Scottish Open Mega Preview | Picks, Storylines, Best Bets - The Second Cut | Golf Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 02 (00:00):
Welcome in.
This is the Second Cut Podcast.
I'm Rick Gaiman, and today weare mega preview potting the
Scottish Open, the first of twoconsecutive weeks across the
pond.
We've got your storylines.
We've got your best bets.
We've got your shenanigans.
Mark Emmelman is here.
Hello, Mark.

Speaker 00 (00:19):
Speaking of shenanigans, I realized this
morning I need a visa to getinto the United Kingdom.
Thankfully, I did theapplication and then I get, your
application will be reviewed inone to three business days.
I'm like, oh shucks, I traveltomorrow.
Well, thanks to the good folksthere in the United Kingdom, I
just got my visa, so I'm good togo tomorrow.

(00:39):
Good news.

Speaker 02 (00:41):
You've got a lot of pull in the UK.
You didn't even know it.

Speaker 00 (00:44):
They think I'm Trevor.

Speaker 02 (00:47):
There you go.
Sometimes that comes in handy.
Greg Ducharme is here.
Hello, Greg.

Speaker 01 (00:52):
It's like we're sitting here with royalty.
I mean, is that like a commonthing?
People know they need a visa oris it because you're going
there to work?
Like if I went to, if I wantedto go to Scotland tomorrow to
play golf, I need more than apassport.

Speaker 00 (01:06):
You need a visa now.
Yeah.
It's new rules.
That's what, that's what is.
Um, and, and we, we got anemail, but I, as you guys know,
I'm notoriously bad at checkingemails.
Mark

Speaker 02 (01:16):
is the absolute worst at checking emails.
And he, and he insists thatGmail is conspiring against him.

Speaker 00 (01:24):
It is.
Gmail doesn't work.
Anyhow, so Craig Capano, ifyou're listening, thank you.
He said to me, have you got theapp?
I'm like, what app?
He said, there's an app toenter the United Kingdom.
So we're on the golf course atthe John Deere.
He goes, yeah.
And he helps me download thething, you know, because I'm old
school that way.
And so I download the thing.

(01:46):
So I'm like, oh, shucks, I'vegot to do this.
So I do it this morning.
And you've got to take apicture and passport and the
whole thing.
And then I get one, two, threebusiness days.
So thankfully, we're here.
I was preparing to watch theScottish Open from my couch in
Columbus, Georgia.

Speaker 02 (02:01):
Yeah, that is– I guess it is relatively new,
Greg.
So we needed a visa when wewent to Australia.
Just– I don't know– I don'tknow what it is.
It's like a tourism visa.
I think it's just a way to get25 extra bucks out of you or
something like that.
But yeah, you need visas.
I don't know if that's everycountry, but yeah, it's a thing.

Speaker 01 (02:21):
That's crazy.
That's why I stay right here inthe US.
I mean, I used to be able toget in the car, drive up to
Canada.
I mean, a driver's license isrecommended.
You didn't need a passport.
That's for sure.
Now you need a Just to get onan airplane and fly
domestically, you need a specialstar on your license.
Things are tightening down, andI don't like it.

Speaker 02 (02:44):
Are you doing some Illuminati thing by having a
clock directly over your head?
Are you making a time zonestatement in this frame right
now?

Speaker 01 (02:53):
Well, you can make of that whatever you will.
But I don't mind it.
I like the background.
Okay, the time...
Is the time...
This time is wrong.
It is wrong.

Speaker 02 (03:06):
It says it's...
Well, I guess I don't know whattime zone

Speaker 01 (03:09):
you're in.
1108.

Speaker 02 (03:10):
I don't think it's 1108 wherever you're at.

Speaker 01 (03:13):
I'm in the Eastern time zone.
So it's 503.

Speaker 00 (03:17):
Yes, that is way off.
The cool thing, I thought thiswas marketing because, you
know...
Every watch company or clockcompany, when they market
themselves, the hands are 10 and2 for the smart face.
And when Greg clicked on it, itwas 10 and 2.
I mean, look at this guy.
I mean, this is a professionalat work.
That's exactly what it is.

Speaker 01 (03:36):
This ain't no hobby.

Speaker 00 (03:38):
Yeah,

Speaker 02 (03:39):
exactly.
That's amazing.
So well done, gentlemen.
Well, listen, I'm about to getmy sleep schedule in order.
We're going overseas for twoconsecutive weeks.
We're going to start with theScottish.
This is a co-sanctioned event.
So there's actually twoco-sanctioned events this year
between the PGA Tour and the DPWorld Tour.
This event, the Scottish Open,and then the ISCO Championship.

(04:01):
And Mark, we'll start here.
I find it interesting.
You know, this is...
This is a cool field becauseyou get a lot of guys from both
of these tours.
I feel like there should bemore of these.
I like the co-sanctioned natureof this.
It's almost like having a worldtour, but still being on their
own separate circuits.

Speaker 00 (04:22):
Well, yeah.
I mean, these opposite fieldevents and the co-sanctioned
stuff...
Look at the opposite field justfrom a little while ago.
Ryan Fox gets a win.
Now, all of a sudden, he's atwo-time winner in the PGA Tour.
So for the guys playing in theESCO, it's great news.
But for this event this week atthe Renaissance for the Genesis
Scottish Open, it is deep andit is strong.

(04:43):
I mean, the strength of thisfield is way up there from what
I've seen.
And I'm super excited becauseCarl Paulson yesterday morning
on the trip home from JohnDeere, we're in the airport for
the 6 a.m.
flight.
And I was like, you going toScotland?
He goes, no, home.
And then Port Rush the nextweek, because he's doing the
call for Sirius XM, PGA Tourradio.

(05:06):
And so I'm like, oh, cool.
He goes, are you going to theopen?
I'm like, no, no, no, justScotland, then back home.
And my hope was, is that I willbe switching on the TV early in
the morning with my coffee andall I'm going to see is rain
coming in sideways and I'm goingto be on the couch under a
blanket with coffee and you outthere in the rain.
And he laughs.
I'm like, no, I'm serious,right?

(05:26):
So he clicks open his phone andhe shows me the forecast for
Portrush, which is straight rainfor like six days.
And I'm like, you're joking.
He goes, no, for real, lookhere.
Then he goes over to Scotlandand no lie, it was like five
days of straight sunshine.
And he goes, That might be thebest weather that Scotland might
have ever had in all of theirhistory, and we seem to be

(05:48):
getting it this week.
So it's going to be a greatevent.
It just is.

Speaker 02 (05:52):
There's something a little nefarious about Mark,
always rooting for bad weatherwhen he's not there, playoffs,
nine-hole playoffs when he's notthere.

Speaker 00 (06:01):
We've just had two in a row, man.
Come on, give me a break.

Speaker 02 (06:04):
We have had two in a row.
The field is unbelievable.
Greg, it's, uh, uh, as far asthe, the OWGR strength of field
goes, it's going to be thesecond strongest field behind
just the players championship.
So everybody, um, using it, Ishouldn't even say using it as
an opportunity for a tune-up.
I think that is downgradingwhat this event is and how cool

(06:25):
a national championship is, butthey are, they've gotten
everybody over there.

Speaker 01 (06:31):
And it makes a lot of sense, right?
It makes a ton of sense to gospend a little time over there,
get acclimated to the time zone.
No pun intended.
Go get acclimated to all thatstuff.
Get used to the food and whereyou're going to go eat and the
grasses, the turf conditions.
Are you going to need some newwedges to put in play?

(06:53):
Is there any kind of grind yougot to do with your irons?
That happened to Colin Morikawaa couple of years ago before he
won the Open Championship.
It's a really important trip,not just to get ready for the
Open, but it's an opportunity toplay Lynx golf, which it does
seem like most of the Americanplayers really appreciate Lynx

(07:15):
golf.
Not all of them do very well onLynx golf, but they'd certainly
appreciate it.

Speaker 02 (07:22):
Let's talk Lynx, Mark.
This is a different style ofgolf.
America plays golf in the air.
Most of the rest of the worldplays golf on the ground.
When I say Lynx style golf, orwhen people tune in at 2 a.m.
on Saturday, I guess that wouldbe Thursday morning, Wednesday
night into Thursday morning.
What are they going to see thatis so different than golf

(07:44):
courses here in America?

Speaker 00 (07:46):
Well, all the Lynx purists will tell you that the
Renaissance Club is not a trueLynx.
It's just up the way fromMuirfield, which is probably one
of the greatest links there isin all the world.
But it sort of feels likeRenaissance was built, where a
lot of the original linkscourses just wandered between
sand dunes and stuff that wereright adjacent to the water.

(08:07):
But that being said, about theRenaissance, I think it's great.
There are a couple of seasideholes down the cliffs, which are
beautiful.
Then the rest of it is parklandwith a links field with fescue
and such.
But if you're looking for anexamination, I would say the
main thing around Lynx Golf isreally striking the ball solid
of very tight fairways.

(08:28):
The fairways aren't necessarilymanicured like the golf courses
in the United States, butthey're tight.
It's almost fescue grass that'scut down real low.
You've got to strike the ballreally well.
You've got to control distance.
In fact, at times when the windblows, because it's always
heavy, yardage books go out thewindow.
I've seen guys hit five ironsfrom 140 yards and I've seen

(08:52):
guys hit pitching wedges from200 downwind because you're
landing at 40 yards short whenthe conditions are firm.
The last couple of years at theScottish Open, Renaissance has
been sort of softish becauseit's been wet.
But this year it's been verydry from the reports I'm getting
on the ground there.
They said the golf course is insensational shape.

(09:12):
The weather is supposed to begood.
So you're going to see a placewhere it's kind of brownish in
spots.
Frank Nobler calls it biscuitcolor.
Sort of imagine your biscuitthere for breakfast.
That's the look.
And, you know, big greens,natural undulation, slower
greens.
It's just all about hitting theball solid and being able to
kind of play golf and not playnumbers.

(09:35):
That's what it is.

Speaker 02 (09:37):
Yes, not a track man competition.
You've got to worry about whatthe ball is going to do when
it's on the ground.
And I can't believe I'm goingto say this, Greg, but in
defense of the Twitter purists,this was a manufactured golf
course.
2008.
Tom Doak opened this thing up.
So it is not the, like Marksaid, mother nature has crafted

(09:57):
a lot of the links golf coursesin the UK after centuries of
erosion and wind movement, allthat fuss.
This was manufactured withinthe last couple of decades.

Speaker 01 (10:08):
Yes, which is a rare thing, right?
You know, there's not a lot ofnew golf courses going on in
that area of the world.
There are so many already.
But, you know, I still thinkthat it provides a really nice
test for the PGA Tour.
We've seen, just like any Lynxgolf course, pretty much in the
Open Rota or in the Irish OpenRota, as long as it's Lynx,

(10:29):
you're going to see a wide rangeof scores based on the weather
conditions.
I mean, since...
They've been at the RenaissanceClub, whether it was PGA Tour
or DP World Tour, since 2019.
So you're talking about sixyears, and winning scores have
been between 7-under and22-under.
So a really wide range ofpotential winning scores.

(10:52):
It can play very gettable, andit can play brutally difficult.
So much of it just depends onthat weather.
I think this year it's lookinglike we're going to have a
little more of the– a littlemore scorable.
because it is going to be dryto Mark's point.
At least it looks that way now.
Winds, aside from Thursday,look to be very calm, kind of

(11:13):
freakishly calm for that area ofthe world.
So we may see some low scoresthis week.

Speaker 00 (11:19):
Yeah, will that wind just wait 15 minutes?
It'll be like the John Deerelast week where I got drenched,
then dry, then drenched, thendry, all in one afternoon in
three hours.
That's sort of the thing.
And I do want to say this realfast because I'm kind of
glancing at the chats.
The east coast of Scotland,like if you want to go on a
boy's trip for golf, you know,we stay in North Berwick, which

(11:41):
is the coolest little town.
The golf course North Berwickis sensational.
I mean, in terms of links,that's the one you've got to
play.
The greens look like they'restraight off Mars.
It's crazy.
It's like Mother Naturedesigned those.
Then just up the way isMuirfield.
Then you've got Kilspindi andall these cool places around
there.
And then up the coastline,you've got St.

(12:03):
Andrews and you've gotCarnoustie.
So it's just a wonderful spotfor golf.
And I almost get the sense thatthe golf course course, it's
going to show off its truecolors a little bit, pun
intended here, because when itgets firm to Rick's point, ball
gets to moving on the ground.
And this links, as far as I'veseen, I've been to Royal St.

(12:25):
George's, I've been to St.
Andrews, I've been toCarnoustie, I've been to Troon,
I've been to Birkdale.
I have not seen Portrush.
I've not seen Hoylake, RoyalLiverpool.
And This one has more elevationchange than most.
Like I say, most of them arequite low lying between big sand
dunes.
Where over here, like a holelike number eight, the shortish

(12:48):
par four, it's got this big hillyou climb.
And then 11 sort of goes upthis long, slow hill.
And then you go down into likea cliff seaside and you climb up
a big hill, another way to playanother downhill par three, 14,
which has got a wall rightbetween it and the 12th green.
So it sort of feels like NorthBerwick in a way, but there's a

(13:10):
lot of undulation change.
So as a result, when you'replaying from high ground to low
ground, the wind's pumping 40,you know, that's what makes it
really hard.
But to your point, Greg, eventhough the ball's moving on the
ground with the undulation, Ifeel like it'll be kind of, the
fangs will be dulled a littlebit and scoring should be pretty

(13:32):
good.

Speaker 02 (13:33):
The...
Venues, really some of thevenues that Mark rattled off,
obviously part of the open rota.
One of the others, part of theopen rota there is Royal St.
George's.
That's where Colin Morikawa,Greg, got his victory.
Colin Morikawa, back in thenews.
He has a way of doing thisrecently.
This time, positive, I wouldsay.

(13:54):
Him and Billy Foster linking upfor the next two weeks.
Billy Foster, was on MattFitzpatrick's bag most recently.
They won the US Open together.
Billy Foster's been around along time.
He's been on a lot of greatbags.
He is going to try to shepherdColin Morikawa around the UK.

Speaker 01 (14:12):
Yes, and look, it's at least, at the very least, an
experienced caddy for him.
It's like a two-week trial.
I'm not sure if that's anawkward kind of thing or a
positive thing, but...
Look, it is more positive newsthan we've had in the past
couple weeks with ColinMorikawa.

(14:33):
And, you know, I heardsomething really interesting
from Morikawa at the Rocket.
It was at the Rocket Classic.
I think he said it to AmandaValionis.
You know, I feel like I'mhitting a draw right now, but
you got to play with what yougot.
And I'm kind of like, allright, maybe he's figuring out

(14:54):
that he just needs to playbecause he's– Even if he's not
feeling good enough, he isplaying good enough to beat
everybody.
So perhaps that gave me a hintof optimism with Colin Morikawa
going forward.
I like the way he's played herebefore.
So I'm more optimistic thisweek than I've been.

(15:14):
I

Speaker 02 (15:16):
don't know Billy Foster, Mark.
I can tell you what I think ofhim as an outsider.
I think he is a rugged player.
Burly man, old school caddy whomight slap Colin Morikawa
around a little bit.
I don't know.
Am I heading down the rightpath here?

Speaker 00 (15:32):
He pretty much hit that on the nail on the head.
I know Billy Foster well.
I know Billy Foster when he waslike a teenager caddying for
Seve Ballesteros.
So he's seen the comings andthe goings, man.
And he's grizzled.
He's typically English.
He's sort of, you know, MidlandEnglishman who calls a spade a
spade.
And he suffers, doesn't sufferfools lightly.

(15:54):
And I feel like for Colin, thismay be exactly what he needs.
You know, when it gets a bitpouty or whatever the case might
be, just get a little slaparound the gills and say,
sunshine, let's just go and playgolf a little bit and let's see
what's happening.
So it could be good.
The word from inside the campthat we've gotten is this is a

(16:14):
two-week deal.
It's not necessarily like atrial period or whatever you
want to call it.
It's two weeks.
Now, look, if Colin...
plays well and maybe contendsor wins one of these next two
events it could turn longer butas far as i knew billy was kind
of done with golf you know it'sbeen a long career and there's a
lot of miles on those tires soum i think it'll be a fun trip

(16:37):
it'll be fun to watch i've seenbilly foster with matt
fitzpatrick at times when matt'sbeen standing there with arms
waving in the air and billywould just pick up the bag and
walk not even listen to the guySo it's going to be a
fascinating watch, and I'mactually kind of hoping.
I have Murray Carwin, one ofthe next two rounds, so I can
see actually how it's going totranspire on the golf course.
Because Billy is a great caddy.

(17:00):
He's a grizzled guy, and he'sfrom the old school.
He's tough.

Speaker 02 (17:05):
One of my favorite Billy Foster clips is him and
Matt Fitzpatrick are discussinga shot.
Matt's getting ready to go.
Matt asked another question andBilly just goes, okay, now on
with it.
And Matt's like, sorry, Iapologize.
I was going to ask you one morequestion, but I guess I'll just
go now.

(17:26):
So that is going to bedifferent than some of the other
voices Colin's had this year.

Speaker 00 (17:30):
Greg, let me jump in here real fast.
That is so accurate.
And I will say this, you know,everyone talks about the pace of
play on the PGA Tour.
The pace they move and stuff,I've said this is fast.
some of the deliberation overgolf shots is ridiculous.
And any single one of theseguys, and I've maintained this,
you could give Jordan Spiethhalf a set of clubs and he'd

(17:52):
shoot lower than what he does inPGA Tour events.
You catch him at his homecourse, when he's got a range
finder, a golf cart, and hisclubs, he's going to shoot 65 on
you every single time.
And when you get to the PGATour event, it's all this back
and forth and deliberation andstuff where it's like, 175.
It can't go more than 185.
It's got to go 170.
Hit the 7-iron.

(18:13):
I don't care if the wind's upand down.
Hit the 7-iron.
You've got a range to hit to.
Where these guys are making toomuch of it, and maybe, just
maybe, with Colin, who likes totalk between shots or before
shots, where Billy's like, hitit.
Let's go.
I'll see you on the green.

Speaker 02 (18:30):
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how those two
interact.
Let's get them in featuregroups.
Let's get them all mic'd up.
Let's do all the fun stuff sowe can see it.
Rory Mackle, Roy Greggers.
All right.
So we've been following,obviously, Rory very closely
here in 2025.
Last time we saw him was theTravelers Championship.
He finished T6 that week.

(18:51):
We are now in the stretch ofgolf that if motivation was a
problem for Rory, if it was, Nomore excuses now.
You get to play the ScottishOpen.
You get to play Royal Portrushat home.
This is the time where weshould be expecting, am I right,
an absolutely engaged RoryMcIlroy.

Speaker 01 (19:13):
This should be as engaged as before the Masters.
Should be.
I don't know if you can justflip that switch.
I don't know if that'spossible.
And that's the one thing that'sgiven me a little concern.
If it is possible, then Rorywill have that switch flipped

(19:34):
because it does on paper mean alot.
And there's no doubt he wantsto perform well next week in
Northern Ireland.
But look, it's a hard thing todo.
You got to go in.
What he did last offseason wasgo into a simulator, lock
himself indoors and and go hitballs without even seeing the

(19:56):
ball flight for three weeks.
Is he doing that in the middleof the summer after winning the
Masters?
I would say probably not.
So I'm very curious to see whatwe get.
I'm optimistic because I dothink we saw a better
performance out of Rory at,believe it or not, the U.S.
Open and the Travelers after anabysmal Canadian Open.

(20:18):
So maybe things are turning inthe right direction for Rory.

Speaker 02 (20:23):
Well, the last two years here, Mark, if those are
any indication, it's going to bea lot of Rory McIlroy in
contention.
Remember, he nabbed this fromRobert McIntyre two years ago in
2023, steals it late with oneof the best shots you've ever
seen and wins that golftournament, finishes T4 last
year.
Your expectations for RoryMcIlroy over the course of the

(20:45):
next week or two are what?

Speaker 00 (20:48):
First off, I got to see that.
two irony hit with my own twoeyes.
It was one of the best shots Imight've ever seen.
And that came right after BobMcIntyre hit a three wood from
the left rough to about fivefeet for birdie,

Speaker 02 (21:00):
which was about the second best shot you've ever
seen.
I

Speaker 00 (21:04):
was on the call for that.
Um, to Rory though, just tobacktrack a little bit and set
it up.
I had him in the final round atthe travelers and there were
one or two sort of silly ishmistakes, but, Pretty much by
and by, I thought the game wasturning in the right direction.
And he shot some round in themid-60s and ostensibly had a

(21:27):
chance to win with a quickfinish, which he didn't get.
And down 18, he's at a tee shotway left, and they're waiting
for a ruling, both him andHarris English.
And they had a scoreboard inthe way.
And he's just standing therekind of leaning against the
whipping from one of the gallerystands or whatever.
And he's sort of just gazing atme, and I smile.

(21:48):
I'm like, what's your plan nextfew weeks?
He goes, flying out tonight,going to London.
They've got a new place overthere.
He goes, I'm going to take sometime off, kind of rest a little
bit, and then start preparing.
And that's exactly how he saidit.
He goes, I'm going to rest andthen start preparing.
So I think I'm expecting arested Rory.

(22:08):
I think I saw– well, I don'tthink.
I saw Rory who looked.
Like he got the bit between histeeth, the travelers in the
final round, when he got a sniffof the lead, you know, Rory
battling cuts was like, I don'tneed this kind of deal.
But when he was in contention,you could see the juices started
going.
So now he knows what was goingon under pressure when he was in

(22:29):
contention.
He's worked on that.
Greg, I'd love to see him goback into his room and just hit
balls without seeing where theball goes and just tighten up
the golf swing.
But I feel like he's going tobe ready because the one thing
about links golf, it doesn't,You don't play golf swing there.
You just don't.
Because you've got to createshots all the time.
It's rare that you will havelike the stock 7-iron.

(22:52):
Or it's rare that you can juststep up there and blast one off
the tee.
There's always something you'vegot to make, even though the
conditions are nice.
So I think he's rested.
He's ready.
And I feel like a place wherehe's been somewhat successful,
pretty successful, I think it'sgoing to be a good week.

Speaker 02 (23:08):
Is that a benefit, Greg, the idea that you have to–
kind of engage more on everyshot and there is not just a
stock seven iron sitting outthere?

Speaker 01 (23:19):
It can be.
Yeah, it can be very helpful.
I think it's brought a lot ofguys.
Look, I mean, I was looking atguys that are the best Lynx
players in this field when I wasdoing my preparation for this.
And I was looking at guys that,you know, who are the best
performers at the Open and atthe Scottish Open.
I left out the Irish and the DPWorld Tour events on Lynx just

(23:43):
to keep it to kind of PGA Tourguys.
And there's some shot makers inhere, right?
The best Lynx players know howto work the ball around.
They know how to...
kind of see it and play thatstyle like Mark's talking about.
So I think it can go one of twoways.
It can be harmful if that's notyour style, that doesn't work

(24:05):
for you.
It could be very helpful,especially if you're someone
like Rory McIlroy, who gets theair quotes, natural talent kind
of deal.
I'm not sure how...
There's obviously some naturaltalent there, obviously a lot of
effort as well.
But I think for someone likeRory McIlroy, that thing plays–

(24:28):
seeing, visualizing, playingshots is a really good thing for
him rather than 175, here'syour eight iron, hit a stock
shot.

Speaker 00 (24:41):
Greg, I want to add to that real fast too.
Why I think it's– well, look,you know Jordan Spieth– will
shine in this sort of stuff.
Ricky Fowler, you know, he's abit of a muddler that way.
He loves to start creating andthat sort of deal.
But it asks you to sort of be alittle gritty.
It's not pretty golf, linksgolf.
It really isn't.
I mean, you're not seeingfull-flowing follow-throughs and

(25:02):
stuff like that.
There's a lot of chippy-lookingshots at times.
And you're playing...
And you're playing with amindset where somewhere in the
back of your mind, you've got tohave the right attitude because
you can drive the ball straightdown the middle of the fairway,
get on the wrong side of one ofthose sort of ripply moguls in
the fairway, kick into the firstcue, and then you're cooked.
So you've got to sort of bevery accepting of everything

(25:23):
that's happening.
And so as a result, for someonelike a McElroy, who plays a
real pretty game of golf, hegets back to the kind of, you
know, dollars and cents of it,like the X's and O's of golf a
little bit.
And then is when he starts toget really good because he used
to hate links golf by his ownadmission, but he's learned to
love it because I think hestarted to realize that, you

(25:46):
know, I'm not going to, youknow, outshine everyone.
I'm going to have to outplayeveryone and outplaying people
is being prepared to hit fromsome bad lies at times and get
some bad bounces.

Speaker 02 (25:57):
I love it.
I love it.
I think about the shots that hehad to work at, Augusta
National around trees anddifferent...
It's just like, hey, give me achallenge.
Let me have at it.
I'm going to pot us throughhere for a second.
I've got a couple of questionsfrom our Patreon, which is
linked in the description below.
People are starting to gettheir merchandise.
I actually just got a photo onTwitter about an hour ago from

(26:22):
Jock...
In Manchester, rocking hisbrand new second cut hoodie.
It looks very good on him.
You can go check that out aswell.
Let's go with this questionhere, gentlemen.
It is from Ryan, and it's inregards to Mark's note that he
had in his phone, the underratedflushers note.

(26:45):
And he's curious about anythingelse that we might keep in our
phones, whether it is foodspots, whether it is thoughts or
ideas.
I'll start with you, Greg,because I think Mark's already
chomping at the bit here.
But Greg, do you keep anythingin your phone?
Try to keep track of anythinglike that?

Speaker 01 (27:05):
Passwords.
Yeah, that's really it.
I really don't keep anything inthere.
I keep passwords.
If I book a flight, I'll keepthat in my notes.
Any kind of travel like that.
But no, I don't keep anythingin my phone.
Maybe I should.

(27:25):
I really like that idea, Mark'sidea.
But I carry around multiplenotebooks, and I write stuff on
paper, all kinds of

Speaker 02 (27:34):
stuff.
You're like an 80-year-old man.

Speaker 01 (27:38):
Yeah, yeah, I guess, keeping passwords in my notes
on my phone and writing downnotes on paper, even scrap
paper, which you've seen, Rick.

Speaker 02 (27:46):
I have seen.
It's a sight to behold.
He just has loose leafeverywhere and he's got notes
and he makes...
They're not even like lined inthe way that he always uses
them.
He'll do the lines himself andmake the tables and the grits.
It's insanity is what it is.

Speaker 01 (28:01):
Yeah, I have some...
Look, I'll show you right here.
This is like a sheet.
I don't know if you...
There you go.
I got a couple on that.
There you go.
So that's like one of mysheets.
And look, this one's Not scrappaper, so it's double-sided.
Normally, it can't bedouble-sided.
That one's double-sided.
The reason I do that is I liketo spread single sheets across a

(28:28):
desk, and then I have access toall of them.
But no, nothing goes in myphone.
I'm a little envious of Mark,though.

Speaker 02 (28:39):
mark i imagine that underrated flushers is not the
only thing that lives in there

Speaker 00 (28:46):
i do have you know me i like good words i like
people with choice vernacularand um there's when when you
hear a great announcer or youhear a very smart person speak
um Not too much of it, you know,not like certain folks we kind
of know on other golf stations,TV stations, where it seems like

(29:07):
they've read the thesaurus andjust want to get all these words
out.
But I think the choice of wordsat times is really attractive
to me.
And so when I hear something, Inotarize it.
And there's one that I heardlike way back at a Lynx Golf
event by Peter Ellis, who islike the doyen of golf
announcing legend.
And he described one green onetime as if he said, they're all

(29:32):
manner of nooks and cranniesaround the place.
And I was like, yes, I'm goingto use nooks and crannies when I
get the chance over the weekendin Scotland.
So yeah, I've got a lot ofterms that I feel like are very
cool sounding.
You know, might be onomatopoeiaor like alliteration and stuff,
but nooks and crannies and thatsort of stuff, I keep notes on

(29:53):
that.

Speaker 02 (29:53):
Wow.
That is...
That's good.
That's really good.
There's a

Speaker 00 (29:59):
word dexterous.
Dexterous?
Dexterous, yeah.
As opposed to ambidextrous?
Yeah.
Well, if you're dexterous,you're tactile.
You've got a great use of yourhands and a lot of skill.
Dexterous is a good word.

Speaker 02 (30:15):
That is a good word.
Well, you calling a shotmalnourished has made its way
into people's brains for sure.

Speaker 00 (30:24):
I did that.
There was one time I talkedabout a shot being sautéed.
It became a meme.
There's one.
You could use this in theUnited Kingdom.
He's in a bit of a quandary.

Speaker 02 (30:40):
Oh, a bit of a quandary.
I think I've heard you say thatbefore.

Speaker 00 (30:45):
He has a cool sounding one.
Bamboozled.
Just like to say

Speaker 02 (30:48):
that.
That is good.
Don't spoil all of these.
Save some of these so that youcan surprise us with them.

Speaker 01 (30:54):
We'll be listening.
And people, I bet, will askyou, is that in the notes?
Is that from the notes?
Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 00 (31:03):
The only thing I do...
If you want to see, can you seeit?
Hold on.
No, you can't see this.

Speaker 02 (31:09):
Forget

Speaker 00 (31:09):
it.
It's too

Speaker 02 (31:10):
bright.

Speaker 00 (31:11):
No, too

Speaker 02 (31:11):
bright.
Yeah, white screen.

Unknown (31:13):
Okay.

Speaker 02 (31:14):
The only thing that I have is I'm a, I'm a Google
maps power user.
So like I, I save tons oflocations.
So really?
Yes.
Places that I've, been toplaces that i want to go every
city so like before i go to likebefore i go to florida for pga
tour studios or whatever i'll goand i'll find like the best

(31:37):
restaurants or places that iwant to see and i'll put that in
there so that when i get therei have it so now like when i
zoom out i've got like like youcan see every city all my little
markings on there

Speaker 00 (31:48):
that's insane Add to your list for Ponte Vedra.
Go down the road a little bit,down A1A.
Go to Pacific Asian Bistro.
If you like sushi, that placeis sensational.
It's on my list of places tostop.

Speaker 02 (32:04):
Okay.
I got it.
Okay.
I got it.
I just saved it.
It's now on my list of my PonteVedra list.
Okay.
So then I do this.
So then I cross it over to mysushi list.
So I've got location andthen...
So you can be in two places atonce.
So you could fall on the sushilist.
So if I'm looking for sushi, Ican see all the sushi spots, or

(32:26):
you can just be on my, what cityam I in list and then just see
all my spots.

Speaker 00 (32:30):
Okay.
Well then you must make a listnow of what you have at said
places.
And there's a thing called thegreen river roll.
Do it.
You're welcome.

Speaker 02 (32:41):
I see a green

Speaker 01 (32:41):
river

Speaker 02 (32:42):
roll.
Yes, it is.
It is in the, yes.
Someone has posted it.
in a photo of it.
And yes, it is highly rated andit looks very good.
You are welcome.
Thank you very much.
I will mark that as well.
See, it's helpful, Greg.
You just have access to allthis, you know?

Speaker 01 (32:58):
I get it.
I get it.
I don't know how to do it, butmaybe it's something I should
look into.

Speaker 02 (33:05):
We got time.
We got time.
All right, gents, let's talksome more names.
Let's talk about the ScottishOpen.
We have the grid for this week.
If you've Never seen the gridbefore.
You're crazy, but welcome.
This is our matchup, ourfinishing position, and two
separate outrights for thisweek.
And I will bring it up on thescreen right now.
There it is, in all its glory.

(33:27):
Greggers, you have gone brotheron brother.
What is your selection for yourmatchup, please?

Speaker 00 (33:35):
That is sinful at pick.
That is terrible.
I cannot be with that.

Speaker 01 (33:39):
It's sinful.
Okay, sinful.
This is Nikolai Hoigard overRasmus Hoigard.
Now, Rasmus is the favorite.
Mark thinks that he should be.
But I have Nikolai preferred.
One, I think these guys arejust, I think they're a lot
closer than it seems when itcomes to their ability level and

(34:02):
ability level herespecifically.
Nikolai, I think, hits hisdriver extremely well.
I value distance pretty high.
Rasmus has that too.
But Nikolai is extremely,extremely good from outside of
200 yards.
In fact, checking my notes, heis, well, I believe it was 13th.

Speaker 02 (34:26):
Are you having trouble locating it on your
piece of paper?

Speaker 01 (34:29):
Yeah, which piece of paper is it on?

Speaker 00 (34:31):
Rick, while you're looking, I want to share
something about this, becauseboth those brothers are stars,
and they both better be on theRyder Cup team.
Rasmus is in, Nikolai's got toearn his way in.
Nikolai is good.
Rasmus is good, but talented.
Nikolai's a better pitcher andchipper of the ball than his
brother is.
I don't know if that is in yournotes.

(34:51):
I'll say this, though.
You talk about caddies, like...
Billy Foster.
Well, Gareth Lord, goes byLordy, has been around the
European tour like forever.
And he has worked for a numberof stars, Henrik Stenson, Justin
Rose and stuff.
Now he's on Nikolai's bag.
And down in Louisiana, the twobrothers are out there together,
and I've got the group.
And Rasmus hits Nikolai in hisbunker down the left side of 12,

(35:15):
up against the lip.
He's got like 190 yards to theflag.
And he's got the lip like sixfeet in front of him, and it's
high.
Nikolai gets in there and whipsan 8-iron off the sand, up over
the lip.
He flew it like 190 in the airout of the bunker.
And I'm like, holy cow.
And Lordy picks up the club,and he's raking the bunker.

(35:36):
And I'm like, man, that wasgood.
And he goes, this is the bestkid I've ever caddied for.
He goes, this child is what he–because he brought me back to
caddying Nikolai Horegaard.
But still, I'm a Rasmus fan.

Speaker 02 (35:48):
This child– he said this child–

Speaker 00 (35:49):
Well, they're young, man.
What's their age?
They're like early 20s?

Speaker 02 (35:55):
Nikolai is 24.
Yeah, I guess they're both 24then.

Speaker 00 (35:59):
People don't realize how young they are.

Speaker 02 (36:01):
I have Nikolai as 17th on tour from outside of 200
yards.
Proximity number.

Speaker 01 (36:07):
Very important number this week.
Very good.
Rathbiss is like 23rd.
So, you know, I give Nikolaithe edge.

Speaker 00 (36:15):
They're not going to have many of those shots around
the Genesis.
They're going to pitch more.
Who's better around the greens,Rick?

Speaker 02 (36:22):
Well, stand by.
Well.
Do

Speaker 01 (36:27):
you have that?
No.
These are things that I justlook up on less.com.

Speaker 02 (36:34):
You should.
Last 36 rounds, Rasmus is asmall loser around the greens.
Nikolai is A, B, C, D, E, F, G,H, I, J, K.

Speaker 01 (36:51):
Probably a bigger loser.

Speaker 02 (36:52):
He is a bigger loser, yeah.

Speaker 00 (36:54):
Quarter of

Speaker 02 (36:54):
a stroke per round, that's

Speaker 00 (36:55):
pretty bad.
It's recent, though.
By my eye test, I thought hewas better than Rasmus.
Well,

Speaker 01 (37:02):
you'll see that this week, too.

Speaker 00 (37:04):
Okay, cool.

Speaker 02 (37:05):
I'm going with Robert McIntyre, fully engaged
Scott, over Justin Thomas.
I'm laying a little bit ofjuice on this minus 120.
I am a bit dubious of JustinThomas' Lynx-ish style golf, and
I know I'm going to get fourvery, very engaged rounds from
Robert McIntyre this week.

(37:25):
Mr.
Mark, what was your matchup,please?

Speaker 00 (37:28):
I'm going with Adam Scott over Sepp Stryker, plus
100.
Scotty is the ultimate Lynxplayer.
He should have a Claret Jug onhis mantelpiece, but for falling
down at Lytham.
Oh, I've been there too.
Roll Lytham.
And Sepp just hasn't beenawfully convincing of late, to

(37:49):
be honest with you.
So I'm taking Adam over Sepp.
And I'm pretty confident withthat bet.

Speaker 02 (37:56):
Finishing positions are any finishing positions that
we want.
We've got two top 20s and a top10.
Mark, I'm going to bounce thisback to you and let you know
that when you texted these in,Armina said, it says fairway
Jesus.
Should I keep that in there?
And I said, yeah, yeah, justkeep that in there.

Speaker 00 (38:15):
Fairway Jesus.
People in the comments, who isfairway Jesus?
And it's a funny story becauseHe should have won at the
Travelers.
And the joke with me and my owncourse crew was, look, Tommy
just backdoored a top five.
Because they're always like,well, there's Fleetwood showing
up in the final round tobackdoor another top 10.
His record around this golfcourse is impeccable.

(38:37):
I'm going to pick him to win atPortrush.
He's my pick to win next week.
This week, I feel like it'sgood prep.
He's playing beautifully.
He's swinging incredibly well.
He has not finished outside thetop 10 at this golf course.
He's been in a runner-upbefore.
And so I feel like a top 10 iseasy pickings at plus 240.

Speaker 02 (38:55):
That's Tommy Fleetwood, fairway Jesus, top
10, plus 240.
I went with Aldrich Pocketer,top 20, plus 330.
T6 win, was playing well beforea very bad Saturday with Drew.
Golf course, I think.
Helps with distance.
I think we got him ready torock and roll here.
Chance to buy a little bit lowat plus 330.

(39:17):
Mr.
Greg, oh, this is a name thathas not appeared quite often on
the grid.
What'd you find?

Speaker 01 (39:27):
I don't think it's appeared all year, but it's Matt
Fitzpatrick for a top 20 atplus 190.
I think Matt Fitzpatrick'sfound something with his golf
swing.
He finished tied 17th at theTravelers, tied 8th at the
Rocket.
His performance off the tee hasbeen much better the last
couple weeks.

(39:47):
And also with his iron play,you know, going back into
probably April, he's had somereally nice weeks with his iron
play.
And this is a play lost in aplayoff to, I believe it was
Minwoo Lee on the DP World Tour.
He finished tied six here thenext year.
He's a pretty good Lynx playeras well.

(40:09):
So I like what I'm seeing outof Matt Fitzpatrick.
I think we're trending in theright direction, and this is a
way to almost buy early.

Speaker 02 (40:17):
Yeah, getting in on Matt as he's on the way up here.
Winners.
Two separate winners.
We've got both the with andwithout market.
The without market is not justScotty this week.
We'll get there in just onesecond.
Mark, your two outrights,please.

Speaker 00 (40:39):
I picked these because I'm not very
imaginative, honestly.
But really, both of them havewon this event in recent years.
I'm going with Rory and I'mgoing with Bobby McIntyre.
First off, McIntyre in Scotlandis a force.
He truly is.
Something about him, it's likehe channels that inner brave

(40:59):
heart and just finds a way toplay well.
So I know he's going to be afactor.
Rory, I saw enough at theTravelers in the final round to
believe that he's got stufforganized.
And with some time off and withsome time to work on the game
and stuff, sort ofuninterrupted, I'm sure, of his
own time, I feel like he'll beready.
So McElroy and Bob McIntyre forme.

Speaker 02 (41:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Getting access to both of thoseguys in the outright market.
8-1 for Rory, 30-1 for RobertMcIntyre.
I am going with the BillyFoster boost.
Colin Morikawa plus $2,500.
He's been playing well enough.
He's putted well here in thepast.
I think he needs a new voice,and I think Billy Foster might

(41:42):
be the voice that he needs,25-1.
Greg, you and I have the samegolfer here.
We have taken him in twodifferent markets.
I took him straight up, 40-1.
You took him without Scottie,without Xander, without Rory.
Tell the people who our pickis.

Speaker 01 (41:58):
Yeah, Scottie always makes you worry, and when you
add Rory and Xander in there,that's a nice...
That's nice.
And I think it really increasesthe probability of this
happening.
So I went with Victor Hovlandlike you, Rick, without Scottie,
Xander and Rory.
I'm comfortable with leavingthose guys off the table, too,

(42:18):
like you did.
But Victor Hovland's iron playhas been absolutely spectacular
lately.
really for the last 12 weeks.
But he's shown us some reallybig spike weeks in the last
five.
I like that.
The other thing I really likeis when it comes to the short
game, although the lies, likeMark was saying in the fairway,

(42:39):
are even tighter than normal,you don't see a lot of guys
pitching with a 60-degree wedgeoff of that stuff.
There are a lot more options inLynx golf, like Victor Hovland
utilized at St.
Andrews for the OpenChampionship.
So I think his...
strengths are magnified and hisweaknesses are, uh, minimized,

(43:01):
which is a really goodcombination in my opinion.

Speaker 02 (43:04):
Very good indeed.
And then deeper down the boardalso without Scotty Zander.
Also without

Speaker 01 (43:12):
you're

Speaker 02 (43:12):
nervous about those guys.

Speaker 01 (43:14):
Uh, yes, yes.
I'm nervous about him.
Uh, I, so I went down to NickTaylor, uh, who I think is just
starting to hit the ball reallywell.
I like his style.
I think he could work reallywell on Lynx Golf, although we
haven't seen a whole lot of it.
I like what he's done with hisshot-making ability.

(43:38):
I like the way that, like Isaid, he's hit his iron and his
driver.
In his last three events, he'sgot three straight top 25
finishes.
The putter has started to spikea little bit.
Everything seems to be bubblingup to the top.
And all I want to see is himget himself into contention.
And if he does, I'll be veryhappy to have this ticket.

(43:58):
If he misses the cut, he missesthe cut.
And that's very possible.
But if he smells that lead,watch out for Nick Taylor.

Speaker 02 (44:08):
Nick Taylor, 60-1.
Roy McIlroy, 8-1.
Robert McIntyre, 30-1.
Colin Morikawa, 25-1.
Victor Hovland, straight up,40-1.
Victor Hovland, withoutScottie, without Xander, without
Rory, 28-1.
Those are the picks for theweek.
And we have concluded.
the segment with Mark.

(44:30):
Greg and I are going tocontinue for fantasy, but Mark,
I'll open this up to you.
First off, we're excited to getyou out there.
We're wishing you all the best,all safe travels, getting over
there and experiencing what'sgoing to be a great week.
And I'm glad that it seems likeyour visa situation has been
rectified.

Speaker 00 (44:48):
Yeah, me too.
I'll sign off with this.
Really, me too.
I'll sign off with this.
Someone Caleb asks, what's mybest Scottish Open memory?
Lots.
Look, the Rory shot to win wasincredible.
Last year, I was waiting withAdam Scott to do the loser
interview.
You know, I do that stuff.

(45:09):
And we were standing byscoring, and Bob McIntyre made
the putt on 18 green.
And the place erupted.
And I get goosebumps now justbecause all of Scotland was
there, it felt like.
And when he knocked that puttin, it was just, you could hear
it like everywhere.
And then right thereafter, asthey're exiting the green, then

(45:29):
this bagpipe band shows up andstarts walking down 18 Fairway.
Man, I had tears in my eyes.
It was like it was heavenlybecause it was a beautiful
evening.
So that was great.
But then, of course, we're onthe air local time there from
like 5 to 8 p.m.
or something like that, maybeeven later.
So during the day, you can dowhatever.
And so my really best memory isSaturday morning last year,

(45:53):
Going to Gullen, which is rightup the road.
Three golf courses there.
The Gullen No.
1 has hosted the Scottishbefore.
Who won there?
Question?
Anyone?

Speaker 02 (46:02):
Oh, I just saw this.
Oh, my God.
I was just on their profilepage like two hours ago.

Speaker 00 (46:09):
Ricky Caller.

Speaker 02 (46:10):
Oh, okay.
Ah, that's

Speaker 00 (46:11):
where I wasn't, I wasn't going to get that.
So later that afternoon,preparing for the round,

(46:36):
McElroy's in the range.
So he's like, so what have youbeen up to?
So I said, I played golf withIzzy this morning.
He goes, how'd she play?
So I'm like, well, pretty wellfor a while and started hitting
the bush.
So I called her Fescue.
So McElroy's like, okay, if Isee her, I'm going to call her
Fescue and see what she does.
He never did, but that was apretty cool memory too, because
she went the color of a beetwhen I told her the story.

Unknown (46:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 02 (46:58):
Yeah, I mean, listen, I would go the color of
a beet if you told me thatstory.

Speaker 00 (47:04):
I would pass out is what

Speaker 02 (47:07):
I would do.
Anyway,

Speaker 00 (47:09):
I will try and call in and catch you guys from over
there in Scotland.
If I don't, it's because I'mprobably in one or other pub
having a beer.
So, peace.

Speaker 02 (47:20):
We're not going to blame you for that.
Mark, safe travels.
We'll see you soon, brother.
Safe travels, Mark.
Take care.
All right.
Man, I got to start.
Man, I love this week.
I love the next couple weeks.

Speaker 01 (47:33):
There's a great novelty to it.

Speaker 02 (47:35):
The golf's on in the middle of the night.
It's on in the morning.
You're seeing these littletowns all over the place.
Oh, it's so good, dude.
I can't

Speaker 01 (47:43):
wait.
It's really good time becauseyou don't have to watch the
morning wave.
You don't have to get up at twoo'clock in the morning.
You get up whenever and youwatch all morning.
There is nothing better.
So I'm really fired up andlooking forward to watching some
solid coffee golf this week.

(48:03):
Yeah, it's going to be awesome.

Speaker 02 (48:05):
It's going to be awesome.
Okay, if you haven't seen thisbefore, Greg and I continue to
roll on from a little bit moreof a fantasy perspective here.
So we go through just a handfulof golfers that Greg has picked
out that we want to have aconversation about.
We want to share some moredetails with.
And we start with the guy thatGreg cannot live without.

(48:27):
I came up with this and everyweek I make him, I put him on
the spot and I say, Greg,doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter.
Just gotta give me a name.
You gotta give me the name.
And this week, Greg, you havedecided on who?

Speaker 01 (48:40):
Matt Fitzpatrick.
I feel very strongly aboutthat.
So I'm really looking forwardto it.
I like his record here at theScottish Open.
It was a tied sixth in 2022 wastied second in 2021.
Like we mentioned six straightyears here at the Renaissance
club.
He's gained strokes, put in, inall of them.

(49:02):
And I really have a feelingthat this golf swing is coming
together.
We've seen it improve fromstruggles to, to having two
really good weeks in a row withit.
I think it all comes togetherthis week for Matt Fitzpatrick
in Scotland.

Speaker 02 (49:16):
He really has been putting it together.
Yeah.
He gained eight strokes from Tto green at the PGA
Championship.
He finished T17 at theTravelers, picked up five
strokes from T to green there,nearly 12 in Detroit.
This is clearly him plugging.
There were a lot of leaks.
There was just a Hoover Damlevel of leakage.

(49:39):
And he has started to plugthose significantly.
And I'm with you here.
This is a pretty interestingspot for Fitzy.

Speaker 01 (49:48):
Yeah.
And I also, I don't think he'sgoing to be overly popular.
I don't think that he's goingto be a chalky play at all.
So, you know, building a lineuparound him, I'm totally fine
with.

Speaker 02 (50:03):
Now, this is a name that I believe we have just set
the record on.
50 minutes and 43 seconds.
And I'm not sure there was areal mention.
of this player.
We mentioned him in passingbecause of one of the outright
markets, but this has got to bea record where we have not

(50:27):
discussed Scotty Scheffler, thenumber one player in the world
and the man closest to TigerWoods in my lifetime.
We have not talked about himfor 51 minutes.
Would you like to talk abouthim now?

Speaker 01 (50:42):
Well, it's there's not a lot to say.
It's just that good.
He's just that good.
That's why both of my, youknow, both of my outrights were
without Scotty.
I think that if there's ever atime where you can kind of get
away with fading him, it's atit's in links golf.

(51:04):
I think it randomizes things alittle more.
And some of his advantages maybe taken away yet.
I ran those numbers.
Like I was telling you aboutand, and Scotty's still fourth,
right?
Since 2019, the Scottish openand the open championship, he's
fourth in this field.
That's behind Xander, TommyFleetwood, Colin Morikawa.

(51:26):
So it hasn't been as bad.
It hasn't been the best forhim, but it's still been kind of
the, pretty much everybodyelse.
Uh, and, uh, He's got all theshots.
Whatever it takes, Scottie'sgot it.
So from a fantasy perspective,it's really hard to go away from
him.
So he has not...

Speaker 02 (51:49):
I'm sorry.
He did not play here last year.
He played here the year before,T3.
Missed the cut in 2022 andfinished T12 in 2021.
One of the things that I waslooking at, Greg, because
there's not a lot of places thatScottie hasn't played in two
years...
is I was looking at basicallythe type of player that he was
prior to his last time at theScottish open.

(52:12):
And now, and he is somehow evenlike, he's even better now, you
know, he, he does, he puts alot better than he's putted at
the Renaissance club beforehe's, he's just, he's just a
better player now.
And I'm, I'm scared foreveryone.
Yeah.

Speaker 01 (52:28):
Yeah.
Me too.
Me too.
So because we haven't seen himin a little while, I, I'm not
like it's hard for me to bebullish on Scotty and put him on
my outright card.
It's not hard for me to playhim in a fantasy lineup at all.
But he's still scary enoughwhere I don't want to bet

(52:49):
against him in any way.
So if I could leave him outlike the outright markets, I'll
do that.

Speaker 02 (52:56):
He's that scary.
He is that scary.
A couple of golfers in the 9Krange that I want to dive into
more here.
And we'll start with VictorHovland.
And what you were mentioningabout him earlier certainly
makes sense to me.
The approach play has beenunbelievable all year long.
The eight strokes that hegained at the Travelers through

(53:18):
three rounds before WDing waslike four shots better than
anybody else in the field.
that week.
From everything I understand,that was a one-time neck thing
that he's just completely finewith now.
I don't have any reservations

Speaker 01 (53:35):
with Victor Hovland.
How about you?
None.
Absolutely none.
You get a knot in your neckright before you go play.
It's a terrible situation.
It's not a lingering issue.
Not a lingering issue at all.
I love Victor Hovland on LynxGolf.
I think there's My research onthe Renaissance Club says a lot

(53:56):
of shots from outside of 200yards.
Mark was saying it's beenreally wet in the past, which I
remember some wet.
I remember some dry as well.
I don't think we're going tohave as nice of weather as we're
going to get this week.
I don't think we've had thatbefore.
But a lot of long irons.
And if that's the case, VictorHovland's 10th on tour from

(54:18):
outside of 200 yards.
But if it's not the case...
He's pretty darn good as we getcloser and closer to the hole
as well.
You know, shorter approach,shorter proximity buckets are
just fine for him.
So I think Victor Holland haseverything that it takes to go
and really contend this week.

Speaker 02 (54:36):
One of the most talked about men in golf is
Colin Morikawa.
He's $9,600 on DraftKings.
He has done everything but win.
The putter was miserable at theU.S.
Open.
It was...
not great at the travelers.
It was slightly below averageat the rocket.
Uh, and now he's going to get achance, maybe some slower

(54:59):
greens, Greg, a new voice in theear.
Uh, you and I are alsosimpatico here.
It's, it's, it's ColinMorikowski.

Speaker 01 (55:06):
He finished tied fourth here last year.
He also played in 2022, uh, and2021.
He putted terribly in 2021, butin, but the last two trips, uh,
he gained at least two shotsput in here at the Renaissance
club.
So I think a new voice, a newyear, perhaps the mallet putter.

(55:29):
Look, I think that what I heardfrom him in speaking to Amanda
after the, after the rocketmortgage classic heading into
the fourth round or after thethird round, it was like, you
kind of got to play with whatyou got.
That's what I want to see fromColin Morikawa.
Cause whether he likes it ornot, it's good enough to win.

(55:49):
From a TV green standpoint.

Speaker 02 (55:53):
Okay.
That should be the message.
Like whether you like it ornot, you can win golf
tournaments.
So shut up and just go, go wingolf tournaments, whether you
like it or not.
And it might not look pretty.
You can beat these bozos.

Speaker 01 (56:06):
Yes.
And it's, it's distracting tobe like unsatisfied.

Speaker 02 (56:11):
Right.

Speaker 01 (56:12):
With a great shot.
You're projecting thatsomething's going to go wrong in
the future.
And it's, Yeah.
I just, I just don't thinkthat's the case.
So, but I liked that comment.
It led me to believe that hekind of understood that a little
bit.
It's like, you know, I, I don'tneed to try to hit shots with

(56:32):
my glove off.
Like I did at the traveler.
We're not in that kind ofsituation here.
Right.
I tried to like, we didn'tcatch a disease or try to get
rid of it.
Things are fine.
So I'm thinking he's got thatunder control.

Speaker 02 (56:48):
Last six rounds, uh, at the Renaissance club, seven
strokes gained with the putter,more than one per round.
We'll finish off this nine Ktier here with our defending
champion and low key, this statprofile, uh, is very good i
don't think people would haverealized this it's been a very
good run of golf from robertmcintyre since the masters

(57:09):
missed the cut at the mastersand has not missed a cut since
starting to put together somereally high-end finishes a t6 at
the charles schwab a runner-upfinish at the u.s open played
well enough at the travelers andof course we know um you know
this is his major championshipthis is his national
championship this is the eventthat he's finished Inside the
top 18, four out of the lastfive years, including a victory

(57:32):
and a runner-up.
This is it.
This is Roberts.

Speaker 01 (57:35):
Yes, it's a great spot for him.
He knows how to play this kindof golf.
I love the fact that heanswered his runner-up to Rory
last year with a win.
I'm sorry, two years ago with awin last year.
That just spoke so much to me.
I love the form that he's in.
The performance has beenamazing.

(57:56):
spectacular.
He's a surprisingly good longiron player too.
Um, you know, the last threewinners when we've had, you
know, it was a PGA tour event,Xander McIntyre and Rory were
all inside the top 22 enteringfrom outside of 200 yards.
It's another reason I reallylike it.
Bobby Mac this year is 53rd.

(58:17):
He was much better last year.
He was, uh, second on the PGATour last year entering this
week.
So I think it's another areawhere there's like kind of an
underrated strong suit of histhat gets put on display at the
Renaissance Club.

Speaker 02 (58:32):
You identified two golfers in a stout $8,000 range.
One was Matt Fitzpatrick, whowe've talked at length about, so
I will not ask you more aboutthat.
But I will ask you about AdamScott, who's $8,600, is coming
off a T30 at the Travelers thelast time we saw him.
What do you see in this profilethat sparks your interest?

Speaker 01 (58:53):
Yeah, I'm seeing a guy that's starting to hit the
ball like Adam Scott's capableof hitting the ball.
Which is just fascinating tome.
You see the performance withthe driver really starting to
come around, right?
Ever since the TruistChampionship, he's gained over a
shot and a half in everytournament off the tee.
And now the last two starts forhim, the US Open and the

(59:15):
Travelers, you see him gainabout three and a half shots or
more approaching the green.
the golf swing is starting tocome together and it's starting
to produce results.
The putter has been a littlebit hit or miss here and there.
He's had great putting weeksand poor putting weeks, but here
at the Scottish open the lasttwo years, he has gained strokes

(59:37):
putting in that second placefinish last year, he gained five
strokes putting.
So I think things are trendedin the right direction.
I tend to agree with Mark here.
I love Adam Scott in linksgolf.

Speaker 02 (59:50):
The seven and the $6,000 tiers are starting to get
to some more potentiallyunfamiliar names, but I'm not
going to go there just yet.
We've spoke about Nick Taylor,who was one of your outright
wagers.
You had him 60 to one in thewithout Scotty Zander Rory
market.
So let me pull up Ben on'sprofile here.

(01:00:10):
And admittedly, Greg, Ben onhas not been on my radar at this
point in the week.
So why should I add him to myradar?

Speaker 01 (01:00:18):
Well, I think that distance is definitely
Definitely an advantage on thisgolf course.
Not all Lynx golf, but on thisgolf course for sure.
I also ran kind of the, like Isaid, the Lynx test.
Who are the best Lynx playersover the last five years?
And Ben Onn's name popped up.
He was one, two, three, four,five, six, seventh best player

(01:00:42):
over the last five years at theOpen and Scottish combined for
strokes gained.
That surprised me.
So then I started looking moreinto Benny on.
And I think that the drivingdistance is a big factor in
this.
His ability off the tee is abig factor.
He's been hitting the ballreally nicely with his irons,

(01:01:02):
which I'm a fan of.
So things tend to click here.
And, of course, it was the tiedthird in 2023 that really
helped all of his links numbers.
But I like the way he's playingright now, too.
Now

Speaker 02 (01:01:25):
we start to get into some names that people may be
unfamiliar with.
And I want to go to JordanSmith.
You might see him listed asJordan L.
Smith.
He's $7,300.
He's an Englishman.
He plays a primarily DP WorldTour schedule, Greg.

(01:01:45):
And I've got his results uphere.
Talk to me about Mr.
Smith.

Speaker 01 (01:01:50):
Yeah, he's been pretty good.
In his last six events, he'sgot three top seven finishes.
And in those, his iron play hasbeen really strong.
His ball striking has beenreally strong.
With the exception of a U.S.
Open where he still made thecut and the Austrian Open where

(01:02:10):
he missed the cut, his game hasbeen really solid, really
well-rounded, with really highupside on the DP World Tour.
I also think that JordanSmith's a guy who has played in
enough majors and enough reallybig-time events to be not
necessarily intimidated.
It was a co-sanctioned event in2023.

(01:02:32):
He finished tied 12th.
And also in 2022, he finishedtied 24th.
I think he believes that he cancompete with these players.
And for the price of $7,300,I'm in.

Speaker 02 (01:02:44):
Yeah, it is a really good...
This is kind of thatconvergence of the DP guys who
play against each other all thetime and the PGA Tour guys who
play against each other all thetime coming together.
And Jordan Smith has been sosuccessful on the DP World Tour
and you're getting a fairlygenerous price, just $7,300 to

(01:03:07):
try to see if he can continuethat for this week.
Two more names.
They're both in the 6K range,and they are both probably names
that most people have not heardof, and that's certainly not a
knock.
They're $6,000 golfers in afield that is co-sanctioned.
I'm going to start with thisguy.
His name, if I pronounce thiscorrectly, is Christopher

(01:03:31):
Reitan, R-E-I-T-A-N.
He's a Norwegian.
He made it to your list here,Greg.

Speaker 01 (01:03:38):
Yes, this is a difficult profile to ignore.
He won the Sudol Open.
He finished tied second at theAustrian Open the very next
week, then tied 13th, tied 46th,and at the BMW International,
he finished tied fourth.
And he's done it with greatdriving of the golf ball, some

(01:03:58):
really solid ball striking aswell.
The putter has been really hot.
Four of the last...
seven weeks, he's gained overfive strokes putting on the DP
world tour, right?
This is, this is just reallyimpressive stuff to me.
I also was looking at yourcourse key stats on your website

(01:04:19):
and his name, he was like thefirst or second course fit.
It's a really big

Speaker 02 (01:04:25):
bump for his skill sets.
Yeah.

Speaker 01 (01:04:28):
Yeah.
So I, you know, I don't put toomuch into, into that, but I saw
it.
I saw the profile.
I said, Hey, this makes sense.

Speaker 02 (01:04:35):
Yeah.
So $6,900.
I'll have to get him a headshothere shortly.
Uh, and then finally, I justlike saying this name, uh,
Francesco Laporta, uh, roundsout your picks.
He is $6,800.
He is from Italy and he hasthat similar, you see a lot of

(01:04:57):
these guys who have that similarstretch of tournaments.
So doll Austrian, either theKLM or some other event in
there, the Italian open.
And then the most recent wasthe BMW international open.
That was just last week.
So you see a lot of guys whohave that five or six tournament
stretch in common and Laportahas been shining.

Speaker 01 (01:05:17):
Yeah, he's finished inside the top 30 in all of
them.
Inside the top 11 in four outof the last five.
Also in that stretch, he'sgained over six strokes
approaching the green in threeout of his last five.
You're talking about seven,over seven shots, ball striking.
in three out of his last fiveevents.

(01:05:39):
And not only has he beenphenomenal tee to green, but the
results have been showing aswell.
So I think that there's a verygood chance with this level of
confidence that it carries overinto a PGA Tour, DP World Tour,
co-sanctioned event.

Speaker 02 (01:05:58):
It's impressive to say the least.
Love how much green is inthere.
Yes, there are certainlysome...
I don't want to call themsample size issues.
They're not sample size issues.
I guess they're strength offield issues.
Yes.
Right.
But, but again, it's not likethey're the only golfers coming
over.
Like half the field isbasically guys that play on the

(01:06:21):
DP world tour all the time.
And if guys like LaPorter are,are beating them up, they're
beating them up and they'repriced accordingly in this, in
this new, in this new field.
So yeah, I, I've started makinga lot of lineups this week and
I am generously firing in a lotof guys that we've discussed and
other guys that have a lot ofsuccess in the, in the, on the

(01:06:42):
world tour.

Speaker 01 (01:06:43):
And I'm more willing to take a chance on these guys.
Cause you use the word comingover.
They're not coming over like tothe PGA.
Yes.
Normally see right there inEurope where they're more
comfortable.
I think that's going to make a,I think that makes a big
difference and opens up thefield for most.
When the European guys come tothe U.S., there's a legitimate

(01:07:07):
question that you don't know theanswer to from looking at a
spreadsheet, which is, will theyacclimate to American life?
And if not, will it affecttheir play?
And those are kind ofcomplicated, difficult issues,
but it's had an effect on a lotof European players in the past.
That's not the story this week.

Speaker 02 (01:07:31):
I think we've reached the end of the story for
this week, or at least I'vereached the end of my outline.
Greg, have we missed anything?

Speaker 01 (01:07:38):
I don't think so.
Unless you got anything to addon Scotty Scheffler.
Something tells me we're goingto be talking about him plenty
in our round recaps this week.

Speaker 02 (01:07:50):
Yeah.
Same stuff.
I always have to say aboutScotty.
I've got to say this week aswell.
All right.
Well, Friday and Sunday forthis week.
And then of course, round byround next week for the Open
Championship.
I'm trying to think if there'sanything else.
I don't think there is.
Check out all the links in thedescription.
Everything you need is inthere.

(01:08:10):
Big thanks, Mark Gimmelman.
Big thanks, Greg Ducharme.
Big thanks to me.
I'm Rick Gaiman.
This has been The Second Cut.
We'll catch you next time.

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