Fairway Rollin' - The Inside Scoop on Pebble Beach and Early U.S. Open Picks With Chris Harrison and Chris Vernon | Fairway Rollin’

Episode Date: June 4, 2019

Joe House is joined by host of 'The Bachelor,’ Chris Harrison, to talk about his new golf podcast and share some insight on what to expect at the U.S. Open after playing at Pebble Beach (3:45). Then The Ringer’s Megan Schuster joins to talk about the most recent video on Phil Mickelson's Instagram, Matt Kuchar’s spat with officials, and more (37:50) before Chris Vernon calls in to talk about Tiger Woods’s chances at the U.S. Open and offer some early picks for next week as well as for the RBC Canadian Open (56:05). Host: Joe House Guests: Chris Harrison, Megan Schuster, Chris Vernon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bertie Bodies, today's episode of Fairway Roll! And presented as always by our good friends at Callaway Golf, Calloway Golf, home of the brand new U.S. Open women's champion, Zhong Yun Li 6. She is a Calloway staffer in her bag, the epic flash driver that she used to hit over 85% of fairways for the week. Calloway was the number one driver brand at the U.S. Women's Open led by Epic Flash with 38 Epic Flash models in play at that major. Epic Flash has the most wins of any driver model in 2019. Check it out at CalawayGolf.com.

Friends, today's episode of Fairway Rowland also brought to you by Destination Kohler in Kohler with Wisconsin home of Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run. Kohler has four of the top 100 public courses in the United States. And coming up in 2020, Whistling Straits shall be the host of the 2020 Rider Cup. Imagine summer on Lake Michigan birdie buddies in the land of beer and cheese, rounds of championship golf and ice cold beverages, deep fried Wisconsin, cheese, curds. It's time to get rolling to destinationcolar.com to book your package today. That's destinationcolar.com.

Hello, friends, and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. Oh, yeah, we have done it. My friends, we are back. The U.S. Open is upon us, and we are rolling. This is Faraway Rowland, the golf podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network, presented by our friends at Callaway Golf. This week's episode, a very special guest, a man with not only extensive experience at Pebble Beach, as we start getting our heads around what this upcoming U.S. Open may be all about,

but a brand new golf podcast, Real Golf Talk with Johnny Miller. Chris Harrison is on the line with us today talking about his podcast experience with Johnny Miller as well as what we might expect to see out at Pebble Beach. In about 10 days, Harrison played Pebble a week ago, and so we're comparing some notes. He also plays in the PGA, the AT&T Pro Am event at Pebble, so we're comparing some notes, getting his take on what we might see. see out of pebble. Of course Megan Schuster is on. Shusty and I

break down what's happening in golf social. Obviously there's going to be some Phil Mickelson talk involved there. And then last but not least, Verno is on. We have some early thoughts on the U.S. Open. We have some thoughts on what

just happened at the Memorial with Patrick Cantlay's victory. And we're going to go ahead and make a pick at the RBC Canadian Open this coming week. Very illustrious field. Rory, DJ, and Brooks, anytime you put those three guys on a field, some things are going to happen. But speaking of a field, the first tea appears to be open. Let's go let out a little shaft, shall we? And now on the tea from Dallas, Texas,

the host of the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, the Bachelor in Paradise, Bachelor in Paradise, Bachelor Live. And who wants to be a billionaire? Chris Harrison, among his many, many credentials, accolades and forms of employment. He's added one. His most recent adventure,

he is the host of the brand spanking new podcast, Real Golf Talk with Johnny Miller. Perhaps, honestly, the most cherished podcast job. in all of golf. Chris Harrison, welcome to Fairway Rowland.

Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, how about that? Who would have thunk the guy handing out roses would be sitting across from Johnny Miller. So how did this come to be? How did you get the gig here? You know, it was interesting.

People have talked to me about doing podcasts for a while, and I've kind of turned them down, and just nothing ever really sparked my interest. and I have some friends at Callaway, mutual friends, and they just randomly called me one day and said, look, I know you've said no to doing podcasts, but what would you say to sitting down with Johnny Miller? And I said, well, that's intriguing.

Clearly everybody wants to know what Johnny has to say, and if he's game, I would love to do that. And so, you know, and that is a case. Johnny still has a lot to say about the world of golf and the world at large, and they thought, hey, let's put someone across from them that'll be kind of the everyday fan. and the guy at the country club that wants to ask Johnny Miller questions. And so that's essentially what I'm doing.

Had you met Johnny before the first time you guys sat down to record? The first time I met him was several weeks ago there at Pebble Beach when we went in to tape the first one. We wanted to be, you know, obviously sitting across from each other and in person. So I flew up to Pebble where he has one of his houses. And, you know, in walks, Johnny couldn't have been nicer. I think it was a little bit like, you know, the first couple of rounds of a prize fire. where we kind of threw jabs each other, you know, felt to shut her out,

and then kind of settled into our routine. And I had no, you know, thought to the fact that Johnny wouldn't be anything other than amazing. But when he walked in with folders of paper and all these stats and pictures and all that I thought, man, this guy, he doesn't leave anything to chance. He was dialed in, ready to go day one, and had his notes and had done his homework and was ready. Yes, and he still cuts kind of an imposing figure. I was lucky enough to meet him actually at Pebble Beach. Last year, I flew out in August for the amateur, the U.S. amateur, and he was walking.

And I was with Jeff Shackleford, and Johnny came over and said hello. And it was very nice to meet him. But, you know, there was a little bit of an intimidation factor, because. because it's, you know, it's Johnny Effing Miller. You obviously were able to hit it off pretty quickly. You talked about his reams of paper. What did you do in terms of your research for coming into this first show that you guys taped? Well, I mean, I'm a big, we're prepared and ready to go.

You know, I always, you know, approached, I played soccer my whole life. And I always approached any kind of production, TV or otherwise, kind of like any athletic event. be prepared, you know, work out, and whatever's thrown at you, then you just got to rely on your instincts and your knowledge and all that. And so I was the same way of, you know, not only doing my Johnny Miller homework, but then, of course, you know, getting ready, watching the PGA championship, diving into all the pregame post game. And that was kind of the bulk of our talk was, you know, coming off the PGA and what Brooks had just done.

And, you know, I think he quickly realized I was a big fan, a fan of his, but also a student of the game and had my stuff together on the broadcast side, and he quickly relaxed and fell right into pace, and really hadn't missed a beat, and that was the whole idea. We all still want to know what Johnny Miller has to say when Brooks Kepka bogey's four holes in a row.

So let's put him on the air and let's get his opinions. You know, what do you think about John Daly riding in a golf cart and Phil Mickelson and, you know, all of this stuff. So it was fun to be, you know, not just a fly on the wall, but that fan that gets to finally ask Johnny Miller what he thinks about all this stuff. And as you said, he's an imposing figure.

He's one of the most outspoken guys in the game. But I always respected Johnny, and I think a lot of players did too, because it wasn't just flying off the handle and making snide, smart eleic comments to try and get a rise out of people. Everything he says, he truly believes, and typically has the stats and the ideas

that back that up. And that's what I was always impressed with. And, you know, he's still that guy on this podcast of when he says stuff, It might be inflammatory, but there's a reason behind it. Yeah, and he walked it through. I love the podcast, and it was, you know, it's about 52 minutes, the first one. I said, why can't this be an hour and 52 minutes?

I'd love to just, you know, hear more and more and more. The game plan for this is once a month through the balance of the summer. Is that right? Yeah, I mean, I think our thinking so far, you know, easing Johnny into this, again, I could sit down with them every week as you could. But I think the idea is let's wait for the big ones. Obviously, the U.S. Open is next on the docket up at Pebble Beach, which will be exceptional for so many reasons. It's Johnny's backyard.

He lives there. He's going to be there. It's a place that's near and dear to my heart. It's one of the most special places in the world. And I think it's going to be an extraordinary open. So Monday after the open on the 17th, we're going to do our next one. And then probably, obviously, the British Open coming up after that. And then we'll get into the playoff run and towards the end of the season.

We'll do a few more as well. So that's how we're starting off. And I think this is going to catch fire. The response has been great. And honestly, he was really selling Johnny on it. I think he needed to hear it and see this is totally new to him. He's a Hall of Fame golfer, in my opinion, a Hall of Fame broadcaster, but he had never done a podcast before.

Didn't know much about it. And so I think he settled in and realized this is kind of fun. I get to say what I want. And no one's going to shut me up. So I think he's going to dive into this just like he does everything else. Yeah, I mean, put a mic in front of him and maybe a set of headphones. I'm pretty sure he'll know what to do. Exactly.

It definitely felt like he gave the impression of being slightly liberated. You know, he was able to just talk and talk and talk. And he didn't, you guys had a really nice rapport right away. That's why I was wondering if you had met him before. I want to talk a little bit about your bona fide, your golf bona fides because you just sort of referenced your love for Pebble Beach. And, you know, folks listening may not know you have played in the last two AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am events. 2018, you were paired with Jason Day.

And this year you were paired with Jose de Jesus Rodriguez. Yeah, Jose de Jesus Rodriguez. guess. So you've been playing golf your whole life? Well, I was a college soccer player and then really fell in love. I mean, I'd always liked the game, but I didn't spend a lot of time doing it growing up. I grew up in the 70s and 80s around Dallas, Texas, and so I called family. And so I played everything else under the sun. But always loved golf and just was never really that exposed to it until after college. I was a sportscaster. And that's where I started my career and why all of this kind of comes

full circle for me is I spent the first 10 years of my career covering golf and everything else as a sportscaster in Oklahoma City. And so it's fun for me to kind of get back into those roots of where I started because it's what I truly love, not that I don't love the Bats or Bachelorette and, you know, who wants to be a millionaire and all the other stuff I do, but sports is really where I cut my teeth in this business. So I knew about your sportscaster background and how that had been the stepping Stone into the Bachelor franchise, I didn't realize that your true infection with golf started until after college.

That is a way that you and I are sympathico here. I wasn't really able to latch on to golf until I was in law school because it was much better to go play golf on a Wednesday afternoon and sit in the library and read up on cases. But the, there is this, is this the first kind of sports thing you've done since leaving Oklahoma City? Yeah, I mean, when I first moved from Oklahoma City to L.A., I actually started up a horse racing network called TVG that's actually still going. But stayed there for only about two, two and a half years into my run here in Los Angeles and in Hollywood. And that's when the Bachelor took off. And it's been obviously the Bachelor of the last 17 years now.

So I haven't had a lot of opportunities to go back and dabble into sports, which actually probably makes all of it more enjoyable. I've gotten involved with so many golfers over the years because of my love, whether, you know, Tiger Woods and his foundation, I always host the Tiger Jam in Vegas, which I just did a couple weeks ago. Right. You mentioned Jason Day and his Brighter Day Foundation. So it's been kind of nice to get to know these guys, not having to cover them, but just out of mutual respect and admiration and loving the sport and being a fan. And so it's,

it's been interesting to enter that arena that way instead of the way I used to do it, which was covering it back in the day. Yeah. So as a fan, and when you're thinking about how you want to make a good impression on Johnny, the first time you sit down with him, are you a guy that sort of normally consumes golf content? Anyhow, you're watching the golf channel.

you're reading golf digest and golf.com, golf magazine, and whatever else is on the internet. Are you, like, how deep is your, like, consumption of golf content? Because you also have a day job. Right. You know, I'm an addict like anybody else. And when I love something, I'm all in. And golf is kind of that release for me. And even when I'm doing my homework and research and whether it's watching Golf Channel,

you know, reading anything I can get my hands on the internet, watching videos, whatever it is. I enjoy it. That's kind of my escape from my day job. And what I also love is there's this kind of side aspect where I've gotten to know a lot of these guys

I can reach out to them and get their opinions. You know, I was, as I said, I was with Tiger a couple weeks ago, and he got to Tebbled the day after I played it. I played it Wednesday about a week ago. He was there Thursday. And then we were together that weekend.

And I asked him, I was going, okay, what's your opinion of Pebble? What do you think? And so it's kind of fun to get the usual aspects and research, but also I can dive in with some inside sources and get a few notes from some of the other guys that, you know, maybe even a lot of reporters aren't privy to. Well, this is a terrific segue. And I'm not going to ask you to reveal any confidences here. but I wanted you to be on the show this week

because we're less than two weeks out from the beginning of the U.S. Open, which will be competed at Pebble Beach. And I knew that you had just recently played Pebble Beach. And I also knew that you've played Pebble Beach in the AT&T Pro Am, you know, when it's set up for that kind of event in February. And I know you've played it, you know,

any number of times just as a fan and love lover of the game. How did you find Pebble Beach last week when you played it as, as the USGA prepares that venue for a U.S. Open? Well, if you go back two years to the AT&T, it's just Pebble Beach. And then this year, and I played a practice around actually at Pebble with Jason Day,

and I was walking with him kind of picking his brain. And in February, they had cut in the fairways but the rough was set up for the 18T. It was not set up for the open. And the Fescue hadn't grown up around the Bunkamux just resort Pebble Beach, but with the outline of what the USDA was hoping to do in June. Then I had the amazing honor of going back as guests to the USDA this last week and playing it where the fairways look like strips of bacon

as opposed to some of these really big fairways that Pebble Beach actually has. the hitting areas are usually pretty generous. And that's gone. It really is. I mean, if you look at, you know, there's two holes in particular, you're really going to notice number eight. Obviously, number seven is the most famous parcery in the world over the ocean. Then number eight, you turn around and go away from the ocean. And usually when you hit up this, it's a blind tee shot up a hill, and it's pretty wide open.

You know, you could land a 747 up there. usually just bomb it up there and you're pretty good. And then you have a really difficult second shot over, well, the ocean. You have a massive chasm. Well, now, I don't know how wide it is, but it's about a quarter of what it usually is up there. So what did they do? How do they, is it rough that's grown in? A hundred percent rough on both sides.

The left and the right are radically on number eight. And now if you're, I hit a ball and my caddy said, just, just, knock it out and put it on the short grass and go, you're never going to get there. And I said, well, I just want to see what it's like. And again, this was rough a week ago. It's not even as high as it's going to be in June. It'll be a lot worse. And I could advance the ball about 150 yards.

And that's it. And again, I don't have Brooks kept, you know, forearms, but still, it's just the premium on hitting some of these fairways is, you know, as it always is in the U.S. Open, but really extreme there at Pebble, considering what we're used to. And 18's another one. You're going to look at 18. and used to be able to go right or left of the tree that's right in the middle of the fairway and not worry about it and bomb it up near the green because the fairway was, you know,

100 yards wide, not a big deal. Well, again, it looks like a little strip of bacon up leading up 18 now, and you have to be so much more precise and dialed in with your iron. Yeah, so I'm not going to let the opportunity pass to ask you what Tiger said to you about his experience. This is the interesting thing. So we've had a lot of weather out here in California. It's been a really wet, rainy winter.

And Tiger said, and I said, you know, what were your thoughts? And, you know, he agreed, obviously, the fairways, the rough and everything they've done. And, but he said, it's so much more wet and soft than it's going to be, or what they hope anyway. Again, if we get weather, there's nothing we can do about it. but and speed up the greens, speed up the fairways, and make this course a lot. It's just not going to play the same speed. And, I mean, if you look at number nine, that's another great example. You used to be able to bomb it right, and there was kind of an extra fairway over there.

That fairway is gone. It's all fescue. And the USDA has shaved the hill, so if you drive it too far, which usually you'd want to catch the hill and rocket your ball another 100, 150 yards down the fairway, well, the USDA's shaved the fairway and the side of the cliff. So if you catch that hill now, there's about a 70% chance your ball is going to roll all the way down the hill over the cliff into the ocean. So I mean, that's some of the... These guys are going to be hitting two irons, lay it up and leave themselves about 2-215 into a green that is really tiny sitting over the ocean.

What you just described in terms of the conditioning that the USGA is going to do in particular on that hole, you know, it calls to mind for us, for us golf maniacs watching Dustin Johnson on the, in the final round, insisting on hitting driver on the front side of, you know, that Sunday U.S. Open lead that he was sitting on and watching those balls roll off into either unplayable, you know, rough or fescue or off the cliff. and your point about these guys hitting two irons i'm curious to get your opinion on this do you think

after having watched the pga championship at beth page which really proved out the idea that that you know the folks most likely to have success there are guys that can hit the ball a long ways um you know we went one two with brooks and dj nobody hits it farther than them other than maybe rory you putting that conversation. Do you think that the setup at the U.S. Open is going to have an equalizing effect in terms of a leveling

of the playing field in terms of the bombers? I still like the same guys. You know, the guys that can do a little bit of both. I mean, the problem, the bombers, they're not just, you know, hit and gouge guys. I mean, they're

also guys that have tremendous touch. think that's the issue. You're facing Brooks Kepka, you know, he's no joke around the green. DJ is the same way. And that's, I think, their deadliest weapon is that they are so incredibly strong, but they have this amazing touch. It's kind of the modern-day warrior out there. So I still love DJ who loves Pebble Beach.

I love Jason Day who likes Pebble Beach. And even Tiger, obviously, has had a pretty good track record at Pebble Beach. And so it'll be interesting to see if anybody else, you know, if there is that just pure ball striker that works the ball that isn't among that group that's going to sneak in there. Always there is at the U.S. Open, right? There's always that kind of outlier. But man, I sure those guys.

Yeah. And, you know, our pal, Phil Mickelson announced last week that he's going to tackle Pebble Beach with two drivers in his bag, one with an idea of getting a cut. And then there are still five or six holes, according to his. his thesis where it's okay to bomb it and he wants his bomber driver in the bag for that. And, you know, we are not going to ever doubt Phil Mickelson when it comes to his equipment selection. Maybe Muirfield, maybe the memorial wasn't the right testing grounds for that because he didn't make the cut. But look, you know, he's another guy with a pretty good track record at Pebble and a guy that we'd sure love to see compete well.

the U.S. Open. Well, that was one of the questions I asked Johnny Miller was, is this Phil's last stand? And he said, yes. He said, this is Phil's really his last chance to win a U.S. Open. He's going to be, what, turning 48 on Father's Day. So, you know, he's getting up there in age. And Pouble, as you said, he likes the course. It sets up well to him.

He's a California kid. He knows these greens, which are very different out here on the West Coast. and then we're heading over to Wingfoot, and then we're heading off to other courses that really aren't going to suit him any better as he gets older. So Johnny really puts this one on Phil. If he wants that career grand slam,

and obviously we all know he's missing the U.S. Open, and this is his best shot. And will Phil accept that pressure? Is it going to be too much pressure? Regardless, I always love the theater and the character that is Phil Mickelson now, and I think he's embraced being that guy as he gets older, which I love.

Well, we have a segment on this podcast that's golf social where we talk about funny things or interesting things that we've seen across sort of golf media. And I'm telling you, it's just turning into a Phil Mickelson segment because every week he has a new post on Instagram that's just incredible, whether it's his calves, whether it's him taking shots at other players, whether it's, you know, his strategy with drivers. I mean, he just, it makes me feel somewhat disappointed that we haven't had this version of Phil in our lives up to this point because his sense of humor is incredible. Don't you think, though, that these guys, I mean, I'll say the same for Tiger, that these guys have grown up considerably. And, you know, from the days when they are just grinding and trying to win tournaments.

And it's not to say they're still not grinding and trying to win. But, you know, they realize their own mortality and they realize that they have a bigger role now. in the game and for the United States in general for Ryder Cup and Walker. They're starting to get back. They're starting to relax and enjoy, I think, that role. You just can't do that when you're 30 years old. You're just not that guy. People aren't looking to you for that stuff.

And so, yeah, it would have been great to have that such a humor earlier. But, I mean, when you have Phil Mickelson driving down Magnolia Lane, you know, and he had that drop the mic rip on Matt Coocher, that's, I mean, you can't, do that when you're 30. That would have created a world war. But now we all just laugh. And even Kutja just, all he could do is laugh. It's a great point. And, you know, I just wish maybe he could have let it out a couple years, you know, in the last couple years. You're absolutely, when those guys running at social media, but they deserve an award. Well, honestly, I get the impression. It's him. I feel like he's doing all the scripts. He's such a natural. He certainly has another, a few

a future in the media biz if that if he wants to do it. But you're right, back in their 30s, those guys were trying to kill each other. So I don't think they had a lot of time or interest in the social media thing at all. I'm interested in this thing. So you just played Pebble last week. You've played it in February. And I'm trying to come up with a way of correlating good performances in February with what we might see come June. In your experience last week, In terms of like the way the wind was blowing, I know that the conditions of the actual course were pretty radically different because of the changes in rough and so forth.

But like what about wind direction and that kind of thing? You having played it both times of year now, did it play the same? Was it different? What was the feel? Yeah, I mean, that is one thing that will be the same.

I am a firm belief. I think, you know, you see it on the PGA tour, weekend and week out. Guys have their favorite places. and they perform well there when they're comfortable and the course then the greens that they prefer.

So I think to that end direct I think maybe idea that these guys will do well, but not going to be the course you're going to see in a couple weeks. It's just not. I mean, it really is 180 degree difference between the fareways cut in, the length of the rough.

I mean, really in February, you can bomb it anywhere, which suits really well for Phil Mickelson who can just go anywhere over there. But you just can't do that. You cannot do that. You will be punished. And the fescue that they've grown up around the bunkers is knee-high. You'll just be punished, and you're not going to be able to advance the ball. So, you know, while I do think, you know, loving the West Coast greens, you know, there's the weather element that could be the same. You know, typically you're just

going to get that, you know, cool breeze in the afternoon, 20 to 25 miles an hour. But if you got a big pebble storm that blows ashore, then who knows? But other than the weather, and completely different. And that's why I think a lot of the guys may have dodged the 18T this year, because they just didn't want to even get it in their brain that it was going to be the same course. Oh, wow. That's interesting. Well, how did you do? How would you compare your performance last week to how you played during the pro-am? I played pretty well. I would say the rough and the fairways cut in probably evened out the fact that during the AT&T,

you're scared to death because you've got the gallery, you're playing with Jason Day or any of these other PGA guys. You're just trying to hold. But I played it pretty well. And the weather was nice. You know, it was sunny. We had that 20 to 25 mile an hour wind. And, you know, there are some other extremely cool differences

that the USGA, the way they set the course up for the spectators as well as the golfers that I find interesting, when you get to 17, during the AT&T, the pros and the amateurs, we tee off, there's one of the T-boxes on 17. Well, we always tee off in front of that road. It's a much shorter hole, and there's a TV stand, and there's a grand stand, and there's suite that kind of cover 17, and it kind of takes away the view at the AT&T. Well, the USGA, if you look back at the video, of Jack Nicholas and him hitting that one iron, he hits from behind that road. Essentially, you're on

the fourth T-box hitting up to 17. That's how far back you are. And from what I could see, the USDA has a setup because the T-box is going to be back on the fourth T, and there's nothing in front of that green to stop the wind. So when you're looking down 17, you're just seeing the ocean in the 18th T-box, and you're exposed to the elements, which I find really interesting and kind of old school. I love it. I love it, too. My excitement level is rising. You can't hear it, but I'm telling you, the hairs on the back of my neck are starting to stand up

because I can just picture that without that grandstand, kind of blocking the wind coming in from 18. It's going to be so good. Well, I mean, you think of those vintage shots, whether it's Jack bouncing the one iron off the stick or even Tom Watson over there hacking out of the rock and chipping in. That 17 is always wide open and exposed.

I just, to me, it is one of the most. beautiful area that doesn't need to be tarnished by a bunch of TV stands or spectators or whatever. And there are spectators over to the side there at 17 clearly. But it's a lot more open than it is at the AT&T. And the 18th is set up dramatically different as well as far as spectators are concerned. And it just, it looks like the U.S. open. No, that's, it's going to be unbelievable. I can't let you go. We're still, there's still time. We're still about 10 days out before

kicks off. I can't let you go without giving me your early pick. I won't hold you to it. Who are you feeling out of the guys, what you've observed? I mean, we watched Patrick Kentley put on a performance yesterday at the Memorial that honestly

had a caliber of play that felt like a guy capable of conquering a U.S. Open. Obviously Kepka is at the very Open, was it? It was not the U.S. Open. So let me, let me hear, let me hear a name. If you have a name, we watched Tiger burned down the front nine yesterday. I mean, let me, let me hear what your early thoughts are on, on a guy that you might think will emerge with, with, with this U.S. Open.

Look, I'm going to take Brooks kept off the board. That's, that's too easy, and I'm not going to allow anybody to just pick him in public. I appreciate. I appreciate that. Yeah. That's a no-brainer. Good integrity. I appreciate that. I appreciate the integrity. I'm going to go dark horses, not that he's a huge dark horse, probably 7-1 in Vegas last I saw. I would probably pick Tiger.

I think he's on form. I think he was a lot sicker than people knew about at the PGA championship, and that really didn't get out. I don't think he was feeling good. He's on form and he's playing good and he loves Pebble Beach. So I'm definitely

not going to put it past him if he's striking the ball well. Jason Day, He loves Pebble Beach. He always plays well at the 18T, and he is a big enough bomber and has the short game as good as anybody in the game. And I think you've got to throw DJ. So I would go Tiger Day DJ if I can't take Kepka. Okay.

That's pretty good. The only thing I would say about DJ, I'm not sure where his head is right now. You know, getting rid of his coach, changing coaches. He hasn't been playing all that great. He would definitely be an outlier in one of my later picks. But he does love that course, and obviously his game suits it. I just don't know where his head is these days. Well, that second place finish at the PGA Championship, you know,

where he was really the only guy in the afternoon, that late wave to go under par. I mean, it felt like a round, he ended up shooting three under, and it felt like if he'd gone off in the morning, it could have been an eight under kind of round. But I understand what you're the point that you're making. Well, that's the thing. he's still at any given time if he's on. I mean, he's like Kepka where you think,

well, what game is he playing? Because it's not the same as the rest of these guys. And he's fully capable of it. I'm just not sure where he is these days. It's hard to tell. Well, he's playing in Canada this week, so maybe we'll get a little bit of insight into it. Chris Harrison, the next time you will be on the

podcast with Johnny Miller. Real Golf Talk with Johnny Miller. We'll be the Monday after the U.S. Open. We should have a champion unless it's we need a playoff, in which case you'll have to wait around. I guess we should throw a caveat. It could be the Tuesday after the U.S. Open if there is a playoff. Right, right, yeah.

But either way, I can't wait to hear what you and Johnny cook up. And thanks for coming on today. Really appreciate it. My pleasure. And yeah, I'm honored to be sitting down with Johnny. And if you need to find our podcast, I think it's on iTunes now. You can go to Callaway.com and their website, Real Golf Talk with John. Miller. And I can't wait to hear his thoughts on Pebble because, you know, even talking to him after

the PJ Championship, you mentioned the excitement level, I thought he was ready to go, go play himself again. I mean, he was ready. He's fired up that it's in his backyard. He loves Pebble. He lives there. And so it's going to be fun to get being there all week and being a part of it. So I can't wait. And we will see what happens Monday when we bring Johnny in. Yeah, I mean, if Johnny's fired up, I'm fired up. Chris Harrison, thanks for coming on Fairway, rolling. Thanks for having me. I appreciate the time. Always. All right, huge thanks to my man, Chris Harrison, for coming on. Very excited to hear the upcoming episode of Real Golf Talk with Johnny Miller. We have, speaking of Real Golf Talk, Shusty coming up next with Golf Social, but first, a word from our friends at Ethos.

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That's E-T-H-O-S-Life.com slash fairway and you're 10 minutes away from your estimated rate. Make sure your family's future is safe no matter what. Fresh off her attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open at the regional sectional Cedar Home Golf and Aquatics, the assistant to the assistant head maintenance manager. Megan Schuster, how are you? I'm great, house. I was so close to making that cut, but unfortunately it's not going to happen for me this year. Maybe next year.

It's all about the try, Schusty. It's all about the try. Yes. And we learned from Phil Mickelson, as we always. do last week that it is all about the try. Phil posted yet another incredible, incredible Instagram video on Thursday, revealing that his U.S. Open strategy is to use two different drivers. One quote for cute little cuts and another two, of course, as his new trademark phrases,

to hit bombs. In this video, he threw yet another dig at Bubba Watson in the process saying he had a B-E-A-R chest hair. And Phil explained that one of the reasons he was going with the cut route last weekend at Memorial and at the upcoming U.S. Open is that he didn't want to hit bombs if he had to have Watson-like chest hair going on. He later on relented and said that he added the big driver back to the bag as well, which was all fine and good.

And he seemed pretty excited. But the strategy did not exactly go well this weekend, I would say. He tested it out at Memorial. He missed the cut. wrapped up a Friday 79 round. And at one point, Will Gray of the Golf Channel tweeted out that Phil's driving distance was ranked first in the tournament, but his strokes gained off the T was 104th. So not exactly what you're looking for when you're going with the two-driver thing. What do you think about his whole strategy house?

And do you think he sticks with it at the U.S. Open? Well, this is not the first time that he's gone double driver. So Shusty in 2006, Mickelson used two drivers, one to hit a draw, one to hit a fade. And he did this back. He tried it out first at

what used to be the tour event in the Atlanta area, the TPC Sugarloaf down in Duluth. And he won that event by 13 shots. So he had those two drivers pretty well figured out. And a week later, he went down to the Masters with the two drivers and

won his second green jacket. there is a precedent for success with using the dual driver combo. There is nothing at all surprising about Phil tinkering with equipment to try and, you know, sort of maximize what he perceives to be any kind of advantage he can gain. The interesting thing to me is he played this golf course two months ago and he didn't use two drivers then. Right. So there was like an opportunity to, this is the rationale, I believe, the way that the

Pebble Beach plays for the Pro Am that's competed in February is radically different than the version of Pebble Beach that the guys are going to be playing in less than two weeks in middle of June. And I get that. But in terms of like weather conditions, you know, the prevailing winds and so forth, I would have thought he might have wanted to do some experimentation, just even in pro-am kind of formats, the lead up to the event. And he didn't do that. So I'm not sure. Yeah, I agree. I don't mind the overall strategy. I do find the fact that he is testing this out two weeks before the U.S.

open, slightly suspect, especially when this is, you know, the last major that you're going for for your career sweep. You would think that you would want to, you know, give this a couple weeks and maybe tried out at a couple different courses. But overall, it's, you know, was punctuated by yet another amazing video. So I guess I can't complain too terribly much. The tradeoff is absolutely worth it. I mean, honestly, I'm rooting for him. I want him to do well, but I don't care. As long as he keeps giving us this glorious content. And, you know, to his credit, he, he gave us the rationale for the two drivers and, you know, the results weren't what I think he was hoping for, but he was still not so flattened by missing the cut that he missed out on an

opportunity to participate in the NBA finals dialogue by offering up his services with a picture of his epic leap, epic leap when he. he won the Masters back in 2004. Yeah, he really has been, I mean, we talk about this, I feel like on a weekly basis now, but he really has been quite the social content machine so far this year. And I think, you know, regardless of whether the Warriors or Raptors could actually use him on the court, I'm sure both of their social media departments could use his services throughout this series.

He is the master of social media. He has established himself across the entire sporting world as the master of social media. 2019. So all social media departments, including the ringer.com, could use a little Phil Mickelson. No offense to Mel Downey. We love Pat, but I'm just saying all Phil can do is enhance. He's an enhancer. Strongly agree. Strongly agree. Yeah. So what else do we got this week? We have yet another Matt Coocher saga, which do you think this will ever end how these many, many controversial rulings and rules officiating and all of that jazz? At this point, it does not seem likely to me that we will see an end to it this year. But we've already gone through the catty

payment controversy, the Sergio matchplay argument and subsequent like hostage video on Instagram. Now we've got another one to add to the list. So Thursday at Memorial, Cooch took on a few different PGA rules officials over a pitchmark on number 17. I'm not going to get into like great detail on the rules and specifics because frankly it's kind of boring. His ball dropped into a pitchmark and that pitchmark was ruled to have not been made by him so he wasn't a lot of relief drop. He disagreed naturally called two different rules officials over, a TV camera person for video evidence and tried to bring a third official over before the madness was eventually stopped. Safe to say that people are sort of frankly sick of Coutcher's stuff

going on on tour, Eddie Papparell tweeted out on Thursday that, quote, it's been quite a year for at Kucher as he leads the PGA in both money and shithousery. So, yeah, just do you think Kutcher's like trying to play into his healness now? Has he just fallen too far down the rabbit hole and now can't see that his once fan favorite image has radically changed? I'm very curious what his strategy is. I just think he's in his own feels. He's in the Kutcher feels.

And it turns out they're not that relatable. Like they're not feels that the rest of us can make any sense out of. This rules controversy didn't emanate from anything having to do with the new rules. This was a regular old garden variety. Where did the ball end up? And a player trying to persuade the rules officials that some relief ought to be obtained. the thing that distinguished it was his persistence. Yes.

Like the, and that the persistence gave the overall impression that it was, he was, it was kind of slightly disrespectful, slightly condescending. And in the, and if all by itself, in the absence of the things that have gone down this season,

with Sergio Garcia and with the Caddy Pay thing, if those were not part of the Coutre story over the last six months, then this thing would just be, you know, kind of another bullheaded PGA professional trying to get his way through a little bit of heavy-handedness with the rules officials, because the balance of power there is not even. those rules officials are, you know, by and large, you know, folks that that are inclined while

they're protecting the field and they're protecting the game. They're also in a recognition of the professional players and, you know, the fact that this is on television. So, you know, Coucher throwing it around a little bit is kind of par for the course, but he just wouldn't give it up. He asked for a second opinion and it looked like he was maybe even going to ask for, he did indeed put it to the guys, can I get a third opinion? And this was after 10 minutes. It's also disrespectful to his playing partner. Like at some point on a on a issue like this, you got to move on.

10 minutes is too long. Five minutes maybe it's fair. You got the initial reaction. I didn't see anything about the, the path of the ball, the travel of the ball after it landed that suggested that he had a leg to stand on in terms of this pitchmark thing. But the bigger picture is just, you know, sort of the doggedness, the persistence in the face of, you know, what reality seemed to be suggesting was the thing that, that I think set off, had everybody in the golf world rolling

their eyes again at the cooch. Yeah, I agree. And I, you know, I'm all for trying to get whatever you can. Like, him asking for a second opinion doesn't bother me. It's the third opinion that bothers me. And also your point about relatability, it's just been interesting to watch this year because I felt like Cocher's calling card with a lot of fans over the last few years has been that relatability aspect.

Now, he's not exactly a relatable player because he's, you know, an incredible golfer and, you know, on the PGA tour. But he's always sort of seemed like the guy next door for like a lack of a better word, like just very friendly, very, you know, tries his best just out here, you know, trying to win. And this year has seen like a very marked turn from that image. I mean, that that's it. And this is, as far as I'm concerned, a third strike thing. I don't know that he wants his name in golf media or other media, depending on how dumb the story is for the rest of the season.

He would do well to just go ahead and play and keep his head down and let his play be the reason for people to be talking about him. He still is on top of the FedEx Cup standing. I think he's still the leader in money. So, you know, let's take a break from, you know, some of the extra press cooch. That's my recommendation. How's, do you know who is letting their game do the talking for them recently? Talk to me. Can you guess?

Who I'm getting this excited about talking about this week? I bet. I bet it rhymes with Morden Reef. How's our man? back. I think we can officially say he's back. Now, I will tenor this saying he has not won yet, but Jordan Spieth has three top ten finishes, three straight, recorded his third this weekend at Memorial. Granted, he had sort of a disappointing Sunday, shooting one over par and kind of falling away as Patrick Cantley had just an incredible Sunday and took a second tour win. But that run of

three straight top tens includes a tied for third of the PGA championship. And Jordan said yesterday that he is, quote, on the rise, which is great to hear from someone who just two and a half months ago said he was admitted that he was in a slump and that he was tired of it. So what do you think of his U.S. Open prospects? Am I getting too ahead of myself if I expect big things from him next weekend? Perhaps. There are so many encouraging signs. and it is in a way kind of an untold story. At some point, once it's in his rearview mirror and he's back sort of winning with a little bit of frequency,

whenever he gets this next win under his belt and he can say, aha, I've conquered that demon. I'm very interested in his version of what has been going on because he really, he really, went from the highest highs to some pretty low lows over the last 14 months or so. And I'm just wondering what things, you know, in his life he would point to to help explain it. Now, in his golf game, the elements that have propelled him back into the top 10 realm are his short game and his putter. And, and, you know, each of these last three top tens, he's either led the field or been in the top three of putting and, you know, short game touch kind of metrics. The problem I'm foreseeing is his approach shots, his ball striking is still leaving a lot to be desired. I mean, he's in the middle of fairways and still missing greens.

I think he's still well north of, you know, he's not anywhere near that the, even the hundred mark in terms of the top hundred strokes gained approach right now, which is a problem because Pebble Beach is a second shot golf course. I think Pebble Beach and maybe Augusta National are the two that folks would point to as saying, you know, the important thing here is hitting greens and regulation. They're among the smallest greens, if not these smallest greens that they play. And while putting is always important and always a way to try and level the playing field, if you miss these greens in the U.S. open conditions, it's super hard to get up and down. So I'm cautiously optimistic as the way I'll say it about your boy, George Spie.

I agree with you. I'm not picking him for this tournament. It feels a little bit too early in the comeback cycle for me. I just want him to have a solid showing, but I will tell you, House, there is a tournament coming up in July at Royal Port Rush that I cannot wait to watch him play in. That timeline feels a little bit more realistic to me. And just watching Speeth Carver's Way Through Open Championships is truly one of the most magical things about golf for me. I'm with you. And it is in all of our mutual interests to have him competitive and good. And, you know, there's nothing like it when he starts rolling putts in from all over the golf course, from all over the, you know, from any distance on the greens to, to like be

a truly captivating and, you know, exhilarating thrill ride when he gets it going. So we just need him to get like sort of back to the middle of the pack in terms of the ball striking. Mm-hmm. If he can keep this momentum going with the putter, it really does seem like he found something. But what if we get to start talking about the top handful of guys and we say DJ and we say Kepka and we say Tiger and we say Justin Rose and we say Rory and we get to say Jordan Speeth again, that would be pretty exciting, Shusty. That's all I want. It's all I'm looking for. Just put him in the conversation again. We are definitely going to put him in the clothing conversation because next week is the U.S. Open preview week, we will, as has become our new tradition here on golf social,

go through the scripts, see what the guys have lined up. Now, we were both pretty disappointed with the scripting for the PGA championship. It felt like the guys were missing an opportunity to do something really out of the box with New York. The U.S. Open, I guess, will present, you know, some stars and stripes, a lot of red, white, and blue kind of opportunities, which is always cool and always, you know, something I look forward to. But I just across the board, I hope we see some stuff that isn't just, you know, straight down the middle, big block, red, white, and blue. I agree. I was, I will go a little further and say I was extremely disappointed with the scripting for most of the PGA championship. I, too, hope that we'll get a little bit of maybe

some California vibe, some, you know, Monterey Bay, some pastels maybe, some, you know, I love it. I have high hopes. I have expectations. I, you know, Pebbles is an iconic golf course and hopefully we get some good looks to accompany that. I'm right there with you. So we'll have that and we know that Phil Mickelson will have something for us next week as well. Yes. Until then, Shusty, I'm going to let you go drown your sorrows and missing out on the sectional regional U.S. Open qualification exercise. Thank you, House. I, I, I, need it. And now on the T, fresh off the qualifier at Hackers Paradise from Memphis, Tennessee, Chris Vernon. Yo, Verdo.

My goodness, are we going to be able to focus on the Canadian Open and our brothers in Canada when we know that Pebble Beach is only two weeks away? I mean, it's less than two weeks away. It's like 10 days. I can barely contain the excitement. I had on earlier today, Chris Harrison, the host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, among many other things. He's doing a podcast with Johnny Miller, real golf talk with Johnny Miller. I know you know this, but he played Pebble last week. And so I had to pick his brain a little bit about what we're going to see. And he says it's going to be a radically different golf course from what we're accustomed to seeing each February at that pro-am event.

And, I mean, I'm telling he's describing it. And I started to get pretty excited, Verno. Well, Chris Harrison is not the only person that played Pumble Beach last week. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh, good. I didn't. I thought you did, though. Yes, you're right about that.

Well, let's just jump right into it. How about this week in Tiger Woods? Tiger. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, woo! Yeah, so we saw him on the gram, among other places. There was regular media pictures.

He was on the gram. I mean, there was a lot of footage of Tiger out there at Pebble Beach. In fact, Chris Harrison shared with us an anecdote. He played it like on a Wednesday, and Tiger was out there on like a Thursday. And Harrison hosts the annual giant fundraiser, the Tiger Jam for Tiger's, foundation each year out in Vegas.

And so Harrison was telling us that he went and got in Tiger's ear a little bit about, you know, Tiger's experience at Pebble after Harrison himself had played it. And, you know, I think Tiger's in the right frame of mind. He's got some perspective here. What did you think? I mean, he just got a top 10, right? So he tied for night. He was fantastic yesterday, uh, minus five on the round.

fourth round, you know, he, and he had, that could have been even lower. I mean, he had birdie butts nine and ten that he missed. And the best round was obviously Cantlay's eight under. Streelman was six under, Deschambo was six under, and then Tiger. I mean, in terms of guys in that fourth round that got him in that top ten. And more importantly, he ended that tournament with 20 birdies. Um, and just kept on talking about how good he was. was feeling about where he was and how many good shots he felt like he hit. You know, he had a couple of doubles there throughout the rounds that kind of took away from the fact that he ended up with 20 birdie in this tournament. And more importantly, he was talking about the work they've done

on the range. He talked about, you know, he obviously went and checked out Pebble Beach. And then, you know, we've talked about how obviously he's had insane success there prior to. But You know, when we got to the Masters, we talked about how the course management of it all and about how he has this distinct advantage in knowing exactly what he wants to do at that course. And the same old's true with Pubble Beach House. That's why I feel good about this because, you know, I'm just listening to him talk and he was talking about how he changed his swing a little bit to ease up on his back and he's hitting the ball exactly how he wants to right now

and that they were working on the range, though he was having to hit it a little bit lower because of the wins at this Memorial tournament, he was talking about getting the ball up, up, because the greens are tiny and they're going to be very firm. And so you just listen to him talk and you listen to him talk about Pebble Beach and it sounds like somebody that knows exactly what they want to do

when they go in there. And he's like, I get to go out there and I'll get to have a week more of practice before this deal. I felt great this weekend and was hitting the ball exactly how I wanted to. And then he's talking about practicing all the things he needs for Pebble Beach, right? Not like practicing for, hey, I got to do really well in this memorial. But this is a guy that was already that far out talking about how basically what he's always said, right? everything is geared toward being highly successful and winning these majors. And I don't know, man, I got caught up in it.

He was smiling a lot. He was talking about how everything he has practiced is coming to fruition and that he knows exactly what he wants to do when he gets out to Pebble and knows the way it's going to set up. I am persuaded to house. I'm getting caught up in it. I'm glad that you talked about the smiling because there is. So I want to emphasize a couple points. In the first place, for the recap of the PGA championship, Bill Simmons came on. And Simmons expressed some disappointment in Tiger with his inability to recharge and to be ready for the PGA championship following the master's victory.

And I was kind of explaining to him just the observation that golf media had made was just not enough time between the Masters and the PGA Championship for him to get himself sort of re-energized and at the level of practice that he needed to be at to be successful in the majors. Chris Harrison just shared on the show in the segment earlier today that he, Tiger was sick that he was under the weather and that, you know, there was, he did miss a practice session on a day that were there, where he was, it was expected. He'd announced that he was going to practice and then he didn't do it. And they were, they were a little bit obtuse about his physical well-being, just a little feeling a little under the weather. But it must have been the case that he was feeling pretty down. I mean, you know, he he didn't really look like he had it at all. And he couldn't get anything going at all up there at Bethpage.

But when you look at him this week, when we see this version of Tiger, where it's clear that his energy is back, that he's feeling a okay. When he's interacting with the fans, I mean, there was a clip on the social media that the tour put up, him walking up, you know, in between holes and some guy yells out to him, Tiger, you hit me in the leg and he takes his golf ball without missing a beat and tosses it right to the dude. He had a ball in his hand. He was like, there we go. There you go, homie. And everybody gave a little cheer. And, you know, the interview he did with Ballionis yesterday after his round, how happy he was, how smiley he was and how satisfied he clearly was. And it bears out, I mean, the, the one match. that I care about for the purposes of his preparation for this Pebble Beach adventure is strokes gained approach, which is the same metric that was highly relevant at Augusta, because in the same way that Augusta is regarded as a second shot golf course, the same is true of Pebble Beach. Now, Pebble Beach is slightly different from Augusta in one material way, which

is at Augusta, you can hit the ball pretty much anywhere and still try and reach the green. That ain't going to be the case at Pebble Beach in 10 days, Verno. But, well, it is the thing. I'm going to, I'll make a little excuse for him on this. Let's hear it. He did not have it. He did not play well. He missed every damn fairway. Literally, he missed every fairway. And that place is harder than hell anyway. I mean, once you miss fairways at Bedpage, I mean, forget it. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you got to be, you got to give yourself a chance.

But, I mean, the fact that he couldn't get anything to fall in the fairway, I mean, it was obscene. And so he was just battling the entire time. I don't want to make too many excuses. But if there is a, you've got to be playing great to play well there. You have to. Here's the thing. We watched him yesterday. There was a, at a moment, it felt like he might hit every fairway in regulation.

He started off. He was definitely 10 for 10 and 11 for 11. I don't know if he missed 12 or 13, but he hit every green in regulation all the way up to that point. And he was like 11 for 11, 12 for 12 and fairways in regulation in that round yesterday, which is part of why I think he was so tickled. But this strokes gained approach, here's how he went over the four days at the memorial, at the memorial, on Thursday he was 38th amongst his peers. So, you know, over 100 and whatever number of guys played in that event, 110 or so.

37th on Friday, easy made cut. 16th in strokes gained approach across that, the board, through his round on Saturday. And he finished yesterday seventh in that statistic. That's a dude who's hitting Greens in regulation. he's second on tour this season in percentage of Greens hit in regulation. He's in the top 10 at this moment of strokes games approach. And for that particular skill set that we are, we know Pebble emphasizes,

I'm right there with you, my friend. It is plenty to be excited about. Well, and he came out and yesterday, I mean, first hole. He buried it from the bunker. He just put it in the damn hole. I don't know how many strokes gained you get off that house. He just put it in the bunker on that left side of the green that they just hold out. And I was like, all right, let's go.

And he said yesterday through about 12 holes. I mean, you know, he talked about like, like, the score could have, it's not crazy to say he was five under yesterday. And that could have easily been seven or eight. like that's not like no it was no stretch at all he missed makeable birdie putts birdie puts that he makes on the par three fourth hole on the and you mentioned nine and ten both of those were crazy makeable uh birdie putts those were not a stretch in any way shape or form you're absolutely right well if he and now he's going to obviously go practice there for a week and it just it felt so reminiscent to the augustus stuff and him

talking about it leading up and about how he just talked you know when you hear guys talk about the the majors and they talk about even something like pebble beach it doesn't feel like they are so specific in terms of them talking about the event but he was getting so specific about how he is practicing and why he is practicing that way and what it's going to take. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly right. I'm right there with you. I'm interested. We've done this segment. We always want to talk about Tiger, take the temperature, see how we're feeling, see how he's feeling. We're excited. The excitement is high. It isn't going to change. He's going to fall. You know, we're not going to see anything out of him because he's not playing in

Canada this week. All we're going to see is more pictures of him practicing and grinding. And we will pay acute attention to what we're hearing about his his practice routine and what he's expecting. But let's give a little shine to Patrick Cantley. I mean, that was a hell of a round yesterday, Verno. Yeah, Patrick Cantley certainly deserves shine. I mean, he posted eight under yesterday. And like I said, you had DeCambo, who wasn't close, who was six under, then the five

under. So he had the best round by wide margin. And it just felt like once he got. Cracken, and he got that lead. He just kept distancing himself from the rest of the guys. He's been playing really well this year. He's certainly somebody to watch because I, you looked at that leaderboard, and there were so many guys that were like out of the mix.

You know, guys that didn't even make the cut. Rory didn't make the cut. Jason Day didn't make the cut. Fienow was an abomination, as was Justin Thomas, you know, and we got to see him play in again. I mean, these guys were like plus sevens or something before they ended up getting cut. And so for him to put up the number,

you know, he wasn't exactly staring down the barrel of a gun, though. Speeth was right in the mix all the way up until round four. I'm glad you mentioned him. So the reason that I wanted to bring back, uh, bring up Cantlay is because we're,

we're still early in the formulation here. But he's sitting. He was available yesterday. 28 to 1 to win the U.S. Open and his odds dropped all the way down to 20 to 1 and of course I didn't get in on it. But what we saw yesterday in terms of the ball striking is the kind of game that I think is a U.S. Open. It's very well suited to it to a U.S. Open. Now, I haven't had the opportunity yet to do my research to check out Patrick Cantlay and his experiences at Pebble Beach and whether it's a place that he has any kind of relationship with.

but we'll do that research. That's all coming up here in the fullness of time. But I'm just saying from a ball striking perspective, that's the kind of thing where that was a major league, major championship kind of ball striking performance. And you mentioned the year he's been having. He's finished inside the top 10 that both the Masters and the PGA Championship. And those are two pretty different venues in terms of format and style of play.

So he has my eye. and he's down to 20 to 1. I'm still looking to him at 20 to 1. But you just mentioned a gentleman who's sitting there at 16 to 1 who has for the first time in over a year three consecutive top 10 finishes on tour. And that is one Jordan Speeith. How are you feeling right now about Jordan Speeth, my man, Berno?

I was run that he went on. So he had the math. But he like I thought like at that time and we've done this many times. obviously we're starting to do it, Kepka again. We get on a run like that. It's like, all right,

this is the guy that you may be looking up at the leaderboard. And then he just did not play well. And he keeps on saying all the right things. Like, you know, nothing big, and we've kind of figured it out. You know, we figured it out.

And then I'll buy into it. Then he'll, you know, break my heart again. You know, because we talked about the Byron Nelson that, oh, man,

he's going to have a chance there. But he did play pretty well in the majors, right? I mean, and certainly at the Masters. Yeah, and he was, he led the field in strokes game putting at Bethpage and was a, you know, it was a top five finish at Beth page. The disappointing thing is still he can't give us a Sunday.

Give us another 73 on a Sunday. We need George's speaking to give us a Sunday. He's like in the 200. Right, right, on scoring average on Sunday. You're absolutely right. Yeah. Yes. So that's the last hurdle.

And, you know, as he makes this progress, it continues to me to feel like it's more mental than anything else. Because if you could shoot 66 on Thursday and then back it up with a 69 on Saturday as things start to ratchet up a little. bit. Now that earlier in the year, he was having decent Thursday, decent Friday, and then falling apart on the weekend. And, and now it looks like he's creeping in where Saturday doesn't necessarily wreck him, but he can't get across the goal line with a closer kind of Sunday, right? And this is, yeah, and he was, he always felt like the kind of guy that was like a killer instinct guy. Yeah, a real closer. Yeah, and it was, it was Cantlay yesterday. He just strangled out the field.

Man, that was impressive. Yeah, I mean, he just strangled him out. He was never going to feed that at all. Now, here's the weird thing, Alas. We're talking about speed like trying to get it back. The hell is, what the hell is up with McElroy? Like, we're talking about like, oh, Rory's like right there. If it's not Rory, it's D.J., if it's not DJ, it's Rory.

And it's like, like, missing cuts. Like, what happened? I well he he backdoored into a top 10 at the PGA championship he was right on on on the cut line and then he survived uh he made the cut and you know he had the benefit of playing in the morning Sunday morning and he and about three other guys went out and and went under par and then the afternoon wave came and all those guys had a different golf course because the wind picked up and he managed a top 10 finish at the PGA championship and his worst performance of the year up until this, this weekend was the Masters when he still had a top 30 finish. But, you know, I guess I'm inclined to give him a benefit of the doubt that like he's going to have a bad performance at some point. He's playing this week.

And let's go ahead and segue into Canada. What I'm saying is he ain't there in like that chance. win the tournament stuff at the very end. And didn't it feel like if it was Rory, it was either a Rory week or a DJ week. And sometimes it was both of them. And obviously early in the season, when they went head to head and Rory birdied every damn hole

down the stretch and couldn't even gain a stroke, there was the WGC event in Mexico. Yeah, that's right. He couldn't catch DJ because DJ was messing them. Yeah. Yeah, he would just not give up the lead. And it was like, damn, man, this guy is going to be tough to beat if he plays like this, because it took all of Dustin Johnson just playing out of his mind.

And then it's, I mean, he just has not been there on Sunday. And I really thought at the beginning of this season, he was going to be just a killer. Guy that's like, okay, now he's come into his own. It just didn't take or hasn't yet. He's been fine. but he hasn't been a superstar. Other than him closing the door properly at the players championship, he's been on the leaderboard on Sundays and then not been able to seal the deal.

And there was one more instance of that in between, you know, the last stretch of events. we have a really impressive set of top-notch players assembled for the RBC Canadian. You have Kepka, you have DJ, you have Rory, and you have JT, Justin Thomas, all playing in this event. And it must be, you know, just schedule-wise, these guys, DJ and Kepka haven't played, so they want to get the work in. J-T's coming off of a wrist injury. so he just needs the rounds and hopefully he makes the cut and Rory just missed a cut

so maybe he can get back that loving feeling by way of going up to Canada and doing something. Do you have any thoughts on a pick this week? Well, I mean, obviously I do think one of those big dogs is going to win it, especially given where it falls on the schedule. This is

earlier than it typically is much earlier. I mean, obviously the schedule is all, a lot of these things are not, the Masters is when exactly, exactly when it has been and when it will always be. It feels like everything else is at a different time than it's typically been, right? They keep on shifting around the schedule. This is another one. Now, this is the one, I actually remember this. This was the lightning delay tournament last year, right? Yes, where they, Justin Johnson was like out of his mind and then had to come back, after like two and a half hours and play more.

He did it, though. He did it. Oh, yeah, for sure. So listen, I certainly think one of those favorites, like a Johnson, like a Kepka, I did not like many of the long shots that are involved in this when I looked at the board, and the favorites are, like, I mean, the odds are just,

I mean, it's a joke, right? We're not touching. We're not touching. No, so here's what we got to do. We got to hope that those guys are a little further down, and we get them after the first day. Oh, by the way, and I did not, by the way, let me just say this, I did not know about this bet until after this bet was placed, okay?

One of my buddies saw Can't Lay, he was 8 to 1, right, to win this memorial. He put, I guess after, was it, would that have been after the third round probably? Yeah, it had to have been. Saturday night. Saturday night had to have been, right? Saturday night. He got $500 on him to win $4,000. And we said, are you a frigging maniac putting on with you? And I guess the joke was on us. Now, in fairness, like all of us, that $4,000 will be lost by tomorrow, you know? Oh, of course. He's a gambler. He probably had the, he probably had the Raptors last night, and then like five French open beds this morning.

Right. Yeah. That money might as well be gone. I'm shocked by the 500 is bold. I mean, that's, that's even out of my league. I don't,

I don't pick one guy and put 500 on them, you know, without it being like the day of and trying to like, you know, hedge some exposure I have somewhere else. Well, it's going to be hard for me to move

off of the top four as well. All right, Verno is time. The Epic Flash pick of the week brought to us by Calloway's Epic Flash Driver with Flash face technology used by none other than Women's U.S. Open champion

Julio Le Six. Did you watch any of that Women's Open, by the way? I did not. Oh, well, look, here's I watched quite a bit. bit of it because. Don't you Hankaney me. I'm not doing anything. What I want to tell you is the reason I asked is these women were playing a venue that we wouldn't see like it's not on tour.

The country club of Charleston is an old Seth Rainer design. They have some of these golden age architects. I don't recall somebody else had their hands in it as well. But it's a, it's spectacular. and I loved watching the women play it because it puts in in like context how you and I might play it. You know what I mean? The men's game is unrelatable. I can't watch them play golf and think, oh, this is the strategy that I might have.

This is where I might find myself. This is the yardages that I might have. The opposite is true of the women. And Jung-Lie 6 was playing with that Calloway-Way. equipment with that driver and I'm like yeah look this is me you know I'm putting to use the artificial intelligence and machine learning to promote faster ball speeds off the T she was out there doing it and just kicking ass and taking names so all credit to her hey I promise you this house there will never be a bigger women golf fan that I will be give it about two or three years

there is a girl that plays there hey there is a girl that that plays at the course I belong to. Her name's Rachel Heck. She is one of the in the world. I have never seen anything like it in my life ever. Like she is going into, I believe, her junior year of high school. She's already been committed to Stanford for like two years.

And she hit the put to win the junior women's Ryder Cup of the United States last year. but I mean she is out practicing there all the time. And you want to talk about feeling terrible about yourself. Stand next to this high school. It's like, it's like Tiger. She seriously, she's one of the best five amateur golfers in the women's division in the world. She's from Memphis.

Her name's Rachel Heck. She is fun, but I've never honestly, for like a young athlete, I've never seen anything like it. And Michelle, we just married. a former Mempian who played college bat or played Johnny West Johnny West is a Memphis

yeah Johnny West Johnny West I know How about this He was the point guard on Marcus All's team Oh my gosh How about that small world thing That's that

That's a crazy small world thing How about that? I will look forward to Rachel Heck Yeah Oh and by the way Shout out to Cali away signed by guy HV3.

Hell, let's just make him my pick this week. Harold Walker. Is he in the field? Is he playing? Yes. Okay. Well, that's it. That HV3 is your pick.

I'm going to try and give out a little value also. I have my eye on two guys that have been playing well, one that has a good track record at this event. And one that's just, I just like when he's, he's competing well. I like Jason Duffner a little bit this week. he has two top tens of the last four starts tied seventh at Merrifield this past week at a good

Sunday yesterday and then I'm also looking at Brandt Snedeker who has a decent track record up at Canada back-to-back top 20 finishes and the last two starts he was tied for 16th at the PGA championship that's a little bit that's my non-chalk if you're looking to fill out a DFS roster or you're looking for a little value you want to play a top 20 20 maybe. Duffner and Snedeker, those are my epic flash picks of the week. But I love this. So what I read about that I was a bit persuaded by, good played there well there in the past. There was something I read about Furek and then. Yeah, Piercy also is on the list. He won the last time the Canadian Open was at this venue back in 2012. And he's had a pretty damn good two-month stretch here. So Piercy,

I like that pick as well. All right. Well, look, we, you know, we're not going to give out too much. The U.S. Open, the next time you and I get together, we will have some U.S. Open picks ready to go. It's a week from today. We're going to let everybody enjoy this tune up in Canada. Let's go, HV3.

How about that? What are his odds? 10,000 to one. Hold on. I'm going to pull it up here. Just give me one second. I have the book open. He is.

I text you over the weekend. he is he signed with callaway i i i'm very very aware of uh calloway signings i'm all i'm on the list i mean it's usually five hey i can tell you it's usually five bucks wins 500 i am scrolling down i am scrolling down i am scrolling down i am scrolling down you got to win one of these at some point because i'm going to get up to 500 that i've put on hey this time five wins 125. HV3 on the board at plus 125 to win the RBC Canadian Open. That's worth five bucks. With this brand new Callaway

equipment, that's worth five bucks. Five bucks on you every week to the end of time, five page 500. Like, you've got to win one of these. He's got to win one of them. That's exactly it. All right, my power saving pals, there you go. I hope we wedded your appetite a little bit for next weeks U.S. Open. You know how we do when it comes to major weeks. We are going to be on next Monday with an U.S. Open previews, storylines, scripting of outfits. It'll live some early picks with Verno.

On Wednesday, we shall be back with our good buddy, Justin Ray, and we're going to be making some picks. We'll probably have another special guest in there as well, talking about how you might allocate your capital, the correct way to think about. who's going to have some success at Pebble Beach. And then we shall be back Sunday evening, assuming these guys finish on Sunday night, and there isn't a playoff, Sunday night, with an immediate reaction and recap to the U.S. Open, a brand new winner, shall be awarded, adorned, and holding the giant USGA cup. Until then, my friends, let's hit a couple down the middle.