[upbeat music] Welcome to the Basic Golf Podcast. It is US Open week. We're going to Shinnecock Hills. I've got, as always, Paul Burke on the other line, fresh off a Mass Am qualifier. Condolences.
Tough day. Welcome, Burke. Thank you. Uh, condolences not necessary.
You know, when, when there's 90 people or whatever it is, 80 people for six spots, you know, uh, it's, it's, it's a tough go, and it was, it was all right. It was p- pretty much what was expected, honestly.
[laughs] The scores are bonkers. It's- The scores are bonkers. Yeah. I mean, the, the Brockton was, like, two under. If you shot one under, you didn't get in today at Brockton, I think was the number. I, I didn't...
I, I've kind of trying, I've been trying to avoid it because I had a terrible finish. I actually played, like, pretty good, and then the four straight bogeys to end.
But whatever, we're not here to talk about my round by round. [laughs] It's US Open week. And, and- Actually, we are.
We're just gonna do- [laughs] We're gonna do an hour on your- We're, we're gonna, we're gonna do an hour. At Bear Hill. Hour at Bear Hill. But no, I mean, a tournament golf, it's, it's- Every shot, but it's a podcast...
it's... Yeah. There, there you go. You, we've got enough of that between No Laying Up and, and everyone else, so. But yeah, US Open week, Father's Day week, which is great. Shinnecock, which is unbelievable.
And I mean, this is, this is the major of the year. Like, unequivocally, if you, like, the start of this year said, like, what's the major of the year, it's Shinnecock, the US Open, and this is it.
It's, like, the, one of the best tests these guys will ever face. So I'm, I'm pretty pumped. Yeah, just an ass kicker through and through. Um, I was looking through the scores from the l- from the previous four, and
I ca- I got it in front of me here, how many guys shot under par. It's, like, f- three, four guys. Three guys have shot under par since 1986. Raymond Floyd won at one under.
Goosen and Phil shot four under and two under respectively in '04. No one shot under par in '18. Brooks won at one over. So just, like...
And that's kind of where I thought, I just, my first question that I had written down for you is just, at this point, what's your ideal wished-for US Open score?
We've been living in this, like, 6 to 12 except for LACC, where they, they shot, like, 45 under par. What's your ideal US Open winning score? What would make you warm and fuzzy on Sunday? So I, I don't...
I think that this notion of achieving a score is something that really sh- like, we shouldn't be going after because a golf course is a golf course, right?
And so, like, Augusta can actually look for a score because it's the same golf course every single year. They c- they go back, you know, for decades. The US Open trying to...
A- and I think they've kind of gotten away f- away from this, but, like, trying to get to par on different golf courses is really, like, a, it's kind of a dumb thing to do from a, a course perspective.
And so I actually don't know, uh, and, and weather is such a huge, a huge factor in this. I, like, I don't know what my ideal... Like, I, I don't have an ideal score, and I think people that, like...
Golf course, the people that set the course, I, I don't think it's the right way to... You shouldn't be going after a score. You should going, sh- you should be going after how the golf course plays.
And if someone goes out and smokes it, awesome. Like, that, that's e- more the better. And so whether it's six under, two over,
anywhere in between, um, I, I look more at how the golf course plays fair, like, a fairer test. So you'd be super pissed if it was seven under or better, it sounds like. No. I mean, like, I, if it plays hard...
And, and by the way, there's been plenty of US Opens in the past that have had, like, someone win at six under, runner-up be four under, and then a couple, uh, like, like, six people under par because they just played so well.
And so I, I don't know. I, I, I don't... I just, I thought Oakmont last year was, like, a, a, a fair test. It was great. Like, it was awesome. And so there's not, like, a s- Which is in rain on Sunday. Right.
And so, like, I, I, I- That was kind of a bummer... I, I'm not one of these, like, protect par people because I think once you go to that notion of protecting par, you're actually gonna...
These guys are so good that you're gonna make the golf course kind of unfair. Yeah. I'm gonna say two over. I'm just gonna give you my... I'm a, I, I think two over would be, like, a f- I think it would be a fascinating
week. I, f- I mean, anyth- uh, whatever score it's gonna be, it's gonna be, but if you just ask me right now on Sunday afternoon,
like, someone winning at two over, a bunch of guys at, like, three, four, I, I just, I th- And a bunch of guys at 25... I don't think that's going to be the case. 25 over. Yeah. Hell yeah. Let's do it.
Let's do, let's do the '04, which I, I, I have some stuff written down from '04 'cause it, I ca- I think people might've f- might've forgotten how, uh, how bad that was on Sunday and how hard it was.
So I, I have a question for you. When, when you, when you think of Shinnecock, what do you think of US Open-wise? Like, what's, what's the one memory that, that sticks out? Oh, man. That's...
So I re-watched Brooks's 2018. The USGA has a great, like, every televised shot that Brooks hit, which really should just be every shot Brooks hit, but they missed some, um, which is wild.
[laughs] It's like you just miss tee shots and approaches every, every couple holes. His bogey on 11, I don't know if you remember- So-... what he did on 11. Why don't you answer- Like-...
answer this question without having watched, like, re-watched it. Like, like, what is your- Then it's Phil on 13. The, yeah, the, the run. It's Phil Mickelson on 13 [laughs] is, like, the non-recency bias.
It's, it's just Phil on 13 in 2018 just ta- like, running and chasing down his ball as it's rolling and just being like, thinking he's smarter than everybody, and then he gamed the system instead of just, like, letting the ball roll, and he could have tried the putt again from-
where he had putted from. He could have taken unplayable. He could have done a bunch of different things. Instead, he slapped his ball and continued to play the U.S. Open.
Like, so that's for me, like, that's the one thing that stands out. Because 04 I actually, so obviously I've Like, 95, like Corey Pavin Corey Pavin. Corey Pavin's shot. But like, I, that was 95.
I'm like not quite at the point where I think, I don't think I remember that in that moment. No, I don't. Because I don't think I was really like locked in. I do.
So I, I was obviously like Phil has been so prominent at the U.S. Open and at Shinnecock. I do remember Goosen just putting his ass off in 04 and like making these putts that no one wanted him to make.
He was just a relative un- un- unknown's probably too strong, but I don't know. There was this one putt that he made that was this like slide.
I think it was a 17 or 16, and he made this slider that just basically iced it. It's like, this guy is just nails right now. That's actually what I remember most.
I mean, obviously the Mickelson thing is, is preposterous and Zach Johnson saying we lost the golf course. But yeah, it's, it's an entertaining venue. Yeah. I wanna know the course more, by the way.
And it's- Like, I, like that's what, like I'm going into this week, like I want to know the course more than I do. So I will give a, I haven't, I haven't watched a bunch of stuff.
I did watch, we were just, I know we made the joke about every shot, but the No Laying Up guys had Neil play, like they just had him during media day.
They showed every shot he hit, and I, I think Neil is very good 'cause he's like a good golfer, but he also puts things into clever, like he's got these weird analogies he always uses.
And that, watching him play it helped me at least get a sense of some of the holes and what's gonna happen. So I'd, I'd recommend people go watch that. He starts on the seventh, so you don't get like one through 18.
You gotta watch it kind of in a funny order. But that was, that was pretty good. I feel like they should've just done it one through 18, but whatever.
I know, but you, I think it's probably partly, they're trying to f- he's trying to shoot a score.
He's got like a set number, so if he's on the f- if they start on the first hole at g- at I think four what they wanna do, it doesn't work.
Um, I'm sure they're gonna do something else this week that might highlight some other stuff.
Can I, can, before we get to this year's, I did do like a little bit of research on 04 because I just wanted to remind myself how crazy it was. I don't think I really remember.
[chuckles] And re- it, like the scoring was insane on Sunday, and I r- went and read a couple articles, so I'm gonna do like, steal a little bit of, you know, a shotgun start, No Laying Up flashback kind of thing.
But I'm just gonna re- I, I got a couple quotes here and, uh, they're a little bit longer, but they just are fascinating and I, I just could not imagine anything like this happening in 2026 at a major championship.
So Rex Hoggard wrote for NBC Sports about Kevin Stadler, who is Craig Stadler's son, who was in the hunt on, or no, he wasn't in the hunt. He, he was in the, he was the first group off on Sunday.
"Stadler was the first to hit at the seventh, a wedge that thumped hard onto the parched putting surface and bounded into a bunker behind the green. J.J. Henry's tee shot suffered the same fate."
Just also great, great stuff. Uh, Connecticut's own J.J. Henry. The twosome.
"By the, by the time the dust, by t- by the ti- by the time the dust literally settled for the twosome on the seventh, they'd taken a dozen shots between them to finish the hole and alarms all across Shinnecock Hills began to sound."
Quote, "We made a six and a six, and we didn't hit a bad shot. That's what cra- that's what's crazy," Henry remembers. Henry remembers, "The dismay of the moment still vivid even a decade and a half removed."
So this was written in 2018 when they came back. "From the back bunker, Stadler nearly holed his second shot with the ball rolling past the hole about three feet. Henry chipped to about 12 feet past the hole.
Henry's next shot, a putt, would trundle back into the bunker behind the green." And then Stadler says, quote, "I'm waiting while J.J. was playing.
I was thinking I had a tap in par and that three footer looked like a 20 footer by the time J.J. was done.
[chuckles] Stadler's par attempt was straightforward, the line just outside the right edge, and for a moment he thought he'd made it.
But as the ball inched its way past the hole, it began to pick up speed and wouldn't stop until it rolled back into the bunker." J.J.
Henry said, quote, "We all know that Kevin is a lot like his dad, and I just remember saying to myself, 'Please make this putt. I can only imagine where this putt is going to end up if he misses it.'
Sure enough, he misses and he's playing from the bunker with his next shot." And then another piece, I did not write down who wrote this. They deci- Oh, this is from the same article.
"They decided they were going to water between groups," recalled Steve Flesch, who finished tied for seventh in 04 for his best finish at the U.S. Open.
"We get to the seventh tee and the group in front putts out and they aren't syringing the green." Quote, "They're like, 'Go ahead and hit,' and we're like, 'No, we're waiting.'
The official said, 'We're watering between every other group.' Chris DiMarco said he wasn't going to hit until they syringe, and the official said, 'We're going to penalize you for slow play if you don't tee off.'
[chuckles] Flesch and DiMarco both made bogeys on the seventh. Phil Mickelson, who would finish two strokes behind eventual champion Retief Goosen, had a similar experience."
Quote, "I know that their basis was once somebody four or five putted, they watered the green, and so it was really important that the group-" Once somebody four or five putted.
[chuckles] "And so, and so it was really important that the group in front of you four or five putted and then you had a chance. But that didn't happen," Mickelson said.
"We were the group that four or five putted, and then they watered for the guys behind us. That was nice."
When Stadler and Henry completed the round, Tom Meeks, who was the USGA's director of rules and competition and got just dragged for this and owned up to it, he said he w- he said he was waiting for them at the scoring area.
L shot 80 in the final group, and he finished T9. He was in the final group. He shot 80, finished T9. Alex Smally,
if he shot 80 at Aranamick last, last month at PGA, if he shot 80 as the person in the last group, he would've finished T60. Mm. Just to give you a sense of like- That's a good-...
how far guys fall- It, and by the way-... if they shot 80. It's not, it's not- If you're in the final group. It's not like Aranamick was playing super easy too. Like it was A good test Yeah.
It was, it was kind of easier on Sunday than it had been. The scoring average was 78.73 that day. The crazy part was it was 71- 78... it was 71- 70 was the sco- [laughs]... 78.
And by the way, this is- Was the scoring average... th- this is of all the- I think Billy Mayfair shot 89... of all the people that made the cut There was no one that shot in the 60s.
This is, like, the people that made the cut. This is the guys who made the cut. It's- The scoring average on Thursday was 71. On Friday it was 70.76. It was 73 and a half on Saturday, and then the Sunday massacre, 78.73.
So- Have I- That's just a little snippet i- if you're wondering how bad '04 was. I mean, they were s- watering between greens.
You're, you're standing on the tee rooting for the group in front of you to four or five putt so they water the green, according to Phil Mickelson. Four, four or five putt. Four or five putts.
[laughs] Which is a preposterous thing to say about PGA Tour pros. Like, it- Yeah... like, these guys are the best pu- I mean, obviously the best putters in the world.
Not, not to, like, sort the- So that's like- It, it, it's, it's preposterous. I, I do have a, a little divergence. I think that scoring average, I don't like that stat at all. I don't know if I said this on this podcast.
Like, they should change the sc- the, the stat to be... So there's no reason, like, the first two days they should just keep the guys that made the cut. Like, what is their scoring average?
Because- Oh, that would be an interesting extra stat even. Just- Yeah, like-... it's like 71, but the guys who made the, like, half the field shot 67. Yeah, because, because the- To have a sense...
the, the Saturday and Sunday, like, those guys made the cut, and th- you're comparing it against the guys that missed the cut who a few guys are gonna be, like,
way off there 'cause you got qualifiers and ams and all that stuff. So I, I think it's a little bit of a... I always, like, take the scoring average stat. Like, I, I don't love that one. Grain of salt. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. So that just leads me to, I mean, the scoring. I asked the question about scoring really to get to '04 and just, like, what would we wanna see or what would be kind of fun to watch.
Just the USGA, the animosity towards the USGA is it's like everyone is just waiting to be angry. It's a, it's like I, I, I was just watching live from, and there was a...
Jeff Hall was on, and he was saying like, "Oh, we wear blue to cover up the bru- the black and blue bruises that everyone gives us this week 'cause, you know, everyone beats us up."
And, like, the USGA sets up every golf course hard for every level of golfer that they are testing, and the pros, the male pros are the only ones that have this problem.
If you go to the U- like, the US Am at Merion this year is going to be insane. [laughs] The difference is those guys are all happy and delighted to be there and compete.
And I just, like, the dynamic is so, is so odd to me. I don't necessarily think it's fair.
I think, I think there's a lot of these guys who are, don't wanna be embarrassed or whatever, but the USGA does this to every event. Everyone gets their butt kicked at the level that they're playing at, and I just...
It's crazy to me. I don't know if you agree, but... I mean, I, I completely agree. I think that it's an interesting dynamic where every single golfer growing up, everyone, like, it's actually not the Masters.
Every single golfer wants to play in a USGA championship. Even before you, like, put the Masters, like, you know, once these guys get pros, it's like, "I wanna win the Masters." But, like, if you...
Way more people just want to play in a USGA championship, bar none, like, un- unequivocally. And,
you know, like, I, I've tried to qua- qualify for some, never successfully, but it's really cool when you step on the tee and they give you, like, the USGA tees and the USGA, like, ball markers and whatever, and, like, you're just like, "Man" And the flags, they use the same- The flags.
They, they use the same flags. The flags are the same. If you are trying to qualify for the US Fourball Country Club of Wilbraham, which I did, they have the same striped flags with the, striped pins with the red flag.
They do the whole thing. And you are standing up there, and you're like, "Man, this, this, like, this is incredible." 'Cause, like, you and I have no chance of ever playing in the Masters. Right.
But, like, people like us do have chan- chances to play in USGA events, and they are, like, the pinnacle. And I don't care if I were to ever qualify for a USGA event, I don't care what the heck they do.
I would just be like, "This is the best thing ever." [laughs] Like, this... And so I don't know. There's this dynamic shift, and I think, I actually think it's,
I think it's more of a PGA Tour problem than it is a USGA problem, frankly. 'Cause these guys are just so used to, like, doing the same thing- That's a good angle... over and over and over again that they come to
a USGA event and they, like, they could just use them as their whipping boy. Like, they're the guys that are trying to roll back the ball and, you know, rules enforcements and all that stuff. And so
I, I, I think it's just the fact that they've, they're used to one thing, and they don't get this one thing. And it's not like the Memorial where Jack Nicklaus is there and they can't, like, talk out on Jack, so. Right.
Right. [laughs] Matt Fitzpatrick had a good quote today. I was reading through his transcript. He was talking about 18, and they were... He finished T12 in, in 18, so he had a pretty good week.
And he said, "I never believed they lost it to the course. I don't think they lost the golf course at all here. I think for me it was difficult, and the strength of this course is greens and the difficulty of the greens.
But I do believe aside from maybe 10 and 11, if you miss the greens in the right spots and do your homework, that you have opportunities to get up and down still. I feel like that is a patience thing.
That is not a, that is a skill in course managing, in hitting good shots that are on the green in those tough times." Like, that for me is just Write Matt Fitzpatrick down as, like, a guy who at least has the mentality.
He's won one of these already.
But I, you know, I don't know if you listened to Shotgun Start today, but Brandon Porath was intimating that he has heard from people who are, like, already lighting up Mike Wan about course setup, like, before the Memorial weeks ago.
So there's already guys with the mindset of, "This is gonna be hard, and I'm gonna try to f- I'm gonna try to put my thumb on the scale." And I think Fitz has a good, good attitude. So... And good players win this event.
I w- like, good players win the US Open at Shinnecock as far as their current form. Pavin was ninth in the world. Goosen was third. Brooks Koepka was ninth. So you got, like, guys in the top 10 in the world who win this.
It's not, they, you don't get fluky winners. There's no, there were no world rankings when Floyd won. He was probably pretty high. They, they didn't exist yet.
But he was a high, yeah, he was, like, a top 10 golfer in the world at that point in, in '86 when he won 40 years ago, so.
Can we talk about Scottie a little bit as far as maybe some storylines here and people to talk about? Or do you have anything else on Shinnecock? You've never played there, right? I have not played there. Yeah.
Obviously- Have-... you said you wanted to get to know the course, so. Have, have not, have not, uh... Yeah, would like to get to know the course. Sure, we can talk about Scottie. I, I will say
it is, a- and, and I think this goes to a little bit back, like, Tiger days. His odds are preposterous. [laughs] I, I, I didn't even look, to be honest. I don't, I didn't look at it. I, he's just, I just assume.
So he's, uh- He's-... basically, like, four and a half to one right now. Yeah, he's four, he's... A- and I look at- And-... I look at it more, like, comparatively. And his odds are twice as good- Yes... as Rory.
Twice as good as the n- and Rory's, like, lumped in with Rahm. And then basically- And then it's another drop... if,
if you think somebody other than Rory and Scottie's gonna win, and you pick them, you're gonna win a ton of money. Yeah. Or if you think, like, you could pick five guys and sprinkle enough, because
after you, what, like, once you get past Rahm, Xander is 17 to 1, Cameron Young is 20 to 1, Fitz is 20- So-... one to one, 20-... here is my question for you.
How many guys, like, at the top of the list do I have to give you to pick the field? So I'm saying, like, if I give you- So you're saying, like-...
if I give you the top five- If you said, if you just said, like S- if you just said, like, Scottie, Rory, Jon Rahm- Xander... Xander, Cam Young. Cameron. Like, you get, you get those five guys, I get everyone else? Yes.
How, like, how deep are you going? 'Cause, like, those five guys. Remember Aaron Rai just won the PGA. Yeah, and he's, like, 100 to 1 this week, which he should be. I don't know.
I, this, my, my, my draft lists, my big board is larger than it usually is. I've, like, talked myself into way more guys than I have in past majors. Anecdotally, I'm just looking at this list, like, I've got...
There's no way you're gonna pick guys that I have, and I'm gonna be scrambling for with my last pick, 'cause sometimes that happens where- Well, so here's, here's- Where, where- No.
So you'd have to give me- But the question is- You'd have to- Like, how many, like, how many of the top? Like, uh, you have to go straight from the, from Scottie down. And so Scottie counts.
And so, like, the- The, I'd, I'd say 10 guys. 10 g- so the top 10, you would take the other- Yeah, 'cause that's my-... field. Oh, I see. So I would take the field. I would say five. Five.
The, no, it has to be the top five. If I get the field. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's right if I'm thinking about your question properly.
So my question is, is, like, so if, if I- I think the winner's gonna come out of the top 10 in the world. Yeah, so that would be, that would be at the 10 then.
If you were to, if you, if I was taking the field, I'd, I'd obviously want the field to be bigger, so I would- Right.
But, but also, like, it doesn't- You know, I'd say, like, I'd take my chances with five of those guys not being winners and take, and say, "You could have, you can have the top five in the world. I'll take the field."
Top five odds, which not world, 'cause Jon Rahm's ranked, like, 65, but. Yeah, right. Yeah, so I think I'd give you five.
I'd take the rest, 'cause I, I think that's probably about a 50/50 proposition at that point, because I think the winner's gonna come out of the top 10 in the world,
or the top 10 ran- the, whatever, data golf or the, the odds, however you wanna split it up. What would you do? How many would you have to take?
How many would I have to take to give you, to you for you to take the field? I think I'd take, I, I, I don't think I'd take five. I think I'd t- I'd take 10. I think it's gonna be a fluky.
I think it's gonna be an interesting one. Okay. That's why you're in finance, and I'm just sitting here writing about golf every day. I, I think I've picked, like, one winner in the last 10 years of this podcast.
Yeah, I'm just talking about, like, how you're- Yeah... how you're thinking about, how you think about the, the odds of things. So let's l- l- so Scottie, obviously, a bunch of storylines with Scottie.
We got the Grand Slam, his first crack at the career Grand Slam after winning, uh, the Open last year. He hasn't won since the Am Ex in January, but he's been incredibly consistent.
If he wasn't Scottie Scheffler, he'd be trending up. But he's Scottie Scheffler, so he's not trending up. Only finished outside the top 20 twice this year. And then I went, and I just looked at the...
I found the golfers with some help from, you know, AI, leveraging AI tools. I just, I wanted to find who's got three legs of the Grand Slam and never got the fourth,
and is Scottie more like those guys than the guys who have the Grand Slam? You've got Phil Mickelson missing a US Open, Jordan Spieth missing a PGA Championship.
Which, which by the way, I, just, like, the Phil thing, he probably was the best US Open player of, of his era. Like, y- to me, Phil- But just not any, but not one particular week.
Not, well, but he, he finished- But not one particular week... he finished second six times, which is a pro- This is your Kenny Atkinson argument. Analytically, he won, he won the Grand Slam.
Analytically, he won Wingfoot. Yeah. So- We'll give it to him... it's, it, it, it just, to me, it's, like, it's a very... I, I do think he deserves credit for
You know, personal- He does, but he's not on the career Grand Slam list. Like, like, he's, he's not. And so- But, but no one else is like Phil where he was six-time runner-up in the US Open.
Like, it, like no one else here is, you know, that much of a runner-up. Yes. The, he had the, he was the closest of this group, at least that we... I, I can't speak to some of these guys who are farther down the list.
Like Tom Kite. Arnold Palmer. Yeah, how do, I can't... But Arnold Palmer doesn't have a PGA Championship. He was very close. Which is ironic 'cause he's, he's the reason the PGA Championship is- [laughs]...
the fourth major, which is incredible. Sam Snead doesn't have a US Open. Byron Nelson never won the Open. I'm not even sure how many times he might have tried to win it. That's a funny one 'cause of travel.
Or if it, or, or if it was even a major, like when he was playing. The Open has always been a major 'cause it was part of Bobby Jones' Grand Slam. Like, that's always been, that's always been- You're right. Right...
always been considered part of the majors. Trevino doesn't have a Masters. Uh, Raymond Floyd doesn't have an Open.
Uh, and Ha- and Hagen didn't have a Masters but, like, uh, Hagen at this point, like he was almost done with his career when the Masters started, so like doesn't really count. But
I just wonder, is Scottie more like the, this group, especially the more modern group, and maybe at some point... Like, I don't think Brooks is gonna climb into that three. Morikawa could. Rahm could. Which is crazy.
Rahm could. I just don't know if Scottie... Scottie might never win a US Open and win, like, could end up with eight majors. There's a world where that happens, and this, I, like he just doesn't seem...
Maybe he's gotta grow up, but- Aren't you missing-... he's had very good finishes... are you missing Tom Watson too? Uh, does Watson... Yeah, I think you're right.
Watson is, Watson doesn't have a PGA or a US O- yeah, 'cause he won a US Open. Yeah. Chipped in. He, he, he doesn't have a PGA. Won an 80. Doesn't have a PGA, so he's another one. So like those are great golfers who won.
I mean, Watson won a ton of majors.
I just, I just wonder, I know this is his first crack at it, but is like, it, he is very good, but is he an Arnold Palmer who had like this crazy stretch of winning majors and then like just doesn't get the career Grand Slam?
Is that poss- it, I think it's, I think it's more possible watching how he's playing now.
Would you- And maybe like we saw the best of Scottie Scheffler, and he can win a couple more majors, but he just never gets a US Open. Okay, I think this is preposterous. I, it's a g- it's a great question, and
I think the, what, what we always discount in golf is that there's, you never know what's gonna happen to somebody that could like not even derail their career or just like put 'em slightly off track. Yes.
And Jordan, Jordan Spieth, uh, Jordan Spieth is a great example. You know, he's, he's now had three kids, like he, he's clearly not the golfer that he was a decade ago.
And so, but you ne- like if you had asked this question about Jordan Spieth in 2016 after he won the British Open, you'd be like, "Get the hell outta here." Yeah. You'd be nuts. You'd be nuts.
And he hasn't even come close other than like one Masters. Now, uh, I don't know, like I, I think Scottie's kind of like a different animal.
Like I, I, I think that his, like his bad golf is what you just talked about for the last like two months.
It's like coming in top 10 and almost w- like literally b- coming from 15 shots behind in the Masters and almost winning [laughs] like by, by a shot. Like that's his, at this point, that's his bad golf.
Now, I don't think, uh, Shinnecock necessarily sets up particularly well for him, but I, I, I would have a hard time believing that he's... Uh, uh, I don't know, like maybe he doesn't win a US Open.
Maybe it weighs on him so much. Like Rory kinda got lucky last year. He kinda choked it away, and then he won another one. [laughs] So, uh, uh- Yeah. Uh, uh- And he, and Rory, like
there's the double-edged sword of going back to the same place and having ghosts and demons, but also having some sort of,
I don't know, there's at least a little bit of comfort where there's things you know and you can build over years. Sergio did it too at the Masters.
But going to a new venue every time and a building, I, like I think it's going to be an interesting thing to track because the harder, the longer you get from that third part of the Grand Slam,
it gets, I think it gets harder. Most guys do it pretty quickly. Rory's r- w- I think Rory might be the only one that took more than like two or three tries- Super long... to actually do it.
And it was, it was like 10 tries. Yeah. And they come in bunches. Majors come in bunches. Scottie got four in two s- in, in three years, and so who's to say he's just gonna win another bunch of majors?
Palmer got, Palmer won his six in like six years. Four years, right? Yeah, he, he got his six in like a very condensed, like '58 to '64 I think. He won six in six years or something. That just happens to guys.
I'm just a- I...
He hasn't even had a chance to do it yet, but looking at the names here, thinking about other guys in this generation who might not even do it, like there's gonna be a guy who just sits on this, and it might be him and Spieth, just we look back.
Oh, neither of them could actually get over the hump and get the last one. Now, I don't think Spieth is ever gonna come close to doing it.
Yeah, I, I, I don't think un- unfortunately, as much as I like Spieth, and I, I, I think he's awesome, um, I don't think he's the caliber of player that Scottie is. Like Scottie just consistently shows up and wins
even sometimes when he doesn't have his A stuff. So I don't necessarily like him this week, especially at his odds, but he'll be there. Yeah.
I mean, he's got, I think the four of the last five US Opens he's finished in the top 10. He's like a good, he's a very good US Open player.
But again, we've got guys like Mickelson who, over time, they just grip the club a little too tight. They make decisions late that cost them event, championships. Or Someone else wins it.
Like, that's a thing that happens at the US Open too. Someone just has a- At any tournament... crazy Sunday. You got... You're going against- Yeah... 140 guys. Like- Yeah... it's not, it's not a small field. All right.
Before we recorded, you said there was something in here that was preposterous. I'm still... You still haven't shown your hand yet. Oh, I just thought that Tommy Armour missing the Masters was...
[laughs] Like, the fact that you were throwing Tommy Armour in there with Scottie Scheffler right now, I, I was just cackling.
Um, I thought it might have been this and just, you know, we might have to start having a conversation about Rory and non-Masters majors. Not start having a conversation.
But like- We don't have, we don't have to have a conversation about Rory in anything, frankly.
I just, I just think the fact that he's won two Masters, and it might be the only place he wins another major, and we're looking at this weird career where his last four majors are all Masters, and he has...
[laughs] And he finishes with, with eight majors is, is like a, a world we might live in. I just- He could win two more Masters and no other major. He's, he's got so much money, I just don't think he cares, honestly.
You don't think he cares? I mean, that's probably strong, but I, I don't think he cares enough to like... All he wants to do is, like, play the Masters, you know, raise his daughter, and he's not grinding.
You don't, you don't... Okay. You don't think... So I think these are the only weeks that matter to him. I mean, they matter. Whether- But, but he's not... His entire focus was winning the Grand Slam. Like, that was it.
Like, that was his entire being for the last decade. And I think that was what consumed him. And I think he's kind of let the, the, you know, the foot off the gas a little bit. Chopped the rope a little bit.
And, but by the way, he's so talented that he can still win a Masters. But I, I don't see him as... I just don't see him as a perennial contender in these other events.
Yeah, I think, I think this week will be interesting. I think next year at St. Andrews. I think I... You, you might be right. St. He'll, yeah. You might be right. He'll be, he'll be going for St. Andrews, for sure.
I think, I think the motivation for some of these might have changed. He did not seem very excited about Aronimink. He has al- [laughs] He has already stated his displeasure for Frisco. Like a year in advance.
Like, that's another one we can, we can just, we can just write that one off. I don't know if they'll ever go back to, to Portrush. But I... You're...
I think the thing you might be right about is the general motivation for every single major, but I think there's a heightened motivation to maybe check off some ones that are, like, true legacy builders. San...
You're right.
Getting to, getting to a second major for, you know, getting to a second Grand Slam, so winning another British Open, another U- and another US Open, I believe that's what he's got, 'cause he's got two PGAs, right?
Like, I think those things matter. So this week, this week I think is probably a little bit more meaningful to him than Aronimink was, maybe a little bit more than, than... Where's the Open at?
Where did Spieth win it- Burkdale... in '17? At Burkdale. Thank you. So I think that's more what he's doing. He's got this... I think he's got very, very specific majors that he would, that he would really like to win.
I agree. But yeah. Yeah. I mean, he, he kicked away, kicked away the Open at St. Andrews last time it was there. Like, literally just had one of the all-time- Just putted away... terrible. Two putted away. Yeah.
Terrible. I mean, that, that course would be short for you and me. I know. And so I, I do think he- And then, and then Pinehurst too... definitely wants to play there. And yeah, Pinehurst.
I think Pinehurst is another one that, that slipped away that I think that burned him a little bit too. Xander is another guy on my, on my radar. He has two top 10 in majors.
He is such a confounding figure [laughs] in the game of golf. I don't know. Has he contended- There's gotta be some guy for-... for anything this year? No, and that's, that was kind of the next, the next piece.
I have a college buddy, and we're on a text chain, and he just was kinda like, "Xander's just not a closer." I was like, "Well, he's got two majors. I don't necessarily know if he's not a closer."
But there's just something funny about, you look at his Wikipedia, and he's got so much yellow. But you can't really remember anything that he either, like, choked away and finished- Mm. Masters... you know.
What, what was the Masters where he- Do you think he choked that Masters away- Wait, hooked... against Matsuyama? Hooked it in the water on 16 and said, "I didn't even hit a bad shot." Like,
I, I can literally- That was Matsuyama. Yeah. That felt like Matsuyama had that one kinda tidied up by then. There was a little- Hmm. Fine... Xander had to hit a spectacular shot to put pressure.
I think he might've been two or three behind. I will just... I will never forget, I will never forget his quote after the fact.
And there's only a couple people that you can ever remember hitting it in the water on 16 at the Masters. And he was like, "I hit a good shot." Yeah. I was like- Yeah... "You hit, you hit it in the water.
Like, it, it wasn't even close." [laughs] And then he went on to win two majors, but. I mean, here are his US Open, here are his US Open finishes in his career. Oh, yeah. Stud.
T, T5 in '17, T6 in '18 at Shinnecock, T3, T5th in 2020, which doesn't really exist, T7 in '21, a disappointing T14 in '22, T10, T7, T12 last year.
He's finished no worse than 14th in his career in the majors. That is in, in the, in the US Open. That is insane. But I cannot think of a moment where there was ever like, "Is Xander gonna win the US Open?" Right?
I can't, like off- Yeah... the top of my head, I cannot think of one. He finished third in '19. That was Pebble when Gary Woodland won. It always felt like that was Gary Woodland and who was in that? DJ? DJ.
Was DJ in the hunt that year? Well, no. That was the one that DJ, like, made triple bogey on the second hole. Yeah. Thought that who-- I can't remember who else was chasing him, but it never felt like...
It wasn't, it was not, it was not Xander that was, that felt like they were gonna catch him. I'm looking this up now. Yeah. I, I don't know. I mean it's- Because now I wanna know. It was Brooks. Brooks Koepka.
It was Brooks Koepka finished three shots behind Woodland, and Xander finished six shots back. Like, that's a T3, and he shot 67 on Sunday in '19. Like, perfect. It's like a perfect Xander shot.
I mean, speaking of- Top 10... you know, Pebble top five, that's like a Miguel Angel Jimenez top five in 2000 with Tiger. Yeah.
Or f- or a Phil second place in 20-whatever that wa- whatever Masters that was recently, '24. Like, just- Yeah... these crazy circumstances. But, like, that's a great... So Xander's one I'm kind of also just monitoring.
I think he's kind of interesting.
I wanna give Adam Scott just-- I don't-- We'll probably hear about this a trillion times on the coverage, along with just whatever Nick's garbage they're gonna force-feed us for the next four days. Parade's on Thursday.
Yeah. Cool. [laughs] 100th straight major for Adam Scott. Dude, can you imagine- Hun- straight... how ridiculous that is. Straight. Straight major. Like, so, so your health needs to be good. Your play needs to be good.
It's pretty impressive. It's incredible. And I mean, I texted you. [laughs] I was gonna write about this, and then Tiger got in his car accident.
But I was gonna write just would you rather be Adam Scott or Tiger Woods at this point? It, like, they're both about-- They're kinda contemporaries. Obviously very different careers, both successful.
But there's just this like... Man, Adam Scott is just, like you said, he's been healthy, he's been reliable. He can not really be bothered in public. He's got that... He's not quite Russ Henley, but he's got, you know.
He's a pretty-- Unless he's in Australia maybe. It's just like what an experience to play that many majors in a row, travel all over the world. I, it just, it's, it's a, it's a very impressive feat,
and I d- just thought it deserved a shout-out. I agree. And if, if you want me to answer that question, I would much rather be Adam Scott than Tiger Woods a thousand times. Yeah. And that was before- Out of-...
this most recent. I mean, it was like Tuesday that week. No. I was like, "I think I'm gonna write this." And, and it's, it's, it's not like... Yes, Tiger
might go down as w- He, like, you can have a legit argument who the greatest golfer of all time is. Like, it, it could be Jack or Tiger. Like, I, I, I think it's an, a debate.
Um, and so putting that aside, like, he has not closed the door. But Adam Scott is a, is a, you know, major winner. He's gonna be at Augusta until he dies and, and, and can literally do whatever he wants. Yeah. Yeah.
All right. Guys who are trending. Just a quick list. You can stop on any of these guys, or we can just move through them. Wyndham Clark, Jon Rahm, Sam Burns, Alex Fitzpatrick, Matt Fitzpatrick. [laughs] What a story.
And I was bummed to see Brooks K- I was bummed to see Brooks Koepka- You hate Alex Fitzpatrick so much. You are- So much... the, the, the preeminent Alex Fitzpatrick hater. I just hate the rule. I don't hate Alex.
I just, I just think the way- He was gonna be on tour anyway. Not this year. Not playing signature events, you know. That's so bad. But he's been outstanding. And he has- He has backed it up...
yeah, he has, he has backed up the win with his brother and has played great. And I think, I think Nolan up this morning said he's 19th in the FedEx Cup standings. [laughs] Just like- Wait, really? Yeah.
I mean, he- I think it was 19th. I think that's what they said. I feel like he's been a top 10 machine since he's got on tour. Yeah. Like, he has not... He's just, he's almost there.
And he's playing a bunch 'cause he's stoked to be there. He's playing in everything. Well- And he's playing well in the signature events.
And it-- Li-listen, if you're playing for $20 million purses versus, like, $2.5 million purses- I know... you're just gonna keep playing. Yeah. And he's like, "I'm making so much money." Yeah, and you're, like, 25. Yeah.
Yeah, he's got all the energy in the world. He can just go play. And Matt, you know, Matt's not giving him any money, so. I was bummed to see Brooks Koepka. That's tough. Whatever's going on with his, like- I know.
I was watching that. Ner- Yeah. Um, I was watching it yesterday. It did not look... He was making these swings. So I don't know what hole he pulled out of. It was on the backside, but he just eventually WD'd.
And it did not look like he could swing the club with any sort of impact, which I- He said he lost feeling in his fingers. I know. And, like, so I always hate, like, bringing this back to us, but, like...
So I'm, I'm, I'm a steep player, and, like, I get, like... But yeah.
The, the only time I couldn't play golf was when I hurt my wrist because, like, I, like, just hurt-- It was so hard because I c- like, you can't dig in.
And if it's the top of his hand, which I think it is, that's gonna be really tough for him to play. Yeah. Yeah.
So and it's too bad 'cause, like, just it's always, it's always too bad when the guy who's defending at that venue can't play, right? Like, he's, he's the defending Shinnecock winner, so that's always...
It's just, I like, I like when those guys have to come back and play and, and defen- and, like, they're defending their home turf in some way in my mind. And Shinnecock is, like, it's- So it's, it's too bad...
it is firm, so you're not gonna be, like, a steeper... Like, you kinda have to sweep it around there. Yeah. Yeah. Which might help. Yeah. Yeah. Not trending. Bryson DeChambeau. That's all I got.
I'm, I'm literally looking at him and... Yeah. No, not trending. Weird year for him. Two missed cuts. Not trending. And still, you know, could surprise everyone this week, but I, I don't think he will.
Anything else on your mind before we get to picks? I mean, there's plenty on my mind, but, uh, no. Let, let, let's, let's get to the picks. Maybe our picks will- Open up some more conversations.
So as usual, we will do snake draft, three players, and then we tack on a, a dark horse. And I honestly have no idea. The PGA was such a mess. I ca- I can't even remember who we picked.
I probably have them written down here. Actually, I, I probably don't at our dock. I'm just gonna let you go first. I think I went first last time. I'm very- I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give you first pick...
I'm very confident that, uh, neither of us had Aaron Rai. No, uh, he was my next one. I was gonna... He was my fourth dark horse. Uh, yeah, you can go, you can go ahead. All right. My number one pick is Collin Morikawa.
Whoa. Okay. [chuckles] I'm glad I have a long list of guys. Why? Was he on your list? Talk to me. Yeah, he was. So, so, uh, like I, I just kinda think he's lurking, and I- I do too... I don't know.
I, I, I, I, I, I don't really know how to, like, put a, like a, a spot on it. You just feel it. But I, I just, like, the, the video of him last week, like, staring down Toasty after he threw the club was hilarious.
That doesn't have anything to do with why I'm picking him. I, I don't know. I, I, I just think that, like, this golf course, it doesn't...
Like, you don't need to be super long, which he's not, and he was playing so well at the start of the year. Yes. I, I just kinda think he's on the cusp of, like, of winning. And, and- Yeah, I, I agree.
I think he's gonna have a good week. The thing for me that makes me nervous is just the back stuff. Yeah. D- I feel like, I feel like back, I- I mean, if your back su- like, you're done.
Like, I mean, he literally withdrew. Es- especially a place like Shinnecock. Correct. He withdrew from the players, and it was like he made one practice swing.
I've watched this video like 10 times, and he was like, "I ca..." He's like, "I can't do it." Yeah. I- And he hasn't quite been the same, but he's been playing. And so I don't know.
I, I think he's sort of been building to this. Yeah.
His, I mean, his stretch of winning at Pebble, seventh at the Genesis, fifth at the AP, at the Arnold Palmer, T7 at the Masters, T4 at the RBC, is, like, a good stretch of golf. He, he played very well.
The back injury... Is that right? That's not right. That didn't sound right. No, that's not right at all. I'm looking at the wrong list of things here. Yeah.
[chuckles] I was just like, so it's like, that might be last year. That might be last year. I don't think he played Meadows. No, that's this year. Yeah, he won at Pebble, seventh, fifth.
They just don't have his players in here 'cause he withdrew. That's why it seems funny. But this is 20, this is his last 25 starts. And then he finished T29 last week. He finished T55 at the PGA Championship. I am...
Uh, his back just... I feel like he hasn't told us that he's feeling better. I haven't heard him- Well, he's a miserable-... be asked, like, how is your- Like, he, he's kind of a miserable person, like, in general.
But that's the stuff he wants people to ask him about, right? He wants to, he wants to- He wants...
he wants to share his story, and he wants the media to c-call him up when it's convenient for him, like, "How, how's your back doing?" That's a good pick. It's a second, it's a second shot golf course.
The guy is an iron stud. I... Do you, do you worry at all the case against him would be a lot of short grass, just the- Chipping... you're not, it's not, it's not short grass where you're putting.
It's the chipping stuff. And, uh, we have seen Morikawa struggle [chuckles] around greens when the rough is, when the rough is short or it's no rough at all. That's my case against him.
Yeah, it's, it's g- it's a good case. Yeah. Okay, my turn. I get the next two. Oh, boy. You know, I, I have, [chuckles] I, my first three guys I wrote down here, I, I'm thinking of, I was thinking about
just the stuff, the weird stuff that's going on between the Knicks winning the championship. I've got a feeling like England's gonna win the World Cup. Maybe it's just a year where there's a guy who's been close.
Maybe it's the summer of, maybe it's the summer of England. Tommy. I'm picking- Tommy, Tommy. No. He's not even on my list. I've got some other, I've got some other Brits.
I'm gonna pick Tyrrell Hatton first- Oh, that's a good pick... this week. That's a really good pick. And he, didn't he just win, like, a Liv, and not the... That's, like, a huge thing.
But I think he just won Liv last week or two weeks ago. I think he might have. He, and he, you know, he played, obviously he was- That's, that's- Found. He found his way into the Masters, like, kinda late.
God, he's plus 4,700. But [chuckles] yeah, yeah. He's, he won at Andaluc- yeah, he won at, uh, Valderrama, which is just a golf course that's exactly like Shinnecock. [chuckles] Just a, just a mirror image in Spain.
No trees anywhere at Valderrama. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, but he, he's just, like, T3 at the Masters. He had a good- He was the, yeah, he was there in the Masters.
He had a good week at Oakmont last year and was in the hunt late. Yeah. And it just feels like he's a US Open guy. Yeah. He's always angry anyways. I agree. So that's my- I, I'm, I'm a huge buyer of that one.
I actually, I actually picked him- Then I'm going- Plus 750 to finish in the top five is a... That's a good one. I'm gonna take Jon Rahm next. I'm going Liv boys, I guess. I didn't realize that- I think I did Liv boys...
until I just said his name out loud. [chuckles] I, I think I, didn't I, didn't I go with- You did. You took Rahm at the Masters. I think I went Liv boys at PGA too. I think I was, like, Bryson. You took Rahm.
[chuckles] I think I might have e- even had Hatton. I, I just, there's something, there's something w-weird about Jon Rahm this week. He just had his, like, fourth kid or third kid or...
I, I mean, I, I'm telling you, he's, he's three years away. From being two years away? I, yeah, I'm interested to see. I think he's gonna have a very good week.
I think he could win, and he's slowly gotten better within the majors. And I also am starting to think that the Masters at this point for
Li- for Liv guys, this might never be the case again if this whole thing dissolves, um, this summer.
The Masters feels like it's the event that they're never ready for because they don't really play much golf before the, before April.
And they all look kind of, like, blown away by the challenge that Augusta presents, no matter how many times they've been there. But then, like, the PGA, it gets a little better. The US Open gets a little better.
The O- like, they're just, they seem like there's a couple guys who settle in. It's like, "Oh, this is what competitive golf feels like. I remember now." And they have good weeks. I think Rahm's gonna have a good week.
And he's been playing well. Like, overall, he's been playing well. So Rahm is my second pick. Hatton and Rahm. This, uh, Legion 13. Does that even live? I got the, I'm just ru- rolling [laughs] with Legion 13.
Who's your next pick? And who do you- Like, David Poesch or wh- whatever. [laughs] I mean- Yaco. Listen, I, I think you did the same thing to me last time, and it's like,
if you're gonna leave me Scottie, like, with a fourth pick, I'm gonna pick Scottie Scheffler. You gonna have- Just, I will take him, and I've got really no more comments about that. Like, he's just...
We've talked about him. He's an assassin. Yeah. I mean, he, he could- Yep. Neither one of us would be surprised if he wins. No, I wouldn't be surprised if he wins.
I'd be, I think I'd be a little bit s- I mean, I'd be surprised because I didn't pick him, and I actually didn't even have him on my list. Like, I just don't think this week is a Scottie Scheffler week
for all the things we discussed earlier. I just, it doesn't feel like- I, I, I kind of agree, but- It's his birthday on Sunday. Who knows? He's turning 30 on Sunday. Oh, 30. Oh, good. And then my third pick,
I, I feel like I've picked, I feel like I pick this guy almost every single m- major. I'm not going Russell Henley. Like, I'm not, I, like, I know that's who you think I'm going.
[laughs] I feel like the last couple I've picked, I, I'm going P. Reed. Okay. I didn't have it written down. I went before we hopped on and just checked the 18 standings.
He was at, he finished top f- did he finish fourth? He, I, I, I just feel like he's sort, another one that's kind of, like, lurking in the shadows right now, and, like,
I, I could see, like, again, a, a golf course that doesn't demand distance. And so he and Morikawa, like, that's where I think that they could stand out, is, like, they, they don't, they're not the longest hitters.
They probably hit the ball, like, 300 yards. And he's just a grinder. Like, he- Yeah, he shot 68 on the Sunday in 18 and finished fourth.
Like, if, if, if your g- if your ideal situation comes to fruition and plus two is a winner, like, couldn't you see Patrick Reed being a plus two winner? 100%. Just the slimiest. Yes.
[laughs] Just up and down everywhere, making a bunch of putts. That's, yeah. So- How, how, what is the, what is the New York... Is he just, like, the king of New York if he's in the hunt?
What's the dynamic with him and, and the fans if he's in the hunt in New York? Do they love, uh, do they embrace him? I honestly have no idea.
I mean, it depend, if he's going up against, like, Hatton or someone, like, I don't know. There's, like, World Cup stuff going on. Yeah. If he's go- uh, you, if he's- Like, I, I, uh, like, who knows? Yeah. Yeah.
Interesting. It's a good pick. I, he was, he, it surprised me when I looked at 18 that he was, uh, he was fourth.
And it's o- the other thing, just before I get to my pick, going back and looking at old results and seeing guys who played well, and then they won the next, they won something within the next, like, three majors, right?
Like, Reed finishes fourth here. Did he, or did he win in 18? When did he win his... Oh, he won in 18. He won his major in 18. Yeah, he put the jack on the tiger. Yeah, he won the, he won the Masters. Yeah.
He, that's right. He won in 18. So strike that from... It still stands.
[laughs] There are guys you see and you're like, "Oh, they were playing well leading up to their major," but they weren't, they weren't, like, ever really close, but they w- they had just suddenly had, like, a bunch of top 15 finishes, and they were playing really well, and then they kind of, they won.
All right, my last pick. Man, I'm, like, spoiled for choice here. This is the thing. I feel like this is a very, like, there's just, there's a lot of names you could pick.
Most of them should be in the top 10 of the world. I'm... Hmm. I wanna talk about a guy who might get a hard time as a, maybe not. People like him. I'm taking, I'll take Hideki as my last one.
I'm the biggest Hideki, Hideki fan in the world. I, I, like, I love that guy. I do too. I mean, obviously, the case against him is he's a nightmare with a putter in his hand. And, like, Shinnecock might not be the place.
But- But Shinnecock also might be the great, it might be an equalizer- Ex- exactly... where you've got guys who are struggling on the greens. I would love, I would love Hideki. I, I just, I love that fact.
I don't think- And I actually think he, I think he's sneaky, like, hilarious and- I know... I just, I wish he brought more of his personality out. Like, I watch him on the golf course.
So, like, he's one of the guys that if I were to go to a golf tournament, and he would probably have, like, a C+ to B- group, I would go follow him all day long.
Like, go, go on a Thursday or Friday, follow Hideki, and you're gonna just see an absolute show. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, he just, uh, like, his short game, he's, his short game is so good too, other than, like, his, his chipping is good. I think that's gonna be important.
I think being a good iron player, and not just a good iron player from fairways, but knowing- I love this pick. Kind of- I love this pick...
kind of, kind of like what Fitzpatrick talked about, who's another guy, like, I think is gonna have a good week, and I just, I, I almost went all England.
I almost just took Rose, [laughs] Hatton, and Fitz, and just like, it's the summer of England.
But as an Irish guy, I couldn't quite bring myself to do it But Fitz talking about you, if you, if you're in the right places.
And there's, there's something to be said for guys who are, like, in the rough, in a tough spot, who know I can hit my iron over here away from the trouble and get up and down
when I'm in the rough or I'm in a funky, I got a funky lie. It's not just about having, being a good iron player, like, from the fairway 'cause you drive it well.
You've gotta know where your misses are when you're out of position, and his short game is so good. I think he could have a really good week. I would love to see him win. I think that would be- I'd love to see him win.
He feels to me like one of those, we've talked about, like, the one major guys. I, he should be more. I would love to see him get a second major. Yeah. I, I, I totally agree. Like, he should...
There are one major people. Aaron Rai is a one major person. Uh, Zach Johnson should be a one major person. But Hideki feels like he should be- Yeah. So here's hoping. Dark horses.
I got mine. Like, I got a great dark horse this week. Okay. Who do you, who do you have? So this guy is the next great hope of American golf. American hope? Okay. American hope. Jackson Koivonen.
Oh, you're gonna take Jackson Koivonen. He is a winner, and I think that he is gonna, like, catapult up right now. I, I'm, like, big on him this week. He's plus 14,500.
I don't know, like, how to actually read that, but, uh- He's f- 140 to 1 to win. Is that kinda where he is? Plus 14,500. W- whatever that is. So if you bet 100,000... If you bet 100 bucks, you're winning $14,500.
Yeah, yeah. Yep. Yeah. He's, he's a stud. I watched him- Like, he, he's a stud. Yeah. Watch him get- Watch him play. He's gonna get attention. At, at the Wacher Cup. Followed him for a bunch of holes.
He's good at everything. He's a phenomenal, phenomenal putter. Still an amateur, which would also make it a crazy story. Still an am- So he's turning pro on Monday. He's playing this as an amateur- Which is-...
and then turning pro on Monday, which- He doesn't need to do, right? Like, I was kinda confused about this. I haven't looked into it. I don't know if it's, if it was he was only eligible as an amateur.
Would he have, if he had turned pro... 'Cause I'm not sure why he is in the f- or how he's in the field. So with, with... Is it McCormick? Interesting. I think it, maybe it's the McCormick Medal.
I think the McCormick- Yeah... winner gets, gets a spot. So that's, like, the number one.
If you're ranked number one in the world in August, you win the McCormick Medal as a male, and I think that gets you a, a US Open spot.
I think if you turn pro, you relinquish that spot, so he's just, he's staying an amateur. That's my guess- I mean, he's, he, he's gonna get plenty of money regardless-... off the top of my head...
so it's not like it's a, a money thing. Yeah. But he, he is a- Yeah... he is a contender. And he's, he had a SPGA Tour card. He's, he's not worried about eligibility, uh, and getting his card.
Like, he's gonna turn pro on Monday, and he's gonna go to the Travelers and play in Connecticut- This guy's a contender in this tournament... 'cause he's locked in. Man. Okay. I would lo- I mean, that would be awesome.
That'd be sweet. Just won the national title with Auburn. That would be very cool. Signed for Malbon, which is questionable, but whatever. Which is, which is too bad. That's too bad. He's gonna hang out with J-Day.
Right. Yeah. Okay. That threw me off. I did not think you'd pick Jackson Koivonen. I did not have him written down on my list. I'm not sure how he's gonna do. Didn't really think he was gonna have a- Well, listen. Hey...
that kind of a week. Vinnie- But I love it. I love this pick. Listen. Hey. We do long shots here. We don't do, like, short shots. Yes. No, I like it. I'm gonna take
a guy who's been just playing well, but his odds are still pretty high. Christopher Rutan- Yeah... as a dude who could have a good week. No chance. Oh, you're just... You're... I'm sorry. Yes. No.
You're, you're amateur from California. Do we wanna have... Do we need to have just a straight up Rutan versus Koivonen? Let's do it. [laughs] We, we've got, we've gotta- And I will take, I will take Koivonen.
Rutan had... This guy's gonna get ejected so quickly. We'll see. We'll see. Christo- Christopher Rutan. Yeah. The billionaire, billionaire's son. I know. Any trunk slammers? You're gonna pick Christopher Rutan.
Any trunk slammers for you? I mean, I, I wish I... I mean, I, I think Brooks is, if he plays, is a, a trunk slammer. Yeah. Yeah. That's, like, a, that's an easy one. I know.
Could Lud- Like, what's, what do you, what do you think about Ludvig this week? L- I hate Ludvig this week, and I love Ludvig. Like, but I hate him this week. He's actually my... So take, take Brooks out.
Put, put that on a T-shirt. Ludvig is my trunk slammer this week. He is. There's just no way. Yeah. He, he, he's past the point. Uh, like, this year's been so disappointing for him. I know.
And he had a good PGA, but I... Before the PGA, uh, when we did the PGA pod, I did say, like, "Su- We're gonna know a lot about Ludvig after this one." And we di- Like, he did the same thing again, just kind of,
just kind of hovered around and watched. Was he playing with Rai? Was he playing with Aaron Rai? Or was he farther down? Yes, he was. On, no, on Sunday he was. He was, right? Yeah.
Yeah, he was playing with Rai, and just, like, wa- Just Rai crushed him and everybody else. Got a front row seat to that. Maybe that's a boost for him. I don't know. But he just, he- I don't know...
is an interesting one. I don't think he's gonna have a great week. I, I'm not sure if he's gonna slam a trunk. Cam Young we didn't talk about. True. He has not been playing great. Justin Thomas we didn't talk about.
He's another one that I found, like- Windy. Windy, Windy is, like, trending. I know. I know. Justin Thomas is an interesting one with his short game, his irons. He's another guy, no one has really gotten any information.
Like, how truly healthy [laughs] is he? He had a very major back surgery. And he came back quicker than I think he, than I thought he would. And I maybe even what people thought he would do.
And he's played pretty well, but he always seems to kind of peter out as the week goes. Cause I just don't know how healthy is. And it's going to be a grind this week at the U S open. So you said you had a long list.
Like what was, how long was that list? Like where were we going down to? I had, so I had Rose on my list. I had Fitz on my list. I had Morikawa on my list.
I had Xander and I had Justin Thomas as like the guys that I sat down and wanted to, wanted to think hard about and would have picked, would have felt good picking. I do like Morikawa. Yeah. Yeah.
He was, he's a good, I didn't think you, I felt like when I wrote his name down and I was like, this guy is no one's talking about him. Burke's definitely not going to talk about him.
Cause I, he was one of the last guys I wrote down. And usually those last guys are the ones I'm trying to write down that I'm assuming you're not going to pick.
So if you pick the top few guys that I have on my list, I can like as any draft board works, but yeah, Colin right off the board. He was the first non-Englishman I did write down. Listen, I'll take Just insane.
Linksy golf. We could get, we could just get a ton of like, Oh, the English are having a great, great week on this link style golf course in Southampton. It's going to be fun. It is going to be fun.
Like watching these guys play. I, from what I've watched, the weather is going to be good. Windy. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. That's why I even more like Patrick Reed, honestly.
Like he just hits these shots that are pretty cool, but Yeah. That's the other case against Morikawa. He's just a little bit of a dome golfer. And Scotty too. A little bit of a dome golfer. And Scotty, which is why.
Yeah. Yeah. I just don't feel like it's going to be as weak. I don't either. But if you give me the fourth pick, I'll take Yeah. You got to take him. Odds are. Scottie Scheffler. Just got to do it. And no one took Rory.
So Yeah. Sometimes I can't take him, Paul. I just can't. I just don't think it's You didn't take him PGA either. Yeah. Yeah. It's actually kind of funny that Bryson is high up. I feel like that has to be
That's just popularity. That's like the Cowboys and the Lakers. Yeah. It's a popular. Yeah. It's like the Tiger tax, right? Like Tiger. Yeah. They started putting his. I feel like Scotty has a tax on him too now.
Like his odds are preposterous. Yeah. Yeah. But enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the tournament. Yep. Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there. It'll be incredible. And yeah, it'll be a good week. So that's it.
That's all we got. That's it. Thanks, Paul. Thank you.