Edoardo Molinari looks ahead to Ryder Cup, plus hear from BOTH Presidents Cup captains ⛳️

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Jamie is joined by European Ryder Cup vice-captain Edoardo Molinari to take a look ahead to this year’s event on this week’s episode of the Sky Sports Golf Podcast. The team golf theme continues in the second half of the pod, as Jamie chats with the two newly-appointed Presidents Cup captains. Hear from Team USA’s Brandt Snedeker and the International Team’s Geoff Ogilvy.

#golf

00:00 Intro
02:10 – Dominant Scheffler wins CJ Cup
04:00 – Top players hitting form ahead of PGA Championship
07:30 – European Ryder Cup team
08:10 – Justin Rose at The Masters
09:15 – concern over form of Rahm and Fitzpatrick?
10:15 – How do you monitor progress of LIV players?
13:00 – Potential rookies emerging who could make the team?
14:45 – Does European stability in captain and vice-captains give them an advantage?
17:00 – Jose Maria Olazabal’s inspirational stories!
18:00 – Vice-captain specific roles
19:05 – How impressive has Luke Donald been in role of captain?
22:50 – Bethpage Black
25:00 – How do you deal with the New York crowd?
27:45 – Brandt Snedeker interview
30:00 – Will Tiger Woods be involved in backroom team?
31:00 – Memories of “Miracle of Medinah” Ryder Cup in 2012
39:25 – Geoff Ogilvy interview
40:15 – Why haven’t internationals had same success as Europe against USA yet?

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Hello and welcome to the Sky Sports Golf podcast presented by Callaway. He’s back. Well, he never really went away, did he? Scotty Sheffler back in the winter circle after a thumping eightshot wire-to-wire victory in his own backyard. We are just over a week away from the second major of the year and some of the games biggest names rounding into form just at the right time. The US and the international teams have both named their captains for next year’s President’s Cup in Chicago. We’ve got interviews coming up in the second half of this week’s pod with both of those captains. And with it now just four months away, we’ll be taking a closer look at how the European Rder Cup team is shaping up. Because my special guest today is Captain Donald’s right-hand man for Beth Paige as he was in Rome. The man with the plan, the chief strategist for team Europe, vice captain Eduardo Molinari Shao Kistai. Hi Jamie. Thanks for having me. All good. Thanks for coming on. Good. Look, lots of RDER Cup chat to come, but we will start with the CJ Cup. Baron Nelson where the world number one won for the first time this year. Scotty Sheffler finishing at 31 under par, eight shots clear of the chasing pack with rounds of 6163 663. He matched the PJ tour 72 hole scoring record of 253. And he was very emotional when speaking on the 18th green with Amanda Balonas. There is so much that makes this week special. You just won your hometown event. You just tied the PGA Tour scoring record. Your son Bennett, you missed this event last year because this one was about to be born. What makes this win so meaningful? Yeah, this uh this tournament means a lot to me. Um it’s my uh my first start as a pro 11 years ago. You know, I had my sister cadding for me. She’s back there, too. So, uh, you know, it’s, uh, I mean, it’s it feels like a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice for little moments like these, and they’re, uh, they’re pretty special. Dodo, this perception was kind of building that Scotty Sheffer wasn’t playing that well, but this was his sixth top 10 of the season. He has been there or thereabouts. It just that he hadn’t been the utter dominance that we saw from him last season. This week though, it was utter dominance start to finish. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, I mean, Scotty really never goes away. Uh, as you said, he’s had a lot of top 10 this year. Um, it just goes to show how difficult it is to win on the PGA Tour. Uh, he had a great win last week obviously and and he blew the field away. I I can’t remember the last time anyone won by eight shots. So, I would say Scott is back in full flow. He is. And look, I’m playing devil’s advocate here to an extent because I don’t want to take anything away from his win, but he should have won this tournament. He was the only player I think there was only two players inside the world’s top 35 that were in the field. So it wasn’t the strongest field. But that said that probably brings its own pressure when you go in there knowing that you’re the best player by a distance. Yeah, I think as you say it brings extra pressure and then he still has to beat another 155 players. So you know even if you if you didn’t have any of the top top names uh you still had a lot of great players. I mean speed was up there on the weekend and and a lot of others. Um and I mean anytime you win by eight uh a professional tournament let alone a PJ to event uh it means uh you’re doing something very very well. Yeah absolutely. There are some nice words actually from Jordan Speed and from Eric Van Royan who finished runner up. Eric was eight shots back at 23 under which would have won this tournament most years. He said I don’t play with the world number one too often. You’re almost flabbergasted in a way. There’s nothing you can do. Scotty was practically flawless. and speed who finished fourth said it wasn’t that long ago I was definitely better than him and I’m definitely not right now it’s very inspiring Doda next week it is the second major of the year you’ve got the world number one heading there off a win Justin Thomas who won the last PGA championship at Quail Hollow Hollow heading there off a win Bryson Dambo won over the weekend and live and obviously Rory Maroy heading there having had an unimaginable weight lifted from his shoulders so it is all heating up beautifully ahead of next week yeah absolutely Absolutely. I think it’s going to be a fantastic uh second major of the year. I mean, we we got treated to one of the best ones in the last uh so many years at the masters and obviously was great with Rory winning. And I think as you say, he’s got a lot of weight of his back now. He can play a bit more freely, especially at majors. Uh and I wouldn’t be surprised if if he’s up there again at Quolo. It’s a course that he played well before. He loves it around there. It’s a course that definitely suits him and anyone that is really good of the tea. Um, so you know, I’m very curious to to see what’s going to happen next week. It’s the first time I’ve spoken to you since the Masters. So tell us where you were watching it and whether there was a tear in the eye. Uh, I was actually flying to China for a DP World War II event and I managed to land and he was on the Rory was on the 11th D and I think at the time it was like four ahead. So, I thought, “Oh, you know, this is uh it’s not going to even be fun watching this, but you know, I’ll watch it because everyone wanted Rory to win and and you know, it’s not going to be very there’s not going to be a lot of emotions.” And then all of a sudden, half an hour later, not only is not leading, but it’s like trading by one and it’s like, “Oh my god, what’s happening?” But it was u I think anyone that knows Rory a little bit, I think everyone was extremely relieved for him and very happy for him. you could see how much it meant for him and and you know it’s been it’s been a long time coming. He had a few chances early in his career. Um he was just so good to see. Yeah, it was incredible. Um let let’s do our traditional Rder Cup watch roundup from the CJ Cup. Not many of Europe’s big guns playing in Texas last week. Rasmos Hoygard was having a very good week. Disappointing final round saw him tumble down the leaderboard. Not a great week for his twin brother Nikolai. He was in a tie for 56th alongside Stephan Jagger. And worth a mention for the huge hitting Nicholas Norgard. Three misss in a row before arriving at TPC Craig Ranch, but a decent week for him, finishing the tie for 33rd. Just the 19 shots behind Scotty Sheffller. Matt Wallace had to withdraw halfway through his second round. I actually dropped Matt a message this morning. He told me he’s been nursing an upper back and neck tightness. H playing more often than he would have liked. So, an enforced break is no bad thing. He’s seen his trainer. It’s all good. he’ll be ready for quail and he says his putting is back and quote he said I’m going to be steamrolling into the RDER Cup which is nice to hear. So on that note let us focus on the RDER Cup with vice captain Molinari just over four months now we will be dawning our ear defenders in Long Island to deal with that New York crowd. A reminder of how the European team stands at the moment. You will be shocked to hear that Rory Mroy tops the standings. Raasmas Hoygard, Tier Hatton, Justin Rose, Shane Larry, and Ludvig Oberg. The other five in the automatic qualification spots as things stand just outside the top six, Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas Dietri, Matt Wallace, and Nicholas Norgard rounds off the top 10. So, some big names, the likes of John Ram, Victor Hoblin, Matt Fitzpatrick, Bob McIntyre, Sept Straka on the outside looking in at the moment, but we still have three more majors to play, a host of other huge tournaments, too. So, expect the cream to rise to the top. But Dodo, it has been such a good year on the PGA Tour so far for European golf. Rory getting all the headlines, but wins for for Se for Thomas Dietri, Ludvig, Victor, and really consistent form from the likes of Shane, Tommy, you and Luke must be really happy with how the team is taking shape so far. Yeah, absolutely. I think uh our team is in is in great shape. Um and there’s a lot of guys that have been have been playing well recently, you know, apart from Rory. uh even some of the not you know not the superstars we had in Rome like you mentioned Thomas D3 he’s one that you know he he hadn’t won yet on the PGA tour and he managed to clinch his first win at Phoenix um just so many guys that have been playing well and hopefully we can just keep the momentum going until September. Yeah, and with an hour left of the Masters, it was a three-h horse race between three European golfers. So many people felt for Justin Rose, but what a champion he is. And how great for you that someone with his experience is putting his hand up and saying, “I will be there at birth page.” Yeah, I mean, Justin was uh incredible in Rome. Uh he had a different role to what he played in previous Rder Cups. he was kind of taking Bob under his wing and and you know to be honest we were all very pleasantly surprised at how good he was. I mean Justin is a great player but you don’t expect someone like him to all of a sudden embrace the role as he did and to play as well as he did in Rome. Uh so you know we were all hoping that Justin was going to have a good season this year again and be able to to have him again at best place and you know so far he’s been playing extremely well and you know at the moment you you have to like his chances. Yeah absolutely and look I mentioned Victor Holden great to see him winning at the Valpar but Victor is always brutally honest perhaps too honest and says his game still isn’t where he wants it to be. major champions like Matt Fitzpatrick and John Ram a bit off the boil at the moment as well. Are you concerned at all about that? Uh not really. I think uh John loves the right cup so much that he will probably round into form later this summer. I can I’m pretty sure about it. Uh Fritz has been showing some decent signs in the last few tournaments. Um and then again, you know, some of them might might miss. It’s not like it’s very difficult to predict the the whole RER Cup team like every every year you feel like you have seven or eight guys that were easy to predict and then you have a couple of ones that were like uh way left field. So I think it’s going to be the same this time around. I mean hopefully we’ll have all our top guys in in in the best form of their life. Uh but one way or the other we’ll have a we’ll have a a strong team and and someone that hopefully will be able to put up a fight against a very strong American side. And we mentioned John, he and Tur, let’s face it, they will both be on that team. There weren’t any live players in the team in Rome, but how do you monitor the progress of the likes of David Poo, Tom McKibben, Sergio Garcia, even without them being in the majors? How difficult is it for you to sort of assess how well they’re playing? It’s uh it’s a little bit more difficult uh simply because of the of the nature of the tournaments they’re playing. I mean, it’s three rounds, it’s no cut every week. Um some of the courses are maybe not as tough as PGA tour courses or as major courses obviously, but you can still have a good idea of how they’re playing and you know, we keep in touch with uh with them uh and try to you know, understand exactly what’s going on. Uh and you know same as the last time there’s no there’s no prejudice from our side. I mean if anyone is playing well and is a member of the tour and is eligible to play then we’ll try to have the best possible team and we could have brothers in a rider cup for the first time in 15 years since a certain Franchesco and Eduardo Molinari at Celtic Manner. Of course, Raasmus, I think, has really used the experience of being in Rome and seeing Nikolai make his debut as motivation to be there this year and hopefully alongside his brother this time. Yeah, absolutely. I think uh they remind a little bit of Franchesco and I you know when I see them it’s like it’s very rare that the two play well in the same event but at the same time you can tell that when one is watching the other playing well it it uses as as massive motivation and you know they really try and spur each other on and and motivate each other and help each other. Uh so I’m sure you know whether it’s this year, whether it’s in two years time or whether it’s further down the line, they will definitely play a Ryder Cup together and they will be a huge asset to the European team. If playing a Ryder Cup is special, does playing alongside your brother in a Ryder Cup just make it 10 times more special? Yeah, I would say so. I mean, it’s uh I think even for the parents is something that it’s incredibly something to be incredibly proud of. Uh, and I still remember very vividly some of the moments we had with Franchesco at Celtic Manor. Uh, I mean, you’re part of the team, but to have your brother in the team as well and be able to play with him, it was uh, something that I will never forget. You must have enjoyed seeing them play together at the Zurich as well, Raasmus and Nikolai, because I mean, they missed a ton of putts and they still finished as runners up. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like every time they play together, they’re able to get the best out of each other. Uh, I mean to be honest, none of them so far was having an unbelievable season, but then all of a sudden they show up in a in a team event. They play the two of them together for four days for the whole week in practice rounds and and all of a sudden they had a a chance to win and as you say, you know, they had a a really good chance to win. Uh, so it’s amazing how much they can elevate each other’s game when they’re next to each other. As well as Raz and we’ve also mentioned Thomas Dietri, who do you think could be emerging as as potential rookies this time around? That’s a difficult question. I mean, there’s a there’s a few names that have been playing well in Europe. I mean, you you see them all recently. I mean, Chakara has been playing well. Raasmus Nard has been playing some really solid golf. Um David Puig on on leave, he’s been playing well, too. Um it’s very difficult to pinpoint just one. I mean, there’s nothing like Lutvig was two years ago, unfortunately. uh that it was very very easy to to spot and and pick but at the same time we have some really good and young coming talent. Um and it’s still you know still four months to go almost uh from now to the RER Cup. Uh there’s a lot of there’s discre majors a lot of big events both in Europe and on the PGA tour and I’m sure you know there will be someone that you don’t even think about right now and all of a sudden he will win a couple of events in the summer and if he doesn’t make the team he might get a pick. So it’s always fascinating these last few months to see who’s uh who’s really trending into form and who’s you know showing his hand up. Yeah, Ludvigs don’t grow on trees unfortunately do they? If only there could be a Ludvig Goldberg every two years. Yeah. Um I want to talk about the makeup of the back room team because so far look if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. It’s the same as Rome Luke yourself Thomas Bejorn and then last week Jose Label added there’ll be two more of course and I imagine that probably will be Franchesco and Niko Karts again. How much of a head start does it give us that we have a totally settled team who have the experience of Rome under their belts while the US are all bargurick doing this for the very first time? I I think it’s definitely an advantage. I mean, we know each other very well. Whether it’s going to be the exact same team or not that, you know, to be honest, I don’t know. Luke Luke hasn’t told me that far yet. Um, but there’s definitely advantages in it. Um but I think you know whatever whatever the US they do they will be heavy favorites this time. I mean they have the best players in the world playing at home. Uh New York crowds will be even tougher than the typical American crowd. So you know it’s going to be a very very difficult battle to to win. Um as I said we’ll give it our best shot. Uh and I think it will be something incredible if we are able to pull it off. But I think at the same time, you have to realize who you’re up against and what you’re up against. Um, and it’s going to be it’s going to be extremely tough. As you said, look, they’ve got an incredibly strong group of players, but they also have this confusion over whether their captain could even be playing on the team that they could be forced into a change of captain perhaps. So, that’s bound to be unsettling, right? Yeah. I to be honest, I’m I’m I don’t know Keegan. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I think if he qualifies for the team, he’s probably going to do both. Uh I mean, it’s a it’s a once in a-lifetime chance to be playing Rder Cup captain. And you know, if I were him, in all honesty, it’s very difficult to turn it down. And you can probably set up things in a way that you know, you’re you’re able to play and and still be a captain. I mean, Tiger, he did it at the President’s Cup if I if I remember correctly one time. Um, so if he plays well enough and he’s in either he makes the team or he’s maybe just one or two spots out, um, I can see him picking himself and, you know, create a little piece of history. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s again, it’s once in a lifetime opportunity and and why would you turn it down? Yeah. Well, we we wait to see. It is fascinating how that dynamic is sort of playing out. um on last week’s edition to the team as well, the European team Joseal, take us into the team room in Rome and just tell us what it was like in there every time Ollie spoke. Uh well it’s incredible because uh it’s difficult to to explain it into words but it’s like uh his his passion for the cup, his passion for the game of golf uh and his ability to tell stories to the younger kids to the kids that I mean some of them never met him before or met him maybe once and all of a sudden you know anytime at dinner or after dinner he was starting to talk. you could hear like you know everyone was quiet, everyone was listening. Um there were a lot of tears in the eyes of the players or you know even families that you know some some of our wives they barely know Jose Maria and when he was telling stories it was like it was incredible. Um and you know the the passion and the the inspiration that he he gets from from all the players is just uh unbelievable. I could imagine how special it was. Does each vice captain kind of have his own specific role? I mean, we know that you’re you’re the stats guy and you’re the strategist and you’re coming up with who’s best to play with whom and whether they’re enforcers or poor balls, etc., etc., but is it does each vice captain kind of have a role? I wouldn’t say we have like very specific roles outside of what you said. Uh we just try and and be very open with the players, have good communication with the players, uh be as transparent as possible. Um we just try to give our opinion to Luke and then at the end of the day it’s it’s his call even, you know, with what I do with the pairings and the picks and everything. At the end of the day, it’s always his call. He’s the captain and he’s the one that will be judged uh you know, by half a point in the end. So you were basically all advising him and then he puts it all together and and make decisions and you know the last time he did an unbelievable job and I think even this time again regardless of the result uh he will just squeeze every every single point that he can out of the team. Let’s talk about Luke because you and I have spoken about this before. I mean I was just blown away by how impressive he was in Rome. Every time he spoke to the media, every time he spoken, you know, publicly at the opening ceremony speaking of tithing, etc., etc. He was just so impressive from start to finish. You know him better than anybody. Tell us just how impressed you were by the role that he had in Rome and since then over since in the in the 18 months since then as well. Yeah, I mean it’s it’s been incredible. I mean I I’ve known Luke for what 25 years now. Uh and he’s always been very quiet, very you know like confident, but like he didn’t really show up. Um, and I haven’t had many conversations with him until, you know, two three years ago. Uh, and all of a sudden to see him not not really transforming himself, but like evolving into this different type of personality and person, uh, it was just incredible because everyone thought, “Oh, he’s going to be not so much a great captain because he’s too introverted. He doesn’t speak a lot.” and all of a sudden he comes out with these you know inspiring quotes or you know speeches or uh things that he do that I mean it’s it’s incredible to be honest I mean even one of the things that stuck to my mind was at the opening ceremony in Rome obviously it’s probably the most difficult moment for for the captain of the week and he stood up and he started to speak in Italian straight away like in fluent Italian and then I came to realize after the the the opening ceremony that he’s been basically studying Italian for like more than a year every day, 10 minutes every day and then reading stuff and and I mean that just goes to show the you know the amount of work and dedication and and you know all the details that he looked at. Um it was just uh incredible and what really shone through in Rome as well and hence why the title of the documentary I suppose is Una Familia is just the the incredible closeness between not just the players but the backroom staff, the caddies, the wives. It was all one big sort of team effort and Luke was so responsible for that. You’ve told me in the past that on that little trip to um Marco Simone a couple of weeks before the RDER Cup, you saw these sort of alpha males like Rory Mroy, John Ram just showing themselves to be completely vulnerable and just one of the team. And that was the moment for you where you kind of thought, okay, this is special. Yeah, I mean it’s amazing how European players in, you know, throughout history really, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Rory, whether it was Sevy, whether it was Monty, uh, all the big names in the past and in the present, they really put their ego to the side and they just try for one week, they just do whatever they can to help team Europe win and to help your teammate. And it doesn’t matter who you are or, you know, how you’re playing. all of a sudden, you know, you’re you’re one of their teammates and and they treat you like one of them. Um, and it was very inspiring and, you know, incredible to see because you don’t expect some of them to go way out of their way to to, you know, help someone like Bob or someone like Nico, you know, be more comfortable in in a cup environment. Uh, and I think that’s something that at the end of the day helped team Europe a lot. Uh because our you know anytime we win a rider cup there’s always someone that barely made the team and all of a sudden he makes two or three points. You know it happened last time with Bob or you know everyone scored at least a point the last time. So it’s um I mean every time we have a good rider cup is the same you know the same story the same blueprint. Yeah absolutely. Let’s get on to the course. Many listeners will remember Beth Page Black from the majors it’s hosted most recently the PGA Championship which Brooks won six years ago now. It is a big course. The US of course can set it up however they want. But here’s the thing. The old US tactic of cutting down the rough, lengthening the course out, that nowadays almost plays into European hands even more, doesn’t it? They have players like Russell Henley and Brian Harmon who kind of plot their way around courses and we seem to have the bigger hitters these days. Yeah, I wouldn’t go too much into into details there, but um I would say things are sh have shifted compared to you know 20 years ago. 20 years ago we had like a lot of short and straight hitters. They had more like the the bombers. I think the difference now is much more subtle. Uh you have to look for you know very small details. Uh and I think you know in a way it’s normal because nowadays the top players are playing pretty much the same schedule uh week in week out. So they have to the best players play the same kind of courses and they have to have very similar games. So, you know, in a way, I’m I’m quite relieved that I think the core setup this time won’t make much of a difference. Um, again, they have, you know, they have the better players, they have the crowds, they’re playing at home, so I think that’s enough of an advantage to, you know, to, you know, be heavy favorites, but as I said before, we’ll, you know, we’ll try to do the best to to put up a good fight. Yeah. And look, you will have a plan down to the finest detail of how you want to approach each session. I know that. and Luke will have the clarity of thought to stick to that plan. That that is it, isn’t it? You try to stick to the plan as close as possible. Yeah, I mean it was easy to do in Rome the last time when you get off to a good start or a dream start like we did then then that definitely helps. Uh but we had we had a good plan in place. I was very confident with it. Luke liked it. All the players were, you know, really thought into it. Um and and it and it worked and hopefully we’ll be able to do something similar this time. you you’ve already mentioned it as well. What we cannot control is the crowd. It is going to be noisy. It’s going to be horrible at times. How do you deal with that? Well, I think uh you just control what you can control. Obviously, as you said, you you cannot control the crowds, but you can control how you behave, how you react to the crowds. Uh there’s a lot of things you can do to, you know, not to make it influence yourself. Um, and you know, we’ve been speaking to a lot of players, a lot of people, you know, outside the players as well to how to how to deal best with the crowds. Um, and I think we’ll be we’ll be prepared. We’ll be ready for it. Um, I know it’ll be it’d be loud. It’ll be very difficult. Uh, but you know, sometimes in the difficulty lies opportunity as well. Uh, so I’m sure uh some players will will love it. Uh and hopefully, you know, they’ll be able to perform at their best. And look, the best way to keep the crowd quiet is get some blue on that scoreboard, isn’t it? Yeah. I mean, apparently, I wasn’t at Madina, but uh on the Sunday at Madina, I mean, obviously the crowds were very loud for like two and a half days and then a lot of the players that were there, they just had they remember clearly on the back nina all of a sudden it was very very quiet. Um and they thought oh maybe you know things are changing now um as you say you know make birdies make you know put some blue on the board and you know the the noise level will go down very quickly but you know as I said it’s going to be it’s going to be tricky it’s going to be requires a lot of patience a lot of uh determination grit hard work but we’ll try our best I know you will do listen thank you so much for your time I think that’s wetted everybody’s appetite I’d imagine we cannot wait it is going to some week and we’re going to take a quick break there, but we’ll be staying with the team match play theme because after the break we’ll be hearing from the newly appointed President’s Cup captains for next year’s matches at Madina. Yes, that Madina, Brad Snedker and Jeff Ugle. Welcome back to the Sky Sports Golf podcast presented by Callaway. Now last week the US and the internationals both named their captains for next year’s President’s Cup to be held at Madina. scene of course of the miracle at Madina some 13 years ago now. Painful memories for Brance Snediger, part of that US team which at one stage led 104 only to lose the RDER Cup. He wants to put some demons to bed but he will be coming up against a captain in Jeff Ogulvie who’s been part of the redesign of Madina. So it could be an intriguing matchup. I spoke to both of them last week. Jeff to come, but first, Captain Sneds. Brandt, thank you for your time and congratulations. Um, knowing that a group of your peers want you to be their captain, want you to represent their country, I can imagine that must be extremely special. It is. Yeah, it is. You know, it’s kind of humbling and and and inspiring. You know, I realized the the weight with the of this job and what it carries for the next 16 months and how important it is for the guys to um get ready for Madonna to have that team atmosphere to have that um team camaraderie that we’re looking for and uh to be the head of that and to be spearating that is really exciting for me and u I’m I’m just happy to to represent the tour and obviously United States the way I the way I want to and the way it should be represented and I’m looking forward to the opportunity of being a Mad Madina in 2026. Should be a lot of fun. The US record in President Cups obviously is outrageous and you’ll be huge favorites next year, but that must bring bring a pressure in itself. You don’t want the first loss in 28 years to be under your watch. Yeah, I I you know, I think people who pay attention to the game and really watch what happened in Montreal last time realize how close it was and and being there as assistant captain and seeing how close that that what really was. Saturday afternoon, there were some tense moments on the radio between us and realizing a few plate here or there could change the outcome of that. I think it really kind of hit home with me how how tight these competitions are now, how good the international side is. I know Jeff will do a hell of a job of getting this team ready to come. Um, you know, he just got done with a redo here at Madina. Uh, we reception last night for the members and and uh to see his reception there, I kind of felt like we were the team because the members absolutely love the golf course. They they love what Jeff did with the place and so he’s going to have some some fans there and some home home course knowledge a little bit but you know at the end of the day the guys are going to have to make putts, hit great shots and and my job is kind of to get out of the way and um give them as much opportunity as possible to be comfortable and have as much fun as possible but at the end of the day those guys are going to be the ones luckily hitting the shots and not me. So um my job is to be a cheerleader, have a lot of fun with them and kind of get them to and from the golf course as as easy and as fast as possible. So, it’s uh but it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m really excited about it and it’s kind of hit home in the last 24 hours of what this entails, what this is going to look like and um you know, I definitely understand the pressure that we’re going to face and and we need to welcome that and kind of hit it hit it head on. I’m sure you’ll have thought about who your assistant captains will be, what your back room will be. Um will there be a phone call to a certain Mr. Tiger Woods? Tiger has will have as much say in what he wants to do as possible. you know, um, Tiger’s obviously, uh, a good friend of mine and somebody obviously a hero of mine and look up to him for a long time and and been a contemporary is forever. So, Tiger can have whatever role he wants. Um, we love having him around. He’s such a a great guy to have in those team rooms. I played on two cups with him and or three cups with him. So, I know exactly what he brings to to the team room and and the guys have he’s kind of melded in this role of being kind of the elder state statesman out here on tour and not only what he does on the golf course, but off the golf course. So, our guys look up to him greatly. I look up to him a ton and um you know, I’ll lean on him as much as he as he’ll allow me, as much as he wants to have a role, he’ll have whatever whatever role he wants. Uh you’ve mentioned the venue for next year’s President’s Cup a couple of times already. Um the significance of it will not be lost in a lot of people. I feel we’re far enough on now, Brandt, 13 years on that we can talk about it now. Um so, your memories of that Rder Cup and was there a point on the Sunday where you kind of thought, uh oh, this this is slipping away from us here? Yeah, you know, it was a great week. Obviously did not turn out well on Sunday. Um, you know, it was my first RDER Cup. I had come off win the past couple week before. So, I went from extreme high to that Sunday night was probably one of the lowest points of my career. And so, I understand exactly what these team competitions can do to you, what the the elation of winning one and also the def the, you know, the absolute utter despair that a loss can Yeah. can bring on. So, I’m going to make sure my team understands that. make sure they they understand there’s a history here. Um this is what happened last time we were here. Um and and use that to kind of focus. You know, you can’t run away from defeats. You can’t run away from bad things that have happened. You kind of have to hit them head on. And um you know, that’ll be part of my process of kind of getting the team ready to go is understanding that this golf course has produced some great cups, produced some great champions, produces some great golf. You know, if you look at the history of that golf course and what it has done, you know, hosting a PGA, hosting a, you know, a Ryder Cup, a President’s Cup, a USGA, a USGA event, it’s a special place and um it produces great champions and produces great golf and so I I know that this this cup will live up to that history and uh Jeff did a great job on the redo. The golf course is phenomenal and so it it’ll produce some great shots coming down the stretch for sure. And exercising demons has kind of been a theme of late with Rory, you know, exercising a decade’s worth of demons at Augusta. You must feel a little bit like that about Madina. You know, that that week was so special and and Madina definitely um has a a place in my memory. Uh not a great one. Um I had a great week with the guys. You know, I still look back on that week as as a great week of of getting to know a lot of my contemporaries, a lot of my friends out there on tour. These weeks are always so special. Um but yeah, this this golf course it it got us last time, you know, as part of one of the, you know, definitely one of the worst defeats of my career. And so, um I’m keenly aware of of what this is going to entail. And and uh use that for whatever motivation we need to make sure our guys are ready to go. But this this is a special place. It’s a special tournament. And um you know, we have 16 months to figure out exactly how we want to tackle it. But it it it’s going to be a special event. Chicago shows up for for big time sporting events and I have no doubt that that they will show up mightily for this. This is Madina’s a big ballpark. There’s a lot of room out there. So, we’re looking forward to seeing a lot of USA fans out there um cheering us on. Uh look, and and New Yorkers turn out for big sporting events as well. And before Madina next year, we’ve got the small matter of Beth Paige this year when you’ll be one of Keegan’s assistant captains of course. How much will you be observing what he does that week and trying to sort of soak up information like a sponge? A ton. You know, I’m going to lean on all these past captains. You know, Davis Love was my captain. I’ve already talked to him a lot. Jim’s been a huge resource for me after what he did in Montreal. I thought he did a great job of getting the guys ready to play and and and making everything as easy as possible for the guys. So, I you know, if you’re not learning, then you’re losing something, you know. So, I’m going to be there. You know, obviously been in touch with Keegan a ton, helping kind of figure out what we want to do here at Beth Page and I’m going to learn as much as I possibly can and realize that, you know, there’s going to be a lot of great stuff that he does that I’ve already picked up on and um I’m going to use a lot of it. You know, I think one big thing that we’re trying to do here is create some continuity, you know, um have some, you know, same assistant captains, similar kind of style as we as as we want for RDER Cup president Cups going forward so that when guys step into this position, they know what’s expected of them. they know kind of the blueprint of how we do things and and what works and what doesn’t work. And so I think Keegan’s done a great job of kind of keeping me in the fold. Jim did a great job of keeping Keegan in the fold. And so we want to keep that going forward for the for the next group of guys coming along. Just looking at the RDER Cup uh for the moment you’ve mentioned Jim Furick with the exception of Jim. It’s a first time for a lot of you for for Kiz for Web obviously for Keegan as well. Europe by contrast have a very settled back room team and they’ve just reappointed Jose Lathabel alongside Dodo and Thomas and obviously Lucas in the role. Is that quite intimidating when you see how settled they are? Do you feel at all as if you’re a little bit behind the eightball compared to Europe? Not at all. You know I think I think you know u what we’re trying to do is kind of you know we’re trying to copy kind of what their model was. you know, right? You know, they have done a great job of keeping continuity going forward of having guys involved so they know what they’re getting getting themselves into. And I think TK did a great thing about having Jim be assistant captain to help him understand what he’s got coming up. Uh what he’s got in front of him and to have that experience and so, you know, me being a captain last year at Montreal kind of helped me understand, okay, this is what we got going forward. This is what this looks like. I was kind of, you know, dear in headlights really for the for the whole week I was there and learned a lot. And so I think we now have it set up to do the same thing going forward for Beth Paige and on. And so it’s going to be a fun it’s gonna be a great week. You know, New York’s going to be insane obviously because of what that golf course looks like being a public place there in New York. It’s it feels like it’s their home, their place. And yeah, I know they’re going to show up and cheer us on. And so our job as captains is to kind of, you know, foster that, make sure our guys understand what what we’re getting into, but also making them feel comfortable to come with us with with anything that they need. You know, I think Europe’s done a great job of of kind of having those established veterans that they can lean on when things kind of get tough or if they have questions or whatever. And I think we’re trying to do the same thing. And and uh Keegan’s done a great job. He’s worked his tail off of of getting everything kind of all all his eyes dotted, all all his tees crossed so that when we show up in in September, we’re ready to go and the guys know exactly what’s what’s ahead of him. I’ve got my ear muffs packed already, Brent. Don’t worry about that for that. For those New Yorkers, please. Yeah, you’re gonna need them. Trust me. Yeah, I know. Um, look, the sort of elephant in the room, the big question mark over the side at the moment is, is Keegan one of the best 12 American golfers at the moment? And can you see him playing on that team? I think we’re beyond the days where you can be a playing captain. So, is that a little bit of an uncertainty? Can you see Keegan playing on this team? I certainly can. Yeah. I mean, he’s playing great golf right now. You know, he’s still in the prime of his career. Um, I played a ton with him over the last six months and he’s playing a ton with the guys and the guys feel the same way. you know, all the guys on that are on the team or close to making the team all want Keegan to be a part of it because they know realize how good he’s playing. Keegan stated for, you know, and I totally back him a thousand percent. If he doesn’t make the team on his own merit, then he’s not going to pick himself. He realizes he can’t do both. So, he’s got a goal in front of him. you know, he he knows exactly what he needs to do to make the team and and uh you know, I think our guys are supportive of whatever whatever way he wants to go about it and you know, Keegan’s keenly aware of of what’s in front of him and so it’s been uh you know, to say that these captaincies is takes up a lot of your time would be an understatement and so I know he’s put a ton of time into it and um I think he’s keenly aware of what’s in front of them. So, we’re this me and Kiz and Jim and Webb are all here to help him and to do whatever we need to do to to take some of the stuff off his plate. He’s been great at kind of letting us kind of be involved in a lot of the decisions and helping him along the way so that he can try to focus a little bit on golf. Now, start, you know, come US Open, it’s going to get real fast. You know, it’s going to happen real quick. So, you we’re trying to tell him right now to focus on golf to go out there and play some great golf, win some tournaments, and make that team. But I think probably post US Open, it’s going to be a lot more time consuming of of what we gota do to get get these guys ready. Yeah, it’ll be almost before we know it. Um, that’s to come in a few months. Just one a couple of final questions on the President’s Cup again. And you I assume you probably knew this question was coming. Your side would be stronger with the likes of Bryson and Brooks. They’re ineligible at the moment. Are you hopeful over the course of the next 16 months that that situation might change? Yeah, I think everybody in the golf world’s hopeful that we’re all back together playing at some point here in the near future. I just have no say in the matter whatsoever, you know. So, um, you know, those are great. They’re great players. You know, they’re, you know, I think we all in the golf world want some kind of continuity going forward, but what that looks like is so far above my pay grade, I couldn’t even begin to tell you how how that’s going to shake out. My my job is to, you know, coach a team that that that will be set forth that we have in front of us. And that’s my plan for next 16 months. Unless something changes, I’m I’m going with the same way we did in Montreal and and how we’re going to keep doing the point system going forward. Brand, thank you so much for your time and I’ve just seen I’ll be seeing you at the Belelfrey in a couple of months time as well. I just saw that news break in the last hour. So, so I sh I shall see you there and I’ll obviously see you in New York as well. So, thank you for your time. Anytime. Thanks for having me. So, in the red, white, and blue corner, that was Bran Snedker. In the black and gold corner, we have Jeff Oglev. Jeff, thanks so much for your time and congratulations. Um, having been an assistant captain four times now, I suppose it was the inevitable step up. When was the suggestion first made that that this was your time? Was it sort of mooted in Montreal? Did you know that this was going to be your president’s cup? Um, yeah, it’s sort of been coming, I guess, for a little bit. Our leadership group is quite since Ernie in 2019, um, with Trevor and Adam Scott’s obviously very involved because he’s played so many of these. He’s played 11 of these. So, it was sort of muted around and, um, I’ve known for a little bit sort of inside our group, but to make it officials um, yeah, it’s really exciting. It’s going to be fun. Look, there’s no sugar coating it, unfortunately. The record is very one-sided when it comes to the President’s Cup. Why do you think the Internationals haven’t had the same success yet against the US that Europe have in the RDER Cup, for example? Um, we haven’t had a Sebi yet. Um, that helps. I think if you look at the track record of if you look at the history of the Ryder Cup, it was a similar sort of story. It took a long time for Europe to sort of get the belief, I guess. Yeah. Um because I mean the best 12 players from both sides is all are always going to be pretty elite and competitive with each other. I think it’s just the belief as a group and bringing different n nationalities together I think is awkward as well. The US sort of have that natural connection because they all have the same passport and I think for a long time it was difficult to get South Africans and well South Africans and Australians and New Zealanders can get together but then you got Koreans and Japanese and South Americans and Canadians. I mean, it’s it’s sort of all from all corners of the globe, bringing them together and making a team. And it used to be a bit of a challenge, but um we’re getting better and better at that. Um Ernie with the shield that he that he brought along sort of gave us sort of unified sort of symbol to play under, if you like. We’ve now got young kids coming up to us sort of telling us that they they want to wear that one day, that it’s an aspirational thing, which is really cool. So, I think uh it’s getting better and better. Every single time we do this, we’re learning about sort of the format and how to do this. We also sort of have the US get to do this every year with the RDER Cup. You know, we get to do it every two years. So, um, we’re learning. We’re getting better. The score line for the last couple haven’t looked as close if you look at the final score, but they were a lot closer than they look. Yeah. Um, so I think there’s definitely periods on the weekend and Saturday and Sunday where we’re like, “Wow, this could go our way.” Um, so we’re getting closer and we’re getting more determined and we we we’re learning more and more about how to do these sort of tournaments and um the win is coming and hopefully it’s in Chicago. Hopefully. Absolutely. 1998 was the year that that you turned pro. It was also the one and only time the internationals have won it at Royal Melbourne and Peter Thompson the captain who is a man I would imagine is a hero to every young Australian golfer growing up. Do you have memories of watching that President’s Cup? I do actually. You’re right. I just turned professional. I’d just come back from uh Q school in Europe actually in Spain and I think I’d played the New Zealand Open, missed the cut and I thought I got to get back to Melbourne and watch the President’s Cup. So I went out and um watched the weekend and that was that probably ignited my I think that was the third President’s Cup, but I hadn’t really paid a lot of attention before then because early days it did seem quite friendly. But when I saw that and I watched the boys, I mean that was Norman and L’s and Price and VJ and like that was sort of a pretty amazing team. And to watch them sort of dominate around Real Melbourne and to hear that I’d never heard crowds at golf like that. It was sort of more Ryder Cup like and that was I never really even imagined I would play one. I just I was just trying to hope I made a few checks on the golf course. But to um that really sort of showed me what the President’s Cup was. And Peter Thompson. Yeah. I mean the greatest Australian golfer ever. one of the best golfers of all times. I mean, he he had such class and such wisdom and without too much fanfare, he sort of he rustled up 12 of the best players in the world with big egos and got them together as a team and they um they managed to win. So, that’s big shoes to fill. Um it’ll be the first win since 1998. That’s 27. It’ll be 28 years next year. So, um I’ll be trying my best to emulate Tommo. Yeah, absolutely. And the speaking of legends, just looking at some of the captains that you played for and indeed have acted in this assistant for, I’d like to go through them all and get you to describe in a sentence or two what each of them were like. So in your very first pres president’s cup, you have Gary Player as your captain who is, as we all know, a force of nature. He I mean Gary’s like it’s he’s like a walking vitamin B12 shot, you know? He’s just bouncing off the walls. You just cannot be not be in a good mood when Gary’s around. um 6:00 in the morning getting on the bus and he’s bouncing off the walls. Yeah, he was he was fantastic and a total legend of the game. And just on that too, he we had Jack Nicholas as the opposing captain and you spend a bit of time with both captains when you play and to spend time at that age with Gary Player and Jack Nicholas was just just incredible. Yeah, extraordinary. Then you go from Gary Player to Greg Norman twice, the second of which is at Royal Melbourne as well. Also, I imagine Greg Norman was incredible for an Aussie as well. Oh, he was I mean, he was crazy. I mean, we we talked about Tommo, but Greg was the one for us growing up in Australia. I mean, growing up in the 80s and 90s, Greg was I mean, he was Tiger before Tiger, right? He was incredible. And to spend two weeks in sort of close proximity and really get to know him and um get into his world was amazing. He was great. Then we get into your assistant captaincies. First time out for Nick Price. One of the nicest men you’ll meet in golf. Well, yeah, you said it. I mean, like the just the nicest men you’ll ever meet in golf. Lovely to to work for and to be in. We didn’t have a very good President’s Cup, but um he was fantastic and very engaging and uh he was brilliant, Nick. And you talk about when Gary Player was your captain, Jack Nicholas was his opposite number. You then go to being assistant for Ernie with Tiger Woods as his opposite number again. Again, back in Australia. So that must have been extremely special. That was incredible. I mean, Ernie was sort of the first captain. I mean, I played a little bit with Nick Price um as he was running down, but I’d played a lot of golf with Ernie L and I was pretty close. But Ernie is a captain. Ernie’s quite an intimidating presence. Um he’s one of those guys when he starts talking, everybody stops talking and listens. You know, he’s he’s very wise with golf. And it was great to spend time to watch him lead. He was he’s born to be a leader. Um and incredible. to go up against his sort of career foe of Tiger was that was an amazing and in Melbourne that was an incredible President’s Cup and we actually got really close. We we went into the singles in front there. So, it was a shame that it didn’t turn his way because he put his he put his heart and soul into that one. Ernie, that was a great one. And I think the last two captains that you’ve been an assistant for, Trevor Emblem and Mike Weir, they’ve kind of picked up that battle. you you mentioned Ernie introduced the shield and I think that’s what Trevor and Mike have really tried to do to okay let’s have one common identity that we can all sort of rally around oh yeah absolutely Ernie Ernie introducing the shield I’m like oh that’s nice we’ve got something to play under but I didn’t really understand how powerful and important it was and he sort of told us it was and and it’s turned out to be true grabbed it and ran with it and Charlotte was he was an incredible captain he left no stone unturned worked really really uh um created a really great week for us and a great vibe inside the team. And we left we left Melbourne together. We left Charlotte even more together. And it’s it’s not just we turn up every two years and get together as a team anymore. Like it’s it’s a real connected group. The chat groups on the phone still go. There’s still a lot of banter on the group still from the Montreal group. And um the last two captains and we in Canada, I mean like we’re in Canada is like um second only to Wayne Gretzky, you know. He is like he’s on the Mount Rushmore of sport in uh Canada. So like that was a thrill to sort of be underneath one of Canadians favorite golfer. You know, it was it was incredible. But yeah, the the the brotherhood and the connection and the bonding around the team now. It doesn’t feel like we’re from different countries anymore. It feels like we’re all sort of together and from the same place. So it’s it’s been an amazing sort of effort by everyone involved starting with Ernie really for the last three President’s Cups. We’re in a really good spot. I’m sure you knew this question was coming Jeff. Your side unquestionably would be stronger with the likes of Wain Neman, Cam Smith, Aanser. As things stand obviously they’re ineligible. Are you hopeful that over the next 16 months that could change? It would be great for us for sure. Um these are decisions way above my pay grade. So, I’m I’m just going to pick from the list of players that I get offered to pick from, but that would be fantastic. I mean, like clearly playing some of the best golf in the world and Cam for obvious reasons is an Australian. He would be great and as you said, Abe and a lot of other guys. Um, I think the event would benefit on both sides from that, but again, it’s a it’s a complicated issue and as I said, I’ll pick from the list that’s shown to me and we’ll pick the best team we can. Are you in communication with any of those guys or or only with the ones that you know you’re going to be able to choose from? Um, I see them. I was at Augusta. I I I chat to most of them. I mean, I see Cam a little bit. Um, and I talk to a lot of his friends and I see he comes down to Australia and plays a lot. So, I saw Cam a lot in um, November, December. Um, saw Nean at the Masters. I see a lot of them when I get to the majors and see the stuff. So, I mean, it’s not crazy amounts of communication, but I’m definitely sort of in touch with everybody. Uh just finally the irony the irony will not be lost in anybody and I’ve just spoken to Brandt about this as well that the venue for next year’s President’s Cup is a venue which holds painful memories for US teams when it comes to match play competitions. Will you be speaking to Jose Maria Lathabal? Will you be trying to channel the spirit of the European side who pulled off the miracle at Madina? I think so for sure. Jose and a bunch of the players as many of the players as I can rustle up. I mean, Europe is a good source of the European Rder Cup team is a good source of sort of knowledge and experience for us. Europe’s been doing it for a lot longer and have seemed to have really sort of mastered how to come to these team competitions in a good spot. So, I’ll be talking to as many of those guys as I can um to sort of just get a feel for how it all went and um how they managed to do that. Like Ian Pal and I remember Pala was the sort of catalyst on the Saturday afternoon. Um, but whatever Jose told them on Saturday night worked. So, I’d love to know what that was. And, and from a personal point of view, Madina must feel a little bit like a home game for you now. You must have a special connection to the place. Yeah, I do. I mean, we worked there for a few years. It’s it’s an amazing club. It’s It’s a great property. It’s very grand, very big. It feels like it’s um it was born to to host really big events and create some drama. So, it’s going to be it’s nice to have an away game in a place that I know so well and so it’s going to somewhat feel like a little bit of a home game. Well, I I suppose I have to remain strictly impartial, but you’ll be unsurprised to hear that the Europeans usually root for the internationals when it comes to the press cup. So, so you know that everyone on our side of the pond will be behind you next September as well. Okay, brilliant. Thanks for that. Yeah, we need all the support we can get. Cheers, Jeff. Thanks for your time. Cheers, guys. Thank you to both Jeff and Brandt for their time. It will be interesting to see how that President’s Cup plays out and indeed whether some of those big names could be involved by September 2026. A quick roundup of events from around the world of golf. Heran Ryu won her third LPGA Tour title at the inaugural Black Desert Championship. A stunning final round 64, seeing her finish five shots clear of Germany’s Esther Henselite, part of our Soulheim Cup team last year. So good to see her in form. Stuart sink beat Retifie Husen in a playoff to win the Insperity Invitational on the PGA Tour champions. Miguel Ankl Jimenez bogi the 72nd hold to just missed out on joining that playoff but he is still going strong and that swing is still pure butter at the age of 61. This week in golf on the PGA tour, it’s the truest championship, the new name for the Wells Fargo, which obviously is usually played at Quel Hollow, but given we’re there for the following week for the PGA Championship, it has moved to Philadelphia Cricket Club this year. Rory Mroy defending his title against an extremely strong field comprising of basically every big name bar Scotty Sheffler. The DP World Tour is back with the first event of the European Swing, the Turkish Airlines Open. Eduardo Molinari is already out in Turkey for that one. And on the LPJ tour, it’s the Mizuo America’s Open where Nelly Corder defends her title against a stacked field. But that about does us for today. A huge thank you to all my guests this week to Brance Neter, Jeff Ogulvie, but in particular to Vice Captain Molinari. If you’ve liked what you’ve heard or watched today, make sure you give us a follow on Apple or Spotify, wherever you get your pods. While there, why don’t you leave us a review? Let us know what you think of the show. Thank you again to Callaway for sponsoring the podcast. Thank you again for your time. And do join us again next week for our PGA Championship preview pod with well, who else? The PGA Champion of 2002, the one and only Rich Beam. See you then.