Well we called it. Scottie monstered the field in The Open Championship.
Okay, we didn’t call it, in fact our Betr multi was a bust on every leg….we will make formal apologies at some point on today’s podcast, you deserve nothing less.
But…..Scottie was magnificent, and controlled the tournament, certainly over the weekend, and we start today with Nick and Mark discussing some of the most impressive parts of Scottie’s performance: his putting, his recovery from poor shots, his composure. Exceptional. Nick says the player interviews post the tournament and prior to the final day reminded him of when he was playing and Tiger dominated, in that everyone felt that they were playing for second place, Scottie was that good.
Then Mark makes a big call on Scottie and how many tournaments he will win, Mark doesn’t believe he will win over 10 majors in his career, as he feels that his footwork will limit him at some point. Nick disagrees, and says Scottie has plenty of years left and will get to double figures.
Nick talks about playing with Harris English who he said was exceptional then, and now, and highlights what the weakness in Harris’ game was when he played with him. Mark raises the Ryder Cup and says that surely Chris Gotterup is a certainty to be picked now, Nick says no.
We discuss the Aussies. A poor tournament overall, with Marc Leishman the only one to make the cut, ultimately finishing T52. Mark raises Cam Smith, and his consistent poor performances in the majors, and says that whilst LIV has been great for Bryson’s game for example, it has not been good for Cams, and he just has to start hitting fairways. Nick comments that Brysons performance at the weekend was very strong after a terrible first day, and Mark predicts that we will see Rahm have a ‘cracking’ 2026 season and explains why.
Both Nick and Mark loved how Royal Portrush looked, Mark is desperate to play it. Nick loved the drone shots. And we discuss how on the hardest hole on the course, Scottie birdied Calamity 3 days of the 4….Mark would like a plaque to be placed there to commemorate it.
Then we apologise for our Betr multi, although Nick notes one leg would have come off were it not for Shane Lowry’s 2-shot penalty, Mark wasn’t aware of it, so we play the audio and discuss. But one person does win, wolfpacker Narelle Brunotte was drawn as our winner – she had a punt on our Betr multi and whilst the multi was a dismal failure, Narelle has won 250 bucks to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet…congrats Narelle!
Mark lists his Top 5 courses in Ireland that he’d like to play, has he missed any obvious ones?
As you’d expect, the PING global results today have a big focus on The Open Championship, although we do digress for a moment with a video that contained an unusual sound…..we play the audio, and if you’re watching on YouTube you will see the Shepmates take on it….very funny. During PING globals, Nick tells a great story that has come out of an Australasian Q-School in the US at the weekend.
Feedback – lots of comments on last weeks Top 100 World Golf Course List with Jasper from the Top100 organisation, and plenty of comments – some in support, and some not – on LIV seeking OWGR points.
Nick’s masterclass today is inspired by Scottie Scheffler and looks at why aiming for the middle of the green is more effective than aiming for the pin.
A fun pod today, and a feedback one to come later this week which we’re looking forward to!
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Talk Birdie To Me is Australia’s most popular golf podcast, featuring tour pros Nick O’Hern and Mark Allen. Nick is a former world #16, and Mark a 15-year tour pro, including playing a British Open.
[Music] Welcome to Talk Birdie City. This is Australia’s most popular golf podcast with former world number 16 Nick O’Harn, the only player to beat Tiger Woods twice in match play, and tour pro Mark Allen, who played professional golf around the world for 15 years, including a British Open. We’re coming from our studio at Tidalist and FootJoy headquarters. Tidalist is the number one ball in golf and Fjoy is the number one shoe and glove in golf. And thanks to our great partners, Watch My Numbers, the most powerful database golf app in the world. Download from the app store or Google Play. Ping as with Nico Hearn will help you play your best. See your local golf shop or professional for a ping club fitting. The golf clearance outlet beat everyone’s prices. Visit golf clearanceoutlet.com.au for your nearest store. and better. The fastest and easiest betting app in Australia. Now that’s better. Now from our studio title and Fjoy headquarters, it’s time for talk birdie to me. Here’s Nico and Mark Allen. Hello everybody. Welcome to the program. I reckon we’re going to waffle about Scotty Sheffller for quite some time. Nice to see Nicholas. You too, Mark. What impressed you the most? Well, I actually done my master class on what impressed me the most about Scotty this past week. His uh his ability to avoid bogeies and double bogeies. He only had four holes on his scorecard where he didn’t have par or better. So, he had three bogeies and a double bogey for the week. That’s not right, is it? Correct. No, that is true. He made three bogeies and one double bogey. Yep. For the week. For the week. Did not realize that. So his big number or bogey avoidance is incredible. And as soon as he had that double bogey on Sunday where I mean really the tournament was over anyway because he had a six seven shot lead. Uh he goes and booties the next and says you know what boys I gave you a sniff but I’m just going to take it right off you straight away. So that’s what impressed me the most about him. His strokes gained approach to the greens was number one which is not unusual for Scotty standard. But the other thing which was the scary part was his strokes came putting. He was number two. He was leading after 36 holes. Now if he does if he puts well, it is done. Well, I’ll tell you what impressed me on the last day. Um he he hits it to a foot on the first hole. Just come out of the blocks just hit it to a foot. Well, plus his playing partner, Howong Lee, who’s what, four back, hits it to three or four feet. Yeah. And Scotty knocks it inside. Yeah. I mean, ridiculous. Ridiculous stuff. But his par putts on six and seven. Yeah, just to steady the ship. I mean, even he gets nervous. Yeah, there’s no doubt about that. To steady that ship and to make those 20footers when we’re watching for a crack. We’re almost hoping for a crack. Yeah, true. You know, we’re almost hoping for him to come back to the field. Bit like what happened to him in the PGA. Yes. You know, that front line of the PGA, he didn’t vomit all over himself, but there were cracks. Yeah. He he hit it sideways off the tree. Yeah, that’s right. There were cracks in his game on that front nine. I thought the opening T-shot would be a big tell because he got out of bounds left, out of bounds right. What a setup that is. By the way, I want to talk about Port R soon. Going, is he nervous? Is he not? He hit a little pull left. You go, okay, well that’s in play. That’s just fine. And then hits a foot and you go, okay, he’s fine. Yeah, but you know, he makes those two butts. Then he makes the double bogey to go, okay, here we go. It’s crack time. But then he booties the next hole. And you know if you’re watching live from which is a fantastic show we got to give credit where credit’s due Shambbley Mcinley and the other dude Rich Ler who asks some silly questions from time to time but he’s good he’s good that show is elite as far as sports programs on TV. There’s there’s nothing better. I mean it’s it’s instant. It’s straight after the event. They’ve got all the stats. They got the lot. Anyway, one of the stats that they brought up was that uh he leads the bounce back after making a bogey or worse for this season. He is a third of the time he makes a booty on the very next hole. Crazy. Now that that doesn’t that that shows you so much, folks. That shows you what is in between his ears. He resets and away he goes. Well, you you could point back to the press conference. Remember that you did that press conference start of the week where he he went on for about five minutes saying, well, it was a bit. Yeah. But he went on to say, look, golf is not my priority. My family, my faith is um you know, the winning feeling lasts for a few minutes after I win and then it’s like, okay, well, what’s for dinner? Yeah. So, so unfortunately for the rest of the best golfers in the world out there, he has the best mindset for golf because what do we do when we play our best? Yeah. We don’t care. We don’t really care out on the golf course. You don’t care that there’s out of bounds left. There’s a penalty area to the right. You just play with freedom. And he seems to be doing that better than anyone else. So, when trouble arises where he makes a bogey or a double bogey, he just resets, gets back on with the job. And that’s why he’s the best in the world. Can I say that um when you are sitting on top of the golf world and you are making $80 million US a year probably 100 million you it’s easy to say it is easy very easy it would be it would be much easier to say than if you were fighting for your life oh yeah trying to get into the FedEx Cup finale to keep your cards to avoid you know those players or you’ve just missed six cuts in a row. You just missed six cuts in a row or you just looked at your bank balance and all of a sudden Mr. Mastercard, Mr. Visa are your two best sponsors. And you know, he’s he’s saying all those things from a place of comfort, which is lovely. But that’s why I love the PGA Tour verse Live so much because you’ve got the greats, but you’ve also got these other stories over there. Yeah. That are covered on Friday more and more, Nick. It’s fair to say, you know, we’re seeing more and more what’s happening on the cut line. the last couple of tournaments we’re seeing, you know, the bubble stories. Who’s on that bubble of the getting into the FedEx? Who’s on the bubble of getting to the next one? Who’s on the bubble? They’re keeping their card, all that sort of stuff. And those BS, believe me, I know the most important thing to them is golf. Family, you know, if you’re lucky enough to have one, sometimes takes a back seat because in order to keep them happy, you’ve got to make the next cut and play well. You got to perform at your best. You got to perform. Absolutely. I was actually surprised to see the cut go to one over by the way. It was two over for most of the day. I’m thinking it may go to three, but the weather was conducive to good scoring. And I think and this is no slight against um you know the American players, but because the weather was pretty benign the last three days. We had one, two, three were Americans. Scotty Sheffller’s obviously the best. But then you have Aris Harris English, unbelievable player by the way. His second runner up in a major this year. He finished second at the PGA PGA at Qual. behind Sheffler again. I played with Harris thinking around 2012 or 13 at the Valero Texas Open. The first time I ever played with this kid in the third round young fella. He had the Ping hat on. So I thought, “Oh, this is cool. I get to play with a fellow Ping guy.” And by the end of the round, I thought, “Yeah, I’m I’m playing for second with this guy.” Really? He was so good. He was that impressive. So good. His his biggest weakness at that time was his distance control with his wedges. So he, you know, he didn’t quite, you know, control that well enough. So that if he, if he figures that out, it is scary cuz off the tea, he’s long, hits long irons, mid irons beautifully. He’s one of the best putters in the game. He’s still using an old ping putter he’s had for like, well, he had it when I played with him, you know, almost over 12 years ago. So, and one of the nicest guys you could imagine as well. So really good. But Chris got her up finished in third. Is he a right Scottish Open winner the previous week? Is he a certainty? No. If I was a captain, he’s playing. Yeah, he’s long, which helps Beth Paige. You want you want those bombers out there. He’s playing well. Yeah, that’s a whole other discussion. The right you win the Scottish, you come third in the British Open. You’re new. I’ I’ I’d throw him in as a wild card. I’ I’d put him I’d jump him ahead of a few spots, particularly a few spots of people that maybe don’t fit in the team. Although their captain at the moment knows all about not fitting in a team and missing. Yeah, that’s true. On the RDER Cup. So, so maybe that won’t enter his mind. Yeah. But going back to Scotty, uh it was interesting to listen to some of the post round interviews from the other players and even before the final round. It was good as well because there’s I get the same sense and the same feeling when I was playing out on tour that we all got with Tiger. It was inevitable that he was going to win basically most tournaments. And they’re almost they’re not dispirited, but they’re kind of getting the sense of well, we kind of are playing for second out here because this guy is that good. Yeah. And I can’t see anything changing in the near future. Well, it’s funny you say that. I’ve just taken an honesty tablet and I’m happy to tell you that after he won the Masters and that footwork got worse and the putting was questionable. Oh, I thought maybe he’s going to be a not a one hit wonder, but I I couldn’t see him improving. I I I couldn’t actually see it because I thought the swing would fall apart. Now, I watched that swing today. Yeah. And my thinking hasn’t changed how the hell he hits the ball straight consistently with that footwork. I don’t understand. I I do understand with the club face through impact. Now, that’s that’s where he becomes a superhero. That club face through impact stays squarer than anybody else’s. Lee Trevino style. I mean, incredible. And you know what, Mark? That is the only thing that matters. That’s the only thing that matters because his coach Randy Smith saw a long time ago he saw the footwork and he said I’m not going to touch this because it doesn’t matter with with Scotty. Now if it was affecting his play he would then obviously look at it but all as they focus on is club face awareness and in this game that’s all you need to worry about. Well signed off on the swing. But the putting then yes now remember when he had the putting. Now he went to I got to tell you a scary stat shortly. He went he went to his he went to Randy Smith his coach who coached him his whole life and said is it time to go and get a putting coach and they did now I’ve forgotten the black’s name Phil Kenyon well done one of the best in the world one of the best putting coaches in the whole world what a resume he’s got now he’s got a lot of good players I mean he has got Scotty Sheffller from being worse than average on tour in a hole on tour when you just looked at the stats to elite yeah completely elite. Yeah. Um and confident and moved him away from the blade putter. You know, he’s now got a a meal putter. Moved him to the claw. I I got a stat for you here. And I One more thing. Yeah, go for it. And now when I look at his stroke, there is no holes. There is nothing. He doesn’t move over the ball. It goes back and through. It releases. It does everything perfect that a top putter does. Well, last week I said I think he struggles on slower greens. And well, I got to throw that out the window now, obviously. Cuz funny enough, going into the tournament, he said to his his putting coach, Phil Kenyon, he said, “Look, I think my stroke, everything’s fantastic. All you need to get me doing is lining up consistently where I’m aiming, where I want to hit the ball, and if I do that, I’m going to make putts.” I mean, how good a mindset is that? But I heard this uh somewhere I can’t remember where, but he’s been using the mallet for 32 tournaments now. How many of those do you think he’s won out of the 32? Oh, well, he had a big season last year. How many times you win last year? Won eight or nine times. He’s won four this time. So, I’m going to say 13. Spot on. Right. 13 out of 32. So, that’s over That’s over 40%. That’s That’s better than Tiger. Scary, isn’t it? That’s scary. It really is. I didn’t realize that. and he’s got that mindset of faith, family, golf. Golf comes third in his life. Yeah. Whereas Tiger we all knew was golf, golf, golf, etc. Now, who’s the longevity going to last with? I mean, well, see, this is where this is where I’m going to I mean, he’s a I’m going to regret what I’m about to say. I don’t think he’s going to win as many as most think he’s going to win. Okay. I think that footwork at some stage he’s got to start missing the center of the club. He’s banging this down. I’m banging the door. Sorry, I’m sorry folks. At some stage he’s going to start missing the center of that golf club. At at some stage he will with that footwork. It’s got to it’s got to like everything I know in golf tells me this. You can’t. I look at Rory Maroyy’s footwork then I look at his Yeah. And I think my god, it’s like it’s it’s a complete weekend warrior hacker. If you just showed the bottom half, weekend warrior hacker versus complete elite at the top of the game. Well, we said it wouldn’t make the uh king eighth pennet team a while back, would I? I did. That’s right. I’ve said that. I’ve said that before. I’m glad you brought it up, Nick. Can I just be clear on what you’re saying here, Mark? Uh what are you saying? Scotty Sheffller is going to fall away and not be regarded as a great or is that a bit too strong? I don’t think he’ll win a dozen is what I’m saying. A dozen? Well, it doesn’t know. I don’t Well, people are talking about Tiger at the moment. Tiger won 15. I I don’t think he’ll get the double figures. That That’s my best guess. He’s 29 years old. Y So, you got to think, okay, let’s say till he’s 40, for example. Yeah. May, but he might at 35 he may pack it up given what he’s talking about in his, you know, pre- tournament interview. But say he gets 10 more years, that’s 40 majors. And he’s at the moment, if he doesn’t win one a year, it would very much surprise me. So there’s another 10. No, look, I have no doubt I’m going to eat my words. I’m going to eat every word I just said a minute ago. I’ll eat it. I’ll eat them all. He has to stay healthy, though. That’s the thing. I’ll eat I’ll eat I’ll eat every one of them. But I just can’t see that footwork getting the 10 or 12 majors. I just can’t see it. Nick, we’re actually going to clip that keeper. Absolutely. Pin it. Pin it to their stupid. So this is what do you call social media stuff. Pin it right at the top. But this is the nuts and bolts of this game. Yeah. The golf swing is less important than Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What’s up here? That is right. What’s up there is that’s what separates him from everyone else. I can tell you right now. That is right. Um we haven’t spoken about the Aussies yet. What do we want? Disaster. Well done to Mark Leeman. He got in via the Australian Open. Only player to make the cut. Yeah, we had what 11 Australasians, a couple of Kiwis missed the cut, and then a bunch of Aussies. So, Cameron Smith, where do you want to start with camo? Well, unfortunately for Cameron, he’s he’s holding a dubious record, which is the only player to play all four majors and miss all four cuts. That’s right. And he missed the uh the major, the one before. He’s missed five major cuts in a row. Five in a row. Missed five in a row. I think he’s had a tied 32nd and a tied 60th since that sort of, you know, his last seven. Um, what do you think? Well, nobody, according to the stats, nobody drove the ball worse than Cameron um at Port Rush. Really, nobody in the field drove it worse than I watched I saw a bit of the coverage, saw him, and I must admit, I don’t think he hit a fairway whenever I watched him. So, yeah. So, I don’t know whether it’s mindset, but I mean, let’s just say it. I mean, live golf hasn’t been good for his golf. I I think that’s clear to everybody now. Now, um, live golf has, I think, helped Bryson somehow. Yeah. All right. So, there’s brought him out of his shell. Matt Cleary wrote a really good article in Golf Australian magazine, you know, saying there’s all this talk around Cam and is his golf, you know, is is his golf poor because of that? And in his words, he said, look, he’s playing [ __ ] golf, but sometimes golfers just play [ __ ] golf. That’s right. So, is it because of that? Is it because of this? Who knows? I mean, it’s it’s up to everyone. I’m sure Cam’s pretty happy with what he’s doing as far as, you know, the lifestyle he’s what he’s doing. Lifestyle he’s chosen. Good luck to him. I also read that he’s practicing harder than ever. Okay. Like he’s gone he’s gone crazy with the Now, who knows? I mean, I’ I’d rather hear this out of Cameron’s mouth than than reading reports about it. Um, but you know, I I wanted him to be a star of Australian golf and it’s it’s just nose dived at the moment. Can he get out? Of course he can get out of it. Of course he can. He can turn it around if if the stars align for him. Yeah. But he’s got to start hitting fairways. So he can use that magic wand putter of his. I mean that’s we know he’s got the magic wand. Yeah. But he’s got to get it somewhere on the green. You got to get the fairway first. So that’s that that’s somehow got to turn around for him. Well, I think the big the other big live story of the week was was Bryson. Um Oh wow. First round 78. Now I thought he was gone. The wind, the weather was the worst on the first day. Four under was leading after round one. So that gives you an idea of how tough the course was playing. The next three days people were shooting six, seven unders pretty consistently shot the best round of the day didn’t round two4, seven under. Uh and Bryson shot a six under. So basically they were the two best scores of day. So Bryson ended up coming all the way back from there to top 10 I think tied for 10. Incredible. But the weather was conducive to that as as we know. I would have loved to have seen four days like the first day weatherwise with the wind really 20 to 30 mph. So, can I make a prediction just on the live players? I want to make this prediction. I think and get the clip of John Ram ready to go. Uh Dan, I I want to make a prediction that John Ram will have a cracking season in 2026. Okay, I saw something. I I I this one of the things about Scotty Sheffield when he makes his practice swing, his chaft steepens. You see it over the worst possib flight. John Ram has been taking it back so flat and so laid off that to make contact with the ball, he’s had to steepen. Now, watch this. I just noticed this. Watch his nice little um rehearsal that he’s doing at the moment. Okay, here we go. So, I just filmed this off the TV, so forgive me. So that’s a bit of a nicarn mini. It’s a mini mini O’harn. And when he made that swing there, there is no steepening. It’s still laid off, but it’s the old John Ram. So for the for our audio listeners, basically he’s just taking the club away with the hands are staying on the same path and the club head staying outside the line. That is correct. It had been going back so flat and so laid off that the only way back to the ball was to steepen. Yep. Right. That’s no good. It never seems to work. I’ve seen players come over the top, but the shaft actually doesn’t steepen. Yeah, it it still comes down a nice spot. So, I just want to make that prediction. I think John Ram’s on to something. Okay. And I love the way it looks. So, watch him in 2026. Yeah, I had high hopes for him uh at at Royal Port Rush, actually. And he started off pretty good. Had a decent opening round, but then never really got it going and ended up finishing middle middle of the field. Well, you know, you know, as much as anybody when you when you when you do fiddle around, it’s not often that when you change something like that, you know, shaft angle going back that it clicks into full gear 100% early. But there is no doubt that John Ram is looking much much better from my point of view. Anyway, Port Rush, I want to go. My god, do I want to go. How good did it look on the TV? So good. Compared to 2019 when it was raining and it was a disaster. This year it just looked beautiful. Those drone shots, remember? Did you see the drone shots? And I was watching it with my wife and I said, “Have a look at this.” And Alana goes, “They got a filter on that camera because because the contrast, she knows.” And but the contrast and the way it looked was spectacular and the coverage. How good was the uh the spider cam on 18 green where they were coming in on the people putting? I’m wondering if the players can see that stuff, but I guess not. Must be very quiet. Yeah, it must be must be very quiet. I think it was a drone, wasn’t it? It wasn’t a It wasn’t a boom. Okay. I think it might have been a might wires or something cuz they said spider cam. So maybe maybe it was it was maybe it was on wires. Yeah, but it’s I didn’t hear I bought a golf course. I mean, you got par 71 some of those par threes. And by the way, hardest par three on the golf, one of the hardest holes on the course 16. Scotty Sheffler birdies it one, two, three. Steps it on. Steps it on. Imagine imagine if he’ birded that four days. Birded Calamity, that’s the name of it. Calamity. Yeah, birded Calamity. Three days in a row. They put a plaque on the tea for him. So he was three underway. He was three under that on that hole. And most people are going to be two or three over for the week. So he’s picking up five, six shots right there on the field on one hole. So if if I’m Port Rush, I’d have a plaque on that too because he only took nine shots to play it for the week. Round one, two, three, and four. Wow. He played it in nine shots. Yeah. And it wasn’t like he got lucky on any of them. I think he held one long putt. There’s the plaque. I expect to see now. Um have you you’ve played in nine many times. I’ve never been there really. And my top five a little bit later. Uh the top five I’m going for a week. I just want to play five courses. I can tell you the top five to avoid. Can you? Oh, sure. Well, as in you know, they’re not link style courses where we used to play tournaments on. I don’t mind that sort of a top five either. I don’t mind that one bit. Fair. Now, it’s apology time. Oh, yeah. And I think we should all look down the barrel at our Wolfpack members and sincerely apologize for our better multi last week where not one leg got up. We were looking good. We were looking good for one for the Bryson Tommy Fleetwood one. Bryson Tommy Fleetwood. I thought we were home. Yeah. When Sheffller shot three under the first day, I thought, “Oh, I can’t see him finishing outside the top 10.” We were in it. When Rory shot just what, 70 the first round. Rory and Larry were were close. And then Larry got that two- shot penalty. By the way, did you see that? The two shot penalty. No. No. What happened? End of round two. So, he’s um We’ve got it here. I’ll play. So, he’s making the back swing, flicks the grass. He caused it. Yeah. Yeah. I get a closeup back swing there. So, what do you reckon that moved? A millimeter, 2 millimeters, if anything. I mean, if because they zoomed in on it, you can see that the writing just just shift a bit. So, what’s happened is his clubs hit a little twig which was next to the ball. And now he said he did he’s caused it to move. He has caused it to move, but the rule says it needs to be discernible to the naked eye. That’s right. And he said he was looking down and as he was taking the practice swing, he didn’t see it move. Yeah. So they’ve obviously taken him into the trucks and he’s gone well. And then Sheffller was asked about it and he said, “Well, we’re all in an awkward situation here.” And Larry basically said, “Look, give me a two-shot penalty because I don’t want people calling me a cheat or anything like that.” So you always take the worst case scenario if you’re in doubt. So in my book, in my book, in that situation, if the cameras weren’t on him, he would have been fine. That’s right. In my book, in that situation, the RNA should have little talk to each other and say, “Okay, if he’s looking down on that ball, how the hell is he going to see that move?” Yeah. If he was at ball height like the camera is, well, that’s a different story. You can see with the naked eye, but if you’re actually looking down on a ball and it moves a millimeter down in the rough, well, good luck seeing that. Well, exactly. I mean, what if what if your playing partner if you’re looking swinging? cuz whenever I take my practice swings, I’m looking out in the distance, not looking at the ball, but I make sure I’m further away from the ball than probably what he was. Yeah. Is better off saying after the fact, now listen, Shane Lowry, he’s done the right thing here, he’s done nothing wrong, but let’s explain this rule. And the rule is unless you see it move with your eye, then the ball hasn’t moved. Unless you can see in this situation, in the old days, we would have given him a two-shot penalty, but the way the rules are today, and then he he’s out. He’s out the door and he’s, you know, two shots back. So, in a nutshell, Larry would have beaten Maroy, I think, for our multi, but that was that was the start of the of the downward trend, unfortunately. Well, that’s not going to get you out of your apology. So, I want you to look down the barrel, Nick, and you’re apologizing, not me. See, this is See, I always get the end of this for some reason. Now, there is there is one winner out of our out of our multi, even though the entire wolf pack except for one person and us did not win. By the way, we’re going to win about three in a row soon. So, just stick with us and then you will be laughing all the way to that beautiful new titleless driver or ping driver that you’re about to buy. I I reckon we have to. Uh we do have one winner. So, one of the Wolfpackers who who entered in the multi and we’ve drawn their name out earlier on. Nick, can you read this name out here? Oh gosh. Is it an easy name? Yeah. Look at us all with the glasses. Narell Brunady. Well done, Narell. Yeah, Brunady. I hope that’s how you say it. Well done. She’s on the way to the Golf Clearance Outlet. Yeah. So, I I don’t know how I’m not sure how to pronounce it, but and I don’t know where Narell lives or if there’s a Golf Clearance Outlet near where she lives, but if there isn’t, she can spend 250 bucks online at the Golf Clearance Outlet. So, either way, she’s the only winner out of our doomed multi. By the way, golf clearance.com.au if you’re not buying the beautiful FootJoy or Tideless Player gloves, the $13 gloves are back in town, the Caba leather ones. So, you’re all set to go. Um, hey, we got to get to the turn. We’ve We’ve made our apologies. We’ve pissed off enough people in the first half. So, um, my top five’s coming next. I’ve got I’m going to Ireland and these are the top five courses that I’ll be playing. Nice. I like it. [Music] If you’re planning a Gold Coast holiday, we’ve got an idea for you. Just 23 minutes from Surface Paradise, you’ll find one of Australia’s most stunning golf experiences. Lynx Golf and Well-being at Hope Island is a premium 18hole course designed to challenge and entertain whatever your skill level. We can’t guarantee that you’ll hit the ball like Scotty Sheffller, but with lush fairways, pristine greens, and a link style layout, you’ll have a great time trying. And with a friendly, modern clubhouse, including a restaurant and bar, Lynx Golf and well-being at Hope Island makes you feel just as welcome off the course as you are on. And of course, there’s a welle equipped pro shop, putting greens, and driving range. So whether you come for the golf, the food, or the company, next time you visit the Gold Coast, we’d love you to drop in to links and Well-being Hope Island. Visit us at lynxshop island.com.au. Wow, that’s mind-blowing, man. It feels so solid. That’s as consistent as it gets. Oh my gosh, it’s good, man. Oh, hot. I’m glad if they play a different driver cuz I know this one’s the best. It’s the best feeling driver I’ve ever hit. [Music] We’re live from our studio at Tidlist and Foot Choy headquarters. We all know the number one ball in golf is Tidalist and the number one shoe and glove in golf is Foot Choy. We’re here thanks to the Golf Clearance Outlet. They beat everyone’s prices. Ping will always help you play your best. Turn your bogeies into birdies with the Watch My Numbers app. And better, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia. That’s better. Now, back to Talk Birdie to Me. Here’s Nick and Mark. Okay, it’s time for this week’s top five. The Talk Birdie to me top five. Thanks to Southern Golf Club. At least you got that intro right then. got a Oh, wow. So, I’ve never been to Ireland, so you’re going to have to help me a little bit here. Yeah, you should have. But the this is just on Yep. what people have told me the courses that cuz so many I know so many people have been like I’ve got about five friends of Kingston who have just got back from Ireland. They actually played Port Rush. They played some I’ve never played there. I’ve never played County Down. They’ve never had tournaments there when I’ve been in Ireland. So, and the pitches and everything else here. So these these are just from what I’ve been told. I know nothing else. I’ve never been there. These are the five courses that I will play when I eventually get to Ireland. At number five, I reckon this is probably low a lot of people cuz once upon a time I would have had this at number one. I would have had Belly Bunion at number one. Well, it is my favorite course in Ireland. Okay. Well, there you go. 20 years ago it was the number one but there’s a couple have gone past it just of late as far as people who tell me about the courses over there. I can I can tell you the local Guinness there is fabulous too. Yes. You a Guinness fan? Oh yes. Love my Guinness. How much weight did you put on when you really No, no, no. I’m only a two pot screamer. So All right. At number four, I’ve got La Hinch and that’s pretty much been steady. Lehch has always been in the top five but hasn’t moved. At number three, this comes from you. didn’t really know much about it until you said, “Have a look at the map at Port Stewart, which is right next to Port Rush.” I hear good things about it. So, I know. Well, it’s on the list. It’s probably on the list cuz it’s so close to all um Port Rush, which is my number two. But there was a bloke who used to work in the Kingston Pro Shop. His name is Rory Doran. I reckon everyone knows Rory Doran. Everyone does. He’s a superstar these days. Rory, he came from a golf club. He was over there, too, I think. Maybe for uh for the open. Yeah, he said he was heading that way. That makes sense. He knows Rory Maroy, another Rory over there. But Rory Doran told me that Royal County Down is one of the greatest golf courses in the whole world. So that is my number one. It’s just one. I hear it’s a lot of blind t-shirts as well. So that’s what I’ve heard. Take a caddy. You definitely need some local reason to play. I love I love playing social golf. When you got a caddy, there’s nothing better. Social golf with a caddy on a special golf course. One of the great things you can do in the game of golf. Another good one I played over there, we played the Irish Open was Belray, which is just north of Dublin. No, I know. Neither had I until we played there. It was very nice golf course. Yeah, there’s And then there are more of the American style like the K Club, um, Photo Island, the five courses to avoid. Yeah, probably in Ireland. I I hear another I hear another great one over there with spectacular views is Old Head. So, never been there, but I’ve seen the pictures. cuz Gary Lisbon does some phenomenal uh pictures of it and it looks spectacular. Stop trying to turn my top five into a top six and just let’s move on to the next segment if you don’t mind. I kind of wonder Mark how you go playing in Ireland given the weather in Ireland is typically very rainy and you are a notorious fair weather golfer who will not play in bad weather. That’s a very good point. Yeah, you would have pulled out of the first round of the open when it started raining. Just socially. Just socially, that’s all. [Music] And it is the ping global results for ping who will help you play your best nicarn. Hey, just before you go any further, would you like a pen from my new pencil? Do you like that? Very nice. I was that wondering. I was thinking figure out what that was. You can probably put your toothbrush in there. You can put a water bottle in there. You can put all kinds of things in there. stacks of stuff on the website, mate. This is the ping global. Excuse me. Sorry everybody in ping. I shouldn’t have done it then. It’s all good. I’ll edit that out. All right, Ping Globals. Nick, what do you got? Uh, the open championship obviously. Scotty Sheffller wins his fourth major. I think he’ll get to double figures at some point. How long it takes him, who knows. Harris English, another runner up at a major. Well done to him. and Scotty got got her up was in third of the Australasians as we mentioned unfortunately the only player to make the cut was Mark Leeman tied for 5 seconds. So, what happened in Min Woo? Uh, miscut. Miscut. I’m not sure what his final scores were, but I think he was well out of it from the get-go. I think he might have shot four over the first round and the cut was one over. So, it was a big ass. Can I just give the RNA a bit of a spash across their head? Their app, which was very good during the week, has basically closed down as soon as the week of golf has finished. Okay. It is now a useless app. I had to do research in another place. Oh, there you go. What the hell are you doing? Interesting. But it was a a dominant performance from Scotty Sheffller as we saw. And there was one instance actually we were talking about earlier on the 17th hole in one of the rounds. I don’t know if you saw this but the chef mates if you know them funny they have done this beautifully and uh I think you’ve got some footage on this one where there was a noise which people thought hang on what was that noise and you could hear the commentators I think it was uh Andrew what’s his name Andrew Cotter and uh Ken Brown. Yeah, but it was very they were laughing through it and I thought it was it was quite good. But the chef mates I think we’re gonna our YouTube just just now you have to listen out for the Royce Heart. That’s all I’m going to say. Okay. This is not going to risk our podcast licenses. It was funny though. All right. So, let’s have a look. Chef, [Music] what are you laughing about? There’s so much to say about that shot. There’s so many off the clock face. Listen to him. That’s extraordinary. Let’s stick to the golf. Just a little bit of wind from behind just helped it ease down the green. Very funny. was an echo as well. What a shot from Sheffler. Do we need another investigation? Was it from Sheffller or was it from somebody in the studio? I I have a feeling I don’t know if it was Sheffller or some Cuz they have the microphones obviously pointing at the players, the caddies. So, it was either one of those two or it might have been someone in the studio. I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure they’re professional. It also could have been like just a squeak of a shoot maybe. No, it wasn’t a squeak of a shoot. Anyway, it was a fine downwind shot. In any case, yeah, very funny. Well done. Uh, at the same time as the Open, they had a event going on in the US as one of those um, you know, on what do they call them? Secondary events. The Barracuda Championships, which was a stable event in Truckucky, California. Our own Jason Scrier had a good week. Tied for eighth. It’s his best finish over there on the PGA Tour. Yeah. But Ryan Gerard had a three-point win over Eric Van Royan. almost set the new tournament scoring record with 47 points which Van Royan set a few years earlier actually. So well done to Ryan on his first win over there. Cornferry tour. They were in Springfield, Missouri. Um is that the home of the Simpsons? Springfield, Missouri or I think it’s Springfield, but you never know what state it’s from because there’s a famous scene where Marge says oh and then she’s waving to someone. You never never say where it is. Island Springs Country Club. I played this course. Um yeah, interesting. low scores always six undercut this particular week but Chandler Blanchett had a three-shot win over there so well done to him. Harry Hillier was best of the Australasians tied for 47th. Hotel Planet tour they had the German challenge where South African JC Richie had a dominant eight shot win that’s incredible. Sam Jones the New Zealander was best there tied for 18th. On the le access tour, they had the Islantia open in Spain where Mexico’s Fernand Lera Cruz to a six-shot win. You’re getting good at these names. Steph Bunk, best of the Aussies, tied for 37th. And then we had some history over in the US where they had a qualifying school for the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia in Georgia. Just for Americans or was it for anybody who was over there? because they were giving out eight cards and a New South Wales am by the name of Hamish Murray was one of those who got one of the eight cards to play the tour here. They were at a course called Kinderoo Forest in Vald Dosta. I’ve played there strangely enough. Bombers course designed by Davis Love III. So you can imagine what that’s like. But get this out. It was uh now if you are leading player the medalist, you get into every tournament. So Australian Open, Australian PGA, you name it, right? Two guys finished tied. So they go into a playoff. New Yorker Chris Malik and Patrick Healey. Now before the playoff, Patrick Healey’s having a putter around testing out different putters and he puts an extra putter in his bag. Goes to the playoff. Yeah. Guess what? Gets to the first green. He’s got 15 clubs in his bag. Oh no. So four shot penalty. Yeah. Did it ear? He he just went over and shook hands and said, “Mate, it’s all yours.” So congratulations to Chris Chris Malik who was the medalist is going to play every tournament down here. But also a shout out to another guy Dustin White who’s the head coach of Washington State University. I went and did a couple of uh sessions with the team over there. He decided to play a bit of golf cuz his wife Emma is Australian and they’re going to come down and have a bit of a holiday. He thought, you know what, I might go and try the Q school and he got one of the cards as well. So good luck to Australia, aren’t they? Yeah, they’re going to play a bit of golf as well. So anyway, good on them. So that is this week’s Ping Global results. Well done. Uh we have some feedback, lots of feedback on uh well on the top 100 discussion from last week and a few other bits and pieces. So uh you ready for that? You bet I am. Far away. Okay. You bet. [Music] You know, Dan, I can tell Mark, he’s in a fire up mood. He’s ready to uh throw some mud here. Well, well, it depends what the feedback is like. Actually, that it’s unreasonable, then yes, I will throw money. It’s interesting you say that, Nick, because that reminds me. We had a conversation about two weeks ago about Mark having fights with Wolfpackers. Yeah. On social media. Okay. Did I see you punching on with some bloke on Twitter a couple of days ago? That’s right. Really? That’s what you do on Twitter, Dan. I don’t know what you think Twitter’s all about, but that’s what it’s all about. Well, you were pretty brutal on this bloke. I I I I can’t I actually can’t remember what it was about. But you sometimes I just don’t like us being pushed around. It’s as simple as that. I don’t think we push us around and tell us what we can and can’t say. Don’t think we were. I think you were being pushed around. I think that particular fella can just stick it right in his ear. That’s not the way we operate. Okay. Lots of feedback on the top 100 chat with Jasper. This is from Tim Martin. Jasper spoke incredibly well, but I’m genuinely baffled the panelists remain anonymous. To me, that undermines transparency and accountability. Trust in a ranking relies on a credible and open process and this falls short. I would be honored to have my name on the panel and I’d stand proudly behind it and defend it. Sadly, the credibility of the list remains unresolved to me. Correct way. Correct way. And look, we will forever be wondering what the hell is going on with that bottom half of that top 100 because it is out of whack. Yeah. Yep. Marcus said, “Ranking lists have lots of anomalies. Burdal has no place in a world top 100 list. Barn Boole Junes has too many average holes to be top 25. Does it have that too many average holes? But I’ve I’ve played it once or twice and it’s pretty good. Yeah. Can’t remember too many average holes. But anyway, that’s what this says. North Beric is great fun, but too many pedestrian holes to be top 50. Sunning, you might disagree with this one, Nick. Sunningale is a wonderful place to play, but there is no way known it’s the 22nd best course in the world. Nikki, you may have a different view. St. Andrews Beach requires great thought. This is interesting. The strategies aren’t obvious. It’s on great land and features a large number of unique golf holes that require imagination and control. Three terrific par 3es, one of the truly great sets of short and medium path fours on the planet. A couple of fantastic mid-l long par fours and a couple of good long ones too. I like Preswick a lot, but St. Andrew’s Beach is better. I think we just found one of our panelists on the on the top 100, whoever that was. Who’s who’s the name there? Mark. Just Mark. Just Mark. Okay. Yeah. Sounds like he’s good mates with Mike Clayton. No, could be. Yeah, I’ll I’ll disagree on the Sunning Dale. Uh yeah, front there. Yeah, I think Sunny Dale I’m not I’m not sure it’s top 22. I haven’t played enough of these golf courses in the top 100, but fabulous. I don’t think you can leave it out of the top 50. No, definitely not. And that’s just going on. Senior British Open is this week, too, by the way. Senior British Open. I think it’s at Sunning this week. I hope we get it on the telly. Bunch of Aussies playing. I hope we get it on the TV here because uh if you haven’t seen Sunnydale, it’s it’s one of the great golf experiences you can ever have. Now, this bloke might also be on that panel as well cuz he he doesn’t mind St. Andrew’s Beach. Junior B has said, “I’ve played lots of courses around Australia and a few in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. St. Andrew’s Beach, I reckon, is the best course I’ve played. Victoria, Royal Adelaide, New South Wales, and the now defunct Laguna Keys, which is up in North Queensland, are all up there for me. But the experience of San Andreas Beach was fantastic. Laguna Keys. Yeah, Lagouna Keys. Okay. You know what that is? Yeah, I do. No. And I know what you can do with that email. Laguna Keys is mentioned. Laguna Keys wasn’t around for long. It wasn’t. So, it’s about Nick, it’s about maybe 20 minutes south of Proipine. Oh, okay. Uh, and it was a resort that was ill- fated and is now in ruins and sits there as a disused resort. Well, yeah. Well, I thought it was a, you know, kind of a coolum on steroids. I’d never been there, but just the pictures of it, I thought, well, it looks like a pretty interesting place. I wouldn’t mind going and seeing a a good golf course up there in Queensland in a resort. I never got there. One of the problems with L Keys was it’s literally the middle of nowhere. It’s 20 minutes south of Provine. It’s about 40 minutes north of Mai. There’s nothing around. There is nothing there. Okay. Uh Ginger’s dad has said, “How do you rank courses? There’s a criteria that different rankers use. Personally, I look at a course as paw holes. St. Andrew’s Beach has at least two poor holes. It’s a nice course, but it’s not top 100. Maybe top 20 in Australia or between 20 and 30. Uh, ex-type 1 diabetic has said, “I played St. Andrew’s Beach yesterday.” This is a couple of days ago. You wrote this in in 60 to 70 km an hour winds that were rarely behind you. The hardest hole, a 420 m 4 was almost like playing a par six. Beautiful course, difficult, but unplayable when I was there. Yeah, that’s I think it’s the 13th hole. I’d say most courses around the uh yeah, I remember that one. I wasn’t sure if it was a par five or a par four. Yeah, it’s a fabulous place. It’s a great course. You know, it’s it’s worth a trip, but it’s not the top 100 in the world. We had hundreds in my view, hundreds of comments. Uh we can’t go through them all, but I’ll finish on this one here, and I think this is a good one. This is from Ben. I’m not a fan of the top 100 list, but I am a fan of facing the critics in front of a large crowd and standing behind the work you do. Hats off to Jasper for coming on the podcast. Agreed. However, the investigation given the anonymity the judges is far from over now. I think it probably, look, it probably is over for now, but I love the fact that Jasper came on and and came into a room that he knew was going to be a critical room. I haven’t thrown a tally in on the investigation. Oh, I have not thrown the tally in. I’ve got one last lever to pull. What’s the investigation? I want to find out who is ranking St. Andrews Beach in this part of the world ahead of Victoria Golf Club and also um Peninsula Kingswood. The list of the names and Royal Melbourne East. It just there’s too many fingers pointing at one particular situation that um Well, I can I think he’s a bit crooked. No, I can tell you that’s not the case. So, okay. Anyway. Okay. Well, you know the judges do. No, no. I know the situation you’re pointing towards and it’s it hasn’t got anything to do with that as it turns out. Until we know who the judges are, we will That’s what we need to know. Need to know the judges. Maybe it’ll come out. A lot of feedback on the live players getting official World Gold Rankings points. Daryl has said they knew what they were doing and they need to live with their decisions. So, he’s obviously against them getting the points. PM has said there’s too much opposition to this. The ones opposing are in protection mode. I used to get annoyed at how USAentric the rankings were because they held the belief that the world revolved around them. But now, as the rankings reflect, there’s players from all over the world in the top 50, 100, 200. And with 16 players from Live in the Open this week, it’s increasingly problematic not to be awarding points to a range of tours sorted out. Do you think the Live players were told that they would eventually get world ranking points? Oh, yes. coming across. I think that was one of the selling points early on as far as, you know, Greg Norman when he started it, he was adamant that it it would only be a matter of time and we’ll go through the process and and away it would the way it would go. But the funny thing is when they reapplied, what was it last week or the week before for world ranking points, the sticking points which you know kept them off the world ranking points, they haven’t changed any of those things. So I’m not sure what response they’re going to get that may be different. The only thing I can see that’s different is you’ve got Donald Trump possibly, you know, pushing from from the other direction. So, um, yeah, we’ll see. Okay, this one from Chris. Uh, play 72 holes, play tougher courses, and you will get OWGr points. It’s simple. No one’s saying these guys aren’t capable of winning big events, but come on, it’s 54 holes on resort courses. That’s not good enough. Some of the courses are good. Yeah, some of them are good. Some of them are good. Yeah, some of them are good. Some are resort. I understand what Chris is saying, but that’s a little harsh. Yeah, this the course in Spain is more than much better. Much better. Well, I know the first day um I heard from from one of the caddies um who was there that um the the greens were just Yeah, I think they double cut and rolled the greens the first day and they had 30 to 40 km an hour winds. So, they had to call play off. I don’t think the green keepers maybe read the memo that we’re going to get some high winds there, which is a bit strange. So, uh but yeah, they played pretty tough that week. had a comment here from Gary Matthews on Grace Kim’s win a couple of weeks ago. Good day, Nick, Mark, and Dan. Having watched Grace Kim’s amazing victory, I was frustrated that some media outlets referred to this as a Steven Bradbury moment. Grace won with brilliant play, perhaps the most brilliant conclusion to major I’ve ever seen. And that’s far from how Steven Bradbury, who won as the last man standing when his rivals fell over in front of him. Now, I didn’t see anyone describe it as that, but clearly they did cuz Gary’s written that. So, I wonder who did. Yeah. Don’t know. There’s someone who knows nothing about golf. Yeah. It would have been a Bradby moment if Titakull hit it in the water three times or something like that to give Grace Kim the title. But that didn’t happen. But Grace took it away from her. So yeah, whoever whoever said that doesn’t know anything about golf. No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t Bradbury. Justin Os said, “Guys, you have earwormed me now. I will be saying Grace Kim all the time.” Uh, and just Oh, for the chipping. Grace Kim. Yeah. Couple here to finish on. This is from Peter Barnes. Hey guys, I enjoyed your top five major finishes, but I thought you might have included the 2016 Open where Stepppson and Mickelson streedated the field with third place more than 10 shots behind. That was another jewel in the sun. It was It was Stenson played some of the best golf that has ever been seen. Beat Phil, I think. Well, Phil Phil shot something low and Stenson just had him covered. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Masterass. Who’s uh whose turn this week? My turn this week. Okay. What’s it on? What are you doing? It’s all about Scotty Sheffller and uh strategy and how you can avoid the big numbers. Okay. Well, masterclass thanks to watch my numbers. Download from Google Play or the App Store in 30 seconds. [Music] [Music] We are [Music] happy. [Music] Yeah. [Music] All right, the master class this week is actually well, it’s a masterass on Scotty Sheffller because what a performance that was at Royalport Rush over the weekend. And what did he do better than everyone else? Well, guess what? He took the big numbers out of play. He only made three bogeies for the week and one double bogey on Sunday, which to be honest didn’t really factor in because he had such a big lead at that stage. Now, his approaches into greens is what separates him from everyone else. And the key thing about it is he stays away from trouble. For example, I’ve got this pin here which is really tucked hard on the left hand side. If I go in this bunker here, I’ve shortsided myself. I’m no good. If I go a little bit along, if I’ve taken on this pin and I’ve pulled it again, I’m in that back bunker. No good. What you’ll see him do is play to the middle of every green. And even if he does miss the green, he comes up short or he misses on the wrong side, he has plenty of green to get the ball up and down for pass. So, he’s avoiding the big numbers. Now, what does that mean for the everyday golfer? Well, it means stay away from pins. Only aim at the ones which suit your eye perfectly. Because look, the everyday golfer, it’s going to be hard to take bogeies off your scorecard, but you want to take double bogeies off. Now, aiming for the middle or away from pins, that is the key to shooting lower scores. Uh, it’s such a simple masterass, but one that would solve so many issues for so many people who don’t play all the time. Exactly. No, I quite a while back I remember remember our buddy Raymack right Troino we were having a chat one day and he said how many you know how many pins do you fire up during a round of golf and I said maybe three or four and he says what even today I’m three or four yeah that’s it and he and I said Ray your next round of golf go out and just aim for the middle of every green and I think he had 40 points he said that was the most stressfree round of golf I’ve ever played I think he shot on the par there not long ago too Ray Mack which is amazing he gets way too many mentions on his podcast by the way when we talk about core strategy. I always tell this story and it’s a story that made the news uh in 1987 um when I was at Texas Tech and that is there was a fraternity and one of the things you had to do to get into this fraternity at Southern Methodist University which is where Bryson Dshambo went. Um they had to go to a place called Dallasos Athletic Club which is kind of their was their Royal Melbourne at the time back in 1987. And what these boys had to do was steal all the the pins and the and the flag sticks from Dallas Athletic Club. So, mission accomplished. They got all 18 flag sticks. Like stealing a team’s mascot. That’s right. Inexplicexably, um Dallas Athletic Club didn’t have replacement flag sticks. Okay. So, all the members were forced to do what? Shoot at the middle of the green. Guess what happened that day? What were the scores like? a record amount of members shot better than their handicapped. So that’s I always tell that story and look, you know, I’m a center of the green kind of guy. I hardly ever even even sometimes with a lob witch. Y I will quite often just aim just just to give you that little bit of room for error. Well, you’re always if you’re aiming away from the flag, it’s a strange thing to say, but you’re just giving yourself more room, as you say, for error. And if you do miss it on the the side that you’re aiming towards, you’ve got all this room to maybe get it up and down for par, but worst case, you’re going to make a bogey. Now, the pros, because Sheffller’s so good, he just gets it up and down for par. That’s right. You very rarely see him shortside himself. He made a double bogey more because he got a bit greedy trying to hit it out of the fairway bunker. Wasn’t about playing into the green so much. So, it’s funny, you know, when you see when you play with players who um you know, maybe an 18 handicap when they do miss it on the short side. Oh, yeah. Quite often they either leave it in trying to get it close or they hit it miles past and three putt. Exactly. So both ways they make the double bogey. That’s horrible. But if they aim away from the flag stick and avoid that shortsided up and down, they make parl bogey. Exactly. Yep. Play on. Away you go. If only it was that simple. Unfortunately, we just see the flag. Nicholas, you look beautiful in purple by the way. Folks, we’ll see you next week. Cheers. And that’s been Talk Birdie, Australia’s most popular golf podcast with Nick Hearn and Mark Allen, coming from our studio at Titalist and Foot Choy headquarters. As everyone knows, Tidalist is the number one ball in golf and Foot Choy, the number one shoe and glove in golf. Wherever you get your podcasts, make sure to subscribe, maybe leave a review, and we’d love you to share the pod with a friend who loves their golf. Huge thanks to our fantastic partners. Ping, like they do for Niko Hearn, will help you play your best. You can see your local golf shop or professional for a ping club fitting. The Golf Clearance Outlet always beat everyone’s prices. Visit golf clearanceoutlet.com.au for your nearest store. Watch My Numbers is the most powerful databased golf app in the world. You can download from the App Store or Google Play. And better, they’ve got the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia. Download from the App stores today. Now that’s better. Keep in mind, what are you really gambling with? But for now, from our studio at Tidalist and Fjoy headquarters, thanks for being a part of the show. We’ll see you next time.
28 Comments
I watched a split screen of Scheffler & Norman with the driver & it was scary the similarities!
Would like to see Scottie "Shuffler" win 10 , his footwork is always different yet he hits the ball so pure ! Can't stand Mcilroy but that's another story .
I was lucky enough to play Royal County Down, Ballybunion & Royal Portmarnock …so good. But, some local courses are also great.
Mark, if your going to go play golf in Ireland 5 courses is not enough , I’ve played 33 courses there , you will need 2 weeks minimum , and RCC is the best , Portrush is the hardest
As an expat Aussie who has lived overseas for going on 18 years, pods like yours make me miss home,
More high quality stuff Gentlemen. It's a pleasure watching.
I do know Mike Clayton, and have had a hit with him a few times, but it's nothing to do with my thoughts of St AB. It's always been an incredibly polarising golf course.
I reckon 1,2,8, 10 (mostly- great green), 14 and 16 at Barnbougle are pretty average holes. 4 is hugely overrated – I've never seen anyone try to drive over the bunker, so it doesn't really work.
Love your podcast.
Mark F (Also a PK member).
Scheffler is supremely talented but a tad boring. Yet another God bothering American college boy. His success will be tempered by Rahm, DeChambeau and who knows who else will emerge. Re Cam Smith I wonder if he enjoys a drink a little too much?
Trivial fact : if you take out the wet and windy round 1, the lowest score for the last 3 rounds was a tie between Wyndham Clark and Bryson DeChambeau at 16 under.
I like Mark and Nick but Marko Chamblee comes on and TV goes off. The most overrated blowhard in golf. He says the same stuff over and over again. And I know you will say I know nothing about golf, but you blokes don’t know everything. The bloke who shot 61 last week to win on the PGA tour for the first time is the same William Mouw who had a 13 this year and you blokes barely know who he is. We were lucky to have the Norman era. It shows how boring and one dimensional these robots are. The best technology can overcome the lack of technique. How Tong Li is way better to watch than Scheffler, Bradley and Harman. Commentary from the Open was the best this year. Liv commentary is better than PGA and DP world tour commentary beats them all.
I member Grange You saying LIV golf play mickey mouse courses I agree Clayton (west) & Norman (east) made money but did not improve courses Made harder …. Sorry i played hardest course in Australia … Mark see if you can par it The Nullaboor lol Also what is your address to send a comb to & nipple clips lol
Can I suggest that, as part of their recovery, these Downunder pros, including Nick O'Hearn, stop dropping their G's, plus start saying "I played well today" not "I played good". We know yous all left school in form 1, why keepen on provin it overnova.😆
I gotta respectfully disagree about Scottie's footwork. You need to look at the hips through contact, they are moving in unison with the club, which gives him the ultimate face control, just like Hogan. McIlroy stalls at impact, his hips don't move at all. That is why Scottie controls the face and Rory struggles with it. You are looking at something which really doesn't matter. You need to instead look at the weight points in the feet, and everything is exactly as it should be. It is no mystery why he is able to hit ropes out there under the greatest pressure. It isn't in the feet but where the mass is and how it all rotates around through contact.
SCOTTY beige Nike outfits , personality and golf is booooring. Rather watch the high drama of other top players.
Lowry is no cheat and never should have received a penalty but good on him for wearing the 2 strokes. In Gary Player's day he would've got away with worse! 😉
I am a man of faith, but I kinda find all this talk around scheffler irritating. Virtually every top player who has a family takes weeks off and prioritises their family because they can. This isn’t unique to scheffler or Nicklaus, everyone does it if they can. But a lot of people can’t do that and a lot of people don’t have a family they can prioritise so it can feel like virtue signalling after hearing about his commitment to his family for the 50th time. Appreciate y’all covering that, no seems to be.
Every golfer receives world golf rankings point based on 72 holes of play, expanded fields and cuts. LIV is supposed to receive world ranking points with the same 54 players on 14 events with no cuts?
If Scotty does not chase 18 Major Tournament wins, it will be because he does not want it. Scotty has shown over and over again that he is motivated by other goals than The Media, so foolishly put him on, Scotty is “ Bobby Jones Like”, a man who hears “A Higher Call”. Bobby Jones retired as an Amateur, as a young man, to pursue other dreams. Look to Bobby Jones, if you need to make Human Comparisons to Scotty Schaefler
Scotty is nothing like Tiger, that is “A Good Thing”, let’s get back to what “Really Matters” in Life
I don't think anybody would put their bottom dollar on Scottie not reaching 10 majors. I think over/under for him right now is 50 PGA tour wins and 10 majors, barring a major injury.
I have also been skeptical about his odd, almost "dance like" footwork, but I think the "unsustainability" of it would have emerged by now. It's clearly something that he just "does" without having to think about it. He's a very unique talent, mentally and physically. I think he can actually get better than he is now, which should be concerning for his opponents.
Your thoughts on Min Woo and his mix of good and bad rounds in most tournaments.
In regards to the Cameron Smith comments earlier in the pod: Could you make the case that he 'cashed in' at the very peak of his potential earning powers when he got the LIV money, and if he didn't make the move and had the same downfall he would look like an idiot to not of took the money
Not sure if this is the minority, but it seems like a lot of the older generation perceive Scottie as 'boring', which is absolutely fine btw but not something to complain about when 'boring' in golf is what you want or need to be to be 'good'. Whereas the younger generation absolutely love the way Scottie goes about it, not only on the course when you see him dominate fields and his competition, but also being so humble and 'different' to your modern day athlete (especially American) where it's usually all about me, me, me.
He is a fantastic role model and wish more of our youth paid attention to golf (while also following their other sporting interests) to see a role model like Scottie to compare them to others such as NBA and NFL players etc. I'd want my son or daughter to look up to a golfers like Scottie, Minjee, etc, than arrogant and self centred individuals that play other sports.
Thanks lads for the weekly drops, we enjoy what you do and continue the great work.
Watch the old videos of The Shark sliding his back foot.
For Mark and others that don't know why Scheffler's swing is excellent and how his pivot works.
1. Freeze frame Scottie's feet as he is literally releasing the club and he's feet look like any top pro.
2. Pivot and Feet #1 Scotties pivot/weight transfer like Woods, Hogan, Watson, Casper, Norman, Miller and most greats pulls the back foot towards the target and also away in some (ground forces) (See Brad's Hugh's also and video he has done on it). Not a bug, it's a feature.
3. Pivot and Feet #2 Scotties head keeps his head – his anchor – down through the ball. Combine with his lateral motion towards the target and head staying down a long time and going back, his feet must move forwards to balance his head being back.
4. Balance. The body is always trying to stay in balance so if your head stays back and down through the ball, the back foot must move forwards through impact (it is a sign of a powerful pivot/weight transfers).
EXERCISE & PROOF: Stand up and swing with out a club through the ball while keep your head down and you back foot will move towards the target. Try it and let your head rise quickly after impact. You'll see the difference.
5. He stands very close to the ball so he backs up (moves away through the ball) and moves to is heels through impact which aids the active feet. It can get out of control. If he was slightly more away to start with, the necessary movement away from the ball would be less and footwork tidier.
6. His head keeps him balanced (if his head/anchor was not down, with his powerful pivot, he'd hit it sideways.
7. Great club face control and swing path because of his upright swing; his swing stays closer to the target line and doesn't move inside like most and is neutral release (no rolling) – just like Nicklaus, Watson, Miller, Norman etc means the clubface does not roll – maximum compression – less face rotation and timing required.
Hey lads, Cathal from Ireland here, love the podcast, great content.
Mark when you travel over here you should make your way to a little county in the west of Ireland called sligo, there is a golf club there called strandhill, it’s a links course with amazing views, look it up and enjoy your visit whenever it happens! 🎉
His ankles won't last for 18 majors
Old Head Marko! Add it!!