Randy and Soly talk all things Procore as Scottie Scheffler shoots a Sunday 67 to beat Ben Griffin by a shot to continue an absolutely absurd 2025 as he preps to lead the US team at the Ryder Cup in two weeks. We also give some well deserved props to Griffin’s runner up finish and Jackson Koivun as the Walker Cup star lands a top 5.
From there we go to the Euro BMW PGA as Alex Noren wins in a playoff at Wentworth, Charley Hull’s win in Cincinnati on the LPGA Tour, Greg Norman’s LIV exit, and close the pod with some laughs as Randy offers some of his favorite Phil Mickelson moments (59:30).
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No
Laying Up podcast. Sunday fall edition 1-hour challenge. Sie here and I got my guy Big Randy.
I know he can help me get there. Hello, Big. Uh, great to be here, Sally. You know, sneaky good
weekend of golf, actually. So, I’m uh I don’t know. It’s It’s going to be tough to to hit that
hour mark, but we’ll give it our best shot here. Sneaky. I uh I don’t get too like worked up about
the NFL today, man. I was throwing remotes at your Bengals got a pass interference call on Travis
Hunter to go win that game and that just honestly kind of ruined my afternoon. Never mind the sweep
our red legs took as well to just just continue to shoot themselves in the foot. We are going to
talk some procore. We’re going to talk a little DP World Tour with the BMW PGA Championship.
We got the LPJ was in Cincinnati at Kroger. We got some Greg Norman news officially out at Liv.
Honestly thought this happened like a year ago. Uh this was kind of somewhat news to me. So, uh,
and then Randy and I are just going to talk some Phil Mickelson on the back end of that episode.
We were going to lead with it, but the golf ended up being actually low-key pretty good, uh, this
weekend. So, we got a lot to talk about. Before we get to that, if you ask PJ Tour players, one of
the most important and regular equipment tuneups they go through over the course of a season is
getting dialed with fresh grooves. Especially important heading into the biggest weeks of
the year. I can tell you our friend Aaron Dill, uh, who is who has given me some of the best wedge
advice and put me in the best wedges I’ve ever had the chance, uh, to hit with my own two hands.
Aaron Dill was extremely busy this week getting a bunch of US Rider cups all set for Beth Page.
This week in Napa, 57% of the gap, sand, and lob wedges in play were Vokey Design, including the
Vokei Design 50°ree F grind, 56 degree F grind, and 60° low bounce K grind that were in the bag of
the winner. It’s the same setup he used to win six times in 2025. It’s a little tough to play and
practice as much as the pros. Most of us don’t realize all the performance benefits you get from
a fresh set of grooves. If it’s been a while since you’ve replaced your wedges, you’ll slowly start
to see higher launch, lower spin, less predictable carry carry numbers. Couple of those nukers you
get out of the rough, especially if those grooves are not fresh. A new set of Vokei wedges will
give you more spin control and consistency. All of which will translate to lower scores. And if you
haven’t been fit for wedges, you should. It’s it’s one of the easiest ways to save shots around the
greens. Both in just the lofts will put you in the grinds. I I promise you, you’re not going to guess
what grind and degree of bounce you should have on your wedge. Just get somebody to help you with
it. Go to titles.com to find a fitting near you. Around the world in golf, Randy Scotty Sheffler
uh hoham beats Ben Griffin by one at the Procore. Alex Norin uh wins in a playoff in Wentworth over
Francis Adrien Sadier. Am I saying that right? I hope I I hope I’m getting that right. Sure. Okay.
Charlie Hall wins a shocker by one shot over Gino Titon and Cinti. We’re gonna break that down. That
was that was a very very very tough finish. But at the Procore, Ben Griffin took a one-hot lead
into the final round over amateur Jackson Kven uh playing in the final group and Griffin came
out and birdied the first three holes but stalled out. He bogeied the fourth. He made all pars
until the 14th. Made a 15-footer for birdie on the par five 15th. That was just to get within
a shot of the guy. Scotty Shefflu who started the day two back after a Saturday 64. He birdied
four of the first 10 holes on Sunday. Got the par 512th. Got the par 515th but couldn’t birdie
the 18th. Left the door open for Griffin who hit the green and two 59 feet away but left the
putt I believe about 7 feet short. I’m sorry. He uh he had just 5 feet 9 in for birdie to tie to
go into a playoff with Scotty but missed it low. Who are you rooting for down the stretch at this
one, Randy? I was rooting for my favorite player, Scotty Sheoffller. Always a privilege to watch
him uh golf his ball around. Another win. Yeah, I I listen, just because you were talking about
Ben Griffin and obviously he came up just short, I was thinking as Griffin was playing the 18th
hole, like this is why Ben Griffin is playing at the Procore this week. What a fantastic experience
ahead of the RDER Cup in a couple weeks. You know, having to make a birdie on the 18th, putting
himself in that pressure situation. Hit a pretty good 3-wood into the green. Left himself a very
lengthy eagle putt. As you said, came up 5’9 in short. Did not hit a great birdie putt. Missed it
on the low side. Never really looked threatening to the hole. And listen, that’s where I mean it
it it hurts the pocketbook, but I I think that’s where you want to miss the putt. I think Ben’s
gonna be better for this experience in a couple weeks at Beth Page. I I think, you know, really
getting the nerves going, feeling some pressure down the stretch. I think it behooves him. And I
I just was left thinking that’s why these guys are here this week. I I thought it was a perfect kind
of tuneup. It is kind of it’s amazing how often Ben Griffin beats a lot of names that have been
considered to be the best players in the world for a long period of time. It happens very very
very frequently now. And it he I mean obviously won a team event this year. He won the Schwab.
This is his second time finishing runner up to a generational player in Scotty Sheffler this year.
Like it’s essentially a four- win year. I mean a true unicorn has beaten him two times. once at
the memorial and once here at the Pro Core. Uh, you know, and it’s it’s just been a remarkable
remarkable season. I I just am very surprised at how much I enjoy watching him play golf. And, uh,
you know, did not ever think he would be a needle mover for me personally. They flashed his previous
FedEx Cup seasons up there. I was like 63rd and 61st the last couple years before finishing the
top 10 this year. And it’s like, yeah, yeah, there’s there’s so many dudes out there like
Griffin that are somewhat replacement level as far as fan interest, and he has just risen above
all of that. I don’t I hate to make this procore about Griffin before it is about Sheffller, but we
talk about that guy all the time. Scotty’s gotten a lot of he gets plenty of run. We we kind of
know the drill. You could you could kind of chat GBT what you’re going to say about Scotty, but uh
I’ve just continued to be more and more impressed uh with Griffin and there’s been almost no one I
can think of off the top of my head that’s made a bigger leap this year in terms of what I think
of them as a player. I agree. I I think that’s partly I I think it’s a few factors for me and
I’ve thought about this and I thought about this today like why why do I gravitate towards him? Why
do I care about him when, you know, as you said, there’s so many guys that could be in that
position that, you know, are just kind of just another guy to me? And I I think winning helps,
right? He’s he has one, but I think more than that, I just dig the way he carries himself. And
I really enjoyed the interview that you did with him. It’s It’s fun to kind of learn about these
guys, get a little bit more of that personality, and yeah, whether it’s like as simple as the the
big aviator sunglasses or not, he just has a bit of uh uniqueness out there on tour right now. And
I appreciate that. And I’m like you. I I’m kind of gravitating towards it. Like I’ I enjoy watching
Ben Griffin play. And I think you rewind a year ago today. I couldn’t imagine myself uttering
such a sentence. Well, here we are. From that interview, too, I was kind of like, all right,
I mean, you know, you left the game for a while. You were doing the the mortgage, whatever you were
doing there. Like, a little part of you has got to be like, man, am I really one of the best golfers
in the world? Like a little bit of, you know, am I supposed to be here? But he was so confident.
Like, there was none of it was like that was a completely different life for him. And I would
just have to think there’s got to be something lingering there of do I am I really going to stare
down Scotty Sheffler now? But he’s just remarkably confident. We could all learn something from that.
I I think that’s part of it though. I think that little seed of doubt, at least in our minds,
is fun, right? I It reminds me so much of Well, I guess a lot of guys have kind of gone the route
of not not a lot, that’s that’s the wrong way to phrase that, but it it’s fun to see a guy that
left the game of golf and is now back and playing at a super high level and just wondering, is
this real? Is this a heater? What what do we make of this guy? Uh and you know, only time will
answer that really. And I think that’s part of the fun is we we don’t know. We get to watch week to
week. And I I look forward again to the Ryder Cup in a couple weeks. Seeing Ben Griffin in that
environment is one of the big reasons why I’m so looking forward to this year’s Ryder Cup is
is seeing guys like him under that pressure in that environment for the first time and seeing how
they react. Well, and it’s I mean I I don’t have a specific, you know, if you’re increasing
your swing speed, this is not a transition to a stack read, believe it or not. If you’re
increasing increasing your swing speed, you know, it’s not a linear, you can’t like go to a cuto
off date to say like, oh yeah, as of this date, this is when he became a long hitter and that’s
what has made a big difference for him. But if you just go back to like if you just query uh back
from the beginning of May uh in terms of being like one of the best players in the world, he is
if you basically just go back to beginning of May around when he started his hot streak and got you
know was getting up there in that 180 ball speed, he’s been the fourth best player in the world
like you know and been six only 68th off the tee, 58th in distance, but it was a rise uh you know to
get to that point and he’s 19th in approach, 35th around the green, eighth in putting since then.
That adds up to being the fourth best player in the world. It’s just ridiculous. But uh yeah, on
the Scotty front, I feel like we should probably talk about the winner here. I I I also think we
the wine glass situation, the ravioli situation has has kind of thrown off the ridiculousness of
the numbers. Again, if you if you just go back, it’s cherry-picking going back again to beginning
of May when he won his first tournament of the year, which was the Byron Nelson. That’s his sixth
win in 12 starts. That’s a 50% rate. Uh and if you look at what he was doing to close out 2024, like
he won three of the last five tournaments. One of those is the hero. He won, you know, four of the
last seven tournaments. He won five of the last nine tournaments he played. He won seven of the
last 13 tournaments he played. So, if you take out the ravioli period, he’s won 13 of the 20 of
25 starts. Like, if you just take out this spring, uh, this winter and early spring. Yeah. It’s it’s
really it’s stupid because the wins are one thing, right? And I think what keeps impressing me
over and over again, though, is even when he doesn’t win, he’s been right there. Like again
going back to that that Byron Nelson in May, I [ __ ] you can go back to the Houston Open at
the end of March and his worst finish is a tie for eighth in that time period which is just it’s
I I truly didn’t think we would see something like this. Having lived through the Tiger Woods era,
Sully, like I I was not prepared to have a player put up results like this so consistently. And I
was really curious about Scotty this week coming to a pro the procore where like obviously he’s
just here because of the Ryder Cup. He would never be playing this tournament otherwise. And so I
was curious, are we going to get that same Scotty Sheffller that we saw week to week during the real
PGA Tour season or is he just going to be kind of out here knocking off some Russ, you know, kind of
shooting the [ __ ] kicks and giggles and and off to Beth Page he goes. And the lesson is, man, he
if he’s showing up, he’s he’s showing up to win. And it it just is so impressive how he he just he
he’s inevitable. He he is you he is just a top 10. Like he’s a walking top 10. Randy, I might have
this might be the most mindbending Scotty thing that I’ve found so far. I’m gonna go back to let’s
go back to November 1, 2022. Okay. It’s a lot of golf tournaments between now and then, right? So,
so we’re coming up. We’re just shy of three years. So, correct. People keeping track at home. This
is 34 months. Correct. Okay. How many times do you think Scotty has played a golf tournament and
finished outside of the top 25 since November of 2022? Um, well, I know he missed the cut at one
of the majors. Oh, I might. It’s like it’s it’s like almost I can name him like specific. Didn’t
he miss a cut or am I thinking of he just had like a shitty week and finished like in the 30s or 40s?
He finished first at Pinehurst, I think. Maybe that’s the one. Is that what you’re thinking of?
Yeah, that’s the one I’m thinking of. No, he has not missed a cut since the 2022 PGA in a major.
Okay, there we go. outside the top 25. Let’s call it 34 months, couple a year. I’ll say six times.
That’s high. It’s three times. Uh none of them in 2025. His worst finish was T-25 at the Phoenix
Open uh this year. He also uh yeah, he’s Yeah. hadn’t finished outside the top 10 since March
16th of this year. He finished T33 at the BMW last year, T41 at the US Open last year, and then
did not finish outside the top 25 uh in 2023. It except for once at the FedEx St. Jude, I’m sorry,
T20 T31. That’s absurd. That’s so [ __ ] absurd, man. It am I made do I make too much of this?
Like I feel like I’m I I I need to know if like I’m going too far in on this because again I just
never thought we would see this no after Tiger and that it’s happening. I I’m truly making like a a
real concerted effort to like you need to watch Scotty Sheffller right now. This is as good as it
gets as it’s happening. And I get, you know, he he might not be your cup of tea personality-wise.
He might not be your cup of tea with, you know, kind of the lack of emotion, whatever. I I just
would encourage folks to appreciate what we’re seeing week in and week out when he tees it up.
We We always kind of do this like he’s not he’s not Tiger. He’s not Tiger. He’s not Tiger. Okay.
He’s not Tiger, but he’s the best since Tiger. All right. And we always preface at that. And I’m
kind of kind of getting to the point, Randy, where I’m like, are we positive? Are we 100%
positive he’s not Tiger? Like he’s still not, but are we are we 100% positive that he’s not a Tiger?
100. How many more of these types of seasons would he have to string before it’s like he’s there
with Tiger? Like I don’t I’m not interested. I I think we’re a long ways from like Scott is Scotty
better than Tiger. That that doesn’t interest me right now. And frankly, we’re a long ways away
from that. But how long until it’s like Yeah. like this is he he’s kind of in this class
where we all just know it and we say it and it doesn’t sound weird because it’s like if he if
he throws up another season like this like we we got to be getting close at least over a four-year
period like put it up against just about anybody. So, you know, of course, data golf’s got a stat
for this, and Tiger does have the six best seasons of all time, right? 2000, 2007, 2006, 02, 99,
and 2009 just in terms of strokes gained. Now, if you look at like um again, they use a data golf
uh points system for more based on the outcomes, which I think is probably more up your alley. if
I have it right. Uh I think three Tiger seasons were better than than Scotty season last year
and that’s it. So I don’t know if we’re going to get a Scotty season better than last year.
Like I think that was super super absurd. And I so I think Tiger’s still gonna keep the three
best seasons ever. But I think Scotty might stuff the stat sheet from that like four through 10 in
terms of uh best best seasons ever between those two cuz Tiger had some ups and downs, had some
injuries obviously and didn’t quite have a ton of longevity. We’ll see how much Scotty has. But
uh man, it’s it’s it’s it’s a conversation, man. It’s a conversation. And that’s what your to your
point, I don’t think we ever thought ever thought we’d even consider having it. No. And I feel like
that’s part of the fun of I don’t know. That’s what I love about golf. That’s what I love about
sports is you get to have these conversations. I I feel like that’s as a fan that’s what you
want. I And I will say to your data golf point, like I I recognize the strokes gain seasons and
what they are. But I would I think I would lean more towards results based uh just because I you
know Scotty’s competing against a deeper tour. I I think obviously this game is built on a lot of
what Tiger did. And so I for to expect Scotty to separate himself from his peers at in the same
way that that Tiger did might be a tad stretch, but um man, it’s uh it’s fun. Do we think Scotty
comes back to defend this title next year? I hope not. I think he’s probably excused from that. I
think everybody else hopes not either. Like dude, let us like let us man was not joking in his post
round interview when he said he wish Scotty was not here. That was not a joking comment. I did not
be joking either. I know. He’s like, I’m sure the fans love it, but I wish Scotty wasn’t here. Kind
of like, come on, dude. This is for the mules, man. If that is like a tough break. That’s a tough
break for Lonto. Like, if Scotty just doesn’t show up for this event, he ends up second place
instead of like he gets majorly dinged in points that he desperat desperately desperately needs.
But yeah, uh to your point, Randy, I think this win for Scotty, depending on how they classify it,
he will Scotty will pass Tiger Woods’s 2009 season for this will this will be a top 10 season since
1983. Um Okay. And his and his season for 2024 was the fourth best behind Tiger 2000, Tiger 2007,
Tiger 2006. Okay. So, but so this would be kind of the second top 10 season for Scotty. Correct.
Um, and really like no signs of slowing down at this point. No. Uh, the Jackson Kovven thing,
it’s getting pretty real pretty quickly. Um, just coming straight off the Walker Cup where
he went three and one, lost his lost his first match and then, uh, won his remaining three. His
last four PJ tour starts, uh, again, he’s still in college, T11, T6, T5, T4. Um the some of the jokes
about him being on the Ryder Cup team are looking a little bit he probably could have been on this
team if he they really really needed him. I don’t know if you have to be a professional to play in
the RDER Cup or not. I think you’d have to be a member of the PGA. But that’s a great question.
Uh I don’t Does is he a needle mover for you? It’s does having the A in the in parenthesis uh in
his name on the leaderboard get you get you super. I know Dick Dunlap kind of ruined a little bit
of that having won. Uh, and it didn’t seem like there was a ton of hype for him to potentially
potentially win this one, but he was obviously right there in it in the final group. Yeah. Um,
I love seeing I love seeing the next generation, the next crop. I I think it is um it does catch my
interest. It piques my interest whether it’s it’s Jackson or Nick Dunlap. What was it a couple years
ago? Um, I I enjoy seeing the best in the college game get the opportunity and yeah, man, he’s he’s
impressive. I I know I’m not breaking news here, but just doesn’t look out of place. Doesn’t,
you know, there’s there’s nothing that seems like he’s freaking it. Like he just he looks like
he belongs. And I guess I would ask you, Sie, I feel like you mentioned Nick Dunlap. I mean, does
it feel like the men’s game is is starting to get a bit younger where these guys uh I mean, do do we
credit it to to the PGA Tour kind of U program? Do we credit it to these colleges and their training
facilities and and how much money, you know, are are invested in these guys from an early age
and their game and their bodies? Is it, you know, we’re we’re getting further on from the Tiger
Woods effect and and these guys are athletes and they’re all trying to maximize like do you is this
shift? It feels like we’re getting younger in the men’s game. And I guess that my long- winded wind
up to this question is like do you think that’s right or is this kind of like an aberition or do
you think the game’s kind of going to keep getting a little bit younger and younger where we see guys
really break in and have real success right away? you know, we we had this breakin with that, you
know, whatever that class of 2011, you know, the speed, the JTs, the guys that like rose truly
to with like top 10, top five, even number one player in the world. And we’ve had a little gap
in that on the US side. I’m sure there’s names I’m I’m forgetting about here. Morawa Wolf. I was
going to say the other big class would be Yeah, that’s the one I always think of too, you know.
But we’ve seen some guys come out and just kind of be good, be fine, be okay. Uh, and it’s
it’s I’m really thinking of people that have made like breakouts towards the top 10 in the
world. It’s actually kind of come from a weird middle like with the Ben Griffin conversation,
the weird JJ Spawn, you know, leap that I would not have anticipated seeing. It I I I it’s a good
question, Randy. think it is. I think you’re going to see guys with amateur players that now that
you can get sponsorships in college like the incentive to rush out to play professional golf
to start getting a lot of money isn’t as it’s not um just not as prevalent. Right. It’s just
easier to stay in college, have some fun, play on a team, make good money and make good
money. Exactly. And so he’s kind of maybe an amateur in in name only and is like quite clearly
uh of the level of being a professional golfer. My question is is what does a ceiling like at
for some for like Jackson Kovven look like, right? Cuz I watched him all week last week at the
Walker Cup. I followed him more than I did anyone else. And he’s really really really good. He
reminds me a lot of JT just in general in the way that like high 170 ball speeds, but there’s not
like a particular skill that leaps off the page at you. I’ve heard he’s an excellent excellent
putter. Um, but it’s not like he’s, you know, the mo he’s just the some of his parts is just
really good, right? So, if I’m projecting out a talent like that, can he be the number one player
in the world? That would surprise me, right? That there’s not a a well, let’s just say number two
player in the world and ignore the other uh number one. That would surprise me when you don’t have
in particular, you know, specific tools that I think could could make you elite elite elite. Uh
does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah, it does. I Yeah, your your guess is as good as my But I don’t want
to get distracted with the tools thing like, dude, the guy just gets the ball in the hole, right?
He’s proven it at a lot of levels. So, you know, it’s it’s it uh I I don’t want to write someone
off in by any means if they’re not a a true true bomber. It’s almost like you have to be a if
you’re not a bomber bomber, you get dinged a peg, but you can get yourself right back up if you have
elite iron play, right? And I we just don’t have enough data to say, do you have elite elite iron
play? Uh because the we’ve seen the putting thing kind of come and go for even some of the best
putt young putters in the world. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I I would I would Sorry, just going back. I I
think probably Levig would would be one that would belong in a conversation like this. Somebody that,
you know, Haskins Award, good college player, comes right out and pretty quickly a top 10
player in the world. You’re making me I mean, he was he was the old college guy though,
remember? He was like 23, right? Which Yeah, you’re making me be that Le’s gonna be 26 uh this
October. Um, so yeah. Yeah, I gotta have some fun with that one. So, do you have any any uh kind of
uh macro RDER Cup takeaways from this event? I’m going to run through the US team uh on this side.
Scotty obviously won. Ben Griffin second. JJ Spawn finished sixth. Cameron Young finished tied for
ninth. Sam Burns finished tied for 13th. Russell Henley tied 19th. Patrick Kentlay t 30. Harris
English and Morawa T43. And Justin Thomas was in 69th place. One. Did you think anything of uh 10
of the 12 American players being there? Obviously, Bryson cannot play in PJ tour events and Xander
just welcomed and his wife just welcomed their first child. Uh do you put any any stock in this
team getting together for a competitive rep this week? And uh we haven’t really heard from you
in general in recent weeks on how everything has played out in putting these teams together.
Where’s your even even your rooting allegiance at this point? I know you’ve rooted for Europe in
the past. Where are you? Who knows? Who knows, Paulie? Yeah, I I got to think about that myself.
I’ve really enjoyed your guys’s bantering about the RDER Cup. I think it’s very prudent that
Keegan did not pick himself. I I think he made the responsible decision there. I love seeing a guy
like Ben Griffin on the team. I get a big kick out of seeing new faces, guys, breakout type years.
I I’d love then if they can get on the RDER Cup team because yeah, it’s it’s seeing a guy in in a
pressure situation that we really haven’t gotten to see before. So, I dig that he’s on the team. Um
I I quibble. I’m I’m glad Cam Young’s on the team, too. I I really enjoyed watching Cam Young down
the stretch the playoffs. Um like if if I had to quibble, it’d be maybe Sam Burns. I would I
would sub him out for a Mav McNeely or something, but that’s that’s just my personal bias. Uh I
think this US group is a bit more likable than I feel like some past iterations have been. I think
that starts at the top and what Scotty’s doing. Um JJ Spawn, awesome story. So I I I’m like, God,
is Tron gonna listen to this? I I I don’t know who I’m rooting. I’m kind of like, let’s just have
a good match. Let’s get the Sunday. Both teams have fun and keep it tight. Yeah. I want I want
both teams to have fun. I would love it to come down to the last one or two singles matches. Like
that’s truly what I hope for because I look at team Europe, I’m like, they’re super likable, too.
You know, it’s it’s guys like Vic and Levig and uh obviously Big Shop Pop. And so it’s it’s not
like I you know, I like this group more than that group. Um, I I truly I think I’m just going to
sit the fence for as long as I can with who I’m rooting for. Now, to your question of do I make
anything of the US 10 of the 12 guys showing up at Procore, I I like it. I think it’s a good thing.
Like I said, I I think Ben Griffin specifically, I’ll use him as an example again, getting to, you
know, have some real pressure down the stretch. I I think that I in my opinion that can only help
him going into Beth Paige. I think a guy like Scotty, you know, obviously we see he’s still
sharp. He still closes a tournament. I like to see those things if I’m Captain Keegan. So,
um, and then I think at the same time, you know, a guy like JT who didn’t really have a good week,
I listen, JT’s got a long enough track record, I I trust him that that he’ll show up and and he’ll
be in the best state of mind that he can be in at the Ryder Cup. So, I I really look at this as kind
of an allaround a very positive week for Team USA, and I’m glad that these guys came and played.
Do you feel differently at all? No, I I I I’m a smidge worried about like the JTs and Morocawas,
just a smidge. Not not not panicking at the moment. Um, you know, Harris English, I’d like to
see a little bit better form there as well. But, I mean, somebody like Spawn who qualified and I
mean, he ended up beating down the door. I mean, being in the playoff obviously at at FedEx,
he would have give been a captain’s pick even if he didn’t automatically qualify. But I was
worried about obviously getting all the points in the US Open and losing form by the time the
RDER Cup came around that you could expose the flaw in the system, but obviously he had a
great week this week. And Griffin, you know, was, you know, not a not a uh it shouldn’t have
been a surprise pick. It shouldn’t have been a uh you know um I don’t know what an underdog pick
of any kind, but I want to see him back it up, too. you know, as a rookie getting a captain’s
pick, like you just want to you don’t want to see him playing poorly coming into it. Cameron
Young was picked because of a late hot streak. Did that continue post being selected? Yeah,
he finishes top 10 again this week. That’s a good sign. Burns T13. That’s a really good sign.
Henley in decent form. Just can’t lay more JT just haven’t done a whole lot this year in general
and just wouldn’t have hated to see, you know, they haven’t done a lot in the second half of this
year really. JT had a great start to the year. wouldn’t mind to have seen it. But I mean, the US
has a ton of guys playing well. I think like if you’re comparing how the US team did this week to
how the European team did over at the BMW PGA, I think it’s, you know, as Europe would like to say
head of the match, US one up uh after after this past week. Put a point on the board for how they
played these stroke play tournaments. But yeah, I I think that’s a great point about guys like JJ
Spawn and Cam Young. I I think listen it’d be very natural for there to be a bit of deflation after
the tour championship and and maybe there was and this was farther far enough along that, you know,
they they could kind of take a breath, decompress, and then get back at it. But to your point, it’s
good to see those two guys playing well uh for the reasons you stated. So yeah, I I and listen,
I think it just made it a better tournament selfishly to watch this. Totally. Like that’s the
other thing like it just it’s fun to see these guys play this golf course too. Silverado always
sneaks up on me this tournament every year. I’m always like ready to transition into fall and the
less serious golf tournaments. It’s Kurt Byum SCN. I love Kurt. He just gets he gets after it in
these in these fall events and it’s good watch man. They they up the production value a little
bit on it this year. Had some drones out there and course always plays firm. It’s just a Max usually
always plays really well here. He had a good week as well. He finished T19. But it’s just I this
has been a this a sneaky good tournament. It gets me every single year. I’m like, “Oh, yeah. I kind
of forgot how much I like the Pro Core Pro.” It’s like I always You’re right about guys like Max
and like Mav McNeel, you know, like whiffs of that home game a little bit. Uh Mav was was T13. So,
yeah, it’s it’s fun to kind of see what looks and feels like fall golf because probably my favorite
time of year to play. Uh I know down in Florida, you don’t I I mean, there’s We’re getting there.
like you’re getting there, but it’s like you really have to wait almost like December for it to
like really change. I think when you go outside, uh, but like this part of the country, it’s like,
oh yeah, no, fall’s coming and it’s such a fun time to play golf. So, I I do get a kick out of
watching it, too. Yeah. We give a shout out to our friends at Holderness and Borne. They got new
colors in the Harwood short. They got the ivy and the Andover. Their shorts are quickly becoming
one of their bests sellers. They’re versatile for off the course as well. some of the highlight
colorways, the Amherst colorway, the Bedford colorway, and the Cape one. The Amherst is a soft
purple, the Bedford soft dusty blue, and the Cape is a faded coral. Love the Maxwell shirt. It’s
got the iconic peak style. Great in the heat. It’s updated with the new colors as well. Not too early
to start thinking about that Kashmir, too, Randy. Kashmir season uh is coming around. I got one of
these hoodies. I don’t know if you can DJ like called this hoodie out. He sent me what he ordered
from our shop here for the Walker Cup. He’s like, “You’re not allowed to wear this out there.”
Like I’m wearing I’m wearing the H&B hoodies. All right. I’ve been I’ve been waiting for this
one. Uh so I’ve been waiting to to be able to throw this on here once I got back home. It’s a
really really really nice hoodie. So I was just going to say on the Kashmir. I don’t own Kashmir.
That that should be a personal goal of mine to own a piece of cashmere. I think you would look really
really good. This is the Hamilton hoodie that I have on right now. Also the Jackson hoodie is what
has been flying off shelves as well. So NLU10 at hbgolf.com get you 10% off your first order. This
and the trap draw discount code are the only ones on the market for Holderness and Born. Again,
nlu10 at hbgolf.com for 10% off your first order. Uh, Alex Norin, our guy, uh, wins uh, yet again a
second win. He wins the BMW PJ, second win since team Europe has announced uh, their captain’s
picks. May I think that actually the first one was before that and he still got snubbed. Uh, shoots
a final round 68, wins it in a playoff over Adrien Sadier. parents, his 12th DP tour world, DB World
Tour win, his second BMW PGA Championship. It was a fun playoff, fun battle with him and Sadi. They
kind of separated themselves there on the back N. And then the playoff, they both both went for it
uh from like 260 over the water into the wind in a in a cold win. The uh radar was just all over
this one, Randy. Like, what are they doing? I go what what is the goal here? They both hit woods.
Uh, Sadier got to take a a drop into the fairway, came up, hit it so bad, it came up short of
the water, and then Norin steps. I I would have thought Norin would have seen that and been like,
“Okay, well, let’s just lay this up.” He tries it. He does the same thing, but he ended up uh in
a really good lie, and he uh hit a nice chip up there and was able to make birdie and Sadier hit
it past the hole uh was unable to make the birdie. But another stacking another win for Norin. He was
asked about the RDER Cup thing right on the green. He kind of said something about, “Yeah, the other
guys are playing playing better than me.” Didn’t start the controversy. But I’m I’m willing to
start the controversy. Yeah, you’re looking for a little controversy. Disaster for Team Europe.
What a disaster. He whooped all their asses yet again. How could they leave him off? I know. I
know. Uh well, listen, if if team Europe doesn’t get it done at Beth Page, I think let’s let’s put
this near the top of the list of uh not not Monday morning quarterback. We’re we’re quarterbacking
this one prior. Uh I all I think about when Noran wins is like man I’m so glad he’s going to get
get to go enjoy some weeks in uh in Sweden on you know in Visby this summer and way to way to cash
some checks here so he can go enjoy his summer at Visby. How did uh I I did not get to watch any of
the DP World Tour. So I my question for you is uh was the weather kind of sketchy throughout and and
how did Wentworth look? What what was kind of your your takeaway as a venue? I didn’t watch a ton
until really Sunday and I have to admit, Randy, it was quite distracted viewing, a lot of phone
viewing with with with kids screaming at me. So, uh, but it was it was a wet and cold finish. Um,
there was a lot of ball and I think it was ball and hand the last two days at least. Um, so
fair amount of that. It was not crispy crispy Wentworth. Uh, I enjoy watching that golf course.
It’s not the greatest golf course in the world, but I’ve always enjoyed watching this tournament
and that that final hole always produces some drama. I mean, pretty much every year in
this tournament, it produces something that uh is worth watching. But those two know, sorry,
real quick, Wentworth, for anybody listening, if anybody played the old European tour golf game on
Sega Genesis, I I probably knew Wentworth as well as any golf course in the world when I was like 12
years old. We played so much Sega European golf. Uh, and Wentworth, I always remember like Kron
sewer sier was another course, but now it’s been so long like I don’t really know the course well,
but there was a time like 12-year-old Randy knew probably could tell you every single Wentworth
and every single feature uh just based on the video game. I had no idea you were a a golf gamer
back in the day. I never I never knew that. That’s super interesting. Yeah. Do you ever play it like
any of the uh the Tiger Woods version on PS2, PS2 or Gosh, what else is there? Xbox. I was a PS
guy. I kind of made it and with Tiger Woods games specifically. I was like up through PS1 and PS2
and I don’t think I’ve ever played anything beyond a PS2. So, whatever date that is. But yeah, the
the PGA European Tour I’m looking up now. It was a 1994 golf video game by by EA. Um, and god, me and
my buddies played the [ __ ] out of that game. So, that’s interesting. I I probably was never as good
as you at Tiger. Uh, but I would put my skills up on that PGA European Tour Sega game against just
about anybody. One of my one of my takes that I think is probably it will sound like the worst
take I could I could come up with uh about golf that I I don’t know if I’ve ever said this out
loud on the pod, but playing like playing like Tiger Woods I think it was like 2012 whenever the
first year they had the masters in it like they had Augusta in it. Oh yeah, that was I got super
good at the game and then I I would turn off all of the help systems. All of like the you couldn’t
it was not telling you how to read the putt. Okay. It wasn’t I think it would tell you your wind
direction, but you couldn’t spin. You couldn’t do anything. And like I learned how to play Augusta.
Like I learned how the putts broke at Augusta. I swear to God, it was like with the I played it
so much with the different pins. I knew where to miss and all this. I was like, “Oh my god, this
is so crazy. I think I know how to play Augusta. I can’t actually make the ball do that.” But uh
I would I I uh I got really obsessed with it for if you can’t tell. Listen, I’ve had thoughts in
the last year or so. I’m like, do I need a video game system just to play some of these sports
games that I used to love? Um, I don’t think my wife would like that, but I’ve had the thought.
Just can’t pull the trigger. Yeah, I don’t have time for any personal hobbies as it stands now.
I don’t know how I would ever get a chance to to to use that one. Uh, wrestling board Aaron Ry and
Patrick Reid finished T3. Aaron Ry, another snub, uh, beat the entire year. Add him to the list. Add
him to the list. Yeah, for the and for the record, I’m just being snideed here because uh of of the
way that things get picked apart on the American side. I totally totally understand the Europeans
not taking Alex Noran or Aaron Ry, but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to have some fun with it. I
mean, Aaron Ry though was 15th, I think, in their points list. Did obviously did not get picked, but
not an out, you know, would have been outlandish. Not outlandish, but not a great course fit as
well for Beth Paige. it. Um, Fitz, Havlin, Tier, Hatton, Sew Kim, part of a big group at T5. The
other Rder Cup finishes, Ron was T13. Levig and Rory T20. Uh, Fleetwood and Lowry T46. Justin Rose
T61. Robert McIntyre and Rasmas Hoygard missed the cut. Stephra was not in the field this past week.
So, not great for him. But again, neither that just doesn’t matter. Just doesn’t matter. They’re
going to play match play here in about 10, 11 days, whatever it is. And uh it’s just I’ve I’ve
fallen into this trap way too many times, Randy. I’m not falling into it uh this year. Okay. I know
we’re going to do a ton of Ryder Cup previews, so I’m I’m not asking you like a very specific
question, but I am asking you this question right now. Do you anticipate a close Rder Cup? Would
you be more surprised if it was like very tight on Sunday afternoon or would you be more surprised
if it was kind of a bit of a blowout? I’d be more surprised if it was tight. That doesn’t mean I
necessarily think the US is gonna blow them out. I just like haven’t I’ve never been to a close
Rder Cup. They’re all blowouts whatever I’ve gone and like I if it goes bad for the US, I think it
could go really bad. Uh you know, but I also think like they’re home and they probably should win by
a lot. So I’d be surprised if it was close either way. Again, that’s not me predicting US is going
to wipe the floor with them. It’s just like the US gets beat. I also don’t think it’ll be that close.
Um, so I think it’ll be like more than 1612 either way. Okay, makes sense. Well, then I’m going to
double down on my rooting for a good close match. Uh, a fair fight, but I might be rooting for
that, too. Yeah, it’s been the least passionate I’ve ever been about a US team. I know that. So, I
might just be rooting for a close one. Randy, what happened on the LPGA tour this week? Uh, great
tournament in my hometown of Cincinnati. It was the uh the Queens the Kroger Queen City, what do
they call it? championship. Uh it’s played out at TPC Riversbend at the moment. Charlie Hall is your
champion. Gosh, you have been the the bridesmaid so often over the last couple years. Nearly three
years since her last LPGA Tour victory, but she wins by one shot over Gino Titum. Uh Sully, this
one came right down to the wire. It was actually a fantastic leaderboard. I mean, if if anybody
looked at the leaderboard unbelievable after Saturday, it was like, you know, you had Charlie,
Gino, Nelly was there, you had Mio Yamashida, uh, who won the AIG, you had, who else was in there?
Lahi Wde, it it was dynamite. Um, Charlie and Gino kind of separated themselves a bit late, so it
was it was a two-woman tournament. And Charlie got a bit of a bad break on the 17th hole. her
her drive rolled into a fairway bunker, kind of rolled all the way through the bunker right below
the lip of the bunker. And so that forced her to just pitch out and she couldn’t get it up and down
from the fairway. So she bogeied 17 to drop a shot behind Gino going to the par five 18th. Both women
found the fairway. Charlie was a little sketchy, but she was on the right side of the fairway.
Gino played uh to the very back of the green. It was a a long second shot. She couldn’t really
get it to stop it. It rolled out and leaving her a lengthy eagle putt. Charlie played kind of
pin high just just to the like I think it was just off into the fringe on the left part of
the green but where she could putt from. And so you’re thinking unless Charlie pulls something
spectacular, this this is Gino’s tournament. Gino hits a pretty good eagle putt. Uh, it goes
about five feet past the hole and you know, Gino’s one of the best putters on the LPGA Tour.
So, she’s standing over a birdie putt to win, she blows it by like four feet. And so, not only
does she not win, she’s left herself this all of a sudden, you know, little nervy comebacker. She
pul she missed that putt left as we’re of note. the birdie putt left and firm because then the
4-footer coming back. She she also misses. Sorry, did she miss left on that one? Now you have three.
So that that’s where like the stroke is like she puts an anti-left stroke on it. I’ve seen that
stroke before. I’ve I’ve I think I just got off the putting green trying that on this afternoon
of of making sure I wasn’t hitting the pull putt. So, she ends up four putting the 72nd hole of
the tournament to lose by one because Charlie uh who hit her Eagle putt like and she said in her
post round interview she’s like, “Yeah, I pretty much thought I had to make eagle uh she did not
blow it too far by. She had a couple feet coming back for birdie and it was interesting watching
Charlie and she admitted as such. She was like, I was really nervous all of a sudden.” She backed
off of it and even her two-footer kind of caught the edge and it kind of spun around the cup a
little bit. It was like inside the cup but it spun. You’re like yeah she she did and the flag
sticks in. It was just all very uncomfortable but it found the center of the bottom of the cup.
Charlie Hall is your winner. Uh did you see her when she picked her ball up out of the hole like
she like towards her caddy like showed her hands to her caddy and she was like her hands like
shivering. Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I mean. Like and and she said she was like yeah I was nervous.
She was like, “I was not expecting to have a putt all of a sudden to win the golf tournament.” She
was like, “I am Yeah. I’m very glad I made that because Yeah. Yeah. She she was nervy.” Um,
so it’s her third LPGA win. As I said, it’s her first since 2022, so she breaks a pretty long
drought there. But I do want to note going back, she finished, Charlie finished uh I think it was
T-C at the AIG and then her next start, she played the Aramco event in Houston, finished TC and now
she’s won. So she’s she’s playing some really good golf at the moment. Charlie is. But Sully, I think
we need to talk real quick about Gino and this I think it’s a little bit more fuel for the
fire that like Gino might not be a killer. And that’s hard for me to say out loud. Um but
when you for putt the 72nd hole to lose by one, you’re the world number one. Like that’s not good.
There’s no other way to spin that. Um, and listen, you you can we can zoom out and she’s having a
very good year. This was her ninth top five finish on tour this year. Um, she has four runnerups,
just one victory. She’s got 52 career top 10s as a 22-year-old. I looked up Michelle Wi West had
49 career top 10s uh in her whole career. So, Gina’s already passed what what Michelle was able
to accomplish. But I guess my question, Sally, is are we nervous? Is it is it I think I think we got
to start talking a little bit about like why isn’t Gino winning more of these? Because you got to
start talking like that because you’ve done this with every player in history. So, I appreciate I
appreciate you doing this. And no wonder Scotty’s your favorite player ever because he wins
everything. First of all, I just tried to I was going to look her up on Wikipedia real quick.
Type in genotypitical and there’s three different searches that show up immediately for this for
putt. It’s genotypical for putt with the number four. Then genotypitical forput with the word for
genotypic fourputt video. So this is uh this is going around. People are people are looking this
one up very quickly. It’s hard. It’s it’s it’s I’m trying to think of what the comp might might
be for somebody that’s just always Maybe it’s it might be like Scotty 2022 like just always was
around never like it took him 70 starts to win his first tournament. Um and maybe it’s more
2021 Scotty like dude this guy is always on the leaderboard always. Why doesn’t he step on next
and start winning? She’s massively talented and I’d be surprised if it’s not like she hasn’t won.
Uh but it’s just not happening in the majors. One and she got completely robbed of the Effian with
Grace Kim’s hole out this past year. Like stolen from her. That was tough. But only five wins is
just like it just doesn’t match up with with her talent and ability. So I’m still I’m in. I’m in.
I think it’s going to turn at some point. But that that 4-foot putting stroke with the the anti-left
ball was was not what we wanted to see from somebody just needs to just kick the door down.
Yeah. Not not good at all. I was going to say she had a tough 72nd hole in 23 at the chevron.
She she rinsed her approach shot. So that Yeah, there are some this was kind of the most shocking
I think giveaway for her just because she is such a good putter. you would never expect the the for
putt out of her. So, I don’t know. Something to keep an eye on. Like you said, she has won she’s
won five times on the LPGA tour. Um, if I have some like free time, I would be curious. Five
wins to 52 top 10s. Like that’s a 10%, you know, win to top 10 or whatever. Um, I’d be curious how
that kind of stacks up against some of the other elite in the women’s game because it it seems like
she’s putting herself she’s always up there. She just has not figured out a way to to kind of slam
the door more so with the women’s game. Sie, I wanted to ask you this too. With the win, Charlie
Hall continues this unbelievable streak on the LPGA where they this Charlie is the 25th different
winner across 24 events this year on two. Not a typo. They have not had a a single woman win
multiple times. Nelly has not won at all. And I think the more I think about this, I I’ll ask
you a leading question, but it it started out as like a fun stat. I really think this is like kind
of to the detriment of the women’s game. Like you you need somebody pushing things. I I think you
need people winning somewhat consistently to not only drive some fan interest, but like I think
golf is better when when the rest of the pack is like really chasing somebody 100%. I mean I think
especially for a league that is not, you know, it’s not the number one professional golf league,
right? Like people are going to default to the PGA Tour. The numbers just just say that, right? So
for a secondary tour, I hate to use that word, but like just for for most fan interest, if there’s
not a a storyline that’s easy to latch on to, it’s even harder to to kind of drum up that interest in
the the conversation, right? So Nelly made it very easy on all of us last year, winning as many times
as she did. And this year, just that that parody introduction is just not necess it’s not been a
not been a good thing. Is it my question? Flipping it back on you. We’ve long talked about setups on
the LPGA tour. They’re, you know, kind of setting up for close golf tournaments, birdie fests a lot.
Not necessarily the greatest tests of of skill, uh, for a lot of these events. Is this something
that is solvable? Is this something that, you know, could change with a different style
of setup, or is this kind of just a statistical anomaly? I think there is something to the setups
week to week on the LPJ tour. I don’t think they push the setups very often. Um I I think by and
large, you know, I think the women’s game you have a a wider variance in like distance off the
tea there. There’s just a wider variance in how far the women are able to hit it uh from like the
the first player to let’s say the 144th player, whatever it is in an event, right, compared to
the men’s game. And so I do think they have to take in some of that when they’re setting up a
golf course. They’re not week to week looking to embarrass people, but I think if they did
concentrate more on setups that were perhaps more demanding of certain facets of the game, you
would you would probably see some certain names, you know, week after week and and in all
likelihood they would they would win more often. So, I I think it’s listen and I also think
it’s like it’s just a bit of an anomaly and and a bit of a lucky streak that we’re in right now. Um,
but yeah, I honestly that’s something I’d love to ask the new commissioner, Craig Kesler, when we
get a chance eventually, hopefully in the next month or whatever it is, to to talk to him because
I I do think that there is something to that. Um, I’m just I it’s tough to it’s tough sitting
at home to like quantify it. For your stat, uh, Nelly, just for the for reference, Nelly
has 15 career LPJ tour wins, 73 top 10. So, her ratio is probably more in line of what
you’re hoping for. So for that same ratio, Nelly would have to have what, like 75 top
10s without a win to be at that, you know, one win for every top 10 or one win for every 10
top 10. Yeah. So Gino’s got to win a little bit more. That’s that’s the big thing. And yeah, I’m
bummed because I was calling like a huge breakout season for her and it’s not going to be that. So
that sucks. Uh, one quick note on this tournament. I mentioned it when I was started talking about
it. It was at TPC Riversbend, which is north of the city, kind of really like suburbs. Well, I can
report that Matiwa Country Club has passed a vote, and this tournament is headed to Makatiwa Country
Club, which is very much within the city of Cincinnati. It’s a it’s a kind of classic um not a
huge plot of land, but I think it’ll be a fun test for the women. My brother-in-law Eric is a member
there. It’s a golf course I know really well. The tournament’s also going to be moving to May. I I
think we’re going to see a pretty different 2026 LPGA schedule when they do release that later in
November. But I’m excited about this tournament going to Makatiwa starting next year. This is
Goodbar who from Taurus Michigan that you’re referring to as a member. One of my favorite
stories about Makatiwa is how we’ve we’ve long told stories about how fast your brother-in-law
plays golf. Like it’s truly something to be seen. I worked a half day once in Chicago. Uh drove lost
an hour in the time change. Drove to Cincinnati and met up with him. I forget why I was going to
Cincinnati. Uh but I was met up with him to play some evening golf at Makota. We played 36 holes.
It’s like a 5 and a half hour drive from Chicago. We played 36 holes between the hours of like 4:30
p.m. and sunset. Uh we just got in a cart and just whipped around. It was incredible. But Macati was
a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it’s the home of Xavier University, their golf team. They’ve
hosted like US Open locals. So, I’m I’m personally I’m I’m stoked. I should mention Lahi W finished
solo third. Another great result for her. Uh, Miu Amashida finished solo fourth. She was your
AIG Women’s Open winner. Has had a very, very nice breakout year. And then Nelly ended up uh in
a group tied for fifth. You had Chisato EY also in that group. Maya Stark, a nice week for her.
Um I think cutting the ball better. Uh who else? Sean Kim. So Lydia Co. last one. Uh your defending
champion Lydia Co finished tied for 14th. So not a bad effort there. Uh on the Live Golf Corner,
Greg Norman officially out at Live Golf. I feel like this was news we were at one point waiting
for for quite some time. He had a statement on social media saying, “After four unforgettable
years, you’re going to love part of this, Randy. I don’t know if you saw this full quote yet. Have
you seen it yet?” No, because I’ve self blocked from social media for like the last couple months.
Good for you, dude. Good for you. That’s honestly, it’s been Yeah, it’s been nice. After four
unforgettable years, I’ve officially closed out my time with Live Golf and reflecting with nothing
but gratitude, pride, and achievement. Together, we built a movement that changed the game
globally. We created opportunities for both players and fans and broadened the ecosystem
of golf. We truly globalized the game, expanded golf’s reach to fans around the world. We brought
entertainment, innovation, and private equity into golf, including to the PGA Tour, positioning the
sport as an asset class. It’s been an incredible chapter. I’m so proud of what we accomplished.
My commitment to do what was and still is the right thing for golf, the players, and the fans
never and fans never wavered. blah blah blah blah positioning just just the asset class line was
just like thank you Mr. Norman that that we were all asking for this. Yeah, I’d be really It just
seems like not a great return on that specific asset class, but I what do I know? I you know,
I I don’t know. It does feel like an end of an era though, Sie. I mean, Greg Norman was kind
of synonymous with live golf there. It’s been so boring without him doing anything. Again, I
thought he was kind of I thought I already thought he was gone, but it’s been just No, we just we
need those quotes. Like some of just trying to think back on some of my favorite moments
of of the era. The Sherlock you just letter uh to Monahan was just fantastic. The lawsuit, uh
the the opening ceremony, that first one where he was just like looked like a true villain uh like
like a a villain motivational speaker in front of that entire room. Uh it was just a true clown
show for for four full years. I always I always think of the when you know when he gave Shipnook
the boot. I forget what specific term that was, but that was the first one. That was the very
first one. That’s right. Yeah. Kind of the meme there of him staring daggers at Chimnook. Yeah.
H it was uh truly the only guy for the job. And uh I Yeah. If people were wondering why
we were sour on live golf from the jump, it had a lot to do with that guy uh running the
show and them trying to present themselves as a serious sports league. as well. Uh, having Greg
Norman just be a complete clown at every walk and just lying to all the players saying they were
going to get OWGR points. It was uh it was a truly truly epic performance for Mr. Norman. Moving on
to another part uh of of Live Golf and I and I I I I lured you into this episode with a tease uh
that we were going to talk about this guy tonight, but I’m going to work this way in with a shout out
to our friends at SoFi, the ultimate finance app, for sponsoring today’s SoFi get your money right
moment. Go to sofi.comnlu to learn more about how you can get your money right with SoFi Plus. I’m
taking it this week and we’re going to talk about Phil Mickelson. Now listen, a bad break for
Phil, Randy, in that he was removed from the PGA Tour alltime money list. Okay, I don’t really
understand why. I know he’s not a member anymore, I guess, because he suspended his his membership,
but like I don’t understand why they took some guys from LiveGolf off the the career money list
and and and uh left some on. I don’t understand it. But that’s not the point because Phil got
his money right, Randy. And I’m I’m referencing a tweet that he sent on June 2nd, 2023. Uh he
was responding to somebody. It’s to a now deleted tweet, so I don’t know who it was response to, but
he told this person, could have been you. He told this person, “Haven’t gambled in years. Almost a
billionaire now. Thanks for asking.” Uh, so Phil has got his money right. But that’s not that’s not
the get your money right moment of the week. Okay. I don’t know if you’ve been following you’re not
on social media, so you’ve not been following how invested Phil is in Sable Offshore. And I don’t
know. No, I do know this because Tron shares it in our Slack channel that we use for like the trap
draw stuff. So I’ve caught bits and pieces of it. He uses the dollar sign sock SOC on Twitter.
Yeah. I believe he he’s used it somewhere around 32 times in just the last year alone. And Randy,
I went searching. I don’t think he’s tweeted about the highf flyers even one single time. Like all of
his captain for God’s sake. Uh but again, the get your money right moment of the week. Sable jumped
22 and a.5% on Wednesday as investors reposition portfolios on optimism for the Los Flores
pipelines restart this month. Uh again, if you want, you can get all the updates you need from
Phil’s uh social media channel, but I’m nervous about how much he has invested in this thing, and
I don’t know what happens to the world of golf if it does go wrong again. Uh but he’s got his money
right this week, and I want to say thanks again to our friends at SoFi, the all-in-one finance app,
for sponsoring this week’s Get Your Money Right. Go to sofi.comnlu to learn more about how you can
get your money right with SoFi Plus. If you want to nominate for somebody, let us know as well in
the comments. Randy, I wanted to do just just top Phil moments. You’re the biggest Phil fan. We we
talk a little Phil. You have a personal spotlight pod that’s going to come out later this week as
well. We talked a lot of Phil on that. I didn’t realize we were going to have this overlap when
I threw this out there, but I don’t want to do a draft or a list of things. I honestly just want
to shoot the [ __ ] with you and think of it. see how many Phil moments both oncourse and offc
course that we can think of. Uh because in diving into this I thought I was going to come up with a
list of like five things and I just could not stop because the guy was just a complete thrill ride.
Wait, where do you want to start? Well, that’s what I was getting ready to ask you. Um, let’s go
let’s try to go as far back like what’s the first film? It could be onc course or offc course like
what sticks out to you the most going back. Well, this is and it’s like we all know he won as an
amateur. We know like aside from like the stuff he can easily read in his wiki profile and again I
didn’t even write this up on my list but in his US amer match when he gave his opponent a 15-footer
on the first hole because he wanted to motivate himself and then he made the putt and went on
to go and win the match. Like that might be as far back as I could think for a Phil moment. But
I also think to I think Scratch always posts that video of when he has his collar popped in class
when he’s taking the Spanish class at ASU. That’s maybe the the earliest uh image of of Phil that I
have. What is the What’s the first Phil We’re just calling these Phil moments. And I don’t even think
you need to define that. We all know what a Phil moment is. Yeah. Um honestly, those are good ones.
And that that was part of the struggle for me. I I really had a hard time going further back. I I
kind of think the beeper at Pinehurst is is almost it it was hard for me to kind of get further back
than the beeper at Pinehurst. And the beeper, everybody knows about the beeper at Pinehurst, but
that was kind of like a big one in in the in the Phil story arc. I had forgotten about I we don’t
have to go chronological, but here’s one that I had forgotten about. In 200 I think it was 2003.
[Music] Do you remember when he was trying out for the Toledo Mudens with the goal of perhaps getting
a one-day contract and and wanting to pitch for the AAA Toledo Mudens? I think he threw it like a
68 miles an hour or something is his fastest pitch was. I he didn’t end up getting the contract. And
I did find uh AJ Hinch who was a big league ball player went on to manage. He actually caught Phil
because he was down there on a rehab assignment at the time and uh I found these quotes from AJ Hinch
talking about Phil Mickelson’s stuff. He said, “Pretty soft.” Quote, “Pretty soft with a
smile.” Pretty soft, a little light. Intent was really good. Competitiveness was really
good, but a little below the hitting speed of what we were used to. I don’t think you could
really tell the difference between his primary and secondary pitches. He gave a valiant effort,
though. I’ll give him that. And so it’s just like, yeah, man. Phil tried remember that Phil tried out
for the minor league baseball team that one time. There’s there’s Dean Foods insider trading moment.
Uh, of course, which leads to Billy Walters. Massive massive massive deal. That was Randy.
I kept I kept seessawing back and forth on on things that happened on the course and things that
happened off the course. But when he showed up in the Misen Main full dress shirt for the first time
and everyone was wondering what the hell. We knew it was an activation but we didn’t know what yet.
And then he shows up in the commercial dancing uh at the balls that were hit at him. Like y he’s
just one of those dudes that I’m like dude you how could you you have so much of this of so much
money. How much could Main have possibly paid you at that moment to you know to to to do that to
make that worth your while to like Yeah. Yeah, I’m going to show up at the players in May. In May
in Florida, which is hot, and wear long sleeves, uh, and play a practice round with Tiger
Woods leading to the match. Yeah, that was uh that was one that keep Well, you you mentioned
the Billy Walter stuff like the the allegation was he had bet over a billion billion dollars with
Billy Walters over like a six-year time frame and had losses totaling a hundred million
dollars or so. So he was placing like 42 bets a day on average. He may have needed that.
Mizen in Maine. Good point. But how? But he’s a billionaire. Almost a billionaire now. That was
that was 2023. He probably is a billionaire now. I should have checked in with him before posting.
I I went looking I vaguely remembered this story and I don’t know if you remember. Do you remember
what ties Phil Mickelson to our alma mater Miami University at all? I have no idea other than
probably a fair amount of those bets. Well, this is actually a great thing that Phil did.
Phil uh there was this random I think it might have been like a ESPN thing. There was some
profile on an old football player named Conrad Dolbler who was in really bad physical condition
and his wife had sadly been paralyzed. They had a daughter uh Ha Holly I believe is her name and
she went to Miami and anyway Phil was just like watching this profile on Conrad Dobbler and ended
up getting in touch with Conrad and paying for his daughter’s tuition at Miami University. So that
was, you know, as much as we want to bag on him, there’s things like that, too, where, you know,
he just a very nice thing. And the Dobers, I mean, they they said they’re like, “We don’t know
Phil at all. He just like this was out of the blue.” Um, so that was really nice. The first
chapter in Alan Shipnook’s book on on Phil, the unauthorized biography, is just like a seessaw
of those back and forth of like, ah, dude, Phil’s the best. Like, that’s a great story. Oh man, Phil
is the worst. like this dude stinks. Man, Phil is the best though. Like, he’s he’s the absolute
best. Uh, I cannot ever I don’t know if I’ll ever get the story out of my head of Phil playing with
Tom Layman at the President’s Cup and playing so bad and like being at the turn and like, you know,
they were they were playing horribly and they’re down a bunch and like Tom sees him sitting on like
a a a tree stump or a stoop or something over by the clubhouse around the turn like hunched over.
He just sees him from behind. He’s like, “Oh man, I got to go give a pep talk to Phil.” and goes up
to him and like as he arrives on him he’s looking at his phone checking NFL scores halfway through
the President’s Cup match was like that’s one of my all-time favorite f like all right during
the President’s Cup I know you got the full slate today I know you do but you can check
the scores after well that brought up one of my I mean when not only you know him and Tiger
got paired up in 2004 at the Ryder Cup by Hutton but I don’t know if people Remember Phil did a
full equipment switch nine days before that Rder Cup. Uh switching from he had been with Titalist,
he went to Callaway and yeah, it was just kind of a disaster. He went one and three, the US got
killed it, you know. So again, it’s just like, dude, like was was it the best time to switch
equipment? Probably not. But of course, Phil, you know, he he totally was like he was never
gonna admit even a a breath of like doubt about the decision. And then I love that he in in 2016
he brought up the how Sutton thing all over like ran over how he had just run over Tom Watson
two years prior in the press conference and right before Hazeline he brings up the and Sutton
was furious. He was super pissed off about it and uh you know brought it back up about how bad bad
that was at captaincy. Remember at the President’s Cup whenever like they played out of turn they did
they made some fauxpaw or whatever and they had to like lose two holes like they they they they made
some mistake and they had to and he just stands up at the press conference and he was just like we
spotted their best team two holes and they still couldn’t beat us. Just saying there’s a gamble,
you know, there’s like every gambling story if you go looking for it, but there was some story.
Well, just kind of reminded me there was some story. Who was it? Um, Keegan maybe. It was like
Phil and Ricky against two other guys and they were on like the 14th hole and Phil has a birdie
putt from like just a little further than this other guy. And Phil is kind of like standing
over his putt and he backs off and he goes, “Oh my gosh, do you guys realize like this putt
I have is pretty much for the match.” And again, it’s like a tight match. It’s the 14th hole, let’s
say. And they’re like, “What? Phil, what are you talking about?” He’s like, “Well, if I make
mine, it’s going to put a lot of pressure. I’m just going to say it’s Keegan. It may have been
somebody else.” He’s like, “It’s going to put a lot of pressure on Keegan. He’s going to peel his
off on the low side. Miss it. You guys are going to be pissed. You’re gonna birdie. You’re going
to bogey probably the next hole. We’ll win that one. You know, Ricky and I, we’ll have confidence.
We’ll make a couple birdies coming in and we’ll probably win like two and one or something. And
they’re like, “Dude, whatever, man. Just hit your putt.” He steps up over it. He drills it. And then
the exact thing he said unfolded and he and Ricky won the match two and one. And yeah, it’s just
like that. Like Phil lives for that type of [ __ ] And I like that’s part of why I love him. Didn’t
he get fined for something like um for betting on Furick when Furick hold the bunker shot at the
Tour Championship like in 2010? He like he was like offering up odds for for to people uh on that
one and somebody took it and he got like fined because he he cleaned up from from somebody on uh
on the bed on that one. I might have to look that one up because I knew this was going to happen. I
looked up like 30 different things. I knew as soon as we started talking about stuff they all go to
gambling stories. Well, I’m going to it’s going to remind me of this one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And there
was the there was the other. It was a he picked it was a five he won 500. It was 2001. Uh Mickelson
and Weir. It was the NEC Invitational. Mickelson bet Weir $20 at Furick would hold a Greenside
bunker shot at 25 to1. Furick hold the shot making him 500 bucks. He got reprimanded by the PJ tour
for violating a rule against having a financial interest in another player’s performance. Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, there’s a good one, too. I think Phil was young. He was playing in a game with like
Azinger and Crenshaw and maybe Payne Stewart at one point. And I think it was on the 18th and
Phil had like this snaky little downhill putt and uh I think he was teammates with Crenshaw if I
have it right and essentially they were up. So, it was like, y’all can either like forfeit the
bet now and cut your losses in half or, you know, if I make this, you’re going to owe me a lot more
money. And I think it was either Pay I think it was Payne that was like, yeah, I’m cutting.
And Craw was like, I’ll jump with him. So, like those two evened out. And Azinger like
turned to Mickelson was like, putt it, [ __ ] Putt it [ __ ] And Phil stood over it, drained it,
and just like won all the money. and Ang was like, “Yeah, from that point on I knew he was probably
going to have a pretty good career, but it bitch.” That was a good one. Um the the Tom Watson thing
is so good, man. And we going to have another pod that goes into that on Tuesday this week, but like
not only what he said in the press conference, but also just like what he did the night before
in the team room of like after Watson gave one of the worst like take over the captaincy almost.
He was essentially the captain. Yeah. Like Watson gave like one of the worst speeches of all time
and he just like he got he got between Watson and the team and gave like a pump up speech and
said something positive about every player. Like I that’s we’re I it does stink that he’s never going
to be a captain. H it does stink. This was one I kind of forgotten about. But going back to Marian
and I think this was 2013. Of course Phil ends up finishing second one of his six runner-up finishes
at the US Open. Do you remember what happened early that week? Was there No, that wasn’t a
graduation. No, that was 2017. Aaron Hill, was there a graduation of some kind? There was. Oh.
Uh, it was Amanda, his oldest daughter’s eighth grade graduation. But this occurred on Wednesday.
So, he flew he went to Marion. I think he went to Marion like Monday, maybe part of Tuesday. Flew
home, attended an eighth grade graduation, which don’t get me started on eighth grade graduations.
those are not a real thing. And then took a redeye back to Philadelphia, got in at 4:00 a.m., had a
tea time at 711 a.m. Thursday and ends up going on to finish runner up and should have. That’s
the one like I know Wingfoot’s the one everybody remembers, but like that’s the one I think
he really gave away. That awful wedge shot on the par three. That would make sense. That’s the
eighth grade because Aaron Hills was 2017. years later. Exactly. That was all unfortunately fell.
So he had to withdraw. Yeah. And I don’t know what he like waited to withdraw like in case there was
weather or something in his tea time got delayed uh or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. I think
he tried to have the the uh the uh the graduation moved even where they’re like, “Yeah, we scheduled
these things like three years in advance.” Man, I don’t I I respect Listen, I don’t blame him at
all for the high school graduation. I just you can never convince me that there’s a real thing as
a junior high eighth grade graduation. How late do you have kids? You might think differently.
Listen, he’s the guy that brought us He gamed two drivers. Like I And then no drivers. Yeah, I
don’t think that gets appreciated enough. The guy had two different drivers in the bag. We haven’t
even talked about the fact that he won six majors. He won the Kioa major when he was 50 years old.
We haven’t mentioned him hitting a moving ball at Shinik Hills. Um, that was another Yeah, that’s a
sneaky one where you’re like, “Oh, yeah, that did happen.” Putt he made in 2004 at the Masters is
truly one of the greatest golf moments I’ll ever experience. I’m sure you uh you as well. Probably
my favorite. Yeah, the selfie he took on the first tea with Obama, W, and Clinton at the President’s
Cup and cut himself out of the picture. Uh, that came up. Yeah. When he showed up at Augusta
looking like an XFL coach uh and finished in second place in 2023 when he was like 51 years
old, 52. I I was gonna say this is nong, but you remember um he had the seroriatic arthritis.
Yeah. And so he he would show up in those embell pharmaceutical commercials all the time. I feel
like he was a little bit on that leading edge where, you know, now we’re like inundated with
the ask your doctor about this, but it was like Phil Mickelson for Embra and his seroriatic
arthritis, which I think it really did help. uh a bunch of like you know made for TV quotes.
I didn’t want to tell you about the gap I had at the players uh uh with bones trying to hit it out
of the bunker on the 10th hole when he turn I I just saw this one on YouTube but he turned to the
camera at at the memorial when he was right of 14 fairway turned to the cameraman and said you’re
going to want to get this one and proceeds to try to hit a cut around the tree hits the tree and it
skips off the water onto land. Also at Memorial, I think it was, he hit a guy in the head, right
of 15 fairway and it bounded all the way across the fairway and went up to him and said, “I wish
your head was softer and it would have stayed in the fairway, but he played from the wrong side
of the fence on at Tory North.” Remember when he his ball was like underneath the fence and
he it went to the other side and hit the shot. Yeah. Backwards shots hitting the flop shot over
Roger Cleveland. Uh, you know, it just How many more you got? I mean, we could Well, I was I
thought what you were saying at Tori. I mean, the the infamous Bones go up there and tend the
flag on my on my wedge shot. Like, he’s got one in every course, man. Yeah. Like, oh my god, it
he truly he he is such an interesting person. He is a content machine. It was just such a bummer
to like lose him uh you know, in the way way that we did. We could do a full I do think we’re going
to get him back someday. There’s got to be some type of reconciliation at some some point. Like
he needs to be announced. He needs to be in the booth. I know. Announcing golf is is really where
the next phase of his career should be. All right, Randy, we tried we tried to get under an hour.
Just had too many too much Phil to get to and lowkey good week of golf. This was the wrong
week to try to do the one-hour challenge. But uh thank you so much for spending a Sunday
evening with me. Thanks to all of you who tuned in listening. Special thanks to our friends Titus
Holder and Born and SoFi. We will be back. We got a great episode coming Tuesday night. Uh took
a little deep dive into captaincy at the Rder Cup. This is a little different uh different
style of podcast than our normal one. This was a lot of effort for myself and Mr. Charles
Van Kirk who helped me uh put it together. And I think it’s going to be an enjoyable listen.
And then we’ll have a Randy personal spotlight pod coming later this week. Recap come Sunday.
Then it’s writer cup week. We’re almost there, man. It’s it’s it’s really happening. Yeah,
it’ll be good. Uh, thank you for the trip down Phil Mickelson, Memory Lane. If anybody wants
to get my top 10 golf courses, you can listen to my personal spotlight. And yeah, I’m excited
for that Ryder Cup captaincy pot. That’s going to be that’s going to be awesome. Thanks everyone
for tuning in. See you next week. Cheers. Cheers.
6 Comments
Please bring up Phil's fitness…..rather be flexible than strong….Phil = no injuries…..Tiger = a ton of injuries, surgeries, etc…..appreciate you guys!
EUUUUUROOOOOOPPPPE !
"REPLACEMENT LEVEL"…What a terrible slam!! Soli…no, these are the NEXT JT and Jordan from 8-10 years ago…this is the last Ryder cup for a few of our REGULAR STALWARTS….no, they are getting passed…by folks like Griffin, et al
Not the same without kvv
Koivun is up to #42 in the Data Golf True Shots Gained ranking.
My Phil moment: Using a “Calamity Jane” replica putter in 1999, then ditching it after the 1st day of the Ryder Cup after missing 3 very makable putts. His ego made him think he could putt with anything. After the change he putted very well and won his Saturday four ball match and his singles match.