The Shotgun Start The Fried Egg

This Wednesday episode is stunted by technical difficulties but you get a solid chat on the WGC Match Play and the PGA Tour’s curious decision to end it and abandon Austin. Andy and Brendan ponder what current event might be suitable for a match play spot on the schedule, and the Tour’s argument for why East Lake doesn’t work. This year’s edition of the Match Play is given some attention, with scariest and stinkiest pools chosen, drama about Rory’s equipment, and some one-and-done picks. At the opposite field event, they once again play In, Out, or Alternate for one of the more wild and random fields of the season. They close with news of one big equipment company asking for random fan takes on the rollback in a survey.

This is an episode guaranteed to give you at least one (1) good Adam Schenk fact, among many other things related to Jordan Spieth, LIV Golf puttering and billowing about, the NCAA tourney, and a PGA Tour daycare issue.

As a precaution, this Friday episode was recorded just before the Illinois NCAA tournament game. Andy and Brendan jump into the early tourney action delivering as always, and wonder what the hell LIV is doing scheduling its event opposite that. They also lament the peripheral and buried Phil Mickelson not really having a stage, or a relevant one, to offer comment on the ball rollback. Someone who does have a stage is Justin Thomas, and they go through his “rant” in Tampa about the selfish USGA, anti-athlete rollback, and the potential for them “doing their own thing.” Peter Kostis’s insane solution to have exploding drivers is also reviewed. A hearty SGS Golf Advice closes it out, with listener notes on a club championship scoring disaster, a miserable customer golf experience, and balancing expectations to play well and steady on an expensive/great course. 

This Wednesday episode comes on the heels of the USGA and R&A announcing a “Model Local Rule” that would rollback the golf ball some 20 yards for elite male competition. Andy and Brendan talk at length about the announcement, how it will impact the highest levels of the game, what was missing from it, and if it went far enough in combating the distance problem. They discuss the backlash and reaction to it from OEMs like Titliest, players those companies pay like Webb Simpson, and the PGA Tour’s rather toothless show of support in its statement. That triggers a world of hypotheticals wherein the Tour might play with the suped-up stuff while the majors play a different, realer golf. After that rollback chat, they hit on shhhedule for the week, make some picks for the preeminent gambling pod, and hit on the news of LIV’s trademark claim being blocked by the Miami nightclub. Also, is there a worse sports weekend to have a LIV event than opposite the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament?

It’s a Victory Monday episode for a few sundry reasons, and Andy and Brendan jump right into it discussing Scottie Scheffler’s dominant win at The Players Championship. They debate the label of his “boring” golf or personality that seems to be an issue for some, and praise the actual game, strategy, and execution show that he put on all weekend. They discuss his “generational” and “all-time” potential after yet another signature win. Then they play a back-and-forth game of “impressed vs. underwhelmed,” running through various players and subjects that fall into one or the other camp from the week that was at TPC Sawgrass. There are some harsh words for a few Euros and some kind words for a certain “elite” Horned Frog. They sign off by asking if the LIV guys were actually missed from this event at all.

This Friday episode is a narrow-ranging review of the first round at The Players Championship, where Brendan has spent the week. They start with some of the driver drama with Collin Morikawa’s switch back to an old TaylorMade model and prompt first round 65, and Rory McIlroy struggling to find a new fit after worries his old one might be getting too hot. They also discuss Morikawa’s contention, and others, about driving accuracy becoming perhaps the most important part of putting together a good round this week. The pace of play mess is also panned, with the first round not even getting close to finishing before dark. News hits on the lawsuit filed against Tiger Woods by his ex-girlfriend, and then SGS Golf Advice closes it out on a hilarious “thrown clubs” bet and the awkwardness of a single asking to join you.