The 2025 Players Special

The 2025 Players Special episode dives into TPC Sawgrass insights. Special guest Matt Gannon discusses course conditions, player analysis, and strategy. Brent Grant shares his personal insights, focusing on Scottie Scheffler's expertise with Pete Dye courses. The episode also covers Collin Morikawa's media controversy and anticipates a Rory McIlroy vs Scottie Scheffler showdown. Tiger Woods' injury news and the future of golf is explored, including Tiger and Phil's legacy. Jay Monahan's comments on LIV Golf and its economic impact are examined, along with critiques of LIV's format.

Episode Transcript

(00:11):
Welcome back, everybody, to Pull Hook Golf, thepodcast.
I'm your host, Matt Cook.
Tonight, we've got a couple of secret awesomeguests that we're gonna be bringing on here in
just a little bit.
But on tonight's show, we've got the Playerspreview with the special guest.
If you've looked at the notes for this episode,you're already gonna know who that is, but
we're gonna be bringing him on in just a littlebit.

(00:33):
We're gonna go over his background.
We're gonna go through a betting preview.
We're gonna talk about the course conditionsout there at TPC Sawgrass.
We're gonna get into Tiger's injury tonight,which is some devastating news, unfortunately.
We've got Jay Monahan's comments out there atthe Players that has erupted a little bit of an
underbelly of people getting angry or happy,depending on which side of the fence you are

(01:00):
on.
And then we've got Liv golf's viewership at thevery end that we're gonna be tapping into.
But, as part of our you know, we normally givea shout out to our sponsors.
Good old Devereux Golf.
Yes, folks.
That is spelled d e v e r e u x golf dot com.
Utilize the promo code PULLHOOKGOLF20 atcheckout for 20% off your entire order at

(01:25):
devereuxgolf.com.
But I got a little something special for youguys.
So, we do not have the captions yet for this,but if you think you know what's coming, it
might be coming.
Here you go.
This is a little special treat.
This is an intro or, actually, it is oursponsorship ad for Devereux Golf in Korean for
the first time.
Here we go.

(01:46):
Golf.com So, folks, that is the Korean PullHook Golf.

(02:26):
That is just a sample, but that is our sponsorread in Korean for devereuxgolf.com.
We also wanna give a shout-out to our sponsors,Johnnie Walker.
And, we're in the collection tonight.
You see the Johnnie Walker logo on one side,the Devro logo on the other.
We got the Johnnie Walker Devro Golf polo on.

(02:46):
These are fresh.
They sent me the whole kit and caboodle.
I got our little fanny pack over here.
They call it a crossbody.
I'm old school, so, we just want to give ashoutout to everybody over there.
And, let's go ahead and get started by bringingon our guest for the evening, Mr.
Matt Gannon, everybody.

(03:06):
Woo.
I'll tell you right now.
I did not I did not expect that.
That was that was beautiful.
You didn't tell me anything about the Korean adyou had going on.
So that gave me a laugh in the background.
Awesome.
You guys gotta run that every single week.
Dude, I I I saw you in the green room because Icouldn't hear you, but I could see you just
dying laughing when that came on.

(03:27):
And, we've been talking about it for a fewweeks on this show that we've got a company
that is really trying to they're looking to duball of the episodes, and they're actually gonna
eventually get to the point to where it's,like, the AI lips.
So it moves along with the Korean words aswell.
Right.
And, that's all it's coming, folks.
It is coming.
We promised that it was coming.

(03:48):
And I just need to get the US subtitles becauseI still don't know what the hell I'm saying
there other than Devro Golf that came.
That I have no idea how you got tied into thatbecause that is hilarious.
I honestly, I need to look into that for ourown pod because that's funny.
Dude, it is awesome.
We're bringing it to Korea.
We were wondering too.
We're like, is it just South Korea?
Is North Korea gonna get in on this too?

(04:10):
We shall see.
Yeah.
Who knows?
They all speak the same language.
So, without further ado, folks, we've gotourselves Mr.
Matt Gannon here tonight.
And, Mr.
Matt Gannon, by the way.
So just that you guys all know, he's part ofVincerix, and this is a how would you like,
when you give your elevator pitch, like, whatwould you say Vincerix is?

(04:35):
Yeah.
So it started off as more of a data analyticsand just numbers site.
And then as the time went on, we realized whatwe were what we were best at.
And, my boss, Adam, really put this into theworld, and we became a, we realized what we
were good at, and that was the boots on theground stuff.
Getting out to every tournament or not everytournament.

(04:56):
I I had a handful of tournaments, giving thoseinsights because we knew that we were good at
dialing in on the course previews, seeing whowill play well where, what the course will play
like on a given week because even courses thatwe go to multiple years straight, they change
on a yearly basis.
So stuff like that.
Basically, what a caddy would do and relayingthat into, betting and analytics and course

(05:20):
strategy, stuff like that.
So we're in the numbers, and then we're alsointo the the eye the eye test, stuff like that.
So we combine both of those things, and thatbasically is Vincerix.
And also on non-tournament weeks, when we'renot out there, we have a ton of numbers, a ton
of AI insights, a ton of other stat models,anything you could imagine, a ton of content,

(05:44):
basically.
You can get you can have a lot of fun on thesite, definitely get in the weeds for a few
hours and learn a lot.
It is wild, folks.
I mean, Matt and I, we got introduced at thecaddie event that was out at Grass Clippings
over the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
You were there with, oh, good.
Why am I blanking on his name?
Wilcox.
Sungjae's caddie, Willie Wilcox.

(06:05):
And sure enough, he was playing with my buddy,David Geese II, and we ended up walking around
and watching those two go, but we were chattingit up.
I was super interested in these betting modelsand everything that you were doing.
And what really interested me is that you havewhere you are going out there each and every
week for the most part.

(06:26):
Now not every single golf tournament, you werevery clear on that, but you went and actually
walked the golf courses to see what the courseconditions are going to be for the week, and
that helps with your model as well.
Yeah, 100%.
Because like I said before, I mean, whether youknow, as a golfer yourself, a course that
you've played a hundred times changes based ona given week, based on the wind, based on the

(06:50):
rain, based on the conditions, how the guys aresetting it up.
So we like to get out there because TPCSawgrass could play one way one year, and then
you get out next year and can treat a totallydifferent style of golfer.
That changes, especially for the majors,especially for the golf tournaments that we're
not used to seeing on a given year.
We get out to those big events and really dialin who's going to play well on these weeks and

(07:15):
on these weeks.
And it's been really successful the last twoyears.
We've had a really good gauge on who's gonnaplay well every single week.
I mean, there's been three events where I'vetaken your picks, and one of those weeks, I
won.
So you've got me absolutely hooked.
And I'm telling you folks, is it so is itVincerix.com?

(07:36):
Is that the web address?
Okay.
Vincerix.com.
Call that for everybody on the podcast versionof this.
We'll put that on screen, but that isVincerix.com.
And by the way, folks, Matt Gannon is his name,and walking golf courses and creating great

(07:56):
bets is his game.
So Track Golfer was asking.
Track Golfer is one of our great regularaudience members.
He's apologizing for being late.
He was trying to get his range balls back.
I don't exactly know what the hell—well, he's apro out at a golf course here in Arizona.
So, sure enough, somebody might have beenstealing some range balls that he had to chase
down.
But we're glad to have you on, Trot.

(08:17):
This is Matt Gannon from Vincerix, and they doall the golf betting.
But Matt's been out there walking the groundsof TPC Sawgrass.
Take us through.
What are you seeing with the course conditionsright now out there?
Yeah.
So as soon as we got to TPC Sawgrass, wenoticed that, basically, it was easier than

(08:38):
we've seen in past years.
We noticed that the rough was up, but it wasvery predictable and very lush because at TPC
Sawgrass, it is one of the most pristinecourses in the entire world.
There's not a blade of grass out of place.
So these guys get in the rough, and they'reyeah.
Sometimes they're clubbing up and having to hita shot that they wouldn't hit, obviously, in

(08:59):
the fairway, but it's coming out verypredictable, and that's the same way around the
green.
There are not many spotty areas that areunpredictable, and the fairways are soft.
They're not quite like a Puerto Rico Open soft.
They're soft, and they're holding balls up.
But if you're hitting a low shot, you'redefinitely gonna be able to chase it down

(09:20):
there.
The greens are also soft.
They're gonna firm up over the weekend for sureas the wind picks up.
But right now, if you're in the fairway, youcan attack a pin no matter where the location
is and stop it if you're able to control yourball.
There you have it, folks.
I mean, that is some great insight.
Now who does that favor?
I mean, when we look at the numbers when itcomes to players that play well there because

(09:43):
we've seen where Kevin Kisner almost won thisdamn tournament.
Right?
One of the shortest hitters out there, and thenyou've got Scottie Scheffler winning it the
last two years.
You've got bombers up there the past couple ofyears like Rory, Wyndham.
I mean, you've got guys that hit the ball along way.
So who is this going to favor this week?
Yeah.
As of now, we're thinking there's two styles ofgolf, like two types of golfers and two unique

(10:06):
styles that can really get to the top.
So at first, there's guys who are just gonnamint fairways and come in with low ball flights
into greens because we were talking to Ben on,and he was talking about how he hits such a
high and spinny ball that it's so tough for himto control into those greens.
I mean, he's hitting it like it's great for afirm golf course at major conditions, but this

(10:29):
week, it's not really good.
So a guy that can hit a lower flight of theball that's gonna check up quicker, that will
work.
And then from there, also another style is aterm that we've coined, positional bomber plus,
a guy who's accurate and long, gives you amassive advantage to the field if you're
hitting fairways while being long.

(10:50):
Obviously, that's a massive skill, but it's avery unique skill because there are guys who
are plus in distance and plus in accuracy, notguys who, like Brent, is a pure bomber.
Brent is an absolute
Brent.
Let's bring Brent on.
He is just—there he is.
How are you doing?
To the studio.

(11:10):
Brent, how are you, buddy?
I'm doing well.
Doing well.
How's everybody doing?
Doing well as well.
So this is Matt Gannon here.
Matt, this is Brent.
Brent, this is Matt, and I'm Matt.
So this is confusing.
But at the same time, Brent, we were actuallytalking about your game before we hopped on
air, Matt and I, and how they used to, theyused to, I mean, get after you a little bit

(11:33):
because you were so long and straight as adriver of the golf ball.
Yeah.
Where were you?
Twenty twenty three, twenty twenty threeFarmers Insurance Open round one north course.
Generational round.
Yeah.
Generational round.
Yeah.
That was fun.
Yeah.
Certainly, certainly aided, you know, thescore, being as low as it was being able to hit

(11:55):
it as far and as straight as I was that week.
So
Hell, yeah.
Well, it's sounding like you would be the typeof player that would do well out at TPC
Sawgrass this week being able so you're sayingthe long drivers that are accurate, and then
what's the other attributes that they need tohave?
Spin control on the greens.

(12:15):
Yeah.
Brent doesn't have spin control, so he'd be outon that one.
But just kidding, Brent.
The, I so I'm trying to think of, like, whatgolfers are there other than I mean, the
obvious comes to mind.
Scottie Scheffler can control spin really well.
He's won it two years in a row.
Obviously, the favorite out there this week.

(12:36):
But, who's looking good so far to you, Matt?
Yeah.
A guy by the name of Nicolai Højgaard.
I'm sure you've heard of him.
He's a stud.
He's a Ryder Cupper, but he's also a mega longshot.
You can get well over triple digits.
I think over 200-1 on Nicolai this week.
Not saying he's gonna win.
There are other markets where you can makemoney on him this week.
But, what Nicolai is able to do when he getsgoing, he hits the ball firmer and as solid as

(13:01):
anyone in the world.
Not too long ago, he was beating everyone atthe DP World Tour Championship, defeated Rory
McIlroy, Viktor Hovland at his prime, Jon Rahm.
Anyone you name it, he beat them, and hecontended with Rory, I mean, contended with
Scottie, loved calling in the Masters just ayear ago.
So, Nicolai is looking good.
He's kinda gotten forgotten because hisbrother's playing some decent golf right now.

(13:24):
But, we can't forget about Nicolai, and helooks the part out there this week.
Yeah.
And he's plus 22,000, according to FanDuelright now.
So,
Yeah.
That'd be something.
You might wanna jump on that, folks.
That line might move after this podcast.
Who else do we like this week?
I mean, that one is a nice long shot that youcould really make some money on.

(13:46):
But, who, like, who are some of the favoritesthat we're looking at this week?
Obviously, like you said, I'm on Scottie, but,in the world that we live in, we don't really
touch a guy around 3, 4, 5 to 1 because it'snot worth our return on investment in a given
week.
I told you how I set up my cards.
I like to have at least
the

(14:08):
Yeah.
So Scottie is kind of out for us this week,but, yeah, checks that box.
And if you go down the board a little bit, weliked what we were seeing from Patrick Cantlay
this week.
Patrick Cantlay is a guy that we're very in andout on.
We don't love because he's very, like,upsetting on a given week, but the number, the

(14:28):
odds on him have drifted for the first time ina long time, and he has a very spotty game.
But when he's clicking, obviously, he's agenerational player.
He can get it done on any golf course, and hewas one of the only golfers who was able to
keep up with Scottie out there today.
But well, I mean, not easily because Scottiewas on a different planet.
But Patrick Cantlay looked decent.

(14:49):
Tee to green looked really, really solid aroundthe green.
He's gotta sharpen it up a little bit, but it'smore just a play on we know his skill set.
We know that the odds are drifting a littlebit, and I think it's a good time to maybe run
him out.
Love that.
And he's been playing TGL, which you've beenaround as well there, Matt.
You were the one that asked the question thateverybody said, "Stop.

(15:10):
Stop asking us that question," in regards tothe hammer and Patrick Cantlay's strategy
because you figured it out.
Yeah.
That was that was pretty funny because Atlantawas the only team who knew how and when to
throw the hammer.
And, I don't know.
They get so upset when I asked them, but theywere definitely joking.
But, yeah.
So look out for them in the TGL playoffs forsure.

(15:31):
For sure.
So Patrick Cantlay.
Anybody else that you're liking this week?
Any picks here out of you?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We have, we have one more day out theretomorrow, so we wanna get some eyes on Ludvig.
I didn't see him today.
He's definitely a name that I wanna keep in myback pocket.
But, truthfully, so Scottie looks so good thatit was hard to, like, get excited about so many

(15:55):
other guys because Scottie just was on adifferent planet.
And I promise you, like, you I've talked to youahead of these events.
That's not always the case.
Like, I'm, like, high on some guys.
So I'm I'm nervous.
I definitely am nervous.
There's if you wanna get in there the I know inArizona, you could bet that without Scottie
market on some books, definitely consider it.
My I haven't made my decision yet.

(16:16):
We got 24 more hours to to make that to lockthat in, so I'll definitely reply back
to that.
You up for sure.
Yeah.
Be asking you for those picks.
Not really, not too sure yet who I'm reallygonna land on, but, those two names are guys
that I'm definitely leaning towards so far thatI've given.
I will just say this.
Scottie during his press conference too, heunderstands this golf course to such an expert

(16:42):
level.
And I always thought about that with Pete Dyegolf courses.
I am terrible playing Pete Dye golf coursesbecause he's smarter than I am.
And he just designs these golf courses that donot fit my game.
One that comes to mind is Pound Ridge in NewYork and then another one, Bulle Rock in
Maryland.
And there there's plenty of these Pete Dyediabolical golf courses that are so underrated.

(17:04):
It's not even funny.
And then TPC Sawgrass, I have not played yet,but I imagine that it would absolutely take my
money and make me have a miserable day outthere.
Because normally, I curse at Pete Dyeafterwards.
I'm like, rest in peace, Pete, but fuck youbecause this sucks.
And I hated my round of golf today because youbeat me at every level.
I couldn't read a damn putt.
I couldn't get up and down from anywhere.

(17:26):
Like, I kept short-siding myself.
So Pete Dye has a knack.
But listening to Scottie Scheffler today, it'slike, shit.
He understands how to play this golf course.
He knows what it takes to win.
Obviously, he's done it the past two years.
And that confidence, like, Scottie Schefflerdoesn't always come across as a confident guy

(17:46):
in press conferences.
He seems comfortable.
He seems ready where, like, he got off to thatslow start this year.
Let's face it.
I mean, when you cut your hand wide open andyou have to go have stitches put in and so
forth, like, that can mess with you a littlebit in the weeks to come, but it finally seems
like he's settled in.
He's ready to go.
And, yeah, this could be a tough week foranybody trying to go outside of Scottie

(18:09):
Scheffler, but that is not who we want.
Sorry, Scottie.
Your odds are too good.
We're looking for other people here.
And I do wanna ask while we've got you on heretoo, Brent, who do you, like, who do you tend
to lean towards when it comes to TPC Sawgrass?
Have you ever played out there?
I'll switch that question.
No.
No problem.

(18:29):
I played a few times.
I love Pete Dye golf courses not becausethey're easy or I play them well necessarily,
but I just love the fact that it's kind of, youknow, it's complicated, in that it's a hard
golf course, but they're generally verybeautifully designed.

(18:49):
So there's not really anything Mickey Mouseabout it, and TPC Sawgrass is a perfect example
of that.
It's kind of just all you want.
Obviously, over the years, they've kind ofmessed with some tee boxes, and they've tried
to lengthen the course in some areas.
And, I know I think the ninth hole, a par 5, isone of those where, you know, they've basically

(19:12):
taken it to where I think it's 30 or 40 yardsback, I think, Matt.
And, so it either becomes a risk-reward if it'sdownwind, but if it's into the wind or if it's
soft, it's just a three-shot par 5.
So it kind of takes a little bit of the dramaout of it.
But at the same time, yeah, I mean, Rory'sobviously the, you know, the guy to look out

(19:32):
for.
He played well last week.
Arnold Palmer, similar golf course, similargrass.
But, yeah, I love it out there.
The sixteenth hole is probably my favorite holein all of golf, and you're just all out.
Just go get it par 5 and hit it far enough towhere I can hit a 6-iron in there.
So

(19:53):
Yeah.
This is definitely one of my favoritecollections of par 5s, that I see all year
round.
It's just they're all you can get all of themat nine if you miss in the wrong spot.
Like, around the green, you can make a 6 evenif you're down there in two.
Yeah.
So I think it's what what is your favorite Dyecourse that you've played, if you don't mind me
asking?
Yeah.
So, so on tour, we've played let's see.

(20:16):
And didn't we didn't really get to play thatmany.
So the most the most notable obviously is TPCSawgrass, but I didn't get to play the Players
during the tournament.
Trying to remember if we've played many I can'treally think of many Dye courses, because the
Florida the Honda tournament, that's aNicklaus, isn't it?

(20:37):
Yeah.
La Quinta is a Dye.
Yeah.
That's right.
Yep.
Yeah.
It's a that's a fine course, obviously.
It's nothing, nothing too crazy.
There's, like, 15 in the desert that are waybetter than La Quinta Country Club, although
those are probably the best greens all year.
Other than that, I can't really think ofanything.
Think, TPC San Antonio, maybe.

(20:59):
Is that a Dye course?
I believe so.
I do believe so.
And then there's
I actually did a search earlier before thiswhere I had ChatGPT do a bunch of deep research
as to, like, all the Pete Dye golf courses.
And let's just see here.
So we've got I mean, there's a shit ton.
When you start going through, you're like, oh,yeah.

(21:20):
Yeah.
So so, like, TPC River Highlands is one.
Mhmm.
You've got
That's right.
No.
That usually hosts the Wells Fargo if the well,if the if Quail is hosting the PGA.
Correct?
No.
That's the TPC Potomac.
It's Potomac.
That's right.
Yep.
So you got Kiawah Island.
You've got I mean, and I'm I'm a big KiawahIsland Ocean Course fan.

(21:43):
Actually, it's a course that I've played wellat.
So I guess my theory with Pete Dye courses iswrong.
Yeah.
The amazing thing about Mr.
Dye, and I only got to meet him once and talkto him for about 30 minutes at the U.S.
Team Championship in 2015.
It's funny enough.
The Korn Ferry Tour Championship is actually atthat course there in French Lick, and he kind

(22:06):
of dubbed that his kind of like Frankenstein inthat, he literally said they gave me a, quote,
blank check.
And, well, I moved more land for that coursethan I've moved in any other venue.
So, that place is pretty beautiful.
But, honestly, Sawgrass is probably my mostfavorite course that I've played that is of Mr.

(22:27):
Dye's.
You know, unfortunately, I haven't played thePlayers just yet.
But, San Antonio's fun, but it's a littlequirky.
It's got if it gets windy out there, it gets itgets pretty snappy.
So which, obviously, at San Antonio, which ispretty easy to do.
But, back to this week, have we so you saidScottie's Scottie's looking good.
So, obviously, he's one of the best ballstrikers in the world and has been for quite

(22:51):
some time.
Was there something that stood out that maybeyou've maybe you haven't seen from him before?
Yeah.
It's his comfortability around there is, like,second to none.
I've been out there all season long all like,last year too.
He just looks so in control.
He knows how to flight his ball.
Like, on the 16th, for example, guys like Rory,anyone was just hitting a bomb and a driver out

(23:15):
there, and it was stopping because the fairwaysare somewhat soft.
Scottie hits a flighted one.
It gets out there, and he's hitting a middleiron into that green or at least what looks
like a middle iron well shorter than anyoneelse.
And Scottie's by no means a long driver ontour.
He's well, around average, but he just knowshow to control his flight into this golf
course, hit his spots.

(23:37):
And, like, on nine, he'll hit he hit oh, sorry,18, hit, like, a soft cut that stopped right
before the punch jar because he just knows.
And I was going into the week, like, oh, Idon't know.
Maybe Scottie is struggling with the driver alittle bit because of the hand, and he hasn't
been driving it great.
But after seeing him out there, it's reallylike, this is his place.

(23:57):
Not a hot take.
Two straight years, two straight wins.
Yeah.
Of course.
It just everyone has their spots, and worldnumber one's one of his spots happens to be TPC
Sawgrass.
So just he's out.
of control.
That's that's that's that's spot on.
Anytime I've ever every anytime I ever got thethe chance of watching him hit the ball and and
especially if I got to play in front of him orplay behind him, it was kind of you know, it

(24:20):
was obvious that he understood how to how tohit the ball off the tee to fit the fairway
rather than, what you see a lot from some ofthe bombers, which is kinda just, you know, I
hit either a a flat cut and it goes a mile or,you know, I hit that that high bomb draw that
that some of the guys like Bryson and and Roryare hitting.
But so when you go to an event, is there a isthere a is there kind of a a a routine that you

(24:48):
have that that kinda builds out, where you haveall this data?
Because it sounds like you're pretty well well,
Yeah.
So we'll get out there.
And this kind of changes for the events thatwe've been to versus not been to.
So when we go to, like, say, a major or a newvenue, we'll go out there and, like, chat like
a caddy would do.

(25:09):
Go out there and chart all the yardages, seewhat we're gonna hit off the tee, what you're
gonna hit into the greens.
Basically, like a caddy's job.
And then from there, we have the database ofwhat the yardage is, and then we see how the
course is going to play.
Like, is this gonna what kind of style of golfis it gonna suit?
And then that probably takes around half theday or the first day.

(25:31):
For the majors, we'll do three days.
And then from there, it's just walking thecourse and finding players who are striping and
fitting that narrative because every week is adifferent week.
So
Yeah.
I'll
get you.
Back to your point over Scottie, you know,fitting things in and not necessarily being the
longest driver.
He was talking today about the fact of, youknow, on hole number one, you gotta fade the

(25:54):
tee shot, then you gotta draw on the approachshot.
Hole two, you gotta do the opposite.
It's like he is seeing it, and then he startedtalking about the windows.
Oh, yeah.
You have to hit it in order to control thatspin.
That's where I was blown away by him becauseI've never seen him talk to the media like that
before.
So, like, that to me, I'm just like, holy crap.
Here we go.
Scottie Scheffler.
That's the next level.
And that's why, you know, one of the thingsthat I've worked, you know, tirelessly on over

(26:19):
the last, you know, probably three to fouryears really, was thinking about those windows.
And, you know, even with some of the long ironsand some of the mid-iron shots, you know,
especially on the Korn Ferry Tour, with thegreens being soft almost every single week.
But it's amazing because, you know, we haven'treally heard much from him.
Obviously, there's been a lot of politics, alot of flamboyant, back and forth between, you

(26:44):
know, certain players of a certain level.
And it seems like apparently Collin upset somepeople on Sunday when he decided not to speak
to the media, which by the way, just so we'reclear, is not a requirement.
So they're making something out of nothing.
And kudos for Collin for sticking up forhimself.
But, yeah.
I also think Collin had a lot of people bettingmoney on him.

(27:06):
Oh, yeah.
I mean, he certainly was, certainly, and thisis one of those things where, you know, there
is a business behind it, and I understand thebusiness.
As somewhat of a purist, I definitely don'tbelieve there needs to be any sort of betting
with regards to golf, but that's just sort ofme.
But, whatever.
But, yeah, Scottie is going to absolutely getstarted.

(27:30):
It's amazing that, you know, he's able to playsuch a stiff, you know, tournament like the
Arnold Palmer, which has very similar grass,very similar golf course, in such that it tests
every part of your game right before thePlayers.
And so that's obviously a huge leg up, and heseems to be trending.
I picked Rory last week.

(27:52):
I think I might stick
with him.
I think I might pick Rory this week justbecause it seems like he's got a little bit of
a thorn in his side last year with Scottietaking over, and he doesn't like that.
And he's obviously, you know, probably thesecond or third most successful golfer in the
last 20 years, so it's hard to bet against him.
But I would love to see a real duel, whichwe've been, correct me if I'm wrong, but we've

(28:17):
been absolutely robbed of that.
I mean, I Yeah.
I don't see guys getting paired
with it.
Head to head.
Yeah.
We haven't seen, like, Tiger and Phil finalgroup going at it.
You know, one shot here, one shot there, andreally making some drama.
So, hopefully, they can get back some of theviewership.
Well, they're paired together in the first tworounds this week, which is cool.

(28:37):
And we
were close.
To see we were close to seeing that at TorreyPines.
And then Rory shook the bed on Saturday, andthen Scottie was kinda hanging around.
So, yeah, you're right.
We haven't really gotten to see that one-twoduel of intrigue.
No.
I would love to see—I would love
to see that.
Two that we got to see last year was XanderSchauffele and Rory at the Wells Fargo, and
Rory ran away with it.

(28:58):
Right?
That's true.
Yeah.
I
So I would love to see it come down to Rory andScottie as well and even throw Xander in the
mix.
Hell, let's get them all up there at the top ofthe leaderboard and come down Sunday, come down
to 16, 17, and 18.
I mean, what an iconic kind of three.
Such a game.
And I would say that it is an underrated lastthree holes to go.

(29:22):
For sure.
For sure.
Like, it doesn't get the acclaim because of 17.
Like, it's
all about 17, but you've got the par 5 to whereit's risk-reward.
You hit it in the water, you're kinda screwed.
But at the same time, you come down 18, and yougotta hit that tee shot.
And you gotta feather that bad boy in there,and there's a lot of pull hooks that go on.
Yes.
There are.
Yeah.
It's—it's 18's a phenomenal, phenomenal teeshot.

(29:45):
If you've got the balls, just ask.
I'm getting chills.
Send driver.
But yeah.
Players is probably one of the onlytournaments, especially because it's still a
pure field.
Although next year, it won't be, but we can—I'msure we can get into that.
But, you know, it's a—it's a 156, I believe,and it's just 156 of the top players, period.
End of story.
So there's no, you know, there's nothing reallyspecial about it, you know, in that it's just

(30:10):
the top players, period.
And it's truly the top players.
So there's no special exemptions or anythinglike that aside from, I think the winner of the
Korn Ferry Tour gets in, which is awesome.
But, yeah.
So I'm just, I love the Players.
I love the Players.
They're
really doing great.
The Players.
I was telling Matt early on.
I'm like, the Players was my favoritetournament because growing up, I didn't realize

(30:33):
that it wasn't a major.
I thought the Players was a major as a kid.
Like, when I got into golf, I was 13, but DavidDuval was my favorite player, ends up going and
winning.
And I'm going nuts thinking he broke through.
He won a major.
He won a major.
So it's always to me, been the fifth major outthere.
But I do want to thank Matt Gannon for his timetonight.
I know you're out there on the East Coast.

(30:55):
You're at TPC Sawgrass.
You gotta be up, you told me, at 5 a.m.
tomorrow morning.
So he
was gracious enough to come on for our PlayersChampionship edition of the Pull Hook Golf
podcast.
Awesome insights.
We're definitely gonna have you back on.
We got to because those insights were way toofucking solid, if I must say so myself.

(31:15):
Right.
So we really appreciate you coming on, Matt.
Yes.
Make sure.
Reach out to me whenever.
Great talking to you both.
And, Brent, we gotta get you back out there.
Heard you got a new job, but I think we need toget you back on the course.
You need a loop.
You let me know.
Alright.
Thanks, man.
I appreciate it.
The biggest thing is some zeros in the bankaccount, and then we'll get after it.
Yeah.
We'll get after it.

(31:36):
Hell, yeah.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks, Matty.
Have a good one.
Thank you, Matt.
Appreciate you, dude.
Alright, Brent.
Players reached out, dude.
Solid.
I do.
I told him, I was like, you've gotta come on tothe podcast.
We've gotta get you on because he's just so,like, such a knowledgeable,

(31:57):
like young guy.
Young guy wasn't a golfer, like, growing up andliterally got like, became obsessed
Wow.
Not only with golf, but with the analyticsbehind it.
And, like, they built out an entire AIalgorithm around everything, and they track
every single metric.

(32:17):
A good person for you to tap into as well is
I was getting ready to say that.
So there's a
And he knows a lot about your game too, by theway.
Well, I'm sure I'm I'm sure I'm honored.
Yeah.
The crazy thing is there's a huge demand for asolid stat guy.
And when I say stat guy, I'm not saying, like,oh, well, yeah, you know, the I just look at

(32:41):
the shot link data, and this is no.
Like, this is a guy who's going out there and,basically, like you said, doing a job of a
caddy.
And, I mean, caddies would play pay for it.
Players would certainly pay for it.
If he was able to get a a weather report, a,you know, a a a a superintendent report, a stat

(33:06):
report with regards to, you know, what did theydo in past years, whole locations, all these
different things, breaks on the green, so onand so forth.
Check out the website.
Oh, I bet it's because they break down so mucharound all of that, and they break down like,
they actually identify certain players basedoff of, like, what he was talking about, where
it's an accurate long driver, but somebody thatcan control spin.

(33:30):
Yeah.
Hits wedges well.
And, like, they've got this all broken out intoa science, and my god, they are so spot on even
with guys deep.
That's why they started going into gamblingbecause there's so much money to be made there.
Why not?
And he was telling me, he's like, dude, I makea lot like, my salary last year was all from
golf gambling.
Mhmm.
I
was like, holy shit.

(33:51):
Like, that's crazy.
I live in Florida, which is perfect.
Yeah.
And he's buddies with Willy Wilcox, who'sSungjae's caddy.
And, I know he's helping Sungjae out with statsand stuff like that.
So Yeah.
He probably keeps
It's definitely somebody we gotta get you alittle bit intertwined with because, like I
said, I brought up your name and he goes, oh, Iknow Brent.

(34:14):
He's like, yeah.
And then he starts spitting out, like, yourgame to me.
And I'm like, holy shit.
I was like, I've played with Brent.
I'm like, that's his game.
Yeah.
So it was pretty cool to see it broken out likethat.
But I'm sure he could end up providing ways topractice and things to improve upon, all
different and then based off of your tendenciesand so forth, like how you actually play a golf

(34:38):
course and that course management that goesinto it.
That's what a lot of guys are doing now.
Like, when I had Bobby on the podcast and hewas a caddie for all those guys.
Yeah.
And for those, those are
things that they all look at.
I mean, because data and analytics have takenover when it comes to golf, and it's pretty
crazy that it's done so.

(34:59):
But let's talk some depressing news here.
So good old Tiger Woods injured again, and I'veactually got some insights around this
particular deal.
But I wanna start with you, Brent.
I mean, how devastating is this for the fanbase, you think?
Yeah.
I mean, if anybody's ever saw Tiger with shortson, they definitely know that he doesn't have

(35:22):
much in the way of calf muscle.
So
It's the other leg.
It's the limp.
It's the right leg?
It's the left.
So the right leg is the one with all thedamage.
Yeah.
The left leg is the one that he tore theAchilles.
Oh, okay.
Well, that's still okay because it still proveshis point.
He still doesn't have much muscle on that sideeither.
He doesn't really do legs anymore and hasn'tfor years.

(35:43):
I asked Phil one time.
I said, so because calves, you know, calves iskinda Phil's game.
Right?
It's our Phil's game.
I was like, what's the deal with that?
Like, why does he have such a skin?
He's like, he's always been that way.
Always.
Like, since '90-some, like, he's always beenthat way.
So, you know, it's tough.
It obviously sucks.
It was funny.
The GM at the store I'm working at, he goes,holy crap.

(36:05):
You know, this really sucks.
And he's getting into golf for the first time.
He's, like, mid-30s, early 40s.
And so he's been a Tiger fan.
He was, like, kinda depressed most of the day.
And I was just kinda like, I've lived through,like, multiple injuries while I was playing,
and it was like, could Tiger come back?
I'm playing on the PGA Tour this year.

(36:26):
Maybe I see Tiger.
Nope.
Gets in a car accident.
So it's like, you know, it was just one ofthose things.
It sucks.
You know?
I like Tiger.
He's a really nice guy.
I don't necessarily agree with his politicswith regards to the golf world, corporate
world, but he's done so much for golf, and noneof us would be here, doing what we do without
Tiger.
So heart out to him and his family.

(36:48):
They're going through a lot right now.
So
Trot, I don't know what you mean.
Is Tiger not playing Augusta?
Matty Video is up on a post.
Brent, it's a must-watch.
I don't know what video you're talking about.
We've been live.
So
Oh, the other the other the other Matt.
The other Matt.
Okay.
So, I did see, and this is part of this report,by the way, is that Sky Sports UK says major

(37:12):
doubt for the Masters for Tiger because of theinjury.
Yes.
The Achilles is a year-long recovery for a guyat his age.
By the way, they're always going to say,especially a doctor, surgery went great.
Right?
I've never heard once a surgeon go, oh, youknow, we really messed it up in there.
They probably should come after us with anegligence lawsuit or malpractice.

(37:38):
Yeah.
No.
They're always gonna say, oh, it went smooth.
It was great.
Everything was perfect.
Same thing happened to my dad.
So my dad, who's older than Tiger is, but he'sa very active guy, and he ended up rupturing
his Achilles.
And when they did the surgery, he saideverything was great.
Sure enough, it was not great.
The cadaver that they put in there, theligament that they attached ended up

(38:02):
disintegrating and turning into an infection,then they had to do it again, and then it
barely took.
So he almost lost his leg over the whole entirething.
So, like, folks, when you get up to a certainage bracket when it comes to an Achilles, it is
not a simple recovery.
Like, Aaron Rodgers, like, defied a lot, but hecouldn't even come back within the amount of

(38:24):
time that he was trying to with everythinggoing on, and he wasn't even back to 100% this
year, a year later.
So, like, he's starting to get back there, itlooks like.
But that being said, I don't expect Tiger to beplaying within the next, like, I don't I don't
see him playing in the PNC even at the end ofthe year.
Like, that is even a little bit too soon forhim to recover.

(38:48):
Now it is Tiger.
Every time that I've ever said, man, I thinkhe's done because I've seen Tiger when he was
getting those back surgeries to where hecouldn't even sit at a poker table.
Like, he gingerly would get down, and he wassupposed to be playing in a couple weeks.
So it's not something that I'm gonna say thatTiger Woods can't come back from, but I will
say that this could be career-ending.

(39:10):
Like, this could be it.
You know, it's it's it's one of the things thatyeah.
I mean, so he hasn't played a an actualtournament.
I think he played the Hero, briefly.
I don't even he might have even been in a No.
Not this past year.
They didn't play.
So so so, you know, the guy the guy isinjury-prone and has been since he was, you
know, very young.

(39:31):
And so, you know, the fact is is that he's 48now, 49.
And unless he gets on a lot of things that Ithink would certainly be a question for drug
testing, I don't see how he's gonna be able toplay before he's 50.
And even if he's 48, he's turning 49 at the endof this year.

(39:53):
So he's got, you know, basically a good yearand a half, year and three-quarters.
But, yeah, I I just heart goes out to him.
He just lost his mom.
Obviously, he's dealing with a bunch of stuffright now.
Dude, what terrible timing?
Yeah.
It sucks.
And so, you know, I just have to remove golffrom the equation completely.
I think that's exactly what he would do.
It's probably what he is doing.

(40:14):
He's like, listen.
I got TGL.
I got an extra guy to take my spot.
You know?
But that might be it, man.
Like, think about all of the stepping off of,like, he's already putting all the pressure on
that leg to begin with because his other leg isjust shot.
And he's got 15 vertebrae fused or someridiculous number, and so it's not great, man.

(40:39):
It's not great.
I saw Claire Hogle from, I believe she's withGolf Digest or Golf.com.
I can't remember
which one.
She's with them now?
Good for her.
I don't know which one.
I believe that's her.
But, that being said, she said she came outwith today on Twitter that good old Tiger has
more surgeries than major championship winsnow.

(40:59):
Boy, that's interesting coming from her.
Yeah.
I've known Claire for, like, ten years.
Is it?
She's the one with, like, why am I thinkingit's somebody else and not the name that I'm
saying?
I don't know.
Yeah.
So Claire's an influencer.
I didn't
No.
No.
No.
Not the influencer.
Who the hell is it?

(41:19):
It's the girl who does a lot of the, I'm gonnaI'm blanking on the name.
I will correct this.
Sorry, Claire.
Apologize.
Flex a lot.
Shout out.
I'm no problem.
Claire.
Apologies to whoever it is that it is.
But yeah.
No.
I did wanna take a quick break.
True.
Yeah.
Oh, I do wanna take a quick break because Iwant to put up our sponsor ad from earlier.

(41:45):
Brent was not here for it, and I don't believeTrot was here for it.
I don't believe Brian Shay was here for it.
There were a few that missed our sponsor ad, sohere we go.

(42:37):
You know what's really funny about that?
I grew up around so many Korean people that,like
Fuck.
That's gonna be awesome.
It's a fishbowl.
I gotta get the U.S.
captions for it.
I only have that little segment, but the groupthat's doing this, their AI is going to do the

(42:59):
lips at some point in the near future.
So this has taken a long time because we'vetalked about it for, what, like, two months
now.
Yeah.
And the first sample we finally have and by theway, it's like if you listen closely, it's like
the tone of our voices.
Oh.
It's unbelievable.
Perfect.
It's perfect.
Yeah.
It's really good.
What are they, we'll talk about it off camera,but how did they even approach you?

(43:24):
Dude, that that shit was the fuck.
I tried so hard not to laugh, like, reallyloud, but I couldn't help it.
Fuck.
That was funny.
Brian Shay says he'll take six, please.
Oh, god.
I'm dead.
So
I should.
I showed Buttsy this earlier today because hewasn't gonna be able to be on the show.
No.
He didn't show up.
He lost it.
He goes, can I post this?

(43:44):
I'm like, absolutely not.
I'm like, I've got a I've got a little plan forit.
We're gonna definitely put this out on socialmedia at some point.
Oh, wow.
Try to get, I wanna get the U.S.
captions because I still don't even know whatthe hell I'm saying or what was said.
So it'd be great to have the English, like,subtitles so that you can actually, like, oh,
yeah, understand what was being said and thenthat'd

(44:06):
be hilarious.
Going on.
It doesn't matter.
And then it doesn't matter.
Yeah.
I only know two words and, two or three wordsand three, and then that's it.
So but that's
that's that's that's
kind of.
I almost wanna play it again, but we're notgoing to.
We're not gonna go that far into it.
That'd be hilarious.
We can't
beat a
dead horse with them.
How did they even get ahold of you?

(44:28):
Oh, man.
It's a long story.
We'll have to, we'll get into it offline.
Alright.
Too much to get into.
Yeah.
What do we got?
What do we got?
So we got the players.
We cover Tiger.
We covered Tiger a little bit.
I mean, my question to you is, are we, like, asa fan base, do you think people are just still
latched on to the Tiger-Phil saga?

(44:51):
I mean, what's funny is LIV has allowed kind ofthese guys to, like, have a second round in
their careers because of the tiny fields insome of these golf courses that they're playing
that aren't very long, that are tricky, likeHong Kong.
Because I believe Sergio won.
I saw it on social media.
For him.
And then Phil Mickelson was up there, and, ofcourse, feels like I'm trending towards Augusta

(45:14):
National and the Masters, blah, blah, blah.
But, like, are we just, as golf fans, notwilling to let them go because have we really
seen that new group break through?
It was Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, RickieFowler, and then they all ran into a slump.

(45:35):
And then all of a sudden, it's like, okay.
Who else is there?
Now it's Ludwig.
You kinda have, you know, Luke Clayton isstarting to come into the fold, who just got
his card.
You've got Nick Dunlap in there.
So it's like, but you don't have the bigpersonalities like a Phil, Woods that I mean,

(45:57):
and Tiger, what's funny about Tiger is youcan't say that he was a big personality.
No.
On the course that
on the golf course, he showed emotion, andpeople fed into that and loved just the
greatness.
Nobody really does anymore.
And you're absolutely right.
I mean, I think you're thinking I think you'rethinking spot on.

(46:17):
The problem is and, you know, obviously, youknow, how many times we had a conversation with
our dads or with guys kinda in their fifties orsixties where, like, you know, I've been
watching golf since fucking '90 whatever or '80whatever and, you know, this, that, and the
other thing.
And they didn't do the same things that, youknow, Tiger or Phil or David or even to go back

(46:38):
further like a Freddie Couples who was knownas, like, a cool customer.
But then when things were kinda went, like, inan awkward way, he would show emotion.
When he won a tournament, it was everybody feltlike they won the tournament with him.
You know?
And I think that that's lost right now.
I think that the part of the problem
Because even before this generation, sorry tocut you off.

(46:59):
But before this generation, it was Arnie.
It was Jack Nicklaus.
Like, you had those personalities where you hadthe Golden Bear who was a serious competitor.
You had Arnie, who was the people's guy.
And I just don't feel like we have thosestorylines and those characters really built
out at this point.
I feel like they're forced in a lot of ways.

(47:20):
Like, trying to say that Ludvig Åberg is thenew Arnold Palmer is a tough one for me.
That came up on the broadcast over the weekend.
Rickie is the only human being since ArnoldPalmer that could even get close to that.
And the problem with Rickie is that he hasn'twon a lot.
No.
And I talked to him.
It's funny.

(47:41):
It was really weird, actually, how it workedfor a couple of people.
Rickie was one of them.
I played a practice round with him in Napa formy first event, and I've met Rickie before.
We've got a ton of mutual friends from my timein Murrieta.
And so I just kinda asked him.
I was like, so, like, what happened?
And he's like, honestly, dude, I made, youknow, like, $30 to $50 million off the course

(48:05):
for the first however many years I made mymoney.
And at this point, everything else is gravy.
And now I can really focus on trying to getafter it with golf, and I took advantage of my
time.
Jesus.
Took advantage of my test.
Was that a demon coming after you?
Sounded like it.
A very big truck.
Oh, good.

(48:25):
But, yeah.
So, and I asked, you know, and I asked him, andthen so his caddie, Ricky Romano, who is a
fantastic player himself, actually.
I just kinda asked him, like, where are we atright now?
And I asked him that a couple of weeks beforehe won the Rocket Mortgage, and I was like, oh,
something's happening here.
And it happened a couple of times.

(48:46):
It happened with Sahith later in the year atNapa.
Talked to him earlier that week about drivingthe golf ball, and then he sprays it all over
the planet and wins the golf tournament.
Not really sure how he did that, but speaks tohow good he is.
But you're right.
It is forced.
And part of the problem is the PGA Tour hasbecome ultra corporate.

(49:07):
Not that it wasn't before with Tiger and Philand Tim Finchem, but it's being run by people
that have just completely different values.
You know, they don't really think about the bigpicture either.
They don't really think about what the fan baseis actually telling them.
They're really just focused on what's best forthe top executives, the PGA Tour corporate, and

(49:30):
the top players.
And I'm not going out on a limb here.
It's not like there's some conspiracy theory.
It's just based on what's happened so far.
Well, let's get into that because Jay Monahanout at The Players had some pretty strong
comments that really kinda, well, here's thething, though.
I mean, he brought up reunification as the mainword within everything that he was saying.

(49:53):
And it was kind of a bombshell, to be quitehonest with you, because we really haven't
heard him or any of the guys talk about thefact that, you know, what would happen to LIV
if this deal goes through?
And he basically said that LIV goes away, thatparts of LIV could live on in the PGA Tour
through this deal.
He also reiterated that the leader of theUnited States, can't mention his name because

(50:22):
they, for some reason, flag us every singletime.
So, which is still weird that we live in thatera where, on YouTube, we get flagged for that.
But, YouTube, if you're listening, please fixthat.
But, yeah, the big guy is on their side, and hereiterated the fact that the big guy wants
reunification, wants golf back together.

(50:44):
And the only thing holding that back is Yasir,and he talked about the fact that Yasir will
get a seat and all that.
So, I mean, a lot of this we've reported on.
Yeah.
For the past, I mean, eight months.
Yeah.
At least, at least.
Well, it's been happening since like, I alwayssay, you know, June.
I think it was June 4.
It was June, yeah.
Twenty twenty-three.
Twenty twenty-three is when they announced theboilerplate.

(51:07):
That was 2023.
But they
had deals in place
Oh, yeah.
That they
couldn't get through, you know who.
And with that, we've been delayed.
But now all of a sudden, and by the way, peoplethat are like, oh, you just make up stuff on
Twitter.
I love that, by the way, because it makes mefeel so good.
I'm like, man, if I was that smart
It's one of the things.
to, like, well, if I was that smart, Brent, tobe able to come up with a wild conspiracy, I'm

(51:32):
just not that creative.
I'm not that creative.
Well, they wouldn't be doing this podcast.
I mean, I can tell
you that.
I would be doing something a lot, a lotdifferent.
But, that being said, like, when I would getthis from sources and so forth that, you know,
Yasser went in and all of a sudden was like,no.
I don't want LIV to go away.
And all of a sudden, it was everybody againstYasser, and

(51:53):
Yeah.
That's the big step backwards
with them.
That would happen.
I mean, we thought that it was the Departmentof Justice, which it probably was.
Just don't say
that name.
We get flagged every time.
You know, they can come to my door if theywant.
But it's for the podcast.
Oh, well, I'm sorry.

(52:13):
Those guys up there in a certain place.
Yeah.
We thought that that's what was holding it up,and it probably was.
But it's pretty clear that there's huge prideand huge ego at the table, which I can't sit
here and say I would be any different, becauseyou're dealing with billions of dollars and
people that want to win the game of, I got overon you, and my stick's bigger than yours.

(52:34):
So the big problem here is that the U.S.
economy isn't supporting golf right now.
So there's no part of it.
It's something that's interesting I've learnedover the last couple of days.
We had a huge boost in golf 2020, 2021, andinto 2022.
The last
two
years in '23 and '24,

(52:56):
it was down.
It was down.
About 30%.
And what that really means to me is that eventhough there's not really anything left as far
as merchandise not being able to get from L.A.
or from, you know, Tampa or whatever portbecause of COVID, nobody can afford it.
So it's just ridiculous that we're even, like,we're even here right now because at the end of

(53:22):
the day, what this comes down to is itabsolutely was on Jay and on the PGA Tour to,
at the very least, pick up the phone, and noneof this would have happened.
I agree with that sentiment.
I said it from day one around kind of mycritique on Jay with the entire thing and that
this falls on him.
However, the one thing that I will give himcredit for right now is the fact that he is

(53:47):
standing his damn ground.
Yeah.
And he has not given any when it comes to LIVGolf surviving.
So, like, I had a tweet today to where I'mlike, LIV Golf is gonna die, and that's okay.
Like, it's okay that it's gonna die.
It really is.
It did a lot of things for the players.
Sure.
Right?
For the top players.

(54:07):
Let's put it that way.
Did a lot of things for the top players, gotthem paid a lot more money.
The PGA Tour all of a sudden lost all of itsleverage that it always had, has become more
flexible now, is being run more so by theplayers because there's more players on the
board than there are actual, you know, businesspeople, let's say.
Yep.
So with that entire restructure of the PGATour, like, golf's in a pretty good spot in my

(54:33):
opinion.
Like, granted, there are some changes that wedon't agree with.
We've been very vocal in regards to that, butLIV Golf did its job.
Like, when you go back and listen to PhilMickelson talk about rights and so forth for
the players and all this money that the PGATour has that they're not putting into purses
and so forth, guess what?
All of that is now corrected, and this is whereI'm okay with LIV Golf dying at this point.

(54:58):
I know there's gonna be a fan base, the cultsand so forth, that are really upset by this
kind of demeanor and by this kind of rhetoric,but it's done its job.
And it doesn't need to live on because if itlives on, it becomes the ugly—I don't even want
to say what I'm about to say.

(55:18):
It becomes the XFL.
Let's put it that way.
We've talked, we've said that on the show.
I agree.
And I'm just—already is.
A couple years.
Yeah.
I mean, then let's talk about that because LIVGolf Hong Kong, they're struggling with the US
viewership.
Okay?
Now I get it.
Contextually, you could say all day long, it'sin bad time slots.

(55:39):
Alright?
The Open Championship is in bad time slots, butpeople fucking get up and they watch it if they
love it.
Correct.
And if there was this major fan base behind LIVGolf, guess what?
They'd get the fuck up and they'd watch it.
Correct.
And that is not
At the very least, stream it.
Stream it.
Save it.
Save it.
Well, I'll send it to you soon.
That's what they want to say is thateverybody's got the LIV Golf Plus app, and

(56:04):
everybody paid the $60 or whatever it was inorder to watch it all year long.
No.
That's not the case.
How many?
Who's everybody?
Same.
Who's it?
15,000 people?
You've got, like, a hundred people on X.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So even if you are generous and you say ahundred thousand people, just super generous.

(56:26):
Oh, not I no.
No.
No.
There's no chance.
Even get that.
I would say their download, like, if I was tojust make an assumption based off of viewership
that's going on on Fox.
Okay?
If I was to make an educated assumption off of,okay, who's going to fork over $60 for the year
to watch LIV Golf on an app?

(56:47):
I'm probably going on the U.S.
market.
You're probably looking at 10,000 to 20,000people at most.
There you go.
So $15.
So it's like that at the end of the day, let'sjust say that that's, you know, a little more,
a little less for the sake of the argument,whatever.
What does that mean?
Numbers?
Oh, no.

(57:08):
God.
Seen the numbers?
No.
God.
No.
12,000 viewers for round one on FS two.
Awesome.
17,000 viewers on an for round two of s s f sone.
That's it.
It's abysmal.
It is, like, I'm sorry, but it's dying.
Advised?

(57:30):
Yeah.
I mean, this is bad.
The thing is, like, we talked about this acouple of weeks ago when we kinda went down the
list of players that are on LIV that would comeback, and there are several.
But you gotta remember, it goes right back toyour question a few minutes ago with regards to
the personalities.
There's only a few players that we can think ofbecause all of the rest of the guys are super

(57:56):
boring.
Like, they're so boring that there areYouTubers that are making more money and are
more, like, fit, quote, unquote, famous thanthe golfers that are on the LIV tour.
Like, it doesn't mean it.
A good product.
Correct.
Dude, I watched it for three years, and I sawthe, like, the broadcast was always my

(58:19):
negative.
Right?
That I was like, man, this is really bad.
Like, they're giving you narcolepsy over justflashing lights.
God.
One shot after the next after the next, andthey got better year over year.
But the problem is, like, even with Feherty,like, Feherty can only carry them for so long.
Which is exactly what
Arlo.
Yeah.
Arlo is not a golf person.

(58:40):
Like, great, great, like, sports
voice.
Yeah.
Not a golf guy.
He's a soccer guy.
Like, he was in freaking Ted Lasso, the show asa soccer announcer.
Like, that's his role.
And then, you know, you've got Don Boulay.
Yeah.
And then the other guy who, I can't remember,he used to be in broadcast, but, like, they

(59:03):
booted him out because he wasn't and he justhas, like, ridiculous opinions too.
Is that what you're
just like, no.
It's not McCord.
It's, no.
McCord?
I'd actually like Gary McCord.
Well, if him and David were there, they'd killit.
But that's the thing, right?
Is that when they signed David Feherty, youknow, the idea was, oh, you know, this will

(59:26):
really do it, you know, whatever.
And then they didn't get the deal.
And then they got the deal, and he's basicallythe only person that anybody would tune in to
listen to anyways.
And I did.
Like, I like David Feherty, and I love that.
Love him.
Like, the second year that he was on there, Iwas listening to the broadcast, but it just
became to where it's like

(59:48):
They
have a tough time with the storylines becausethey don't have the time.
And this is one thing that actually DavidFeherty talked about in an interview that,
like, I'm not making this up.
He literally talked about it in a podcastinterview to where he had a tough time,
especially when he first started with LIV, tobe able to fill in such tight spaces with

(01:00:09):
actual storylines and with actual, like,content to build up a tournament because you
can't do that when it's shot after shot aftershot after shot after shot, and it's even
tougher when it's a shotgun.
So there's a lot of downsides.
It's just not a great product, and I think it'sAre they
still doing the shotgun?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.

(01:00:29):
Oh, jeez.
Yeah.
See, this is my—that's part of their wholething.
Is that, like, this idea that they had all ofthis thought through or what like, it can't be
really one or the like, it's either they didn'tthink anything through and they just kinda
threw shit against the wall to see what stuck,or they had everything thought through.
They definitely didn't have everything thoughtthrough.

(01:00:49):
So it's gotta be the other way.
They could have crushed this.
Oh, sure.
If they had done team golf and just said,forget it.
You know what?
We're not gonna worry about official world golfrankings.
No.
We're we're gonna try to work out a deal withthe DP World Tour so that you guys can play in
other tournaments.
Mhmm.
You've got the Asian Tour.
Like, that was a smart move by PIF to buy theAsian Tour and get these guys some official

(01:01:13):
world golf rankings.
But then why not just go in if you're notgetting the official world golf rankings?
Do what the TGL did.
Make the regular season matter.
Yes.
Make
None of it matters.
Like, none of the golf matters.
The team matter.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like, build a regular season.
They Don't don't try to have a golf tournament.

(01:01:36):
And then there's an individual golf tournamentwith a team aspect to it.
Yeah.
So this this is my point.
Right?
So, like, the fact is is that they definitelydidn't have everything thought through.
So, like like, barely any of it.
Right?
So then, right, you have all of the people.
And, again, I started as complete anti-LIV.
This is total nonsense.

(01:01:58):
Can't believe these guys are going over therefor money.
And then in the middle of it, I was like, okay.
So we're gonna do some sort of deal.
And then at the end of it, I'm like, hey.
You know what?
Like, I got a family.
I would go play.
Now I'm just like, okay.
At the end of the day, I just am tired of the,like, the people that are disillusioned, and
they're just sitting there, like, they're like,what do you what do you expect?

(01:02:21):
It's literally the worst type of golf iscollege golf, and that's basically what you're
watching on a professional level.
I gotta argue with you there.
I like college golf.
I know you have a bias against college golf,but college golf does match play too.
They don't do just individual tournaments.
At the
end of the day match play tournaments that takeplace.
At the end no.

(01:02:42):
That that's so that's where I think they shouldhave absolutely adopted kind of what you're
saying, to try building a city in a straight upChris Anderson.
Does it for trillions.
Yeah.
Dude, you gotta read it.
So I'll read it.
Go ahead.
Sorry.
The pit
are the same motherfuckers who tried building acity in a straight line in the middle of the
desert for a trillion dollars half assed.

(01:03:02):
Expensive ideas are their specialty.
And by the way, I know exactly what he'stalking about.
It was supposed to be this mirrored city.
Mhmm.
And all climate controlled and all this stuff.
They had all these great architects andengineers and, yeah, I haven't heard a thing
about that recently.
And then we've got another one for Brian Shanehere.
At this point, I feel like the tour now has theleverage as long as no one else bolts to LIV.

(01:03:28):
If things stay status quo, I think LIV goesaway at some point.
Any more news on Brooks Koepka's plans?
Brooks is gone.
So I talked to the LIV source, and they'relike, he's gone.
Everybody knows it.
He's very vocal about it.
That's why Phil didn't have a problem.
Like, Phil knew what he was doing when hechirped back at Fred Couples for making that

(01:03:49):
comment because he knew that most peopleweren't aware of what Brooks has been saying
and everything, but Brooks is gone.
Brooks is coming back to the PGA Tour.
His contract is, and by the way, I haven't seenhis contract, but what I've heard is his
contract is up after this season, and he 100%is coming back to the PGA Tour.

(01:04:12):
Why would that, like, why would you wanna doshotgun three-round tournaments?
Why?
Like, it makes no sense.
Well, for him, the entire reason he took themoney was because he was injured.
He didn't know if he'd ever get back to thatelite level, and he wanted to take care of his
family.
And for all those reasons, I totally get it.
And that's the same reasons why, by the way,Dustin Johnson is not Dustin Johnson of old

(01:04:34):
because he is enjoying his life, and that'sokay.
He made bank, and that's perfectly fine.
And they also wanna show their as well.
He also wanna show his team Four Aces is by farand will probably go down as the best team.
Won in year one last year?
No.
Oh, okay.
Well, I was
They were not great last year.

(01:04:56):
They were good year one.
They were okay year two.
Year three, they did not play well because DJdidn't play well.
Pat Perez wasn't playing well.
And you had like, there was some weaknessthere.
So and then this year, I don't believe thatthey've played well.
I really haven't followed it, to be quitehonest with you, but I did see something on X
around Dustin Johnson being, like, one of thelast place guys in Hong Kong.

(01:05:20):
And that's just not—I mean, you could put DJ onany golf course, and he's not going to be in
last place out of that calendar.
Lady set of clubs, he would—yeah.
He would not be last.
Like, he could be.
So, to that point, I feel like it right now,and I was always a big proponent of PGA Tour

(01:05:42):
bringing in LIV Golf underneath the PGA Tourbanner.
You know, let's do some team golf during sillyseason over the fall and kinda have that be the
elite guys, and then you've got everybody elseplaying in meaningful events that get them into
the next year and trying to earn their card,trying to get into the top 50, things along
those lines.
So I saw it as that always.

(01:06:05):
And then I'm like, you know what?
Right now with where it's at, the PGA Tour,which by the way has been bouncing back with
viewership numbers, I think the TGL hasactually helped with that.
It's brought back kind of that excitementaround individual players.
Like, as much as people wanna shit on the TGL.

(01:06:26):
Peace out.