2024 season preview: Storylines, players, tournaments to watch | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel

In this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav, the guys offer their thoughts and predictions on the year ahead: storylines to watch, players who will take the next step and the most intriguing tournaments. #GolfChannel #golfchannelpodcast

00:00: Intro
03:00: Big-picture storylines to watch
10:00: Star ready to take the next step, plus top-50 player and one outside the top 100
24:00: Players who will disappoint next year
34:00: Which tournaments are we most looking forward to

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2024 season preview: Storylines, players, tournaments to watch | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel
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Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav I hope you enjoyed golf’s twoe off season because we’re ready to get back at it with what to watch for and the players to watch in 2024 Rex I I think

Of this as the podcast that is sure to age poorly we are not certified prognosticators but we are semiformed speculators still I don’t think either of us could have foreseen Brooks Kea uh coming off the injured list to win a major championship and nearly NAB a second one we couldn’t have foreseen

36-year-old Brian Harman blowing away the field at the Open Championship and I don’t think any of us expected ludvig Oar to not just make the European rer Cup team after graduating from Texas Tech but also win on the PGA tour but we’re still going to try anyway in this

Preview podcast what’s top of Mind as you look ahead to 2024 well I think after coming off of what 2023 was you have to take sort of take take a deep breath and and you’d like to think that 2024 is going to be more about what happens on the golf course the

Competition the players all the things we look forward to my guess is that’s not going to be entirely true but I I do like the idea that now we’re getting to the point where at least we can look at the players and I I think looking back

To last year I I can take one Victory lap from this podcast last year how many have you counted up your victories from last year uh nope because I predicted that Xander schofl would be the 2023 P4 player of the year and he had not a

Single Victory uh so I don’t I’m not sure I had any victories in that podcast I think I I can only do one colore Kawa I did as the most disappointing player actually I think the the what we did last year was a player that would drop

Out of the top 25 was that was that my comment I think is is what I said yeah I think I think that was correct it’s a it’s a it’s a variation of the who will be most disappointing uh type topic that we tend to do on the Sports Talk Radio podcast I

Mean you were you you were looking good for about nine and a half months until K morawa changed swing coaches uh went with Mark Blackburn the hottest coach in all of professional golf and then won the Zozo Championship now he’s back safely inside the top 15 in the world

And looking good for a even even more of a bounceback in 2024 uh so we’ll have to see how well that ages as well I mean I think back to that podcast I said and and you push back there will be less division in the game of golf in 2023

That one also looked pretty good for about five months there the the the two sides were kind of just going their separate ways there was still like the overhanging drama surrounding the official World Golf Ranking and whether Live players should be uh Exempted a major championships that was kind of

Hovering over and then June 6 happened and the entire thing got blown up there wasn’t just more division among Liv and PJ tour players there was literally division within the policy board within the pack uh the rank and file the superstars uh PJ tour leadership the whole thing spectacularly exploded and

So we are going to start Rex with our story lines to watch these are Big Picture story lines we’ll get into the players which I know you guys are all interested in hearing who our picks for breakup players will be but let’s look at kind of the 30,000 foot view Rex like

What’s what’s a big storyline that we should watch in the coming year I mean whatever is going to happen between the PGA Tour obviously private Equity is involved now you have the group that’s led by finway Sports and Saudi Arabia’s private investment a public investment fund I think those

Three elements are going to have to find a way to fit together find a way to all play in the same yard and not I don’t know make each other angry and that’s going to be the big question because I don’t know how they fit together that’s

A f right there sorry about that I don’t know how they fit together in this scenario but they have to find away uh for My Big Picture story line and and you’re right like that’s just there’s still so much uncertainty what’s that going to look like it probably I don’t

Think you’ll see any real effects until 2025 at the earliest I’m going to focus strictly rex on the PGA tour and most specifically this new look PGA Tour schedule if you guys are just joining us for the very first time first of all welcome secondly 2024 of course uh marks

The return to the calendar year schedule on the PG tour the wraparound is dead the points that were recr in the fall don’t necessarily carry over into the new year there’s really this renewed emphasis on the January through August schedule and they’ve the PJ tour has has

Put a lot of time thought they’ve done thousands of simulations and this is what they have come up with and what they’re calling their Cadence where you have full field events that lead into Signature Events there’s something called the top 10 swing where players who are not otherwise qualified uh could

Earn enough points in those full field events to potentially change their career and get into the Signature Events and so one of the big story lines is does this thing work can players actually alter their careers do the Signature Events have any juice even though many of them are going to be

Cutfree events is there enough churn or drop off in the membership you’re dropping all all the hot PHR top 70 and top 50 are are right now they’re they’re expecting somewhere I think around a 35% churn that seems high that seems really high I think there’s a lot of skepticism

That that will actually happen will you have a a Revolt among the rank and file which I know is one of the story lines to watch over the past two months the season with with these players who are feeling marginalized or squeezed out by the PJ tour’s new structure that all

Revolves Rex around this new look PJ tour schedule you probably have to give it three six months until we have a fair assessment of it uh but I’m very interested to see how it looks how it feels and how we actually like it I I think the turn uh the turn you’re

Referring to and this just kind of came out in the mem a few weeks ago is how many players work their way into and out of the top 50 that’s the magic number we want to look at for next year and I think the number that the tour told the

Players was about 19% so that’s the number to keep an eye on as we go through next year I think it will be interesting to the players certainly on the outside that there are opportunities not just to play your way in there there will be that Cadence that you talked

About there’ll be the swings in between each signature event that players will be able to play their way in but then you have to be able to sustain that level of performance to stay in there so I think that’ll be one thing to watch that’ll be interesting and you’re right

I think next year’s schedule it’s it’s completely different and I did find it interesting talking with players just a few weeks ago at the Hero World Challenge about the idea of this clearly is not going to be the final product whatever happens between private equity and the public investment

Fund as we looked at the schedule is right now the signature event schedule is what we can call it it’s going to evolve like I think every player JT talked about it tiger talked about it it’s just like the FedEx Cup I don’t think there’s been one year since they

Transitioned to the FedEx Cup that they haven’t tinkered with some version of it more points here more playoff events fewer playoff events whatever ever the case may be I think we’re going to see the exact same thing with this I think that there’s going to be parts of it

That players and officials and tournament sponsors probably like and then there’s going to be parts of it that a lot of people aren’t going to like so I think it’s going to be an evolving Target as a matter of fact given what’s happened the last two years

In golf and it’s been an unprecedent unprecedented time in golf I wouldn’t be surprised if there were changes mid stride because that’s simply where we’re at right now where if something is so a miss and you pointed out player discontent and that’s only going to get

Louder but if you end up with a situation where players scream loud enough and they’ve already a couple of them have already lowered up and started sending letters I can imagine the tour is going to adjust Midstream I mean the tour has said that they’ve done thousands of these simulations and this

Formula that they have come up with in terms of the allocation of FedEx Cup uh points for Signature Events versus full field events like they said that this is the most accurate estimate that they can come up with however if they are wrong to your point like we’re talking we’re

Talking career changing Stakes that you know could potentially be changing depending on whether or not this this formula is correct changing Midstream would certainly be a choice uh but I I think for the PJ tour sake they better hope it is right there’s just so much

Now riding on being inside the top 50 so much riding of course being on the top 70 the top 125 Etc very curious to see how that goes and when it as it also pertains Rex to the PJ tour schedule like there’s so much uh nitty-gritty that you can get into

With this right like seeing who is going to receive the four sponsors exemptions is it going to be obviously tiger would receive one uh for the Genesis but you know there’s players who are who are pretty boldfaced names who could potentially be needing a handout here whether it’s Justin Thomas if he slips

Outside the top 30 or will zorus who’s on the injury men or Adam Scott uh who has uh been so loyal to the PJ tour in kind of a headliner for the past two decades but would now need a spot so that is very interesting how players

Fair in Signature Events if you’re lower on the on the leaderboard and still acre points versus players who are finishing eth nth 10th 11th 12th in a full field event like you can really dive headlong in this stuff and I do think it’ll be plenty of fodder certainly for podcast material in

2024 let’s transition Rex to the players to watch and I’m going to I’m goingon to think of this as tears we’re going to do like a top player who’s ready to make the leap which could be major championships FedEx Cup uh titles whatever the case may be top 50 and

Player outside the top 100 who is making a leap in a different way so let’s start with the Superstar who is a player in your opinion who is already well established everyone already knows him we’ve talked about him plenty on this podcast but now is ready to take that

Next step in his career we didn’t have a very good production meeting on this front so we’re going to pick the same player so before I get to that I want to thank the folks who always have comments on the YouTube page and thank you so much Nick Paige quote unquote the audio

Guy pointed something out about my microphone I’m not I wasn’t speaking into the cap is that what he called it capsule capsule capsule uh so I’ve adjusted uh Nick let me know if that’s the right way to do it we’re still not sure we did ask our audio expert Jared

And he didn’t really offer much help on that front something tells me he was drinking when he was texting us back on that front I went with Victor hin and I think you’re going to go with Victor hlin as well I think we can all agree

He’s on the ballot for the PGA Tour player of the year is on the ballot for the golf Riders Association player of the year he’s not going to win because he didn’t win a major I think that comes next year I think when you look at the

Progression of his game and we I keep going back to that story at this year’s Open Championship when when you walked by him and he was hitting those little flippy wed shots off that just rock hard Turf and just beautiful chip shots and he kind of turned and I think his line

To you was remember when I couldn’t hit those shots or remember when everyone thought I was a bad chipper and he’s turned one of his big biggest weak NES into one of his biggest strengths and that’s how you go from being a really really good PGA Tour player to being a

Great PGA Tour player let’s face it his ball striking was always Sublime he was always among the best in the game he took that one area and you see what happened this year he wins the FedEx Cup he wins multiple times on the PGA tour he has just an unbelievable Ridder cup

For the European team I think all of those things only push him to get better next year I would actually be surprised if he doesn’t win a major next year yeah I’m picking Victor as well in in in no small part because I’m sick of picking the same guys who

Who just who just failed to to live up to my own lofty expectations for them I’m sick of picking Xander schofl who as I mentioned was My Player of the Year in 2023 didn’t win a single tournament I’m sick of Double Down P I’m sick of picking Patrick kley who might be the

Most complete AC through the bag player on the PJ tour he too did not have a victory in 2023 although his schedule was very busy uh with PG tour policy board meetings and the such I I’m sick of picking a player like Max H who to

His credit finally got his first top 10 in a major at the Open Championship but other than that I think back to the US Open in particular he owned the course record at lsac and then absolutely uh face planted uh in that major championship like I’m sick of picking

Those guys to make the leap and so I’m just I’m just going a different direction I do feel strongly about it that Victor havin is certainly ready fexs Cup champion uh from the this past year uh I would argue right now as we record this podcast on December 26 that

He’s playing the best golf in the world at the moment he is such a complete player as you mentioned like it was it was shocking to see a player of his caliber who had such a pedigree who had such a glaring deficiency as he did with

His short game but linking up uh with with the ex trackman Maestro Joe Mayo has completely reinvented Ed himself around the greens given himself so many more tools and and a wider Arsenal to succeed and and and you look at his stats he was 20th on the PJ tour around

The greens since the PJ Championship through the end of the PJ tour season that’s just not that’s just not average that’s not even above average like he’s an elite pitcher and chipper of the golf ball and when you couple I I think that that better skill set to go along with

Having now some major championship experience we remember the open championship at St Andrews we didn’t play well in the final round uh you think back to the majors in 2023 he was in the penultimate group at the Masters uh he was right there staring Brooks kepka down before finding the Fairway

Bunker on the 16th hole at oakill like he’s 26 year old 26 years old he has the game he has the experience it is time for Victor hin to make that leap re how about a top 50 player who’s ready to elevate get inside the majors do some

Things crash the top 25 however you want to Define it but who’s the top 50 player who you like this year I didn’t think you and I were going to step on each other’s toes on this one I’m going to go with Sam Burns because again I kind of

Look at what he does well and he does still need to improve on certain aspects of his game he seems to be a really really streaky putter at least especially in the big events when you look at how he just didn’t deliver he’s another one of those players that you

Would expect to play well in a major championship you would probably pick him going into one of them and then he always seems to disappoint I I have to say that after he won the match play I was at the match play beats Rory maroy I

I thought big things were in store I figured he was going to take that next step he is the type of athlete on the PGA tour that just seems touched by God that he has all of those tools and he just hasn’t been able to put it together

I I think two two things are going to come into play one I think he is becoming a more refined player around the greens and that’s going to be can he take that Victor hoblin hoblin step can he turn what is a weakness into at least if not a strength than something that

He’s not giving away Strokes to the field the other half of this is I think he’s going to be more matured I think at this point in his career he’s probably sat in lot Scotty Sheffer his good friend have all of the success get to number one in the world win major

Championships and my guess that’s just going to drive him so I would think he’d be a player that would take that next step yeah I thought it was a little bit of a surprising downturn in form for Sam Burns you mentioned the win at the match

Play but didn’t have a single top 25 finish in the major championships this year seemed to be kind of fighting his swing at times you know kind of snuck into the Championship uh where he actually did play well at East Lake but didn’t have a particularly good Ridder cup uh as as

Well I’m I’m with you Sam Burns obviously has all the talent he has all the pedigree and it is about time that he shows up at the major championships as well for me this top 50 player is is kind of obvious at this point and it’s

It’s it’s lude viob bear I mean he’s all the way up to 32 in the world despite never playing a major championship but you think when you look at what he does well like he should Faire exceptionally well and it should take him uh almost no time to actually get comfortable in that

Sort of cauldron I’m I’m so glad that he played the RSM classic Rex not because uh he he won the tournament for his first PG tour Victory but that that start gave him enough rounds on the PJ tour that he was able to compile Strokes gained data and so now we can accurately

Compare him to some of his peers and in The Limited action since he graduated from Texas Tech uh in late May through the end of the PGA Tour season in the fall he was the second best driver of the golf ball on the PGA tour and 10th overall in Strokes

Gain total like that’s going to play everywhere especially being that Elite driver of the golf ball you think Roy maell you think Scotty sheffi you think John ROM those were all players whose game traveled uh and who were exceedingly competitive almost every single time they played I think

He’ll only get sharper as he gets you know seconds and third looks at some of these courses on the PJ tour and he also has Joe scin on the bag which I don’t think is is any small thing like people forget this dude’s 24 years old like

He’s three years old than Tom Kim he’s two years younger than Victor havin he’s mature he’s poised he’s ready I think when we do this podcast at the end of 2024 I think we’re looking at ludvig Oar as a top 10 player in the world I like

That and knew that you were going to pick them so that’s why you usually get those sweetheart highs and fall in love with the next hot thing pretty quickly so I didn’t want to get close to him but certainly what he did at the Ryder Cup

And it was at the RSM talking with him about what he learned from that experience I don’t think you can dismiss that idea I don’t think you can I don’t think you can quantify how important that’s going to be in his career path because I mean we’ve said it before

There’s nothing that compares to a match at a Ridder cup the only thing that can do it is being in contention on Sunday at a major now you put that and to you put that into practice and he hasn’t played a major so now all of a sudden

He’s felt probably the most pressure he’s ever going to feel even if he’s in contention to win The Masters or whatever the case may be and he’s been there before and he’s proven to himself that he can perform that he can hold up to that pressure I don’t think you can

Ignore that at all who uh who are we going to next is this the top 100 player yeah this is the top 100 player just to put a real fine point on on ludvig like I think it was very interesting to see what happened with rosang on the women’s

Side and lud go bear on the men’s side these were two highly decorated uh accomplished players who left school at the exact same time rosang won in her first start on the LPGA but then kind of petered out as the season went on there was a lot of golf she played not much

Time off and kind of ran out of gas by the end of the season lud VI goar I think quite interestingly got stronger as the year went on he won on the European tour played great at the Ryder Cup and then won in the final fall event so I think that’ll be interesting

To see how both of those players performed in 2024 yes this is the long shot division player outside the top 100 this is the one we will certainly be Victory lapping if we do nail and somehow this player gets inside the top 50 top 25 whatever it ends up being uh

I’m gonna go with AE baa sorry NOP a AA baa that’s what I said why you correcting me here yeah don’t know uh win the bar won the Barracuda I that was impressive but then I liked what he did to close out the fall I think he played

His last seven or eight events and made the cut in all of them wasn’t really In Contention but I like the progression that he made now here’s a player who probably three years ago that was one of those players that you probably would have fallen in love with coming into the

Pro rank in fact in fact I did yes and and I think he took a little bit more seasoning than a player like L Vic and I think that’s probably the more common career path for players even despite regardless of how much talent they might

Have coming up so he had to go to the corn fairy tour had to earn his card took him a minut a minute but what you I think we’ve seen now not the finished product but certainly the refined product versus what he was coming out of school and again all these players seem

To fall in the same category for me because I was just looking at his stats and again great ball Striker 30th off the te in Strokes gain 37th approach to the green totals uh Tia green 34th he’s outside the top 100 by a long shot and strokes gain around the green and

Strokes game putting another player that if he finds a way and this goes back to the victor hlin conversation that if you can just find a way not to give away Strokes like don’t make it your strength you’re not going to turn into Brad Faxon suddenly on the greens after being 183rd

On the PGA tour and putting one season but you can get that number closer to zero which is exactly what Victor hlin did he’s 100th this season in stro in Strokes game putting but he’s also on the ballot for player of the year so it shows you you don’t need to have huge

Gains you just need to find a way not to give away Strokes in that particular area because the other areas of your game are so strong I think he’s the type of player that the more and more he becomes comfortable you pointed out with luig I think it’s we can’t ignore the

Idea that he seeing the courses for the second time he’s more comfortable around and it sounds simple but you know where to go to get your rental car you know where the locker room is you might even recognize the attendant in there you know where how to get to the range you

Know where the practice area is all of these things are important I think that will only help yeah I I’m I’m with you like for a player who began the year on the corn fairy tour this is a player who is an immense now it has been for

Several years and now his arrow is pointing straight up you’re you’re right like three or four years ago like everyone thought that this was the second coming uh he had a really rough start he was getting a lot of sponsor exemptions he wasn’t playing well he

Didn’t go to college uh there was a lot of stuff with the family that people were kind of wary of uh but it seems like he’s getting very much settled uh into his pro career I I’m with you like he he might not he might not have the

Consistency to be an elite performer on the PG tour but he’s going to pop up two three four times uh in serious contention to win a golf tournament and it would not surprise me if he nabs one or two of them for me I’m going a little

Bit further off the radar a player who is playing predominantly overseas at the moment and that’s Alex VI Alex Alex Fitzpatrick brother of course of top 10 player Matt Fitzpatrick quietly he had a really nice 2023 RS like seven top 10 on the European challenge in DP world tours

Picked up his first win uh more than 600 spots in the world ranking and I think one of the turning points for Alex was his performance at the Open Championship he qualified to get into the event and then he ended up finishing in a tie for 17th and really outshined his major

Championship winning brother that gave him a lot of confidence one I believe in his next start uh on the challenge tour and away he went like a lot of people not too long ago thought that this was actually the more talented Fitzpatrick he’s longer he’s a little bit more

Dynamic he has more shots and everyone thought that that Matt was just kind of the scrappy Scrambler kind of like a Jordan Speed knockoff now that has obviously not come to fruition andt has established himself as a premier player on the PG tour in European tour and has

For a very long time but I actually don’t think it’s unrealistic that Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick could be on the same European rer Cup team in two years’s time at Beth Page I think Alex can if not top 50 the world can get close to

That top 75 Mark and then he can make even more strides there’s there’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to Alex Fitzpatrick it wouldn’t surprise me to see him make the leap and you look at what his brother did I mean his brother’s a perfect comp and they’re

Very very close obviously and Matt transformed himself at least when it comes to length off the te I mean that’s a really well well well well told story throughout the years where he was probably very much middle of the pack you pointed out Jordan spe that’s

Probably a really good comp in this case though he forced him himself into that upper third and that’s probably what made the difference between him being a good player and him being a guy that wins major championships and stars on Rider Cup teams all right Rex this is

Your time to shine you’re not gonna like this these are the players who go the other way players who disappoint we’re not going to put an actual number on a a player who drops out the top 10 top 25 top 50 whatever but who is a player or

Players who go the other way in 2024 uh you’re not going to like this so I’m just going to throw it out there right now and as I pointed out at the beginning of the podcast I did seem to touch on more Kawa I was not afraid to

Call out a player that I thought was going to regress a little bit I’m not going with a player this year I’m going with an institution it’s going to be the international president Cup team again because they an institution we’re going with an institution uh it you’re gonna call it

The coward’s way out I’m going to say that I’m tired of going to these events and them being blowouts and I’d like to be able to go there and to believe everything that I’ve written and everything that the captains Trevor emman was an amazing Captain I don’t

Think he left any stone unturned trying to find a way to make this some sort some sort of a close match and I think the argument we’ve had in the past was there was about 30 minutes during that last President’s Cup on Sunday when you

Were kind of like well it could go the other way I think that’s being a little generous it was probably closer to 15 or 20 minutes to be honest with you I’m just tired and I’m sure the players are tired too and I don’t believe that the

American side is that much better than the international side I think on paper this should be such a closer match and it is not and I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I understand why I think there’s other things that the PGA

Tour can do to try to make it a little bit closer but the more and more blowouts that we have and this is going on essentially two decades of blowouts now where the international team hasn’t even been Clos the less relevant this event is and this event should be one of

Those dates on the calendar that you look forward to like we do the Ridder cup there’s no reason why it should not and I’m just going to point out the fact that it’s going to be disappointing again I just know it is I I mean you saying the international president Cup

Team is going to disappoint or lose that this is this is well-run material by this point it’s it’s odd that you’re it’s odd that you’re taking this stand right now coming off an international president cup performance at quell Hollow in which no one gave them any chance like we we talked about before

The that event I I remember distinctly saying like hm I wonder if this thing could wrap up on Saturday as it almost did at Liberty National five years before that like there is a decently young strong nucleus when you look at this International president Cup team

With Tom Kim sunj M minu minw Le he was coming on very strong over the past couple of months of 2023 there was actually a window I think back to the rer Cup this year in the president cup the year before there was about a 45

Minute window and a pathway for there to be a uh historic comeback Victory on final day it it closed quickly but I remember jotting down on my notebook and looking at the looking at the Monitor and writing it down saying well this this pans out and this pans out and this pans

Out uh the inter uh the international team could win I I actually think this is going to be one of the closer ones that we’ve had I don’t know why next year at Royal Montreal and even and even if it’s not I don’t care because we’ll

Be in Montreal one of the greatest food cities in the world uh with an expans account like it’s gonna be a great week regardless and I will say you were GNA call me out uh I and so call me a coward because I didn’t pick a player and I

Actually did jot down a player that I was thinking about and this has really nothing to do with how much talent he has he clearly has a lot of talent he’s clearly driven I’m more worried about how he holds up pH physically and that’s will zures like he came back off a long

Lay off and I’m just this has nothing to do with what he’s capable of doing again talent-wise we all saw what he could do before he got hurt and you’d like to think that after having the surgery coming back certainly it was good to see him again at the Hero World Challenge

Because he’s one of the most engaging young players on the PGA tour no one would want to see will zot torus have a successful year more than me I’m just worried having a surgery at that age and with this Sport and having to change

Your swing up I I just I get a little little squeamish when it comes to that one he’s painfree he’s got more range of motion than he’s ever had before he was shooting all the scores at home I I like obviously did not look good at the Hero

World Challenge but he at least looked healthy uh and that was rust I I can dismiss I mean the Hero World Challenge I mean it’s it’s you know not the most serious of competition so I can dismiss that one again this goes back to the idea that anytime you have a player that

Young that had to have that particular surgery I think it’s just a red flag uh it’s certainly a red flag that actually reminds me that that Will zorus was my breakout player that’s what it was yeah of 2023 instead he just broke on the range at the Masters in set out for the

Last eight months of the Season huge willly Z fan huge believer in his talent I hope he gets right I hope he plays a full schedule and I hope he gets back to the type of winning golf and very competitive golf that we all know that

He can produce I I thank you Rex for at least offering a player because I’m gonna throw two names at you as players who could potentially disappoint in 2024 and this one pains me as much as it it pained me to hear uh you you bag on my boy Willie Z like that

But Jordan spe is that player for me like I’m ready to see something again Jordan spe dealt with a RIS injury uh for a couple months in 2023 but you look statistically Jordan spe was the 38th best player statistically last season on the PJ tour he is still above average or right at

Average in every major statistical category but he is no longer exceptional in anything he’s not an elite iron player like he was in 2017 he’s not an elite Scrambler like he was early in his career he’s not an elite putter as he was uh during that great year in 2025

Like you if you zoom out Jordan spe has won just twice in the past six years one of those was the 2021 Valero Texas open against a weak field while the rest of the superstars were getting ready for the Masters and the other was a 22

Heritage when he needed a fluky win and a bunch of guys vomiting all over themselves in order to Prevail in that playoff like Jordan Speed is still going to pop up in a major championship occasionally 2021 he had that duel with k morawa then he kind of yipped that

Two-footer in the last screen remember in the third round uh to kind of Doom his chances there uh this year at the Masters like he’s always the threat at Augusta National he finished the top five once again he was great at the President’s Cup the forementioned president cup where the Americans won

Quite handily but if there’s any magic left in the spe bottle like it kind of feels like he has to show it this year he he’s to me in in danger of becoming just another really good PJ Tour player like he still produces moments of magic he still has these flourishes uh that

All the fans love and that we love to cover uh but I I I kind of need to see something in 202 for and I’m worried that that we just might not you’re not wrong I mean I I will agree with all of those things I’m just shocked to hear it

Come out of your mouth because no one has been the bigger Fanboy when it comes to Jordan Speed than you since day one I mean this goes back to his college days you covered him at Texas so I’m pretty shocked to hear you say that Junior days

He was the first call I ever made as a staff a staff writer for golf Week Magazine it was my first job March 202 uh March 2010 I called a Texas I believe he was a freshman sophomore at the time who just won the State title and his

Name was Jordan Speed the very first call I made in golf media how about that Jordan spe I mean good for you journalistically you’ve taken that’s a big step for you congratulations who’s the other name that’s on your list and you get so happy just picking people

Apart this is like your happiest time of the year well I’m I’m kind of curious to see what Brooks kepepet does this year he’s he’s he’s 33 years old now uh he’s a new father he’s on year three of live he doesn’t have his brother and the

Safety that there like he got his fifth major championship at the PJ champion to kind of complete the the the hard climb back right but he also didn’t play great from oill on he didn’t build on that at all uh he was kind of a dud in

The rider cup as well I’m just curious to see what he’s going to do I think a lot of times it’s like it it could potentially be like one final flourish for a great proud Champion I don’t think that I don’t think the PJ was going to

Be but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Brooks takes a step back in 2024 even if he is healthy I think there’s something to be said for and look I’m not going to point out Brooks I think Brooks had unbelievable season you also kind of

Gloss over the fact he won twice on Liv golf he finished runner up at the Masters I I again I go back to my argument I feel like he should have been on the ballot for the gwa player of the year but I think there is something to

The idea that once players get on lib that they seem to get really really comfortable and I’ll use Dustin Johnson as the example I think we can all agree Dustin Johnson is very much still a top 10 player in the world but every time he gets an opportunity well I think

Talent-wise I would I would argue that he is still a top 10 player in the world but every opportunity that he had this year which was only the four majors he really was disappointing and I’m not saying he didn’t even play well on Liv

Uh didn’t even play well on Liv and so I I think there is something to be said for the idea that you can get very very comfortable on that League I’ve spoken with players on live who point out that the lifestyle is good you getting paid a

Lot of money it’s 54 whole events it’s only 14 events so there’s a lot of things to like about it and and I I think it’s very very easy if you’re not careful to lose that edge and I think that’s what you’re trying to ascribe to

Brooks I’m not sure I agree with you but I get where you’re coming from like I think I think Bryson to Shambo will have a better year in 2024 than Brooks Kea I would agree with that uh how about tournaments to watch my I was I was going to mention the

President’s Cup that you absolutely dogged on uh for for not just the the tournament competition we love match play we love the team atmosphere you just love mon and the food we we love we love the buildup and kind of the drama over the captain’s picks who’s going to

Make the team who’s going to add a start kind of the the JT drama this year with the rer cup like I love all that I absolutely love team competitions so the president cup was certainly an event that I was looking forward to how about you what do you think is a major

Tournament to watch and why it’s clearly not the President’s Cup I like you am looking forward to going back to Royal Montreal for a President’s Cup because you’re right it’s a beautiful city with a lot of really good food I just don’t expect much from the actual competition

Again I’d like to like no one wants it to be a close match more than me but I don’t think that’s going to happen mine was easy the US open at Pinehurst I mean I think that’s the US version of St Andrews because when you go to the

Little town and the golf course is so iconic and I think what they did to it when they sort of tinkered around the edges and made it a little bit more lynxy I think only made it a better course and it just has it’s not St Andrews because you can’t replicate that

But I do think it’s as close as we get on the US side and I also like it produces pretty good Champions more time not Payne Stewart Martin kimer Martin kimr won by eight uh well yeah but Martin KR was a dominant player if you remember at that time he won the PLAYERS

Championship just a few few months I guess before that so number two on that list though it’s a one a and one B for me because I would argue that Royal trune is probably the most underappreciated golf course in the open Rotation I was thinking about that this

Morning like St Andrews it sort of has the history and everything that goes along to it there’s something special about going back to that place essentially every five years I think I would argue the mirfield is probably the course most players will tell you is the best in the rotation and after playing

It for the first time this year I can’t argue with that and I think Liverpool is a really really cool course when it plays like it did this year when it’s hard and fast and brown and bouncy but I think and it probably is because I play

TR the most out of all the open Rotation courses humble brag but I think it’s it like you can’t appreciate how cool it is until you take actually a couple laps and you start seeing the Angles and you start seeing the green comp comp lexes and and what they’re able to do with

That core so I I am looking forward to that one it doesn’t have the feel of St Andrews I think you and I are probably going to stay about 30 minutes away which is unfortunate but our friend God I hope so they did have a very good uh backyard setup we could

Potentially do some drilling uh some grilling content there I remember trun as the place where I shot 3646 you’re straight out downwind and then you make the turn and that was predominantly left to right wind into and I had absolutely no chance uh Pinehurst as well hopefully we’re

Staying in a house and Jason soble uh our former colleague at Golf Channel now with the Action Network hopefully he can cook us some hockey pucks as Stakes because last time he said he handle it you said you said it was so easy for you

To pick the US Open like to me this is the easiest one in Golf Channel podcast history that the tournament to watch in 2024 is the Masters is the Masters the Champions dinner at the Masters could be absolutely epic uh now I doubt we would ever We’re Not

Gonna how do we know if it’s gonna be epic you don’t you don’t think it’s gonna be funneling out of there like I I do think it’ll be kept Under Wraps like no one wants to embarrass themselves no one wants to get no get get get thrown out and have their lifetime exemption

Revoked but I do think it could be testy there were reports in 2023 of course that Phil Mickelson didn’t say a word and then he was woing for basically the rest of the year I’m very curious to see what the patron reception Patron will be will be for defending champion John Rah

Now that he is defected to live golf and when you look at the field wrecks and our our friend the AP Doug Ferguson just had a note on this there’s only 77 players yeah who right now have qualified there’s the potential for this to be the smallest shortest field uh in

Years and so as much as we love it the Masters has actually become the easiest major to win the EAS major to forecast the easiest major to predict and so I think that all will be very very interesting and if Tiger Woods can play two or three times heading Year’s first

Major five-year anniversary of him winning of that incredible Masters after coming back from all the back ises that he did uh the Masters to me is by far the most interesting major that we’re going to have uh4 I don’t disagree with the with the premise we won’t know I

Guess guess from so I I don’t know how that makes it exciting if if we’re just assuming that the dinner is icy and no one’s talking to each other and also that’s four months away and who knows I mean we’re going going to live in a different world in four months is my

Guess like however these negotiations pan out there’s the very real possibility that they could all be under one umbrella at that point so I’m not quite sure how the hard feelings stack up then when you’re all technically on the same team and you’re you’re rowing

In the same direction I I kind of agree with what you’re saying I think we certainly saw that last year and even the year before but you go back to last year some of those some of those oldtimers have have some hashtag takes as it relates not not shy and I think

Probably have something to say but I this goes back to this year’s Masters and I think and you and I both said it if they liked you before you went to live golf they they like you now like we all saw DJ walking up and down the range

I mean he was hugging guys I’m sure they were more than happy to have him back at that dinner because he’s DJ no Phil was not welcome back they didn’t particularly like Phil before he left to go to live golf I don’t know how Rah is going to fall into that certainly the

Timing is going to be difficult I got the impression from Tiger Woods at the PNC Championship that he certainly was not pleased with the timing of Jon’s decision like I’m sure he wasn’t pleased with the decision but even the timing was worse so yeah I could see it be icy

But by that time we could be all be under the PGA toureuropean live golf umbrella uh certainly possible I think just interesting and notable that chairman Fred Fred Ridley has made his feelings known on Liv with think of the players who play for Liv he has not gone

Out of his way to changing any qualification criteria for Liv and now he has to welcome back John ROM now a live golfer all right that’s going to do it for this Edition the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and La we’ll be back next week for a full-fledged preview of

The century the first event on the 2024 PJ tour calendar neither Rex nor I will be in Maui sad to report but we’ll still have plenty of notes and info to get your way hope you guys have a great rest of the holiday season we’ll be back in

The year 20124 to break it all down once again on this podcast Happy New Year