Fairway Rollin' - Teeing Off the 2019 Golf Season | Fairway Rollin’ (Ep. 01)

Episode Date: January 29, 2019

Welcome to Fairway Rollin’! Joe House is joined by The Ringer’s Megan Schuster to cover the headlines from around the golf world including the Jordan Spieth–Patrick Reed reconciliation hug (5:30). Then CBS sportscaster and Callaway emissary Amanda Balionis stops by to discuss the results of the unofficial-official first real tournament of the season, the Farmers Insurance Open (22:00), and Chris Vernon keeps it rollin’ to grade Tiger Woods’s weekend performance and preview the Waste Management Phoenix Open (46:20). Guests: Megan Schuster, Amanda Balionis, and Chris Vernon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, friends. Welcome to this podcast, unlike any other. Thank you for joining me today. We are here at Fairway. Roll! Yeah, my par-saving pals, my birdie buddies. We did it. We're here. Welcome to the new golf podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network, brought to you by Callaway Golf.

I'm Joe House. You may want to know what is this. good walks spoiled going to be all about let me tell you we're covering it all all walks of golf life from l tegray eldrick tiger woods to the beautiful beverage transfusions from the pGA tour to a tour of the halfway house at east potomac golf course this is going to be a golf podcast unlike any other we're featuring a rotating cast of ringer and callaway friends and fans and fans We're also including guests from the Ringer and Callaway universe. You know who likes to play golf? Musicians, chefs, artists, professional athletes. They're all going to come on and we're going to talk to all of them about their walk of golf life. We might talk about some golf fashion.

We might talk about some golf food. We might talk about some golf friends. We might talk about some golf music. Helping me along the way, let me tell you about this cast. characters we have assembled here on Fairway Rowland. We've got Megan Schuster, who's already on the golf beat at the ringer.com. Kevin Clark, a golf gambling degenerate. Chris Vernon, a life degenerate. And of course, famous TV personality covering the golf world and a lot of football, Amanda Ballionis. These are just a handful of the folks that are going to be joining us here on

Fairway, Roland. Let me begin by giving a few shoutouts, a few things. A few things. thank yous. First of all, big thank you to all the Twitter homies. We got so much input on the Twitter and Instagram, so many outstanding suggestions for the name of this podcast. There were just too many to choose from. Special shout out, though, to Shane Bacon. His podcast, the clubhouse was by far the number one suggestion has a name for this podcast. And I get it. My last name is house. We do club and house. There's a lot of variations. We can do with that. But look, we love Shane here at Fairway Rowland. So we're not going to use any version of Clubhouse. And by the way, we really recommend his podcast. He gets great guests and he does a

great job running the show over there. All right, let me tell you the story how we came up with Fairway Rowland. It was suggested on the Twitter. We love the suggestion, Ross Cosgrove. Ross were getting you a little bit of Calloway Garb, some Calloway gear. It was a terrific suggestion. Here is the origin story in case you don't know. This goes all the way back to October 2015. The podfather himself, Bill Simmons, makes his stunning return on the national podcast stage, once again establishing himself as the preeminent sports podcaster with the Bill Simmons podcast. I was lucky enough to get an invite back then.

And I was coming on Fridays. and in that moment, October 2015, Bill Simmons, smart fella, clever fella. He lined up the Tupac folks, the Tupac estate, and they authorized him to use the tremendous seminal Tupac work. Picture me, Rowan. Kind of has a little bit of a theme. Bill was sending a little message out to all the homies. So I was a guest on Fridays during that time, and we would do football picks, and we got to calling that episode Friday, rolling because we're rolling along on Fridays getting our picks in. Let me apologize.

Sorry to everybody that lost money because of my terrible recommendations. But Bill and I had a great time with Friday rolling. And we have continued that on. The tradition continues whenever I'm available and he's available and it's football season. We're still hooking it up. We're giving out some Friday rolling picks, some observations, some thoughts. Hopefully everybody is fading the hell out of us. So that's what set us up with Fairway Rowland. And obviously there's a double meaning I am the kind of fella. Whenever I get the opportunity, I'm in the fairway. I'm rolling a ball just a little.

I like to play it the way I like to see it if I can line it up. I know a lot of traditionalists like to play it down. I'm rolling it in the fairways. It's a miracle when I actually hit one in the fairway. So anything to get the ball in the position, I like it. All right, before we get going with this debut episode, have to give a shout out. my homie for life, Shaq, Jeff Shackleford, the Shack in Shackers. Jack and I had a terrific run.

Shaq taught me a ton about architecture. He taught me a ton about the history of golf. He taught me a ton about the PGA tour. I like playing golf with the man. I like talking golf with the man. And I'm really looking forward to hooking up with the homie again, either on these airwaves or some airwaves yet in the future. All right now, my friends, we have the tea.

Let's play on. And now on the tea, Megan Schuster. Oh, my birdie buddies, the ringers own golf correspondent, a true expert with a unique and special perspective when it comes to the Twitter and the Instagram in the world of golf. This segment is Golf Social, with Megan Schuster. Hi,

House. How are you? Shusty, how are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. It's wonderful to have you. I'm looking very forward to this season.

The kids have really gotten going. This is mainly the millennials that have embraced the Instagram and the Twitter. But, you know, how about Phil Mickelson jumping on for us right in time for this new podcast last fall? Phil's on there. Tiger's always been an adopter and an adapter when it comes to the Twitter and the Instagram. So this segment, we're going to be drilling down into the happenings across the golf world,

items that have caught your interest, Shusty. But this week, Golf Social, we're going to kick off with me asking you a question. So here it is. What is the one and only brand to receive a perfect 20 out of 20 score on the Golf Digest, hot list, both driver and irons? Do you know Megan Schuster? That would be Cali.

way, right house? The answer is easy. You are absolutely right. They won with the epic flash driver and the apex irons. I hit both of these powerful weapons last week at the PGA show down in Orlando, Florida, the 2019 PGA merchandise show. And it was a lot of fun. Speaking of a lot of fun, what do you got lined up for us?

Well, let's kick things off starting with the Farmers Insurance. and it's open. This tournament was fun all the way around. Tori Pines is an amazing venue for it, as always. Beautiful. Yeah. Beautiful. All the weather was spectacular. It felt like golf was back. You know what I mean, Shusty? Yeah, the lovely scenic shots of the ocean. I was just lulled. It was great. Amazing. Yes. Yes. So Justin Rose kind of unsurprisingly ran away with this one. I finished 21 under par, stellar Thursday and Friday rounds, just an all-around kind of dominant performance. But there were a lot of other really impressive guys on the weekend from Adam Scott, figuring out his whole putting situation, John Rahm, just taking the course by storm.

Was there anyone who really stuck out to you at Tori this weekend house? Shusty, there was one guy that caught my eye, but I want to make a comment. Justin Rose was indeed an unsurprising winner because he was, you know, one of the favorites to win this tournament at 14 to 1 odds. And he is the number one player in the world. But holy cow, That was meteoric. That was 21 under at Torrey Pines. And you could see from the telecast and the broadcast, the rough was up. Those guys, they had it thick.

I mean, kudos to Justin Rose. Yeah, coming out and shooting that opening 63, it certainly felt like he was ready to run away with this thing. I mean, he set a tone. But speaking of setting a tone, Shusty, I'm kind of, I'm walking up to this very gently. I have to be careful here. help me with this. I might be back in love with Rory again.

House. I came into this pod definitely needing some help, some Rory therapy, because I have to say I'm back in. I'm sucked back into the Rory Vortex. He's got me after this weekend. So this is going to be the mutual therapy, a mutual therapy session. We try and help each other out with it. Now, he played great. And this is on the heels of having played great in Hawaii. And both of the, are first time experiences, first time venues for him. He had never played in the tournament of champions before in Kauai. And he came out to Tori Pines. It was kind of stunning that this is his first time playing Tori Pines, considering how long he's been playing professional golf. But I think, you know, this, this time of year coincides with European Tour being in the Middle

East. It's not easy to get from the Middle East to Tori Pines and back. So there's a logic to it. But Tori Pines, you know, in sort of golf history and golf lore has a special place. If you win at Tori, you kind of, you know, it is a mark of stature, a mark of accomplishment. So I'm glad to have seen him come on out and dip his toe in the water a little bit. He was roundabout the leaderboard a couple times there. And he was kind of climbing. And I kind of got a little excited. I was very intrigued that he's showing us some early form.

What do you think? Yeah, I agree. I was so stunned to see him come out and play a course that he's never, you know, competed in, like you said. He finished third in strokes gained off the T, ninth in strokes gained T to Green. And like you said, that course was not playing particularly easy. I was just overall really impressed. It seemed like his all encompassing game was great.

He even cracked some jokes after his round. He seemed like he was really feeling himself, said he'd moved to San Diego if California's taxes weren't so high. I just have to say I'm back in on a confident Rory. I think this is a really exciting time for him. Well, and how about the Graham? He threw up on the Instagram a picture of himself at In-N-Out Burger. Now, he didn't do us the favor of actually showing the burger that he ordered, or in my case, I mean, I hope it was more than one.

You can't walk in and out and order only one burger. Right. But, you know, I would have liked a little bit of a picture. He doesn't need to list out all the ingredients. I don't need to know whether you got a double animal with jalapino or the thick onion, but at least give the hungry homies. I mean, you know, this is a house of carbs gives it a thumbs up. And Farway Rowland gives it a thumbs up. Let us see the burger.

Right. That is kind of a cardinal sin of food Instagram, right, to just post a picture of a restaurant and not what you actually ordered. Yeah, I mean, I've committed that crime once or twice. Once you make that mistake and you hear it from. the Instagram commentary, you never make that mistake again. So hopefully somebody pointed out to him, it would be nice to see what the burger looks like. Yeah, hopefully he'll have a few more burger-related stops on tour this year and we'll get to see a bit more of what he actually

puts on the burger. Oh, I'm here for this. I'm here for the Rory Burger Tour 2019. Because, I mean, you know, they stop in some great American food cities across the way. There are great burgers to be had at all the venues. Can we sponsor this burger? tour? Like, can we make this happen? Put out a plea to Rory for this? You have my blessing. You're in charge. This is your segment. It's golf social. Hit Rory up and say, we need to see the burgers. Rory, this is our formal plea. If you're listening, please, please show us the burgers that you're getting on tour this year. I mean, I, you know, I'm not above inviting myself. It's the thing I'm most competent at when it comes to House of Carbs is inviting myself to eat with people.

I think, you know, come on. I'll be happy to help you out. I'll take the picture. Perfect. We got it all set up. Well, where there's another beautiful story you and I compared notes on before we sat down to record today, it's a story of friendship and love. It's a story of love gone sour and then a reuniting.

Let's talk about it. Yes. We have to talk about our friend Patrick Reed back in the headlines after a relatively quiet spring. He'd been playing pretty well on tour this year, top 25 finishes at the century and the Sony Open. But I'd been lacking a little bit of the headline making Patrick Reed so far this spring. Of course, that all changed this weekend at Torrey with what should we call this incident house? Just like the hug? Is that epic enough for what this was? Well, it's definitely the hug.

Some kind of a reunited and it feels so good vibe seems right to me. I mean, it really was the culmination. It's the end of the story. And in fact, Patrick kind of insists on it. I mean, the juicy context is there never really was a resolution between Jordan and Patrick that we are aware of. We, the golf consuming public, after the writer. Cup and all of the fallout and and uh, Patrick's very public complaints about how it all went down and, and his, uh, his public breakup with and from his compatriot, Jordan Speeith.

We never really had a good resolution for that. And so this, this moment that they ended up playing in the same group on Saturday. Kudos to the golf gods, right? Golf gods, they just look down and wave the wand. God bless you, golf gods. They knew we need. this. So give me, give me kind of the frame by frame breakdown, what you saw in the hug. Yeah, this is really like my sort of Zapruder film, because this was, this was a lot. There was a lot going on. First of all, just before we even get into the film, one thing that I found really interesting is Patrick was, you know, asked about the situation and the hug after his round. And it sounds like they still haven't actually discussed what happened at the Rider Cup, like Patrick

and Dorden haven't. Because he had this question. quote when he was asked and he said literally when we got off the plane, it was old news and we all moved on. So not really, like they hadn't really talked about it, which is just fascinating to me all around that they still haven't discussed it. But getting into the film of this hug. So just breaking it down, the body language isn't great. I'm not going to lie. It's very awkward. It starts with kind of a slow veer around from Jordan who had just given nucks to one of the caddies. He kind of slow Slowly turns, Reed goes in for the fist bump, but Jordan, like, awkwardly extends his arms and kind of wraps them around Patrick. And it looks like it all went fine from there. Reed gives them kind of like a Cheshire Cad smile and they laugh and, you know, there's some back patting and whatever. Sort of awkward all the way around. But I think that's sort of to be expected when they haven't spoken, you know, presumably since the Rider Cup. What do you think, House? So I feel like we were cheated in one particular way.

I would have loved to have seen Jordan's face. Yes. I wish we had that angle from the other side of the T-box where we could have seen the expression on Jordan's face because it's apparent that at least from the visual side that we have, Patrick was surprised that Jordan was going in for the hug. My read on it, this is because I'm a glass half full kind of fella. Okay. is that Patrick was, I mean, that Jordan was doing, you know, come on, brothers hug.

Brothers don't knock. Brothers. Sure. Sure. And so that's why I wanted to see the expression on his face because it could have been like, come on, Pat. We're, we're homies for life. Right.

You know, the blood is thicker than water. Come on in for a hug. Yeah. And we, so we don't know for sure, but it did seem like Patrick recognized that Jordan had kind of upped the ante in terms of how this was all going to get resolved. Jordan wasn't playing at icy. He had the right frame of mind, the right sense of humor about it, went in for the hug. And I thought Patrick handled it pretty well. I prefer to believe that they're once again Blood Brothers. And for all international competitions going forward, they will be paired once again and dominate. They'll never

lose again. But again, I'm glass half full. That's probably not what's going to happen. No, I certainly hope that is the case. Watching those two play together and the 2016 Rider Cup was such a highlight. It was so much fun. And I really do think somehow, for some reason, Jordan kind of drives Patrick to be his best playing self. Like, Patrick finished tied for 13th this weekend at minus 11 and Speath was tied for 35th. So there is something about playing with or playing against Jordan that kind of fuels Patrick in some way. So I do hope. they can kind of sort through all of these issues and end up playing together because it's just so much better when they do. Well, this is an outstanding point. When I woke up Saturday morning, I was communicating with the ringer's own Chris Vernon, who is here on Fairway rolling. We're talking some picks.

We're talking some tiger. And Verno and I were exchanging notes about that head-to-head matchup because that's one of the things you can put a little capital on. Yes. you can choose a side and then and then, you know, root to your heart's content. And I won't name names, but one of us had Jordan Speeth and we were kind of saying,

you know, Jordan showed some early rounds, you know, spark. Maybe Jordan Speeth is back. This is an odd year. And for whatever peculiar reason, Jordan Speeth plays better in odd years.

Don't, don't ask me to make sense out of that. But, you know, I thought he was kind of poised for something great. And lo and behold, just that matchup dynamic you're describing, it did seem like they were elevating each other's games

through 15 holes on the back of an eagle and a birdie. Jordan Speath got himself all the way up to 10 under, which at that time on Saturday had him among the first five or six names on the leaderboard. And he jettisoned ahead of Reed. Like they were kind of going back and forth. They're kind of like one under, two under, through most of the round.

And then Jordan did one of those Jordan Speed things where he just catches, you know, lightning in a bottle and goes off. Right. And I thought, oh, my God, look at this. He's going to do it right in front of and in some respects, depending on your wager, right to Patrick Reed and how glorious is that. And then he followed up with a triple bogey and a boge Jordan Speeth. It all fell apart that quickly.

So he's like, oh my God, Patrick still got him. He does. He still got his number mentally. I don't know what it is, but there is something between those two. And it's just so much fun to watch them play and compete against each other. I will say, I do hope this feud is buried. I hope they're good friends. But I do also think that Patrick Reed needs sort of an anti-person on tour.

Like, he needs someone to fight with. He needs the villain or who he. he perceives as the villain in his story. So I'm really curious if he and Spieth have indeed, you know, patch things up, who will become his next foe this year? Well, it's always Rory. It's perpetually Rory after the 2016 Riter Cup. So he has his international foe in Rory. Right. And his domestic foe is Spieth. And I think Patrick's the kind of fella that holds on to slight. So I bet he uses that fuel forever. Here's where I'm hoping we're headed. I'm hoping this, coming Thanksgiving weekend when we have the redux of the match between Phil and Tiger,

that we get a little bit of spice with some other participants. If Jordan and Patrick Reed go head to head for that thing, they're going to have my $20 again. And I hope they mess up the paywall again and refund that money right afterwards. But that's what I'm, I'm here for that. I'm here for Rory's Burger Graham, 2019. And I'm here for Jordan Speeth and Patrick Reed, the match,

Yeah, sort of an undercard situation to Tiger and Phil. I would fully support that. Also, would need them to be miced up as well. Oh, 100,000 percent. I mean, I think those guys, there's some real spice that we might get out of them. They're not going to play it down the middle. No. You know, totally safe.

Patrick won't stand for that. Absolutely not. No, he will make sure people get their monies worth there. Speaking of getting their money's worth, Shusty, I think we gave all the people out there. Their money's worth on this very first debut edition of golf. social. Thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for having me, House. We'll talk again next time.

Sounds good. Now on the tea, Amanda Bellionis. Cartmates, you know, there is no way that we are going to be rolling them in the fairway. We can't be fairway rolling unless we have somebody on the program with that deep, deep understanding that insider's kind of perspective

on the game of golf. On the show right now, the CBS Super Dooper Star covering golf at every one of the events that CBS covers. She runs the smart cart. She's also on the sidelines for football when football is being played.

Amanda Ballionis, welcome to Fairway Rowland. Are you there? Amanda? I mean, I think when you said mega TV superstar, people were probably expecting like The Rock or something. So I think we need to come up with a better description of me so people aren't let down. Oh, come on.

Nobody's going to be let down by you being on the show. So let's kick this off properly. You know, it's not a coincidence that we have the first episode of Fairway Rowland coming out coincident with the first true broadcast of the season, from my perspective. This is the golf season really gets going at Torrey Pines. All the big names come out. CBS makes its debut. You're on the screen.

And I sit back. I sit down Saturday afternoon. I say, ah, the golf season has begun. Tell us a little bit about, like, as you and the team, the CBS team, sort of get ready. How are you guys thinking about this upcoming 2019 season? Yeah, I mean, this was interesting because this was the first season. Last week was the first week where I was coming off a full and, of course, you know, we had the Super Bowl this week.

So it was really interesting to, you know, talk to Jim Nance and talk to a lot of our production guys who, you know, the Farmers Insurance Open is a big deal, you know, on the schedule. that it was you know what did we have we had like 24 of the top 50 players in the world or something I mean it was one of the strongest it was the strongest field that that tournament's ever seen so it's a really high profile event and obviously cv sports we are so proud to be able to bring but a strong golf schedule uh in 2019 and that all starts last week but learning how to make that transition from football to golf back to football and in fact to golf has been a really fascinating process.

You know, just for me personally, I have a newfound respect for people that do more than one sport at a time because it's really challenging to make the shifts and know that you know what you're talking about. And then on top of that, it feels like we've been away from golf for so long. You know, our last event before this was the first leg of the playoffs, which feels like years ago now at this point. So, you know, I think for us, it's just making sure that we have all of our storylines

and we know what to look for, who to look for. You know, when you're looking at the tailored gooches of the world, we didn't talk about him a whole lot, you know, last year. And he was very much a big player in our story this year. And, you know, so it really is just, you know, the preparation and making sure that we're all caught up and looking forward to an insane season. I mean, the schedule changes have set up our schedule in a way that after Riviera after the Genesis

Open. We have about seven weeks off and then we come back at the Masters and it's nine straight weeks which is incredible and the first what four four weeks is two of the majors of the year. So it's going to be a really cool setup. It's going to

be different for sure. But judging by what Sunday looked like yesterday, I am so excited for this season. I mean, you couldn't have asked really for a better leader board to shake out, you know, than what we saw yesterday afternoon. Yeah, I mean, all the storylines coming together just to give us all a beautiful teaser

of what this season might consist of, Justin Rose, the number one player in the road in the world, coming out and laying it down. He's just like, yo, y'all, I'm right here. Here I am. Come get me. He's playing out of his mind. Like, I'm not sure people understand how difficult Tori Pines is. Jason Day said it to me yesterday in the interview.

I was trying to talk to Jason about Jason Day, right? Like, he's a two-time winner of that event. He was a rating champion from last year, and all he wanted to talk to me about was how he could not believe how low, you know, Justin Rose was going on the sports. He said to me, he goes, Amanda, 11 under usually wins this tournament. Dude is at 20 under. He wins at 21 under.

That is outrageous for that golf course and how deep the rough. I mean, it was U.S. Open type rough. It was absolutely insane. I mean, he can't miss right now. So I don't know what this is going to look like. But if Justin Rose continues to play the way that he's playing, he might win, is it weird for me to say he might win all four major? Does that, do you think that's a reasonable thing to say?

It is unreasonable and very weird of you to say that because there's one player that you forgot That is, I already penciled him in for all four majors. It was indeed the debut of one El Tigray, Eldrick Tiger Woods, was on the TV screen this weekend, Amanda Ballionis. And I won't. Now, all due respect to Brother Rose, I can't accept any tiger slander at this very early stage of Fairway Rowland. You know we love the tiger here. We do. And you know what?

At this point, I think we should tell listeners, do not use us for. betting or for fantasy golf because we have just told you either Justin Rose or Tiger Woods and that's probably not very accurate. And there will be time to give out proper tips and and predictions and so forth. This is not that moment. This is not that time at 10 a.m. on a Monday. But I mean, Tiger, it was funny because I think, listen, expectations for, Tiger Woods are always going to be through the roof no matter what, right?

So, I mean, guilty. You should see my right hand is up. Guilty. Right. And it makes sense. He's won on 40 pines eight times. So when you look at his history, you're like, well, of course he's going to win pretty much every time he teased it up there.

But he hasn't played for a while. And Justin Rose, when he played last week in the desert, he hadn't played for a while. And, you know, he finished T-30-something. It's just knocking off the rust. For Tiger to come in to one of the most challenging courses that we see all year, and this is the place he comes to knock the rust off of. I mean, you can't really expect, you know, the guy to come out and just win immediately. However, I do think we are going to see something really special from him this year.

It is a whole shift. Last year, we knew he was close, but all of the narrative was around, are you healthy enough? Is this going to hold up? Can your body hold up? And he, you know, he was pretty unsure, at least in the beginning of the year. And as the year, you know, got down, he kept saying, yeah, I feel good. I'm just tired. You know, just getting back into, you know, professional athletic forms. And this year, he's coming in. He's saying, I have zero doubt about my health and my ability to do this. Now it's just knocking off the rust and getting things going. So I think that's a really important shift to recognize that I think the health stuff is, fingers crossed, is, you know, in the rearview mirror.

And now Tiger's just getting back to trying to get back to Tiger Woods Gulf, which I think is really the first time we can say that. Look, I last year kind of likened Tiger, you know, is like having a Lamborghini in the garage for 10 years. You pull it out. You don't immediately step on the pedal to see if you can get it up to 180 miles an hour. hour in the first 10 minutes of it being out of the garage. So you want to drive around a little bit. You want to get your road legs a little bit. And I believe that was, you know, exactly what Tiger did all last season. And in fact, strategy wise last season, it looked to me like he was using the first two rounds of each tournament to basically like ensure that he could make the cut. And then when the

weekend came is when he would really push down hard. I think he either led the tour or was second on the tour in Saturday scoring because as soon as he... Yeah, he led the tour. Yeah. It was unbelievable. The important thing for him was like the reps, you know, he was really cautious on Thursdays and Fridays so he could ensure that he would get four rounds in. And then once Saturday rolled around, he's like, oh, I made the cut. Now it's time to go play golf. And it was really exciting. The number of Saturdays when, you know, and he would, he would often be like in the 40s, you know, place-wise. He wouldn't be at the top of the leaderboard because he was just pretty close to the cut line. And then you'd wake up, I come in Saturday or at first part of Saturday, and I'm starting to get texts, Tiger going low, Tiger going low.

And so that was exciting. But I love the point that you made and the observation he shared yesterday on the broadcast, which is, you know, last year was just finding out what it was all about. now I know. Now I know what I can do. I'm going to just go out there and try and do it. So very exciting for all of us in the Tiger world. You mentioned something I want to follow up on. You talked about having to turn your football brain off and your golf brain on and then turn your golf brain off and your football brain back on.

It's not too shabby that you have somebody right there as part of the team that you might compare notes with. Jim Nance might be helpful with that a little. bit. Have you talked to him at all? Yeah. Yeah, I talked to him a lot. We both flew, I flew with him here to Atlanta last night, and I purposely, whether he wanted me to or not, sat directly next to him. It was like, teach me everything. I'm sorry, he was like, listen, Fallione, I had my own things that I need to worry about. He don't have to worry about anything. He has Tony Romo. He has the wizard. What is, what is Jim Nandis?

have to do. Well, but also Tony Romo, I think, is as good as he is because he has the best play-by-play announcer of all time to fall back on. I know, I know. Their dynamic is unreal. Like, I love listening to them so much. I love that Tony is still more excited about calling the games than most people are watching them at home. Like, that is not something you can fake. Like, it's unbelievable. Can you imagine what he was like inside that Cowboys locker room while he was still a player? If this is how he is in the booth as an analyst, it's insane. Well, he was, he was clearly beloved. I mean, they, they, they did everything they could. His body just wouldn't, uh, hold up. But it is a rare instance in this like sort of jaded media moment that, that we are in all living in to get a

breath of fresh air and to like have that, wait a minute, this, this is just the sheer enthusiasm. Accusedism coupled with the insane knowledge, like what a combination that can be. It helps all of us. He's like kind of reinvented how we watch a little bit, which has been terrific. I do want to ask you, speaking of knocking off the rust, I always admire you on that touchscreen. What is that thing? It has a name.

What's that thing called? The smart cart. Brought to us by. Is there a sponsor or no? Yeah. TD Ameritrade. Sure. TD Ameritrade, the smart card.

Now, you are officially a millennial, so it ought not to surprise me that you are very, very fluent, that you have no issue whatsoever going back and forth between the data, the touchscreen, the interview. You are a quintessential multitasker in that respect. But be honest, how long did it take to get your legs back under you with that thing. You know, yeah, on Friday, I made sure

to go out, it was set up in the TV compound, and yeah, I spent a couple hours with it, you know, just to, again, reacquaint myself with the capabilities. We made some tweaks to it, you know, in the off season, just to, you know, we're always

trying to get better. We're always trying to bring different and new things, you know, to the smart card if we can for the viewers. So, yeah, I mean, we've spent some time, for sure, just even making sure that it's working, you know, because it's still a computer and it's actually what it's doing is it's translating the shot link data into the smart part. And sometimes in real time, right? In real time. In real time. So that is, you know, like anything else with

live technology, it's not always flawless, you know. So I think our number one job before anything else, you know, before we go live, is just to make sure all the numbers on the screen are right, you know, before we, you know, before we pull up the scorecard, before we pull up that with players, that's the first thing that we're always looking at. But it helps, it helps you really familiarize yourself with the numbers and those statistical categories that we talk about so much. But yeah, at that cart, I love it because that was like, it's kind of like my baby. So it didn't take too long to get reacquainted with it. But I just spent a couple hours on Friday, just getting back into it.

And then, you know, I think on Saturday, Sunday, we didn't go crazy with, you know, the amount of things we were doing. I think we just wanted to do it well and we wanted to do it right. And then, you know, I think if the season progresses, we will try and do fancier and fancier things with it. Yeah. So speaking of fancier and fancier things, CBS and professional golf have a long and storied relationships. CBS has been broadcasting professional golf for over 30 years, maybe even longer than that. What kind of innovation? Is there anything we can expect this coming season in terms of the presentation that you guys have in store for the golf viewing public? Yeah, I actually,

because you kind of text me some of the talking points. So I test our head of technology. And I said, am I allowed to talk about this one thing that I'm really excited about? I said, or do I have to say you have to wait and see and he literally just text me back and said you got to tell them to wait and see oh what i absolutely cool thing i was going to tell you but now i'm not allowed to tell you because it's above my pay grade but i promise we have some really cool technology coming up this season um that really i have never seen it done um i mean it's definitely never been done in golf before, but I've never even seen it in other sports. So, yeah, they're all, that is what I really love about CBS, right?

Is I feel like they're so, they're so great at what they do, you know, and they've been doing it, like you said, for decades, on decades, on decades. And I feel like they never just rest on their laurels. They're never just like, hey, you know what? We are really great at this, and we're just going to settle for being really great. They're always pushing to see how they can do things better, how they can. can do things differently. And it's fun.

It's like really fun to see and they're not scared. You know, it's a lot like I think the Callaway family, David, it's what I love so much about being a part of these teams is that they're never scared to try something. And if it doesn't work, fine, then we just don't do it again. You know what I mean? But we're never going to revolutionize something or we're never going to be able to change the perspective of something if we don't at least try. And I don't think that's a ton of companies have that perspective.

So yeah, there are some cool stuff coming. I was just told I'm not allowed to talk about it. Sorry. All right. Well, that's fine. Look, I, Fox and NBC have both been innovating with the tracer technology raising the bar. And, you know, that has been a complaint in the past with CBS, not enough tracer. So I hope what we're talking about includes some additional tracer.

My favorite, and I don't remember which broadcast does it, is the side by side, where you see the layout of the hole. And you guys, CBS did this a fair amount yesterday. I know, I know, I got you covered. That's my favorite view is the one where you can see the layout of the hole and anticipate whether the ball's going to be in the fairway, not in the fairway. Is it off the planet? Those are my favorite. Yeah.

And I mean, you guys saw it at farmers too. I mean, we have so much technology, you know, and I think there is a balance. This is just my personal opinion. I am obviously not the producer, the director, you know, the people that really make golf, you know, how incredible it is to watch. But in my opinion, I don't think it's not, sometimes you just want to watch golf.

You just want to enjoy the beautiful scenery and, you know, in the course itself, I don't think every time you need to have neon colors everywhere on the screen. Or, you know what I mean? I think there's places and there's time for it. but I do think sometimes it's overkill to do it on every single hole and every single shot. And I think for people to, I don't know if that's a majority of people that would even really want that. Maybe it is.

Maybe I'm in a minority. I don't know. But I think when you use it in specific important instances that highlights the sport, not for it to become kind of like a crush in the sport. To me, that is what technology is for, not to, you know, it's too. enhance the game, not to, you know, not to become something you expect on every single shot. I think it's a little much when that happens. Yeah, I feel you. I feel you. Now, I'm going to, we, I know that you are in Atlanta, Georgia, you're preparing for the Super Bowl. I only have a couple more quick items for you. I know you need to get, get going on, at a bare minimum, doing some research on

where you're going to, you know, help folks go find delicious places to eat. I mean, a quick, Yeah. House of Carbs plug, if we may. I mean, but listen, we have so far this 2019 season, seeing this, this interesting back and forth between the young guns, players in their 20s,

and the old guard, who is not relinquishing control yet. So we already have victories on tour from guys like Matt Coocher and got, and they, Justin Rose is kind of in a different category. And then, you know,

Xander Schaughley won the very first event in the season. And then Adam Long came literally out of nowhere. But Phil led that tournament in the Desert Classic for quite a bit. Give me your sense on this young guns versus the old guard. At the end of the year, who's going to be holding the belt? Is it going to be the old guys or is it going to be the young guys? I think this is going to be a really close one, honestly,

because like you said, guys like Phil are still playing. And they're still in top states. You know, they're in great golf states. The Justin Roses, the Adam Scott. I mean, those guys are now considered the veterans out here on tour. But, I mean, I tried to highlight this point yesterday with Taylor Goose right before we went on. The Gooch.

I know. Is that not one of the best last names ever? The best. I said to him, I was like, you know, you were really putting on some pressure there today. Like, he did not flint when he was. He knew he was trying to hunt down number one in the world and Masters Champion Adam Scott. And he looked at me and said, yeah, I wasn't nervous at all. Like, he's ready to do this.

And I think that is the biggest key here is these young guys are like, they are gunning for these veterans. They are not intimidated by really anyone. I think Tiger still definitely has that intimidation factor for a lot of these guys, especially now that he's won at the end of last year. But I think it's going to be pretty close. But if you're going to make me pick, I'm going to say the veterans are going to come out of top. One for the old school. I think so.

I just, you know, but then you look like a Bryson-Dasham boat. I guess he's considered one of the young guys, right? Like, he's going to do some big things this year. Lord have mercy. It's going to be close. I can't wait. I don't, I'm not asking for a prediction of this, but somebody is going to attempt a put, a short putt with the flagstick in. and it's going to hit the flagstick and bounce back out.

And the golf world is going to lose its mind. I hope it doesn't happen to Bryson, but he might be like the leading candidate. He's exactly like the golf gods looking at him. He's wonderful. I think he's so good for the game. I love, I can't get enough of his vocabulary and his brain,

his golf vocabulary. Really, his faculty with English language, I'm sure. It's better than mine. Golf vocabulary. because none of us understand what he's talking about. But I can't wait to see what vocabulary he uses when it hits the flag stick and comes back out.

Last thing, you're in Atlanta this week. Where can we find you? What should we be looking out for from Amanda Ballionis at the Super Bowl? Yeah, well, first of all, I'm going to need you to send me restaurant recommendations because I would like go at a house of carbs approved establishment. But you can find me on, I mean, we have 75 hours of coverage this week leading up to the Super Bowl, which is pretty awesome. So you can find me on CBS Sports Network on doing features and packages for those shows. And then also, if you follow CBS Sports on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook, I'm the social media correspondent for them this week.

So we're going to be all around Atlanta. I know this is going to shock you, but we may or may not have shoots line. up at the aquarium to play with some sea lions and seals and also the Atlantic Humane Society where we're going to like, you know, I don't know if I'm allowed to, you'd probably know what we're trying to do, but like, you know, like a little bowl game with puppies involved. So I'm not allowed to call it the other things that already exist. Very on brand for you, Amanda Balliardist. I will hit you. I have three words for you. And they'll make sense when I send it to you. lemon pepper wet.

That's all I'm going to say. It'll make a lot more sense when you see it. And when you taste it, you're going to be very, very happy. Thanks for coming on. The very first segment of Fairway Rowland. You're a regular. We'll check in with you. Maybe Riviera.

If tigers going low, you might have to come back on. Let's do this. Let's do this. Thanks, A.B. Thanks, out. Now on the tea, Christmas. All right, my poor saving pals, my birdie buddies. You know, if you come to this podcast,

you are going to get lots and lots and lots of Tiger Woods. If you don't like Tiger Woods, I would recommend against listening to any golf podcast. I have a man on the phone. He is my soulmate in El Tigray, the co-host of the Ringer NBA podcast, A Mismatch, and also the host of the Chris Vernon show in Memphis, Tennessee.

This is Chris Vernon. Hey, oh, thanks for having me out, house. Hey, oh, Verdo. So look, buddy, we have a whole season in front of us of His Majesty, Eldrick Tiger Woods. You are my blood brother in Tiger. We've exchanged probably 15,000 texts over the last 12 months, uh, covering his, his reascendance. and now the seasons kicked off.

We were texting all weekend long. How about this? Let's give out a grade right now for how we think Tyre did this week at the Farmers Insurance Open. He knocked off the rust. Let's give him a grade. What's your grade, Chris Vernon?

All right. So anything in the A class has to be reserved or winning or being in contention. I can't be in the A. You're a tough grader. You're a tough grader. I love it. I can't be in the A. But I can't be in the B.

And so I'll give him a B and here's why. And I'm not even going to give him a plus or my. It's a solid B. So obviously on Friday, got me a little stressed out that he might miss the cut. You got a bunch of guys that are going 62, 63 on that North course, and he puts up a 70, which is enough to get him to the weekend. They doesn't really hit a run on Saturday. But then Sunday, we get this goal.

glimpse of what we saw at the end of last season, which was super promising. I mean, I think there were only two scores that were posted on Sunday that were better than hit. He ends up with six birdies and a bogey. He probably even could have done a little bit better. He had the established goal going into the weekend that he wanted to get to double-digit. Now, we know double-digits wasn't going to be good enough to win that thing because Rose went, you know, astronomically low.

That being said, he did get to 10, which is what he wanted to get to. So with his own desired goal, he got there, and then he ends up with the top 20. You know, he didn't play all that great, but then we saw that flash on the last day that I think, now it gets him up there. I am a little worried that he's going to take off, you know, two weeks now before he plays again, but I thought it was very interesting for him to say after the round yesterday that this is kind of all gearing up for April and that hopefully he will be in apex form by the time he gets to April.

So, I mean, I was happy with it. Listen, he was playing on Saturday and Sunday, and his final round was awesome. So I'm down with it, but I give him a B. Okay. Well, now, look, I admire your tough grading standards. And I think, you know what? I'm rethinking the grade.

I was prepared to give something that began with an A, but now I'm going to rethink my position on this. I'm going to take on the Verno curve for grading. If you were looking at excellence, then it's got to be excellent. Now, I will say I have a handful of nuggets here. I'm like your boy Fizz. Take that for data.

I'm going to give out some data. I got some Fizz data here for you. So between and overarchingly, overwhelmingly, I am lockstep in agreement with your assessment. But the things that I liked, every round he played better. He had more greens and

regulation round to round. So, you know, he improved in that category, round to round. And he also, his club head speed improved round to round. So both of those things tell me he was deliberate in his strategy and approach.

to this tournament. I think he had a goal in the first place of just making the cut. And then in the second place, you know, getting better round around. He said himself, each round he felt that he played a little bit cleaner. And then in between rounds three and four, he improved markedly in the strokes gained metric. You're familiar with this. And we assume our golf homies are familiar with strokes game. This is a relative to the field performance metric broken down by various aspects of the golfer's game. Teeter Green and putting, he made big strides in both of those categories

between round three and round four. And the thing I liked, both Saturday and Sunday, he ended each of those rounds going birdie, birdie. So he finished off each round Saturday and Sunday, showing us all, look, I'm right here. I mean, you know, go ahead on out there. Other folks are in different stages of their preparation for this season.

season. But I'm right. I'm top 20. This is my first round of the year, my first competitive round. I'm right here. So I'm happy about it. And I like your, your, your thought, you know, you expressed a little reservation disappointment that L. T. Gray is not playing for a couple weeks. I like this idea of a deliberate schedule for him, because for what, uh, you and I care about the most. And I think this is true of certainly the golf public and, and then more importantly, or equally important sort of his legacy, we want majors. We want major performance. We want outstanding performance in the majors. The funny thing about the comment you just referenced him talking about April,

that means he's not gearing up for the players championship, which is in March this year. Yeah. Well, you know, the only thing, I mean, I get the whole deliberate schedule. The only thing is I feel like you've really got momentum on Sunday. And so I don't want to have to just have a reset, right, to get that back. But the other thing that's super promising, like you were saying, getting better and better, also when the biggest concern regarding him has been health, you know, the idea that you saw at the end of the season, him closing on Saturdays and Sunday, and then that's exactly what we got in the first tournament.

You know, theoretically, if you're not in, you know, tip-top shape or you're not in great shape where you're a little worried about the health, you know, someday should be your worst, right? You should wear down. By the time you're playing your fourth round, maybe you're not as good, but the idea that he, you know, he was fine.

And the fact kept getting stronger, you know, the longer this goes on, the more we can, you know, stop worrying about, is he going to be able to hold up and is this all real?

Is he going to maintain being super healthy? So what's a great house? What does you give him? I'm going to give him, B plus. I'm not going to jump up to A either, but I just love it look like he effectuated his strategy and he accomplished his goal and he didn't win and he didn't finish the top 10. Excellence requires excellence. A is for excellent. He was not excellent, but I appreciate and admire that he executed his goal B plus. Now, speaking of executing goals and fulfilling promise,

I have some odds to discuss with you for the balance of the season. We're going to talk about Tiger in the major tournaments. I have two different sets of odds here for you. And we're going to keep it pretty generic here in this first episode of this week in Tiger Woods. In the first place, and these odds changed a little bit from last week, Tiger to win a major right now, if you choose yes, you get that at plus 270. No is minus 350. So just south of three to one odds that he will win a major this year,

if you put down $100 to win $270 to win a major. What do you think about that? All right. So the odds stink. Right out of the box. Anytime we talk tiger and golf odds, they're terrible. They're not at all reflective of the risk that you were taking. I mean, good grief.

With your hard-earned money, with your hard-earned capital. There is no risk. The book has said, you take all the risk, you dumb gambler. Yeah, well, I mean, you got four majors, and you got all the best guys in it. So if the majors went, you know, whoever, if it went, Justin Thomas, Brooks, Kepka, Jordan Speefeet, and Dustin Johnson, like, it's not surprising to anybody. No, no, nobody bets an eye. And that's four amazing players. And we've left off other guys, you know, that obviously, like this week,

Justin Rose looked like the best player in the world. I mean, he was ridiculous. Yeah. Putting 21 up over four days, you know, at Torrey Pines is crazy. And so I'm just saying, the odd stink. Yeah, the odds stink. Yeah, but head on a guillotine, I would. You know, if you just gave me $100, I'd put it on yes, just because of how close he came at two of them last year.

And if you know that at this point, he is gearing up and he is setting his schedule, and that's what matters most, right? He wants those. More so it's nice to win all the other tournament. But there's four that should theoretically get his laser-like focus in terms of how he's setting up. everything in his life is to try to win those four or at least one of them. So I would say the way he played in two of them last year and the fact that he is, you know, planning his whole life around it, I would, you know, if I had to, and again, I'm a huge fan of his and I want it so badly to happen. But, I mean, 270 sucks, but I take it. Well, it was $2.40 last week, and I was prepared to take it last week.

I'm with you. The other side to this, you can bet you can right now do exactly how many majors, one, two, three, or four. You know, I might put $10 on four. And then after he went the first two, you can sell it to Cousin Sal. That's right. Sell it to him for half price. That's exactly double the price.

Oh, my God, poor cousin Sal. So exactly one major is plus 300, which is better than yes or no. Two majors is plus 1,800. Three is plus 10,000 and four is plus 25,000. I would do, you know, $10 on four, or maybe $5 on four, $10 on three, $20 on two, and then, you know, maybe a reasonable investment on him winning one major this year, mainly because it feels like it's a down payment on my entertainment and enjoyment of the golf season, which starts in January and runs through August.

So how much would I pay? It's like, you know, I'm going to go to an NBA game. If I go to a game and take my kid and we come out of pocket for tickets and food and a shirt and everything like that, that's like a $300 to $400 investment, that's just a single shot of enjoyment. I'm talking about enjoyment over the whole season, so I might put a little taste on that. Something stronger, right? No, it's why I put five bucks on Harold Barnley III,

who I love every week. So just in case he does happen to win the tournament, then I could say I was a part of it. He's your ride or die. Because he always has these super long odds. Yeah. So if he ever does win one, it's such a huge tech. off a case for every other $5

bet than I've ever made on the guy. HB3 is your ride or die. Yeah, I love him. All right, Verno. Let's talk about the week coming up. It is the greatest show on grass according to the folks that put this thing on. The waste management

classic open, I'm not sure which it is. The Phoenix Open is how I know it because I'm old. We have a great field, not the same stellar field that we just had at Tori Pines, but still a great field. And prominently, this is the goodbye call for Johnny Miller.

He's stepping down from the broadcast tower at the completion of Saturdays round because he wants to make a graceful exit and he doesn't want to interfere with the recognition of whatever winner emerges on Sunday. So I like this setup quite a bit. and it'll give everybody a chance to go ahead and appreciate Johnny Miller. What's your thoughts on Johnny? I probably did tour from a lot of people in the sense that I really like him. And the reason I like him, yeah, I know a lot of people resent him or don't. He has something to say.

It is not, it's not always what I agree with. Sometimes he can come off a bit grumpy and like there's no. not a lot of joy in what is taking place, and that can get a bit nerve-wracking. But generally, I like people that have something to say, one way or the other. I mean, I don't have to agree with it, right? But he has an opinion on things. And I think that, you know, I get it that nowadays, nowadays everybody's got an opinion on everything, right? We live in the hot take generation.

But he was doing that way before it was, morning shows, you know, where it was guys going back and forth. Johnny Miller's been given hot takes for 30 years. That's just because it's in him. That's who he is. He's the real deal. And it's not manufactured. I've never felt like he was saying something because he's trying to be

controversial or get a rise out of you. And so, therefore, the fact that he has been on broadcast and he, you know, you're going to irritate people by. same thing that you say, you're going to say stupid stuff. But at least the guy's always got opinion. You know, I have never minded Johnny Miller, and I can certainly say that I appreciate that. I like people with something to say. Even if I don't agree with it, it makes them interesting.

And so he's always been interesting to me. It will come as no surprise. You and I are, again, an agreement on this. I have over the course of watching golf much of the same reaction as you. The thing that I like about Johnny, I feel like I learned something. I feel like he has always endeavored to help the viewing public learn something about whatever it is that's going on with the guys down on the golf course. And when a guy is choking and it looks like to me that he's choking, when Johnny Miller

says it looks like he's choking or, you know, that looks like the nerves are getting to him. I like that kind of validation. That helps me put myself, you know, you talked about the relatability in connection with Justin Rose. I think that that's a really important part of the television broadcast when it comes to the tour player

that's sitting up there in the tower. And it's always been something that distinguished him. So I'm with you. I also happen to be a Johnny Miller fan. You know this, House. You know this. These guys are, you know, travel. Circus, a go around city to city.

There's a brotherhood amongst everybody involved with that PGA tour. And they all know everything that that guy says every weekend. It's not easy to be critical. It's not. Because you are around these people all the time. And it leads to awkwardness. And so I think he even gets more credit than somebody that's sitting in a studio and is giving their opinion on things because you very well may be on a flight to the next city sitting next

to the guy that you just killed on national TV, you know? It's a great point. It's a great point. And it never seemed to affect his candor along the way. And I may be the case because, you know, he accomplished so much in his own career that he had the stature that he could get away with it. Everybody respected, you know, what he did. And so, you know, they were able to understand the, you know, they were able to understand the

that he was trying to do, but it's a great point, man. Now, look, let's set this thing up. We have, the odds are, once again, pretty terrible here. We have John Rom is the favorite at seven to one. Justin Thomas is at 10 to 1. Hedecki Matsuyama at 12 to 1. And then, you know, on from there. All right, Verno, so who are you looking at? Tell us, tell us some names that you're looking at. Okay, so obviously you just reeled off those. then those are not very good. I guess, you know, Matsuyama is really good this weekend. And so in that first tournament, and so there's part of me that says, hey, these guys are already playing really well at the beginning of the season or somebody that I want to look at. Not somebody that's going to play really well for the first time.

I always like Tony Fina because I think, you know, the breakout's going to come at some point. Like he's going to win the tournament where, like, I mean, where it's like multiple. win throughout the year. But the guy that won it last year is Gary Woodland. Yep. You know, he's had seven starts, and he's been in the top five and five of them. Yeah. And we know he won this thing last year.

So I'm kind of surprised that he's a little farther down the left. I think I'd probably take a crack at him simply because I know he's been good here already. And he's obviously, I mean, if you're in the third, Now, I think, you know, he played seven, and you've been there at five of them, he's obviously consistently been playing really, really well. So a guy that's been playing consistently well, who said I know he has already had success at, I would think is worth a crack with the odds being a little longer.

Yeah, a little longer. I like that quite a bit. His name is Stair Me in the Face. I had him circle, but there's another guy, and it's funny you mentioned Fee now. When I looked at this this morning, Fee now was available at 22 to 1. I think you and some of the birdie buddies out there might have already started scratching an itch.

Fee now dropped all the way down to 18 to 1, started 22 to 1 down to 18 to 1 just over the course of today. And it's only Monday. This venue really does set up for, you know, it's a birdie fest kind of venue. And long hitters have a huge advantage here. There's a great tradition of long hitters being successful here. You just, we just talked about one, Gary Woodland, fits that bill. And so does J.B. Holmes, who's got a W here.

Now, the name that I'm taking a look at, and let me tell you, this is, this is Verno. It's time for the epic flash pick of the week. I use the same supercomputer with artificial intelligence that Callaway used to make its epic flash driver. I use that supercomputer. I ran 15,000 scenarios. It's a good thing. I got some artificial intelligence to help because my intelligence needs all the support it can get. But this is, wait until you hear the pick.

I'm looking at Phil Mickelson at 28 to 1, 28 to 1. Now, here's the reason. And this is, I'm not sure that the supercomputer would agree with this, because this is more based on my love of the story here. It happens to be the case as we sit here right now, Verno, Johnny Miller and Phil Mickelson. are currently tied for the most tour wins in the state of Arizona at six wins. Now, this covers both events that they used to have something in Tucson, and then they moved over to Phoenix. But Johnny Miller, Phil Mickelson, tied, each tied at six wins.

I just love the poetry of an OG like Phil on the weekend of Johnny Miller stepping down. Phil jumps out, grabs that, gets that number in a kind of weird way to honor Johnny. You know, we're sitting side by side and OG is tipping the hat to an eminence in the game. You also can't sleep on the fact that the Sunday round, Verno, is Super Bowl Sunday. If you don't think that Phil Mickelson's got some action lined up and he'll know exactly how much exposure he has out there, you know he needs to win this tournament to cover all his angles. So my, the epic flash pick of the week, Phil Mickelson at 28 to 1. That's my selection.

What he does is he throws it all on himself at 28 to 1. He's like, damn, I'm getting good at. I love it. We're not going to do any better than that. Hey, Verdo, we're going to have you back. You know, even on weeks when Tiger's not playing, we're having this week in Tiger Woods. There's always something to talk about when it comes to Eldrick. Thanks for coming on this week, my man.

My man, thank you, house. All right, my par saving pals, the first fairway rolling is in the books. Thank you very much for listening to this premiere episode of the podcast. We're going to be on. We have about 26, 27 episodes through the course of the season, all the way up through the tour championship. We've got a wonderful array of ringer folks, a wonderful array of Callaway folks. We're going to be talking about golf with some NBA folks, some food folks. We've got just a terrific walk of life, walk of golf life lineup throughout the season.

So stick with us. There we go, my birdie buddies. Thanks very much for listening. Talk to you soon.