April 8, 2025 • 10 mins
Golf expert Whit Watson joins Dave Softy Mahler and Hugh Millen to look ahead to The Masters this week including Rory McIlroy’s chances, Scottie Scheffler, if it will be a first time major win for someone else in the field, and the dynamics with PGA and LIV Golf.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the home of the Husky The Kreken
n cle's best NFL Draft coverage gen the twenty twenty
five NFL Draft. Now back to Suthian Did proudly brought
to you by Emerald Queen Casino on Sports Radio ninety
three point three kJ r Fmhi, we're getting a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Of text, by the way, on the which you vote
for Steven A for President thing? We're going to say
those next on ninety three to three KJRFM. But joining
us right now on the radio show, he keeps saying
yes when so many others say no. Formerly a ESPN
golf channel, he's now got a podcast on iHeartRadio. His
boss is our boss. By the way, how about that
our friend wit Watson. Find him on Twitter at real
(00:41):
wit Watson. Joining us on the radio show talking to
some masters golf. How are you man?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I'm excellent.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
And if you guys are ever in Orlando, check us
out on iHeartRadio's ninety six to nine in the Game
and in Jacksonville on AM nine thirty Fox Sports Radio, Jacksonville.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
That's my only plug.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
I promise I love it forever.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
The promoter man, good stuff. Well, I got a few
minutes here to talk some golf Masters starting on Thursday,
and I think for a lot of people, man, the
number one burning question, will this be the year from
for the little five foot nine irishman from County Down,
Rory McElroy. Will this be the year the curse finally
(01:20):
is lifted and Rory takes home the Masters Championship.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
You know, you and I exchanged messages prior to the interview,
and he's definitely it's in his head.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I mean, everyone knows it's in his head.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
That being said, he's arguably the best player in the
world right now. I know that Scheffler is number one
in the rankings, but who's playing better than Rory McElroy.
If ever, there was a year when he could shape
this off and finally complete the Grand Slam put on
the green jacket, you would think this would be not
his last chance, but his best chance so far. And
(01:54):
from what I'm gathering from talking to a lot of people,
you know, he's the betting favorite right now. So it's just,
you know, you cross your fingers and you kind of
hold your breath when you're watching McElroy at Augusta because
we've just been conditioned to expect something weird to happen
right during the course of these four days, but I
think he has a very good.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Shot at it.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Well, you brought up Scheffler, and you're right, he's still
He's number one, and by a pretty good margin. I
think Rory's number two, and the gap between one and
two is like the gap between two and six. But interestingly,
to me points gained, you have Rory McElroy one hundred
(02:36):
and eighty eight, Scheffler only seventy two. He's kind of
cooled off when it seemed like he was going to
maybe be making a march to greatness. What's your take
on Scotty Scheffler from a broad perspective, and then also
just for this week.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
He has admitted to being a little out of sorts
in the last couple of weeks. Although his press conference
had he said he felt very prepared, he appeared to
be confident, but in previous events at the Players in
the Texas, the Two Swings, the two events in Texas,
the Texas Swing, he had been pretty open about saying
(03:14):
he was frustrated with how things were going.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Now again, his bar is awfully high. Right if you
look at the world.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Rankings, and I'm on the official World Golf Ranking page
right now and I'm looking up those numbers.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
You just mentioned.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Nobody would imagine that Scheffler was in any kind of trouble.
But you know, these players, they have standards that are.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So high in their own mind. And when you win
at a.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Rate that Schefler won at, and not just one, but
the way he played that the way he placed every
single week last year, even when he wasn't winning. To him,
that's the standard, right. So if he's not playing up
to that standard, in his head he thinks he's struggling,
the rest of us watch and go, my god, Scott,
you're the best player in the world. But the fact
that he appeared comfortable and he said that he was
(03:58):
well prepared, maybe he's talking himself into it. Maybe not,
but mentally he appears to be ready for this week.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, we Watson, whether I was talking to masters, find
him on Twitter at real witt Watson. By the way,
I got a podcast as well for iHeart Witwatson dot com.
Everything you need is there on the web page, and
there's a there's a list of just great players that
have never won a major. Xander was on that list.
Until last year, and he promptly got the hell off.
But Ludwig, Victor Hovlin, Tommy Fleetwood can't lay Corey Conners.
(04:30):
You and I talked about him, Sepstraca. Is this gonna
be a first time major win for somebody?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
You think this weekend?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
I my gut tells me no, just because I think Scheffler,
McElroy and Shopley and Morikawa that's the first four players
in the world rankings, and Matsiyama is six. They're just
they're all playing pretty well right now. It's you know,
I don't think that the conditions favor a first time
(04:59):
major champion. I think that Oberg has as good of
a chance as anybody of laing a major for the
first time. For those that have never seen him play,
you know, this guy, first of all, was one of
the breakout stars of TGL. Right, like a lot of
non golf fans who saw him for the first time
in the Virtual Golf League that was, you know, airing
on ESPN Mondays and Tuesdays. Right, who is this kid?
(05:21):
He looks like a Greek god. He hits the ball
three hundred and fifty yards. He's in good form, He's
played well and if there is anybody that might be
a first time winner, that's the guy that I might
point too.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
It seems like the dust has kind of settled on
the live factor within the golf world, and maybe nerves
aren't as quite as afraid. Kind of give us a
perspective now that we've had a chance to kind of
see how this is impacting the game. How from your
perspective in terms of the Masters. Obviously those competitors can
(06:01):
can play and participate, but just what is the live
effect that we can assess after a few years now
of having lived with it.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
So LIV has twelve players who are at the Masters
this year, which is the lowest number they've had in
their three full seasons. And the reasons for that, obviously
is because these guys are no longer playing on the
PGA Tour and some of their exemptions are running out.
You know, whether they are former Masters, well, Masters champions
go for life, but if they're former Open champions or
(06:31):
PGA champions or US Open champions, because they've been away
from the PGA Tour and not gaining world ranking points,
those exemptions are running out. Would anybody bet against brooks Keepka,
Would anybody bet against Bryce and De Shamba. Bubba Watson
is playing as a lifetime obviously former Masters champion. No
one knows what he is going to look like because
(06:53):
he hasn't played very much on the League tour.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
He's been hurt.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
So I think, you know, Mickelson is playing with Jason
did and Keegan Bradley the first two days, which I
think is delicious by the way, putting him the group
of Bradley, that's the group I want to watch to
see how they they speak to each other for four hours.
So there's a lot of uncertainty around those guys because
we don't know how they are in competition. We don't know,
(07:18):
you know, what kind of form they're they're coming into.
But you know, would anybody experience means so much at
Augusta National. Would anybody be surprised if Patrick Reid came
back and won another green jacket. We just we don't
see them, We don't we don't know how they're playing
because they get so few eyeballs on those broadcasts in person,
(07:38):
so that adds a little bit of intrigue.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And to answer the question, I've spoken to.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
A lot of people at Golf Channel and other contacts
in the game and we're not close, guys, We're not
close to resolving this. I mean, the PGA Tour just
turned down one point five billion dollars from the Public
Investment Fund. They wanted Yachtsier All remind to be the
co chair of PGA Tour Enterprises. That was a flat no,
(08:05):
we're not close. And the tour doesn't want Team Golf,
you know, they want the PGA Tour brand to be
on whatever this thing is. And the Public Investment Fund
is still pushing for a team entity and some kind
of co branding.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So we're no closer.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
John Rahm said that today at Augustine in his press conference.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
We're not any closer.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, yeah, well we're closer to Thursday, Round one and Augusta,
which is all that matters now. And before you go again,
wit Watson with us on ninety three three KJRFM. Find
him at Witwatson dot com for his podcast and everything
he's up to. All this analysis is really great and awesome,
but really there's one reason why we have you on
to help us make some damn money. Okay, And you
(08:47):
came close, man, If the Cup was four and a
half and not four in a quarter, you would have
had that great call at Jordan's speak at the Heritage
a couple of years ago in that playoffs. Man, God,
you came close on that one. But give us a
long shot and give us maybe, uh maybe your favorite
to win it this week.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
All right, the long shot, he's not really a long shot.
Is the guy that I took in the pool that
I do with some Florida golf media guys. We give
the money to charity, and that's lud big Obert now
in Fard. I took him because I already burned Scotti,
Scheffler and Rory McElroy. Right, that's the great assault.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I am.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I am fingers crossed. I feel good about this. I'm
rooting for him. I'm gonna say McElroy gets it done.
I think he's gonna finally get the green jacket, banish
the curse, like you know, the curse of the Bambino
with the red Sox. I think McElroy will finally.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Get over the hump.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Love it awesome, Wit Watson Witwatson dot com at real
wit Watson on x or Twitter, as the kids say,
great stuff, Enjoy the week and we'll talk soon. But
appreciate this man.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, man, cheers, talk you soon.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Okay, they got it.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Bud with Watson with us on the radio show, talking
some masters. Alright, we're gonna break, come back and wrap it.
Upload textimonials. John Wilner as well at five before cracking
hockey pregame at five thirty on ninety three three kJ
RFF
You're listening to the home of the Husky The Kreken
n cle's best NFL Draft coverage gen the twenty twenty
five NFL Draft. Now back to Suthian Did proudly brought
to you by Emerald Queen Casino on Sports Radio ninety
three point three kJ r Fmhi, we're getting a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Of text, by the way, on the which you vote
for Steven A for President thing? We're going to say
those next on ninety three to three KJRFM. But joining
us right now on the radio show, he keeps saying
yes when so many others say no. Formerly a ESPN
golf channel, he's now got a podcast on iHeartRadio. His
boss is our boss. By the way, how about that
our friend wit Watson. Find him on Twitter at real
(00:41):
wit Watson. Joining us on the radio show talking to
some masters golf. How are you man?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I'm excellent.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
And if you guys are ever in Orlando, check us
out on iHeartRadio's ninety six to nine in the Game
and in Jacksonville on AM nine thirty Fox Sports Radio, Jacksonville.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
That's my only plug.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
I promise I love it forever.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
The promoter man, good stuff. Well, I got a few
minutes here to talk some golf Masters starting on Thursday,
and I think for a lot of people, man, the
number one burning question, will this be the year from
for the little five foot nine irishman from County Down,
Rory McElroy. Will this be the year the curse finally
(01:20):
is lifted and Rory takes home the Masters Championship.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
You know, you and I exchanged messages prior to the interview,
and he's definitely it's in his head.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I mean, everyone knows it's in his head.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
That being said, he's arguably the best player in the
world right now. I know that Scheffler is number one
in the rankings, but who's playing better than Rory McElroy.
If ever, there was a year when he could shape
this off and finally complete the Grand Slam put on
the green jacket, you would think this would be not
his last chance, but his best chance so far. And
(01:54):
from what I'm gathering from talking to a lot of people,
you know, he's the betting favorite right now. So it's just,
you know, you cross your fingers and you kind of
hold your breath when you're watching McElroy at Augusta because
we've just been conditioned to expect something weird to happen
right during the course of these four days, but I
think he has a very good.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Shot at it.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Well, you brought up Scheffler, and you're right, he's still
He's number one, and by a pretty good margin. I
think Rory's number two, and the gap between one and
two is like the gap between two and six. But interestingly,
to me points gained, you have Rory McElroy one hundred
(02:36):
and eighty eight, Scheffler only seventy two. He's kind of
cooled off when it seemed like he was going to
maybe be making a march to greatness. What's your take
on Scotty Scheffler from a broad perspective, and then also
just for this week.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
He has admitted to being a little out of sorts
in the last couple of weeks. Although his press conference
had he said he felt very prepared, he appeared to
be confident, but in previous events at the Players in
the Texas, the Two Swings, the two events in Texas,
the Texas Swing, he had been pretty open about saying
(03:14):
he was frustrated with how things were going.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Now again, his bar is awfully high. Right if you
look at the world.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Rankings, and I'm on the official World Golf Ranking page
right now and I'm looking up those numbers.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
You just mentioned.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Nobody would imagine that Scheffler was in any kind of trouble.
But you know, these players, they have standards that are.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So high in their own mind. And when you win
at a.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Rate that Schefler won at, and not just one, but
the way he played that the way he placed every
single week last year, even when he wasn't winning. To him,
that's the standard, right. So if he's not playing up
to that standard, in his head he thinks he's struggling,
the rest of us watch and go, my god, Scott,
you're the best player in the world. But the fact
that he appeared comfortable and he said that he was
(03:58):
well prepared, maybe he's talking himself into it. Maybe not,
but mentally he appears to be ready for this week.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, we Watson, whether I was talking to masters, find
him on Twitter at real witt Watson. By the way,
I got a podcast as well for iHeart Witwatson dot com.
Everything you need is there on the web page, and
there's a there's a list of just great players that
have never won a major. Xander was on that list.
Until last year, and he promptly got the hell off.
But Ludwig, Victor Hovlin, Tommy Fleetwood can't lay Corey Conners.
(04:30):
You and I talked about him, Sepstraca. Is this gonna
be a first time major win for somebody?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
You think this weekend?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
I my gut tells me no, just because I think Scheffler,
McElroy and Shopley and Morikawa that's the first four players
in the world rankings, and Matsiyama is six. They're just
they're all playing pretty well right now. It's you know,
I don't think that the conditions favor a first time
(04:59):
major champion. I think that Oberg has as good of
a chance as anybody of laing a major for the
first time. For those that have never seen him play,
you know, this guy, first of all, was one of
the breakout stars of TGL. Right, like a lot of
non golf fans who saw him for the first time
in the Virtual Golf League that was, you know, airing
on ESPN Mondays and Tuesdays. Right, who is this kid?
(05:21):
He looks like a Greek god. He hits the ball
three hundred and fifty yards. He's in good form, He's
played well and if there is anybody that might be
a first time winner, that's the guy that I might
point too.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
It seems like the dust has kind of settled on
the live factor within the golf world, and maybe nerves
aren't as quite as afraid. Kind of give us a
perspective now that we've had a chance to kind of
see how this is impacting the game. How from your
perspective in terms of the Masters. Obviously those competitors can
(06:01):
can play and participate, but just what is the live
effect that we can assess after a few years now
of having lived with it.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
So LIV has twelve players who are at the Masters
this year, which is the lowest number they've had in
their three full seasons. And the reasons for that, obviously
is because these guys are no longer playing on the
PGA Tour and some of their exemptions are running out.
You know, whether they are former Masters, well, Masters champions
go for life, but if they're former Open champions or
(06:31):
PGA champions or US Open champions, because they've been away
from the PGA Tour and not gaining world ranking points,
those exemptions are running out. Would anybody bet against brooks Keepka,
Would anybody bet against Bryce and De Shamba. Bubba Watson
is playing as a lifetime obviously former Masters champion. No
one knows what he is going to look like because
(06:53):
he hasn't played very much on the League tour.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
He's been hurt.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
So I think, you know, Mickelson is playing with Jason
did and Keegan Bradley the first two days, which I
think is delicious by the way, putting him the group
of Bradley, that's the group I want to watch to
see how they they speak to each other for four hours.
So there's a lot of uncertainty around those guys because
we don't know how they are in competition. We don't know,
(07:18):
you know, what kind of form they're they're coming into.
But you know, would anybody experience means so much at
Augusta National. Would anybody be surprised if Patrick Reid came
back and won another green jacket. We just we don't
see them, We don't we don't know how they're playing
because they get so few eyeballs on those broadcasts in person,
(07:38):
so that adds a little bit of intrigue.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And to answer the question, I've spoken to.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
A lot of people at Golf Channel and other contacts
in the game and we're not close, guys, We're not
close to resolving this. I mean, the PGA Tour just
turned down one point five billion dollars from the Public
Investment Fund. They wanted Yachtsier All remind to be the
co chair of PGA Tour Enterprises. That was a flat no,
(08:05):
we're not close. And the tour doesn't want Team Golf,
you know, they want the PGA Tour brand to be
on whatever this thing is. And the Public Investment Fund
is still pushing for a team entity and some kind
of co branding.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So we're no closer.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
John Rahm said that today at Augustine in his press conference.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
We're not any closer.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, yeah, well we're closer to Thursday, Round one and Augusta,
which is all that matters now. And before you go again,
wit Watson with us on ninety three three KJRFM. Find
him at Witwatson dot com for his podcast and everything
he's up to. All this analysis is really great and awesome,
but really there's one reason why we have you on
to help us make some damn money. Okay, And you
(08:47):
came close, man, If the Cup was four and a
half and not four in a quarter, you would have
had that great call at Jordan's speak at the Heritage
a couple of years ago in that playoffs. Man, God,
you came close on that one. But give us a
long shot and give us maybe, uh maybe your favorite
to win it this week.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
All right, the long shot, he's not really a long shot.
Is the guy that I took in the pool that
I do with some Florida golf media guys. We give
the money to charity, and that's lud big Obert now
in Fard. I took him because I already burned Scotti,
Scheffler and Rory McElroy. Right, that's the great assault.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
I am.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
I am fingers crossed. I feel good about this. I'm
rooting for him. I'm gonna say McElroy gets it done.
I think he's gonna finally get the green jacket, banish
the curse, like you know, the curse of the Bambino
with the red Sox. I think McElroy will finally.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Get over the hump.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Love it awesome, Wit Watson Witwatson dot com at real
wit Watson on x or Twitter, as the kids say,
great stuff, Enjoy the week and we'll talk soon. But
appreciate this man.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, man, cheers, talk you soon.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Okay, they got it.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Bud with Watson with us on the radio show, talking
some masters. Alright, we're gonna break, come back and wrap it.
Upload textimonials. John Wilner as well at five before cracking
hockey pregame at five thirty on ninety three three kJ
RFF
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