Fairway Rollin' - Is the PGA Screwed? How to Make the Tour Relevant.

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

House and Hubbard start the pod with the news of Tiger Woods undergoing surgery and their recap and gripes with the Solheim Cup and the Fortinet Championship (03:49). Then in Tour de Farce, they delve into what future seasons of the PGA will look like according to the latest buzz from LIV/PGA negotiations and what needs to happen to gain more traction (21:07). They end off with their quick thoughts on Rory and the Irish Open (39:02). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Producer: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up everybody. Syriot Sohey from the Ringer here and I wanted to let you know about a new show that I'm hosting. The Ringer WNBA show. We're breaking down and analyzing the latest happenings in the W. The personalities, the people who make the league as fascinating as it is and we're going to be featuring some of the best guests and experts from around the league. Tap in with us every Friday through the end of the season over on the Ringer NBA show feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello friends and welcome to this golf podcast. unlike any other. Oh, yes, my friends. We have done it. We're back. This is Faraway Row. A golf podcast on the Ringer podcast network.

I am your starter, Joe House, joined by our inimitable accomplice, our PGA tour boots on the ground. Nathan Hubbard, it's a two ball this week, my birdie buddies, my par saving pals, my eagle enthusiast. There were a lot of eagles at the Solheim Cup this past weekend, but the Nate Dog was in Napa.

So we're going to get a breakdown of all of that. To go along with an unbelievable, just four days at Royal County down. I had to work hard to find it, but we found it. It's a two ball. The pegs are in the ground. Off we go. Nate dog.

How is the cab? Yeah, I had a lot of it. I mean, I bet. Look, we'll get into it. There's a lot to talk about this week that all revolves around the same subject, which is just how fucked up golf as a product is right now. Okay, boom. How screwed up this tournament, this PGA tournament was this week that nobody watched

and nobody attended and is in a, lovely part of the country, the lovely time of year that lots of people want to go to sure. And it's just an absolute zombie of a tournament. How the Solheim

Cup cut away from Lexi basically making her last meaningful put in competition that we're ever going to see her at for a playing through commercial

and how the product itself on the ground is you will talk about because it was in our beloved DMV. Like they just didn't even think through the bus situation.

we will talk about how the ROM live stuff he yeah he won and nobody watched that either and we will talk about how the attempts to put these two things back together that is the live and PGA tours and try to create a better product seems to be perpetually stalled either by buffoonery in the negotiation or buffoonery in the rumor leakage that the rest of buffoons like us pick up on and make a big deal out of even though it's not even true. What a cluster F is coming to light here in this little zombie period of golf house. Well, I mean, it kind of makes sense, right? You would want there to be an effort at progress.

I mean, you left out that one of the most important actors in the upcoming TGL drama, this, this winter of 2025, just had his, I don't know what number. Bob Herrick knows exactly how many back surgeries, Tiger Woods, has had another micro-dicectomy for Tiger to relieve some back spasms of the experience throughout 2024. They greatly hampered his performance. Okay, we've been down that path before we root for the best.

It'll be great for Tiger to be healthy for this adventure and venture. in the Orlando Sound Studio. Well, I mean, if it's him talking and if he's, you know, competitive, you want to see Tiger competitive and talking to them back. I just mean maybe he'll be competitive. I just think at this point, for me, we got to give up the ghost on this one. It'd be lovely to see him. For sure.

I mean, you know, if there's anything that he could possibly compete in, it's hitting, it's, you know, soundstage golf. which I think is going to be fun. But we'll see as all of that develops and shakes out, where do you want to start? I mean, the best professional golf experience of the weekend, the biggest drama, the most excitement was the Solheim Cup. Yeah. And right here in our backyard, I'll say, unfortunately, I wasn't able to go. Fortunately, I was not able to go.

because the only day that I could have gone was Friday and the only time I could have gone would have been the first part of Friday and every person that I'm friends with that did not possess a media pass that allowed them to drive right onto the grounds to the venue experienced multiple hours

of weight to get on one of the seven shuttle buses that the LPGA arranged for the first day. And the bummer, of course, in addition to pissing off your devoted fans, is missing out on that critical mass of human beings surrounding the first tea for the first tee balls in the air, that big tension, all that drama,

Friday morning kicking off the competition. So it was a debacle. The LPGA messed up the apology. They messed up their accountability. They got around to it eventually. And for folks that I know that went really enjoyed the golf, the competition, really enjoyed being amongst the fans. The golf course was immaculate. It's a great risk reward. It's so good. Like another confirmation and validation that RTJ is. in this kind of format is terrific. In fact, performed so well was so alluring that I know that there are some tour guys in the D.C. area that were playing it this week. Brian Harmon playing R.T.J.

Chris Kirk playing R.T.J. A handful of tour guys are like, hey, we want to play R.T.J. Having watched it, it looks like a fun joint. So that all went down. In terms of the competition itself, no surprise whatsoever that Roseang went out and kicked ass. No surprise whatsoever that Megan Kang did what she did, you know,

still undefeated in her last two Solheim Cups. That's pretty good. And, you know, the U.S. was due. So first time in seven years, they won by margin, right? There was a tiny bit of tension maybe for, I don't know, people say 45 minutes to an hour. Yeah.

It got dramatic during singles. but for the most part. That's always these competitions, isn't it? Which is great. Which is great. Convances itself that if these things just go our way, we could be back in it. But yeah. What did you enjoy about it, your own self?

Charlie Hull smoking. Oh, fantastic. So, like, we need more Charlie Hull. This is the thing, right? The tour has to figure out the LPGA because that, she's got swag. That's a, that's a, that's a. character, right? That's a person who deserves to be on television. That's a person who understands that there's cameras on her and that the combination of her excellent performance because she

beat the living pants off of Jeff. I almost call her Jessica Nelly Corda. Yeah. I mean. Who had been beating the pants off of everybody all weekend. Everybody out. Yeah, that's right. Charlie is like, hold my cigarette. Hold my thing. I got something to do here. And the first five holes, it was even in that match. And then Charlie's like, I'm going to watch this. We'll go push this. So that was awesome. I love that call out.

And let's get more Charlie Hall in our lives, Nate, Doc. Yeah. I think there's just so much more we can do with that product. I think the scoreboard, the no laying up guys made all the noise in the world about it. Just like there has to be a better way to present what's actually happening in real time on these matches, telling me what's even and who's in the lead doesn't do much for me. You know, you've got to understand where they are on the course, and that's the fun of it.

But then also just the on-site product was an embarrassment. And I just couldn't believe that they actually cut away from Lexi in that moment. So that's unfortunately the part that's going to hang for me more than some really great golf that the Americans played in particular. And Voo's wedge in on 18. to sort of wrap it up. It was a little nerve-wracking at the time, and she just stoned that wedge,

and then it's over and great. And they even screwed up the trophy ceremony. So I just, you know, let's, here's the good news. Women's sports is having a moment, and it's having a moment in the WNBA, and it's having a moment in golf, and that may mean that it can have a moment in soccer, and this is great,

but the people who have invested so much in this and have been sort of partners along the way, have to be ready when the demand shows up, because the experience is everything. It's everything. And we're seeing what happens when the experience sucks on the men's side. That Napa tournament used to be bustling with people.

This weekend, there were one-tenth of the people that I normally see at that tournament on the grounds. There was one-third of the grandstanding that there usually is at those tournaments, meaning like the actual infrastructure, there was 20% of the food and beverage and sort of hospitality stuff out on the course. I mean, it was empty.

And anyone who went to that tournament would come away being like, I could barely find a place to pee, much less get a glass of wine in Napa. Why do you think that is? I mean, it's still like a fun thing to go to. It's still Napa. What do you attribute it to?

I think that there is some drama behind the scenes between Fortinet and the tour from what they were obligated to get. Fortinet was the last sponsor of this tournament. ProCore was announced very late. And I suspect that there just wasn't enough time for them to get their act together. You also have a golf tournament.

What do you mean by that, though? Because, I mean, if it's on the schedule and the people who live in and around Napa, you think would like, hey, this is going to be fun. It's still professional golf. It's still, you know, we've done this Silverado.

It's the same venue. Yeah, I just, I think Napa has a lot of, Napa is not big enough in and of itself to support the tournament. You've got to get people out of San Francisco. You've got to get people who want to come travel. And bringing in a new sponsor in that short of period of time,

there probably was not the promotion that there otherwise would have been, clearly, didn't sell enough hospitality. And then they didn't put any interesting food and beverage options out on the course to make it fun to go walk around. And then you've got a tournament where the top 50 guys don't have to show up. Yeah. And then on top of that, you got a tournament where Max Homa and Wyndham Clark, who were two of the three featured golfers to go out in a group together, missed the cut. So it kind of was a perfect storm of shit fuckery. And it, it, presented itself on an otherwise beautiful weekend,

beautiful golf course that was in pretty darn good shape, and the perfect destination location to go bring a relatively high-end crowd in for an event. I mean, all of the ingredients are there, but if you just don't give a shit, it gets reflected and people decide, ultimately, hey, this isn't for me. And I'll say last year, it was clear that Fortnite was on their way out. and that they were using it maybe for corporate getaway, but that they didn't really care about the players.

They didn't really care about the fan experience. Just being on the ground, it felt that way. So there's only, you know, that's one where I don't throw stones at NBC for the presentation, or Golf Channel for the presentation, because they just weren't given much to work with. It's like everybody's got to care about this. It just, everybody seems to be waiting for Godot. Like we're being carried by the strength of some of the regular season events, but the ratings are dropping.

Everybody's just kind of waiting for these two things to come together, the PGA Tour and live. And until that happens, it's just going to be about abuse of the fan. And I saw it firsthand on the ground this week. I felt it firsthand on the ground of people just kind of being like, is this it? I mean, the coolest thing about Golf House,

and then I'll shut up, is everybody gets ostensibly a front row seat. Yeah. It's the best part about golf more than any other sporting event. You can take your kids, you can take your buddies, you can take your wife, and you will get a front row seat to a popular player. All the popular players, if you position yourself right.

Maybe not Tiger at the Masters, but even there, you can get closer than you could. Close. In any other sport. It's such a wonderful, accessible situation, but it also can, if not done right, make you feel like you're standing in a fucking field by yourself. And that's what it felt like all week long.

Wow. Okay. If they don't give a shit, why should we? Yeah, sure. I mean, it is because it's Napa and, yeah, but I get your point. It's a one, I had the best dinners. I had some delicious cabernet. I enjoyed it.

It was gorgeous weather. There's nothing like that drive up the Silverado Trail as the sun is setting. It's a beautiful part of the world that everyone should aspire to go to. And this is a golf fan's paradise. Well, let's market it and create it that way. It's not that hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And with the field consisting of a handful of guys,

we did our own best on this last week in the preview of this, looking at the guys that were using this event to prepare for the President's Cup. And we got a good performance out of McKenzie Hughes, who kind of needed, you know, I think he needs to keep up his level. of play because he's the he's the one of the guys that that you know folks raised their eyebrows at yeah um as an addition uh sahith played well and sahith talked about how nervous he's going to be he gave some great interviews um in advance of i mean he's the best part of the tourney yep a good ambassador for this event and um you know a good uh spokesperson for what is is potentially to come with the

president's cup something to look forward to cori connors was right there Yeah, both those guys top 10. They were fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you mentioned the missed cuts out of Wyndham Clark and the homie homa. Do you think that they were just there to get some practice in, that they were not really grinding to make the cut? It didn't feel that way.

I mean, Max actually almost had an incredible comeback on Sunday. That was, or on Friday, that was the most exciting part of the tournament, where he made three birdies in a row. and coming down the stretch and steps up to 18, which is a par 5, and you assume, okay, he's going to, you know,

he's going to figure out a way because, let's be honest, he's Max Homa, like he always finds a way. And he drove the fairway with a standard Max bomb. And, you know,

suddenly, after three birdies in a row, he pulls his approach shot and then blades it over the green, and before he knows, he's got a bogey, and he's missed the cut. So there was going to be

a very interesting moment there. He was working hard. He was trying. It's not that he was just going through the motions. And I certainly didn't feel like Wyndham was going through the motions. But as I said,

this was not pressure golf. This did not feel like, you know, like the president's cup. I think they were just out there to get some swings in. And as bad as Wyndham's Friday round was,

I mean, he finished bogey, double bogey on 16, 17, and 18. And that was after he tripled the par five fifth. So both those guys had kind of freaky Fridays on Friday the 13th. I think they were out there getting their swings. And all that said, I mean, House, you have said this. I think you've bet this. You've put your money where your mouth is. If ever there's a year where the United States is vulnerable and kudos to those three guys for going out and getting their swings in, this is going to be the year because the back part of our team doesn't look

like they're playing very well. Yeah, this is good. I'm going to give you an update right now on the Fan Dual Sportsbook where we're pulling up President's Cup odds. U.S. is never lost. It's still the same odds. Well, they're there, there's one loss. They're like 12.1. Yeah, okay. 12.0. and whatever it is. U.S. minus 250. The international team plus 270, tie is 16 to 1. I mean, I continue to be enthused. If you look at the international team over the last two events, when they play not in the United States, it is getting more and more competitive.

So I like the composition. We didn't mention Minwu finished top 35 in the Silverado event. He was less awesome. But I mean, there's Benny on. There's Adam Scott, you know, over in the UK this week, playing at Wentworth. There's Siwu. So these guys are getting,

they're all doing the work, man. Scotty, I'm sure, I'll show up and kick everybody's ass, but, but, you know, that's what we thought a year ago.

Yeah. Maybe he's having a great time being with his little boy and his wife. Hard to blame him. Maybe, you know, watching some football.

He's kind of enjoying himself a little bit. How they sell this one is going to be very interesting, though, isn't it? Given that there was like, you know, less than 90,000 people watched either of the Live Final or the ProCore Final on this past weekend. You know, it's very clear that golf watching is trailing off.

You've got to, you're going to have a President's Cup that I, you just can't ignore the fact that it doesn't have Cam Smith. You can't ignore the fact that it doesn't have Joaquin Neiman. You know, there are some noticeable absences there. it doesn't have Bryson on our side, how this kind of made for TV thing goes, especially when they've dangled the tantalizing possibility of new events that do include those guys

because of this match that's being set up with Scotty and Bryson and Brooks, right? Yeah. Like, it's, uh, the president's cup has some work to do. Well, the one thing it does have going for it, and maybe this will be the angle they pursue,

is I think Canada is going to show the F out. I think Montreal is going to be into it. And they're great sports fans. And we've seen the passion for the Canadian Open, the way those crowds have come together. And if it's wrong, I mean, it feels a little bit like Phoenix

in terms of the level of enthusiasm and the energy. Not 250,000 people. And I don't think the venue will. No, but that would make it fun. You're right. If they come and back their boys, it could be a fun weekend. For sure. Speaking of backing your boys, news today, we're going to visit a little tour to farce.

You mentioned the live result. Congrats to John Rom. More money into the bank account. I don't know anyone that watched it, and nor do I have anyone in my life who was sharing whether it was dramatic or not. But apparently it was, the course played tough the last day anyway. Report out of Bloomberg.

We're taping this on Tuesday, September the 17th, about, you know, the continued start, stop aspect to the progress in the negotiation between the PGA Tour and the Saudis over the nature of the Saudi's investment. And a continued sticking point is what are the terms and conditions under which the players who elected to go play on Live might return to the PGA Tour. And, you know, the big clickbait takeaway was this notion that live players are going to be required to relinquish. Somebody used that word, relinquish some of what they, you know, were, were incented to take in the form of money to go play on the live thing.

I think all of it is completely overstated. None of the nuance of how these discussions are going was part of the report as far as I could see. And, you know, shocker that golf Twitter, you know, this is an outrage. How if you worked for a company and you chose to go work for another company and you come back to that company, would you be, you know, required to pay? I mean, I'm not even going to indulge. any of it because it's too stupid. I do think

for sure there is discussions around the conditions for participation and reentry. I do think for sure, the notion of paying for equity in both the for-profit entity and

participation in the team aspect, which could be both a team aspect that emanates from the TGL, which we will see for the first time in in 2025. And a team concept that will, I think, be the bulk of how the fall plays out. So the rough outline that I've heard in terms of what 2026 might look like is a, you know,

an onboarding and on ramp for some live guys to come, not all of them, but some of them. playing in some number of limited signature events, but there is a single season that begins in January and runs to Labor Day. And during that single season, you will have the events that are currently part of the PGA tour. For the first part of the year, from the Super Bowl into March,

there will be the TGL events in 2026. That will be Monday night golf ball, running post-Superable. And there will also be the PGA tour events. There is some thought that the tour can move beyond its dated swing concept that is like California swing, Florida swing, that they don't have to be beholden to sticking in a portion of the country because the guys don't need to drive from venue to venue.

like in the olden days, they can just get into their PJs and fly, and anybody that can't afford a PJ can catch a ride. But that there is this notion in 2026 of much more interesting venues, markets that have either been underserved or not served at all, major U.S. media markets getting professional golf visits from professional golf, which would sure make a lot of sense. some of the things that we've speculated about in terms of revamp to the playoffs, including interesting venues for that.

Wouldn't it be neat to see something called the Tour Championship at a West Coast venue so you could watch it in prime time? And wouldn't it be neat if it was an iconic American property like Pebble Beach? Could be interesting. I think I'd be interested in watching that. Pebble Beach in August is supposed to be spectacular. That kind of makes sense to me. These kinds of things populating how the schedule might look in 26.

And then alongside of that, a team concept, which I think is part of the incentive for the live folks, you preserve some of what they've built infrastructure-wise. What have they built? Sorry. I reject your premise. Team playing. Team playing, that's all. A way of guys playing individual golf that also translates into some kind of team scoring. That's as far as I'll go with it.

But there is a natural kind of framework that emanates from the TGL. This upcoming TGL season is going to have six teams of four players. You could see something like six or eight teams. of up to 10 guys that, you know, compete both in the TGL model and at the end of the year. So the fall golf after Labor Day is, you know, team kind of oriented. Does it bother you that they're putting so many eggs in the TGL basket? Like, we don't even know what this is. We haven't seen the product.

Like the only thing we know is that the tent, the stadium where we're supposed to be blew over in a hurricane, which makes it sound somewhat fragile. What eggs do you think are, why do you say that? It's an interesting reaction. Well, I say because it sounds like those teams, part of the way that they'll make income and get exposure will be through TGL. Sure. And, you know, it's going to be on ESPN and somebody prominent like Scott Van Pelt

will be on, you know, Monday nights doing the, the kind. Like, it'll feel like a big deal. So if you have this for-profit entity that you want to, you know, finally sort of make interesting for television, then, you know, you entrust ESPN to do a good job with sports in general. ESPN's done a good job with golf. You know, it's coverage of the PGA championship, whatever its participation in the Masters has been good. I'm sure ESPN can cover it well.

I guess what I'm challenging, not you on and just them on. I mean, maybe part of the reason this is taking so long is that what that deal actually is asking is for the live guys to give up some equity that they currently have in exchange for some faith in. exchange for some faith in the TGL, which is so far an unproven product. Now, I know your response will be, well, so is the live product altogether. So what the heck are we doing here? I get it. But you can see how if those guys are still holding on to the value of their team equity, how that could be a real blocker for the negotiations, because it's really hard to compensate them for that. I think it's let's go down that path. Let's have the conversation. Why is it hard to compensate them for that?

What is that equity worth? What is the ball busters? What is, you know, I'm the captain of the nut sacks. What is that worth? I think it's worth nothing. What's Sergio Garcia get? I think it's worth nothing, but a lot of the reason that some of these guys made the jump was the promise that they were being given something that was really valuable.

Yes, they got a lot of cash. And no, I don't think Scotty Schaeffler and Rory and Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are sitting there counting those dollars and being like, well, those guys have to give you. give back their money if they come over. I think they're probably just saying, hey, what are ways for me to continue to make a lot of money? And if you're Scotty Schaeffler, you're like, well, I made $62 million this year. There's plenty of ways for me to make money. But I just think that could be the disconnect, right? In all these negotiations, the reason that they don't come to a head right away or come to agreement right away is when parties have differing perceptions of value. And right now,

the value of what a live franchise is is very much in debate, right? I think that I think that's think on the PJ side, if you look at that and you go, I'm not compensating you for the value of a team that nobody cares about. I'm sorry. What's it worth? There's no brands. There's no, you don't have any sponsors. You don't have any TV coverage. What exactly is the implied value proposition? On the other hand, by contradistinction, the TGL has a TV contract with a major U.S. sports broadcaster, with sponsors lined up, and investments by lots and lots and lots of prominent sports people, including some of the foundational investors in the strategic sports group. So already, before anybody has hit a single ball into a simulator for TGL, those entities all

have value associated with them. There's a revenue stream that you can, you know, circle and point towards that will emanate from, you know, advertisers and sponsors that are going to be part of that. That's a big difference. Yeah, and if you're on the live side, you might look at that and say, you guys have the XFL. It's great that you've got teams and that you've got sponsors and a TV contract. Nobody's going to watch. And it's not real golf, just like it wasn't real football. So we're not going to place any value on that either.

I think that's sort of the tension and the rub. The good news for me at this point, I got to be honest. Like, I am, we are very friendly with lots of the people who run the TV, not run the TV, but are on TV doing golf. and I root for them hard and I want them to be successful. I want the ratings to suck because it's the only thing. It's the only thing that's going to push these guys to just help us ultimately get to a better product that I hope the best of those golf media and personalities can participate in on a go-forward basis. I'm sure they will.

Cream rises to the top in that situation. But I want the rate, I want 92,000 people to watch the final of some of these tournaments and have it be embarrassing as hell and have sponsors. Oh, you're talking about. regular tour events. Regular tour events, I want the live thing too. I want pain because it's only through pain that people are going to drop this ego stuff tied to whatever is, oh, the value of my team is something.

Well, Sergio, with 68,000 people watching the value of your team is nothing. Nothing. But aren't we stuck if that's the case? Because the pain proposition just flat out doesn't work for the Saudis. They clearly do not give a rat's ass. It's just marketing to help assimilate, you know, Saudi Arabia into Western culture. And there doesn't seem to be a cap on how much they want to spend. They don't give one good goddamn about making $1 off of any of their golf competition.

And they've done nothing that suggests that that's a motivation of theirs. I think that they did this because they wanted access. And I'm not so sure right now that they're getting the access that they wanted from Lived. Okay. I think that's a great observation. Maybe that makes sense. Maybe, you know, his highness gets to golf with Bryson and Brooks, which I admit would be super cool. And if I had unlimited resources, you know, that'd be fun to do.

But I don't think they're getting access to American companies or investment opportunities because of this. And so, therefore, I think that they can be persuaded. that putting these two things together, if they have some role, which basically all they want to be is backstage and get access to deal flow at the end of the day, that was the strategy. If they get comfortable that their laminates

will be in the envelopes when they arrive, I think that's probably a more enticing proposition than continuing as is with a product that, you know, has some players. But for all intents and purposes, it's kind of a joke. And it's kind of a joke in the corporate world amongst the golfers who are in the corporate world

who they're trying to appeal to. Yeah. So all of that should be in a normal, rational, economic environment, incentive to come together. It's still the case for sure that the PGA tour possesses the most valuable thing, which is exposure on TV,

30 opportunities to be on U.S. television, on major networks. And all of these guys, I mean, this is the craziest aspect when you hear some of the, you know, why should these guys do anything to earn their way back? These guys are nobodies. They're only somebody because they're on TV 30 times a year. And the only reason they're on TV 30 times a year is because the tour has hustled, has built up something, a product previously to this fractured moment over the last three years. The tour itself spent the money and built the infrastructure for these guys, these big dummies who happen to be good at golf to be on TV 30 times year.

It's like, you know, the revelation that Bubba Watson and Ricky Fowler in 2016, when they went down to Brazil and participated in the Olympics, they were treated like, you know, stars. They were both blown away by how many other athletes were coming up to them. like, hey, we, you know, we love you. Like, well, sure. You're, they're on TV, 25, 30 times a year. Big TV, not, you know, channels that you have to hunt down the, hunt for on your cable box. Right.

So that's a detractive thing. And that's a thing that both live and the players who've been gone. I mean, you and I speculated about Brooks. It looks like he's going to, you know, run out his, the, like the length of his contract. but it did sure feel like sentiment-wise that he was missing the shine of the spotlight for a little bit last year. Yeah, I think he probably is. I think Rom probably is too. But they're not interested in giving the money back for that.

I can tell you that. So, you know, we can talk about how, yeah, they miss the competition. I bet they do. They miss the competition. They're following it. So does Bryson. They miss being on TV? Sure, they do.

But I don't think they go, man, if I could do this over again, I'd give back the, money because I think they can see a path to putting these things together. And they're not going to have to give back that money to put the things back together. There is a lot of nuance and complication for how you keep competition fair and reintegrate guys. And time, as always, sort of wears people down. And we're probably in a moment of some deal fatigue right now, I would imagine. And deal fatigue is where, you know, people's emotions start to get in the way of rational decision making. I do think if you follow those jet trackers, it looks like these guys are getting together with some regular frequency and hopefully smarter heads prevail. And that, again,

is why, I mean, I'm being a little bit demonstrative and hyperbolic, but I am rooting for the ratings to suck because I want to see the best product possible. You know, you just, you only have a moment for something else comes up. Like this, this spring and summer, Katie Perry is putting out an album next week. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. Because other people have come in to take the place while she was off doing something else. It's a silly analogy. But like the point is what I saw on the ground this week is people starting to not care.

And yes, they'll care during the majors. Of course, they'll care during the majors. But the rest of the time, the product just isn't that good. And it wasn't enough for Scotty to be outstanding and historic. And it wasn't enough for Zander to get his two. It just wasn't. You know that this is my concern for this upcoming season. You've been saying it from the beginning.

The business question is, you know, if you've become irrelevant, if this 2025 schedule, we're really going to test this proposition, you know, it is as flaccid as the 2024 schedule. Yeah. And we'll see. And no tiger now. Right. Tiger just had his 800th back surgery. So the biggest star ever is gone. And his greatest chef is.

You better hope the TGL and the Ryder Cup year is enough to keep folks. attention. That is a lot. It's a big gamble, Nate Dog. That's my idea. It is. And right now, as we sit, it's not clear John Rom can play the Rider Cup. And they've kicked the can down the road and allowed him to appeal and all this feels like, you know, public facing ways for them to try to scramble and figure it out behind the scenes. But it does look like when you examine that situation, there's some tension and some anger and some frustration. And that Rahm is almost at a point where he's going to be like, have a Rider Cup without me. and see if people actually think this was a real rider cup.

Because I agree. A rider cup without John Rom right now, I'll take a President's Cup without Cam Smith and Joaquin Neiman. A rider cup without Bryson or John Rom, it's not a real rider cup. It's just not, man. Well, we didn't have Bryson at the last one. And we got our ass kicked.

Yep, for sure. All right. Speaking of getting our ass kick, here's the final parting thought. I really, really, really enjoyed watching the Irish Open at Royal County Down. I've been lucky enough to play Royal County Down. It is lauded by some publications

as one of the very, very, very best golf courses on planet Earth. It's a magical place. I, my own self, found it a little gimmicky. Hitted at the rock, you know, all these blind shots and stuff, fine, whatever. But it's wonderful. It was, and I

so enjoyed watching the very, very best players covering the same terrain as me. I got to explore some of the fauna a little more than those guys, some of the sand hills, some of the sand dunes. I was up the ridge a bit. Anyway, Rory has a two-shot lead with four holes left. And then he doesn't win the golf tournament. No one has ever fallen out of love with a golfer faster, not faster.

more just like just jarringly than you i didn't tell him to three put 17 i mean yes it's it's true that uh rasmus hoigard yeah like you know pulled it out of his his his rear end he did hole out for birdie on 17 extremely unlikely on 17 was out of nowhere and it was inexcusable and it is rory yeah it is it is another and a long line of of clear disappointments for him because this is when he really wanted to win and he's one he is a national open guy right we know that it would have been it would have been just a way to look back at this year that had the disappointments that it had um and say you know that all those disappointments for sure are there but i did win my nations you know open does this feel like permanent scar tissue to you no definitely not the only problem is you know

he's he's 35 so remaining athletically competitive you know but coming out of this year you don't think he's got some pretty heavy permanent scar tissue and not permanent I mean because it's it's golf if he's in good shape then he can be competitive at any time and you can you can you know he can get hot

it is it is still possible I think he needs the the deal to get done I think he needs to like not be wasting any more time on the combination with the Saudis so that he can like really do the golf. I mean, he tried this year and then he got himself back into the mix. You know, he had to get back on a committee, right?

We need a segment called This Week in Joe House's love or hate for Rory because it swings like a fourth grade new boyfriend girlfriend relationship. He could be. It could be. It could be competitive. Like, there's not, you can't just like dismiss out of hand that he's exhausted all of his competitive opportunities. There's, he's still, you know, it's golf. You can still, you can win in your late 30s.

Well, listen, he's plus 550 to win at Wentworth this week. Fleetwood is second on the board at, you know, plus a thousand. So everybody still thinks Rory's got it. And he's got to get. But there's no chance you'd bet on him this week. No, are you kidding me? Absolutely not. Not after that finish in the Irish Open.

I'm not betting on this event, but I am going to enjoy watching it because it's a very cool golf course and it's a great field. I mean, you went through some of the names. Some of these guys really getting serious about preparing for the President's Cup. There is no tour event this week. The President's Cup is the following week. and then the tour resumes with Sanderson, which is in Kentucky. Jackson, Mississippi. Another.

What's the opposite of Napa, California? Well, that will be fun and we'll look for big crowds at that. But please, you know, everybody enjoy the coffee golf. It is the best time of year because football is all over the nation's airwaves, and I'm enjoying all that immensely. but, you know, waking up and having, as I sit down and really map out my football bets, having the golf on in the background and watching many of the great guys the way I did with the Irish Open, even though it was super hard to find it on the cock, I'm going to enjoy that.

And I hope all of you out there, it is right on the brink of fall golf here on the East Coast. The days are getting shorter, but you could still throw a peg in the ground at 2.45, like I did this afternoon and get in, you know, get in, nice little four-hour loop, and then get on with your life. If you're able to do so, please, let's head straight out there. You must be 21 years old or older, 18 years old or older in Washington, D.C., and present in select states. Bandul is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino, LLC.

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