Fairway Rollin' - The Grit of Sungjae Im, the Grind of Post-COVID PGA, and Top Picks

Episode Date: October 12, 2021

House and Hubbard rejoin in person with PGA pro player Mark Hubbard to talk about the latest happenings from the world of golf, including the latest Las Vegas event. They discuss what makes Sungjae Im so great and what makes him different (01:39). They also dive into what the grind is like in a post-COVID PGA (08:01). Then they discuss their top picks as players are starting to wind down their seasons and look ahead to the new year (33:54). Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Guest: Mark Hubbard Producer: Steve Ahlman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill Simmons hosts the most downloaded sports podcast of all time with a rotating crew of celebrities, athletes, media staples, and a slew of other friends and family members who always happen to be available. Check out the Bill Simmons podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, friends, and welcome to this fall wraparound season edition of Fairway Roos. The Golf Podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network, I am your star. Joe House, my birdie buddies, my podcast pals, my Eagle enthusiasts, everybody out there. It's a special event. I am in Los Angeles, California, sitting directly across from me at a table, my beloved

friend, our PGA tour correspondent on the ground, Nathan Hubbard, and an extraordinarily special guest here today in Los Angeles, California, fresh off of a top 50 finish in Las Vegas, Nevada, made the cut. That's close to the check. That's close to second. I got a participation, Rabin.

And the check. Mark Hubbard is live in the flesh here. A PGA tour professional on Fairway, rolling during this excellent moment in this season, the first T's wide open. It's a three ball. I can't believe Mark's letting us go out with them. I know.

It's kind of silly. We're lucky. But we're off. Here we go. All right, boys. we're back. You're just back from Vegas. We had four outstanding rounds. It looked like perfect weather the whole time. No, actually, it was not. I think that's

why aside from S.J. just going off, the rest of the field, the scores weren't as low as they normally are. The wind was definitely up Friday and Saturday. We had a weird rain on Friday, too. It was like a Seattle day early in the morning. And then it blew at least 20 in the afternoon. Which is why to cut stay where it was. So the way, yeah, the course I thought was

actually softer, a lot softer than we normally see it. So I thought scores were going to be low, but that win kept it where they were. And that's really the only defense out there is the wind typically anyway, right? Yeah, especially on that back nine. I mean, those holes are so getable, but when you get a crosswind, I mean, you're having aim in the water on 16 or 17, you know, definitely makes a lot more challenging. So Nate and I, in the run up to this weekend's event, were kind of thinking through musing about the fact that the whole tour has descended on Las Vegas for two weeks, upcoming. So just had the Shriners.

And now the CJ Cup will be at the Summit Club, as opposed to Shadow Creek where it was. Was that in Shadow Creek or was Zosso at Shadow Creek last year? It was at, CJ was at Shadow Creek. Zosow was here at Sherwood. That's it. That's right. Exactly right. Yeah.

So Zosos going back to Asia. C.J. Cup is at. the Summit Club, but it turned out the tour made a strategic decision to just have everybody come, be in Vegas for a couple weeks, enjoy Vegas in the fall. And we wondered how that might impact different participants in the upcoming tournaments. Did you enjoy your time in Las Vegas, Mark Hubbard? I did. It was pretty rowdy there.

They had the Tyson Fury fight on Saturday night. I mean, a bunch of guys. Rupertled in size the city. Yeah, I saw Brooks was there. So was Bryson. It might explain the 73 Brooks shot on Sunday. This is what we were talking about, wasn't it? Yeah, Vegas Brooks showed up, showed up big.

Yeah, it is nice for the tour. This is the second year in row. They've given us two weeks in the same place, which is, you know, it's a lot for us as much as we travel, but it kind of doesn't help that those two weeks are in Vegas. They don't really think that one through. We gamble for a living, so it's not great. I heard Max talking on a pod the other day that you, Joel, and Max had a dinner. Is that true?

Yeah, we had a dinner at Yellowtail in the Blasio. What night was that? That was Friday night. Oh, let's do this. What's Yellowtail? I don't know this one. It's a sushi restaurant. It's awesome.

It's right on the fountains. You got the foe Eiffel Tower in the background. No, it was great. Good sushi. I think Joel had had a few thinking that he had missed the cut. So it was a good night. Yeah. Yeah, he shot 70 on Saturday, so maybe that's a reflection, but then came back and smoked it on Sunday.

We sort of have a tradition from our Canadian tour days where if we think we're going to miss the cut, but it's borderline, we start drinking, and that always moves the cut in our direction and our favor. It's kind of the reverse jinks. I love this. This is exactly the kind of tour insight that we hear on Fairway Roll, and it separates us. It's not an exaggeration to say you did hit the. mini bar in the hotel room on Friday afternoon when I told you, are you flying tonight or driving tonight? And you're like, eh, in case I get a miracle, but I'm having some champagne. I had some,

yes, from, from Aria. Celebratory. Yeah, celebratory. Aria's money. I love it there. Yeah. Did you gamble? Are you around to gamble, by the way? You can't gamble on golf. I know. I'm not even asking that question. No, yeah, we can't gamble on golf. Which I, I, I understand what they're going for. I don't see what would be so wrong if I were to bet on myself. I'm not going to tank it. But the other way, and you can't cheat. You can't cheat, really. Yeah, you can't cheat.

But no, I'm not a huge card player, mostly just because I'm not any good. And I like having money, not losing it. Indeed. You know what you are good at? What's that? Running up your MGM credit at Carbone with me. So let's talk about that because I knew there was a Carbone dinner. I got a text.

It's like, I won't, I won't for the Paul, all the, the, birdie buddies out there. We won't reveal what the bill turned in. Now, how big was the group? There were only three of us. Oh, my God. Oh, I see. So there was good wine. We ate for 10. But so MGM is one of your treasured sponsors. They take very good care of you. And one of the ways that they take care of you is when you're in Vegas, there are a number of things that are on your MGM tab. And you inform me of that. I said, let's run up a bill. and I did what you asked me to do. So we had a good night.

Yeah, well, I mean, we've eaten together many times, Nate Dog, and you and I together can do some damage. I know what you're capable of. Vegas is weird right now, though. I mean, we ate early because you had an early tea time, and we were out of there. I was walking through the casino. It was a Thursday night in Vegas right now.

It's not the killer scene, but then you said by Friday it was insane. They heard you left. Yeah. I mean, it's literally not a killer scene. scene because you don't really, we're not really in a spot where you want to be like in big giant. Oh, there are some people who seem to. Okay.

But it's not clear that you want to hang out with those people. Yeah. Yeah. So that was the sort of general vibe. But yeah, Friday and Saturday with the fight and then the Raiders game yesterday, it was pretty quite a great point. Right. The Raiders game.

Yeah. Which they are insane. And I think whenever Washington is going to play them. Let's go. Yeah, we need to do it. LFGO. Let's go to that. It is now an official destination.

And I think every other sport has got to follow now. I mean, obviously the Golden Knights are there or whatever. Yeah, they're only missing baseball and basketball. And they have the arena with the Golden Knights. I mean, the women, the Aces play there. The Las Vegas Aces already play there. There's a footbridge to the stadium. I mean, it's just...

Come on. It's raucous. Yeah, what are we talking about? Anyway. I do have to just say, Sung Jay sort of ran away with this. and you came up with him on the KFT and he sort of kicked everybody's ass the year

that you came up with him. How much have you watched him play and are you surprised that he's only got two wins at this point because this guy is around the hoop in almost every tournament, which as you know is super fucking hard to do? But what is he great at? Everything. I mean, he hits it so straight.

He puts it great. I really like his putting because it's a little bit similar to mine. He's kind of got a weak left hand. Nick Falto makes fun of him because he thinks he has a short putter. Nick Faldo doesn't make fun of him as much as he makes fun of me. But no, he, uh, what does that mean weak left hand? So he kind of, he kind of, a lot of people kind of forward press. Yeah.

And kind of lock it out. I do. Uh, his is the other way. It's kind of cupped and bowed there. Okay. It allows him, in my opinion, to release the putter. Yep. Really well under pressure, which is why I think he makes many putts under pressure.

But it can also lead to some stability issues because it's not. as kind of locked out. But yeah, I mean, he just, he does everything well. Like he... Does he have a home in the United States yet? Or is he still... I have heard that he does. I don't know for sure.

I can't comment for sure. But I mean, that's the other thing is I don't know anybody who loves golf more than that kid. Wow. Well, and I'm glad you mentioned kid, right? He is a kid. Yeah. He literally, you know, this is a Justin Rayfax.

We love Justin Rayfax here on Fairway Rowland. seventh non-US player to win two PGA tour events before the age of 24. I mean, Kyle Porter tweeted out he's two years younger than Will Zalotaurus, who we think of in this rookie, you know, with the KFT thing. Holy shit, Songjay. Holy shit. Is it sustainable to play as much as he does? I mean, I think the only reason you'd say no is from an injury standpoint.

but I mean, the way he swings it, I don't really feel like that's going to be a factor unless he does something stupid. I don't see a burnout rate. He looks different than other golfers on tour. I mean, just his body, he doesn't have that sort of velociraptor golf robot thin body that I think for some guys helps him with their swing, but it clearly also can sometimes contribute to injury. He's going for more the TB12 doughy pliability path, you know? Well, and you know who's a great example of that? who also won this weekend is Phil Effing Mickelson, you know,

who is now batting 750 on the senior tour, three out of every four times he plays, he wins. The Furican Friends Constellation Classic and somewhere in North Florida, I guess, I don't know. But, I mean, if that's, if, if, if, if SJ has another 25 years in front of him because of that body type and he's able, holy, I mean, come on. And think about the run that we're on right now. This is something I'm interested in Mark Hubbard's views on.

We have Max Homa, his homie. We have Sam Burns and we have Sungjai. In the first three weeks of this new season, all three guys knocking on the door, games in shape, multiple time tour winners. That's a pretty radical departure from what we saw last season. You don't miss Stewart Sink and Brian Gay. Well, Brian Gaye defending champion of the Barracuda. We'll see him in a few weeks. Don't count them out yet.

Don't count them out. What do you think is going on? Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure. I think the guys who've won are just really good. I don't know if there's necessarily a trend happening or not. Is it the schedule? It could be something with the schedule. It could be, you know, last fall was after, you know, we had that break. So maybe some of the older guys felt more rested. So they were coming out firing, whereas now it's, you know, the young guns who don't really need that extra break.

but no I just think right now the best players are winning I mean Sam Burns has been playing awesome for a couple years now and he's gonna keep on winning this week he's so good he's so good and he's so confident maybe he went to the fight Saturday now well that's a good point yes but yeah no I just I think the the best player each week is won and it just happened to be a young gun yeah well and that leaderboard was was an impressive leaderboard

I mean I had a little taste on Mark Leashman I won't tell you he was he was long His odds were crazy for the caliber of player he was. He was like 85 to 1. I was like, oh, I put a taste on that for sure. Louis finished top 15, even though he was negative, almost negative 2 point stroke gain putting. But it was a classy. You can tell you all about negative strokes gain putting if you want to hear about that.

But that's not your thing. And this is what I was, how did you find the greens there this week? I don't ever remember being that lost on greens before. It was super weird. I felt like I was saying my lines, but I could not. not read them. I don't know if it was the Vegas poll or what was going on. Does the wind mess with that at all for you? No, I mean, if you asked Nick Faldo, he'd say no because I'm so low to the ground.

But no, I don't know. I just, it just wasn't like a stinger, but a putt. But yeah, no, I mean, I hit it great. So that was, that was nice. It was like one of your best shots gained approach stats ever on tour. And it was your worst shots gained putting stat ever. Was there, I watch you, your body language was actually really good for most of the week. At what point were you like, this is totally in my dome? Or was it never?

Number three on Sunday, my third hole on Sunday. I hit an unbelievable like hold high cut seven iron to a back right pin to like 10 feet. Yeah, that's when I turned. Hit a great putt. Didn't even sniff hitting the hole like overplayed the break by a cup and was just like, where am I? Yeah, that's when I texted dad. I think he's losing his mind.

I was like, yeah, I'm crying. This is not going on. I mean, 20 foot's under 20 feet is not something you usually miss. That's not something I usually have unless they're for part. I know. You were hitting them great. But that's the thing. That's golf, man.

Yeah, that's golf. It is. That's golf. And sort of mentally, this does tap into something I'm interested in. And Nate and I have been sort of talking about this. With this season, now we're kind of returned to a semblance of normal, right? there aren't 50 events on the schedule going forward. And this could be an opportunity to do some recharging or some finding of game or whatever.

For you, as you think about how your year looks like next year and kind of where your game is at the moment, is it a glass half full or glass half empty to have a performance like that this week? Yeah, I mean, I was playing on a sponsor invite last week. So it's absolutely a glass half full. I mean, I got to give a shout out to Patrick. Patrick Lindsay and the local IQ and I'm GM guys for hooking me up because I thought I was going to be on my couch for three weeks. So the fact that I got to play last week was awesome. And yeah, I mean, like I said, like Nate said, that was one of my best ball striking performances a long time.

So, I mean, it's definitely good. You know, I'm in the 126 to 150 category, so I'll take every star I can get. But that also means I am going to have more of an offseason this year, which is going to be nice. but you also want to keep the competitive juices flowing. So you don't want to be on your couch for three straight weeks. Yeah. So that aspect of it, right, is every guy different in that? Because you guys just played a ton of golf over the last 18 months.

Yeah, well, I mean, it depends because the big guys, you know, haven't necessarily played a ton of golf. I've played 30 plus events for seven or eight straight years in a row out of necessity. And, you know, the kind of the guys in my bracket, I guess you'd say kind of that mid-level PJ tour player. That's what we have to do to kind of grind. We don't get to pick and choose. You kind of play when you get to. So anytime we get a break, I know the whole pandemic was, you know, horrible situation.

But having those two months off was an absolute gift for us because we just, we never get to be home. But it doesn't, just to circle back to your point house about who won. It doesn't, in the early part of the season, it doesn't feel like a lot of guys, want to be out there playing right now. Sung Jay loves to play. Not a surprise. Sam Burns close to Ryder Cup, left off it, young kid, still sort of going after it. Maybe not a surprise that he won.

So, I mean, maybe there's a method to that madness. Also, Matthew Wolfe, who we should probably talk about because he's the combination of both of these things that we're talking about, which is like, how do you handle the grind, but also a young kid who seems to like to play a bunch. We talked about him last week as being a guy in the mix. finished second for the second straight year looked really good out there. The thing we were worried about last week was he hit 35% of his greens in Jackson. So you weren't sure coming in. My argument was it doesn't matter as much here on this course. So if he can get together, he actually hit the ball

off the tea great until Sunday when he lost three shots off the tee and just he hit four fairways, which I mean, I think you would say, Mark, you cannot do and play particularly well. he still shot 60 fucking 8 to finish second. Yeah, I mean, he hits it a lot further, which, you know, helps if you are missing online to get it down there. I mean, Vegas, you know, obviously you got the desert, but it's not an overly demanding ball striking course. So I think he was able to get away with a lot more than he could in Jackson, which, I mean,

those fairways are tight. The rough is up if you miss the fairway. It's tough to hold those greens. Yeah. I was happy to see him back, though. I mean, the thing about him is he has been doing a lot of work to figure out how to manage what we were just talking about, which is that weekend, week out, being on course, grinding through. And look, when he came up, you remember during COVID, he did one of those sort of Wednesday televised matches that the PGA tour was doing. And he is a chatterbox, and he always has been.

But there was this sense that he just was trying really, really hard on TV. Like there just was a disconnect. Not Bryson-esque, that it was a little bit different, but there just felt. like there was a disconnect between the way that he was presenting himself outwardly. He just didn't seem comfortable with himself, which is okay. He's a 20-year-old kid. Like, what do you expect? But the more that we've learned about him since that time, the more we've understood, he's really been struggling to get into it, which I know, hey, you struggle sometimes to get into, I mean, every golfer is out there. It's good to see him come back. Now looking at the comments that he's making,

he's been working his ass off, not on his game, but on his head. So I just wonder, like, for a kid like that you had to grind your way up a little bit more and play all those tours. He didn't come out as a 20-year-old swinging, but can you sympathize with what he's gone through, which is that sort of loneliness behind the scenes of being out on tour? Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I think that work obviously paid off. If you look at just his back nine on Sunday, he made that bogey on 13, got that horrible break, hit his drive under the lip of the bunker, and it stayed in a bad rake job. And you could tell, like, his head was spinning, like he was pissed. And then he came back and he birdied, you know, he played his last whatever, four or five at two under to finish second.

You know, obviously no one was going to catch SJ. So I think, you know, I don't know him personally well, but, you know, just having been in that experience, it would have been tough, even though you got those easy holes coming in to know that you're not going to win the tournament and to still keep your head on your shoulders. Like, that takes a lot of work. So clearly it's paid off for. But, House, we just learned something very interesting, didn't we? Which is that after what I would say was probably a frustrating round for you on Sunday, you still went home and watched it on TV. I watched it while I was packing, finishing the rest of that champagne bottle. Wow.

My other options were- I wish I could quit you golf. My other options were the Raiders game, which I was not going to watch because I was already upset about my Broncos, just absolute dropping a deuce on the field the other day. Sorry about that. So, yeah. So I did. I watched the last like five or six holes. Well, it was good to see Wolf back.

House, I'm glad you want a little money on Leishman. Wolf. I didn't win anything. I bet him to win. Oh, you did? Yeah, I didn't cover it off otherwise. Wolf cannot get in the field this week, which is interesting. But I will say just the fall in general is in a weird spot, isn't it?

It's like there are all of these sort of chatter murmurs going on about the schedule underneath the surface. Some of it is it's going to be abandoned for a European swing. some of it is this idea that maybe it gets turned into sort of a mini tour on its own with lower prize money. But it's pretty clear that the big guys don't want to play in the fall. They don't like that guys amass FedEx Cup points, which the entire FedEx Cup structure is really there designed to throw money at the best players and keep them from going to a PGL or whatever it is. And now the Brian Gaze of the world get that slot and have a chance to get into the tour championship because they win at Houston. in the fall where nobody is. So it feels like change is coming for a guy like you, that may or may not be a good thing if they start to, because the fall, as you know, for guys who come out of the

KFT category or in the category you're in now, like the fall is in. It's super important. Like, you got 10% of the way to keeping your card in Napa, period. And that was one tournament, right? So it matters a fuckload to be able to play in the fall. Do you have any sense within the players of how they're thinking about the fall and what's going to happen? I mean, I don't know what the tour is thinking. I just know that they're, they got a lot of stuff that they're juggling right now. I mean, I'm usually, you know, I'm a little cynical from time to time, but I feel. On occasion.

I feel for them right now. I mean, you're right. None of the big guys, you know, want to be playing that much and rightfully so. And, you know, the other league is a real threat. We've already already been in a situation for a long time where, you know, there's more guys with status than there are starts. So they're always struggling to get guys in the field and figure it out. And then you got COVID. So you're giving guys their starts back from medicals and all that kind of stuff.

So there's just a lot of moving parts. But yeah, I mean, going forward, I would be surprised that this fall wrap around season stays the same just because of the big guys who, you know, at the end of the day, their opinion does matter more than mine. They move the needle. And they don't like playing this much. And it is going to hurt the guys coming off the web because it is going to hurt the guys coming off the web. This is, you know, you get off to a good start. You can get yourself in the invitationals and just like that. You know, you got your card locked up, you know, before it's even summer.

Are there guys coming off KFT who you think are legit and who are not getting in? No, definitely. They will. I mean, they had two years to prove it out, which they had. And I've been saying this for a while. I think, you know, especially the regular season guys, finishing that 25, I think that's the hardest way to get your PJ tour card. I think it's harder than finishing the 125, and it's certainly harder than having one good week in the web playoffs, those three events. Why? Why is it so hard?

I just, I mean, there's only 25 guys. You basically, you have to win. You don't have to win to keep your card on the PJ tour in the 125. You have to win. And, you know, you have to go low every week. The scores are so low out there. I think, you know, the depth of that tour, the Corn Ferry Tour has gotten so deep. so many young college players that, you know, they're still in that zone where they don't know

any better, so they're confident as hell. And especially this year, I mean, yeah, you had two seasons crammed into one for 25 cards. So, I mean, I don't, there's not a guy that I know well enough to be like, this guy is, you know, he's going to be the next Daniel Berger or Justin Thomas, but all those guys have got to be good to have made it. For sure, 100%. Let's talk amongst the three of us, like what the possible. permutations could be for the fall because it seems like with, you know, there was a growing momentum for kind of that Asia swing for a while. And there was a ton of money associated with that.

And Tiger's imprint on the ZOzo in Japan in particular. Yeah, they're propping it up these next two weeks. Right, right, right. But now with the COVID situation and the uncertainty, around that. We're in this awkward position of Vegas, then Japan, then Bermuda. Then Mayacoba. Then myacova. So that's some globetrotting shit right there. I mean, let's see if there's, what would you put the over under on number of guys that will, that will hit that rhoda? That's what we were talking about. There's, are there five guys?

There's maybe a charter from Zosso to Bermuda, and I can't believe that there's going to be anybody on I don't know. I mean, it goes, I'm pretty sure it goes through Dallas, which is, you know, obviously a hub for where people live. So that might help the cause. But yeah, it feels like they've got to be looking at a couple options. One is they got to give, they got to get more of the PGA guys over in Europe to support that partnership that they've made.

And I agree with this. The only thing that's weird is it's starting to get shitty weather in Europe. That's why a fall euro swing is strange. You think they do it after the open. and just sort of start with Scotland. Or that month leading up to the open, like after the U.S. Open, those weeks that lead up, you have the Scottish, you have the Irish, you have. Those are awesome tournaments at awesome venues.

The guys would go, don't you think, Mark? Absolutely. Yeah. Do you need to be in Detroit? Do you need to be in? I mean, I think that's the question. That's right. Do you need, is the John Deere vital?

Right. But then in the fall, you've got, okay, should we really go to Jackson? Sanderson just got bought by private equity and may or may not be interested in spending the money that it takes to support the local golf tournament. So there's a bunch of those events that I think are maybe at risk. You can just feel that underlying current of we're about to have a pretty big change. And it will be done in service of keeping the big guys interested. But for if you're a gambler on golf, if you're a follower of it, if you are related to a guy. who plays golf. What's really interesting is how it affects guys 51 and beyond.

Yeah, because that tension is important. It's like vitally important to have opportunities for guys from KFT that fit the class that marks in. Those reps are crucial, right? You got to have them. You got to have. And as long as the sponsors are willing to step up and create the opportunities, then having those opportunities and letting guys get the reps and hit those proving grounds. I mean, you know, it's not, we just went through the thing about the esteemed winners at the Shriners. It's like a bunch of guys who, their first tournament professional win, including, you know, starting tiger fucking woods. Yeah, tiger roughing woods and you know, good guys. Can't like, yeah, right, exactly. And you have two wives majors in the fall

with Napa and Mayacoba. Oh, those are wives majors. Yes. You bring the wife to Napa. You bring the wife to Mycoba. Mycoba is. is excellent. I love going down there. I've been lucky enough to get down to that venue a couple times. Play with El-Tucan. Kutja loves it too. We will not discuss what El-Tucan said about Kuch. I told El-Tucan, I would not reveal any confidence. Not reveal the sources. Well, look, the golf is not as bad, I think, as it sort of gets credit for in the fall. There are some really great tournaments. There are some guys playing. I'm interested this week, House. We got the entire fucking, you know, most of the best players in the world are going to show up here

because it's a free check because it's in Vegas. But it's at the Summit Club. And last week, or last year, this thing was at Shadow Creek, legendary, which is legendary. And Mark, do you think there's any way that they could actually hold a crowd there? Where at Summit? No, at Shadow Creek. No way. I walked out. I was like, I don't think there's actually a way to do a tournament. think they'd want them there either. Yeah. Trampling down the road. Fair enough.

So now we get Summit Club, which is, as you will tell us, being the only guy at this table who's played them both and certainly the only guy who could play them well, is a very, very different golf course. Yeah. It is a discovery property and it is meant, in my opinion, for fun, not necessarily for tournament golf. So it's going to be an interesting week. I mean, I don't think anybody's going to disqual.

dislike the course, but it's going to be interesting to see how they set it up to make it hard enough. Yeah, the reputation from the brief bit of research I did, you know, expansive fairways, because you want the membership there to be enjoying themselves. We understand that enjoyment is paramount at the Summit Club, as you would expect at a golf course in Vegas, and for folks of some means, especially with the opportunity. for drinking and gambling and all sorts of? You don't want to be looking for balls when you're double-fisting frozen margaritas.

But that's what this tournament, it really is. I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how good the golf is. Because if they play great, somebody's going to shoot 30 under, right? Yeah, I mean, to be perfectly clear, I remember the first 12 holes pretty well. So I can't say what the guys

are going to have to deal with coming down the stretch. Speaking of double-fisting, margaritas. But yeah, I mean, it's, it was not that hard. I, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some really low scores if someone's on 59 watch. Ooh. That would give me a reason for some folks to turn away from college football for 10 minutes.

But does that mean, given that we saw Brooks, like, sending out Instagram stories from the fight, which, I don't know, what time did they go on? After midnight. Yeah. I was sound asleep. I'm sorry to report. Well, I mean, it was a little bit earlier here. but he still had a fairly early tea time.

I just wonder how many guys are going to take it seriously. That's why the pick this week is Tony fucking Fee now. Wow. Because he's on the wagon. He's impervious to Vegas. He's perpetually on the wagon, isn't he? Yes. Yeah, he does.

He's not an alcohol guy. So he's definitely going to be able to fight it off. I mean, there's nobody else who you really look at who's coming to this tournament. None of the top players last week except, well, none of the top players last week were particularly impressive except Sam Burns. he definitely crashed out on Sunday and got tired. You know, Harry Higgs played all right, but in a list of the rest of these guys, there's nobody who jumps out at you.

Kevin Nas back. It's a home game for him. The only guy who you might think, I mean, Colin Marcao lives there, right? So he's going to be sleep in his own bed. That was Sobel's, you know, suggestion last week, which is go with the guys who sleep in their own bed. Charlie Hoffman slept in his own bed, but also slept in his own feces. Oh, no. Oh, no.

You always get so mad. I do get mad. So I'm looking for adults. I like adults. Well, that's what we're talking about. Yeah, I know. So Louis Eustace and he's an adult. He'll have a glass of wine.

He'll enjoy himself. He's there. He's there. He played well last week. Exactly. And you don't expect him to put poorly two consecutive weeks. That's not his jam. Mark Leishman is an adult with a family.

Mark Leishman tied for third. He's a, he's an Aussie, though. He likes to drink beer. Giant beers. He's a giant man. And he can drink giant beers. But, you know, he's also, he's got a sense of responsibility, and he knows that he's in form. And I think, you know, we heard a little bit that he was frustrated about how his performance went last year.

He expected bigger things out of himself. And then the inscrutable Hadecki. What's the intel? Like, Hadecki. He shot the same as Vegas Brooks this week. He had a great track record at this place. He might, this is why I'm asking. 72, 71, 72, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Those aren't necessarily, after an opening round 65. Well, you played with him in Napa. Was he drinking wine? What was the deal? Does Hideki like a taste? I don't think so. I don't see it. I don't know.

I think he might be impervious to Vegas as well. Okay. So that might be a guy. And because, you know, we know that he likes Vegas. He's performed well. He's got too many cameras on him at all times to act up in Vegas. That's a great point. You never even think about that.

They really stock him, huh? It's unbelievable. The paparazzi. He really is, you know, Tiger Woods. of Japan. Like, it is insane the amount of scrutiny that he is under 24-7. That's a great reason to fade him, honestly, because this is a no-cut event. He'll just take his check. He has to, he's, he's, he needs to save his energy. They want him to win Zoso. Exactly right. I just wouldn't-

So this week is just a pass-through. That's what I think, too. Fade Hedke. Oh, I mean, you can't fade him to miss the cut, though, because he's not going to miss the cut. No, but he shot 65 on Thursday, and then he went 72, 71-72 on a par 71 course. He's not firing on all. We're looking for a decky matchups. He didn't play that great with me in Napa until he was all over the place. Looked like he was really grinding on a swing.

And then, yeah, he found it on the last four holes and had two eagles and three holes. He's one of those guys who can find his swing on the back nine on Sunday. Well, that's why he's the master's champ. I guess it is. So over the balance of the rest of the fall, we went through the challenges of Japan. Japan, Bermuda, Mexico. And then Sea Island is in the mix also. From the guys' perspective, what do you anticipate guys will most likely do?

What's your schedule and what are guys going to do? Well, I'm hoping a ton of guys don't play that week. Because that's a start that I definitely need. It's a course that I really, really like that suits my game. The Sea Island one? The C-Intyre. I've played it a lot. It's just a good course for me.

So a lot of guys are signed up for right now. I think, you know, with what we've talked about, how, you know, the bigger names will be tired of playing golf, especially if they've had some good starts already this fall. So I'm hoping a lot of guys drop that at the end. I think that is the last event of the fall. And what about Mexico? Are you on that?

I'm not in Mexico. I'm not in Houston. I'm going to try and get into both of those, but we'll see. Yeah. And that will be another indication of, like, just how a lot of guys are feet. feeling about the season and whether they're ready to shut it down and get ready to recharge. Because it will be like the first break since the COVID forced break, right?

Yeah. And I mean, like we talked about too with with, you know, the fall kind of not going the direction for the KFT guys, not going the direction for me. You know, I'm in that 126 category. The Corn Prey Tour gets in ahead of me. You know, luckily I did get this sponsor invite into Vegas, but I'm only missing one, maybe two starts this fall. Because of the, you know, the two tournaments in Vegas,

because the big guys feel like they do need to play in the fall, they might not like it right now, which is why changes might be made. But there's a lot of people playing, you know, Bermuda is a full field event, Sanderson's a full field event. So guys are playing now. So already before we've really made changes, guys aren't getting a lot of starts. People didn't get into Vegas.

People didn't get into Sanderson that normally would. So, I mean, it is a weird, weird offseason this year. It's going to be weird. But I think it's clear the commissioner is thinking about it. This is probably the last go-round. My guess is sometime in January, February, they make announcements to what happens this time next year. And, I mean, look, they're up against football, so anything that you try to do in the fall is probably not going to generate great returns. But they just, the fundamental problem is they actually have grown the game.

There are so many good-ass players coming up right now who had the benefit of technology and video and that even you didn't coming up, right? And so these kids, like you said, they're coming in with unbridled confidence and they're dropping in and playing unbelievable. So I think the commissioner is going to have to make some changes. And it may be that the fall becomes something in between KFT and the big tour. Because like you said, a lot of these rookies are going to have a hard time getting starts, even once we get into the big swing. And if they go towards Europe, that's fine. Like you can have the Europe events and have alternate field events here as long as the sponsors step up right i mean and the sponsors seem to continue to want to be to be

interested in professional golf well i'd be interested from your guys perspective as viewers would you still be interested at all in the fall if it wasn't a part of the fedex cup if it was just tournaments money can we bet money yeah i mean that's the fedx cup is so irrelevant i could care there's it's only relevant for us yeah it's because it's your guys paychecks it's yeah it's our livelihood it's your livelihood. It has nothing to do with my interest in the professional game. So if they know that, then that could be a serious solution where they'd, you know, sort of make the fall optional for the big guys where if they want to go make some, you know, big time money with no cut, they can, but they're not going to be, you know,

behind. Yeah. They could give the tour championship guys or the top 50 guys like a next season bonus, which would let them stay off or something. Yeah, there's a bunch of reasonable solutions. very much in favor of creating a vehicle for all of the great young golfers, including Mark Hubbard, to have opportunities that, you know, at events that are willing to go ahead and put the events on. And, you know, if the sponsors step up and the equipment manufacturers continue to pay Golf Channel, so the Golf Channel can put it on television, and it will be, it is still of interest, I still look on Saturday and Sunday. I want to watch for about an hour to see how my bets that I've made earlier in the week are faring. It's still, you know, catching eyeballs,

I think, on the go. I mean, the ratings have to be brutally low, but yeah, like you're competing with a lot of different stuff. Yeah. So any eyeballs are good eyeballs. Yeah. And fantasy continues to help that. Again, as we always say in these in these tournaments, if you pay attention, you can get an advantage. And we are paying attention. And we are telling you, sure is Sunday that you need to fade Patrick Reed, you need to fade Sunjay. Well, wait, wait, why, Patrick? He was awful last week. I know.

I just don't think he's back yet. He's not, so you think with the physical, whatever he experienced physically, it was clearly very serious. I also think there's probably some scar tissue from just watching the Rider Cup at home. The damage, the psychological damage. Yeah, I mean, we talked about it. They didn't need him. It may not need them.

I mean, he's going to have to just earn his way on. That's the problem. And now you look at Sam Burns and you're like, Sam Burns is going to be on the next Rider Cup team. Any golfer that is 31, 30 years or older is going to have to qualify because there are enough 20-somethings now for the U.S. It's the, you know, what do I know? But I'm just saying, like Matthew Wolfe is a guy who basically disappeared that absolutely

could be on President's Cup, Rider Cup, for the next 10 years. He's second alternate for this week. CJ Cup. Like, that's not going to hang around much longer if he keeps playing the way he did this week, even though he hit it in the rocks for half his round on Sunday. Yes. So we talked about who to fade. Who's your pick? Let's give out picks. We give out picks on this show, Nate, dog. I'm all in on Tony. Tony. Tony Fino. Yeah, I think he's impurelivenous to Vegas. Impervius to Vegas. I think he's playing super well. All right. I also was just reminded this week that it's so hard to fucking win. and Tony is, like, he's always around.

Sung Jay won because he's around the hoop, but Sung Jay actually took that tournament. Like, you don't win a golf tournament by four, right? I'm just stunned looking at how many times that guy's been around the hoop that he's only got two wins. I think he got uncorked. I really think he got uncorked by winning in the, speaking of FedEx, winning that tournament has helped him.

I just don't know that he's ever going to be a guy who, like, down the straight, he's a fucking killer, and grabs six, eight tournaments just goes out and gets them, right? I don't know that that's him, but he's going to be around the hoop enough that the math says it will revert to the mean and he will win a few just sort of by accident.

I think you're right about that. I think that's how good at golf he is, that he doesn't need to be a killer. He doesn't need to, you know, grab it to win. Like, he's good enough to just be around and eventually he's going to keep winning. It's pretty fucking annoying, but I still think you've got to bet him this week.

I'm going to do tiny tastes on SJ. No reason he can't go back to back. Stud Horse. I'm going to do a tiny chase. Plus, this is a sponsor of his. So maybe he was just warming up last week. Tiny taste on San Burns. Going to ride Sam Burns on top 10s, top 20s until he stops doing it.

Another taste on Mark Leashman. All I did was bet Mark to win this past week because of 85 to 1 was so ridiculous. Yeah. I'm going to bet him. I'll top 10 him. I'll top 20 him as well. I'm going to do a little taste. Shout out to HV3, new baby, baby bounce.

I want a baby bounce bet on HV3. Just, you know, he sent out a tweet. It was hilarious. He was, I can't remember the context. It was so good, though. It's like, where are you? And he's like, I'm in a hospital bed right now. He's with his wife and his new baby, which is awesome.

We love HV3 on this program. I think if you're going to top 20, you should look at Aaron Wise. He played well last week, T8. He's been playing well this fall. You're absolutely right about that. He's a guy. I mean, I don't know. But he just, he's one of those guys where you look at his momentum in the fall and you go,

he's going to be around the hoop. I don't think he's going to win the golf tournament. But, I bet he's 206 at Sanderson, tie for eight at Shriners. The ball striking is there. Over 3-0 strokes on approach. Yeah, well, Aaron Wise, good pick. Are we done? Are we doing golf?

It's good at golf. J-T. is on the board. I mean, are we dummies? Are you sleeping on J-T? or is he still enjoying the Rider Cup? I mean, I think that's the question. I mean, DJ, I think, is the prohibited favorite this week. But I think that is inflated because he went 5 and out with the Rider Cup.

Everybody's excited about DJ. They're not thinking about Vegas DJ. I think DJ is thinking about Vegas DJ. I think he has been in Vegas DJ mode since the abs of fucking Lutley comment in the press conference. You know who's not impervious to Vegas? DJ. DJ is not impervious. Not impervious.

Highly vulnerable to Vegas. Vulnerable to Vegas DJ. Yeah. I'm not feeling. great about DJ. I just think all those guys are tired. I mean, they really are. It's been a long fucking season. Like, it's been up and down emotionally. Like, they haven't, I just don't think any of them want to be out there. So I'm looking at guys who want to be out there. I couldn't believe the amount of guys that even played Napa. Yeah. Coming off the Rider go. Yeah. It's incredible how many guys

are playing this fall. I'm still never going to totally understand why Bryson was there. Where? Wasn't Romm there, too? Or I mean, why Romm was there. Yeah, in Napa. I'm never going to get why Rom actually went. It worked. I honestly think there was a dinner. Like I think it was major. Exactly right. I think it's the Wives major.

I think you're right. Phil convinced him to go and they took the jet. You know that was it. Phil asked him to go and he said yes. That's why he went. But it's also why he's the number one player in the world because he's like, no, that won't fuck me up. I still am going to put the entire team on my back.

We're going to end on that feel good moment. Did you see him in Spain? signing, there was the tour put out a clip of him in Spain, and he said, I'm going to stand here for every kid. Yes, it was excellent. We love John Rom. We do. He has turned himself from supposed hothead into ambassador of the game part two after Rory at this point.

Can we get an American to step up and take that? Who is it? Who is going to be our ambassador? It could be, Spieth. It could be. Yeah, it could be. I like that. All right, Mark Hubbard.

Great to see you, buddy. Finally, I wish we were playing golf and double-fisting margaritas, but this will do, yes, very soon. Nate, dog, great to see you as well. We didn't even talk about the fact that that may be on the calendar, actually. Now we're keeping it off the, off the pod for a little while. Okay, right. We'll share with everybody when it's all, when it's ripen up and it's a real thing. No, we can.

Let's just keep it to the balls on the fairway. Fairways and greens, boys, fairways and greens. All right, my Bernie, buddies, my Eagles, enthusiasts, my part saving pass. Thank you very much. my sincere appreciation to the Nate dog and to Mark Hubbard, great to see you, boys. We will be back again next week with another edition of Fairway Rowland. In the meantime, let's hit him straight out there.