Fairway Rollin' - Jacob Bridgeman Wins at Genesis! Plus, Tiger Woods and the Future of the PGA Tour.

Episode Date: February 24, 2026

Nathan and House kick things off by breaking down Jacob Bridgeman’s win this past week. Then, they discuss Tiger Woods and the future of the PGA Tour before sharing their thoughts on the CBS broadcast and closing with a preview of the Cognizant Classic. (0:00) Welcome to Fairway Rollin’! (7:19) Jacob Bridgeman wins at Genesis (19:48) Tiger Woods sounds like he’s doing great (26:28) What the future of the PGA Tour might look like (32:29) How CBS handled the past weekend (42:01) Cognizant Classic preview Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Jonathan Frias, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, friends, and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. Oh, yes, my friends, we have done it. This is Fareway Rowland, a golf podcast and program on Netflix. Brought to you by our good friends at the Ringer Podcast Network. I am your starter Joe House, joined as is our way by my incomparable accomplice, our PGA tour, boots on the ground. His boots were on the ground this most recent weekend, my birdie buddies, my eagle enthusiast, my par saving pals.

Nathan Hubbard is right here with me, two pegs in the ground, and off we go. Nate Dogg, how was your 10th hole? Well, I mean, we said last week we'd be stunned if Scotty Sheffler didn't win this golf tournament. And you said it. Not me. You said it. You said it'd be, you'd be stunned if he didn't finish in the top five. I bet on it. I mean, we're going to talk about a lot of things that happened this week. Very interesting week on the ground at Riviera. Some sneaky, sneaky great performances, some sneaky shitty performances. Sure. But how, I mean, Scotty Sheffler just, does he have the Thursday yips? Is that a thing? Well, he clearly has some. issue. He is over par for his season on Thursdays. I think he is plus five now on his season for Thursdays. And it's enough of a thing now where he's going to have to address it. He needs to develop

the talking points. He needs to tell us what his plan is. It's going to be the thing the next time he appears to play golf, which will be what? Bay Hill. Is that when we expect to see? That's when we're going to see him next. I mean, I love, I love that even the best play. player in the world can get a little Chuck Knoblocky with it. Even at his he's playing at the height of his powers, it's the best thing about golf. Suddenly Thursday yips is a thing. Fine. If not for Thursdays, this guy's undefeated this season.

Do we want to try and make something up? Do you want to say it has something to do with California? It has something to do with Poa, Noah Greens. It has something to do with, you know, California dreaming. Do you want to try and invent an explanation? There is no explanation. I mean, he, first of all, the last time,

he finished 12th, the last time that he finished worse than this, was it the players a year ago when he was 20th. Like, he's fine. He's absolutely fine. It's true. It was the irons this week that were just mediocre. The putter was actually really strong.

And with Scotty historically, and you remember all of the, you know, the Rory advice and counsel to switch to the mallet, which whether he took it or not, he did it and it worked. The putter is still as strong as it could be. And that was where we saw him get a little yippie. You remember the four putt at the Masters on 18?

And, you know, he just, he had his, he's had his moments with that club. This was just, the irons just weren't there. And I do think in fairness this week, the weather played a pretty big factor, not just in Thursday, but also the rest of the weekend. There was a ton of rain at the beginning part of the week. and then there was a lot of rain and cold on Thursday. And then in the afternoon, and Schaeffler was one of the last ones off, there was legit 35 mile an hour gusts that were blowing the ball around.

So I think he, by getting in that, there weren't waves this week because it was a condensed field, but being in the later tea time on Thursday, I think he was affected a bit. I don't read much into it. And look, if we're sending alarm bells off because a guy finishes 12th, Well, look, my only, my only standard is the standard. And, and my only complaint is that now two weeks in a row, CBS has kind of pulled the wool over the eyes of the casual golf watcher because last week at Pebble, they pretended like this charge was going to give Scotty a chance to, uh, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, they also did the same thing in Phoenix. They, they pretended. this week like he was going to hang inside the top 10 when it was pretty clear there were enough guys behind him who were going to jump him. So the top 10 streak, they just keep sort of dangling the shuffle thing. What that does say to me, though, House, is at least their data says they've

done an effective job of making Scotty a guy that people want to tune in and watch, right? A year ago, we were talking, nobody cares. His personality's too boring. A guy who's all about faith and family can never carry the viewership. Well, that doesn't seem to be the case. They're, using him as bait, aren't they? Well, and I think they are using him. Sure, you can say it that way, but also he's earned that attention. These extraordinary performances, week in and week out, he is, you know, now we've given ourselves permission to say this is a tiger-like run that he is on. And when we are measuring him against the very upper echelon, the greatest of the greats, in terms of where he is in his career,

the 18 straight top 10 finishes, that's only in the neighborhood of Tiger and one or two others, right? Like, this is why it's reasonable for CBS each week to as, you know, as a touchstone to go to the very best player in the world. Where is Scotty? Okay. I mean, I think that's credible. I think that's reasonable.

I have no issue with it. whatsoever. And I don't feel like it is anything other than a reflection of the growing consciousness of the American sporting public around this dude being that dude. This dude being that dude. That's what I'm going to say. Yeah. Well, I think you're right. But I did enjoy a week in which a fantastic golf course that has befuddled most of the greats in their own way, and Jack and Scotty. Well, the street continues. Yeah.

We still don't have a tiger win. We don't have a Scotty win and we don't have a Rory win. And I think, look, this course did its job. You had Spieth, you had Schaeffler, you had Zander, you had Morikawa, you had Cam Young, you had Tommy Fleetwood, you had Rory, plus the guys who've been ascending in Knapp and Minwu. All those guys were in the top 15 of this tournament. So it did put the best guys for the most part. We have talked about a few guys who missed the cut,

but it did put the best guys up in front. It's just that Jacob Bridgman, the ascendant real one, just had three great days and one good enough day, didn't he house? I mean, we should have seen this coming. In fairness, this guy had four top fives last year. He made his way all the way to the tour championship. He's been one of the best performers this year, T4, T13, T18, T8 and now win in the early part of the season.

So it's been coming if you've been paying attention, hasn't it? This is fortuitous for the tour because the tour has touted this pipeline that it has created just in the last decade of emergent talent. There is a pathway for talent, a pipeline for talent to pursue a card in the first place and then earn that card and then keep that card. and then have an opportunity to go win golf tournaments. And twice this season, we have proof of concept in the form of Chris Goderup and now in the form of Mr. Bridgman.

His good buddy, Bridgman. Yeah. The good buddy, another element of that that helps the story that the tour should want to tell, can tell. And you have the juxtaposition of winners like Gottorup and Bridgman in the same. same breath as major winners. Colin Moracawa's got a W this season. Justin Rose got a W this season. Scotty Sheffler got a W. Now we're talking, right? This is proof of concept for the product that the tour has in mind, right? Yeah, I think that's right. And look, every season, there's going to be

some guys who win a golf tournament who are going to be the eternal journeymen, nobody's that aren't going to be deeply embedded in the casual golf fans consciousness. Could be this week. But between, it probably will be this week. But between God are up and now, Bridgman, you've got two guys who are absolutely here to stay and they're performing at a level that's worthy of the conversation. Bridgman this week, first on approach, first in putting, only the fourth guy in the shot link era to do that, to lead in both those categories.

Now, you know, look, he came in on Sunday. He was 43rd in approach and 37th in putting. What saved him on Sunday was that driver. He was fifth off the tee. He just kept putting himself in position with a six-stroke lead. You never know how things are going to go. And as he said, I thought it was going to be easy. And it was easy until all of a sudden on 16, I realized I'm in trouble because I'm in a bunker and it starts to tighten.

And I don't know about you, House. I early on with the Roar, I was rooting for a charge from Rory. and when we didn't get it and it was clear that the putter just wasn't quite going to do it for Rory. And don't, you shouldn't kid yourself. I mean, he hold out a bunker shot on the back nine. He made that long putt on 18 for Bertie. It ended up being a little bit closer than it really ought to have been. Not to take anything away from him, but but the point is, once we got to the back nine,

I wanted Bridgman to close it out. And it felt kind of stress free until that 16th hole, didn't it? all of a sudden, I was spooked for him. So that's interesting because I had a different kind of experience. It felt to me like Bridgman was holding on the entire back nine. He didn't, he was ripping driver. His off the tea, the driver was the thing that was like, oh, he's, and especially on 17 after, it was honestly a great bogey save on 16,

where he took the conservative way out of that bunker. I mean, the shot into the bunker on 16 was hot trash. That was like, and he said after he couldn't feel his hands. And he relayed, you know, that same sort of comparing of notes with Godorup, like, you know, how did you feel as you came down the stretch, that kind of thing? Yeah, but he wasn't scrambling house, right? Like last week at Pebble, we saw him do a great bogey save there on 182. Incredible.

But the T shots were all pretty much straight down the middle. His approach play. That's it. So it didn't feel like, that's why I said, I didn't feel like he was hanging on because it just felt like he was playing super conservatively that all week long, you know, he'd been hitting it inside 10 feet on his approach with regularity. And that maybe just to stay in it, he was shooting away from pins and, you know, generally two putting, not going for the same level of birdies that that you were expecting. And then all of a sudden, in front of him, Kittiyama. who we I mean Kittiyama has not lost shots

gained off the T or on approach in 18 events dating back to last April I mean he has honestly his game has been super strong won that tournament in Minneapolis like we sort of set him aside API winner championship yeah I mean this is a guy who

you forget is a top 30 player in the world the quad father but but all of a sudden Kitiama put a number up And Doddy made the point that they don't have a whole lot of scoreboards back there until you get up to 17. And so he wouldn't have known coming down 13, 14, 15 exactly where he was, which I think probably benefited him. Because he just didn't feel that pressure until all of a sudden that bogey on 16. And then it got a little loose coming home.

Although again, the drive on 18 was super solid. That's where I was expecting him to waft it. you know, his miss had been left when he'd missed. I was expecting him to waft it right into those trees and maybe we got a bogey in a playoff. But it really was the driver that kept him in it. I feel like you're absolutely right. And he did watch, I mean, whether he knew what Kadyama was doing or not, he watched

Rory make birdie make birdie on 17 and then make, and then the birdie happened right in front of his face on 18. And so that the pressure was right in front of him in addition, like his last, the last birdie for Bridgman was on the third hole. And that's why my observation was like that, to me, it felt like I could feel a growing tension and maybe it was just, maybe I was hoping for things. I don't know.

But I thought that the door was like a little bit open and then open, especially the way that Kittiyama came in, the way that Adam Scott played in. I was like, you know, is 17 under going to be the winning score of this golf tournament? Because it felt like this dude, Bridgman, and this is not a knock in any way, shape, or form, that two over was in the cards. It was possible.

Well, it certainly was possible. That's what it felt like it had to be for other guys to catch up. I just got comfortable, I guess, because it was clear on the front that Rory just, he missed some butts that on the standard Rory charge he would normally make. Now, obviously, he was sublime on the back nine. But you're right. I mean, I think, look, the weather on Thursday might have befuddled Scotty. For the rest of the week, I mean, you still had ball.

plugging in greens on Saturday. And it was a much softer Riviera than we're used to seeing. They played preferred lies on Thursday, didn't they? They did. They had three and a half inches of rain before Thursday. It was an absolute mess. And you had the wind and the cold. And again, I know it's 72 degrees and sunny.

It's going to be 84 tomorrow out here. So it's not that big a deal. I mean, seriously. Armageddon for Los Angeles. Eat a peach, bro. Whatever. Come on. But I do think that what that did was it made misses off the T much more recoverable

because you're hitting out of the rough. Obviously, you don't have the spin that you're used to, but they were landing more softly. And so guys were able to hit greens from places that they normally didn't. And that's why I think we saw the scoring get to the level that it did. The greens were still fast, as Tiger talked about on Sunday. That was the amazing thing. They were receptive, but so speedy. Right.

And so you still had the challenges on the green of needing to putt, which made Bridgman's last couple of putts where he just, he couldn't feel his hands and was leaving the ball short everywhere that much scarier, for sure. And more, you know, sort of obvious that he was struggling because it wasn't hard to get the ball of the hole on a bunch of those greens. But still, we saw a very different Riviera. I still felt like it acquitted itself pretty,

pretty well all things considered because just of who you saw ending up at the top of this leaderboard. Yeah, there was this similar kind of, I don't know if it's genuine concern or if it's just, you know, the traditionalist kind of grumbling in a similar fashion to some folks has Pebble Beach been rendered obsolete by the equipment. And so, you know, the same sort of, you know, sentiment expressed around Rivier and there was like, you know, early in the tournament is, is the tournament record going to be threatened? And, you know, I still found the tournament, you know, super compelling. The 10th hole. We got a near hole in one on the 10th hole. And Griserman was the one who had the near hole in one on the 10th and then actually went to the,

was it the 14th that he made the hole in one? Yes. Awesome. Like, He deserved it. I mean, he didn't win a car, though. What are we doing? The car's right there. He didn't, he couldn't, he didn't win it. It makes no sense to me. Come on, Genesis.

You know, look, I thought the fourth hole with the T-back sort of was a non-factor that actually, with the greens the way they were, they were holding it. So we don't even really know if they fixed that hole. Yeah, great point. Rory expressed skepticism and then went out and birdied it the first two two rounds. Yeah. So it just, it didn't have teeth. 10 for all of Matt Fitzpatrick complaining about it, it seemed like if you hit a decent tea shot there,

you were okay, especially again with the soft conditions. That dummy hit it 50 yards right and then wanted to complain about it. It just, I, come on, so I think, and I think you got to be careful what you wish for asking to move this tournament for a couple of reasons. One is just that,

you know, we've seen, you know, with the U.S. Open and so forth, like L.A. comes out in February. They love to come out. in the winter and see these people. And the fans were there and you got that wonderful natural amphitheater effect coming up 18 again and pretty good crowds, good energy.

In the summer, in this area of Pacific Palisades, the June gloom can sometimes come in and haunt this place. And you don't get the blue skies and you don't get the, you get the Marine layer at LACC. But now that was mid-June. So, yeah. Yeah. But there's some summers when it can drag out. You never know. Let me ask you this.

And, you know, we won't go too crazy. I do want to get the scuttle butt on the ground from you, but I want to bounce a couple things off of you first. But in the context of this schedule concept, there's no reason that they couldn't have the Genesis tournament around this time, the first part of the season. And then also host a tournament, you know, if the members would agree to it, come August because for your playoffs, you want your best venues to host the playoffs. And RIV seems to be quite in vogue right now and has continues to earn its keep an Olympic venue,

the Women's U.S. Open venue, and the Men's U.S. Open here in I think 2031, right down, right around the corner here on the calendar. So, I mean, why couldn't we do both? Yeah, I mean, I think the members are probably going to throw shit fit if you ask them to give up the club for two months of the year. But I think, look, I do think this venue always acquits itself well. It's very well just laid out for this tournament and all the logistics are down and all that stuff. So I think you got the sense from Tiger in the booth. Yeah, let's do this.

Let's talk some Tiger. That they're going to move this. Now, I want to save just a little bit of time to talk about the CBS telecast outside of, outside of Tiger. But the tiger piece for me, I mean, I noticed a couple things. I don't know about you. But first of all, the guy seems really happy and in a good place. Like, we have seen him. And this is, of course, the anniversary of.

the week in which he destroyed his leg. And so there's a lot of, I think, baggage and stuff and like PTSD around this week for him. But he looked great and he seemed to be walking well. He seems happy in this new relationship. Great for him. Seems happy with his role. I mean, if you had told me five years ago

that Tiger Woods was going to be talking in glowing terms about playing the senior tour, I wouldn't have believed you. But like, I think he's come to grips with where he is physically, where he is in his age, and his role as a carrier of the torch in the same way that Jack and Arnie were for the tour. He clearly values that role and the impact that he can make in that way. Maybe it's fueling his competitive fire. I don't know, but he seems very much at peace with that in a way that I just did not expect House. It's such a good

observation, and I like thinking about it in terms of a timeline from 2019 to present. And, you know, what that, that period of time for him personally and professionally, what's occurred in that, in that period, we had COVID. We had the incursion by the, by the live. And we had, you know, father time taking its toll on Tiger with repeated, you know, you know, physical setbacks. I remember watching him at the Masters, you and I, when he had to drop out? I mean, we just saw him walking. We're like, there's no way he's going four weeks or four rounds with this.

Even, even though he did make the cut. He did make the cut. He accomplished job one. Job one, make the cut. And it was awesome. It really was. It was tremendous. But to your point, your observation, I think that there is a thing that has happened

where folks are seeking his input and treating him in the manner. in which, you know, the torchbearers that you reference, you know, in the vein of Scott, of Jack and Arnie, where he is, I think, the most authoritative player, he has the most respect. Like, if there was a player's union, Tiger would be the president of it. But that's what he is running this competition committee.

Like he's making the decisions about the future of the PGA tour. On behalf of the players, I think that's the, that's the thing to me that that, that emanated from that, um, broadcast. It's like, uh, because his perspective, he's so revered. He, he's, he's, um, achieved the, the, the stature that he has over time. Like, it's not just that he was an idol to the current generation of player, but he, also over this period, I think the observation is he's not a dick. He's not, you know, thinking about I'm going to beat all of these guys all of the time. And so I'm closed off. I'm not going to, you know, but that's where he was. When he was competing, that was the kind of

competitor he was. But this is to me since winning that master's. That's why I think this, you know, bookending it and defining the time period in this way is relevant because, Because like the things that we've heard him say just in 2026, he would, the PGA tour, I mean, the PGA of America has approached me about considering a captaincy. And I need to think about, you know, whether or not I can do that in an effective way. And then all of the things that he's talking about in terms of big picture strategizing around what the tour might look like and, you know, sort of addressing the different kind of constituencies and, you know, try to keep people happy. like, you know, this was the thing, to be fair, Rory carried a shitload of this water during live. Yes, he did.

And Tiger did need to step up in this way. Rory pulling back gave that lane. But there was also the, you know, I was just a kid out here, just like any of these guys, you know, playing on the PGA tour. And the PGA tour gave me this opportunity. I was like, what? I mean, yes, but like, your fucking Tiger would. Like, what are we talking about?

It was, there was this sense of humility with him, I think. think. The guy's been doing a lot of therapy. I don't know what it is. But he's 50 years old. I'm happy for him. Perspective is a good thing. Genuinely comfortable in his own skin, satisfied if he never comes out and plays golf again, although he told us in as many words as we ever get. And he said at the press conference and Trevor Immelman followed up in the booth. He's playing the Masters. I mean, I agree. I agree. And you know what's what's really funny going back to your point on

him talking up the senior tour. If I had to handicap how this goes down, I think he plays a senior event where he, you know, rides the cart kind of half the time just to get the reps of, you know, the competitive juices flowing,

being out, you know, going whole by hole. But he doesn't need to, first of all, the senior events are only three rounds. And so that element of it lets him continue to get his physical in the right place.

But also think about Tiger Woods playing in a senior event, what that does for that tour, the eyeballs, the interest, the sporting public's interest in whatever event he chooses to participate in. I mean, I'll say this, you make fun of me for being interested in the TGL stuff. I bet it gets a better rating than the TGL, respectfully. Well, I think it will.

Yeah, I think it will because there'll be a weekend event and it's, yes, it's Tiger playing golf. Who doesn't want to see Tiger play golf? I agree. I want to see Tiger. It's against Ernie L. It'll be against VJ. It'll be against Burnhardt.

It'll be against your poor Zach Johnson, who's making his debut this week. Well, we heard him happy, as we said. We heard he's definitely playing the Masters, which is great. But we also heard him talk about this schedule. And the way that he is having to juggle a lot of competing interests, it's a very hard puzzle to put together. because a year and a half ago, Jacob Bridgman and Chris Goderup

are not part of the future of the tour. And Max Homa definitely is. And now you fast forward 18 months. And if we're just judging based on sheer performance, like you got different guys. And so you have to maintain. And Tiger values that, right? A big part of his issue with Liv was the competitive,

lack of sort of competitive format that we've now seen some guys struggling because they're not being challenged in the same way. And in some cases, coming back because all they care about is win in majors and it doesn't seem like they're getting that value over there. So hearing Tiger sort of grappling with how to keep the on ramps for guys, even when it's crystal clear, they're going to cut down the number of available cards. But, you know, we saw Marco Penge hanging around in the early part of this tournament over from the DP World Tour. Again, Bridgman and Goderup coming up from the Corrin Ferry Tour, right? And then you've got this wave of young guys coming right out of college that you've got to keep opportunities for the next guy who it feels like Tiger acknowledges and understands there's going to be a next one.

He may not be as great as Tiger or as great as Jack was. Or as great as Scotty? There's going to be a next one after Scotty. And they've got to keep this. Tiger just seems to see himself as, as again, a torch bear that is going to be passed off and down. And so that acknowledgement, that sort of understanding and long-term thinking has me believing that he's going to shape this thing in a way that isn't just like 70 guys with no cut. And, you know, if you're Jordan Speath, you're going to be protected forever because your name is Jordan Speath.

I think we're going to see enough of a sort of natural cleaning, just like the ocean cleans itself. lot of ways. They're going to create some mechanisms for this next generation to work their way in. That's the threading of the needle that to me is the most fascinating. And that's the piece that I am most sort of intrigued by. I get the concept of 25 premier events. I get the concept of fields of 80 to 100 guys that are the top guys. What are we doing with the tournament like the one we have this week, where it's a viable, valuable sponsor. It is a field consisting of guys that are, you know, the top ranked player in this field is who?

Is it Garard or is it Shane? It's got to be Shane Lowry. Yeah, but Garard's at the top of the odds board, and he's never won a golf tournament. Right. Right. These events are still viable and valuable. Who is going to be participating in them?

When will they happen and how is the tour going to, you know, sort of honor the relationship that they ought to be interested, motivated to honor and create these pathways for guys that, you know, want to play in those top 22 to 25 events? Like, that's the threading of the needle that I'm interested in. Look, we had Adam Scott shot 263s this week. Passed chairman. He was a sponsor invite. Yeah. So, like, I think there. And it was nice to see him out there doing his thing.

So it is not easy. And that's mostly what Tiger was telling us is I think they're in the final stages of it. And there's a lot of rumblings that we're going to hear something about this come the players championship. It's got to be the players, right? Yeah. And I think they need to get this information out there because guys are going to make decisions based on the tournaments that they play and what they don't play based on where things end up. If you're gunning for 70 spots versus 100, you play. probably play a tournament or two more if you're not a top 20 guy.

Yeah. And so this may be, I'm pretty sure this is going to be the weakest field that we see for the entire year just because of that. I think there's going to be some guys who, you know, you look at JJ Spawn, who's missed two of four cuts badly. His other finishes have been ugly, you know, sort of in the 40s. This is a U.S. Open winner last June. he's not in danger of losing his card, but you could see him for positioning reasons jumping into a cognizant classic type event

if he doesn't have the points that he needs to get himself up in the Fed of the Cup. So I really think this is, if they're going to really make this announcement within three weeks to at least scope the size of what next year is going to look like, they need to so that guys can plan their schedules for the rest of the year.

Yeah, that's right. And we're going to see perhaps some unanticipated field strengthening come march sort of forward because the guys will be filling that pressure. For sure.

They're going to want to get as much in as they can before the fall. The assumption is, you know, if you get to the BMW, you're going to be safe. But outside of that, it's going to be a race for points

and there's probably only going to be 10 or so cards that are going to be up for grabs through the fall. And so you're going to have some names. Remember, Justin Thomas, who missed,

right, the FedEx. Cup playoffs a couple years ago. Adam Scott, same thing. There are guys who have struggled, had a year of struggle, but this is a tough year to struggle. So it's going to be pretty much a pedal down, I think, after this announcement comes up. It's dramatic.

And I appreciate it's a fortunate, unintended consequence of what maybe they would say it's an intended consequence because this is, you know, we're going to get some eyeballs on this thing. And golf is sitting pretty, pretty rosy. right now, I would say. It feels good. You know, the only other thing I'll say about this past weekend is I felt like CBS missed an opportunity to tell the story. You know, we talked about the Palisades fires last week.

Yeah. And boy, I think they made a conscious choice to really not address it. They had drones in the air. They had the blimp over my house. If they rotate. If they rotate that camera. 90 degrees, not 250 yards away, is the start of a wipeout, devastation of the town. And the tournament was there.

They talked about California Rising, which was sort of the charitable initiative to help with the rebuilding. But they really didn't show it, and they really didn't tell the story. And I found that a curious decision in part because they could have used the platform to just sort of bring awareness. They were showing the ocean and the pier and the snow cat mountain. It was gorgeous. It really was. But it was an interesting omission. I guess the only thing that makes sense to me is they just made the conscious decision to not do it,

to just say there's these massive snowstorms coming in the East Coast. We're going to just not be Debbie Downer. We're going to just pretend that none of that is there. And we're going to just show the pretty stuff for the people on the East Coast and just keep it a pure positive vibes entertainment product. I just found it strange. house. That was definitely the case for the weekend broadcast. There's no denying it. I will say as a person that consumes a lot of the run-ups, especially to an event like RIV, where I just

can't get enough of it. I want to see like all of the on the ground stuff that they were doing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the press conferences and stuff, every opportunity to like be in that place, transport myself. And I will say in the run up to the story. of the tournament, there was more of that acknowledgement that I think you're asking for. I think it's completely fair to say, you know, and it could have been a question to Tiger, you know, and there was, you know, Nancy did say something to him about, you know, how important it was to be back at Riv. And so there was that acknowledgement. But I think your, your gentle request would have been a tiny bit more of sort of community impact.

And can we do a direct tie between the impact of this thing arriving there and benefiting the community? I just think they've done such a good job now of filming these golf courses. And they had all these beautiful drone shots that were shooting south and east. And I'm not kidding you, if they rotate the drone 90 degrees, you would have seen a complete wipeout. I think maybe they were afraid of the juxtaposition and how that was going to look. But I think it would have been a way to at least bring some awareness to the fact that a year later, people are still struggling, lots of people not back in their homes. I mean, it is still pretty barren over there.

Homes are being built and that's great. And it is coming back. But there was a way, I think, to tell the story and to show, you know, how close it came to wiping out even more. But look, there's that house, you know, at the same. start of the year, our buddy Colt knows got a little bit of a promotion in the booth. Colt and Johnson Wagner, both of them. Yeah. And I thought from the initial announcement that it actually meant that Colt was going to be in the booth, that's not happening. Maybe there will be a few weeks when Trevor doesn't work and it's, you know, Colts up in the booth. He just

seems to now be sort of the featured guy on the holes. You know, outside of the tournament, I think you and I would agree that he's making some really interesting content because he's got such great access to the players and he's got such an easy flow with the guys in one-on-one he's funny yeah yeah there's a rapport they there's like there's clearly he's very well um liked and respected by it seems you know yeah responding to what we see on the on the socials yeah it has felt to me and I'll go first on this because we we love colt it has felt to me like the baseline It is the baseline. It's felt to me like in the early part of this CBS season that Colts trying to still find a spot.

And I made a little bit of a joke about how in Phoenix there was some kind of weird tension with him and Nance. Like his jokes were a little too acerbic and a little too. Like, Nancy is kind of untouchable in that way. And he can be funny when he ribs. But it felt like he was, there's just been a little bit of tryhard energy that is not common. for Colt because his sense of humor is there and he's great in that side content. It feels like they're still trying to find the right way to fit him in. Am I crazy for thinking that?

No, because it does feel that like that. And if you look at my phone, the text thread is, why is Colt knows talking so much? What's he trying to prove? Like, you know, he doesn't, there is a place for him. And he's established that place, and it should be by now, it feels like a comfortable place, a rhythm to the broadcast, the inner play between, you know, his slightly mischievous, you know, slightly irreverent kind of sense of humor. Right, which is, which is great on board with it. And especially with Johnson Wagner being more, more prominent and deservedly so, because another dude with great. sense of humor and the way that they're imagining, you know, adding to these broadcast by having

him go out and try shots sort of in real time. Did he hit the chip off the green? Did he hit the chip off the seventh green? Look like it to me. I don't know. I don't know. I don't think he went back and did it. They talked about it after Rory hit that great chip over the bunker.

They talked about it. I just didn't, I didn't see it. I was out. So I didn't. Yeah. I didn't see. But so I, so Johnson's job. is to sort of be the funny guy.

And so it feels like Colts trying to slot in is also funny, but not, you know, not the guy who's going to go out and skull the bunker shot that somebody just hit well. I don't know. They're still fine in their place. I think when Colt and Johnson talk, it's good. Like there is, those two have a relationship.

Both of those guys played. They're players, right? I mean, Johnson more acclaimed player than, but they can be self-deprecating about their own abilities in a funny way, both of them. We'll just have both of them on and let's ask them. Let's just see you. Let's see what they say to us. Well, first of all, maybe they'll tell us to pounce in.

Maybe they don't want to come on. But I thought we could have this conversation. I feel like because, you know, you're right. The try hard vibe is definitely showing itself. Here's what's what's good. We go dormant with CBS until the master's. Until the masters. Until the Masters, right.

We're about to start an NBC run. And do you want to be glass half full or glass half empty? Because look, man, we've just been treated to spectacular golf courses presented in a spectacular way with outrageously effective technology. And the tour gets credit for this. Yes, CBS for sure has adopted. But the tour itself has been innovating in the tour. toys that they bring to bear, the tech toys they're bringing to bear, the two drones, the tracker, the wind, the wind ceiling, like all that stuff.

Bro, give it to me. Swing cameras, I love it. All of it. I'm here for it. A, NBC, the standard's been set. I mean, I'm not saying you need to be here at PGA National down in Palm Beach Gardens and have all the whiz-bangary. It's okay if, you know, for this tournament you aren't cranking.

But the standard is the standard, Nate Dog. Yeah, it is. And they think about the players as being their Super Bowl for this stuff. So we'll see what they do. It's just it'll be, it'll be stark if they don't pick up the ball at API, right? Which is an elevated event just like this one. That's the measuring stick because players is going to be outrageous. Players is going to be awesome.

The tour owns that. That's their stadium. That's the tour stadium. So all of the tech will be, I expect it to be phenomenal. I expected to be at the same level as what we've enjoyed with the CBS broadcast. Yeah. API. Let's see how they do the API.

That's one because I do think CBS weekend and week out has done a great job. Anyway. Me too. No, no shade on Colt. I'm sure the producers are worth their salt. We're just watching the programs. Yeah. We'll have everybody watch it because it's probably not just Colt too.

Like some of the others have got to make some space for him to do his thing, right? That's right. But they just got to do it in the right moment. Anyway, I'm sure on Colts podcast, he's saying the same thing about Fairway Rowland. So whatever. He has no idea what Fairway Rolling is. And that's fine.

That's fine. We mentioned the Palm Beach Gardens. We mentioned PGA National. We are on to the cognizant classic. After two consecutive bangers on the West Coast, we go from Pebble Beach and Riviera to the beginning of the Florida swing and it's fine to have golf tournaments. Yes. It's the bear trap. We're going to see a different version of competitive golf in a different kind of venue we're going. It's going to be like

you say, we'll see water featured all over the place. There is wind at this venue. The defense of the golf course comes from how the wind behaves. We've seen it play super tough in the past. the average winning score all the way up until 2024 was 10 under. The tour and the venue did some softening in 2024. They did the rye overseeding. So we have a green golf course rather than a dormant Bermuda golf course. They did, it seems, do some softening of some of the green complexes. There is this idea that some of the fairways have been widened and very prominently.

the 10th hole went from being a par 4 to a par 5, and the scoring on that par 5 is very good. So now the average score in the two years since these renovations, now 18 under. So we've gone from a 10 under to an 18 under, which is fine. It doesn't undermine my enjoyment of it. Two winners over the past two years,

Austin Eckrode and Joe Highsmith, who were way down the board, odds-wise. So this is a place where, you know, opportunity kinds of reveals itself. And I don't know what to tell you about this week. I mean, here, the names of the guys. This is why you pay attention, right?

At the beginning of the season, though. Because we're getting, this is like one of those families you see where they got like three kids who were 18, 19, 20, and they got a two-year-old where they just got an oops. This tournament is an oops. Like there's a total scheduling with. because they had sandwiched between the three elevated events. We got API next and then you got you got the players after that. So of course nobody's showing up.

But House, this is why we pay attention at the beginning of the year. Because yes, anybody who could drop out of this thing did. And that means Jacob Bridgman, Adam Scott out, like a bunch of guys out, out, out. But there are some guys in this golf tournament who we have been talking about since the very beginning of the season and where we've seen some performances that suggest they're going to be in this. There's also a lot of junk in the trunk. And I don't know what to tell you about how Melnati's going to do or how Charlie Hoffman's going to do or how Brendan Todd's going to do. These are all pros.

Those guys all get a chance to put a tea in the ground and try and win the golf tournament. And here's the point. The single highest finish ever by Jacob Bridgman was his tied for second place at this golf tournament a year ago. So that's the point. That's what you're saying. This is how these guys reveal themselves to us, these potential up-and-comers, these guys who might not be household names. We've been touting some of them, you know, over the course of this year.

Somehow I do regret not being more forceful about Bridgman earlier on. But Ryan Garard is at the very top of the Hadsboard now, He has been on our cards and we have been talking about him, 16 to 1, tied with Shane Lowry, who is always a favorite when you get to Florida, when you get to these conditions because he just plays these venues very well, this venue in particular very well, Shane Lowry, you know, a bunch of great outcomes for him here. But right behind him are the Hoygard twins. Yep.

And, you know, we have a nice contingent of the guys from DP World Tour showing up here, Rasmus near guard, Peterson is in this field playing, and his odds are, you know, he's in the top 15 of guys who have a chance to win this golf tournament. Torborn Olison is all, you know, doing this, this thing. So doing the things. He's doing the thing at this, you know, venue. Let's go ahead and do some forecasting. The names that people, when I do the research, you know, the way this golf force has changed,

It has de-emphasized skill around the greens. It used to be the case that you need to be really good around the greens. The way the Rye overseeding, it seems to have manifested itself. It's not as crucial. You have to be an accurate driver of the golf ball, and you have to get hot with your putter because what's really changed is strokes gained around the green. It used to be a point of emphasis, and now it's strokes game putting. So who has the ability to spike in putting?

Yeah, well, and that I think is the right question to ask. And because we're now moving away from the West Coast where we had a lot of Poa, right? And those are just difficult greens for some guys to put well. And that's why Ryan Gerard right now is sitting there. He was fourth on approach last week. Yeah. You know, his season at this point, you know, we said coming in, he was second in Hawaii. He'd finished second in Mauritius coming in at the end of the year, then finished second in Hawaii, T2 at Amex, T-11 at

farmers. He's been T-45, T-28 the last two weeks, but it's really been, you know, at Genesis, he was great on approach, great off the T. It was just the putter that really struggled. So I think for a guy like Ryan, that's what you're looking at. It's why, House,

it's why it's interesting to look at Brooks Kepka. Because this is a home game for him. Let's go. It's now or never for Brooks. If he's going to keep his card, he has to play every cognizant classic because he's not getting in to these elevated events until he picks it up. He's sitting there

at plus 240 for a top 20 in what is in a lot of ways a corn fairy tour event. What we saw from him in the two outings that we've seen is the shots gained up Tita Green were there and he felt great about it. It was just the putter. So I wonder if

coming back home to greens that he's more comfortable with I mean he's failed us a couple times but plus 240 for a top 20 in this field. If Brooks is going to be there he's got to eat, right? We have six tournaments thus far on tour this season, and the winning putter has been that spider.

And he doesn't play the spider, but, you know, let's see. The five out of the six, it was the spider. I can't remember just Justin Rose, Justin Rose might putt. Scotty Cameron was the other one out that was out there I saw. But, you know, let's see what he shows up with. Because he's known to be a tinkerer. We've seen him with different, you know, in his hands at different points in time.

I think the same thing about Howtong Lee, who was tied for eighth at Amex. He was tied for 11th at Tori. I do because he played well. He missed the cut in Phoenix, but he's plus 200 for top 20 this week. He's eighth T to Green this year. So it's really just if the putter comes around and I have a suspicion that he was not used to the Poe and that he will do a lot better Bermuda here in Florida. So that's another kind of guy.

You know, our buddy Justin Rayhouse, I'm interested to see what you think of these guys. He tweeted out the guys who are active in the field who have the most birdies on this course since 2020. And the list is very interesting. It's Eric Royan and almost four and a half. It's Sam Ryder. It's Adam Swenson. It's Kashmir Keith. And it's Chris Kirk.

And now if you look at the odds, Van Royen is plus 550 for a top 20. Sam Ryder's plus 450. Adam Svensons plus 600, but then you got Keith because Keith is at plus 160. You're not getting great odds this week, are you? Because he's got a win in two T-9s on this course. Nathan, we're humble people.

We are just trying to build bankroll for the signature events, where we can really cash in on the API. And honestly, the Masters, I will have for you, as API arrives, some early master's looks because I've been keeping track. I wrote something down.

I'm not going to spring them on you right now. Okay. But there were two or three guys that really caught my attention at RIV. And there is a very nice cross. We talked about it in the context of trying to pick out some contenders for Riviera, this cross, you know, effect of good play at Rive, good play at the Masters, good play at the masters, good play at Rive. And lo and behold, there's Adam Scott shooting 263. What do you know?

Shocker. Yeah. Well, just don't bring me, Pat Cantley. I want you, I do want you to watch this Jackson, Super, Blades Brown, Johnny Kiefer pairing that they announced today. I love that they did this, by the way. I do too. I mean, Johnny Kiefer in this threesome, he's 35 to one to win, which seems crazy. But this was the darling of the Corn Ferry Tour.

He was the number one player last year. And I think it's got to be because he's getting off Poet. He was one of the best putters on the, on the corn free tour last year. On the big tour so far, he's ninth off the tee. He's 10th on approach this year, but he's 137th in putting. And so he's had these middling results that are just mediocre. He's made every cut. It's just the results have been insignificant because he haven't been able to put.

He's plus 210 to top 20. You know, when you see somebody like that, jump up the board, it feels like the people setting these odds have a sense of what's coming from Johnny Kiefer. We're all in agreement. And, you know, a lot of the smart folks, Mayo had Kiefer. I can't remember. And I know I saw his name a handful of times. Maybe my guy, Tom Jacobs had him. But, you know, yeah, Kiefer is one. That's such a good, uh, uh, threesome too. We're going to enjoy watching. Oh, yeah. Noon and has them. Everybody, I mean, everybody's on Kiefer because of the numbers that you just mentioned.

And those are numbers that off the T and approach numbers. Those are measured against the entire tour in this field. He's top three in both of those categories. So that's a reason why you have to think, think well of him. I want to get something down on Tor Brinson. I'm just going to keep playing Thor every week. You know, what they've done to this golf course introduces more opportunity to use driver and it also, you know, the diminished impact of around the green sort of helps Thor a bit,

you know, that is kind of... He wasn't great at Pebble, but I'm going to chalk that up to the to the weather because T3 in Phoenix and a T18 at farmers. Yeah, and I mean, look, as much as I bust your balls about the TGL stuff, like he's clearly now a ballfroger and he's, He's part of that team. And if Rory wants him on his team, it just tells you that he's seeing what he needs to see. Yeah. I also, I'm wondering what we're going to do with a couple other guys down the card. I wondered about Luke Clanton this week.

But he hasn't really, you know. It's just been so hard, man. Yeah. We're rooting for it. I know. He's just, he's missed the cutter withdrawn in the last. five events and before that it's just been yeah it since since coming out of the woodwork to win it's just been it's been hard man it's been a struggle all right well i that's about all i had in terms

of names i mean you have to have gerard mitchell shan lowry thor how tong i like that that angle yeah if you're looking for getting something down on if you're looking for something really long Andrew Putnam at plus 500 to top 20 is interesting. He's on conditional status, finished T2 at Amex with just mediocre stats. But he's leading the tour in Greens and Regulation. And he's tied with Kiefer in that stat. They're both T1 just ahead of Sheffler. So this, again, this week, if you're looking for something a little bit further down the board,

maybe that's a guy you throw a little something at. Yeah, I like that. Nate Dogg, I think we've done it. lots of good opportunity to catch our breath this week and see some names and see some players that we haven't seen really much of. Somebody's going to win. And, you know, Amex is too hard to really keep track of. We're finally at a like, this is going to be four rounds.

There's going to be a cut. They're playing the same golf course every day. We can get a feel for it. Let's see live betting wise, if anybody emerges and kind of shows us something where a live bet, you know, make sense. I was looking at Kittiyama on Sunday and was like, man, there are the odds as the day went on because he showed a hot hand. And I'm wondering if we get some kind of opportunity like that this week.

But we have done it. My birdie buddies, my par saving pals, my eagle enthusiast. Nate says it's going to be 84 in California next week. Fly to California. Leave the East Coast because most of the east. East Coast, but buried under snow. Not Washington, D.C., thankfully, we had some snow, but it's kind of all melted away. There might be golf days here in the next two weeks, but nobody cares about that. Get yourself to somewhere, either simulator or California, throw a peg in the ground, and please let's hit him straight out there.

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