Fairway Rollin' - The PGA in 2021, Favorite Picks, and Looking to the Farmers With Kevin Clark

Episode Date: January 26, 2021

Fairway Rollin' returns in 2021 with Joe House and Nathan Hubbard to take a look at the exciting new tournaments and prospects of the PGA. The Ringer's Kevin Clark joins to discuss the top golf events of the past five weeks as well as look ahead to what the key tournaments this season will be, including the Ryder Cup, the Farmers Insurance Open, and more (34:14). They also break down who they think will have a great, good, and bad season this year (63:09). Host: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Guest: Kevin Clark Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Friends and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. My birdie buddies. My par saving pals. My eagle enthusiasts. We've done it. We have arrived.

It's 2021. It is time for some fairway. The golf podcast on the Ringer podcast Network. I am your starter Joe House. It is the 2021 season premiere. greatly appreciate all the enthusiastic feedback on the Instagram and the Twitter saying, hey, starter house,

the golf season has commenced. Why aren't there fairway rollins? Well, my friends, we are now at a major venue. We have the major players. This is our tradition. This is our way. And by the way,

we don't compete with football. There are football games on every weekend up until now. Let's get going. The first tee is wide open. And of course we have our PGA tour correspondent on the ground. Nathan Hubbard joining us. And as is our way, a special guest, a very special guest to kick off 2021 properly. Speaking of football, you know this homie from his extraordinary work on the ringer NFL beat all things football.

Kevin Clark has agreed to lower his standards and come on the golf podcast. Clarkie, what's up, buddy? What's going on, man? I'm so excited for this. Yes, yes. I mean, folks, no, you've been on a couple times. You wrote a story in the lead-up to the Masters about Bryce and Deshaambeau. That was excellent.

And, you know, as soon as there was a weekend where there was no football, like, let's get Carkey. Here we go. We have a weekend where he has a break. Let's drag him into our golf world. Nate Dogg, speaking of dragging into golf world, you were just at the American can express out in Palm Springs. Look, man, I really thought that this sickness that has plagued us

would end in 2021, and yet top 10 Tony is still afflicted with the mediocre Sundays, and it hasn't gone away in 21. I will say,

and this will be the only vignette like this that I share in the season premiere, I did on Sunday, as I prepared my vast NFL ticket across the board of bets, wagers, props, sides,

totals, I looked at the golf matchups and one of the matchups on there was Tony Vee now against Siwu Kim and I bet on Siwu. I just couldn't bring myself to put a fiber on on Fina. I couldn't do it. It was the right bet. See,

Wu Kim is a horse for courses, man. He won at Wyndham and he almost won again last year. He won the players. And this course, the stadium course is really a Pete Dye course that was inspired by Sawgrass. So he had his eyes on this one and you made the right bet. I was bummed for Max because, you know, Max was saying all the right things leading up to Sunday, just didn't have it, had a tough go of it. But I think I want to zig on this one a little bit because Tony's getting pooped on and now the cat's out of the bag and he's going to have to answer. the questions for the entire year.

It's probably going to be one of the storylines of the year, which I hope not, because that would be a boring-ass year. But I actually think Tony's pretty close. I think Tony had a cathartic public communication about his struggles on this and indicated that he gives a shit. He's got a new caddy.

He's working on his game. I just wouldn't read too much. The Amex, it's a good tournament. With no fans, it's like a weird golf tournament in a retirement community. And everybody, out there was experimenting. Matthew Wolfe had a crazy new driver

that he was hitting far as hell, but not straight. You know, a bunch of guys were adding weird-ass clubs to the bag. This was like the equivalent of the NFL preseason. Scotty Sheffler had new clubs, and in fact, two weeks ago,

took a club out of his bag that he'd been using since high school, okay, because it broke. And I didn't know that, I bet on Scotty Sheffler, I feel like a moron. I wish I knew it was experimentation week going into it.

I'll say that much. Well, let's just tell all the birdie buddies out there. Look, the American Express, when we get to this point in the calendar, you know, there's two events in Hawaii. Those feel good. It feels so good to kick off the new year every year at Kappaloa. It just feels like, ah, this is the way we golf fans, you know, it just puts us in a frame of mind, especially on the East Coast. We get to see the beautiful floor and fauna of Kappalua. Then Hawaii, you move into the California swing, the American Express.

Just remember, if you're in Palm Springs, that TBC venue there, it's experimentation week. So don't go too crazy. And that's part of why, you know, we waited on the podcast to break out the season premiere this week. Big boy venue. The big boys are here. You know, we're ready to take down the whole season and all the storylines. But Nate, you're talking about experimentation at the American Express. And the single most interesting thing that happened to that golf tournament,

involves a Hubbard. Do you care to try and share with all of our friends out there what the hell Mark Hubbard was up to as he putted with a technique that I think has he called it the snail or is that the name that you called?

You came up with. Long live the snail. Long live the snail. I was with him for a lot of his round on Thursday. He had a good round. He was five under through 17 and things became less good for the next 19 holes.

And by the time he got to his 18th hole, he unfortunately was going to miss the cut. And he's always flirted with the cut there for some reason. He took a break and he played all right in Hawaii. Last year he was DFL in Hawaii. So it was an upgrade to finish, I don't know, 30 second or something last week. And then he just, you know, one of the things that you work on is a golfer. and we should talk about the angry golfers video that came out of Europe,

is how you channel that energy when you know is just not going to happen and how you act a pro the whole time. Well, Mark's okay at that. He didn't throw any clubs. He didn't throw balls. He didn't yell at his caddy. But anytime he's frustrated or anytime he has a put to beat me, since we were little, he breaks out the snail.

And it speaks to, I will say, he's done the snail a bunch before. But one of the things I noticed on the course this year was there were a lot of cameras everywhere. And it felt like maybe, just maybe, the Golf Channel was trying to capture footage of all the players. Many, many other tournaments that I have watched, you would not catch if somebody did the snail. But to their credit, I think, on Thursday, Friday broadcasts, when there isn't really much to talk. they're trying to capture some footage of the other guys and start to tell stories and find the little things like this that resonated. So he's done the snail on course, actually on camera at tournaments before, but for whatever reason, I think the fact that he really made a massive

face lamenting the miss is what sent it viral. And it's like, you know, it just caught on. You should see his, we were looking at his DMs because he came to my house for the weekend. And he just got absolutely blown up. He got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of messages. of people in their backyard putting courses doing the snail. So long live the snail. All very supportive, right? 100% supportive. We nothing.

I mean, there's the one guy who's like, is that respecting the game? And it's Thursday at the Amex. It's like there's no fans. There's like three old guys drinking, you know, Heineken's on their front porches watching the thing.

Everybody should have to do the snail. It would make the Amex more fun. Well, that's the whole point. of this. I mean, at this point in the season, having a little bit of fun, especially with golf going up against the NFL on Sunday, that's what this early portion of the season is all about. We only took about a four, five week break since the last fairway roll in podcast. So not a ton of stuff has really gone down. We have three 2021 winners, Harris, English, Kevin Nah, and Siwu Kim.

shout out Kevin Na, another old guy and, you know, another continuing, another win for Kevin Nah and Harris English, he's been due because he had a great fall. So that came as absolutely no surprise. And the only other sort of thing that I thought

was really noteworthy is Tiger introduces his son to the world after we all got to go crazy on social media about seeing Charlie Woods' swing and the eagle that he made. self-eagle, Tiger wouldn't had back surgery. But let's go ahead and talk about Tiger Woods. That's a storyline for 2021, right?

So Kev, we are looking at Tiger. We're wondering whether or not it's realistic to hope that he's going to get to win number 83. Give us, you know, you're a guy that has the ability to kind of process what injuries might mean to various, the impacts of injuries on careers from the NFL side. What's your sense of Tiger? Yeah. So first of all, big picture,

this is disappointing because of just, you know, when I look at the Super Bowl in two weeks, I'm thinking about how lucky we are to see Mahomes against Brady. And life is never that perfect and neat, right, where you literally see the greatest quarterback of all time

go against the most talented quarterback right now who has a chance to be the greatest quarterback of all time, right? We never see that kind of thing. The heavyweight boxing division, you never see that kind of thing. where the greats just overlap like that, and we get to see them in the same ring. And I'm not saying any young player right now is Mahomes,

but what I am saying is I want to see when these young guys are taking the leap. I want to see them paired with Tiger on a Sunday and a major or a Saturday and going through that experience. And so when I think about this year being the year of the young guns, I think Tiger, from my perspective, it was so exciting to me for the idea that Tiger could be relevant that year. And so that's why, like Nathan, I'm terrified of this whole thing. I will say that there's a chance.

This could be a necessary step. Noda Begay said around the time of the surgery that, first of all, he's hitting balls already, but also that last year, his swing speed, Tiger's swing speed was down to 115 miles per hour, which is, according to him, the first time in 30 years, it's been that low. So maybe this is just a step in the right direction. It was necessary. If he didn't have this, there's a possibility that it could have been worse. So I'm taking a slightly optimistic view.

What I'm not doing is making any rosy predictions. I'm out of the business of predicting what Tiger's back surgeries will have the fallout from those because they've just gone in so many different directions over the years. But what I will say is, I think there's a chance that this is a necessary step towards some improvement for this year. Well, you know, I love to be glass half full. Go ahead, Nate. I think the reason that Tom Brady's in the Super Bowl

is because he's never eaten a tomato and doesn't drink and has taken just impeccable care of himself. And I think the reason that Tiger's having his fifth back surgery is because he hasn't done all those things and because he's pushed his body in unnatural ways. I mean, we know that Tom doesn't pound the weights because he believes in flexibility and pliability. Tiger has now for, you know, 40 years plus put just unnatural torque

and force on his body. And I think like at a macro level, the Tiger story isn't important because maybe he's going to come back and give us another master's moment. We all just need to just appreciate that master's moment for what it was, which was that beautiful swan song, just like when Jack won the master's in 86. But I think the story this year has got to be,

we got to take the tiger needle out of our arm and figure out what's next in golf. Last year we had some little, little, you know, percolating storylines of all these guys who were great at the top and maybe a field of 8 to 10 really great golfers. None of them are or going to be Tiger Woods. And so both from the tour on down to the players

down to the fan level, this back surgery says to me, you know, Tiger Woods, he may not be Phil Mickelson, who's now really just more of an MC than a pro golfer, but he's not, you know, he's not walking through that door, to borrow the phrase.

And so we got to start figuring out what's next for golf, what keeps the fans engaged, what is the structure that works for a sport going forward where a lot of people haven't had to try because as long as Tiger's there, somebody's on their couch, watching. That's gone. Now what? It's a great question. We have seen some of the characters

on tour fill this void and no character has been bigger, and I mean that literally, than Bryson Deschambeau. Kevin, the subject of your affection, I think it's fair to say, right before the Masters. And we did have some, you know, insight into. to what happened to Bryson. Bryson shared his theory as to what happened to him physically at the Masters with dizzy spells and, you know, some misfiring going on in his head. What are you anticipating this year out of the incredible bulk? So, I mean, when you say affection, I wrote a column basically saying that I like Bryson D. Shambo.

And part of that is because, and that was a contrarian take in November, by the way, and it still is. I think that he's taking advantage of the way the game is played right now. We didn't get mad. I mean, I guess some people did at Billy Bean for saying, let's value on base percentage in 2001. And we shouldn't get mad at the fact that distance has become almost everything in pro golf. And that Bryson D. Chimbo has built his life around that, literally. And he's just changed everything about his game.

I mean, I think there are certain things. I saw a stat that he basically was on a record-setting pace for putts within 10 feet last year. So it's not like he's just some long drive champion here. This isn't happy Gilmore. but I'm expecting more of the same. I'm expecting the fact that some of these young guys who are coming up who are hitting the crap out of the ball who aren't trying to bulk up. This is just what they are, whether that's Matthew Woolf or whomever.

I think those guys are going to be more in contentioned. I mean, I was looking at the stats. Bryson's leading the tour in drives by seven yards. But when you look at it last year, he was in a group of guys who were fairly packed together. And so it's not like he's got some huge advantage off the T versus everybody on tour. where I think by the end of the year, that pack will be a little closer. And so if you're asking me what I think is going to happen,

I think he wins some tournaments. I don't think he wins a major this year just because of the way things are set up. And I think maybe he changes his persona a little bit. My advice to Bryson, this is the only time I will ever do this for an athlete. I'm a journalist. I want them to talk. I want them to give interviews to me or whomever. I want them to come on Fairway Rolling.

I don't want Bryson DiChambo to talk this year. He should never talk. The fact that he's able to go. 360 off the T and is not cool is because of how he talks about it. He does it in such an uncool way that he becomes someone whose cool attributes are undone, right? He should just be this dominant force who never says anything, does a Marshawn Lynch thing. Maybe he dresses an all black. He does an undertaker gimmick.

I don't know what it is, but he's got to work on this persona because he should be considered cool with the way his game is played. Well, Nate, I know that you have for some perspective. on the Bryson persona. And I want to hear them. But before we get there, I'm also interested in an ongoing conversation you and I have been having,

which is it's tied to the tiger point. Do we think that this is sustainable for Bryson physically? Like part of the Marvel last year was putting on all that weight, a young human being putting on all that weight in such a compressed time frame and having, you know, some athletic success in his chosen field. But, like, there's no precedent for that being sustainable, right? Kevin made the good point, which is that there's other guys who hit the ball as far as Bryson. Cameron Champ was out driving Bryson in Capulua when we last saw him.

But to your question house, I was anxiously anticipating what he was going to say in Capulua because the time we saw him before Capulua, he was walking off the... the masters telling us he was having unexplained dizzy spells and he really sounded concerned about his health. Well, when they asked him, hey, what was happening at Capulua, he said two things. One is he said his brain was not engaging in the right way, which I think that's the Kyrie, that's the Kyrie Irving flat earth. Hey, maybe just stay quiet for the season point I think that Kevin was making. But the second thing he said is, hey, you know, I'm starting to focus on my gut health because, you know, maybe I put on a lot of weight too quickly. And that was the part

where I went, oh, God, this is, from a physical standpoint, got the Tiger Woods problem written all over. I mean, yes, if you eat drywall for 18 months, you're going to have some gut health issues. And so it says that, I mean, you look at his Instagram, what he has led us in on is it's not like he's in a in a lab with a bunch of scientists even though we call him the science he's in a freaking apartment or or duplex in Dallas with a bunch of donkeys making instagram videos and he's just pounding protein shakes because it was the fastest way to build up the ball the point is like that coupled with the violence of his swing that so he doesn't shred his knee it relies on his left foot releasing when he swings sometime he's going to catch a piece of turf and that knee

not going to turn or his back is going to tweak. I just don't think at 27 years old right now that this swing is going to be sustainable for 10 years. And Tiger is a harbinger of things to come for the guys who are just swinging out of their shoes. And so for me, you know, we ask, what are we going to see ahead with Bryson? He's going to have to learn the reality of the way the human body works and find ways to avoid the kinds of injuries that are breaking down Tiger Woods. By the way, Phil Mickelson, what's the, you know, he had arthritis. I think House, we talked about that offline. But other than that, the dude can still put his leg above his head like a racquet.

Tiger is now limited in what he can do. We're not going to be seeing him play a whole lot of golf going forward because the body just can't sustain it. And that's the path that if Bryson's not careful, he's on right now. I will say if Bryson wants to be likable, the most direct path to that is to become a United States Rider Cup hero.

All will be forgiven. He will no longer be considered a dork if he just becomes our Ian Polter and just dominates Europe for an entire weekend. That's my note for Bryson. And he jumped into the stands at the last one, remember?

But it was such a dorky thing to begin with. And I think he was hanging out with the paid fans. Yes. Well, this is, not good. There is a conundrum with Bryson. And I do want to pick up on one aspect of what you described, Nate, because the thing with

Bryson that to me makes him so compelling is his relentless curiosity, his pursuit of innovation. And I think there really could be a moment. And maybe it's not that far off in the distant future where the Phil Mickelson model dawns on him as being something that he would like to try. He's tried, you know, he's taken the weight gain and the speed proposition as far as he's likely to take it. I mean, he's working with Kyle Berkshire, the World Long Drive champ, and there have been some technique lessons that he's gleaned from that. But I think, you know, I give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of understanding how sustainable that kind of swing is and him taking advantage of being the,

the young man that he is. And I wouldn't be surprised if like in 18 months there's a pivot. And we see him at yoga class. We see him in Lulu Lemons. We see him, you know, go and I hope he's not driving the Bentley anymore. I mean, that the Instagram, it's almost like a parody. It feels like a parody to me. Delete, delete, delete. If he's going to learn anything from Mickelson, I hope it is how to be a well-liked corporate sponsor because right now he's just struggling on that front. But that's okay. I'm with you, House. He has been doubted forever because of his personality, but there is one thing that you can't doubt, and that is the drive and his openness, the growth mindset to innovate. And what I can't wait to see in the next five

years is whether there is a generation of 10 to 16-year-old golfers right now who are using equipment like him who are emulating his swing? Is he having that impact on the game? It's really hard to tell yet. It doesn't seem replicable. So I hope that we don't see kids trying to swing out of their shoes. Although, you know, part of the thing that has occurred and one of the storylines for this year, as it's been a storyline of the last several years, is the distance debate, the potential

rollback of equipment. And for sure, we have examples of young. players who came up playing equipment that permitted them to swing freely with aggression and without regard for the consequences because of all of the forgiveness, particularly in the driver composition, you see guys of stature that you wouldn't imagine would hit the ball 320 and average over 300 yards, guys like Xander Shafley, guys like Justin Thomas, who the combination of technique and feeling so comfortable with the equipment. They never had to experience hitting a ball five miles off of planet Earth because

the equipment, you know, always brought the ball back, you know, in some respects. So that, that ongoing aspect seems to be at play still and it'll feed into the distance debate that, you know, is an ongoing conversation in one of the storylines for this season as always. And And especially because this season, there are a couple of moments of accountability. We are going to get, I think, the distance report from the governing bodies that they've been talking about, the insight report or whatever they were calling it. So that will be some feedback on what the governing bodies think is a way for tackling this conundrum that they're faced with. I will say this.

The experience of 2020, which was golf being a recreational activity, a leisure activity, that the whole world could safely participate in, and the numbers across the board in terms of equipment purchases, I think the solution that could be out there, I want to play equipment that helps me enjoy the game. and that's always going to be the case. And I think that's true across the board for all recreational players that have the benefit of enjoying it through these quarantine times. I think the most likely nearest term thing that could show up in the pro game is a ball rollback. And I think if you ask me to gamble on who's going to be the first mover on that, I would say the Masters. What do you think about that?

I am in agreement with you. It's been 21 years since the ProV1 debut, which is seen as sort of the BC and AD of ball advancements. And I think that the distance debate is so interesting to me because it reminds me a little bit, a little bit of the spread offense thing in the NFL where you have an entire generation now. I mean, as I said, it's been 21 years.

If you're a young golfer in college now, you've only known distance advancements every year for your entire life. you're playing a different type of game. And so if you're going to change the rules or you're going to do something different with the equipment or whatever, you have to take into account that the entire golf pipeline is built on this and guys have built their swings around it and their games around it. And maybe they're focused on off the tee instead of a short game or putting or whatever it is because they've played by these rules their entire lives. And so I think that there's a lot of unintended consequences. It could shape who's playing pro golf in three or four years when you look at the young guys now.

but I do think that the ball is the easiest way to do it because I just don't think you could change equipment and make those wholesale changes immediately. I'm in agreement that the Masters is going to, if anyone's going to make those changes, it would be them instead of them modifying the course. They don't want to keep doing that. I don't think there's a bunch of courses around America

who want to have to extend their holes and start buying land across the street because there's going to be 50 Bryson D. Shambos coming into the pro golf in three. years. Okay. That's not an outcome anybody wants. I think you have to do something with the ball and I think you have to start doing it this year. COVID obviously took a lot of the research back a year that was announced around March, April. They were going to kind of press pause on that. I think you go full steam ahead this year and figure out when it's to be done.

Yeah, I agree. We're out of real estate. And Jack, Jack Nicholas's comments about the ball around his tournament, I think really put the pressure on all the governing bodies to step up. And we've even heard something from Tiger Woods, who I think is watching these guys. He's now 20, 30, 40 yards behind the other two people in his threesome on Thursday and Friday. And he's starting to go, all right, you know, I benefited from physical fitness. Now these guys are benefiting from technology. We've got to start curbing the technology so that it really becomes about athletics and not who has the fanciest clubs. Well, I do have an observation to make. It's a a question. I'm curious to your guys' reaction to this. The generation that I think of players that we

currently regard as like the young guns now, and I'm talking about Colin Warcawa, Victor Hovlin, Sung J. M., Scotty Sheffler, C. Wu Kim, you were reminded of how young he is. These are all guys in between the ages of 20 and 25. And then, of course, Matthew Wolf, I'm not sure if I mention him or not. Many of those guys, the thing that has shocked the world, so to speak, in terms of the success they're having, has been their ball striking, their accuracy with irons in their hands. Now, Matthew Wolfe hits the living daylights out of the golf ball. So he's an outlier in terms of what I'm trying to get at. But I'm curious, Kevin, when you look at these young guys and those names that I just mentioned, sure, they have length that makes them competitive, but the length

isn't the distinguishing factor except for Matthew Wolfe. Yeah, no, I mean, I think that there's a younger generation who are just good at everything. You know, I was playing around with strokes gained earlier this week, and I was looking at, you know, Zander and Rahm are just good at everything. Zander's in the top 20 in every category on strokes gained over the last 100 rounds. Rom is a little bit below that. Harris English, who's obviously, you know, it feels like a younger golfer because he's not as accomplished, is on that plane.

Even someone like Patrick Reed, he's a little worse at ball striking, but he just has an all-round game. And so I think that what's going to happen here, Joe, is that it's almost going to be like distance is the barrier for entry. Okay. And then you go from there. You're going to have to be a bomber to keep up with everybody else. And then you go into what's the second shot look like? What is the putting like? Whatever.

I think that's the difference when you look at these young guys is that the barrier for competition is going to be. higher because everyone's going to be able to be 320, 3.30 off the T in a couple of years. And just, again, people are playing a different type of game. So I just think that there's, I think we're going to be looking at a different sport if they don't do something. But this young group here is equipped to play that sort of game. I just don't know if we want to see that. I'm going full Nick Saban.

Nick Saban said this about the spread offense a couple years ago to kind of go about a point earlier where he said, is this the kind of game we want to see? Is this the kind of game we want in college football? Well, the answer is it doesn't matter if it's a type of game. we want to see because this is what the athletes are trending towards. Yeah, I wouldn't underestimate also House on, and Kevin, your point is well taken, but I wouldn't underestimate how the equipment and the ball can affect the approach shots as well. With launch angles and spin, it makes it really hard to set up a green that is firm and fast enough

to keep DJ from threatening to shoot a 60 on any course, right? And so changes in those areas will also make some of the on-course preparation a little bit different, too. We're going to move on from the distance thing. It'll just be something that it will be a continuing theme over the course of this entire 2021 season. But I do wonder aloud, you know, all of the guys have the same access to the superior equipment. And part of me in terms of the entertainment element of watching competitive golf on television. They all have the same opportunity to play equipment that's best suited to them that lets them get down.

If from a competition standpoint, the playing field is equal and my entertainment, the entertainment sort of element of watching the golf is seeing who beats who, as opposed to the competition on in it, you know, in the, in the, in the venue and the historical element of it, you know, I don't know that, you know, my enjoyment of consuming golf on TV as an entertainment product is dramatically altered by the, the distances that they're hitting the ball. Do you get what I'm saying? Do you really believe that, though? Because if we keep going, it's going to eliminate the importance of the second shot,

because it's going to be all wedges, which means you're going to have basically, you know, so there won't be shot shaping, it won't be, how do I get around the corner on 13? And it goes, it's going to basically be a putt putt contest.

We're not careful. Do you think, though, that there is still another step forward in terms of additional distance that's available? Or are we at, are we near the peak? What do you think, Kev? As far as,

can guys go further than this? I mean, it depends on a lot of things. I think you probably could have said that four or five years ago. Now, I do think that some of the distance records were set, I believe, in the early 2000s and the 90s. And so there is a human, there's probably a limit on how far human can hit a golf ball. I don't know what it is. I don't think it's necessarily about whether or not Bryce and Deschambeau can add 10 yards to 337 he already gives it. I think it's more about what happens if everyone hits a 337 and how does that change the game.

because then you get into what Nathan's saying, which is a puck butt contest. And that's something I just don't want to see. And I think that, you know, listen, every sport has changed. There's a reason baseball looks dramatically different than it did 20 years ago. There's a reason it's a three-point revolution in the NBA.

Every sport has had this, and some of them have become more visually appealing than others. I think that basketball and football have become more fun to watch the last couple of years because of their stylistic changes and baseball has become less fun. And so what will be interesting to see is if this happens, if the distance, you know, if the distance revolution keeps progressing, whether or not golf becomes

a more appealing game or less, because I actually don't know. I actually don't know the answer. Is it fun to watch Bryson D. Chambot play golf? I don't know if the market has spoken on that because we haven't seen him in more than, you know, four major tournaments playing this exact style. Yeah. So that that's a great point. And I think that's just the way that we will keep our eyes open as we sort of consume. This is a super season. I should have said from the outset, we have before us a super season on

the PGA tour. We have an enormous number of events plus potentially the Olympics, although there has been rumors that the Olympics are not going to go forward. Yeah. Well, there we go. Nate knows. Nate knows things. So there's the answer to that. I mean,

if Nate says it, then it's true. There's no Olympics, but there is the Rider Cup. I mean, it's a jam-packed season in terms of events and, you know, with that event coming up in the fall. So we'll have lots and lots of examples to pay attention to. I mean, you know, every time a guy like Kevin Nah wins, you know, I don't, does that, does that, did it, my enjoyment of watching Kevin now win, was it helped or hurt by that distance thing? I don't know.

But it's a lens through which we can continue to just sort of, you know, keep a eye on it and see where we land. I am interested, speaking of seeing where we land, there has been discussion and planning already underway to have some folks to see live golf with their own two eyes at the venues where it's being competed. Nate, you were just at the AMX and you shared that it was weird, like many of the events that you attended in person in the fall, but we have heard some plans for Phoenix. We have some plans for the players championship. What are you hearing in terms of, you know, sort of boots on the ground

about what the tour is going to do with human beings attending these tournaments? Well, interestingly, it was golf that kind of reopened American sport last year. And I think golf is now taken a cue from these championship games in football that we just saw weekend where there were thousands of people in the stands and saying, hey, we're outdoors. You know, we've got to find ways to keep people spaced so they're not on top of one another, but we really can provide a roadmap because we've got acres and acres and acres for how to safely bring back fans to the sport. I will say that as recently as a week ago, there were concerns that the Genesis here in Los Angeles was going to be canceled because cases were so

bad. But now, suddenly with some of the cases getting at least, if not fully under control, some decline, the attention shifts back to when can we bring folks back. And we won't have anybody, certainly at Tory this week. And we won't see anybody at Genesis save for a few corporate sponsors. But Arizona is going to be the first one. And I don't know if that makes me optimistic or terrified because if you have not been to the waste management, it is one of the sneaky biggest parties on earth. I mean, they stopped publishing attendance figures four or five years ago for security concerns because there are 250 plus thousand people there every day who are jammed into like a cattle train watching golf. They are only going to have 8,000 at this moment.

what's scary about it is I think 8,000 of those people are going to be huddled around the 16th hole, which is that traditional par three where everybody screams and yells. And it's like the most fun thing to be a part of if you're a player who isn't a headcase. And if you're a fan,

I just don't know how they do the food and beverage and the bar and the boxes in that event in particular if all 8,000 fans huddle around the 16th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because if it goes well, if it can work in Phoenix, it can work anywhere. Because Phoenix will be the rowdiest crew. There is just a culture there of getting hellblow drunk and making as much noise as possible. All the events that follow will be a little bit more civilized. And so I'm rooting for it. I just really hope that the tour and the tournament are working hard to make sure that they don't screw this one up. because I think it has ramifications as the earlier tour decisions from last year.

I think this has ramifications on how quickly we get back to crowds in other sports. Yeah, I mean, so I'm down the road on I-95 from the players. And I've been wondering whether or not I could just buy a ticket and go on a Friday or Saturday and just see how it goes. And, you know, in thinking about it, you know, the one thing with crowds that the Orlando Magic are open as well down the road and, you know, that request to my wife has been denied to go to a magic game. But when I'm thinking about the players, I mean, I'm with you, Nathan, in so much that I just wonder, you know, huddling around the island green. Like, are we really going to have six feet of space?

I mean, that's my fear a little bit and that this just becomes a regular sporting event. And everyone says, well, it's outdoors and there's tons of space. Everything's going to be fine. And then the advantages that golf has in that respect erode a little bit. And so in going through that process, I'm probably not going to go to the players unless something dramatic happens. but as far as just, you know, vaccinations or whatever. But in just going through that exercise in my head, I just think that it might be a little too early.

My big line of demarcation is the Ryder Cup. I really, just from a selfish standpoint, I mean, obviously there's obviously a lot of work needs to be done in this country before we can allow fans back in. But if we could get or even delay a Ryder Cup until those actual fans, you saw those quotes from guys like Roy McRoy, the Ryder Cup is the fans, and it is the back and forth. And it is sinking a 15-foot putt in front of,

of the most hostile crowd you've ever been in front of at a golf match. And so that is, for me, that is my realistic, hey, let's bring fans back in. Anything else before that is a bonus, as long as it's safe. And Kevin, I hear you so loud and clear on that as we talk about moving into a year

into the sort of post-Tiger era, there's nothing that gets the personalities of these guys out better than the fans interacting with them on the course, just even during a regular tournament. I mean, the reason that the ratings for these things are down is because it's just not as fun when there aren't people screaming and reacting,

even to watch, much less being there. So we need the energy of the crowd for the telecast. We need it for the players to really start to bring out their best. And we sort of need it for the sport to get to know this group of guys and how they interact with people. Again, there's obviously bigger problems in this country than that. But what I will say is think about

the all the greatest tiger moments, you know? I mean, all of the greatest tiger moments, and it's not just the announcer saying, here it comes, or better than mode, whatever it is, it's the roar of the crowd right after that. And I think that if Xander Schaftly makes a leap this year, or Victor Hovlin makes a leap this year, or somebody like that, where they, you know, they steal two majors, or they win three tournaments in a row, four tournaments or whatever it is. They do something crazy. And it's in front of an empty course, essentially, and it's only just sponsors to family or whatever. I think that. hurts the game. We can't do it until it's safe, but if I could just wave a magic wand from any

sports thing, it would be that a lot of those tournaments are held at a point where the country's in a place where we can allow fans in. Yeah, the weirdest shit from last year in all of golf was Justin Thomas making that 50 plus footer at the work day and screaming and it just echoing and the only noise you heard was his dad off the green clapping. Like we just can't, it just doesn't. It just doesn't doesn't make the moment. And it's, I think we're getting to the place where we're going to be able to have these moments back. So keeping fingers crossed for Phoenix in two weeks, I'm going to go for at least a day to see how it looks and feels and in particular to see how they manage the craziness because if they can make it work there, they can make it work anywhere. Yeah, well, I'm knocking on wood

as well. And one of the elements in terms of the enjoyment of the game over the course of the season is seeing a bunch of these young guys who have gotten comfortable playing in the quiet, you know, with the ramped up tension of having the big crowds. Augusta has said that they're going to allow, I think they said 10,000 patrons a day was their target. I think the early reports have indicated. We need to see some of these young guns under the pressure. I mean, Matthew Wolfe was in shouting distance of Bryson Deschambeau on the back nine at the U.S. Open. wing foot. And there were people yelling. And he clearly felt some of the pressure. But we need to see

these young guns under like the proper kind of pressure at these major events with the major crowd vibes that those those deliver. So just fingers crossed, knock on wood, that we all, that we make progress with the vaccine. I do have high hopes, cautious, but high hopes that enough the vaccine has gone around by the time the Ryder Cup arrives that we can feel safe about going forward in having a proper Rider Cup and maybe that will feel like, you know, the re-arrival. I hope not. I hope we've had big crowds

at some of the events that lead up to that. But at least having the giant raucous crowds there in Wisconsin, that would be good. That would make 2021 feel good. House, we need a crowd there because I'm

getting a little nervous about the Rider Cup. Oh. Interesting. This is January I was going to take the opposite take. Let's go. January hot take from Nate Dog. Let's hear it. Terrell Hadden is playing unbelievable golf.

Terrell Hatten is ranked higher in the world than Rory effing McElroy. And suddenly, you've got very hungry, unflappable John Rom. You've got Rory plenty of time to figure it out. You've got Terrell Hatton. You got Fitzpatrick down there. You got Victor Hovlin potentially ready to make a giant leap. with two wins under his belt. I'm a lot more nervous than I was even six months ago.

Six months ago, I thought we're going to run the table. But we need the fans because this is not going to be a pushover rider cup. You didn't even mention Tommy Fleetwood, who I think is number one in points right now. That's right. And Frankie Onions last weekend was playing excellent at the MX, actually. Molinari is, he's been basically out of golf for a year and a half since the British. So I think he's, I'm getting nervous. Kev, you had the other side.

I have the other side. I'm feeling good about this. And first of all, I want to preface this by saying any kids out there, anyone under 28, 29, the moment you turn 30, it doesn't matter what your hobby is, doesn't matter what kind of life you're living. The only thing you'll care about in your life is the Ryder Cup. That's it. As soon as you turn 30, you're going to be fist pumping over a burned Veasburger, missed putt, and you're going to have no idea what happened to your life, okay?

Because I used to not care about the Ryder Cup at all. and now I care so much about the Ryder Cup. Okay. I look at the top six right now, just in points. DJ, Deschambeau, Thomas Moracalla, Keppka Shoffley. I look at the depth that's available, okay? Someone like Patrick Cantlay,

Fee now, if we wanted to have him. Obviously, Patrick Reed, Wolf is 13th in points, Daniel Berger. I just think that we're going to be able to have. We's in the United States. It's the rare time where I get to say we and actually makes sense because I was, yeah, us. The United States team, I think,

will just have more depth. I think if you're going top four versus top four, it's pretty even. You know, you get into right now and points just looking at it right now. Obviously, they have more Captain Spex with Victor Perez and Vanthe Fitzpatrick or seven, those guys. I just think that at the back end of that where the United States has the depth, that's where those little edges will come.

I think that there's not going to be a weak link in the United States team. I think there will be in Europe just because they don't have the depth. Did you see the angry golfer video that the European tour guys made. Absolutely spectacular. Okay, okay. There is a culture there of togetherness. Yes. Which is why they have, historically, we've had the better players, but they've had the better culture, and they've kicked our ass in those moments because they've worked together. We potentially have a clubhouse with Bryson DeShambeau and Patrick Reed in it. With also, who knows, I mean, look, we're worried, we're quote unquote worried about Brooks Kepka.

He's got two top tens. Kepka could work his way in there. He hates all those guys. And then we got, and then we have a couple of younger guys, you know, Zander and JT. But JT gets the right blocks in the pressure. It's established. Like his driver gets squirrely coming down the stretch. We don't have an absolute killer on that team.

And I'm just not sure that we might not have like some. some ugly things inside the clubhouse that is Steve Stricker going to keep it all together? I don't know. Maybe the beer in Milwaukee. Maybe still import the proper beverages up to Whistling Straits.

Yeah, and what I'll say about that, you know, I think the most instructive Ryder Cup thing I've come across in last few years was Paul McGinley went on no laying up. And he talked about, this was last fall, I think. And he talked about his process

in the Ryder Cup and just how Europe approaches it. They put so much thought into it. And I'm talking about, telling Graham McDowell how to, you know, he can't play the par fours or part five. I forget what the exact example was. But they put so much analytical muscle behind this and say,

okay, we got to do this for the part five, this for the part three is, whatever. We got a pair of these two guys together. And I kind of feel like over the past handful of Rider Cups, whatever it is, we've just been behind in that. The United States has been behind in that. And they roll the ball out and they just say, we've got good players.

Let's see how it goes. I think the talent gap is enough to carry the United States, even if Europe has the better plan, the better vibes, the better leadership. I just think the talent gap through the entire team is substantial. And it worries me when I hear Paul McGinley on No Laying Up, basically saying that they put way better thought into this and they have one of the best operations ever heard of, okay? Like I remember texting some of my friends out of that podcast.

I was like, we're never winning another Ryder Cup again, okay? You listen to that and you understand what they're doing. But what I will say is I just think the talent is there to where the United States can eat this one out. We are better on paper. Let me offer one counter to that. This will be the first time where we don't have Phil or Tiger playing in all likelihood.

We don't have an alpha. Colin Moracawa is not an alpha personality. You don't think DJ? No. What if DJ's not going to What if Fly in and go back to

Paulina He's not going to hang out What if he defends The Masters? What if he has two masters Under his belt And the stature

In the game I'm talking about his Personality I know, but does that Does that Does he start to feel a responsibility

When he With that historical mark Is that Is he capable of that? No, he's going to walk In the clubhouse And go,

Hey. Okay. Guys, let's go. And then he's going to go out and he'll probably beat the hell out of somebody one-on-one. I just don't know that in that team environment, we're going to be missing, Phil. We're going to be missing Tiger. And by the way, that's why I'm so pissed about Davis Love getting, you know, the soft landing from the commentary job, getting the President's Cup thing.

Because I don't know if Davis can be that hoss that we're going to be missing for the first time in a very long time. It sounds like Winnie Michael Jordan is vice captain. as relevant as ever. It's been floated around. He was going to do it for the President's Cup the last decade. He's got the new wave of relevance with the last stance.

We bring in MJ as vice captain. Everything changes. We have eight and a half months to solve this. And I'll remind both of you guys, Tiger and Phil will be there, right? Like whether they play a shot or not, both of them will be there. And maybe that, that, you know,

and maybe MJ comes along as well. and that's all the inspiration that these guys will need to get, you know, fired up for the event. And the fans will be there. But we have eight and a half months to solve this. I want to do a quick round of great season, good season, or bad season. I have four names for you. Great season, good season, or bad season. We're going to play.

Here are the four names. Brooks, Rory, Ricky Jordan. Speath is the Jordan that I'm referring to. Let's do Brooks Kepka first because he is playing. in the golf tournament this week, Tori Pines, a little bit of a U.S. Open preview.

Kevin Clark, you are the guest. You get to go first on Brooks Kefka. Great, good or bad? I'm going to say good. I'm going to say good. All right. So over the last,

you know, just a snapshot, he's been pretty good almost across the board in every category. And I wonder about, you know, obviously he had the health thing

last year. I think the depth is such this year that he would have to play out of his mind to have to be in those situations where he can just alpha his way into Sunday contention and then win. I love his mental edge. I just don't know that the physical edge is going to be that substantial. And so I'm going good in this case just because I am of the theory. There are so many guys on the verge of a breakout. This could go in a hundred different directions with these young guys. I just don't think anyone's going to necessarily

steal the show like Brooks Keppka has. There's just too many names and too many guys who are like Brooks Kepka, who are going to be a contention every Sunday for Kepka to have a great season. Kepka has been saying all the right things. He's looked relaxed in Hawaiian shirts with Jenna Sims on his Instagram, and he fired his coach yesterday. Well, no, no, it wasn't yesterday. The news was yesterday. It was after the Masters that he let Claude know that he didn't want to keep working with

Claude. But they finally, the news came out this week. So I like that he is continuing to push, but it does say. that this wasn't just health, that there's something about this. I mean, Brooks Kepka missed the cut last week, and nobody talked about it. Nobody cared.

You know why? Because he doesn't care. He's told us. He's not there to win the American Express. But I think he's there, and he's not just goofing off. I think it's starting to matter and it's starting to wear,

and we're hearing a lot of the words, but we're just not seeing the final results. Now, that said, let's be clear, he's two for five. He's played five events this season. Two of them, he's top ten. So it's not like his game is shit. But I'm with Kevin on good because the change in the coach tells us it wasn't just,

I know what I'm doing. I'm the best golfer in the world. The only reason I haven't been playing well is because I'm hurt. It is that either the injury that I have requires a swing change that I can't get right with my coach or mentally and from a just sort of swing mechanics. standpoint, I'm not there and I need something different. Well, speaking of needing something different, let's do Ricky Fowler really quickly here. Kevin Clark, great good or bad season for Ricky Fowler.

I was happy to see Ricky make a cut. He made the cut at the American Express this past weekend. Okay. So is this good, great, or bad for Ricky Fowler or good, great and bad for everybody else? Because I think that he's graded on a curve now because you just said we're happy to see him make a cut. I don't think he's qualified for the Masters. Is that correct? He is not.

I don't see a path forward for him to be in a legitimate contention for any big tournament this year. I mean, I think he can have a great life. And I think he can continue to be an extremely notable personality in golf. And I'm glad he's there. But when I look at his game, I just, I don't see. I think there's just way too many good golfers for him to have a great season. I guess I'll say good for Ricky Fowler, who'll probably. qualify for the masters at some point, but there's a reason he's tumbled down the world golf

rankings these last couple months. You're asking us about Fowler two weeks too early because the litmus test for Ricky Fowler is always the waste management open in Phoenix. Great call. Great call. And his game is either sharp and he's in contention and he goes on and has a good season or it's not. And so give us two weeks, we'll come back. The thing to say about Ricky Fowler is Ricky Fowler's 32. Rory's 31, Brooks is 30s, Beath is 27. So Ricky is 15 years ago, we would have said, oh, he's entering, you know, he's in his golf prime, but he's not. And so he's really got a very small window here to reclaim the relevance. And that's, I think, got to be the story of the waste management coming up in two weeks. Okay. I like it. I'll go along with that. Let's do Rory. Kevin Clark,

Roy McElroy, great good or bad. I think it's all setting up for Rory. I think the fact that there's a major at Kiowa is very important. I would actually probably pick him, even though there's a couple of the trendy picks in that direction. I think that if Rory Putswell, he is going to win a bunch of tournaments. I still think he's obviously is one of the best players in the world.

I just feel like it's time. I just feel like it's time. And again, playing around with strokes gained last hundred rounds, I mean, he's number one overall in everything. Off the T, 12th in approach, the whole deal. Number one in DFS points,

which is the only stat I care about. And I think there's a reason for that. And so I'm going great for Rory. I think he gets one major. I think he wins some other important tournaments. He's always in the hot. House, we've been talking about Rory for six months. Like, it is impossible to get a feel on the guy.

Just yesterday, you know, he entered the final round and you thought Rory's going to slam it down and win the tournament. And he was terrible, relatively speaking. A little bogey train on the back. It was bad for him. It was just a meh round. And Kevin's right.

Like, I walked with him at the Zozo, and he was driving the ball great. Like, you just have never seen anybody drive the ball like that. And there's only two guys averaging over a shot gained off the tee per round. And it's Bryson and it's Rory. And so you know it's in there. He just hasn't been able to string the round. rounds together. And I look, again, he's 31. I look at the group of guys who are hungry and driven and

still haven't figured out what life is about. And so they're sort of blindly pursuing that, you know, victory. And I worry that there are 10 or 12 of them who are hungrier than Rory, who are catching up to him from a skill perspective. I'm not sure he wins a major this year. And then the weight is really on him. Wow. So I'm a Rory truther. And Nate, you're right. We've been. been talking about him ad nauseum because he began 2020 in such beautiful form. The players championship was there for the taking for him at the end of February, early March of last year. And it was all leading up to him being in that incandescent form for the masters and him going and completing the grand slam for his career. I think,

as a glass half full, Roy Truther, that I can see a pathway to him returning to form. He's got the comfort that he identified through the course of the summer and fall where he was uncomfortable without fans. Now he's comfortable, it seems, with it.

And fans are starting to come back. So come Augusta time, we'll have two tournaments, the players and Augusta, there'll be fans there. Roy's acclimated. He's a dad. We played the baby bump a little bit in the fall. Didn't really work out the way that I was hoping. But, you know, in terms of life and him being situated in a place where his head can be right and his golf game is clearly right. He shot the lowest round he's ever shot in an initial round out there at Abu Dhabi. That's pretty good indication of great things to come potentially for Roers. I'm rooting for it. I'll just be. put it that way. Okay, speaking of rooting for, um,

again, another guy that we talk about, it feels like, you know, all season long, is there any hope for Jordan Speeth this year, Kevin Clark? It makes me so sad.

I, Jordan Speath has a long career ahead of him of being like an elder statesman in the game, being a class act, being a great ambassador for the sport of golf. And truly like, I think I am really excited to see him at Augusta, you know,

and from years to come, all this stuff. I think you can have a very fruitful life as someone who is a great part of this sport. I don't, just the way the game is played right now, what Spieth would have to do to get back into relevance. It's so, I mean, I think about it this way, right? I think football is the same way. I like picking teams or players or whatever who need the least amount to go right, right? If you have an elite quarterback, then you have so little to go with everything else, okay?

And just Spieth's game to me, there's so much. any different things that would have to break right for him to get in this conversation in 2021. I just don't see it happening. I love speed the person and I think that that's kind of for until further notice what we have to settle for. All right, Nate. It's your guy. It's your boy. I have to recuse myself. This is like asking me if I think the next Taylor Swift album is going to be good. Of course. It's going to be the best ever. Like I'll never. Give us something. Give us something. Where's the glimmer of hope? Like at the beginning of this time last year, we had this conversation. and the reason that we thought decent things could be in Jordan's future was because he was putting great,

and the thing that let him down was driver accuracy. Well, it seems like whatever happened for him during the break, the quarantine break, he, you know, he didn't bounce, come out of that firing on all cylinders. We look for him at the Colonial to have an incredible event because it's a place he's comfortable with and familiar with. He is fine, but then, you know, nothing, really nothing. out of Jordan for the balance of the year. I don't have a lot of evidence to support my case. This is a little bit like the voter fraud argument. Oh, no. Oh, no. But I'm going to Rudy Giuliani and leak oil and just, I'm going to scream it until,

until there's nobody else in the audience. We're holding this press conference at four seasons total landscaping right now. And what I'm telling you is it's in there. I've seen it. It is not, Kevin, I agree that maybe they're. parts of his game that are, but he beat DJ at the U.S. Open. Like, he can play golf. It's between the ears. And I think there are so many other now storylines in golf that the, hey, whatever happened in Jordan Spieth, I mean, we're almost in like Anthony Kim territory with him, as we've

talked about before. So here's what, here's what I want to see from Jordan. He's going to have to make a change. He's going to have to make a change to his team. And I don't know if it's Michael on the bag or if it's a coach. And, and like really, if, um, you know, if Taylor Swift can go work with the national to make an album, then, you know, Jordan Speath can figure out a different coach. And I, you know, I heard Claude Harmon is free. So somebody has got to just take a look at the raw skill set and build him back up. That, that really, until we see that level of change, I'm not sure that we're going to see Jordan come back. What I feel good about is, is that he with Ricky, a close friend, has a soulmate in this rebuilding process.

And so I just wonder if the two of them being a little lost and having to get back to a place where they were may help them both. What if we actually brought in the National to help with Spieth? What if he actually brought in Aaron Desner on the bag? Aaron Desner can drive it straighter than he can right now. I just think that when I'm looking at the farmer's field right now, Jordan Spieth in Stroke's skating off the T is 131st

and I just don't think that you can win many tournaments like that right now in 2021. You definitely can't win a Tori Pines that way. No way. Definitely. 105th in Strokes Cane for approaches all over the past 100 rounds. I'm just doing as big a sample as possible

to show you where his game is right now. I just, you know, he's a short game specialist right now and I don't know the value of that right now, quite frankly. Well, you mentioned Tori Pines. We're going to go ahead all of us will be glass half full rooting for Jordan. And we'll call our ratings for Jordan to beat this season, TBD.

Because it's the beginning of the year. Let's just be generous and gracious and, you know, root for the very best outcomes. Speaking of rooting for the very best outcomes, let's root for the best outcomes for our wallets at the Farmers Assurance Open at Torrey Pines. It is Picks time, my brothers. It feels so good to be back doing this again in 2021. with you, Kevin Clark as the guest. You could go about this however you want. I have a bunch of names.

I have a couple guys I'm going to play the win, guys that I think might be good for running out DFS lineups. However you want to do it, the floor is yours. So my horses that I threw into every daily fantasy team are Rom and Xander. Obviously, two guys who I think are favorites of the course. I think Rom, I don't think there's been a podcast. I've listened to a preview in the majors. It has not mentioned Rom as a Torrey Pines U.S. Open,

um, buzzy pick. Um, I would obviously, you know, obviously have, have Rory in that mix, but I'm just going to go with,

with Ram and Zander. And then a little further down, um, I think that there are some interesting names. Um, I'm throwing, uh, Cameron Tringale into some things.

Um, Sam Burns. I'm throwing some, some, uh, some, some, some,

some weight behind in DFS. Um, Siwu Kim, if he's a value, if you're going stars and scrubs. And, you know, I couldn't, because he's a bomber, I thought about Cameron Champ. I just, I just, I just can't do him right now. And then Matthew, Matthew Wolf as well. So those are the guys I've sort of worked into, to my DFS lineups this week. Not betting on anybody outright.

I mean, right now, because it's football season, I'm just making a couple fan dual lineups and doing some one and done stuff and my normal fantasy stuff. So it's not the normal. Basically what happens to me, House Nathan, is that, I put a ton of research into DFS, betting all that stuff. And then there will be three tournaments a year where I don't have time to do anything. I just make random picks. And that's when I win.

And I just sort of throw a dartboard. I throw something at a dartboard. And that's when I win is when I'm not paying attention to anything. So maybe these are the type of weeks when I do win when I put absolutely rushed research into it because it's football season. You're allowed. Thank you. I like it. I will.

the only thing I will offer any pause, which means that everybody should go ahead and jump all over it, is X for whatever reasons. Andrew doesn't, you know, he's from the San Diego area, everybody makes a big deal about him being comfortable there. He hasn't been great at Tori.

Fine, but not great. That's the only thing, observation I make. I agree with it. I know that. I saw that. I'm okay with it.

I also, by the way, the other person I threw into a couple of things was Varner, but he's making his debut, and I always get worried about that. I like his profile. I just sometimes when guys have been on the show for a little bit, I have some Pollock, but I do have them in a couple of different lineups.

I like it. Nate Dog, what do you got for us? Well, I'm not going to try to pick from the big guys because I think Rom seems to be the overwhelming favorite coming in. But I want to just say that Cameron Davis has two top tens and seven events. He's top 20 and shots gained off the tee. This is a long-ass course. and James Hahn very quietly has three top 10 finishes already this year.

I don't expect either of those guys to win, although James Hahn starts to round into form this time of year. He wins the Genesis. This is generally the time when he plays well. But those are two guys that I would look to, Cam Davis had his best finish last week, so his game's in good shape. Those are guys I'm looking at for top 20s this year.

I really, or this week, I really wish Joaquin Neiman was playing because he is just on fire right now. And this is going to be a breakout year for him. But I'm not exactly sure why he's taking it off, to be honest, other than maybe he needs a break. But those are the two guys that I really look to this week for some value. And I just want to echo what Kevin just said, which is Cam Champ, you just want to take him because he hits the ball so far. and you're just waiting for him to evolve and make that leap, and it's just not there right now. So I have a couple different thoughts.

I wanted to play on Rory because of the form and because of what I'm anticipating out of him this season. The thing that gives me pause is the 8,000 miles, that trip from Abu Dhabi to San Diego, a smidge unnerving. I still think he's going to play well. He has two top five. at Tori. Like he has, there's no issue with him at this golf course. I have kind of two categories

of golfer that I'm that I'm honing in on. On the one hand, I want guys with proven U.S. open chops and three guys that I'm looking at that fit that kind of two, two kind of older guys and then and then a young guy. Going to play Gary Woodland. Gary Woodland has been out of the mix because of a labrum issue in his hip. And it took him all the way back to really the beginning of this year to get himself all the way healthy and competitive again, a top 20 at the AMX. But definitely what my mind's eye sees Gary Woodland up at Pebble and, you know, the seaside, you know, golf course and his performance there, the accuracy. And no question with Gary Woodland when it comes to length. I'm also looking at Brooks Kepka.

and I'm looking at him because he's available at 36 to 1 odds to win this golf tournament, which is probably the best odds you're going to see for Kepka. Now, he did just miss the cut at the Amex, and we understand that what he's doing here is probably recon, right? He takes the majors so seriously. We have the U.S. Open at this venue. I think the reason that he played the Amex was to get himself out to California and on the the West Coast time zone,

they'd be prepared for coming down to Tori and taking his preparation at Tori very seriously. So a play for me on Brooks Keppka at the price that he's available at, both top 10 and I might just do something tiny for him to win. I'm also looking at and very thrilled by the season debut of Will Zala Torres. You will recall tied for sixth at Wingfoot, has big boy chops, has major aspirations. I think he's ready to reveal to the world all of the talent that he possesses.

And I just adore his composition and I'm ready for him to show up in the world. The other category of guys that I like for this, and I'm building lineups on Fandul, are the Australians. I mean, obviously Mark Leishman won last year. he has a great track record here. Cameron Smith, another guy, you know, the conditions at Tori, and especially they're calling for some weather potentially. Is there, Nathan, is it going to rain?

No, we are going to get more rain at Tori this week than we've had in the past year. So that was the one X factor that people had, like short Bubba Watson, because there's going to be so many chances for him to be pissed off about mud on his ball. Mud ball! Yeah.

He's going to be screaming that all week. it is going to be an absolute mess. They couldn't even practice yesterday. The whole range and everything was closed because of wind. It's going to start dumping rain tomorrow, and it's going to be that way through a lot of the week. That makes me really like the Australians then. I'm also putting Adam Scott.

Adam Scott goes right in under those conditions. But so I have those three Australians, a couple of U.S. Open guys, my pick for this week, and I'm prepared for all of the feedback that you guys have, is Tony Fienau. I'm picking Tony Fienau to win the farmer's

insurance open at Torrey Pines. He's available on the book I'm looking at. I'm not sure where Fanduil has him. I'm having a chance to look, but I see him available at 20 to 1. I think that he is going,

we touched on it earlier, right at the top of the show, this is going to be his breakout season. This is a gigantic big boy course. I think that he is absolutely in form. He's number one, in strokes gain total at Tori. There are lots and lots of quotes

so you can find him speaking about how comfortable he is at the place, how it suits his eye. Why not? Okay? It's 2021. I want it so badly. Here's what I want, here's what I want the Fairway Roll

and listeners to look at this week. He missed two shorty putts on Sunday. And if you look at his putter setup, he was playing with a new putter. he was so far back his setup that it was really hard for him to keep that putter on plane. There just was arc. The head of the putter was sort of angled up off the ground during his stroke. And you could just see it.

His eyes were too far behind the ball. So I'm really interested to see if he corrects that with his coach this week. And if he's a little bit closer to the ball this week over that new puddle. I'm sure that it was a new putter that put him out of that. And I'm absolutely sure that that's why he missed those two putts. So if he can course correct those, I'm feeling good because he was hitting everything else well. Well, I like you to hear you say that, but you know one way for him to get closer to the ball, the snail. Just the snail puts you very close to the ball.

I mean, Mark, Mark and Tony are friendly, right? Absolutely. Yeah. So Marky, Mark, Mark, you could hook him up. I think he's, Tony made some nice comments on the snail post on the insubes. Instagram. So listen, the snail would have worked better on those three and four footers than what, than what Tony did on Sunday. They're not why he lost the tournament. Tony could have shot six under and he would have lost by two. Sometimes you just get nipped, right? It felt a little bit like

DJ at the PGA this year. Collinmore Coward just shot a better round. Yeah, that's what happens at the MX. Guys go low. Yeah. So I don't want to overreact to it. That said, it is a thing. And in particular, the putter becomes a thing in those mediocre rounds for Tony. So let's, let's, see if with this new dedication with the new caddy on the bag, if he can pull it together, make the in-game adjustments, because he's certainly going to have looks

at these greens that most guys won't just because of his length. Well, I don't think we're going to do any better than that. My guys, we have it. The 2021 Fairway Roll in season premiere is in the books. Kevin Clark, thank you for coming on. Very appreciative.

anytime guys this is fun we have a slow news day with nick wright publishing on tuesday a NFL show with the whole gang on wednesday and then a another show next monday to kick us off for a super bowl week so a bunch of ringer NFL shows a bunch of slow news days slow news day from the super bowl is going to be jam packed with current and former players and media types it's going to be really fun i'm so happy that you're going up there that it makes it it works for where you are and that we're able to do that that slow newsday from the Super Bowl is a favorite. In between all those great ringer NFL shows, I will be on with Warren Sharp on Friday, our weekly pod looking at angles.

We have a little bit of a preview on Super Bowl angles that we'll be looking at, but we're just jumping the mix with you. Love it. One of my favorite shows on the planet. Nate. I'm going to be working on the snail. Are you going to Tori?

I will be down at Tori for a day. Yes. Yes. Perfect. Okay. So we'll have some boots on the ground. reports for next week's show. There we go, my birdie buddies.

I hope wherever you are, it's warm enough to throw a peg in the ground and sneak in at least nine holes. We'll be back next week. We'll see how the Tony Fienow pick played out. Until then, my part saving pals, let's hit them straight out there.