Roryoke, LIV Down Under, and the Hiya Hotel: A Zurich Classic-ish Recap

This week’s Zurich Classic recap immediately goes off the rails thanks to Rory McIlroy’s rousing rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin” in celebration of a playoff win with his partner Shane Lowry. Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme grade that karaoke performance, compare the PGA Tour’s team event in New Orleans with a thrilling team finish for LIV Golf in Australia, and use the week’s action as a jumping-off point to discuss ways in which the two league concepts could be combined to best suit fan interests. Finally, in an act of immersion therapy, Smylie and Charlie check into the “Hiya Hotel” to break down their recent play on the golf course.

#rorymcilroy #pgatour #neworleans #karaoke #shanelowry #irish #ireland #livgolf #australia #adelaide

[Music] Smiley caufman for 61 wow I’m Smiley caufman and this is the Smiley Show [Music] [Applause] [Music] the midnight everywhere [Music] [Music] midnight ladies and gentlemen there it is I’m calling this Rory it’s my uh working term that we’re going to we’re going to go with the time being what a flourish to the end of the Zur CL classic one of course by Rory maroy and Shane Lowry the former of which you heard there belting out Don’t Stop Believing by Journey on the back end of that win because no better way to celebrate a uh a win over the Sur classic field and going to sing joury karaoke uh I I gotta say uh Smiley there there are a lot of things I want to dig into this week on this Tour on the other tour uh but let’s just start with can we can we grade Rory’s karaoke performance because that’s that I did not have that on my bingo card coming out no you can’t grade it uh and the only thing I wish they had was a mic for Shane as well because he just kind of was standing there awkwardly but how does it feel to live my dream like this was this was my dream that was the event that I always wanted to win the Zur classic be behind the majors was number one PJ Tour event that I wanted to win in front of Hometown not Hometown but adopted Hometown Louisiana Crowd Oh gosh and yes signed me up for winning and then doing some karaoke with just a I don’t know if that’s a cover band or not but I mean I think Rory got a little taste of what it can be like if you go to an LSU game mean that crowd was awesome so what would your would that have been the song You would have sung if you won the Z classic no what would you have gone with Colin Baton Rouge and then after I finished that I would have I would have gone behind the stage had them chant my name just like they did for Rory and then I would come back and then I would have done Drops of Jupiter shotgun to beer and then I would have left I tell you what that sounds pretty electric uh who would you have been playing with if you who would this was I played in dessert classic before team but I did play with Harold Varner and he would have definitely done it with [Laughter] me that wow I that that’s quite a picture you’re a vivid picture you’re paying there you and hp3 on stage singing Drops of Jupiter burns like Sam Burns would have been great him and Sam and I like we’ve we’ve sung Callin mat Rouge on on the stage before it Freds on a on a weekend game day so this is not something that I’m unaccustomed to doing but I I actually I was on the set for the match between tiger Rory versus Jordan and JT and I asked everybody from the group what was your go-to karaoke song and now I’m wondering what the heck his answer was and maybe that’s what his answer was but I remember tiger is like I’ve never done karaoke I don’t have an answer I like here you go buddy I got one for you tequila is your song you got one word you got to say and you just kind of easy yeah so mine was uh End of the Road by Boy to Men okay great way great way to shut it down when I used to work for ESPN there was a little uh it was a Chinese restaurant that turned into a karaoke bar after dark called Butterfly and uh the amount of Stella Artois glasses that I slammed on the ground and shattered after singing into the road uh incalculable I owe them a lot of money if anyone for butterfly owner of butterfly is listening really sorry I’ll see what I can do about the Stella glasses but uh do you do you know what my uh one New Year’s resolution is every single year it’s D it’s it’s singing Drops of Jupiter caraoke and not losing my voice and that’s every year that’s my goal is just get through the end of that song a lot of high notes it’s a belter you got you got to go all damn it you know you really got to get up there yeah and and honestly every year I hope I remember the words and never never do I ever remember him you know let’s see let’s see we can come up with in uh Louisville uh I’d love to see love to find a good karaoke bar in and around my wife is listening Charlie do not let it do not say we’re doing karaoke and Louisville okay all right we’ll table that we’ll table that discussion for later uh backck man back we’ll back pocket that one um man I will say that was a fun way to end a day that on a lot of fronts could have gone in a very different direction yeah before we get there can can we just not can we finish off Rory and and and Shane winning in New Orleans like come on pleas have you been have you been to New Orleans I I’ve been to New Orleans just once and let me let me just do some bad radio here because I’m going to show you the one time was in New Orleans oh God please have some beads or something this is this is a frame ticket right here smiley this is from the Duke North Carolina semi-final game wow good is that too that’s a beautiful looking ticket it was it’s the best it’ll forever be the best sporting event that I’ve ever attended in my entire life um and I guess Duke won huh yeah yeah many people many people don’t remember uh how that game ended ask a Duke fan how that game ended and they’ll tell you no they they they’ll tell you whoa North Carolina lost to Kansas in the national championship so it doesn’t really matter like yeah it matters uh but yes that was the one time that I’ve been in New Orleans spent time in New Orleans and it was absolutely glorious and I would love to go back quite honestly as we really kind of go on a tangent here we did the um the the AT&T Pebble Beach program video we played against that field I’d love to do a video at TPC Louisiana doing some sort of variation of a team format like I mean just seeing I don’t know how we do it with us to though you know we had such a good like you’re the am like it’s two Pros you know what I think would be funny is cuz people always talking about oh I could shoot this I mean I’m not a scratch I’m I’m not saying any of these things but like if you took a pro and you took an Amer and you stuck us at the proas and had us play true all shot like how what what would they shoot I because I think I would take like as good as you would play I would probably take north of 90 which by the way like to to to to get a little bit back like us is North I mean I think you I think you’d play great I just don’t think I’d have a chance on a on a a tour length on a tour length maybe it’s I I’m I’m really struggling right now with the long irons and I just feel like stretch make me like the t- shots they were hitting on 17 today like bailing out right of the water I was like there I just I was getting the cold sweats just watching them tea off which by the way like to bring it back to today’s competition the fact that Chad Remy Martin trainer shot a 63 in alt shot is one of the stupidest things i’ ever heard in my entire life that just does not even make sense that is amazing I mean I mean it a lot of people would have complained had they won this event but that is such an impressive feat to do that it is and before I comment on how good that was I want to just give you what I think Shane Lowry and Rory mroy should do like what’s their next move because they’re not just going and hopping on the Jet and heading back to Florida that’s a no-brainer stay the night you know what I heard is that last night at dinner I don’t know if this was on the broadcast that they were like applauded on the way Standing Ovation so you can’t you can’t go home tonight I don’t care what you have to do tomorrow morning you have to stay tonight in New Orleans what you do you go eat a nice go go go eat go to wherever there’s so many great restaurants in New Orleans uh you can’t even you can’t even count them there’s so many but go I would go find a fat steak drink some red wine and then take that little party to Patos for a little piano bar action and after you had a couple of couple pops there uh you you wind your way over to cats meow to really do the the song dance with you know you could probably go a little bit more Up Funk you know from maybe Don’t Stop Believing I think maybe gosh uh man there’s so many different ways you could go it cats meow if you had one one go at it but that’s where I would end the night I think and actually no I wouldn’t I wouldn’t end the night there I would do a little cats meow one little Cameo there I would go hop in an Uber I’d go to hara’s and see if we can and see if we can turn that keep the H hand going and while and all I’m picturing Rory and Shane doing all this Shane’s gonna have a GoPro on his head so we can watch all this tomorrow morning and I think once get YouTube account perfect Shane then says hey sorry I don’t have any cash can I use FedEx Cup points for my barrier to to entry for x amount of dollars and they would say yes take three 300 FedEx Cup points for how much what would that be worth what what yeah what how much is is a is a singular FedEx Cup point worth at Harris yeah what’s the conversion rate at Harris uh that place eats money man, that place eats money Harris it you can’t win there I mean I I just feel like that first of all that night sounds absolutely electric and I think for many many reasons uh that you know the fact Rory and shanee won this event was great for a lot of people I mean I mean what are you talking about the leader board was gross that that almost goes without saying but I mean the fact that like I wonder if they would have come back either way that that was my question like let’s say they finish run rupted they still come back because of all the fun they had this week like obviously they’re going to come back to defend well I mean but well now they’re the defending champs so obviously they’re going to come back to defend but this is this is like a you know this is a bond that could last a lifetime it’s it’s what this tournament was designed to be all about you know I think right at the Forefront of when it was announced and they had the weird Walkin intros it just always felt like it was there was no juice and Buzz to it but the crowds on all week according to those guys they said it was great typically the crowds are kind of you know Hit or Miss for that event so I I just think it kind of it’s kind of what wh tries to do at myoba it just doesn’t hit you know what I mean or or where wherever like the event like Live this week in in ad way like it hit because you had the fans you had the atmosphere and it’s like oh this is where this can be successful I think finally Zurich got what they were looking for in this team format with the right two guys winning and the crowd really getting behind them which they’ll get behind a winner that’s you know a Rory and a Shane Lowry there but you know it’s the kid and and Scott Brown was probably the only other two that were really big time winners that um that created a lot of fan Buzz at least we’re going to weave back and forth in a lot of different directions on this podcast because there just was so much going on and so many things to unpack you know coming out of this tournament um I I want to come back to something we’ve discussed on this pod before which is like the profile this event like I still think this would be a great candidate as a fall event so you could really lean into the fun but also make it a tuneup for any guys looking to get some partnered you know working the week before presid c for the rer yeah but but even as even as you’re talking about just how much fun this was and and like I’d say it this way if Rory and Shane win this the week before the Ryder Cup they’re not going to go out and sing karaoke on on Bourbon Street Unfortunately they did it two weeks before the Ridder cup then I think you could probably go but but you you mentioned Liv and I’m so interested to hear this was such an interesting ju position between two events this week where clearly Liv saw this as a soft spot in the PGA Tour schedule and said we’re going to put what everyone kind of universally seems to agree is the best live event up against this and Adelaide you know it the the Australian crowds are unbelievable everyone’s coming away saying no matter which tour it’s on Australia needs to be a home for high level professional golf I 100% agree with that but prior to Rory and Shane making their move getting in getting in contention and those that kind of that stretch run where was there was some excitement building culminating with the playoff and The Vibes on 18 what this felt like to me was the difference between a member guest at a really kind of snoody like high-end serious club where there’s like a lot of golf clapping and not a lot of energy and like a rip roaring super fun member guest where guys are heckling each other and it’s boozy and it’s high level and and and so obviously that version was that was the live version that’s what we saw in Adelaide with with that two-hole team playoff at the end between the the Aussie Hometown team the Ripper um and and the South African team Stinger uh right yeah Stinger is the name of the team um that to me was like wow I’ve never seen this in a pro golf tournament it like it was so wild seeing guys hitting balls into bunkers and and you know and getting cheered loudly like not it’s like a few straggler fans like everybody in the crowd rooting against this team and as they’re addressing the ball about to hit hit a shot in an event with a very large purse on the line hearing oh like as if a goalkeeper is playing in a World Cup match about to like kick you know kick a goal kick you’re like how is this how is this happening or even guys trying to yell on their back swing and throw this thinger players off and and to me it was like that it was riveting riveting entertainment I did not want to turn away from it and and I was you know invested in watching every shot but at the same time I’m like is this what we want Pro Golf to be or like how do I feel if I’m Louis usas in because like I like first of all I I I don’t love that and second of all I’m making a call to Greg Norman saying we need one of these events in South Africa so we can have a chance to have a HomeTown crowd like that or is it just because Australia and Adelaide or really anywhere is just they’re you know professional golf you know you get the Aussie open the Aussie PGA they’re just deprived from of of robbed of the top players in the world you know I think just them getting these players that have come which we haven’t debated how I mean there’s plenty of damn good players over there on the lift golf tour we haven’t denied that but I think it’s more of this place in particular just being like you said this is a hot bed for for where the PJ tour needs to Circle and be like yep we should be going there and uh and there’s plenty of other places too that uh that they could go around the world now is it for everywhere no we’ve seen that with a lot of the live cough events we like yep that ain’t it like when they go to Saudi or they go to Maya COA some events in in the United States have kind of Fallen flat but when they seem to get out of the country in Singapore and these types of places it it just hasn’t had the same type of reaction so when we compare the two like you just did I don’t really see these two things being the same I think this PJ tour one is just kind of an event that has always been a fun event with Team golf but I I don’t know where you stand Charlie on team golf right now I kind of go back and forth with where where all of this should land on the PJ tour I think individual 72 holes is what I really like for professional golf for big time events now how many of those events are there for that I don’t know but I do think team golf would be really cool I just it just has to land properly it’s interesting I think it was I think it was flushing it the Twitter account um who who covers Liv extensively um I wouldn’t necessarily call him Pro live but definitely you know I guess tries to see both sides fairly and often is you know supportive of of what’s Liv doing what Liv is doing um over the weekend was just consistently saying this was was a super cool finish Liv needs to lean into this it needs to become all about team golf it needs to become all about um you know home games like you know Ripper just got to play in front of the Australian crowd and what he’s laying out I don’t disagree with like what I just watched I was like that was electric but I just don’t know if that’s congruent with Elite professional golf like going all the way in on a team concept how do you sell that to guys like John ROM even like cam Smith well he’s been sold on it but but but that I I guess the point being is like they they’re sold on this hybrid concept and it and let’s say you said wow this was super successful let’s go all the way in on this team thing like and just really not even care about the individual side of the competition at all like we’re going to make this all about teams we’re gonna have home games and and and you know that’s going to be the focus of this competition I don’t like I don’t think that works if you have guys that are still trying to play at the highest level on an individual front play in Majors things like that like was it super cool to see a guy like cam Smith who was out of the individual running this weekend you know keep playing hard because he wanted to get in the playoff and win this in front of the Aussie fans for Ripper yes it was but like I don’t know that you can pitch you know um like you know Victor hin is a name that’s been floated like are you going to get Victor hin to round up a bunch of Scandinavian players and then that’s the problem I don’t know if that works that’s that that to me is the issue is you know let’s just even use uh players from the United States as an example so uh pick a player pick a top player so maybe Max H okay let’s say he’s a Scottsdale guy so you could probably round up four Dudes from Scottdale but are they the top four players of a that that deserve to be on the team I don’t know but you would say wendam Clark Max H who else lives here Joel Damon um who else lives in Scotts John ROM those four on a team and and so that would be their home game and then you go to Dallas where you got Jordan Scotty sew Kim see in Dallas uh well but I’d almost I’d almost go in a different direction like I would say a home game though is the way I see it’s like everybody then comes and plays on their home t if it’s their home event but I guess and and I agree with that but I’m almost saying like to go back to your point that you made that this Adela that Australia is a very unique place it’s like you like if you if you love this this weekend then you say to yourself how do we replicate that in other places it’s like you almost have to just have one US team and go play home games at Beth Page black every year and get the New York fans come out and support Jordan JT Scotty and maxom the problem is we have too many golfers you can’t just have we have 200 PGA Tour cards right now you’re saying one US team I mean that’s that’s the big problem Australia why it’s so successful this week it’s because it has the backing from Saudi and the money to go in there to bring these players over there all the you know how many of those players never went and supported Australia golf besides a few you know like it’s only a couple guys that have really gone over there and played because the money wasn’t right or didn’t fit their schedule Australia from what I understand doesn’t have the financial backing to be able to support a PGA Tour event which is a $10 million purse or whatever it is and why would anybody from the United States company want to send all of I guess they it would be pretty cool if they would to bring all of their business over to Australia which would be great but the commercials and all that doesn’t make sense so there’s a lot of a lot of things that don’t make sense about it but we want it make sense right well totally I I I think where I end up where my head goes on this is like if you like if if we all really like this version of this then you’re you’re you’re saying live could be very successful it’s a very if it’s a very Niche thing like like think about the team we’re talking about here it’s the it’s your best case scenario and it’s cam Smith Mark Lehman Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert like I mean if if that’s your best case scenario I just don’t know you know tell tell me what other Market or you know colle I mean you know if you have a Spanish team I guess like you know where where it’s John ROM and and Sergio Garcia you know David pu I think is Spanish like I I just I don’t you know I I I I really I thought this was really compelling and I like the idea of home games and like may maybe you know you go to um you know the same venue that hosted the South African open um I think it was Johannesburg where Max and JT played this last year and that’s a home game for Stinger but you get the crowds though I don’t think you do I I don’t I really don’t think you get the crowds like you I I think you’ll get those crowds in Ireland you’ll get those crowds in maybe Scotland that could be cool you know or England I I think you get those types of crowds not maybe not quite the numbers that they did but you get you know you at least get some legit crowds you know I think that’s been the one thing that you always see the screenshots of the random hole where there’s nobody on it well that’s any Tour event you all the crowds fall the top players so um it’s it’s kind of tough to to just take screenshots of certain different types but there’s certain events though on the web that’s they’ve had nobody but also the tour they they have similar events well I I I think the thing that’s intriguing about it to me like like there’s something there it it’s essentially what you’re trying to do is create a bunch of mini Ridder cup vibes where it’s like we’re all going to back this thing because we have a connection to it you know like it’s different from rooting from a certain player you like the way they play golf or good TV it’s good TV and it’s high energy you feel it why people like football games you can exactly it’s Tribal you know it’s like see it’s like you know soccer you know like English Premier League where each you know all these people from these certain set areas you know rooting for their their their team and and there’s a sort of travel connection to it but I I just you know I I I guess it’s it’s if that’s the thing you’re going for I I 100% think it’s a compelling product I just don’t know then how you sell Elite talents on that because you’re basically boxing them into okay your whole professional existence now is just playing Team events that have no you know long-term bearing on you know what you could do to individual level which is the reason why all these guys took up the game in the first place and and I don’t know how you solve for that and and maybe maybe that’s one way as negotiations continue between the PGA Tour and the PF they try to kind of fit these things in maybe you know and they take the tgl and they’re trying to you know go don’t give me start about but like maybe maybe they take some pages from that and they’re like you know what we should do is we really should create like a series of national teams and do a bunch of stuff in these offseasons when we don’t have events where we go and play home games and that’s how this thing works but I I just I was both watching this this weekend and seeing you know guys like flushing it and others talking about how great this was and wholeheartedly agreeing with it while also saying I don’t that’s not sustainable for elite individually minded tour Pros it just doesn’t work it sure would be really cool to see the top however many dudes 75 whatever it is playing over there can you imagine in a team concept like I think it would be awesome but the we just have got to find a way unify the game again get all these players back playing on the same field and I don’t know what the solution’s going to be um if we had a magic ball and maybe Ro we haven’t gotten a Rory he won this week but we haven’t talked about him getting back onto the policy board yet yes but I think Ro’s gonna finish up this week he’s gonna think team golf cool like it I think a lot of people also think team golf can work but how does it work and you and then the guys like Rory they see Adela and they say wow what a what an amazing Place we’ve got to make it a more Global tour but how do you make the fans really care about certain events and right now we have so many events where it’s just hard as a fan to get tuned in every week to just like okay same storyline and it’s nothing to really keep track of the FedEx Cup it’s two 2300 point lead right now that nobody really cares about about how do you make the fans care get the guys back playing together make the events really matter and make it really good TV like we saw in Australia with the back swings like you’re talking about think that is that’s why the Ridder Cup’s so dang cool man um you just got to make less events somehow and and and make these events really matter um for this shrunken up tour that I think needs to be about a 100 guys and then you have a big elongated second tour that that has a that you can make a living off of $4 million purses yeah I mean and look and if you’re if you’re yelling at your computer screen Andor headphones right now saying the Olympics that’s what the Olympics is that’s not the whole point of this is home games like Australia was a home game for Ripper this weekend and that’s what brought all these fans on now they are like you know you know I’m trying to think of of a comparison that’s like going to Lambo field to play the Packers or something or Arad to play the Chiefs like that’s as good as it gets but you know I think put together a good American team and take him you know put him front of the fans and Beth Page like that’d be pretty electric or or and I’m there are a lot of other places you could replicate that but um yeah I I just think you know we we kind of we we um in in this process these last few years of of trying to figure out what the what the future professional golf was going to look like uh you know there was there there was I think there was was a report that was done early on by the group that was competing with the Saudis uh um for the the what was the pgl I think it was called where where they did this sort of financial analysis and said they could generate value of like multiple Rider cups within a year and they kind of got laughed out of the boardroom and then then we we all kind of laughed at Taylor gu when he T when he compared the the atmosphere of one of the Live Events you may like London or something like that like winning a rider cup now that was laughable in it of itself but I think there is something there to creating little mini national teams and and and if like if you’re going to do the team concept give us a reason to root for these teams that’s not make sense right exactly I’m not I’m not gonna wear a highflyer cape you know like like give me a reason to root for these guys you know and they’ve done that a little bit but like give them a home game too I think is the point yeah I’m with you um it’s cool though uh I think for as far as the growing the game aspect of of what has been preached from both tours and I think everybody’s laughed a little bit about the growing the game side from uh the standpoint because it’s just hard to look past the guaranteed money that they took but you got to love the grow the game aspect for Australia this week I mean I just sitting here just punching some numbers on how many Australians play golf three and a half million Australians play golf and the number is kind of up ticking similar to where you know a lot of the world right now the golf is a very popular game that continues to become more popular now how do you make these these new play players that are just now getting into the game and love it how do you make them care about the professional game it’s like well bring it to them well it yes and no like that’s that’s great it works certain places um and The Way live is designed right now the club atmosphere the really high energy yeah that’s kind of what the modern uh not modern but more of the millennial gen Z person likes and kind of my Tik Tock brain turns on it’s like yeah I do kind of like that but I don’t know if I could turn it on the TV and listen to that and and and make much sense of it on a broadcast yeah no fair I I think um somewhat of the same topic uh I think it was Kyle Porter who was tweeting about live in the early goings and was saying it’s the uh the second most consequential golf that we’ve watched this week that was played in Australia referring of course to no laying UPS uh tourist sawu series that that has dropped the first two episodes and by the way I mean that is that is so well done uh that and that by the way and I mean I mean this is a high compliment that is not a series about golf that’s a series where golf happens to be played but what they do artistically and in in showcasing a place truly amazing stuff but as part of that they kind of reference that golf hungry crowd in Australia and the respect they have for the game um that you know maybe you know you you tune in for live and you see a bunch of people you know partying and throwing water bottles they hitting caddies and heads and things like that and you kind of it it feels reductive whereas there is a real deep you know appreciation for not only just you know the fun parts of the game but just the history of the game itself that exists in that nation and so it it may be harder than it seems to go just say oh let’s just run that blueprint in this country or that country or that country you know I I don’t know if it will work I mean I I do think though that there is just something to giving us a reason to root for a team you know put these guys together and and make it nationalistic man like you’re going to get people to watch for that reason like otherwise I just I don’t think it I don’t think it works so I mean just think about it though the PJ tour I mean they’re changing things but man they how many years went by where they didn’t change anything besides just kind of making the purses just do this just to keep everybody happy but 72 holes of golf and turning on the TV at 300 p.m was you know it seemed to be fine but now they’re to this point now I mean you look at across all the different sports leagues everybody’s evolving me look at baseball look what they’ve done like with the pitch clock making the game go quicker making it more consumable for the fan NFL um even college football I would say before NFL they’re getting into a two-minute um they’re adding the two-minute like just like the NFL has to create more action for the ends of the games for a team to come back and the and the clock to stop so I love changing and adding different things and I think the college football has done a good job of that the tour hasn’t really figured out what is going to make golf more interesting yeah and and I think it’s you know you wonder what’s being discussed in some of these negotiations and and and what you know the the the Grand Vision is and and then what is is being kind of negotiated back and forth and hammered out and watered down I think unfortunately in a lot of cases cuz I I think there is a world in which and we talked about this a couple months ago where there where this Platinum Tour looks really really cool where it’s your four majors it’s a it’s a a couple of additional you know it’s the PLAYERS Championship it’s you know you keep some equivalent of the Tour Championship or some Marquee end of season Fall event um it’s a couple of the big player hosted Invitational so you you know keep the Gen with tiger Memorial with Jack you know probably the API things like that and then it’s maybe a mix of these you know team events interpers within there that are you know focused on like here here’s a rooting interest for your collection of guys that are now uniting and playing for the same you know Banner you know and and a lot of it probably is you know Regional sorts of reasons to root for these teams um and then around that is is whatever the um the the the underneath the Platinum Tour is the reg PGA Tour the corn fairy tour equivalent where there are you know upstarts and and young guys that are that are playing their way into this you know higher level at some point but just you know some of those kind because I I think there it’s GNA be more Cutthroat on that like in my opinion it’s got to be you know if it’s if there’s 144 dudes on that tour it’s you know 20 guys maybe 15 make it to the Platinum Tour with 15 rolling off or 20 rolling off it’s it makes it to where if you once you get up to that Platinum T and you play well and and you keep playing well you stay there but you got to play real good to get and but I wanted to make it to where you can have a a decent living you make the port purses sure somewhere between that three to $6 million range which is what they used to be and it’s probably what the market reflected too though right 100% agreed with that and I think too we’ve heard a lot of guys talk about you know the return on investment that SSG expects you know they’re putting all this money into it like you know we’re going to have to get creative and we’re going to have to be able to do things that maybe we weren’t comfortable with before like I’d love to see like give us a reason to care about the upstart guys on the the you know the corn fairy tour equivalent or whatever the tour that is that sits beneath like give us Hard Knocks like like in between you know these guys that maybe okay in the past I wouldn’t want to do a bunch of stuff for media it’s like here’s kind of the deal is you know we’re GNA take this television make this into a television show and make this something you watch between these events you know where that competition’s happening and yes you’re going to have to do a little bit of this type of stuff but it’s going to come back to you in the form of you know money made from the series or or or more marketing opportunities you know whatever that looks like like give us a reason to care about these guys so then you care about you care about the guys at the top because they’re the superstars you already know about them and then you find a reason to care about these guys because they’re fighting this sort of battle on the on the sort of line of like am I going to make it to the next level with A Hard Knock style of programming I mean that’s not fleshed out all the way but I just think that there is you know you got for better or worse it it has to be about more than just the game of golf and I think if you look around the whole landscape these days and you see what people are kind of flocking to in the golf content Lane it’s a lot of these you know YouTube content creators that are just like hey come along with me as I play an entire round of golf and I’m going to tell you everything I’m thinking and and and it’s I think that form of access if we normalize that a little more all of a sudden you are you’re going beyond the core golf audience that’s sort of Aging out and you’re bringing in new people who have like a connection to the game and and interest that’s on a human you know a human level a human interest sort of deal so I don’t know I I think that that they’re I hope that there are creative minds in those rooms that are um you know pushing for those types of things there needs to be I I think the biggest mistake for for 2025 is to roll out the exact same thing yeah I I think they’re just needs to continue to be big time changes like just blow the thing up needs blown up because we were not until you bring all the players back which needs to happen and I don’t I I for a long time was like I don’t know but now I’m like whatever I’m over it they they got their money these guys now are getting equity on the PJ tour and that was just announce which we can we could talk about if you’d like but that’s to me it’s like all right these guys got paid they got paid let’s just try to figure out to get these guys back together I I I want to delve into a piece of that that you touched on already which is um Rory’s return or or I don’t know if it’s confirmed yet but but coming back on the policy board I I heard rumors of that for quite some time and I don’t know if You’ heard the same rumors but I was like but then we heard the rumor about oh Roy’s going to live for $900 million reported by the telegram which is a Business Insider journal in London so I’m like oh my God he’s gone so all these rumors I didn’t know what was true well the one room I heard I’m curious to your take on this and I’m not going to name the player but I I just heard that that he was talking to someone and he basically said hey look there’s I’m not going to let this guy ruin the future of the tour for me referring to another another player that’s out there and and and I I’ll just leave that at what it is but you made it too obvious I think just that guy that guy is is too obvious man yeah dude I mean kind of [Music] [Laughter] obvious I don’t know whether or not we’re going to cut this you these are these are more your relationships than mine I maybe I maybe I should cut this but I mean I I I mean well I mean he said it himself I mean this all stuff’s been reported on it’s not like it’s I don’t know Ro’s been quoted it’s like if this guy right right don’t this is none of this is verbatim big disclaimer here this is all skuttlebutt this is all I I don’t even know if this I haven’t heard that rumor but I’m just I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s fair to to not no this is not this that was not a Rory ma quote this is this is all Charlie Hume rampant speculation big big big big disclaimer this all comes back on me um I guess my intent there was not to uh you know position Rory as this like gossip or this like vindictive guy my my intent there was to essentially um try to try to trace the the the evolution that Rory’s done because he’s just gone in so many different directions it seems like in terms of thought processes of being this guy that was all the way out there for the tour and and and you know kind of really strongly rebutting live and then when when the the deal was announced last year you know feeling betrayed in a lot of ways we saw that on full swing we saw that in a number of different kind of places where it was like why did I waste a year of my life on that and and also suffer a loss of quality in the golf that I was playing if you were just going to turn on and do a deal with them and then we see him kind of retreat remove himself from the policy board say I’m going to focus in other places and then we see a series of on the record public interviews and statements he made that that where he’s warming up to the idea of maybe not live but just guys going and being okay with it more if he warmed up to realizing that these guys weren’t stopping right like yeah like this wasn’t like their their pockets were deep yeah and well just and to to te this up for you is just like now he’s at a place where he wants back on the policy board and I guess my very open-ended question there is like what do you make of all this from just Rory’s just Rory’s last year and a half maybe two years plus of of where where his head’s gone and and and the the statements he’s made on the future of the pro game you know I I understand from a career standpoint and all the pr stuff that he had gone through being the face and then having that all happen but it’s got to be a little frustrating for the guys in the room that are like okay we’ve been taking these phone calls for how many months now since the when did he get off the policy board because I had heard I had heard that he got off the policy board at the Canadian open I I heard he said I was done but I it was a little later than that I think it was officially at the end of the year like in the fall but but that that he’d almost had left it in an acting capacity around took it Jordan took his spot exactly and I think it sounds like you know better than I did I what what I’d heard was Jordan was kind of working his way into that role from that point on yeah uh because Jordan didn’t he I mean dude he’s just had his second baby he didn’t he doesn’t have time for this but he also is a very smart dude probably one of the smarter guys that I know he would be a CEO if he wasn’t a professional golfer that’s how impressive he is when you talk to him just about stuff like this he understands it at not to say that he should be running the tour but he’s a good guy to have on the policy board uh during this time but man you know tiger Patrick Klay Jordan Adam Scott all of these players that have taken all of these calls and and been a part of of the SSG and vetting the equity and and getting the tour in a position to not continue to lose members and now Rory comes in it’s like hey here’s are the ideas like no idea is a bad idea and these guys are like dude we’ve been here like what you want to want want to know to run a show of how these things go and but maybe looking at this with you know from a different point of view it’s like maybe you do need some a disruptor now to be like okay this is where we should go and somebody that should should be like all right guys let’s move this thing to exactly kind of the things that we’ve been talking about which is make changes and and make the tournaments that are being played matter put them in places that make sense make the playoffs make sense you know let’s M let’s go to Chicago every year why are we at East like every single TOUR Championship why aren’t we going to Pebble Beach for the tour Champion like let’s think outside the box we have some of the best golf courses in the world and we find a way to not figure out a way to go to our biggest markets too it’s just to me there you just have to look at it from a big picture thing and maybe Roy’s our big picture guy after we had all of these guys handle all the uh all the business to get us into a point to where these conversations now of what’s what’s think outside the box what’s what good PJ tour not only for next year but what’s it going to look like 20 years from now I I think that is perfectly stated in terms of like that’s the reason why you get Rory back on the policy board is to have a a counterbalanced voice that like look we’ve been driving in One Direction it seems like everyone to a large degree is on the same page um but then you bring in a guy who maybe has moved around a lot in terms of his opinions but now was kind of on on an opposing side and so hopefully I guess the downside of that of course is that it it’s st’s progress you know then you’re having a lot of discussion about what should we do instead of like Hey we’re all in agreement this is the thing we should do and now we have to take that and negotiate with this other side to figure out how it all comes together and now it’s like it’s we have to figure out what we are trying to do before we even go to that other side and so that that’s what I worry about with him coming back on and and just wondering where they’re going to all net out but but I I I do think like net net like the guy who is you know to your point on on on the the the payouts you know these sort of solid solidarity payouts whatever you want to call him like he’s number two on the list behind tiger like that guy should have a large voice in the room if he is your number two guy in terms of value to the tour if he’s going to about it you can hear it when he talks when when he’s answered the questions about what he wants the game to look like and I think the meeting that he took with the ocer just about like what are you trying to blow this thing up just even meeting with him just hearing where he thinks the game should go and and I think having a guy like Rory being on the policy board side it you have to have him there you can’t have him spit out his thoughts to the media every single week and have them just be on deaf ears and and every week now the policy board sees a new quote from Rory it’s like well dude why’d you leave you know like was like you were here to be able to help us make this ch changes and I think when we’ve seen that you know 2025 maybe isn’t early enough or soon enough to make all these changes I I’ve seen that and read that um different places that it’s just too quick of a turnaround to do that but Roy’s like no nope this needs to start happening faster and I think there’s people in the room at the tour that know that needs to happen but gosh it’s I the it was the equity thing that was the big thing to try to figure out how to get the players to come back but it just has to it has to happen these players have got to be playing on the same same uh same tournaments again we can’t have golf’s not big enough we figured that out with ratings now that it’s just it ain’t it uh with with these guys separated I I I think that and I think everyone is feeling fatigued like on both tours you’re hearing both guys say it you know on on both sides of it and and I guess the hope is that there’s been enough of competitive posturing and now we’re all just like hey can we just bring this thing back together one way another like we we we follow with we we don’t care we follow we follow it for the bits we follow it for like the fun bits and and honestly and it’s nothing against these guys their play I I I think so many of those players are worldclass players I just don’t care about these players being split and then them the live golf tours saying that this is a better tour than the PG J tour you’re just never going to sell me on that when you when it’s broken up into pieces like this 100% agree like I think even looking at this weekend you know I’m sure Brennan steel is a super nice guy hell of a player bren’s like but I like is that you know you you go down to Australia and like and this is you know your your the in the event with the most amount of eyeballs on it in terms of what we’re being sold on the watering hole like and that’s the guy who wins a tournament like they can’t be thrilled with that now they Salvage it through the team vehicle and that’s why I think all the chatter has been around that yeah cuz the leader board was gross right for a it was it was gross on Bo tours and and I think that nothing and I get that okay Zurich Zurich didn’t have a great field to start with it wasn’t like we were going to get some you know everyone’s fingers were crossed like please Rory and Shane win this thing and it was looking a little D I don’t know some of us wanted Davis Thompson and Andrew Novak to win but I don’t know I will say uh while my team of col morawa and Kurt kyama I think we actually ended up finishing the same position we we’ll get to one and done I was I was rooting hard for Patrick Fishburn and Zack Blair because um uh I I think we’ve noted this in the podcast a number of times Patrick Fishburn was my playing partner in the uh the UNCC Health Championship corn Fair toury huh big dude I se seen his name for years whether it was Monday qualifiers corn and I’ve never met him never seen him in person and when I saw the screenshot that uh you sent me of of them two with like the height I was like oh my gosh he’s a big dude is he hammer it dude he hit uh there they had this super long par three I forget which hole at Raleigh CC it was it was on the front nine I want to say maybe like six or seven they was playing like 280 uh as a part of three 285 or something like that and just cruised a little three iron two iron into the green stopped it like greens were firm no problem at all and I was like whoa this guy is and and and and it it was I mean he he could hit the ball a long way and and I think his game the way he played today kind of aligned with like he he hit the ball a mile but he was the driving accuracy was kind of off and on um and he didn’t putt it great I mean it’s Pro he probably didn’t care but it it’s looked like the first couple rounds this week to get him in contention he puted great so I was pulling hard for him um to hopefully see him get it done um also fun fun Smiley Show fact at the same time I was out there you know watching Patrick Fishburn smash ball around the yard you were interviewing Jordan spe for like our sixth ever episode on the show so how about it how about that go rewat that on YouTube We re-released that on YouTube that was pre-youtube so that’s a little that’s a fun little inside the Smiley Show the making of right there yeah yeah how about it um yeah yeah they obviously they had they had that double at 17 17 was playing tough today um and and then I mean by the way I’m in to uh back into like Sound the Alarm like remember in the uh full swing episode with Rory when he got into the locker room and Brooks had just I think he was just about to win at the PGA and he gets with his agent and Harry diamond and he says to him he’s like I I think we just need to blow this thing up and just completely go rework remodel the golf swing buddy that’s where I’m at can you play that can you get that sound from from full swing to where we can press the button like you’re able to do it on your soundboard CU you could press that button right now I’m in a I went from couldn’t have been in a better golf head space a week and a half ago to where I’m like blow it up blow it up blow it up but guess what we still won five and three season long member member match play we won five and three let’s go this took a turn I thought you were talking about Rory maroy for for a bit there but no you’re talking about the sh Creek season long match Play Congratulations by the way five sorry sorry to have to like turn the wheels on that but no no you were tied talking about Rory a little bit and it just got my head spinning about how 17 was playing hard where I would have hit a four iron today on 17 you don’t even want to know dude I lost I lost the capability to hit really any iron but especially long irons I went from shooting I shot 34 and our on nine holes and our our men’s league uh on Thursday night was like I’m I’m going to I’m going to be a scratch like I’m gonna be so good turn around the next day fired off a cool 84 in our gross match play just like could like and honestly it was a really good 84 like it was like it was honestly it was a difference between the two T’s like we play the the the white te’s for uh for for men’s league and we played the tips for for for the match play and it was just like the difference between just flipping in like a sand wedge or a gap wedge on every hole it’s like oh you have to hit a real Iron here and like and and and I’m working on as documented in our swing node segment which we need to bring back at some point I’m working on some stuff there are a lot of thoughts going on my head I’m not a good place I’m I’m I I think I’m definitely humping the ball and and I’m and I’m I’m coming like I’m doing this thing where like I’m like I’m coming over the top I’m trying to save it and then I’m like I’m hitting I probably hit like eight to 10 half Shanks how your how’s your grip feel when you set up to the ball so I’ve been working on the grip a lot too like when you look down at and you feel like and you feel your grip does everything look good to your eye it it it does and and I’ve gotten comfortable there it’s it’s more it’s more of like I can’t I I have this weird thing where like I don’t know how I’m going to get the ball to go left like I just feel like no matter what I do I’m just GNA just hit the big highya and so I’m I’m trying to like save it but then I’m coming more over the top and then and then that’s where it’s like if if I if I get it right it’s still going right but if I get it wrong I’m shanking it and and it’s it’s it’s a slowly lonely place you’re welcome to uh Hotel ha can I please would you like one or would you like two room keys and we’re giving you zero complimentary Waters because all you can do is you open the window and you jump out the hotel cuz it’s not a fun hotel at all oh man so I’ll tell you right now my grip when I hold the when I hold the grip it feels like I’m holding a frying pan that’s how bad it feels that’s how bad it feels and then I I get it to the top and I’m already thinking the same thing because my problem right now I’m I’m already I’ve always been a steep like my I’ve always been steeper when you look at the angle of attack so I have right now I’m Steep and then I’m sidebending too early and Michael nef he said that when we had our gears thing if you want to go and try to learn some stuff about just body mechanics and 3D um captured St gears is a really great place for off to get a lesson but go watch YouTube episode so good he said the worst thing you could do is side Bend early out of the top and I I am doing that right now because I’m I’m trying so hard to not hit it right that I get to the top and I’m just I’m I’m throwing it this way and all it’s do making it do is making you become more steeper for a player who’s already steep with just a normal swing so I’m going from steep to Steep and now I’m left so I I’ve gone from driving down the highway straight to now I’m heading towards the median but now the two tires in the back are off its wheels and so what are you going to do like you can’t TR I got on a dog left today and I said how am I going to hit this around the corner not first off not if I do try to sling it left how am I not going to hook it but if if I if I don’t try to hook it or if I try to save it late how am I not going to hit it out of bounds right so I’m like oh God it is just it’s nightmare Fuel and I blow up blow it all up so click the button and I know what to do that’s the thing I know what I need to do like I need to get my tilts right if I can get my tilts right and keep hand depth in the down swing to where my hands are a little bit more behind me and my shoulders are doing more this because I used to feel this in my down swing left shoulder down right shoulder high but I was able to tilt the shaft to where I was able to get the grip to be lower and then have the club coming in this way and I’d still be able to hit it up in the air and right now left shoulders up now my hand path is way out this way done you’re done this this feels like this feels a little bit like immersion therapy because you’re going through this and obviously I’m not yeah no this is this is help this is helping me feel like I’m not in uh alone in a dark place that I’m never going to get out of the strange thing for me and I don’t know if it sounds like it’s not for you because but it’s the tea helps I’m hitting it so good off the tea like I I I am hitting it on a string with my driver and my 3-wood and and then it’s but it’s everything that happens between there and around the green I get around the green I can get up and down I can get up and down from anywhere around the green I’m putting it so good right now but it’s just everything in between the tea and around the green is just pure nightmare fuel I mean I will shank a wedge I’ll shake a full wedge like I’m so odd if you’re driving it good be shanking wedges and and and the the the grip feels so good off the tea the tempo feels so good like I I can hit it with which is which the weird thing is I’ve never had this in my life I’ve been so erratic off the tea right now I’m like I know exactly where I’m hitting it but it’s just when I get over the ball in the Fairway and and it’s part of it’s like it’s just I’m going through a lot of checkpoints I think I think it’s it’s there’s a lot of thoughts going on my head but I’m trying to kind of get this elbow feeling more inside because because I was steep to like you as we document my hands were high and then I’m coming over the top of the ball and so I’m trying to kind of get you know shallow it a little bit more and and get this get this arm aside but then I kind of I don’t if if I if if I don’t get any side Bend if I don’t side Bend enough and I kind of stand up on it and then I move toward it and then I’m trying to bring my hands back over to get it left and then I’m just like throwing the hosle right at the golf ball and it just just like these little piss rocket line drives to the right that I can’t get out of I try try getting better Tempo I’ve tried everything at this point right now what I’m thinking of doing is just quitting quitting quitting but if I’m not allowed to quit so I have to play Tobacco Road this weekend which I is one of my favorite places on Earth and I’m like afraid I’m gonna ruin it but I I think I’m I think what I’m gonna do is I’m just gonna play like a 30 to 40 yard fade and just take it to the top and then just don’t release my hands at all and just turn through it Steep and just at least I’ll know I’ll square the club face and it’s just going to go start at left and it’s going to balloon to the right I’ll take two extra clubs and and I’ll just I’ll just and PR that’s why I’m living right now and it’s such a terrible place to be living I’m hitting a like I’m not even close to my full numbers it’s so frustrating it I just feel like I’m hitting everything like 10 yards short of what I normally do which is not great golly God bless it we’re that was our therapy session session and and with all that being said we still won five and three I just want that’s amazing and and be honest I wasn’t going to win the season long match play at Hope Valley anyway and I really care about defending our men’s league championship so it happened the correct way so that it is what it is um what should we golly that was that was very helpful uh should we Where Do We Go From Here We yeah what else do you have in the docket I mean I got nothing else on my end I got out got out my golf problems I I my one and done we kind of discussed besides the only thing I wanted to say there was that Davis Thompson and Andrew Novak let me down I yeah I was thinking in my head CU they were in the second last group going into the last uh into the third day and then I look later in the day and they were they were one under through like nine or 10 and and they went from being in the second to last group to second to last that’s how crazy that format is in the best ball day you can go from second to last group being one under through 10 and being in second to last I was like oh my God that is just because I I would have loved to pick a like kind of a rando winner because that if you pick the rabbit out of the hat at the Zurich and and got it right uh besides picking a top player like Rory and if if you would had Martin trainer and Chad Remy this week hell yeah like that is sick that would have been a deep deep cut I think Shane Lowry was to play this week because I don’t know that I would well unless I think did one of us use Shane Lowry early on remember I don’t think we did Shane Larry would have been the right play this week um here here’s thing I’m trying to figure out is I know that I know that the winners get 400 FedEx Cup points but I’m I don’t know that the rest of the field gets FedEx cut points I’m not sure how that works they do they do deled what what I was going to say is we both of our teams finish t23 at 18 under like I’m wondering if we just call this thing a wash because I’m having a heck of a time trying to figure out what what the projected points were this just call it a wash yeah I mean next week which is is it TPC Craig Ranch it’s TPC Craig Ranch week let hit some air horns I’m going to insert some air horns here it’s TP it’s Smiley’s favorite week of the year TPC Craig Ranch week um yeah let’s just get right into that let’s make these one andone picks and then call it a day because I feel like we’ve we’ve done just about everything else can can can we talk through this a little bit because what what profile player do you like here just anybody anybody who’s good at golf because you’re just hitting off of living Master Turf like what what what profile player suits this course I think I was talking to Scotty about TPC Craig Ranch because he was I was like oh so you’re not playing that week he was like I think there’s like one or two t- shots you actually have to think about was what he said or maybe maybe I’m using another Tour player um but I let’s just huse Scotty because why not well he he finished fifth last year so I’m sure shocker T5 for Scotty sheffler um I I’ve never played there I’ve just we need to play there I’ve been so frustrated TV that I just said yeah uh I’m good I’m good I I feel like I I I feel like first of all we should go there and do like a you have to say like five nice things about this course after you play it um D the CJ Cup by the way can we talk about a company that is just they’ve been everywhere but you know what I had earlier tonight uh nine bbo dumplings they they work it worked those are good they they own that company C CJ Foods owns bbo and they’ve infiltrated my brain via their very cool style logo and their uh BB go go go go BB go go ads that are on every PGA Tour event and I was grocery shopping with my son on Saturday which is delightful by the way I I was solo dad this weekend I was I oh gosh alone on Walker Island no safety help just one-on-one coverage just getting torched all weekend long by my one and a half-year-old son we had a lot of fun but I am exhausted and uh my wife is a saint for working three 12-hour back-to-backs while pregnant but um I I need help I need more help over the weekend it’s very very hard uh but yeah so anyway that that’s that’s a nice tangent but yes we were we were grocery shopping together and we were going to the the Frozen Foods aisle and I said oh bi go let’s try some of those and I had them for dinner tonight they were delicious so that’s a free ad for uh bbo and for for CJ Foods in the CJ [Laughter] cup the CJ cup byon Nelson um all right so it’s my first pick this week is it okay it is my pick this week and looking at last year’s leaderboard I’m kind of surprised Austin ot’s not playing this week cuz he was T2 last year yeah he was he was T2 and he’s been playing good the last couple weeks and I was like this is going to be a perfect time to look to use him and then I went and looked at the field list he’s not in the field um which doesn’t make a ton of sense to me but I don’t know maybe he just maybe he’s playing um because the week following after Byron is Wells Fargo right and then and then PGA this is such a crap shoot week man these guys are so many under par last year 23 if you if you got here we go if you were 10 under par what do you think that got you last year well I mean I’m I’m cheating I mean I I have the board up [Laughter] t64 oh my gosh so do do you just like a guy that can just take it deep like do you got do you like a guy that can just like it’s got to be I mean the course profile has got to be drive it far good iron player putter I mean it it’s it is what it is right I mean I got a couple guys in mind who you going with well the the guy that I’m looking at that I want to pick is mimu Lee but he but last year he missed a cut shot 6975 was two over missed the weekend so I’m like I don’t know if that’s I mean the guy who I really want to pick and who I’m probably going to pick is sewo because he finished T2 last year and uh and I feel like I feel like is in good form um golly but I but but I really want to roll the dice on mewo and I just don’t know if I have the intestinal for to to do it um yeah let’s let’s go let’s plug in SE cim here I’m gonna go with SE I was gonna take him yeah I like SE here you’re going to give me once I do one little check on this player on data golf just to see if if I’m if I’m checking this off right on a player that’s been doing anything recently and not what I wanted to see I’m glad that we’re pulling the curtain back like to see the scientific process that goes behind these picks that we’re now uh F or I guess we’re five for the last we’re only batting 500 now Smiley we’re five for 10 I did not want to see that um I still think I’m probably going to take him though just cuz it seems like course fit um give me Luke list okay okay uh you you have Luke list and that that that is a that’s a fits the exact profile guy that if you gets a hot putter a hot putter I mean the guy’s insanely good ball Striker hits hits it far can I take can I take my pick back well you did it last week so let’s just keep the precent going all right what just erase that little luk list thing like little little editor cut there whether the editor actually wants to do that or not uh my pick for the CJ cup at the CJ cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch is I’m taking McKenzie Hughes oh I’m taking mcken we’re going all in on a putter I like it um I think McKenzie when I think about Houston this year he played really well there and he Houston and if if he just it’s like Scotty but a lesser version meaning Scotty’s on this different planet but McKenzie’s formula is if he ball strikes it above average like above the above that tournament week’s average he has a chance because he’s such a good putter he’s such a good putter so if he has that week in which he has that ball striking is is there and his iron games there McKenzie who’s going to be there I like it I I like it and and theoretically this should be an easy place like if you are one of the play good this year if you’re a top 50 player in the world like you should have enough in the way of ball striking to be able just to kind of get in places where you can have chance to make birdies or Eagles and he will be good at doing that CU he’s a phenomenal putter so I like it I really do like that pick I think so too and uh looking at he’s in a little better form than luk Liss which is why I got off of his look at this for look at this for Mackenzie Hughes and I mean shoot even from what’s started the RSM classic last year he’s only missed one cut he finished second at the RSM top 25 at Century but T3 at bpar T14 at at Houston but he was a lot closer to the top of the leaderboard than where he finished t39 at Heritage but all of his numbers look much more green not a ton of red this year so I think McKenzie Hughes gets the job done this is going to be a clip you can count on it [Laughter] ending with the flourish I mean I feel like if you’re if we’re getting to the Porsche and we’re throwing out some other names like if you if you’re saying this is a track where a good putter as long as he hits a halfway decent should have a good shot um Mt mcne shown like a little bit of form this year off and on do you not like MAV I’ve been really it’s it’s been tough for me to get a feel about Maverick MC’s game I probably do need to do a deeper dive because I saw so much like not good form like really y not good stuff and when you saw what pre you’re talking about yes yes and when you saw what two players like us just talked about being in the bad EB gb’s head space we saw scores from mavic that reflected that but then we saw really good stuff from this year so I just can’t like go all in on Maverick yet this year but he could be a player that if his ball striking is there is yeah I’m with you but Tom Hog’s a guy I like um this week it just all depends on the putter for him um Adam Scott are we gonna We gonna turn the clock back I mean Scott guy think Adam Scott’s a guy that I I don’t hate it I don’t hate Adam Scott this week I’m gonna give a shout out to my fellow Clovis West Golden Eagle Peter Quest who finished T14 last year hasn’t played great this year he was in that he was in that special temporary membership category uh at the end of last year and then had a rough start of the season on the corn fairy tour but Monday qualified into was it Houston maybe I want to say and he’s in the field this week and who knows let’s go maybe recapture the magic a little bit um midw Lee though this could be a good week for him I I I like that um you always have last year was an aberration you always have to factor in KH Lee when it comes to TPC Craig Ranch so let’s not forget about khle in these discussions um I I I don’t know why I feel so strongly about got Andrew Novak and Davis Thompson but I do still espe especially this week um uh besides that I mean there’s plenty of other really good players that you can look at it’s kind of a a mixed bag of of trying to figure out who’s going to play well this week but um the only other name I’ll throw at you would be uh Thomas dietry that would be the only other name I don’t see how T hat doesn’t top 10 this week T5 last year just lock it in uh okay good well so we thrown some names at you I I’d say like what you know are we comfortable saying our backup picks are Min Lee and Luke list or you want I’ll have that be my back I’ll take Min you take Luke if we ever get Beyond a backup pick we start getting a third string picks like somebody yell at us like that’s as far as we’re going to go we’re going to give you our main picks our backup picks and we’re going to stick to those um so there you have it so just to recap I have sewo Kim you have Mackenzie h that those are the one anddone picks uh and Alex noren’s another guy you could throw in a lineup too he’s a like that he’s a good player a lot oh yeah he’s a good player yeah of course he’s a good player ska I mean he’s on the PGA tour he’s he’s had a good year yes yes of course uh well that that about does it for us uh a lengthy one a spirited one which I was not for I didn’t see that in the cards poster a classic but here we are well I think it just coming off a week like this you just feel we’ve we’ve had so much lead up into the Masters and just who’s going to be contending and then we finally get Adelaide and the PGA Tour Liv PGA kind of battle this week where Liv had their huge event and then Zur was you know ended up being a great event but could have been in for a stinker so it was I think finally the discussion between the two of was was needed from the show I love that uh and one final one that this was not going to be some Grand reveal anyway it’s one that I’m workshopping so I’m just going to solicit the help of the people out there um would love to to make streaming video game previews of upcoming tour courses events something that we do on our YouTube page but I cannot figure out how SK and I can do this crossplatform because I’m a PlayStation Guy Smiley is an Xbox guy your PlayStation username I think I’m I think um well it’s it’s my last name boy so it’s like Hume booy but it but it’s actually it’s homeboy homeboy boy yeah okay that’s good is that a good one yeah pretty good one right what’s what’s your uh gamertag uh mine used to be like Smiley Kaufman 10 which is like all my things and then all of the boys were giving me a lot of heat for that that it was a really bad tag uh tag name now it is uh Sid to sniper because I used to be the guy that would always have the sniper and when I hit the Snipes every now and then but when Sid hit his Snipes you heard about it I I love that and and and I want to play that Sid du sniper like sniper so so somebody out there listening help help Sid to sniper and homeboy crossplatform play what either the 2K game or the EA Sports Game because we want to stream on our YouTube us playing the the upcoming course you’re going to see for a PJ Tour event for a major that weekend that’s in the works I was really hoping to debut I think we’re a little too short on time was hoping to launch with TPC Craig Ranch because I think that’d be drenched in deep irony but but maybe we’ll have to kind of postpone it but just comment on the YouTube or or message us on social media or something so we can make that happen we very much like to do that so with that said I think that’s all unless you have any closing comments Smiley no uh no no closing comments just uh really like thinking about waking up at 700 a.m. and going to hit golf balls all day until I figure it out but other than that uh send your swing thoughts for me I gotta I got to get an A Range sesh or two before Tobacco Road I really I probably and it’s probably going to make things wor us but uh yeah wish us both luck and uh we will be back here this week in the feed uh with with another interview uh leading into the weekend I think I hope uh we have couple things in the works there but well there will be another episode we’ll have that we’ll promise you that and on the back end of that we’ll have a recap of the CJ cup BB go Byron Nelson open or not open uh just just the Byron Nelson uh that was a great dismatch of the show thanks so much for watching thanks so much for listening and we will talk to you back here soon you know listen to this podcast it’s really cool all of our L fans and subscribers but make sure you like And subscribe it’s cool to see what you guys are doing I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too so please keep it up for all the good people YouTube like And subscribe you guys have some good takes so I’m happy to come on and and shoot the