Rory vs Bryson? Scottie vs. the World? the DREAM PGA Championship Scenario | Golf on CBS Preview

What’s your dream scenario for the PGA Championship? Shane, Patrick and Joe talk through all possible outcomes for next week at Quail Hollow.

#Golf #PGATour #GolfPodcast #GolfonCBSPreviewShow #GolfonCBS #PGAChampionship #QuailHollow

🎥 WATCH
• Subscribe to this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GolfonCBS
• Watch CBS Sports HQ: https://cbssports.com/live
• Watch CBS Sports Network on your TV or the CBS Sports App with your cable provider

📖 READ
• More golf news: https://cbssports.com/golf/

💵BETTING
• For everything CBS Sports Betting: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/
• Find the best sportsbooks: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/best-betting-apps/
• Get the latest sportsbook promos: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/sportsbook-promos/

🎙ABOUT THE SHOW:
Golf on CBS Podcast with Shane Bacon & company delivers expert insight, sharp analysis, and behind-the-scenes stories from the PGA Tour every Tuesday. The show breaks down the biggest events, preview upcoming tournaments, and bring you unfiltered conversations with golf’s biggest names — all with the trusted voice of CBS Sports.

All the attention right now, at least in my world, has moved to the PJ Championship. And I think the reason being is there’s all these storylines. So, um, there’s a game we’re not going to mention that people play in life. Um, we’re going to play a a version of that. It’s going to be what you what you think’s going to happen at the PGA Championship. And, and I’m going to name some of the some of the possibilities here. what you think’s gonna happen in two weeks at the second major of the year, what you hope is going to happen at the second major of the year, and the dream situation for what’s going to happen at the year. And I’m just going to throw out a couple of uh a couple of the scenarios we’re looking at. You hope. Yeah. You you guys you guys can you guys can also pull something else if you want. I mean, you can go something off. Yeah. Yeah. Eat, pray, love, whatever you want. There’s another one, like I said, we’re not going to say it. Um it’s in the kitchen somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, uh, Rory obviously going for two straight majors, right? And and and this this this long dream of, you know, the the grand slam in the same season, all of it ending in Northern Ireland, like, you know, I mean, they write these movies about sports. This one probably wouldn’t even make it to script because it’d be so wild. Rory is is one of those options. Jordan, who’s been playing great golf, who played an excellent run of golf on Sunday, could potentially make 2025 grand slam year, right? he could win the PJ championship and then kind of you know you know trump Rory if you will in 2025 in terms of the storylines and what he was able to do. Um JT trending played well at this golf course the last time the PJ was here a possibility of winning 3 makers. Bryson looking for a third major first PJ championship coming off a win on live. And then obviously Scotty Sheffler trying to win uh his first non-agugusta major of his career. And to me it’s it’s you win this you win the the second major that’s not a masters and now you’re off and running and we could see what you could do. Can you get to five? Can you get to six? Can you get to eight? Can you get to 10? Who knows? So those are kind of my options. You guys again can go off the board. Moose, you’re a guest. We’ll start with you. Um if you want to you know we we’ll kind of well let’s let’s let’s punt around. So we’ll start with uh what are we starting with? Hope. We’re starting with hope. Okay, let’s start with hope. Hope is always always a great place to start. Let’s go. Let’s lead with hope here. And I hope that it’s the Rory storyline that we’re delivered here because I I’m not sure that I think it’ll happen. And we can get to that more in my think. But my hope is that we end up going to the US Open with this conversation alive and well and with Rory having claimed not the three biggest tournaments of the season, but now the four biggest tournaments of the of the season, consecutive majors after not winning for a decade plus. Like there’s so many ways to frame what that would mean to Rory and what that would mean to, like I said, the greater narrative around this season, which I think has been spectacular. And we can always nitpick and hope for other things, but that would be my hope is that Rory Moy can keep that flame burning, show us that he’s freed up. And and I do have a big question of Rory because I haven’t gotten an answer on that despite the three wins and the major championship, the career grand slam complete. C can he make the five-footer with the chips in the middle? Because I mean, he had to hit it inside the leather at the Masters. Not to say that’s a negative. It’s one of the great golf shots. It’s a great one that we’ll ever have. But the two putts that come to mind are the one in regulation to win it and 15 after hitting one of the greatest golf shots we’ve seen in major championship competition. He he misses that one. So with an hour left in a major championship, if he’s there, I want to see what Rory Mroy is in inside 5T again. Uh Patrick, I was re-watching 2015 Open the other day and I don’t I Yeah, you know, normally does Yeah. And um I don’t think people remember the level of hype on that back n on Sunday when Speed was making that run, you know, because this idea of winning four straight in the same season was was on the table. And I think that the hope to Moose’s point on Rory is a lot of fun. What’s your hope? What do you hope to see um in a couple of weeks on Sunday? I I hope we get another battle. I I don’t know who it’s going to be between, but I hope we get one down to the wire like the US Open, like the Masters, obviously, because man, I know we’ve been spoiled these past two years, but come on, let’s just keep a good thing going right now. Why stop why why stop at one in a row in 2025 when we can go with two? And so I think a a Scotty verse Bryson one would be very fun because that’s a pairing you could see at Beth Paige like we saw at Whistling Straits seeing them go back and forth. They have some good blood unlike Rory and Bryson who seemingly get more and more bad blood by the Yeah. Bryson not mentioning him in in Korea too and talking about guys who are playing well at the moment. So, uh, I’m hoping for an all-time battle again, and I’m also hoping Patrick Reed plays well, so we can start pushing that period to, uh, Beth Beth Paige train. I’m on a team. Let’s keep on the team. Needs to be there. Come on. What do we He just soup all of them guys. Did too. So, on the RDER Cup team, I I I hope Scotty wins. Um, that’s my hope. I want Scotty. I I don’t want him to go through another golf course. I think plays what? plays. I mean, every golf course plays into Scotty’s game. I mean, when you hit it straight and far and your irons are great and you chip great and the putter can show up like it has this season, you’re gonna have an opportunity anywhere. But I I don’t want to see Scotty go through these two majors, the PJ and the US Open without one. So, my hope is Scotty gets the victory. Now, let’s go to what we think’s going to happen. And Patrick, I’m going to start with you. What What do you think is going to happen come PGA Sunday? Like, I I know what I think’s going to happen. I want to hear what you think is going to happen. I I think of the storylines you mentioned, none of them are going to materialize and instead we’re going to get a back-to-back champion and Xander Schoffley is going to swoop in and win at Quail Hollow, runner up in 23, runner up in 24. 12 straight top 20 finishes in major championships. Five straight top 10 finishes in major championships. Everyone is talking about all these storylines and no one is talking about the world number three, the defending champion, the guy who has two major trophies with him. It is absurd to me that no one is mentioning his name. So I think he swoops in there, ruins all the storylines and suddenly has as many major championships as Jordan Sp. I mean that would be wild. Get three in what in in 12 months would be pretty wild. I mean, just uh all of a sudden now you’re in the conversation for most majors of this era. Um definitely an o definitely a possibility and I I think it’s something that should be on the list. Moose, what do you what do you think is going to happen? My think is your hope. I think Scotty wins this. I think we do get another duel whether his foil is Bryson or it’s Xander or it’s Rory. I think that the PGA is going to deliver again as it has in in years past because like Patrick was saying, this is a tournament that just continues to deliver. And I know you you were talking about the uh the major season that we’ve seen thus far and and stretching it last year, but if you think of the PGAs have passed, it’s sort of just been banger after banger. Say what you want about about the test that’s presented to these players, but last year we get um Xander and Bryson, Victor was a a key character there until the final hours of Sunday. We also get um the world number one in handcuffs the the year prior. We get uh is it it’s Brooks and Victor dueling in Rochester and and the blocky arc happens like the PG Tommy mentioned what what’s the minute 21 minutes I got in minutes in we got I had him for my next segment shout out to the good folks at Aoyo um but no it’s there’s always something JT um comes what was he was eight back with how many to play JT comes all the way back beat Zelator in a playoff and we get a a swing so bad by Mito Pereira that opened the door that that became its own story line like that with that had viral legs to it. So the PGA keeps giving us these duels to your point Patrick, but we always get like like a third story line. So back to the answer to my question, I think we get a duel between Scotty and someone and I can’t wait to see what that what that ancillary storyline is that we’re presented here at the PGA. I think Bryson wins by six. That’s my that’s what I think. Wow. I think Bryson blows the field out. I think he straightens the driver out. Comes in with a lot of confidence. I think the win was huge for him. We talked so much about the Scotty victory. I think Bryson getting a win, um, you know, three rounds, whatever you want to call it, about Liv, I don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. I mean, I think Bryson’s one of those guys that rides momentum, and I think it was important for him to get the win. Um, I think Bryson might win this thing by a lot. I could see the golf course playing into his hands. Forgive me. I didn’t catch much of Korea. The distance control was remedied. Obviously, he won, but I don’t know how. Zero zero seconds of 0.0 seconds of it. Well, we can assume I think he said it was better. 33 sticks. Iron looked better. And to Shane’s point, rain in the forecast Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week in Charlotte. Wet golf course probably uh a bit more favorable for Bryson. I think Bryson blows him out. All right, let’s go to what we want to have happen. And I think there’s an easy answer here. I I think the easy answer for everybody is Mr. Jordan Spe 12-footer. What did we say last week, Patrick? He was going to make a sevenfooter win. Didn’t happen. Didn’t quite make on 18 though. He made made about made about a 20footer on 18. It was a big putt. Um I think what everybody wants to have happen is Jordan Speed win. My want is I want Rory to win. That’s what I want to see happen. I think that Rory carries a weight in professional golf right now that is unrivaled even by Bryson. I mean I know Bryson is extremely popular, but Rory touches the golfer. He touches the grandparent. He touches the non-golf fan. I mean Elton John’s texting him, right? And calling him and stuff like that. I mean, all of these people care about golf that when Rory’s involved, I he’s kind of been the guy in my life that I feel like when he’s playing, no matter the tournament, you’re going to turn it on. Um, and I think Rory winning two in a row headed to a US Open at a golf course where you’ve got to hit it far, um, would make golf go to a place that I’m not sure we’ve seen it go to in quite some time. So, my want is Rory wins two straight. Patrick, where are you at in terms of what you want? Yeah, I mean golf golf is hot right now. You see the CJ Cup Byron Nelson just uh blow the doors off of F1. Hate that for Darren Rall. Uh my dream is obviously Spath. I’d love to see Spath beat Sheffller in the end, especially after how they talked and I I was walking at Augusta early round one when Spith was like still doing stuff and we’re like we we’ve never seen these two go at it before. And so speed doing that over Sheffler is my dream. Dream number two though would be Michael Block finishes inside the top 15. I already have the tweet in the draft. Top 15s in major championships. Michael Block 2 Neman zero. So I need that. Need that one to happen. Wow. Look at you prepared and ready though. Just like Joe coming in early. Joe, what do you got? What do you got in terms of what you dream, what you want, what you hope to have happen in your life come PJ Sunday? Uh, to quickly piggyback there, I was lucky to be standing way too close to the 72nd hole when Blocky got up and down and just the curtain call, man. The jeteresque. I mean, it’s video doesn’t, you know, like video does not do justice. That was the biggest pop of the day. The tournament ended, Brooks wins the waker. He walks right by and it was like, yeah, but the blocky pop. Also, also Moose incredible up and down like from absolutely nohere. I’m I’m at green level. Could not see him. He was so that that grade up to the green where he got up and down from and the the fans willed that one into the hole. We speak about it jokingly. It was a fun storyline, but Blocky back in the field by way of uh I think it was a second place finish at the uh at the club championship first round. But my dream uh shout out to producer Josh here. Forget your dreams. It’s going to be Bryson by six. I think he was his best best approach week in Korea since Pinehurst. So, there’s that. My dream and I’d like to I’d like to zigg where other ZAG. I don’t dream of a Jordan Spe here. I want to see Jordan complete the career grand slam. Just like not right now, dude. Like, we just like I I want when we look back in history for 2025 to have been the year that Rory completed the Grand Slam, not the year where we got two because like it took us 50 years to get two. So, maybe let’s like let’s let’s let it breathe for a minute. a little bit. Let’s let Jordan lose a little more hair and get a little older and have a little more scar tissue. I love working with you guys cuz you check all the boxes for me and I can just like look at narrative as I watch the golf on Saturday and Sunday and we do our post round on HQ and in looking at the narrative. I’m not sure I want to tell that story like six weeks after we told the biggest story we could this season. So, I’m zigging where they zag on Jordan. my dream. Um, I don’t know why Justin Thomas is is stuck in my head because I like a third wannaker doesn’t do a whole lot for me in terms of like how it changes the way that I view Justin Thomas. If we’re talking about historically looking back, third major does take you to a different echelon to be so uh specialized in the sense that it’s waker waker waker. I think that one might uh lose luster for for lack of a better pun, but um yeah, put me down for JT as my dream because like it would be the road back, you know? I think that we saw it and we felt it um at Harbortown, but like talk about a guy who wants the ball. Like the same question I posed to Rory, like what are you going to be from five feet with it on the line? Five feet with it on the line, 12 feet, 20 feet with it on the line. Justin Thomas wants the ball. I love watching him in those moments. So, I’m going to say that’s my dream because he will have had to have put himself in that moment over three days and and nine holes. Patrick, we spent a lot of time talking about this upcoming major and we never these days never talk about Kepka. And I mean, yeah, I always think about motivation for players. And I do wonder if there’s an added level of motivation now that Rory gets to five for Brooks. Um, it feels like to me, I mean, and I know nothing about this, so I don’t know what he’s doing back in Florida, things like that, but it does feel like maybe not as much time grinding as we’ve seen in in in Kepka’s, you know, historical relevant years. I do wonder if Rory gets to five, now Brooks cares a little bit more because these are the events that seem like they set up well for his game, right? PGA’s, US Opens, tough golf courses, grinded out places. Could Kepka make a run? do you feel like or has the game just not been there? Uh the short game’s been bad so far this year. That that’s kind of been the story of the past uh 12 months honestly where he was switching putters a little bit last year. Put the gamer back in the bag this year. Ball striking still looks like Brooks Kepka but again in Korea. I think he finished T20 mult or double digits behind Bryson there. Uh it it was all short game that really hindered him. So obviously he’s won three out of the last seven of these which is bonkers. Um, but I I do think uh Liv probably has the three most motivated guys in this field, maybe four, honestly with Kepka. I think Rahm’s still pissed off just about everything wanting to prove himself, not getting the love for the top 10 finishes on live. 19 in a row now, guys. And of course, uh, we the dream Neman still have something to prove. I think, uh, putting Augusta behind him is probably a good thing and these next two major starts will be good for him. But I don’t know what to do with Brooks. You can never never count him out in the majors because once you do, you look like a complete buffoon. But the short game is not good right now. That’s all I’ll say. Can we revisit in a week? Cuz we always said Brooks was like the he towed the line between athlete and golfer. And what athlete has been able to do what they do like physically unprepared. I was unimpressed with the get off the bus factor from Brooks in the recent past. We’ve gotten to see him. It it feels like, and I’m not going to question preparation or or or um physical fitness, but like Brooks is a guy that like you usually when he when he steps into the arena, you know whether or not it’s going to be one of those weeks. So like I think that’s a fair point. I look at him on Wednesday and you get that feeling like Brooks looks good. Brooks might end up looking good. Like yeah, I mean it it would be I I’ll say this like in terms of the you know I mean like Xander not being a top five story line is wild, right? coming off, you know, two majors last year, but Brooks not even being in the conversation right now. Hopefully that is motivation for him because, you know, professional golf and major championship golf is way better when Kek is involved. I mean, it’s just more fun when he’s one of the characters. And I uh and you know, he’s one of those guys that, you know, Liv is so funny for so many players because they kind of go away, if you will, when Liv exists because you don’t see him that often or you don’t see him as much as you used to. Brooks is one of those guys that kind of was a live golfer before live even existed, right? Regular PJ tour events, Brooks wasn’t really around that often and then you get to the majors and he would be motivated and play excellent golf. And so not a lot has changed in the way I look at Kepka. um even with with Liv becoming a thing. But um I I’d love to see I’d love to see Brooks shoot three under in the first round or you know be fit through two rounds, you know, just kind of to be there because Patrick’s been beating this drum. JT in the major major performances over the last few years has been terrible and KCO over the last couple years has not been much better, right? So um you got to show something, I think, and it would be cool. I’m gonna throw a little curveball at you guys um because producer Josh threw this our way and I like it. Um, is there a dream first time major winner? If we don’t get one of these crazy storylines, is there somebody you’d love to see win a major for the first time? Moose, you’re a you’re nodding your head. I’m in on Vic. Like, I I think that I think that these last two PGA, he’s been a huge part of the story until, you know, last 45 minutes of the tournament. He blows one into the face of the bunker in Rochester and then really never got the engine to turn over at Valhalla. But like, he has put himself in position these last two. That would be another redemptive story with the tinkering and the I’ve got my sea stuff and I’m a six out of 10 and everything. All of this uh self-deprecation, self-loathing that he presents with. I I want Victor again to show up and and say I feel good and I’m hitting it well and I believe in myself and then go do it because, you know, you you stir something there with Brooks. It’s like this is a it’s a story and stories are about characters and I love Victor Havlin as a character for all his flaws and his success. I think that uh be super interesting and to get him on the board. Yeah, I think uh I think the obvious choice is Patrick Kentlay, especially we’re talking about being open and honest and likable with Victor. I think Kantlay certainly fits that bill also. Sure. That’s what I was thinking. I’ll tell you this was in my brain. I I like I I love Victor, too. I I love when Shane, we’ve talked about this, when guys kind of figure it out late, like like Colin’s great, Levig’s great, those guys who just burst onto the scene and are superstars right away, but there’s something about being in your mid30s and finding your first one. And to me, I’m a fanboy through and through. I know he’s not the most entertaining golfer to watch, but I’d love to see Russell Henley win a major championship. I know he’s a big gunner guy, Shane, but uh Russell probably wouldn’t be a popular one, but he’d be a popular one in the McDonald household. Yeah. Yeah, I would love that. I mean, I I said it before the year, I thought he was going to contend and win a major. I I think I’m going to go Victor as well. Just again, I think everything Moose said um was perfect about Victor Havlin. He’s just uh again, it kind of goes back to what I said about Brooks. It’s more fun when uh when those guys are uh are dialed.