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[Assistant] I will point to what Adam Scott said, a player director, just this afternoon, when we kind of asked him, should you have met with him by now? And his reaction was, no, I should not. I should not be negotiating with them period. That's not what he does best. That's not what they do best. They're all really good golfers, but that does not qualify them.


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[Assistant] To sit in a room and negotiate a multi-billion dollar deal. That said, I think it is a good step. If they do get in a room and at least they're face to face and they can have a conversation and find out exactly maybe the motivations of each side.


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[Assistant] I think the PGA tour and the players can understand.


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[Assistant] The motivations from the public investment fund side. What are they hoping to accomplish in the game of golf?


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[Assistant] I think that will probably make the process go a little bit easier. Now that reporting, who was done by our colleague, Eamon Lynch, also said that this is not written in stone. It's supposed to happen Monday here in Ponte Vedra. They said a lot of moving parts, as you pointed out, they're being encouraged.


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[Assistant] To meet with him, but as Webb Simpson told us when he came off the golf course today and after he missed the cut, he was going home.


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[Assistant] To Charlotte, and he didn't add much to that. I mean, I don't think we can read too much into it. Tiger Woods, a policy board player director, he's not even here this week. So it's kind of hard to figure out how all this is going to come together, but I read this as an encouraging step.


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[Assistant] Well, it's important to read the second half of that Adam Scott quote that you just did and it's quote, I'm not negotiating and thank God for everyone that I'm not.


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[Assistant] That they're also qualified to negotiate a multi-billion dollar, very nuanced.


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[Assistant] They will have a vote, and thankfully they now have Joe Ogley, who's a director liaison on the board of directors for enterprises. They also have Colin Neville, who has been an advisor for them. A very, very smart guy who has been involved in these types of deals. They have a lot of people around them.


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[Assistant] To help them, but no, I don't think any of them should have been in the room.


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[Assistant] I think it always has to be a concern. We've seen, I mean, we just talked about Tiger Woods. There's a reason why he's not in the field this way because injury.


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[Assistant] Just one by one by one. It was just a conga line of injuries that eventually took him out of the game and we're probably not going to see him again until the Masters. You did the reporting on that earlier tonight that he's not going to play in Tampa. So please.


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[Assistant] Textbook. Drive right down the middle. My favorite drive, as I've said numerous times this week, hits it to two feet, taps in for Bertie. You're like, oh, he is off and running and whatever happened.


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[Assistant] On the 11th hole he gets the 12th tee. He starts having therapy. Of course you're going to have concerns and there's an utter lack of any information whatsoever. So we're trying to fill the void here. I would caution that you can sleep wrong. You can, you can swing.


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[Assistant] In a weird way and end up just tweaking something. I think we've all done that. I mean, I, I, I really think we need to wait this one out, but yeah, he's the world number one. He is in full stride. Yeah. I mean, he was one A this week and my one A is injured. My one B went in reverse. So it wasn't a very good day for me.


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[Assistant] Sorry, I'm getting distracted here because I'm looking at you through the window to my left here and what people can't see, and this is a visual medium for some people, you're doing the swing and you're showing the shoulder. Do it again, yes, do it again.


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[Assistant] It's been so easy to overlook Wyndham Clark because he's kind of a, uh, kind of a quiet guy. He doesn't do a lot. I think in a lot of ways he's a little bit like Scottie and we've talked about this earlier in the week about boring golf.


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[Assistant] And I, it was funny to run that by players. And I think it was Max Homa who was asked, do you think Scottie Scheffler plays boring golf? And his retake was that should be aspirational for every golfer around the planet. Hitting fairways and greens should be what we all want to do. If we could all play boring golf, imagine how much.


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[Assistant] When did, he'd always been a good ball striker, but the putting just hadn't been matched up to that. And we asked him today, what was the low point when it comes to your putting and it was here.


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[Assistant] A year ago at TPC Sawgrass, he finished, he was top 10 ball striking and bottom third of the field in putting. He goes to Tampa next week where I can't believe Tiger Woods isn't playing. It was the same thing on round one where he was top 10 ball striking bottom third of the field in putting. And that's when he switched to that jailbreak mallet putter. And since then he didn't. I got, I got to have that putter, not going to lie.


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[Assistant] Uh, it is a good looking putter. It's a very, very good looking putter. Uh, and since then, he's been the most dominant player on the planet. He's won two signature events, finished second last week in a signature event, won a US Open. And it's been sort of this climb that, again, he's been really easy to overlook. He's been easy to sort of dismiss because he,


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[Assistant] He did it in such a way that isn't flashy. It's not Jordan Spieth out there. It's not even Rory McIlroy and we're going to get into his round. I mean, that was just a wild, wild day for him. That's not the way he does it. If you watch him play golf.


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[Assistant] This is old school sleeping on the couch Sunday afternoon because he's not really doing anything to ignite imagination. He's just being brilliant.


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[Assistant] Oh, that's not true. I'm talking about the last 12 months since last year's players championship. He has more wins than John Rom and Scottie Scheffler. Do the math. Are you counting live? Are you counting the hero?


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[Assistant] Uh, what gets me is it's not what we thought it was going to be. We thought it was going to be his iron plague as that had been the issue. I think you and I had fun on Wednesday night kind of sorting this all out. I put him one B. Scotty was one A for my picks so far this week. And I admitted it was a leap of faith. I mean, I was kind of buying what his camp was telling me, what he was telling me.


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[Assistant] Those two in the water led to drops and we can get into Dropgate at another time.


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[Assistant] However, it was today, he was just, it just wasn't two sort of random offshoots. He kind of dismissed those two swings yesterday. He said he wasn't in the right mind frame, that he wasn't committed to the shot. He had some wild, wild drives today. I mean, not just inopportune hooks.


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[Assistant] What I would call just kind of out of nowhere. He's cruising along and everything's fine. He didn't make a par today until the seventh hole.


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[Assistant] I mean, he was either brilliant or terrible and I had this conversation with Rory before and I know he was angry coming off the golf course as he should be. But if you look at the amount of birdies he made versus the amount of bogeys and others.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and that has everything to do with what you did on the other holes. And this is kind of quintessential Rory, isn't it? I think we've talked about this before, the idea that he has to be the greatest star player.


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[Assistant] The greatest player who was in that upper echelon, who, at a moment's notice, can just come unraveled. Like, look, Scotty Schieffler can piece


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[Assistant] And I will say, and we kind of got into this last night and I had you give you credit, although you just said that Wyndham Clark is entertaining.


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[Assistant] Well, and this goes to Scottie Scheffler playing quote unquote boring golf. And we kind of disagreed on that. What Roy McElroy did today, it was ugly. I'm sure he's angry and sometimes it was hard to watch, but man, it's entertaining. It's why Jordan Spieth.


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[Assistant] Uh, sort of these players, even Tiger Woods, I mean, if you take 1999, 2000, 2001 out of the equation, those were the pinnacle years for Tiger driving it.


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[Assistant] He didn't really drive it that well, but he always found a way.


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[Assistant] To be brilliant, even though he didn't drive it that well. That's why I think he was so entertaining and he won more than anyone else in, you know, of our time.


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[Assistant] But when you look at what Rory did today, like that's, that's the quintessential round. Is it not? Like that is his round. If you had to show Rory McIlroy without actually showing Rory McIlroy and just scorecard form, just throw that scorecard up.


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[Assistant] All afternoon, you were pipin' off about the, the Web Simpson comparison. You couldn't wait to throw that one out there. Nailed it. He's leading by seven tomorrow.


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[Assistant] Like you're just gonna go out and write that column and go home. You're not even gonna come back on Sunday, are you?


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[Assistant] I'm looking forward to a couple things. One, we spent a lot of time talking about Scottie Scheffler. You do want to go out.


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[Assistant] We're gonna, we're both gonna shuffle over to the range tomorrow morning, wait for him to show up and see exactly what we get out of Scottie Scheffler. Cause you, like.


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[Assistant] You don't want to think this is bad, but again, anytime you start dealing with injuries in and around the neck, whether if this was the neck or the shoulder, whatever the case may be, you always get a little bit concerned. So that's probably 1A. I am going to go out and watch Matt McNeely because as you and I,


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[Assistant] Discuss tonight. If you want to listen in and get smarter at golf, and Brandon Chamblee is really, really good at it.


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[Assistant] Get smarter at anything, but get smarter at golf. Randall Chambly. Look man, like I get smarter every time I listen to that guy talk. I'd like to think folks like Robbie from Lake City. Robbie, it was so great to meet you today. Tune into our podcast, maybe get a little bit, get a little bit smarter at golf. But if you really want to dig down, like just go to Matt McNeeling and ask him.


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[Assistant] Whatever you want to do. He was asked today after he finished up his round about the challenges of this golf course and he essentially went 18 holes on us. Like you gotta hit a draw here, you gotta hit a fade there, this one you gotta end up on the right side of the fairway but if you're too far right, like he broke it down in a way that was succinct, it was intelligent, it was bulletproof.


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[Assistant] And he just strikes me and you've been on the bandwagon since way back when he was in college. I know that, but for those of us who haven't been paying attention the way you have, he is such a breath of fresh air. And now.


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[Assistant] Like the way he described the swing and what he had to do following the injuries of last season. It's an entirely different swing. I'm so encouraged through two rounds. I just want to see.


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[Assistant] I don't know if he can win, maybe he can, maybe he can't. I just want to see if he can sustain it for two more days.


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[Assistant] And I will say, uh, outside of you and I, I think, uh, Chris Como has probably put in the most hours this week of anyone. He did a marathon massive session with Jason Day on Monday. And then as you pointed out, he was working very, very late with Xander. He's got other players in the field. The dude is putting in the hour.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Brex and Lav. We have a surprise winner at the Player's Championship who...


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[Assistant] And now the players championship and at the players, he is now winning back to back years. The first player, the first time.


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[Assistant] tournament history that has been done. Rex?


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[Assistant] You are writing Scotty tonight for mcsports.com slash golf. So what's your takeaway?


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[Assistant] Uh, deficit ending, entering the final round, uh, matched the largest in tournament history. And you look at the big dogs who were ahead of him, whether it was Xander Chauflé, uh, whether it was Wyndham Clark, whether it was Brian Harmon.


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[Assistant] With the scoring that we saw, we saw Sivu Kim have a low round, we saw Ludwig Oberg have a good round and kind of burst into contention as well. You had to figure that one of those three players was going to shoot somewhere 50, you know, 65, 66, 67, which would have put


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[Assistant] I think the surprise was that none of them did it. In fact, it was Brian Harmon who shot 68 and kind of frittered away a couple shots late, uh, who, who had the lowest round of those three players.


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[Assistant] Scotty is the one who is crowned the tournament champion here and I have to give Randall Chambly a monsoon of credit.


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[Assistant] As you like to say, Rex. On Live From on Wednesday, uh, Brandil said that this seems like the beginning of a dominant stretch for Scottie Scheffler. That Scottie checks every single box. Uh, he's one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world, and obviously we know the, the paramount importance that has. Uh, he's fantastic with his long irons. Uh, he hits it, he hits it closer than anybody.


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[Assistant] Uh, he works diligently on his wedge game and has perfected that. Uh, he has arguably one of the best short games in all the world and now, you know, six months into this project with putting guru Phil Kenyon, uh, on the strength of the, of the putter change, uh, and now kind of oozing with confidence on the greens. Does not have to be perfect, uh, but has certainly proven to be proficient


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[Assistant] Over these past two weeks that Brannel said, it looks like Scottie Scheffler, uh, is, is going to be, uh, beginning a dominant stretch here. We're, we're now two weeks into what feels like the Scottie Scheffler era. It, it, it reminds me, Rex, that, let's see, eight days ago, eight days ago,


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[Assistant] With Scotty Shuffler examining in his own words, reflecting in his own words.


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[Assistant] I mean, just by ball striking excellence, from a personality standpoint, you really can't find two more disparate personalities. I mean, Scotty is so humble, he's so gracious, he clearly feels blessed and thankful to be in this position. I mean, he had to have used thankfulness.


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[Assistant] of, of final round pressure. The privilege it is to compete against guys like Wyndham and, and, and Xander who are world-class golfers. The, how, how thankful he is to have the support.


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[Assistant] This is, to me, the perfect example of who Scottie Scheffler is. So you said that your favorite episode in Season 1 of Full Swing.


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[Assistant] As a quote unquote character in season two. He is, he is the best golfer on the planet. And he said, nah.


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[Assistant] This isn't really for me, the attention. I don't really like it. I just kinda wanna go out living my life. I don't really care if I get insanely wealthy, uh, and, and everyone knows me when I walk down the street. I think that's the perfect example of who Scottie Scheffler is. To me, to me, Rex, though, beyond, beyond all the things that you touched on and what


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[Assistant] To me this, this really boiled down to his toughness. And I mean toughness in a couple different ways. I mean toughness in terms of the physical sense of he felt the neck twinge, actually thought that he may have to WD. He said he hit like a 56 degree wedge.


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[Assistant] Uh, 90 yards and, and, and felt a lot of pain and didn't know if he was going to be able to take the club back. And as you said, kind of was, was slapping it around. I think there's a certain toughness too, you know, physically, not just with the neck injury, but, but also being in contention, uh, back to back weeks, the toll that it took.


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[Assistant] Uh, on his, on his body as well, he said how difficult it is.


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[Assistant] Uh, to play back-to-back weeks in the PG Tour, particularly difficult tests like Bay Hill last week and TPG Sawgrass this week. But also keep in mind, the toughness when it comes to, to Scottie Scheffler, as he is insanely consistent. I mean, we have not seen this sort of week-in, week-out consistency. Basically,


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[Assistant] Since Tiger Woods. Since Tiger Woods. Over the past 15 years. The toll and the burden that has to put on your mind.


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[Assistant] And your emotions, how frayed you have to be after each and every tournament, knowing you have a chance to win.


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[Assistant] Rationalizing when you don't. Celebrating when you do.


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[Assistant] Moving forward, not getting complacent. I mean, there's a certain toughness and competitive and competitiveness that resides deep within Scottie Scheffler that I don't think he gets enough credit for that I think you really have to admire.


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[Assistant] But Rex, I think this players might eventually go down as the one that had this frenetic final hour, where three players had an opportunity not just to win, uh, but at least force a playoff, and yet none of them did it.


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[Assistant] In order, it was Brian Harmon who missed a 20 footer on the 18th hole.


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[Assistant] And then it was Xander Chauflay who blew his tee shot just a little bit wide right after missing a six footer on 17. It was unable to convert his birdie putt to tie on 18. And then painfully, most, most painfully, it was Wyndham Clark with one of the most violent horseshoes


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[Assistant] Zander, who obviously had the 54 hole lead, or Brian Harmon, who will probably ruin some of his chances over the...


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[Assistant] Yeah, Wyndham was gutted and I will speak for a long time here as you position yourself to get a little bit lighter as now darkness is descending on TBC Sawgrass. This is a professional, uh, courtesy to you to find a different position. But yeah, I was in, I was in the Wyndham Clark Scrum, uh, and I, I asked him,


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[Assistant] Uh, I thought most pointedly I said, you know, obviously as golfers you lose way more than you win in this sport, but the feeling that you have now walking off the 72nd hole, I imagine that's different than some of the other close calls that you had. And he, I thought he was really good in


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[Assistant] Kind of going through the self-rationalization in the moment, and his sports psychologist, Julie Elion, uh, was just outside the flash area as well.


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[Assistant] Uh, and I'm sure she'll be, she'll be weighing in here shortly, uh, to, to get Wyndham on the right track. But, but Wyndham said, look, you've, you've, you've, you've just got a bunch of FedEx Cup points, you earned a bunch of money, but it still sucks. And, and Wyndham said that he, he had dreamt about making a putt.


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[Assistant] That really mattered, you know, having the fist bump, you could see.


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[Assistant] He was still at a, in a state of disbelief and that's one of the, that's one of the weird things about this job too, isn't it? Where they come off the 72nd hole, they go into scoring, uh, it takes a minute or two to sign your scorecard and then all of a sudden you're in front of microphones, in front of, of, of media who are probing you about what was either


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[Assistant] Uh, something that was embarrassing, something that did not go your way, uh, some sort of mistake that you made, uh, and so it's all, uh, very critical, uh, and, and very, um, I think painful.


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[Assistant] To go through some of those moments in real time like that. And that was, that was among the most crushed that I've seen a professional golfer. Uh, but Russ, uh, Alex Russell.


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[Assistant] What was your takeaway, Rex, from Windham coming so close? This could have been his fourth victory in his past 17 starts. I thought he played better.


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[Assistant] Then Xander from Teeta Green, uh, on Sunday, and I think the stats bear that out as well, uh, but, but for the first time in a long time.


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[Assistant] Putter dried up. I mean, you covered Pebble Beach. He had a, he had a putt to shoot 59 at one of the most iconic courses in the world, had a four shot lead at the halfway point here. Uh, but I think it was, it was a final round to forget on the greens, kind of encapsulated with that miss on the 72nd hole as well.


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[Assistant] As it relates to Zander Schauffele, this was still his tournament to win, Rex.


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[Assistant] With eight holes to play, regardless of what Skade Schaeffler was going to do, regardless of whether Skade Schaeffler shot 64, this was still Skade, this was still Xander Schaeffler's tournament to win with eight holes to play. And that's where I think


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[Assistant] Uh, Xander is going to be, uh, kind of brewing the chances that he had. You, you look at the par five, he's in the middle of fairway at 11.


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[Assistant] You're looking at either a bogey or a double real quick because the hazards, uh, because the water.


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[Assistant] Uh, because of the sand, uh, because of the muck, whatever the case may be. And I think that's kinda what popped up.


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[Assistant] Was Xander Schauffele. He missed his target, Rex, on 14. By a foot off the tee.


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[Assistant] So he was in the rough, uh, he had a little bit of mud on it and was unable to control it and he missed the green by about a foot again and was in a really tricky spot and unable to get up and down.


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[Assistant] 15T flails it in the right bunker. Again, misses his target by about a couple of feet, ends up going left and really thick rough and is unable to get up and down. Just like that, back to back bogeys that makes him have to then press on the final three holes which, you know,


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[Assistant] With so much danger that that has to be an uncomfortable feeling but this was his golf tournament with eight holes to play and we kind of previewed it on the podcast on Saturday night I said I'll be real curious to see how.


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[Assistant] This new rebuilt swing with Chris Como stands up, and he's still doing a lot of rehearsals, trying to not get the club as laid off at the top and get a little more across the line. I think the early returns obviously are very, very promising. I mean, this is his fifth, uh, top ten.


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[Assistant] Exposed some of the, some of the deficiencies that it currently has. I think in a couple of months time, once these changes with Chris Como are, are bedded in, uh, I think Xander is, is poised to, to really threaten, you know, the top three or four players in the world.


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[Assistant] As he sits here right now on Sunday night, this was certainly a golf tournament that got away from him.


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[Assistant] Speaking of Rory McElroy-Rex, another forgettable Sunday, shot 72, ended up finishing in a tie for 19th, but I think more interesting was what Rory said afterward.


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[Assistant] Regarding the meeting, uh, with the, uh, PIF Governor Yasir al-Rumayan, which the PJ Tour Policy Directors are scheduled to do on Monday here in Ponte Vedra. I'm sure you'll be scoping out the location as soon as this podcast wraps. You were in, you were in that scrum. What did you, what did Roy say and what did you take away?


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[Assistant] Is kind of aligned in his viewpoint with Yaseer and he's met with Yaseer and he understands what Yaseer is doing and there is some resistance on the PGTOR Policy Board as opposed to what the PIF might bring. Don't you think the PGTOR Policy Board is worse off if the best outcome is to partner with the PIF?


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[Assistant] Don't you think the PGTRA Policy Board is worse off without Rory McIlroy as an ally?


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[Assistant] And, and, and some rumors from how the meeting actually went. What are you, what are you, what are you anticipating?


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[Assistant] Rex, we have three full weeks until the Masters and the year's first major. How will you look back though?


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[Assistant] On this player's championship. It's a PJ Tours flagship event. The PJ Tours never been in more turmoil than it is right now. Uh, so as your final thought, how will you remember?


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[Assistant] I had the exact same takeaway, that I cannot wait to see.


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[Assistant] Especially at this golf course, it's not a guarantee that they would have factored.


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[Assistant] In the final result and so to get what the PJ tour had, which was three of the top


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[Assistant] Let me get this right. They had three players inside the top five at one point who were all T2 or better.


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[Assistant] And eventually you had four of the top 10 players in the world, uh, in the mix for this title. Like that's the best the PGA Tour can offer right now.


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[Assistant] Could you swap in a Spieth? Could you swap in a Roy? Sure. But when I was walking around the golf course this afternoon, I said the, the level of play is outstanding. We're seeing something from Scottie Scheffler ball striking wise that has not been done since Pig Tiger. You covered Pig Tiger. That was slightly before I started on the golf beat. Like it's extraordinary.


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[Assistant] To watch Scottie Scheffler play golf. If you watch Wyndham Clark you cannot help but be impressed.


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[Assistant] Uh, by how he launches it off the tee, uh, in, in, at least until today, kind of his tidiness on, on the greens. You cannot help but be awed by the completeness of Xander Schauffele's game or be


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[Assistant] Uh, really optimistic about what Ludwig Oberg's future, uh, looks like. You can still have the great stories, whether it's a Maverick McNeeley who pops up, uh, or a Nate Lashley who has come out of nowhere. Uh, like these are all stories that can still happen on the PGA tour.


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[Assistant] What the ratings are going to be, because if, if this doesn't work, if this didn't resonate, I feared that the tour model is broken and this is what it's going to look like for the, for the rest of the year ratings wise, because this is, this was quite frankly,


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[Assistant] We said this is not going to be an overnight solution. Like they're still going to be continuing down their path. He mentioned the live contracts. Uh, some of the big name players who would sign that initial waiver at least through the end of 2025. Like, we're going to be stuck.


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[Assistant] In sort of this paradigm for the foreseeable future, but I think the PGA Tour could go a long way in kind of extending the olive branch to the PGA Tour fans and repairing that relationship by making some strides with the PIF, showing what a, what a potential future could be. Because right now, they're, they're pissed off because some of their favorite players have gone, uh, they've miscalculated kind of the, the equation thinking


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[Assistant] That is going to do it for this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Brex and Lav. It's getting dark at TBC Sawgrass. We still have plenty to write up on the website, so you guys know the drill. ABCsports.com slash golf for all of our latest news, notes, features, and commentary from the final round of the Player's Championship. I'll be on vacay, enjoying the last adult game break.


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[Assistant] With my wife in Puerto Rico. Rex, of course, will be delivering all the news and notes from this private meeting with Yassir al-Rumayan on Monday in the board meeting on


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[Assistant] Tuesday, I think we're also scheduled to have a fill-in guest on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex Antilou.


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[Assistant] On Monday, thank you guys so much for listening, not just to the preview podcast on Wednesday, but to each and every one of the mini podcasts that we've been pumping out from players championship week. It seems like you guys are really enjoying them.


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[Assistant] We certainly enjoy doing them and chopping it up with you guys. So as always, thanks for listening. We'll be back in a few days. Thank you guys. See you soon.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Brex and Lav. Joaquin Nieman is a special invitee to this year's Masters.


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[Assistant] The tournament chairman, Fred Ridley making the call on Wednesday, Thorborn Olsen, as well as Rio Hitsune also earning a spot. Rex?


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[Assistant] What's your reaction besides my, uh, A plus pronunciation of Rio's last name?


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[Assistant] No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't think that's right at all. There were two words that were conspicuously absent.


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[Assistant] Live Golf was not in the conversation. Joaquin Nieman is receiving a special invitation to this year's Masters for a couple reasons. One of them is that he's a former winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, uh, the tournament run by Augusta National, uh, in hopes of inspiring the next generation


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[Assistant] Uh, victory alone got him into the open championship. He also has a couple of other top five finishes on the DP World Tour, irregardless of what Joaquin Niemann's world ranking says and his world ranking says that he is 81st.


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[Assistant] In the world, Joaquin Neyman, A, is an important figure in Latin America and B, one of the best players in the world right now. But two words that were not in that press release, and this has nothing to do with his season opening victory on live golf.


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[Assistant] Live golf. Live golf was not in the press release. This has nothing to do with his accomplishments or accolades.


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[Assistant] Well, it's also how kind of politics work in this country, isn't it? Where you just, where you just grind down your opponents, you ground down society by just being the same drum and eventually it just becomes an accepted part. That's clearly Greg Norman's strategy that he's employed over the past couple years. It's pretty obvious and it came out in some of the documents that players were told that we would be able to get World Rikie points just as they were told.


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[Assistant] Exactly, just as they were told that the PGA Tour could not suspend them for a single day incorrect if they were to play a live call. Also.


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[Assistant] Incorrect in so i think it's i think it's an interesting.


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[Assistant] What, where, where we are now, where, where live golf could have made changes to kind of acquiesce.


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[Assistant] The official world golf ranking, and yet they haven't. They added a couple wild card spots, that's obviously not going to be enough.


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[Assistant] Uh, they, they still are, are, are diving headlong into the team competition. And, you know, I've kind of made the argument on this podcast, they should just.


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[Assistant] kind of forget their bid for official world golf ranking points and just go.


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[Assistant] Uh, of people. Augusta National on several occasions over the past couple years, Rex has made clear that they do not care for Liv. They don't care for its format. They don't care for the disruption that is caused in the professional golf landscape. And keep in mind, this was the exact same group. Augusta National Golf Club was part of the exact same group that shut down Liv's bid for


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[Assistant] Official world golf ranking points, and so I think it shows you what they think of live golf, and that's where Taylor Gooch finds himself. Whether you look at, uh,


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[Assistant] Official World Golf Ranking, whether you look at Data Golf Ranking, Taylor Gooch is a top 50 player.


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[Assistant] In the world, according to those rankings, he's 40th. Waki Neiman is 22nd. I think that's inarguable.


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[Assistant] Uh, that those rankings are more accurate. They might not be more fair. I think the official will golf ranking is a fair measure. However, it is not accurate. Does Taylor groups, does Taylor groups now have a?


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[Assistant] Legitimate gripe, being a three-time winner last season, being the best player on live golf, and yet it appears that he is going to be shut out of at least the first major of the year.


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[Assistant] That's not necessarily true. I mean, Waki Nieman is in the field this week at an Asian Tour event. He's one of 21 live players who are in the field. So I think when it comes to Waki Nieman, it was kind of a perfect storm.


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[Assistant] Was it not? He's from a region of the world that's very important to Augusta National. He won a marquee event.


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[Assistant] He's performed well in two other starts in the DP World Tour, and he's also made the effort.


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[Assistant] to try and qualify and, and take up membership on the DP World Tour. He, to, to try and get to the major championships rather than just kind of sitting back and, and lobbing grenades at the major organizations. I think that's something that is, is


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[Assistant] Do you think Niebman is pulling the ripcord and flying home from Oman? I know next week he is playing in the live golf event in Jadda Borg. She's like, ah, I think I'm good here. I don't really need to tee it up.


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[Assistant] I, I mean, I think I, I think I fully agree. I think that the, there's, there's a couple sticking points. Like I think there's, I think there's a couple sticking points. I think there's a litany of sticking points. Not a couple.


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[Assistant] But for, for youngish Americans, let's call them 28 to 32, I think they're going to be


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[Assistant] Certain hangups and it's going to take a lot of convincing to hop on a plane and travel internationally six to 10 times.


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[Assistant] You know, traditionally they've done one-offs where they go chase appearance money. You think back to South African Open.


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[Assistant] Uh, late last year, Justin Thomas and Max Homa, uh, both hopping on a jet. They both played, uh, both played well there, Max Homa.


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[Assistant] Got the victory, but it's kind of a one-off and they, you know, you're building a safari and then you head home.


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[Assistant] On a red idea that I did not sleep on. To kind of map out what this world tour


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[Assistant] Could look like it's very complicated i think the easiest part is actually knowing where you should go.


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[Assistant] Where you should go domestically and then where you should go internationally.


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[Assistant] It's actually creating a workable flow throughout the calendar year that I think is the hard part. So if you look at the domestic stops.


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[Assistant] And where the PJ tour should go. And I'll, I'll do these slowly so people.


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[Assistant] Can follow along. I think you really have to lean into the best.


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[Assistant] Courses, the best venues on the PJ tour. And so if you're looking.


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[Assistant] Uh, domestic in the U.S. I think you have to go to Kapalua.


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[Assistant] It's a recognizable venue. It may not be the best golf course, uh, but it is incredibly recognizable to fans. You would do Torrey Pines, which is hosted the US Open. You would go Pebble Beach, uh, one of the Meccas.


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[Assistant] West Coast is the best coast. That is the highlight of the, of the PJ tour schedule. If those are the best events, you can't a have them up against football and you can't have them in kind of the run up to the Masters. Again, the tricky part is going to be


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[Assistant] Creating a workable flow to also, uh, get events internationally. And so we're up to, I believe, four, including Phoenix.


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[Assistant] And you do Riviera, then you do Bay Hill, then you do the players, uh, and then you're looking at really the best courses that you have remaining on the PGA Tour schedule. To me, that's Hilton Head. To me, that's Muirfield Village and the Memorial. To me, that's Quail Hollow and what will no longer be known as the Wells Fargo Championship. Uh, I do believe you'll see a match play event.


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[Assistant] Back on the schedule, then you have the three playoff events. The St. Jude, the BMW, and Eastlake for the Tour Championship. That's where you need to go, in my opinion. Domestically, you could also throw in Colonial as well if, uh, if Hilton Head.


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[Assistant] Is not really your flavor that that's it if you're the PGA tour and you're trying to create this 80 person. World tour for the very best players in a very limited schedule.


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[Assistant] That's it. There is nothing missing from that domestic US schedule. Where it gets interesting then, Rex, is how you blend that into...


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[Assistant] This international schedule and creating this world tour and having some swings, but also building in the time off for players to travel, to work on their game, to better new equipment.


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[Assistant] Whatever the case may be because if you're going to have a 24 event schedule for the very best 80 players.


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[Assistant] The probability, the likelihood, almost the inevitability is that all of those players are going to be teeing it up. They're not going to be taking any of these events off. It's almost like a contracted situation just like live golf is.


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[Assistant] You have to, you have to go to those big markets. I'm with you, but as, as the current PG Tour schedule stands, you don't, you don't have that and you're not going to be traveling.


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[Assistant] A lot of parts from the west coast swing, so early in the year into the summer.


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[Assistant] Last I checked, they just had the US Women's Open at Pebble Beach in the month of July. It went swimmingly.


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[Assistant] You still get, you know, the weather conditions, but the sun is more likely to shine than it does in the Crosby and Clambake weather that you have.


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[Assistant] In mid February, Riviera will still be spectacular. Obviously, you cannot have, you can, you cannot go to Phoenix.


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[Assistant] That time of year, because you'd be melting on the face of the sun. So there's probably some workability.


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[Assistant] With that aspect, but you look at, at the summer, like if, and you're looking at some of these international events that you could go to, I would do basically a month abroad in June and July, culminating with the Open Championship. I think the Irish Open.


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[Assistant] You have to include, I think the Scottish Open, you obviously have to include, that's a co-sanction event on the PGA Tour.


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[Assistant] Uh, kind of kicking off the Middle Eastern swing as well. There's definitely a way to do it.


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[Assistant] It's going to take a lot of planning again to kind of build in the off weeks and the potential travel headaches that you're going to have for let's say a player who lives in Jupiter.


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[Assistant] Kind of sojourning all over the world. Uh, that's going to be very taxing on a body and I'm not sure that's going to be, uh, of, of keen interest to some of these players, but, but it can be done. And I think again, pie in the sky stuff. I think it could be spectacular.


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[Assistant] I heard Eamon's argument on golf today on Tuesday, essentially being the European Tour, the DP World Tour has been doing this for years.


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[Assistant] And they have failed to s- to find kind of commercial support.


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[Assistant] This world tour concept you know you can you can go to japan you can go to australia you can go to dubai but if.


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[Assistant] Sponsor interest is not there, if media partner interest is not there, if player interest in turning up at that event is not there.


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[Assistant] It's going to fall flat. It's going to take a lot of alignment with a lot of different parties for this to actually work.


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[Assistant] I just think it would represent a significant change in how they've traditionally operated. From junior golf to college golf to now their lives on the PJ tour, you're basically just traveling abroad two to four times a year depending on your eagerness.


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[Assistant] To see new markets and soda soda now go six to ten times and they gotta be.


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[Assistant] Away from home for a month and to put more mileage on your body, which Roy McRoy to his credit, I mean, he's been doing this his entire career and has done so.


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[Assistant] Incredibly successfully, but I think that's gonna certainly represent a shift.


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[Assistant] For the Scottie Scheffler's and the Jordan Spies and the Justin Thomases of the world who have not done it all that often.


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[Assistant] I mean, I'm not the, I'm not the, I'm not the perfect person to ask it mentally. I have a five year old, a two year old. We have every app.


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[Assistant] Under the sun, we're not, we're not ever minimizing or, or, or, or canceling. If, if anything, we're simply adding it's a brave new world and that's the world.


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[Assistant] That we live in. Uh, Rex, this does actually work as a, as a perfect segue to full field season, which we're now to embark on.


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[Assistant] On the PJ Tour schedule, three of the first seven tournaments of the PJ Tour schedule were signature events. We've gone over them. They were not necessarily a big hit, especially two of the last three weeks, but now we're entering a period where six of the next eight are full field events, including this week, the Mexico Open.


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[Assistant] Where, checks and notes, Tony Fiena, the defending champion, is the headliner this week.


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[Assistant] Nikolai Hogard also in the field. We've, we've bandied about kind of the importance of the full field event, how they can still deliver, if not ratings, at least some intrigue in kind of this broader pageant tour schedule. That's not where I want to go with this discussion. But.


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[Assistant] In your opinion, Rex, is there still room for both based on what we've seen with the signature events and the stars? Are you going to be as eager to tune into these full field events knowing what we've seen?


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[Assistant] About the masters and why did we talk about the masters because it's one of the four biggest weeks of the year. We are.


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[Assistant] In the middle of this fight about regular season golf.


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[Assistant] And it's never become more apparent that regular season golf serves i would say little purpose other than to provide context.


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[Assistant] For the major championships, it, it, it, it provides storylines. It's, it, it, it boosts a player's profile, whether it's a,


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[Assistant] For I would say a casual sports fan, this is the fan at the PGA tour with this new infusion of cash is trying to tailor its market to these regular season tournaments provide nothing.


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[Assistant] Other than context, yes, weekly entertainment, sure. For, for diehards, yeah, we have a cornucopia of things to discuss each and every week on, on the PJ tour. But big picture, if you zoom out 30,000 feet.


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[Assistant] We're basically boosting profiles. We're analyzing, okay, Victor Hovland and Max Homa.


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[Assistant] Or after slow starts of the year as the Masters continues to draw near.


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[Assistant] You see what I'm saying? And so these full field events, which you're going to have six of the next eight weeks.


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[Assistant] There's nothing wrong with them. They are serving a purpose. If Nikolai Hogard can win this tournament, we are anointing another young 20-something star. I think that's great. If Tony Finau can win this tournament for the second year in a row, he also has a top.


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[Assistant] Uh, to finish since the tournament started in 2022. I think that's great. It gives them a lot of momentum as the calendar turns, uh, to the Florida swing and with the Masters now, just two months away.


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[Assistant] This is, this can still serve a purpose. Is it going to draw monster ratings? Can't imagine. Is there going to be a lot of talking points when we do our recap podcast on Sunday night? Probably not. That's, that's perfectly okay. And we're all just kind of operating in the ecosystem that is the current fractured.


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[Assistant] That's why it's the culmination of the FedExCup season, Rex. We've heard this over and over again over the past 16 years. Tour Championship.


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[Assistant] I've tried them. Don't do it. It's really hard to kind of, uh, get the...


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[Assistant] It's because the, the, the bun or wrap or, or shell, it does not provide, yeaah, it does not provide the proper contrast that you're looking for texturally with a burger. A burger is meant to be eaten on a bun.


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[Assistant] There's a lot of things that are delicious in a taco. Ground beef is one of them, but ground beef is also kind of crumbled up as a burger patty and trying to bend it and trying to get it as pliable as you need to for this smash burger taco. Big miss. It's just an internet fad that is sure to die a speedy death.


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[Assistant] I got some ahi tuna steaks, as I've mentioned a couple times on this podcast.


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[Assistant] Uh, cholesterol is an issue, and so we're working to remedy that, uh, in quick fashion. I'll be doing that.


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[Assistant] Ah, he two mistakes trying to get those very important omega threes and then just killing it absolutely and flushing it down with a six pack of beer.


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[Assistant] With the fried chicken wings. Actually you fry them, what sauce do you toss them in?


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[Assistant] I do a mild buffalo sauce. As you know, I'm a little bit of a wussy when it comes to heat. Uh, but it is Frank's mild buffalo sauce. Gives me just enough tang. Gets the, gets the, gets the nose going a little, gets the eyes watering just a little bit, but does not completely blow the top off.


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[Assistant] We wrap up, uh, for this golf channel podcast with Rex and Lab. We'll be back on Sunday, hopefully to recap a thrilling, captivating, non-stop action final round from the Mexico Open. If not, we'll still talk about it anyway.


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[Assistant] And we'll have a lot of fun doing so. In the meantime, make sure you guys go to mpsports.com slash golf for all the latest news, notes, commentary and features from the world of golf. Hope you guys have a great rest of the week. Talk to you in a few days.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav. We are officially in the dead zone on the calendar smack dab between Christmas and New Year's Day. Inarguably, Rex, the most depressing stretch


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[Assistant] Of the entire year. Just curious, how are you getting over your post-Christmas blues?


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[Assistant] I'm eastern time at which point i began taking down.


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[Assistant] Some of the outside decorations and we officially.


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[Assistant] On December 26th, we had the cleaners come in, the house looks great, but literally there is no semblance.


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[Assistant] Chris, uh, actually, Rex, I was wondering, after last year's fiasco, uh, I think, I think every listener of the pod is curious, what did bunkmate, who, who by the way is your wife, there has been some confusion.


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[Assistant] Online on YouTube, uh, who Bunk or Bunkmade actually is, it is your wife.


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[Assistant] Dion, what did she get you for Christmas as a refresher for those who are listening? Last year, Rex wanted a Blackstone griddle, uh, for his outside patio, but instead he got yet another TV, this time for his bedroom, even though he does not watch TV in bed. Uh, she got him a, a, a bedroom TV. Just curious, what'd you get this year?


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[Assistant] Yep, I believe they're tennis shoes, they're Nike tennis shoes that I'll be using for pickleball, uh, despite not having lost.


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[Assistant] Uh, more than three times in my life, things have been going sour. I've got some shoulder issues. I got a little rotator cuff pain, elbows, elbows bother me. Uh, so I'm hoping these shoes get me on the right track. Also got a countertop fryer, another gadget that I'll be using, uh, as well as a vac sealer. I did not have a vac sealer previously.


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[Assistant] That's very excited about all that. We'll get into the full Christmas edition at the end of the pod. Also want to give a quick shout out to Edward Creighton 2638 on YouTube and a cesspool of negative YouTube comments.


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[Assistant] Our friend Edward is a guiding light. He's always positive. He's always complimentary. We do appreciate you, sir. Okay, so folks, this is the end of the year recap show. So we're going to be counting down the top five newsmakers of the year. Rex, you and I huddled.


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[Assistant] For about three text messages this morning, but it does seem pretty obvious. We'll count these down from five to one. For the number five newsmaker of the year of our Lord, 2023.


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[Assistant] To me, it's the governing bodies. And more specifically, the rollback that was announced late this fall. I think you can take the governing bodies, Rex, as a newsmaker two different ways.


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[Assistant] I think it's pretty clear that they're not bending over backwards to accommodate the live guys in the major championships but more recently the decision to roll back the golf ball beginning in 2028 for the elite player and in 2030 for hacks like you and me. What effect do you think the governing body's had?


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[Assistant] It's, that's exactly right. It is a few years away and I think it's important to underscore the point that there was the option that they could have had.


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[Assistant] Not dissimilar to what you see in baseball with the wood bats at the MLB level and the aluminum bats.


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[Assistant] In the, at the college level, it would be very similar to that, and yet there was immense pushback and blowback.


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[Assistant] From the PJTor community. The PJTor did not support it. They were never going to support it. And they were so vociferous.


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[Assistant] That the players who hit it 325 right now are going to continue to hit it.


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[Assistant] So, they're basically just making sure they have a stake in the ground, right? Where this doesn't get to a point where...


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[Assistant] We are not going to see any greater difference than 1 to 4 yards. And quite frankly, if I hit it 260 right now,


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[Assistant] I'm not gonna be able to notice a difference between 257, you who hits it, let's say 225, with your purest, uh, most nuttiest strike, uh, it's certainly not gonna notice a difference if it somehow goes 224. This doesn't feel, Rex, like the long-term solution. The long-term solution, of course, is the driver head. And the USGA and the RNA said they will continue to look


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[Assistant] At the driver head, they want to make center strikes.


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[Assistant] Important again. Instead the drives have become too forgiving. That's really what the problem is. This is kind of a short term solution.


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[Assistant] Capgear, the newly minted PGA champion, outlasted Victor Hovland.


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[Assistant] Who hid in the fairway bunker on the 16th hole to doom his chances and apparently Michael Block to win.


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[Assistant] At Oak Hill as well. To me, Rex Brooks' victory was significant for two reasons.


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[Assistant] It made him the winningest major champion of the post Tiger era, more than JT, more than Spieth, and even more


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[Assistant] Then Roy Mackerel, who remains stuck on four major championships, the PJ win at Oak Hill moved Brooks


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[Assistant] So that was obviously significant, but secondly, I think it really validated.


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[Assistant] Live golf. There was so much talk, there was so much conjecture, there was so many conspiracy theories that players who moved


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[Assistant] To live golf would no longer be able to compete.


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[Assistant] And win major championships. We saw that be debunked somewhat at the Masters where Brooks held the 54-hole lead.


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[Assistant] Before kick it away on Sunday, but he and Phil Mickelson of live golf, uh, both tied for second at Augusta national a month later, Brooks wins at Oak Hill. Why was Brooks in your opinion?


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[Assistant] Number four on this list. Why was he such a big newsmaker in 2023?


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[Assistant] Uh, to his perseverance and certainly his talent, like one of the most.


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[Assistant] Uh, one of the pieces I was most proud of this year was what I wrote coming out of the PJ Championship where I talked to basically everyone in his inner circle and did vignettes on what it took to get Brooks


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[Assistant] You know, away from the brink of extinction and back into major championship, uh, form. And it was everyone from his caddy to his trainer to his swing coach.


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[Assistant] To kind of his swing whisperer, uh, Pete Cowan as well, uh, to his parents. I mean, it was a, it was a full team effort. And I think that's why we saw a different level of appreciation for Brooks, because he knew, uh, the hard work that it took.


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[Assistant] To get to that point, he knew, uh, the support system that was around him, uh, that kind of pushed him, uh, back in this direction. And I, I think he, he slowed out a little bit for the rest of 2023. He was okay.


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[Assistant] In the Ryder Cup, he did beat Ludwig, uh, he did steal a half point from Rom in what was overall a disappointing week for the Americans. I guess the question now, Rex, now that Brooks does seem healthy, now that he is competing full-time on Liv, now that he does have a major one-way,


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[Assistant] Keep in mind, his major runway was about to run out had he not performed well in the major championships in 2023.


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[Assistant] How many more majors do you think he can nab? He thinks double digits is still a possibility. He is 34.


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[Assistant] With a body that is significantly older than that, what's your opinion? How much deeper can you get?


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[Assistant] Yeah, like open championship links golf is actually something that appeals to Brooks. He doesn't have the greatest record in the year's final major, but I do think that he does have the skills to pull that off. I could see him winning one more U.S. Open.


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[Assistant] You know, he's such a perennial contender, uh, when the golf gets his most difficult. We were headed to Pinehurst, of course, in 2024. I'll be curious to see if he has a short game shots to handle that revamped, uh, golf course. But yeah, I think, I think six, maybe seven.


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[Assistant] If he gets some help, I don't see him completing the career grand slam, but I would not put another US Open. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities that he could win the Masters.


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[Assistant] As well, he made a couple runs in his history at Augusta National.


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[Assistant] Alright, Rex, uh, another guy who does not have the best history, at least you can call it a tortured history at Augusta National, is our number three newsmaker. That, of course, is Roy McIlroy. So his majorless drought stretched now to a decade long, uh, did give it a good run at the US Open. I'm sure we'll dig in to that, but I think


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[Assistant] Roy was a newsmaker in 2023 as well because he kind of pushed back the idea.


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[Assistant] And the position of being the leading spokesperson.


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[Assistant] I guarantee if we listen back to our podcast a year ago with this year-end recap, we would have been amazed at how Roy played the dual role of being the best PJ tour golfer and also being the most fervent supporter of the PJ tour and its ongoing civil war with live golf. That was no longer the case in 2023. He either, uh, he either stepped down from the policy board. He declined interview requests.


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[Assistant] Powerless. He just, he just felt powerless. Like this was, this was happening with or without his support. So why, why not just...


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[Assistant] It feels like it. It certainly feels like it. Not an ideal time, uh, for, uh, the, the, uh, uh,


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[Assistant] The motors, the motors and the blowers to come out here at 8 54 AM.


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[Assistant] This was happening regardless, whether Rory supported it, whether Rory hated it, whether Rory didn't want to partner with the PIF, whether he didn't want private equity money, like this was happening. So why not dive headlong into your professional game? Why not be the selfish golfer that you need to be?


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[Assistant] To reach the heights again, why, why distract yourself from what you do best?


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[Assistant] With something that you cannot change the outcome. You can, you can, you can give a push.


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[Assistant] In what you'd like to see, but that doesn't necessarily mean what you want to have happen.


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[Assistant] Is going to Roy to me Rex has never been more fascinating to cover because.


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[Assistant] The, the, the encore stuff, like we've seen it now for, for more than a decade. We know exactly what we're gonna get.


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[Assistant] On the golf course, he's likely going to win a couple times a year. He's likely going to get 10 in a major championship, but there's just so many little melodramas that happen.


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[Assistant] Throughout the course of the year, remember him missing the cut at the masters and then forfeiting, what was it, like $3 million because he skipped RBC heritage. We've had long for five minutes.


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[Assistant] That's, that's, that's, that's where I'm getting. So you had, you had very forfeits.


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[Assistant] $3 million basically said he just needed like a mental health break. Uh, you get what happened in June 6th where he said in Canada a couple of days later where he felt like a sacrificial lamb at times and was put on stage and then made to look like an embarrassment. And then we get to the Ryder Cup and the hat cake.


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[Assistant] The, the uh, endless drama that was Saturday afternoon.


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[Assistant] With that Patrick Cantlay match and the wave in the hats and the explosion with Joel Acaba that spilled into the parking lot, which I'm sure was one of your highlights of the year. It's always something with Rory and doesn't always have to do.


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[Assistant] With birdies and bogeys, that's why to me he's the most fascinating player to write about, the most fascinating player to cover, and the most fascinating player to watch on the PGA Tour.


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[Assistant] Uh, I did, yep, tipped off by you of course, uh, who's standing in the parking lot watching the whole thing go down. I remember running, you just finished.


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[Assistant] I believe it was, you know, the American and European captain's press conference. And it was probably what a 200 yard walk to get back to the media center. I got a phone call from you panicked saying that Roy just got in a fight and I remember sprinting past our buddy, Sean Martin.


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[Assistant] Uh, who works for PJ tour.com. He goes, wait, what's going on? I said, don't you worry about it. Go to golf channel.com.


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[Assistant] Uh, and, and we did have, we did have the post up before anyone else, which is probably a main reason why it was our leading click-getter of the year, but like that was just such,


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[Assistant] That could only happen in the Ryder Cup, right? Like that would never happen.


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[Assistant] That would never happen at the Wells Fargo Championship RIP. That would never happen.


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[Assistant] Rory's explosion, I think, served a couple of purposes and it ended up being another route for the Europeans. Uh, and so that was obviously a huge moment in 2023 and certainly something that I'm sure you will be remembering as well. Alright, our number two newsmaker, if it's not Rory.


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[Assistant] That could only be the GWA Player of the Year for 2023, who is, yes, the Masters Champion.


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[Assistant] John Rom, he won four times I believe in a ten week span in the spring culminating with the Masters and what was unfortunately


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[Assistant] Another Sunday final round snooze at the Masters, hopefully we don't get that in 2024, but I think perhaps even more.


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[Assistant] Impactful Rex, actually definitely more impactful. He will not be on the PJ tour, John Romwell will not be on the PJ tour next year after jumping to live in a monster deal worth reportedly


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[Assistant] The voting, the voting recs closed on December 15th, which I believe was three or four days after the John Rum live deal.


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[Assistant] Was announced, so we're going to have to see, I mean, it would be shocking if John, if John Rom won the PJ tour player of the year. I, I, I'm fully expecting that goes to Scotty, uh, but


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[Assistant] No, I don't, I don't think that's the case. It's not just that, that he had a number. I think it's the fact that John Rahm went back in his work because the PJ Tour went back. Maybe.


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[Assistant] I mean, if he felt betrayed by the PGA TOUR leadership as basically every player on the PGA TOUR did, it's hard to fault a guy who pledged his fealty in February 2022 when the goal post had moved so dramatically by the time June 2023.


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[Assistant] It's ironic that, that John Rahm, and I'm, I'm in total agreeance with you that he's going to be kind of the game changer.


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[Assistant] In the negotiations and as we sit here on December 26th, we don't have finality when it comes to what that deal is going to look like. But it's of my belief that he will be the game changer and that's ironic because John Rahm had kind of positioned himself as apolitical.


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[Assistant] He was on the PJ tour, he had pledged his fealty to the PJ tour, but he didn't denounce Phil Mickelson.


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[Assistant] Uh, and, and with, with equal admiration for even those who had left and had made personal decisions to do so, to answer my own question. No, I don't think John Rahm's legacy.


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[Assistant] The case if you're reading the tea leaves and there is potentially going to be some sort of merger.


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[Assistant] With the pj tour and live golf perhaps as soon as twenty twenty five this could basically be.


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[Assistant] A one year hiatus john rom the pj tour gets paid a boatload of money helps position the pj tour in an entirely different position he gets paid.


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[Assistant] Uh, and, and he stole the major championships, like, it's, it's, it's, it should be, it should be.


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[Assistant] A non-factor now i think the skeptic to the cynics will be quick to point out any sort of dip in performance when it comes to John Rom.


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[Assistant] In twenty twenty four keep in mind he played eight or nine times before his master's victory this year live golf schedule has just five events ahead of the year's first major two of those require extensive travel to


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[Assistant] Uh, to Asia and Saudi Arabia as well. So we're very curious to see how the GWA player of the year has a repeat performance.


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[Assistant] Is June 6th, the day the PJ Tour changed.


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[Assistant] Forever the secret deal with the Saudis to end the lawsuit, which both sides clearly wanted. But Rex, to me at least, this wasn't so much an error.


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[Assistant] The PJ Tour and whoever else was consulting them bungled the messaging so badly that no one was sure whether this was just a handshake, whether this was a partnership.


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[Assistant] Whether this was an all out merger. So what was the impact first, Rex, of how you think this all came out on June 6th in particular?


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[Assistant] Will work, will, will collaborate toward future project. Something along those lines. I think the entire fallout would be, would be entirely different.


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[Assistant] We will potentially collaborate on future project. Okay. That makes sense. These guys are, are willing to pour billions with a B billions of dollars into the game of golf. How can this help support the PJ tour? Yeah, maybe there is some of the, we can do with team golf. Like any sort of collaboration I think needed to be.


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[Assistant] In that press release, instead, it's a merger, it's a partnership, how can you be partnering with the Saudis when you're just bad mouthing them for two years? Like, that was what kind of caused the atomic bomb to go off. Instead, it literally just a headline change, or just another


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[Assistant] I'm not ready to fire Jay Monahan either, I think he deserves...


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[Assistant] Uh, the benefit of the doubt to be able to see this deal through. Like if that makes sense. And I think the most likely scenario here.


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[Assistant] Is it Jay Monahan becomes kind of like a martyr? You know, like once the deal goes through, if the deal goes through.


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[Assistant] And he gets the PGA Tour to a point of profitability that it never has before. That's where I think he could step aside and let someone else lead this new PGA Tour entity. Whatever trust the players had in him previously,


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[Assistant] It has obviously been lost to the point that it's hard to imagine he could ever regain it again, even with all the governance changes.


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[Assistant] Yeah. If you're getting $3 billion, say from a private equity firm and you're getting, uh, an additional, uh, surplus of money from the PIF and the PJ tour is in a spot now where potentially they can even go out and snag other entities. If they could put the PJ, PJ championship under, uh, its preview, they could put the European Ryder Cup team.


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[Assistant] Under his purview, whatever the case may be, if the PGA tour could create this worldwide schedule with 25 events of the best players in the world playing every, uh, single week together, like that would be a compelling product in addition to some sort of team golf aspect. Like there is still a, the, the potential that Jay Monahan can come out of this deal looking very good legacy wise.


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[Assistant] Right? He's obviously in the middle of a firestorm right now, where players don't like him, players don't trust him, sponsors are furious, uh,


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[Assistant] Uh, uh, tournament directors aren't happy about what's happening to their tournaments. Like there is a lot swirling around J Monahan, but if he can get a good deal done.


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[Assistant] I think history will view him very differently as the person in charge who altered the history of the PGA tour.


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[Assistant] What do you think the potential of the PJ tour is in 2024?


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[Assistant] At the beginning of the year, I said there would be less divisiveness.


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[Assistant] On the PJ Tour, I thought there were two different alleyways. The PJ Tour would do their own thing. Live Golf would do their own thing. It looked good for about five and a half months.


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[Assistant] And then it all crumbled and now there's divisiveness and contentiousness literally, uh, seeping out.


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[Assistant] Somebody find details that need to be hashed out just when it comes to the potential partnership with the PIF. That doesn't even mention like the new PJ Tour schedule and the FedEx Cup point structure and how that could potentially alter the careers and livelihoods of these guys. Like it actually could get


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[Assistant] It actually could get worse before it gets better for the PGTour. One thing is for sure, it will give us plenty to write and talk about.


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[Assistant] That we could, I do not think we would have an emergency podcast if they, if they announced that they're really extending the deadline.


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[Assistant] We could probably save that for next week's podcast. We're previewing the Sentry.


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[Assistant] Uh, but I think any sort of announced deal.


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[Assistant] No, I asked, I asked what that was on the right side of your griddle. Never got back to me. Thanks for that. Uh, but no, I, I don't, I don't dislike quorum.


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[Assistant] If you, if you, if you drank too much on Christmas Eve, if you drank too much on Christmas and you're doing this on the 26th like, or New Year's Eve now coming up.


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[Assistant] And on New Year's Day, like, it is the absolute best thing to do. Where I did, similar to corned beef hash, like, we did the hash browns. And so, you know, you drop it on there, you press it flat, you get it crunchy, you flip it over. The tricky part is to get the outside crunchy.


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[Assistant] What's keeping it still kind of warm and soft in the middle of a very delicate balance that we could dry it out very quickly. Shove that to the side, put the bacon down and everything's just cooking in the bacon grease. You throw the eggs in there and like the best eggs you could possibly have was soaking up.


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[Assistant] Absolutely everything that you have in your stomach that should not...


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[Assistant] Be there. Are you doing anything special for New Year's Eve?


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[Assistant] Wow, that really, uh, that really escalated quickly because I too, Rex, I too bought a brisket.


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[Assistant] At Costco, a couple of days ago, I was searching for a beef tenderloin that we enjoyed on Christmas day. First time I bought, uh, and cooked one of those. My goodness. That was the most nerve-racked, uh, I've ever been cooking a cut of meat. $117 for a beef tenderloin. How do people do this? How do people do this?


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[Assistant] Uh, it is, I smoked it and then seared it, uh, over the firebox. Actually, it came out great. Uh, wife said it was the best beef tenderloin she's ever had.


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[Assistant] I don't think she was just trying to make me feel good, but when I was at Costco buying the beef tenderloin, I saw prime briskets.


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[Assistant] And then obviously you'd be, you'd be doing a pretty heavy trim on that to make sure that's as much of a usable brisket as well. It probably won't cook as well as it could.


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[Assistant] If it was kind of a 15-14 pounder, I believe it's like a 9 pounder. So by the time you trim it, you're probably looking at about a 7 pounder. Uh, I've got it in the freezer right now. I don't think obviously that will thaw in time to do on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, but I do have it in the hopper.


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[Assistant] Eventually, right now I've got a prime rib that is thawing in the fridge. I'll be doing that one for New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, we'll be going to the Jags game. Uh, the free-falling Jags trying to squander, not just the division lead, but a playoff berth as well. Thankfully they play the worst, the worst team in the NFL. In fact, Carolina Panthers at home.


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[Assistant] On Sunday, we go into that one and, uh, Rex, we, we, we have failed to mention, at least to this point, the stakes that we do have for Saturday's game between Georgia and Florida state of which you are.


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[Assistant] As well as Aurarius Mimms on the offensive line, both guys figured to go in the top 10 of the NFL Draft and so they were saving themselves for that.


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[Assistant] No problem with that from my perspective, but we do have some stakes. What are they? And have you already made the purchase?


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[Assistant] If it makes you feel, if it makes you feel any better, uh, playing your son in the consolation bracket, I would have beat you by 85 points. You did wax him. Over these two weeks. Just a humiliating and embarrassing week.


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[Assistant] For the hoggit, since you did not address the orange bull bet that you and I have, uh, viewers of the hero world challenge, remember that you were wearing a bandaid above the cancer spot above your right eye. Uh, it is not actually a cancer spot. Uh, it did come back benign. There is no trouble there. However, when you're out in the sun,


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[Assistant] Uh, your dermatologist is advising you to wear a bandaid. And so when you do.


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[Assistant] For your next live hit or potentially on this here podcast video, you will be wearing for the entirety of the video a Georgia Bulldog Band-Aid


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[Assistant] Viewers are gonna get up close and personal to your face as we gloat and celebrate, which should be, I think George is like a 17 point favorite at this point after all the transfers, after all the opt-out.


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[Assistant] No, you're definitely not getting the points. We're doing a straight win, head to head. This is the fifth ranked, of course, fifth ranked Florida State Seminoles over the sixth ranked.


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[Assistant] Georgia Bulldogs, somehow Georgia dropped from one to six and somehow Georgia was dropped behind Florida State in the sixth hole despite being, as I mentioned.


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[Assistant] Uh, favorite, that'll be on Saturday at four o'clock. Actually, great day of football on Saturday for being honest. Uh, Ole Miss Penn State at noon, Georgia, Florida State. We have our high stakes and then Dallas, Detroit.


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[Assistant] On Saturday evening, we'll be having a party. Got a balance house for the kids for Christmas. I think I'll be doing some ribs as well for a little bit of a get together.


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[Assistant] If the PGA tour waits until December 30th to announce this, I'm not gonna be happy. Also early, happy early birthday to Tiger Woods, who turns 48 years young on December 30th as well.


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[Assistant] Alright, that's gonna do it for this edition of the GovChannel Podcast with Rex and Lav. Hopefully we'll be back next week.


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[Assistant] The 2024 kickoff podcast will be previewing the century and recapping any other news that may have happened.


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[Assistant] Over the next six days. Thank you guys so much for listening, for watching, for commenting, for tweeting us all throughout.


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[Assistant] We do appreciate the support. Hopefully bringing you, uh, even better content in the year ahead. We'll be trying to maximize.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav. Set your alarms, folks, because Anthony Kim is returning to professional golf. He'll tee off.


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[Assistant] with the live golf league friday morning in saudi arabia at 3 15 a.m eastern time alongside cam smith and gran mcdowell it took


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[Assistant] 12 long years to get here, but now that we actually are here, arriving at this point, Rex.


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[Assistant] What do you make of what we have seen from AK so far on social media, on Instagram, on X, on YouTube, all the things relating to AK's return.


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[Assistant] Cam Smith, Cam Smith, this is a perfect example. Turn pro.


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[Assistant] In 2013, you can kind of mark the passage of time any number of ways. You know, Tiger Woods hadn't had a back injury yet. Jordan Spieth, uh, hadn't yet gotten on the PG tour, but Cam Smith, the 2022 Open champion had not yet turned pro as well. And now they're playing alongside each other in Jetta of all places. That's where this come back.


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[Assistant] That he would look like warming up on the range. I think this is actually when the walk and talk video was shot with the, with the t-shirt. He was wearing vans. He was wearing like tube socks. He has an arm sleeve tattoo. He's 38 now. He looks weathered. Like his face is a little bit, uh, rounder, certainly like you could tell he's had some hard years.


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[Assistant] Over the past dozen years, kind of hitting it hard and now he's back in professional golf. The one thing, Rex, that has stood out to me.


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[Assistant] Actually, there's probably a couple, which is why we're going to be digging into this. He has not had, and he will not have a pre-tournament press conference. That alone...


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[Assistant] Stands out. Now I'm sure he'll probably do some sort of friendly sit down.


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[Assistant] On social media and that's it. There's a, there's, there's clearly a protective cocoon.


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[Assistant] That surrounds him. Even just the official announcement of his return on Wednesday of Tournament Week when it's A, been rumored for weeks, and B, we've already seen like signage of him on the range and him hitting balls on the range. So I'm not sure what the delay is there. I was struck by the minute and a half walk and talk.


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[Assistant] That appeared on Live Golf's YouTube page on Wednesday morning. And he said, Anthony Kim did, that he will tell his story when it's the right time. But right now, uh, he's, he's, he's purely focused.


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[Assistant] On golf, he also said he's ready to go. I'm not sure why he would say anything different. Uh, and that he doesn't know many of the players anymore, but quote,


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[Assistant] Uh, so that stood out, uh, because the old swagger- Can we just say that on the podcast? Has not gone away. Direct quote. I would not say that personally, uh, without direct quotes. Uh, but since I'm just trying to be journalist, journalists can be factual. Try to save yourself. That's how we're gonna do. He also concluded, Rex, I think somewhat curiously, the video by saying, quote, hello haters. I'm back. Who's hating? Who's hating? Who is hating on Anthony Kim?


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[Assistant] Like he and I are almost the same age. He's, he's two years older than I am. Like I grew up watching him.


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[Assistant] I think everyone liked his style of play, everyone found him a refreshing change of pace, by all accounts he treated people.


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[Assistant] Uh, very well, whether it was folks like you in the media or, or fans in, in like in these past dozen years, I'm not sure anyone, there's been this shroud of mystery, but everyone is clamoring for him to return, but all of a sudden, hello haters, I'm, I'm back. No one's, no one's hating. Absolutely no one's hating.


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[Assistant] Yeah, flair, charisma, personality on a tour that is, that is largely vanilla. I thought Joel Beale, our, our buddy at, at Golf Digest, he, he wrote a, he wrote a column and he, and he kind of got dragged for it, uh, on social media, I think kind of unfairly, but he said, Anthony Kim,


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[Assistant] Is that who you thought he was essentially saying yes it was it was phenomenal.


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[Assistant] While it existed but he burned out as quickly as he kind of flashed on the scene that the three wins came in quick succession but when he was at the tail end of what is now is the first act of his career he was battling a sort of injuries was Achilles tendon.


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[Assistant] Uh, his wrist, his hand, he was, he was struggling with the driver yips and that's kind of what drove him.


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[Assistant] That's why he has been such a recluse over the past dozen years, uh, among other reasons and potentially some, some financial implications as well that we have not gotten a whole lot of context.


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[Assistant] About, I, I'm with you that I think it's very interesting that he is going to be...


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[Assistant] A wild card player for the remainder of the year. This is not a one-off. This is not a kind of a three event series to see how it goes and then kind of reassess in the summer. This is, this is full commitment, not just from lived Anthony Kim, but from Anthony Kim to live and depending on how he's playing.


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[Assistant] This could either look genius or horrible, but by summertime, either he reestablishes himself as a world class player, which we do not have many examples in sports history, uh, that, that pretend that many, many, or, or give me the others.


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[Assistant] Well, Eamon, Eamon Lynch brought up Bjorn Bjorg.


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[Assistant] Who, uh, was a, obviously a highly accomplished tennis player, left the game, quote unquote, retired at age 25. When he came back a decade later, it was horrible. I actually, I actually went back and looked at his results. He did not win a single match.


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[Assistant] Upon his return from competition playing a decade later.


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[Assistant] After his kind of mysterious dis-disappearance. So either AK is going to do the unthinkable, do something that's unprecedented, or, or, he's gonna further the notion that live golf.


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[Assistant] Is kind of this meaningless exhibition kind of based on gimmick tree and that that does not.


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[Assistant] That is not what Liv is hoping for, but it's hard to see the possibility that he comes out guns blazing and starts shooting 64 and 65s.


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[Assistant] I'm actually very curious to see who among us in the, uh, in the, in the dubbed corrupt golf media was going to be flying to Jeddah.


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[Assistant] Saudi Arabia, uh, Hong Kong is next week's tournament. We probably weren't going to Hong Kong either, but had this been...


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[Assistant] In london had this been in south africa had this been in mexico i'm sure we would have had a golf channel presence there, but it does speak to kind of a larger point rex and how they shielded a k this point because without a press conference there is no context.


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[Assistant] For, for his return. All we have is, is more questions. And maybe that's, that's by design. I, I mean, he has been mysterious.


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[Assistant] Over the past dozen or so years, I believe he's only given one interview and that was the aforementioned Doug Ferguson five or six years ago. Uh, it only creates more intrigue. It only helps grow the legend of, of AK. And that might be all this, this thing is until we see how, how it, how it pans out. But without any explanation of where he's been, why he's back.


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[Assistant] What he wants to do, what his future goals are at age 38.


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[Assistant] This does feel like an unserious sideshow. Now we could be having a much different conversation.


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[Assistant] In five days time, once we actually have 54 holes of results to, to analyze, but without him meeting the media or explaining himself, it's just something, something smells, something smells a little bit.


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[Assistant] But they're trying to, they're trying to change that narrative because at the same time that they're, they're trumpeting this need for official World Golf Ranking points, and we'll certainly get to Taylor Gooch's comment here in a second, they also have added


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] John Rahm most notably, Terrell Hatton, Adrian Maronk, like they are putting together a roster of serious world-class players who have aspirations to do great things.


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[Assistant] In golf. And so they're, they're trying to traffic in both lanes here. And Eamon asked me during the roundtable on Monday on Golf Today, doesn't this kind of hit at the credibility of Liv? I said, in a perfect world, Liv would be trying to do both. You would be trying to be accumulating as many stars as you can for a competitive product while also


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kind of pandering or tailoring your product to have a casual sports fan of the guy who remembers a K from from 2010 and wants to see that again i think you can have both ways and again like the pj tour would have been over backwards to try and get him. Ender in their service i don't i don't think that criticism.


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[Assistant] Is necessarily fair, but it does come at an interesting time and it lives history when it's trying to establish its credibility when they're still fighting the OWGR battle that you do bring someone who hasn't played in 12 years.


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[Assistant] And Anthony Kim is not part, it should be noted, is not part of this team competition. He's playing the next, I think 11.


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[Assistant] Live tournaments or 10 live tournaments as an individual accruing points to try and earn status for 2025, but he's not a part of an established team.


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[Assistant] Or it's a strategy to not do it. In other words, to shield him. What's the upside of not doing it? Shielding him?


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[Assistant] Yes, because it could be a spectacular disaster if he goes out and shoots 78-79 in these first couple tournaments and it fails spectacularly.


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[Assistant] To watch again, 3 15 a.m. Eastern Time, Rex. I know.


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[Assistant] Just pulling on all my bender to watch the return after 12 long years of Anthony Kim.


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[Assistant] We mentioned Taylor Gooch just a couple of minutes ago if you were hiding under a rock. He had some controversial comments. I believe in the Australian Golf Digest talking once again.


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[Assistant] Whenever the majors figure out a way to get the best players in the world there. Now Roy McRoy took the high road.


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[Assistant] On Wednesday at the Cognizant Classic in his preterm and press conference, I've essentially gave Taylor Gutz the benefit of the doubt, said it was a, a kind of a leading question. He was just basically confirming.


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[Assistant] What the journalist who asked the question wanted him to answer. But look, there was a lot of dunking on Taylor Gooch on social media which has become kind of habit.


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[Assistant] As it not, Taylor Gooch did not know that you could not play just a single live event in return to the PGA Tour. Taylor Gooch, uh, compared the atmosphere of one of the initial live events, uh, to better than the Ryder Cup and now this, the Maestrisque Masters.


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[Assistant] Because Taylor Gooch, among others, is not in the field. Rex, what was your reaction?


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[Assistant] It's not fine print, it's actually like size 48, bold, underlined, all caps.


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[Assistant] Uh, on the podcast last week, there were, there were myriad reasons why Joaquin Niemann is in the Masters, whether it was affiliation as a former Latin America amateur champion.


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[Assistant] Uh, you know, being the best player from that particular region, that's so important to Augusta National.


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[Assistant] Winning the Australian Open with such a legacy and a history of that tournament, but also just going out of his way, as you said, to play other DP World Tour events and try to get in


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[Assistant] Via the established method, which as of right now, is the OWGR. There are a couple of points here that I think.


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[Assistant] Are interesting. It does follow, you were at Pebble, what Roy McRoy said, and speaking of leading questions, this was another one that Roy faced at Pebble where he was asked, does a win in a signature event


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[Assistant] Even at a place like Pebble feel at all cheapened by the fact that you don't have a DJ or a ROM.


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[Assistant] In the field and Rory's answer basically affirm that.