Johnson Wagner and Brendon de Jonge dive into Wyndham Clark’s Pebble Beach victory in a 54-hole shortened event, talk about how bad the weather was, the softness of the courses all week and the impact of the smaller field size, the Pro Am and how the “buzz” was there. They also take a deeper look into the leaderboard at the AT&T with Ludvig Aberg and Mathieu Pavon. The duo also looks ahead to the Wate Management and Super Bowl this week as well as talk about The Park in West Palm, a new Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner course that opened last year.
You think this is only a grip it’s only in my hands on every single [ __ ] got it’s an extra 2 yards of carry when it matters most respect the grip hello and welcome in to the wagu filet show I am Johnson Wagner with Brennan dong Brenan it’s
Been a couple weeks we got a lot to discuss Farmers Pebble I think we got to kick it off with Windam Clark’s performance shooting 60 on Saturday course record um and say what you will about that course record I know it was ball in hand but uh he got a flag signed
By the head pro out there it’s a course strucker to me um you know just all in all the weather it was a crazy week out at Pebble Beach uh what did you make of it yeah you know obviously you were there Wags you know better than anybody
Um it’s it’s such a special place it’s uh it’s so cool to watch an event out there and you know since I’ve stopped playing there’s not a lot of times I’ve been jealous but this was one of them you know I I used to love going out to
Pebble it was a always a great event and and as you say it’s just it’s it’s a cool place and what I’m make of it I mean Windam Clark got it done you know those guys Ting it up on Saturday morning they had to know in the back of
Their minds there’s a good chance that we’re not going to play Sunday he went out and shot a course record 12 under par I know ball in hand but still you got to get in the hole and just extremely extremely impressive he was ridiculously impressive and and he came
Up on our set we had a beautiful golf Central set right off the 18th Fairway he came up it was me Rich learner and Paul McGinley and we didn’t have we were trying to get a lot of players to come up and and talk to us and he came up
Right after he finished that 60 there were still a couple groups out on the golf course and and when we got done with our interview he was straight to our computers like what is Ludi doing on 17 what is he doing on 18 like where’s everybody like he knew uh I think with
Probably 90% certainty that that was a 54 hole event and I think Paul McGinley made this point like he played those last three holes which he needed two birdies and all three of the putts were just gutted in the heart left just short but Paul made the point like he knew he
Was also playing For the Win not just shooting 59 and that maybe got a little tentative not wanting to run those putts 5 feet by but uh anyway it was just uh it was a tremendous performance this golf course bryndan I mean from from Monday on talking to players Pebble and
Spy glass were just completely saturated uh some really weird Windham was one of the guys over at spy glass that actually lost a ball had to go back to the tea and hit another one so it was it was a crazy week we’ve seen it soft firm but I
Don’t know that I’ve ever seen it as soft as it was this week yeah I as I say I watched a lot of it and there were a ton of balls plugging in the fairways and honestly if you didn’t have Marshals out there there would have been so many
Lost golf balls in that Fairway and yeah it rained it’s it’s that time of year at Pebble the weather’s always going to be a little bit iffy I mean no better place when the weather’s great um yeah you you know what you’re getting into and as you
Say you know as a Windham Clark there Common Sense tells you that 54 holes is all you’re going to play that weather forecast was absolutely atrocious for Sunday you are you live through it obviously well we didn’t I didn’t leave the hotel we ended up shooting both of
Our our golf Central shows from this like Lobby Bar of of our hotel which the crew at Golf Channel the tech the the camera guys I can’t believe how quickly they got it set up uh to actually be able to do live TV from that location um
Sunday was some of the windiest weather I’ve ever felt I mean by our hotel which was Inland some five miles three miles from the coast uh it was whipping like to the point where you didn’t really want to be outside uh saw a bunch of pictures and videos of of the golf
Course it wasn’t that they had that much rain but our our set was kind of ripped to shreds I know a lot of the hospitality were were down TV towers just completely blown over with you know $250,000 cameras just strewn out on the ground so I I think there was no way to
Play even McKenzie Hughes I was hanging out with him quite a bit Sunday staying at the same hotel and he couldn’t even get to the course until about 900 p.m. to get his clubs to catch a flight out the next day it was just trees down all
Over 17 Mile Drive and uh they they made the right call it’s a shame for AT&T with this new year signature event uh with 80 Pros like to not have there was no football on Sunday to not have that stage for them was a real bummer but I
Still think all in all uh the tournament had some juice like the crowds Friday Saturday were massive um it felt like a big time event yeah it did and I you know I I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the MS just playing Thursday
Friday I love that Saturday with the amateurs and the creating that atmosphere but I I think it worked well I really do I I think they obviously got their round at spy round at Pebble plus all the practice rounds and and I like this I like the way it did work out I
Still would like to see a bigger field for these Signature Events still don’t like the no cut event um but I did like that the fact that the MS just played Thursday Friday the I I am in complete agreement with all everything you said there it just you know the world golf
Championship model uh didn’t work with these 75 80 player Fields they we went away from that model for a reason and because the bottom half of the field bottom third of the field doesn’t isn’t really into it there were so many guys out of out of contention including Rory
Mroy was after that whole thing his mess on Thursday finishing in the way he played Friday Rory was never a factor anymore um I think there’s still a lot to be decided but uh going back to the greatness of this tournament I’m I’m G to give you some credit here uh ludvig
Oar or excuse me I think we have a new pronunciation uh we it’s ludvig oberg I think is how want to be called now it’s gonna take a little time to get used to that um you have said multiple times you think by the end end of the year he’s
Going to be a top 10 player in the world well let me throw some numbers at you he moved up to 11th in the world and as you know with the world golf championship I mean the owgr you get points for high finishes and then they divide that by
How many tournaments you’ve played coming up with a number that is your world ranking so the minimum number of tournaments you can have it’s called a diviser is 40 events ludvig only has 22 he’s only played 22 events and they still divide it by 40 to put him at uh I
Think he is at excuse me um anyway he’s 11th in the world I think it’s 3.6 something if you divide his total points by the 22 events he’s played it’s 6.9 you know where that puts him in in the world ranking third in the world ranking it’s ridiculous the
Ascendance that he’s had in the most pressure packed situations the t- shot on 18 the second shot on to 18 knowing he probably needs to make Eagle to tie and have a chance like this guy just keeps pulling off shot after shot you know I was I was listening to a very
Popular podcast the other day and they were they were talking about how essentially maybe ludvig is talked about a little bit too much he hasn’t really Prov himself as a as a top five player in the world just yet they were saying maybe Nikolai hoard might even have a
Better career than ludvig oberg and I I don’t know where these guys get their credibility I was a little bit frustrated listening to that because I think this guy is an absolute generational Talent like there’s not a thing about him that that doesn’t lead you to believe that this guy’s going to
Be around for a hell of a long time there’s no weaknesses the guy’s demeanor is fantastic there’s no situation that’s too big for him the gu’s already played in a rder cup you know it’s just everything leads you to believe that this guy is going to be there for the
Long Haul And he as I say he is a generational Talent yet to play a major championship yet he’s gone in well under a year from a Collegiate standout player to a to the 11th ranked golfer in the world and has done it in such a short
Amount of time and I the the the whole point about the diviser thing like the amount of points he’s won divided against the number of events he’s played he’s third in the world he’s ranked ahead of he’s he’s ranked ahead of Victor havland like it’s it’s it’s crazy
Um and Victor hin has had such a good run so I I I think that he’s here to stay I cannot wait to watch him play in the majors this year Augusta is gonna be such a good fit for him but I don’t think there’s a golf course that isn’t a
Good fit for him well that that’s the other thing you know I I think it’s a game that’s tailor made for Majors I think it’s tailor made for the the harder golf courses and we’ve seen him win on golf courses where you need to
Make a bunch of birdies so I you know I I hate to be making these kind of bold predictions but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win four or five times this year I honestly wouldn’t just everything I have watched and luckily I’ve got to
See a lot of him is is very very good it’s good it’s it’s just good there’s nothing else to say about it other than it is good it is good indeed speaking of good wendam Clark now think about the three tournaments he’s won Wells Fargo Championship signature event
The US Open uh and now Pebble Beach I mean I think each each of his winning paychecks has been $3.6 million you had those three wins up I think he’s earned more than I made in my entire career so very happy for him the dude works his
Tail off um so he came up on set after his round and I reached out to Drew stz the sleazy man um because I know they’re close just to just to get some you know good questions to ask and and sley said he said uh asking him about how many
Putters he traveled to Pebble be beach with and Windham came in and said basically he came to Pebble Beach with eight different Putters and had a new putting coach on the r on the putting green with him on on Sunday uh before the tournament settled on a putter in a
Style but then later in the week switched to cross-handed for the first time and goes out and made he made 90 feet of putt around Pebble on Friday and then he made 190 feet of putt on on Saturday the single greatest putting round in shotlink Era at Pebble Beach
And he even made a 25-footer fogey that doesn’t register as a yeah I mean my knock on wind him last year watching him play punana I was calling that that tournament uh opposite the world golf championship match play he couldn’t make a putt and now he’s turned into just a
World class putter the short game is incredibly impressive I mean 15 he pulled it long left and just made that Chip Shot look incredibly easy up there to ATT tap in I think when you have the length he has the short game that he has
And now throw in a a guy that can make that kind of many feet of putt like it the US Open wasn’t a fluke I think windham’s here to stay and and to play in big events yeah very much so and I I watched a lot of that final round and
That that part that he made for the one from off the green for bogy on on 12 excuse me unfortunate off the tee buried it in the bunker and then kind of made a mess from there had to play a shot left-handed and then hold that from the
Green that was huge that kind of held it all together for him you know a double at that point would have been really bad and then steps up there and birdies the very next hole didn’t have a great t-shot but had a super approach just behind the hole and again made a great
Part and he’s kind of turning into the the modern day Brooks kka just showing up in all the big events as you say now three wins a major and two Signature Events so that’s cool to see and he’s got the game for these uh these big
Events and big golf courses let’s talk a little bit more about the softness of play I had I had the chance to speak a lot with McKenzie Hughes he didn’t have a good tournament finished t71 but he’s a friend of the program here in Charlotte North Carolina um he was on
One at spy glass on Thursday making the turn and hit a drive down the left side and you know one at spy glass downhill can’t see the ball land yeah hits a provisional because they know everything’s plugging uh doesn’t really know where that one went either but
Thinks it’s in the Fairway and so he’s playing with haki Matsuyama in two amers and they go down everybody’s looking for the ball looking for the ball they find it uh and nobody started a clock don’t know how long it had been uh McKenzie looks over to hii and says hey Hideki
You okay if I play this ball you think that we were good on time I mean and as a player I would never if I didn’t have a watch out I would never say anything yeah and apparently Hideki said I think it’s been over three minutes and so
McKenzie calls in a rules official they’re sitting here just think about how much time they’re wasting making this decision Steven Cox comes over over and he’s like McKenzie it’s it’s up to you what do you what do you think and he’s like well if I if he had to put a
Gun to my head I think it was you know pretty close to 3 minutes maybe just over three minutes so he had to Forfeit that golf ball and then go spend another three and a half minutes looking for his provisional ball like you think about there was upwards of I heard 12 players
Lost balls and had to go back to the tea as as a uh in plug Li situations a couple in the Fairway yeah and then you see what happened to Patrick at can’t lay Friday on three at Pebble where he hooked it around the corner can’t see
Anything it was on TV and there were two Marshalls standing there that said it went into this spot so he was able to get a free drop without even uh finding the ball because of Television it just I know it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way including McKenzie that who found
His ball but I feel like Stephen Cox should have taken the high road there I can’t imagine John brindle wouldn’t have been like well if you didn’t have a clock out we’ve got to assume it was under three minutes and and go ahead and play that
Ball 100% if if you haven’t if you haven’t had a clock out on that then it’s and it’s you know that it’s somewhere you know Common Sense tells you what sort of time range how are you going to say that Ball’s lost and I you
Know that I don’t like to hear that from Hideki that would be one way I know as a player I would have said you know what I I’m pretty I’m pretty sure that that was right around the three minutes you’re good go and play it yeah felt like two
Minutes and 59 seconds to me there yeah exactly exactly that’s that’s kind of one of those and I I mean I understand we have rules in this game but sometimes Common Sense needs to kick in a little bit as well well I don’t think we need to be looking for a Matsuyama McKenzie
Hughes President’s Cup pairing in at Royal Montreal this year that’s for sure I no that would have made the rest of that round a little bit cold for sure um I tell the entire next day and the entire next day I tell you one thing though i’ had forgotten how slow these
Rounds were at Pebble I um I got on the pelaton bike starting a 45 minute ride right as yes I did right as uh Scotty Sheffer was teeing off I got off that 45 minute classic rock ride as they were putting out on the second hole that was
Uh it was just absolutely ridiculous two holes in 45 minutes and you know obviously not helped by the softness of the conditions out there do I look skinny by the way you look very skinny I can already tell you’re just withering away to nothing thank you it feels that way um I
Mean the TV compound where our trailer was was in grass and it was it was a soup bowl you wouldn’t have believed the the disgustingness of the portons uh like stepping in to go to the bathroom it was just covered with what I’m hoping was mud on the floor of the portons and
I had a little bit of an interesting situation I’m always very prepared with bathrooms no matter where I am whether it’s an airport TV compound I know where the good spots are we’re sitting down there off the third Fairway to the right hand side so not really close to the
Clubhouse but the spa is right there and I had I had a primary a secondary I had all my bases covered all week long till Saturday morning Saturday morning have a 7 o’clock production meeting it’s over right at 7:30 and I start booking it to
The spot it’s about 150 yard walk I get there the door is shut I can’t get in and so I start to panic a little bit but the tennis center is right across the street so I figure yes there’s probably like an outdoor bathroom at a tennis
Center people playing late at night and the clubhouse is closed no bathroom there either and so I’m I I I realized I could I I wasn’t going to make it up to the first te because I got got a couple secret spots up there as well uh but I I
Couldn’t make it that far so I decided I was gonna have to go in a porter John for the first time in my life uh I don’t know how I’ve avoided it to this point um but first time in your life number two in a portn yeah for the first time
In your life wow I’ve got a I’ve got a good record okay yeah and so I’m walking back and I’m thinking about like how brutal it’s going to be like I’m not going to be able to make it happen there I’m looking for bushes I’m looking for everything and I walk P the
Past the rules trailer and they are on a concrete pad and there’s two sitting right outside their building that looked very clean I walk up and they both say one says shotlink only and one says PJ to rule staff only and I just barged in
There did my business and got out but uh it was horrifying I’m I I think I’m too big for that and and in in a green box I don’t I don’t never want to do it again I want to start a new streak I’m I’m a little disappointed that you would
Rather go in a bush than go in a Porton PTO Johns are not not clean this one I did I did happen I think I found the cleanest one on property at Pebble Beach Golf Links are you you’ve got such a fear of little animals and things is
That why you’re afraid of portons that there might be a a lizard in there or something crawling around uh I mean yeah that that would definitely be the case if if we were somewhere tropical I wasn’t too I was not worried at all about uh about animals in this Porta
John yeah may maybe a big buck or a deer or something in there peble that’s about it all right back to the golf Matthew pavon finishes solo third to wrap up like I the west coast is still going on but he had that I think he finished
Seventh or eighth at Sony Open obviously wins the farmers last week comes out shoots an opening around seven under around Pebble Beach the first time ever seeing it and and just played solid all week long the DP World Tour now we have 10 guys the top 10 on the DP World Tour
Last season that weren’t otherwise exempt on the PGA tour got their cards and look at the way they’re performing right now Matthew pavon Nikolai hoard I believe got his card through temporary membership last year so but still I’m lumping him in the same category these
Guys back in our day we had guys like Alvaro Kos Rafa Cera beo a bunch of guys come over and not have much success but it seems like this new wave of young European golfers is here and are are ready to ready to take on the PGA tour
You know it seemed in the past that those guys would come over and they knew they were coming over to play one event maybe two events you know not play a completely PGA Tour Centric schedule I think there’s a big difference to be said for that mindset where you know
That this is going to be your home tour you’re G to play a lot of golf over here I think that it’s hard to come over for that oneoff event and I think that’s probably why we’re starting to see a lot more success out of these guys um
Getting back to pavon he’s uh I know you guys had him your set on uh on Friday I believe maybe it was Thursday after his round at Pebble Thursday afternoon seems like a an interesting character for sure got a got a tattoo on his hand that translates to the saliva that flows now
Will become the tears of joy tomorrow it’s a little deeper than the [ __ ] Stamp you’ve got on your back and I I think I think if you translated it a little more literally I think it’s the sweat not the yeah I was G to say I think think there was a
Little bit of a misinterpretation there but it the direct translation was the saliva but obviously it means you know you work hard you’re gonna reap the benefits of that well I mean this guy a few years ago was playing the Alps tour he was telling us he played in
Kazakhstan Egypt Kenya he’s played all over the world climbing his way up to the challenge tour and then to the DP World Tour and now he’s made his way over to the PJ tour and I mean golf is a global game and we have these uh these tours in these
These Pathways to the PGA Tour sort of uh they’re already in place and you know I know that a lot of guys on the DP World Tour are upset they that they they’ve become a feeder tour to the PJ tour but that’s just the way it’s been
For the last 20 years now at least it’s it’s set and and we know what the clear objective is and the PGA tour’s got a real healthy pathway as well with the the lat Latino America and Canadian tours joining forces into one and the corn fairy tour and you know
Everything’s feeding up to the pg tour Matthew pavan’s a great example in this era of of feeling like players are getting everything handed to him Matthew pavon goes out and just you know took it and proving the fact that if no matter who you are or where you came from if
You play good golf at a professional lever level you are going to have tremendous success and nobody’s going to be able to keep you out of any field that you want to play in yeah he played really well down the stretch to claim that that card from that DP wter I think
Actually knocked out the other Hoy guard Rasmus um for that fifth spot and you know he’s he’s come in and he’s just played fantastic golf on the on the west coast and obviously got very comfortable from the start over here and you know what I I I think this guy’s going to be
Someone to stay as well looks like he’s got a golf game that uh that travels really well I watched him at the end of last year win in Spain beat a really good field in Spain beat John RAM and uh you know played just some great golf
Down the stretch to get it done there for his first win so um you know obviously playing with a lot of confidence and you know what as I say I think this guy’s here to stay yeah well he’s gonna be here for at least two years with that
Exemption but I I watched him on the Range hits I mean you would be in love with his driver ball flight in person it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen just a nice power fade he talked at length with with us about it how he’s
Just over the last couple years working with his coach trying to eliminate the left side of the golf course and just plays fade after fade which is basically all the top players in the world with driver in hand there are very few that turn the ball right to left it’s a it’s
Technology is built the fade I mean you look at Windam Clark Scotty sheffler Rory even now Rory can work it both ways but he still plays the fade um on the flip side of the DP World Tour thing it’s interesting and I I didn’t notice
It any weeks before uh but there’s a new category out there this year 126 to 200 on the PGA tour right can go over and play DP World Tour and this week all five spots were taken up in Bahrain Dylan ferelli ended up winning the golf tournament uh Harrison indicot who a
Good friend of mine David geese is on his bag he went and played played well Sun Kang Jonas bck uh and Matias Schwab all taking that spot which I think for for me that was a big thing if we’re g to give 10 spots to the DP World Tour
For membership we need something in return we need to be able to send guys over there to play if they want and and good on Dylan forelli and who knows what he’s going to do the rest of the year if he focuses on a DP World Tour and get in
One of those 10 spots for next season yeah good for Dylan fatelli I read an article where he was another one of those guys that cons was considering giving it up last year had such a dreadful year wasn’t enjoying the game anymore and sort of took this offseason
To rededicate himself and well now he’s got got a win early in the year and you know that that’s going to change the mindset moving forward but yeah I love the fact you know you’ve got this limited field event obviously at Pebble give these guys an opportunity to go
Over there and play and you know these guys took full advantage of it yeah it’s a tough stretch on the calendar too you’ve got signature event I think Ben Kohl’s just got in he’s number one on the corn fairy tour he just just got into Phoenix a couple days ago he was
Out as of last week and then another signature event at the Genesis on the backside so uh guys in that 126 to 50 or Q School category or even you know bottom half of that corn fairy they’re not any of the Corn fairy category they’re basically not going to play for
Three weeks so it’s good to see guys taken advantage of it I know a few went down and played in Panama on the corn fairy tour so there are options of of professional golf globally um it’s not just one tour um and I’ve got to ask you
Obviously while you were at Pebble there was some some big breaking news that the the tour has signed a a deal with a a partner SSG um I know that these are some of the the real big wigs in the sports industry um what what do you
Think of this um I I’m sad that we came to the point where where it had to happen but I I think they found a really good strategic partner I think it sets them up that a deal can be done with the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia
Or maybe it doesn’t necessarily have to I think the tour felt like s the piff was really strangle had a strangle hold on the negotiations now I think this puts the PGA tour in a a position of power like we don’t we don’t we don’t
Need you if you want to come after our players you know we don’t like that but whatever um and I think that if something happens now it’s the Market’s been set and and piff is not going to have you know 40% control of the PGA
Tour I think that that’s what a lot of players were were concerned about and I actually talked to a couple older players like our generation about this and they said are we going to get anything are we going to be able to have equity and and the way I understand it right
Now uh our rookie year was 2007 first year of the FedEx Cup playoffs um we benefited greatly from when our careers on the PGA tour happened uh the guys before us that didn’t play after 2007 they never got any of the FedEx Cup retirement so I think this is going to
Be that way uh this is for the future generations and current Generations that are playing the PGA Tour I don’t think it’s going to be retroactive unless you know you’ve won 20 times on the PGA tour then maybe you can get an equity stake Allah a tiger or a Jack Nicholas
Or something like that but I think it’s I think it’s good Peter Milady web Simpson I spoke with both of them they’re both policy board members they were excited about this so that makes both sponsor exemptions at Pebble Beach as well which was yeah and Adam Scott
Got a sponsor exemption as well so yeah um so let let me ask you this for the for the golf fan out there this uh alignment here with SSG does that move us any closer to unifying as far as this fractured thing that is Gulf right now
I no I don’t I don’t think it does I I I I think until you have an agreement with piff or some sort of agreement that you know the players of John ROM kka cam Smith um and Dustin Johnson until you know me I hate Bryson to Shambo got to
Throw his name out there made me sick to say it but until those guys come back Sergio until those guys come back and play more often with the best players on the PJ tour no I don’t think we’re I don’t think we’re any closer and I don’t
Know Brenan from my feeling of talking to talking to players there needs to be a penalty these guys can’t just leave and then expect to just walk on back with their you know bags of money there there’s got to be something whether they can’t play Signature Events for a year
Or they can’t buy equity share of the PJ tour I I don’t know what it is but I know had said he wishes that everybody could just come back right now and sure that sounds great but that would create so much tension between a lot of players
That stayed and those guys coming back yeah I I do agree with you there and I know we don’t agree on everything with regard to live golf and that um but I do agree with you there that you don’t just get to walk out the door and then come
Back like nothing happened um I don’t know what that penalty looks like I I think as you mentioned there briefly that maybe not being able to get any Equity stake in the PGA toour might be a good penalty um I I don’t know I I would imagine that that’s probably something
That the the higher powers are discussing right now trying to figure that out um you know you have to think that everybody wants to get this game back to where it was unified the best players playing against each other as often as possible um in saying that
Obviously there was no uh PGA Tour golf on Sunday I watched a little bit of the live product um it was the first time I’d ever seen it and I came away with it with a few different takeaways um it’s going to take some getting used to it
Really is it’s it’s very very different to watch um in saying that I didn’t mind it uh but the the biggest thing that I took away was I I do miss watching a lot of these guys play golf like it was uh it was awesome to see Sergio Garcia
Playing John Ram playing um I know John ROM’s recently removed but I do miss watching a lot of the biggest names playing golf and walking Neiman I I I’ve had the fortune to play with him a couple times his rookie year I I I really enjoy him as a person and him as
A player uh the TL Hatton man I mean they it has definitely weakened the PJ tour I didn’t I didn’t watch any but walking even shot a 59 in the first round that is not an easy golf course there uh at myoba um I heard there’s a
Lot of music being played on their broadcast yeah I I I don’t really care for that I I’m a I’m a big fan you’ve converted me that way music during practice rounds I think is a must music during the tournaments like kind of blaring with I don’t know any of these
DJs names Tesco or ego or something like that whatever these guys names are the music blaring in the background that would take a little bit of getting used to um and another takeaway I got was that Greg Norman as an announcer is absolutely shocking everything he said
Was wrong you’d call a shot for a guy and it would be the complete opposite um but it there was some really good golf played I will say that and what he would he make them wearing shorts how’d that look to you I have no problem with that
At all you know what watching a guy hit a 4 on to two feet whether he’s in pants shorts or butt ass naked I really don’t care that is a good golf shot yeah and they’re playing in Vegas this week uh it should be interesting I
Mean it’s Super Bowl week in Vegas I think that was a pretty good strategic move they’re probably gonna get a bunch of celebrities and and have they may actually get a little bit of traction this week coming up no certainly they they’re taking the initiative there’s a there’s some Forward Thinking going on
There for sure they’re they’re trying to grow this product um I I don’t think it’s ever going to sit well with your you know traditionalist it’s uh it’s too it’s too modern for that for sure um but I I will say that that the biggest takeaway was that that I did actually
Enjoy watching watching a lot of the golf all right well uh to each their own you’re you’re a live guy now maybe you should start covering live um what else from Farmers Farmers Insurance out at Tory Pines pavon wins Nikolai hoard was right there uh Steph joerger played
Great I I mean this guy just is knocking on the door I think Stephen jer’s got a win soon he’s won six times on the corn fairy tour and he can he’s continuing to put himself in position yeah he is M matter of time for Stephen Jagger one of
Those guys that’s not scared to go out there and make a whole heap of birdies either shot of 58 on the corn fairy T and as you say yeah he’s won out there six times um yeah you know you put yourself in position enough times and unless you’re me you’re going to figure
It out that you’re going to win one of them is going to fall into your lap but uh yeah you know watched pavon make an absolute mess of that 18th hole until he made the putt you know missed the Fairway off the te shocking layup in the
Left rough just hit a miraculous shot out of the left rough got it in the correct quadrant of the green and made the 20-footer to win it you know the Tori is not everybody’s cup of tea that golf course but I will say this that they always provides an exciting finish
It does it really does even even Saturday Thomas dietry who had a good week at Pebble as well picking where picking up where he like left off I mean he spun that ball back front right pin on Saturday on 18 lands it way behind the hole rips it back into the hazard
Makes double plays his way out of the final group but really impressed with him coming back as quickly as he did last week to give himself a chance on Saturday to to to win at at bevel yeah he’s he’s another one of those guys has hasn’t won but uh again just an
Unbelievable talent I uh I saw a piece that Mark imman did that said you know watch watch this guy this guy’s he’s the real deal um you know there’s there’s so much depth at the moment there really is and a lot of depth is coming from that
DP World Tour you know there’s a a lot of guys we talked about it earlier we’ve touched on it pretty deeply that those guys coming over here are really really good they are indeed speaking of really really good you and I had the pleasure of being in South Florida the week of
Farmers uh Tuesday Wednesday played a little outing for um AIG Insurance put on by our friends at outlier uh we played Panther National new Jack Nicholas Justin Thomas Golf Course and then the next day we played the Park West Palm Beach Municipal Golf Course what were your uh what were your
Opinions of that place uh first of all I’ve got to say that outlier just do an unbelievable job Tim Aronson uh Mike Ryan you know I mean Mike Ryan was down there doing a reconnaissance mission trying to find the correct golf courses for these guys to play it’s you know
He’s not one of those guys that makes a couple phone calls and asks you know you guys open this day you guys open this day he went down there looked at all the golf courses and found some ones that he thought would be fun for these guys to
Play and I tell you what you you said it he found an absolute gem there in the park that place is so cool and uh you know the further I get removed from playing competitive golf the more I’m all about the vibe and you know from the
Time you walk into that place I know we’re both maybe a little bit jaded that morning but you you walk into that place and it’s just so cool the the range is awesome that that is a time for the music music to be going you know that’s
Uh at a place like that you know great bar area lit path three golf course and then and then the big course itself is just phenomenal yeah putting course as well kind of like Himalayas or fleo at Pinehurst you Gil Hance came in this this was a municipal golf course that
Was about to get um destroyed and have condos or Housing Development built on it and it was a group of uh sort of wealthy golfers from that the Palm Beach area benefactors so to speak that said no no no we want to make this a golf
Course Gil H came in gave his time for free and and built uh I mean it felt kind of like you’re playing down in the sand belt in Australia uh I didn’t lose a golf ball all day you know how badly I’ve driven it I lost a bunch at Panther National
The day before you could play the ball on the ground this one guy I played with both days I bet he shot 120 at Panther National and he shot 88 the next day it’s like they are walking only with Cates at am mun before I think it’s 12:30 or 1:00 so they’re teaching
Teaching people like the real values of the game walkability playability uh I can’t say enough good things you know we’ve have had the fortune to play a lot of golf courses and there’s a lot that I play that I’m like I don’t know that I ever really want to come back and play
This one uh walking away from the park I couldn’t wait to go back next time I’m in South Florida it is a stop for sure for me I I just like you said the the whole vibe of the place was great they’ve got a great logo which you’re
Sporting right now looks like and uh yeah I I can’t wait to go back yeah they they had a girl walking around doing social media with everybody and uh you know one of the questions was you know what does this place remind you of and you nailed it right there it’s it does
You feel like you’re in Australia you feel like you’re in the sand belt you’re playing Royal Melbourne Metropolitan um you know one of those Kingston Heath one of those golf courses down that sand Bel in the bunkering was phenomenal and as you say it’s the the playability is
Absolutely perfect Gil Hance nailed it and did it for free which is unbelievable um but you know every single guy from that group and I think we ended up with what 40 of us plus yep every single guy said you know what I would play the park any day over Panther
National and panther National is great it was fun it was it was different as you mentioned I I don’t care if i’ never play it again but uh I thought that uh I thought that the park just everything they did was spot on and and you I know we’ve talked about
This it got me thinking immediately on the flight back I was like Wow Charlotte golf where we both live Charlotte North Carolina the public golf isn’t great um we’ve got a few municipals they’re just they’re just not built great what’s that it’s bad public golfing sha it’s bad
It’s terrible it’s bad and the the courses are built on on tough pieces of land um so I’m wearing my Doc’s Hill hat which is over off that city-owned driving range off of South Boulevard where Rob Collins came in and built a wild putting green it’s called dock Hill
After my dad and they have a driving range there and it’s operated by the first T of Charlotte my brother and another friend Jonathan isy are on the board of the first Tia Charlotte and we have looked at places like I don’t know if you’ve been to Sunset Hills up north
Of town they’ve got 27 holes and kind of an interesting piece of property we’ve had Rob Collins come and look to see if anything likes that possible but it is time something needs to happen in Charlotte if we could have you know a tenth of the vibe of the park uh in West
Palm what how much that would grow the the game here in town and the way that you know youth can go out and play for free if you’re a city resident it’s only 30 bucks for a round if if you live in West Palm Beach at the park and and I
Just think that it’s it’s time for Charlotte to to get it act together and do something cool like that yeah you know the the one public golf course that we did have that was fairly decent was Ballentine golf club and and that got dug up to put put office blocks out
There um I know they haven’t completed everything yet but it’s it’s a shame they just really is no good option as far as public golf goes here and you know when all the initiatives are talking about growing the game well you’ve got to have you’ve got to have AA
Availability if you want to do that and I I I love to hear the fact that guys are looking at places I I don’t know much about Sunset Hills I know where it is um it it’s just as you say it’s time it really is and it doesn’t even have to
Be like the idea of an 18-hole golf course that model it doesn’t matter you could if if the land if you could build a cool driving range maybe a putting course and have 12 fantastic golf holes there’s nothing wrong with that if you need to play 18 you just maybe Loop one
Of the sixes again I just think that we need to start thinking outside of the box uh cord in town is one of the one of the best public golf courses it’s just nine holes that’s where the main first te chapter is and I mean it’s fun i’
I’ve played there with my son like we we’ll Loop it twice if we have to um but I think we need to kind of think outside the box as far as land and Charlotte because there’s just not that much of it in town to to build anything new and
We’ve got to look at the properties we have and make them as good as they possibly can be yeah that’s that’s right you know it doesn’t necessarily have to be an 18 hole golf course anymore I mean we we’ve both been to places like a hoopie you know you you obviously
There’s a bunch of different t- boxes that you can play and that’s going to cost so much less than coming in and building extra golf holes you know you build a t- box here and there and you change the routing a little bit it becomes more fun to play that way um
Again I think you nailed it they we’ve got to start thinking a little bit outside the box and and I I think we need to do something pretty soon honestly in the Charlotte area like it is it’s time now it’s definitely time and the park just to show everybody that
Hasn’t been there how good it is uh they are having the next Capital One the match I think it’s uh JT H Rory hom Rory H with Lexi Thompson and uh Rose Zang I mean this is going to be incredible Under The Lights highlight this great piece of property with you
Know four the best players in the world it’s going to be must-watch television which I I don’t think any of those matches have been but I’ll be watching this one intently yeah you know they and they they’ve already hosted an underrated event out there you know that
We’re involved in with a five clubs um you know Steph Curry’s put his name behind that underrated tour they’ve hosted events out there and uh you know just the more the more this golf course can get showcased the better because it really is a gem it is a gem indeed
Brendan you got anything else uh from Pebble or or Tori no WX nothing else from those um I got to say though that I really am looking forward to this week it’s uh it’s a different one the uh the Waste Management Phoenix Open it is a different one you go from everything
That is Pebble the traditionalists to everything opposite which is now the Waste Management Phoenix Open and it continues to get bigger and bigger and uh you always hear stories coming out from uh from that week some some good some bad but uh yeah it’s uh it’s it’s
Always a fun one to talk about yeah there’s a good uh there’s a good story talking to a cop a few years back playing that event I was like what what’s the what’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve had to stop going on here at this event and he basically said I
I’m pulling you know couples out of portons that are hooking up in portons around 16 and that I know I I went into the Porton discussion earlier uh I think that’s the I think I’d rather do what I did in the PTO John than try to make
That happen in that situation uh yeah that would uh that wouldn’t be the most comfortable but uh yeah there’s there’s always some interesting stories there and obviously we we know that 16th hole it just keeps getting bigger and bigger that grand stand seems to get higher and
Higher and uh well sat Saturday there is always a spectacle that’s for sure golf Central’s got a set uh they’ll be live from 16 it looks sweet I made a push to to get that week I I’ve always wanted to go back not playing in that tournament
But it didn’t happen this year I was happy to get out to Pebble um all right I’m going to make my pick for the week uh I’m going a little off theall I’ve been riding the Justin Thomas bandwagon I I still I wish I could pick him but I
Think we only get to pick a guy four times a year um I’m not picking Justin Thomas I’m going with a guy who’s had tremendous success around this place uh darn near won it his rookie year two years ago I’m going with the the Pepperdine I don’t even know their
Mascot but I’m going with sah thala they’re the the waves aren’t they something like that it sounds right yeah I it sounds right um yeah it’s a good yeah he got extremely unlucky there as rookie you had a great t-shot on 17 got a shocking bounce ended up going left
Into that into that Hazard and came up a little bit short um I’m not going off the wall I am I’m going to go straight down the line here with uh a guy that has won the last two editions of the Waste Management Phoenix Open um I’m
Gonna go with Scotty Sheffer for a three peat I uh I I think he obviously loves that place he’s figured out how to make some putts around there so I’m going with him and by the way he had an incredible Friday performance um at at Pebble kind of just was stuck in neutral
All day Saturday but still finished like seventh sixth I mean he’s ridiculous U Justin Thomas my pick from last week also finished sixth uh and I was debating between him and Jason day they ended up tying so uh looks like I was making the same decision either way who did you have last
Week um oh I had Jordan SP how’d that go uh a little bit lower than seventh it was he was a little soft out there for him he made some comments early in the week about it being a putting contest is as as soft as it was so that I I wanted him
But uh I I saw the riding on the wall there I don’t think he was he was in it um all right uh who you got in the Super Bowl I’m taking the Chiefs are you I’m going uh going completely against you going going with the ners um I’d like to
See Christian mcaffrey get a Super Bowl um I think it’s going to be a great game though I really do I’m with you I want to see Christian mcaffry I’d like to see the ners win but uh I like Tom Brady I’ve learned not to bet against Patrick Mahomes yeah it’s uh
It’s probably a pretty good recipe don’t bet against him um but yeah just hoping for a really good game well that’ll do it for this episode of the wagu filet show thank you guys for listening and we’ll uh catch up with you after the Phoenix Open
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