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[Assistant] In our magazines because everybody wants to know and it also would be a reason again to get more people to tune in to watch an event that's on the other side of the planet because they are going after a segment of the audience. As I pointed out at the beginning, like there is a big segment of golf fandom right now that doesn't know who Anthony Kim is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so if you had the opportunity to tell that story, to bring them in, to suddenly get them interested in the idea that wait a minute, he walked away for.


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[Assistant] 12 years? This dude hasn't played professional golf in 12 years? Like it's such a good story and I feel like they failed to leverage it properly.


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[Assistant] Oh, and I agree with you there as well. If he's contracted for the rest of the year, my guess is he's going to play out the rest of the year. Regardless, if he does end up playing bad, which again, which is what I think most people think is going to happen, I still see him finishing out the contract because there's still probably a lot of money to be made. I'm sure he doesn't turn away just because he's shooting rounds in the mid seventies.


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[Assistant] I like that. I like what you did there. Uh, he also, he also showed up at Augusta national a few years ago in shorts for a prize. So, I mean, we can keep going down the list. I think Rory is correct. I am a little surprised he took the high road as much as you did because that is, I do, do feel like


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[Assistant] Taylor was kind of dragging him a little bit on that front because as most people


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[Assistant] On X pointed out almost immediately that you could argue that John Rahm's victory last year, who's your colleague now at the Masters, should also come with an asterisk then. If that's the logic, you're going to use. If it's not the absolute best field in golf, then anything that gets won on either tour.


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[Assistant] Major championship doesn't matter. Everything should come with an asterisk. So his math is flawed on that front as well. I just, he has a point if you just take the second part of his quote. And I guess that's sort of the definition of Taylor Gooch, is it not? Like if you can ignore the stupidity.


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[Assistant] Of his first sentence, which normally there's a lot of stupidity in the first sentences going all the way back to I thought I could just play in one live event. I don't believe that.


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[Assistant] By the way, you just said it as fact. I don't believe that was the case. I believe that was the easiest way for him to finish up that interview. It was at the Open Championship. I was standing there. I was the one that asked the question. I don't believe that.


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[Assistant] No, that's just not possible. There was too many. It does not seem like he's reading the fine print though. It wasn't even fine print. It's not. Jay Monahan could not have been clearer. Like we can accuse Jay of a lot of things. It's not fine print.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, yes, so this is Truman wins across the top of a newspaper for those I'm dating myself. But yes, it's a very, very big headline that he was ignoring or choosing to ignore on that front. So no, I don't believe that he thought that either. But if you take the second part of the equation and if you just ignore the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I feel like that's opened a lot of people's eyes and maybe the PGA of America or even the USGA will start thinking about, no, man, do we really want to play a major championship without player X, Y or Z? Like this was just X, but what if we also start looking or they start looking at Y and Z as well? I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility, but to say it should come with an asterisk.


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[Assistant] Just because you're not in it. And I think this was Ayman's take on the roundtable and Ayman was a little bit, yeaah.


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[Assistant] They changed their rules saying that not only did you have to qualify for the tour championship the previous season, but you had to play and it was had to be exempt.


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[Assistant] It, no, you had to play. It was the part. If you remember it, because he actually qualified for the tour championship, more or less. But if you remember, he, he of course joined LibGolf and did not participate. Yeah. So that, that was sort of the qualifier that they put on that kept him out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of the US Open and he complained about it to anyone who would listen and then didn't show up for qualifying or didn't sign up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For qualifying for the US Open, you're like, hey man, like, if you really want to play, there are avenues, like, look at what Keane Nieman has done over the last few months. If you look, Taylor Gooch hasn't played in a, in an event anywhere around the world that gets world ranking points since last November.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whereas Joaquin Neyman has played in five, I believe in one, one of them. He won the Australian Open. So he at least put himself out there. He gave himself an opportunity to stay somewhat relevant in the world ranking. If Taylor Gooch really cares that much, he could have done the same thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. That's the point. Like a year from now, we could be having vastly different conversation about, oh, Taylor Gooch won.


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[Assistant] Last year's moneyless on the lift tour. So yes, he, of course he's going to qualify for all four majors this year because of where we're going to end up in professional golf. Then maybe we don't end up there and maybe they...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A year or two from now, all of the major championships do have to decide, okay, we have to do something.


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[Assistant] To adjust to this new reality, but I think in the short term, you're absolutely right. There is no reason.


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[Assistant] Absolutely. And I will go back to the idea of what Rory was asked at Pebble Beach. Then everything comes with an asterisk during this era.


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[Assistant] Like, it doesn't matter which tour you play or what tournament you win. It's going to come with an asterisk. That's what you're going to tell me. Like, we can't.


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[Assistant] I can't sit here and just pull up blank pages in the record book. Like that's not a possibility. So yes, someone's going to have to win the Masters. If it's Rory, then it's going to be the career of Grand Slam. No one.


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[Assistant] 20 years from now is gonna go back and roll their eyes and be like, well, the lid players weren't there. Like that's not gonna happen.


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[Assistant] No, no, no, everyone, everyone was like, I think optimistically, some people mentioned probably keep Kelly was the one who got the ball moving, saying that when he announced he was stepping down from the DP world tour, he suggested that he's leaving essentially the first week of April right around the masters that he feels like something was going to get done.


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[Assistant] Most people internally will tell you that was being optimistic as well. Everyone agreed that December 31st last year was being wildly optimistic, but that was, we talked about this, that was just a placeholder. I think more realistically we can look towards the end of this year, if not midsummer, somewhere in there for a lot of different reasons because I just don't think


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[Assistant] And I laid this out last night on GovCentral. There's, there's three hurdles when it comes to this particular deal. And one of them has to do with just trying to negotiate a multi-billion dollar deal, which comes with nuances and it's complicated. And Eamonn Lynch pointed out correctly.


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[Assistant] There is a sort of a blueprint for that. The SSG deal that the PGA Tour signed last month, announced last month, that kind of creates this avenue for other investments. So in theory, you would sort of have a plug and play system in place that if you really wanted the PIF involved, so here's the avenue. This is what it would look like. This would be the investment. This would be the percentages.


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[Assistant] That would be relatively straightforward in the grand scheme of things. The other part of the equation is,


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[Assistant] As we know from the framework agreement, allowing the Lib players back onto the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour will be a big part of


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[Assistant] Whatever a potential definitive agreement looks like as we now know.


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[Assistant] Being able to look players in the eyes, that's not going to be an easy sell. I don't think on either side, like we were kind of focused on the PGA tour side when.


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[Assistant] Tiger Woods makes comments about, you know, there has to be some sort of penalty to come back. You hear sort of rank and file players sort of screaming the same thing. I don't know how many Lib players even want to come back based on the polling I've done.


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[Assistant] Actively investigating the PGA tour for antitrust violations. Just spoke with a player last week.


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[Assistant] Who had an interview with agents from the DOJ about possible antitrust violations. We know that the Senate is going to take a long hard look at whatever a potential definitive agreement between the PGA Tour and the PIP are going to be.


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[Assistant] All of those things factor into what you just said, because I remember doing this story early last year. I think it might have been at the Honda Classic then.


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[Assistant] Last year where there was kind of rumors of Brooks wanting to come back, there was some buyers remorse and maybe he wanted to come back and I remember.


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[Assistant] Talking with different players about this and having one player, Billy Horschel.


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[Assistant] Telling me that, well, we could do it a la carte. That we could take the players we wanted and leave the players that we don't. And I remember laughing in his face. Cause I was like, you can't do that. Like that's not the way this is going to work. And him pushing back saying, absolutely, we can do this. And now in retrospect, based on what I just said about federal investigators, they're not going to be able to do that.


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[Assistant] Like you can say we only want these six and the rest of you can go pound sand. I'm not quite sure where that saying comes from.


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[Assistant] And whatever that pathway is gonna look like, maybe there's fines, maybe there's suspensions, percentages of what Lib paid you, whatever the case may be.


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[Assistant] Then it's going to stand for everyone because anything that doesn't do that, that just zeros in on the six players we want, the rest of them can just go play Q school or whatever the case may be. They're never going to allow.


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[Assistant] And trust me, the investigators, the DOJ, the Senate, they're going to have a big say in what this looks like. Like, I know that there's plenty of people in the audience that hate the idea of that and why is...


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[Assistant] Why is the government getting involved in sports? Because the government is involved in sports across the spectrum. I mean, look what's happening with the NCAA right now. So of course,


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[Assistant] If there is going to be a deal with the Saudis in the PGA tour, the federal regulators will have a say in it and they would never go for that.


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[Assistant] Or, I guess, period, because he was never part of the, but would you not, like, here's an up and coming young player who I was like, yea, alright, they got one of the young players, like, you really don't want to create an avenue for him to come back?


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[Assistant] Well, we did it Monday morning and I had a teatime, so I think that explains it. I don't think you need to dig any deeper. How'd you play?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, well, I had to stop halfway through the round to record the roundtable. Probably for the best. Uh, it probably was for the best. Actually, I had just, uh, I didn't get a chance to say this on air, but I had just part seven, which I thought was a minor miracle after almost hitting it into an alligator's mouth. So I thought that was, and then I got to skip eight, which is the hardest, uh, uh,


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[Assistant] Yeah, man, that roundtable took a long time. You didn't notice this and I don't want to throw anybody under the bus because he ended up being really nice about it. But during that roundtable, uh, the locker room attendant in the locker room, which he was yelling at me.


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[Assistant] Like you might have saw him, but you didn't hear him yelling at me because right before we came up live, he was having a conversation with someone else. And I had, trust me, I had asked Newton, I'd gone through multiple layers of people asking like, is it okay if I do this? I'm really, really sorry. Yep. Yep. No, it's fine. We'd love to have you.


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[Assistant] Sort of in the middle. And he yelled at me for the first two minutes of that hit. About, this is a locker room, not an office.


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[Assistant] He stopped, he did, he finally stopped when I think right next to me on the wall right next to me was golf channel playing and you know, it's about 30 seconds or 15 seconds behind.


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[Assistant] I think that's when he finally like put two and two together and stopped yelling at me.


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[Assistant] It was, it wasn't, it was two minutes into and I'm sweating bullets trying to listen to Ayman.


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[Assistant] Ask whatever it is Eamon asks cause it's always at that, let's peel back the curtain. Like Eamon is a, he's a loose cannon. Like we can both conspiracy theorists.


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[Assistant] Yeah, like we can both agree on that, right? Like he's, when he asked me the question to compare Tiger Woods' rain, rain is what he called it, on the PGA Tour policy boards.


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[Assistant] Do I think the dictator of North Korea, that's when I went stumbling and bumbling into the night because I couldn't get away from that question fast enough.


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[Assistant] I actually took out, I wanted to see what was in the freezer. You don't do this. Like when I smoke a pork butt, I only smoke half of it. Only because, like, my pit barrel.


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[Assistant] I feel like I've just been placed into the VIP room, uh, of Rex and Laugh. So thank you so much. It's an honor. It's a privilege. I don't have an Emmy like you do have over your left shoulder. I have a pillow. I'll stick that in the background over here.


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[Assistant] There you go. Maybe you can get a look at that and that'll be my pretend enemy if that's alright.


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[Assistant] Uh, given what has happened this year, it was chaotic. I felt like I was in a linebacker breakdown position at all times because we never knew when we woke up each and every day what was going to be thrown at us. Uh, I've called more people and players, agents.


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[Assistant] Katty's, friends of players that I have in my, maybe my entire career.


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[Assistant] I'm at the golf channel. So, uh, yeah, it was, it was intense. Uh, it was intense and it's all basically, you know, around the PIF, PGA tour framework agreement and what we got to move forward. So yeah, it was, it was intense.


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[Assistant] You know, I mean, that's a good question. I, I really enjoyed the interview with Brian Harmon when he won the open, um, because he's been out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, good hoes. Uh, he had been out there for, you know, for so long and, you know, he's won on the PGA Tour. I'm not saying he's an accomplished player or he's not an accomplished player. Uh, but you know, he just hasn't made that step to an upper tier player. And for him in, in what was a, you know,


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[Assistant] For a dog, it was like, you know, playing at Bright Denny Stadium.


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[Assistant] You know, badly fans battling elements and you know, and he just got pissed off and said, I'm going to win this and you know, that was cool. But I mean, I think the most impactful one that I did.


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[Assistant] Was, uh, with Christian Bizet now, uh, it was for, um, it was for a feature we did.


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[Assistant] Actually for the open, uhm, and if you don't know his story, he's a PGA Tour member from South Africa, but he has a severe...


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[Assistant] It has had one since childhood, a severe stuttering issue.


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[Assistant] And I thought it was courageous for him just to get in front of a camera and do a long form interview with us.


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[Assistant] Uh, and he talked about how he was bullied in high school, uh, how he just would come home and just go to his room and just stay in his room and, um, and if it wasn't for golf, you know, he probably, you know, no telling where he would be mentally and emotionally. Um, but it was a refuge for him.


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[Assistant] Uh, maybe he was able to, to grow, um, and now he's...


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[Assistant] Working with Arthur Blank and this, uh, University of Texas and this stuttering program, this research development center.


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[Assistant] That it's doing a lot of positive things for kids and adults with some stuttering issues.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I just thought it was very courageous and impactful as he sat down and talked about his past, present, and future.


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[Assistant] Yeaah, he's very smart. I mean, he's involved in the governance in the PGA tour. He's got a finance degree, I think, from the University of Georgia. Uhm, so yeaah.


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[Assistant] I don't, I didn't go to Georgia. I wouldn't know. Is that, is that, you know, how would I know?


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[Assistant] Well, I went to the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, which is the harbor of Guilford County. So I just want you to understand that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but, I mean, yeaah, I think, yeaah, he, he knows what's going on. He's very invested, very well read, and very thoughtful, and very smart. Yeaah, I mean, he likes to hunt, he likes to fish. Doesn't make him stupid. Uh, so, yeaah, I think he's great.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that was, that was, you know, that's what television is about. It's the abstract and the norm and it invokes emotion. There's no doubt about it. That was, that was.


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[Assistant] A highlighted ear. I'll tell you my dream sick story. You're right.


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[Assistant] Oh, he got bust! He got bust! This is how I talk to you when I'm sitting beside you in the movie studio. No, no.


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[Assistant] Uhm, so I was, you're right, it was the day after golf's longest day. I was in Columbus. You were in Springfield? Right, Rex? Correct.


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[Assistant] To Latrobe, Pennsylvania. This is the day after the longest day.


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[Assistant] Uhm, June 6th and be a part of a dinner that night and then on Wednesday host the opening ceremonies for the Palmer Cup.


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[Assistant] Uh, which was, you know, prestigious honor. I was really, you know, proud to do it.


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[Assistant] But before I jumped in my car to drive to the Trove, I got a chance to play golf and I was going to play golf at Double Eagle, which is a really cool spot and a new buddy of mine's a member there. So we're walking.


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[Assistant] The phone is not on silent and it is just ringing and vibrating and ringing and vibrating. And I'm like, I'm trying to ignore it. I'll get to it later. And it would not stop to the point where my stand bag was about to fall down. It was, it was vibrating so much. And then I pick up the phone and then I read the official statement. I'm like, Oh my God, this can't be true. This somebody is punking me. And that's exactly what I thought. And then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Aren't you guys the same age? This is too sad. Yeah, to the courtyard. By the way, I was staying in a courtyard, right? Uh.


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[Assistant] No, no, no, I'm, I'm saying, I'm, I'm not saying it that way. I'm just thinking like, Hey man, I'm here. This guy created the PGA tour and I'm in his house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would say calls and texts close to 100.


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[Assistant] Uh, and a lot of them were, most of them were players. So yeah, that was the key, that was the thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Correct, well yes, it did affect golf, but really it affected generally one individual.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and that was Tiger, and maybe a few others around him. Uh, obviously it affected his personal life, which, you know, was tragic, but...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But man, this, this affects everybody. This affects us. This affects fans. This, this, this affects the entire topography of golf. So yeah, this is by far the biggest story.


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[Assistant] Look man, I get paid, no one cares about my opinion. I mean, I didn't walk inside the robes, no one really cares about my opinion. They do care about facts, so I like to, you know, I like to have citizenship in information town.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, be as fair as you can. If there's one side saying one thing, then try to get the opposing side to make sure you have a complete story. And that's it. Yeah, but it is hard because...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember going to the PGA Championship in Tulsa.


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[Assistant] And going up and talking to try, try to have a conversation with Lee Westwood or Ian Poulter or Graham McDowell.


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[Assistant] You know, if I had great relationships with them professionally and personally throughout the years, but they just said, man, I can't talk to you. You work for Golf Channel. Can't do it. And it's just like, okay, you can't separate. I mean, come on, you know, so between an individual and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But between one individual as a reporter and another individual who is an analyst who gives an opinion. So yeah, it's tough, but it's, it's, you know, if you just follow your instincts as a reporter, everything should be fine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, you used to, uh, when all this was happening, you know, just every little juicy rumor you would chase.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And some of them weren't even that juicy. You know, if you just had some kind of little inkling of what might be happening, you would chase. Now you kind of, after doing this for what I guess a year, maybe a year and a half now,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You, you kind of filter through what is, you know, what is credible and what is not. So I guess that's basically it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, you know, it's, it's chasing the unknown because


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[Assistant] You know, I talked to players latter part of this year through the negotiations of this framework agreement and they don't know.


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[Assistant] It's, it's very hush hush. It's very hard to get information.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but you get kind of used to that. You try as hard as you can.


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[Assistant] I mean, Scott, you definitely got kind of tired of talking about, uh, putting, putting,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow, the budget is amazing here at the show. Uhm, yeaah, you know, like, let's see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey, Rex, if you'll give me some time, I did have a bad question. I did have a bad question. It came at the PGA Championship.


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[Assistant] It was Wednesday prior to competition and Phil Mickelson was playing a practice round. And so I grabbed my crew, our crew, our friends and said, let's go try.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that's right. Okay. Let's go try to talk to Phil Mickelson.


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[Assistant] And given his, uh, what's the word I would use, disdain, and maybe that's not strong enough for, you know.


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[Assistant] Hatred. Hatred! Hatred's a word that you're looking for there. So I wa- and I've never had a real problem with Phil. It's not like we're tied or anything, but we've had a good professional relationship. And so I walked up to Phil and said, here's my bad question. Phil, can I get an interview?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was my bad question because he looked at me and he said, are you still working for the golf channel? And I said, I am. He said, well, then that's not going to happen. So my question to ask a question was my bad question.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, look, if, if these players want us to, you know, want to show their brand,


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[Assistant] And give their thoughts and emotions when they go out and shoot 63 and win.


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[Assistant] But then I think just as compelling for the viewer is if a player has a five shot lead heading into Sunday and shoots 74 and loses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, they equally owe that. They have, look, we have a beautiful responsibility to service our readers, our listeners, our viewers. And this is not, I mean, I completely, you know, I embrace that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And frankly, a player should embrace that as well. I have to say...


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[Assistant] In regards to that, Tiger Woods has done a lot of things.


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[Assistant] In his career that are phenomenal but when he shows up at a tournament, he understands where he is in the game.


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[Assistant] Pre-tournament, always a press conference, and I would say 95% of the time, if he shoots 62 or 82, he is standing in front of a microphone.


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[Assistant] And talking about how we played, and I think that that is...


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[Assistant] He has done so much to understand where his place is in the game and his responsibility to the fans.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, why do you think Ricky Fowler is so popular?


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[Assistant] I will say this, I mean, JT is a perfect example. If you remember a few years ago, he said what he shouldn't have said at Kapalua.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, that was just an improper thing to say, uhm, and if you watch that interview, he came on.


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[Assistant] Uh, golf central post game live with me and made no excuses. I gotta do better than that.


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[Assistant] That is not a representation of me. I am so sorry of why I said that. And I, you know, I owe everyone an apology. Just completely with genuity, no cliches. You know, it wasn't like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was just real and, and you can relate to that because none of us.


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[Assistant] No, it's not perfect. We're gonna make mistakes.


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[Assistant] And having to explain all that legalese because I'm like you, I don't know anything about it. And I, I have, I have really mastered the pivot right to you. Let's go down to Todd Lewis with our Fred Rex Haggard.


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[Assistant] Rex, what do you got? Great father, great Marine. Rex, man, the court cases are heating up. What do you have? You know what I mean? That is, that is great. I put that on TV boys. Yes. What do you have? That's, I love that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, yeah, I mean, that is, look, it's, and when I don't have my friend and expert, Rex Haggard, beside me on television, and I'm asked to do that,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ooh, that's, that's, that's kinda tough, that's kinda tough. I, you know, I, there wasn't...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you know the story, but it was kind of recent when Justin, I was asked to do a report on Justin Thomas. Who was not playing well and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I made some calls to him in his camp and he just said, Hey, are you, I asked him, are you still working with your dad?


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[Assistant] And he said, yes, I am. Uh, but I have kind of stepped away from him a little bit to kind of own my own swing.


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[Assistant] Some, some more, uhm, because, because what I've been doing is I hit a bad shot on the range and I just looked to my dad and said, why am I doing that? And I've kind of like learned, I think he picked this up from Tiger, is that I need to figure this out myself and not lean so much on my teachers. So I reported that. And of course, social media took what I said and kind of


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[Assistant] That Justin Thomas is no longer working with his dad. And then, and then a media outlet, a very prominent one, reached out to Mike Thomas's dad, his dad. Who? Who? Name names. No, no, name names. Who? It was, you know, to kind of clarify here, it was Golf Digest.


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[Assistant] And so, and so then now Mike Thomas is mad at me because I, I reported the facts and then it gets twisted around and it's just like, you know, like, no, I've never said that Mike, you were not working with, you're still working with your son. So that, I don't, I don't mind. I, I, I'm happy I reported that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I text him and I send him the clip of my report and everything. He said, thanks. And so I think things are fine. Uh, but, uh, it's just, you know, again, that you have, it's, it's, it's, things can be spun in so many different ways through the cowardness of social media, to be honest with you and the irresponsibility.


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[Assistant] I love the majors, but they are so intense for us and we work so many hours. It's hard to say that it's your favorite, but it's definitely the most fulfilling, I would say professionally. There are lots that are kind of little gems out there. I think the memorial in Dublin is great. Really cool.


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[Assistant] Well, you get an elite field, uh, you get great parking, you can park right there on site, which I know you guys get all the time.


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[Assistant] That's the good stuff. That is the good stuff. Anytime you gotta get in a shuttle to the golf courses, it sucks. We sound like such elitists, don't we? You're being on.


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[Assistant] Uh, and the town just embraces it and, you know, it's, it's great. Dublin's a great little, little small city, actually a suburb of Columbus. So I like that. God, man, it is, I mean, it is, it is really hard. I am really fortunate to spend the first two weeks of January in Hawaii. It is, it is just hands down difficult to beat.


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[Assistant] I thought the question was what is your favorite? I didn't realize I was gonna get ridiculed for honestly answering.


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[Assistant] Is is a great tournament, but like you said, I mean, it is amazing to me. I mean, people think that I have.


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[Assistant] A printer that just prints off tickets at my house. It is crazy. And, and they don't, they don't want just walk around tickets. No, no. Get me up to the place where they have free food and open bar.


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[Assistant] Please, we need about eight, eight to ten of them. That's called the Steve Sand Suite. Yeah, okay, true.


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[Assistant] Which is in my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina. And not only are tickets generally being requested for me, but I'm also, and it's a lovely thing too, you got friends, you got family members that you haven't seen in a while when you come home.


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[Assistant] And you're trying to obviously cover the event as well and it's, you know, it's incredibly taxing, but they're both great events. They're great events. They're just a little, they're harder to work.


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[Assistant] Ryan, yeah, I would go to your boss and say, I'm never coming that again, covering that again and see if you can get to Hawaii. It's really cool, man. It's a nice place. I mean, the parking is fantastic. You don't see cocaine in the bathroom there. Smells so good. The flowers is just beautiful.


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[Assistant] And I'm actually looking forward to the President's Cup. I think it's, uh, you know, I've talked to Trevor Emmerman. I've talked to Mike Weir. I, I think that's, that's going to be an intense environment. Not saying it's going to be like Rome or Europe. Canadians!


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think golf, maybe number two up there, uhm.


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[Assistant] So I think it's gonna be, yeaah, I think it's gonna be a great environment. I'm, I'm looking forward to the President's Cup. And I, I, God, man.


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[Assistant] I'm a, I'm a big red, white and blue guy that loves my country, but, you know, I, there's a part of me that wants the international team to win. I mean, because I think it would be great for the series and, you know, be kind of cool.


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[Assistant] Well, I would have to say, you know, again, coming, coming on this podcast is right up there for sure.


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[Assistant] Pandering, we love pandering, very good. Yeaah, yeaah, that's cool. I, I still, uhm,


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[Assistant] Actually why don't you give me a description. Let's do a roast.


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[Assistant] Rex, give me, give me your version of Todd Lewis Lunchroom Boys and then Todd Lewis TV Boys.


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[Assistant] Alright, well, I'm taking you to, I'm taking this podcast now as my highlight of the year off the list now. Just ridiculous.


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[Assistant] I do not have two different personalities. I don't feel myself talking differently.


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[Assistant] I have yet to see a memo from the tour on that.


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[Assistant] When I'm doing a winning interview, the champion is generally holding the trophy.


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[Assistant] And they, they have to do an interview with, uh, the, the television network, they have to, uh, XM radio, and then they get to me.


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[Assistant] And what we do is we start on what's called a two shot. So it's me and the champion. And then I turn and then they, the camera goes in tight on the guy who won.


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[Assistant] And then I say, finally, finally champion, I ask that champion a question and then I stand beside him and then they pull out on a two shot. And to make sure he doesn't go anywhere, I do put my hand on his back and say, here he is, Victor Hovland, your Fatic scope champion. Back to you.


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[Assistant] This is just, you know, just the stuff that he said. You know, look at that. He's just straighter than you could point. You know, and that's, you know, stuff that is just amazing. It's just, uh, yeaah. He is gifted.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav and Bulldog Nation.


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[Assistant] Is rejoicing on this Friday night. Brian Harmon has staked himself to a five shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood after two rounds of the 151st Open Championship. Harmon sits at 10 under 132, coincidentally, Rex.


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[Assistant] That 132 mark is the exact same score that Tiger Woods shot in 2006 on his way to victory here at Royal Liverpool, as well as Roy McRoy back in 2014. I know you wrote a little ditty on Harmon on Friday night for golfchill.com, but here's a stat for you courtesy of our friend Jack Ryan.


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[Assistant] At the PGA Tour, Harmon is the ninth player.


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[Assistant] In the last 40 years to hold a 36 hole lead of at least five shots in a major championship. The previous eight, they all went on to win. And so a single question for you, is this thing over at the halfway mark?


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[Assistant] I can't imagine that he ever would have had occasion to. I'm not sure that Ugga wants to be downing, uh, Bud Heavy.


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[Assistant] We'll have to fast forward 48 hours to see if that actually comes to fruition. When you look at this list, Rex of the previous eight players who went on


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[Assistant] A very nice player, a top 50 player in the world, two-time PGA Tour winner, uh, but has really only been in major contention once. Back in 2017, he held the 54-hole lead at Aaron Hills, uh, ended up tying for second here. Make the case, why can Brian Harmon win this Open Championship and why can he not, or why will he not?


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[Assistant] Case four, I mean, he's, he's clearly been trending as we headed into the year's final major.


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[Assistant] Case four would involve him driving it so well as he has for the first 36 holes. He's hitted in just one bunker. Obviously that'll be a key.


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[Assistant] For success would be avoiding any sort of unforced errors, avoiding any double bogeys. It's kind of letting the field have a little bit of confidence.


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[Assistant] The fact that he's actually made 264 feet worth of putts over the first two days, I actually think that's a negative. That is, that is unsustainable. I promise, Rex, if Brian Harmon makes another 264 feet worth of putts over the weekend, he will win this golf tournament, not by five shots.


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[Assistant] Uh, but by significantly more than that, you would think some sort of market correction is in order. That's not to say that he won't continue to putt well. He's a very good putter.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and he, he wields that very large flat stick, uh, exceedingly well. Uh, but, but tension does strange things to players on major championship weekends and it would not surprise if his putter went a little bit colder than it certainly has.


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[Assistant] Over the first couple of days here, I would actually spin that back on you with you saying that the players coming from behind will make it difficult for him. I actually think that's working in his favor.


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[Assistant] Who behind him, right now, is he afraid of?


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[Assistant] Is it Tommy Fleetwood who, yes, has been playing, uh, you know, better of late?


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[Assistant] As well, but does not have a victory on the PJ tour. Is it sep straka?


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[Assistant] Uh, who was going to be sniffing major contention for the very first time in his career. Is it Min Woo Lee? Probably. It probably is Min Woo Lee. He seems to have a kind of a it factor and seems ready to take that next level. But like, look at the players who are behind him. He has, he has, he has 10 players.


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[Assistant] Within eight shots of his lead, only three of them have won PJ tour events and only two of them have won major championships in Jordan Spieth and Jason Day. And both of those were six some odd years ago. Like he doesn't have a whole lot of scary threats coming behind him halfway home.


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[Assistant] You know, on the podcast on Thursday I said, I said, look, this was kind of a sleepy day one. I'm optimistic. You had Spieth, you had Scotty, you had Brooks, uh, you had Rory, uh, you had Cam Smith all there. I said, look, this thing, this thing might be ugly right now, but I have a feeling after 36 holes, it's going to look a whole lot better.


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[Assistant] Wrong-o. It did not happen. It actually looks much worse.


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[Assistant] That's Tiger Woods old formula. Avoid double bogeys, avoid the bunkers, and avoid three-pucks. So far, at least at this point.


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[Assistant] Brian Harmon has done that exceptionally well. You brought up Roy McRoy, uh, shot, uh, one under today. He's one under for the tournament. He only has 10 guys to beat over the weekend. We've kind of, uh, kind of dissected the pedigree. He sounded reasonably confident that he could make up


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[Assistant] This deficit, he really liked the way he was playing. He liked the patience that he'd exhibited over the first 36 holes. Do you think he's talking himself?


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[Assistant] Into contention or do you actually think he has a reason to feel pretty good at this point?


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[Assistant] He needs to be a little bit crisper with his iron play. That has at times cost him.


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[Assistant] Cloudy with outbreaks of light to moderate rain, chance of drier spells at times, the wind's actually going to decrease from 15 to 19 miles per hour to 9 to 12. Like what are we doing here? That is, those, those are not,


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[Assistant] On Saturday in the third round, again, not an unrealistic expectation for a player who's clearly in good form at this point with conditions that are not going to be all that treacherous like-


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[Assistant] We could be looking at a, we could be looking at a weekend snooze, but that, that forecast doesn't, doesn't scare me. I'm not sure why we're


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[Assistant] We did, we did get some confirmation, did we not today on Friday Rex, that we're supposed to, we're supposed to wear rain jackets, we're supposed to have umbrellas, you're still gonna wear a ridiculous full suit.


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[Assistant] Uh, during Golf Central because it is a quote, news show. Uh, but I will, I will carry that one, uh, to my deathbed that I, that I, that I believe that it looks ridiculous on television.


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[Assistant] It's not going to be easy, no, but I think players, certainly of this caliber, would prefer a little bit of rain as opposed to a little bit of wind. Yes, you could potentially get a little bit of friction with water on the club face and then it squirts any which way, but unpredictable wind.


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[Assistant] Uh, is, is terrible for not just us, uh, but the best players in the world as well. I saw the Sasha's Faker, go ahead.


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[Assistant] Let's go back first of all to Justin Thomas. He talked to us not just after his 81 at the US Open where he described himself as both


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[Assistant] That he has struggled and I found that to be just a little bit of a jarring experience. He's, he has, he's never gone a full year without winning. He's never recorded fewer than seven top tens in a season. Uh, he's never finished worth besides his rookie year, uh, worse than 12th.


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[Assistant] In the FedEx cup. And yet he finds himself now in a position where he's actually adding


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[Assistant] This tournament starts to his schedule. He's committed to play next week's 3M Open.


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[Assistant] Uh, in Minnesota for the first time in his career, currently right now, he's projected 75th.


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[Assistant] In the FedExCup standings would not qualify for the first playoff event. And so there's a lot of complications.


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[Assistant] That I dove into with this first prolonged slump. It's not just the playoff eligibility and what that could potentially mean.


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[Assistant] Over the next couple of weeks heading into the playoffs that yeah, it would still merit serious consideration for a captain's pick just based on his experience in the Ryder Cup and what he means in that team room, but also kind of dove into the human element.


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[Assistant] As well, Rex, and you and I, you and I talked about this today in the media center. When, when things are going great,


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[Assistant] With this relationship where your dad is also your swing coach. Like I can't imagine a more fulfilling experience, a more satisfying thing for a father and son to enjoy than being at the absolute height of the profession. Mike Thomas is a lifelong club pro.


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[Assistant] And he's, his only pupil now is one of the very best players on the planet. Like that has to be insanely cool.


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[Assistant] On the opposite end of the spectrum is I can't imagine a worse scenario.


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[Assistant] For a student coach, parent-child relationship than having a prolonged slump. The irritation, the frustration.


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[Assistant] The anxiety, the bickering, the silence, the traveling throughout the world together, uhm, it's impossible to think that the friction that they're experiencing on the range and inside the ropes


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[Assistant] Will not carry over to their family life outside the ropes. Uh, and I, and I think that's, that's something that can't be ignored. And there's kind of a human element to this, um, which, which is deeper than just a guy who's not playing very good golf right now.


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[Assistant] Right now I would still pick him for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.


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[Assistant] I absolutely would pick him for the Ryder Cup team. I think there are certain intangibles that he brings you think about his record.


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[Assistant] In the Ryder Cup, I mean it's absolutely ridiculous. He's 16-5-3. Like that winning percentage is so much better than any other American player.


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[Assistant] And if you put him with a partner, it can potentially alleviate some of the pressure that he feels to perform in a solo act. He's obviously had a ton of success with Jordan Spieth, uh, in both of those formats. I think he's, he's just such a vital.


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[Assistant] He's such a vital presence. I mean, he's, he's essentially the American version of Poulter, only he's, only he's a world class player. Like he's a better player than Poulter could ever have dreamed of being. And so I know he's in the worst slump of his career. I know he's missed four of his last six cuts. I know he might not potentially play in the playoffs, but I still trust him.


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[Assistant] To perform what matters most over some of the other options that Captain Zach Johnson is going to have. And I think at this point, Zach Johnson probably agrees with me.


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[Assistant] Who is sitting at home during the PJ Tour postseason. He was not among the top 70 players on the PJ Tour that season. The optics of that are terrible. But again,


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[Assistant] Listening to Zach today, listening to Zach in the past, he's going to continue to lean.


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[Assistant] You have to feel pretty good if you're a European Ryder Cup fan, do you not? Right now, you look at some of the Europeans who are trending in the right direction, and you look at the Americans outside of a Scotty.


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[Assistant] Zander, my pick for player of the year has not won this year. Patrick Cantley hasn't won. Max Homa, this is the first major championship in which he's seemingly played well. Keegan hasn't been in that.


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[Assistant] Uhm, Cauldron in what, 11 years? Uh, Kalamorokawa hasn't won in two years now. Cam Young, you kind of detailed his struggles. Although Sam Burns won the match play this year, uh, he hasn't really performed in the major championships as well. Tony Finau missed another cut, uh, at the open. He's really struggled this summer, like,


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[Assistant] You feel pretty good about eight of those guys, and then I think they almost have more questions in the back end.


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[Assistant] Then, then Europe does. You know, if you slide in a Robert McIntyre, you slide in a Ludwig Aberg, you slide in the Hogard twins, like all of a sudden that backhat Sebstraka, who's once again in the next year through 36 souls at the Open Championship,


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[Assistant] All of a sudden that back end of the European side, which is supposed to kind of be their, their, their wild card, all of a sudden that's looking better, a little bit more predictable than the Americans.


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[Assistant] Are they trying to embarrass him? I feel like they're trying to embarrass him.


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[Assistant] If Justin Thomas made that U.S. Ryder Cup team based on the way he's, the way he's playing right now, but like.


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[Assistant] Not now. I would put him on the team and I wouldn't even think twice about it. I really wouldn't.


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[Assistant] 60-60 to 130 range who are trying desperately to either improve their status, get inside the playoffs, try and hop inside the top 50, whatever the case may be, a JT should, should, should be able to


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[Assistant] Play some good golf as you did at the Travelers Championship just a couple of weeks ago. Alright, we've got a little bit deep.


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[Assistant] On this minipod, but that's okay because they're teeing off at 3.30pm local time.


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[Assistant] Uh, for me, it is Jordan Spieth. He's the player. Uh, Roy McRoy obviously has his success in the Open Championship, but Jordan Spieth is one shot better through 36 holes, came home in 39, kind of took a little bit of steam out of what it could have been, a very juicy subplot there. If you're a Jordan Spieth fan,


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[Assistant] I think you have to feel pretty good that he is actually in this position inside the top 10, had the year's final major without his best stuff.


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[Assistant] At this point, like, he's outside the top 40, uh, strokes gained off the tee, and putting hasn't even, uh, been particularly sharp.


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[Assistant] Around the greens. And so I think there's plenty of room for improvement and plenty of reasons why Jordan Spieth with his creativity, with his imagination, with his shot making ability, uh, wouldn't surprise me if he cuts into that deficit Saturday.


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[Assistant] At Royal Liverpool. Whatever happens, we'll be back here on the Golf Show Podcast with Rex Lab to break it all down. Make sure you go to golfshow.com. All of our news, features, analysis, commentary, uh, whatever I'm missing along that. Make sure you check out Rex for his final appearance.


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[Assistant] Live from the Open Championship, see what ridiculous things he and T-League are going to say on Saturday night. Who knows?


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[Assistant] Could be, depends on what you say. Uh, but with you, thank you guys for listening once again.


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[Assistant] To this mini pod, we'll see you on Saturday. We'll be sleeping in and getting lots of chocolate.


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[Assistant] Uh, is it? Cause I feel like, uh, I did not touch all the bases. I knew you were going to lecture me. So I'll go ahead and get to this while we're at it. I, I managed to go to three of the six restaurants you gave me. And the number I came to this morning when I thought that through on the plane was, I mean, I batted 500. That should get me in the hall of fame. Hall of fame. Hall of fame career.


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[Assistant] That's right, uh, so I ate rendezvous, I ate, uh, the Germantown commissary, and I ate Gus's fried chicken, uh, four nights in a row.


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[Assistant] Four nights in a row I ate a Gus's Fried Chicken. It was literally walking distance from my hotel. It could not be easier. The people were so nice and the chicken was delicious.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that's true. It was like 30 minutes away though. So by the time I got done working, I think it was Thursday night was my first night free and I was like, I don't want to do that. I was done. And, and.


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[Assistant] And football was on preseason football, but football. So I was kind of motivated to get back to my room.


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[Assistant] Turn the TV on and relax. However, I feel like 500 is...


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[Assistant] And I did go there one night with a colleague of ours. Uh, and it was, no, no, it was fantastic. Look it up right now. Look at the menu. It was all the things that you and I would absolutely love.


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[Assistant] No, no, no, it's not a barbecue restaurant. It's a restaurant restaurant. So, no, there's not even barbecue there. I didn't even have that. I had like a, uh, what did I have? I had a, uh, this is terrible for me to admit. I had a fried BLT sandwich. That's what I had.


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[Assistant] No, I went to, no, cause I went to Gus's the other three nights and I got fried chicken every single night. So I didn't get, I got barbecued two out of the six nights and then.


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[Assistant] No, you didn't factor in, you didn't factor in an hour and a half rain delay on Sunday and then a playoff on Sunday. By the time, I didn't even have dinner last night if I'm being honest. So by the time I got back to my hotel, it was, uh, I had finished up two blogs, went to sleep, had to wake up at 4 a.m., catch a flight.


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[Assistant] It really is, and it's pretty amazing. I have known Lucas for a long time, going all the way back to his Clemson days, and...


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[Assistant] It's not as though I thought he was washed, but anyone who wants, and I will say whoever on the internet, and I'm sure it was more than one person.


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[Assistant] That's brilliant whoever pulled that off. Cause it shows that to me is the best visual evidence of how far he has come.


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[Assistant] He's always been such a good ball striker and to go back to things that shock you, yes, Patrick Cantlay hitting in the water on the first playoff hole. That shocked me because you're right. He had put on a striped show, but then I'll go, I will go that Lucas Glover hitting in on the water on the 14th hole. Like he hadn't missed a shot all day long.


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[Assistant] And it wasn't even close. It was 20 yards right of where he was looking and that's not what he does. I mean Lucas Glover doesn't miss right. If he just snap hooked it.


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[Assistant] And for him to rebound, I guess is part of it, but it shows you how far he's come. And I guess the journey, and look, we kind of went over this last week, the journey of getting to where he was with his putting and coming to grips with the idea that, all right, I have the yips and I have to figure that out. And I'm sorry for those with sensitive ears. I'm going to, I'm probably going to say that a couple more times.


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[Assistant] During this podcast and how he got over it and it wasn't easy and I ended up talking with the Navy Seal, the guy that he kind of worked with over the last few weeks and his name is Jason Kuhn.


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[Assistant] And it's, it's, most of it I, I glazed over, I'll be honest with you, cause this dude is Sean Foley Deep. Like he takes a really, really deep dive and you have to slow him down.


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[Assistant] And you have to tell him, no, you gotta dumb this down for me. Like I gotta write this for people. And he wasn't able to do it. But essentially the message that he gave to Lucas that I feel like resonated was, you're not weak.


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[Assistant] Just because you have the yips doesn't mean you're weak or you're afraid of the moment.


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[Assistant] And that's what this guy learned. He was a baseball player in college and he was pretty good. He was a pitcher and it got so bad and he got the pitching yips that he couldn't even play catch. Like little, forget about pitching. He couldn't throw the ball to first base. And so obviously that ran him out of baseball. And so to prove to himself that it wasn't a weakness, that he wasn't afraid of the moment, he was a closer, like this is what he.


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[Assistant] He craved that pressure. He wanted to be in the game when it was at its most important.


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[Assistant] He decided to join the Navy and try to become a SEAL. And once he made it out of Bud's training, he said it dawned on me. Like I'm not weak. Like if I was weak, I was never going to be able to do that. Like no one could ever accuse me of that. And that's really what resonated with Lucas. And look, there's a litany of other things. I mean, I spent a lot of time last night talking with his manager.


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[Assistant] Mack Barnhart about sort of the journey they've been on really the last two years.


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[Assistant] I talked to Brad Faxon yesterday about some of the things they worked on, putting wise, the idea that


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[Assistant] This putter worked at this moment in time because he was trying to clear out all the garbage that he had in his mind.


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[Assistant] The idea, if you would have asked me, if I would have asked you six weeks ago, just a scant six weeks ago, Hey man, Lucas is going to win back to back weeks and it's going to be cause of his putting. What would you have said?


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[Assistant] Travis, uh, he's a, he's a, he's a brave, I'm sorry, I should know this. Travis, I'm blanking on, I know you're talking about me.


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[Assistant] The Atlanta Braves pitcher is Tyler Matzik. That was gonna drive me crazy, so I looked it up. Uhm, it's funny you said that as he was leaving the press center last night, I asked him, are you going home to South Florida before you go up to Chicago? And he said no, he's gonna go ahead and keep heading out. And the interesting thing was, was he tired?


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[Assistant] And I'm gonna have to take a knee for no other reason than we talked about this last week. It was 109 degree heat index last week. Like it was absolutely awful and I know his pants made a show on social media yesterday.


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[Assistant] It was pretty bad. In his defense, he was not the only one that was dealing with the swamp issues. Don't wear khakis. Don't wear khakis.


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[Assistant] The problem is, and this is the part that gets me, he only packed for one week and I go, that seems like a you problem because here's the deal. When he started this journey, it was way back at the Wyndham championship. And I said, even at the Wyndham.


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[Assistant] You were still qualified for the playoffs, like there was still, uh, you know, there was very, very likely that you were going to end up playing at least two weeks. And then you would think you'd get on a run and he spent two nights last week doing laundry. Uh, you're right. He didn't choose wisely on the pants. I don't know the dark pants are any better. I actually made a pitch. Black pants are always better. I always wear.


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[Assistant] I guess, maybe it does. When it's hot, it's hot. It's just gonna throw it through. Sure. And I would say that Friday, there's probably not much you could do. I made the pitch that


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[Assistant] There's kind of an unwritten rule in the PGA tour that if the heat index gets above 100 degrees, the caddies are allowed to take the bib off.


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[Assistant] I would make the argument that if the heat index is above 100 degrees, they should be allowed to wear shorts. Cause that was ridiculous. Everything I saw.


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[Assistant] You're still going back to the range and that just bugs you. It's gonna, it's me wearing suits sitting in this chair that bugs you. Anna Whiteley says misting. Nope. Not exactly.


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[Assistant] Anna, love you to death. It was not misting and that's easy to say when you're sitting in that booth. Uh, I know I'll just say this and I don't want to turn this into the Lucas Glover podcast because there was a lot of layers to this story and I was talking with his agent last night and he brought up the idea of when he got the broom handle putter and it was kind of Brad Faxon who said,


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[Assistant] I mean, the answer there is kind of offensive. It's dude, I'm the best putter of my generation. I don't know how to use that thing. How in the world would I know how to use that thing?


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[Assistant] And so he told him to go on the internet and look at videos. And that's what he did. He went on YouTube and he watched Adam Scott and he sent Scott McCarran. He goes, I like Scott McCarran's videos. He, he told me he does talkie talkie videos. And I'm like, all right, well whatever until he figured it out in his garage.


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[Assistant] And I'm not going to sit here and pretend like, oh, I looked at Lucas Glover settling in over every putt last week and yep, that one's going in the hole. I still don't feel comfortable simply because we've watched him.


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[Assistant] It's the same guy who told me last week that he had not one, but two panic attacks on a golf course during a PGA Tour event. It's the same guy who told you like, look man, I knew how bad it was.


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[Assistant] I did not, I did not see a future in the game if I kept going.


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[Assistant] Uh, I'll say this, uh, I asked him about the Ryder Cup, if it had dawned on him at all last night, and that kind of- It went viral. It did. The question and answer went viral.


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[Assistant] And it did, and it wasn't his best answer when it came to the Ryder Cup. Doug Ferguson asked a much better question than me, and his question was, uh, if you were the captain, would you make yourself a pick?


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[Assistant] If you look at the way I've played the last few weeks, if you look at how he feels like he would fit into that team, if you look at what he would mean to that team room, he made the argument he absolutely would be.


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[Assistant] We'll walk this backwards because I feel like this is a larger Ryder Cup question given where we are right now in the state because it happens on Sunday night, at least it gets locked in. I was kind of surprised that the conversation on the range last week and specifically on Sunday night when Brooks dropped to fifth on the list.


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[Assistant] And that's telling, and look, Brooks is probably going to qualify for the team, and this is going to be a non-starter. Not guaranteed though. Not guaranteed. It isn't. There's so much money, because the larger purses and the playoffs and the designated slash signature events have sort of skewed the way this plays out.


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[Assistant] I will say the signature next year. That's why I'm doing the designated slash signature. That's why I decided to do that.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I'll say this, and I'll throw this back at you. If Brooks drops to 7th. You have not answered the question. No, I will, but I feel like it's a larger conversation. I would have said that if Brooks dropped to 7th or 8th or even 9th, that he's a lock to be on the team. I am surprised how many people, who I respect their opinion,


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[Assistant] In this game have told me that not necessarily and their argument is.


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[Assistant] And I can see where this is coming from and it's what has Brooks done since May.


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[Assistant] Like, okay, second at the Masters and he wins the PGA Championship and clue.


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[Assistant] Clearly he hasn't done much on the PGA Tour since then. He's a lived golf player and he doesn't get to play in many of the PGA Tour events, but he hasn't really even done much on, on lived golf.


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[Assistant] And so, we don't know, we've talked about this before, like it's hard for us to wrap our minds around how you sort of gauge what's happening over there and we probably need to pay better attention to it based on what's going on. But if he drops to 7th or 8th, do you still think Brooks is the lock?


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[Assistant] And this was all based on the idea of Billy Horschel doing essentially exactly what


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[Assistant] Lucas Glover is doing right now, that he won two of the four playoff events at the time and yet did not make the team.


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[Assistant] I will argue that you do have to look at team chemistry, and this goes back to JT. So in my mind, we can sit and we can flex around all of these different players. I guess more kawa would be one.


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[Assistant] It seems like it, but if you start looking at, okay, who's playing good right now, you could probably find a handful of players that you can make the argument, well, they're not playing their best. And a lot of that probably goes to the idea that everyone's pressing right now. Everyone, unless you're one or two and you've already qualified, you're pressing to get on that team. That's how much this means to these players.


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[Assistant] So in my mind, this comes down between if all things being equal, let's say that Lucas doesn't do a whole lot this week or after the tour championship, essentially.


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[Assistant] They're still a bit of a window on that front. JT clearly fits into that team room better. There's, I don't know if you know this, he and Jordan Spieth are really, really good friends and he and Ricky...


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[Assistant] Uh, well I don't know about that. I would probably re- rethink that one a little bit. And so I can see where that's coming from. This goes back to the conversation we had last week though. As...


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[Assistant] As gutsy as I thought that was on the 72nd hole at the Wyndham Championship. And look, I was appreciative of the moment. I said pick him right now.


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[Assistant] Because I just love the way he finished with that kind of pressure. He's still hitting awful drive to put himself in that situation. He hit a lot of bad shots during the Wyndham Championship. The swing is still not great relative to where he normally is. This is not the Justin Thomas we know. So I think it's going to be a little bit more...


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[Assistant] Lucas does what you probably think he's going to do and run out of steam the next two weeks. My guess is that Zach leans towards JT, but right now it's a tough decision.


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[Assistant] We're having a much different conversation on Monday after the tour championship.


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[Assistant] And comparing and making this an either or for JT or Lucas probably isn't fair because I prob- my guess is Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns are not locked. I mean Keegan could pop up as well.


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[Assistant] And so I think you'll have a decision to make. And I certainly see, I would pick Lucas to go back and finally answer your question simply because that again, they made a rule for this. Part of the task force conversation way back in 2014 was how do we get better? And one of those things was, well, maybe we left a hot hand on the bench and Billy Horschel in that particular atmosphere.


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[Assistant] Right now that hot hand is Lucas Glover. So they went out of their way.


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[Assistant] Any Ryder Cup captain, particularly a losing Ryder Cup captain, will tell you on a Sunday night after losing that Ryder Cup that what happened, they made more putts than we do. And right now, I don't think anybody's making more putts than Lucas Glover.


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[Assistant] Why? Give me something more than that. We're eight months in. Give me something more than that. He's been grinding away for eight months. What do you think he's going to find in South Florida and the dirt over the next three weeks?


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[Assistant] I guess he could, but we don't know that right now. I mean, again, I'm going to call it a meaningful golf shot because he can show up in Napa and


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[Assistant] That would be helpful. And here's why I'm getting caught. Like I'm not 100% in on Lucas. Like I can look at the writing on the wall and be like, yep, 43 year old.


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[Assistant] The putting is always something you're going to look at. Certainly you could partner with Brian Harmon. You could probably partner with anyone. I think you're dismissing the idea that Lucas somehow wouldn't fit into that team room because I think 100%.


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[Assistant] So here's the deal. I will see Lucas's blind spots when it comes to this conversation. You will not see JT's blind spots. And I think that's where you're coming in with your homorism.


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[Assistant] You don't think the Europeans have access to the same data that we do? They can see that, oh, he's not playing great. Like, trust me, he didn't qualify for the playoffs. Oh, okay.


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[Assistant] Maybe they picked JT because he was a name. I think that's part of the problem that the U.S. team gets into time and time again. You don't think the Europeans are going to make Lucas Glover putt everything outside 18 inches? Every single putt? Oh, absolutely, 100%. And again, I just said in the previous conversation we had, as great as it has been, and look, I quantified it, I broke it down, how good his putting has been really over the last 22 rounds.


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[Assistant] Man, I'm nervous when he's standing there. Forget about standing over the 30 footers. Like I'm kind of indifferent when it comes to them. There were so many three footers coming down the stretch yesterday and really all week last week where I was just kind of shaking my head like, Oh, that I just don't feel comfortable over this.


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[Assistant] And I've been probably the first one to roll my eyes every time a tour official, so I'm talking to you Tom Alter, walked up to me and said that such and such is projected to finish here. Cause my argument had always been, really, Tom? Cause I feel like we like to play 72.


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[Assistant] So it's just, it's ridiculous. Like don't tell me the Orals are in first place going into June because I don't need to hear it and the Orals are still in first place. So now I'll certainly listen to it now.


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[Assistant] Uh, and don't tell me about projections on Thursday or Friday at the first playoff event.


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[Assistant] This one was different though, and we've talked about this before, going into next year and the signature events, and specifically if you look at the eight signature events, there's sixteen of them, but I'm not counting the majors, uh, I'm not counting the playoff events, and I'm not counting the players' championship. So you take those eight out of it, and you look at the other eight, and we can, we can sort of break


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[Assistant] Why not? Uh, so it wasn't his idea, uh, so I remember the media mentioned it and brought it up and he thought, hmm, that's a good idea. Like, very rarely do you see someone get reminded that, oh, I can get drunk. That's right. I've thought about that. This is something I can do.


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[Assistant] So the difference between those two players is exactly one stroke. And the schedule that the guy who finished 50th will play versus the guy who finished 51st will be so wildly different.


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[Assistant] And that's what I kind of broke down and there's a bunch of ways you can do it. So what I did was I took the eight signature events and I came up with eight comparable full field. I'm doing the air quotes for those who aren't doing the visual medium on this. And so by comparison, it would be Arnold Palmer.


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[Assistant] Is one of the signature events, so it would be the classic, aka the Honda Classic, would be the kind of comparable one.


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[Assistant] Just start with purses. In those eight events, those players will play for $155 million. In the eight full field events, the others, they will play for $67 million. So it's more than a twice as much difference. Probably the bigger deal is the points. And the way I broke this down was let's take the guy who finished 50th.


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[Assistant] On the FedExCup points list just yesterday, and the guy who finished 51st. If the guy who finished 50th finishes 10th, and every single one of those 8 signature events, he will finish 14.


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[Assistant] On the season, on the regular season ending points list. That will pretty much guarantee he makes it to Eastlake. If that same player who finished 51st does the exact same thing in the full field events, the non-signature events, he'll finish 71st. He won't make it to the playoffs.


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[Assistant] Those points are so much more exaggerated, all the way down. Essentially, the points, the FedExCup points for signature events are the same as they are for major championships.


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[Assistant] What you're going to end up with is players who are playing that signature event schedule next year, who don't have to play all that well to make sure that they stay in that, that very, very comfortable bubble. So if you were going to pick a year to finish inside that 50th and you can do this any number of ways, you can quantify the difference. But that one to me is the one that stood out.


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[Assistant] And it's important to point out that top 50 is the primary way that guys will get into the signature events next year. There will be other ways. There's going to be 15 spots available essentially for how you're playing over the course of next season.


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[Assistant] The top ten. A win, a win you're automatically in. A win will get you in, and you pointed out there will be four sponsor exemptions, uh, top 30 in the world, although if you're top 30 in the world, you probably fall into one of those.


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[Assistant] Other categories anyway. My point though, and this goes back to kind of the world golf championship days when they first sort of introduced that. And I remember doing this story a long time ago with our colleague Tripp Eisenhower.


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[Assistant] Pointing out the schedule that he played versus the schedule that Tiger Woods played during that same time period and Tiger Woods' schedule was filled with.


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[Assistant] Big money events, world golf championship majors, that type of thing, invitationals. A lot of them didn't have cuts.


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[Assistant] And it was so much more exaggerated over what the guy, Trip Eisenhower, in this particular case.


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[Assistant] Was playing. And look, the answer to this is always play better. And I'm never one that's gonna run away from that. That is 100% true. Like I, I...


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[Assistant] I feel like that's true. The top players will rise to the top eventually. I just think the way this is going to be structured, and we won't know until we get a few seasons.


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[Assistant] There is, and I know what the tour has said the churn rate is going to be. I'm just dubious until I actually see it simply because as I just pointed out the numbers, the numbers skew so heavily toward those signature events that if you're not in them, you're going to have to play exponentially better than those who are in them.


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[Assistant] And, and Eric is an interesting example because I talked to him about this for a story I think I'm going to work on over the fall. He's going to end up playing, right now I think it stands at 33 events.


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[Assistant] And you're right, like what he did at the Honda Classic and the way he played his way really through the spring sort of got him into those signature events, let's call them, designated events last year. He's a great example. He's also a great example of what you're going to have to do.


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[Assistant] The guy that does that is probably going to end up having to play between 30 and 35 events because you will have to be grinding in the weeks between those designated events to make sure that you've secured your spot into them until you've actually sort of landed. So until you actually win.


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[Assistant] You know an event and you've locked up your signature card for the year, let's call it that way. Or you've moved so far into the top 10 of the FedEx Cup points list, you're gonna have to keep grinding.


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[Assistant] Uh, no, I'm going to bore the, we're going to bore the audience over the next few months because Lav has found his way into the fantasy football league that I have with my sons. It's called West Side Fantasy Football League. And you guys, I'm sure you'll hear plenty about it over the next coming weeks and months. But here's how you just run from gambling. The buy-in, my son wants the buy-in to be $200.


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[Assistant] There it is. There it is. There it is. Yeah, I told him that's not gonna work. I go, we're closer to 20. Let's keep it around 20. Does he even have a job?


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[Assistant] No, he works at our local golf course. Again, I think he might have a gambling problem, but it shows how much you do not understand gambling. Nor do I, because my reaction was the same as yours. I recoiled as well. But here's the deal, talking


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[Assistant] Friends of ours, mutual friends of ours who are gambling degenerates. I don't want to say any names Jason Sobel, but he kind of put it into context.


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[Assistant] That for him to put a $400,000 bet on the Ryder Cup, really, really bad. Hope he didn't do that because that is going to impugn his legacy. But if he did that, by comparison to how much money he made per year, that's like you and I making $150.


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[Assistant] You have to have empathy for someone that is going through this because this is a disease. This is a problem, whatever you want to call it.


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[Assistant] But you need to have empathy, whether it's Phil Mickelson or someone else we know.


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[Assistant] That's not the part I got caught up with. You're absolutely, you're 100% right. It's him trying to make a bet on the Ryder Cup. And I think our friend, Eamonn Lynch, did a whole column about this. And you're right, Phil, well, please go to GolfWeek.com and read his column. I'm pointing you in that direction because I'm not going to go through all of this.


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[Assistant] But I did think he made a good point. Phil has denied this. However, knowing what we do know.


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[Assistant] About how much Phil likes to place a bet and knowing a little bit of what we do know about Phil's motivation to go to live golf. It's not a stretch to think he would have put himself in a situation where he thought, Oh, I can make some quick money because I know what the outcome of this is going to be.


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[Assistant] I'm not saying that's happened at all, but man, that absolutely 100% would impact his


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[Assistant] Here's the part that I don't get. And look, no one is a bigger baseball guy than me. I don't know if you can see it over my shoulder here. But I need to figure out how to get that to the shot.


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[Assistant] I will say this, 43 bets in one day? Who has the time or the energy to focus on 43 baseball games in one day?


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[Assistant] Uhm, no, no, why? Why? Why is it insensitive? Like, again, this goes back to...


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[Assistant] And I just, I just pointed that out. Like look, you have to have some sort of empathy for someone who goes to that. I think this wasn't poking fun of him because he has a gambling problem. This isn't poking fun of him because Phil's not going to be on this Ryder Cup team or any Ryder Cup team, at least the way Rory envisions it going into the future. If you think that


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[Assistant] Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia can do whatever they want to do.


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[Assistant] Roy McElroy still has a dog in the fight. He still does not like a lot of the guys who went over there, including Phil Mickelson. This has nothing to do with him picking on him because he may or may not have a gambling problem. This has him picking on him because he feels like he made a bad decision. He's on the quote unquote wrong side of history and he's going to keep rubbing that in.


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[Assistant] Uh, fantasy football season is upon us. I think I'm going, I haven't done ribs in a long time. And after being, uh, in that place last week, being in Memphis, I think I'm going to give it a shot. It's really, really hot in Florida. I know that no one's going to be like, what? No, that's, that can't be true. Not now.


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[Assistant] Well, and I'll tell you, I don't think I paid attention to preseason football as much as I did, uh, over the last couple days either. So that's why I was kind of Snapchatting you back and forth about, I think I'm going to get the red zone issue. That's why I was asking you yesterday because the boys want to watch football.


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[Assistant] Yes, it must have clicked in, uh, because the boys want to watch football and one of them is a, is a Saints fan. And so the only way to get that is to, to get the red zone. So I think I got to dial in the rips, don't you?


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[Assistant] No, I don't think that's a good idea. But I do think, I did find what I think the punishment is going to be in our other league. I got one of those flags that you have to hang in your car that says, I'm terrible.


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[Assistant] Actually, it said something else, but it's, I'm terrible at fantasy football. I think that's gonna be the punishment for you. What does it say?


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[Assistant] I'd rather not say. I got in trouble last week because my man David Havens put something nasty on his steak rub. Come on, Havens, you're killing me.


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[Assistant] Welcome to this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and Lav. After a long two weeks away, the PG Tours fall slate gets back underway in Napa. Justin Thomas, Max Homa headlining the field. We'll talk about the importance or lack thereof of the fall with it still offering spots in the Masters as well as status for those who are fighting for it and spots.


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[Assistant] In at least the first two signature events of 2024. Also, BMW PGA.


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[Assistant] After about eight minutes. Yesterday. Aaron Rodgers. Exactly four snaps then? Four snaps.


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[Assistant] Absolutely obliterates his Achilles tendon. I...


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[Assistant] Feel kind of ambivalent towards Aaron Rodgers, but this is a huge bummer. I mean, it's one of the biggest stories of the NFL season and it's over after literally four snaps. Uh, but I turned it off. I feel well rested. I'm ready to go and ready to attack the golf season yet again.


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[Assistant] On my shirt. We'll get into that. We'll talk about what's on the grill. This is my last week at home before spending two weeks abroad. Uh, unlike when we go to the open championship where we have to eat gray steaks.


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[Assistant] And, uh, unsatisfying pizza. I am going to Spain and Italy, uh, so I should be noshing on some very good meals. Right, so let's start with Napa. Justin Thomas, I think, is really the player that everyone's going to be watching this week. A somewhat controversial pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. You and I, you and I differed.


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[Assistant] On that, I thought he should have been on that team, uh, no brainer. You thought there were better options, namely Keegan Bradley and perhaps even Lucas Glover. What constitutes then a good week for Justin Thomas? The first time we've seen him in a month, his only tune up start.


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[Assistant] Before the matches get underway in Rome. Does he need a top 10 this week to make you feel better? Top 25. If he missed cuts, do you sound the alarm and sit him until Sunday? What's the deal?


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[Assistant] I don't think they owe it to the PGA of America. That's not why they're going on the scaling trip. I believe they owe it to each other to be as fully prepared


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[Assistant] As possible to play in something that's bigger than himself. I cannot believe that a former Marine is having trouble grasping the concept that someone could do this for free and play for something that's bigger than themselves. They're not playing for a 5-0 record. They're playing to win the Ryder Cup. If you're the, if you're the Americans, you're trying to win for the first time in foreign soil in three decades. They, nine of the 12, wanted


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[Assistant] Are you, are you going to have the same take when it comes to European Ryder Cupers? Yes, they did it on Monday, visited Marco Simone and then traveled to London with the BMW PJ. I don't, I don't, I don't hear you remark about that. It was clearly important.


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[Assistant] To all these players, even if they weren't getting paid to travel across the pond, see the golf course, uh, become, I guess, better acclimated with each other, start to figure out some of the pairings. I had zero issue whatsoever, didn't even cross my mind.


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[Assistant] That this was something that you guys are being held against the will and traveling across the pond to do. It just seemed like something they thought that was in the best interest of the American team, playing for something bigger than themselves. What a ridiculous take.


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[Assistant] I mean, I did chuckle that it was those two.


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[Assistant] Like they're not gonna, they're not gonna be bumped, they're not gonna be switching pods from, from Friday to Saturday. Like those guys are a package deal. They're gonna be playing together. Likely they could be playing in all five matches based on the quality of play and their history together. Like they're just kind of their own separate deal. I remember.


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[Assistant] Last year at the President's Cup, uh, at Quell Hollow, like they, they practiced at different times. They were coming in and out. That's kind of what


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[Assistant] Team USA has learned over these past couple years, like these are highly trained professional athletes. Let them do their own thing. That's fine. Weak of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If this was a trip to build camaraderie and to see the other pairings outside of these two that we absolutely know are going to play together, I had zero issue whatsoever. Uh, this is a very strange take that we'll be sure to clip this. Rex, you do have a column up on golfchannel.com looking at the fall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of the PGA Tour season, only two U.S. Ryder Cupers are in the field this week in Napa. Justin Thomas, before mentioned, Max Oma, uh, who is trying to go for the three-peat, uh, very rare at the Fortinet Championship. Why should people care about the fall? Because.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No longer counts toward the wraparound season the first time in a decade that the points accrued in the fall don't necessarily count.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Towards the 2024 calendar year, but there is still something to play for. I mentioned off the top, you got the master's invites. You have players trying to secure status. You do have players trying to improve their positioning and potentially secure spots in the first two signature events, but still it's going to be bereft of stars. It's a limited schedule this year. Why should people be excited?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's almost like, it's almost like a, a second Wyndham Championship where back in the day it was the, it was the 125 cutoff. This year's the top 70 cutoff to get into the playoffs. Like there's definitely going to be a little bit of survival mode that kicks in on Seattle in the last week of the PJ Dwarf Hall.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think it's a, it's a very hard sell for the PJ tour trying to, to resonate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With I think the casual golf fan, like the hardcore fans, the folks like you and I, like we're obviously going to pay attention. People's lives are going to change. People's careers are going to look differently in 2024 based on what happens. Like I've always been of the belief that I, that I wish the PGA Tour had a dedicated office where it just shuts down. It makes,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It makes fans miss it. It makes players get refreshed. I think it makes the actual PJ tour product better. But then conversely, I say, well, we just had two weeks off of PJ tour golf. Like kind of missed it. I was kind of bored.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not, not tuning in at, at 3 o'clock on Thursday and, and watching first round coverage from, even if it's just the Sanderson Farms, just to throw out one of the FedExCup fall events. And so I, and, and look, I don't, I don't think players besides like a Patrick Cantlay,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are generally going to shut down for three months. They're still going to get a competitive itch. I still think they're going to want to test themselves against some of the best players in the world. They still need holiday spending cash. That's the reason why players are still going to show up at the hero world challenge. Tiger Woods is event in the Bahamas for the cash for the world ranking points. Like there's still something to play for.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I don't have a great answer on what I'm most looking forward to in the fall. Do I think it's going to resonate largely? No, I don't. I think the PJ Tour has actually conceded that. Like I think the PJ Tour is dedicated itself


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Operate under the same kind of ethos that the PGTour has always had.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is to provide playing opportunities for the members. So it's trying to satisfy both parties. You're trying to give the stars time off. You're trying to give playing opportunities and allow, you know, the number 100 in the FedEx Cup list an ability to make a living.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is it going to be must see TV for the next nine, 10 weeks? Uh, probably, probably not. No. And I think that's actually okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, PGA Tour players are highly insecure. Especially the best players in the world. There's, I actually wrote this earlier this year. PGA Tour players? How about golf riders?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a whole different caliber of, of psychopath, but I actually wrote this at Riviera this year. Like how long?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 15, 20 years, whatever the case may be like, yeah, you can, you can put the clubs down for two weeks and you don't necessarily worry about it going away forever. I'm with you. I don't think these guys would actually do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think a two month shutdown, which is exactly what Rory's going to be doing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's going to play in Dubai in the middle of November and then we're not going to see him again until most likely the middle east swing on the DP world tour or some of those events, uh, late in January on the PJ tour. To me, that's the, that's the perfect amount where you can recover. You can reset.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you can start to refocus and refine some of the elements of your game to make sure you're sharp at the beginning of the year. How about the BMW PGA, Rex? We saw Roy McIlroy. He was tied for the lead at the Irish Open. He runs four balls.