[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So when you, when you use your ad space time to show me these lore commercials,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the better use of the time? You already know that part of your viewership problem is that nobody knows what the heck is going on, but you're gonna use your ad break, all of it, not even a little bit of it, all of it, for either trivia,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's the problem, right? Is that, that we, and I know Prof, you've heard it too, it's not like I'm making up this statement, but the statement for years and years and years and years has been the Pro Tour exists to sell Magic Hearts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not to have the highest competitive play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which they might say nowadays, but they used to just say, oh, the pro tourists to sell magic cards. I-I think that whatever their return on investment is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So the problem is that I can't pretend that this would ever happen because we know from the MPL that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Watsi doesn't want them having their own sponsors. That was like a big thing that came out of that contract, right? Was that they couldn't be on other teams. They couldn't have their own sponsors. Did you forget that this happened?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And things might have changed, so someone might correct me. But when I heard that, I knew that Magic Esports was kinda doomed. Uhm, because it seemed like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wizards wasn't interested in endemic partnerships. For those of you who don't know, endemic just means things of the same nature. So, for example, we all know that Prof here has a Card Kingdom sponsorship. That is an endemic sponsorship.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was like, what are they doing? Imagine the Magic Pro Tour brought to you...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By Wizards of the Coast, Star City, Channel Fireball. And like, yeah, we could talk about, uh, capitalism and how it would be unfair to, you know, companies that can't afford to pay for the sponsorship money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And maybe they're trying, right? Again, I'm not in Magic Esports, I don't really know anybody on the team, I've never been a contractor since, for Magic, especially since Magic Esports was its own division, so I have no insider information to this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This, like sheer level of disconnect that is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Magic esports. That it, that it feels like Wizards both understands that it's a loss leader.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yaddy, yaddy, yaddy, blah, blah, blah. But it's an unusable product for literally anyone outside of Watsi. Because obviously for Watsi, right, you don't need a Spectrum client. You just have people playing on two computers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You, you, you do everything in the broadcast apparatus. But do you know what makes a successful esport? Things can happen organically in grassroots.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would say that Magic has never really tried to be an esport. Sure, we have the MPL and all this stuff and all the bells and whistles that look like an esport.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Anti-esports esports club. I love esports, but I hate it. And this is why I hate it. It's because somebody heard esports is a billion dollars.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And went, you should cash in. And I will, as someone who's been working in esports for seven years, ever that mindset is your first goal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You are doomed to failure, but you're not just doomed to failure, you're doomed to hurting people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, right. Not, not the players.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To them. I think it was Gary Thompson who said, Jerry Thompson who said that like being part of the MPL that you were supposed to get training on like how to grow your stream and stuff and none of that ever happened. It's by design.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's designed to be NBA 2K. You like NBA? You like basketball players? You want to play a basketball game? Cool. By the way, here's this addictive trading system where you buy character cards and stuff. That's all it is. The second they released a battle pass.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where you can find me on the internet is on Twitter at Amanda, T as in Taxi, N as in Net Stevens. That's my Twitter. That's where you'll get a lot of my gaming hot takes. Uh, I talk a lot about diversity and inclusion, especially for POC and trans people in gaming. Uh, I don't really make content anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you can find my Twitch stream and watch me play games that you have no interest in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is from Matt in California. I've been putting my retirement and target funds for a few different years since I don't know when I'll retire. They've done well but I was told by a financial advisor that they're not a good investment, especially after you retire and need your money to keep growing. What do you think?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Capital One has just informed me that they will no longer handle my Roth IRA and will be moving it to a trust company. Is this a good company or should I move it to one of your three preferred companies?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You do not have to explain yourself. You could afford this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, yes. Somebody actually wrote in and said you need to do a whole episode on convenience stores. They want to hear more about your.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school let alone college. It took forever but I finally paid off my college loans four years ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Congrats. I'm trying to set up my kids better than I was. We have an 18 and 16 year old. As of right now, we're able to pay out of pocket for our oldest tuition. But in two years, once they're both in college, I don't know if that'll be possible. I started a Fidelity Go Fund this February after listening to one of your shows. I've been putting in 6,000 a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And we'll have around $12,000 when my son needs it. I thought you said if you needed, if needed a Roth, although not ideal, can be used for college tuition with no penalties.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My question is, is it fairly simple to withdraw this money? Can I take out however much I need at once? I know I can't take out the earnings.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause you always say there are no scholarships or loans for retirement. Okay, uh, this is from Sona.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nope. Never. Why not? I have no, like not even a fingertip of the knowledge you have. That is not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you for having me. This is a great pleasure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think there's a lot of ways you can define it, but I think, I think what we're talking about is here's a new toy, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I, I gotta get it in. I gotta play with it. It's, it's stronger than what I have now. It's better than what's in my deck right now. It's a better commander, it's better removal, it's better whatever, better ramp. It's always better ramp. But uhm, it's here, and it's available, so therefore,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, I think you hit on my point. It's not that it's a problem in and of itself. It's a, it's a ripple effect because it's never just that one card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's ne- because we have products coming every three weeks, feels like, at this point. There's always something coming. This is a- this is a game that's almost 30 years old. And I think one thing to get- to get out of the way upfront is, I acknowledge and accept that in a game that is this old and still thriving,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The power level's going to increase over time. It's silly to think that, I mean, look at creatures from the 90s in Magic. They were garbage. Creatures, creatures were awful.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is about to say apologies to Shivan Dragon, but I mean, it's, it's, it's naive and it's, and it's Pollyanna to say, oh well, you know, we should keep the power level exactly the same. It's going to evolve over time. I think in Commander though, where we get the problem is it is that ripple effect in that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we talk about what's the arms race. It's, it's okay. Well, I've, here's this card and I'm going to put it in. Now my deck got better and here's my, my, my play group mate. Oh, well now my deck's got to get better around the table. And it, and then where does it stop and where should it stop? Should it stop at all? Um, where, how do we balance the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, excitement for and pressure of these wonderful, terrifying new toys that we get all the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With what this format fundamentally is, is meant to be and what it means to a lot of players. And I think that's, that's where this discussion comes in because there are a million different things at play here. This is not a zero something at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think, you know, anybody who knows me at all knows that I'm on a crusade against things like, you should be playing, why aren't you playing, overrated, must play, stop playing, and that's no, that's no slight to you because I love you. Why would that be a slight to me? I just want to make sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, I mean, you know, it's, but I think that's part of the ecosystem of anything like this, right? We want, we love to talk about the things we love, the things we don't like, and why this is better than that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I get that, but I think what has started to happen now that we're in sort of the era of the Commander Arms race, uhm, as we close out the year of Commander.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that's it. That's exactly what I'm talking about. No one's ever gonna say that. And if they do, they're a jerk. And you shouldn't play magic with them. But no one's ever gonna say that explicitly, but that's how we receive it. That's why you'll never hear me describe Commander as casual.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because casual has become a loaded word, almost, almost a, a, a pejorative, uhm, in a lot of contexts and what I've seen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in the discourse, so I prefer social, but like that's an example, right? Like there are these things that we say and we're talking about stuff and it gets received by our ears as well. You're doing something wrong. You made a mistake. You need to fix this. You need to keep up like you said and that pressure to keep


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or to optimize or do the best thing or the better thing always is exacerbated by the fact that we are being flooded.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With better stuff. And as you mentioned too, it's not just new stuff, it's the old stuff. You know, every commander player is gonna look at a guy's cradle with a little glint in their eye, right? Sure. Like, and, you know, if I could get a good deal on a kidney, I'd love to go get a guy's cradle. The fact is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Commander, what I love about commander and what I know a lot of people love about commander is it is the format where you can build a deck out of what's in your box right now. You can build a deck out of a seal box. You can build a deck out of draft chap. You can build a deck out of whatever. You can upgrade a pre-con. You can play a pre-con as it is. Uhm, and it's, and you should be able to have a good experience with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The trick now is that we're getting, so Commander Legends is the current thing, and that's been a big topic of discussion for Commander players, and I will say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, 99% of this set I'm in love with. Oh yeaah. I think they did a fanta- I was terrified about the partners because I hate partner existentially. And I think by and large they did a good job with a couple of problematic exceptions. Uhm, but the set overall I think is going to be a hit. And I think Wizards should be commended for that work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there are problems in there and we'll get into some of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, longer answer, first of all, let's be clear, it's a collectible card game, of course it's pay to win. Cards have, it's arbitrary value and it's made up value, but they have value. And there's a reason some cards are more desired and more expensive than others. I think where it comes in well is that, you know, the pay to win being used as a pejorative, right? Like you're just, you're a whale and I'm a little minnow and it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That can be a thing, uhm, but I think for me,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Convince me why I shouldn't hate this card and everything it stands for. You won't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and I think what got lost in there is the what it stands for part. Uhm, and what I tried to explain, I didn't do a great job at it, but I've been able to articulate a little bit more clearly now is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Find that unfun. Uhm, that to me is going to, is going to bring down my level of enjoyment in a commander game. But that in and of itself doesn't mean the card shouldn't exist or it should be banned or anything like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To me it's what it represents, and I think that's where my concern really comes in, and what it represents to me is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When, with all of this product being designed, you know, not just for the, for magic in general with standard sets and things like that, but this is a specific two commander product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The format is necessarily having a pressure exerted on it. Uhm, from wizards who are, you know, they'll never say it out loud, but what it says is, we printed this card, therefore you should play it, therefore you should play commander this way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, so, so that for me is where my concern comes in, because I have not been playing Magic very long. It's been less than five years. Okay. Uhm, I made a grave mistake in 1995 and walked into my LGS, which is really departed two blocks from my home, uhm, and saw it was, it was probably


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unlimited or revised magic packs next to Star Wars CCG packs from Decipher.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is the format where you can do whatever the heck you want. You don't have to play the best cards. You don't have to have the strongest. You don't have to win ever. You just get to have fun. You get to express yourself. Your personality gets to come through. Right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The cards that get made are a part of the format and these cards, some of them,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Carry with them a pressure to push things more up, to up the competitive level a bit more than some, some players, and certainly I don't speak for everybody, I don't speak for anybody but myself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some players find that a little uncomfortable, and I find that a little uncomfortable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think my answer to that is always some form of, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. It is a game and there should be a winner. Some games end in draw, some games go on forever and we say we're done, we're going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But games gotta end, right? That's becoming cliche for us. But games gotta end, right? So somebody's gotta win, which means three people are gonna lose. There's nothing wrong with that. And of course our, our, it feels good to win a game of Commander, you know, especially if it is a deck that is close to our heart and soul and we worked really hard on it and it means something to us. My condition on that is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For me, Commander, the, the, the imperative of Rule Zero, and for people who may not know, Rule Zero is sort of the underpinning of Commander created by the Rules Committee back when Commander first became a thing. And what Rule Zero basically says is you can do whatever the heck you want.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just so long as everybody has fun. It's the everybody has fun part. And that, that part is really important to me. When I sit down to play a game of commander, I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's important to me that my fund doesn't come at the expense of your fund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think it's oversimplifying it to say, well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Naturally, the person who won had more fun than the person who lost. That's not necessarily true in the game of commander, because for me, the perfect game of commander is one where everybody's deck gets to do what we want it to do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The game ends in three turns before I've gotten to do anything. Okay. Uhm, and so that's where it, you know, there's nothing wrong at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, I think again, where I get a little uncomfortable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is, if you sit down with Teversod as your commander, I'm not gonna pick up my playmat and walk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right. I will if you play a stack stack, but that's a story for another time. Again, I don't find the card itself to be wor- I mean, let's, let's be realistic about commander. There are how many thousands of cards that are legal in this format? At least 1000. And only a couple dozen are banned? A few dozen are banned?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think the ones that are banned are banned for good reason. And I think the ones that aren't banned probably don't need to be. I mean, we could, we could do 10 hours of content on what's banned and what we're not doing. We're not doing that. Commander is a format of self-governance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's by design, and I think, and the rules committee has made that clear over the years, millions upon millions of times. This is, this is a, this was a fan player created format.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is meant to be, where the experience is meant to be governed by the players. And so then it is incumbent upon us to have those discussions and to, you know, I think what happens


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, where a lot of my concern comes in is with the playing with strangers. So that's not as big of a deal right now because obviously we're in, we're in the pandemic and so we're not, we're not having magic fests or command fests or, uh, LGS commander nights and things like that. So you're less likely


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who's defining each other's fun? Like, and, and, you know, at what point does someone, is it out of bounds to suggest that someone shouldn't play a card or play a deck? Right. It's a thorny question. And I don't have a good answer for it. I wish I did. I don't think anybody does.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think what it comes down to though is, you know, as it relates to the arms races, at a time when commander is the most popular format in the game, and it's, and it's, and it's selling product, like there's no tomorrow. And then wizards, as a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Capitalistic Corporation is want to do says, well, we need to make some money off of that. So here's Commander Legends and here's this and here's that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you're a new player, either new to Magic altogether or an invested Magic player who's trying out Commander for the first time, and you see what Wizards is giving us now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the queue you're gonna take from that? Well, this is how I'm supposed to play. Just in the past couple years, we've gotten commanders like Trulane and Corvold and Golos that are ubiquitous now. And I think commander is a format where, in my opinion, ubiquity is a bad thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if you're coming in fresh and you haven't been playing Commander forever, you weren't around for when it was still the weird, quirky cousin of Magic, what would lead you to believe that you shouldn't be playing the Chulanes and the Goloses and the Corvults? Nothing. Because this is what, this is what Wizards is telling you is fun for this format. And this is what...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So of course you're going to think that, but then here's me, who's, you know, an old timer, you know, like with the get off my lawn, you darn true lanes of the world. And I'm just sitting here with my mono white hot Daxo stack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wanting to gain life and do nothing with it. Right. And have a great time. That's where our conflict comes in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yes, there you go, but I still play them. To give you an example of what I'm talking about, you know, Daxos Blessed by the Sun is all about life gain. White's good at that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's a great card to use with life cane to win a commander game? Aetherflux Reservoir. Right. Guess what's not in my hot access deck?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Interflex Reservoir. Because I find that as a wincon, I find it boring, uhm, I've lost to it and won with it enough times that I'm just like, this is, I don't get, so, so my deck really is gain a bunch of life and hope for the best.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there are a great many players of all ages and ability levels and investment in this game who may not, who may, who may have been told


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think this is something that's going to be unique to each playgroup, but I think where, where I and sort of my main playgroup have always come down on it is if you want to build a deck or you want to try out a card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By all means, build the deck, try out the card. Let's see how it goes because, and this is, I don't want to shock you or anyone else, we overreact to cards when they're spoiled. That's commander especially. I, I know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In theory, these cards, when you just see them on a screen on pre, on a spoiler day, it's like, oh my gosh, this is insane. In practice, it's not always that way. So I'm a big supporter of build the deck. Let's play it out. Let's see what happens. I did that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, with, with my, with my legacy play, not legacy, like the format, but my legacy playgroup with, I had a brago deck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That I was still very new to Magic and Commander and I'm like, this Blink thing seems fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, I can do lots of fun stuff with this. And so, you know, I kind of put it together here and there, and then I started playing it, and it won every game. I kept falling butt backwards into infinite combos that I didn't know were a thing, because I didn't know what infinite combos were. I was, I was blinking, um, uh, Stonehorn Dignitary so many times that no one ever got a combat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was blinking Lavinia the 10th and detaining everything and I'm like, this is fun. And they're like, no, it's really not. So it was one of those things where it was fun until it wasn't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then the choice became, okay, so what do I do to this deck to make it so that everyone else will not hate me or it off the table? Or worst case scenario, refuse to play with me? Uhm, or do I just kill the deck? I decided to kill the deck because I think Brago is an example of a commander that there's almost no way to play it fair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because if you're playing it fair, you're playing a bad deck that's not ever going to be, like, competitive at all. Right. Uhm, and I, and I, again, I'm not, I'm not naive enough to say I don't want to ever win commander games. Of course I do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I think in your example, I think, I think that's where, if you, if you have an established playgroup, if we've been playing together for a long time, we should be able to have those conversations without people's feelings getting hurt. Sure. Uhm, it shouldn't be personal. It's not a person, like, you're not a bad person because you want to play true lane. That's not it at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, it's, it's finding that balance point in a playgroup.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's a tricky thing to do and for some playgroups it takes years, for some playgroups it never happens. Yeaah. Where everybody is on the same page about what fun is and like what the arms race is, right? So, you know, for example, if you're in my playgroup and you have a Chulane deck and the next set comes out has an absolutely killer anti-Chulane card.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think, I think you said it well. The best, the best way to avoid, the best way to solve the arms race is to just refuse to be a part of it. But the problem is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If only wishing made it so, right? I think, I think, I think what happens is we end up in a series of logical fallacies, uhm, that kind of spring from not just the, the, the onslaught of, of new cards and more powerful cards, but also the dynamics of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Magic in general and commander in specific and even more specifically what commander is evolving into. And I've written about how I think commander is trending.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think what's happening as a result of this arms race is very slowly with every product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We get into these logical fallacies, like, well, I'll keep using Chulane just because it's on top of my head, but if I can play Chulane, why would I play any other commander that does similar things?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] These arguments and these disagreements and these sort of these, these, these shifts in our, in our play groups.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ultimately over nothing. We're all still there for the same reason. We want to have a good time playing Magic with each other. It's just that I think all of these things where we have a hard time sorting through


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is there, is there really tricky part? And that's where, if you're fortunate enough to have a long established playgroup where everybody's on the same page, you can solve these issues in moments. You know, everybody, you know, these kind of playgroups, you have your own, you have your own ban list that things come off or things go on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You have your own. Okay, well, if you're, if you're playing Chun-Li, then I'm playing Brock.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and if not, then not, right? Like, uhm, you know, uh, how we mulligan, how we, you know, resolve, uh, whatever. You have those things. And that's, again, that's what Commander was always meant to be. I think where we get ourselves into trouble as players, individual players in a group ecosystem, is trying to square all these circles.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and make all of these things that are contradictory and nonsensical sometimes and just uuh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, it's just, it's harder than it's ever been to wrap our heads around all of this stuff. And I think what that leads to is the perceived arms race. That feeling like, I have to, I can't keep up. I need to be doing more, I have to keep up, I have to get that cradle, I have to do this, I have to do that. That's not real.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it can feel that way. And I think, and I think that's where, you know, perception is reality. And that's where a lot of this angst comes from. And I see this in the discourse and I know you see it too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Feelings get really heated and emotions get into it. And because self-expression and personal viewpoints are a big part of this format.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It gets messy because people get really passionate and I love that about commander. I love that about its players. I love that about the creators. I love that about the rules committee. Everybody loves this format and loves playing it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that necessarily gets messy sometimes. And I think all of this stuff that's just being bombarded upon us just exacerbates that so much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, and point systems I think are awesome because like you said, they can be customized to infinity. Another one I really like, and you've just talked about this, is plane chase. Plane chase is a fantastic way to spice up commander because it levels the playing field.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Between decks that may on the surface have disparate power levels. It lets your decks do things they normally wouldn't. And it's always just really fun to make a bunch of goats if you get the goat plane. But plane chase is another way. I think, I think point systems, plane chase.


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[Assistant] Uhm, you know, uh, you know, some, some kind of off the wall house rules. Like, you know, we're all starting at one life.


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[Assistant] Uhm, or, or, we have a five turn cap and it's whoever's whatever, or, uhm, you know, your commander is locked in jail, you can't cast your commander, or...


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[Assistant] Stuff like that. It's, I think again, you know, it can, that logical fallacy that there is one objective in a game of commander and that is to


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[Assistant] Your same deck, or your same deck, or our same group of decks, a million times, but change it every time.


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[Assistant] And it'll help keep things from getting boring. It'll definitely mitigate, um, that arm's race. It's another thing, you c- you can make a point system where you get, uh, you gain po- you get points if you don't use certain cards or if you- if you pick, you know, everything's common or everything, you do popper or whatever, you know.


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[Assistant] My fun and your fun are almost never mutually exclusive. If you take five minutes, and it really just is five minutes to talk to people before you play a game, you can avoid those feel-bads. You can avoid, you can find, there is almost always, I'll say almost because, you know,


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[Assistant] Talk to people. Talk to people. Talk to people. Talk to people. And then wizards can print whatever it's gonna print, which it's gonna, no matter how much you and I talk about it. They're gonna print what they're gonna print. Uhm, let them do that. We're still gonna find a way to have fun. And the key to that is just being human beings interacting with each other.


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[Assistant] I do write about Commander every Friday for CoolStuffInc.com, so just go to CoolStuffInc and search for Dave Cosen in the author box and you'll find me. Uhm, I'm also very active on Twitter, which the link is going to be down there. Uhm, please don't pronounce the Twitter username phonetically.


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[Assistant] I wouldn't worry about it, Professor. You're not going to win an Armageddon with a Nerf gun no matter how big the darts are.


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[Assistant] World number one, who just ripped off her fourth consecutive victory.


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[Assistant] On the LPGA, unlike the other three, this was actually a match play tournament. A tournament at Shadow Creek, in which she did not start well, and yet, she got through the, the, the cut, and then ripped through the match play bracket as well, beating European Solheim Cup stalwart, Leona McGuire, in the process. The first player since Leona, uh, uh, Leona McGuire, Lorena Ochoa,


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[Assistant] In 2008, two and four consecutive tournaments and the first American since Nancy Lopez in 1978, two and four consecutive tournaments. Rex, will the golf world stand up and take notice?


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[Assistant] Of Nelly Korda ripping off four in a row as we enter the first major championship of the year, the Chevron championship, the week after the Masters.


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[Assistant] I mean, the, the LPGA is desperate for a dominant player and who better to be the dominant player on the LPGA than Nelly Korda.


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[Assistant] A 26 year old American. She's tall. She's blonde. She's athletic. She hits it far. I mean, we've been, we were, we were always longing for a player like Lexi Thompson to kind of take that mantle and be


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[Assistant] Uh, the, the charismatic player who would, who would bring fans in droves and everyone wanted to see her who's just this decorated champion. That has not come to fruition. Lexi Thomas has not won the LPGA in nearly five years. Nelly Korda is, is becoming that player.


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[Assistant] Right before our eyes for this is not happened in seventeen years it's not happened for the american nineteen seventy eight it's phenomenal i think if this was a different time of year rex. I think.


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[Assistant] I think more people will be paying attention to what Nellie Korda has done. I don't think the LPGA schedule has done her any favors. Like, Nellie Korda took off seven weeks from the first event that she played in 2024, went on vacation, and now she's ripped off three in a row before finally getting a break before the year's first major. If this was during the summer, if this was during the fall,


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[Assistant] Perhaps where attention wasn't so divided between either the masters.


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[Assistant] March madness, I think this would, would take a stronger foothold. Uh, but I think the Chevron championship just ratchet up.


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[Assistant] In importance even more, uh, because I think fans are now curious to see, well, what do we, what do we have going on here? Is this going to be an Annika Sorenstam type season where she wins eight, nine, 10 times on the LPGA or is this just a hot streak, uh, by a very talented American player? I think, I think everyone's hoping it's the former.


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[Assistant] Oh, it's just a couple years ago. Apparently, uh, it was not. Rex, this is the eve of Masters Week. I've been here since Friday, covering the Augusta National Women's Amateur. As always, a phenomenal tournament. Congrats to, uh, Lottie Wode, or as our friend, uh, Mark Schlabel, the Bulldog of ESPN Calder.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav. World number one, Scottie Scheffler back in action.


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[Assistant] I'm trying to do something on the PJ tour that has not been done since 2017. That of course is win three consecutive events on the PJ tour. Rex, his odds, Sky Shuffler's odds this week at the Houston Open. Again, I'm not good at gambling.


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[Assistant] I'm not gonna pull Reese Davis and say like this is some sort of risk-free investment.


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[Assistant] Scotty Shelford's odds to win the Houston Open are plus 260.


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[Assistant] That is insanely low. In fact, the lowest we have seen on the PGA Tour since at least 2019. You plunk it down a few shekels for Sky Shuffle this week.


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[Assistant] This was fall 2021, because he had not yet won.


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[Assistant] On the PGA Tour, he was kind of, you remember that he was like that controversial kick, pick to make the Ryder Cup team in 2021?


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[Assistant] I think everyone has their eye on their masters, but I think Sky Shuffler, for whatever reason, is uniquely qualified.


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[Assistant] To handle kind of this, this three in a row and the run up to the Masters. Like he, he very much stays present. And when interviewing him, it can almost be frustrating because you want him


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[Assistant] To talk about the Masters, you want to talk about what it'd mean to win. You want to talk about kind of the historic trajectory that he has been on of late.


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[Assistant] Leads me to believe, Rex, that the Masters really isn't on his mind at all. He's never taking, taking advanced trips to Augusta National like so many players are doing. Roy McRoy's talked.


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[Assistant] Uh, about how he's probably going to go to Augusta, uh, Monday, Tuesday of Valero week, which I know you'll be in San Antonio next week for golf channel. Scotty is never.


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[Assistant] Want to do that, he would rather do his work at home, knows how to play the golf course, can consult with Ted Scott on what he wants to do, and so I think he's fully focused on the Houston Open, and then next week when he has an off week, he's not playing in San Antonio, he can start to


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[Assistant] Kinda caress some of the shots that he's gonna, uh, know that he's gonna have to face at Augusta Nash.


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[Assistant] This guy Shethler's Task Rex this week could be made easier by the fact that the second betting favorite


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[Assistant] Who is either 12 to 1 or 14 to 1. Wyndham Clark is actually dealing with a bit of a back injury.


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[Assistant] Again, these are not technical terms, but he said that his quote back went.


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[Assistant] His back went, he threw, he was, he was working out in the gym on Monday at home in Scottsdale and threw out his back while doing an exercise. We'll get into your own physical handicaps here shortly, but he called it a massive muscle spasm, was actually concerned on Monday, so just two days ago we were recording this podcast on Wednesday afternoon that he was gonna have to withdraw


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[Assistant] From this week's Houston open instead he got some rehab on Tuesday fluid is physical therapist on a Wednesday.


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[Assistant] I was able to hit balls and partook in the nine hole.


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[Assistant] Pro-Am, he said he's hopeful, should be able to play, but obviously if it's going to jeopardize his standing in the Masters or any other important tournaments coming up in the next couple of months, he will not be hesitating to pull out.


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[Assistant] It's a little bit of an unfortunate timing for Wyndham Clark. Is it not Rex, who has risen now to number four?


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[Assistant] Kind of on your list of master's favorites because it is interesting. The Rating US Open champion.


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[Assistant] We'll be making his master's debut, is not otherwise eligible, prior to this year.


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[Assistant] Okay, why don't you describe since the visuals are a little bit blurry. Why don't you describe what you're dealing with here.


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[Assistant] A little bit. Maybe, maybe it was a, you know, a violent slam at the net.


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[Assistant] Maybe it was a stretch trying to get the ball. Nope. You hurt yourself trying to be a courteous courtmate.


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[Assistant] I think the good news, even though you have to sit out for six weeks with Pickleball, is that you're now heading to Augusta National, uh, as we've seen with Tiger.


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[Assistant] As we've seen with Brooks Kapka, is the most difficult walk, uh, the entire year.


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[Assistant] In addition, we'll be playing, uh, Palmetto Golf Club, one of our favorite courses in the world. It'll be Sunday before the Masters. Thank you, Brooks.


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[Assistant] And that too is a, is a very difficult walk. We call that Brown Augusta. It could be a treacherous walk for you as well. Are you at all concerned? Like Wyndham Clark, what is your status?


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[Assistant] Rex, for the year's first major, do you think that this could potentially be a hindrance to your performance?


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[Assistant] That is good to hear. I am very curious to see how Woodham Clark plays. I do think he is, uh, kind of the unique player. Like we've seen, we've seen players make their debuts.


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[Assistant] At Augusta Nashville, over the past decade, I would say, and, and really star, you know, Jordan Spieth, almost won his first appearance. Sung J.M., uh, played particularly well. I think that was the November Masters in 2020. Obviously, Will Zaltourist played his way to the final group.


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[Assistant] Uh, in 2021 as well, like it can be done. Obviously it has been a long time since a rookie or a first timer has come to masters and one.


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[Assistant] In his debut appearance, uh, but it does seem like we're getting towards that point where maybe course knowledge isn't quite as


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[Assistant] Important as it was in the past and particularly when you look at like someone with Wynton Clark skill set, who absolutely bombs it, who can hit the ball exceedingly high and is so good on the greens. Uh, I think he is the type of player who could break that, who could break that streak.


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[Assistant] As it comes to the Houston Open and this week's venue Memorial Park, uh, it was played in November last year, so it's going to be a completely different golf course than if you watch that tournament. What you're going to experience this week when you see the coverage on Golf Channel and NBC last fall, it was a premium on driving accuracy because of the thick Bermuda rough.


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[Assistant] Uh, that would be just outside the fairways. It was a little bit kind of scraggly around the edges of the green. The maintenance crew like did their best when it gets kind of dormant that time of year.


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[Assistant] Uh, to hear players describe, it's kind of like an over-seated paradise, super, super lush, bomber's paradise, short, rough, uh, seemingly trying to mimic the conditions that players are going to face in a couple of weeks time, uh, at Augusta National. But Saheet Tagal, right, so this is where I want to take this conversation, Saheet Tagal had a very interesting


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[Assistant] Uh, idea that he broached during his Tuesday press conference. So in theory being at immunity Memorial park.


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[Assistant] Fans will be able to play on Monday, the day after the PJ Tour comes to town. And Sahith has taken a little bit of exception with some of the TV broadcasters. And he set an example last week on the 8th hole at Innisbrook. It's like a 230 yard par 3, super narrow green.


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[Assistant] And it's, it's like 10 yards wide and a commentator said it was a quote unquote safe shot.


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[Assistant] When a player found the green like 30 feet away and Sahith was like, nah man, like that was an absolutely striped four iron that barely curved at all and found the putting surface. Like that was an unbelievable shot. So his, his.


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[Assistant] Basically, the takeaway was that our perception is being a little bit warped and that we think PGA Tour players are just kind of robots. So Sahih's idea is basically to set up a tournament.


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[Assistant] For, let's call it Scratch Amateurs. Just to see what they would shoot the day after the PJ Tour comes to town. You and I have been fortunate enough to play the Masters Media Lottery, which is played the Monday after the Masters, 25 to 30 or so media members. It's the exact same whole locations, very similar green speeds to what they faced the


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[Assistant] Previous day for the final round of the Masters. The big difference, of course, is that we do not play from the tips. We play for the member T's at 63, 6400 yards. It's very, very manageable.


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[Assistant] I love this idea, and I think the PJ tour would be wise to lean into this sort of stuff.


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[Assistant] Because as we mentioned repeatedly on this podcast, 72-hole stroke play events can get very monotonous. But with the explosion of YouTube golf, they're doing this, uh, they did this influencer, uh, Monday qualify for the Myrtle Beach event.


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[Assistant] Coming up, I've always thought they should do like some sort of all-star game or skills game competition. Personally, I think the tour should lean into this sort of stuff. You buying or selling that.


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[Assistant] But I feel like the environment now is ripe for this sort of thing.


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[Assistant] If the PGA tour is now leading into this for-profit arm with PGA tour enterprises and sort of the, they, they want to appeal, not just to the hardcore golf fan that's, that's already following the PGA tour, but kind of expand its reach.


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[Assistant] This is, this is the sort of thing that I think would be really helpful. And obviously the danger here, Rex, is that it becomes too gimmicky.


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[Assistant] And, you know, the, the, the PGA Tour calendar becomes littered with these sort of weird one-offs that I think can, can take away from the Houston Opens or the Valspar Championships. But I think sprinkled throughout the year, like I would love to see.


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[Assistant] Like an all-star game type thing or the skills competition kind of centered around.


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[Assistant] Uh, the, the Sentry, which is the, the season opening event. It's in Hawaii. Like, why not do close to the pin competitions, wad club challenges, flop chop sort of things.


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[Assistant] You know, hot streak putting like whatever you want to do just to build up that event as sort of the kickoff event. Like to me that makes a lot of sense. I actually really liked, I know there was some criticism of it. I actually really liked the idea of having this influencer Monday qualifier.


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[Assistant] And it's these, this player, there were very good players on YouTube. I don't watch them personally. Uh, but if you look at their swings, like


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[Assistant] They're pretty damn good golfers. And to have them in a Monday qualifier and to get them to then play in a PJ Tour event, they're now going to go to their audiences and show them exactly what it's like to play in a PJ Tour event. Show them exactly how difficult and how good these guys are. I love that.


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[Assistant] Like we just had a couple weeks ago in south florida or gonna have kind of the during the silly season event this is the sort of thing that i think could appeal to.


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[Assistant] Uh, wider audience, getting scratch amateurs, one club challenges, something along the likes that, that shows.


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[Assistant] It sort of illustrates just how good these guys are as opposed to just, you know, they're going to shoot fifteen under, twenty under, there's not really any context to it. I'd love to see the tour lean into this stuff without going so far that it becomes gimmicky.


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[Assistant] Rexyless topic for this hodgepodge preview podcast is the European Ryder Cup advisory board meeting scheduled for Thursday. Among the weighty topics that they are going to discuss is what to do about those pesky live players.


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[Assistant] Under the rules, the live Rebels will lose their cards this year because they face a one tournament suspension for every live start they make. There are 14 tournaments on the live schedule. You do the math. Uh, any player who wants to play


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[Assistant] Uh, for the European Ryder Cup team is required to play four DP World Tour events in 2024, otherwise they will lose their playing privileges, thus they would be ineligible.


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[Assistant] For 2025, at Bethpage Black. Now Paul McGinley, our colleague.


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[Assistant] Golf channel, a member of that advisory council said they're really torn.


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[Assistant] On what to do here. There is a certain segment of the golfing population that really wants to punish the live guys because they're the ones who have diluted the product. They're the ones who have divided the game. They're the ones who should be punished for what they've done. On the other hand, Europe may desperately need these guys if they want to win back the cup in Beth Page. What would you do? Would you?


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[Assistant] Would you allow them to play Scott free? Would you change the rules? What would you do if you were Luke Donald?


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[Assistant] They have no chance. They have no chance in 2025 if you don't have John Romtero, Manhattan, Adrian Moran, and the like. No chance.


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[Assistant] I promise we didn't because that was Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia who would be playing, Henrik Stenson who would be playing.


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[Assistant] He'll be on the team, Rory will be on the team. In early December, immediately, almost his, almost his gut reaction.


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[Assistant] Was to, oh, we've, we've got to change the European Ryder Cup rules. And at the time they didn't have to. What will now transpire is that they are going to have to because they wouldn't be able to play the number of terms they need to play in order to maintain their eligibility. But that was his, his gut reaction to, oh, you've got to change it. We have to have.


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[Assistant] They want to have John Rahm and the like, but I think they also recognize they need to have John Rahm and the like. He's a top five player in the world. I know he's not playing.


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[Assistant] Probably as well as he was a year ago at this time. He's still John Rom. No, he's still a top five player.


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[Assistant] And the European tour can come to some sort of compromise.


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[Assistant] And uh, and have kind of universal rules as it relates.


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[Assistant] To live golfers, assuming things do not get settled otherwise.


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[Assistant] What does that matter? We just saw Ludwig Oberg perform quite nicely in Rome in his debut appearance, did he not?


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[Assistant] I think if memory serves, it was either Bobby Mack or Adrian Moran. Bobby Mack played reasonably well in Rome in the few appearances that he made.


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[Assistant] I mean, to your point, is R, Terrell Hatton, Adrian Moranque, David Pooch, are those players replaceable?


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[Assistant] Yeah, probably. I mean, you could, you could probably have a one-for-one replacement with


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[Assistant] I don't know, maybe Rasmus Hogard and teaming with his brother and they could be like a completely indestructible force. I don't know. When it comes to David Pooge, who has played, uh, exceedingly well in early 2024, who knows what he's going to look like.


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[Assistant] Uh, by fall 2025, like those are the types of players that you would at least allow the pathway. So I w- I wouldn't change the rule to just allow them in. Like I w- I would still...


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[Assistant] I would still want to incentivize them to, to play X number of events, uh, to make sure they're doing the work and to show the team that there are potential future teammates that they're still committed to the cause. But you can't just open the door and say,


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[Assistant] Come on on, all of a sudden we'll start, we'll start weighing, you know, live points.


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[Assistant] In my opinion that have been elevated through all the turmoil of the past two years. The four major championships and the Ryder Cup have only, have only risen in stature or risen in importance. It's, it's, it's.


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[Assistant] Unfathomable that the European Ryder Cup leadership


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[Assistant] Would go down a path that would potentially dilute what is quite possibly the greatest spectacle in all the sports, and that's Ryder Cup. And I also think a greater point, Rex, is that the bitterness and the resentment


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[Assistant] And the jail seat, we've seen it pervasive through PGTorrent membership.


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[Assistant] And some of the infighting and whatnot to do with creating a pathway back for live players, like that's so counterproductive.


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[Assistant] To what they should be doing. It's so short-sighted. I understand there are hurt feelings, uh, but if you take a long-term view on this, it's so obvious what has to happen. Uh, and yet, and yet I'm still skeptical that it actually.


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[Assistant] Rex, this is your last week at home before three straight weeks on the road. We're still hoping to fire up the grill at our master's house. Last year, uh, avid listeners of the podcast will remember that we nearly had an emergency trying to cook a steak, uh, in a, in a flat iron, uh, in a cast iron skillet.


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[Assistant] Through it in the oven, things did not go well. We are hoping to fire up the Cabado Joe at our master's rental house. Absent of that though, Rex, this is probably your last opportunity.


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[Assistant] To fire it up for a while. Easter weekend. We'll be recording our podcast on Easter Sunday that evening. So what do you have on the grill the next couple of days?


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[Assistant] Yep, make sure you're refreshing those transcripts. We do appreciate your service. You're not going to be doing any sort of Easter delicacies, uh, for the holiday weekend.


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[Assistant] Uh, hopefully no meniscus tears, uh, in their right knees. Uh, yes, I'm, I'm with you on that. We have, I think three different Easter egg hunts. Like, it's a, it's, it's apparently now not just like a, it's not just like an Easter brunch.


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[Assistant] Apparently there's, there's Easter icons on Sunday as well as Saturday.


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[Assistant] Yes, we do not have a particularly big fridge or a fridge or freezer. I went diving in there, found a boneless leg of lamb, which will be delicious. That is an Easter delicacy for sure. I also picked up one of those twice smoked hams. So I'll be throwing that on the offset.


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[Assistant] Uh, getting some glaze on there, some seasoning and glaze. Uh, so we'll be eating ham and lamb, uh, for the receivable future in the Labner house.


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[Assistant] I am driving up to the Augustas. I leave in nine days to begin my semi-fortnight at Augusta National. I'll be driving up the Friday.


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[Assistant] Uh, before that is the practice round for the Augusta National Women's Amateur where everyone plays in the ANWA, gets to play Augusta National after they do the cut to the top 30.


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[Assistant] Yes, I will be bringing a bag of charcoal and other goodies, uh, you know, wireless probes, uh, instant read thermometers, seasonings. Yeah, we'll be, we'll be well stocked in the Jeep. It should be a great trip.


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[Assistant] And so, and so that's why when someone is talking, and in this case it was, it was Matt Adams who was on the desk in Connecticut, and again we have probably a second and a half to two second delay, I'm just gonna plow ahead.


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[Assistant] I'm, I'm, I'm plowing ahead and I'm really not stopping for anyone. If I was given specific instructions to pick it up on the backend, that leads me to believe that we have time, that we have time into a commercial break. We have time before we need to get to the next topic. And so you know what? I'm gonna take my sweet time. And so that's, I think that was one of my answers that went on for like two minutes. Cause I said, you know what? I'm going to savor this because they were trying to cut into my time. I don't think they were.


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[Assistant] Those things are tough. Everyone, everyone thinks those are, those are not seamless production, but I mean, we all have different delays. They've got to figure out on the desk who's asking what, you know, do you, do you pick it up? How do we work in commercials? Like there's, there's a lot that goes on that, that folks probably don't realize.


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[Assistant] And I mean, when it happens to you next week, I'm sure I'll be, I'm sure I'll be cackling as well. There's always some sort of miscommunication.


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[Assistant] Or mix up each and every week. That's bound to happen when I, I can't turn my camera around right now, but we're essentially just looking into iPhones. There's an app on our cell phone called Live View. It's inside the middle of this like industrial sized ring light. And that's how we make television. That's it.


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[Assistant] I just, I just heard, I heard crap in here. Mine's, mine's no better. Mine's no better.


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[Assistant] You also have, you also have an eldest son, uh, who is now home, who is not appearing on the simulcast, uh, thankfully.


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[Assistant] Uh, MTV Cribs edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and Lab. We'll be back on Sunday night for a recap of the Texas Children's Houston


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[Assistant] Open. You guys are the good drill. Make sure you go to mpsports.com slash golf for the latest news.


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[Assistant] And updates also if you subscribe to the Golf Channel PR email. Peep us at the bottom.


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[Assistant] Shout out to Jamie Palatini who finally included the golf channel podcast with Rex and lab, the company wide email that goes out. Yes.


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[Assistant] You and I are two longtime scribes at which we'll discuss and debate the latest news and hottest topics. And not longtime friends apparently. That's what we do here. Thanks for listening. Thanks for the support. Be back in a few days. Have a great week.


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[Assistant] I'll push back a little bit on the idea of the PIP. That was a silly list. I think it's cause they realized they leaned too much into sort of popularity part of it.


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[Assistant] It's a, it's a lack of personality, not a lack of talent. There is still more talent on the PGA tour than there is on live golf. That Q score that you want to look at, that's leaning further and further towards live golf. It's the personalities of the Bryson DeChambeau's and the Brooks Koepka's and the Bubba Watsons. Those are the ones, ones you miss the most.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav. It is Player's Championship Week. It is Wednesday afternoon. All the preparations have essentially been done for this week.


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[Assistant] We just bumped into PJ Tours flagship event and Rex, we just bumped into PJ Tours commissioner, Jay Monahan in a little bit different mood than what we saw on Tuesday at TPG Sawgrass where he was under siege.


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[Assistant] For about an hour, for the media, the first time he has met the media Jay Monahan has since the tour championship last August. Let's start there. That's the newsiest part of this player's championship week so far. What stood out to you, out to you from, from Jay Monahan's press conference.


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[Assistant] Yeah, underwhelming, unsatisfied. That's kind of the takeaway that I had. He did say that.


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[Assistant] You know, when, when he next sees us, presumably at the tour championship in August at East Lake, they should have made more significant progress as it relates to the deal with the Saudi public investment fund. Read between that.


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[Assistant] Some of the quote, several key issues that he does have, uh, as the PGA tour is trying to negotiate this deal.


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[Assistant] With the PIF, I thought he'd be slightly more forthcoming, whether it was about the team plan, how to integrate that, whether it was talking about a live pathway back. What are some of the specific holdups to this deal? Because I think everyone talking to players,


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[Assistant] For players as well to be to be left in the dark when you think about June 6th and kind of the blowback of of kind of that that secret deal.


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[Assistant] They wanted more transparency and more openness from PGTor leadership. Well, they can't.


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[Assistant] Right now their hands are tied for what they can do just because they're signing the NDAs as they discuss this. And that's sort of unsatisfying, I think, for everyone at every level. Jay understands that, but that was certainly kind of my takeaway from the press conference as well.


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[Assistant] And, I mean these are, these are powerhouse names.


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[Assistant] I mean, this is a potential gold mine and potentially, uh, interacting with them in the future, bringing them into the fold, I think was something that's very attractive. It's a reason why SSG representatives were with the PGA tour when they met, uh, with the Saudis, uh, earlier this year. But I, I do, I do understand the point that, that now having SSG could make a potential deal


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[Assistant] To, to go ahead with SSG, uh, in this private investor, but that was also the day that John Rahm announced, perhaps coincidentally, that he was going to be leaving for live golf. So I think, I think two things can be true at the, at the same time.


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[Assistant] You don't think John Rahm in the, in the rumored signing of 300 to 600 million dollars was, was personal. You don't think nabbing the player who probably should have been the teacher player of the year was personal. You don't think securing services of the reigning Masters champion was, was, uh.


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[Assistant] And just to be clear, Jay Monahan said on a couple of occasions that negotiating a deal, eventual deal with the PIF is the quote, best outcome for the PJ Tour. And he stressed over and over again that unification of the game


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[Assistant] And all of the myriad layers that entails is in the best interest of the PJ tour long-term as you look toward its future specifically with the for-profit.


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[Assistant] Entity with PJ tour enterprises. Rex, what else stood out to you? If anything from the 57 minutes with the commissioner.


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[Assistant] I would agree with that, uh, saying he knows in his heart that he's the right person for the job and also the responsibilities that both boards, on both the PGTOR Policy Board as well as the new board of directors that was just announced with PGTOR Enterprises has put him in a position as CEO to express that they clearly have faith in Jay Monahan.


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[Assistant] Alright Rex, several players as you mentioned have gone, uh, inside the media tent. Uh, one player who did not.


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[Assistant] It was Roy McRoy. Uh, he, he dragged us lowly scribes out at 7.50 a.m. Sud was just coming out here at TPC Sawgrass, uh, to meet with the media, uh, fielded a number of questions from how to play the 17th hole, uh, to kind of the future with the PGA Tour and the fans to the current state.


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[Assistant] Of his game, how do you assess Rory's chances as now we're less than a month, uh, to the Masters and that's now three consecutive starts in the PG Tour for Rory, uh, while finishing outside the top 30.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think 1B is probably a little bit too generous as it relates to, to Royal Mackerel. We have seen the left miss.


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[Assistant] Uh, and he was struggling there. Bay Hill, uh, we saw him kind of mutilate, uh, uh, a T-marker, uh, boiling over with frustration. Now he still shot 30 on the back nine. So the good is still.


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[Assistant] Plenty good, but as you, as you look to TBC Sawgrass, uh, certainly as you look ahead to Augusta National, uh, in just four weeks time, the precision has to be there.


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[Assistant] A Max Homa, a Hideki Matsuyama, certainly a Justin Thomas, uh, who, who just might be my pick to win this week. A Will Zalatoros ahead. A Scottie, really?


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[Assistant] No, I'm saying ahead of Roy McRoy in terms of the list of favorites. I think, I think Sky Scheffler is obviously the clear 1A and that's kind of where I wanted to take


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[Assistant] This conversation. Now you covered him last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He's the defending champion here. No player, uh, in this tournament's history has successfully defended his title. Make the case for why Scottie can do it and also why he can't.


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[Assistant] Okay, and you know, if he's not first overall in stroke skating team agreeing this week, he's going to certainly be in the top five. The golf course is still soft. We had a bunch of rain over the weekend. Uh, it's, it's going to be very gettable. The winning score is going to be somewhere between 13 and 18 under par, and Sky Sheffler is certainly going to get his. I think Rex is going to be so much attention still paid.


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[Assistant] Finally starting to, to pay dividends. Was the putter switched to a mallet and was the decision to go away from kind of lining up, uh, his, the line in his golf ball and said, just relying on the line on his putter. Is that going to make all the difference? Will, if he starts to, to miss a couple of putts, uh, early in his, early in his rounds here at the, at the players championship, will some more doubt start to creep in of,


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[Assistant] Uh, on, on the 11th hole where he kind of berated himself for a miss and that sort of, that sort of ignited him. It's, he sort of, he sort of checked back in and putted sublime, uh, the rest of the tournament. And so, uh, it will be interesting to watch. There's no doubt that that is going to be one of the biggest storylines here at TPC Sawgrass.


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[Assistant] Rex, what would you say to those who say this tournament has been diminished by all of the lived affections, it's no longer the strongest field in golf, uh, that, that the PJ Tours flagship event has been severely harmed by what's, uh,


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[Assistant] Been going on in the sport, in the civil war over the last couple years.


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[Assistant] But does it, does it, does it feel different? Does it feel different? You've covered this tournament for, for two plus decades. Does it, does it feel as grand? Does it feel as important without a Rom, without a Brooks, without a Bryson, without a DJ, without a Kampsmith who just won this tournament just a couple years ago?


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[Assistant] Or not the golf course produced the kind of drama and it almost always does. Without fail it almost always does that. And so that's kind of where I fall on that. As it relates to the


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[Assistant] You can pick, you can pick out the Masters in the past Champions. You can pick out the open qualifiers or the players who have been qualifying for the past nine months for the Open Championship or golf's longest day for the U.S. Open. Like you can, you can nitpick with all of them. The PGA Championship though is the closest safe the club froze at the bottom of the field. You can make the same argument for the Players Championship in the bottom.


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[Assistant] Of this field now. I think those two are pretty equitable in terms of field strength.


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[Assistant] At this point, I'm just gonna save it for maybe the, maybe the tour championship. Just, just keep bolstering this for the next five months.


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[Assistant] The tiger boom recreationally never happened. The boom occurred on the PJ tour with prize money absolutely skyrocketing.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think when, when Jay Monahan was talking, he's talking about re-engaging the fans in new and interesting ways, as certainly as you look forward to the PG Tour enterprises and what they can bring, whether it's new innovations on the, on the TV side, more data, more insights, whether it's sort of the, the, the,


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[Assistant] On-site experience for, for fans and, and what that could entail, as you said, kind of the Formula One experience, but Roy said, he called it low-hanging fruit, or the easiest, the easiest way to re-engage the fans.


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[Assistant] Is to bring these tours together. The tours have been mortally wounded by what's happened over the past two years where neither product is thriving in this current environment and creating a pathway back and creating that pathway back as soon as possible, uh, should be a chief priority, not just for Jay Monahan, but the rest of the PJ tour policy board as well. Again,


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[Assistant] The sense of urgency that Proy Macroy feels is not necessarily the urgency with which these matters are proceeding, and I think that's frustrating for everybody involved.


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[Assistant] You want to endure another year and a half of this non-stop cycle of will they or won't they, both products suffering in this current environment. That would be dreadful if this thing


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[Assistant] Which is a, which is a very bad place. A place where the fans are fatigued, where players are frustrated and both products are suffering at the exact same time.


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[Assistant] Alright, that's gonna do it for this edition of Golf Channel Podcasts with Rex and Lad. You guys know the drill, make sure to go to mbsports.com slash golf for the latest news and notes from the Player's Championship. You can catch Rex for 90 seconds of bad television each and every night on live from typically towards the end of the show. Do not, do not folks, do not go to the first couple blocks.


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[Assistant] He's not gonna appear, but if you want to see Rex, second to last block, maybe if they have time. Block nine of an eight block show.


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[Assistant] Keep it, keep it short, keep it tight and make sure you get it back to the desk. Uh, Rex and I will be doing our usual song and dance however on the early live rums if you guys want to check that out as well. And just a reminder, we'll be back with mini pods each and every tournament round. We promise we'll keep it 15.


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[Assistant] 20, eh, maybe 25 minutes if the situation warrants it for these mini pods. We'll get those up and uploaded as quickly as possible. Thank you guys as always for listening. Thank you for the support. We'll talk to you guys in 24 hours after the opening round of the players championship.


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[Assistant] Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lav. Happy Masters Week. We're recording the podcast.


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[Assistant] Wednesday afternoon, all the tournament preparations for the 8-9 competitors in this year's Masters are complete. Some players are finishing up their par 3 contest. Rex, you look like a limo driver, but how are your, how is your Masters week?


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[Assistant] Uh, thank you, happy 25th wedding anniversary to you and Bung. Big day. It's a big day. I cannot think of anything better that you could have given her than peace and solitude.


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[Assistant] On this very special day. I actually forgot it was my birthday until I got a morning FaceTime for my family. But yes, 37 years young. Actually no better place to spend.


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[Assistant] What are your biggest takeaways, uh, to this point before we get into Master Chairman Fred Ridley's press conference on Wednesday?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think we always get to that point. It's not quite as insufferable of a run-up as the Ryder Cup.


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[Assistant] To me, there is nothing that beats just the non-stop dribble.


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[Assistant] Uh, and anticipation and useless projections than Ryder Cup week, but this, this is definitely a close rival. Uh, I think the anticipation obviously of nine months between majors, uh, this is the tournament that, uh, more, I think,


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[Assistant] I think it's fair to say this is the tournament the players want to win the most. Certainly American players want to win the most, uh, not least because you get a green jacket for life and get to attend this tournament for life if not play in it.


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[Assistant] For life and so all those things come into it, limited field, invitational, everyone's happy to be here, uh, sort of the, the pageantry.


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[Assistant] Of the event. But yeaah. Once you get to this point mid afternoon Wednesday.


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[Assistant] Everyone wants to get the ball in the air. You did mention the forecast on Thursday, which is varying shades of awful as of right now. Actually, let's bring in Steve Borkowski, our golf channel expert on the weather real quick.


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[Assistant] Oh wait, that's a joke. We're not having Berko. He's not invited to live from, but if he were, he would have an absolute field day.


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[Assistant] With the conditions. So they're forecasting right now if you guys have been paying attention to the Weather Channel at all.


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[Assistant] Are just tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings. Basically the entire southeast is in like the red cone of danger that is approaching the Augusta area supposed to hit overnight and extend through the latest forecast I saw was about 2pm eastern time on Thursday. They're calling for an inch to an inch and a half of rain.


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[Assistant] They're calling for damaging wins. We're talking sustained 30 to 35 with Gus from 45, uh, to 50. And then.


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[Assistant] Uh, mercifully, it will blow out of here and the remaining three days of the tournament look quite good. Friday will be a little bit gusty, uh, wind gusts 25, 30 miles an hour. But then on the weekend, supposed to be warmer, uh, mid to upper 70s.


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[Assistant] And then Sunday, uh, looks to be about the same with actually some light breezes. So if there's any tournament, Rex, that can...


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[Assistant] Get through some of these weather difficulties. Perhaps a delay to the opening round.


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[Assistant] It is the Masters, just 89 players in the field. They have broken the precedent to not go split tees a couple years ago in 2019 with Tiger's 2019 victory. So it would not be unprecedented.


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[Assistant] To see split tees on Thursday to get them around, uh, and with the cut with the low 15 ties plus 10 shot rule, it's really not going to be that big of an issue. It would just be a little bit of a bummer if the Masters.


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[Assistant] It does not begin on Thursday morning, but it is looking increasingly likely that that could be the case.


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[Assistant] He's got, he's got two laptops up, he's running his models, he's running his forecasters, uh, he's got, he's got various meteorologists around the country, uh, projecting what could or couldn't happen.


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[Assistant] We do love Berko. We're like, we're hoping that this does not happen, but it does seem almost a virtual certainty. And I think based on what happened last year, remember, remember the Saturday where you had a pretty severe wind gusts come in, a couple of trees were felled.


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[Assistant] Uh, near the 17th tee. I, I do think there will be, I think, a level of caution exercise this year, uh, certainly. So it would not be a surprise, unfortunately, if the Masters get a delay. I think it would be a big bummer. I mean, you've walked the golf course these last couple of days. I was here, uh, even for the Augusta National Women's Amateur. I mean, the course is absolutely primo. That's, that's nothing to be surprised about. Obviously, the conditioning.


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[Assistant] I would say an introverted, better than basically any course on the planet.


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[Assistant] Uh, but it would take a little bit of fire out of it, uh, and open up a field I think, uh, even a little bit.


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[Assistant] More Rex, let's transition to Master Chairman Fred Ridley's press conference on Wednesday.


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[Assistant] Uh, you heard it in its entirety, about 45 minutes is annual State of the Masters address. What was your biggest takeaway from that?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think that's a good place to start. We pulled out three news items.


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[Assistant] Uh, from Master Chairman Fred Ridley's, uh, uh,


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[Assistant] Uh, that the rollback that has been proposed for the elite amateurs in 2020, it probably does not go far enough.


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[Assistant] Uh, but at least it's a head start and he said there's a couple things he'd like to see extra. We'll touch on his thoughts on potential professional women's tournament here in a, in a second. Uh, but, but you're right. The headline news for me.


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[Assistant] What's his thought is basically not ruling out.


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[Assistant] Extending a special invitation to live players if their performance does warrant it, but I did think it was interesting, Rex, and so he cited Joaquin Nieman.


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[Assistant] As an example of the club's kind of flexibility extending a special invitation, but he did not neither in the.


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[Assistant] It was based strictly, at least in the press conference, based on his history in the Latin America amateur championship, which Joaquin Niemann won in 2018, as well as his willingness to play beyond the live season.


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[Assistant] Go chase world ranking points, uh, in Australia, winning the Australian Open, playing well in a couple of other events on the DP World Tour. If, I, I think if, if you're looking at a player like Taylor Gooch,


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[Assistant] Who is the best performing player on live golf in 2023, uh, top the order of merit points list, whatever you want to call it. If he wants to appeal to the master's committee for 2025, it certainly seems like he's going to have to go above and beyond just the traditional live schedule or, or be so extraordinary.


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[Assistant] Three of the five events leading into the Masters, but again, those special exemptions are traditionally reserved for international players, but he said if players performances warrant them, they do have the flexibility.


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[Assistant] And they would, I believe he said, not foreclose the possibility.


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[Assistant] Of extending invitations that way. I did think it was interesting.


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[Assistant] Based largely on Augusta National being part of the DOE WGR board and denying, uh, live golf's application. Like he said that there were remedial suggestions regarding through pathways access, the team golf component. It's, it's pretty clear what Fred Ridley and by extension Augusta National thinks of the live golf model.


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[Assistant] And being a closed shop and basically the only sort of relegation besides the four players at the end of the season is basically what, what, what new additions they bring in with significant signing bonuses. It does seem though, Rex, like there's a little bit of a softening.


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[Assistant] That if you, if you would re, rewound the tapes a couple years ago, it was quite clear what Fred really thought about this, this, this Saudi influence in, in the game.


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[Assistant] And what the potential division of the PJ tour and a separate tour meant, I do see a little bit of a softening of a stance, which I think is pretty universal now at this point.


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[Assistant] You saw Greg Norman out on the golf course. I don't know if you want to share that anecdote today. The Telegraph reported a couple days ago that live golf officials will be united, excuse me, invited to Augusta National. So it does seem like golf civil war is simmering down just a little bit.


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[Assistant] I did think it was interesting too, Rex, with, with master's tournament Fred Ridley talking about the idea of the best players in the world competing more often and the major championships being elevated in stature because of the division and it's great to have everyone back under one umbrella again. He said the master's tournament


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[Assistant] Is not like the other major championships, the unique structure of the tournament.


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[Assistant] With past champions, uh, many of them, you know, pass their prime, uh, and have no realistic shot of winning the Masters are, are invited until they're kind of either.


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[Assistant] Either decide they don't want to play anymore or it's a gently suggested that they no longer play. I think there's seven amateurs in the field. Obviously the amateur tradition of the Masters.


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[Assistant] Uh, it's pretty strong as well. And so the Masters never has.


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[Assistant] The quote unquote strongest or best field, not all of the best players.


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[Assistant] Uh, in the world are here, nor will they ever just because of the structure of the tournament. But again, he said if the situation arises, they do have the flexibility to invite players. It'll be very interesting to see who, if any players.


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[Assistant] The tour and play this season of Nelly Korda, who has now won four events in a row on the LPGA. The first time that's been done by an American since the 1970s. The first time overall since Lorena Ochoa in 2008. And I think just the recent spike in interest overall.


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[Assistant] You and I were, uh, wrapped to our television, uh, over the weekend, uh, watching Caitlin Clark in Iowa, uh, lose in the, in the championship game, uh, to South Carolina. But the fact that, that, for the first time ever,


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[Assistant] The NCAA women's basketball championship outdrew quite significantly the NCAA men's basketball game, uh, was quite


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[Assistant] Noteworthy, and so I think there's, I think there's increasing momentum to say, hey, this is Augusta National. This is the biggest showcase in sports. Why not put a professional women's tournament at Augusta National? And Master Chairman Fred Ridley's response was essentially,


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[Assistant] It's complicated. I think he described it as fundamental difficulties in doing so.


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[Assistant] The anwar and drive chip and putt are saturday and sunday respectively being directly into masters week but also the club season is incredibly short. Augusta national closes for the summer the third week of may open again in the fall but as is really point out quite quickly. Augusta national does not play how they want to in the fall.


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[Assistant] We covered the November Masters in 2020 because of COVID. Uh, it was spectacular. I said at the time, if I never covered another Masters again,


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[Assistant] I would be content because it was so magical being one of 500 people on property, hearing conversations, getting up close and personal. The foliage was absolutely amazing. Like that was, that was still, I think one of the highlights of my career was covering that tournament. But again,


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[Assistant] Dustin Johnson won with a tournament record score of 20 under par. Uh, Ridley said that he and DJ joked after champions dinner on Tuesday at saying, yeah, I think that score is going to be safe for a very, very long time. Just kind of owing to the difficulty of the golf course. Does this bum you, Rex? The fact that we won't see, uh, most likely


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[Assistant] A women's professional tournament and do you think Augusta should do more, I guess, to support the elite women's game as they do the men?


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[Assistant] There's underground parking for players in 2025. Presumably, that is where in 2026, there's now gonna be, he described it as a three story building, basically like a hospitality lounge for players.


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[Assistant] And their families, uh, as, as if they're not sort of luxuriated over the course of the, of the PJ tour season and spoiled and pampered, uh, it's going to go to the next level beginning in 2026 for the players, which sounds amazing.


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[Assistant] Yeah, and I still think there's sort of room for growth, particularly with the first two rounds of the Augusta National Women's Amateur.


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[Assistant] There's rumors flying around. Will, will Augusta, uh, kind of build its own golf course where it will take a golf course locally over? Do they not like going the 25 or so minutes over to Champions Retreat and kind of bring it under the Augusta national banner? I could certainly see that. And there's also something to be said, Rex, for not, not overexposing


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[Assistant] Augusta National. Master Chairman Fred really talked about the kind of the mystique and the magic.


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[Assistant] That some of that mystique and some of that magic dissipates even just slightly. You know, walking around the golf course, uh,


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[Assistant] Early this afternoon, which I always do the day before the Masters, like this is, this is essentially a, a outdoor museum. It's a, it's a, it's a national park.


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[Assistant] Folks are just, are just walking around, they're taking the scenes, they're taking pictures, they're eating sandwiches, they're lounging on the, on the perfectly manicured turf, they're eating sandwiches, like they're just, they're just loving life, drinking beers, like it's just, they, they just are just soaking in the experience. And I think if that's made more accessible, I, I think I can kind of see the point, uh, that it would just be reduced just a slightly.


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[Assistant] I love it. It's the perfect hole. Even if they're now hitting pitching wedges or nine irons, depending on the win, like it's still. It's still a challenge. You and I both played that hole. Like there's absolutely, I think it's the absolutely perfect golf hole, perfectly designed, uh, and will always factor significantly.


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[Assistant] into the ultimate champion in determining the outcome. I can imagine, Rex, the people at home saying, you idiots have spent 25 minutes talking about


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[Assistant] Uh, how the, how the preparations have been undergoing. Uh, the, the master's chairman's press conference. Will you idiots please.


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[Assistant] Just get to the favorites, players to watch, players you do not think will perform well. I think, Rex, we have to start with what I thought was a little bit of a surprise. The Masters, this is as close as you can possibly get to a super group. Barring a delay.


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[Assistant] At 1042, uh, a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, you will see world number one, Scottie Scheffler.


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[Assistant] You will see Roy McRoy, the world number two, and you will see Xander Schauffele, who a lot of people are pegging to capture his first major championship this week and also inside the top ten in the world ranking. Are you a little bit surprised to see


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[Assistant] Those three players in the same group and who do you think it helps and who do you think it hurts?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, they're not gonna tee off on time, but even if they go out at 3 o'clock, I think it could be absolute mayhem. Anyone who has ever attended the Masters,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it's not like you can just kind of plod your way around the golf course and watch every single shot. Like it doesn't operate that way, uh, but particularly for a super group like that, uh, it, it could be absolute mayhem out there. I actually think, Rex, it's not going to hurt Scotty. It's not going to hurt Xander. I actually think it could help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Roy McElroy, when you look at, uh, his recent history,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Certainly over the, over the past five years, what has really dogged him or plagued him has been slow starts. You look at his scoring average of the past five Masters, it's 73.8. And when you look at the history of this tournament,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the fact that the past 18 Masters Champions all have been T11 or better after the opening round, you can see where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The struggles have been for Roy McRoy. Essentially, when you look at those two stats, he's putting himself too far behind, is then playing catch-up, and is significantly reducing the likelihood that he will go on to win the Masters. The fact that he's playing with Scottie,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Putting up ball striking numbers that we have not seen since Tiger Woods, I think can help.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also playing with Xander who has played some phenomenal golf in 2024 despite not winning. I think it sort of sets down a marker for Rory to allow him to lock in. I think Scotty's style of play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What are you doing? Like that's just an easy bogey. That's an easy double. Just play to the fat side and sort of add it up at the end and all of a sudden you got a 68 or 69. I actually think it can help kind of riding alongside those two players who


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who I think are, who are playing the style of golf that Roy aspires to play, particularly at Augusta now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No doubt that Roy will eventually complete the career of Grand Slam. I'm sure Tiger was just trying to offer, uhm, support, optimism for a player who he's grown close to over the past decade, but there is no way that that did not unintentionally


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Create even more pressure as Roy tries to, it is now a tenth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nine holes on Wednesday saying he did most of his homework, most of his prep work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in, in two practice rounds ahead of the Valero Texas Open last week. To me, this is just a guy who is trying to emulate what he does each and every week on the PGA Tour, where he flies in, uh, into town either late Monday, early Tuesday, that does a little bit of work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you think that that strategy can actually apply now to the most pressurized environment that he's going to face all year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, just, just even thinking about, uh, a potential Roy McRoy victory, uh, on Sunday. No, I have something in my eye and I cannot get it out. Uh, I, I do think, Rex, that last year Roy's performance was so jarring for him. Cause if you think back to 2022, Roy shot 64 in the final round, although he did not have a realistic shot, uh, to catch Skye Schaeffler. He at least thought on the second nine that, hey,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, if I do something even more spectacular, I've got a very outside chance. He thought that that was a big breakthrough for him to show that he could actually do it. He goes then into 2023, feeling good about his game, just had a good week at the match play.