Our friend Mark Carnevale joins Fairways of Life ahead of the 2024 PLAYERS Championship, where he will be on the course providing live coverage for PGA Tour LIVE (streaming on ESPN+)
Our Guest is Mark carnavale the 1992 Arnold Palmer award recipient that is for the Rookie of the Year Carney we appreciate you taking the time to join us this morning have you had a chance to to see what the the weather forecast is expected to be for the next few days
Anything crazy coming our way I don’t think so maybe some possible rain over the weekend but uh I I really haven’t uh really paid much it’s better than the Outlook when I when I was down in Orlando it looked like there was a good chance of rain Thursday through Sunday
Uh and now and it’s kind of diminishing and going off so that’s uh that’s key for this golf course uh as they uh really protect it throughout the year which I understand but they try to get it in the top shape as possible and little would I know having not been out
There a lot but I was out there and I’ve seen the seen sort of the overseed and everything uh in the last uh over the last three or four weeks it it looks like it’s going to be spectacular and I know they’re going to do everything they
Can uh to get this uh this golf course which they tend to do every year in just the best shape these players will find throughout the year yeah I’m curious about a sharper definition of what that means in terms of how they get the golf course uh what do you anticipate once we
Get to Thursday obviously what do you anticipate in terms of the length of the rough and if it’s going to be dry as that forecast just showed us it would would say to me that they’re going to continue to speed up the golf course is that all in the
Recipe I I think so that’s what they would like they want this golf course to play play fast and that means the fairways and the green complexes I think the other thing Matt over the years one of the things about TPC Saw Grass and what Pete Dy uh his design and we know
That he makes you think of other things than what you’re what you’re looking at uh when they I don’t think you’re going to see the the rough certainly not as long as we saw last week what they want is they want the rough and and in my understanding through over the years
They want the rough long enough where you have to think about taking a chance so you know it’s not going to be like we see at Augusta it’s going to be a little longer than that but when you hit it in there they want you to take some risks
And uh I think that’s what where this go course becomes a big challenge is is when you do that because as we know uh there there’s so much trouble around this golf course and I think that that’s what they’re going to try to get it to
And that’s what it looked like it was again the last time I was out on the golf course uh just kind of driving around was about three weeks ago and uh it looks like you know they’re going to be able to do that and the fact that we
Haven’t had a lot of rain over that time period uh is certainly going to help I I want to talk to you more about the golf course coming up in just a moment and I know you’re heading out there today to get a look at it uh but first what will
Your responsibilities be this week Mark how can we see and hear what you’re doing I’ll be on I’ll be doing PJ tour Live this week I’ll be on the course uh on stream to and uh I know on Thursday and Saturday I’ll be out with 8 for 18
In the morning and then I’ll do nine with a group in the afternoon and on Friday and Sunday I’ll just do 18 in the morning so it’s a busy week as always it’s it’s an exciting week and uh it’s going to be a lot of fun out there
Featured group coverage in from Mark carnavale coming up so uh Carney before we get into the specifics of this week I know we touched on it just a little bit but as I promise you I will Circle back around to it again as well uh the commissioner will be speaking at 11: am
This morning if if Mark carnavale was the commissioner of the of golf at large not just the PGA Tour how would you describe the state of the game right now confused uh I think there’s a lot of uncertainty uh I think that uh I mean I
Live here in poner beach mat and I’ve been a member of the tour since 1992 uh I don’t have any idea what’s going on I have heard a couple of things that I think they’re trying to to get the players to understand and not not that they ever thought it wasn’t but
Obviously each of these players are their own businesses but I think one of the things they’re trying to get the players to buy into and understand is that the PJ tour in general is a business and obviously for years and years and years it’s been a uh you know
A a 501c3 and I may be wrong about the actual uh clarification but it’s been a charitable uh organization and I think one of the things that you know with everything that they’re doing and again I don’t have any uh you know words verbatim from anybody but I I know that
What I’ve heard them talk about and I’ve heard different people talk about is that they’re trying to get the players to understand that this truly is a business and it needs to be profitable and and and I think that’s part of it but in my opinion the best players in
The game have to play together I I I think that’s what uh sort of separates golf uh from some some other sports at times uh certainly you have but but when you have all these events you want the best to play together now the issue you have again is you’ve got players who
Were loyal to the PJ tour and you’ve got players that went to live and again I as I’ve said many times I have no problem was someone doing that but there are ramifications with every decision uh I think that the biggest thing for me now is there seems to be a
Downtrend uh in the fans uh as far as uh you know their interest in the game and I think there’s you for the longest time Matt gol was sort of immune from all the uh I want to say not not the bickering but kind of the small stuff that a lot
Of the other professional sports have have dealt with and and now with you know with with what uh Liv has done uh in paying these players a lot of money to go play golf I think it has turned a lot of fans off and that’s my opinion I
Don’t know if stats or information backs that up but that’s what I hear from a lot of people uh Mark I’m curious when commissioner Monahan speaks to imedia today from your perspective as a winner on the PGA tour as a mentioned the Arnold Palmer Ward recipient what would you like to hear in
A perfect world what would you like to hear from the commissioner today I I want to hear some sort of outline what what they have planned now they’ve had again they’ve had a lot of time to go through this and then you when the commissioner made the announcement last June at the RBC
Canadian open uh there was a there was it was a very undefined uh in in my opinion a very undefined uh outline of what was going to happen going forward uh I think players and myself as a as still a member of the PJ tour want to understand
What they hope to have happen you know is there is there a path uh to what they want to accomplish uh there just needs to be more definition in my mind all right Rory mroy had some comments I’m going to in fact play them for you in just a second to get your
Reaction about making Fields smaller and making it even more Elite it was met with a variety of different responses so let’s go back to what Rory said just a couple days ago I’m all for making it more Cutthroat more competitive um I’m like probably won’t be very
Popular for saying this but I’m all for Less players and less T cards and the you know the best of the best why wouldn’t I speak my mind I guess um you ask me my opinion and I give it to you I’m not going to stand up here and lie to
You I guess my thing is I’m I’m all for more Cutthroat to more competitive and and trying to give Pathways to the younger generation so through corn faery through PJ turu through like I’d rather have have more of a like yeah instead of I feel like there’s a lot of
Categories on tour that you know people are sort of still benefiting off what they did like 5 or 10 years ago yeah and like I I feel like the the most competitive professional golf tour in the world you should have to come out and prove yourself year year after year
After year yeah so I would say you know take the best events from all over the world and and try to create something through that because those events still have history and Legacy and tradition and all the things that are still very important in golf I think you know there’s been some
Experiments with you know creating new tournaments under nothing and I don’t know if they’ve really captured the imagination um of of the general public and and that’s that’s what you want you want to like why is the Masters the Masters why is why is this tournament
This tournament why is why why are the more historical tournaments the ones that are revered so much in our game it’s because they have history and people remember Ben Hogan winning or Jack Nicholas or these guys and it’s all about trying to trying to bridge the I guess trying to
Bridge the the present back to the past and the people that came before us and you know I think that that’s important all right so Mark carnavale I’m curious what your reaction is to the words of Rory maroy there well I I don’t I can’t remember if
I said this on your show or not Matt but I think ultimately the the resolution of all this is almost to create like a premier league of gol uh I think you maybe the numbers whatever number you come up with whe whether it’s
70 80 60 uh I I think if you’re going to do that and Rory mentioned the the events around the world uh and I don’t know the the number whether it’s 10 whether it’s 12 because then you would include uh the major events I think the one the one solution
For something like that uh is that you have this Premier League of golf and what’s your doing and as he was talking about all these different tours they all feed into one thing so you’ve got the PJ tour over here you got the DP World Tour
Over here and I think you’re gonna a solution a possible solution is that basically say you take a number of 20 players that get if you had 70 players uh 20 players get relegated every season and 10 players off the DP World Tour and 10 players off the PGA Tour that come
And go and and you know players have an opportunity to work themselves up there now you know do you decide that those top players are based on world ranking I don’t know I think certainly players that have done things over the year are important but there’s other ways to to
To give them uh access like like Rory was saying if I see that as the only way if you end up combining everything Matt and again I have no information that this is true or not this is I think this is the reality of the game if want the
Top players to play all the time I think that would be something that that might exist or the possibility exists uh I understand that it was funny I was out at the Genesis um and of I I worked the peble beach I work Genesis I work B Hill and I
Was talking to one uh you one of the tournament referees uh and I said you know when I was playing I wouldn’t like the fact that there were 70 players and there was a cut but broadcasting it’s pretty good when it’s a smaller field and you know is it
More competitive I don’t know I I think we haven’t seen it enough like Rory says uh we don’t know if it’s going to be competitive enough but I think if if ultimately there is some resolution to getting the best players back together to play on a on a regular basis I I it
Wouldn’t shock me if there’s something along those lines yeah I mean for me Carney the thing that I’m not as comfortable with is that there there seems to be a general uh train of thought right now in the game that the top players the stars of the game were almost Born Into the
Position and do a certain extent that the that the FedEx Cup points and these Signature Events are structured in such a way that that the rich get richer uh I I think your comments about the the the pathways for other players well founded because part of the thing that I find
Enjoyable in the game of golf is watching the ascent of young players now we’ve seen that with Dunlap we we’ve seen that with Jake knap but those are outliners those those are are the rare ones that we get a chance to see and and I hope that there are opportunities
Where we can see players evolve I hope that there are opportunities where we can see larger Fields I hope there are opportunities where there’s there’s more equity in terms of the point distribution because I think it’s hard to win on the PGA tour regardless of where they’re at uh and and to that
Point even when we’re talking about this massive sum of money that came in from the group called the Strategic Sports Group they’re talking about a huge sum of of whether it’s that amount of money or the potential second $ 1.5 billion doar going towards a very very small
Group of stars I understand why they’re doing it because they want to make it attractive to them in the marketplace when they can make other choices as you duly noted but I’m wondering let’s go back to where you were you mentioned it when you were playing actively when you were out there
As a guy that was grinding it out to see how much is being invested in just the top guys uh at some point don’t you look at it and say well you know what happens if if I don’t have the opportunities how am I going to be able to evolve to the
Point where I can compete at the same level as those guys it just it seems to me with all due respect that there’s a level imbalance I absolutely agree with you Matt uh when I played this game it was never for the money I I mean I loved it
And obviously I made a living off it and now I make a living off of that based on what I had done and the and the ability and the certainly the confidence that people have in having me uh work as a broadcaster the thing that scares me is
That it’s becoming more of a greed thing I think and that’s you know as I mentioned that before I think that’s what’s turning maybe some golf fans off um it’s it’s going to be a challenge as to how they how they do this uh as as I
Said it’s it’s you know I mean even myself I mean I’m sitting there and you know the announcement made and okay we’re going to try to take care of the guys that are out here and then the future guys but you know think about the people that have made helped make the
Tour mold the tour to what it is uh that’s important I think we can’t we can’t get away from what golf represents as far as a a facilitator for for Charities and and and the raising of money for Charities because I think that’s what separated G for such a long
Time uh over the years all these tournaments generated money for their communities uh which is something that having been a tournament director I understand a lot more than a lot of players understand and to me that was an important part of it and I think when it comes entirely about
Money uh it loses something it’s it loses some of its uh character I think it loses some of its passion and again I have no problem I mean the best players in the world are are just phenomenal and they do so many things and each of these players do so
Many things to benefit people but what I don’t want to just see that it becomes beneficial to them because that’s in and maybe that’s not the right word I mean as a whole I want it to be extremely beneficial but when it becomes so selfish uh it it you start to look like
All the other sports and that’s what I I don’t want I mean there you’re always there’s always a changing environment there’s always a changing uh you know sort of uh definition and and focus of what you know who are we trying to attract and and obviously you know life
Is evolved the world has evolved in a lot of different areas but that’s what the purity of the game of golf I just I don’t want to see that go and and I just have a I have a fear that with with what I would consider some
Greed uh I mean how much is enough at what point how much is enough um uh it’s it’s entertainment and I understand trying to put a a dollar value on the entertainment and I think that’s very important but I just don’t want the game of golf to lose what I truly think it
Represents uh Carney when we look at a sampling of people who have won this year on the PGA tour it goes to what I was saying in terms of Ascension and the fun that I have and watching it happen but the variety from you know Nick Nick
Dunlap to Jake knap a Matthew Pavone a Nick Taylor Austin eek root uh young players or firsttime winners however you want to Define it uh some people that have come back after having not won in a long time like Grayson Murray uh yeah maybe it’s a reflection of diluted
Fields on the PGA tour that these other players can break through but again uh we didn’t Define that that’s the currence of where the the game is right now the players are going out and teeing up and playing the best they can against the field that they’re facing uh but it
Is it is a great deal of variety I guess the the the simplest way to ask you is is what do you think’s happening on the PGA tour right now that we’re getting introduced or reintroduced to so many faces I think they’re a lot of good players out there and it continues I
Think all those Pathways that we talked about uh I mean I mean nap I mean what a what an unbelievable Story I mean the kid qualified uh at at the farmers as as back in 2015 and he’s playing he was finished top top five there and he goes
On to win in Mexico I think it provides hope that for for people that love this game and are passionate about golf that yes even though maybe you’re not a you’re not you’re not a Macaro or a sheffler there are opportunities and I think that’s the beauty of the game and
That’s the beauty of of the PJ tour because you don’t get that over at live uh I mean you get these stories I mean I had to I had a chance uh obviously to follow Samy valami in in in Mexico who I had never really heard of and uh what a
What a great story that is and uh Nikolai hoard and it just golf provides so many Avenue you mentioned Nick Dunlap and in the stories look there were a lot of the top players in the world in those fields that those those guys won so I
Mean how do you had he is separated and say well they haven’t earned the right to play in those bigger events I think that’s the problem is but that’s to me that’s always been the beauty of the PJ tour and what the tour has done through
Corn fairy and and and the PJ tour Americas and everything and and I think as I’ve mentioned to you I think the PJ tour University is an unbelievable uh Avenue for players to get to the tour I mean ludig Ober who who again we’ve seen what he can do uh
And they’re going to continue to come from there and and I think that’s so important and it’s you know back when they had qualifying you know the the full qualifying matter you always you know I guess you could probably call me one of those you know sort of Cinderella
Stories because you know I didn’t play a lot of Amer golf Growing Up played collegiately and it took me a long time to get to the PJ tour those stories create interest in the game and yes fans love the top players but they also like those stories and we’re seeing a lot of
Them this year and I think it’s absolutely wonderful carne is it too soon to ask you who you might be assigned to do you have any uh sense of what groups you’ll be following yet well I know for sure in the afternoon on Thursday I’ll be out with Scotty
Sheffler Fowler and Justin Thomas is that I can’t remember um yeah I know that the main feed will be on uh uh Victor havin Rory maroy and Jordan spe in the morning and I think I’m either going to be with the Sam Burns sofl group and Fleetwood or the ludwiig oberg
And the can’t lay and Adam Scott it’s it’s one of those two groups I think I’ll be with in the morning but I know in the afternoon I’ll be out with Scotty Ricky Fowler and Justin Thomas that sounds very very cool it sounds like a lot of fun and for those
Of you that are answering the question of the day I can give you this assessment that for the vast majority of you you feel as though it’s going to come down to the following uh first position Scotty sheffler second is Victor hin and third is Max hom so
Carney I I want to pick your brain from a philosophy standpoint about this golf course it’s it’s taking me years to come to terms with it I struggle a lot with of many Pete D designs uh and my curiosity about this golf course is that what is is the philosophy can
You describe a philosophy for it and I I I’m not sure how to ask this fairly but is the golf course actually fair to play is it more of a mental chess game than it is the physical act of putting the ball where you have to well first I need
To clarify I have I have very much a LoveHate relationship with TPC yeah saw grass Stadium Course uh it’s it is it is more of a chess game without question uh I I I can’t say that I’m a big fan of Pete Dy golf courses and I’m not a big
Fan of this golf course in the sense of I don’t really like to play it it just it beats you up but at the same time I think it’s a great venue for this competition because if you look over the history M there’s no consistent sort of
Uh uh what do you say it uh you know a mark of the player that wins uh it’s so it’s a what what I would say is as I said it’s a chess match it is it is about diversion or you know how how Pete Dy makes you look away from what
You need to do uh Pete Dy has always made you challenge the the the trouble in order to be successful on this golf course uh there are so many T’s on this golf course that points you away from where you really need to hit the golf ball uh
It’s such a vision ual Challenge and what that does throughout throughout a round of golf is it beats you up mentally and you you have to remain focused but what I what I have learned over the years and this is a case with a lot of golf coures Matt you have to play
This backwards you have to go you have to start at the green complexes and you know these players and caddies have an idea where where the whole locations will be for all all four rounds I mean they’re pretty similar over the years and then you play back back from that
You play uh so if if the location say for example uh and I’m trying to just uh you know pick a a good hole um uh maybe you know 14 and it’s a back left hole location uh you have to challenge the right side in those mounds and Mogul
But at the same if you get too far right then you get in those mounds and Mogul and it becomes a challenge where if it’s maybe a front right hole location you can challenge left side there uh that’s what I that’s what I tell anyone I’ve ever known that’s played this golf
Course any any players I’ve talked to that really haven’t played here much you really have to go from green to Fairway to T in order to figure out I think how to play this golf course successfully uh is it you know have long hiters won here absolutely have short hitters one year
Absolutely guys I would I would consider him short but shorter than than the norm uh I will say this uh over the years I think iron players good good ball Strikers and and players that hit a lot of greens and regulation uh tend to succeed here you
Have to have a not only a great short game but you have to have a great short game imagination around this golf course uh but I will say this that if you look at the history and you know whatever Stacks you want to do and I’m I’m not a
Strokes gain guy and I’ll be the first one to tell you that but if you look at Fairways hit greens and regulation if you look through the years the players that have won here I think have probably been the ones who have played uh have
Have led or been tops to the lead in all those categories fascinating it’s actually a brilliant explanation Carney and you and you’ve modified some of my thinking on this I am excited to see the way that that plays out amongst the various players and one of the thoughts that
Just popped in my mind as you’re describing all this is that and this is probably something that I would guess that bookies never take into account but how important a veteran caddy would be on a player’s shoulder and their relationship to listen to that caddy that’s going this is a deception here
Here’s the line that you really should be thinking about on that that point of focus yeah I mean without question uh it is uh it is a challenge uh I mean I play it with with guys I mainly don’t play it until after the tournament is over because from October when they overseed
Through the tournament it’s all C path only and even though I love golf I don’t love golf that much to go out there and walk from the cart under the because it’s a hard go course to walk that way I mean I to play that way I didn’t I say
That jokingly because I don’t play as much anymore Maddie but uh it it is a challenge and again I I I respect Pete D to the utmost uh his imagination with design I give him that I I just don’t happen to be a fan of Pete die golf hes
Uh because I just think at times it’s it’s too penal uh I mean they still and I and I hated the fact they went back to some of these bunkers on this golf course Maddie that I could barely get into and now you’ve got to actually make
A swing out of them but that’s his trait that’s you know you saw that up at Whistling straights you see it a lot of some of his other golf courses and and and look like anything else like players that used to complain about the US Open
With the way it was set up you don’t have to play here if you don’t want to I mean no one’s making you play but of course if you’re a tour player and you’re member of the PJ tour and you want to be successful in this game
You’re gonna play and you just have to deal with it and you need to find a way uh that you’re able to play your best yeah I mean I I I agree with you in in concept with everything that you described in terms of architectural philosophy and design my my personal
Feeling is that the easiest Golf Course to design is the hardest Golf Course to play basically what you do is you take away options and uh there there is some element of that there and I think that’s kind of why I like the way you described kind of
A LoveHate relationship I do have tremendous respect for what you describe from the chess game perspective but there is elements of it that I think are like nah depending on some circumstances and conditions that you get the options are taken away which which makes it a
Little less fun but having said all that and and you duly explaining that any any player of any ability at at the level that these players are at uh can grasp the brass ring this week I’m going to ask you the difficult question okay well
I I’ll give you three to to broaden the Spectrum but give me three players that you think are going to potentially win this week well I think we could in the history of this event have the first back-to-back winner in Scotty Sheffer uh I followed him uh three days last
Weekend and just I mean we know his his number one ranked player in the world uh there’s so much to Scotty Sheffer that I don’t think we truly understand and what makes him such a good player um it’s it’s hard to it’s you know and it’s I’ve got to know his family and
Everything and I and I understand a lot more about him I I I think he’s maybe one of the most grounded people uh that has played this game uh I mean certainly you’d say that about Jack Nicholas and and but there’s just something about Scotty sheffler and a lot of these
Players and I’m not I’m not saying no one else has this there’s there’s a humbleness to him and his his understanding that he is playing this game for a living and he’s he’s he’s darn good at it and he wants to win every time he’s out there but also the
Understanding that when he’s off a golf course you know it’s it’s about his family and uh you I asked him after he won last week Maddie and he and his wife married are are going to have their first child in a little over a month at the end of
April and uh you know I asked them I said you know you you you went out here you’ve done all this but you’re going to be a father and and he just you know he kind of smiled and and uh it just and I’m not saying
I’m again I’m not trying to single him out from anyone else but I just I don’t know if it’s through uh you know my family and I’ve seen how families interact and how his uh I there’s something very special about this guy obviously he’s an unbelievably talented golfer and that’s
And that’s what’s you know when you hear all this chatter about his putting and all this and I I just I just kind of blow that off but certainly I I think he you know he’s obviously the favorite uh but I think he’s capable of becoming the first back you know back-to-back winner
Here in this history not multiple winner we’ve had numerous multiple winners but the first back-to-back back winner uh I like uh you know what what uh what Dom said earlier I do like Jordan Speed uh I followed him last week for a couple of rounds uh it’s that the game is
Tightening up a little bit uh I think his imagination is what uh can help him on this golf course and I think Xander Schley who outside of his first event uh here when the first time he played here hasn’t had a lot of success but his ball
Striking is is so important and that’s something that I I think could eventually carry him to a victory here awesome stuff Carney I I tell you we cannot wait to see and hear your work which will start from Thursday morning PGA Tour live which you can find on ESPN
Plus thank you so much for your time I’m looking forward to you joining me after the players when we’re back on Golf Channel again to recount everything that you saw and heard from the week that was but for the week that lies in store we’re as I mentioned very much looking
Forward to what you do because you are excellent at it thank you for your time M anytime my friend see you next week
