Fairway Rollin' - Rory Is Finally a Masters Champion and Completes the Career Grand Slam!

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

Rory finally did it! House and Hubbard hop on the mics to recap an all-time Masters Tournament, starting with the peaks and valleys of Rory’s performance that ultimately led him to win his first green jacket and complete the career Grand Slam (01:27). Then, they discuss Bryson DeChambeau’s fifth-place finish (21:10) and Justin Rose’s impressive second-place finish (25:07). Along the way, they discuss which players they were impressed and disappointed by in this tournament. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Producer: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the brand new Zach Lowe show. That's right. I'm back to have the same in-depth NBA conversations you're used to. We're going to talk about the games, the X's and O's, the drama, the playoffs are coming up. And now you get to see every episode in full on video on Spotify and on my own YouTube channel. Episodes drop every Monday and Thursday with a collection of guests you're going to love. So make sure you follow and subscribe to the brand new Zach Lowe show on Spotify. or wherever you watch or listen to your podcast.

Let's go! Hello, friends, and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. My friends, we've done it. This is Fairway Rowland. A golf podcast brought you by the Ringer Podcast Network. I am your starter, Joe House, joined as always by my incomparable accomplice, my beloved pal.

PGA tour boots on the ground, major tour boots on the ground, Nathan Hubbard, it's a two ball, the pegs are in the ground. Nate Dogg, we did it. He did it.

Roy McElroy is a master's champion. It couldn't have happened any other way, could it, House? It just, from start to finish, he told... I feel like it could have. I feel like it could have happened another way.

No, I don't think for this guy, as you texted me, this fucking guy after that shot on 15, it could not have happened any other way. It was just destined to be so. We have been speaking all year about how this was the narrative arc. Could he come back from the crushing heartbreak at Pinehurst number two that followed crushing heartbreak at the U.S. Open at LACC and crushing heartbreak at St. Andrews and crushing and, like, Could he come back and be resilient? And at the beginning of the week, he said he had a revised mindset that he'd been working with a mental coach. He'd won twice on U.S. soil.

His shots gained, as Jay Ray told us, had dropped from off the tee. You know, the percentage of total shots gained had dropped from 60% 10 years ago to 51% last year to 37% this year off the tee, which meant the rest of his game was getting bigger and better. After that Thursday round, he didn't talk to the press. after that incredible 66 that probably should have been, you know... 64? I mean,

you know, he told us at least on Friday that, you know, he had... He was proud of his resilience. They asked him, hey, what did you prove about yourself today? And he said, I don't think I proved anything. I just reminded myself that I am the most resilient guy out here

and that that's my power. And that is why it had to be this. And after that double on the first, it just couldn't have been any other way. So, he's got the monkey off his back. I can't believe it. By the way, I told you Rory was going to win. Well, we did begin this week with this simple proposition.

If not now, then when? Everything about his game, everything about where he was in his psychological state, where he seemed to be with his family, where he seemed to be in terms of excluding distractions. Even his performance in TGL was, it seems, adding to his overall positive direction

as opposed to being a distraction or a detraction. And TGL turned out to be a success. So I think even that in its own little bump of a way helped Rory. But, man, I mean, here's part of the thing that it's going to be the challenge and the ongoing conversation in the history of major golf,

that shot on 13 is going to be in the top five of worst shots ever, ever. I think the iron on, the wedge on 18 was maybe worse. Two of the top five, worst shots

ever in the history of the final round of a major round of golf, by a winner. Yes, but I think what we saw coming out of him on the 18th green on the playoff is why that happened. And it took, leave it to Aho Mr. Nicholas on Live From afterwards to sum it up for me. Heyhole, come on. It's just it's old Jack. Be care. Be nice to old Jack. No, no. I love old Jack. He just started talking. He just was, you know, he's dumbfounded at these shots. But I actually think. Dumbfounded is one word to use. I think the reason I said it is because he just started talking.

about his own shots and his stuff. Sure, sure. It was, Mr. Nicholas, I retract that comment. We have in deep and enduring respect for you. You just, it was funny to hear his response on live from. But I think, I will say this, no one has ever tried to do this in the social media era. And Rory, when they asked him yesterday about what he was going to do, he just kept talking about he was trying to stay away from his phone. and I think he carried more than any other guy

who's ever tried to do this more pressure because he had more eyeballs, he had more focus, he had more chatter, more forms of media talk about it, more people with a voice to talk about it. And so the pressure on him was higher than ever and has ever been on anybody's shoulders. And I think here at Augusta, it was that. Deserved.

Because he has, yes. Deserved. He deserved it. He earned it. He earned that pressure, Nate, dog. He did earn it. He did earn it. but the mountain that there was to climb, I think was bigger than anything. So when we try to get an explanation for that shot on 13, when we try to get an explanation for what happened on one,

when we try to get an explanation for why from the middle of the fairway after you've done the hard part, you and I saw him hit that T shot in the practice round off of 18, and he absolutely bombed it, right? So when he stepped up, I mentioned to my son, I was like, man, if he can just get that shot again. And he did, and I thought, okay, here we go. but as soon as he walked up to it

and Daddy said it's $1.25, you just thought back to that 86 yarder on 13 and at the wedges, something wasn't, he just was yippy. Why do you get yippy? It's because he had what looked like the actual weight of the world on his shoulders.

And it just poured out of money. His nuts were in his throat. His nuts were, that's why. Those are stock numbers. They couldn't be cleaner shots. He is one of the very best in the world. And the thing that he had emphasized

and improved so much on was that wedge play, that approach play, and yet in the most crucial highest leverage moments, and 18 being the highest leverage moment, it escaped him on 18, and yet we revisited it. He got a chance to redeem himself.

And this is the beautiful thing about this round and why in the first place we're exhausted. We are taping right after the round, right after Butler's cabin, and we will all have an opportunity to break down to take in all of the stories that will come in, get the full reaction of the entire golf world, and we'll be back on Tuesday and go through some of that, those unbelievable storylines. But in this moment of trying to deal with it, the fact that he went from 13 and then bogeed 14

and then had the balls on 15 to rip off another shot on 15. akin to what he did on Saturday, we were already in our own threads and own conversations saying, how great is that shot on 15 going to rank in the all-time great shots, the Saturday shot on 15. Now we have the Sunday shot on 15, which saved his ass, saved his golf life. I mean, here's the thing, Nathan,

and I don't need to be over dramatic about it, but if he had lost today, If he had bogeed on 18, I mean, if he did bogey. No, no. If he had not made the putt on 19, if he had missed that little shorty. And I seriously, I didn't get it, I stopped myself from texting it. It looked on television. Oh, yes.

So similar. Left center, yes. I mean, it went in the left side. Yeah. It looked so similar to the putt he had at Pinehurst that he missed last year. And I was having, I, and I think. Most of the world watching this, it's going to be incredible when we see the numbers in terms of the viewership for this. It's going to be an all-timer.

I don't know if it will exceed 97 or 2001. Total views, if you add in the social stuff, a million percent. This was the main character all afternoon. Yeah. But here's the thing I'm glad we don't have to ponder. How could he have possibly come back if he had choked it away? It was why I was so sick to my stomach, because on 18, I know. knew he was going to miss that putt. I texted you, playoff. I just, like, there was just no,

you did. It playoff. It just, it had to be this way. Something about this guy and the heartbreak, it had to literally pulverize the shit out of us down to the very end and squeeze every last juice of belief out of us to then amaze us with basically having the exact same shot on 19 that he had on 18 and stoning it. And then suddenly, oh my God, he's got another short put and somehow getting it to drop. This was the narrative arc.

Thank you, Universe, for doing this to us. Thank you also for having him win. So I don't ever have to root for him again. I'm never rooting for him again. This is awful. It's awful. I love him to death. But now we don't have to do it.

The flip side is, I mean, House, you definitely went out and put money on him for Quail Hollow. I mean, this was so many demons. It was like an exorcism on the 19th Green. Maybe.

I hope so. I don't want to look through this again. It was. It very well could be. I think he's going to be nasty, dangerous from here on out. I think he could win three this year. You know the crazy thing, and this will be part of many of the conversations

over the course of the week. We, last night, were sizing up, you know, the quality of this challenge, and we were going through the annals of final round, final pairing of the masters, the history of the masters, trying to come up with comps for how rich this Bryson Rory situation was.

And we, as we were sort of thinking through it, we didn't sort of countenance the possibility of other folks coming up. I mean, there's always a hat tip to Ludwig. And honestly, that's where I lost my most money live betting

today was on Ludwig. Well, he could have won this thing. Don't look at his soul. of seven even round. I mean, he, 18 got weird and I think he was just trying to make it because he had to get in. And that is what led to the seven. And when he didn't, there was a momentary lapse in concentration. And that's what happens. Big balls. This guy's winning a master's. I don't think it's a question. We're in lockstep on that. But as we sized up this, the nature of this challenge and going through the historical context for it, it felt like a hand-to-hand combat. It felt like it was

just going to be Bryson and Rory. And they immediately stepped to the T-box and Rory rips one into the bunker and Bryson rips one into the weeds and off we go. And you at some point texted me, I just put money down on Ludwig. Should I put money down on Scotty?

Should I, you know, there was just all of a sudden it opened up pretty quickly. But those first five holes was just whiplash. I mean, Rory said he was incredibly nervous teeing off. And you could see it although, although both of those first tee shots, the way he hit the drives yesterday, when he hit 371 on one, it cleared the bunker.

He missed that bunker by one yard. You could see the indentation on both one and then two, when they ultimately decided to show it to us. And then on eight, oh my gosh, we'll have that conversation at some point about why some of the technology didn't quite seem to work today. Although I thought, Nancy, yeah, Nance was great right up until he started glazing Rory coming up 18 when it was so fucking obvious. He was going to choke this and that the gods were going to make him do it one more time.

But yeah, coming out of the gate there, it just was back and forth and back and forth. And that birdie by Rory on three, where you had another two-shot swing, and suddenly he steps up to the fifth hole, and you're like, holy shit, he's got a bigger lead than he did when he teed off. This went from complete catastrophe to Rory in control in a second,

and that's why he just never felt like he was in control, right? I still don't know when I'll be able to forgive 13. Because when you're at that point in that stage of a final round on a back nine at a golf course that does suit him, I mean, let's be honest. Back to back 66s kind of gives you a feel like the man can. can work this his golf ball around this golf course. I think it's fair to question the idea that they laid up, especially in view of every time he had to sort of rear back

and get something extra out of a shot that he was up to that challenge. Why are we at this point, you know, doing some kind of layer? Now, look, it should have been fine. It was an 86-yard shot. It should have been fine. To a shelf that like with a ball wants to come back down. the hole. He was in perfect position staring at it. Why couldn't he have just, like a ho-humpar would have been fine? We could have gone on with our lives. We would have got two

hours back. I would have had dinner two and a half hours ago, Nate Dogg. House, I do, I say this. We had lots of funny conversations this week on site with people about ridiculous things like, hey, if we put a ball on every green, you got to start the furthest point away from the hole. Yeah. Could you win the. masters. If you get to put, but you're basically your T-shot is the furthest point away from the hole on every green. Could you do it? And there's a few people, Baby Doll was certain that he could do it. You and I were certain that you couldn't do it. You couldn't. You couldn't do it. But I'll look, if you and I went 86 yards from that green, I think even today, if you give us 10, we're going to

hit it six or seven times. I really think we will. And we suck. golf. That was not a hard shot. It's why it was just incomprehensible and it's why I think the pressure that Rory specifically was feeling. I don't think there's another guy on tour who could have handled the pressure any better than Rory did when you really think about the time other than the guy whose Achilles blew out and didn't play this tournament, right? So go ahead. I'm sorry to do this. I'm sorry to do it, but I have to do it. Only in this respect, I still don't trust the guy on his bag. I still think that teamwork is not making the dream work. Because too many examples over the course of this week, over the course of this round,

where it's apparent that Harry understands the game and understands Rory's game. And it's apparent that he tries to give good guidance and good advice. They're just as something about the interaction where it's too easy for, Rory to go off the effing rails. And I just wonder if a different dynamic with a different person that wasn't so easy on him, that wasn't letting him inhabit his own world, that wasn't letting him sort of take on all of this. Like if a reposition, a gentle push in another direction, a punch in the shoulder, sometimes you have to punch your buddy.

How does Harry help him hit an 86-yard chart? I'll tell you why they laid up. They laid up because on 11, he saved, I thought he saved his ass by not going in the water there. He should have gone in the water on that second shot, right? Miracle, honestly. He could not keep the ball in play today. It was basically the only drives. There are only about five T shots today where he gained shots off the T.

I mean, it was that bad. And I think they were just nervous. And Roy took just a ridiculous line with that shot four inches from going in the, the water, he's safe. And so I think at that point, they're thinking, let's play conservative and not, you know, let's listen to the Ben Hogan or whoever it was Sarazen who said, you know, whether you know it or not, the choice you make to go for it or not on 13, you know, is, is the difference in the tournament. Well, it was true. It's just the two shots. It was. It was the third shot instead of it. But like, Harry can't help him hit an 86-yard wedge to the middle of the fucking green. Like,

any caddy, like, that was Rory. I understand that. But, there's just too much evidence of this guy inhabiting headspace that is not positive. That doesn't lead him to successful execution. Like he shouldn't have been thinking anything. There shouldn't have been, he should have been dead head head Dustin Johnson at that moment. Like he should be any one of the live guys, zero fucks out there. Don't care. And I can't wait until we do the live breakdown.

It's going to be a wonderful opportunity. Break out the champagne for Patrick Reed, top live guy. I don't know what he wins for that, but I'm sure Yasser's got something for him. But in any event, I'm making the, look, we're not going to do much in taking away from the success of Rory. But there are so many questions about how that whole thing, how the whole day went down, including, you posited early on that Bryson was slow walking him. Do you think that that was intentional? Do you think that that was a strategy? I do.

I think that what Brooks did to Mickelson, sorry, Mickelson did to Brooks at Kiowa, fucked with him. And I think Bryson is already not a fast player. And I think coming out of the gates, he showed up late to the, not late to the tea time, but he held back.

He was pumping up the crowd. And I think he knew that Rory was going to play fast, and he was going to absolutely take his time. It was very exaggerated. it got faster after four, after five. You're right. Suddenly, Bryson was down three and it was like, okay, that didn't work.

And then Bryson got back focused in his routine. But the truth on Bryson was, he didn't play that well this week. He just is fucking relentless. I mean, he was not, from, you know, a statistical standpoint, his irons were awful. He was 50th overall on approach this week.

But he was like second off the tee, third around the green, and 20th. putting. So the guy just wouldn't give up is really what happened. And I think, I just, I think coming into the round last night, you saw him on the range. And this is why when you and I go, and it's why boots on the ground matter, because you can see the body language of guys. You and I got there, and after you picked Thomas, we saw him, and he was having trouble setting that club in the right place. We could see him fighting it. Just like last night on the range, we could see that Bryson was unhappy. He'd

hit these balls and he'd look at his team and he was unsettled. And still, his distance control yesterday was a problem. Today, his distance control was a problem. Quietly, okay, that round of the U.S. Open, don't forget, Bryson had a three-shot lead. He coughed up two of them and really only won that because Rory choked a couple of putts coming down the stretch. Today, he did not play well for the second day in a row and kind of choked up a bit. So he is scary because he just is, he's this force of nature and he's relentlessly.

but he hasn't quietly played great in the last round of the last two majors that he's been in. Well, I want to give a tip of the cat

to Bryson because I think the point that you're making really Curry's favor with me. It is a kind of relentlessness. He is the one

that's out on the range. There is nobody, there are five guys in the world right now, maybe six, capable of winning a major. and I can't wait to cross off a bunch of names, guys that we speculated about,

that I'm just so happy to cross. We'll get there. Write the F off. Like, get out of here. John Rom, we'll see you. Oh, it's just clown. Just get it, just get gone. Like, yeah, anyway.

But Bryson's... It's the whole in Bryson's heart, isn't it? Well, I don't... Hold on his heart. What do you mean? Whatever, he, he wants to be loved. He wants to be seen. He wants to perform.

in such a strong way that the money that he's made in his career, forget Live PGA Tour, it matters to him. So he's trying and he's fucking, and it's not just all the stuff that he does with the YouTube for attention. It is growing the game. We saw it this week. And he's working his ass off to try to get better. And so he loves this moment.

His excellence is what makes him beloved. His relentless commitment to the craft, his ability to adapt, to progress. he's tried to innovate. It hasn't always been a success to the innovation. He has taken directions with his own game that have had an impact on the rest of professional golf. And as a sort of magnetic, charismatic person that has come to the four over these last

couple of years and especially over the last 18 months, we had a great conversation on the Bill Simmons podcast last week about this relationship that, Rory and Bryson and how they occupy the top echelon of players of interest on tour and why we would expect that these ratings are going to be massive. But for Bryson, the tip of the cap for me is homie is after it. You know who we didn't see out there grinding that way? Who didn't have a thousand shots on the range? God bless the shot counter, that introduction to the range,

letting all of us see who wants to put the work in. Yeah. Where the fuck was John Rom? You know, where was Cam Smith? Like, yeah, I mean, I'm not, I'm not just going to pick on on live guys, but, you know, where was J.T? Yeah, I, I, where was, where was Kalamorakawa? Like, you know, I'm not saying these guys' names anymore. Like, I don't know.

Like, let's not talk about any of these, these names in the context of winning majors. They're just not competitive. They're not competitive, you know, oh, I'm made it to here, here. but that's not the point. I'm arguing that I think it was pretty clear Bryson wasn't going to win today because I just didn't think

his game was there but just sheer force of will and personality his game wasn't going in there. It's a great point. And so I'm with you, massive hat tip to Bryson. It was, you know, listen, he's such a weirdo

and like the nose breathing. It has started while he talks, like the interview with Amanda. He's definitely been hanging out a lot with the Trumps. And so he does a lot of just pure nose breathing while he talks. Like, he's such a character in his own way.

But it's fine because it comes from a good place. Authentic. Authentic. He's just, and maybe, maybe not. But what he wants to do is entertain people and he wants to be loved. And he's just putting it out there. And I appreciate it. All right.

Let's move past sort of the Rory Bryson aspect of this and start getting into some guys that, were you gutted for Justin Rose? No, no. I wasn't either. Why? Are we dicks? No, because he's an elder statesman, right?

He is a perfect foil for somebody like Rory at this stage of his career. It's amazing. Justin Rose finished second in the Open Championship and then came and validated that with a second at the Masters. At 45 years old, that is awesome. It's also encouraging for us old guys

to see the players that are now in their 30s and their late 20s, with hopefully that same 20 years still ahead of them. I hope that Rory has another 10 years of competitive golf in him that can stay healthy. I want to see him play and compete for majors. Yeah, let's have him for another 15 years. That would be awesome, wouldn't it? No 15, 20 years? I'm rooting for it because that's really how you, that's the beauty of golf.

It's the most, you know, one of the most satisfying aspects. is being able to measure legacies by the performance over time. It's why when you see a stat like Rory, in terms of number of career tries before winning, it was 17 times. He's second only to Sergio, Rory now, and winning the master's. You only get that body of work over the passage of time.

So that aspect of it is wonderful. Great, great, great job by Justin Rose. I really regret. betting him at 55 to 1 or 60 to 1 as your first round leader. It was sitting right there, staring everybody in the face. Sometimes just do the obvious thing and just get a little bit down on the guy who's done it four times. Rosie, yeah, 45-year-old pulling through. And you expected the back off and we got the back off.

I thought today's round was a big stone's round. I mean, he was second approach. He makes big putts. You think about that putt in Italy at the run. Ryder Cup on 18, right, that ended that match. You think about the put that he made today. Like, I was pretty sure he was going to make that putt. I mean, I said as much to my son and in the group chat that I just like,

Justin Rose makes big putts. I actually was surprised he didn't make that one on the 19th hole, but maybe he'd used up the magic. It's also a hard put at that time of day and under the circumstances. Yeah, it just, I mean, the truth is we shouldn't have been talking about this because Rory should have gotten in at 14 or 15. Yes, that's the takeaway. The stat that I'm looking at right now,

we're done with Rory really, but I just want to make one point. He finished 11th on approach today in spite of losing two shots on 13 alone. And half a shot on 18. He lost two and a half shots between those two holes and still finished 11th on approach. That's what a roller coaster ride this was today, right?

I mean, he would have had more shots gained. than Justin Rose by far. And I think that, you know, the day is different under those circumstances, obviously. Yeah. The crazy thing is looking at those numbers, he was just outside the top 10 in approach. He was bottom 10 in putting. Right. And, you know, it was awful.

Yeah. It was St. Andrews and it was Pinehurst all over again. Although, you know, look, he made the put on nine, the put on three. Like, those were real one. The put on 10. You're like, okay, here we go. it kicks in on 11, 13, 14. You're like, fuck, here we go.

He should have made the butt on 16. That was it. He would have put, that would have been a two shot lead going into 17. And then you can do the thing of hitting the ball into the trees. He should have made the put on 15. Should have made the putt on 15. He missed four putts inside of 10 feet, including this, the one on 16, you know, even before he got to 18. But it's going to be hard to talk about things other than worry.

But I, I think, I think it's smart to say who else. I mean, tell me, Rose, we didn't feel badly for. You were the guy who reminded us that Patrick Reed was a must bet because he's top 20 all the time. Who cares? You know, he dinks it in on 17. Great job. That's wonderful.

Good job by him. Here's what I wanted to make sure we revisited. Early in the week, part of the conversation we had on this podcast was a handful of question mark guys. We wanted to sort of go ahead and stake a claim on three guys. We took a look at Ludwig Oberg, who showed up. up having missed cuts coming into this, had a win, a very prestigious win out at Torrey Pines,

but was coming in kind of limping. What are we going to see out of Ludwig? Zander Scholfly, where is Zander? You know, what kind of physical shape is he in? Do we feel comfortable that this is a place where it suits him? Yes, he has high performances, but if you're not 100% on your short game, where do you kind of end up?

And then the third guy was Victor Hovland, who ended up with a down round today. But, you know, made the cut. I think so. So let's go through those three guys. We touch a little bit on Ludwig already. He was right there. I mean, he could have put a bit into win this golf tournament, Nate, though. It was just the approach play that wasn't good enough.

And then I think down the stretch today, his putting was pretty poor. He had some looks that I think he otherwise, would have made. He tried to make it on 17, right? That was the one. And, you know, he put it so far by. Yeah, but for the event, you know, he was 31st in approach and it just didn't match.

Now, what is incredible about his stats to me is 13th around the green ninth putting. This guy's only played, this is eighth competitive round here. So, like, it just isn't supposed to happen. And I don't think in years to come, He's going to hit his irons the way that he did this week. He's just, he's going to be deadly. He just really is.

He's that good off the T. I feel great about Ludwig a year from now. As long as this kid stays healthy, he will put that jacket on someday. We feel the same on him, the exact same sentiment for me. How about Zander? You got to give him an A grade, a B plus grade, A minus. How do you want to give, what do you want to give Zander? To me, it's an A minus.

I mean, I think you nailed it, which is the, the short game still needs a few more reps. 30th on putting, 32nd around the green. That's it. But fifth off the T, 12th on approach, that part of his game was good enough to win this week. T8, I had a sense that he was underrated based on what he was talking about in the press conference.

He was never competitive here. And it's because he just didn't make the putt. So I think you're right that it's the reps. I expect he's going to be very, very competitive in these majors still to come this year. no reason not to. Our guy, Victor, that was a nice performance by him. It was a little up and down.

Yeah, talk about it, because you really were watching him closely yesterday, and there was a point at which you were texting. I think I might throw some down on Victor, because if he, you know, he's figuring it out how to putt. And then for like five holes in a row, he was just a psycho, either making putts or missing putts, and we just couldn't figure it out on the back there, where he made like his his second nine on Saturday was bogey 10

bogey 12 makes up makes a put on 13 to save par birdie 14 bogey 15 bogey 6 and at that point I just said you got to be out on victor because he just he couldn't quite seem to figure out the putter especially 15 16 but but how did I mean is that how you were thinking about it well the reason that I got sort of you know into a mindset where it might make sense to wager on him a little bit is because it did seem like he was feeling like he could control the direction of the ball with his irons,

with his approach play. It's always going to be at this place, his around the green and his putting that's going to be the obstacle. But I, for a half a second thought, if the putting is clicking, then look out because it just gets a tiny bit comfortable inside the context of what's happening in this tournament. His ball striking is so good that, you know,

he for sure has the quality, to win at Augusta. So those are three guys that I just want to put out there. Definitely, absolutely, positively would not be surprised one bit with any of them winning a major this year. Ludwig,

for sure. I think I'd be surprised at Victor. I would. I don't think at the end of the day he's still searching. And there's parts, just statistically, it felt like he's going to be competitive, but it's going to take a week like

the week he won where he was sort of unconscious. But in that tournament, he wasn't playing every single one of these other guys who's just sharper. Scotty Sheffler, right? I felt like Scottie was not going to win this week. It just, the game wasn't sharp enough. He was missing putts in weird moments. He was missing swings. He finished fucking fourth, dude, and he could have won this tournament.

Like, that's his floor at Augusta. With this number, negative shots gained off the tee. How often are we talking about Scotty Sheffler behind the first? field and shots gained off the tee. That never happens. His putting was the thing that saved his ass for round four. He was eighth in putting all, I mean, all week. So I just, that's one where as long as Scotty, I mean, he sucked on Friday,

but as long as Scotty is on this golf course, Victor's game has to get better for him to surpass Scottie. I agree. Patrick's only third because he hold out a wedge. Other than that, the only two people who beat Scotty were Rory, who we thought, would and Justin Rose because of a opening round, you know, 60, sorry, 65 to open in a 66 today. Yeah. I just want to say, Victor Hovlin, I think is a good fit for Oakmont. So there is yet time between here mid-April and mid-June. Yeah, that's right. You're right. And your observation is

totally fair. And I don't disagree. So those are three guys that I, you know, in this immediate reaction kind of context. I want proof of concept for where guys are, where we're headed. Who can I cross off right away? You know I'm chopping at the bit to cross off some guys. Wait, before you do that, give me one, because you gave me this note, and I want to make sure you put it out there. There's a guy that we should always bet at the Masters because he loves it here. And we don't ever think he's going to win it, but you told me Sung Jay. It's Sung Jay. He loves it here. And he's been spotty thus far this season. And I regret not having

directed all the Eagle enthusiasts, the Bertie Buddy's reminder. Look at Sung Jay's performance over time. Yes, he's been a little spotty. But this is the thing about the Masters that's so beautiful and so brilliant. And it will sort of lull you in. You say, oh, look at the performances.

It's the one place where guys have a comfort and then a bum like Camp Smith, who can't be bothered, shows up on the driving range in a suit. In a suit. Okay. man. I'm glad that you're here. I don't want to get in the way of your, you know, your three-round playing in your shorts kind of performance. Mother Effer misses the cut. Sergio, the whole world,

look out for Sergio. Here comes Sergio. You know, sticky Sergio shows up in a clown costume on Thursday, and they were happy to return his ass to McDonald's for the weekend. My man could get right back on the fri line. Go ahead, Sergio. Go get after it. Dustin Johnson. right you know just missed the cut by a stroke it's fine he's going fishing that man don't care uh and look you know there's a couple others uh you know on on the missed the cut side that that you know it was very hard to get six guys um across the board and a lot of these competitions and stuff russell henley shot 79 68 and missed the cut by a stroke uh kegan bradley was pretty disappointing to be candid.

Brooks had an 8 on 18 on Friday. Like, what's going on, bro? What are we doing? I don't know what happened. It was brutal. I mean, he went bogey quad on 17, 18 on Friday to miss the cut.

Like, it just doesn't make sense to me. Tony P. now, still a lackluster season. Where he be now, nowhere. Where he be now is nowhere. Yeah. Yeah. A little disappointed in,

Keegan too. I know it played tough out there, but there were some guys who we thought, Willie Z, that felt like a step back. I don't know if he's like ready. You know what I mean? We got some reports of some, you know, him just sort of taking in the week in its fullness at the beginning of the week. And so that didn't sound like we weren't getting the impression that he was 100% dialed in. I'll just sort of leave it at that. No, you're right. You're right. But yeah, There's one guy who missed the cut that I actually want to give a mad hat tip to. And that's Nick Dunlap. Because I think staying in the round, staying in the tournament after shooting a 90,

and coming back and breaking par was pretty fucking badass. Almost every other golfer on tour would have pussed out and w-deed. And yeah, he finished with three bogies. Fine. We got to figure out the driver. It's definitely not working when you're losing four shots around off the team. I get it. But a lot of guys, because you've got the driver yips, would have withdrawn.

And I think it took a huge pair to come out and go 90-71. Pretty fucking badass in its own right. Yeah, his round 2, 71 beat quite a few guys that finished well into the tops of this leaderboard. His Friday 71 beat Bubba Watson, who finished inside the top 15 on this leaderboard on Friday. he beat Ludwig Oberg on Friday, Nick Dunlap did. I mean, he beat some guys that were pretty far up the board here. He had the same score on Friday as Scotty Sheffler. So good job by Nick Dunlap.

We give him a pat on the back of that. Yeah. And then guys who made the cut that disappointed us a little bit, you know, I got to just say Shane Lowry walking off yesterday and getting mad at the press was absolutely fine. Like I had no problem with the way he handled himself and just said, this is crazy. I shouldn't have to do this. You know, with the bogeys down the stretch,

boge in 17 and 18 to go even par. He was in this tournament very much. And if he'd had a day-to-day, to come out today, man, after Birdie and 2 and make 10, I mean, he finished nine over today. He shot an 81. Just a tough day for him. But he sat there and was the happiest guy to meet Royer McElroy at the end.

So a little hat to. Incredible hug. that will always, that'll be part of the lore of this win by Rory, the giant bear hug that Shane Lowry laid on him and everybody loves Shane Lowry. Shane Lowry, speaking of guys that can win at Oakmont, has the game for it and remember where he was, however many years ago, the Dustin Johnson, Oakmont win 20. Yeah, I'm going to get the year wrong.

I don't want to get yelled at for it. But, yes, Shane Lowry, Oakmont guy in form, showed us he could be around a leaderboard. I want to go through the resume of somebody right now. So this person has finished tied. This is going all the way back to 2022, Nathan. 2022, this man finished eighth in the Masters. He won the PGA Championship.

And then he finished tied for 37th in the U.S. Open, tied for 53rd in the Open Championship, got cut at the Masters the next year, tied for 65th at the PGA Championship, got cut at the U.S. Open, got cut. at the Open Championship, got cut at the Masters in 2024, had a top 10 at the PGA Championship last year, tied for 8th, got cut at the U.S. Open,

tied for 31st at the Open Championship, tied for 36 at the Masters in 2025. Who am I talking about? Yeah, I do tell me. Justin Effing Thomas. Yeah. So, there you go. Yeah, he's off the list.

I'm not, I'm not, there's no reason to keep like yapping, flapping our gums about him as a guy that's going to threaten to win a major. I'm not going to do it. It's like, it's, it's not part of the conversation. No, he's a really good golfer. He's a really good strong golfer and there are guys who are just more consistent ahead of him at this point who are literally in a different tier. He's not in that tier. That's right. Bryson Shidd DeShambo, Scotty Schephler, Rory McElroy, different tier. Different tier. That's all.

Ludwig, different tier. He'll compete and he'll have eyeballs on him. It will be, there will be more information

about the caddy swap. It did seem like, you know, for a minute, it was going to bear some fruit. You know, there were some highlights.

JT. Bout. Bout. Bout fruit for Max. Max. He finished T12. He gets to come back. That was one of our

glass half full segment. and we can jump right into that. That was, it's wonderful to have a max homiciding Nate dog. It's been a minute, buddy. Yeah, it has, and he didn't close the way that he wanted to today, to say the least, with the double on 17, but he played really well this week.

There was something cathartic about it for him to come back. Like, I would have thought maybe he'd have come in scared or something, but he started the week by announcing their second pregnancy, you know, with a picture right on Magnolia Lane together as a family. Lacey was on under the umbrella. umbrellas with Kira Dixon. Max came on at Sports Center with Van Pelt during the part, well, the broadcast during the par three contest. Like, they were very front foot and forward this week in spite of announcing the news about Joe leaving. And it translated into good play. I'm really happy

for him. This is the last time we saw him play really competitively in a meaningful way. And so I hope he's rediscovered the game. Well, I think another name I want to put into that same glass half full category. Another good performance out of Masters by Jordan's beat. Glass half full for you with Jordan Speed this week. He shot a nice tidy. He was three under yesterday and two under today. Nice five under weekend at the Masters to put himself inside the top 15.

Third off the T, third putting, 53rd on approach. So he's just not getting what he wants out of his game. He wants out of his game. but there are parts of this game that can win the masters. There's no doubt about it. He's on the rise, let's put it that way. Let me ask this. Are there any other majors that he can win?

Royal Port Rush? Quill Hallow. Yes. I mean, it's Jordan Speath. It's Jordan Speeith. And he really is the next headcase to be solved after Rory's win today, isn't he? He's the one where the spotlight comes back to, is this guy ever going to be able to do it again?

And look, those conversations are going to pick up because it's been that long for Jordan just about, right? And he knows now looking at Rory what can be done. He also is going to know how much pressure is going to be on his shoulders the next time that he's in it. I can't imagine it's going to be quite as much as Rory. But the golden child quietly now is the next man up for is he ever going to get it done yapping, talking golf media stuff. I think he is just one shade above the guy who he finished tied with this week

that we mentioned earlier but I don't want to gloss over it. John Rom. On the one hand, I like the three under today. I liked the 70 yesterday. It just, he never was in this golf tournament. Who is he?

Like, well, why do I care about a guy that slaps around, you know, a former master's, winner that comes out less than two years later with no known, you know, sort of obstacles, no known injuries, no known, you know, impediments to his play other than his own commitment to the game. Don't ever tell me I don't love golf. Okay. Go play. Go play competitive golf. You can go do whatever you want. That's the beauty of this world. You have a singular talent and a singular window in which to go maximize that talent. And if you want to go play

the who flung poo open in Singapore, by all means, go do that. But don't show up and, you know, act like this, there's, there, there is something for us to be interested in or pay attention to. Just a dude. Just a dude. Yeah, he talked a little bit into it at the press conference. I told you, He sounded very confident in his game coming in. And honestly, if he'd played Thursday and Friday, the way that he played Saturday and Sunday, he would have been in this golf tournament. So I'm not quite ready to fully write him off,

but it was not an impressive showing given this needed to be a moment, right? Where are the competitive reps going to come from? Between now and the BGA, between now and the U.S. Open, where are the competitive reps going to come from? Yeah, yeah. Is he going to, you know, are we going to see him on the range? like he was clearly rusty. He sucked on Thursday.

Why? What's the explanation for it? I don't know. You know, hitting the ball in the trees on every hole on Thursday. I want to make sure another guy we give tip of the cat to a little bit of glass half full for sure is Corey Connors who is on a heater right now. He keeps showing up at the top of leaderboards. He keeps, you know, being in prominent places on Sunday.

he can't put on Sunday. He just can't putt. Well, you can't put at all. And so don't do the thing where you bet him to win because he is not going to win. But he's an excellent top 10. He's an excellent top 20. Go make your money.

Get that man in your lineups. Just don't have any exposure to him winning a golf tournament. Yeah. I mean, he actually had two days of decent putting, but it wasn't going to be Sunday. That was an easy bet against Corey. And again, I'm really, impressed with the way that he's striking the ball

and wouldn't surprise me to see him get a win outside of his beloved San Antonio this year on tour because he's striking the ball that well. Yeah. Anybody else? Catch your attention? Go ahead. Yeah, I mean, I think, I just, I know you want to write off Colin Moracow, and I don't blame you. What did you see this week? Three rounds of even par. You know, decent statistics,

never in this golf tournament. Wither Colin Morikawa. I don't have a good answer for it. I'm just not going to take him seriously. in a major context. Not to win. It's again, we liked him very much

for a top 10. I think we said at the outset that that was one of my favorite wages of the week. He ended up tied for 14, so you lost that bet. So you got to have a little bit ahead. You have to hold your nose and buy some top 20s

to protect yourself. But he couldn't put. He was negative putting. Today, his overall numbers were just meh. They're not up to the standard. Great approach play. The rest of it wasn't

what we'd been promised. Yeah, and, you know, your negative putting on the week at Augusta, not going to win, and just, just me strokes again off the tea. And you have to be strong at off the tea and putting, and if you're just meh at both not really in the running. And once again, Kalamara Kawa, negative for the week

and around the green. Come on. Like, that's just not getting the job done, Dave. Yeah, it wasn't. And, you know, my argument is he's, not playing enough. We've only seen him five times. Okay. Well, here, let's be fair. There is this one aspect. We heard that he might have been having a back kind of thing. Yeah. That was bothering him. Yeah, he had a tweaked back. Yeah. Let's be generous about it and say, maybe that. Maybe. The five

times we've seen him two seconds, two T-17s and a T-10. So, I mean, he's played well. I just, if we're going to hammer ROM, like, where's he getting his reps? It doesn't surprise me that because Collins literally only played the elevated events schedule this year, that maybe he came in and didn't perform his absolute best at the Masters, despite statistical performance otherwise. You're not giving him credit for the TGL rounds. You're not, I guess, you're not counting those. I am not.

I am not. I do not count this. That's not part of the reps. My guy, I do not count those. Who else? Anybody else that you want to give a shout out, tip of the cap to? I think that that really covers. what I saw from this Masters.

Another no-show from Patrick Cantlay. Please do not talk to me about Joaquin Neiman being the best player on the planet. He hits him great shots. Come on. All of the stuff, really, all the stuff that comes from the live bluster, they just got to back off it and go out and prove it. Because right now they got Patrick Reed, great holeout,

and he loves this course, I get it. But, I mean, there's one guy there, and it's Bryson. he's doing it for the love of, you know, all the things that we talked about more so. I do think those guys have got to step back and think about how they get themselves a little bit more competitive in these situations because it just hasn't happened. I have a suggestion, you know, there is something they could do. They could play four rounds of golf. They could have cuts.

You know, there are some things they could do that make, just make the competition feel a little More like the way they play the majors, there are a couple tweaks that I might suggest. We know the CEO, I mean, you know, we saw him this week, maybe give him a couple pointers. They also could try and get to a couple venues. Now, Doral is a solid venue, a good place, a good, good test. Like the winner of that event was shot whatever, 500 or 6 under,

through three rounds, okay, fine. But, you know, more of that. I just think across both tours house, let me be fair. The money's gone bananas. Rory says it himself. He's like, I made so much more money last year than I did five years ago. And the guys who were rising to the top seem to be doing it for something else. You know, the guys who got really big checks and started families seemed to get a little bit complacent with their golf. Rory's been pursuing everything that he just accomplished today. Scotty Schaeffler, man a deep faith who loves to win, who actually doesn't seem to be moved by the money. He's, you know, he and his family, like, he just loves golf and has continued to work, even though the, you know, the, the, the break that he had to take from the injury, maybe, maybe affect his play a little bit. Yeah, he's still solo fourth. So the guy's still in it, right?

Zander seemed to be driven to actually get over that major hump, right? But they're just, and again, Bryson doing it for the love of the people, a lot of the money that's coming to golf, I see complacency. I see complacency in some of these major performances that feels like, I want a guy who has the fucking Tiger Woods edge, and there's about five of them right now. That's it. That's it.

I mean, and we will try as the PGA championship arrives on our calendar right around the corner here in mid-May down at Quail Hollow to come up with the five or six guys that we think can win. Let me put this question to you. This will be the closing thought, and then we will have the opportunity to take in everybody's reaction and have a great show Tuesday,

where we revisit some of these storylines emerging from Rory Macaroy's master's final conquest. Do you think that this year will have a major winner that is unexpected, that's an outlier that somebody, but we might find in like the 30 to one

kind of odds on the betting card? Because we didn't get this last year. I don't think so. I just, and the reason is Scotty Shephler's floor, I just think his floor is too high. And today it took something unbelievably special over two days from a guy like Justin Rose

just to be in the mix with Oberg and Schephler and McElroy. Right? There really wasn't anybody else who you thought was going to go out and win this golf tournament. And even with those kind of psycho, almost fluky, feely throwback rounds from Rose, great story, loved it.

It still wasn't enough to win. in the golf tournament. So I think we may have a really chalky year. And my biggest hope coming out of the masters right now is that these guys who used to be dogs or who talk like dogs or even who think about themselves as dogs, but look up at the scoreboard at 16 guys or 12 guys who handily kicked your ass in that they may be finished only four strokes ahead of you, but they had you behind them the whole time. I hope those guys will go back and say, man, just like Rory did, when he gave Scotty the putter recommendation and off went Scottie to rip it off last year, Rory went back and worked.

I want to see some of those guys go back and work. And until then, I don't think they're going to win a major because there is a class of guys who have separated themselves. I love it. That's a great closing thought. My motivational speech is John Rom try to beat Fred Couples in the first round of the master's action. He beat your ass by four strokes.

Next year, buddy, there's your goal. My birdie buddies, my par saving pals, my eagle enthusiast, that is your master's recap. Best we could do. We will be back on Tuesday with the benefit of some additional thoughts, complete thoughts, all the storylines that are emerging. And by the way, a forecast, a good look, a nice handicapping of another signature event. We go right from the Masters up to Harbor Town. It is wonderful, a radically different look at a golf course.

It's very fun for everybody to catch their breath, and there's always some good golf. The guys are now motivated to take that short trip, make that short leap, and grab the giant checks that are waiting for them. Until that, I hope it's good weather wherever you are in these great United States or abroad. Please throw a peg in the brown.

And let's all hit straight up there. Must be 21 years older, older, and present in Salis. select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 188-789-777- or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit MD gamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-50-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts, or call 1-8778 Hope N-Y or text Hope N-Y in New York.