Peter Malnati’s First Victory in 9 Years – 2024 Valspar Championship Tournament | First Cut Podcast

Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter and Greg DuCharme recap the final round of the Valspar Championship and the conclusion of the Florida swing.

0:00 Intro + KP’s Reds hat
3:57 Peter Malnati wins the Valspar at 325-1
11:57 Malnati’s drop on the 16th hole
22:29 Cam Young finishes runner up for the 7th time…still chasing first PGA Tour victory
27:54 Xander’s final round and his continued swing changes
35:00 The final group was…oof
40:17 Best Bets
51:45 One & Done

#golf #pgatour #golfoncbs #firstcutpodcast #valsparchampionship #GolfDFS #golfpicks #dailyfantasysports #PGADFS

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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

Freaking first cut golly welcome to the first cup podcast I’m Rick Gan and this is your recap episode for this week’s valpar Championship joining me to break it all down Greg du is here hi Greg hey boys what what a week uh I’m excited to talk about this

One because there were some really interesting things that happened also excited to talk about Kyle’s hat the Reds didn’t expect to see that today h Kyle Porter if you’re only listening to the audio version is sporting a bright red looks brand spanking new Cincinnati

Reds cap in which uh he told us why he’s wearing it Kyle welcome and why are you Dawning that cat please yeah I’m a big La D La Cruz fan and uh and also my 10-year-old is the uh is the fifth grade fifth grade Reds so we had a big big

First game today I got the got the dub I’m the head coach so man fitted hats by the way Rick when we were growing up there cheaper than they are now my God we had like Styrofoam hats like they were the worst H I don’t even know what

They were made of they weren’t even made out of like normal material they were Nast things but even like the the like when you got into high school and college you started wearing 59 50s or whatever they used to be like 25 30 bucks now they’re like 45 bucks oh wow

Do do they still assign okay are numbers still assigned by size of the Jersey like is number one the smallest Jersey that you guys have number two no no you can you can print we we actually printed our own number so like my son picked 99 because he loves

Judge um my other son who doesn’t play but he got a jersey he got 53 for uh Adas Garcia so it’s just whatever one kid’s 83 what what would have to happen for you to get run from a game you know you have get out there round you get in the umpire’s

Face I that will that will not happen that will not be happening uh if I get run from a fifth grade youth B recreational baseball game then we’ve got some Pro we’ve got some issues yeah that’s for sure well the I actually have so much empathy for the umpires it’s so

So difficult to call balls in strikes to like the the B situation is atrocious nobody knows how to come set everybody’s moving all the time they’re they’re basically like coaches half coaches half umpire so it’s it’s everybody’s kind of on the on the same team so is this is

The first year of uh kids pitch yeah yeah for we’re actually playing up a grade because we had like half fifth we had a couple fifth graders so a lot of our fourth graders are playing up so they’re playing in a league where kids have played kid pitch before but they

Haven’t so it’s a little it’s kind of a new new experience I did buy a Fungo bath which has been fun that’s sick all right well I’m I’m excited to hear about uh Coach Porter and how he rallies the troops throughout a long summer of uh baseball the dog

Days it’s gonna be so good yeah all right well listen jents there’s Madness going on the basketball courts there’s Madness going on on our golf courses there’s Madness happening in fifth grade baseball it’s just an absolute insane world we live in and we’ve got another

Long shot winner on the PGH for his name Peter maau and Greg entering this week he was 325 to one to win he fired a four under 67 including coming in with a 31 on his second nine to capture his first victory in over nine years uh really nice performance from

Him today and he hit some big shots some big shots early in that back nine the shot at 17 is is definitely the shot of the tournament where he hit it in there to 6 feet you know that’s the winning moment which which you need to have but

Look this is a career Peter Milady is a 100 to 150 player on the PGA tour in th this week alone he made more money and official money than he ever did in his PGA Tour career for a season I found to being incredible so he’s been this

Journeyman he’s he’s always kept status out there he’s always been able to to play but he hasn’t really contended he hasn’t really been in the mix of these events and now all of a sudden he’s clearly put some work in because there have been some improvements over the

Last couple of weeks I wasn’t sure that it was something that would lead to a win shot 81 in the final round last week I know he did 66 81 Within Eagle yeah yeah it’s tough but like he plays really well at the cognizant and he played well at the Players until the

81 so I I guess all I’m trying to say is there’s been some signs some things have looked a little better uh it’s been turning in the right direction it’s clear to me that he’s been putting in a lot of work you know Brad Faxon was saying on the broadcast throughout the

Week that he I I’m I’m unclear on this whether he has gotten off the policy board or wants to get off the policy board but he’s discussed that on a number of occasions and the reason for that is he wants to put more time into

His game so I wonder if he’s been doing that already over the last couple weeks um making some improvements because yeah he looked he looked ready to go he he looked like a player who’s been putting in work and felt like this was his moment and he took it which was which

Was awesome to see it obviously meant a lot to him I think everybody once off the policy board at at this that’s a different conversation uh KP this is this really is kind of a bubble Bubble Boy situation every year of his career every full year of his career he has

Finished between 104th no I’m sorry I’ll give him a little bit more credit 86th and 167th of the FedEx Cup Standing so just that like next level of golfer as Greg mentioned uh this is going to pile on to the the career earnings it’s going to up in the FedEx Cup points he’s

Probably going to have the best finish of his career and I don’t know I didn’t I didn’t really see it coming no I mean so a couple things one if you’ve if you’ve been wagering like a thousand bucks on Scotty shuffler and everybody that’s 200 to one or longer

This year you’re a billionaire you’re like the richest person in the country let’s retire yeah uh two I was texting somebody during the final round about how like there might not be two more desperate uh statistical profiles than Camy young and Peter Mady I bet their ball speed is like 25

20 20 miles an hour different you probably you probably can go find that real quick but Mal 285 on many of these t- shots I know and I I just I mean we can talk we can break down the round or talk about the specific shots but I I

Thought his interview afterwards was was extraordinary I mean I thought it was I thought it was amazing and um I think that you know the part to me that really stood out was he was just talking about how like the the quote that I think people are

Going to kind of eventually like run to is he he said life is hard it’s obviously glamorous at times like this this is my dream job and it’s absolutely amazing but life is really really hard too you’re trying to figure out how to live this lifestyle and have two kids

And be everything you want to be it’s really hard and I think you know the thing that has gotten Glam um Glam glamorized is that I don’t know if that’s a word but the thing that has been like sort of lionized over the last couple years is

Like oh where can I go and make the most money and and you know who’s who’s paying the most and where can how can I make more and more and be like am I making am I getting my value am I am I economically viable and it’s

Like yeah that that might not be the the the most important thing it might not be the first El that we should kind of look at all of this through and I I thought that what malady said was like a better way to look at things like

Am I thriving as a human like life is hard even for people that are I don’t know how much you made today at 1.5 whatever the number was it doesn’t it doesn’t matter like that doesn’t make life I mean it makes it more um makes it

Easier in some ways but it makes it harder in a lot of ways like how can I get my kids to thrive when we’re traveling 35 weeks a year those are the types of things that I think nobody really ever considers or thinks about

That these guys do and I just I I just really appreciated that I thought he was incredibly vulnerable and I I really loved that post round interview because it was the antithesis of so much of what we’ve seen over the last couple years yeah he’s the right level of successful

Without me rolling my eyes and being like okay bud like life is really hard for you sure sure it’s like he’s like the he’s the perfect spokesman for that level of golfer and he’s always been a great quote so yeah no it was awesome to see him awesome to see what say

Afterwards yeah you’re you’re like in one of these positions where you make a a nice sum of money every year but it’s not enough to retire and walk away and feel like you’re going to be fine you’re not it’s not set for life money like a

Lot of these guys with $50 million of career earnings and so he has to put in a tremendous amount of effort just to stay on the tour and you get a sense that well he he does because he wants to do this job right and it’s not easy at all

Like that life at the bottom of of the tour is a real challenge because it’s so frustrating and you know you walk in there and we look at a lot of these PGA Tour events like there’s 20 guys who can win you know it’s a very narrow window of of players

With the real ability to win but weeks like this remind you that every body in the field thinks that they can win and is really trying to or at least there’s players at every level you know whether you look at DraftKings pricing or uh or the odds boards there are guys at every

Every level every rung that really think they can win and he was a great example of that this week the second nine was eventful for a lot of reasons uh we will go into that and more the rest of this field and everything else that happened but first

We’re going to take a quick break and hear a word from our partners it’s time for the madness CBS Sports HQ has your wall toall NCAA tournament coverage we got your game highlights expert analysis and insights all the way to the final four start and end your March Madness covery CBS Sports

HQ and we’re back the second nine for Peter malady started with three straight birdies 10 11 12 piled them up and then he entered the snake pit uh 16 17 18 he hits his approach on 16 long KP into a horrid lie and now here’s here’s the

Moment of the tournament the guy who’s trying to win for nine years has just hit it into an awful spot on the first hole of an awful stretch is he going to be able to get up and down is this where the wheels fall apart cam young who’s

Trying to break through for the first time ever is nipping at his he this is the this is the moment of the event and we didn’t get it because Peter malady exercised correctly his right to a drop from a sprinkler head and the area in which he took his relief plus

One Club length gets him from nasty thick rough Behind the Green to Fringe of the putting surface it becomes a pretty straightforward two putt forar malady mus yeah I mean I don’t love it uh it’s not nothing against him it it he I mean

He even said it in the um on the on the as it was happening he said this is a this is an amazing break and I want to make sure I I don’t I’m not taking advantage of it which I thought was kind of cool I mean like I I think he handled

It like very appropriately uh I was actually thinking as this happened so Kevin Van valkenberg no lineup has a take that one tournament a year should be like you you cannot take any drops you have to play every ball as it lies which is would be awesome like with all the Grands like

Sorry like just once a year you’re playing everything as it was and I actually kind of feel like something like this this is like well outside of this tournament and his situation but I almost feel like they should just play stuff like this as it like you

Don’t want to be on a on the top of a sprinkler head like don’t hit it there you weren’t trying to hit it there and you you mess that up like that’s a that’s a sucky break like you shouldn’t have hit it there uh maybe that’s that’s probably like dumb and sort of

Half-baked and probably pretty unfair but I that was just what came to mind as I was watching it but yeah I mean I thought everything was adjudicated properly and he did all the right stuff it was just it was an extraordinary break because the ball was it wasn’t a

Good lie and maybe he gets up and down maybe not but the putt the T putt was fairly straightforward uh from what I could tell on on TV yeah I don’t think anybody’s uh no one’s calling Peter mounta a cheater he literally in the moment was like I I want to make sure

This is this is going right because every this is outstanding for me and it’s the rule the rule now my my big thing here uh Greg is you know if you do if you do want to get relief from standing on a sprinkler head fine I

Don’t care my thing has always been I don’t like it when guys can get from one cut to another Cut You Go From the Rough to The Fringe or like if you if you’re in the rough you should have to stay in the rough and if you can’t find proper

Relief there then you have to stand on a sprinkler headit you know if you’re in a bunker you got to stay in a bunker if you’re on the green you get to stay on the G I just I don’t like the being able to change from surface to surface like

They would allow that they would not allow that in a scramble that I play on Saturday at the club I would take my one you know my one Club head or my one Club length in the same cut I think we can do it on the tour real quick Greg uh this

Happens at the open sometimes where where they get a you get a drop from Grand the grand stands or whatever and they have like a special Drop Zone that’s a horrible whye and so you’re like oh yeah that that’s actually you should have to if you want relief from

Something like that you you shouldn’t get a better lie than where you where you I mean it’s that’s sort of a different situation but it’s the same concept I guess I love the co I love the way they do that at the open yeah just

It it defin it seems right um look I’m sure that and I’m not as well versed in this as I’d like to be I’m sure there’s a purpose for the rule of being the way it is I’m sure there’s a situation out there where um where there’s not really

An option but I I do feel like those should be exceptions because I I tend to agree with you you hit it into the rough that is so well defined on the PGA tour you know the the various cuts of rough in professional golf are very well defined uh and there there’s not

Really a good reason that I can think of of of why you should be moving to a different surface because you’re standing on something so it doesn’t seem like it just doesn’t seem right it doesn’t feel right even though he calls a rules official over and absolutely

Makes the right play but part of the reason he calls the rules official over is because it doesn’t feel right you know he he makes that comment this is a great break I just want to make sure I’m doing this the right way that’s because it doesn’t feel right you know because

All of a sudden you’re you’re putting and you H you’re playing from a spot that you didn’t hit it into so I completely understand you Rick I’m sure in the defense of the USGA and the PGA Tour more so the USGA there’s there’s very likely a scenario in in all of golf

In the total realm of golf where it’s very difficult to determine the differences between cuts so you just take your nearest point of relief it’s a simple way it’s a very simple solution but but in the golf that we play out on the PGA tour I I don’t think it would be

A bad thing to have a a separate rule because because the conditions are so well defined the good news is that he stood up on 17 the 200 yard par three stuffed one and made the putt which was which made me feel a lot better than about the

Whole situation because I think it would have been a lot a lot different if he limps to the Finish Line beats cam Young by a shot and we’re all looking back at the drop he took on 16 yeah he he definitely stepped up and won the

Tournament yeah yeah and and I I I think I mean you’re right though like it doesn’t again this is not this is nothing against Peter malady it’s more just a golf situ like a a rules and and a golf situation that is you know it’s it’s part of the deal

Like I think I think what would be crazy is if something like that happened to to determine and maybe it has but to determine like a major or like the player last week like what what if what if that happens with you know wam Clark or Xander or Scotty or

Whatever and you’re like oh man that that feels that’s tough like that’s tougher to to swallow than like oh well maybe this thing would have affected Peter mti’s two-stroke win like that’s just a very different thing than affecting a major championship agreed couple of uh items

Here on Peter malady first off uh last night on the show uh I I tempted fate and we skipped Peter malady and I said go win Peter you know if you win we’ll be able to talk about you a lot but we’re yeah about you on Saturday night

Congratulations Peter well done I will uh I will eat crow at this moment and then I mean what are what a round to go from 81 last Sunday to 67 this Sunday to beat real horses yeah I mean when Xander posted early uh there was a number to beat and

Then if it did kind of feel like this was gonna the cam young one if it wasn’t going to be the cam young one it was it was wide open and Peter said I’ll take it yeah I kind of felt like M Hughes was was at at points on Saturday and even

Going into Sunday I was like I kind of I kind of think I actually thought I actually wrote Keith Mitchell on on Saturday night but I thought if not him then maybe mck Hughes yeah and both those I mean Mitchell obviously faded and was not

Good on Sunday but M Hughes he was kind of there until he hit it in the water on what was that uh 14 15 where did he hit it uh 13 13 okay for a second straight for a second straight Boe um the other item before we move on

Is Cameron Young’s ball speed average this year I would have thought he was more around 165 but there’s probably not a ton of guys around 165 uh there is 165 would be 168th on tour and there’s only 178 qualifying golfers so you’d be in the

Bottom 10 on tour at 160 Brian how old is Brian harman’s at 165 that’s crazy Brian harman’s a he’s he’s a dog uh literally INF figuratively how old is Mady like 34 3 36 okay what I mean to get in the ma I you know you get into the Masters when

You’re 22 and you’re like yeah of course like I’m I’m the man because that’s what you think when you’re 22 to get in the Masters when you’re 36 and you have two kids and you’ve like lived a little bit of life and and you have been on tour for 10 like that

That’s that’s awesome like they’ll be able to do the part three and really app I mean it’s just that’s a that’s a very different deal than like ludvig playing in the Masters this year yes it is this will be his fourth major championship it’ll be his first

Master he’s missed the cut the 2016 PGA missed the cut the 2021 PGA missed the cut the 2021 us also playing in the Masters this year will be cam young Greg and I would like to do a little bit of a temp check on cam young who went 69 69

6868 his second nine had birdies on 11 12 and 14 but he played his final four holes at one over and this will now be his seventh runner-up finish to go along with zero career PGA Tour victories level of concern being where ah you know concern is a funny thing I mean

Last night we talked about this and I said I didn’t think he was ready in large part because of his short game I still think there’s a weak Ness there he made some ni really nice up and downs today um but a lot of it’s with the

Putter like he made a he made some nice par saving putts from 11 15 feet in that range uh that were big now that’s a really good sign in a lot of ways because he knows how to compete he knows how to put himself in the mix uh so I do

Think I I still think the short game needs to get a whole lot better just watch watching him like the shot at two I’m not saying he’s going to get this up and down but he’s got like 35 yards and fats it short of the green and those are

The kind of things that guys that win major championships and don’t they don’t do that he has the upside to overcome that and nearly win you stand on the 18th t with a with a chance to win birdie at 18 gets him in the playoff and and might

Win outright because of the way timing stands up so look I I thought ultimately cam cam young played some really good golf uh the birdie at 12 was huge he took care of the par fivs on the back nine which was a big deal and he he just

Needed he needed that one shot he needed the winning moment that Peter malady got cam young didn’t and of course the situation and the three putt on 18 is very disappointing but this this isn’t far away for him he’s a he’s a big shot away from winning this week it was a good

Week KP it was he gained throughout the bag in a big way he he gained three Strokes to the field and in all four categories on Sunday but yet it still felt like he did not get enough out of the route yeah I think so two things one I I think we would

I think we would think about Kim Young differently if he had already won right if like let’s say he had won that open in 2022 or the PGA in 2022 or just something we’d be like oh man cam young man he’s playing well I think he’s gonna win The Masters whatever I

Actually picked him to win The Masters at the start of the year but because he hasn’t won it’s like H man is he what’s what’s going on you know what’s what’s the deal and then I think the other thing is I I don’t know that I realized Rick how good he was

Hitting it this year he’s been he’s he’s had a weird year in terms of finishes but it’s almost all correlated to his putting I mean almost everything like if you if you go down the list of his good finishes it’s just weeks where he’s been good with the Putter and his bad

Finishes it’s weeks when he’s been bad with the putter now they’ve been kind of extreme like he’s had a bunch of like top eights and a bunch of like 70ths or 65s and so that that part has felt I think just a little odd but it’s just so

Correlated to uh to his putting um that I I think you walk away feeling optimistic but also like yeah yo like when when is he gonna win you know I think I think that’s sort of the prevailing feeling from people that are that have been paying close attention to

Cam young for the last couple years uh one one thing on that KP like if we would feel different if he had won we would also feel a lot different if he had never really contended you know it’s only his third year on tour and because there’s been so many close calls and

He’s been in the mix in Majors he’s on the front Forefront of our minds but if if this was like Chandler Phillips you know a coming out party where all of a sudden you’re contending for the first time we’d look at this game and say um okay this guy’s got it he’s already

Proven to us that he’s got it so now we’re waiting for the the next big step yeah well it’s it’s kind of like well what what are you are you a star are you a guy that’s going to win I mean it’s a little bit the Xander question at times

Maybe less so than Xander because Xander’s been doing it for a lot longer and at a higher level but but like yeah what are you like do we need to critique you as a star or are you just like just like a a Charles how type or

You going to like make 40 mil or 70 mil but not really win that that much and not really be a star or Superstar I I don’t know that we know what cam young is and we’re kind of trying to figure that out and it’s hard to figure it out

With such a small sample size which is sort of what you’re saying speaking of never really contending Xander Schley finished at eight8 under par a tie for fifth thanks to a splendid Sunday 65 and early Clubhouse leader uh I think he was done when the final group was on the fourth

Or fifth hole something of that nature Greg this is a uh this is this is garbage time this is padding your stats this is going to look very good on the profile uh when we when when I upload that on on Monday but Xander Schley did not stiff contention for one second of

This event no it gets a T5 out out of it look this is um it could be looked at as a a a bad thing or an eye roll but I just watched this guy and he is so good I I Marvel at how how good he is at the game of

Golf he’s unbelievable I mean he had 11 birdie putts today inside of 15 feet so one thing he is working on his golf swing he’s making some changes in his golf swing last week he was very clear about this he was making it work with the scrambling um this week it didn’t

Quite work as well until today so I mean that this could give him some pretty serious confidence um with the new direction that he’s going in unless he just completely bailed on it all and went back to normal I don’t think that happened so there’s definitely a confidence boost with Xander and because

He’s been in contention this year played so well this year it feels like he should be on the precipice of winning but I’m not sure that he is at that level with his swing in his own mind so ultimately I think this is a really really good sign for Xander who’s

Working on improving his game and and making changes to do it and that can take some time to work through so I think this is a a big step for him Greg it it seems a little bit like he’s the swing is good but it it it’s not necessarily Good Under Pressure right

Now is that is that a fair way to say it and and if and if so then why do you think that is um so we created this thing for amers called the levels of performance there’s basically seven levels of performance when you’re developing a skill and a

Level one player for instance can make the motion let’s say you’re trying to get your left wrist in a bowed position um you can make a golf swing and you can bow your left wrist that’s a level one player level two player can do it with a golf ball there a level three

Player can do it with a golf ball there to a Target on the Range the level three player can do it uh to a target with a ball there on the golf course and and it goes on until basically you know a level seven player can do it on Sunday to win

A a championship so there are varying levels of performance and Xander’s clearly at a level where he can do it in tournament competition he can do it to a Target but when it’s a chance to win an event like the PLAYERS Championship uh it’s a lot more challenging and you know

Most players don’t ever get to that level in their entire career yeah I think Xander has been at that level um alth though right now I don’t think he is what’s what’s the what’s the change because at the Players it reminded me a little bit Rick

Of of what we were seeing with h remember we saw havland at Phoenix last year and you’re like full on Grind Mode he’s he’s grinding his his face off and then he almost wins two majors and that’s a little bit what it felt like with Xander at the on the r

Like I wasn’t at the Players obviously but just watching seeing him the range it looked like he was just so like deep in the process what what is there a specific change there Greg yeah um his coach Chris coo came on uh on the radio

Show that I do ear last week I was talking about it and basically Xander has a tendency to get the club a little laid off at the top of the back swing which means the the club lays down a little flatter and they’re trying to work the club a little more uh upright

So it points more down the target line yeah and that helps him straighten out his ball flight a little bit and so at times he gets it at other times he doesn’t that’s the simplest way to explain it so it’s just a little bit of a different pattern yeah but look I’ve

Seen Xander do stuff like this before when when he was um when he was playing in the US Open in 2020 I was I really I wanted to pick him I think I did and there were some people on the Range there because there were no fans some

People on the Range were reporting to me like Xander is lost he’s hitting it miles right and miles left on the Range before he goes out and finishes T5 had a chance on Sunday so I I do think there’s part of him that just knows how to go

Put a score on the board even if he’s uncomfortable with the swing which is admirable yeah that’s that’s super interesting I think Luke her had something on that laid off versus down the line thing on on Twitter he he showed some and maybe they showed it on

Golf Channel too from last year of just his his position at the top uh compared like last year or maybe two years ago compared to this year and it did it did look very different so that’s that’ll be something I especially going into major season that’ll be something because he’s I mean honestly

Rick I’ll throw it back to you but like he’s been kind of the statistically the second best guy in the world this year yeah yeah no I if if if they played a thousand round or a thousand hole Championship I draft Scotty first and probably Xander second and just because

I know I’m just gonna get like stuff like this is why so good in no cut events it’s why you’re just eventually gonna get it this probably is the last time we see him though before the Masters he’s not in the field next week and he has not played the Texas open uh

Since 2018 so probably the next time we see Xander is a Goa Georgia for the Masters it doesn’t feel like the Masters is that I mean I I know like mentally it is but it it feel it doesn’t feel like it’s that close two starts um the final

Group is not immune to this conversation we’ll talk about them real quick Josh then we’ll hit the break and move on but Keith Mitchell and Sheamus power Greg combined for 11 over par Keith Mitchell started his day hitting one into a parking lot of and didn’t get much better after that no

Five Fair he had five Fairways today only hit 10 greens uh and this guy that was so on fire with his golf swing yesterday and in previous weeks I mean in Mexico he was awesome with his irons um the cognizant he played pretty well too and this just it all fell apart on

Him the putting has been an issue for a while for Keith it continued today but ultimately he couldn’t get the ball in play and when you can’t get the ball in play around here it’s a very challenging golf course not good KP no did we even see like it felt like

The tournament ended when malady put it out they the only reason they showed they did show uh Mitchell’s approach on 18 because he stuffed it to four okay but yeah reason they I don’t think we saw Sheamus finish up I I didn’t yeah producer Josh says I don’t

Think I saw Sheamus hit a shot I I saw him once maybe I think like just sort of at the end of a of a shot but I I thought Mitchell you know it was interesting he was talking on Saturday about uh hitting change UPS basically

Which is a JT special where youi takes speed off and he he was kind of laughing about how it’s taking him this long in his career to figure out how to take speed off of a approach like off of a eight iron nineiron wedge and so I might

Man that that feels like something has a little bit clicked with his approach play um because it’s been very good this year like really really really good and I just thought he was gonna go out and win on Sunday and he it was it was tough

It was not good yeah ugly stuff but uh Keith Mitchell will live to fight another day and we’ll see him around the B is he in the Masters he’s gota be right uh let’s see where he is in the ow gr I think he is I think so too he’s not

On he’s not on the list of 2024 invitees really where is he in the owgr Greg uh looking looking I probably could have just typed in his name and found it a whole lot quicker 72nd 72nd this week I mean unfortunately he just he actually probably just lost his

Chance because even a second would have bumped him up he’s got to be in top what top 50 after not after next week after the week after he was 75th at the start of the year it might be after next week Rick I I don’t yeah I I was gonna say I

Thought there was a week like I don’t think it’s weak up like it’s not it’s not Texas open top 50 you’re and then you go to Augusta I think it’s after Houston here it is it’s the the official the official criteria is the 50 leaders of the final official

World golf rankings published during the week prior to the current Masters tournament so the week prior to the current Masters tournament it’s not published till that’s that’s San San Antonio which would include the m day like you’re saying K Kyle but it would not include San Antonio yeah right only

Includ Houston so there was one week to go so he’s and then you could win San Antonio right right so but he needed I mean this was a big day and like for his year and it didn’t what did he finish like T 30 something I I actually thought on I and

I wrote this a little bit on Saturday like this felt like the most bunched up a board has been in terms of star power and scores and like I thought I thought like 20 people could win it on Sunday and he finished t17 yeah he finished 17 the birdie on

The birdie on the last he finished 17th okay okay so he’ll move up into the 60s but he needs probably a top three or top five at San Antonio or at Houston yeah could he could have got it done could have got it done that’s a

Bummer all right um we will return with our best bet recap the one and done just pillow fight that occurred this week brutal but first we’re going to take a quick break and hear a word from our partners for the last four years I have been a prisoner of this

Hotel ah G sharp I believe why are they keeping you here why do they let you live most of my friends are dead my house was seized and burned you must never leave if you do I’ll be waiting they can take away but they can’t take away who you

Are and we’re back let’s recap that’s surprisingly no one had Peter malady on their outright card but we did do okay with the reedies a push and two wins in the matchup Department Greg you and Patrick both had the same one chrisan baz H over Aaron Ry Baden hot actually

Rallied on Sunday he finished T9 and Aaron Ry missed the cut so that was sweat free I love the sweat free once uh again chrisan bazid now just comes in playing Great Golf uh his iron play had been really quite good and of all the

Players I was on he was one of the few that really stepped up this week because this was this was a tough week in the picks a lot of guys that looked really good coming in dro the ball but I’m glad Christian was able to hold strong play

Well and get both Patrick and I a big win Patrick went to his favorite wet socks Xander schle to finish inside the top 10 and a Sunday of fire did just that he finished uh T5 and that cashes for Patrick I had Andrew Novak to finish

Top 40 at plus 125 and he finished t17 so Andrew Novak put another good performance together we had a variety of Burns and Brian Harman Nick Taylor Doug gim to win uh KP I mean this was it was kind of a just bloodbath of the top I

Mean spe missed the cut fena missed the cut Burns missed the cut Harmon missed the cut uh JT ejected himself might as well missed the cut yeah it was it was not pretty for the top of the Bard okay so couple things one what is

What is what is spe is spe a good player who’s playing bad a bad player who played good at the start of the what what is he what what are we doing I don’t know man it’s just how do you answer that well I mean that’s what I’m saying

Like I I don’t really know there’s I mean fittingly there’s no precedent for what he is as a as a player and and what I mean by that is like there’s no there’s no precedent for winning three Majors by the age of 24 or 23 and then basically becoming like

A good but not gr like like when that happens when guys do that it’s your Tigers your Hogans your Rory’s I mean Rory has not won a major in 10 years but he’s still like a top like he’s been in the top 15 of the world golf rankings

For like 13 straight years or something and probably been the best player since 2014 in the game yeah it’s like him or ROM right or Scotty’s kind of entering that conversation DJ’s in it de you know but like yeah Brooks would be in it there’s just a weird like there’s no

Real precedent for somebody winning that much at that young of an age and then really not being he’s not that guy and I think we’ve known that for a while but he’s like I don’t even think he’s the guy that we thought was coming out of the

Slump and so I I just I don’t really know what to make of him which is fitting again because I think he doesn’t know what to make of himself half the time but and then the other thing is JT’s putting on Saturday was just historically I mean it was I tweeted

This it was Art like the the line was just a work of art you couldn’t even you couldn’t you almost couldn’t even try to have it be that bad correct I I was gonna say for things to have to go that right to be that bad where everything finishes you know within you

Make a two foot nine or two foot n inch putt on the first and then everything else that you miss finishes like within that and you just tap it like it’s it’s a lot of bad it’s a lot of bad luck and it’s a lot of bad put it was it

Was special it was it would be a real test of skill to go out there and try to 18 holes with less than 22t of putts made it would be hard legitimately hard even for the foot even for an amiter I’m well I’m say right any for

Anybody to try to do that would be extremely difficult because you might make some yeah it is possible that I’ve never played around of golf where two feet nine inches has been my longest pup B I would say it’s probable yeah it’s prob well the thing

Is that you don’t putt the putts inside of that distance oh I I you’d be surprised how many you you finish them all out Rick more more than I have more than I should I I I actually do too um okay good especially when I’m playing by by

Myself I I I I I hate feeling like I shot whatever 81 I mean it’s they’re terrible scores but even like something in an 80 but I gave myself like four putts like that feels gross if I’m playing if I’m playing with other people then I’ll just if they give

It to me I’ll usually take it unless it’s egregious and then I’ll putt it I I’m much more likely to to pick up a 10inch putt than I am a two and a half footer yeah me too yeah unless it’s match play and it’s conceded different different game um but but most people

Aren’t really putting a two and half foot putt so if you make any putts during a round of golf it’s longer than that if it ever ends up in the bottom of the hole for for most people it’s longer than that he lost what seven strokes

Rick where did that rank on your in your in your database so off the top of my head so I have so my database goes back to 2008 it’s not the full shotlink era which is 2003 um so I have like 250,000 measured rounds not every round

Is a a Strokes game putting round so out of 250 some odd thousand rounds it was like the 35th worst were were others like PGA Tour rounds or Europe these are the ones I’m referencing are only PGA Tour rounds okay okay yeah that’s crazy the killer

For me is like he had to shoot he was five under after the first two rounds yeah he had to shoot three under over the next two rounds to hit that top five and it goes just like well you’re looking at it so so here you go so this is the this is

The worst putting rounds in my database so Joe Durant in round two of the wacovia championship lost 9.12 look at the second one wait a second Keith Mitchell shot 69 and lost nine Strokes putting finished 69 that’s his finishing position uh okay that would be sick so how about this though so Keith

Mitchell round four of the 2021 valbar had the second worst putting round ever that was the that was the day his putter was bent remember that yeah yeah and then of and then he I mean had another bad round four V for does not go well for Keith Mitchell no no yeah this

Is I don’t see anybody’s name on there twice I don’t think these are this is kind of the the greatest hits though it’s your Kyle Stanley Luke L Lee Westwood Mitchell boo weekly Ben like I was surprised I’m not on that list I was on that list that’s great what a what a

What a group it’s a tough scene yeah um I had one other thing about oh not that I mean FedEx Cup like your final FedEx Cup Standing is is pretty flawed or whatever but I’m very surprised that I was just clicking through Jordan speed’s profile and he has not finished inside

The top 10 of these season long FedEx Cup standings in six years and he’s outside of the top 30 right now is this like you’re talking about after the Tour Championship or leading into the I believe this would be after the Tour Championship this is final standing but

I mean you get your spot I mean I don’t know it just feels like it it would be easier for him to because he should be better than everybody else like be a top 10 player at the end of the year any year yeah right I think he well he’s

Kind of been the the Tour Championship Bubble Boy over the last five years yeah right like where he’s there was that grower meme where speed was like but what if I made it uh at the BMW i year do you remember that he was they were staring at the computer and he’s like

But what if I made it which is definitely gonna come in handy at some point but he’s kind of he’s been on that 31st 30th 29th like he’s he’s been right there rather than like the you know ninth 10th 11th which is where he was at

The for the first four years of his career yeah I expect Adam Shank to be the guy who finishes 33rd 27th 13th 20th 44th 31 not Jordan Speed right yes well that’s the whole deal I mean you just you just described the whole deal right uh Best Bets one and two

Patrick had Justin Thomas to win that did not happen I had Bud colie to finish inside the top 30 that did not happen where did all Bud finish this week he finished oh he missed the cut and and Sam Ryder Greg top 40 he had he tied

Xander Schley for the round of the day on Sunday to move up 37 spots to finish 33rd what a hero yes my finally like what was he waiting for all week um but what could I say I I called it he shot 70 he shot 78 on Saturday and

I was like you have got to be kidding me he was the one guy that was FLIR I was like oh maybe I’ll get a you know a good finish out of one of my guys this week and then he shoots 78 and then he answers the Bell today I was I was

Stunned I I actually didn’t even see this until Josh texted me and when he shot 65 he was like t39 and then I checked like 20 minutes later and he was t40 and then he ended up t33 so phenomenal around from him and um yep another big win for the

Team yeah we are as a team uh positive eight% on the bets is pretty good yeah outrights they’re helpful thanks Patrick thank you Patrick one and done I don’t know man I mean we there six of us combined for Combined brutal 3,364 rck won the week because Nick Taylor got him

17,9 se6 Josh finished second with Doug gims 17,0 388 while Greg Mark Kyle and myself via Sam Burns and Brian Harmon got zero dollars this just had to be a brutal week in even the whole run your pool thing did well naughty yeah because you

If you didn’t have Burns which I I I was kind of hesitant to pick Burns because I thought everybody else would but then I was like I think it’s so obvious that people actually shy away from it so I was fine with the pick but if you didn’t

Have him you probably had JT or spe or something like that and you I mean people just got destroyed so there there was no Mal naau selection thank goodness um there was a there were some there were some cam Youngs yeah that would make sense Sam

Burns was the most popular he missed the cut Brian Haron was the second most popular he missed the cut Nick Taylor and Doug gim were third and fourth we just referenced they did not crack 18,000 Chris sea bazen hot was 5% and he got I don’t know what his what

The amount that he got was but he finished T9 and then cam young was 4% he got uh 800k 800k something like that 915 okay so the the right play was probably uh Biden out because I feel like Camy young can make more than 800,000 he’s he’s so inconsistent with

Where he finishes it’s hard to it’s hard to if you get him in the right week it’s awesome right yeah but you know when you get into the playoffs would you yeah you what you get down to the end of the year and you need you haven’t played

Anybody and you have Cam young sitting there cam young can win any week yeah according to Rick I should pick Adam shank apparently playoffs playoffs apparently you should the good news is the big boy team remains in first which I’m happy about an is in second ba 314 Mike m wine lover Yan

Round out the top five and I I I was just scrolling down the list currently in 16th is my buddy Matias from uh Swedish TV I sat next to him at the Ryder Cup Maas Schwab Matias Sandberg think I sat sat next to Matias Schwab at the in the media center in you

Do all kinds of things that are that are crazy what is the amount 16th what’s the amount yeah he’s got 7.6 million he he’d be smoking all of us yeah yeah so there’s a fallof even in the the overall standings I’m gonna you go from nine to

76 it just interesting how how did Mark get past us Rick because he he picked Scotty stinking shuffler I I could not I could not be more disappointed with where I picked Sheffer or both of us you and I it could not have been worse it’s the lowest

Possible outcome yeah brutal brutal it makes such a big difference the way it’s set up thank you Greg well I I’ve done that the past couple years I say it with true genuine empathy um it but the spread feels like we talk about this every week like the spread this week

It’s you got cam young it’s 800,000 for Peter malady it’s 1.5 it’s it’s not a huge difference but when you go from four and a half million to what what’s second place at the Players two million that’s like a$2 and a half million dollar difference in one and done that’s

Enormous so it’s just like you have to hit those events and it’s hard to do we should have made people use their real names instead of hiding behind these screen names although some of them are pretty good you should have to do both I was thinking we should use screen names

Yeah aliases actually yeah Anonymous yeah I would like I would like I would prefer that there’s there’s one there’s one team name called spe impediment which I thought was pretty creative uh there’s one there’s one was thior havland good I thought was pretty good so

There’s I maybe last or I forgot where I saw this but Sun Jay him yeah which was good there are some good ones out there okay uh jent any any final thoughts we are headed to the Florida swing we got uh we’re we’re or excuse me we’re headed

To Texas we’re through the Florida swing like we said it’s only two more two more events until the big boy uh what do you want to touch on just seems like a very odd place because the big boys not talking about run your pool leader but

But the big boys have a lot of question marks around them yeah so I’m I’m looking forward to seeing what these fields look like the next couple weeks and you know what we’re looking at here for a a really important Masters as they all are yeah I think just to piggyback

On that well two things one I think we’re in a situation where you could talk me into this being sort of the inverse of the last couple years where the non- majors are kind of uh not as compelling and the majors just rock like the players was awesome like it was

Extraordinary and I wonder if some of the long shots and all the stuff happening at the non this is there’s no like statistical evidence for this but I wonder if it’s leading to like we get Brooks Rory JT spe in the final two groups at the Masters and you’re like oh

Okay yeah I’m in uh so Pard of me is wondering that the other thing I wanted to touch on real quick Rick I can’t get enough of this Otani story I can’t stop reading about it unbelievable it’s it’s stunning what does your what does your gut say is what

Actually happened the first story that they told which is uh he he was covering for his buddies gambling addiction but then they realize that it’s apparently I I don’t know if this from everything I’ve read it’s illegal to wire a certain amount of money or whatever which I didn’t know

Which we’re expecting somebody that isn’t even from the United States to know I don’t even know the laws in terms of like how you know the the level of detail there and so I think it’s I don’t know a little unfair to not unfair but it’s it’s it’s it would make sense that

Somebody like that that’s from another country didn’t know those laws as well and so I think that once they found that out then they had to start saying other stuff and it just got messy from there my my lifestyle does not requir me to know the Hing well neither does I don’t think

Otanis does either and amounts that would become illegal or who you send them to or what state or any of that uh yeah I think that’s probably right but here’s the other thing though is is like if you’re the bookie um the only reason you would ever let

This guy run up$ four and a half million dollars is because you knew yeah Otani was good for it well which maybe you were just maybe his interpreter said hey otani’s good I I don’t know I mean who who knows what those those conversations were uh my only hope is that somehow

Phil is involved in all this he probably is I mean California lots of MLB gambling bookie like an illegal gambling ring in Orange County California like that’s probably Phil right um the other thing there was one other thing Greg um so now after dragging their feet on this Major League Baseball has launched

An investigation I mean does this does this end with Otani being sus I mean this is literally on opening night the face of your league who just signed the largest contract in sports if if this was a movie I would think it was a BS plot line yeah I know so little about

The whole game of baseball in general uh let alone stories like this but is he I mean he seems like a rockstar of a guy too right like like that that’s I think that’s the part where if it was like uh I’m just going to pull a like

Delante West you’d be like oh okay yeah what a drive by well I was I like who’s the worst athlete I can think of I was just trying to think of somebody crazy like Dante West seems crazy I don’t know yeah or like somebody who’s been in trouble before yeah yeah right you

Know you know yeah the guys get getting arrested you know every other week it seems like or somebody like that there are athletes like that who just allegedly getting you know getting getting in trouble every week P innocent proven guilty um it’s a disaster for

Baseball I mean OT is like a top five most famous athlete in the world it’s like Messi Ronaldo uh Lebron Otani tiger and Cally it’s the one thing it’s the one thing you can’t do like it’d be better if he murdered somebody he it would be way more like

Baseball would be way more leant ifani committed murder yeah they’d be like the thought is he’s involved somehow right that’s obviously like that’s the fear I don’t know if thought it’s the fear was this guy a cover up for him right this guy’s definitely taken the fall for

Something it’s just a matter of like what that thing is oh and they were like chopping It Up In The Dugout like hours before the story yeah you need to read go read Nate Silver’s piece on it it’s it’s good he got a sub stack the original like like yeah the

Original you know uh statement and then the retraction the whole thing is I want to we don’t need to get into it now because I gotta go eat dinner with my family but uh I want to hear your thoughts later Rick just about the state of gambling in general because I think I

Mean it’s it’s a big I was talking with some friends about it yesterday it’s it’s like man H how does this go the right way how does it go the wrong way how does even golf like handle it what I just I think that would be a fun little segment for

Us to do on maybe on Tuesday like before uh Houston next week yeah it’s growing very quickly and there’s a lot of like things that are happening good bad and indifferent and but like it’s the the the animal’s out of the cage now yeah and now things can happen with the

Animals out of the cage it’s it’s it’s fascinating stuff for sure all right well we’ll get to that at some point uh big thanks prer Joshua does all the hard work behind the scenes that right there Greg du charm you can find him on Twitter at the real gfd Kyle Porter you

Can find him at Kyle Porter CBS who as we’re talking about this gambling and baseball thing is wearing a Cincinnati Red’s hat like I just love all of that money line baby Red’s money line you can find me at Rick rug good this has been the first cut we’ll catch you next Time