PGA Tour digital editor Kevin Prise joins Jeremy and Joe ahead of The Players! Kevin explains what makes TPC Sawgrass such a special venue for The Players and why it’s known as the fifth major. The guys also get into some of the changes to the course this year and some players to look out for!
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well joining us on the uh Wester hotline and covering the event former Morning Show intern Kevin price joins us in the Wester hotline he’s uh down at Ponto VRA Beach if I remember correctly Kevin is that right Pont VRA Beach absolutely poner Beach good morning guys thanks for having me how are you thanks for yeah we’re good we’re good you were you are you were there on scene were you at 17 when uh jakovac hit that hole in one no I wasn’t there I was inside writing a different column actually a guy from Syracuse Kevin Roy which formed the heart to be able to do but um no you could almost hear from the media center which is a few hundred yards away and it’s cool because this was the first Ace in the history of the caddy competition which has been around for 26 years and it’s one of the most fun things I actually have been able to hit a couple shots in past years a couple players have brought me out which has been super cool but no no holes in one until that and you could hear it was just amazing seeing how excited they were like said morawa was probably happier yeah than his caddy JJ and JJ used to play competitive golf he was a two-time division 2 individual Champion so definitely plenty a game but still obviously to do that it’s insane so Kevin is there covering the event Kevin you’ve been all around covered the PGA tour for years and you know whether we’re visiting with you at Oak Hill or getting a check in wherever it goes where do you rank sass on all the places that you’re able to go I mean you’re all over tour with this uh you know traveling just about everywhere so how high on the list is sass for you I’m and I’m definitely biased because I live here and you know I get to play it in the summer June July August they let us play which is amazing and I it’s my favorite course on tour just the combination of the shot values and how much the players love it and all the history here and just the 16 17 18 finish is definitely so iconic and 17 just stands alone but just all throughout the course WEA hole six they just put in a new tree so guys have to think about hitting like a low punch driver and you have holes that like you have to fade your t-shot and then draw your second shot and you can’t all the players say like it’s the perfect execution test in the sense of professional golf you have to prove that you can hit different types of shots and combining that with the history and just the look and The Fan Experience and I have friends from home that love coming down and one friend that has come I think like five or six times just because he loves it so much and yeah yeah the combination of the challenge and The Fan Experience and the vibe makes it my favorite on tour and obviously it’s hard to compare with most of the majors rotate around so there’s not like One Singular venue and then other than the Masters it’s the biggest tournament we have that you go back to every year so I I just love it absolutely love it so are you team uh you’re good with the tree that they put back in there on whole six that everyone’s got to like run their ball under I love it I mean I hit the ball low anyway so I wouldn’t need to adjust my t- shots too much but for the pros it was funny because Davis loved the third um a two-time players champion he was talking about how he would always tell the Commissioners and people at the tour to remove the tree and he never they never listened and eventually they removed it and now he was part of the redesign or the restoration to bring the tree back so it all came full circle but just anything that can cause the players to think and I mean so much on tour these days the setups can be pretty vanilla in the sense of you can just hit driver everywhere and there’s not really too much trouble and if you’re close enough to the green the guys will just take their chances with the wedge so to have anything in the way off the te to think about which just so many holes I mean as just go down stuff comes into play on seven comes into play on the second shot on nine it’s just again and again you have to think about trees throughout the course so yeah six is a perfect illustration of that yeah it’s funny like I’m thinking if we want to get really deep on horse design and the mental side of the game to me Kevin six is almost like a perfect pair with 17 where you know 17 is not a 200 yard par three it’s not 230 we see those on tour sometimes it’s a very hitable shot but the shot before you take it is in your head and like six would be that too I I I read that nobody’s ever hit the tree but it’s still there you know like it’s just the the mental side of standing on that tea box and thinking like all right right it kind of gets to the point about execution there and 17 is very similar as well that might be a small green to hit and some guys hit it but don’t hold it but again like I really I really think so much of that is about what goes on between the ears on that hole 17 oh totally and like you said with 17 that’s a shot where if there’s no water it’s not anything it’s a non-descript hole it’s probably playing to a 2.6 scoring average probably one of the easiest holes on tour but you get that water and you get a little wind and you’re worried about chunking it or skulling it and just messes with your mind and every year you see a couple guys fall victim to that hole even in the toughest conditions and then on hole six I I bet you someone’s going to hit the tree this year I don’t know I just feel like yeah in this day and age equipment obviously it’s so much better but I think of alri paker this young 20-year-old who hits it so far and he just topped the ball into the water at Bay Hill last week and chefler isn’t immune to the shank from time to time and I I think someone will hit it and it it’ll be great you know it’s good entertainment but I think just having that no matter what it is I mean I go back to you know bobalink where I grew up playing and number 16 is like this 100 yard par three but there’s a tree that gets in on the right side so you have to worry in my mind it’s almost like I have to cut a sand wedge it’s funny my mind just went right there but no anything with those elements it’s just a great little twist in golf you’re making me almost mad thinking about the tree at 16 on bobbling if you know you know like unless you’re a lefty if you’re Lefty then you’re perfect you don’t have to deal with it oh it’s the worst 100 yards and I I feel like I hit that tree like every third time I play it yep and I’ve played that course a thousand times like I right down the street that’s my home course yep listen those of us that spend time at uh The Links at SK jackwood of Meadows Delaware country CL we know how to hit over trees there’s a couple holes you know number two number three this isn’t 18 18’s got a big tree in the middle of the Fairway see this is more like the one you’re talking about like Delaware like there’s a tree in front of the green you like you have of space to hit it over this this this is kind of like the tree here where you have to think about it off the T box if you if you’re it’s cuz the it’s only 10 yards in front of you but it’s hanging over so you’ve got to almost you have to hit a fade or you have to hit a low shot which you know we’re not the guys on the on the PLAYERS Championship but anyways I just it’s not often you get to have this this is honor for me to have this whole 16 of versus whole six at parallel it’s just incredible no and I I’m going to go out to six today for sure and take a look at it and if someone hits the tree I will report back for sure very good Kevin I want to ask you a question about like the field who is on the clock and by that I mean I’m thinking about ludvig oberg winning the Genesis as this guy’s really good he should win by now and then he gets that that’s his biggest win you know this is not a major so the majors the the conversation is elevated a bit but is there any name you’re thinking you know it’s time for insert name here he’s been good enough he’s knocking on the door getting a win here would make him more of a household name than he is right now it’s an interesting question and there’s like different levels to it because you know havland hasn’t won a big big tournament but he’s pretty much a household name so he wouldn’t be in that category and then you go down to a guy like Cameron young who has a ton of runner-up finishes he’s never won a Tour event but he has a ton of power he’s got a great game where he can really overpower courses and get on a roll if he can kind of get over that hump of getting a win and the floodgates could open so yeah he’s someone who I think if he were to win the players he could have a lot of upside and then recency bias but a guy like Russell Henley who won last week at beill to move to number seven in the world I guess I’ll I’ll stick on Henley for this question as I was thinking out loud because he’s I mean he’s in his mid-30s but one of the cool things about golf is you can Peak at any really era you guys VJ sing peaked around 40 and Henley isn’t someone who overpowers the course at all he’s one of the shortest hitters but he’s just so accurate kind of like a Moder day Fred funk in a way but a little longer and probably a little better Fred Funk who won the Players 20 years ago and I think if Henley were to win this week which I think he could he could have a chance to get on that next level of names where people start to talk about him and know about him but it’s such a good question because you think of Tony Cena and guy who’s you know been knocking on the door not that he’s been playing so well lately that’s such a great question because there’s so many guys um except straa even who’s um played in the wrer cup for Europe and he’s had a few wins but he’s not it’s actually a a good I I I think that’s my best answer I just off question and people don’t really know who he is like he’s anonymous but if he wins he could take that leap running through the names I’m I’m just going through like the you know the favorites like thinking about guys like Justin Thomas who kind of lost his game and appears to be a little bit back like a win would kind of put a stamp on that for him or you know up and down the board just just wendam Clark I mean guys that are there’s guys that haven’t won and then there’s guys that maybe want to start the year on on a good on a good note because this is kind of we had the Genesis we’ve had a couple of big events but um you know long referred to as the fifth major for guys that are looking to whatever go down in history you can make that about Rory and drought you can make it about Sheffer and his early season dominance do you get the sense that players treat this not only like an elevated event and fifth major in finger quotes there but also as like like they tone a 500 almost like here it is let’s have a good year absolutely and you hit the nail on the head like it’s funny there’s always a lot of chatter and you know we’re guilty of this is the tour of like trying to market the players as the gold standard and the flagship event and all this stuff and you know we can go overblown at times but in reality just the history of it and with golf being so history based and being able to compare and thinking of tiger winning in 2001 and better than most and H Sutton and be the right club today even back to Jack Nicholas winning three times like it’s an event that kind of is a good comparative tool across history so players feel that they know this is a tournament that when they look back at their career it’s not a major but it’s you know the next best thing in terms of individual win and one that you know if you win the players it’s on that kind of top of your resume right up there just a bit below the majors and it’s one where if you win you can really springboard the year AKA Scotty Sheffer last year who won here and then went won the Masters won Olympic gold had one of the best seasons in you know non- tiger really of the modern era so it can really get you going I I I’ll throw uh Tommy fleetwood’s head in the ring for this because he still does not have a PGA Tour win and what’s he got like seven I think he’s got seven major top fives in his career and he’s finished top five in them in the players I I was asking Players yesterday I was just doing something for a story that I haven’t written but I might I’m like what players think who they think’s the best player without a PGA Tour win and too many people were saying Fleetwood that I had to change the question mid like interviews to say like who’s the best that you’ve played with just to get some other names because Fleetwood um he’s to a man people see him as the best player without a win it’s kind of crazy he hasn’t won I mean if a couple years ago at the Canadian open Nick Taylor Made like a 70f footer in a playoff de like he’s done everything he could but win and with all the major contention too it’s just kind of wild he hasn’t won on tour and he’s someone who if he won this week that would like you said another guy that would bolster his star power significantly Kevin price how’s the forecast look for the week are we in the clear we should be good you never know for sure I think March is interesting because we move back to March um for this tournament a few years ago and I I think it plays better in March it just can get a little too soft in May and the grass is different and not as um complex to hit out of just with the overseed but I think now you can get some nasty lies which is always fun and it rained earlier in the week but it’s pretty dry now of course um just dries out so well and I think um it might get a little dicey on but I’m hoping that’s wrong it’s not like a sure thing but there’s it’s looking good we’re in for a great week weather it’s beautiful today it’s like low 60s right now but Sunday could be a little dodgy but knock on wood hopefully we’ll be good very good well Kevin thanks for the time enjoy the tournament and we’ll uh we’ll talk again later in the golf season love it thank you guys for having me yeah thanks for coming on Orchard Park native and uh former Morning Show intern down there at TPC Saw Grass for the players
