What Rory’s board rejection means; PGA gets it right with LIV invites | Golf Channel Podcast [Video]

0:00 | hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav it’s been a busy few days in the

0:06 | golf world I certainly look forward to explaining why it looks so sunburnt from the North Carolina heat but Rex let’s

0:13 | first start with something that just came out here on Wednesday morning Roy

0:18 | mroy has withdrawn his name from consideration for the PJ tour policy Board of course this may also be a game

0:25 | of semantics because Roy mroy as he met with the media at qu Hollow says it got quote messy and complicated once he

0:33 | announced his intentions to rejoin the board and take web Simpson spot since he wanted to step down as it happens web

0:41 | Simpson will now stay on the PJ tour policy board through the end of his term which is at the end of 2025 well Roy

0:46 | mroy will instead be left to try to affect change from the outside what is

0:52 | your read on all of this I think messy is the perfect word because you look at

0:57 | how this went down and look this isn’t necessarily if you look at just the nuts and bolts of this and the facts I don’t

1:03 | think there’s anything extraordinary here that would have ruffled feathers the way it ended up ruffling feathers I think the the issue with this is that

1:09 | you only have to go back a couple of months to November when Rory stepped down from the board and was replaced by Jordan spe and there’s some weird rules

1:16 | and regulations I don’t want to bore anybody with it but to become a player director essentially you have to be elected by the entire membership to

1:23 | become a replacement player director which is what Jordan Speed did last year when Roy stepped down and what Rory

1:29 | wanted to do this time around you get elected by the player directors and the independent directors on the board

1:34 | you’re kind of circumventing the vote is essentially what you’re doing and you have this Rift and we’re going to get

1:40 | into this more later in the podcast but you have this divide that’s growing more and more by the day on the PGA tour and

1:45 | it’s the stars in the ranking file for lack of a better term and the stars are being taken care of in a way that

1:52 | they’ve never been taken care of on the PGA tour before we talk about Signature Events we talk about bigger purses

1:58 | bigger points for those events uh Equity shares which we we kind of dug in to last week everything the tour is doing

2:03 | right now is to cater to the stars for obvious reasons you need to stop the flow of stars to live golf so you need

2:09 | to take care of them on the other half of that equation is the rank and file and there has been push back about the

2:15 | way the signature event fields are filled there’s been push back about how many points have been given to Signature Events there’s been a lot of push back

2:21 | even over the last week about the equity program and in this particular case it looks like the tour is taking care of

2:28 | another player director it looks like they’re circumventing the electorate it looks like they’re going doing this in a

2:34 | shady way I’m not saying it is in a shady way but the Optics of it looked awful but it’s not just a rift between

2:41 | the PJ tour Superstars and the PJ tours Rank and file this Rex feels like a rift between Roy mroy and some of the most

2:48 | influential players who are on that PJ tour policy board most notably whether it’s Patrick Klay I also think if Tiger

2:56 | Woods the biggest star in the game wanted Roy maroy to rejoin the board and

3:01 | his voice apparently speaks the loudest he would have Roy maroy back on the

3:06 | policy board the fact that Rory has been rejected withdrawn his name how however

3:11 | you want to sort of phrase it I I still think this is an embarrassment for the

3:16 | PJ tour you have the most popular active player the most influential active

3:22 | player wanting to take back his spot I understand he could have seen it through

3:27 | he could have weathered the storm last fall it was clear that when he said that he was butting his head against the wall that he was obviously frustrated with

3:33 | the direction the PJ tour policy board was going I get all of that however his intentions have been very clear of late

3:41 | that he wants to reunite the game and yet he’s being rejected the lack of

3:47 | self-awareness by the PJ tours policy board members to to reject this notion

3:52 | of a player who wants to unify the game who sees the Divi what the division has done sees what unifying the game could

4:00 | do not just for 2025 but for 5 10 15 years down the road to reject that

4:05 | notion is is just so oblivious to how

4:11 | golf fans are feeling at the moment uh and you might be conflating that a little bit two points I wanted to touch

4:17 | on one Tiger Woods should could has to be the loudest voice in that room no I

4:22 | mean we can all agree with that I can’t imagine a scenario where he just sits back in the back of the room and doesn’t say anything and just draws Doodles on a

4:28 | notepad I don’t think that’s the way this is working out it is there’s a lot of Palace Intrigue here when you look

4:34 | clearly there is a rift between Patrick Klay and Roy maroy this goes back a couple years just not to the Ryder Cup

4:40 | last year and whatever it is that’s going on behind those doors I think probably does have to do with what

4:45 | you’re alluding to here the idea that Rory’s vision of the future of the PGA Tour is obviously different than Patrick

4:51 | klay’s vision of the PGA Tour but the more important point is what is Tiger Woods’s vision of the PGA Tour I I don’t

4:59 | think I I I think it has to be closer to to Patrick kentley’s Vision I would tend to

5:05 | agree with that and and look we’re kind of speculating here and this is wild speculation but there is no other answer

5:10 | for this we all know that Tiger and Rory are close it’s not as though these guys aren’t friends however when you look at

5:16 | wherever it is we’re going to go when you look at the issues that are going on inside that boardroom right now and the thing that’s that’s holding up whatever

5:22 | may come next it’s clear that Tiger Woods it’s becoming increasingly clear that Tiger Woods is on the other side of

5:28 | this the other side of Rory as far as trying to unify the game it seems clear the other side Jay Monahan the way his V

5:35 | vision of the game goes and I would say this probably goes back to that Monday meeting in the Bahamas between the

5:40 | policy board player directors and Yasser alayan the governor of the public investment fund because from what I’ve

5:46 | been told and have been told a lot about that meeting but the one thing that did come out of it is yaser’s vision of the

5:51 | future of what he thinks proov should be and a lot of the board members AKA probably Roy maroy in this case vastly

5:59 | different and I think we probably saw the internal ugly politics we had to this is how the sausage got made and in

6:05 | this particular case it got made in a way that you’re right was embarrassing to the PGA Tour it’s embarrassing again

6:12 | to Roy maroy who just went through this about a year ago now as we sneak up on the Canadian open in June 6th in the

6:18 | framework agreement for the second time in less than a year he’s been embarrassed by the PGA Tour that’s the

6:24 | part that I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around isn’t this also a a huge risk to reject Rory’s inclusion

6:31 | I mean web Simpson said that he wanted Roy maoy back on the PJ tour policy

6:36 | board the Strategic Sports Group which is led by Fenway sports with whom Roy maroy has a relationship would want Roy

6:43 | maroy back on that board yaser Al who actually has a relationship with Roy

6:48 | mwell they spoke at least on multiple had multiple conversations about what the future future of live what the

6:54 | future professional golf could look like would want Roy maroy on the PJ tour policy board the that the PJ tour policy

7:00 | board is rejecting Rory and keeping him at arms length when he wants to be brought back into the fold given all of

7:07 | the Partnerships and affiliation ships affiliations and relationships that he

7:12 | has built over the past couple years it’s just if that is not proof rex that

7:19 | this whole thing is broken I I don’t I don’t know what is uh and again I I think you’re probably stepping over the

7:24 | speculation line a little bit at least for me you’re probably going just a tad too far on that front because you’re

7:30 | sort of speculating that everyone else in the boardroom is against what Rory stands for and I don’t think that’s fair

7:36 | I I think there’s prob web web Simpson is not uh well and I’d be curious where Adam Scott Falls we we we got a glimpse

7:43 | of maybe where Jordan Speed Falls and there’s so many moving Parts in all of this I I think the one part that stands

7:50 | out and you touched on the idea that Rory’s relationship with finway sports

7:55 | probably made this just as complicated as this internal politics has made made because there was an issue going into if

8:02 | the PJ tour was going to do this deal with SSG which it didn’t end up doing had Rory stayed on the board there might

8:07 | have been a conflict of interest and there had been a lot of talk sort of internally sort of back you know behind

8:12 | the door politics when it comes to that so if you’re GNA connect the dots maybe he stepped down allowed that vote to go

8:18 | forward assuming that okay I can come back on the board next year I I’m not even quite sure that’s what’s happening

8:24 | here again I keep going back to Tiger Woods and where he lands and all this and what he thinks the game should look

8:30 | like and that that’s the the one like we’ll all get an opportunity to talk to him next week at balla so many things

8:36 | you always want to ask him but that would be the one I’d love to see him Shot full of so sodium penthol and sit

8:42 | down and tell me exactly what do you think the game’s going to be where do you want the game to be in 20 years

8:47 | because this indicates to me and this is as far as I’m willing to take it that Rory and tiger don’t see eye to eye on

8:52 | this Roy don’t Roy and tiger don’t see eye to eye I think it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Patrick kley

8:59 | and Rory M do not see eye to eye that needed unanimous approval when the PG tour policy board and the point the fact

9:06 | of the matter is it did not receive unanimous approval I do think there needs to be some sort of PR messaging

9:13 | that’s going around how the PJ tour policy board is going to put this out publicly because there is going to be a

9:18 | lot of confusion among golf fans where you have the most influential player on the PG tour wants to affect change wants

9:24 | to end the division wants to end the two years of acrimony and division that has ripped part men’s professional golf with

9:30 | with so much apathy going on and yet he’s being rejected uh I hope that they at least have some sort of PR offensive

9:39 | because it certainly is confusing Rex moving on the PJ of America announced most of its field for

9:46 | next week’s PGA Championship I think most notably there will now be 16 Live

9:52 | players in the field with Patrick uh Patrick Reid Taylor G David puog Dean B

9:59 | M among those who received invitations to play next week at Valhalla simple

10:05 | question the PJ of America get this one right I think so 100% we talked about

10:10 | this on the round table yesterday on golf today and that we we kind of got caught up with the Taylor gu one that’s the name that’s going to stand out right

10:16 | that’s the one that everyone’s going to point to and say that I’m not quite sure about that guy I I keep going back to

10:22 | the idea that I don’t want him as my Ally because as we’ve pointed out numerous times like he’s not willing to

10:28 | go the extra to try to qualify we pointed out what w Neiman did towards the end of last season like he saw the

10:34 | future and knew I need to make an effort to try to get into these major championships and here’s how I could do it play the Australia Open Play some of

10:41 | these other events that do get world ranking points you’re not going to jump up crazy high winning the Australian

10:46 | Open but you’re going to jump up enough and it’s going to be send a clear enough message to the pg of America that he

10:51 | makes an easy invit invite Taylor gu is not as easy as an invite I will say this

10:57 | and my argument was I feel like this Falls in line to what the PGA of America always does and they always invite if if

11:02 | for whatever reason you’re not in one of the automatic locked in categories you get an invitation to the PGA Championship they always invite someone

11:08 | in and around the top 100 it’s not a hard number it’s in and around the top 100 now you’re gonna point to me and you’re gonna say well Taylor G is 6

11:15 | 144th in the world in the world ranking well I’m gonna poooo all over that and I’m gonna say he’s 35th in data golfs

11:21 | rankings and I have become a huge convert to data golf because I am tired of dancing around this idea that we

11:27 | can’t quantify what these guys are doing now so I have spent about the last three weeks and that’s not an easy website to

11:32 | follow man I do not have an an advanced degree in mathematics however I will say that seems like a much better website

11:39 | and he is 35th on that website and I think he probably should have gotten this I don’t like it when you and I B

11:45 | Banner back and forth and say he deserves it I would argue that no one actually deserves it but should he be in the field yes and absolutely I do

11:52 | believe that the PJ of America got this one right because you think about this what is the PJ championship’s identity

11:58 | it doesn’t have the the history like the Open Championship it doesn’t have the most pageantry and tradition like the

12:05 | Masters it doesn’t have the most open field or sort of the hardest examination

12:11 | which is what a US Open has traditionally the PJ Championship has been the best field in golf they

12:18 | typically find a way to invite the top 100 players in the official World Golf Ranking and fell out their field with

12:24 | Club Pros or various other invitations that has been harder to do because of

12:30 | the official World Golf Ranking and how it it now skews towards a PJ tour and

12:35 | obviously excludes Liv which with withdrew its bid for official World Golf Ranking points it cannot seriously

12:42 | consider itself the best field in golf particularly not the strongest major championship field if you do not include

12:49 | the live golf players and so I do think rex that this was a a significant moment

12:55 | because this is the very first time since live golf launch in 2022 that a major organization is

13:02 | acknowledging that performances on live are now worthy of major inclusion

13:09 | indirectly like I I don’t I don’t think it’s not it’s not a direct pathway but I do think it it presents now a possible

13:17 | path forward for other major championships to follow I I I just think it’s a really encouraging move by the PJ

13:25 | and they should be applauded for being Above The Fray it’s it’s their imp it’s their imperative to put together the

13:32 | best major championship field possible and it certainly seems like they’ve done that with the players that they’ve decided to invite I agree we talked

13:38 | about this at the Masters and it’s now going to fall on all of the major championships to decide if the best players are in your field or not and

13:44 | it’s going to require some tough decisions at least in the short term at least until the PGA Tour Pi LIF golf

13:50 | figured out what’s what we’re going to do next because that’s going to dictate sort of how they how the major championships are going to respond but

13:56 | in the short term it’s up to the pg of America to look beond the politics and look beyond the Riff and say Yes Taylor

14:02 | gu is our guy again not the hero I want but he is a hero that I think we all should get I’m going to I’m going to

14:08 | take us off on on two uh sort of side roads here and and you guys apparently don’t like it when we go on the side

14:14 | roads so these these will be quick and they are related to the topic at hand I did golf today yesterday and you will

14:20 | immediately know who sent these questions along right you ready for for this question because I’d like to get your answer to this because my answer

14:26 | came with nothing but sweat stains because made me so nervous yeah here you go you ready for this and I want your

14:32 | answer uh Phil tweeted a threat that one day no Live players would attempt to compete Majors as a way of holding those

14:39 | events Ransom to grant them a direct pathway into the major championships talking about Li players you ever see

14:44 | Brook Kea or John ROM boycotting Majors just because Taylor G or Walken Neeman

14:49 | aren’t in the field go no that’s

14:55 | laughable that that was a question and and who did it come from uh conspiracy theorist a Lynch that Phil

15:03 | tweet also included it’s since been deleted F around and find out well which is which is

15:09 | wonderful it did I thought that was ridiculous like look we can sit here and Bluster maybe maybe Phil does like I did

15:16 | I did Grant that like maybe Phil feels like he needs to make a statement and he’s gonna skip the major sure but Phil Phil’s also saying that he’s also close

15:22 | to retirement Brook Brooks Brooks Kea last year at the PJ Championship after winning the WM maker trophy declined to

15:28 | say that this was a big moment for Liv or that he was carrying the flag for for Liv players so no I do not think it is

15:34 | imminent that if the majors decide not to include Live players that suddenly he

15:39 | would be boycotting them John ROM or Brooks are gonna skip a major are you kidding me just stop if you cut off a

15:45 | leg they would still want to play in the major championships they’re not going to do it for Taylor G for sure and Walken

15:51 | Neeman that we can sit here and talk about look he deserves that he should be in that field they’re certainly not doing it for Taylor G all right here’s

15:56 | the second one and I’ll make this one quick and this is a little bit different topic but this is interesting on a number of levels and I did want to get

16:02 | into this uh web Simpson got a sponsor exemption into this week’s Wells Fargo Championship this is actually uh this is

16:08 | his fourth sponsor exemption into a signature event this year along with Scott uh Adam Scott the Optics of that

16:14 | as a board member or lousy both of those players are board members regardless of whether he is deserving talking about

16:19 | web does the PGA Tour need more strident rules governing free passes into these lucrative events I I want to hear your

16:26 | take and and we can button it up on that however keep in mind who I did this round table with yesterday who who your

16:34 | it was Johnson Wagner so you think that through and you tell me what a Minefield that is Johnson Wagner is a couple of

16:39 | things one he’s a member of qu Hollow just like web Simpson two he’s a neighbor of web Simpsons three he’s a

16:45 | guy that got a lot of sponsor exemptions in his career because Johnson Wagner like Webb is also a very likable guy and he knows how to work with sponsors he’s

16:52 | really really good at that there’s nothing wrong with that that’s what Pros should do fourth and most importantly

16:57 | Johnson Wagner was a player director on the policy board and as soon as I saw that question and I knew who was going

17:02 | to be I I knew that I’m not I’m not going to say a word I’m just going to sit back and why this is going to be like spectator sport because he is going

17:09 | to go off and I would encourage everybody to go online and listen to his response because it was very fiery I felt like we didn’t particularly put him

17:15 | in a fair situation but what are your thoughts on Webb getting this fourth sponsor exemption into a signature event

17:21 | I mean the Optics are are obviously horrible if they are if the PJ tour is going to continue to allow sponsor

17:26 | exemptions into Signature Events which you would think if they’re if they’re poning up 20 $25 million purses they

17:33 | should be able to invite who they want including Tiger Woods if Tiger Woods is it wants to play is healthy enough to

17:39 | play uh you’re not going to tell a sponsor that no they cannot invite Tiger Woods I would just simply put like a cap

17:45 | on it I would allow whatever it’s maybe it’s two maybe it’s three free passes a

17:50 | year seems right yeah they have they have a maximum number of uh sponsor exemptions for non PJ tour members it’s

17:58 | it seems very reasonable to put a cap at two or three that way you don’t have the sort of situation where you’re just

18:04 | getting handouts uh For What appears to be simply because you are a PG tour policy board member Adam Scott falls in

18:10 | the same category Peter mmati got a sponsor exemption earlier this year it’s certainly a problem for the PG tour I

18:17 | would fully expect some sort of tweak to those regulations for 2025 you can’t

18:23 | have the storyline lingering throughout the signature events for the entirety of the year I would and that’s what my suggestion was limited to two that’s 25%

18:31 | there’s eight Signature Events that’s 25% of all of the signature events that feels like more than enough of an opportunity for these players to go and

18:38 | make an impact in an event that’s again giving out more points no cut like it’s it’s sort of a freebie here that you get

18:43 | to go out and try your hand so here’s your opportunity and if that doesn’t work then you have to kind of go through the same path that everyone else does

18:49 | either the Aon five or the A on 10 that being said and you and I can sit here

18:55 | and you’re really good at this making things seem very simple and very obvious it it would create a problem if it’s

19:00 | Tiger Woods it’s not going to happen I truly don’t believe it’s going to happen yeah but if Tiger Woods wanted to play

19:06 | all eight Signature Events it would be really really hard for the tour to be like uh you only get two one of those is

19:12 | gonna be the Genesis and so you get to choose the other one that would be tough man I think yeah there’s probably different categories that you can have

19:18 | it in like it’s hard to tell let’s say Justin Thomas is 31st in the official World Golf Ranking or Jordan spe Falls

19:24 | to 31st in the official World Golf Ranking like there should be a category that maybe you get three sponsor

19:29 | exemptions if you’re in like a certain window of opportunity I’m I’m with you I

19:34 | don’t think it’s going to be I don’t think it’s going to come into fruition with Tiger but I think some some bigger name players potentially a

19:40 | player like will Al torus who’s coming back from an injury if he is not included in those field ordinarily uh

19:47 | putting the cap at two does feel a little bit tight does does Damon does Damon just sit back and watch just like

19:54 | I did Aon just kind of go through his conspiracy theories one one by one

19:59 | yeah I’m not going to bore you with the rest of these questions and it was 15 questions which I was pretty shocked about because I knew that one Johnson

20:05 | Wagner being outspoken and Johnson actually started it uh with a I feel feel like he was hangry or something he

20:11 | was asked about Wells Fargo stepping down in reports that truce is going to step in as the sponsor and he started

20:17 | the entire round table with I’m not going to talk about truus because I feel like Wells Fargo deserves their week in the sunlight so he clearly came in to

20:24 | this round table with a chip on his shoulder so yes Damon and I just sat back and watched

20:30 | speaking of the Wells Fargo Championship it’s the gift with the popcorn and John Stewart that’s what soon to be called the truest classic or whatever it’s

20:36 | going to be in 2025 what is your biggest storyline this week no Scotty Sheffer he’s at home in

20:43 | Dallas either awaiting the birth of his child with wife Meredith maybe they’ve already had it and they’re keeping it

20:48 | under wraps regardless there’s been no indication that skot Sheffer would not be ready for next week’s PJ Championship

20:54 | also not in the field who is eligible is ludvig O Berg uh who suffered uh some

21:00 | knee uh inflammation letting it rest he also said see you next week at Val how

21:05 | so no long-term concern there what is your biggest storyline re from the week

21:11 | in Charlotte uh it goes it DV Tales what we talked about last week like Jordan spe is starting to concern me or I

21:18 | should say is concerning on a number of levels starting yes I should just I shouldn’t even foot I mean I shouldn’t

21:24 | even round it down like that it’s concerning when we talk about the possibility of an injury and again

21:29 | Johnson was involved in a conversation last week during The Telecast he and AO about he needs to do something as far as

21:36 | well on a couple of fronts one they both feel like he needs to do something different swing wise they didn’t say

21:41 | this isn’t about his swing coach this has nothing to do with that they just don’t feel like he’s going down the right Road and I’ll I’ll leave that to

21:48 | The Experts the guys who know much more about the GOL swing than I am the thing that you and I got into last week it’s

21:53 | clearly he’s injured it’s clearly he’s having a hard time and whether if it hurts now or not doesn’t matter in this

22:00 | particular case if you’re worried about the tendon in your left wrist popping out anytime you swing the golf club and

22:07 | to hear AO talk about it he said it actually what happened to him when he was still playing in his back swing

22:12 | imagine that at the top of your back swing the tendon in your hand in your left wrist pops out I don’t know how you

22:18 | play the game at the highest level with that kind of pain with that kind of concern with that thing looming over

22:23 | your head I I really I I’m going to watch him this week and I hope to see some sort of progress but I’m not

22:29 | particularly hopeful qu Hollow was a site of Jordan sp’s 5-0 performance a couple years ago

22:36 | at the President’s Cup however he was partnered with Justin Thomas as week I think we this is like this obvious

22:43 | storyline for me it’s it’s Roy Macy he’s heading to one of his personal playgrounds at qu Hollow three wins

22:49 | there five other top 10 finishes just just a ballpark that’s absolutely tailor made for his skill set the last time he

22:55 | teed up he also had a partner in Shay Lowry but also think it’s fair to say that he carried that partnership to

23:01 | victory at the Zurich Classic and oh yeah another major championship an opportunity to end a now decade long

23:08 | major lless drought is just uh eight days away at this point if he can

23:14 | continue the good form if he continued The Good Vibes I think that’s a huge week potentially confidence-wise Rory

23:21 | said that he drove it as well as potentially he ever has on Sunday at TPC New Orleans thought his iron play was

23:27 | rounding into four as well put in some good practice earlier this week at quell Hollow I would expect yet another good

23:33 | performance I also think Windam Clark the defending champion at this tournament it’s crazy to think of how

23:39 | much his life has changed over the past 365 days had an opportunity to speak with him at Us open media day uh on

23:46 | Monday I think he is one of the rare players rex on the PJ tour who could actually challenge Scotty sheffler he is

23:53 | wholly unafraid of the challenge that has been presented by himself uh by Scotty Sheffer he doesn’t do it in I

24:00 | would say a a Brash way or um a cocky way I think he’s I think he’s

24:07 | competitively arrogant I think a lot of players once you get to that level do have that sort of characteristic but I

24:14 | think with the combination of his mindset and the sort of Firepower and explosiveness that Windam Clark has I do

24:21 | think he could be a Potential Threat to skot sheffler over the next couple of

24:27 | years speaking Rex of Us open media day had an opportunity to head to Pinehurst

24:33 | it was my third visit to Pinehurst but actually the first time that I brought

24:38 | my clubs covered the 2014 US Open won by Martin kimer and I covered the

24:44 | 2019 US amateur won by Andy ogal tree in the championship match over John

24:51 | ainstein so we played number two on Monday which will obviously be hosting the US Open uh next month I was blown

24:58 | away I was absolutely blown away I was obviously familiar uh with the golf course Rex and just just playing that

25:08 | golf course it was reasonably wide Fairways but the greens are so difficult

25:13 | you could host a US Open there tomorrow if they gave the fairways a haircut if

25:18 | they gave the greens a haircut and if they gave sort of the surrounding areas a haircut it was it was obvious that

25:24 | they were sort of building in the grass structure and and making sure the turf

25:30 | was as strong as possible for tournament week like I was I was grabbing a 60 when I remembered back in 2014 Martin kimer

25:36 | was was putting from everywhere 10 20 30 yards off the Fairway he was taking out the putter this was not that situation I

25:43 | did not expect that to be the situation and and it wasn’t but they could give it a haircut tomorrow and play Us open on

25:50 | there back in 2014 just three players uh broke par ker won by eight Strokes if

25:57 | there’s any sort of weather though if it is a little bit softer I was walking on that Golf Course thinking there could be some good scores I I absolutely think

26:04 | kind of like LACC it’s not going to get quite out of control like that where he had Xander sha and Ricky Fowler uh tying

26:10 | the US Open record uh with 62s in the opening round but I do think you could

26:16 | see double digits under par which is very un usop like I I love piner’s

26:21 | number two as an example of good architecture and and I argue all the time that you know we ran into this when

26:27 | they rolled back the golf ball and and I feel like that part of that equation you can roll back the golf ball and you also

26:33 | probably need to do something with the club head if you’re really worried about how far they’re hitting in at the highest level but good architecture also

26:38 | comes into play and I think Pinehurst number two is a perfect example of this I covered the US Open in 99 uh and

26:46 | having seen it there and then what it’s evolved to it’s I don’t want to say it’s completely different golf course because I think the Donald Ross greens Remain

26:52 | the Donald Ross greens everything else they’ve done around it to make it one visually just a better golf course like

26:58 | it’s just a stunning golf course with really really cool corridors but just the idea that that this is what Donald

27:05 | Ross had in mind and after X number X number of decades that look grass just

27:11 | grows in trees grow that’s what they do that doesn’t mean that’s what Donald Ross wanted he wanted something entirely

27:16 | different that’s why he built it on that sand structure that’s why it’s such a a classic golf course I love the fact that

27:22 | they had enough confidence to do what they did to that golf court because if you were had you covered it in 99 or I’m

27:28 | sure you watched it in 99 and then it was a completely different Golf Course the one that Martin kimer won on and I

27:34 | would argue a much better golf course yeah absolutely a much better golf course I played on Monday with two guys

27:41 | from uh the fried egg uh Matt who’s a videographer extraordinaire and Garrett Morrison uh who’s like one of their

27:47 | editors super smart guys they were they were basically showing me what Cory kensaw had did and why they did it and

27:54 | walking around that Golf Course even though it was soft and receptive it rained about an inch uh the day prior

28:00 | like you could see how small the landing areas are on the greens and how if it

28:05 | gets firm and if it gets fast how precise you have to be uh with your approach shots yes it’s reasonably

28:12 | forgiving off the te I Lov that aspect of of of precision with iron play but I

28:18 | really like Rex those Sandy waste areas that you mentioned it was so much more fun to play than just thick dense hack

28:24 | out sort of rough there was like it sounds kind of lame to say but there was a there was a mystery as you were going

28:31 | up to find your golf ball like am I going to get totally boned in the Sandy area am I going to be in a tough to

28:37 | Grass where I’m not going to be able to to get it out am I going to have a clean uh kind of hard pan Li where I’m I’m

28:43 | able to put the the club on the back of the ball and get it on the green a couple of times I had that a couple of times you know it’s it’s just outside

28:51 | the tough to grass but on the way down it catches catches the grass and it sends your Club screaming in different

28:57 | directions and so I I liked that sort of mystery and I think that’ll only be heightened when you get to the US Open

29:04 | as the as the usj officials said during the sort of media presentation this is the first time we’re going to have a big

29:11 | crowd at a US Open since 2019 it’s been five years whether it’s because of covid or you had a smaller footprint at the

29:17 | country club or LA or Lac uh this is going to be you know 30 40 50,000 fans

29:25 | you are going to have a lot of uh foot tra in those Sandy waste areas so you’re

29:30 | going to have even more mystery where am I going to catch a good lie am I going to be in these little toughs of grass am

29:37 | I going to be in a footprint a size a size 12 New Balance and then trying to hit it into these Donald rash greens

29:43 | which are firm fast and so penal if you miss it I love it I think it’s going to be a great uh US Open test also wanted

29:51 | to give a shout out Rex to the folks at Pinehurst because I played the new number 10 on Tuesday quite the boond

29:58 | doggle Tom do designed it was it was quite a boond doggle not quite as good as our boond doggle last year which was

30:03 | LCC then the next day at Pine Pebble Beach but who is one to complain

30:08 | instantly Pinehurst number 10 automatically goes into my top 10 golf

30:14 | courses I’ve ever played yeah like an absolute Masterpiece by Tom do it was made even more impressive I think by the

30:21 | fact that they got this done in six months the phone call happened two years ago with Tom Pasley the president and

30:27 | CEO of of Pinehurst Resorts but to from the actual uh clearing shaping and

30:33 | growing it was a six-month process that is so impressive to make something that is this good this great of a test in

30:40 | that short of a time span I think it just shows sort of like the PowerHouse operation that is Pinehurst and the

30:46 | resources that are behind it I would give it my highest recommendation I think it was also aided by the fact rex

30:53 | that they played quite well over the past couple days I thought you told me that you didn’t play well played extraordinarily well oh wow driver for

31:00 | for me driver driver which again uh has been causing issues a lot of people

31:05 | think that I had the driver Yips I don’t think I have the driver Yips now upon

31:10 | further reflection I think I have just been so beaten down mentally by playing

31:16 | Florida golf with its tight Fairways and if you miss it you’re in houses you’re out of bounds you’re in Marsh you’re in

31:22 | bunkers you’re in water that you just get really guidy and just scared to hell

31:27 | to to actually you know kind of rear back and hit one did not lose a single golf ball in two days again it’s very

31:34 | hard to do at at these two golf courses because again a lot of the rough has been eliminated a lot of the trees have

31:41 | been eliminated you can be in pin straw you can be in Sandy area but I did not lose a ball for those wondering I sh 82

31:48 | p number two and 79 uh at number 10 uh best I played in a long time but I did I

31:57 | see now Rex why everyone loves Pinehurst right like banon dunes and Pinehurst are like neck and neck like top buddies trip

32:04 | destinations in the US like I see it now I absolutely see it now having brought my clubs for the first time why people

32:11 | love it and there’s probably listen people listen to this podcast people watching this on YouTube we’re like yeah you idiot of course we love pineur why

32:17 | do you think all of us go there why do you think we’re we’re happy to spend two or three thousand of our hard-earned cash to play golf air I just want to say

32:24 | I feel you I get it now I completely understand the appeal and cannot wait

32:29 | until they make a return trip to Pinehurst and I don’t think anything can compare to St Andrews but I would say

32:35 | the Pinehurst is as close as we get in the United States simply because of the situation of the Town how good number

32:40 | two is uh and look number two is is one of many good golf courses in that really

32:46 | really short small confined area I will say and I did want to go back and look uh I think you sent this to me on Sunday

32:52 | night quote how many golf balls do you think I should bring to pioner

32:58 | apparently you were worried about it uh and I did want to say that that has to be the most golf nerdy statement you’ve

33:03 | ever made i p i played Pinehurst number two with two colleagues from the fried egg love the fried egg please please

33:09 | don’t don’t come after me but that’s got to be one of the most golf nerdy things I’ve ever heard uh it it may it may be I think you

33:16 | I think the Fred de guys have have absolutely carved out a niche it was great playing with them on Monday I

33:22 | played with uh designer Tom do on Tuesday for four or five holes even in a driving rain Dr look at you but I think

33:29 | like I think there’s a certain genius to golf course design that I don’t think I fully appreciated until I actually spent

33:36 | a little bit of time of of Tom do when he was kind of going through some of his stylistic designs what he was thinking

33:43 | while designing the greens I mean The Greens at number 10 are are massive with tons of slope and undulation like it

33:50 | takes an absolute genius to think about I want this slope to be this high with this amount of grade and it has to be

33:56 | positioned here that way balls can feed in like there’s there’s there’s like an art to it and I I think he did a a

34:02 | phenomenal job of explaining it and I think now like the fried egg folks and and Annie Johnson leads leads that group

34:10 | is is explaining that to folks like you and I uh who it’s for a long time Golf

34:16 | Course architecture has been like the the craft beer of of of the golf world where like you know

34:23 | it’s it’s trendy it it tends to be you know not for not for everybody maybe a

34:28 | little bit hipster uh but it’s great to see it going more mainstream because I do think is a very interesting Niche you

34:34 | and I will be together next week in Kentucky hopefully drinking bourbon uh appearing on live from PJ Championship

34:42 | together in the meantime before we reconvene on Sunday night for a recap podcast of the Wells Fargo Championship

34:48 | what are you getting into uh actually I made fajitas last night I was going to bring this up on the Blackstone and they

34:53 | were delicious hadn’t done that before so uh my my middle son wanted to have a party this was his 21st birthday party

34:59 | Extravaganza a three week celebration uh that’s the way we do birthdays in in our household it’s usually a month so I I

35:06 | got off early a week early with him and then I don’t know I I’m gonna decide what I want this weekend it’s been a

35:11 | minute since I’ve been home so I kind of want to see what’s GNA be on TV there’s obviously gonna be basketball there’s

35:16 | obviously gonna be hockey and then Wells Fargo so I’m sure I’ll smoke something how about you uh certainly you have not

35:22 | forgotten about bunk and what this Sunday represents with Mother Mother’s Day there’s still time for you to go to

35:30 | the floors had until you just some roses bunk I’m sure we not take that

35:35 | personally uh wife and I as well as two other couples will be on a tiki boat on

35:41 | Saturday in St Augustine that’s what she wanted to do for her Mother’s Day celebration and then on Sunday I think

35:46 | I’ll do a Blackstone breakfast as well probably go to the water parks it’s supposed to be hot as hell uh and I’ll

35:52 | I’ll try and get the kids to write a card uh cam cannot yet read it and he’s

35:57 | is only uh somewhat literate uh with writing but it will be interesting to see and I’m sure she will appreciate it

36:04 | nonetheless all right that is going to do it for this edition of the golf Chanel podcast with Rex and lab we’ll be

36:10 | back on Sunday night for a full recap of the Wells Fargo Championship as well as any any other happenings over the next

36:17 | five days in the World of Golf and then next week we will do the preview podcast

36:22 | on Wednesday from Valhalla as well as mini pods each and every tournament round

36:28 | from the PJ Championship looking forward to doing that as always thanks so much for listening thanks for so much for the

36:35 | support in the meantime MC sports.com golf for all latest needs in the world

36:40 | of golf we’ll talk to you on Sunday night enjoy the rest of your week and weekend

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