Fairway Rollin' - The Masters Recap Bonus Episode | Fairway Rollin’

Episode Date: April 18, 2019

Joe House is joined by Alan Shipnuck of Golf.com and Golf Magazine for a bonus episode to break down his experience from the players locker room at Augusta National (2:00). Then, The Ringer’s Megan Schuster joins the program to discuss everyone's reactions to Tiger’s historic weekend, break down Phil Mickelson’s mid-Masters Instagram video, and make some picks for the rest of Tiger’s season (43:50). Host: Joe House Guests: Alan Shipnuck, Megan Schuster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, friends. Welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. Wow, my friends, this is unexpected on the heels of perhaps the most unexpected thing ever in the history of professional golf. You are here. It is fairway rolling. And we are doing a bonus podcast this week to try and process. what we witness on Sunday at Augusta National. This podcast brought to you by our great friends at Callaway Golf,

makers of the triple track aiming technology, now available on the Chrome Soft X Golf Ball. Friday, April of 19th, you can order them, and I encourage you to do so. On today's show, we have Alan Shipnuck, who came on a week and a half, half ago to help us think about the realm of the possible, the storylines for Augusta National. He's back. He experienced Tiger Woods victory from the players locker room at Augusta

National. So we have to hear about that. And we have an extended visit with Megan Schuster to talk about the world's reaction to Tiger's victory, as well as the highlights. of the master's social. I am your starter Joe House. This is part of the Ringer podcast network. The first tea is open. Let's go over with our friend Alan Shipnuck and stick a peg in the ground.

Four, please. Now driving, Alan Shipner. All right, my friends, we are fortunate, lucky, privileged, humbled to have a guest from last week. We have Alan Shipnuck of golf.com and golf magazine on the line. He is back from Augusta, Georgia. He's presently in his car headed down south along the 101, the coast of California,

to pick up a puppy. Alan, what's going on, buddy? Well, my kids have already decided that a little help from dad that the puppy's name is going to be Monty, thus completing the greatest public relations turnaround in the history of golf. Colin Montgomery, once the goon from Trune, but now inspiring the names of cute little springer spaniels. So that's my one golf tie into this whole little road trip. Now, well, there's two golf ties because let's be honest,

this puppy adventure that you're on right now, this is the price that you, as a dad, uh, that has to travel quite frequently. These are the kinds of things that we must do, right? Yes, indeed. I don't mind. I'm looking forward to having a little companionship when I'm writing and, you know,

little guy can keep my toes warm while I'm typing away at least, I'm smoking my pipe and got a leather bound volume of Herbert Warren wind. I mean, I've got the old thing played out in my mind. We'll see how it works out for real. Well, the first time he poops in, in your lap. you know, that might bring the whole, that might be the record scratch. Yeah, that's just a metaphor. I don't have a great segue from pooping in your lap to Mr. Eldrick Tiger Woods.

But I feel like the right place for us to start. Now, you were kind enough to come on last week and help walk through the storylines that we anticipated down at Augusta National. and when we got to the topic of Tiger, we talked a little bit about this, you know, pretend beef between he and Phil Mickelson relating to the fact that Tiger announced a series of matches that he will be undertaking all across the world and whether or not Phil was having a bad reaction

about being cut out of it. And I made a joke, you know, oh, we think the tiger's going to be worried about what Phil thinks. Obviously, the answer. to that was no, but you identified, you know, three or four things that kind of you had on your mind as it related to, um, Tiger's performance coming into the week. You wondered whether, uh, you know, there was a, um, limitation on him because, uh, his play up to the week of the master's wasn't exactly like he wasn't in contention. He wasn't threatening to win any tournaments.

And you wondered aloud kind of physical or mental. Can he play four good rounds? And, you know, he missed that four footer in Austin in the match play. He got himself knocked out. And we wondered, you know, the golf course has changed. You know, they tiger proofed it. And at Augustine National, he only had one win since then. And your quote was, you said, Tiger can contend, but you would be amazed if he won.

And then I wondered aloud, has he been playing possum this season? And then I confess to you that I'm a Tiger truther. So, you know, that's kind of where we left off last Monday. Let's fast forward now based on what you observe. You were physically on the grounds every day of the tournament. You were taking in interactions with the players. You were able to watch Tiger and his press conferences. Let's start at the beginning of the tournament.

What kind of Tiger did you think you saw after his Thursday round? Well, that was really my biggest question mark about Tiger was having the worst putting year of his life coming into Augusta. And, you know, statistically, he was barely middle of the pack and strokes gained putting. And he missed that four-footer in Austin and knocked himself back. That was really the question. You know, his ball striking hit is very solid. But, of course, we know how important putting is at the Masters. And on Thursday, his putting was pretty scratchy.

I mean, he missed a lot of putt. And it kind of felt like, here we go. You know, we're just shaping up for another T4 where he's going to be there. He's never going to get to feed of the greens. And he's going to, it's just like we've seen that a lot. You know, with 2011 and 12 and other more vintage tiger performances, he just could never put well enough at the Masters to get it done. And that was kind of the story of the round on Thursday.

He wasn't that much better on Friday, but he made a few bombs to really. Saturday, he rolled the rock feet of 10 feet. And when you think about Sunday, he really didn't make any putt of consequence. I mean, that lag putt on nine was gorgeous, but it didn't go in the hole. And I'm not sure as long as made putt was that day, but it couldn't have been more than six or eight feet. But it was, he just did what he had to do. He kind of hung around. He let everybody beat themselves, and then he flushed it on the way home.

I mean, from 12 T-Box on, he didn't miss a shot. He just looked fantastic. So it was really, you know, it was a vintage Tiger performance. That's how he always won majors in the past. If you just kind of let other guys beat himself and he did what he had to do. And it was, I am amazed. I'm still processing that it actually happened. I mean, it was incredible atmosphere around the grounds, as you'd expect.

I've been to a lot of loud masters, but this was definitely the loudest. and, you know, just the primal screams that Tiger let loose when it was an instantly kind of iconic hug with Charlie. So much, so much emotion poured out, not just retired, but the rest of us is really, it's incredible that he actually did it. I mean, he's been threatened to do it. We could all say maybe he might. There was reasons to think he would or wouldn't, but he did. And it's, you know, the best way a long time, it certainly transcended. our little boutique sport.

The biggest story in the world, sports-wise, and top of the front page, the New York Times. I mean, it was just, it was an epic performance, and it touched a lot of people for a lot of reasons, and it was cool to be there. Well, that's why we are reconvened, because I want to get some of your perspective as a man on the grounds there.

I want to quickly touch on your point. It's a great one about the putts of, significance. And I'm interested in your take on when you thought he might actually pull it off. I think that maybe to me, the most consequential putt of the round was the birdie on three, because it was a crazy slider. That putt is super fast. And, you know, it immediately, you know, set the, the course for, he had kind of a sloppy par on two. but that really set him up to, you know, then he just needed to play basically even

through the balance of the nine to get in, get on 10T at one under par, which he and Joey afterwards confessed was their goal to come in under par through the front nine. Do you agree with that, that put on three? Yeah, I mean, that was a giant momentum putt because as you said, he'd made a metal, he'd have his issues on, you know,

three putts, four from the front, two putt, but still you didn't get it done. and, you know, another bogey on five. I mean, that put looks even bigger in hindsight. You know, it's interesting. I mean, to go out on a packed leaderboard with a lot of big-time players not have the lead and, you know, shoot 70, I don't think a lot of masters that's going to get it done.

But I think the weight of Tiger Woods was a factor. I mean, the Karnusi and the Ryder Cup and other tournaments. He's just been a ruthlessly efficient golfer. I mean, he completely came undone. Clearly, he was fighting a swing on the front nine. To make the mistakes he made, I mean, part of that was just the weight of history. It was Tiger's presence. It was the energy of the crowd.

There's a lot of things working against them. But, you know, the Tiger mystique, I think it partly explains why Molinari just lost the plot the way he did. You know, kept going in the water on 12. That was just an unbelievable mistake from a guy who has been incredibly effective. in the majors and closing them out. You know, Poulter, you never quite know what to expect out of his game. There's a lot of variance there, but he looked a little overwhelmed at times. You know, Dustin Johnson only played the front nine and even and came home with a nice

back nine, but it was too little too late. It was just nobody quite pushed Tiger. It was a dream scenario where he could just manage his way in, hit the shots when he needed to do. There was no pressure putts he had to make on the back nine. and it just kind of fell into his lap in certain ways. And that's what it takes. I mean, you know, that's always been the blueprint before Tiger was Jack Nicholas, too,

just played pressure-proof golf, let everybody else beat themselves. We've seen it many times in the majors. But it was, you know, watching some of those swings Tiger made down the stretch, you know, the drives on through A-Man Corner on 15. I think that swing off the 17th T was the best thing I've seen to make in maybe a decade. It just pounded that drive on maybe the hardest driving hole in the course. He just looked so confident in control. Once Molinari made that mistake, it was almost no doubt Tiger was going to win,

because then it just became about knowledge. And whatever flaws Tiger has in his game, his putting stroke, I mean, he's still Tiger would. And he just proved out over those closing holes. It was a phenomenal display. You just alluded to one of the things I wanted to cover. Do you feel like the moment where you started to believe that Tiger could win was 12? Oh, yeah.

It was at that point, at that point, the golf gods weighed in. I mean, even though Molinar, he still had a piece of the lead, the psychic blow of hitting at the water there was tremendous. And it was such a mistake. I mean, he said afterwards he was between an eight and an iron iron iron, and he actually took the eight iron. He took more club, and he swung too easy. that was his analysis. How can you possibly do that on the 12-fold against the national? You miss long in that back bunker.

You'll still get up and down. At worst, you're going to make four. You cannot miss short. I mean, how can you possibly hit it too easy? It's just mind-boggling. And it is funny, watching the replay, he really did swing too easy. I mean, what he said happened to me is exactly what your eye sees. Like, why does he swing is so easy?

Yeah, it's just such an incredible mistake. He's going to spend the rest of his life thinking about that swing and probably longer. You know, Kepka blamed the wind. Of course, we know it's swirl down there in the corner. But, I mean, he had barely cleared the creek. It was that ball was a 10-yard short. I mean, those are mental mistakes more than anything. You just, you can't be short on 12.

Anyone who's ever watched the Masters knows that. You know, Tiger kind of smashed one way left of the flag, but that's just the play you have to make. and, you know, Molinaria, to his credit, did come back in 3013, but it was just like, if you're in a dog fight with the last few holes, and it's Tiger Woods, you've all of a sudden is this flame of confidence, and he can smell it. And, you know, of course, they had that same match of Carnusi, but a lot of the crowd was on, was on Molinari's side. And Tiger hadn't been in that position in a very, very long time. So it was just a little bit different. And, yeah, as soon as, as soon as that ball went in the water, you know,

it was stunning to see what he did on 15. I mean, three horrendous shots in a run. It was great to watch Tiger. It was exciting if he'd had to make a put on the last hole. If he'd been pushed all the way. But once he had that two-shot cushion, it became more of just a coronation. And that had its own pleasures, too. I mean, I think that allowed Tiger to enjoy a sense of inevitability.

and just the buildup and the real incredible how so many players just fell away there at the end. Well, it did feel like the two guys who could have really put pressure on Tiger were DJ and Kepka, both had very makeable birdie putt attempts on 18. It did seem like, you know, there's no way to just to explain it from my perspective other than intervention by the golf gods. You know, DJ's putt was short by a couple roles. And Kepka's never had a chance. Kepka shoved his left. I mean, he missed the entire hole from about eight feet.

I mean, they both had good looks on 17 as well. Yeah, it's a great point. Either of those putts gone in, and they posted 13. I mean, that makes it a lot more interesting. Tiger has no margin for air. Jack won in 86. You know, he played great, and everyone just to mistakes and handed it to him. And that's a big part of championship golf.

been, you know, to Tiger's credit, he applied the pressure. He 12th beyond, he played perfect. Everyone else cracked. It was, there was not a lot of fireworks coming in, but it was from everybody else. But, you know, it was certainly tense. And, you know, without question, that shot he hit on 16, even though it's almost, that 16 pole at Augustine National is almost getting too easy. I mean, guys are making aces.

I mean, everything funneled to the whole. A dozen players had already done what Tiger did. it wasn't with the masters necessarily hanging on the balance. So, I mean, that was the shot that's going to get replayed forever. You know, that one swing really iced it and some magic in that. Yeah, and to be fair, you know,

guys were getting it close, but not all of them were making the putt. I mean, Ricky Fowler once again had an opportunity to you know, sort of seize control of his own kind of outcome there, and he had hit it in there close, and it looked all of about

six feet. And, of course, he missed that put and so you know and then he finished bogey boge so the the the fowler you know major wandering continues you said something a little bit ago that i want to compare notes on though you talked about you know he's you said he's still tiger woods and you you also observe that um he was paired with molanari at the open championship you know in the in the final group and you know, the difference, well, not the second of the last or third of the last group, but one of the final groups at the Open Championship. I'm interested in your sort of assessment.

He was not still Tiger Woods then, but he was at Augusta National still Tiger Woods. What happened between July of 2018 and April of 2019? I mean, a big part of it was Tiger. And, you know, he made some tweaks to his equipment ahead of the Tour championship. championship and he was just he was phenomenal off the tea that week and that powered the victory. And, you know, he talked, he talked about how he just found, found that confidence that Augusta National, shaping the ball both ways and just letting the club go, swinging harder and harder. He said he was going to be sore on Monday because he was swinging so viciously.

And that was a work in progress. It took them all last season to get to that point where he could turn the ball over with his driver. we could really swing with abandon. You know, Tiger was very conservative off the sea most the last season, and certainly at Carnucie he was as well. Part of that was the baked-out conditions, but that was not feeling as comfortable with the driver, whereas, you know, Malnari was pounding his.

That was a substantial advantage he enjoyed that day in that tournament. So that was a big part of it is, you know, Tiger does not have to be the longest, he does not have to be the straightest, but he was given up too much to the competition throughout 2018. 18, and that's over now. I mean, he's driving it beautifully as the rest of his game, because, you know,

his iron play is still phenomenal. So, you know, if he's hitting six iron, everybody else did nine iron, then he loses that advantage. He's going to be closer to those. Part 5, 16. He took,

he took all the recipe for, you know, certainly at best, he's going to have to drive. There's that piece of it. I mean, and then he's a tiger wood, but he can't,

you can't just throw him into the, you know, a few months into this comeback. and expect he's going to play his best golf. I mean, it was a little too soon. But he learned from that. He went to the PGA championship. He played great on Sunday.

He didn't quite get it done. But you could see the evolution. So, I mean, his third straight major had a chance to win and this time he did it, I don't think there's any question that the first two near misses helped steal him for Augusta and activate that part of his brain and his memory.

what it means to win in these circumstances. Yeah, I like the way you put that, activating all those old, all that old muscle memory. I mean, his iron play was as stellar as we recall. He finished the week number one in strokes gained approach, and that's the metric, the advanced analytic that everybody identified this week coming in

as the most important performance category because Augusta has that well-earned reputation of being a second-shot golf course. Now, I'm interested. You wrote a story, and it went up Monday the 15th, and it's on golf.com. Tiger Woods fellow tour pros watched his victory with a mix of awe and admiration. So I want to do the timeline with you personally, and how you observed, you know, Tiger kind of bringing it home. In the first place, what made you think to go to the locker room

as a place to watch the remainder of the tournament? Yeah, the Masters is the only term that doesn't give reporters inside the road. 2,000 people are concentrated on a couple holes. And I watch a lot of golf in person, you know, Monday through Saturday, but Sunday is a different kind of day and being able to document what's happening. So with that many players in contention, you know, I watched the front eye on TV just to see how it all plays out across the golf course, to see every shot. And then I ran out to catch Tiger play down. I was going to come home with him in Molinarie.

And the crowds on 10 and 11 were so dense. I really couldn't see any shot. You know, you see the ball in the air. You can hear the crowd cheering. But it wasn't ideal. I mean, so I have to write on deadline. There's not time to go back and watch the whole thing play out. I kind of made the decision to cut bait and go back up the hill.

And on the scene, we're all writing on deadline. My esteemed colleague Michael Bamberger was going to write kind of the game story. My task was to find a different way to explore what happened. I knew I was going to write Tiger, Win or Lose, because he was going to be the story at that point of feeding a dog fight in the back nine. He doesn't get it done as big a story almost as if he does. As I was up at the clubhouse, I could just detect the energy in the locker room. Guys were watching with great interests, and most tour players are so myopic and live in such a bubble.

They don't care about anything but their own game. And you could have the ghost of Ben Hogan come back to life and have a chance with a master. They'd just be packing up their locker and heading for the net jet hangar and not even thinking about it. But, you know, the guys were close around the TVs. And the way at the August National Locker Room, there's a small locker room for the players. And then next of that, there's a sitting area where family hangs out, a lot of green jackets.

And she wind up getting, you know, swing coaches and wives and other interested observers. And so that was, you know, I went up, Tita, and the kids gone up there for a while. And then next to that, there's a big dining room where everybody eats and there's a bar. And so I kind of was just going back and forth in all three of these rooms.

Just talking to people. Mark Steinberg was kind of hanging out there, watched on TV, Tiger's longtime agent. And it was, you know, George Speep was kind of just hanging out. It was very intimate. And, of course, there were no other reporters. That's how I know him in the right place, but nobody else is there, because I don't want to write the same story.

I don't want to write the same story. The competitors and the players she's inspired and the players beaten and someone who came to the game just because of it. I thought that would be kind of a fun, compelling way. to get into the story. And, you know, again, we all watch on TV. We watch the highlight. My only value being on the scene is to tell people something that already,

they don't already know and to take them places they haven't been. So it was just kind of a cool way to get into the story and feel some of the emotion and kind of capture the grand sweep of this win and how it touched so many people. Yeah. So who was the most excited? You mentioned like a half dozen players here. and everybody's sitting and watching it at the same time. Who of the players was the most excited?

Oh, Kevin Naw. He and Tire have been buddies for a long time. They both have Southern California roots, and they played some practice rounds many times through the years. So, Kevin Naw, he's not one of those characters who's too cool for school where he has to pretend like some of these other guys where I didn't name the story. But, you know, Naw was giddy. I mean, he was shouting.

He was so excited. and it was fun to watch, it was fun to feel that emotion and it was just very colorful moment. He came running into check because at that point they were playing the 15th pole and of course, you know,

as you see on TV, it's been on the grounds. There's a giant scoreboard just pumping me for information. What happened here? You know, he wants to play by play. So that was cute. I mean, I put somebody, it was fun to to see through his eyes. I was really impressed. I know I just gave kind of a snide observation

with Ricky Fowler. But I actually hold Ricky in pretty high regard. I very much was impressed by the attitude he displayed when he went to the Olympics and kind of like being a leader for the golf team at the Olympics. And so I genuinely respect Ricky, notwithstanding my feelings about his game. but he had a quote that I liked. You got a really nice observation out of Ricky about Tiger being a different Tiger.

What was that about? Yeah, I mean, that's part of the whole backstory to this victory is Tiger had to reinvent himself. You know, the game was taken away from him. And after the back surgeries and the long hiatus, I think he kind of realized that, in fact, he wasn't bigger than the game. always had thought. It just moved on.

Guys are still winning tournaments. They have, you know, commercials were getting made and checks for getting. He had to, you know, Tiger's always revered Jack and Arnie, these beloved elder statesmen. And I think he realized, wow, people don't have those same feelings for me. You know, I don't have all these relationships. I don't have the love that those two guys. I mean, certainly had the respect. You know, he was revered, but he wasn't really loved. and Hagar has worked really hard to build these relationships and to mentor the younger players

and to be a part of the dinners. Obviously, we know he's taking on a much more active role at the Ryder Cup and the President's Cup as a vice captain and the captain now at the President's Cup and those sort of things. And part of his return to the game was instead of just practicing and playing alone like he always really had,

he was reaching out to Ricky Fowley. and the Justin Thomas and and Justin Johnson and some of the South Florida Mafia and setting up games and invite the Lord to his backyard practiceability and certainly there was a benefit where to be around high level golf

that helped push him and help motivate him but it was also you know just build these friendships and these relationships and feeling a closeness and he hadn't felt but part of why and you know he's been like that with with the public to some degree a little bit with the press

he has he's just been a little more open, a little more human, a little more approachable. And that's part of why this victory resonated, is why all those players lined up to congratulate them, you know, by the scoring area. And, you know, those hugs are genuine. I mean, Tiger's no longer just this golfing Terminator who just comes to destroy you. And then, you know, he still wants to win, of course. But there's a lot more humanity on display and a lot more vulnerability.

It's made them much more likable. It's made them easier to root for. and even the most ardent tiger detractor. There's plenty of those out there. I mean, they had to feel the emotion of those hugs with his kids and just the joy and the relief that poured out of them.

I mean, this guy's been to hellen back since the last master's victory. And, of course, some of it was his own making, a lot of it. But, you know, he's lived, he's been in a fishbowl's whole life. And we've all had a chance to critique his flaws and his mistakes.

But, you know, Tigers put his life back together. He's a better person. He's clearly a great golfer again, but, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot of things to like about Tiger. I'm not sure you could say that in the past beyond it, this golf game. So Fowler talked about that in the story. So did, you know, Charlie Hoffman, another guy who's known Tiger's whole life.

And, you know, you could see that, you could see that. It was a whole other dimension. You know, when Tiger won a master's in the past, It was awe-inspiring and it just validated that he was just once in a century talent. But it was not the outpouring that we all just felt, that the earthquake of emotion. And that's because, you know, he's a different person now. Yeah, so the power of his redemption story and looking back, your point is very well taken. And we basically had, and I'm not going to claim it was calculated.

I think it does reflect just a different approach to life out of Tiger. But we really had like a 16-month kind of humanizing campaign where he was a lot more vulnerable. And he did let his guard down. And he did show a sense of humor. And he did sort of, you know, interface with like folks that he otherwise might not of given the time a day in terms of media and so forth. And, you know, his press conferences had a charm that I didn't recall, you know, from, from, you know, the previous version of Tiger. And so to your point about his detractors, you know, when he's on 18 Green celebrating and

then the first thing that the first movie makes is to go find his kids, those folks, I have a lot of people in my life. This may not seem believable as a Tiger Truther, but, you know, especially like a lot of women have not forgiven him for, you know, the bad behavior. You know, that's, there's still a long way for him to go in terms of that redemption. But everybody understands the power of him as a dad, him with his kids. and it really did just put a kind of unbelievable bow on the thing.

And, you know, we've now had the benefit of seeing the pictures comparing his hug with his dad and the hug of Charlie and his arms. And, I mean, that's just, that's powerful. That's just a very powerful, full circle kind of image. And, you know, I'm just interested in like this type. Tiger King of the World moment right now. What I want to ask you is where do we go from here with him in terms of managing our expectations? What do you expect his expectations are? Like where do we go from here? Yeah. I mean, it's irresistible. You know, already start thinking about second leg of the, and he goes to Pallon in 2000. You know, it's hard

not to project forward. But I'm trying to resist the urge on that. I mean, this is such a wonderful moment. I mean, bonus, I mean, he talked about it, of course, not known if he's

ever going to play golf again. You forget how low the lows were. Chip, you had the 85 at Memorial, the opening T-shot, the 2015 open at St.

Andrews when he gouged the ball, about six inches of turf, you know, and duffed it in the burn. I mean, the tournament was over after one hole. He had that stage fright. And guys were coming up

and looking at that divot on the 18th excuse me, on the first T, and just shaking their head. I mean, it was so bad. It was like somebody to eat a munichorse from a 30 handicapper. Everyone knew it was Tiger. No one else would have hit that shot. He was so woe-be-gone at that point.

And then, you know, there was still a lot more in front of them as far as the back surgeries and the pain. And, of course, he had the chip yips where he couldn't even, you know, he couldn't even keep the ball on the green. I mean, it's just phenomenal how far he's come. And so, yes, if he can keep contending and he can make some more runs at it, even win a couple more of these events, keep scaling Mount Nicholas. I mean, that will be thrilling, and we're all going to love that. But it may never get better than what we just experienced.

I mean, if this may be it, you know, stay along his body holds out, how hard he wants to keep grinding for the next, you know, three to five years with the amount of time it takes just prepared to be ready to play. So I'm not too worried about the future. I'm trying to just enjoy this one, recognize that we just witnessed something extremely special. And that happens from here is truly a bonus. Yeah, I am very, very excited to see what New York is capable of at Bethpage. Because, you know, we know that Phil Mickelson is beloved to New York, but Tiger at the top of his Tiger powers, you know, that close to New York City at a place where he's won before. think it's going to be, you know, an unbelievable environment. And I think we're just going to see that at every venue.

So the thing the root for with him, I think, more than anything, is the continued health. Do you have any concern on that note with there's a whole new set of mega opportunities that open up for Tiger again? like he can really reassend you know as a global icon he's he's he was there for a long time and you know he fell down off of it

he's no knock on on monster drink but monster drink as as the the sponsor on the bag you know it was kind of that's not your blue chipper that's not your your power 100 corporations in America what do you think about

you know that the opportunity set that he's have in front of him and what kind of impact that might have on his effectiveness. Do you think he'll be able to resist the temptation? Well, sure. I mean, Tiger's been, he's been the most powerful force in the sports marketplace. And you're right, there was a big dip after the scandal. But I think he knows how to budget his time. And I don't think he's going to go crazy chasing dollars.

I mean, the Tiger's not hurting for money. I know. I mean, I would hope he, you know, Nike's going to blow. this out. He already has a lot of corporate partners. I mean, yeah, it'll be interesting to see. I mean, part of, when you're speaking to New York, I mean, part of over this last year and a half, why the crowds have gone crazy for Tiger is for the first time in his life, he was kind of the underdog, right? I mean, he was, there was no expectations. We didn't, we didn't know if he could play again, if he could swing the club with his new spot. What made the last, you know, all of 2018 fund was

Tiger was really and truly an underdog, playing against these young kids, who, he could swing. who were hitting it longer than him, hitting it better than him, working harder in the gym because they could. And they could practice eight hours a day on the putting if they wanted to. Tiger's back can't handle that. So he really wasn't underdog

for the first time ever. And, you know, now that's changed. Now he's the head, he's the man again. Top dog. And he'll probably, he'll probably be the favorite head into Pebble Beach, no matter what happens. So it's going to flip a little bit.

I mean, he's no longer the lovable loser of, you know, 2017 and 18. I mean, this is Tiger Woods again. So the crowd reaction is going to be interesting. I mean, for sure,

people are going to lose their mind. And all of a sudden he's the Yankees again. That's interesting. I feel like this is going to be the Tiger Hero tour. Like not all of us could be down in Augusta, Georgia, you know, the second week of April.

When he comes to our local town, won't it be everybody getting to the venue to show him how much they appreciate, you know, his, his reascendance, his, you know, return to the throne. And, you know, again, with the flavor of the redemption story and, you know, the humanized tiger, don't you think it'll be a hero's welcome everywhere he goes? Oh, no question. I've changed now, including tigers. So the love is still going to be there.

but I think the sense of wonderment is gone. You know, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was part of what fueled the feeling in the air at Augusta was, oh my gosh, can you believe it? Is this really happening? Yeah, it happened. You know, that's gone now. Now it's just, yeah, the love's going to be there, but the awe is dissipated. That it's just going to be more about, you know, it's going to be turning back the clock. The tiger was the favorite, and we expect him to.

to keep winning these tournaments. But yeah, no question. He's going to be the people's choice of where he goes. Yeah. So, Shippie, we will both enjoy watching as the season unfolds. It's already, it feels like, you know,

the embarrassment of riches is one of the storylines we mentioned as the week opened up last week, just in terms of how many great players are playing great golf. And, you know, we had this constant theme, at the top of the master's.

Six out of the eight guys on the final leaderboard were major winners. And we were just looking at all these major winners at the top of the leaderboard each day, golfers who have accomplished incredible things in their own right. And yet Tiger came out and vanquished them all. I think, you know, it feels like we should just sit back and enjoy the ride. What do you think? At the same time, none of those guys matter anymore. You know, like Justin Rose.

his quest to win a second major. Don't even say that name to me. That bum. Yeah, right. I mean, he's a bum. I don't want to hear him anymore. But, you know, can Roy McElroy finally win the master's? Now, nobody cares anymore. Rory who? Can Phil Mickelson, can Phil Mickelson

complete the, you know, his quest at Pebble, nobody cares. It's all, it's Tiger's world now. And the rest of us are just living in it. And so everyone else is now merely a bit, a bit player in his drama. And you know, certainly, you know, all these kids who said, oh, I want Tiger at his best,

but I want to play him at his best. Like, be careful what you wish for now. I mean, we'll see if Tiger's body can sustain this. If the answer is yes, he's the only one that matters yet, you know, yet again. So, I mean, I'm sort of joking. Phil will still be a big story going to Pevel Teens where he just won the clam bake a few months ago. But, you know, this is like turning back to clock about two decades when Tiger was the only story and everyone else was just fighting to be mentioned.

Yeah, man. It's the Tiger show and it's a damn good show. All right, go get Monty the puppy. We'll check in with you in the next couple weeks. Okay, I look forward to you. Thanks, Shippey. Talk to you. All right, my thanks to Brother Shippey,

Alan Shipnuck of Golf.com, Golf Magazine. This upcoming edition of Golf Social with Megan Schuster, presented by our friends at Callaway Golf, makers of the Apex 19 irons used by folks like Zander Shafley. There is a beautiful thin top line, the leading edge on the iron. This is a wonderful, beautiful golf club. Waiting through the turf feels great. And Zander is especially comfortable with distance consistency,

which you need and you want. Let's get into some golf social with Shusty. Four, please. Now driving. Megan Shuster. Wow. Okay. Shusty, look, we can't have a mega Tiger Woods,

mega Masters recap without going through all of what the entire sporting world had to say about the unbelievable, unexpected outcome from Sunday. Megan Schuster, how are you? House, I have not stopped smiling this entire week. What a fantastic, fantastic Masters tournament it was. Yeah, I had to thank Bill Simmons and Chris Vernon for, you know,

helping me in the moment right after the win. We got that recording going pretty quickly. and I was absolutely exhausted. I was physically exhausted. I was emotionally exhausted. I talked about Tiger's historical win about 10 times. It wasn't historical, Shusty. It was historic.

Yes. I'm an English major. I know better. But I just couldn't help myself. I mean, I was spent. I was literally like, you know, on a couch in my basement podcasting.

But, you know, we had to get it out there. I mean, it was important to give everybody the in the, moment reaction. My first question to you, have you recovered? Barely, barely. I will say I had to write a piece about it after the round was over. And after I filed and it went up, I was sitting home alone in my apartment and I just sort of looked up and I was like, I cannot believe that actually happened. It took me probably a full two days for it to really sink into my soul that Tiger Woods won a 15th major and it was at Augusta National. But I'm

I've slowly come to the realization that I did not dream it. And yeah, I'm recovering close. Yeah, I'm, so I'm in the same mode. And that's really the purpose of this podcast. We've now had about 72 hours to let it sink in and have some of the commentariat chime in with, you know, what does it all mean? And what does the future hold?

And, you know, what are our hopes and expectations? Of course, they're the internet. that has, you know, 10,000, will he complete the grand slam? Will he have a grand slam this season? I mean, just, you know, there is unfettered exuberance. The enthusiasm is irrational. But we wouldn't have it any other way, right? No, absolutely.

I feel like that was the only really appropriate response was to be just over the moon. Yeah, over the moon. And over the moon, in the sense of. of a sports redemption story. It's like really the most American kind of redemption story, a true underdog, which is so weird to say about Tiger Woods because you would have never imagined him for the bulk of his career in an underdog kind of capacity. But that underdog brought along with it a vulnerability, a humanity that we hadn't seen. And, you know, the, the truly emotional moment. And it's been.

covered a few times now, but the thing that resonates still to me at this very second on Wednesday is the scene with his kids. Yeah, I will say, I was holding it pretty well together, even when he started to walk up 18. I was, you know, I was doing okay. It was, you know, trudging along. And then all of a sudden, that first flash that they had to his mom standing there with his kids, Earl, obviously not being there. That was the first time. That was the first time. that I just lost it. And it was came out of nowhere. It was totally unexpected.

But it was like the parallels between, you know, his dad's hug after his first ever master's win. Then the hug with his son Charlie and then his mom and then his daughter. It was just, it was really beautiful. It was beautiful. And, you know, it was that version of, of Tiger, that humanity, that vulnerability that, you know, really made it a powerful story for us because he's still. kind of out there.

I'm a well-known public Tiger Truther. And I absolutely adore his golf talent. He is the single biggest driver in terms of my own fanaticism when it comes to golf.

And his ascendance correspond with my interest in golf, even though I'm older than him. I didn't get started with golf until I was in law school in a serious way. So I've been around for the entirety of his career as a fan of his talent. You know, the things that happened in his life and his extraordinarily terrible judgment still plays on, you know, the reputation he has with a significant portion of the American public. Like, it's not like he is a widely beloved sports figure, but notwithstanding, you know, his complicated past, there was pretty much unanimity in terms of the tip of the hat that I saw on Sunday, even from folks that don't necessarily love him for where he's been in his past.

Yeah, I think there was a lot of separating out of like sort of what his story and the part. problems that he's had through his life, a lot of which were self-inflicted. I think there was a bit of a separating out of, you know, legislating the past versus, you know, just appreciating the fact that this is like a remarkable, remarkable athletic achievement. Like I was reading, I think it was a Washington Post story this week where they had interviewed a few different spinal surgeons about, you know, like how this isn't even possible. And one of them had said, you know, when he had this surgery, I would have given him a zero percent chance of being able to do anything like this, like let alone be a competitive golfer again.

So I think from that perspective, it is a remarkable, remarkable physical achievement or remarkable achievement in the world of sports. But yeah, there's definitely, you know, you have to separate out some of his past actions with this exciting story. Yeah. So speaking of exciting stories, you and I are in agreement that this master's delivered in a way, you know, this will go down in history as, you know, a legendary. There are a handful of masters, you know, this, this, this is right there with 1997 and right

there with 1986. And there are a couple of masters preceding that also, where you just say the year and, you know, everybody understands what it means. And we were really off on an incredible foot at the very beginning of the tournament, the outset of the tournament. Every day, the leaderboard was flavored with major winners. I mean, it just had, it was a very major kind of feeling that the storyline we wondered about with all of the great talent, young and old across the board, you know, were guys

going to play great? And really, there was only one bum. And the bum was Justin Rose. And I think, you know, I'm going to be petty about this because I picked him and gave him out as a pick. That dude's a, he's a bum. You won't get me. You know, he stumbled into the number one because he's a top five machine.

And he won the Tour championship at East Lake last year because Tiger won the tournament and essentially kept away the other contenders. Right. And, you know, his one major victory, he did have an unbelievable four iron from the fairway on the 18th hole at Marion. But that was another Phil Mickelson, you have a lot of. U.S. Open that Phil Mickelson could have won and Phil Mickelson didn't win. So I'm down on Justin Rose, but otherwise, an incredible, incredible, incredible series of top performers at the top of their talent. Speaking of top performers at the top of the talent, if we're going to talk a little bit about some of the social aspects, and that's what we do here on golf social with Shusty,

we got to start with Phil. I mean, we were treated to a legendary Phil Mickelson video this week. We really were. And the thing coming into Augusta is you never really know what you're going to get from a social media perspective, right? Because phones aren't allowed out on the course. You're not getting a lot of like live tweeting, a lot of live images, video that you're not getting across your, you know, computer screen or TV screen, wherever you're watching the actual broadcast. So I didn't expect to be blessed, so thoroughly blessed with this video from Phil. Ahead of his Saturday round, he decided to record and post a video of him driving up Magnolia Lane,

heading to his parking spot for the day, just and to give viewers a bit of an intro into his mindset for the round, some context. He also did that by captioning this video, quote, hitting bombs and attacking pins, which is just really, really peak Phil. I mean, I'm dying. It just kills me. Keep going, please. So I don't know if you want to like power rank the most ridiculous things he said or just, you know, talk about them in general.

But I'm happy for whichever strategy you want to go with because there is really a lot to unpack for a video that was just over a minute long. Let's just unpack it all. And I want to make an observation at the outset. One of the truly most unbelievable aspects of the whole thing is he pulled it off while driving. He did. The camera's perfect. He's so super composed.

He's driving looking at the camera. What a stud! I mean, I'm telling you, it's peak, no fucks, Phil. It really is just, it's mind-blowing. So just that at the outset of the staging of it is mind-blowing. And let's do the substance, please. Yeah, yeah. So you're right.

You're right. It really is a miracle that he did not, you know, bump anybody, bump any cars like bump a magnolia tree yeah he timed it perfectly also to pull into his parking spot parked the car and then sign off it was it was just great execution i mean it just stud stuff i mean just big big stud stuff it's unbelievable it was great it was great so so starting just off the shoot so he you know introduces himself where he's driving we get a lovely shot of him going up magnolia lane um he starts off with the heat right away house he the first subject that he wants to tackle is the fact that he's paired with Matt Coocher for Saturdays round.

And obviously, you know, Cocher has had his share of media attention this year, specifically about how he reportedly shorted his caddy in a win in 2018 at Maya Coba, which was, you know, just really something. So he takes a shot at Coochre early and says, you know, obviously in this pairing, we're not going to have any side action today because I'd probably see like 0.06% if I did win. Here's the thing about that line. That's the line that I saw. Everybody was hitting me with it.

It was just, that was like the most viral line because it is such a unusual thing to have to see players go at each other. And yet Phil's legend is his shit talking. I mean, his legacy, one of the top three things that he will be known for for his, you know, decades long. career on tour will be his shit talking, his administration of the needle, as they call it. And it was such a beautiful glimpse into what he's capable of, the sincerity with which he delivered that line. The timing of it was brilliant. I mean, the dude has some genuine comic timing knack.

There's a real talent there. Yeah. And it was just subtle enough that, like, you could tell he wasn't really trying to hammer the point home. It felt like something you would like tell a buddy. Like, yeah, you know, I'm playing with this guy today. Like, won't be doing any side bets. Like, it wasn't like he was trying to make a thing about it, which I think is why it was so great just because it was so well practiced. Yes, exactly.

Yeah. So from there, from the Kutcher comment, he decided to talk about his sartorial choices for the day. He said, quote, wearing all black being aggressive. So right off the bat, he's, you know, basically explaining that he's going to, go after some pins today. You're going to try to catch up to the rest of the field. I actually really supported this sartorial choice because it felt like literally everyone else on the course on Saturday was wearing some variation of a lilac or lavender color. Indeed. Which is lovely, but not when you have, you know, 50 golfers on the course wearing the same thing. So I supported his choices there.

Me too. I mean, and he gave us the explainer for it. I swear to God, if he did this at least once a tournament, but seriously once every round is he approached. There's a whole thing there. He could, I would pay for it. I mean, I would subscribe. If he sets up an online, you know, here's 60 seconds of me before each thing. Here's what I'm going after. My sartorial choice, my matchup with whoever I'm paired with.

And my approach to the day, I mean, I'd pay. 10 bucks a week for that. Yeah. 40 bucks a month for no fucks, Phil. I'm in. It's great content. Excellent content. The best content.

And so then he gets to the whole point of the video, which is basically to explain his strategy for the day. And that's, quote, hitting bombs. And we're not talking about like lowercase bombs here. How is the way he says it. You can tell he means uppercase bombs. Like he is ready to go out there and drive this golf course. He talks about the fact that the night before he was recording a 125.1 club

head speed, which he says is potentially the highest he's ever recorded in his career. I mean, it's monstrous. Yeah. That's Kepka level speed. Yeah. And then he goes into sort of a Bryson-esque breakdown on how longer drives are apparently only really important at Augusta National, which not to knock the data behind this, because it does sound fairly convincing and like it actually came from a scientific study.

But you could convince me that long drives are important on every golf course. But anyway, I appreciated Phil giving people the lesson and a little bit of, insight into his long bomber strategy. So did I. I mean, this is the thing. It's the, it was the, uh, Danuma as and, and, um, you, you said it already. The, uh, video ending as he parked, it seemed not practiced, right? Like, it, it seemed like he, he knew how long the drive was going to be and he had in his mind exactly how long the video ought to be. Yeah. And so, um, it, it looked like a first take to me. Do you agree with this? I do. I do, actually. I saw a lot floating around like, oh, you know, this looks

pretty practiced, the whole timing of the thing. I saw somebody threw around, like, I wonder if he had to do a lap to make sure that he got all of the timing correct, which is a funny image, even though I don't think it's true. But yeah, I would agree. It seemed like he just sort of, I mean, he's been to Augusta National how many times he probably knows about how long he's got to film this video on his drive. Well, and maybe if we wanted to give him credit for being a little bit planful, if we didn't want to say he's the ultimate spontaneous stud, he had the opportunity all week to sit down and have somebody time, how long that drive up is at whatever speed he was going and say, okay, this is going to be exactly, you know, 105, 65 seconds of chat and, you know,

execute perfectly. But what a way to get into the master's weekend, right? It was great. It was the perfect primer to just really get you ready for the day. So we had to cover it because we cannot put this legendary masters to bed without really recognizing a true legendary master at the top of his game, the top of his social game. Absolutely.

All right. Well, let's talk a little bit about what you observed. both kind of in the moment when Tiger won and then, you know, since then, in the way of the social outpouring. Yeah, it was, it was really nice. I mean, almost immediately, you know, the golf world sort of started sending out there congratulations. Like Brent Snutiger sent a really nice message out on Twitter. Rory McElroy followed it up saying, you know, very few people know what Tiger's really

been through to get back. It was really cool to watch him win. Tigers noted buddy J.T. had some congrats to throw out to. And then it was really cool to see that sort of expand outward outside of the golf world. You know, we see a lot of outpourings after teams win championships or players win individual accolades. But I was thinking about this a lot over the weekend and the last few days. And I don't know if I've seen sort of the completely like widespread sports fully outpouring like this before. Like we got LeBron tweets.

Kobe was tweeting about Tiger. Steph Curry was saying, you know, greatest comeback in sports history. Like Bruce Ariens, the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said that he wanted some of Tiger's gum. Like, it was really kind of in a cross sport across the world outpouring, which was really, really amazing. I mean, you know, former president Barack Obama chimed in. Part of the thing that sort of jumped out at me,

now that we had a little bit of time to process is the significance, you know, it's been talked about how his first master's win, his first major win was in 1997. And here we are in 2019. That covers three generations potentially, right? Right. It covers such a swath of American sporting public. and he finally was able to show this whole generation of player that was really inspired by him. You know, the current group of folks in their mid-20s all to a man talk about the inspiration that Tiger was to them as they grew up and what they wanted to do. And, you know, they've all modeled their fitness regimes. They all understand how important fitness is.

and they're, you know, kind of the aggressive style that they all play. They all claim that the tiger was the ultimate inspiration for that. But also a generation of golf fans that have come up with this group of 20-somethings also, golf fans that might be fans of Rory, golf fans that might be fans of Ricky Fowler, you know, and golf fans that, you know, could be fans of like Dustin Johnson, although he's a little bit older. Yeah. Those folks all got to see Tiger really for the first time at the true height of Tiger Powers.

His victory at Eastlake was monumental because it confirmed that he could do it. But that event was against, you know, it was a 30 player field. It's kind of a specialized thing. And, you know, it just doesn't carry the weight. It's not a major. And, you know, the scene is iconic. We'll always go down in the Tiger Legacy story of, you know, thousands of people thronged on the 18th Fairway surrounding him and Rory McElroy.

And as they walk up to the green, you know, they have to basically break out of the adoring fans. It really was, you know, what felt like I didn't, I wasn't alive in time to see Arnie's Army. And those old days with Arnold Palm. where the fans, you know, kind of were, could all stream behind. But that throwback moment. But this was of an entirely different vibe, an entirely different feel. You know, the consequences were, were so much, you know, more pronounced. And just the fact that he proved he could do it again.

And, and showing a group. of sporting fans who'd never seen it before, what it felt like, what that back nine, what that 12th hole to the 18th hole at Augusta National on a Sunday, you know, the true, the truly like mystical kind of possibilities there, that's something that I'm going to chew on and stew on and enjoy going forward. Yeah. And you're totally right. It is it's a feeling when he's going through those holes, it is a feeling that is specific only to Tiger. And it's something that I haven't felt probably since 2005

when he won his last master's. And it was really amazing to, I think it hit me for the first time really on 15. And I know you guys talked about this on Sunday a little bit. After he had sent that putt in close and it was clear that he was going to birdie, I sort of looked up at the leaderboard and said, you know, all these guys that are chasing him,

the running out of holes, he was so locked in that it really hit me like this, this feeling that I haven't had, you know, in 14 years that assurance that Tiger is going to win this major. And it was just really, really cool to have that back. And I think, you know, we talk a lot about how the effect Tigers had on young golfers, you know, making the sport cool, making an entire generation excited to play golf. But I think it was also, you know, he inspired people. across sports just with his singular focus and that singular greatness that he achieved. It was amazing to see Michael Phelps, you know, standing behind him, I think, on 16. So cool.

So cool. An all-time picture, like two of the real goats of their sport in proximity to each other. And, you know, it's not like Phelps knew that Tiger clinching the Masters to win his 15th major was going to happen in front of his 15th major was going to happen in front of his. front row seat on 16. And I was, I can't remember who it was that I was exchanging notes with. You know, I was live commentating with the, the, the pod father and some other folks. But it was basically like, as he approached 16, I wrote to somebody, if he stuffed this, it's over. Yeah. And, you know, it really felt, I got chills when the ball landed. because it was exactly in the proper spot.

And then it became a genuine possibility that it was going to be a whole in one. But holy mother F, like how could the sports gods have Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods within five feet of each other? Two of the like really, and it's a great comparison because of how many generations Phelps excellence spanned and how he distinguished himself as, you know, the swimming greatest of all time. And, you know, he had his own demons that he had to conquer. Right.

How can it be that these two guys are right next to each other? Sometimes it's just like an embarrassment of riches. Like, do we really deserve this? It was one of the coolest images like I could have thought to have. Like, if I had pictured in my head, like, what would be the most amazing thing to see? Like, that would definitely be up there. I don't even think I could have created that picture in my head. The only thing that would have taken it to another level is if Michael Jordan was sitting next to him.

Then we would have lost our, yeah, then we would have lost our minds. Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and Tiger on 16 as Tiger clenches, you know, essentially the tournament, that would have been, I would have needed to be resuscitated. That's just the way it would have been. That's probably the only thing that could top it. And then one last social thing that I just wanted to note, I know. I know you and I both probably follow Tiger Tracker. The Twitter account has been active since 2012. If you're not familiar, he tweets about all of Tiger's rounds, his health updates, meme updates,

basically anything and everything that's related to Tiger Woods. As things were coming to ahead on Sunday, it was clear that Tiger, you know, was more than likely going to win. Obviously, you're not allowed to have phones out on Augusta National. So the Tiger Tracker was stuck inside to tweet updates to, you know, give people information about what was going on in the round. And he at one point was tweeting out, like considering whether to leave and to go out and actually watch this person that he's been tracking for seven years win this. They decided to stay in, decided to tweet through it. But it was just really kind of a cool moment to see this person who is basically job has been Tiger Woods for seven years. see them following Tiger as he got back to the height of his powers. It was great.

Yeah, I mean, it was a real validation and redemption for the folks behind that. Or I don't know if it's, is it a single individual responsible for the entirety of that? I've always thought it was a singular individual, but I don't know that I have confirmation on that. I feel it's like to me it takes a village just because of the expanse of it. but what like that that that that that that person can't possibly have imagined and yet I bet that person or that team did imagine. You know what I mean? Like you can't possibly indulge the possibility. And this is the thing when we were doing, you know, previews at the beginning of last week.

It just felt silly to speculate that Tiger was going to go win. Right. And yet most of the American betting public didn't think it was silly. because they all went out and collected and, you know, damn near put three sports books out of business. Now that's over. I'm overstating it. But folks have,

you know, some of those books have reported there's single biggest losses in a sports day ever. And that's what happens when an overwhelmingly popular favorite goes out and takes care of business. It just felt too, it felt ludicrous to me as Monday and Tuesday of last week, we're kind of rolling around. But God, it's so, so fulfilling. Speaking of fulfilling, you and I are going to have the privilege of doing the epic

flash pick of the week. The epic flash driver brought to us by our wonderful friends at Callaway, already with more worldwide driver wins so far this year than any other driver models. Our boy, Frankie Onions, Frankie Molinari has one in his bag. And boy, did he play great. It wasn't his driver on the 12th hole that ended things for him. Zander Shafley has one of these bad boys in his bag. He played great all week and continues to remind everybody what a big game hunter he is.

He's going to be putting some kind of jacket on his back. There's some major, you know, spoils in his immediate future. There have already been 10 worldwide Callaway driving. driver wins by non-staffers who choose to play the driver based on performance. Shusty, for our purposes, they use artificial intelligence and machine learning and ran a whole bunch of simulations to figure out the best way to promote faster ball speeds. I think our boy, Frankie Onions, wished one of the simulations included where to hit the ball on 12, you know, that might be some of the artificial intelligence, that machine learning.

But you and I are going to do our epic flash pick of the week. How many more majors for Tiger Woods this year? And already, you know, it's only been 72 hours. You know, can he knock out the Grand Slam this year? I mean, the expectations are through the roof. You're more measured. You're more measured than I am, that's for sure. How many more majors for Tiger this year?

We're playing at Bethpage in less than a month. The U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in June and then off to Ireland, Northern Ireland, at the end of July. What's your number? As much as I would love to go all in and say, give me the grand slam, my number is going to be one. I think he has, like he said, a lot of expectations now with two places that he's won majors at in the past coming up on the schedule. I will give him one of those, I think, to get him to 16. So you and I, as happenstance may have it, are in lockstep agreement. I also believe he is going to win another major this year.

I believe it will only be one. Now, do you have a perspective on which one he's going to win? I have one that I would like for him to win, which is the U.S. Open at Pubble Beach. And I will say that because I think it would add an interesting new wrinkle to the Tiger Phil rivalry. If Tiger sneaks one in steals the one major that Phil has left right out from under his nose, I think that would be pretty great. Okay. I like this.

I am rooting for, and honestly believe there's no reason he can't do it, Beth Page Black, the PGA championship in less than a month. because of two reasons. In the first place, New York is going to go absolutely bonkers. It is going to be bananas at Bethpage State Park with Tiger. The thing to root for, I'm knocking on wood right now. If he's healthy over the next 30 days and it doesn't feel like asking for too much for that to be the case. And he doesn't get worn down from the great hero parade that he has to go through over the next two weeks.

If he's able to get himself back to kind of the discipline and the schedule, you know, the routine of preparing for another major over the next 30 days, I just think that the combination of having one at Beth Page, the way that those crowds are going to carry him, buoy him. And, you know, the shot at history, like if he starts off this season with two major wins, oh my God. The sporting world is going to lose its effing mind. Forget about us golf fans. The sporting world and the gambling world is just going to be on fire. So that's what I'm personally rooting for. And I can't come up with a reason why he can't do it. It's just, you know, life will intervene with whatever life is going to intervene with between now and then.

I just hope he shows up once again kind of at the top of his powers, completely refreshed, re-energized. I know when he gets there and sees those crowds, he's going to be, you know, it's going to be electric. So that part of it I'm not worried about. Any energy lag he might have, the first tea at Beth Page Black on that Thursday is going to be bananas. It'll be pandemonium in New York that weekend. Pandemonium in New York. I'm going to try and get myself out there. At a minimum, that means like a couple good dinners in New York City.

And you know how I like to do that. I do. All right. Well, we've covered it all. Thank you for coming on this mega Tiger Woods recap. Tiger Wins the Masters podcast. We had to do it. I appreciate it. I'll talk to you again in a few days. Yeah. Talk to you later, House. Thanks, Shusty. All right, my birdie buddies. We had to get this one up just to keep trying to make sense out of something that doesn't make any sense at all. We're back next week. In fact, we have Fairway Rolling shows. all the way through the PGA Championship. If we're lucky next week, Amanda Ballionis shall join us to talk about her experience at Augusta National as well as help us forecast what to expect out of the Zurich Classic, which is one of the most fun events on tour. And I'm especially interested in talking about some New Orleans food. by Par Saving Pals, look for a new edition of Fairway Rowland at the beginning of next week. Until then, please hit it straight.