Newly-appointed Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker and writer Michael Bamberger joined the program today. Snedeker talked about the task that lies ahead, the traits he will look for in team selections, making sure the team knows the plan in advance and how Keegan Bradley still playing to earn a spot on the Ryder Cup team could factor into this year’s team competition. Bamberger talked about how he didn’t think that Rory McIlroy was necessarily going to go on a tear now, how to compare eras pre- and post-big headed drivers, the freedom of Bryson DeChambeau, and shared thoughts on the upcoming Truist Championship coming to Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Host Gary Williams also reviewed the Dogs of the Week and revealed the team picks for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Read More: Website: https://www.5clubsgolf.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5ClubsGolf
X: https://twitter.com/5ClubsGolf
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5clubsgolf/
[Music] Good morning. Welcome into five clubs here on Golf Channel. Nice to have you with us on this Wednesday morning. You can also listen on PGA Tour Radio. That’s channel 92 on SiriusXM. I’m Gary Williams and this program is always brought to you by Century Insurance right by you. Of course, their relationships with the First T with the USG with the PGA Tour. Investing in great things in the game of golf. Golf Pride. These three North Carolina based companies, we’re so proud to be aligned with all three of them. They are the leader globally when it comes to players at all levels, trusting them with respect to their grips. Peter Malar, everything I’ve worn for the last 15 years and they have been refining performance, luxury, and style for the better part of two decades. And finally, the cradle of American golf and those cottages at Piner number eight are available next month. And that next month is just a couple days away in the month of May. Of course, we know Piners number 11 is on the way as well. It’s always a good day to be at Piner. And as I look at my monitor and I see this jacket, I think to myself, should I say, Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman, damn glad to meet you. I don’t know. I don’t know if this jacket is so preposterous, it’s fantastic, or if it’s merely just preposterous. I have no idea, but they could be flying off the shelves at your local Peter Mar store any day now. All right, it is a Wednesday, our final day of the week, and we are expected to be joined by the new, newly minted United States President’s Cup captain, Brand Snedker. That was announced yesterday alongside the International uh President’s Cup captain, Jeff Ogulvie. This is uh this is going to be a great matchup for a couple of reasons. one, these two guys are going to spend a fair amount of time together as they promote this event over the better part of the next year and a half as they head toward Madina in Chicago. And Madina has great history on its side, not only in team competitions, but also major championships. But since the last time everybody saw it, it has undergone a major renovation, restoration, and almost a a resuscitation, so to speak, because Jeff Jeff Oglevy, yes, the affformentioned Jeff Oglevie, uh, he and his design team with Mike Cocking and Ashley me were given not a blank canvas, but given great liberty, uh, to retool and rebuild Madina course number three. So all indications are they did a fantastic job. So you have the captain of the international side that obviously uh is intimately familiar with the design principles of the golf course and then you have the US captain who played on a RDER Cup team in 2012 at Madina. And finally, with respect to these two guys, um, you know, Jeff won the US Open in 2006 at Wingfoot. And anybody who knows him, he’s done a modest amount of television and anytime he shares his thoughts on anything, whether it be players or whether it be design, uh, you sit forward and you listen. Same as true of Brandt Senker. Brandt a recent recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, uh, which is given to people who are credits to the game of golf. These are the type of people when you look at their ledger and you look at their receipts, they’re giving far more than they’re receiving from the game. Not to mention what he does in terms of the development of players at all levels. They are aligned with the Cornferry tour. Not to mention kids at younger younger ages finding their footing in the game, whether it’s going to be to be an elite player or just to make golf a part of their life. That is why the selection of these two men uh is going to be very very good for this competition. And with that being said, he joins us now. I believe he’s back home in Nashville, Tennessee. The United States President’s Cup captain. There he is, Brandt Sneder. Good morning, my friend. Good morning, Gary. Thanks for having me on. Hey, listen. Thank you for doing this. Let me start with with this. You you do this whirlwind car wash media tour yesterday. You jet back home. Did you and Mandy maybe last night kids are put to bed, you sit in the kitchen and you think about the responsibility that you now have in front of you. Did it hit you after everybody now knows you’ve known for a little bit of time. Did it kind of hit you last night at all? It did. It got really heavy yesterday. You know, it was kind of a far-off thing it seemed when when they called me a couple weeks ago and told me this is a possibility this is going to happen. And I think the weight of yesterday, the responsibility, uh, everything we kind of went through in Chicago, and then getting home and sitting down with my wife Mandy and realizing what the next 16 months are going to be like, how much work we have ahead of us, the responsibility they’ve given us of getting these 12 guys and families and everybody ready to play and represent the United States of America in Chicago and what that’s going to look like. So, it it became real last night, became heavy. It’s exciting obviously and uh you know I couldn’t be more proud to represent my country the PGA tour and everything we’re try to do up at Madina be have it be a special week. Brent let me take you back because I know it’s indelible for you 2012 Friday morning day one of the RDER Cup you’re first off with Jim Furick and you’re playing Rory Mroy and Graham McDall and I’ll get to my point here. Uh and you hit an errant t-shot on 18. You guys lose one down. I walked with with that match that Friday morning. The next day you’re in the anchor match in Forsomes again. You and Furick and it’s Rory and Graham and you beat him one up. Graham, the duality of the emotions between Friday to Saturday is extreme. Now you’re the captain and you have to gauge players that you’re going to be captaining going through similar situations like that. What did that experience teach you about how much can transpire over the course of three days in a competition like this? Yeah, I think it’s a great example of the the emotions you’re going to have to deal with in a REDRE Cup. Um, you know, I went from the highest of highs the week before 2012 of winning the FedEx Cup and then go through the emotions of I didn’t play my best on Friday. I kind of felt like I’d let the team down by hitting a terrible T-shot on the last hole and costing us a point. And then, you know, on Saturday, I went out there and played a great round of golf with Jim. We were able to beat them one up uh on on the 18th hole. And so, like I contributed and and so you have this roller coaster of emotions you’re going to go through as a player. Um my job as a captain is to kind of understand that we’re going to be doing that. try to mitigate those lows and try to, you know, really roll with those highs and try to be the even keel captain, you know, try to understand that this is what we’re gonna be dealing with. We’re expecting this. This is not something out of the ordinary. Um, we’re going to have lows, we’re going to have highs. Let’s just try to ride it out. Let let these 12 guys be the great players they are. Know that, you know, we as captains and vice captains have their back a thousand%. We’ll do everything possible to help them and just just kind of have a great experience for them. So, it’s a tough it’s a it’s a very important week. It’s a tough week on you emotionally, but it’s one of those weeks you never want to miss and you want to be a part of every single one of them. And so, I think my job as captain is to explain that these guys that we’re going to do everything possible to love on them, to take care of them, to care about them and their families and their caddies, make them have a great experience, and just let them go out there and let their natural talent shine. And it should be a great a great week for for for Team USA. the um the traits that you hope that your players possess in in the time now in a decade and a half of being in the system as a player, as a vice and assistant captain. What are the most valuable traits that week that you want your team to possess? You know, I I think the biggest thing is is to have trust in each other, to have belief in each other, to buy into to being on a team together. You know, I thought Jim did a fantastic job in Montreal of getting everybody to buy in to be a part of a team. You know, it’s not just 12 people that that are going to be out there representing Team USA. You know, it’s support staff, it’s caddies, it’s wives, it’s, you know, your families, it’s everybody. And having everybody kind of buy into to what that team needs that week and play that role, whatever it might be for them, was super important. And in every great team I’ve been on or been a part of, that was a overall theme was everybody bought into, hey, if you need me to play five matches, I’ll play five matches. If you need me to play one match, I’ll play one match. I don’t care. I just want to win. Um, and if we can have 12 guys that do that and know that we have the captains there that want to support that, we’ll do anything they can for them. I think it’ll be a great week for us. And, and uh, you know, the great thing about these team competitions is they bring out the best of the best golfers in the world. you know, you will see shots, you will see guys kind of step up and do things that you didn’t think were possible. And at Madina, what Jeff’s done there, uh, the v the venue, the viewing is going to be spectacular. There’s going to be, you know, so many fans there. There’s going to be so many cool viewing opportunities for people to see great golf shots and for the crowds to play a big role in what happens. you know, I can’t wait to see 25,000 people stacked around the, you know, 17th green there and 16th green going crazy for for for great shots. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun and a and a fantastic sports market to boot. You know, you were an early adopter of of metrics and data as it applied to how you could get better as a player and now it’s such an a critical part of the construct of of these teams. Let me ask you the difference between the Ryder Cup and the President’s Cup. you have an opportunity based on the way you roll out matches to match people up. You you’re blind on half and then you can choose. What is the nuance difference as far as applying metrics to matchups whereas the RDER Cup it’s all blind. Yeah, there there’s definitely an advantage there. I I think there’s something you need to look at strongly. We did a great job in Montreal of kind of using those those stats and metrics to kind of parise up, also to pair up against matches that we saw were important. Um, if you’re not using it, you’re kind of losing a little bit to the field, you know, and so I think they’re going to play a role at Madina. They’re going to play a role this year at Beth Page as well, you know. I think I think you use those things as as a as a tool in your tool belt, but being I think the hardest thing people don’t realize is the application of those stats is almost as important as the stats themselves. How do you use that information? How is it siphoned to you so you understand? You can use it in real time and it doesn’t become all, you know, over uh almost too much to handle. You know, there’s so much data and so much stats out there. It’s the things important is the siphoning of that data down to a small little thing you can use and and use it fast and use it accurately. And so, um, it’s going to be a huge part of what we do in Beth Page. It’s going to be a huge part of what we do in Madina. And uh I think the president cup does a great job of giving the captains the ability to use those matchups to to take people that you think would make a great pairing or a great spot for them if they have a are having a beef with somebody or if there’s somebody they want to they want to play on the other side or somebody got them last time they want to get them good. You have the ability to put those guys up against each other and kind of make those dream matchups happen. I I love it. I think it’s one of the best wrinkles. I wish the RDER Cup would adopt it. This is an intense competition. It’s also a TV show. Like you said, if there’s a little bit of chippiness or or some beefing, again, I go back to that match you guys have with Rory and Graham on Friday morning. That got squirrely like I think it might been on the third green. Uh I love the fact that that type of thing can be realized going I I want a piece of him. If it sets up, let’s make that happen. Let me ask you about something I’ve contended, you know, for the better part of a decade, and that that is that the the United States international teams, whether it be President’s Cup or Ryder Cup, and I know the Tiger Phil thing was challenging was challenging for all the captains, flexibility, interchangeable parts. How important is it for you to feel like all your players have the flexibility to to be paired with multiple guys? Look, you want to ride hot hands, but you also want to know that you have the ability to mix and match to really, I think, improve your overall depth. How important is that to you? I think it’s important. I I don’t think it’s massive as as as massive you’re making it. I think the biggest thing that these that this these guys want today is they want a clear plan of what’s going to happen when when we show up there on Thursday morning for the first T-ball. So, I think the biggest thing and most important thing captain can do is give these guys a clear plan of, hey, you’re going to be playing with this guy in, you know, Thursday alternate shot, Friday best baseball, Friday alternate shot. This is our plan. We’re sticking through it through Friday. Unless something crazy happens, we might make a change on Saturday. These guys just want to know, hey, this is what we’re going to do. This is who you’re going to play be playing with. We’re not going to throw any curve balls at you last minute. we’re not going to be able to, you know, have you play with somebody you haven’t practiced with because, you know, these things are so stressful and there’s so much pressure on yourself. Adding a new wrinkle to them at the last second does not do anything but make it even harder on themselves. So, I think the biggest things captains can do is say, “Hey, here’s our plan. Here’s who you’re going to be playing with.” And it might be multiple people. Might not be one guy, but you have a clear plan in front of them of what they’re going to look at. And then having, you know, Jim did a great job. He he made a pairing up at the last second on Saturday at Montreal of moving Colin and Sam Burns together um because they were both playing so good. And so yes, it’s great to have that flexibility and that ability at the last minute. But I think what’s more important is giving these guys a clear plan of what what you want to have happen, what who you want to play with, so that they know, okay, it’s my routine now. It’s just like everything else. I can get to the golf course. I know who I’m playing with. We’re good to go. That that’s totally reasonable. Let let me ask you about the evolution of this event in relation to the other one in this respect. I I felt that the two the two events and it’s challenging PG of America PGA Tour it was too territorial. I think it’s more pragmatic now Bran I think you’re seeing that sharing of thought captains vice captains that represent both teams. It seemed like if you captain one you disqualified yourself for the other. It’s now looked on more as a long range view of this is USA golf. Is that true? Is that happening? Uh, I believe so. Yes. I mean, I think I think Jim did a great job last year of kind of bridging the gap for us of of kind of connecting these two organizations. And I think Keegan’s gone even farther this year of bringing guys in, of trying to bring these two organizations. And I give credit to Jay Monahan and the PJ of America for sitting down trying to figure this thing out. You know, trying to get a coherent plan together where we can use this to our advantage for both competitions and not have it be a detriment, right? we can set up almost like a team USA basketball organization where they have people kind of working throughout 24, you know, throughout every month of the year trying to create a plan where we have these two two entities working together to create a great cohesive bond of captains, vice captains, players so that we can almost use the same blueprint each year and continue to kind of bring guys through the program, bring guys up so that when a captaincy comes around, somebody’s available who’s got experience experience who knows what’s going on, who can step right in and have a great blueprint for how to do things and it’s not an overwhelming unencompassing thing where you’re kind of, you know, drinking through a fire hose. You you don’t really know what you’re doing. So, um I I think there’s been a lot of movement that way. I give total credit to both organizations for sitting down and coming together and trying to put their heads together and come with a great plan. And a ton of credit to Jim and Keegan and the past captains for kind of pushing this thing along. Uh yeah, the brain trust. You you guys are going to have cohesion as you go obviously to Beth Paige and then beyond it uh to Madina where you will be the captain. Uh you you mentioned Keegan and you were asked yesterday about you know the idea of him playing and I understand this about the president’s cup but but again I just indulge me here. You suggested that if he’s on the team there would be kind of a a by committee type of thing. Is that something that’s being talked about now that in the event that that he is on that team that you guys are going to have to shoulder this load much more significantly than if he’s not? You know, I I I we don’t really have a a a set in stone plan. I I think what we want to see is Keegan go out there and play great golf and I want us to have a problem to figure out. You know, I think at the end of the day I think the end of the day, everybody on this team wants Keegan to be on the team. I think he encompasses everything that’s great about the RDER Cup, about team competitions, his fire, his passion. I think we saw it come through last year at Montreal, the way he played, um, you know, securing the cup for us and the amount of passion he played with and and the guys saw how he elevated his game. I think we all want to see Keegan play great golf this year, win tournaments, be be the guy that we know he’s capable of being, and then deal with a great problem. You know, I think that would be a fantastic problem to have uh for everybody. and and uh you know I I think we’ve talked extensively about the plan for Keegan being captain and we’ve talked about scenarios where if if something were to happen um what what would that look like and we’re lucky enough to be able to have the captains the vice captains we have you know we have Jim in there with a ton of experience kind of walking us through this process between myself and web and Kevin um we have other guys who have had experience as well so I think we’re all there to support Keegan in whatever way we need to um I think our biggest message as vice captains and guys on the team have been telling Keegan is, hey, let’s focus on golf here to the US Open. Let’s let’s make sure you’re giving everything forward. You’re the kind of player that we want on this team. So, go out there and play great golf and let’s deal with a great problem to have come September. Let me ask you about you. Um, you look, anybody who does what you’ve done as well as you’ve done it for as long as you’ve done it, you’re hyper competitive. What has this done in terms of psychologically your own athletic mortality as a player? 44 will be 45 at the end of the year. You know the commitment and time required from this. You love playing golf. Has this been challenging to accept that you can’t devote or maybe you can uh the time to being as best as you can be for as long as you can be. You know, I think it’s there’s a duality here of yes, it kind of shows a time in your life when you become one of these tendencies that maybe your your game is not what it once was, but it also can can remotivate you to say, “Okay, well, I want to be out there playing with these guys and see how they’re playing every week and I want to be competing with them to know um you know, I think it’s a valuable thing that that that I can bring to the table for this team is being out here with the guys every week and playing competing against them and and seeing what’s going on, not just, you know, here read seeing scores on Sunday afternoon on my phone or or following it on TV, but being out there in the locker room with the guys, watching guys play on Tuesday, Wednesday, getting to know, build these relationships and and build trust with these guys and understand that let them understand I’m there for them. I’m supporting them a thousand%. And also getting to know a lot of young guys. You know, this tour is always ever changing. There’s there always new guys out here. And so being out here and be in the locker room with these guys and get to know them and sit down and talk to them a little bit, I think is super valuable. That way it’s not a new relationship you’re trying to build in three weeks when you find out he’s going to be on the team next year. It’s something that’s been building for over two years and so there’s a lot more trust, a lot more belief in each other that way. So I think it’s a great do a great thing to have. I I’m super excited about my golf game. I’ve been playing a lot better this year. Um just can’t seem to put four rounds together at the moment, but that’s coming and and uh I I love the the I love the fact that I’m I’m still just committed to it. It’s still I still it’s still a passion of mine. I still want to do it every day when I get up and go practice and hit balls and I can’t wait to to get out there next week and compete again. All right, let’s get you out of here. Five quick questions for the US President’s Cup captain Brandt Snedeker. You the Nashville has always been a great town. Now it’s like this hot celebrity town. Uh athletes, who is the best non professional golfer player in the greater Nashville area. Who’s got game who doesn’t play for a living? Um you know, there’s a lot of Yes, that’s that’s a great question. Um, there’s a lot of great ex-athletes here who play quite a bit of golf. You know, Brett Hull lived here for a while. He he I think he’s recently moved, but he was a really good golfer. He played every day. Um, great hockey player, obviously, Hall of Famer, but was a legit scratch golfer and and and could could really move the ball around. Um, you know, country music wise, Vince Gil forever was the godfather here. He was a great golfer. Um, could really hit the golf ball great. Um, probably a legit scratcher, one handicap back in the day. He’s gotten a little older now. He’s got he’s like me. We’ve gotten a little older. Not not not quite as good as he once were. But uh you know, the great thing about the the game of golf is it. It’s funny. All these guys that live here in town now, all these great athletes and and musicians, they all want to be professional golfers. And all the professional golfers want to be great athletes or be, you know, musicians. So, it goes both ways. No doubt. All right. Give me the word that Lily or Austin uses that you needed them to give you the definition of that word. Some you I think they’re like 14 and 13 now. They speak a different language. What? Give me a word that they use. You’re like, “What does that mean?” Yeah, they they My daughter’s into using like uh abbreviations, you know, she’ll say some like uh whatever it is like LBK or I’ll be there in a minute or something. There’s something I don’t even know what it means. And so I’m like, “We speak English in this family. Please use the full the full language.” And then they both gotten into my both my kids have gotten into saying bruh bruh all the time when I say something stupid like bruh. And I’m like we’re not in California. We’re not allowed to talk like that. We’re not cool enough to talk like that. So let’s let’s get back to the English language here. All right. Uh 25 years ago was Tigers 2000. Uh what’s the best shot you ever saw him hit in person? Um there were a lot. I mean, there were I remember the first time I played with him, uh, I think what people don’t understand about how good Tiger was, it wasn’t the great shots that he hit. It was his ability to hit the correct shot all the time. And and like what was so impressive about him, I remember playing with him in Cogill, my fir my second year on tour where he ended up winning by, I think, nine shots in 2009. Um, and his ability to hit a a five iron or a seven iron or a three iron into the middle of the green with the correct shape to tough pins was just second to none. Like his ability and his discipline to hit the correct shot at the right time was unmatched by anybody I’ve ever seen. And yes, he has the he has the wow shots, don’t get me wrong. He hits shots that nobody else can hit, you know. Um, but I think what was more more impressive to me at least was his ability to stand up and you know, I’ll use 2019 Masters as an example of his shot in of his shot into 12. Yep. It was a It was an easy shot. It was a nine iron, right? But his ability to hit the correct shot at the correct moment all the time was what was so impressive to me. All right. Your uh your favorite Vanderbilt Haunt, a campus joint that I hope is still there. What was your favorite go-to right around campus? Yeah, there’s a it’s called Satco, San Antonio Taco Company right behind campus. It was it’s it’s a legend. Uh got some of the best cheese dip anywhere. Um love going down there and before a football game or a basketball game or a baseball game and getting a little taco and a little little queso to go. Opened in the early 80s uh when I enrolled in the fall of 85. It was already there. All right, last thing. The last time you paid retail for any clothing item, what year was it? Oh, it was this week. Peter, no way. Scott Mahoney. I’m joking. Not right now. I’m joking. Uh, that actually wouldn’t surprise anybody. I know. I know. I gota give a shout out to my boy Scott Mahoney. Peter Malar. He’s a good buddy of mine. I love giving him a hard time. But, uh, you know, uh, I still Yeah. I I mean, all the time, you know, there I I love wearing Viori, you know, workout gear. Pay full retail for that stuff. There’s no there’s no side deals on that. So, um, I’m not one of these guys. Yeah, I’m not one of these guys to go for freebies. I I I’ve had a good career. I can support the economy a little bit. So, very good. No skin off my no skin off my back. Very good. Well, you got the swag that you’re going to be sporting proudly. I know it means a lot to you, to Mandy, uh, to represent not only uh, the United States, but but your peer group and and to lead these guys for the next 18 months culminating at Madina. Thank you for taking the time. I look forward to to seeing you soon enough. Thanks, Gary. I appreciate you having me and go USA. All right, there you go. Brent Sneder, the United States President’s Cup captain. We continue here on this Wednesday. Michael Bamber is going to join us. I’m going to give you a little historical context about the President’s Cup and the RDER Cup and how they were not that different. The first 15, not that different at all. As we talk about the imbalance and the lack of competitiveness in these events, we’re back right here on a Wednesday. It is five clubs. Yes, it is back after [Music] this. Welcome back in on this Wednesday. It is 5 clubs here on Golf Channel. And of course, if you’re leaving the house, you can certainly listen on PJ Tour Radio. That’s channel 92 on Sirius XM. And this segment is brought to you by Peter Malar. I’ve been fortunate to be aligned with this great company as they have grown to being the leader when it comes to anything that you need. And it’s not just golf. It’s a lifestyle brand. There is nothing that you wear throughout your day, whatever you do, from going to the gym to walking into a boardroom that they do not have the answer for you. Heck, you need luggage. They’ve got it as well. It’s Peter Malar refining performance, luxury, and style for more than two decades. You know, Brandt Snedker is somebody who I I think is is a good example of of evolution. And I know it’s the President’s Cup and it’s not the RDER Cup. And I I understand that for for decades and decades, the RDER Cup was not it wasn’t in some type of bylaw that it was if you win a major, you have a chance to be the RDER Cup captain. And specifically, if you win the PGA Championship, then you really are likely to be a Rder Cup captain. And Steve Stricker was the first American who captained a Ryder Cup team who was not a major champion. And in Europe, first of all, they don’t have as many major champions. And they also did something a little bit, it’s not that it was orthodox or or unorthodox, is that they would bring captains back, whereas we didn’t necessarily do that on the United States side. But I want to speak to something that is the challenge that the president’s cup currently has and that is the imbalance of the result because they have had 15 president’s cups starting in 1994 and in those 15 the United States has won 13 of them. They had the one tie. It was an unusual circumstance in South Africa on fading light and Jack Nicholas and Gary Player and Jack’s like we just call it a tie and in the event of a tie we won the last one so we retain it. It was like he was making it up as he went along, which was amazing live television. And Gary went, “Wait, what did you just say?” No, no. What time means we’re going to share it? I don’t know that that was exactly the perfect answer, but in the first 15, it’s been 131 and one. Not great. The first 15 RDER Cups were 123, the United States against Great Britain and Ireland, and then continental Europe was added in 1979. So they were lots of blowouts and and really it was just one less win over the course of the first 15 competitions. The US won 12 of the first 15 RDER cups. The United States has won 13 of the first 15 president’s cups. But beyond that, if you look at the point differential between the international team and the United States team, when it comes to the President’s Cup, all time, 72 points. In the case of the RDER Cup, the first 15, 65. And consider this, the RDER Cup, they were only playing for 12 points for the first nine of them. the the President’s Cup started with 32 points, went all the way up to 34, and now it’s back down to 30. So theoretically, in total, even though it’s not been as competitive as far as the actual final result, it’s been more competitive. And let me add this one last wrinkle to to the idea that it’s non-competitive. It’s not that very interesting. The last five RDER Cups, the average differential in margin of victory, 6.6 six points in the President’s Cup 4.6. The difference is that it’s been the United States five, the international side zero, and in the RDER Cup, it’s been 3-2. The International side just can’t cross the line. But in the last decade, from day to day, and from session to session, it’s actually been more competitive. The RDER Cup has just seen a series of blowouts, which has been one team blowing out another and then returning the serve on home soil. And that obviously is what the United States would like to do this year. There’s no doubt that the international team needs to start landing punches and knocking out the USA. Sneder obviously doesn’t want it to happen on his watch, but time takes time and this thing is not going anywhere. It’s just a question of how quickly can they start to actually win on the biggest and most important scoreboard. All right, we’re going to take a break when we continue. A guy who has authored a number of wonderful books and I’ve read them all. He’s got a new one coming out that’s for his next visit. Today we focus on some things that I know he’s going to give me some very interesting perspectives on that. Of course, Michael Bamberger, senior writer at golf magazinegolf.com and the author as well. We continue with him on a Wednesday. It is five clubs back after this. [Music] back in on this Wednesday on Five Clubs here on Golf Channel. Also on PGA Tour Radio, that’s channel 92 on SiriusXM. This segment is brought to you by Pinehurst, the cradle of American golf. The cottages at Pinehurst number eight. You can book them now. They’re available in the month of May. And the month of May is at the end of this week. And of course, Pioners number 10, that new clubhouse and restaurant going to be available for you this summer. They’re always making the experience at the Cradle of American Golf better and better. All right, joining me now, uh, he has written so many wonderful books. He’s got a new one. We’re going to talk in detail about that book, The Playing Lesson. The next time he’s on the program. Uh, today I can ask him anything and he’s going to give me a very interesting viewpoint. I’m speaking of course senior writer at golf magazine that is golf.com Michael Bamberger my friend. Good morning. Good morning to you Gary. Do you wear this blazer with the five on it every day? Is it not? Not every day but I might start. I I I feel like Eric Stratton Rush Chairman. Damn glad to meet you. Um right. I I I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever worn or maybe it’s so ridiculous uh it’s the sportiest thing I’ve ever wor I don’t know. What do you think? I I don’t want to be the first person to crack the joke, but do you know the Five Timers Club bit on Saturday Night Live? Yes. Has anyone cracked this joke in? Not yet. Not yet. It’s the first time I’ve worn it. Oh. Oh. Well, then it’s appropriate. Uh, so for those who don’t know, once you’ve hosted the Saturday Night Live five times, they give you this purple shawl and Tom Hanks, I think, was the first to get it and Tina Fay’s gotten it’s a whole bit on Saturday Night Live. Now you got the wrong hue there and you’re probably maybe five short of uh but anyway but I was thinking after now let me think you will know this better than I Gary Anukica’s won five straight on the on the LPJ tour. Nancy Lopez has and Nelly Corda has. Is that correct? Yes, that is correct. So they should get one of your Blazers their own. You know you could start your own five-timers club for that that see I I I knew there would be something that you would said said I never thought of it that way. Um that will go right into I should exit now cuz it’s get on on a high like George Castanzig. Good night everybody. All right, let me u let me start with this because I have not I haven’t had a chance to chat with you post Rory, you’ve seen a lot of extraordinary things. Um and with respect to what’s next, he’s always been interesting. I think it now gets even more interesting. Does your intuition tell you that this could be like a 2.0 kind of blitz? He’s 35, soon to be 36, but this this unbburdened by this 10-year pursuit may put him in a place where we’re looking up in three years and he’s got eight. Or do you think he might get to that number, but it’ll be more methodical over the next seven, eight years? Well, let’s see him get to six. It’s going to be so hard to get to six. It’s uh you know um no I don’t think this uh opens up anything. I think he got very lucky to win that tournament. He knows he got lucky. You can’t really make doubles on on one and 13 and expect to win what you’re when you’re talking about going on a tear. You’re talking about being big Jack in his prime, Hogan in his prime, Tiger in his prime where you’re way better than the field. You are demonstrabably better than the field. He is not demonstrabably better than the field. So, I don’t really see how or why anything should change except for the very significant fact that he’s an outstanding world-class golfer, one of the best we’ve ever seen, and he should contend. And in majors, you win at the same percentage pretty much that you win your regular tour events. So, he’ll contend regular tour events and contend majors and and you know, I hope for his sake he can win another. How do you and how have you and I don’t know how much time you devoted to trying to talk about because you just mentioned greatness and you mentioned greatness over the course of you know when you mentioned Hogan and then Jack and then Tiger you know we’re going back to to the mid40s uh all the way up until 2019 the last time Tiger won a golf tournament. H how do you try to talk about eras to where you try to make the conversation equitable to each era? Oh, okay. Um, to compare grades from different eras or our own path into the game to compare grades of different errors. I really feel like you can compare the Hogan Nelson Sneed era to Nichol to Palmer to Nicholas almost right up through Curtis and and Tom Watson because the equipment was essentially the same. If you look at US Open equipment from the ‘ 50s,60s7s into the 80s, it’s basically the same equipment and they’re faced with the same challenge. But I think since the era of the big-headed driver, the driver as a skill club has been turned on its head and it’s not what it was. You know, when they talk about Fred as a great driver, Greg Norman is a great driver, uh, Tiger as a young player, Nicholas, of course, you know, Watson is a bad driver, Sevy is a bad driver, is because that driver was so hard to manage with the steel shaft, the small head, and most especially the softball. So, I would definitely in terms of errors, I would really distinguish between the big-headed driver era, which really changed the emphasis on the on on now you just of course that’s been said forever, drive it long. It doesn’t matter where and you can wedge it on to uh to that early era. So, I guess in our lifetime, Gary, and and you know, and the generation before ours, I would distinguish between big-headed driver and small-headed driver. How about the idea of looking at a best generation? I’m I have great affection for the 70s in particular. I I I call them the Rough Riders. You look through that, all those ombres, they weren’t afraid of anybody. And if you look at their hall, major championship hall, they all have like, wow, he’s got three and he’s got five and he’s got six and and then you look at today and you go, well, there’s more depth and those guys wouldn’t win as many. How do you have that uh conversation in terms of looking at the Ray Floyds and the Trovinos uh and and Lanny only got one major, but we know that he was so so good. We wise only got one and then you look at guys of the last 25 years and yes more players from around the world. How do you exercise your mind in that respect? That’s that is really a sophisticated question and we’ve had this conversation before. My own phrase for the 70s is you know the last days of Pimmen like the last days of disco and um and one of you know everyone is I want everyone knows the name William Hurt everyone who follows acting knows the name William Hurt that um they may not know he had a wife named Mary Beth hurt um who was a very distinguished actress herself and one of one of the things that she said is people dress the way they did when they were happiest in their lives. Um, so like you always saw Arnold wearing, you know, the uh the hard collar shirt with the four plackets in the pocket cuz it goes back to, you know, his his era of greatness or whatever it may be. The point here being is that we’re super drawn to the era when we fell in love and you and I both fell in love with golf in the 70s. And one of those things of those and here by the way Hubert Green, John Mah, Jerry Pate, Andy North, Curtis Strange, it’s a murderer’s row of in a pre-statistical era of we measured their toughness for ourselves through either being lucky enough to be at a tournament, watching broadcasts, reading Dave Anderson in the New York Times, reading Golf Digest uh uh interviews. So, we were drawn to the personalities and those personalities were I know you can’t even use this phrase anymen. I hope I’m not going to get cancelled after, but they were manly men. They really were. And we and we were we were drawn to it. And even the country club kids like Nicholas and Watson were manly men. I can’t use that phrase twice. But then, of course, you had people who were totally self-made uh like Arnold and like Lee Trevino and a murderous row of others. Um, so, uh, losing my trail here a little bit, Gary, help me out. But, uh, but but like you, I’m super drawn, uh, to that Eric. Yes, I do think I really do think that there is more depth in golf now, but I don’t think we have that uh, outsized personality that you and I grew up on and fell in love with. Uh, William Hurt, every morning, uh, I use the tip given to him by Albert Brooks. I’m sitting on the back of my sport coat from broadcast news so that my shoulder line is clean. I know you remember that that little note from that terrific movie uh as well. Um you mentioned big personalities. Bryson Bryson leaving in in I think an interesting way. He’s the one who’s benefited most. He contends in majors. He’s a YouTube sensation. he’s found whoever it is that he needed to find as far as, you know, kind of his footing as far as who he was going to be. Is that fair? I to I completely agree with that. Uh uh the PJ tour, you know, which you and I have been around a lot. Um one of the things that’s really interesting about it, I’ve written this many times, but I will repeat it, is that the players look like conformists, but they think like cowboys. Um, but for Bryson that wasn’t working because Bryson really is whatever you want to say about Bryson, he truly is a non-conformist. Um, but the PJ tour was sort of clamping down in pace of play and you’re strange and your sling is strange and your grips are strange and he couldn’t really be himself when he got on that live tour. Um, he did I think what you said is entirely correct. He was very comfortable quote being himself and um and it’s and it’s worked for him. Uh, unfortunately we’ve got a we’ve got to run to a break because I’ve got other things I’ve got to do. I didn’t get to talk about Philly Cricket. Just in 30 seconds, how tickled are you that this place, which is so charming, so special, means so much to you, is going to have the stage next week. Yeah, I’m thrilled. It’s a chilling house course. These guys don’t get to play oldtimey courses like this uh very often. Uh, speaking for myself and I know other members as well, we don’t care if they kill it or not. The course is the course. We all love it and we think it’s going to hold up great and we think they’re going to have a wonderful week and we welcome them. It’s going to be great. Next time you’re on soon enough, the playing lesson, your new book, uh we’re going to talk about that in great detail. It’s great to see you. I hope to see you next week in Philly. Thank you, my friend. Thank you. Okay, Michael Bamberger. Uh all of his books, Men and Green, that one in particular gets to me, The Ball in the Air, all of them. All right, we take a quick break. We got dogs, we got picks, we got stuff to do. We’re back right after this. [Music] Welcome back, Ken. This segment brought to you by Golf Pride. All players, every level. The best players in the world trust Golf Pride, and so do you. That’s why they’re the number one grip in the world. You just saw it. Our favorite segment of the week, dogs of the week. If you want your dog that has a relationship with the game of the with the game of golf, send it in. It’s dogs at5cubsgolf.com. My dog, which is in the open, Bucky, celebrated his 14th birthday two days ago. He is the man. He’s the OG in our house. All right, let’s get to the dogs. Who do we have this week? We start with Charlie. Look at Charlie. Submitted by Tracy Grace, the beverage cart dog at Topstone Golf Course in South Windsor, Connecticut. Meanwhile, John Riley sent in these two dogs, Millie Benili, the Australian Shepherd, and Wingman, the border collie. John is the director of aronomy at the resort at Longboat Key Club. Moving on to the next dog. Look at that. That is Tilly Rose. The owner is George Graham. He’s a good friend of Brendan Young’s. That is on the practice te at Pine Needles in Pinehurst, North Carolina. One of the great golf courses. And finally, we’ve got Bailey, the Australian Shepherd. And then we also have Arty, who is an English bulldog from Shining Rock Golf Club in North Bridge, Mass. Submitted by Mike Stacy. He’s the head golf professional at Norton Country Club in Norton, Mass. Those are your dogs of the week. And again, send them in dogs at fivecubsgolf.com. All right, we transition from dogs to my dog picks because they’ve been awful. And Taylor Zarzer, if you’re watching, he just texted me. He’s saying, “I’m locked in. Why don’t you put this segment in the egglock? Let us produce our show. You produce your show.” All right, let’s take a look at the standings. Johnson Wagner is on a heater. Three wins in a row. He goes Rory JT and then he picks Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin. Uh he is uh he’s on a flyer right now. Uh Gil Hance Gil is a onetrick pony as you will see soon enough. He is in second. Taylor been solid been very solid over the last month and a half. Emman there in fourth. I’ve been awful. Jay’s been worse. Brendan has been putrid. That is the analysis of our selection so far in 2025. So with that, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, I’m playing the hot hand in the sense that Ben Griffin, not only did he get the win with Andrew Novak at the Zurich Classic, Ben Griffin, you’re going, “Well, he’s going to be exhausted.” Guy plays every week. He played 35 events last year. Gil H is playing Scotty Sheffller. That’s it. Gil, you have played him five times and that is the rule. You can only play a player five times over the course of the season. It’s not May 1st and Gil is empty the bucket on Sheffller. Emma goes with Sunjm. Taylor with Siw Kim. I like that pick. Jake Knap for not only Johnson Wagner but Brendan Young. Brendan trying to draft off of Johnson and I feel bad that I picked Ben Griffin because Jade Bilis did and Jay’s as bad at this as I am. Uh the CJ Cup is an event where again the Byron Nelson had not only it didn’t have so much that it had a nomadic existence there for a period, but it kind of did as it was trying to find where its home was going to be. And it’s out there at Craig Ranch and it means that you’re going to have to make 5,000 birdies to contend to possibly win. Likelihood of a first time winner as well. Uh so that is what is on tap for the the PJ tour. I know the region’s tradition. This is a great event uh for PJ tour champions this week down there in the state of Alabama. They have great celebrities. You get guys like Nick Sab and Bo Jackson. And people who see Bo Jackson, it’s like seeing a mythical figure because you’re like that’s the guy who dad you said is the greatest athlete you’ve ever seen. And the dad says, “You damn right he was.” So that is what’s going on uh with the senior tour and PGA Tour champions. Next week, Frank Nabalo is going to join us because we’re going to be ramping toward not only the truest championship at Philly cricket, but obviously the PGA championship and the PGA of America’s president as well. Have a great rest of your week.
1 Comment
rad