April 3, 2025 • 41 mins
John previews The Masters by discussing the importance of the top players in the game needing to step up, how the international players are in it to win, and how Justin Thomas looks like he's back to playing his game. Next, John dives into the LIV players and how it's hard to judge how well they will play in the majors. Then, he talks about how impressed he was with the Creator Classic and what changes he would make to the event.
Lastly, John answers your questions during this episode's mailbag segment.
5:51 - The best guys need to step up
20:19 - International players in The Masters
25:27 - JT is coming back
26:26 - When do the LIV players stand
29:04 - Creator Classic
37:11 - Mailbag
Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow - for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
I thought today we do a little go lo podcast.
(00:23):
We got the Masters right around the corner. It'll be
here next week, very very fired up. So I want
to do a little look back at the beginning of
the season as we transition. If you're listening to this,
the Valero is probably already off and running not I
didn't really have any thoughts on that. Hard to gauge,
(00:45):
you know, the week before with not that many big names,
kind of a weird field. Obviously. I think I saw
stat twelve of the last fourteen guys to win this
tournament had not been in the Masters. So obviously if
you win this weekend and you get an auto invite
next week, which is I don't know, kind of a
big deal. Akshay Batilla did it last year. Has to
(01:06):
be pretty cool to get the to win, make a
bunch of money and then be like, hey, you're going
to Augusta. So we're gonna do a little look back
kind of big picture on the season as we I mean,
once the Masters start, we are in the major season.
The PGA is right around the corner. Basically every month
we get the PGA, The US Open and the British
and then football is back, so obviously also a Ryder
(01:29):
Cup season, a big year for a lot of guys,
not just on our squad, but some of these Euros,
some of the dudes on LIV. You know, this is
when Keepka kind of makes us hey in major season.
You know, Bryson is gonna be on the Ryder Cup.
I think, no matter what, I guess he could just
miss every cut in the Majors, which I doubt's gonna happen.
(01:50):
But I think we're gonna start seeing a mixture of
those guys, which also factors into next week because Patrick Reid,
Sergio Phil actually is playing really well and as a
guy that's won the Masters, I don't know multiple times.
So we will dive into that live basically copy the PGA,
(02:11):
which I do not blame them, and are doing a
Creator classic. They're calling it the Duels, though I think
their version is might be better, and I give them
credit for doing a couple things. So I want to
dive into that, and then like we do every week,
I will take some of your questions. The easiest way
to get in on the show is at golopod at
(02:34):
golopod is the Instagram for the golf podcast, So just
fire in those dms at golopod and get your question
answered on the show. But before we dive into some golf,
you know, I got to tell you about my friends,
my partners, and the official ticketing app of this podcast.
You know, Actually a golf tournament, if one is coming
(02:55):
near you, that could be the PGA Tour or Live
is a sneaky underrated event, just to kind of get outside,
get some sun, have a couple of cocktails. You don't
even end up watching that much golf, but it gets
you moving around. Maybe Friday, take a half day at work,
get out of the office, go hang out, have some
pops with a buddy. Cannot recommend it enough. So if
(03:16):
you have a golf tournament coming near you at I
would highly recommend going just to hang out. Obviously, Baseball, basketball, hockey,
we got playoffs starting, you have concerts, you got comedy shows.
Easiest ticketing app I've ever used by a country mile.
Cannot recommend it enough. Take the guests. We're out of
buying tickets with game Time. Download the game Time app,
(03:37):
create an account and use the code John. That's John
for twenty dollars off your first purchase terms apply again,
create an account and redeem the code John for twenty
dollars off downa the game time app today last minute
ticket's lowest price is guaranteed. Well. I think a couple
of weeks ago, when it was announced that Tiger had
torn his achilles Phil is fifty five years old. The
(04:00):
crew of those two guys, specifically Tiger and Phil, drafted
off him carrying the sport for most of you know,
my late youth in high school and college is over
and now it's in other people's hands. It's very, very
important that the best players play well in the biggest
tournaments and specifically the Majors. But part of golf it's
(04:24):
a little like baseball. It's every weekend, and guys like
Rory and Scotty are going to end up probably playing
twenty plus times a year, so it really matters that
they're in the mix when they play. And we've been
very lucky over the last couple of years. Rory has
had a chance to win I think three of the
last eight majors. Think about last year Xander won two,
(04:48):
Scotty won another, and Bryson and Rory dueled it out
at the US Open. You can't ask for much more.
Golf is better when there is not parody, no different
than tim an individual sport, and you could argue team
sports as well. It's better when everyone is chasing the
Yankees and the Dodgers, or the Patriots have a dynasty,
(05:09):
or you know, in basketball, when Kevin Durant went to
the Warriors, everyone wants to see if you can beat him.
I'm sorry, like, I don't just believe that. I think
the numbers show it's definitely with individual sports. When Federer,
when Pete Sampras, when the joker, when one of those
guys is on top, I almost called him Djokovic. That
is his name, Djokovic. I was going to get Nicole Jokich,
(05:30):
who had a sixty point triple double last night in
a loss, which I have to imagine is the first
time in NBA history that's ever happened. But we need
Rory and we need Scotty to play well. And I
think when you look back over the beginning of the year,
this is why I think it's crazy when I hear
people saying that Rory's like he just can't get it done.
(05:51):
In the biggest tournaments. Well he has it lately, and
I don't understand he hasn't won a major in ten years.
But if you've watched the sport, you know, for a
longer period of time, multiple years, you would be insane
to think this guy's never gonna win a big tournament
aka one of the majors. Honestly, I think it's way
more likely that he wins multiple majors winning moving forward,
(06:15):
then he never wins another one. Now does that mean
he's gonna win the Masters in a week? I don't know.
We have had a lot of hype on him coming
into this tournament and he's underwhelmed, and it's happened to
him in other majors as well. But I would say
over the course of the last couple of years, he
couldn't have been much closer. I mean, he should have
won the Open the year camp Smith won it. Obviously
(06:37):
last year he blew it down the stretch, missing two
putts in the last three holes, and he easily could
have won at LACC the US Open what was that
two years ago? And he couldn't make a putt to
save his life. But I don't know if he's ever
gonna win the Masters. If I was a betting man,
which I am, I would say, yes, Do I plan
on putting money on him next week? I do? I
(06:59):
think when you watch him play this year, it'd be
one thing. It's like, Rory has two wins this year.
It's like, what tournaments did he win? It's like the Century. Now.
I understand he never goes to Hawaii and the AMX
and he ain't playing that either, but I'm just for
a hypothetical sake, let's just say those were his two
tournament wins. I would not feel the same as winning
(07:19):
at Pebble Beach in inclement weather and winning at the
Players when half the field had no shot and looked terrible.
So like, I think his form and then you watch
him last week, it's like first rounds, like does he
even want to be here? Was he just did? He
just go to get a couple reps and he's gonna
kind of like do a sneaky miss the cut and
then just fly home. It's like no, he then shot
(07:43):
four under five hundred six under the last three days. Now,
the one thing that scares you a little bit, and
this is what golf has battled for a long time,
is we're balls deep now in gambling, so I would
like some sort of universal injury report. But that does happened.
So you're like, yeah, there's word out on the street
that something's up with this guy's knee. You're like, well,
(08:05):
then I probably wouldn't have bet money on him over
the last month. But you don't know until it's too late.
Ry just told us He's like, yeah, something's up with
my elbow. Now. The way he said it is almost
like he had a little smile, So like, is he
just mess with everybody? Is he actually good? Is he
trying to throw people off the scent? Is he trying
to lower the hype going into Augusta? Because for a
(08:28):
split second on Sunday, you're like, could Rory win this tournament? Now?
He was too far back and he ended up Honestly,
wasn't turned out, wasn't even that close. But he did mention, yeah,
somethings a little up with my elbow. But then he
said his coach was flying out and they were gonna
dial in the previous week. He'd already been to Augusta.
I'd be stunned. If he's not a major factor now,
(08:52):
is he gonna win? We talked about this over the
last couple of weeks. If you bet money on him
last year and you were watching that group when he
was playing with Scottie Scheffler and the wind started to
pick up and he had no shot, You're like, Scotty
Scheffler is in a different world. I think as we
sit here today, they are. I mean, Rory's obviously been
better this year, benefited from not having raviolis and shards
(09:14):
of glass in his hands. But I just have a
hard time thinking Rory has ever been better at golf
than he is right now, and the positive momentum he
has obviously going into the Masters and just the major
season in general. Now for the first time, and we
talked about this last week, was you know, listen, you
have an injury, it throws you off. Like it's golf,
(09:37):
it's kind of like it's baseball. It's a thinking man sport,
and if you get too far away from it, it's
a specific skill. If you go two months without hitting
a baseball, you don't just hop right back in the
batter's box and handle, you know, one hundred miles an
hour and a big league curve. It takes you some
time to get your timing back golf is no different.
So when you look at Scotty, and I would throw
(09:57):
Xander in this as well. When they have injury and
they are not able to play golf, it is a problem.
And Xander that's why he's in this weird category, has
a careerly year last year, wins multiple majors. Then he
gets his rib injury and it's like, I don't know,
it's gonna take him some time. Wouldn't shock me if
he's fully healthy that he he gets back to form
here in a couple tournaments and by like the US
(10:19):
Open and the British he's a major factor. But Scotty
was like, I don't know, man, he's not playing terribly,
but he doesn't look quite as dominant as he was
last year, but kind of understandable. Still a shards of
glass in his hand that they were like gonna slowly
take out. And then Sunday happened and you're like, that's
the Scotty Scheffler that I know. That's the guy that
beat the shit out of everyone last year and won
(10:42):
sixty five million dollars playing golf. That's the guy. Now.
He ultimately didn't win the tournament because min wou League
got up and down on eighteen from the back of
the green. But like that version of that player can
beat anyone in the world any given week, and probably
will if he's gonna play like that. And that was
like I was off the Scottie Scheffler scent. I'm like
(11:04):
three and a half to one. I understand he dominates
at Augusta, but he's not playing that well. And then
that happens, and especially on the back nine, he's just Bertie, Bertie, Bertie,
and he's just peppering flags like, holy shit, Scottie is coming,
you know. It's like that. It's like that Jeff win
Omar and the wire turns the corner. And I think,
(11:25):
if you are someone like who's gonna gamble on this tournament,
I don't think it's crazy to have a little Scotty
Scheffler exposure. Now he's got had a unique career, right,
he feels like a guy that's won multiple majors when
he just won. He has won multiple majors, but like
at a bunch of different venues, like this is the
(11:46):
only course in which he's won. He has not won
the US Open, he has not won the British Open,
and he obviously has not won the PGA Championship. Now, granted,
last year he was the favorite going in. He got
arrested kind of threw him off. But certain people have
are very comfortable certain places, and this is the only
major of the year where the course never changes. It's
why Phil has been a factor there for a long time.
(12:07):
It's why everyone gets bullish. You know when Tiger is
semi healthy that he can win there. You know, Bubba Watson,
these guys can go back. Patrick Reid plays well there
every single year. Go to his wiki right now, see
the last like five years. How well Patrick Reid, who
has not been that good at golf over the last
couple of years, plays at Augusta. It's no different than
some of us. Right, You'll meet a guy I'm one
(12:30):
that when I'm playing well, it's like, oh, this is
meet my buddy, John Middlecoff. He's a three handicap. Well, yeah,
at my home course, when I'm playing a lot and
I'm playing well, it's like, yeah, i can shoot, you know,
high seventies every round when I'm playing well. Not right now,
struggling to break eighty five. But you take me somewhere else.
All of a sudden, it's like, well, how this guy
just shoot eighty six, Cause that's most you know, I
(12:54):
would say country club golfers. I'm not technically a country
club guy, but the point remains. And when you take
them away from their home base anything as possible, that's
what separates really good golfers. I have countless friends, especially
college guys that played in college. They're handicap. It's like,
they can shoot par anywhere. You can take them to Oakmont,
you can take them to Pebble Beach, you can take
(13:16):
them to the local muni. Their games translate. Most of
ours do not. It's no different with some of the
guys like from fifty to one fifty on the PGA Tour.
You get them at tournaments like the one they just
played in Houston, or some of these tournaments like in
Mexico or you know, I'm trying to think early on
in the season, certain guys are just comfortable certain places
(13:38):
Toasty's really comfortable last week, and they feel, you know,
just it just works for their game, especially guys that
aren't that accurate off the tea. Some of these courses
like have big ass fairways, and then you get to
the majors, it's like, holy shit, this is a different ballgame.
And when you don't, when you miss the fairway and
you're in rough or your irons a little off and
(13:58):
you're missing greens, all of a sudden, golf becomes really
complicated and very very difficult at the highest level. And
Scotty is a guy when he's on, he's I mean again,
having Tiger. Having a Tiger season is a lot different
than having a Tiger career. Has a long way to go,
but there is no arguing that's one of the great
(14:20):
seasons we've ever seen. And the crazy part is is
it's like it almost felt underwhelming because how did he
not win more majors? But this is a big year,
and you know, in a big picture thing, like the
one thing now is Scotty. It's like, we know we
can win the Masters, and more than likely, if he
stays healthy over the next four or five years, he's
(14:41):
gonna win it again. But like, I think it's pretty
important to rattle off one of the other majors, But
after you watch him on Sunday, you're like, this guy's
going to be a factor. The finals from Marchbania are
here and the only thing King for sure is it's
(15:01):
the last time you can bet on college basketball this season.
Get in on all the action expected and unexpected with
DraftKings Sportsbook with live betting, exclusive content, promos, and parlays.
DraftKings is the ultimate college basketball destination for March first time.
Here's something special just for you new DraftKings customers. Bet
(15:25):
five bucks to get one hundred and fifty bonus bets.
Instantly bet the unexpected with DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings
Sportsbook app and use the code John. That's code John
for new customers to get one hundred and fifty and
bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight ope and WY or text
hope and WY four six seven three six nine in Connecticut.
Help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven to seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
boot Hill Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one and over.
Agent eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Voyden, Ontario, bonus Betskspire one
(16:06):
hundred and sixty eight hours after Richuin's four additional terms
and responsible gaming resources see dkanng dot co slash audio.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I think a couple other big picture of thoughts this
season is like a couple of the international guys. Now
Hoveland has been in the wilderness for like a year,
you win a tournament, like like it's still there, and
at any moment, if this guy figures it out, watch
the you know what out. So to me, Victor Hovelin
is a guy who has had a lot of success
(16:41):
in majors, who just won a tournament, who's just trying
to still figure things out, like he's got it in them,
And I don't know if that's gonna come this year
in the majors. Maybe it doesn't. It would it shock
me if he shoots eighty at the Masters, it would not.
Would it also shock me if you look up round one,
it's like Victor Hovelin just shot five under. It would
not either if he is close, which is hard to
(17:05):
think that he's not because of the way that he
just won, despite what he's saying, like he just beat
Justin Thomas, you know who was having a fantastic year.
I don't know if it's going to be the Masters,
but I would keep a close eye on him especially.
I mean, this was a guy two years ago whose
odds going into big tournaments would hover from like seventeen, eighteen,
(17:27):
nineteen to one. And if you start seeing a guy
like him at thirty forty fifty to one, especially if
he has a couple bad tournaments, I would just not
be afraid to sprinkle. You know, Max Homa is a
guy who last year was leading the Masters, was leading
the Masters, who has never played well in majors, and
your boy might alive. Bet him, And then the moment
(17:49):
that shot on twelve went into the bush, I looked
and I had put a decent amount of money on him.
The cash out was basically for like ninety five percent
of my bet, and I hit it immediately, almost like
I beat DraftKings to the punch and I got my
money back and then he double boggie that hole and
it was over. But you know, you look at Max
this year, he's kind of in shambles. I didn't realize
how bad it was going. He's played in seven events,
(18:12):
he's missed four of those cuts, and he has zero,
top twenty fives. I mean, this was a guy, I
would say, twelve months ago who was viewed as one
of the better Americans Locke Ryder Cup. It felt like
type guy for several years moving forward, and someone who
had kind of figured it out and it was just
gonna be a major problem in the majors after the Masters,
(18:33):
And not only did that not happen, he's kind of
falling apart, and he's got new clubs, he's gotten new apparel.
I'm a fan of his game, but I don't know.
I might have just because I'm a sucker for value.
He was one hundred and twenty to one this week
at the Valero one hundred and twenty to one. I
might have thrown twenty five dollars to pay like thirty
(18:55):
three hundred dollars. I'm like, you know, maybe this finished
his DFL. Maybe Max shoots seventy eight seventy five and
doesn't sniff the cut, or maybe like he just I
don't know, is a guy that's won several times on
the PGA Tour just like figures it out once you
get to a certain odds and you're a player like
(19:16):
that has shown his caliber. It's hard not to just
throw like twenty bucks on a guy. It's like, wait,
I can just throw twenty bucks on a guy who
has won countless times. Again, maybe he sucks. We just
sawed a couple of weeks ago with Hovland. Hoveland was
proclaiming to everybody, like, I am terrible at golf. Right now,
he was shooting eighty, shooting eighty, and then all of
a sudden, it's like he wins now Victor Hoveland when
(19:38):
they're both going right. Victor Hoblin's a better player than
Max Homa. But still, like you look at this field,
it's not great. I would say one big picture thing
for the Ryder Cup and just for the majors in general,
is justin Thomas's kind of back. He's not all the
way back because he just didn't win a couple of
weeks ago. And this is a guy that, you know,
(19:58):
I think when his career's over, he'll easily have more
than twenty plus wins on the PGA Tour, And it
wouldn't shock me if he finishes with like three or
four majors. He's got two right now, two PG championships.
But he's a guy that for some reason, you know,
I used to bet on him and the Masters and
he would never play well there. In theory, it should
(20:18):
be a good spot for him, you know, a guy
that can work the ball both ways, fantastic short game
putting has kind of been his downfall. It's clearly not
an easy place to put And then when Bones went
to his bag, you're like, well, Bones has been there
for Phil Countless wins. This guy's gonna know and it
just didn't really go well. But I do think JT,
if not the Masters, is just guy, a guy to
(20:41):
watch and check the odds out for the majors. Cause
if you can get JT at like a US Open,
at a PGA Championship, even a British Open, if his
odds are closer to like thirty five forty to one
than they were when he was playing at an elite
level like sixteen to one, there's just value there, especially
with top tens and top twenty. If you can get
(21:02):
plus odds on JT ever to top twenty in big tournaments,
that that to me is an auto hammer anything else.
I do think the hard part about this, and we'll
dive into live here in a second, is knowing where
these live guys stand right. I mean I was listening
to a podcast today. Phil's been playing really well and
he's fifty five years old coming into the Masters. We'll
(21:24):
see how he does this week down in Florida at
Trump they're playing Durral. But like, I don't think it's
crazy to sprinkle a little money on Phil. But the
big guys like John Rahm is a guy that feels
completely out of side, out of mind, like the difference
of John Ram and Bryson feels feels dramatic, like Bryson
(21:48):
feels very much in my life now. Obviously part of
that's YouTube, and as someone that watches a lot, if
not all, of Bryson's YouTube videos, I'll say this, you
can't take much away when Bryson's doing the break fifty
and they're playing the Reds, Like I don't I don't
really judge his game in that moment though it usually
looks pretty cool because he's hitting like, you know, two
(22:10):
five irons from two hundred and fifty par fours. When
you just watch Bryson go to a random course and
try to break the course record, you go, holy shit,
this guy's good. And the one thing they say about
the Masters is like it benefits left handed players or
right handed guys with draws. And when you watch Bryson now,
(22:31):
if you just obviously the last couple of years, he's
played a pretty distinct draw, not just off the tee
but with his irons. When you watch him on these
YouTube videos when he's just playing a random course in
like Texas trying to break the course record, you're like,
every ball he hits is a draw. And you know,
I know a couple of years he took a lot
of shit because he had said that it was a
(22:54):
par sixty seven, and I think he went out and
shot like seventy four or seventy five. But and listen,
I didn't blame anyone like Bryce in the Master is
going to be a weird spot for him. Last year
was not, and he finished tied for sixth, and he
was right in the mix over the weekend to win
it until he kind of melted down on whole thirteen
(23:14):
when he chunked that chip and it just kind of
fell apart. But I do think if you look back
at last year, you go, I don't want to say
he's figured it out, but he clearly is much more
comfortable there, and his shot shape really works. So I'm
not saying he's gonna win the Masters this year, but
I think you're a little crazy. He did not have
(23:36):
a little exposure, and to think that Bryson can't be
a serious I expect Bryson to be a serious factor
in all these tournaments. Now. The Master is less than
the other three, especially the PGA in the US Open,
he is going to be the guy people root for.
He's essentially like Bob does sports grant. If those guys
were good enough to play in majors, everyone would be
(23:58):
rooting for them. That is Bryson. He's like a content creator.
He has a lot of fans. People just like and
enjoy watching him play golf on YouTube. I'm telling you
he is going to have such a home field advantage
when he plays in these In these the PGA Championship,
(24:19):
in the US Open, the Masters is a little tempered
just because of the way the patrons and the fans
is just not as crazy of an environment. But I
think a lot of people are behind him, and I
think that really matters for a guy like him, like Kopka.
You could be booing Keopka and it wouldn't face him
if he's playing well, is he playing well, I don't know,
but I'm excited to watch that, uh, you know live,
(24:44):
they copied. I watched a couple weeks ago went the
Players the Creator Classic that Horvat ended up winning and listen.
I thought, it is a good idea. Clearly were a
lot of people there. I think approaching it like a
normal golf tournament is pretty dumb. You should kind of
lean into the craziness. I thought, why didn't you have
(25:04):
like Bob does sports commentating, Like that's what I would
have said, Hey, Bob, you take the microphone here and
just be crazy. But the tour still a little stiff,
still a little conservative, is clearly uncomfortable doing that. You
know who is not uncomfortable doing that at all is Live.
And the difference of their Creator Classic and the PGA
(25:25):
Tours Creator Classic is the PGA Tourist Creator Classic was
just a bunch of dudes playing, which is not a
bad I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I was entertained,
but these like part of being at the Players or
being at Live is like you do have the best
players in the world right around there, and lives like hey,
Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith Phil Mickelson, all you got. You
(25:46):
guys are playing. It's a little weird that Bryson's not playing,
maybe because he would want it on his YouTube channel
and they're putting it. Here's the thing. The creator classic
was on golf channel. I just go fully on YouTube
where there aren't really any rules. You know, on golf channel,
you're still following some of the FCC rules. It's got
an old school feel to it, you know, with a broadcast,
(26:09):
you going on Grant Corvat's channel, which you know, listen,
Grant is a rock star right now in the YouTube space.
It's not he doesn't swear. It's not like, you know,
if Bob does sports is like the barstool of of
YouTube golf. I know four Play has a YouTube as well,
but you know, Bob. I would say, Bob, what I
think YouTube creators when it comes to golf. I would
(26:32):
say Bob and Joey and Faparez and Grant are the biggest.
Now you could argue Good Good is huge. You could argue,
you know, the Brian bros. Are big. I watch them,
I watch Good, I watch it all. I enjoy YouTube golf.
But I think part of what makes it pretty special
it's kind of raw, you know, and that's kind of
(26:54):
what the consumer likes. It's pretty authentic that there aren't
really rules behind it. Kind of do whatever you want, though,
I would say, you know, Grant kind of hangs his
hat like he's not swearing, like it's it's I would say,
it's much more made for kids. And it's probably no
wonder why Grant has a lot of younger fans because
their parents feel very comfortable watching it. Like if I
had an eight year old, would I let him watch Bob?
(27:17):
I'd probably be hypocritical because I drop a lot of
F bombs as well, But you know, it's just kind
of a different vibe. But bringing Bob to commentate it,
with all the stars playing, it's gonna get some viral
moments and it's gonna be a really big deal on
Grant's channel. Now, there was a report that that the
(27:38):
PGA Tour was not happy with this and reached out
to you know, not just the creators, but like you know,
Wesley Bryant I think made like nine hundred K last
year on the PGA Tour and was not happy with
him playing in this event. Now, that report came from
like a live account essentially, so I don't know what
to believe or not to believe. I would say this
(28:00):
at this point in time, just you guys got to
figure it out like that. There's no more banning people,
there's no more getting mad at other people for doing
things like this is the wild wild West, and it's
on you to get everyone back on board and figure
it out. Like the days of a couple of years ago,
suspending people for life and kicking them off the tour,
that was proven to be an awful, awful misstep. And
(28:25):
if it is true that you are going after and pressuring,
you know, the Brian Bros Or the Horvats or the
Bob does sports, like if you do this, you're gonna
be no longer allowed in any of our sanctioned events
in Creator Classics. That would be the dumbest thing I've
ever heard of. That would be what you would call
awful awful business. So I hope that they did not
(28:49):
do that because that would be beyond stupid. But overall,
I'm pretty excited to watch this live Creator Classic here
in a couple of days. I did want to do
(29:12):
this because I got some questions at John Middlecoff or
excuse me. That's my other Instagram handle that we do
for three and out fire any question you have in there.
This is just the easiest way to get the golf questions.
Sometimes I see golf questions in my normal Instagram. That's
just going to get lost in the shuffle. So if
you want to get your questions answered on the go
(29:32):
Lo podcast, you have to insta or DM me on
at golopod. That's the instagram, So at golopod firing those dms.
I've been thinking about some bets to make for the Masters.
Looking at Minwu Lee off his win, I'm looking to
go pretty extreme one way or the other. I think
the best bet is probably to take him to top twenty,
(29:53):
but I'm thinking about taking him to top ten or
taking him to miss the cut completely. Figured maybe he's
on a high horse and Augusta gets him, or with
him playing good and having good finishes at Augusta in
prior years, he can take the next step. Does either
side of that coin speak more than the other? You
know what's fascinating about that guy? He swings out of
(30:17):
his you know what off the tea like. I don't
think you can swing any harder there can't be many
humans that are playing pro golf, non long drive, people
that have a faster club head speed and faster ball
speed than men Luly. I mean, there were times where
it felt like he was fifteen twenty miles an hour
higher than Scottie Scheffler. Now the problem with that is
(30:40):
sometimes he hits it off the planet, as he did
I think what it was a hole sixteen last week,
and which made it a tournament because the moment he
pumps in the water Scotty's putting for eagle, You're like,
oh my god, is Scotty gonna win this? Or are
they gonna get to extra holes? Now here's what menu
wou Lee does well, and he's I find him pretty entertaining.
(31:03):
The moment at the end of the tournament when he
pretended to do aim point on like a six inch
putt was funny, like that was that was good. His
short game's pretty elite. So it's like if you look
at Sawgrass when he falls apart, it's because he gets
all over the place off the tee and he's in
other fairways. But in Sawgrass, like you can't just pump
(31:26):
it into another fairway. This is not some resort style course,
like you're in the trees and you're fucked, you're gonna
get bogies. I do think a gust is a little
like that, Like you can't just pump it all over
the place. You do have to be accurate. Now, his
short game and his ability to putt, like that's gonna
translate at the Masters. But to me, he's better off.
(31:49):
If you tell me he's like leading after two rounds,
I'd be like, he could implode. But if he just
kind of flies under the radar and there's less pressure
on him, I would like him more.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
So.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I don't think a top twenty bet is crazy. To me,
top ten feels a little extreme. I would probably do both.
I would do a top twenty bet and I would
do a miss the cut bet. A mailbag question, if
you were to enter into a four man scramble and
could assemble the best possible team of current golfers, who
would your team be? You were on the team, so
(32:21):
essentially you only pick three other dudes. Mine would be Rory,
Scotty and JT. Rory for the driving, Scotty for the approaches,
and JT just a big shot maker. Yeah, I think
you could go if you just picked random PGA Tour guys, Like,
are there other PGA Tour guys playing in the scramble,
because if they're not, I could just take random dudes
(32:44):
that play in PJ Tour events and we would dominate. Now,
if this was for like a million dollars and you
were playing other elite players and you could have the
pick of the litter, then it would matter. I think
you would go with Rory or Bryson. Again, I watch
the YouTube golf Bryson in these environments. Him off the
tee is just like automatic draw. I don't think it
(33:07):
would be crazy to take Bryson. What if you just
went all live, you just went Bryson. You need an
iron player, so you'd go like Terrell Hatton or Jaukee Neeman,
and for putting, you chose Cam Smith or Patrick Reid
for short game. I don't think you. I think you
were underestimating if you just took any three guys in
(33:29):
like the top. Obviously some guys have different strengths, but
just you know, Jake Knap off the tee bombs it.
If you take like JJ Spahn, good iron player, you
know you just went around Russell Henley good putter. You
would win every scramble you ever entered at any course.
I might pick like entertaining guys. That's why I would
(33:50):
pick like. I might go some live guys like Bryson
Phil and Terrell Hatton. You know the problem with Rory
Scotty jud be probably fun, it might be kind of boring.
I know you're high in Rory. I think he will
undeniably win a major this year. Even with how well
he is playing, It's hard for me to think he
(34:12):
can win Augusta. The last six Majors have all been
faders of the ball. Every time Rory deviates from his
stock three point thirty yard draw, he seems to get
double crossed. Augusta doesn't set up well for him going
out of position, missing fairways. It's a course of immense
precision in missing in the correct spots, something I think
(34:32):
he's unable to do at a fade bias Augusta National
given his draw bias driver. Do you think his play
right now can supersede all this? Can he complete the
career Grand Slam this season? Also? Who are your sleeper
picks to top ten this year? Although it's hard to
tell which live golfers are playing well in which one
(34:54):
or not. Nieman seems to be an outlier. I would
say I kind of like Phil coming into Augusta. I
think taking Phil to top ten and twenty is not
crazy sometimes older guys at this course. He's really comfortable here.
He's played well this week. I think he finished like
third or fifth last week. Again, it's hard to a
(35:14):
couple of weeks ago it live. It's hard to know,
but you just know Phil's showing some signs of life.
This is a good place. I think Phil, Patrick Reid,
Sergio Sergio is playing well. Patrick Reid just plays well.
I think you're much more likely to bet on those
guys who are comfortable at this tournament than like Joaquin Neeman.
As Joaque Neeman ever had any success. I know everyone's
(35:38):
kind of blown him this year, but as he I
don't even think he's ever been good at a major.
I mean, Joaque Neman the last the last five years,
here's what he's done at the Masters T forty thirty five,
T sixteen, T twenty two. He's actually been pretty good
the last couple of years. Don't okay, don't hate Jaque Neman.
(35:58):
He has not really had much. Made your success a
lot of cuts, a lot of T thirties, T thirty,
T forty seven, T fifty three, T fifty eight. Now
Homo was like that last year, and then he played
well at the Masters, so you never know. I like
guys that have had previous success here. I do think
(36:21):
between Sergio, phil and Patrick Reid, one of those three
guys is going to finish in the top ten. I
don't know which one, kind of like Phil. A question
for the pod end on this. This is from Zach
if you had won the Masters, what would your champion
dinner be? Side note? If you find yourself in Jersey
arguably some of the best golf of the country. I'm
(36:41):
a GM in a public golf course in North New Jersey,
but can get you pretty much anywhere on in the state.
I appreciate that, you know, it's weird. I love food,
and I probably eat too much of it. I'm trying
to work on, you know, lowering the caloric intake. I
would not call myself like I would say, like like
(37:01):
a foodie. I'll try anything, So I'm not like an
anti foodie, but I'm definitely not like an elitist when
it comes to food. I like a nice steakhouse as
much as the next guy. I can also eat Chick
fil a or some hole in the wall Mexican joint,
like five days a week. If Maria was in my life,
I would eat Chipotle Bulls, I don't know, four times
(37:25):
a week for dinner. So you know, Scotty takes some
shit for his menu because he goes with like sliders
and barbecue beans and you know, just more of a
barbecue feel like a cookie on warm ice cream, or
I mean a warm cookie on a vanilla ice cream.
(37:45):
I actually think the Master's Dinner is less about, you know,
being like some French laundry experience for those of you
that don't know what that is. That's the gavenous and restaurant.
But the reason it was such a big moment not
because he broke the rules, but because that is like
the most famous restaurant in the NAPA area. And it's like,
(38:06):
you know, thousand dollars a person supposed to just be
a lead food but it is kind of fufy, like
when you see pictures. You know, it's just those things
that's very expensive. You get tiny little plates which probably
taste incredible. But I think the Masters is more like
steak and potatoes, and more telling stories in being with
the guys. Obviously there are a lot of people in
(38:28):
that room. This is not like the seventies or the
eighties where guys are probably getting blasted, because a large
percentage of the guys take it really seriously and clearly
if you had just wanted the previous year, like Scotty,
like we're trying to win it again. A couple of
the old guys potentially don't care and just fare to
have some cocktails. But I do think it's less about
(38:48):
the food experience and I could be wrong, and more
about the the vibes and the bonding of the people
and just telling stories about I don't know golf tournament life,
so I don't think I would overthink it. I would
keep it pretty. I wouldn't veer fall far off to me.
(39:11):
Some sort of salad. I think I've heard Scotty say
you have to include some sort of fish or kind
of If you're gonna go red meat, you gotta include
either chicken, fish, something you know, a little lighter. For guys,
I might just go give you a nice steak option,
chicken or fish option, maybe you know, with some pasta
(39:32):
a salad just some I think it's hard to go wrong.
I'm a sucker for like crabcakes and calamari something like that.
With the appetizer, yeah, ice cream Sunday or something like
that at the end. I don't know. Tiger is a
big milkshake guy. Like some people online make fun of you.
But I think some of these people they try to
(39:53):
think that they would go above and beyond. I don't
know if that'd be a huge hit. Like, does anyone
complain when they go to I don't know, Flemings or
wherever your steakhouse is. What do you usually get there? Steak,
some mac and cheese, or a potato asparagus salad. I mean,
you get the same thing most of the time every
(40:14):
time you go. For most of us, the most expensive
dinner that we attend is a steakhouse, right, And every
time I go to a steakhouse, give or take, I
get the same thing, and I usually enjoy it. Yet
whenever the master's menu comes out, which the guy that
wins it has to pay for, it's like, God, he's
(40:35):
just such a boring Obviously, if you're just going like
chicken tacos or something, that would be stupid, But I
think I would just go some greens, a potato ish,
something like mac and cheese, calamari crab cakes because I
like those, a steak, a chicken or a fish, and
(40:57):
an ice cream Sunday. And I think most people would
be pretty so that that would be my decision over
something like trying to act like I'm you know, Emerald
Leagasi here the volume mhm
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
I thought today we do a little go lo podcast.
(00:23):
We got the Masters right around the corner. It'll be
here next week, very very fired up. So I want
to do a little look back at the beginning of
the season as we transition. If you're listening to this,
the Valero is probably already off and running not I
didn't really have any thoughts on that. Hard to gauge,
(00:45):
you know, the week before with not that many big names,
kind of a weird field. Obviously. I think I saw
stat twelve of the last fourteen guys to win this
tournament had not been in the Masters. So obviously if
you win this weekend and you get an auto invite
next week, which is I don't know, kind of a
big deal. Akshay Batilla did it last year. Has to
(01:06):
be pretty cool to get the to win, make a
bunch of money and then be like, hey, you're going
to Augusta. So we're gonna do a little look back
kind of big picture on the season as we I mean,
once the Masters start, we are in the major season.
The PGA is right around the corner. Basically every month
we get the PGA, The US Open and the British
and then football is back, so obviously also a Ryder
(01:29):
Cup season, a big year for a lot of guys,
not just on our squad, but some of these Euros,
some of the dudes on LIV. You know, this is
when Keepka kind of makes us hey in major season.
You know, Bryson is gonna be on the Ryder Cup.
I think, no matter what, I guess he could just
miss every cut in the Majors, which I doubt's gonna happen.
(01:50):
But I think we're gonna start seeing a mixture of
those guys, which also factors into next week because Patrick Reid,
Sergio Phil actually is playing really well and as a
guy that's won the Masters, I don't know multiple times.
So we will dive into that live basically copy the PGA,
(02:11):
which I do not blame them, and are doing a
Creator classic. They're calling it the Duels, though I think
their version is might be better, and I give them
credit for doing a couple things. So I want to
dive into that, and then like we do every week,
I will take some of your questions. The easiest way
to get in on the show is at golopod at
(02:34):
golopod is the Instagram for the golf podcast, So just
fire in those dms at golopod and get your question
answered on the show. But before we dive into some golf,
you know, I got to tell you about my friends,
my partners, and the official ticketing app of this podcast.
You know, Actually a golf tournament, if one is coming
(02:55):
near you, that could be the PGA Tour or Live
is a sneaky underrated event, just to kind of get outside,
get some sun, have a couple of cocktails. You don't
even end up watching that much golf, but it gets
you moving around. Maybe Friday, take a half day at work,
get out of the office, go hang out, have some
pops with a buddy. Cannot recommend it enough. So if
(03:16):
you have a golf tournament coming near you at I
would highly recommend going just to hang out. Obviously, Baseball, basketball, hockey,
we got playoffs starting, you have concerts, you got comedy shows.
Easiest ticketing app I've ever used by a country mile.
Cannot recommend it enough. Take the guests. We're out of
buying tickets with game Time. Download the game Time app,
(03:37):
create an account and use the code John. That's John
for twenty dollars off your first purchase terms apply again,
create an account and redeem the code John for twenty
dollars off downa the game time app today last minute
ticket's lowest price is guaranteed. Well. I think a couple
of weeks ago, when it was announced that Tiger had
torn his achilles Phil is fifty five years old. The
(04:00):
crew of those two guys, specifically Tiger and Phil, drafted
off him carrying the sport for most of you know,
my late youth in high school and college is over
and now it's in other people's hands. It's very, very
important that the best players play well in the biggest
tournaments and specifically the Majors. But part of golf it's
(04:24):
a little like baseball. It's every weekend, and guys like
Rory and Scotty are going to end up probably playing
twenty plus times a year, so it really matters that
they're in the mix when they play. And we've been
very lucky over the last couple of years. Rory has
had a chance to win I think three of the
last eight majors. Think about last year Xander won two,
(04:48):
Scotty won another, and Bryson and Rory dueled it out
at the US Open. You can't ask for much more.
Golf is better when there is not parody, no different
than tim an individual sport, and you could argue team
sports as well. It's better when everyone is chasing the
Yankees and the Dodgers, or the Patriots have a dynasty,
(05:09):
or you know, in basketball, when Kevin Durant went to
the Warriors, everyone wants to see if you can beat him.
I'm sorry, like, I don't just believe that. I think
the numbers show it's definitely with individual sports. When Federer,
when Pete Sampras, when the joker, when one of those
guys is on top, I almost called him Djokovic. That
is his name, Djokovic. I was going to get Nicole Jokich,
(05:30):
who had a sixty point triple double last night in
a loss, which I have to imagine is the first
time in NBA history that's ever happened. But we need
Rory and we need Scotty to play well. And I
think when you look back over the beginning of the year,
this is why I think it's crazy when I hear
people saying that Rory's like he just can't get it done.
(05:51):
In the biggest tournaments. Well he has it lately, and
I don't understand he hasn't won a major in ten years.
But if you've watched the sport, you know, for a
longer period of time, multiple years, you would be insane
to think this guy's never gonna win a big tournament
aka one of the majors. Honestly, I think it's way
more likely that he wins multiple majors winning moving forward,
(06:15):
then he never wins another one. Now does that mean
he's gonna win the Masters in a week? I don't know.
We have had a lot of hype on him coming
into this tournament and he's underwhelmed, and it's happened to
him in other majors as well. But I would say
over the course of the last couple of years, he
couldn't have been much closer. I mean, he should have
won the Open the year camp Smith won it. Obviously
(06:37):
last year he blew it down the stretch, missing two
putts in the last three holes, and he easily could
have won at LACC the US Open what was that
two years ago? And he couldn't make a putt to
save his life. But I don't know if he's ever
gonna win the Masters. If I was a betting man,
which I am, I would say, yes, Do I plan
on putting money on him next week? I do? I
(06:59):
think when you watch him play this year, it'd be
one thing. It's like, Rory has two wins this year.
It's like, what tournaments did he win? It's like the Century. Now.
I understand he never goes to Hawaii and the AMX
and he ain't playing that either, but I'm just for
a hypothetical sake, let's just say those were his two
tournament wins. I would not feel the same as winning
(07:19):
at Pebble Beach in inclement weather and winning at the
Players when half the field had no shot and looked terrible.
So like, I think his form and then you watch
him last week, it's like first rounds, like does he
even want to be here? Was he just did? He
just go to get a couple reps and he's gonna
kind of like do a sneaky miss the cut and
then just fly home. It's like no, he then shot
(07:43):
four under five hundred six under the last three days. Now,
the one thing that scares you a little bit, and
this is what golf has battled for a long time,
is we're balls deep now in gambling, so I would
like some sort of universal injury report. But that does happened.
So you're like, yeah, there's word out on the street
that something's up with this guy's knee. You're like, well,
(08:05):
then I probably wouldn't have bet money on him over
the last month. But you don't know until it's too late.
Ry just told us He's like, yeah, something's up with
my elbow. Now. The way he said it is almost
like he had a little smile, So like, is he
just mess with everybody? Is he actually good? Is he
trying to throw people off the scent? Is he trying
to lower the hype going into Augusta? Because for a
(08:28):
split second on Sunday, you're like, could Rory win this tournament? Now?
He was too far back and he ended up Honestly,
wasn't turned out, wasn't even that close. But he did mention, yeah,
somethings a little up with my elbow. But then he
said his coach was flying out and they were gonna
dial in the previous week. He'd already been to Augusta.
I'd be stunned. If he's not a major factor now,
(08:52):
is he gonna win? We talked about this over the
last couple of weeks. If you bet money on him
last year and you were watching that group when he
was playing with Scottie Scheffler and the wind started to
pick up and he had no shot, You're like, Scotty
Scheffler is in a different world. I think as we
sit here today, they are. I mean, Rory's obviously been
better this year, benefited from not having raviolis and shards
(09:14):
of glass in his hands. But I just have a
hard time thinking Rory has ever been better at golf
than he is right now, and the positive momentum he
has obviously going into the Masters and just the major
season in general. Now for the first time, and we
talked about this last week, was you know, listen, you
have an injury, it throws you off. Like it's golf,
(09:37):
it's kind of like it's baseball. It's a thinking man sport,
and if you get too far away from it, it's
a specific skill. If you go two months without hitting
a baseball, you don't just hop right back in the
batter's box and handle, you know, one hundred miles an
hour and a big league curve. It takes you some
time to get your timing back golf is no different.
So when you look at Scotty, and I would throw
(09:57):
Xander in this as well. When they have injury and
they are not able to play golf, it is a problem.
And Xander that's why he's in this weird category, has
a careerly year last year, wins multiple majors. Then he
gets his rib injury and it's like, I don't know,
it's gonna take him some time. Wouldn't shock me if
he's fully healthy that he he gets back to form
here in a couple tournaments and by like the US
(10:19):
Open and the British he's a major factor. But Scotty
was like, I don't know, man, he's not playing terribly,
but he doesn't look quite as dominant as he was
last year, but kind of understandable. Still a shards of
glass in his hand that they were like gonna slowly
take out. And then Sunday happened and you're like, that's
the Scotty Scheffler that I know. That's the guy that
beat the shit out of everyone last year and won
(10:42):
sixty five million dollars playing golf. That's the guy. Now.
He ultimately didn't win the tournament because min wou League
got up and down on eighteen from the back of
the green. But like that version of that player can
beat anyone in the world any given week, and probably
will if he's gonna play like that. And that was
like I was off the Scottie Scheffler scent. I'm like
(11:04):
three and a half to one. I understand he dominates
at Augusta, but he's not playing that well. And then
that happens, and especially on the back nine, he's just Bertie, Bertie, Bertie,
and he's just peppering flags like, holy shit, Scottie is coming,
you know. It's like that. It's like that Jeff win
Omar and the wire turns the corner. And I think,
(11:25):
if you are someone like who's gonna gamble on this tournament,
I don't think it's crazy to have a little Scotty
Scheffler exposure. Now he's got had a unique career, right,
he feels like a guy that's won multiple majors when
he just won. He has won multiple majors, but like
at a bunch of different venues, like this is the
(11:46):
only course in which he's won. He has not won
the US Open, he has not won the British Open,
and he obviously has not won the PGA Championship. Now, granted,
last year he was the favorite going in. He got
arrested kind of threw him off. But certain people have
are very comfortable certain places, and this is the only
major of the year where the course never changes. It's
why Phil has been a factor there for a long time.
(12:07):
It's why everyone gets bullish. You know when Tiger is
semi healthy that he can win there. You know, Bubba Watson,
these guys can go back. Patrick Reid plays well there
every single year. Go to his wiki right now, see
the last like five years. How well Patrick Reid, who
has not been that good at golf over the last
couple of years, plays at Augusta. It's no different than
some of us. Right, You'll meet a guy I'm one
(12:30):
that when I'm playing well, it's like, oh, this is
meet my buddy, John Middlecoff. He's a three handicap. Well, yeah,
at my home course, when I'm playing a lot and
I'm playing well, it's like, yeah, i can shoot, you know,
high seventies every round when I'm playing well. Not right now,
struggling to break eighty five. But you take me somewhere else.
All of a sudden, it's like, well, how this guy
just shoot eighty six, Cause that's most you know, I
(12:54):
would say country club golfers. I'm not technically a country
club guy, but the point remains. And when you take
them away from their home base anything as possible, that's
what separates really good golfers. I have countless friends, especially
college guys that played in college. They're handicap. It's like,
they can shoot par anywhere. You can take them to Oakmont,
you can take them to Pebble Beach, you can take
(13:16):
them to the local muni. Their games translate. Most of
ours do not. It's no different with some of the
guys like from fifty to one fifty on the PGA Tour.
You get them at tournaments like the one they just
played in Houston, or some of these tournaments like in
Mexico or you know, I'm trying to think early on
in the season, certain guys are just comfortable certain places
(13:38):
Toasty's really comfortable last week, and they feel, you know,
just it just works for their game, especially guys that
aren't that accurate off the tea. Some of these courses
like have big ass fairways, and then you get to
the majors, it's like, holy shit, this is a different ballgame.
And when you don't, when you miss the fairway and
you're in rough or your irons a little off and
(13:58):
you're missing greens, all of a sudden, golf becomes really
complicated and very very difficult at the highest level. And
Scotty is a guy when he's on, he's I mean again,
having Tiger. Having a Tiger season is a lot different
than having a Tiger career. Has a long way to go,
but there is no arguing that's one of the great
(14:20):
seasons we've ever seen. And the crazy part is is
it's like it almost felt underwhelming because how did he
not win more majors? But this is a big year,
and you know, in a big picture thing, like the
one thing now is Scotty. It's like, we know we
can win the Masters, and more than likely, if he
stays healthy over the next four or five years, he's
(14:41):
gonna win it again. But like, I think it's pretty
important to rattle off one of the other majors, But
after you watch him on Sunday, you're like, this guy's
going to be a factor. The finals from Marchbania are
here and the only thing King for sure is it's
(15:01):
the last time you can bet on college basketball this season.
Get in on all the action expected and unexpected with
DraftKings Sportsbook with live betting, exclusive content, promos, and parlays.
DraftKings is the ultimate college basketball destination for March first time.
Here's something special just for you new DraftKings customers. Bet
(15:25):
five bucks to get one hundred and fifty bonus bets.
Instantly bet the unexpected with DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings
Sportsbook app and use the code John. That's code John
for new customers to get one hundred and fifty and
bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight ope and WY or text
hope and WY four six seven three six nine in Connecticut.
Help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven to seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
boot Hill Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one and over.
Agent eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Voyden, Ontario, bonus Betskspire one
(16:06):
hundred and sixty eight hours after Richuin's four additional terms
and responsible gaming resources see dkanng dot co slash audio.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I think a couple other big picture of thoughts this
season is like a couple of the international guys. Now
Hoveland has been in the wilderness for like a year,
you win a tournament, like like it's still there, and
at any moment, if this guy figures it out, watch
the you know what out. So to me, Victor Hovelin
is a guy who has had a lot of success
(16:41):
in majors, who just won a tournament, who's just trying
to still figure things out, like he's got it in them,
And I don't know if that's gonna come this year
in the majors. Maybe it doesn't. It would it shock
me if he shoots eighty at the Masters, it would not.
Would it also shock me if you look up round one,
it's like Victor Hovelin just shot five under. It would
not either if he is close, which is hard to
(17:05):
think that he's not because of the way that he
just won, despite what he's saying, like he just beat
Justin Thomas, you know who was having a fantastic year.
I don't know if it's going to be the Masters,
but I would keep a close eye on him especially.
I mean, this was a guy two years ago whose
odds going into big tournaments would hover from like seventeen, eighteen,
(17:27):
nineteen to one. And if you start seeing a guy
like him at thirty forty fifty to one, especially if
he has a couple bad tournaments, I would just not
be afraid to sprinkle. You know, Max Homa is a
guy who last year was leading the Masters, was leading
the Masters, who has never played well in majors, and
your boy might alive. Bet him, And then the moment
(17:49):
that shot on twelve went into the bush, I looked
and I had put a decent amount of money on him.
The cash out was basically for like ninety five percent
of my bet, and I hit it immediately, almost like
I beat DraftKings to the punch and I got my
money back and then he double boggie that hole and
it was over. But you know, you look at Max
this year, he's kind of in shambles. I didn't realize
how bad it was going. He's played in seven events,
(18:12):
he's missed four of those cuts, and he has zero,
top twenty fives. I mean, this was a guy, I
would say, twelve months ago who was viewed as one
of the better Americans Locke Ryder Cup. It felt like
type guy for several years moving forward, and someone who
had kind of figured it out and it was just
gonna be a major problem in the majors after the Masters,
(18:33):
And not only did that not happen, he's kind of
falling apart, and he's got new clubs, he's gotten new apparel.
I'm a fan of his game, but I don't know.
I might have just because I'm a sucker for value.
He was one hundred and twenty to one this week
at the Valero one hundred and twenty to one. I
might have thrown twenty five dollars to pay like thirty
(18:55):
three hundred dollars. I'm like, you know, maybe this finished
his DFL. Maybe Max shoots seventy eight seventy five and
doesn't sniff the cut, or maybe like he just I
don't know, is a guy that's won several times on
the PGA Tour just like figures it out once you
get to a certain odds and you're a player like
(19:16):
that has shown his caliber. It's hard not to just
throw like twenty bucks on a guy. It's like, wait,
I can just throw twenty bucks on a guy who
has won countless times. Again, maybe he sucks. We just
sawed a couple of weeks ago with Hovland. Hoveland was
proclaiming to everybody, like, I am terrible at golf. Right now,
he was shooting eighty, shooting eighty, and then all of
a sudden, it's like he wins now Victor Hoveland when
(19:38):
they're both going right. Victor Hoblin's a better player than
Max Homa. But still, like you look at this field,
it's not great. I would say one big picture thing
for the Ryder Cup and just for the majors in general,
is justin Thomas's kind of back. He's not all the
way back because he just didn't win a couple of
weeks ago. And this is a guy that, you know,
(19:58):
I think when his career's over, he'll easily have more
than twenty plus wins on the PGA Tour, And it
wouldn't shock me if he finishes with like three or
four majors. He's got two right now, two PG championships.
But he's a guy that for some reason, you know,
I used to bet on him and the Masters and
he would never play well there. In theory, it should
(20:18):
be a good spot for him, you know, a guy
that can work the ball both ways, fantastic short game
putting has kind of been his downfall. It's clearly not
an easy place to put And then when Bones went
to his bag, you're like, well, Bones has been there
for Phil Countless wins. This guy's gonna know and it
just didn't really go well. But I do think JT,
if not the Masters, is just guy, a guy to
(20:41):
watch and check the odds out for the majors. Cause
if you can get JT at like a US Open,
at a PGA Championship, even a British Open, if his
odds are closer to like thirty five forty to one
than they were when he was playing at an elite
level like sixteen to one, there's just value there, especially
with top tens and top twenty. If you can get
(21:02):
plus odds on JT ever to top twenty in big tournaments,
that that to me is an auto hammer anything else.
I do think the hard part about this, and we'll
dive into live here in a second, is knowing where
these live guys stand right. I mean I was listening
to a podcast today. Phil's been playing really well and
he's fifty five years old coming into the Masters. We'll
(21:24):
see how he does this week down in Florida at
Trump they're playing Durral. But like, I don't think it's
crazy to sprinkle a little money on Phil. But the
big guys like John Rahm is a guy that feels
completely out of side, out of mind, like the difference
of John Ram and Bryson feels feels dramatic, like Bryson
(21:48):
feels very much in my life now. Obviously part of
that's YouTube, and as someone that watches a lot, if
not all, of Bryson's YouTube videos, I'll say this, you
can't take much away when Bryson's doing the break fifty
and they're playing the Reds, Like I don't I don't
really judge his game in that moment though it usually
looks pretty cool because he's hitting like, you know, two
(22:10):
five irons from two hundred and fifty par fours. When
you just watch Bryson go to a random course and
try to break the course record, you go, holy shit,
this guy's good. And the one thing they say about
the Masters is like it benefits left handed players or
right handed guys with draws. And when you watch Bryson now,
(22:31):
if you just obviously the last couple of years, he's
played a pretty distinct draw, not just off the tee
but with his irons. When you watch him on these
YouTube videos when he's just playing a random course in
like Texas trying to break the course record, you're like,
every ball he hits is a draw. And you know,
I know a couple of years he took a lot
of shit because he had said that it was a
(22:54):
par sixty seven, and I think he went out and
shot like seventy four or seventy five. But and listen,
I didn't blame anyone like Bryce in the Master is
going to be a weird spot for him. Last year
was not, and he finished tied for sixth, and he
was right in the mix over the weekend to win
it until he kind of melted down on whole thirteen
(23:14):
when he chunked that chip and it just kind of
fell apart. But I do think if you look back
at last year, you go, I don't want to say
he's figured it out, but he clearly is much more
comfortable there, and his shot shape really works. So I'm
not saying he's gonna win the Masters this year, but
I think you're a little crazy. He did not have
(23:36):
a little exposure, and to think that Bryson can't be
a serious I expect Bryson to be a serious factor
in all these tournaments. Now. The Master is less than
the other three, especially the PGA in the US Open,
he is going to be the guy people root for.
He's essentially like Bob does sports grant. If those guys
were good enough to play in majors, everyone would be
(23:58):
rooting for them. That is Bryson. He's like a content creator.
He has a lot of fans. People just like and
enjoy watching him play golf on YouTube. I'm telling you
he is going to have such a home field advantage
when he plays in these In these the PGA Championship,
(24:19):
in the US Open, the Masters is a little tempered
just because of the way the patrons and the fans
is just not as crazy of an environment. But I
think a lot of people are behind him, and I
think that really matters for a guy like him, like Kopka.
You could be booing Keopka and it wouldn't face him
if he's playing well, is he playing well, I don't know,
but I'm excited to watch that, uh, you know live,
(24:44):
they copied. I watched a couple weeks ago went the
Players the Creator Classic that Horvat ended up winning and listen.
I thought, it is a good idea. Clearly were a
lot of people there. I think approaching it like a
normal golf tournament is pretty dumb. You should kind of
lean into the craziness. I thought, why didn't you have
(25:04):
like Bob does sports commentating, Like that's what I would
have said, Hey, Bob, you take the microphone here and
just be crazy. But the tour still a little stiff,
still a little conservative, is clearly uncomfortable doing that. You
know who is not uncomfortable doing that at all is Live.
And the difference of their Creator Classic and the PGA
(25:25):
Tours Creator Classic is the PGA Tourist Creator Classic was
just a bunch of dudes playing, which is not a
bad I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I was entertained,
but these like part of being at the Players or
being at Live is like you do have the best
players in the world right around there, and lives like hey,
Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith Phil Mickelson, all you got. You
(25:46):
guys are playing. It's a little weird that Bryson's not playing,
maybe because he would want it on his YouTube channel
and they're putting it. Here's the thing. The creator classic
was on golf channel. I just go fully on YouTube
where there aren't really any rules. You know, on golf channel,
you're still following some of the FCC rules. It's got
an old school feel to it, you know, with a broadcast,
(26:09):
you going on Grant Corvat's channel, which you know, listen,
Grant is a rock star right now in the YouTube space.
It's not he doesn't swear. It's not like, you know,
if Bob does sports is like the barstool of of
YouTube golf. I know four Play has a YouTube as well,
but you know, Bob. I would say, Bob, what I
think YouTube creators when it comes to golf. I would
(26:32):
say Bob and Joey and Faparez and Grant are the biggest.
Now you could argue Good Good is huge. You could argue,
you know, the Brian bros. Are big. I watch them,
I watch Good, I watch it all. I enjoy YouTube golf.
But I think part of what makes it pretty special
it's kind of raw, you know, and that's kind of
(26:54):
what the consumer likes. It's pretty authentic that there aren't
really rules behind it. Kind of do whatever you want, though,
I would say, you know, Grant kind of hangs his
hat like he's not swearing, like it's it's I would say,
it's much more made for kids. And it's probably no
wonder why Grant has a lot of younger fans because
their parents feel very comfortable watching it. Like if I
had an eight year old, would I let him watch Bob?
(27:17):
I'd probably be hypocritical because I drop a lot of
F bombs as well, But you know, it's just kind
of a different vibe. But bringing Bob to commentate it,
with all the stars playing, it's gonna get some viral
moments and it's gonna be a really big deal on
Grant's channel. Now, there was a report that that the
(27:38):
PGA Tour was not happy with this and reached out
to you know, not just the creators, but like you know,
Wesley Bryant I think made like nine hundred K last
year on the PGA Tour and was not happy with
him playing in this event. Now, that report came from
like a live account essentially, so I don't know what
to believe or not to believe. I would say this
(28:00):
at this point in time, just you guys got to
figure it out like that. There's no more banning people,
there's no more getting mad at other people for doing
things like this is the wild wild West, and it's
on you to get everyone back on board and figure
it out. Like the days of a couple of years ago,
suspending people for life and kicking them off the tour,
that was proven to be an awful, awful misstep. And
(28:25):
if it is true that you are going after and pressuring,
you know, the Brian Bros Or the Horvats or the
Bob does sports, like if you do this, you're gonna
be no longer allowed in any of our sanctioned events
in Creator Classics. That would be the dumbest thing I've
ever heard of. That would be what you would call
awful awful business. So I hope that they did not
(28:49):
do that because that would be beyond stupid. But overall,
I'm pretty excited to watch this live Creator Classic here
in a couple of days. I did want to do
(29:12):
this because I got some questions at John Middlecoff or
excuse me. That's my other Instagram handle that we do
for three and out fire any question you have in there.
This is just the easiest way to get the golf questions.
Sometimes I see golf questions in my normal Instagram. That's
just going to get lost in the shuffle. So if
you want to get your questions answered on the go
(29:32):
Lo podcast, you have to insta or DM me on
at golopod. That's the instagram, So at golopod firing those dms.
I've been thinking about some bets to make for the Masters.
Looking at Minwu Lee off his win, I'm looking to
go pretty extreme one way or the other. I think
the best bet is probably to take him to top twenty,
(29:53):
but I'm thinking about taking him to top ten or
taking him to miss the cut completely. Figured maybe he's
on a high horse and Augusta gets him, or with
him playing good and having good finishes at Augusta in
prior years, he can take the next step. Does either
side of that coin speak more than the other? You
know what's fascinating about that guy? He swings out of
(30:17):
his you know what off the tea like. I don't
think you can swing any harder there can't be many
humans that are playing pro golf, non long drive, people
that have a faster club head speed and faster ball
speed than men Luly. I mean, there were times where
it felt like he was fifteen twenty miles an hour
higher than Scottie Scheffler. Now the problem with that is
(30:40):
sometimes he hits it off the planet, as he did
I think what it was a hole sixteen last week,
and which made it a tournament because the moment he
pumps in the water Scotty's putting for eagle, You're like,
oh my god, is Scotty gonna win this? Or are
they gonna get to extra holes? Now here's what menu
wou Lee does well, and he's I find him pretty entertaining.
(31:03):
The moment at the end of the tournament when he
pretended to do aim point on like a six inch
putt was funny, like that was that was good. His
short game's pretty elite. So it's like if you look
at Sawgrass when he falls apart, it's because he gets
all over the place off the tee and he's in
other fairways. But in Sawgrass, like you can't just pump
(31:26):
it into another fairway. This is not some resort style course,
like you're in the trees and you're fucked, you're gonna
get bogies. I do think a gust is a little
like that, Like you can't just pump it all over
the place. You do have to be accurate. Now, his
short game and his ability to putt, like that's gonna
translate at the Masters. But to me, he's better off.
(31:49):
If you tell me he's like leading after two rounds,
I'd be like, he could implode. But if he just
kind of flies under the radar and there's less pressure
on him, I would like him more.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
So.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I don't think a top twenty bet is crazy. To me,
top ten feels a little extreme. I would probably do both.
I would do a top twenty bet and I would
do a miss the cut bet. A mailbag question, if
you were to enter into a four man scramble and
could assemble the best possible team of current golfers, who
would your team be? You were on the team, so
(32:21):
essentially you only pick three other dudes. Mine would be Rory,
Scotty and JT. Rory for the driving, Scotty for the approaches,
and JT just a big shot maker. Yeah, I think
you could go if you just picked random PGA Tour guys, Like,
are there other PGA Tour guys playing in the scramble,
because if they're not, I could just take random dudes
(32:44):
that play in PJ Tour events and we would dominate. Now,
if this was for like a million dollars and you
were playing other elite players and you could have the
pick of the litter, then it would matter. I think
you would go with Rory or Bryson. Again, I watch
the YouTube golf Bryson in these environments. Him off the
tee is just like automatic draw. I don't think it
(33:07):
would be crazy to take Bryson. What if you just
went all live, you just went Bryson. You need an
iron player, so you'd go like Terrell Hatton or Jaukee Neeman,
and for putting, you chose Cam Smith or Patrick Reid
for short game. I don't think you. I think you
were underestimating if you just took any three guys in
(33:29):
like the top. Obviously some guys have different strengths, but
just you know, Jake Knap off the tee bombs it.
If you take like JJ Spahn, good iron player, you
know you just went around Russell Henley good putter. You
would win every scramble you ever entered at any course.
I might pick like entertaining guys. That's why I would
(33:50):
pick like. I might go some live guys like Bryson
Phil and Terrell Hatton. You know the problem with Rory
Scotty jud be probably fun, it might be kind of boring.
I know you're high in Rory. I think he will
undeniably win a major this year. Even with how well
he is playing, It's hard for me to think he
(34:12):
can win Augusta. The last six Majors have all been
faders of the ball. Every time Rory deviates from his
stock three point thirty yard draw, he seems to get
double crossed. Augusta doesn't set up well for him going
out of position, missing fairways. It's a course of immense
precision in missing in the correct spots, something I think
(34:32):
he's unable to do at a fade bias Augusta National
given his draw bias driver. Do you think his play
right now can supersede all this? Can he complete the
career Grand Slam this season? Also? Who are your sleeper
picks to top ten this year? Although it's hard to
tell which live golfers are playing well in which one
(34:54):
or not. Nieman seems to be an outlier. I would
say I kind of like Phil coming into Augusta. I
think taking Phil to top ten and twenty is not
crazy sometimes older guys at this course. He's really comfortable here.
He's played well this week. I think he finished like
third or fifth last week. Again, it's hard to a
(35:14):
couple of weeks ago it live. It's hard to know,
but you just know Phil's showing some signs of life.
This is a good place. I think Phil, Patrick Reid,
Sergio Sergio is playing well. Patrick Reid just plays well.
I think you're much more likely to bet on those
guys who are comfortable at this tournament than like Joaquin Neeman.
As Joaque Neeman ever had any success. I know everyone's
(35:38):
kind of blown him this year, but as he I
don't even think he's ever been good at a major.
I mean, Joaque Neman the last the last five years,
here's what he's done at the Masters T forty thirty five,
T sixteen, T twenty two. He's actually been pretty good
the last couple of years. Don't okay, don't hate Jaque Neman.
(35:58):
He has not really had much. Made your success a
lot of cuts, a lot of T thirties, T thirty,
T forty seven, T fifty three, T fifty eight. Now
Homo was like that last year, and then he played
well at the Masters, so you never know. I like
guys that have had previous success here. I do think
(36:21):
between Sergio, phil and Patrick Reid, one of those three
guys is going to finish in the top ten. I
don't know which one, kind of like Phil. A question
for the pod end on this. This is from Zach
if you had won the Masters, what would your champion
dinner be? Side note? If you find yourself in Jersey
arguably some of the best golf of the country. I'm
(36:41):
a GM in a public golf course in North New Jersey,
but can get you pretty much anywhere on in the state.
I appreciate that, you know, it's weird. I love food,
and I probably eat too much of it. I'm trying
to work on, you know, lowering the caloric intake. I
would not call myself like I would say, like like
(37:01):
a foodie. I'll try anything, So I'm not like an
anti foodie, but I'm definitely not like an elitist when
it comes to food. I like a nice steakhouse as
much as the next guy. I can also eat Chick
fil a or some hole in the wall Mexican joint,
like five days a week. If Maria was in my life,
I would eat Chipotle Bulls, I don't know, four times
(37:25):
a week for dinner. So you know, Scotty takes some
shit for his menu because he goes with like sliders
and barbecue beans and you know, just more of a
barbecue feel like a cookie on warm ice cream, or
I mean a warm cookie on a vanilla ice cream.
(37:45):
I actually think the Master's Dinner is less about, you know,
being like some French laundry experience for those of you
that don't know what that is. That's the gavenous and restaurant.
But the reason it was such a big moment not
because he broke the rules, but because that is like
the most famous restaurant in the NAPA area. And it's like,
(38:06):
you know, thousand dollars a person supposed to just be
a lead food but it is kind of fufy, like
when you see pictures. You know, it's just those things
that's very expensive. You get tiny little plates which probably
taste incredible. But I think the Masters is more like
steak and potatoes, and more telling stories in being with
the guys. Obviously there are a lot of people in
(38:28):
that room. This is not like the seventies or the
eighties where guys are probably getting blasted, because a large
percentage of the guys take it really seriously and clearly
if you had just wanted the previous year, like Scotty,
like we're trying to win it again. A couple of
the old guys potentially don't care and just fare to
have some cocktails. But I do think it's less about
(38:48):
the food experience and I could be wrong, and more
about the the vibes and the bonding of the people
and just telling stories about I don't know golf tournament life,
so I don't think I would overthink it. I would
keep it pretty. I wouldn't veer fall far off to me.
(39:11):
Some sort of salad. I think I've heard Scotty say
you have to include some sort of fish or kind
of If you're gonna go red meat, you gotta include
either chicken, fish, something you know, a little lighter. For guys,
I might just go give you a nice steak option,
chicken or fish option, maybe you know, with some pasta
(39:32):
a salad just some I think it's hard to go wrong.
I'm a sucker for like crabcakes and calamari something like that.
With the appetizer, yeah, ice cream Sunday or something like
that at the end. I don't know. Tiger is a
big milkshake guy. Like some people online make fun of you.
But I think some of these people they try to
(39:53):
think that they would go above and beyond. I don't
know if that'd be a huge hit. Like, does anyone
complain when they go to I don't know, Flemings or
wherever your steakhouse is. What do you usually get there? Steak,
some mac and cheese, or a potato asparagus salad. I mean,
you get the same thing most of the time every
(40:14):
time you go. For most of us, the most expensive
dinner that we attend is a steakhouse, right, And every
time I go to a steakhouse, give or take, I
get the same thing, and I usually enjoy it. Yet
whenever the master's menu comes out, which the guy that
wins it has to pay for, it's like, God, he's
(40:35):
just such a boring Obviously, if you're just going like
chicken tacos or something, that would be stupid, But I
think I would just go some greens, a potato ish,
something like mac and cheese, calamari crab cakes because I
like those, a steak, a chicken or a fish, and
(40:57):
an ice cream Sunday. And I think most people would
be pretty so that that would be my decision over
something like trying to act like I'm you know, Emerald
Leagasi here the volume mhm
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.