Fairway Rollin' - The PGA's Bubble, Recapping the Travelers, and Looking Ahead to the Rocket Mortgage Classic With Amanda Balionis

Episode Date: July 1, 2020

Joe House and Nathan Hubbard sit down to recap the latest from the Travelers Championship including the growing concerns of COVID-19 as players test positive and drop out of the tour (2:46). They also discuss the possibility of fans returning to the tournament, Fox selling off their broadcast stake to NBC Sports, and finish off with the top betting prospects this weekend (36:21). Then they are joined by CBS Sports' Amanda Balionis to discuss the PGA returning in the new era of social distancing (42:35). Later she gives her thoughts on the absence of attendees at these tournaments and D. J. Trahan's performance this past week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The series premieres Monday, July 13th. Friends and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. It is another week on the PGA tour in the bubble, and it is another week of Fairway Row in the Golf Podcast on the Ringer podcast, work not in the bubble. I am your starter. Joe House. Great show today. We're breaking down everything that happened last week and looking forward to next week with our PGA tour correspondent on the ground, Nathan Hubbard. We also have our old pal, Amanda Ballionis, from the CBS broadcast. She's joining us to talk about her experiences being on the ground. She's been both at Harbortown

down in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and then up here to Connecticut and, you know, her efforts at resuming her role of, of, you know, contributing to the broadcast. She has a lot of great insights for us on the grounds. All right, my birdie buddies, the first tea is open. We're going to start with the PGA tour correspondent on the ground. Nathan Hubbard. Let's get over there and stick a peg in the ground with Nate. All right, my eagle enthusiast now on the tea. He is. our PGA tour correspondent virtually on the ground. Nathan Hubbard, what's happening, brother? House.

We got a great tournament last week. We've had three great tournaments in a row, my friend, scoring pretty good. Again, I wonder if we're going to have a tournament under, you know, minus 20 at some point here. It doesn't feel like Detroit is going to present that opportunity since Nate Lashley went 25 under last year. But yeah, wow, great ending to the travelers in Connecticut.

DJ hung on. And we have like a whole other week of experience with, you know, this tour trying to navigate the choppy waters of the pandemic and how to successfully put on a professional sporting event over a series of days. in a new venue. And we began this week. Last Wednesday, while we were taping last week's show, the PGA Tour Commissioner convening an impromptu press conference because a handful

of players and caddies had some positive tests. And the commissioner turned out came up and essentially, you know, gave the whole enterprise a vote of confidence. I think it also had the effect of reminding everybody of how important the protocols are. But what's your takeaway now looking back at the week that just was? If we're going to give it a grade, what grade would you give the tour on how the travelers went down?

Look, I give the tour an A. I think these are really complicated, difficult decisions that the commissioner in particular is making. But I don't think we've ever seen a bunch of players compliment and stand completely in alignment with their sports commissioner in the way that we're seeing right now happen in golf. They are supporting every single decision that he makes. They feel safe. You know, the press releases, I mean, they sound almost almost like hostages in the press releases saying that when the guys who test positive, they say, I just so appreciate the

support of the tour and that everybody's working in the interest of my own health and safety and the players around me. So I think they have made the decision that life has to continue in some form while we battle this pandemic. And that golf, because it is played in the open air and outside and relatively individually, that golf can be a beacon of light on the the hill leading us towards a way of living that gets around the pandemic and that accepts, as the commissioner has, and the players have, that we're going to have some positive tests. It's unavoidable. But that as those come up, that they are going to follow protocol and that they're going to

find a way to deal with it and that life is going to go on. And we're hearing that from the players. we're seeing that in an openness and a willingness to learn, right? There's a growth mindset at the tour right now, which is that they aren't just didactically saying, well, we set the rules beforehand and we're not making any changes. They figured out that there were a few players who were not necessarily following protocol or they were unclear about what to do between the time they get,

they take the test and get the test results. And so they made a change this week that said, you may not come on site until you take this test. and you could have seen some players revolt against that because they do not like to have their routines disrupted. But I think the trust that the commissioner has earned is shining through here, and I give it an A. Yeah. So Rory especially came right out after, you know, the commissioner's press conference and was extremely emphatic about, you know, the support that he personally wanted to convey about the way that they're going about this and that, you know, the confidence

that he has in the protocols that they're following. We did have a couple of interesting in tournament kind of developments. So we had two instances of players having to play rounds by themselves. So Matthew Fitzpatrick ended up playing around by himself on Thursday because one of his playing partners, Denny McCarthy, tested positive and then did not come out and play and Bud Collie, who was supposed to also be part of that threesome, voluntarily withdrew.

And then Jason Day, the next day, maybe I'm getting the timeline right. Maybe this was Friday into Saturday. But in any event, Jason Day woke up, uh, not feeling great,

reported that, um, went ahead and, uh, got tested and then had the tour accommodate him playing all by himself. you know, singularly. And so, you know, this is the tour kind of responding on the fly, right?

Yeah, and I think it's exactly what they should be doing. They're not going to get everything right. I think the day playing by himself piece was part of a protocol they'd thought through. But as the commissioner said, and as a lot of the guys stepped up and said last week after Harbor Town, in which, you know, clearly the environment. environment, the people around the golf tournament weren't taking it particularly seriously. But I think if you really listen and read between the lines, the players knew there were some guys who weren't taking things seriously.

So what the players and the players council and the commissioner did this week was really hammer home the point of personal accountability, personal responsibility, that golf is a game of honor and that they expected that from the players. And so starting with Brooks and Chase Kepka all the way through Bud College, withdrawing, you really saw players step up and show that they're going to do the right thing, that they care about each other, they care about the game continuing on, because we got, you know, 200 guys whose livelihood revolves around these tournaments continuing, much less the thousands of people who, you know, work in different jobs who all depend on this, and all

of us millions of fans who care about it. So, so again, a good step forward this week by the players, by the tour, to keep things moving. So that's interesting. Some of the reaction in golf media last week in response to the sort of latest round of positive tests and the kinds of things that followed. So like, you know, Brooks and Chase Kepka withdrew because Brooks's caddy tested positive. And then Webb Simpson withdrew right, right as, you know, the Wednesday afternoon press conferences were supposed to be happening. he pulled out because somebody in his family situation at home apparently tested positive and he wanted to just get himself out of, you know, sort of the tour bubble, as it were.

You saw some folks in golf media saying, look, we're kind of at the moment now where the risks seem to be outweighing the positives and the optics of this thing don't look great, right? We're getting positive tests on the ground with important players. And, you know, all the players are important, but, you know, two of the top five in the world are not playing this event because of pandemic-related, you know, circumstances. And there's an increase, undeniable increase in cases nationwide. You know, the sunbelt is really getting hammered right now. The combination of, you know, is the risk worth it? And, you know, what are the optics like of, you know, the tour essentially going city to city

barnstorming this way? What's your view on that? House, you're saying that the traditional golf media might have had a knee-jerk overreaction to something? I'm shocked. You know, it was interesting. As early as Friday morning, you know, the Golf Channel folks were pushing back pretty hard on that. And so I don't know where that message came from, but if you paid attention to the telecast,

they were already saying, hey, there's been a lot of overreaction in the golf media. And I come down on that side. I think that it is true that if suddenly half the players are testing positive, this thing isn't working. But all of the players who have contracted this virus and tested positive for it appear to have contracted it outside the bubble, whether they took a week off and went home or whether they were. away from the course doing something, there has not been anybody at the course, it appears, who has transferred the virus from themselves to somebody else. And that's not to say it can't happen.

It absolutely can. And that's why the tours work so hard on those protocols. But there is a number of players, as I think the commissioner said, there isn't some number of players who, if they all test positive, they got to call the thing off. But they expected to have a number of tests come up positive. And whether it's a high-profile player or a nobody, you know, I think it's more about the volume of tests than it is the individual. And I think the tour should be commended for keeping a cool head and saying, we're going to continue this. We expected this. You know, I know it's bigger than a, you know, than a loaf of bread and smaller than a car in terms of like the size of, of, you know, how many players can actually test positive. But we're not there yet.

and so we're going to keep going and keep following our protocols and keep this game going, yes, for the players, yes, for the entire community of people who, you know, depend on the game for their employment and also for the fans who are really enjoying kicking back on a Sunday and watching DJ scared the living hell out of anybody who was rooting for him. Yeah. So I come down on the same side as you. I will say that from my own personal view, I'm not sure that I regard, you know, the, the scribes, sort of views on this as necessarily an overreaction.

I think there can be sort of nuanced arguments on both sides. The thing that I'm concerned about is, you know, somebody, so we've been fortunate so far in terms of, you know, the fact that the guys getting it are all relatively healthy guys and, you know,

able to, you know, have only experienced kind of mild symptoms. and it seems like I haven't heard any reports suggesting that Brooks Kepka's caddy, Ricky Elliott has, you know, had anything that suggests kind of a worsening condition that he's handling it okay. The thing that concerns me and the reason why I think, you know, it's reasonable to sort of continue to be mindful of how this rolls out is somebody

getting sick, like really sick. And the vulnerable community here are the caddies, right? because, you know, notwithstanding Phil is in the age range now. He's officially at 50, but you don't get a lot of guys in the age demo that, you know, is the risky age demo. But the caddies, you know, kind of straddle that line a bit more. And we also know that the caddies are not, you know, necessarily, at least up to this point, afforded the same kind of like bubble protection.

in terms of charter flights and or private flights that some of them are flying commercial. And they're also having to go off and live their individual lives in an entirely different kind of economic situation than the players. Right. So the concern that I have is that somebody from that vulnerable community, namely the caddies, gets a positive test and then ends up sick. And, you know, how do we sort of feel about that, you know? I hear you. I think we're concerned about anybody vulnerable getting this, right? And the scary thing about what's happening now is, yeah, it sure looks like death rates staying low and cases are up. And that's because the demographic of the people who are contracting the disease skews younger, which means less likely to be hospitalized. But it doesn't mean you're not going to be hospitalized. Right. And it also doesn't mean you're not highly contagious and can't spread the disease to anybody, whether it's the caddies or, you know, somebody else outside the course. So the question that the commissioner has to keep thinking about, is, are these cases happening because of what's going on in the world? Or are these cases happening because of golf? And the subtle nuances last week, I think some players, and probably the tour, if we're being honest, thought that some of these cases were happening because you had players

who weren't being as responsible as they could be. Some of these cases just happened. But there were a few players who I think probably stepped a little further outside of sort of a disciplined way of staying in and protecting yourself, then they ought to have. And that's why we heard those voices from the players in the tour last week. And so it's going to be a day-to-day, week-to-week decision for the tour. But that at the end of the day, if I'm leading the tour, is how I'm thinking about it. Are these cases happening because we're in the middle of a pandemic? Are we contributing to the problem, or are we part of the solution? And so far, in spite of five players testing positive in a few caddies, it looks to me like golf.

as part of the solution. I totally agree with this, and that's the side that I come down on. So let's go ahead and talk about the tour's upcoming plan. So we're in Detroit this week, and then they head over to Mirfield for back-to-back events, one of which, as we sit here today, at the end of June, beginning of July,

imagines having fans actually attend the Memorial tournament. I know what my feeling is about that, but what's your sense as we sit here today? about the wisdom of that. House, I am the same place that I was when we brought the pod back a few weeks ago for the first time, which is why would we do this?

I did not miss the fans on the telecast. I know some people did, but listen, I wish 18 was crowded and, you know, that Jordan was moshing with his caddy, but we also got some incredible upside of the telecast we can talk about. I think if you were a play, right now and you're the PGA, you go, hey, it's not a, it's not a 100% clear choice, but the choice

is still to keep going. Why introduce another bit of risk into this process for the sake of 8,000 people? We don't make money in any significant way off of the people who are to golf tournament, unlike season ticket holders in basketball or football, which contribute an enormous amount of revenue to those teams. The spectators are not a big part of the revenue equation for golf. So we don't have to have them. And they made this decision to have 8,000 people a day before we really started to see cases spike back up again after a period of plateauing or decline. And so you have to wonder whether they're going to rethink that decision over the next couple weeks. I know they're giving themselves some time to think about it.

And I think we should commend them for continuing to keep, again, their mind open to change. but boy, I am going to be really surprised if the players themselves feel comfortable having 8,000 heavy breathing people walking around the course, screaming and yelling, spitting and hootin and hollering in a couple weeks. You know, that's exactly the point. The point of fans is to vocalize their enjoyment, their appreciation for the event. You can clap, but you also use your voice. And even if we, you know, even with the mask, I mean, it's the point you just made, which is like,

why at this juncture, we've had some, you know, some success, small as success in terms of, you know, bringing the tour back and, you know, getting these events accomplished. And it's been great to have professional sports back. Why would we at this point in interject, you know, this extremely, you know, unknown, variable, especially in the quant, like 8,000 people, it just feels like, because I think from where we sit right now in terms of the cases that are occurring in the Sun Belt and every day is a new record in Arizona and Texas and Florida, that's not going to significantly ebb between now and when this tournament is supposed to go off. And I'm really, really, really

rooting hard against the, you know, lag evidence of increased hospitalizations and death. But it seems like based on the experience we've just had over the previous 90 days, that those counts will also go up over the next couple of weeks. I just don't see how we have golf with fans. Honestly, I don't even know when.

I don't know when to point off in the future when it's going to feel right to have, you know, fans showing up at golf venues. And this matters house because the entire sport world is watching what golf does. And if this thread gets pulled and it unravels, there's a cascading effect on other sports we love coming through the fall. So yes, we're worried about the health and safety of the people on site. But just again, selfishly as fans sitting on the couch for four months now stuck inside,

please don't screw it up for football. please don't screw it up for basketball. Can we keep going and not just for the sake of 8,000 fans who aren't really going to make us a ton of money and the return of sports? Yeah, right, right. So we're on the same page. Don't do it to me.

I want to pivot. I want to get your reaction. So the news came out earlier this week, yesterday actually, that the Fox Network has sold its interest in the U.S. Open. to NBC Sports and that starting with the tournament being competed at Wingfoot in September, NBC Sports is now the proud owner of the U.S. Open golf tournament. What do you think is going on there?

First of all, we should tip our cap to Fox, which has shown through their time in covering it, that you can start poorly and finish strong and that you can listen to the constructive criticism as opposed to the hate, and improve the broadcast, and that you can use technology, like the way that they used drones at Pebble last year, to start to give us a glimmer of hope that the golf broadcast is going to evolve in a pretty significant way, if the people who are running the broadcast actually care about it and invest in it.

But it looks like that investment was not going to be worth it for five. going forward because this was the only broadcast that they had and because of our beloved football, which was going to happen on U.S. Open Sunday this year and almost certainly was a scary, scary monetary thing for Fox to consider having to backseat football in exchange for putting the U.S. open, which undeniably has a smaller audience on TV on a Sunday. Yeah, I mean, there's just no way that Fox was going to do it. I mean, you know, it seemed like from the reporting that, you know, Fox basically told the USGA, we are going to go with football. Football is what's going to be on our airwaves

Sunday afternoon from 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock, you know, 430 to 630, whatever. We're going to put you on the cooking channel or something. Yeah, that's exactly right. And obviously the USGA said, no, thank you for that. So all of this really came together, it seems, from the reports. I saw Doug Ferguson on the AP, Ryan Lavner from the golf channel, I think, both did, you know, good stories about it. That, you know, they sort of took a look at the whole thing. I was like, you know what?

All things considered, we had a good run. and NBC, you know, took, took a good advantage of an opportunity. They've, you know, have a long and storied relationship with the U.S. Open. Your point, though, about Fox and the progress that they made in how they shared the U.S. Open with the golf and the sporting sports fan community, I've really, really, really enjoyed the last couple years. of U.S. opens. You mentioned the drones at Pebble Beach. I've never seen Pebble Beach from those angles.

Nobody has, right? It was incredible to see Pebble Beach. Seagulls have seen it. Seagulls and now golf fans. Yeah, and, you know, the tracer, the deployment of the tracer and the way that they showed the shot shapes of guys from a perspective where you, as a TV viewer, can't sit and guess where the ball is going to land. but they really innovated with that stuff.

And I also admired greatly their commitment to showing hours upon hours of coverage, right? They came on in the morning and would stay on until it got dark at night. And, you know, there's a lot of, you know, folks in the sports world who, you know, have had their fill of Joe Buck. But, like, you know, the Fox broadcast team, though, the guys on. camera, we're on for hours. And I personally, as a golf fan, just loved it. So I'm sad to see that go. And I hope that NBC can take some of those good parts and replicate them for the upcoming event at Wingfoot. Well, we're learning a lot over these past couple weeks about what we as fans want from a golf broadcast. Because in the absence of fans, we're now watching these

networks start, and, if we're being fair, coming out of the early part of the season where CBS took a bit of heat, we're now starting to see these networks start to think about how they can make it fun and interesting. And by the way, we talked about some technology that they can use to help really bring the visual parts of the game more to the front rather than having a, you know, XPGA tour player rambling about swing angle and all these things that I think a lot of the casual golfers can't, you know, can't totally understand. But by the way, a lot of it is them getting out of the way and us being able to hear the process of these players and what they go through and the conversations that happen and, you know, DJ swearing when he yanks it into the bunker on 16 or, you know,

what certainly will go down as a top 10 golf moment of the decade, which was just the absolute regal Ian Polter fart that got captured on the live stream on Sunday. I thought that was, I thought it was Chalmers who farted and Ian given the commentary. No, I am pretty sure. I mean, Chalmers shot plus three that day. I think Poulter absolutely cropped us at him to the bottom of the standings. And I say this.

I mean, Nick Faldo is a knight. Ian Poulter should be a knight just for that. I'm calling him Sir Ian James Poulter from here on out. Well, no matter what, it's an iconic new golf meme. Every single time something befalls any of my friends in any kind of competitive golf thing, you know, playing just, just together. That's the clip that they get. It was just a world-class fart.

It was a top-notch world-class fart. Is there really debate over who did it? You think it was Chalmers? I thought those Chalmers, like, as he completed the swing, right? Because you're tensed up and then you let it go. on the release. I thought it was a genuine release. I thought, oh, well, this is now a serious mystery that we need to open up an investigation into. I will come back to you with some on the ground reporting about this. I mean, we can talk about the fart for an hour, but this is an important thing

to uncover. Yeah, we'll run some fart forensics on this. Shot tracer. That's, I mean, this is what this is what Fairway Rowland is all about. But the bigger piece is, it's cool and good to swear on TV now. And fart on TV. And we're getting epic F bombs. We're getting all kinds of great stuff. And the announcers have now stopped apologizing for it and just sort of making little jokes or just pretending like it's normal because guess what? It is. And so why not bring that to the forefront? That's right. Makes it so much more relatable. And that's a big part of the opportunity that golf has that's unique to this moment, which is being the only professional sport on television. And we've been seeing these numbers reported from the industry about all of the new entrance into golf,

like people who have been, you know, in quarantine coming out of their houses and looking for an activity outside the house that they can do with their family or friends and practice proper social distancing. I've seen some indications from the, manufacturers that club sales, online club sales are through the roof, that public and private courses are having number of rounds played unprecedented, right? And so this unique moment of golf on television being the only sport and having these guys feel relatable, make it make them feel a little more accessible. That's helpful to everybody that loves the game, right? It is. And it has helped that we've had three pretty great tournaments and three really strong winners,

including the reemergence of DJ this week in classic DJ fashion, just a complete shit show down the stretch in which he actually shot even par on the back, but he kept us holding on, kept us engaged, should have lost 10 balls, you know, should have made a bunch more bert, but then stepped up on 18 and absolutely blistered his T-shot, reminded everybody, whose boss strolled up the fairway and walked off

with a golf tournament. And there were a bunch of fun David and Goliath kind of storylines going on

there. His playing partner for the day was Brendan Todd whose story the CBS broadcast reference. He came from

the very deepest of depths to come back this season has won twice on tour over the wraparound

schedule. And here he was on a Sunday paired with DJ and, you know, he had a triple boge. So it was like, you know, the agony of defeat kind of moment there for him. But then we saw a couple young guys, McKenzie Hughes from Canada, who was the Thursday leader in the house, put on a great tour, made two, a great show, made two enormous bombs on 17th and on the 17th hole and the 18th hole, made two unbelievably long putts to get himself up into a tie for third. and Will Gordon, who was a year ago, the SEC player of the year at Vanderbilt,

all of a sudden making a giant splash on tour and earning through this event, his right to participate by way of sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the tour year. So a lot of very cool storylines to go along with DJ back at the top. Yeah, Will got himself through the eye of a needle. get to get himself on tour. I think the thing that was remarkable for me down the stretch was, I mean, DJ,

the thing about that drive, that 351 yards uphill, when he's got a one-stroke lead, he only hit half his fareways the last day. And he only hit two-thirds of his greens. It was the worst of the four days that he played. Sunday was his shortest driving average by 15 yards.

For the week, he was like, 83rd in shots gained off the T and 87th in accuracy. So he wasn't driving the ball well at all. He was sixth and putting seventh in approach. So to get up on 18 and just absolutely annihilate that ball, I mean, it was the big, big nut dance that he did coming down 18. It's what we've come to kind of appreciate about DJ. Now, unfortunately, he's already announced that he's withdrawn for this week's event,

which is the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club, a beautiful Donald Ross venue that last year, the tour guys ate up because it rained, I think every single day in the lead up to the tournament, and it could not have been any softer. And another great story last year, Nate Lashley, kind of a tour veteran in kind of a third or,

fourth tier mode comes out of nowhere and literally has the tournament of his life and wins at 25 under par. We have been talking about on the podcast this sort of recurring phenomena of crazy low scores. And there has been some indication that at least the weather will cooperate in Detroit. And it won't be those soft conditions. But, you know, and then that there will be some effort for there to be a bit more of a challenge that grow the roughness is apparently up a bit more. What do you expect?

You know, we have guys like Hideki Matsuyama playing at this one, Patrick Reed, who finished well here last year, is at this one. What do you expect this week? As we look at the golf schedule, this is the first bit of dilution we've had since we came back. This is like a pit stop in NASCAR

where some guys have decided they're going to go get fuel and a couple tires and take this week off and then come back over the next two weeks and play the two tournaments, you know, leading up to the memorial. They've had to make, a lot of players have had to make some decisions about which of these tournaments they're going to play down the stretch, because you can't play all of them. And if you're going to play through the memorial, you're going to play six in a row. And not everybody physically is able to do that. And so that's why we've had some field dilution this week. The second piece is this course, right? This course is

sort of a, it's pretty straightforward. It's in great shape. The rough is definitely going to be an issue as you talked about. But it's like a well-bunkered, tree-lined, kind of old school, got to keep it below the whole, not short side yourself course. The players who are going to play this are most likely not going to play the 3M in Minneapolis in a few weeks. Because that is, truly considered to be an open bomber's course. And so this is a pretty interesting filter of how players think about their chances on courses. The players who are playing this week

either physically feel like they can go six in a row through the Memorial, or they're choosing to play Detroit instead of Minneapolis. And so, to your point, on scores, I don't see anything if they don't firm it up that's going to keep this from being a 23 underwin. but the weather's going to cooperate. If they do, it looks more like a 15 under win.

But the last couple of weeks, and listen, we talked about it. Last week in Connecticut, they kept that course soft and the scores reflected it. So we'll have a little bit of a dilution in the field, which might bring the scores down, just that we won't have, you know, Thomas out there shooting eight under on Sunday. But there's still some great players there. So I think we're going to see a lot of the same. will be interesting to see what the tour does with the course through the weekend.

I want to give our par saving pals some names. Let's name some names. One of the things we like to do here on Fairway, Roland, we like to help everybody allocate a little capital. Think about filling out their fantasy lineups, their DFS. I have two names. Both of these guys, I like this week for top 20 plays. These are straight out wagers

that I'm going to make. Two top 20 plays. And if your book of choice will permit it, I kind of like a parley of this. I'm looking at Victor Hovland, who just had a nice week at the Travelers. But I want to remind everybody of the 64 that he shot at this venue last year.

He finished the Travelers last week, tied for 11th. He was first in strokes gained tea to green. The problem with Victor Hovland is that his short game stinks. And he would say so. But incredibly strong tea to green game. Victor Hovlin, you can play as a top 20. In my book, I have them available at minus 155.

So I don't like paying all that juice. But if you pair him with this next guy, Lucas Glover, who has finished no worse than tied 23rd. in the three events since the resumption. He ranked fourth in strokes gained approach this past week at the travelers. And then in the fourth round, this final round, Lucas Glover, plus 2.27 in strokes gained putting. He's in form. And, you know, the iron play is such that makes me very excited.

Total driving right now on tour 9. I like Lucas Glover available at plus odds, plus 235, so that's better than two to one odds. If you pair Lucas Glover and Victor Hovlin both together in a parlay of top 20 finish, that's a guaranteed plus odds kind of play. Those are my picks for the week. What do you got for us? Well, House, we should acknowledge that you and I have been picking the winners of these last tournaments, just one week too soon.

We've been saying the names at least, right? I mean, it's not like an outright we've been saying you absolutely must play this person to win, but we've been getting the names correct. You really liked Webb at Colonial. He won the next week. I really like DJ at Harbortown. He won the next week.

I like Bryson. I liked Bryson last week. And I still like Bryson this week. Yeah, me too. He is just, he's been the best, just from the eye test, he's really been the best golfer out there since the restart.

And he's still, you see him still working on pulling some things together. That's right. But he is, I think, due for a win. It's coming. And so I'm just going to keep hitting that until we get it right. But there are a couple of guys down,

if you're doing a DFS and you need some guys with some lower value so that you can take some of the more obvious ones in a diluted field. You know, Brian Stewart has been playing very well, and he's from Michigan. And so he's going back home, and that seems to lift a bunch of guys, you know, when they get a chance to do that. He's played well the last couple of weeks. I also think Eric Van Royan is a really special golfer to watch from South Africa.

He was off last week, but he, it looks to me like a guy who is going to be competitive on this tour for a long time. So those two guys, you're not going to get great odds on Doc Redmond because he played well in the weeks leading up and a year ago here. But he's really starting to come into his own as a golfer. If he can keep up this consistency, he's going to really start shooting up the world golf rankings. I'm glad that you mentioned Brian Stewart and that Michigan connection. He had a top five finish at this venue last year. and tied for 20th at the Travelers, ranked fourth in Greens and Regulation.

So just like putting a little bit of data when we get a nice name like that. That's a good, deep pull. I don't have any data for Eric Van Royan, but other than the point you just made, which is, you know, classy game and something worth where you're trying to get a price on them, you know, should be some value out there.

And I guess I'll just ride, with you on Bryson. I will say this. I had Hideki. I had high hopes for Hideki when he made his tour reappearance at Harbortown. He couldn't put for shit. But, you know, maybe this is the thing in the same way that Webb Simpson missed the cut at Colonial and then came back and won at Harbortown. Maybe Hideki's missed cut at Harbortown and he comes out to this venue. He added a tie tie for 13th last year, so we know he's comfortable on the greens here. Maybe a little splash on Hadecki as well. I don't mind it only because so many of the strong players have been performing well over these last couple of weeks. It clearly motivated DJ to get his

shit together. And, you know, Hidecchi is as competitive as anybody else. So we'll see if he took a week off, worked his butt off, and can come out and show us something. I like it. All right, Nate, we have Amanda Ballionis has been gracious enough. She's always generous with the Fairway Rolling Pod. We are going to jump on the line with her and hear from her what it's like being inside the bubble on the grounds. Nate, we're back next week. Looking forward to celebrating our winnings from all these guys we just mentioned. Let's do it, House.

All right, my birdie buddies, we are very pleased and honestly thrilled to have on the tea with us. right now. Amanda Ballionis from CBS Sports, our old pal. What's happening, Ballionis? Man, I turned 34 and now I'm your old pal. I feel like that was a sneaky low blow, pal, but that's fine. I'm good. How are you? A.B., come on. We've been doing this pod for, you know, years now, and you've been very gracious and generous with your time. You're one of our oldest pals on the pod. How about that? Is that better? Yeah, that makes me feel better. I'm having some, you can tell, I'm a little insecure. with the newest birthday that just passed. So, yeah, that makes me feel better.

Well, we always begin our chats by asking how many cups of coffee you've had and how many, you know, how long was the yoga session this morning? So let's get the count. Okay. So I just finished my first venty coffee of the day. And I just got back. I have not done yoga yet, but did just go for a 30-minute walk in nature, which is meditative, right? So I still, I'm in a good head space right now, I'm feeling good.

I'm glad to hear it. Where physically are you at this moment? At this moment. I am in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Okay. So you went from Connecticut to Chapel Hill and then you're going to get yourself to Detroit at some point. That is correct. I will leave on Thursday to go to Detroit and get things going for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which will be fun. Okay. So wanted to start off by asking you about, you know, the travel aspect. So your first broadcast since CBS, since, since the PGA tour resumed playing competitive golf. This event in Connecticut that just finished up was your first participation, right? So it was the week before.

So I was out in Hilton Head as well. But the cart was not out there. And all of my interviews were done off camera. And then I think I did one on camera hit once Nick Watney had touched it as the first player positive for COVID-19. So I did a little thing there. But the majority of myself was off camera. And then last week, the Traveler Championship was my first event back with the cart and kind of trying to bring some sense of normalcy, you know, back to that role.

But, you know, it's as we all know, it's all a new normal now. It's definitely not what we're all used to. Speaking of sort of new normalcy, last week in Connecticut began from kind of an uncertain place because we had a couple of player positives plus some caddy positives that had the effect of. the Kepka brothers withdrawing. And, you know, we, we ended up with Cam Champ with what proved to be a false positive, it seems. And so the commissioner flew up to Connecticut midday Wednesday and put out a press conference. What was kind of the mood on the ground there?

Yeah, you know, it was interesting. I usually don't travel until Thursdays. And so the whole week, Cameron Champ test positive. So he obviously announces earlier in the week. We had heard that Webb Simpson, you know, WD, because he felt like out of an abundance of caution because something that was going on, you know, not within the player bubble, but with his family.

So, you know, there was a lot of things going on. And then I actually got a phone call from my producer, Seller Shia. You said, listen, the tri-state area is creating this mandate that if you're coming from certain states, which I was actually in Florida visiting my mom, he said if you don't get here before midnight, you're not going to be able to work this week.

So I, you know, we scramble. I get on one of the last flights out from Sarasota, get up to Hartford. You know, we're trying to keep a pulse on what's going on there. The Connecticut state mandates mean that I have to get tested, you know, pretty much right when I get there, as did, you know, the rest of the crew, which, you know, which obviously you'd always rather be safe than sorry.

You know, if I never think that's a bad thing when a mandate like that's in place. But then all of a sudden, you know, you're talking to these players whose caddies are testing positive. And I'll say I think the best thing about all of this is it's not just the commissioner and the PGA tour that are putting these rules in place in the players and caddies aren't on board. You know, these players and caddies want to protect everyone in the field because they realize, listen, if we aren't proactive about this, there will be no PGA tour to compete on. So everyone is so on the same page in terms of the minute they feel like they might have one symptom, they're the ones pushing to go get tested because they want to make sure they're not the one that kind of brings everything down. So we were unsure, but I felt pretty good when I heard that, you know,

Commissioner Jay Monaghan was flying up to travelers. I knew he wouldn't be flying into Connecticut to cancel a tort event, right? Well, so speaking of safety, we got to talk about the mask. And in part because you took to Twitter to put it to. point out that you just can't win. People have been giving you a hard time for wearing it. They've been giving you a hard time for not wearing it. But in all seriousness, you are really, at this point, one of the, if not the most prominent live interviewer on television at the moment. And so what you do is setting an example. And you've had that mask on or around your person at almost every time.

I'm just curious how you think about that mask. And if you've gotten any input or if that's a personal choice that you're making. Yeah, you know, I think we're all trying to kind of figure out what this should look like. And, you know, it's interesting because it kind of even started when we did the match, you know, and we had all been tested multiple times. We all knew we were negative. We all knew we were, even though we were all negative, we still knew we had a socially distance. One, just to be safe. And two, to set a good example. Like, it's important to set a good example when you're, when you have the platform that you have, right? Like period, point blank, the end.

So, you know, we did not wear masks at the match, but we were socially distanced on camera. Now, when we were off camera, you know, in the TV compound stuff like that, we, of course, wear our masks the whole time because you're still passing by people. But, you know, I think the more we learn about this virus, the more we realize, okay, if we're outside

and we're socially distanced, if we're six feet or farther away from each other, it is safe not to have your masks on, but I do want to make sure everyone knows, like we do have our masks and we are wearing them at all times if we are closer to someone than six feet or if we're going to be around someone

for more than 15 minutes. Like that is the CDC protocol. Those are the safety guidelines. So, you know, me and Brandon Todd, we did a interview with our masks on, and I think we kind of decided like, okay, we're farther than six. six feet apart and probably this doesn't, this is probably more distracting than anything.

So maybe we don't do that. Maybe we just make sure that everyone can see that we have our masks handy just so everyone makes sure that like no one's doubting if we're being safe. You know, I mean, perception still very much matters here. But also we want people to know that we're taking this very seriously. And so, you know, I think we are trying to play with what is still showing what we want to show and also not being a distraction of this. And so you can still hear and see that the interviews are being done safely,

but not over the top of like maybe we don't need to wear the masks the whole time, as long as we're being, you know, socially distanced, but we still want to make sure that we have it. So, you know, there's always going to be those people that right now are even fighting the idea of a mask, but you can't feed into that, you know, because we all have learned it's just facts that if we are all wearing masks, by wearing my mask to protect you, you're wearing your mask to protect me, there's a very low chance that we can continue to spread the virus.

So I think that's a really important thing to be reminding people. But when they see us on air, I want everyone to know that we are always six feet, if not further apart. That's the most important thing for us is that we do this safely. We're not just doing it. It's not the interview first. It's safety comes first. And then once we know we can safely do the interview, then we do the interview.

Well, on that safety note, so far, all of the events competed on the resumption of the tour have not had fans present. Although it has been kind of charming, it's some of these venues where homes kind of abut the course where you hear some people in the background, you know, cheering various things from their backyards, but I'm very interested in getting your take on the feel of the venue, the feel of these tournaments without fans present. It's weird, man. And like, it was, it was, it's weird.

Like I think it actually hit me the hardest at Travelers because I've been going to that tournament the longest since 2011 when I was at PGATor.com And that pound shows in the biggest way. You know, like that community just loves that tournament so much. And as I was getting ready to walk down to 18 to go interview Dustin Johnson, I walked down a hill that I don't even know,

I don't even know if I knew it existed, to be honest, because I never had access to it. It's always been covered in fans. And it was like the most direct way to get down to 18. And I'm like, okay, this is very strange to be able to walk down this hill in this way and get right down to 18. And then Dustin wins. And I look at him, the first thing I said to him was like, is this not the weirdest feeling ever? And he looked at me and laughed and said it's weird, but it still feels just as good.

You know, so it's just the environment itself is definitely strange. And I think it golf is, it's a positive in terms of like you still get to see the beauty of the golf course, right? You get to enjoy more miced up sound from players. So I think we're taking a lot of silver linings from it. And I honestly thought that final stretch at the travelers was just his tense feeling watching it. You know, I don't think we lost any of the, you know, of that tense feeling as guys are kind of doing everything they can. hand to put things in jeopardy and dropping shots and putting balls in the water, near the water, in the bunker.

A lot of stuff still happened that I don't think you lost any of that drama, but it still is a very odd feeling not having these crowds react the way that we're used to them reacting and not having the players to feed off of that or have those fans lined the 18th green and, you know, just visuals that we're used to seeing. It's been strange, but I, you know, I think that they've been a. adapting to it. And I think this is the sport that you would expect them to adapt the quickest. And I think that we've seen that the players have for sure. Well, it was in part great because we got classic DJ down the end. The way that he finished that tournament is something you have seen many

times before. What we also saw was kind of classic DJ in your interview with him. There's a lot of folks who in trying to read him, he sometimes comes off as completely unmoved by a win like that. It was interesting to hear you say that he said it feels just as good. I just am curious on your inside take on that, because this is a guy who's had a ton of heartbreak on the course. He is clearly on his way to the Hall of Fame. And yet, you know, he's had some struggles in his life. He's had some struggles on the course. You know him a little bit. What makes him tick? Is there a deeper set of emotions underneath the surface of DJ? Or is he just kind of dispassionate and this is who he is? This is what I thought was really funny

was I felt like his interview on the 18th grade on Sunday I thought that was one of the most emotive interviews I've ever seen from him and I don't know and like other people were making fun of me for that and saying like he's still showing no personality and I was like I couldn't be farther from the truth

I thought you could really see how happy and relieved he was to get that win like I thought that was obvious as someone and maybe that was just because I was there and I was talking to him and I've interviewed him so much and maybe I can just read it a little bit better

but I thought it was so obvious that Dustin Johnson wanted that win so badly and he got it and I think he understood how important it was for him and I don't think any of us really understood how much pain he had been in or how injured he was and you know he talked after about tweaking his knee and like and he kind of alluded to the fact

it wasn't that I wasn't preparing I just couldn't prepare the way I wanted to leading up to, I think, his charity, you know, event and then obviously the first couple weeks out here, and now he finally felt good. But he said, you know, this win was a long time coming. He really felt like he had something to prove. And I felt like the biggest signal of that was his drive on 18. That was the most ridiculous drive I have ever seen. For you to be coming down the stretch, you're up by one. You have all of the pressure, right? Like anything can, happened on the 18th hole and you take driver and drive at 350. Yeah, he just dropped it in the trap on

16 on a terrible swing. Yes, and what had happened on 15? It could have been in the water on 15. And the dude shows no fear and put basically a period on it with one single drive that was 15 yards longer than anything we had seen the rest of the day. Like that takes some stones to do. And you could just tell how badly he wanted it. And that to me was typical DJ. No fear. when everyone else would be feeling that pressure. And then when he does win, he says, you know, like, yeah, this one feels really good because it was a long time coming. And it was due and he's been working hard and he finally got healthy. And to me, I could just see the, I could see him feel the emotions from him.

So I'm not sure if people just want to automatically decide that he doesn't show personality so they're not listening to the interview, you know, and so they're just going to say whatever they're going to say about him. But yeah, I felt like this one was a big one for him in terms of just getting it done once again and proving to himself that all the work he's been putting in finally paid off. Yeah, it was super impressive. And it's funny, that juxtaposition of the enormous courage under, you know, when the tournament is absolutely on the line, he takes the most free swing. He swings as hard as he possibly can. it is, as you said, a drive that goes much further than anybody else. Honestly, I don't know if anybody hit it that far the entire week on 18.

I don't think so. And, you know, he just stepped up to it. And then what he gives in terms of the interview, his version of emotion is, you know, I felt relief. But he also, it's not like, you know, you don't see tears out of DJ, right? You don't see huge chuckles. You don't see huge size out of him. He is who he is.

I love it. Well, and I also think you understand, like you guys just alluded to, he's been through a lot, right? Like, this is a guy who has fought through a lot of adversity on and off the course. And so I think he understands there are things bigger than wins and losses on the golf course, right? So, like, he loved being a dad. Like, he loves, I just think BJ has a very, I think he's a very grounded understanding of life, to be, to be honest. So, like, if he would have lost it, it wouldn't have been the end of the world to him, you know, and you probably wouldn't have seen a whole lot of emotion there either.

But I think he understands, yeah, this is a big win for me, but it's also not the most important thing in my life, which I appreciate. You know, I think he has a, I just think he has a grounded understanding of what golf is and where it fits into his life. And he was really happy to get that victory. But he also knows his life wouldn't have been over if he didn't get that 21st win at the Travelers Championship. So you're off to Detroit.

Mm-hmm. You know, I think there, there, I've seen some of the local stories. stories coming from the Michigan newspapers. This is the first professional sports sporting event in the state of Michigan since, you know, March. So it seems like there's a lot of excitement, but you know, every single time you go to a new venue, new set of circumstances, it's week by week, right? 100%. I mean, Hilton Head felt entirely different from the travelers. And I'm sure Detroit's going to feel entirely different from both of those, from both of those cities as well.

So, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting up there, but, you know, it is. It's interesting. I think a lot of times we love to highlight and talk about the different flavors of each city, but that's just not what this is right now. You know, I think what we are trying to emphasize right now is the golf and then go home and be safe. And we still know that doing those two things is to still not ensure, 100% security and protecting any of us from getting COVID.

I think we all very much understand we're all at risk and we're doing this because, one, we love our jobs and two, we really believe in bringing live sports back to fans. And I think we all learned how important live sports is when it was taken away from us for three plus months. But we want to do this. We want to do this because we love our jobs and we love bringing this to people at home who need it. We love watching the best in the world be able to compete.

on what right now I think sounds feels like a really good way to open people up to the game of golf who maybe never would have watched it before you know we talk about growing the game and what better opportunity to grow the game than having really no other sports on television and maybe people just tune in because there's nothing else and then they tune out being like man that was cool maybe I will continue to watch that so there's a great opportunity here but I think we just got to keep doing what we're doing which is nothing else except going to the golf course and watching Netflix and we get back to our hotel room by ourselves. Well, I will say, we here at Fairway, Roland, are extremely appreciative.

We're very grateful, and we think that this is very impactful. And then it is carrying along some of the beneficial feeling and sentiment, you know, on sort of the national consciousness. So keep doing what you're doing. Please continue to be as safe as you can. And we look forward to talking again as this goes along. All right. I'll talk to you guys soon. Thanks for having me. Thanks, Amanda. Always a pleasure. Thanks. Bye. All right, my eagle enthusiasts, there we go. My thanks, as always to Nathan Hubbard. Special thanks to Amanda Ballionis making time for us while she is barnstorming the country on behalf of CBS.

Thanks very much for listening. We are rolling along here. We're going to keep putting out shows as long as the tour is putting on tournament. In the meantime, everybody, please stay safe out there. And let's try and hit them down the middle.