The Hole Story - Golf Podcast

The 2026 PGA Championship Preview - BestBall Roundtable

• BestBall • Season 4

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Join us as we analyze the upcoming PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, discussing venue choices, field size, course difficulty, and predictions. We also delve into the state of professional golf, LIV, and the excitement of major tournaments.

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SPEAKER_02

My dream scenario for this weekend. Give me Jordan Speith in one of the last two groups with a chance. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another best ball round table. We've got most of the guys here right now. Uh hopefully Mr. David Kirsch will be joining us here shortly. But Josh Decker, Jonathan Hill, this is Robbie Woodard. Guys, how are we doing tonight?

SPEAKER_00

We're good. We're talking about which TV shows we're going to watch once this is over, or as Decker's going to halfway fall asleep through halfway through the show because it's just a little too late.

SPEAKER_01

My melatonin is sitting right beside me, so I can take it at mid-recording. That's funny. That's funny.

SPEAKER_02

We'll see how this goes, and you might pop it in a little earlier. Who knows? But uh yeah, we're here to talk about the PGA championship coming up this week from Eronomic uh golf club there in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, which by all accounts Philadelphia. So uh anybody ever played it, Josh? I know you you like to play uh really nice courses and famous places like that.

SPEAKER_01

Have you played the channel? I do like to play really nice courses. I have not played eronymic, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Is it on your bucket list? Uh I would hope so. I mean, what course is not really on a bucket list?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so it's interesting that you asked that question because as we were preparing for tonight's conversation, and I hope I'm not jumping ahead with something you're gonna ask about. There's just something about the venues for PGAs that are just kind of eh, to me. Like it it just doesn't, it's just kind of they're great golf courses. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to play them. It would be an it'd be an honor to get to spend a day at Quell Hollow or Valhalla, but they just don't have that upper echelon feel to me. So anyway, I'll we we can go down that path now or we can wait. But like you look at the list of the last few years, and they're beautiful golf courses and great tracks, but they just don't uh they don't evoke any real emotion from me.

SPEAKER_00

Do you think that's a timing issue? Because that's been a huge conversation with this particular even we talk about it, where we're like, wait a minute, we're already doing another round table. I thought we just did one. Do you think it's a timing issue in terms of what's available, where they can get it, and where they want to end up at the end of the season in terms of weather? I that might be part of it.

SPEAKER_01

I think it more has more to do with just the PGA of America and and where they have their relationships. I mean, it's like we're already going back to the Hazel team for another Ryder Cup in a few years. Like, and that that in and of itself is just kind of an example of my overarching opinion of these venues. Like we get a Ryder Cup in the U.S. every four years, and we're revisiting a site we were just at in 2016. So, I mean, and you look at the you run down the list, Eronymic this year, Quellhall last year, Valhalla, Oak Hill, Southern Hills, and that's when Southern Hills obviously got it when Trump bedminister, uh, I think it was Trump Bedminister, lost it. Or who lost it and Southern Hills got it? Is that correct? Something like that. Um, because there was actually chatter about that one coming to Shoal Creek. Then you got Kiwa, Harding Park, Beth Page, and Bell Reef.

SPEAKER_02

Well, those are the ones that we've just had, and now listen to the names on a repeat almost. So next year, Fields Ranch East at PGA First Go, right? The new home of all that stuff. They're doing it there in 27 and 2034. So go ahead and mark your calendar, guys, for 2034. In 28, it'll be at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, 29, Baltash, 30 Congressional, 31 back at Ocean Course, 32, Southern Hills, Beth Page in 33, again, Fields Ranch East 24, and 2035, Oak Hill Country Club. So, you know, besides uh the course that they've built for the PGA, uh, it seems like a lot of repeat customers.

SPEAKER_00

Some of that has to be just the logistics, because I mean we've talked about it. Even whenever the open was up there at Pinehurst, the you have to you have to have a course that's willing to completely upend itself when it comes to what play is going to look like to host a major. I mean, at that point, what was it? That you know, you get rid of a driving range, you completely turn off three holes of another course that's nearby. And a lot of these places are in a a space in place that it's not just a standalone course, right? Or even if it is, you know, it'd be great if your local Munich could cover one of these things, but they probably can't bury enough cables in order to do TV and everything else. So I guess some of that just the natural restriction of do you have a metro that can manage the influx of people? Do you have enough hotels? I mean, those are all planning things that have to come into place. And if you find one you like, does it make sense to go back? Or if you find one, I think probably the relationship side, like you mentioned, Josh, is they have the relationship with somebody that's there. The club wants to do it over and over again. So once a decade they they can get their their turn on the list.

SPEAKER_01

So Beth Page is a great example of this. True story, we left early to go watch uh one of the next to last episodes of Game of Thrones. But but that was on a Sunday. But the logistics of that were were terrible. And and like kind of the the flip side of that coin logistics for the for the U.S. Open at Shinnnecock this year are gonna be terrible. We're gonna hear all about people it did taking an hour to get from the city out on Long Island to get to Shinnecock. And like Beth Page, we had to take a train and then hop off the train and take a bus. And that entire trip took like an hour and 15 minutes. And and also to your point, like they had paved over the uh the red and yellow courses, like they had turned them into like turning turnarounds for buses for that PGA, and I'm sure they'll do the same or whenever it's back there. But yeah, just there's something about the venues for me that doesn't I don't know. I and it I guess every every other major I feel like has an identity, and I don't know that the PGA does.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, Kirst just talked about that. Like it never seems to ask any question at all, other than this is the next thing we're doing. Um we're here, but we're here. Now, to be fair, and this goes back into would it feel different if I mean it it it literally backs up to the masters basically from a you know from that perspective. And so like that's the historic, like if you get a little bit more distance and you and it, you know, again, I don't know the agronomy of when courses are available or not available, but if you did have a fall opportunity, could you find something that would be a little bit more appealing? Um could you push some some elements, if you will, like we hope the open at in in br in uh over in England does or wherever it is on that side of the pond. Um I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

I mean it's I think Jonathan, to your point about the schedule, like it's not just that the masters is so fresh, but we have also just had two back-to-back signature events. Right. So like they they just left Quell Hollow, which again is a uh menu site every now and then. Uh and then they jump right into a PGA event uh PGA championship. So I I will say the only the only thing that about this place is the fact that it's only the second time it has hosted a PGA championship. It did host the BMW, I believe, a few years back. Keegan edged out Justin Rose. That's probably eight years ago. But uh second time Ironick has hosted the PGA. The last time was 1962 when uh Mr. Gary Player won the uh won the championship, and he shot a two under par. So at that time it uh it played. Yeah, which which would be fun. Now they have had this is uh the first venue to host all three PGA championships. So the the men's, the senior men's, and then the women's PGA. So that's a pretty cool thing there. I I think the women's it was a lot more than two under. Um so who knows? We'll see what's going on.

SPEAKER_01

So something, and this is one of the things that also uh I wanted to touch on uh the field size drives me insane. It's entirely too big. And I wonder I wonder if because of the field size they can't go somewhere that's gonna be crazy hard because it would be even a longer round than it's already gonna be. Yeah. Like they can't really streak it out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. They'll play threes for Thursday and Friday. And I thought what's the cut? Is it gonna be? I mean, it's 155, I think, is the size of the field to start. Top 70 in ties. 70 in ties? 100 156 players.

SPEAKER_01

And don't they go off the front and the back? I believe. They almost have to. I think they do. And see, that just that like what are we doing? I don't I don't I feel like I'm just beating up on the PGA right now, which is terrible. But like I don't there's something about a major there's the quaintness and the the smaller field size adds to the allure and and just the overall experience. Because and now let's just talk about the the experience from a viewer perspective of us trying to consume this on Thursday and Friday. You can't. You can't.

SPEAKER_00

And it's not like you have a masters app to make it run. Right, right. I mean, you could you could absolutely watch 180 players with the Masters app simulcast eight different little screens on your phone. You wouldn't be able to tell who was hitting anything, but you could do it.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, the field side just drives me nuts. And I'm I I'm sure there's some consideration there for venues and where they can go and and get that many guys around there without it being a just complete disaster. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah, it'll be interesting to uh to see. I the again, the thing about the the course, it is a Donald Ross course, and Gil Hant did a restoration years back. So I I don't know. I'm excited to see uh see how they compete. What do you guys think? I know we've talked about this before. What do you think? They say this is the toughest field, what they claim because it's all professionals. So right, you have your PGA pros, so you got your 20, what they core bridge, uh, core bridge team. Uh so featuring Mr. Michael Block, he's back. Uh Decker and Decker, are you excited about that? I wish he would go away.

SPEAKER_01

Just go away. Um yeah. He's he's Malboun, any Malbourne now? Yes, now now yeah, he's he's wearing Malboun. He's also making videos saying, oh, okay, all the hate. I mean, yeah, just yeah. It yeah. I was watching the PGA professional championship out of Bandon. Um, and I I was cheering for him to not not make the top 20.

SPEAKER_00

For me, uh you look at the field and I don't gamble partly because I also I live in a state that doesn't allow me, also because it'd be a bad habit to per perhaps to get into. But at some point, like the odds just don't make sense. You're like, so you're just here because you are in the PGA, because you do play golf. And I again they're all good golfers, right? Like we went out play golf with them, they'd smoke us and they'd be a lot better than even the 155th guy is still gonna do okay for compared to normal people. But the reality is, isn't it really like 20 to 30? I mean it's no different than the US Open. Yeah, it's like, well, it's it's a it's a it's a harder competition. Yeah. Um, I believe they st everybody's still picking the same three people to win because that's what we do every single time. Because odds makers say this is the one that's gonna win.

SPEAKER_01

You can almost argue that it's just as challenging as w winning the hero world challenge because like because they're all there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Right, exactly. And if the course doesn't have teeth, then it really doesn't matter. Uh, I mean, I just was reading that this is Donald Ross's personal masterpiece, and then everyone really likes number two at Pine Hurst. So I don't know enough about the course. I did I did guess correctly, or I mean I meant I knew that it was in Pennsylvania uh before we started recording. So um may I don't know anything about the course in terms of is it going to be difficult? Are there are there options? Can they get the greens to be difficult, you know, harder than what they need to be? We've talked a lot. I don't know if bunkers bother anybody anymore. They're as long as they're well done, they all get up, they get up and down pretty easy out of bunkers. Some of them will even, I know in some of the courses in the previous championships, not not the PGA, but other like majors, they're aiming. Like they're literally will tell you we're gonna aim for the bunker because we don't want to get anywhere near the rough and things like that.

SPEAKER_01

Just this past week and to it was a PGA venue, the number 14 at Quell Hollow is the drivable par four. And if they hit it in that bunker, then they're fine. Yeah, they can nip that thing right out of there and they're great. Like that, yeah, that's like almost exactly your point.

SPEAKER_00

Um and since Kirsch isn't here, I will give the um the automatic, unless you're Bryce and DeChambeau and you're playing at the Masters and you can't get out. I just somebody's got to dig on somebody at Lives since Kirsch isn't available right now.

SPEAKER_02

Um I did just pull up the weather, I just searched for Philadelphia, and it looks like the high every single day this entire week is 80 degrees, and the lowest is 79 degrees. So it's gonna like they're playing in a bubble, apparently. So draw won't matter. What's that? So the draw won't matter. It shouldn't. I mean, I don't obviously that doesn't show if there's any wind, but I was 80 degrees, sunny, no wind. Yeah. No wind. Yep, course is soft, whatever. Who knows? Uh I did confirm it is top uh, it says the low 70 scores and ties. Uh if there is a tie after 72 holes, a three-hole aggregate score playoff competed on 10, 17, and 18. What do y'all think about that? Like, what would be your favorite or ideal tiebreaker format in a major championship? Like, do you want to see like the two guys tie go all 18 again?

SPEAKER_01

Or do you like a three-hole aggregate? I would love to see just match play sudden death. I was just about to say match play through like nine.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay. You're running it all, you're running back to nine holes. Yeah, that would you ever get a chance. And then if you at that point, if you don't get it through nine, then it's sudden death. Okay. But match play would be great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But you said build play sudden death. So if somebody beats one person on the next hole, it's over.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And isn't that what most tiebreakers are anyway?

SPEAKER_01

Well, there's yeah, yes. But if you single hole, you both make par, you just keep going until someone wins a hole. Right. But yeah, yeah, I guess that's that's accurate.

SPEAKER_00

I'd rather I'd rather see a little bit more in it to say, hey, like you're gonna have to earn this. You can't just you can't get lucky because one guy accidentally hits a ball off to the left. And you're and you're not done just because at least uh three's not I don't mind three, but I would do match play. Like that's two out of three. I wouldn't have aggregate, I guess I wouldn't do aggregate score. I'd do match play. Because you could have one hole where you're like par par, one guy gets a birdie. Like, if you push, let's keep pushing. Yeah, I don't know. I I like that three-go aggregate.

SPEAKER_02

I think that's a pretty good idea. It was fun to watch it. That's what happens. One hole can't kill somebody.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_01

With JT and Wills Alatoris, right? Back at Southern Hills, when Mito Pereira put the worst swing on a golf ball that anyone's ever seen in the lead on the 70-second hole off the T-Box. Oh, yeah. Uh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

Uh paging Phil Mickelson on US opens.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. At Wingfoot. Off the hospitality to Or or Vandeveld in the open.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, maybe not worse swing, just worse decision making.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Um, no, it's uh it's gonna be good, Scotty reigning champ. Um last year I looked this up. Last year he went off five strokes. Like, can y'all which is crazy? And you think two years ago. Two years ago it was Valhalla when he was uh in an arms jumpsuit. So like how how time changed, like or you know, that seems like it was yesterday that we were all like, holy cow, Scotty was just arrested.

SPEAKER_00

I remember getting that text message going, I this just something's something's not real. I don't remember who sent it. Oh, if it was Decker or if it was I don't know. I just remember waking up to that text message going, What in the crap? And opening up Twitter and going, it didn't turn out ESPN, because it was like, I mean, everyone went live. I don't know, they interrupted the morning news with this thing. It was the only thing on TV, and you're just like, this can't be real. Mart Marty Smith standing out there.

SPEAKER_02

There you go.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That was that was quite the day. Before we get to predictions, I I do want to touch y'all, y'all definitely reference the live thing. I you know, we can talk about it a little, a lot, whatever you want, but current state of live, right? It's something's happening, uh, maybe something's dying. But what are y'all's takes on live and what if you were a commissioner of golf right now, not PGA, not whatever, just in charge of golf, what would you want to see happen?

SPEAKER_00

I think it makes sense to try. If you think of it like from a business perspective, right? Uh I decided to go get a better paying job doing the exact same thing that I'm doing right now, with less time involved. And my bonuses were really only because they're, you know, professional athletes were the bonuses and the money and everything out there in the real world, right? But lots of people have left companies and gone somewhere else. And then maybe that company failed. It was a startup, and you had all these shares, and you thought you were going to make, you know, become a fortune, and people did. People made a lot of money, but then the business didn't model didn't work. And so now you come back. So now the question becomes do you have room for everybody that left to come back? And if not, then just like any other business, what who are the top performers?

SPEAKER_01

You know, whenever you turn on a caveat in there though. What's that? That while you were away from the previous company, you routinely went scorched earth on previous company. Some people did.

SPEAKER_00

Some ran their mouth about how bad that was at the other time. Sure. Yeah. And let's be honest though, I don't know if they were wrong. They could have just handled it better, right? There were there were some real legitimate reasons why they did not want to participate anymore. Or the frustrations were legitimate, you know, the purse money and all that kind of like all the different things. Now, could they have handled it differently? Sure. But it's business, or we're gonna get our feelings hurt because somebody said something mean about us, right? So I think it goes back to As a b as a business owner, you can't say as the tour, you can you can say, you know what?

SPEAKER_02

You could you know, freedom of speech, but some speech has consequences. And things like that.

SPEAKER_00

I would look at it who's yeah on a Saturday afternoon, since we're we're doing this for the for the public, who do people want to see on TV? Who do people want to see on TV on a Sunday? Whenever they they they know whenever you show this guy on the TV, the meter goes up. And when they show this guy on TV, it doesn't do anything or goes down. So like I would personally say I've got one, you've already included some of these people back on certain events, right? You've got major winners, you get all that kind of stuff. So it's pretty easy to say, are there 20 people that we could just say, welcome back? Do you get to play? Are you gonna make them jump through hoops? I don't think there's a fine necessary or payments or anything like that. Now, there are other people that maybe because of the time that they've spent away, they haven't been as clean as their golf game should be, or they've missed cut, you know, they've they've not performed well. Then at that point you say, okay, now we're gonna have some sort of exemption level, whatever, where you're gonna need to play these these number of rounds and these number of places before you get maybe like a full status back. But I mean, a lot of the guys that people are upset with, they already have exemptions to anywhere they want to go anywhere. Like they could always come back and play all the things. I mean, Phil Mickelson's a big one, right? If he wanted to, he'd come back and play almost every major if he wanted to, because he's already won them or got second or high enough or whatever. Um, does he move the needle? I don't know, not as much. I don't remember the last time I saw him on TV because he's usually first off in the morning and cut by noon, right? So I mean he just is. Like his game, you know, it's just not there. But I never had a real problem with Liv. Um because the fine the people who are like, well, the financial world and where they're getting their money from and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, it's too intertangled. Right? Like Mercedes-Benz and BMW sponsor stuff and put cars out there, but they sell their cars to everybody else that everyone was mad about. You know. Um I I have a hard time saying that there's a high road when it comes to the financial piece of where all the money's coming from because there's no one there's a lot of probably shady things that go on behind people who are billionaires at some point in their career.

SPEAKER_01

So Jonathan, you kind of touched on what you're talking about. I mean, the we're all on here, we're we're on a golf podcast, we're golf siccos. So there are guys that I miss who made that jump. Um, like Mark Leishman is a guy I always like. Just enjoyed watching. I enjoyed kind of his attitude and approach to the game. I enjoyed watching Cam Smith play on like I would have liked to see him play at Quell Hollow. He's somebody that I would potentially tune in to watch. For a long time, I feel like there was a vacuum and there was the quote unquote tiger problem where there wasn't another superstar to fill that void. And I think over time the PGA tour has been lucky enough that people have just managed to kind of fill that void along the way. For a while, there was Spith. Now it's Scotty, and now Rory's gone back to back of the I mean, there's other players that have come in, but for the for the just rank and file golf fan who's going to tune in four times a year to the master, the majors, the live guys are there. So but there's nobody in my mind. I mean, John Robb, but there I there are definitely people that I don't want to see back. I can I could give you that list. Um like Sergio Garcia, I hope I never see him ever on a PJ tour event. And I'm sure I won't actually, because I I'm I I think that bed's made. Um and I wish Augusta National would ban him after his antics this past year at the Masters. But it it's interesting, it's interesting. I mean, I don't know that I've heard anyone touch on this, that the Piff finally pulled out of it. Um I had a good exchange with Kevin Van Valkenberg probably three or four years ago about this on Twitter. And he's like, look, man, he's like, this is a rounding error for them. Right. And when you think about that in the general context, that it was performing so horribly that they didn't want to just deal with the rounding error. Like we're done with this rounding error that is insignificant in our grand scheme of things. Like that's kind of jarring.

SPEAKER_00

Um I think they saw almost like penny stocks. We're gonna throw this money out there, and if it works, then our return's gonna be incredible. And if it doesn't work, and and if it doesn't work, I mean they got it felt like they got really, really close to a solution, what, two years ago, 18 months ago? Oh, you mean to join the tour?

SPEAKER_01

Right. It felt like there was with the memo and or the MOU, yeah, all that yeah, eternal box news and he's sitting there with um Big J.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, but then it just kind of goes away. So I don't hold anything personal. I think Robbie and I talked about this a long time ago. We can't like for Tiger, for example, we can really enjoy and appreciate watching him play golf, but we we're not looking for him to be our mentor for our children, right? I feel the same way about everybody. Go get your money. I don't really care, yeah, whatever. Congratulations. Someone was willing to pay you an enormous amount of money on top of the already enormous amount of money. Like, we can't be upset they made more money. They're already making stupid money to begin with. Right. You know, like what is it? The who's it, Alexander or whatever, the kid that just made it. He just made a million bucks last year, last week, because he was sixth place. We're gonna be upset because if someone was gonna pay him two million dollars, no, he made a million dollars for playing a game that we'll go out and pay 80 bucks to go play and lose 18 golf balls every single Saturday. So I I don't I just don't hold any grudge towards it. I I guess that maybe because I I don't have enough skin in the game to care and badmouth, maybe because I've had 28 jobs, I've probably badmouthed an old boss once or twice.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but I I I agree. I I don't uh I don't blame somebody if they want to leave and go somewhere else. But again, if you run your mouth about the place that helped establish uh uh who you were and gave you an opportunity to do something, uh on your way out the door, you're just, you know, saying how horrible it was, and then your thing that you went to doesn't work out. Like, I mean, it's it's a privilege, like it's a it's a a membership that does not have to let you back in. And if it was a business, right? If we're talking just business straight up, if I have an employee that was a great employee and he left to go make more money, you know what? Great. I'm glad you got to do it. I'm I'm gonna miss you because you did really well for us. But if he starts running his mouth saying how he hated it, how he thought we were doing it wrong, how he thought we were the worst people ever, ha ha ha, look what I'm doing now. And his business crumbles and he comes wanting to come back and like, you know what? You were great, but there are consequences to you running your mouth. And I I would, yes, I there's got to be financial penalties. I mean, Kepka said, you know what? I'm fine paying the financial penalties. I'm fine uh you know, uh sacrificing or giving up future whatever he did to come back to the tour. Patrick Reed said, here's what I'm doing. Huh?

SPEAKER_01

He Brooks gave five million five million dollars to charity.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And then Patrick Reed said he's doing this, and he went through the proper channels to play and earn his status on the DP. And all these guys that when the DP tour said, we're gonna give you an opportunity to come back. Here's the uh what you have to do, and everybody's like, Yeah, sure. And Rom held out for the longest time because it said, you know, there were five tournaments he had to play instead of four or something like that, and he made a huge stink over that. And what did he end up doing? He ended up settling because he wants to play in the Ryder Cup. Like they they've gone so public bashing where they came from and bashing like the PJ Tour. Is the PJ Tour uh perfect and right? No, definitely not. But they they ran uh so many of them, not all of them, uh ran their nails on the way out the door. Uh, that yeah, if you wanna if you want to come back, um then uh then there should be some kind of punishment, definitely some uh financial penalties, uh, because it it did impact the other membership. And so, but you know, and I want to see Bryson, like I think it'd be great to see Bryson. I, you know, when he said the other day, like, you know, I want them to want me back, like he's not gonna get anybody begging him to come back. Good luck. Oh, Bryson, please, please, we are so sorry that we, you know, whatever. Like, just suck it up. You have more money than anybody knows what to do with. Like, pay whatever fines to charity that that they have out there and come play golf, or just do your YouTube thing. That's fine too. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Specific to YouTube, I saw the other day though. They've talked about it, they've negotiated some of the things that they were really strict on the tour players, like how many times they can show their shots and what they're allowed to like show. That's fine, like, yeah. But those are reasons in my mind, those are reasons to leave. Like you you got a you got an organization that never shifted that you didn't own the own rights to your own shots at the tournament. Nope, that wasn't yours to re-show or do anything else. So they left. They went to a group that allowed them to explore and do all those things and and monetize the world that they live in, the world that we live in now, right? It's not it's not 1982, where CBS is the only one who actually shows everything. Um, because I mean, think about this weekend. I was just looking up, it's gonna be on Paramount. Do you know what they're doing? They're charging people to come over and do it. Like everybody's making money off this thing, and for a period of time, even though the players were making money, there were some restrictions that never adjusted to make room for what they did. They created this alternative, which did not work, but whenever they're coming back and negotiating, now they have more rights over their NIL, if you will, um, in terms of how they're allowed to utilize that for social media, YouTube channels, and all that kind of stuff. And that's an adjustment that probably never would have been made if there wasn't some sort of competition that was created out there. Uh, competition's not a very good word because it wasn't a competing product. Let's let's not be carried away. Shotgun start. Right. But it was an alternative that allowed those types of freedoms. And I chamber golf tournament's an alternative. Like they could have just done that, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but I don't I don't think they would have Birmingham Chamber of Commerce uh golf tournament.

SPEAKER_00

From the tips.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, well, we've we probably carried on longer than this on a PGA preview show than the uh and man, I really wish Kirsch was here. Uh maybe on the recap show, we will get his response to all of this. So uh yeah, looking forward to the PGA. Let's go through some predictions that I am sure will not be correct. And yes, Jonathan, like you said earlier, we're probably gonna pick all the same people. So uh here's the thing, and and I and I threw out uh I threw out the categories. Uh I I like how they do it. And you mentioned the Masters app as well. The Masters Fantasy. They asked for past winner prediction, somebody from the U.S., somebody international. Uh first timer. And when the master says that, they're saying first time person at the Masters. We're going for first time major winner, and then just a wild card pick. So uh Jonathan, I'll start with you. Who's your past? Who's your past winner that you might that is gonna do well?

SPEAKER_01

Old Brooks, root. They're gonna they're gonna live once again. I would love to see him win. Especially how he's handled coming back. I mean, being the first alternate and sitting there waiting. I mean, like, you gotta kind of tip your hat.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. And he went and played in the Myrtle Beach one fight, whatever. Yeah. I love it. Josh, who you got for your pass winner?

SPEAKER_01

Uh, a gentleman by the name of Scotty Scheffler. Uh, here he's pretty good. Um before I think he might have a chance. Had him as my wild card.

SPEAKER_02

Uh well, Jonathan, I like you, pass winner. I'm going Brooks, Mr. Kepka.

SPEAKER_01

There we go. I shoot out a great.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of fun. My U.S. winner, I went with Scotty. I put him in that spot. Um, again, I I also have heard he's decent at golf. Um two for two. Yeah, you got him there.

SPEAKER_00

Did you cheat on my notes?

SPEAKER_02

No, I know you scribbled yours down about four minutes ago. Uh 44 minutes ago, yeah. Yeah. Mr. Decker, you'd be after your U.S. winner. Who's your uh U.S. winner? Uh Scotty Scheffler. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

You just say Scotty. Who's your well you put it? Who's your international pass and U.S.? Yeah. Who's your international winner? Scotty Scheffler. Christopher Rayton. Rayton.

SPEAKER_02

Scott A. You're going Rayton for your international winner. You're going with uh Rayton, the legal Raiden.

SPEAKER_01

I think he's on a heater.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, he's playing wealth. Buying wealth.

SPEAKER_00

Do you want me to tell you who you're picking? Because I'm picking them too. You ready? I already know who Robbie's picking. I'm in his head. Ludwig. That's who I'm picking. Ah. Who'd you pick? Custom Rose.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, Custom Rose.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, if he if he can find the club fates with those McLaren irons after after how he played at Quell Hollow, that'd be impressive. He had a good day or two. Did he? Okay. Day one was brutal.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. Uh was that day one? That might have been day one the previous week.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, it might have been. Well, like, yeah. Because he's playing for two weeks now.

SPEAKER_02

He's had him in the bag for two weeks now. Yeah. Alright, first time major winner. Are you going Ludwig Jonathan for your international guy? Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry to Mr. Fleetwood that he did not get picked for that one.

SPEAKER_01

That's who I was picking. I'm picking Fleetwood.

SPEAKER_02

That's my first time. First time major winner?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Who you got? Uh I have Cam Young. Philly, uh Philly area guy, like Sleepy Hollow. Uh where he uh where he grew up playing. I'm sure he's gotten over to Eronymak a few times. So Josh, who you got? And and speaking of being on a heater, he's playing pretty well.

SPEAKER_01

I had Fleetwood. I've got Fleetwood as first time major winner.

SPEAKER_02

Alright. Yeah, a lot of uh cheating off everybody's notes. Right. Multi-pick names here. All right, here's your wild card.

SPEAKER_01

Josh. So uh he has not won a golf tournament in 1,082 days. His name is Jordan Speith. Oh yes! Jordan Speith! That's who you picked. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

He's finishing out the career grand slam.

SPEAKER_01

We would finish the career grand slam.

SPEAKER_00

How awesome would that be? God, it'd be sick. I really want to say his name now too, but I'm not going to. I'll stick with my average pick. Max Homa. Whoa. You said wild card? Wild, wild cards. Wild cards. Plus 22.5. If I could gamble, maybe I would. Fair or not.

SPEAKER_02

Who would Curse pick right now? Like if we could pick one person for Curse to pick besides Bryson, who would he pick? Besides Bryson.

SPEAKER_00

Um he would have some intellectual pick on some of the things. The last six times he played a Donald Ross course, he shot a uh eight under uh average per round. And there's six dog leg lefts. The last maker on a Donald Ross course. Right. His his his shot selection with his three-iron uh tends to lean that way. That would be Kirsch would have some actual information. We're just sort of spitballing it here. He'd have he's probably frustrated because he spent all this time on doing research uh on on the golf course, so now we know that he'd be like, I thought he would go Justin Thomas because Justin Thomas is built for PGAs.

SPEAKER_01

What does that mean? He's won two of them, and he he when I part of that me is a joke because his dad was a PGA professional, and it's just kind of in his DNA to to win the PGA championship. And he of course he's playing well now. Yeah, he's playing well. Um no, he didn't win Valhalla because Xander won Valhalla, right? Yeah. Um he won at Southern and at Quail Hollow back in 2016. I was actually at that one. Um you had to go watch Game of Thrones. No, no, that was the year after it at uh touch on the Southern Hills PGA.

SPEAKER_02

Hold on, hold on. Hold on. Real quick, real quick, Josh. What's interesting about all our picks is no one picked Rory for any of those categories.

SPEAKER_01

For anything, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

The Rory couldn't be first-time winner or U.S.

SPEAKER_01

player.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

So well, you pick Scotty for all four, so he could have been soft one.

SPEAKER_01

All right, go ahead. Um, where are you finishing off? Do we know anything about Will Zalatoris and his injury and like what's going on there? I mean, because like I miss watching him play golf. Um, he was in that playoff with Justin Thomas, and then he went head to head with Matt Fitzpatrick at the country club for the U.S. Open. And I don't know what the status is of his back injury. Is he back to playing golf yet or what? Because that's just a guy that I enjoyed watching, and I feel like if you had to put a number on it a couple three or four years ago, you probably would say he's gonna win a major or two. And now I I don't even know if he's swinging a club or not.

SPEAKER_02

Uh I thought he was back, and then I think he's out again.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

I who knows? I I don't know what what's going on with him.

SPEAKER_00

But yes, I I missed seeing him around as well. Do you guys think there's gonna be a problem with Philly fans again? Are they gonna show proper etiquette or is it gonna become a bad situation? Get rid of phones everywhere. Oh wouldn't that be great if you could if like just especially well, I think this would be a fun thing if the majors just said we're gonna follow the master's model and we're just gonna get rid of it. Like that'd be really interesting.

SPEAKER_01

It'd be it'd be so great.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I would I would love that. That would be great.

SPEAKER_02

It would be great. How many uh how many of these PGA professionals make the cut of the 20?

SPEAKER_00

Of the 20? Well, I mean, there's half the field's gonna make the cut, so those guys. I'd say four. Of the guys that are supposed to be in the top twenty, five of those guys are gonna just have two a bad day somewhere and somehow not even come across. Right. They'll they'll miss the cut, some of those guys. So you started thinking through just like statistically, you've got twenty people. Um if they go. I'd go I'd go one or two. You go one or two? You'd set the over under at three?

SPEAKER_01

It sounds like you'd set it at one and a half.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe one and a half, maybe one and a half, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I'd take the over.

SPEAKER_00

I'd take the over. If we don't think there's any teeth to it, right? Like if there's nothing that's gonna be They but they're different.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, it's like a scratch golfer versus a pro golfer. I mean, there is they are in between that, but like there is a big difference between uh a professional touring golfer and these guys.

SPEAKER_00

But even sometimes those guys are just terrible for a day. We just read that article. It talks about a 15, you know, a 15 uh stroke swing on some of these guys, depending on a four-round or three-round match or two weeks difference. So it would only take three out of twenty in your book or two out of twenty in your book to have a day, right? Where they shoot a sixty-eight, they go three or four under. They catch a quick they catch a good back nine. Five? Here's the real question. Does anybody care? Like, unless someone's in you on like the top ten, right, and it becomes a real story, does it matter who the 70, you know, the the 64th guy is plus in a tie with for 70th place or any of us waking up at whatever time in the morning, you can't even watch it. Like it's not gonna be on TV. Like, does it matter from that perspective?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, though there might be one or there might be one or two for the story, right? Like a couple guys that that just play well enough in the first two days that make the cut, and yeah, it's a good story on the weekend. Because I mean, that I I'll give you this, all of them are great stories, right? All of them being there. Even the Michael Block thing, like him, like he's a good golfer. Like, don't don't put that past, like, he's a good golfer to be able to qualify for these things year after year. Um so yeah, they are really good golfers, way better than any of us. Um, but yeah, that competing against a professional touring guy is is a little different. But like you said, it only takes two days and you just gotta beat what 70, 80 other people. There's not a net game at these things?

SPEAKER_00

I thought it was net. It's not net.

SPEAKER_02

None of them have nets to give. They have nothing to give. Nothing to give. All right. Final uh final question. What would be the dream scenario come Sunday late afternoon? What would you hope to see? What do y'all touch on you hinted at it?

SPEAKER_00

I I think so.

SPEAKER_01

Go ahead, Jonathan.

SPEAKER_00

No, what you said, you already you introduced the idea. Go for it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Brooks and Scotty. That'd be fun. Head-to-head, like tide going into Sunday. Like that would be that would be great theater.

SPEAKER_00

Jonathan, what would be what would be most exciting for you? That's a tough one to beat. Um You know, you there are some and I always joke around like Tommy's my spirit animal, but there are some guys where you just wish that at some point it breaks through and they get there first. Like they're they just seem to be decent individuals. They are always around. And it is it is fun to watch someone get their first major. Like it solidifies them. I don't know if there's some sort of Hall of Fame how many of those you got to win in order to get into it, but it definitely creates.

SPEAKER_01

And there's a Hall of Fame.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I know, I know, but I don't I don't know what it is, the criteria to get in. I understand it's a Hall of Fame. I'm saying I don't know what the criteria, like you have to have two majors or whatever it is, but like to see them do that, I think for those kinds of guys that are looking for their first major that have been on the on the edge. Um I would imagine at some point it's it really solidifies like who you are as a golfer. Like I really am this good, I really have been this good, and in a tough condition. At this point, Kirst would be like, Yeah, but there's an asterisk because it's just a PGA championship. So yeah, I mean, if you could have if you could have a group of a two or three groups, right? Like I golf is always good whenever it's going back and forth from a TV show perspective to like this guy doing this and this guy doing that, and the two groups behind, and you know, if there are no phones or anything else, everyone's just watching the scoreboard and trying to figure out what's actually happening. Um, those are always good. So if you got a couple of guys that, you know, on the back nine, someone's going like Birdie Birdie Par, Birdie Birdie, you know, shooting four or five under, making a run, even if it's not a win, it's still a lot of fun to watch.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So to that put another dream scenario, this kind of happened in 2016 because I was sitting there watching it at Quail Hollow. At one point, there were six guys tied for the lead. And and this was like leaders had teed off. We were we were into the final round, and there were six or seven guys tied for the lead, and it was like, oh my god, what is gonna happen? And so that's that's a fun scenario, just like like you were saying, constantly keeping up with who's hitting what shots where, and yeah, that that would be fun to watch.

SPEAKER_00

Masters 2025. That back nine, that back nine was incredible. Yeah. There were moves being made, shots being dropped. Like every time someone hit a bogey, it really like you might lose three slots because somebody else just hit just hit a birdie, or you know, like uh those would be fun. I you know, if you got if you got what we expect. You know, it is at some point it is a sport spectacle, right? We wanna we wanna see, you know, the proverbial someone throwing the long bomb or hitting the deep three from you know from the logo in golf. That comes down to hopefully not six shot lead unless they just climb, walk away from from the field. That's fun too. But otherwise, you want to see it close. You wanna see three or four guys have a chance. I always want to see somebody warming up or watching the last group because they're already in the clubhouse in the lead, and they don't know if they could just like go away. Like they they they know they've got to be ready, and in this particular case for three more holes if they they can't hold the lead all the way through.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Give me uh my dream scenario for this weekend. Give me Jordan Speith in one of the last two groups with a chance. With a chance. That I mean, must see TV, right? Like, how hard would people be pulling for him? One to cap off the grand slam, but two, just to kind of a redemption, like get back to uh hopefully where he was, because he was fun to watch. And he still is fun to watch, but would love to see uh would love to see him finish this thing off. It'd be fun. Maybe maybe he's gonna wait till next year to where he can do it uh at home at at Frisco or something near Dallas, but who knows. Um yeah, it'll be a good time. Uh Curse Man, we miss you. We wish you were here. I I wonder what his rant would have been about this week.

SPEAKER_00

We can ask him to record it separately. Yeah. Just a separate reel. Yeah. It'd probably be bashing. It would probably be at the exact same time, somehow bashing the PGA and live. Like he'd somehow work out how to do that. Maybe so.

SPEAKER_02

He's probably already subscribed to your golf tour on YouTube. Which hey, you know what? Uh that's gonna be some entertaining stuff.

SPEAKER_01

Um I think a lot of it's happening right down the road from me at Farm Links for self-farms.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. So, well, guys, this has been a lot of fun. Uh, it'll be fun to watch. PGA Championship this week from Rodamick. Uh, I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks uh for being here talking through this again. Kersh, you were missed. We'll get you back on here for the recap show. Uh, but until then, this has been another Best Ball Roundtable talking about the PGA. Y'all have a good one.

Head Shot

Jonathan Hill

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Robby Woodard

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