Fairway Rollin' - Scottie’s Dominance, Ryder Cup U.S. Team Predictions, and Tour Championship Picks!

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

House and Hubbard are back and start off with Scottie Scheffler’s dominant run lately and whether the Scottie and Tiger comparisons are warranted (01:20). Then, they make their picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and who will make or miss the cut (23:30). Finally, they make their favorite plays for the Tour Championship (55:00). 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 HubbardProducers: Tucker Tashjian and Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, friends, and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. Oh, yes, my friends, we are back. This is Farrowe. Rolla. A golf podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. I am your starter, Joe House, my birdie buddies, my eagle enthusiast, my paris, my parisaving pals, joined by our inimitable PGA tour boots on. on the ground.

Nathan Hubbard. It is a two ball here at Fairway Rowland this summer. We've been doing big events since the U.S. Open. We focused on the Open Championship. We look here at this tour championship. Yes, there were playoff light kind of events. Yes, there was golf in August, in Memphis, and Baltimore. But baby, here we are.

With a straight stroke play event in Atlanta to declare the champion of the PGA tour once and for all. It's a two ball. The pegs are in the ground. Off we go. Nate Dog. How's your chipping game? It's not bad, House. Oh, okay.

Yeah, things are getting better out there, House. We've had a little time to go work on our game as some of these other guys have sort of been working on their game, getting ready for Ryder Cup. I mean, it's fine. How's yours? Not as good as Scotty Sheffler. And we're going to begin with Scotty because he has risen over these last handful of weeks. And it was coincident with, I went on the Bill Simmons podcast a few weeks ago with the beloved Jacko and the three of us, you know, reliving some of our glory days.

There's too far in the past now to really remember all the glory. But one of the things that was a topic of conversation, because it's this quiet moment on the golf, on the sports. calendar and golf you know has occupied i'm interested in your take on this an interesting spot it feels like this year not quite as sleepy as the way i would characterize it but the conversation that i had with simmons and jacko was around the idea of scotty sheffler's charisma and everybody now universally recognizes the talent universally recognizes you know that he is dominant in his sport and it is absolutely appropriate for us. We don't have to tiptoe around it any longer. We're having tiger comparison conversations. But what about the charisma part? Well, here we are

on the heels of a chip in on the 17th hole on a quiet Sunday in August that caught the nation's attention. We had Patrick Mahomes, you know, chiming in. We had the Bron James chiming. The President of the United States wanted to give us, Gotti, some credit. So he's ascended. He's in our national sporting consciousness. And there has been, you know, some, you know, boost to golf's profile over this August. The playoff events, there isn't anything else really going on other than preseason football. And so, you know, we've been critical.

We've been skeptical. The playoffs, this whole thing. The format still needs some tweaking, maybe. but I think we're going to be in a place. We'll talk about the ratings where we say, yes, golf on the national stage on these Sundays in August. It's a good spot. Maybe if we didn't go to places like Memphis and Baltimore, with all due respect. You know, maybe if we visited some places, you know, vintage.

But in setting that aside, Scotty Sheffler, top of the food chain, everybody's out there to give him props. kind of a good moment as we come into this tour championship, Nate, dog. Yeah, I think it is. I think since the master's house, we just have had ratings going up and interest in this sport rejuvenated. And I think that the general populace is starting to get the point on Sheffler, which is that his attitude is his superpower. And his demeanor that some, may find less flamboyant.

He's not Tiger the showman, that's for sure, when it comes to sort of the demonstrative signals of victory. But everything else, it is that attitude. We talk about a lot on this pod. His faith, his family, sort of being grounded in those things, get you through. The last 90% of being great at golf is what's between the ears. There are a lot of guys who can go out there on. their own and hit bomb drives and put well and all of those things. But it's when you get out there

in competition and there's no one else to blame. It is just you and the earth. And there is nobody on the other side of the net. There's no teammate who fumbles the ball. There's none of it. And in that case, it is the guy with the strongest temperament and the strength between the ears who generally performs. And the thing I'll say about last weekend, I mean, that was a one-shot lead, one-shot victory house. It's not like he's going out and winning by 10. He has had some dominant victories, but he's learned how to win. And that chip in on 17 was pretty emblematic. So I'm not surprised that there is this sort of rush of interest. We had Happy Gilmore this summer, a massive, happy Gilmore too, a massively watched film on Netflix. We had Rory's win in April at Augusta. Like,

the ratings are up double digits now. CBS had their best year in a very, very long time. And time. So things are good for the first time in golf post the schism that happened what feels like oh, so long ago. Yes, I want to keep our eyes on that conversation. And at some point here, as the fairway rolling gets itself into the fall, we should try and get some guests on. And, you know, it's up to us. I think we can do it. But I'd like to talk to Josh Carpenter because he has been, you know, sort of tracking. He's my go to for, you know, how the ratings have been performed. I'd like to get, you know, sort of his insights and putting some of this in context. I do think that the golf public has told us that it is over the schism, that no longer is that an

impediment to interest or eyeballs, and that it's been settled, irrespective of wherever that may land yet in some kind of business combination or not. It doesn't matter. People are watching. and it's interesting. And the guys are doing their part. We're getting great story. We get J.J. Spawn out of nowhere.

And then the guy keeps validating it. He really was out of nowhere when he was in the playoff against Rory at the player's championship, a sympathetic guy who comes out and validates it by going out and seizing the U.S. Open in an iconic manner and then keeps it going with continued great performances like what we saw down in Memphis. You know, welcome to the stage, JJ. spawn a total badass and a guy that a would not be shocked at all if he goes out and wins at east lake this week and b can't wait to see that man in you know match play competition on behalf

of these united states of america but i do want to finish the thought on scotty because you raised a couple things that are interesting to me we're going to kill we got a lot to talk about it's so fun i know you got to finish the thought on scott i just can't i mean six months ago if you told me we were going to be like, yeah, JJ Spawn in the Ryder Cup, no way. That's golf, baby. That's golf. Come on. That's golf.

I mean, hey, look, uh, all due respect, I'm not pouring any dirt on the man's body, but we were doing this for Max Homa for about, you know, 18 months, right? And Max Homo went out in the president's cup and kicked ass. And Max Homa went to the Ryder Cup and put on a great performance. Why can't J.J. Spahn sort of play that, that role. But here's the things that you sort of remind. me about my experience with Scottie over this this last month or so since the the British Open Championship the Open Championship well he quietly and maybe this is I don't want to

overstate it because they keep doing the thing about how he played basketball in high school right is a damn good athlete like all of the stuff if you want to go into the the deep dive swing analytics and go super slow-mo on the arc of of his driver swing, like the, where he gets his body at the top and where he finishes, yes, of course, the shuffle, the feet. Yeah, just to do this stuff with the tension is athletic. But it is, you know, and there is, to his credit, I'm not saying that my man was on the wrong side of nutrition earlier in his career.

He's just leaner now. He just, he just moves to me. and maybe I'm catching it with the fluidity that didn't seem there before. And again, I'm not trying to overdo the athlete part. But I did want to grab your, because look, off the tee, we have seen him get in these patches where he'll miss. He will get himself in the rough. And the rough in Baltimore this past week in particular was gnarly. And he, you know, managed to get himself in a position where he could save par more often than not.

But what I really was impressed with two things about the performance in Baltimore that that continue to just push him up into the really rarefied error that he deserves to be in and that we keep sort of, you know, talking about him in. Didn't play with Ted Scott this past week. You met the chaplain at the PGA championship last year. He played with the chaplain and was completely unfazed by it. I mean, you know, obviously he has a great relationship with chaplain and working. out, you know, tremendous for him over the course of the week, but really emphasizes where his head is at. Yeah.

By the way, but played with a different caddy on Sunday, didn't play with the chaplain. So it's almost like you or I could get out there at this point and he's going to play that well. And again, I think it's because for Scotty, he's just so able to stay within himself that it just doesn't matter who else is on that bag. you talked about how great he's been, even if he's missing off the tea. Let's be clear. Statistically, he's first off the tee.

He's first on approach. He's second in scrambling. That's 12th in putting. And that just forever. It was his Achilles heel. We thought this was the guy who just couldn't quite putt. And Rory makes the mallet comment on national television. Scottie makes the switch.

And he really hasn't looked back. But it is these other parts of his game. that he's worked into shape while just amassing just notch after notch after notch in the belt that it just doesn't feel like right now there is a competitive situation that he has not been in such that when it's just routine now to get into the pressure of that back nine so he's sitting there on one of the hardest shots that we've seen in a very very long time thinking i got a chance to make this and he missed the green all four times on that 17th hole and finish the week at one under on that hole.

That tells you that scrambling. You know where it is. House, like, you know, I get into these arguments with my son who never saw Michael Jordan play. And my son is on TikTok and he's pulling down all of the LeBron is the goat videos that he can find for me. And he's sending them to me because he just never got to see it with his own eyes. Right. He just, he wasn't there. you didn't smell the inevitability through the television of what Jordan was going to do.

That's taking nothing away from LeBron. But as we start to have these sort of, you know, Schaeffler versus Tiger conversations, do you take them seriously in this moment? I mean, I think this is a different kind of golfer. It's a different kind of human being than Tiger ever was. To me, there's no doubt that this guy's ceiling is being on Mount Rushmore. We got a little ways to go from a major. standpoint until we start thinking that way. But do you really put him in the same category as Tiger right now?

For the run, yes, absolutely. I mean, these two years, the back-to-back five wins, it's just him and Tiger. I know it's modern era that we're looking at, you know, for these numbers. But, you know, and it's not, he's not, yes, he did win the TPC Craig, Craig, Craig Ranch, but he also had two majors this year. And he also, who won the memorial, you know, repeated at the memorial, defended his title at the memorial. And he demonstrated to us. He,

you know, he defended his title at the players, the first player ever to do that. Uh, or whatever the history of that. I do feel like the quality of the competition right now is universally stronger. There are guys who are closer to him in terms of any given Sunday being able,

or any given weekend being able to be competitive with him. But that's almost why this is so. impressive to me is that he's just holding them all back. You know, we're not, we're not talking about. Yeah. We'll, we'll do this over the fall. Let's take a big fat dump on all the competition that Tiger had over his era. That will be, it'll make so many people so mad.

David Duvall, here we come, buddy. Phil Mickelson, you know, should have would of Phil. Anyway. But irrespective of that, I don't, I don't feel like in any given week, Scottie's going to win by eight he's won by you know but but it's these one shot victories where it's literally one shot that at any point over the course of you know 250ish strokes 200 you know 80 strokes he he he's something could happen and and and the it's just his ability it's the mental it's what you said to hang in is is just my man makes this guy two footer reminder he missed a two

footer on Sunday he'll still miss a short put here and there oh yeah Yeah, but it's what, it's what, when you think about Tiger and Scotty, it's, they both were mentally unparalleled. But the way that they tapped into that strength was completely different, right? Tiger constantly needing to prove himself that hole in his heart that in his personal life got him into trouble that had him chasing, you know, the, the Navy seal stuff that he did that got his body into bad shape, you know, sort of pursuit of. father. The flip side on Scotty is they're just at least from the outside. And again, Instagram is not real life, but Scottie's not even on Instagram. It's just what we're seeing and watching now every damn week in these celebrations. And like I've walked golf tournaments with his father multiple times and like heard him just speak like you just understand this level of

stability and calm. It's just a foundation that is sort of unshakable and unwavering that allows him to to just be at peace on the golf course in ways we've never really seen a guy be able to perform out there. It, it, everybody can, you know, at that level, you're, you're explaining, you're, you're identifying the, the killer instinct. And it's right to distinguish the killer instinct for Scotty from the killer instinct from Tiger. But the performance, you know, are, are in that zone where we can compare them.

And it's not disresistant. respectful to anybody. And, you know, the same thing. The interesting thing is Jack because of, and I'm talking about Jack Nicholas, the arc of his career, how he had a family over the balance of his career. And I would, you know, the guys that Jack confronted and the guys that he beat, this is why, you know, if people want to do the goat conversation, it's dumb. not going to engage in it right now.

But for sure, Jack owning the era that he owned and the competition that he had and the playing circumstances that he experienced, you know, will forever properly have him as the icon that he is. And, you know, we properly have Tiger where he is as a modern era ushering in, the modern era of golf. And Scotty, perhaps, you know, we need it over time. We've had it now for three years. Can we get it for 10 years?

Then we'll be talking about Scotty and Tiger as the two modern era guys, right? Yeah. I mean, look, I think the most impressive stat of the whole season is that Scotty's worst finish was in Phoenix and it was a T-25. His worst score of this year was a 73 and he only shot it once. His just, his floor is what's blowing my mind at the moment. right he he did not miss a cut this year he had only three finishes outside the top 10 it was a t-11 at api i a t-20 at the players in the aforementioned t-25 at phoenix all of those things took

place before the first major of the season i mean it just is unprecedented level of great consistency and as we talk about this tour championship and you start to look at the odds man just the way that this FedEx Cup system works, there's not a lot of momentum from most of the 30 guys in this tournament. When you really look at it, I mean, there's very few guys coming into this tournament who have top tens in the last month. There just has been a select number of people who have been remarkably consistent or picked up heat at the end, who I think are in this this week. Outside of that, there just isn't that much. And that to me is what's helping Scotty stand out so much in this field of guys who, yeah,

Matt McNeely, he scattered a bunch of top tens through the course of his season, but he missed some cuts and there were moments where he's finishing T-52. You can say the same thing about almost every single person in this tour championship. It's just Scotty's remarkable ability to go out every week and not lose steam. And it was

you know, his performance after he won the Masters and then came out and played RBC that week and won it like that's when I was like wait a minute in 2024 does he get tired like does he lose yeah you know what's crazy is upon retrospect and reflection he doesn't have the kind of tired the dummies like us might imagine because he doesn't he's not going out and getting into the bottles you know what I mean he's not at the club doing doing bottle life after winning the Masters. He's not, and it wasn't such an unbelievable,

kind of emotional, sort of existential thing for Scotty, the way it was for Rory. I mean, Rory still barely has recovered from winning the Masters this year. Yeah. This year. But the funny thing is you were going through Scotty's numbers

that I just will say out loud, his worst performances were at the beginning of the seasons because the dodo cut his hand. And the only way that we are going to see, you know, the sort of train slow down, it feels like to me is if, you know, something unexpected happens with his health. And I'll just knock on wood with both, you know, hands that we don't get that, that we get a mostly healthy, you know, Scotty Schaeffler over the next, you know, 10 years or so because I want to see what he's capable of. I mean, the data golf guys, to their credit, you know, they, I love their work. that's another fall golf crew to have a conversation with. They've been doing forecasts over the summer of like how many majors can this guy win.

And they had to revise upward by two majors because of, you know, Scotty winning after the PGA championship. They had him in like the low sixes. And now I think he's north of eight in terms of what an algorithm would suggest is the potential total number of majors that Scottie's capable of just over the course of a couple of months it has to go up by nearly a, you know, a major and a half to two majors.

Give me the over. Give me the over on eight majors for Scotty Shephel. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love this conversation. Hey, Bertie buddies, whether you are dialed in every shot or just following the action on the weekend, Vandal keeps you locked into the PGA tour action all week long because all customers get a problem.

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including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook. bandwool.com. Gambling problem call 1-800 gambler or visit rg dash help.com. Call 1-88-7-8-9-77-7-7 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Well, you talked about some guys getting hot and your your perception that there aren't guys coming into this tour championship that have necessarily really, you know, who's coming in on a heater, who's going to give Scotty any kind of a challenge. But the right context to that, Nate Dog, is the Rider Cup,

which is sitting right here, staring us in the face. We've got it. Barely five weeks out now from Beth Page Black in the third week of September. And the intrigue now for the U.S. team is just the bubble guys. It seems to me, maybe I'm wrong, that there are two to three spots out there and the fulcrum is Keegan and whether or not he decides to play. And I'll just get it right out of the way right off the top. I don't think Keegan is playing. I think he is going to give his spot essentially because he will finish inside the top 12 points wise.

And I think he is going to be magnanimous. and I think he is going to say in the interest of the team, unless he wins at Eastlake, I don't even think a top five at Eastlake is enough for him. Unless he wins at Eastlake, I think he will give up his spot and it will go to somebody like Cam Young or Sam Burns. That's well, yeah, let's let's talk about it.

I mean, I think you're right. I don't even think he's necessarily being magnanimous. I think it seemed inevitable after he won Travelers. that he was going to play. But since Travelers, it has not been good in the last two months. I mean, it hasn't been bad. It just hasn't been good. Well, I mean, here's what it's been.

I mean, let's be clear. Since he won at Travelers, tied 41st at Rocket, T30 at Open, cut at the Wyndham, T-44 at FedEx, T-17 last week. There just hasn't been that much to get excited about from a momentum perspective. And then you flip the table and you say, okay, you know, how is our guy who maybe, do you think Mavs on the bubble? I mean, Cam Young, right? Cam Young, he missed the cut at the Open championship. But at both RBC Canadian and U.S. Open, he tied for fourth.

And then he won Wyndham, fifth at FedEx, 11th at BMW. That's momentum. I mean, that's the kind of, I'm playing great right now. I want to put on the on the field against Shane Lowry who does not have momentum right now has no momentum right now but is going to be on that team because he qualified earlier in the year with some finishes. So I don't even know if he's being magnanimous.

Who do you think right now House? I mean I'm going to we know who the six guys are. It's Scotty, it's JJ, it's Xander, it's Russell Henley, it's Harris English and it's Bryce and Deschambo. It feels like to me, and I want to hear your thoughts, but it feels like the following three guys are definitely locks. And that's Justin Thomas. It's Colin Morikawa who also has zero momentum,

but do not like get too spun around the axle on that. Colin Morikawa, he's got one top 10 since the Masters. He's got, he missed the two cuts overseas. There's been the caddy drama. But I mean, he's still third on approach overall, 12th in overall shots gained. So this is still a great player. And an alternate shot format, you want Morikawa striking iron shots, I think, right?

He has to be on the team because it fits the over-arcing interest of these United States international teams to have that continuity, to have the veteran presence. Yes, the form is bad. You have to do what you just did, which is go into numbers. and give yourself, you know, console yourself with numbers because what you're seeing with your own two eyes hasn't been very inspirational, but you need them on the team. So I don't, I understand. Yeah.

No, but I mean, Colin's on. Do you agree? Do you quibble with J.T. at all? No, no, no. J.T. You know, he only has one top 20 finish since mid-May. Yeah, one top 10. Yeah. It was so, right. It was a top 10, but I'm saying it was one top 20. He hasn't been inside the top 20. It's just been mediocre since the Travelers. Yeah, which is why for sure you're going to hear me play on him as a top 10 at this event this week. Plus 130 on the Fandle's Sportsbook.

Yes, Justin Thomas will be one of my plays this week. But yeah, right. They're both on. So we don't have to really spend any more time. Okay. So they're both on. Ben Griffin, who I just can't get my head to believe that Ben Griffin should be on this team. But he's got two missed cuts, but nothing worse than a top 14 since the first.

freaking PGA, including a first and a second. The guy has been as strong a golfer since the PGA is almost anybody on tour not named Scotty Sheffler. I mean, Ben Griffin is 100% on this team. And it's not like he had a flash in the pan moment where you go, okay, well, he was hot. Now, now maybe we just let it go. No, he has been consistently great over the last three months. I don't have any argument with Ben Griffin. And I'm fine with him being on the team. Yeah. So, So then what we're talking about is who gets spots 10, 11, and 12, right? And from a points perspective, that would go to Mav, Kagan, and Harmon. But we've seen a hell of a lot over the last couple of weeks that make you think, right?

I mean, the Cam Young chief amongst them, when you just look at what he started doing back around the time of the U.S. Open, it's just hard to look away when a guy has shot 62s and 63s and 65s and 605s and 60s. sort of regularly. He qualified for that U.S. Open, if you remember, in like a five-way playoff, got himself in, and it's just been tearing ass since then pretty much. He had a weird stretch after the T4 at the U.S. Open. But, boy, that win at Wyndham was just absolutely never in doubt, really, after Friday. And he's continued to keep that pedal down. We've talked a lot about his New York State history.

We've talked a lot about how Beth Page is a place where this guy can really resonate. And by the way, his win at Wyndham was in part powered by his connection to Wake. There were fans there pulling hard for him. And it's just an indication that he's going to play well in places that feel at home to him. Where do you feel about Cam Young if there's a spot for him? I think he's a lock. I don't think it's up for debate.

I think he's on the team. These last three performances, plus the combination of he's only played one international. event. It was the 2022 President's Cup. He didn't qualify for the 2024 President's Cup and he didn't qualify for the 23 Ryder Cup. He went one, one in one in the President's Cup, but he has a good resume when you look at the U.S. amateur. And he's beaten some impressive, I mean, he beat Scotty Sheffler in the U.S.M. He lost John Rom in the U.S. Like he has extensive match play experience. If you look at his U.S.M resume, the furthest he made it was the quarterfinals, but he's got the reps.

But the most important thing to me, and you mentioned this, he won an event at Beth Page Black as a junior. And, you know, the connection. I was literally at Sleepy Hollow where his father was a teaching pro for all these years. Native son, Cam Young, the day that he won, the Wyndham, free drinks at the pool bar, Nate, dog. Thank you, Cam Young. Tip of the hat, Cam Young.

Believe me, I found my way to the pool bar. I did for everybody. I wanted Cam Young to know how much I appreciated his good performance. But I think he's on this team for a whole variety of reasons, including the idea that, you know, where we are well sort of positioned to try and build in some of these young guys where we can build them in because, like, how many more rider cups do you think Jordan Speeth is going to play in?

Well, that's the question. He's not playing this one. Right. And of the guys that you think of as stalwart, you know, um, Cantlay and Zander are, you know, kind of there in the peak of their careers.

We expect them. We expect us to continue to see. Scotty is, is unparalleled. Uh, you expect more cow to be around there. There's only like six or seven guys. So there's room for five guys.

And I think a player like Cam Young is like one of those guys where you would say, we want him playing every year in these international. events because it you know that's that's the growth kind of paradigm okay well then let's switch to a guy who is ahead of him in the in the point standings and who is 29 years old and that's mad mcneely who many people have pointed to as potential future leader of the tour he's very thoughtful in the way that he's sort of inserted himself himself into a lot of these discussions around the future of the tour with the players council and so forth that's not a really reason to put him on the Ryder Cup team. The reason to put him on the Ryder Cup team is when you look

at the tournaments that he has performed well at this year, they are all big boy tournaments on big boy courses. He did not play well in the majors. But the reason you put Mav on this team is T8 at Century, two at Genesis, T9 at Phoenix Open in front of a massive boisterous crowd, right? T3 at RBC Heritage, T5 at Workday, like third last week at BMW. His best performances have been at some of the highest class tournaments this year. Yeah, he was, you know, a middling T32 at the Houston Open. Next week, by the way, he followed that up with the T3. But the guy has really classed himself well this year.

Is Mav McNeely on the team? I think he's the hardest call. by the way it's hilarious that you called the memorial the work day the the the corporate in you just comes out of the your poor sometimes what a joke sorry no uh so when i was making the observation around um kegan potentially being magnanimous uh it was it was this guy i had in mind and it was not a coincidence that mavick neely and kegan bradley played the first two rounds of um the kays Valley event together, the BMW. They were, they played together. They, they had, you know, nine hours of, of quality time together. Kegan got to see him, got to peer deep into his soul, and Matt McNeely knew what was at stake and went out and, you know, grabbed that third place. So I think that Kegan will not play, and I think that Mad McNeely will essentially play in the spot, that Kegan is vacating.

Okay. But that still leaves one more spot, right? Because that means Ben Griffin is nine. You're giving Cam Young a slot at 10. You're giving Mav a slot at 11. So we have one slot and a pick. And I think I heard you earlier tell me who you go with. The possible candidates would be Brian Harmon, who, you know, won this year. Vlaro. He acquitted himself well at the bridge open. He's been a little. bit better lately. I'm not sure anybody's clamoring for Harmon, but he's technically in the 12th spot right now and is certainly an old reliable. Andrew Novak, who had a great start to the season. He won in New Orleans with with Ben Griffin. Griffin. But man, he's got what he's really got one top 10 and some non-factors since then. He shot 77, 75 last weekend. There were some ugly scores that I just felt like he was throwing things in reverse, kind of in the same way that Goderup, who was an late addition to the conversation after he won in Scotland and competed at the open, Goderup seems to have run out of some gas and has retreated. So those guys,

those guys are on the list. But really, the debate, I think, that is in your mind is between the hatless wonder Patrick Cantlay and between Sam Burns. And I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this. I mean, there's, you know, Sam Burns has incredible quiet momentum. His last miscut was the first weekend in April. He's got eight top 20s since the Masters. He was T4 last week. You flipped that over and Patrick Cantley is just doing enough Patrick Cantley stuff. He missed the cuts at the PGA at the U.S. Open at the open. He has a few top fives and a few top 12s in elevated events to keep himself out here, keep himself in the mix and in the running, get himself to Eastlake, but without ever really threatening.

But he was a stalwart on that team in Rome. I mean, he was a guy who he was nails. I mean, he was sort of there, Justin Rose, in terms of making the big putts that mattered and weathering the storm from an attitude perspective to not let it boil over in the way that we saw some of the guys maybe lose their cool. My guess is that you're going with Burns because you want the hot hand

and Patrick Cantlay has lost you somewhere between four and $8 million dollars betting on golf but i'd love to hear your actual thoughts about how you break those two guys down is there anybody else in the mix so i'm forgetting or do you think that's what it comes down to not to me not worth uh you know spending any time on um i'm surprised that you know i am very petty so maybe i shouldn't be surprised because my pettiness does you know certainly you know color my approach to some guys it's definitely patty ice and i don't think it's close um patrick Kentley is on this team. I think that what he revealed to us in in 20203 about, you know, his capacity as a leader, as a quiet leader. And, you know, there is a respect for him

in that leadership role that goes well beyond just the simple performance in that match play event in Rome. I mean, he was the voice of, you know, a certain constituency, you know, as the sort of players council of the PGA tour. That's right, was sorted out. And he has a standing among his peers. He also, you can go into the numbers, his numbers very quietly. You have to do this the same way you did it with Morikawa, except for Cantley's been better, I think, in certain ways over the course of the year, maybe more consistent. But Cantley is on mainly because of what the combination of him and Xander, you know, what that presents, even though they got their asses handed to them. in Rome, it's still formidable.

Sam Burns, I like him. And, you know, that's a guy for sure that would make sense in the spirit of, you know, we want this notion of continuity. We want to build. So Sam Burns did play in the 2020-Rider Cup. He went one and two or whatever, lost his singles match. But then went to the President's Cup and kicked ass. He went 3-0-1.

And so that fits the directionally, the idea of guys, you know, you want year over year the same kinds of guys on a team because you build that momentum. You build that identity. Who are we? What are we doing? And obviously the Sam Burns relationship with Scotty Sheffler. Well, that matters. That's the thing you have to mention because what you're really talking about is, are you picking a guy to play with the unparalleled best player in the world? Or are you picking a guy to help pick up one of the best players in the world who's candidly.

struggled all season long in Xander. And that mindset, I think, has to play in to who gets this last spot. Do we need somebody to pair with Sheffler so that we get the most out of him? Or do we need somebody who's going to find that spark in Zander? I mean, look, Cantlay's stats this year, 15th on approach, 34th off the T, 11th overall. He's 59th in putting, not amazing. But I think if I'm Keegan, I'm betting that under the pressure and in that moment, that you see can't lay grab it because there are tournaments where pat can't lay putts as well as

anybody has including when he won caves valley you just don't wonder with can'tley you don't say oh i wonder how this guy's going to perform under the pressure and that that to me is the the determining factor not so that that you know that i'm not intending that as shade at sam burns although sam burns at the u.s open this is unfair this is this is I'm saying it out off the top yeah but if you look at what happened to Sam Burns it wasn't great after the the break right after the interlude j j Spahn came out after the interlude and won the US open and Sam Burns came out after the the weather delay um and laid a big fat egg now he had bad luck he had very bad US open style luck but um it was

not great the can't lay resume the can't lay standing to me it it's not even that that that tough of a call, to be honest with you. It's a tougher call between like Sam Burns and Maverick McNeely. Okay. So that that I think is probably what we're looking at. And that may be why this week actually matters. Right. I mean, Sam was T4 last week and played great.

He's, you know, he almost won Canadian Open. He was T7 at the U.S. Open. Like he's been playing really good golf and it's been more consistently better. you know, I think I think then Mav of late, but they both had a good finish. So I do think you're probably right that those two guys are playing for it. But I want to just have you step back for a second as we talk about these picks because the reason Kagan is here is because last go-round,

Zach Johnson did the traditional thing. And they captured Zach Johnson doing the traditional things and having the conversation with the guys who would have been maybe non-traditional or weren't part of the center club, they captured that on Netflix. People gravitated to that. And so the committee decided to throw a curveball and give Kagan the job. It's so hard for me to believe that Kagan is not going to, as a result of that, to think of himself as a guy who is empowered and has permission and almost required to do something slightly different. because they took a little bit different path with him. So I could see a world in which he goes with the more traditional,

dependable stalwarts because on this team, you're going to have some guys that you really haven't seen in competition like this. JJ Spawn, Ben Griffin, those are two guys you're going to have to play a lot. And we just don't know how they're going to handle this situation. We think because of the way they played lately, but everyone says it. The Ryder Cup is different.

Do you think that there's any calculation in Keegan's mind or any chance, I should say, that he's going to make like a wild-ass card pick and surprises? The wild card would be somebody like Brian Harmon. Like, you know, Brian Harmon and Harris English have the relationship that they have, and Brian Harmon's been around for as long as he has. I mean, that's the only sort of curveballs to me are Keegan himself playing, which knocks out one of these sort of rookies. Because here's the thing, we end up with nearly six rookies.

I think it's six full rookies if you put both Mad McNeely and Cam Young in, rookies in the Ryder Cup because Russell Henley is a rookie. JJ Spawn is a rookie. Harris English is a rookie. Ben Griffin is a rookie. Matt McNeely is a rookie. If you put Cam Young in, that's six. Am I right about that?

You are. I just will say this. If I'm Keegan Bradley and I'm looking at all these rookies, I go, I'm going to do better in this situation than Matt McNeillias. I just am. Okay. I'm going to do better in this situation than Sam Burns is. I just am.

It's impossible for a competitive golfer and a guy like Keegan who's still bearing the snub of last time. And all he's ever wanted to do was play in this thing to not feel that way. It will be. So I'll come back to your language. I think I've talked myself into what you said. I think it will be incredibly magnanimous for Keegan to not put himself on the team if we see a guy like Mab McNeely on it. I think you could very easily make the, make the case that Kagan has risen to more occasions in the moment than Mav has. If, you know, it is a wonderful

position for Kagan. I mean, all the stories right now talk about, you know, how, uh, what a challenge it must be. But to me, it's, it's all all upside. Yeah. In, in, the, the only mistake he can make is if he plays and puts himself in, you know, honestly more than one match. If he plays and only plays in in in the singles. Um, is there really any basis for criticizing him? Do we did will you look back and say, oh, look who he left. He left off Mav McNeely. He let, you know, like, right. Matt McNeely could have taken down Rasmus Hoygard in the eighth match on Sunday fuck off. Yeah. Yeah. That, that's right. Kegan's earned it. Nobody debates it. Every single player that gets asked say that Keegan is one of the 10 best Americans on tour right now.

they all locked up and to their credit it looks sincere it doesn't look like a talking point to me he certainly did enough to earn it he did it over the course of the year he could play if he wants to play if there was another captain in charge of the team is the shame ryan did a great bit about this um uh on twitter and and wrote an article about the only captain of the u.s rider cup team in 2025 that would keep kegan bradley off the team is kegan bradley yeah he can Bradley himself, excuse, but I just think sort of legacy-wise, his instinct at the end of the day will be to, you know, just sort of own that captain role, have that captain role be the thing to the hill and, and he'll let one of these young guys have the place. Or he'll have, he'll have,

he'll have, he'll let Brian Harmon have the spot. I want to make one off the wall point that you can laugh me out of the room for there is a non-zero chance that if kegan were to go absolute wildcard that he picks ricky fowler and ricky fowler has played some of the best golf of anyone over since really since the memorial pretty much yes he missed the cut at the rocket but he has been consistently strong he's got three top tens during that period he's got a couple top 20s and And the game has gotten a lot better. He's back to sort of being Ricky. He's not going to make the pick.

But if the prism through which he looked at the captain's picks was not points over the last two years. But I want to take in the best current golfers right now onto my team, I think you might pick Ricky Fowler. So it's not as preposterous as it might sort of strike for two. reasons in the first place that would be a pick where you say i have a captain on the playing these matches you know he's my proxy out there he's he's another sort of known respected leader the question i love that guys which kid do you kick off you know it would be a response to the fact that we have you're lined up to have five or six rookies so who whose place does ricky take and then who is rookie ricky playing with like what where what relationship is there among

So it would be JT and Ricky playing together. Yeah. And I think if you do it, you do something, again, the prism through which you're looking at if you make the fowler pick is I want the best guys right now. And if that's the case, then you go back to that momentum conversation that I just talked about. And you start looking at a guy who you would think would be a total lock. Like, I don't know, Colin Morikawa. And you'd say, let me tell you his last, you know, he missed the cut at the Scottish. He missed the cut at the open.

He was an uninspiring set, T-22 at the FedEx. At BMW, his Sunday round was a 75, and he finished T-33. This guy's not going to play great when it comes through. I'd rather have Ricky Fowler right now going head-to-head with Colin Moracawa in a betting matchup. So why wouldn't I put him on the Ryder Cup team? Well, that's a conversation then where you're bringing in everybody. That's not the, and Morcawa and Ricky are coming in and having this are part of the conversation, right? Yes, and all I'm saying is that I think it is possible that Kagan's response to being named and the way in which he was left off last time would be to dramatically rethink the algorithm and the formula for how you pick the captain's picks.

To say, actually, that's an antiquated process just because, you know, if you didn't qualify, you didn't qualify. And instead of, hey, you almost did. So I'm putting you on the team. I'm then saying, all right, these are the guys who qualified now, hard reset. who are the best next six golfers right now? Because I want those guys on the team. And if that's the case, it's going to look a lot different than some of the guys we're talking about right now.

Well, we already have two guys that haven't qualified, you know, jumping in and potentially three. So you're already sort of accomplishing. They're around the hoop, though. They're around the hoop in ways that Ricky is not. They weren't before. They weren't. Like, you know, it would be like Chris Goderup finishes six that he's.

Eastlake and all of a sudden Chris Goderub's on the team. That would be the thing that would be. I think Goddard's. I think Goddorbs, I think I don't gotterips 20th in the points right now. I think he's a hard fate. Cam Young is 14th. He's only 200 rider cut points on a base of, you know, 7,500 out of the 12th spot. So it's not crazy to pick him.

I just think, you know, Akshay, not going to get it. Fienau, not going to get it, right? Danny Berger withdraw. Like, no. Jacob Bridgman, like none of those guys are. But Ricky Fowler, right now when you look at him, I don't know that I'd take him head to head against probably four or five of the guys this week who are, you know, who we've talked about. I get it.

I understand. I think, you know, the combination of the way that the sort of algorithm works, plus I do think there is some, I mean, you know, if you didn't have JJ Spahn and Harris English in your guaranteed spots, then there would be more flexibility here. but you need Cantlay and you need Cam Young. So it really does sort of, you know, bind you up a little bit. I want one more question on this for you. You and I have been afraid of this European Rider Cup team for a while now. And my concern has only grown, as you just said, guys like JJ Spawn and Harris English, no offense. They've totally earned it.

They just aren't the traditional sort of dominant forces that we expect, though they have played extremely well. but I just am looking over at that European side and I'm looking over at Ludwig starting to quietly get some momentum back like I thought he was sort of toast and now Scotland he was T8 T23 at the open then he's gone T9 T7 in the playoffs like some of these guys

starting to round into form Bobby Mac playing his way in obviously Tommy Fleetwood being in great for the guy I'd be most worried about over on that side right now is Rory and the driver, but I, in this moment, you had put down some money on Europe. How do you feel about this competition? I don't think we're going to get too many surprises on the European side, right? I think most of the drama is in what we just talked about.

Where's your money right now in these two teams? Well, it's all on the Europe side because I've been betting them serially over the course of the season with the rise of all of the European players, you know, the great performance. over the course of the year by Stepstraka and Ludwig and you know even even Hovlin who's been all over the place has a win and has a win at a tough place and you know

Hovlin might come out and win the goddamn tour championship this week it's not promiscorous it's not great track record at East Lake like you know and so he's had a very schizophrenic season that's either been great or awful and you can't really predict it can you the crazy thing is

Harry Hall like really has an awesome case when you're talking about a hot hand right now and that man's putting over the course of this entire season but the problem that the euros have is that you have to kick off either Rasmus Hoygard or Matt Wallace those would be the two or Matt Fitzpatrick you have to have an opinion one of those three because John John Rom is on this team on the team in the top 12 in the rank right now so you're all you've already hair he else yeah Harry else got one finish outside the top 25 in the last three months.

I mean, he's playing great. Three top tens. Stones. And the putter is hot as, as, as all. He sort of would be the Ricky Fowler pick, right? Which is, I'm just going to go with the best guy. The problem, as you just pointed out, is you got to kick off Fitzpatrick, who has accelerated his play and is playing way better and has been competitive.

Or you got to pick off, you know, the Hoygard, bro, who's probably still going to qualify, depending on how things shake out. And he's eighth. Like that would be aggressive. It would be like Rasmus, we're asking you to do a solid or putting Harry in your place. It would be Matt Wallace. That would be the guy that I think. I don't think Wallace is on the team.

Oh, because you think Rom has his spot. So I haven't lost any of my enthusiasm, Nate, but that's because of the math of it. The odds right now on the Fanduals sports book are the U.S. minus 125 to win, which has an implied probability of 55%. And for the year, euros it's plus 140 which is like suggests like a 41% chance of winning and I think it's much closer to 50 50 so I just like the odds of yeah Europe um with the cast that they have assembled I think that those are a bunch of guys that absolutely can handle beth page and definitely um will be

well suited to handle the crowds in new york so I'm I'm still this is just like a rational better play for me I'm not very great at betting but this is a rational a better play for me that's all yeah yeah well i i we got a big week next thing we got a very big week next week i can't yeah yeah well for for rata cup purposes for sure but let's talk a little bit about some plays for this tour championship um we haven't had a chance to talk about plays in a minute i'm very excited not doing anything with scotty um i've seen some fun stuff out there you know and and we'll go through the Fandoz sports book, try and find stuff like, you know,

will he be in the last group, something like that? But I'm not playing anything. Scotty-wise, I think he's like plus 180 right now, which is like deserved. I, you know, stay away. Here's where I'm going. I have two plays right off the bat. These are top 10 finishing position plays.

They go to two guys that are ready to serve all of us, a giant cup of STFU juice. Shut the F-up, Juice. this is Justin Thomas to finish in the top 10, Kalamork Howard to finish in the top 10. And neither one of them coming into this event have a track record or resume that suggests that they are ready for a breakthrough, except they're both, I think, you know,

if you believe that they are, you know, going to make good contributions to the U.S. team, this would be a good stage for them to show up. They both have great records at East. Lake, Justin Thomas on just, you know, in a non-altered scoring state

phenomena, hasn't finished outside the top 10 ever at East Lake, you know, just sort of basic raw scoring. And Calmore Cowell last year showed us. And this is the thing. It's a different golf course now. It's a pretty different golf course than anything that going back.

And so, you know, the funny thing is we don't have Xander to leverage. Well, it's so weird to see this tournament without Zander. isn't it? Yeah. Well, you know, you want to collect your Zand or top five, except for it's a different golf course. And, you know, previously, I thought that the golf course was kind of a bugaboo for Scotty Sheffler, and I faded Scotty last year. Then it's a brand of golf course,

and he served me a giant cup of STFU juice. But JT is plus 130 top 10, Morcawa, plus 140, top 10 and it's just based on on history and and it's time for for both of them to step up and remind us, you know, what they're capable of. Yeah. I don't know exactly how to bet this week. I'm just looking at guys who on the odds board seem to be underappreciated relative to their momentum coming in and the quality of the seasons that they've had or the stakes in the week leading up to the captain selecting the picks. And so when I see, you know, top X, finish including top 10 finish including ties for Ben Griffin at plus 150 like given just how great he's been and how consistently he's been around the top 10 over the last uh over the last

three months I I love that kegan is he going to give us one last thing to talk about I mean if it's if he's already made his mind up uh you know that maybe that takes some pressure off if he hasn't maybe you know maybe he goes out and just absolutely pushes hard but but at plus 150 to top 10, I like that. I'm weirded out by why Harry Hall is further down the board at plus 185. That to me feels like a very interesting look. And there's Mav McNeely.

Again, playing for a spot. Maybe, as we said, head to head with Sam Burns. Those are guys who I just think in this field with some guys who I expect are not going to play great. We have not seen anything at a Sung Jay of late.

Andrew Novak, definitely struggling, have not seen much from Chris Goderup of late. So there already were 10% of the way through the field. Can you get yourself, you know, can you get yourself another few more percentage points up and then find those guys who seem to be undervalued relative to the way that they're playing this week.

Yeah, I love the Harry Hall play. I'm definitely going to have some allocated to him all the way through finishing position wise. I'm not going to bet him to win. No, The guy that I am going to bet him to win for criminal. Both to finish in the top 10 and to win is J.J. Spawn. Because I just have been so impressed by him over the, his resume over this season is just impeccable.

And he is, it's like there is a nice, our boy Pat Mayo drew up a nice correlation between the way that this iteration of Eastlake is playing. You know, this is its second year, so we don't have the big data set to look at. But he, he may have made the case that this is playing like South Wind, the TPC down in Memphis, just played. Interesting. And we just watched Justin Rose. Well, I'm going to leave Justin Rose alone because he's, you know, the 45 year olds. It's like you can only get it up, you know, once a month. That's kind of where I put it for Jay Rose. But spawn at 27 to 1 to win.

Like if I'm going to do something speculative outside of Scotty Sheffler would be in that direction, a guy who won a major this year that I'm not worried about being on this biggest stage. But my bet is plus 140 for JJ Spahn to have another top 10 to put in his, that feather in his cap. And then I'm looking at Ludwig because Ludwig very quietly, three top tens in those last four events and over his last 24 rounds, top three in ball striking. This is a ball striking golf course. course you have to be straight you have to be long and you have to you know have that that ball striking acumen he is uh only behind scotty sheffler and victor hoblin and ball striking over the last 24 rounds and you want ludwig you know ludwig sort of reminding everybody as i think that's what's happening this season you you like ludwig i really do outside of scotty i i think ludwig is our guy this week i just it feels like he's coming on i have ludwig Ludwig plus 260 to finish top five.

If you want to do, let's see if they, what, what the, the winner without Scotty odds, Ludwig is 11 to 1. So those would be two ways you could play Ludwig, you know, that, that's a second place finished to only Scotty Schaffler at 11 to 1 and a top 5 plus 260 to cover off ties and all, all the other kind of stuff. Any other names you're looking at? Anybody else you're interested in? I mean, how do you feel about VATTS?

Victor. You said it you mentioned him earlier in the in the round. Are you bet? Always always always worth something. Like, you know, he's like a fifth of a unit or a quarter of a unit because I like him. And he's he's capable at any moment of, you know, going out and grabbing it. Let's see. Let me get to get it here. Do you have his odds up on the Fandwell sports book? I mean, he's he's he's plus 2,700 to win. So 27 to 1 to win and and Victor four to one for a time. top five. Okay. I'm adding it to the card. You've talked me into it. I'm a Victor fan. He's got some good karma, good vibes here. And this is a chance to round into shape and to send messages before the Ryder Cup. And the ball striking, you can't argue the number. I mean, he's riding a little bit of a hot hand here. Not very much holding him back. If you can get the putter going a little bit here at Eastlake. Nate Dogg, it's good to be back. It's fun to be back. We're back on this very channel next week. We're going to come on as the U.S. makes its selections, as Kegan Bradley announces,

the gentleman that will be rounding out the U.S. team. So that is Wednesday, the 27th of August. Perfect time to dive in. We'll recap this tour championship, of course. But really, let's get going with this Ryder Cup. Next Wednesday, here, Fairway Rowland. We will be back. Until then, my friends, please.

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