Go Low - Hunter Mahan stops by, Masters week, Picking winners

It's Master week and John takes a deep dives into some of his best bets at Augusta. He talks about who he thinks is going to win The Masters, who we should keep an eye on, and is this the tournament where Rory turns his game around.

Later, John is joined by 6-time PGA Tour winner, Hunter Mahan to talk about the pressures of playing at The Masters, what makes the course so difficult, what it was like playing with Tiger in his prime, and who of the top guys he thinks can break through and win this weekend.

5:34 - Difficulty in betting golf

11:10 - Picking a winner

16:38 - Guys to watch for

27:30 - Hunter Mahan Interview

28:38 - What Masters week is like

32:05 - What makes the course so hard

40:02 - Tiger in his prime

1:04:24 Favorite holes to play at Augusta

1:07:24 - Hunter's pick to win

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 2 (01:31):
What is going on? Everybody? Happy Masters Week? A little
Go Low podcast. Here is the plan for today. I
will give my picks, who I am wagering on, and
my excitement level to start the podcast. Then we will
have on six time PGA Tour winner and a man

(01:57):
who's played in the Masters ten times finished in the
top ten three Pride of Oklahoma state Hunter Mayhan will
join the show and just discuss his experiences the Masters,
playing around Tiger and Phil in their primes, and who
he likes this weekend. He's now coaching golf at a

(02:18):
school outside of Dallas, where the football coach at that
high school is Jason Witten. So that's my high school
football coach. I don't even know if he played high
school football, and my high school golf coach couldn't break
ninety if you paid him, So it sounds like that
school is a little cooler than mine. But this is

(02:40):
a great week, it really is. I'm super excited. There's
nothing quite like Thursday and Friday when everyone's on the
course and you wake up you're streaming it on the
Master's app and falling on social media. This is if
you like big events, if you like things that matter,
and if you like golf. Obviously it gets everyone back
together for the first time in forever. So very very exciting.

(03:04):
And yeah, you guys know the Drew. If you listen
on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and Out.
That's Go Lows also on there as well. All of
this is on YouTube, so go check out the YouTube channel.
Appreciate everyone for checking that out. But before we dive
into some Master's thoughts, got to tell you about my
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Download that app right now. I've been gambling pretty heavily
on golf now the last three or four years. One
thing and I've talked a lot about is being aggressive.

(04:12):
Picking guys to win is a pretty crazy strategy. It
is very, very difficult because most weeks you're betting on
you know, if you pick five guys to win the tournament,
you're betting against one hundred and fifty hundred and sixty guys.
This tournament is unique. They're only eighty nine guys playing
in it, and if you win the Masters, you can

(04:32):
play in it the rest of your life. So there
are guys Larry Miyes, Freddy Couples, a lot of guys
that play in this tourna a lot of guys, But
there are twenty plus players in this tournament that have
no shot to win the tournament, let alone to probably
compete to make the cut. And Kepka's been saying this
for years. If you look at any major, but specifically

(04:54):
this one much smaller field, So when you're betting top
tens and betting top twenties, the ratio based on the
rest of the field is not as big because you're
not competing against one hundred and fifty guys. You're only
competing against ninety and you can wipe probably twenty of
them before you even hit the t shot on Thursday,
so you're really competing to finish top ten out of

(05:16):
seventy to sixty five guys. So it is a much
easier tournament that way from a strategic standpoint. It's why
my favorite bets of the week by a country mile
are Xander Shaffley and Hideki Matsiama. To top ten, you
get Xander plus one forty. You can get Hedeki plus
one eighty course history course knowledge matters a lot. When

(05:41):
Hadeki won it, Xander was playing with him in the
last round. Xander has had a lot of success here.
He is a very good major player. Now, as we
saw it, the players, you don't feel very comfortable with
him to win the tournament. So taking him sixteen eighteen
twenty to one to win one of these things, though,
I think it will inevitably happen. You know, is a

(06:03):
pretty risky bet, but to me at top ten feels
about as big of a lock as you can have.
I am very very confident that Xanderschaffle come the weekend
is going to be near the top of the leader board.
Same thing with Hideki, who has been playing awesome this year.
One at riv which you could argue beside the players,

(06:23):
is the hardest tournament to win in terms of the
difficulty of the course, non major of the year. He
has won this tournament before. I fucking love Hadeki. I
mean I can't like him anymore. I feel very very
confident I am going to put large four figure wagers
on those two guys. Shane Lowry is a player that

(06:48):
a lot of people in the golfing community of course history.
He's played really well here I think three of the
last four years. He is a guy who has an
excellent short game. The weather the first Cup days it
could rain now, unlike last year when it was frigid conditions,
it was freezing cold. Anyone like I'm a warm weather golfer.

(07:10):
Twice in probably the last month it has rained and
been cold. I did not make it past hold twelve
tapped out. This ain't for me. Can't do that in
professional golf, playing for real money, real stakes, the Masters.
This is a guy Irishman who is likes playing in
the conditions. He won the Open Championship once upon a

(07:31):
time in very difficult conditions and he blitz the field.
Shane Lowry is a very very popular pick. Now you
can get him at like plus three sixty to top ten.
To me, it's probably a safer bet. I think it's
plus one point thirty to top twenty. But Shane Lowry
is another player that I'm going to have some exposure to.
I think the key here is to get a guy

(07:52):
who is in form and has success at this course before.
It's why you see a guy like Phil Mickelson, who's
fifty two to fifty three years old, after his win
at Kiawa, goes to Live looks like shit. I mean,
if I listen, I don't watch much live. I do
keep tabs on the leaderboard and he is consistently down

(08:13):
near the bottom. He is no longer anywhere near though
I don't know one of the greatest five six to
seven players of all time that he once was, even
the guy that we saw at Kiowa long gone, but
last year at this course, and Tiger said it today
in his press conference. Only course in the rotation of
all the majors that we play every single year, US Open,

(08:36):
new course every year, PGA Championship, all sorts of courses,
even the Open Championship, while they consistently play Saint Andrews,
a bunch of other courses mixed in there every single year.
You know you're getting the Masters now. The Masters, because
they have like an unlimited amount of money, changes it
every single year. They had trees, they had slopes of

(08:56):
the green, they had different hills. They will just it's
one thing to add a tree, Like I put some
ficuses in my backyard. It's gonna take them a year
to grow to fifteen feet or whatever. There's like, yeah,
we just added fifty foot trees. They literally just move
a fully grown tree and put it in a spot.
And anyone that knows that has played golf before, a

(09:19):
fully grown tree is a big deal. And they can
manipulate the course better than any place because of the
unlimited amount of money they have. So to me, guys
with course history are most equipped to change that, or
I mean to handle and adapt to that on the fly. Now,
when you're gonna pick a winner, look at the last

(09:41):
couple winners. John Roum, who at the time he had
I think, won three or four times. Leading up to
the Masters, it was clear he was, if not the
best player in the world, number two best player in
the world. He had won the US Open the previous year.
He was on a trajectory like a fucking rocket ship,
a lot like Scottie Scheffler. Then he leaves to live

(10:02):
and I talked to Hunter mahon about this. He had
some quotes this week. They're like, eh, I kinda I
always live, would go to seventy two holes, iron sharpens
iron and John Rahm, to me, is more of a
throwback grinder of a guy that likes to work, likes
to prepare. It is used to a routine. He's a
lot like a football player likes his routine. Lives weird,

(10:23):
it really is. There have been some clips on Live
of him like screaming at guys to calm down. He's
like John, that's the vibe out here as anything goes.
But I think it's been difficult for him. It wasn't
difficult taking the two three hundred million dollars or whatever.
Eventually that made him crack, but he of all the guys,
I would put Kopka next on that list, or just like,
I don't really want to do this, but I can't

(10:45):
really turn down the money. And unlike Kepka, who is unfazed,
can you show up to majors like if you're telling
me you have money on Kopka or then Keopka's gonna
win this week. I can't disagree with you. I really can't,
because we're at the point now when a major has happens,
you don't just expect. You are shocked when Kopka is
not in the mix. To me, John Ram's a little

(11:06):
bit of a wild card, the pressure of the defending
champ clearly not being as sharp, given the crew that
he's playing, with his own mindset of only playing the
fifty four holes, my expectations for him are lower. I'm
not gonna be have no exposure to John rom Scotti Scheffler.
If he can putt, he's winning this tournament. But as

(11:28):
we just saw a couple of weeks ago, a putt
descended into extra holes from five feet after he fucking
pipes a drive knocks at one pint eighty five and
a half feet, he misses the putt, and anyone that
plays golf, you watch the highlight of that putt, never
had a chance. So I will not be shocked if
scottis Scheffler hoists his second Green jacket in three years.

(11:48):
But to me and people are gonna think I'm nuts
because he needs to win this to complete the Grand Slam,
the career Grand Slam. He's a guy that last year,
with all the hype, missed the cut. And if you
missed the cut at this major, it's a lot different
than missing the cut at other majors, because, like we
talked about the smaller fields, I actually think this is

(12:09):
a perfect spot for Rory. A couple weeks ago he
got with Butch Harmon, who used to work with Greg Norman,
then transitioned to a guy named Tiger Woods who has
worked with the Ricky Fowlers, the Dustin Johnson's, the Brooks Kopkaz.
His son Claude Harmon now is basically their coach, who
to me is more than just a golf coach. He's

(12:29):
a mental coach. And last week, for the first time
all year, Rory started looking like Rory again. And listening
to the No Laying Up podcasts, thought they hit the
nail on the head. The reason Rory has not won
this tournament. Even when he's played well, he's one of
the greatest drivers of the ball we've ever seen. He's
played on this course long enough to know how to put.
His approach shots have been awful, and unlike Tiger and Phil,

(12:54):
he's not very artistic as a ball striker with a
seven iron an aight iron, right, those guys are working
the ball every way. When I think Rory, I think Hidraws,
and on this course historically, drawing in theory is something
that translates well. But his approach game last year was
hideous and so far coming up until last week has

(13:17):
not been great. And then he gets with Butch Harmon
and all of a sudden, statistically he's dramatically better. And
beside two guys Danny McCarthy and Akshay who won his
first tournament, congrasping him, who ran away with the tournament,
Roy beat everybody else. So listen, I'm taking Rory feels
like in a weird way, flying under the radar a

(13:39):
little bit. He's eleven to one, he's like ten to
one eleven to one DraftKings, he's changed. He was ten
to one I think to start the week. I just
looked right before I hopped on, he was eleven to one.
So you can get him right in that range. Not
only is he winning a Master's, I think he's gonna
win a couple more majors. Hell, two years ago he
finished top five in all the majors. He easily could

(13:59):
have won the US Open and the Open Championship. And
it's not like one of those. Well, he just does
know how to win, like Xander. I can't place a
winning ticket on Xander in these big tournaments, not because
I don't think he will inevitably do it, but until
he does it, I'm not doing it. I'm just not
gonna do it. Rory has done now. You can say
it's a long long time ago, and that's true. Hasn't

(14:20):
won a major in forever. And if you watch Full Swing,
one thing that sucked is when Kepka won the PGA
Championship last year, he passed him. In majors. Rory had four.
Now kep gez five and he's the big swing. And
you know what on in the golfing world because of
all the current players. I'm not counting Tiger Woods and Phil.
He is the most of his era, of the speace

(14:42):
of the Rory's. You know, a couple guys have two,
but Rom has two. Obviously. I just think this is
Rory's time. Call it a gut feeling, call it just
being overly excited from last week. Even Tiger Woods said
this morning in his press conference it's a matter of win.
It will happen. And I don't think Tiger's just blowing

(15:02):
smoke saying that to be nice. I think he truly
believes it. And I'm taking Rory to win this tournament.
A couple other guys that a little bit more of
longer flyers. When I want a big bet at riv
I placed a live bet on Xalators and I won
a couple grand and I cashed out double my money

(15:22):
and I still had like five hundred dollars on there.
I placed I think it was like thirty five to
one on Zala Trus. Now, I probably wouldn't do that
sitting here right now because of the way he's looked,
but he's your classic guy. Historically in these majors, he
can not look great, and he comes to these and
he's a factor now. Health the back has been a problem.

(15:43):
He had back surgery last year. But you got to
look at these guys and Kopka definitely falls under this.
Majors come around, and let's face it, guys crumble. You
see in football, there was this You'd be in OTA's
and you have this fifth round You're like, holy shit,
did we just find our starting safety? And then the
pads would come on and they take a step back,

(16:05):
and then the season would start and they'd crumble. The
pressure just amplifies in golf, and unlike football, where there's
a gradual build up, in golf, you just play one
week and then all of a sudden it's the Major.
It's like, buckle up, You're at Augusta. Everyone's watching, crowds
are massive different and the course is very difficult. And
Zala Torus has proven to be comfortable in these environments.

(16:28):
You know, other guys like Jason Day, who's had a
lot of course success here. Now he hasn't played as
well this year, but he's another guy that I dabbled on.
And then there's just the group. And this is the
hard part about you know, picking these guys is Speith
has mainly looked really shitty this year until last week.
He's a guy that's very very comfortable here. Justin Thomas,

(16:50):
who historically profiles very well here, does not play that
well and then just broke up with I don't know,
one of the best caddies of all time in Bones,
Phil's former caddy. So not feeling that great there. I
mentioned this to hunter Is on Saturday, and I've seen
Tony a lot out there over the last month. But

(17:12):
at TPC I teed off I think it. We teed
off around nine, and Tony went to the back of
the grange where all the pros go, and he went
right to the putting green. When I got to whole
eight about two hours later, he was still on the
putting green. When I finished, he was still on the
back of the range. And then I saw on Instagram
that he was playing until the sun went down. Now,

(17:34):
every guy on the PGA Tour at this level practice
is really hard, but he is a player that if
the putter does get hot, he's proven that he can
be a factor here. If you've seen that clip going
around on the tiger Woods Historic twenty nineteen come from
behind when he was in that group with Tiger and
Francisco Molinari. So to me, he's always a huge wild card.

(17:57):
But maybe I'm I'm just blindly rooting for this in
a weird way. I root for him anyway, just because
I enjoy watching him play golf, but I kind of
just feel like he's been so close, not necessarily in
this tournament though a couple of years ago he like backdoor.
I think he finished like second or third, but he

(18:18):
never had a chance to win the tournament. I kind
of think it's Rory's time, man, I really do, and
everyone's gonna be on Scotti Scheffler rightfully so would not
stun me he wins this tournament. He might win three
of the four majors this year and have one of
the great seasons we see of all time. But he
could still have one of the great seasons we see
of all time and finish third here, which probably feels

(18:42):
statistically historically more likely. But I'm going Xander Hadecki hammering
them to top ten. Shane Lowry, I might split top
ten in top twenty. Thigala is a guy, great short game,
just kind of an artist, much more in this modern
day game of like kind of robots and listen, I

(19:04):
say robots like I would call Wyndham Clark probably more
of a robotic player, and it works. He won a
major last year. To me, Figala is an old school.
You could put him in the seventies and eighties with
that shitty equipment and he would have been a good
player because he's not as dependent. Obviously, he benefits like
all of us do from the newer equipment, but he's

(19:26):
got it all in the bag and I think his
short game is an area that can really if he's
playing well, and he's shown signs this year to be
a factor. A lot of people are taking Ludvig, who
is just has a chance to be an all time talent.
I mean, he's a guy that most believe will be
the number one player in the world one day. Should

(19:46):
compete and win majors. I do think it can be difficult.
This isn't just his first Masters, this is his first
ever major. Now the only guy to win a Masters
on his first ever Masters was Fuzzy Zeller nineteen seventy nine.
That's not normal, right, I mean, usually guys with a
lot of experience tend to be I wouldn't want to

(20:09):
say older players because Tiger won it really young. But
guys that have been through the ring are a little
bit you know, when you think of Phil Mickelson's first time,
Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson a couple of years,
Hadecki was a ten year pro. Even Scotty Scheffler was younger,
but he had been on the tour then for several
years and played in majors. Ludwig would probably be one guy.

(20:33):
I don't want to say I fade him because it
won't shock me, like I expect him to make the cut,
but I think a lot of people picking him to
compete to win. I would be a little stunned, and
hopefully I'm wrong. I'm I'm a big fan of his game.
It does translate pretty well. Great driver of the ball,
high draws. I do think this tournament can be a
different animal now. His caddie, Joe scarvuro is Fowler's former caddy,

(20:57):
worked with Tom Kim for a little bit. Like he
he knows this course well, so obviously that matters. But
last year JT had bones, he missed the cut. So
a caddy, this is not football. The caddy can only
do so much. I can't wait, man, I really can't.
It's just this is just an incredible viewing experience. Even
if you're listening to this you don't love golf, totally

(21:20):
understand it's not for everybody. I don't expect it's a
niche sport. I understand that this is one of those,
if not the event, I mean, it is the most
popular golf event of the year. We say this all
the time. Why did women's college basketball just have twenty
million people watching? It felt big? Why is football in
college football now so massive? Their games feel big, They

(21:42):
feel like an event, They feel like something you can't
miss for a shitty is the live experience has been
in terms of taking all these sweet players, the villains
of golf away from us. And it sucks for those
of us that like to watch golf on a weekly
basis when just a couple of million people are watching.
That has hurt us, That has hurt the sport, That

(22:05):
has hurt the viewing experience. Everyone getting back together makes
these even that much bigger. You don't get to see
DJ and Koepka and Cam Smith and Bryson together with Scotti,
Scheffler or Rory and Speith and all these guys anymore.
We get it four times a year, and I know
these guys have been talking. We gotta hurry up and
get a merger. Who knows we could be years away

(22:28):
from all these guys. I don't know if we're ever
gonna get a weekly experience again. But just ten plus
times a year, all playing together, that that feels years away,
years away. So when this happens, we just us golf fans,
us fans of big sporting events, have to enjoy it.

(22:51):
And as Tiger said today, it's major season, baby, see
me once a month playing in all the majors. It's
like Tiger, I thought you met once a month in
other events as well as the majors. Might have lied,
might have his body, might not been right, and let's
face it, I don't My expectations for this guy aren't
much like most people my age that were born in
the mid eighties that grew up in the nineties. Tiger

(23:14):
and Michael were the biggest athletes of our life, and
I'd argue two of the biggest. I mean, I don't
know if it gets much bigger than Michael Jordan. I
would say Tiger Woods is not far behind him, just
in terms of universal notoriety and universal, Like you just
tap someone on the shoulders and point at do you
know who that is? And they can say, yes, that's
Tiger Woods his days. I know he said today, if

(23:36):
it all breaks right, I can compete to win. I'm
not sure I'm buying that, but I don't even care.
If he just can play four rounds, which, let's face it,
based on the last couple of years, would be an accomplishment,
would be an upset given that he's withdrawing and not
finishing any of these tournaments. I'm in I really am.
I think it would be cool if somehow on the weekend,

(23:59):
like if they're like thirtieth, Tiger and Phil are playing together,
that would be cool to see the kind of their
vibes toward each other. Obviously, one team PGA Tour, the
other team live. It feels like the stars would really
have to align. But hell, we just got a solar eclipse,
so maybe it's the time. I can't wait, man, I

(24:19):
really can't honored on Master week to have a six
time PGA Tour winner and a guy that played at
Augusta professionally, well, I think the first time maybe as

(24:40):
an amateur, but ten times finished in the top ten.
Three of them had a couple other top fifteen finishes.
Hunter Mayhan now currently his office is right down the
hall from Jason Witton. They're just taking Liberty Christian the
whole new levels as a golf coach and a football coach.
I don't know what's going on, man.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Not much. Man, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Do you ever get to do some free squats with Jason?

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, I'm working work on this technique. It's a little flat.
Sin see, he stopped playing, but he's still a strong
dude and he's a coach at heart. Man. It's it's
kind of funny. I've talked to him a couple of times,
and he's just a coach and he loves it and
he's passionate about it. And he turned this program around
pretty quickly. So it's inspiring to see. And he's a
great guy to kind of talk to and he's open

(25:30):
to that to figure out how to make these kids
just a little bit better.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
Talk to me about this week, Like in O three
you were an amate Did you qualify because you finished
in the top two of the USAM. Is that how
you got in correct?

Speaker 1 (25:43):
Yeah? Running up in the USM that here.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, so you know, as a as a kid, obviously
you were a highly touted amateur player, played at a
high level in college. But to get to go to
Augusta and three before you became professionally became normal. Yeah,
what was that like driving town down Magnolia Lane. You
go with your parents, you go with it, you.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Go with Yeah. So I remember winning my semifinal match
and that got me into Augusta, Like I knew that,
And that was the first thing I thought of when
I won. It wasn't even you know, because I actually
won the US Junior and I had a chance to
do something only a Tiger has done, which is when
the US Junior and the US sandwichury. So I was
on the prespice of that. But soon as I got

(26:24):
as soon as I won my match, I knew, like,
oh I'm in Augusta. Like it was wild. It was
a wild just moment, and then we went and played.
As soon as you get that invitor, as soon as
you know you're in the tournament, you're allowed to play
kind of as much as you want. You just have
to play with a member. So you can go call
the club and say, hey, I like to go and
they'll they'll help you out and they set you up.

(26:47):
And so yeah, driving down for the first time with
no fans, no one there, just like I don't even
know what day it was, might have been a Monday
or something like that, and it's just eerily quiet. It's
just you see, you're feeling everything that you've seen on
TV and now you're experiencing it and suddenly had the
old range. It was wild. It was just such a

(27:09):
I mean, it was truly like a dream come true
because everything that was fake is now real and you're
and you're seeing it and experiencing it. And then you
get to see the golf course and in three D right,
you're not seeing it from a one D just from
a flat perspective. You actually get to see the slopes
and feel the slopes and see how the course is
actually and how you're going to have to play it.

(27:31):
It was really and as an amateur there, I think
that's so special. It is so unique, and that is
a real honor because you really you didn't qualify. You
really had to like I don't see you're not qualifying
for but you're really earning your opportunity to play that
and there's only like eighty nine guys this year, and
sometimes they've had like low eighties, and so it's really

(27:52):
really hard to get into this event. And so it
was awesome and I felt very proud to be there
as an amateur and play there as long as I.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Did that round that you played the practice round with
a member. Did you approach that just like a normal
round of golf or was like a practice Do you
remember what you shot? No?

Speaker 1 (28:09):
I don't remember. I mean I just was like, I mean,
I was just getting a feel for everything, and so
like the whole course is just slipped, like every shot
you're gonna have, every kind of lie you're gonna have uphill, downhill,
side hill. I mean, you're just taking it all in
that first time and you've got to figure out You're
just figuring out angles. The course is so angular and
how you need to attack certain pins and everything. So

(28:31):
I mean I was hitting it was kind of like
can I hit another ball here? And they're super nice,
the staff, everybody, And I was getting tips from the
caddies who were there because they've seen that place for
a really long time, and that was fun. The caddies
of amazing stories and you can get a lot of
information from them, So I just was taking it all
in that kind of that first round and experiencing and
everything that I could that could maybe help me in

(28:54):
the tournament, even though the course changes drastically even from
Monday of the week to the day, just to feel
it and to understand what's actually going to happen when
you start on Thursday.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Why is the course so hard?

Speaker 1 (29:08):
It requires your attention on every single shot, right, Like
the dreams are real slow and you have to really
put yourself in position. If you get out of position,
it's really really challenging just to get up and down.
And big numbers can happen really fast there, and that's
one of the things that you have to do. There
is just not three button not bake big numbers. If
you do that, you're going to have your opportunities for
birdies and even eagles. But you just have to be

(29:33):
You just can't take a whole off. You have to
be engaged on every single shot and you can't get
frustrated with the golf course because the wind swirls it.
You do want you do want experience when you're sort
of playing this golf course.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
Did you get nervous as you became a pro, I mean, oh, nine, T, ten, ten, tha, twelve,
T twelve. Are you nervous in the mix or does
it just become like a normal tournament as professional after
a while.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
I think you're nervous the first time, but I think
the more you play it, the more comfortable you get.
It doesn't change a lot. The weather obviously is a
little you know, we've seen like Zach Johnson play there
and it was freezing cold, right and it changed the
course drastically. But it is such a it's such a
comforting feeling for a pro to play there because they

(30:24):
only allow one person per player on the range. Like
if you want your swing instructor, then he can come up.
If you want your psychology, well then they have to
switch out. If you want your physio, they have to
switch out. So it's a very calm. It's it's strange,
but it's a very calm place.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
And that is that not normal at a even a
US Open or a British You can play you want, and.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
The use like it's your family, your cousins, your friends,
your teachers, their teachers, swing putting chipping guy, they're all
in the range. There's a thousand people in the range,
and there's a thousand manufacturers in media, and it's like
the great thing about Guessa so like defined and everyone's
so respectful of everything. But it's just such a It

(31:05):
really does feel like it's all about the players and
the player experience, and so everything you're doing that week
is sort of wrapped around that. And it's just like
I said, it's eerily calm, and it just feels like
it's all about the golf and you're just that's what
you're there for. And I don't know, I just always
it just was such a relaxing place, even though you

(31:27):
know you're at the Masters. It felt therapeutic in a
way because it just felt like you didn't have to
deal with a lot of stuff other than just playing
and handling yourself.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Did you get nervous more there than you did in
other places, or at least all like off the first
tea on Thursday.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
I don't know. I don't think so. I just so happy.
I just enjoyed the experience. It was so cool to
be at Augusta and playing the Masters, these signature holes,
those signature moments. I don't know, I just felt like
I just enjoyed it. So much. You know, everything the
part three contests, the specters, the people. You didn't have
to worry about anything. There was not going to be

(32:04):
any nonsense out there. There's not going to be any
fans yelling or It's like everything was just controlled and
it just it felt easy in a way that all
you have to do is just try to play your
best and play really good golf.

Speaker 2 (32:16):
Is it harder because I was looking at some of
the scores. Besides, if you take the fall Masters out,
it's kind of hovered between ten to thirteen hunder, which
in this modern golf I don't want to say it's
US Open, but it's not. These guys aren't shooting twenty
four under par.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
Well.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
What makes it so difficult, like, is just the slopes?
Is it your approach shots, which clearly is a big
deal at Augusta. Is there a flat lie out there?

Speaker 1 (32:39):
There's not many. There's not many flat lies. I think
what they do well there is they adjust year to year, right,
and they have a lot of control over that. Golfers like,
they have all the control that golf pers you'd ever want,
so they're able to adjust it at some length here
move this back, you know, they have a great sense

(33:01):
and great feel of it because they host the same
course the same place over and over and over again.
So that helps a ton if you're going to a
different golf course like the USGA does PGA, there's no
rhythm and there's no field to what's happening and how
the weather's going to play into the golf course. So
they can hit the gas on the greens when they want,
which is obviously really challenging, right, Like you don't see

(33:22):
great putters seem to win at Agussa, even though putting
is so important. You just have to not three putts.
You just have to not be a disaster on the greens.
The course is all about ball striking, and now it's
becoming much more of a bomber's golf course where you
really got to hit an eye and far to carry.
There's a bunch of carries there over these little mounds

(33:43):
on a lot of these par fours where if you
do carry it and then it's going to bounce on
a flat surface other than bouncing into a hill which
then equates to twenty five thirty yards and so, and
like I said, they can still hit the gas on
these greens into where if you can where you hit
your second shots. It's I mean, we're talking about two

(34:05):
to three yard gaps like this is I've got to
land it in this area or it's going to hit
a hill roll down and I want to be struggling
for part. But if I hit it on top of
there and it rolls over, I've got a great look
for Berdie. So it's just the difference between where you
hit your approach shots on a lot of these holes.
Is a difference between a five foot putt and a
thirty thirty foot are open over a four foot mount.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Would the average like five to ten handicap have any
freaking shot on those greens because they always say they're
like the hardest greens in America.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
No, they would have no. Like I mean, I'm coaching
high school here in the kids three poot all the time,
Like that's like five ten handicappers are going to three
poot a lot.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
And is it because they're like concrete, they're just super
fast or they're undulated. Is the combination of it all?

Speaker 1 (34:49):
A combination of it all. They're super fast, which is
one thing. But the greens, like the course sits like
on a hill, like from the first T eight you know,
first T eighteen green, it just goes like this down
to twelve. Like it's steep, steep, steep, And that's how
the whole golf course. It's oddly in a bowl and
everything goes down to twelve. And so even when you

(35:10):
think you have a flat putt, it's still going to
break a lot, right, And so amateurs just aren't used
to playing three four five feet a break and having
the ball and just thinking that I've got a twelve
foot and I just need to to putting. I just
need to get it around there and give it a chance,
but not be super aggressive. There's not many aggressive putts

(35:30):
you have. There's not really many flat greens. Twelve ironic,
it's about the flattest green you're going to have there.
But it's you know, you can get at it at
certain times and certain they give you that opportunity. I
guess that which is so great. There's a stretch in
that back nine on Sunday right where you can get
to that golf course and you have to make Hey
when you when you have that opportunity, did.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
You ever have a chance on these on your top
tens to like legitimately win on the weekend.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yeah, I think, I I mean I think I had
teeing off on Sunday. I had a chance to win.
I needed to play really well, and I just didn't
get it done. But I felt like I was there,
and you have those opportunities in the background Sunday and
you got to take advantage of those. I mean, the
best I remember playing with Freddy one year, and that
was my favorite time with Freddy. Sunday at the Masters

(36:21):
was just so cool. And so he's the best guy
to play with in a stressful environment because he is
he's sort of just like this, you know in your read, calm,
confident coach on the sideline, just doing his thing, and
and Freddie has just this way about him that nothing
seems too big.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
You know, you played in the era before we dive
into some of the favorites and just what we're thinking
this weekend in peak Tiger, I mean when you first
got on only two thousands, and obviously once Phil got
over the hump and became an all time great. Starting
with Tiger, I mean, you see him the day, he's smiley.
He's definitely a different person in his late forties. Oh yeah,

(37:00):
I remember texting with you years ago when it was
like covid shutdown just watching all these youtubes. I mean,
how much better was he than everyone else? Like do
you what's your when you when I when you close
your eyes and think like your Tiger story being around
and playing with him in his heyday, what stands out
to you about Tiger Woods.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
It's crazy to think that he was the best at
everything Like there was like he was winning tournaments playing okay,
and that's guy's whole dream and their life was to
win a PGA tournament. And it wasn't like he was
toying with anybody. He just was like he was just
on a different planet of work, ethic and desire and

(37:44):
what he was willing to do to win. But like
his like he was the best driver of the golf ball,
he was the best putter, and the short game was ridiculous.
And what you have to do is hit your long
iron as well. And we'd never seen anybody be able
to hit three iron as far and as high as
he could. And so when you go to Augusta and
you go to these major type places and he's just

(38:06):
playing a different type of golf when he's hitting these
five and long irons straight up in the air and
just landing it perfectly soft on the green with incredible
distance control. But when you take that and you take
that to really tough golf courses, the advantage is just
you know, what we've learned is that ball striking, iron
play is what's going to separate you from being a

(38:27):
really very great player. And it takes you from course
to course, country to country, it doesn't really matter. And
the way he was able to do those things and
hit those irons, and the way the sound it made,
the lack of it just looked and felt, and the
way he can shape it just slightly. It was unlike
anything we've ever seen before. Guys would struggle to just

(38:49):
get up and to win events, and it was just
like he was. He was such an a rhythm of
just toying with everybody else a lot of the time.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
You know, the thing I've always said about him, and listen,
obviously he's had a crazy life, I mean an insane life,
but he said it today, like I just love golf. Yes,
to be as rich as he is, to be as
injured as he is, it's like to still want some grind.
It's I just think ninety nine percent of people in

(39:19):
his shoes. With his resume, his money is now family.
I just don't think would continue to do it. And
I just admire his drive, which, like you said, was
on the forefront for twenty years for guys like you
just watching it was it was unprecedented. I don't know
if we'll ever quite see anything like it again.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
No, it's a it's a like you said, it's a
pure joy to the simplest things. I think he loves.
He loves just the feeling, you know, of a pure strike,
the high draw, the manipulation that hit it left and right,
the feeling like of hitting a perfect wed from like
sixty yard and watching it spin, and the control that

(40:02):
he has. He loves the simplicity of the things. It's
sort of like, Brady, you can't like Thursdays and Saturdays
and Sundays. You got to like hitting balls at home
at like seven am and just feeling the way the
ball rolls off the putter. Like, he loves all those things.
It's his passion, it's his drive, it's his work ethic.
He just loves all those things. And I don't think
people even understand what he has to do now just

(40:25):
to play around the golf. I mean it's hours of
warm up and work and then it's post work and
he's willing to do it, which is crazy. He's almost
fifty and he's been doing and I mean the last
what he wanted in twenty nineteen, So like the last
five years of his it's been such a struggle for
him just to get on a golf course and play
four rounds. And it doesn't phase him. He's just like, well,

(40:47):
this is what I have to do. I have to
add this hour of stretching and inkle mobility work. That's
what I'm going to do. Do I have to wake
him at four, okay, three, whatever, it doesn't matter because
I want to be on that first d competing because
that's what he like.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
I know, you're tight and for a long time with
the Nicholson who you know, I following his scores that
lived these last couple of years hasn't been the prettiest thing.
But last year at the Masters, I mean, shit, the
guy made a running second. So why we know Tiger's
success here, but Phil's not far behind him as a
guy who's very comfortable. Is it just his touch? Obviously

(41:23):
he's one of the most talented players of all time.
Is just just one of those courses. When you have
the course knowledge like those two guys, it's such a
big advantage.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
Yeah, oh for sure, for sure. And Phil loves he's
like a very visual person and he's an artist, right Tiger.
Tiger is way more of a technician. Right. Once he
got a lead of a major tournament, he just weighs
you down. There's gonna be no mistakes, there's gonna be
irons and three with Phil's like, you know, do you
think I could skip this across the water and then

(41:51):
get up on the green and then a roll right?
Like I think I can do that, right, And like
Bones is historically like, no, we don't need to skip
the ball of the water and we can just lay up.
Because you're much player, right, Bill's always seeing the challenge
and the fun in the game, and Augusta provides that.
It's a you know, you're going to hit so many
shots that week. And Phil loves that. He loves the

(42:12):
artistry of what he can do and what he needs
to do, and that course gives you everything. I mean,
you went at high, low, fade, draw whatever, and so
he loves that there and it's great. Like I said,
he's vombinant now, and that's a course that lends you
to give you that opportunity a lot and kill those
part fives. And he knows he knows those screens better

(42:33):
than anybody in history. So when he's there, he's he's
thinking to himself, I'm ahead of these guys because I
know what everything's going to do. I've played here in
every condition. And he's always believing that if I can
just get a rhythm with my swing, because he always
feels rhythmic like he can't. It's not really a technician.
But if it gets in that rhythm, watch out, because

(42:55):
he's going to go at every flag because he feels
that confident and he's going to be really, really comfortable
around the periods.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
Okay, let's let's go through some of the top guys
this week. I mean Rory, he needs this to complete
the career Grand Slam. Last year obviously was devastating. He
missed the cut, he had not been playing well, and
then he goes and sees Butch and last week, I
don't know if you saw some of his stats, his
proximity the whole from like one twenty five to two
hundred was dramatically better with every club. So now I'm thinking,

(43:23):
I don't know. I'm gonna throw a little cash on Rory.
It feels like he's bound to win it. The confidence
you've been around Butch, just the mental positivity he can
throw into your head. It feels like Rory's a big
psychological if he's in the right space, watch out. What
are your thoughts on Rory McElroy And do you think
it's inevitable because for some guys this isn't inevitable.

Speaker 1 (43:45):
No, I don't think it's inevitable. I think what I
think what Butch will do is give him a little
bit of structure, right, and he'll say, Okay, this is
these are the few things that you're gonna need. Butch
has a few ideals that he really likes and he
believes in the golf. So I think he's going to
help him with those things and give him a like

(44:08):
give him just like play in this area right and
just like structure, structure, structure to swing, and that should
give him some confidence. I do like him this week
because he did play last week, So I think Rory
kind of is going to feed off of that a lot.
And I don't think he's gonna be talked about much.
I think it's gonna be a lot of shuffler. It's
gonna be a lot of like female you know Xander,

(44:31):
people like I love Xander. This week, there's gonna be
a lot of things willie Z. There's gonna be a
lot of players, a lot of people talking. And I
think Rory, especially after like the live stuff and him,
you know, having a press conference every single week, I
think he can slide underneath that radar a little bit
and just kind of play and not have to worry
about much. And so I think that's going to benefit

(44:53):
him a lot. I do expect him. I think he's
going to play actually really really good this week and
it might come down to just you know, putting for him.
You know, I think I like you. I think he's
gonna hit it great and he's gonna play really really well,
really really well. Is he going to find that touch
around the greens of the putter, you know, off the
wait and see?

Speaker 2 (45:11):
Is it fair to say that the draw players have
an advantage at this course?

Speaker 1 (45:15):
Well, like rom won last year and so he's a big.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
Cutter DJ's won before.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
Yeah, I don't because I think these guys can hit
so high now they can take a lot of stuff
out of play. You can hit a three wood, it's
going to be much easier to draw. So I don't
think so like a guy like Victor. To me, Hombland
is a guy I really liked this week his iron play.
I mean, he can just beat like I think he
will if he gets in a good rhythm on Thursday.

(45:42):
I think he's just going to slowly climb up the
leaderboard and I think he'll end up being there on
Sunday and have a really good chance to win. I
think he's this golf course is all of all your
irons and control, and he can do that as good
as anybody.

Speaker 2 (45:53):
It's funny, you know, we talk a lot about like
Scottie Scheffler's now getting the Tiger treatment with odds. Let's
face it, in like two thousand and two, people weren't
talking about like gambling on golf like they do now,
but we all just assumed Tiger was gonna win. It
is pretty crazy that he's like two, three, four to one.
I mean, yeah, Hunter, he's four to one this week,
and it doesn't even seem that crazy. He's like, yeah,

(46:14):
he Putswoy's probably gonna win by four. You're a Dallas guy.
He's a Dallas guy. Uh, you're if you know him
at all, what your thoughts on? Just watched him play
as a pro. It seems kind of crazy because the
guy is freaking incredible.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
He's you know, we talked about him a couple of
years ago when we were like, is he gonna hang around? Right?
Like is this sort of But it's reality is he's
the best iron player in the world. And even though
he had you know, struggles with this putter, he was
finishing top five and he was still the best player
in the world during those weeks. So he's got the
confidence in the putter now and he's very just. He

(46:54):
does a great job I think of resetting himself like
week after a week, right, and he's always sort of
tinker trying to make a swing better. He doesn't seem
to get caught up in in the tiger hysteria and
trying to be anything other than Scotti Scheffler. And there's
a simplicity to that that really works in his favor.

(47:15):
It would be you know, four to one is high.
It's hard to put money on him to think that
he's going to win because he's been such a here.
Can you really just continue that over and over again?
I wouldn't think so. You think he's just going to
miss a few putts, have one bad day of irons.
But man, he is. He is so good And he

(47:36):
said he's just good, good at everything. There's just not
really a weakness to his game. He has great touch,
great feeler's got a great caddy. He's already won here before, right,
so I wouldn't I wouldn't put it past him to win.
But boy, I mean, are we really entering that category
where he's going to be just top ten every single
major for the next ten years. I mean, I don't

(47:56):
know about that.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
If he were to win this one, it'd be safe
to say he might win two or three majors this year,
because oh sure he'd be out the gates. But we
thought that about John Rahm last year once he won
this tournament. And he's a guy. I don't know, if
you saw the quote, he's like, yeah, I wish you know,
live maybe we should go to seventy two holes because
I would imagine, you know, he's an old school grinder competitor. Yeah,
probably doesn't feel as sharp coming into this. He he's

(48:21):
he feels kind of like the anti Kopka who took
everything seriously. Keopka only took these four tournaments seriously. And
I'm I'm kind of awfume just because I want that
comment to me told me a lot of like, I
wonder if he feels as great as he did last
year when he was winning tournaments, playing in normal four
round events, and he doesn't feel quite as sharp coming
to this bad boy.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
It's a great point. I saw that quote too, and
I was like, and I mean, I mean I talked
to the guys that live about broadcasting and fifteen mour
holes is not like that is their plan, Like that
is not something movable. They don't feel like that is anything,
Like that's not an option.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
So a guy's weekend trip.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
Yeah, so that's really weird for me that he actually
was like made that public and said that a little
surprising to say the least. I don't disagree, like he's
these guys want they want that rhythm. There's a cadence
to playing professional golf four rounds, a cut and all
those things. So maybe he does feel a little bit
like honeymoon's over and now we're grinding, and now we're

(49:25):
playing week after a weekend. He's like, kt Lee, it's
just three days. I got to get ready for a
major four days. I wonder if he's thinking about that
and it's running through us. Had a little bit more
than he might have thought that it would have impacted
him getting to win a major, because now now it's
entering his time in his season, and there's a lot
of golf that he's going to be playing at a
high level, and maybe he doesn't feel like he's getting

(49:47):
that competitive spirit out there. I'm not sure. Only he
can answer that.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
How can keepka and not really give a shit about
tournaments and then just flip the switch and win majors
and compete in majors? Is that the craziest thing you've
ever seen?

Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yes, I don't think we've never seen a career like this.
I don't know how to like, you know, I was
looking at like major winners of his calibere, meaning like
the guys who have won five plus they've all won,
you know, a ratio of about five to one, meeting
five tournaments, five normal tournaments to like one major. Like
it's a big gap, right, Phil's got like six majors

(50:22):
and like forty plus wins, right, he's like eight to
one tigres guy, like fIF you know, there's at least
a five to like a ten to one gap. He's
like like like two to one. Like it's just weird.
It's like, how do you have many tournaments majors when
you have like nine or ten tournaments one? It's just weird.
It's it's very unique and very strange. There's really no
I don't understand it either, because he's so good that

(50:45):
you would think at least one twenty times more of
like a Dustin Johnson type career, more of a rory,
but he actually just hasn't played that. He spent a
lot of time on the European Tour kind of grinding
out there and figuring out kind of who he was.
But he does not seem to be deterred by anything.
His majors last year were incredible. It was such a
stud and the masters in the PGA. So it doesn't

(51:11):
make any sense to me that he can just flip
a switch from like Darrel playing terrible in them, you know,
for two days, and then come here and be sharp.
That doesn't that doesn't make sense to me it did
feel like last year he was playing well, he was
winning live events. His confidence was like, he's like, I'm
feeling like Brooks again. Health is great. So I do
I think he's going to flip the switch. I wouldn't.

(51:33):
I wouldn't think so because last year he did. Like
last year it was like, oh he's back, and this
year we haven't heard from him in like months, right,
So not really sure. He's not someone that I'm thinking
about today to win the Masters. You know.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
Yeah, as from a gambling standpoint, it's hard not to
sprinkle a little on him because you always just get
you'll be pissed at yourself Saturday you look up. But
also a couple of years ago he missed the cut,
he's battling injuries. Two guys, Yeah, I know. My two
favorites this week not necessarily to win, but then I
just think auto top ten bets and auto guys to
be in the mix are Heydekie and Xander. I mean

(52:09):
they are playing fantastic, They're comfortable here. Xander's you know,
Hedeki's won a major before. Xander feels like he has
a million top fives in majors and a little like
Rory I don't necessarily know the masters. Inevitably, he's going
to win a big tournament if if you're in the
mix this often, right, What are your thoughts on Xander?
You ever overlap with him?

Speaker 1 (52:30):
He's a little younger, but yeah, we played Charlotte a
few years ago. I love him. I think his game
is I I mean, he hits these just high, beautiful
draws and his swing. Like what I like about players
is when their swings sort of matched the ballflight. And
whenever I watch Xander play, it's just like it's poetry

(52:50):
because it's just so it's exactly it should do exactly
what his swing says, and he does it so consistently,
and I mean it's so high, and when you play majors,
to hit it high and have control where you really
control where that ball's landing and where it's going to hit.
And you know, like I said, ball striking really really matters.
He's finished top five in these majors and runner ups

(53:12):
because of his ball striking and he just doesn't put
himself in danger. And so I like you, I love him.
This week. I don't see him not playing well because
it just to me and it's an assumption but I
believe it's truely true. And he walks on that golf
course and it is really comfortable, like he can just
see all his shots and how he wants the ball
to come down. He's plenty long enough. To me, it's

(53:35):
just he's going to get out there. It's just going
to be those critical moments. That's all it comes down.
It's winning a major. In these things, it's just a
putter or two here. He's been there, he's lived it.
I think he's going to be as motivated as jacked
as anybody to have this sort of opportunity.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
You got any good hood Decky stories. I'm fascinated by
that guy. The one arm finishes and balls three twenty.
He won at riv He's like, yeah, I didn't even
think I played that well. He's goll like sixty two.
You know, You're just like, this guy's a trip man.
He's just just a big time talent.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Yeah. He lives Orlando, and I've been there a few
times on the range with him working like Sean Fully
and stuff, and he just he's got his crew with
him from Japan and he just he goes out to
the range and just bangs balls and bangs balls and
bangs balls and hit some more balls and just he's

(54:38):
just a machine, right It's that Japanese culture of just
grinding over and over and over again. I don't, you know,
I don't know much about him. Nobody really does. It's
just you know, a cultural thing. But he's a machine
out there. And you know, it's a fascinating lifestyle that
he has because he's such a superstar over there, and

(54:58):
I think it's a reprieve for him to come over
here and live in this, you know, live in Orlando,
this a little tiny off course and just play. I
think it's very relaxing for him. So he is a
you know, it always feels like he's on the verge
of superstardom, right Like I'm thinking, like this could be
the year where he develops into a top five player
for the next five years. But then he sort of
kind of goes away, and so there's an inconsistency there

(55:20):
with him that's actually sort of exciting because he can
jump up and win any major in any arm. He
has that skill set is putting is a little is
putting always feels like I hold him back because it's
just it's just not fluid it's not pretty. It's very
looks analytical and technique, and it's like that's just not
how you're going to be consistent over a long run.
But man, his physical tools are absurd and hit him.

(55:43):
Stepping on the golf course to win is no joke
you mentioned Fen.

Speaker 2 (55:47):
Now, one thing, when I play out of TPC, sometimes
i will be on the range about to go play,
and I'll see a guy Max or Tony or one
of those guys at the back of the range and
I always kind of keep track when you turn around
eight to nine and you can see them up they're putting. Yeah, Tony,
on Saturday I play, I teed off at like eight thirty.
When I teed off he was back there putting. When

(56:08):
I came up on eight, he was still back there putting,
And when I finished, he was just going to play. Now, obviously,
as pro golfers, you guys work really hard. But he's
a guy that's had success here and the putting has
just been an absolute disaster. Yeah, from a ball striking standpoint,
I mean, how many guys can hang with that dude?

Speaker 1 (56:25):
Yeah, I saw this morning. He's like, you know, seventh
overall and ball striking strokes gained solid, not even where
he could really be at his best. Best putting is
like one sixty something, right, And that's it's a draining
aspect of your game, right when you're hitting it so
good and something's laying you down consistently, and it's something

(56:47):
that's not it. It's not in your face putting right,
it's not obvious, it's it's just it's artistic. Right. All
the great putters, a lot of great putters are terrible
ball strikers. You know, put it bluntly, you know, because
it's different. It's like a different part of your brain,
so you have to see it different. And so it's
hard for guys who are very technique driven in the
in the ball striking, which you need to be because

(57:08):
you're not going to get lucky and be slowing ball striking,
to then take that and not use the technique for
putting because it doesn't work that way. You have to
be way more autistic, and especially at a gusta where
you really have to see this ball coming in from
different angles and different you know, speed variations to see

(57:30):
where it's going to go in. And it's not easy.
And so I'm sure they're working on you know, touch
and feel and like how's the ball going to roll
into the hole, and what are things that we're going
to need to focus on that week to make putts
because they know, you know, it's hard to know the problem,
but it's a hard fix, it really really is. Because

(57:50):
you can do you can feel great, and then that
tournament rolls around and those green squeeds go up to
like thirteen fourteen, and then ball gets a little bouncy
and all of a sudden, your confidence is wavering, right
and you don't want it to waiver on the back nine,
And I guess that's going to be tough to overcome.
But you know he's also a player who's due to
have a great week.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
Well, let's face it, would you agree that putting is
probably the one. Whether you're a ten handicap of five
handicap of pro golfer, you three put that first green
all of a sudden, now you're really rattled.

Speaker 1 (58:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
I don't care who you are. It can throw you
off because you can hit a bad drive the next
hole hit a good one, but putting, all of a sudden,
you start freaking out over a five footer. It's we
all have the same nerves standing over a putt.

Speaker 1 (58:32):
Some of the best shots you've ever hit come after
some of your worst, right, there's like, yeah, it's like
that's all right, I want to get this, Like I know,
I got something I can see and I hit it
up there, and you know, so yeah, especially there, putting
can really you know, it can wear everything else down.
It can be an anchor. And it's a real challenge
for all the players out there, because they're not all
bad putters by any means, but we're talking about a

(58:54):
razor thin margin of air here in a winning of major,
and they know that once you get close there, you
get inside about ten feet, you got to make your plots.
You got to make the ones that really really matter
and they count. And so you know, all the players
know that, they know they got to do that, and
they got to figure it out. So Tony's a guy
that just a little bit of confidence and a little

(59:15):
bit of rhythm and a little bit of touch there,
it could go a long way for him.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
We talk a lot about twelve thirteen, obviously, fifteen sixteen
for me, nine and eighteen I mean nine hitting it
down that tree line, then getting down there and then
going up hill is always really cool in eighteen For
us that will probably never play there, that shot looks
like insanely intimidating, Like ninety nine percent of decent golfers
are hitting a freaking tree. For you, what beside the

(59:42):
super famous holes is just a hole. They're like, God,
I love that hole in Augusta.

Speaker 1 (59:46):
Oh man, there's so many. I think the roars that
I guess there are what exciting, Like sixteen is such
a cool hole because there's that because it's funny. You
know you know what's coming there. There's no really surprises there.
You know you know where the pin's going to be
On Sundays, you know it's going to be that back

(01:00:08):
left plan. And so that was a fun hole because
all in ones are just it feels like they're going
to happen that day. You know there's gonna be a
couple of them in the in the stuff, fans are
all landing up, and I always like that transition. I
was like, my favorite spot on that golf course was
middle fairway on fifteen because I got seventeen to the right,
I can see all the way all the way down

(01:00:29):
to thirteen and fourteen. I can see what's happening on
the green of fifteen, and I can see sixteen, and
you can even kind of and you can kind of
hear all these things happening around you, and you're at
this kind of peak point on the golf course looking
down at that green, the water, you know the water
and the way the green is shaped, and you know, gosh,
if I hit this a little long, it's going to

(01:00:51):
hit that downslope and then I could go in the
water on sixteen. It's just to me, that was always
my favorite, one of my favorite plates there. And then
the tee on thirteen where you're playing in this massive tournament.
There's no one on the green on eleven, there's no
one on the green on twelve, and there's no one
on the t on thirteen, and you're just just by
yourself and your players and your caddies and you guys

(01:01:11):
can just talk and into being in such a huge,
huge moment and a huge situation and there's no one
around you. It's really trippy, and it's not like golf,
and it's not like really sports, right It's there's no yelling,
there's no people, there's no you know, you the man
or get in the hole, there's none of that there,
and so it's this oddly peaceful, therapeutic place where you're

(01:01:34):
just at the pinnacle of your career in a way,
and the pinnacle of golf, and you're just like I said,
it always feels the term always feels like it's about
the players and that event and those kind of moments. Always.
I always can feel that at those times.

Speaker 2 (01:01:49):
Do roars echo out there, like can you feel it?

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
Oh my gosh, on Sunday, it's crazy, it's crazy, like
you said, it's just because you know what's kind of
coming back down on Sunday, what's going to happen where
there's the pins are going to be the opportunities for guys,
guys ahead of you that are making the charms, guys
behind you that are maybe missing a putt. It's like
everything that goes around there, it's really really cool, and

(01:02:17):
it's just it's just like I said, it's all about
the players in the field that week, and you can
feel it, and it's so exciting because not many majors
were there's eagles and things are changing on the board
so quickly and so fast, and so you can you
have such like that another instinct there and you can
kind of hear everything and kind of feel what's happening
around you, which is really really neat because the course

(01:02:38):
isn't that huge. It's not that big. You know, holes
are kind of stacked up with one another, and that's
sort of the charm of it, and it's so that's
what makes it so fun, is that you can feel
everything around you. You don't really have to even look at
the leaderboard because you kind.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
Of know who's Hunter Man thinks Sunday afternoon getting the
green jacket.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
I would say, you know, I think Patrick Cantley, I
would watch him. I'm going to go with Hollland Tho,
I'm gonna go with Victor Holland, I think it's going
to have the week this week. But you know, I'm
going to Hedge and the guys as well. Bout with Victor.
I think he's due. I think he's due.

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
Okay, when on this Tiger said he's feeling good some
report yesterday striping the ball. Obviously he can break that
cut streak would be his twenty fourth. I think straight yeah,
cut twenty third, Tiger top twenty. I mean it's just
it's it's because the weather's supposed to be a little rainy,
but it's hot rain, like the southern hot rain, not
freezing cold like last year. Does Tiger still have one

(01:03:39):
in him? You know, he's talk he's talking it up.
I always want to believe, but I gotta be realistic,
not to will, but just how cool would that be?
Just if he is just playing decent.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
To compete, to compete, and to be there on Sunday
the weather looks great, like you said Thursday, maybe a
little bit of rain. If he's on the right side.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
Of that, doesn't that help him a little?

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
I don't know. Like the hill, I don't know. With
his ankle and everything. That course is so lead it's uphill,
it's downhill. I mean, you are your shins are fried
after that week. I mean, it's just all I mean,
it's it's it's not a long course and it's and
it's pretty efficient in a lot of areas. There's some
walks back, but it's not you're not it's not a
tough it's not a tough walk, but it's it's like

(01:04:22):
you don't tired, but your your body's just aches a
little bit, and your shins and everything because you're going
uphill so much. Then downhill. So I don't you know
he can make you believe I mean anything, like he's
he's got one more charge in him. I do think
he's putting everything he has into this week. It's just,

(01:04:42):
you know, he's been through so much, Like his body
has just physically been through so much. It's hard to
imagine that he can play well for four days, that
he can actually stand in there and play well for
four days. I mean, it's been five years since he won.
And you could see it on Thursday. I was watching
him going, he's really comfortable, He's striping it. This this
is going to be interesting. You don't You just haven't
seen him play in a really long long time, for

(01:05:07):
decent rounds of golf. It's just his body is just
so broken down. But if anyone can can put something
together and make the cut, I do think he can
do that, and I do think he will. I would
say he's going to make the cut, and you know,
he might have a might have an unbelievable nine holes
on Saturday or something like that to peak in the
top twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
Okay, weended on this night. You're coach. Now, we got
a lot of people that listen handicaps, probably a lot
of probably a lot of well over tens uh. One
piece of advice could be something general to just improve
your game, improve your scoring, to just make golf a
little easier. That you see a lot of amateur golfers

(01:05:46):
not do well well.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
One they can't putt. So if you cannot three pint,
like if you want to make your scores better and
you want to go from eighty five to seventy eight,
number one thing is stopped three putting so that it's
no fun and people won't do that. So whatever, but that's.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
You do that you have practice putting, is that the thing?

Speaker 1 (01:06:07):
Of course, you just practice funning. You practice putting, match
your stroke up with the putter. You can even go,
you know, go left arm high, lily z or whatever
and get that thing up. Whatever you can do consistently.
But have good touch. Right, if you just have good
feel and good touch, hit a lot of long puts
different lit length putts. But I think on the swing

(01:06:28):
most people I've seen, especially watching these kids, plays like
they they stand up through the shot. So if you
can stay in your posture and make a big turn
more and you stay in your posture, it will help
you rotate through the shot and be more consistent. Almost
everybody pops out of it. As soon as you pop out,
it's over. It's like there's right and there's left and

(01:06:50):
they're both in play now. If you can stay in
your posture, I feel all the best players they do
a great job of saying in their posture. Laurer bodies.
You know, it's just there's an angle there with your
leg in your back, and you stay in and it
helps you rotate and you fire through right. Look at
Dustin Johnson's swing or worries or whatever. But if you
can just do that, because rotation is a huge part

(01:07:10):
of the swing, and most amateurs can't rotate for nothing.
Some of them are just physically not capable. But that's
something that almost everyone does. They just pop out of
it and all of a sudden their arms are, you know,
are flinging at the ball.

Speaker 2 (01:07:24):
Be an athlete, try just try.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Golf is nfletic sport.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
Okay, hunter, I really appreciate it. Enjoy the Masters, and uh,
thanks for coming on.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
Man, enjoy Scott still, thanks man, I will.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
Talk to you soon. Tell Jason we say hi.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
Of course. The volume