PGA Tour Gets $3 BILLION from SSG + 2024 AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM Round 1 | The First Cut Podcast

Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter discuss the PGA Tour’s investment from SSG & Round 1 of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

0:00 Intro + a fun Round 1 at Pebble
1:30 SSG pumps $3 billion into the PGA Tour – what does that mean?
16:30 Spyglass Hill Highlights – Rory has an eventful day in Round 1, Patrick Cantlay gets off to a fast start
23:00 Pebble Beach Highlights – Collin Morikawa cards another strong Round 1
24:30 Betting Favorites

#golf #pgatour #golfoncbs #firstcutpodcast #attpebblebeachproam

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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

Freaking first cut golly welcome to the first cup podcast I’m Rick ging and this is your round one recap for this week’s Pebble Beach proam joining me to break it all down Kyle Porter is here KP happy Thursday yeah happy Thursday to you Rick uh I thought

It was a really fun day you know Pebble we talked about this I wrote about it before the tournament it’s just been it’s had bad field so there’s there’s not really another way to say that and at one point we had like half the riter cup in the in

The top six it was uh it was it was super fun and it was it’s Pebble right so it’s great views great I don’t know just I was I was very uh I was very encouraged and and uplifted by the events of today I I enjoyed it as well

That that star studded field or excuse me that star studded top of the leaderboard did get a little bit of a shift late we’ll talk about that but uh we have to jump into the new PGA Tour Enterprises announcement this is obviously something that has been in the

Works for the last couple of months but let’s just lay it out on the table and see where we stand uh yesterday the PGA Tour announced the new PGA Tour Enterprises that’s a brand new entity uh that is getting a $3 billion investment and partnership through strategic Sports Group SSG

That’s the Fenway group all these uh you know Sports owners what we’ve been talking about for the last couple of weeks and it became official KP a billion and a half in equity for the players making this the first uh Sports organization or at least American or North American Sports organization where

Players have equity in the league and another one and a half billion in Investments that’s about as much as we know about the details of how that money will be spent but it it is coming in yeah I you know it’s I think this is one of those things that no matter how

You analyze or evaluate it right now you’re going to look dumb five years from now right and and I think it’s also you can talk yourself into into kind of anything with this I I think that’s how sort of amorphous it is because you look at it and you’re like hey $3

Billion um I guess for for the purposes of of the argument I’m about to make it’s really a billion and a half we can do some things with that right we can we can improve some things we can go down the list of of ways to make

The league more efficient and better and a better product and and all these different things but then the flip side of that is is this is this who you trust to to do so right and and I think you could you could probably talk yourself into the Strategic Sports Group being

Trustworthy because I think their track record in other sports is is really good I mean just legitimately is PJ tour I don’t know I mean what are they trustworthy when it comes to product Improvement I I I don’t know that you can say yes with straight face right so I I don’t

Know I don’t really know how to feel I I don’t I I’m like cautiously optimistic and kind of excited but very wary about how all this is gonna gonna play out I absolutely trust that they will make this better unfortunately I’m not sure I agree with what the

Definition of better is is going to be right or who that’s going to be for I think that it is gonna be amazing for high-ends professional golfers I think that there are going to be a lot of great corporate outings and sponsorship opportunities and crossover into some of

These other sports with owners in the NFL and baseball I think there’s going to be a lot of stuff like that I have yet to to see or hear one thing that might make this experience better for fans yeah where do you so I I think I have

Two questions that are sort of out out standing for you and for myself because you know a lot of this I think I think some of this you know people they want you to evaluate or analyze it like it’s the Ravens Chiefs game where it’s it’s

Done and and you’re like well this is what Lamar should have done better or this is why Mahomes is going to his fourth Super Bowl or whatever and it’s like I don’t I don’t know I don’t think it works like that I think we have to get three four S

10 years out before we can legitimately evaluate but I’m curious about what you see your players having equity in a in a in in a league in a in the business of the league that’s so you mentioned it off the top that’s so different than anything else right like it’s so it

Because it even if like players don’t even have Equity allegedly in the teams that they’re on right like like Otani doesn’t have Equity allegedly in the Angels right even weirder it would be even more strange if he had equity in Major League Baseball right like as a

Whole uh sorry Dodgers my bad I I didn’t even catch that that I didn’t even catch that um where so where do you stand on that because I think there’s I think there’s some interesting arguments to be made there I think on the surface the easy explanation is that well hey now

They are more invest in the future of the league right if you own let’s just say let’s say Rory mroy owns 1% equity in the PGA Tour uh if if the PGA Tour ceases to exist that is like a lot of lost money for Rory he is

Incentivized to go out and promote and do things and etc etc I don’t know if that what I also think that does is I think it siphons a lot of money out of the league uh to fund this program in which there should already be a lot of incentive for these guys to

Have um their livelihood yeah right the idea if you have a if you are in a very desirable position whatever that is in the world you want that position that company that whatever to continue to succeed and grow so there’s more opportunity you can continue to be the

Best and you can continue to make a lot of money at it I think that half of this investment half of it uh going into vesting equity for the players is is basically removing half of the investment from the ecosystem yes I I agree with that um I I think what’s

Really difficult to measure is and and we don’t know the details of any of this yet but how what does that Equity look like 25 years from now right where some you know seven-year-old right now is becomes a PGA Tour player like like I

So for example I have equity in CVS as a corporation Paramount I guess now is what the corporation is it’s not a ton but this is not uncommon when you work at a corporation you get you get shares of their stock right like that’s part of the compensation plan now those shares

Because there’s so many people and it’s been such a long time they’re not uh they’re they’re it’s difficult to maintain the value of them even if you have a lot of them over a long period of time because what has to happen RI you have to keep getting bigger you have to

Keep generating more revenue and it’s like I think there’s kind of a cap on this m like probably you know and so I just I wonder if those will even be a if the equity will even be valuable when you get 25 years in and all of a sudden

10,000 people have equity in the PGA Tour and the other thing is um me well maybe I’m not a good example I well no I am a good example because I do not I I am not part of the the you know stock plan at Paramount but I can

Go buy a Paramount stock right you know Joe average can go and you know Elon Musk could buy up a percentage of stock in a company that’s different than what’s happening here unless unless they’re going to open up PGA Tour Enterprises and make and have it go public and let other people invest

Right because you have this this this insulated group of people that again all I think is going to happen is right it’s going to one remove that investment from the ecosystem because these guys are just going to put it in their bank accounts and it is also going to be

Continue and to be diluted over time as more guys get into the program unless they are constantly and maybe they plan to keep adding more to it which would require the tpga tour Enterprises to continue to grow more Investments to come in that are being earmarked just

For Equity like there well that that’s the thing like they’re not getting and we’re sort of talking through this as we’re going but they’re not getting of paper like shares right they’re getting actual they’re getting $1.5 billion right that’s my understanding and it says you know these grants will vest

Over time based on Career achievements uh recent accomplishments future participation services to the PGA Tour membership status so it’s kind of like the way that I read that is you know there’s already a you know a retirement plan in place for the PJ tour that that

Plays that like you know based on how many Cuts you make and all this stuff like money goes into it that’s kind of what it seems like and then after hey maybe after a year you can take out so much of that and after two years more of

That vest and after three you know that that’s the way that I read it so at some point that again because it’s not shares you can’t just like make more of them that money runs out and you’re like well sorry you should have been around in

2024 or unlike shares if you want to sell your shares you need something to buy them the whole thing is just you know I think the the I want to talk about the piff real quick before we get to to to Pebble I think the other part that I

Just feel wary about man is the players and Sean Zach tweeted this out they retained a lot of control in PJ tour Enterprises right and and and I like Jordan spe I I enjoy talking to him um I like web Simpson I’ve really enjoyed talking to him I don’t know if

It’s good for any League to have its players running the league right like I I know I know they’re like well SSG is gonna we’re gonna consult with it and it’s like I just like yeah but like you have you have control and power and I I don’t

Think that’s a good thing I feel like I’ve been pretty adamant about this for a a long time now that it’s really and I guess they would argue look we’re aligning incentives because now we have equity in the league growing and getting bigger but growing Revenue isn’t always

Aligned with the fans incentive right like it seems like it is but it is not yeah like I I just I I don’t know I I I I don’t um I I I don’t love that part of it there is a common saying that I think fits this situation uh that the patients

Are now running the Asylum which is usually it’s usually a warning that’s usually not a good thing that is something that has happening right now PGA Tour this does not include the piff yeah okay so this is uh SSG the PGA Tour DP World Tour the new Enterprises the piff public in

Investment fund of Saudi Arabia is not in this now they um there’s kind of I don’t want to say conflicting reports but you know the the official the official press releases say those you know those negotiations are still ongoing more investment could be coming kind of if you hear like this

Negotiations might not be going so great obviously with John ROM and Terell Hatton and Liv starting their season this week in Maya COA um so there still might be this two League system that we have did you see spe’s comments yesterday you know what I did not I saw

Rory’s comments I saw that spe was asked about it but I did not see what he said he he I’m gonna paraphrase we don’t need the exact quote I don’t think but he basically said like we don’t and and this has been a pretty common thing that

Other guys have said I think I think Webb might have said it somebody else like essentially we don’t we don’t we’re not operating as if we need the piff and you’re like maybe hope so you know like I I I just you know I I threw this question

Out on Twitter because we talked about it a little bit on Tuesday but is the does does SSG view the piff as more a bigger risk or threat inside or outside of the of the group like do they want them in or do they want them out where where’s the greater risk

And I think the greater risk is if they are out outside of the the moat uh the literal and figurative moat at the at the global headquarters in in Pon aidra um I I I I think it’s fascinating that ssg’s given not given they’ve invested three billion dollar into a league that

Has lost what 10% of its top talent something something like that with no real end in sight I I just I the the whole piff thing is like and that’s that’s the part where I kind of look at it and I’m like cool you got $3 billion congratulations

Like that’s great I’m I’m very happy that you guys are all going to be a lot richer why don’t you why don’t you come holler at me whenever everybody’s playing together again yeah and um if there is no end in sight and you think three billion dollar is going to do it it’s

Not we’ve seen that so hopefully they know about an end inight better than we do we could talk about this all night we’ve got pebble Beach to continue cover two golf courses uh fun day of golf we’ll talk about that after a quick word from our partners caugh by Kelsey for the

Touchdown the 49ers are going back to the Super Bowl the Champs are still in it headed to Vegas and we’re back KP let’s go course by course here we’ll start with spy glass that did play easier on Thursday by a little more than a half shot 1.6

Under par the biggest name over at spy glass was Rory mroy who had this thing rocking and rolling was six under with four holes to play he was the sole leader at the time before he made a bogey on six a bogey on seven asteris a

Bogey on eight and a par on nine we would then find out that the drop that he took on seven was a bad drop he was assessed a two-stroke penalty changing that bogey into a triple On a par five and he goes from a round that was

Cruising bogey free at 6 under to finishing at 71 one under par yeah I got a text from somebody after he he got to six under uh did he yeah yeah yeah he got to six under after the fifth hole on the back yes and I got a text from somebody in the

Media that was like it’s Rory’s year this is it he gonna win everything literally bogey bogey Bogey and really bogey triple bogey uh over the next three holes and it and it evaporated uh not not good not not a good start I mean I was certainly more surprised by

The ending than the beginning he’s been playing such good golf you know I know I know the Middle East is not you know it’s not super strong Fields but his golf has been so consistently great for such a long time that the floor just seems incredibly high and then he the

The drop on on uh what was that seven was just weird and bad and he was using an old Rule and just a bunch of normal sports stuff right so um he’s got work to do I mean I think he can do it he played he hit it I thought he hit it

Very well uh he just the ending was kind of a disaster hat tip for not calling a rules official in and just going with it and doing your thing but in this case probably probably should have called somebody and gotten are you Pro just like playing as fast as you can and and

Moving on or do you think are you Pro always bringing in a a rules official I think that the athletes should be aware enough of the rules of their sport um to to be able to do this without calling a rules official in for every little thing

I think in some situations it’s clearly obvious what is going to happen and these guys call somebody in to take you know sprinkler sprinkler head relief when it is just completely unnecessary or cart path relief um but you got to execute it right like there’s no point

There’s no point in in trying to play Fast if you’re not gonna get it right and in this case I don’t know what the situation was I imagine there’s a ton of waiting because it’s a proam in this case he probably should have called somebody in but General like you don’t

Need to call somebody in to take relief from a carpet was was there not somebody over I thought there was somebody over there I don’t know I was kind of in and out um you know what would suck is to be a caddy in this situation yes because as

A caddy you’re the one that can kind of step in and be like the emergency break for your player right yeah and I mean the the the we’ve talked about the rule book before for it’s Preposterous like you’re changing rules that got implemented four years ago it’s so impossible to

Know every specific detail right it’s not impossible to know like the main stuff and just the general concepts but it’s such a like a club length right like this way or that way and if it rolls it’s fine if it doesn’t it’s not fine that stuff like that is just it’s

Exhausting and I don’t know how anybody ever remembers of it agree with that we the the rules are are wonky Ricky Fowler goes out and shoots a five under 67 bogey free by far the best round that we have seen from Ricky basically since he won last year Ricky

Fer he didn’t uh I didn’t realize this I I I was off the weekend of the American Express and I just didn’t really notice him at at kaaloa but he was bad he finished 56 at capala missed the cut at American Express and just has not uh he’s just

Not played good golf and so I thought it was cool to see him he talked about warming up for this by playing two rounds at Cyprus is that is that good is that fun but yeah he he’s and I was wrong about this hand up I thought he W Rick I

Thought he was going to win uh Detroit last year and then kind of take off a a little bit and he has not he’s he’s gone the other way and that’s been disappointing because I I thought he was kind of whatever back means I I thought he was gonna I thought

He was ready to be like a top 15 top 10 guy again and I don’t I don’t I mean he’s kind of shown that he’s not uh we’ll do two more we’ll hit the leader we’ll we’ll get out of here Patrick Klay eight under 64 over at spy glass bogey

Free clinical he made birdies on he started on the back so that’s 13 17 18 one and two so that’s a Four Hole uh birdie streak and then he gets another at five two more at seven and eight so um yeah this is kind of what he does at

This event yeah I mean it’s kind of what he does in general right the start starting tournaments hadn’t been the problem sh 65 last week at Tory to open then he then he dropped to like t-54 by the end of the week so it for him it’s just about maintaining and and actually

Winning and not just shooting good rounds and coming in I think he’s finished T4 T5 his last two starts at Pebble maybe T3 T4 something like that so it’s um it’s all about getting a win it it you know he hasn’t won in a long time I

Mean for for a player of his caliber I I don’t mean for the Peter malates of the world but it’s been since the end of 2022 that that Patrick C won col moral shot one of the better rounds over at Pebble Beach a five under 67 he said

After afterwards he’s just trying to relax a little more not put so much pressure on himself we saw the same thing last week where he got off to a hot start at Tory Pines now he missed the cut after a bad Friday he doesn’t have to worry about that that this time

Around but Colin I we’ve talked about this a lot is playing really good golf it’s just is it’s all gotta just come together for him yeah do you think it’s a do you think it’s a putting four rounds together type thing he he seemed yeah I I I thought with both of these

Guys that it would be like big time years and granted we’re still it’s first day of February like first cut him some slack it’s very early I just I you know I I think they’ve shown flashes so far this year but both him and Klay have just been a little more

Inconsistent than than maybe I would have thought uh Xander Schley hit two in the Pacific on 18 brutal he’s my one and done he goes from two under to one over triple on 18 that’s the par five uh at at Pebble yeah that was not that was not

Pretty that was atrocious let’s see the betting board Josh because they are all chasing down one Thomas dietry who got in with a flurry three birdies in a row including a chip in uh he is 10 to one to win this golf tournament Patrick Klay probably no surprise the heavy favorite

To win at 3 to one col morawa at 11 Scotty shuffler at 12 Matthew Pavone right back in the mix seven under is 16 to1 JT’s there as well so uh they’re gonna flip KP go to the other course tomorrow and and level this thing up

Yeah give me give me JT at 16 and give me whatever Rory’s at if he’s if he’s obviously he’s not on this board so he’s longer than 22 he’s 28 yeah give me all of that uh I’m with yes J J at 16 who is uh

T8 and shot a four under 68 and big believer love that and yeah I don’t know that’s that’s the one I like most tonight we’ll we’ll kind of see as everything yeah Sheffer gets a lot of respect with this man he he’s he’s three under which was you know it was a decent

Round but it’s also spy glass is a stroke easier uh he’s behind JT on the leaderboard and he but he’s ahead of him on the betting board I don’t I don’t know that I agree with that uh but he he he gets a ton of more C was also

Interesting here uh what did Victor finish out is he three under also I think he made Birdie on the last to get right yeah he did three yeah so I like I’m with you like inter and then 2 35 whatever all right well listen we are 18 holes in the

Books we’ve got 54 more to go we’ll be back after each and every single one of those rounds and for now I thank producer Josh who does all the hard work behind the scenes KP can be found on Twitter at Kyle Porter CBS you can find

Me at Rick rungood this has been the first cut we’ll catch you next Time