2025 US Open Pre-Preview Show: The Oakmont Torture Chamber

Join Matt Cook, Buttsy, and Brent Grant as they explore golf history and offer a pre-preview of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, highlighting Scottie Scheffler's prospects. They tackle controversial topics like steroids and beta blockers in golf and discuss the longest day in the sport. The episode features Max Homa's caddie change, Mason Howell's performance, and U.S. Open qualifiers, including a former caddy turned dentist. They debate venues Oakmont and Shinnecock, analyze PGA and LIV Golf contenders, and discuss Jon Rahm's struggles. Predictions for the U.S. Open winner, dark horses, and broadcast quality are shared, alongside humorous anecdotes and sponsor shoutouts.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Looking back at the history of golf, man, whatis golf missing?
Steroids, missing performance-enhancing drugs,peptides.
They got this thing coming out called theEnhanced Games.
I think you guys have all seen it on Instagramfor sure if you haven't.
Look it up.
It's where athletes across multiple sports arebeing appropriately followed by medical

(00:22):
doctors, tested, but they're also being giventhe full gamut of performance-enhancing drugs
that we have at our disposal these days in aneffort to break records.
And, you know, somebody might say, well, hugemuscles aren't good for golf or they have some
points of diminishing return, but there are awhole host of performance-enhancing drugs out
there that don't necessarily make you big, butmake you much faster.

(00:44):
So here's the next question that I have for youguys about the U.S.
Open pre-preview.
Yeah.
After winning the Memorial for a second time,do you guys think it's Scottie's time?
Like, does this course match up for ScottieScheffler the way the Memorial does and some of
these other golf courses?
Scottie's gonna win.
Welcome back, everybody, to Pull Hook Golf, thepodcast.

(01:06):
I'm your host, Matt Cook.
Tonight, we've got our co-host, Buttsy.
We've also got our tour insider, Brent Grant,here with us as well as we are going to have
our 2025 U.S.
Open pre-preview show.
That's the pre to the preview, if you can'ttell.
And with that folks, we do wanna give a quickshout out as it's obvious what our topic is

(01:32):
tonight, but I wanna give a shout out.
We've got some new sponsors as well.
So, obviously, you guys know DevRoe golf, d e ve r e u x golf dot com.
Utilize the promo code pull hook golf 20 atcheckout for 20% off your entire order at
DevRowgolf.com.
I'm wearing their I believe they call this thePro Shop collection.

(01:55):
So all white got their little logo over here.
One of them.
Anyways, I like this logo.
It's very subtle.
Buttsy's in the back doing dances with hisDevereux Golf T-shirt on, and Brent came right
off of the golf course.
So we're gonna be getting into all of this.
He's been grinding.
Now we also want to give a shoutout to oursponsors, Vice Golf.
So Vice Golf is stepping it up with us as well.

(02:18):
But pull hook, you can utilize that promo code.
PULLHOOK at checkout at vicegolf.com.
What I love about Vice Golf is that they're notlike, they're performance stuff.
Like, the golf balls are performance-based.
I personally played the Pro Plus, the Vice ProPlus, but I was looking at their golf clubs
too.
And I'll tell you guys, like, well priced.
Like, when we're talking about last week, clubmanufacturers, a lot of people on the Internet

(02:42):
this past week talked about through some of ourclips and so forth that, you know, golf
equipment's become very expensive.
Vice Golf really hits a great price point withperformance gear.
You can buy their golf balls in bulk and getthem for a heavy discount.
So utilize the promo code PULLHOOK at checkoutfor 10% off at vicegolf.com, and that's for the

(03:06):
golf ball side, folks.
They do some cool promos too every month, so beon the lookout this month.
They could be changing it up a little bit.
But also, last but not least, folks, I've got aclub here.
You might have seen this on the 'gram.
I'm just gonna bring this a little bit closerto the camera.
Let's get this in frame here.
My god.

(03:28):
Ruben over at Custom Golf AZ, and that isCustom Golf AZ on Instagram, folks.
He's putting together his website now, but aclub fitter from PXG who has been doing custom
coatings and all of the—he's been dialing me infor a little while now in terms of club

(03:52):
fitting.
He's gonna be doing a lot of club making.
You can tell there's the BB&Co ferrules onhere.
I believe this is called the Devil's Sunrise orsomething along those lines, but this is so
sick.
And the KBS shaft, wanna give a shout-out toKBS, which is right over here with the hat.

(04:13):
But KBS is one of our sponsors hooking us upwith shafts, so we wanna give them a
shout-out—best in the game right there.
But these clubs, man, I tell you what, thesewere not in great shape when I sent them over
to him.
And I got back these raw tour blue finish.

(04:34):
Okay?
So they look just absolutely
They do look cool.
They're so dope.
He took a video, put it on Instagram, but checkhim out over at Custom Golf AZ on Instagram.
That is his main page.
He also, a while back, refinished a putter forme as well as one for my wife.

(04:56):
So one was all white.
One is murdered out in black.
I've got it over there, but I can't quite reachit.
So, but, again, if you're watching this, it isa Titleist 690 MB.
He redid the entire set where it is brandspanking new with the KBS C-Taper shafts.
Alright.
There we got our sponsorships out of the way.

(05:18):
I know, you know, I was kinda long-winded therea little bit, but not
at all.
I will say this, man.
Between those three sponsors right there andKBS as well, we're really happy with where
we're at.
And Johnnie Walker as well.
So make sure to drink responsibly over the ageof 21 years or older.
There's gonna be some more sponsors coming onboard as well.

(05:40):
That might become a long-winded.
We're gonna add some to the middle part of theepisodes moving forward so it's not all
front-loaded for everybody.
But let's get into it.
We're gonna start off with the tee-off reportwith Buttsy, who has the Metallica-looking
Devro Augusta hat on right now.
And, you know, looking back at the history ofgolf, man, what is golf missing?

(06:02):
Steroids.
Steroids.
Really?
Steroids.
Missing performance-enhancing drugs, peptides.
They got this thing coming out called theEnhanced Games.
Think you guys have all seen it on Instagramfor sure if you haven't.
Look it up.
It's where athletes across multiple sports arebeing appropriately followed by medical doctors

(06:25):
tested, but they're also being given the fullgambit of performance-enhancing drugs that we
have at our disposal these days in an effort tobreak records.
And, you know, somebody might say, well, hugemuscles aren't good for golf or they, at some
points, diminishing return, but there are awhole host of performance-enhancing drugs out
there that don't necessarily make you big butmake you much faster, make you make your

(06:50):
muscles fire faster, make you have longer,like, less time to exhaustion on the golf
course.
There'd be a whole bunch of shit to go into it.
So I'm just looking for, like, the Barry Bonds,Mark McGwire era of golf.
I
wanna see. You
You forgot Sammy Sosa.
Sosa, well, this my beautiful him too.
But I just wanna see, like, before they rollthis ball back, you know, and Bryson obviously

(07:12):
maxed it out as naturally as he possibly couldprobably without really stepping over any lines
in terms of being tested and stuff like that.
I think there's room.
I'd love to see it.
We didn't have it with Tiger.
That was like everybody's like, he was onjuice.
No.
He wasn't.
No.
No.
He was not.
It's funny.
In our preproduction meeting slash text chain,Brent was saying the same thing.

(07:37):
Yeah.
I mean, you you guys need to be around peoplethat are really on this.
Like, he was on some good stuff.
Not maxed out though and and definitely.
No, not the Barry Bonds like the cream.
No.
There's there's room out there for guys to bereally, really, really fast.
I mean, I'm talking like Larry Fitzgerald onjuice with the ability to swing a club like

(07:58):
Tiger Woods, like, something like that.
I've said it for years.
When you got a guy that that steps out of wouldhave been a professional football player and he
grows up playing golf and he's jacked out ofhis mind on performance-enhancing drugs, what
happens to the golf ball?
What if he has touch and he flies at fourforty?
Like, is that possible?
Is that out there?
I think it is.
I mean, look at the long drive tour.

(08:18):
Those guys aren't tested.
Right?
Are they?
Well, look at Daley back in the day.
Right?
I mean, think if Daley was juiced, and he justabsolutely murdered it even, like, a hundred
yards further than he did or, yeah, he did usedto.
And he had some of the softest hands.
You asked Phil Mickelson, you asked TigerWoods, who had the best short game.
I've heard from multiple people that both ofthose gentlemen have talked about that John

(08:41):
Daly had the softest hands in golf and had thebest short game by far.
For sure.
I'm just curious to see what would happen.
You know?
And, again, it's not bodybuilding workouts oranything like that.
Like, you know, that you take stuff inbodybuilding to look a certain way and achieve
a certain look.
But in golf, I mean, look at this guy.
I'm telling you in the enhanced games.

(09:02):
He's a swimmer.
He was already a gold medal winner, and youlook at the transformation that he's undergone,
what he looks like now, what he's about to goand try to break these world records.
If anybody like that played golf, like, holySo, anyways, that's what's missing.
Well, we got a new audience member here.
So, obviously, we got track golfer on.
We got Joe Bauer on, and we've got JosephDelGiorio.

(09:28):
Now did you see this one, Buttsy?
Yeah.
Yeah.
What's going on?
Randy the snake.
Oh, boy.
Randy the pet wall snake.
RIP, Randy.
There you go.
Long time ago.
Buttsy's got some friends coming on to theepisode now.
Love that.
And Joe Power.
Everybody.
Yeah.
Join in.
Chime in.
We love to see it.

(09:48):
Beta blockers, Trot says, mixed with HGH.
Yeah.
Beta blockers, the anti-yip medication of thefuture.
Is he?
You know what beta blockers are?
I don't think I do.
Beta blockers are heart meds that control yourheart rate.
So what guys were doing is they were takingthese heart meds because it wouldn't allow your

(10:10):
heart rate to get into a yip situation where,like, you could have anxiety and you have that
racing heart out on the golf course.
Couldn't do it.
And they got caught for that and finally kindof put a stop to it.
But, yeah, imagine if you were so worked up andyour heart never got over, you know, 90 beats.
Well, a little easier to perform.
Sure would.
Wouldn't have the yips for sure.

(10:30):
Scotty Holdridge over on X.
Have we covered the dentist yet?
Not yet.
No.
We're about to get into the longest day ingolf.
So that was that was that was a fun littlesegment there, Buttsy, with Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, the steroid era.
We haven't had it in golf, man, unfortunately,the tests are going, so we're probably never
gonna see it.
But it could have been quite fun to see guysbombing at 450 and having soft hands like John

(10:56):
Daly.
Yeah.
It sure would be interesting.
For sure.
Said too, like, the only way to level theplaying field completely is just to allow
anybody to do anything to themselves.
I always thought that, you know, it's theirit's their body to be able to do what they
want.
And if they're willing to put in that andsacrifice, I mean, playing golf.

(11:16):
Whoever saw the documentary on HBO about TigerWoods knows about sacrifice because, man, that
dude did not have a life playing through juniorgolf and everything.
Golf was his life, and he was forced to do itfor the most part.
The aid, just to finish real quick.
The aid with that stuff, it's more so inrecovery.
Right?
Like, pitchers were on it in the major leagues,not because they bombed the baseball, but

(11:38):
because it allowed them to go throw, you know,15 nights in a row and get up and be healed and
do it again.
Imagine that for the longevity of a four-daygolf tournament when you're out there walking
and you're absolutely exhausted.
If you woke up half as exhausted every day,that's a pretty big performance benefit.
So it's not just, you know, speed and power.
It's that too.

(11:58):
Yeah.
For sure.
Alright.
Let's get into the longest day in golf, which Igotta ask you guys.
And I'm gonna start with you, Brent.
I mean, because you've got some strong opinionsaround some of this stuff.
But who's got the longest day moniker?
Because we heard it with the Grass League Openqualifier this year, and now obviously with the
U.S.
Open qualifier, which kinda was the original OGlongest day in golf, where guys are playing 36

(12:23):
holes, are playing pretty much all day.
Which one is the longer day, Brent?
Well, I believe the isn't the Grass Leaguequalifier 18 holes?
It's only 18 holes.
And it's a
With how many
scramble?
Yep.
Okay.
Very long day.
Par-three course?
On a par-three course.
Alright.

(12:43):
The opposite of that would be 18 holes byyourself walking, playing that golf course
twice in the same day.
I'm almost 100% certain that, 6 a.m., 5 a.m.
wake-up at the latest, to a 7 p.m.

(13:06):
finish.
I think
I think, Grass League, just so that I kind ofset the table properly because I probably
didn't at the beginning of this.
I kind of baited you a bit.
But the Grass League states it because of thestarting time of the first group to the last
group that plays.
Interesting.
Because they go from early in the morning allthe way through to, like, what does it go till,

(13:28):
Buttsy?
Like, midnight?
But one person isn't playing all day.
One person isn't playing all day.
That's kind of
That's why I started with you, Brent.
I knew you were gonna bring the heat on thatone.
Buttsy, what do you think when it comes to thelongest day in golf?
Who owns that moniker now?
What do you mean?
And, like
So is it the U.S.

(13:48):
Open qualifier that owns that moniker, or is itthe Grass League because of the amount of time
that that qualifier goes on for?
For the individual, the U.S.
Open.
For the venue, like, the totality of the day,the Grass League.
Wow.
Love it.
Okay.

(14:09):
We got through that one with ease, gentlemen.
Let's talk about the longest day in golf U.S.
Open style.
So there are some standout stories that tookplace.
And, Brent, I know that you've been keeping aclose eye on all of this.
Let's talk about some of these standoutstories.
First off, Cameron Young wins in a playoff,and, you know, Fowler was in that qualifier.

(14:33):
Max Homa was in there.
In Ohio, both of them fell short, so they'renot gonna be in the U.S.
Open.
There's also a few guys as well, but let's talkfor a second about some a little bit of drama
because Max Homa split again with anothercaddie.
Oh, really?
A couple weeks with him.

(14:54):
Yeah.
So that's why he was carrying his own bag.
It started as kind of this feel-good story, andthen they started asking him and insiders
started telling news outlets and so forth whatwas really going on.
And, Max Homa has lost another caddie.
Brent loves it.
We've lost Brent.
I mean, come on with this shit already.

(15:16):
This guy kills.
This guy absolutely kills.
So he gets fired by one of his closest friendsand for whatever reason decides that he can't
find a person for 36 holes and decides to carryhis bag.
What more of a reason would one person haveother than just spitefulness to go do that?

(15:44):
That is unbelievable.
Especially after four days at the Memorialgetting paid God knows how much money, getting
X number of points.
This is ridiculous at this point.
This guy is living the high life.
He's got a great family.
I'm super happy for him off the golf course,but every decision he has made as far as golf

(16:07):
is concerned over the last year and a half hasdone nothing but to show him as somebody that
makes a ton of excuses and points fingers atthose that really have nothing to do with who
hits the shot.
It's ridiculous.
I mean, come on.
Poopies.
Yeah.
Poopy pants.
Yep.
I will say this.
It does seem like Homa's going throughsomething.

(16:27):
Yeah.
Clearly.
And on course, off course.
I don't know if necessarily the off course isgoing as well as you think it might be going
because, you know, having somebody who'scomplaining a lot, and he did reference this
within his post-round kind of when media wasasking him and so forth.
He didn't want to talk about the caddiesituation, but he did say he alluded to it a

(16:49):
little bit to where he's like, well, there'snobody else out there to blame other than
myself when I'm just out there by myself.
Sure.
So which means
He kinda
Which means that there's somebody to blame whensomebody's dead.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Exactly.
And I think he's aware of that.
That's such a comment.
It is.
But at least he's aware of it.
And it might not be something that he cannecessarily control right now.

(17:11):
Yeah.
Actually, that that maybe you're right, though.
Maybe that is what he means by it is it's Iwould rather not have the outlet.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I think everybody goes through stuff.
But, I mean, the fact that he, you know, I I Idon't think there's anybody that disagrees that
signing with Lululemon was a good idea.
But getting rid of the golf company that hadbeen with you since God knows how long, and

(17:38):
then coach, and then who who knows who else?
And then obviously, he got fired by his caddie.
I mean, it's pretty clear that there'ssomething else going on that is is is almost
like he's just shooting from the hip right now.
He's not really sure where he stands with a fewthings.
He probably got thrown for a loop with having akid, which I can tell you it absolutely does

(18:03):
that.
But I'm very surprised that for somebody thatis as comfortable as he is seems to be having
trouble with the simplest of things.
I think he's just lost, man.
Like, a lot of people attach theirpersonalities to their golf game, and when it's
not going well, they're not a happy person.

(18:25):
I've seen it numerous times.
I'm guilty of that.
Yeah.
It's unfortunate.
And it's something that you gotta learn fromand realize that you can't attach your
personality and your mood to your golf game.
Like, that's gotta be something that'sseparate.
And you would think that a pro golfer wouldhave realized this and already have gone down
that path.
But, you know, everybody learns in their ownway and different times.

(18:47):
But I do want to go back to the fact that MaxHoma, he had a—so all he needed to do was make
birdie on the par 5, the last hole.
He hit the green in two, three putts in orderto go into that playoff.
Devastating.
And then from there, obviously, loses in theplayoffs, so did Rickie Fowler, Eric Cole, and
Chase Johnson.
So that was in Ohio.

(19:07):
Let's move along to Atlanta.
For Mason Howell, teenage amateur.
Who wants to talk about this kid?
I don't know enough about him to speak on that.
So please enlighten me.
I just know that he's an amateur teenagephenom.
Seventeen-year-old high school kid, and heabsolutely dominated the pros at a great club,

(19:31):
the Piedmont Driving Club.
Had a buddy whose dad was a member out there inAtlanta, and there were 83 players for five
U.S.
Open spots, and he finished with a bogey-free36 holes with 16 birdies, tailing to 18 under
par total.
That's crazy.
Seventeen-year-old kid.
This is kinda like the Blades Brown situationthat we've talked about that Brent absolutely

(19:55):
loves when Buttsy brings up Blades Brown.
He's a big Blades fan.
He's a fan.
I'm sorry.
Huge Blades fan.
Oh, did he get in?
No.
I
don't think so.
No.
Brent does.
He was watching me.
Brent does know.
You better not get in.
I hope the kid plays great, but, man, he's he'sshit, bud.

(20:16):
Dude, it's gonna be tough
for a seventeen-year-old kid to play great atOakmont.
Well
like, that's gonna that's a tall task.
I mean yeah.
If it seems like he might be a local guy there,which either way, I mean, you gotta make it
through locals, which is not easy.
And you gotta place high enough to get the sitethat you want.
Seems like that's the case, but it also seemslike he's he's found something and that the

(20:40):
golf course fit his eye.
He probably was able to spend a fair amount oftime at that golf course leading up to it, but
what a great opportunity for him.
I don't suggest that he turns pro after theU.S.
Open.
I think if he does, he'd be an idiot.
But that seems to be the thing now is justthese shortsighted individuals.
So
You do hate to see it because there's so muchgrowth that needs to happen mentally,

(21:03):
especially in the game.
It's not just about your physical talent.
And that's where, like, going through collegeand for free.
Figuring it out, yeah, for free and gettingpaid now.
So it's
Like they get paid now.
Right?
Yeah, dude.
Let's go to a big college and go get some moneyand get a
free education.
Ridiculous.
And get fucking good.

(21:24):
You tell me, like, the best times were incollege.
That's where you get to drink, party, have fun,be a part of a golf team.
Like, it's an absolute blast.
You can still go qualify for all that.
Oh, absolutely.
And I'm gonna go back to Scotty Holdridge hereoff of X.
He goes, have we covered the dentist yet?
Here you go.

(21:45):
So I'm about
that, man.
Former Oakmont caddy, now dentist, qualifiesfor his home open.
How cool would that be?
You grow up caddying at a major golf course.
I mean, this isn't this would be like caddyingover at Silverleaf growing up.
Yeah.
And then all of a or Whisper Rock.

(22:06):
And then all of a sudden for us Scottsdaleguys.
Right?
And all of a sudden, you've got where you havean opportunity to qualify for the U.S.
Open, and you'll be playing that golf course.
I wonder if he knows the greens still.
Probably.
Probably.
I don't think they changed that much.
Right?
I mean, they go through some redesigns and soforth, but I don't think they've probably

(22:29):
changed all that much.
So I would imagine he's got a pretty good ideato this golf course.
But being a dentist, I mean, talk aboutinspiration, right, of keeping your game in
shape.
That dude's got a full-time job.
I don't know if he has a family or whatnot, buthe obviously has responsibilities that aren't
just golf.

(22:49):
Yes.
And at I mean, that's very, very inspiring tohear and see.
There's some others in there as well thatobviously qualify.
We're kinda skipping over some of the othernames, but I feel like the stories are the big
stories are the ones that we wanna focus in on.
And then in New Jersey, we've got amateur BenJames and pro

(23:11):
Ben James.
James Nicholas.
So James Nicholas is big on social media.
Mhmm.
New York City guy and makes his first U.S.
Open, I believe, in New Jersey.
So he's going to Oakmont.
Great story.
He was kinda he was crying after the roundtalking to reporters and stuff.

(23:31):
Like, he was emotional, and I think that'sokay.
Buttsy, what do you think?
We've talked about crying before.
Oh, man.
I would bawl.
I don't think I'd be able to hold that back.
I think that'd probably be where I wouldn'texpect myself to go there.
I think that would just be, like, anoverwhelming thing that would that's probably
where I would go with it as well.

(23:51):
I think I would probably break down, and tearsof joy would roll down my face.
And then I'd probably eat something so sick.
Oh, man.
And then, Trout wants to know, Brent, do youknow Brady Calkins?
I know him well.
I know Brady.
Yep.
You know Brady?
Oh, yeah.
Yep.
Brady dominated the Dakotas Tour for a while.

(24:17):
Never quite made it through Q School.
Has struggled a bit off the course, kind ofjust fallen into certain things.
And then qualifies for the Korn Ferry Tour.
I think it was last year or the year before.
Just kind of shits the bed, unfortunately, andthen drops off the planet.

(24:39):
But apparently, he's still playing, so he'squalified.
And I love the guy.
You know, he's a testament to what perseverancereally is, and I wish him all the best.
He's a good dude.
That's dope.
So Austin Whittington wants to know, can wetalk about the hate Evan Thompson got on
Twitter?
I'm not familiar.
You mean that he's that thinks he yeah.

(25:00):
I've seen his videos a couple times.
He's What did he what did he say?
What was so
I don't know what he said.
I don't know anything other than that, youknow, he's kind of playing it as if he is kind
of, you know, like a big deal.
And he's got some influence with certain peoplein the social media realm, and he's kind of

(25:23):
been able to use his play to kind of build thedeal up.
And he's I mean, if you watch his social media,you would think he's basically a tour pro.
But I don't know what he said.
Maybe somebody somebody can Austin can
Yeah.
Please elaborate.
I have no idea.
Elaborate, Austin.

(25:43):
If you could type that in, we'll table that onefor the time being because there was also some
notable qualifying dramas and heartaches.
Okay?
Mark Leishman being one of LIV Golf did nothave a good outing or showing for these
qualifiers.
They didn't last year either because what do weknow about LIV Golf?
Once you get past, like, the top 10, it reallystarts to fall off.

(26:06):
Yes.
These guys have had names.
Yes.
They've won PGA Tour events.
Some of them have won majors, but their talentlevel now is not what it once was.
And they're at the end of their careers.
But Marc Leishman is in Maryland, LIV Golfveteran.
Marc Leishman had to survive a playoff atWoodmont Country Club to grab his spot.

(26:30):
So, oh, I guess that one he did end up getting.
At Springfield, Ohio site, PGA Tour pro ZacBlair dueled an amateur John Peterson through
four extra playoff holes before finallysecuring his spot.
Even overseas players made noise at the loneCanadian site.
PGA Tour winner Emiliano Grillo drained abirdie on his final hole to clinch his U.S.

(26:56):
Open berth.
Then we've got here okay.
Here's the players that came up short.
So out of 25 LIV golfers who entered finalqualifying, only Leishman and Mexico's Carlos
Ortiz managed to advance.
Others like Sebastián Muñoz.
Actually Muñoz is no longer isn't?
Oh, no.
He is.
Sorry.
I'm thinking of Echeverría.

(27:18):
And then Jason Kokrak, he missed out.
Yeah.
Past champions struggled too.
2012 U.S.
Open winner Webb Simpson missed the cut atNorth Carolina's qualifier by a single stroke.
Fifty-one-year-old Padraig Harrington, he felljust short in Ohio.
Longtime PGA Tour stalwarts, Matt Kuchar, AdamHadwin also failed to qualify.

(27:39):
There was even heartbreak in one golf dynasty.
This is the one that I was thinking of when I'mlike, man, LIV once again, but it wasn't a LIV
player.
Okay?
The LIV player was actually caddying.
It was Luke Poulter, son of Ian Poulter.
He finished 10 under in Florida, but lost in aplayoff for the final spot, leaving him as an
alternate, which might get in.

(28:00):
Who knows?
Somebody might not, you know?
Get sick or who knows?
Yeah.
Know?
Hate to get sick for that tournament, wouldn'tyou?
I know.
I saw a post by Lee Westwood, with whom I havehad words on Twitter before.
Really?
Yeah.
We've gone back and forth on a couple ofthings, but I did see he wrote this really nice
post about Luke and Ian and just said I lovethat for them.

(28:23):
Really do.
So great stuff there.
I didn't know that he missed out until earlierafter he had posted that because I don't think
the results were in yesterday before that.
But anyway, that is the longest day in golf.
Let's see.
Austin Whittington has chimed in with giving usa little bit more background.

(28:44):
He finished way behind Atlanta, YouTube golfer.
Many think he has fabricated scores like a 59,just found out or just found an interest in all
the hate, but to his credit, he did qualify.
Well,
can't fabricate that.
So, I mean, it is what it is.
Mhmm.

(29:05):
I don't have much on it because I just haven'tdone a whole lot of research around him and
talk.
I don't even know who he is.
I guess that's all.
He's I think he's, like Austin said, a YouTubeguy.
I think he's got some sort of playing history,but it's yeah.

(29:27):
He's qualified for the Open and blew up aboutit.
We're gonna test you real quick here.
DarkSideD says, anyone know the alternatepriority?
So it's
based on the different locations?
Yeah.
From what I understand, the alternate prioritylist is based off of strength of field.

(29:47):
Generally, who was there, what it took toqualify.
Generally, you can't get in as an alternateunless somebody from your site drops out.
That's how they kind of make it fair foreverybody.
Just because somebody drops off in Springfielddoesn't necessarily mean somebody from

(30:08):
California is gonna get in.
So I'm happy to be wrong about that, but I'mpretty sure that's what it is.
I don't necessarily love that, but it's justthe way they do it.
Brent's got some internet connection issues,but I believe what he's saying too, I mean,

(30:29):
he'll correct me if I'm wrong here, but theonly time they go to strength of field is if
somebody drops out that didn't qualify to getin.
Is that right?
So the qualified, like ranked alternatepriority, really isn't necessarily a major
thing.
That's if everybody drops out from, let's saythat nobody in the one or two alternate spot

(30:51):
can go from Ohio, let's just say, then the nextone down would fill that spot.
Well, what I'm saying, Brent, so let's saythat, like, Scottie Scheffler gets injured and
he misses the U.S.
Open, an alternate is going to fill in thatspot.
Yes.
Am I correct on that?
I believe that's
strength of field at that point?

(31:13):
Correct.
Yep.
So for example, it also depends on if you know?
So when I qualified in 2023, a buddy of minewas first alternate and was there.
I don't know how many alternates were there,but I suppose he, I mean, he waited around and
was the only one on the range when I left.
So, I mean, I think that makes a difference,but I think it's also who's willing to travel,

(31:39):
as far as during the week alternates.
What a year to qualify for a U.S.
Open for you.
LA Country Club.
That was a blast.
Talk about it, I mean, shoot.
That place is a gem.
Yeah.
And it's a I feel like that was a little bitmore of a fun U.S.
Open in some ways.
Like, U.S.
Opens are not fun.

(31:59):
Can we state that?
Is that kinda supposed to
be I think I think it is the golf, I mean, funfor everybody.
No.
I don't think the spectators had a ton of fun.
I don't think the golf club necessarily lovedthe fact that, you know, they were getting a
ton of shit for what they did, but and also at

(32:21):
the same time talking about just U.S.
Opens in general.
Yeah.
I mean known from players that ass.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Supposed to be torture.
It's kinda like watching the Saw movie.
You're gonna get tortured before you're able toget out of there.
Yeah.
Yep.
It's the whole point.
I mean, I would love a golf tournament whereeven par would win because then that would

(32:42):
really make a difference.
But so
So I've got a great question as we get into thepreview.
Get outside of the longest day.
Let's get into the actual U.S.
Open itself.
And, Buttsy, which U.S.
Open venue is harder, Oakmont or Shinnecock?
Oakmont, I think.
Brent's shaking his head over there.
Brent, who you got then?
I mean, Shinnecock is like, the number was wayhigher at Shinnecock than it was at Oakmont

(33:06):
when Dustin Johnson won.
I think Oakmont this year is gonna be justabsolutely disgusting.
Oh, it's super hard, but the way Shinnecock isdesigned and the way it played, I mean, guys
were doing crazy things.
I mean, Phil had that thing where he putted offthe green
or almost putted it off
the green or whatever it was.
He kicked it back.
Yeah.
And they lost the yeah.

(33:27):
I mean, he
wanted the two-shot penalty because he didn'twant to, like, he actually thought that he
would make a worse score if he let it
go.
You can
always just replay the shot, which I think isinteresting.
But
I did not know that until that, so that wasinteresting.
You can literally he could have just taken aone-stroke penalty and hit the putt again.
But yeah.
Good point.
Hard to know that in the moment.
But, I mean, to me, Oakmont is about as pure ofa U.S.

(33:52):
Open spot as there is.
Long, difficult off the tee, difficult into thegreens, and the greens roll on a 16.
So there's no it's not tricked out.
It's not that they have to do anything to thegolf course necessarily.
Just grow the rough out and keep the greens asthey normally are.
Do you think Shinnecock gets tricked down?

(34:13):
I think it has to be in order for it to, Imean, look at what they did.
I mean, they lost multiple greens.
And, obviously, the weather had a little bit toplay.
It did get pretty windy.
But, Oakmont is so pure.
There's nothing about it that you have to doanything necessarily to make it harder.
Well, that's what Mike Whan was talking about.

(34:34):
Yeah.
A few months ago when they asked him.
They're like, hey.
Is Oakmont gonna be ready for the U.S.
Open?
He goes, it's always ready.
Ready right now for a U.S.
Open.
Yes.
He's like, we're months away.
And now you see where they did this overseedingwith the rough.
Mhmm.
And this stuff is gnarly.
Not only is it long and thick, but the golfball goes down to the bottom.

(34:56):
You'll see it get cut.
It looks awesome.
So?
Absolutely.
I don't think so.
I think they keep it.
I think they want once again, I think MikeWhan, he was in place last year too, wasn't he?
For Pinehurst?
Yeah.
For the How how many U.S.
Opens has Mike Whan been a part of the USGA asthe head of it?
Three.
Three or four.
I think this is the one, though, for him thathe's like, we're gonna have a U.S.

(35:21):
Open.
This is the venue.
We're gonna have guys shoot over par.
I mean, the rough right now is so crazy andit's not just thick and deep though.
The ball somehow they figured out this overseedin the rough that actually mixed two different

(35:41):
types together and it sits all the way down atthe bottom of it.
Like, it barely ever sits up.
And so it's gonna be one of those U.S.
Opens where you have to hit fairways.
There's gonna be guys in the rough that can'tget wedged back to the fairway, I think.
Exactly.
So
that's kind of what I'm saying.
So so for example, at the at at L.A., they theythey brought in a few fairways and and kept the

(36:06):
rough pretty thick, leading into the week.
And then the week prior, they went out andliterally widened certain fairways and ended
chopping the rough.
Of the reason why they did that it's not a deepwhat did he say?
He
said the field.
That's why it's not a deep field given theconditions, I think, is what he's saying.

(36:29):
It's like
Oh, okay.
It's only a
few hundred.
We're gonna get to that.
That's actually
what is next
is who are the realistic contenders.
So we'll get into that topic in just a second.
So, yeah, let's keep this conversation going,though, because I will say this.
I think Shinnecock is the harder of the two.
However, Oakmont is the more pure test.

(36:50):
Absolutely.
For the U.S.
Open.
Absolutely agree.
That's where I just...
Yep.
It's gonna be fun to watch the misery.
Oh,
it's gonna be like watching the movie Saw.
Like I said, there's gonna be a lot of guysthat are willing to lose fingers, to lose limbs
in order to survive.
They're just gonna...
they're gonna die out there.
What's the...

(37:11):
you need to do the research for us real quick,but what's the highest winning score in a U.S.
Open in the last, like, 20 years?
It's a good question.
You know?
Like, how bad have they made it in the last 20years?
And then, like, is that going to be eclipsedthis week?
I also think that Oakmont is long enough towhere length isn't going to be the ultimate

(37:33):
advantage.
Like, it's gonna obviously be an advantage, butaccuracy
Depends on the weather.
Length is going to be what is ultimately goingto matter, which
Let's check.
Where what what city is that in?
I know it's in Pennsylvania.
It's in Pittsburgh.
You're gonna win a hole from 220 in the middleof the fairway versus, you know, 125 in the

(37:55):
rough.
So, I mean, it's raining all this week intonext week.
Oh
my god.
Really?
It's gonna be some lettuce
there.
So
this is kinda what I'm saying.
Right?
They cut it.
Have to cut it.
They no.
They have to
cut it.
Well, yeah, they're gonna cut it, but it'sgonna be the length that it probably is
right gonna be it's gonna be about four inches,three and a half to four inches.

(38:19):
But it doesn't have to be super long.
There's another friendly bet.
I'm just gonna throw this out there.
Who how many guys pull out of the tournament oror get injured from the rough?
Like, is anybody gonna call out a strain?
Do you think that happens?
Six.
I'm I'm gonna say over under three.
So Brent's

(38:40):
their ass off to gouge it out of this shitbecause it is the U.S.
Open.
You're not gonna hold back.
So plus one.
So plus one is the highest.
Plus one, that's Merion.
And then Brooks Brooks.
I don't remember where
where Koepka plus one in the 18.
18.
Was that the year before or after Dustin wonhis U.S.
Open at Oakmont?
God.

(39:00):
Might have been
Oh, Brooks won it at Shinnecock.
Duh.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Brooks won it at, like, eight or nine underor something like that.
So here's the next question that I have for youguys about the U.S.
Open preview.
Yeah.
After winning the Memorial for a second time,do you guys think it's Scottie's time?
Like, does this course match up for ScottieScheffler the way the Memorial does and some of

(39:24):
these other golf courses?
Scottie's gonna win.
He's gonna win.
I don't think it matches up.
Do I wanna say he's not gonna win?
No.
But it's probably gonna come down to somebodylike a Ludvig, that is just.
Why?
You like Ludvig this week?
I do.
I think he's—We haven't

(39:45):
even heard next week.
I think it might be somebody like that that isjust so orthodox and so—oh, there you go.
Miguel Cabrera.
Plus five at Oakmont.
Yeah.
I remember that one.
I think it was raining and pissy the wholetime.
But, yeah, I think it's just gonna come down tosomebody like that.

(40:07):
I think the reason is Scottie likes to work thegolf ball.
It's not that he's incapable of hitting itstraight.
Obviously, he's the best ball striker on tour.
But he does win at places where the greens sortof do the thing where they kind of
They do the thing.
They're big openings and they kind of feed andsuch.

(40:29):
And Oakmont is just, you know, it's just tiny.
It's like every single green is such smalltargets.
And honestly, the other part about it is thatwhen he plays with the top players, the first
couple of rounds, he doesn't necessarily getout there and crush it.
So Buttsy, what about you, man?
You said it's Scottie's time.
Scottie's gonna do it.

(40:50):
What are you thinking this week or next week?
I think he's just gonna put it in play, andmaybe the three or four holes out there where
he can get something down there that'srelatively short off the tee, he's going to
outmatch people.
I mean, what I mean by that is six iron into agreen, five iron into a green.

(41:12):
He's gonna have 10 footers.
You know?
He's gonna find a way to do that, and otherguys aren't gonna have distance control and get
that done, and then they're gonna fall apartwhen they hit in the rough.
I just think he's gonna fucking chip it aroundout there in the short stuff and shoot, I'm
gonna say right now, four under.
Three or four under for the tournament and winby probably three shots.

(41:33):
Wow.
I do like Scottie this week.
I think Oakmont in the condition, if they keepthat rough the way that it is, and if Scottie
can be as accurate as he has been recently withthe driver, I think Scottie's got a really good
chance because those approach shots fromScottie Scheffler are unmatched.

(41:54):
Like yeah.
Typically, and he actually did not strike theball very well at Memorial for approach shots.
Like, I think he left a few out there, and heended up dominating that golf tournament.
So for me, Scottie Scheffler is starting toreach his peak for this season, let's say.
And I do think Scottie Scheffler has a reallygood shot at winning the U.S.

(42:18):
Open this year.
But, again, let's see.
Well, let's see what happens.
I don't think it is as obvious as last week waswith the Memorial.
So let's talk about the contenders because whoare the realistic contenders at the U.S.
Open this year?
And I put together a little list here on thePGA Tour side.
And I wonder if you guys agree, disagree, andso forth.

(42:42):
But PGA Tour-wise, we got Scottie Scheffler.
We got Rory McIlroy who's got a chance to win.
Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg,and Collin Morikawa.
Those are the guys that I've listed.
Can you guys think of anybody else from the PGATour side that has a shot at this?
And then we'll go over LIV next.

(43:04):
Sepp Straka.
Sepp.
Yeah.
I was gonna say Sepp.
Sepp has been playing big.
Strong.
The lefty McIntyre.
That far, though.
No.
I'm just saying he's got
the Straight.
To get to get He's got the girth.
Yes.
It's a funny say, Buttsy?
I think Robert McIntyre.
Bobby Mac.

(43:25):
Bobby Mac.
It all depends on the weather, man.
I think if it's if it's playing the way thatthat it should play firm, fast, and playing its
hardest, think that's where the guy that hitsit long and straight off the tee and can land
long iron soft, a guy like Rory, a guy likeXander, guys that are long enough.

(43:50):
And the reason why I think Collin doesn'tnecessarily stand a whole lot of chances
because he doesn't his mid to long iron gameis, I'm not saying he's bad at it.
Obviously, he's very good, but he's notnecessarily the greatest on the big long
courses.
I mean, the PGA that he won was at TPC HardingPark, which is anything but a long golf course.

(44:13):
Tribe disagrees with these.
Says Collin's gonna hit the most fairways.
It's his week.
Austin Whittington says that Russell Henley
Nah.
That's a good another
one.
Out for.
Great putter.
Great putter.
Yeah.
So, I mean, there's some options out there.
Now let's talk about hey.
Well, anybody else you wanna add, Buttsy?
I don't wanna cut you off short.
No.
No.
That's you covered the base.

(44:34):
Well, Preston Summerhays is the amateur.
No.
Absolutely not.
And I I like Summerhays.
That's the okay.
Come on.
Yeah.
I know.
And I like his dad too, but yeah.
No.
LIV Golf.
He awesome.
I'm shutting
that one down.
Offense.
No offense.
Offense to him once a
while. Couple
Couple years.
Couple years.
LIV Golf-wise, I think there's only two playersthat have a chance, and that's Bryson

(44:58):
DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.
Am I is there anybody else
Brooks?
Do you guys think?
So I thought about this before putting thistogether, and I'm like, I think Brooks is back
in his head again.
Where remember when he joined LIV, he didn'tknow if he was ever going to be able to compete
at that level again?
Saved his career.

(45:18):
Yeah.
I think he's actually back to kind of them.
Like, I'm not inside the head of Brooks Koepka.
Okay?
So don't sit here.
This is not for Gospel.
I'm just going off of what the guys are tellingme.
It would be great if I was.
I wonder, like, what he thinks about.
Oh, hey.
There's Jenna.
Oh, hey.
There's the baby.
Oh, hey.
But realistically, with Brooks Koepka, justdidn't see that at the Masters.

(45:41):
I didn't see it at the PGA Championship.
And it looks like he's struggled with hisactual mechanics.
When that happens, all of a sudden he startsgetting in his head.
And he's the one that said, hey.
You can't find it on the range the Wednesdaybefore the tournament.
Like, you're going in with what you got.
Fair.
And I don't think I have seen anything from himthat tells me he will be a contender this week.

(46:06):
And that's unfortunate because he's a great oneto watch coming down under pressure.
I agree.
I mean, he's a great competitor.
Obviously, he kinda fits the bill for kindawhat most of us strive for, that kinda swagger.
What about Joaquin?
Dude, I don't like him at all.
He can't hit the broadside of a barn off thetee.

(46:28):
So
Joaquin, Joaquin, I feel like every LIV Golffan is just living for the day that Joaquin
Niemann plays well in a major.
Yeah.
That's the problem.
That's kinda why I said it.
Can we
can we touch on, guys of that build and kindawe'll we'll get there.
You just go ahead.

(46:48):
I had Well, I don't think I'm in my head.
Truth be told, I don't think I would have agreat opportunity at Oakmont or I mean, you are
actually for your size, Brent, you're prettydamn strong.
Like, you have a very strong golf swing.
And what I mean is that, like, a thin, slenderguy like a Joaquin Niemann.

(47:10):
It's probably
Yeah.
I mean, he's a hundred percent in that round.
Yeah.
I mean, that's kinda
struggles in there.
That's kinda what I was saying.
I think part of the problem with some of theseguys that are battling injury is that the
moment that you make one golf swing of anyspeed out of 4-inch thick rye, Kentucky
bluegrass, whatever the hell they're makingover there, your entire body takes a hike, man.

(47:36):
It goes, oh god, and then never wants to dothat again, and then you start guiding it off
the tee everywhere you go.
Yeah.
If you have to do that four or five times orsix times in a round, might not feel so good.
I mean so and the other thing is too.
Right?
I mean, it's it's what?
7,600 yards?
It's it's a deep
golf course.

(47:57):
It's long.
We just said that it's it's raining all thisweek.
Okay?
It's rained a shitload this spring, which ispart of why the grass is so thick to begin
with.
But then that also means that the fairways aregoing to be soft unless it picks up blows 50,
you know, after the you know, after this week,which who knows.

(48:20):
But, that also means that if you hit
in the rough, the ball
is not gonna go very far at all, which meansyou probably got a similar club, that you would
from the fairway hitting three.
So
I'm I'm gonna be honest with you guys.
I'm glad I'm not playing in the U.S.
Open.
I I wanted to play so bad, dude.

(48:41):
I know you do.
I love that.
I would love an opportunity to play a golfcourse like that again.
I just have no interest.
And just like Kyle over at KartBarnGuy says,basically, like, the tenth tee at Parker.
It really is.
Be right back.
I mean, it's very, very close.
It is basically the yeah.
Every hole is basically like that.
Yeah.

(49:01):
Yeah.
Rolling out a 16.
I mean,
it's tough.
Yeah.
It's a tough deal there.
Probably one of the hardest holes on the planetoutside of what you'd find on the front nine at
Hero, but pretty close.
I mean, let's talk about that.
I mean, how does this golf course even comeclose?
I mean, why don't we just always talk aboutthat?
Well, they can't.
They can't.
And
we are not going out on a rant about the HeroWorld Challenge.

(49:24):
I mean, it's so important to the game of golf.
That's what the golf world means.
Well, course breakdown.
What makes Oakmont so difficult?
And what's so here's the question, right?
The difficulty, the rough, the church pewbunkers, the lightning-fast greens.
Mhmm.
Which aspect is the toughest out there atOakmont?
Brent, you start us off.

(49:45):
Well, I mean, it's gotta be the rough.
I mean, the fact that, like we said, even ifthey chop it to three and a half inches, okay,
that's the ball is still going straight.
In fact, actually, if they chop it, it's gonnamake it even harder because that just makes it
super duper thick.

(50:06):
Which one is it?
You got
three to pick from.
It's bogey.
It's rough.
Okay.
Buttsy, what about you, man?
Well, just getting back to the Hero, if thatcourse if they could grow grass like that on an
island, then it's like game over.
It's a winning score in the plus 30 to 40range.
So we'll get that out of the way.
But, yeah, it's gotta be the rough and justwhat that's going to do to you mentally when

(50:30):
you're standing on the box, it's a par 4 that's500 yards.
And, yeah, you have to absolutely bang the shitout of one.
And, god, if you see that thing flying a footoffline, there's a bogey or worse.
So that'd probably wear you out.
Yeah.
I mean, it's pretty, I feel like, obvious thatit is the rough, but, you know, the greens, you

(50:55):
know, it's the rough.
Let's just be honest about rough.
It's the rough.
It's not the church pew bunkers.
Like, yeah, those are deadly at times.
Those can be a blow-up.
Like, you can end up with a triple bogey realfast if you get caught up in one of those.
So there's some it's just gonna it's gonna be abeast of a week

(51:18):
next week.
Beast.
Yep.
Yep.
We're not even going to get into the RBCHeritage up in Canada this week.
If you're interested in that, you can go watch
something else.
Yep.
Because we're still on the good old US or,yeah, US Open.

(51:40):
But I did want to talk about LIV Golf just fora second again.
So neither of you, so Brooks Koepka was theonly name that really came up.
Joaquín Niemann, Buttsy, you threw that outthere just to get some material out there.
Yeah.
Anybody else that you guys think from the LIVGolf side?
I think Patrick Reed played well in theMasters.
Obviously, the golf course suits him, but wedon't really hear about him much.

(52:05):
And it would be interesting to see if thecheater guy can, you know, putt his way around
that place and put up a spike on
the baseball.
And Jon Rahm is the only two that have
I don't think Jon even has a stands a chance.
Bryson is
I think Jon does.
Sure, but yeah.
I think Jon got a taste for it at the PGAChampionship, and that's something that you

(52:28):
need to have those nerves going on again underpressure.
Yeah.
US Open's a whole other thing and
not at Torrey.
By the way, some practice round chaos so forthcoming out of Oakmont.
Apparently, Adam Scott shot three over afterhitting every fairway on the front nine.

(52:48):
Okay?
Rory McIlroy tripled the second hole andbogeyed the 280-yard par-3 eighth hole after
hitting a 3-wood.
This is Rory McIlroy.
Yep.
Had to hit a 3-wood on the par-3.
I mean, this course is no joke.
That is for sure.
That tee once.

(53:09):
That's just it's a beast of
a hole.
The reason the reason why I said what I saidearlier about what what certain pros did at LA
Country Club is because these guys were playingand we know that they played because they're
going out there to be like, you need to changethis, you need to change that.
And there's kind of this back and forth thathappens to where guys just flat out say, it's

(53:32):
like, listen, we're gonna just do this if youdon't make this change.
For example, on 18 at LA Country Club, becausethey decided to bring the rough all the way in
from the left, guys just said, Well, we'll shipit down number one if you don't widen this
fairway.
And then, of course, that's what they did andmade 18 just a pretty much nothing hole to
begin with.

(53:52):
So it was unfortunate, but hopefully, theydon't make too many changes to Oakmont because
it is, as you said, one of the most pure, ifnot the purest US Open.
Yeah.
I think it's the purest test of golf.
DarkSide d says, Ram flames out lately.
Olympics is what he points to and also QuailHollow, and I I mean, there's no disagreement

(54:15):
there.
I mean, it's and when he won for the first timeon Liv and he beat Tyrrell Hatton, his own
teammate, he almost choked that one in.
Like, you could see the nerves in real timeduring that tournament.
So, yeah, I think he's got some issues withsome nerves ever since he went over to LIV for
whatever reason.

(54:36):
I don't think it's a LIV thing, but I do thinkthat he's got some nerves that he's dealing
with.
Maybe it's when you kind of falter a littlebit, like you've been at the pinnacle, you've
been at the highest level playing your bestgolf and you kind of peak and then all of a
sudden you have that downturn, getting back tothat peak level, that's a tough thing to do.

(54:56):
KartBarnGuys wants to know how's the blue checkfeel?
So I don't know what you're referring to.
On Instagram, we finally got it.
So that was a long time coming.
Oh, yeah.
We finally got the blue check mark onInstagram.
They would never they wouldn't even let me payfor the longest time because it wasn't in my
name, and that was the only way they were goingto verify.

(55:18):
So.
Yeah, think that's what you're referring to.
It's a big deal.
We believe in the blue check mark.
Big blue check mark, guys, this Okay, let'smove it on.
So obviously the next question, which is prettyobvious after hearing about these practice

(55:38):
rounds, Buttsy, will we have an over-par winnerthis year?
Yeah.
I don't know, man.
I I don't think so.
You already referred to Scottie Schefflerwinning at three or four under.
I think your answer is probably no.
I think he's gonna find a way to somehow beunder par by the end of it.
And, I think there might be him and maybe oneother guy.

(56:00):
Right.
What about you, man?
What are you thinking?
Over par?
Two over.
Two over.
Oh, you think so?
I think the fact that you—and you said it,Matt—the fact that you gotta be able to
withstand some torture out there, which meansyou've got to cut off a limb or two to be able

(56:21):
to survive.
That doesn't happen just on one day.
That's a decision that those guys have to makeevery other hole in some cases.
So depending on how you hit it off the tee,Justin Rose would be a phenomenal dark horse.
I don't think he hits it well enough off thetee, nor does he hit high enough with his long

(56:46):
irons, but we'll see.
So I got a random thought based off of as youwere talking about—well, I will tell you,
Scottie Scheffler to me as I'm thinking aboutthis, Scottie's dealt with some, like, he's got
a little bit of a temper.
Like, he gets frustrated out there.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(57:06):
And he's not the easiest bag.
Like, early on, we had his caddie on before hewent to Ted Scott, and he was reluctant, but
ended up getting into it that Scottie Scheffleris a really tough bag.
Now, obviously him and Ted Scott have thisgreat dynamic.
I think Scottie's matured a bit.
As we know, like we did, we've talked about it.
We're like, we don't know what ScottieScheffler does for mental preparation.

(57:28):
Like, is he actually practicing breath work?
Is he actually, like, doing any type of mental,like, work on his game?
And we kind of all said, and I believe it wasButtsy who said this, is that it's God who he
trains.
And that is certainly, it's helpful.

(57:52):
There's other ways of going about mentalpreparation without necessarily knowing it.
Like preparation, like literally going througha routine over and over and over again and
relying on that routine because it takes yourmind off of the situation at hand and allows
you or your subconscious to actually do theaction.
But I just wonder with Scottie Scheffler,that's why I'm not sure about him at Oakmont.

(58:15):
I wonder how he's going to do when there's alot of struggle throughout and has to lose a
limb here and there out there on the golfcourse.
So
Yeah.
I mean, I think what makes Scottie different isthat while he is hypercompetitive, there's no

(58:37):
doubt about that, that's kind of where thatfire comes from.
Mhmm.
The reason why he consistently just walks awaywith these tournaments is because his, as he
said, his victory is already secured.
It's not he's not walking out there going, if Idon't win this golf tournament or if this goes
out this way.
He doesn't he's committed and disciplined tohis faith, and it makes a difference such that

(59:04):
his entire identity and being centers aroundthat.
And he just lets his competitive and skillfulnature come out on the golf course.
I mean, look at how unorthodox he is.
He's probably one of the most, if not the mostunorthodox number one golfer there has ever
been.
I love the Nike ad that had him in his finishwith his feet together and kinda, like, off to

(59:30):
the side.
I mean, that was awesome too.
I mean, it's incredible.
I think it's a testament to what it means to beserving something larger than yourself.
I'm with you there.
I think so.
Well, that's different for everybody.
I mean, you gotta do your own thing, right?
So
But I would again, I think Scottie Schefflergets to even another level.

(59:54):
And all of a sudden, he is
I don't know if there's much—I don't know ifthere is another level, man.
I mean, because if
he—I just think it's mental.
He can get to one more level mentally because Istill see that with under pressure.
He struggles a little bit.
And it's funny because on the broadcast,they're talking about how much of a closer he

(01:00:18):
is and everything.
And he is when he is in those moments, but whenit comes down to one putt in order to win
something, like we've seen it time and timeagain that he struggles under those pressure
situations.
So that to me is the mental side that ScottieScheffler can—if he put purpose to working on

(01:00:38):
his mental game—not just, you know, havingbelief in something else beyond himself and
trusting in that, certainly, I think thathelps.
But if he actually put attention, focus, andpurpose to that, I think that could be big.
That's where I'm at with that.
I'm trying to look up because I was saying thatI was kind of multitasking.

(01:00:59):
I was trying to look up the Nike ad.
It's real good.
Gosh.
I wish I could pull it up on the screen rightnow.
I can't.
But it just says best player in the worldquestion mark, and then it says guilty
underneath with a period next to it.
Oh god.
And it's Scottie Scheffler in his finisheddriver position, with his legs crossed.

(01:01:20):
It's so ridiculous.
It's so ridiculous.
It's so good, though.
I absolutely love that.
Now, as we get back to this, let's go overearly betting odds right now over at FanDuel
Sportsbook.
Scottie Scheffler's plus 280.
So obviously.
Seriously.
Yeah, dude.

(01:01:40):
But this is not as crazy as the Memorial was
because only by 30 points.
Next best odds were plus 1,600 for theMemorial.
Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy are plus750.
So odds are low for those three.
Then you got Jon Rahm at plus 1,200, XanderSchauffele at plus 2,000, Ludvig Aberg at

(01:02:01):
2,600, Collin Morikawa plus 2,700, PatrickCantlay, Tommy Fleetwood.
Those guys are interesting to me at plus 3,100.
I just don't see either of them being like,this is not their week in my opinion.
Now I've said that about Xander Schauffele inthe past, and then he won the PGA Championship.
So I'm just gonna shut my mouth when it comesto that because there's something about when I

(01:02:24):
say that.
Yeah.
That guys just happen to play great.
Yeah.
It's a weird thing, isn't it?
Like, when you see what's been going on withthese top players, guys that have won majors,
and then all of a sudden, they just sort ofstop.
And in some cases, just stop competing at thesame level.

(01:02:46):
And then the guy that was won nine times justkinda keeps going.
I also love too that last week you were justshitting on Patrick Cantlay.
Once again, gets another top 10.
Just not not a top player as that's that one'sgonna live with you for a while.
In the world.
Hasn't won in how many years?

(01:03:07):
I know.
Let's get back to the odds real quick.
Justin Thomas at plus 3,400.
Shane Lowry plus 3,800.
Sepp Straka plus 4,000.
Joaquin Niemann plus 4,100.
Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth plus 4,200.
Sungjae Im, Tyrrell Hatton, don't call himTyrell, Sam Burns, Justin Rose, Adam Scott,
Tony Finau, Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka all atplus 5,000.

(01:03:30):
You got Russell Henley at plus 5,500.
Matt Fitzpatrick, don't call him Matthew.
Hideki Matsuyama at plus 6,000.
Corey Conners, Jason Day, Wyndham Clark, BenGriffin at plus 6,500.
So, Buttsy, I'm gonna start with you, man.
Who you got winning this damn thing?

(01:03:50):
Scotty.
And the chef.
Yeah.
It's yeah.
It's Scottie Scheffler.
I mean, you guys said a lot, but I don't Ithink it comes down to just you've proved to
yourself that you're the fucking guy, andyou're the guy.
I don't think God gives a damn if you'rewinning golf tournaments.
I really don't.

(01:04:10):
If that was the case, I think Tiger Woods wouldhave been looking at the sky his entire career,
and I don't think he did any of that.
So I think it's very simple math.
He just knows he's the fucking guy.
He's ahead of everybody else in all categories.
And having that kind of confidence, I thinkhe's just gonna continue to ride that until it
don't work.
Scheffler, you said Justin Thomas, though, andI don't know that I hate that.

(01:04:34):
It's kind of a
Hard to bet against a guy.
I mean, come on.
It's not a dark horse, really.
Right?
I don't know if it's a dark horse, but theother one is Ben Griffin.
He's got, like, an insane amount of confidenceright now.
So
Yeah.
He's a probably great call.
Expect to see him play pretty well.
But, yeah, it's gonna be somebody that puts itin play and somebody that makes a lot of putts.

(01:04:57):
Kind of the same old story.
Brent, what about you, man?
Who you got this week?
Or not.
I'm sorry.
I keep saying this week because normally we dothis the week of, but I wanted to get a week
ahead with the U.S.
Open preview show.
Obviously, it's hard to bet against Scottie.
It is.
It
he's listen.
I, you know, I think

(01:05:21):
This is like you with the LAB putter.
You know, you gave me so much for the LABputter,
and then all of a sudden
you came all the way around.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I
By the way, folks, Brent Grant uses a LAB golfputter.
Absolutely.
And I recommend it now.
But, like I said, I think it's really gonna besomebody like a Ludvig.

(01:05:42):
I'm gonna wait to see some things going intonext week's pod before I make an absolute pick.
Well, this
is just your pre-show pick.
You can change it by next week.
I think it's somebody like Ludvig.
Maybe even a Viktor Hovland might show up.
Maybe somebody of that strength and ability tohit their long irons high and soft.

(01:06:08):
Rory is obviously up there as well.
So
This one in my mind, this fits Rory very well,but I don't think.
I really don't think since he won the Masters.
I kinda have this theory on him that I kindawanna see play out that I just don't think he's
that interested.
And he's just gonna kinda coast for the rest ofthe year.

(01:06:29):
Maybe there might be something that gets himgoing like the Ryder Cup, but I really just
don't see it for Rory this week or sorry, nextweek.
And Bryson is an interesting one.
I don't think he is accurate enough forOakmont, especially with his irons.
So he was complaining at the Masters about thegolf ball.

(01:06:51):
Now somebody needs to make him a golf ball.
That's the only chance that he's gonna have atOakmont.
It's still funny.
God, man.
It would be cool to see a Rory-Schefflershowdown.
I don't know if we've seen that.
Like
That would be cool.
It would be cool to have Bryson up there, haveRahm

(01:07:12):
up there.
A real showdown, really at all aside fromRory's just absolute in in Rory and Bryson.
Play.
I mean, that was last year's U.S.
Open, but I would love to see not only just twoguys going at it.
I'd love to see, like, four of the top guys
Yeah.
We wanted that up to J.
Too.
I I think what makes, what makes this U.S.

(01:07:35):
Open different than any other golf tournament,is that it really is going to come down to who
can hit it the straightest off the tee.
And it's a it's a lot different than Pinehurst.
I think we can all agree that if Bryson gets abad lie one time when he missed the fairway,

(01:08:01):
it's donezo.
But we'll see.
I have a hard time saying Rory because I just Istill believe that he's resting on his laurels.
So I've
I personally about that.
Yeah.
But he's he's the best he's probably the bestdriver, and definitely one of the best with his
long irons.
So it's really tough to

(01:08:23):
So who are you going with?
One of those three or four people that I that
I Well,
just say one of them.
I wanna see Ludvig get it done.
I I think it really I think it would really You
were high on him earlier in this podcast too.
So I I think that's a smart move to stay strongwith Ludvig because I think with how straight
he hits the golf ball and how accurate he iswith the driver and he's long, that he's got a

(01:08:45):
really good shot this week.
That's why I put him in that mix.
But I want to see Scottie Scheffler.
And I do think that once again, ScottieScheffler will prevail.
But I wanna see him in trouble early Thursdayor Friday and not lose his cool, not and to see

(01:09:07):
him rebound and have a really good stretch ofholes after that.
So potentially a triple bogey could come up ona Thursday.
And I want to see how he handles that.
Justin Thomas at Oakmont.
Mhmm.
I love Justin Thomas at Oakmont.
I think Oakmont is one of those golf courseswhere Justin Thomas can be himself out there,

(01:09:29):
where he can show off his skill set.
And I think he knows how precise he's gotta be.
So we'll see with Justin Thomas.
He's on the list of guys that I think cancompete.
But, again, if I go back to that list, there'swhat?
One, two, three, four, five, six.
There's eight guys in total.
Six guys from the PGA Tour that I think can winand then two guys from LIV Golf.

(01:09:51):
But I will say that Sepp Straka as well as BenGriffin are kinda dark horses in my opinion.
They're not necessarily from an oddsperspective.
And then my two dark horses for next week aregonna be Dustin Johnson, which Carbon guys
threw out there.
Kyle said it just because he won therepreviously.

(01:10:11):
And, you know, you can't really count outDustin Johnson.
He doesn't get too emotional out there.
So he might be one of those guys that if it'san over-par score that wins.
Mhmm.
He could potentially get that done.
Then you've got Bud Cauley, who is a grinder.

(01:10:32):
Absolute grinder.
Hits it nowhere.
Doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter.
This is the one
with that.
This is the yeah.
I mean, I would love to see
Dustin's plus 15,000.
Bud Cauley's plus 21,000.
They're dark horses, bud.
They're dark about Justin Rose?
Rose could be a dark horse, but he no.

(01:10:52):
There's nobody that grinds harder than thatguy.
He will not be out-ground.
No.
Like and by the way, Track Golfer, I think Isaw from you, he asked, can an amateur win
this?
No.
No.
Absolutely.
Not happening.
A % it can happen.
No chance?
We're not gonna see an amateur in the top 10this week.

(01:11:17):
Mark my words.
You don't think so?
No.
Okay.
Okay.
We'll talk
about that. I
that. I wanna see it happen.
That's why I'm putting it in the universe.
I'm saying it because
Reverse psychology on the universe.
That's
beautiful.
I think we've seen it happen numerous weeks.

(01:11:38):
You know what?
Here's what I want to see happen.
I wanna see Preston Summerhays pull it out andsee if he can get up there and get some
confidence leading into his last year incollege.
That'd be pretty cool.
That would
be good.
Kid.
Really good kid.
I think that's awesome.
Did you guys know that Gordon Sargent didn'teven make it to nationals?

(01:12:00):
No.
Mhmm.
It's tough.
The guy that is the, you know, the genesis ofthe PGA Tour University and the PGA Tour
Accelerator program is going into
Luke Kwon is technically
No.
Gordon Sargent got his card before Luke Kwon.

(01:12:22):
I know.
Yeah.
But Gordon Sargent didn't even make his squadfor nationals, and this is his final year.
It's a tough sport.
It's a tough sport,
man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But we've talked about it with Nick Dunlap.
Just imagine if Nick Dunlap stayed in schooland all of a sudden had the driver yips.
He's not making it to nationals, probably.
Yeah.
But, I mean, he had the driver yips because oflikely what he's doing off the golf course in

(01:12:47):
the gym.
But, I mean
I love this one.
Joseph Delgiorno.
Wish the GOAT Pat Perez was in the field thisweek.
GOAT.
If Pat Perez was in the field this week, he'sprobably gonna shoot at least, well, one, he
wouldn't make the cut.
Right?
Second,
Eighty-seven.

(01:13:07):
Yeah.
Actually, he would withdraw after the nineholes on Friday.
I think I think you're spot on with that.
Yeah.
He is not somebody who could handle that typeof mental.
Great to Vegas.
Yeah.
He'll lose an arm, and he's just like, yeah.
I'm done with this.
I mean, he'll chip a nail.
Anyway, I'm out.

(01:13:30):
But he can't say anything.
Alright.
True.
And you're wrong.
Thank you.
Let's talk about the broadcast.
This is the last topic for tonight.
Yeah.
Joe Buck.
Woo hoo.
Joe.
You know, NBC is gonna have the broadcast thisyear with, oh, it's not Fox?
USA Today.

(01:13:50):
No.
Oh.
Because that was kind of my point here is that
Oh, I didn't
know that.
Remember when Fox did the broadcast for a hotsecond?
Joe Buck.
Yeah.
It was terrible.
We beat.
It was really bad.
And, one of the early ones, I think it was theWinged Foot one, they had Holly Sonders on
it.
Mhmm.
If I'm not mistaken.
I think you're right.
Way back when.

(01:14:11):
So my question to you guys, since we do apodcast show,
Yes.
You should do the broadcast.
Absolutely.
No.
No.
What makes or breaks a broadcast in youropinion?
So, Brent, I know you're gonna be vocal onthis.
%.
Get after it.
I mean, on top of who they view, when, whatthey're doing, and all that other stuff that we
already have covered 4,000 times.

(01:14:33):
But as far as the people and what they say, thebest broadcasts have been when these guys are
kind of funny but accurate, short to the point,and you can tell that they're not trying to
make a joke so everybody will like them.
Or say a zinger to try to get that one-linerout there.

(01:14:58):
It's also educated, talking about how manytimes have we heard, Oh, well, I would have
never hit that shot, or I can't believe you hitthat shot, or I would have never done that.
I mean, that's all I've been hearing every timeI watch golf this year.
Oh, that was a terrible shot.
I have to be honest.
I've heard that probably 20 times, and it'sfrom a guy that I don't even think he made the

(01:15:21):
PGA Tour.
And you're just like, go out there and hitthose shots.
Oh, you can't because you can't break fucking ab.
So go
go do it.
I don't wanna hear it.
Austin Whittington says bring back JohnnyMiller.
Johnny Miller was
Absolutely not.
I've talked about it on this podcast.
I sat on a plane ride next to Johnny Miller.
I've gotten to know Johnny Miller as well.

(01:15:42):
I've seen him and his son.
Think he's great.
Nice people.
He's phenomenal.
But Johnny Miller is the originator of I wouldhave hit that shot better.
And if there's a reason why you're in thebooth, Johnny, I don't wanna hear it.
Yeah.
Because he got old.
Buttsy, what about you?
What makes a broadcast great?
Just getting excited when good shots are hitand respecting that.

(01:16:02):
And then the rest of the time, just calling it.
Just call it as it is.
Don't your opinion I don't know.
That's, like, exactly like Brent said.
If you're sitting on the couch or you're in thebooth, you're not playing.
So having an opinion on whether or not youcould do better or speaking from a personal
perspective on how well you hit golf shots orwhat that been, I guess that's fine.

(01:16:25):
I guess it's okay to say, oh, you know, maybehe should've done this.
But I don't know.
Just being realistic.
Being real.
John is the man.
Had a few dinners with him.
Oh, sorry.
That was, from Cart Barn Guys, Kyle over there.
He's not talking about Johnny Miller, though.
He's just talking about some guy named John.
This guy named John.
Yeah.
That's great.

(01:16:46):
Trot golfers, let it play out.
Still no mics on the bag.
Well, did you guys I assume Gary McCord.
Yeah.
Everybody does.
And David Feherty.
Oh, John absolutely.
Johnny Miller is 100% the man, and he's a supernice human being.
I'm just saying.
Kyle,
once again, folks, has chimed in.

(01:17:07):
He says, Johnny is the man, Brent.
One of the greatest iron players ever.
He's a terrible golfer.
Matt Every is good on the mic.
So Matt Every, he's an interesting one becausewe had him on the podcast, and he wasn't—he
just—and I like Matt Every.
I do.
But, like, he did not really want questionsbeing asked of him like that were like—I think

(01:17:29):
that's something that Jim Nantz does really,really well.
That's why we lean so much on Jim Nantz inparticular.
But it's the storytelling and, to both of yourpoints, by the way, I love what you guys said,
which is be authentic.
Like, call it how you see it and how it'sunfolding in front of your eyes.
Be descriptive, but be authentic.
Don't sit there and be super opinionated to belike, oh, you should have, you know, hit that

(01:17:55):
shot within five feet.
And you're right.
I have heard that on several broadcastsrecently where it's like they're like, oh, man.
That was a terrible shot.
Like, he could have gotten way closer.
I have to be honest.
Like, what?
Yeah.
Well, nobody asked.
One, that is a saying that I say quite a bit,and I hate it because it's like, well, are you—

(01:18:17):
Are you not?
Oh, are you serious?
Like,
what's going on there?
Like, it's a figure of speech, and I get that.
For sure.
But it's also something qualifying.
Yes.
Yeah.
But it's also something that people use as acrutch a lot so that they can say something.
Right?
And that, to me, just be authentic with thebroadcast.
And I think that'll lead a long way when itcomes to that.

(01:18:39):
And then also, I think, like, I don't know if Ilove it, but I feel like the viewership loves
it is when they have a guy out there on thecourse like a Johnson Wagner.
Yeah.
Or—
Who knows what he's talking about?
Well, there's one of the they brought the guyin for the PGA Championship.

(01:19:03):
I guess he's a Euro, one of the Eurobroadcasters been in golf for a very, very long
time.
Like, they all gave him a ton of acclaim, buthe was putting golf balls out there and showing
how much the golf ball will come off of thegreen with the false front.
He was talking a little bit about the rough,things along those lines.
I think those clips and aspects give the viewera sense of how deep that rough really is or how

(01:19:30):
fast those greens are undulating or some of thechurch pew bunkers.
That's gonna be a really telling piece to this.
But again, that goes to the storytelling.
Yeah, there's an educational piece like theyteach along the way, but don't take it to that
level of, you know, making the viewer feel likean idiot or trying to assume that the viewer

(01:19:54):
doesn't know what the hell you're talkingabout.
Right, right, right.
Just your
job.
Your job is to relay and paint the picture.
It's not to somehow drag somebody else down orfor you to blow yourself up, right, to make
yourself the show.
And I think you're spot on.
Jim Nantz does like, not a single time have weever heard him put himself in somebody else's

(01:20:19):
shoes and say, well, I think this, and I justhave to be honest, and it's my opinion.
And no.
He tells the story.
He gets the information.
Now granted, the information for the most partis fed to him.
Sometimes, you know, it's a little bit, youknow, bland.
But at the Masters, aside from a couple ofimpossible stories that we can go into after we

(01:20:43):
get offline, for the most part, it was justlike, holy crap.
I feel like I'm there.
And that's the whole point.
And that's why, like, a Verne Lundquist, aFeherty
What a voice.
Gary McCord.
What a voice.
Ian Baker-Finch, unbelievable.
And I will actually give Johnny Miller somecredit.

(01:21:05):
For the most part, he was very, very good.
There were a lot of times where he did kind ofmake himself the show.
But, well, he realized that if he wascontroversial—and I feel like guys in sports
nowadays do this way too often, and it'sgetting played out to where they purposely take

(01:21:26):
the stance to piss people off.
Right?
And Johnny Miller was one of the original guysthat he knew people were gonna get upset by the
stuff he was gonna say, and he just—he was
direct.
Anyways.
Yeah.
He
yeah.
He loved himself.
After it, and he wasn't always wrong, though.
That's the other thing.
No.
Like, he shot it from the hip.

(01:21:47):
And he did it to spice up viewership andeverything like that, I feel like.
But at the end of the day, he also had some ofthose true opinions as well.
And he developed the walking farts, and I thinkthat was part of the reason that his career
ended short because it was something that theytried to, like, subdue and edit out, but he was
farting so much that the other broadcasters gotlike, they were laughing or puking.

(01:22:10):
It smelled really bad, and it's something thatdoesn't get out there, but he got the walking
farts, and a lot of people don't know that.
And that's where we're gonna end this episode,right there with the walking farts, folks.
If you are a new viewer or listener, do makesure to subscribe to the channel on YouTube or
on any of the podcast platforms.

(01:22:31):
Wherever you listen to podcasts, we areavailable.
Pull Hook Golf is the name, and hitting hooksis our game.
But, we do wanna give a shout-out to oursponsors tonight, where good old Devereux Golf.
Utilize the promo code PULLHOOKGOLF20 atcheckout at devereuxgolf.com for 20% off your

(01:22:51):
entire order at devereuxgolf.com.
Again, Vice Golf, utilize the promo codePULLHOOK at checkout for 10% off your orders of
golf balls.
Buy those in bulk, by the way, because you endup getting at least 20% off if you do that.
And they're such a great price ball, andthey're a solid performance ball too.
That's what I love about them.

(01:23:12):
We also want to give a shoutout to my guy whofinished up these Titleist 690 MBs for me in
the tour raw blue or raw tour blue.
Titleist 690 MBs from Custom Golf AZ onInstagram, folks.

(01:23:32):
He is going to be setting up shop, and you canget all your club fitting needs taken care of
by him as well as refinishing of golf clubs.
So make sure to get out there and check outCustom Golf AZ.
And if you've got any needs, any old clubs thatyou're like, man, those blades back in the day
were awesome.
Get them cleaned up, get them fixed, get themrefinished because again, these were not in

(01:23:57):
great shape.
And he did a phenomenal job on these when I sawthem.
I was just drooling yesterday.
I can't wait to play these tomorrow night inthe grass league skins game over at Grass
Clippings.
So looking forward to that.
You guys are gonna see these.
KBS.
We want to give a shoutout to them for theshafts.

(01:24:19):
So I've been playing some Money Tapers, which Iabsolutely love the Money Tapers.
I love the feel of them.
However, they tend to balloon on me just alittle bit, which is why I've gone back to
C-Tapers, which are a little bit stiffer, butKBS makes the best golf shafts in the game when
it comes to irons, in my opinion.
You can argue with me on that all you want, butKBS, hats right over here.

(01:24:44):
We appreciate you guys, and, until next time.
Do you guys know what's coming?
Oh, yeah.
Hit it.

(01:25:06):
Peace out, everybody.
A-Town down.