Houston Open shows how badly PGA Tour needs ‘villains’ | Golf Channel Podcast

In this week’s edition, the guys debate Scottie Scheffler’s woulda-coulda-shoulda week in Houston, discuss if the Tour needs more polarizing villains, and lay out Chris DiMarco’s tone-deaf comments about being underpaid. #GolfChannel #PGATour #Golf

Chapters:
0:00: Scottie Scheffler comes up just short in his bid for 3 in a row
05:00: Is Scottie’s Masters week made easier or harder now?
09:45: The perils of being the lone reporter in the flash area
12:00: Alejandro Tosti makes his presence felt in Houston
17:00: Polarizing personalities are really good for the game
24:00: Speaking of villains … hello, again, Chris DiMarco
33:30: Wrapping up the rest of the week’s winners, San Antonio preview
38:00: Easter Sunday for Rex & Lav … including one golden egg
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Houston Open shows how badly PGA Tour needs ‘villains’ | Golf Channel Podcast
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Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav happy Easter Sunday Monday if that’s when you are listening to and watching us Steph jger won uh in Houston on Sunday and that’s we’re celebrating we will get to that but to me Rex the biggest stories of

This Sunday were Scotty sheffler and Alejandro toasty Scotty sheffler if you guys missed it for some reason had a five footer on the last hole that would have put him in a playoff against Steven joerger Miss low said afterward that he was disappointed but that he misread the

Putt in any case Scotty sheffler finished one shot shy in his bid to win three PJ tour events in a row of feet that had not been accomplished since Justin Johnson in 2017 Rex what’s your read on Scotty’s Sunday as well as his entire week in htown do we think is that

Really it that the 72 hole is what cost him that title because I mean that’s that’s being a total we’re going to distill the entire tournament no no one short capsule it would be Scotty sheffer’s 5 foot miss that would have forced the playoff oh I completely disagree it was whatever

Happened on 15 on Saturday when it spun back off the green and left him shocked and then he ends up making a double bogey there on the par three and then whatever happened on the 18th hole on Friday where he three putts from five and a half feet whatever the case may be

And ends up making a six on a par four I think those two things factor into it and this goes to like I was Sting sitting waiting for you to send out the the streamyard link and I was thinking to myself that we have talked about this

For the last couple weeks the idea that I I find Scotty sheffer’s game entertaining because of its Brilliance because I mean if you’re not entertained by it you’re probably not a huge fan of golf I I would counter however what we saw this weekend was his normal

Brilliance you look at his stats and he’s right up at the top of the field Strokes G TD green Strokes g off the green Strokes gain approach all the things he does well but he threw in I mean for lack of a better term a little

Bit of Jordan Speed where he would just have those moments this week that we I’m just not used to seeing out of Scotty Sheffer where he just makes these lapses that you don’t anticipate him doing especially when he’s in contention if you think about just those two holes

That I mentioned that’s essentially four strokes right there he wins by three Strokes if he just pars those two holes and we can sit here and play the what F game probably with everybody in the field but when it comes to Scotty Sheffer that was a level of and I I went

Back and read transcript tonight because I was curious to see what the mood was going to be like and I think he wasn’t hung up on the 72nd hole from what he said in the transcript it was look I hit what I thought was a line it was just a

Misread it happens and you know I felt like I hit a good putt it wasn’t a push it wasn’t a pull I think as a as a professional you can walk away and have some sort of solace in that the part that gets me is now of a sudden he’s

Going to throw out a Jordan Speed hole every once in a while like that to me is interesting it was definitely a weird week you know not just the three putt from six feet on Friday the ended his streak of of underpar rounds in the PJ

Tour as you mentioned he had the double on 15 uh on Saturday when he ripped it off the front edge like how did that possibly happen type thing he had a horrible Miss again on 15 on Sunday with with just a wedge I mean he’s missing 75

Feet what’s that 25 yards yeah right of his Target with a with a wedge like you never see Scotty sheffler do that and then he failed to get up and down just a couple of of really strange shots and uncharacteristic misses just just a little bit untidy and a couple course management

Mistakes missing shortsighted that you just don’t expect to see Scotty sheffler make and so my my takeaway from Scotty’s week wasn’t necessarily the Miss in the 72 hole it wasn’t necessarily the putt on Friday it wasn’t the wedge on Saturday to me this was Scotty sheffer’s

Probably his C game maybe his B minus game and yet he’s and yet still could have should have would have won the Houston open for three at row and heading into the masters with a headful of steam you look at the stats I mean he

Was 13th off the te he was six in approach he was 15 of of 24 chances which scrambling which is not uh exactly Scotty sheres and he was one of the last in the field in putting on Sunday and yet he still could have should have what

Won the golf tournament uh that to me is my biggest takeaway Rex I’m not worried at all as it comes to Sky Chef he’s still installed as a 9-2 favorite uh for the Masters in two weeks time I think Roy’s next at at 12 to1 but my question

To you does do you think it’s actually made Scotty’s task easier at Augusta that he didn’t win that he isn’t trying to go for I guess would have been his fourth in a row at the Masters knowing he is the prohibitive favorite I I I

Think the sake of argument I think he is the prohibitive favorite anyway but now it’s not you know Scotty Mania as it as was djes in 2017 before the the slip in the rental house oh I don’t think it’s any different than what we talked about

Last week I think your line was the idea that there’s the Scotty Sheffer category going into this Masters and then there’s probably the next tier down sorry schay for stealing your tiers but I mean he’s in his own tier and I would I would still agree with that if it was anybody

Other than Scotty sheffler that you asked me about is it better maybe if you do finish runner up in Houston and have a week’s rest and you show up at Augusta arrested I’d probably say yes but not with Scotty simply because he doesn’t seem to get very very low or very high

He always seems to sort of maintain this amazing level of calmness at least on the outside I’m sure there’s a lot of things going on on the inside but I’ve never seen him I I think and brandle was talking about this on The Telecast this afternoon about there was some

Frustration earlier in the week either with his putting or his ball striking or whatever the case may be you could clearly he could sense he did not have to your point his aame and still he puts himself right into it and reading his comments before he left left Houston I

Felt like he was probably happy just to have given himself a couple of opportunities and and I don’t even know if it would have made a difference had he won this week he would have celebrated the same way he always does has a hamburger with his family on

Sunday night and goes home and has coffee with his wife tomorrow morning and and that’s what he does I mean that that’s the celebration and I think that’s the beauty of Scotty sheffler I think it gives him something to work on because I think Randy Smith his swing

Coach’s line last week was the idea that no there’s nothing to do and I can see Brandy saying it like we I don’t have anything I can tell him he’s literally just maintaining yeah yeah so at this point it probably if nothing else allows him to maybe focus a little bit harder

Than he would have otherwise if he was coming off his third consecutive win it’s probably hard to go back to the Grind when you’ve won three straight tournaments but I don’t even know if Scotty needs that I think I think I mean for our purposes I think it adds a

Little bit of intrigue I’m already looking forward to to Tuesday morning or Tuesday afternoon whenever Scotty sheffler meets with the media because he is undoubtedly going to be asked once again about his putting and perhaps the idea that this that this new putter wasn’t some Sal for his game and that

It’s really just a Band-Aid like any he he may have said it was a misread on the 72nd hole it does not take you and I we we’re not Phil Kenyan and you can look at that stroke and say that was short and quick and that is why that that it

Missed left he is he is going to be asked again this is this is a a more General Sports media uh reporters were going to be in attendance for the Masters than have been the golf specific The Savvy golf media is that what you’re saying not not Savvy you and I it’s

Going to be yeah yeah like like you and I like I I anticipate five to 10 questions in regards to his putting uh and I don’t think had he won this golf tournament I think the questions I think I think the I mean five to 10 he’s goton

To get what 30 um I think the questions would have been much different I think it would have been historical comparisons to Tiger historical compar to the best runs we’ve seen in the past 5 10 15 years whether it was Rory whether it was uh DJ whether it was spe

Back in 2015 and 2017 like that’s the sort of heater that Scotty Sheffer is on I think now there’s at least a semblance of intrigue I’m not buying it but I think for the for the I think Scotty’s presser just got more interesting on Tuesday I’ll put it that

Way maybe and maybe a little bit more contentious because we know how much he loves to talk about his putting but you said like you said bottom half of the field he finished 37th in Strokes game putting that’s pretty much right in the middle of the field that made the cut

And you also look in round one he picked up more than two and a half Strokes on the field in round three he picked up over two strokes on the field now the other two rounds he gave away Strokes which is kind of a weird scenario where you’re having solid rounds bookended by

Not so solid rounds and I think that probably speaks to the inconsistency that he should probably be asked about but the fact of the matter is go back to Sunday at Bay Hill like he he was really really good on those greens he picked up

For one half Strokes on the on the field Strokes game puttying one by five you don’t have to be a genius I mean Friday Friday Friday’s stats are obviously skewed by the three putt from from six feet the three putt on the last hole yeah especially one and a half

Feet again I’m not trying to be Brody here I I think it’s kind of relative that yes that probably took a hit but he was still losing Strokes to the field long before he got to 18 and three puted from five and a half feet before we get

To Alejandro toasty because I did find him to be I talk about entertaining golf he was entertaining golf you and I traded a text and you hate it when I digress like this but I want to pull back the curtain a little bit you and I traded a text about Scotty’s answer to

His question from our colleague Andrew Bradley who’s a field producer extraordinaire super producer and and you and I tease Andrew all the time so the way this works there’s not nearly as many certainly golf riders or even Sports Riders as there used to be and so

A lot of times Andrew Bradley is the only point of entry for a player coming through the The Flash area which is where they do the interviews after the he’s the only one there asking questions if not as a tour media official and and sometimes Andrew can watch The Telecast

And comes up with good questions a lot of times he can’t he clearly had saw what happened with what happened with Scotty on the 18th hole and it and I’m I’m I’m bummed we can’t run this sound because it’s it’s pretty funny sound and

I just felt so bad like I had so much not not even empathy real sympathy because I’ve been there I’ve done this before where the the question completely was a very clunky question and and had Andrew had a little a bit more time I’m sure he would have come up with a better

Way of doing it but I felt so sorry for him just because of the way Scotty’s usually pretty good he suffers fools pretty well but he had no interest in that question and of course it gets aggregated everywhere the the tour sends it out on its own official account the

It in the it was like an eightc clip and it said reporter Co which is Andrew Bradley our field producer extraordinaire on 18 they are just kind of a little laps maybe on that last Putt and and Scotty is literally just coming off the golf course he he had have been

What three or four minutes removed yeah having that pretty shocking Miss which again ended a streak of I believe was 29 consecutive underpar rounds uh which is a record on on the PGA tour and Scotty just looks at him and says no I I do that I do that all

The time he watched me a lot so that happens a lot to me I wish we had Brad’s here to defend himself I don’t know if I don’t know if he soiled himself in the in the flash area you and I have both been in that position where it can be very awkward

And and the the athlete just kind of stares at you uh but but it happens uh and I’m glad that he took that bullet instead of us yeah better than us but yeah I feel I felt for you Andrew like much love much love appreciate you you

Taking that bullet just taking Strays in the in the sure I’m sure I’m sure Brads will join us at some point on the podcast this year I’ll be marking that down as something that we can talk to him about Rex you mentioned Alejandra tosy if you guys are unfamiliar with him

The 27-year-old Argentine very good player winning pedigree uh he was one of the more I think interesting players to come off the kft from 2023 into 2024 it has not been a very good season for H HRA toy in fact his best finish prior to

The Houston open was a t43 so he badly needed a week like he had in Houston and it was just about everything in Houston you can see obviously the raw power for a player who’s five foot six he led the field in driving distance garnering a

Lot of comps to to Jose Altuve uh the second base extraordinaire uh for the Houston Astros he’s a very fun player and he’s also a very fiery player Rex and I can’t help but think especially with the defections to live over the past couple years where they’ve really

They’ve really taken up a lot of the PJ tours jerks Alejandro toasty is exactly the sort of of four or Public Enemy or kind of player nuisance that the PJ tour desperately needs I thought it was a great week for him uh my arrows back pointing up you’re

Going to uh you’re going to make him a villain already I I was going to go the other way I I don’t see him as a I see already he has already been villainized um why just because of how years in the KF ious he is is that the

Idea I mean he got he got suspended last year on the kft for for kind of detrimental uh and it’s I I always find it interesting because whether you think of players who’ve been on the p over the past couple years who have kind of a a shoty reputation whether it’s Sergio Garcia

Whether it’s Bryson as Shambo whether it’s Patrick Reed whether it’s Terell Hatton it’s it’s very interesting that that some players poor behavior is always kind of excused away a as cute or comical or a little bit silly like remember when when Terell Hatton was like taking a shotgun and and doing like

The fake shotgun blast and he was he was flipping the bird to certain putts like and everyone everyone has a great laugh on social media and sometimes it’s it’s just kind of laughed off as as as childish or or immature to Toasties is is just pling explosive like like the

Tantrums that he throws at himself Tantrums he throws when the pace of play is not going well he got into a little bit of a tiff with Tony fow on Saturday one of the most well-liked that was hard for me to wrap my mind around yeah on

The PJ tour like he he has made no bones about he’s not there to make friends and that I his his college coach JC Deacon made a great point that it seems like he’s at War on the golf course but to me if you’re a fan that’s exactly what you

Want to see maybe not going so far as to being disrespectful Shing poor etiquette but but it’s just sort of the the fire and the passion on a tour that’s that’s large full of vanilla players like I loved it I love I love everything about it I mean we’ve sat here and talked

About this the last couple of weeks about and again I find Scotty Sheffer enjoyable to watch just because I like his brand of golf however he’s not very demonstrative I mean you have to look pretty hard as brandle did to try to find some level of emotion one way or

The other either he’s happy or he’s angry but you really have to dissect and get in there deep to try to find exactly what he’s feeling you don’t have to do that with toasty I mean it was there written on his face on every single hole and I realized like to be completely

Fair he is from Argent Argentina I’m guessing English is a second language for him however I I I love some of the comments and one of them was quote live it in my blood was what he said this afternoon he was kind of being asked about did you enjoy this Sunday and his

Line was I live it my blood now I I don’t know exactly what he means by that but I love the idea that yeah like that that’s great quote I have no idea what that means but that’s that’s that’s still a phenomenal quote and can’t wait quote unquote to revenge on finishing

Not not being able to win this on who stepen stepen jger does Steven yger need to watch his kneecaps or something I don’t even think it’s stepen jger I think it’s on the I think the golf Gods need to be looking over their shoulder to be honest with you uh yes Tito is

Getting a little angry right now because I’m talking about someone else other than him uh I think I think this has everything to do with him being angry at the golf gods they need to be looking over their shoulder and I don’t even know maybe I mean we’ll have to wait to

See where this plays out because I watched and enjoyed all of it uh not just today but you know watching him throughout the course of the week and almost to the point that I kind of had to go back and take a bit of a deep dive

On trying to figure out like what was his path to the PGA Tour and it it was very much unorthodox and he did win once on the kft tour I’m not quite sure if that’s highly decorated is is I think is what you called it I he was he was he

Was a phenomenal college player at the at the University of Florida like he’s he’s very highly thought of I mean he’s 27 years old he finished third in points last year on the KF well while also sitting out about a month while while being suspended it was it was very

Likely he was going to be the number one player coming off the kft before that suspension but isn’t this the exact same personality that we want I mean i’ hate to Circle back around and pick on cam young because he seems to be a common Target of ours but when you watch him

Play golf there doesn’t seem to be a lot of Joy there in my mind maybe he’s enjoying it deep down inside but when you’re watching him play golf he looks wildly unhappy you can’t say that about Alejandro now maybe there are times when he’s unhappy about pace of play or a

Playing partner or whatever the case may be but when he’s in full stride and he’s living it in his blood whatever that means it you can clearly tell that he’s having a good time I think that’s good for the game that those are the personalities I think that Jason Gore

Was talking about when he said the PGA Tour can make a star in three weeks and I I think maybe it was a little misconstrued it has more to do with it’s not about the PGA Tour making a star it’s about the PGA Tour creating opportunity for someone like Alejandro

For the world to get to know him a little bit better I mean they said I mean you could look at examples this year Nick Dunlap when went from a player that no one had ever heard of if you’re a general PJ tour fan like unless you’re following college and amate golf You’

Never heard of Nick Dunlap before the American Express unless you follow the the corn fairy tour you’d never heard of Jake knp before he got very entertaining personality and then did it again at the cognizant classic with another high finish there I to me Alejandro toasty uh is is kind of

Cut from that mold as well and I I think Rex when you think about the PG tour landscape current Liv has taken a lot of things they’ve taken you know topend players uh like like John ROM and cam Smith they’ve taken I think a lot of the depth of the

PJ tour maybe even the future PJ tour whether it’s Walky Neiman or like Adrien Moran but I think what they’ve taken mostly is the guys who were polarizing who one way or another you felt something about them whether it was Patrick Reed whether it was Sergio Garcia whether it was Brooks Kea whether

It was and a sham but those players were were popular because they were successful but they were also popular in the sense that people wanted to follow them because you you may you may have like hate followed them right like it’s we we we have that we have that on on

Social media as well but but those players like you kind of just love to hate them they don’t you need both though they make you feel something yeah it could be good it could be bad to me Alejandro toasty is kind of that player like he

Has a he has wonderful he has a wonderful backstory like if you get to know him he’s actually a really sweet kid I’ve had nothing but positive interactions with him I used to cover him uh in in college and I’ve kept up with his pro career ever since he was on

The kft like it’s it is it is rags to riches to now see him living out his dream on the PJ tour but there are also dozens of players who have had nothing but terrible interactions with him and and hate his guts at the at the at at

The pro level and I think that makes for interesting viewing like when toasty Gets In Contention you don’t know what’s going to happen and I think that the PJ tour desperately needs those he’s not he’s not a needle mover in the in the sense like traditionally whether it’s a

Tiger a Phil or or a John rommer orp but I think if his name’s on the leaderboard you at least want to see what happens I I think that’s a a really promising start for a PJ tour rookie don’t think we’re there yet a colleague of ours and

I don’t even know if Doug Ferguson said this but he’s the one that relayed this line to me and I I think it’s it was really good we were talking about it at the Players Championship that the PGA Tour is a Marvel movie without any villains right now to your point and I

Think that that’s a really good way of putting it because all you have is a bunch of Leading Men right now in the PGA Tour and no one that you can sort of get behind and not like and if you look at any other Sport and I’m not even

Passing judgments some people like Aaron Rogers some people don’t my guess is if you’re Patrick Reed that’s not Bryson D Shambo that’s not Sergio Garcia I mean those players had clearly created sort of this Persona that it was easy for fans not to like I don’t know how many times my

Mother-in-law will text me on a Sunday afternoon and do we like him and a lot most of the times it used to be probably 70% yes 30% no now it’s pretty much 90% yes and very rarely is it a no I mean I mean you have the villains I mean Scotty

Wendham Clark Xander Victor havin Brian again not to pick on him he just looks unhappy but I’m sure he’s not an unhappy person I mean I mean spe these are all very likable personalities like I think Rory has become a polarizing figure ever since he kind of stepped the Forefront

Of the PJ toour live Civil War obviously Patrick Klay we saw we saw what happened at the Ryder Cup uh he is a polarizing personality for fans as well Justin Thomas I think has kind of haters and and Skeptics in equal measure um and that’s it I mean

The tour is has a lot of very likable nice guys and I think that’s probably a problem is it not like you need you need players you you need players that fans don’t like or are rooting against I I I really firmly believe that golf is

Better with a villain well it this goes back to the idea that golf at least for the majority of my career was at its best when Phil was playing his basket and I say that because Tiger Wood’s always played well over the course of the last two plus decades it was when

Phil was playing well and they were actually pushing each other and you had this very very hard Line in the Sand either you’re a Phil guy or a tiger guy I discovered that the very few that like both of those players one of the two was polarizing I’m not quite sure which one

Was the villain which one was the hero during those days however that was always best for golf I always found that to be the most engaging time in the game because you had these people coming together who really didn’t like the other side and it felt more like a

Normal mainstream sport than I’d ever seen it before this is a really good transition because you probably did not want to go here but speaking of villains this one’s really easy to go to you heard Chris Marco’s comments last week uh on the subpar podcast about the

Champions tour about live Goff about the piff about him being angry that the Champions PJ tour Champions players are not being paid enough I walked away from that angry first off that I didn’t get into my Friday column because I wasn’t paying attention enough apparently and I

Had to get my Friday column supposed to be blogging on Thursday how’d you miss it uh I totally missed it on Thursday it hadn’t been sort of aggregated that point I totally missed it I need to start actually in I I went and listen to the podcast it’s very very good it’s um

It’s CN and and sleazy man what I believe that’s his name uh I wanted to get the entire I don’t think that’s his real name but go on but that’s I think that’s what he’s called in the podcast um because I wanted to get the entire context to make sure I wasn’t missing

Something because it was back baffling to me the idea that Chris DeMarco could be so toned deaf and completely unaware of the narrative in golf that fans are completely turned off by the talk about money and and negotiations and Equity shares everything else we’ve been digging in on and suddenly he thinks

It’s a good idea to do this to me it that was baffling okay that was not a very good description of what Chris Marco actually said if you guys missed it on the subpar podcast again with col no and sleazy man he Christ Marco uh who who who earned nearly $23

Million in career earnings on the PG tour said that he hopes that Liv golf buys the PJ tour Champions and ramps up the prize funds because because he called the the PJ tour Champions uh purses which for all the non- majors are essentially $3 million or less he called

It quote kind of a joke and and related it to the PLAYERS Championship when he said that seven players uh earned at least 2 million of course that was a a gross exaggeration but the the tone deafness that Chris tarco showed here and and look there was there was no one

Supporting Chris Marco there was no one like yes increase the the the purses for the p t Champions these guys deserve it golden parachute yeah we have we have to provide that for them like no one’s no one’s clamming for that in fact if anything it is the opposite where these

Guys have had 20 30 years to make you live living and for some reason they’re still handing out $3 million purses for the senior tour when I mean the rating the ratings are what they are no one’s really paying attention Steve Stricker’s played well padrick Harrington continues to play

Well uh that’s great but I don’t think anyone is clamoring for more PG tour Champions coverage or support and for him to say uh they want to play for some real money out there it was it was rightfully laughing offu and I don’t uh Drew staltz is his name but he does go

By S by the way just to make sure I wanted to get that right clean that up I’ve met drew a few times very very nice fell I I do like their podcast I I was just taken by the idea that what kind of rock and and I actually liked Chris

DeMarco in his career you want to talk about villains and and heroes like for morning drive contributor yeah I mean during that time when when he was going head-to-head with Tiger Woods and it was a pretty small window but he created sort of this Yin the tiger Yang that I

Enjoy writing about that I enjoyed covering at Liverpool that year at the Masters that year I mean he was he was an interesting foil to Tiger Woods so to speak but to come out with the idea that oh this is ridiculous we should be making more money why how like please

Explain that to me like why in the world do you think and this goes to I think what what is the undertone in fandom right now when it comes to the PGA Tour and professional golf in general is I think a lot of PGA Tour players and even

Live golf players have an overinflated sense of their own value and maybe that’s because of where we are in the game and and and you’ve had this sort of irrational threat come in with all of this why did that start and they why is there now entitlement why is why is

There now the sense of entitlement it goes back to Phil Michelson Phil Phil is going to go down in this PJ tour Civ in in live Gulf Civil War as as sort of the the the spark plug the one who sort of initiated this entire movement who has who has reshaped

I think 25 years philson will will be remembered as the player who helped reshape this but but to me he’s also kind of brought this influx of entitlement across the board where where players think just because you’ve you’ve won a major championship or you won two

Or three times on the PJ tour that all of a sudden you should be paid like a top end NFL quarterback when the reality of the situation is this is still very much a niche sport these are these are still athletes who if they walked in downtown Pon aidra they would they would

Most likely not be recognized without their PJ Tour player uniform on and yet they’ve they’ve they’ve been filled with this this this belief that they’re somehow being marginalized by the corporate overlords and they’re being severely underpaid and and not valued to what their actual worth is when I don’t

Think the marketplace has ever or will ever actually support that no I I I see where you’re going with the Phil Mickelson angle and and I I kind of like it as an origin story I I would say that we never end up where we are right now

Which is the extreme example of what you’re talking about without the public investment fund like he could sit and say that the players were underpaid and and he wanted to look at the books and everything that he’s been saying for the better part of a decade if not more if

The public investment fund doesn’t come along and decide to Phil was Phil not the perfect facilitator for that oh absolutely no I I get what you’re saying he was the he was their White Knight on that horse that they needed at that point time however I I don’t know that

We ever end up at at this point in time you probably would have ended up with and and I had I think we both had seen it over the last decade let’s say I mean the the top players had started to become even before Liv golf even before

The public investment fund got involved you’d seen the top players become more and more disgruntled just with the idea of how the pie was being split up and this goes to I mean I think you can see this across the broad range of sports I’ll put it in the context that you can

Easily understand your conference the SEC is prob going to try to ruin college football along with the big tent what you got there oh nice Augusta the Augustus the Augustus but so that’s I think that’s that’s a perfect example of where golf found itself where you have

The SEC and the Big 10 clearly the top two conferences in college football and they want a bigger piece of the pie I think the translation to that is Phil Mickelson and everyone else in that Universe at that time felt like they deserved a bigger piece of the pie and

Maybe they did like I I was always on the side of the player through throughout this process simply because we know how much a lot of these contracts are for I’m talking about the television contracts so it’s easy to put a number on it and golf is the only professional sport only mainstream

Professional sport I guess I need to put it that way that doesn’t have a collecting bargaining agreement so in the NBA 49% of all basketball related income has to go back to salaries I think in the NFL it’s 51% so those that’s pretty easy math to figure out

You don’t have that in golf and I think that was sort of the starting point for Phil so two Point yeah he was the guy that came in and you’re right if you’re writing this story 15 years from now he’d be he’d be the Turning Point that’s

The seminal moment when he decided okay things were going to change they don’t change though without the public investment fund think they should kill out the champions tour uh I think they should care about the champions tour you’re talking about fans kill off kill off um get get get

Rid of cancel eliminate I don’t I don’t know if that’s the option because I think it’s a product that works in certain communities so no I’m not going to go that far I think it’s going to be a question of resources at some point or the other because wherever it is the PGA

Tour ends up and and I’ve been teased that that’s going to become a drinking game because I keep saying using that phrase I don’t know another way to put it wherever it is they end up drink up it’s going to have to be more about the

Top players it’s going to have to be more about the big events it’s gonna have to be more about the PGA Tour and the secondary option is going to be whatever is below that and you can call it the PG GA tour B you can call it a GF

Corn fairy tour whatever the case may be but that’s going to have to be the secondary Focus okay we need to if we’re going to create what dor has talked about and we want to do it like they do with European football and you’re gonna have to do the pyramid that means you’re

Gonna have to create opportunities for players to play their way in to these big events which we’ve seen so far this season and it could work in theory as resources start getting thin the champions tour the PJ tour Champions is the easy option to c s SSG there’s there

There’s a couple ways to make money and one of them is to cut costs if Tiger Woods who is eligible for the champions tour at the beginning of 2026 if I math is correct believe he’s 48 years old now if he can’t save the senior tour no one can uh to me that’s

Something to watch out for in the next couple of years Rex before we get out of here we do have to give a shout out Stephen jger who did win the golf tournament six-time winner on the corn fairy tour that’s the second most all time uh before the aforementioned Jason

Gore that’s like not an accomplishment that you’d want that is that’s that’s that shows that you’re like really good like we’re talking top 150 200 players in the world and yet you were not good enough good on Stephen jger for the persistence and winning in his 135th

Event of his PJ tour career and Nelly Corda or as our buddy schlau calls her Kelly norda uh wins for the third consecutive event on the LPGA first player to do that since Yanni sen three wins before April first if you are a women’s golf fan this is exactly what

You want to see uh America’s most high-profile player who is still very much in the prime of her career mid 20s absolutely dominating the competition I think it just makes the major season which of course Begins the week after the mat of the Chevron Championship that much more exciting you’ve got an early

Flight for the Texas open we’ll be doing the full preview pod on Wednesday but before we go what’s one thing you’re looking forward to this week I’m going to San Antonio so barbecue no please hit us up let me know if anyone has any Su suggestions please let me know you

Usually do my itinerary but you clearly have nothing for me I’ve been to the Valero Texas open a couple times TPC San Antonio might be one of my least favorite golf courses of the entire PJ tour Ro why is that uh I think it’s entire Bland I think it’s hard for the

Sake of being hard and I don’t like it as a as a tuneup event for the Masters that said apparently I’m I apparently I’m I’m out of line there you look at the the field this week pretty good Roy mroy Jordan SP lud Vel Berg Tom Kim just

To name a few Cory Connors of course uh is the defending Champion I’m not sure if the players didn’t want kind of three weeks off from the PLAYERS Championship uh to uh the Masters they didn’t want that kind of break they’re just trying to get competitive reps maybe they don’t

Want to have the situation where you know you’re sitting at home thinking about the Masters and you kind of heighten it more than maybe you would or maybe they think TBC San Antonio unlike me is a good tuneup for Augusta if I were a PJ Tour player I would have

Watched what transpired over these past couple of days at Memorial Park and said H probably should have teed it up there yeah that was a really good test to golf hand up I did not pay attention to this tournament all that much when it was in

The fall and I thought this was a phenomenal tuneup I’d love to see it the week ahead of the Masters moving forward wide Fairways uh very slick greens pretty severe runoffs around some of the greens uh very long particularly some of the par fours um I thought it I thought

It was a really really good test uh very short rough obviously uh which which played completely differently than it did uh in the fall big fan uh fan and I I had covered it once I believe in the fall and it’s an entirely different Golf Course when it’s not overseeded and you

Essentially just have the the dormant M off which it was what it was at the time it this played almost like you’re right I think the week before Augusta would have been perfect I think the concern there is they didn’t really get the Texas wins and I’m sure someone’s GNA

Call me out for this maybe they don’t get wins this time of year in Texas I don’t know maybe they do but I can imagine a scenario where players probably wouldn’t be really happy if it blew 20 30 miles an hour all trying to get ready for the Masters but I could be

Wrong on that one I mean the Houston open when it was there for years the golf club of Houston like I don’t ever remember like howling winds and in that golf course yeah I mean it’s it’s always going to blow 10 to 20 I think quite generally but but the golf club Houston

Always went above and beyond kind of fine-tuning its Golf Course to to be Tailor Made For What Augusta National is you know mowing from from green to te short rough Green’s as fast as possible without killing them off like I thought that was a really good preview you’re

Going to you’re going to see much higher wins in San Antonio this week for the valo Texas open if that’s any indication all all eyes obviously are going to be on Roy this week has not played well uh over the past couple of months and kind

Of a hit or miss record at this golf tournament as well I believe he finished tyer second in his first appearance I covered that one 2013 memory serves and then missed the cut uh last year which portended a miscut at the master tournament the following week uh Rex I smell like

Hickory smoke I was by the pit all afternoon watching the Houston open as I smoked an Easter ham as well as an Easter lamb wow what did you have on the grill this weekend how did you celebrate Easter uh we celebrated Easter over at my in-laws house so we just had an

Easter egg hunt and they did ham and all of the things so I didn’t do it yesterday was my big smoking day did ribs and I did what was left of the pork butt that the half a pork butt that i’ done before so I was out there all day

Long basketball golf it was perfect did you participate in the Easter egg hunt and if so how many eggs did you get well we only get one so my wife and I we we get one egg one egg uh yeah so everyone has a colored egg so we we have a pretty

Big family so I think with all of us combined there’s there’s there six kids and then four adults and then my in-laws so everyone has their own colors egg colored eggs this would not this would not be the game that I should be playing

No no so it it got to be a little bit too competitive between my wife and her sister-in-law my S my sister-in-law was an athlete she played soccer at Auburn like so she can she can actually move around the yard bunkmate not so much so

It got to be a bit of a it got to be a little contentious so we had to split up and everyone gets their own color and I just have one big blue egg given your torn meniscus I’m I’m sure you were not cutting juking spinning out out the open

Field looking looking for your blue egg uh I hope hope your recovery is coming along nicely I as one does in Pon aidra had an Easter brunch at TVC Saw Grass Golf Course is still looking Immaculate how spoiled are my kids rex that they do their Easter egg hunt at no other than

The home of the PLAYERS Championship they always put on a nice event and it’s always a thrill to go back there I’m definitely Easter egg hunted out well because you had one at your preschool too didn’t you oh yeah sure did but that paid off kudos to cam he found the

Golden egg which had a $275 voucher for a free week of daycare tuition thank you Cam we came home pulled up Amazon and said Son whatever you want to buy whatever it is it’s yours you’re saving daddy a whole lot of money this week that’s so thanks to cam

Hope you guys had a happy Easter at home we’ll be back in a couple of days time for the preview edition of the valo Texas open as well as getting in all of our masters forecast are sure to go wrong in the meantime you guys know the drill maybe NBC

Sports.com golf are latest news notes and commentary I’ll be on golf today with uh Joel Beal of Golf Digest on Monday and Rex will be giving live reports I believe starting on Tuesday TBC San Antonio correct going all the way through Friday before he will join

Me on Saturday from our rental house in Augusta but as always thanks for listening thanks for the support talk to you guys in a couple of days