Fairway Rollin' - Setting the Stage for the Masters With Alan Shipnuck | Fairway Rollin’

Episode Date: April 9, 2019

Joe House is joined by Alan Shipnuck of Golf.com and Golf Magazine to discuss his recent story on Patrick Reed, and his thoughts on some of the top players' chances this weekend, including those of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Rose (4:30). Then The Ringer’s Megan Schuster drops in for another week of Golf Social to cover Phil Mickelson's Instagram shade on Tiger Woods, Patrick Reed’s hearty Champions dinner, and Jordan Spieth’s Masters mind-set (44:30) before Chris Vernon drops by to discuss how he is feeling about Tiger Woods this weekend and to offer his Masters pick of the week (65:15). Host: Joe House Guests: Alan Shipnuck, Megan Schuster, Chris Vernon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, golf pals, it is Masters Week, and Fanshare Sports is here to help you build your winning daily fantasy golf lineup. Fanshare sports saves you precious research time by linking you to a wide range of fantasy golf content from across the industry. By tracking industry buzz and sentiment, only Fanshare Pro gives you the data. need to win. Go to Fansharesports.com today to see who is getting the buzz for Augusta. Get 20% off. This is a good deal. 20% off any fan share pro subscription

using promo code fairway. That's fanshareports.com. F-A-S-H-A-R-E-S-P-O-R-T-S-S-P-O-R-T-S-P-O-R-T-S-E. Use promo code Fairway and get 20% off any fan-share pro subscription podcast. Unlike any other, it is a beautiful week. It is a holy week.

It is irreverent week. The golf season has finally arrived by birdie buddies, by par-saving pals, my eagle enthusiasts. Welcome to Fairway, Roe! The new golf podcast on the Ringer podcast network. I am your starter, Joe House. This show is brought to us by our very good friends at Callaway Golf. Callaway makers of the new Apex 19 irons, the number one irons in golf.

They scored a perfect 20 for 20 on the Golf Digest hot list. Golf Digest already put the previous version of Apex on the Mount Rushmore of irons. These irons are even better. Calloway is upscaled the look with the show. shaping particularly on the scoring irons there is beautiful to look at as they are to hit available in classic chrome or smooth smoke now at callowagolf dot com my birdie buddies we have a lot of masters content for you this week i'm very pleased to tell you today's show a set the stage kind of show it's masters monday we want everybody to hear the storylines get your head around the fact that there

is pimento cheese to be had. There is egg salad sandwiches to be had. There is going to be some winners thought about and given out. Today's show, Alan Shipnuck from golf.com is here to help us think about the storylines. Of course, we're doing some master's

focused golf shows, golf social with Megan Schuster. And our boy, Chris Vernon, Berno is on. He gives us his pick for the week today. Coming up, we have another show on Wednesday, it's when we get serious

with the allocation of capital. We are going to talk to Justin Ray from 15th Club, formerly of the Golf Channel. He is the deep data and analytics guy, formerly of Golf Channel and now at 15th Club.

Our own beloved Harry Gaill is coming on to talk some golf wagering with us, our hero from the degenerate trifectad against all odds. And of course, We've got another special props focused discussion with Joel Beal from gulfdigest.com. House of Carbs this week, Masters focused.

Speaking of Joel Beal, he and I go through all of the Masters sandwiches. We break them down for you. There are a couple of hacks out there. That'll go up on Wednesday. And then on Sunday, right after the green jacket has been put on a pair of shoulders, we're going to have a recap show, cooking it will be out Sunday evening for your enjoyment and consumption Sunday night or into Monday whatever floats your boat it looks like the first tea is open now that you've heard all of this

lead in we're going to keep you very well fed by friends let's get on the first tea with alan shipnuck four please now on the tea Alan Shipnuck all right my birdie buddies it is the Monday of master's week, the holiest week on the golf calendar. There's only one way to kick this off properly, and that is with a true giant in the golf media game. This gentleman is senior writer at golf.com, senior writer at golf magazine, legendary for his deep dive into topics.

Also legendary for getting under the skin of Tor, players, maybe my favorite thing about him. Alan Shipnuck, welcome to Fairway Rowland. It's such a great day. It's such a great time to be alive. And I know you're still on the West Coast. You're flying out east tomorrow, right? Correct.

But this is where I want to start. We both had the opportunity over the weekend an unprecedented first look at competition at Augusta National with this very, very well-thought- out well-executed women's amateur event. How did you enjoy watching that? Drink the Augustine National Kool-Aid like everybody else. Right. I love the golf course.

It's a fun tournament. I disagree almost everything the club does. And I've leadership through the years. So I'm a natural-born skeptic. And frankly, the endless that the club is doing gender equality was nauseating, given fusion and its policies, even last decade. I've dared to hate the whole thing.

And the final, and Jennifer wrapped up in the, it happened, you know, National, most of it's really could divasper anything more from the competitive standpoint. And it was a great theater.

And it's, you know, now going to become an anchor of this. So I love the observation and, uh, extremely in agreement about the self-congratulatory of the run-up as,

as though they, uh, birthed the Equal Rights Act that still hasn't passed the Congress. But, you know, I was fortunate enough to watch a fair bit of it without the sound on and really just started getting interested on the back nine when the tension really ramped up in the competition and was fortunate to get a little bit of exposure to the backstories about the women. And that ended up really carrying the day for me. And just the way that you mentioned. mentioned, but and getting that glimpse at this early stage, that Saturday glimpse, you know,

before Master's Monday, before the traditional, you know, live from where golf channel starts broadcasting from the venue and you start seeing the colors and the flags and everything and the players and the caddies and the all whites. Like that, that Monday, this Monday we're talking about right now has traditionally been the real entry point. But, you know, this Saturday thing, and it really was charming. There were so many great. stories becomes the way that we begin our sort of master's week. I think that that has a good feel to it from my perspective. Yeah, for sure.

Set up, the greens were so, it seems slightly patronizing like, okay, maybe these girls aren't ready for the best players in the world. Give me a, give me to the if you're seeing when it's firm and fast and fire. Afters week, maybe,

maybe by Saturday, it's fun to get and expansive. You just, people, and it just felt like you had, of irons and nine irons. That was thrilling. And that's what made Jennifer Cupcho's shot so indelible was that she was in hybrids, higher degree of difficulty than if you're hitting an eight iron and to knock down both flags the way she did on 13 to 15. That was just incredible. And

some of the other holes played more how they used to. And that was certainly fun to watch and part of the charm of that event. Yeah. So those are two observations that I'm going to try and remember for next year to appreciate the expanse. And it's such a great point of like how the thing looks on television for that event was radically different. And I didn't really process it until you articulated it that way. It's a giant place. But it feels less giant when there are so many people there for the men's tournament. And I also want to remember next year when I'm watching the clubs that the competitors have in their hands approaching because that's it's such a those hybrids are degree of difficulty compared to eight iron just to your point just in an incredible

difference now i have for us i think we the whole point of today's show we want to set the stage for the week to come there's three or four storylines i want to ask you about and and give you a chance to identify some some storylines as well you have a story up today that i feel like is is the correct kickoff point. It's about Patrick Reed, the defending champion. And the headline is, one year after his master's victory, the joy is still missing for Patrick Reed. What are we talking about here, Brother Shippey?

You know, like Reed should just be the ultimate achievement. And it should be something that's, you know, they're singing songs in the taverns about you. You know, I wrote, you know, I was able to. You know, everyone knows now the reading his parent, all that messiness. And, you know, they were invited to Augusta nationally. They live in Augusta last year, and it really brought the dysfunction with his call. We're not rooting for laundry.

You know, we're rooting for humans and their backstory. I mean, why? In 97, it's because it was a culmination of an incredible journey. You know, Phil winning for Amy in 2010 when she had cancer. Harvey Pinnock's, you know, unseen hand guiding Ben Crenshaw out of victory. It's the human element that makes these wins so compelling. And Augusta National is the grandest stage in the game. Patrick Reed's breakthrough without talking about his family and all that mess.

And I guess the only reason people really like him or root for him is because he was so great in the Riter Cup. And he kind of pissed all that. A rough year for reading. It's kind of thrown in a sharp relief. It's a piece of read for a variety of reason. Yeah. So I don't think either one of us think very highly. of his chances at defending his title. The odds are nearly impossible for somebody at the top

of his game to defend a master's title, let alone the condition of his game, even if you put the circus element behind. The one thing I, one question, last question I have for you as it relates to read, is do you think this week can offer him an opportunity to do some softening, to take the past 12 months that had a lot of missteps and show magnanimity. Did I say it right? Magnanimity? I shouldn't try and say words. So I shouldn't try and say words that are beyond.

I know how to spell it. To show a generous, a graciousness, a generosity, a spirit that can help, you know, golf fans maybe take a more sort of sympathetic or. empathetic view of him. Do you think that's possible this week? I mean, I don't know if he has that gear. I don't know if he even capable of that. And I think that I don't read to the point that, you know, even if he were to save a baby deer that was drowning in Rays Creek and then with the Masters, I'm not sure that would really do any good, but I think Reed has been in the public's kept their mind at this point. Yeah. So speaking of

winners and redemption stories. I want to talk about Tiger and Phil because something has developed over the past, say, week to 10 days that seems like it could impact the status of their relationship. And I think it really heightens what's to come this week in terms of the press conferences and the interaction between them. So Tiger announced sometime in the last two weeks that he, through his partnership with Discovery, is doing a series of match play, individual competitions, you know, golf matches that are going to be published on this platform

that he and Discovery have cooked up. And it seems like that's a different thing altogether from the match that he and Phil competed in at Vegas this past fall and that they are scheduled to compete in head-to-head once again this coming fall. And it also seems like Phil may not be in love with this new development. Now, I'm an outsider just trying to pay attention to what's going on here with the curiosity and palace intrigue kind of angle. You're an insider. What's going on between Phil and Tiger?

Well, you know, it's ego, it's a deal because ours of mediocre gall on this idea that he could. created. And over a year when I first broke the story about the match that was coming, was this is conceived as a global vehicle for promotion and moving product and signing, you know, golf course design deals. So in Mumbai, you know, it's going to be about taking a show on the road. We'll play, you know, in Tokyo, I'd be amazed if Hadeki Matsuyama's not part of it out. I mean, if you get Tiger and Phil against Hideki and, you know, the player of his choice, that could be fun. I think table, but to agree. And getting beat by Mickelson, I haven't enjoyed that.

Well, it is interesting, you know, looking back at that moment for Tiger and everything that he'd been through in calendar year 2018, it was apparent. He was just physically exhausted by the time that match rolled around. and then he played like he was exhausted. And when he finished, it was apparent he was exhausted. So, you know, having, you know, Phil do a little bit of a gloating tap dance afterward, I'm with you. It makes sense that it might not sit well with Tiger. Do you think that this undercurrent will affect either one of their performance this upcoming week?

I thought that when they peg it on Thursday, it still use in the press conference for the match you know people to know it on them and they use that to their advantage for for business reasons so this week it means through series of discovered if they don't intrigue from the standpoint of how they handle things publicly in the run-up but once a master starts that's all they care about yeah I love it okay so uh let's just segue into expectations for Tiger we are in uh it feels like you know a new world altogether with Tiger compared to where he was entering this week just a year ago, where every single week was a step towards restored health,

restored prominence. Is he capable of pulling, you know, showing us that old tiger skill, can he win again? Like all those kind of questions were all part of the mix in April of 2018. They all have an answer now. We know the answer to whether or not he can win again,

whether or not he's capable of performing at the highest stage, whether or not he's capable of sustained health. So as we enter this week, what do you think Tiger is capable of in terms of performance? Yeah, it's interesting because there were more question marks running Tiger last year, but at the same time he was playing better coming into the Masters. He just had better form.

He doesn't finish with an eight shots of people leading into Augusta last year, even as he was just figuring out his body and his swing. Interesting. I mean, Tiger just had not been able to play four good rounds. He's had two and a half or maybe three. Full fatigue is out there. He's talked about, certainly this year it just has. He's, I think, 80th in strokes gains putting. He's way below that on some of the shorty distances. And he didn't make it all the way Tiger did and knock himself out. This is a guy who has a lot of scar tissue on the greens in the last 10 years. Whether you go back to what happened to Y. Yeang down the stretch. and then when you missed that little seven-footer at Liberty National a month later, you know, he missed a lot of short putts and the near misses in 2011 and 12.

It's just hitting your approach shots into the right places. It might be the most important thing all week, and Tiger's great at that. You know, he's still probably the best iron player in the game, but it's hard to win the Masters if you don't put well. And Tiger has ever since he hasn't, you can talk about his great record, and all the top five and top tens, but he hasn't been getting it done, even, you know,

even say 2013 in his player of the year, even before the scene certainly contends, I would be amazed if you were to win this. There's just a lot of things working against him right now. Yeah, I agree with that. I'm glass-half-full on Tiger and what he's done early this season.

I think that the performance that he's had so far is not necessarily reflective of what he's capable of because last year he was trying to answer, answer questions to himself. He was pushing down on the pedal in ways in the first part of the season that, um, you know, we're out of character for him in terms of like going on on, you was, he had this pattern of, of just barely making the cut early in the season and then pushing hard on Saturdays and going on. I think he either led the tour in Saturday scoring or ended up, you know, second for the entire 2018 season. And a lot of that, I believe, had to do with him trying to

figure out, you know, what, what he was all about. If you want to be positive about what, you know, he's done so far this year, the important thing is building the rounds. So he has more rounds to this point, 21 rounds versus 18 rounds at this same point compared to last year. And he knows where he's at. He knows what he's working on. And, you know, maybe he's doing a little bit of possum.

Again, this is me trying to glass half full of this, a little bit of possum coming up to, to this week. That's that's the positive spin. I'm going to try and put on it. So you're a tie-out the match play on purpose? No, no, no. I definitely don't think that he missed that put on purpose. But I think all things considered, his psyche, his brain, his body, his golf spirit gave him permission to miss that, which is different, right? That's golf. That's the golf universe. In his role in the golf universe, he had given himself permission to miss that. I don't think he ever gives himself permission under similar circumstances at Augusta and a putt like that. But that's enough.

You called it right. I am a tiger truther. Let's move on. I have Roy Baccaroy as a player of interest here. Vegas seems to agree because his odds are either 7 to 1 or 8 to 1 to win, which is absolutely ridiculous. Terrible odds. Nobody bet on Rory to win at 7 to 1 or 8 to 1. is this the one where he can finally break through Mr. Shipnuck?

I mean, again, it's about your worldview. He gets his teeth kicked in by Tiger and totally overmatched when he was getting to try to take the emotion out of his game and being a little not being defined by his results, but he's always been a passionate player. And that really gave me pause. I, when he should have done that to many people, whether Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, there's a bunch of, and playing the best golf of the players

championship. It's a wide open, wow, or you can make a case for a dozen. Fascinated to see how Rory, it'll be monumental because not only will complete their career, I mean, you really have to wonder. So I want to bounce a kind of theory and a kind of scenario off of you and see if you agree with my line of thinking. So what I'm rooting for, if I want Rory to win this tournament, so I'm not going to touch him at 7 to 1 or 8 to 1, to me, Rory's best chance to win this tournament is to be maybe in like the fourth or fifth group,

one of those groups that's close enough to the lead on Sunday, but not the top, not the final two-sum, not right behind those guys and not the third, a little bit further. down, but maybe four to five strokes back. And I'm going to relate this to the odds because this is the kind of dabbler that I am. I kind of would like him to be good, not great, like, you know, two under each day. Like, it's like six under or seven hundred. And I don't know with the soft conditions, whether or not, you know, what the scoring across the board is going to look like.

But I want him to be kind of in an upper, upper tier, scoring wise, and within shouting distance, but not so close that he looks like a favorite, and then I want to bet him on Saturday, and I want him to shoot, I don't know, 64 is probably asking too much, but come out on Sunday and shoot 65 and post a number from that rear position that none of the other, you know, the top guys can get to

and win that way. Do you, what do you think about that scenario? Correct. 100%. Yes. And it's because I share your sentiment, which is he does not like being that dude. He does not like that smoke. He stood there on the first tee with Patrick Reed last year with the ability to take the

master's home and Patrick Reed put it on him like it was a match play event and Rory did not like being in that position. And I was reminded of that discomfort watching Rory against Tiger at that match play event. He does not like that smoke. So I feel like for him to get this Masters, because of the scar tissue, because of the, you know,

the mixed history that he has, it's going to have to be a burden down the house, come from behind kind of performance. And then he can, he's unleashed. He's unburdened. He's free to go out and go,

you know, incandescent again, the old Rory that we saw before, the Rory that we saw in some respects at the players, you know, that Bertie on 15 at the players was an all-time,

huge cahone. Birdie. That was really what propelled him to victory. And that's the Rory that I like the best that I'm rooting for. So that's the way I'm thinking about it. They're just going to keep attacking. But I mean, it's... You're skeptical.

You're a little skeptical. A little skeptical. I would enjoy watching that. I mean, we'll see. He's clearly the keynote player this year as far as it. Yeah. Yeah. So I have one other guy I want to talk about and I'm going to ask you for a pick. And it's a Monday pick. So

you know, don't feel too much pressure. But the other guy we have to talk about, we cannot talk about the Masters, without without, uh, you know, uh, having a little bit of a perspective on Jordan Speath.

Will there be a Jordan Speath sighting this week, brother Shippey? Man, it's like, is it the guy who shot 42 on the front eye at the Texas open or the guy who shot 31 on the back nine? He's just fascinating. He's the most mystifying and the grudiest player.

He's had, you know, he was like he was ready for a gunfight. He was like, this is the best I putted. You know, he was out and, you know, she was 42. I think he's teams. He's always been a streakie play on the lead with the way his swing is deserted him, the way he gets the yips.

I mean, he's utterly glad he's on the scene because he makes it so much more interesting. But he's right now. I think he can give me 63 great holes. I'm going to, I want to put a little bit of money on what I'm rooting for, and I want him in the top 10, because the Masters is more fascinating when he's around the lead because of the early legacy he has created there. And we have such a luxury of riches this year with like nobody in the top, you know, 40, you can just flat out cross off as a potential winner at this event.

I mean, we're really lucky to have the depth of comp, of, of, um, the field this year and this season with all these veterans we have this string of veteran wins guys like you know jumping up and saying hey don't don't forget about me of these 35 year olds coming out and grabbing uh titles by the horns um you know it it's it's uh it just is it feels it feels too too much uh in some respects but um let's go ahead and talk about your your your your Monday pick for a winner. Everybody will understand that this is, you have the right,

you reserve the right on the Twitter, whatever your publication vehicle of choice, golf.com, golf magazine, wherever you want to publish this to make your final pick. But what's your Monday thought? Picking Justin Rose,

I'm going to stand by that. He just, he's a good enough putter. Should have won the year that Sergio did in 17. He had a handful of other near misses that would be fitting for him to have the green jacket. It just seems like,

you can't say about it. There's a lot seem like they're destined to be a master's champion for various reasons. But again, the windows start. Time to validate that. It's time to justify it. I argue that's his second major,

but time to get another one. And I think he does it. Well, I hate to do this to you, but I happen to hardly agree. He is my Monday selection to win this as well. I've been looking at him for a while. And I am definitely going to wager on him to win this golf tournament.

I liked him last year. I liked him the year. before. I bet on him in the year that he lost to Sergio in the playoff. I also bet on Sergio, so that one worked out okay. But, you know, the pedigree is outstanding. Your point is so on the money. He just looks like he belongs in a green jacket. And, you know, the late 30s thing and what we've been seeing this season out of the old vets reminding everybody, you know, what it takes to win with this depth of competition. You know, the young guns, the only young guns that out of kind of nowhere, guys,

Cory Connors fits that bill a little bit because of the Monday qualifier element, although the depth of field of the Bolero wasn't incredible. The guy, Adam Long, who won out in the desert, that was literally out of nowhere. He stared down. Yeah, and Keith Mitchell. Those are your like three, right, that kind of fit that. otherwise it's been all prominent names across the board with several major winners as the winners on tour this season.

Okay, so Justin Rose, it is. It's a little bit chalk. It's a little bit boring, but I'm right there with you. So let's go, let's go Rosie, I guess we're going to say. All right. Well, apparently he has no chance if we're in agreement, but it's going to be fun to watch. That's it. You look at the top 10, the top 10, none of them have a green jacket.

It just tells you how wide open. That's the bottom line. It's going to be a great master's week. All right, safe travel out there. Tell me, what's your first sandwich? What's the first sandwich you get when you hit the grounds? Egg salad, add pickles, barbecue potato chips, and Texas peat hot sauce. So this is, I was fortunate enough had Joel Beal on from Golf Digest, Golf Digest.com.

He's on the food podcast House of Carbs. And we covered a lot of these variations. Now, does that sandwich that you just, have a name. Have you named it? Yes, there we go. The shipwreck is always a beloved sandwich. Anytime I walk into a deli and they have on the board a shipwreck that always, my eye is

always drawn to the shipwreck because it means it is a glorious combination of flavors and textures and heat and salt and it covers all the bases. We have the beautiful, glorious at Augusta National. We encourage everybody that's hearing this. You're headed down this week. Get yourself an egg salad sandwich. How many packets of Texas peat? One or two?

Well, actually, I don't want a big time. But in the question, we actually have glass bottles. Oh, Jesus. Come on. All right. Some amount of Texas peats, it's an egg salad sandwich, the Texas peat. Now, do you have a requirement for the flavor of potato chip? I go barbecue, but I would not look down upon someone if they,

if they chose a different flavor. But I think it adds a little extra. Well, the crunch is crucial because of that, the softness of the egg salad and that beautiful white bread. And then to top it all off, the crunchy, the crunchy pickle, it is the shipwreck as given to us by on shit. Thank you for coming on. Fairway, rolling, my brother.

You got to come on again. Or less enthusiastic about my food choices because I was a little alarming. But otherwise I'll do it. You know, I have a food podcast called House of Carbs. You should check it out sometime. I'm pretty enthusiastic about food, buddy. All right. This is great fun.

Thanks, Shippie. Okay, take care. Bye. All right, big, thanks to my boy Shippey, Alan Shipnuck from Golf.com, helping us think through

how to set the stage for this Master's Week. We're going to talk to Megan Schuster and Chris Vernon on this show today. Before we get to Shusty for a little golf, social, quick word from our friends at Zip. Recruiter. Hiring used to be hard with multiple job sites, stacks of resumes, a confusing review process. But today, hiring can be easy. You only have to go one place to get it done. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash Roland. R-O-L-L-I. And ZipRecruiter sends your job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards.

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Right now, listeners can try ZipRecruiter for free at this exclusive web address. That is ZipRecruiter.com slash rolling. ZipRecruiter.com slash R-O-L-L-L-I-N. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Bertie buddies. this week's show also brought to you by our good friends at the ringer.com and Callaway, who published this week a new YouTube video featuring me, featuring Bill Simmons, featuring the legendary Southern rapper Scarface,

originally of the Ghetto Boys and then a beautiful solo career ever since. Brad Jordan is the man's name. We had a beautiful. experience together at the Los Felice par three venue in, uh, just outside of Los Angeles, California. I haven't brought myself to watch it yet because I missed too many three footers, but I encourage you to watch it. I, I did try a different kind of stance putting wise. I had a brand new putter and I was trying to see if, if she would fall in love with me. We're still working on that, but, uh, she's playing a little hard to get at this event. In an event, in an event,

ringer.com, you go to our YouTube channel and check out the ringer invitation. It's the first installment. If we're lucky, maybe there'll be one or two more. Now let's get into that golf social with Megan Schuster. Now on the tee,

Megan Schuster. Yeah, Shusty. How are you? I am ready for Masters Week, House. How are you? Oh, my God. It is a holy week. We just had a great conversation with Alan Shipnuck setting up some storylines, some potential winners, some of the intrigue, the palace intrigue. But there is a whole other level. We've got a whole other dive, you and I need to go on.

And that is into the golf social. So right off the bat, there has been in just a week's time. I mean, God bless these guys, four or five incredible tales and stories and videos and the rest of it. Let's start with Tiger and Phil. We have to. I mean, where else could we start, right? It's Masters Week. These two are already in peak form. The jarring has already begun even before they got to Augusta.

So just to kick things off. Thursday, Tiger did an interview with golf TV, and he said that he had been practicing putting on his backyard greens. He's been struggling with his putter lately and said that his backyard greens were up to 14 or 15 on the stimp meter. if that's even how you say it. It is. Which measures green speed basically as Augusta's greens are notoriously quick. So he gave out 14 and 15 as the number that he's going with.

Later that night, Phil posted a seemingly harmless video to Instagram where he showed his own putting green so that he was also working on his putting game. But the caption was pretty notable house. He said, quote, spending all week putting on my green with speed at 15.6 to 16. Now, I could have somewhat looked past the numbers, you know, thought maybe he was just trying to psych some people out. But then he ended that caption with the smiling sunglasses emoji, and I knew exactly who it was directed at. Yeah, the video is literally incredible. Like, it's not to be believed.

He putts two balls and both roll and keep rolling and keep rolling. And it seems like at any moment they may stop, and yet they keep rolling and keep rolling. and keep rolling. And, you know, not to, you know, spoiler alert. He makes both balls drop. Now, you wonder how many times he had to do it. Exactly. But still, I mean, you know, it's an incredible feat to the,

to all of us mere mortals. And sending the shade at Tiger at this stage of the week is just peak fill. It's extremely luscious. And I want to make a quick observation to all of our Callaway pals out there. The ball that Phil put into play at Pebble Beach, he took this brand new technology that Calloway developed, triple track technology, which is essentially taking the idea of alignment aids on balls to a whole new level. It's two blue lines with a thick red line in the middle. he put that ball into play on the ChromeSoft X golf ball,

and he was the only one that had a ball like that in competition. He won at Pebble with it. The golf community said, hey, wait, I mean, these balls are out. You can play, you can buy the balls with the triple track technology, but right now they're on a different kind of ball, not the Chromesoft X. The Calloway community heard you. And these balls, the Crumsoft X are out. April the 19th, 2019.

That's not even two weeks from now. So keep your eyes open for the Crumsoft X balls with the triple track technology. Maybe you can put two of them at the same time and put them in a hole at a 16th stimp if you're as good as Phil. Yeah. I mean, that's a tricky thing to do for sure. Honestly, that video looked like an optical illusion the first time that I watched it. But just pretty incredible shade. so early on from Phil.

Yeah, so I talked to Shipnuck. There is a thing going on right now between Tiger and Phil. Oh. That may have to do with the match and, you know, because they had that competition head-to-head at Vegas at the end of last year at Thanksgiving time. And Tiger has since announced a collaboration with a golf media company called Discovery. They also do courses and so forth. They're big players in the golf game.

He's doing a series of head-to-head matches. around the world where he, it seems like we'll be competing against folks from places like China and places like India as a way of continuing to export the game and while he's

still capable of it, make his indelible impact across the world on growing the golf game. And it may be the case that Phil does not like the fact that he was not a prominent part of that. So we're all

everybody's paying close attention, but this shade that fill through Tiger's Way, maybe it has a little extra edge. Who knows? We're just all going to sit back and watch and enjoy this glorious Masters week. Yes. So what else do we got? What else do we have? Well, we need to rewind slightly to talk a little bit about the Valero, Texas Open, because there was one notable use of golf social media during Sunday's round. Now, there was, during Sunday's round, Joel Domain got a Twitter mention from someone named Charles Marvel who said, it seems at Joel Domyn is specializing in making sixes on par fives this week.

What a damn joke. Now, most of the time, I would think golfers wouldn't take that too personally, but Domyn actually responded in the middle of his round house. At the time that the tweet went out, Domain was in the middle of playing. the 15th hole, he responded to this person and said, I just made par with an expletive at the end that I will not not repeat. It begins with an A and ends with a hole. Yes, exactly. So it's definitely possible that this came from a social media manager, but given the language used, I am more inclined to believe that Domyn himself tweeted this in the middle of his round. So I wanted to ask you, how do you feel about mid-round social media use on the course?

Well, first of all, I think it would be the single best development possible on the PGA tour. But I also don't believe for a second that Domyn had anything to do with it. I think this is what I prefer to believe. I have no idea. I haven't done any investigation of the backstory. I just love, love, love anybody that writes, I just made par asshole. That's right to the top of my list on Twitter. In fact, that might become my new Twitter bio.

I just made par asshole. That's it. At house from D.C., I just made par asshole. That's iconic. Yeah. I love it. So what I prefer to believe is that he's got a loved one in his background. I don't know whether or not Mr. D. is married.

But if he's married, I like to think it's his wife playing a strong Justine Reed kind of role. I was going to say, wow. You know where I'm going with this. Shoestee. Protect the brand. Yes. tolerating any of this husband's slander. We don't need any of this nonsense shade from the outside environs.

We're out here playing the game. Our man's is getting it going. This is a team game more than anything else. Individual players, but it takes a village, Jusie. And I love Team Damon out there, Diamond, out there protecting the shield, protecting the D shield. And I'm hoping it was a loved one that was on that one. I will say if it was a loved one, that is an extremely strong relationship sharing your Twitter password with that person.

That involves a lot of trust and a lot of faith. And I fully support it if that's the case. Well, you know whose Twitter password is definitely in the hands of his wife? Who is that? Patrick Reed. I mean, Patrick. There isn't a password Patrick Reed possesses that his wife, she probably gave it to it. I was going to say, I bet Justine created all of Patrick's passwords and probably has them.

lockdown somewhere. Yeah. I mean, seriously, if I wanted to hack Patrick Reed, I would just type in Justine number one for every single app that I was trying to get into. It feels like that's got to be one of the top five possibilities, right? Yeah, if we were giving out odds for that one, that would have to be like, what, five to one, something like that. Like, that's got to be like really high up there on the list. That's exactly it. Okay, well, let's talk about, speaking of Patrick Reed, let's talk about some things that we're looking forward to this Master's week. What do you got on your list? What are you thinking about?

Yeah, so there's a lot that I'm looking forward to. I made a brief list this morning of things that I was most hyped for. First on my list is tales from a Patrick Reed champion's dinner house. That dinner is coming Tuesday night. We already know the menu. It's bone and ribby with mac and cheese, cream corn and cream spinach. Last month, Patrick Reed said, quote, I'm going to fatten those boys up a little bit about his champions dinner.

So I'm wondering, is this sort of a competitive advantage? Like feed everyone heavy, heavy food on Tuesday night, maybe make their practices on Wednesday, stuff like that, a little more sluggish, and come out swinging on Thursday. Who knows? I wouldn't put it past him and Justine to have concocted a little bit of subterfuge for their Tuesday dinner. As a person who appreciates a good meal, I want to at all time. you know, throw shade at Patrick Reed, but that's a delicious menu. Yeah. I mean, let's just get it on the table.

Cream spinach, cream corn, macaroni and cheese, steak with the bone in. Yep. I mean, that is, that's a hero's dinner right there. Now, I do think it's funny, this idea of fattening those boys up because the fitness regime of these players is now a very public thing. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Kepka, even guys smaller of stature, you know, the fitness. this element of this is crucial. You know, Rory's fitness regime is, is pretty legendary.

Yeah. And I, you know, it would be really funny to see how many of the guys. Now, we're not, you know, those names I just mentioned are not guys that are going to be inside there eating that beautiful dinner. But Tiger will be in there. Adam Scott is a physically fit fella. Bubba doesn't look like he ever overeats anything. No, certainly not.

So there are some folks in there. Sergio is pretty fit. I wonder how many of them are going to eat two bites and then and then send the rest away. Yeah. Patrick did also say he would have a healthier option for those who so chose. But I like to, I wish I'm so disappointed in that. I know. I wish he was just making everyone go with the full meal.

That would be a real like Patrick Reed move. Seriously. Come on, Patrick. All right. What else are we? looking forward to. Another thing that I'm very excited about is Tiger's traditional first T-shot missing the fairway. Like last year, in many years, this was a common prop bet on whether or not his T-shot would hit the fairway on the opening hole. At one point in 2015, actually betting sites

removed this prop bet because Tiger was missing fairways so often that it stopped making them any money. But last year, the odds actually favored him hitting the fairway, and he still drove his T-shot directly into the crowd. So I'm very much looking forward to that. That's always like my big marker that the masters are happening is when Tiger Miss was the first fairway. How about this? I'm pulling it up right now.

There are a whole series of Tiger Woods dedicated props. We're looking at Tiger Wood props right now. I've clicked it open. Okay. Let me see. Oh, here we go. Tiger Woods T-shot hits Farrow in first hole right now. If you believe he's going to hit the fairway, you have to pay $2,000.

to one odds. So I have to pay 200 bucks to win 100 for yes. And FW. Give me no every day of the week and twice on Wednesday. I haven't done my entire allocation of capital yet, Shusty. That's a Wednesday

tradition for me when it comes to the majors. But I assure you, everybody listening to Fairway Rowland, get on no right now. Plus 165. I might put four figures. on that shoes.

Tiger Woods does not hit the fairway on the first hole at the Masters. Never. It's a time-honored tradition. No chance he hits. Now here's the thing. I want to caveat this. If there's any indication whatsoever that he is going to hit an iron off the first team. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Because he wants to be in the fairway. But the price that you pay for that, you know, you can't be 230 out, which is where you would end up because of how high. uphill this whole place and ask the ball to hold the green. One green is impossible to hold with any kind of a longer iron, anything above like a six iron. So that would be my caveat. But boy, oh boy, plus 165 for Tiger to miss the fairway on the first hole. It's the only thing I'll allow that I'll indulge myself to root against Tiger on, though.

I just, just to be clear about that. Okay, let's talk about one or two other things that we're looking forward to this week. Yeah, the last big thing that I'm most looking forward to is seeing how Jordan Speath comes out. He's never finished worse than tied for 11th at Augusta. And if you take 2017 out of the mix, he's never finished worse than third. But this year he hasn't finished better than tied for 24th in any tournament, and he hasn't won anything on the PGA tour since 2017. So I am extremely curious to see if his Augusta magic can overcome his recent play.

It seemed early on in the Valero, Texas Open, like he might be turning things around and then had a disappointing Saturday and Sunday. But there's some sort of augusta magic with him that I can't shake. And I'm really, really looking forward to seeing if he can turn things around. This is great. I covered this with Alan Shipnuck. And Alan put it, you know, in terms of like his multiple personalities. who's going to show up which iteration of Jordan because on Saturday at the Valero just this past Saturday he shot 42 on the front and 31 on the back.

So which which version are we getting? Now I am with you. I feel like he walks in. He arrives on those grounds and then he's cloaked in some kind of cosmic carmic golf, let's call it a blanket of comfort. of comfort and support and confidence. And it's also true of the patrons. The patrons there love him and will be rooting for him.

That adds to the comfort. That adds to the psychic calm. And if Jordan can get one or two of those voices in his head quieted down or maybe turned off all together and he's only got, you know, three voices in his head instead of six or seven, maybe we get a return to the Jordan's beat that, you know, Bert just just shows. us extraordinary things at Augusta. I know I'm rooting for it because, you know, that just adds to the overall flavor of a tournament where it feels like any one of 30 guys can win.

So that's my hope for outcome with Jordan. And can I just say how iconic it would be to watch Patrick Reed give Jordan the green jacket this year? Just picture it. Just picture it for a minute. Oh, it's in my head. It's so good. I know. I'm so in. I'm so in. I don't think we're going to do anything better than leaving all of our fairway role and homies with that beautiful vision in their heads. Let's let it lie. We're not going to do better than that. Shusty, we will be back together and have an opportunity to recap how all of this happened, how this went down. and I'm sure between now and when we are reconvened, there's going to be a couple funny things that happen on the Twitter and the Instagram.

If Phil Nicholson has anything to say about it. Too true. Too true. Enjoy Masters Week, Shusty. Thanks, you too, House. All right, there we go. Thanks, Shusty with the golf social review. Berdo is coming up before we get to his epic flash pick of the week.

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Birdie Buddies. That's ethOS life.com. You're 10 minutes away from your estimated rate. Make sure your family's future is safe no matter what. Today's show also brought to us by our pals at CBS Sports app. Hey, golf fans. Our favorite time of year is upon us, the Master's Holy Week, a tradition unlike any other.

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Get on it. Boy, please. Now on the T. Chris Vernon. Mr. Vernon. Something's going on at Augusta. Please tell me, you have the 2019 version of that famous song in the works as we sit here right now. I live for this.

Every year. I can't wait for the Masters. I can't wait for Masters updates. I was thinking about this morning. I would say it is easily one of my top five favorite sporting events of the year. And it's, I mean, I was trying to figure out where I would rank it. It is so incredibly high because a lot of times maybe the biggest sporting events don't involve necessarily my favorite teams or I don't have a specific rooting interest. And yet with this thing, like, I don't have to have a rooting interest in it.

And no matter what, I end up loving it. So it's very, very high up there. And I have been looking forward to this for a long time. I cannot tell you how many things I have listened to and read and taken in. And hopefully the people that are podcast, right, the same way. Like, it gets to this time of year where you just want to hear about it, you want to talk about it, everybody that's even like a periphery fan has like a pick for it i can't wait it's such a great point so and i couldn't agree with you more it really does enjoy a special place in the american

sporting public's interest and in consciousness because it fits a great moment on the sports calendar it comes right on the heels of march badness it's always in in early april and And it's right at the outset of the long slog that is the NBA playoffs and the long slog that are the NHL playoffs. And baseball's just gotten going. But especially for here on the East Coast and then extended out to the Midwest, the weather has changed. We're starting to get two or three or four consecutive days of warm weather. And in early April, the tradition of turning on the television and seeing Augusta in all of its. glory, the beautiful azaleas, the flowers are blooming.

It puts in your mind's eye that, hey, we're out. Winter is in our rearview mirror. We are staring at many, many months of warm weather and all the glorious things that go along with it. And as a part of our own collective sports enjoyment, it really kicks off a beautiful season. So I couldn't agree more with you. And the other thing is, we are. are all of that. You know, I mean, you and I are both of that age and many people that are out there that have, like, small kids. You don't do anything after you've got small kids. Your whole, like, life revolves around that. And so how many pick back up golf or start playing golf again? I was at my kids' baseball practice on Saturday. I'm not kidding. Three dads had joined a golf course that week. That's when you know how.

Yeah. the bastards and spring. It kind of like symbolizes it springs right around the corner. And yeah, as you get, you know, you still want to,

like, you still want to be competitive and you still want to play stuff. But all the, like, all the men's football league and the basketball league, all that stuff drives up.

And so everybody starts getting into golf. And then obviously, this weekend, everybody wants to like dust off the clubs after you watch Thursday. that's exactly right that's why our good friends at callaway are ready for you you and i will do we're going to do your epic flash pick of the week we're not going to do it right now but uh i want you to to have a couple names in advance of this this today berno this is our set the stage

show so we're just identifying storylines had the great uh writer from golf dot com alan shipnuck on to help us flesh out some of the early week's stories. And then on Wednesday, I'll give out my epic flash pick of the week. But I'm very eager to hear your thinking. Before we get there, and I don't think there's going to be any overlap, but don't let me put words in your mouth. Let's go ahead and check in on this week in Tiger Woods. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger.

All right, Verno, you and I have been talking about it all golf season. But, you know, like we've been saying, the American sporting public is just now waking up to golf. And we have a couple of opinions on how Tigerwood has been trending and how he's been preparing himself. How are you feeling this week? It's Masters Monday about Tiger Woods fortunes this coming weekend. How about this?

First two pages, right? When they start, when they show that leaderboard and they start scrolling through, if he's not on page one or two by the time we get to Sunday, I will be surprised. Yeah, so that's, we're talking right there. That's like the top kind of 15, 16, you know, seven or eight names fit on the first page and then seven or eight fit there on the second page. So in the first place, you, that presumes, and I agree with you, we both believe Tiger Woods is going to make the cut this week.

We're not going to take that prop that says, you know, it's plus odds. it's nearly five to one odds if you want to be a contrarian and basically, you know, root against everything that's fun about golf and root for him to miss the cut. You can get nearly five to one odds, but you and I are not going to be on that side. We believe he's going to make the cut, right? Absolutely. And look at the way he played in the biggest spot last year. You know, towards the end of that season, when we got to the big moment,

I mean, he played well. He played well. And so, you know, he said he's been, everything was geared up for this. We know he has tremendous history with this particular course. And, okay, so maybe he's not the best player in the world right now. But he's one of the best 20 when he's got it Cracken. And so I certainly think that he'll be there. When you take his history here, I will be surprised.

The Tiger Woods is not involved in this tournament in a way where, and I know he hasn't come within seven or eight strokes of winning, even though he's placed, you know, decently high in some tournaments already. I think he's going to be in the mix. I do have. So I want to run through some of the negative aspects if you want to be down on Tiger for a top-tier finish. He has not, as you just kind of referenced it, had a stroke play finish where he's, finished better than top 10 in 2019.

His speed control on the putting greens has been concerning to us. You mentioned a stat on one of our last couple episodes where he has exceeded his total of three putts by quite a bit. So we've seen a three putt tendency out of tiger that's out of character. He hasn't really contended at the Masters since 2000. 2011. That's a long time ago. And the version of Augusta National that he's playing on, now this is true for everybody, they lengthened that fifth hole by 50 yards. The fifth hole was already a bear, already one of the holes that averages over par. I wonder about his hitting

fairways in regulation. We know his iron play. He's still, if not the premier iron player, you know, one of. But the key to be successful at Augusta is got to find fair ways to put that iron play into use. That's the list of negatives. Now, help talk me into a couple positives that give me a good feeling about Tiger's fortunes. Okay. So we talk about those three parts, but then in the next tournament he played after that, he cut those down drastically.

and yet it was the iron play, it was the approach shot that weren't real right. So this is what I told you then. If you tell me that I would much rather him be struggling with the approach shots and the iron play, because he's going to get that right. What I don't need is him being a mess on the green. But here's where this matters greatly how. This course in particular is one that your history, does matter a great deal. And you hear all kinds of players talking about the challenges of

putting there and that there is a real feel that it takes. And so sometimes you see certain players exceed their ability. They wouldn't normally necessarily put that way. And yet, they have had these great putting rounds. And you can go back to Jordan Speed, who wasn't in tremendous form last year, and yet, he's there right there at the very end of that thing. Tony Fienow had one of the great putting performances ever, even on a dislocated ankle, last year. Now, that doesn't necessarily indicative. I do think you, I don't want to say you can throw out all history or all the other courses, but I will tell you that if you have shown a prop well at this particular course, I do think it matters.

a great deal and history has bore that out, that there is a challenge to be green at Augusta that takes so much feel. And so if you've shown, hey, I can bury putts there and I've got a good feel on these green, I think that actually matters more than how you necessarily put it. I totally agree with this.

This is an experience-driven. The winners here, very, rarely are folks that come in right out of the blue who are played it the first time. And especially for the purposes of some of the veterans who know where to miss, who know which part, you know, what undulations and what aspects of the putting surface hold, you know, particular kinds of tricks. And they have a lot of familiarity with where pins are going to end up being so they know how to practice to those pins. That experience can't be understated, the value of that.

And that does represent a great evening out in terms of, you know, any concerns we might have putting-wise with Tiger and then the form that somebody might have shown coming in, more than any other venue, perhaps, understanding what these greens hold and the subtle, the subtleties of the way putts break, you always think about, at least I do, when Jack Nicholas at 46 years old, you know, won by way of a stretch of birdies

on the backside and the way he talked about knowing that even though a putt sort of held a certain line up to within six inches of the hole, but then knowing that there's a subtle move, half a ball move back towards the hole, that kind of experience is, you know, obviously invaluable, and that's what we're counting on for Tiger to keep him competitive, even if some aspect of his game is a little bit off.

You just count on that familiarity, that comfort, and him just, just, you know, feeling like he owns the joint as a thing that helps carry him through. So we're both in agreement he makes the cut. We're both looking for him on the leaderboard in the top 15. do we dare say top 10 finished for Tiger Woods this week? Oh, I think it's absolutely possible that he will be there in the top 10 at the end. I mean, I told you the first two pages. For now, I don't have to go that much further to think that he's going to be in the mix.

I think he's got an incredible amount of confidence at this course, and I think that this is the most confident that you've seen him playing with in so many years. I don't want to say you can throw out all those years in between. Um, but this is obviously the best form he has been in in a long, long time house. Yeah. So when you combine his history there and that he seems to be playing well, I, I, I just think that he's going to be in the mix. I do. I do. I think he's going to be in the mix. And if you told me he's going to be in the top 10, that would not shock me at all. He's got 21 rounds under his belt, uh, already this year. That's or passes the

18 rounds that he had going in last year. We know that he's healthy. There's no question about his health. And, you know, his putting, you know, stats aren't great. But all we're talking about is, you know, inside of six feet. This is what we want out of tiger. We want avoiding three puts and we want him inside of six feet, you know, making those, those puts and we're counting on his experience at Augusta

to carry us, you know, a long way in getting him inside that top 10. So that's our... This is a guy. Yeah, I mean, you know this house. This is a guy that can recall exactly where he wants it in it when he's putting up the most historic round. I mean, it is just a different deal when you can stand up on a tee

and you know exactly where you want every shot to go. Now, it's a chore to try to get those shots to go exactly where you want to go, but what an advantage it is to know this is where I want to be on this screen, this is where I want to be in this fairway, this is the kind of approach shot I want to have. And I mean, when you're talking about all those rounds and all those successful rounds that he has, he knows exactly what he wants to do. It's just a matter of can he do it?

and I think for the last several years he hasn't been able to do it. And now I'm voting that he can. Well, you and me both, I love it when he starts talking positive about himself after the players. He said his game was right on track. And I also love he was throwing birdies all over the place down in Austin at the WGC match play event. In fact, even in the match that he lost to Mr. Beer regard,

He still made seven birdies. So, you know, that's, I think, indicative of the form that we're hoping for. So I love it. We're both on the same page. I'm not going to be so bold as to declare a tiger victory this week. But we're on the same page, top 10 for Tiger Woods this week. All right, Berno, it is time for the epic flash pick of the week. It is Masters week.

There's no pressure on you in the same way that the epic flash. driver continues to take pressure off the players that are playing it. It features Calloway's innovative flash face technology created using artificial intelligence and machine learning to promote faster ball speeds. Many Masters competitors this week, Zander Shoffley, Francisco Malinari, Kevin Kisner, J.B. Holmes. These are winners on the PGA tour using. an epic flash driver this year.

Already more worldwide driver wins than any other model. 10 worldwide Calloway driver wins by non-staffers. Those are people not getting paid to play that driver, Verno. And Calloway continues to be number one in worldwide driver wins, worldwide driver usage across the major tours this year. Did I get you one of these yet? Do you have one of these bad boys in your hands? I do not have it.

In fact, I'm using my rogue. I like it. I don't need something. I kill that thing. You sent me a nice note about that rogue last week. That's still in the Calloway family. And I understand why you might be committed to the rogue. Once you build a good relationship with your driver in that manner, I hate to talk you out of it.

But I will just make this observation, folks who love the rogue and the distance that they've gained, the accuracy that they've gained, the reports are, and I'm one of these people making this, this observation, 10 to 15 yards further than the rogue with the epic flash. So just take that into consideration. I'll get one down there to you. You can try it out. Now, I said to you, I'm not going to make my pick this week. I'm saving it for Wednesday's Fairway Rowland, but I want you to give us all the birdie buddies out there, the early Verno thought. The Vinnie Verno thought on a winner for this week's Masters. Okay, so I had the craziest thing happen.

It was a week ago now that you asked me, as we were heading into the Valero, you said, we're like, hey, we're already looking at it to the Masters, and you said, who are you looking at? And my first response was Tony Fienow. Within the past week, since we, and Fino did not play very well at Valero, by the way. within the last week, there's a guy, are you familiar with Joe Peter? Joe Peter is a writer who, he wrote a famous book about, he was a Wall Street guy

who left to discover analytics in baseball. And then with that said analytics, he used his, he used his wisdom from the financial world, et cetera, et cetera, and became a sports better and beat baseball and wrote a book about it. and he ended up writing previews and whatnot for ESPN. And I was listening to my buddy Chris Felica, known as the Bear, on college game day. And he was talking about this guy, Joe PETA, and about how he had put out, but he was going to have a new book about golf coming out. And so as the story goes, writing about baseball completely,

and got very interested in the analytics of golf and attempting to predict winners in golf. And so he's got this book coming out. Any golf fan would like it. And I don't know this guy at all. So I'm not, right? Like, I'm not a hockey car. I've never heard of him until this last week. I'm going to give out the proper name of the book and then let you go.

His book is called a 2019 master's preview. So it's for this week. And this is perfect timing. The show is going to go up tonight. You'll hear this tonight or tomorrow morning. You can find this book. It's available online. The 2019 Masters preview by Joe Pita includes a never-

before seeing 2018 Augusta National Strokes gained report. So keep going. Oh, no. And it is, listen, for any golf fan, so I downloaded it on my Kindle,

I think it's like 100, 100, maybe 11 pages. I mean, it's a quick read. Quick read. Easy read. And I have been super interested in the analytics of baseball and basketball. And so now,

golf is really just getting going with all of this. But the amount of work that he did to go back and look. Like, chapter one is Tiger Woods is better than you think. Number two is, oh, really, Tiger Woods is better than think. And he goes back to talk about different tournaments and his heyday and how truly amazing it is through the analytics. Long story short, the book is super fascinating. This guy is, he's a very good writer, too. And so anyways, I'm reading the book, and of course, you're going to get to the crescendo where it, you know, he's talking about guys that he likes and reasons that he likes or whatever. The book loves Fee now. And I was like, oh my God, right?

Like I'm reading through this book and I'm like, this is great. So the book loves Fianow and since then I believe Joe has said Finaw as his tick. And so I had said that to you last week. I'm reading this book that I love and I'm like, this preview, which is really good. And obviously, listen, there's a lot more to it than just the pick or the leaderboard or the preview for this one. Like, it's really understanding who plays the best golf and why they play the best golf, etc., etc. And so anyways, that made me feel so much better, honestly, about it. And so I do really like Fienow, and he's plus 3,500. And then I am one of those that is, I am given to the experience.

of the Masters. And I was texting you over the weekend about George's B, and I was super hoping that he would look really good at Valero, because I knew that his odds were going to be longer for this Masters than they have been in a long time. They're still not great. It's like plus 1,700, I think. Yeah. Here's the deal, House.

All you've got to do is go pull up his history at this tournament. it's like first, second, first, tied for second, 11th, second, last year. I think his lowest is 11th. And he's either first or second, you know, like every other year. Yeah, that's right. He's played in the thing. Yeah, so he comes out of Valero. He throws out 6868.

I watched an interview with him a week ago, and going into Valero, he was like, listen, he was like, I was doing some things. And then, so I'm watching his interview And I'm like, okay, I hope he's, you know, hoping he knows such as false confidence. But he throws up 68, 68. I'm like, oh, damn, he's going to run away with this thing. Then he falls apart completely.

And next thing I, and I'm looking at it, I'm like, oh, my God, but a rat. Then he scratches and claws and throws up a 31 on the back side on what? That Saturday? Yeah, so that's right. Well, he shot 42 on the front and then 31 on the back on that Saturday. Which is really like Jordan Speath's whole season in a microcosm. Yes.

And I am just, I do believe that history at this course matters. I do. Now, I say that, I was saying I am a, I am a speed fan. But I think you look at it, you go first, second, first, 11th. You know, like he's been, since it's the lowest that he has had. And so he has not played well. He has not played well this year. Wasn't very good at the end of last year.

But this particular course, he has found real greatness on it. And so I am persuaded by that. And I think that if he's not in the mix again, I'd be surprised because he's always been in the mix year. And then the other one is probably wrong, but his odds suck. Yeah. So I guess female is the one I'm really going to rock with because plus 3,500 is monstrous. And we know he had that part, par three, it's colon one, jumps up and celebrates, dislocates his ankle, still made the top 10 last year.

So I'm kind of banking on, hey, what can he do with two good feet? And I think it'd be a hell of a breakout for him. Well, that's right. I do like Pina. I like looking for guys in that sort of price range because that's where our winners have come from the previous three masters. If you go, Patrick Reed was in the 35 to 40 to 1 range

before that week got started last year. Sergio, I know, was available at 33 to 1 because I had him two years ago. and Danny Willett was available in the 50s before, like in the 50 to 1 some odd, and then it dropped down as the tournament came near. But, you know, that's kind of the range. There have been the winners of the Masters, the last handful of years, have been guys coming a little bit, you know, off the radar.

They haven't been any of the top big dogs. They haven't been anybody that fits any of those odds profiles as favorites. And so looking for some value in that that 30 to, between 30 to 1 and 40 to 1 class, there is a lot of merit to that. And phenow right smack dab in there in the middle. I think for Jordan Speath, I'm going to play a top 10 wager on him. I like him at a top 10 finish. That's available right now at plus 160.

so it's still plus odds and that fits, that gives me a little bit of comfort. It doesn't put the wind pressure on him because he just feels, you know. I just feel like this is a different deal. Not that you can throw everything else out, but I do think that have you shown the ability to be awesome on this particular course, which is something that has been tough for other guys like Dustin Johnson. It has been tough for, you know what I mean? Justin Thomas.

You know, some of the best players in the world, Rory, Dustin, Justin, these guys not necessarily have found that level of success at this particular place. It is a different place. And it's part of why we love it so much. But same with Tiger, same with speed. If you have found great success there and to a lesser extent with female, who on a dislocated ankle was in the top 10 last year, like if you've shown me you can be great there.

there have been a lot of great players that just haven't found success there. Famously, Lee Trevino was one of them. That's right. He was one of the greatest golfers ever, but it just wasn't right for him. It's just the course, and sometimes it's perfect for your type of game, and sometimes it's not. And so Trevino, he couldn't find the success there. And there have been other great players that that has been the same thing. But I like the guys that I know have the ability to be able.

amazing there. The longer shot would be Fee now and I still like Spieth and I do think Tiger's going to be in the mix. Well, I like the fact. I'm glad that you mentioned Joe Pete. I did have an exchange with him earlier this year. I was lucky enough to get a copy

of that book ahead of the game and just hadn't had a chance to compare notes with him. So I'm glad that we had a spontaneous shout out because the book really is a lot of fun. And you know, you mentioned John Rom and this is why I'm bringing it back up again. I really do like John Rom and so do the analytics.

Now, Rom's only played eight rounds at the Masters. And there's a question, is that enough experience-wise? But you can get Rom right now at 20 to one odds. And, you know, Joe Peters book makes this observation. What he does off the T puts him in contention. If he can hit the ball in the fairway or around the fairway, that means he's got short irons in. And as we know, that's such a huge advantage of the.

Augusta National. So we gave out some speed love, some Rahm love. Fino is your horse. It's a, I, I love, I'm going to ride it along with you. I mean, he's exactly the price point that I like. And, you know, the analytics are certainly very supportive. I like that he's in that age 29, age 30 category. Now, by the time Wednesday rolls around, I'll have enough time to do the research on this. There's another guy that's right around 30 years old who had a very hot finish. the last year's master's that could be due that's been on a major's cold streak over 34 and his name begins with a Ricky. I'm looking really hard at that guy.

I'm looking really hard at that guy this week, Verno. I'm giving them a lot of consideration. Just imagine when I am, you know, as someone who is a big fan of analytics and I hear about a guy who left. I mean, this guy, because of the lack of shot data, if you're reading that book, at one point when he's going back and trying to figure out some of the things that Tiger did, he took the data that was available and logged every single player in the tournament, every single shot to try to come up with the shot gained. Over 20,000, you know how tedious this is?

So this is a guy that's super dedicated himself to understanding and learning all this stuff. And then I get to the crescendo and he's like, see now? I'm like, oh, God, this is awesome. I mean, maybe if he would have picked somebody, if he liked somebody different, maybe I would have felt different. But I was so happy that that was just the name off the cuff that I brought up last week as someone that I was like. Because that story last year was so crazy and so awesome. And I felt so bad for the friggin' guy, hits the hole in one, celebrates a dislocated ankle ain't no, ain't nothing the best with. That's right.

And for him to, for him to do that in that moment and then play on that busted ankle and be so awesome. And he's just such an intensely likable guy. I think it'd be awesome for golf if he's right there in the mix at the end. I agree with you. So we're rooting for fee now. we're rooting for speed we're rooting for ROM I've got my eye on Mr. Ricky Fowler

I'm not sure if I'm going to give him out Wednesday or not but I'm certainly taking under advisement Verna we've done it where can we find you this week with the master's updates because I got to hear the song I'll tweet everything else just follow me at Chris Vernon show one word Chris Vernon show

and I will I'll be sure to tweet everything that I'm doing out in regards to the ministry There you go. At Chris Vernon show, his wagers, his performance art, his beautiful song, everything masters you can find right there. Chris Vernon, thank you, my brother. Hey, hey, one. Okay. That's always a given. That's always a given. We always love that one. I feel like he's always. I know. It's true. All right. All right, Verno, let's win some money.

Let's do it. All right, my eagle enthusiast, what a way to kick off Masters week. As I mentioned, and it shall be a gambler's paradise on Wednesday. We're going to cover a lot of angle, a lot of territory. I will be allocating capital. I'll have a menu pulled out. We have glorious interviews coming up with Justin Ray and with our own Harry Gagnon, Joel Beale, on the props. And then after you've gotten all of your bets out and your fantasy lineups and your DFS,

entered Wednesday night into Thursday, check in with us on Sunday immediately after the green jacket goes on the shoulders. We're up with a recap, all of our reactions, our sentiments, and our guesses at what the new champion might serve for dinner next year. Until then, let's keep it rolling.