The Phoenix Open’s fine line between party and problem | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel

In this week’s edition, the guys go in on Charley Hoffman’s letter to the membership, discuss the big showcase for this week’s Phoenix Open and debate the biggest questions ahead of the LIV season opener. #GolfChannel #Golf #pgatour

Chapters:
0:00: What was the point of Charley Hoffman’s letter to the Tour membership?
11:00: All eyes on the Phoenix Open this week – and on the fan behavior
17:25: Players to watch at TPC Scottsdale
18:50: Biggest headlines/headliners heading into another LIV season
26:15: What will Bryson do for an encore?
33:00: What’s on the grill for the Super Bowl

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The Phoenix Open’s fine line between party and problem | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel
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hello and welcome into this edition of the golf CH podcast with Rex and laugh surprisingly we do have a lot to get to we have the greenest show on grass and Phoenix Liv opens up its new season in Saudi Arabia and Rex’s Super Bowl menu will certainly be discussed but one thing rex that you and I did not get into on the podcast on Sunday night Monday morning which of course appears on linear television if you youve not been watching it golf Chels at 9:00 a.m. eastern time on Mondays but is very important was the letter that Charlie Hoffman sent to the pg tour membership on Sunday night that of course follows the letter that Justin Thomas had sent two weeks earlier but this one wrecks from Charlie Hoffman was telling players to speed up he was criticizing the Aon swing five and he was seemingly pointing a finger at Players such as Roy mroy for playing the European tour for making time for tgl when he’s supposed to be bolstering the PGA Tour what do you make of this I got a chuckle out of the Round Table folks when this got brought up because I started with the idea that all four of us on the round table it was myself it was Damon hack former golf writer it was aan Lynch current golf writer and Joel Beal current golf writer at Golf Digest I said the one thing that the four of us can all agree on here is that Charlie hofen desperately needs an editor because he was just all over the board with that letter as opposed to JT’s which I’m sure went through an editing process I’m sure there was other people involved in JT’s letter where he seems to make his points very clearly very distinctly there’s no ambiguity at all Charlie seemed to be all over the map he didn’t seem to know exactly what he wanted to say I think he just wanted to sit down and write something which sure you had that opportunity but I kind of picked it apart on three levels one it was rambling it was a little confusing two when it comes to Pace of play and I understand why it’s become a topic again and certainly when your broadcast Partners first Dy pepper at CBS and then last week with the Golf Channel folks uh taking pot shots at Players because of the slow pace of play I I get why this is front and Cent however if you’re Charlie Hoffman who proudly points out in this letter that he’s a two-time member of the policy board player director on the policy board he estimated he served at least five times on the player advisory Council he has been part of the process he could have been part of the solution instead I would argue he’s been part of the problem no I’m not saying he’s a slow player but he’s been part of that institution that doesn’t want to see real change on the PGA tour so I’m not really paying attention to much that he has to say when it comes to Pace a play because you had your opportunity multiple times to sit on that policy board or to sit on the pack and make real change and instead you choose to pin some sort of confusing letter I don’t get that at all and then the final half of it is and you pointed out he seems to take an unnecessary pot shot at Rory and maybe some others between tgl and the DP World Tour how many more times do you think Rory and JT and the rest of the star players are really going to play and this goes back a few weeks ago when he Charlie spoke to the media prior to the Farmers Insurance open which is held in San s Diego his hometown event this is something he grew up uh loving this event it was he pointed out correctly that San Diego had been spoiled for a long time because Tiger Woods and Phil mikkelson always played that event they were Southern cow kids this was important to them we’re at sort of a different stage right now in professional golf so it seems to me that part of it was just a carryover because he didn’t like the feel that they got at Toy Pine which again I get that as well but that’s a reality across the tour if you’re not a signature event now you’re going to be scrambling you’re going to be trying to put together uh some sort of uh some sort of field the one part that I did read that I was curious about and interested in was him pointing out the Aon five now you go back to last season you and I have talked a lot about this the churn rate was essentially what the tour thought it was going to be which means the same number of players played their way into the top 50 and out of the top 50 that they had historically seen despite the fact I think both 38% yeah yeah you and I were both a little dubious because we were trying to do the math on well if you’re getting EXP more points if you’re in the Signature Events don’t you have to play exponentially worse to play your way out that didn’t seem to be the case but when he points out and I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of exactly why this was that only two players essentially played their way into uh next week’s yes that’s right next week’s signature event the Genesis Invitational vion via the Aon five I I I’m not quite sure how that worked out that’s certainly something that I was curious and Charlie Hoffman also keep in mind has his best interest at he here he was sixth on the Aon swing five so he was the the next man who was left out the whole thing Rex was confusing because that email was sent at 6:03 p.m. eastern time on Sunday what was happening at 6:03 p.m. eastern time on Sunday Roy maroy had emerged from a very crowded very good leaderboard to win at one of the cathedrals of golf in a performance that you and I raved about on Sunday evening and Monday morning about just what this could signal for 2025 you look at the ratings that that that that tournament had it was uh the best non- major non-players championship uh in in basically a year on the PGA tour pace of play was not an issue yes there was a a single isolated incident with Tom Kim who got called out by The Telecast and he pumped an OB on six but the broadcast actually finished 20 minutes early they had a lot of fill if you watch the behind the scenes video with Roy marroy uh which the PJ tour put out I thought that was a very good video like Jim Nance apologized to Roy said hey man sorry like sorry I’m late for doing this and he had to stick around we had to fill for 20 minutes and and Roy made a joke like oh I guess slow play is not as big of a issue as some of the players had seemingly made it the the the most confusing part to me Rex was not about the a swing five because clearly Charlie Hoffman has his best interest um when he’s when he’s trying to talk about that it was the seemingly pot shot at Roy mroy and there’s no other way to read this because Rory began his year on the DP World Tour not at the century the first signature event on the PJ tour schedule he is a co-founder of tgl he just played in his second match on on Tuesday night like he is that guy he also played The Showdown in December a a sort of non-sanctioned PJ Tour event as well along with Scotty Sheffer and and Rory has made it very very clear both in his comments uh ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach proam and again on Tuesday night at tgl that Rory is interested in himself and himself only is he going to continue to play PJ tour events of course is he likely to skip PJ tour Signature Events if they do not fit into his schedule yes it is no longer after three years of Civil War and the P tour Reinventing himself and players being cut out players being brought in a deal being done a deal not being done this whole sort of wishy-washy nature of the PJ tour that Rory is is sort of sick and tired of being stuck in the middle and trying to solve all the PGA Tour Problems by himself is a collective effort which I think is what Justin Thomas two weeks earlier was hinting at that it’s uh it’s an imperative of all PJ tour players not just the Stars to provide the context to provide the insight to provide the entertainment that can make the PJ tour as an entire entity more entertaining and so Rory I I mean he clearly took offense to what Charlie Hoffman was insinuating because this is not Char this is not Roy mckoy’s battle to fight anymore he he’s he’s done the best he can over the past couple years um and and now it’s time for someone else to sort of carry that burden no and I agree with that and you’re right I didn’t realize the timing that is interesting you’re coming off probably the best finish I would argue in months on the PGA tour where not only you and I but I think across at least traditional golf media everyone sort of applauded not just the Finish but the amphitheater that is Pebble Beach uh the fact it was Rory the fact that it was pretty close up and down deep into the back great conditions I mean great great leader board great venue like this is the PGA Tour signature model in full this is exactly what they’re supposed to be having on the PGA tour and again I would be curious the point he was trying to make he seemed to make two points when it came to Pace of Blade talking about the idea that yes ready golf I think is what he referred when it’s your turn to hit hit and I would agree on some level that yeah that could probably help but the other side of it is he talked about the officials and the broadcast Partners using real world data to figure out exactly how big the window is I remember having this conversation a long time ago with some tour officials they really do a good job actually more times than not of figuring out when the last putt is going to drop and getting as close to that window usually 6m on the East Coast that they want like they’ they’ve figured out that on this golf course playing in threesoms and these conditions this is how long and they’re pretty close within a minute or two either way so I’m not quite sure it felt like it was almost a shot not not only at his fellow tour players for being a little on the slow side we can all agree with that but it almost felt like he was putting some blame on the broadcast partners because somehow it’s our fault that there’s there’s some sort of abysmal pace of play on the PGA to as you pointed out correctly when it comes to the Aon five you’re right he he’s got a dog in the fight you look at how he just missed out on getting into that signature event again you were on the policy board when all of these things came up and came into being so you were part of the process that created that so and the idea that Rory or any other top player is going to add an event let’s say t Pines because it’s important to Charlie Hoffman that’s ridiculous I mean we pointed out at the end of last season Scotty Sheffer was really burnt out through East Lake and I think part of what we saw certainly the hand injury comes into play but I’m sure he was more than happy to sit around Dallas his hometown for another month before he got started because he knows by the time you get to June and July and you get to the Open Championship there aren’t any real breaks so you might as well start taking them now and I think I don’t know anyone who would blame Rory for that I think if nothing else Charlie Hoffman’s letter underscores the fact that there’s two tours now it’s it’s for the tour if it’s for the tours Haves and the and the tours have have more there’s always been two tours there’s always been two tours but but now I think it’s been highlighted and it’s if you’re looking at the PJ tours the ultimate meritocracy there’s there’s one tour that is being rewarded more handsomely than the other and for the Charlie Hoffman types who have been uh good but not great players for 20 years uh I think it’s easy to see how they would be particularly endangered Charlie Hoffman is in the field this week at the waist management Fe open I think a former winner of that tournament as well that’s sort of the biggest show this week uh on the PJ tour Rex the big story last year besides the weather that that really um had tournament official scrambling was the behavior of the fans the field this week not quite as good but still um pretty pretty good for a full field event All Things Considered including the world number one Scotty shuffler what are you expecting to see this week either from the players the level of discourse surrounding the fan behavior and do you think we’ll have a situation where as as a rest and instance continue to Skyrocket that either plateaus or or finally starts to recede a little bit I’ll be curious how far they’re willing to take the no tolerance policy because it it’s one thing if you throw you go you will go yes I do like yes it’s good alliteration if nothing else I’ll be curious to see how they’re able to do that because this isn’t Augusta where if you do step out of line there’s 20 guards Pinkerton to step in and escort that person off property here at at the Waste Management Phoenix Open those pinkertons are outnumbered 100 to one so it would be difficult to try to pick someone out of the stands on 16 who just happened to throw their beer mug especially if you have thousands and thousands of beer mugs coming down after a hole in one like we saw from Tiger Woods all those years ago I’m glad it it doesn’t seem as if officials have taken too bold of a step we talked about this the idea that you’re going to ruin something that’s truly different and special on the PGA tour players that don’t like it aren’t going to go they haven’t played and they won’t play and what happened last year is not going to change their mind and you and I both love Billy horel and he is a friend of the Pod and we appreciate that he’s been on it and I have a lot of respect for Billy but the fact he’s back playing this week after being so vocal and saying that they lost TR last year and they’ve taken it too far well which is it did they take it too far because it doesn’t seem to bother you and for the players who do decide to your point I think you brought up on Monday’s podcast that Scotty Sheffer of all people should be the ultimate litness test here I mean here’s a guy that is not going to show up in the 16th Grand stands chugging beers that’s not hiso he’s not that type of person and yet he loves the golf course he likes the community and I think deep down inside he would tell you that yes I thoroughly enjoyed the scene I keep going back to the idea and I’ve made this argument at the Ryder Cup and certainly this applies as well when we get to Beth Page later this fall there’s going to be things said in the stands and probably things thrown from the crowd at the Players specifically the European players that are way over the top and do not fall in line with what we traditionally would expect at a golf tournament and players teams will complain about it and it will probably become an issue and you folks like you and I will talk about it for months and months my counter to that as always that’s mainstream Sports if you really want to be a mainstream sport which golf always seems to say it wants it up until the point that you run into something like what happened last year at TPC Scottdale or what’s GNA happen this year at Beth Page Sports can be ugly man like you and I both have been to sporting events University of Georgia I’m sure you went to plenty of other games in the SEC that it just was not a pleasant experience as a visiting fan certainly a visiting team coming in that’s mainstream sport so either you want it or you don’t even as a visiting journalist I remember uh being in LSU Stadium Death Valley and having a Jack Daniels bottle Whizz by my head uh on the sideline during what was yet another Georgia Victory uh I I think you make a lot of good points there Rex like Zack Johnson who was chided last year by fans as the losing rer Cup captain did not sign up for this year’s Phoenix Open and yet you have Scotty Sheffer uh who who craves normaly who craves routine who craves calm and peace inside the ropes uh has lost to a total of eight golfers over the past four years two-time winner and is once again in the field I’m hoping that the Phoenix Open and I’m optimistic that the Phoenix Open and the tourament organizers will thread that needle because the eyes of the community the eyes of the PGA Tour are going to be on them this potentially when you look at the future of the PGA Tour could be the model when I was in the meeting last week with uh the group of PJ tour Executives they said that one of the main um focuses of their fan survey which was sent out to 50,000 fans was improving the onsite experience and there’s at least the potential that maybe it’s not quite as debaucherous as this one but the Phoenix Open could be the norm and not the exception with a focus on this a uh asyn asnis asy syris experience is that right no I don’t know whatever the word is the a the asyrus okay the a keep going yeah power through it you can do it keep going whatever the word is it’s when something’s also happening in addition to something else Ace and Chris’s I don’t know I’m going to have to look that up after the podcast the point Rex is that it’s really hard to follow 72 holes of tournament competition right it’s even hard to follow 18 holes there are very few fans who are going to be turning up the fedix open this week and saying I’m gonna follow follow Scotty sheffler from hole one to whole 18 and make it a 5H hour Endeavor you’re going to Veer off you’re going to get tired you’re going to need a drink you’re going to need some food you’re going to need to rest you’re going to need to make some phone calls you’re going to have to check emails whatever the the case may be and so the PJ tour model is to set up these little Villages where you can still be immersed in the action you can still pay attention but you don’t necessarily have to be plotting your way around the golf course over and over again and so I think if the P if the Phoenix Open and the tournament organizers can strike a balance this week and it’s fun it’s Lively it maybe approaches The Edge but does not go to it I think the PJ tour is going to look at this and saying hey we have the potential to duplicate this allaf Formula 1 at every signature event that they have in the PGA tour in the future and so I’m hoping I’m hoping I’m optimistic that there will not be incidents like we’ve seen in the past playerwise obviously this could be a Scotty sheer Victory we saw him TI for nth last week Pebble Beach seemingly had zero of the rust um after what was nearly two Monon layoff because of the the hand the hand inury but like he still L the field and strokes skin approach which distance control greens and regulation that’s sort of the last thing to come back uh he should be able to drive the ball better on TBC Scottsdale not as penal of a golf course off the tea in terms of finding very small Landing areas and uh gets that claw putting grip heated up Tom Kim uh seems to be closing in on a victory Hideki always plays well any other players that you’re most interested in watching this week at the Phoenix Open Rex no it’s going to be Scotty because to your point he didn’t seem to lose much on the fast ball coming off that break coming off the injury coming off whatever it is he did to his hand so that’s the one can he pick up where he left off certainly it’s going to be fun if he does imagine a scenario where the very next week at toy pines again for the Genesis invitation where you have Rory and Scotty coming off victories going head-to-head at this Classic Golf Course again go back to Sunday at Pebble Beach like this is the best case scenario for the PGA Tour and and they have taken it on on the chin quite a bit the last few months let’s just say so if you can can come up you can conjure a scenario where the game’s best players are playing their best at these signature classic venues that’s going to be good asynchronous the word I was looking for is asynchronous where two things are happening at the exact same time that’s what the PJ tour said I’m glad asynchronous I’m also wrecked we did not mention him yet uh Luke Clanton uh the star player for Florida State just Justin JR could lock up a PGA Tour card with a made cut this week he’s playing once again on a sponsor exemption at TPC Scottdale let’s move on to the live opener which is beginning in Saudi Arabia no Phil Mickelson who is nursing a minor shoulder injury oi Schneider Jans who won last week on the Asian tour is taking his spot on the High Flyers what are you interested in seeing as another live golf season uh hits the launch button Rex let me try to make this better because I apparently I didn’t do it very well last time around and I I got a lot of hate from the live folks on this one and to be clear I am as interested as anyone what Liv is able to do now that they have the deal with Fox and I was just going over Fox’s schedule and and how this is going to land much better than what had happened with the CW these last few years you have a platform now that you can do an apples or close to an Apples to Apples comparison to that week’s PGA Tour event and I think I saw a couple of websites that have done this where they sort of speculated the idea that there are going to be weeks this year on the PGA tour that you get better ratings for the live event versus the PGA Tour event that’s a conversation for another day but like that fascinates me it depends on the tournament it depends on the time of year and it depends on the field let’s be quite Frank I still will go back to the idea though playing Under The Lights is an unnecessary gimmick this particular week they’re in Riad they want that I think it’s the 10: a.m. East Coast time so 3 p.m. window is what they’re trying to find on the East Coast for those competition days but you don’t have to do it number one it’s probably not best for the competition I know we have done it and golf but it’s fun it’s entertaining is it’s different yeah the match was entertaining the match in December was not entertaining and both Brooks and Bryson who would be playing under the lights in Saudi Arabia this week talked about yeah you struggle with de perception it it doesn’t certainly added it’s certainly an added wrinkle competitively but but I think Liv should be applauded for trying something different leaning into the entertainment aspect I don’t think need to I don’t think anyone’s looking at at what happens at Riad Riad Golf Club this week and projecting ahead if if um if if Paul Casey wins this week is is all of a sudden like should Augusta give him an exemption is he now suddenly a contender for major championships this week no so so lean into the competitive excuse me lean into the entertainment aspect be because we’re still so far removed from major championship season and the real dedicated interesting important golf why not just lean into the funsies I I don’t even have a problem with that we just had a long conversation about if you could replicate what they do at TPC Scottdale maybe last year being the outliner not quite as outlandish as last year but something close to that imagine if you could just parachute that in for all of the Signature Events yeah that would be great and I do applaud the idea that live golf doesn’t seem to have a problem at all Taking Chances trying to stretch boundaries golf but louder I get all of that this has more to do with just viewing habits I think and again this comes off of last year’s Olympics and what NBC Sports and peacock learn after years and years of deciding that if the Olympics were in China that we’re going to hold everything on tape delay until whatever time on the East Coast try to get somewhere close to what whatever the window is whether that’s prime time or something a little bit earlier whatever the case may be and then last year they just decided nope we’re not going to do that we’re going to run everything live on peacock you could have watched whatever it you wanted to watch at any time of day or night from the Paris Olympics last year but my wife would tell me she would wake up at 3:00 a.m. and watch whatever the case may be the swimming whatever it is that was going on I think that’s the evolution of viewing habits in this age of how you consume the product so my my argument my counter to this is it’s not necessary because the people that want to watch it they will wake up at whatever time it is you want them to wake up and just run it then but I think Liv also has proof over these past couple years that that people won’t wake up in the middle of the night to to watch it and so yes we don’t want to see golf on the lights every single week I think they’d get monotonous I think it would uh potentially render the the competition uh meaningless or at least a little bit gimmicky but for this one-off particularly in the season opener when the The Fan Experience on site in Saudi Arabia is not going to be great it’s not like they they’re going to be teaming with fans like I’m I’m fine with doing it for the first one I think it’s interesting I think it’s an interesting wrinkle I think it’s a reason to tune in I certainly will be I think a couple of the other things rex that I’m most interested in seeing as as Liv kicks off another season you mentioned the fox deal we now at least we get a a better or a closer Apples to Apples comparison of how it does actually stack up against the PJ tour and what that could mean for the future of golf and sort of uh either reintegrating these players coming together having team golf however you want to look at it I think that would certainly be at least an interesting data point uh six new players have entered live golf this year four of them under the age of 25 including Tom McKibbon Roy Mary’s Protege who has has turned a lot of heads in his young career I’m looking forward to seeing him part of John ROMs team and I think an interesting one at least competitively is a format change that Liv golf announced on Wednesday where they’re going to be counting all four scores for all three days of the competition previously that had just been the case in the final round so you certainly may see some greater disparity uh there’ll be less hiding uh more reason to have depth on your team which if you’re looking at John ROM’s team Caleb Sarat Terell Hatton John rom Tom m kibbon i mean that should be a no-brainer that Legion 13 is going to win this thing what player Rex I think are you most interested in keeping tabs on this year well the guy you just mentioned John R and we can go back to last season and I think you and I kind of disagreed on some level no you called him the most disappointing player in 2024 if I recall I think that was the category but I I think to put it in context did do I feel like he had a wildly disappointing season No it should this is all relative to what we normally expect from John ROM and it it this goes directly to what he did or did not do in the major championships and my guess is the anticipation is that he’s going to shrug off whatever it is that sort of slowed him down in the events that mattered not necessarily to me but to him the major championships and then you point to what happened at the Olympics clearly that was going to be a disappointment but you look at his record on live G off like you pointed out correctly like he was dominant on that tour he had an incredible year based against that level of competition but he’s going to be judged just like all the top players on both sides Liv and the PGA Tour by what you do in the major championships because that’s the only time you can really get a fair gauge of exactly how well you’re playing the major championships in this particular case the Olympics last year and the Ryder Cup I expect him to have a breakout year uh I’m with you on John ROM I still maintain he could go down as one of the best players uh in European Golf history uh I’m interested to see if Terell Hatton can continue his play I think you could make an argument I’m looking trying to Le do it quickly where he falls on data golf which takes into account not just PJ tour but live golf and DP World Tour as well yeah so that’s I think that’s more accurate data golf has Terell Hatton as the sixth rank player uh according to their rankings behind Scotty behind Rory behind Xander behind KY morawa and John ROM that feels right uh based on Terell hatton’s body of work over the past six to n months winter even earlier this year on the DP World Tour going to be a Mainstay fixture on that European rer Cup team provided he pays his fines and will be a part of that Squad to me Rex I think the biggest question mark that I have is what’s Bryson to Shambo going to do for an encore you can make the case that last summer last April through June he was the big biggest star in all of golf he just won a second US Open title thrilling duel with Rory maroy he’s having every fan at Pinehurst touch the trophy he’s going on you know the social media rounds he’s elevating his profile that way his YouTu pages is blowing up but we have not really seen him on a worldwide stage since the Open Championship and that’s one of a that’s that’s like a huge bummer I remember sitting with you last year at true brys and Shambo missed the cut and be like gez you know we’re not going to see brys and Shambo on a stage like this in nine months until the Masters in Augusta National like it it doesn’t feel right that like his level of stardom and the exposure like are not quite equated and you look at what he did at least on Liv last year he was Liv’s clearly his biggest their biggest star but he was the eighth best on their point standing he didn’t win he only had a couple of top fives and so know I think for for Bryson to maintain this level he he he needs to he needs to become a dominant player on the on the circuit in which he’s playing 14 times as well and so I’m curious to see if he just sort of leans more into the social aspect if he still has enough form to pop up at the major championships as he did as the ma at the Masters PJ and US Open as well to me Bryson as Shambo is the most compelling player on live and I want to see if if if he can sort of elevate himself in new ways on that circuit as well not just what he does on YouTube and not just what he could potentially do in the major championships it doesn’t matter because the program’s over but should uh Bry and dbo have gotten some of the PIP money last year the player IMPACT Program yes yes I I think I think it’s safe to say that he would have been at least uh no worse than number two number two no I don’t number two okay I don’t I couldn’t even tell you who number two was number one I’m guessing was Tiger number two no number two number number one was definitely tiger number two I’m guessing was Rory correct I don’t know yeah that’ be interesting I I don’t still I don’t understand what the metrics were so that one’s tough that’s why they’re that’s why they’re killing it off but I mean is does do you do you actually think that live performance means anything in the grand scale of of Bry and Shambo and the reason why I even thought of this Rex and why it was sort of a head scratcher to me was when Bryson Des Shambo played last week in India on the Asian tour and he was about trying to chase down Ali Schneider Jans and his game wasn’t quite there and he said he was really surprised by that because at home in in practice he’d be hitting it well he filmed a breaking 50 for his YouTube channel and was hitting it well this is always a player who has done things differently and he hasn’t necessarily done a lot of casual golf he doesn’t play money games he’s not necessarily playing uh a lot of tournament competition he is essentially ingraining motion and trying to fine-tune his swing on the ring and then he brings that into tournament competition I’m not sure we’ve ever seen a player of his St of his caliber who has taken that philosophy more I think most players are like Scotty sheffler or like Roy mroy where yes they’ll do some practice they’ll put in the work they’ll make sure their their swing is in in good form but they’ll go play money games with their buddies they’ll go teed up in South Florida which with a bunch of guys and and sort of test yourself that way shooting in the mid-60s on on penal flored layouts Bryson’s a whole different animal and I’m wondering if if live to him is just another way to grow the brand exhibition Golf and if it actually portend anything for the major championship season uh well I’ll twist this and we just sort of applauded whatever it is Roy found in that dark room at the end of last year it seems to me what you described as something not as Extreme as Bryon D Shambo but just working on motion where should I be at the top of my back swing what do I want my body to do on the downswing not worry about what’s actually happening with the ball just trying to figure out where is the most sufficient motion that I can create and that to me is what you just described so to it to a much lesser degree I think Rory actually went down that similar path but you’re absolutely right like he does it so vastly different than anyone else and I will counter a little bit and say it was your argument last year for John ROM that I think probably pulled me back from the edge of John ROM’s season was a huge disappointment because if you look at what he did on Liv you could probably make an argument that okay relative to his competition better or worse not R Ram was the best player on live last year without a doubt so here is a player that if whether if he does it consciously or not has decided that yes this is going to be the Benchmark for me for most of the season I don’t know that Bryson does that because I think I’m not sure if his mind works that way but certainly you would think the what he’s been able to do the last few years everything is going to be geared towards the Masters getting ready for that and then the PGA Championship in the US Open because I think he understands better than anyone after last year that it really doesn’t matter what I do on Liv or conversely on the PGA tour that what matters now is what you do in the major championships regardless of what side you’re on yeah particularly when you have a brand as as big as Bryson’s who’s who’s as interested in growing his profile as Bryson is him needing to show up in the major championships in the 2025 uh is is is absolutely a a must he’s just such a fascinating character we’ve never seen someone uh who has quite his skill set quite his mindset quite his mentality his practice regimen and and how that then translate to professional tournament golf where you’re you have a scorecard in your hand just as like we’ve been saying for the past decade about Brooks Kea we’ve never seen a player who can seemingly flip a switch from playing such indifferent regular season golf to being the most dominant player in the major championships uh since Tiger Woods they’re they’re fascinating players Brooks kka as well curious to see exactly what he has left in the tank in 2025 we should Rex have plenty of material for Monday show on linear television again 9:00 a.m. eastern time on Mondays will Tiger Woods play at Tory Pines the Genesis Invitational and the relocated venue uh we should get the commitment deadline by Friday recap of Phoenix recap of Liv recap potentially of the Super Bowl as well with that in mind we will not talk until Sunday night what is on the grill for Super Bowl week I got a big game I got a big game for the big game game and it’s going to be both Blackstone it’s going to be on the Pit Barrel I got a lot of things going on we got friends coming over I’m going to have to keep it a little bit tame just to make sure that I’m ready for Monday’s podcast but there’s going to be hot wings on the Pit Barrel and then uh I kind of got a request from some folks in the neighborhood that they want me to do Habachi on the grill so I got a lot going on that day a lot of moving parts and the golf and the golf we certainly be paying attention to the golf that’s why we’re going to have a 52-minute show that appearing on linear television uh on Monday I will not be doing anything this is sad this is pathetic this is depressing I will be going to Stamford Connecticut to co-host golf today uh next week that involves a Sunday travel and so I’ll probably just be getting some Uber Eats for the big game probably only watching the second half or so I do believe the Chiefs will win however best of luck on the Blackstone best of luck on the Pit Barrel we’ll talk to you guys on Sunday night for another edition of uh the Golf Show podcast with Rex and lab you guys will the drill in the meantime NBC sports.com SLG golf for all the latest news notes and updates thanks for listening thanks for the support have a great rest of your week we’ll talk to you guys on Sunday go to B Taco I love that place right across the street