How can Tour increase entertainment value during regular season? | Golf Channel Podcast [Video]

0:01 | hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav world number one Scotty Sheffer back

0:07 | in Action trying to do something on the PJ tour that has not been done since 2017 that of course is when three

0:14 | consecutive events on the PJ tour Rex his odds skotty sher’s odds this week at

0:20 | the Houston open again I’m not good at gambling I’m not gonna pull ree Davis and say like this is some sort of

0:26 | risk-free investment Scotty sheffer’s odds to win the Houston open are plus

0:32 | 260 that is insanely low in fact the lowest we have seen on the PJ tour since

0:38 | at least 2019 you plunk it down a few shekels for

0:43 | sky shff this week uh I’m not because I get scared just like you do when we start talking about gambling then I

0:48 | realize that no it’s gambling I like gambling it’s losing that I don’t like then it then it comes crashing down and

0:54 | I realize that no I don’t like to give away my hard hard earned money for free I will say as soon as you mentioned his odds at in Houston I actually covered

1:01 | that event must have been three years ago four years ago maybe now four years and he was trying Scotty was trying to

1:08 | win his first event there and I remember going into Sunday and talking with Randy Smith on the Range like oh this is like

1:13 | no one can touch him and even Randy I remember telling me at the time like I I golf’s a funny game man and and so in

1:19 | ry’s famous words golf is a funny game don’t bet on me just it’s a funny game man this was fall 2021 because he had

1:26 | not yet won on the PGA tour he was kind of he remember that he was like that controversial K pick to make the the rer

1:33 | Cup team in 2021 yeah and now now and now look at him and now that dude has

1:39 | become dominant I you have to like his chances just based on what he’s done in his last two starts winning Bay Hill as

1:45 | dominantly as he did winning the Players Championship clearly with an injury that didn’t seem to to slow him up coming down the stretch and he’s played well

1:52 | here so you have to like all of those things I think at this point though he’s got his eye ahead just like the rest of

1:58 | us three weeks I’m not saying that away from him being the favorite or not but I think everybody pretty much has their eye on the Masters I think everyone has

2:04 | their eye on the Masters but I think Sky shuffler for whatever reason is is uniquely qualified to handle kind of this this

2:12 | three in a row and the run up to the Masters like he he very much stays present and when interviewing him it can

2:19 | almost be frustrating because you want him to talk about the Masters you want to talk about what it mean to win r0 you

2:25 | want to talk about kind of the historic trajectory that he has been on of late with his ball striking and yet he has

2:32 | the same sort of goals and values each and every time he tees it up he wants to commit to shots he wants to have a good

2:37 | attitude he wants to stay positive uh and and he he just wants to stay present

2:43 | that leads me to believe rex that the Masters really isn’t on his mind at all he’s never taking taken Advanced trips

2:51 | to Augustin Asal like so many players are doing Roy mroy talked about how he’s

2:56 | probably going to go to Augusta uh Monday Tuesday day of Valero week which I know you’ll be in San Antonio next

3:03 | week for Golf Channel Scotty has never want to do that he would rather do his work at home knows how to play the golf

3:08 | course can consult with C Ted Scott on what he wants to do and so I I I think

3:14 | he’s fully focused on on the Houston open and then next week when he has an off week he’s not playing in San Antonio

3:20 | he can start to kind of caress some of the shots that he’s going to know that he’s going to have to face at Augustin

3:26 | nashv well and that’s fair and if we’re going to sit here and do the proper handicap thing you do want to see what his health look like on Friday or didn’t

3:33 | even address it didn’t even address it wasn’t even asked about it yeah that was a little on the weird side given how

3:38 | much of the narrative that that was at the Players Championship but since he wasn’t even asked he didn’t volunteer

3:43 | anything about it my guess is he’s going to be fine but any time you have a top player and he dismissed it pretty much

3:49 | from the moment it happened on Friday all the way through Sunday as the importance of it I think Ted Scott probably gave a little bit more insight

3:55 | when we talked to him after the round at TPC Sawgrass and he said on Friday he was in pain just hit chip shots so you

4:00 | get an idea when these things happen to him and he says Scotty said it had happened to him before it’s just

4:06 | whatever he wants to Define it as he never gave us he never gave us the technical term like it wasn’t Tiger

4:12 | Woods going down the disc talking about which ones have been fused and which ones haven’t this was very ah it’s just a pinch neck well no I don’t think your

4:19 | trainer would call it that but all right like I I do like to your point how he keeps things pretty simple and in this

4:25 | particular case it’s probably why he’s world number one because he doesn’t look ahead very often which I just accused

4:30 | him too so my guess is that’s a big part of it but on the golf course you can just see it’s part of his demeanor he

4:36 | doesn’t get upset he doesn’t get sideways even if he has a bad bounce he doesn’t get mad at a poor swing now we

4:42 | saw over the last year him get a little aggravated with his putting but even that didn’t create a whole lot of emotion this guy sheffer’s task Rex this

4:49 | week could be made easier by the fact that the second betting favorite who is either 12 to1 or 14 to1 Windham Clark is

4:58 | actually dealing with a bit of a a back injury again these are not technical terms but he said that he that his quote

5:05 | back went his back went he threw he was he was working out in the gym on Monday at home in Scottdale and threw out his

5:11 | back while doing an exercise we’ll get into your own physical handicaps here shortly but he called it a a massive

5:17 | muscle spasm was actually concerned on Monday so two days ago we’re recording this podcast on Wednesday afternoon that

5:24 | he was going to have to withdraw from this week’s Houston open instead he got some Rehab on Tuesday flew at as

5:30 | physical therapist on a Wednesday I was able to hit balls and part uh partook in the nine hole proam he said he’s hopeful

5:38 | should be able to play but obviously if it’s going to jeopardize his standing in the Masters or any other important

5:43 | tournaments coming up in the next couple of months he will not be hesitating to pull out it’s a little bit of an

5:50 | unfortunate timing for Windham Clark is it not Rex who has risen now to number four the official World Golf Ranking

5:57 | back-to-back runner-up finishes both to Scotty Sheffer including that the agonizing finish at the Players

6:02 | Championship with a 20f footer to force a playoff hores shootout on the final green where would you put Windam Clark

6:09 | kind of on your list of Masters favorites because it is interesting the reigning US Open Champion will be making

6:16 | his master’s debut is not otherwise eligible prior of this year uh I I’m

6:21 | following the lead of our friend Mark Sall ESPN I’m doing tears for Tears uh no but I’m doing tears he’s clearly in

6:26 | that first tier whatever you want to call it the a tier the first block Scotty sheffler is in his own tier so

6:31 | win us to be in in tier two yeah I mean I think Scotty sheffler is is in his own category right now just overall playing

6:37 | the game but you’re probably right just based on his experience on that Golf Course like if you took everything else

6:43 | between January and now that Scotty shler has done so far this season even if you took that away out I would still argue at the Masters going into this

6:50 | year’s event he should be in his own tier but I would put Windam right there behind him I put Xander right there

6:56 | behind him I think you touched on the thing like no one’s done it since f Zeller in the 70s 72 if I’m correctly no

7:02 | one’s yeah uh no one’s won the Masters in their first try since fuzzy Celler

7:08 | that generation ago pretty much there’s a reason behind that that’s the type of golf course there’s a bit of a learning

7:13 | curve to it and if you played well there and you know the golf course and we see it year in and year out I mean I think

7:18 | tiger is probably a good example Freddy Couples not sure if he’s playing or not but if he’s playing I think it would be a safe bet that not only does he make

7:24 | the cut but he finishes I don’t know somewhere on the upper third of the leaderboard because that’s just what he do I don’t think Bernard Langer is

7:30 | playing because of a pickle ball accident speaking of which this is this is going to be

7:36 | terrible visuals what are we what are we what are we looking at and I I hope onee

7:42 | very unhealthy knee okay which why why don’t you describe since the since the visuals are are a little bit blurry

7:48 | apolog why don’t you why don’t you describe what you’re dealing with here apologies to the to the audio audience what happened Monday night playing

7:54 | pickle ball and this will be quick because I know you guys hate it when we digress and ramble like but according to

8:00 | my doctor uh yaka Dr yaka who was a very nice gentleman tear of the medial

8:05 | meniscus of right knee UNS specified type of tear initial encounter evaluate and treat is what he put on here so I

8:12 | have to go through six weeks of therapy this happened on Monday this happened on Monday in game one of a five game

8:18 | afternoon and I thought I thought that it was uh just a pinch and I kept

8:23 | limping and grabbing my was the what was the play can you can you set the scene for us it’s it’s I don’t even want to say because I wasn’t even playing it’s I

8:30 | don’t know how your courts are at your place at fancy Noti but like our courts are kind of stacked next to each other

8:35 | so every now and again a random ball from another Court will come bounding on to ours and you just ball and you grab

8:40 | it you throw it back to him I was just pivoting real quick to get the ball that had bounced into our court literally I

8:46 | wasn’t even doing a a pickle ball move I was I was just sort of making a pivot to grab a ball that had rolled onto our

8:51 | court and like felt the pinch oh that hurt just kept going and I kept thinking

8:57 | we’re like halfway into game one and I kept thinking thinking for another four and a half games no no no it’s just a pence this happens all the time it’ll be

9:03 | fine so then by the fifth game I was kind of like man I got to go home like I I probably over dead death still didn’t

9:08 | think anything was wrong woke up the next morning and couldn’t walk so that’s where I am now I I wish you’d Workshop

9:14 | this story a little bit maybe maybe it was a you know a violent Slam at the net

9:22 | maybe it was a a a stretch trying to get the ball NOP you hurt yourself trying to

9:27 | be a courteous Court mate uh well I I was I wanted to get the ball out of our

9:33 | court quickly like I we were kind of on a bit of a roll so like I I like to move fast when when I’m on the court but no I

9:39 | I’m all about the honesty here full disclosure full honesty I’m not trying to hide it like Langer did I I hurt

9:44 | myself just picking up a ball however I played for four and a half more and the doctor this morning tried to explain to

9:50 | me that oh this is this is not um how did he how did he put it this was uh he

9:56 | was explaining it that this this is this just didn’t happen on Monday that this has been going on for a bit of a time

10:03 | that this has been building for a while I’m like no no no I was fine until Monday as soon as I pivoted and like he kept trying to tell me that no like this

10:09 | builds up over time chronic thank that’s the word I was looking for this is a chronic I mean you’re 56 yeah you can

10:16 | see some wear and tear likely on the knee and this was kind of the no no that was the part that that he was happy with

10:22 | there is no well there’s wear and tear on the other one because I had the um I had the ACL replaced in the other one you can actually see the hole in the

10:28 | other one that they drove drilled through the knee wait minut let me show the one on the the your stage right is

10:34 | the one that had the ACL surgery that one has no uh he didn’t see anything that concerned him there there was no

10:40 | arthritis or anything worrying yeah so both them are he said relatively healthy knees for a 56y old I think the good

10:46 | news even though you have to sit out for six weeks with pickle ball is that you’re now heading to Augusta National

10:53 | uh as we’ve seen with tiger as we’ve seen with Brooks Kea is the most difficult walk

11:00 | uh of the entire year in addition we’ll be playing Palmetto Golf Club one of our

11:05 | favorite courses in the world the Sunday before the Masters thank you Brooks and

11:11 | that too is a is a very difficult walk we call that brown Augusta it could be a

11:16 | treacherous walk for you as well are you at all concerned like wendam Clark what is your status Rex for the year’s first

11:23 | major do you think that this could potentially be a hindrance to your performance uh I don’t think so because all I got to do is you know I can limp

11:30 | around like no one’s expecting me to perform so I don’t think it’s going to be an issue my pickle ball is out for the next six weeks and I have to go to

11:36 | therapy before I get on the road because I’ll be on the road for the better part of three weeks so that was my only concern that I needed to get this taken

11:42 | care of before I’m bouncing from San Antonio hotel to the Augustus hotel to Hilton Head Hotel so I think I’m on a

11:49 | I’m on the path to recovery me and Windam both are feeling confident that is good to hear I am very curious to see

11:55 | how Woodham Clark plays I do think he is uh kind of the unique player like we’ve seen we’ve seen players make their

12:01 | debuts at Augusta National over the past decade I would say and and really star

12:06 | you know Jordan spe almost won on his first appearance Sun JM uh played particularly well that I think that was

12:12 | a November Masters in 2020 obviously will Z Tores played his way to the final group uh in 2021 as well like it can be

12:20 | done obviously it has been a long time since a rookie or a firsttimer has come

12:25 | to the Masters and one in his debut appearance uh but it does seem like we’re getting

12:31 | towards that point where maybe course knowledge isn’t quite as important as it

12:37 | was in the past and particularly when you look at like someone with Wham Clark’s skill set who absolutely bombs

12:42 | it who can hit the ball ex exceedingly high and is so good on the greens uh I

12:48 | think he is is the type of player who could break that who could break that streak and I remember writing as a

12:53 | preview piece going into the players probably on Wednesday afternoon that no winner had ever done it in back toback years and there was like really good

12:59 | reason I asked a couple players and like there’s some pretty legitimate reasons why that had happened before Scotty Sheffer finally did it that’s the first

13:06 | time it’s ever happened and it’s because the golf course is a little quirky you usually end up getting much different

13:11 | conditions it doesn’t really suit one style of play all the things we could say about TBC sass the flip side of that

13:17 | going into this week to your point if wendham Clark wins I don’t think I mean it’s going to be the narrative on Sunday

13:22 | afternoon but I don’t think it’s going to be the driving narrative not in my mind for all the reasons you pointed out like he has all the tools and all the

13:28 | skills skills to be able to perform well on that particular Golf Course the only thing he doesn’t have is the experience

13:34 | and I think you’re right it’s probably a little bit overrated at this point as it comes to the Houston open in this week’s

13:40 | venue Memorial Park uh it was played in November last year so it’s going to be a completely different Golf Course than if

13:47 | you watch that tournament what you’re going to experience this week when you see the coverage on Golf Channel and NBC

13:52 | last fall there was a premium on on driving accuracy because of the thick barbuta Ru uh that would be just outside

13:58 | the Fairway it was a little bit kind of scraggly on the edges of the green the maintenance crew like did their best when it gets kind of dormant that time

14:04 | of year now uh to hear players describe it’s kind of like an over seated Paradise super super Lush bombers

14:11 | Paradise short rough seemingly trying to mimic the conditions that players are

14:16 | going to face in a couple weeks time uh at Augusta National but sahi theal re

14:21 | and this is where I want to take this conversation sahi Thal had a very interesting uh idea that he broached

14:27 | during his Tuesday press conference so in theory being at ammun Memorial Park fans will be able to play on Monday the

14:33 | day after PJ tour comes to town and and sah has has taken a little bit of an exception with some of the the TV

14:41 | broadcasters and he set an example last week on the eth hole at inisbrook it’s like a 230 yard par three super narrow

14:48 | green and it’s it’s like 10 yards wide and a commentator said it was a quote

14:53 | unquote safe shot when a player found the green like 30 feet away and S was like no man like that was an absolutely

15:01 | striped for iron that that barely curved at all and and found the putting surface

15:06 | like that was an unbelievable shot so his his basically the takeaway was that

15:12 | our perception is being a little bit warped and that we think PJ tour players are just kind of robots so sahi’s idea

15:20 | is basically to set up a tournament for let’s call it scratch amateurs just to

15:25 | see what they would shoot the day after the PJ tour comes town you and I have been fortunate enough to play the

15:31 | Masters media Lottery which is played the Monday after the Masters 25 to 30 or so media members it’s the exact same

15:37 | whole locations very similar green speeds to what they faced the the previous day for the final round of the

15:42 | Masters the big difference of course is that we do not play from the tips we play from the member T’s it’s 63 6,400

15:48 | yards it’s very very manageable I love this idea and I think the PJ tour would

15:54 | be wise to lean into this sort of stuff because as we mentioned repeatedly on

15:59 | this podcast 72 hole stroke play events can get very monotonous but with the explosion of YouTube golf they’re doing

16:07 | this uh they did this influencer uh Monday qualify for the Myrtle Beach event coming up I’ve always thought they

16:14 | should do like some sort of All-Star game or Skills game competition personally I think the tour should lean

16:20 | into this sort of stuff you buying or selling that I’m buying it no I think it’s a great idea I think I got the

16:25 | first taste of it is and I should look this up it was when the US Senior Open was played at K’s Valley which is just

16:30 | outside of Baltimore Maryland and it’s such a good golf course and I remember this was really early in my career and

16:36 | there was like a Monday media day essentially thing and I remember how just impossibly difficult that Golf

16:42 | Course was where I I think if you cover enough tournaments you get an idea of oh okay this is a hard Golf Course relative

16:47 | to that golf course on the PGA tour but this is similar to the conversation you and I had I think about JT last week

16:53 | every time I say something like oh JT is struggling with his putting I always try to throw the footnote in there that’s relative to the other 68 players in the

17:00 | world who made the cut who are the 68 best players essentially in the world so you always have to put that in context

17:06 | in this particular in this particular conversation it’s really really hard you’re right and tell you and I W like

17:13 | the idea of doing it with scratch golfers is one thing I just think you get a handful of get 12 golfers from

17:20 | that area to come out and do it and let the handicaps run the gamut because you’re going to get someone like myself

17:26 | who’s a 14 handicap that’s going to realize really early really quickly that nope I shouldn’t be out here like this is really really tough Golf and I’m

17:32 | probably not going to enjoy this process that’s what always gets me about Pro AMS to be honest with you because it’s

17:37 | you’re playing on a tour caliber golf course it’s not quite dialed up to that point yet like they usually wait until

17:43 | Wednesday night to start dialing it up but you’re still playing on a tour caliber golf course and you realize man

17:50 | these guys are so good and you’re right I think sometimes we can underappreciate that especially if it’s sah theala and

17:56 | he has a fur in his hand on a par three that’s just an impossible forine for you and I well certainly for me I played in

18:03 | I was lucky enough to play Hilton Head media day a few weeks ago and Wesley Bryant was on the 17th hole at uh

18:09 | Harbortown this the par three going out towards calabi sound for us it was

18:14 | probably playing 210 yards and he was playing from the same spot it was just like a sponsor thing and I think he hit

18:20 | seven iron and hit it to 12 feet and I hit four iron into the swamp and you’re like man like and he made it look really

18:28 | really easy and he been doing it all day long I don’t think he’d missed the green yet and he talked about how that te is

18:33 | so much easier and he points of course to the te they played during the tournament which is another 30 yards back and you’re right it you don’t

18:39 | realize how good those shot shots are until you can hear it from someone who actually has to ex execute it but I feel

18:45 | like the environment now is right for this sort of thing if the P tour is now

18:50 | leaning into this for-profit arm with pitor Enterprises and sort of they they

18:56 | want to appeal not just to the hardcore golf fan that’s that’s already following the PJ tour but kind of expand its reach

19:02 | uh this is this is the sort of thing that I think would be really helpful and obviously the danger here Rex is that it

19:09 | becomes too gimmicky and you know the the PJ tour calendar becomes littered

19:15 | with these sort of weird one-offs that I think can can take away from the Houston opens or the valpar Championships but I

19:22 | think sprinkled throughout the year like I would love to see like an All-Star game type thing or the skills

19:28 | competition kind of centered around uh the the centy which is the the season

19:34 | opening event it’s in Hawaii like why not do close to the pin competitions wood Club challenges flop shot sort of

19:42 | things you know hot streak putting like whatever you want to do just to build up

19:47 | that event as sort of the kickoff event like to me that makes a lot of sense I actually really liked I know there’s

19:52 | some criticism of it I actually really like the idea of having this influencer Monday qualifier and it’s these the

19:58 | player there who were very good players on YouTube I don’t watch them personally uh but if you look at their swings like

20:05 | they’re they’re they’re pretty damn good golfers and to have them in a Monday qualifier and to get them to them play

20:11 | in a PJ Tour event they’re now going to go to their audiences and show them exactly what it’s like to play in a PJ

20:17 | Tour event show them exactly how difficult and how good these guys are I love that I think instead of having the

20:25 | match like we just had a couple weeks ago in South FL or we’re going to have kind of the during the Silly Season

20:31 | event this is the sort of thing that I think could appeal to a wider audience getting scratch

20:38 | amateurs one Club challenges something along the likes that that shows that sort of illustrates just how

20:45 | good these guys are as opposed to just you know they’re going to shoot 15 under 20 under and there’s not really any

20:51 | context to it I’d love to see the tour lean into the stuff without going so far that it becomes gimmicky well and I

20:58 | think the US USGA has probably done a better job of this than the PGA Tour has because I think over the years really

21:03 | the last three or four years probably since Mike Juan took over to be honest with you they’ve done a good job of showcasing and I would expect them to do

21:10 | the same thing at Pinehurst this year showcasing the venue for that Year’s US Open and putting players on it in that

21:15 | situation now it’s not the Monday after the US Open that’s for us in the media you can’t take our te times but you do

21:21 | it in know you do it the week or two beforehand leading up and that actually gives you an opportunity to let them go

21:27 | out with the tour pro whether if they’re in their field or not because again what you want to do is see this relative to

21:33 | how difficult it is to a PGA Tour player versus how difficult it is to and let’s call it the best player at your Club

21:39 | challenge like you pick out who the best player at your Club is and send them out and you decide what you think he’s going

21:45 | to shoot at Pinehurst two weeks before the open because my guess is it’s gonna be close to a

21:50 | million Rex the last topic for this hodg Podge preview podcast is the European

21:57 | rer Cup advisory board meeting scheduled for Thursday among the weighty topics

22:03 | that they are going to discuss is what to do about those pesky Liv players under the rules the Liv Rebels will lose

22:11 | their cards this year because they face a one tournament suspension for every Liv start they make there are 14

22:17 | tournaments on the Liv schedule you do the math uh any player who wants to play

22:22 | for the European rouer Cup team is required to play Four DP World Tour events in 2024 otherwise they will lose

22:29 | their praying playing privileges thus they would be ineligible for 2025 at

22:34 | Beth Page black now Paul McGinley our colleague at Golf Channel a member of that advisory Council said they’re

22:41 | really torn on what to do here there is a certain segment of the golfing population that really wants to punish

22:47 | the live guys because they’re the ones who have diluted the product they’re the ones who have divided the game they’re

22:53 | the ones who should be punished for what they’ve done on the other hand

22:59 | Europe May desperately need these guys if they want to win back the cup in Beth

23:05 | Paige what would you do would you would you allow them to play scott-free would

23:11 | you change the rules what would you do if you were Luke Donald uh well first and foremost I want

23:17 | to touch on the idea they didn’t need the live guys last year so John Ron would be the outlier here because he

23:23 | walked away Terell Hatton you know since they played the Ryder Cup the last time around so I know it’s going to be little

23:28 | bit different Dynamic I I would actually kind of want to see how they have no chance they have no chance in 2025 if

23:34 | you don’t have John ROM Terell Hatton Adrien Moran and the like no chance

23:40 | 2337 Mark that that’s going to be good for uh the social media uh I disagree with you vly like I could not disagree

23:47 | with you more because we probably said the same thing going into the last Rider Cup in Rome I’m I’m sure we said the

23:53 | same thing that this is going because that was Lee Westwood Ian polter Sergio Garcia who wouldn’t be playing hry

23:58 | senson who wouldn’t be playing we’re talk going to be a problem and I’m Adrien didn’t make the team so I

24:04 | don’t know why you would throw his name in there he he should have made the team I would have made the argument but it didn’t turn out they well they didn’t

24:10 | turn out they needed him either I would say Terrell Hatton is always going to be on the fence simply because I’m not even quite sure he would have qualified for

24:16 | for the event he’s partners with Rah uh I think Rah can be partners with anyone Rah is going to be the one they miss and

24:23 | so I guess in the 30,000 foot view that Luke Donald and the rest of that committee is going to have to take is is

24:29 | there any way for us to find an Avenue back for John ROM and if so then then you start looking at the rest of them

24:35 | are going to want to come along as well I would argue that at this point in time I would much rather see these very

24:41 | learned individuals walk in this room and come up with a solution that does allow the live golf guys to come back

24:47 | it’s going to be difficult because to your point there’s a lot of personal feelings and people have very very strong feelings when it comes to this

24:53 | but absolutely not I I think the United States team is going to be favored for be page just like they normally are when

25:00 | it’s a home game I think the United States team is probably should win that match but the idea that there’s no

25:06 | chance because they don’t have John ROM that’s the only name I’m willing to Grant you I think that’s ridiculous Roy

25:12 | mroy following John ROM’s to he’ll be on the team Rory will be on that team in early December immediately almost his

25:19 | almost his gut reaction was to oh we’ve we’ve got to change the European rer Cup rules and at the time they didn’t have

25:26 | to what will now transpire is that they they are going to have to because they would be able to play the number of

25:31 | tournaments they need to play in order to maintain their eligibility but that was his his gut reaction to oh you

25:36 | you’ve got to change it we have to have John ROM I think that will be the

25:41 | prevailing sentiment for all those guys whether it’s VI whether it’s Matt Fitzpatrick whether it’s ludig oberg

25:49 | they want to have John ROM and the like but I think they also recognize they need to have John ROM and like he’s a

25:57 | top five player in the world I know he’s not playing probably as well as he was a year ago at this time he’s still John

26:04 | ROM no he’s still a top five player he’s still one of the he’s still on Pace to be one of the greatest European golfers

26:10 | ever of you have to change the rules in order to accommodate these guys what’s interesting is whether whether the PJ of

26:18 | America and the European tour can come to some sort of compromise and and and

26:23 | have kind of universal rules as it relates to live golfers assuming things do not get settled otherwise and I don’t

26:30 | know what that would be like I don’t want to be sitting in that room I think both of us understand how difficult some of these decisions are going to be I

26:36 | think there has to be a path back for the live guys I think there has to be a deal between the pga2 and LIF like I

26:42 | believe these things and I believe that those European players who are going in that room need to and will find a way to

26:48 | allow these players to come back it’s not going to be popular there’s going to be plenty of people who are angry about it but I’m just pushing back on your

26:53 | concept that oh they don’t stand a chance if they don’t have John ROM you’re talking about a essentially one

26:58 | out of 12 players I’m talking about John ROM I’m talking about Terell Hatton I’m talking about Adrien Moran adri has

27:05 | never played on a rer stoping his name out there he’s never played on a Ryder Cup what does that matter we just saw we

27:10 | just saw lud viob Berg perform quite nicely in Rome in his in his debut appearance did he not let’s let’s put

27:16 | Luke Donald on here and have him explain why for whatever reason Adrien Moran was the first guy out I don’t think he

27:21 | should have been the first guy out if you look at his resume going into that particular Ridder cup what he had done he’d won the Italian open on that venue

27:29 | in Rome he’d won the Irish open I think he’d won one other National open like he really should have been on that team

27:34 | didn’t make a difference I think if memory serves it was either Bobby Mack or Adrien and Bobby Mack played

27:40 | reasonably well in Rome in the in the few appearances that he made but it did make a difference is my point and look I

27:47 | I John ROM will will John R will make a difference Adrian Moran not being on a

27:52 | team that he was never on you’re trying to prove a negative here like it’s schinger box we don’t know if he could have made a difference or not because

27:58 | he’s locked in the box like so that’s a that’s a that’s that’s a bad argument like I’m not buying that and the idea

28:04 | that Terrell hatton’s somehow going to swing the balance I don’t buy that one either John ROM’s going to make a difference and I do believe they’re

28:09 | gonna go in the room and find some way to do this I’m not quite sure it’s gonna make that big of a difference if they don’t though because I still think it’s

28:16 | going to be a well-fought match I still think the United States if I had to pick would has better than better than

28:22 | average chances of winning and I don’t know if that’s bad for the Ridder cup at this point I mean to your point is R

28:30 | Terell Hatton Adrian Moran David Pooch are those players replaceable yeah

28:35 | probably I mean you could you could probably have a one for one replacement sure

28:41 | with I don’t know maybe maybe Rasmus hogard and teaming with his brother and they could be like a completely

28:47 | indestructible Force I don’t I don’t know when it comes to David puj who has played uh exceedingly well in early 2024

28:54 | who knows what he’s going to look like uh by Fall 2025 like those are the types of players that you would at least allow

29:01 | the pathway so I I wouldn’t change the rule to just allow them in like I I would

29:06 | still I I would still want to incentivize them to to play X number of

29:12 | events uh to make sure they’re doing the work and to show the team their potential future teammates that they’re

29:18 | still committed to the Cause right you can’t just open the door and say come on on and all of a sudden we’ll start we’ll

29:24 | start weighing you know Live Points uh it was shortly after last year’s right cup and I had a member a previous member

29:31 | of the European team of the rer Cup team reach out to me just what you know what are your thoughts and what did you think of it and and don’t get me wrong this

29:38 | this this previous member of the European team had no illusions that he should have been on that team and he was well aware of the idea that look my time

29:45 | has passed his argument though was and I think it applies to what we’re talking about that the European Ryder Cup team

29:50 | is only hurting Itself by not having a John R or maybe to a certain degree a ter Hatton or opening up the door to

29:58 | future team members like Adrien Moran it’s only hurting himself and they’re hurting your most important product so

30:03 | if you’re looking at this from just from a commercial aspect if that’s the only thing you’re kind of looking at here and

30:10 | you need to have the competition to be close and the only way to do that is to make sure there’s going to be some sort of crossover you’re also probably going

30:17 | to make everything that’s happening in the universe right now in the golf Universe right now between the PGA Tour and the public investment fund you’re

30:23 | probably going to make those negotiations a little bit easier if the European tour the DP World Tour is the one that steps up and finds a way to

30:30 | allow those players to cross over they’ve already done it to a certain degree you have Live players playing in European tour events on a pretty regular

30:36 | basis so all you’re doing essentially is doing away with the penalty which if depending on who you ask there probably

30:43 | isn’t going to be any kind of significant penalty for these players to come back anyway so I I see this as a

30:49 | net positive if the players in that room can figure something out I mean there’s been five tournaments in my opinion that

30:56 | have been elevated through through all the through all the turmoil of the past two years the four major championships

31:02 | and the rder cup have only have only risen in stature or risen in importance

31:08 | it’s it’s it’s unfathomable that the European Rider cup

31:13 | leadership would go down a path that would potentially dilute what is quite

31:20 | possibly the greatest spectacle in all the sports and that’s the rer cup and I also think a greater Point Rex is that

31:26 | the bitterness and and the resentment and the jealousy we’ve seen it pervasive through PJ tour membership and some of

31:33 | the infighting and what not to do with creating a pathway back for Live players like that’s so

31:39 | counterproductive to what they should be doing it’s so shortsighted I understand there are hurt feelings uh but if you

31:46 | take a long-term view on this it’s so obvious what has to happen and yet and yet I’m still skeptical that it actually

31:54 | will well no if we were having this kind if we this up to the PGA of America and

32:00 | I think we have a pretty good idea of how the PGA of America wants to lean in this direction they’ve been on the PGA

32:05 | tour side since pretty much the beginning Seth wall the CEO of the PGA has been pretty outspoken on this if

32:10 | this was left up to the PGA of America and the players on the US team I think it would be a much higher bar to clear I

32:16 | think it’s and going to be a much higher bar to clear to get those Li players back when and if a deal is done between

32:21 | the tour and the PIP I think because the DP World Tour has shown a degree of flexibility not a lot of flexib ility I

32:28 | mean they’re start still charging players an enormous amount of money finding players an enormous amount of money who went to live and broke broke

32:34 | their rules but at least they’re creating some sort of Avenue back I think they’re going to be more open to the idea that this is something that not

32:41 | only can we do but we probably should do like this is our most important property as a tour is the the rer cup when it’s

32:47 | on European soil because that’s essentially the engine that makes everything work on the European tour that’s where they get the vast majority

32:53 | of their funds so you need to make sure that’s the best product possible and that means making sure that those

32:58 | players who went to live not only the ones like John ROM who are clearly an important part of the team but also

33:03 | those players that you just pointed out the ones that are the upand comers the ones that are every two years that most

33:09 | Americans haven’t heard of and they end up winning four points and we’re all sitting standing there going what happened what just happened like those

33:15 | are the players you also need to watch out for Rex this is your last week at home

33:20 | before three straight weeks on the road we’re still hoping to fire up the grill at our master’s house last year uh Avid

33:28 | listeners of the podcast will remember that we nearly had an emergency trying to cook a steak in a in a near flat iron

33:37 | uh in in a cast iron skillet threw it in threw it in the oven things did not go

33:42 | well we are hoping to fire up the cabado Joe at our master’s rental house absent of that though Rex this is probably your

33:48 | last opportunity to fire it up for a while Easter weekend we’ll be recording

33:53 | our podcast on Easter Sunday that evening so what do you have on the grill the next couple of days I found out I’m

34:00 | a I’m a hoarder of thing of I don’t know how to put this without sounding weird I’m a hoarder Meats is that is that what

34:05 | you’re going to say yeah I guess that’s the only way to say it I was trying to avoid that it didn’t I feel like it a little uncomfortable does not sound well

34:11 | no no it doesn’t sound like I’m doing something well don’t Google that please don’t Google that uh I I feel like because I was just going through my

34:16 | freezer just trying to find something over the next couple days I could cook and I found uh two racks of ribs I found

34:23 | a whole bunch of chicken and I found half a pork butt and so between that now

34:29 | and when I leave on Monday to go to San Antonio for three weeks I have to figure I’m I’m G to figure out so I’m G to spend a lot of time tomorrow is my shift

34:36 | on on the desk I’m I’m covering all things golf related tomorrow so I think uh I’ll be on the back porch yep make

34:41 | sure you’re refreshing those transcripts we do appreciate your service you’re not gonna be doing any sort of Easter

34:47 | Delicacies uh for the holiday weekend uh no because we do Easter over at my in-law’s house so they do a big Easter

34:53 | egg hunt for all the grandchildren who are all grown and large people now so it’s turned into quite the affair with

34:59 | usually there’s some sort of injury there’s usually some sort of crying there’s blood involved uh hopefully no meniscus tears

35:05 | and their right knees uh yes I’m I’m with you on that we have I think three different Easter egg hunts like it’s a

35:12 | it’s it’s apparently now not just like a it’s not just like an Easter brunch apparently there’s there’s Easter icons

35:18 | on Sunday as well as Saturday and Friday as well uh I’m with you I went into the

35:23 | freezer uh I found a boneless leg of lamb that I’ll be you a quarter of meats

35:29 | as well yes we do not have a particularly big fridge or fridge or freezer but I went diving in there found

35:36 | a boness leg of land which will be delicious that is an Easter delicacy for sure I also picked up uh one of those

35:43 | twice smoked hams so I’ll be throwing that on the offset uh getting some glaze on there some seasoning and glaze uh so

35:49 | we’ll be eating ham and lamb uh for the receival future in the lavner house are you driving up to the Augustus you are

35:55 | driving up to the Augustus correct I am driving up to the augustas I leave uh in nine days to begin my semi Fortnight at

36:04 | Augusta National I’ll be driving up the Friday uh before that is the practice round for the Augusta National Women’s

36:10 | Amateur where everyone plays in the anoa gets to play Augusta National after they do the cut to the top 30 and ties for

36:17 | the final round it will be great okay so you’re bringing up whatever fuel we need for that Grill in the backyard that

36:22 | didn’t work last time so we don’t burn down that poor man’s house like we tried to last year yes I will bringing a bag

36:28 | of charcoal and other goodies uh you know Wireless probes uh instant read

36:34 | thermometers seasonings yeah we’ll be we’ll be well stocked in the Jeep it should be a great trip uh and I did want

36:40 | to bring up one more thing before we bounce out of here because after Steve Sans was on the podcast last week and you got a little uh little hurt by some

36:47 | of the content some of the comments someone did point out something that that Steve Sans has a lot of behind the scenes TV stuff that he was sort of

36:54 | talking about that people seem to like but and I I wanted to do this one because actually felt bad I didn’t even

36:59 | think about it I went back and watched our round table for Monday and there was a moment which it happens in TV all the

37:05 | time sometimes people notice sometimes people don’t but where you were just supposed to pick up on the back end of

37:10 | me talking I was gas bagging and I I assumed that our our producer Khloe had

37:15 | got in your ear and just said just pick it up on the back end and just start talking there’s a little bit of DeLay So it’s always weird when we’re doing those

37:21 | round tables apparently the co-host Matt Adams who we both liked didn’t catch the memo and so you two start talking at the

37:28 | same time that was great that was that was a great caveat thank you yes yes you two start talking at the same time and

37:33 | it was very awkward and then you you both gave each other a pregnant pause and then you started talking again just

37:38 | like you see in the movies with old people on Zoom calls I realized in that moment having watched it again that

37:44 | those moments just make me laugh on TV even when it’s me that’s doing it like and I I know it’s not an appropriate

37:50 | time to laugh because you you should be appropriate I mean you you should be professional but when we were four wide

37:55 | in that screen the look on my face is like someone just told me the funniest joke in the world I didn’t laugh out

38:00 | loud luckily I stifled that back but like the look on my face is I have a huge smile and I’m so happy that this

38:06 | just happened to you and Matt and now I feel bad about it because I’m like it’s just it’s you have to laugh at it if not

38:12 | you’re you’re gonna go get in the fetal position and spend the next week there I mean I I was given Specific Instructions

38:18 | I’m sure you were to pick it up and so and so that’s why when someone is is talking and in this case it was it was

38:24 | Matt Adams who was on the desk in Connecticut and again have probably a second and a half to two second delay

38:30 | I’m just going to plow ahead I’m I’m I’m plowing ahead and I’m really not stopping for anyone if I was given

38:36 | Specific Instructions to pick it up on the back end that leads me to believe that we have time that we have time into

38:41 | a commercial break we have time before we need to get to the next topic and so you know what I’m gonna take my sweet

38:47 | time and so that’s I think that was one of my answers that went on for like two minutes because I said you know what I’m gonna Savor this because they were

38:53 | trying to cut into my time I don’t think they were I I don’t think that’s what what happening at all I think that

38:59 | somehow the traffic got crossed and that you two just stepped on each other little those things are tough everyone everyone thinks those are those are

39:05 | seamless production but I mean we all have different delays they’ve got to figure out on the desk who’s asking what

39:11 | you know do you do you pick it up how do we work in commercials like there’s there’s a lot that goes on that that that folks probably don’t realize no I I

39:18 | just realized in that moment I was being a really bad teammate because I was laughing at at what happened between you and Matt and I probably could have been

39:24 | a little bit more sympathetic certainly I’ve been through it enough times I now horrifying that can be on TV but it was

39:29 | the like as it’s happening I’m watching it and I start kind of giggling then I kind of glance the other side of the screen and I realize oh I was doing the

39:35 | same thing on live TV and I mean when and when it happens to you next week I’m sure I’ll be I’m

39:42 | sure I’ll be cackling as well there’s always some sort of miscommunication or mixup each each and every week that’s

39:48 | bound to happen when I I can’t turn my camera R right now but we’re essentially just looking into iPhones there’s an app

39:54 | on our cell phone called live VI it’s inside the middle of this like industrial siiz ring light and that

39:59 | that’s how we make television from the magic look outside the rest of my office it is an absolute pigy my wife is my

40:08 | wife is on me for days go to clean this up and yet I can’t and I don’t

40:15 | here’s I mean you look like you’re a hoarder you hoard Meats I just hoard crap I just I just I

40:23 | hoard crap in here Mine mine’s no better this is how we make I have I have a dog bed I’ve got all the

40:30 | stuff from being kicked out of my office like it’s mine’s no better you also have you also have an

40:35 | eldest son who is now home who is not appearing on the S cast uh thankfully uh

40:43 | he’s at work everyone’s at work so we’re good that is going to do it for this home tour Edition uh MTV Cribs edition

40:50 | of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and La we back on Sunday night for a recap of the Texas Children’s Houston open you

40:59 | guys know the gr drill make sure you go to nbcsports.com golf for the latest news and updates also if you subscribe

41:08 | to the Golf Channel PR email peep us at the bottom shout out to Jamie palatini

41:13 | who finally included the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lab with the companywide email that goes out yes you

41:19 | and I are two longtime scribes that which we’ll discuss and debate the latest news and hottest Topics in not longtime friends apparently that’s what

41:26 | we do here thanks for listening thanks for the support be back in a few days have a great

41:36 | week