Fairway Rollin' - Post–Ryder Cup Thoughts, Fall Series in Full Swing, and Shriners Children’s Open Picks

Episode Date: October 10, 2023

House and Hubbard start the pod by giving their post–Ryder Cup thoughts a week after the event (07:47). Then, they discuss the latest regarding the LIV Golf–PGA Tour deal (20:24). They end by previewing and giving their favorite picks for the Shriners Children’s Open in TPC Summerlin this weekend (25:46). Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Producer: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, this is Ben Lindbergh. And Jessica Clemens. And we are the hosts of Buttonmash, the ringer's video game podcast on the Ringerverse feed. We are in the midst of the biggest blockbuster gaming month, either of us can recall. We're talking about Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros, Alan Wake, Five Nights of Freddy's, Assassin's Creed Mirage. We will have our hands full. You can have your ears full with us talking about these wonderful video games. On the Ringerverse feed, weekly throughout this month, on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, friends.

A golf podcast. Unlike any other. Oh, yes, my friends. This is Fairway Road. A golf podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. I am your starter Joe House, joined by my incomparable accomplice. Our PGA tour, boots on the ground. Nathan Hubbard, we are in the fall series, my eagle,

enthusiast. Well, what does that mean? It means that we get to see a handful of great golfers. We're seeing a lot of jockeying and positioning among the tour players. We have some Ryder Cup fallout. We have the continuing

Jared Kushner open, Live 54, saga. As it unfolds with the PGA tour, flowers for Luke lists and a little preview of what's going down at the Shriners. The first tee is open. It's a two ball. me and the Nate Dog are ready to swing into the fall. Nate Dog, how you doing, bud?

Thought we might win yesterday, House. Man, we was right there, wasn't we? There was a moment. I actually didn't. I thought we were going to maybe clear second or third. I did not expect just a popery of vomiting golfers coming down the stretch yesterday. That's the FedEx Cup ball, I suppose.

But wow. It actually was really fun watching if you didn't have a family member playing, although that was actually fun too. So Mark Hubbard was on fire on the back nine down in Jackson, Mississippi, at the Sanderson Farms Open. Perhaps the greatest trophy in professional golf,

perhaps the giant rooster. the enormous. Yep. Yep. Don't have to say it. I don't have to say it. I don't have to say it. Everybody knows it.

It's the joke. It's the running joke. And Mark Hubbard when, was, was, was, uh, four under on the backside? Uh, five under? He was making a push. He got himself to four under on the backside. Yes. Yes.

The 17th hole and the 18th hole were not. Sorry. He got himself to five under on the backside. Yes. Sorry. Yes. The 17th hole and the 18th hole were not kind. He missed the playoff by a single stroke.

He might have gotten into the house. We don't play what it could or shoulda. Par par gets him in the house at a number that would have won the golf tournament. Yeah, Parpar does. And you're sitting on 17 with a 13-footer for birdie. I mean, look, he put it 290 yards to 3 feet on 14 for Eagle, hit a great chip to three feet on 15. I mean, he led the field an approach yesterday

and was second T to Green for the week. All those things were good. And then just 16, he looked at a 14-footer that he left in the jar just a couple inches short. And that put on 17 was downhill and fast and just ran a five feet by. And I left the house because I knew what was coming after that.

And I think, listen, in the moment, if you look up at the scoreboard, Ben Griffin at that point is at 21. and you expect that the guys behind you were going to go through 14 and 15, which were both at least birdie holes and put some points on the board and then try to survive 16, 17, 18,

and everybody just fumbled the bag down the stretch. I mean, suddenly in a period of 10 minutes, you got Norlander jack in the ball, way left. You got Griffin just unable to find a fairway. And for a minute there, boy, for a minute there, it felt like Ludwig O'Barre was going to come in and deliver. And he just got, you know, he just got, it was a crapshoot.

The playoff ended up being five guys at 18. But I think in that moment, you looked up on the board and said, no way does 18 get in. At least three guys are going to be 18 or better. So, you know, as Mark was standing there on 17, I thought he's at 19 under. He's putting. Hopefully this gets him. Yeah, he'd get one clear.

Maybe he gets in a playoff. but he's probably putting for second or third. And it just goes to show you that golf tournament's never over till it's over, is it? Well, and also to be enormously fair to Mark Hubbard, it's not like he was putting that 13-footer to lag it. You know, he wasn't. No, no, no, no. He thought he needed that.

And so it's a downhill put. And so you're like, I'm not leaving this thing short. The only chance I have to win this tournament is if, I make this put and I'm not leaving it short. So you go after it. Look, for me, honestly, if he'd won that tournament, it would have been the cheapest backdoor win of all time. I mean, Luke List just got a pretty cheap-ass backdoor win.

It all counts. And man, it gets you to Augusta. And that's why it doesn't feel good. But, you know, he shot five under overall, which was the best round other than C.T. Pan of, of anybody who finished in the top 10. and they both shot five under, or sorry, CT, I think shot six under, but played a great round of golf, went and grabbed another tap 10 by the throat, and that's his fifth out of his last 12 events.

Like, we're on to Vegas. That one felt great. It just, you never know is the thing. It's why you just keep going, you run through the end of that line, and sometimes the field backs up. But I'm not sure, I'm not sure, even if he pars out there and takes home the giant, what's the trophy again? It's a rooster.

Okay, rooster. Cockle doodle do. I'm not sure you walk off that 18th hole with that trophy into your arm and go, well, now I know how to win. Right. Like, oh, I know how. But it does speak to like anything can happen. So you get out there and you make a run like he made and moved up. And now, you know, he made whatever it was, $275,000.

And today, American lost his clubs, sent his clubs to Lubbock, Texas. And he couldn't get out of Jackson, Mississippi. He's sitting on a middle seat right now and flying to Vegas from Charlotte, North Carolina, no clue where his clubs are. And that is the glory of the BGA tour. Hey, somebody, give Patrick Cantlay some more money. Mark Herbert in the middle seat. Make sure the Patrick Can't lay get that boy ahead. Let's go ahead and talk about. We are only one week removed. You know, I was sitting here compiling some thoughts, made one of some notes on what I wanted to make sure we covered. And I had to look at the

news and the calendar to remind myself, it's only been one week. It feels like a lifetime ago already. It feels like to me, you know, at least several weeks ago, if not a month ago, but we are barely one week removed from the Ryder Cup. We've had a handful of stories bubble up to the surface, which is kind of always the way now as it relates to instances when the U.S. team doesn't perform well. The single most compelling storyline emanates from circles

is directly linked to Patrick Cantlay and Zander Shafley. Zander's dad, Stefan, went got on the mic, and let everybody know his point of view on the fair treatment of the guys competing on the PGA, on the Ryder Cup, including, you know, his own view about how some of the proceeds ought to be allocated. Zander was very careful to make sure that everybody understood that that was just his dad speaking,

not Zander. There's a, Max gave a great interview to the no laying up guy. he let us in to a whole variety of places, including the team room. And then Michael Bamberger at the end of the week had a story about, you know,

basically kind of confirmed that Can't Lay not wearing the hat might have been something more than just it not fitting the crown of his head the way that he prefers. What's your sort of sense of out of those stories, you know, how's your sense and sentiment on post-rider Cup 23?

I think we have to play better. And that's it. Sometimes it's not complicated. You just have to play better. Scotty didn't play well. He just didn't. He didn't play well. We knew he was going to have to lead the charge.

He just didn't play great. And from a statistical standpoint, we got our asses beat on the first hole, and we got our asses beat on the 18th hole. And what that meant was right out of the gate, Europe was winning. And what it also meant was coming down the stretch when the match was in question, Europe won. And that is how you win a Ryder Cup. I think over analyzing this and talking about tearing it all down and overthinking all the intricate, that's what it was. Their three best guys won 10 and a half points.

That's why they won the Ryder Cup. next time, we got to have guys who step up and collectively win 10 and a half points across three guys so that the burden doesn't fall on the rest of the roster. I think we thought the U.S. 's depth was going to play to their advantage. But when Bobby Mack puts all those points on the board, he was supposedly the weak link and the lowest ranked guy, you know, other than O'Ber and Hogart on the roster, like, what are you going to do? They just outplayed us. I just think if you overthink it, it's nonsense. And I would also say, to me, Max cleared a lot of this up. Like, either you believe Max Homa or you think he's full of shit. And in our experience with

Max Homa, like, I'm sure he hasn't always been 100% forthcoming with every little thought in his head. But the reason Max Homa is Max Homa, a golf pop culture star is because he speaks his truth. He always has. And what he said under no uncertain terms was the locker room was warm the team was supporting each other. He gave very detailed examples of how Justin and Jordan fired him up. He gave detailed examples of the ways in which they were interacting and what all the hat stuff was about. And he and Harmon were like, dude, if we go out with no hat, we're going to burn. But they all wanted to celebrate and support it. So it was a fascinating insight into the impact of social media and reporting on that event, just how impactful

it is to be the home team. And the takeaway for me is, yeah, winning a Ryder Cup at home is great, but winning it on the road is legendary. And it's almost a shame that it's that way house now. But the biggest takeaway for me coming out of the Ryder Cup, number one, we got to play better. But number two, it really, it doesn't matter unless you win on the road.

I couldn't agree more with that last sentiment. And I do want to speak a little bit more on what kind of menu we might bring to bear for success in 2027 at a dare manner in Ireland. Because we touch on it a bit on our recap show. But I first want to sort of cover some of the observations you just shared relating to Max and some of the stories that have come out. it feels to me if you parse the language of all of the folks that we've heard from over the past week, that everybody could be telling the truth, that there may not be because if you read some of the golf media, folks are quick to point to what seem to be inconsistencies and some of the things that different guys have said, and basically impuging the integrity of the author of the statements,

I think that there is a way of reading all this stuff where everybody's telling the truth. It could definitely be true that Patrick Cantlay and Zander Schaulay raised concerns around the participation of Netflix in this Rider Cup thing and also their own concerns around, you know, the compensation paradigm for this thing and that that, you know, had a role in their, their own participation, their own preparedness for this

event. And it could also be true that when all the guys were together in the team room all week long, that they got along great, that Max's version is the version. They like each other generally. They're able to, you know, see past any kind of petty differences that might exist in normal sort of tour life and just come together for the common good and revel in this team aspect. And I think it's definitely the case that the hat story, the Jamie Weir story coming out on that Saturday and the reaction of the crowd had a galvanizing effect on the team.

It was the spark that the team was missing. I only wish that it had come out now, in retrospect, Thursday. night. So the guys could have woke up for Friday morning, ready to go kick some ass. You know what I mean? Did it bother you that Jamie Weir was holding on to the Northern Irish flag with Rory? Or maybe he was

holding on to the English flag with Fleetwood? I don't know. It's golf media. And celebrating, did it feel a little bit like maybe he twisted some facts to create some drama? It's fine. Maybe he did. Don't care. At the guts of it, it's your

point, which is play- better go play the one thing that i wanted to get your thoughts on we covered it a bit on the recap and you are not that um compelled by by the argument i honestly think that if we really really really intend to win on foreign soil on european soil that we have to do house there's got to be a commitment and it's you got to get over there you have to be there for two weeks i know what an incredible imposition that is on the lives of those teammates. But they got to get over there. They have to get over there.

They have to play. Play against each other. Play the BMW. You know each other. Play the BMW and then get to the venue and do what the Euros did. Split into potential combinations and go play little matches on the golf course. In fact, if the PGA of America had, you know, a brain in its head and maybe it does, I'd be televising some of that.

I'd be saying, here's an early look at some Rider Cup stuff, you know, the proprietary. Now, the PGA of America won't own in its own stead the rights to that stuff in Europe. But, you know, I like, I think it was Tron from No Laying up, who said, why don't we get the Walker Cup team and have them scrimaging against the Rider Cup team in the run up to the event. So you have some live action, real stakes, you know, present. And it's not all the dudes sort of flying in at the very beginning of the week and

dealing with all the stuff you got to deal with. I like the idea. Get, get situated. Get over there. Have some quiet. Do the team building before the ruckus arises and then go take that thing on. Now, I mean, it's a position. Okay.

All right. But what are we doing? I mean, are we trying to win this thing or not? That's the way I feel about it. They can have the conversation behind the scenes around whether there ought to be compensation or more money that goes to the charities or whatever it is. Talk about it off-camera as I think the players at least did. But I'm with you that it's pretty clear you get there, you get on the ground,

you haven't had enough time to convert. It's got to be a two-week thing. And look, the world of golf is globalizing before our very eyes. We're hearing the stories about the ongoing conversations between live and the PGA Tour. And it's hard to imagine that the players who play today the PGA Tour, and those are generally the ones on the U.S. squad. But even when it's in, you know, America, but it's hard to imagine that there won't be a series of events in in which the current PGA tour has some ownership or skin in the game that happen around the

Ryder Cup on the go forward basis. And that they may change some of the scheduling to accommodate that, if only to level the playing field. Because I think it's in everyone's interest for there to be some intrigue around who's going to win. And what you did that I completely whiffed on is you understood that the data says it's just really freaking hard to win on the road. Why golf is an unbelievably mental game. And when there are 50,000 people screaming at you and shaking your hat, shaking their hat at you, it's really hard to concentrate and play golf. So that's sort of what it boils down to. You understood that. And it wouldn't surprise me if they try to level the playing field on a go forward basis to make this thing even more compelling viewing. Well, we're not going to

have any issue whatsoever at Bethpage. I think the version of what you had in your mind's eye with our guys coming out ready to kick ass and take names, I believe that will be the prevailing dynamic at Bethpage. I'm sure the European team will arrive, loaded, like just ready to do full hand-to-hand combat with the folks in New York. But I just think, you know, have you played Beth Page Black? No. It's a big boy golf course. It's not a shocker that Dustin

Johnson and Brooks Kepka, the 2019 PGA championship, that those are the dudes coming down the stretch. It's an awesome golf course as well, but I think our chances are absolutely fine for that one.

Yeah, not worried about that one. Not worried about that one. It's 27. You mentioned the live situation. We'd heard some rumblings about there possibly being something coming down from the Department of Justice on the antitrust question. I know that you've heard some things as well around, you know, the potential time frame being pushed out. We both have heard things about other potential partners to the PGA tour, stepping up, possibly to fill the role,

the economic role that the Saudis are currently offering if the antitrust issue isn't resolved. And we also take a note of the fact that his excellency is at the Dunhill playing under an assumed game. Yeah. Yeah. Well, did they finish today? It was pouring rain. Yes. Yes. Fancy won. Fitsy won. Congrats. Patrick won with his, both the individual and he and his mom won the team title.

Oh, that's lovely. Good. Good for the Fitzpatrick. It's amazing to see those two guys come out of the Ryder Cup, O'Ber and Fitzpatrick and go, you know, shoot the best score over four days. Or not, right? Not that surprising at all. They're in form and they are absolutely battle tested. What's your sense as to let's give the world, you know, state of affairs with the live situation? Well, I think you said it. The fourth quarter is when deals really heat up and get done, and that's what's happening right now. There are a lot of rumblings that DOJ is not happy with this deal and that there will have to be some concessions made if it's going to go forward. And I think to make those concessions and work out the details, they just need more time.

and so it does feel like the deadline that was hard and fast in the original term sheet that was signed that punted on a lot of issues, that that time deadline may be moved back. And whether that's three months, whether that's six months, it's still TBD. On the other hand, you did have his excellency playing Dunhill links and spending a lot of time with the head of the official World Golf Rankings. And you get the sense that there is, we are very close to peace in the realm on World Golf rankings and that they are working

through a way such that players on the live events are going to start to be able to receive some points, which to be honest was one of the selling points the PGA Tour had in its bag was you may never get to play a major again. Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, unless you qualify directly on your own, your world ranking is not going to get you into these events because we're just not going to recognize no-cut, smaller field,

three round events. It does appear that they're settling on a way to recognize that probably Brooks Kepka and Cam Smith ought to be ranked a bit higher in the world than they are at the moment when you look at those rankings. I'm not sure Cam Smith is a worse player today than 13 guys in the world. I'm not sure Brooks Kepka is a worse player than 16 guys in the world. Do you really take Tom Kim, who is currently 16th over Brooks Kepka, who is currently 17th?

It's not a great reflection of the quality of these guys out there. And I think World Golf Rankings knows that. And, you know, kudos to Brooks for proving that that they were, were clearly missing out something with the way he played in these majors and qualified himself for, well, he was captain's pick, but he certainly earned his way onto the Ryder Cup squad. So I think that's what's happening in the live world. We're going to have a slow but steady leak of updates and drama around this impending deadline because there are several other funding sources that would like to step in and

replace the Saudi money to partner with the PGA tour. this is the quarter when this stuff happens so stay tuned as a as a finishing thought any of those other potential interested parties partners bring to bear enough economics there's nobody that rivals the sovereign wealth of the saudi so i i'm not asking do they rivaled are they on that scale what i'm asking is do they have enough i think they have enough i think they have enough. I think they have enough. All right. Well, that makes it doubly exciting and doubly interesting. We did a good job, I think, of going through the Sanderson Farms, outcome. Flowers to Luke List. Flowers to Luke

list. Flowers to Luke List. Two-time winner on tour now, back-to-back winners. Keep your eyes on the O'Bare. I liked him better when he was Bayburg, but I'll roll with it better too. Frisky Cam Champ House. Look, he's always lurking. He's always lurking. This week, we are in Las Vegas. We're rooting hard for Mark Hubbard to get from North Carolina to Vegas in his middle seat.

This is the Shriners Open. It's been a tour event for a long time. Over 40 years. This is maybe, maybe anyway. And they play it at the T.P. see Summerlin, which is out in the desert a little bit, you know, 25 minute ride off the strip. You know I'll be there.

You're going to be there? I will be there. Of course you'll be there. How would you pass up an opportunity? The golf course tends to yield low scores. The winning scores tend to be in the 23, 24 under territory, unless there is wind. and the forecast thus far this week doesn't seem like there's going to be

wind that's going to be dramatically impactful. The fact that it plays at altitude lets some shorter hitters into the mix. You don't need to be the biggest bomber because you're able to put it out there far enough

with the altitude and there isn't really any rough to speak of. No. No. There's no rough. Yeah. Which is why the guys come out. Yeah. It's a fun closing stretch that is somewhat analogous to Hartford and that you've got a drivable par four down the stretch and then a par five and a part three, tough finishing par four. So there are guys who can come down the stretch as Tom Kim did last year battling Sung Jay in a lot of ways and score on that last nine. You've got to keep your eyes peeled. But this is a this is not. the hardest golf course that's ever been put up. That's for sure.

Yeah, it is a shame that Patrick Cantley isn't available. Congratulations to Patrick on his marriage, which was the day after the Ryder Club Cup concluded. Good planning. Great job by him. Let's get married in Rome the day after or whatever the countryside. Why not?

Good job by you, Patrick Cantlay. After he played very well in that Ryder Cup. For sure. But he loves this golf course and this tournament and has finished second a whole bunch of times. The last five winners, you mentioned Tom Kim. He shot 24 under last year. Patrick Cantley was in there at 21 under. Sung Jay at 24 under also in 2021.

And then you, you know, some some like more curious like Martin Laird in 2020, 23 under Kevin Nah, 23 under. Vegas native. Vegas native Kevin Nah. And then Bryson at 21 under a couple of the trends. You have to have finished in the top 16 or better at this event in a prior year. Eight of the last 12 fit that. Nine of the last 13 winners of this event had an 11th place placed, finish or better in one of their previous five tournaments.

So you're looking for guys that have come in. relatively hot and a couple categories that matter. It's always strokes gained approach, but the difference between the winners and the guys that didn't win, strokes gained putting and strokes gained approach at this particular menu. Let's start talking about some names.

The field has Tom Kim and Ludwig Obert and Lexi Thompson. Mm-hmm. Which is a person that doesn't usually play on the PGA tour. I'm excited about it. I mean, look, don't say yeah. Let's put it this way. You know who has the same, you know who has the same odds as Lexi Thompson?

Brandon Matthews, Dylan Fratelli, Nick Watney, Trevor Werbilow, Paul Haley, the second, Andrew Landry, Craig Hocknell, Jim Herman. Ryan Brem, friend of the pod, Brian Stewart, Tommy Two Gloves Ganey, Max McGrievey, Michael, Jim, I mean, there are tons of guys who have the same odds. Now, that is in part because, like, Vandul's just not going to get them, get any worse than a thousand to one.

Fine. But still, I mean, I don't know. Do you give a crap about any of those other guys? Like, do we want to see Hermie again? do we care about Tommy two gloves in another one of these events? Why not? Let's put, where's Nelly? Where's all the-

Literally, that's right. Bring them in. It's literally the thing. These are golf tournaments occurring in the fall when the American sporting public is watching college football and professional football and the baseball playoffs and, you know, right around the corner. Yeah. The National Basketball Association.

this is the time to innovate. These are the kinds of things that the tour ought to be considering in terms of bolstering some interest, building a kind of entertainment products that might get some people to tune in for a little while. And especially like on a Friday and a Thursday when you're not really competing with football, let's go ahead and have some outside the box.

thinking in terms of participants in these tournaments, Nate Dogg. I absolutely support it. Okay. Well, look, and I know I've heard it. Lexi almost lost her card this year. She missed a ton of cuts. She's played terribly until recently when pre-Soulheim Cup, she was T-19, post-Solheim Cup, she was T-8, and last week she was fifth.

So she's hitting the ball well enough to come in and play. she's going to hold her own. Nobody liked the way that she didn't answer the question at Solheim after she shanked the chip. Shank. Nobody liked that she didn't handle it. But it wasn't really that people didn't like that she didn't answer the question so much

as they didn't like the captain saying that she didn't think it was an appropriate question. I'm not sure Lexi, besides staying silent and getting protected, was awful in her answer. But anyway, I'm happy to see it. Let's see how Lexi does. I mean, this is as close to a, you know, club pro in this field playing against Lexi. So let's see how they do it.

I don't, I mean, I haven't seen the make the cut bet yet, House. But I just want to say that it's not out of the question, given that Lexi can hit the ball relatively far. It's not out of the question that Lexi makes a cut here. It's not. There are some shitty golfers playing the same. tournament. I hope this is like a gateway drug because there are some other women over the past year that I'm very interested in seeing compete.

Lexi deserves the spot by virtue of her stature as an American LPGA player. But I'd like to see some of the young women, the recent major winners, Miss Vu would be like I'd like to see her And I'd love to see Rosang You know In these kinds of circumstances

Everybody's got sponsor invites Let's do it this fall I'd love to see Anybody play in the fall Why not? I mean we got again we got a There are compelling storylines this fall As people jockey for position

Unlike years past It wasn't just the Wyndham That determined whether you kept your card or not right for for the top 70 guys those guys are all exempt because of how they played through the windom but we still have a list of guys who are battling to keep their card right now eric van royan is 125th on the fedex cup list and his countryman mj da fuy is 126 chess and hadley who always seems to be hanging around this line is just outside those are guys who are going to be struggling to get into the events next year if they don't move up so there's drama there's definitely Definitely drama in spots 51 through 60, which will determine who gets into the elevated events at Pebble and RIV. And oh, by the way, Mark Hubbard is now 59th in that house. I don't know if you saw that. But, you know, so these guys are all playing for things. Those are compelling storylines. It makes great gambling if you're paying attention because the general public is definitely not.

And so many of these events have half the field who really are just not playing good enough golf. That's why they're here. so you can it's a little bit more of fish shooting in a barrel. But House, I watched as much golf as I possibly could because my brother turned out to be playing super well on Sunday. But man, when Mark is up on a scoreboard like that, I get a million texts. I got five on Sunday because everybody was watching football. And so was I until he fucking made the eagle. Yeah.

then I switched over and was like, wait a minute, are we going to top five? So I don't blame anybody for not watching this thing. I would just say to the casual and slightly more than casual golf fan who enjoys to bet on the sport, this is a fun thing to pay attention to. And so why not inject a little bit more storyline? And if Lexi comes in and plays remotely good, here's the reason Lexi's going to struggle and why you can't better to make the cut. It's what you said.

The winner finishes at 24 under. And these are, this is not. not, you know, this is not Harbor Town or some of the shorter tracks that are just, that basically take the driver out of people's hands. You still got to hit the ball far on this golf course. And in particular, people who can hit a 300-yard drive to a green, you know, for the drivable par four on the back. Like, those guys are going to have an advantage, even as Lixie hits it far. So I would not better to make the cut, but goddamn house, if I'm not rooting for it. that's right i love the sound of it well let's let's give out some some names here let's go

ahead and put our money where our our mouths are i have a handful of names that are like you know the off-the-radar guys that you would um you know probably not do your your own uh you know big investment in but some horse for the course guys and then some guys in recent form there's no dance card that Ludwig Obert doesn't appear on, right? He has to be on it. Yeah, you got it.

He is circling the hoop for a win. It is coming sure as Sunday. This is an absolute dog. He's going to be a top 10 player in the world before next Christmas, if not, before next summer. And so you just, at this point, it probably comes within 15 events.

So if you see him here in this tournament at 12 to 1, 12 to 1, you're almost nuts to not just lay money on the events that he's playing between now and whenever he wins. It's coming. I agree with that. Some of the other names that I have, starting with guys that have performed well here,

way down the list, Matthew Neesmith, has a really, good record at TPC Summerlin. 4-4 and made cuts. Finished second last year. This is why I wanted to look him up because I was looking at last year's finishing stretch and saw him second. He's finished tied for 18th or better in all four of those finishes.

So Neesmith, you know, currently available on the Fandul machine down here, 70 to 1 to win outright, but you know, just play them to top 20, play them to top 10. That's the kind of place where you're starting to, you know, build up a little bit of value.

Let me hear some names from you. Well, CT Pan finished on Sunday with a six under round. He was first around the green. He was 10th T to Green. He struggled a bit off the T. But, you know,

C.T. right now in terms of you know his odds he's way down the board you can get him at like 120 to 1 right now he's not going to win this golf tournament but I like him as a play to potentially

you know get a top 20 this week another guy that I really love this week I'm looking around the edges of who's going to compete to jump up into either the top 51 to 60 or who's fighting to stay at 125 I loved what we saw

from Christian Buzuddin Hood last week. His ball striking was great. He was sixth on approach. And you can get him right now. I mean, look, he's hanging around there trying to see if he can work his way up into the top, into the top 51 through 60. He pretty much secured his card

with his performance last week. He moved up to 90 second. But there's still five events left. And with a top couple top fives are a top three finish, he suddenly propels himself into potentially getting into those signature events. So I like Pazudan Hood right now, even as he sits in the sort of 55 to one range on Fanduil right now, he's got the game for this course and could see him certainly as a top 10, top 20 play

this week. Yeah, I also like him. I'm looking for guys with known strokes gain approach. ability and an affinity for this venue, a guy that jumped off the page, Tom Hogi, who has been playing really tied for 13th last week, or yesterday at Sanderson Farms.

He had three top 21 finishes he'd been playing on the DP World Tour. Three top 21 finishes and four starts there. And we know about his quality, strokes gain approach. He was 5.68 gained last week. at Sanderson. He has said that he absolutely loves TPC Summerlin.

He's played it seven times, made the cut six of those seven times, has two top tens and two top 25s. So Tom Hogi, even if you just want a tiny bit of exposure to him, plus 150 to finish in the top 20, right? If you don't want to like really go

nuts on it, just go ahead and get yourself a little top 20 exposure for somebody that likes the venue and is in form with the ball striking. Hogi is definitely on my card as well, they dug. Yep. Well, you mentioned Chess and Hadley a couple moments ago.

That guy is six for seven and made cuts at this venue over the last seven seasons and gained strokes putting in three of the last five years. If you're just looking for horse for course kind of guys, Adam Hadwin plays in the desert really well. he has a he finished tied for 10th or better at the Shriners in three of the last four times he's been here and then Martin Laird won this thing um in 2020 yes 2020 uh he has made the cut in in four straight events so if you want to like you know try and find a a vet um like Laird that that that could be a way to play it

I don't hate it. Go back and look at some of these guys who've had some momentum in the fall. Look at guys who in particular are hitting their approach shots well. They're going to have a chance this week. Again, there's just a smaller group of guys, a Sam Ryder, right?

Sitting at 65 to 1 who's trying to fight his way into that top 10 in the fall to get up there. My guess is a guy like Ben Griffin probably burned himself out last week. Wow. You know, you don't lay it down. The only other interesting thing is all of the Europeans who've gone and played, you know, with Fitzpatrick winning, with O'Ber, almost winning last week, we're going to get a look at Nikolai Hogarth at this event. And he's sitting there at 40 to 1 to win.

I'm not sure this is the event that he goes and wins, but all the Europeans seem to be playing well coming out of there. So maybe you look at a top 10, top 20 for Hogard. Yeah, I like that a lot. I want to finishing thought, one of your brother's best pals on tour, Henrik Norlander, plus 550 as a top 20. Did he also,

you think he's going to come off of that experience in Mississippi a little burned out? Or do we want to ride the hot hand? I have, on Norlander, I'm not sure. I mean, I like it because I think his general play this week was great.

and I think some guys are going to carry it over, right? The thing that wasn't great for Henrik is he was 65th an approach this week. Yeah. And he was 67th yesterday. I mean, he was not, he was great off the tea. He was just phenomenal with the putter, and the irons just weren't there all week.

That would concern me a little bit on this course, just as you try to distinguish yourself. But again, any event that ends up being 24 under, ultimately becomes a putting contest, and Norlander hitting his approach shots horribly, still managed to make, you know, to get himself to 18 under in Jackson. So if he can make a course correction here over the next couple days, get the irons in better shape, wouldn't be surprised to see him do that well. I like it. The finishing thought, Nikolai Hogarth available on the Fandul Sportsbook, Top 20 at plus 180. Those are the ways that you can build up your bank roll for

the majors around the corner. There is major golf not too far off in our distant future. I'm not counting the master's days yet, Nate Dogg. The fall series is too much fun. We are having fun here on the Fairway Rollin podcast. Thanks for listening to all the birdie buddies. It's fall golf time. Leaf rule is definitely in effect.

If you can't find your ball, just put one down where you think you hit it. One of my favorite things about fall golf here. If you're playing with generous pals, that is to say. I hope you are able to do it. Throw a peg in the ground. If you're able to do it, hit it straight out there. And we'll be back possibly next week, definitely a handful of times over the fall as the fall series continues to titillate and stimulate us as well as hopefully you.

In the meantime, please, let's all hit them straight out there.