Brandel Chamblee and Matt Wallace U.S. Open reaction! | Sky Sports Golf Podcast

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Jamie is joined by Brandel Chamblee and Matt Wallace on this week’s episode of the Sky Sports Golf Podcast to look back on JJ Spaun’s sensational victory at the US Open at Oakmont.

They discuss Spaun’s journey to the top of the sport, and take a look at how many of the other big names fared on what Matt describes as the “toughest test of golf” he’s faced in his career.

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00:00 – U.S Open reaction
03:30 JJ Spaun an unexpected champion
09:30 – Shot of the year?
12:30 – Spaun’s stor
16:00 – Bob MacIntyre runner-up
21:05 – Viktor Hovland. missed opportunity?
26:25 – Tyrrell Hatton and his “antics”. an underrated golfer
32:20 – Matt’s thoughts on Oakmont and how hard the course was
34:25 – Does winning a US Open at Oakmont add an extra layer of prestige?
43:30 – Sam Burns
47:35 – Adam Scott
55:45 – Scottie Scheffler
58:20 – Rory McIlroy
1:02:50 – Is an Open at Portrush just what Rory needs to rediscover his motivation?
1:05:25 -Wyndham Clark smashing a locker at Oakmonte

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hello and welcome to the Sky Sports Golf Podcast presented by Callaway Wow folks what a major championship What a thrilling final round which had a bit of everything The leaders stuck in reverse at times Players from further back making a real charge A weather delay with some biblical rain as the final group teed off on the 14th Five were tied for the lead and the man who outlasted them all who emerged from Oakmont’s brutal examination of every club in the bag but even more so of your mental fortitude The only player to finish under par the only player not to finish over par as well and one of the most unlikely of champions was JJ Spawn Hats off to him A massive congratulations after one of the grittiest gutsiest performances I can ever recall So much to unpack so many contenders to discuss We’re going to get into all of that And to do so I’m delighted to welcome back to the podcast Brle Shambbley Hello to you Bralle Hello Jamie Nice to join you Well thank you for joining us And having flown through the night now back in the UK after 4 days of getting kicked in the teeth by Oakmont coming off a T23 finish many of you will have seen him birdie the 18th and throw his arms in the air in a state of delirium Having not made a birdie all day up to that point I’m delighted to say Matt Wallace has joined us Matt on a scale of 1 to 10 just how exhausted right now Yeah pretty tired guys Yeah Um that’s the hardest test of golf I think I’ve ever had to experience Um went into scorer’s tent and uh asked when is it next when’s the next US Open at Oakmont just so we know Um and I think it’s in about eight years time So whether I’m still out on tour or not Um and and the the lady inside said “You’re not the first person to ask this.” So yeah it was um it was a brutal test this week Yeah And it showed on TV and we’ll get into all that in just a bit Um we will come to the setup and the test that Oakmont provided So much discuss Brand I don’t really know where to begin How do you possibly sum up that major Sunday Well Oakmont is uh as as Matt just attested to and by the way wonderful effort that you’re on this podcast You might flew through the night Uh way to go Uh Elmont’s the toughest test in all the golf I guess there’s a little competition for that Maybe Shinikok 1999 Carnoui but it’s the toughest test Uh and I think maybe even more so after the the Gil Hance uh renovation and then with the rough and then you add in the US Open pressure and then you add in the elements yesterday Look the the 54hole leader there the last three times they’ve played the US Open there uh 2007 2016 and this one has averaged 78 And and if you were watching yesterday and you just looked at the guys in contention you’d have thought that the course was averaging around 80 but the scoring average yesterday was 73.1 I mean that speaks to the tremendous pressure and sort of the confluence of uh Oakmont and the conditions So yeah I can’t remember a more chaotic uh finish to a major championship that I’ve ever watched I’ve seen exciting like the Masters this year was more exciting but this was this was as chaotic as that was exciting in my view I’m glad that chaotic is the word that you’ve settled on That’s the exact word I was going to use for it as well Um let’s start with our champion and what a deserving champion Opened with a bogey free 66 on Thursday I think everybody brand probably thought at that stage ah well that’s nice for him but he’ll probably fade away over the course of the weekend Hung around all day Friday and Saturday His rocky patch then came at the start of his final round Five bogeies in his first six holes A horrid break on the second We have to say in the middle of that run and you thought okay JJ’s races run at that stage His chances of winning the tournament brand at that stage were 1.4% as he walked to the seventh t And yet lo and behold many hours later after a weather delay JJ Spawn is your US Open champion Yeah I wouldn’t have given him 1.4% Uh that’s you know it’s funny The morning of you know we were talking to you know loads of people in the media who do you think’s going to win Almost everybody said JJ Spawn Um really Yeah Almost everybody Uh because the course was far more if you if you hit it in the rough you were going to make a bogey and he was the straightest of the bunch Uh and he was having a a a wonderful week on the greens and and and pitching the ball And you know if you think about it we we know that Dustin Johnson won in 16 and we know Anil Cabrera won in 2007 but in those two US Opens Jim Furick finished second in both of them He of the 28 people that played in both of them he was low by nine So we tend to just look at who won and not who played the best over those two And it was a control player very much like JJ Spawn And you know look I I’m going to talk real quickly about the incremental uh success that JJ Spawn has had In 2020 he was 145 in strokes and approach The next year he was 127 The next year he was 84 The next year he was 51 The next year he was 17 And this year he’s fifth So that incremental improvement becomes exponential You begin to hit shots and you begin to realize I can hit shots pretty much better than everybody out here Then you begin to believe and then you put him in a situation where he’s he you know he he starts getting rewarded for finding fairways like at the players championship and then he competes and he hangs with Rory and that belief uh I think came to fruition yesterday because I he came on our set yesterday night and I said was your reset after being five over through six was it a technical change or a mental reset He said 100% mental He said I just kept telling myself I belong here I’m gonna hang here get sticky stay with it and then let it go and free up And uh you know if that’s not what a US Open is all about all the other majors all have their own identity I would say But this is what to me a US Open is all about Who can execute You know the Masters to me is about uh it’s about recovery It’s about risk and reward And the US Open at least when I was growing up was about who can execute who can stand on a tea and know that there are consequences for missing a fairway there are consequences for missing a green And uh that that clear-headedness uh came to the four yesterday Absolutely And to Brand’s point there Matt he was a different player after the weather delay And and weather delays can do different things to different players I know you wouldn’t have seen much of JJ’s round from that point onwards but it says a lot about his mental fortitude Yeah I mean I I think I’ve seen something where his coaches were on the back of the range I was there hitting balls and we’re all warming up Um but I’ve read something that his coach is just saying “You’re you’re trying too hard You know you got to let it go a little bit.” And something like as simple as that can really switch your your mindset from trying to control your swing control the golf ball to freeing it up letting it go And that sort of change um sometimes from a coach from the coach’s mouth is like something that can change your your round And he’s gone back out there and and proved it and played really well after the after the rain delay and being behind Um it’s a it was a great performance and I just think back to like things that happened throughout the year that put he had at the players that just finished short you know one he’s one revolution short of being players club he’s going three foot maybe four foot past was a great putt but he goes in you know these little changes in your career he’s been playing great golf eighth in the world now he’s a proper player proper star he’s a great guy I get on really well with him and um yeah he fully deserved Yeah absolutely It was great to see There’s more to discuss with JJ Before we do that though let’s briefly hear from our 125th US Open champion I was having lunch with Max Homa at home We live in the same area We belong at the same club And he was telling a Tiger story where he’s like “As long as you just like are still there like just you don’t have to do anything crazy.” Especially at a US Open is like Tiger said this this would happen and you know the wind will switch but you just got to just stay there like even if you’re four back like you just got to stay there like you don’t have to do anything crazy and and I kind of was thinking about that out there uh this afternoon where you know I I was four back maybe going back out after the delay and then you know I made some good pars nothing crazy and got a really good birdie and then next thing you know I’m like tied for the lead I think and you know within four holes of the restart So that’s just kind of goes back to that like you just try to just stay there like don’t you don’t have to do anything crazy especially at the US Open So um all those things came true Yeah it’s it’s definitely like a story book fairy tale ending Um kind of the underdog you know fighting back you know not giving up never quitting Uh yeah with the rain and everything and then the putt I mean it’s just you couldn’t write a better story and I’m just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that Brand the 64 ft putt on 18 was the exclamation point However it’s the T-shot on 17 which we will watch again and again and again US Open courses you said it yourself and Oakmont probably above any other demand that you execute the shot under the most intensive pressure And boy did he do that on the 71st hole Yeah I think it’ll go down You It was one of the greatest shots ever hit under the pressure Um it was the best shot I saw on 17 all week Now I’m sure if I dug into the data somebody hit it closer But under the circumstances of the weather and the next to last hole it’s one of the best shots I’ve ever seen ever period You know we still talk about Colin Moraua driving the green and the final round of the PGA Championship but it wasn’t the 17th hole You know it was the 14th or 15th hole It was a heck of a drive but you don’t think about Colin Morow’s win without that drive Matter of fact I challenged somebody to come up with another shot that he hit after that drive Uh but this hole was more difficult if he missed the green than the hole that Colin Morau hit when he won at uh Harding Park So we saw what happened with Terrell Hatton when he missed the green there right We saw the great shots that that Victor Havlin hit from the hay to the right I mean what made them great is their difficulty And uh Matt can speak to I don’t know I mean where that pen was I would imagine if you missed it left you were shortsided Didn’t have much Or did you have much Yeah there was a slope like it’s very difficult to see on TV but there was definitely a slope from right to left on the green So if you did miss it right where the the the green you had more space and more room to chip up from it was kind of all facing away from you So if you did miss it on the left hand side it was uphill but there’s a big slope that if it was short you’re coming back back down off the front of the green What did you think of his T-shot man I don’t know if you’ve seen it You were busy playing but I mean I was blown away by it It was amazing Um you you have one thing to aim at on that T-OT and that’s the flag And the flag sometimes isn’t in the right area where you need to land it But on that day it’s slightly tucked on the left hand side So it’s a straight shoot up to the pin but if you miss it slightly right you’re in that trapper on that down slope where Turo was You miss it left like you say you’re in thick rough which is kind of shortsided You have a genuine you have a gap of maybe five yards and he’s flushed it straight to the front edge of the green and it’s rolled up past the pin to a spot where I had a birdie putt from which was a quick downhiller left to right but oh my god like like you say Brandle in that moment that’s a serious serious shot in the in the time and probably contender for shot of the year Yeah look um JJ Spawn’s previous best major before this one was a tie for 23rd at the Masters three years ago He didn’t play any of the majors last year This was only his second US Open In four weeks time he’ll be teeing it up in his first ever open at Royal Port Rush This is a guy who considered quitting the game He is now as Matt said the world number eight He’s a shoein for the US RDER Cup team and he’s a major champion around arguably the toughest course on the planet Matt this is kind of the one of the reasons we love golf This incredible almost impossible rise that nobody saw coming Yeah The turnaround and but it’s is credit to him and his team and what they’ve done behind the scenes that which we don’t all know about Obviously Brand spoken about his approach play which has just continually seen improvements which will give him a lot of confidence Um he’s been very consistent this year Has he had three second places Sony Sony players and uh Cognizant I think Cognizant I think Yeah So I mean tough golf Cognizant tough golf course as well The players obviously what he did there against Rory The guy’s a stud The guy’s playing great golf and he’s doing it consistently So um I I I was I was pulling for JJ a little bit just because of how he’s gone throughout the week Lace he set the tone at the start of the week He’s hung in there you know he’s kind of like the un the understory No one really talking about him too much Going out in the final groups on Saturday around that way and no one really talking about him He’s sticking in there and then he’s bad start and he gets it back and then wins It’s an amazing amazing part It’s part of the reason you were pulling for him because his story kind of resonates a bit that you know it doesn’t all come to you straight away like it did for a Jordan Speed or a Rory Mroy You work your way up for the Alps tour You get onto European tour You win in the European tour You get your PGA Tour card Now here you are contending in majors Can you see a little bit of that with JJ as well 100% 100% It’s not like the trophy goes to the person that it should do You know this this guy’s earned it and he’s earned it the hard way And you can see what it meant to him at the end It’s like he was shaking He was crying It was just like pure emotion And I I I don’t know how it looked on TV but all I could imagine is that people watching it going “Wow what an amazing tournament.” And for me to be a part of that was great And just from my point of view the understanding of how hard the golf course was playing and how difficult it must have been in JJ’s head and it was in my head after I shot under par round on the Saturday I didn’t really want to go have to go back out there on Sunday I was like “Oh I’ve got to do it all over again.” Um so I it was uh I I couldn’t yeah for those guys to have to deal with that being in contention that’s uh that that’s difficult and and JJ and all of the guys at the top have done a great job Yeah look it was thrilling It was heartwarming One just final thing I want to say on JJ before we get to the other runners and riders His Sunday began with him having to make a 3:00 a.m dash to a 24-hour pharmacy to get medicine for one of his daughters who’d been sick all night Then on Father’s Day of course he has the most life-changing win of his life And many of you will have probably seen the photos of him sitting with his scorecard signing his scorecard both of his wee girls sitting on his lap And as a dad to two young daughters myself that was just a beautiful image So congratulations JJ Spawn Let’s get to a runner up because when all around them were losing their heads Bob McIntyre played his last 12 holes boogief free in three underpar a closing 68 and a touch of class to boot Brandle because watching on from recording applauding JJ Spawn’s winning putt Yeah what a moment that was Uh you know one phenomenal round of golf almost good enough to win a US Open Uh and to see him react that way Look the the average tour pro three putts more often from 32 feet than they make it So your odds are more likely that you are going to three putt from 32 feet than you are going to make it 64 ft is twice that So the odds would have been far far greater that he was going to three putt than make it So Robert you’re sitting there you’re thinking he’s probably got a 10% chance of three putting this maybe more Yeah I have to look that up But nonetheless you’re thinking I’ve got a chance I’m still in this And then he makes it And his initial reaction is to applaud him I was like you know that’s that’s the that’s the height of of sportsmanship right there Can’t say enough great things about uh Robert McIntyre There was a moment last year when he was contending in the Canadian Open and he eventually won it where I I was so impressed with his ability in the moment because the the drones were bothering him You remember this I do Yes And look drone drones are a thing and everybody likes them and I like them and they they’re great But for him to have the the clear-headedness to back away and say “I’m not hitting this shot until you move that drone.” I thought that just spoke volumes about his belief And and you know look I it’s a trend that you know it’s so easy just to say everybody’s doing this I’m going to look bad if I if I persist and say I’m not hitting this shot But no he did he didn’t do it in a mean way at all And they moved the drone and he hit it and he went on to win And then he won the Scottish Open Uh and those were great moments But he got up on 17 not unlike JJ Spawn and hit a fabulous T- shot And I think I heard him say be right or be the right club or not the right club Be the right be as good as you look I think it was good Is that what he said Yeah And I thought golly and then he striped it on 18 as well So I can’t say enough nice things about him Uh I was a fan before I’m a bigger fan now Uh and it even added more um excitement to the outcome It’s like where did this guy come from And it for a while it looked like he was going to win it Um but anyway it was it just added to it and made it made it more wonderful I’ll never watch him again without thinking about that moment He’s going to knock on the door in plenty more majors and and Matt you and I have known him for a while Bob he is a class act There are some players who when the chips are down shrink from the occasion and there are some who just rise to it and he holds a great birdie putt in the 14th a really testing par putt in the 15th as Br says hits a great drive which just digs its heels in unfortunately in the 17th but still makes his birdie and then literally splits the the fairway in two in the 18th as well He’s got some serious minerals under the gun Does Bob Yeah he’s got minerals He’s not afraid to win as we’ve seen I think the win in Canada really gave him a belief that he not belongs out on tour because I think he felt that beforehand But when you get that win amongst the the crowd that you’re against you can go well I’ve done it I can win anywhere now And so that was just another notch in his sort of like his career that he’s gonna get into He’s a phenomenal phenomenal ball striker Yeah Um underrated ball striker probably Stats will show some things but from a pure ball striking perspective he gets club on ball out of the middle very very often Uh we’ve got the same putting coach I know it’s been part of his weakness where he’s trying to improve on that a lot and that was really good this week Excuse me And um the guy’s ballsy you know and that’s it’s always nice to to be able to do that in the moment and he wasn’t shying away and he he produced at the end I was I was going to say you know we can have all the stats in the world One stat you don’t have is strokes gained size of [ __ ] And in that one Bob McIntyre has got to be right up there I mean there’s a guy that I would trust standing over a putt at the RDER Cup come September and this result this runner-up finish gets him into the automatic spot So look delighted for Bob and he will be knocking on the door James just just on the RDER Cup bit like I watched them at the last one with Rosie and and in Rogue and Bobby was kind of a little bit you know a little bit shaky which is obvious rookie there and Rosie really helped him along Trust me Bob Bobby McIntyre will deliver at this RDER Cup because he isn’t afraid of anyone now Yeah Went unbeaten in Rome in the end Um as we go down the leaderboard Brandle there will be so many players who feel this was a golden opportunity that they really let slip between their fingers Bob isn’t one of those Um but Victor Holland is Now the last time we had you in the pod was actually the day after he won the Valpar and we spoke about the fact that he’d arguably been the best player in the world a couple of years ago had then tinkered and lost it but was now inch by inch crawling his way back to the top He is going to be a major champion Victor Holden at one point I’m convinced in that but he will be kicking himself this morning Yeah he couldn’t sort out his driver Even Saturday night he was we were on and uh he was on the back of the or on the range there trying to sort things out with his coach Graham wait and it hit me you know it almost looked like they thought the house was on fire but the more I thought about it I thought look he was one club away from winning the US Open He needed to sort it out He needed to figure out how to hit key drives and find it because you know his his numbers were very much like his numbers this year on tour He was in the middle of the pack driving the ball very nicely with his irons Uh I think he was aided by the fact that there was thick rough out there as it relates to his scrambling abilities Not great off tight tight turf So he had wiggle room under it or you know he could play like a bunker shot and you know he was putting from the fringes which is understandable and he made a couple of them They were all sort of hiding the weakness He was only 413 going into scrambling wise going into to Sunday So he’s got some holes in his game but his coach said all they were trying to do is get back to the ball striking of a couple of years ago And and I I’d say yeah good I mean that’s great that they’ve figured that out and they’re trying to do that but in the meantime he I feel like he’s cost himself some valuable real estate A couple of years trying to change his golf swing when he was about I don’t know sixth in strokes off the tea and eighth in strokes approach It was only Scotty Sheffler from a strokes game ball striking who was better than him and there’s really not much higher to go Experience alone will make you a better player and uh his weakness was uh around the green So tinkering with his golf swing I think has cost him some time Uh and it’s kept him from being the premier driver of the golf ball he used to be I hope he finds his way back there but I’m with you on that He is a an extraordinary talent I love his attitude I love the fact that he’s had these difficulties He comes up on the set He’s not afraid to face them and even do it in a light-hearted way Um I love the curiosity that that he has but you know it it can be a bit much Uh you know you can tinker too much There’s there’s the sort of the plague of this era is that there’s so much access to information and there’s so much good teaching that you can get caught up in it and you can you can get off track trying to get great at what you’re already very good at and uh and I think he’s he’s a little bit of a victim of that but it’s it’s great to see him playing his way back into the form he had I find him incredibly easy to pull for that He’s incredibly likable And here’s one thing I love about Victor Brandle Now I’m guessing you’re probably not a rugby fan Um Matt is a rugby fan and knows that I’m a big rugby fan and an Ireland fan Obviously you’ll have to bear with me with this analogy but not long ago Ireland had a head coach called Joe Schmidt He’s now actually the head coach of Australia who are about to face the Lions He always used to talk about being focused far more on the performance than the result And I think that is something that we see with Victor Havland Not just in a tournament but literally on every shot If he can execute the shot as he wants to if the contact the strike the shape of the shot they envisaged is right then he’s happy He just loves golf and wanting to improve his golf And I find that incredibly endearing Matt would you go along with that And is that something you can kind of relate to I definitely see that in Victor I I use the phrase with my team of taking care of business So just taking care of my business taking care of what I can control by putting a good move on it you know striking it well having a good sort of mindset to it and the outcome will be the outcome from that Um that’s the best way to play golf Uh I’ve done that a lot this year um to turn my my year around really from where I was at the start of the year And taking care of business for me is doing exactly what you just said there about um not necessarily worrying too much about the outcome or trying to force the outcome taking care of your business putting the right move on it striking the ball as well as you can then seeing the ball flight happen because you’ve moved well That’s exactly what makes um a lot of the top players play well I look at I look at some of the older school players you look at like the Lee Westwoods and um people like that who hit the ball so well you know middle of the club face a lot Very rarely goes wrong especially with the new technology And um I see that’s where Victor is Victor’s at Victor likes tinkering and trying to improve and get better but he obviously felt like something needed to to happen or change or improve from from when he was probably the best player in the world at one point Um uh and as Brandle said there’s a lot of a lot of uh information and technology that we can use that sometimes we can go down a rabbit hole that really kind of takes us away from you know taking care of our business He will be um winning majors I’ve got no doubt about it And I’m sure that Luke and Dodto are delighted to see him starting to return to the sort of player he was a couple of years ago as well with the Ryder Cup in mind Um sticking with the theme of players who will feel like this is the one that got away Let’s move on to Tier Hatton Ter Green a masterclass over the weekend I think he hit 13 or 14 fairways in SA Saturday and was staying I’m going to say relatively patient by Tier’s standards He was still chering away and feeling like everything was unfair but he seemed locked in and then he then bogeied the last two But for so long Brandle I thought this is Tier’s tournament Uh agreed Uh I love watching him play I love his antics Uh I I don’t know him at all I’ve I’ve been around him a little bit Uh I I know people that know him quite well and they say he’s a great guy Uh I his antics may rub some people the wrong way Matt could uh have some clarification on this I always feel like he’s just yelling at himself Uh as a player he I think he I think I’d be entertained by it I don’t know if it’s annoying to play with or not but it’s damn annoying to watch I mean not damn annoying It’s damn entertaining to watch Um I love it and I you know overlooked is I think you know you’re just talking about Matt was talking about how solid Victor hits the golf ball Does Tier just not flush it every time he hits it I mean it looks like that to me I think the most underrated golfer in the planet He is the straightest the straightest ball flight I’ve ever seen as well like it very very waivers a little bit left to right never goes right to left really can shape it that way but a little bit left to right and just on his his antics and the way he is one of the best players to you know get the frustration out and do that and then the next shot he’s bang on it you know so very very much needed at a US Open and man in that regard you know the history onx they’re throwing the hands in the air and everything’s against me and I that’s so unfair I hit a great shot the course has just kicked me in the teeth there um I I think it’s worth saying that’s very much an oncourse persona I think that plays off the course He’s got a great sense of humor very dry sense of humor He can be very funny very self-deprecating Matt I think that’s something that you is probably pretty similar with you You know you can come across as a bit of a sulker and a bit hard on yourself but off the course as we everyone watching and listening now can see you’re a decent lad Yeah Yeah Thank you Um uh I uh I love the US Open because it takes me out of being that guy because you can’t you can’t do it You just can’t you can’t carry it on You can’t do anything that that really will get in the way of that next shot It’s the best test of golf for someone who can sometimes carry on a pass shot or someone that can um you know be down on themselves for one miss shot or miss put or whatever it may be You literally cannot carry over a shot onto the next shot because a US Open will kick you in the ass you know so so badly Um that’s why I just Till’s Till you know everyone’s everyone’s become to love him because of who he is and he’s taken that role and it’s quite nice Back in the day when he wasn’t producing results you’d probably say “This is annoying This is why is he doing that smacking his club down or hysterics and all that sort of stuff but that is him now and everyone knows him about that.” and it didn’t really affect him like you saw it until the end there got frustrated with his t-shot on 17 finished on a down slope for me I I thought I spoke about that with my caddy Jamie um at the start of the week if we’re on that down slope to any of those pins really What are the chances of you actually keeping it on the green for the first place Secondly Mlin Birdie maybe Would it have been better of just playing to the front edge of the green or even backwards giving yourself the chip and putt from there for part Um but Tier was an aggressive play went for it and uh yeah he he’ll be I actually text him this morning saying like great week um don’t be too too down on yourself as US Open golf everyone got it You just got it at the moment where you possibly could have won a tournament and won a major Um and he’s fine He’s sound you know he’s he’s all good and he’s just an amazing golfer and uh I’m pretty sure he will get one as well Look God knows the game needs characters One another thing that Tur is is incredibly gracious in defeat and that was exemplified by when he was speaking to the media as JJ Spawn lined up his 64 foot putt at the 18th and drained it whilst Turrell was mid-sentence If you haven’t already seen this have a little listen to this Um I sat in dining Please hold it Jesus Christ Unbelievable What a putt to win That’s incredible What do you think he’s feeling right now In shock I would guess Unbelievable Fair play Yeah As someone who was close to the lead does it feel a little better seeing make that you know for your own No for sure Like look I I’m sad about how I finished but I’m very happy for for JJ Like to to win a major in that fashion is is amazing Like you you can’t have certainly I I’d hate for anyone to have any negativity towards that And Brandle that was delivered with a big beaming smile on his face It is a bit of a a pantoime vill villain act with Tier Um before we let Matt go I just wanted to discuss Oakmont itself There’s nothing they can do about mother nature Matt But with all the rain they had the course was still such a stern test for me One of the stars of the show this week As brutal as it was to play did the course shine for you Absolutely Um I tried to go in there without too much of a of a sort of the mindset that this is going to be the hardest thing in the world and I’m I’m not going to be able to make a bird And if I hit it in the rough or the bunker I’m making bogey all the time I tried to stay away from that narrative because otherwise you’re just cooked You’re you’re dead You can’t do that Um we did have a little bit of rain on Sunday which softened it up It got a little bit firmer come Friday when the sun was out for a couple days but there’s no doubt that the rain definitely helped the golf course and scoring for sure There were balls spinning back a little bit You’re able to control the ball from the fairway um did make the rough a little bit thicker and juicier because of the rain but I would just I I’m not sure what I’d I’d like to know if it was super firm and fast The fairways the undulating fairways where it’s running off sideways and I can think of it like 10 11 and 12 even 12 the par five where it’s massively left to right you wouldn’t be able to hold the fairway for sure because it would just run out into the rough Um and the greens are so undulating So anything firm and fast for anything you’re above the hole you would have been like defensive putting Whereas this week it was a little bit more straightforward I’d say Yeah Um but for one person to finish under par I think is testament to the golf course to the tournament itself It’s just so great that one under wins a golf tournament And he he only finished he only finished one under cuz he held a 64 foot last And Brandell none of your 6S US Opens was at Oakmont I imagine maybe the toughest one you might have experienced was Pinehurst in 99 That would be a guess But Oakmont it it stands the test of time It’s always presented so well It tests a player’s mental fortitude Any US Open is special That goes without saying But a bit like winning an Open at the Old Course Does winning a US Open at Oakmont just put you on a little tier above the rest Yeah I think that’s a great analogy Uh I think they’d be equivalent You know the Open has its own personality You’re dealing with the elements Uh there’s so much history that’s the foundation of the Open Um but the US Open is is it’s again it’s about it’s about execution It’s about intimidation And there’s no other golf course that is more about execution and intimidation than than Oakmont Shikok you know Okay we could talk about Shikok Shinnik’s where they’re going to play next year I can tell you Matt if you like the US Open if you liked what this was I I talked to the powers that be at the USGAA and they’re like “This is what Shinikok’s going to be like next year.” Yeah So it’s going to be more of it I think they found their way back So I you know I grew up I didn’t start playing golf till sort of the late 70s but watching the US Open in the in the mid 80s I mean this one reminded me of going back a bit uh 1985 was at Oakland Hills and uh there was a player by the name of TC Chin who famously double chipped uh a chip on the fifth hole He double hit it made he had a four shot lead over Andy North Uh he made a quad Everybody was falling away Andy North was fine in every bunker uh and he blasted out to a foot famously on like the 15th or 16th hole one by one Uh and it was about chaos and to me that’s what they’re back to it after years of trying to figure out what they were You know Chambers Bay that’s not the US Open Aaron Hills with all due respect is a fabulous course I think but it’s not the US Open Um I I I wasn’t particularly fond of the setup at Pinehurst last year the the the uh wire grass didn’t have the necessary effect you know No Uh Bryson nobody’s ever driven it is inac as inaccurately as Bryson did last last year in the US Open and won the US Open That’s not what the US Open is It’s about execution and uh it’s about dealing with adversity So uh Oakmont is absolutely the epitome of what the US Open should be about Absolutely Matt just very final one This year we’ve had Rory completing the career slam at Augusta Scotty who you know could go on to win double digits majors adding number three to his growing resume This was a very different major but I would argue just as romantic A surprise winner sure a journeyman completing a lifelong dream a fairy tale call what you want but those stories are just as compelling They’re the best for me Um a lot of the top players get to win a lot but JJ Spawn uh doesn’t but he’s won one of the big ones you know So um it’s everything that we all dream of Uh people who haven’t won a major and he’s shown us the way now Um and he’s done it in a brilliant way and he’s playing great golf I absolutely love Oakmont It’s got a place in my heart now for the rest of my life Um it’s the hardest test that I’ve ever had to try and overcome And getting my one birdie yesterday on the 18th my final hole uh for my for my last round was was something that I’ll um I’ll I’ll take for the rest of my life even though it was only to finish 23rd but it was it was it was a really nice moment Brand would you sort of go along with that You know the last six majors we’ve had Scotty Xander Bryson Xander again Rory Scotty again Okay JJ Spawn isn’t a superstar like those guys but seeing him break down in tears in the 72nd hole seeing him hug his little girls that that’s the romance we love in sport and in golf 100% You know everybody out there I mean yeah we talk we talk about you know the gods in golf the Rories and the Shefflers But you know there’s 10,000 roughly 10,000 guys trying to play professional golf all over the world and they’re all working their butts off And it’s it’s such a small line between success and failure It’s it’s not like most sports where there’s 20 30% difference between the best and the average on their respective sport and even the the the worst in their sport There’s 20 30 40% difference And in golf there’s two three 4% The difference between the best and the last guy on tour is 7% So it is such a fine line and they’re all working their butts off Uh JJ Spawn’s coach was my coach for 10 years Adam Shrivever and he looked like he’d been through hell yesterday on TV And I’ve known Adam forever I know how many tens of thousands of hours that guy has put into learning to teach learning to coach trying to learn biomechanics He was the first person I’d ever even heard mentioned biomechanics And he mentioned it to me you know in the n early 90s like you know so I know what he’s done with JJ Spawn That’s why I know his data And to see somebody who’s had to work that hard as his coaches are working that hard and then to to have it come to fruition and then to find the belief if I’m a tour player and I am 145th in strokes can’t approach and I’m thinking how am I even out I I would find such inspiration in what JJ Spawn did Stay the course work your ass off you know get the best coaches around you Get after it It’s it pays off four years You know there’s somebody right now maybe it’s Matt Walk two years three years down the road who’s going to win a major championship who keeps a great attitude who keeps a clear head who puts in the time and then lets it go Just like JJ Spawn’s coach was yelling at let it go for crying out loud If you don’t get fired up by that you know you don’t you shouldn’t be watching this sport You shouldn’t let it go And that’s so hard to do man It’s easy to talk about but it’s very hard to do in the moment And he did it Uh I can’t I I mean it was Yeah it was awesome It was inspirational Um we’re going to take a quick break there Matt I’m going to let you go and rest up Thanks for joining us pal It really is hugely appreciated Just very quickly your schedule now before Port Rush Uh week off Detroit week off Scotland Open I shall see you at Royal Port Rush my friend Thank you very much for your time And when we come back lots more to discuss 54hole leader Sam Burns who looked to be cruising until a controversial rules call and not one but two Scotties and just what is going on with Rory We’ll see you in a bit Welcome back to the Sky Sports Golf podcast presented by Callaway and our look back on a wonderful US Open at Oakmont Brle is still with me We’ve let Matt go and rest up Let him lick his wounds after four of the most exhausting days of his life and an overnight flight back to the UK in economy by the way folks So very good of him to have taken the time to speak to us Look we’ve discussed Tur and Victor I said there’ll be so many kicking themselves and there is a pattern emerging here because let’s now get to the 36 and 54hole leader Indeed the 64hole leader as well Sam Burns Brand he looked in complete control after he buried the 10th which was after the restart and then played his last eight holes in six over par Where did the wheels come off for Sam Well you know when he hit his T-shot on 11 I thought it was a good shot and you know I mean that fairway slopes hard left to right It rolled all the way down into a divot um in the rough Uh horrid lie and he had a a horrid shot I could point to to three shots really It’s his second shot at 11 his third shot at 12 when he had 125 yards and missed the green to the left Yeah And his second shot at 15 Uh so those three iron shots uh you know his his iron play this year hasn’t been strong at all Uh he’s got plenty of speed and he is the best putter on the PGA Tour A lot of things to like about his game but his iron play uh he struggled with now for the first three rounds His iron play was was brilliant but the thing you have to be able to do is to adjust And you know when it’s raining as hard as it’s raining and when the fairways get as wet as they do you got to be able to pick the ball and and you know if you go back and look he’s taking big divots And you know uh you got to be able to pick it You got to be able to make those adjustments So you know he was really having problems controlling uh the direction the the the distance uh you know with those with his iron plays coming down the stretch with his iron play coming down the stretch And so that’s it You know um you know he always kind of struggles with his iron play It’s the thing that really holds him back He’s won five times on the tour but to the degree he hasn’t contended or even hardly ever played well in major championships I think you can point to he sort of always has holes in one aspect of his game but mostly it’s just been his iron play And there’s yeah you’re familiar with reversion to the mean And your weak your weaknesses tend to get exposed under pressure His iron play is his weakness He couldn’t lean on it And uh and that was pretty clear as he was coming down the back Yeah Funny And much as the weather delay maybe reset JJ Spawn it maybe halted his momentum and cost him a major championship Um what will get all the headlines and what he will be ruing is a controversial ruling on the 14th We’ll discuss that in more detail Let’s first of all hear from the man himself You know when I walked into it clearly could see water coming up and took practice swings and it’s just you know water splashing every single time Called a rules official over they disagreed I looked at it again I thought maybe I should get a second opinion Um that rules official also disagreed So at the end of the day I mean you know it’s not up to me It’s up to the rules official And that’s kind of that Brand Sam incredibly magnanimous and gracious about it It felt like a terrible call at the time What do you think I don’t know You know I saw the post uh and and look I’m not trying to discredit the post or who posted it but if the lie had been as bad as what was posted on social media he would have persisted more uh that that the shot was unplayable I was watching it in real time And you said 14 It may have been 14 I thought it was 15 but um but either way uh I watched him and I saw him taking his stance These referees you don’t get to just you don’t just get to referee the US Open if you are a part-time rules official They are the best of the best rules officials And you don’t get that last tea time unless you’re extraordinary at what you’re doing So these are incredibly competent hard-working people who know the rules with no biases So you know it’s difficult for me to believe that they would have missed something as as pedestrian as casual water So I’m not in the camp that thinks that this was a bad call Uh I think the golf course was borderline unplayable for everybody in the field Uh and if they I maybe they you know I don’t know this at all but I mean if they reached the level of tedium where they were granting drops to everybody for the slightest bit of c I don’t know that they could have finished the round So and and the fact that that look the fact that he didn’t persist demonstrabably tells me that one he’s incredibly mature Uh but also that he was willing to accept it and carry on And in that moment I mean you do have to be able to sort of pick the ball You have to allow for that And if you go down and get it and you get more stuff water mud grass between the club face and the golf ball uh you’re not going to be able to control it Yeah it’s a good point And uh just to to close the book on Sam Burns you touched upon this earlier but worth noting now the last three 54hole leaders of US Opens at Oakmont in 2007 Aaron Badley with a final round 80 In 2016 Shane Luri with a final round 76 And now add to that in 2025 Sam Burns with a final round 78 It is not easy being the man with the target in your back at a US Open Brand and I will just go back and now say if you go back to 1962 six of the last seven 54 hole leaders at the US Open at Oakmont have not won and they’ve come from as far back as 13th place in the case of Johnny Miller So you know I mean it is an incredibly difficult golf course but Bob Ford who long at the helm there came on our set I believe it was Wednesday night maybe it was Tuesday night and said the thing that’s you know the misconception about Oakmont is that it’s brutal He goes it’s not If you hit the right shots you can shoot good scores Y you can shoot 63 you can shoot 65 but if you the slightest mistake is punished there So you allow to make these runs So if you’re under pressure as you are prone to be more so than normal as the leader you’re more up to make mistakes and you’re more apt to get punished for Therein lies the lore uh of Oakmont Absolutely Um Sam was playing in the final group alongside Adam Scott who I think a lot of people were pulling for That was the romantic story I think yesterday And how often do we see two players kind of both get stuck in reverse and all the energy just gets sucked out of the pairing Scotty was tied for the lead as he stood on the 14th T Played his last five holes in five over par But in all honesty Brandle straight out of the gate It was unforced error after unforced error and it just didn’t look like being his day Yeah he got bad breaks you know with horrible lies I mean there’s bad lies and there’s horrible lies and he probably got more than his share of horrible lies you know at the first and at the eighth Uh but really it was uh again the poor shot at 12 His third shot he had 130 in He missed the number by 25 yards You can put some of that off to distance but I mean these guys don’t miss numbers by 25 yards So and then he missed the fairway at 14 He missed the fairway at 15 Uh and missed the green at 16 So as this tournament came to a close as it became more imperative that you find fairways and hit great shots only one person gets to lead the winner That’s it One And it just it boils down to who hits the best shots when the time is on And and that boils down to who has the clearest head and who’s in most control of their game And Adam Scott was the the best story Everybody loved it He would been the second oldest winner He’s elegant He is mature He’s thoughtful He doesn’t seek the spotline There’s no self aggrandisement with him Even asked if he’s in the Hall of Fame or should be in the Hall of Fame He says “No I don’t think so I think I probably need one more major I’m on the cusp of it.” He didn’t just you know brush it to question and say “Well I’ve won 32 times globally,” which he has and he probably should be in the Hall of Fame on the merits of what he’s meant to the game and his global success but he he not prone to self flattery self aggraisement So he’s he’s such a popular player but uh again there can only be one winner And when he came right down to it JJ Spawn was executing and uh Sam Sam Burns wasn’t and Adam Scott didn’t coming down the stretch So here is the question then Brand he’ll turn 30 45 the day before the Open begins at Royal Port Rush It’s now 5 years since he won a tournament of any type As you say I think you will struggle to find a player Caddy official member of the media anyone in the world of golf with a single bad word to say about Adam Scott He is a mast’s champion He is a players champion As you said he has 32 professional wins Will he get another chance at a second el that elusive second major And does his career need a second major for us to say that we he fulfilled his potential Good questions Uh yeah I think he’ll get a chance Uh you know I first started uh keeping track of club head speed in 2007 His club head speed was right at 119 miles an hour Here we are He was 25 by the way then He’s 44 now His club head speed is right at 119 120 miles an hour So the the longevity of him physically is absolutely astonishing for him not to and I know he’s had a few nags and you know aches and pains here or there but to be absolutely uninjured the golf swing absolutely ageless timeless to look exactly the same physically and technically and athletically is uh is a is a tribute to uh his maintenance uh physically I know where he trains a fair bit in and he he trains a fair bit in Congere back of the range tight It’s like links like turf He’s uh he’s actually bought equipment for the gym there Um you know nice equipment It was a nice gym before but he he he just trains there They he’s an ambassador there He buys all this nice equipment and they they say it’s just watching him work out is is a sight to behold So you know it’s a tribute to his uh his tenacity Um but yeah I think he’ll have another chance The game is still he hasn’t lost anything off his fast ball is my whole point Um it’s uh he’s a fabulous putter I think he’ll have another chance or two who knows Um and then the question was does he need it Well Hall of Fame I mean everybody wants to be in the Hall of Fame and and I would I would agree with him His his career is it’s it’s it’s it’s sort of borderline I know that it is the Hall of Fame is probably US too US- ccentric It probably is US Yeah it’s probably too US- ccentric but you know Jumbo Ozaki is in the Hall of Fame and he never won a tournament in the United States Asia won once in the United States He’s in the Hall of Fame I mean they do look globally at at players I think he’ll get in the Hall of Fame if he never does another thing But I guess the question Brundle is is one major underperforming given Adam Scott’s talent levels and his longevity You know Sergio Garcia only won one major I think that’s an underachievement for a player with Sergio’s talents Lots of players are multiple major champions who aren’t as accomplished a golfer as Adam Scott Is is one underperforming if he looks back at at the end of his career Well I I think we put too much emphasis on wins personally Um you know look Davis Love won once Tom Weissoff won once Fred Couples won once Those are three of the most talented people I’ve ever seen play golf Colin McGomery never won a major champ Are you Are you telling me Colin McGomery wasn’t good enough to win a major championship No chance Colin McGomery led the money list seven years in a row in Europe Nobody’s done that Tiger didn’t do that Nick Faldo didn’t do that Sevy didn’t do that That’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame I don’t believe that just wins matter First place matters of course second thirds consistency uh global success I think you have to take all that into account How often were you a factor Uh I think we put it because when you win by one shot or in a playoff often times they are determined by chance occurrences When you win by wide margins it’s manifestly a matter of skill Not too many people come along where it is manifestly a matter of skill But when you contend and have duration for decades at a time it speaks to an extraordinary level of skill and hard work and determination To me that’s what the Hall of Fame is all about We put not far too much but too much emphasis on just wins And when you look at the body of his work he’s borderline I think he’ll get in But if he won another major I’m in the camp and I look I think the BMW PGA Championship should be elevated I mean it’s difficult to say should we have five or six major championships but the PGA or the players and the BMW PGA Championship are the two next tier premier events Adam Scouts won the players He’s won a major He ascended to number one in the world Um he’s won everywhere So but I think another win Yeah it would it would he’d go straight in without that’d be it First ballot he’d get in at this point He’ll have to ruminate on it a little bit the same way you’d have to ruminate on Jim Furick getting in And I think Adam Scott should get in before Jim Furick Um you know even though Jim Furick has more PGA Tour wins I think Adam Scott got to number one He won a Players Jim didn’t Uh he’s got more global wins than Jim And these are the kind of things you parse around for the Hall of Fame But one more major he’d go straight in Yeah And I’d just add to that as well Your legacy in the game is something intangible It’s the way you carried yourself throughout your career as well And he’s always carried himself with such grace such dignity He is a great ambassador for the sport that we love Um and he will play the Masters until he’s ready to not play the Masters for the rest of his life And he’s he’ll have chances at open championships So I would love to see Adam Scott get a second major Right From one Scotty to another the world number one Scotty Sheffller finishes in a tie for seventh Now Brandle was asked before the US Open what the winning score would be and he answered “Whatever Scotty shoots.” It was impossible not to think that given his form coming in and just how this particular test seemed ideal for his skill set The first two days though huge surprise He was just not at the race as Ter Green very unlike him Then when he did find it as we knew that surely he would he couldn’t hold a pot Yesterday I counted three lipoids a couple of shortish miss putts In total for the week he three putted seven times and missed five putts inside five feet And yet Brundle as he stood on the tea on his 72nd hole he was still a factor in this major championship Yeah And by his standards he played terrible Um you know I don’t know a single person that didn’t pick him to win U I thought he’d win going away Uh I couldn’t have been more surprised at how poor a form he was in the first two days I talked to uh Trip Eisenhower walked with him and uh on Friday and he said this guy is is got no quit in him He hit it terrible and shot 71 at the hardest golf course on the planet The man the the the fact that he was able to scratch out a 71 day two uh is a testament to his tenacity But uh yeah I it’s so probably the worst I’ve ever seen Scotty Sheffler hit a golf ball uh in the last three years It’s the worst I’ve seen him putt uh you know seven three putts as you mentioned missing all those short putts Uh and still you’re right he was he was he was he was in it Um um you know I we we do have to remind ourselves every now and then that these guys are human You know I was asked often times you know is it uh is is he reached the point where Tiger did where it was Tiger versus the field And I was like Tiger never got to the point where it was Tiger versus the Field Even at Tiger’s best he was a 40% winner which is mindboggling because three or 4% will get you in the Hall of Fame That meant the field was always a better bet Always And and Scott was almost two to one to win He was less than three to one to win Uh but you know he finished what he finished seventh and he just played the worst golf he could have possibly played The worst golf I’ve seen him play That is a testament to his his skill But but the biggest surprise of the week uh was both uh the way Scotty Sheffller played and uh and you know I would say a little bit Rory’s comments on on Saturday evening Yeah Yeah I that that was going to be the way I went next Bandable because the record books will show this as a top 20 finish for Rory As you said it doesn’t really tell the full story He was a non-factor for 4 days Didn’t really look like he wanted to be there I have to say I think all of us thought that a weight would be lifted after the Masters Instead he seems disinterested disillusioned unmotivated It all kind of came to a head when he finally spoke to the media after his third round on Saturday This is what he had to say so transparent with us and very available Yesterday was six majors in a row kind of stepped away Has that been part and parcel to the frustration on the golf course What do you attribute No not really It’s more a frustration with you guys but I’m just um yeah I don’t know I mean I have I’ve been totally available um for the last few years And I’m not saying maybe not you guys but maybe more just the the whole the whole thing The whole driver thing Yeah part of Yeah I mean that was that was a part of it Um yeah that was that was that was a part of it Um but it’s not as if like at Augusta I skipped you guys uh on Thursday So um yeah again it’s not as if it’s it’s not out of the ordinary I’ve I’ve done it before Uh I’m just doing it a little more often Is it part of the uh you kind of carried the tour boards for three or four years now You feel like you’ve earned a break I feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do Yeah You have in relation to that kind of almost addressed the fact that the tour does not require that kind of thing It’s almost like you’re daring them to do so in some some way Is that you know in terms of a requirement for the players No I’m not I’m not daring them to do anything I hope they don’t change it because it would you know this is it’s a nice luxury to have Um but I’m just pointing out the fact that we we have the ability to do it Brand there is something eating at Rory We don’t know what Uh we know he’s emotional We know he wears his heart and sleeve We know there are faceless trolls on social media who do for whatever reason have some issue with Rory I’ve been very consistent in saying you know I’m biased I’m from Northern Ireland and I’ve known Rory for a long time but we are so lucky to have this man as an ambassador for the sport we love Someone who is intelligent and considered and thoughtful and eloquent There was a huge outpouring of emotion for him at Augusta which surely showed him I would have thought just how beloved he is Yet at the moment he is undoing a lot of the goodwill there is for him And I just do not understand why Here’s what I’d say to that Um I think you’d agree I think Rory is the best friend that golf has had over the last decade He’s the best friend that golf has had He’s the most thoughtful person in the media center So let’s just let’s just say you’ve got a best friend You’ve known each other for 10 15 years and he’s your best friend or she’s your best friend And then they start acting a little bit weird for a week or two You would say “Hey man What’s going on Everything okay you need some time uh I’m here you know I’m here for you Let me know if you need anything Uh you sort out what you need to sort out and get back to me That’s what you’d say And I think that’s what golf needs to do You know we’re too quick to judge Let’s extend a little grace and understand that people are human and they’re going through things I don’t know what he’s going through exactly I don’t know exactly what is at the the the source of this sort of uh edgginess that he’s he’s displayed but I think you got to give him some space He’s earned He He would like to I’m sure have those words back Nobody earns the right to do whatever they want You know Eisenhower didn’t earn the right to do whatever he wanted Churchill didn’t earn the right to do whatever he wanted He’d like to have those comments back but he’s earned the right to get some grace for sure And uh I I think I think G needs to uh to just you know take a deep breath and go like look I don’t know what he’s going through you know Uh but uh but you know let’s not burn that bridge with Roy He’s been too important to golf Uh and uh I’m certainly willing to uh take a deep breath and uh let him sort things out and come back and start being the Rory that we all know and love And he will refine that motivation He will refine that raise on Detra And perhaps Port Rush coming when it does is just exactly what he needs And he’s touched upon this as himself as well He says “If I can’t get myself motivated for an open championship in Northern Ireland then I really am in the wrong game.” So maybe Port Rush is just the kick that he needs in a few weeks time Yeah maybe it is You know I mean you know maybe the the achievement uh of completing the career grand slam nobody’s ever gone nobody’s ever taken as long that’s completed the career grand slam and nobody’s had as much scrutiny heaped upon them in the process So nobody in the history of golf has ever endured the highs and the lows of what Rory has And so there’s really no precedent for how people respond to something like that And so maybe he himself is wondering I should feel more I should feel less or and maybe that’s putting him on edge Maybe it is the driver and how it was broke and who broke it and how it’s being reported you know and and maybe there are people because you well know there there are there are so many people in the media now and not all of them are trying to tell uh the best stories about the game you know there’s there’s there’s some that are looking for clicks and likes and uh and that’s just an unfortunate uh aspect of of this era of everybody’s a journalist and uh so you know maybe that’s what’s got him in a tussle It’s hard to say but uh again I would say uh we treat it like you know he’s he’s the best friend And uh what do you need I’m here for you Uh hope you get it sorted out give me a call if I can help with anything And I have no doubt he’ll return back and uh be his jolly wonderful self And look he played brilliant golf on Sunday Did an interview with Kira K Dixon Sunday morning I think y’all ran it on Sky Yeah he was much cheerier He was I mean Kira’s delightful first of all and she said she gave Rory the thumbs up or down like you know are would you do an interview or not And Rory looked at her and went thumbs down And then he goes “No no no I’m just kidding Of course I’ll do the interview.” Yeah and uh and he was delightful and and then went out and shot 67 and you know so he’ll get back on track He drove the ball much much better Um I don’t uh I don’t I don’t I’m not worried about Rory I’m I’m not uh he’ll be fine Yeah And I think being back on Irish soil and seeing just how much that entire nation adores him will be the world of good for Rory One final piece of business from the US Open Windam Clark smashing up a couple of lockers in Oakmont’s locker room which is almost museumlike unchanged in over a century a shrine to the history of the game for not just a major champion but a winner of this very championship two years ago That is a terrible look Yeah reprehensible Uh I don’t think the word disappointing really covers it Uh he was a guest He’s a guest there You know he comes into the club for a week Imagine having a guest at your house who I don’t know uh didn’t like what you served and threw plates around and just acted like a baby I think this era of golf and I’m not painting with a broad brush here because there are wonderful people in playing professional golf right now but it has given us a disproportionate number of entitled spoiled rotten uh professional golfers and you can hear it in their comments and you can see it in the way in proams they’re off the back of the green and they’re not paying attention to their proam partners Um that’s an important thing to do And I’ve I’m I’m I’m out there on the golf course and I see that that not they’re not paying attention Um and you see things like this It’s it’s it’s it’s rare It’s not prevalent It’s rare Uh but the entitlement of this era is the unfortunate aspect of all of the concessions in this game being made for top tier players and nobody’s holding them accountable Uh they get away with uh dropping fbombs on the air I mean at least at Sky you all apologize for them every time you hear it Uh in the US they just ignore it And I’m like you know give me if I were the commissioner for a week there wouldn’t be none It would end Uh you know you’re you’re you’re fine $250,000 every time I hear an F-bomb on the air and it doubles every fbomb I’ll find your number I’ll find the number that makes you stop You know if if you’re on TV and you know it it’s inexcusable to drop uh fbombs every dad gum shot And it’s hard to watch a telecast without uh and we all know the players that do it and just dropping fbombs left right and center To me that’s entitlement That’s uh a lack of self-awareness And uh I’m no prude Look I’ve played golf I’ve I’ve I’ve I’ve said those words before on a golf course I have But I’d like to think if I knew that every shot I was hitting was broadcast I would be a little bit more judicious in my in my vocabulary You know Jack would miss a shot Nicholas and go “Oh Jack.” You know uh there’s no reason there’s no reason to be dropping fbombs left right and center And I know that the whole golf world’s become a lot more broy Um but not everybody watching golf is locker room minded you can be sitting there watching the game with your kids who are four or five or six or who are thinking about playing the game Uh they shouldn’t have to be exposed to that And uh similarly what Windam Clark did uh you know there should be a significant fine You know they make too much money $250,000 for that uh and you you don’t get to play the tour for six weeks It should be a significant fine to send a message that that’s not how we act as a group But there were so many great examples of great sportsmanship between Adam Scott and Sam Burns handling the drop and Tier Hatton applauding JJ uh Spawn and Robert McIntyre Uh we shouldn’t let those acts of of great sportsmanship be overshadowed um uh by the by the uh just immature and uh lack of self-awareness of Windham Clark I think that’s very well said and I will just add to your proam point Try talking to Podrick Harrington about proams He says he sees them as a golden opportunity to meet people from different walks of life who would never otherwise get to meet and he chats away nonstop for five hours straight with his prom partners I think to the point where his prom partners almost wish Podri would shut up because he just never stops Podreg So that’s the right attitude to have 100% I I tell you my wife uh Bailey uh at she was covering the senior PGA Championship last year And uh Paul McInley who I just love Paul said to Bailey said “Come on you know I want to take you out to dinner Uh let’s go out to dinner I’m going to bring Podrick along.” And so Podrick I think I shot like 77 that day And he sits down and he finds out my wife loves golf And he’s like “Show me your swing Let me see your swing.” And Bailey’s like “Oh good gracious You don’t want to see my swing.” He goes “No no no no I do I want to see her swing So she finds a video shows it to he goes “All right I don’t know what Brand’s telling you but here’s what I think.” And and and Bailey goes “You don’t.” He goes “No no no.” And so for like an hour he wants to help her with he gets her up He telling her to sway whatever And she’s like “He is the nicest guy on the planet.” Yeah And I think I think literally if you ask me to name you know the top 10 things in golf Padre Heritage is right near the top Oh great And look everybody can’t beat Padre Harrington but you can take a cue from him And I used to similarly think when I got paired in ProAss I thought these are the most successful the most interesting people I may well ever meet in my life I cannot believe I get five hours with the CEO of of of AT&T I can’t believe I get five hours with Jamie Diamond I can’t believe that you know and yeah uh give him a lesson Talk to him Where’d you come from What’d you do What’s the best thing that ever happened to you in business What’s the worst decision you ever made I mean I mean it’s such a gift And I see these tour pros on the back of the green chipping It’s like come on man Those are the people that pay your salary Yeah Go over have a laugh with them have a chat Yeah So Podrick and I and you and we’re all in agreement Yeah Yeah They broke the mold when they made Podrick I have to say um just very quickly some other news from the last week Carlotta Saganda a winner again after eight and a half years She won the Mayor LPJ Classic in Grand Rapids Michigan by a single shot She had this to say “It feels amazing I knew I could do it but obviously once the years keep going and you start getting older you start doubting yourself.” Congrats to Carlotta And after Maya start becoming a major champion just a few weeks ago lovely to see another European victory Will that continue Because coming up this week we have another women’s major The KPMG PJ Championship in Fris Texas Amy Yang defending her title The US Open was a thriller at Erin Hills So let’s hope we get another on the PJ tour How do you follow a major like that Well with some difficulty but we do have a signature event with all the big names involved The Travelers Championship at a wonderful golf course TPC River Highlands which always provides plenty of drama The DP World Tour still having a break before their European swing resumes next week with the Italian Open But that about does us for today Brle thank you so much for your time We’ve had Brandle this is let you behind the curtain folks Brand stopped at a motorway service station just to talk to us today We had Matt Wallace getting off an overnight flight in economy and talking to the things people do for the Sky Sports Golf podcast So so thank you so much And Bren I have to ask that really wetted the appetite for me for the final major of the year How excited are you for the open at Royal Port Rush Uh I it’s it I couldn’t be any more excited You know I I was lucky enough to play Royal Port Rush a few years ago I’d never played it Uh I couldn’t believe the golf course how beautiful it was how playable it was Uh having gone back there in 2019 I mean I don’t know how you could dream up a story uh any better than that I think Rory has unfinished business there after 2019 and after what’s gone on the last month So I expect Rory to be in better form Uh I couldn’t be any more excited getting there We’ve had a banner year at major championships and you just wonder how is it going to conclude I I I feel like it’s uh it’s going to go out on a high So I can’t wait to get there My wife and I are going over early We’re going to play uh some golf in Scotland Then we’re flying over to play R Dublin We’re going to play Port Marik and then make our way up to to Port Rush And we will definitely be having a pound of Guinness together Brand make that promise to me In on that good man And I can tell you let me assure you being from that part of the world all that rain that we had in Pittsburgh genuinely in my 18 years growing up in Northern Ireland I cannot recall it raining once in Northern Ireland We’re bound to have glorious sunshine all week long It just doesn’t rain in Ireland Don’t don’t believe what you’ve heard Um I cannot wait for it And thank you for joining us today It’s been a lot of fun If you’ve liked what you’ve heard or watched today do make sure you give us a follow on Apple or Spotify wherever you get your pods Leave us a review Let us know what you think of the show A huge thank you as always to Callaway for sponsoring the podcast Thank you again for your time and do join us again this time next week