Fair Police in Hartford, Wyndham “apology,” & Viktor Hovland talks new Tour CEO | The Shotgun Start

This is an episode full of Friday whimsy, covering the Chicago Cubs, Wyndham Clark’s antics, Sheriff Scottie’s department expanding, and more. Andy and Brendan run through an “apology” from Wyndham in the aftermath of destroying a locker at Oakmont and how he turned this moment into a plea for a spot on the Ryder Cup team. The two also discuss Scottie Scheffler’s comments from Wednesday’s press conference at the Travelers regarding what he considers a “fair test” on the PGA Tour. Speaking of the Travelers, Jordan Speith withdrew with a new injury and Adam Schefter took over Thursday’s broadcast with some insane PGA-NFL comparisons. Leaderboard updates are provided for the Women’s PGA Championship and Champs Tour at Firestone, where PJ’s pick of Thomas Bjorn is fighting for dead last. To wrap up this episode, Brendan chats with Viktor Hovland about Brian Rolapp, Jay Monahan, Oakmont, and his favorite fruit.

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greetings and welcome to a Friday edition of the Shotgun Start it is June 20th andy how are we doing brendan I’m doing phenomenal i gotta say it’s a celebratory day in this household it is uh I don’t know if you guys know this it’s Sammy Sosa day at Wrigley Field today oh really what are they doing handing out first the cream and the clear for everyone walking through the gates what are they doing what’s Sammy Sosa day entail this is the first time he’s been back to the ballpark in 21 years oh is that right yeah yeah oh man he’s got to be unrecognizable i haven’t seen Sammy Sosa but in several years but he’s just got to be unrecognizable they just put up a picture of him of him and PCA on on Twitter and he is unrecognizable if you haven’t seen him in 20 years absolutely him and PCA two two all-time great outfielders for the Cubs sammy did did contribute one of the great sort of uh celebrations like anytime I did anything good in youth sports I would do like the the kiss with the two fingers and the chest and the look at like anytime like coming to the like kind of as a joke but yeah when you’re playing like whiffle ball in the backyard or home run derby in the backyard Sammy that that’s for me one of his great contributions the the kiss with the chest and the point to the sky so hopefully he does a little bit of that i’m happy for you Cubs fans we need a uh Sammy Sosa day oh PJ Cubs fans are fired up at PJ i’m getting a lot of messages about PJ’s PCA takes what are they worked up about i’m just I’m just cautioning everybody that you look under the hood the underlying metrics are alarmingly bad but I’m I’m happy for PCA i’m happy that Major League Baseball has another marketable superstar in a major market very happy i’m just saying might not end well that’s all I’m just trying to get out in front of it for uh I I having watched uh Obi Toppin play basketball in NBA Finals with TJ I’ve I’ve developed a theory he’s very anti-Ob Toppen and I’m convinced because the Knicks let him go sure i’m anti-Ob Toppin because the Knicks had him in the first place over Tyrese Hallebertton but that’s that’s also fine but you know you watch Obie Tappen really stick it stick it to the Knicks in in the Pacers Knicks series and I I’m convinced that this is because we sent a Jav Bayas who’s a good player was a great player with the Cubs won a won a World Series or hasn’t won a World Series in New York um we sent Jav Bayz for the prospect we got was PCA i think he’s just rooting against PCA for the people for the people in Australia New Zealand England Ireland elsewhere PCA refers to Pete Crow- Armstrong a one time candidate top prospect in the Mets organization pj’s team who now plays for the Chicago Cubs Andy’s team so that’s for our international listeners pca is Pete Crow Armstrong a baseball player MVP candidate maybe the front runner right now would you say that not the front runner right now i’m happy that there’s you know enthusiasm is as of June 20th in Cubs land and obviously the Mets who just got didn’t they just get worked over by the Braves is that lost six straight hell yeah brother okay all right best team in baseball Chicago Cubs andy you got to see my my guardians up close and personal yesterday how was your trip to whatever they call it now the bell bell park I’ll call it this time okay it was great um I it was uh I took my near 5-year-old daughter there um did not watch a lot of baseball u surprising probably to most dads that I didn’t get to really lock in on the game didn’t get my score score book out and wasn’t keeping score uh you know to be completely honest we lasted four innings it was uh it was a tough day at the ballpark it you know it uh I had high hopes really you know the the the attraction of the ballpark I’ve determined is that we get to take the ferry in to the park sick super cool uh take the ferry in and out and and that’s what my that’s what my daughter really uh her favorite part of it um so yeah didn’t watch a lot of Guardians baseball to be completely honest but it was a it was an incredibly low-scoring game despite being the wind was like howling out you know it’s always interesting to be I wonder if there’s any statistics on it if pitchers actually like pitch better when the wind’s hauling out because they know they have to pitch a little bit better they lock in a little bit more focus like the pitterpatter of the raindrops make you focus just that much more the wind might make the pitcher focus that much more i think that’s like a legitimate theory that could be proven out and this is I have this theory based off being at at a World Series game where the wind was humming out and the score was one zero your your Guardians then Indians won that game i think that you know I was thinking about the JJ Spawn rain delay and maybe the best comp for the reset was the was the Cubs Indians rain delay i mean I don’t really want to talk about that that’s a hard one that’s a tough one it’s a tough one to talk about i remember where I was what I what I was doing what happened thank god it came only you know five months after we actually won a title in a game seven so if it hadn’t it would still be just an absolute yeah the Cubs sort of went back reassessed after the you know Raj Davis had taken your guy the uh the sort of malignant malignant uh you know criminal ais Chapman who you guys just loved cheering for and rooting for was sort of your hero guy a raldis Chapman took him deep and then yeah you reset in the in the in the rain delay came out and won the World Series that’s right um yeah that was uh better baseball team won that was the thing that came came out of that uh JJ Spawn you’re right maybe he did reset uh they’ll need to be dialed in i don’t know if the wind is hauling out at Packbell Park it’s howling in Cromwell Connecticut got a little bit of wind today like legit gusts in the 40s 50s like sitting at like 25 uh kind of an interesting interesting uh dynamic uh certainly not playing anywhere near Oakmont we came out yesterday you know we had uh Grumpy Windham just fresh off beating the piss out of a locker uh shooting you know a quick round of 64 we had the sheriff of the fair police uh back in sort of safety safer environs you know the crowd under control the riers under control the looters under control gets back in the saddle of TPC River Highlands and posts a quick 62 could have been a 61 boing 17 uh with a sort of a duffy little putt off the back of the green there but uh shoots 62 takes a FRL with Austin Erote uh uh Scotty had some interesting thoughts on setup uh on a Wednesday morning press conference after we had recorded our preview show on Tuesday uh kind of happened right in the middle of our CBS deal on Wednesday what did PJ did you load in the audio of Scotty talking on Wednesday morning right prior to his 62 on Thursday you want to set us up um but the I think like there he says some really good things in here like everybody just looks at the score and says that’s what is you know it’s easy or hard and he’s so right about that like score is just like relative right yeah you could shoot a really good 62 and you know like yesterday his 63 maybe it was really you know it wasn’t because everybody shot like 60 65 but you know he talked about that but my favorite part was just I mean he’s just doubled down on on his on his fair test but there was a lot of good stuff in here I’m going to I’m going to play it you know PJ also uh alerted us that maybe there’s a new lieutenant and Scotty’s uh office ranks uh JT really uh really he’s he promoted it it promoted the uh quote saying you know preach preach Scotty so maybe he’s trying to join join the precinct so here’s Scotty on fair test last year 22 under par got you into a playoff i mean 22 under par didn’t even win is this course given it’s the last signature event on the PGA Tour for the season is this course too easy you know golf’s golf’s funny in that sense i think people people when they watch golf it’s not like other sports where you want us to look like y’all when we play golf i think it’s just kind of one of those funny things it’s like you watch the NBA and you’re like “Man I wish that I wish they couldn’t dunk you know i wish they could I wish they were scoring less i wish their shooting percentage was lower on three-pointers.” And like if you watch tennis you’re like “Man I wish I wish the ball was going slower so they so they looked like you know me out there playing tennis.” It’s it’s not like that you know as much as some people want us to feel like them you know professional golf is different than amateur golf i mean we get a lot of time to prepare to go out and play and the guys out here are really good at golf like if you stand there on the driving range and you watch a range session that ball doesn’t go offline very often and I think sometimes especially in this day and age people get way too caught up in the winning score um being what is a proper test i think a proper test is good shots being rewarded and bad shots being punished i think this is one of the best golf courses for that um there’s opportunity out there and there’s also punishment like you look at the the closing stretch 15 if you hit a good shot you got a birdie opportunity if you try and bail out right you’re going to be a bunker short right at the green you’re going to have a 40 yard bunker shot it’s a hard shot 16 if you hit a good shot you’re going to have a good look at birdie if you bail out and go long it’s a tough tough chip down the hill 17 if you hit the fairway you’re going to have a chance to hit in there close to the pin if you hit in the left rough you probably can’t get to the green i mean that’s what we look for in golf courses in terms of you want good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished it’s it’s as simple as that [Music] [Laughter] last 2200 hit a good shot you’re going to have a good look at your mixing and match they’re integrating this that’s what we look for in golf courses in terms of you want good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished it’s it’s as simple as that and the winning score I think people get way too caught up in and that’s I’m not saying necessarily that even par is a bad winning score like some weeks like the US Open you hit two great shots and you’re going to get rewarded with a par and that’s fine i think that’s good too i think across the board the way we get tested in professional golf is is very good i think we play different types of golf courses we play different types of grass we play different types of winning scores um we just see different tests and I think not one is better than the other but the the most frustrating thing for me when I play a golf tournament is when you see good shots not getting rewarded and bad shots not being punished properly that’s you’re giddy come on just mix different tests and I think not one is better than the other the the most frustrating thing for me when I play a golf tournament is when you see good shots not getting rewarded and bad shots not being punished properly that’s really all we look for and so do I care that 22 under wins this week no like I played good last year and um if they somehow change it to 12 under by making the pins in silly spots and doing stuff to trick up the golf course what we want is a fair test and I think having birdies at the end sometimes is a pretty exciting finish i mean it’s really all there is to it fair testun i have I Can I read a quick golf advice email on the Dun Dun real quick i don’t need to do it right now but we got golf advice i went through those for Friday on the Dun Dun sound effect it goes just an email i’ve been cracking up lately over Law and Order sound effects that iconic Dun Dun and it reminded me of Brush with its origins on a golf course of all places few years back I had the chance to play in a national member guest tournament the host club was a top 100 track nestled in the middle of nowhere the state would give it away on a final day we were paired with a gentleman and his son around the fourth t with a bit of downtime i struck up some small talk i asked the son the usual so what do you do for work he gave me his answer then nodded toward his dad and said “He’s an entertainment.” So remember guest national middle of nowhere top 100 course dick Wolf he’s an entertainment he nodded towards his dad few holes later we gathered that they were from LA the dad worked in the quote music business naturally that could mean anything producer session guy roadie who knows turns out quote unquote music business in this case when he composed the music for television most notably for Law and Order yes that guy the one responsible for the most legendary sound effect in TV history dun dun not only that but he scored the entire series and its spin-off so SVU and all these others the guy was as laid-back as could be total golf junkie member at no joke over seven clubs i stopped keeping track apparently the Law and Order residuals pay well because by the 15th hole it was clear they weren’t going to make the shootout no problem he casually phoned his pilot who was waiting in a nearby town and told him to get the plane ready as we teed off for the shootout we watched the jet zip overhead westbound and homebound couldn’t have been a nicer cooler guy the coolest dun in golf so the guy scoring has played seven clubs and private jet i’m sure he’s got other sources of income beyond the the Law and Order residuals but now it’s uh it’s reemerged it’s kind of crazy on this podcast making music for a uh mediocre TV show pays that much god the mediocre is very unkind it’s had like a 30-year run i don’t know the old folks love that uh Scotty with some good thoughts i mean he’s back in the saddle uh I I think I would push you know we have an interview with Victor Havlin coming uh rare interview for Shotgun Start he loved loved Oakmont talked about how he thought it was could have been stupid was worried it was going to get stupid like you had some issues with the rough the mustache around 17 bunker uh but like loved the set it was a full beard yeah the schmutz where everything gets caught big mouth beard it’s more famous than big mouth after this year a lot of positives about Oakmont i would push back on if you are a professional at the highest level of your craft is it insane to say like I would like good shots rewarded and bad shots punished is that the craziest notion if there’s a podcaster that’s much lesser than you who just fell ass backwards into a top rating and top advertising but clearly is a bozo and was just at the right place right time and and wasn’t being rewarded properly for his substandard podcasting takes wouldn’t that bother you he’s at the highest what’s he supposed to say i don’t want good shots rewarded i think he needs to he needs to get grasp that golf is like a game that’s inherently unfair okay and it I think like where I I have you know where I would push back is that the tour where he seems to be most comfortable and I think most players I mean like there’s a couple players that just like play better at majors won Cam Young um um but where he’s most comfortable because of this overriding theory with pro golfers this this exact theory we get just like such mediocre setups because they’re so afraid of players thinking they might be unfair that we never get to see players push to hit great shot we don’t we see it sometimes but like you know like Memorial is really the only setup because it’s it’s Jack Nicholas i guess Arnold Palmer has some of this too Gravitas where where they can push the setup a little bit further and those events stand out because of the setup and I think that’s where where my you know like this is the theory and the overriding thought on tour that makes the tour’s week toe product a little bit watered down because we can’t put we can’t put a whole location on more than one and a half% slope we can’t do that that’s not something we do you know meanwhile Oakmont it’s on three and a half% slope and that’s why you saw those three putts that’s why three Scotty allowed three putts yeah i I think like here’s the thing like the if you take away anything from last week is like look at how unprepared and and so many players were to play that type style of setup now Scotty talked about grass and all all these gr grass win score what he didn’t talk about was like you know what would be really cool is if week in week out on tour we showed up and we didn’t know what to expect because the setup was really varied and different and and this was like the job of the setup crew on tour should be they are the defense they are the defenders against the pro golfers in this case what they do if you look at it that way would be you know if you if you watch if you’ve been watching the NBA Finals Indiana made like a defensive change last night they stopped pressure pressuring full court for most of the game like that every other game they’ve been picking up SGA like right when he got the ball they kind of sat back more and put more effort on defending like the perimeter and it made like a huge change it it really rattled OKC they won in a blowout you know a lot of other things went well for Indiana but they changed their defensive scheme from one game to the next on the PGA Tour they literally just roll out the same they roll up the same setup philosophy week in week out like it’s the same green speeds same we have ex defined pinnable slope that we can put a whole location we like to have the rough this way if you don’t have tour sand you have to we recommend you put tour sand in so the sand’s the same what they try and do is make each setup like a Marriott know exactly what the players know exactly what they’re getting when they show up and to me if you wanted really great compelling product on the PGA Tour part of that needs to be that each week is different and if you think about it from like the TV product standpoint it gives the announcers something to think about it gives them built-in segments like it’s something like it’s tension where sports thrives on is tension and that’s why people love the ma the majors so much more than the PGA tour is because there’s real tension and obviously there’s gravitas and all that but some of the tension comes from the setup it’s a good point i would say they’re more partners than defenders is that right they’re facilitators not defenders i think people would push back not me but like the devil’s advocate would be like well like they want safety and predictability within the product of because we know this works to this amount of level right we’ll get this rating we’ll get this score we’ll get this like amount of members happy not this amount of members limited amount of members not happy they can kind of having a little bit more of of like a controlled atmosphere it It’s safe it’s for sure probably less interesting on the whole but um it keeps the players happy the car crashes are Yeah more minimal right it underscores yeah it underscores the whole issue it keeps the players happy is like the the main constituent that they’re worried about is the players the constituent that they should be most worried about is the fans what do the fans most want what the fans want to see they want to see players on the edge that is like very apparent they want to see players overcoming obstacles and the tour’s whole setup philosophy runs counter to that because they’re trying to keep the players happy and that’s like a major issue that I’d love to see Bri uh Brian Rolap look into but I’m guessing that’s like very far down on the list of things that you start talking about integrity yeah fans competitive integ Yeah if he cares about and it seems like he will um I thought it was a pretty decent like Scotty like you said to get into like you know we should show up at different playing surfaces different grasses different different settings um but at the end of the day he wants you know some guard rails there right uh good shots rewarded i just think it’s not the craziest quote from a guy who’s playing at the it’s it’s kind of like what is he supposed to say but I I get what you’re I get how that brings the question of fairness fair policing into play when you talk about there was a quote I think Kevin Kner had on the smiley pod i I haven’t listened to the pod i saw the the cutout um about the difference sort of in a major championship approach versus this predictability and these guard rails of a tour he’s like well you know if we were on tour we would have been balling hand all day on Sunday at Oakmont you know Sam Burns picks the ball up and goes and finds a nice place to play it from like that’s essenti I’m paraphrasing he’s like he just he goes and finds a good spot for him which it was kind of anathema to the entire point of golf whether you think it’s fair unfair madness beautiful whatever like all these rules all these tangents like the whole basic premise is you sort of just you play it as it lies you play it as it lies that’s the that is like the hard everything grows out from there all the extra little rules and like the tour is farther away from that than closer i would say playing it as it lies and that’s sometimes as it lies is a total jamming it’s a total unfair jamming but that is golf it’s play you play it as it lies with very minimal exceptions and increasingly more exceptions on the PGA Tour uh a good quote from Scotty go ahead you’re going to jump in there you want to add yeah golf golf’s effectively a microcosm of life you know that’s why I think people like the game so much and just like life you just like have to deal you don’t get a free drop because you were put in a bad position maybe sometimes you do metaphorically speaking but like you you get get in a jam you figure your way out of it and sometimes you screw up and and and make a double bogey but you know then you wake up the next day and it’s a new hole and you you try and figure out how to how to dig yourself out but like I think that’s the the thing the the tour mentality is just I mean it’s it’s why there’s such a gulf between tourrun products and non-ourrun products it’s why the tour owns none of the most valuable products in golf is because they have an amazing propensity to screw up anything that they touch you know who’s looking for a free drop wendy old Wendy Clark scotty’s quote had some curdles of truth and insight in kind of a good take a good soliloquy in a way for someone who’s asked his opinion wendy Clark is looking for a free drop he’s ready for everyone to move on including the uh the victims of his temper tantrum he said I mean I’ve had a lot of high This is after shot 64 he’s right back in the saddle and playing well at TPC River Highlands i had a highs a lot of highs and lows in my career especially this year some lows i made a mistake that I deeply regret i’m very sorry for what happened but I also like to move on not only for myself but for Oakmont for the USGA and kind of focus on the rest of this year and things that come up i still want to make the RDER Cup team i’m still on the outside looking in for the FedEx Cup so I’m starting to move on and focus on those things so he’s ready to move on not for himself but also for Oakmont and the USGAA this is like if our good friend the gentleman the piss bear like walked off the plane and said “I’m ready to move on i’m ready to move on for myself the airline the flight attendants everyone involved i’m ready to move on.” This is what like Piss Bear did this what it’s not up to you to move on it’s not up to you that Oakan moves on hold on hold the phone you get to say that this pair and breaking a locker are not the same oh I’m not saying that they are analogous or comparable in any way this bear was committed crimes he committed crimes now the Oakmont members may think Windom committed crimes it should be committed not not Oakmont members think he committed a crime i was not putting those on the same footing to be just talking about responsibility for actions and just telling oh everybody move on they’re not analogous to be clear can we can we can we do two things could be true what yes this quote is completely ridiculous yeah asking Oakbod to move on a mere 48 or like 72 hours after it’s not like the quote should have read like I’m deeply sorry i totally screwed up golf’s a frustrating game and I let my emotions get the most of me and I can’t express how how sorry I am for what I did right so two things could be true there’s a terrible quote whoever gave him the advice on this is what you should say is is I I’m constantly amazed at how bad the advice that these players are getting is on like how to handle situations yep now the other thing can be true too is that Oakmont like builds new new versions of these lockers and this is not the end of the world what he did yeah so both of both parties in this case are being completely ridiculous i would say he’s getting a little bit too publicly shamed for this like I think he’s an idiot he’s borish it’s bad behavior he should be punished there should be repercussions now when he throws a quote out there the public shaming will continue when you like you kind of walked yourself into this one i love uh Paulo from ESPN said it’s kind of incredible how he turned an apology into sort of a plea for a Ryder Cup consideration continuing to like throw it out there like the biggest non-apology ever there’s just I don’t know i keep hearing more and more that the Oakmont people are so these are not going quietly they’re not going to let this go um it’s what if Oakmont What if Oakmont said “We’re done being an anchor site because of Windham Clark no more US Open because we can’t abide this not because of the you know every non-playable surface being a mud pit but it’s Windom that like we will not be an anchor site anymore.” I wonder when that golf course is going to be like back to normal should ask Mike next this time next year i don’t know maybe do you think they’re going to have to like resod all the rough areas i don’t know enough to suggest that i don’t think they should do they need to do that i think they have to do it spots it’s just like pure bud seed this fall and spring i don’t know i’m not an aronist but yeah it’s tough that’s windy uh No fans what they should have said no fans would have been a better tournament anyways would have been fun you know what it would have been it would have been more fair that guy just bought a new private jet every time we used that he might be He might be joining a new top 100 club the good news is that we are we we are a golf podcast he appears to like golf yeah maybe it won’t seek legal repercussions that we’re using it for free windham’s getting Windam’s getting bad advice on his apology but we can offer some good advice and that’s go to orsenalps.com use the promo code shotgun5 this is the best advice we can give you it’s hot weather’s been crazy lately just dumping buckets golf courses flooded here yesterday but we’re about to hit 100° we got our member guest next Tuesday looking like it’s going to be 100° for a run around the East Coast it’s you know just been goofy weather but the sun and heat are coming next week you can prepare go to orzanalps.com/shotgunstart use the promo code shotgun 15 you get 15% off you get that hydrating antioxidant sunscreen spray named Men’s Health Editor’s Choice for good reason you got face and scalp mist you got the matte sunscreen stick or the clear ghost stick i would just say both one’s SP 50 one’s SPS 35 feels like I don’t know i’m not going to talk about the SPF numbers but I feel like once you get over 20 like what’s what’s the difference right i think there’s a huge difference 35 and 50 a huge difference okay i’ll let the I think 35 35 is like could be like child’s play okay and and 50 once you get to 50 that you know my question would be what what over 50 is are there gains over 50 yeah what’s the difference all right well we’ll have to study up on that you got the everyday hear how I’m getting jammed what i got this like this sunscreen that I have to use on my kid my wife is you know just like has to be used and it’s a spray bottle and she doesn’t like being spray sprayed sure so I have to spray it into my hand and then apply your kids like being sprayed the spray uh no they start jumping you just do the stick well we do the spray we tell them you you you just got to grin and bear it they start jumping around and hopping around but it’s hydrating antioxidant sunscreen spray from uh Orus and Elp so they they smell PJ was impressed with the smell of the spray it’s you smell like a a pinina colada or something it was co coconuty i liked it it was good good smell so go to orzel.com/shotgunstart use a promo code Friday you get 50% off the spray makes it so easy it’s great it’s incredible stuff this is good good sunscreen um someone who’s not good right now is uh Jordan Spe he is home doesn’t need sunscreen wds after round one with a scap like a neck shoulder issue hurt himself on the range uh first WD in like almost I think 300 starts on the PGA Tour so that’s a bit of a bummer a hit to the Travelers uh star parade of stars that not guys but stars that they have at Travelers so he’s out uh elsewhere in the the Stars Ricky Fowler near DFL Gary Woodland another uh sponsors exemption not doing well he’s T53 went 6755 uh 6775 uh so uh Speedy was not a sponsors moved in via this year’s FedEx Cup but um you know as we get to the last signature event with without like not full merit guidelines like the playoffs might have uh I wouldn’t say it’s been a banner year for the sponsors exemptions making pretty pretty onedimensional it’s true clanton was another one he’s top 30 at the minute but um yeah and and speed WD kind of a kind of a sad uh finish there uh PJ you watched on Thursday with Sher i I couldn’t believe it like I I don’t know if there was a golf tournament going on if there were golfers out there playing or if it was just Adam Shfter who had to make Robert Damron my old morning drive colleague i wouldn’t say he’s like a stretch four but he had to feel like it next to Sheffy um but he’s out there plotting around i It was leading PJTour.com it was every tweet every every coverage was Chefy i was like I don’t Are they even playing golf today is Scotty Shuffler out there is anybody out there but Sheffy sheffy was a a a walking reporter with the Rory Keegan Bradley pairing and uh they they steered hard into Sheffy’s existence he was out there in his bright yellow shirt his Michigan man hat uh was was fired up to be on the grounds and every couple holes or so they kept asking him for for NFL to PGA Tour comparisons which we’ve done for years on this podcast not the most original idea i think Andy and I right we were on that years ago NFL golfer comps with Kevin Clark we did that maybe Andy did it on this football it’s like a month and a half ago not even not even so they become a very popular segment on a lot of different podcasts and a lot of different outlets i feel like we did might have done it like five years ago that was the first one good we did an NBA one with I did an NBA one with Bacon years ago that’s right um so Chefty leans into this and you were sort of horrified by some of the comps leans in is like an under underdeveloped state it was like every every time that they were walking between holes it was like Sheffy let’s get some more comps and it some of these were just absolutely just abhorrent uh so he he comps like there there are some that I could see how you get there he’s talking about Luke Clinton and Cam Ward you know top top prospects that are looking to like you know change an organization sure whatever uh then there are some he he gives Brian Rolab to Roger Goodell you know lowhanging fruit everybody loves that uh Patrick Mahome Scotty Sheffler you know okay cool like totally great then there are some outlandish ones ben Griffin gets comped to Brock Perie okay I don’t understand how you arrive at that conclusion really whatsoever are we calling Ben Griffin a like a system player but Brett Birdie not big on Tik Tok not big influencer i think I could get there two like two guys who weren’t the top prospects had to kind of work their way up i I feel like somehow that was insulting to both of them toast another one that was insulting i think it’d be insulting to Ben Griffin because Ben Griffin’s won something well that’s Yeah we’re golf podcast we’re partial to golfers uh another one that’s insulting to the golfer in my opinion he comes Adam Scott to Russell Wilson that’s terrible i If I’m Adam Scott I’m like walking off espn never talked to me again who is my Russell Wilson cop justin Rose who is equally as like winner but also kind of cringy has a weird social media thing adam Scott is like commonly accepted as like the coolest guy to ever exist pretty authentic and Russell Wilson is the most like fraudulent like media contriven yeah like I don’t Adam Scott I would be pissed i would be livid i would be livid and Adam Scott’s pretty authentic he just tells you how like if he’s saying it he’s he’s it’s not because you know Subway told him to say it necessarily no you know has Adam Scott ever eaten a danger witch probably not i would doubt it uh Minu Lee to Juju Smith Schustster only because they’re both big on Tik Tok i I mean Ju Guu was big on Tik Tok like 5 years ago when he was a relevant NFL player juju Juju never was a speed demon either no Juju was a possession receiver fighting over the middle not a speed demon savior worthy or something like that yeah I think Savior Worthy has too many uh Too much legal confl you know complications no that’s Rashi Rice that’s the wrong Kansas City receiver oh what happened to Didn’t uh Xavier Worthy something happened this off season he got hurt didn’t he get hurt maybe something happened this off season with Xavier Worthy i don’t know that actually may be true it’s hard to keep the Chiefs uh it seems like every every Chief uh receiver has issues another one that that Andy had a much better comp for uh he comps Jordan Spe to Matthew Stafford matthew Stafford obviously the early career success for Matthew Stafford was was phenomenal right he was on the Lions they literally never made the playoffs he won like six games a year at in the early season success this is not a guy that you know burned the world down at 20 21 years old like Jordan Spith yeah uh Andy’s comp of Hidekis is the actual Matthew Stafford comp for anybody wondering out there but he he was waxing poetic about how you know both of these guys have won big big events jordan Speeds has more major Super Bowls yeah te you know Texas connection and they’re hurt all the time i think that was kind of uh this was before the speed WD too so I guess we we even got a little bonus action there and then top it all off uh he comped JJ Spawn to Zack Bon the Philadelphia Eagle linebacker Spawn and Bon right he said that wasn’t why i’m wagering a lot of money that was why uh because he was like both of them are are you know come from relative obscurity zack Bond was like a pretty decent college player who fell the third round because of some injuries and some legal issues he wasn’t great on New Orleans but like nice nice player people know who Zack Bond was he obviously had a great year last year jay Spawn had a tour win before like I don’t I don’t think either of these guys are complete randos but he I think it was just because of the rhyming i totally I agree i agree i can’t I I can’t believe that any of that was a comp other than the last name rhyming and then to top it all off my personal favorite Charlie Woods to Arch Madding because why not we just gota just got to throw it out there charlie Charlie qualified for the US Jr yesterday i can’t believe the media attention for the UN US Junior qualification qualifier you know he was in on uh I was talking to Brenley he had a he had a nom plum he was on an alias in the uh qualifier last week it was like Jack Brown or something was what Charlie was playing under nuclear still uncovered it did they oh I didn’t even know did they all right i don’t know i saw that’s that’s the tweet I saw but you know who knows who the source tweet was when nuclear tweeting about it charlie Woods to Arch Manning do we need to be doing that to Charlie i mean no we don’t i don’t think we need to be We certainly don’t need to be doing it to Charlie who has not played like in college or at any like top top top level yet versus I don’t even know say the same about Arch right well Arch was the best quarterback on Texas last year was he he was the number one prospect in his class for like a med across several classes well that that that is up for interpretation some people think that that’s because of his last name that’s I think some I think if you asked uh Scratch or Nuclear Golf who the top prospect in the in the 2026 golf class or whatever class he’s in they’d say Charlie Woods without a doubt oh yeah they’re going to be thirsting for that yeah maybe a fair cop but they they that one I just love you know PGA Tour to NFL comps let’s throw a guy not on the PGA Tour comp not an NFL player uh just just because we have to throw the the Charlie catnip catnip out there so I gotta ask a question yeah you’re a big fantasy football guy i am are you starting to get locked in is this the time of year where you’re starting to get locked in uh I haven’t I haven’t really gotten gotten too deep yet i’ve done like two rookie drafts that I didn’t That sounds like deep come on two rookie drafts on June 20th i didn’t have first round picks this year so I kind of just kind of just sat there and and took whoever fell to me in the in the end end of the second and third rounds but all right well I’m going to need you in that rookie league i’m going to need you to think about you know the 12 spot who we’re going to take in the 12 spot i could listen Ty Tracy ty Tracy worked out so we got we could draft last year we had great draft last year so we got to we got to keep it going uh one thing you should draft into your lineup is a Mobjack Belt we are fortunate to have them as a newest sponsor this is an easy one that we are uh to get get in partnership with uh they send us some product it’s uh they’re come from folks who’ve been in the belt game a while know what they’re doing know their way around making a high quality belt it’s a familyrun company they’re inspired by the American spirit uh it’s named for the World War II era USS Mobjack Torpedo Tender which was named for the Mobjack Bay off the coast of Virginia this is spelled M O B like mobjack J- A no C mobjack.com m OJ AK these belts are amazing i wore them all last week at Oakmont just uh high quality it isn’t covered in logos if sometimes you know that’s a big I got golf advice we get so many golf advice like can I wear the logo here is this too many logos is is if you want to air on the side of of caution go to Mobjack that that you can use the promo code uh fried egg you get 15% off fried egg at mobjack uh.com no C again luxury lifestyle belts handcrafted in the USA in small batches and using oldworld artisan craftsmanship i had the Kenny Bunkport one I was rocking all last week at the US Open it’s got like a a red white and blue uh sort of design for it so it was perfect for the US Open leaning into the patriotism there uh so that they’ve got also I’ve got a South Hampton’s belt so it’s named after some of these uh great American uh vacation spots uh you have a Carmel by the Sea Telluride a bunch of really good designs you go to mobjack.com use a promo code fried egg this was an easy This is like right up our alley it probably is if you’re listening to this podcast it’s up yours too up your alley um use the promo code fried egg these belts are I have a lot of belts now and some of them are just they become pretty flimsy pretty quickly these are these are husky legit stout boys like real real belts that that I I love my two belts that they sent i uh I’m a big fan they’ve immediately like become my go-to belt yeah yep these are guys who know their way around a belt go to mobjack.com use the promo code Friday great designs that you’ll like um let’s get hit some quick news or leaderboard check-in pj your Thomas Bjorn pick at the Collic Company’s Championship it was bad it was bad pick i’ll get out in front of it uh you know I he was he was playing well 78 shot he was he was playing well and uh I guess I underestimated the uh the impact of a couple weeks off on a on a hot streak and uh hand up that was on me he should have taken the other Danish guy cuz Saurin’s going to win this thing it’s on me you already Saurin though you know I guess we don’t have our one and done league yet but you know that’s in the works it’ll be in the works in perpetuity for this podcast steven Aler is your early leader there spread watch doesn’t look too dramatic right now you got Steven Dodd at 12 over he’s not 82 but I mean there’s a long way to go I suppose i haven’t identified an issue i I’ve taken a lot of defending champions this year oh where does it doesn’t work out no no um at the women’s PGA shouldn’t have taken the guy that was you know looking for cameras on Sunday at the US Open in the major next week fair the women’s PGA down at Fields Ranch East Frisco Omni whatever uh Gino Titakool is your first round leader shout out to 68 which would be a great winner for the PGA uh LPGA she’s probably been the best player in the world this year miy Lee uh right on her heels lexi Lexi is T3 at the moment uh retirees out there doing wonders uh Lexi Thompson so she’s she’s playing well early on good leaderboard when you talk about Gino and Miy one two but a long way to go up there um and then on the KFT the cucumber who we love to see cucumber Quaid quad Cummings 12 under as we’re through the middle of the second round this is a Blue Cross Blue Shield Kansas Witchah Open had some awful weather out there blow blow a bunch of trees down but we’d love to see the cucumber and your boy ADC Adrien Tobant uh Deasart shot 59 which you know quickly puts you in third by the middle of Friday no not good enough for first on the camp great university you know he’s at home in the Midwest even though he’s from Belgian belgium and uh yeah you know what can I what can I say as Scotty would say just admire the low scores lower yeah it’s a let’s take what it gives you fair good shots are being rewarded out there in Witchah uh news walker Cup we have our first three members of the American team jackson Quan Ben James and Michael Lasasso the recent NCAA individual champ are your first three uh members of the 10 10p person uh team for the Walker Cup coming to Cypress Point in September uh they will obviously have if they are American the USAM winner and the McCormack medal winner are get spots if they’re American uh they may announce three or four more three three or four more members prior to that USAM they sort of have this international team selection committee uh that that it isn’t like a hard and fast sort of schedule but they have the first three out that’s obviously going to be a an awesome awesome event September and Kovven James and Lasasso are three pretty big feels like Miles Russell’s got to be on it here shortly after all three of those guys though are studs yeah pretty good pretty good so that’s your early news we have a bunch of golf advice you know if you go to certain places Charlie Woods has got to be on the team right that’s a good point i mean Charlie engagement the engagement aggregators and thirst buckets would put Charlie Woods on the Cypress Point team or the Walker Cup team yesterday you know how could how can you leave him off it’s at Cypress Point you have to do it just have to do it um that’s news we got a bunch of golf advice we’re going to get to those next week we have a sponsor for Golf Advice so we’re going to start hammering those on Fridays much more we got some great stuff yesterday did you get your package i didn’t pj what what do you need to jump in with here we just got got some late breaking news uh captain of Motor City Golf Club JJ Spawn has pulled out of the rocket but he is being replaced by Cameron Young god that’s sad sad that Spawn pulled out of the rocket okay get bigger guy deserves a break keeping your commitments guy deserves He’s got to show up for his home team that’s He’s not actually on that right they don’t have any other choice somebody’s got to be okay all right so breaking news i think we’re going to talk about who who Detroit golf club should be sponsor or should be uh targeting this next week recruiting next week okay seems like a good subject for the week that we go to Detroit uh so yeah golf i got some good ones in addition to the law and order music boy uh some good stuff about a member of the PJ tour marketing marketing team referring to him as Adam Novak and Brian Griffin and how it’s hard to market those guys at a conference man we sure are spitballing aren’t we Rich adam Novak brian Griffin he’s like you can’t market every Well thanks first of all thanks for saying I don’t sound defensive i’ll tell you someone who wasn’t defensive was Victor Havland who we were able to get 15 minutes with uh going back to Cam Smith one of our first interviewers Travelers Weekly we got little time with Victor Havlin asked him his favorite fruit on the way out pj got him with that one ceremonially did uh did Bud sit on the call just to hear hear the call was happening even though he’s not uh doesn’t represent Victor there were no menacing there were no menacing agents staring at us on the zoom as we ask questions this time uh though I think Victor does have a menacing the most menacing agent if I’m if I have my facts right but yes no Bud Martin there just you know turning his camera on as we hit the 15minute mark precisely victor was he was down to talk about everything we talked about Jay the recent news of Jay and the new commissioner and he was open to talking about that travelers the Oakmont setup um sort of his his upbringing and his high his development so it was a good good interview victor was pretty candid really enjoyed it he was he was in a gregarious I would say open to chatting with two uh clowns more than more than Cam Smith so many years ago i was bummed I couldn’t join yeah you had school drop off right yeah it got moved on you moved on us so uh a good interview with Victor thanks uh for to him for joining for a little bit he’s in contention at Travelers played well i mean it was hard not to shoot a mid-60s number on Thursday but he’s in it at Travelers so we’ll kick it to Victor and then talk to you next week [Music] start with the news kind of the big news of the week just your initial reaction obviously to Jay Monahan leaving in 18 months and the PJ tour of which you are a critical player and face one of one of several but you’re you’re one of its superstars uh getting a new commissioner and Brian Rolup what’s your reaction to that yeah I just saw that yesterday was kind of uh surprised a little bit i um had a titleless shoot yesterday so I wasn’t in the mandatory meeting so I uh just saw it on um social media afterwards and I didn’t really get too into it it was a really busy day yesterday so I I don’t really have too many thoughts um you know it’s um not super surprised that someone’s going to take over for Jay uh he’s been in that role for a while and obviously after all the uh tribulations that’s been going on the last couple years would live and PJ tour it’s been pretty hectic and um yeah I guess I don’t know how normal it is to announce that you’re leaving and still work for another 18 months but yeah we’re just going to roll with it I guess yeah that does seem sort of the curiosity of of like what is this 18month sort of overlap and and hybrid model i guess with the new individual Brian taking over are there there immediate changes there’s things you think you think could be done better that you want to see that your tour do better yeah I mean I I think there’s uh everything could get better for sure i think um especially the messaging the last couple years uh certainly against um uh in the face of the live tour emerging I think uh the the PJ tour didn’t really go with the best strategy um you know I I think the tour certainly had um leverage in terms of just historical events tradition and um I I think they should have honed in a little bit more on that um you know just playing the money game and the and the finances that it’s a tough one to to compete against the Saudis um so I I think uh really should just hone in on the tradition obviously back at the Travelers it’s a it’s a great event and I think it’s just really cool to come back to places where you know past champions and you’ve seen shots coming down the stretch where you remember from a that year that guy won and pulled off that shot it’s like that’s that’s what makes the PJ tour why people tune in to watch and and uh you see storylines from the best players in the world winning again defending a a win or something like that or new emergent player changing their whole life by winning a tournament or finishing up there and u changing their career trajectory and I think uh the tour really needs to kind of hone in on that messaging and creating better storylines in my opinion yeah are you are you still do you still feel like there’s there’s some I don’t know if hard feelings is the word but from like the framework agreement announcement there’s still like that was going to be hard to overcome even two two plus years gone i I to me I to be honest the last couple years I’ve just kind of kept my head down i haven’t really pay too close attention i um just focus on my game the last couple years haven’t been the best on the course for me so I’ve just really focused on that but uh yeah I mean it’s just like uh it’s a little um exhausting just to follow some of the stuff that’s that’s happening um feels uh I can draw a lot of similarities uh with the PJ tour to just politics in general and uh I don’t really it’s like the more I invest myself the just the more frustrated I’m going to get so uh in my opinion but the tour does a lot of really good stuff and and I am excited to come to every single event and compete so that’s what I want to focus on but I I do feel like the the management side has been a little bit messy in my opinion yep and now you’re still getting questions from people like us about it uh you you you spoke about the Travelers and that history and the tour building on that history uh this is where you made your PGA tour or pro I should say professional debut in 2019 um I’m just wondering how different of a player are you from that now six years you you’ve accomplished quite a lot you’re only 27 you’ve won seven times you factored in multiple majors how different are you as a player uh in terms of your game your mental approach from that uh PJ tour debut six years ago at the Travelers yeah very very different um it’s uh in some ways I kind of romanticize uh a little bit the version I was back then in some ways but it’s it’s it’s pretty cool to see just I I hit it a lot a long ways or a lot further than I did back then uh my swing is different i’m I think I’m in better shape my short game is a little bit better uh I putt better now because of aim plan that’s helped me a lot uh I can work the ball ways i can hit the ball a lot higher and I feel like I’m way more um just mature and comfortable under the pressure so I I feel like I’m a way more accomplished player than I was back then but um I do kind of uh just remember some of the the ignorance that I had back then and just uh stepping up and and hitting a shot and the ball just going straight and take kind of taking that for granted a little bit uh so those uh those days were pretty fun and obviously uh showing up to every single event just super excited to get out there compete and and um just uh even just getting paired with random guys that I’d never played with that I’d watched on TV for a long time just watching their games up close it’s uh yeah it’s it’s it was really fun really cool experience you’ve heard all the best in the game actually say that rory Podrick Herring and Tiger talked about like the innocence versus experience of your youth and and sort of with the more you play the smarter you are but also there’s I don’t know if scar tissue is it but but maybe some Yeah that’s fair less reservation maybe sounds like you’ve experienced that over the first six years yeah it it comes with it yep um is there something about the Travelers or or TPC River Highlands that suits your eye particularly we’ve seen I wouldn’t compare it to Oakmont or Oak Hill at all but we’ve seen you succeed at some of these Northeast courses right with with thicker rough and sort of that same aesthetic is there something about that kind of course that suits your eye i think it’s uh it’s definitely a much easier test than it was for example from last week or a memorial or uh that type of golf course it’s a it’s a shorter golf course and you can you can take it really low i mean we’ve seen Jim Furik shoot 58 here um that back nine usually gets pretty fiery coming down the stretch it’s uh it’s a super exciting tournament uh front nine’s a bit more I shouldn’t say boring it’s just a bit more straightforward but it’s it still rewards really good golf if if you know where the ball is going and you’re making some putts you can shoot really low but what I really like at the same time is that if you’re a little bit off and you miss it on the wrong sides you’re going to get punished so it’s still a course where you can separate yourself with good play so that’s that’s what I really like and this year we’ve had some you know the last couple days we’ve had some rain so uh it’s a little bit softer i think the scores will be pretty pretty low uh this year but the rough is still a little bit juicy and and uh the grates are still bouncing with all the rain so I think it’ll be a good test if if I keep uh kind of hitting it like I did last week and and keep building on that it should be a good week um you had this awesome quote on Saturday about you just want to see the shots last Saturday see the shots and hit the shots you’re not necessarily like purely results driven or win driven like that’s not the the necessarily the priority or or the animating uh inspiration at the beginning of the day um for performance in a signature event do you prioritize that in any way or differently to another week it’s not a major but it’s something more what is your approach on a signature event week like like Travelers this week i really try to handle every single tournament that I play basically the same i mean I try to prepare and get my mind in a in a frame of mind so that I can compete at the highest level that I’ve got um some weeks I feel better than others like the US Open last week I I I was feeling better about my game but I still uh needed to dial in that driver in the practice rounds so I played a ton of practice rounds i think I played um played nine holes on Monday i played 18 on Tuesday 18 on Wednesday and that coupled with um uh some hours on the range as well it was pretty exhausting week and especially being up there in contention it it just takes a lot of a lot out of you uh mentally and physically so this week I um I’m going to take uh going to take it a little bit easier feel like my game’s in an okay position to to play well i don’t ne necessarily need to go play the course a million times i’ve seen it five six times now or I’ve played this tournament five times now and um yeah so this will be more of a conservation of energy and try to get my mindset in a in a right place so where I can get off to a hot start and see some putts go in h how do you balance the con conservation of energy like you were just talking about but also the fact that you already know with the rain that that scores are going to be pretty low and you’re going to have to to to put up a number to be in contention on the weekend uh yeah I I just try to kind of focus on my own game i um I know that if if I keep hitting the irons uh that I have been basically all year I’ve been giving myself a lot of birdie looks when I’m hitting from the fairway it’s just kind of off the tea it’s been a little bit squirly um so just trying to it it this course isn’t the the the hardest off the tea so I should be able to hit a decent amount of fairways and give myself a lot of shorter irons in and give myself some looks my putter hasn’t been all that great so just I’m going to try to put some work into the putter and and hopefully uh for some reason it just seems to make a big difference when you get off to a nice start and you see a couple putts go in just kind of um makes you feel good and it it feels like you can make every putt and this course is kind of like that so hopefully I just see a few putts putts go in early that’d be nice um speaking of courses uh did you think Oakmont was fair did you think that was a full test of skill i actually I for a US Open with that set up with those greens it I think it I kind of had my mind set that it was going to be a little stupid i I’d never been there before so when I set foot there on the property on Monday I was like “Okay here we go.” And it was pretty dry early through the week and and first first couple of rounds the greens were way faster than they were on on Saturday and Sunday and I actually thought it played easier in terms of on the greens on Saturday and Sunday because they were softer they were slower but it was harder to get to the green um but I it was borderline in some places when it was firm cuz I think some of those fairways just slope a little too much especially for me I I do tend to hit a cut off the tea and number nine 12 and 15 slope significantly left to right so I I I guess the critique is oh why don’t you just you just have to draw it up against the hill I guess but I think that’s uh that’s where it can potentially get a little bit dicey and I think on 17 you saw guys for example miss it right and if it rolls down in the just short of the bunker you’re on the downs slope in thick rough to a green that’s pretty severe so there are like a couple places like that i think that’s a bit much uh but overall I was I was honestly a big fan of of the golf course and I thought it it did a really good job um for to get a US Open that doesn’t have any uh penalty shots really off the tea there are no trees it’s just thick rough fairway and and tough greens and in my opinion it wasn’t stupid and the winning score was still one under par there was only one guy that was under par so I was very impressed and I have to give Oakmont and the and the USGAA uh a lot of credit for setting up the golf course interesting that’s that’s great um you obviously tend to spend some time home or or have usually about this time of year you go back uh leading into like the link season so to speak do you think the PJ tour could spend in concert with the DP World Tour spend more time in Europe this time of year maybe post US Open post Travelers kind of create some sort of hybrid tour i’d love to see that uh obviously with uh the DP World Tour and the Strategic Alliance um right whatever that entails um uh would have been nice to and and these signature events and there always been talk the last whatever 10 20 years of a world tour i I think it’d be really cool to to go to some of the coolest venues uh on the DP World Tour and have the best players in the world compete at those places like uh BMW at Wentworth I think it’s just an incredible event uh historic place that would be a really cool place to play um I think you know the Scottish Open is kind of a taste of that i think that’s become it was a great tournament when it was a Rolex series as well but I think it’s it’s cool to see a a mixture of different players go to a a tournament like that um I I don’t in my opinion the Renaissance is not the best links course it’s a beautiful property but I’d like to see us go to to other maybe more historic places as well so I’m a fan for that but it’s hard to make that work in the schedule for for everybody all right we got just two quick ones here uh PJ you want to lead him in we we spoke to Cameron Young last week and he talked about uh like in high school he never lost a hole I think and so uh PJ why don’t you you you lead us out here yeah i So I we we were just wondering speaking of being back home like do you have a story from when you were younger when you realized that that you were kind of different and had maybe more talent than than your peers and could actually do this professionally someday i I never felt like I was super talented as a kid um I was like when I was 13 or 14 I I was able to get on kind of our national team barely scraped by there but I was never the guy that was like “Oh yeah he’s the he’s the next big thing.” And um when I got got a little bit older like 15 16 it was me uh actually a good group of guys it was me Christopher Ventura who’s also out here uh Christopher Wright he just won the European tour and then finished second the next week he might be out here uh next year and then uh Christian Johannes who’s been uh on and off on the European tour and challenged tour so we us four we traveled a bunch to to Spain and and had camps with the national team and and practiced and competed a lot and I just felt like my technique wasn’t as good i had very idiosyncratic swing and I didn’t hit it quite as good i wasn’t a great putter i didn’t chip as well but somehow I kind of willed my way around it’s just like I didn’t feel as good as those guy guys but somehow I was able to be there and compete against those guys and every single year I just kept getting a little bit better uh I think if I do have a talent that is what my talent is to figure out how to get better and solving problems and and just uh uh continue to progress super interesting all right and then last question we asked this to everybody we got to know what’s your favorite fruit my favorite fruit uh I don’t really have one to be honest um I mean uh every every day on the golf course I I have a banana um for for a round my Shay gives me a banana after three or four holes every turn around so we’ll just go with a banana monkey never good answer good answer love it thank you so much Victor appreciate the time uh obviously best of luck to the Travelers this week and this summer thank you appreciate it boys all right thank you