Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme recap all the action from the Sony Open, beginning with Smylie calling shots from the *ocean* in a kayak. SK and CH discuss the thrilling three-man playoff, Carl Yuan’s controversial TIO drop, and Gary Woodland’s inspiring return after brain surgery. Smylie and Charlie also review the latest news on the LIV Golf front – including who might end up on Jon Rahm’s newly-named team – and Charlie makes a suggestion to the Girl Scouts.
Welcome back to another episode of the Smiley Show I’m Charlie Hume he is fresh off a red eyee from Hawaii Smiley Kaufman uh big big week in the world of golf we had a three-man playoff at the Sony Open a thrilling duel the Dubai Invitational between Rory mroy and Tommy
Fleetwood um I’ve got a little something for the Girl Scouts we’ll get to later in the show got a little hot tip Andor suggestion for them but I think without further ado the the most exciting thing that happened in the world of golf this
Week uh is one that I want to play for us uh right now so I’m going to do that and get our reaction can we call room service at the Kahala and get a my tie out there to Smiley that would just kind of complete this picture I’ll take anything right
Now as we’re being pushed out to see Smiley all those years ago you probably never thought you’d be in this position with a microphone calling golf man well I Dan I think this is probably my only highlight reel from the Sony Open I love this golf course but I think this is the
Only time I ever made it on TV was in the water there’s a lot of expensive equipment in that canoe do not tip that canoe over Smiley he’s still dry at the moment all right Smiley see if you can call this one in the air Brendan Todd on
The tea okay I get the signal we got a seven iron for Brendan Todd this wind is really cooking up getting a little nervous in the kayak no longer a foot soldier oh it’s getting hit hit he’s getting hit by the wind Mark oh you’re right that is a terrible
Shot I’m impressed by the the accuracy of the calls Smiley out there he’s got wind down as he knew that was short and left and this is all from a kayak yeah now the guys Nick Nick Taylor is seeing me they’re all the boys are seeing me out there
So smiley I so many questions here uh I want to start with where that video end because that’s the part that made me laugh the hardest was what when those guys saw you like what was what did we not see on camera was was it were they laughing were they waving like that
Whole piece cracks me up Nick Taylor saw me first and he just pointed at me and just started laughing and then uh then Bren and Todd and I think Nico eteria was also in that group and saw me so that was that was kind of like made it
Made it really funny because like I think they realized that I may have called their shots from the canoe or the kayak out in the water but uh the whole thing started because on Friday before we went on air I was sitting there with John Wood and then our producer uh Chris
McGuire call him mags he came in and uh we were just kind of talking about uh the kayak or just the whole thing from uh 2016 because he was going to show it on um on our coverage that day and I was like you know I should go call a shot
From the kayak and he was like like do you want to do it I was like uh yeah uh and we immediately um started working on trying to find a kayak and they’re like yeah whenever your group gets to 17 just kind of swing over there
And we’ll figure it out and they end up putting one of those wide lens uh cameras in there and Rick rice is the cameraman that went in our in our boat and which which we didn’t see after was us coming in uh we were try we got stuck
[ __ ] shallow water and so we started walking in and I I don’t I just have bare feet and there’s corals like really I mean some rocks that were definitely an issue uh if you stepped on it because my feet got a little cut up and I have
Like plugs just like I’m wearing right now which you’re you really don’t like hear a ton what’s going around you you’re just depth perception and you’re just overall like hearing things is just kind of distorted a little bit and so I make it all the way to the shore and I
Hear just like hey come help and I turn around and my boy uh Rick is has had totally wiped out a little bit behind me and he was cut up a little bit uh and landed on the coral everything like all the equipment was good I was to say no
No losses of expensive equipment no equipment’s all fine but I I felt bad that I didn’t hear anything behind me just I just kept kind of walking in Shore and I left my so so with that being said uh we are still not undefeated and and ending up in the
Water is what I’m getting at so we’re there’s still work to be done for next year you’re you’re not undefeated which which is it is it 0 for two now is it are are you defeated by the ocean yeah yeah it’s such a sweet like that
Whole scene just to the left of 17 there it’s like super shallow water but I mean you could I saw a bunch of uh guys out there fishing probably 150 yards out like that’s how shallow the water was so honestly great kaying I think I don’t know if that’s actually great kayaking
Just sounds like great kayaking because that was I think that was how it all began in 16 was first off Jordan and I like to fish but I also was like hey do you want to go out and fish in a kayak and I I did forget about in the videos
How much we lost of equipment we lost the fishing poles and we lost sunglasses and we lost my phone for a moment got my phone back but then he his phone was in that plastic bag that floated to the top yeah that kayak man uh it was a lot
Of fun a lot of fun it was fun that that we got to do that on a Friday afternoon where honestly there was not a ton going on with the golf like it was honestly a pretty slow afternoon uh so to juice up the last 30 minutes was uh I think it
Was fun I think a lot of people enjoyed it oh it was amazing it was was I I think it delighted I mean I saw Justin Thomas chiming in on your post as well was was tickled by that uh I I do think that was a high level of trust that your
Producers put in both you and taking that out because anyone who’s ever spent time on a kayak knows the the launch and and the the coming back in whereever you call the docking is that’s not an easy getting in and out of the boat with equipment it does the wobble and like I
Would you know then you you start going one way too hard you try to overcorrect and that’s when the flip happens so I stunned than nothing bad half with your equipment I feel bad too that uh Bren and Todd happened to catch a really hard
Gus I could feel it out in the water cuz like right at the beginning I was like I’m just going to go with this there’s no way this is getting here cuz I knew how far it was playing and I felt the ghost or the the gust of wind in the
Water and so I was I was just going to go with oh this is this needs to go you know it could have flown the green by 30 yards and I would have no idea but I just felt like I felt pretty confident that it wasn’t getting there and then oh
My my man Mar Mar Ro just let him have it Mark Mark was uh Mark was very unkind I was like oh this is supposed to be a fun moment Mark but uh terrible shot she’s like oh God but the the the call was I mean good
I I think they might I think what you set yourself up for is maybe there’s going to be increas a series of increasing you know challenges they put you through uh like I’m trying to think of like like a what was the the um Nickelodeon the the show where they did
All the like the Lend of the Hidden Temple like we might put you through some sort of a gauntlet to see what what circumstan we can put you through while still calling a shot accurately 100% because we were talked about like should we do uh should we call some shots on 17
On Saturday instead of in a kayak should we do it uh with water skis behind a boat you know that was an option kid can you can you snorkel can you do it underwat uh we’re just building up for my I’m going to put this out in the
Air it’ll never happen but a kayak on 17 at the Players sounds like a good time oo can you imagine we were floating in front of the island green and you’re just battling around aimlessly floating around the lake all I hear is just me
Out in the water oh this needs to go oh this is in the water and then it said over to 16 and then I got to paddle over to 16 to see what’s going on it’s like well looks like the live is pretty good listen the powers that be out there
In the PJ tour just just think about it I mean we’re trying to grow the game I I this is this is a Surefire way to grow the game uh smileing in a kayak wherever there are bodies of water uh that was really enjoy that had a lot of people
Reach out were like this was hilarious so good on you waited way to stretch the the uh the boundaries of broadcasting now as for the golf that actually happened that we were uh theoretically watching reporting on uh a thriller of a finish Grayson Murray looked like maybe
The most unlikely on that first playoff off hole at least definitely off the te but even when all three balls were on the green uh the least unlikely guy to extend the playoff or and you or even win the thing outright and and just made
A bomb and then saw Keegan Miss again on the left side of that hole and then just a kind of an in inexplicable Miss from been on from on on a shorty but uh what were I I I think you’d been let go at that point from the broadcast but did
You catch any of it as you were kind of heading out red ey M caught it all the uh I think the week at the Sony it was weird because I think the Finish was uh they all three of those dudes ended up at 17 under you know we had like
Torrential rain on Monday and really Saturday and Sunday like yeah the wind blew like maybe a club but nothing more than that and Thursday was very tricky with with how hard the wind blew L across wins and I could definitely see why like scores weren’t super low on
Thursday but still even then I I didn’t think the golf course played very difficult uh for for what I saw I thought honestly I thought 20 under was probably where I thought this thing was going to finish up so I was a little surprised that it that it only was 17
Under um after being out there all week but like you said the Finish was interesting um I thought Keegan played really well uh you know I think that t-shot on 18 was very difficult on Sunday it was um those those trees are really really stick out like a sore
Thumb if you don’t have any right to left um wind or downwind to be able to help kind of turn the golf ball over and when it’s in off the left there it’s just it’s almost impossible to hit that Fairway because it’s so difficult to turn over drivers uh these days but yeah
Man uh I I really felt like there was probably six or seven dudes that could have won the golf tournament on Sunday which made it very compelling like right from the get-go we had JT posen’s group uh he was playing with Andrew putam and Harris English and I I started with that
Group and I was thinking like I mean if these guys behind them don’t make birdies they’re gonna have a chance to post and and sit around and wait and um I think their group finished out like with 20 birdies like one Bogey and an eagle it was it was it was some like
Incredible Golf and him um so JT was a guy I thought could have won and then and then Russell Henley like I he was I I really felt like it it slipped right through his fingers because I think he could have posted um in one outright
Because he was at 17 under threw 15 holes and he missed one on 14 and then 16 he three putted from like 20 feet which was it was just not a good three putt at all gets up and out at 17 and uh doesn’t bir 18 so like that’s two two
Shots there I mean he could have been at you know 19 under that’s 16 that was the one where he was kind of on the left side under the trees and hit an amazing shot amazing shot just to get it up to the green and and at that point totally
Agree I was like man he’s got all the momentum he’s he’s going to take this thing and yeah the three putt was just like the biggest reversal I feel like that could have possibly happened to him there it was yeah just a total dagger
But makes a good up and down at 17 and I felt like if he birdied 18 he would made a play off and turned out to be the case um so that one’s got a sting for Russ but I saw a lot of really good stuff
From him um and then Carl U had a good week and then I dropped back to who did I drop back to on the Carl thing briefly cuz obviously the the thing that kind of blew up on the inter the whole talk about that the whole Tio situation
Listen I haven’t seen the video it’s not great uh I mean I heard it all this is where I think your perspective is really valuable from someone who is now you know now broadcasting someone who’s been a player and dealt with this sort of setup and and then you know I think
Maybe a little bit feeling for rules officials who are having to kind of make these calls in real time but you know this is from no laying up that and they use the uh the the virtual certainty line that was being used in terms of you
Know this is this is why we’re giving a drop because we are virtually certain that his golf ball is somewhere in this tent we can’t find it but we’re virtually certain and so uh no laying up said virtually certain the uan drop is going to cost JT Poston uh $ 39,42
$425 Russell Henley $ 33,200 and Taylor guo and Pavone $1,028 so that’s an extra1 2,000$ 102,000 for youan on a ball that was not bound so I’m just curious from your standpoint because it’s not like it’s like it’s not like it’s Carl Yan’s fault it’s like you know I walk you
Through it yeah yeah I mean like you hit it there you take the relief you keep playing I you know how would you feel if you’re one of those guys to lose money and how do you even fix it if you’re the tour like I don’t know what there’s a
Good solve here this happens more often than you like than you think really cuz we have have grandstands and sometimes like huge Hospitality areas that are considered uh Tios temporary immovable obstructions and and sometimes if you if you blast your golf ball into this area
And we we know it’s in there and you don’t find it it’s fine it’s it is fine but in this situation it’s very different because out of bounds is it like right around the corner and most often when we when these rulings are made when you hit it into these uh
Fairly big general areas uh with hospitality um you know I think of like ride of nine at Sawgrass we had an instance last year where we didn’t find the golf ball but we knew it was in there and there was no out of bounds around so it’s easy for the rules
Officials say don’t worry about it we don’t have to find it we know it’s in here and you take a drop uh nearest Point um right outside of the hospitality area but in this situation you know if that golf ball let’s say this morning you you get a
Tweet from somebody that says hey girl youan just found your Titleist 2 in the backyard of my house uh you know like it was out of bounds like that’s worst case scenario for the rules officials because all we were because based on what I’ve heard the video evidence wasn’t
Necessarily like you couldn’t say with 100% this is where the ball ended up so the video you can see the ball and this is where it gets tough right it’s a white golf ball it’s a white tint and it looks like it’s heading just straight for like the
Last few feet of the top of that tent and then you know again it’s not like you’re shooting in some ridiculous resolution like the you’re getting frame frame frame frame frame and then it’s gone and so you know I don’t know how these tins were constructed or you know
If there are gaps there that I can’t see but it it looks like there’s a good chance that this thing just misses the tent all together and and goes goes behind it somewhere where you you know as they said on the broadcast there’s out of bounds over there so you know I
Don’t know how they determined with virtual certainty that this golf ball was in this tent but that is the explanation they gave and they said they consulted people in the tent which again I don’t I don’t know how reliable that is this is I mean that Hospitality town
Was putting down to my ties I I walked past it I I could uh I could see the fun being had so we’re not going to hold them accountable because uh from what I saw the umbrella drinks were out and about yes well and so do
You in your mind is there any good solve for this you know I I I get that there is you know it it you’re taking a golf course the way it’s set up and you’re putting a bunch of stuff on it it makes it play differently so naturally you
Have to do something to to give players relief you know I think that some would suggest hey just make it really hard you got the obstructions of the obstructions your Pros you know don’t hit it over there if you don’t want to hit it over there cuz I think the thing that it
Brings in a play a little bit which I think is fair is that I’m not saying Carl you want in this situation of course he’s trying to hit the green and make a number and put this thing out of reach and win the tournament but we’ve also seen at certain courses and certain
Setups that there maybe is like hey there’s a hazard on the left and you just blow it out there right if you hit it in the tent great you get a drop right in front of it you’re fine you know where it’s almost I don’t want to
Say it’s intentional but it’s close to it so is is there a way is there a way in your mind to kind of fix this so you don’t have situations like this happen again in the future there’s nothing you can do you know PJ tour players are
Always a fan of grand stands because they’re just bumpers you know they’re just bumpers for us and I always would you know if there was ever a question if I especially if it was a force carry over water and there’s Grand stands Behind the Green every day sending it
You know just but you know there’s it’s it’s tough because you know you want to enhance The Fan Experience for people on site so what do you do you get the hospitality Suites as close as you can to the green so they have a great vantage point but what does that also do
It for the people watching at home when you see balls end up right next to the green or they hit the grand stand and end up in a spot where you know that they are at an advantage because of really like if they would have ended up
Where they were supposed to end up they probably wouldn’t have got up and down but where they got to drop you’re like okay that’s definitely um not the truest form of golf so I see both sides of it but if there’s anything I know about the
Game of golf right now we’re just we’re just trying to make the fans have the best experience you know what I mean well I mean I yes I I gather your sarcasm there take the point yeah but I mean honestly on on a bit of a serious note in
Relation to those grand stands it’s like dude later in the show we’re going to discuss you know some some quotes from the Sony Open tournament director about the way not only this tournament but others are getting squeezed financially going forward and what’s part of the way that you justify sponsor expenses you
Put these corporate Hospitality tents out there so if if the ask is like oh hey let’s let’s get rid of all those you know so that we don’t have this issue you know the the response is well dude now we’re really in a financial crunch because that’s how we’re getting the
Thing paid for so we can get money back on the players pocket so it’s you know it’s it’s a really tough one but it but it’s also you know I it’s kind of to your point like I don’t know how you change it um I I a couple on the in in
The playoff and kind of coming down the stretch just kind of going back to keeg and his man this and he even said it in his comments after like how tough this one was because there are two things that stand out to me as moments for him
One was on the driveable par for uh 10th where he and Grayson both hit it in that that that greenside bunker short right and he he hits first and kind of leaves he hits a good bunker shot but he leaves himself I think it was like a five or
Six-footer Grayson knocks it to like less than a foot so he’s got a tap in birdie and Keegan just barely misses that putt that if he birdies it that’s the shot that makes the difference right um and then the second was of course in the playoff after hitting a perfect
Drive there pulling a fivewood into the grand stand and having to take relief and kind of leaving that chip short and I just wonder what you make of just the week that he had and you he said it himself he regrets it but just you know
What he he maybe will look back on reflect on try to get better at no I think it was a fantastic week for kees I mean I think definitely the maybe just ran out of gas there in the last hour or so um I thought he stepped up to the plate
When he had to um you know it’s not easy on Sundays to to go deep knowing that you are pretty separated from the field they had a three shot lead on everybody so there was it felt like it was just a competition in that that final Group which sometimes can can stall out
Because you kind of watch what the other guy’s doing and and if nobody’s getting it going it’s sometimes very difficult to to remember that there’s a bunch of other people chasing you down too so yeah good week for KS I expect a lot of great stuff from him this year and then
Um yeah I’ll just touch on Grayson because I I got to follow him a little bit this week and uh spoke a little bit with him as well shot him a text last night and he just seems like he’s in a such such a better place than than he
Was and um I I’ve seen Grayson in you know when back when he was shoot this been six seven years ago um he’s always been insanely Talent Ed insanely talented and this goes back all the way to junior golf but he’s had he’s had hurdles there’s no doubt about it his
Journey’s been up and down um he’s had injuries he’s he’s struggled with a lot of different parts and as aspects of his life that um since he’s finally uh seems to have kind of gotten in the right direction he’s gotten engaged and his golf is I mean it looked really good um
He’s he’s got this sweet s flight with his driver that’s like low but he smashes it and I was thinking to myself I need to figure out how to do that I need to hit it lower and smash it because it looked so sweet um he was
Into so many Fairways uh he and by the way another another win for the lab putter I don’t know if you saw that well I I I did see that in fact I got a little note in my inbox about 30 minutes ago with the the specs on his Putter and
Advertising it’s that it’s that one and and it’s funny too because the next place I was going to go was a good win for for the for the lab Putters but also a tough scene for the lab broomstick and and been on and I hate that for him that
He’s been playing so good you know last year finishes 44th in the FedEx Cup gets in all the Signature Events this year then then has that the suspension for taking the over-the-counter cop medicine and but comes back that playing great and and playing great all week long too
Yeah and and and and makes this charge of the end and but then you know of course the lasting image that people have in their head is is that Miss putt you know that would have at least extended that playoff and I what do you think the odds were on that green
Missing that put no just of of of leaving that green with with Grayson Murray being the champion you know well you know what was so funny and I think Dan Hicks said it on the broadcast and he and he was crediting you of just talking about how you’d seen that pin
Placement confused so many players is throughout the week and and I I think it was coming down the stretch there were just all those guys missing on the left side you know Keegan missed left twice you know in regulation in the playoff is sitting this way but you knew the putt
Goes right so very very easy to to overread the Putt and every different angle I’d look at it it would look like it’d be going a different way so it yeah I I don’t for if there was ever a four-footer where you completely missed the whole like Ben on did totally it’s
Literally on this screen because it it’s so confusing you stand on the back of the green you see how it’s pitched like you think it’s sloping away to the back right corner and then you go to the front of the green you’re like wait it’s slipping to the front left corner this
Is just a very very weird green it very weird so not surprised I I from Keegan’s angle I was like okay I think I have this thing read I’ve seen like five guys miss it like I I I think I know how to put it from that angle but from Ben’s
Angle I was like I’m I’m still not sure what it does going cuz this is more of like a downhill putt right from that angle yeah his his was uh I think he thought it was going to move a little to the left based on the way that hole is
Lean but there’s there’s so much movement in that green that I don’t know if he pushed it or just played it outside the hole and hit it firm but didn’t it didn’t necessarily look like he hit a like the stroke looked fine I think he just probably started out too
Far right just a tough one to read um but yeah the odds on that had to have been uh minuscule to say the least um a couple other ones that I wanted to hit um I just I’m just keeping tabs on will zot tourus with each one of these starts
And I think that it’s interesting that obviously misses the cut at five over but similar to the hero making progress even in that day-to-day deal especially on the putting like he opened up with that first round 76 and the putting stats were you know really really bad he
He lost you know more than four strokes to the field was 143rd in the field but was in the positive for the second round even though you shot shot 69 still missed the cut but still got better there you know got better off the te got
Better around the green um the only one that I was looking at you know and again these are very small one round sample sizes but he regressed you he he was in the positive for approach day one and then was in the negative in day two um
And just knowing that that’s been his bread and butter he’s been such a good iron player for his entire career just looking at that I was like I wonder if if there’s any that’s just a aberration or something to look at there um but you know to me you know in trying
To extract positives and and you know hoping that he kind of gets back to where he was to me it’s looking like okay you know even if the numbers early on are bad and you look look at the whole week numbers and they look bad if
You look at the story on a day-to-day basis of progress that to me tells a somewhat positive story and I wonder if you how you feel about the way will played in those two rounds this week you know I didn’t get to watch him play it
On but my opinion on will right now is that first off he needs bre reps um I think he’s definitely dealing with some Rust and I think uh besides reps you know I think the golf swing changes he’s made because we’ve talked about the Putter and the broomstick changes as
Being kind of the big um thing that Will’s been focused on but I really do think all the changes he’s made to his golf swing are just aren’t clicking yet because for him to be this off uh ball striking you know he’s been a guy that hasn’t missed the center of the face
Since he turned Pro and had no issues controlling his golf ball now struggling a little bit with control of the ball so with will I mean there’s been some serious motor pattern changes that he’s had to make and that just doesn’t that just doesn’t change overnight you know what I mean um I
Think anybody that’s been through injuries or had surgeries and have to have to change the way you swing a golf club that you haven’t ever had to fix you know like you’re having to fix this because of your injuries for long you know maybe it’s not going to be
Quite as efficient as it used to be um and that might be the reality but I have a hard time believing um that he’s still not going to be an elite ball Striker just I’m just just continue to give him time right but I think what’s kind of
Wild though to me is like how somebody like will zot tourus is not going to be in at Pebble in that first signature event you know that that’s kind of to me the if if you’re somebody like will who probably had a massive offer to live
Golf I just you have to think that you’re just second guessing just the PGA Tour and and and like man should I have just taken the money I know people are just like uh no like he’s got more Pride than that I’m just laying it out there
In the fact that he he had a I imagine a fairly big offer and and to not to come back and not be getting a sponsor invite into Pebble Beach I mean shoot wouldn’t you be kind of like pissed off at the PJ tour it’s like hey I I bet on you guys
You know like I I got hurt I was hoping that I’d be able to get a spot and the spots so far from what I’ve read is going to be Adam Scott web Simpson um Peter malady and uh somebody else um would it would it be uh Charlie Hoffman
Maybe potentially I don’t think it’s Charlie oh it’s Maverick mcney he’s an AT&T guy oh yeah yeah that’s right and and his dad’s a West Coast guy as well yeah we’re not here to debate sponsors invites I’m sure reasons why they all got picked but I I I would have probably
Started with minwoo and will tus that would have been my first two that I would give spots to well and I I think that is the the reality that a lot of these tournaments are facing that are now Signature Events if you have four sponsors exemptions now I mean that’s a
Huge crush going from like you know eight or more to four I mean that makes a huge huge difference and I think that um this field used to be crap yes yes it used to be crap can you imagine being the tournament director there going from
The fields that he’s had to now having to turn away will zat Taurus I was talking to someone who uh who who his wife is playing the tournament and as as an amateur and he was riding on behalf of a popular tour pro to DET tournament organizer he’s a
Friend of his and he was saying dude we we are just we can’t help out anybody this year like these things are pretty much locked up already and and it’s and so it’s it’s just these are the times we live in you know it’s it’s just this is
What has to be done the ironic thing though is is exactly your point which is that why do we make these changes to keep guys from going to live well if one of the the Stars on tour that kind of hit tough times was Will zures and he’s
Expecting the tour to help him out for his loyalty and they’re not doing that well then you’re kind of missing the whole point of the of the deal um always been you got to play good you know like you got to you got to play good and and
Injuries in in the past system right like you know Medicals to be able to get into whatever tournament you want to get into it didn’t really there wasn’t these elevated events you know there was WGC stuff but uh based off official World Golf Ranking like I think top 50 used to
Get you into wgc’s which I’m I assume that he probably is slotted in that 30 to 50 range so he would be getting into all these events so just really just kind of he’s just in a tough spot he’s going to have to dig his way out of it a
Little bit well the AT&T not to go too far of tangent but the AT&T is also when this was earmarked as a signature event I think a lot of people were like but why because this could be one where you do kind of give some handouts to guys
That you know really want to be there to mingle with the sponsors and and you know all the people that help make the the tour run from a financial perspective and so that’s why it is important for all the guys you listened who were on the policy board who are
Helping you know shape the future of the tour be able to have some time to rub elbows with those people and chat about you know business you know but now that it’s a signature event it’s like how are you able to check all the boxes I’m not
Sure that you can um on on will specifically couple things there that you said that I thought were really interesting and so I think one is I don’t think we’re giving Will enough credit for like the fact that he is kind of fighting a battle on two fronts like
Overhauling a swing and overhauling a putting stroke so you know I think that there are going to be there’s going to be some bad tape he puts out there and it’s going to be tough and and it’s like let’s not give up on him he’s got to
Kind of figure both out at the same time but when he does you know it should click and and and you know there are some some positives to take away from the hero and and now you know Sony where you can see how you know he’ll get back
To it um I think that as as far as like the live thing goes it’s such an interesting one because it’s like you look at Brooks Kea as the reference point there where he his knee is like in his estimation like May will never be the same way ever again and he’s got
This offer on the table and he takes the money and it feels like that was the safe thing to do for him financially at that point in time but then you get down the road and he’s you know in the final group of the Masters then he wins the
PGA Championship and you’re hearing all these sort of rumors and Rumblings of like maybe Brooks is regretting his decision and if he knew he was going to get back to this you know form would he have left I don’t know um but it’s an interesting one I don’t know if that’s
This a similar Cal that will zorth did in his own head um you know but but I think that that’s kind of the bet you’re placing it’s like you’re either like I’m going to get back to form and this is where I want to be if I’m in form or
It’s like hey you know I’m never going to be the same let me get my money and we’ll figure out the rest of it you know whenever that whenever that comes around so uh definitely definitely interesting one with him one to keep an eye and as
He kind of progresses and and shoot the last thing on that is like maybe he wants some time like maybe he wants some time kind of playing lower Spotlight events so we can kind of figure this thing out so he’s ready to contend when when the time comes to play you know
Marquee events um yeah for sure uh another one I wanted to play for us uh while we’re here uh is Gary Woodland another guy who was making a return uh from brain surgery of course shoots 7171 misses the cut in his return but like such an amazing story had some
Incredibly reflective sound you know to start the week and then he talked to to Todd Lewis on Friday after he um missed the cut and I just want to play this interview because I thought it was uh it was pretty cool just to hear where his
Head’s at so you said you wanted to come out here and the thing that you wanted to test most was your focus how would you assess how your focus was this week Focus was amazing it’s best Focus I’ve had in a year um best energy I’ve had in
A year on a golf course obviously you never want to miss a cut you never want to be out of contention but it was bigger for me than this week than golf um golf game was Rusty I saw a lot of good things but I was Rusty scoring wise
But the go coming this week was to see where I was mentally and it was beautiful it really was it was it was the best week that I’ve had on a golf course in a long long time um focus was there all week attitude was great energy
Was great so a lot to build on I came to see where I was and I’m in a good spot and uh I think big things are ahead as you look back on these two days and look at everything that was involved what do you take
Away that no matter how hard things are and no matter how bad it gets if you you believe if you surround yourself with right people you can overcome um it’s a message that I’ll remind my kids when I get home um it’s been a hard time for me
And and I was able to overcome it and uh and I’ll be back you talked earlier this week when we chatted actually about the love and support you received prior to getting here to the Sony Open what have you received on the grounds here from your PJ tour family it’s it’s been
Unbelievable um like I said we’re out here competing against each other every week and it’s it’s been like a family um a lot of hugs um a lot of just well-wishes um support from from everyone and it’s been it’s been amazing it it just shows you that
There’s a lot of good people out here and uh the fans were amazing determinate staff everyone media you guys have been a great um it’s uh it’s great to be back I see you getting emotional what are you processing there was a time I didn’t know if this was going to be possible
And uh it was a good week for me from a mental standpoint I need to be mentally sharp to to get to where I want to be in the world and um it’s coming back what’s your schedule I’m going to go home um have a nice off week with the
Kids at home and tighten up some things with the golf course or the golf game uh and I’ll be back for Tory you’re a great player and a better person we’re glad to have you out here Gary thanks time so obviously you know incredible incredibly powerful stuff you know
Especially hearing him talk about his kids his dads you know it’s like man there’s just a whole other layer to this uh did you were you able to catch up with Gary while you’re out there this week or or you know just thoughts on on
Just his return to the game and what a cool and meaningful thing that is yeah great great interview by Todd there I mean I really think you kind of got him to answer really all the different questions that I think the viewer wanted to know about Gary but um I think one of
The things he talked about just the PGA Tour family and just getting back and being around all your you know call them colleagues but competitors players that you’ve you know spend all this time around and uh you’ve had a lot of great memories with and I think getting back
To to all the guys and I think was something that is probably was really cool for him to get back and and and realize how how many players have been not only just thinking about him but had also seen that video uh of him in his interview prior in the beginning of the
Week where I I think it just shed a lot of light on what what Gary was really going through I think nobody knew like what what were the issues and I didn’t know that his the the tumor that he had on his brain was pushing on fear and anxiety that he just thought
That every day like it’s like Final Destination something was going to go wrong and he was going to die I can’t imagine um living that way and and having to sleep and and the jolting that he was dealing with waking up in the middle of the night and just being just
Fearful of everything and then trying to play golf on the PGA tour at the same time I mean you talk about fight ORF flight on the golf course and how um you know how often that gets triggered for PJ tour players people don’t realize that uh for
The most part you’re you’re not in a in a normal State like we are on the driving range and how we’re playing at home you know you get in situations where you your brain gets into this fight ORF flight mode and here’s a guy that is already dealing with this at
Home um sleeping at night so I can’t imagine all all of how difficult it was on him and his family during that time to not open up about it and just try to fight through it because that’s that’s hard enough as it is to to try to play
Really good golf you know to especially at the at the level that Gary Woodland we know can play at you know he didn’t wi his US Open win was so soon you know it wasn’t that that long ago so he’s had that expectations to playing really
Solid golf so I imagine it was very difficult but um I didn’t get to see Gary this week I saw him about a month ago and got to say hello to him um you know send him my wishes but definitely good to see him back playing again and
Um hoping that and praying that all the reports continue to come back good from his doctors and that he can continue to play uh where he feels stress free and that his um mind and body are all um organized and and working the right way so I’m hoping hoping that for Gary yeah
Absolutely agreed I think um man yeah just the uh it is a thinking game it’s a game that it requires you know it’s not a reactive games we’ve heard a lot of tour Pros talk about you know how that you know presents different challenges so like that layer on top of where he
Already was with that tumor I I can’t I can’t imagine it and it was just just really really cool you know to see see him back out there this week but also to hear the way he’s been processing it and what that’s the meaning that’s given to
To him and his family really special thing so um hey we have our first Aon swing five update that’s a cool thing uh we we learn learn all this new terminology and and systems I this is actually interesting one because there’s already a controversy because Grayson
Murray is at the top of the the swing five standings but he’s already in the rest of the signature events for the year through his win but they still keep they still keep you at the top of the standings because I guess it’s a higher category than tournament winner I I am
Not sure but here nevertheless here are the standings uh Grayson Murray leads he’s in first Carl yuan in second Matthew bavone in third Taylor pendrith in fourth and both OE batia and patton kazy are tied in let’s go Patton come on of course that the Jason duer is 2017
Zero classic partner as we know well from Kevin mner story last week so there are your current swing five uh and then of course after uh the AMX and I believe Farmers as well that those three tournaments are going to determine the five that get into the AT&T pram the
First signature event from That Swing five so there you have it well moving over from there to the Dubai Invitational where uh I guess for a lot of people all these Hawaiian events have been things that have been happening later in the day after bedtime this is
Something that kind of went on before we all woke up uh was was a a really dramatic finish between two stars uh Rory mroy and Tommy Fleetwood trading blows and Tommy Fleetwood coming out on top uh it was I caught just the highlights of this I didn’t see it but
It was a wild finish of sorts like Rory was believe in the lead or tied for the lead on the 14th hole a par three and hit hit one to like two feet and then three putts from two feet like misses one going downhill leaves himself more
Than he had on the initial Putt and then misses that one coming back drops a shot and then I believe was leading on the 17th hole Tommy Fleet with birdie the 17th and 18th Rory on 18 snap hooks his drive into the water and can only make a
Bogey and drops a shot and finishes uh tied in second with Tristan Lawrence but um you know a lot of intrigue over there going on um it seemed to you know what to make of this obviously there’s a Tommy Fleetwood part of it and there is
The Rory M part of it right and so just starting with Tommy where it seemed like a pretty friendly environment to play in like Rory was actively rooting for Tommy you know even if it he was losing the tournament first three days were it was
A proam so that part of it was obviously a little more laidback but you know knowing that this was was uh Tommy fleetwood’s first win since the the nedbank in 2022 and there was a near miss last year at the RBC Canadian open um you know what do you think this does
For him going into next you think we could see Tommy lad get his first PGA Tour win in 2024 yeah right I mean to me is his ball striking has always been you know cream of the crop he has always been able to hit the ball very well um just a I mean
Exactly what you would teach you know like he just gets into all the right positions and um hits the ball fantastic and really I thought he should have been closer to pushing Brian Harmon at the open I thought he I thought he hit it really well that week and the putter was
Just so bad putted horrendous and you know I think for 20124 for for Tommy you know he had that year maybe this is like 18 or 19 where he finished second in a couple major championships I remember I think shinny finished second at a US US Open there maybe another event um close
To finishing second I have to go back and check that but yeah I mean he’s knocked on the door before he’s got major types type of game to where there’s really no weaknesses and it’s more just like hey was was maybe the Ryder Cup going to be kind of the thing
That jump starts kind of the second act for Tommy Fleetwood I say second act but you know what I mean just right right the the him starting to compete more at major championships on the regular um and we’ve seen a time or two before at Ryder cups guys get in positions and
They um they close out like for him he closed out the Ridder Cup against Ricky fower you know I’m I’m very uh yeah I’m with you I think I think he’s going to have a should win on the PJ tour and and would not surprise me to see him pick off a major
But mentioning Rory I I think there’s you got to be excited kind of if you’re Rory you know I think he on Friday he made a quadruple bogey on a part three like the seventh hole hit two two shots in the water so he makes a
Quad and he three putts the 17th hole from three feet and still only loses by however many shots I mean so you got to feel good about Rory coming out of the off season um just a little bit of rust but also like tons of offense so and he
Him mentioning how much he’s going to be playing heading into Augusta uh I I would be surprised if we continue to hear Rory like be in the media and talking I think he’s going to really start shutting it down and just keep it really simple and and lock in
Really for Augusta because he even said it himself you know Augusta National if don’t get a win there I think he’s going to feel a lot of regret just about not getting the job done so I think every year now leading up into Augusta is
Going to be just I’m all in which makes a ton of sense and I think you know for the Optics of it you know even though it was a limited field event um you know and it was sort of a one that was a little more casual for all the reasons
Listed you know you still when there’s a near Miss like that you know you ask the question of like what does this mean for a season is this is a sign of something bad whereas he seemed very relaxed about it in his comments after the round I’m
Like look first term of the Year kind of knocking the rust off like it is what it is like not like it was was I mean of course you want to win every you play it’s nice to knock the rust off and and and only you know finish second place
Right that’s right well that’s the crazy thing it’s like you know the expectation for him is like win and anything else is a disappointment which is just nuts but yeah a little little little rust knocking off there for a casual tude never never a bad I mean when you played
Golf last week in Florida the last couple weeks would you call that knocking the rust off or would you call that uh knocking the rust off and lowering your handicap or just knocking the rust off and just trying to finish I I what I’ve been trying to do is kind of
Keep enough rust on so that every time I go out subsequently I can say that I’m still knocking the rust off and I think mentally that helps me mentally helps me yeah because I I don’t want to knock all the rust off because if once the rust is off then I I
Can’t use that as an excuse uh so there there was a lot of rust knocked off I think I knocked most of it off but I still have a little bit of rust saved um I will say that the handicap did not go down it went up two10 of a point so
Perfect could not have scripted it any better um look looking very good as we head into kind of tournament season this year you know maybe some things we’re going to be doing on the course so you know love where it’s at love where it’s
At right now uh so uh don’t know how to segue out of that but I will try uh go ahead well I was GNA say like you know how like golfers always have like the best excuses you said just like oh you don’t want to wear all the rust off
Because you need that as an excuse same thing goes for like ah you know honestly getting there late is the best thing ever to a te time it’s like you know I didn’t have time to hit balls first four holes you’re just like ah you know just
So tight you know like ah you know if I would have just hidden balls today you know but you knew going into the day you didn’t have a chance regardless he’s like might as well just show up a little late be you know go through the full
Workout at home still be you know loose and ready to go but also you can play the card of you know just a little tight you know ha balls yeah just a little tight like you know and and and that’s also a great natural uh handicap management strategy you know you just
Throw a couple bat holes out there out of the gate and then if you play well the rest of the time guess what your handicap’s still not going to go down because you got all the you put all your work in early on I the show and go used
To terrify me the show and go is my best friend now especially with you know young kids at home show and go yeah show you never heard this expression no you show and you go like you’re there makes sense now just sounded that out of my head before saying it out loud makes
Makes sense say it out loud all of a sudden it clicks yeah listen you’re knocking a little bit of rust off and and getting the phrases so that’s okay uh an hour last night give me a break that’s right that’s right you were heavily jet lagged I’m drinking coffee
At 4:30 just not like like fall my head on on the table here I’m going to pull back the curtain a little bit here did did you microwave that coffee I thought I heard a microwave going in the background yeah oh wow the pot of coffee
Was was pretty cold so just stuck stuck it in there there’s something about microwave coffee that just I’d rather drink it cold I’d rather just take a I would take a pot of coffee and I’d throw some ice cubes in it and I’d pour it
Over the ice and have ice coffee at that rate yeah I know that was definitely an option that I considered but um yeah just not this time I tell you I’ll tell you a tangent I’ll really take you on uh especially after last week’s amazing Kevin Kar Phil Michelson story I tried
Out some of those little uh this is this is I don’t know why I’m saying this because this is just free promotion but I’m try I tried out one of those those little packets of like the stuff he puts in his coffee Prett good bills Bill’s
Deal the good stuff cold the good stuff it’s like coffee for wellness thing it’s good it’s good okay I felt I get I get jittery sometimes I drink too much coffee but I do it every day anyway this kind of took kind of took the edge off
So okay there you have it all right Charlie Charlie’s Gone full live folks I’m Go full live and there’s the segue thank you smiley for for teeing us up in that direction because we have live news to get to some of this has been out for
A few days but some of this is is just out so of course there’s like the main piece uh of John ROM’s team name has reportedly been finalized the legion 8 so I I I don’t know if he’s doing this as a bit like you know because we spent
All summer talking about how often do you think about the Roman Empire and now his team name is I guess a Roman Empire thing so we’re gonna think about him a lot I guess it’s the case what do we think of Legion 8 as a team name
Smiley so many other good options right like what were some of the ones that were floated around that people liked it was like I wanted Los Toros dude amazing your little bull logo you know you what a Miss that’s a m what is because like Legion here’s here’s a easy rule for
Naming a team do I have to Google it yes okay don’t name it that like it’s like be like what is what scrub GC I can’t stoping about scrubs GC you know what it is and and it’s lovable it’s like do you ever watch the uh do you ever watch that
Disney movie when you’re growing up Soul skaters no wow really okay we’re gonna have to do a whole other yeah probably did Fran probably did I was I was Nickelodeon guy well okay I did a little bit of both but uh yeah it was a good movie about like
Rollerblading there was like a team called PPP and I don’t know why I’m explaining this you haven’t seen the movie need to you don’t need to the the the live to to extend the Liv news most recent news is there are reports from all of our favorite uh Liv accounts on Twitter
Um which I won’t credit you know what they are uh but they are um there reports that Windham Clark ongoing negotiations with with livol um you know not 100% confirmed yet but moving closer to a deal you know take that for what it’s worth we heard this about Tony fow
We’ve heard this about some other names that you know ultimately committed to staying on the PJ tour so that’s that is their report there right now but there are also reports that uh Caleb Sarat uh the extremely talented University of Tennessee player is another guy who
Could fill out that team with ROM and then uh Kieran Vincent Scott Vincent’s brother who uh was one of the three players that won that live promotions deal that that would be his legion8 team so what do what what are your thoughts on that side so you’re telling me that
Ram is going to have two guys that like qualified onto onto this team no just be Kieran Vincent would be the qualifier and I thought they were going to have like the other guy too um whoever it was oh no that was our ongoing cleaks bit
Which by the way he actually did sign for the cleaks K samua the the Finish player he is he is a cleck cleaks are I’m a little worried about the cleaks little worried about the cheeks CS are they’re they unless they they land a a big uh fourth player uh which I’m not
Sure who wants to go play for that team unless they get a Max contract uh clicks are looking a little light on Firepower heading into this next season and again who’s going to win a championship first the quaks to the Cowboys well Cowboys are going to
They’ve lost their shot I know that was a blood bath uh but I mean you know what I think that I mean shoot you know I’m curious what your thoughts are’t about like wiam Clark would be a huge loss without a doubt um I think that you know the if
You’re looking at it from a PJ tour perspective like anytime you’re losing young you know super talented stars in the making like I don’t care how you you want to cut it up or or try to sell it to me like you know how marketable they are now or could be like
That’s a loss and so both those guys really like we don’t know what the future looks like for Caleb Sarat but we know that wam Clark is one of the most talented players in the game and a major Champion so you definitely would not want to see him walk out that door no
100% not but I mean if you’re Windom I mean you just bought yourself five five years of Majors right yep I mean that’s I think that’s the whole I think that’s the argument for I think that was the argument for cam I think that’s that’s
The argument for for ROM I think that is you know you know after the fact an argument that Brooks kepa can use for you know staying now I mean and I think it’s the same for wind like anyone anyone that wins a major we should be on
High alert for now because it just means they bought themselves exemptions that that is the thing they care about the most It’s just sad man it it just every time I see it it just the PGA Tour have they been perfect abs absolutely not but it didn’t matter who it was they
Nobody’s got a chance against the Saudis man like you just don’t have a chance I don’t care if if you if you believe the live product is better than the PJ tour product it just it just doesn’t matter because even if live becomes better they didn’t become better because it’s just a
Like a better product or because the team Golf Works it’s just it’s just money dude like I you think John ROM went for this concept no dude he went for the money like we got to get we got to get on the page that John ROM made this
Move I mean it was it was a financial decision I mean maybe you can argue that no I just everything I know about John ROM this is this was all about money and then I think anybody else that’s gone too it’s about money it’s not about growing the game it’s just this is
Absolutely separating and dividing the game more so than you could have ever done um now if they if they want to use money to grow the game I it’s sure okay like I I don’t think I don’t know how you’re going to do it but still just to
Me is I don’t know it’s just all of it’s just annoying um great they they made financial decisions for their families and they set up their families after that but the game of golf um in the professional level like we continue to talk about is it just in full
Turmoil yeah and I think I mean it is funny how Rory has kind of been the bellweather on this entire thing throughout like I I am certain that if you you know got Rory in a private room and you got him to speak honestly to you he’d say yeah I probably wouldn’t have
Said a lot of things that I said at numerous junctures but the benefit that that we had as onlookers uh you know had in hearing all that is like he he kind of he kind of charted a lot of people’s mental Journeys they took with this
Thing where we were all very opposed to it from the beginning and then you know for a number of different reasons and then as time went on you kind of moved to a more realistic place on this where it’s like this is just kind of what it’s
Going to be and we got to figure out a way to to make it work so we can get all the the best players back in the world together and I think it’s most Global tour did you see like the comments on a more Global tour and and we’ve talked
About it on the podcast too and he and he and he cited said you know a global tour is what what we need to do but we need we need America’s corporate money behind it all I’m like that’s not how this works like it’s because of where they’re
Going to be playing globally it just doesn’t make sense from a from a TV standpoint like it also I mean just it’s so much simpler here in the states when when a corporation sponsors an event they’re able to bring in clients they bring in all their employees it’s it’s
Simpler like traveling all the way to Singapore like what it’s it’s I I don’t know how you I mean it is an interesting thing like it it’s one of those things where I think Rory is throwing a lot of trial balloons out there and kind of like seeing which
Of them hold water and and by the way I don’t necessarily blame him for it because that’s a lot of like what I feel like I’ve been doing in my own processing of what’s going on and what’s happening and and not all of it sticks
But I I I think that you know if you know if if it’s going to be an American concentric League um then you’re going to have European players that are interested in going because or or or not even European you know Australian players or whoever else like that’re
Interested in going because of what that represents for them in terms of opportunity of playing in front of their home crowds or closer to whatever home is for them so it’s one of those things where it’s like you’re almost you know that’s why a lot of this stuff it’s like
I have critiques of players of governing bodies of decision makers but it’s but I also so in the same breath am understanding of the plight that each of those various you know people or entities face it’s a lot of these are real Dam if few damn situations you know
Because like kind of to your point it’s like if you you know the thing that makes most sense from a TV perspective from a sponsor perspective from a charity perspective is like focusing on the thing here at home in the United States but that means guys walk and you
Know for bigger sums of money it’s like ah I don’t know how you reconcile that and you really got to get creative to do it and it’s still might not all come together you know it’s it’s a tough tough thing yeah um and the only thing keeping this whole thing together is is
The official World Golf Ranking structure for the way of guys not getting points like that that’s really the one thing that’s keeping it together because guys can’t get into major championships but some guys say you know what I don’t care I don’t care about the majors I don’t care about um I don’t
Care about my legacy and how well I play in Majors I just I want to get paid and that’s fine that’s that’s you’re prerogative then good um I just I can’t imagine being a young player and let’s use Caleb Sarat as an example um a
Player like his caliber dude I I mean I put him in the same category as Gordon Sergeant Nick Don laap and you can interchange any three of those dudes I think they can all beat up on each other one can be better than the other um from
One day to the next and I think Caleb’s going to be a superstar um but what happens if Caleb never gets to play in a major championship I I mean that’s that’s kind of a farfetched statement but if he goes to live I mean eventually it’s all going to
You would think they would get some form of world ranking points at some point right because it to me the way this is heading like they have to figure out a way to to properly rank these tours because right now it’s just I mean it’s it’s just a mess so
We’ll have to what what to keep monitoring it well I mean I and I I I wonder what those that profile player what bill of goods he’s been sold because like I think of like yeno Shakara like he was a stud in college and and and a guy that looked like he
Had a a really bright career trajectory and since he’s gone over you know I’m sure he’s he’s doing you know fine enough over a live we haven’t heard anything from him in major championships or anything and so it’s like how do you you know ballpark what your trajectory
You know could be or when it’s all going to come back together and their promises made on the front of these guys of like hey it’s you know like is is is part of the math that Caleb doing saying well like this thing could come back together pretty soon that’s looking like what’s
Going to happen I am an incredibly talented Amer player but I’m you know nothing’s guaranteed in golf so it does it make sense for me to get some chunk of guaranteed money and go do that for a year knowing that it’s all going to come back together and then I’ll have the
Same potential to play m and earn money here but with a nice little you know Baseline in my bank account that I got I don’t know but it’s it’s interesting I I think on the owgr point uh this is I found this pretty interesting I saw this
Jeff Jeff Shackleford put this in his quadrilateral newsletter is a front office Sports piece um talking about uh the impending departure of both Martin Slumbers who heads up the RNA and Keith pelly who’s vacating that lead role at the DP World Tour what I think to pay attention there is that they’re both
Going to also vacate their seats on the owgr board and yes their their successors could very well just kind of take the same position that they have on that board in terms of how you know ranking points get distributed but like what if they don’t like what if
That’s an opening for change like I think that there are like more that whole I’m I’m not saying you know what happened there with their departures wasn’t you know I’m sure that that you know P has a great opportunity with the the Maple Leaf Sports deal and and he’s
Canadian so that one makes sense I’m not sure what Slumber is going on to but dude those are two of the key decision makers for European Golf and with with those guys gone what is that you know sort of signal in terms of you know that
Piece of the deal because people kind of forget that initial announcement was like this is a deal between the PGA Tour the PF and the DP World Tour like I don’t know what that means for that Domino no 100% I I don’t it’s hard to really know who’s going to fill the
Seats and what their position is going to be and where my head goes in all this and how it pertains to live and and world ranking points so it it’s not the top players that I’m and it’s not the top players that I want to talk about
It’s the guys that are the middle players that maybe bet on themselves but then either got hurt or didn’t play well enough and now don’t have a spot this is this is an argument you can make about live it’s like okay I think the perception is is that all these guys
Have it on Easy Street there’s going to there’s going to be a handful of players that aren’t going to have anywhere to play besides the Asian tour and we’re talking about guys that have won on the PGA tour I mean if the name that comes to mind like if Hudson
Swafford doesn’t get on a team this year like he’s a guy that’s won multiple times he never lost his card he’s an absolute unreal golfer now if he doesn’t have a spot he’s put on the Asian tour that you’re starting and I’m listen I’m not trying to say that
That Liv has a legitimate relegation system but you actually are starting to see that these these spots are getting tighter because they’re taking on more and more guys that you know what I mean Charlie that it’s it kind of gets where these players are now starting to get
Shuffled out where they don’t have anywhere to go and that’s the risk they took but man what a what a risk you’re taking if you only bet on yourself for a year or two that would scare me to death you know if I was one of those guys and
And I guess the only way I would do it is if I said whatever the number is however small it is whatever it is what that represents to me is enough financial security that if this doesn’t work out I can just walk away or I can
Just go into the next phase of my life because some guys some guys some guys didn’t even take money they just bet on themselves which is another thing that’s wild to me like and I think that I feel like I recall seeing Hudson Swafford with like a young fan family at one of
These tournaments he played well doing an interview and I just wonder it’s like you heard so many of these guys out of the gate talking about you know I want to do live so I can play less and have time spend with family it’s like in in
Could you ever imagine a world in which you’re like hey uh in order to put food on the table for us or to continue our lifestyle in the way that like I have to spend x amount of weeks a year traveling around Asia playing in Singapore and all
These different places and like I guess I’ll just see you when I see you like that’s to me feels like a pretty brutal reality that I don’t know that I’d be willing to say the potential upside is worth the potential downside now I’m I’m doing a lot of you know thinking and
Talking on behalf of a Hudson swaer to someone else that they may not feel that way or they may have another contingency plan but just me personally that was this scenario laid out for me I’d be like gez man like I I don’t know if I’m
Ready to make that big of a leap of faith yeah like I I had heard that someone like honor Bond leiri he just he he said all right I have a sp on the team perfect great that’s all I need I’m going to bet on myself that is that is
Surprising and he is totally I mean he’s played just as good as anybody over there right um he’s good bet he’s yeah good bet yeah um so for for some guys you know it makes sense uh you know someone like hban you know he’s from India he moved to Dubai so it’s probably
Easier for him to to play that tour versus playing the the tour in America so there is some for for some guys it does make sense to play a more Global tour to be closer to home yeah I mean it’s funny the examples you picked are are you know it’s they’re perfect
They’re perfectly kind of opposed where it’s like you know for me and it goes back to where we kind of started this discussion it’s like honor Bond leiri if he’s lived a more International lifestyle and has Connections in you know in Europe and Beyond Asia that one all maybe even feel
More comfortable than living here for him I I don’t know but it could you know whereas like Hudson being being that far away from home playing that tour and and maybe not being able to make it long term that is a completely different thing so that that I think is a good
Illustration of why it’s like you know the the the global tour aspect of it is one that to a lot of guys M makes a ton of sense and probably is even more comfortable and like that’s just you know that’s a a chip that Liv has right
Now um and someone like Hudson like he can’t go and like is he’s still suspended by the tour is that I I I I think and and that’s the thing where we’re really kind of getting into the the the weeds of like the mechanics of
How you get back on tours I know that there are some guys that are actually trying to re-enter through you know different you know methods or but I I I I think that you know obviously there’s some suspension piece of it and then you know you can you know Monday qualifier
Or go to Q score I I’m not I’m not exactly sure what level like you know I don’t know if your status gets wiped out entirely or if you can at once suspension served you know re at a higher level than like if I decided one
Day I want to play the you know yeah so well we we know the top guys are are going to have the the flexibility to to not ever really get kicked out out of the league but that’s the the most intriguing Part of That League to me are
The guys that are making these bets on themselves that totally either it doesn’t go the way it should and they end up not on a team and have no place to play and I think that’s intriguing to me but those are really things you don’t really know all the information because
You don’t know what they sign for so it’s not as cool to to you know because that’s the one thing about following off on the PJ tour it’s easy to see when somebody succeeds or fails based off of a a pretty easy to follow for the most
Part pretty easy to follow a point structure with back up stuff and knowing what the numbers are what you got to get to swing five so it’s easier to much easier to to follow on that but um kind of got off on a little tangent there but
That that just to me like comes into my head about just the whole Liv Golf and the world ranking points and someone like John ROM you know wants to grow the game like sure man like but he’s the most competitive dude that I know like you can’t tell me that this guy’s okay
With having somebody coming off the promotions uh list or whatever where he can’t pick his entire team like that sh that’s not right he’s the most competitive guy I know like I can’t imagine how difficult it is for him to not make all the decisions that lead to
Him feeling like he has the best chance to finish first and when he’s when you sign that dott of line it’s like hey you know you’re you’re GNA have this guy on your team um because uh we told you so yeah yeah good good luck trying to
Figure that I mean I I can’t even I think it’s probably the mechanics of what he’s the reports he’s getting from Liv on the status of guys they’re courting and trying to sign and like you know if if there you know what level of frustration he’s expressing with like
Deals not getting over the line like really like you weren’t willing to give like a Tony fena 15 million extra dollars like no I want him on my team let’s please make that happen that’s the thing i’ I found out in all this is that yes like a player can recruit another
Player but they can’t help negotiate the contract it’s all like they decide what the number is they can’t like if Bubba Watson recruited me to come play for the I don’t know what team he is but for whatever team is excuse me the range goats of course how could I
Forget if he wanted me to go play for the range goats um then it would be like okay you got to reach out to X like and they’re the people that do the contracts that’s from what I understand well two two quick ones that are that are
Somewhat related to that um Keith py played in the Dubai Invitational this last week and spoke to James Corgan of the Telegraph and it’s part of a larger discussion noted that um J Monahan and yaser Al rayan were supposed to meet before Christmas but were unable to but
They did have their first conversation on the phone since the June 6th agreement and made substantial progress which is uh huh interesting uh like I said I mean it it I think the golf world would be better if the pif were a minority investor along with that the SSG group
You know that that to me probably gives you the the best chance to potentially get all these parties back together because they have a seat at the table and I’ve been a little wondering it’s like are is the PJ tour kind of trying not to do pif like
Are they trying to kind of avoid it and to me that just keeps it divided they’re going to keep coaching players I I don’t see how you don’t don’t make the deal because like if you’re not following what’s happening it’s not going to get better like none of this is going to get
Better they’re going to get world world ranking points at some point it’s just it’s going to happen you know they’re going to change something about the system and if you want the live golf tour to be the the number one tour in the world then then keep going the way
You’re going because that’s where we’re potentially heading and it’s going to be a structure that nobody likes uh also in the field the Dubai Invitational Jimmy Dunn wonder if you had any other meetings while he was abroad there huh interesting uh I I’ll move it on to
Listen this is we we officially entered the the business SL Financial section of this podcast which is I know our favorite thing in the world to talk about always but I saw I saw this this story um featuring some quotes from Sony opens tournament director Ray stosic I
Think is the last name is I’m not sure if I’m saying that properly but uh kind of a downer where he was just talking about this friends of Hawaii Charities um you know that had donated 24 million over the past 24 years and they’re looking at the asks that the tours
Making the next couple years so you know there are multiple tiers but like they they’d be asking for $250,000 from this tournament uh next year and then $500,000 the following year and so you know he says here I’ll read some quotes from him I think the initial response from a number of the
Tournaments was concerned and how do we do this My Hope and prayer is that the relationship between friends of Hawaii Charities and the PGA Tour can come to an agreement how as the revenue model shift that we can work closely together to try to the last thing we want to have
Happen is is that the charity suffers because some of some new Financial restrictions related to the tournament if all the charitable giving in the future rests on the host organizations without some PGA Tour subsidies in certain areas to help assist us with Charity then yeah it could definitely
Have an impact on Charities and I don’t know that we need to go in depth on that but that just kind of like we talk about all this money we talk about you know these new PJ tour Enterprises and all this stuff and it’s like you got these
People who like kind of pour their their you know heart and soul into trying to like impact community in any way that they can through the charitable aspect of the PJ tour and it feels like that’s going to get steamrolled so we can kick a few extra million bucks to players and
I don’t know how I feel about that oh man me you both I just it just it just kind of makes your skin crawl a little bit you know just the system used to be pretty good you know we used to give a lot of money to charity that’s going to
Stop you know it’s going to dwindle down a ton you know I think the you’re starting to see it with some of our our biggest partners leaving you know Wells Fargo being I think one of the main STS of as far as sponsors go on the PGA tour
And really a fantastic venue one that I think they were banking on them being around for a long time so I mean we’re just kind of in this money bubble right now and it’s really just the golf inflation of what PE players think the golf is what they’re worth the worth
Is just they think they’re worth way more than what they actually are um and maybe some of the top guys you can argue yes you are potentially worth this much but maybe not Saudi money typ type of worth this much um it’s we’re just in a
In a a really bad place right now because all guys are doing is just you know you have some some success and then you just say you know what just like any other business they just say you know what we’re going to go sell we’re going
To go make a profit and this happens every day in the world and and I don’t know why we’re getting upset about it because this happens all the time people try to to build their businesses up to then make a profit um so you you understand it that hey they’re they’re
Making the best decision for them but man just I I just we were in a pretty good place back in the day where you know we had plenty of players make millions and millions and millions of dollars and they were still flying on private jets they were still you know
Very very well off you know that’s the thing I think as a as a player now it’s like man where does this stop right it’s tough well and I think it’s it’s it’s kind of for me it’s almost like do do some players think they’re worth more
Than they are like yes but really it’s like it’s it’s it’s but it in effect it’s the Saudis telling them how much that they’re worth it’s like PF money telling them how much they’re worth it’s it’s an artificial it’s an artificial Market influence that you know and and
You don’t know how long long it’s going to last but what we’ve found out pretty quickly is that the PGA Tour is currently constituted cannot Outlast it like I think that was the hope initially it’s like they’re gonna spend some money on this early on they’re going to get
Bored with it they’re they’re not going to make any money on TV in fact they’re gonna underwrite huge losses and they’re going to say ah this didn’t happen the way we wanted it to and then and then we’ll be back to normal and that is not
Happening um and so it’s and so it’s like it’s tough too because it’s like you know you hear Rory talking about I get why John ROM did what he did for his family and shoot if I was in that position and I was off for that money
I’d probably you know take it too but it it is just like it just then you read this other side on on the charitable aspect and how that’s going to get squeezed and you think about the people that actually impacts on a day-to-day basis and it’s it’s another layer but
It’s like man like I wish I wish it could be like you know anyone who got a big live deal gets to have a player hosted tournament that’s like all you know they’re taking 10% off the the top of what they got and they’re donating that to these Charities and propping
Them up and I I don’t know how it actually looks but that’s the thing where I’m just like just doesn’t feel very good but anyway they need some they need some wins man and uh I think Pebble Beach could be a big win that’s going to
Be a they have good weather could be an amazing event but uh yeah I mean Phoenix I mean it’s it’s really this part of the schedule that starts getting really fun you know some really fun events coming up to watch for the PJ tour I think like
Like always I think there’s going to be great story lines and and uh and and fun fun events where you’re going to have some some sweet drama but you know what I guess one thing I’ll leave you with on all this is like if the PJ tour let’s
Say a year from now I don’t know what Brooks kepus deals up let’s say it’s up at the end of the year he says Hey I want to come back how does that work I mean I think there there’s a if I’m J monan I have a list of guys who if
They want to come back I’m like yes you can come back like you know like like maybe there’s some agreed upon fine maybe that fine goes directly to a charity of their choosing or something but they’re coming back like I’m not gonna make cam Smith go back to Q school
You know yeah that’s what I’m wondering like that would be the first win for the BJ tour it’s like hey we stole our player back you know like don’t make it hard for them to come back yeah make it easy you know that to me would be like
Because all all live does right now is just play chess and and get wins they don’t really ever lose except when their ratings get exposed no I I think it’s uh it’s it’s a fair one and and you men any more people watch it this
Year uh I I I don’t it’s it’s tough to say because I think that is currently constituted like if it’s same TV contract same distribution model no I don’t it’s like like do we really think John Ram is going to get more eyeballs on like the
CW what what what if it was on Fox like let’s just I’m just here then yes you would you would watch it if it was on Fox I think I think the win of getting a guy like John ROM or or more you know like I don’t think John ROM alone is
Going to get people to like the current you know media distribution channels like it’s like not going to get you to CW or or to lives YouTube or whatever but if John ROMs starts getting like you know we already heard Callaway May some you know in some way shape or form
Sponsor support John ROM’s team that’s a huge one that’s a that’s a huge you know golf OEM that’s legitimizing what you know ROM’s doing and so I if that is a signal to Media companies that like hey it’s it’s cool to spend money here then
You know and maybe it wouldn’t be like a fox level but what if there’s like a a broadcaster that’s a step up in terms of audience or you know distribution platforms than the CW is and they get that you know broadcaster then you start getting more and more eyeballs on it
Like I think it’s it’s hard to it’s really hard to get people to a new product like in you know any form of content but if you go to places where there are more eyeballs you know and and and like sports specific eyeballs like I think that’s the tough part about the CW
Is like there’s not a ton of sports specific eyeballs there but if you go to a place where there are and you put it there in frequent watch times then you start getting people to watch it and so you know I don’t like ROM alone doesn’t doesn’t do that but like ROM starts
Legitimizing it for sponsors and broadcasters who might say yeah actually I you made us a proposal on a contract last time around we passed on it maybe we let let’s have that conversation again you know that would be interesting yeah I I just was curious um because
I as as it stands now we talking about the CW I I I’m not looking to try to find what channel CW is so if it was easier to find maybe um would tune in so um I will say you know a pebble there I think is it time to start teasing the
Fact that we’re going to be at Pebble doing some cool stuff at Pebble should we let the people know well I got to book my flights so I got to book my flights but yes you can start teasing I also have to book my flights so that
Makes two of us so we’re teasing the fact that we are going to book flights soon so got look out for that and look there’s this one I want to leave you with um that’s just really been kind of eating at me for a while and it’s Girl
Scouts Love the Girl Scouts Love the Girl Scout cookies I think timing of Girl Scout cookies is really really bad because it happens the same way every year it’s like turn to the calendar everyone’s got a new diet they’re working on a new workout plan they’re
Working on and then here comes a little Sally up my driveway mid January rise I’m starting to get into rhythm with everything and she wants to sell me some troil and some of the peanut butter patties and and look I’m who am I to say
No to that like I support the troops all right I buy at least eight to 10 boxes every single year of those Girl Scout cookies but I just think the timing I think you got a lot of people who probably do like the one box guilt by of
Just like oh you know I can’t not buy this you know this box Girl Scout cookie so I’ll just buy one but I’m not actually going to eat these or I don’t want to buy a ton what if you moved Girl Scout cookie season back a few months into like that Halloween Thanksgiving
Sweet spot because what are people doing around the holidays they’re they’re they’re you know eating lots of sweets and lots of food putting cookies on the table I think Girl Scouts could exponentially increase the amount of cookie boxes they’d sell if they did it during the holiday season thank you for
Coming to my TED talk I have a better idea than that first off I I don’t buy Girl Scout cookies I don’t but but if I did um or if I was to organize Girl Scout cookie sales I would just put up a little stand um right
Outside of your golf off course at 4:30 on a Saturday in or Friday in the summer and guess what Charlie’s going by and he’s buying some lemonade and he’s getting some girl girl scout cookies no doubt about it I mean I just really really anytime other than when I’ve just
Like purged my my cabinet of like all my bad foods and I’m like here I am ready to rock and then it’s like well yeah okay and then and then it’s one of those things where you got to wait for a few weeks and they like you know you get
Back in a rhythm and they arrive and you’re like ah like I guess I’m just going to eat a half box of Girl Scout cookies tonight because they’re there and I’m looking at them um but anyway I just I I had a scout come yesterday to
My door great timing by the way like I had literally just parked the car back from Florida like 30 minutes ago and she she has sold a lot of boxes to me in years prior so maybe she was like I gotta move I got to move fast I gotta
Make sure she’s your number one she number one Scout she’s like Char always the number one buyer like guy can’t turn it down uh just think about it all the Girl Scouts out there that I’m sure are listening to this podcast um that’s all that’s all we got for this week I
Believe uh what do we want to tease coming up next um nothing to tease um just really just teasing the MX kind of used to be just a whatever field this year it’s like a legit field so very excited to kind of like sneaky get an open field event that has signature
Event players like a lot of them so that’s going to be to watch absolutely JT making his first start in the season trying to stay in that top 30 to get to stay in signature EV Play Scotty playing definitely good should be fun should be a good watch uh so thank you for
Watching and or listening to the Pod and we will catch up with you back here very soon I’ve actually watched a couple of episodes of of of y’all earlier and uh you guys have some good takes so thanks for uh thanks for what you guys do it’s
Cool to see what you guys are doing and uh I I know golf fans appreciate it but we do too so please keep it up I think you’re doing a tremendous job and and you know I listen to this podcast it’s really cool and
4 Comments
So happy for Gary Woodland
Isn't the Masters the only major that you can't qualify for. I can't help but think that LIV bought a bunch of high profile players and now they want the OWRG to change the rules for them. This is sort of the golden rule, "he who has the money makes the rules".
What do you do if the PIF gets involved with Girl Scout Cookies?
Roller blade movie on Disney channel was called Brink and it was sick.