Fairway Rollin' - Remaining Thoughts on The Open Championship With Megan Schuster and Erik Anders Lang

Episode Date: July 19, 2022

House and Hubbard are joined by The Ringer’s Megan Schuster to discuss some remaining takeaways from The Open Championship (2:52), and they preview the 3M Open in Minnesota (30:28). Then, House is joined by the founder of Random Golf Club, Erik Anders Lang, to discuss his week at St. Andrews, the content he has coming up, and much more (45:39). Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Guests: Erik Anders Lang and Megan Schuster Associate Producer: Isaiah Blakely Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello, friends. To this golf podcast, unlike any other O-Yzer. yes, my friends, we've done it. This is Faraway Row. The golf podcast on the Ringer podcast Network, and I am your starter, Joe House, my birdie buddies, my par saving pals. We are still enjoying the afterglow of the Open Championship. The tour never stops.

Not only are we still trying to make sense out of Rory Bakalroy and Cam Smith, but we're revving up. We're ready to go on with the 3M Open in the Twin Cities. We have a native son, a native daughter. To be more precise, Megan Schuster, the ringer's own golf correspondent is joining Nate and I to talk about the 3M Open and also share her thoughts. She has a piece on the ringer.com to talk about how Rory and Cam went down.

And then we are so lucky, speaking of the afterglow of the Open Championship, as a guest on today's show. This is the first time. It's been a long time coming. Eric Anders Lang from the Random Golf Club just spent a whole week over in St. Andrews, and he's going to share with us his perspective on the ground,

what his week was like and all the stuff that he has, that he's working on in terms of his documentaries, his adventures in golf, upcoming documentary, Be the Ball. And Random Golf Club stuff, let's just jump into it. It's a three ball. It's Nathan Hubbard, our PGA tour correspondent on the ground. It's myself, and it is Megan Schuster.

First, he is wide open. Let's get a peg in the ground. All right, my birdie buddies. We are still reveling in the afterglow of that unbelievable ending to the 150th championship. At St. Andrews, we had to go to an old friend, our beloved Megan Schuster, associate editor at the ringer and covers golf for the ringer she matt dollinger and elizabeth nelson had an excellent story up last week seven burning questions coming into the tournament shout out elizabeth nelson uh she picked the winner she picked cam smith um chusty you last night got up your

reaction piece and we wanted to now that there's been kind of 20 hours or so since it ended go through it a little bit with you see if you're still in the same frame of mind. And my Eagle enthusiasts, not many of you may know, Megan Schuster hails from the Twin Cities this week, this upcoming week, the tour returns to the United States. The 3M open is occurring. And so we're going to get some insights from Schusty on that as well. But Schuestey, let's talk about this open championship. How you feeling? Let's do it. First of all, very happy to be back. Very happy to be with both of you. I am still very much reveling in everything that happened yesterday. I have to admit that on the first five, six, seven holes when, you know, Victor was sort of falling back and Rory was very,

very slowly, but surely moving forward, I thought it was going to be a pretty boring finish. I didn't expect anyone from the back of the pack to come up that quickly. And even when Cam was doing it, I really thought that it would just serve to push Rory forward rather than actually seriously challenge him for the championship. And woe was that wrong. And woe did he really just blow my mind. It was incredible. There were a lot of Rory really won the open.

He won the hearts and minds stories that followed yesterday with the hindsight. Did he? Or was this another, oh gosh. Maybe Rory doesn't have it any more moment for you. So I'll say, and I said in the piece last night, but I don't. Because you might destroy House with your answer. No, no, I'm fine. I might absolutely break his heart.

I've made peace with it. Wait till you hear my glass half full when we have the opportunity to go through it. Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait. My lasting takeaway was really that I don't feel like Rory lost it. But no, I mean, he certainly didn't win it. And he was in a different position in this major than he's been in past major letdowns where he was actually leading and actually had, you know, the massive expectations in this final round of like, you just have to go out there and you have to take it. And I will say that, you know, the NBC crew read off a text from Tiger on Sunday morning about what his strategy would have been in Rory's position.

And he said, you know, it aimed for 19 under, just try not to have any massive mistakes, avoid bunkers, three puts, all of that. Rory basically did that. And the fact that KM came out in won anyway was just the most impressive thing in the world to me. So I don't feel like Rory lost it, but I also don't feel good coming out of this weekend. Like his game looks solid. And I do think he'll be, you know, a deserved favorite going into the Masters. But no, I don't feel like he won anything this weekend.

Sorry, House. If that's like, you know, take you down a dark path. The track record of professional golfers that have finished in the top eight of all four majors in the same, you know, season, it's not a long record, right? It's not. And it's some pretty prominent names without winning one. I'm interested in one aspect. And this came through the shotgun start podcast, those guys, Andy and Brendan, had a chance to listen and enjoyed that very much. one of the points those guys made, which actually resonated with me, was the potential impact,

as we're trying to make sense out of this, of Rory being paired with Victor. And we love Victor on this podcast. Belovedly, we've dubbed him, I've dubbed him, hi, Rory, because of the combination of his outstanding game, plus just the overall, you know, the expression on his face. And he's kind of implacable, right? But in any event, I... Triple gummy, Rory. I think in a weird way, Rory was done a disservice. They both talked about after Saturday how comfortable they were with each other

and how they fueled the charge that they mutually went on. And then they both came out flat on Sunday. And it feels like, and this is what the shot at gun start guys observed, and I totally agree with this, Rory might have missed the moment when Camp Smith turned the engines on and missed like that

he couldn't grab that that signal competitively and respond to it because he was kind of stuck in the hit every fairway two put every green mode. He missed, you know, makeable putts.

He missed that makeable putt on three. He didn't birdie nine. Like, you know, The one, the missed opportunities felt like the Tiger Woods game plan that the NBC guys talked about. But it deprived him of seeing what was happening with, with Cam Smith, and responding to it in kind in time. And in some respect, I can't believe you're blaming Victor for this. What, well, it's just that. What a load of shit.

That relationship, well, the Victor part of it is. He missed the guy that was really going to challenge him. Cam was in front of him. Cam was playing every hole. He was waiting on cams every shot. Only on the front. This is exactly the point. They didn't wait when they got to the back because the cam and the two camps were getting the fuck off of greens

because they were birdying holes and moving on. They weren't in disastrous trouble. You can see the town from way back. I understand. I'm just saying, you know, to feel this competitiveness. It's not that he couldn't observe it. It's not that he couldn't look at the board. I'm just saying, just to talk some sense into him.

Where's the spark? Listen, I'm kind of into this. I'm kind of into this only because people talked about it so much on the broadcast on Saturday, right, about this match play feel that Rory and Victor had going on on Saturday and how they were feeding into each other and egging each other. other on and pushing each other forward. And I don't think that we can acknowledge one without acknowledging the other. And now this is not me trying to blame Victor by any means for this, because Rory was sluggish all on his own and was not taking advantage of major opportunities

that he had and was not making putts up and down and whatever else was going on with him. However, just envision for a second what it would have been like had, and I saw, I think, TC from No Laying Up tweeted this on Sunday. If Cam had just waved Victor up and traded spots with him in the middle of the round, how much more electric it would have been? Because I do feel like Rory is one of those rare players who really feeds off of the crowd and the energy around him. And he had like a bit of that classic bounce strut thing going on over the front nine.

But the back nine, he just looked so defeated. And if he was playing right alongside Cam Smith, I think he would have, I don't know, maybe he gets a little fire in his belly and does better. I'm out on this. No, Nate, we have. Maybe you're out on something we've been using. The crowd was chanting his name. Yeah, we've been talking about the role that Rory has played in responding to the live, like as the front and the face of the PGA tour, the spokesperson for the history and the legacy. of what the tour has wrought.

And we have, maybe you don't agree with this, I have ascribed some of his excellent play over, really since the Masters to that role. The competitive juices have been flowing. Yes. Yeah. Right. Right.

So why in this instance, in this moment, are you so skeptical? I just think all of the conditions were in place for him to play great. He had all of the fates and golf gods at his back. He had an entire town full of human beings at his back. And he putt like shit. He hit 18 greens.

He played terrific. He just didn't make a single one putt in the entire final round of the British Open. That's how you lose a golf tournament. If he had done what Tiger said, which is take care of the drivable par fours and the drivable par fives, he probably gets the 20 and he's at least in a playoff. and I think Cam maybe has to press a little bit more. In the sneaky part of the back last four holes was Cam knew he had it. And as soon as Rory missed that, I mean, you know, the put on 17 obviously was over.

But before then it felt like Cam knew he went, when Rory didn't birdie the par five, Cam had a stroke on him coming down the whole back. So I don't know. I just think Rory didn't play well. Now, I hate to say this. I hate to even go here. But we have to go here because everything was fine and good. and I was ready to sort of ask you, Megan, like, is Cam Smith boring?

Like, is he boring? Because he was super boring after the players, although he got teary and his family was there and it was sort of nice. And he got choked up, you know, saying this is for Oz? And I was just going to say, is this just sort of the Australian DJ almost in terms of his mental ability to sort of recover and all that? But then, record scratch, he gave us Brooks Kepka press conference at the U.S. Open part two. in response to a fairly, you know, I mean, it wasn't an aggressive question from the journal. Like, it had to be asked by the media because rumors had been swirling about the Live Tour. But he gave the exact same answer.

And so what I ask you is, did you see that? What was your reaction? And holy shit, does not the golf landscape change if the number two player in the world and finally one of these good young guns under 30? suddenly goes to this tour? Like, was that the real earthquake that came out of the open championship? First of all, I did see the press conference, and you're right. It was remarkably Brooksian. Even down to, didn't he sort of blame everything on his team and say that, you know,

I don't really make these decisions, but my team is looking into it. And they'll tell me what I'm going to do. And it's like, first of all, what? Like, that makes absolutely no sense. You are the person in charge here. You have the ultimate say. which was just remarkably funny. But yeah, it does totally change.

I mean, not only is he now the champion golfer of the year and will be until next July. He also earns all kinds of major championship exemptions, which means that he'll be around for a long time. That leads to, you know, various world ranking points and things, which has been one of the major questions about the live tour going forward is how those guys will earn points if they don't recognize. live events and if, you know, other things in that realm happen. And also if majors come through and, you know, decide whether to ban them or not. But as it all stands now, he should, you know, be able to play whatever majors he wants to going forward for a number of years. And it is, it would be a massive defection if only because very few players on the live tour right now are playing effective, consistent golf.

And he has been a force on the PGA all year. It's consistently great in the Masters was amazing this weekend. And yeah, it would be a major, major loss for the tour. I remember during the, I forget if it was at the PGA or the U.S. open when all of the Collinmore Cowell rumors were swirling around. And that was sort of the panic level there, whereas like this great young golfer is maybe going to leave. And now this seems even more.

real than the Morikawa stuff looked at the time. So it's scary. So two aspects to the possibility of Cam leaving. I think there is credence to the other name that we've heard in the in the form and shape of one Hideki Matsuyama. And if Hideki and Cam Smith both leave the PGA tour over the next handful of months, maybe Cam will play it out, you know, play through the FedEx Cup and then figure out what he wants to do.

But those two really change the calculus and the dynamic in my estimation. And, you know, if that happens. That's true. I mean, because all we've been doing in this iterative mode is trying to assess the damage as it's occurred with the various names.

those two names change everything. And, you know, I think is the PGA tour with its bellwether event, the Players' Championship, the defending champion of that is Cam Smith. Are they not going to let Cam Smith come defend his championship at the players? It seems kind of unlikely. So some kind of forced unholy alliance, some kind of highly engineered, you know, work share arrangement, some kind of joint venture, whether it's got, you know, in the form of actual contracts or whatever, that all remains to be seen. But I don't see

the masters saying to Hadeki Matsiyama and Cam Smith that you're not invited. And the exemptions that Cam just earned by virtue of this win into the other majors, I don't. I don't, really see those other championships, you know, trying to draw a line. He's, he's too impactful. He's too meaningful. And the interesting question that, that I guess we'll have an answer to over the next handful of months is his value to both tours just went up, you know, by an exponent, right? So whatever number he might have been discussing, his team might have been discussing because Cam doesn't talk about these things. Right.

His team handles it. Whatever that number is, it has to have doubled for live. And what can the PGA tour offer him in response to that? Nate, I'll ask you that first. Then I want to hear what Chusty thinks. Nothing except, you know, a tongue lashing from Rory McElroy whose ass he just kicked. That's their primary line of defense. Yeah.

I'm with you. I don't think they have anything more to offer. I think the only thing would be if he has not signed a live contract yet, if, you know, like you're saying House, obviously the price now is very different than the price would have been pre-open championship. And if they are not maybe prepared to meet whatever number he may have in his mind could be a deterrent. But I mean, yeah, I don't know really what the PGA tour offers. if, you know, the majors don't get on board and, and do something related to live as well. Seems, I don't know, kind of out of their hands. I mean, we're just trying to scramble and respond to this unexpected stimuli as it smacks us in the face. Today's news is that David Farity has signed on with the Livtor to be the on-course announcer. sir. Nate,

let's guess. I haven't seen any reports of the number. Nate, what do you think the number was? How much do you think they're giving

Farity? 25. Wow. Holy cow. That's so much more. What do you think his golf channel contract was? Five?

Yeah. If that. I mean, that's, I, 25. Their t-shirt canoning money

all over the golf universe. Why wouldn't you throw 25? Like, seriously, what is the line that, like, they hold to at this point? There's no line. And I think, Megan, you said it right. The only thing that's going to get in the way at this point is egos. Because Rahm and Rory are not going. They've drawn the line in the sand.

So they're not going. There's other guys who've drawn the line. They're not going. JT and Speed are not going. They're not going. Morikawa's not going. And there is this division in the clubhouse that is becoming personal. So you have the ego piece.

But then you've got what you just said, which is Cam Smith right now, is like, fuck how much money did you pay Bryson? Because, like, I'm bringing the international crowd and Greg Norman were Australian. And, you know, like, I'm worth at least $125, right? Or maybe I'm worth $2. He just won. That's what I'm saying. It better start with a three, a minimum of a three.

Do they run out of money? Well, obviously, we already know. The answer to that is no. I know. So then the only thing that's going to get in the way is that guy made X. I want to make X plus Y. Otherwise, it's just going to be about the interpersonal stuff and people who've drawn the line in the sand, you know, being either stubborn or principled enough, depending on how you look at it to keep them from jumping. Shusty, I want to get your take.

But I think the number, the number I heard for Hadeki was 400. So he's he obviously represents an enormous, you know, market share and the impact of, of Hadecki coming over on live standing in the world and all of the synergy that lines up with their allegiance with the Asian tour. What Hadeki sort of, you know, how connecting those dots makes sense through Hodecki. But why would K.M. Smith-Shooste take a dollar less than four. 400 million. Right. I mean, if your cam right now, like, do you even entertain something that's less than that? I mean, obviously it's vastly more money than you're going to make on the PGA tour, which,

you know, do whatever you want to do with that. But he is like unquestionably way hotter right now than than Hedecki. And then most any other golfer in the world, if you look at just what he's done all year and especially now. and if I'm Cam, like, I don't even know where I start in negotiations. I guess you do ask for the world and see what they come back with? And then if that number is not enough, then, you know, then you stay for a while and try to win another major and then go back to him. I mean, he's got all the options right now, honestly.

You're negotiating with an opponent that has no walkaway price. They literally have no walkaway. walkaway price. So I don't know how you negotiate with that if you're Greg Norman, except maybe he's, maybe he's the shock and he's, you know, business guy and he's creating some sort of mythical line in the sand, pun intended, that he's not going to cross. But if you're an agent right now, you're literally, there's like an open vault and there's nobody guarding it. So you just keep go taking money until there's no more money, I think. One other thing I just want to, a sort of call to our attention. It has been an open question around the performance of the

live guys in these events. Can they be competitive? Will they in these major? Well, that's right, because here are the names, right, DJ tied for six, DeChambeau tied for eighth. A Banser tied for 11th. Here are two other names that have been rumored as potentially jumping over. Teryl Latin finished in the same place as Abe Ancer at 11 under. Adam Scott, you know, tied, tied for 15th at 10 under. You know, if those two guys and they've been, you know, rumored, I won't go beyond that as making that, that jump over. If you add Camp Smith and Hedecki to that group, I mean, that, that's a,

it's a pretty competitive and interesting. It changes that the products. in a meaningful way. That's the quiet and polite way I'll put it. Megan, do you think that makes it better than the PGA tour? Doesn't this just make both of them suck a little more? Yeah, and I think one of the main problems is still lives format and that like that is never going to be an entirely competitive way of doing things.

And in certain instances, it's like interesting to watch, but it's not going to replicate like, you know, the feel of what Cam did on Sunday. or even like, you know, what the RBC was earlier this year with, you know, Rory and J.T. and Tony Fee now. Like that in itself was so fun to watch. But yeah, I mean, it's not like, yeah, like the whole grow the game thing or whatever excuse that people keep throwing out there. It's like it's just making both products, it's just diluting both products and making both products less fun, which, I mean, from that person, perspective, it makes me feel like the majors really have no incentive to keep live players out because think of how many eyes they'll get from being the only tournaments where both parties

are competing. So it's sort of like, why would they want to ban half of that field? I don't know. I mean, it makes me more like sour about all of this and just honestly sadder about this than I have been to this point because it seems like the reality is just getting worse and worse. It's over. It's great for the majors. It's terrible for the regular season. And by the way, if Liv was signing like, you know, Joe House to be the commenter and throwing 25 mil his way, 25 mil to Megan and Joe House, I'd be a lot more interested in it.

I actually think it's lame for them to go steal the sort of old guard who are not going after that sort of new, hip young audience that it feels like you might if you actually were trying to grow the game and sort of bet on the rock and roll golf that seems to be their brand.

So I don't know. It just, are we really going to have to like cover two competing events the same way? This sucks. Well, just for the record, my number starts with the five.

I'm not going to say how many zeros after that. Mine too. Mine too, house. I honestly think this is, you know, It's just us forecasting because we keep on just responding to the, to the stimuli.

They're winning. The purposes of the TV rights that the tour holds, the media rights that it, you know, with its, with its partners, the product. And they've already basically circled the eight events on their calendar that they themselves regard as deserving heightened treatment. The purses have all been increased to that standard amount. I if they want to deliver to their TV partners the implied you know quality of competition that that those media rights carry along with them I don't see how you're not in some kind of a relationship with the live folks and having those guys the live folks come and play in in those eight events plus the majors the world golf championship events and the player the player the player the player is one of those eight events, but I just don't see how you can, you know, claim with a straight face that the folks paying for these rights are getting value in the absence of, you know, full bore competition. So that lots of chapters left to be written here, right guys?

Can the Saudis do this to football? No. Because why? Who's leaving? Who's leaving the NFL? I don't know. I would have said that about golf four months ago. They can do it. They could buy a team. They could, that's how they get into the NFL the way that they're into soccer. They buy a team. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. I think just given the nature of, you know, football rosters and how many people you have to have at, how many positions and things that it's a greater challenge. But, I mean, you know, never say never. I guess I ought not to be so dismissive. I mean, since the money continues to be a rounding error.

And there does not seem to be sufficient public sentiment, certainly not worldwide. One of the things, some of the feedback I was receiving from folks, because we're constantly interested in this here from where we sit in the states, you know, how are the live golfers being received? And there was this idea that Ian Polter was booed. on the first tee and he snap hooked his first drive. And, you know, Poulter himself said that was one dude who happened to be near a very well placed Mike.

And for the most part, I received a very nice treatment over the course of my experience, notwithstanding all of you dicks in the media and all of you dicks in the media trying to make mischief. But sort of writ large, the feedback. And Nate, you and I experienced it on the grounds at the U.S. Open in Brooklyn. line, we wondered as we walked what kind of reception would feel get. And at quieter moments on holes where there were not gigantic crowds, we heard some things that suggested.

We heard a lot of things. Yeah. But then when you got to the bigger where there was more human beings, you know, convened. He was applauded. He was celebrated because he's a celebrity in the game of golf. So that's another sort of element of this that remains to be seen. You know what remains to be seen? is more competitive golf, a genuine 72-hole stroke play event occurring this week in

Megan Schuster's backyard. It's the 3M open at the TPC Twin Cities. The tour rolls along. Shusty, how's the vibe there in the Twin Cities? Oh, the vibe here is always great. I know it's a little tough coming off the Open championship to be excited about, you know, your sort of standard toured event, but golf is just so major here. People love it. I'm not sure if it still has the most or highest per capita number of golfers of any place in the country, but people here love golf and they get really, really excited for these events. So I think it should be fun. Do you have any perspective? I mean, we're kind of at the point in the show where we try and pick, give out some winners. You guys, Megan. You guys did a good job in the seven burning questions article from

last week for the Open Championship. Give us your lead contender. Yeah. And by the way, Mark Hubbard's taken the week off. I know that's where you were going to go. He was in the field. Of course. Of course.

He's out of the field this week. He's going to take a break, play Detroit. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry he won't be making an appearance. It's devastating to cross him off my list. It really is. So I think one of the keys here, at least, has been two out of the last three tournaments is people who are good off the tee, who are long off the tee,

fair a lot better here. This is not a lynx style course like we saw this past week. This was, you know, you're pretty, pretty typical standard flat course, you know, some water hazards and things here and there, but nothing too crazy. So with my picks, I went with people who have, are some of the top strokes gained off the T players. So that included Brendan Steele, who's been been pretty solid this year. He had a top four or tied for fourth at the Zurich in April. tied for ninth at the PGA Championship, tied for 10th at the Memorial and 25th at the Travelers. And I was also looking at Sun J.M., who is 12th in strokes gained off the tea. And then just one kind of fun, recency bias pick based on what I watched this weekend, was Sahithi Gala,

who was super, super fun at the British Open, is not especially long off the tea, but has had some pretty solid showings this year. tied for 34th at the Open and before that, tied for 16th at the John Deere and tied for a second at the Travelers. So those are some people that I was eyeing who are, you know, not, you know, your Tony Fee now who is coming into this weekend as the top betting contender, but just some guys am eyeing. I like it. Nate, Doug, you got some names for us?

I like a couple of momentum plays. Mav McNeely is the one I got my eye on for this week. Mav finished T-9, didn't play great on. Sunday, but he just, he's that guy who's due. He's had a great year FedEx Cup wise. I'm watching Matt McNeely. And then, I love your Brennan Steel pick. I always know Brennan Steel is hot when he gets picked by Jason Sobel, because Jason Sobel knows him very well. And Jason Sobel picked Brennan Steel this week. I also think that from a long shot standpoint, I would top 20, Justin Lauer, who had a T-16 and is still fighting to get in.

to FedEx Cup position. Look at the guys right now who are around the 125 to 135 mark in the FedEx Cup. Those are the guys where every single week matters. Stefan Yeager, Grayson Sig, those kinds of guys have a lot to play for. By the way, sitting at 129, Richard Fowler. Oh. So those are the guys who really are now in the last sprint over these last three events to try to eke their way in the time.

top 125. It's going to matter more than ever with all of the live golf stuff that we're talking about. If you are not in the top 125 this year, your path back to the PGA tour is going to be very, very, very difficult because as we know, the next season, it's really, you're only safe if you're in the top 70. And Lord knows what's going to happen between now and then where they make it even more difficult to try to funnel money towards the stars. So this is one of the best parts of the year. If you like the relegation concept, these guys fighting for their job. generally speaking, just like Martin Laird put himself in great position, just like Ches Rievee put himself in great position over the last couple weeks, just like Mark

Hubbard put himself in great position over the last couple weeks. There are some guys around the edges there who you can count and set your watch to some top 20s over the next couple weeks. So I like very much Mad McNeely. I'm absolutely on him. I have a slight concern around the guys that are coming from. the UK over here. Just because, you know, it's a significant, I mean, the distance itself speaks for it,

but also like the time change, the different climate, like kind of all of it, which is. Once a month. It sucks. Yeah. And I, you know, that's the only reason I love Sehith coming into this. And I thought he really played great at the Open Championship. But I'm concerned about the impact of that travel. The same is true for both Tony Fee now.

and Hedekhi Matsuyama. And I hate to have us do yet more live stuff. But there is a notion out there. I saw our good friend Jeff Feinberg, who, who collaborates with Pat Mayo, offer up this sort of conspiracy theory vibe where the way that prominent tour, PGA tour players have previously announced their, intention of jumping over is to be in a field and then withdraw from that field and,

you know, make, make their announcement as sort of all one kind of play. And that's, that's been a live playbook thing. So that would suck if that's what, what the way this goes down with the Decky this week. But I actually think that there is some, some validity to the, to the notion. Nathan, you mentioned Richard Fowler. Richard is not in the field this week, right? No. And he's at 129. So again, he's going for his rocket mortgage buddies tournament in Detroit. It's all or nothing there and in Greensboro the next week. Well, if it's nothing, you know, do you think that there's any additional reason to be concerned about? Richard jumping over?

I mean, Megan, I am interested in your take on this. He's so close with Spieth and Thomas. It just feels hard to think about him doing it. But why wouldn't you? I was going to say, I feel like the biggest deterrent is that he might get ejected from the group chat, which would be a real bummer.

But, I mean, I mean, financially and from, you know, a career standpoint, he's been trending downward for quite a while. And I guess, you know, at that point, you probably get the money while you can and hope that your friends understand your motivation. But yeah, it would be tough. I would imagine it would create at least a minor rift there. And as we've alluded to, it does seem as though there is a personal element to how this is kind of playing out, at least right now, right?

There is this notion that it's an act of disloyalty. It seems. I don't know. We're not close enough to the ground. Our PGA tour correspondent on the ground. I mean, am I getting this basically right? You are getting it right. It is.

Yeah. Well, I will offer up a couple names as well. You know, I always check out the various commentariat out there for these kinds of events just to get some inspiration for names. This is from Reed Fowler, who I like a lot. He has a play on Davis Riley, which seems kind of interesting. He, he, uh, his boss grass for rookie of the year after Cam Young's performance yesterday. Yeah, fourth, fourth and approach. 14th in birdies gain, 16th off the tee in last 12 rounds.

He finished in the top 15 at the memorial. He finished fourth at the Charles Schwab. He was runner up at the valspar. Like, you know, I, I feel, feel. like there's some value to that. And then Ryan Palmer kind of appeared out of nowhere at the Genesis at the Scottish Open. We were watching a lot of Ryan Palmer at the Scottish Open. And he's a guy. He's, he's to your point, Nate, outside the top 100 right now in the FedEx

Cup rankings. He's had a couple of performance this year. He's 12th at the Sony. Fifth at the Byron Nelson, you know, Texas boy. He likes it. Um, he's first in, in, in, uh, par five efficiency, um, by one metric that the previous 12 rounds in, and if you use this easy scoring condition, it's kind of metric. So some reason to, to, to, to believe in Palmer, those, those are my additions to this mix, uh,

of potential plays on the 3M. I, my own self might do dabble a tiny bit just to have a little exposure, but after a couple tickets on Camp Smith, thank God, the Open Championship, this is because I'm a bad gambler. I played him twice, once at 25 to 1, once at 22 to 1, but it covered off a lot of biori exposure. And so this week, I'm sitting here on Monday, feeling like I snag something out of the blue. Congratulations to me. I'm absolutely shocked that you covered your Rory exposure. Well, here's the thing. Rory was like 9 to 1, 10 to 1. I was the best I could get.

This is why you're not quite so heartbroken today, isn't it? Because it isn't just that the guy that you love didn't deliver. It's that he didn't deliver, but you didn't lose a lot of money. That's why you're okay. Look, now it makes sense. We're multi-faceted creatures. None of us just, you know. Well, yeah, exactly.

But look, it just means. that when the live tour comes calling, I know you're taking the, you're taking the money. If it starts with the five, look, if it starts with the five. We're not going to do any better than that. Megas Schuster, thank you. It was so long overdue. You are now back in the regular rotation. We won't tolerate anything less than that. And we will be in touch soon because there is nothing but constant developments in the world of golf. But it's great to be back with you again and great to see you and look forward to chatting again soonest. Yes, thank you for having me.

Always. All right, my birdie buddies. Let's step up to the tea and take a swing at betting the PGA tour on the Fandual Sportsbook. Right now, new customers can bet the tour with a no sweat first bet. If you don't win, you get up to $1,000 back in free bets. The 3M Open and the Twin Cities were taking a little bit. of a breather after the Open Championship. And we're looking at a couple of longer odds, outright plays, and then a bunch of top 20

plays. We're looking at names like Davis Riley, names like Ryan Palmer, names like Brendan Steele, and some of the guys that are even further down the list that are fighting for their tour lives in that 110 to 125 FedEx Cup point range. Take a look in there and see if you don't like somebody. the prices on the Fanduil Sportsbook are very generous. The matchups are all out right now. This app is safe and secure.

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Vanduel.com slash R-G in Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. 1-800- Next Step or text next step, N-E-X-S-T-E-P to 533-4-2. You can call 1-88-78-9-77-7-7 or visit c-cpG-G. dot org slash chat in Connecticut. In Louisiana, it's 18777-7-70. Stop.

In New York, it's 18778, Hope, NY, or text Hope NY, 467369. The Tennessee red line is 1-800-889-9-9-7-89. Wyoming is 1-800-5-22-4700, or you can visit www.w.1-800-gambler.net in West Virginia. All right, our thanks to Megan Schuster. She will be a recurring theme here on Faraway Rolling. My birdie buddies coming up next. This has been a long time in the works, but we really came up with a proper moment to have this gentleman on.

Eric Anders Lang, the founder and CEO of Random Golf Club, a global golf community of local golfers, I think like hundreds of thousands of them. Eric's made his bones in the game of golf. the realm of golf with his filmmaking and his documentary, his adventures in golf. He's an avid golfer himself. And he just spent a week at St. Andrews.

So I wanted to get his immediate reaction to the afterglow of the Open Championship and just what it was like on the grounds there at St. Andrews. So let's jump into it with Eric Anders-Lang. All right, my birdie buddies. This is one of those genuine instances where I can, can say authentically, a first time, long time, admirer of our guest today. Eric Anders Lang, what is happening, my man? Dude, I am, I'm like a stone's throw from the old course here, and I'm just like riddled.

I almost have too much energy. Do you ever have that happen? All the time. People accuse me regularly of being over-caffeinated. It is just my enthusiasm, my natural way. In fact, we met back in 2019 at the PGA tour show, and I probably made a questionable impression because I was very enthusiastic about, you know, shaking your hand and having a chance to chat a little bit.

This occasion of us together has been in the offing, really since that meeting in 2019. Oh, for sure. You know, golf life has a way of kind of intervening. the real world has a way of intervening, but here we are on the occasion of the 150th Open Championship at the home of golf.

You're physically at the home of golf. Wonderful time for us to convene. Yeah, it's like, it's funny, you know, it's like you go back to like three years ago when, you know, when we met and like, obviously that was like kind of the last PGA show that we've had for a while. And that was like, that was kind of like a big,

that was like, it was weird because I know I talked a lot with Roger Steele. Have you had him on the show yet? Haven't had them. We have a lot of friends in common. We've chopped it up a little bit, you know, privately, but we're looking forward to getting together. If you get Roger on the pod,

just make sure that his voice is too good. So you might need to sort of dumb down the microphones a bit so that, you know, because it's just a little too good. But like, but like I know he was talking about ever since that PGA show, his whole life has changed. And I mean, to some extent,

the same for me too. And now it's so interesting. come back here because this was my first, St. Andrews was my first trip ever to Scotland or really ever like, you know, playing golf internationally. It was the first episode of Adventures in Golf seven years ago. So to come back now with the grandstands here again, it's a weird and like, it's like a homecoming feeling for myself, even though this is not my home per se. It's the birthplace of golf though. And, you know, the 29th time that the Open Championship has been at St. Andrews, I'm going to keep the ass kissing to a minimum.

I promise over the course of this, but like some of the fanboy stuff is going to come out. You mentioned adventures in golf. I just want to thank you for that. I can't tell you how many hours on United Airlines flights I have dedicated to just, you know, serially devoting myself because lots of times this is not, I mean, you know,

not United's fine. A lot of times I'm flying cross country because, you know, home base for the ringer.com is in Los Angeles. And sometimes the Wi-Fi gets a little spotty. It happens. But you know what always works on a United Airlines flight? The monitor in front of me and Adventures in Golf is always there.

And I just can dive into it. So thank you for that. I love that. I love that, dude. You know what I mean? Like, I remember, you know, actually, it's funny. United gets thrown around a lot. Like, dude, I was a United customer, like before they started sponsoring the show.

And I made the show for two years. before they started sponsoring it. And I remember there was a time about two years in, three years in where I was like, I don't know if this is going to happen anymore. There was a lot of questions and they came in. And it's cool that you get to experience it because I know that even for me, like, it's the perfect kind of partner to have to pay for something because like, you know, airlines, air travel is such a part of living an adventurous life.

And, you know, like to have the show, which is. really about living that life, you know, be able to be viewed on a plane is kind of, it's inspiring. I've, I've watched a couple episodes on a plane and it's kind of fun. It's funny because it's like, you know, I don't know. I just, yeah, whatever. Yeah, it's cool. I'm glad. I'm glad you enjoy it. Your point is the right one. It is literally transportive, right? And I'm, you know, you're 35,000 miles above Earth and you're in some place, some remote. This is part of the brilliance of the concept. It's always some place that's way off the beaten path. It's a unique experience. It's like being introduced to golf people that you otherwise would not

think of encountering. And that's exactly the kind of experience that somebody like me wants what I'm flying, you know, around. It's like your head's already in that space. But speaking of, unique golf experiences and having your headspace correctly aligned with, you know, what's going on in the world of golf. You've been in St. Andrews for what now? Is it 10 days? Two weeks? How long have you been out there?

It's been a week. So we filmed out here a month ago and then went home and came back, which is totally crazy to me. But it'd be like that sometimes. And now we're like that sometimes. Yeah. And part of some of the. of what you did. And I want to run through kind of all of the activity that you enjoyed in St.

Andrews, but you got to play the old course pre-tournament. It was not, it couldn't have been as, you know, firm and fast as the way that the gentleman just played it for the Open Championship. But what was you, how many times now have you played the old course and, you know, how did you find it on this occasion? Well, so good question, Joe. So I'm going to answer this, right? So that time playing, it was my fourth time. And it was actually, it was the first time that I felt comfortable, if that makes any sense.

You know what I mean? Because it's like, okay, like I got like now this is going to happen. And, you know, at the same time, you know, it's a different, you know, you're referring to the breaking series where I kind of try to break 90. I'm a six handicap at best. A lot of comments would say I'm not. And hey, maybe you're right. I don't fucking know. You know what I mean?

But like I say I'm a six handicapped. I got a pretty good golf swing. At least I look like it sometimes. And, you know, the idea is what would a, yeah, what would a good amateur shoot? What's your handicap, John? I'm a 12-5 index. I get around. I mean, you know, I can make par on any hole on a golf course, but I can also make double bogey on any hole on the golf course.

It cuts both ways for guys like you and me, you know what I mean? Like we, I heard someone today on the broadcast say, you know, it's, it's about, it's about, how good your miss is. And I was like, man, if you just told me that 10 years ago, you know, like, just grab a putter. That's right. So, yeah, you know, I came out here. We filmed at the golf course. You're right.

No, it was not nearly as fiery was the local word here all week. I heard fiery. I was like, why is it fiery? I guess, I don't know. I guess it's like intense. And it's also much hotter here than people are used to. I think that was probably talked about on the broadcast. But all the local Scots were like, this is.

It's never sunny here. I don't know what's happening. Right. And yeah. And then, you know, but the course, like, was, they're protecting it in advance of the tournament. And so the conditions aren't always quite as close to what I would like to experience for the filming of it, especially if we want to get the video out in advance of the tournament itself. It takes a while to edit this. It's not live.

But I'm excited, Joe, because tomorrow I'm going to go play without. any cameras. I got invited to go play tomorrow with the old course. And so I'll really be able to just go. I'll probably shoot like 75 with no one watching and from the white T's, but that's probably not true. I'll probably shoot 99. We might need an addendum to the pod or at least you and I will text about how tomorrow compares to, you know, your experience a little while ago. It looked amazing. It is exactly, you know, my mind's eye, the times that I've watched, you know, tournaments. And I always enjoy watching the Dunhill links because we always get to see St. Andrews, you know, once a year in October. But obviously it plays so radically different.

Wait, you haven't been yet? I haven't been. And I'm almost loath to confess this. I am coming out to Scotland. My first experience ever in Scotland, August the 4th, I'm arriving. I'm playing Gullin, too. The next day I have North Barrett. And then that Saturday, we have the ballots lined up.

for the lottery to play St. Andrews, uh, that would play the old course and later that afternoon, Carnusti. So, wow. I really, this is, I don't even want to speak it because like, I'm just so, so, uh,

cognizant of the golf gods and how good they are. And, you know, I just want to make sure that I'm on the right side of golf karma, but that, that could happen. That could happen. It'll happen. Yeah. It'll be in the cards. Dude. So that's so excited for you. Yeah. I'm knocking on wood. I mean, we'll just be, very humble about it. We recognize that the golf gods are good. But, you know, here's the thing,

the sort of meat of why I wanted to catch you at this moment. This is the Sunday after the Open Championship has concluded. And you've been at the, you were there for a week. I had the most pronounced fear of missing out, um, ever in my sort of role as having anything to do with golf media since I jumped into this. And it's because of just the moment and the collegiality and the community and the overall atmosphere and what I observed in every sort of indication about, you know, folks coming together and the golf community at this moment, this weird juncture in the professional game between the Live Tour and the PGA tour, that rivalry sort of factors into all of this.

what was the experience like on the ground this week? Yeah. I mean, it was, so I've been to a lot of tournaments in my life as a as a golfer and as a person working in golf. I remember the first term I ever went to was the tour championship that Jim Furek won. I think it was 2010, 2011. And the first person,

yeah, Eastlake, exactly. The first person I ever saw hitting a golf ball in real. life that was paid to do it was Adam Scott. And I mean, I was just like, I started sweating. I was like, this guy's, he's got it all. He's got style. He's got looks. He's got the tempo. So handsome. I didn't know that he was basically a carbon copy of Tiger Woods from the, you know, O2 Tiger Woods swing. I was just attracted to it. What can I say, you know? I understand. It's attractive. Still, still am 10 years later. So, you know, like in my, in my experience of like as going as a fan, going as a spectator going as a member of the media and an owner of a media company, right? Like,

it's changed a lot for me, right? Like, you know, I mean, tournaments can be hard. Tournaments can be logistically complicated to get your silly job done because there's, you got to go in this way and then you got to walk five miles and there's people and you're like, I'm just got to get my job done, you know? All of that kind of went away this week because, you know, we're in a place that's, you know, written about in like a lot of books. and it's written about in a poetic way, and it's really a special place for golf that transcends any possible anecdote.

You know, like you go a mile from the course and there's the grave of old and young Tom, still the oldest and youngest champions of a major golf tournament. So, I mean, the energy is a lot, right? It's a full gelato shop, right? There's all types of energy. There's there's there's there's drunken energy.

There's celebratory energy. There's quiet energy. There's like there's little alleyways. There's there's people who don't golf because this is a town. There's people who absolutely are not here for the golf, but they're in amongst it, you know? Yes. You know, for me, a lot of the energy was exciting because, you know,

there's a lot of people that I haven't seen in a lot of time. Like that feels like we've been waiting for this open for a while. Right. pre-COVID. It was planned and, you know, to be back and see all these old friends. I mean, it was the first time I saw my best friend Stewart in two and a half years. Amazing. Yeah. So that was really special. And we made a memory here at the old course with our friends, Christian and Colt and, you know, ran into an ex-girlfriend.

That was kind of exciting. Kind of closed the loop there. That was good. Hadn't seen her in a while. Congrats. So for me, it was kind of like a return, right, to a place that. I visited when I was younger, right? I mean, I was here a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't, it was just a moment of filming. This was more of like a real like dog year in my life of, oh, this was an event that took place. And, and I learned a lot about kind of how much has changed in my life since I came here the first time. Well, I heard, you know, so some folks sort of compare it to here in the States, like being at, on campus at like a major university.

that is a big football tradition and everybody waking up with that that live energy of like the day, it's game day and you come out of where, you know, wherever you are on campus and everybody comes together and you have the tailgates and everything. And, you know, it's, it was that for the entirety of the week. Do you think that's an apt kind of description of the vibe? For sure. Yeah. I mean, I mean, that's exactly what it is. This is basically a. golf camp out, right? This is, this is, you know, people that, um, like golf getting together and, you know, celebrating one thing, right, which is kind of, um, you know, the game. That's all it is, right? No one really, really is going to be, you know, anyone who came here physically,

um, they're not really here for the winner, I don't think. They're here for the game. They're here for the game. You know, they're not, they're not here for the food. They're not here for like, you know, to some people played golf around this thing, but, you know, we're here to watch the game. And I think that's kind of the way that the, you know, I've always loved the experience of walking through an airport and seeing someone that's clearly a golfer. And you're just like, we are bitten by the same. We're both like, we have the same blood, you know? Yes. And for me, like, you know, random golf club has always been about community and like sameness, right? We have like minded interests within the game. And, you know, the idea of creating like a community of 300,000

people is a little, it's a lot, but it works as well. Like there's just people talking and like, you know, you saw people just, you know, just like sharing stories and getting to know each other. And I met a ton of people out there walking around. And, you know, certainly the, um, you know, I kind of forgot the question, to be honest with you, but I just, I was just thinking about. Well, it's just the immersive experience that's unique to St. Andrews because like, I was, we were fortunate enough to be at the Masters and at the U.S. Open this year. And we broadcast shows from both of those places. But those places, and this is true of virtually everywhere in, in the U.S., that hosts major events, it's, it's, you're not living inside of the town where that

golf course is, you know, featured. Now, Augusta has that a little bit, but it's not, Augusta isn't the kind of, you, right, there's no common walking area. You can't just go out and socialize randomly. Um, you're not going to just run into people, random, maybe at the actual venue, but not in town. And you missed out on like those organic moments, um, and the, the community that you're describing. I, I don't, correct me if I'm wrong. Is there. anywhere in the U.S. that you've experienced that where the course is home base and everybody is sited around it

and everything's on foot and you basically wake up and can be inside of that community from the moment you're awake to the moment you go to bed. Wow, that is a really good question. I'm not getting a yes. Yeah, I can't. Yeah.

It's unique to the world. It's funny actually because I was thinking about it also like last night you're just you're talking about it. And like Augusta, yeah, like, I mean, I've been a few times, luckily as a member of the media as well. And, you know, I mean, hallowed grounds for sure. But you're right. I mean, it's, it exists separately from the community and everything outside the gate, right? That's right. Like, the old course is like, it's closed on Sunday because it's for the town and it's owned by

the town. And that's a strange, I don't know where most of the people listening to this show or live, but for those of you in America that haven't played outside in the UK specifically, the game here, this is where it was invented, and this is where it functions the best, because it's a golf course that's owned by you if you live here, and you have a right to play it. And there's no such thing as a course that you can't play. It's a completely phenomenon.

Like the idea of it is completely foreign, that there would be a course that you could never play. But in America, it's all too normal and whatever. Like, I think both are great, but the idea that the old course is so, inextricably linked to the bricks that surround the back and the right side and the the the sea to the left it's like yeah dude it's like it's like of course the first one would be that way would be that special would just be part of the town and you would if you were to grow up around here

and not be a golfer um you would have had to have tried pretty hard to not pick up a club you know right right you have to go out of your way um so i'm interested in sort of the the experience, your approach. Do you show up with guys that you're rooting for? Do you have a rooting interest or are you kind of agnostic? I don't. And it's for a couple of reasons. Like one is, you know, my own PR, right?

Like I don't want any pro golfer to feel like I'm favoring one or the other. Because I would say I'm friends with a couple dozen of these cats, you know? Right. Of course. Like we're texting, you know, like. And the truth is like, You know, there's an interesting thing, right? Like, you're watching it on the TV and, you know, you don't know them. You don't have any idea what they're like.

You don't really remember what they talk like. You don't know where they live. You don't know what they're interested in. Abraham, answer, the guy lives an hour from me, loves barbecue. He just got his brand new Porsche delivered. He's so excited about it. You know, like, he's from Monterey in Mexico. I mean, like, I know a lot about the guy.

You know, when I see the little Mexican flag on his shoe, like, I feel it, you know. Cam Smith, like, you know, from Brisbane, like, all he wants to do. do is go fishing, you know, and so badly that after the players, you know, he's just going to go fishing and he put a note up online to let you know. He's not, he's just going to go hang out with his family. You know, that's all he's doing. Yeah. So I've gotten to know all these cats. And the truth is, like, all I really want is a close finish. You know what I mean? Like, for sure. And we almost got it today. Like the back nine got close. But like, I really just want to play off. I'm a playoff addict. I would, if, if you could like, if there was a way to like pay extra to get a playoff, like,

I would want to know what the, what the option was there. Cause like, it's just, I got nervous on where was I, where were you the most nervous during the Sunday round today? Um, Rory's putt on 17 because I thought that if he made that putt, then, um, you know, the birdie putt. If he made the birdie on seven overreed. Yes, right. Exactly.

The tiniest. That was the margin for him all day long. that tells me that you're rooting for Rory. Well, this is exactly, goes right to the heart of why I asked the question I asked, because from the, from the states, from the television broadcast, for my experience of it all week long, it seemed like everybody in the UK was rooting for Rory. And the crowds were very loud in our ears on the broadcast. And there was and continues to be kind of a destiny aspect to Rory winning.

Now, him not winning doesn't undermine to me necessarily. necessarily any of that destiny stuff, but there was a bunch of through lines in terms of stories, and you're a story guy. I mean, the tip of the cap that he gave to Tiger, as Tiger walked across the Swelken Bridge on Friday, and Tiger then after that, having tears in his eyes that seemed, you know, somewhat precipitated by both the reception of the crowd, but also by that hat tip from Rory. And then if Rory had pulled it off, you know, we could have done a whole thing about the passing of the baton. Rory as, as a spokesperson, for the integrity of the game in view of the Live Challenge.

Like there's a whole just so many stories and narratives that made sense in the context of a Rory win. I still thought he played beautifully today. And it's what I always root for in these major championships is what we got today, which is somebody going out and grabbing the major by the throat and just taking it down. You kind of took it from behind, which was a little interesting.

I don't know, Cam Smith has some long ass arms, you know, because he reached for that thing, like, he really did. Yes. It was a, it was a joy to watch, though. I mean, that's, you know, the five consecutive birdies on the back, the 30 on the back, whatever that number ended up being in terms of one putts. It's just, you know, wonderful to see. It's exactly what I'm hoping for. But you on the grounds, would you, how did you experience the Sunday round? Uh, yeah. So, so, so, um, for me, uh, this is going to sound terrible, but, um, did you watch it on TV? You're in St. Andrews and you watched it on TV. I know you did. So here's the thing. If you actually want to follow the action, yes, you need a TV, right? You can't. You don't have to talk around. Like I can't, no. I walked around the course all week and I walked around to practice rounds. I walked all the way out. I walked all the way back. I had the best time. I ran into a bunch of friends, uh, met a bunch of new people. And, and, like, I got a bunch of new people. And, and,

like checked out the hospitality and i and i looked at it all but sunday back nine i'm parked in front of a television and i'm in a i'm in a place where i can get and and what's funny is um when cam young eagled 18 yeah i knew uh about 10 seconds before because that's the delay so the cheers you could hear's went off you know and then it was funny because the puck got to the hole in 18 and i was like wait and oh now it dropped okay that's why i was so excited um Yeah, no, so I just have to watch it on on television because I need to see the cuts. I need to see the closeups. Because the truth is even if you, that one of the best places to watch is the Jigar

in, which is right on like the 17th fairway. But like you can't see them tee off because it's a blind tee shot and you can't really see the ball land. But, you know, going up into the grandstands on 18, you know, I mean, it's one of the best places to experience the vibe, which, you know, which I did earlier. in the week. But yeah, no, for 18, I just, I just wanted to be in front of the TV and really be able to track all of Cam Smith, this incredible play. Because I mean, I don't know what happened to the turn. I don't know if he had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I don't know what changed it for him. But like, it would seem like he just was like, right. Back nine, I have a lot of holes left. I'm going to start. I'm going to open it up. And I don't know, man. I mean, you know, I wanted him to win for sure. And I thought that he might win. But I would have been equally as happy. Cam. Cam. Cam, and I would have been equally as happy if Rory won, you know what I mean? I think

I just, I just honestly everyone agrees that them in a playoff, three whole aggregate is the best thing on earth. It's still be going on. Yeah, yeah, right. We wouldn't be together at this moment. And, you know, they were going to do,

I think format wise, it was going to be one to 17, 18. Like, I think that's what they had. And then if they tied after that, it was just 18 over and over and over again, which would have been like a video game. Yes, exactly. Well, you got your wish with the PGA championship and that was an outstanding playoff. Like, that was incredible. That was incredible. Playoff. Right. And J.T. the most worthy of, of winners. Oh, for sure. I want to talk a little bit about the interaction you had this week with

the community there because there was, you know, symposium kind of things. You shot some content. Tell me a little bit about how that experience went. Yeah, I mean, like really, like, so I was at this hotel that is decrepit, I guess. It's not functional. I don't know. It's closed. The ceilings. I don't know.

It's falling in. I don't know. It's going to be renovated. But a couple of friends of mine were like, hey, this hotel is not ready for anyone. You know, it's like, it's going to be renovated. So we're going to, like, take it over. So I was basically here. all week and you know it was just rad people coming in there was like a TV in the back a huge

TV in the back like music playing DJs food bar drinks and we hosted a lot of content from here videos podcasts and stuff like that so that was really great to be like checking in with like the wildly international crowd that that was around was like you know people from all over Europe like Germany, Spain, England, Ireland, you know, met some guys from Finland, obviously met a lot of dudes from the United States, you know, and it was just like, this is your community. These are all random golf folks, right? These are like random golf club fans, random golf club members, like people that have been to meetups that we've done. You know, it's like, you know, like I said, I posted a video last week on YouTube about, you know,

breaking 90 from the basically I play the same tease as the pros played this week and you know tried to see if me an amateur can break 90 that's on the random golf club films YouTube channel and you know so a lot of people were coming with me and saying hey you know like how'd you do and I'm like you don't want me to spoil it for you do you know and I don't I'm not going to spoil it here on the show but I'm not going to say you know I did I played I part 17 and that was key I'll say that you even seen Amazing. I have not seen it. When I come in to an interview, I'm like, I'm going to give you a little how the sausage is made. I like to come at my subjects fresh. Like I've been, I've known you, followed you, tracked you, consumed your content for a long time. I deliberately, I knew that we were going to get together. I didn't look at anything that you did this week having to do with your St. Andrews thing because I want to get their reaction. I want to have the opportunity to chat with you about it and then I'll go back and I'll go into all of it. I love that. I like that. I like that. The R-on-17 is fantastic. Yeah, of course.

Yeah, part 17. I was really proud of that. You know, I figured at least Cam and Roy should be able to do that today. And, you know, they did. So that was good. They, that, and they both did. I mean, right, exactly. Cam Young as well.

Cam Young, you know, with two that played 17 so well, both Saturday and Sunday. Love that kid. Can't wait to see what he has in front of him, rookie of the year on the tour for sure. But yeah. Tell me a little bit about, so you're going to fly back to the States. Yeah. Let me hear what you guys have up your sleeves.

Like, how's the rest of the summer into the fall play out for random golf club? There's a couple things coming up. So we're doing, we're going to, we were out on Long Island a couple months ago, weeks ago, filming at the Lido, the original Lido, the site-ish. Oh, amazing. Yeah. So we're going to finish that up, that film up over at, the Sand Valley where Tom Doak is finishing that up.

Replicating it in the middle of the country. Yeah. Taking the Lido from Long Island. Go ahead. You tell the story. It's this sort of Atlantis lost golf course, C.B. McDonald, like an incredible layout, like very important loss to the world. It's being rebuilt by the Kaiser's at San Valley, the same guys that did Band

and Dunes by Tom Doak. Tom Doak said he would never do like a, like a replica. But basically it's like too good. to pass up. And there's this character involved in the story named Peter Florey, I think. Is that what his last name? Peter Florey. Anyway, so he basically was making like architectural overviews of what the golf course,

like, like elevation maps from photographs of what the course was like on Long Island based on these like, you know, archival photos. And then it was going to make like a video game or something like that. And then someone was like, we are going to. you know, try and redesign this course and we'd like you to help. And he was like, sure, I'll help, but only if you don't pay me because I need full creative freedom in, you know, how this gets like, you know, manifested in the world. And, you know, he's basically made this like digital rendering of the golf course that he's

played in his head apparently thousands of times. And he's going to go with us to Wisconsin. And, you know, I think he might be the first person to play it in 70 years. and but he will have already played it like it's this crazy story so anyway that's happening in august which we're pretty excited about that's pretty great the the backstory it was one of those giant hurricanes that came up the east coast right that basically swamps the the course is that the story am i getting that right was it a hurricane i don't remember i'm misremory i there was a storm involved there was giant water that washed over quite a bit of it is that isn't that it sounds right joe but

You know, just to protect myself here, I'm going to plead, I'm going to plead Joe House here because, you know, like you, I also like to not do too much research. So I have a meeting with a historian coming up on August 9th. And I'll learn then and I'll call you back and I'll give you the answer. Perfect. I can't wait. Okay. So that's August. What else is coming up?

Yeah. And then we're looking to Asia. So, you know, I think one of the really interesting things about Korea is that not only is half. of the golfing demographic in Korea is split 50-50 male-female, which is, you know,

totally different than the United States, which I think is like, you know, somewhere in the high 80s to the mid-90s, male skewed. But also in Korea, a lot of the golf that's played is indoors on screens.

So we're going to go there and like film kind of why that is and how that affects the game. And, you know, I think as like, Top golf starts to really become more and more of an option for people to get into the game. And as, you know, VR golf even, which is one of the episodes that we're going to have this year that we made,

which is like how do you play golf in virtual reality with a 3D headset or is a 3D or I don't know. It's VR. I don't know. It's a headset you put on. It's crazy. And it feels very real. So that's kind of like we're going to be able to get really into how, you know, because Adventures in Golf is basically about, you know, went around the world and ordered Caccio Ipepe at every Italian restaurant, you'd get a pretty good

idea of how the world is different from a kitchen's perspective. So this is kind of the golf version of that for those of your listeners that haven't seen it yet. Korea is going to be interesting to see how golf manifests itself in a country where it's most commonly played indoors. And I'm especially intrigued by how you will experience it, how it will seem to you in a this post-COVID moment because obviously, right, there was a version of this that existed pre-COVID. And then Korea had, you know, by all estimation, a pretty successful run and staving it off and minimizing it and keeping its population safe, like relatively speaking across the globe. But you're talking about, you know, a pastime that is, the community is

such a huge element, you know, like interfacing with other people. It's not a solo pursuit in any way, shape, or form there. So I can't wait to sort of get the sense as to, has the pandemic, what kind of impacted the pandemic represent to that whole ethos? Yeah, it's a good question. I don't know. I'm sure that it, I'm sure that it was a big deal. Yeah, it's interesting. I don't know. I mean, I know that like, you know, I remember like early mask days. I remember being like, wow, I feel like we're in Asia, you know, because that's kind of always been the case there. People just wear masks when they're sick. And it's like, I guess maybe that's not such a, maybe that doesn't need to just be a thing they do there now.

We can do that here. We can do that anywhere. I mean, you know, whatever. Yeah, that's right. I know that that one of the things that you've been spending a little bit of your time on is a feature documentary called be the ball. What is be the ball? Yeah. So be the ball. Yeah. So be the ball. is where it all kind of started for me. So 10 years ago, I had never played golf. I was a filmmaker and mostly made documentaries. And, you know, I was 30 years old. My brother was constantly, you know, trying to get me into golf, older brother, you know, didn't have a golfing family growing up. So it was really just him saying, Eric, let's go play golf. And, you know, for some reason, I just didn't want to go play. He and I were kind of different. You know, I dropped out of high school. He went in his

became a lawyer. So it's like, I don't know, I just, I just wanted to fight for my own independence, I guess. And then finally,

out of curiosity, and just feeling like I should probably say yes to more things, I decided to try golf at 30 and had the best time ever. And really immediately found out that even though I considered myself to be relatively, I guess, like counter to the typical golf stereotype, that I really enjoyed the game.

And I thought that was interesting. And I thought that was interesting. found very quickly that there were a lot of other people like me throughout my community in Los Angeles and around the world even. And I started to find these like early kind of stories. This is kind of pre self-publishing online. So this is still like, you know, it's not, podcasting isn't quite as big in 2010. YouTube is still like, you know, early-ish. Instagram barely existed. So it was hard to kind of find your people is what that is to say for me. And so I started to become really interested in the game

and kind of how the game had this kind of specifically spiritual side to it. And I found out that there were three things that really made me think. And one of them was, you know, the legend of bagger vance, the movie with Will Smith and Matt Damon was based on a book. And the book was written by Stephen Presfield. He wrote The War of Art. Anyway, when I realized deeper that the legend of Beggarvance is actually based on the ancient Hindu text of Bhagavad Gita. It's like, well, that's weird.

And then I found out that, you know, Ram Dass, this, like, great spiritual teacher loved golf and used it as a spiritual practice for him. And then this book, Zen Golf was written by the Zen Buddhist who, like, you know, basically wrote a book, kind of like Harvey Pennock's little red book with like little tiny microchapters on how to get better at the game, but mostly using. mental game tips. Kind of like, kind of like one of them would be like, imagine, you know, how you talk to yourself, right, on the golf course. Okay. Imagine if a caddy spoke to you that way. Like, what would you do?

Well, you'd fire them because nobody would ever talk to you the way that you talked to yourself. So really looking at the way the mind works on the golf course became really interesting to me. So that's all the lead up into creating a documentary where we tried to see if, whether or not golf is a spiritual game by teaching 50 people to meditate. And if they got better at meditation after 90 days, 30 minutes a day, would you be able to prove that golf is a spiritual game?

Well, the movie is almost out, which we're really excited about. And I don't have a date yet, but it's coming out this year. And really, in a sense, be the ball spawned a lot of the rest of my life, which would become, you know, Adventures in Golf. founding like a, you know, media company within golf and, you know, creating a type of community offering locally around the world. So it's a big part of this whole puzzle, I guess. But yeah, 90-minute documentary about an experiment that we did where we taught

golfers meditation to see if it improved their game. And it's not a spoiler to say that it absolutely does almost unequivocally. Golf is a mental game. And there's a way to kind of achieve. success within that. Sure, that, that, I mean, I don't want to make anything seem as though it's self-obvious, but that is precisely the appeal to me of, of the game, a person that's not very successful at the game, you know, a double-digit handicapper, but that's that's not the point of that to me. I mean, I can find my successes and I have the groups that I play with and I could be

successful inside of those groups. And all of that is immensely relatable. I'm interested in the group that you assembled for the meditation experiment. Is it people of a variety of different skill sets, skill levels? Joe, I got to send you a cut. I have a link in my email right now. I'll send it to you up to this. You can take a preview because I can tell that you're interested in it. It's cool, man. I appreciate it. So the group was made up, actually. We did a lot of thinking about it. We basically had, um, we split it up into three groups. So one was like, you know, above 25 handicap. One was like low single digits. And then the other was like, you know, uh, was like one or plus. So like competitive competitive, competitors. And then we even

had one, um, that was on the web. At the time he was on the web.com tour, corn fairy tour now, trying to get his tour card. Oh, wow. I mean, Dude, it's a story, dude. I can't wait for it. I wish, I'll send it to you and then, you know, we can, you know, we can go over again. We'll get back together again. That's right. It'll be out.

And maybe if the golf gods are so kind, we'll be in each other's company and we can have the whole conversation. I will have watched it. We could be together later this year. And we'll just sort of, you know, go through it. I'll give you my full reaction to it. Well, I, like I say, this was a long time coming, us getting to. together. I'm very glad that we had this moment in time, this particular, you know, at the very height of, of, you know, the, the golf community, the things that I think we both love and celebrate

as it relates to the game and this historic moment in terms of the professional game. But really, the visiting of the birthplace of the game, post-pandemic, like we're able to get back together again. You're talking about seeing people you haven't seen for two and a half years. You're talking about making peace with your ex-girlfriends. It's a beautiful moment. It's a beautiful moment and is us together in this moment. But this is just the beginning to our long and fruitful relationship. So this is the way I'm happy to kick it off this way. I love this. I love this. 150th, but also just the beginning. Exactly right. 150th, but just the beginning. Can't do it any better than that. Thanks so much for coming on.

Yeah, man. We really appreciate it. And we'll see you soon. All right. Sounds good. Bye, everybody. All right, my Eagle enthusiasts, a jam-packed episode for you. It's not typically our way that we want to work so hard after a major tournament, but there is just too much going on. Our thanks to Megan Schuster, our big thanks to Derek Anders Lang, my birdie buddies.

We are back next week because the tour keeps on touring. It is summer. I hope everybody's enjoying it. I hope everybody's getting a lot of golf in. And look, you can play, go off at 4.30 and get the round in that the glory time, those late evening hours, enjoy a nice beverage if you like. And please, let's head them straight up there.