On this week’s podcast, Pete and Ronan dig deep into the weekly news from around the world of golf. From Bob MacIntyre’s win on home soil at the Dunhill to the McManus and Desmond legacy continuing in the team event. Post the Sutton 9-hole matchplay event, the PGA in Ireland season drew to a close with Simon Thornton claiming the Elavon Order of Merit… but what was the point with the PGA Playoffs now scrapped? We also look at what Conor Purcell, Seamus Power, Liam Nolan, Mx Kenneddy and Leona Maguire need to do on their respective tours to close out their 2025 seasons on a positive.
[Music] Hey everybody and welcome along to this week’s edition of the Irish Golfer Podcast. Peter Finnen here and joined as always by at present the fastest club head speed swing speed in the office, Rona McNamara. A title I’ll never let go of. How are we? I’m coming for you. I’m coming for you. You are. You are. I’ve heard I’ve heard good things. Yeah. So, um yeah, we’ve a lot to cut through. That little dig, by the way, was I decided during just before storm Amy hit last week I was going to get on the swing speed train. Uh working myself, man in his mid-40s, fat, bald, chasing swing speed. What can go wrong? The midlife crisis has struck. Yeah, some some people can afford to buy cars. I buy fitness things off Niels Conway and speed sticks. as if you’re not away from the family often enough as it is. You’re going to be going to the gym now five times a week. Has to be done. Has to be done. Eight times a week if you’re not going to do it properly. Eight times a week. Um so yeah, this podcast is brought to you in association with Flowas. Uh visit flow gas. For all your energy needs, as we call out every week, they have some great offers on at present. The weather’s flipped. Uh they support every level of Irish golf. Visit flowgas.ie to see what they can do for you. And the big three are I don’t know it’s energy, gas, and LFP. Energy is it? Household, commercial, and business plans. So, if you have household, commercial, business plans, or indeed solar, visit flow gas. They’ll look after all your energy needs. So, yeah, that was an epic fail. And that we at least we got it out the way early this week. Um, yeah, we left it a bit late last week to do that. So, right, well, I’ve already mentioned Storm Amy. What you get up to over the weekend? I was in and amongst it in Storm Amy over the weekend. Over in over in Sutton for the nine-hole match play sponsored by Anzi Williams. Um, brilliant events. Um, some of the most biblical rain and wind I think I’ve ever seen. I mean, sign signs been blown over everything, flags hanging off the side of holes. Um, and still a brilliant standard of golf. I mean, fair play to anyone who’s able to control their ball in that wind. You’re talking gusts of 80 kilometers an hour. Unbelievable stuff. And then Sunday, weather was a little bit better and Neil O’Brien beat Nile Carney in the final. So, it’s his second win in in three events. Um, but yeah, there was a really good final actually as well and a great crowd has to be said. In fairness of the Sutton members, they really buy into the event and despite the weather, they came out in their droves. It has to be said. Oh, no. We’ll get stuck into that. A proper recap of that event now after we cover. But yeah, I went out playing golf in that as well. So like they played in Sutton. I went down to Doomg and Lynch and played in that weather over the weekend. Like it was literally a 100 kilometer an hour gusts. It was it was crazy at times but fun um in the middle of storm Amy. Yeah. They didn’t quite have the balls to play the Dunhill over four days. But like did you find your ball was going five yards further into the wind now after your session? Oh 100%. Yeah. Yeah. It’s all a correlation. You know whatever you can bench is a correlation to what you can do. I know. I was I actually had eight pars in that. Seven pairs, sorry, because the be lad’s listening. So, we played uh played a match with um a couple of friends of mine. So, Chef Gary, myself and him teamed up. Didn’t go well. Uh yeah, we kind of we had a bit of a mid- round wobble. We were two up after about five or six playing around Dune and then yeah, we kind of went to sleep. Lost six holes in a row. bit of a comeback at the end against the two Niles, one of the green keepers in Dunebeg and a friend of mine and uh yeah, we left it a bit too late like the US Rder Cup team. No, it was good. It was good fun. Um never played golf in weather like it. But yeah, shout out to the lad. Shout out to everyone in Dune. Actually, the place looked spectacularly good. And I’ve never played golf in wind like that that like literally the beach is blowing onto the fairways as you’re walking along. Like we were getting hammered out of it in the face. you put sun cream and stuff on protecting yourself before you go out, but then you it’s literally cake stuck to your face when you come back in. It was crazy. But um yeah, we did like it’s funny in the bar drinking. I didn’t want to get sideline into this afterwards, but we are going to get stuck into some Ryder Cup stuff. No one canled on the day. There’s loads of Americans in the bar afterwards and a couple of young lads start giving us jip about the Ryder Cup like and the stuff they were from New York, right? So this was evening few points had we’re watching the Yankees play Toronto on the screen and uh yeah these lads had to be cut down a peg and reminded like they were literally calling the Europeans like oh the cryb babies all this that and the other like honestly the the pettiness of it all and yeah they just had to be the the stuff they were saying you cannot I understand why it got so toxic there and I know we went in deep into it last week but these guys were Just Yeah. Clowns really when you think of it and they’re like sitting there watching their baseball spitting facts at us. City boys rounders. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. That’s what I had to say to them. I had to like you know I’m I’m no maths guy but New York were losing. These were New York kids. Like they were losing 91 or something to Toronto in the stick ball and I was like throwing the whole why do you call it the World Series type vi just to get them royal? Just to get them royd up. Do you invite the Canadians in just to keep it going? But anyway that’s another another day’s work. But the Dunh Hill Links, um I don’t know what your thoughts are on this event. Like I normally am a big fan of this event. Um but from what you’ve seen of it this year, what do you think? I always find the scoring really, really low and I don’t like it. I know it’s a pro, so you have to legislate for that, but uh like I dread to think what the score would have been if it was four rounds. And even in like really really tough weather, they’re still shooting, you know, 67 68s where in Bobby Max’s case, three rounds at 66. So the Corers are still probably too easy. Like you’ve got Carnusi there and you have DJ going around in 64. Like if that was in the open, the RNA would be into into crisis, you know, and and that’s in the weather as well. That’s that’s in the weather. Um, but I do like I like the event. I I’ve said this before. I like the DP World Tour this time of year from that Irish Open run towards the uh DP World Tour Championship. So, I do enjoy this part of the year. Um but yeah, the Dunh Hill maybe needs a a little bit of tweaking because it’s just a little bit too easy. The Well, the field for me is unbelievable. Yeah, the but the field is unbelievable normally. I just thought they missed a trick and I know the lads are all knackered. They should have came home and had this as a homecoming from the Royal Cup. they have done in the past and they’ve all I know that’s easily done after a home rider cup maybe not in the states but um yeah I I we should have seen more of the DP world this this tournament missed Moroy it missed Lowry it missed Rose yeah in fairness to them like they can’t be criticized they usually do I’m not criticizing I’m not criticizing like but you have to tip your hat at the same time to Bob Mack and Tier and Tommy for coming across especially like Bob Mack uh like he talks about like he’s up to eighth in the world now. I cannot I can’t get my head around that. I miss that happening altogether. Like I know he’s been there thereabouts but I don’t look at him like he’s in the top 10 players in the world. But he really has stood into that. Like this time last year he was going on about blowing up the road hole. It’s the worst hole in the history of the planet. Yeah. And now he’s going winning around St. Andrew and talking about how special it is and but his performances was class and he spoke a bit about his prep which I like I’m sure he came off the airplane still there was still a bang of booze off like from Oh yeah absolutely because he did he just went on the absolute lash for a couple of days afterwards he said I’ve done everything against the book this week pitched up on a Wednesday afternoon played 12 holes on Wednesday the diet all week he’s just been eating fish and chips and takeaways and and room service and he goes and he walks this golf tournament like but if there was ever a guy that could do that, Bob Mack is the type of guy. You put Lowry in the same mold that he’s capable of doing that stuff. Um but for him to come show up in front of his home crowd and like the circus coming with the clowns to actually be able to stand up and perform is phenomenal. Yeah, because there’s a level of expectancy when you’re the home player and everything and like he’s really stepped up the last two years since the RDER Cup in Rome. He’s just a a transformed player. Won the PJ tour in Canada, won Scottish Open on home soil obviously and then h won the Donhill last week and he played really well in the Ryder Cup in Beth Page as well. Um but no credit to him. I mean golfers are proper athletes, aren’t they? Yeah, but he had like he of all like even Lowry this year fitness like we’ve started off this pod talking about chasing speed and fitness and stuff like that. The two lads have lost a lot of timber and gone like you have to give them credit. They really have approached this season and for both of them it’s paying dividends. It is good to see but I just thought it was hilarious that he comes out and he just he let you know exactly what he’s eaten and drank all week. played 12 holes in prep for one of the big like there’s 800 grand for the winner at this golf tournament and he’s treating it like with absolute disdain. Yeah. Yeah. I know in fairness um I think it speaks to his actual offseason prep that he still has the stamina to go this long because PJ tour season’s over. You think you’d be winding down but I I agree what you said before. probably did miss a trick only having three of the stars there because usually you do get your Mroy and your Larries and and those ads and maybe in hindsight could they have pushed this back a week and maybe brought the Spanish Open forward or something like that just had an off week had a gap week. Yeah, because it’s too close to an away rider cup and I hope they do that in future like that uh an away rider cup because this should be a celebration um of the team that went out there and fought for the tour and uh come back with the trophy, you know. So I just felt that this of all years, the field in this was quite weakened. Um ah but you’re still getting the live players. You’re still getting Johnson and Brooks. There’s no juice without them. True. That and that’s the thing like watching Sunday h because it was quite disjointed of where guys were teeing off because it was a three round tournament then. Uh they were all on different golf courses. you didn’t get the same flow, but they they leaned on the DJs and the Brooks and we even had some Cam Smith cameos and all sorts, you know, it’s f like probably the first time since he won the open air that he’s come back and got a bit of TV air time. But without the live lads, h I just felt we missed the Mroys and the Lowies. It was it was a bit of a glare and omission from it. But we we definitely lacked a bit of juice just because the way the tournament was so disjointed with the weather and they they got a bit fortunate that the top three players all played the old course in the final day. But you have lads in contention playing in Carusi and Kings Barnes and you know there might be enough cameras at certain golf courses and on even on the DP World website you can’t get shot tracker unless it’s in St. Andrews. So that you can see where you’re limited by having the three c three golf courses if weather like that does come in. And there’s so many variables like how unlucky would you have been to have played carni on the last day when everybody else is in the calmst conditions like the guys at the top of the league. There was a bit there was a huge advantage to McIntyre and Hatton playing the old course last. Well, you’re guar you’re guaranteed six at the minimum as well. But you’re guaranteed crowds and atmosphere. the guys they might as well have been paying a monthly medal some of them out in Kings Barns like Richard Sterny it was going for the tournament they’re like outside the caddies and the guys carrying scoreboards there wasn’t many people following them lads and he’s trying to chase down his first tour win in god knows how long yeah it must be difficult like how do you find out who who’s doing what you don’t that’s the thing that it was kind of soulless for that at a very disjointed now it’s designed for everyone to go and play back on the old course like you can’t move everyone back to the old course. No, you can’t because that would be because it would be unfair. Um, so because then two lads would have a scalp off the old course and it’s the easiest course statistically on it. But it was a massive advantage for Hatton and McInto I’m saying especially playing together and being on the old course like they they got that sort of tournament feel. They had a crowd with them. Hatton put up a bit of a charge at the end. He always does around these courses. Always plays well in this. Um yeah, I just thought it was a huge advantage, but they still got to take advantage of it and whatever disadvantage they had coming back locked from the Royal Cup. Uh they actually made up for this the team bit, right? So uh we’ll get into more of the thing. The team bit I found fascinating. I don’t know is you do you keep up with any of this? This always so I have a cut off a few of these amateurs. I keep I I keep an eye out for like the likes of a AP McCoy and Derma Desmond and all the McManuses as you know because that’s that’s because that’s who always wins in Fij I I pissed myself laughing with this one. So J like the winner this year lo and behold has a connection to the McManus family. So it’s JP’s son-in-law Keian Foley played in the team championship alongside a young Aussie pro Harrison Crowe. Did you see this? I know they’d had four I know they had four Eagles. Well, day. Yeah, you say day. Day. So, uh, Harrison Crow got $50,000 for his exploits for the year. So, as a team, they won this over three rounds of golf. They were 33 under. What do you think Crow was in his ball for the three rounds? Well, looking at the leaderboard here, not by much. There’s a lot of asterisks around some of the birdies and the Eagles, which is obviously the the amateur contribution. So, over three rounds, Crow was four under par. That’s not Well, he’s level with Harrington. Our man was 29 under for three rounds. Double handfuls. When you’re primed when you’re primed, you’re primed. Check his handicap. But like this is just I I I could not stop laughing. Like he’s got ghost going in there with double handfuls. They had they had a they had a 58 in round two and Foley was on the card one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine times. It’s like the Desmonds and the McManus just swapped this thing around. But like he yeah he was making his 12th appearance at the tournament. So he’s done his time, you know. He’s stood back. He’s let JP win a few. He’s let Dermit Desmond win a few. But no, I just found it really funny. But they he can add his name to the list when you actually look back at how it so JP has won this thing twice. Kieran Mcmanis in the other years has won it three times. So JP Sunny won it 2009, 14 and 17. Then Derma Desmond won it last year. Derry Desmond finished second this year behind. Are these lads all just going to play nine hole like non non-counting scores there from from last August just right we need to get a month in build build up these handicaps. But it’s it’s mad. Fair play to them. And without this tournament like without them probably this tournament wouldn’t be the tournament it is. But it’s like they take turns swapping it around. I just find it funny. I saw more of Andy Murray than I probably saw of most of the professional golf on the TV this weekend. Yeah. And they do they did ham it up a bit and that was his first one. And I thought you’d be delighted. It was Andy Murray instead of Bill Murray this year. No. Well, Bill, you know, I’ll save Bill for later on now. I’ve changed my opinions on Bill. We just I I don’t like the cut of his jib going around. I like I suppose you you were in Bill Murray country pretty much the whole weekend anyway. Yeah. Like I I No, I we’ll save that for later on now. You might be surprised now to hear my takes on them, but it was we didn’t see as much of the arms as we normally do. We seen a lot more um of the different golf courses across the days, which I was happy with. A lot more pros. H got a look in and a few like pros names I I haven’t really heard much of before. So, um no, it was really good. Um, outside of the team event then from our own point of view, Connor Pcel goes away making 30 grand, jumped up 11 spots on the race to Dubai to 146. He missed an opportunity here though. He’d be disappointed like the second round he got off to a flyer with a 65. The 73 was around St. Andrews as well. He doubled the road hole, but to his credit bird the last, but you’re throwing away at least four shots there. Yeah. And even at 69, you’d probably still have left a few out there as well. But in fairness, like he was up there on day one, still clawed his way back to finish 32nd as you said. And I hope that it’s a building curve even though there’s not much time to build. There’s only three events left. But maybe he goes on a run with the next month and at least gives himself a chance of retaining his card because at the moment like he’s way outside of top 115 retainer cards and like at the moment he’s 146. At the moment, he will be getting an exemption category on the DP World Tour, but it will be combined with Hotel Planner. So, you’re in limbo pretty much for next year. Obviously, there’s still a Q school to go, but um hopefully in Spain and in Korea then as well before the playoffs, he can make some sort of a charge. Yeah, but you you spoke about being unlucky there with the weather and the golf courses. I mean, Tom McKibben had a nightmare here. Yeah. Did you see like he hits one ball, didn’t get to finish the second round, comes back on Saturday, hits one, plays one hole in Carui having a great day. H it was the 18th, wasn’t it? It was the 18th. Carui makes quadruple bogey, goes from like two off the lead to maybe six back and then the the the Saturday gets cold for the weather. Then on Sunday, you just you have no chance. You just can’t make that up. Yeah. I mean, he might he he may well have been able to recover if he had 36 holes to go, but I mean, what a what a disaster. What a what a bit of bad luck as well. Um the draw and um a bad hole just went against him and we could have been talking about a different story here. Still came 15th on 1000 par and earned good race to Dubai points but I really thought he would be in and amongst over the weekend. Yeah, he’s managing to hang on to his world golf ranking like he’s 129th in the world. Um you know which is not far off what it was when he went to live. So he’ll be happy enough with that and he’s going to put in a stint now over the next few weeks. like he’s not far off the top 50 that actually make the race to Dubai. Yeah, he’s 56 now. So, and he’s playing in Spain this week for the Spanish Open. So, like a good week a good week a good week here will consolidate his place in the world playoffs. Yeah. Yeah. Which is huge. That’s a big to be able to do both while all this litigation stuff is going on in the background and um do all that. It’s No, it’s it’s a it’s a good look for him and I think he will as well like there’s he’s playing good golf. It would be a monumental achievement to get back into the top 100 considering considering the limited golf that he’s playing that can get you world ranking point but he’s played so well on live anyway and it’s been good to see him transfer that form into Europe um even though he’s not playing too often for obvious reasons so there is a big opportunity now over the next month or so to really h push himself back into like you know PJ championship contention for that world ranking as well and other things. So, h definitely glass is half full when it comes to McKibben before all the all the fines and things they come to fruition as well before before the stupid money bits again. We’ll get into that later on in the pod as well on the money side of things. Loads of stuff broke this week on their their accounts and stuff. We’ll we’ll we’ll hold that back for a few minutes, but uh anything else from the Dunh Hill. Any other takes? No, I’ll go back to the Dunnh Hill as you said on the heroes and villains thing. Perfect. Right. Uh, next biggest thing that happened, we it has to be the PGA in Ireland, this event and something that you were at over the weekend. Um, I really enjoyed the coverage of this actually. I really enjoyed following the stuff that you’ve done because this does not get highlighted enough of how good a format this is and the golf course suits and the work they all put in and s like Patty Devine in fairness to him out there. the pro works tirelessly to make this event work. And I know all the committees, all of the the sponsors, um, like Keen, isn’t it Keen Bennis from Anley Williams? Ansley Williams, like the work that they put in as sponsors, the activation, uh, how they dress the golf course, everything just feels championshipy about this. Yeah, I know. They they really do make a big deal out of it and it’s brilliant. Even the on the Friday they have the prom and in the evening they have a big dinner and they do the draw live and they have an MC and everything and it’s really really jazzed up and all the players stay and there’s a good laugh like your Matt H Ronan in Sutton had like stats done on some of the players as well saying oh this guy this guy’s won like 50 grand this year he’ll buy you a point and everything and this fell as a three-time winner on the region this year so it was all good and there was a few laughs going around and uh Patty got a got a tough group with Colin Morerti and Tim Rice managed to beat Tim and was actually Unfortunately, it took column down to like a winner takes all uh match in the in the group last game out and just unfortunately had a bit of a mishap on the last. I won’t go into it. I won’t go into it but uh he was he was unlucky and then there was the group of deaths. Brennan McCarol just one of the highlights in a group with Simon Thorson, David Higgins and Cormick Sharon. He managed to come out on top and get himself into the quarterfinal. won his quarterfinal got to the semi-final against Nile Carney beaten on the ninth and then Neil O’Brien beat Col Mori Arti in a playoff hole birdie the second playoff hole in the semi-final to get to the final and beaten N on the last with the only birdie of the day was brilliant like genuinely outraged Scott took a six foot six iron into six foot six iron about six seven feet went howling off the left into out of bounds on the right he’d been out of bounds in the in a semi-final against Mori Arti as well and he just drew this in, hung on the flag, six feet, and got the put. Knob’s a cl he’s a class player. He really is a good player like and you just don’t he like it’s been tough like and I know they’re all juggling family life and work life balance all this, but he’s a proper proper player like and it wouldn’t surprise me if he set the um the region on on fire next year, you know, so way and went to the right style of things, but it’s uh yeah, it’s very competitive like that type of golf suits you said as well. Um just you know you take irons off te’s and you’re not really losing anything. It’s still be a wedge in and what have you. Gay man. Man needs to get new irons. God they’re nearly they’re nearly rust at this stage. Come on. It’s so man. Um but no like the event and Sutton. So obviously Neil O’Brien wins um beats Nile Carney. Carney needed a good finish there anyway. I don’t think he could have closed the gap to win the uh elevon order that was pretty much sewn up by Torington anyway. Yeah. And Simon, Simon Hops the Order of Merit. He was unlucky as well. He was waiting around for about an hour and a half for his group to finish. And he was either I’m going to be in a playoff and I’m going to be playing this guy, I’m playing this guy, or I’m going home. And he was relying on Cormack to beat Brendan McCarl. And I think Cormack lost on the on the ninth. And so he waited an hour and a half just to end up going home. The realities of match play, reality realities of um round robin golf, which is a really really cool format just going back into there’s consequence. Consequence. And there’s consequence every match. Every match. Yeah. Yeah. Um like even like Nai’ lost his first game and at that stage you’re thinking right I’m up against it here. I’m more than likely going to be going home and wins his next two to get into a playoff to get out of the group. Gets out and goes on a run to the final and wins. Um but it’s brilliant like it flows so brilliantly like these lads are playing essentially three rounds ago. Three nine hole rounds but it doesn’t feel like as long a day as it actually is. Yeah. And the with the way the weather was as well and nine holes is just perfect. I would love to see this um tournament because we so many samesy tournaments all back to back to back to back in the middle of the year like July August time. I’d love to see this a bit more of a prime spot in the calendar. It’s a nice way to end the season but I think the format would get so much more if you’ve longer days and um yeah I I just think I just think more needs to be done. Either do another one of these. Yeah, I still I’d still I’d still limit the feel though. Yeah, the field. That’s where the the quickness of it is and the flow. That’s where you get the flow from. But maybe have an extended version of it during the season as well. Like maybe have uh you know the nine hole thing works because it’s quick and it’s fast and um but I I just like to see more of this. I don’t know. I think it’s a great innovation from the PGA and from Sutton, but I think we need to see more of it. That’s all. So, um, on the order of merit, um, this is like we’ve been very positive towards the PGA, towards everything they’ve done, and it’s been an unbelievably good season. But it does stick in my throat a little when I see Simon Torrenton. He’s played 29 events this season. Um, finished just ahead of I know Mari closed the gap and, um, Sharon closed the gap in. So, he’s won the order of merit. Uh normally you get into playoffs like PGA playoffs and they have them in Turkey or Cyprus and they go and they play off for some big big events like entries into Wentworth, the Irish Open, the British Masters challenge tour starts all that that’s all gone now. The height of the reward is probably a sit down interview for the Irish golfer podcast. But that like I just think that’s shocking. I like he’s won this is 20 years on from his first win. So he’s won this five times I think. the order of merit. So 20 years ago, 2005, he won his first. Now he was on the way up. He was going to uh tour like he was forging a career on tour at that stage and juggling that way. But he probably got more for doing that 20 years ago than he does now. Even though there’s a title sponsor associated with it, I just think it’s a bit it’s an afterthought. Yeah. Because even I didn’t look up the order of merit until we came in here this morning. I completely forgotten about it the whole weekend. I mean, no one talks about there’s no Not that there’s no consequence. There’s no um sort of there’s no anticipation around it at all. There’s like no drama, no like many times I was just talking to Simon just on our own like the whole week and I none of us even mentioned it. He never even brought it up. Like even when he was waiting for that playoff, there was no he wasn’t thinking about any consequence. Oh, this could affect my order of merit ranking or whatever. There was none of that and that that’s wrong in many ways. Even if it was only a five grand prize pool of two and a half grand for the winner like 1,500 for second and 500 like it does just something to market bar just a bit of crystal would be of consequence you know do something because I don’t even know so looking through the spot so the BMW at Wentworth spot now goes to the GBNI club pros winner British Master spot not sure Irish open spot there’s no decisions that I’m aware of yet where that goes Will it even remain in the PGA? Like it’s sad. And we talk about the erosion like we spoke last week about the erosion of um entry level points into these tour events and how the challenge tour starts being clipped back. How the Q school cards are being clipped back. This is another area of like the PGA pros being cut out of these things. Like we used to have 20 lads playing the Irish Open from the region. Now that was wrong. And that’s not I don’t mean it was wrong, but it was probably too many. Too many. Yeah, it was too many. And with like if you look at the stats of him and he made the cut and actually justified the place there, but they earned it and they earned it through a members organization that and I’m a big PGA fan like I am, but I tend to think they’ve dropped the ball with this one. Um there’s a couple of things like even the PGA Cup and I’m not digging at the PGA. The PJ Cup was announced last week for the K Club and it’s brilliant. It’s an unbelievable thing. This is when we get to welcome our PJ America friends that made a mess at the Ryder Cup last week. Get the CEO over. We get a bit of one-on-one time. This will be good. But um yeah, so we have a full block party coming to Gair next year. But the PGA and the GBNI have just missed such an opportunity um that you would think that there would be an Irish captain, it being in Ireland, but the current captain, David Scott, uh the current PGA captain for this year is going to take over captaincy of that team. Now, I just think that’s a massive opportunity missed to get Irish people who they know back their own Yeah. in in their droves and make this a massive event. Like in my opinion, that should be a David Higgins, a Damen McGrain or a McGovern or someone like that should have gotten the nod for that. PGA Cup players that have actually played home and away and are still actively involved on the playing side as well. And I think that would have worked so well, but it’s again a missed opportunity. And I like that’s a whole club membership coming along to support that you’re missing out on essentially. they would get thousands of people there now. They will get good crowds anyway. It’s a massive tournament like GB and I against USA PGA guys and but I just think we needed that bit of home spark and you know you’re just missing legacy links and everything like that. Yeah, there just I don’t know what the thinking is but you’re you’re just not connecting the dots and like this is very lowhanging fruit that we’re talking about as well that they seem to be missing. Yeah. And I’m not having a go with the PGA because like I say I love the organization. I love what they do. their members. I just think they’ve dropped the ball on that. I just and it’s not a PJ and Ireland decision. That’s the thing. It’s above. It’s coming from the Belelfrey and it’s centralized and yeah, they’ve just missed an opportunity to get full buy in of people who may not have experienced anything got to do with the Irish PGA before or the PGA in the UK to come and watch some of the best players, but at least guarantee some Irish involvement. Yeah. Even like you mentioned the the lack of like having 20 players in the Irish Open like the no PGA representative there this year with one amateur like there should be a spot for the Irish amateur champion should be a spot for the Irish PGA champion and obviously a couple more amateur invites. So there’s you’re lacking that local interest that we keep talking about. It’s just not there at the moment just to get people keep going in and everything needs a gateway drug like that. Just get people into it. Um, right. Uh, that’s enough on the PGA PGA tour. PGA tour. Yeah. Sheamus power. Ah, just another week where he was going well and looked like he was going to move up and then he ends up having a poor Sunday. Sunday’s where you make your money and he just felt he’s falling down now the Felix go fall rankings. He’s down to 134. And what is the fall rankings? I I still can’t get my head around. So, the season’s over. Top 50 can’t be changed. Top 50. What’s he trying to do? trying to get himself back into the top 100. So to retain your PJ tour card for next season, which is what he did for this year as well, um to be honest as well. And at the moment he’s 134 top and 100 earned them. Um and it just means you get into your full field events. So not not your signature events, which are full field ones. And 100 then to 125 have conditional tour status. And then I don’t actually know what happens with the 126 on to be honest. Do they do they go back to Europe? That’s the thing. I think he can actually fall back to the DP World Tour next season. That’s not what he’d want to do. He’s living in Las Vegas and loving life out that neck of the woods. So, um there’s good money on the corn fry tour as well. There’s probably more money on the corn than there is on playing Spanish Open and stuff like that. There’s good money in it. Yeah. And it’s a proper I don’t know what the status of the tour cards you’d get, you know, coming back because I don’t think Sheamus Power would come back and dominate and get into the top 10 on the DP World Tour with the injuries, ups and downs that he’s had, I don’t think he’d get a full season, you know, sort of way of momentum. He’s capable of doing it, but I just based on his playabil based on the eye test over the last 12 months, I I don’t think that’s in him. No, I I don’t think so either. No. Um, but the corn ferry could be could be a good place for him. Hopefully not. We’re getting new winners. Um, Steven Fisk, never hit a guy before in my life. No. Up to 91st in the world now. This is top 100 player. So, he’s a better player than Tom. This is another world gripe for you. Like I when you when you were talking about Bobby Mack being number eight, I was like, who’s a better player? World number three, Russell Henny or Ray Bobby Mack? But this fell is 91st in the world. It’s a disaster from nowhere. Absolutely in the world. It’s it’s a joke. I can’t I can’t work it out. I can’t work. And this is what as as the year has gone on, I’ve started to come around to your notion about the world rankings being it’s such crap. It really is like I I can’t even the prize money side of things, the the ranking point side of things like strength of field, there is no question that no question that the Dunhill links had a better strength of field than the Sanderson farms. Oh, 100%. yet Steven Fisk goes away with like $300,000 more than the winner plus more world ranking points than any like I cannot get my head around how I know they’ve done this on purpose like because the live stuff and uh trying to protect the PJ tour at all costs but this is again it just feeds into the narrative of I scratch my head at this so much as to how broken this system is that like the ranking points are dictated by the world rankings and like Brooks Cap. I don’t know what Brooks is. I know DJ’s like 620th in the world or something. He can out shoot in 64s crack. That obviously doesn’t help the strength of field, but like they’re massive names. It’s unreal. No, it’s it’s so broken. The system is so broken. And I don’t know. I don’t know how they’re going to fix it, but like this is why Sheamus Power probably will stay in the States because it’s so much easier. You win a couple of times in the corn ferry tour and you’re pretty much guaranteed a much better tour card than you will finishing top 10 having to play 30 events all around Europe, spending God knows what sort of money uh playing like events that are just so dated and disjointed as part of the tour. Um yeah, it’s I don’t know. I’m pulling what’s left of me hair out talking about stuff like this. I I can’t get my head around it. In positive news though, Raasmus of the Ryder Cup Boys. Yeah. Done well. H came fourth in the end, I think. Yeah. Nice to see him bounce back. Tie third on 1900. Yeah, really. He would have been he would have been very like it’s hard to walk away from a winning REDR Cup team, but you haven’t put up half a point in. I’d say he was devastated walking away. And you can only imagine what he was like in the celebrations. Yeah, probably only maybe 90% in it. And there’s that 10% in the back of his mind thinking I didn’t really do anything here. When he did low, you know, and that’s not us. It’s just it’s that feeling of, you know, when you when you only play twice, there’s always a chance that’s going to happen though as well. Yeah. In fair, it’s like a group college assignment and you just sort of get involved in the last. Now, hold on. I had no problem doing that. I I was as joyous as anybody when that when when those one ones came in. You get teamed up with a few SWATs there and you’re like, there’s more more piss up time for me. I I laminated the paper. That would be my contribution. let the let the people that did the work sign the back of it. Um but yeah, no, it was I yeah, I don’t get these fall series events anyway. Um on that I think there’s nothing else really on the the deep on the PJ tour to No, as always, we’ve spent far too much time on the PJ tour. There’s only five minutes now. There’s loads of points available. There was a few other things. Um LPJ LPJ Stephanie Meadows back on the scene. Yeah, I’ve seen that. So, last week was her first appearance in more than a year and missed the cup, but this this week she was tied 59 at the Lotty Championship. So, whatever the situation was, hopefully she’s at the other side or maybe she was just taking a break for um I don’t actually know. Do you know what why she’s she’s spoken to nobody really? No, she just went off the went off the planet really. Got got married and then just disappeared. You would have to think it’s injury or You’d have to think it was an injury. Yeah. But no, really, really good to see her back. Um, obviously has been on the LPGA for a long, long time. Will she get an injury exemption for next year? I I don’t know. Don’t know how that works. But that’s her first cut made, like you said, since July 23. And like she still gets in, makes a cut here. You make seven and a half grand as your first paycheck in a year and a half. Like that’s tough. That’s grim. That is grim. Like that is tough. Um, I’d love to see Steph back. But she’s never played in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, which I can never get my head around. No, like there’s a there’s an opportunity like bit like Jim Gavin, no one really knows who she is. No, I mean now I mean no like everyone talks about Leona whereas Stephanie was out there before she was. Yeah. And even like in terms of like legacy players and everyone talks, oh I looked up to Olivia Mafy and now we got Lauren Walsh. No one mentioned that Stephanie was sort of there first and doing it first. and she doesn’t get the credit that she was the first to go out there. She wasn’t the first Olympics and everything as well. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, she’s a proper player. She’s a really really good player. But yeah, interesting to see um Leona on the slide again. Um like I don’t know. I I I struggling with Leona now because she’s down to 53rd. It’s still been a good a good recovery. It’s been a good recovery, but like there’s only five events left in the season. They’re going out to Asia now. They’re back to Florida for one before their CME race the CME Globe. She’s 53rd. Only 60 get in. Like she it’s it’s she’s looking over her shoulder like she’s she’s like me as a leads fan in the middle of the Premier League now after losing a couple of games going, “Wait, this this wasn’t meant to be like this.” Looking around the place. So, um, yeah, it’s not a nice place to be. Like even like what’s she in the world? She’s 81st. 80 81st in the world. Like it’s not a good slide. No, but like she had a decent patch in and around the Women’s Irish Open and she was going well. Missed the last couple of cups, but until then she was she was going okay. two top 20s in a tied seven in her last five and one one of them was at the Evian so she haven’t going well for for a while and she suddenly had top 10 this season she makes that that top 60 that’ll be a season well done yeah I’ I’d agree with that but then you’re looking into next year like Salahim cup she is not like she’s not in a conversation anymore is she is really yeah I would love to see it but I just I can’t I there’s so much other talent out there that that seems to have bypassed her and I’m not being critical of Leona like we’ve covered every shot she’s hit since she was 12 but I’m still concerned about the slide RER Cup and Solomon Cup European teams have a a good habit of calling players up because of previous records hopefully and I not even that like you know I had my cut off Shane Lowry this time last year and he’s kicked on to be one of the best years of his life. I hope Leona does the same. We always have nothing. But it’s just concerning. We have so many players like this. We’re talking about Sheamus Power in the same way he loves. We’re talking about not so much Connor Pcel. He’s on the up still. I would say he’s finding his feet and that level and and he will be back on the DP World Tour if he doesn’t uh like he’ll have conditional status next year. But yeah, Leona, I don’t know. There’s a lot happening in the game on the women’s game. Distance is a big thing. Um, I I’m just worried. I’m worried that we’ve seen the best of Leona. I hope I’m wrong. You need to get back in the You’re not getting the positive endorphins that you’re supposed to get. But no, I I I agree with you. Like she’s on the she has been on the slide, but I’ i’d argue that she I’d argue that she has arrested that slide and is consolidating. Like I know two or three years ago she was in contention for majors and she got into the top 10 in the world. So from that from that degree it has been a fall but I still think she you’d be hard pressed to leave out of the solemn Cup team next year in my opinion. Yeah, you’re in a bad mood today. No, I’m not in a bad mood. I I just Yeah, I just can’t see it. I I I hope I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong. And uh yeah, hopefully a clip of this doesn’t get played to Leon and her management team, but I hope I’m wrong. But uh yeah, no. Yeah, let’s let’s move on from the LPGA before. No, we didn’t even mention the winner. Actually, the winner. Do you want to do you want to try your name? No. Yao Min Hong. Yao Min Hong, right? This is This is mad. Again, we’ve covered this stat for a while. That’s 26 events this season. Again, that’s 26 different winners. They have no there’s no they have no star left on this tour. Like, they’ve no one even Nelly. No, Nelly won seven times last year, hasn’t won this year. Yeah, it’s mental. Criminal like insane. Nelly should be one of those players where you you measure her success on like major wins and like there’s still that doubt on whether she plays like the toughest golf course as well but yeah it’s you need like we we complain about Scotty Schaefer making golf a bit boring and he’s winning all the time. The LPGA needs that. Oh, they need someone to hang it on totally because like 26 different winners from 26 events. It’s a freak. It’s a record, but it is not good for the women’s game because they need someone to hang it on. And I thought Nelly was that person last year and you’d f now you just don’t know where to be looking. Like you can’t follow a 100 players in depth, but like it seems they’re just all taking turns. Yeah, it’s your turn this week. This is a rookie coming out as well. Like uh you know, she’s a sponsor’s invite. Like not to be disrespectful, but you are looking at the names and thinking I’ve never heard of this person. No. Well, she’s a sponsor’s invite this week. Um, got in. I don’t know. She’s not even a member of the LPGA and she won’t be next year. She said she’s going to defer it on. So, like someone comes in, takes the few quid, takes the status, defers it on for a year, and it’s not good for the tour. Um, it’s great storyline, but no one’s covering it as much. Yeah. You don’t you don’t get any rivalries either as well. No. Right. I seem to be ranting a lot this week. I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. We’re in we’re in beautiful new surroundings and you’re just throwing your toys out of the pram. Um right roundup world amateur teams on in Singapore. Yeah. So we had the Esprito Santo trophy, the new Espirto Santo uh on last week. So the girls were in action first. B Coulter, Ana Dunigan and Emma Fleming and they all contributed as well. So it was the best two scorers at three players to count. So each of them got a counting score over the four rounds and they ended up coming 15th in the end. H and the USA as probably expected ended up winning but it’s the turn of the men then this week in Singapore as well as Chewy Greten fresh off Walker Cup John Doyle fresh off an Irish Open appearance and then Ken Rafley our grand slam man are going to be fresh off the compass. Fresh off the compass. Yeah. Going worldwide with his compass now. Hopefully um they can better the 15th place result and you know get themselves in contention which I don’t think will be beyond the realms of possibility here. It’s something we have never I don’t think we’ve ever won. Have we the world amateur teams? No. I remember when I was on a carton going out to it was a great event like and you’re looking at like Colum Maraua was playing and stuff like that like proper teams uh proper players and uh Victor Havland actually played in that one as well like we go so many great players like that of tomorrow coming through that play in this. So it’s the Eisenhower trophy as it’s better known. It’s always a good barometer. But um this is a good little team. No, it is a proper team. Did you see I seen the boys warming up. Did you see the driving range? It’s at the end of an airport or runway like in these big jumbos like if you can get one of those 60° very airborne. I mean you’d be touch and go. Telling you. Um yeah. So best of luck to the lads this week anyway. That’ll be good. New TGL season announced. Great. I’m actually Do you know what? I’m looking forward to seeing what the dynamic is now after the RER Cup with that. I’m gonna have to take your first response on that one. You’re looking forward to the dynamic. Yeah, that I think they’ll be schooled a lot more this year. I am disappointed to see the thing. So, first game off 28th of December, uh, Atlanta drive against New York GC. It’s the game I actually went to last year to see. Probably the most boring thing I’ve ever been to in my life. Bar the setup itself. Like, I was blown away by the arena, the auditorium, the cameras, the spectacle of it, and what they’ve built inside the Sofi Center. But a bunch of eight more boring lads walking out to try and entertain a crowd of people you could not find. Like when you have Canley and Fitzy and boys like that walking and this is when Fitzy was stinking the place up as well by the way. Yeah, he wasn’t like terrible. Terrible tree. Like he was terrible. He was cat. But no, the onus is definitely on the players. Um I suppose to jazz this thing up and really make I don’t know have a personality. That’s all we’re asking for, you know. Um, but no, we’ll see. We’ll we’ll see how it goes. But it starts off I thought they’d introduce new teams. I seen they registered they did register a Detroit Motors or something last year as a trademark. So, I thought they were going to enter a couple more teams, but it must be a 2027 project because they’ve gone with the exact same roster. I don’t know will there be uh new players coming in, players dropping out, but they’ve given the full schedule and uh yeah, I’m looking forward to see how it evolves because they evolved the hammer thing on last year. They evolved um just the speed of it, how the players bought into it. So, I’m looking forward to it. It should be good. And Chris over Christmas, nothing else on 28th of December into the start of December. So, it’s normally just the Hawaii Stinkfest that’s on the PGA tour in the middle of the night. So, don’t want to have to deal with that. Yeah, exactly. So, no, looking forward to it. Um, a couple of other things. Yeah, Live Golf. Yeah, getting back to think speaking of stuff that stank the place up. Live golf accounts. So, Live UK lost nearly 500 million pounds in 2024, 40 461.8 million. Uh, according to the report in the Athletic uh Live Golf Investments Limited, which owns the UK side of LIV, uh they raise equity injections of nearly $4 billion. Um, I mean, they’re getting no, you know, TV money at all. I think they’re only getting like three million compared to the $700 million that the PGA tour gets from television revenue. Um, they’re just this is it’s like throwing at the wall and hoping it sticks. So, but that’s what the whole thing is like. And I I’m a fan. I I watch the stuff and I cannot get my head around this. Like you say, 4 point $461 million they lost in 2024, 396 in 2023, 243 million for the 18 months prior for 2022 accounts when they set up like 1.1 billion lost just in the UK. That’s not even half of the event infrastructure and stuff that they have. And I don’t even know how much of the player stuff they’re funneling through. I’d say all the like John Ram’s wages and his signing on fee is no way gone through those numbers. That’s gone through the US accounts and muddied in somewhere. The losses occurred are just astronomic phenomenal when you look at it. And then when you look at the company setup like they have since this thing was since inception in 2021 4.89 89 billion in shares of both ordinary shares and non- voting shares have been sold to PIF to the Saudi investment fund. How in what world is this right? Yeah, I I I don’t know. I mean, this is like Man City and they keep talking about they’re going to be here for years and years and years. How long can you keep losing money? I like it’s not good for the game any like I’m enjoying watching the bits of it. put on a job. But this element of it, this stinks when you go through and this is just the UK version like this. So you’re only talking about like the Aussie wing. The Aussie wing probably makes money. It’s the only one that makes money. I’d say it does. Yeah, because they actually get proper infrastructure, proper crowds, and I’m sure the Aussie JCB probably makes a few quid. I’m sure the Aussies have a TV deal in there somewhere as well. I I don’t know what like I I I can’t I know people are roaring at the thing. It’s sports wash and it’s this that and the other. But I I just can’t get my head around. When will they say stop? And when they do say stop, will they just go right, good luck? Yeah. See you. It means go play your golf somewhere else. And there’s no deals getting done here by the way. No. Like you’re look you’re going to have you’re going to have like 25 30 Henrik Stens here not knowing where to go. Yeah. And like does the Asian tour wait and pick pick all that up or do we do what we do on the DP World Tour and bring these lads back? I mean international series. Yeah. Like I don’t know. If you don’t have a TV deal, I struggle to see where your money is going to come from. Where where are you balancing off that expenditure? It’s mental. Poor GMAC. It’s mental. I feel I feel sorry for GMA in other ways, but not that. Yeah. No, I know. Yeah. He’s got his slice of that 1.1 billion. He’s made sure he’s cashed in. Um, right. Moving on from live. Lee Valley Scratch Cup. Lee Valley Scratch Cup. Robbie Walsh. H Douglas golfer got his second win at the weekend over in Lee Valley. feel for this and good to see that actually went ahead despite the weather as well. H good score and Collie Campbell probably the standout name playing as well and this is always a very popular event uh sponsored by oil sports too and it’s had a good list of winners. So a nice traditional one comes at the end of the season as well which means they can probably get a couple of big names as well because there’s again as we said there’s not much on big week as well then just adding on to that in terms of you know uh schedule Larry’s playing to try and get points in the Spanish Open to get into that top 70 on the DP World Tour at the moment he’s not in it he’s 154th in the race below Connor Pcel actually now as well who’s also in action as is Tom McKibben so hopefully Connor can you can put a run together, get maybe another top 15 and push on because he’s running out of time. And speaking of running out of time, Hotel Planet Tour is in China for its two double points events. So this this is big. I How have how have Irelands ended up in this situation? See, I have a I have a counterpoint to that. I have a counter point. So there’s $500 on the line here with 750 additional ranking points in the field. First up is the Hainan Open. Then there’s an event next week which Connor Pur actually won last year. But like big opportunity, two good performances cuz see the lads jump back jump back. Yeah, but you want to consolidate your place too. So jump into the back into the top 20 and get your deep world tour card before the grand final which is actually a possibility with two performances here. But at the moment Liam Nolan who was as high as third at the start of the year is 32nd. Max Kennedy is 40th and at the moment you’d probably say they’re looking over their shoulder for that grand final. Top 45 make it in. But in you you said how the lads going into this position. Their first first season as pros and they’re in the mix to get their DP world tours. I think it’s been a good season like they’re in contention and they’ve q school to come as well. I think it’s it’s all very positive because we have discussed a lot on this podcast. You know there’s a dirt of talent. No this is progress. We’re looking at having no regular DP World player next year but that’s not on the fault of the two boys. No no this is progress. If you go to Lim Nolan this day, this month, this time last year, and you say, “I’m going to put you with two games to go, 38th on the Order of Merit, after earning this much, you’ve consolidated your status on the challenge tour, and you’re a free roll of the dice at the DP World Tour.” That would have been heaven for him. But it’s how you go in with that mindset to these last two events of thinking like that when the reality of it is he got such a hot start, got into the top five and hung on for a long time and then it went a bit stale in the middle. Now, everyone’s first year on tour is going to be tough. You’re adjusting to living out of a suitcase, living on your own, traveling with lads, uh trying to forge your own career, do all that. And I’m I I couldn’t have more admiration for what Liam and Max have done this year. And I really hope one if not both of them do kick on and do it. It’s just it’s a tough spot to be in because there’s so many lads double points, double money, double ranking points. It’s tough. Yeah. Yeah, it is. That was very uh that was a bit of a deja vu to Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifying. Asking Mick McCart with three games to go, you need to win here or you lost now you need to go to Switzerland. Oh, now you have to go and beat Denmark to get a playoff. and he kept saying, “Oh, if you’d offer me that to start, I’d take it.” If you’d offer the two boys this as well, like they would have definitely have taken it as well. And they’ve had a bit of a break. They’ve been working hard and hopefully they can find form because these are like And there’s good money on the line as well, which is another important factor, too. Um, so hopefully the lads can can go well and give themselves a chance. Right. That it for roundup. That’s it for round up. Yeah. Heroes and villains to tie it off this week. Tie it off. Have you done your homework this week? I have. Yeah. Good. Yeah. I was in early. Liking to hear it. I can hear it. My Gary player villain of the week is one of his fellow countrymen, Garrick Higgo. Oh yeah. Yeah. Not for the bunker thing. No, no, for the shushing the Oh, I’ve seen this. Like there’s about five people watching. What are you doing? And then he went up. He ended up getting schooled in the last few holes by Fisk anyway. Something random. Yeah. I don’t know. Was he watching too much RER Cup over the last weekend or so? I don’t know what he’s what he’s trying to do. It’s harsh. It’s a bit harsh. Like he’s in the heat of battle. He’s trying to win it. But I I did see it and I did question and go like, “What are you doing chushing the crowd?” Uh oh, there’s only one winner this for me. Like I like and you could go on to a rant and I’m not going back in PGA bashing again, but I am. Don Ray, the CEO of the PG of America, like doubling down on the RDER Cup issues, the crowd issues from last week. Uh you know, it happened when we were in Rome on the other. You were in Rome. Yeah. didn’t it was all goodnatured. I mean I like I was there for the canlay cap waving and it’s all very much it’s a bit of fun but they cannot take it’s good naturatured ribbing that you get at a football match and then I was I saw the fight obviously and well it wasn’t really a fight. Maroy had a had a pop and called someone a prick but anyway like there it wasn’t it wasn’t there was no ill feeling in what the European fans were saying to the Americans either. Well this clown Don Ray anyway took to LinkedIn during the week. I’m not sure. So he’s issuing apologies left, right, and center. He sent something to the MRoys. He sent something out to the DP World Tour. Then he took to his own personal page, said, you know, I am the president, but this is my personal page. He’s obviously getting it pelted left, right, and center. And he signed off on the thing with uh new level, new devil, and everyone started replying back to like players calling him out. So Matt Fitz asked about all this at the Dunhill as well. uh reports coming out like this lad is just now he’s getting pelted and there was there was other reports that on the Saturday night so this is the CEO of the PJ or America on the Saturday night he was videoed now the videos haven’t surfaced yet but there were reports and like reputable sources like the times and all that in the UK have ran with this story uh that he was up spotted singing karaoke in the team hotel on the Saturday night singing an Eminem lose yourself. Like I don’t know where you start with that. Like the team are getting absolutely crucified on the golf course and he’s up having karaoke and I seen someone in the comments on the thing when I went looking for the story. Someone in the comments, they’re referring to him as D Rabbit. I thought it was hilarious. But no, I I just can’t get how this guy is CEO of an organization like this with so much stuff going wrong comes out and it’s just taken the trump line of oh no nothing to see here. So that happened the other side don’t question this and like the players have really come out hard. Fitzy Hatton thankfully on their side of just saying like this is just this just didn’t happen. And then they clarified situations like on the crowd stuff. The further we get away from this reder cup the more stuff is surfaced and as to how deep the Europeans went into it. They had like a walk-off strategy. Yeah. They were close to we have red lines here. What are your red lines? What do we do in this instance? Rory came close to it that time when he says I’m not hitting another shot till they shut up. Yeah. When he was down and I guarantee you that was like a code word. We won’t get it until I’m actually sitting down Mcinley next week doing a uh like a closed audience thing with Alian. And I’m really looking forward to he not that he’ll give much away but you’ll get some bits out of it on that and like what were the red lines? How did they train for it? What what was the protocol like? If one guy decides to stop, do they all stop? Do they all just And what way were they going to like? They were prepared apparently collectively to all walk off the golf course. Yeah. Take a half an hour and go back out again. There was an element of them standing up for Mroy as well in doing that. Yeah. But I I agree. I think we probably have to give him the villain of the villain of the year. D Rabbit gets villain of the week. D Rabbit. Right. Okay. Um Patty Harrington, heroes of the week. I went for Nicholas Colart. I have two. He’s one of them. We’re agreeing. We’re agreeing. H just making his 500 start, retiring at the end of the season. What a legend. Like played RER Cup 2012. Then sort of lost his game. Had a great win then in I think it was maybe the 2018 French Opener around that time and has just been a really solid deep world tour player since and had his health health issues but still continues to come out. has, you know, been part of the European team back room side as well and h has done a bit of commentary over the last couple of years too and yeah, just I don’t think one of those golfers I don’t think anybody can hate. I think everybody just loves him. Yeah, he’s a bit like Mike Lorenzo Ver really really good character the tour. He’s underappreciated but no really good uh a really good journeyman pro, you know, and that’s not been disingenuous. It was such a class player, the Belgian bomber. Um, yeah, really. It was like a viral infection that took him down. Like you say, he kind of lost his game a bit, but it was all inflicted at him in his prime and it took him like five years to get over this. There was a chance he was never going to play golf again. So to come back to notch up his 500th uh career uh event on the DP World Tour. Such a tour man. Such a uh yeah, he wears it on his sleeve and yeah, it was emotional for him. It was nice to see that outpouring of emotions. Walking across the swilen bridge at St. Andrews as well is so special. Like nobody gets a chance to do that. Yeah. I say he had the calculator out during the year. When can I make my 500 appear? I’m pulling out of this. I’m pulling out of that. Right. I’m in there. I’m in there. Right. Uh so that’s one. I have one other nomination for hero of the week. People might not putting two and two together. Bill Murray. Right. Go on. I like So I don’t like Bill Murray as a man. Put this out in record. I don’t know how many times. I hate his antics around stuff like this. Now, the drive that he hit down the his Did you see this? Oh, he hit me pumped when out of bounds like literally put it through Rosax, bounced a few times, hit a dog, a spectator, a fence, and then come back into the middle of the fairway. It was funny. It was good. Uh there was a bang of old rider cups away in America when the Yanks hit it like so far wide and just pops up in the middle of the fairway. So, that’s not why I’m giving him a thing. He’s spent the last couple of weeks traveling around Ireland and making a documentary. He’s been to like all of the like the top links courses, but stuff off the beaten track as well. Really nice thing to do and I’m looking forward to the content spin-off by it. But for him then to go and know that the eyes of the world for good or bad are on him at a tournament like this golf oil and he’s out wearing different wet gear strategically every single day. So, the first day he had like uh Link Golf, which is a new Irish brand, but he’s wearing Crutch Island as a logo on his thing. Then he’s wearing NS grown as a logo. Like, he’s he’s promoting Irish golf and courses that don’t get enough limelight and he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s going in now. He’s probably getting gifted these things and they’re in the top of his luggage, but still, I’m sure he came across with his own wet gear, but he consciously decides to logo up. So I have to give a hat tip to him. Uh he is trying to promote the off thebeaten track courses in Ireland like Crutch Island that everyone should get at one stage in their life. It’s it’s class to see and uh yeah I’ll have to give the man his ups. Do you know I’ll let you have that one. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll let Bill Murray have it this week. Perfect. Done. We’re in another happy note. Positive all my negativity. Um I think that’s a wrap. Is it? I think so. Yeah. We’ve bored everyone for an hour. Bang on an hour. We’re struggling to get them under an hour these days. Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I’m babbling on a bit too much. But um no, cheers for everyone tuning in. H cheers for Ronan as always for taking the time come in and sit down, go through golf that let’s be honest, sometimes he doesn’t even watch it. He just has comments to make on it. But uh yeah, you’re only saying that because of the camera there. I am. I am. Uh but cheers to Flow Gas for sponsoring the pod. Visit flow gas. Like we say at the top and tail of every podcast, they sponsor every level of Irish golf. So, right up from your elite touring pros that we’re talking about uh down to your Irish uh championships and getting involved with Golf Ireland. Um so, do visit flowgas.e to check out all of your energy needs. We’re coming into that time of the year where the weather has officially turned, leaves are off the trees, and we’ve had our first name storm of the year. So, flow gas. Visit them. Check out when you are up for new. Do give them a chance on all your energy needs. So, on solar, on electricity, and on gas. They don’t just do gas. So gas bunch of lads as they say themselves. So cheers for tuning in and we will talk to you again next week. Bye. [Music]
