Scottie Scheffler’s Bid for 3 in a Row – 2024 Houston Open Round 1 Recap | The First Cut Podcast

Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter recap Round 1 of the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

0:00 Intro + Rick and KP’s returning baseball fandom
9:21 Scottie’s bid for 3 in a row is off to an excellent start
13:32 Taylor Moore’s quick start & Alejandro Tosti is here!
16:43 Afternoon big boys have a slow day – Willy Z, Tony Finau
26:00 Betting Favorites

#golf #pgatour #golfoncbs #firstcutpodcast #houstonopen #GolfDFS #golfpicks #dailyfantasysports #PGADFS

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

freaking first cut golly welcome to the first cup podcast I’m Rick gam and this is your round one recap for this week’s Houston open joining me to break it all down Kyle Porter is here KP happy Houston open Happy uh sweet 16 happy MLB opening day yeah amazing sports day I told my my 10-year-old son this morning one of the great Sports days of the year and his response was I I said I said exactly what you said sweet Major League Baseball opening day and the Houston open of course and he was like I don’t know that the Houston open should be included in that okay that’s fair uh Rick I think my Jour my baseball fandom has mirrored yours in a lot of ways in that I think I don’t want to speak for you but was super into it growing up in love with it in high school col going into college kind of fell out of it after post College in the last year or two I’ve kind of gotten back into it is that does that m is that what yours has been like 100% and I’ll describe that but wh why do you why do you think that is why do you think that you are getting back into it yeah it’s a good question um I think there are three reasons for for me one my my kids specifically my sons are into it and that’s part of it but not all of it I think the pitch clock is like it’s again not all of it but I think that’s definitely part of the story it just makes the games like I two and a half hours is a lot different than like four yes right and then I think three I think there was some back I don’t know if backlash is the right word but some like okay I’ve had so much baseball over the last 15 years of my life I just need to like be interested in something else post College I think that’s fair and I that what you describe that journey is very much similar to mine recently I’m I’m stunned at a lot of the good things Major League Baseball has done they used to be the poster boys for shooting themselves in the foot and maybe they still are but the pitch clock I I cannot believe how much better it is to watch games I I was I was not expecting that I’ve gotten into more of the star s okay so we went it was a it was like a fiveyear period of if you even thought about pimping a home run you’d get one in the ear hole and now it’s like encouraged and fun again right like the I feel like the unwritten roles have also gone away which I don’t know it’s just it’s a lot more fun to watch now I read an article about Ronald aunan and GQ today and I was talking about how he sometimes has like five different celebrations on the same home run and you’re and you’re reading it like what like and I’m in like I love it but that’s just not a thing that would have occurred in 2005 it is weird though because you pick it back up I’m like ah is Chase s still around like like the the only guys that you remember are uh like is Cliff Lee still playing you know guys from I just named two Phillies but guys from uh 15 20 years ago that were that were stars it’s just it’s hard for me to to kind of pick back up um the star stuff but I think one thing that’s was not true when we were playing and following it growing up was all the data and this is this is probably like not unique in sports like it’s it’s all sports have kind of gone that direction but baseball is uniquely um structured to like make use of it I don’t know if that’s the right way to say that but have you seen have you felt that yeah so so the two sports that I think do the best job of it like in in game are are tennis and baseball and and it’s a lot easier because you know you point all the lasers and cameras and everything at home plate right and Tenn the tennis court is not moving right so it’s a little bit it’s obviously a lot easier to do but like that real time I mean exit velocity is now a that’s like a standard thing that you see on every single ball put in play launch angles quickly quickly overlaying how many ballparks that would have been a home run in like they it is just so natural now and they’ve done a really good job with it yeah I agree and I’ve just over the last I don’t know couple months learned like ex of a lot like I I’m I feel like I’m really behind in terms of like where everything’s at which part of that you know I’ve got a buddy who um I that I work out with run with sometimes and he is follows the major like in golf follows the majors but not much else and the other day or a couple several months ago he’s like I saw the the the PJ tour and live thing like I thought they merged and you’re like I I envy your your ignorance and I don’t even mean that in like a negative way I mean I truly Envy like and I’m sure there’s like an underbelly of B there is an underbelly of baseball but I don’t have to care about it like I can just enjoy like all the fun stuff and the stars and you know whatever yeah I get to be the ignorant baseball guy who’s like like have you guys ever considered This and like yeah we considered it a billion times over it is it is funny though because I so I flipped it on today and uh so I bought MLB.TV for like the first time in like seven years what was 150 uh I think it’s like one yeah like 130 140 it might be 150 something like that yeah and I was like all right here we go what game am I gonna watch and I’m like they gotta be all the aces it’s opening day I’m gonna get a bunch of Aces I didn’t know anybody I I did not see I didn’t see Clayton Kershaw’s name I didn’t see like Roger clevens name like I didn’t see guys that I was I didn’t know anybody I’m like these are the best pitchers in baseball yeah there’s a guy from Baltimore Corbin Burns Baines sure I mean this is embarrassing like we’re we’re embarrassing ourselves Corbin Burns producer Josh says and apparently he’s amazing but I was I was kind of going through the the start the U like the matchups this morning I was like I know like three guys yeah bar barely and I only know because I watched some of the playoffs last year so you know what I did is I I watched um I put the Reds on because I wanted to see Ellie De La Cruz yeah that’s what I did and I was happy with that did they win yeah they smoked uh the Nationals so I think your Tweet today you tweeted out uh what’s the one game I should watch or something like that yeah if I can only watch one game what is it I think that concept is actually a there should be a I don’t know like a blog or a newsletter or a Twitter account something that just gives you the game of the day but but all but not just the game of the day but the reasons why so I thought that there was that’s what I was looking for I remember again I’m this is at least seven years old I thought there used to be some type of Major League Baseball and I thought it was called watchability ranks and it would look at okay what’s the what’s the over runder what’s the pitching matchup what uh you know what Young exciting players are in this game all that stuff and it would score it out of a hundred or whatever and it would rank you know games one through 15 on what you should what you would want to watch I thought that that existed I could not find any evidence of that when I was looking last night if if somebody had that newsletter and maybe people can comment or maybe producer Josh knows if somebody has that newsletter I would subscribe to it because I I don’t have time for all the games and I don’t have time for most of the games but I’ll throw a game on during the day you know just like while I’m in my office working that’s the other thing for for you and I like we’re gonna watch a lot of cubs games because they play the Day game so I love nothing more than like the so out here it’s the 10: a.m game and I’m like this is awesome like I’m watching baseball live baseball 10 yeah it’s it’s fantastic oh so good you know what else is fantastic Scotty Sheffer and he has already laid the hammer on the boys in Houston Scotty went out this morning and shot a five under 65 it was bogy free he is gaining two and a half Strokes to the field with the putter that is currently eighth and there was a moment KP I won’t spoil the end of the show but there was a moment uh this morning that before half the field had teed off Scotty’s odds moved to minus odds he was like minus 105 during that morning wave so that that is where we were at if you thought uh you know Scotty was gonna cool off anytime soon it wasn’t goingon to be today yeah I caught it at like three to two were his odds whenever I saw it but it was kind of bouncing around the negative even 3 to2 two to one area um he is he’s extraordinary you know uh I I Mi well I didn’t miss it I saw it I forgot to bring it up on Tuesday but your comparison of him to a quarterback throwing averaging 900 yards passing a game was was so good it was so funny but also like I just you talk about exit velocity being part of the vernacular now in baseball there Strokes gain is just not in golf and and I feel like you and I are gonna we’re going to make it happen it might be 17 years from now but and Sol from no l up we’re going to we’re going to push it through that that uh legislation is gonna go through at some point but today’s not that day but he’s just uh there’s a i retweeted it somebody on Twitter basically posted his approach play numbers and the thing about Scotty that’s so impressive and I think I think Mark imman um either talked about this or or mentioned it or whatever ever he just doesn’t do dumb stuff yeah you know like somebody called somebody people not somebody people have called um yeah this is the average yards per game that’s so funny um people have called spe Like Cocaine golf or like caffeine golf Scotty’s decaf golf right like he he just it’s it’s not it’s not going to give you a jolt of adrenaline but it’s going to win a butload of tournaments and that discipline man is just he like he’s I was on shotgun start today for the the Fred EG guys I said he could win seven times this year and that doesn’t feel insane well I mean he’s like almost to three and he’s going to play them a lot of events that he’s going to be a really good fit for I mean there I mean I can’t I I won it now like I want Scotty three in a row going to the Masters add that storyline to ROM coming back to the Liv stuff add it to Tiger Woods is playing add it to Rory going for the career Grand Slam inject inject inject inject inject no I’m I’m totally with you it’s it’s to the point where it’s historic now I mean we’re getting into historic territory I mean the last the last three guys to win three in a row what tiger Rory and DJ yeah I think yeah that’s a good crew yeah so it in terms of coverage of the sport like it’s great for us when something historic is happening and we’ve entered that territory with him and no end in sight I mean the putting is is he hit I think three putts over three birdie putts over 10 feet today some something in that range one was a 24f footer so if he’s doing that it’s like okay well good luck everybody because it’s not happening yeah we’re we’re nine rounds into the new Putter and if it’s if it if this is the future it’s been real yeah thanks Rory yeah thanks Rory when Rory second to Scotty at the Masters he will snaap that spider in half for the second time oh my god um out in the morning was Taylor Moore 6 under 64 so he is uh currently a couple guys still out on the golf course as we speak but he is currently your leader and Taylor Moore has had kind of a weird run here lately KP he won last year he won almost exactly a year ago he won the Valar last year and then the end of 2023 wasn’t very good it was pretty miserable he has started to play a little bit better he’s made a lot of cuts leading into this uh last week at the Valar he had his best finish in a long time it was a T12 so he’s been rounding into form but we we see this kind of a lot guy breaks out gets you know first big win and then kind of disappears for a little bit as they get their feet back underneath them yeah I I think think it’s a you know we talk about templates on the PGA tour a lot and it’s you know I think there are times where you’re like okay this guy could be a star but then you give him time to grow into that I think of uh who’s the South African that won like two or three times in yeah gcko but you look closer at the numbers and you’re like I don’t know man like I don’t think this is it and that’s sort of how you feel with Taylor Mo where it’s like okay yeah you could win maybe a times in your career have a nice good career but I just don’t know that the that the star power is there but I mean listen you win two times in 53 weeks or whatever like that’s that’d be a big deal so he’s got he’s got something on the table here over the next couple days yeah he would sign up for that for the rest of his life win twice every 53 weeks and it doesn’t matter what else you do in between there so uh he is currently six under he is holding the lead at the moment also in that early wave was Alejandro Tosi and KP you know he was when we started this season he would have been on the short list of guys that had us excited from coming up from the corn faery he not only is a great player but he’s got a little bit of a hot streak in him and we haven’t seen that translate to a lot of PGA Tour success just yet his uh Thursday 66 was just electric yeah a two pencil day for sure eight birdies four Bogies six pars he made four birdies in a row um from two through five I mean it was yeah it was it was special but like this is this is kind of what we want to see more of yeah he’s a character I mean he’s a he’s a character in the sense of like I think this is sort of how he plays but also like he does crazy crazy stuff so to see somebody like him and Scotty In Contention would be very humorous very different people very different skill sets very different everything and you know Styles make fights that would be that would be a fun one oh man that would be sick okay uh we’ll continue this conversation there was a lot of big names that did not play well uh we will cover those guys and then hit the ones that did in the afternoon wave but first we’re going to take a quick break and hear a word from our partners at CBS Sports Gazo Network we’re bringing you the game of Messi breaking down the game this is unlike anything else in the world and change in the game get it all for nil that means free wa and all day [Music] 24/7 and we’re back KP little bit of a disappointing day for the non Scotty sheffler big boys uh Windam Clark even par that’s a tie for 56 sahith even par that’s a tie for 56 will Al Taurus is four over that’s a tie for 126 F now one under but probably feels like he left a lot of Strokes out there um you know it just wasn’t necessarily a banner day for the guys at the top of the betting board on on Wednesday night yeah I think the guy that sticks out to me is uh is is zot torus you know not not just because he was the worst of the group but also because he to me is is I mean he he literally is among the favorites for the Masters here in two weeks but also like in my mind he’s kind of right up there as well I mean thankfully I didn’t tweet this I I thought during the Arnold Palmer that he should be the favorite for the Masters bad take Dodge that Bullet by keeping that one in the drafts for sure but uh and Scotty like has shot Seven 65s in a row since then but I he’s the one that I’m kind of like huh what’s I don’t think there’s anything going on it’s just not necessarily what I thought he would do during this stretch because he’d been so good at the start of the Year well the thing that has my full attention is that he lost nearly five Strokes Putting On th so that you know magic uh long broomstick uh doesn’t work every time and that would be that would be Troublesome if he’s if he’s if th if this is in the range of outcomes with that putter that’s that’s Troublesome to me yeah I agree I mean it’s it’s a little bit of like where Scotty was at but without the built-in floor of like I’m definitely going to be a top five ball Striker this week I think zat Taurus’s floor is pretty high it’s not Sheffer High though and so you get yeah you get he missed the cut at the Players right yeah and I think it was pretty ugly there too yeah I think he was like I think he shot like 80 one day or 708 or something like that so yeah I mean that that’s a problem both for winning but also for like top 10 because if if your four is not what Scotty’s is then you do have to put it pretty decently to to to finish in the top 10 uh let’s hit Tony F out here one underpar 69 for the defending Champion I think he was one of the more interesting golfers before the week started just because I didn’t know what we were going to get what we got on Thursday at least was elite elite ball striking second off the te fifth on approach he gave a little bit back around the greens and he gave a lot back on the putting surfaces so that’s if you’re going to struggle to a 69 this is kind of how I would want it to look and maybe he bounces back on Friday and for the rest of the week but but he’s a tough watch on the putting surfaces like just the eye test he is a very very tough watch well he’s got the uh he’s got the toe up by keki right I just can’t imagine how we got how we got here like that is just so it’s not working and it looks bad and no like who would ever teach that I just don’t know how we got there the guys that have the toe up I’m sure there’s a reason for this I’m an idiot when it comes to like equipment stuff but why wouldn’t they just bend their their the shaft to to account for that I don’t know clearly they’re doing it to put their hands in a in a very specific position I just can’t imagine somebody liking the way that looks and feels as they get through the ball all I have no idea it’s it’s so strange I I would love to I mean I’d love to hear from fale or anybody that Hadi on that I think it’d be really interesting but uh yeah I mean him and him and I think he was he was you said he was first in ball striking or second or something well I yeah I said he was second off the T fifth on approach so I’d imagine that would be pretty high up there yeah he I have him as first in in ball striking so a good day I mean it’s a little of the sheffler thing from five tournaments ago where you’re hitting the heck out of it and and not making anything by the way zotor is 10th in ball strike in and he still shot 75 yeah which is pretty crazy he was bad around the greens too which Tony was Tony was okay but yeah I mean I I would love to see Tony play uh just really good golf over the next three rounds rounds and and take some momentum into the Masters it’s it’s it’s time for him to like okay if you’re going to compete in Majors you need to do it you know and I I feel that way about a handful of guys can’t Leander feno’s in that group I I think somebody like a havin still has a lot of time and can’t and Xander are younger than F now but they’re to me they’re all on the same bucket of like are you a are you a major player or not you know and and I think for fow like that it’s it’s time the strangest uh thing I ever saw in person in terms of how people putt is I got paired up with this guy who so he you know he played right-handed so he swings right-handed he we get up to the first screen and he pulls out a a lefty Putter and I’m like okay you know I’ve seen I’ve seen this before guy you know swings one way and putts the other no big deal he then took the Lefty putter flipped it over uh hit it right-handed but just to the point where only the toe like he only had access to the toe right that’s I that’s serial killer Behavior you you you should have exited the premises so let me tell you well I’m like this guy’s gonna make everything because if you’re if you’ve figured out that this is your thing yeah you must awesome at it he was the worst putter I’ve ever seen like he barely he was barely hitting the club face well that’s the other he’s giving himself such a small margin and he was brutal and I’m like that can’t be worse than what a normal putting stroke would be that’s the other option is you’re either the best putter in the world are the worst yeah like there’s no in between if you’re do if you’re if you’re flipping a left-handed putter over and hitting it that’s that that’s I mean I’ve tried some stuff I think the one that I always go back to that’s interesting is side saddle what Bryson was doing for a while I mean there’s kind of a reason why it’s uh it’s not banned right but you can get into a position where it’s very close to being like an illegal shot I don’t know I I think it’s I think it is Ban I don’t know if it’s like the anchoring thing where you’re like well you can have your hand within like a centimeter of your sternum but you can’t have it on your sternum I I don’t I don’t know yeah it’s very yeah but but I think there yeah I think there’s probably a reason why that is maybe an advantage um as the after or as the afternoon wave is winding down probably the no most notable for me is McKenzie Hughes a four under 66 and KP he’s been trending a little bit here so 30th at API 26th at the Players then last week at the vbar he finished third so we’ve we’ve we’ve got a trend line here and now he is going to be two shots off the lead heading into Friday McKenzie Hughes continues to play Great Golf how many uh major top 10 do you think mat Hughes has in in how many starts and how many major top 10 well I I know he was in the final group of the US Open but I’m not sure he finished inside the top 10 of that he did not okay so now that already my you know equil equilibrium is thrown off because that stuff like that is possible um I feel like he did have another I would I don’t know I’m GNA say he’s got two top 10 he’s got one out of 17 starts okay so T6 at the that same year 2021 at the Open Championship with h when Mor Cowell won okay so he played great golf that summer um I would I brought that up because I would love to see McKenzie Hughes get in the mix at a major I think that he I think he’s an interesting dude I think he’s fun I think um you know I I think people don’t know him people don’t know about him but he he’s just a I don’t know he’s to me he’s unique and I think it’d be awesome if he was in the mix in a major championship so that four under 66 Two Shots off the pace Wilson fur is really the only guy of course out on the golf course right now who could uh make a dent and get to Taylor Mo but that would be that would be pretty unlikely so very very likely that Taylor Moore is our overnight leader Josh let’s take a peek at those betting odds and I will REM people that could get a little windy there tomorrow Houston the afternoon looks like you could get some wind you could get some gusts might not be so fun so those guys who played in the morning like Scotty sheffler are gonna have to battle those conditions uh Scotty no surprise your favorite here plus 12 120 the only golfer in single digits because Taylor Moore Who currently leads is 10 to one mw’s 18 Bo Hustler 22 Aaron Ry 25 everybody else longer than that uh you might have guys that play well but Vegas is PR prep preparing us for a Scotty sheffler buzz you know what I’m not feeling good about is my um the field at minus 400 over Scotty holy crap can I tell so I will I’ll we’ll commiserate together okay so so minus 400 I bet I bet Carlos alcaras at minus like 450 to win this match that he’s playing right now and he’s already down the first three games so we are both just gosh this is this is the steamroller getting us now is he is he playing uh gase no yeah first off ALR is like one of two tennis players I could name I don’t even know who the hell he’s playing so yeah you know the nickels in front of a steamroller we’re getting steamrolled right now both both of us just getting just smoked I don’t I don’t really like any of these numbers I mean I it take a guy who played in in the afternoon today so that would be like McKenzie Hughes and you hope that you hope that he goes out and puts together a couple underpar and then things get crazy in the afternoon and hopefully that’s enough to hold off Scotty or something like that but I wouldn’t I wouldn’t be taking anybody that played this morning here yeah the when did did was fenale this morning or this afternoon he played this afternoon I I I like that I like him at 45 number one Striker yeah uh yeah I sorry prod Josh said he’s in the chat he’s 45 to1 not 35 but best ball striker in the field he’s been awesome at this course just give me a give me a fire on him over everybody else on this on this board I’d be okay with that yeah defending Champion best Strokes gain number at Memorial Park and just knock the cover off the ball yeah yeah you’re not gonna get any argument for me yeah you’re you’re just betting on couple putts falling and Scotty I don’t know having another neck lock up or something seriously when’s Meredith do it’s a h normal question yeah it’s a question that I do not want to discuss publicly because I don’t want to opine on other people’s pregnancies but there’s been some some texts going around about that I think it’s I think it it’s postmasters but it’s a I feel like no I feel like it should have been asked to him at some point yeah I I agree I guess well I mean yeah I I don’t I have no idea but my yeah my thought is what if what if it’s Sunday or Saturday night and he’s got a two shot lead at Augusta Dan Hicks said Meredith is doing late April okay well yeah I mean do and giving I mean yeah again I don’t really want to talk about know I know like my buddy just had a kid three weeks early right and and and late April to the Masters it’s only like two weeks yeah remember when Hunter Mayan withdrew was it Hunter Mayan who Canada yeah and never never won again did he I don’t think so remember when Danny Willet uh had his baby early and got to the Masters and changed the course of history he changed the course of spe’s career and possibly the PJ tour because Lee Westwood may have won that Masters and then some of the some of the live dominoes might not have been there that’s a that’s an alltime what if I need a 10-part series The Butterfly Effect of golf yeah that’s one of one of the books I want to write in the future is like the 10 best wh ifs because there’s there’s I think golf is is particularly easy because you can talk yourself into like oh well if it’s like if if tiger hadn’t existed who would have the most wins like stuff like that right yeah you can talk yourself into a lot yes but too much all right uh we’ll be back Friday night Saturday night Sunday night to break it all down and get you caught up on the Houston open for now big thanks producer Josh does all the hard work behind the scenes that right there it’s Kyle Porter you can find him at Kyle Porter CBS and you can find me at Rick run good this has been the first cut we’ll catch you next [Music] time