I Mean,our feel to play varies every single day,
(03:52):
unlike back ball or football, whereit's like it's the same feel.
It might be cold one day,or you might be you know, in
a different state, but it's thesame one hundred yards or ten foot rim.
So yeah, that's true. AndI suppose that's also where the practice
comes in, right, because ifyou're practicing to the point where you don't
need to think about those things thatyou're doing, then you're not worried about
(04:12):
the extra stuff. Yeah. Yeah, And again we're human beings and it's
like, that's a season I happened. I think that's the one thing I've
gotten as I've gotten older, isyou know, there's so much now on
psychology, which, to be honest, I think people that try to play
this game, I mean, especiallyas you get better, like it should
be more of that even is understandingyou can't even control your mind, I
(04:40):
mean, to be honest, theway I think is like, I mean,
I've driven to so many golf tournamentsover my life, thinking, oh,
I'm gonna be positive all day,and before I know it, some
bad thought hops into my brain andI'm thinking one day like, oh,
I'll just have no bad thoughts offin my brain. And I realize now
in my forties, be like,maybe I should stop trying to control this
thing. Maybe it's just not goingto happen, you know, and you
(05:03):
see your best so well. Andif anybody watched Full Swing the second season,
I mean they that played a bigpart in it. And for who
was it now? I can't ohWyndham Clark and he talked about the psychology
of his game and now he hasthat coach that goes with him all the
time. I actually was on PGAtour dot com today and they were doing
(05:24):
like a profile on her and theimportance that she's played in his success.
So I do think that that itis good that they're focusing on that now
for sure. No, absolutely,I mean he's been a world class player
for probably five years. It's justthat one added piece that made him extremely
world class now, you know,Yeah, be able to get over that
(05:44):
hump. Yeah, all right,we got stuff to talk about. So
the Valero Texas Open was this pastweekend, and but I know this is
the Master's addition, and we willget into plenty about the Masters. But
I just have a couple of questionsthat I I three together just after watching
this one. Have you ever seenanyone dislocate a shoulder doing a fist pump?
(06:06):
No? And uh yeah, thatwas quite interesting, especially when you
couldn't at first, didn't really understand. I didn't understand what was happening.
You know, he's kind of onhis hand or his shoulder, and you're
going, like, what's going on? And then they started getting into it,
and it's like his shoulder pops outand I mean, the guy's either
got to start falling in love withsome you know, milkshakes and desserts or
(06:29):
something on some waiter, or he'sgot his trainer and him got to start
planning some different celebrations so he canstay healthy because he's obviously a world class
I mean, if people don't know, I mean, he's won each of
the last three years, and he'swon twice in the last like six months,
so that's probably not gonna stop happening, you know, So to celebrate
a little more, uh carefully,maybe the Phil Mickelson thumbs up he can
(06:54):
just get, yeah, just smile. You notice when he made his putt
to actually win, he just kindof looked up to the sky. He's
probably like, I'm I'm not movingmy arms at all. Yeah, Well,
he'd already gotten his shoulder tape Ithink by then too. And for
anyone that didn't see it, itwas a batilla that did this and on
eighteen made a putt to continue theround into an extra hole, and his
fist pump was apparently too aggressive.His shoulder popped out, and they're like,
(07:15):
waiting for I've never seen anything likethat, for sure. I've also
I don't think ever seen anything likewhat happened to Denny McCarthy. He hit
seven birdies in a row, goesto the playoff hole and you think,
okay, well Batia just had hisshoulder come out of his socket, So
this is all McCarthy. All hehas to do is not screw it up.
And what does he do? Yeah, I got it. Thank god
(07:38):
for Denny McCarthy, to be honest, because that tournament would have been a
snoozer. Yeah. I almost wasn'tgoing to tune in yesterday. I'm sure
a lot of people probably turned itoff with nine holes to go. So
yeah, well, thank god forDenny and obviously anybody that knows the PJ
Tour and Denny McCarthy, I meanthat guy can flat out putt it so
(07:59):
and he showed that yesterday. Sonow that was that made it quite interesting.
And then yeah it's tough. Imean when you I mean he birdied
eight to nine on the back nine, Yeah, it was a pretty big
shock chunk in the water. Butagain going back to like I mean,
all I can equate that too isjust the pressure. Yeah, there's nothing
(08:20):
else. I mean, he hadbasically the same shot he had in regulation,
you know nothing. I mean it'sone hundred yard wedge. These guys
eat those up, you know,no, no big deal and chunk it
right in the stream. I mean, like that's just the pressure of trying
to win on that tour, especiallyhe had lost the play playoff to Victor
(08:41):
Hovlin, you know, bogeing,I think, the last whole of memorial
and stuff, and you know,trying to probably want it so bad and
man get his first victory. Yeah, I mean, it's just it's pressure
right there, right for you.I mean, think of a guy making
seven birdies in a row is likefeeling it and something must have popped into
his brain at the wrong time.And how long do you think he's going
(09:03):
to hang on to that shot too? Like he's not, he's not,
like it's all he woke up todayand he's over it. Yeah, that's
hard to say, because again Ithink that's what I mean. I'll bring
up like Dustin Johnson for example.I mean, that's what makes that guy
amazing, other than obviously he's physicallytalented too. Yeah, it seems like
that guy gets over worse stuff thanthat, you know, losing majors and
(09:24):
stuff. So yeah, it's hardto say. It depends on who you
are, right, So I'm hopingDenny McCarthy doesn't hold on over too long.
But really tough to say, sothat would be I think, you
know, if he hits it onthe green and actually makes a pot and
he misses, I think it's kindof one thing, you know, because
especially the Ronnie went on, butto just hand it over, I think
(09:46):
that one might that one might betough. Yeah, yeah, it's going
to sting for a bit, forsure. You brought up Dustin Johnson,
and actually I had a question abouthim because the live golfers will be back
at the Masters, obviously because itis a golf major. And the note
I put next to justin Dustin Johnson, I don't know if you saw this
or not. Does he actually careabout winning now that he has all that
money, because the guy shows likezero emotion Yeah, and I yeah,
(10:11):
yeah, So I don't know.Do you think he cares about winning anymore?
I think he definitely does. Ithink that's just part of what makes
Dustin Johnson so great is that he'sI mean, if you want to call
it emotionless, you know, itdoesn't seem like he really bothers him,
but then also makes you wonder alittle bit at the same time. But
I think, you know, especiallywhen it comes down to majors, I
(10:31):
think that's a no brainer. Thoseguys care about those for sure. Yeah,
but yeah, I just think that'sjust kind of who he is.
It maybe doesn't maybe make him soexciting, you know. I know,
personally I love watching him play becausewhen he gets it going, like he
dominates events, you know, kindof like Tiger did when he's so I
(10:52):
definitely think he cares, but it'sjust he just doesn't show it. And
like that. So that said,it's kind of the brilliance of him and
kind of of like does this guyreally give it? You know? Yeah,
that's what I think it's like.And it's like the guy that's lost,
like I said, major championships withyou know, whether it's rulings or
anything, he just kind of shrugsit off. I literally think like maybe
(11:16):
the next day, and maybe it'sthe day after that, he's like all
right, onto the next you know. I mean, he's just it's it's
it's amazing. That is amazing becauseI I mean, I am obviously not
a good golfer, but I loveit, but I will think about,
like, oh, why did Ido that for at least the next day
and a half, and I'm like, it didn't even matter. I was
playing a practice round at mill Creek, Like who cares? Yeah, I
(11:37):
mean, yeah, I don't knowhow he does it. So you mentioned
Tiger there, and he grabs headlineswithout even really stepping foot on the course.
I mean, he's done some practicerounds and he's technically there's eighty nine
people in the field. He doesn'thave to commit yet to playing in the
Masters, but it's looking like he'sgoing to play in the Masters because he's
(11:58):
looking pretty healthy. But do youthink that Tiger's ever going to get back
to even remotely Tiger esque? Imean, look at these questions I think
are tough for anybody to answer becauseall of us grew up idolizing him and
watching him and it's why millions playthe game and all that way I got
(12:20):
into enjoying it. Yeah, Imean, obviously, among so many things,
he made it cool and he wasI guess, you know, I
feel like an athlete out there andall that stuff, and he's so banged
up. I mean, it's youknow, I can't even imagine what he
feels like between you know, backsurgeries and knee surgeries and car accident and
(12:41):
all that. And I mean whenI watch him, it's kind of more
of like, does he isn't gonnamake it through the rem yeah, you
know, and so we all loveto see him out there. He you
know, his body's just so bangedup. I would find it amazing.
And I know most guys answer thequestion with don't put anything by Tiger because
he can do anything, which Imean no one can say like he for
(13:05):
sure is not going to win anythingagain. But man, these guys are
so good now there's so many ofthem. They hit it a mile,
you know, and all they doall these things that are more Tiger like
when he was doing them, andthey're healthy and so not being healthy,
And again we all don't know howhe feels, right, I mean,
(13:28):
he hasn't made it through rounds ofgolf. So yeah, that's what I
was gonna say. In the walkingat Augusta is not going to do him
any favors, no, I mean, so it's I think that's where I
would gravitate towards, like he's fightingthe biggest stuff he'll battle ever to win
anything ever again. But again younever know. But yeah, he's I
mean, he was just so muchbetter than everybody else at everything when he
(13:54):
was dominating, and now all theseguys can do what he did. It's
just mentally he obviously that's where itkind of gets separated when you have like
the same physical abilities. So it'sjust whether it's some of these guys and
I think that's where Scotty Scheffler.I mean, everybody you know sends video
or has videos about his swing andhis footwork and all this stuff, you
(14:16):
know, so it's like not likea swing is amazing. I mean,
it's obviously good, but it's mentally. I think Scotty Scheffler is in such
a place where that's why he's dominated. I know it comes out physical,
but I mean there's guys on theon like on tour that you could be
like, well, that swing isbetter and that swings better for all these
technical reasons, but for some reason, Scotty Scheffler is like hitting the ball
(14:39):
as good as anybody sends Tiger.Yeah, you know, so it's that
mental part that really separates it.But yeah, no, Tigers be a
that'd be tough. Yeah, well, and it's I think it's just hard
because, like you said, weall grew up watching him, enjoying him.
Like I didn't become a golf fantill two thousand and eight when I
met Mark, but Tiger was whatI was like, Oh, I can
(15:01):
I can follow the sport, Ican like this sport. This guy's awesome,
and so you just want that.Like when he came back and won
the Masters, when was that,now? Yeah, that was the It
was amazing, the greatest golf ofthem I ever watched. Yeah, it
was amazing. Everybody was rooting forit, Yeah, everybody, So everybody
(15:24):
I want that again. Is thereanyone on tour that you can think of
though, that would be like someonewho's kind of as exciting to watch.
I mean, nobody's going to matchTiger, but somebody that has that,
you know, kind of that peopleare zoned in on because Scheffler's great,
but he doesn't have that same excitementthat Tiger had. I think the two
that come to mind are probably betweenDJ and Rory. Yeah, I think
(15:48):
Rory's filing, filing, firing onall cylinders. It's pretty fun to watch,
and you know, especially when youhear the other pros be like,
man, you got to watch Rorydrive it on the driving range, like
it's like you stop and watch it. I think that's when you're starting to
get Tiger esque, you know,DJ when he was winning and when he
(16:10):
won, and there was events hewon by six and seven and eight and
all that. So I think thatwas another one that I would I'd say
those two kind of have that feelwhen they're just at it. But I
don't think I'm going to be aliveto see anybody that did what Tiger did.
Yeah, I get that step.I mean it was like to add
(16:30):
up. I think at one pointit was like you had to add up
world ranking points of two, threeand four and they might still have been
like a little shorter word Tiger.I mean that's how separated it was.
So Yeah, and I would saytoo, with Rory, the nice thing
like when you're watching him, hehas that passion and that fire that you
did see with Tiger, which somepeople, like old school golf people didn't
love because you're on a golf courseand you're supposed to be reserved. But
(16:52):
that's what changed golf, and that'swhat's brought so many more people in so
for Rory to carry that same passionand that same fire, I do think
you're just cheering for him. Andbut why is it that the Masters continues
to elude Rory? Why can't heget over that final hump? Well,
on paper, it should be rightup his alley because there's a lot of
right to left shots for a righthander. He drives it like everybody knows
(17:15):
that. It's like his thing.I personally think it's two things. I
think once it just one is justhow his putter goes, so he puts
well and things like that, becauseI mean, I know people can talk
about his wedges and his irons andhe's really good at those, but it
really just goes by his putter.And then the other one is again back
to the mental. He knows thisis to complete a Grand Slam. Yeah,
(17:40):
it's the one eluding him. Hewants me to everybody always he wants
to win the Masters. You know, it's just the the lore of the
Masters, right. So I think, just you get out there and it's
like it gets to be too bigof a deal. And again back to
the mental, it's like that's whatit is, Like, Oh my gosh,
this is the one. And alsonow you're not concentrated on what you're
(18:03):
doing, and and and yeah,I think it's just because he knows it's
the Masters and it's the one tocomplete the Grand Slam, and everybody talks
about it every year he gets there. And I think those are the two
things in my opinion, because youknow, he and if you want to
call it, blew it, buthe blew a decent lead in eleven twenty
eleven, and he hadn't even wona major yet. So at the time
(18:25):
it's kind of like whatever, kindof go out there and free wheel it.
And you know, this course fitsmy eye because I draw it,
and I mean, you know,and then he just had a you know,
a bad back nine and then twomonths later when the US opened by
a million. But now it's comingdown to like, I gotta win this
one. Yeah, it's yeah,the pressure starts to mount. And I
(18:45):
will say I will be interested tosee how he does this year, because
I do think from a perspective ofthe live golf PGA Tour thing, all
that pressure that he was facing andthat need to be the mouthpiece or the
PGA tour is gone. He's explainedhis frustration of how the PGA to were
handled it. So at least hedoesn't have that going against him this time
(19:06):
and maybe that'll make a difference.Yeah, for sure. I mean,
like I said, and that allhas to come back with you how you're
thinking. I mean, I thinkit's you know, these guys don't need
to explain their daily lives of usall the time. But I got to
imagine when people are playing well andthey win, you know, home life's
pretty good, they're practicing well,they're hitting it well, you know,
every you know, things are inline. And I think that's was a
(19:30):
huge piece the last few years forRory, where it's like, hey,
he's just that ultra talented where he'sgoing to finish third and second and it's
just that's the way it's going tobe because he's just that good. But
then, you know, why isanyone a major Definitely in the last two
three years, like you're saying,like he's got so much time devoted to
(19:51):
off the course stuff, there's justno way that leaks into their golf game
because it takes time, it takesconcentration away. It's the same reason why
you see some these guys like youknow, in my opinion, Ricky Fowler
and and things like where they hadfamilies and like they've been you know,
it's like and we know families alwaysruined. Everything really might be strong,
(20:12):
but you know it's not really Yeahno, but yeah, it just takes
away from passing and mental energy onwhat you're doing. You know. It's
like it's just that's just the realityof it, you know. And who
knows. Scotty Shuffler's have about tohave a baby and yeah, a little
short amount of time here, andI mean, who knows what's going to
happen, but that's going to taketime for him. So we'll see how
(20:33):
well he plays once that happens,you know. And and and then that
Rory has way more off other thanjust the family too. With Scotty Shuffler.
It's like Scotty seems like he's justout there playing golf and you know,
and Rory's playing golf and he's doinglike you said, he's like the
mouthpiece, he's like all this otherstuff. Yeah, you know, so
(20:53):
I think Scotty's mind is pretty clearand he's really good. So like,
yeah, and it seems like likefrom Full Swing Season one, you saw
the mental aspect and the toll thatit took on Brooks Koepka, and then
how his game was struggling during that. We'll come back next the next year.
Last year and he was phenomenal,So I mean I have to think
(21:15):
that he's writing the good wave.Yeah, he just had a kid and
you know, he's got other responsibilities, but it sure seems like we could
expect this a similar outcome as hehad last year at the Majors, which
is contending in each one, ifnot winning them. Yeah. I mean
he's very vocal about how the Majorsare like the thing. I mean,
(21:36):
he saw full swing and all that. It's like he's got the trophy case,
it's got all the open spaces,ready to put Majors up there.
So yeah, I think he hehas that mentality that Tiger had, where
like these are the ones and againultra talented golfer who's super motivated, you
know, after winning one last year. I think he's ready for more.
(21:56):
So it's tough for us though,I mean less really watching the CW a
lot watch their games. You know, are you not a big liv golf
fan watching it? I able tostay on top of it as much,
that's for sure. So you youknow, you know they're really good,
so you're thinking, you know,they're probably still really really good. But
when you don't get to see themas you know, or you're not really
(22:19):
making it point to see their games, it's kind of hard to go like,
well, I want to what kindof form there on? You know?
So yeah, well then yeah,it's weird because they've still got the
you know, the fifty four holesversus the seventy two holes. And at
least it's not on YouTube YouTube TVanymore. I guess that's better. Or
no, it's not even YouTube TV. It was just YouTube I think,
yeah, yeah, yeah, sothey are. Things are looking up.
(22:40):
It'll be interesting too to see howthings with Live in the PGA Tour actually
progressed, because after that big announcementthat blindsided everybody last year, it's just
been silence and they're like super Bowgoing on, yeah, no one and
so. But I can't imagine howfrustrating that would be to be an actual
player, because as a fan,it's frustrating to know what are you going
to do next? And then theplayers literally have no idea either, and
(23:03):
that has got to be annoying.I have one more live golfer to ask
you about. Yeah. Is Brysonto Shambeau good at golf anymore? Yeah,
is pretty good. In fact,when we get into the Master's stuff,
he might be, if you wantto call it a dark horse,
really good. Yeah. Maybe Ihave seen enough he does post enough where
(23:27):
he's still he's still pretty good andyou know, yeah, well he went
through that whole phase where it waslike, I'm going to put on all
this weight and look at how farI can hit it. And I was
like, if you just keep doingthat, just go to long drive competitions,
You're going to win a bajillion dollarsand impress everybody and have drinks with
your buddies. So maybe he sortedit all out. And on that note,
(23:48):
we should probably talk about the Mastersbecause it is coming up the greatest
week in golf this week, Master'sWeek the azaleas, everyone's favorite flower at
Augusta. Is there anyone like,if you're doing fantasy golf and you've got
every you know, we're early inthe season, you've basically got every single
golfer available to you. Is thereanyone, aside from Scotty Scheffler, that
(24:08):
you should be picking this week.Yeah, I mean Scotty is definitely,
you know, probably the bad betbecause you're not gonna make much because he
is I mean he's I mean,why would you not, although he is
slumping coming off that second winning twiceroll then making you know, not really,
but no, he's definitely the oddson favorite, you know. I
(24:30):
mean John Ram is been I actuallyforgot all about John Ram. That's weird.
John's been playing so good. He'sso good. I mean he just
if he makes a few putts,he's off and running. So John Ram
is really good, you know Brooksbecause he does want all them. He
does want those majors so bad,and he just had a taste of one
last year that I mean, howcould you not so, I mean really
(24:53):
tough because they're all world class.Like I would look at any of those
DJ up there again, you know, and again the way he goes it's
like like, havn't heard a peepfrom him again unless you're fallowing live a
lot and all of a sudden seeinghim up there, you wouldn't be like,
oh interesting, you'd be like,yeah, there's Dustin Johnson again.
If I can't live on Scheffler.I do like Rory coming off that sixty
(25:17):
six of Volero, and like yousaid, I think the other pieces maybe
a little bit removed from talking aboutliv and the PGA Tour and all that.
Maybe just a little extra relaxation inhis shoulders and get out there and
play a little bit. So youknow, if it's not, it's not.
Scheffler. I kind of like Rorythis year if he gets off,
(25:38):
if his first round is good,I really like him. Okay, a
tough start. I just wonder ifthen the demons just hop right back real
quick, like oh gosh, herewe go, you know, and and
maybe not missing the cut, butlike backdoor and another top five, but
really never being in contention. SoI like off to a good start and
it doesn't have to be leading ifhe just shoots some them in the sixties
(26:00):
for what, you know, dependinghow the course was planned. And I
like Rory because on paper that coursesets up for him really well with the
way he drives it. Okay,I would love to see him win.
And good news for anybody that's makingtheir fantasy golf picks. I have already
used Rory this year, and hesucked like he does every year when I
use him, so he's free,I will not be using him. I
will not be ruining his round foryou, so you'll be good. You
(26:25):
know. It's my service to everybodyfor this major, a name that has
been kind of creeping back in moreand more and more. He fell off
after I guess it was twenty seventeen, and that's Jordan's speed. He didn't
fall off, but he wasn't,you know, his form went down and
I don't know if it was someof that mental stuff because after the collapse
at the Masters, then he cameback, he won the Open, but
(26:47):
then it was like he just kindof disappeared for a while, and now
he seems to be getting closer againto that earlier form that we saw Jordan
Speith. Do you I mean,do you think that that he could be
getting back to, you know,having his name in the top three finishes
at the Masters this year? Yeah, I mean, you know, having
won there and all the experience hehas. It's like that is of any
(27:10):
of the majors. I mean,Masters a place where experience is huge,
like as much as any major thereis out there. Because sometimes they they
kind of make their way back aroundand the play. Of course, they've
played seven or eight years ago,so guys know it. But like the
Masters, being the same place everyyear, experience is huge, whether it's
(27:32):
the course is firm or you know, soft, or the winds blowing and
stuff. And then and the guysobviously get up for him too, so
you know, I know, youknow, Jordan's been he said he even
said he's driving it really well lastweek in Valero, so so that's encouraging.
So yeah, I think, youknow, Jordan has a bet or
as being up there is again notsurprising and probably gonna happen because again he's
(27:57):
he's really good on there, histrack record's really good, and he's you
know, been showing good signs.So yeah, I think he's gonna play
well too. You know. Yeah, it's interesting too because so many people
just remember the collapse, but youknow, and it took me. I
went back to day to look.I was like, got it, that's
right, I forgot his first yearfinished second, then he won it,
(28:18):
and then the epic collapse he finishedsecond behind Danny Willett. So yeah,
he's got a pretty good track recordthere, I would agree, y,
Yeah, he was winning everything aroundthat time. Yeah, to be young
and naive and not have anything.Justin Thomas did something interesting in the last
week. He got rid of hiscaddie. Do you recommend that heading into
(28:38):
a major? That was that wasa little surprising, I think for everybody.
And you know, no one reallyknows the reason why, so whether
it was more bones or more Justinor who. But yeah, that's that
was a surprising move. Yeah,I know Justin Thomas is trying to been
taking more ownership over everything his golfgame a little bit and swing and all
that a little bit. But yeah, that's a surprising one. So we'll
(29:02):
we'll see how that works out forhim. And you know, he's been
hot and cold the last ever sincehe won the PGA, So again,
you don't know kind of what JustinThomas is showing up. The only thing
I know so Justin Thomas warn't anything, is that it looks like over the
last couple of years he's it lookslike he just is getting more technical about
things. Okay, it's like you'reall really really good, So like more
(29:25):
thought doesn't look like the way togo. I mean his putting and his
chipping and hitting it, and itjust looks like he wants to do everything
like you know, perfect, orlike tigers over analyze it all and everything.
You know, just it just lookslike he's trying really hard to just
do everything really well. You know. I don't think that works awesome for
(29:48):
athletes. Yeah I would, Icould understand that. And it is interesting
too, because I feel like thatcaddy player relationship is it's not just like
you can just go grab somebody andbe like, hey, going to be
my caddy for the day. You'renot at like the local country club where
you just get a caddy for theday. I mean, this is something
that the caddy has to know howthe guy plays, and the player has
to know how the caddy communicates,and you know, it seems like a
(30:11):
symbiotic relationship. So to have thatchange, that huge change a week out
of a major just seems like somethingbigger had to have been happening for the
timing in my opinion. Yeah,again, not knowing or I haven't never
really said much so not knowing exactlywhat happened, but yeah, it was
enough to obviously be like, hey, we got to go our separate ways
(30:32):
here. Any other timing, Idon't know, you could say it couldn't
be worse, but it definitely wasinteresting. If he was doing Caddy auditions,
though, I would have submitted myselfjust you know, the week off
if he needed to carry. I'vewatched the gust on TV enough. I
know the holes you got it.You're like, Actually, when I saw
this on TV, it looked itwas from an opposite angle. But I
do recall moving right to left.I know you don't want to hit in
(30:55):
the water on twelve in the finalround. So see, you're already ahead
of the game. There you go. We are going to be doing a
little master's contest. But before Ido that, because it's gonna full,
it's going to play into this fielda little bit, you would mentioned the
dark horse. So tell me whyyou think Bryson might be decent this week.
Yeah, I mean, if youcould call him that, I'm going
(31:15):
to call him a dark horse.Since we don't get not much anymore,
I think that's a good I thinkI would call him the dark horse.
I mean, it looks like he'sdriving it far and straight from some things
I've seen, he's a good putter, like super underrest. I mean,
I think people unterrest me, howgood of a putter. He really is,
even though it looks contrived and technical, he's he's a good putter.
(31:37):
I think just kind of comes downto, like his wedges and irons,
if you can control all the distancesreally well. But I think all the
work he did with his whole longdrive looking stuff, I think one.
I think you know, you getin the gym and you start getting big
and buff, maybe a little testosteronetakes over and you're kind of get into
it, get into that a littlebit. But I think it looks like
(32:00):
he's at a place now where he'skind of maybe he's a little past that
a little bit and kind of backto golf, and now the distance is
he's not having to try so hardto like get it because he's kind of
got it now. And so nowlike playing golf, distances there and it's
really far and it looks like it'sstraight too. So I think people got
(32:21):
to understand, like as far asthat guy hits it some, then how
straight he hits it so and againthat's super important at Augusta. And yeah,
if he's gonna have short irons inthere, he's gonna be able to
hit it in close to some ofthose pins that some guys have a little
longer clubs in and stuff. SoI think it just kind of really depends
on how his irons go, becauseyou know, he does something drastic in
(32:43):
the next little bit, he drivesit far and puts it pretty good.
So yeah, those are two goodthings. I would say the key in
this in this podcast history, Ithink our key statistic is bogey avoidance.
So both of those things would leantowards bogey avoidance, which is critical when
you're trying to win majors. Yea, that's golf analysis right there. You're
welcome, I should be. I'lljust go around. Okay, now justin
(33:07):
I think we really want the avoidancehere. I'll just keep saying that would
work out really well. Okay.So, as I said, we're gonna
be doing this Master's contest, sowe're going to have people submit four players
Okay, I can't figure this cameraout. Okay, four players, and
it's going to be any player inthe field as one low am, a
(33:28):
past winner, and then someone whohasn't won the Masters before. So really,
I think you know, the thethree of the four categories are pretty
easy, right where you're going tojust totally be playing a guessing game.
Is when it comes to the amateurs, We've got five amateurs and I don't
I think the only one people probablyhave heard of is Nick Dunlap and he
(33:50):
lost his amateur card right because heaccepted this spot on the tour. Yeah,
but so we've got Neil Shipley.His odds are plus one hundred thousand.
That doesn't seem great. He's gotthe odds stocked againstant it sounds like
some would say there's two other peoplewith those same odds. That's Stuart Hagastad.
(34:13):
He's the US mid Amateur winner.He did earn low Amateur honors at
the twenty seventeen Masters though, whenhe finished tied for thirty six. That's
a surprising that he's the same asNeil since he's been to the Masters and
played in at what like three orfour times now because he's won the mid
am I think it was here threeor four times, so he's yeah,
he's got more experienced there than someof the pros are going in. So
(34:34):
yeah, that's interesting Miami. Buthe's got a lot of experience there.
Yeah. Well, and there's there'sout of the five, three of them
have plus one hundred thousand odds,but I would think he would have should
have been in the lower ones.Jasper Stubbs is at plus fifty thousand.
He's Australian and won a playoff atRoyal Melbourne in November. And then Christo
(34:54):
Lamprecht. He's the Amateur Championship winner. He's six foot eight, so you'll
definitely notice him out there. Hewon the Amateur at Hillside and took low
am honors at the Open last summer. Oh, I do remember him.
He led the Open the first round. That's right, I do remember that
guy. So he's pretty good.So any of those do you think again
that course history and course comfort knowledgeis gonna just play in Hagastead's favor.
(35:19):
I mean he would definitely be upthere. I mean another thing, Crysto,
guy has got some experience, LikeI said, I mean leading.
I'm pretty sure he led the firstround of the Masters or sorry, Open
Championship or was tied. He wasright there, so that's good. And
then he is number one in theworld. Well there's that. There's that,
so he's got plenty of experience.I think so if I had to
(35:45):
honestly, it is close to I'dhave to give the nod to Kristo just
because of probably his length, becauseat six eight he does he moves in
a few yards out there, andhis experience in just other majors. I
think that would give him my notas low Am, but Hagstad would be
definitely the next guy right there,just because of how many, how many
(36:07):
has played in the experience he hasthere. Okay, Yeah, it's it's
interesting because when you said because ofhis length, all of a sudden,
I was just picturing how long hisclubs must be, Like, they've got
to be pretty long. Yeah,he would not like my clubs, No,
No, nor mine normind although mypink driver is very comfortable. Okay,
(36:28):
So, as I said, there'sgonna be four categories any player in
the field, low Am. Wejust gave you some info on the low
Am there a past winner and someonewho hasn't won the Masters before. So
you will have to do a littlebit of research listeners, because you'll have
to figure out who has one andhasn't won, so that you know the
correct people to put in there.I will give you a hint, there's
about fifteen of them that have onethat are playing there. So you've got
(36:50):
a couple options. As far asthe odds on the rest of the field,
it looks like we've got ord inmy start. Oh there we go,
Scottie Scheffler's leading plus three twenty fiveand then Rory Brooks, Rom Wyndham,
Clark Shoffley, which is interesting.Shoffley's name. I mean, you
see it all the time, butI just feel like every time I think
(37:10):
about using him in fantasy golf,I am deterred. I don't really feel
like he finishes a lot. Hekind of puts himself in the running and
then he disappears. That just myimagination. Yeah, I mean he's he's
gonna win one one day. Imean it just it's gonna happen. He's
too good, not too he justdoes everything really well. So and it's
(37:31):
probably gonna be one of those whereonce he wins one, he's gonna win
multiple. But we just don't knowwhen that's gonna be because like I said,
he he seems to do everything well. I mean every time I watch
him, it's it's a mile.He puts it really good, good iron
player. He's been in contention aton, so he's you'd say he has
the experience, so it's just kindof peeling the lid off to just kind
(37:54):
of get it going a little bit. So again, if he's up there
this week, it wouldn't be likeoh okay, it'd be like, yeah,
that sounds about righting. Yeah,all right, fair enough. If
you want to participate in the contest, we do have a prize pack from
Tito's. Sponsored by Tito's. Ishould say I'm not going to tell you
what's in the prize pack. You'regonna have to find out when I give
(38:15):
it to you. And if youreach out on Twitter, my Twitter handle
is at Ashley Lola Ryan, youcan send your four picks. They have
to be in by Wednesday at midnight, and then the scoring is going to
be based on where they finish.So if they finish first, they get
one point. Your objective is tohave the lowest number of points. If
they miss the cut, and fiftypeople make the cut, then everybody who
(38:37):
misses will get fifty one points.So just think about that when you're trying
to plan this. I will putit out on Twitter what the category is
again when we post this podcast,so people can have some time to think
about it. Wednesday at midnight andyou will win an awesome Tito's prize pack
because Tito's is the official sponsor ofthe nineteen Toll podcast and we appreciate that
(38:57):
very much, just like I appreciateyou taking the time to help us navigate
Master's Week. Derek, thank you, thank you. Ashley. Okaybye,
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